Chapter Seven: Loosing The Third Wheel
Notes: I'd like to state, for the record, that I never hated Riley. A few revues I've received seem to think that I wrote this all for the benefit of doing evil to good old G.I. Joe. I didn't, really. I wrote this as my own personal version of ITW (and preceding events) and for my own personal demons. I've nothing against Riley.
"Ew!" Buffy exclaimed to no one in particular, wiping a large amount of black goo from her arm. "I mean, I'm thankful for no messy corpse to clean up, but did it have to explode?"
Spike laughed, wiping the goo from his jacket. "Of course it did, luv. Gelatinous demons tend to do that."
"Gelatinous?" Buffy exclaimed, "The thing was a S'more gone wrong!"
They continued to wipe off large amounts of the oily black goo from themselves in silence. Once he was relatively clean, Spike leaned against a nearby bench and watched Buffy wipe the goo from her body. As sick as it was, he enjoyed watching her rub at herself.
"Well?" Buffy's voice broke the hormone driven turn of his thoughts. "Are we still going to take care of Riley?"
"Bloody right!" Spike replied, pushing himself off the tree and beginning to walk once more in the direction of the crypt he called home. "I'm not about to have him in my home any longer than absolutely necessary.
Buffy joined Spike and they walked in silence towards Spike's crypt and the Ghoul housed within.
"Um, Spike?" Buffy asked some time later, concern in her voice, as the crypt came into view. "How do you kill a ghoul?"
"Er...About the same way you'd kill a human." Spike replied, watching Buffy's face fall. "He's not human anymore, luv." He quickly tried to re-assure her. "It's ok to kill him."
"I know..." Buffy sighed. "It's just...he still looks the same. He still has all his memories. He still..." A sob choked off whatever she was going to say. Buffy leaned against the crypt door and cried softly.
"I guess this is kinda like Angelus." Spike said, stating the obvious.
"Yeah."
"Here, why don't I go drain him?" Spike offered. "You stay out here, and in a moment I'll be back with a corpse to dispose of. I'll even mutilate him a bit so he doesn't look like good ol' Captain Cardboard."
A giggle erupted from Buffy, stopping her tears. "That's got to be...the sickest.... and yet sweetest thing...." she dissolved into near-hysterical laughter.
Spike frowned. "What? It's a good plan."
"Yeah...okay then...you do that." Buffy gasped out, trying to calm her laughter.
"Right." Spike said, opening the door to his crypt. "I will then."
Spike strode into the crypt, ignoring the soft sounds of Buffy's laughter behind him. He strolled around the corner to the room that Riley was housed and cursed softly. The chains hanging from the ceiling how hung limp, the whip that Harmony used to torture the ghoul was missing. As was the soon-to-be corpse of Riley Finn.
"Bloody fucking hell!" He cursed, much more loudly this time, when no trace of Riley or whomever freed him could be found in the small room.
"Spike?" Buffy's voice floated in from the crypt entrance. "Is something wrong?"
"Yes!" Spike called back, glaring at the empty chains hanging from the stone ceiling as though they held all the answers to his current problem.
"I'm coming in - eeeeeek!" Buffy's words were cut off in a scream. Spike tried to run out of the crypt to help her but was suddenly tackled by four large, burly vampires whom had been hiding in an adjoining room of the crypt. They picked Spike up off the floor, dragging him outside. Once outside, Spike quickly took in the bizarre scene before him. Buffy was being forcefully held down on her knees by another quartet of overly large, muscular vamps. Spike was brought to his knees by his own personal entourage, a fair distance from Buffy. They were half facing each other, and half facing an empty stone bench. Childlike laughter hovered in the air as the leader of this small group of vamps stepped out from the darkness and sat with a ladylike demeanor upon the stone bench.
"Dru," Spike choked out, before being backhanded heavily by one of his captors.
"My Spike," Drusilla cooed, fiddling with the doll sitting in her lap. "Miss Edith said you would be here. She said to come to you and we would have a party."
Buffy took that moment to struggle uselessly against her captors. A vamp with a seemingly permanent broken nose grabbed her by the neck, half choking her as the others continued to pin her to the ground.
"Slayer." Dru said, her voice filled with hate. "I shall have your blood soon enough. And then My Spike and I shall have a tea party. Miss Edith would like that very much... as would my new pet."
"Dru, don't." Spike ground out, forcing himself to accept another blow for talking.
"Why, Spike?" She asked him, making a strange gesture above her head. "Miss Edith spoke to me weeks ago. Telling me how your thoughts were filled with the Slayer. How you dream of her. That isn't right, Spike. You are mine. You belong with your princess."
A figure emerged from the same shadows Drusilla had used. He swiftly sat at Dru's feet, obediently smiling up at her in full demon-face.
"God, no." Buffy gasped belatedly. Her head was swimming from lack of oxygen. The new vampire frowned at the one half-strangling Buffy. He dropped his grip on her neck and simply helped his three other companions hold the Slayer down. Buffy sucked in air, and simply stared at the newcomer.
