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 sequel to "Look What Love Gave Us" and 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

Note to readers: Thanks for all the reviews. Some of you have asked 1) what Dawn was doing when she broke curfew in "Look What Love Gave Us" and 2) what was it that Spike lost when the crypt blew up in Chapters 6 & 7 of this fanfic. Well, my curious darlings, you'll just have to keep reading. The first three stories in this series all have a little mystery. All the answers are revealed in the fourth and final tale.

***
Chapter 8

Maude Chillingworth thought they should call the police.

Norma disagreed. True, the sounds coming from next door were disturbing, especially given the late hour. However, with these young people nowadays, you couldn't just assume that something was wrong. Why, just that very morning on the number 9 bus, she had seen a boy of 15 or 16 slumped over and drooling so heavily his t-shirt was translucent with the dampness. His head flopped like a rag doll's each time the bus hit a pothole. Worried he was having a fit, she risked a broken hip by leaving her seat to get the driver's attention. Yet, when the bus was halted and the youth roused, it turned out that he was fine. Well, not exactly fine. He was in fact both fairly drunk and suffering from an infected lip piercing.

Oh, how horrible, Maude sighed. She wondered aloud why his parents would permit such a thing. Her fingers drifted up to one softly wrinkled earlobe. Their own mother had not even allowed them to pierce their ears.

The point, Norma interrupted, is that all that came from her concern was mockery from the boy and the ire of her fellow passengers for causing a delay. So, Maude should sit down and stop worrying about the noises.

"But," her younger sister quavered, "I thought that I heard moaning and breaking glass."

"It wouldn't be the first time." Norma snapped. "That girl is always raising some ruckus. Now forget about it so that I can concentrate. I want to finish Bunky's new sweater. A few more rows and it'll will be done." In response to his name, the sisters' fawn-colored cockerdoodle lifted his head and thumped his tail. When no treats or "walkies" were offered, the old dog went back to sleep to the sound of his elder mistress' clicking needles.

Maude looked wistfully at the telephone. She rather liked the neighbor girl, although she kept strange hours and usually seemed unhappy. It was horrible to think that something might be going amiss while she and Norma sat right there. Still, she had been obeying her older sister for some seventy years. And with the exception of rejecting Samuel Clarke' proposal, Norma had caused her no regrets. Ignoring the latest loud thuds, Maude turned back to her magazine.

Meanwhile, across the hall, Xander was sure he was going to die. He wasn't eighteen anymore. Three --no four times in quick succession might not be sufficient to sate a make-up sex hungry vengeance demon, but it might be enough to kill a mortal man. Whatever Anya was doing to make him hard yet again was also making him too lightheaded to even find the words to beg her to stop.

Maybe that was the point. She was just pretending to understand about Ravesa's spell and would exact her punishment by screwing him to death. Not a bad way to go. Certainly preferable to other methods she had inflicted on her client's unfaithful men over the years. Unquestionably better than the unclean ends of many a Sunnydale resident. In all the years Xander had fought at Buffy's side, he never imagined he would die in bed.

At the thought of Buffy, he felt bad that he hadn't checked back about Dawn. He was about to call the Summers' house when Anya had come home. He had barely gotten out an apology before she was in his arms. It felt so good to hold her that he didn't pay close attention to her babbling about Ravesa's spell and something about his Palm Pilot and lap dances.

Somehow Anya managed to key open her door while kissing him fervently. Once inside the apartment, she shoved him onto the sofa. Xander's arms flailed for balance and he brought down a lamp with a resounding crash. Anya didn't seem to notice. She was too busy tugging at his belt with one hand while the other roughly stroked him through the rapidly tenting fabric of his khakis. As she yanked off his pants, his left leg sent the teak coffee table over in a cascade of Cosmo, Lucky, and Fortune 500. That solid thud was followed by another when Anya threw his pants over her shoulder, knocking a heavy Zulu mask off the wall. Then her greedy mouth was on his bare flesh and he stopped caring about how much noise they were making.

