Daydreams and Demons
A Buffy the Vampire Slayer story by Merrie
Disclaimer: They are mine, didn't you know? At least, that's what the little voice in my head tells me. I like that voice.
Summary: Spike is poisoned by a demon out for revenge. Can he convince Buffy to help him before it's too late?
Characters: Spike, Buffy, Willow, Xander, Anya, Dawn and Maximillian Dominus a little OFC I have created.
Author's Note: Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed!! It truly makes my day and really does motivate me to write faster. Again, this story is completely AU after the episode the beginning of Lessons. Also, Willow is back from England earlier than on the show and living with Buffy and Dawn again.
Rating: This story is rated PG-13 for violence and language.
Chapter Five
Xander came to a large room, a huge boiler against one wall, and he noticed the sound got louder. 'Ok, dammit. That still sounded like Spike. If he's been down here the entire time I'm gonna kill him. Wait, no, I'm gonna kill him anyway for what he did to Buffy. I don't know how, exactly since I seemed to be unarmed, but I'm a resourceful guy, right?' His conversations with himself started to get more involved as walked further and further into the room. Rolling his eyes at his stupidity for not thinking to bring a flashlight down with him when he first started this little adventure, he began searching the shelves against the wall for one. Just when he thought he'd have to either give up being able to see and move on, or forget the whole thing and go back out to Dawn, he found one. Flicking the 'on' switch experimentally, he let out a sigh of relief when the room was flooded with bright white light. That relief quickly faded however when the light reflected a pair of golden eyes in the darkness. "Umm, hello?" Xander cursed his voice for being so shaky. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to ok?" 'I just don't know with what. When Xander received no response from the owner of the catlike eyes, he took a deep breath and moved closer to them.
"Don't.deserve..don't deserve the light. Darkness..demon.no light." An eerily familiar voice floated over to him.
"Spike?!" Xander shouted. "If that's you over there your ass is dust!" Xander stormed over to the pair of eyes, too angry at the thought of Spike being back to be afraid. Unwilled, his anger faded when he saw him for the first time. "Good God, Spike.what, what happened to you?" The once proud and cocky vampire now looked like a shell of himself. Taking a deep breath, he moved closer. Spike, well at least it looked like Spike, huddled away from him against a wall. Xander looked over the vampire below him, the light of the flashlight shining off his still mostly bleached hair. 'He's letting his roots show,' he thought with a slight shock. 'Spike, the vainest vampire I've ever met is letting his roots show.' "Um, Spike?"
At the mention of his name, Spike looked up at him wide-eyed, and backed against the wall. Xander held up his hands upon seeing the seeing the vampire's fear. "It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you." After speaking those words, he realized he meant them. 'But what about what he did to Buffy?' "But if you're trying to trick me in any way, you'll be dust before you can say 'bloody hell.'"
"B-blood-bloody hell." Spike whispered in a voice rough from disuse, offering his now bare chest to Xander.
Xander couldn't stop a gasp of shock and horror from passing his lips. Spike's once handsome body, he was secure enough in his masculinity to admit that Spike was indeed handsome, was a patchwork of bloodied abrasions, bruises, and what looked like self-inflicted scratch marks. "Oh God, I um.I-" He eyes locked with Spike's, and what he saw in them would most likely haunt his dreams for quite a while. They were filled with desperation, pain, torment, and above all, a longing for it all to be over. "Spike.I'll uh, you stay here, ok? I'll be right back." With that, he ran out of the room and back up the stairs into the school.
Dawn kept her eyes on the entrance of the school, impatience clear on her face. 'I thought Xander said he wouldn't be very long? It's been like 15 minutes already. What could possibly be so interesting at school?' A thought occurred to her, and her eyes widened. "Oh God, what if something happened to him? Buffy warned me about going to school on the Hellmouth. Why did I let Xander go in there alone?" Just as she was about to call Buffy for some reinforcements, Xander came bursting through the front doors and ran over to her. "Xander? What is it? What's wrong?" Dawn asked, worry etching her features.
