Chapter 4.10
"Brandon, take Spike's car and Dawn and
just get away from the area."
"Isn't he going to be pissed when he finds
out we took it?"
"Probably, but then you got the lecture
about Dawn going on a motorcycle without the proper gear and
he isn't exactly giving her time to change." Tara picked
up the vampire's car keys from the hall table and tossed them
to the teenager. "Go! I'll ring your cell when it's okay
to bring her back."
"But," Dawn tried to argue even as
Tara passed her a jacket and pushed her out the door.
"Until those wounds heal, sweetie, having
you around is like waving double chocolate gateau in front of
someone who's on a diet. It's not fair to test him like that
when he's ill. Go with Brandon. As soon as he's well enough
to cope or too out of it to be a danger we'll let you know.
I promise."
Dawn gave up her argument. If the best thing
for Spike was for her to leave she was already gone.
Tara turned her attention to the other woman.
She picked up one of three cell phones which were sitting on
the same table where Spike's car keys had been and passed it
to the other woman. "If you go through to the kitchen you'll
find a pint of blood in the fridge. I want you to stick it in
the microwave for about a minute. That way, if the worst happens,
at least he's as strong as he can be before he goes. While it's
heating you'll find the number for Buffy's cell in the directory.
Tell her what Dawn said about the guy ringing up to arrange
a meet and tell her I'll talk to her once I finish upstairs
or when she gets here whichever is sooner. I better go. By my
reckoning we've got at most three minutes before he gets out
of here, assuming Spike's patience can actually last five minutes."
"What are you going to be doing?"
"I'm going to be trying to put up a barrier
spell strong enough to contain a desperate master vampire without
him realising what I'm doing and leaving before I finish it."
Tara whispered as quietly as she could before dashing back upstairs.
* * * * *
"Buffy?" Willow's voice sounded hesitant,
knowing her friend was in a hurry and probably would prefer
to save the conversation for another time. "Tara? Is she...?
I mean-."
Buffy turned back to look at her friend standing
in the doorway of her parents' house, and her heart twisted
in her breast. She had been wrong, very wrong, but she had lost
so much because of it. "She's hurting, Will, but we're
all doing our best to help her through. She's made her choice.
She's making a fresh start."
"B-but, I love her."
"Will, you can't keep hurting people over
and over and always expect them to forgive you. If you really
love her, you'll let her move on. You've broken her heart twice
over. This time let it be a clean break." The sound of
Wes turning over his car's engine drew Buffy's attention away
from the witch as she realised that she was holding up their
investigation. Turning back toward the house, Buffy hurriedly
made her goodbyes. "Look, I've got to go. I'll try to call
tomorrow after Dawn and Tara have gone. We can..."
"Go, Buffy. There's no point in both of
us losing the people we care about." Willow twisted her
face into a bitter-sweet half-smile and Buffy ran the remainder
of the distance to Wes's car with her friend's blessing.
* * * * *
"Hi?" Buffy was slightly bemused
when her caller ID said she was speaking to one of the spare
cells she had brought back from LA. She couldn't understand
why anyone at the house where she had left said phone, wouldn't
be using the land-line.
"Buffy, it's Bee-."
"Bee? As in bumble? How did you get this
number? How did you get that phone?"
"Tara rang, said she needed help with
the research. I came. Listen, we've got a problem, a couple
of problems. Tara says she'll speak to you when she finishes
upstairs or when you get back here, whichever is sooner, but
right now she's trying to stop Spike heading out on his own
for a rendezvous with some guy who rang up and spoke to your
sister."
"Where?"
"I don't know. Don't know if Tara does
either. She packed Dawn up and sent her off with her boyfriend
as soon as I got here. I'm not sure what the deal is with that.
Tara seemed to think Dawn was in danger but from the scream
I heard seems like she did a pretty good job of defending herself."
"Scream? Who screamed? Where's Brandon
taking Dawn?"
"Yes. Spike. Away."
"Wh-?" It took a while for Buffy
to put together Bee's answers with the relevant questions. When
she had, the ease with which her sister had dealt with the vampire
seemed out of place. "Bee, how sick is Spike? Put him on
the phone."
"Are you sure? Tara was trying to do a
barrier spell to keep him in without tipping him off. If I go
up there now, it might give the game away."
Giles winced as he heard the tone Buffy took
for her next comment. "Put Spike on this phone now."
Bee heard a scratching sound and looked over
to see Rupert standing by the back door. With a muttered, "Already?"
she pulled the door ajar before teetering towards the stairs.
When she saw Tara kneeling on the upstairs
landing she hissed to the other girl, while covering the phone's
mouthpiece, "Buffy wants to talk to Spike."
Tara frowned. "I'm not sure that would
work right now. I'll take it."
The Wiccan rose to her feet, incanting a few
words in Latin before she took the phone from Bee. "Buffy?"