They made love quickly and half-clothed the first time. The second round, Xander's shirt came off; which turned out to be a mistake because they were on the living room floor and now he had rug burns on his back. The third time --his mind reeled at the thought--, Anya let him pull her to the bed and undress her. Then she lost patience and it was all he could do to try to keep up as she rode him.

Her aggressiveness was exciting, but Xander's stamina was beginning to flag and he was pretty sure that he couldn't come a fourth time. "An..." he whispered. "Anya, I'm only human. You gotta let me rest."

She rolled her eyes, but relented. They snuggled as Xander tried to ignore the alarms that various body parts were sending out. At length, he made his tone as diplomatic as possible. "Don't get me wrong. This has been very enjoyable. But, I hope we don't have to break the world record for consecutive acts of coitus for me to prove that you're the only woman for me."

Anya raised her head from his chest. "I thought I'd lost you again. Now I know it was a spell, but when I saw you dancing with Ravesa like that..." her voice trailed off and she looked away.

"What is it, hon?" He gently turned her head towards him.

"I thought that you were punishing me for Spike!" A single tear rolled down her cheek

"Anya, look at me." Xander said. "That's water under the bridge, remember. And I could never hurt you that way. Not ever." He dried her eyes and kissed her. "I want you to understand something, Anya. I'm a guy, a human guy. And that means that until the day I die, I'm going to be attracted to pretty girls."

Her face fell.

"No, honey. Hear me out." He took a deep breath. "I'll be attracted to them, but I'm not going to act on it because I'm in love with you. What happened tonight was Ravesa's spell. And it's never going to happen again because Willow is going to tell her that her plan don't work."

Anya wrinkled her nose. "What plan?"

He shrugged, "Some relative of hers died. Buffy thinks Ravesa wanted Willow's help with a resurrection spell."

She sat up. "Xander, that doesn't make sense. Resurrection spells don't work for natural deaths. That's why Willow couldn't bring Tara back after Warren shot her. The best you can do is reanimate the corpse. Make a zombie."

"So, maybe Ravesa didn't know that."

Anya shook her head. "I don't believe that. Xander, Ravesa looked into Willow's head somehow. She knew things about us, private things."

It was his turn to look puzzled.

"While you were under her spell, she was torturing Buffy and me about a certain vampire."

"What?" How could he have not have noticed that?

"It was nothing explicit, just little hints. That's beside the point. What I'm trying to say is that if Ravesa took a peek at Willow's memories of us, why wouldn't she look at her memories about Tara?"

It made sense. "Okay, so maybe she was so desperate she was willing to settle for a zombie."

Anya shook her head again. "You don't need a witch as powerful as Willow for that. The hardest part is assembling the ingredients. Once you've done that, a child could do it." She gave a rueful laugh. "In fact, a child did do it. Remember, Dawn called Joyce back. Her zombie at least"

Xander shuddered. He had nightmares for weeks after Buffy told him about the narrow escape from disaster when her grief stricken little sister summoned their mother's body from its grave. "But, what if Ravesa's relative didn't die a supernatural death. Then it's possible to resurrect the person. Only it's harder, right? Willow took months to prepare for bringing Buffy back to life. And, she almost died during the ritual. It makes sense that Ravesa would want help if she was trying that."

Anya was silent.

"Honey?"

"Xander, in the past four months, there have only been two supernatural deaths in Sunnydale."

He laughed. "Buffy's worked hard at keeping the vamp and demon population down, but she's not that good."

"No." Anya shook her head. "Just because a vampire or demon kills a person doesn't mean that it's a supernatural death. Look, a vampire kills his victim by exsanguination."

Xander looked at her blankly.

"Draining all the blood." She explained. "A messy, but natural death. Most humans who die at the hands of other demons are killed the same way. Massive blood loss or severe trauma injuries to major organs. The human body simply stops working because of the damage. No actual magick involved."

