Rebuilding

Ch 3 – Night Three

Spike stood in the graveyard in violation of the Mayor's curfew. He listened to the night sounds around him, not really searching for anything in particular but just feeling a part of the darkness. The insects chirped and sang and there was a stiff breeze rustling the trees and blades of grass.

He turned his eyes downward to the gravestone at his feet. In his hands he stroked the well worn wood of the stake he held.

"Need to take this with me, Joyce. The ground's men would only pick it up and throw it into a box in a storage shed, anyway," he twirled Mr. Pointy around in his hands.

"Buffy wanted you to know that she was being the Bit's big sis, the way you wanted. I want you to know that she was… right up to the end, she was. I don't know if you and her can meet where you are now; no surprise, but I don't have a lot of experience with Heaven. But if you can hear me, either of you, I want you to know that Dawn is safe. I've got her. I'm not letting anything happen to her. If, uh, if the Slayer is there, just let her know I remember my promise. Both of them… I'm, uh, going to go to L.A. in a bit. I just have to say good bye to Xan, first. We all miss you, Joyce.

I tried to fix myself a cup of chocolate… you know, with those marshmallows," he laughed a small laugh. "It wasn't the same. Guess it wasn't so much about the cuppa and more about the company, eh? Anyway… Dawn is safe. She's going to stay safe. You have my word on it."

Spike angrily shook off the feelings of remorse he'd felt since he'd seen Buffy's body lying below Glory's tower. He stalked off for his own cemetery; he wanted to collect the things that mattered and take 'em to the house. He hadn't planned on moving in with the humans and abandoning the crypt. But they all seemed to have come to an unspoken agreement that he needed to be close, so he was splitting his time between Dawn's and Xander's, wishing they would all just live in the same place so no one would ever be out of his eyesight again.

Taking the most indirect routes to avoid the gun-happy Riley-wannabes running around town made things take longer than he'd wanted, but finally he arrived. Pushing open the mausoleum door, he entered the quiet resting place. When he'd made it well inside he stopped, listening in that supernaturally still way a vampire had. When he heard no signs of occupation since his absence he crossed to the rough stairway down into his, now former, living space…

…And stopped short, his brow furrowing into the game face. Around him lay destruction. In the middle of his queen sized bed was a dark scorch mark where a fire had been set. At his feet lay pages and when he bent to look at them, he recognized part of Shakespeare's Hamlet soliloquy. The shelf that held some candles and knick-knacks was lying on its face, small bits of broken detritus surrounding it.

He stepped further into his quarters, his eyes burning with anger. The crates that had held his photo of Buffy and her family on top were strewn about mostly smashed into pieces. The end table he'd been able to scrounge and had used to hold his cigarettes and lighters was also broken pieces. The photos of Xander and Buffy with her family were torn into tatters and scattered across the floor.

Spike spun around and surveyed the rest of the damage, a fierce growl parting his lips. He wanted to sink his fangs into the assholes that had done this, but there was no one nearby that he could detect. There were old smells, but he wasn't able to sift through them all. He could detect himself, of course, and there was Harmony, Dru… and Buffy.

His face morphed back instantly to his human face as he concentrated on the Slayer's scent. Anytime she'd come here, it was never very pleasant, but despite that, smelling her now caused him to miss her afresh. Sighing, he began to move his possessions around, looking for anything that could still be salvaged. His Keats book had been lit on fire and the other poetry book he hadn't finished with yet was missing entirely. The dresser of clothes was tipped over and when he righted it, he found most of the pants torn apart at the crotch and the T-shirts ripped to shreds on the floor. It seemed that only his socks held no fun for whoever had partied here. Glancing on the wall above the dresser, another piece of the puzzle caught his attention. Etched clumsily into the stone wall was, 'TRAITOR'.

Spike looked at the mess and waved his hands at it in dismissal. None of it mattered anyway. They were just things and he'd steal replacements of what he needed. The important thing was that he had been accepted into a family again, one that included Dawn and Xander. Whoever thought they were hurting him by trashing this hole in the ground were idiots. And as for being a 'traitor', well, he'd already decided he could live with it when he'd started watching out for Buffy, Joyce and Dawn.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Thirty minutes later, he was waiting with Xander at the railroad station. The town was closed up tighter than a turtle's ass in water, but the curfew didn't affect anyone that was traveling through, only those that were loitering. They'd been stopped already twice by soldiers asking their business, but no one had given them a hard time about driving around after dark to get to the station.

Xander was still just as thankful that the curfew was supposed to end tomorrow. He wasn't particular comforted by the soldiers in town 'watching over them'. The sooner things quieted down, the faster they could get back to demon-watch. Now his hand reached out and took Spike's as they waited for the train to L.A. to stop.

"You'll be careful while I'm gone," Spike more commanded than asked. "Don't start the whole patrolling, saving the world shit until I get back. And watch Dawn… I don't know what's going on in her mind yet and I don't like how she's still blaming herself for Buffy's death."

"Quit worrying," Xander told him for the fourth time that night. "You just be careful. I don't want you starting a war with the L.A. crew. You go, you drop off the stuff and you leave… got it? No muss, no fuss."

"When I get back, you and I need to talk."

"About what," Xan asked nervously. They'd barely gotten together, what could they have to discuss already?

"The battle. You… were different. And your scent has been wrong for I don't even know how long now. I don't know why it kept slipping my mind to find out what's going on but now that you're my guy, no more secrets."

Xander felt Hyena quiver inside and felt an instant of mean-spirited satisfaction. Game over, you nutty bitch.

