Buffy let loose with a flying roundhouse kick to the vampire's chest. He
crashed backwards over a headstone. She leaped over it, and got her feet
swiped out from under her as she landed. She rolled to get away, but the
vampire pinned her and grinned down into her face, it's ugly yellow eyes
fixed on her throat. Buffy plunged the stake in as he bent to bite her, and
vampire dust floated down onto her.
"Ugh. It really can't be good to ingest vampire dust," Buffy muttered to no one in particular. She gave a cough for good measure as she brushed off her coat.
"No, I heard it's really not good for you."
Buffy froze. That voice. Wary, she turned and there stood Spike, bleached blonde hair in disarray, wearing his customary black leather duster. Only thing missing was the smug smile.
"Hello Spike." Buffy felt her heartbeat pick up double-time, and wondered if Spike could hear it.
*** 'God, she looks beautiful. Even coated in vampire dust, she's still beautiful.'
Nervously, Spike withdrew a cigarette, lit it, and inhaled, feeling oddly comforted by the action. Buffy just stood there, staring at him, her face a mix of emotions. He stirred awkwardly. Scenes of him pinning her down raced through his head, her cries for him to stop, the fear in her eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut for a second and then heard her say, "When... when did you get back?"
"I just got here a few minutes ago." It felt like he had never left. She opened her mouth to speak, but something flew at her, taking her down. A second later, Spike went down as well. He snarled, morphing into game face. With a flip, he was upright and pummeling unholy hell on the pale, sickly green demon with four eyes. He launched a sidekick, sending it tumbling over, where he pounced on it. Golden eyes flashing and sparking, razor- sharp fangs extended, Spike pulled a knife from his boot.
The demon squeaked. "The master will be angry!" A second later, Spike plunged the knife into the demon's heart, watching it ooze a weird blackish color. Pulling it back out, and wiping it on the grass, he turned toward Buffy in time to see her slender hands snapping the other demon's neck.
Straightening, Spike grunted, "What the bloody hell was that about? Grimwalts and Turakans hate each other, yet that seemed like a planned attack.
Buffy sighed. "Great. That can't be good." Spike, feeling awkward and his snarky quips miles away said, "Well, looks like the excitement for the night is over. I'm going to head to the crypt, kick out whoever decided to move in."
Buffy, also eager to avoid the weird awkwardness, but feeling compelled said, "Spike. We can't just ignore what happened. You can't come back and expect things to be like they were."
"I understand that, Buffy." He gazed at her, his blue eyes revealing some of his inner turmoil.
"Good. I'll come to you when I'm ready, but for now, I'm asking you to stay away from me." Her mouth was thinned in a firm line and her eyes stayed on his. She didn't think she could bear to listen to him right now. She was too upset.
He nodded. Quickly, they headed off in opposite directions. Spike reached the crypt door and flung it open, prepared to kill whoever'd moved in. No one was there. 'Oh yeah, Clem. He must've kept others away for me. Nice bloke, he is.' Spike dropped onto the sarcophagus, and draped his arm over his eyes, his thoughts flitting around like annoying little birds. He'd been to Africa and back, gone through hell getting his soul again to try to make amends to Buffy. She was understandably wiggy about him, though. He would respect her wishes.
"All I could do was just stand there like a dolt and stare at her. I'm such a buggering fool."
The sun wouldn't be up for a few hours yet, but Spike tried to sleep anyway. I never WAS a normal vampire, after all.
***Buffy slipped by Dawn's room silently, so as not to wake her, got undressed and slipped into bed.
'My God, Spike's back.' She tossed and turned her thoughts jumbled and confused. Why was Spike back? Where did he go? What happened? Buffy groaned and punched her pillow into a better position. The most important question of all, though: Why did I miss him? Soon. She'd know soon enough. Closing her eyes, Buffy finally fell into a restless sleep.
Morning dawned bright and clear. Buffy heard her sister banging around in the kitchen. With a groan and a stretch, Buffy sat up, her eyes landing on the bright green number on her clock – 10:30. Eyes popping open, she practically fell out of bed. Jumping up, she raced to her closet before coming to the realization that it was Saturday. Sighing, she headed downstairs. Dawn was at the stove, attempting to make pancakes, and Xander was also there – sitting at the counter simultaneously keeping an eye on Dawn and teasing her.
