Unmoved
By iyaorisha
Timing: AU S7
Pairings: Buffy/Spike (also Xander/Anya)
Summary: Spike has healed, but doesn't want to leave the Summers' house. Buffy struggles with flashbacks from the attempted rape. Meanwhile, Rack's twin sister seeks revenge for his death. Can Willow defend herself without resorting to magick?
("Unmoved" is the second in a series of four linked AU S7 fanfics I wrote in the summer of 2002.)
Rating/Warnings: R. Violence (including suggested domestic violence), language, F/M, M/M flashback, rape flashback, and torture.
Spoilers: None if you've seen up through S6. References to my fanfics "Relating to a Psychopath" and "Look What Love Gave Us"
Feedback: Brutal honesty is best (I enjoy floggings, I really do), but warm fuzzies are accepted as well. You can post a review here or email me at fanfic_by_iyaorisha@yahoo.com
***
Chapter 2
September 4,
There was a new woman in therapy today, Ravesa Kadare. She grew up in Sunnydale, but she left when she was eighteen. The Hellmouth was too much for her. Ravesa says she realized she was addicted to magick as soon as she got away. A friend helped her go cold turkey and she's been clean for eight years. Even Dr Scherling was impressed that she hasn't had a single relapse.
Anyway, Ravesa only came back to Sunnydale to deal with some stuff after a relative died. I guess that means she'll be leaving soon. It's kinda too bad. We had coffee together afterwards and she seems really nice.
Willow scratched out the last word. "Nice" was too mild a word. Ravesa was more than nice. She was warm and funny and smart. And the first person in her therapy group with whom Willow had really connected. Now, if only she could put it into words without it sound like some teenage crush.
Was it a crush?
The redhead closed her journal and rolled over onto her back.
It was nearly seven and she hadn't started dinner yet or studied for tomorrow's classes. All she had accomplished since she came home at six was to think about Ravesa. What Ravesa had said in therapy and afterwards at the Expresso Pump. How Ravesa appeared to understand perfectly what Willow herself spoke about. When they parted at the bus shelter, Ravesa had given her a hug goodbye that seemed so natural although they had just met two hours before. On the ride home, Willow had been so busy replaying their conversations and wondering when she'd see Ravesa again that she had gone right by her stop without noticing.
If that isn't a crush, Willow thought. And yet, it didn't feel quite that way, not the way she'd initially felt about Tara or Oz. And while Ravesa was certainly good-looking --tall and shapely with perfect olive skin and masses of dark wavy hair--, Willow didn't feel a sexual attraction to her.
Rather, she felt like she was talking to the sister that she never had. The sister that she thought she'd found in Buffy, until the events of last summer created a gulf between them that neither girl seemed to know how to cross. Maybe Ravesa would know how to heal that uneasiness. Willow wondered when she would see her new friend again. Perhaps she could get Ravesa phone number from Dr. Scherling.
Willow laughed, "Okay, now I sound obsessed!"
***
"And I would be the one
to hold you down
kiss you so hard
I'll take your breath away."
Buffy slammed her hand down on the off button.
"Hey! I like that song," Dawn protested. She reached out to turn the radio back on. Her sister blocked her.
"Well, I don't." Buffy said. She sat back down and picked up the stack of bills.
"So don't listen." Dawn hit the on button.
"Nothing stands between us here, and I won't be denied" Sarah McLachlan sang before Buffy yanked the cord out of the outlet.
"What is your problem, Buffy? It's just a song."
"It's about a stalker."
The teen shrugged. "Soooo?"
"It's a sick song. It sounds sympathetic...no, that's not the word.
"Empathic?" Dawn offered.
"Yeah. Hey, you have been studying that SAT review book." Buffy gave her sister a smile.
Dawn shrugged. "I guess I'd better get a good score if I want a scholarship. I mean I'll need one if I'm going to go to UC-Sunnydale, right? It's that or..."
"Or minimum wage and hairnets at the Doublemeat?"
Dawn couldn't mask the revulsion that flitted across her face. "Never..."
"Why not? It puts food on the table, keeps this roof over our heads, and all those pretty new clothes on your back." Buffy said bitterly.
"I didn't mean...I was going to say Sunnydale Community College...oh, I'm sorry Buffy!" Dawn looked like she was about to burst into tears.
"I know." Buffy laid a hand on her sister's cheek. "Dawnie, I'm sorry I snapped at you. And I'm sorry that there isn't a nice fat college savings account for you. For that matter, I wish there were two of them." She smiled wryly. "But even double shifts at the Doublemeat won't pay college tuition. If you don't win a scholarship, you'll have to work and go to night classes at SCC."
Dawn nodded. "SCC isn't that bad. No Greeks or football team. But no shadow military operations or pysch professors playing Frankenstein either."
Both girls laughed.
Then Buffy sobered. "I want the best for you, Dawn. Whatever is going to make you happy."
"Then let Spike stay."
Buffy knew that Dawn was serious, but she tried to keep her voice light. "I said I want what's best for you."
The teen opened her mouth to protest, but the look on her sister's face stopped her. "Is it really awful for you? Having him around?"
Buffy laced and unlaced her fingers a couple times before answering. "I feel like I can't relax with Spike here. It's not just...what he tried to do. I mean, I believe him when he says he'd never...never try to hurt me that way again. But he is a vampire. And his chip doesn't work anymore. How do we know that this soul is permanent?"
Dawn shook her head. "Giles says since Spike won back his soul, his own soul, it's a keeper."
"Giles could be wrong." Buffy said softly.
There was a low snigger from the doorway "What's this heresy?" Spike asked as he navigated around the block of fading sunlight slanting across the floor.
The sisters fell silent. Spike rummaged through the refrigerator and slopped pigs' blood into a mug. Buffy made a mental note to never use that mug again.
"Well, what's the Watcher wrong about?" The vamp inquired as he waited for the microwave to warm his breakfast. The girls exchanged a look. "Um...Giles thinks that I'm training enough. Once a day, twice on Saturdays." Buffy lied. "And I think I need more of a challenge."
"Like a Slayer Iron Man contest." Dawn chipped in.
Spike raised an eyebrow.
Buffy shook her head. "No. Not really. Just, um, more sparring."
"You need to work on your lefts. You always hesitate with your left." The vampire demonstrated. "And when you duck, you almost always dip your right shoulder." He mimicked her movement and grinned.
Both girls stared at him.
"What?" he asked.
"How do you know that?" Dawn said in an amazed voice.
Buffy's voice was laced with disdain. "He's watched me. And fought me. He learned all my flaws and weaknesses."
Spike looked aggrieved. "I fought at your side for over a year, Buffy. How could I not notice?" How could I not notice everything about everything about you? He thought.
There was another awkward silence.
"Since Spike knows your patterns so well, maybe he can help you train?" Dawn suggested, then instantly regretted it.
The vampire and Slayer stared at each other. Spike tried to seem casual, but his eyes revealed a guarded hope. Buffy's expression was indescribable. Dawn wondered if her sister was mad enough to change her mind about the learner's permit.
