A/N : Hey gang. seems my little plea or reviews got some serious response. Thanx so much to everyone who left me an encouraging message - Amandamanda3, kargrif, Kim, AnononA, sunnyhell, Emily, Xtremely-Canadian, feles-noctis, sheilamarie, Rhonda, Charlene, wicked-angel3, GoldenAngl99, loosestring. Time now to hear the end of Spike and Dru's story...
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 16
"Hey Spike. Right on time as always" Willow grinned as he came at the door. He flashed her a half-smile but it was less than genuine.
"Are you okay, sweetie" Tara checked, "You don't look so happy"
"M'alright really" he shrugged off his coat and hung it up behind the counter, "Dru's not feeling so good is all" he told them and they were sympathetic as always, saying that maybe he could leave a little earlier than usual if he wanted to. He thanked them but said he was sure his girlfriend would be fine when she'd got some rest as she was doing now.
Work was busy as always, the cafe was very popular both day and night and the staff were often run off their feet. Spike was glad when his break rolled around and was heading out for a cigarette when a girl on a stool by the bar claimed his attention.
"Here" she said, holding out a bourboun to him, "You look like you could use it"
"How'd you know?" he frowned slightly as he walked over took the glass from her hand and sat down on the stool beside her.
"I come in here a lot lately, saw you drinking this stuff a couple of times" she admitted, "I don't suppose you even noticed me" she said shyly, ducking her face behind her hair.
"I'm sure I'd've remembered you if I'd seen you, pet" he smirked, forever the charmer. Of course his heart belonged to Drusilla but a little harmless flirting never hurt anybody, and this wasn't the first pretty girl to notice him. He was fairly certain she wouldn't be the last either.
"I'm Amy by the way" she said, holding out a hand for him to shake.
"I'm Spike" he told her taking the offered hand, "but if you've been watching me so much I figure you already knew that" he smiled.
"Kinda of, yeah" Amy giggled, in no hurry to let go of Spike's hand yet. He pulled his fingers from her grip and sighed.
"Look, luv, it's not that I'm not flattered" he told her kindly, "Honestly if things were different I'd probably date you in a heartbeat, but I've got a girl at home, girl I love, I'm not interested in anyone else" he got up to leave but the brunette caught him by the arm.
"I get it, I do" she nodded, "It was pretty obvious you'd have someone, I mean, look at you" she smiled, "but you could still sit here if you want, have the drink I got for you. It'll only get wasted if you don't"
"So long as you understand" he checked, sitting back down again when she nodded that she did.
He spent another ten minutes chatting to her, before downing his drink in one and stepping out for the cigarette he'd planned to have a while ago. Willow and Tara either hadn't noticed he'd spent five minutes more on his break than he ought to or they just didn't say anything about it because they were too nice.
It was about an hour later when Spike realised something was wrong. He bent down to get a bottle from under the bar, pitched forward and almost hit his head. Willow saw it happen and looked understandably worried.
"You okay, Spike" she asked when he straightened up, looking both dazed and pale.
"Dunno really" he admitted, "Sort of feel a bit wobbly, hazy in my head, y'know"
"You think you might have caught whatever Drusilla has?" the red-head asked, putting a hand to his head to check for a fever, "You feel a little warm" she frowned.
"Think I'm hot now do you" he joked, but he looked far from well, "Don't think Tara'd like it"
Willow rolled her eyes and smiled.
"Well, your ego and sense of humour are still working just fine, maybe you're not sick after all" she told him, making him smirk.
"I'll probably be fine in a minute I just..." he closed his eyes and opened them again, trying to focus and finding it difficult.
"No, I don't think you will be fine" Willow shook her head, "At least not here and working. I'll call Xander or Harmony, see if one of them can come in and cover, I think you should go home and get some rest" she advised. Spike shook his head but found that was a really bad idea as the world tipped and rippled before his eyes in a most disconcerting fashion.
"I can't just go" he protested, "I need the money, you know I do"
"And you'll get it" Willow promised him, patting him on the arm, "You work hard enough and it's not your fault you got sick. I'll still pay you for tonight"
"You're a diamond, Will" he smiled, "S'not another one like you in the world, 'cept for Tara of course"
"Go home" the red-head ordered him with a girlish grin, beginning to blush the colour of her hair at the compliment, "and don't come back til you're feeling better, money be damned" she told him, "We'll figure something out"
"Thanks, Red" he grinned at her kindness, kissing her on the cheek before fetching his coat and getting ready to leave. He felt very woozy and not at all himself. If he'd had anymore to drink he'd blame it on the booze, but there was simply no way two bourbons had done this to him.
"I'll probably see you tomorrow" he told Willow as he stumbled towards the door.
"Not if you don't feel better" she replied in full mother tone, making him smile slightly.
"Here, let me help you" Amy, the girl from earlier offered, catching up to him and grabbing the door as he faltered.
"I dunno whats the matter with me" he almost laughed at himself, really not understanding what had come over him, "Must have caught whatever my girlfriends got"
"Where do you live?" she asked him, "My car is right over here, I'll drive you"
"Thanks, pet" Spike smiled, "but I'm fine really, I just..." he attempted to walk a straight line but started wavering within moments.
"Come on" Amy urged him, taking hold of his arm, "I'll take good care of you"
-
Spike's first thoughts when he woke up were related to the nauseous feeling he had in his stomach and the hazy peculiar feeling in his head. It was almost like a mild hangover, but he only remembered having two drinks the night before. It then occurred to him that there was very little of last night he did remember. Beyond leaving work it was hazy at best and even completely blank in places. He figured he'd got himself home pretty much on auto-pilot, fallen into bed beside Dru and allowed sleep to claim him as soon as his head hit the pillow.
