A little fun...Dinner and date scenes of BR and/or Buffy and/or her counterparts and William from various tales...
Sunnydalopolis...
At the I-87 restaurant...
Spike is decked out in tweed suit, shirt, and tie, and feeling quite
uncomfortable...it being the first time in a century...
It took less effort than he expected to convince Buffy Rebecca to do a dinner
with him, outside the Sunnydale limits, naturally. She was, she admitted,
"starving"...Starving, ah...Buffy would be starving after four days without a
real meal...so she is...I'm catching on, he thought...
Besides, she pointed out, he needed to brush up on his social skills before his
big interview tomorrow...
He is watching the VCR that Warren gave them when Buffy Rebecca insisted that
they make a replacement video for the one Buffy had thought she was making for
Riley... If they actually sent one, he might send one back to Buffy and... It
had taken her some practice but she had done a convincing job, he thought...at
least convincing enough for old war-boy...unless he somehow recognized the
crypt...
Warren had furnished some movies as well...mostly sci-fi, Spike noted...I
thought he said not to let Buffy Rebecca dwell on her origins too much...
Spike watches the ending of Warren's favorite, "The Bride of Frankenstein"...he
couldn't help feeling a little nostalgic during the bride's creation
sequence...
The Bride hisses like a cat...why, Buffy...there you are on the telly...Spike
tells the screen.
Suddenly he hears an excellent imitation of the hiss...Buffy Rebecca is looking
at him, ready to go...in a dress, looking...
She looks...well...she really looks... She hisses at him again...then "Spike,
are we going or not? I have to get back to patrol tonight you know..."
"Grr...she...hates me...like others." The Monster whines on the screen. You
and me both, pal...Spike thinks.
***
Dr. William Walthrop, tweedy British cybergenius and his lovelywife,...Rebecca?...well she's using the name for her college work after all...,
out to dinner for the evening... We don't make a bad couple he thought,
looking at their reflection in the restaurant window. Tweedy but handsome...he
corrected. And she...looks... He's being a perfect gentleman, all the old
19th century charm lessons kicking in to lend a hand, he thinks... But maybe
he should make a slight gesture in the romantic department...nothing too
forward of course...just a little loving hand squeeze?....
"Spike.." She has folded her arms and is regarding him "This has been a nice
evening...Don't spoil it..."
She returns to her plate...
"Did you always eat like that?" he asks her. No wonder where the Slayer
strength came from.
She excuses herself and gets up...to what...he wonders? Ah, water and excess
biomass disposal...
it has to go somewhere...
He senses something...and looks at the other diners...Hmm...fatty, rich man and
young beauty...human...handsome dark fellow and shy young thing
looking...vampire... damn...Mate, rethink those dating services...middle-aged
couple...human...young woman, human, dining alone?...nope, there's her
date...vampire...great, just great...already two... If only Buffy Rebecca
doesn't look round on her way back... There she's coming now...
Too late...she's seen them too... Oh, well, there's goes a pleasant
evening...Maybe there's only two...She could take one and I the other...a ten
minute interruption at most. He realizes Buffy Rebecca has already turned back
towards the restrooms...the female is heading for the ladies' room and she sees
no reason to miss the opportunity. The male at the other table is getting up
as well...
She's not going to follow the other one to the mens' room, is she?...This is
a job for Dr. Walthrop...vampire slayer's date...Too late, she's already coming
out of the ladies room...There she goes...oh, no...Did anyone else see her go
in?...God, that girl works quickly... He thinks, admiringly.
Any more?...He wonders, looking around. It's like a regular
convention...Someone might have passed the word on to me...
What about that brunette in back?...she looks...familiar...oh God, no...
Harmony in the worst wig he's ever seen.Even Harmony wouldn't be stupid enough to... He realizes Buffy Rebecca has
already returned to the table...
"Spike!?...Buffy!?.." She waves...
Dr. William Walthrop, eminent British cybernetist and third-rate poet, and his
lovely American wife, Rebecca, college student, experiencing an awkward social
moment on encountering an old girlfriend...
Go to story
***
Tales from the Greenwood Crypt...
Dinner and a tour of Mom's museum...
Mission: Improbable...
Spike had no idea I intended to hit Mom's office...Before Buf is well and does it herself...Or Dawn does...But in our case, after normal museum hours...
There are pictures there...Mom kept a whole lifetime supply in her office...And I wanted some of them...
***
We ate at the fish place up the street...I think I recognized a couple of folks from the museum but no one came over...Not a serious problem if they had in any case...
God, I love to eat...Thank God for Slayer metabolism in sis' case and robot metabolism in mine...Else we'd be elephantine...The waiter's eyes bulged when I asked for seconds and a third to take home...
Surprisingly Spike likes fish...I guess he'll be getting it twice come to think of it...
***
We slipped in just before the place closed...I avoided anyone whom I knew, then sweet-talked the security guard until we could hide in the restrooms...I didn't want to be seen walking out with the stuff...If word got out to Buffy, she'd be after us, sedated or not...And all I want are a few of the extras...
