Chapter 3
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Sunnydale
Spike's Mansion
"Bloody fucking hell!" Spike yelled at nobody in particular as he
threw the phone across the room. All his guests looked at him in surprise,
and suddenly the room fell completely silent. "Riley!" he bellowed.
As the recently-turned vampire hurried over, Spike said, "Your twit
of a childe got herself killed. And if she gave up any part of the
plan, I swear, I'll kill you for it!" He back-handed Riley, who
resisted the urge to react violently. "She wouldn't do that, Spike,
she hated Buffy as much as you do," he said in an attempt to calm the
furious vampire.
"I gotta get outta here, I need to kill something," Spike growled as
he charged out the door.
&&&&&&&&&&&
One of Sunnydale's many Cemeterys
"So where's Riley?" Willow asked Buffy. She was assisting her friend
with patrol duties. There had been two murders the previous night, and
Giles believed they were both due to a werewolf. Willow had insisted
on joining Buffy, and even though nobody said it, they all knew why
she wanted to be there. She was worried that Oz was back, and not
controlling his werewolf behavior. She and Buffy had been wandering
around for an hour, but so far it had been a quiet night.
"Riley had studying fun," Buffy answered, "but my question is where
are all the demons tonight?????"
"Don't complain, it's a relief not to have the major slayage thing
tonight, isn't it?"
"No, because I know from experience that when everything's quiet,
it's because there's something up, and it's not good for the living,"
Buffy said grimly.
"Um..Buff? Speaking of Riley?"
"Were we?"
"Well, kind of" Willow stammered, "well...no, but can we?"
"Sure," Buffy answered with a smile. "What's up?"
"Just....he seems different, lately, don't you think?" Willow asked.
"Different how?" Buffy said, and stopped to face her friend, a
puzzled look on her face. "Riley's perfect, Will. He's a nice, hunky,
normal guy--" at Willow's skeptical look, she said, "--Oh, fine, not
completely normal, but about as normal as you get around here. Besides,
he loves me, and having someone of the alive persuasion to be with is
definitely of the good."
"So, you two are okay now?"
"Huh? Oh, the Faith thing," Buffy wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I
was freaked, but I'm unfreaked now. I know Riley didn't know it wasn't me."
"Oh, good," Willow said. The two walked on in silence, each thinking
the same thing, but not saying it,
*He should have known.*
&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Spike's Mansion
Riley had cleared the "guests" out of the house, and was getting
changed into his fatigues. He and Spike had agreed that Riley, for
now, would remain with the Initiative.
Spike liked the idea of having someone inside the Initiative,
because, after Buffy, they were next on his list of creatures in Sunnydale
to kill. Riley didn't mind, because even though he was a vampire now, he
had retained his disgust for demons.
The phone rang, and Riley answered it, "Yeah?"
"Hey," Tara said on the other end. "It's me."
"Hey, sis. What went wrong?"
Tara sighed. "I don't know, Riley. She didn't contact me when she
said she would. So I went to this Angel's office, and...I saw her get staked.
"Well, maybe the spell didn't work as well as you thought it would,"
Riley said. "And maybe that means my girlfriend is going to greet me with a
stake through the heart next time she sees me."
"That will _not_ happen, there's nothing wrong with the blinding
spell. What happened to Faith, it wasn't my spell that went wrong. You have
to believe me."
"I want to, Sis," Riley replied. "If for no other reason than I don't
know how long I can protect you if your magick isn't strong enough. Maybe
you should just stay in L.A., and away from Spike."
"And leave you to deal with his anger alone? I don't think so, Riley.
We protect each other, remember? I'm going to fix this. I'm going to try
to get close enough to Angel to do the curse reversal spell--"
"No you won't!" Riley yelled. "I was okay with it when Faith was
still around, because I thought she knew how to handle this Angel guy.
But obviously she didn't, and I don't want you putting yourself in that
kind of danger. Even if the spell works, Angelus is not someone you
want to be within a mile of, believe me. I've heard the stories, and he's so nasty he's even dangerous to other demons."
