Choices
Disclaimer: Don't own em, right now don't want to own the stubborn little beggars.
Summary: Don't think I'll tell.
Reviews: Yes please. Readers rock but reviewers rule.
A/N: This was a very hard chapter to write. Still not very happy with it but they wouldn't do it any other way. (walking away muttering to self: stubborn blond British vampire never wants to do anything I want him to.....)
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As soon as Spike left the kitchen, Wesley rushed over to Fred and pulled her into a huge hug.
"God, I thought I... we'd lost you." He pressed a swift kiss on her surprised mouth then held her away from him and scanned her for injuries.
Fred blinked in astonishment. "I'm fine. We should check to see if the others are okay. Did anyone call the police?"
Wes nodded. "Cordelia. We need to make sure we can explain everything when they get here."
Giles knelt next to Xander. The younger man was still unconscious and Giles regretted not being able to let Willow heal him as she had Dawn but in order for Warren to go to prison for the crime, they had to have a victim. Since Xander's injuries were not life threatening, he had to be the one. Buffy was up and had moved over to Dawn. Her slayer healing already dealing with the hole through her shoulder. The teenager was awake and sitting up. Her blood soaked clothes were magically replaced by Willow. Tara had gone over to check on Angel who was regaining consciousness. Cordelia came in followed closely by two uniformed policemen who were immediately frozen by Willow. Giles rose from his position next to Xander and followed Spike out the back door.
"There's an ambulance on the way. Where's Spike?" Cordy asked as she checked the room for the wounded. "Oh my God! Xander!" She rushed over to her former boyfriend.
"He's going to be fine." Willow assured her as she continued to comfort Dawn. "We have to let him go to the hospital. Warren needs to be charged for his attempted murder."
"Well, as long as he's going to be okay." Cordy noticed that Angel was still oozing blood. "Angel!" She moved over to the vampire she secretly loved. "Willow? Can you do something for Angel? He's still bleeding. The bullet needs to come out."
Willow knelt next to the dark vampire and held her hand over the hole in his chest. The bullet backed out of the wound and the bleeding stopped. "His vampire healing will take care of the rest of it." The redhead stated.
Angel took a deep unneeded breath and got up. He hugged Cordy to reassure her he would be okay and headed for the back door. Wesley and Fred stayed with Xander to wait for the ambulance. The others in the kitchen followed him and were shocked by the spectacle before them.
Angel gazed around at the others on the porch. Varying degrees of shock and horror were displayed on all the faces. Buffy was staring open mouthed at the blond menace torturing their would-be killer. Dawn ran over to Giles to make sure he was all right. The older Watcher was regaining consciousness and attempting to get up for another go at the enraged vampire. Willow raced over to help Dawn.
The state of suspended disbelief was dispelled by Buffy.
"Spike." She pleaded, her voice weak. "Spike, please stop."
"Buffy. Luv, are you okay?" Spike asked almost idly.
"I'll be fine. Please stop what you're doing." Buffy answered.
"Why should I? He tried to kill you. He did kill Dawn for a second. He shot Xander and Angel. He deserves anything I do to him." Spike told her casually, letting small bolts of lightening dance across Warren's skin. Lazily he circled his victim while the bullet crept further into Warren's chest. He'd forgotten how much fun it was to have a human at his mercy, to torture and cause pain. It was something he'd never really developed a true taste for, but there were times that it could be immensely satisfying.
"Because you're better than this. You've changed. You're not evil. You're a good man and I'm sorry I didn't see it before. I love you." Buffy confessed with tears in her eyes.
"Are you sure? I mean, you weren't so sure the other night. I see a problem with all this, Pet. I don't know if you love me, William or Spike. I figured it out. I am evil. I wouldn't be enjoying this quite so much if I weren't. But there is part of me that doesn't want to be evil. That would be William. He's probably who you love. You have a hard time with the evilness of people. So we have here Spike who is evil and William who's good. Where does that leave me? Can I be both? That really didn't work, did it? Look at what that did. Total meltdown. So I need to find out who I am. I guess it all comes down to a choice. I have to choose who I want to be. Spike or William." Spike's tone never changed. His musing was beginning to seriously worry most of the spectators.
"Spike, you're scaring us. Please stop. We can help you." Tara pleaded. She was the first to voice her concern.
"Sire?" Spike seemed to not hear the plea.
"Yeah, Will?" Angel answered.
"What should I choose?" The question was quietly voiced. Everyone watching seemed to hold their breath waiting for the answer.
Tara came up to stand next to Angel. Her hand on his arm gave him the courage to try to help his Childe sort through his fears. She whispered advice into his ear.
"I think you should just be you. Good and evil can exist in the same person. Most people have the capacity for both. You weren't forced to be both for so long the evil had full charge. So now you get to choose. You never wanted to be evil. It was forced on you by Angelus. Enjoying what you're doing now doesn't make you wholly evil, it makes you normal. He hurt your family and you want him punished. It doesn't mean that you can never be good just because you got a little revenge on the bastard. In your shoes I'd be doing the same thing. Actually, if you weren't doing such a good job, I'd be down there helping you. And I have a soul. Does that make me evil again?" Angel asked.
