A/N: Well first thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I think that's the most I've gotten for one chapter! Hehe. And Jane, Loved the idea of the vamping out so I used that. Thanks lots! RavensHaelo, yeah, the plan was kind of… meh. But it worked for them! Lol. I wanted them back in Sunnydale for this rather than LA is all, and this was the most entertaining way! Hehe. Everyone who mentioned the Faith/Buffy friendship.. you're genius!! Many cookies to you all! hehe. Willowrose1616, glad you like the story. I like the ones where she gets vamped too, which is why I just had to try writing one. If you decide to post yours let me know! I'd love to read it. Buffy Summers, on the whole "kill Karen/ new slayer" thing… It's tempting. But I dunno yet. We'll have to see! Lol. Goldenangl99, about Buffy realizing she's in love with Spike while he's gone… Well, it's something like that. ; ) And finally, yes, the Scoobies will get what's coming! Hehehe…
Chapter 10: Back at HomeSpike drummed his fingers against the steering wheel impatiently; the Ramones were blaring out of the speakers. He was in his Desoto, driving 90 miles an hour to Sunnydale. And was he ever pissed… Just one more hour. And then he'd get his sweet revenge…
Buffy wandered through the streets of Sunnydale. Her thoughts were so messed up and scattered. She hardly think. But the one thing she did know was that she should go back and face the firing squad… She shook her head.
Friends! Face my friends. Since when did they become the firing squad?
'Since they stole you from Spike…' a little voice in her head told her.
Knowing she couldn't truthfully deny it, Buffy turned and headed back to the library.
Angel walked into the library, still confused beyond belief. He just couldn't understand it. It was as if Buffy no longer wanted to be with him… And he knew that was impossible.
Karen glared at him, but he barely noticed, so lost was he in his thoughts of Buffy.
"Angel?" Giles asked, seeing the troubled vampire. But then… Angel was always troubled…
Angel raised his head to look at Giles. "Buffy ran off. I saw her outside… But... she ran away…" he seemed to become lost again.
"What? Deadboy, what'd you do to scare her away?" Xander demanded.
"Xander!" Willow objected. "Maybe we should go after her?" she suggested, trying to change the subject.
"Maybe," Giles agreed, partly because it was a good idea, and partly thankful for the change.
"Where are we supposed to look?" Cordelia asked.
As the group continued discussing how to find Buffy, and Wesley came out to join them, Karen sulked. Angel didn't even notice her! Why was Buffy so important to everyone around here, anyway? She wasn't even the slayer anymore! Sure, Karen wasn't the only one, but they even paid more attention to Faith than her! She was a slayer, too!
Just then, the double doors swung open, and Faith and Buffy walked through, laughing at something.
"Or… she could come back here," Willow said upon seeing the two girls enter, arm in arm.
"Hey," Faith said breathlessly to the group. Buffy giggled beside her. The others stared in awe.
"Err… Mind letting us in on the joke, Buffster?" Xander asked.
Buffy snickered again. "Well, I was just on my way back here, when I heard someone fighting in an alley so I went to check it out. Then I saw it was Faith, and I ran over to help."
"Well, B here, being such a fucking genius, vamped out when she ripped the thing off of me. So he was all shocked and said, 'Why are you helping her? She's the slayer!' And so B said…" Faith started laughing at this point.
"And I said, 'Because she may be the vampire slayer, but I'm the vamped slayer!' And the look on his face… It was just priceless!" The girls broke into fits of giggles again.
"Then, he looked about ready to piss his damn pants," Faith said. "He started trying to say something, but he was stuttering so bad, I just got bored and staked him!" The group stared at the two girls as they continued to laugh. Willow looked at Giles, then Oz, then Angel. Giles was confused. He had known his slayer would be different, but not like this… Oz took it in true Oz form. Angel looked pained. He couldn't understand how Buffy could be so casual bout her… living status. Xander just stared in shock, and Cordelia looked amused, like she found the joke slightly funny as well. Wesley was a bit appalled, but then he was starting to get used to this whole "hellmouth" deal, and everything that went with it. As for Willow… she decided it was time for a subject change again.
"Giles, why don't you tell Buffy what we found? And maybe we can find some way to check for sure if she…" Willow trailed off, not wanting to mention the soul thing if Buffy didn't have it.
Buffy looked at her friend then. "If you mean if I have a soul, Wills, then yeah. Still here. And no, I didn't go all psycho down there and kill anyone. Well, human anyone that is," she thought of the few minions that had annoyed her so bad she just had to dust them back in LA. The others all thought she meant that she kept up her slaying.
