Title: Grave Flower
Author: Bianca Masiello
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon, FX, UPN, Mutant Enemy, blah blah. we know the drill.
Synopsis: Set at the end of Sleeper, what if Spike had gone through with the First's plans? Touch of AU: Tara's alive, and Xand and Anya got hitched. Spuffy but tasteful in a dark way.
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Haunts
He'd come in last night with no trouble at all. Xander was asleep and Anya had left before he arrived. Though now, the flat was alive with its usual activity. The blond vamp listened as the boy started his coffee and entered the shower.
He got up and slipped into a pair of clean black jeans and a black tee. Barefoot, he pulled the door open an inch to make sure boy wonder had closed the blinds properly. No sunlight filtered into the apartment.
Spike pulled open the door the rest of the way and walked out into the kitchen. He lazily walked towards the fridge and pulled it open the tiny 24 watt bulb flickered to life as Spike reached in for a blood packet knowing exactly where they were. Though, oddly realizing he wasn't hungry as he usually was this time of morning, Spike tossed the plastic pack back into the box and closed the door.
The phone started to ring. It wasn't his job to be Xander's secretary so he just let it ring.
BEEP. "Xander, you were asleep when I got home... Damn it, you're in the shower." Anya started as if she could hear the water running, completely frustrated. "Everyone's at the shop, they woke me up early too. But it's important. Buffy never came home. If Spike's there, don't tip him off, just drag him over here where we have stakes and crosses. It's raining so no sunshiny worries. Please hurry, I can't stand to see Dawn get teary eyed again. It's too damn early." No goodbye, though Spike wouldn't have heard it even if there was one.
He'd rushed into his room, pulled his boots on, had his worn jeans jacket in hand and was out the door before Xander even turned the water off.
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The tiny bell rang announcing the arrival of Xander. Their sleepy heads shot up. He was clothed for the day in work jeans and a rain jacket and came bearing a tray of Starbucks.
"Hey," He greeted. "So what's the sitch?"
"Where's Spike?" Tara asked quickly, almost incredulous.
"I was specific about the not tipping off of Spike and bringing one bleached vampire with you." Anya said, her aggravated tone matched the one from their answering machine. "Though coffee's nice." She said more quietly with a half smile to her husband.
"Guys?" Willow reminded them. Xander broke eye contact with Anya and glanced at his friend. "Where's Spike?" Dawn finally spoke up.
Xander shook his head, "He came home this morning, late. Bloodsucker was gone before I got out of the shower and listened to your message. Never even got to thank him for the shiner." Xander smirked. The blue and black lines around his left eye were bright and evident.
"So we can assume that he heard it first." Tara suggested. They all realized at the same time that things just went from bad to worse. Xander couldn't help look around at them and feel afraid.
"Well, Buffy will be back soon. She probably had some big bad that kept her busy for a few hours." Xander tried to be optimistic.
"Xand," Willow started, "She was out there looking for Spike. We're almost positive he's been feeding."
"Besides, she'd never be late, to take me to school." Dawn spoke. Her frown was evident in her small voice. They fell into silence again.
"Well, what can we do? There must be something." Anya started. The growing panic that everyone felt shone through in her fearlessly. Xander set the coffee down and took a few steps toward her. She looked up into his eyes, searched them for hope, then leaned into a gentle hug. His arms encircled her comfortingly.
"Lets think, a-about what we know." Tara started leaning forward against the table. "Spike had a h-half hour head start on Buffy last night, when she left."
Willow started to catch on. That hope she needed to continue sparked a flame behind her eyes, "Right. He, Spike, if he is feeding again than we should go over some of the more common feeding grounds in town."
"The Bronze," Dawn contributed, "Is usually number one on a list of hits." She no longer sounded so sad, and this lifted them too.
"Good. Oh! How bout the high school. Not so popular in the day time but after dark," Xander mentioned. Anya smiled at him supporting, he accepted it with a returning smile and pride.
"The school, maybe." Willow leaned across the table and took a coffee.
"It's light out already." Dawn spoke slowly. "What can we do during the day?"