You think so? Who's Spike going to want to be with… me who can hold her own, or the helpless anchor, the Zeppo?

"I'll tell you everything when you get back," Xander said with emphasis. "Assuming you don't make Captain Forehead stake you while you're there."

"Quit worrying, Xan."

Both of them heard a train whistle blaring out into the night as it approached the town of Sunnydale. In the distance, a white circle from the train's light could just be made out.

"Guess this is it," Xan said as he watched it racing toward them. "How long do you think you'll be?"

"Be back by tomorrow night, Saturday at the latest. Having to see Peaches again doesn't mean I want to enjoy a party weekend with the prat."

Xander felt Spike's cool hand squeeze his gently and turned his attention from the approaching light to catch the vampire's blue eyes shining weirdly in the ambient lighting. When Spike leaned forward, he placed one hand on the side of his jaw and guided the pale lips to his own. Opening his mouth, he felt Spike's tongue dart to meet his own.

In all too brief a time, he was pulling back and opening the passenger door.

"Hey… I'll miss you being here," Xander said.

"I care about you, too," Spike returned as he slammed the door.

He remained parked until Spike walked up the stairs and entered the train without a backward glance. With a sigh and a bit of worry he put the car in reverse and pulled out of the space to go back to Buffy's… Dawn's. To pass the time and give her something else to focus on than her sister's and mother's absence, he was going to take her shopping tomorrow to replace Spike's destroyed clothing. He couldn't help but wonder if this attack against Spike was an isolated thing, or if they should be gearing up for another battle. He didn't know if he had the energy for it right now.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

In the basement, the Buffybot's head was reattached and Willow was theoretically working on its programming. In fact, she was browsing among nearly a dozen browser windows for anything she could find on resurrection rituals.

She'd spent the day at the dorm, gathering clothes for her and Tara as well as textbooks. They were both going to be spending a lot more time at Joyce's now, after all. But she'd also spent the time away from Tara thinking about her dream from earlier that morning. (1)

So, now she was feverishly looking for a way to rescue Buffy. Her friend was suffering, who knew what, and Willow was the only one with the power to get to her. That was why Buffy had come to her, she'd decided. She was her only hope.

She froze, listening to the footsteps above her head and listening to see if they were approaching the basement. Moments later and she'd released the breath she hadn't realized that she'd been holding. Turning back to the web browsers on her laptop, she clicked on link after link, following every reference she could find no matter how obscure. In fact, she was really looking for the most obscure references she could locate… they'd seem far closer to what she was looking for than anything obvious.

I'm going to get you back, Buffy. Just hold on for me!

Above her head she heard Xander's voice. He must have just arrived from dropping Spike off at the train station. Willow thought of poor Angel; how horrible hearing Spike's news was going to be for him. She should have called Cordy and warned her, but she didn't have the energy to spend on questions and tears and besides, one of the others could have done that anyway.

Right now, she had far more important things to attend to.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"No word from Giles, yet?"

"No, Xander. I've tried his apartment about five times, but he hasn't picked up," Tara shrugged a little worried. "Do you think we should just go over there? I mean, he wouldn't… I mean he's upset, but he'll be okay, right?"

"The soldier guys are all up everyone's ass out there. We'll go over there tomorrow and break down his door if we need to," Xander said. "But I'm sure he's alright. Probably just dealing with the Council and trying to plan out a strategy for us. I'm sure he's okay."

"I tried calling Angel's place," Dawn interjected. "There's no answer there, either. They must be on a case. I-I didn't want to just leave a message. I mean, it didn't seem right to just t-tell them on a voice mail, you know? Maybe I should call them back and let them know Spike is on the way, though. Do you think he'll be alright, just showing up there? Him and Angel…."

"It's okay, Dawn," Xander placed a hand on her shoulder. "Really. I talked very slowly and clearly to Spike. If he goes in there and causes a fight, you'll be allowed to kick his ass and plus I told him that I'll pick out his shirts tomorrow. That'll scare him into behaving."

Dawn gave him a small laugh and he found himself smiling.

Amazing, he thought, I actually think we're going to survive this.

"Willow's been down in the basement all evening," Tara said worriedly. "I'm worried about her Xan. We need the Buffy and April robots, but she's pushing herself too hard."

"Let's give her another hour and then I'll go down and tell her it's enough for one night, okay?"

"So you're staying overnight," Dawn asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I'll crash in Buffy's room. I guess she wouldn't mind… do you think?"

"No. She'd be happy to share with you," Dawn nodded. "What about Anya?"

"I talked to her earlier and invited her over for a family sleepover-thingy without the girly giggling and talking about boys, but she said she'd stay in."

"Like you don't want to talk about boys all of the sudden," Dawn joked with him.

"Well, despite the vampire, no, it's not my favorite thing," he said. With a wink, he added, "But I was actually thinking about how bored Tara would be."

This received a full giggle from Dawn that lifted more of the weight from on top of his heart. And when he noted that even Tara had laughed, he'd felt better than he had since their heartbreak three days ago. It felt good to know that there really was going to be life afterward and he thought Buffy was probably giving them a sigh of relief wherever she was now.

"So… how about we check out what's on cable," Xander suggested.

"I'll go make popcorn," Tara smiled. "Dawn, pick out a game and get the board set up."

"Ohh! Monopoly! Without Anya here, maybe I can actually not go bankrupt this time!"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

End Ch 3

See Spanderverse: Points of View, Two for the details of Willow's dream regarding Buffy.