Hmm…okay, apparently Robin Wood is a GUY. So, forget how Wood was a woman in the rest of the story. Wood is now a guy. :0). Also…uh…I'm thinking of ending this soon, and have no idea how. Any ideas? Enjoy, and review me lots!!
Buffy and Dawn stood side by side outside the newly renovated Sunnydale High building. Despite the difference in dress, Buffy in a knee length skirt and blouse, Dawn in jeans and a tank top, it was hard to tell that Buffy was now an employee. She was till young, and her nervous out of place feeling made her seem more like a student than ever.
"Nervous?" she asked Dawn, smoothing a wrinkle from her skirt.
"Me, nervous? No way," Dawn said coolly. "Well…maybe just a little. You?"
"No…yeah," she fidgeted. "Can you tell?"
"Only a little," Dawn said sheepishly.
"Great," Buffy said taking in a deep breath. "Just great."
"Hey, Dawn!" came the voice of Janice from the top of the stairs leading into the school.
"Sorry, Buff," Dawn apologized. "This is where we go our separate ways. Y'know, threat to my reputation and all."
Buffy rolled her eyes with a smile and nodded. "See you round then."
"Yep!" Dawn called back, trotting up the stairs to her friend.
Buffy took in another deep breath as they disappeared and prepared herself. Then, with a confident stride, she walked through the doors.
In such a rush to get to her third period class that she was forced to run, Dawn flew down the maze of hallways, hair flying out behind her, headed for a class she had no idea where to find.
Glancing at her schedule, then back up, she skidded to a halt in front of room 366, and opened the door.
Breathing heavily she said to the teacher, "Sorry I'm late. It's my first time in here, I got lost."
The woman sighed. "It's all right. Dawn Summers?"
Dawn nodded. "That's me."
The woman, Mrs. Blackburn, sighed. "I told them we should have had an orientation day. You're the tenth person who's gotten lost today. I'd tell you to have a seat, but as you can see, they're all taken."
She followed the teacher's arm around the room, seeing no open seats.
"I'll write you a pass," Blackburn said. "and send you to the supply room in the basement. There's a janitor on duty, but you never know where he is, so if you don't find him down there, just see if you can manage to bring it up yourself, okay?"
Dawn nodded, taking the pass and the key to the supply room. "Uhh…where is it?"
"Down the hall way, last door on the left. It says basement on it," the teacher replied.
Dawn nodded feeling stupid. "Oh."
She walked, following the directions, and easily found the door marked 'basement'. Opening it, she walked down the dimly lit stairwell, looking around in disgust. "For a new building, this place sure is nasty looking."
She reached the bottom and looked around for anything marked 'supply room' or 'supplies'.
"Of course they wouldn't make it that easy," she grumbled, looking around the dark, place.
Seeing another set of stairs leading to a darker, dank sort of hallway, she followed those. "Maybe down here.."
She pushed open the first door she found, not seeing any sort of sign, and entered. A bunch of machinery, all of an alien nature to Dawn was crowded in the room. "Something tells me I won't be finding a desk in here."
She turned back through the door, and stopped dead in her tracks as there was a clanging noise to her left. She looked into the dimness, trying to figure out where exactly the sound had originated from, and what had made it.
Tentatively, hoping there was no one or nothing to answer her, she called, "Hello? Anyone there?"
Another clang, softer this time, and a thud, was the reply she received.
She gulped and moved a few steps forward. "Uh…hello?"
A whimper met her ears, followed by a scrabbling noise.
"Please be a cuddly doggie," Dawn whispered, crossing her fingers and shutting her eyes.
She slowly walked forward, peering behind the pipes to her right. "Anyone there? Any one being a nice fluffy puppy?"
Another clang, close enough to make Dawn jump.
Biting her lip she forced herself to look into the space between a huge, slightly rusty pipe and the concrete wall, whispering a plea for it to be nothing, and if it was something…that amount of training would be enough to help her take it on.
She opened her eyes wide, as if not believing what she saw.
"Spike?" she asked incredulously.
The vampire's head was tucked into his arms which rested on his knees, so only his tousled brown hair was showing, but she recognized him nevertheless. His knuckles, wrapped around his legs, clutching tight to his elbows, were bruised and bloodied. He was shaking and small noises escaped him from time to time.
"Spike?" Dawn asked again, getting to her knees and slowly inching forward until she was scrunched beneath the pipe and the wall as well.
She placed a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up, startled.
"Sorry," Dawn apologized. "I- I thought you heard me."
He stared at her with slightly unfocused blue eyes, as if trying to recognize an unfamiliar face.
"Spike?" she asked, kind of worried. He looked…less than normal.
