Something Wicked This Way Comes
Chapter 12: Don't You Trust Me?
By: Rogue-Slayer13
Disclaimer: The characters of Btvs and Ats belong to Joss Whedon, not myself.
Summary: See pervious chapters
Sentences all in Italics are thoughts and one or two words are emphasized.
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"I'm glad you've decided to stop acting like a good guy and to start acting like a vampire," said Alise. "For a while I thought the entire Master line had gone soft."
"It was that naughty Slayer that made my Spikey taste like ashes," said Drusilla.
"You were saying something about making this worth my while." Spike sat down in one of the comfortable armchairs.
"Oh yes," said Alise. "Once we kill the Slayers, they'll be no one left to lead the humans against their war on evil, which means our kind will thrive."
"And?" asked Spike.
"We need a king to rule the court," whispered Drusilla in Spike's ear.
"Are you suggesting what I think you are?"
"I want to bring back the good ole days, when a Master ruled things, instead of the sorry excuse we have now," said Alise. "Now the Master is dead as is Darla, Angel's too far gone to be saved, and Drusilla . . ." Alise looked over at the brunette vampiress. "Well just look at Drusilla. She's in no condition to rule."
"Like I said before, Dru could in the world in a day if she wanted to," said Spike as he looked over at Drusilla. "Who's in charge now?"
"Some tenth generation Tarinius vamp. If you help me take out the Slayers, I'll make sure you're the next Master."
"How bout you make me Master first and then we kill the Slayers?"
"What a perfect way to start your rule." Drusilla gazed deeply into Spike's eyes, neither one blinking.
Drusilla kissed Spike, who returned the kiss.
"You really do love her, don't you?" said Alise. "I mean, after all this time, nothing's changed."
"I worship her," replied Spike.
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"How can you be so sure Buffy?" Xander looked at his best friend.
"How can you not be?" replied the blonde. "After all this time Spike's stood by us, no matter what the consequences and here you are doubting him?"
"I'm just saying, instincts take over in the demon world when an apocalypse is going on, how do we know some ancient urge hasn't surfaced?"
"Why wouldn't it have surfaced during any of the other apocalypses we've fought?"
"None of them have been this big," said Xander. "Not even the one that took out Sunnydale."
"Look Xander, I know you mean well in your own little way, but I'm so not in the mood for this right now." Buffy turned and headed upstairs to her room.
"Way to go Xander," remarked Faith.
"What'd I do wrong?" Xander turned to look at the other people still in the room.
"I would've thought her reaction to Spike staying out past his curfew would've showed you that she still had feelings for him," said Faith. "And here you are telling her that he might be evil again? Not really the best timing on your part."
"Yeah, I agree with Faith," said Dawn.
"Can you all honestly say that you trust Spike 100 percent?"
"I can," said Dawn, without hesitation. "Spike's always been there for me and I really don't think that'd change because of some apocalypse."
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"If you're going to be a Master, you need to dress like one," said Alise as she lead Spike and Drusilla out of the parlor and up the stairs.
"How exactly does a Master dress?" asked Spike.
"You need to strike fear into the hearts of your enemies and entice lust in those of your followers." Alise opened the door to a large bedroom and ushered Spike and Drusilla inside.
"We get to play dress up." Drusilla clapped her hands together. "Mummy and I used to dress up all the time."
Alise eyed Spike for a moment.
"How tall are you?"
"Six feet, six foot one, why?" replied Spike.
"Really? I was thinking more along the lines of five eleven." Alise turned and opened up a large closet that was full of clothes.
"What are you looking for?" asked Spike.
"Like I said before, you need new clothes. The ones you have on are outdated and frankly not that terrifying, although I'd keep the duster if I were you."
"Why's that?"
"You look hot in it." Alise handed Spike a pile of clothes. "Try these on for size."
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Faith knocked on the door before pushing it open. Buffy was sitting on her bed reading a magazine and only looked up briefly to see who had come in.
"Look B, don't take too much of what Xander said personally," said Faith as she sat down on the edge of Buffy's bed. "He like's to talk shit and this is just one of those moments."
"I guess I should be used to it by now," replied the blonde from behind her magazine. "I mean, it's the same thing he's been doing ever since Spike started helping us, why should that change now?"
"I think in his own way. He's trying to watch out for you. I mean that's all he ever get's to do, watch. He's never had any superpowers so to speak and so he watches what goes on around him and makes his own conclusions."
