Countdown: Love Potion No. 9
By ElsaF
Spoilers: None, AU centered around Lovers Walk
***********
I took my troubles down to Madame Ruth
You know that gypsy with the gold-capped tooth
She's got a shop down on 34th and Vine
Sellin' little bottles of Love Potion No. 9
I told her that I was a flop with chicks
I'd been this way since 1956
She stretched out her palm and she made a magic sign
She said 'What you need boy is Love Potion No. 9'
-- The Searchers
*************
Willow lay on her bed brooding. She was safe. But Oz wasn't
speaking to her. It was all Spike's fault. //Damn vampire.// And
after all that, after he kidnapped her, threatened her, left her
locked in the old factory with Xander, he hadn't even bothered
to come back for the spell he'd demanded. Who knew vampires
suffered from ADD?
It was Spike's fault. If he hadn't left her alone with Xander at
the factory, they'd never have been caught kissing by their
significant others.
Xander was in as much trouble with Cordelia as she was with
Oz. Willow was sort of glad that the cheerleader was going to
recover from the injuries. Sort of glad. On the other hand, as
much as she didn't want to admit it, it hurt to have Xander
loudly regretting he'd laid hands on her. What did Cordelia
have that she didn't? Other than the expensive clothes, to-die-
for looks, her own car, and... oh, forget it. She didn't have
perfect attendance ... or straight 'A's ... or a student of the
month award. Of course not, only nerds and geeks have student
of the month awards. If Cordelia got one, she'd burn it.
//Damn vampire.//
Willow socked her pillow.
//I'd like to have him here right now. I'd show him a thing or
two.//
She collapsed down onto the pillow. Not that she could sleep.
As soon as she closed her eyes, she was composing a new
speech to make Oz realize he had to forgive her. The first
eighteen versions hadn't been terribly convincing.
//Damn vampire.//
She heard a tapping on her window and looked up, and let out a
little cry of surprise and fear.
A pale face topped by bleached blonde hair floated outside her
window. Well, no, he wasn't floating. He'd climbed the tree and
was perched on the branch outside her bedroom. But his black
clothing left the impression that his face was suspended in air
outside the window.
"Invite me in," he demanded.
"Are you kidding? I'm not inviting you in. Go away."
"Come on. I won't hurt you. Promise. Invite me in."
"Oh, I so believe you," Willow said with an exasperated frown.
"At least open the window so I can talk to you without
shouting."
"Go away."
"You can talk to me now, or after I pick off a couple of your
friends."
"Is this how you convince me you're not going to hurt me?"
"Come on, open the window."
Willow slid up the sash and glared at the vampire outside.
"What do you want?"
"The love spell."
"Buffy said you changed your mind and didn't want it after all.
You put me through all that, and you just forgot about it."
"Yeah... but I got to thinking, couldn't hurt. So I came back."
"I'm not your prisoner anymore. You can't come in here if I
don't invite you. So you can't do anything to me. I'm going to
help you, why?"
"You've certainly got your knickers in a twist. It's not like I
hurt you or anything."
"No, except for Oz not speaking to me anymore. And
Cordelia's in the hospital and probably never going to talk to
Xander again."
"Oz? Cordelia? Who are they?" The vampire looked genuinely
puzzled.
"Oz is my boyfriend. He's in a band. Cordy is Xander's
girlfriend. She's a cheerleader."
"So Oz and Cordy are mad a you and Harris because I
kidnapped you? Am I missing something? Like logic?"
"If you hadn't kidnapped us, Oz and Cordy wouldn't have come
in to rescue us just as we were -- well they wouldn't have had
to rescue us at all!"
Spike started to laugh. "So, let me get this straight, because I'm
confused. I really thought you and the boy were an item,
because you were acting like it. But you're not, and you got
caught canoodling by your real steadies. And somehow this is
my fault..."
"Well it is!"
Spike raised an eyebrow.
"Just go away!"
"I want my spell. Then I'll go away."
"Now you want your spell. You couldn't come back when you
said you were going to. No. You just had to leave us there to
get caught. Now you want your spell."
"Come on, love. You know you want to do it. I could see it in
your eyes when I first suggested it. You want to try it out."
Willow frowned. "Even if I did, I wouldn't want to do it for
you."
