Chapter 11: Crush
February 13, 2001 – Tuesday
The Bronze
Buffy smiled wistfully as she watched Willow and Tara as well as Xander and Anya dancing.
"Bleedin' crime is what it is..."
Buffy glanced warily toward the voice as Spike, beer in hand, took a seat next to her.
"Jacking up the bar prices to pay for fixin' up this sinkhole," he continued. "Not my fault their insurance doesn't cover Act of Troll."
Buffy rolled her eyes as she looked back toward her friends. "Gee... maybe it's time you found another place to patronize," she retorted.
"Got half a mind to," he admitted as he looked at her longingly. "'Specially since the flowering onion got remodeled right off the sodding menu. Only thing this place 'ad going for it...'Course I have spotted some walnutty muffin tops that—"
"What are you doing, Spike?" Buffy snapped as she rounded on him.
Spike hesitated, suddenly self-conscious. "What you mean, what am I-?" he started.
"Here. At this table. Talking to me," Buffy said glaring at him, wishing he would go away. "Like you and I are some kind of...talking buddies."
"Well... Saw you sittin' alone," he explained with a wave at her friends. "Thought... I dunno, you could, maybe, do with a bit of, you know, company."
Buffy squinted at him, trying to figure his angle.
Uncomfortable with being scrutinized, Spike stood up. "Suit yourself." He started to walk off and then changed his mind as he sat back down. "Just... I mean..."
"Hey, Evil Dead…"
Spike and Buffy looked up as Xander approached the table with Anya.
"You're in my seat," Xander finished.
Spike opened his mouth to offer a retort before changing his mind. "Bugger it." He stood after pocketing the money on the table and walked off.
Buffy watched him go. She was sure something weird was going on with him.
"Xander, I think you may have hurt his feelings." Anya told her boyfriend.
"And you should never hurt the feelings of a brutal killer," Xander retorted before realizing that Spike was a brutal killer. "Actually, that's pretty good advice." He looked up at Tara and Willow made their way off the dance floor. "So, who's for another round of liquid refreshments? I'm buying. For I am Payday Man."
"Yay," Anya cheered. "I love Payday Man. He's cool and rich."
Xander scanned the table looking for his money. "Hey, where's my change? It was right he—" He then looked toward Spike who was at the bar waving a bill at the bartender. "Spike, you diabolical fiend." He stood up and walked toward the bar.
Summers Residence
Joyce sat on the couch, sipping hot cocoa and reading a novel while Dawn and Lynn lay on the floor watching a TV game show, their unfinished homework laid out in front of them.
From the foyer, they heard the front door slam shut.
"Buffy?" Joyce called out.
"Back by popular demand," Buffy said as she walked into the living room. "How's everything with the home team and do I smell popcorn?"
"Cheddar," Lynn stated.
Buffy sat on the floor next to Dawn and Lynn. She helped herself to the popcorn. "Mmm. Artificial cheese flavored powder. Nature's perfect food."
"Did you have a nice time?" Dawn asked looking at her sister.
"You know, I think I did," Buffy admitted. "Much needed fun. Apart from Spike's cameo appearance—"
Dawn frowned. "Spike was there?" she asked.
Buffy saw the expression on her sister's face. "Unfortunately. You know, for a keep to himself kind of vamp, he's, like, everywhere I go."
"What was he doing?" Lynn wondered as she too noticed the expression on Dawn's face.
Buffy shrugged. "I dunno... He's cranky the Bronze got rid of the flowering onion appetizer."
"Well, I'm just relieved to have you home. To be honest, I wasn't feeling all that safe with you gone," Joyce said and then she noticed Dawn and Lynn reactions to that statement. "Sorry, Dawn…Lynn. I didn't mean."
"It's okay, mom," Dawn said as she sat up and looked at her mother. "You worry about us both when we're out on patrol. Especially not long after Glory decided to pay a surprise visit."
"It's probably time I should be heading home," Lynn said as she gathered up her stuff.
"'Night, Lynn," Joyce said as they watched Lynn orb out.
"Hey, Dawn," Buffy said looking at her sister. "I've been meaning to ask. Have you borrowed any of my clothes?"
"Not lately," Dawn answered. "Why?"
"My blue cashmere sweater is missing," Buffy admitted.
Spike's Crypt
Spike sat in his chair absentmindedly caressing and fingering Buffy's blue cashmere sweater.
"Spikey," Harmony said as she appeared in the archway wearing only a lacy teddy.
Spike immediately stashed the sweater behind the chair.
"Aren't you coming to bed?" she asked.
"Not tired," Spike admitted.
"Me, neither..." Harmony as she walked over to Spike and ran a finger sensuously along his shoulder and face, annoying him in the process. "Don't you want to come in and..." She plopped down hard on his lap. "Tire me out."
Spike grabbed her roughly causing her eyes to flash with excitement. "Harm! Really not in the mood right now," he said angrily.
"Tsk. You're never in the mood," Harmony said as she kissed his ear. "We can do something different tonight."
"Like what? You stop yammering for two seconds?" Spike asked with a roll of his eyes.
"Well... we could, I don't know... maybe play a game?" she suggested.
Spike smirked as an idea came to mind.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Harmony crept through the crypt, wooden stake in hand and wearing Buffy's sweater. "Oh, I'm going to stake you. I'm coming after you, you bad, evil vampire. And I'm going to...slay you!" She stabbed the air with her stake a few times, almost dropping it. "I'm sneaking up and I'm going to stake you so much with my Slaying powers that I have because I'm the Chosen—woop!" she yelped as Spike tackled her.