"Did… William the Bloody… know that? And let you slay?" Wesley asked. Buffy stared at him.
"Well… yes and no…" she started slowly. "He knew about the soul thing right away, but I didn't really go out patrolling. I mean, I'm not the slayer anymore really. So.. no more demon-hunting for me!" she said cheerfully.
"Aw. That coulda been a lot of fun, B. You and me out there kicking some major demon ass…" Faith said. Buffy grinned.
"Well, could still work it in I'll bet…" the two laughed again. The others were shocked that she didn't want to be the slayer anymore. It was her job! She still had her soul, so shouldn't she still do the slayer thing?
"Buffy… So… you don't want to be the slayer anymore?" Willow asked tentatively.
"Wills, I never wanted it in the first place. Spike gave me a great out. I mean, I needed to die. Not so good. But to get vamped? Hey, worked out just fine by me!" Faith laughed.
"Hey, was he hott?" she suddenly asked. Buffy turned to her, a look on her face.
"Well…" she trailed off.
"He was!" Faith exclaimed.
"I didn't say that!" Buffy objected.
"But you didn't say he wasn't either. So, you do him?" Faith waggled her eyebrows.
Buffy laughed, and under her breath so only Faith could hear her said, "Later." Then louder she said, "What do you really think?" Then she turned back to her friends.
"So, what's the what? You said you found something out…?" she trailed off.
Giles shook himself out of his shock. "Yes. Quite. Er, well, it seems that you're not the first slayer to have been turned, Buffy. One did before, and was tortured by the vampire that did it to her. Eventually, she went insane from his insistent attempts to get her back." Buffy stiffened.
"Buff? What's up?" Xander asked.
"I… I had a dream. A few nights ago. I ignored it because… well, I didn't think I was still going to get slayer dreams but… Giles, what was her name?"
"Anne. Anne Hathworth," Giles told her. Buffy stiffened even more.
"So it was real then… And you're wrong," she said as she finally moved to go over and sit at the table. Faith came to stand closer as well, as did Angel and a reluctant Karen.
"She wasn't tortured by him. It was his minions. And they beat the hell out of him, too. He wanted her to go to her watcher's, where she would be safe. Then they were going to run away together when it was safe. But her watcher thought she was under thrall every time she tried to leave with him. She went insane because her watcher wouldn't let her be with the man she loved…" As Buffy told her tale about what really happened to Anne, she thought of Spike. She knew Giles and her friends wouldn't let her be with him, but she had every intention of going back to LA and finding him if he didn't come for her soon. But she had a feeling that he was.
Suddenly she stood up. "Hey, Faith, how's about we go kick some of that demon ass now?" she asked, eager to get away from her friends, and especially Angel.
Faith grinned. "Lead the way," she said, and the two walked back out of the room, arms hooked together once again.
Everyone glanced around at each other. They couldn't believe what Buffy had just told them. So… maybe she wouldn't go insane since she didn't love Spike? They certainly hoped that would be the case…
Spike stormed through the high school's hallways, his duster billowing behind him. He could smell Buffy. She had been there. Half an hour ago at most, she had been walking through these same hallways. Following her smell was how he found the library in his furious state. Slamming the doors open, he walked in, glaring around the room searching for her.
"Spike!" Willow shrieked, hiding behind Oz slightly.
Angel growled. "What do you want, Spike?"
"What I want, Peaches, is Buffy!" Spike snarled. "Where the bloody hell is she?" he stomped over and stood nose to nose with the other vampire. Karen watched, ready to jump to Angel's aid. But then, he didn't care about her. Why should she care about him? She relaxed against the counter once again, where she had been most of the night so far.
"Not here," Angel replied.
"No, really?" Spike said sarcastically. "Where is she?" he ground out, leaning ever so slightly into Angel. Angel's eyes narrowed. Spike's flashed gold.
"I don't think that's any of your concern, since you killed her," Angel spat out. No one even saw Spike move. Once second he was frozen still, so much he almost looked like a marble statue in denim and leather, the next he was fully vamped out, holding Angel a good 6 inches off the ground by his throat.
"Where. Is. She," he repeated.
"She went patrolling," Karen said flippantly. Spike glanced at her over his shoulder. That was his one mistake.
Angel punched Spike in the nose, sending him reeling back as he dropped Angel back on the ground. Within seconds, Angel had him pinned to the floor.
"I got him. Let's go find Buffy," he said. The group nodded and began to get weapons before heading out into the night.
