(Spike)
Why it was necessary for Dawn to tag along, Buffy had no idea, all she knew was that her little sister had insisted that she come and that she claimed the Slayer wouldn't find Spike on her own anyway. In Buffy's opinion, Dawn was coming because she had a crush on the vampire, but she wouldn't say that in case she threw a teenage tantrum. So they walked silently side by side through one of Sunnydale's many graveyards, each trying to think of something to say.
"I think that Angelus, Darla and Drusilla took him." Dawn offered in a know- it-all tone.
"Oh?" Buffy queried with a raised eyebrow "Why do you think that?"
"Well who else knows him here?" Dawn asked. The Slayer thought about it for a second.
"Good point." she conceeded. "And you say they'll be at the factory?" Her sister nodded and then they were back to square one. Silence. It was weird, usually they wouldn't shut up, but now all they could think about was Spike. With each wondering about the safety of the vampire who had come so mysteriously into their lives. Buffy was appalled at the feelings she kept having for him, telling herself that they simply weren't hers, like the thoughts that kept popping up. But they felt so real. She glanced at her surroundings and sighed heavily, supremely irritated at herself.
"What?" Dawn asked, frowning at her sister's annoyed look when she hadn't even said anything.
"We've gone past the factory." Buffy told her with another sigh and motioned to where they were. They'd been so caught up in their thoughts, they had walked round in one big circle to the Bronze. Dawn rolled her eyes and for a second considered asking her sister if they could make a little pit stop in the club as they band playing sounded decent, but then she thought of what might be happening to Spike in the factory and decided against it. She didn't know what Buffy was planning to do when they got there, but Dawn was going to save him. No matter what.
Drusilla was humming that tune again, the one Spike was so sure he recognised, as she glided around the room where her prisoners were stationed, tidying the place up like a proper housewife.
"Dru, we've been here long enough now," Angelus told her in a stern tone "Let us go, the jokes gone sour." She just continued to hum with a content smile on her face. "Drusilla?"
"Leave it, Poof," Spike sighed "She's off in her own little world now. She can't hear y'."
"And how would you know?" Angelus spat back.
"Oh I dunno," Spike narrowed his eyes, his voice dripping sarcasm "Maybe 'cause she's my Sire you bloody idiot." Darla frowned at him.
"No she's not, I am." she insisted, sounding totally confused. Spike rolled his eyes.
"Want me to clear it up for you geniuses?" he drawled patronisingly "In my world Dru Sired me, so her and Darla's roles were reveresed. In this one, everythin's screwed up and Darla Sired me. Need me to say it slower?" Angelus growled a warning in the back of his throat.
"Why are you always so sarcastic?" he asked in an irritated voice. Spike didn't even bother replying, although he was dying to make a comment about him always being so stupid. He just threw him a look of utter contempt. Suddenly, Drusilla whipped round and glared at them.
"You," she hissed, pointing an accusing finger at Spike "If you continue to talk through the performance you shall spoil the magic trick."
"Why you can't just say 'shut up' is beyond me, luv." He replied, noticing for the first time just how irritating all her childish riddles really were. She dug the accusational finger into his chest and narrowed her eyes at him fiercely.
"Did you think it wouldn't hurt me?" Dru asked him with a snarl. Darla perked up at this. Maybe they were close to getting an explanation.
"When you first came, I didn't think it would be so bad," Drusilla informed Spike in a light tone, even with a hint of a smile. "I thought it'd be nice to have some more company. But then my guests wouldn't leave." The tiny smile fell and turned to a scowl. "It got worse every time I saw you. Endless talking, none stop. All I want is some peace and quiet." Spike frowned at her, his mind working feverishly to try and figure out what it was she was actually saying. "But I've outsmarted all of them. I've got a plan to shut them up once and for all." Then it hit him. All the pieces slotted together.
"No!" he exclaimed in protest "Y'can't!"
"Can't what?" Angelus queried, having been left completely behind. Spike glanced over at him with an expression of someone who's just found something nasty on their shoe.
"She's hearing things from the other - from my world." he explained "And 'cause I'm here, they just keep goin', and it's too much for her."
"But she hears voices all the time, dumbass." Angelus snapped, returning the expression.
"I know, but the ones she usually gets come and go. These are constant," He paused "Dumbass."
Drusilla started to him again, covering her ears like a child and moving away from the trio.
"So what's her 'plan'?" Darla asked, sounding as though she had twice as much faith in Spike's intellect than the other vampire on the sofa in front of her. He gulped.
"Goes somethin' like this," he said slowly "Killin' me would make the voices stop. So, her plan is, y'know, 'kill me and the voices'll stop.' " Silence ensued.
