Turning the Tables
Part 8
Disclaimer: Spike is mine. You can have the rest, but let me have Spike.
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NEXT NIGHT
Angelus strode though Sunnydale with a languid, almost cat-like gait. He needed fresh air, and a fresh snack. Maybe he would hang around outside the Bronze and wait for some girl to come and try to engage him in a conversation. The desperate schoolgirl types always tasted good. He was about to aim himself towards the Bronze when he caught a familiar scent on the wind. Slayer. Buffy was near. He smiled brightly and followed the strong smell of Slayer along the street. Luck was on his side. What went better with blood than mental anguish?
He stopped, closed his eyes to better focus in on the scent and turned down an alley. He saw a pair of leather pants kicking some serious vampire ass and laughed silently. She always took out her feelings on poor unsuspecting evil doers. Pity the fool who got in Buffy's way when she was in a bad mood. An explosion of dust, and he judged it safe to go antagonize her. He leaned on a crate, looking deceptively at ease. He opened his mouth to speak, but the Slayer emerged. Brunette. Immediately he did a quick system check, so to speak. It was Slayer-scent in the air. He growled low in his throat and when the Slayer turned, he was already in game face.
"You're not Buffy."
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THAT AFTERNOON
Giles carefully dabbed ointment onto Xander's throat where Spike's grip had left painful red marks. Cordelia was less than pleased with this new development.
"Come on! It's just not enough I'm dating the world's biggest geek is it? He had to have gross skin deformities too!"
"It'll clear up soon Cordy. And I would be thankful your boyfriend wasn't the world's deadest geek right about now. Why do I always get attacked? Though, in all fairness to my macho-ness, Spike came up from behind me. I was distracted by the Buffy-Willow action."
"Buffy and…Willow?" Oz asked in his usual slow, quiet tone, but they could all hear it. The pain that haunted pretty much every conversation the Scoobies had had lately.
"Yeah, apparently it's true vamps want to get on pretty much anything that moves. Sorry, man." Xander said light-heartedly, but gently. Oz and Willow had been getting along so well, it had seemed for certain they had a bright future. So much for that; as always the Hellmouth wrecked absolutely everything.
"I don't care if they're vampires or not. Buffy and Willow…that's just wrong."
"All in favor," Xander shook his head dryly. Giles scowled at him.
"If you've quite finished chattering would you be so kind as to hold your head still?"
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DAWN
Buffy wandered into the crypt humming absent-mindedly. She descended into the opening to the lower level of the crypt. The sun was rising, and she didn't want to be scorched by any stray rays of sunshine. I used to love sunshine, she thought randomly, Weird. When she jumped off the ladder that led down she saw in the darkness that Spike and Willow had already gotten into bed. Vampires could simulate breath and life while they walked around, but sleeping…there was nothing to distinguish them from average dead bodies. Everyone had been pretty tired after Charlie left (in a big cloud of purple smoke). Willow had learned plenty of new magic tricks apparently…and she had worked on her combat skills with Spike. Turns out she still had some of that old Slayer strength hidden inside her. Not too much, but enough she could slam Spike into a pine tree if need be. Of course, she really didn't want to be slamming Spike against any pine trees…not unless it was followed by something naughty, that is.
"I killed somebody," she told the still forms, stripping out of her clothes. Willow ignored her, and Spike opened one weary eye.
"Unless you killed them with sex and you're going to demonstrate, I'm really not interested till later pet." Buffy pouted.
"But I found something interesting."
"Fine then…you obviously aren't coming to bed till you've told us everything." He sat up reluctantly, Willow's face scrunched into a scowl, but she soon sat up as well. Buffy clapped her hands childishly. She'd been seemingly regressing to childhood steadily after her turn. While Willow got cooler and more mature, Buffy was prone to giggling fits.
"It's something for you Pentacle…" She held up a hand, a green floppy disk between her fingers.
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PREVIOUS NIGHT (After alley)
Faith slowed and let her breathing rate drop back to normal. What was with the vamps in this town? Were they all so damn strong? He just attacked out of no where. Growled something about her not being Buffy…great, another vamp with a vendetta against the previous Slayer. So much for all that extra training…he still managed to slap her stake away. Then after beating her around a little, he changed his mind and left. It was all she could do to run. This was all wrong. She never had to run from a vamp before…now it was all she was doing! It must be the Hellmouth…making all the vamps extra strong. In Boston, she could have whacked these tweeko vamps no problem. Even the low brow newbie vamps were a tough kill. Plus the whole 'vampire ignoring the perfectly eatable Slayer right in front of them thing'. There was something going on in Sunnydale…something she'd never heard of before.
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NEXT DAY
"I dare say this is a fascinating tragedy," Giles said, wiping his glasses. A janitor had been found dead in the Computer Sciences classroom. Nothing particularly special; drained of all his blood. The fascinating part was the symbol carved into his neck. A pentacle, with a cross behind it. No such symbol was in any of the books they had searched today.
"Isn't that a…what's the word? Hydroidiot?" Xander offered.
"Oxymoron," Giles corrected him dryly, "I supposed it is. But the important this is that the absence of information on this strange symbol makes me believe it's, well, a signature of sorts. Like how serial killers tend to leave calling cards of some kind with their victims."
"Well isn't that just dandy? We've got a vampire out for my Cocoa Puffs."
"That really isn't very funny, Xander, " Giles said, wiping his glasses on his shirt and trying to ignore his migraine.
"I know…I was just trying to make it…more like the old days," Xander replied quietly, hanging his head slightly.
"I understand, Xander. I honestly do. But…it will never be like it was in the 'old days'. Never."
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SUNSET
Buffy was out stretching her legs. Willow was working on that marvelous little treat Buffy had found for her, and there wasn't really anything for her to do in the crypt. Spike was 'supervising'…or something. Personally, Buffy just thought chicks doing majicks made him hot, but that was just her. Nothing she had to worry about. Cause I'm his favorite! She sang to herself, making up a little melody as she went along. Spike's most favorite of all the girls he'd ever known, he liked Buffy the very best. Angel had never said anything like that to her. For all she ever knew, he was pining over Darla. But Spike made it clear. She was the best. Stupid Angel. She kicked a pinecone viciously and it sailed through the air, shattering the window of a parked car. Oops.
She continued along, rubbing her arms self-consciously. She had tired of her outfits and until Spike would take her shopping again, she was protesting by stealing his clothes. Now she felt distinctly human, in a black t-shirt and dark jeans, baggy on her petite frame.
"Excuse me miss," a voice from behind her made her whip around. A man stood there. He was quite a prissy little twig, with smooth hair and glasses. Smells like a Watcher…she thought, licking her lips.
"Yes?" she asked, adopting immediately her 'cute little bimbo' persona.
"I'm looking for Sunnydale High," he puffed his chest out importantly, "My name is Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, I'm a colleague of a man who works there. Perhaps you know him? Rupert Giles?"
"The librarian?" Buffy cocked her head innocently, "He spends a lot of time locked in there with these girls…it seems kinda skanky to me, but I don't really know him." Wesley coughed when she said 'skanky' and blushed slightly.
"Yes, well, which way to the school?"
"I can take you there," she told him with a smile, "Come on."
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Eso es todo para aquĺ. R+R por favor