Part V
"I just don't understand it," Willow said as they turned the corner. "We spent days trying to contact Buffy, and the person she decides to appear to is Spike?"
Tara shrugged, holding the grocery bag tighter to her chest. "M-maybe the Powers didn't give her a choice of whom she could see."
"But still... SPIKE?"
"We don't know what he's been doing, he could have been spending his time trying to contact the spirit world. He's been spending most of his time at Giles' house and the graveyard, which are two pretty good places to try."
"But it's Spike!"
Tara tried again. "It could be some sort of prophecy."
"Hmmm." Willow was not convinced as she opened the door of the Magic Box for Tara. "I just wish--"
The two women stopped in their tracks and stared. The three large, grey demons inside the store stopped what they were doing (which was breaking things) and returned the favor. Anya waved weakly from where she was being dangled by the scruff of the neck. "Hey guys."
Immediatley, Willow's eyes went black and she managed to get out three words of Latin before Anya said, "Wait! It's not what you think!"
"It looks like you're being robbed," Tara said quietly.
"No, no no no, Igor and his friends here are just discussing buisness."
"And the fact that this business hasn't been paying its insurance." Igor had a very gravely voice, to match his face.
"The rates of which we were, ah, just discussing. However, I think we've finally agreed and I am about to go get the money right now." Igor put Anya down and she scurried off into the back room. She was back fairly quickly, with a paper bag that she handed over to Igor. He hefted it, then grunted and left. His two friends exited with him.
Willow waited until the door closed behind them to launch into Anya. "You're paying protection to the demons???"
"What else am I supposed to do? Have them come in here and trash the place every day?" Anya retorted.
"The Queen of Capitalisim is giving in to gangsters? I can't believe this. You just gave them MONEY, Anya. Does Giles know about this?"
"And in so doing, kept them from destroying thousands of dollars worth of inventory. That's what businesspeople call a fair trade. I bet Giles would agree with me."
"You mean he doesn't know about this?"
"Why didn't you tell us?" Tara interrupted.
"What could you guys do?"
"Set up a protection spell at the very least. Destroy the demons at the most! Look at this mess!" Willow made an angry gesture at the destruction, and a ball of green fire shot out of her hand. It did not react well with some of the spilled compounds on the floor, and the three of them were busy for the next few minutes chasing down little sputtering purple fireballs that rolled willy-nilly about the store. It didn't even slow down their arguing.
"Oh, like you could destroy a demon." Anya called from near the Arcane Knowledge section.
"We've destroyed plenty of demons!" Willow retorted, catching a fireball just before it rolled under the Casting Powder table.
Tara emerged from the back room where she had chased several of the fireballs with a fire extinguisher. She cornered the last three behind the main door and let them have it. This freed Anya to confront Willow head-on. "What was the last demon you killed?"
"What?"
"What is the last demon you killed, yourself?"
"I don't remember! Sometime before Buffy died--" Willow realized she had uttered the top two words on the Unspeakable Words list. Uncomfortable silence fell on the shop like a sledgehammer.
Finally, Willow managed to whisper, "I didn't mean---" but they never found out what she didn't mean, because at that moment the front door of the shop flew open and Spike ran in. He flung the blanket onto the floor, and stamped on it to make sure it wouldn't burst into flames. "Where's dinner?" he asked as Xander sauntered in after him.
"Holy--- what happened in here?" Xander asked, surveying the damage.
"Nothing!" Anya said, just as Willow said, "Demons."
"Again?" Xander asked wearily.
"Is this something we need to worry about right now, or can it wait until after the world ends?" Spike asked.
"Will the world end by this time next week?" Anya asked.
"Dunno." Spike answered.
"Well, we've got till next week before this happens again," Anya said, kicking some glass shards with her toe.
Willow just stared at her, then threw her hands up in exasperation and went into the back room. She emerged a moment later with various cleaning implements.
"Hey! Look what I found!" Xander hefted the grocery bag proudly. "Food!" He took it to the research table and laid out the Chinese food containers as everyone else helped clean up.
The phone rang, and Anya answered it without ceasing her dusting. "The Magic Box, fine purveyors of mystical arts supplies. How can I help you? Dawn? Dawn, you have to stop crying, I can't understand what you're saying..."
Spike was at Anya's side in a flash, having vaulted over the cashier's counter. He took the phone from Anya and said, "Nibblet? What? Dawn, hang up and call 911. I'll be right there." He hung up and ran out the back door and into the sewer access before anyone could ask what was going on.