"I'll be okay, Riley. I've got help, you know. The guys that Spike
sent with me to help Faith and I get Angelus back to Sunnydale,
without him killing us. I'll call you soon. Don't worry," Tara hung
up before Riley could protest further. He looked at the phone for a
minute in disbelief, then at the sound of the clock chime, remembered
he was late to meet Forrest and the others. *She'll be okay,* he
thought to himself. *She's a smart kid, and besides, I couldn't do anything
to help her even if I wanted to*
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Sunnydale Cemetery
Buffy and Willow were patrolling the last cemetery before heading
back to Giles' to report on the night's events. There had been no
events, though, no demons or were-wolves anywhere in sight.
Buffy stopped Willow suddenly with a hand on her arm, and motioned to
her to be quiet. Willow listened, waiting for what had alarmed her
friend. Then she heard it, a woman's scream, in the distance. Buffy
sprinted off toward the sound, and Willow ran after her,
fighting to keep up.
Buffy ran though some hedges and came upon Spike, feeding. Bufffy was
too late, and Spike dropped the dead woman. Buffy grinned, "Oh,
goody! I was starting to think this night was a bust. But hey, now I
get to stake you, so it's all good."
"You think you can take me, Blondie? Then why wasn't I dust years
ago?" Spike taunted her with a cocky grin.
"Sheer luck, Spike, but it's run out, now." She aimed her crossbow at
him. Willow, unfortunately, took that opportunity to catch up with
her friend, and ran through the tall hedges right into Spike. He
grabbed her and she screamed, but he held her easily with one arm
around her waist, pinning her arms down and holding her against him.
"Don't move, or I'll make Red my after-dinner snack", Spike said
menacingly.
"Let her go!" Buffy yelled, her mind working frantically to find a
way to save her friend. Willow was struggling and her heel made
contact with Spike's shin. "OW!" he roared. "Do that again and it
will be your last living act, Witch!" Willow stilled at that, but
screamed, "Let me go!"
Just then, they heard a growl from behind Spike and Willow, and a
were-wolf leaped at them. Spike jumped to the side, pulling Willow
with him. In a split second reaction, Buffy fired the crossbow at the
creature. It fell to the ground with a howl of pain, and lay on the
ground on its side at Willow's feet, the arrow in its chest.
"Noooooooooo!" Willow screamed.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
ENd of Chapter 3.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Sunnydale
Spike's Mansion
"Bloody fucking hell!" Spike yelled at nobody in particular as he
threw the phone across the room. All his guests looked at him in surprise,
and suddenly the room fell completely silent. "Riley!" he bellowed.
As the recently-turned vampire hurried over, Spike said, "Your twit
of a childe got herself killed. And if she gave up any part of the
plan, I swear, I'll kill you for it!" He back-handed Riley, who
resisted the urge to react violently. "She wouldn't do that, Spike,
she hated Buffy as much as you do," he said in an attempt to calm the
furious vampire.
"I gotta get outta here, I need to kill something," Spike growled as
he charged out the door.
&&&&&&&&&&&
One of Sunnydale's many Cemeterys
"So where's Riley?" Willow asked Buffy. She was assisting her friend
with patrol duties. There had been two murders the previous night, and
Giles believed they were both due to a werewolf. Willow had insisted
on joining Buffy, and even though nobody said it, they all knew why
she wanted to be there. She was worried that Oz was back, and not
controlling his werewolf behavior. She and Buffy had been wandering
around for an hour, but so far it had been a quiet night.
"Riley had studying fun," Buffy answered, "but my question is where
are all the demons tonight?????"
"Don't complain, it's a relief not to have the major slayage thing
tonight, isn't it?"
"No, because I know from experience that when everything's quiet,
it's because there's something up, and it's not good for the living,"
Buffy said grimly.
"Um..Buff? Speaking of Riley?"
"Were we?"
"Well, kind of" Willow stammered, "well...no, but can we?"
"Sure," Buffy answered with a smile. "What's up?"
"Just....he seems different, lately, don't you think?" Willow asked.
"Different how?" Buffy said, and stopped to face her friend, a
puzzled look on her face. "Riley's perfect, Will. He's a nice, hunky,
normal guy--" at Willow's skeptical look, she said, "--Oh, fine, not
completely normal, but about as normal as you get around here. Besides,
he loves me, and having someone of the alive persuasion to be with is
definitely of the good."
"So, you two are okay now?"
