Part 4
The rest of the week passed with no change in Spike's
condition. Dawn was becoming very
sullen and angry, since Buffy was making sure that Dawn had someone supervising
her at all times. Willow, Tara, Xander,
and Anya all took their turns as "watcher".
They dropped her off at school and picked her up afterwards. They were all acting very weird around her
now, and she wished they would all just leave her alone. Buffy still hadn't forgiven Giles enough to
leave Dawn with him. But this evening, Buffy was on her way over to talk to
him. She needed to know what he thought
about Spike's condition. She'd avoided
asking until now.
Buffy arrived at the magic shop to find only Giles and
Xander hanging about. She walked over
to where Giles was standing. "Spike is
still unconscious",she stated, "It's been an entire week. Is there anything we can do for him?" This was not what Giles wanted to hear. Buffy had been mostly avoiding him except when she was actively
training, and the first time she comes to him for another reason, the reason is
Spike. Giles had gone over and
over in his head how the events had
gone. How could he have missed something
that now seemed so obvious? And worse,
how could he have been so quick to be ready to kill Dawn, only to have her
saved by a vampire? A fair bit
of self-loathing had managed to simmer under Giles' usual calm exterior. He found himself blaming the vamp for what
he knew he should be thanking him, but Spike reminded Giles a bit of his own
younger self, which made it easier for him to push his feelings off on the
vampire.
"Buffy… after a week, you may have to accept the possibility
that he won't wake up. Have you
considered that maybe it's for the best if he doesn't?" Buffy stared at him in shock. "I'm not trying to be cruel", stated Giles,
"but you've always known that he's potentially dangerous, and that if that chip
comes out or malfunctions, which it undoubtedly will eventually, you'll have to
stake him. Do you really believe you
could stake the vampire who saved your sister?" *And the world* thought Giles glumly. "You'd end up risking your own life, because you wouldn't be
willing to take his." Buffy couldn't
even bring herself to speak. She knew
she'd say something she'd regret.
She turned and started to head out. Xander had been really irritated by the
interaction between Buffy and Giles.
Was Spike all anyone could talk about anymore? For the last week, all he'd been hearing from Anya was how heroic
Spike had been. How brave he was to go
back and risk his undead life fighting the same demon who'd already thrown him
off the tower once. All week, it had
been Spike this, Spike that, Spike, Spike, Spike. Xander had never cared for the vampire, even when the rest of the
gang had begun to accept him, but now, he really couldn't bring himself to care
what happened to Spike, even if he had saved the world.
Xander called out to Buffy before she could get out the
door. "Buffy!" "What?" "You know Giles is right. Spike's always been dangerous. Even with the chip, he's managed to find
ways to fight us. Yeah, he got dragged
into this whole Glory thing, and I'm sure wanted revenge on Glory for torturing
him. But basically, he's evil. You know that. You were able to trust him in this case,
because his goals fit with yours. As
soon as they don't, you know he won't be any different than he's always
been." Buffy didn't even answer, she
just turned and walked out. *Damn!*
thought Xander. He really hadn't wanted
to piss off Buffy, just knock some sense into her. *It's not like Spike had realized what he was doing*, Xander
grumbled to himself. *He was willingly
sacrificing everyone in the world just because Buffy didn't want anyone
to harm Dawn. Why does everyone think
he's such a hero?!*
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In the dark crypt, Spike began to stir. He moaned in pain. He lay they for a minute, dragging his mind back to full
wakefulness. He was starving. He felt like he hadn't eaten in days. As much pain as he was in, he obviously
needed to feed, to get his vampiric healing up to full force. He dragged himself off the stone tomb that
served as his bed and practically stumbled over to the fridge. He wasn't even sure if he had anything here. He was glad to find the blood that Buffy had
placed there. *Hmmm… hope this hasn't
been sitting here since before we left on our little trip.* He took a sip. It had obviously been sitting for a while, but it was still
drinkable. He rapidly downed every bit
of blood. He couldn't believe how
hungry he was. *You'd think someone
would have thought to bring me something a little fresher.* He felt satisfied now, and could already
feel some of the pain starting to subside.
