Slip Of Mind, by Trisha H.
Chapter 5
Summary: Takes place directly after Dead Things. The Super Geeks gain control of Spike's chip and use him like a weapon, but since they are the Super GEEKS, things don't go quite the way they planned. B/S in nature. . It's a response to a challenge posted by Nos on Crumbling Walls (http://cgi.komodo-skin.com/forum). The challenge details are written in the first chapter.
Rating: R to be safe. I don't really know.
Disclaimer: They're not mine. Never were, never will be, Joss owns the whole world, blah blah blah.
Spoilers: Through Older and Far Away, though probably not. I'm just saying so in case I accidentally mess up the timeline and drop something in I shouldn't.
Distribution: Whoever wants it. Just email me and ask.
Feedback: PLEASE! Dragolyn@hotmail.com Thanks SO much to everyone who's left feedback for me. You guys are so nice. I really appreciate it.
************************
"You first," Buffy said, ushering Jonathan through the front door to her house and shutting it after them. "I don't want you behind my back, especially not while my hands are full." She walked into the living room and dropped the little boy gently onto the couch. "Here you go, Nathaniel," she said, turning on the television. "You sit here, and I'll find you some nice cartoons to watch. Would you like that?"
"He's not gonna answer you. Why are you bothering with the TV? Like he's gonna care about Teletubbies right now," Jonathan said, his mouth twisting into a sullen scowl. "He wont even know they're on. You might as well save the electricity."
"If he's going to be like this for a while, I'd rather pretend he was zoned out from TV like a normal kid," she said, rubbing her hand over the boy's brown curls. "It's just too creepy, otherwise."
"Are you just going to leave him here while we go find Warren? Alone?"
"Of course not," Buffy said, crossing the room and picking up the telephone. "He could snap out of it any minute, and when he does, he'll be scared. He'll need someone with him who can comfort him. So, Anya will stay with him. Or Xander, if he's off of work." She frowned, listening to the phone ring a sixth time, and then a seventh. "There's got to be someone at the Magic Box, but they're not picking up the phone. If I can't reach them, we'll have to go get Dawn from Spike's..."
The door burst open, cutting Buffy off in mid-sentence. "Crypt…" she finished slowly, looking at the fear on Dawn and Tara's faces as they rushed into the living room. Hanging up the phone, she grabbed Dawn's hand. "Or, not. Are you okay? Why are you here? You're suppose to be watching… oh. Someone came for him, is that it?"
Tara nodded. "W-Warren," she stuttered, trying to keep her voice calm. "He took him, about fifteen minutes ago. And he didn't take the tranquilizers, so wherever Spike is, he's awake."
"But you two, you're okay? Dawn?" Buffy asked. She pulled Dawn to face her and brushed the hair away from her face. "You're not hurt?"
Shrugging out of her sister's grasp, Dawn glared at her. "Warren took Spike, and you only ask about us? Aren't you gonna ask if Spike's okay?"
Buffy blinked. "He's as okay as he can be," she said. "Warren wont kill him. He can't even get close to Spike without getting his head bitten off. He probably only took him to psych us out, you know, to mess with our heads. We'll find Warren and get Spike back."
Backing away, Dawn's face darkened with anger. "Oh sure! You're all nice to him while he's unconscious! But now that he's awake and out there somewhere with a insane murderer, you could care less about helping him! What, you only love him when he's not himself? Is that it? When he can't understand? That's real mature Buffy. Real nice, too."
Buffy's face flushed red. She bit her lip, hard, and tried to pretend it wasn't the tang of her own blood she was tasting. "I don't know what you're talking about. What's the problem, exactly? We find Warren, we find Spike, right? Same game plan, then. No worries."
"But Buffy, I don't think Warren took Spike to mess with us," Tara said, stepping closer to Dawn. "I think he took Spike to… well, to mess with him. In the crypt, he mentioned something about having plans for Spike. Big ones, he said. And um… he mentioned something about a, ah, a leather collar. It didn't sound to happy."
Jonathan paled. "Uh-oh," he said, taking a wary step back, away from Buffy.
The three girls turned to face him. "Uh-oh what?" Buffy said, advancing on him. "You know something, don't you?"
"Maybe," he muttered, scuffing the toe of his shoe against the hardwood floor. "I'm not sure, but maybe."
Grabbing his arm, Buffy gave him a hard shake. "Talk, Jonathan. And talk now."
"Umm… well, see, a few months back, Spike came to Warren and had him examine his chip to make sure it was still working."
"Spike did *what*?" Buffy asked, surprised. She shot a quick look at Tara. "I… I didn't know that. He really wanted to make sure he was right, that it still worked?"
"Well, yeah, he did. And to get Warren to help him, he came into our lair all "I'm gonna hurt your Fett" and stuff. He was real mean. Andrew still has nightmares."
"Huh? Fett? What are you talking about?" Dawn asked. "Did you take some of Warren's happy pills?"
