Disclaimer: I do not own Buffyverse or anything else you may recognize
So now a break chapter before things get truly dark.
Also, many people wanted me to do 'Fool For Love' alongside 'Darla', but I didn't want to do the whole episode so I made the best compromise I could- in this break chapter, we will see the Spike flashback bits of 'Fool For Love', up until Spike kills his first Slayer that is, and hope all enjoy the reactions once more.
Chapter 36- Break VII
So now a break chapter before things get truly dark.
Dawnster ran into the dining room, Buffy chasing her, and grasped her by the shoulders. "You're not getting away this time, young lady."
"What's the matter?" Summers asked, shaking her head.
"Eunuch", Dawnster simply shrugged.
"What? Where?" Harris wondered, looking around.
"She slept with one", Tara said, gesturing to Buffy, who let Dawn go and turned to Tara with a glare and gasp.
"Ah, right, yeah, we still wonder how that happened", Dawn nodded with a smirk as Summers turned to glare at her, and next moment, Dawn was off her chair and at the door, Summers shrugging.
"Some things never change, do they?" Willow asked as all sat down.
"Not here", Maclay told her as Dawn slowly came back to her seat, then shifted it away from Summers for good measure.
"Hey, it's not my fault your first was a eunuch", Dawn shrugged, measuring the distance from where she was to the door as Summers acted like she was gonna leap at her, making Dawn jump back and fall down as all laughed once more.
"See?" Rosenberg said, gesturing to the future versions of the Summers sisters as there was more laughter, and Dawn got up, sitting back down.
"Please tell me the next recording is this fun", Xander begged, and all the future people shared grim looks. "Oh!"
"The next funny one is going to be, I think 10 or 11 recordings later", Summers said from memory.
"And after that?" Willow asked
"After that the remaining recordings for year 2 are all fun", Maclay assured as the past people sighed in relief.
"And before that….." Tara trailed off.
"So bad you're gonna need us to explain stuff to you", Rosenberg said to her, and they all had a feeling they knew what bad thing was gonna happen now.
"Why does he want to help Darla?" Buffy then asked as they all started eating. "After what she did to him? She even hurt my mom and tried to get him to kill me. So why would he want to help her after all of that?"
"Because it's not as simple as you think", Summers explained to Buffy. "Or as simple as I thought."
"So, she's not just his crazy, evil ex?" Buffy asked.
"She is, but she is much more than that", Summers explained. "A Vampire and their sire, they always have some sort of a bond."
"It's deep, it's psychological, you would have seen it with Angel and Penn", Maclay reminded.
"Yeah, Angel was having dreams of murdering people that Penn killed", Xander nodded as they all remembered that.
"I think you must have gotten the point for why Angel does everything he does", Summers said to Buffy.
"Redemption", Rosenberg spoke up from where she was sitting.
"Yes, all of his actions seem to be a way to make up for everything he did wrong when he was Angelus", Giles agreed. "And that prophecy as well."
"He stopped caring about the prophecy after a certain point, it doesn't even come into play much until like, 3 years later", Summers told him. "Anyway, he sees Darla as someone to be redeemed too."
"I had a feeling that's what it was", Willow said, since Angel's desire always seemed to be to help other lost people find the right path.
"He thinks she can be redeemed?" Buffy asked, surprised.
"She's human, she has a soul too now", Summers pointed out. "We don't blame Angel or Ensouled Spike for what they did without their souls, do we? Because we know they are different people with their souls, changed men."
"But Darla is still trying to play with Angel", Buffy said, more to convince herself Darla was still evil rather than because she actually believed it.
"Let's see, Angel was in a depression over his actions for years, Spike moped in a school basement for weeks and was almost driven crazy, Darla is trying to distract herself by trying to get under Angel's skin", Summers pointed out to her younger self once more. "She feels guilt for everything she has done, she is just not facing it yet."
"She is as much a victim of Wolfram and Hart as Angel and his team are", Maclay summed up for the past people. "They are manipulating and using her for their own needs."