Spike shook his head slowly, beginning to understand. "So I can do it? I can be good and still have the urge to do bad things? It doesn't make me unlovable? How do I know? Do I still have to be all alone?" His voice never changed inflection. A puzzled frown creased his forehead.
Angel bowed his head at Spike's quiet questions. "No Will, it doesn't make you unlovable. Childe, you are more human than most humans I know. It's not an insult. It just means you're unique. You can choose how the rest of your unlife goes. I chose good. Not because of the soul. I could have chosen to walk in the sun rather than let the soul torment me but I survived. You can too. You just have to choose which path you want to take. We're all here for you. You don't ever have to be alone again." Angel's quiet advice soothed his Childe.
"Peaches?" Spike asked again.
"Yeah, Will?" This time Angel grinned at the growing absurdity of the situation.
"Is everyone okay?" The casual tone was unchanged as the blond continued to torment the captive.
"Xander is still injured. We have to get him to the hospital. He'll be fine. The rest of us are okay." Angel said lazily as he leaned on the porch rail and relished seeing his Childe making Warren writhe in pain. Spike seemed to be contemplating his options and only Angel noticed when Spike's body language changed. He appeared to have come to terms with his conflict. Now, to find out how he'd chosen. "Will?"
"Yes, Sire?"
"Are you having fun yet?"
A feral smile lit Spike's handsome face. "Oh yeah."
"That's nice. But don't you think you should get on with it so we can get help for Xander?" Angel asked idly, curious to see if Spike would kill Warren or force a confession and let the police have him. Everyone was staring in shock at the two vampires acting as if they were discussing nothing more than the weather.
Spike stopped the lightening and froze the bullet digging its way slowly into Warren's chest. It had only entered the flesh by a fraction of an inch but each millimeter it moved caused even more pain. Spike released the seal on Warren's mouth.
"Now, Warren. I want you to tell all these nice people here that you killed your girlfriend. What was her name? Oh yes, Katrina. You remember her? She's the one you tried to frame Buffy with." Spike growled. Angel breathed an unneeded sigh of relief.
"Spike. Wait." Willow called. She teleported one of the policemen to stand next to the captive killer and unfroze him. "Okay. Go ahead."
Spike smiled coldly. Warren started babbling all the crimes he'd committed in the past few months up to and including planning and attempting to kill Buffy and her friends. Spike refroze the cop and removed the bullet from Warren's chest, closing the wound. Then he released the hold he had on Warren's body. He levitated the policeman's handcuffs and fastened them onto the captive's wrists. Then he unfroze the cop and adjusted his memory so he would not recall ever seeing the bullet wound in the suspect's chest. The officer began reading Warren his rights as if he'd just performed a normal arrest. Just before the creep was led away, the vampire moved closer and whispered in his ear. Warren blanched and began begging the officer to please, please take him to jail.
"So, Will. Are you happy now?" Angel called, his tone severe, his eyes amused.
Spike pouted. "Aw, Siiire, I was having fun." He whined, amusement beginning to sparkle in his dark blue eyes. "But, oh yeah, I'm totally happy." With preternatural speed he flew to Buffy's side and gazed into her teary green eyes.
She shoved him away, causing him to wince in pain as his bullet wound made itself known. "Are you telling me you enjoyed that?" She shrieked. Both vampires and a couple of humans winced at the audio assault.
"Ow, Pet. That hurt. I did but... well, yeah, I did. I wanted to kill him for what he'd done. Still do. But I want to go back to the coven more. If I'd killed him, I couldn't finish my studies. I had to choose and I did." Spike explained.
Buffy only heard the part about him wanting to go back to the coven. "You're leaving again?" She asked dejectedly.
"Only for a couple of months. I thought I explained that. I have to finish my courses. What? Are you saying you won't wait for me?" Spike couldn't bear the thought that she'd break his heart again this way.
The petite blonde threw her arms around his neck. "Of course I'll wait. I'm sorry. As long as you promise you'll come back, I'll wait." She told him, knowing full well that if she got him to promise nothing short of dusting would keep him from her side. He caught on to her ploy and hugged her in return.
"I promise." Spike solemnly swore. Suddenly, he remembered his treatment of Giles. Letting go of Buffy, he walked over to where Dawn and Willow were supporting the former Watcher.
"Rupert, I'm sorry. Did I hurt you very much?" Spike asked contritely.
Giles gasped in pain as he attempted to move. "I would have appreciated not hitting the house." He wheezed. Spike concentrated on his friend for a moment and Giles was startled to feel his pain fading away. He straightened up and drew in a deep breath. "That's better. Thank you."
Dawn glared at Spike. "You didn't have to hurt him. He was just trying to help."
Spike's lower lip jutted out in a pout. "Just got carried away is all. You should have seen your face when I threw you against the wall. I'm really sorry I hurt you. I really didn't mean to."
Rupert gave him a look that warned him not to mention it again. Dawn tugged on Spike's arm.
"Don't you think you should release Gunn?" She reminded him.
