Spike makes his play for Buffy. And for Angelus.
Spike was looking through the weapons chest Xander had built for Buffy. "Stakes, lower left," Xander explained. It was a very orderly weapons chest. Spike grabbed a bunch, sorted through them, and picked the smallest stake.
"Why the tiny one?," Xander asked.
"I figured it was appropriate for Angel," Spike responded, knowing Xander would appreciated this line. The real reason he picked the smallest stake was because it would be the easiest to conceal. After all, Angelus couldn't be allowed to suspect a thing.
"So Willow, Tara, you girls coming along with the gang?," Spike asked.
They snickered. "Why would we come along?," Tara asked.
"Yeah. What good would we be in a fight?," Willow asked. Spike was surprised. In his dimension, that had never stopped them from accompanying Buffy.
"You two do help Buffy out, right?," Spike asked.
"Oh, absolutely," Tara answered. "W-w-with magic."
"Yeah. We do protection spells, locator spells, binding spells. Fun stuff like that," Willow explained.
"We were, actually, heading up to bed now," Tara noted with a bashful smile. "Good luck with your mission," Tara told Spike.
"Maybe if everything goes well you can hang out with us tomorrow," Willow added. Tara looked at Willow scoldingly. She thought Willow was telling Spike she believed he probably was going to die. Xander didn't like Willow's comment for the opposite reason. He didn't want Spike to stay around and further threaten his alpha male status.
Before leaving, Xander checked the voice mail. He had a message from work, and had go upstairs to make a call before they left. Spike was glad. Finally, he was alone with Buffy.
"It must be tough for you, being the Slayer all these years. Night in, night out, for thousands of nights. I can't imagine the strain."
"I gave up on complaining and feeling sorry for myself a long time ago," Buffy answered. Coincidentally, if Spike had done likewise a few months ago, he wouldn't be in this dimension.
"I gather that having your friends around also helps. Moral support and all."
"Wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them."
"And Xander, he helps I'm sure. I get the impression he goes out when you fight – like now, for instance. Is he a fighter?" Now Spike was getting to the point.
Buffy laughed a little. Spike was delighted. "Xander's not a fighter. I mean, he fights. At least he tries to. But that's not why I need him. And it's certainly not why I love him. He's my rock. He supports me. Emotionally and literally, since he's the one with the job who pays the bills so I can concentrate on saving the world. But it's a lot more than that. Without him I'd have cracked up a long time ago." Spike observed that everything she said about lover-Xander could have been said about friend-Xander in the other dimension.
"Sounds like the greatest guy in the world," Spike offered charitably. The purpose of this line was two-fold – to make it appear Spike respected Xander and was not moving in on Buffy, and to make Buffy ask herself if Xander really was the world's greatest guy, because Spike knew the answer would be an emphatic NO. Then he made his move. "From what I've heard, you've been through an awful lot, to hell and back. I don't think any Slayer has survived and persevered as long as you have. Ever. Your strength, your heart, your brilliance, that's what brought me here. You're what inspired me to fight evil. Otherwise I'd probably still be wallowing in my own guilt and self-loathing." Here Spike was being truthful, although he was also plagiarizing a lot from Angel's history.
Buffy was flattered and a bit disturbed by the effusive praise. "Wow, gee, thank you," she responded warily. "How exactly is it that you know so much about me?"
"I've just a lot of things from a lot of people. Plus a few demons. They all make the same comments. That you never give up in the face of impossible odds, that you always find a way to win, that if someone has you in their corner they can't lose."
"There are a lot of dead people who might disagree with you on that," Buffy commented pessimistically.
"Don't say that. Think of all the people you saved. Thousands, millions perhaps. And don't let Angelus piss on your triumphs. He's a cockroach. All he knows how to do is survive. The bugger lives by trickery, so he'll die by trickery. And so long as you've got my back, I don't see how I could go wrong."
"You haven't been doing this very long, have you?," Buffy asked mockingly. "You know what the giveaway is? The confidence. That's what will get you killed."
"Confidence, my dear, is what brought me back to life," Spike responded emphatically. "Confidence is why I have a soul. It's why my heart beats. It's why in an hour you'll be able to fit your nemesis in a dustpan. Buffy, this town, it's wrong. It's dark and gloomy and it doesn't have to be this way, even if it is on the Hellmouth. It can be better. We can make it better."
Xander came down the stairs. "Okay, let's roll," he said as he grabbed his keys and a large ax. They went out to the car and took off. Xander driving, Buffy riding shotgun, Spike in the back. Spike thought of something on the way.
"Buffy, do you have any, how shall I put this – reservations – about staking Dawn, she being your sister and all?"
"Dawn wasn't my sister," Buffy responded.
"But I thought, or I heard, you and her -,"
"It was a trick. Someone messed with our minds and made us believe she had been here all along. I don't know what she was. But she wasn't mine, and she wasn't my mother's. She was, I don't know, alien, I guess." Spike figured Dawn must have been changed before Buffy had time to bond with her.