Just then the microwave beeped. At the sound, Buffy stood up and left the room.
Spike closed his eyes for a second and then opened the microwave.
"I'm sorry." Dawn whispered to his back.
"For what, Nibblet?" His voice was casual, but Dawn could detect the hurt.
"I thought it might be a way for you to stay here. If you were helping her train." The teen sighed. "I've been trying so hard to find something."
"Well don't waste your time. There's nothing that'll convince your big sis to let me stay." Spike winced at the way it sounded. "Besides, I'm ready to go."
Dawn looked skeptical. "You are?"
"Sure, The hole your sister put in me is healed." He lifted the mug of blood to his mouth and wrinkled his nose. "And, while free, the meals here leave something to be desired." As if to prove his point, the vampire took another sniff of the warm pigs' blood and dumped the mug down the drain. "Where's Red? Shouldn't she be down here slicing and dicing?"
Dawn looked at the clock. It was later than Willow usually started dinner. I probably should go upstairs and remind her, she thought. But after we eat, Buffy will go to the crypt and remove the explosives. And then, Spike won't be here anymore. "I don't think she's home yet." The teen lied.
Spike raised an eyebrow. It wasn't just that Dawn was a poor liar. His preternatural senses told him that the ex-witch was in the house. He could smell Willow's patchouli perfume in the air, a fresh waft of it. He knew if he concentrated hard enough, he could probably hear her moving about in her room.
What he actually heard was his stomach rumbling. "Don't you know how to cook?"
Dawn made a face. " Sort of. I mean I can do what the recipe says, but it never turns out well. And when I don't follow the recipe, things get scary."
They were silent for a few minutes.
"The sun'll be down soon. We could go out. Fish tacos." Dawn suggested.
Spike made a face.
"Okay." She laughed. "Wings at the Bronze.
The vamp mulled it over.
Dawn's own stomach was beginning to protest so she decided to sweeten the proposal. "My treat if we can take your bike."
"Fair enough." He went down into the basement to get the key.
There was a knock on the kitchen door. Dawn got up to answer it, hoping it wasn't Xander.
Instead, a young woman she'd never seen before stood there. "Hi. You must be Dawn Summers."
"Yes...Can I help you?"
The stranger smiled. "I'm looking for Willow Rosenburg. Does she live here?"
Dawn nodded.
"Well, I'm Ravesa Kadare. A friend... oh, I guess it wouldn't be right to say I'm a friend of hers since we just met today. But anyway, I wanted to return something she lost."
The stranger held out her hand. In her palm was a small pendant on a thin silver chain. Dawn recognized it immediately. It was the Tree of Life that Tara gave Willow on their first anniversary.
"Oh, thanks!" Dawn said. "It means a lot to her." She smiled and reached out for the necklace.
To the teen's surprise, the stranger closed her hand. "If you don't mind, I'd like to give it back to Willow myself."
Before Dawn could say a word, Ravesa stepped inside the door.
***
From her seat on the couch, Buffy stared at Spike's duster. The coat was thrown across the back of the easy chair the vampire liked to sit in when he watched television. Other signs of his tenancy were scattered around the living room. A half-empty bottle of Jack Daniels on top of the television. The stack of punk CD jewel cases on the mantelpiece. A pack of Camel unfiltereds and his Zippo on the coffee table. No doubt he would leave at least some of things here when he moved back to the crypt tonight. An excellent excuse to drop by.
She'd show him. Have everything packed up before dinner and waiting on the porch. Buffy thought she remembered seeing a large cardboard box in the hall closet. It only took a few seconds to pull it out.
When she opened it, the fragrance that arose that made her shudder.
She'd gotten it for her birthday. A small amount made the bath water smell like heaven and she hoped it would ease some of the soreness from her back. Before the tub could fill, it happened. The door opened and Spike walked in. The last person she needed to see right now. He was agitated, not listening to her. She didn't want to do this. Not right now. She was too tired and in pain. And what was the use anyway. They were over. He wouldn't accept it. Couldn't. Then, his hands were on her...
Buffy stared at the box of containers in front of her. Bath salts, shower gel, foaming bubble bath, even a tube of those little gelatin beads of scented oil. Every scent from the usual rose and lavender to Happy and Opium. Gifts from birthdays and Christmases past. Too bad, she hadn't been lavish in using them before. They were going to waste now sitting in a box in the hall closet.
The week after it happened, she had swept them all off the shelf in her bathroom and into the wastebasket. Then she reconsidered. Just because she didn't ever think she'd take baths again didn't mean that someone would appreciate the collection of bath goods. She retrieved the bottles and cartons from the trash and put them in the box intending to let Dawn and Willow take their pick. Somehow, instead, it had gotten stashed away in the hall closet. And now, she was kneeling on her own living room floor, breathing hard and feeling queasy.
They were on the floor. The tile was cold and hard against her bruised back. His mouth was cold and hard against her throat. She was fighting and trying not to cry. The scent of the bathwater became suffocating as Spike ripped at her bathrobe.
Buffy closed the box. The fragrance grew fainter and she began to feel more in control. Once her heartbeat returned to normal, she stood up and opened the front door. The fresh air quickly dried the tears on her face as she placed the box in the garbage can at the curb. Tomorrow was trash day. Soon both the treacherous box and the vampire it invoked would be gone.
As she walked back inside the house, Buffy wondered if the flashbacks would diminish when Spike left? She hoped so. At the very least, his departure tonight would change a lot of things. No more pigs' blood in the fridge, the slaughterhouse smell sickening her every time she searched for a snack. No more reek of cigarettes and booze at five AM when he stumbled in after a night of Godknowswhat. No more chance meetings in the hallways that left the air singing with tension. No more Slayer sense prickling all the time because he was underfoot.
It had been an unbearably long two weeks. Once Spike began to feel better, he reverted to old form --needling Xander and regaling Dawn with sordid tales from his soulless past.
Moreover, he balked at answering Giles' questions. The ex-Watcher was fascinated with every detail of Spike's quest and his subsequent attempts to cope with the soul. Giles had taken extensive notes, but he suspected that Spike was leaving out some key information. The blond vampire was clearly evasive about some things. And he flat out refused to reveal anything concerning his whereabouts and deeds on three consecutive days after his return from Africa. For some reason, Buffy had the feeling he hadn't been in Sunnydale.
She had just shut the door behind her when she heard a strange voice in the kitchen. "Dawn? Spike?" She called. "Who's that with you?"
A dark-haired young woman entered the living room, Dawn a half-step behind. "Hi, Buffy." The stranger said.
"Um, hi," Buffy replied automatically. "Do I know you?"
The woman shook her head. "No. I'm sorry. I'm Ravesa Kadare. Nice to meet you. " She held out her hand.
"Same here." Buffy exchanged a quick look with Dawn as she shook the stranger's hand. The teen mouthed the words "She just barged in."