"Never mind that," Buffy said, tightening her grip on his arm. "Spike came to Warren, threatened him, and so Warren checked out his chip. So what?"
"Warren didn't like it too much. He thought, you know, that if we helped Spike, he'd return the favor."
Tara raised an eyebrow. "Warren hasn't spent much time around vampires, has he."
"Only Spike. And only twice, I guess. Once when he built the…" Jonathan broke off as Buffy coughed meaningfully. "Okay, anyways, when he realized Spike wouldn't cooperate with us, Warren got really mad. Not just because he wouldn't help us, but because Spike pushed him around. Warren likes being the guy with the power, not the guy who's the helpless sissy. And Andrew was pissed because Spike threatened to hurt his Star Wars figurine. So, we were all talking about ways to pay him back, you know, for being a bully and threatening us. *I* thought it would be funny to egg his crypt, or TP it. A practical joke, you know? Something we could all get a laugh at. But Warren… well, I guess that's when he first thought about harnessing the power of Spike's chip. He didn't mention that at the time, though."
"Okay," Buffy said, pushing him against the wall. "Get to the point."
Swallowing hard, Jonathan looked up at her. "Warren said that he thought he could make an electric collar for Spike. A choke collar with metal teeth on it. One that would zap him if he tried to hurt one of us. He said that he could make it so that Spike couldn't hurt us, but could still attack other people if we wanted him to. Sort of like a… umm…"
"An attack dog," Dawn finished, looking sick. "He's gonna use Spike to protect him and hurt other people?"
"I think so," he said, unable to look at Buffy. "It makes sense, you know. With an army of brainwashed people behind him and an attack vampire on a leash at his side, there's not much Warren couldn't do."
"Only in your twisted mind would something that sick ever make sense," Buffy said. "So, if Warren has one of these collars on Spike, he can do whatever he wants to him. He can make him jump through hoops, or lick his boots, or…"
"Anything," Jonathan finished sickly. "Whatever he feels like. Anything at all."
Cold fear washed over Buffy. Releasing Jonathan, she stumbled over to the couch and sat beside Nathaniel, her head buried in her hands. Think, Slayer, she told herself in a stern inner voice that sounded remarkably like Giles. Don't feel, think! But after so many months of feeling numb, she was out of practice at holding back her emotions. In her mind, she saw Spike, beaten by Glory, telling her he'd have died to protect Dawn. Spike, fighting demons at her side on a hundred different nights, in perfect harmony with the cadence of her blows. She felt the cool, white weight of his body moving on top of her own. She remembered his eyes, blue and searching, locked onto hers as he shuddered deep inside of her body. His eyes, probing into hers as though within them, he truly could see into her soul, see that carefully hidden ball of emotion she held for him. His eyes, swollen shut from the brutality of her fists punching into them…
Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looked up into Dawn's anxious face. Dawn was saying something, her lips were moving, but Buffy couldn't understand her words. She rubbed her face briskly with her hands, trying to focus.
"Buffy!" Dawn repeated, squeezing her sister's shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Fine, I'm fine," Buffy stammered, covering Dawn's hand with her own. "Sorry. Just a… umm.. just a post-death-issues moment. I'm fine now." Her body shook, revealing her words as lies. "Just… give me a sec, okay?"
Tara came to sit beside her friend. She rubbed Buffy's back with large, circular motions. "Take some deep breaths, honey. Try to relax. We'll get Spike back. We will."
"Jeez," Dawn said, watching her sister struggle for calm. "I take it back. You care about Spike. You love him. I was wrong."
"I don't… I don't… I mean…" Buffy closed her eyes, composing herself. "I feel… something. Love… maybe, or something. The thought of Spike being Warren's plaything… knowing he can do anything to him… it's just… it's hard, okay? But how I feel… that doesn't matter right now, not really. What matters is finding Warren and stopping him before any more innocent people get hurt."
Tara stood and held out her hand to Buffy. "Okay," she said, her voice strong. "Let's go then, Slayer. Time to fight the good fight."
Smiling wanly, Buffy took Tara's hand. "Let's make a plan. First step is finding Warren."
Jonathan stepped forward. "I was thinking… Tara said he had more slaves with him at Spike's crypt. I didn't know he had any others, besides the ones at our lair."
"That means he must have a place of his own, a secret lair," Buffy said, nodding. "And I'm betting that he's stashing more victim's there, probably lots more. Warren isn't exactly Mr. Restraint. I'm sure he's used that Dampener thingy to zap as many people as he could get away with. But where would he be keeping them? That's the most important question right now."
"No," Willow said, walking in the room with Andrew trailing after her. "More important than that is what he's planning to do with them. And that's a question I can answer."
Tara grinned. "Good news. Yay. That's a first today."
"Just call me Answer Girl," Willow said, returning Tara's smile shyly. "Um, the non-magical kind of answers, that is. You wouldn't believe how much longer it takes to get rid of a van the old fashioned way. But hey, it was a good thing. If I'd done it magically, I wouldn't have found… well, this," she said, handing a slip of paper to Buffy. "We tore it off of a notepad. Andrew says this is written in Warren's handwriting."