February 14, 2001 – Wednesday
U.C. Sunnydale
"I just don't see why he couldn't have ended up with Esmerelda. They could have the wedding right there," Willow said as she, Buffy and Tara walk down the corridor after one of their shared classes. Beneath the very bell tower where he labored thanklessly for all those years..."
"No, see, it can't end like that, 'cuz all of Quasimodo's actions were selfishly motivated," Tara countered. "He had no moral compass, no understanding of what was right. Everything he did, he did out of love for a woman who'd never be able to love him back. Also, you can tell it's not going to have a happy ending, when the main guys all bumpy."
"What do you think, Buffy?" Willow asked turning toward her best friend.
"The test is tomorrow. I don't have to have an opinion 'til tomorrow," Buffy answered.
"But you read it, right?" Willow questioned.
Buffy shook her head. "Kinda not. I rented the movie, Dawn and I going to watch it tonight."
"With Charles Loughton?" Tara wondered.
Buffy shrugged. "I'm not sure. Was he one of the singing gargoyles?"
Willow rolled her eyes. "Oh boy."
Buffy grinned at Willow. "I'm kidding!" she told Willow as they passed a boy reading a newspaper. Buffy glanced at it catching the headline. She stopped and looked at the boy. "You done with this?" She grabbed the paper away, staring at the front page. The student started to protest as Buffy walked away. She brought her wrist communicator to her lips. "Dawn."
Sunnydale High School – Temporary Home
Stomach growling in anticipation, Dawn impatiently waited in line, very grateful that her science class was close to the cafeteria so she was always one of the first in the line.
Grabbing her tray of food, Dawn scanned the slowly building crowd in the cafeteria and, once she spotted Lynn waving at her, she grinned and made her way to the table. After a quick kiss Dawn sat down next to her girlfriend. "How was your…" Dawn started but she didn't get to finish as her wrist communicator beeped at her. She looked around to make sure no one was watching or within listening distance. She brought her wrist communicator to her lips. "Dawn, here."
U.C. Sunnydale
Buffy, Willow and Tara were looking at the article with the headline: Metrotrain Massacre…Six found Murdered on Train at Sunnydale Station.
"I have Willow and Tara with me. We're looking at an article in the newspaper," Buffy explained to Dawn through the communicator.
"Six found Murdered on Train at Sunnydale Station," Willow read.
"Glory?" Lynn's voice asked from the other end of the communicator.
"...unconfirmed reports of severe trauma to the throats of one or more of the victims..." Buffy read as she looked up at her friends before returning her attention to her communicator. "Survey says... Vampire."
"I will check Spike and see if somehow he's broke the programming on his chip," Dawn said.
"Okay, I will check the train itself," Buffy agreed.
Spike's Crypt
Spike climbed up out of the lower section of his crypt and saw the White Zeo ranger standing before him. "Oh, it's you," he said. "What are you doing lurking about?"
The White Zeo Ranger shrugged. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing," Spike answered as he covered the hole with a slab.
"I take it that leads into the sewers," the Ranger said nodding toward the slab. "Is that how you got to the train station?"
"What?" Spike asked confused about the question. He took out a cigarette and lit it.
"The train station," the White Zeo Ranger said. "Did you kill those people?"
Spike coughed at the accusation. "I can't bite people, nibblet," he insisted. "The little bug zapper that was stuffed in my brain will go off if I try."
"How do I know you haven't found a way around that?" she said with the tone of accusation.
Summers Residence
Buffy entered the foyer and set her purse and backpack down.
"Dawn?" came Joyce's voice from the kitchen.
"It's me," Buffy answered.
Joyce hurried into the room, fairly panic-stricken. "Is Dawn with you?"
"She's not here?" Buffy questioned. "I thought she would come home before…"
"Before what?" Joyce said.
"She went to see Spike," Buffy answered. "I contacted her at school …"
"You're saying she went to that vampire to investigate what the news said about those people that were murdered..." Joyce said her panic growing by the second.
"She's likely morphed, mom," Buffy said soothingly. "Besides it's not Glory related. Have you tried calling her?" She motioned toward her mother's wrist communicator. "See if she would respond?"
Joyce looked down at the communicator and then at Buffy a little sheepish. "I didn't think."
"It's okay," Buffy said. She brought her wrist communicator to her lips. "Dawn."
"Yeah, Buffy?" came Dawn's voice from the other end of the communicator.
Joyce let out a sigh of relief at hearing her younger daughter's voice.
"Mom was worried when you didn't come home right away after school," Buffy informed her sister.
Joyce's communicator beeped at her and she brought it to her lips. "Dawn?"
"Sorry, mom, for worrying you. I was investigating what Buffy contacted me for at lunch." Dawn said. "Buffy, I don't believe he did it. But he is obviously hiding something he didn't want me to see."
"Did you morph before you went to see him?" Buffy questioned hopefully.
"I did," Dawn replied. "I'm still at his crypt, we've been talking. I took a step out when you beeped me. I thought if I could get him talking maybe he might let something slip about the train massacre or what he's hiding."
"Okay, I will meet up with you there," Buffy said.