"Do you like my new pet, My Spike?" Drusilla asked, absently petting the head of her newest childe. "I found him when I came to look for you. Miss Edith told me such delicious things about him. There was a poor demon inside, waiting to get out. I let his demon out, Spike." Dru clapped her hands, pleased with herself.
"Bloody hell Dru, don't you know he was a ghoul?" Spike asked. "They don't lose the addiction when they're turned. He'd just as soon eat you as a human!"
"I set him free, Spike." Drusilla replied, not really understanding what Spike was talking about. She gave Riley a little shove, in the direction of Buffy. He slowly stood, shaking off his game-face and walked towards the prone Slayer.
"He loves her." Dru whispered to Spike. "He'll turn the Slayer and help us to fix you. Then the fun shall truly begin."
"No." Spike ground out, watching Riley move slowly towards Buffy. She whimpered as he came closer, looking up at him with eyes wide and terror-filled.
"Stand." Riley commanded the four vampires holding Buffy to the ground. Two let go of her to allow the others to force her to her feet. Buffy glanced at Spike for a brief moment.
"Be ready." Spike practically heard Buffy's voice in his head, so obvious was the message in her eyes. He nodded a fraction.
"Buffy." Riley said reverently, reaching out to gently stroke her cheek. "We can be together now."
"Why?" Buffy asked, her voice choked with tears. "Why couldn't we be together before?" She grunted as Riley sucker-punched her in the gut.
"Because, you didn't love me." He said, accenting his words with a full-armed slap, reminiscent of the one Buffy had given him the night before. "I was human, I was normal. I had to be something special to attract your eye again. I had to be what you wanted. And now I am."
"You did this..." Buffy spoke around gasps for air. "Because you love me?"
"Of course I did!" Riley exclaimed, motioning for the remaining to guards to let Buffy go completely. She sank to the ground, limp. Riley knelt beside her, stroking her hair. "I love you so much, and you didn't see it. You didn't see me. But now you do. Now I'm what you want. Now you can love me and we can be together forever." He babbled as though trying to convince someone.
"Riley," Buffy looked up at Riley, and deep emotion shone in her eyes. "I love you." she reached out to hold him. With a small cry of joy, the newly sired Riley crushed Buffy to his chest.
"See baby," Riley muttered into Buffy's hair, "I'm what you want now. I'm what you can love. I can be with you and we'll be so happy. So very happy."
"But you're not Riley." Buffy whispered, completing her thought. She shoved the small stake that had been hidden up her sleeve into his heart. He gasped with pain, letting Buffy go. "You're a heartless demon." She explained as Riley exploded in a cloud of dust.
Notes: I'd like to state, for the record, that I never hated Riley. A few revues I've received seem to think that I wrote this all for the benefit of doing evil to good old G.I. Joe. I didn't, really. I wrote this as my own personal version of ITW (and preceding events) and for my own personal demons. I've nothing against Riley.
"Ew!" Buffy exclaimed to no one in particular, wiping a large amount of black goo from her arm. "I mean, I'm thankful for no messy corpse to clean up, but did it have to explode?"
Spike laughed, wiping the goo from his jacket. "Of course it did, luv. Gelatinous demons tend to do that."
"Gelatinous?" Buffy exclaimed, "The thing was a S'more gone wrong!"
They continued to wipe off large amounts of the oily black goo from themselves in silence. Once he was relatively clean, Spike leaned against a nearby bench and watched Buffy wipe the goo from her body. As sick as it was, he enjoyed watching her rub at herself.
"Well?" Buffy's voice broke the hormone driven turn of his thoughts. "Are we still going to take care of Riley?"
"Bloody right!" Spike replied, pushing himself off the tree and beginning to walk once more in the direction of the crypt he called home. "I'm not about to have him in my home any longer than absolutely necessary.
Buffy joined Spike and they walked in silence towards Spike's crypt and the Ghoul housed within.
"Um, Spike?" Buffy asked some time later, concern in her voice, as the crypt came into view. "How do you kill a ghoul?"
"Er...About the same way you'd kill a human." Spike replied, watching Buffy's face fall. "He's not human anymore, luv." He quickly tried to re-assure her. "It's ok to kill him."
"I know..." Buffy sighed. "It's just...he still looks the same. He still has all his memories. He still..." A sob choked off whatever she was going to say. Buffy leaned against the crypt door and cried softly.
"I guess this is kinda like Angelus." Spike said, stating the obvious.
"Yeah."
"Here, why don't I go drain him?" Spike offered. "You stay out here, and in a moment I'll be back with a corpse to dispose of. I'll even mutilate him a bit so he doesn't look like good ol' Captain Cardboard."
A giggle erupted from Buffy, stopping her tears. "That's got to be...the sickest.... and yet sweetest thing...." she dissolved into near-hysterical laughter.
Spike frowned. "What? It's a good plan."
"Yeah...okay then...you do that." Buffy gasped out, trying to calm her laughter.
"Right." Spike said, opening the door to his crypt. "I will then."