From the way Spike acted, you'd have thought we'd broken in to steal the crown jewels...I swear he kept looking for lasers and booby traps the whole time...
It really was just a matter of forcing Mom's office door then her desk drawers without breaking anything...
Door I handed ok...The drawer I thought I'd have to break when my "cybergenius" came to the rescue...
He's learned a few criminal techniques since his unfortunate demise...
Mom even had the old ashtray Dawn made her...in third grade...
I only took that and the duplicate photos that I knew Buffy and Dawn had at home...
Then...a leetle trouble...
***
I only meant to hurry out...I opened the main door without thinking...
Broke the lock of course, and triggered the alarm...
Guess I don't know my own strength when I'm nervous...
We ran out like maniacs...Dodged around the corner and did our best to assume a mild-mannered couple on the town expression as we strolled back...And saw the crowd...
What, a break-in?...At our beloved art museum?...Shocking...
Then I realized...I had dropped the box of stuff when we fled...
All that for nothing...And when it got out what had been found left behind...
Buffy would be on the street in ten minutes...
But Twerp just grinned and showed me the box...Caught it and carried it with him...
"Knew you'd want it, Buffy..." he smiled...
He has his uses...
Go to story
***
The Tie That Binds...
Dinner/dance tour and song at a London karoke bar...
"Heaven...I'm in Heaven..." the strains of the song played as William and Buffy Rebecca Summers...Walthrop danced among the couples...
Willow watched from their table...They did make a beautiful couple...Maybe not the most attractive or glamourous but...Definitely the most beautiful...
BR waved to her...
She felt a protective pang for them...So odd, feeling this way for two who would still be dancing when she and Giles and Tara and even Buffy were long dust...And yet, both so fragile...
The embodiment of what Xander had been talking about in his wedding day speech...The tie that binds us...The love emanating from the Slayers...Powerful enough to save even William the Bloody...
Perhaps even Drusilla...
And even me...
A wise man, my friend Xander Harris...she thought...
***
Willow had somehow not associated karoke bars with London and merrie ole England...But somehow on their tour of famous ole pubs, Spike had managed to find one...
Not really all that difficult an achievement Willow was to learn...To her disillusionment...
Buffy Rebecca shyly but with the hubs' ardent encouragement was demonstrating the one area where she most differed from her twin...
She could actually sing...Quite well...Willow had already known she could hum...But...
BR smiled at Spike and Willow from the stage...And nervously, at first, sang...To them...In a rather jazzy style...
"When a girl's an empty kettle...Her heart may...be made of metal...Still it can be...torn apart..."
Willow grinned...
"Now I may be presumin'...But I think that I am human...If I truly have a heart..."
"I am tender...I am gentle...I can be...so sentimental...And I really feel the part..." She looked at the beaming Spike...
"So I may be presumin'...But I believe we're human...If we only have a heart..."
"Picture me...On balcony...My beau comes from..below...Strange place to find...Romeo..."
Willow winked at Spike...
"I heard his...Beat...So sweet..."
"When he registered emotion...And pledged me his devotion...I gathered up my nerve..."
"And I likewise think he's human...Though you may think I'm presumin'...'Cause I know he has a heart..."
That did it for Spike...Willow pressed his hand as he lost it...The audience applauded...
She came back to the table...Shyly...She was startled...She hadn't meant to make him...
He embraced her...
One month...One little month...
If I die this week, Willow thought...It will have been worth it...Just to see this...
Go to story
***
Adventure of the Freckled Man...
Dinner at the Inn...Scotland...
"Come on Spike..." she pulled him along...
"The inn is that way..." he pointed helplessly...
She glared at him...The louts catching her look...
Pretty little wife but I'd bet she makes him dance a tune...
"I want to see that factory...and the gate..."
They reached the gate of the Winset factory...Iron products, tools, nails...
A guard's booth was occupied...About four or five feet from the gate...
BR spoke briefly to the guard, then examined the ground by the gate...
The grass there was mashed down...Over a considered area...
A body-sized area...
She frowned...
Walthrop looked at her...What was she doing?...
"Dinner, sweetheart?..."
That usually got her...No matter how angry she might be with him...
BR loved to eat...
She nodded but...continued to observe the factory grounds as they walked back towards
their inn...
And the group of louts who had followed them over from the dead man's current resting
place...
***
Something strange was up she told him at dinner...
Nobody's blood just "disappears"...And that man had done more than stop at
the factory...He must have collapsed...possibly for a while...in that grassy field by the
gate...To get it so mashed down...
"And then there was the curious affair of the watchguard..." BR looked at Spike
rather archly...
"The guard? But he didn't see anything..."
BR grinned at him...
Oh...He got it...
If she starts saying "Elementary..." I'm going to smack her little robotic bottom,
whether she lays me up for a week or not...he thought...