Faith and Buffy had split up not too long ago. Buffy mostly just wanted to clear her head and think while Faith was just itching for a fight. And it was because of Buffy's lack of concentration that she didn't see the pack of demons until they were upon her…
Faith arrived at the same time as the Scoobies, and she leapt into the fray to help out Buffy. Spike struggled to help as well, but Angel's grasp never faltered. Karen went to help as well while the rest of the group hung back anxiously. Angel wanted to help, but he knew he had to keep hold of Spike.
Buffy was knocked down, and when she tried to stand, she fell back to the ground in pain. It seemed like she hurt her ankle. No one but Spike seemed to notice. Just as no one but Spike seemed to see the rather large demon that had slipped out of the fight and was now sneaking up on Buffy…
Spike was seeing red. Angel may not be able to see the danger coming up on Buffy, but Spike could. He began struggling to get away from his grandsire's grip. Angel just held on tighter. Buffy looked over at Spike as he finally managed to break free of Angel's grasp and began to race over to her with a look of panic in his eyes. As he neared her, he launched himself into the air, and she watched as he soared over her head and tackled the demon that had been sneaking up behind her.
"Buffy!" Angel yelled as Spike wrestled with the demon. Two other demons then began to beat on Spike just as he killed the first one. Angel rushed over to try and help Buffy, but another demon blocked his path.
Angel managed to take out the demon just in time to see that one of the two demons Spike was left fighting was about to get to Buffy. Spike noticed the fact at the same time it seemed, because he grabbed the head of his current opponent and twisted it clear off. Roaring furiously, he pulled back the demon about to kill Buffy, who had fallen unconscious while he had been fighting, and ripped its throat out with his teeth. Before the body even hit the ground, he was kneeling at Buffy's side, collecting her into his arms and rocking her back and forth as he began to make soft, guttural sounds to comfort her. Buffy woke and clung to him, twining her arms around his neck, seemingly not even noticing the demon's blood still covering his mouth; she seemed as though her life depended on never letting him go as she snuggled into his embrace. Angel stared at the scene, as it played out before him in an open-mouthed shock. As the others finished fighting, they did the same.
"There's still a spell on her," Angel denied, shaking his head. "It just can't be…"
"Looks pretty real to me," Faith commented. "Sure did at the party, too." The other looked curious at her last statement, but they were prevented from asking anything by Buffy herself.
"Hello? Right here!" she said, turning to look at them. "And no spell. I just honestly care about Spike. And unless you really want me to go insane, I suggest you guys don't say a damn word. It's my life, and I'm choosing how to live it.
"Buffy… Whatever he's done… we can fix it," Angel took a step towards her, reaching out his hand. Buffy stared at it, then got up and walked to him. It seemed as though she would take his hand, but instead she punched him square in the nose.
"There. Is. No. Spell!!" she exclaimed as Angel fell to the ground.
"None whatsoever," she clarified, taking an angry step towards him. "Just my feelings for Spike, and his for me." Her friends looked on in wonder, except for Faith who was smirking. Karen had a look of disgust on her face. How could she not want Angel?
Buffy straightened, and then sighed. Suddenly, the pain in her ankle returned, now that the adrenaline from her anger was wearing off. She began to fall, but cool, strong arms slid around her and lifted her up, cradling her to their chest. Buffy wound her arms around Spike's neck and leaned her head on his shoulder, sighing contentedly as she let her eyes drift shut and a small smile danced across her lips.
"Think I'll be takin' her back home now," Spike spoke before leaving the group in shock.
Spike shut the curtains firmly before stripping down to his black silk boxers and climbing into Buffy's bed. Buffy locked the door, hoping her mother wouldn't try and wake her up anyway the next morning before stripping down to her thong and bra and picking up Spike's t-shirt from the floor, slipping it over her head. Spike watched her in amusement as she put it on and crawled next to him into bed.
Spike turned to his side and pulled Buffy's back tight against his chest, happy to have her back in his arms again. He listened as her unnecessary breathing slowed, and eventually stopped. Figuring she was asleep, he let himself finally admit what he had been suspecting for a while now.
"I love you, tiger," he whispered, and then let his eyes fall shut as well.
After a brief pause, he heard her whisper, "I love you, too, Spike." Shocked at first, Spike's eyes sprung open. Then a wide, silly grin spread across his face before he shut his eyes again and fell asleep, just barely tightening his grip around his girl.
A/N: Soooo… what did everyone think?? I'm not exactly sure what I'm gunna do about Karen yet, or the Scoobies reactions. That should all be in the next chapter, which should be, tear, the last one to wrap the story up. But as always, RR!!! Any suggestions on the Karen situation is very much appreciated! And I hope you guys liked the rather fluffy ending of the chappie. Heh.