"Aw, come on. I'm not such a bad sort... You're Jewish, aren't
you?"
"Yeah, what's that got to do with anything?"
"I was just wondering why you've got crosses on your bedroom
wall," he said, peering past Willow to look into her room.
"Oh, that was to keep Angelus out -- after he went evil."
"Angelus had an invite for your bedroom?" Spike asked, his
eyes widening in surprise. "Has that wanker shagged every
woman in Sunnydale?"
"No! Never. He just visited me once. It wasn't anything."
"Just like it wasn't anything with you and Harris at the factory?
I'll tell you, it's the shy ones you've got to watch..."
Willow slammed the window down.
"Go away!" she said forcefully.
"Willow? Who are you talking to?" came her mother's voice
from downstairs.
"Nobody, mother. I was just ... um... reading out loud."
"All right, honey."
"Wiiiillllllooowwww...." said Spike outside the window.
"Willllloooooowwwww...."
"Stop that!"
"Open the window."
Willow raised the sash again.
"Come on, invite me in."
"No!"
"Suit yourself. I'll just stay out here and wait for someone to
come out of your house..."
"If you hurt anyone in my family Buffy is so going to stake
you!"
"Everything will be so much easier if you just give me what I
want. I'll go away then. Won't bother you ever again."
"Why do I doubt that?"
"Really. Do the love spell, then I'll go back to Dru. You don't
think I want to hang around this town, do you? It may be the
Hellmouth, but it's still only got one Starbucks."
"Look, say I do your spell... you'll go away and never tell
anybody that I did it?"
"I'm the soul of discretion..."
"Right," Willow said, rolling her eyes. "OK, I'm only doing
this to get rid of you."
"You need me to get the supplies again?"
"No, I have everything I need right here."
"Oh, you weren't interested in doing this spell... let me guess.
You were planning on using it on your boyfriend -- Opie or
whatever?"
"Oz," Willow said with a frown. "He's a musician."
"Whatever."
"You stay there. I'll do it and hand it out to you."
She knelt down and pulled a tray from under her bed. It had a
number of items arranged on it -- a bowl of some sort of liquid,
a few feathers, some herbs and an old, leather-bound book,
with a bookmark in it.
"Weren't going to do it, eh?"
"Be quiet. I need to concentrate."
----------------
***********
She bent down and turned around and gave me a wink
She said "I'm gonna make it up right here in the sink"
It smelled like turpentine, it looked like Indian ink
I held my nose, I closed my eyes, I took a drink
***********
Willow poured her concoction into an empty shampoo bottle
and handed it through the window with a frown.
"Now, go away and leave me alone."
"Not so fast, love. We're going to test it first. I don't need to get
all the way to South America and find out you've given me a
bottle of spot remover."
"Well, I'm not taking it."
"We'll find someone else to test it on."
"Nothing doing. Take it and go away. That was the deal."
"I'm changing the deal."
"If you don't trust me, just give it back, and go away!"
Willow reached out of the window to take the bottle back and
Spike grabbed her arm.
"Let go!"
"You'd be surprised how often people make that mistake," he
said with a triumphant laugh. He dragged her through the
window. There wasn't room for another person on the tree
branch, so he held her around the waist, suspended over empty
air.
"Let go of me!"
"You really want me to?"
"No! Let me down!"
Spike slipped the bottle into his pocket and shifted Willow
across his shoulder. He jumped off the branch and hit the
ground, his powerful legs absorbing the shock. He set Willow
down, but held onto her wrist.
"Now, we're going to find someone to test this on."
Willow licked her lips and looked around with the eyes of a
trapped animal.
"Don't worry. This works, and I won't hurt you. You've got
nothing to worry about -- if this bottle's full of what I want."
"Well, I told you I'm not a real witch. I'm just learning..."
"Well, you'd better hope you got it right, pet."
--------------
The Bronze was crowded. The band was loud, and not
particularly good. But most of the patrons didn't care. It's not
like there was anywhere else to hang out in Sunnydale.
Harmony Kendell was holding court at a table near the edge of
the dance floor. The gossip of the moment was Cordelia Chase
finding her pathetic boyfriend, Xander Harris, in the arms of
the school's uber-nerd, Willow Rosenberg.
