Turning the Tables
Chapter 5
Disclaimer: It's all Joss.
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"I can't believe this. If anyone, ANYONE, saw me…" Spike moaned with unhappiness. It was so unfair! They cheated, they didn't play fair!
"Quit your whining. It's just the mall," Buffy rolled her eyes and shoved another load of fishnet and leather into his arms. They had had no trouble breaking in after dark, and as it turned out, all the anti-shoplifting devices turned off when the lights did. That was stupid. She held up a thick silver chain that had a cross with a serpent wrapped around it dangling off the end up to her neck.
"Can't wear that love…vampire, remember?"
"Well, if my new vamp-name is gonna be 'Cross', I should wear at least one, shouldn't I? As long as it doesn't touch my skin directly, I'll be fine." She wrapped it carefully in a skanky leather bodice and handed the items to him.
"Who would have thought Sunnydale would be home to 'The Leather Shop' AND 'Simply Goth'?" Spike muttered grumpily.
"Well, with all those vamp worshippers down at Sunset Club, I'm not surprised. Wait here, I'm gonna try this on." She took about half the clothing out of his grasp.
"Sure you don't need my help?" He asked hopefully. Buffy wagged a finger at him.
"No kinky dressing room sex. We're in a rush." She strode off with an armful of clothes. After a few moments, Willow returned. The change was dramatic. Spike started at the ground and worked his way up. Violently red spike heels…the tightest leather pants he had probably ever seen with a scarlet scarf with spider web pattern tied around her waist…a deliciously "artfully torn" leather bodice, not unlike the one Buffy had been eyeing earlier. While this bodice reached her waist, it made up for it in barely reaching the top half of her torso. Paired with two elbow-length fingerless fishnet gloves and red choker with black pentacles dangling off it, the shy science nerd looked very much bondage queen.
"You like?" She asked, not really needing him to tell her the answer. A gurgle and open-mouthed ogling was Spike's response.
"What's with the…ooh Will, sexy." Buffy had returned. Spike, who had been concentrating on regaining the ability to speak coherently looked at his first "childe" and lost it all over again. A sexy dresser by human standards already, she had carefully balanced her outfit. The skirt she wore, which resembled a red leather band-aid was contrasted by a modest off-the-shoulder charcoal peasant blouse patterned with dusty red swirls. She wore a collection of silver chains around her neck, including her beloved serpent-cross, safely on top of fabric, some studded wrist bands, plus a pair of onyx cross earrings that dangled at the perfect length, not long enough to hit her face when she turned, but still were too long to hit her ear lobes
"So?" She spun around in front of Spike, who looked very close to drooling, "Ooh, we're all color coded! Maybe we should have strip tease when we get back…"
"Buffy…" he finally managed to form words, "You two are a strip tease. And what's with the star-things Red?"
"Well, if Buffy, Cross, gets a vamp-name, I want one too. I always like Miss Calendar's pagan sites. I'll delve into the black arts now. You can call me 'Pentacle' when we're out."
"Pentacle…I like it! Doesn't it sound cool together, Cross and Pentacle? It's so cool!" Buffy squealed happily. Spike sniffed.
"Oh, so now you two are just leaving me out of the group?"
"Come on Spike, you're on a different level. It's like…you're the master vamp, and we're your evil sex-toy minions." She leaned over to give Willow a rather wet kiss, "It's nice kinky group dynamics."
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NEXT MORNING
When Giles came to the library next morning, he found Xander, asleep standing up with his head on the counter.
"Xander?" He asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Not the stake!" He shouted with a jump, then realized where he was, "Oh…morning Giles." He wondered for a moment why he was in the library, then he remembered in a flood of thoughts. Buffy. Willow.
"What are you doing in here?" Giles asked curiously, placing his briefcase on the floor and taking off his jacket.
"I was waiting…I hoped Willow might come in."
"Willow? Why would she be here? I would assume she's at home with her family."
"She's not. They're dead." Giles stopped dead in the act of unpacking his file folders.
"They're
what?"
"Dead. It was on the news yesterday. Her parents were found dead, and Willow was
missing."
