Buffy stepped into her room and closed the door. It was still early, but she hadn't lied when she said she was tired. She was emotionally exhausted. She sighed and crossed the room, falling onto her bed fully clothed. Something was eating at her, digging deep into the pit of her stomach. It felt a lot like her Slayer sense telling her something was horribly wrong. But she had checked the house three times, called Dawn at Tara's, called Xander and Anya. Willow was asleep, still recovering from her magic addictions. Giles was on his way to Sunnydale from England. Everyone was fine.
She got up and paced angrily, definitely not able to sleep in this state, racking her brain for anything she might have forgotten. She figured it might be guilt, at handing her patrol over to Spike, but she needed a break. And he could totally handle himself, she knew that. He had nearly killed her himself many times, before the Initiative de-fanged him. Now that he couldn't hurt a living creature (except her...), or, anything less than demonic, he had helped her and the Scoobies fight the forces of darkness, albeit sometimes grudgingly, and until recently only for money. He had even saved her life, once or twice. The thought of that still amazed her. Spike, soulless vampire, the 'Big Bad,' William the Bloody, the scourge of Europe, and personal killer of not one, but two Slayers before her, had saved her life. And was in love with her.
And of course, thinking about Spike, her thoughts turned to...that night. The mere thought of his cool hands...Not going there. Not again. It was over. She wouldn't make the same mistake twice. It was sick, and wrong. She was the Slayer, he was a disgusting, evil thing. Not even a person.
She sighed and opened her door with a little more force than she intended. She might as well go see how patrol went. If anything particularly scary had surfaced. She was NOT going because she couldn't stop thinking about him, NOT going because she craved his touch, his lips on hers.
"All business. Nothing else." she told herself as she stomped out the door.
///
It wasn't a long walk to the cemetery where Spike resided. The whole way there, her disturbing feeling that something was wrong only grew. It had her jumping at shadows, stake in hand. Her uneasiness grew at the lack of vampires hanging around, only having dusted two on her way over. She heard sounds coming from inside his crypt, and figured he was still up, which made sense since it was just after two a.m., midday for him.
She shoved the door open and stormed in.
"Spike..." she trailed off, eyes widening at the horror that was before her.
Spike dangled above the ground, thick chains holding his wrists to the ceiling. His bare toes brushed the blood soaked floor beneath him. He was unconscious, which looked a lot like dead in his case, though she knew he wasn't since he was still non-dusty. Her breath caught in her throat, her eyes running over his bare chest, a mass of welts, cuts and burns. She stumbled back against the door, hyperventilating for a moment, suppressing the urge to vomit, before fear became rage at whoever or whatever had done this to HER vampire. She whipped out her stake.
"Miss Edith said we'd be having guests." Drusilla lilted as she stepped from the shadows. In her hands was a champagne glass, filled with clear fluid.
Buffy froze.
"My William and I had a party, Slayer." She tilted her head and swayed for a moment. "But he doesn't like the wine." She pouted like a child. "He fell asleep, and now Mummy has to go."
Buffy gritted her teeth to keep herself from attacking the vampiress in outright rage. Drusilla suddenly turned serious.
"I've no mind for things to come. Miss Edith cries every night, I had to put her to sleep too." Her eyes shone. "The fire comes, child of light. It will burn us all. I'd rather sleep."
Buffy's eyes widened again as Drusilla brought the glass to her lips and drank it all in one gulp. And then vanished in a swirl of dust without so much as a scream.
She stood in shock, staring at the pile of dust that was formerly Spike's sire. Her stake clattered to the floor. Numbly, she turned again to Spike, looking him over for a way to get him down without hurting him further. As she got closer, she saw to her horror that his lips and eyes had been sewn shut.
It took all she had not to vomit again. Trickles of blood ran from his ears as well, and she could only guess that his hearing had been taken too.
She shook her head and backed away, hitting the stone wall of the crypt and sliding down. This was her fault. She should have gone with him. Her fault. She had enough presence of mind to touch the ring on her hand that Willow had long ago enchanted, and spoke the word that would bring her friend here.
///
Willow awoke from a dead sleep, shaking as the locator spell went off. Cursing, she picked up the phone and dialed.