"Oh."
Through the silence, Drusilla continued to hum, before suddenly stopping to offer rapturous applause. She reapproached them with a big smile on her face.
"Clever boy!" she praised Spike, sounding like a proud mother "You figured it all out, but you figured it out too late, didn't you?" Her mood darkened "And now I can make the voices stop."
"Dru, pet," Spike drawled in his most persuasive tone, which caused her to pause and look directly at him curiously "Wouldn't it be easier to just send me back?" Drusilla actually found herself considering this. "You could come too, if y' liked. We could go to Spain and watch the bull-fights." Big mistake. He had used Spain as an example because in his world she had always pestered him to take her there, but his comparison had apparently set the voices off and she started to hum again. Her features morphed into their vampiric face and she growled angrily.
"If you would just shut up for one second I could think!" She shouted. In that moment, all three vampires felt her hold on them loosen and they shared a glance.
"I'm always saying that to him." Angelus said with a laugh "Never works, though. Hey Spike? Did you talk all the time in your world?" Spike gave him a sarcastic laugh.
"Only when I wanted to annoy you," he replied "But y'know what was funny? In my world, you got a soul." He atually laughed genuinely at the expression on Angelus' face. Darla was watching Drusilla carefully and noted their plan was working. If they bombarded her mind enough with talk of his world, her hold on them would slip and they could escape. "And you were the Slayer's first love."
"You'd better be lying to me, boy." Angelus growled dangerously.
"No, it's the truth!" Spike protested, he nodded to Dru "Innit, pet?" She suddenly screamed, clutching her head, and the hypnosis failed on two of the vampires, who scurried off. Unfortunately, Spike wasn't one of those two. Now he was left alone with a psychotic vampire who wanted to kill him. Great. Just bloody brilliant.
There it was. The factory. Not a particularly grand building, what with it's crumbling walls and all, but it was still menacing. For the millionth time that day, Buffy found herself remembering things from someone else's mind. She and Giles hadn't burned this to the ground, but her thoughts insisted that was what had happened. From the look on Dawn's face, she was experiencing the same.
"So he's in there, huh?" The Slayer muttered, trying to sound casual. Dawn nodded mutely. "And we're going in to save him, aren't we?" Another nod. "I knew he'd be trouble."
"Didn't you want to kill Spike?" Her little sister asked. It was Buffy's turn to nod.
"Past tense being the key thing in that sentence." she said with a sigh. "It's just I keep getting all these feelings which so aren't mine, and I can't do it. I know I can't kill him." Dawn murmered an agreement. She turned to her sister and forced a smile.
"So, what do you say we go in there and save a vampire from another dimension from his psycho ex who's suffering from voices in her head?" She asked with a strange cheeriness to her tone. Buffy linked her arm in Dawn's.
"Our lives are different from other peoples." she commented drily before slowly pushing the door open and stepping cautiously inside.
Spike's voice reached the pair first as they crept silently through the factories many rooms, trying it's most persuasive tone, but sounding just that little bit worried and apprehensive.
"C'mon, pet," he drawled with a gulp "Y' don't wanna do this. Just think about what I said before. Y' could come to my world where none of the nasty voices could trouble y' ever again." In fact, this was a blatant lie. In his own dimension she still experienced the exact same thing, but he wasn't going to tell her that. Not when she was casually playing with a stake and practising how she'd kill him. Drusilla looked up at him and cocked her head to one side.
"I'd be all alone?" she asked in a sing-song voice, motioning to her head. He nodded hurredly. "Why do you lie to me like this?" Dru wailed, apparently seeing through his deception. Spike cursed under his breath. Now he was done for. She'd hated being lied to before, now she had been lied to whilst having the desire to kill him. That was never good.
"Just let me go." Spike growled, suddenly sounding very stern and very angry "Undo whatever magic you've got workin' on me and let me walk out of here. 'Cause if y' don't -"
"You'll what?" Drusilla scoffed. He almost jumped in surprise. This was a totally new side of her, to him anyway, and it was so out of character that he was shocked. This wasn't his Drusilla. With that realisation, Spike's mind conceeded defeat. He would have been able to turn his Dru around, but this wasn't his Dru. This was someone esle. And this person was raising a stake above her head and about to strike. He took a last breath and suddenly thought what his last words should be. Something ironic? Something sarcastic? Something poetic? Something sincere? Or maybe something like -
"Jesus!" A warm hand took a firm grasp of his shoulder and he literally jumped with surprise. But the stake was still descending. Spike turned to see the owner of the hand was Buffy and they looked straight in each other's eyes. Then, there was black...