"Sunnydale PD," Buffy read aloud.
"The police department?" Dawn asked. "What about it?"
"That's his first step," Buffy said, straightening her shoulders. "Of course. Where else would he start? The place with the most power of authority, right?"
"Plus, if he puts the whammy on all those cops and criminals, he adds a ton of people who are trained in violence to his group of slaves. Smart plan… umm… if you go for that sort of thing," he ended defensively, wilting under the glares of the women. "Which I don't. Not anymore at least."
"With a bunch of slave that powerful protecting him, and with a pet attack vampire, he could easily brain melt the entire town," Tara said, moving to Willow's side. "The whole state even."
"The whole of wherever he feels like, with time," Buffy said, trying to hide her fear. "But that's not gonna happen. We're making a plan of action, right? So- we don't know where he is now, but we do know he'll eventually hit the police station. We'll wait for him there. Do a stake out. If we're prepared, he wont even get through the doors."
"One of us should keep an eye on their lair, just in case he goes back there," Tara said. "I can do that, I guess."
"No. Even if he did show up there, you couldn't take him on. You wouldn't be able to contact me and tell me he's there. It wouldn't help anything- especially if he caught you spying on him. We already have one friend to rescue."
"What if we could communicate, though? Like, maybe we could find a cell phone?"
Willow motioned to Andrew, who stepped forward, a cardboard box of electronic equipment in his arms. "Answer Girl scores again. Their van had all kinds of neat toys. Most of them wont help us beat Warren, but there were a few things…" She dug through the box, then pulled out a few things. "Like these walkie-talkies. Just what we need, right?"
"Right. Okay." Buffy turned to Dawn. "You're staying here. I need you to watch Nathaniel."
"But Buffy, Spike's my friend. I want to help him."
"You are helping him, by helping me. Nathaniel is my responsibility, and I can't watch him and fight Warren at the same time. If he comes back from la-la land, he's gonna be really freaked out. Can you take care of him? Please?"
Dawn looked over at the little boy, wincing at his vacant stare. "Yeah," she said quietly, "I'll stay him. Poor little guy."
"Great. Will, you go over to the Magic Box. Grab whatever weapons you think we could use. Nothing too big- we don't want to hurt anyone but Warren, unless we have to. Just restrain them till they come to their senses again. Bring Xander and Anya and meet me outside the police department. Jonathan and I will be in the alley on the north side of the building."
"Got it," Willow said, passing out the walkie-talkies. "Tara? You're going to the lair?"
"Yup," she said, taking one of the radios. "If that's part of Buffy's plan."
"That's fine. You wait outside the Levinson's house. Don't let Jonathan's parents see you though. And do not, no matter what, take on Warren. I don't care what he's doing. If you see him, contact me, and that's it. I don't want him getting you, too."
"Me neither," she said. "Glad that's not part of the plan. If I see him, I'll call you right away.'
"What about me?" Andrew said. He looked over at Dawn, his eyes widening as he took in her short skirt and tank top. "I can… umm.. I can stay here with her, help baby sit the kid."
"No way that's gonna happen," Willow said. "You're coming with me."
"All right then. Plan's made. Let's move out," Buffy said, taking a walkie-talkie for herself and handing one to her sister. "Dawn, keep the doors locked. If Warren shows up, you run like hell. Leave the kid here. I know, that doesn't sound like a good thing, but it's the best option. Warren's already hurt him as much as he's going to. If he gets his hands on you…"
"Let's just not think about that, okay? Jeez. Are you trying to scare me?"
"Yes," Buffy said, hugging her. "If you're scared, you're alert. If you're alert, hopefully you'll be safe. If he got you, too…" Her eyes clouded over. "I just… I couldn't…"
"Hey, it's okay," Dawn said, tightening her arms around Buffy's waist. "Don't go all space cadet on me again. I'll be fine. You just go and save the day. That's what you're best at."
"A vote of confidence. Great. Thanks." She turned away and opened her weapon's chest. Handing Dawn a lightweight dagger, she said, "Keep this on you at all times. Even in the bathroom. No matter what. Capiche?"
"Capiche." Dawn walked behind Buffy to the door and opened it for her. She watched her sister walk with Jonathan across the porch. "And Buffy? Be careful, okay?" she said to her sister's back.
Buffy didn't pause to turn around. "Always."
*************
"Stake-outs suck," Jonathan whined. The vinyl seat of the car made squishing sounds as he fidgeted restlessly. "This alley sucks. And this car sucks, too. Whose is it again?"
"Spike's," Buffy muttered, resting her knees against the glove box of the DeSoto. She blinked to soothe her eyes from the sting of the streetlights. "You think any car of mine would smell like cigarettes, bourbon and blood?"
"I dunno. Guess not," he said, thumping his forehead against the steering wheel. "I wonder what CD's he has back there. Umm.. do you know if he likes Candlebox? That sounds really good right now."