***
***
In spite of his annoyance at BR's newfound determination to play detective...No doubt
once again interrupting their honeymooning...Walthrop was intrigued...A mystery...An
British (Scot/English border) country village mystery...Complete with castle, dim-witted
louts of villagers, insufferable, insular police...Where he, for once, was not the hideous
object of the hunt...But more important...
Something to get her mind off his little game at the sales meeting that morning...
***However she had not forgotten or forgiven that little stunt...
Making her the bionetics poster girl...
Letting those people think she was some poor disabled type...Suffering until the
"cybergeniuses" of W/S Bionetics had shown up on her doorstep...Or worse yet, the tragically maimed wife, saved by the dedication of her loving
husband...All those long weary hours of work nobly spent in order to ....
Build himself a sexbot...
But he'd never said she'd been disabled...For any length of time...The good folks had
merely jumped to the conclusion...
And where would she be without bionetics, after all?...
"What would Warren say?..."
Probably that he was amazed things had gone so well...Spike noted happily...Warren, his
good buddy and partner who'd designed BR and her amazing artificial human brain for
him, had a fairly easygoing attitude on such things...
She frowned...Well...
"What would Giles say?..."
She had him there...But, when Giles saw the size of the contract...And realized what it would
mean for Buffy's and Dawn's future security...
And soon to wed Xander's and Anya's...Willow's and Tara's...Giles' and Basey's...Even a
certain little hard-pressed investigative firm in LA would benefit...
Hmmn...
Well...She was using bionetics...
But he might have told her what he had had in mind...Asked her about it...Given her a
chance to prepare...Asked her...Allowed her a chance to tone down the pathos...Asked her...
True it hardly compared to his past "escapades"...But still...
He was retreating back into the same territory as when he had selfishly copied Sis' mind
without her knowledge to create her, BR noted...
She was...Disappointed...
Not enough to cancel the contract of course...But...
Walthrop grabbed at the brief pause...
So...About these mysterious goings-on...What had she come up with?...
He had just had a brilliant insight himself...How about this?...
The strange dead man was not a man at all...
In fact...He paused...
"He was a robot, of course..." Buffy Rebecca noted, looking at him...
He'd taken this long to reach that conclusion?...
***
Oh...
"Well, you examined him of course..." Spike noted...
"Nothing about him except the missing blood to suggest him not being
human..." she told him...
He'd of had to be dissected in order to tell on exam...A good job, whoever had
made him...
Oh...Then...How'd she?...
"Just the logical conclusion...A demon, even a vamp demon, or any underworld
creature...would bleed...something..." she grinned...It was on the tip of her tongue
to say it, he knew...
Well, not a mummy...he told her smugly...That wouldn't bleed...Had she considered that?...
She folded her arms, looking at him...
"Spike...Did he look like a mummy?..."
Inspector Rigg interrupted them rather abruptly...The examination of the corpse had
turned up something rather...She required their attendance at police headquarters
in town...There were questions to be answered...
"We simply stopped to look at him..." Spike insisted... "I don't thinkwe could help you..."
"We'd be happy to come by..." BR noted sweetly...With a smile for her hubs...
The inspector noted grimly that Ms. Summers-Walthrop misunderstood...She was not
requesting their assistance...She wanted their presence at the station to answer
questions...Immediately...
"Did you disassemble that robot yet?..." Spike asked brightly...
The inspector looked at him rather suspiciously...How did he?...
"Elementary..." he smiled at BR...
Go to story
***
Dinner with Count Vitachi...Florence...
A young...butler?...Must be...In that white jacket...Dark, rather handsome...BR noted...Greeted them at the Count's villa door...In Italian...
To which Walthrop responded pleasantly...Nodding to her...Not sure what else to do, she nodded pleasantly back...Thank God someone in the family at least knows Italian...
The young man led them in through a hallway decked with fine paintings and sculpture to a huge hall...Likewise filled with paintings and other works...Leaving them with a smile...
Hopeful...BR noted...At least Vitachi's got other interests...No single-minded fixation on us...
And he's quite a lot to lose, judging from this house...
***
The Count's wife, Chesra came forward from the depths of the hall and greeted them warmly...In English, to Buffy Rebecca's relief...Young middle-age, about 10 years or so younger than her husband...
Their son Enri and daughter Elisa would join them in just a bit...
Better and better BR thought...A family...Social ties and obligations...
Difficult to butcher guests in the midst of a family dinner...
Although, of course, it depends on the family...
And this is after all the home city of the Medicis...And not far from the Borgias' home town...
She was pleased to note that "Dr." Walthrop was up to his Victorian gentleman's mark...Quiet dignity, a little charmingly youthful enthusiasm in his appreciation of the artwork, a modicum of hand-kissing and slight bows...Not over doing it, of course...English Victorian here...
Just perfect...His mum would be so proud...Buffy Rebecca thought...Proudly...
She tried to take her cue from him and Countess Vitachi...
But mainly went with that old exuberant all-American girl charm...