"Xander? Emergency, meet me at Spike's crypt."
///
Willow had never run so fast in her life. She could have gotten there much quicker with a spell, but she didn't know the severity of the situation, and didn't want to test her new magic-free lifestyle. She was breathless by the time she met up with Xander and Anya, still blinking sleep from their eyes, at the door to the crypt.
"What happened? Why the bat signal?" Xander asked, a little out of breath himself.
"Yes, why? I am missing cuddlies." Anya pouted.
"Remember when I gave Buffy that locator ring? It just went off. And here. Did you bring weapons?" Willow said.
"Yeah, of course, I'm not running off into 'emergency' unarmed." Xander produced a stake, as did Anya.
Willow hoped that would be enough. A spell on her lips anyway, she held back as Xander pushed open the door.
"Oh god." he whispered.
Willow panicked and pushed past him, greeted by the sight of the bloody and unconscious Spike, still hanging in the middle of the room.
She brought a hand to her mouth and looked around, seeing one pile of dust, and breathing a sigh of relief when she saw Buffy curled against the wall.
Even Anya paled when she stepped into the room, but also hurried to Buffy's side. Xander shut the door behind them, and examined Spike with wide eyes.
"Buffy, what happened?" Willow asked gently, pushing the hair back from her best friend's face.
"Drusilla...and she..." Buffy choked out between sobs. She looked up at her friends' worried faces, and closed her eyes, trying to gain control of her raging emotions. Finally, she calmed. Her sobs subsided, and she was able to speak.
"Drusilla...she said she needed to punish him...And that she didn't want to burn...And then she dusted herself. I got here too late...." she finished, forcing back another sob and climbing to her feet.
Willow shook her head, unbelieving. Drusilla dusted herself? Well, she was insane. She helped Buffy up and the three girls turned around.
Xander was already trying to get Spike down. He gave up on pulling on the chains and finally went to the vampire's weapons trunk, pulling out a large axe.
"Be careful...He's really hurt...." Willow said, with compassion she didn't know she had for the blond.
Xander nodded and gritted his teeth. He dragged a chair over, and stood on it, aiming for where the chains were attached to the ceiling.
"Alright, Evil Undead...Brace yourself," he said, and then swung.
Three swings later, the chains snapped and Spike fell to the floor, hard. It must have awakened him, because he whimpered and rolled over. Xander dropped to the ground and bent to help the vampire up, but as soon as he touched him, Spike winced and kicked out with both legs at Xander, the blow causing the blond more pain as his chip went off. He whimpered again, his still chained hands twitching to grab his head.
Xander rubbed his chest, and looked up at the girls.
"How are we going to help him if he won't let us?" he asked, eyeing the stitches in the vampire's eyes and mouth.
"He probably knows now that the chip went off. Try again!" Anya supplied encouragingly. Buffy hung back, hugging herself, and Willow stepped forward to help, giving the Slayer an odd look.
Xander shrugged, and reached out to touch Spike again. This time the vampire was still, only wincing away, not thrashing out.
"See? Told ya," Anya said, proud of herself.
Buffy finally spoke.
"We need to get him out of here. Did you bring your car, Xander?"
He nodded, wondering how they would get Spike in the car without hurting him further. Followed by wondering why he cared if Spike was hurt.
"Alright..." the Slayer continued in her take charge voice. "Let's just do this quick, and get him to my house." She walked over to where Spike lay, and, frowning at what she was forced to do, she knelt and slammed her fist into his face with all her slayer strength.
The vampire grunted, and then his head lolled to the side. He was unconscious again. Good.
She signaled to Xander, and they lifted him between them, and carried him to the car.
///
It was Xander who had finally had the courage to remove the stitches from Spike's eyes and mouth. Still looking a little green from the work, he and Anya left the slayer and Willow to attend to the vampire.
Buffy sighed, taping bandages on the burns and slashes on Spike's chest. She couldn't do anything about his ears, or his eyes for that matter, but she could help with this. She was thankful that he remained unconscious.
Willow watched her work, frowning. She'd noticed how tender Buffy was with the vampire. She saw how familiar she was towards his body. But she didn't say anything. If her friend wanted to tell her anything, she would.
