"Hey guys." Buffy breezed into the living room and sat next to Willow and Xander.
"Hi, Buff." Xander greeted her.
"So...it's weird how quiet everything's been huh?" Well done, Buffy, straight in the deep end.
"Weird? It's fantastic, Buffy! Everything is so good!" Willow beamed.
"Yeah and I'm real psyched, I am it's just...people have gotten very good, very quickly. That doesn't strike you as a little odd?" Buffy hinted.
"Not at all! Maybe the world has finally woken up and smelled the roses. We're following the rules, not hurting anybody and everyone is good. No evil anywhere, no siree! Heck there may not even be a need for slayers at all anymore! We should just disband them." Xander excitedly announced.
Buffy attempted to control her temper and said steadily. "I don't know about that..."
"Buffy's right, let's not get ahead of ourselves. We're all good after all."
"Not all of us, of course." Xander cryptically replied.
"What do you mean?"
"Xander's referring to Spike. He's a vampire, he's evil. He has to go, Buffy." Willow nodded sincerely. "Iced tea?"
"What? Spike's saved the world more than once!" Buffy flared up. Willow ignored her outburst and just set about pouring her a glass of iced tea.
"We know. But the fact of the matter is, there's no evil anymore. So the world isn't gonna need saving again." Xander grinned goofily.
"Ergo we have no use for Spike anymore, being as he's evil and all." Willow shrugged.
Buffy was absolutely gobsmacked at the nonchalance with which they were discussing ending someone's (un)life. But she didn't want to blow their cover so with all the self-control she could muster she simply changed the subject, taking comfort in the fact that as long as they were here with her they weren't killing him and angrily sipped her iced tea.
"So what are we up to tonight now we're free from evil?" Buffy smiled brightly.
"Probably reading, once I've finished editing them."
"Reading? No games or movies?"
"Of course not!" Xander indignantly replied. "We have to follow the rules, Buffster."
"What are these rules? No creativity? No personality? Never-ending monotony?" Buffy gritted her teeth.
"I'm gonna let that slide 'cause you're the ultimate good, but any more comments like that and we'll have to...stop it."
Buffy gulped, she had to get out of here and get to Spike as soon as possible.
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"Hello, Slayers. What you up to?" Spike appeared in the game room.
Normally it was bulging with gaggles of girls, chatting, gossiping, playing video games or foosball. But today, they were all sitting comfortably on chairs, talking quietly and some reading Willow's 'edited' books.
"Hello, Spike." Safiyah smiled up at him. "We're just...sitting I guess."
"Anyone up for a little fun?" Spike tried.
"Fun? How dangerous! We should be being good, Spike." A young girl gasped.
"Right, yeah. Just kidding." Spike cursed himself for his misjudgement and resolved to just sit on the couch quietly and observe.
Spike had never been one for hushed tones and definitely not one for activities so dull they were probably used to calm the criminally insane (he thought to himself). It felt like he'd been perched on the couch for years but in reality it had only been a matter of ten minutes when Dawn entered the room.
"Niblet!" Spike jumped to his feet. "How are you?"
"I'm good." Dawn grinned. "Aren't we all?"
"Yeah, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Okay."
Spike pulled Dawn to the side of the room, a safe distance from the rest of the group. If anyone could see reason, it'd be her, she's Buffy's sister, she used to be a mystical key, she could get past this.
"This isn't good, Dawn."
"What do you mean?"
"Good doesn't mean boring. Good doesn't mean we have to follow every rule and ban every word. Good is freedom, choice, passion. Not a life of the mundane." Spike grabbed her by the shoulders. "Please Dawn, tell me you understand what I'm saying."
"I understand." Dawn nodded.
"Oh thank God!"
"You're evil."
"What? No!"
"Go away, Spike. Your kind don't belong in this world anymore."
Spike tried to convince himself it wasn't Dawn, she'd never say this. Dawn had always stuck up for him, even when he was evil. It wasn't her. To avoid doing something he'd regret, he simply turned on his heel and stalked off.
THUD!
Spike's knees crumpled beneath him. Dizziness took over his body, his mind fought valiantly for control, he might've even growled. But it lost and he smashed to the floor.