"They will discard her like trash if she proves to be of no use to them", Dawn agreed.
"I'm feeling bad for her hearing all this", Dawnster muttered.
"No one was there to help Angel deal with his guilt over what he did when he got his soul back, not even Darla", Summers told them all. "But he doesn't want Darla to go through the same thing. So he wants to help her deal with the guilt, like how he helped Faith."
"Perhaps he thinks redeeming her can also, in a way, help redeem himself", Giles realized and she nodded.
"Yeah, that would be it, it's all about redemption with him, as well as everyone around him", Summers said.
"It always has been", Buffy nodded, knowing he had started trying to redeem himself when they had first met, but she had never known that he tried to redeem others to help them the way no one helped him. He was a much better person than anyone of them really gave him credit for.
"So, from next recording onwards we are gonna see him try to redeem Darla?" Xander asked.
"Yeah, the next few will be about it, then things are gonna get worse, because they always do", Rosenberg said dryly with a shrug. "Seriously, it was almost as bad as what we were facing in the year."
"An evil Hellgod, and mom's health", Buffy said with a sigh. "I feel bad for not staying in touch that much, maybe we could have corrected some stuff if we had stayed in touch."
"You still have a chance, maybe this is your way of redeeming yourself", Maclay told her, and she nodded, hoping they could help out Team Angel in preventing the mess when they were sent back to their own time periods.
"Yes, this could be it", Tara agreed, and by then, the food was finished.
"So, you'll be watching with us tomorrow then, huh", Giles said.
"Yeah, 9th recording onwards till the 16th one", Summers said. "Because those are the important ones."
"Actually, there's a little bit we need to watch today, before the next recording for Angel", Rosenberg told them.
"What exactly?" Buffy asked, confused.
"Well, next one is a flashback recording from Angel's point of view, but we have another version of it from Spike's point of view, we wanted you to see that too", Maclay explained to them.
"Why Spike?" Xander groaned.
"It's sort of important", Harris told him.
"How long is it?" Tara asked.
"It is long, but we will only see the bits of Spike in flashbacks", Summers told them all.
"I guess we can watch it right now", Willow shrugged.
"Yeah, let's go then", Buffy said.
With that, they all got up as Dawn and Dawnster shared a naughty look, and then said together to their sisters. "So, eunu-"
Buffy jokingly raised her hands as if to choke Dawnster when Summers quipped to them. "We've a balcony here."
"Ah, right", Buffy nodded, giving the two younger sisters a mock look as they gave an over-exaggerated gasp, then walked off.
Then they were back in the viewing room as Buffy handed the remote to Summers, who skimmed through recordings before finding the one. "This is it."
In 1880, in London, in a Victorian Parlor at night, a very different Spike was sitting and composing poetry off in the corner of a dinner party. The spirited laughter of the party-goers could be heard. Spike's hair was long and unruly and he was dressed as a proper gentleman, complete with tie and reading spectacles. He was awkward and bookish. He even asked a waiter a word for 'gleaming' but the waiter walked off.
The past people were completely thrown off by what they'd just seen it.
"That's…..Spike?" Buffy asked, finally finding her voice.
"No, that's William", Summers corrected her.
"He's a nerd?" Xander asked.
"Well, yeah", Harris shrugged.
"Wow, I thought he was always that cool kind of guy", Dawnster commented.
"Well, he was intelligent, but treated like trash", Rosenberg said to them.
"He looks like you", Xander said to Giles.
"No, I look better", Giles said indignantly.
"Just watch", Tara said.
Spike's eyes were drawn to a young woman just entering the party. "Cecily..." He turned back to his poem with renewed purpose and jotted down several more lines, then got up and moved through the crowd toward her.
Dawnster started. "Isn't that…"
"Yes, it is Halfrek, the Vengeance Demon to whom we made a wish", Dawn confirmed with a nod, shocking the rest.
"So, Spike, he-" Buffy started.