When she was satisfied that he would be comfortable when he woke, she checked the curtains in her room, making sure the sunlight couldn't get in, and left the wounded vampire sleeping in her bed.
She got up and paced angrily, definitely not able to sleep in this state, racking her brain for anything she might have forgotten. She figured it might be guilt, at handing her patrol over to Spike, but she needed a break. And he could totally handle himself, she knew that. He had nearly killed her himself many times, before the Initiative de-fanged him. Now that he couldn't hurt a living creature (except her...), or, anything less than demonic, he had helped her and the Scoobies fight the forces of darkness, albeit sometimes grudgingly, and until recently only for money. He had even saved her life, once or twice. The thought of that still amazed her. Spike, soulless vampire, the 'Big Bad,' William the Bloody, the scourge of Europe, and personal killer of not one, but two Slayers before her, had saved her life. And was in love with her.
And of course, thinking about Spike, her thoughts turned to...that night. The mere thought of his cool hands...Not going there. Not again. It was over. She wouldn't make the same mistake twice. It was sick, and wrong. She was the Slayer, he was a disgusting, evil thing. Not even a person.
She sighed and opened her door with a little more force than she intended. She might as well go see how patrol went. If anything particularly scary had surfaced. She was NOT going because she couldn't stop thinking about him, NOT going because she craved his touch, his lips on hers.
"All business. Nothing else." she told herself as she stomped out the door.
///
It wasn't a long walk to the cemetery where Spike resided. The whole way there, her disturbing feeling that something was wrong only grew. It had her jumping at shadows, stake in hand. Her uneasiness grew at the lack of vampires hanging around, only having dusted two on her way over. She heard sounds coming from inside his crypt, and figured he was still up, which made sense since it was just after two a.m., midday for him.
She shoved the door open and stormed in.
"Spike..." she trailed off, eyes widening at the horror that was before her.
Spike dangled above the ground, thick chains holding his wrists to the ceiling. His bare toes brushed the blood soaked floor beneath him. He was unconscious, which looked a lot like dead in his case, though she knew he wasn't since he was still non-dusty. Her breath caught in her throat, her eyes running over his bare chest, a mass of welts, cuts and burns. She stumbled back against the door, hyperventilating for a moment, suppressing the urge to vomit, before fear became rage at whoever or whatever had done this to HER vampire. She whipped out her stake.
"Miss Edith said we'd be having guests." Drusilla lilted as she stepped from the shadows. In her hands was a champagne glass, filled with clear fluid.
Buffy froze.
"My William and I had a party, Slayer." She tilted her head and swayed for a moment. "But he doesn't like the wine." She pouted like a child. "He fell asleep, and now Mummy has to go."
Buffy gritted her teeth to keep herself from attacking the vampiress in outright rage. Drusilla suddenly turned serious.
"I've no mind for things to come. Miss Edith cries every night, I had to put her to sleep too." Her eyes shone. "The fire comes, child of light. It will burn us all. I'd rather sleep."
Buffy's eyes widened again as Drusilla brought the glass to her lips and drank it all in one gulp. And then vanished in a swirl of dust without so much as a scream.
She stood in shock, staring at the pile of dust that was formerly Spike's sire. Her stake clattered to the floor. Numbly, she turned again to Spike, looking him over for a way to get him down without hurting him further. As she got closer, she saw to her horror that his lips and eyes had been sewn shut.
It took all she had not to vomit again. Trickles of blood ran from his ears as well, and she could only guess that his hearing had been taken too.
She shook her head and backed away, hitting the stone wall of the crypt and sliding down. This was her fault. She should have gone with him. Her fault. She had enough presence of mind to touch the ring on her hand that Willow had long ago enchanted, and spoke the word that would bring her friend here.
///
Willow awoke from a dead sleep, shaking as the locator spell went off. Cursing, she picked up the phone and dialed.
"Xander? Emergency, meet me at Spike's crypt."
///
Willow had never run so fast in her life. She could have gotten there much quicker with a spell, but she didn't know the severity of the situation, and didn't want to test her new magic-free lifestyle. She was breathless by the time she met up with Xander and Anya, still blinking sleep from their eyes, at the door to the crypt.