"No music." Buffy leaned her head against the window, taking comfort in the coolness of the glass against her warm skin.
"Uh… okay." Jonathan sighed. He drummed his fingers over the edge of the dashboard. "So, you and Spike, huh?"
Buffy glared at him. "No talking, either."
"Well, we gotta do something! We've been waiting in this car for almost an hour. I can't sit still much longer then that!"
"Okay, okay," Buffy said, straightening in her seat. "Let's get out and stretch our legs. Willow should be here any minute with Xander and Anya."
She followed Jonathan out of the car, trying not to think about the last time she'd been in this alley. Had in only been the night before? So much had taken place over the last two days. Last night, she'd stood over the body of a girl she'd been convinced she'd killed. Now, she stood over the spot where she'd thrashed Spike to within an inch of his unlife. With a small whimper, she knelt on the pavement and touched a darkened stain where Spike's blood had pooled. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "So sorry."
"What are you doing?" Jonathan asked. He walked around her. "Is this what you do before a battle… some kind of weird, Slayer ritual?"
"Shut up," she told him, closing her eyes. She spread her hand flat on the stain, as if she could absorb it through her skin. "This is your fault. If you guys hadn't messed with me, I'd be home watching Friends with Dawn. Spike would be watching old horror flicks in his crypt. I wouldn't…"
"You're worried about him," Jonathan said, sitting beside her. "I can tell. You're all wrinkly around your eyes."
"Gee, thanks," she said, rocking back on her heels. "Of course I'm worried about him. Warren wants to see Spike toothless. He could be doing anything to him right now, and here I sit, not rushing to his rescue. This sort of defines 'going against the grain'."
"You're in love with him," Jonathan said flatly. "Don't even bother denying it. I always knew he liked you. Remember, when we used to hang out- "
"Jonathan, we never hung out."
"Okay, you know what I mean. When I made you like me by using that spell. I saw you two together then, and there was definitely a spark between you guys."
"You mean a fuse. Like, to a bomb. Spike and I… we're mostly just gonna blow up in each other's faces. And what's up with everyone asking if I love him? Can't you guys all just lay off a little?" She stood up, kicking at a discarded soda can. "It's not like it's any of your business."
"So, you don't love him?"
She leaned down to pick up a empty candy wrapper. Tossing it into the dumpster, she brushed her hands on her jeans. "No," she said, her voice very, very small and unconvincing even to her ears.
Just then, the walkie-talkie on her belt buzzed, making them both jump. "Buffy? Buffy, are you there?"
"Tara, is that you?" Buffy asked, holding the radio to her ear. "What's wrong?"
"A blue van just pulled up at Jonathan's house. Warren jumped out and ran inside. I was gonna call you, but he came back out after only a minute and went into the house across the street. He barely got through the door there, and right now, he's bringing people out onto the sidewalk. Zombie- type people."
"Tara? How many? How many people does he have?"
"Umm… maybe a few dozen? Forty or so? Five more just climbed out of the van- no, make that six. Oh. Oh, Buffy, I see Spike. A man just pulled him out of the van. He's not all the way unconscious, but he still looks groggy. I mean, he's not going for anyone's throat yet."
Buffy squeezed the radio, her knuckles white. "Where's Warren?"
"He's closing the door to the house. He's got something in his hands… it's that collar Jonathan told us about. He's putting it around Spike's neck and… it looks like Spike's waking up… Warren's putting him on a leash."
Buffy snorted. "Good for us, bad for him. Warren's not strong enough to hold a leash attached to a vampire. Spike'll pull free and rip his throat out."
"You'd think… but… Oh my God…"
"Tara! Tara, what's happening?"
"Oh, Buffy…" Tara moaned.
Buffy's eyes widened as she heard a agonized scream come from the radio. "That was Spike. Tara! That was Spike. Talk to me. What's going on?"
"Oh God. Oh God, Buffy. He's electrocuting him. Every time Spike lunges on the leash, Warren's giving him a shock. A bad one, from the way it looks. That's why Spike isn't pulling free. And that's why he's not attacking Warren. He's feral, and he's accepting Warren as his alpha. Either that or he's just too scared of getting zapped again to try to hurt him. And the collar's got these sharp things that cut into his neck when Warren pulls on the leash. He's bleeding. He's bleeding a lot. Buffy…"
Buffy took a deep breath. Then another. And another. When she could speak, she forced her words to come out slowly. "I'm coming. Right now, I'm on my way."
"No, stay there. Warren's moving them down the street. I'm guessing he's on his way to you now. Are you guys ready for him?"
"We will be." She turned off the walkie-talkie and hooked it back onto her belt. "Change of plan, Jonathan. No more rushing into battle. We've gotta be smart about this. I think I know what to do. We should have about fifteen minutes before Warren get here. Let's go meet the gang half way and fill them in." Looking down at Spike's blood stain on the pavement, she clenched her jaw. "I can't just sit here."
"Sure," Jonathan said, watching Buffy as she walked back towards the DeSoto. "You don't love him. Right."
