Fix You
Author: enigmaticblue
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own these characters, which is really too bad, since I'm a lot nicer than Joss ever was.
Summary: Desperate times call for desperate
measures where
the First is involved. In order to prevent the end of the world, Buffy
asks
A/N: Written for effulgent_girl, who requested that S7 Buffy and Spike be sent back to S4, which got me to thinking. Always a dangerous thing.
A/N: You'll probably notice that I've took some liberties with the timing in canon. Since I'm running the show, I'm allowed to do that.
Chapter 49: Rescue
Buffy surveyed her troops and wondered if it would be good enough. Last time, she’d been able to use the Buffy-bot to distract Glory for the few minutes she’d needed. This time, she would have to rely on three witches, an equal number of soldiers, and a werewolf. Although she could have used the Dagon Sphere, she knew they might need it later. Right now, all she wanted was to get Spike out in one piece.
“Okay, last time Glory had Spike, he managed to get free before I arrived, so I’m not sure where she’s holding him.”
“Last time?” one of the soldiers echoed. Buffy thought his
name was
Graham shook his head. “Probably a good idea not to ask,
Buffy nodded at him in thanks. “Do you think you guys can
transport Glory again?” she asked, looking at Mairead,
They looked at each other, communicating wordlessly. “I
don’t know,”
Buffy swallowed. “What else were you thinking?”
“A shield for Spike if necessary,”
The Slayer nodded reluctantly. “You’re right. Graham, you and your guys focus on the scabby little hobbits. They’re not that strong, but there are enough of them that they could present a problem.”
“It’s done, Buffy,” he promised.
She took a deep breath and looked at Oz. “If you could—”
He raised the crossbow he’d brought. “If nothing else, I can put a few of these in her. That might distract her from you and Spike.”
Buffy smiled. “Thanks.”
“We’ll get him out, Buffy,” Graham said, his words a promise. “We don’t leave a man behind.”
She took a deep breath. “Right. Let’s do this.”
~~~~~
Spike hadn’t been lying when he’d told Glory that he had been tortured by the best; the First Evil and her Turok Han had been experts compared to the Hellgod. She wasn’t patient enough to be a true master; Spike knew that much about torture. It was why he’d never been any good at it either.
He clenched his teeth as she struck him again, in an area she’d already bruised. “Where is my Key?”
“Sod off,” Spike snarled through swollen lips.
Her eyes narrowed. “Maybe I’ll just tear your tongue out,” she suggested. “Or your eyes, so you can still tell me where my Key is.”
Spike smothered the fear that he felt at the threat. There wasn’t much he could do if she chose to remove a body part, and it wouldn’t grow back. “I wouldn’t tell a whorish fashion victim like you where the ladies’ room was.”
“Argh!” Her inarticulate cry of rage was followed by a backhand that stunned him.
Spike spat out blood on the carpet, trying to focus on his main goal—getting out of this alive, and getting back to Buffy with their secret intact. Dawn’s life was worth more than his, and he had more reason than the last time to refuse to give in.
Glory’s next cry was one that sounded more pained than angry, and Spike peered through the eye that hadn’t already swollen shut. She was clutching her head in a manner that was both familiar and frightening.
“I need a brain!” she cried. “Bring me a brain!”
“We don’t have one readily available, your Magnificence,” one of the minions groveled. “But we can fetch one.”
“Do it!” she shrieked, then moaned. Glory looked at Spike, her eyes narrowing. “I’ve never tried this with a vampire before.”
Before Spike even realized what she was doing, she’d plunged both hands into his head, and although he’d managed not to cry out before, he couldn’t help himself now. He screamed hoarsely, feeling as though she was tearing into his very soul.
~~~~~
“That’s Spike,” Buffy said, hearing the scream as they got off the elevator. She took off at a run, with the soldiers following closely.
The noise she’d heard hadn’t sounded like Spike at all; it had been too desperate, almost inhuman. And, although Spike wasn’t human, he certainly sounded like one.
Before Buffy could get to the door, Graham grabbed the
Slayer’s arm and held her back. One of the other soldiers shot off the lock,
and Buffy completed the job with a swift kick to the door. It flew open, and
the soldiers followed her inside, weapons at the ready. If
She couldn’t help the involuntary gasp that escaped her throat when she caught sight of Spike, his arms tied over his head with chains suspended from the ceiling. Glory’s hands were thrust into his skull, on either side of his head—but not for long.
Buffy tore the Hellgod away from him, inserting herself between him and Glory. “I already told you,” the Slayer snarled. “Hands off my fiancé, bitch.”
Glory appeared to be sick, because instead of fighting back, she dropped to her knees. “I need a brain.”
“You’re not getting one.” Buffy hit her with a roundhouse kick to the side of the head, then glanced over her shoulder at Spike. “Are you okay, honey?”
