Dawn looked up from her cereal as Spike came barreling through the back door, his coat pulled over his head to block out the sun. "How was your walk?"
Letting his coat fall back to his shoulders, he stared at her. "Funny."
"I thought so." She said with a shrug. "So, where'd you go?"
He threw his hands up and shook his head. "What's with the twenty soddin' questions today?"
Dawn made a small face. "Yeah, Buffy said you were being a little less forthcoming with information earlier. I was expecting you to be a bit black and blue from the interrogation."
He snorted, sitting down beside her. "Almost."
"So why aren't you sharing, anyway?"
"Nothin' to share." He said simply.
She looked back down at the remaining Cheerios in her bowl, swatting them around with her spoon. "Yeah…"
He stared at her for a moment. "You don't believe me, do you?" He questioned indignantly.
She looked up at him, shrugging. "Not really."
"Bloody hell. You women are goin' t'drive me up a soddin' wall, you know that?" He exclaimed, standing. "First Hope goes all mini-bitch on, runnin' her mouth off like a drunken sailor, then your bloody sis decides it's time for the latest round of kick the Spike, then backs out cause I'm too bloody pathetic t'even hit properly, and now you're tellin' me I'm a liar! Dammit, Bit, I thought you trusted me? What's next, Red up there cookin' up a truth spell for me?" He demanded, pointing a finger towards the living room and the stairs.
Dawn just stared at him.
"Oh well this is just bloody peachy." He growled, stalking towards the living room. "Red! Get your pixie ass down 'ere!"
Dawn rounded the corner from the dining room as Willow appeared at the top of the stairs, looking worried. "What's wrong?"
"What the bloody hell are you doing up there?" He demanded, pointing an accusing finger at her.
"Uh, talking to Xander?" She muttered meekly, pointing the cordless phone she held in one hand.
Spike blinked and slowly lowered his hand. "Oh… you know, suddenly I find myself wishing you –were- brewin' up some truth spell. Tell the Whelp I said cheers, and that he's still a ponce, and…"
"Will, what's going on? What's with all the yelling?" Buffy questioned, walking out of the bathroom, her hair dripping wet. Looking down the stairs, she saw Spike shake his head and begin to walk into the living room.
Dawn just looked up between her and Willow. "Spike thinks you're going to do a truth spell on him." She explained.
Buffy groaned, rolling her eyes as she made her way down the stairs. "You are such an ass, Spike. Where the Hell did you go? I go upstairs, change, come back down, and you guys are gone."
"I had to…" He blinked. "Wait, what?"
"Do you want me to spell it out for you? You and Hope disappeared, -again-. It would be real nice if you'd wear a bell or something so we know where the hell you are."
He stood from where he had fallen back on the couch, looking between the three girls standing in the doorway. "Hope's gone?"
"Well, yeah, she went with you." The Slayer stated.
The vampire's eyes went wide. "Bloody fucking hell…"
----------
"I'm so going to kill him." Buffy growled to herself, kicking the door to the mansion open roughly and shifting the axe she held to her other hand. She had muttered every possible curse she knew along the way, going on and on to herself about how much she hated Spike Her eyes fell to the corner of the room as a heavy sewer grate was lifted and Spike hefted himself out. She shot him a cold glare before heading down the hallway. He clenched his jaw and stalked after her.
"I knew you'd be back to play. Miss Edith said you'd bring me a present, did you bring mummy a present?"
Spike went to answer, but was cut off as Buffy stepped forward. "Yeah, Dru. We brought you a nice big axe, thought maybe it would look good digging into your neck."
"Buffy…"
"You don't get to talk." She snapped, pointing at Spike. Her predatory eyes turned back to Drusilla, who was standing in the corner, her creepy doll cradled in her arms. "Where is she?" The Slayer demanded, her stance threatening.
"You mean the baby. She tried to hurt me, Spike. Made my eyes hurt."
"Dru, if you've touched a hair on that girl's head I'll…" Spike began.
"I don't want her anymore, she stopped singing." The vampiress whined, stroking the doll's hair.
Spike's eyes widened and he took a threatening step towards her. "Where is she?"
The raven haired vamp pointed absently over to the bed along the wall opposite of her. Buffy and Spike both turned and looked in the direction she had indicated. Sure enough, Hope was on the floor, slumped against the side of the bed, her hands bound tightly to one of the bed posts above her head. Buffy nodded towards her and Spike jogged over, crouching down beside her.
Buffy returned her cold glare to Dru, who seemed to have forgotten they were even there. "Is she alright?" She asked, still not taking her eyes from Dru.
Spike finished untying the teen's hands, grimacing when he saw the deep gashed in her wrist from where she had struggled to get free. He easily hefted her small form into his arms. "She's out cold."
"Let's get her out of here." Buffy said icily. Spike nodded, casting another glare over his shoulder at Dru. "We'll be back to finish this." The Slayer growled warningly, backing away and following Spike down the hallway.
"Hear that, Miss Edith? Our white knight is coming home to play. We can have a party, have cake. Do you like cake?"