"You still got your cell phone, Dawn?" Not waiting for more than a nod from Dawn, he continued. "Use it. Call.Buffy. Tell her.and Willow to get over here right away and meet us in the school's basement."
"The basement? Buffy? Willow? Why-Xander, what's going on?" Dawn stuttered.
"Just call them. Once you've done that, I'll explain everything. I promise." 'I sure hope you're making the right move here, Xander. Maybe having Buffy come wasn't such a good idea after all.' Whatever hesitations he might have had passed as the vision of Spike offering himself up to being staked flashed across his mind. It was a moot point, anyway. Even if he might have changed his mind and asked Buffy not to come, she would speed over here in record time after hearing the worry in Dawn's voice.
Dawn hung up the phone after she reassured Buffy she was uninjured, and looked to Xander for some answers. "So, are you going to tell me why I just freaked Buffy out enough to never let me out of the house again?" She crossed her arms across her chest and attempted to look tough. The slight tremor in her voice ruined the effect, however.
Xander sighed. "I think you're going to have to see him for yourself."
"Him? What are you talking about? I'm going to have to see who for myself? Xander, you're wigging me out."
"I know, and I'm sorry, but I'm a little wigged out myself. Before we go though, let me grab a weapon from the trunk. I-I don't think he'll try and hurt you, but I don't want to take any chances." He opened the trunk of his car and pulled out a cross and a stake, not really intending to use either. He paused a moment and tried to figure out when his life got so complicated. 'Oh yeah, the moment Spike wanted me to stake him.stupid vampire.' He wanted to be angry at him for dispelling his view that the world was black and white. He had been secure in his desire to kill Spike for what he had done to Buffy, but now..now he wasn't sure of anything anymore. He didn't know what had happened to Spike in the last couple of months, but the person he had seen in the basement wasn't the same one who had tried to rape Buffy on that horrible day. Not to mention what happened between him and Anya.he pushed that thought away as well. Things had been strained with his ex-fiancée long before she had slept with Spike. It had been easy to blame Spike for his problems, but now.. Of course, none of he newfound realizations would matter if Buffy decides to stake Spike anyway.
"Willow!" Buffy yelled in the empty kitchen. A minute later, a very flustered looking redhead came running down the stairs.
"Buffy? What's wrong? Xander didn't hit someone else, did he?"
"No, but I just got a call from Dawn at school. She told me that Xander said that you and I need to get over to the high school basement right away."
"What for?" Willow asked, relieved that Xander hadn't hit anyone, but more than a little worried about anything involving Sunnydale High, even if it wasn't the same school than it once was.
"She, or he rather he, didn't say."
"Should we bring weapons?" Willow asked, a worried look crossing her face.
"I don't know, probably. Dawn sounded pretty freaked out and she didn't even really know what was going on. And Hellmouth." She shrugged. "Usually a pretty good cause for worry." "Hey, maybe it'll be just like old times." At Buffy's look, she amended her statement. "Or.not?"
"I'm hoping for not." Buffy said as she pulled an axe out of her weapon's chest. "Are you ready? Xander forgot that I don't drive, again, not to mention that he has the only car, so we'll have to walk." At Willow's nod, the two of them made their way out of the house, running in the direction of the high school.
"Are you going to tell me what this is all about now, Xander? 'Cause hello, we're in the basement and I don't see-" Dawn's eyes widened as she took notice of the slouching figure in the room for the first time. "Spike? Is that-is that you?" She started to move closer to the prone vampire, but Xander put a hand on her shoulder and held her back. "Xander? What are you doing? That's Spike! I want to go to him!"
"I'm not sure he's safe, Dawnie. He was saying some pretty weird things when I tried to talk to him earlier."
"Things? What do you mean? What kinds of things?"
"He wasn't making a whole lot of sense. I don't think he's all there, actually. Not to mention the fact that he's pretty badly beaten up. I know you care for him, but I think we should stay away from him until Buffy gets here."