As the witch reached out a hand the air in front of Buffy's
bedroom door shimmered and resisted her. She leant against the
barrier with all her weight and when it didn't give she turned
her full attention to the phone conversation.
"Tara? Where's Spike? I want to speak
to Spike."
"Buffy, I don't think that's a good idea
until you can get back here to do it in person. I think there's
something or someone here in the house, playing with Spike's
head. Just after you left he seemed to get a lot worse and he
started hallucinating, or so we thought, only Rogue seems to
be aware of whatever it is he's seeing, at least some of the
time, so maybe he is hallucinating but I think there's
something there, too. From what he said when I was talking to
him, I think he thinks that something is you. I think it tried
to make him hurt Dawn."
"That's ridiculous. I'd... I mean."
"Buffy. I know, and if Spike was in his
right mind he'd know too, but he's not. He's running a fever
so high that if he was human he'd probably already be dead,
and I just don't think until you can actually get here in the
flesh that you're going to convince him that you're the real
you and whatever is in there with him and Rogue is the impostor."
Wes pulled over at the next intersection, waiting
to see whether Buffy would want to head for Revello. He was
stunned when instead of giving directions, Buffy pushed open
her car door before he had even come to a complete stop.
"Buffy?"
"You guys find this Woody guy. I've got
to go home. Spike's... The First is there and it's messing with
him."
"But-." Giles tried to reason with
her.
"I'll run. If I cut across a few yards
it'll be just as quick as the drive." She raised the phone
again as she scrambled out of the car. "Tara, I'm on my
way."
* * * * *
Even as he made his final preparations, Spike
used his full concentration to listen in on what was being said
downstairs. As soon as he heard Tara banish Dawn and her boyfriend
from the house he pulled Buffy's motorcycle helmet on, forcing
it down over his head with leather-gloved hands. As protection
went, it was by no means fool proof. Even this early in the
day, he would have to keep his head well down to avoid his face
being burned behind the plastic visor but Buffy had banished
his scruffy, singed and slightly smelly blanket to the basement,
so for the sake of a quick exit he would take his chances with
what was to hand. He knew the others would try to stop him from
going alone. This time, though, he had to clean up his own mess.
Buffy might be joking now about always having to rescue him
but if he let the trend continue he would be nothing but a millstone
round her neck like Harris, a handicap, a vulnerability her
enemies could rely on being able to exploit. Her gentle teasing
would give way to scorn. Instead of love and desire, when they
touched he would feel her discontent and eventually her hatred.
He opened the sash window as far as he could,
but climbing out would still have been clumsy and time consuming
and for all Glinda allowed herself to be overshadowed by her
former lover, she was a powerful Wicca in her own right. In
fact, Spike was willing to bet that in her purity of spirit
the witch had access to far more power than she gave herself
credit for, if only she had the confidence to use it. Willow
drew the bulk of her power from the darker magical elements.
Her magic was showier and more obvious. Spike believed that
when his wild dove grew into her power, or when necessity drove
her to test her own limits she would prove that though she wouldn't
use her power to harm others, in every respect bar that, she
was more than Willow's equal. He wound a black scarf around
his neck, covering the last of his visible flesh before he let
his demon take charge. Taking as much of a run-up as space would
allow he dove through the window, somersaulting once before
he landed on his feet just beyond the bounds of the strip of
ground that Joyce had planted with roses and other flowers.
Staggering slightly before he regained some semblance of his
normally perfect balance he lurched off in the direction of
the nearest sewer entrance.
Rogue jumped up, her front paws resting on
the open windowsill as her master left her behind. She whimpered,
trying to coax the vampire into coming back to fetch her, but
when he didn't relent, she scrambled up onto the sill and then
through the window, landing clumsily with her right front leg
twisting under her. Her pained yelp finally made the vampire
turn, trying to wave her back toward the house. He should have
known better. Even favouring her injured leg slightly, the bitch
seemed determined to maintain her vigil over what she regarded
as her vampire. She covered the distance between them in a blink
and Spike had to concede defeat rapidly or risk attracting Tara's
attention, thereby causing the confrontation his ultimatum was
designed to avoid. The whole point of telling the witch he would
be coming out in five minutes was to give him the chance to
sneak out the back in two, that and making sure Bitty Buffy
got her arse out the way before anything happened. He swiftly
returned to his original route with the puppy easily keeping
pace with a three-legged lope.
Looking down from the bedroom window, The First
Evil gave a satisfied smile. It would have been easier if those
three bunglers had managed to stay out of jail and maybe, somehow
the demon could have been reclaimed. Too bad that he would have
to be sacrificed instead, but there was no way he could be allowed
to remain with the slayer. Who would have believed that a soulless
vampire could resist evil's lure, whilst humans with the full
quota of free will were so easy to manipulate? It gave one last
Buffy smile before folding in on itself, only to appear at Robin
Wood's shoulder on the far side of town.