Spike's Crypt
"And the lady just invited you in?" the White Zeo Ranger asked as she walked back in the crypt.
"Well, I had hubby by the throat, didn't I?" he answered. "Promised her he'd live if she did the invite."
"And did you? Let him live?" she asked already knowing the answer.
"What do you think?" he replied with a chuckle. "Too much for you?" he questioned.
"I'm a Power Ranger, Spike," the Ranger replied as she rolled her eyes behind her helmet. "Keep going. I want to know what happens."
Spike nodded. "Well, I went into the house. Lady was there with a couple teenaged sons. Little older than you. I killed 'em right quick, the whole lot. But...someone was missing. There was supposed to be a little girl. So, I got really quiet." He paused for effect. "And I hear this tiny noise coming from the coal bin...this little sigh...so I listened harder...it's very, very quiet..."
Buffy burst through the door loudly.
"Bloody hell!" he cried. "I should have known you were just biding time till she arrived!"
"Well," the White Zeo Ranger said as she smirked behind her helmet. "You were very suspicious when I arrived to question you on the train massacre."
Buffy glanced around the crypt surveying the room. She spotted the slab. "Come on, Dawn. I think he's not going to tell us anything."
"Agreed," the Power Ranger replied as she followed her sister from the crypt. When the door closed behind them, she said, "You saw the slab?"
"Yeah," Buffy answered.
"He moved that into position when he saw I was there," the White Zeo Ranger explained. "Was just suspicious."
"Something to definitely check up on later," Buffy admitted. "He didn't let anything slip about the train during his story time I take it?"
"No," the Ranger answered with a sigh. "Though I do think I figured something out. Something you're not going to like."
"What?" Buffy asked looking at her sister.
"Power Down!" the Ranger called out and she de-morphed into Dawn. "I thought you might want to see my face when I said this," she admitted. "I believe he may have a thing for you,"
Buffy looked at her sister in shock. "Are you sure?" she questioned.
"Reasonably," Dawn replied with a sigh. "I didn't see it in the crypt. But it wouldn't surprise me if under that slab was your missing cashmere sweater. I think that's what he could be hiding."
"Something to check out later," Buffy agreed, though she hoped Dawn was wrong. "We should get to the train."
February 14, 2001 – Wednesday
Train
Buffy and Dawn appeared in a beam of white light. "Should I morph so we have some light from my helmet lights?" Dawn asked.
"Might not be a bad idea," Buffy agreed.
"It's Morphin' Time!" Dawn called out. "Zeo Ranger Six, White!" When the morphing sequence was complete, she activated her helmet lights. "Let there be light!" she chuckled.
They looked around and saw tape outlines of the victims and the odd bloodstain here and there.
"Make sure you're looking for anything that will tell us if a vamp did this or something else," Buffy informed her sister. "And if it was, how many are we talking about?"
"Switching on the helmet's scanners," the Ranger replied.
Buffy sighed. "You know what you said in the cemetery yesterday?"
"About he might have a thing for you, yeah," the Power Ranger replied.
"You were serious, right? You weren't making a joke at my expense, were you?" Buffy questioned. "Because it's creepy if you think about it."
"I have to agree it is creepy," the White Zeo Ranger told her sister. She sighed as she as she sat down in a chair. "We both know it will never happen though."
"I know," Buffy said as she looked around. "Come on, let's go. There's nothing here."
The White Zeo Ranger nodded as she stood up to follow Buffy. "Power Down!" she called out before taking her sister's hand and disappearing in a white beam of light.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Buffy and Dawn appeared in the living room and they instantly heard their mother's voice coming from the kitchen.
"But they didn't get that it was a copy of bill of lading...they thought it was another order form, so now I've got two shipments of Greek amphorae on my hands..." Joyce said as Buffy and Dawn walked into the kitchen.
The sisters immediately saw Spike sitting on the counter across from Joyce. They looked at each other as a wave of discomfort flooded them.
"Funny. And really, how many of them do you need. Amphorae," Spike said.
Joyce looked up and saw Buffy and Dawn coming through the door. "Buffy! Dawn! Spike came over to apologize."
"For what?" Dawn asked.
"For keeping you when you had Ranger duties to attend to," Joyce answered.
"And he just decided to hang for a while," Buffy said glaring at the blonde vampire.
"Well, I got started talking about the gallery. See, there was this bill of lading..." Joyce started.
Spike cut in with a chuckle. "Oh, don't get me all laughing again, Joyce. Anyhow, I really need to talk to your eldest."
"About?" Dawn questioned as she glared at the vampire.
Spike got down off the counter and beckoned for Buffy to follow him. "Got a bit of info you might be keen on knowing, Slayer."
"Sorry. All out of cash. Maybe you should hit on Giles—" Buffy said before realizing what she said and corrected herself, "hit up Giles—"
"I got a bead on the guys who killed those people. The ones on the train," he explained noticing that Dawn had followed them.
Dawn eyed him, skeptically. "Do tell," she said.
"I'll do better than that. I'll show," Spike informed them as the sisters hesitated. He squinted at them. "What's the matter?"
"You could have told me this yesterday," Dawn countered.
"I didn't know this yesterday," Spike interjected. He sighed. "Two vamps. Holed up in a warehouse downtown."
"Abandoned?" Buffy questioned.
"Are there any other kind in this town?" Spike replied. "Well, what you waiting for? Grab your coat and pointy sticks."