"Stop by the places Buffy normally goes. Home, her job at the school, B- bronze, shops." Tara said quietly.
"The sewers!" Anya squealed and all heads turned to her. "Well, it occurred to me, hey, sewers. Vampires love the sewers. No sunlight and they go all over Sunnydale, like a big Vampire Express." Anya said happily and pointedly. Every one agreed.
"Buffy probably thought of that too. She could be down there tracking Spike." Willow nodded, glancing back at Tara.
"She c-could be down there hurt." Tara said in all reality, not really wanting to speak the words. The silence engulfed them again as their minds traveled to their own dark places.
"Plan A," Xander spoke up, releasing Anya from the hug, but still holding tight to her hand.
"Groups, searches of Buffy's daytime places. Tara, Willow and Dawn, can you check the house a few times today, and the Bronze?" He took charge.
"Absolutely." Willow nodded.
"I had classes, but I can get notes," Tara added. "Dawny," she looked over at the young girl, "Don't worry about school," The witch smiled.
"Cool," Dawn commented half heartedly.
"Alright then, Anya and I can stop by the school, see if she called in. We'll take a sweep of the graveyard for good measure." He set his coffee down beside Willow.
"We s-should meet back here, about three, to go underground." Tara added.
"It's settled then," Xander half smiled.
"What if, I mean," Dawn started, "What if we find Spike,"
They weren't really sure. That wasn't the intent of the plan. Xander decided, "Suit up, stakes crosses, holy water. The whole shebang, just incase."
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The club's crowds were dwindling. The late night partiers were starting to drain away, leaving in groups for their homes or dorms. The band had packed up an hour or more before, now records played over the speakers.
The two witches and the Slayer's little sister ambled across the dance floor and up the set of stairs. Dawn was leading the caboose, so she had plenty of time to fall back, look around. But Tara had eyes like a hawk and never seemed to lose Dawn. The brunette girl was thankful for Tara's love and care.
She glanced over the railing of the balcony, scanning the thin crowd. There was no one she recognized.
"What do you think?" Willow asked looking around. Tara stood beside her, further down the catwalk near the end.
"She's not here," Tara whispered. Her eyes glanced around. The bar tender was cleaning up, some of the waitresses were cleaning the tables and sweeping the floors. Tara didn't think they'd ever been here this particular time in the morning. It was so damn early, that weird in between time, when you were supposed to be waking up, not searching an empty club for a vampire slayer.
Dawn squeaked quietly in distress. Both girls turned at the same time to see Dawn being held by her throat. A young woman, in full vamp face, tightly gripping the littlest slayerett with pure pleasure flashing across her yellow eyes.
"Dawny," Tara whispered.
"Well hello there," She smiled warmly. "What a pleasant surprise," she paused, jerking Dawn to get a reaction out of her like a trapped puppy. "Breakfast."
Willow started to search her pockets low key, "Hey, I'm sure we can settle this in a," she gripped the bottle, uncapped it, "In a civilized way," she was ready.
"We're as uncivilized a beast can be." She hissed.
"Dawn, duck!" Willow yelled. Dawn used the woman's surprise to drop down. Willow brought the bottle forward and slung it's contents at the woman. She screamed, trying to get the burning solution off of her skin.
"Let's go," Tara said quickly. Dawn scrambled forward, towards the girls.
"Spike said you were a bitch!" She crumpled back down into her seat, rocking back and forth. The sizzling sound had stopped. And so had the Scoobies.
"What?" Tara asked. She shot a look at Willow and then at Dawn.
"You do know him. Please tell me he wasn't lying about this too." The blond hissed.
"W-well, no. I mean, we know him. Did he sire you?" Willow asked tentatively. The woman looked up for the first time, her left cheek was red and badly swollen. She would heal.
"Yeah, dirty bastard. Did anybody ask if I wanted to be a vampire?" She whined. "No, just bit me." She looked and sounded like she might start crying.
"Thank you, and we're sorry." Tara added sympathetically as they quickly turned to leave, holding Dawn by the arm protectively. They hurried into the shadow and down the stairs.
"We even helped him claim that pretty Slayer he treasured. Not so much as a thanks."
