Author: enigmaticblue <enigmaticblue@yahoo.com>
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters below, although I wish I'd thought of them first.
Archive: Anywhere that already has my stuff. Anywhere else, just ask.
Summary: A response to Helga Von Nutwimple's Vamp-in-the-Box Challenge. Wolfram & Hart make a slight error, and bring Drusilla back instead of Darla at the end of Ats S1. Drusilla heads straight to Sunnydale and Spike, and in the process throws a monkey wrench into Buffy's thinking. Oh, and Riley left after "Restless."
A/N: I don't particularly want to post the rules right now because it
will give away too much of the story. Therefore, they will be posted at
the end, and you all can decide for yourselves how well I did answering
my first challenge.
Chapter 11: Changing Perspectives
Angel wasn't particularly happy. Drusilla might be reasonably
comfortable with him—at least comfortable enough to be in the same room—but
she stuck close to either Wesley or Cordelia. It was obvious that she wasn't
going to be happy in his presence any time in the near future.
The vampire might have been able to handle that. He might have been able to chalk up her discomfort to trauma and then swallowed the guilt like bitter medicine. It was her continued worry over Spike that was driving him crazy. Not that he wanted Wolfram and Hart to get their hands on the chipped vampire. Angel hated to think what they might be able to do if they were able to convince Spike to go along with whatever they had planned.
Of course, Spike never had been one to play well with others. More likely, if they did get their hands on him, he would refuse to cooperate out of sheer obstinacy.
No, that wasn't what was bothering Angel. It was the fact that Spike seemed higher in Drusilla's affections than he was at the moment. Drusilla had always liked him better. Plus, when he'd spoken to Buffy, she had seemed sincerely concerned about Spike's safety, and not solely out of fear of what the lawyers might do were they to get their hands on him. The Slayer was concerned for the vampire himself. That chafed Angel even more.
Why Spike—who was still evil and didn't have a soul—was getting any consideration at all from anyone bothered Angel immensely. It was, of course, possible that it chafed him that Spike wasn't nearly as evil as Angelus. Angel knew that it would have taken more than a chip to leash the beast inside him. Spike, on the other hand, had put Drusilla's needs before his own, which was something Angel was still having trouble doing, were he to be completely honest with himself.
He watched from Cordelia's couch as Wesley and Drusilla spoke in soft voices, the sound of occasional laughter coming from one or the other. They were talking about a movie that Wesley had rented for the both of them to watch the night before, and Angel found that he was jealous over their burgeoning relationship. It was obvious that Wesley was becoming besotted with Dru while she seemed to be blooming in the face of his attraction.
The crazy thing was that Angel could have seen this happening more than a hundred years ago, before he turned her. Wesley would have been just the sort of man Drusilla would have been attracted to, and vice versa. The ex-Watcher's gentility was a sharp contrast to the obsession that Angelus had borne for the woman. Wesley could be trusted to be a gentleman, and Dru obviously loved the attention.
And while Angel really was trying to be happy for her, it still rankled.
"Blood?" Cordelia asked, handing Angel a mug.
"You didn't put cinnamon in it again, did you?"
Cordy rolled her eyes. "You said you didn't like it."
"You didn't put anything else in here?"
"No, it's straight blood, just like you wanted." Cordelia glanced over to Wesley and Drusilla. "You're not brooding again are you?"
"Of course not," he replied sulkily.
"You'd better not be," she warned him. "Because it's about time you snapped out of it. Just be happy that the very sight of you isn't driving Drusilla crazy any longer."
Angel sighed. "She looks happy doesn't she? With Wes?"
Cordelia gave the pair a thoughtful look. "Huh. I hadn't thought about it, but you're right. Looks like Wesley has a crush on her."
"You don't find that at all odd?" Angel asked.
She thought about it. "No, not really. I mean, not that Wes isn't a big dweeb, but Drusilla would probably like a dweeb, you know."
Angel frowned. He hadn't thought about it quite that way. "You think?"
"Well, sure," Cordelia replied. "I mean, it's not like Wesley is going to get fresh. Wes might drive me up the wall on occasion, but he's definitely a gentleman."
That had pretty much been Angel's assessment of matters, although he hadn't thought of Wes as a "wuss" for a long time. In fact, Angel had been fairly impressed by the ex-Watcher as of late. The man had come a long way from the failure he'd been with the Watcher's Council.
"You're probably right," Angel replied. "I don't know why I'm worried."
"You're worried because we have no idea what Wolfram and Hart want with Drusilla. Not to mention if they get their hands on Spike we could have a real problem on our hands," Cordelia pointed out practically. "It always manages to get messy with those guys involved."
She had hit the nail on the head once again. "I think we might want to do something about that."
"You aren't going to do something stupid, like try to sneak into their offices, are you?" Cordelia asked, a note of panic in her voice. "You know that's not going to do any good."
"No, not that," Angel said quietly. "But I think we do need to find some answers."
~~~~~
Lindsay wasn't very happy himself, which Angel probably wouldn't have minded hearing. The lawyer had found himself stumped at every turn. When Lilah had sent her team to the Watcher's apartment to collect Drusilla, both of them were gone. Apparently the ex-vampire had gotten over her fear enough to be around Angel.