What puzzled him was that as his eyes began to focus, the wallpaper he saw was not the dark shades of home, but lilac and girlish. The bed felt wrong beneath his body and the window was on the opposite side. The worst discovery was when he turned to see the woman beside him and realised it was not his Drusilla at all that he was lying with, but Amy.
"Oh bugger, bollocks, bloody hell..." so began the whispered trail of curse words as he realised what must have happened. The random pieces of his and her clothing strewn about the room alerted him to the fact they were both naked beneath the silken sheets and he hated himself when it became all too clear what that must mean.
A lot of things could be said about William Blood, he wasn't straight-laced and perfect like some blokes, he'd got into a few fights in his time, maybe partaken of a couple of dodgy deals, but when it came to Drusilla, the woman he loved, he was a man of honour and decency, until now it seemed.
Carefully he pulled himself out from under the covers and off the bed, fortunately not disturbing the sleeping woman there. He retrieved his clothes and pulled them on in silence, grateful when he made it out of the bedroom without Amy even stirring once. He moved quickly and quietly out of the apartment and down the stairs, hoping he'd be able to figure out where he was when he got to the street. Of course he had to go home, but facing Drusilla after what he'd done, how could she ever forgive him for this?
Spike was so deep in thought of how he should explain his terrible mistake to his girlfriend, that he almost didn't notice the cop car and ambulance outside the building where he lived, at least not until a stretcher was brought out of the front door right beside him. The figure upon it was not an injured person but clearly a dead body with blankets pulled up over it's face. Spike grimaced at the sight, wondering vaguely who the poor unfortunate under there might be. Maybe the old lady who lived across from him and Dru, she was getting on in years, and a bit sack of hammers if truth be told. Perhaps it was the bloke on the first floor who seemed perpetually doped up no matter what time of day or night you saw him. Nothing could have prepared him for what he heard next.
"Yeah, ID in the purse on the counter said Miss Drusilla Juliet Walker" one official said to the other.
Spike couldn't breathe. There had to be some mistake, not his Dru, not when he'd sworn to protect her.
"I'll never understand it" one of the older ambulance workers shook his head, "Pretty young girl, her whole life ahead of her. What makes someone like that wanna shoot themselves in the heart"
Spike swallowed hard, the nausea he'd felt before multiplying to the point where he slipped down by the side of the apartment block and spewed up everything he'd eaten for the past few days. Tears poured from his eyes as he sank to his knees half way down the alley, feeling almost completely numb now. His entire world had just ended, his precious girl was dead and whilst she was suffering, he'd been shagging some whore he only met a few hours ago. He felt worse because he knew there should be more pain in him than this, but he couldn't take it in enough for it to hurt. He was somewhere between denial and horror right now, his instincts urging him to run like hell and escape the nightmare he found himself in. He pulled himself up on shaky legs, glancing up at the window of the apartment he and Dru had shared, the apartment she took her own life in. He did the only thing he felt compelled to do - he ran.
-
"It was my punishment" Spike cried openly as he explained to Buffy, "She saw things, Dru did, it seemed like she was crazy sometimes but she knew things...she must've known what I'd done to her and she..." he couldn't go on, the emotions still too raw to deal with when such memories must be recalled in so much detail.
Buffy's heart broke for him as he cried like a child and she wrapped her arms around him, letting him cry into her shoulder. She breathed a gentle sigh of relief as she held him to her and tried to calm him. As awful as the tale he imparted was, as much guilt as he felt for what happened to Drusilla, it was a huge comfort to realise he hadn't held the gun that night. Though Buffy had wanted to believe him incapable of such a crime for a long time now, there was no way to know for certain what kind of man he used to be. Even if he hadn't meant to do it he might have caused the death in an accident with the gun he'd bought, but no. It seemed the original theory of suicide was the most likely, but how could she convince her boss that Spike was innocent, when he was the man who was framing him, and the only evidence to prove Spike's innocence was his own word. Against Angel and with his psychiatric history, Buffy knew it would mean next to nothing, and her own opinion would be just as useless when it became common knowledge that she'd fallen for the man she was supposed to convict for murder.
What Buffy really couldn't understand was why Angel would set up Spike for the crime, when the correct verdict of suicide had already been reached. Surely he was risking his own name being dragged into the equation, though she doubted he ever expected her to fall for the suspect. Indeed he probably thought she would have succumbed to his own charms before now. Though one might think he wanted Spike to suffer for keeping Dru from him, locking him up was not going to bring her back. Unless of course it wasn't suicide at all, but murder as the case said.
"Spike, I know this is hard for you" she said gently, grateful that he seemed to at least have stopped crying so hard now, "but I can only think of one reason why Angel would try to set you up for this"
He brought his head up from her shoulder and looked so lost. She wiped tears from his cheeks and almost cried herself at how upset he was.
"He had to have something to do with it Spike" Buffy continued, wary of making matters worse, "There's a possibility it wasn't suicide..."
Spike began to frown at the realisation. When Angel couldn't have Dru for a lover he started to get violent with her. With all the guilt and loss he'd felt, he'd never really considered what Buffy was now suggesting, but they were now faced with the real possibility that perhaps the man trying to set up Spike, was in fact the guilty party himself.
To Be Continued...
A/N2 : Well, that's the end of Spike's story but by no means the end of this fic. Hopefully you're all eager to see where we go from here. Please review and let me know you're still reading and I'll update again soon.
