Reunion Chapter III
June 18, 2004
Buffy marched through the snow. They had given her one of their jackets to replace her torn one. Her GPS was working now. She was following tracks in the snow, a set of tracks that led away from the battle. Others were tracking down the scattered minions of the fallen demon.
The tracks led to a cave entrance. Buffy entered silently, crept forward slowly.
It was dark in the cave. She turned on her pen light. She wouldn't surprise him anyway. He'd seen her, certainly recognized her. He was the one who had thrown the spear. He knew she could never leave well enough alone.
She entered the cave. A note was sitting on a ledge to her left. She picked it up. It said: "Do not say my name, or anyone else's, aloud in this place. Nod if you understand."
She nodded. A voice from the shadows startled her.
"No names."
She shone her penlight at the dark silhouette, and there he was, a finger over his lips. He signaled her, turned and walked deeper into the cave.
--------------------
They went on for some time. The air was warmer here, below ground. That was why bats hibernated in caves. She suppressed the thought. The cave opened up into a wide chamber. Rocks had been moved for seating, and various boxes and items were loosely piled to the side. This was his home. He walked to the far end and turned around to face her.
"No names. Not mine, especially not his, no one. Understand?"
She looked at him questioningly. He continued.
"If certain names are used, even in a whisper, they will be heard. Certain parties are listening awfully hard for any mention of ... well, certain unpopular individuals, especially by ...", he pointed at her, "former colleagues and acquaintances. You don't want them to turn their attention to you, believe me."
She nodded indifferently.
After a moment, he said, "You shouldn't have come here."
"I... well, I was in the neighbourhood, you know, and ..."
He didn't look happy. He fixed a hard look on her. Hostile?
"We parted ways some time ago."
His expression softened.
"But, what the hell, it's good to see you again."
She walked closer to him, so she could see his face clearly.
"I thought you were dead."
"I was." There it was, the beginning of that old Spike smirk.
"You know what I mean." She punched him on the shoulder and gave him a stern look, but he wasn't fooled. She couldn't help smiling. It was good to see him, after all this time. She'd missed him, in her own way.
He held his arms open to her, cocked an eyebrow. She rushed forward and they hugged.
She recovered her composure, pushed him gently away. She had felt it in his hug and now the expression on his face confirmed it. He'd come to terms with the past they shared. They were friends now, just old friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time. The past ... well. Like her, he had moved on.
He motioned for her to sit on a rock draped with an old carpet. She sat down. He leaned against a rock on the opposite side. He looked like a man who needed a smoke.
"You come here looking for me?"
"No, I just kind of stumbled onto the place."
"This place has power. Nothing like the Hellmouth, but it's here, right enough. People avoid this place, or they used to. A lot of hunters and hikers die up here. Freak accidents, wild animal attacks, the weather ... I figured it'd be the perfect place to lay low for a few decades. Then, I kind of just got mixed up in ... well... I never could stay out of trouble."
He stopped, stared straight at her. "Now you, on the other hand, you didn't just wander in here. The people here, they needed you. You're a slayer. You end up going where you're needed."
"I was a slayer. I'm kind of semi-retired now." She sighed. "So I was needed and came here. What's your excuse?"
"Me? I don't know. I'm not sure if ... I'm not sure if I'm really a part of the grand plan. Not like you. Or him. I'm just an extra pawn that ended up on the chessboard. Now we're on the same square."
"You were a dark piece, now you're a light piece."
Spike shrugged. "Still a pawn."
He went over to a box and rummaged for a moment. He pulled out a can of beer and a can of coke, offered them to Buffy. She took the coke. Spike fished out another coke, and they both sipped at their cans for a couple of minutes.
Buffy looked up at him again.
"Spi..." Buffy caught herself, continued. "I heard things about him. Some people say he'd changed, at the end. That he'd become ... well ..."
"Don't listen to that. It's what he wanted them to believe. He had a lot of people fooled. Even me, almost. He was fighting the good fight. Why do you think they came down hard on us?"
"I heard he'd gotten in bed with some big names. Then he double crossed them, had them killed so he could take over. They said he sacrificed ... one of you, her, to get in with them. Even that he'd done away with the rest of his ... old friends at the end. I even heard that he was still alive, that he'd just gone underground to rebuild."
She shivered, from the cold or ...
Spike walked over and sat down beside her.
"I knew him, love. In the old days, and at the end. Trust me on this. You don't need to worry."
Buffy nodded.
"Is he, you know ...?"
Spike sighed. "I don't know. I haven't seen him since that night."
"I flew in about a week after ... to pay my respects."
Spike's look grew distant. She hadn't gone there for him, he knew.
Buffy continued. "Nobody wanted to tell me anything. They just said he was dead, that no one could have survived the attack they threw against him."
Spike's smile returned. "Yeah, well it was a hell of fight."