"That'd be great if he ever got to see the whole story." Buffy put down her magazine and looked at Faith. "There's so much to Spike that no one ever gets to see, and it sucks, because people are still going to judge him without ever see that part."
"I don't want you to get pissed at me or anything, but I never knew you two were that close. I thought it was mostly just physical, especially on your part."
Buffy looked hurt for a moment, but that passed.
"It was, and I'm really starting to regret that I waited so long to come to terms with my feelings."
"Some things just take time."
A silence fell between the two and finally Faith couldn't stand it.
"Why don't we go patrol? I heard there's this pretty popular demon bar down by the docks."
"Sure," said Buffy.
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"Where in the 'ell did you find these?" asked Spike as he came back into the room.
"Ooh! Spikey's playing dress up," said Drusilla as she came to Spike's side.
"I think you look good." Alise looked at Spike's attire which consisted of his Doc Martens, a pair of black leather pants, and a long sleeve black shirt that had a solid body and sheer sleeves.
"I can't possibly wear this," said Spike.
"Of course you can," said Alise as she messed up Spike's hair so it looked spiked up a bit.
"You look very yummy," purred Drusilla as she raked her nails down Spike's chest.
"Now it's our turn." Alise took Drusilla by the hand and went into the other room.
Spike sat down on the edge of the bed and waited for the two women to return. It was a relatively short wait and when they did come back into the room, Spike was speechless. Alise wore a pair of black leather pants, black boots, and a black leather halter top that revealed quite a bit of cleavage and stomach. Drusilla on the other hand wore a blood-red skirt that hung low on her hips and just grazed the floor, a pair of matching shoes, and a blood red leather Victorian corset.
"Dru, I've never you seen you wear something so . . ." Spike was at a loss for words.
"I know, don't you like what I've done with her?" said Alise. "I thought it was time she stopped dressing so vintage, but I did leave in a little bit of her old style."
"We're dressed to kill," said Drusilla as she went to stand by Spike's side once again.
"And now we have an unveiling to attend," said Alise. "I know it's a little impromptu, but we're kind of pressed for time."
"Where are we going?" asked Spike.
"There's this demon bar down by the docks called Syn. I think it's the perfect place to introduce you to your followers. The current Master, I still can't believe he dares to use that title, hangs out there all the time and all you have to do is get rid of him and it'll all be yours for the taking."
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"Why haven't I ever heard of this place before?" asked Buffy as she followed Faith through the warehouse district of Los Angeles.
"It's fairly new," replied the brunette. "I don't even think it's been here a few months."
"Is it just demons or do we have a buffet on our hands?"
"I think it's mainly vamps and vamp wannabees."
"At least vamps are easy to handle."
"This will definitely be a challenge though," said Faith. "This is where the vampire high society gathers."
"Vampire high society?"
"Anyone who's anybody in the vampire community is here, along with some garden variety vamps who just wanna have a little fun."
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Everything about Syn screamed vampire. The club was in a renovated three story brick warehouse with heavy cast iron sliding doors and few windows down by the docks. When you first walked into the club, you were standing in good sized room with wood floors, brick walls, and a black ceiling. To the immediate right was a wooden bar with every imaginable type of liquor, and to the left was a row of booths filled with vamps and their midnight snacks.
Alise lead Spike and Drusilla out of this room and into another room filled with dancing people. The second room had a black and white checkered floor, brick walls, and a black ceiling. Spike looked up and noticed that the building was set up so you could look from the first floor and see all the way up to the third floor. There was a stage directly in front of them, more tables to the left and a flight of metal stairs to the left.
The three hadn't been in the room very long when the music was turned down and a tall broad shouldered vamp stepped up onto the stage. The vamp was almost all muscle and looked like could crush someone Spike's size with one of his hands.
"My humble subjects." The man addressed the crowd. "I just want you all to know how honored you are to be in my presence."
"How egotistical can you get?" asked Spike.
"That's another thing I don't like about him," whispered Alise.
"By being in the same room as me, you all get to share a little bit of my power, even if it's just for a little while."
Spike looked around the room and noticed that very few of the vamps looked amused by the speech.
"What a bloody poof," commented Spike just loud enough that he could be heard from the stage.
"What was that?" The turned and looked right at Spike.
"I said," Spike raised his voice. "What a bloody poof."
"Come up here!" demanded the vamp.
Spike did as he was asked and went up on the stage.
"Here it comes!" whispered Drusilla excitedly.
"You come into my town, into my club, and you have the balls to insult me? Who the hell do you think you are?"
