Chapter: 2/12: Catching Up With Clem
(see chapter one for more detail)
Spike cautiously approached the Summer's home an gently placed two white envelopes on the welcome mat. With a quick glance at Buffy's bedroom window, he hopped back on his motorcycle and drove off towards his crypt, outrunning the sunrise.
Leaving his bike next to his crypt, Spike dashed into the crypt. He dropped his duffel bag onto the ground and promptly noticed the junk food and garbage strewn across the crypt floor in a trail that led to a sleeping Clem on the couch. Clem awoke to the sound of Spike's laughter.
"Hello, mate" Spike greeted him.
"Spike! You're back! Did you get the chip out? You seem different. Wait, don't tell me. I can guess…" Clem stroked his chin as he circled Spike. After a few seconds his eyes went wide. "A soul? How the heck did you get your undead hands on a soul?"
"Well, it's a long story. It started when I left Sunnyhell…"
An hour later Spike finished up his story and stood up to stretch. As he sat back down he reached into his duffel bag and handed Clem a small carved wooden statue.
"Here. I saw this while I was in Africa and I thought of you. In, uh, exchange for crypt-sitting." Spike awkwardly awaited Clem's reaction.
"Wow. Thanks, buddy." Clem inspected the gift as if it were precious. Spike explained that it was the God of Friendship; worshipped by some tribe he had passed in his travels.
When Spike's story was complete, Clem returned the favor and told Spike everything he had missed after he left. Spike stayed stationary, completely engrossed in the story. As Clem spoke, Spike chided himself for leaving at such a bad time. Tara, poor Tara. Maybe he could have done something… anything… to help her. If he had only been here.
"How are the Slayer and the Nibblet doing?" He asked quietly.
"Oh, they've stopped by a few times. Buffy comes and asks if I've heard from you, if I know when you're coming back, things like that. Dawn comes by and watches movies with me. It was only yesterday that we had our bimonthly food tasting contest. This month's food is Doritos. We had the Ranch Cooler and-"
A kitten crawled out of Spike's duffel bag and scampered across the floor.
"Uhuh, come here you rascal." Spike picked up the kitten and gently placed him back in the bag. "You're gonna pay off a few of my poker debts."
Clem waved and smiled at the cute kitten while Spike gave him a funny look. "Uh, you know what? I think I'm gonna go pay off those debts right now. I'll take the sewers and I'll be back in a few hours."
That night, after all poker debts had been repaid, Spike patrolled. After a quiet summer he needed a good spot of violence. He dusted a few vamps and found himself near a new grave. The tombstone was beautiful, with a stone angel resting on top. Immediately he knew whose grave it was.
He fell to his knees and ran his fingers over the carved writing.
Tara Maclay1981 – 2002
Her magic touched us all
Her love will help one heal
She deserved more than she had"Oh god, Tara. You didn't deserve this." As he cried he silently called to Joyce, asking her to be good to Tara, but he knew she would anyway. As he stood up and walked away, he wondered if he would join them when his time came.