"It's Morphin' Time!" Dawn called out. "Zeo Ranger Six, White!"
Streets of Sunnydale
They sat in Spike's car, staked out in the alley.
Buffy peered out the windshield, down the alley, then casually glanced at Spike. Spike smirked as he caught Buffy looking and offered her a tentative grin. Uncomfortable, she looked away.
The White Zeo Ranger rolled her eyes behind her helmet as Spike leaned over and reached across Buffy.
"Hey, uh—" Buffy said obviously recoiling from the vampire.
Spike popped open the glove compartment and pulls out a flask and took a long drink. He wiped the mouth of the flask with his sleeve, then offered it to Buffy, who just looked at him. "It's not blood," he told her. "It's bourbon."
"Buffy told me about the last time she drank alcohol," the Ranger said as she used her helmet's scanners to scan ahead of the car. "So, forget about it."
"Suit yourself," Spike said a tad bit defensively. "I wasn't trying to get your big sis sizzled. Thought she might want a warmer, is all." He put the flask back in the glove compartment and slapped it closed. He then started to hum a tune lightly to himself, tapping on the steering wheel. He turned again to Buffy. "You like the Ramones?"
Buffy glanced over the seat at her sister as she realized Dawn had been right. She looked back at Spike. "Where are the bad guys? It's been almost an hour."
"Promised location, not timeliness," Spike answered. "Cold night. I could put the heater on if—"
"I'm fine," Buffy countered.
"If you're not doing this for money, then why—" the White Zeo Ranger wondered.
"Shh," Spike said as he spotted something.
Buffy and the White Zeo Ranger followed his gaze and spotted two vampires silhouetted against the lights mounted in the alley, as they enter the condemned warehouse, through a door with a broken chain.
"Them?" Buffy asked.
Spike stealthily opened his door and stepped out as Buffy and the White Zeo Ranger did the same. "Imagine these rotters are tougher than they look," he stated. "Prob'ly very crafty. And wiry."
"White Zeo Power Stakes!" the Ranger called out as her Power Stakes were beamed into her hands. She handed one to Buffy.
"Stake," Spike asked as Buffy reached into her coat and produced a stake for him. "Don't use 'em usually. But for these two, it's best to be prepared."
Warehouse
One of the vampires rifled through a pile of CDs as the other has a Jiffy-pop going on a hotplate. They heard footsteps and looked and saw Buffy and the White Zeo Ranger approaching. They slowly rose to their feet as they turned to face them.
"The Slayer," said one of the vampires.
"And a Power Ranger," said the other.
Buffy and the White Zeo Ranger move into a fighting stance, waiting for the two vampires to charge them. Instead, they turned and ran away, whimpering with fear as they clamber out windows near the back.
Buffy and the Ranger relaxed as Spike strolled up next to them. "Well, that was... sad," he admitted as the sisters looked around the vampires' campsite. "I'm embarrassed for our kind. So, should we chase 'em then? Can't have gone far."
Buffy shook her head as she glanced at the White Zeo Ranger, sometimes she wished she could see Dawn's face when Dawn was morphed. Those vamps have been here a while," she informed her sister and Spike. "They've nested."
"So, you're saying they're a couple of poofters," Spike said.
"No," the White Zeo Ranger said seeing what Buffy had. "What Buffy is saying is they had nothing to do with the train murders."
"How do you two figure?" he questioned.
"Whoever did it only just arrived in town on the train," Buffy explained as she and the Ranger turned to leave. "Looks like you just wasted our time."
Spike got to the door first and held it open for Buffy. Buffy instantly moved next to her sister taking the Ranger's hand. "What are you—" she started.
Spike, confused at first, suddenly realized what he'd done and let go of the door. "I... It was... I wasn't thinking..."
"What is this, Spike?" the White Zeo Ranger asked. "First you wanted only Buffy to go with you. Then the hour long stake out. The bogus suspects. The flask... Was this your idea of taking Buffy on a date?"
"A—?" Spike stammered. "Please... A date. You two are completely off your bird. I mean..." He looked at Buffy pointedly. "Do you want it to be?"
Buffy looked at her sister and the Ranger saw the fear in her eyes at the confirmation of what Dawn had suspected. "Oh no. No..." she said as she spun back on Spike. "Are you out of your mind?"
"It's not so unusual. Two people. In the workplace...Feelings develop..." he replied.
"No! Feelings do not develop," Buffy snapped. "No feelings!"
Spike started to move toward Buffy and the White Zeo Ranger as they disappeared in a beam of white light.
Summers Residence
"Power Down!" the Ranger called out the moment they materialized in the living room. "Are you okay, Buffy?" Dawn asked.
"He's a vampire!" Buffy replied with a shiver. "He doesn't have a soul. He can't be good! He has a chip holding him back!"
"I know, Buffy," Dawn said as she wrapped her arms around her sister. "It's disgusting and its creepy."
Spike's Crypt
Spike walked through the door of his crypt in a haze of despair. He stopped sensing he was not alone. "Who's there?" he asked.
"A happy memory, pretty Spike."
Spike whirled around to find Drusilla standing behind him.
"Look who's come to make everything right again," she said as she smiled at him.
Spike watched as Drusilla casually moved about the room, taking everything in. "So, uh, let me get this straight...Darla got mojo'd back from the beyond, you vamped her, and now you and she are working on turning Angel into his own bad self again."
