Butterfly
Part I
It was 10:00 PM, and Buffy was hanging with her friends at the Bronze after an unusually quiet night on patrol. She looked around her, and everybody was there. Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya, Spike...Spike?! "What are you doing here?" she asked to the vampire sitting next to her with as much hatred as she could manage. He wasn't there a second ago, and it drove her crazy how he always managed to just pop in so surprisingly and without anyone noticing. Of course, the second anyone did notice him they kicked him out the door...or through him out a window. She smiled at the sweet memory of the look on his face after the robot girl did just that a few weeks ago. "There now, love," he said with an obnoxious smile and that mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "I knew you would be happy to see me, or you wouldn't have that pretty smile of yours on, now would you?" His words quickly turned her smile into a frown. Xander stood up, then. "Alright, Spike, I think it's time you left Buffy alone." "Xander, sit down, I can handle this." Buffy said. "You know what your problem is Spike?" "I'm betting you're gonna tell me," He put in with a sigh, seemingly getting ready for a "dance," as he liked to call their both verbal and physical sparring matches. "Your problem is you don't know when to quit. I mean, a psychopath like Drusilla has enough sense to dump you, and you're still wallowin' about after her when it's been like, two years. And then there's Harmony. Come on, you and I both know she has about as much sense as a peanut. So now, you're "in love" with me, which disgusts me more then you could ever imagine. What part of 'I want you out!' do you not understand? Or, even better, what part of 'You're beneath me.' Do you not understand?! No, you're even more then beneath me. You're beneath anything with the sense to walk away from you. So just...go, Spike. Leave. Before I get really angry." She said it quietly, almost in a whisper, but her voice was as cold as ice. Spike just stared at her in utter shock and horror. In fact, everybody was. Tara, Anya, Willow, and Xander...none of them had ever really seen this side of Buffy before. They hadn't really known she had a cruel side until tonight. Not that cruel anyway. 'How can this little bit' hurt me, William the Bloody, in such a way...that it hurts even more then with Cecily and Dru...' Spike thought to himself. He realized they were all looking at him, waiting for a response. Buffy and the Scoobies, that is. He searched for one of those quick, sharp comebacks he was always so good at, but found nothing. His mind was blank, and for once he didn't have anything to say. So he said nothing, but was determined not to leave the Bronze all defeated either. 'I may have a chip in my head,' he thought, 'and I may have just been rejected by Buffy again, but I still have my pride! And I am not gonna leave here all wishy-washy and defeated, certainly not!" He got up, and walked over to the bar, sat where he was still in clear view of the whole gang and Buffy, and ordered a drink. "Boy," Tara said looking sympathetically in Spike's direction, "that was really harsh, Buffy." "Yeah," Xander agreed, and then with an equally harsh laugh said, "Go, Buff!" "Definitely deserves a pat on the back." Willow added with a smile. Anya nodded. Buffy shrugged an oh-it-was-nothing shrug, and smiled at them. Tara stared at them all in disbelief. "How can you all not feel bad? I mean, I know he's not human and that he used to be evil and all, but still, Buffy, I-It looks like you broke his heart!" She pointed a finger in Spike's direction. "I...I don't know about that." Buffy said, shifting in her seat, uncomfortable from the accusation, and the guilt that came with it. "Yeah," Xander said with much more confidence in his voice then Buffy had a minute ago, "Spike doesn't have a heart." He glared at the figure over at the bar section of the bronze, but Spike was facing away from him and didn't notice. Buffy looked in his direction just in time to see Spike finish his drink and throw the glass against the wall, shattering it, in his agitation. He got a few stares from people for it, but much stranger things had happened in the Bronze, so over all nobody paid much attention. "You know you're gonna have to pay for that." The bartender said. "Hey, sod off, mate!" Spike growled, but seeing the frightened look on the man's face, he added "Just put it on my bill." He turned just as a song ended to see Buffy looking at him with a look of...what was it? Regret? Just then, the idea hit him. He smiled an evil smile at Buffy and waved mockingly. Buffy, seeing she was caught, scowled at him and turned away. 'Uh-oh.' She thought with dread, 'what does he have planned up his sleeve now?' Watching from the corner of her eye, she saw him go over to the guy who was just about to start singing again, negotiate something with him, and hand him a few twenties. Her feeling of dread intensified.