"I guess you're wondering what I'm doing here. I actually want to see your housemate, Willow. She is here, right?"
Behind Ravesa, Dawn was mouthing something else, but Buffy couldn't tell what. "Um, I'll check and see." She turned to go up the stairs, but Ravesa slipped in front of her.
"If you don't mind..." The dark-haired stranger smiled.
"Actually, I do mind." Buffy said icily.
"Of course," Ravesa said smoothly. "I mean, I'm a stranger. And this is your house. I'll just wait here." She smiled again.
Buffy didn't smile back. She'd lived in the Sunnydale long enough to have a strong distrust of strangers, especially pushy ones. The young woman standing in her living room had entered the house without invitation. That and the fact that it was still daylight meant she wasn't a vampire. But that didn't mean that she wasn't a threat.
"Dawn, please get Spike."
"Right here." The bleached vampire leaned in the archway of the living room. "Bint just walked in?"
Buffy nodded.
He gave the stranger a sideways look. "What does she want?"
Ravesa took a step toward the blond man. "Just to..."
"Not talking to you." Spike's voice was low, but held enough menace to stop the young woman in her tracks.
Dawn piped up. "She says she knows Willow. She had a necklace that Tara gave Willow. I recognized it."
"Look, I don't want any trouble." Ravesa said.
Buffy gave the young woman the once-over. The stranger's pushiness was all gone now. In fact, she seemed pretty frightened. Then she looked at Spike. Even from ten feet away, she could see the glints of yellow in his eyes. Buffy figured the vampire was one step away from game face. She hoped it wouldn't come to that, but for the first time since she learned his chip no longer worked, Buffy felt comforted. "Spike?"
He didn't stop staring at Ravessa, just raised a scarred eyebrow.
"I'm going upstairs now."
"Got it." He replied. The vamp produced a small knife from his back jeans pocket and began cleaning his nails without ever taking his eyes off the stranger.
"Dawn." Buffy gestured to her sister.
The teen skirted Ravesa and followed Buffy upstairs. When they reached the top landing, Buffy exhaled hard. "Are you okay, Dawn?"
The younger Summers nodded. "Buffy, I didn't let her in. I swear it. She just pushed past me."
Buffy stroked her sister's hair. "I believe you. She would've barged past me, too."
"Do you think she really knows Willow?"
Buffy shrugged. "Only one way to find out." She said as she knocked on her best friend's bedroom door.
***
"So do you live her, too."
Spike didn't respond. At least not verbally. It seemed possible though that his posture became even more threatening.
She smiled weakly, an expression she hoped he would find disarming. But eyes remained cold. It was obvious that he wouldn't let his guard down, not until Buffy told him to.
It didn't matter. She was inside the house now. And already the weaving of her trap had begun. Soon Willow would be forced to choose between her old friends and the newcomer to whom the former witch felt inexplicably drawn. The embrace at the bus stop had done more than allow Rack's sister to undo the chain's clasp. During those five seconds, Willow unknowingly inhaled the aroma of the binding powder the brunette mixed into her skin cream. The initial effects of this spell were a sense of closeness and a slight euphoria. It was somewhat akin to the feeling of falling in love. If subsequent doses were administered --and they would be-Willow should begin to perceive Ravesa as her only confidant. Her brother's killer would turn away all those to whom she might have appealed for aid when the time came to pay.
Meanwhile, she would sit here and pretend to be cowed by the bleached blond watchdog. He was unexpected. It was another male, darkhaired and brawny, that had flashed into her mind with the explosion of pain and flood of memories that assaulted her at the moment of Rack's death. This Spike did not existed in her othermemory. So he had not been directly involved in her twin's demise. Yet, he was clearly part of the circle of Willow's friends. Otherwise, he would not have been in the house to guard her.
So, when the time came, he too would die.
There was a clatter of footsteps on the stairs. A smile curved Ravesa's lips for a microsecond before she turned. "Oh, Willow! I am so glad to see you."
***
There were a lot of apologies. Most of them came from Ravessa, who seemed truly chagrined at her trespass. The rest came from Willow, who somehow seemed to think that the situation was all her fault.
"Can I tell them?" The redhead asked.
"Why not?" Ravesa said lightly.
Willow wasn't aware that she was gushing as she told Buffy, Dawn, and Spike the story of meeting Ravesa. When she was finished, she gave a weak smile. The tale had failed to lower their hackles even a bit.
"You lived in Sunnydale?' Dawn asked.
"Until I was 18. Like Willow said."
Buffy leaned forward. "So you went to Sunnydale High?"
"Class of '95."
"Oh, Pat Watanabe was in your class. Were you friends?"
"No."
Buffy sighed and leaned back. "Too bad. I've been trying to get in touch with her."
Ravesa laughed. "Pat Watanabe's a guy. Or was. He died senior year. Mad dog attack." She made quotation marks with her fingers. "But you knew that." She laughed again, this time without humor. "Look, I know that you feel like I trespassed. I'm sorry I barged in. I'm usually not pushy at all. I really wanted to personally see that Willow got her necklace back. I know how much it means to her."
Willow fingered the pendant. She still couldn't figure how it had slipped off. The clasp wasn't even broken.
"So why don't we do this," Ravesa continued. "You ask me any Sunnydale trivia question you want. And if I pass, you assume I'm kosher and we start over again."
Dawn and Willow looked at Buffy. Spike kept cleaning his nails.
Ravesa shook her head. "Don't think I don't know why you're suspicious. In this town, strangers usually mean trouble. Take a second to remember where Willow and I met. You don't end up addicted to magick if you buy all the mad dog attack stories."
Buffy had to admit that made some sense, Willow thought. Sure enough, the tension in the room declined somewhat. She gave her best friend a nudge and was rewarded when the blonde extended her hand to Ravesa. Dawn followed her sister's lead. The brunette ex-witch turned next to Spike. He didn't take her hand, but he did put his knife away.
"Don't be offended," Willow said. "He's..."
"English." Buffy interjected. "You know. All reserved and uncomfortable with physical contact."
Willow and Dawn looked at her strangely. Spike seemed amused.
Ravesa nodded. "Yes. I see. Well, I'd better be going." She stood up and again Willow found herself folded into a warm embrace..
Later, Willow couldn't recall what gave her the impulse. Even as the words left her lips it seemed ill-advised. But the urge was irresistible.
"Oh, won't you stay for dinner?"
***
The kitchen was a mess.
Willow had pulled open every drawer and almost emptied the fridge looking for everything. Worse still, it was almost eight and they still hadn't started cooking yet.
"Maybe we should just get delivery." The redhead offered.
"Nonesense, Willow" Ravesa said. "Stirfry doesn't take long once you get everything together. We can speed things up by doing an assembly line. You can peel and devein the shrimp. I'll make the rice and sauce. And let's see." She grabbed the head of bok choy and handed it to Buffy. "Please chop this. Not too fine."
Buffy stared at the vegetable.
"And Spike?"
The vampire looked up from his copy of Rolling Stone.
