Disclaimer: I didn't invent "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (if I had, my current residence would probably be a room with padded walls), and I'm not making any profit out of this.
Summary: What effect will Willows selfless, unexpected gift have on Spike? And on Willow? More chapters coming up soon!
Comment: This is set in season four, that's what we're getting right now in Madrid. I KNOW what's in store for Spike, but I am choosing to ignore it, ok?
Review: Yes, please!! This is my first Buffy-fic, and although I love the show, I haven't actually had the chance to watch it a lot,so be gentle. Let me know if there is something absolutely wrong with the contents or with my english, since it's not my native language. And make sure to let me know if you actually LIKED it!!:))
The Gift
by
Miranda
Chapter I
Spike had never been so cold in his life. A few hours ago it would have held some appeal to ponder the irony of the situation, since he had been a dead, cold-blooded creature for the last two hundred years. But despair had him completely in its grip now, there was no room for irony or even for some detachment. He knew something much, much worse than death awaited him, and he wouldn't have admitted it to anyone - but he was afraid.
He cowered in a corner of the brightly lit cell where he had been for... five days now? Six? A week? No night and no day; no food, no drink, no blood; no voices, no noises; no changes; no nothing. The low hum and the steady glare of the lights was slowly driving him crazy, but they somehow withstood the blows of his fists when he tried to smash them.
That had been at the beginning, when he couldn't stop cursing and shouting. He was so angry with himself, he couldn't believe he'd let those bloody G.I.-Joes of the Initiative catch him again. That bitch of a slayer, probably shagging all the boy-scouts in turn, while the others looked on and discussed what kind of experiment they would turn him into.
That was what he feared: Spike knew these people had the means to do with him what they wanted. If they had wanted him dead, they would have driven a stake through his heart long ago, and it was obviously not enough for them to just put the bloody chip in his brain and let him loose, so WHAT DID THEY WANT?
That thought had kept him busy for the first three days. That was when he suddenly noticed they hadn't fed him in all that time. Now all he could do was lay crouched on the floor, retching dryly from the cramps in his empty stomach, shuddering, and all he could think was: "Cold. Hunger. Hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger. Cold cold cold cold cold." And in between, not even knowing what it meant anymore, Spike thought a tiny little word: "Please... please..."
---------------------------
"Explain to me again WHY we can't just let him there." Xander was looking up to Buffy and shaking his head incredulously.
Giles answered the question. "Because we don't know what they are going to do with him."
"The problem with that being...?"
Buffy was losing her patience. "Xander, didn't you listen to anything I said? They do experiments down there, ok?, all kinds of experiments. From what I saw, I think they are trying to make some kind of a... a super-demon, putting together the strongest and most evil parts of every demon and creature thay can get their hands on. Spike is bad enough as he is, the least thing we need right now is some kind of super-evil Spike making our lives more interesting."
"So, the idea is to rescue him before they turn him into... whatever it is they want to do with him." Willow looked up from her books. She was kneeling in front of the coffee table in Giles' living-room.
"Yes, and let's hope he's grateful enough to let us share some of the information we'll need to get rid of that - Initiative once and for all." Giles was pacing the room nervously. Demons and evil creatures from the dark were one thing he was used to, but he wasn't used to dealing with the... the military, the government, the CIA or whatever those people were, and frankly, he didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit. He-
"Excuse me..."
"Ok, we have to move tonight, we don't know how long he's been there or what they've already done with him. Willow, I'm going to need you to help me bypass all those security systems. Once we're in-"
"Uhm... I hate to interrupt all your brilliant strategic planning, Buffy, but, I think tonight you will be... otherwise engaged."
"Oh, I know I said we'd go to that party at the Bronze, but this is-"
"This is not about the party!" Willow felt ashamed and angry. Why would Buffy assume she was even thinking about a party at a time like this, when they were obvioulsy in a critical situation? More critical than they knew...
"It's the Feast."
"What?"
"The Feast of Darkness. There have been these signs over the last three days and the stars are right too, so..."
"What signs? What are you talking about?"
"Here, look." Willow stood up and walked over to Giles with an open book in her hands, although it had been Buffy who'd asked the question.
"Mystic circles... unusually low demon and vampire activity... sunshine... oh my god, Willow, you are right! How could I have forgotten?"
"Giles, what!!"
"The Feast of Darkness. It's a gathering of about every demon, evil witch and sorcerer there is. They convene whenever the stars are in one of a series of very specific constellations and their goal is to cause-"
"The end of the world." Xander sighed resignedly. Then his face lit up. "So, I'd say this Feast thing is our top priority now, is it? Spike will just have to look after himself for now." And if we're lucky, he'll be dust by the time we can rescue him. He didn't express that caritative thought, though, so why was Willow glaring at him like that?
