[ ] denotes thoughts
**********
Epilogue
Buffy's house
Buffy trotted up her porch steps. [I hope mom didn't notice I was gone. The last thing I need is more trouble after tonight.] She cracked the door open carefully hoping her mom wasn't still awake.
The door handle was jerked out of her grasp as the door flew open. Standing on the other side was a very pissed and worried Joyce Summers.
"Buffy! What do you think you were doing being out this late?" Joyce ushered her daughter into the house without a spoken invitation. Quickly, the door was locked once more leaving mother and daughter standing in the entranceway.
"I was worried sick about you! Why didn't you tell me where you were going? Or even that you were going?" Joyce pressed.
"I knew you wouldn't let me go tonight if you knew." Buffy countered.
"Of course I wouldn't! You should know that this isn't the best time to go out at night!"
"Yeah, I know because I have to live with it! You don't!" Buffy screamed and felt the anger stir somthing within. She ran up to her room crying and slammed the door shut. Collapsing on her bed, she clasped the silver cross around her neck. [Please, Xander. You have to be able to help me. I can't keep this up.]
Sleep slowly overcame her, and her dreams were filled of the handsome boy with chocolate eyes.
***
In an abandoned factory
"Bloody wanker!" Spike fumed as he attempted to wipe the extinguisher residue off of his jacket.
"Spoike, did you bring me my kitten?" Drusilla crooned out from the shadows.
Spike lost a bit of his anger when he turned to speak to the insane vampiress. "No, pet, I didn't. I'll get you your kitten soon enough."
Drusilla walked out of the shadowed corner cradling a small porcelain doll that had a cloth blindfold over her eyes. She glided over to her lover swaying to music that only she could hear, but when her eyes caught on Spike she stopped and tilted her head to one side.
"You went to play in the snow without me," Drusilla pouted. She set the doll on the nearby table and moved closer to him brushing one index finger off the top of the other in a 'you've been bad' gesture. "Naughty Spoike. Leaving me home alone while you have fun."
Spike glanced down at white mixture still clinging to his clothes. "Sorry, pet. I'll make it up to you," he pulled her close and gave her an evil grin. "How's a nice spot of torture sound, Dru?"
She giggled happily in his arms. "Oh, can we get one of kitten's friends? Miss Edith wants to play with the one whose hair flows like blood."
"We'll see, pet," Spike whispered in her ear.
"I take it the Slayer isn't dead, then?"
The vampiric pair turned at the sound of the child's voice. "Not yet. Got interrupted before I could finish her," Spike told the child.
"I wanted her dead before the end of the week. I thought that you were the best at this," Colin sneered.
"I am," Spike stated and disentangled himself from Drusilla. "And I have just the thing I need to finish her off."
He lead the child vampire into an outer room as Drusilla trailed behind. Within, there was a large cage installed in the center of the room, but the rest of the room was empty. The door was open on one side of the iron prison. Colin looked over the room searching for anything hidden and finally settled his gaze on the cage.
"This? You're gonna have to beat the Slayer first before you can put her in there," Colin sneered at the older vampire.
"Oh, that isn't for the slayer," Spike said with a small smirk.
"Then what's it for?" Colin asked with a risen brow.
"This," came Spike's reply. He rushed the small vampire and grabbed him by the neck tossing him within the cage. He swiftly closed and locked the door, trapping Colin within.
"What do you think you are doing!?!" Colin shouted.
"Well," Spike drawled, walking to the nearby curtain. "I figure that I'll need control over all the vampires in Sunnydale to beat the Slayer. Control that I can't have while you are still around."
"Wait... Spike...," Colin called out panicked.
Spike merely sneered at him and opened the curtain bathing the cage in sunlight. Colin's flesh began to blacken and burn as the sunlight scalded him. In a matter of seconds, he was just another pile of dust on the floor. Spike closed the curtain again and walked back over to Drusilla, who was standing carefully in the shadowed doorway.
"Come on, pet. Let's go see what's on the telly," Spike said as he lead her away from the room.
***
Elsewhere
"Well?"
"Nothing much to tell. I've been accepted by the group and it should only be a matter of time before I bring him to us. We will need to set up something big to drive a wedge between him and his group. You know how loyal he can be. If we can 'prove' that they don't deserve it, then he'll come running to us."
"Good. Anything else?"
"Just one thing. There seems to be someone else who has caught Xander's attention."
"Who?"
"Buffy Summers. He seems to care about her but I don't know how much. She might cause problems because she really isn't part of the group and he might go to her if we get him away from his friends."
Silence fell on the room as the spy waited for the other's reply.
"Get close to her. Better to keep an eye on her now and see that she doesn't become a problem. And if she does... Well, she could make for the perfect wedge to throw between Xander and his new friends. Especially if she died because of them," the other finished with a cruel grin passing across their features.
**********
End Epilogue
***
It might be a bit between this story and the next. I want to concentrate
on finishing Knight's Haven first before I start working on the next story
in this AU. I apologize profusely (in advance) for making you wait.