Chapter 5
Summary: Takes place directly after Dead Things. The Super Geeks gain control of Spike's chip and use him like a weapon, but since they are the Super GEEKS, things don't go quite the way they planned. B/S in nature. . It's a response to a challenge posted by Nos on Crumbling Walls (http://cgi.komodo-skin.com/forum). The challenge details are written in the first chapter.
Rating: R to be safe. I don't really know.
Disclaimer: They're not mine. Never were, never will be, Joss owns the whole world, blah blah blah.
Spoilers: Through Older and Far Away, though probably not. I'm just saying so in case I accidentally mess up the timeline and drop something in I shouldn't.
Distribution: Whoever wants it. Just email me and ask.
Feedback: PLEASE! Dragolyn@hotmail.com Thanks SO much to everyone who's left feedback for me. You guys are so nice. I really appreciate it.
************************
"You first," Buffy said, ushering Jonathan through the front door to her house and shutting it after them. "I don't want you behind my back, especially not while my hands are full." She walked into the living room and dropped the little boy gently onto the couch. "Here you go, Nathaniel," she said, turning on the television. "You sit here, and I'll find you some nice cartoons to watch. Would you like that?"
"He's not gonna answer you. Why are you bothering with the TV? Like he's gonna care about Teletubbies right now," Jonathan said, his mouth twisting into a sullen scowl. "He wont even know they're on. You might as well save the electricity."
"If he's going to be like this for a while, I'd rather pretend he was zoned out from TV like a normal kid," she said, rubbing her hand over the boy's brown curls. "It's just too creepy, otherwise."
"Are you just going to leave him here while we go find Warren? Alone?"
"Of course not," Buffy said, crossing the room and picking up the telephone. "He could snap out of it any minute, and when he does, he'll be scared. He'll need someone with him who can comfort him. So, Anya will stay with him. Or Xander, if he's off of work." She frowned, listening to the phone ring a sixth time, and then a seventh. "There's got to be someone at the Magic Box, but they're not picking up the phone. If I can't reach them, we'll have to go get Dawn from Spike's..."
The door burst open, cutting Buffy off in mid-sentence. "Crypt…" she finished slowly, looking at the fear on Dawn and Tara's faces as they rushed into the living room. Hanging up the phone, she grabbed Dawn's hand. "Or, not. Are you okay? Why are you here? You're suppose to be watching… oh. Someone came for him, is that it?"
Tara nodded. "W-Warren," she stuttered, trying to keep her voice calm. "He took him, about fifteen minutes ago. And he didn't take the tranquilizers, so wherever Spike is, he's awake."
"But you two, you're okay? Dawn?" Buffy asked. She pulled Dawn to face her and brushed the hair away from her face. "You're not hurt?"
Shrugging out of her sister's grasp, Dawn glared at her. "Warren took Spike, and you only ask about us? Aren't you gonna ask if Spike's okay?"
Buffy blinked. "He's as okay as he can be," she said. "Warren wont kill him. He can't even get close to Spike without getting his head bitten off. He probably only took him to psych us out, you know, to mess with our heads. We'll find Warren and get Spike back."
Backing away, Dawn's face darkened with anger. "Oh sure! You're all nice to him while he's unconscious! But now that he's awake and out there somewhere with a insane murderer, you could care less about helping him! What, you only love him when he's not himself? Is that it? When he can't understand? That's real mature Buffy. Real nice, too."
Buffy's face flushed red. She bit her lip, hard, and tried to pretend it wasn't the tang of her own blood she was tasting. "I don't know what you're talking about. What's the problem, exactly? We find Warren, we find Spike, right? Same game plan, then. No worries."
"But Buffy, I don't think Warren took Spike to mess with us," Tara said, stepping closer to Dawn. "I think he took Spike to… well, to mess with him. In the crypt, he mentioned something about having plans for Spike. Big ones, he said. And um… he mentioned something about a, ah, a leather collar. It didn't sound to happy."
Jonathan paled. "Uh-oh," he said, taking a wary step back, away from Buffy.
The three girls turned to face him. "Uh-oh what?" Buffy said, advancing on him. "You know something, don't you?"
"Maybe," he muttered, scuffing the toe of his shoe against the hardwood floor. "I'm not sure, but maybe."
Grabbing his arm, Buffy gave him a hard shake. "Talk, Jonathan. And talk now."
"Umm… well, see, a few months back, Spike came to Warren and had him examine his chip to make sure it was still working."
"Spike did *what*?" Buffy asked, surprised. She shot a quick look at Tara. "I… I didn't know that. He really wanted to make sure he was right, that it still worked?"
"Well, yeah, he did. And to get Warren to help him, he came into our lair all "I'm gonna hurt your Fett" and stuff. He was real mean. Andrew still has nightmares."
"Huh? Fett? What are you talking about?" Dawn asked. "Did you take some of Warren's happy pills?"
"Never mind that," Buffy said, tightening her grip on his arm. "Spike came to Warren, threatened him, and so Warren checked out his chip. So what?"