"Yeah, his first love was a Vengeance Demon, and he had no idea she was one", Summers confirmed.
"So, she was here on a mission then?" Willow asked.
"We believe she was", Rosenberg confirmed.
A group of young aristocrats- a woman and her two male companions- were gathered, discussing current events of some disappearance, and asked William about it to which he said he preferred to create things of beauty. One aristocrat snatched his poem and read it, laughing at 'Effulgent'. Everyone laughed, mocking William. Uncomfortable, Cecily glanced at William and walked off.
"Oh come on! At least he tried!" Buffy snapped, angry at these people for how they were treating William, and the rest were just as dumbfounded as she was. They had never thought they'd see this side of Spike.
"They can't create, so they mock what others create", Tara told her.
"Yeah, that is true", Maclay agreed with a nod.
"The poem wasn't the best, but effort was put into it", Giles said, not ashamed of supporting this version of Spike since it was human.
However, he still hated Vamp Spike, soul or no soul, and he had no idea what Buffy saw in him.
"Poor Spike", Dawnster commented, then asked.
"Yeah, it's pathetic how they treated him", Dawn agreed.
William shot the man a sour look, snatched back his poem, and followed her. "And that's actually one of his better compositions", the other man said. "Have you heard? They call him William the Bloody because of his bloody awful poetry!" The woman said. "It suits him", the other man said. "I'd rather have a railroad spike through my head than listen to that awful stuff!"
"And I'd rather listen to that over your shallow yammering", Buffy sneered, feeling bad for how Spike was being treated here. And then a painful realization hit her.
When Spike had said she treated him like a man, it wasn't because he appreciated her treating him better, she didn't treat him too well until he'd protected the information about Dawn.
It was because she treated him how these people treated him when he was a man, like trash. When he was a monster, he was feared and revered.
But she treated him like these people did, and it made him feel less like a monster and more like a man because it took him back to the days he was treated like trash.
Maybe it was a good thing for soulless Spike, but it made her see herself back then in a not-very flattering light.
Summers noticed her expression for a second, and realized what she was feeling, since she had the same realization on watching this.
"So Spike is…me", Xander realized, not having expected that.
"Got that right", Harris told him with a nod.
William approached Cecily who was sitting on a sofa, away from the main party, and looking out the window. "Cecily?" She turned and sighed when she saw him. "Oh. Leave me alone", she said. William referred to the other guests. "Oh, they're vulgarians. They're not like you and I." "You and I?" Cecily asked. "I'm going to ask you a very personal question and I demand an honest answer. Do you understand?" He nodded. "Your poetry, it's... they're... not written about me, are they?" She asked. "They're about how I feel", William said, avoiding a straight answer. "Yes, but are they about me?" She asked. "Every syllable", he confessed. "Oh, God!" She said. "Oh, I know... it's sudden and... please, if they're no good, they're only words but... the feeling behind them... I love you, Cecily", William confessed with all honesty. "Please stop!" Cecily scoffed. William begged. "I know I'm a bad poet but I'm a good man and all I ask is that... that you try to see me-" "I do see you. That's the problem", Cecily said as William felt his heart break at her words. "You're nothing to me, William. You're beneath me." She stood and walked off, leaving William devastated and alone.
Buffy was even more horrified now, remembering saying the same thing to him, and she realized it'd have taken him back into that moment.
Also, it did prove the 'treat me like a man' thing right.
"Instead of rebuffing him like that, you could have gently rejected him", Tara sighed. "It's not like he was behaving like a creep."
"Yeah, writing poetry for someone you love is beautiful", Willow agreed there.
"Well, you know, Vengeance Demons, they're cynical about that stuff", Dawn pointed out to them.
"Having been in love with the best one for a good part of my life, I can testify to that", Harris agreed there.
"Yup", Xander nodded.
"These people are quite the hooligans, and coming from, it says something", Giles told the rest, not having expected to see old England people like this.