***
The dark, handsome butler returned...
"And here is our Enri..." Countess Vitachi smiled at him...
Enri?...The son?...Not a butler?...BR thought...But in that white jacket...And he hadn't acted liked the son of a count...At least how she thought a son of a count would act...Shouldn't he have kissed her hand or something?...Walthrop seemed unsurprised...
You might have told me, William...she thought...Of course if she had taken Italian back at Sunnydale High...
***
Enri had brought out what was obviously a very old and very fine wine...
Fortunately Spike was one vampire who did drink...Wine...And appreciated this one...
The Count was slightly delayed...Cybernetics, the Countess sighed, smiling at "Dr." Walthrop, a competitive and time-consuming field...
"Are you...In the field?..." Buffy Rebecca asked...
The Countess smiled at her...Yes, actually, she had some involvement in her husband's work...As did their children...Enri, for example was quite skilled...
Enri smiled at his mother...And graciously dismissed her praise...Switching to very fluent English...
"But of course...It is my father who is the one true genius of our firm..." Enri noted...And smiled at Walthrop...
"I cannot tell you, Dr. Walthrop, how anxious he has been to meet with you and your lovely wife...He was so impressed by your presentation and of course the work your company has been producing...As am I..."
"Dr." Walthrop graciously declined the praise, noting that Dr. Mears was in fact the true genius of W/S Bionetics...Whatever small contributions he himself had made...
But he, like the Count, was fortunate in having a wife who shared in his work as a partner...
Well done, Walthrop...she thought...Just don't start showing off my arms and legs again...
She noticed Enri was looking at her...With professional interest?...
"Forgive me, Mrs Walthrop..." Well, at least he was frank about it... "I am aware that you possess bionetic limbs...I hope I do not embarrass you when I say that one would never know from observing you..."
Spike was complimenting the Countess on the magnificent art work in the hall...
BR nodded at Enri, smiling...No problem, we're all professionals here...
"We both appreciate the compliment...I'm sorry...Is it Count...Dr...?..."
"Enri is fine, although I do hold a doctorate...The title, however, remains in my father's capable hands..."
"And William and Buffy are fine for us as well..." she told him...
Now if you could just get Dad to explain why he or someone he sent was shooting at us...
***
Elissa Vitachi was strikingly like her mother...Perhaps a bit shorter...
Likewise quite involved in the family business...And as interested as Enri in meeting the distinguished Dr. Walthrop...
The Countess, however, thoughtfully turned the conversation to the Walthrop's honeymoon...
All were now sitting in a corner of the great hall...
Were they enjoying Florence?...
Indeed...BR told her...They'd been all over the city...
Walthrop, smiling, sat down beside her...Gave a hand squeeze...A-'Head's up'-squeeze...
What?...She wondered...So far, so good, right?...Did he sense something?...
"Malfunction...Now..." he whispered...And turned to Elissa to continue his conversation on their plans for the cybernetics conference...
What?...Was he getting in over his head with the young lady cybernetist?...
***
Buffy Rebecca stands up suddenly...Her left leg wobbling...Her concerned husband rises as well...
A slight malfunction in her left bionetic limb...No real problem...
Minor social faux pax...
The Vitachis are a bit startled but of course...Understand...
Gallant lady...
"A slight adjustment should take care of this...Might we use the...facilities?..." Spike asked politely...
"Certainly, doctor...Perhaps, though, the workshop...?" the Countess asked, concernedly...
"No, no...Just takes a moment to make the adjustment..."
Buffy Rebecca beamed an innocent...Gallant smile at them...
"I'm so embarrassed...But William can take of this in a moment...If we may..."
"Certainly dear, certainly...Enri..." the Countess asked her son to guide the Walthrops...
***
In the privacy of a bathroom worthy of a Renaissance prince, the Walthrops looked at each other...
Bugged?...BR mouthed, not wanting Spike to give anything away too quickly...
He shrugged a 'Who Knows'...and came to her and whispered...
"Did you sense anything?..." he asked her...
Sense...No...Nothing...
You sense vampires?...Demons?...she asked...
No...he whispered...But something's wrong...We're sitting with three people...I'm not sensing any other humans in the house...
So?...
So...Where are the servants?...And there's more...
Well, she reflected...Maybe with all this the Vitachis can't afford a staff...Maybe it's some kind of modern aristocrat democracy thing...Ummn...Servants' night out?...So what more?...
"I don't think we're sitting with three people..." he whispered...
What?...You just said you didn't sense vamps or demons...You don't think they're human?...
Oh...You think...
"I sense maybe one human...Not three...Though I'm not sure which..."
"But you can't be sure regarding robots...I've fooled you...Even April fooled you...Not to mention..."
"I'm guessing, sure...But then I wasn't expecting April not to be human...She didn't register as demon or vamp...But there was an emptiness in her...And in Buffy-April when she was up and running...As for you, sweet...You are human..."
I'll bet you say to all the human-souled robots...She thought, pleased...