Ravesa held up a head of garlic. "Do you think you could mince this?"
The look on his face was priceless. Buffy briefly entertained thoughts of waiting to see how Spike would handle Ravesa request. Then she remembered it was Spike they were dealing with and she quickly decided to intervene. "Uh, let's do without the garlic."
Ravesa shrugged. "Sure. It's so good though."
"Um, Spike's allergic." Dawn chimed in.
"Really?" Ravesa took a step toward Spike with the bulb still in hand. "What happens if you eat it?"
The vampire's eyes narrowed.
Buffy quickly held up the bok choy. "Uh, Ravesa could you show me how to chop this." As the dark-haired young woman turned her way, Spike gave the Slayer a grateful look.
"What can I do?" Dawn asked. She was starving and wanted dinner on the table as quickly as possible.
Willow thought for a second. "Can you pour some peanut oil in the wok? And turn it on high."
If Dawn hadn't cut Family and Consumer Science class so much last year, she probably would have known that she didn't need more than a couple tablespoons of oil. Instead, she drained the entire 48 oz bottle. The oil filled the pan to within an inch of the top.
Across the kitchen, Ravesa had given up trying to teach Buffy how to cut the bok choy. Instead, she gave the blonde a box of jasmine rice and the electric steamer. Then she return to Willow's side.
Buffy set the steamer in front of Spike. "Plug that in."
He didn't look up from his magazine. "Reading."
She had never seen him read anything more complex than a street sign before and was sure he was just shirking.
"Come on. Do your share so we can eat."
He turned the page. "I'm not eating that."
She snorted. "Since when are you so picky about what you eat."
"Why do you give a sod?"
"I don't. But it'll look weird if you don't eat."
Spike shrugged and turned another page.
"I knew you weren't reading."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Nobody reads that fast." She said scornfully.
He glanced around and said in a low voice. "Vampires do.
"Do not."
He turned another page in response.
Buffy couldn't say why she was annoyed. "There is no way."
Another page.
"Prove it."
"Wager?"
"No."
Another page.
It was driving her nuts. Buffy had always wanted to speed read. It would have made her pst-slayage high school and college cram sessions worthwhile. "Okay, if you can prove it... I'll help you straighten up the crypt."
Spike rolled his eyes. "Bugger that. You were the one who wrecked it. You and Soldier Boy. You should clean it anyway."
"What do you want then?" She instantly regretted the words as he grinned wolfishly.
"Don't worry, Goldilocks. It's nothing like that. I just want you promise that you won't stop me from seeing the Nibblet."
Buffy stared at him. After all these years, William the Bloody kept surprising her. "Not a fair wager, Spike. I was never going to do that. Pick something else. Something reasonable."
"Get Giles to lay off."
"Lay off?"
"You know, quit asking me about what happened when I was in L.A."
"You were in L.A.?"
It occurred to the vampire that he had revealed more information that the Slayer and ex-Watcher previously knew. "Forget it. Give me the bleedin' machine." He grabbed the steamer and scanned the room for an outlet.
Buffy wasn't sure whether she should be amused or not. "I might accept that bet, if it means that when you lose, you have to tell me what you did in L.A.?"
Spike mulled it over. Even as a mortal, he'd been a quick reader. Then as a fledgling, he'd honed the skill. Otherwise, given the training schedule Angelus set and the multiple chores he was subject to, there wouldn't have been an opportunity to read. He nodded.
"This article is about ripping CDs."
"What?"
He rolled his eyes. "You know, recording music on a compact disc."
"Oh." She'd forgotten he could do that. The mix disc he made was still in her Walkman.
"Good." He sat back down and started reading again.
"What do you mean "good"? You don't think you proved anything." Buffy scoffed.
Spike looked puzzled.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "I don't know how many times you've read that. It has to be something new." She looked around and spied the perfect thing -Dawn's American History textbook. She handed it to him.
He tossed it back on the table. "You're daft if you think I'm going to read that."
"Then you lose."
Meanwhile, back at the stove, the oil in the wok began to boil. Dawn heard the popping sound and took a peep. The teen jumped back as a large bubble of hot oil burst and splattered the stovetop.
"Uh, Willow." She called over one shoulder. "The oil is really hot."
"Good."
"No, I mean really, really hot. Should I turn it down?"
"No." Willow and Ravesa said at the same time. They smiled at each other.
"It should be very hot, Dawn" the brunette ex-witch stated. "That's why Asian food is so healthy. You cook everything at a high temp so barely any of the oil is absorbed."
Willow nodded. "Just put the shrimp in the oil and stir them until they turn opaque."
Dawn chewed her lip. The pan of hot oil looked anything but healthy. In fact, it looked pretty dangerous. She looked back at Willow. The redhead didn't seem concerned at all; in fact, she wiggled her fingers at Dawn and mouthed "Go on." Then Willow turned back to the mortar and pestle of ginger.
Dawn turned to Buffy for help. But her sister and Spike were too busy bickering to notice her. The teen sighed and picked up the platter of raw shrimp. The shellfish looked surprisingly unappetizing, the slimy grayish-white bodies reminded her of the nest of Memdok demon larvae she'd helped destroy last week. Swallowing back her nausea, Dawn approached the stove.
***
She knew it wasn't time yet, but she couldn't resist the urge. All evening, she'd wondered what product Dawn used to make her hair so shiny and straight. She hoped it was silicone-based. If so, all that pretty hair would blaze so brightly. Too bad, the local hospital lacked a burn unit.
All it took was the thought and the wok slid off the burner. It teetered for a second and then tipped over, splashing oil across the stove. The gas flames immediately ignited the puddle of oil.
***
"Oh!" Dawn sprang back, dropping the shrimp. "Oh, fire!" She was sure she was yelling, but it came out a whisper. If she couldn't get their attention, she had to do something! Dawn grabbed the pot of boiling dumplings and threw the contents on the fire. It spread. This time she found her voice. "Fire! You guys!" She screamed as she refilled the pot.
Willow and Ravesa looked up from the vegetables they were chopping. Buffy and Spike stopped arguing. They all saw flames dance across the front of the stove.
"I'll call the fire department," Ravesa yelled as she ran from the room.
Willow was bewildered. "What happened? Is that the peanut oil?"
Buffy watched her sister run over to the stove carrying a pot. "Dawn, it's a grease fire. Don't use water!"
Too late. The teen threw the contents of the pot on the pool of flaming oil. There was a flash and hiss of steam. "See, it's almost out." Panicked, she ran for a third pot of water.
When the smoke cleared a bit, it was obvious that the fire was far from out. In fact the blazing oil was spreading. Any second it would spill over the front of the stove and could light one of her sister's long gauzy sleeves on fire. "Dawn, no!"
But Dawn flung the water anyway. As Buffy feared, the oil splashed everywhere. There was a blur of movement to her left. Spike was at Dawn's side, pushing her away just before the fire flared up. There was a whoosh and flames enveloped the vampire's upper body as he staggered back.
