After Adam's defeat, the spoils of the 314 project are up for grabs. Spike & Willow find themselves at the centre of a web of intrigue.
Disclaimer: Any characters and locations from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel the Series are the property of Mutant Enemy.
Part 4: Spike pays a visit to the Rosenburg house.
Spike spent the rest of that day, and the one that followed it, reviewing everything that he knew about Willow Rosenburg and adding to it where he could. He was going to need to hold all the cards if he was to persuade her to help him. He knew she'd been through a rough time; his own close encounter with the saccharine side of the Slayer had been testament enough to that, but things had perked up as the year had progressed with the girl finding comfort and self-esteem in her growing powers and a new love.
Still, that was then and this was now. He'd found out that Willow was living alone this summer while her parents were abroad and her girlfriend wallowed with the pigs in whatever Hicksville town she came from. Her friends, on the other hand, still had their squeezes close by which left Willow very much a third wheel at social gatherings. In particular, he'd noticed that the Slayer's Soldier Boy was increasingly taking the place of her other friends on nightly patrols. All of this had left Willow progressively more isolated and, whilst he doubted the situation was the result of anything other than the normal tunnel vision of the young, if he were lucky it would have started to gnaw away at some of Willow's recently regained self esteem leaving her ripe for the plucking. He just needed to play those cards of his right and she would fall into his hands like a juicy plum.
By the next evening he felt he was ready put the next phase of his plan into action. Telling Nat he had a few unspecified things to do he made his way to the Rosenberg's, travelling via Willie's where he paid off a few debts and broke a few heads to establish an alibi. Sauntering around the corner into her road he saw a single light on in an upstairs room. He could just imagine her up there all alone. And what did lonely little girls need, apart from a damn good shagging? That's right, they needed to be needed. Well, he needed her now, and he was bloody well going to get her.
Of course there was one little snag - he had never been invited into the Rosenberg's house. Still, he was fairly sure that he could turn even that to his advantage. If she felt safe she was more likely to let the barriers come tumbling down. He pondered for a moment whether he should just climb up to her window, but decided that there was a time and a place for fairy-tale melodramatics and this was not it. Grinding his cigarette butt into the ground he strolled up the front path and rang the doorbell. A few moments later he heard the sound of soft footsteps and the door opened. Christ, had the silly chit learned nothing in all these years?
"Spike?"
He was hearing that a lot recently. If he had breath he would have sighed, but instead just fixed her with his most earnest look.
"I need to talk to you."
The girl's scent was a mixture of confusion and fear, but mixed with it all was the sharp tang of curiosity.
"What about?"
"I need your help."
She took a step backwards, her heartbeat picking up the pace and he knew that she was remembering another time and place when he had asked for her help.
"A spell?"
He had to knock this train of thought on the head right and proper. Old memories of a dank cellar and a broken bottle in the face were hardly going to help his case. He needed her willing or not at all.
"Nope, it's not your magic I'm after, it's your brain."
She raised her eyebrows in a cynical look, but now there it was a thin wisp of pleasure underlying all the rest. Boy, did he know how to push the right buttons - her face might deny the gratification she was feeling at his words but her scent never could.
"My brain?"
"You heard. I got something I need to do, something important but I need someone with your kind of smarts than to help me through with it. It's a long story, so why not settle down and let me explain"
"Here?"
"Yeah, I figure you'd feel safer on the other side of that doorway and I'm hardly going to catch a chill."
"OK."
She sank to the floor, crossing her legs, just on the safe side of the doorway. Perhaps she had learned something after all - about him at any rate. He joined her at ground level.
"Look, let's be frank: I'm desperate. Got nowhere to go, can't hunt and can't feed. The only people who helped me out were you lot and I screwed that up right and dandy. Don't you go thinking I'm regretting it - I'm not, but I'm practical. If I'm going to survive I'm going to need help. I don't think for a moment you'll all forget, but I'm willing to earn my way back in. I've learned about something important that's going down, but I need help to make it pay off. Your kind of help."
She blinked at him. "Why should I trust you?"
"You don't need to trust me, you just have to help me."
"Buffy...."
"Buffy doesn't know, Buffy doesn't get to know until we're ready to impress her."
He could see it in her eyes, her need as potent in its own way as his own. She might have started to grow up but somewhere deep inside was still that scared little kid that thought she was nothing, just like there was in all of us. Hell, maybe this bit of ego boosting was his good deed for the day - a sort of last meal for the dying man...or girl in this case, 'cause one way or another there was no chance she'd still be breathing when he was done with her.
"Impress her, impress her how?"
Spike allowed himself to relax a fraction, slightly surprised that he had become so tense without realising it. And yet, perhaps the tension was warranted? She was interested, but she wasn't his, not yet. The hook was baited, but he needed to play this just right.
"The Initiative wasn't destroyed, some company has taken it over. I don't know what they're after, but they're hiring vampires so it can't be good. I figure that if I can work out what it is and how to stop it I'll be quid's in with the Slayer. That'll make it safe for me to show my face around here again."
"Where do I come in?"
Come on little fishy...
"They're hiring technicians. Only for the grunt stuff, but I figure with your talents you can crack the computers while I deal with the security side. If we work together we can hand these goons over to the Slayer on a silver platter."
"Will it be dangerous?"
"Dangerous? With the wallop you can pack? Your pals may underestimate you, but I know who I'd like at my back if the shit goes down and it ain't the Slayer."
Her eyes lit up - bingo! She was hooked, now all he had to do was reel her in.