"So you think two are robots..."
"It's a possibility...Unless they're some kind of ghosts or something else I can't detect..."
Well...Vitachi is a cybernetist...
"We'd better get back..." she noted...
***
Enri tapped politely at the door...He hated to intrude but his mother feared perhaps the doctor might need some assistance...If he needed any equipment?...
"All set..." Buffy Rebecca called cheerily as they emerged...
And accepted Enri's proffered arm...Looking inquisitively at Spike...
Well?...Him?...
They strolled casually back, Enri apologizing profusely for disturbing them...
Not at all, Walthrop told him...It was good to know experienced...human...help was at hand...
Ok...BR thought...
So...Here we are...In the home of a man...who may have tried to kill us...who has built himself a wife and daughter...
So much for the social ties and obligations restraint...Excepting Enri, of course...
And pretty true to form for male robotmakers...
From her admittedly limited experience they tended to produce either females or copies of themselves...
***
Buffy Rebecca and Spike were spending a pleasant evening at the rather palatial Florentine home of Count Dr. Salcome Vitachi...
With his "family"...Who, if Spike's unique sensitivities were correct, consisted of a human son and a robot wife and daughter...
And excellent robots at that, BR had to admit...With mild disturbance...
They seemed so...Human...
Yet, Spike had said...They had the emptiness of an April...Whereas she, Buffy Rebecca...Had a human, if artificial brain...And a soul...Proven after death no less...
The old nagging fear...Was she human, after all?...An independent human being?...Or...
She put the thought firmly aside...What more proof could you ask for than a soul's return after death?...And there were more practical issues immediately at hand...
Like the possibility of imminent death for instance...
And the need to keep up her end of the conversation...With three very erudite, despite the possible robotic nature of two, and sophisticated individuals...
After all, she did not want to come off as the dumb blonde Californian...Even the gallant...dumb blonde Californian...
Even with robots...
***
Despite the possibility of great danger...The likelihood of imminent death and destruction...BR couldn't keep down one perhaps mildly embarrassing thought as she continued to chat pleasantly with Enri and the Countess...
What's for dinner?...
After all, she hadn't eaten since lunch eight hours ago...
And it sure would be nice to eat before any fighting and so forth began...
Especially considering what an aristocratic Italian family was likely to serve at table...
***
She felt a little...Hmmn...Should have eaten something...That wine was going right to her head...
Warren and his passion for accuracy...
Hmmn...Did Spike just say that wall hanging was a "beautiful shapestry..."?...she giggled, just a little...
Why is he shandinng...standing up?...
Uh-oh...
The Vitachis were eyeing him...Rather coolly...He wobbled a bit...And called out to her...
"Buffy...We'd shetter be going...I think we've been shrug...drugged..."
Elissa grabbed him...With rather surprising speed...And held him...As he passed out
"It's slow-acting, Mrs. Walthrop..." Enri told her coldly... "But I assure you not fatal...He'll be alright if you remain calm..."
She got up...Wobbling...Enri regarded her intently...Perhaps with a little surprise...Looking at the Countess who moved on her...
He's suzzled...puzzled that it's works on me...He...Guessed about me...She struggled to think clearly...And move on Enri...The one human in the bunch...
And passed out even before Chesra could reach her...
Hah...Shooled you there...Thought I shasn't shuman...she thought just as she went down...
"Shrug..my sis...drug me..." she mumbled, struggling vaguely to rise...
Just as Buffy would've...she passed out...
Good ole Dad...
***
"I suppose...They took your beeper away..." BR asked Walthrop who nodded...
Well, it least wasn't a walled-in room...And according to their watches, they'd only been out for an hour or so...
She and he were chained to the floor of what appeared to be a basement room...Stone walls do a prison make...She thought...
She could break chains like these...But they'd agreed they should wait a mo to find out if they could learn anything...Let the Count or Enri come in...Make the usual pronouncement of doom...And explain...Why...
Spike pointing out it usually worked that way...Even she...Buffy...Was fond of making her "Here's the deal" speech before meeting out her Gift to enemies...
"You make it sound like I'm...We're...Like these people..." she noted, a little peeved...
Not at all, dearest...Just...
Of course from his pov...His former pov, she corrected...She had to admit...
Anyway the large metal door to the room did not look like it would open easily in any case...
So they waited...
Besides...Oz and the gang would be sure to get them out if this lasted much longer...
Still...The chains were chaffing her ankles...Not very gentlemanly of Enri, she noted...
Not to mention ruining a perfectly good pair of stockings...
And...
The least they could have done was to feed them first...
A blot on Florentine hospitality, that's for sure...
Go to story
***
How to Murder Your (Immortal) Wife...
Dinner party at the Walthrops'...
Step three in Dr. Walthrop's perfect murder plan...
Now the scene of the crime...
A party...
To be given at the Walthrop's....
Angel was confused...Remote controls...Drugs...Parties...Scenes of
crime?...What did all this have to do with the strip?...