Now Xander sat up. "Two deaths. Magick involved," he said with growing unease.

Anya nodded. "Warren and Rack. Both at Willow's hands."

"Oh, God." While he was engaged in a sexathon, his best friend was in grave danger. Xander grabbed the phone and dialed the Summers' house. By the fourth ring, he knew it wasn't going to be answered. He turned to Anya, "Can you find Ravesa?"

The vengeance demon hesitated. "I can't promise. But I'll try."

"Good. When you find her, don't confront her. Just see where she is. What's she's doing"

Anya bit her lip. She had her own plans for Ravesa if she found the witch. "Okay." She lied.

Xander smiled. "Meanwhile, I go to the house. See what's going on."

No more words were necessary. They dressed quickly and left the apartment. In the parking lot, the reunited couple shared a brief embrace. "Be careful, Xander."

"I will, Anya. You be careful, too."

As he released her, Xander had an unsettling feeling that they were both purposely avoiding the word goodbye. As if to confirm his suspicion, Anya simply disappeared.

***

The three of them were caught in terrible tableaux. The slender teen cowering before the black-eyed witch as the redheaded young woman lay on the floor, her arm stretched out beseechingly.

Though it was surely mere seconds, it seemed to Dawn that it was eons before anyone moved or spoke. Then, a passing car sent its headlights slanting through the living room window, breaking their paralysis.

"Raven." Willow said pleadingly. She stood up on unsteady legs. Took a step forward and regretted it instantly as Raven did something to make Dawn cry out. "I do know how you feel. And I know that what you want to do is destroying you. You can have walk away from it.

Raven shook her head. "I can't."

"Then, at least let Dawn go."

"And why would I want to do that," The witch scoffed.

Willow was surprised by how calm she sounded. "She's innocent. All of my friends are. They tried to stop me when I went evil." Just like I'm trying to stop you, she wanted to say. "Spare them."

"Too late."

"What do you mean, too late?" Dawn demanded.

Raven gave the brunette a scornful look. "Your sister and the vampire are dead." She smiled. "And they made it so easy for me. Leaving all those explosives in the crypt."

"No!" Dawn shrieked. "No! I don't believe it. You're lying." She turned to her friend. "She's lying. Right, Willow?"

Somehow, saying it made the pain worse. "I'm so sorry, sweetie. Raven did a spell that tricked them into thinking I called the house. Buffy thought I was coming straight home so she and Spike left. Raven made the explosives go off. The crypt must have been destroyed."

Dawn felt numb. Her sister was dead. Again. And this time, a senseless death. Spike was gone, too.

"Hey, Dawnie?" Raven mocked. "It's not so bad. You'll be seeing her and the vampire soon. And the demon and carpenter not long after that."

"No!" Willow said. "You don't really want them. Just me. I'm the only guilty one." She swallowed. "The one who should pay."

"Yes." Raven breathed.

"Let Dawn go."

"She'll go running for help."

"Is it really going to take that long?" Willow said. "Whatever you came to do?"

A little smile curved Raven's lips. "Oh, yes. See I've been hurting for months. Did you really think that I was going to end your suffering so quickly? I plan to savor every second. I might even extend my pleasure by making you watch as I finish off the rest of your friends."

Dawn suddenly stopped crying and tried to attack Raven. The witch rolled her eyes and easily deflected the blow. "On further consideration, I'll enjoy your death more without the distraction from this one." She leaned in close to Dawn and whispered into her head. "Sleep."

The teen's eyes widened then slowly closed. Her slender body folded to the floor and Willow cried out. "Dawnie! What did you do to her?" The redhead asked in horror.

"Don't be foolish." Raven snapped. "She's unharmed. She'll sleep until I'm finished.

But Willow ignored the dark-haired witch. She crawled forward to cradle her young friend's head in her lap. "Hey, you!" she whispered anxiously as she stroked strands of chestnut hair away from Dawn's face.