"Help me do this. Please, Willow - you're the only one who can...."
Disclaimer: Any characters and locations from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel the Series are the property of Mutant Enemy.
Part 4: Spike pays a visit to the Rosenburg house.
Spike spent the rest of that day, and the one that followed it, reviewing everything that he knew about Willow Rosenburg and adding to it where he could. He was going to need to hold all the cards if he was to persuade her to help him. He knew she'd been through a rough time; his own close encounter with the saccharine side of the Slayer had been testament enough to that, but things had perked up as the year had progressed with the girl finding comfort and self-esteem in her growing powers and a new love.
Still, that was then and this was now. He'd found out that Willow was living alone this summer while her parents were abroad and her girlfriend wallowed with the pigs in whatever Hicksville town she came from. Her friends, on the other hand, still had their squeezes close by which left Willow very much a third wheel at social gatherings. In particular, he'd noticed that the Slayer's Soldier Boy was increasingly taking the place of her other friends on nightly patrols. All of this had left Willow progressively more isolated and, whilst he doubted the situation was the result of anything other than the normal tunnel vision of the young, if he were lucky it would have started to gnaw away at some of Willow's recently regained self esteem leaving her ripe for the plucking. He just needed to play those cards of his right and she would fall into his hands like a juicy plum.
By the next evening he felt he was ready put the next phase of his plan into action. Telling Nat he had a few unspecified things to do he made his way to the Rosenberg's, travelling via Willie's where he paid off a few debts and broke a few heads to establish an alibi. Sauntering around the corner into her road he saw a single light on in an upstairs room. He could just imagine her up there all alone. And what did lonely little girls need, apart from a damn good shagging? That's right, they needed to be needed. Well, he needed her now, and he was bloody well going to get her.
Of course there was one little snag - he had never been invited into the Rosenberg's house. Still, he was fairly sure that he could turn even that to his advantage. If she felt safe she was more likely to let the barriers come tumbling down. He pondered for a moment whether he should just climb up to her window, but decided that there was a time and a place for fairy-tale melodramatics and this was not it. Grinding his cigarette butt into the ground he strolled up the front path and rang the doorbell. A few moments later he heard the sound of soft footsteps and the door opened. Christ, had the silly chit learned nothing in all these years?
"Spike?"
He was hearing that a lot recently. If he had breath he would have sighed, but instead just fixed her with his most earnest look.
"I need to talk to you."
The girl's scent was a mixture of confusion and fear, but mixed with it all was the sharp tang of curiosity.
"What about?"
"I need your help."
She took a step backwards, her heartbeat picking up the pace and he knew that she was remembering another time and place when he had asked for her help.
"A spell?"
He had to knock this train of thought on the head right and proper. Old memories of a dank cellar and a broken bottle in the face were hardly going to help his case. He needed her willing or not at all.
"Nope, it's not your magic I'm after, it's your brain."
She raised her eyebrows in a cynical look, but now there it was a thin wisp of pleasure underlying all the rest. Boy, did he know how to push the right buttons - her face might deny the gratification she was feeling at his words but her scent never could.
"My brain?"
"You heard. I got something I need to do, something important but I need someone with your kind of smarts than to help me through with it. It's a long story, so why not settle down and let me explain"
"Here?"
"Yeah, I figure you'd feel safer on the other side of that doorway and I'm hardly going to catch a chill."
"OK."
She sank to the floor, crossing her legs, just on the safe side of the doorway. Perhaps she had learned something after all - about him at any rate. He joined her at ground level.
"Look, let's be frank: I'm desperate. Got nowhere to go, can't hunt and can't feed. The only people who helped me out were you lot and I screwed that up right and dandy. Don't you go thinking I'm regretting it - I'm not, but I'm practical. If I'm going to survive I'm going to need help. I don't think for a moment you'll all forget, but I'm willing to earn my way back in. I've learned about something important that's going down, but I need help to make it pay off. Your kind of help."
She blinked at him. "Why should I trust you?"
"You don't need to trust me, you just have to help me."
"Buffy...."
"Buffy doesn't know, Buffy doesn't get to know until we're ready to impress her."
He could see it in her eyes, her need as potent in its own way as his own. She might have started to grow up but somewhere deep inside was still that scared little kid that thought she was nothing, just like there was in all of us. Hell, maybe this bit of ego boosting was his good deed for the day - a sort of last meal for the dying man...or girl in this case, 'cause one way or another there was no chance she'd still be breathing when he was done with her.
"Impress her, impress her how?"
Spike allowed himself to relax a fraction, slightly surprised that he had become so tense without realising it. And yet, perhaps the tension was warranted? She was interested, but she wasn't his, not yet. The hook was baited, but he needed to play this just right.
"The Initiative wasn't destroyed, some company has taken it over. I don't know what they're after, but they're hiring vampires so it can't be good. I figure that if I can work out what it is and how to stop it I'll be quid's in with the Slayer. That'll make it safe for me to show my face around here again."
"Where do I come in?"
Come on little fishy...
"They're hiring technicians. Only for the grunt stuff, but I figure with your talents you can crack the computers while I deal with the security side. If we work together we can hand these goons over to the Slayer on a silver platter."
"Will it be dangerous?"
"Dangerous? With the wallop you can pack? Your pals may underestimate you, but I know who I'd like at my back if the shit goes down and it ain't the Slayer."
Her eyes lit up - bingo! She was hooked, now all he had to do was reel her in.
"Help me do this. Please, Willow - you're the only one who can...."