"Okay then. That's good. Cordelia will stand up and fight. But with you busy killing Cordy, Dawn might try to escape. Xander and I can try to run her down, make sure we finish them all off."
"I don't see Dawn as much of a threat on her own," Xander offered.
"She's the least of my worries," Buffy added. She was the biggest of Spike's worries, for reasons Buffy and Xander could not even begin to comprehend. Xander and Buffy wondered why Spike was looking past Angelus, since neither of them believed he could even pull that part of the plan off.
Xander parked on the street near the mansion. The three of them walked up the long driveway. When they got close, Spike bid farewell. "Remember, wait for the signal."
Buffy grabbed his hand. "Good luck, Spike," she told him. He stared into her eyes. Inside, Spike was beaming, because now he knew he had made an impression. He knew that she wanted to believe in him. Spike walked up to the front door.
Buffy turned to Xander. "Might as well wish him luck. Like you said, it's his funeral."
Spike quickly got back into character. He burst in through the front door, which faced south. At the north end of the great hall, Angelus and Cordy were reclined. Angelus's shirt was open. Cordy was rubbing his stomach. Her jacket was off, as was his. They both looked very satiated. To Spike's right, at the east end of the room, sat Dawny. Her jacket was also off. She had shackled a strapping young college boy to the wall, stripped him down to his waist, and put a ball gag in his mouth. She was torturing him, burning his flesh with the flame from a candle. All the while she was humming some pretty little melody to herself. It was an absolutely bone-chilling sight. But Spike had to keep in character. He believed he had one thing going for him – Angelus would never suspect that he was human, since the idea of a vampire returning to human form was patently ludicrous.
"I took one look at this villa, and said, This must be the place Angelus calls home.' I knew nothing else in this dinky town could live up to your standards. So this is your castle. I like it. Already starting to feel like home. Speaking of which -" He looked over at Dawny, feigning interest.
"Actually Spike, she doesn't like to be disturbed when she's in the moment,'" Angelus told him.
"A woman who's serious about her work. I like that," Spike responded. He walked past Angelus and Cordy. They weren't looking at him. He quickly pulled the stake out of his pocket and placed it on top of the mantle. Then he walked back in front of them.
"Have you killed the Slayer yet?," Cordy asked.
"It's the weirdest thing. Never seen anything like it. She ran away from me. I tried to fight her, and she fled. Hid out in her house with what I guess was her boyfriend. And talk about a bloody loser! I mean, if that's who she's taking it from, I feel sorry for the lass."
"Sounds like you met Xander," Cordy told Spike.
"Definitely got the loser part right," Angelus added. "And to think, back when Cordy was human, she had a crush on that sap!"
"Did not!," Cordy angrily retorted.
"I saw the way you two went at it," Angelus responded. "If I didn't save you, who knows what might have happened."
"You've got a big mouth for a vampire who was Slayer-whipped," Cordy shot back.
Spike was going to have his fun. "You? The Slayer? That Slayer! Angelus, I'm sorry old sport, but I thought you had standards." Spike started laughing.
"He was like her slave. It was so pathetic," Cordy told Spike. "She practically had him on a a leash."
"Bite you tongue, young lady," Angelus replied.
"Bite it for me," Cordy playfully answered. He did just that. They started kissing in the gross, overwrought way vampires tend to do. Spike couldn't take it. He turned his head to the side. But then he saw Dawny cutting into the man's flesh with her fingernails and licking up the streams of blood. That was even worse.
Angelus noticed Spike noticing Dawny. "You definitely do have a thing for girls I've sired."
"What can I say? You've got smashing taste in women," Spike responded. "I think I'm going to like it here with you three. Specially after I bag that Slayer. She can't hide forever. Tell me, would you like me to kill her boy, or leave him for you?"
"Let him live," Angelus answered. "He's not worth the effort."
"By the way Angelus, have I mentioned how great it is to have you back in the game," Spike told him, buttering up his prey. "And your love, she looks like quite the catch. I take it you're teaching her well."
"Oh, Cordy's way beyond that," Angelus gushed. "Five years old, yet already nearly as vicious as Darla at her peak. And she's only getting better."
"Topping Darla. That would be quite an achievement," Spike replied. "You must be very proud."
"I'm in awe of my baby," Angelus gushed again. "It's not just the killing. It's the creativity. She's a true artist. So much inspiration. Sometimes I have trouble just keeping up."
"You don't want me to slow down, do you baby?," Cordy asked seductively.
"You know that's the last thing I want," Angelus responded. "When you're out there, hunting, it's like watching a cheetah run down gazelle after gazelle. You can't imagine what that does for me."