Drusilla nodded. "Mm-hmm."
"Sounds fun," he said with a shrug.
"It is," she agreed with a smile. "Like lollipops at the circus. Although...didn't care for Angelus setting us on fire."
"And it's got you, what, all nostalgic now, has it?" Spike asked.
Drusilla walked over to him, excitedly. She slipped her hands around his waist and nuzzled his neck. "I want us to be a family again, my William. Come back with me."
"To Los Angeles?" he questioned. "Done the L.A. scene, Dru. Didn't agree with me." He sat down as he attempted to be cocky. "Besides, got a sweet little set-up here in Sunny-D. Decent digs. Not to mention all the tasty townies I can eat."
"Naughty..." Drusilla scolded. "You needn't make up stories. I already know why you're not coming." She told him as he tensed. "Poor boy... Tin soldiers put funny little knickknacks in your brain. Can't hunt. Can't hurt. Can't kill. You've got a chip," she said in disdain.
Spike opened his mouth trying to think of a plausible denial. Can't. Instead he stood up as he stomped around his crypt. "All right. So, you heard. Poor Spike's become a cautionary tale for vampires. Be good, kiddies, or they just might wire you up someday—and what's this say about you, then, eh? Are you so addicted to torment you'd come all the way from L.A. just to rub a bit of salt in the wound?"
"You misunderstand. I don't come to torture. Well..." Drusilla told him as she smiled at him. "Not you, anyway. You see..." Spike looked at her confused as she approached him, slowly, cautiously. "I don't believe in science. All those bits and molecules no one's ever seen. I trust eyes and heart alone. And do you know what mine are singing out now? You're a killer."
She pulled back, looking at him in the eyes and nodded. "Born to slash and bash and bleed like beautiful poetry. No little tinkertoy ever could stop you from flowing."
"Yeah..." Spike said obviously seduced by what she was saying. Then he shook himself out of it. "But - the pain, love. You don't understand, it's searing, blinding..."
"All in your head." Drusilla gently touched Spike's head, pulling it down so she could inspect it. "I can see it. Little bit of plastic spiderwebbing out nasty blue shocks—and every one, is a lie. Electricity lies, Spike. It tells you you're not a bad dog. But you are."
Spike lifted his head and looked at Drusilla. She saw in his eyes that his whole demeanor has changed.
"You're my bad dog and you bite," Drusilla told him.
A wicked smile started to form at the corners of Spike's mouth as he absorbed what she was telling him.
"What the heck is this?" came a voice from the door.
"Oh, bloody hell," Spike muttered as he recognized Harmony's voice.
"Who is—" Harmony started. Then things began to click in her mind. "Oh, wait, I get it. Our little sex game was just the beginning...Now you've gone and picked up some cheap Queen of the Damned to dress up like your precious Droodzilla."
Dru smiled, she was obviously amused by Harmony. Harmony marches up to her, between her and Spike.
"Harmony..." Spike started as Harmony marched up to him and Drusilla.
"And you better not be thinking what I think you're thinking, 'cause my answer's the same as always... No threesomes unless it's boy-boy-girl," Harmony told him. "Or Charlize Theron."
"Harmony, you moron, this is Drusilla," Spike told the vampire as he pointed at Drusilla.
Harmony looked at Drusilla, saw the smile on the other vampire's face. She marched over to Drusilla. "Oh. Well, you've got some nerve showing up like this, after all this time. After breaking my sweet Boo-boo's heart..."
Drusilla looked at Spike. "Boo-boo?" she mouthed. She saw the embarrassed look on his face.
"Do you have any idea how hard it's been to break down the walls he put up after you left?" Harmony continued. "I mean, serious trust issues..."
"Harm..." Spike started trying to derail her.
"And it's no use crawling back to him now, 'cause Spikey don't play that anymore, Morticia—" Harmony said. She turned to look at Spike as he shot his hand straight into her throat, clamping down tight. She struggled to free herself but he calmly held her there, never taking his eyes off Drusilla.
"It was fun while it lasted, Harm, really, but I think it best now if you hit the road," Spike said as he threw Harmony across the room.
Harmony rocketed back and slammed into a wall, hard, knocking the breath out of her. "Why? Because she's back?" she asked clutching her throat in shock.
"No. Because I am," Spike countered.
Holding back tears, Harmony ran out of the crypt.
"And there you are..." Drusilla told the blonde vampire as she walked behind him. She reached around him, caressing his chest. "My darling, deadly boy." She walked back around in front of him and looked into his eyes as Spike pulled her in and kissed her deeply.
Summers Residence
"Oh! Wow!" Willow said having been informed on what happened with Spike. She sat next to Dawn and Buffy on the couch. Before them Joyce paced, wringing her hands.
"Yeah," the sisters agreed.
"I mean... Whoa! Ga!" Willow said.
"You can stop when you get to moo," Buffy said.
"He actually told you?... He said, I love you?" Willow asked.
"I didn't let him get that far," Dawn admitted. "I teleported us out before then. Long before then."
"But I could see the words coming," Buffy admitted.
"Honey, did you, somehow, unintentionally, lead him on in any way? Send him signals?" Joyce asked looking at her eldest daughter.
"Well... I do beat him up a lot," Buffy admitted as Joyce glanced in her direction. "For him, that's like third base."
"I have to admit this is not the best of situation," Dawn said. "I remember what you told me about Angel when he turned."
