Title: Again?
Author: Spiffy Da WonderSheep
Disclaimer: No naked Spikes were harmed during the writing of this fic.
Part IX
There was a very good reason why Spike was sitting on a table, naked except for a strategically placed Orb of Reltetsoh, holding still while a vile-smelling mixture of goddess-knows-what was poured over his head by the Little Bit and the Witches. The very good reason was, he won the coin toss. Anya was chanting in Ancient Mandarin, and Xander was standing nearby, scowling.
The chanting stopped. "Feel like a Vessel of Holy Truth yet?" Anya asked him.
"I'm feeling cold and smelly and sticky, is what I'm feeling," Spike gritted his teeth and gathered the ceremonial robe tighter. "Am I done?"
"I think so. I guess we'll find out." Anya closed the book with a snap and turned her back. Everyone else followed her cue, and Spike leapt off of the table, running for the workout room, still holding the Orb of Reltetsoh in front of himself. When he got the door closed, the Orb, which was insanely heavy for an ugly piece of bric-a-brac (it wasn't even orb shaped), decided it was time to slip out of his hands and fall on his foot. After doing a lovely nude interpretive dance around the room to express exactly how much pain it caused him, he got dressed and walked back into the store proper.
He stopped a microsecond before he ran into Igor's back.
"What the bloody hell are you doing here?"
Igor turned around and regarded the vampire. "We have returned to discuss back payments on the insurance policy."
"I cannot BELIEVE you guys," Anya said angrily. Spike saw she was once again dangling by the scruff of the neck from one of Igor's cronies' claws. Xander was resting rather uncomfortably under a broken bookshelf. The other three girls were being guarded by the other crony. "I want to get this down in writing this time."
"That will not be possible," Igor stated.
"What do you mean, 'not possible?' " Anya retorted.
Red had been trying to catch his attention since he entered the room, not like waving her hands around or anything, but she'd been turning her eyes different colors. It was the neon pink that finally got his attention. He looked at her, she looked down. His eyes noticed the broad axe right by her foot. Spike grinned. "All right, boys, you're going to be negotiating with me now..."
He put his hand out, the axe flew into it, and the door of the shop opened, revealing Giles. Giles took one look at the scene and said, "Igor, what in God's name are you doing here?"
"Ripper? Ripper! How the heck are you?" He went over and they embraced in that manly, back-slapping way of good friends.
"I've been better. How long has it been?"
"About a decade, I think. At the conjuring in Thebes. What are you doing in California?"
"I hate to break up this little reunion," Anya said, "But I'd like to be on the floor again, if it's not too much trouble."
"Oh, oh yeah, sorry about that," Igor said, and the crony holding Anya put her down. She rushed over to where Xander was lying and helped him push the bookshelf off of himself and stand up. Both of the cronies turned into puddles and slid over to be absorbed by Igor.
"I own this store," Giles said.
"No, really? Aw, man, I owe you some money then." It looked like Igor reached directly into his chest and pulled out a plain leather wallet. "Here's the grand I extorted from the girl over there, and here's a bit more to cover the damages."
Giles had a shocked look on his face. "You-extorted money from Anya?"
"Yeah, the Big Boss has a new gig, getting cash from dark practitioners. Got some super-duper vibes from this place lately. Lemme tell you, Ripper, that sales girl of yours, she's a tough one. I'm threatening her, and not once dose she pull out a destructo-spell, even though the trace emanations are all over this place for that and some other big nasties, I tell you what."
"That's because I told you, I don't do magic anymore!" Anya insisted.
"Yeah, I'm about to believe you, if it's true the Ripper here's your boss. Anyway, I finally convinced her when I threatened that shiny shelf" He gestured to the shelf over the cashier's counter labeled: 'Please ask for assistance - Very Expensive Items'. "With that thingamajimmie over there." He gestured to the troll hammer, resting in the remains of a glass case.
Giles followed the whole explanation, then said, "You extorted money from ANYA?"
"Yeah, bro, but I gave it back, so all is now good." Igor patted Giles on the head. A beeping noise sounded from somewhere inside of Igor's chest. "Aw, dangit, the Boss is paging me again. I'll call you later, we'll talk, okay?"
"Yeah, sure." Giles said, and waved as his friend disappeared past Spike to exit out the back. "He extorted money from Anya?"
"Can we please stop bringing that up?" Anya asked.
"But-"
"Giles, we found out what's going down tonight." Spike said before he could finish.
