A/N.- This is chapter Thirteen of the ENOUGH series.
Disclaimer.- You all should know this belongs to Joss Whedon and the parties involved in getting this show on the air.
Feedback.- As you wish.
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Buffy.
Willow decided to stay back in the hospital until they let her see Xander. He wasn't severely injured but he had lost some blood and had a few ribs broken. It seemed that the damage hadn't been so bad, because the paramedics seemed calm and told them that there was nothing to be worried about.
Even though, Buffy was majorly pissed off at the vampire. And a little bit afraid as well.he had helped her enormously with the geeks' issue and then he goes and does something stupid as getting the chip out and hurting her friend. She wanted to thank him, but when she had lookked for him earlier in the day she had not found him. She only ran into Clem who told her that Spike hadn't been in the crypt for a while.Now she was only confused. Spike had always been a fierce enemy, and after all that had been going on between them. Well, not a pretty sight.
So she ran even faster home.
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When Buffy ran upstairs, Dawn was asleep in Tara's arms. She smiled at them and noticed the strange grimace that was plastered in her sister's face. When she moved in to ask, Tara held her hand up.
"I guess it's better if she explains it in the morning, Buffy." Tara whispered. Buffy nodded and carried her sister to her own bedroom. She was glad that Spike hadn't visited them that day.
After making sure that her sister was comfortable in her bed, she returned to talk to Tara.
"I'll need you to perform a spell for me as soon as possible, Tara." Buffy asked to the blond sorceress. Tara seemed surprised but she knew what Buffy was thinking about.
"Sure, Buffy, but I'll need to talk to you first." Tara answered. Such answer confused Buffy, but she was very tired to argue.
"Fine, Tara, but please, I really need that favor from you." Buffy pleaded.
"Sure, Buffy, where's Willow, by the way?" Tara asked.
Buffy explained where her friend was and decided to go and search for the vampire. It wasn't so late and she needed some answers. She once again left Tara in charge of Dawn and walked to the vampire's crypt.
She broke the door to Spike's crypt. She was in no mood to be the least civilized.
"Spike!" She shouted. She knew he would be around. He always liked to gloat after he did something evil.
"Spike!!"
No answer. She climbed down to the second level and proceeded to look for him. However, it seemed that no one had been here ever since she came looking that afternoon. She lighted some candles that were lying around and found nothing different. Yet, something caught her attention. Some words that were carved on the wall, right above the bed.
NO MORE.
She then felt the tingle that made itself present when the peroxide vampire appeared. She expected a bitter comment or an annoying remark about what he had done to Xander. Or at least the commonly used 'what do you want, slayer?'. But he said nothing. She turned around and saw him. He wasn't leaning in the wall, as he so often greeted her. He wasn't smoking, as she found him usually. He was doing nothing, and by the looks of it, he had only appeared from the tunnels. She stared at him and noticed that his posture was different. He wasn't standing a little bent to a side. His head wasn't tilted a bit, and he wasn't smirking. He was only standing there. Staring at her. And when she looked at his eyes, she saw the same thing that Xander saw an hour ago. His eyes weren't blue. They were golden, sparkling with yellow on the sides.
"So this is it, Spike?" She asked, as she began pacing in front of him, "You managed to get rid of the chip and you go and beat my friends, is that it?" She shook her head.
"A lot of people told me that you were like a serial killer in prison, well, I guess they were right." She crossed her arms around her chest. "And you attacked Xander, who is weaker than you, and you two worked together the summer I was gone." She turned around and saw his burnt home.
"I know you had something to do with Warren and his friends getting caught." She whispered, " I wanted to thank you. I mean, I don't condone stealing bodies and it was the worst way of getting them but you got them out of my life. I hoped that there was still hope for you." She sighed.
"But it ends today, Spike," She said, "you're going down, because I can't trust you without the chip." She once again turned around, to where Spike was standing, but she found nothing. He had moved and she hadn't noticed. She looked around quickly and found him in the farthest, darkest corner of the lower level.
"You never trusted me, slayer." Spike finally spoke. And his tone was emotionless, colder than what she had ever heard before.
"You were never worth of my trust, Spike." Buffy said, uncomfortable because all she could see were the glowing golden eyes of the vampire.
"I know." He said, once again his voice devoid of any emotion.
"What?" Buffy asked, shocked by his answer.
"This is the deal, slayer, and listen well because I hate to repeat myself." He walked a bit towards her, but still remained a few feet away.
"Yes, I did get the chip out, and I'll soon be out of your life." Spike spat at her. "Now get the hell away from me."
"I can't go, Spike," Buffy said, "I can't let you out like that. You're a menace."
"I'll only be a menace to you if you don't get out." He said.
"Then it'll be this way, Spike." Buffy said, and sprang at him, trying to hit him in the face. Spike only retreated into the shadows, out of the range of Buffy's kick.