***
(Continued in Chapter 3)
By iyaorisha
Timing: AU S7
Pairings: Buffy/Spike (also Xander/Anya)
Summary: Spike has healed, but doesn't want to leave the Summers' house. Buffy struggles with flashbacks from the attempted rape. Meanwhile, Rack's twin sister seeks revenge for his death. Can Willow defend herself without resorting to magick?
("Unmoved" is the second in a series of four linked AU S7 fanfics I wrote in the summer of 2002.)
Rating/Warnings: R. Violence (including suggested domestic violence), language, F/M, M/M flashback, rape flashback, and torture.
Spoilers: None if you've seen up through S6. References to my fanfics "Relating to a Psychopath" and "Look What Love Gave Us"
Feedback: Brutal honesty is best (I enjoy floggings, I really do), but warm fuzzies are accepted as well. You can post a review here or email me at fanfic_by_iyaorisha@yahoo.com
***
Chapter 2
September 4,
There was a new woman in therapy today, Ravesa Kadare. She grew up in Sunnydale, but she left when she was eighteen. The Hellmouth was too much for her. Ravesa says she realized she was addicted to magick as soon as she got away. A friend helped her go cold turkey and she's been clean for eight years. Even Dr Scherling was impressed that she hasn't had a single relapse.
Anyway, Ravesa only came back to Sunnydale to deal with some stuff after a relative died. I guess that means she'll be leaving soon. It's kinda too bad. We had coffee together afterwards and she seems really nice.
Willow scratched out the last word. "Nice" was too mild a word. Ravesa was more than nice. She was warm and funny and smart. And the first person in her therapy group with whom Willow had really connected. Now, if only she could put it into words without it sound like some teenage crush.
Was it a crush?
The redhead closed her journal and rolled over onto her back.
It was nearly seven and she hadn't started dinner yet or studied for tomorrow's classes. All she had accomplished since she came home at six was to think about Ravesa. What Ravesa had said in therapy and afterwards at the Expresso Pump. How Ravesa appeared to understand perfectly what Willow herself spoke about. When they parted at the bus shelter, Ravesa had given her a hug goodbye that seemed so natural although they had just met two hours before. On the ride home, Willow had been so busy replaying their conversations and wondering when she'd see Ravesa again that she had gone right by her stop without noticing.
If that isn't a crush, Willow thought. And yet, it didn't feel quite that way, not the way she'd initially felt about Tara or Oz. And while Ravesa was certainly good-looking --tall and shapely with perfect olive skin and masses of dark wavy hair--, Willow didn't feel a sexual attraction to her.
Rather, she felt like she was talking to the sister that she never had. The sister that she thought she'd found in Buffy, until the events of last summer created a gulf between them that neither girl seemed to know how to cross. Maybe Ravesa would know how to heal that uneasiness. Willow wondered when she would see her new friend again. Perhaps she could get Ravesa phone number from Dr. Scherling.
Willow laughed, "Okay, now I sound obsessed!"
***
"And I would be the one
to hold you down
kiss you so hard
I'll take your breath away."
Buffy slammed her hand down on the off button.
"Hey! I like that song," Dawn protested. She reached out to turn the radio back on. Her sister blocked her.
"Well, I don't." Buffy said. She sat back down and picked up the stack of bills.
"So don't listen." Dawn hit the on button.
"Nothing stands between us here, and I won't be denied" Sarah McLachlan sang before Buffy yanked the cord out of the outlet.
"What is your problem, Buffy? It's just a song."
"It's about a stalker."
The teen shrugged. "Soooo?"
"It's a sick song. It sounds sympathetic...no, that's not the word.
"Empathic?" Dawn offered.
"Yeah. Hey, you have been studying that SAT review book." Buffy gave her sister a smile.
Dawn shrugged. "I guess I'd better get a good score if I want a scholarship. I mean I'll need one if I'm going to go to UC-Sunnydale, right? It's that or..."
"Or minimum wage and hairnets at the Doublemeat?"
Dawn couldn't mask the revulsion that flitted across her face. "Never..."
"Why not? It puts food on the table, keeps this roof over our heads, and all those pretty new clothes on your back." Buffy said bitterly.
"I didn't mean...I was going to say Sunnydale Community College...oh, I'm sorry Buffy!" Dawn looked like she was about to burst into tears.
"I know." Buffy laid a hand on her sister's cheek. "Dawnie, I'm sorry I snapped at you. And I'm sorry that there isn't a nice fat college savings account for you. For that matter, I wish there were two of them." She smiled wryly. "But even double shifts at the Doublemeat won't pay college tuition. If you don't win a scholarship, you'll have to work and go to night classes at SCC."
Dawn nodded. "SCC isn't that bad. No Greeks or football team. But no shadow military operations or pysch professors playing Frankenstein either."
Both girls laughed.
Then Buffy sobered. "I want the best for you, Dawn. Whatever is going to make you happy."
"Then let Spike stay."
Buffy knew that Dawn was serious, but she tried to keep her voice light. "I said I want what's best for you."
The teen opened her mouth to protest, but the look on her sister's face stopped her. "Is it really awful for you? Having him around?"
Buffy laced and unlaced her fingers a couple times before answering. "I feel like I can't relax with Spike here. It's not just...what he tried to do. I mean, I believe him when he says he'd never...never try to hurt me that way again. But he is a vampire. And his chip doesn't work anymore. How do we know that this soul is permanent?"
Dawn shook her head. "Giles says since Spike won back his soul, his own soul, it's a keeper."
"Giles could be wrong." Buffy said softly.
There was a low snigger from the doorway "What's this heresy?" Spike asked as he navigated around the block of fading sunlight slanting across the floor.
The sisters fell silent. Spike rummaged through the refrigerator and slopped pigs' blood into a mug. Buffy made a mental note to never use that mug again.
"Well, what's the Watcher wrong about?" The vamp inquired as he waited for the microwave to warm his breakfast. The girls exchanged a look. "Um...Giles thinks that I'm training enough. Once a day, twice on Saturdays." Buffy lied. "And I think I need more of a challenge."
"Like a Slayer Iron Man contest." Dawn chipped in.
Spike raised an eyebrow.
Buffy shook her head. "No. Not really. Just, um, more sparring."
"You need to work on your lefts. You always hesitate with your left." The vampire demonstrated. "And when you duck, you almost always dip your right shoulder." He mimicked her movement and grinned.
Both girls stared at him.
"What?" he asked.
"How do you know that?" Dawn said in an amazed voice.
Buffy's voice was laced with disdain. "He's watched me. And fought me. He learned all my flaws and weaknesses."
Spike looked aggrieved. "I fought at your side for over a year, Buffy. How could I not notice?" How could I not notice everything about everything about you? He thought.
There was another awkward silence.
"Since Spike knows your patterns so well, maybe he can help you train?" Dawn suggested, then instantly regretted it.
The vampire and Slayer stared at each other. Spike tried to seem casual, but his eyes revealed a guarded hope. Buffy's expression was indescribable. Dawn wondered if her sister was mad enough to change her mind about the learner's permit.
