Kat munched on a donut, leaning into Spike's side as the whole gang sat around the table. He'd turned up with donuts and coffee for her and she was more than appreciative. They'd been living together now for almost two weeks and it felt oddly normal. They settled into a routine and it just worked for the pair of them. And she still saw everyone every day at the shop. It didn't feel weird or strange. It felt right and she was happier than she could remember being in a long time.
"I just can't believe it's happened again. Sunny D really is the worst place to live," Xander muttered with a frown. After reading the paper he'd told them all about yet another story about someone arrested after a murder spree who said they were innocent. There had been a lot of those happening recently. Kat pursed her lips after she finished her donut.
"What if they really are innocent?" She asked, earning strange looks all around the table.
"If I had a dollar for every time a murderer pled innocent, I'd be in Hawaii right now," Xander snorted.
"Hawaii? You'd be rich and could be anywhere in the world and you choose Hawaii?" Anya asked flatly.
"All I'm saying is, maybe it's a hellmouth thing. Yeah, guilty people say they're innocent but the amount of these murder sprees lately is off the charts. They all say the same thing. They had no control and they never wanted to hurt anyone. It could be some kind of possession," Kat explained. She couldn't really decide how she knew something was off with these cases. She just felt it.
"Could be an Ethros demon," Spike suggested casually, his fingers twirling around a lock of her hair.
"An Ethros demon… Yes, that does line up with their M.O. I'd have to do some more research on the matter, refresh myself," Giles muttered before he stood up and hurried to one of his bookshelves.
"I can help!" Willow grinned, jumping out of her seat and following after him.
Kat was a little surprised. As much as she believed her own words, she still carried around the weight of self doubt that she was helpful and could have a good theory.
"Did I really have a good idea?" She asked quietly as she glanced to Spike. He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips.
"Don't sound so shocked, Kitten," he grinned at her.
"How much do you know about this… Ethros demon thingy?" Buffy asked from across the table.
"Not too much. Never met one, never really wanted to. They love to corrupt human souls and have a penchant for mass murder. Was a bit much, even for me. And that's sayin' something," Spike muttered grimly.
"Sounds swell," Xander grinned mockingly.
"You've heard of Lizzie Borden?" Spike asked as Giles and Willow came back with books on hand.
"The girl that got all murdery in the old days? Killed her dad and stepmom?" Buffy asked curiously.
"Lizzie Borden took an ax, And gave her mother forty whacks; When she saw what she had done, She gave her father forty-one," Willow chimed, her face paling as everyone turned to her and she chuckled nervously, sitting down quickly.
"Work of an Ethros demon," Spike explained.
"Really? Fascinating…" Giles murmured thoughtfully, looking intrigued before he dove into his book. After hours of research, Giles concluded this did seem like the work of an Ethros demon. But now they had the task of trying to figure out who it was currently possessing and just what they might do. Buffy suggested they try and visit one of the prisoners and see what they remembered. To see if there was anything that might be a clue on where to look next.
The next day, Kat and Buffy were escorted through the prison to the visiting area. They'd been patted down, scanned for anything and had to leave their phones and other shit behind. Kat didn't like being there. She felt uncomfortable as she walked side by side with Buffy.
"You've got ten minutes," the guard stated flatly, a loud buzzing sound drilling into Kat's brain as the door opened. It was like she stepped onto a movie set. Prisoners talking to their loved ones, all behind glass cages. She followed Buffy to a young girl not much older than them who was sitting there anxiously. She sat next to Buffy, her cousin grabbing the phone and holding it between them so they could both hear.
"You're Buffy and Katherine?" The girl asked warily.
"We are," Buffy nodded with a reassuring smile. The girl looked skinny, large dark circles around her eyes that darted around. Kat felt sorry for her.
"We just wanted to ask you about what happened," Kat murmured quietly.
"I already told the cops about it. And all the lawyers and everyone else," the girl, Anna, muttered.
"We want to talk about what really happened," Buffy stated knowingly. With a shared look between the girl and Buffy, Anna felt comfortable enough to spill the story. Including all the grisly details about how in the span of three days, she managed to kill almost 30 people.
"It was… it was awful. I was trapped, like I'm trapped behind this glass. All I could do was watch as I did all these bad things. But it wasn't me. This thing… it kept talking to me… in my head. I could hear their thoughts. It wasn't me. I wouldn't ever do that. But it was… it was my hands and I could see it all and I couldn't do a thing to make it stop," Anna sobbed brokenly. Kat felt her throat tighten and her hands balled into fists, her nails biting into the palm of her hands.
"We believe you," Buffy implored, making the girl cry even more but this time from relief.
"We're gonna stop this thing. It won't hurt anyone else," Buffy added firmly. Kat was tense when they left and tense when she finally got home to Spike. The door slammed behind her without her meaning to and she tugged her jacket off.
"How did it go?" Spike asked warily, standing from the couch and walking over to her. She couldn't find her voice. She hadn't been able to speak since she heard the girl's story, too many emotions dragging her down.
"That bad?" He asked with a frown as he watched her.
"It's all just… fucked," she lamented as she shook her head. She moved over to the armchair, her body feeling heavy. Spike followed her, perching on the arm of the couch.
"We can stop this thing and stop more people dying and that's great. But it doesn't bring back the people already dead. And what about the victims? They had their bodies hijacked, were forced to do and see all these awful things and now they're just locked away to suffer? We can't do a damn thing to help them! No matter what we do with the demon, it's not gonna get these guys out of jail. They'd get laughed right out of court with a possession defense. We can't help them," she frowned, dropping her head in her hands. She hated feeling helpless. And yeah, it was good to be able to help people and stop more death from happening, but so much damage had already been done and there was nothing they could do to fix it.
Spike sighed, standing up and grabbed her arm. With a tug, he pulled her up before sitting in her place and pulling her down onto his lap sideways. He wrapped his arms around her and she lay her head on his shoulder, allowing him to comfort her as much as he could.
"It's just the way the world works, pet. Can't fix everything," he murmured apologetically.
"Well the world sucks," she huffed, burying her face in his neck and taking in his soothing scent.
"Tell me somethin' I don't know," he sighed. They stayed silent for a long moment as he held her, a hand playing with her hair.
"It sounds so terrifying. Having no control like that. They witnessed everything the demon did right through their own eyes but they couldn't stop it. They were violated and now they're just being tortured further," she muttered.
"We'll get rid of the demon wanker, help save more lives. I know it doesn't fix everything, but it's all we can do. Better than nothin'," he said softly, placing a kiss to her head.
"I know. I just wish we could do more," she whispered, her hand toying with his t-shirt. She knew they couldn't always save everyone. But this was new to her. They either saved the lives or they didn't. But the people locked away were going through hell and it wasn't something she or any of them could fix. Not only had they gone through something horrific, but now they were being treated as a criminal. Their lives were over. It just wasn't right.