"We can do both. Buffy and Giles, you go to Sunnydale High, where the library used to be. That's where the Feast is going to take place in... exactly one hour. The demons they have down there in the... headquarters or whatever they call it will be giving them a hell of a time, trying like mad to get out of their cells to attend the Feast. So it should be easy for me to slip through the chaos, bypass security, and get Spike out of there. If everything goes smooth, we could meet here in two hours, have saved the world AND Spike, and know a lot more about what they're actually doing doen there in the bargain."
For a moment everyone was silent.
"Talking about brilliant strategic planning...", Giles finally said.
"Giles... you're not actually suggesting we let Willow do this on her own?"
"No. Xander will go with her."
"Are you out of your mind? No way! Anything could happen to her! No, we'll go to this Feast thing together and then we'll take care of Spike, and-"
"Will you listen to me for one time in your life, Buffy?!" Willow was facing her friend, her fists clenched, her voice tight. "We have no time for this! You yourself said we had no time to loose with Spike, or we'll soon have a very big problem. Supposing YOU prevent the end of the world. That's you job, remember? The evil forces of the Darkness are already gathering, and you and I know that if we go with you, I would just stand around, shrieking whenever a demon hits you over the head. There is no spell I can do to prevent this. The only solution is kill as many powerful demons as you can, so the others get discouraged and go back where they came from, until there are not enough left of them to do a spell that's powerful enough to cause the end of the world. See, it's all here in the book. You have to go NOW, and you have to take Xander; he can kill one or two demons if he puts his mind to it."
"Oh, thank you Willow."
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah, I know." They smiled at each other.
Buffy looked at Willow and opened her mouth. Where were all her reasonalble objections? She turned.
"Ok, Giles, Xander, we'll meet in front of High School in ten minutes, get your gear together. Willow... anything, I mean ANYTHING goes wrong, and you're out of there, with or without Spike. He might be a problem, but aproblem we can fix, and we can't fix loosing you."
"Ok."
"I MEAN this." With one last worried look at her friend, Buffy ran out of the house. Willow grabbed her laptop and followed her. She could feel Xanders and Giles' eyes on her back, but she didn't turn around. She was going to get Spike back. That was all that mattered. And not once had she asked herself WHY that was so important to her.
Summary: What effect will Willows selfless, unexpected gift have on Spike? And on Willow? More chapters coming up soon!
Comment: This is set in season four, that's what we're getting right now in Madrid. I KNOW what's in store for Spike, but I am choosing to ignore it, ok?
Review: Yes, please!! This is my first Buffy-fic, and although I love the show, I haven't actually had the chance to watch it a lot,so be gentle. Let me know if there is something absolutely wrong with the contents or with my english, since it's not my native language. And make sure to let me know if you actually LIKED it!!:))
The Gift
by
Miranda
Chapter I
Spike had never been so cold in his life. A few hours ago it would have held some appeal to ponder the irony of the situation, since he had been a dead, cold-blooded creature for the last two hundred years. But despair had him completely in its grip now, there was no room for irony or even for some detachment. He knew something much, much worse than death awaited him, and he wouldn't have admitted it to anyone - but he was afraid.
He cowered in a corner of the brightly lit cell where he had been for... five days now? Six? A week? No night and no day; no food, no drink, no blood; no voices, no noises; no changes; no nothing. The low hum and the steady glare of the lights was slowly driving him crazy, but they somehow withstood the blows of his fists when he tried to smash them.
That had been at the beginning, when he couldn't stop cursing and shouting. He was so angry with himself, he couldn't believe he'd let those bloody G.I.-Joes of the Initiative catch him again. That bitch of a slayer, probably shagging all the boy-scouts in turn, while the others looked on and discussed what kind of experiment they would turn him into.
That was what he feared: Spike knew these people had the means to do with him what they wanted. If they had wanted him dead, they would have driven a stake through his heart long ago, and it was obviously not enough for them to just put the bloody chip in his brain and let him loose, so WHAT DID THEY WANT?
That thought had kept him busy for the first three days. That was when he suddenly noticed they hadn't fed him in all that time. Now all he could do was lay crouched on the floor, retching dryly from the cramps in his empty stomach, shuddering, and all he could think was: "Cold. Hunger. Hunger hunger hunger hunger hunger. Cold cold cold cold cold." And in between, not even knowing what it meant anymore, Spike thought a tiny little word: "Please... please..."
---------------------------
"Explain to me again WHY we can't just let him there." Xander was looking up to Buffy and shaking his head incredulously.