Just then the microwave beeped. At the sound, Buffy stood up and left the room.
Spike closed his eyes for a second and then opened the microwave.
"I'm sorry." Dawn whispered to his back.
"For what, Nibblet?" His voice was casual, but Dawn could detect the hurt.
"I thought it might be a way for you to stay here. If you were helping her train." The teen sighed. "I've been trying so hard to find something."
"Well don't waste your time. There's nothing that'll convince your big sis to let me stay." Spike winced at the way it sounded. "Besides, I'm ready to go."
Dawn looked skeptical. "You are?"
"Sure, The hole your sister put in me is healed." He lifted the mug of blood to his mouth and wrinkled his nose. "And, while free, the meals here leave something to be desired." As if to prove his point, the vampire took another sniff of the warm pigs' blood and dumped the mug down the drain. "Where's Red? Shouldn't she be down here slicing and dicing?"
Dawn looked at the clock. It was later than Willow usually started dinner. I probably should go upstairs and remind her, she thought. But after we eat, Buffy will go to the crypt and remove the explosives. And then, Spike won't be here anymore. "I don't think she's home yet." The teen lied.
Spike raised an eyebrow. It wasn't just that Dawn was a poor liar. His preternatural senses told him that the ex-witch was in the house. He could smell Willow's patchouli perfume in the air, a fresh waft of it. He knew if he concentrated hard enough, he could probably hear her moving about in her room.
What he actually heard was his stomach rumbling. "Don't you know how to cook?"
Dawn made a face. " Sort of. I mean I can do what the recipe says, but it never turns out well. And when I don't follow the recipe, things get scary."
They were silent for a few minutes.
"The sun'll be down soon. We could go out. Fish tacos." Dawn suggested.
Spike made a face.
"Okay." She laughed. "Wings at the Bronze.
The vamp mulled it over.
Dawn's own stomach was beginning to protest so she decided to sweeten the proposal. "My treat if we can take your bike."
"Fair enough." He went down into the basement to get the key.
There was a knock on the kitchen door. Dawn got up to answer it, hoping it wasn't Xander.
Instead, a young woman she'd never seen before stood there. "Hi. You must be Dawn Summers."
"Yes...Can I help you?"
The stranger smiled. "I'm looking for Willow Rosenburg. Does she live here?"
Dawn nodded.
"Well, I'm Ravesa Kadare. A friend... oh, I guess it wouldn't be right to say I'm a friend of hers since we just met today. But anyway, I wanted to return something she lost."
The stranger held out her hand. In her palm was a small pendant on a thin silver chain. Dawn recognized it immediately. It was the Tree of Life that Tara gave Willow on their first anniversary.
"Oh, thanks!" Dawn said. "It means a lot to her." She smiled and reached out for the necklace.
To the teen's surprise, the stranger closed her hand. "If you don't mind, I'd like to give it back to Willow myself."
Before Dawn could say a word, Ravesa stepped inside the door.
***
From her seat on the couch, Buffy stared at Spike's duster. The coat was thrown across the back of the easy chair the vampire liked to sit in when he watched television. Other signs of his tenancy were scattered around the living room. A half-empty bottle of Jack Daniels on top of the television. The stack of punk CD jewel cases on the mantelpiece. A pack of Camel unfiltereds and his Zippo on the coffee table. No doubt he would leave at least some of things here when he moved back to the crypt tonight. An excellent excuse to drop by.
She'd show him. Have everything packed up before dinner and waiting on the porch. Buffy thought she remembered seeing a large cardboard box in the hall closet. It only took a few seconds to pull it out.
When she opened it, the fragrance that arose that made her shudder.
She'd gotten it for her birthday. A small amount made the bath water smell like heaven and she hoped it would ease some of the soreness from her back. Before the tub could fill, it happened. The door opened and Spike walked in. The last person she needed to see right now. He was agitated, not listening to her. She didn't want to do this. Not right now. She was too tired and in pain. And what was the use anyway. They were over. He wouldn't accept it. Couldn't. Then, his hands were on her...
Buffy stared at the box of containers in front of her. Bath salts, shower gel, foaming bubble bath, even a tube of those little gelatin beads of scented oil. Every scent from the usual rose and lavender to Happy and Opium. Gifts from birthdays and Christmases past. Too bad, she hadn't been lavish in using them before. They were going to waste now sitting in a box in the hall closet.
The week after it happened, she had swept them all off the shelf in her bathroom and into the wastebasket. Then she reconsidered. Just because she didn't ever think she'd take baths again didn't mean that someone would appreciate the collection of bath goods. She retrieved the bottles and cartons from the trash and put them in the box intending to let Dawn and Willow take their pick. Somehow, instead, it had gotten stashed away in the hall closet. And now, she was kneeling on her own living room floor, breathing hard and feeling queasy.
They were on the floor. The tile was cold and hard against her bruised back. His mouth was cold and hard against her throat. She was fighting and trying not to cry. The scent of the bathwater became suffocating as Spike ripped at her bathrobe.
Buffy closed the box. The fragrance grew fainter and she began to feel more in control. Once her heartbeat returned to normal, she stood up and opened the front door. The fresh air quickly dried the tears on her face as she placed the box in the garbage can at the curb. Tomorrow was trash day. Soon both the treacherous box and the vampire it invoked would be gone.
As she walked back inside the house, Buffy wondered if the flashbacks would diminish when Spike left? She hoped so. At the very least, his departure tonight would change a lot of things. No more pigs' blood in the fridge, the slaughterhouse smell sickening her every time she searched for a snack. No more reek of cigarettes and booze at five AM when he stumbled in after a night of Godknowswhat. No more chance meetings in the hallways that left the air singing with tension. No more Slayer sense prickling all the time because he was underfoot.
It had been an unbearably long two weeks. Once Spike began to feel better, he reverted to old form --needling Xander and regaling Dawn with sordid tales from his soulless past.
Moreover, he balked at answering Giles' questions. The ex-Watcher was fascinated with every detail of Spike's quest and his subsequent attempts to cope with the soul. Giles had taken extensive notes, but he suspected that Spike was leaving out some key information. The blond vampire was clearly evasive about some things. And he flat out refused to reveal anything concerning his whereabouts and deeds on three consecutive days after his return from Africa. For some reason, Buffy had the feeling he hadn't been in Sunnydale.
She had just shut the door behind her when she heard a strange voice in the kitchen. "Dawn? Spike?" She called. "Who's that with you?"
A dark-haired young woman entered the living room, Dawn a half-step behind. "Hi, Buffy." The stranger said.
"Um, hi," Buffy replied automatically. "Do I know you?"
The woman shook her head. "No. I'm sorry. I'm Ravesa Kadare. Nice to meet you. " She held out her hand.
"Same here." Buffy exchanged a quick look with Dawn as she shook the stranger's hand. The teen mouthed the words "She just barged in."