Later William staggered down the street in tears, ripping up his poems as he went. He bumped into a passerby and dropped the pages. "Watch where you're going!" He gathered up the torn sheets and made his way toward a nearby alleyway. Later William was sitting on a bale of hay and finishing the job of destroying his poetry. He looked up at the sound of a woman's voice to find Drusilla standing serenely in the dark alley with him. She said. "And I wonder... what possible catastrophe came crashing down from heaven and brought this dashing stranger to tears?" "Nothing. I wish to be alone", William said, his heart still hurting. "Oh, I see you", Drusilla said. "A man surrounded by fools who cannot see his strength, his vision, his glory." He looked up at her as she said. "That and burning baby fish swimming all around your head."
"Drusilla", Buffy whispered, as everyone realized what they were going to see.
"Are we going to see…..?" Dawnster asked, and the future people's looks were answer enough.
"Well damn!" Xander quipped as all watched, tense.
William backed away from her, nervous. "That's quite close enough. I've heard tales of London pickpockets. You'll not be getting my purse, I tell you." "Don't need a purse", Drusilla smiled. She pointed to his heart and head in succession. "Your wealth lies here... and here. In the spirit and... imagination." She explained. "You walk in worlds the others can't begin to imagine." William was riveted by her insight into his character. "Oh, yes! I mean, no. I mean... mother's expecting me." Drusilla opened the collar of his shirt. "I see what you want. Something glowing and glistening. Something... effulgent." William was beside himself. Finally someone who understood him. "Effulgent", he repeated. "Do you want it?" She asked. William had never wanted anything more. "Oh, yes!" He touched her chest. "God, yes." Drusilla looked down for a moment as her face changed and her fangs descended. William reacted, more confused than afraid. She pulled back his shirt collar and buried her fangs in his neck. William cried out in pain but his cries quickly turned to moans of pleasure as Drusilla ended his human existence.
"Spike", Buffy whispered, now having witnessed his birth as well alongside Angelus'.
"So she was smitten with him from the start", Willow noted, disturbed.
"The passers-by he bumped into, they were Angelus, Darla and Drusilla", Summers revealed, shocking them all. "And in the next Angel recording, you'll be seeing this from their point of view."
"So him bumping into her was enough to make her bite him?" Xander asked and got nods. "Oh boy!"
"Vampires", Giles scoffed.
"Now we're skimming through some of this", Summers said as she picked up the remote and skipped some stuff before reaching an important part.
In Yorkshire, England, 1880, a coal mine, Angelus had Spike by the throat, choking him as Darla and Drusilla stood to his either side. Eventually, Angelus released him as he and Darla called Spike out for trying to get attention, because of which they were in a mine shaft now.
"So, they don't get along, why am I not surprised?" Xander quipped.
"They have different approaches, Angelus likes torturing, Spike likes fighting", Maclay explained. "And those two don't mesh."
"Which leads to this", Tara realized.
Spike took a deep swig from a wine bottle. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I sully our good name? We're vampires." "All the more reason to use a certain amount of finesse", Angelus argued. "Bollocks!" Spike spat out. "That stuff's for the frilly cuffs-and-collars crowd. I'll take a good brawl any day." Angelus approached Spike menacingly. "And every time you do, we become the hunted." Darla said in a sing-song voice to Drusilla. "I think our boys are going to fight." Drusilla clapped her hands giddily and said. "The King of Cups expects a picnic! But this is not his birthday." Darla looked at Drusilla like she was crazy. "Good point..."
"Is what she said relevant?" Dawnster asked, creeped out by her, as usual.
"Nah, but we're not sure, as usual", Rosenberg sighed, since some of Drusilla's ramblings did come true as well.
"So, is there gonna be a fight?" Xander asked.
"Yeah, but not a huge one", Summers said.