"What happened? Why the bat signal?" Xander asked, a little out of breath himself.
"Yes, why? I am missing cuddlies." Anya pouted.
"Remember when I gave Buffy that locator ring? It just went off. And here. Did you bring weapons?" Willow said.
"Yeah, of course, I'm not running off into 'emergency' unarmed." Xander produced a stake, as did Anya.
Willow hoped that would be enough. A spell on her lips anyway, she held back as Xander pushed open the door.
"Oh god." he whispered.
Willow panicked and pushed past him, greeted by the sight of the bloody and unconscious Spike, still hanging in the middle of the room.
She brought a hand to her mouth and looked around, seeing one pile of dust, and breathing a sigh of relief when she saw Buffy curled against the wall.
Even Anya paled when she stepped into the room, but also hurried to Buffy's side. Xander shut the door behind them, and examined Spike with wide eyes.
"Buffy, what happened?" Willow asked gently, pushing the hair back from her best friend's face.
"Drusilla...and she..." Buffy choked out between sobs. She looked up at her friends' worried faces, and closed her eyes, trying to gain control of her raging emotions. Finally, she calmed. Her sobs subsided, and she was able to speak.
"Drusilla...she said she needed to punish him...And that she didn't want to burn...And then she dusted herself. I got here too late...." she finished, forcing back another sob and climbing to her feet.
Willow shook her head, unbelieving. Drusilla dusted herself? Well, she was insane. She helped Buffy up and the three girls turned around.
Xander was already trying to get Spike down. He gave up on pulling on the chains and finally went to the vampire's weapons trunk, pulling out a large axe.
"Be careful...He's really hurt...." Willow said, with compassion she didn't know she had for the blond.
Xander nodded and gritted his teeth. He dragged a chair over, and stood on it, aiming for where the chains were attached to the ceiling.
"Alright, Evil Undead...Brace yourself," he said, and then swung.
Three swings later, the chains snapped and Spike fell to the floor, hard. It must have awakened him, because he whimpered and rolled over. Xander dropped to the ground and bent to help the vampire up, but as soon as he touched him, Spike winced and kicked out with both legs at Xander, the blow causing the blond more pain as his chip went off. He whimpered again, his still chained hands twitching to grab his head.
Xander rubbed his chest, and looked up at the girls.
"How are we going to help him if he won't let us?" he asked, eyeing the stitches in the vampire's eyes and mouth.
"He probably knows now that the chip went off. Try again!" Anya supplied encouragingly. Buffy hung back, hugging herself, and Willow stepped forward to help, giving the Slayer an odd look.
Xander shrugged, and reached out to touch Spike again. This time the vampire was still, only wincing away, not thrashing out.
"See? Told ya," Anya said, proud of herself.
Buffy finally spoke.
"We need to get him out of here. Did you bring your car, Xander?"
He nodded, wondering how they would get Spike in the car without hurting him further. Followed by wondering why he cared if Spike was hurt.
"Alright..." the Slayer continued in her take charge voice. "Let's just do this quick, and get him to my house." She walked over to where Spike lay, and, frowning at what she was forced to do, she knelt and slammed her fist into his face with all her slayer strength.
The vampire grunted, and then his head lolled to the side. He was unconscious again. Good.
She signaled to Xander, and they lifted him between them, and carried him to the car.
///
It was Xander who had finally had the courage to remove the stitches from Spike's eyes and mouth. Still looking a little green from the work, he and Anya left the slayer and Willow to attend to the vampire.
Buffy sighed, taping bandages on the burns and slashes on Spike's chest. She couldn't do anything about his ears, or his eyes for that matter, but she could help with this. She was thankful that he remained unconscious.
Willow watched her work, frowning. She'd noticed how tender Buffy was with the vampire. She saw how familiar she was towards his body. But she didn't say anything. If her friend wanted to tell her anything, she would.
When she was satisfied that he would be comfortable when he woke, she checked the curtains in her room, making sure the sunlight couldn't get in, and left the wounded vampire sleeping in her bed.