"Huh? Oh, the Faith thing," Buffy wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I
was freaked, but I'm unfreaked now. I know Riley didn't know it wasn't me."
"Oh, good," Willow said. The two walked on in silence, each thinking
the same thing, but not saying it,
*He should have known.*
&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Spike's Mansion
Riley had cleared the "guests" out of the house, and was getting
changed into his fatigues. He and Spike had agreed that Riley, for
now, would remain with the Initiative.
Spike liked the idea of having someone inside the Initiative,
because, after Buffy, they were next on his list of creatures in Sunnydale
to kill. Riley didn't mind, because even though he was a vampire now, he
had retained his disgust for demons.
The phone rang, and Riley answered it, "Yeah?"
"Hey," Tara said on the other end. "It's me."
"Hey, sis. What went wrong?"
Tara sighed. "I don't know, Riley. She didn't contact me when she
said she would. So I went to this Angel's office, and...I saw her get staked.
"Well, maybe the spell didn't work as well as you thought it would,"
Riley said. "And maybe that means my girlfriend is going to greet me with a
stake through the heart next time she sees me."
"That will _not_ happen, there's nothing wrong with the blinding
spell. What happened to Faith, it wasn't my spell that went wrong. You have
to believe me."
"I want to, Sis," Riley replied. "If for no other reason than I don't
know how long I can protect you if your magick isn't strong enough. Maybe
you should just stay in L.A., and away from Spike."
"And leave you to deal with his anger alone? I don't think so, Riley.
We protect each other, remember? I'm going to fix this. I'm going to try
to get close enough to Angel to do the curse reversal spell--"
"No you won't!" Riley yelled. "I was okay with it when Faith was
still around, because I thought she knew how to handle this Angel guy.
But obviously she didn't, and I don't want you putting yourself in that
kind of danger. Even if the spell works, Angelus is not someone you
want to be within a mile of, believe me. I've heard the stories, and he's so nasty he's even dangerous to other demons."
"I'll be okay, Riley. I've got help, you know. The guys that Spike
sent with me to help Faith and I get Angelus back to Sunnydale,
without him killing us. I'll call you soon. Don't worry," Tara hung
up before Riley could protest further. He looked at the phone for a
minute in disbelief, then at the sound of the clock chime, remembered
he was late to meet Forrest and the others. *She'll be okay,* he
thought to himself. *She's a smart kid, and besides, I couldn't do anything
to help her even if I wanted to*
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Sunnydale Cemetery
Buffy and Willow were patrolling the last cemetery before heading
back to Giles' to report on the night's events. There had been no
events, though, no demons or were-wolves anywhere in sight.
Buffy stopped Willow suddenly with a hand on her arm, and motioned to
her to be quiet. Willow listened, waiting for what had alarmed her
friend. Then she heard it, a woman's scream, in the distance. Buffy
sprinted off toward the sound, and Willow ran after her,
fighting to keep up.
Buffy ran though some hedges and came upon Spike, feeding. Bufffy was
too late, and Spike dropped the dead woman. Buffy grinned, "Oh,
goody! I was starting to think this night was a bust. But hey, now I
get to stake you, so it's all good."
"You think you can take me, Blondie? Then why wasn't I dust years
ago?" Spike taunted her with a cocky grin.
"Sheer luck, Spike, but it's run out, now." She aimed her crossbow at
him. Willow, unfortunately, took that opportunity to catch up with
her friend, and ran through the tall hedges right into Spike. He
grabbed her and she screamed, but he held her easily with one arm
around her waist, pinning her arms down and holding her against him.
"Don't move, or I'll make Red my after-dinner snack", Spike said
menacingly.
"Let her go!" Buffy yelled, her mind working frantically to find a
way to save her friend. Willow was struggling and her heel made
contact with Spike's shin. "OW!" he roared. "Do that again and it
will be your last living act, Witch!" Willow stilled at that, but
screamed, "Let me go!"
Just then, they heard a growl from behind Spike and Willow, and a
were-wolf leaped at them. Spike jumped to the side, pulling Willow
with him. In a split second reaction, Buffy fired the crossbow at the
creature. It fell to the ground with a howl of pain, and lay on the
ground on its side at Willow's feet, the arrow in its chest.
"Noooooooooo!" Willow screamed.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
ENd of Chapter 3.