Lindsay wasn't quite ready to bring Angel into things. Right now all he wanted to do was to salvage his career. They would have to figure out how to use her to disturb Angel's delicate equilibrium after they had Drusilla and Spike in custody.
Turning her shouldn't have been a problem. Spike was rumored to have been her consort for over a hundred years. Their records indicated that William the Bloody had been captured by the Initiative and fitted with a behavior modification chip, which seemed more a boon than anything else. If they could guarantee Spike that they would remove the chip, Wolfram and Hart would then be possessed of both a pet vampire and a superior piece of technology.
Of course, that only worked if they could get their hands on both Drusilla and Spike. Drusilla seemed to be beyond their grasp for the moment, which left Spike.
And Spike seemed to be under the protection of the Slayer.
Lindsay had dealt with a Slayer before, and he couldn't say that he'd relished the experience. Faith might have been a renegade, but hiring her had come back to bite them in the ass. This Buffy, on the other hand, was as straight as they came. There was no point in trying to buy her. Lindsay had no doubt that Angel had probably forewarned her about the law firm, which meant they had no chance of getting her to play their game.
It was probably why Spike was under her protection in the first place.
Lindsay sighed, leaning back in his chair and considering the information. There was something they were missing here. It seemed that Angel and his gang of do-gooders, along with Drusilla, were consistently one step ahead of them. It just wasn't possible that it was by luck alone, which left only one option.
Somehow Angel was aware of Wolfram and Hart's next moves before they made it. Lindsay didn't believe that there was a mole within the firm. The occasional sweeps with the mind-readers were too thorough for that.
That left only one other option.
Lindsay decided it was time to take matters into his own hands. He needed all the information Wolfram and Hart had on Drusilla, because he had a feeling that she was more special than they had realized.
~~~~~
Buffy was feeling edgy. She'd seen the same black SUV drive slowly down her street more than once. She found it disturbing to know that the lawyers—or their people—were watching her house. It made it even more imperative that Spike shouldn't be let out of her sight.
Of course, the vampire was down in the basement sleeping, so it wasn't like she needed to have her eye on him constantly. The Slayer had to admit to being baffled as to how things had changed so quickly. A week or two ago she'd been quite comfortable with hating Spike. He'd been a nuisance—an annoying pest who would occasionally turn up while she patrolled, at which point they would engage in verbal sparring until she punched him in the nose.
Well, some things hadn't changed.
What had changed was that Buffy no longer hated him. She wasn't quite ready to confess that she liked him, but seeing him with Drusilla and her mom had changed her feelings towards him just slightly. Spike could apparently be nice when he wanted to be.
And when Spike was nice, it became a lot more difficult for Buffy to ignore what a hottie he was.
Buffy made a face in the silence of her house. If anyone found out that she was having even slightly lusty thoughts for Spike they'd probably lock her away in the nuthouse.
A sound from behind cause Buffy to turn, just in time to see Spike emerge from the basement, blinking sleepily in the afternoon sun. "You're up early," she commented.
He shrugged. "Don't sleep too well these days. You said there was blood."
"In the fridge." Buffy watched as he meandered over to the fridge, pulling out the plastic tub full of the viscous red liquid.
"You got a mug, or should I drink it cold?"
The Slayer pulled a mug down from the cupboard silently, handing it to him. Spike gave her a wary look before starting to prepare his breakfast. Buffy just kept staring.
The vampire wasn't wearing a shirt.
Pair Spike's undressed state and stunning physique with Buffy's marginally friendlier feelings and you ended up with a raging case of desire. Or maybe it was need. At this point, the Slayer honestly wasn't sure. Even her silent self-admonition that he was still an evil vampire—even if a sexy evil vampire—wasn't helping. Let's just say that ever since Riley left, the Slayer really wasn't getting any satisfaction.
There were definitely lusty thoughts involved.
"You got a problem, Slayer?" Spike finally demanded.
"No problem," Buffy replied. "You could put a shirt on though."
Spike sneered at her. "Am I offending your virgin eyes, Slayer?" Then his eyes narrowed as he realized exactly what the expression on her face was all about. "Or are you just too attracted to me for your own good?"
That question seemed to snap Buffy out of her lust-induced haze. "What? There is no attraction here. Me, Slayer. You, evil vampire. Why on earth would I be attracted to you?"
Buffy didn't quite mean it to sound as harsh as it did. The statement was, after all, said more to convince herself than the evil vampire in question. Spike's eyes darkened in anger. "You know, I wish you'd stop that."
"Stop what?"
"Stop makin' me out to be worse than I am," Spike snapped, suddenly feeling that his reputation could be damned. The Slayer calling him evil wouldn't have irritated him quite so much if it wasn't for the tone of voice she used while saying it. Her calling him an evil vampire was basically her way of calling him worthless. Spike was getting just a little tired of it.
Buffy glared. "I thought you were the one who was so proud of being evil in the first place."
