A/N: Ahh! I am soo sorry! I swear, I sent this in two weeks ago, but for
some reason it didn't show up on FF.net! So sorry about all the tech
difficulties...here ya are.
~
"Hold on a second, Rupes." Spike said, rounding the Watcher, "Explain to me again how you knew about Xander before I did."
Giles sighed.
"Quite simple, really." He replied, sitting down at his desk, "As soon as I heard of Xander's death, I immediately assumed it had to do with the Demonics."
Spike creased his forehead.
"The who now?"
"The Demonic Choosers." Giles explained, "But, moving forward, I snuck into the crime scene and took a vile of Xander's blood. I had a..." Giles paused for a moment, "...a friend of mine do a test and it was just as I had suspected. Synthetic blood. The entire situation was a set-up. So now that I had my proof, I began doing some research with my collection of prophecies at home. It hit me then; Xander had been talking about all these, these, these riddles that the Choosers had given him about The Fighters and, and the, uh, the f-fact that Xander was to be the second piece of the puzzle and that mission he is supposedly headed on. Xander is on that mission at this very moment!" Giles finished his monologue with a triumphant slam on his desk. "The false pretences they told him about are his death...Xander probably believes just as well as we do that he is, in fact, dead."
"But he's not." Spike stated, everything finally beginning to make some sort of semblance of sense.
"Exactly!" Giles hopped up and began pacing, "Xander is far from dead, believing that he is in paradise when he is truly trapped in a demonic maze, with these entities known as The Fighters, who take on the form of his most beloved, using all of our strength's as * their * strengths."
Spike nodded.
"So how do we get him outta there?" He asked. Giles stopped in his tracks.
"I have a feeling that the answer to that question lies in one, or many, of the books taken from the library. By perhaps an accomplice of the Demonics."
"They have "accomplices" now?" Spike asked in aggravation, "Bloody great..."
"Naturally they do...you can trust no one. There are groups who have been waiting for this to happen for centuries, millenniums even." Giles explained with a sigh, "I may have to have Willow do some research on her own dread machine."
Spike nodded, taking everything in.
~
A dark, sexy beat rumbled throughout the Bronze as Buffy sat alone at a table...waiting in the shadows for her friends.
A cold hand touched her neck.
"Amazing, isn't it?" Spike whispered into her ear, "You're all alone...poor little girl's got no one in the world."
Buffy laughed coldly.
"You have three seconds to get your hand off me, jackass. And even then, I'll kick your ass."
A sadistic smile creeped across Spike's face.
"Finally, some action."
Buffy kicked up from her chair and threw a punch in his face. Spike laughed and reltaliated with a series of kicks...one to her stomach, and three to her head.
"What are ya gonna do, bitch? Kill me? Good bloody luck with that one."
Buffy caught his hand mid-punch and kneed him in the groin.
"The only reason you're not dust now is because of the real Spike." She spat out. She punched him in the nose.
He leaped back up and threw her to the ground a snapped one of her fingers. She hissed in pain.
"The "real" Spike, eh? Newsflash, sweetheart. Your little lover isn't supposed to be here. He's the phony, not me."
Buffy pulled herself up and flipped him onto his back and pressed her foot down onto his throat.
"Does it really matter, Spikey? If you die, he dies and if he dies, you die."
Spike snorted as he pushed her back and tried to punch her...but she blocked both swings.
"Says who? Your watcher?" He asked.
"More like common sense." She explained, "Ever heard of Physics?"
They continued to spar in a violent waltz, screaming insults and other obscenities at one another...Spike's nostrils flared as Buffy sent him a pattern of elaborate kicks and punches.
"I can see why he's all hot for you...you know how to move."
"Bite me." She replied venomously.
"It's all I ever try to do, luv."
Upon hearing her precious nickname from "her" Spike used, Buffy sent the evil Spike sailing across the room.
"Never. * Ever. * Call. Me. LUV."
Then, she stormed out of the club, leaving Spike sitting on the floor...laughing his ass off. It was funny really...the Slayer really loved him.
"Bloody insane is what she is." Spike muttered through laughs. He glared at a group of bystanders who stared in slack-jawed shock at the scene that had just played out before them.
Spike shook his head and stood up...brushing himself off.
