AU Season Seven Chapter 7: 5: Hollowed Hearts, a buffy: the vampire slayer fanfic

Episode 7.5 "Hollowed Hearts"

Written by: L.E. Lamkin

Buffy is silent as Xander glares at her, his anger nearly palpable. Everyone is completely still. Xander walks away from them, and slumps into the couch in the living room of Buffy's apartment, which is in the same condition it was when Marguerite and her vampire minions attacked. It is obviously a little bit later on the same night. Buffy tries to explain that she didn't want to keep secrets from him, not from any of them. But she wasn't sure how they'd react.

Xander: "Oh, right, you didn't know how we'd react. What, we're supposed to be happy that you've been harboring a murderer? A rapist?"

Buffy: "That's not fair, and you know it."

Xander: "Neither is lying to your friends."

Buffy is at a loss. No one can say anything; Willow looks at her feet, silent; Dawn and Anya share a look of discomfort. Xander then comments that he can't take any of this, that he needs to get out of there. He leaves, and the tense silence continues. Anya quickly teleports out of the apartment after saying goodbye, and after a moment, Buffy tells Willow she can go ahead and leave too. Willow offers to stay if Buffy wants her to, but Buffy tells her to get some rest. They all need it.

On the other side of Sunnydale, a young woman hurries down a darkened street. She looks as if she is being followed, and she knows it. She tries to get away, but whatever is stalking her seems to be too fast. Then, before she knows it, a horrid amphibian-like demon with shiny light purple, almost gray, skin, leaps before her. It's brandishing a glowing scepter with a bright green stone at its tip. With a snarl, the demon shoves the scepter at the young woman, and a bright light engulfs her. A moment later, the light disappears, leaving the woman looking empty and emotionless.

The next morning, Anya walks into the museum, looking as if she's dressed for success. She finds Willow and Giles working on several artifacts in the back lab area, and greets them brightly. Willow and Giles, on the other hand, do not look so cheery. Anya talks about how fun last night was, that Giles should have stuck around. Things got a lot more interesting once the vampires were gone. She casually talks about everyone arguing over Spike's return to Sunnydale. Willow's eyes widen in shock, and Giles gets uncomfortable.

Giles: "Spike…Spike is back in town? Why…why wasn't I informed of this?"

Anya: "Oh, Buffy didn't tell any of us. I'm sure it isn't a case of you being left out of everything like it sometimes is."

Giles: "Uh, yes, I suppose, but…"

Anya: "I was wondering, since I've been so helpful lately, if you might consider becoming my boss again. Letting me work for you here at the museum."

Willow doesn't look as if she thinks it's a good idea letting Anya work with them, and Giles is simply too thrown to really fathom what Anya is requesting. Anya promises to work hard and earn him lots of money. Giles absently agrees to consider the matter. Much to Willow's chagrin, Anya happily announces she'll be in the next morning to hear Giles' final decision, and then hurries away, leaving Willow and Giles in a thick, awkward silence.

In a darkened room filled with televisions receiving surveillance footage, several Council operatives, including Hannah Mills, are watching over the conversation between Giles, Willow and Anya. One of the Watchers comments that Giles is quite unorthodox in his ways, what with hiring an active demon. Hannah declares that she will have a talk with Giles about that, but their main problem is not the demon, it's Spike. She fears he might have a negative affect on the Slayer. One of the operatives asks Hannah what they should do about it. Hannah replies that they will take any necessary action should the need arise.

Outside Sunnydale High, Xander and a few of his workers are finishing up some work on the exterior walls of the school. He's surprised when Dawn approaches him and says hello. He wonders what she's doing outside, when she should be in a class pretending to learn, but Dawn assures him that it's her lunch break. She asks Xander how he's doing with the news of Spike.

Xander: "I just can't believe Buffy did it again. She kept it secret when Angel came back from that Hell dimension or whatever, she didn't even tell us she was in heaven when she was…well, you know…and now this. I just don't understand."

Dawn admits that she isn't very happy about the turn of events either. She quietly tells Xander that she'd gotten to a point where she almost wished Spike would never come back. She mentions the attempted rape, and this gets Xander going. Dawn tells him that she knows Buffy will make the right decision, and that Buffy won't let Spike have an affect on her anymore, that things are different now. Xander isn't sure, but before they can talk more, a bell rings, and Dawn has to go. At the same time, Xander notices a couple of his other workers picking up some tools with blank looks on their faces. He calls to them, saying that the day's over, they can go. But they don't listen. Confused, Xander follows them about a mile away from the school's campus until they climb down into a dark underground cavern.

