Chapter 13
He Wasn't Worth It
I reached out to touch him and he jerked away from me. He kept his back to me, so I couldn't see his face. My heart was breaking, but I didn't want to push him, so I elected to move a chair close to the bed and sit near him. Pushing away the tears that threatened to come I thanked the powers for saving him and bringing him here. It must have been an hour before he acknowledged my presence. "Are you going to sit there all night?" he asked quietly.
"If I have to" I told him stubbornly.
He waited a few minutes than rolled over to look at me. "What did the watcher tell you?" he asked.
"Not much. I think I got the edited short version. Would you like to talk about it?" I asked sadness evident in my tone.
"No" he replied curtly.
I could tell he didn't like me seeing him this way. The emotional pain was obvious in his azure eyes. Giles was right the physical damage would heal. It was the emotional pain that would take time. Please let me be able to help him is what went through my mind. This time when I reached out to touch his face he didn't pull away, but let me run my fingers across his chiseled cheeks. Suddenly he grabbed my hand and brought my palm to his lips. He didn't stop there and soon I was curled up with him in the bed. We silently held each other the rest of the night.
***
Within two days Spike was up and about, but still looked like hell. It was at this time Giles convinced him to let the rest of the Scoobies knew he was there. We would need their help if what Spike had been telling us was true. Giles thought that Spike was being paranoid, however it was better to be safe than sorry. Besides we were getting tired of lying about his presence. A meeting was set for the next evening. It would include Xander, Willow, Cordelia, and Ms Calendar if she was back. She had been gone all summer and I know Giles missed her.
***
To say that everyone was surprised to find the vampire living with Giles would be an under statement. Xander wanted to stake him on sight. I can't repeat the language that was used by both Xander and Spike. Giles was the voice of reason and got them to stop fighting long enough to get the meeting underway.
"Spike seems to believe that Darla and Drusilla will be coming here to get revenge on Buffy" Giles told the group seated around the living room.
"Like that will happen she could take both of them without even breaking a sweat" Xander jumped in to tell the group.
"Soddin hell whelp, Darla and Drusilla are deadly and they'll not be coming alone" Spike snapped. A knock at the door interrupted Xander's reply.
Giles opened the door to find Jenny smiling at him. "Hi Rupert" she said a large smile on her face.
"Jenny I'm so glad you're here. Come in. I wasn't sure you were coming we started without you" he told her.
Her smile faded when she saw Spike. "Rupert, Spike is back?" she questioned the watcher.
"Yes, it's a long story. He has information that might be of use" he replied.
Spike snorted at the watcher's comment and retorted "Might be of use, stop being a git. I know them and when they get here it won't be pretty. I've seen what that lot can do, especially that poofter Angelus."
"They are all vampires and we can fight vampires" Willow chimed in.
"Right and maybe this Angelus will refuse to help them. Giles said he hasn't hunted humans for over a hundred years" Buffy added.
" I think you're all missing the point. Dru said she knew how to get her daddy back. That means one thing, she knows how to get rid of his soul. You're going to be dealing with Angelus the Scrounge of Europe" Spike said firmly.
"Again not seeing a big problem there. He's just another vampire and we stake vampires" Xander said emphasizing the staking vampire part to Spike.
"Spike I'm sorry but, I have to agree with Xander and Buffy, we should be able to defeat them if we have a plan. We can start by……" but he was cut off by Jenny.
"He's right. You will be facing Angelus. If he has a moment of happiness he loses his soul" Jenny told the stunned scoobies.
I walked up to her "And you know this how?"
"The curse was put on Angelus by my people. I don't know all the specifics, but I was told that if he finds a moment of happiness he loses his soul. If Drusilla knows how to remove his soul then you're all in danger. My clan has been watching Angel for over a hundred years. However, we lost track of him about a year ago. That's why I was sent to Sunnydale. It was a long shot, but Darla had been his consort, so the elders thought someone should watch her. I tracked Drusilla and her to Chicago. I'm pretty sure they found Angelus. I lost them about a week ago. When I got your message I hurried back" she explained to the stupefied group.
The first thing that went through my head was 'Wow she's been tracking them' then it hit me. I steadied myself to confront her. "How long have you been tracking them?"
She didn't answer right away, but at least had the dignity to look embarrassed, because she knew where my question was leading. "Since they left Sunnydale" she told me with only a hint of remorse.
I'm not sure how long it took everyone else to understand what that meant. I knew when Willow got it because of her sudden "Oh."
Sometimes I wonder about Xander, because the next thing out of his mouth was "That's a good thing. Right!" After Xander's comment Spike slipped out the back door.
Willow scolded him "No Xander it's not. What it means is she knew what was happening to Spike and didn't let Buffy know."
"Buffy, I didn't think……. He's a vampire. I'm sorry if I didn't think that he was worth it" Jenny asserted.
"It wasn't your decision to make Jenny. It was Buffy's. Also, you should have told us why you were here in Sunnydale" Giles informed her.
"I'm here to help now" she pleaded with them.
"Are you, or are you here because Angelus is probably on his way here to kill me and my friends? After all, finding and watching him is your soul purpose in life, isn't it?" I retorted angrily.
Before more angry words could be exchanged Giles asked Jenny to leave. I was hurt when he told her he would call her later. After she left I went to find Spike amiss the objections of both Xander and Cordelia.
He wasn't hard to find. His blond hair stood out against the night as he leaned against a tree in the back yard. I moved to join him in the cool darkness of the night. "What Xander said, don't take it too hard. He doesn't know what Darla and Drusilla did to you," I said softly.
"And I suppose you do?" he replied.
"No, not everything. I do know that they hurt you and left you to die" was my response.
"I keep forgetting how young you are. Here's a lesson Luv, there are worse things then being tortured and dying. I wanted to stay out in the desert and greet the sun. You know why I didn't?" he asked me. I shook my head and he proceeded to explain "Because I knew it was only a matter of time before they came after you. If they hadn't threatened you I would be a big pile of dust. The little teacher in there was right. I wasn't worth it. One hundred years with Dru and she doesn't care enough to keep torturing me or make sure I'm dust before she runs off to find her daddy."
"You're telling me you are upset because she didn't keep torturing you?" I asked completely mystified.
When he began to run his fingers through my hair, I stared up into his beautiful face. Even in the moonlight I could see his sad smile. "I'm saying it hurt because she didn't care. If she loved me she would have tortured me until I was back in her good graces or she would have dusted me. That is how Dru thinks. Instead she tossed me away as if I was nothing to her. As much as that hurt, the part that really scared me was what Dru and Darla would do to you. Their mistake was telling me what they had planned for you than leaving me alive" he responded mournfully.
TBC