"…no…" he whispered.
"No?" she asked, brow furrowed. "No what?"
"Don't touch!" he cried, pulling away, rocking back and forth.
She pulled away quickly. "Sorry…what's wrong with you?"
"Everything," he whispered, more coherently.
"What d'you mean?" Dawn asked, trying to get a clear answer.
He began to hum softly, covering his ears with his hands, still rocking back and forth.
"Spike," she said, trying to pry his hands from his ears. "Spike, what the hell?"
He pulled back, eyes squeezed shut.
"Spike!" she cried.
Giggles began to escape his mouth, echoing against the basement walls. He was soon laughing hysterically, and gradually the laughing gave way into sobbing.
"Spike?" Dawn asked again, getting scared.
"It won't leave," he sniffed, looking up at her. "I told not to, but it won't go away."
"What won't?" Dawn asked softly.
He muffled sobs. "Her."
"Her?" Dawn said in confusion. "Her who?"
"The girl," he mumbled. "The girl won't leave me be."
"What girl?" she said, looking around. "There's no one else here."
"She's not there," he repeated. He touched a hand to his chest, then to his head. "She's in here."
Dawn's lip trembled. "Spike, you're really freakin' me out here."
"She won't get out of my head," he said shakily. "She won't leave me alone. I can't make her go…I can't kill her."
"Okay, uh…stay here, okay?" she told him. "I'm gonna go get Buffy."
He looked up at the name, but his eyes made it impossible to tell if he even recognized it.
She flew up the stairs, leaving him to himself.
A whimper escaped him, and he leaned back against the cool brick wall, arms wrapped about himself.
"Spike…" a voice whispered.
He looked up, and shook his head. "No. You not real. Get away from me."
He shut his eyes and systematically began beating the back of his head against the wall behind him.
"Dead…dead…dead….DEAD."
"Buffy!"
Buffy looked up from her desk in the back room of the principal's office. "Dawn? What's up, why aren't you in class?"
Seeing MR. Wood looking at her, she said quickly. "I…uh, I forgot my allergy medication."
Buffy gave her a weird look, but played along. "Honestly, Dawn, you're lucky I keep extra in my purse."
She followed her sister into her office, shutting the door.
"It's Spike!" she said urgently.
"Spike?" Buffy hesitated.
"Buffy, he's really freaking me out, I think there's something REALLY wrong with him!" Dawn rushed out.
"Calm down, calm down," Buffy said. "Where is he?"
"Somewhere in the basement. I had to go get a desk, and I found him, and…" she trailed off. "Something's wrong."
"Okay," Buffy nodded. "Show me where."
"Mr. Wood," Buffy said as they left. "I'm going to escort Dawn back to class and get her an extra desk from the basement, all right?"
He nodded, and off they went.
Outside the office, Buffy turned to Dawn.
"Okay, get back to class and tell your teacher I'm bringing a desk up," she instructed.
"No way! I'm coming with you!" her sister protested.
"Nuh uh," Buffy replied. "We can't ruin your record on the first day. Go! I'll tell you what's the up at lunch, okay?"
Reluctantly the younger Summers agreed and trudged back to class.
Buffy slowly made her way to the basement, using her keen hearing to listen for sounds that could clue her in to Spike's location. She immediately heard whimpering and headed for it.
Spike was still rocking, bashing his head against the wall, and when she was this she rushed to his side, grabbing his head to stop him from doing any more damage.
He pulled back and scooted away from her with wide eyes.
"Spike?" she asked. "Dawn got me. What's wrong?"
He stared at her.
"Spike, talk to me," she demanded softly. "I'm not going anywhere."
"You always leave but your never gone," he muttered, unconsciously digging his nails into his lower arm as he avoided her gaze.
"What?"
"You always go away," he said, looking at her with his intense gaze. "but I can't make you leave. I tried and I tried, but you're stuck with me."
She frowned. "Gee, I'm gald I could help."
"You!" he snapped. "You haunt me. I've apologized a million times and all you do is stay with me, and taunt me, and torture me."
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"Why won't you leave?" he asked sadly.
"Because I want to find out what's wrong with you!" she said, exasperated.
"I'm still alive," was his answer.
"Don't talk like that," she told him in a small voice.
He glared at her. "You can't tell me what to do anymore! You can't make me do what you want anymore!"
She backed up as her got to his feet, anger blazing in his eyes.
"I'm tired of you haunting me!" he shouted. "I've tried, and I can't seem to make it die!"
"What die?" she asked, shaking her head.
He advanced.
What is this? Buffy thought.
"You."
She furrowed her brow, disbelief on her face. "Me?"
His features softened. "I didn't mean to. I swear…but I had to. You didn't see."