"I have to agree with Dawn," Joyce added. "He could become dangerous."
Buffy shook her head. "Not really. As long as it's chips ahoy in Spike's head, he can't hurt me or any of you guys," she told them. "Besides, this'll blow over. I'm sure it's just some weird Spike thing. He'll have the hots for some Gak Demon before we know it."
"I don't know," Willow countered. "Sometimes these things can get pretty twisted."
"And Spike. He's..." Joyce started as Buffy cut in.
"Pretty twisted," Buffy finished for her mother.
"You made it clear, right?" Willow asked. "That it could never happen. That there was no possible way ever."
"Yeah. I think so..." Buffy said and then she shrugged. "I don't know. I was kind of thrown that Dawn was right."
"You have to talk to him again, Buffy," Willow suggested.
"What?" Dawn said surprised at the suggestion. "No! Buffy needs to avoid him."
"Dawn's right," Buffy agreed.
"Not until you shut him down completely," Willow countered. "If he thinks he has even a little chance with you, there's no telling what he'll do."
"Maybe, Willow is right," Dawn said in resignation. "Maybe we should go after him."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Dawn stood by the front door watching as her sister put on her jacket.
"I know this is hard, honey, but I think you made the right decision," Joyce told her eldest daughter. "Better to nip this in the bud before..."
"The bud nips me?" Buffy finished.
Joyce smiled at Buffy and brushed away an errant lock of hair before leaving the room.
"Buffy, are you sure you want to do this alone?" Dawn asked. "I can go with."
"Thanks, Dawnie, but I think this is something I have to do myself," Buffy told her sister. "I mean, maybe we're both wrong. Maybe this whole thing's been blown out of proportion and Spike's gone back to wanting me dead."
"Here's hoping," Willow said as she crossed her fingers.
Buffy headed for the door. "You know what, though? There is something I'd like you two to do while I'm gone..."
"We're all ears, Buffy," Dawn said. "Right, Will?"
"Right, Dawn," Willow agreed.
Spike's Crypt
Buffy walked up to the entrance of the crypt and rapped on the door. The knock echoed a bit throughout the musty crypt. "Spike?" she called out as she walked into the crypt, tentatively. "Hello? You here?"
She nosed around a bit, finding nothing she turned to leave. She stopped when the floor she was walking on seemed to give a little. She looked down at the stone slab covering the hole in the floor. "Duh, forgot what Dawn said about that," Buffy muttered to herself. She crouched down and pushed the slab away.
She descended the ladder that was propped up by the opening. As Buffy reached the bottom, she squinted into the darkness wishing she was a Power Ranger so she could activate the headlamps on the helmet. She took a moment to let her eyes adjust before looking around.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Buffy held a torch up as she explored the chamber. She came to a large opening where the wall had been broken through. The flame of the torch flickered from a slight breeze emanating from within. She noticed an extinguished torch mounted to the wall and lit it with the one in her hand.
She spotted something large tucked away in the corner. Buffy walked over to it and picked up a ratty blanket that was draped over it. She found a discarded, rotting, vanity table. On the framed piece of plywood where the mirror once was mounted she saw numerous drawings and photographs of herself pinned there.
Buffy was both horrified and fascinated at what she saw. She took a step closer and looked at the vanity. On top of the table, she saw amid several candles, was a couple of stake shard and a large gauze pad with dried blood.
Reflexively, Buffy put a hand to the healed wound underneath her rib cage. Then she saw an open drawer revealing several pairs of her panties. "Damn it," she muttered as she turned and saw a mannequin dressed up to look like her wearing her missing sweater. Sufficiently freaked, she spun and fled.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Buffy climbed out of the whole to to find SPIKE squatting at the entrance. Waiting for her. "See anything interesting?" he asked.
Buffy noticed a small trickle of blood in the corner of his mouth and, something else... eyes afire; his countenance confident, swaggering, powerful. Now she wished she had taken up Dawn on her suggestion. "Spike..." she said as she tried to make her way past him. "What have—What's happened?"
"Me."
Buffy turned at the sound of the voice to find Drusilla just as the vampire jabbed her in the side with a cattle-rod. Shocked by nine thousand volts, Buffy spasmed and went down, stunned.
"You remember my ex, don't you, Slayer?" Spike asked. "Came back, she did. Couldn't live without me."
"My boy's been feeding again..." Drusilla said as she looked at Buffy, who was nearly paralyzed. She leaned down to the blonde Slayer. "But I know what he really wants to eat." She gave Buffy another jab with the prod. Buffy spasmed as she lost consciousness.
"Shall we tie her up and play with her a teensy bit first?" Drusilla asked as Spike moved behind her.
"I'm through playing," Spike replied scrutinizing Buffy's prone body.
"Ooh, I like it when you're all dour and straight-to-business-like. All right, then..." Drusilla said eying Buffy. "Let's put our little toy away. Back in its box. With posies and pennies for—" She let out a small scream as Spike hit Drusilla with the cattle prod. She spasmed as she fell to the floor and into unconsciousness.
"Bloody well through playing," Spike said as he looked at the unconscious women.
Summers Home
Dawn paced back and forth as Willow prepared the spell that Buffy had asked the redhead to do. "Where is she?" she asked.
"I don't know," Willow answered. "Maybe you should try beeping her?"