An assassination plot, Spike explained...
A murder...
Hmmn...This didn't seem to fit in with Buffy's ideas for a more wholesome
strip...She might have a problem with this...
Trust me, old pal...Spike told him... She'll love it...
Hmmn...
***
A nervous Angel left him to set to work on the strip...
After promising to come to the party, planned for a week from today...And bring his missus...Minus the dear niece and nephew...
He sure hoped Buffy would be ok with all this...
***
The first installments appeared Monday of the fatal week...
Buffy was puzzled...But as it seemed Spike had followed her ideas so far, and the strip had become a major hit...She was willing to leave him to it...
Besides, if it were to be done in a wholesome manner...With Ms. Spike as the hero while dim-wit Spike stumbled around...An assassination mystery might not be a bad idea...Although she sent Angel over with more suggestions...
BR was even more puzzled...What was he up to?...
And what was this nonsense about parties?...She didn't have time to cook for and entertain a bunch of...
No problem...He'd take care of everything...She'd just have to be there...
And why wasn't he telling her?...
All in good time...
***
"One...For each of them?..." Angel looked at Spike...
Who had handed him one of Ben's "goof-balls" for Buffy...
The Walthrops' party was in full swing...
"Just for the realism of the thing..." Spike noted...
"She'll be very pleased to have been a part of the whole thing when it's all over..." he told the uncertain Angel...
I dunno know...Angel thought...On the other hand, a party with Buffy
unconscious...Any evening with Buffy unconscious...
He took the pill...
***
As always Warren's striving for realism in the creation of Buffy Rebecca had paid off...She responded to Ben's little pill just as Buffy would and did...
Both were dancing on the Walthrops' tables...BR on the living room coffee
table...Buffy on the library table...
Spike stopped to check on dear Giles who'd been drinking quietly in the den with several others...
"Wonderful party, Spike..." he noted..."Buffy seems much happier tonight than I've seen her in a while..."
Hmm-hmmn Spike nodded...
"How's dear Basey doing?..."
"Oh...fine, fine..." Giles pulled at his drink... "You know Spike I've been married 97 years now, thanks to the miracle of modern medicine...And don't regret a single day..."
Spike nodded...
"The single day I don't regret...Was when she went to visit her aunt...Back in 2025..."
***
BR had reached the high point of her dance...right up the wall...
Pow...
Spike watched her from a corner, a truly Spikish grin on his face...
And caught her as she went down...
Angel in his turn caught the staggering Buffy...
***
As they carried them to the bedroom, Angel was feeling just a touch of
deja-vu...Carrying Buffy's drugged body reminded him of several times when Angelis...
"What now..."
Spike indicated a space on the bed for Buffy and laid BR down gently...
He then pulled a full-sized female body out of the closet...A model from his company...
And wearing an old coat of BR's...
"We're off..."
Angel looked at the unconscious Buffies...
"They'll be fine..." Spike assured him...
Buffy is not going to like this...Angel thought...
***
They slipped out by the window, the guest bedroom being on the ground floor...
And, carrying the dressed model, headed for the construction site equipment...
***
Spike removed the remote control from his pocket and clicked it...
The crane, the glopida machine, and everything electrical in four blocks turned on...
Including...Ms. Summers-Walthrop...
***
Spike maneuvered the crane to them and placed the model in it...
"Realism, you know..." he told Angel...Clicking the crane over to the glopida machine...
"Good-bye, Mrs. Spike...Hello, Spike, Secret Agent of Darkness and Light..." he grinned...As the body dropped into the goop of the glopida-glopida machine...
This was just for the strip, right?...Angel asked him...
It sure seemed like...Well...
A dry run?...
Well...Spike noted...Buffy is still out...In case you...
Ummn...
Of course not, Spike...Are you crazy?...
Just enhancing the experience...Consider it a tension-release...
***
Ms. Summers-Walthrop while pleased to find she and her sis had been removed from the party after their rather bizarre behavior..Was a little put out to find Spike no where around...
She wandered into his studio...And found some of his latest sketches...
***
She was back on the bed when the ghoul boys returned from their hideous deed...
Apparently dead to the world...
As was her sis...
Angel waked his wife who confusedly staggered to the car with him...
She was definitely not going to be ok with this, he noted...Definitely...
What had he let that crazy maniac get him into?...
Oh, well...When BR learned what they'd been up to...
***
He took a worried call from Spike late the next day...
The Missus hadn't been home when he woke late...
He'd sent off the latest strips and still no BR...
Was she there by any chance?...
Nope...Sorry...
As Angel hung up, he couldn't help wondering...
Dry run?...
Go to story
***
Demon's Due...
Dinner at home...with Angelis-Buffy...
Buffy was clearly near the end of her rope...
And seeing no way out, was ready to accept the situation as it stood...
While Spike couldn't risk encouraging her with the news that Giles and Willow were on the case...If that news could encourage anyone...He felt he could go ahead and urge her to fight on...