"Buffy."
"Yeah…guess she wasn't so interested in me after all, huh?" Xander tried to joke, but his voice was a shade higher than usual, and his eyes were shining with tears.
"What are we going to do? First Angel, then Buffy, and now Willow. Our allies are disappearing quickly. Our friends are…turning…"
They both managed to get to a table and fell heavily into chairs.
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LATER
Joyce was still in a state of shock. Vampires were real. Her daughter killed them. Was killed by one. Was one. All the things she had tried to look away from, forget, repress, were coming back to her. William, "Spike" as Giles had told her he was now called, she should have recognized him. He had attacked the school. She herself hit him with an ax. But she invited him in. And Angel…Buffy hadn't been lying when she said he had 'changed'. It was just so much to deal with…so much to take on faith. But it all fit together, all made sense. Thinking about it…Buffy had mentioned it once. She had asked what she cared about besides clothes and boys. And Buffy had said "Saving the world from vampires". She had just thought she was joking. But she was telling the truth.
Plus, she had heard the phone call Giles made to the Council. The new Slayer was called, and they would send her, and one of their top Watchers to Sunnydale, to help them. Help them kill Buffy. It was so hard to accept. First she had needed to believe Buffy was dead. Now she had to believe that not only was her daughter gone…a monster was wearing her face, speaking with her voice, being so much like her it was nearly indistinguishable from Buffy Summers. Except that Buffy wasn't a cold-blooded, sadistic killer who lived off of human blood.
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THAT NIGHT
The cemetery resounded with the cracking of a neck and Willow/Pentacle sighed.
"Bored now."
"Come on Pent," Buffy/Cross was quick to come up with nicknames, "The fun's just starting." She grabbed one of the other cowering humans. The trio of vampires had happened upon three teen couples who thought the cemetery a romantic and private date.
"And they came already divided and everything," Spike said, raising his head from one of the girl's necks with a demonic grin. The bumpy forehead, elongated fangs and blood smearing his mouth gave him a definite nod towards 'demonic'.
"I'm bored. They hardly even ran."
"They were frozen by your beauty, luv," Spike told her. It wasn't as much fun to hunt when his one of his girls was in a bad mood. He had never felt before the thrill of hunting in a pack. Vampires were, as a rule, solitary creatures. Never traveling in large groups. Though he had roamed with his vampire "family" before, he hadn't connected to them like he did with Willow and Buffy.
"Beautiful isn't the word I would use. 'Skanky' more fits the bill, don't ya think?" A cocky female voice sounded from behind them. The three turned, tossing their snacks aside to see who had spoken. A young woman stood in front of them, with tussled dark hair and a defiant smirk.
"I think we've got us a Slayer." Spike said, licking his lips in anticipation. He hadn't expected a new one so soon. Buffy tilted her head.
"She's not as pretty as me…is she?"
"Never ever, ducks." Buffy savored that. She had only ever known Spike to call Drusilla 'ducks'. Apparently her hold on his heart was loosening, and Buffy's strengthening.
"Well, hate to break up the tea party girls, but I've got Slaying to do. In a few minutes, you three can share an ashtray." The Slayer pulled out a stake and rushed towards them. Buffy mostly evaded her somewhat sloppy and heated jabs.
"You've got a lot to learn Slayer."
"And you're supposed to teach me?" She huffed back, taking another wild swing.
"You'd be learning from the best." Buffy smiled brightly. Willow and Spike stood on either side, observing silently. Slayer vs. former Slayer. It was an interesting fight.
"Oh yeah? What's some no-name vamp got to teach the Slayer?"
"Suppose I am a no-name vamp. Wasn't always that way, but yeah. You're right. So, should I make a name for myself by killing you?" A few sharp jabs and a roundhouse kick left the new Slayer scrambling back to her feet. Buffy sighed.
"This is no fun. Come back when you can fight. By the way, name's Cross. I'd remember it if I were you. Catch ya." She waved cheerily before backing away alongside Spike and Willow. The three of them then turned and left the Slayer to her bewilderment.
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Done for now.