"Oh, so now you're running?" Buffy said, and threw a punch at him. Spike only ducked and paced around, like a caged tiger. Buffy was now finding this really strange. There were no comebacks? No angry remarks? No offenses thrown at her?
"What's the matter, Spike? Cat got your tongue?" Buffy once again tried to get something out of Spike's mouth, as she threw some kicks that Spike managed to block out. Still, he remained quiet, and made no attempt to attack her. She was now getting really angry and proceeded in her attack. She sent a savage punch into Spike's left cheek but opened her hand in order to reach for his forehead. Spike only jumped back, effectively moving out of her reach. Buffy ran at him and sent a kick to his midriff. He only blocked it and once again moved away from her. Her confusion and anger were taking their toll on the slayer's head and she snarled as she pressed her attack. She jumped, and roll-kicked in the air and sent some punches as she landed, making Spike move to the side, which placed him between Buffy and the wall. She grinned and expected some reaction by Spike. His face was still the same, no expression in it.
"I'm warning you, slayer." Spike growled, "Get the hell out."
Buffy felt somewhat relieved that the vampire talked, but she couldn't let her objective slip from her hands. She was here to stake him. Then why was she suddenly wary of the vampire in front of her?
"Ah, so you decided to talk at all," Buffy said, trying to regain her anger, "told ya, I can't let you live, or unlive, whatever."
She took out her stake and gripped it hard. She remembered then that fighting with Spike had always been great. He was a great opponent and this vampire had hardly raised a hand to defend himself. She once again leapt at him with a kick and rolled around, with her arm extended, trying to get her left hand, or non-stake hand, to slam it wide open in the back of the vampire. Spike was supposed to fall for the fake kick and try to roll to the side, where Buffy's hand would receive him. But Spike didn't move. And not only did Buffy miss the kick but she also got her back wide open to the vampire. She recovered quickly and swirled forward, in order to kick Spike's face as she rolled forward. Once again, the move was useless, because Spike caught both her feet and shoved them aside. Buffy rolled with the impulse and stood up quickly. And yet, Spike was still rooted to his place. Now Buffy was beginning to worry. She was attacking him full-force and he was deflecting all her attacks. That was not good. It was not good with any vampire, and less with a chipless vampire who happened to have killed two slayers before. She decided a different approach, as she lunged forward and threw a right, which then she faked to throw a left. The plan was that when the left connected, she'd reuse the right and proceed to another attack. But her plan backfired when her right was caught before making the fake and her left eye soon saw stars. Courtesy of a well and quickly placed punch by Spike.
She moved backwards and threw a kick with the same impulse provided by the punch. Once again, the kick found nothing, for Spike was already in the middle motion of kicking her support leg and sending her to the ground.
"I said get out." He repeated, getting up and walking to the stairs. Buffy got up quickly and raised her stake. Spike turned around and savagely kicked Buffy in the face. She had been so angry that she missed his quick motion. The kick stunned her and she managed to get hold of herself by supporting herself with the charred bed.
"Since you don't get it, slayer, let me explain it to you." Spike said, staring at her with his golden eyes, but with his human face on. She had never seen a vampire like that.
"You can't win this fight, slayer," Spike said, "and I don't want to fight with you."
Buffy snarled and tried to reinitiate the fight once again. She punched Spike but he had been expecting the punch and as his head spun backwards from the impact, he lifted his arm and punched Buffy hard in the ribs. Having her momentum cut off, she missed her next attack. She moved away from him, expecting an attack but received nothing.
"Told ya, slayer, I won't fight." He stared at her, a deadly stare, "I know I'd win, so it's boring."
Boring? How dared him? She had now recovered her whole anger and was ready to stake him, not mattering that he had been her lover. Not mattering that he had helped her on numerous occasions. Not mattering that thanks to him she didn't have to worry about Warren and his band of misfits.
She threw a strong kick, which he blocked. She tried to flip backwards in order to grab him from below his defenses but he leapt back, once again. However, when Buffy's arch ended a vampire's eyes greeted her and he grabbed the arm that held the stake, and twisted it painfully, making Buffy turn her back towards him. He pushed and placed his weight upon her and sent themselves running into the wall. He pushed a final time and with his free arm he drove Buffy's head into the wall. The impact was brutal, but she managed to stay conscious. Spike bent her arm a little more and kicked her knee, making her leg buckle. He kicked the calf of her other leg and her balance was lost. He grabbed the other arm and twisted it as well. He pushed forward, so that Buffy's weight was all placed in her head and neck, and since she was being pushed down as well, her legs were in a wrong angle whether to kick or to push her back up. She was at the mercy of the vampire.
"Get this, slayer," He said, "you managed to win all the times because I always let my emotions get in the way. When I first fought you I was so immersed in the fight that I was enjoying it. You, on the other hand, were fighting for your life. Since I was having so much fun, I lost that battle. After that, I was angry when I fought you. My mind was not clear, so I failed miserably. After that, I had the soddin' chip in my head, and was unable to hurt you. And finally, I was so in love with you that I didn't want to hurt you."