Angelis-Buffy would expect it anyway...
She mustn't take this lying down he told her...She must wait and keep her hope alive...
And by no means agree to anything more...
"Does it matter?...I'm trapped here..." she said despairingly...
Spike looked at her...
"If you allow this to continue Buffy, voluntarily...You become complicit in whatever it eventually does..Your soul will merge with his consciousness...You become one...His new crimes, yours..Eternally dammed...Together..."
"And that is probably what our dear Angelis is after...And his 'friends' at Wolfram-Hart..."
She bowed her head in thought...He was right, but what could they do...
He sensed the demon's return...She was a little miffed, having heard all...
Upsetting poor Buffy like that...New crimes?...Eternally damned?...Now if she were still the nasty type and chose to point to some of Spike's recent misdemeanors...One might well wonder which of them was the less worthy redemption candidate...But, as she had said...
Let time reveal her trustworthiness...
But for now...She was wondering if William might like to come to dinner tonight...After sunset of course...She'd suggested it to Dawn at breakfast and Dawny loved the idea...
Nothing too elaborate...Just a nice, quiet family dinner to celebrate a rebirth...And the start of a new relationship...
Did he like chicken?...
***
A quiet family dinner...At the Summers'
Dawn, Buffy...Angelis-possessed Buffy...and their new hero...
William the Bloody...
Who brought flowers...As befitting a former Victorian poet from the nineteenth century...
And who had politely dined on his "essential nutrient" before coming so that he could give full attention to their cooking efforts...
And who assured Dawn that his praises were sincere...He could still appreciate good food, you know...In spite of...
Buffy was shyly pleased to see that he liked it...She wasn't that experienced in the kitchen...
And told them she had feared she might have forgotten what little she knew during...Well...The last couple of weeks...
A beautiful performance their guest noted...Worthy of the Angelis who had convinced a terrified, but fatally compassionate Drusilla to let him enter her convent by sparing her mother, then professing his desire for redemption and her sweet prayers...
Go to story
***
Fractured...
Movie night...
Well..." Giles smiled... "I think that Spike should take her out tomorrow evening..."
"What you say?..." Xander...Spike take her out?...The way she's been acting?...
"Giles?...Ummn..." Willow looked at him...
Spike grinned happily...Rupert, you are all right...
Buffy came over, bringing an exhausted Anya and Tara in tow...She'd been going a mile a minute in her questions about the past three months...
She seemed quite pleased as well...She'd love to go out with Spike...But she frowned...Would she have to kill him at the end of the evening?...
***
"Yes..." Giles concluded... "Spike should take her out tomorrow...For a pleasant dinner, perhaps a movie...And bring her home...Unharmed...And untouched...By no later than eleven..."
"Him?..." Xander was choking on the words...
Willow on the other hand was beginning to see...
Buffy still wondered what would be the best way to end the evening...Release dear William with the Gift...Or perhaps a leetle kiss?...She'd discuss it with Willow at the house tonight...
"Giles?..." Xander asked him...Choking on the words...
"Giles?...I'm not so sure about this..." Willow...
"Yes..." Giles went on, in a precise manner...
"You see...If we leave her alone...If she went out on her own...We'd soon have some human boy to deal with, almost certainly, considering her present state...One whom we might have hesitations about dealing with...Properly..."
"However...If our dear Spike should attempt to take any advantage of the situation..."
Ah...Xander was getting it now...
Giles concluded...
"We could deal with him...Without hesitation...Besides his chip prevents him from doing any physical harm...And we won't leave them completely alone..."
They rejoined the others...
"Spike has a great idea..." Buffy told them happily... "He wants to take me out tomorrow night..."
Ummn...Yeah...We just told you that, sweetheart...They eyed each other...
Ummn...Great...Great idea...
Hmmn...Forgets things easily, eh?...Spike thought...Rather...Happily...
This sounds like it could be quite a date...
***
"Dawn?...How do I look?..." Buffy had come downstairs...In perhaps the strangest outfit Dawn had ever seen her wearing...
And, Dawn admitted to herself...Sis has worn some pretty strange outfits...
"Buffy...It's five hours till Will comes for you...And I don't know if that...Is quite right for a restaurant..."
Oh...But...Wasn't it sexy?...
Well, yeah...In fact that was the problem...Not quite the thing to wear to a restaurant, really...Or a movie...With families around...
But...She was sure the towel look had been in when she died...That girl they watched on TV...She always had had plenty of skin exposed...
Dawn gently tried a new tack...She didn't want to hurt poor Buf's feelings...
"Buffy...You know we have to go slow with Spike...He's just getting used to associating with humans again...On a non-food basis...You can't get him too excited..." she dropped to a conspiratorial whisper...
"They'll be watching him...And if he behaves badly..." she drew a line across her throat...
Oh...Buffy was properly horrified...What had she been thinking?...Poor Spike...He'd be exploding she told Dawn...
Oops...She put a hand to her mouth...I shouldn't say things like that to you...
