A/N: Apologies to all my readers. This chapter was really hard to right. Not because of writer's block. I know where I want to go with this story, and how to get there. It's just, this chapter and the next chapter are going to be hard to right for me. I hate copying the show this much, but it must be done. I'll try and cut down, but we all need to watch how William interacts in these key sequences. For shame, anyone who reads this without reviewing... Oh yeah, a lot of this chapter is copied. It also might be a bit disjointed for anybody who hasn't seen the episode 5.20:Spiral
Disclaimer: You know what? No disclaimer. You just try and sue me Joss! JUST TRY IT!
Last time, on Crushed: Even though injured, William and Spike fought. Spike made fun of William's insecurities. Dawn spoke to 'the boys'. Spike and William fought over what they should watch on TV. Spike's dirty little secret was paraded around; that he was still bitter over Cecily's rejection. The three heard about Tara getting brainsucked.
On the run
"A-and then whoosh! All of a sudden Glory's standing right there in front of us, all skanky and blonde and thinkin' she's all that just 'cause some bumpy heads kiss her stinky feet ... She does have nice feet." Dawn shook her head, forgetting the quiet tangent, and continued to fill in the group what had happened earlier in the day. "A-and she's comin' right at us, and- Buffy's just standing there not even blinking, like 'Bring it on,' and then, wham!" One small fist slammed into the other, making a slapping sound. "Hell-bitch in orbit".
"Go, Buff!" Xander inserted in enthusiasm. His pleasure was mirrored on the faces of almost everyone in the room. Only Dawn, Buffy and Tara didn't show the same relief as all the others.
"I knew you'd best Glory eventually" Giles rambled, pleased that his Slayer had finally bested the God. William was not so sure. He looked at Buffy and at Dawn, and they did not look happy. "I mean all-all our years of training-"
"A truck hit her." Buffy stated, emotionless. She continued to stare out of the window. William felt a sudden surge of sympathy for Buffy. She felt useless. He knew exactly what that was like, only she didn't deserve it. She was better than William, better than a lot of people. She was a hero. Even if she was only a girl.
"Oh." Giles' disappointment at having that hope cruelly torn away was blatantly obvious to everyone. Well, almost everyone.
"You threw it at her?" Anya asked guilelessly, completely missing out on the sudden lack of cheer in the room.
"Well, no. She more kind of waited for it to hit Glory." Dawn had a very disappointed look on her face that she had nothing better to say about the sister who saved her life. Her eyes met with William's and he gave her small smile. "Uh, but then Buffy ran really fast and we got away." the teenager declared with pleased triumph, having found something good to say about her sister.
"I don't know how we got away. That truck couldn't have slowed her down for more than a second." Buffy stated in a quietly confused voice. She had an air of defeat around her that William had never seen, never expected to see around the Slayer. She just seemed so strong.
"Well, how isn't important, all that matters is that the two of you are safe." Giles assured her Watcher.
William had noted he did that a lot. Giles was sort of a father figure for the younger people, or so William imagined. Giles was the sort of man William always hoped he would become. Dignified, wise. Giles was the man William would have wanted as a father.
"Safe? We've barely been able to manage not getting seriously dead every time we've crossed paths with Glory. Now that she knows that Dawn is the key?" Buffy raged. Both Giles and Dawn looked to the ground, shamed. Everyone else in the room sank back into their seats.
"There must be something in the Book of Tarnis that we've missed, something we can use against Glory..." the Watcher attempted to ease his Slayer's load, and failed. Buggy turned to look out the window again.
"Piano!" Anya exclaimed loudly. Everyone in the room, excluding Tara, turned and stared at the odd girl. William had to half spin in his seat to do so, and regretted his haste immediately, as his ribs pulled sharply. He shrugged it off with a grimace.
"Because that's what we used to kill that big demon that one time!" Xander exclaimed, caught up in his girlfriends excitement. He paused when everyone in the room looked at him in confusion. "No wait, that-that was a rocket launcher. Ahn, what are you talking about?"
"We should drop a piano on her." When everyone continued to stare at her incredulously, she continued, "Well, it always works for that creepy cartoon rabbit when he's running from that nice man with the speech impediment."