"Why don't you show me?," Cordy responded.They looked at each other hungrily. Angelus started kissing Cordy's neck. She moaned. Spike realized they were stuck at that stage of a relationship when the two people don't even bother to notice those around them. It was quite stomach-turning, they way they fawned over and groped one another. But Spike had to admit that they seemed quite compatible. Wouldn't that make for an awkward moment the next time he saw them back in his world. Provided he could get back.
Meanwhile, Dawny had bitten into and drained the frat boy she had so calmy yet assiduously tortured. She snuck up on Spike from behind and came at him from the left. She licked his neck from shoulder blade to ear, then bit his earlobe, pulled it out a little ways, let go and watched it snap back. "Hey lover," she told him with a smile.
Spike had to stay in character. He caressed her hair and pretended he was as interested in her as she was in him. "Hello gorgeous," he replied with a roguish smile. Dawny looked ready to devour him. Spike knew his window of opportunity was fast disappearing. Dawny took a few steps back from Spike and towards Angelus and Cordy, all the time giving Spike a rather blatant come-hither look.
Angelus sat up. "I think you'll find my precious Dawny to be a more than adequate replacement for Drusilla. Trust me, she's just as wicked, and a whole lot more playful." Angelus ran his left hand down the back of Dawny's right leg. He had a self-satisfied debauched expression Spike had seen on Angelus's face before. But in this context, with regards to Dawn, it was just sickening. Spike also noticed Dawny's expression. She looked bored, and a little annoyed, with Angelus's affections. Evidently Angelus enjoyed her far more than she enjoyed him.
"Can't wait to find out for myself," Spike answered. He looked at Dawny. She looked at him. "Ever since we met, I can't stop thinking about you. You're under my skin, crawling inside me. In my blood." Dawny was on cloud nine. The man she desired my than anyone else in the world appeared to feel the same way about her. Spike was kind of telling the truth. He hadn't been able to get Dawny out of his mind because she frightened him so.
Angelus and Cordy stood up, started moving around. Spike knew this was his moment. He looked around the room. "I'll tell you why I like my new home. It's got style. And dignity. Just like you, Angelus. Could use some sprucing up, of course. A little decorating, some furniture. Maybe a new rug. I'm going to love it here. The four of us – together – we'll drink this town dry. Lay waste to the land. Bloody beautiful. Like a Goya canvas come to life." Spike knew the painting reference would touch Angelus. Problem was, Spike was starting to convince himself. If he were a vampire (unchipped), this would be perfect.
Now came the part where Spike would praise Angelus before burying him. "Angelus, mate, I have a confession to make. I missed you this past century. I know it sounds a wee bit corny, but you were kind of like a father to me. Granted, I've done a lot of growing up since we last parted ways. But you, you haven't changed, praise the Devil."
Spike looked around the room. He ran his hand along the top of the mantle while Angelus looked at Cordy, palmed the stake in his right hand, and put that hand against his leg, concealing the stake. He slowly moved towards Angelus and smiled. "It's like we never parted. You're just as inspiring. Just as devious. Just as dashing. And just as stupid." With that Spike shoved the stake home, leaving it lodged in Angelus's chest. He never had a chance to defend himself.
Spike stepped back. Angelus looked at his chest. He put his left hand to his heart, and held his right hand out to Spike. "Et tu, William?," he asked, still stunned by this twist of fate.
"You're supposed to say that when somebody stabs you in the BACK, you thick-headed moron!," Spike taunted. Just standing there, watching Angelus come to terms with his demise, make Spike feel like a god. This was just how he felt when he killed his two Slayers.
Cordy and Dawny are too stunned to move. Angelus, ever the drama queen, was going to have a long death scene, at least as vampires go. He kept his left hand at his heart, and put his right hand to his forehead, running his fingers through his hair. He looked anguished. "MEHR LICHT," Angelus called out before disintegrating right in front of Spike's glowing eyes. It was such a beautiful sight.
"Mehr Licht" was German for "More Light." These were the last words spoken by Goethe, whose most famous work was about a man who sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for eternal life. How fitting. Even better, "more light" was such an poignantly ironic epitaph for a vampire, since they are killed by sunlight. It was downright poetic. Spike had to hand it to Angelus. He went out with far more style than most.
Once Angelus had turned to dust, Spike turned around, grabbed Dawny by the arm and ran with her into another room. Cordy shrieked. Buffy knew this was her signal. She kicked open the door. Xander charged in with his ax. He swung for Cordy. She grabbed the ax, grabbed Xander, and threw him headfirst into the west wall. He slumped to the floor, unconscious.
Cordy stood on the north side of the room, Buffy on the south side. Cordy pointed at Xander. "Look at your loser boyfriend," she taunted.
Buffy pointed to the pile of dust on the floor. "Look at yours," she retorted. She socked Cordy with a right hook. Cordy went all bumpy. She cold-cocked Buffy with a right uppercut.
Buffy flew back, crashing into the south wall. She tumbled to the ground but quickly rose. "Bring it on, blondie!," Cordy beckoned.