“Will be,” he gasped out.
Both locks clicked open simultaneously, and Spike would have fallen to the floor had they not been there to support his weight. “We’ve got you, Spike,” Mairead murmured when the whimper was torn from his throat. “We’re going to get you out of here.”
“Help Buffy,” he managed. “She’ll need it. Glory will kill her. Can’t let her die again. Promised. Please.”
Buffy was standing in front of a young man who was kneeling,
a trickle of blood coming from one side of his mouth. He was wearing women’s
clothing, and for a moment,
“Where did Glory go?” she asked, bewildered.
Spike broke away from them, clearly seeing something in the scene that they were missing. “Buffy, no. Not on my account.”
She turned her head to look him in the eyes. “It’s for Dawn, too.” And with those words, she turned back to the stranger, who still appeared dazed. “I’m sorry,” she told him, just before she snapped his neck.
~~~~~
She saw a tear streak down her friend’s cheek before the other girl turned to Spike, drawing his arm over her shoulders. “We need to get out of here,” she said calmly.
“I didn’t have a choice,” Buffy said, her eyes meeting
“You didn’t have a choice,” Graham said, taking a position on Spike’s other side. “It was her or you.”
She didn’t know if that was the truth or not, but it was close enough.
“Can’t leave,” Spike said, trying to pull away from Graham and Buffy. “They’ve got the ring, luv. Wanted to stop them. Wanted—”
“Hush,” Buffy said. “We’ll find the ring, Spike, but we’ve got to get you somewhere safe first.”
“Our place,”
“You’re right,” Buffy agreed. “Good thing the sun is still down. I wouldn’t want to risk it right now.”
Spike had lapsed into unconsciousness before they reached
the elevator, which
The witch shook her head, her lips pressed together. “I’ve never tried to heal a vampire.”
Then, of course, they would need to get it back.
~~~~~
Xander could admit that he’d had just a little bit too much to drink, but not so much that he was actually drunk. Maybe he was pleasantly buzzed, but there was a difference.
“Mmm…Xander.” Anya nibbled at his ear as he began unbuttoning her blouse as soon as the door was closed behind them. “How did I do tonight?”
“You were perfect,” he said fervently. “Absolutely perfect.”
“Do you think they were jealous?”
“Are you kidding?” he asked, in between kisses. “They probably want to get rid of me so they can steal you away.”
“They don’t have a chance.”
Xander pulled back, meeting her eyes. “I love you.”
“I know. I love you, too.”
For a long time, they were the only two people in the world, and it was perfect. They were still basking in the afterglow when Xander noticed the blinking light on the answering machine. “We’ve got a message,” he muttered.
“Can’t it wait until tomorrow?” Anya asked plaintively.
He sighed. “I wish, but with Glory on the loose, I don’t think we can wait that long.”
She grimaced but reached across him to hit the play button. “Xander, it’s Buffy. Glory grabbed Spike, and we’re going after him. We don’t have time to wait for you guys. I’ll call you when we—when we get him back.”
Xander exchanged a look with Anya, then
forwarded the machine to the next message. “It’s Buffy. We got Spike back, and
we’re taking him to
Anya was already up and gathering their clothes. “I’ll grab your jeans. You’d probably better not wear your good clothes.”
Xander thought about asking why Anya was so willing to help out when she hadn’t been in the past, then he remembered what was said about gift horses and their mouths. Although he wasn’t really sure why you weren’t supposed to look in a gift horse’s mouth.
“Anya,” he called after her. “Thanks.”
She smiled. “They’re my friends, too, Xander.”
“I know, but still.” He shrugged. “Just thank you.”
“I’ll get your clothes,” she said again, but she looked pleased.
Xander knew that once this was all over, he would have to find a way to thank her properly.
~~~~~
Spike heard voices, but he couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. He thought that Buffy was near, but he wasn’t certain. Things were fuzzy, but he couldn’t remember why.
“Hey, Spike.” This time he recognized the voice as Buffy’s. “You need blood.”
“Buffy?”
“That’s right. Just drink, baby, okay?”
Spike felt the straw between his lips, and he sucked on it reflexively. After the first taste, he stopped, realizing that it tasted wrong. “No.”
“Don’t fight it, Spike. It’s not going back in.”
“It’s yours,” he said hoarsely.
He heard her snort. “If you could see yourself, you’d keep drinking. You need this, so stop arguing.”
Spike wanted to fight it, but it was clear that while the blood might have been hers at one point, it wasn’t rushing through her body now. It wasn’t long before he heard the tell-tale sound that indicated he’d reached the bottom of the glass.
“Sleep now,” she said gently. “I have to go look for the
ring, but I’ll be back.
“You’ll need help,” he protested, trying to open his eyes. One was still swollen shut, but he could just make her out through the other.