"Can you imagine that?" Harmony crowed. "Now, as totally
uncool as Xander is, I had to admit, Cordy didn't have to worry
about him cheating on her. I'm mean, who else would have
him? But boy was I wrong. There was somebody who'd have
him. Who knew Willow had it in her? I mean, when's the last
time she took her nose out of a book?"
The girls gathered around Harmony giggled appreciatively. It
was important to laugh at the right places in her stories.
Harmony scanned the crowd for fresh meat. The Xander/Cordy
story was already getting old.
To her delight, she spotted someone who could breathe new
life into the drama.
"Oh, look who's here!" she said with a malicious sparkle in her
eye. "Jezebel Rosenberg herself! Who's that she's with? She's
already got another one on the line?"
Willow had just come in with a pale, but unquestionably
attractive man. He was thin, almost to the point of being gaunt.
His hair was bleached to white and he was dressed entirely in
black, including a black leather duster. Definitely not Miss
Nerd 1998's speed. He might need rescuing, Harmony told
herself.
----------------
Willow spotted Harmony almost as quickly. She looked around
to see who else she recognized. She tapped Spike's arm.
"OK, see the blonde nitwit over there?" she said, indicating
Harmony.
Spike nodded. "Not bad. We'll give it to her. See if she falls for
me."
Willow shook her head. "Nope. I'm not that mad at you.
Believe me, you don't want to go there. I've got something else
in mind." She pointed at a boy in a letter jacket on the opposite
side of the dance floor. "See the guy with the vacant expression
over there? That's Jason Halloway -- captain of the football
team. Harmony has been drooling over him since September.
He hasn't noticed her. He can pretty much have any girl he
wants -- among the brain-dead set, that is. We'll give it to him,
and make sure Harmony is the next girl he sees. Will that do?"
Spike nodded. "Show me some romance and I'm out of your
life."
Willow seemed nervous. She was glancing around as if she
was looking for escape routes. But that was to be expected,
Spike told himself. He was confident he could keep her under
control. If she tried to bolt, he'd have hands on her before she
could finish her first step.
They meandered over toward the football star's table. Willow
went up to him to distract him.
"Jason, how's that math homework coming?" Willow said.
"What can I say," the boy said smugly. "Found someone else to
do it for me. So you won't have to sully your pristine ethics."
"Oh, that's OK. Glad it's working out for you," Willow said.
She saw Spike move up behind Jason and pour a few drops of
the potion into his drink. "Talk to you later." She stepped out of
his direct line of sight.
Jason picked up his cup and took a drink, and Willow pointed
across the dance floor.
"Hey, Jason. Isn't that Harmony over there?"
He looked across and shrugged. "Yeah, what of it?"
"Oh, I don't know. I think she was looking for you earlier."
"Whatever."
"OK, see ya later."
Willow moved away and Spike came back to stand by her.
"Didn't hear any birds singing in the trees, love," he said with a
frown.
"Give it a couple of minutes. She was the first one he looked at.
Now it just needs time to take hold."
Spike could tell that Willow was getting more nervous.
Probably not sure it's going to work. Well, we'll see, he told
himself.
They moved to the edge of the room to watch and wait. They
didn't have to wait for long. Willow's trip to talk to Jason had
drawn Harmony's eyes in that direction and now Willow was
forgotten.
She made her way across the room to put what she imagined
were killer moves on the object of her affection.
She walked up to his table, swishing her hips and giving him
her best "I'd love to see the back seat of your car" smile.
"Hey, Jason. Didn't know you were going to be here tonight,"
she said, batting her eyelashes. She punctuated the sentence by
licking her lips in what she thought was a lascivious manner.
"Harmony, what a surprise," Jason said with a slight frown.
"So, you here with anybody," she asked.
"Yeah. The guys are up getting more drinks," he said.
"Oh, I just thought you might like to come over with us. We'd
love to have you," she said.
"No thanks."
"Oh... well, OK."
"You quite through?" he asked with a frown.
"What?"
"I just wondered if you were through trying to push your tits in
my face. I'd like to start breathing again."
"What?" The blonde looked confused.
"Do you bathe in that cheap perfume. You really stink."
Harmony's face fell. She backed off a step.
"Why are you being so mean to me?"