Inside the cavern, there are several people mindlessly working on digging and excavating what looks like a large tunnel. And in the middle of it all is the same demon from before, still clutching its glowing scepter. Before Xander can say a word, he's zapped by the scepter, and a bright blue ball of energy flies from out of his chest. Within a moment, Xander's eyes flash orange and then his expression goes blank.

At the Bronze, Buffy is directing different people on where to put different equipment and furniture, getting everything redesigned for the reopening that night. She doesn't seem to be completely into it, but for the fact that this is all last minute details, so she is quite harried and rushing. After directing a large set of lights towards the stage area, Buffy is joined by Dawn, who's just got out of school. She mentions running into Xander, and Buffy asks how he's doing, if he's still mad at her. Dawn says he isn't exactly mad, but disappointed. She also mentions she wouldn't be surprised if a certain vampire ends up dead. Buffy tells her that Spike won't get killed, but Dawn doesn't look entirely convinced.

As night begins to fall, Spike is slowly and deliberately packing his small amount of belongings into an old and battered suitcase. He's muttering to himself about how nothing's going to work out for him in this town, soul or not. It doesn't matter what he does, everything manages to come back and bite him in the ass. He wishes things could've worked out, but it doesn't really matter anymore. Just then, there's a knock at the crypt's door. Willow walks in, looking slightly concerned. Spike demands what she's doing, walking into an evil vampire's crypt all alone. Willow tells him that she just came by to give him a fair warning, that Xander knows about him being back. Spike comments that he's been expecting a sharp wooden object to the chest from him anytime now. Willow asks if he's leaving town, and Spike says it doesn't matter where he goes, it's all the same anyway. He might as well get out before Xander stakes him good, anyway.

Willow: "He has every right to stake you."

Spike: "Come again, Red? So you're on Nancy Boy's side now, eh?"

Willow: "You tried to rape Buffy. You've done horrible, evil things. But you've also done some good. Hence the warning."

Spike: "As if you can be high an' mighty. So you want to air out dirty laundry, huh? Think I don't know about what you did? Demons are still talkin' about it, how you tried to take out the world. So if you want to see evil, I suggest you look in the mirror, pet."

Horrified by the onslaught of memories and completely obliterated by Spike's harsh words, Willow rushes out of the crypt in tears. She finds herself walking alone nearby the Bronze, alone, awash in dark memories of last year. Suddenly, she sees Xander and a few other people tugging some struggling people towards a car. She walks towards them, confused. Buffy walks out of the Bronze with an "OPEN!" sign, and sees what's going on. Before they can do anything or ask questions, two of the other people latch onto Willow, and drag them along with them. Willow calls out for help, but one of the people distracts her. Buffy fights the guy off, but Xander, Willow and the others disappear in the car. Buffy looks down at the unconscious guy, resolved.

A short time later, Buffy drags the unconscious guy into the museum. She calls out for Giles and lets the guy slump to the ground. Giles appears from the back of the museum, looking worried about all the noise. He asks Buffy what's going on.

Buffy: "Well, Xander kidnapped Willow, and this guy tried to help."

Giles: "Xa-Xander...?"

Buffy: "Yeah. We need to figure out why, and stat. Can you tell me what's up with this guy? They have to be under some kind of...spell, or something. Can you pinpoint what it is?"

At that moment, Hannah Mills approaches them, clearly interrupting, and announces that she will run some simple preliminary magick tests to see what is afflicting the man. Buffy asks if they'll hurry, her friends are probably in danger, along with a lot of other people in Sunnydale. Hannah wordlessly takes the unconscious guy away with the help of a couple other Watchers, leaving Buffy and Giles alone. Giles seems awkward around Buffy, and she asks what's up.

Giles: "I...well, I don't quite know how to bring this up. But I feel somewhat out of the loop on certain...issues. Why didn't you tell me Spike was back in Sunnydale?"

Buffy: "I...well, I woulda told you eventually..."

Giles: "I just don't understand why you would keep secrets from me. I am your Watcher. And more importantly, I am your friend."

Buffy: "I...I know. I know. It's just, I didn't want to alarm anyone. You don't have to worry about me slipping back into Spike-mode, though. I'm over that."

Giles: "I should hope so. I heard it did nothing but hurt you."

Buffy becomes quiet, and a distant look overtakes her face. Luckily, the strange moment is interrupted by Hannah Mills coming back from the back of the museum with her results. The female Watcher tells them that there isn't exactly a spell on the man, but something magickal is affecting him, and probably all the other people, including Xander, and now possibly Willow. Buffy impatiently demands her to cut to the chase and tell them what's going on. Hannah then says pretentiously that the problem is that the man has no soul within him.