At the mention of the Slayer's name, Spike became agitated and tied to stand. "No, mustn't let her see..mustn't see her.Hurt the girl.musn't hurt the girl.." He tried once more to stand before he felt back against the wall, panting heavily from the exertion.
"Has he-" Dawn swallowed and tried again. "Is this what you meant by he's not all there?"
"Yeah, he seems kinda loopy to me."
"Yeah, just a little." She turned to Spike. "Spike, can you hear me?" Spike wearily turned toward her voice, but didn't acknowledge her question. She moved a little bit closer to him, Xander trailing behind her elbow. "Can you tell me how you got here?"
"Don't-don't remember.don't want to remember. Want to stop remembering." He put his hands to head. "All I can do is remember. People.people I killed..they won't stop. She won't stop." His voice lowered. "She asked me to stop and I didn't.I hurt.oh God, I hurt her."
"Hurt who, Spike? Who did you hurt?" Dawn asked him.
"I think he's talking about Buffy, Dawn." Xander said quietly. "Oh." Dawn said quietly, not up to thinking of a more in-depth response. "So, what do we do now? I mean look at him. That's not Spike anymore. If it was, he would've noticed me by now. See?" She walked slowly over to him and waved a hand in front of his eyes. "Spike? It's Dawn. Your Nibblet? Remember?" The vampire just continued to stare off into space, utterly silent save a few random self incriminations. She walked back to Xander's side and gestured towards Spike. "See? Nothing. He didn't even respond to me. Whatever's happened the past few months, wherever Spike's been, he's not there anymore. Something's happened to him.something bad."
"Oh I don't know, Dawnie. Having dead boy jr. silenced for a while seems like a blessing to me." At Dawn's dark look, he amended, "Although, it is kinda creepy. Hey! Evil dead! It's Xan.the whelp! Yeah, that's right. The glorified bricklayer's talking to you! Come back and join the.er, un- living!" There was no response. "See, ok, that's creepy. I never thought I'd see the day that I'd miss the random 'bloody hell' and the numerous other phrases that Spike's spits out every so often."
"Yeah, I miss 'piffle.' Not to mention Nibblet." She trailed off sadly.
"I can't say I miss Whelp, but to each their own-" Xander was cut off by the long groan that passed through Spike's lips.
"Spike? Come on, Spike. Talk to us. Tell us what's wrong." Dawn pleaded, rushing to his side.
"Pain.burning.oh God.makeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstop." Spike continued his mantra for a minute, then ended it with a almost too quiet to hear, "Please?" Dawn's heart broke at the tone of his voice, like he would give anything, even his life, just to make his torment end. Her hand reached out to caress the side of his face softly of its own will. Spike's demon rose to the fore and snarled at her, causing her to jerk her hand back in shock. But she had touched him, she had felt.it was impossible.
"Jeez, Dawn! Get away from him!" Xander yelled as he saw Spike snarl at her in his game face. Dawn did as he asked, and turned to face him. Xander's anger at her for being so reckless melted when he saw the look on her face. "Dawn? What's wrong? He didn't bite you, did he? I'm sure he didn't really mean it. It's like you said, he's not really there. It's not him." He tried to comfort her, thinking that she was distraught to see him like this.
"That's not it, Xander. That's not the reason I'm upset." Dawn informed him, the haunted look not leaving her face.
"It's not? Well, then what's wrong?" Xander asked, beginning to get worried himself.
"He's.he's warm." Dawn said quietly.
"Warm? What do you mean he's warm? Warm how? He's not.he's can't be. human.we saw his fangs, remember? He's still a vampire. He can't be warm."
"I felt the side of his face before he snarled at me, Xander. He's definitely warm. What's more, I think he's sick."
TBC
A/N: Damn it all, I was going to have Spike/Buffy interaction in this chapter, I really was, but Xander and Dawn were all like, 'What about us? This may be our only dialog in this whole story, give us a chapter!' What can I say, they were annoyingly insistent. But Willow and Buffy are on their way, so all well be will in the next chapter. I promise. Until then, PLEASE REVIEW!!!!