"So how did you get away?"
"Luck. Fate? I don't know. What we did wasn't anticipated, but the ... organization had contingency plans. When things went down, muscle was standing by. But see, the people who gave a lot of the important orders weren't around anymore. So the attack wasn't coordinated. Part of it was held back at the last minute for the eventual turf wars between the new leaders, the successors of the ones we'd taken down. See, even then, things were starting to unravel for them."
He paused, remembering. "Still, just the four of us, them all coming for us. We knew there was no hope. They didn't need to be organized. We tried to stay together, give them something to remember us by ... Just the four of us. Then three. Hell of a fight. But you see, he ... he'd chosen that spot for a reason. I didn't know it at the time. He'd put a lot of planning into this, had a few surprises for them. Did some damage, bought us some time. But it only made them bring out the big guns."
"Anyway, we took it down to the sewers. He went back for ... for her. Came back without her. He's almost reached me, them snapping at his heels, when he knocks down a support and the roof falls in. Then there was a fire. Don't know if that was planned. I managed to crawl down a pipe into the sewer system. I made it out. Don't know about him. If he made it, he'll be laying low."
He finished his coke, crushed the can in his fingers.
"Just like I'm supposed to, not carrying on the fight here. Got to save it for the future. It'll take decades, maybe centuries for the ... for them to put together an operation like that again. Trust and communication. That was the key. Hard enough to get that between two people."
Spike looked away from Buffy, threw the can against the far wall. It bounced a couple of times, then the cave was silent. After a moment, turned back to her and continued.
"For the big bads ... well, it's even harder. It takes patience. And time." He smiled wryly. "Evil is patient. Sooner or later, they'll put it together again. I'll be there when they do. If I don't get killed doing sonething stupid first."
Buffy looked pensive. "I won't be there. I'm already getting ... well, I'm not ... I'm not going to live forever."
Spike looked away again.
"Long life isn't all it's cracked up to be. There's a price you pay, you know."
He paused, then continued.
"You've done your part. Sometimes your fight's over and it's time to ..."
Buffy interrupted. "Look ... I know. I know."
After a moment, Spike nodded.. "I'll be leaving soon. You'd better get far away too. Certain elements are on the lookout for heros these days. Events are investigated."
He turned to her.
"Watch your step for the next little while. And try to stay out of trouble."
Buffy shrugged and looked innocent.
"Well, you know me."
"Yeah, I do."
June 18, 2004
Buffy marched through the snow. They had given her one of their jackets to replace her torn one. Her GPS was working now. She was following tracks in the snow, a set of tracks that led away from the battle. Others were tracking down the scattered minions of the fallen demon.
The tracks led to a cave entrance. Buffy entered silently, crept forward slowly.
It was dark in the cave. She turned on her pen light. She wouldn't surprise him anyway. He'd seen her, certainly recognized her. He was the one who had thrown the spear. He knew she could never leave well enough alone.
She entered the cave. A note was sitting on a ledge to her left. She picked it up. It said: "Do not say my name, or anyone else's, aloud in this place. Nod if you understand."
She nodded. A voice from the shadows startled her.
"No names."
She shone her penlight at the dark silhouette, and there he was, a finger over his lips. He signaled her, turned and walked deeper into the cave.
--------------------
They went on for some time. The air was warmer here, below ground. That was why bats hibernated in caves. She suppressed the thought. The cave opened up into a wide chamber. Rocks had been moved for seating, and various boxes and items were loosely piled to the side. This was his home. He walked to the far end and turned around to face her.
"No names. Not mine, especially not his, no one. Understand?"
She looked at him questioningly. He continued.
"If certain names are used, even in a whisper, they will be heard. Certain parties are listening awfully hard for any mention of ... well, certain unpopular individuals, especially by ...", he pointed at her, "former colleagues and acquaintances. You don't want them to turn their attention to you, believe me."
She nodded indifferently.
After a moment, he said, "You shouldn't have come here."
"I... well, I was in the neighbourhood, you know, and ..."
He didn't look happy. He fixed a hard look on her. Hostile?
"We parted ways some time ago."
His expression softened.
"But, what the hell, it's good to see you again."
She walked closer to him, so she could see his face clearly.
"I thought you were dead."
"I was." There it was, the beginning of that old Spike smirk.
"You know what I mean." She punched him on the shoulder and gave him a stern look, but he wasn't fooled. She couldn't help smiling. It was good to see him, after all this time. She'd missed him, in her own way.
He held his arms open to her, cocked an eyebrow. She rushed forward and they hugged.
She recovered her composure, pushed him gently away. She had felt it in his hug and now the expression on his face confirmed it. He'd come to terms with the past they shared. They were friends now, just old friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time. The past ... well. Like her, he had moved on.
