You can take this from about 10 or 20 minutes after the last part ended, I suppose. The minions have departed and Buffy has delivered the news...
Thanks, ever so for the reviews, make my day they do :-)
CHAPTER NINE:
"Spike."
"Yes. Xander, for the fifth time: It's Spike." She sighed and brought her fingers to pinch at the nagging strain in the bridge of her nose.
"Spike?"
"Yes!"
"*Spike* Spike?" Xander continued with his emphatic gestures, waving his hands about in an attempt to communicate just how much trouble he was having coming to terms with this new information.
"Xander, please, just try -"
"The Spike that tried to murder us all, Spike?"
"N-not all of us."
"He hasn't tried to kill me." Anya said nonchalantly, not taking her eyes off the receipts she was studying all too closely.
"Or me." Dawn piped up, giving her sister a small, supportive smile.
"OK, not all, just the ones of us lucky enough to have met him *before* he got in Buffy's pants."
"Xander!" Willow's voice and expression betrayed only a little confusion shaped, as they were, out of pure best-friend-type concern.
"I suppose if we're being pedantic here, he hasn't made a specific effort to kill me either." Giles sighed heavily and loosened his tie.
"OK, the Spike that's made a 'specific effort' to kill Buffy, me and Willow. Is that better?"
"Well a-actually -"
"Willow!"
"Shut up, all of you." Giles finally lost his patience with the situation. He stood up and began to pace, his shoulders tense and his head dipped down ever so slightly, as he rubbed at his eyes.
"We're getting nowhere here. Losing sight of what's important." Once he was sure that he had everyone's attention, he continued." The fact is, Glory has Spike and we need to know if there's a danger... I-if he has told Glory a-about Dawn."
"He can't have. He doesn't know - there's no way he can do." Buffy scanned the not-entirely-convinced faces of her friends. "I didn't tell him... I-I wasn't thinking that far ahead."
"It seems to me like you weren't thinking much at all"
She ignored Xander, silently imploring Willow and Giles to react with reason. "I can't let him die over this. I can't let him die over something he has no clue about. He's innocent in this."
"He's not innocent. He's never innocent. He's Mr. Kill-the-innocent-and-bathe-in-their-blood! - Insert evil laugh here."
"I've had this lecture already, Xander. From Spike, himself. And believe me when I say it's wearing thin."
"Wait, Spike lectured you on his qualification in evilness?" Willow asked.
"He tried to, yes."
"*OK*, this just keeps on getting wiggier. Have we slipped into the Twilight Zone, here?" It seemed odd to her. Xander making his usual flip comments but his voice was flat, humourless, and it made Buffy cringe internally far more than any of his earlier, edgier comments had.
"Anya, have you or any of your vengeance demon friends been granting strange wishes? Because I *really* not liking the idea of meeting the evil me again." Willow laughed coyly and Buffy couldn't help smiling fondly at her attempt to diffuse the tension, before remembering the reason for the tension.
"Look guys. I remember the times he tried to kill us, I really do." She looked down as she relived the past few days in her mind's eye. "But I also remember how he's had plenty of chances to kill me but he hasn't... and how he's been there for me -"
"Been there for you? *We're* your friends, we're *here* for you."
Xander's eyes had hardened and his arms crossed over his chest. The Xander she knew and loved was nowhere to be seen in this stranger's countenance. But no - she had met this Xander before, when he had been the voice of harsh morality over Angel. She grimaced at the memories. Just how did they get here again? Was her life destined to come back to the same point, to the same confrontation?
"He understands in a way none of you can... Drusilla, was killed - by Angel." She looked up as the shock registered on her friend's faces and her eyes drifted to Giles. "I know you went through it with Jenny but I needed someone else. I needed what only he could offer -"
"You mean sex?"
"Yes, Xander. If you insist on being so direct, the sex was a big part of it... but not all. There was more to it, we -"
"Xander, would you rescue *me* if I were captured by a hell God?" Anya finally looked up from her perusing and cut through the fraught conversation with her musing.
Xander sighed and looked at his girlfriend, his eyes softening as they settled on her, even though his patience was still short. "Of course I would, honey. But that's different. I love you, I'd do anything -"
Silence swelled from the centre of the table and expanded to fill the room with an uncomfortable pressure as all eyes turned towards Buffy. The eternities bred and their children mocked her from the ceiling and from the top of the shelves, as she waited for the inevitable question:
Willow was the first to air the same thought they all had. "Oh God, Buffy. Are you in love?"
She tried to apply an expression of shock but it failed and she gave up. "I-I... don't know. But... I need him. We need each other, right now." She took a deep breath to build up her will to say what was necessary. "I don't know if this is going to last, or if it was over before it even began, but I *need* to save him. I need to see him OK."
There was more silence but less accusation in the air. Again Willow was the first to speak. "Really?"
Buffy nodded "Yes... I couldn't stand any more death right now."
Xander sat back up straight and regarded her. She thought for a moment that he would make some remark about how, *technically*, Spike was already dead and she didn't think she'd be able to stand it. His expression remained indiscernible until he spoke. "Then what do want us to do?
The relief was immense. She let out a shaky breath, releasing the knot in her gut and smiled widely at her friends. "Thanks, guys."
"It's what we're here for."
She gave Xander another smile before winding herself into Slayer-mode. She stood and folded her arms as she addressed her friends.