"Warren didn't like it too much. He thought, you know, that if we helped Spike, he'd return the favor."
Tara raised an eyebrow. "Warren hasn't spent much time around vampires, has he."
"Only Spike. And only twice, I guess. Once when he built the…" Jonathan broke off as Buffy coughed meaningfully. "Okay, anyways, when he realized Spike wouldn't cooperate with us, Warren got really mad. Not just because he wouldn't help us, but because Spike pushed him around. Warren likes being the guy with the power, not the guy who's the helpless sissy. And Andrew was pissed because Spike threatened to hurt his Star Wars figurine. So, we were all talking about ways to pay him back, you know, for being a bully and threatening us. *I* thought it would be funny to egg his crypt, or TP it. A practical joke, you know? Something we could all get a laugh at. But Warren… well, I guess that's when he first thought about harnessing the power of Spike's chip. He didn't mention that at the time, though."
"Okay," Buffy said, pushing him against the wall. "Get to the point."
Swallowing hard, Jonathan looked up at her. "Warren said that he thought he could make an electric collar for Spike. A choke collar with metal teeth on it. One that would zap him if he tried to hurt one of us. He said that he could make it so that Spike couldn't hurt us, but could still attack other people if we wanted him to. Sort of like a… umm…"
"An attack dog," Dawn finished, looking sick. "He's gonna use Spike to protect him and hurt other people?"
"I think so," he said, unable to look at Buffy. "It makes sense, you know. With an army of brainwashed people behind him and an attack vampire on a leash at his side, there's not much Warren couldn't do."
"Only in your twisted mind would something that sick ever make sense," Buffy said. "So, if Warren has one of these collars on Spike, he can do whatever he wants to him. He can make him jump through hoops, or lick his boots, or…"
"Anything," Jonathan finished sickly. "Whatever he feels like. Anything at all."
Cold fear washed over Buffy. Releasing Jonathan, she stumbled over to the couch and sat beside Nathaniel, her head buried in her hands. Think, Slayer, she told herself in a stern inner voice that sounded remarkably like Giles. Don't feel, think! But after so many months of feeling numb, she was out of practice at holding back her emotions. In her mind, she saw Spike, beaten by Glory, telling her he'd have died to protect Dawn. Spike, fighting demons at her side on a hundred different nights, in perfect harmony with the cadence of her blows. She felt the cool, white weight of his body moving on top of her own. She remembered his eyes, blue and searching, locked onto hers as he shuddered deep inside of her body. His eyes, probing into hers as though within them, he truly could see into her soul, see that carefully hidden ball of emotion she held for him. His eyes, swollen shut from the brutality of her fists punching into them…
Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looked up into Dawn's anxious face. Dawn was saying something, her lips were moving, but Buffy couldn't understand her words. She rubbed her face briskly with her hands, trying to focus.
"Buffy!" Dawn repeated, squeezing her sister's shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Fine, I'm fine," Buffy stammered, covering Dawn's hand with her own. "Sorry. Just a… umm.. just a post-death-issues moment. I'm fine now." Her body shook, revealing her words as lies. "Just… give me a sec, okay?"
Tara came to sit beside her friend. She rubbed Buffy's back with large, circular motions. "Take some deep breaths, honey. Try to relax. We'll get Spike back. We will."
"Jeez," Dawn said, watching her sister struggle for calm. "I take it back. You care about Spike. You love him. I was wrong."
"I don't… I don't… I mean…" Buffy closed her eyes, composing herself. "I feel… something. Love… maybe, or something. The thought of Spike being Warren's plaything… knowing he can do anything to him… it's just… it's hard, okay? But how I feel… that doesn't matter right now, not really. What matters is finding Warren and stopping him before any more innocent people get hurt."
Tara stood and held out her hand to Buffy. "Okay," she said, her voice strong. "Let's go then, Slayer. Time to fight the good fight."
Smiling wanly, Buffy took Tara's hand. "Let's make a plan. First step is finding Warren."
Jonathan stepped forward. "I was thinking… Tara said he had more slaves with him at Spike's crypt. I didn't know he had any others, besides the ones at our lair."
"That means he must have a place of his own, a secret lair," Buffy said, nodding. "And I'm betting that he's stashing more victim's there, probably lots more. Warren isn't exactly Mr. Restraint. I'm sure he's used that Dampener thingy to zap as many people as he could get away with. But where would he be keeping them? That's the most important question right now."
"No," Willow said, walking in the room with Andrew trailing after her. "More important than that is what he's planning to do with them. And that's a question I can answer."
Tara grinned. "Good news. Yay. That's a first today."
"Just call me Answer Girl," Willow said, returning Tara's smile shyly. "Um, the non-magical kind of answers, that is. You wouldn't believe how much longer it takes to get rid of a van the old fashioned way. But hey, it was a good thing. If I'd done it magically, I wouldn't have found… well, this," she said, handing a slip of paper to Buffy. "We tore it off of a notepad. Andrew says this is written in Warren's handwriting."