"The Kantok's mating with a Farwerk, and if we don't stop it by one a.m., the Hellmouth opens." Willow said.
"Again?"
"Pay up!" Willow said. Everyone grumbled and reached into their pockets to pile dollar bills into her hand.
"So I am assuming you have formulated a plan, correct?" Giles said.
"Yep. You're looking at a Vessel of Holy Truth," Spike informed him.
"You're kidding me. Where did you get a Orb of Reltetsoh?"
"Willow brought it from home," Xander said.
"You didn't tell me that," Tara said.
"Willow, what were you doing with such an evil object in your house?" Giles' face did a fair imitation of a tomato with a sunburn.
"I-I was using it as a footstool?"
"What else have you been playing with?"
"Not m-much," Willow said.
Tara was looking at Willow oddly. "You're lying!" she said, more shocked and surprised than anything.
"Tara, I-" Willow reached out to her girlfriend, but Tara pulled away.
"You've been lying to me for weeks. How could you do this to me?"
"I didn't mean to lie to you!" Willow said, tears forming in her eyes.
"You didn't tell me you were studying dark magic! That's dangerous! You know how dangerous it is!"
"I was just trying to help!"
Realization dawned in Tara's eyes. "You were trying to bring Buffy back. You would risk your own destruction for her?"
"Tara! No, it's not like that!" Willow grabbed her hands, tried to pull Tara close to her. Tara kept her at arm's length. "We needed Buffy back, everything was falling apart. I'd done so many other spells, I was sure I could help! We needed help!"
"You were willing to give me up for her." It wasn't a question.
"I, erm, training room..." Giles gestured with his head and harrumphed! In that uncomfortable British way. Xander, Dawn, and Anya followed him, leaving the two young women alone in the shop.
"No! Tara, no!" Willow protested, but Tara ripped her hands away.
"Yes! Willow, yes! You know the consequences of dark magic! Barring if the Registry caught you, if you messed up the spell or were off on your chanting, you could die or worse!"
"Tara, I love you," Willow whispered.
"No. No, I don't think you do." Tara now had tears in her eyes, and she was backing towards the door to the street.
"Tara, please don't..."
The door shut behind Tara, and Willow fell to the floor, crying.
Author: Spiffy Da WonderSheep
Disclaimer: No naked Spikes were harmed during the writing of this fic.
Part IX
There was a very good reason why Spike was sitting on a table, naked except for a strategically placed Orb of Reltetsoh, holding still while a vile-smelling mixture of goddess-knows-what was poured over his head by the Little Bit and the Witches. The very good reason was, he won the coin toss. Anya was chanting in Ancient Mandarin, and Xander was standing nearby, scowling.
The chanting stopped. "Feel like a Vessel of Holy Truth yet?" Anya asked him.
"I'm feeling cold and smelly and sticky, is what I'm feeling," Spike gritted his teeth and gathered the ceremonial robe tighter. "Am I done?"
"I think so. I guess we'll find out." Anya closed the book with a snap and turned her back. Everyone else followed her cue, and Spike leapt off of the table, running for the workout room, still holding the Orb of Reltetsoh in front of himself. When he got the door closed, the Orb, which was insanely heavy for an ugly piece of bric-a-brac (it wasn't even orb shaped), decided it was time to slip out of his hands and fall on his foot. After doing a lovely nude interpretive dance around the room to express exactly how much pain it caused him, he got dressed and walked back into the store proper.
He stopped a microsecond before he ran into Igor's back.
"What the bloody hell are you doing here?"
Igor turned around and regarded the vampire. "We have returned to discuss back payments on the insurance policy."
"I cannot BELIEVE you guys," Anya said angrily. Spike saw she was once again dangling by the scruff of the neck from one of Igor's cronies' claws. Xander was resting rather uncomfortably under a broken bookshelf. The other three girls were being guarded by the other crony. "I want to get this down in writing this time."
"That will not be possible," Igor stated.
"What do you mean, 'not possible?' " Anya retorted.
Red had been trying to catch his attention since he entered the room, not like waving her hands around or anything, but she'd been turning her eyes different colors. It was the neon pink that finally got his attention. He looked at her, she looked down. His eyes noticed the broad axe right by her foot. Spike grinned. "All right, boys, you're going to be negotiating with me now..."
He put his hand out, the axe flew into it, and the door of the shop opened, revealing Giles. Giles took one look at the scene and said, "Igor, what in God's name are you doing here?"