"I just don't understand it," Willow said as they turned the corner. "We spent days trying to contact Buffy, and the person she decides to appear to is Spike?"
Tara shrugged, holding the grocery bag tighter to her chest. "M-maybe the Powers didn't give her a choice of whom she could see."
"But still... SPIKE?"
"We don't know what he's been doing, he could have been spending his time trying to contact the spirit world. He's been spending most of his time at Giles' house and the graveyard, which are two pretty good places to try."
"But it's Spike!"
Tara tried again. "It could be some sort of prophecy."
"Hmmm." Willow was not convinced as she opened the door of the Magic Box for Tara. "I just wish--"
The two women stopped in their tracks and stared. The three large, grey demons inside the store stopped what they were doing (which was breaking things) and returned the favor. Anya waved weakly from where she was being dangled by the scruff of the neck. "Hey guys."
Immediatley, Willow's eyes went black and she managed to get out three words of Latin before Anya said, "Wait! It's not what you think!"
"It looks like you're being robbed," Tara said quietly.
"No, no no no, Igor and his friends here are just discussing buisness."
"And the fact that this business hasn't been paying its insurance." Igor had a very gravely voice, to match his face.
"The rates of which we were, ah, just discussing. However, I think we've finally agreed and I am about to go get the money right now." Igor put Anya down and she scurried off into the back room. She was back fairly quickly, with a paper bag that she handed over to Igor. He hefted it, then grunted and left. His two friends exited with him.
Willow waited until the door closed behind them to launch into Anya. "You're paying protection to the demons???"
"What else am I supposed to do? Have them come in here and trash the place every day?" Anya retorted.
"The Queen of Capitalisim is giving in to gangsters? I can't believe this. You just gave them MONEY, Anya. Does Giles know about this?"
"And in so doing, kept them from destroying thousands of dollars worth of inventory. That's what businesspeople call a fair trade. I bet Giles would agree with me."
"You mean he doesn't know about this?"
"Why didn't you tell us?" Tara interrupted.
"What could you guys do?"
"Set up a protection spell at the very least. Destroy the demons at the most! Look at this mess!" Willow made an angry gesture at the destruction, and a ball of green fire shot out of her hand. It did not react well with some of the spilled compounds on the floor, and the three of them were busy for the next few minutes chasing down little sputtering purple fireballs that rolled willy-nilly about the store. It didn't even slow down their arguing.
"Oh, like you could destroy a demon." Anya called from near the Arcane Knowledge section.
"We've destroyed plenty of demons!" Willow retorted, catching a fireball just before it rolled under the Casting Powder table.
Tara emerged from the back room where she had chased several of the fireballs with a fire extinguisher. She cornered the last three behind the main door and let them have it. This freed Anya to confront Willow head-on. "What was the last demon you killed?"
"What?"
"What is the last demon you killed, yourself?"
"I don't remember! Sometime before Buffy died--" Willow realized she had uttered the top two words on the Unspeakable Words list. Uncomfortable silence fell on the shop like a sledgehammer.
Finally, Willow managed to whisper, "I didn't mean---" but they never found out what she didn't mean, because at that moment the front door of the shop flew open and Spike ran in. He flung the blanket onto the floor, and stamped on it to make sure it wouldn't burst into flames. "Where's dinner?" he asked as Xander sauntered in after him.
"Holy--- what happened in here?" Xander asked, surveying the damage.
"Nothing!" Anya said, just as Willow said, "Demons."
"Again?" Xander asked wearily.
"Is this something we need to worry about right now, or can it wait until after the world ends?" Spike asked.
"Will the world end by this time next week?" Anya asked.
"Dunno." Spike answered.
"Well, we've got till next week before this happens again," Anya said, kicking some glass shards with her toe.
Willow just stared at her, then threw her hands up in exasperation and went into the back room. She emerged a moment later with various cleaning implements.
"Hey! Look what I found!" Xander hefted the grocery bag proudly. "Food!" He took it to the research table and laid out the Chinese food containers as everyone else helped clean up.
The phone rang, and Anya answered it without ceasing her dusting. "The Magic Box, fine purveyors of mystical arts supplies. How can I help you? Dawn? Dawn, you have to stop crying, I can't understand what you're saying..."
Spike was at Anya's side in a flash, having vaulted over the cashier's counter. He took the phone from Anya and said, "Nibblet? What? Dawn, hang up and call 911. I'll be right there." He hung up and ran out the back door and into the sewer access before anyone could ask what was going on.