Spike strode into the crypt, ignoring the soft sounds of Buffy's laughter behind him. He strolled around the corner to the room that Riley was housed and cursed softly. The chains hanging from the ceiling how hung limp, the whip that Harmony used to torture the ghoul was missing. As was the soon-to-be corpse of Riley Finn.
"Bloody fucking hell!" He cursed, much more loudly this time, when no trace of Riley or whomever freed him could be found in the small room.
"Spike?" Buffy's voice floated in from the crypt entrance. "Is something wrong?"
"Yes!" Spike called back, glaring at the empty chains hanging from the stone ceiling as though they held all the answers to his current problem.
"I'm coming in - eeeeeek!" Buffy's words were cut off in a scream. Spike tried to run out of the crypt to help her but was suddenly tackled by four large, burly vampires whom had been hiding in an adjoining room of the crypt. They picked Spike up off the floor, dragging him outside. Once outside, Spike quickly took in the bizarre scene before him. Buffy was being forcefully held down on her knees by another quartet of overly large, muscular vamps. Spike was brought to his knees by his own personal entourage, a fair distance from Buffy. They were half facing each other, and half facing an empty stone bench. Childlike laughter hovered in the air as the leader of this small group of vamps stepped out from the darkness and sat with a ladylike demeanor upon the stone bench.
"Dru," Spike choked out, before being backhanded heavily by one of his captors.
"My Spike," Drusilla cooed, fiddling with the doll sitting in her lap. "Miss Edith said you would be here. She said to come to you and we would have a party."
Buffy took that moment to struggle uselessly against her captors. A vamp with a seemingly permanent broken nose grabbed her by the neck, half choking her as the others continued to pin her to the ground.
"Slayer." Dru said, her voice filled with hate. "I shall have your blood soon enough. And then My Spike and I shall have a tea party. Miss Edith would like that very much... as would my new pet."
"Dru, don't." Spike ground out, forcing himself to accept another blow for talking.
"Why, Spike?" She asked him, making a strange gesture above her head. "Miss Edith spoke to me weeks ago. Telling me how your thoughts were filled with the Slayer. How you dream of her. That isn't right, Spike. You are mine. You belong with your princess."
A figure emerged from the same shadows Drusilla had used. He swiftly sat at Dru's feet, obediently smiling up at her in full demon-face.
"God, no." Buffy gasped belatedly. Her head was swimming from lack of oxygen. The new vampire frowned at the one half-strangling Buffy. He dropped his grip on her neck and simply helped his three other companions hold the Slayer down. Buffy sucked in air, and simply stared at the newcomer.
"Do you like my new pet, My Spike?" Drusilla asked, absently petting the head of her newest childe. "I found him when I came to look for you. Miss Edith told me such delicious things about him. There was a poor demon inside, waiting to get out. I let his demon out, Spike." Dru clapped her hands, pleased with herself.
"Bloody hell Dru, don't you know he was a ghoul?" Spike asked. "They don't lose the addiction when they're turned. He'd just as soon eat you as a human!"
"I set him free, Spike." Drusilla replied, not really understanding what Spike was talking about. She gave Riley a little shove, in the direction of Buffy. He slowly stood, shaking off his game-face and walked towards the prone Slayer.
"He loves her." Dru whispered to Spike. "He'll turn the Slayer and help us to fix you. Then the fun shall truly begin."
"No." Spike ground out, watching Riley move slowly towards Buffy. She whimpered as he came closer, looking up at him with eyes wide and terror-filled.
"Stand." Riley commanded the four vampires holding Buffy to the ground. Two let go of her to allow the others to force her to her feet. Buffy glanced at Spike for a brief moment.
"Be ready." Spike practically heard Buffy's voice in his head, so obvious was the message in her eyes. He nodded a fraction.
"Buffy." Riley said reverently, reaching out to gently stroke her cheek. "We can be together now."
"Why?" Buffy asked, her voice choked with tears. "Why couldn't we be together before?" She grunted as Riley sucker-punched her in the gut.
"Because, you didn't love me." He said, accenting his words with a full-armed slap, reminiscent of the one Buffy had given him the night before. "I was human, I was normal. I had to be something special to attract your eye again. I had to be what you wanted. And now I am."
"You did this..." Buffy spoke around gasps for air. "Because you love me?"
"Of course I did!" Riley exclaimed, motioning for the remaining to guards to let Buffy go completely. She sank to the ground, limp. Riley knelt beside her, stroking her hair. "I love you so much, and you didn't see it. You didn't see me. But now you do. Now I'm what you want. Now you can love me and we can be together forever." He babbled as though trying to convince someone.
"Riley," Buffy looked up at Riley, and deep emotion shone in her eyes. "I love you." she reached out to hold him. With a small cry of joy, the newly sired Riley crushed Buffy to his chest.
"See baby," Riley muttered into Buffy's hair, "I'm what you want now. I'm what you can love. I can be with you and we'll be so happy. So very happy."
"But you're not Riley." Buffy whispered, completing her thought. She shoved the small stake that had been hidden up her sleeve into his heart. He gasped with pain, letting Buffy go. "You're a heartless demon." She explained as Riley exploded in a cloud of dust.