"Buffster!" Xander gave her a cheerful smile. "You're looking like a zombie. Rough slayage last night?"
"Hey, Xan. You could say that." She decided to keep the whole Spike being back thing to herself for the time being. Lord knew Xander wouldn't understand, and would probably go kill him without a moment's hesitation. Dawn would be upset and confused.
"So, do my two favorite girls want to Bronze it up tonight?" He snatched a small pancake from the plate, juggling it till it cooled, then quickly bit into it.
"Sure, Xan, I think we could both use a night off." Buffy grabbed a stack of pancakes and started eating. After Xander left, and the breakfast dishes were done, Dawn approached her sister.
"Buffy. You want to tell me what's up? You're being quiet, in the scary way you were last year, and it's freaking me out."
"Sorry Dawnie. I just got tag teamed last night by two demons who normally hate each other."
Dawn raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Ok, that's a little worrisome. I don't really think that's the cause of the worried quietness, though."
Buffy sighed at her sister's perceptiveness. "I can't talk about it right now, Dawn. I need to figure a few things out on my own first."
Dawn looked a little hurt, but stayed quiet. Buffy caught the sale ad at the shoe store in the newspaper Dawn was fiddling with.
"Look, there's a shoe sale at the mall. Why don't we go check it out?" Buffy felt bad for keeping Dawn in the dark about Spike and shoe buying was a way to make them both feel better. They headed off to the mall to indulge themselves in one of their favorite activities.
***Buffy sat at the corner table, smiling as Xander twirled Dawn around on the dance floor. She sipped at her daquiri and fiddled with the little pink umbrella. She turned a bit and caught sight of a familiar blonde head.
Resolutely, she walked up behind him. "Spike."
He turned, his face flickering with all kinds of emotions. "Slayer."
"Can I talk to you?"
He followed her out the back door. Feeling antsy, and steeling up her nerve, she said coolly, "Why exactly are you back here?"
"Buffy... what happened back then is something I regret everyday. I never wanted to hurt you, yet I did. I came back to show you I changed." Spike hesitated a moment, then said, "I got my soul back."
Buffy's mouth gaped open, wide enough to catch flies. If it hadn't been so serious, Spike would've laughed.
"I'm..." Buffy was interrupted by a slimy, slug-like demon. It came straight for her. Spike grabbed it by the tail, and Buffy launched a jump kick at it. Her foot connecting with the slime made a squelchy noise. 'Ew. Stupid, slimy demon.' Buffy resumed punching and kicking the demon. Spike was doing the same on the other side of it.
Spike growled, "Die, you buggering slime bucket." Finally Buffy managed to get her arms around the thick, slimy neck and snap it.
"EW! That was disgusting. I'm going to have to bathe for days." Buffy flicked miserably at a clump of slime attached to her sleeve. Spike sighed, brushing pink goo off his coat.
Buffy looked back at Spike, remembering their conversation. "Spike, I need some time to think, take this all in."
Spike nodded. "You know where to find me." He walked off.
Buffy watched him go, then went back into The Bronze.
*** All Spike could think about was how much he regretted what he'd done to Buffy.
What he needed was a few hours of mind-numbing drunkenness. Spike left to go to Willy's, wondering how so much could change, and yet feel as if nothing had. It was scary, yet oddly comforting. The angel statue perched over a headstone, marked with the name Emily Winslet. The incredibly short walks to anywhere in the town. How the nighttime was always so velvety black and seemed to shroud everything, while the stars were bright and looked like diamonds.
Restless, Spike ordered a shot of whiskey and sat slumped at the bar. He drank it in one gulp, then amused himself by tracing patterns in the condensation on the bar. He ordered a few more and slowly became aware of a conversation nearby, between two fledgling vampires.
"Yeah. I've never seen her, but I know she's the one doing the recruiting," the taller vampire said.
"Well, I've seen her. I peeked in to get a glimpse. She was beautiful. Likes to be called Master." The second smirked at that.