Part I
It was 10:00 PM, and Buffy was hanging with her friends at the Bronze after an unusually quiet night on patrol. She looked around her, and everybody was there. Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya, Spike...Spike?! "What are you doing here?" she asked to the vampire sitting next to her with as much hatred as she could manage. He wasn't there a second ago, and it drove her crazy how he always managed to just pop in so surprisingly and without anyone noticing. Of course, the second anyone did notice him they kicked him out the door...or through him out a window. She smiled at the sweet memory of the look on his face after the robot girl did just that a few weeks ago. "There now, love," he said with an obnoxious smile and that mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "I knew you would be happy to see me, or you wouldn't have that pretty smile of yours on, now would you?" His words quickly turned her smile into a frown. Xander stood up, then. "Alright, Spike, I think it's time you left Buffy alone." "Xander, sit down, I can handle this." Buffy said. "You know what your problem is Spike?" "I'm betting you're gonna tell me," He put in with a sigh, seemingly getting ready for a "dance," as he liked to call their both verbal and physical sparring matches. "Your problem is you don't know when to quit. I mean, a psychopath like Drusilla has enough sense to dump you, and you're still wallowin' about after her when it's been like, two years. And then there's Harmony. Come on, you and I both know she has about as much sense as a peanut. So now, you're "in love" with me, which disgusts me more then you could ever imagine. What part of 'I want you out!' do you not understand? Or, even better, what part of 'You're beneath me.' Do you not understand?! No, you're even more then beneath me. You're beneath anything with the sense to walk away from you. So just...go, Spike. Leave. Before I get really angry." She said it quietly, almost in a whisper, but her voice was as cold as ice. Spike just stared at her in utter shock and horror. In fact, everybody was. Tara, Anya, Willow, and Xander...none of them had ever really seen this side of Buffy before. They hadn't really known she had a cruel side until tonight. Not that cruel anyway. 'How can this little bit' hurt me, William the Bloody, in such a way...that it hurts even more then with Cecily and Dru...' Spike thought to himself. He realized they were all looking at him, waiting for a response. Buffy and the Scoobies, that is. He searched for one of those quick, sharp comebacks he was always so good at, but found nothing. His mind was blank, and for once he didn't have anything to say. So he said nothing, but was determined not to leave the Bronze all defeated either. 'I may have a chip in my head,' he thought, 'and I may have just been rejected by Buffy again, but I still have my pride! And I am not gonna leave here all wishy-washy and defeated, certainly not!" He got up, and walked over to the bar, sat where he was still in clear view of the whole gang and Buffy, and ordered a drink. "Boy," Tara said looking sympathetically in Spike's direction, "that was really harsh, Buffy." "Yeah," Xander agreed, and then with an equally harsh laugh said, "Go, Buff!" "Definitely deserves a pat on the back." Willow added with a smile. Anya nodded. Buffy shrugged an oh-it-was-nothing shrug, and smiled at them. Tara stared at them all in disbelief. "How can you all not feel bad? I mean, I know he's not human and that he used to be evil and all, but still, Buffy, I-It looks like you broke his heart!" She pointed a finger in Spike's direction. "I...I don't know about that." Buffy said, shifting in her seat, uncomfortable from the accusation, and the guilt that came with it. "Yeah," Xander said with much more confidence in his voice then Buffy had a minute ago, "Spike doesn't have a heart." He glared at the figure over at the bar section of the bronze, but Spike was facing away from him and didn't notice. Buffy looked in his direction just in time to see Spike finish his drink and throw the glass against the wall, shattering it, in his agitation. He got a few stares from people for it, but much stranger things had happened in the Bronze, so over all nobody paid much attention. "You know you're gonna have to pay for that." The bartender said. "Hey, sod off, mate!" Spike growled, but seeing the frightened look on the man's face, he added "Just put it on my bill." He turned just as a song ended to see Buffy looking at him with a look of...what was it? Regret? Just then, the idea hit him. He smiled an evil smile at Buffy and waved mockingly. Buffy, seeing she was caught, scowled at him and turned away. 'Uh-oh.' She thought with dread, 'what does he have planned up his sleeve now?' Watching from the corner of her eye, she saw him go over to the guy who was just about to start singing again, negotiate something with him, and hand him a few twenties. Her feeling of dread intensified.