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Author: Bianca Masiello
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon, FX, UPN, Mutant Enemy, blah blah. we know the drill.
Synopsis: Set at the end of Sleeper, what if Spike had gone through with the First's plans? Touch of AU: Tara's alive, and Xand and Anya got hitched. Spuffy but tasteful in a dark way.
------
Haunts
He'd come in last night with no trouble at all. Xander was asleep and Anya had left before he arrived. Though now, the flat was alive with its usual activity. The blond vamp listened as the boy started his coffee and entered the shower.
He got up and slipped into a pair of clean black jeans and a black tee. Barefoot, he pulled the door open an inch to make sure boy wonder had closed the blinds properly. No sunlight filtered into the apartment.
Spike pulled open the door the rest of the way and walked out into the kitchen. He lazily walked towards the fridge and pulled it open the tiny 24 watt bulb flickered to life as Spike reached in for a blood packet knowing exactly where they were. Though, oddly realizing he wasn't hungry as he usually was this time of morning, Spike tossed the plastic pack back into the box and closed the door.
The phone started to ring. It wasn't his job to be Xander's secretary so he just let it ring.
BEEP. "Xander, you were asleep when I got home... Damn it, you're in the shower." Anya started as if she could hear the water running, completely frustrated. "Everyone's at the shop, they woke me up early too. But it's important. Buffy never came home. If Spike's there, don't tip him off, just drag him over here where we have stakes and crosses. It's raining so no sunshiny worries. Please hurry, I can't stand to see Dawn get teary eyed again. It's too damn early." No goodbye, though Spike wouldn't have heard it even if there was one.
He'd rushed into his room, pulled his boots on, had his worn jeans jacket in hand and was out the door before Xander even turned the water off.
------
The tiny bell rang announcing the arrival of Xander. Their sleepy heads shot up. He was clothed for the day in work jeans and a rain jacket and came bearing a tray of Starbucks.
"Hey," He greeted. "So what's the sitch?"
"Where's Spike?" Tara asked quickly, almost incredulous.
"I was specific about the not tipping off of Spike and bringing one bleached vampire with you." Anya said, her aggravated tone matched the one from their answering machine. "Though coffee's nice." She said more quietly with a half smile to her husband.
"Guys?" Willow reminded them. Xander broke eye contact with Anya and glanced at his friend. "Where's Spike?" Dawn finally spoke up.
Xander shook his head, "He came home this morning, late. Bloodsucker was gone before I got out of the shower and listened to your message. Never even got to thank him for the shiner." Xander smirked. The blue and black lines around his left eye were bright and evident.
"So we can assume that he heard it first." Tara suggested. They all realized at the same time that things just went from bad to worse. Xander couldn't help look around at them and feel afraid.
"Well, Buffy will be back soon. She probably had some big bad that kept her busy for a few hours." Xander tried to be optimistic.
"Xand," Willow started, "She was out there looking for Spike. We're almost positive he's been feeding."
"Besides, she'd never be late, to take me to school." Dawn spoke. Her frown was evident in her small voice. They fell into silence again.
"Well, what can we do? There must be something." Anya started. The growing panic that everyone felt shone through in her fearlessly. Xander set the coffee down and took a few steps toward her. She looked up into his eyes, searched them for hope, then leaned into a gentle hug. His arms encircled her comfortingly.
"Lets think, a-about what we know." Tara started leaning forward against the table. "Spike had a h-half hour head start on Buffy last night, when she left."
Willow started to catch on. That hope she needed to continue sparked a flame behind her eyes, "Right. He, Spike, if he is feeding again than we should go over some of the more common feeding grounds in town."
"The Bronze," Dawn contributed, "Is usually number one on a list of hits." She no longer sounded so sad, and this lifted them too.
"Good. Oh! How bout the high school. Not so popular in the day time but after dark," Xander mentioned. Anya smiled at him supporting, he accepted it with a returning smile and pride.
"The school, maybe." Willow leaned across the table and took a coffee.
"It's light out already." Dawn spoke slowly. "What can we do during the day?"