A Buffy the Vampire Slayer story by Merrie
Disclaimer: They are mine, didn't you know? At least, that's what the little voice in my head tells me. I like that voice.
Summary: Spike is poisoned by a demon out for revenge. Can he convince Buffy to help him before it's too late?
Characters: Spike, Buffy, Willow, Xander, Anya, Dawn and Maximillian Dominus a little OFC I have created.
Author's Note: Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed!! It truly makes my day and really does motivate me to write faster. Again, this story is completely AU after the episode the beginning of Lessons. Also, Willow is back from England earlier than on the show and living with Buffy and Dawn again.
Rating: This story is rated PG-13 for violence and language.
Chapter Five
Xander came to a large room, a huge boiler against one wall, and he noticed the sound got louder. 'Ok, dammit. That still sounded like Spike. If he's been down here the entire time I'm gonna kill him. Wait, no, I'm gonna kill him anyway for what he did to Buffy. I don't know how, exactly since I seemed to be unarmed, but I'm a resourceful guy, right?' His conversations with himself started to get more involved as walked further and further into the room. Rolling his eyes at his stupidity for not thinking to bring a flashlight down with him when he first started this little adventure, he began searching the shelves against the wall for one. Just when he thought he'd have to either give up being able to see and move on, or forget the whole thing and go back out to Dawn, he found one. Flicking the 'on' switch experimentally, he let out a sigh of relief when the room was flooded with bright white light. That relief quickly faded however when the light reflected a pair of golden eyes in the darkness. "Umm, hello?" Xander cursed his voice for being so shaky. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to ok?" 'I just don't know with what. When Xander received no response from the owner of the catlike eyes, he took a deep breath and moved closer to them.
"Don't.deserve..don't deserve the light. Darkness..demon.no light." An eerily familiar voice floated over to him.
"Spike?!" Xander shouted. "If that's you over there your ass is dust!" Xander stormed over to the pair of eyes, too angry at the thought of Spike being back to be afraid. Unwilled, his anger faded when he saw him for the first time. "Good God, Spike.what, what happened to you?" The once proud and cocky vampire now looked like a shell of himself. Taking a deep breath, he moved closer. Spike, well at least it looked like Spike, huddled away from him against a wall. Xander looked over the vampire below him, the light of the flashlight shining off his still mostly bleached hair. 'He's letting his roots show,' he thought with a slight shock. 'Spike, the vainest vampire I've ever met is letting his roots show.' "Um, Spike?"
At the mention of his name, Spike looked up at him wide-eyed, and backed against the wall. Xander held up his hands upon seeing the seeing the vampire's fear. "It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you." After speaking those words, he realized he meant them. 'But what about what he did to Buffy?' "But if you're trying to trick me in any way, you'll be dust before you can say 'bloody hell.'"
"B-blood-bloody hell." Spike whispered in a voice rough from disuse, offering his now bare chest to Xander.
Xander couldn't stop a gasp of shock and horror from passing his lips. Spike's once handsome body, he was secure enough in his masculinity to admit that Spike was indeed handsome, was a patchwork of bloodied abrasions, bruises, and what looked like self-inflicted scratch marks. "Oh God, I um.I-" He eyes locked with Spike's, and what he saw in them would most likely haunt his dreams for quite a while. They were filled with desperation, pain, torment, and above all, a longing for it all to be over. "Spike.I'll uh, you stay here, ok? I'll be right back." With that, he ran out of the room and back up the stairs into the school.
Dawn kept her eyes on the entrance of the school, impatience clear on her face. 'I thought Xander said he wouldn't be very long? It's been like 15 minutes already. What could possibly be so interesting at school?' A thought occurred to her, and her eyes widened. "Oh God, what if something happened to him? Buffy warned me about going to school on the Hellmouth. Why did I let Xander go in there alone?" Just as she was about to call Buffy for some reinforcements, Xander came bursting through the front doors and ran over to her. "Xander? What is it? What's wrong?" Dawn asked, worry etching her features.