"Yes, or perhaps we could paint a convincing tunnel on the side of a mountain." Giles replied in a dry tone. "Let's just keep thinking, everyone." He looked to Buffy. "Perhaps we should reassemble at the magic shop, see if there's anything-"
"We can't fight her." Buffy kept looking out the window as she made this quiet, certain declaration.
"W-well not yet, no, but-"
"No, not ever. She's too strong, Giles. We're not gonna win this with, with stakes, or spells, or pulling out some uranium power core. She's a god and she's coming for us. So let's just not be here when she starts knocking." Everyone looked at Buffy in shock.
"Run Away?" Everyone's head turned to Anya. It reminded William of a tennis match he had seen on the telly the other day, the crowd changing which way they're facing at every interval. "Finally, a sensible plan."
"That's not what she meant." Xander exclaimed. "Is it?"
"Well, we can't stay here! She'll just kill us off one by one until there's no one left standing between her and Dawn."
"Buffy, we all understand the severity of the situation, but there must be another way." Giles attempted to calm Buffy, to let her know he would be supporting her to the end.
"No. We stay, we die. Show of hands for that option." Buffy looked around the room, noting the subdued expressions on everyone's face. "All right. Nobody goes home, nobody tells anybody we're leaving. Just pack up whatever supplies we need and that's it, we're gone."
"Cool. Don't have to study for that Geometry test." Dawn said in a weak attempt to be positive. It was obvious to anyone who was paying attention, which a quick glance assured William he was the only one who was doing so, but Dawn blamed herself for this. For uprooting everyone's life.
"What about wheels? I don't think everybody's gonna fit in the Xandermobile." Xander asked in a similar tone, hating how defeated his friend was. Hating having no way to help.
"Just get your stuff together. I'll handle the rest." Buffy said, her confident voice belied by the uneasy gaze out of the window.
Spike sat on the edge of the uncomfortable seat in the Winnebago. He'd been surprised when Buffy had told him that she wanted to run, but He had immediately offered his services.
Sadly, she had turned him down. She wanted to take all the bloody Scoobies. He still thought it would have been smarter to just grab the Porsche he had planned on stealing. There would have been enough room for him, Buffy and the little Bit.
"I shoulda nicked that Porsche I had my eye on. Just enough room for you me and big sis." he informed Dawn, who sat across from him. He half tilted his head, to see Xander and his human half staring at him with disgust, despite their motion sickness. "What?"
"Would you give it a rest or..." Xander trailed off with an uncomfortable half burp sound, which was mimicked by William. They both looked sallow and ill. Spike smirked at the pair on his right.
"Or what? You gonna toss your cookies on my shoes?"
"Or you can be Undead Man Walking. See how fast you can hitch a ride with a flaming thumb." Xander stated in an oddly determined but very sick tone. William gave an uncertain nod of agreement, then turned slightly green as it emphasised the lurching of the unstable Winnebago.
"Fine..." Spike muttered. He looked at the other people in his compartment. The Bit sat across from him, next to Red and her witch, who was playing with the blinds on the window. Next along was the demon girl, who was fussing over the whelp, who looked just as sick as his human half. "Pansies..." he muttered, looking at the poorly young men.
Xander glared at Spike, an expression Spike felt was ruined by the low pitch pained whine that was emanating from the boy. He stumbled towards the driver's seat.
"That guy is blood-sucking the last nerve right out of me." He complained to Giles, as the elder man tried to get the Winnebago moving as fast and as far as he could.
"Well, Buffy has a point." Giles admitted grudgingly. "In a confrontation, Spike may prove... Useful." The Watcher's mouth twisted with distaste at the final word. Spike had been nothing but trouble from day one, but he did occasionally prove useful.
"I don't know if Buffy's thinking too clear on that one. Or anything else right now. I've never seen her so..." the young man trailed off, at a loss, as he looked towards the bedroom part of the mobile home, where Buffy had secluded herself.
"She's been through more than her fair share of late. She just needs a chance to catch her breath. She'll be alright."
"Yeah, she'll... Yeah." Xander trailed off, uncomfortable.