"Her plan is ingenious." The taller vampire chuckled and picked up a pool stick to start a game. Spike felt a flicker of remembrance at the word Master. Suddenly it came to him. The demon that tackled him said something about the Master not being happy. Spike got up and sauntered over to the two pool-playing vampires.
Trying out the friendly tactic first, Spike lit a cigarette and watched the two vamps. "Mind if I play next game?"
The shorter vampire gazed at him with a curious look on his face. The taller vampire nodded. "So, I heard about this Master person. I don't know too much about it, though. Just got back and caught wind of it." Spike drew in the smoke, blowing it out his nose in a lazy stream.
The short vampire continued watching him; it was starting to unnerve Spike a bit. The taller vampire shot a ball into the corner pocket. "The Master is powerful. She's gathering a demon army to work together for her."
"Wow... neat, innit? What's this bird's ultimate goal then?" Spike leaned casually against the wall. The shorter vampire suddenly stopped lining up his shot. "I know you," he said, his gaze hardening, then morphing into game face. "You're Spike! There's talk that you've been working with the Slayer."
With a sigh, Spike stubbed out his cigarette. "Is that so?" The vamp growled, "You're a pet demon. You were legendary, man, and now you're just a pussy-whipped fake, working for HER." Spike snarled and with lightning quick reflexes, flipped the smaller vampire onto his back on top of the pool table. "Watch who you're calling a pussy." He delivered a bone- crunching punch to the vampire's face.
With a howl of rage, the other vampire charged him. "Step on up. Thrashing's for all who want them." Spike smirked, waited till the vamp was close enough, then clothes-lined him. He ducked the broken-nosed vampire's punch, and delivered an uppercut that sent him crashing into the wall, denting it. Recovering, both rushed him at the same time. Spike managed to avoid the one's punch, but the other slugged him in the face, sending him crashing into a table.
"Hey! Take it outside, you guys!" Willy yelled.
The vampires ignored him. Fists were flying, bones were cracking. Spike grabbed the pool stick, turned it sideways, and impaled a vampire on each end. As the dust cleared, other demons itching to join in the violent ruckus caught sight of the blonde vampire's feral grin, bloodied face, and wicked gleaming eyes, and thought better of it. Spike turned, and strode out of the door, his coat swirling around him.
"Ugh. It really can't be good to ingest vampire dust," Buffy muttered to no one in particular. She gave a cough for good measure as she brushed off her coat.
"No, I heard it's really not good for you."
Buffy froze. That voice. Wary, she turned and there stood Spike, bleached blonde hair in disarray, wearing his customary black leather duster. Only thing missing was the smug smile.
"Hello Spike." Buffy felt her heartbeat pick up double-time, and wondered if Spike could hear it.
*** 'God, she looks beautiful. Even coated in vampire dust, she's still beautiful.'
Nervously, Spike withdrew a cigarette, lit it, and inhaled, feeling oddly comforted by the action. Buffy just stood there, staring at him, her face a mix of emotions. He stirred awkwardly. Scenes of him pinning her down raced through his head, her cries for him to stop, the fear in her eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut for a second and then heard her say, "When... when did you get back?"
"I just got here a few minutes ago." It felt like he had never left. She opened her mouth to speak, but something flew at her, taking her down. A second later, Spike went down as well. He snarled, morphing into game face. With a flip, he was upright and pummeling unholy hell on the pale, sickly green demon with four eyes. He launched a sidekick, sending it tumbling over, where he pounced on it. Golden eyes flashing and sparking, razor- sharp fangs extended, Spike pulled a knife from his boot.
The demon squeaked. "The master will be angry!" A second later, Spike plunged the knife into the demon's heart, watching it ooze a weird blackish color. Pulling it back out, and wiping it on the grass, he turned toward Buffy in time to see her slender hands snapping the other demon's neck.
Straightening, Spike grunted, "What the bloody hell was that about? Grimwalts and Turakans hate each other, yet that seemed like a planned attack.
Buffy sighed. "Great. That can't be good." Spike, feeling awkward and his snarky quips miles away said, "Well, looks like the excitement for the night is over. I'm going to head to the crypt, kick out whoever decided to move in."