In the dark excavation cave, Willow is thrust down onto the ground nearby a partially uncovered skeleton that looks to be of demonic origin. In tears, Willow demands of Xander what's going on, why is he acting like this? She deduces that there must be magick involved. The demon appears, scepter in hand, and Willow yells at it, asking if it put a spell on everybody. The demon tells her in a deep, guttural voice that it is not a spell, but it is magick. It explains that their souls will give its master life once more. Willow exclaims that it won't succeed, the Slayer will stop him. The demon retorts that it does not care about the Slayer, and then uses its scepter to take Willow's soul. She screams as her life essence is ripped out of her, and sucked into the scepter.

In a dark street, Spike is walking along with his old suitcase. After a little more walking, he ends up in front of Buffy's new apartment building. He looks up at a particular window, and we see Dawn walk by, so it's obvious he knows where the Slayer lives now. Dawn notices Spike out on the sidewalk, and before Spike can get away, the young brunette is out on the street with him.

Dawn: "So, taking up the stalking thing again?"

Spike: "Actually, I was just heading out of town. Away from all you crazy people who seem to take a liking to making your lives miserable all the time."

Dawn: "And you've never been the cause of any of that misery, have you? Don't you know what you've done? What you did to Buffy? I mean, God, Spike, you tried to rape her! I'd almost kill you myself for that if it weren't for the fact that you've saved my life a couple of times."

Spike: "I bloody well know what I did! And I feel guilty for it, all right? I want to crawl into a dark corner and stab myself a thousand times in the eyes for trying what I did! It drives me crazy, all right? Is that what you want to hear?"

Dawn is clearly afraid now, seeing that Spike is clearly not all there anymore. She starts to back away, but suddenly, a large group of people march towards them. They look mindless, like drone soldiers. Dawn cries out in surprise when she sees that Willow and Xander are among them. Spike looks confused and within moments, they all surround them. Spike manages to fight them off, but they latch onto Dawn. A moment later, a huge truck screeches to a halt beside them. Dawn is hefted into it, kicking and screaming, and then the truck speeds away, leaving Spike alone. He mumbles to himself that it just never ends in this town, and then takes off in the direction the truck left.

Back at the museum, Giles and the other Watchers have turned up some research. They did a search for anything supernatural that required souls, and came up with a couple of different options. None of them sound very likely except for one. Giles informs Buffy that long ago, when only demons were still on Earth, there was a very powerful demon known as Gor, the soul eater, followed by the Gatha demon race. He suspects that a Gatha demon is planning on using the souls of Sunnydale residents to ressurect Gor.

Giles tells Buffy that if this is the problem they are facing, then it's likely that Gor will be buried in a certain place, and that is where the Gatha demon and the soulless people will be gathered. Buffy decides she will use their capture to take her to the Gor's burial place, and Giles agrees. Before she goes, Buffy decides to check in on Dawn. She calls the apartment, but no one answers. She tells Giles no one was there, and begins worrying that Dawn might be in trouble.

Which, of course, she is. In the excavation cave, Dawn is placed before the Gatha demon, held tightly on both sides by none other than Willow and Xander, now without souls. The Gatha demon proclaims that Dawn's young, innocent soul will please Gor very much. Dawn tries to get away, but the Gatha uses its scepter, and in a flash, Dawn's soul is taken away from her, fueled into the now extremely brightly glowing stone on the scepter's tip.

Just then, Spike leaps down into the cavern and tries to knock Dawn out of the way, but it's too late, she has already been de-souled. The vampire attempts to tackle the Gatha demon, but a large group of soulless humans hurtle him backward, away from the demon. The Gatha demon remarks that Spike is different. He has two souls within him, demon and human. The Gatha thinks this is interesting, but says no more. Then, using the scepter, the demon extracts both a blue and red glowing ball of light from Spike's chest – the demon and human souls. A flash passes over Spike's eyes, and he becomes an empty drone like all the others. The Gatha orders them to all go back to digging up Gor's skeleton, which is now nearly uncovered.

Not too much later, Buffy arrives at the exterior of the excavation cave, led by the mindless worker drone. She tells them to wait, that she's going to take care of all of this, but it's obvious that the guy can't understand her. Taking a deep breath, Buffy leaps down into the cavern, ready for anything. What she sees is about three dozen people or more working dutifully on uncovering a gigantic demon skeleton that looks like it was extremely big and ugly when it was alive. Amongst them are: Xander, Willow, Dawn….and Spike! Confusion registers on Buffy's face upon seeing the vampire, but she is brought back to attention by the Gatha demon slamming her across the face with its scepter! The demon tells her that it can sense she is different – she must be the Slayer. Groggily, Buffy agrees.