"The name's Spike, but you won't need to remember it," said Spike as he punched the vamp.
The vamp quickly recovered and took a swing at Spike's head. The blonde dodged the swing and landed one of his own to the vamp's stomach. The vamp stumbled back and glared at Spike before picking up a mic stand. He swung it at Spike's head, but Spike ducked down, he then swung it at Spike's legs, but he jumped up. The vamp was about to swing again when Spike kicked the mic stand out of his hands and then landed a kick to the vamp's chest that knocked him to the ground. Spike pulled out his stake and quickly turned the vamp into a pile of dust. The whole club was silent as the patrons tried to grasp what they just saw. Alise quickly scrambled onto the stage followed by Drusilla who threw her arms around Spike and gave him a kiss.
"I knew you would get rid of that nasty man!"
"Listen up," Spike addressed the crowd. "I'm in charge now and if you don't like it you can get the 'ell out of 'ere, but be warned. Anyone who so much as thinks about going against me, will have their lungs ripped out and their entrails scattered around this place like garland. Got it?"
There was a brief moment of silence before the crowd erupted in applause.
"Long live the Master!" cried one vamp as the music started back up.
"I told you, you could do it," said Alise.
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Buffy and Faith walked into Syn to hear Marilyn Manson's verison of Sweet Dreams being blasted through the speakers. Every vamp Buffy saw seemed to be over excited about something that Buffy couldn't quite figure out.
"Why are they so happy?" asked Buffy.
"I don't know. MMaybe it has to do with the apocalypse."
Buffy stopped walking as she caught the tale end of a conversation.
"I'm glad we finally have someone decent in charge."
"Yeah, I used to want to be like him when I was first turned and then he turned on us."
"That was nothing more then a survival act, and an ingenious one at that."
"Yeah, who would be able to keep something up that long?"
Buffy's eavesdropping was interrupted by Faith telling her something.
"What?" asked Buffy.
"I think I know why they're so happy," repeated Faith.
"Why?"
"Some guy came in and killed the head of Los Angeles' vampire community, some member of the Master line, everyone's buzzing with excitement."
"That goes along with what I overheard," said Buffy.
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"I sense that the sunshine is creeping where is shouldn't be creeping," said Drusilla lazily from her spot on Spike's lap.
"What do you mean?" asked Alise.
"The Slayer's here in this very room."
Both Alise and Spike scanned the room until their eyes fell on Buffy and Faith.
"I've got to go," said Spike as he quickly stood up, almost knocking Drusilla to the floor.
"Why? Are you afraid of the Slayer?" asked Alise.
"I'm not the one who should be," replied Spike as he grabbed his duster and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Alise to figure out what he meant by his remark.
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Buffy was looking through the crowd when someone walked in between her and Faith headed in the opposite direction and grabbed them each by the arm.
"What the hell, oh it's you Spike," said Buffy as Spike let go of her and Faith's arms and allowed them to walk facing the same direction as himself
"What's with the new look?" asked Faith.
"Just something I pulled out of the closet," replied Spike as he tried to usher the Slayers out of the bar without being noticed.
"Why do you keep looking over your shoulder?" asked Buffy. "Are you being followed?"
"No, I just don't want to turn my back on this lot," said Spike. "I can't trust the people I turned on."
Buffy stopped in her tracks a few feet away from the bar. Things started clicking in her mind.
"What's up B?" asked Faith.
"What were you doing in there in the first place?" asked Buffy suspiciously.
"The same thing you two were, I was patrolling." Spike turned and looked Buffy in the eye.
"Yeah B, why else would he be in there? Not like he has any comrades to share a drink with."
"How long had you been in there?"
"I don't know, why?" asked Spike as he started to get annoyed.
"I overheard some vamps talking about a new Master in town. Now the only members of the Master line still capable of ruling are you and Angel."
"What are you suggesting B?" asked Faith.
"I know what she's implying. The same thing Harris is implying all the time. You don't bloody trust me do you!?" Spike had moved beyond annoyed and into hurt and angry. "I can't believe you'd think that about, especially knowing my status in the demon community nowadays."
Buffy was beginning to regret what she said.
"It's not that . . ."
"Then what is it Slayer!?" snapped Spike.
"I just wanted to be sure is all."
"Don't you trust me?" asked Spike.
Buffy looked up into clear blue pools.
"I do trust you Spike, I just wanted to be sure is all."
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To Be Continued . . .
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