"I told you she's sleeping. In fact, she's dreaming. No doubt her dreams are more pleasant that your reality." Raven grabbed Willow's arm and yanked her to her feet. "Leave her."

Willow pulled away and stared at Raven defiantly. "I'm not going anywhere."

Rack's twin frowned. The bitch should be on her knees begging for her life. Or trying to flee at the very least. "Don't just stand there. Do you really think that I would make it that easy for you? No, I want you to run."

An invisible hand shoved Willow forward. She caught her balance easily, but her body tingled at the touch of Raven's dark power. A longing surged up in her to respond, to show Rack's sister what a real witch was. But she pushed it down. Tried to clear her mind and soul of its contamination. If she was going to die, she was going to die clean.

It only took moments for Willow to feel more in control. But, before she could completely recover, there was another shove. She stumbled against the sofa, twisting her ankle. And then, as she knelt, massaging the injury, she felt a stinging slap to her cheek. Within seconds, a dozen invisible hands assaulted her, shoving, punching, slapping, and pinching. She twisted to avoid the blows, but it was useless. Whatever they were, the things Raven had summoned were too fast for human reflexes.

Willow moaned as what felt like a fingernail raked the corner of her eye.

Raven smiled. Finally, some satisfaction. As the spell worked, she contemplated her next move.

Meanwhile, Willow was curled in a fetal position two feet away from Dawn's sleeping form. The hands were drawing blood now and the redhead had covered her face to protect her eyes. Suddenly, her blouse tore and she felt invisible hands tweak her nipples. Willow broke then. Scrambled to her feet and ran.

"Run, bitch." Ravesa screamed.

***

Buffy had been running after vampires for nearly eight years. She knew how fast they could move, but she suspected Spike was breaking preternatural land speed records. She could see flashes of his white blond head between the trees now and then, but it seemed a blur. She worried that meant she was slowing down.

Although Slayers were endowed with endurance as well as speed, Buffy was more accustomed to short sprints. She hadn't run this fast for this long since the night that Willow went dark. Every other step sent jolts of pain through her injured leg. Worse, her chest was beginning to burn with the effort to oxygenate her blood. Soon her ears would begin to ring. She didn't want to think about what would happen after that.

But then, they were out of the graveyard and she knew that she was only fifteen minutes from home. It gave her an extra burst of energy that carried her past Spike and through the dark streets. As she turned onto her own street, she saw Xander's truck pull up, but she didn't slow. Just leapt up the stairs and battered open the door.

"Oh, God!" Buffy screamed when she saw Dawn lying on the floor. She fell to her knees next to her sister. It was clear that the teen was alive. Her chest rose and fell rhythmically and her pulse was strong. "Dawn! Dawnie, wake up." Buffy cried.

Spike and Xander skidded in. "Is she okay?" the vampire asked.

Buffy shook her head. "She's unconscious. Help me get her off the floor. Xander, please get the lights so I can see better."

Spike gently lifted Dawn onto the sofa. Then he stepped back as Buffy examined her sister. It soon became apparent that Dawn had no visible injuries. In fact, a faint smile graced her face. It was as if she was dreaming.

Xander cleared his throat. "Buffy, Anya figured out that Ravesa must be Rack's sister. She came to kill Willow."

Buffy nodded. "Not just Willow...Ravesa tried to kill Spike and me tonight. She thought we were in the crypt and she blew it up."

Why did Ravesa think Spike and Buffy were in the crypt, Xander wondered. Were they sleeping together again? He stared at them.

"What?" Buffy asked.

"Nothing." Xander turned away and walked across the living room. There were clear signs of a struggle. He walked across the room pick up a fallen picture frame. The cracked glass distorted the Scoobies smiling faces, making them look sinister. He sat the photo face down. What had happened here?

When Xander came back to the sofa, Spike and Buffy's faces were mere inches apart as they bent over Dawn. Buffy murmured something. Then Spike said something and laid a hand on her shoulder. She didn't shrug it off. In fact, it seemed to Xander that she relaxed a little.