He motioned for her to sit on a rock draped with an old carpet. She sat down. He leaned against a rock on the opposite side. He looked like a man who needed a smoke.
"You come here looking for me?"
"No, I just kind of stumbled onto the place."
"This place has power. Nothing like the Hellmouth, but it's here, right enough. People avoid this place, or they used to. A lot of hunters and hikers die up here. Freak accidents, wild animal attacks, the weather ... I figured it'd be the perfect place to lay low for a few decades. Then, I kind of just got mixed up in ... well... I never could stay out of trouble."
He stopped, stared straight at her. "Now you, on the other hand, you didn't just wander in here. The people here, they needed you. You're a slayer. You end up going where you're needed."
"I was a slayer. I'm kind of semi-retired now." She sighed. "So I was needed and came here. What's your excuse?"
"Me? I don't know. I'm not sure if ... I'm not sure if I'm really a part of the grand plan. Not like you. Or him. I'm just an extra pawn that ended up on the chessboard. Now we're on the same square."
"You were a dark piece, now you're a light piece."
Spike shrugged. "Still a pawn."
He went over to a box and rummaged for a moment. He pulled out a can of beer and a can of coke, offered them to Buffy. She took the coke. Spike fished out another coke, and they both sipped at their cans for a couple of minutes.
Buffy looked up at him again.
"Spi..." Buffy caught herself, continued. "I heard things about him. Some people say he'd changed, at the end. That he'd become ... well ..."
"Don't listen to that. It's what he wanted them to believe. He had a lot of people fooled. Even me, almost. He was fighting the good fight. Why do you think they came down hard on us?"
"I heard he'd gotten in bed with some big names. Then he double crossed them, had them killed so he could take over. They said he sacrificed ... one of you, her, to get in with them. Even that he'd done away with the rest of his ... old friends at the end. I even heard that he was still alive, that he'd just gone underground to rebuild."
She shivered, from the cold or ...
Spike walked over and sat down beside her.
"I knew him, love. In the old days, and at the end. Trust me on this. You don't need to worry."
Buffy nodded.
"Is he, you know ...?"
Spike sighed. "I don't know. I haven't seen him since that night."
"I flew in about a week after ... to pay my respects."
Spike's look grew distant. She hadn't gone there for him, he knew.
Buffy continued. "Nobody wanted to tell me anything. They just said he was dead, that no one could have survived the attack they threw against him."
Spike's smile returned. "Yeah, well it was a hell of fight."
"So how did you get away?"
"Luck. Fate? I don't know. What we did wasn't anticipated, but the ... organization had contingency plans. When things went down, muscle was standing by. But see, the people who gave a lot of the important orders weren't around anymore. So the attack wasn't coordinated. Part of it was held back at the last minute for the eventual turf wars between the new leaders, the successors of the ones we'd taken down. See, even then, things were starting to unravel for them."
He paused, remembering. "Still, just the four of us, them all coming for us. We knew there was no hope. They didn't need to be organized. We tried to stay together, give them something to remember us by ... Just the four of us. Then three. Hell of a fight. But you see, he ... he'd chosen that spot for a reason. I didn't know it at the time. He'd put a lot of planning into this, had a few surprises for them. Did some damage, bought us some time. But it only made them bring out the big guns."
"Anyway, we took it down to the sewers. He went back for ... for her. Came back without her. He's almost reached me, them snapping at his heels, when he knocks down a support and the roof falls in. Then there was a fire. Don't know if that was planned. I managed to crawl down a pipe into the sewer system. I made it out. Don't know about him. If he made it, he'll be laying low."
He finished his coke, crushed the can in his fingers.
"Just like I'm supposed to, not carrying on the fight here. Got to save it for the future. It'll take decades, maybe centuries for the ... for them to put together an operation like that again. Trust and communication. That was the key. Hard enough to get that between two people."
Spike looked away from Buffy, threw the can against the far wall. It bounced a couple of times, then the cave was silent. After a moment, turned back to her and continued.
"For the big bads ... well, it's even harder. It takes patience. And time." He smiled wryly. "Evil is patient. Sooner or later, they'll put it together again. I'll be there when they do. If I don't get killed doing sonething stupid first."
Buffy looked pensive. "I won't be there. I'm already getting ... well, I'm not ... I'm not going to live forever."
Spike looked away again.
"Long life isn't all it's cracked up to be. There's a price you pay, you know."
He paused, then continued.
"You've done your part. Sometimes your fight's over and it's time to ..."
Buffy interrupted. "Look ... I know. I know."
After a moment, Spike nodded.. "I'll be leaving soon. You'd better get far away too. Certain elements are on the lookout for heros these days. Events are investigated."
He turned to her.
"Watch your step for the next little while. And try to stay out of trouble."
Buffy shrugged and looked innocent.
"Well, you know me."
"Yeah, I do."