She frowned. “Not from you. You’re not even thinking straight. I don’t know what Glory did to you, but you belong in bed.”
“You killed him,” Spike said, suddenly remembering. “You killed Ben for me.”
“Not just for you.” Buffy kept her voice low. “It was for Dawn, and for me, too. You remember what happened the last time; he helped her. Maybe he didn’t have a choice, but—”
“Neither did you.” Spike managed to get the words out, even though the darkness beckoned. “No other way,” he murmured, dropping down into a dreamless sleep.
~~~~~
Their voices washed over her, but Buffy was so tired she found it almost impossible to focus. Graham had sent his men out on patrol earlier but had insisted on staying himself, saying that he could still help.
The witches were talking about various locator spells they could do, and Anya was volunteering to go to the Magic Box to pick up books. Xander was talking about making a coffee run. Buffy knew she should be out looking for the vampire who had ended up with the ring, but the others had convinced her to wait. It made more sense to pinpoint the ring’s location if possible, instead of heading out on a wild goose chase.
The doorbell rang, and Buffy rose. “I’ll get it,” she announced.
Giles stood on the other side of the door when she opened it. “Giles! You didn’t have to come.” Buffy had called her mom to let her know that she wouldn’t be home. Although she’d skirted the gory details, it appeared that her Watcher had read between the lines.
“Of course I did.” He stepped inside and drew her off to the side, out of earshot of the living room. “What happened? I heard some of the story from Joyce, but there’s probably a little more to it than that.”
She told him exactly what had happened, in as few words as possible. “I know I probably shouldn’t have killed Ben,” Buffy finished helplessly. “But Spike had been hurt so badly, and I knew that if Glory found out about Dawn, he’d probably help her again.”
“Who would help her?” Giles asked, interrupting.
“Ben.” Buffy took a deep breath. “Dawn got away briefly last time, and he was the one who found her and brought her back. Maybe he was as much a victim as Dawn, but—”
Giles’ hands came to rest on her shoulders, squeezing gently. “You did the necessary thing, Buffy. You cannot second guess yourself.”
“But what if—”
“I think we’re both aware of how futile that question is,” he reminded her. “You can only do your best.”
Buffy felt the tears well up. “I knew it would probably come to this,” she confessed. “I knew there might not be another way to kill Glory, but I didn’t want—I never wanted—”
He pulled her close, and she rested her forehead on his chest, tears streaming down her cheeks. It came to Buffy then that when she thought of her father, it was Giles’ scent that came to mind, the feeling of his arms, and not Hank Summers’. It had been so long since her own father had simply given her a hug.
“You did everything you could.” He pulled back, looking her in the eye. “Where’s Spike?”
“In Tara and Mairead’s room, sleeping,” Buffy replied. “He was hurt really bad, Giles. I think even worse than last time. Glory tried to brain suck him; I don’t know how much damage she did.”
“Get some sleep,” he advised.
“Glory gave the Gem of Amara to one of the vampires who nabbed him,” Buffy objected. “I should—”
“You’re exhausted,” he said, cutting her off. “You won’t do anyone any good if you’re dead on your feet. Let us do the research and find the ring. We’ll wake you when we need you.”
Buffy opened her mouth to object, but changed her mind. Sleep was exactly what she wanted at the moment, and she didn’t want to be any farther from Spike than she had to be. “Okay. I’ll let you.”
“Good.” He smiled. “Let us help, Buffy. You’ve done enough for one day.”
She didn’t argue.
~~~~~
Giles looked around at the faces. “I sent Buffy to get some sleep,” he said. “I think we ought to retrieve the ring if at all possible.”
“I’m game,” Xander said. “Since I missed the big fight earlier.”
He looked at the witches. “Do you think you can find the gem?”
The three of them looked at one another, and
“I’d like to call Gertrude,” Mairead said quietly. “She may know of an easier way to find it.”
Giles nodded. “That’s a very good idea. Make the call, and I’ll reimburse you.”
“Thank you.” She rose to go to the phone.
He turned to Anya. “Would you and Xander go to the shop? There are a few things that I think we will need.”
“Of course.” The ex-demon rose with alacrity. “Come on, Xander. We can get the coffee while we’re out.”
“And donuts,”
Graham spoke for the first time. “What are we going to do when we find this vampire? If it’s invulnerable.”
“Beheading might distract it,” Oz suggested.
“Or removing its hand or arm,”
“Why would he do that?”
She shrugged, her cheeks flushing. “Metal conducts heat really well. It would just take a simple spell to cause it to heat so much that it takes it off.”
There was a long pause, and they all began to grin. “I like the way you think,” Graham said.
Giles nodded. “Good. We’ll use
“No, but I’m fairly handy with an ax,” he replied. “If you’ve got one.”
The Watcher smiled grimly. “I think we’ll be able to find one for you.”