Buffy, also eager to avoid the weird awkwardness, but feeling compelled said, "Spike. We can't just ignore what happened. You can't come back and expect things to be like they were."
"I understand that, Buffy." He gazed at her, his blue eyes revealing some of his inner turmoil.
"Good. I'll come to you when I'm ready, but for now, I'm asking you to stay away from me." Her mouth was thinned in a firm line and her eyes stayed on his. She didn't think she could bear to listen to him right now. She was too upset.
He nodded. Quickly, they headed off in opposite directions. Spike reached the crypt door and flung it open, prepared to kill whoever'd moved in. No one was there. 'Oh yeah, Clem. He must've kept others away for me. Nice bloke, he is.' Spike dropped onto the sarcophagus, and draped his arm over his eyes, his thoughts flitting around like annoying little birds. He'd been to Africa and back, gone through hell getting his soul again to try to make amends to Buffy. She was understandably wiggy about him, though. He would respect her wishes.
"All I could do was just stand there like a dolt and stare at her. I'm such a buggering fool."
The sun wouldn't be up for a few hours yet, but Spike tried to sleep anyway. I never WAS a normal vampire, after all.
***Buffy slipped by Dawn's room silently, so as not to wake her, got undressed and slipped into bed.
'My God, Spike's back.' She tossed and turned her thoughts jumbled and confused. Why was Spike back? Where did he go? What happened? Buffy groaned and punched her pillow into a better position. The most important question of all, though: Why did I miss him? Soon. She'd know soon enough. Closing her eyes, Buffy finally fell into a restless sleep.
Morning dawned bright and clear. Buffy heard her sister banging around in the kitchen. With a groan and a stretch, Buffy sat up, her eyes landing on the bright green number on her clock – 10:30. Eyes popping open, she practically fell out of bed. Jumping up, she raced to her closet before coming to the realization that it was Saturday. Sighing, she headed downstairs. Dawn was at the stove, attempting to make pancakes, and Xander was also there – sitting at the counter simultaneously keeping an eye on Dawn and teasing her.
"Buffster!" Xander gave her a cheerful smile. "You're looking like a zombie. Rough slayage last night?"
"Hey, Xan. You could say that." She decided to keep the whole Spike being back thing to herself for the time being. Lord knew Xander wouldn't understand, and would probably go kill him without a moment's hesitation. Dawn would be upset and confused.
"So, do my two favorite girls want to Bronze it up tonight?" He snatched a small pancake from the plate, juggling it till it cooled, then quickly bit into it.
"Sure, Xan, I think we could both use a night off." Buffy grabbed a stack of pancakes and started eating. After Xander left, and the breakfast dishes were done, Dawn approached her sister.
"Buffy. You want to tell me what's up? You're being quiet, in the scary way you were last year, and it's freaking me out."
"Sorry Dawnie. I just got tag teamed last night by two demons who normally hate each other."
Dawn raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Ok, that's a little worrisome. I don't really think that's the cause of the worried quietness, though."
Buffy sighed at her sister's perceptiveness. "I can't talk about it right now, Dawn. I need to figure a few things out on my own first."
Dawn looked a little hurt, but stayed quiet. Buffy caught the sale ad at the shoe store in the newspaper Dawn was fiddling with.
"Look, there's a shoe sale at the mall. Why don't we go check it out?" Buffy felt bad for keeping Dawn in the dark about Spike and shoe buying was a way to make them both feel better. They headed off to the mall to indulge themselves in one of their favorite activities.
***Buffy sat at the corner table, smiling as Xander twirled Dawn around on the dance floor. She sipped at her daquiri and fiddled with the little pink umbrella. She turned a bit and caught sight of a familiar blonde head.
Resolutely, she walked up behind him. "Spike."
He turned, his face flickering with all kinds of emotions. "Slayer."
"Can I talk to you?"
He followed her out the back door. Feeling antsy, and steeling up her nerve, she said coolly, "Why exactly are you back here?"
"Buffy... what happened back then is something I regret everyday. I never wanted to hurt you, yet I did. I came back to show you I changed." Spike hesitated a moment, then said, "I got my soul back."