"Because I'm disgusted. You come over here trying to spear me
like I'm a piece of meat. Well, I'm not interested. I'm less than
not interested. I wouldn't go anywhere with you if you
undressed and painted goal posts on your ass."
"You creep!" Harmony said angrily. "See if I'm ever nice to
you again. You had your chance, bucko. Never again."
"Good!" Jason said, standing up and giving her an ugly look.
"Nothing could make me happier than knowing you won't be
creeping around me wiggling your skanky ass."
"If I ever see you again, I'm just going to walk away,"
Harmony said, trying to think of something withering to say,
but failing utterly.
"So go away, you cow," Jason sneered.
"I'm going!"
She turned and stalked back across the dance floor, bumping
into several couples on the way.
Spike looked down at Willow. A wide smile had spread across
her face. He cleared his throat. The smile disappeared, and she
looked up at him -- worried.
"You knew that was going to happen, didn't you?"
Willow swallowed hard and nodded.
"The potion is a doublecross, right?"
She nodded again, looking abashed.
"What is it really?"
"De-lusting potion. Makes people disgusted with each other.
You're going to kill me now?"
Spike gave her a hard look. "So, you had a grudge against the
blonde?"
Willow sighed. "I knew I was screwed as soon as you said we
had to test the potion. So, I thought I might as well get
something out of it. Yeah... Harmony isn't exactly my best
friend."
"So, you want me to walk you home?"
"Walk me home?"
"Yeah, not safe out there. Never know who you're going to run
into."
"You're not going to kill me?"
"Nah... as doublecrosses go that one was pretty good. I think I
like you." He smiled. "You gotta love a girl who decides to use
her last moments on earth to get revenge on someone. You're
my kind of girl."
"You're not going to insist on a real love potion?"
"I think I'll pass. Who knows what you're going to cook up
next time. I've wasted enough time around here."
"Oh..."
"Disappointed?"
"Um... no. I guess not."
"Let's go. I want to be far from this town before sunrise. I'll
give you one promise. You'll never see me around here again."
**********
I didn't know if it was day or night
I started kissin' everything in sight
But when I kissed a cop down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
He broke my little bottle of Love Potion No. 9
**********
By ElsaF
Spoilers: None, AU centered around Lovers Walk
***********
I took my troubles down to Madame Ruth
You know that gypsy with the gold-capped tooth
She's got a shop down on 34th and Vine
Sellin' little bottles of Love Potion No. 9
I told her that I was a flop with chicks
I'd been this way since 1956
She stretched out her palm and she made a magic sign
She said 'What you need boy is Love Potion No. 9'
-- The Searchers
*************
Willow lay on her bed brooding. She was safe. But Oz wasn't
speaking to her. It was all Spike's fault. //Damn vampire.// And
after all that, after he kidnapped her, threatened her, left her
locked in the old factory with Xander, he hadn't even bothered
to come back for the spell he'd demanded. Who knew vampires
suffered from ADD?
It was Spike's fault. If he hadn't left her alone with Xander at
the factory, they'd never have been caught kissing by their
significant others.
Xander was in as much trouble with Cordelia as she was with
Oz. Willow was sort of glad that the cheerleader was going to
recover from the injuries. Sort of glad. On the other hand, as
much as she didn't want to admit it, it hurt to have Xander
loudly regretting he'd laid hands on her. What did Cordelia
have that she didn't? Other than the expensive clothes, to-die-
for looks, her own car, and... oh, forget it. She didn't have
perfect attendance ... or straight 'A's ... or a student of the
month award. Of course not, only nerds and geeks have student
of the month awards. If Cordelia got one, she'd burn it.
//Damn vampire.//
Willow socked her pillow.
//I'd like to have him here right now. I'd show him a thing or
two.//
She collapsed down onto the pillow. Not that she could sleep.
As soon as she closed her eyes, she was composing a new
speech to make Oz realize he had to forgive her. The first
eighteen versions hadn't been terribly convincing.
//Damn vampire.//
She heard a tapping on her window and looked up, and let out a
little cry of surprise and fear.
A pale face topped by bleached blonde hair floated outside her
window. Well, no, he wasn't floating. He'd climbed the tree and
was perched on the branch outside her bedroom. But his black
clothing left the impression that his face was suspended in air
outside the window.