He cleared his throat. The vampire and Slayer looked his way. "What can I do?" he asked. "Do you want to give her a glass of water?"

Buffy shook her head and turned back to Spike. "Are you sure she's okay?"

"She's not hurt. If she had a head injury or some other hemorrhage, I'd smell it." He said with certainty. "She's just sleeping."

Buffy nodded, accepting the vampire's claim, but Xander rolled his eyes. That didn't make any sense. "What do you mean, you could smell it?"

"Vampire, remember. Preternatural sense of smell. I know the scent of blood. Even when it's still inside a body. If she was bleeding inside, I'd know."

"Gross!" Xander said. Spike and Buffy didn't even seem to hear him.

Xander hated to leave Buffy alone with the Spike, but he felt useless standing there. He decided to search the house for any sign of Willow and Ravesa. When he came back into the living room, the vampire stood up and signaled to him with a tilt of his head. They walked into the passageway to the dining room.

"Willow and Ravesa aren't here."

"I know." Spike said. "They were here. But they've been gone at least a half an hour."

"How do you know that?"

Spike made an exasperated sound. "Their scents are faint." He flared his nostrils.

"Oh, yeah." Xander said sarcastically. "Your super sense of smell. The same way that you know Dawn's okay. You can smell that they're gone."

Spike flared his nostrils. "Not just that they're gone. I can tell how they felt. Red's scared. Real scared. And her 'friend' is real angry."

"You expect me to believe that can tell all that from scents." Xander said dubiously.

"I don't expect you to believe anything." Spike paused and smirked. "But you did just get shagged good and proper by your demon girlfriend. And you're feeling guilty about it." Spike raised a scarred eyebrow. "That's interesting." He leaned forward and took a deep sniff. "Guilty and scared."

Xander's hand slid into his jacket for a stake. Damn, he thought, the only day I left home without one.

He started to walk away. But then he caught sight of the vampire's face and grabbed a fistful of Spike's t-shirt. Even stake-less, Xander didn't care that the chip was useless now. He just wanted to make that smirk disappear. Forever.

Spike met the young man's glare and his smirk broadened into a grin. Harris was the larger of the two. And three years of construction work had strengthened him, but the whelp was no physical match for a vampire. Especially one hardened by the heavy hand and mercurial nature of Angelus. Most nights, the fledgling William had struck or caressed. Sometimes both. Until the distinction between acts of pleasure and those of violence blurred. It had been a long time since Spike groaned beneath the fists or mouth of his Grandsire, but old habits died hard. The disastrous affair with Buffy was proof of that. And now, Spike hungered for Xander's ineffectual blows the way another man might desire a lover's kisses.

But there were more pressing concerns right now. "Not now, Harris. Both of us are needed tonight."

Even through his haze of anger, Xander knew it was reason not cowardice that spurred the vampire's words. He let go of Spike and gritted out "Later. You. Dust."

"Yeah, whatever." Spike said. He smoothed out the crumpled spot on his t-shirt. "Let's see if the Nibblet has woken up."

Meanwhile, in the living room, Buffy was growing frantic. She had tried everything to wake her sister. The teen had not so much as flinched when Buffy slapped her lightly. And the same eerie smile remained on her face. Dawn appeared caught in a dream too wonderful to wake from. Would she remain like this forever?

Buffy stood up when Spike and Xander reentered the room. The tension between the two was more palpable than usual, but she ignored it. "I can't wake her up. It must be some type of sleeping spell."

They didn't look surprised. Spike sat down next to Dawn and smoothed a few stray chestnut tendrils back from the teen's forehead. The tender gesture pierced Buffy.

Xander walked over to Buffy. "Anya is searching for Ravesa. Meanwhile, I'll go to the Magic Box. See if I can find a book that tells us how to break the spell."

Buffy nodded and they embraced. When the door shut behind Xander, she turned to Spike. "It's my fault. If I hadn't left..."