"Stop by the places Buffy normally goes. Home, her job at the school, B- bronze, shops." Tara said quietly.
"The sewers!" Anya squealed and all heads turned to her. "Well, it occurred to me, hey, sewers. Vampires love the sewers. No sunlight and they go all over Sunnydale, like a big Vampire Express." Anya said happily and pointedly. Every one agreed.
"Buffy probably thought of that too. She could be down there tracking Spike." Willow nodded, glancing back at Tara.
"She c-could be down there hurt." Tara said in all reality, not really wanting to speak the words. The silence engulfed them again as their minds traveled to their own dark places.
"Plan A," Xander spoke up, releasing Anya from the hug, but still holding tight to her hand.
"Groups, searches of Buffy's daytime places. Tara, Willow and Dawn, can you check the house a few times today, and the Bronze?" He took charge.
"Absolutely." Willow nodded.
"I had classes, but I can get notes," Tara added. "Dawny," she looked over at the young girl, "Don't worry about school," The witch smiled.
"Cool," Dawn commented half heartedly.
"Alright then, Anya and I can stop by the school, see if she called in. We'll take a sweep of the graveyard for good measure." He set his coffee down beside Willow.
"We s-should meet back here, about three, to go underground." Tara added.
"It's settled then," Xander half smiled.
"What if, I mean," Dawn started, "What if we find Spike,"
They weren't really sure. That wasn't the intent of the plan. Xander decided, "Suit up, stakes crosses, holy water. The whole shebang, just incase."
------
The club's crowds were dwindling. The late night partiers were starting to drain away, leaving in groups for their homes or dorms. The band had packed up an hour or more before, now records played over the speakers.
The two witches and the Slayer's little sister ambled across the dance floor and up the set of stairs. Dawn was leading the caboose, so she had plenty of time to fall back, look around. But Tara had eyes like a hawk and never seemed to lose Dawn. The brunette girl was thankful for Tara's love and care.
She glanced over the railing of the balcony, scanning the thin crowd. There was no one she recognized.
"What do you think?" Willow asked looking around. Tara stood beside her, further down the catwalk near the end.
"She's not here," Tara whispered. Her eyes glanced around. The bar tender was cleaning up, some of the waitresses were cleaning the tables and sweeping the floors. Tara didn't think they'd ever been here this particular time in the morning. It was so damn early, that weird in between time, when you were supposed to be waking up, not searching an empty club for a vampire slayer.
Dawn squeaked quietly in distress. Both girls turned at the same time to see Dawn being held by her throat. A young woman, in full vamp face, tightly gripping the littlest slayerett with pure pleasure flashing across her yellow eyes.
"Dawny," Tara whispered.
"Well hello there," She smiled warmly. "What a pleasant surprise," she paused, jerking Dawn to get a reaction out of her like a trapped puppy. "Breakfast."
Willow started to search her pockets low key, "Hey, I'm sure we can settle this in a," she gripped the bottle, uncapped it, "In a civilized way," she was ready.
"We're as uncivilized a beast can be." She hissed.
"Dawn, duck!" Willow yelled. Dawn used the woman's surprise to drop down. Willow brought the bottle forward and slung it's contents at the woman. She screamed, trying to get the burning solution off of her skin.
"Let's go," Tara said quickly. Dawn scrambled forward, towards the girls.
"Spike said you were a bitch!" She crumpled back down into her seat, rocking back and forth. The sizzling sound had stopped. And so had the Scoobies.
"What?" Tara asked. She shot a look at Willow and then at Dawn.
"You do know him. Please tell me he wasn't lying about this too." The blond hissed.
"W-well, no. I mean, we know him. Did he sire you?" Willow asked tentatively. The woman looked up for the first time, her left cheek was red and badly swollen. She would heal.
"Yeah, dirty bastard. Did anybody ask if I wanted to be a vampire?" She whined. "No, just bit me." She looked and sounded like she might start crying.
"Thank you, and we're sorry." Tara added sympathetically as they quickly turned to leave, holding Dawn by the arm protectively. They hurried into the shadow and down the stairs.
"We even helped him claim that pretty Slayer he treasured. Not so much as a thanks."
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