Buffy: "That's right. I'm the Slayer. The very nearly unconscious Slayer."

The Gatha demon leaps onto Buffy, tackling her to the ground. Buffy exclaims that this is new: she's usually the one doing the jumping and tackling. She quickly regains her strength, and flips the demon off of her. They pace around each other, both ready for a fight. Buffy lets loose a high kick, flinging the glowing scepter across the cavern, where it lands with a dull thud in some dirt.

Buffy: "Lost your glowy stick thingie. Whaddya gonna do to me now?"

Gatha demon: "I will kill you for that!"
Buffy: "Bet you say that to all the girls."

The fight resumes, and for a moment, it seems like Buffy might lose. But she manages to grab the demon by the shoulders and flings it over her own shoulders, sending the demon flying into a nearby wall of rock. The sound of breaking bones resonates throughout the cavern as the demon slides to the ground, its neck broken. It's dead, Buffy has finally defeated it. She yells out triumphantly, "I win!", expecting everything to go back to normal. But…nothing happens. Confused, Buffy wonders why everyone hasn't stopped digging. Then, she sees it – the glowing scepter! She rushes over to it, picks it up, then swings it like a baseball bat, smashing the shiny stone on the tip, sending a large electric jolt through the air. Buffy is thrown back by the enormous blast of energy, but soon begins to recover.

She watches as little glowing blue orbs float back into everyone's bodies, as their souls return to them. Her eyes turn to Spike, just in time to see two orbs – one blue, one red – slip back inside his body. The look of confusion on her face turns to realization. Spike has…a soul! Before she can say anything, or before any of the slowly awakening people can see him, Spike shakes off the grogginess and bolts out of the cavern, and out of sight. Buffy can only look after him in total shock.

That night, the Bronze is filled to the max with people. The music is blaring, people are dancing everywhere, and the place looks great. Willow and Buffy walk past Dawn and Xander, who are helping some other workers do some last minute set ups. The two girls sit down at a nearby table. Willow mentions that now that the whole ordeal with the Gatha demon is over, Xander and his crew are going to cover up the excavation cavern so no one can find Gor's skeleton. Upon breaching this subject, Buffy questions Willow about how she's doing after everything.

Buffy: "So, 'ya okay? I can't imagine what all that was like…"

Willow: "It was…horrible. I felt so empty. Like I just wasn't there anymore. It was a lot like when I…well, you know, when the magick had taken over. It was like I had been sent somewhere, and something else had taken over…Buffy, I never want to feel like that ever again."

Buffy: "I'm sorry you had to go through that. But it's over now."

Willow nods and manages to smile. She congratulates Buffy on being the new owner of the Bronze. She could never have imagined this is what Buffy would end up doing, but she thinks its perfect for her. Buffy agrees, but admits that it hasn't all really sunken in yet. She still has some adjusting to do. Speaking of adjusting, she decides she needs to patch things up with Xander. She excuses herself from the table and goes over to the Xan-man. She tells him that she's really sorry for what happened. Xander tells her it wasn't that big of a deal, having his soul taken away from him wasn't nearly as bad as leaving his bride-to-be at the altar or any of the other horrible things that have happened to him. Buffy clarifies that she's talking about Spike, and Xander tells her he knows, that he was just using humor to cover up his real emotions.

Xander: "I just don't want anymore lies between us. What Spike did to you…it's unforgivable. I'm not above just killing the soulless bastard."

Buffy flinches at the mention of Spike being referred to as "soulless". She explains to Xander that things are more complicated than that. He can't just go kill Spike, it would be wrong. She reasons that he's harmless, he can't even hurt humans. It's best they just leave him alone, and never cross paths with him ever again. Xander reluctantly agrees, however it's uncertain by the look in his eyes if he truly is in agreeance with the Slayer, but nevertheless the two friends share a hug. Xander congratulates her on her opening night. Buffy only smiles, and hugs Xander, but there's a hint of …something else in her eyes. Sadness? Fear? More than likely both.

Up on the catwalk above the dance floor, Spike mixes in with the crowd and watches as Buffy talks with Xander. He, too, has a strange look in his eyes. It's almost like sadness, mixed with disappointment. He stares down at Buffy almost longingly, and then, slowly, he disappears into the crowd.