Spike whirled toward Angel's associate. He walked over and extended his hand to help the man up. "Sorry. You should have said something."
Gunn shook his head. "Just remind me never to piss you off."
The sound of sirens caught everyone's attention. "Xander!" Spike took off at a run to the kitchen.
He burst through the door and skidded on a patch of blood. The smell in the kitchen almost overwhelmed the vampire, turning his stomach, but his focus remained on his wounded friend. Fred was still kneeling next to the injured Scooby. Wesley had gone to the door to guide the paramedics. Xander was awake but in a lot of pain. Spike knelt next to him.
"Listen to me, Whelp. You are going to pull through this. I don't have so many friends that I can afford to loose one." The blond vampire told his young friend.
Xander gave a pained smile. "Think I've heard that before. Wesley told me I'm the designated victim here so we can send Warren away for a long time. Everyone else... okay? Dawnie... is she?" He gasped as a wave of pain made talking difficult.
"Shhhh. Don't try to talk. Everyone's fine. We'll get you to hospital soon. The second they have the proper paperwork, we'll get you all healed up right and proper. Okay, Mate?" Spike told him. Xander just nodded. The paramedics came in and began the process of moving the wounded young man to the hospital. The others slowly came in and watched in silence as their friend was loaded onto a stretcher and carried out of the house. Willow followed the stretcher to the ambulance and made them let her ride with her best friend. The remaining policeman cleared his throat and began taking statements from everyone present. He took photos with the camera kept in the squad car for just such occasions. The forensics team was not needed as they already had a suspect and a confession. All the statements were pretty much the same so it didn't take long for him to finish and leave so they could go to the hospital.
It had long since gotten dark making Spike's artificial cloud cover was no longer necessary so he allowed it to dissipate. Fred, Wesley and Gunn volunteered to stay at the house to clean up but Spike gave the kitchen a casual glance and all evidence of the day's violence was erased. The donuts were even restored to their original fresh state. He magically gathered up the spilled groceries and waved them into their proper cupboards. Buffy was bemused by Spike's casual use of his magic. She was still struggling to grasp the scope of his power. She was the one who noticed that Spike was still sporting a bullet wound in his side.
"Oh my God! Spike, you still have that bullet in you." She tried to lift his shirt for a closer look but it was stuck to his skin by the dried blood.
"Ow, Slayer. Wait a second." Spike winced and pulled away from her searching hands. He held a hand over the site and the bullet backed itself out of its resting place. The hole sealed over and began to heal. He looked around the room at his friends and family. For the first time in hours he noticed that they all looked like extras in a slasher movie. Dawn was the only one of them that didn't have blood on some portion of their body.
"I think we all need to clean up before we go see Xander." He commented wryly. Laughter broke out as they all got past their shock and took their first good looks at each other.
"The only problem I can see is that it will take hours for us all to use the shower here. I suggest we split up and meet at the hospital in... what... and hour and a half?" Giles suggested.
Spike looked thoughtful. "That's an awful long time. Don't want the Whelp to wait that long. How about...?" He closed his eyes and concentrated. Opening them he grinned. "That's better." He said in satisfaction.
Cordelia gasped. "Oh Spike, I love it!" She spun around showing off her new dress. He'd changed everyone's clothing for new outfits, removing all traces of blood while he was at it. Even Dawn got new clothes. He'd given her snug blue jeans, a lavender silk t-shirt and a leather duster similar to Spike's own beloved coat. Murmurs of approval sounded as they each inspected their new looks.
Giles cleared his throat. "Um, Spike?"
"Yeah, Mate?" Spike answered with a slight snicker. He knew what the older man was going to say.
"I didn't bring any luggage with me so I can't change into my own clothes. Did you have to do this?" Rupert asked with more than a little annoyance. Everyone's attention turned to the older man. He was now dressed in a pair of soft faded blue jeans, dark brown boots, a sage green button down shirt and a black leather bomber jacket. He looked...
"Hot." Cordy said in awe. "Giles, you look great."
"Ripper, be glad the jeans aren't torn." Spike told him, dark blue eyes sparkling in devilment. "You needed to loosen up. You dress too old."
"But I don't... really? I look hot?" Giles got distracted as he realized what Cordy had said. Looking down at himself, he decided that Spike's choices weren't so bad after all.
Angel cleared his throat. Spike had put him in all black, knowing his Sire preferred the lack of color, even throwing in a brand new black jacket, leather of course. He'd given everyone a new leather jacket of some sort. "We all look great. Can we go now?" It was evident to everyone but the elder vampire that he was jealous.
"I just wanted to let you all know that this stuff is sort of my way of saying 'I'm sorry'. I didn't mean to be the pain in the ass I know I've been the past few days. And also to say 'Thank you' for sticking by me and not letting me go." Spike announced.
Dawn gave Spike a huge hug. "You can do my shopping any time." She told him. He got a look at the fit of her jeans and gulped.
"Only if I get to lock you in your room, Bit." He threatened, earning a laugh from the others. Wardrobe problems solved, they left for the hospital to collect Xander and Willow.