"Invite me in," he demanded.
"Are you kidding? I'm not inviting you in. Go away."
"Come on. I won't hurt you. Promise. Invite me in."
"Oh, I so believe you," Willow said with an exasperated frown.
"At least open the window so I can talk to you without
shouting."
"Go away."
"You can talk to me now, or after I pick off a couple of your
friends."
"Is this how you convince me you're not going to hurt me?"
"Come on, open the window."
Willow slid up the sash and glared at the vampire outside.
"What do you want?"
"The love spell."
"Buffy said you changed your mind and didn't want it after all.
You put me through all that, and you just forgot about it."
"Yeah... but I got to thinking, couldn't hurt. So I came back."
"I'm not your prisoner anymore. You can't come in here if I
don't invite you. So you can't do anything to me. I'm going to
help you, why?"
"You've certainly got your knickers in a twist. It's not like I
hurt you or anything."
"No, except for Oz not speaking to me anymore. And
Cordelia's in the hospital and probably never going to talk to
Xander again."
"Oz? Cordelia? Who are they?" The vampire looked genuinely
puzzled.
"Oz is my boyfriend. He's in a band. Cordy is Xander's
girlfriend. She's a cheerleader."
"So Oz and Cordy are mad a you and Harris because I
kidnapped you? Am I missing something? Like logic?"
"If you hadn't kidnapped us, Oz and Cordy wouldn't have come
in to rescue us just as we were -- well they wouldn't have had
to rescue us at all!"
Spike started to laugh. "So, let me get this straight, because I'm
confused. I really thought you and the boy were an item,
because you were acting like it. But you're not, and you got
caught canoodling by your real steadies. And somehow this is
my fault..."
"Well it is!"
Spike raised an eyebrow.
"Just go away!"
"I want my spell. Then I'll go away."
"Now you want your spell. You couldn't come back when you
said you were going to. No. You just had to leave us there to
get caught. Now you want your spell."
"Come on, love. You know you want to do it. I could see it in
your eyes when I first suggested it. You want to try it out."
Willow frowned. "Even if I did, I wouldn't want to do it for
you."
"Aw, come on. I'm not such a bad sort... You're Jewish, aren't
you?"
"Yeah, what's that got to do with anything?"
"I was just wondering why you've got crosses on your bedroom
wall," he said, peering past Willow to look into her room.
"Oh, that was to keep Angelus out -- after he went evil."
"Angelus had an invite for your bedroom?" Spike asked, his
eyes widening in surprise. "Has that wanker shagged every
woman in Sunnydale?"
"No! Never. He just visited me once. It wasn't anything."
"Just like it wasn't anything with you and Harris at the factory?
I'll tell you, it's the shy ones you've got to watch..."
Willow slammed the window down.
"Go away!" she said forcefully.
"Willow? Who are you talking to?" came her mother's voice
from downstairs.
"Nobody, mother. I was just ... um... reading out loud."
"All right, honey."
"Wiiiillllllooowwww...." said Spike outside the window.
"Willllloooooowwwww...."
"Stop that!"
"Open the window."
Willow raised the sash again.
"Come on, invite me in."
"No!"
"Suit yourself. I'll just stay out here and wait for someone to
come out of your house..."
"If you hurt anyone in my family Buffy is so going to stake
you!"
"Everything will be so much easier if you just give me what I
want. I'll go away then. Won't bother you ever again."
"Why do I doubt that?"
"Really. Do the love spell, then I'll go back to Dru. You don't
think I want to hang around this town, do you? It may be the
Hellmouth, but it's still only got one Starbucks."
"Look, say I do your spell... you'll go away and never tell
anybody that I did it?"
"I'm the soul of discretion..."
"Right," Willow said, rolling her eyes. "OK, I'm only doing
this to get rid of you."
"You need me to get the supplies again?"
"No, I have everything I need right here."
"Oh, you weren't interested in doing this spell... let me guess.
You were planning on using it on your boyfriend -- Opie or
whatever?"
"Oz," Willow said with a frown. "He's a musician."
"Whatever."
"You stay there. I'll do it and hand it out to you."
She knelt down and pulled a tray from under her bed. It had a
number of items arranged on it -- a bowl of some sort of liquid,
a few feathers, some herbs and an old, leather-bound book,
with a bookmark in it.