Giles answered the question. "Because we don't know what they are going to do with him."
"The problem with that being...?"
Buffy was losing her patience. "Xander, didn't you listen to anything I said? They do experiments down there, ok?, all kinds of experiments. From what I saw, I think they are trying to make some kind of a... a super-demon, putting together the strongest and most evil parts of every demon and creature thay can get their hands on. Spike is bad enough as he is, the least thing we need right now is some kind of super-evil Spike making our lives more interesting."
"So, the idea is to rescue him before they turn him into... whatever it is they want to do with him." Willow looked up from her books. She was kneeling in front of the coffee table in Giles' living-room.
"Yes, and let's hope he's grateful enough to let us share some of the information we'll need to get rid of that - Initiative once and for all." Giles was pacing the room nervously. Demons and evil creatures from the dark were one thing he was used to, but he wasn't used to dealing with the... the military, the government, the CIA or whatever those people were, and frankly, he didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit. He-
"Excuse me..."
"Ok, we have to move tonight, we don't know how long he's been there or what they've already done with him. Willow, I'm going to need you to help me bypass all those security systems. Once we're in-"
"Uhm... I hate to interrupt all your brilliant strategic planning, Buffy, but, I think tonight you will be... otherwise engaged."
"Oh, I know I said we'd go to that party at the Bronze, but this is-"
"This is not about the party!" Willow felt ashamed and angry. Why would Buffy assume she was even thinking about a party at a time like this, when they were obvioulsy in a critical situation? More critical than they knew...
"It's the Feast."
"What?"
"The Feast of Darkness. There have been these signs over the last three days and the stars are right too, so..."
"What signs? What are you talking about?"
"Here, look." Willow stood up and walked over to Giles with an open book in her hands, although it had been Buffy who'd asked the question.
"Mystic circles... unusually low demon and vampire activity... sunshine... oh my god, Willow, you are right! How could I have forgotten?"
"Giles, what!!"
"The Feast of Darkness. It's a gathering of about every demon, evil witch and sorcerer there is. They convene whenever the stars are in one of a series of very specific constellations and their goal is to cause-"
"The end of the world." Xander sighed resignedly. Then his face lit up. "So, I'd say this Feast thing is our top priority now, is it? Spike will just have to look after himself for now." And if we're lucky, he'll be dust by the time we can rescue him. He didn't express that caritative thought, though, so why was Willow glaring at him like that?
"We can do both. Buffy and Giles, you go to Sunnydale High, where the library used to be. That's where the Feast is going to take place in... exactly one hour. The demons they have down there in the... headquarters or whatever they call it will be giving them a hell of a time, trying like mad to get out of their cells to attend the Feast. So it should be easy for me to slip through the chaos, bypass security, and get Spike out of there. If everything goes smooth, we could meet here in two hours, have saved the world AND Spike, and know a lot more about what they're actually doing doen there in the bargain."
For a moment everyone was silent.
"Talking about brilliant strategic planning...", Giles finally said.
"Giles... you're not actually suggesting we let Willow do this on her own?"
"No. Xander will go with her."
"Are you out of your mind? No way! Anything could happen to her! No, we'll go to this Feast thing together and then we'll take care of Spike, and-"
"Will you listen to me for one time in your life, Buffy?!" Willow was facing her friend, her fists clenched, her voice tight. "We have no time for this! You yourself said we had no time to loose with Spike, or we'll soon have a very big problem. Supposing YOU prevent the end of the world. That's you job, remember? The evil forces of the Darkness are already gathering, and you and I know that if we go with you, I would just stand around, shrieking whenever a demon hits you over the head. There is no spell I can do to prevent this. The only solution is kill as many powerful demons as you can, so the others get discouraged and go back where they came from, until there are not enough left of them to do a spell that's powerful enough to cause the end of the world. See, it's all here in the book. You have to go NOW, and you have to take Xander; he can kill one or two demons if he puts his mind to it."
"Oh, thank you Willow."
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah, I know." They smiled at each other.
Buffy looked at Willow and opened her mouth. Where were all her reasonalble objections? She turned.
"Ok, Giles, Xander, we'll meet in front of High School in ten minutes, get your gear together. Willow... anything, I mean ANYTHING goes wrong, and you're out of there, with or without Spike. He might be a problem, but aproblem we can fix, and we can't fix loosing you."
"Ok."
"I MEAN this." With one last worried look at her friend, Buffy ran out of the house. Willow grabbed her laptop and followed her. She could feel Xanders and Giles' eyes on her back, but she didn't turn around. She was going to get Spike back. That was all that mattered. And not once had she asked herself WHY that was so important to her.