A scream broke out.
He snapped his head to the sound.
A large vortex swirled in the center of the room.
Spike watched with wonder as the screaming girl was sucked in...only to have her remains spewed back out across the dance floor.
He smirked at this.
However, he felt his body be slowly pulled toward the hole, closer and closer...he yelped out loud as he realized what was happening and he thrashed against the invisible puppeteer that forced his body to move to the circling darkness.
"Holy F-" He began to scream as the wind picked up and threw him against the wall. He ricocheted back and then into the circle.
It closed against him and he felt himself be pulled through dimensions...the eons he had only dreamed of whizzed by him in a dizzying frenzy.
After what seemed like ten hours of torture, Spike found himself on the ground.
He sat up, rubbing his temples, blinking in the sunlight.
"What the hell?" He whispered out loud.
He heard a throat clear behind him. He whirled around and saw...that whelp the Slayer always hung out with. The one that revealed the truth about the other Spike to her.
Spike heard the whelp's voice, but didn't see his mouth move.
"What the fuck is going on?" Spike asked Xander, who just shook his head.
Xander thought, before going over and helping Spike up off the ground,
~
"You see, Xander will be given a series of tests...not your usual ones, naturally. But more, more, more mind-bending tests that will show his true soul and nature." Giles explained to Spike, "He mentioned that, um, that..." Giles looked down at his notes, "That 'Spike will be an ally, but not the Spike he would expect.'"
"The other one then. Not me." Spike reasoned aloud.
"Precisely. How that could happen I can't imagine." Giles replied, cleaning his glasses.
Spike tilted his head.
"I dunno...I was known to do good in my day's without soul. However, it was usually for my own selfish benefit...or for Buffy." Spike explained. Giles crinkled his eyes in wonder at Spike's last comment, but said nothing.
"Either way, Xander is in deep, serious danger." Giles concluded, "I think it best we get the, the Scooby Gang together as soon as possible."
"I'm on it. I'll page Buffy and give Willow a ring, get everyone in the loop." Spike said, moving swiftly to the phone.
"Brilliant." Giles said half-heartedly.
Bringing back Xander would be great.
But it would be just the beginning of the battle.
~
tbc...
~
"Hold on a second, Rupes." Spike said, rounding the Watcher, "Explain to me again how you knew about Xander before I did."
Giles sighed.
"Quite simple, really." He replied, sitting down at his desk, "As soon as I heard of Xander's death, I immediately assumed it had to do with the Demonics."
Spike creased his forehead.
"The who now?"
"The Demonic Choosers." Giles explained, "But, moving forward, I snuck into the crime scene and took a vile of Xander's blood. I had a..." Giles paused for a moment, "...a friend of mine do a test and it was just as I had suspected. Synthetic blood. The entire situation was a set-up. So now that I had my proof, I began doing some research with my collection of prophecies at home. It hit me then; Xander had been talking about all these, these, these riddles that the Choosers had given him about The Fighters and, and the, uh, the f-fact that Xander was to be the second piece of the puzzle and that mission he is supposedly headed on. Xander is on that mission at this very moment!" Giles finished his monologue with a triumphant slam on his desk. "The false pretences they told him about are his death...Xander probably believes just as well as we do that he is, in fact, dead."
"But he's not." Spike stated, everything finally beginning to make some sort of semblance of sense.
"Exactly!" Giles hopped up and began pacing, "Xander is far from dead, believing that he is in paradise when he is truly trapped in a demonic maze, with these entities known as The Fighters, who take on the form of his most beloved, using all of our strength's as * their * strengths."
Spike nodded.
"So how do we get him outta there?" He asked. Giles stopped in his tracks.
"I have a feeling that the answer to that question lies in one, or many, of the books taken from the library. By perhaps an accomplice of the Demonics."
"They have "accomplices" now?" Spike asked in aggravation, "Bloody great..."
"Naturally they do...you can trust no one. There are groups who have been waiting for this to happen for centuries, millenniums even." Giles explained with a sigh, "I may have to have Willow do some research on her own dread machine."
Spike nodded, taking everything in.
~
A dark, sexy beat rumbled throughout the Bronze as Buffy sat alone at a table...waiting in the shadows for her friends.