He growled and twisted her arm a bit more. She managed to swallow her scream; she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of screaming.
"But now," he said, "now I'm free of any emotion towards you. Nothing is distracting me. And since I already managed to kill two slayers and have way much more experience than you, well, I guess that the results speak for themselves. I couldn't have done this two years ago, and guess who do I have to thank this for?"
Buffy snorted, and tried to move a bit. Her anger was getting the best of her.
"To the fact that your chip is gone?" She asked, barely controlling the rage in her voice.
"Wrong, slayer," Spike answered, "I have you to thank. You reminded me that I was a monster. A hell of a monster actually."
Buffy got confused at those words. He was thanking her for being able to defeat her?
"You're insane, Spike." She grunted.
"Oh, no, slayer, I'm not insane." He said, "This is what you always told me I was, remember? 'You're a monster, Spike', 'you're a soulles, evil thing', should I go on?"
Buffy frowned at hearing that. Was he trying to turn this around and place it on her?
"I wasn't talking about..."
"Oh, yes you were," Spike interrupted her, "that was the reason why you could never love me. And this is what you always believed me to be. Is it right, slayer? Do I live up to your expectations? Am I the horrible monster you told me I was?" He asked, and he shoved her aside, letting her go.
Buffy stumbled a bit, and knelt, rubbing her sore shoulder. Spike had almost shifted it out of place.
"What do you want, Spike? For me to tell you I'm sorry?" Buffy said, trying to get up.
Spike growled deeply and stared at the girl in front of him.
"No." He simply stated, "I don't want anything from you. Not anymore."
"Oh yeah? Then why did you hurt Xander and visited Willow?" Buffy asked, standing up with the help of the wall.
"The whelp had it coming, and I just wanted to talk to Willow," Spike answered, "not everything revolves around you, slayer."
Buffy couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"You have been following me for the last two years, Spike, you won't leave me alone and you try to make me believe that it doesn't have to do with me?" Buffy rolled her eyes. She couldn't understand anything the vampire did.
"You want to know what I wanted, slayer?" Spike growled, " I wanted a very simple thing. I wanted you to love me half as much as I loved you. That is what I wanted."
"So you're telling me that you don't want that anymore? Right." Buffy snorted, "Like you didn't bring me a flower the other day."
Spike once again remained still. Very still.
"I used to want so much for you, slayer, but only one thing from you." He said, and walked back to his dark spot, where only his eyes glowed in the dark. "I wanted to receive the purest emotion you could give. I wanted the whole package. I got your sex but I never got your tenderness. I never received a smile from you. I never received a nice word. I never got your love."
Buffy made an attempt to talk, but the primal, animalistic growl that Spike uttered made her shut up.
"I wanted to think that maybe with time you'd believe that I loved you. That maybe one day my opinion would matter to you. But then came your all-so glorious morals and screwed up memories and you got yourself convinced that I could not love. You only saw me as a monster, and guess what? I see that now. I finally understood that I am a monster. That's why the chip had to go out. I couldn't be a monster without it."
Buffy was now completely motionless, hearing what was going on in the vampire's mind.
"So it did go out, with a little souvenir. A piece of my brain. However, the lobotomy helped me see things more clearly. Since I'm a monster I owe nothing to your friends. Naturally, I treated them the way they treated me. Now you know why your friend Xander is in the hospital but not dead. He didn't stake me when I lived with him." He paced a little bit inside the shadows. His eyes flickering according to the things he was feeling. "The girls treated me nicely, that's why I wouldn't hurt any of them. And I did promise to look after Dawn. Till the end of the world."
He snarled and stared ahead.
"Then it's you, slayer. The all-so righteous, perfect slayer, who was too good to even trust the thing that loved her so much. And then it hit me. I can still get what I want from you."
Buffy cringed internally. The vampire in front of her was neither William the Bloody nor chipped Spike. He was something entirely different.
"I can still receive the purest emotion from you. If I can't have your love, then I'll have your hate." Spike growled at her. "Now you know what I want. So sod off now."
He walked towards the tunnels and spoke without turning around.
"If I ever see you again, I'll have to kill you."
With that, the vampire disappeared into the dark tunnels. Buffy was seriously confused. She had come to kill him and he had practically wiped the floor with her. And the things he had said. The way he had behaved. Not at all like the Spike she knew.
She was unsure of what to do. And she didn't know where to go. But she knew that she had to get out of his crypt. He had said something about giving the Scoobies what they had given him. He'd go to each one of them. He had already visited Xander and Willow. She had to make sure that he wouldn't hurt Dawn or Tara.
She knew that chipped Spike would never hurt those two, but this was a new Spike.
She didn't know what this new personality would do.
And she was afraid.
End of Chapter.
