Chapter Thirty-Three


In the few days after Christmas, everyone was happy and carefree; Darry was really happy go lucky, for the time being. Both Kellie and Spike and Darry and Oz's relationships were going fine and almost like real relationships, minus the whole vampire/ werewolf thing.
Spike, however, was beginning to become agitated with everything, except Kellie. He was especially agitated with the stupid chip in his head. If only that doctor hadn't duped him and had really taken out his chip, then he wouldn't be having this problem.
Spike sat in his crypt and contemplated all the ways that he could get the chip out of his head and all the things he would do once he got the chip out of his head. He wouldn't mind snacking on some fresh humans but he didn't want Buffy to think he was a villain again and slay him. However, it would be a good thing if he could help Buffy in her battles against human foes, or half-human demons.
Spike looked out the window; it was the second day of January, the snow had already melted and Sunnydale was back to its regular high temperatures. Spike didn't really like the cold, one of the reasons he chose to relocate to California.
Even though he tried, he couldn't take his mind off getting the chip out of his head. He doubted it could be done, even if it could be done no doctor in his right mind would perform the surgery, or any surgery on a vampire. The doctor at the commando hospital where Buffy's old beau had to be checked into had had to be forced to perform a fake surgery on his head. He had had Harmony help him persuade the doctor. However, who could he get to persuade a doctor to get the chip out of his head?

Back at the Summers house, Kellie had just returned from the Sunnydale Photo Center with the picture of Darry and Oz she had taken on Christmas. She planned on framing it and giving it to Darry as a late Christmas gift or perhaps an early birthday present.
She found an old, empty picture frame in the basement and carefully put the picture into the frame. Kellie polished the glass and then studied the picture. It was a sweet picture, Kellie thought, Darry and Oz looked so happy together.
Kellie set the picture on the kitchen table but then picked it up again and carried it upstairs to her room. Darry was out with Oz and most of the other members of the house were out as well. Willow was the only one home, aside from herself, and Willow was working on a project of her own, though Kellie didn't exactly know what it was.
Kellie set the picture of Oz and Darry on Darry's table by her bed; the picture was right in the center, which gave it a more important look. Unlike Kellie's pictures which were all bunched up together on her dresser.
Kellie wished she had a picture of her and Spike together but she didn't know if vampires photographed or not.

As the sun began to go down, Spike started to wonder if he could talk Kellie into 'persuading' a doctor to free him of the chip in his head. Maybe she would, maybe she wouldn't but she was the only person Spike could think of to help him.
Once the sun fully went down, he would ask her if she would help him, it might require some persuading but Spike was sure that Kellie would help him.