The vampire shook his head. "Stop. You can't blame yourself for the evil other people do."

"But I'm the Slayer and I'm supposed to stop them." Buffy raked fingers through her hair. "Even if Xander finds a way to reverse the spell and Anya finds Ravesa, what am I going to do? I can't fight a witch that powerful. When Willow was evil, she kicked my ass. If Giles hadn't come back, she might have killed me. And even then, it was Xander who stopped her. And I don't think he and Ravesa went to kindergarten together."

"When Ravesa is done with Willow, she will come back here for Dawn." Her voice cracked. "And the only thing I can do is run."

Spike seemed to be thinking. "When I got back from Africa last summer, Clem told me about what happened with Willow. He said he could have helped you."

Buffy made a sound of disbelief.

Spike nodded. "At first, I thought the same thing. Then I saw it."

"What?' She asked.

"He has a shield."

Buffy shook her head. "I don't understand."

Spike stood up. "Clem said that his kind used to forge weapons. For six thousand years, they were the best sword makers in existence. Their work was sought by every warrior, human or demon, but few would ever bear their weapons. Because they made one sword a generation. Just one and then only if they thought the warrior who would bear it was worthy."

"So what does this have to do with stopping a witch," Buffy asked.

"One day the swordmakers were given a commission. They were asked to make a shield. None of them had made one before and there was the chance that if they failed, it would ruin their reputation. Only Clem's seven times great-grandfather would risk it. He locked himself in his forge for weeks, not eating, not sleeping. When he emerged, he had made a very powerful shield. One that could withstand not just physical attacks, but magick."

Buffy stood up. "You saw this shield?"

"Yeah."

"Get it."

Spike shook his head. "It's not that simple, luv. Remember, the swordmasters were always worried that the weapons they made would be used for evil. Clem's ancestor was no exception. In fact, he was a bit fanatical about it. I can't touch the shield."

Buffy was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Soul or no soul, I'm a vampire who's murdered countless humans. And not just for their blood. I killed for the sheer pleasure of it."

Her eyes lit with understanding. "You're not worthy."

He knew it was true, but hearing Buffy say it still hurt. "Slayer, if I tried to wield that shield, it would destroy me." He paused. "You'll have to get it."

***

Willow wasn't quite sure when the invisible hands ceased tormenting her. All she knew was that she had run across the length of town until she was exhausted. Then, lacking the strength to take a single step further, she crawled into the open basement window of a nearby abandoned building.

Once inside, she struggled to push a rusting file cabinet against the window. Then, straining to see in the dark, Willow examined her wounds. Dark marks from pinches and punches marred her fair skin. Then, there were the scratches. Most were long, but shallow. She hadn't been seriously injured, for the hands had intended to torture rather than maim. If she survived tonight, she would recover fully.

If she survived tonight.

Willow closed her eyes. Her hope of hiding was futile. Rack's twin would find her, if indeed the witch had lost track of her quarry at all.

So, she would have to fight. The problem was, how could she fight a witch without magick?

During her evil rage last June, she had scoffed when Buffy tried to fight her. Even the strength of a Slayer was nothing compared to magick. Only in Giles' spells had she truly met a challenge. And, even then, he had not deterred her for long. If Xander hadn't confronted her, EvilWillow would have destroyed the world.

Willow knew that no childhood best friend of Raven was coming to intervene. But maybe, just maybe Willow could replicate that moment of emotional vulnerability. If so, she would have a chance to reason with the young woman she once saw as a friend.

There was an ominous creaking sound overhead. Then a roar like a passing freight train. Willow had only a few seconds to take cover before it seemed that the building overhead was ripped away. When the winds died down, she was crouched in the middle of the sole small circle of space that was clear of rubble.

Willow didn't need to hear the tinkle of glass being crushed underfoot to sense that Raven stood behind her. "It was so much fun watching you run, Willow"

"I won't run again."

The dark-haired witch smiled. "I was hoping you would say that."

***
Continued in Chapter 9.