Buffy's mouth gaped open, wide enough to catch flies. If it hadn't been so serious, Spike would've laughed.
"I'm..." Buffy was interrupted by a slimy, slug-like demon. It came straight for her. Spike grabbed it by the tail, and Buffy launched a jump kick at it. Her foot connecting with the slime made a squelchy noise. 'Ew. Stupid, slimy demon.' Buffy resumed punching and kicking the demon. Spike was doing the same on the other side of it.
Spike growled, "Die, you buggering slime bucket." Finally Buffy managed to get her arms around the thick, slimy neck and snap it.
"EW! That was disgusting. I'm going to have to bathe for days." Buffy flicked miserably at a clump of slime attached to her sleeve. Spike sighed, brushing pink goo off his coat.
Buffy looked back at Spike, remembering their conversation. "Spike, I need some time to think, take this all in."
Spike nodded. "You know where to find me." He walked off.
Buffy watched him go, then went back into The Bronze.
*** All Spike could think about was how much he regretted what he'd done to Buffy.
What he needed was a few hours of mind-numbing drunkenness. Spike left to go to Willy's, wondering how so much could change, and yet feel as if nothing had. It was scary, yet oddly comforting. The angel statue perched over a headstone, marked with the name Emily Winslet. The incredibly short walks to anywhere in the town. How the nighttime was always so velvety black and seemed to shroud everything, while the stars were bright and looked like diamonds.
Restless, Spike ordered a shot of whiskey and sat slumped at the bar. He drank it in one gulp, then amused himself by tracing patterns in the condensation on the bar. He ordered a few more and slowly became aware of a conversation nearby, between two fledgling vampires.
"Yeah. I've never seen her, but I know she's the one doing the recruiting," the taller vampire said.
"Well, I've seen her. I peeked in to get a glimpse. She was beautiful. Likes to be called Master." The second smirked at that.
"Her plan is ingenious." The taller vampire chuckled and picked up a pool stick to start a game. Spike felt a flicker of remembrance at the word Master. Suddenly it came to him. The demon that tackled him said something about the Master not being happy. Spike got up and sauntered over to the two pool-playing vampires.
Trying out the friendly tactic first, Spike lit a cigarette and watched the two vamps. "Mind if I play next game?"
The shorter vampire gazed at him with a curious look on his face. The taller vampire nodded. "So, I heard about this Master person. I don't know too much about it, though. Just got back and caught wind of it." Spike drew in the smoke, blowing it out his nose in a lazy stream.
The short vampire continued watching him; it was starting to unnerve Spike a bit. The taller vampire shot a ball into the corner pocket. "The Master is powerful. She's gathering a demon army to work together for her."
"Wow... neat, innit? What's this bird's ultimate goal then?" Spike leaned casually against the wall. The shorter vampire suddenly stopped lining up his shot. "I know you," he said, his gaze hardening, then morphing into game face. "You're Spike! There's talk that you've been working with the Slayer."
With a sigh, Spike stubbed out his cigarette. "Is that so?" The vamp growled, "You're a pet demon. You were legendary, man, and now you're just a pussy-whipped fake, working for HER." Spike snarled and with lightning quick reflexes, flipped the smaller vampire onto his back on top of the pool table. "Watch who you're calling a pussy." He delivered a bone- crunching punch to the vampire's face.
With a howl of rage, the other vampire charged him. "Step on up. Thrashing's for all who want them." Spike smirked, waited till the vamp was close enough, then clothes-lined him. He ducked the broken-nosed vampire's punch, and delivered an uppercut that sent him crashing into the wall, denting it. Recovering, both rushed him at the same time. Spike managed to avoid the one's punch, but the other slugged him in the face, sending him crashing into a table.
"Hey! Take it outside, you guys!" Willy yelled.
The vampires ignored him. Fists were flying, bones were cracking. Spike grabbed the pool stick, turned it sideways, and impaled a vampire on each end. As the dust cleared, other demons itching to join in the violent ruckus caught sight of the blonde vampire's feral grin, bloodied face, and wicked gleaming eyes, and thought better of it. Spike turned, and strode out of the door, his coat swirling around him.