Why it was necessary for Dawn to tag along, Buffy had no idea, all she knew was that her little sister had insisted that she come and that she claimed the Slayer wouldn't find Spike on her own anyway. In Buffy's opinion, Dawn was coming because she had a crush on the vampire, but she wouldn't say that in case she threw a teenage tantrum. So they walked silently side by side through one of Sunnydale's many graveyards, each trying to think of something to say.
"I think that Angelus, Darla and Drusilla took him." Dawn offered in a know- it-all tone.
"Oh?" Buffy queried with a raised eyebrow "Why do you think that?"
"Well who else knows him here?" Dawn asked. The Slayer thought about it for a second.
"Good point." she conceeded. "And you say they'll be at the factory?" Her sister nodded and then they were back to square one. Silence. It was weird, usually they wouldn't shut up, but now all they could think about was Spike. With each wondering about the safety of the vampire who had come so mysteriously into their lives. Buffy was appalled at the feelings she kept having for him, telling herself that they simply weren't hers, like the thoughts that kept popping up. But they felt so real. She glanced at her surroundings and sighed heavily, supremely irritated at herself.
"What?" Dawn asked, frowning at her sister's annoyed look when she hadn't even said anything.
"We've gone past the factory." Buffy told her with another sigh and motioned to where they were. They'd been so caught up in their thoughts, they had walked round in one big circle to the Bronze. Dawn rolled her eyes and for a second considered asking her sister if they could make a little pit stop in the club as they band playing sounded decent, but then she thought of what might be happening to Spike in the factory and decided against it. She didn't know what Buffy was planning to do when they got there, but Dawn was going to save him. No matter what.
Drusilla was humming that tune again, the one Spike was so sure he recognised, as she glided around the room where her prisoners were stationed, tidying the place up like a proper housewife.
"Dru, we've been here long enough now," Angelus told her in a stern tone "Let us go, the jokes gone sour." She just continued to hum with a content smile on her face. "Drusilla?"
"Leave it, Poof," Spike sighed "She's off in her own little world now. She can't hear y'."
"And how would you know?" Angelus spat back.
"Oh I dunno," Spike narrowed his eyes, his voice dripping sarcasm "Maybe 'cause she's my Sire you bloody idiot." Darla frowned at him.
"No she's not, I am." she insisted, sounding totally confused. Spike rolled his eyes.
"Want me to clear it up for you geniuses?" he drawled patronisingly "In my world Dru Sired me, so her and Darla's roles were reveresed. In this one, everythin's screwed up and Darla Sired me. Need me to say it slower?" Angelus growled a warning in the back of his throat.
"Why are you always so sarcastic?" he asked in an irritated voice. Spike didn't even bother replying, although he was dying to make a comment about him always being so stupid. He just threw him a look of utter contempt. Suddenly, Drusilla whipped round and glared at them.
"You," she hissed, pointing an accusing finger at Spike "If you continue to talk through the performance you shall spoil the magic trick."
"Why you can't just say 'shut up' is beyond me, luv." He replied, noticing for the first time just how irritating all her childish riddles really were. She dug the accusational finger into his chest and narrowed her eyes at him fiercely.
"Did you think it wouldn't hurt me?" Dru asked him with a snarl. Darla perked up at this. Maybe they were close to getting an explanation.
"When you first came, I didn't think it would be so bad," Drusilla informed Spike in a light tone, even with a hint of a smile. "I thought it'd be nice to have some more company. But then my guests wouldn't leave." The tiny smile fell and turned to a scowl. "It got worse every time I saw you. Endless talking, none stop. All I want is some peace and quiet." Spike frowned at her, his mind working feverishly to try and figure out what it was she was actually saying. "But I've outsmarted all of them. I've got a plan to shut them up once and for all." Then it hit him. All the pieces slotted together.
"No!" he exclaimed in protest "Y'can't!"
"Can't what?" Angelus queried, having been left completely behind. Spike glanced over at him with an expression of someone who's just found something nasty on their shoe.
"She's hearing things from the other - from my world." he explained "And 'cause I'm here, they just keep goin', and it's too much for her."
"But she hears voices all the time, dumbass." Angelus snapped, returning the expression.
"I know, but the ones she usually gets come and go. These are constant," He paused "Dumbass."
Drusilla started to him again, covering her ears like a child and moving away from the trio.
"So what's her 'plan'?" Darla asked, sounding as though she had twice as much faith in Spike's intellect than the other vampire on the sofa in front of her. He gulped.
"Goes somethin' like this," he said slowly "Killin' me would make the voices stop. So, her plan is, y'know, 'kill me and the voices'll stop.' " Silence ensued.