He thought back. The
last thing he remembered was grabbing Dawn and running. Nothing after that. He stepped out into the night. *The world is still here*, he noticed. Nothing seemed unusual. Not like some hell dimension had flowed into
this world. *Does that mean I
failed? Is the niblet…*, he tried to
push that thought from his head but couldn't.
The girl had been cut, the world was still here. Dawn must be dead. He was surprised to discover how much that realization hurt, and
not just because he failed to keep his promise to Buffy. He had cared about the girl. She, along
with her mother, had been the only people who hadn't treated him like a
freak since he'd been stuck with this damn chip.
He wanted, no… needed, to know what had happened that
night after his memory of it stopped.
He hesitantly started heading toward Buffy's house, then stopped. *No.
I'm the last person she'd want to see now. I promised I would protect Dawn.
Until the end of the world, I would protect Dawn. I failed to keep that promise.* Spike simply could not face Buffy now. He couldn't bear to see the pain she must be
in, or to see hatred in her eyes due to his failure. He turned toward the magic shop instead. Giles would tell him what had happened.
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Spike turned down an alley that was a shortcut over to the
shop. About halfway down the alley, he
heard footsteps coming up behind him.
He could distinguish three people following him, rather large by the
sound of it. "Hey!", one of the men
yelled at Spike. Spike ignored him and
kept walking. "Let's have ourselves
some fun", the man said to his companions.
The men had sped up and caught up to Spike. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" shouted the man who was obviously the
leader of this little group of delinquents.
Spike turned to face them. "I'm
just out mindin' my own business… so sod off! " He turned back away only to see three more
men coming down the alley from the other direction. *Bloody Hell!*, thought Spike, *This is the last thing I need
right now.* He was still aching from
his injuries, he really didn't need to find himself up against six humans,
obviously looking for a fight.
Spike braced himself for the attack. Even if he couldn't hit them back, he could
sure as hell make himself a difficult target.
As the men swung at him, he managed to duck out of the way of most of
their blows. These guys definitely
relied on their size and strength in a fight, since they sure didn't have any
skill. Spike's speed and agility were
fairly effective defense. On the few
blows that landed, the men were surprised that Spike didn't even flinch. He was smaller than any of them, yet he
didn't even seem to feel their punches.
One of the men managed to kick him hard in one of his already cracked
ribs. Now, that hurt! He unthinkingly responded to that blow by
grabbing the man who'd kicked him and throwing him against the wall. At the last second, he realized what he was
doing and anticipated the pain he knew was coming. He expected to find himself on the ground, holding his head in
pain, and having the unliving crap beat out of him while he was
defenseless. The pain never came. He lashed out against another of the men,
punching him hard in the face. Then he
threw himself into the fight wholeheartedly, until all of the men were running
off down the alley the way Spike had come, all of them except the one who was
laying on the ground, his leg obviously broken, alternating between moaning in
pain and yelling angrily at his buddies to come back and get him.
*Hmmm… this is very interesting*, Spike pondered what had
just occurred. He had assumed that his
attackers were human. He walked over
and stood over the injured man. Spike
could smell the man, and yes, he was definitely human. Spike wondered if he had just been so caught
up in the rush of the fight, or so shocked from the pain in his ribs, that he'd
overridden or ignored the chip somehow.
He leaned back against the wall and lit up a cigarette. He smoked and calmly watched the man on the
ground. He waited until he was sure the
rush of the fight was gone. *Well,
there's only one way to know for sure.*
He crushed out his cigarette and walked over to the man. The man stared at Spike with fear obvious in
his eyes. Spike kneeled down by the
man's head, and lifted the man's shoulders off the ground. Spike pulled the man's head to one side and
let the demon emerge. He lowered his
mouth to the man's neck and sank his fangs deep into the vein. He held there only a moment, long enough to
be sure that the bite was truly successful.
As he had just fed on the entire blood supply back at his crypt, he
didn't drink. He resisted the bloodlust
and pulled away, dropping the terrified man back to the ground.