"Sunnydale PD," Buffy read aloud.
"The police department?" Dawn asked. "What about it?"
"That's his first step," Buffy said, straightening her shoulders. "Of course. Where else would he start? The place with the most power of authority, right?"
"Plus, if he puts the whammy on all those cops and criminals, he adds a ton of people who are trained in violence to his group of slaves. Smart plan… umm… if you go for that sort of thing," he ended defensively, wilting under the glares of the women. "Which I don't. Not anymore at least."
"With a bunch of slave that powerful protecting him, and with a pet attack vampire, he could easily brain melt the entire town," Tara said, moving to Willow's side. "The whole state even."
"The whole of wherever he feels like, with time," Buffy said, trying to hide her fear. "But that's not gonna happen. We're making a plan of action, right? So- we don't know where he is now, but we do know he'll eventually hit the police station. We'll wait for him there. Do a stake out. If we're prepared, he wont even get through the doors."
"One of us should keep an eye on their lair, just in case he goes back there," Tara said. "I can do that, I guess."
"No. Even if he did show up there, you couldn't take him on. You wouldn't be able to contact me and tell me he's there. It wouldn't help anything- especially if he caught you spying on him. We already have one friend to rescue."
"What if we could communicate, though? Like, maybe we could find a cell phone?"
Willow motioned to Andrew, who stepped forward, a cardboard box of electronic equipment in his arms. "Answer Girl scores again. Their van had all kinds of neat toys. Most of them wont help us beat Warren, but there were a few things…" She dug through the box, then pulled out a few things. "Like these walkie-talkies. Just what we need, right?"
"Right. Okay." Buffy turned to Dawn. "You're staying here. I need you to watch Nathaniel."
"But Buffy, Spike's my friend. I want to help him."
"You are helping him, by helping me. Nathaniel is my responsibility, and I can't watch him and fight Warren at the same time. If he comes back from la-la land, he's gonna be really freaked out. Can you take care of him? Please?"
Dawn looked over at the little boy, wincing at his vacant stare. "Yeah," she said quietly, "I'll stay him. Poor little guy."
"Great. Will, you go over to the Magic Box. Grab whatever weapons you think we could use. Nothing too big- we don't want to hurt anyone but Warren, unless we have to. Just restrain them till they come to their senses again. Bring Xander and Anya and meet me outside the police department. Jonathan and I will be in the alley on the north side of the building."
"Got it," Willow said, passing out the walkie-talkies. "Tara? You're going to the lair?"
"Yup," she said, taking one of the radios. "If that's part of Buffy's plan."
"That's fine. You wait outside the Levinson's house. Don't let Jonathan's parents see you though. And do not, no matter what, take on Warren. I don't care what he's doing. If you see him, contact me, and that's it. I don't want him getting you, too."
"Me neither," she said. "Glad that's not part of the plan. If I see him, I'll call you right away.'
"What about me?" Andrew said. He looked over at Dawn, his eyes widening as he took in her short skirt and tank top. "I can… umm.. I can stay here with her, help baby sit the kid."
"No way that's gonna happen," Willow said. "You're coming with me."
"All right then. Plan's made. Let's move out," Buffy said, taking a walkie-talkie for herself and handing one to her sister. "Dawn, keep the doors locked. If Warren shows up, you run like hell. Leave the kid here. I know, that doesn't sound like a good thing, but it's the best option. Warren's already hurt him as much as he's going to. If he gets his hands on you…"
"Let's just not think about that, okay? Jeez. Are you trying to scare me?"
"Yes," Buffy said, hugging her. "If you're scared, you're alert. If you're alert, hopefully you'll be safe. If he got you, too…" Her eyes clouded over. "I just… I couldn't…"
"Hey, it's okay," Dawn said, tightening her arms around Buffy's waist. "Don't go all space cadet on me again. I'll be fine. You just go and save the day. That's what you're best at."
"A vote of confidence. Great. Thanks." She turned away and opened her weapon's chest. Handing Dawn a lightweight dagger, she said, "Keep this on you at all times. Even in the bathroom. No matter what. Capiche?"
"Capiche." Dawn walked behind Buffy to the door and opened it for her. She watched her sister walk with Jonathan across the porch. "And Buffy? Be careful, okay?" she said to her sister's back.
Buffy didn't pause to turn around. "Always."
*************
"Stake-outs suck," Jonathan whined. The vinyl seat of the car made squishing sounds as he fidgeted restlessly. "This alley sucks. And this car sucks, too. Whose is it again?"
"Spike's," Buffy muttered, resting her knees against the glove box of the DeSoto. She blinked to soothe her eyes from the sting of the streetlights. "You think any car of mine would smell like cigarettes, bourbon and blood?"
"I dunno. Guess not," he said, thumping his forehead against the steering wheel. "I wonder what CD's he has back there. Umm.. do you know if he likes Candlebox? That sounds really good right now."
"No music." Buffy leaned her head against the window, taking comfort in the coolness of the glass against her warm skin.