"Oh."
Through the silence, Drusilla continued to hum, before suddenly stopping to offer rapturous applause. She reapproached them with a big smile on her face.
"Clever boy!" she praised Spike, sounding like a proud mother "You figured it all out, but you figured it out too late, didn't you?" Her mood darkened "And now I can make the voices stop."
"Dru, pet," Spike drawled in his most persuasive tone, which caused her to pause and look directly at him curiously "Wouldn't it be easier to just send me back?" Drusilla actually found herself considering this. "You could come too, if y' liked. We could go to Spain and watch the bull-fights." Big mistake. He had used Spain as an example because in his world she had always pestered him to take her there, but his comparison had apparently set the voices off and she started to hum again. Her features morphed into their vampiric face and she growled angrily.
"If you would just shut up for one second I could think!" She shouted. In that moment, all three vampires felt her hold on them loosen and they shared a glance.
"I'm always saying that to him." Angelus said with a laugh "Never works, though. Hey Spike? Did you talk all the time in your world?" Spike gave him a sarcastic laugh.
"Only when I wanted to annoy you," he replied "But y'know what was funny? In my world, you got a soul." He atually laughed genuinely at the expression on Angelus' face. Darla was watching Drusilla carefully and noted their plan was working. If they bombarded her mind enough with talk of his world, her hold on them would slip and they could escape. "And you were the Slayer's first love."
"You'd better be lying to me, boy." Angelus growled dangerously.
"No, it's the truth!" Spike protested, he nodded to Dru "Innit, pet?" She suddenly screamed, clutching her head, and the hypnosis failed on two of the vampires, who scurried off. Unfortunately, Spike wasn't one of those two. Now he was left alone with a psychotic vampire who wanted to kill him. Great. Just bloody brilliant.
There it was. The factory. Not a particularly grand building, what with it's crumbling walls and all, but it was still menacing. For the millionth time that day, Buffy found herself remembering things from someone else's mind. She and Giles hadn't burned this to the ground, but her thoughts insisted that was what had happened. From the look on Dawn's face, she was experiencing the same.
"So he's in there, huh?" The Slayer muttered, trying to sound casual. Dawn nodded mutely. "And we're going in to save him, aren't we?" Another nod. "I knew he'd be trouble."
"Didn't you want to kill Spike?" Her little sister asked. It was Buffy's turn to nod.
"Past tense being the key thing in that sentence." she said with a sigh. "It's just I keep getting all these feelings which so aren't mine, and I can't do it. I know I can't kill him." Dawn murmered an agreement. She turned to her sister and forced a smile.
"So, what do you say we go in there and save a vampire from another dimension from his psycho ex who's suffering from voices in her head?" She asked with a strange cheeriness to her tone. Buffy linked her arm in Dawn's.
"Our lives are different from other peoples." she commented drily before slowly pushing the door open and stepping cautiously inside.
Spike's voice reached the pair first as they crept silently through the factories many rooms, trying it's most persuasive tone, but sounding just that little bit worried and apprehensive.
"C'mon, pet," he drawled with a gulp "Y' don't wanna do this. Just think about what I said before. Y' could come to my world where none of the nasty voices could trouble y' ever again." In fact, this was a blatant lie. In his own dimension she still experienced the exact same thing, but he wasn't going to tell her that. Not when she was casually playing with a stake and practising how she'd kill him. Drusilla looked up at him and cocked her head to one side.
"I'd be all alone?" she asked in a sing-song voice, motioning to her head. He nodded hurredly. "Why do you lie to me like this?" Dru wailed, apparently seeing through his deception. Spike cursed under his breath. Now he was done for. She'd hated being lied to before, now she had been lied to whilst having the desire to kill him. That was never good.
"Just let me go." Spike growled, suddenly sounding very stern and very angry "Undo whatever magic you've got workin' on me and let me walk out of here. 'Cause if y' don't -"
"You'll what?" Drusilla scoffed. He almost jumped in surprise. This was a totally new side of her, to him anyway, and it was so out of character that he was shocked. This wasn't his Drusilla. With that realisation, Spike's mind conceeded defeat. He would have been able to turn his Dru around, but this wasn't his Dru. This was someone esle. And this person was raising a stake above her head and about to strike. He took a last breath and suddenly thought what his last words should be. Something ironic? Something sarcastic? Something poetic? Something sincere? Or maybe something like -
"Jesus!" A warm hand took a firm grasp of his shoulder and he literally jumped with surprise. But the stake was still descending. Spike turned to see the owner of the hand was Buffy and they looked straight in each other's eyes. Then, there was black...