He sunk to his knees crying. "Why won't you die?"
She stood there. Something was really wrong with him.
Buffy and Dawn stood side by side outside the newly renovated Sunnydale High building. Despite the difference in dress, Buffy in a knee length skirt and blouse, Dawn in jeans and a tank top, it was hard to tell that Buffy was now an employee. She was till young, and her nervous out of place feeling made her seem more like a student than ever.
"Nervous?" she asked Dawn, smoothing a wrinkle from her skirt.
"Me, nervous? No way," Dawn said coolly. "Well…maybe just a little. You?"
"No…yeah," she fidgeted. "Can you tell?"
"Only a little," Dawn said sheepishly.
"Great," Buffy said taking in a deep breath. "Just great."
"Hey, Dawn!" came the voice of Janice from the top of the stairs leading into the school.
"Sorry, Buff," Dawn apologized. "This is where we go our separate ways. Y'know, threat to my reputation and all."
Buffy rolled her eyes with a smile and nodded. "See you round then."
"Yep!" Dawn called back, trotting up the stairs to her friend.
Buffy took in another deep breath as they disappeared and prepared herself. Then, with a confident stride, she walked through the doors.
In such a rush to get to her third period class that she was forced to run, Dawn flew down the maze of hallways, hair flying out behind her, headed for a class she had no idea where to find.
Glancing at her schedule, then back up, she skidded to a halt in front of room 366, and opened the door.
Breathing heavily she said to the teacher, "Sorry I'm late. It's my first time in here, I got lost."
The woman sighed. "It's all right. Dawn Summers?"
Dawn nodded. "That's me."
The woman, Mrs. Blackburn, sighed. "I told them we should have had an orientation day. You're the tenth person who's gotten lost today. I'd tell you to have a seat, but as you can see, they're all taken."
She followed the teacher's arm around the room, seeing no open seats.
"I'll write you a pass," Blackburn said. "and send you to the supply room in the basement. There's a janitor on duty, but you never know where he is, so if you don't find him down there, just see if you can manage to bring it up yourself, okay?"
Dawn nodded, taking the pass and the key to the supply room. "Uhh…where is it?"
"Down the hall way, last door on the left. It says basement on it," the teacher replied.
Dawn nodded feeling stupid. "Oh."
She walked, following the directions, and easily found the door marked 'basement'. Opening it, she walked down the dimly lit stairwell, looking around in disgust. "For a new building, this place sure is nasty looking."
She reached the bottom and looked around for anything marked 'supply room' or 'supplies'.
"Of course they wouldn't make it that easy," she grumbled, looking around the dark, place.
Seeing another set of stairs leading to a darker, dank sort of hallway, she followed those. "Maybe down here.."
She pushed open the first door she found, not seeing any sort of sign, and entered. A bunch of machinery, all of an alien nature to Dawn was crowded in the room. "Something tells me I won't be finding a desk in here."
She turned back through the door, and stopped dead in her tracks as there was a clanging noise to her left. She looked into the dimness, trying to figure out where exactly the sound had originated from, and what had made it.
Tentatively, hoping there was no one or nothing to answer her, she called, "Hello? Anyone there?"
Another clang, softer this time, and a thud, was the reply she received.
She gulped and moved a few steps forward. "Uh…hello?"
A whimper met her ears, followed by a scrabbling noise.
"Please be a cuddly doggie," Dawn whispered, crossing her fingers and shutting her eyes.
She slowly walked forward, peering behind the pipes to her right. "Anyone there? Any one being a nice fluffy puppy?"
Another clang, close enough to make Dawn jump.
Biting her lip she forced herself to look into the space between a huge, slightly rusty pipe and the concrete wall, whispering a plea for it to be nothing, and if it was something…that amount of training would be enough to help her take it on.
She opened her eyes wide, as if not believing what she saw.
"Spike?" she asked incredulously.
The vampire's head was tucked into his arms which rested on his knees, so only his tousled brown hair was showing, but she recognized him nevertheless. His knuckles, wrapped around his legs, clutching tight to his elbows, were bruised and bloodied. He was shaking and small noises escaped him from time to time.
"Spike?" Dawn asked again, getting to her knees and slowly inching forward until she was scrunched beneath the pipe and the wall as well.
She placed a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up, startled.
"Sorry," Dawn apologized. "I- I thought you heard me."
He stared at her with slightly unfocused blue eyes, as if trying to recognize an unfamiliar face.
"Spike?" she asked, kind of worried. He looked…less than normal.
"…no…" he whispered.
"No?" she asked, brow furrowed. "No what?"
"Don't touch!" he cried, pulling away, rocking back and forth.