"I guess you're wondering what I'm doing here. I actually want to see your housemate, Willow. She is here, right?"
Behind Ravesa, Dawn was mouthing something else, but Buffy couldn't tell what. "Um, I'll check and see." She turned to go up the stairs, but Ravesa slipped in front of her.
"If you don't mind..." The dark-haired stranger smiled.
"Actually, I do mind." Buffy said icily.
"Of course," Ravesa said smoothly. "I mean, I'm a stranger. And this is your house. I'll just wait here." She smiled again.
Buffy didn't smile back. She'd lived in the Sunnydale long enough to have a strong distrust of strangers, especially pushy ones. The young woman standing in her living room had entered the house without invitation. That and the fact that it was still daylight meant she wasn't a vampire. But that didn't mean that she wasn't a threat.
"Dawn, please get Spike."
"Right here." The bleached vampire leaned in the archway of the living room. "Bint just walked in?"
Buffy nodded.
He gave the stranger a sideways look. "What does she want?"
Ravesa took a step toward the blond man. "Just to..."
"Not talking to you." Spike's voice was low, but held enough menace to stop the young woman in her tracks.
Dawn piped up. "She says she knows Willow. She had a necklace that Tara gave Willow. I recognized it."
"Look, I don't want any trouble." Ravesa said.
Buffy gave the young woman the once-over. The stranger's pushiness was all gone now. In fact, she seemed pretty frightened. Then she looked at Spike. Even from ten feet away, she could see the glints of yellow in his eyes. Buffy figured the vampire was one step away from game face. She hoped it wouldn't come to that, but for the first time since she learned his chip no longer worked, Buffy felt comforted. "Spike?"
He didn't stop staring at Ravessa, just raised a scarred eyebrow.
"I'm going upstairs now."
"Got it." He replied. The vamp produced a small knife from his back jeans pocket and began cleaning his nails without ever taking his eyes off the stranger.
"Dawn." Buffy gestured to her sister.
The teen skirted Ravesa and followed Buffy upstairs. When they reached the top landing, Buffy exhaled hard. "Are you okay, Dawn?"
The younger Summers nodded. "Buffy, I didn't let her in. I swear it. She just pushed past me."
Buffy stroked her sister's hair. "I believe you. She would've barged past me, too."
"Do you think she really knows Willow?"
Buffy shrugged. "Only one way to find out." She said as she knocked on her best friend's bedroom door.
***
"So do you live her, too."
Spike didn't respond. At least not verbally. It seemed possible though that his posture became even more threatening.
She smiled weakly, an expression she hoped he would find disarming. But eyes remained cold. It was obvious that he wouldn't let his guard down, not until Buffy told him to.
It didn't matter. She was inside the house now. And already the weaving of her trap had begun. Soon Willow would be forced to choose between her old friends and the newcomer to whom the former witch felt inexplicably drawn. The embrace at the bus stop had done more than allow Rack's sister to undo the chain's clasp. During those five seconds, Willow unknowingly inhaled the aroma of the binding powder the brunette mixed into her skin cream. The initial effects of this spell were a sense of closeness and a slight euphoria. It was somewhat akin to the feeling of falling in love. If subsequent doses were administered --and they would be-Willow should begin to perceive Ravesa as her only confidant. Her brother's killer would turn away all those to whom she might have appealed for aid when the time came to pay.
Meanwhile, she would sit here and pretend to be cowed by the bleached blond watchdog. He was unexpected. It was another male, darkhaired and brawny, that had flashed into her mind with the explosion of pain and flood of memories that assaulted her at the moment of Rack's death. This Spike did not existed in her othermemory. So he had not been directly involved in her twin's demise. Yet, he was clearly part of the circle of Willow's friends. Otherwise, he would not have been in the house to guard her.
So, when the time came, he too would die.
There was a clatter of footsteps on the stairs. A smile curved Ravesa's lips for a microsecond before she turned. "Oh, Willow! I am so glad to see you."
***
There were a lot of apologies. Most of them came from Ravessa, who seemed truly chagrined at her trespass. The rest came from Willow, who somehow seemed to think that the situation was all her fault.
"Can I tell them?" The redhead asked.
"Why not?" Ravesa said lightly.
Willow wasn't aware that she was gushing as she told Buffy, Dawn, and Spike the story of meeting Ravesa. When she was finished, she gave a weak smile. The tale had failed to lower their hackles even a bit.
"You lived in Sunnydale?' Dawn asked.
"Until I was 18. Like Willow said."
Buffy leaned forward. "So you went to Sunnydale High?"
"Class of '95."
"Oh, Pat Watanabe was in your class. Were you friends?"
"No."
Buffy sighed and leaned back. "Too bad. I've been trying to get in touch with her."
Ravesa laughed. "Pat Watanabe's a guy. Or was. He died senior year. Mad dog attack." She made quotation marks with her fingers. "But you knew that." She laughed again, this time without humor. "Look, I know that you feel like I trespassed. I'm sorry I barged in. I'm usually not pushy at all. I really wanted to personally see that Willow got her necklace back. I know how much it means to her."
Willow fingered the pendant. She still couldn't figure how it had slipped off. The clasp wasn't even broken.
"So why don't we do this," Ravesa continued. "You ask me any Sunnydale trivia question you want. And if I pass, you assume I'm kosher and we start over again."
Dawn and Willow looked at Buffy. Spike kept cleaning his nails.
Ravesa shook her head. "Don't think I don't know why you're suspicious. In this town, strangers usually mean trouble. Take a second to remember where Willow and I met. You don't end up addicted to magick if you buy all the mad dog attack stories."
Buffy had to admit that made some sense, Willow thought. Sure enough, the tension in the room declined somewhat. She gave her best friend a nudge and was rewarded when the blonde extended her hand to Ravesa. Dawn followed her sister's lead. The brunette ex-witch turned next to Spike. He didn't take her hand, but he did put his knife away.
"Don't be offended," Willow said. "He's..."
"English." Buffy interjected. "You know. All reserved and uncomfortable with physical contact."
Willow and Dawn looked at her strangely. Spike seemed amused.
Ravesa nodded. "Yes. I see. Well, I'd better be going." She stood up and again Willow found herself folded into a warm embrace..
Later, Willow couldn't recall what gave her the impulse. Even as the words left her lips it seemed ill-advised. But the urge was irresistible.
"Oh, won't you stay for dinner?"
***
The kitchen was a mess.
Willow had pulled open every drawer and almost emptied the fridge looking for everything. Worse still, it was almost eight and they still hadn't started cooking yet.
"Maybe we should just get delivery." The redhead offered.
"Nonesense, Willow" Ravesa said. "Stirfry doesn't take long once you get everything together. We can speed things up by doing an assembly line. You can peel and devein the shrimp. I'll make the rice and sauce. And let's see." She grabbed the head of bok choy and handed it to Buffy. "Please chop this. Not too fine."
Buffy stared at the vegetable.
"And Spike?"
The vampire looked up from his copy of Rolling Stone.
