A/N: See chapter one for disclaimer, rating, and notes.
A/N+1: Here comes the Spuffy, just might not be what you're all expecting. And for those of you eagerly awaiting the next chapter(s), please don't get mad at the next chapter or two. They'll be long, but I'm afraid of the people trying to kill me after the shit I put these poor people through. Sorry, but trust me. That's all I'm gonna say.
Title/Lyrics: "Shimmer", from Fuel. Spike doesn't own the rights, and neither do I, although we'll both use it to effect.
*******
"She calls me from the cold,
just when I was lone and feeling short of stable.
All that she intends,
and all she keeps in side isn't on the label.
She says she's ashamed, can she take me for a while.
Can I be a friend, we'll forget the past, but maybe I'm not able.
And I break at the bend.
Here and now, will we ever be again.
'Cause I have found that all that shimmers in this world is sure to fade, away, again.
She drinks to champagne dreams,
strawberry surpise,
pink linen on white paper,
lavender and cream,
fields of butterflies,
reality escapes us.
She says that love is for fools that fall behind.
And I'm somewhere between, never really knowing a killer from a savior.
And I break at the bend,
Well, here and know, will we ever be again.
And I have found, all that shimmers in this world is sure to fade, away, again.
To far away for me to hold, to far away, no…
To far away for me to hold, to far away, no…"
Needless to say, I was a little surprised to see to see Spike playing a guitar on my back porch. He sang softly, his nimble fingers fairly dancing on the strings. I smiled softly as she remembered the song and sang the last few lines with him. He threw a grin at me over his shoulder as he finished the last few cords.
"Like it, pet?" he drawled, his eyes dancing as they roamed up and down my body. God, I loved when he did that. Yup, thought of 'love' and 'him' as in 'Spike' in the same thought. A run on thought at that. Hmm.... Spike grin 9.9B again.
"Yes," I replied, a little breathlessly. "Why were you playing that song?"
"Reminds me a bit too much of you, luv."
The truth of what he said hit a bit too close to home for me. I mean, I had been in a screwed up place for a while. Yea, I treated him badly. I felt sorry, and wanted to apologize so badly. I opened my mouth to do just that, but he moved with his quick, fluid grace. One finger stopped me from talking, first by pressing against my lips, then by tracing them with soft, feathered touches.
"I understand, Buffy," his voice was so soft, so full of love. "We've got work to do, and then we'll talk."
I guess my tear was enough of an answer, 'cause I couldn't talk even if I wanted too. Dawn was still missing, and here I was, thinking about making Spike scream my name. I felt bad; I felt lost. He was the only thing that made sense anymore, and that not by much. All I could think about a second later was the feel of his lips on mine, my hands on his back, pulling me closer. God, I wanted him.
He broke the kiss and turned me around, guiding me inside to where the rest of the group was gathering. With all the weapons we had accumulated over the last twelve hours, it looked like we were going to war. And in a way, we were.
*****
"You understand how to use that?" Michael asked Xander as he cleaned and oiled every piece of the M-16 on the table.
"I'm the one who put it at parade rest, wasn't I?" Xander replied, his voice cold. "I'll deal. You guys just worry about keeping the fuckers down for good once I shot them."
"Not a problem," Michael said, sliding the thin chainmail hauberk on. "Faith, Willow, you almost ready?"
"Yes," Willow answered first, her voice calmer than expected. She wore a belt with her jeans and sweater, and pouches hung from it. Each carried the spell components that she needed to counter some of the Necromancer's spells. "This is going to be hard, but I'm sure I'm up to it."
"Let's roll," Faith said, checking the knives strapped to her belt and boots.
"So, we find where he is yet?" Buffy asked as she walked in, followed by Spike and his guitar.
"Same place Glory was last year," Xander said as he began quickly assembling the rifle. "I trailed some of his followers there about an hour ago, and Dawn was at the top of the construction."
Faith shivered visibly, but said nothing as Spike and Buffy strapped swords to their backs. She was still afraid of heights, mainly due to her fight with Buffy, and following coma. Swallowing her fear, she gripped Michael's hand.
"Spike, Faith," Michael began, "You'll ride with me. Xander, Willow, and Buffy, take Xander's truck."
"Plan of action," Buffy asked, her tone that of General Buffy. Damn anyone who got in her way.
"Xander will take shots at anything in the way, while Spike and I will handle anything that bullets can't hurt. We'll clear a path for the ladies," this he said with a cold grin, "so you can get to Dawn. We'll follow up when we can."
"This fucker is going to pay for messing with my family," Buffy declared, and received everyone's agreeing nod as they strode out the front door, still on one hinge from the Council's earlier visitors.
Let loose the hounds of war indeed.
*****
"You really shouldn't cry," the cloaked man said, high above the streets of Sunnydale. Dawn couldn't hold back her tears. She almost died here, and lost her sister her. This was a place of pain for her. And now, she was being threatened again.
"She'll stop you," she said between sobs. "She always wins."
"Perhaps," the man said, "But she's not the one I'd have to worry about, is it?" His voice was like dry leaves on pavement. "And I'll have a small surprise for the son James." He approached her, a dagger appearing out of the folds of his cloak. Dawn wanted to scream, tried to, but his magic held her silent and still.
"Just a prick," he said, poking the tip of her finger. A small drop of her blood hung from the tip of the dagger as he waved it into the air, his voice rising in mystic incantation. Slowly, a swirl of red began to form in the air about ten feet from the end of the girders.
"Glory," the man said derisively, "was an amateur, and a fool. There was no need to kill you, or hurt you as badly as she did." He glanced down at her, his glowing red eyes the only thing she saw beneath the cowl of the robe. "Unfortunately, it will take the sacrifice of one who carries your blood to close."
Freed from his magics but not the chains, Dawn could do nothing but cry as the portal opened.