She pulled away quickly. "Sorry…what's wrong with you?"
"Everything," he whispered, more coherently.
"What d'you mean?" Dawn asked, trying to get a clear answer.
He began to hum softly, covering his ears with his hands, still rocking back and forth.
"Spike," she said, trying to pry his hands from his ears. "Spike, what the hell?"
He pulled back, eyes squeezed shut.
"Spike!" she cried.
Giggles began to escape his mouth, echoing against the basement walls. He was soon laughing hysterically, and gradually the laughing gave way into sobbing.
"Spike?" Dawn asked again, getting scared.
"It won't leave," he sniffed, looking up at her. "I told not to, but it won't go away."
"What won't?" Dawn asked softly.
He muffled sobs. "Her."
"Her?" Dawn said in confusion. "Her who?"
"The girl," he mumbled. "The girl won't leave me be."
"What girl?" she said, looking around. "There's no one else here."
"She's not there," he repeated. He touched a hand to his chest, then to his head. "She's in here."
Dawn's lip trembled. "Spike, you're really freakin' me out here."
"She won't get out of my head," he said shakily. "She won't leave me alone. I can't make her go…I can't kill her."
"Okay, uh…stay here, okay?" she told him. "I'm gonna go get Buffy."
He looked up at the name, but his eyes made it impossible to tell if he even recognized it.
She flew up the stairs, leaving him to himself.
A whimper escaped him, and he leaned back against the cool brick wall, arms wrapped about himself.
"Spike…" a voice whispered.
He looked up, and shook his head. "No. You not real. Get away from me."
He shut his eyes and systematically began beating the back of his head against the wall behind him.
"Dead…dead…dead….DEAD."
"Buffy!"
Buffy looked up from her desk in the back room of the principal's office. "Dawn? What's up, why aren't you in class?"
Seeing MR. Wood looking at her, she said quickly. "I…uh, I forgot my allergy medication."
Buffy gave her a weird look, but played along. "Honestly, Dawn, you're lucky I keep extra in my purse."
She followed her sister into her office, shutting the door.
"It's Spike!" she said urgently.
"Spike?" Buffy hesitated.
"Buffy, he's really freaking me out, I think there's something REALLY wrong with him!" Dawn rushed out.
"Calm down, calm down," Buffy said. "Where is he?"
"Somewhere in the basement. I had to go get a desk, and I found him, and…" she trailed off. "Something's wrong."
"Okay," Buffy nodded. "Show me where."
"Mr. Wood," Buffy said as they left. "I'm going to escort Dawn back to class and get her an extra desk from the basement, all right?"
He nodded, and off they went.
Outside the office, Buffy turned to Dawn.
"Okay, get back to class and tell your teacher I'm bringing a desk up," she instructed.
"No way! I'm coming with you!" her sister protested.
"Nuh uh," Buffy replied. "We can't ruin your record on the first day. Go! I'll tell you what's the up at lunch, okay?"
Reluctantly the younger Summers agreed and trudged back to class.
Buffy slowly made her way to the basement, using her keen hearing to listen for sounds that could clue her in to Spike's location. She immediately heard whimpering and headed for it.
Spike was still rocking, bashing his head against the wall, and when she was this she rushed to his side, grabbing his head to stop him from doing any more damage.
He pulled back and scooted away from her with wide eyes.
"Spike?" she asked. "Dawn got me. What's wrong?"
He stared at her.
"Spike, talk to me," she demanded softly. "I'm not going anywhere."
"You always leave but your never gone," he muttered, unconsciously digging his nails into his lower arm as he avoided her gaze.
"What?"
"You always go away," he said, looking at her with his intense gaze. "but I can't make you leave. I tried and I tried, but you're stuck with me."
She frowned. "Gee, I'm gald I could help."
"You!" he snapped. "You haunt me. I've apologized a million times and all you do is stay with me, and taunt me, and torture me."
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"Why won't you leave?" he asked sadly.
"Because I want to find out what's wrong with you!" she said, exasperated.
"I'm still alive," was his answer.
"Don't talk like that," she told him in a small voice.
He glared at her. "You can't tell me what to do anymore! You can't make me do what you want anymore!"
She backed up as her got to his feet, anger blazing in his eyes.
"I'm tired of you haunting me!" he shouted. "I've tried, and I can't seem to make it die!"
"What die?" she asked, shaking her head.
He advanced.
What is this? Buffy thought.
"You."
She furrowed her brow, disbelief on her face. "Me?"
His features softened. "I didn't mean to. I swear…but I had to. You didn't see."
He sunk to his knees crying. "Why won't you die?"
She stood there. Something was really wrong with him.