Ravesa held up a head of garlic. "Do you think you could mince this?"
The look on his face was priceless. Buffy briefly entertained thoughts of waiting to see how Spike would handle Ravesa request. Then she remembered it was Spike they were dealing with and she quickly decided to intervene. "Uh, let's do without the garlic."
Ravesa shrugged. "Sure. It's so good though."
"Um, Spike's allergic." Dawn chimed in.
"Really?" Ravesa took a step toward Spike with the bulb still in hand. "What happens if you eat it?"
The vampire's eyes narrowed.
Buffy quickly held up the bok choy. "Uh, Ravesa could you show me how to chop this." As the dark-haired young woman turned her way, Spike gave the Slayer a grateful look.
"What can I do?" Dawn asked. She was starving and wanted dinner on the table as quickly as possible.
Willow thought for a second. "Can you pour some peanut oil in the wok? And turn it on high."
If Dawn hadn't cut Family and Consumer Science class so much last year, she probably would have known that she didn't need more than a couple tablespoons of oil. Instead, she drained the entire 48 oz bottle. The oil filled the pan to within an inch of the top.
Across the kitchen, Ravesa had given up trying to teach Buffy how to cut the bok choy. Instead, she gave the blonde a box of jasmine rice and the electric steamer. Then she return to Willow's side.
Buffy set the steamer in front of Spike. "Plug that in."
He didn't look up from his magazine. "Reading."
She had never seen him read anything more complex than a street sign before and was sure he was just shirking.
"Come on. Do your share so we can eat."
He turned the page. "I'm not eating that."
She snorted. "Since when are you so picky about what you eat."
"Why do you give a sod?"
"I don't. But it'll look weird if you don't eat."
Spike shrugged and turned another page.
"I knew you weren't reading."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Nobody reads that fast." She said scornfully.
He glanced around and said in a low voice. "Vampires do.
"Do not."
He turned another page in response.
Buffy couldn't say why she was annoyed. "There is no way."
Another page.
"Prove it."
"Wager?"
"No."
Another page.
It was driving her nuts. Buffy had always wanted to speed read. It would have made her pst-slayage high school and college cram sessions worthwhile. "Okay, if you can prove it... I'll help you straighten up the crypt."
Spike rolled his eyes. "Bugger that. You were the one who wrecked it. You and Soldier Boy. You should clean it anyway."
"What do you want then?" She instantly regretted the words as he grinned wolfishly.
"Don't worry, Goldilocks. It's nothing like that. I just want you promise that you won't stop me from seeing the Nibblet."
Buffy stared at him. After all these years, William the Bloody kept surprising her. "Not a fair wager, Spike. I was never going to do that. Pick something else. Something reasonable."
"Get Giles to lay off."
"Lay off?"
"You know, quit asking me about what happened when I was in L.A."
"You were in L.A.?"
It occurred to the vampire that he had revealed more information that the Slayer and ex-Watcher previously knew. "Forget it. Give me the bleedin' machine." He grabbed the steamer and scanned the room for an outlet.
Buffy wasn't sure whether she should be amused or not. "I might accept that bet, if it means that when you lose, you have to tell me what you did in L.A.?"
Spike mulled it over. Even as a mortal, he'd been a quick reader. Then as a fledgling, he'd honed the skill. Otherwise, given the training schedule Angelus set and the multiple chores he was subject to, there wouldn't have been an opportunity to read. He nodded.
"This article is about ripping CDs."
"What?"
He rolled his eyes. "You know, recording music on a compact disc."
"Oh." She'd forgotten he could do that. The mix disc he made was still in her Walkman.
"Good." He sat back down and started reading again.
"What do you mean "good"? You don't think you proved anything." Buffy scoffed.
Spike looked puzzled.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "I don't know how many times you've read that. It has to be something new." She looked around and spied the perfect thing -Dawn's American History textbook. She handed it to him.
He tossed it back on the table. "You're daft if you think I'm going to read that."
"Then you lose."
Meanwhile, back at the stove, the oil in the wok began to boil. Dawn heard the popping sound and took a peep. The teen jumped back as a large bubble of hot oil burst and splattered the stovetop.
"Uh, Willow." She called over one shoulder. "The oil is really hot."
"Good."
"No, I mean really, really hot. Should I turn it down?"
"No." Willow and Ravesa said at the same time. They smiled at each other.
"It should be very hot, Dawn" the brunette ex-witch stated. "That's why Asian food is so healthy. You cook everything at a high temp so barely any of the oil is absorbed."
Willow nodded. "Just put the shrimp in the oil and stir them until they turn opaque."
Dawn chewed her lip. The pan of hot oil looked anything but healthy. In fact, it looked pretty dangerous. She looked back at Willow. The redhead didn't seem concerned at all; in fact, she wiggled her fingers at Dawn and mouthed "Go on." Then Willow turned back to the mortar and pestle of ginger.
Dawn turned to Buffy for help. But her sister and Spike were too busy bickering to notice her. The teen sighed and picked up the platter of raw shrimp. The shellfish looked surprisingly unappetizing, the slimy grayish-white bodies reminded her of the nest of Memdok demon larvae she'd helped destroy last week. Swallowing back her nausea, Dawn approached the stove.
***
She knew it wasn't time yet, but she couldn't resist the urge. All evening, she'd wondered what product Dawn used to make her hair so shiny and straight. She hoped it was silicone-based. If so, all that pretty hair would blaze so brightly. Too bad, the local hospital lacked a burn unit.
All it took was the thought and the wok slid off the burner. It teetered for a second and then tipped over, splashing oil across the stove. The gas flames immediately ignited the puddle of oil.
***
"Oh!" Dawn sprang back, dropping the shrimp. "Oh, fire!" She was sure she was yelling, but it came out a whisper. If she couldn't get their attention, she had to do something! Dawn grabbed the pot of boiling dumplings and threw the contents on the fire. It spread. This time she found her voice. "Fire! You guys!" She screamed as she refilled the pot.
Willow and Ravesa looked up from the vegetables they were chopping. Buffy and Spike stopped arguing. They all saw flames dance across the front of the stove.
"I'll call the fire department," Ravesa yelled as she ran from the room.
Willow was bewildered. "What happened? Is that the peanut oil?"
Buffy watched her sister run over to the stove carrying a pot. "Dawn, it's a grease fire. Don't use water!"
Too late. The teen threw the contents of the pot on the pool of flaming oil. There was a flash and hiss of steam. "See, it's almost out." Panicked, she ran for a third pot of water.
When the smoke cleared a bit, it was obvious that the fire was far from out. In fact the blazing oil was spreading. Any second it would spill over the front of the stove and could light one of her sister's long gauzy sleeves on fire. "Dawn, no!"
But Dawn flung the water anyway. As Buffy feared, the oil splashed everywhere. There was a blur of movement to her left. Spike was at Dawn's side, pushing her away just before the fire flared up. There was a whoosh and flames enveloped the vampire's upper body as he staggered back.
***
(Continued in Chapter 3)