Spike said to Angelus. "Yeah, you know what I prefer to being hunted? Getting caught." "That's a brilliant strategy really... pure cunning", Angelus mocked. "Sod off!" Spike laughed. "Come on. When was the last time you unleashed it? All out fight in a mob, back against the wall, nothing but fists and fangs? Don't you ever get tired of fights you know you're going to win?" "No. A real kill. A good kill. It takes pure artistry", Angelus told Spike what he preferred. "Without that, we're just animals." "Poofter!" Spike said. Angelus shoved Spike and the fight was on. Angelus snapped a metal rod in half, lifted Spike up and slammed him down on his back, raising the makeshift stake. Spike stopped it inches from his heart and smiled up at Angelus. "Now you're gettin' it!" Angelus dropped the rod and backed off. "You can't keep this up forever. If I can't teach you, maybe someday an angry crowd will. That... or the Slayer." Spike sat up, suddenly interested. "What's a Slayer?"
"He didn't know about one before this?" Xander asked.
"No, Angelus is the one who told him about one, and since then he was obsessed", Buffy said as all looked at her. "This part of his story, he told me in clear, proper detail."
"Yeah, from this point on, he was obsessed, and it led him to kill 2", Summers said grimly.
"So Angelus is pushing him then", Dawnster realized.
"Let's just say if not for Angelus, Spike would have been a bad Vampire, but not the 2nd worst one", Maclay said to them, and once more, the implications were shocking for them, since they'd never considered that Spike could have been less bad before Angelus.
"Drusilla turned him, but Angelus was his Yoda", Harris gave them the perfect analogy, only shocking them more.
"What's a Yoda?" Giles asked and all shot him horrified glares.
"We're watching Star Wars after getting back", Xander told him.
"All of us", Tara added. "With you."
Giles sighed. "Is it more American tr-"
"Don't finish that sentence!" Xander and Harris raised their fingers together, and for the first time in his life, Giles was scared of them.
"All right, I yield", Giles said finally and all nodded firmly, and he realized he'd be watching this 'Star Wars' franchise really soon.
"Now I guess we need to skip more", Rosenberg said to Summers.
"Yeah", Summers said, skipping some more of it before they reached the important part.
In China, 1900, in a Buddhist temple, during the Boxer Rebellion at night, Spike and the Slayer were fighting. She was young, diminutive Chinese girl, adept at martial arts and swordsmanship. She kicked Spike back and whipped her sword at his head. He ducked but not quite quick enough. The blade split the skin over his left eyebrow and blood ran down his face. Spike was enjoying himself immensely. Outside, fires burned as panicked villagers fled in every direction, their belongings and farm animals in tow.
"That's the boxer rebellion, isn't it?" Willow asked and got nods.
"Yeah, that was where Spike killed his first Slayer", Dawn told them all grimly, as they watched the battle tense, this being the first time they would see a Slayer get killed in a fight properly.
Explosions could be heard not too far distant. Spike dodged another blow from the Slayer's sword. "Just like I pictured it. This good for you?" He asked her. The Slayer charged him, sword whickering through the air in a deadly blur. Spike dodged every swing and viciously backhanded the girl, breaking her grip on the sword. The Slayer went hand-to-hand with Spike, landing several kicks and punches to his head, serving only to further enrage the vampire. He beat her back but began to lose ground again. The Slayer backed him up against a support column and pinned him there, her foot to his throat. She raised a stake, poised to strike the killing blow, when an explosion outside blasted part of the temple wall inward, the concussion breaking her hold on Spike. Spike went on the offensive, knocking the stake from her hand. As the Slayer bent to retrieve it, Spike seized her arm and wrenched it up behind her back. He pulled the hapless girl to him and sunk his fangs deep into her neck. The Slayer gasped in pain as her life drained away. Spike turned the dying girl toward him. She spoke to him in Chinese. " Tell my mother I'm sorry... " "I'm sorry, love, I don't speak Chinese", Spike gave a mock apology. She died and Spike threw her to the ground like so much refuse. Panting heavily, he licked his lips with pleasure. "A fella could get used to this."
Their eyes were wide in horror as Buffy whispered. "So that's how he killed his first one."
"That secret death wish and an explosion", Summers told her grimly.