A cold hand touched her neck.
"Amazing, isn't it?" Spike whispered into her ear, "You're all alone...poor little girl's got no one in the world."
Buffy laughed coldly.
"You have three seconds to get your hand off me, jackass. And even then, I'll kick your ass."
A sadistic smile creeped across Spike's face.
"Finally, some action."
Buffy kicked up from her chair and threw a punch in his face. Spike laughed and reltaliated with a series of kicks...one to her stomach, and three to her head.
"What are ya gonna do, bitch? Kill me? Good bloody luck with that one."
Buffy caught his hand mid-punch and kneed him in the groin.
"The only reason you're not dust now is because of the real Spike." She spat out. She punched him in the nose.
He leaped back up and threw her to the ground a snapped one of her fingers. She hissed in pain.
"The "real" Spike, eh? Newsflash, sweetheart. Your little lover isn't supposed to be here. He's the phony, not me."
Buffy pulled herself up and flipped him onto his back and pressed her foot down onto his throat.
"Does it really matter, Spikey? If you die, he dies and if he dies, you die."
Spike snorted as he pushed her back and tried to punch her...but she blocked both swings.
"Says who? Your watcher?" He asked.
"More like common sense." She explained, "Ever heard of Physics?"
They continued to spar in a violent waltz, screaming insults and other obscenities at one another...Spike's nostrils flared as Buffy sent him a pattern of elaborate kicks and punches.
"I can see why he's all hot for you...you know how to move."
"Bite me." She replied venomously.
"It's all I ever try to do, luv."
Upon hearing her precious nickname from "her" Spike used, Buffy sent the evil Spike sailing across the room.
"Never. * Ever. * Call. Me. LUV."
Then, she stormed out of the club, leaving Spike sitting on the floor...laughing his ass off. It was funny really...the Slayer really loved him.
"Bloody insane is what she is." Spike muttered through laughs. He glared at a group of bystanders who stared in slack-jawed shock at the scene that had just played out before them.
Spike shook his head and stood up...brushing himself off.
A scream broke out.
He snapped his head to the sound.
A large vortex swirled in the center of the room.
Spike watched with wonder as the screaming girl was sucked in...only to have her remains spewed back out across the dance floor.
He smirked at this.
However, he felt his body be slowly pulled toward the hole, closer and closer...he yelped out loud as he realized what was happening and he thrashed against the invisible puppeteer that forced his body to move to the circling darkness.
"Holy F-" He began to scream as the wind picked up and threw him against the wall. He ricocheted back and then into the circle.
It closed against him and he felt himself be pulled through dimensions...the eons he had only dreamed of whizzed by him in a dizzying frenzy.
After what seemed like ten hours of torture, Spike found himself on the ground.
He sat up, rubbing his temples, blinking in the sunlight.
"What the hell?" He whispered out loud.
He heard a throat clear behind him. He whirled around and saw...that whelp the Slayer always hung out with. The one that revealed the truth about the other Spike to her.
Spike heard the whelp's voice, but didn't see his mouth move.
"What the fuck is going on?" Spike asked Xander, who just shook his head.
Xander thought, before going over and helping Spike up off the ground,
~
"You see, Xander will be given a series of tests...not your usual ones, naturally. But more, more, more mind-bending tests that will show his true soul and nature." Giles explained to Spike, "He mentioned that, um, that..." Giles looked down at his notes, "That 'Spike will be an ally, but not the Spike he would expect.'"
"The other one then. Not me." Spike reasoned aloud.
"Precisely. How that could happen I can't imagine." Giles replied, cleaning his glasses.
Spike tilted his head.
"I dunno...I was known to do good in my day's without soul. However, it was usually for my own selfish benefit...or for Buffy." Spike explained. Giles crinkled his eyes in wonder at Spike's last comment, but said nothing.
"Either way, Xander is in deep, serious danger." Giles concluded, "I think it best we get the, the Scooby Gang together as soon as possible."
"I'm on it. I'll page Buffy and give Willow a ring, get everyone in the loop." Spike said, moving swiftly to the phone.
"Brilliant." Giles said half-heartedly.
Bringing back Xander would be great.
But it would be just the beginning of the battle.
~
tbc...