"Weren't going to do it, eh?"
"Be quiet. I need to concentrate."
----------------
***********
She bent down and turned around and gave me a wink
She said "I'm gonna make it up right here in the sink"
It smelled like turpentine, it looked like Indian ink
I held my nose, I closed my eyes, I took a drink
***********
Willow poured her concoction into an empty shampoo bottle
and handed it through the window with a frown.
"Now, go away and leave me alone."
"Not so fast, love. We're going to test it first. I don't need to get
all the way to South America and find out you've given me a
bottle of spot remover."
"Well, I'm not taking it."
"We'll find someone else to test it on."
"Nothing doing. Take it and go away. That was the deal."
"I'm changing the deal."
"If you don't trust me, just give it back, and go away!"
Willow reached out of the window to take the bottle back and
Spike grabbed her arm.
"Let go!"
"You'd be surprised how often people make that mistake," he
said with a triumphant laugh. He dragged her through the
window. There wasn't room for another person on the tree
branch, so he held her around the waist, suspended over empty
air.
"Let go of me!"
"You really want me to?"
"No! Let me down!"
Spike slipped the bottle into his pocket and shifted Willow
across his shoulder. He jumped off the branch and hit the
ground, his powerful legs absorbing the shock. He set Willow
down, but held onto her wrist.
"Now, we're going to find someone to test this on."
Willow licked her lips and looked around with the eyes of a
trapped animal.
"Don't worry. This works, and I won't hurt you. You've got
nothing to worry about -- if this bottle's full of what I want."
"Well, I told you I'm not a real witch. I'm just learning..."
"Well, you'd better hope you got it right, pet."
--------------
The Bronze was crowded. The band was loud, and not
particularly good. But most of the patrons didn't care. It's not
like there was anywhere else to hang out in Sunnydale.
Harmony Kendell was holding court at a table near the edge of
the dance floor. The gossip of the moment was Cordelia Chase
finding her pathetic boyfriend, Xander Harris, in the arms of
the school's uber-nerd, Willow Rosenberg.
"Can you imagine that?" Harmony crowed. "Now, as totally
uncool as Xander is, I had to admit, Cordy didn't have to worry
about him cheating on her. I'm mean, who else would have
him? But boy was I wrong. There was somebody who'd have
him. Who knew Willow had it in her? I mean, when's the last
time she took her nose out of a book?"
The girls gathered around Harmony giggled appreciatively. It
was important to laugh at the right places in her stories.
Harmony scanned the crowd for fresh meat. The Xander/Cordy
story was already getting old.
To her delight, she spotted someone who could breathe new
life into the drama.
"Oh, look who's here!" she said with a malicious sparkle in her
eye. "Jezebel Rosenberg herself! Who's that she's with? She's
already got another one on the line?"
Willow had just come in with a pale, but unquestionably
attractive man. He was thin, almost to the point of being gaunt.
His hair was bleached to white and he was dressed entirely in
black, including a black leather duster. Definitely not Miss
Nerd 1998's speed. He might need rescuing, Harmony told
herself.
----------------
Willow spotted Harmony almost as quickly. She looked around
to see who else she recognized. She tapped Spike's arm.
"OK, see the blonde nitwit over there?" she said, indicating
Harmony.
Spike nodded. "Not bad. We'll give it to her. See if she falls for
me."
Willow shook her head. "Nope. I'm not that mad at you.
Believe me, you don't want to go there. I've got something else
in mind." She pointed at a boy in a letter jacket on the opposite
side of the dance floor. "See the guy with the vacant expression
over there? That's Jason Halloway -- captain of the football
team. Harmony has been drooling over him since September.
He hasn't noticed her. He can pretty much have any girl he
wants -- among the brain-dead set, that is. We'll give it to him,
and make sure Harmony is the next girl he sees. Will that do?"
Spike nodded. "Show me some romance and I'm out of your
life."
Willow seemed nervous. She was glancing around as if she
was looking for escape routes. But that was to be expected,
Spike told himself. He was confident he could keep her under
control. If she tried to bolt, he'd have hands on her before she
could finish her first step.
They meandered over toward the football star's table. Willow
went up to him to distract him.
"Jason, how's that math homework coming?" Willow said.