"You still got your cell phone, Dawn?" Not waiting for more than a nod from Dawn, he continued. "Use it. Call.Buffy. Tell her.and Willow to get over here right away and meet us in the school's basement."
"The basement? Buffy? Willow? Why-Xander, what's going on?" Dawn stuttered.
"Just call them. Once you've done that, I'll explain everything. I promise." 'I sure hope you're making the right move here, Xander. Maybe having Buffy come wasn't such a good idea after all.' Whatever hesitations he might have had passed as the vision of Spike offering himself up to being staked flashed across his mind. It was a moot point, anyway. Even if he might have changed his mind and asked Buffy not to come, she would speed over here in record time after hearing the worry in Dawn's voice.
Dawn hung up the phone after she reassured Buffy she was uninjured, and looked to Xander for some answers. "So, are you going to tell me why I just freaked Buffy out enough to never let me out of the house again?" She crossed her arms across her chest and attempted to look tough. The slight tremor in her voice ruined the effect, however.
Xander sighed. "I think you're going to have to see him for yourself."
"Him? What are you talking about? I'm going to have to see who for myself? Xander, you're wigging me out."
"I know, and I'm sorry, but I'm a little wigged out myself. Before we go though, let me grab a weapon from the trunk. I-I don't think he'll try and hurt you, but I don't want to take any chances." He opened the trunk of his car and pulled out a cross and a stake, not really intending to use either. He paused a moment and tried to figure out when his life got so complicated. 'Oh yeah, the moment Spike wanted me to stake him.stupid vampire.' He wanted to be angry at him for dispelling his view that the world was black and white. He had been secure in his desire to kill Spike for what he had done to Buffy, but now..now he wasn't sure of anything anymore. He didn't know what had happened to Spike in the last couple of months, but the person he had seen in the basement wasn't the same one who had tried to rape Buffy on that horrible day. Not to mention what happened between him and Anya.he pushed that thought away as well. Things had been strained with his ex-fiancée long before she had slept with Spike. It had been easy to blame Spike for his problems, but now.. Of course, none of he newfound realizations would matter if Buffy decides to stake Spike anyway.
"Willow!" Buffy yelled in the empty kitchen. A minute later, a very flustered looking redhead came running down the stairs.
"Buffy? What's wrong? Xander didn't hit someone else, did he?"
"No, but I just got a call from Dawn at school. She told me that Xander said that you and I need to get over to the high school basement right away."
"What for?" Willow asked, relieved that Xander hadn't hit anyone, but more than a little worried about anything involving Sunnydale High, even if it wasn't the same school than it once was.
"She, or he rather he, didn't say."
"Should we bring weapons?" Willow asked, a worried look crossing her face.
"I don't know, probably. Dawn sounded pretty freaked out and she didn't even really know what was going on. And Hellmouth." She shrugged. "Usually a pretty good cause for worry." "Hey, maybe it'll be just like old times." At Buffy's look, she amended her statement. "Or.not?"
"I'm hoping for not." Buffy said as she pulled an axe out of her weapon's chest. "Are you ready? Xander forgot that I don't drive, again, not to mention that he has the only car, so we'll have to walk." At Willow's nod, the two of them made their way out of the house, running in the direction of the high school.
"Are you going to tell me what this is all about now, Xander? 'Cause hello, we're in the basement and I don't see-" Dawn's eyes widened as she took notice of the slouching figure in the room for the first time. "Spike? Is that-is that you?" She started to move closer to the prone vampire, but Xander put a hand on her shoulder and held her back. "Xander? What are you doing? That's Spike! I want to go to him!"
"I'm not sure he's safe, Dawnie. He was saying some pretty weird things when I tried to talk to him earlier."
"Things? What do you mean? What kinds of things?"
"He wasn't making a whole lot of sense. I don't think he's all there, actually. Not to mention the fact that he's pretty badly beaten up. I know you care for him, but I think we should stay away from him until Buffy gets here."