Dawn nodded as she brought her wrist communicator her lips. "Buffy?" There was no response. "Buffy, respond please." There was still no response. She decided to change tactics. "Zordon."
"Yes, Dawn," came Zordon's voice from the communicator.
"I need you to find Buffy for me," Dawn said. "She's missing and she isn't answering her communicator. There is a vampire that I believe has…"
"Say no more, Dawn. Alpha," came Zordon's voice as he addressed the robot. "Locate Buffy."
Spike's Crypt
Buffy slowly regained consciousness and discovered she was suspended from the ceiling, her hands shackled above her head. She looked around and saw she was in the room beneath Spike's crypt.
"There she is..." Spike said as he stood in front of the Slayer. "Beginning to think you'd sleep the night away."
"Dru... Drusilla..." Buffy started.
Spike grinned as he stepped aside to reveal Drusilla propped up against a pillar, tied up with thick rope.
"Not nice to change the game in mid-play, Spike..." Drusilla said. "You've taken my chair and the music hasn't stopped."
"Sorry, Pet," Spike apologized. "My house, my rules."
"I think I shall be very cross with you when I'm free again," Drusilla pouted.
"What is going on?" Buffy asked, both wary and confused.
Spike smiled. "Simple... I'm going to prove something..." He stepped toward the Slayer. He moved his face in close to hers. "I love you."
Buffy pinched her eyes shut, in agony, and turned away, clearly mortified. "Oh my God..."
Spike grabbed Buffy's chin and forced her to face hm. "Look at me! I... LOVE... you. You're all I bloody think about...Dream about... You're in my gut, my throat... I'm drowning in you, Summers. Drowning in—"
He was interrupted as Drusilla began chuckling. Neither of vampires noticed that Buffy's communicator beeped at her not once but twice. "Dawn," she whispered.
"Can do without the laugh track, Dru," Spike told the other vampire.
"But it's so funny..." Drusilla said as she continued to chuckle. "I knew...before you did... I knew you loved the Slayer. The pixies in my head whispered it to me... I thought they would fly away..."
Spike looked back at Buffy. "You can't tell me there isn't anything there between you and me. I know you feel something."
"It's called revulsion," Buffy admitted. "And whatever you think you're feeling...it's not love. You can't love without a soul."
"Oh, we can, you know," Drusilla countered. "We can love quite well..." She looked at Spike bemused. "If not wisely."
"You still don't believe," Spike told the Slayer. "Still don't think I mean it. You want proof? How's this?" He moved to the shrine in the corner and picked up one of his souvenir stakes, then walked over to Drusilla. "I'm going to kill Drusilla for you," she said as Drusilla began chuckling all over again. He brought the stake down and pressed it into Drusilla's chest just above her heart."
Buffy looked at Spike, incredulously. "That's not going to prove anything. Except that you're a miserable, sick vampire I should've dusted a long time ago. And, hey, already there."
"Don't mock this," Spike ordered.
"Go mock yourself," Buffy retorted. 'Come on, Dawn, find me,' she thought to herself. She was sure when she hadn't answered her communicator that Dawn would have went to plan B and contacted Zordon to begin a search for her.
"This is Drusilla, girl," Spike replied. "Do you have the slightest idea how much she means to me?" He looked at Drusilla. "This is the face of my salvation. Before Dru, I was nothing. A speck. But when she bit me, she delivered me from mediocrity. For over a century—we cut a swath through the continents, shared a bed, drank from the same vein..." He moved closer to the female vampire and began to caress her. "A hundred years, and she never stopped surprising me... Never stopped taking me to new depths. I was a lucky bloke, to touch such a black beauty. Lucky just to stand in her light..."
"Tsk," Drusilla said obviously moved by Spike's speech. "Aww. Ow!" she cried as Spike pressed the stake harder into her chest.
"So, you see, it means something," Spike told Buffy.
"Not to me. Kill her. Why do I care?" Buffy questioned.
"Here's why: If you don't admit that there's something there..." Spike said. "Some tiny feeling for me...Then I'll untie Dru and let her kill you, instead."
"Yes. Please," Drusilla begged. "I like that game much better."
Buffy weighed her options. Which without Dawn were limited at the moment.
Spike's expression softened as he took a gentle step toward Buffy. "Just...Give me something...a crumb, the barest smidge...tell me someday, maybe, there's a chance..."
Buffy studied him for a moment, recognizing the pain this was obviously causing him. Then, with her head, she beckoned Spike over. He moved in close so that she could whisper intimately into his ear, "Spike... The only chance you had with me was when I was unconscious."
Spike backed away looking at her with disappointment. He wondered why he hadn't thought of that. "Arg!" he screamed as he angrily flung the stake against the wall. "What the bleeding hell is wrong with you bloody women? What the hell does it take? Why do you bitches torture me?"
"Which question do you want me to answer first?" Buffy wondered.
"I'm at the end of my bleeding tether! I don't know why I even bother!" Spike said as he turned toward Drusilla. "It's your fault. You're to blame for all this, you know."
"Am I?" Drusilla countered.