Kellie was in the kitchen when Spike knocked on the door. She answered the door and was surprised to see Spike standing there. "Hey Spike, what's up?" Kellie asked as Spike entered the house.
"I need your help Kellie." Spike said.
"Sure, what's the matter?" Kellie asked.
"You know when I told you about that chip in my head? Well, I want to get it removed." Spike said.
Kellie looked at him. "Where do I fit into this? How are you going to get it removed?" Kellie asked.
"I was thinking about it all day and I figure that the only way to get it removed is to have a surgery done. But, I don't think that any doctor would readily do surgery on a vampire, so that's where you come in." Spike answered.
"What can I do?" Kellie asked.
"We might have to force a doctor to operate on me, and I need your help for that. I can't even point a weapon at a living person so I wouldn't be a forceful, very convincing person." Spike answered.
"So you want me to threaten someone to do surgery on you?" Kellie asked.
"Pretty much." Spike said.
Kellie thought about that for a second, she could think of many things wrong with that plan, but what if it worked and Spike was free of the chip in his head forever? After all, Spike was her boyfriend and it was part of a relationship to make sure that your other was happy. And, Spike couldn't be happy if he had that chip in his head.
"Okay." Kellie agreed. "When?" She asked.
"Now, I can't have this thing in my head any longer." Spike answered.
"Well, we don't have any 'weapons' and what hospital are you going to?" Kellie asked, surprised by the urgency in Spike's voice.
"This is a Slayer's house, there are plenty of weapons." Spike said. "I know where she keeps 'em." He added.
Spike and Kellie walked into the hall and Spike opened the door to the closet. There was a large chest on the floor of the closet, Spike took it out of the closet and opened it.
Kellie reached in and picked up a sword. "Can we use this?" Kellie asked and looked at the sword.
"No, I think that would alert everyone in a six mile radius." Spike said. Kellie put the sword back in the chest and picked up a mace. "How do you use this?" She asked and swung the mace around. The spiked ball smashed into the wall and left a large hole.
"Like that." Spike muttered. Kellie slowly put the mace back in the chest. "What can we use?" She asked. Spike reached and grabbed a crossbow, he was careful not to point it at Kellie. "This." He said.
Kellie took the crossbow from Spike and pointed it at the hole in the wall. "This is a weapon I know how to use." She said and laced her finger around the trigger.
"There should be some arrows in there." Spike said. Kellie reached into the chest and pulled out nearly a full quiver of arrows. She fitted a bolt into the shaft and then lowered the crossbow.
"Are you ready Lara Croft?" Spike asked, noting his girlfriend's like for weapons. "Let's go before Buffy or anyone else gets home." Spike said.
Kellie nodded and put the chest back in the closet and shut the door. She studied the hole in the wall. "Do you think Buffy will notice?" She asked. The hole was large and plaster was still falling from the edges of the hole.
"No, now let's go." Spike said, eager to get out of the house and on with the trip to the hospital.
The duo left the house and headed in the direction of Sunnydale Memorial Hospital; it was the closest hospital and the only hospital Spike knew of in Sunnydale.
Sunnydale Memorial Hospital was bustling, from the looks of the parking lot, even though it was almost nine o'clock. Kellie guessed that nighttime was the busiest time, due to all the people-eating monsters that ran rampant in Sunnydale.
Kellie and Spike entered the hospital and Kellie couldn't help but get nervous. Spike had the crossbow hidden in his duster; that was a good thing, Kellie thought, because she might accidentally get too jumpy and pull the trigger.
Spike led the way, no one stopped them or even seemed to acknowledge their presence; Spike and Kellie turned a corner and walked down a hallway with a blue sign that said 'Neurology Wing' in white letters.
Spike looked around and saw a doctor sitting alone in his office; the nameplate by the door read 'Dr. Robert Steel: Neurosurgery'.
"This is the place." Spike muttered. He opened the door and he and Kellie walked in.
Dr. Steel whirled around, surprised. "Who are you?" He asked.
Spike handed the crossbow to Kellie, who took it was shaking hands. "Look, doctor, I need to ask you a favor." Spike said. Dr. Steel stood up when he saw Kellie point the crossbow at him.
"You see, some of your fellow doctor-men put this nasty little chip in my head and I need you to remove it." Spike said.
"Yeah, that chip makes it so he can't bite people or fight anyone." Kellie said.
Spike turned to her. "Great, tell him I'm a vampire Kellie, that's a capital plan." Spike hissed.
"Capital? What capital? I never know what you're talking about; loo, shag, brolly, what the hell is all that?" Kellie asked, glaring at him.
"What? There's no way you could remember me saying all those things because I bloody well don't remember saying those things." Spike said. Then he remembered the situation at hand.
He turned back to Dr. Steel. "So, I think you have a new patient." Spike said.

When Buffy came home, the first thing she saw was a giant hole in the wall in the hall. "What the hell?" She muttered. Willow came from downstairs and looked at the hole.
"What happened there?" Willow asked.
"Like I know." Buffy muttered. "Is anyone else home?" She asked.
"Kellie was here but I guess she's not now." Willow muttered.
"Okay, there's a giant hole in my wall and Kellie's is M.I.A. for the time being." Buffy muttered.
"I'm sure there is an explanation for everything." Willow said.

Dr. Steel led Kellie and Spike into an enclosed room with an operating table in the center. Kellie looked around the room and grimaced, she hated the hospital and everything associated with it.
Spike hopped onto the table and lay down. "Ready doc. get this bloody chip out of my head.
Dr. Steel began to work, slowly because her wasn't what he was looking for or what exactly the 'chip' did. However, after about fifteen minutes into the operation, Dr. Steel found a tiny silver object in Spike's head. He carefully grasped it with a tiny pair of teasers, usually used to remove a bullet from someone's body, and plucked the chip out of Spike's head.
When the chip came lose, Spike grimaced slightly but knew that he was rid of that awful thing. Kellie looked over at him and then over at the doctor, who dropped the chip into a metal bucket.
"There." Dr. Steel muttered, relived that he wouldn't have a crossbow arrow through the heart. He sewed Spike back up and put his tools back on the metal platform.
"You shouldn't feel any side-affects of the surgery, Mr. Spike, I think that everything went well." Dr. Steel said.
Spike jumped off the table. "Let's see if it worked." He muttered and grabbed the crossbow away from Kellie. He pointed it at the doctor, who shrunk back in fear.
"No headache." Spike said happily and thrust the crossbow back to Kellie. "Let's get out of here, little bird." Spike said. Kellie was happy to oblige; the duo left the hospital.

"I have to patrol, Willow, keep an eye out for Kellie as well as the other members of this house, especially a certain underaged teenager who happens to be related to certain vampire slayer." Buffy said.
The Slayer left the house and began her patrol around the town of Sunnydale.