At the mention of the Slayer's name, Spike became agitated and tied to stand. "No, mustn't let her see..mustn't see her.Hurt the girl.musn't hurt the girl.." He tried once more to stand before he felt back against the wall, panting heavily from the exertion.
"Has he-" Dawn swallowed and tried again. "Is this what you meant by he's not all there?"
"Yeah, he seems kinda loopy to me."
"Yeah, just a little." She turned to Spike. "Spike, can you hear me?" Spike wearily turned toward her voice, but didn't acknowledge her question. She moved a little bit closer to him, Xander trailing behind her elbow. "Can you tell me how you got here?"
"Don't-don't remember.don't want to remember. Want to stop remembering." He put his hands to head. "All I can do is remember. People.people I killed..they won't stop. She won't stop." His voice lowered. "She asked me to stop and I didn't.I hurt.oh God, I hurt her."
"Hurt who, Spike? Who did you hurt?" Dawn asked him.
"I think he's talking about Buffy, Dawn." Xander said quietly. "Oh." Dawn said quietly, not up to thinking of a more in-depth response. "So, what do we do now? I mean look at him. That's not Spike anymore. If it was, he would've noticed me by now. See?" She walked slowly over to him and waved a hand in front of his eyes. "Spike? It's Dawn. Your Nibblet? Remember?" The vampire just continued to stare off into space, utterly silent save a few random self incriminations. She walked back to Xander's side and gestured towards Spike. "See? Nothing. He didn't even respond to me. Whatever's happened the past few months, wherever Spike's been, he's not there anymore. Something's happened to him.something bad."
"Oh I don't know, Dawnie. Having dead boy jr. silenced for a while seems like a blessing to me." At Dawn's dark look, he amended, "Although, it is kinda creepy. Hey! Evil dead! It's Xan.the whelp! Yeah, that's right. The glorified bricklayer's talking to you! Come back and join the.er, un- living!" There was no response. "See, ok, that's creepy. I never thought I'd see the day that I'd miss the random 'bloody hell' and the numerous other phrases that Spike's spits out every so often."
"Yeah, I miss 'piffle.' Not to mention Nibblet." She trailed off sadly.
"I can't say I miss Whelp, but to each their own-" Xander was cut off by the long groan that passed through Spike's lips.
"Spike? Come on, Spike. Talk to us. Tell us what's wrong." Dawn pleaded, rushing to his side.
"Pain.burning.oh God.makeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstop." Spike continued his mantra for a minute, then ended it with a almost too quiet to hear, "Please?" Dawn's heart broke at the tone of his voice, like he would give anything, even his life, just to make his torment end. Her hand reached out to caress the side of his face softly of its own will. Spike's demon rose to the fore and snarled at her, causing her to jerk her hand back in shock. But she had touched him, she had felt.it was impossible.
"Jeez, Dawn! Get away from him!" Xander yelled as he saw Spike snarl at her in his game face. Dawn did as he asked, and turned to face him. Xander's anger at her for being so reckless melted when he saw the look on her face. "Dawn? What's wrong? He didn't bite you, did he? I'm sure he didn't really mean it. It's like you said, he's not really there. It's not him." He tried to comfort her, thinking that she was distraught to see him like this.
"That's not it, Xander. That's not the reason I'm upset." Dawn informed him, the haunted look not leaving her face.
"It's not? Well, then what's wrong?" Xander asked, beginning to get worried himself.
"He's.he's warm." Dawn said quietly.
"Warm? What do you mean he's warm? Warm how? He's not.he's can't be. human.we saw his fangs, remember? He's still a vampire. He can't be warm."
"I felt the side of his face before he snarled at me, Xander. He's definitely warm. What's more, I think he's sick."
TBC
A/N: Damn it all, I was going to have Spike/Buffy interaction in this chapter, I really was, but Xander and Dawn were all like, 'What about us? This may be our only dialog in this whole story, give us a chapter!' What can I say, they were annoyingly insistent. But Willow and Buffy are on their way, so all well be will in the next chapter. I promise. Until then, PLEASE REVIEW!!!!