"Well, sure," Spike said. "I'm a demon, pet, but that doesn't mean I don't have feelings, and it doesn't mean you have the right to stomp all over me just because you're a little horny. Far as I can tell, that's your problem."
Her mouth fell open. "This has nothing to do with my love life."
"Or lack thereof?" Spike suggested snidely.
"I'll have you know that I'm perfectly happy with where I am," Buffy protested. "I'm fine alone."
"Say it like you mean it," he replied. "And until then, you can just stop bein' so—"
"Don't even say it," Buffy warned. "Not unless you want to find yourself outside on such a nice, sunny day."
With his chosen insult barred from use, Spike was reduced to glaring at her. "Fine. Think I'll go watch some telly for a bit."
Buffy watched him go, trying to convince herself that he didn't have a point. In truth, this whole situation was confusing the hell out of her. She didn't like Spike—except that she sort of did. He was kind of fun to take along on patrol, and he was the only one who could be relied upon to keep up—both physically and with her verbal quips. She found herself almost looking forward to their fights, except when he made comments like that.
Because she was horny and Spike was attractive. Just because he was evil didn't mean he wasn't physically gorgeous.
Buffy went upstairs to her room for a while, trying to ignore the silence that had fallen over the house, except for the sound of the television. She put on a CD, read a magazine, painted her toenails, all the while keenly aware that Spike was somewhere downstairs with his feelings hurt. Again. "Stupid sensitive vampire," she muttered.
Of course, if she let him stew like that for too much longer, her mom would come home and immediately sense that something was wrong. At which point Joyce would remind Buffy that she had promised to be nice, and then Buffy would have to watch Spike get the stupid smirk on his face like he did every time Joyce defended him.
It was therefore merely self-defense that had her going downstairs and attempting to make peace, Buffy decided. It would save her the guilt trip her mom was sure to send her on if Spike was still sulking when Joyce got back from the gallery.
Spike had finally put on a shirt, and he was lounging in front of the TV, staring at the screen when she came into the living room. "What are you watching?"
He shrugged. "Somethin' on lions. 's kind of interestin'. There's really nothin' else on."
"What about Passions?" Buffy asked, remembering that he'd watched that every day at Giles, and had whined when he didn't get to.
"'s over," Spike replied. "You missed it."
"Oh." Buffy sat down in the chair and watched as a lion pulled down a wildebeest, thinking that Spike probably was wishing he could switch places with the big cat. "You know, about earlier—"
"Forget it."
"Would you let me speak?"
Spike looked over at her, and Buffy could see an appalling lack of concern on his face. "Fine, Slayer. What do you want?"
"I just—" Buffy sighed. Who was she kidding? She and Spike were never going to have a real conversation, not one that was meaningful anyway. It wasn't like she was actually going to admit that he was right. "It's not you."
Spike raised an eyebrow. "Oh, we're doin' the 'it's not you, it's me' speech, huh? Spare me."
If it wasn't for the carefully disguised hurt in his voice, Buffy would have gotten up and left right then. She was beginning to learn how to read his moods, though, and she thought she understood. Not that she wanted to put herself in Spike's shoes—because she didn't—but if she were to do so, Buffy could understand why the last couple weeks might have been hard on him. Having Drusilla come back as human, only to run away to L.A. with Angel and his crew, then having his unlife threatened by a bunch of lawyers he couldn't defend himself against—it would have put her in a crappy mood too.
"I meant that if you weren't an evil vampire, I might find you attractive," Buffy said grudgingly. "But you are a vampire, and you don't have a soul, and if you do get that chip out of your head—"
"'s not goin' to happen," Spike said glumly.
Buffy frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"Look, Slayer, the only people who could probably get the chip out are the government—and they won't—and these lawyers, an' I'm not havin' anything to do with a bunch of people who screwed around with Dru so much. So let's face it. Unless it breaks, it's not comin' out."
"But it could break," Buffy pointed out, cursing herself for actually sounding hopeful there for a minute. She didn't want the chip to break of course, but Spike sounded so glum.
Spike laughed shortly. "Yeah, right. 'm goin' to be stuck like this for the rest of my unlife. Can't defend myself, can't feed, can't do anything."
"Well, I'm not going to say that the whole no feeding thing is bad, but I'm sorry you can't defend yourself, Spike," Buffy said, sounding sincere. It probably helped that she was sincere. When Spike looked over at her in surprise, Buffy laughed it off. "If you could defend yourself, you wouldn't be staying here," she pointed out.
"Oh, right," he replied, his eyes going back to the TV screen.
In spite of herself, Buffy really did feel bad for the guy. It wasn't his fault that Riley had left, or that she was feeling a little pissy, or that lawyers were after him. She did know what it was like to feel like you weren't in control of your own destiny.
For some crazy reason, the Slayer suddenly found herself developing a certain unwelcome empathy for the vampire. "Spike—"
Her tone caught his attention, and Spike turned to look at her again, and he saw her sympathy for what it was, and not as pity. "Forget it, Slayer," Spike replied, although this time there was no animosity in his tone. "'s just the way the chips fell, yeah?"
Buffy nodded slowly. Indeed, it was just the way the chips had fallen for both of them.