"Ripper? Ripper! How the heck are you?" He went over and they embraced in that manly, back-slapping way of good friends.
"I've been better. How long has it been?"
"About a decade, I think. At the conjuring in Thebes. What are you doing in California?"
"I hate to break up this little reunion," Anya said, "But I'd like to be on the floor again, if it's not too much trouble."
"Oh, oh yeah, sorry about that," Igor said, and the crony holding Anya put her down. She rushed over to where Xander was lying and helped him push the bookshelf off of himself and stand up. Both of the cronies turned into puddles and slid over to be absorbed by Igor.
"I own this store," Giles said.
"No, really? Aw, man, I owe you some money then." It looked like Igor reached directly into his chest and pulled out a plain leather wallet. "Here's the grand I extorted from the girl over there, and here's a bit more to cover the damages."
Giles had a shocked look on his face. "You-extorted money from Anya?"
"Yeah, the Big Boss has a new gig, getting cash from dark practitioners. Got some super-duper vibes from this place lately. Lemme tell you, Ripper, that sales girl of yours, she's a tough one. I'm threatening her, and not once dose she pull out a destructo-spell, even though the trace emanations are all over this place for that and some other big nasties, I tell you what."
"That's because I told you, I don't do magic anymore!" Anya insisted.
"Yeah, I'm about to believe you, if it's true the Ripper here's your boss. Anyway, I finally convinced her when I threatened that shiny shelf" He gestured to the shelf over the cashier's counter labeled: 'Please ask for assistance - Very Expensive Items'. "With that thingamajimmie over there." He gestured to the troll hammer, resting in the remains of a glass case.
Giles followed the whole explanation, then said, "You extorted money from ANYA?"
"Yeah, bro, but I gave it back, so all is now good." Igor patted Giles on the head. A beeping noise sounded from somewhere inside of Igor's chest. "Aw, dangit, the Boss is paging me again. I'll call you later, we'll talk, okay?"
"Yeah, sure." Giles said, and waved as his friend disappeared past Spike to exit out the back. "He extorted money from Anya?"
"Can we please stop bringing that up?" Anya asked.
"But-"
"Giles, we found out what's going down tonight." Spike said before he could finish.
"The Kantok's mating with a Farwerk, and if we don't stop it by one a.m., the Hellmouth opens." Willow said.
"Again?"
"Pay up!" Willow said. Everyone grumbled and reached into their pockets to pile dollar bills into her hand.
"So I am assuming you have formulated a plan, correct?" Giles said.
"Yep. You're looking at a Vessel of Holy Truth," Spike informed him.
"You're kidding me. Where did you get a Orb of Reltetsoh?"
"Willow brought it from home," Xander said.
"You didn't tell me that," Tara said.
"Willow, what were you doing with such an evil object in your house?" Giles' face did a fair imitation of a tomato with a sunburn.
"I-I was using it as a footstool?"
"What else have you been playing with?"
"Not m-much," Willow said.
Tara was looking at Willow oddly. "You're lying!" she said, more shocked and surprised than anything.
"Tara, I-" Willow reached out to her girlfriend, but Tara pulled away.
"You've been lying to me for weeks. How could you do this to me?"
"I didn't mean to lie to you!" Willow said, tears forming in her eyes.
"You didn't tell me you were studying dark magic! That's dangerous! You know how dangerous it is!"
"I was just trying to help!"
Realization dawned in Tara's eyes. "You were trying to bring Buffy back. You would risk your own destruction for her?"
"Tara! No, it's not like that!" Willow grabbed her hands, tried to pull Tara close to her. Tara kept her at arm's length. "We needed Buffy back, everything was falling apart. I'd done so many other spells, I was sure I could help! We needed help!"
"You were willing to give me up for her." It wasn't a question.
"I, erm, training room..." Giles gestured with his head and harrumphed! In that uncomfortable British way. Xander, Dawn, and Anya followed him, leaving the two young women alone in the shop.
"No! Tara, no!" Willow protested, but Tara ripped her hands away.
"Yes! Willow, yes! You know the consequences of dark magic! Barring if the Registry caught you, if you messed up the spell or were off on your chanting, you could die or worse!"
"Tara, I love you," Willow whispered.
"No. No, I don't think you do." Tara now had tears in her eyes, and she was backing towards the door to the street.
"Tara, please don't..."
The door shut behind Tara, and Willow fell to the floor, crying.