----------
Spike came running through the front door, tossing his jacket to the ground, his eyes searching for Buffy. She had carried Hope home, leaving him to make his way through the sewers. He could hear voices in the kitchen, so that's where he headed. "Where is she?"
Buffy, Dawn, and Willow looked up from the island in the center of the kitchen as he burst into the room. Buffy stood, walking towards him a few steps. "She's upstairs in my room."
"She okay?"
"I put some stuff on her wrists, but other than that I didn't see anything."
He nodded slightly and turned, heading back towards the stairs.
"She's asleep." The Slayer shot out, causing him to halt. He stopped, looking back over his shoulder. Buffy smashed her fist into his face, causing him to stumble backwards and into the dining room. "Bastard…" She growled, stalking towards him. "You knew that crazy bitch was here!"
"Dammit, Buffy, I was just…" He was cut off as her fist smashed into his face again, reeling him backwards. He caught the corner of the table to keep from falling, bracing himself against it. Looking past the fuming Slayer, he could see Dawn and Willow staring from the doorway, neither having the guts to protest against the enraged woman.
"Where were you last night, huh Spike?" She questioned harshly, her voice accusing.
He cringed slightly at the betrayal lingering behind her cold words. "It's not what you think…"
"Isn't it?!" She snapped. "God Spike, how many times have you lied to me just to keep your ass out of trouble? Why should I believe you?!"
"I was trying to get her to leave, you stupid…" The next thing he knew, he was being hauled up by the front of his shirt. The Slayer slammed him down on the table, her face mere inches from his, her eyes dark.
"I'm going to kill her, Spike." She stated flatly.
"You think I don't know that?" He asked in a dark tone, glaring at her.
She continued to stare at him for a moment, seething. Finally, she pushed him away, looking disgusted. "You don't want me to kill her, do you?"
"I'm feelin' a bit less strongly about opposin' the idea now, what with her stealin' my Slayer an' all, but, yeah…" He muttered, straightening.
Buffy just shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe you. After everything, after we…" She swallowed, narrowing her eyes. "You still love that insane whore…"
"I don't…" He shook his head, taking a few long unneeded breaths. "I do, Buffy. But not like a love you. It doesn't even come close to what I feel for you. It's just, Christ, Slayer, you don't spend well over a hundred years with someone and just forget about it."
"Yeah, but spend four years hangin' 'round Buffy, leave, and forget. You never planned on coming back here, you just wanted to forget."
He looked horrified. "No, Buffy. I didn't come back 'cause I didn't want to hurt you. That's all I've ever seem to be able to do…" The Slayer crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly, looking down at the ground. He looked past her and at the other two girls. They nodded slightly, turned, and headed back to the kitchen. Sighing, he took a step towards her. "I still love you, Buffy. I always will."
Her eyes went up to meet his, her features still cross. "You have a pretty funny way of showing it."
He shrugged. "What can I say? M'not very good at all the mushy crap. More of a acts-on-instinct guy."
"If you were acting on instinct you'd be trying to kill me." She pointed out.
"I thought loving you was killing you." He replied grimly. She hung her head a bit and he sighed. "Just doing what I do best, I suppose."
"Yeah…"
They stood there for a long time, neither looking at each other. Buffy shifted on her feet a bit, dropping her hands to her sides. "Spike, I don't think…"
A loud scream echoed through the Summers house.
By the time Buffy had rounded the corner to head up the stairs, Spike was already at the top, rushing into her room. Taking the steps two at a time, the Slayer bounded up after him. She could hear Willow and Dawn's voices following after her. Her socked feet skidded across the carpet as she stopped abruptly in her doorway, her eyes taking in the scene in front of her.
Spike was on the bed, his legs on either side of the girl lying there. He had her hands pinned to the pillow above her head with one hand and was using the other to try and wake her up. She was kick and writhing about furiously, trying to throw him off of her. She screamed again, only this time it came out as more of a sob than a scream. Tears scorched her face as she tried desperately to get him away from her.
Shaking her head quickly to clear her mind, she dashed across the room. Grabbing the girl's hands, she took to pinning them down with one of her and threw her other arm across her chest to try and hold her down. With both of his hands now free, Spike grabbed the girl's face between his palms.
"Hope? Hope!"
"What the hell's wrong with her?" Buffy asked, tightening her hold on the teen's wrists as she tried desperately to pull them away.
The vampire's eyes searched the girl's face frantically, trying to comprehend what was happening. "I don't know…" He muttered helplessly. She screamed again, choking and throwing herself into a fit of violent coughs. He swallowed as he struggling ceased a bit, her body refocusing on trying to breathe. "We need to wake her up." He said quickly.
"How?" Buffy questioned, staring at him. Hope had stopped coughing and was now shaking, pitiful whimpers escaping her lips.
He swallowed again before grabbing the girl by her shoulders and hauling her into his arms. Buffy released her hands and followed as he rushed between Willow and Dawn, who were standing in the doorway. He dashed across the hall and into the bathroom where he slid to his knees beside the tub. He had barely had time to set the girl in the tub when Buffy turned on the cold water and pulled the nob on the faucet, sending ice cold water splashing down over them.
Hope's green eyes shot open and locked on Spike.
She screamed.