Spike's lip curled in disgust at the two men now behind him. They had no faith in the Slayer. He'd been a much badder Big Bad than this Glory bint, and the Slayer had beaten him time and again. All she needed was a little time to regroup, then-
"Aargh!" Spike screamed, and hurled himself away from his seat, gripping his hand. Tara burst into tears while Willow tried to soothe her. Spike had not expected the brain sucked girl to force a gap in between the blinds, letting the sunlight in.
"I'm sorry, she didn't mean to, she doesn't know what she's..." Willow babbled, her worry switching back and forth between the burnt vampire and her still whimpering girlfriend.
"We know." Dawn assured her quietly. Spike forced a grin on his face.
"No biggie." He bent slightly and looked at Tara. "Look, the skin's already stopped smoking. You go ahead and play peek-a-boo with Mr. Sunshine all you like. Keeps the ride from getting boring."
Spike sank to the floor, away from the window, as Tara went back to playing with the blind and Xander returned to his seat. Spike looked up from his reddened hand to see both Dawn and William giving him the same look, the one that said "I-knew-you-weren't-as-bad-as-you-say-you-are", even if William's was much less focused due to his motion sickness.
Spike growled low in his throat. He was too bad. Just didn't want to sit here listening to the crazy witch scream and cry because the couldn't open the bloody blinds. Spike was a master vampire, albeit a chipped one, and he would do as he bloody well pleased, and if he took the only action he could to stop the chit from wailing in his ears, that was perfectly evil. Entirely selfish motive. No sympathy for one of the two Scoobies who didn't hate him on principal, and Dawn hardly counted as a Scooby as she was just the Slayer's sister.
Spike's internal ranting [he was not brooding] was cut short as both Buffy and Dawn came hurrying out of the back room they'd been in. Spike blinked. He hadn't even seen Dawn leave. He'd have to be careful about that in future. He got a second shock.
"Horsies!" Tara squealed softly, looking out the window. Willow took a quick glance, then pulled her lover away from the window as an arrow burst through the artificial wall that made the sides of the Winnebago.
"Weapons?" Giles asked suddenly, his training as a Watcher setting him up to try and organise the civilians to help his Slayer. Spike gave him a look of the utmost disgust.
"Hello? You're driving one!" He exclaimed sharply.
"Don't hit the horsies!" Willow wailed, her gentle nature shining through yet again. It still annoyed Spike as much today as it did when she had been on and on about saving the bloody Indian last year at Thanksgiving.
"We won't!" Buffy assured her loudly. Spike nearly groaned. Then he felt very thankful for his enhanced vampire hearing. "Aim for the horsies." Buffy murmured grimly to her Watcher, low enough that the others would be unable to hear.
Arrows began piercing the walls at an alarming rate. Buffy urged all the humans away from the walls, getting them to crouch in the centre of the Winnebago.
"Watch out for-" Buffy was cut off in surprise, staring at the sword that had punched through the roof in shock. She barely moved quickly enough to avoid it as it was pulled free then plunged directly into the place where her head had been.
After the third plunge of the sword, Spike jumped up and grasped the blade with both hands. Everyone, Spike included, stared at his hands, rivulets of blood beginning to appear as the knight on the roof tried to draw his sword from the vehicle to strike again. Spike tightened his grip, ignoring the searing pain.
"Now might be a good time for something heroic." he managed to choke out. Buffy snapped out of her trance, then climbed onto the roof. He heard a loud thud, then the sword was wrenched from his grip. Spike roared, the pain and the scent of blood bringing forward his demonic visage.
A/N: Sorry about the delay. I've been torn between rewriting the final three episodes entirely with the William twist and compressing down to just key moments. I went with Key moments. No, I will not apologise for the pun. Anyway, the next chapter or two might be a bit disjointed, but as soon as I end the storyline it will be nothing but all original works with a few Season 6 landmarks stopping by for a visit.
P.S.: Sorry about this, had to fix up the chapter a bit. I found y grammar was awful. Should be legible now though.
Remember, Read, Review. I would have left this here if not for the steady inflow of support from my readers. Don't be a mooch, review. It's free and it doesn't take long.