The man began to get agitated with the Slayer that reigned over Sunnydale. His last demon, Eyghida, hadn't followed orders exactly to the line; instead of attacking the Slayer directly, it attacked one of the Slayer's cohorts. And had gotten its killed. Foolish demon, the man thought. It appeared as though a different breed of demon needed to be sent upon the Slayer to stop her from stopping his plan.
Yes, the day of his grand Ascension would soon be upon him and the rest of the world would perish. All he needed was the gem and then he would be unstoppable. However, he had read in many ancient texts that a Slayer had stopped many Apocalypse and Ascensions, even if it meant the cost of her own life. He had no reason to think different about this Slayer.
She must be out of the way by the day; the day was quickly apporching. He combed his mind for the spell that would summon one of the most powerful demons that could be created by magick.
"Te orbita recissus est venietur quod." He chanted in Latin. The cavern filled with a sea of red light as a creature emerged from the depths of the light.
The creature was large and dragon like; its wings were feathered instead of scaled and its back paws were lions feet instead of clawed like its front feet. Its tail was scorpion like with a stinger that dripped poison onto the ground below; its face was long and serpent like, with two large fang like tusks protruded from its mouth. It had long ears like a tiger with tiny spikes protruding from the tops.
"Dracovuimago, my servant and brother, you must kill the Slayer so she will not stand in the way of the grand Ascension that is quickly approching." The man said.
Dracovuimago bowed his head. "I will be done, my Master." The creature said.

Buffy was beginning to wonder if there was something wrong with the prophecy that said that vampires would continue to roam the world because Sunnydale was one world they weren't roaming. Buffy would think that she killed all the vampires except for 1) she wasn't stupid and 2) she saw close to thirty packed in Willy's Place the last time she visited.
There was a rustle in the bushes behind her, as well as heavy footsteps. "Finally, some action." Buffy muttered and pulled a stake out of her pocket.
Buffy turned around and came face to face with a large dragon demon that looked as though it belong in the middle ages. "Whoa." Buffy muttered and took a step back. The dragon was easily as heavy as she, if not heavier, and was almost half her height.
"Slayer, you will die, so it is commanded, so it will be done." Dracovuimago hissed, its serpent like tongue flicking out of its mouth.
"Oh yeah? Well, I have a problem with that command." Buffy said and realized that her stake would be useless against this creature, it obviously wasn't a vampire.
Dracovuimago took a step forward, its talons digging into the pavement. Before it could get any closer, the Slayer delivered a spin kick to its jaw; the dragon's head jerked to the side and Buffy heard the snap of bones.
"You will die Slayer." Dracovuimago hissed, flexing his jaw.
"Oh, like I haven't heard that before." Buffy said and dropped her stake to the ground; this was going to take some good old-fashioned fisticuffs.
Dracovuimago leapt at Buffy and dug his claws into her arms, driving her to the ground. Buffy kicked Dracovuimago in the gut and shoved him off her.
Dracovuimago lay sprawled on the pavement but Buffy had a feeling it was just playing possum. However, it occurred to her that the person who seemed to have all the vampires in Sunnydale in hiding had sent this thing. She walked over to Dracovuimago and kicked him, hard, in the head, leaving him out cold, truly, for the time being. The only thing Buffy could think of to do was take the medieval monster back to her house.

Everyone, including Kellie, was home when Buffy came walking through the kitchen door with her reptilian foe in her hands. Darry jumped back in surprise.
"What the hell is that?" Darry asked. Buffy looked over at her. "Less talk, more get dragon into basement before he wakes up." Buffy said and grunted under the things weight.
With the help of Kellie and Darry, Buffy took the dragon to the basement and chained him up with Darry's newly reinstalled manacles.
"I have to ask, wh-where in the world did you find that thing?" Tara asked, joining Darry, Kellie and Buffy in the basement, along with Willow and Dawn.
"During patrol, I've never seen a demon like him before; what about you Will?" Buffy asked, turning to Willow.
Willow shrugged. "Nope, I can honestly say that the only place I've seen anything like this thing is in story books." Willow answered.
"So, you think this thing is really a dragon?" Kellie asked.
Buffy shrugged. "What I do think is that this thing was sent by the person who has Sunnydale's entire demon population sedated and subdued." Buffy answered.
"Except Spike." Kellie said.
Buffy looked over at Kellie. "Yes, except Spike." She muttered, surprised that the vampire had even come up in the conversation at all.
"So, what do you plan to do with this thing?" Darry asked.
"Well, when it wakes up, I plan to make it tell us everything its little mind knows." Buffy answered.