"Bloody right you are," he answered. "If you hadn't left me for that Chaos Demon, I'd never come back here. Wouldn't have this sodding chip in my skull..." He turned and looked at Buffy. "And you... You wouldn't be able to touch me. Because this- this thing with you - it's wrong! I know it! Not a complete idiot!" he said as he gestured at his unbeating heart. "You think I like having you here?! Destroying everything that was me until all that's left is you in a dead shell. You say you hate it but you won't leave. What I should just do is get rid of both of you - Burn you! Cut you into little pieces! So there won't be any more bints to cock things up for—"
Suddenly an arrow hit Spike square in the back. He staggered for a moment, then fell to his knees. He looked over toward the hole in the wall where he saw Harmony armed with a crossbow. "Oh... great!"
Harmony walked over to Spike, glaring at him. "What about me, Spike? Huh? Forget about me again? The actual girlfriend?" Spike looked up at her. "I gave you the best... bunch of months... of my life. I did everything to please you. Did you ever once think about my wants? My fantasies?"
"Um... Not as such, no," Spike admitted through the pain of the arrow in his back.
Harmony swatted him upside the head with the crossbow. "Well they were... deep. And beautiful. And you should have."
"That's right, little girl," Drusilla agreed with Harmony. "Teach our naughty boy a lesson. Such a disappointment to all of us, he is."
"Oh, so now you're all ganging up..." Spike started.
"I thought I could change you, Spike," Harmony said cutting Spike off. "I thought maybe if I gave and gave and gave, you'd come around..." She took out another arrow and started to reload the crossbow. "Maybe be a little nicer. Stop treating me like your dog. But now I see it's you! You're the dog..." She raised the crossbow and began to take aim. "Who needs to be put down—"
Spike lunged at Harmony, knocking the crossbow out of her hands. They struggled, Harmony managed to get in a few good punches on the injured Spike. As they brawl...
It was at that moment as the two vampires brawled that a beam of white light heralded the White Zeo Ranger's arrival.
"Dawn!" Buffy said happy to see her baby sister.
"White Zeo Power Sword!" the Ranger called out as the sword was beamed into her hands. She started striking the chains holding Buffy's wrists. Behind her Drusilla began struggling with her restraints.
"Ow! You're on my hair!" Harmony shouted as she reached around and grabbed the arrow in Spike's back and twist it. Spike howled in agony.
With superhuman effort, Drusilla ripped through her bindings freeing herself.
"Dawn!" Buffy called out.
The White Zeo Ranger swung in a wide arc bringing her sword in line with Drusilla's neck as the vampire attacked her. Drusilla ducked beneath the sword's arc and kicked the Ranger's legs out from under her.
Harmony ripped the arrow out of Spike's back - causing him great pain - then came at him with it. Without looking, he elbowed her in the face and sending her sprawling on the floor.
Spike spun to look at the Ranger, Drusilla and Buffy. He saw that Drusilla had her hands around the White Zeo Ranger's neck choking her as Buffy struggled to get free of her chains.
"Hear the pretty music?" Drusilla told the Ranger. "It's a dirge I think... For your funeral..." She gave the Ranger a quizzical look. "But it's not here..."
Suddenly, she' broadsided by Spike and hit the ground hard. Spike grabbed a key out of his pocket. "Nibblet," he called out as he tossed the key to the Ranger.
The White Zeo ranger caught the key as she stood up and unlocked her sister's restraints.
Drusilla pulled herself to her feet then turns to face Buffy and the Ranger. She then eyed Spike with pity. "Poor Spike...So, lost. Even I can't help you now." She turned and slipped through the hole in the wall and disappeared.
Buffy, the White Zeo ranger and Spike stood silent for a moment till Harmony appeared. "And you can say goodbye to this..." Harmony said before pointing to her ass. "'Cause you're not gonna see it anymore." She started to leave, then turned back. "Unless you run into me somewhere and...and it's me walking away from you." She started to turn, then... "But even then, I'll probably just...you know, back away." She then back around of the hole, a spiteful smile on her lips.
Buffy and the Ranger looked at Spike and he looked back at them with an expression of shame, guilt... and a plea for something. Forgiveness? He opened his mouth to say something and…
POW!
Buffy and the Ranger punched Spike in tandem hard in the face, sending him crashing into the shrine, demolishing it. Spike lay amidst the shattered remains of his testament of Slayer love as he watched as Buffy turned and exited the hole and then stormed storms up the ladder, followed by her sister.
Summers Home
Buffy and Dawn walked down the sidewalk toward their house as Spike caught up to them.
"Buffy..." he called out as both sisters ignore him. "Come on now - stop. You can't walk away from this."
"What part of Dawn and I punching you in the face did you not understand?" Buffy retorted not looking at him.
"So, we had a fight," Spike told the Slayer. "Not our first, love. It doesn't have to change anything—"
Buffy and Dawn turned to face the vampire with deadly calm. "This changes everything," Dawn told him. "You're out, Spike. I want you out of this town."
"So, do I," Buffy agreed. "In fact, I want you off this planet. You don't ever come near me, Dawn, our friends or our mom again. Ever - understand?" The sisters spun and continued up the walk toward their front door.
"No. It's not that easy. We have something, Buffy. It's not pretty, but it's real," Spike said as he followed the Summers women.
Dawn opened the front door and waited for Buffy to walk through the door before following her sister.
"And there's nothing either one of us can do about it," Spike continued. "Like it or not, I'm in your life. You can't just shut me out."
Dawn smirked. "I wouldn't be so sure about that," she told the vampire as he suddenly slammed up against an invisible barrier at the threshold. "We've changed the locks and your no longer invited. Go away or the next time I see you, you will wish to be dusted." She then slammed the door in his face.