"What can I say," the boy said smugly. "Found someone else to
do it for me. So you won't have to sully your pristine ethics."
"Oh, that's OK. Glad it's working out for you," Willow said.
She saw Spike move up behind Jason and pour a few drops of
the potion into his drink. "Talk to you later." She stepped out of
his direct line of sight.
Jason picked up his cup and took a drink, and Willow pointed
across the dance floor.
"Hey, Jason. Isn't that Harmony over there?"
He looked across and shrugged. "Yeah, what of it?"
"Oh, I don't know. I think she was looking for you earlier."
"Whatever."
"OK, see ya later."
Willow moved away and Spike came back to stand by her.
"Didn't hear any birds singing in the trees, love," he said with a
frown.
"Give it a couple of minutes. She was the first one he looked at.
Now it just needs time to take hold."
Spike could tell that Willow was getting more nervous.
Probably not sure it's going to work. Well, we'll see, he told
himself.
They moved to the edge of the room to watch and wait. They
didn't have to wait for long. Willow's trip to talk to Jason had
drawn Harmony's eyes in that direction and now Willow was
forgotten.
She made her way across the room to put what she imagined
were killer moves on the object of her affection.
She walked up to his table, swishing her hips and giving him
her best "I'd love to see the back seat of your car" smile.
"Hey, Jason. Didn't know you were going to be here tonight,"
she said, batting her eyelashes. She punctuated the sentence by
licking her lips in what she thought was a lascivious manner.
"Harmony, what a surprise," Jason said with a slight frown.
"So, you here with anybody," she asked.
"Yeah. The guys are up getting more drinks," he said.
"Oh, I just thought you might like to come over with us. We'd
love to have you," she said.
"No thanks."
"Oh... well, OK."
"You quite through?" he asked with a frown.
"What?"
"I just wondered if you were through trying to push your tits in
my face. I'd like to start breathing again."
"What?" The blonde looked confused.
"Do you bathe in that cheap perfume. You really stink."
Harmony's face fell. She backed off a step.
"Why are you being so mean to me?"
"Because I'm disgusted. You come over here trying to spear me
like I'm a piece of meat. Well, I'm not interested. I'm less than
not interested. I wouldn't go anywhere with you if you
undressed and painted goal posts on your ass."
"You creep!" Harmony said angrily. "See if I'm ever nice to
you again. You had your chance, bucko. Never again."
"Good!" Jason said, standing up and giving her an ugly look.
"Nothing could make me happier than knowing you won't be
creeping around me wiggling your skanky ass."
"If I ever see you again, I'm just going to walk away,"
Harmony said, trying to think of something withering to say,
but failing utterly.
"So go away, you cow," Jason sneered.
"I'm going!"
She turned and stalked back across the dance floor, bumping
into several couples on the way.
Spike looked down at Willow. A wide smile had spread across
her face. He cleared his throat. The smile disappeared, and she
looked up at him -- worried.
"You knew that was going to happen, didn't you?"
Willow swallowed hard and nodded.
"The potion is a doublecross, right?"
She nodded again, looking abashed.
"What is it really?"
"De-lusting potion. Makes people disgusted with each other.
You're going to kill me now?"
Spike gave her a hard look. "So, you had a grudge against the
blonde?"
Willow sighed. "I knew I was screwed as soon as you said we
had to test the potion. So, I thought I might as well get
something out of it. Yeah... Harmony isn't exactly my best
friend."
"So, you want me to walk you home?"
"Walk me home?"
"Yeah, not safe out there. Never know who you're going to run
into."
"You're not going to kill me?"
"Nah... as doublecrosses go that one was pretty good. I think I
like you." He smiled. "You gotta love a girl who decides to use
her last moments on earth to get revenge on someone. You're
my kind of girl."
"You're not going to insist on a real love potion?"
"I think I'll pass. Who knows what you're going to cook up
next time. I've wasted enough time around here."
"Oh..."
"Disappointed?"
"Um... no. I guess not."
"Let's go. I want to be far from this town before sunrise. I'll
give you one promise. You'll never see me around here again."
**********
I didn't know if it was day or night
I started kissin' everything in sight
But when I kissed a cop down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
He broke my little bottle of Love Potion No. 9
**********