"Uh… okay." Jonathan sighed. He drummed his fingers over the edge of the dashboard. "So, you and Spike, huh?"
Buffy glared at him. "No talking, either."
"Well, we gotta do something! We've been waiting in this car for almost an hour. I can't sit still much longer then that!"
"Okay, okay," Buffy said, straightening in her seat. "Let's get out and stretch our legs. Willow should be here any minute with Xander and Anya."
She followed Jonathan out of the car, trying not to think about the last time she'd been in this alley. Had in only been the night before? So much had taken place over the last two days. Last night, she'd stood over the body of a girl she'd been convinced she'd killed. Now, she stood over the spot where she'd thrashed Spike to within an inch of his unlife. With a small whimper, she knelt on the pavement and touched a darkened stain where Spike's blood had pooled. "I'm sorry," she whispered, "So sorry."
"What are you doing?" Jonathan asked. He walked around her. "Is this what you do before a battle… some kind of weird, Slayer ritual?"
"Shut up," she told him, closing her eyes. She spread her hand flat on the stain, as if she could absorb it through her skin. "This is your fault. If you guys hadn't messed with me, I'd be home watching Friends with Dawn. Spike would be watching old horror flicks in his crypt. I wouldn't…"
"You're worried about him," Jonathan said, sitting beside her. "I can tell. You're all wrinkly around your eyes."
"Gee, thanks," she said, rocking back on her heels. "Of course I'm worried about him. Warren wants to see Spike toothless. He could be doing anything to him right now, and here I sit, not rushing to his rescue. This sort of defines 'going against the grain'."
"You're in love with him," Jonathan said flatly. "Don't even bother denying it. I always knew he liked you. Remember, when we used to hang out- "
"Jonathan, we never hung out."
"Okay, you know what I mean. When I made you like me by using that spell. I saw you two together then, and there was definitely a spark between you guys."
"You mean a fuse. Like, to a bomb. Spike and I… we're mostly just gonna blow up in each other's faces. And what's up with everyone asking if I love him? Can't you guys all just lay off a little?" She stood up, kicking at a discarded soda can. "It's not like it's any of your business."
"So, you don't love him?"
She leaned down to pick up a empty candy wrapper. Tossing it into the dumpster, she brushed her hands on her jeans. "No," she said, her voice very, very small and unconvincing even to her ears.
Just then, the walkie-talkie on her belt buzzed, making them both jump. "Buffy? Buffy, are you there?"
"Tara, is that you?" Buffy asked, holding the radio to her ear. "What's wrong?"
"A blue van just pulled up at Jonathan's house. Warren jumped out and ran inside. I was gonna call you, but he came back out after only a minute and went into the house across the street. He barely got through the door there, and right now, he's bringing people out onto the sidewalk. Zombie- type people."
"Tara? How many? How many people does he have?"
"Umm… maybe a few dozen? Forty or so? Five more just climbed out of the van- no, make that six. Oh. Oh, Buffy, I see Spike. A man just pulled him out of the van. He's not all the way unconscious, but he still looks groggy. I mean, he's not going for anyone's throat yet."
Buffy squeezed the radio, her knuckles white. "Where's Warren?"
"He's closing the door to the house. He's got something in his hands… it's that collar Jonathan told us about. He's putting it around Spike's neck and… it looks like Spike's waking up… Warren's putting him on a leash."
Buffy snorted. "Good for us, bad for him. Warren's not strong enough to hold a leash attached to a vampire. Spike'll pull free and rip his throat out."
"You'd think… but… Oh my God…"
"Tara! Tara, what's happening?"
"Oh, Buffy…" Tara moaned.
Buffy's eyes widened as she heard a agonized scream come from the radio. "That was Spike. Tara! That was Spike. Talk to me. What's going on?"
"Oh God. Oh God, Buffy. He's electrocuting him. Every time Spike lunges on the leash, Warren's giving him a shock. A bad one, from the way it looks. That's why Spike isn't pulling free. And that's why he's not attacking Warren. He's feral, and he's accepting Warren as his alpha. Either that or he's just too scared of getting zapped again to try to hurt him. And the collar's got these sharp things that cut into his neck when Warren pulls on the leash. He's bleeding. He's bleeding a lot. Buffy…"
Buffy took a deep breath. Then another. And another. When she could speak, she forced her words to come out slowly. "I'm coming. Right now, I'm on my way."
"No, stay there. Warren's moving them down the street. I'm guessing he's on his way to you now. Are you guys ready for him?"
"We will be." She turned off the walkie-talkie and hooked it back onto her belt. "Change of plan, Jonathan. No more rushing into battle. We've gotta be smart about this. I think I know what to do. We should have about fifteen minutes before Warren get here. Let's go meet the gang half way and fill them in." Looking down at Spike's blood stain on the pavement, she clenched her jaw. "I can't just sit here."
"Sure," Jonathan said, watching Buffy as she walked back towards the DeSoto. "You don't love him. Right."