"The way I look at it," her eyes settled on Dawn, "if Glory wants The Key... then we'll just have to give it to her."
Thanks, ever so for the reviews, make my day they do :-)
CHAPTER NINE:
"Spike."
"Yes. Xander, for the fifth time: It's Spike." She sighed and brought her fingers to pinch at the nagging strain in the bridge of her nose.
"Spike?"
"Yes!"
"*Spike* Spike?" Xander continued with his emphatic gestures, waving his hands about in an attempt to communicate just how much trouble he was having coming to terms with this new information.
"Xander, please, just try -"
"The Spike that tried to murder us all, Spike?"
"N-not all of us."
"He hasn't tried to kill me." Anya said nonchalantly, not taking her eyes off the receipts she was studying all too closely.
"Or me." Dawn piped up, giving her sister a small, supportive smile.
"OK, not all, just the ones of us lucky enough to have met him *before* he got in Buffy's pants."
"Xander!" Willow's voice and expression betrayed only a little confusion shaped, as they were, out of pure best-friend-type concern.
"I suppose if we're being pedantic here, he hasn't made a specific effort to kill me either." Giles sighed heavily and loosened his tie.
"OK, the Spike that's made a 'specific effort' to kill Buffy, me and Willow. Is that better?"
"Well a-actually -"
"Willow!"
"Shut up, all of you." Giles finally lost his patience with the situation. He stood up and began to pace, his shoulders tense and his head dipped down ever so slightly, as he rubbed at his eyes.
"We're getting nowhere here. Losing sight of what's important." Once he was sure that he had everyone's attention, he continued." The fact is, Glory has Spike and we need to know if there's a danger... I-if he has told Glory a-about Dawn."
"He can't have. He doesn't know - there's no way he can do." Buffy scanned the not-entirely-convinced faces of her friends. "I didn't tell him... I-I wasn't thinking that far ahead."
"It seems to me like you weren't thinking much at all"
She ignored Xander, silently imploring Willow and Giles to react with reason. "I can't let him die over this. I can't let him die over something he has no clue about. He's innocent in this."
"He's not innocent. He's never innocent. He's Mr. Kill-the-innocent-and-bathe-in-their-blood! - Insert evil laugh here."
"I've had this lecture already, Xander. From Spike, himself. And believe me when I say it's wearing thin."
"Wait, Spike lectured you on his qualification in evilness?" Willow asked.
"He tried to, yes."
"*OK*, this just keeps on getting wiggier. Have we slipped into the Twilight Zone, here?" It seemed odd to her. Xander making his usual flip comments but his voice was flat, humourless, and it made Buffy cringe internally far more than any of his earlier, edgier comments had.
"Anya, have you or any of your vengeance demon friends been granting strange wishes? Because I *really* not liking the idea of meeting the evil me again." Willow laughed coyly and Buffy couldn't help smiling fondly at her attempt to diffuse the tension, before remembering the reason for the tension.
"Look guys. I remember the times he tried to kill us, I really do." She looked down as she relived the past few days in her mind's eye. "But I also remember how he's had plenty of chances to kill me but he hasn't... and how he's been there for me -"
"Been there for you? *We're* your friends, we're *here* for you."
Xander's eyes had hardened and his arms crossed over his chest. The Xander she knew and loved was nowhere to be seen in this stranger's countenance. But no - she had met this Xander before, when he had been the voice of harsh morality over Angel. She grimaced at the memories. Just how did they get here again? Was her life destined to come back to the same point, to the same confrontation?
"He understands in a way none of you can... Drusilla, was killed - by Angel." She looked up as the shock registered on her friend's faces and her eyes drifted to Giles. "I know you went through it with Jenny but I needed someone else. I needed what only he could offer -"
"You mean sex?"
"Yes, Xander. If you insist on being so direct, the sex was a big part of it... but not all. There was more to it, we -"
"Xander, would you rescue *me* if I were captured by a hell God?" Anya finally looked up from her perusing and cut through the fraught conversation with her musing.
Xander sighed and looked at his girlfriend, his eyes softening as they settled on her, even though his patience was still short. "Of course I would, honey. But that's different. I love you, I'd do anything -"
Silence swelled from the centre of the table and expanded to fill the room with an uncomfortable pressure as all eyes turned towards Buffy. The eternities bred and their children mocked her from the ceiling and from the top of the shelves, as she waited for the inevitable question:
Willow was the first to air the same thought they all had. "Oh God, Buffy. Are you in love?"
She tried to apply an expression of shock but it failed and she gave up. "I-I... don't know. But... I need him. We need each other, right now." She took a deep breath to build up her will to say what was necessary. "I don't know if this is going to last, or if it was over before it even began, but I *need* to save him. I need to see him OK."
There was more silence but less accusation in the air. Again Willow was the first to speak. "Really?"
Buffy nodded "Yes... I couldn't stand any more death right now."
Xander sat back up straight and regarded her. She thought for a moment that he would make some remark about how, *technically*, Spike was already dead and she didn't think she'd be able to stand it. His expression remained indiscernible until he spoke. "Then what do want us to do?
The relief was immense. She let out a shaky breath, releasing the knot in her gut and smiled widely at her friends. "Thanks, guys."
"It's what we're here for."
She gave Xander another smile before winding herself into Slayer-mode. She stood and folded her arms as she addressed her friends.
"The way I look at it," her eyes settled on Dawn, "if Glory wants The Key... then we'll just have to give it to her."