"He did hold his own pretty well for a Vampire", Willow said, trying to keep the disturbed tone out of her voice, and mostly failing.
"He is an obsessed monster", Giles commented on Spike, and he was right, since at this point, Spike was just that.
"He always was", Xander shrugged, and Buffy chose to let it slide for now.
Spike stared down at the Slayer's corpse as Drusilla glided into the temple. "Oh, Spike, look at the wonderful mess you've made. That's a Slayer you've done in", Drusilla said, now excited and turned on. "Naughty... wicked... Spike." She held out her hand and Spike approached, lust in his eyes. He grabbed Drusilla up in his arms and looked into her eyes. "You ever hear them saying the blood of a Slayer is a powerful aphrodisiac?" She looked at him, wanton hunger in her eyes. "Here, now... have a taste." He held his blood-covered finger up and she seductively sucked on it, moaning with pleasure. Spike grinned and picked her up, pushing her against the wall and kissing her passionately. She eagerly responded, pulling at his clothes as they sank to the floor in each other's embrace.
Everyone turned away, disturbed and disgusted. Buffy and Summers knew Spike had got off on it, but that didn't make it any less hard to watch.
"Yeeesh" was Xander's only response.
Later, Chinese village Houses burnt brightly as the terrified villagers fled the looters. Spike and Drusilla walked arm-in-arm through the violence, smiling and whispering to each other. They met Darla and Angel, the four of them forming an incongruous picture of calm amid the panic and terrified screams around them. "So where have you two been?" Darla asked Spike and Drusilla. "May I tell?" Drusilla asked Spike seductively. "No need to be humble", he said. Drusilla said to Darla with some pride in her voice. "My little Spike just killed himself a Slayer." Angel looked him up and down, his face expressionless. "Congratulations", he said emotionlessly. "I guess that makes you one of us." "Don't be so glum, mate!" Spike assured him. "The way you tell it, one Slayer snuffs it, another one rises. I figure there's a new Chosen One getting all chosen as we speak. I tell you what... when and if this new bird does show up, I'll give you first crack at her."
"Why is Angel here?" Buffy asked in shock, speaking for all of them.
"Yeah, isn't it after he got his soul back?" Willow asked too, remembering the date.
"Is he trying to be evil again?" Xander asked.
"He had his reasons for being here, you'll see soon", Summers told them.
"They weren't anything bad, right?" Giles asked.
"Depends on your perspective", Maclay shrugged.
"If he partook in this madness with a soul….." Giles trailed off.
"Did you see him do it?" Rosenberg asked and he shut up.
"Let's just watch then", Willow sighed.
Drusilla's attention was suddenly drawn to something behind Angel. "I smell fear." "Yeah, this whole place reeks of it", Angel said. Drusilla sank into Spike's arms, ecstatic. "It's intoxicating!" Angel took Darla by the arm. "Let's get out of here. This rebellion's starting to bore me." Spike and Drusilla reveled in the misery around them, laughing in each other's arms, before following Angel and Darla into the night. All four members of the Whirlwind walked side by side, from right to left- Angel, Darla, Spike and Drusilla. There was an obstacle in Spike's way and he jumped over it, landing on the other side as the four continued walking, while Spike felt like a new man.
Summers then stopped the recording and said. "There's a lot more, but figured these were the important bits you needed to see from Spike's point of view before we got to Angel's."
"Yeah, we got those", Buffy muttered, nodding. "There's no more then?"
"No", Maclay assured.
"So, want to rest now?" Rosenberg asked.
"Yeah, I do", Xander said, still disturbed by 'nerd Spike'.
With that, they got up and moved their separate ways, the past people still thinking about William and Spike.
And with this break done (does it count as a break if they see a recording?), we're gonna move into some dark and messed up shit in the next few episodes as Dark Angel (or Dick Angel) rises.
Hope the reactions to Spike's backstory were enjoyed too.
Anyway, hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter. Stay safe from the coronavirus ya all!