No Problem, Dawn told her...We study this stuff in Biology and Health all the time now...
***
With help from Dawn, Buffy had chosen a nice, moderately conservative dress...And gotten her hair into an agreeable state by the time a distinguished-looking blond young Englishman came to call...With flowers no less...
Spike...In tweeds...
"Wow...Spike...You look great...How 'bout me?..." Buffy spun around...
Words couldn't describe he told her...But if they could...The words would be...Utterly...Just utterly...
She looked down at her feet and up at him, shyly...
Poets...Wasn't he one once?...Say the nicest things...she told him...
Dawn reminded him somewhat sternly that he was due back at eleven-thirty...Sharp...
He nodded...Buffy seemed a leetle...
Eleven-thirty?...So early?...Buffy, a peeved tone in her voice...
Sharp...Dawn said firmly...
It was plenty of time he assured her...
***
He scoped out the restaurant as they went in...No desire to have to do any Slaying just right now, thank you...
So far so good...
Only one vampire that he could detect he told her in answer to her question...She had caught his sweep of the place...
"Where?..." she asked...Looking round...Might be a nice way to release some of the tension...She was so worried about making a mistake...
Here...He grinned at her...She laughed...
"So...Where are they?..." she asked...
He knew who they were...
"Willow and Tara just took the table over by the main front window...See..." he nodded just a bit at them...
"Xander and Anya are at the table to the right in the rear...About three tables down...As for our Bess...She's probably...Ah...My God..."
"What...Is the robot going crazy?..." Buffy looked apprehensively at him...
Hmmn...Pity Bess couldn't be doing that...Buf looks ready to take me on as her hero...
Well...Slow does it...
"No, no...It's just...She's with someone...I think you know him..."
Where?...Buffy asked him...
Front right table...Near the door...Don't look too closely, best not to let him see you if possible...
"Is it that bloody stupid twit?..." she asked...
Who?...
Angel...That bloody stupid twit...Leaving me all alone to fight Glory...Well...Not all alone...she patted his hand...
She's angry at Angel?...At old Christ, Jr?...This is the first time I've heard her speak of him...Since...
Either the Powers That Be must have some dreadful punishment in store for me after this week, he thought...Or I must have forgotten that I was a saint who saved millions in my human life...
"Is it Angel?...I can't see...Oh...I know him..." her eyes widened...
She nearly hopped out of her chair before he grabbed her...
"Parker...You...BADMAN!!!" she hollered in a voice that could be heard in the next three counties...
"My sister..." Bess told Parker pleasantly...
"Your sister...Buffy?..." Parker asked... "But I heard she was...Dead..."
"A very serious accident...She was nearly dead for three months...But she's almost all better now..."
Hmmn...Willow thought as she watched Spike gently calming Buffy...Maybe I should have been more specific with Bess as to whose dinner proposals for tonight she should not accept when I sent her to campus...
It seemed like a good idea at the time...Less noticeable than her sitting alone...Who'd have guessed Parker would be slimy enough to date Buffy's twin sister?...
***
Buffy kept an occasional wary eye on the Badman Parker but had calmed and turned to contemplate the menu...
"It's very expensive, Spike...Can you afford it?..." she asked...
"It's fine, Buffy...The Council's finally coughing up some dough for Slayers and their assistants, thanks to Giles..." he smiled...
"You go ahead and order whatever you like...Two of them if you like..."
He heard from Dawn about Buffy's appetite...When at home...With her friends away...
The true source of Slayer strength he guessed...
The menu kept her mind mostly off the repulsive Parker...Although she noted she was concerned for her "sister"...She hoped she wouldn't let him treat her bad...
Not a chance, Spike assured her...That slime won't get to first base with Bess...He grinned...
"In fact, lets hope he tries...She'll throw him though a glass window..."
"Like April did with you?..." Buffy laughed happily... "Oh, I hope so..."
Oh...She didn't mean that...Her eyes widened...Her "sister" wasn't...Dangerous... Like April?...
Miss Bess?...Oh no...Really...He was just trying to make her smile...Parker would be fine...Although he'd never get halfway to first base...
Oh...Buffy thought a bit...She was a little glum...
"Are you...Ashamed of me?...I let Parker get past the first base with me..." she looked at her lap...
No...No...Not at all...He told her...Hey, look who you're talking to...
"I'm only sorry you feel badly about it, Buffy..." he assured her...
She smiled...He was very considerate, she told him...
***
She was pleased that he'd ordered something, she told him...She'd been a leetle afraid that her memory was screwed up...She thought she remembered seeing him eating or drinking...Other things before...Besides...But...
It just would have been too bad if he couldn't enjoy the meal as well...
"That's very considerate of you, Buffy..." he told her gallantly...
Willow noted that all seemed quite well...
She scanned the place...Xander and Anya were pretty much out in their own world...Parker was obviously trying to score points with a very pleasant Bess...Who was dividing her attention rather unevenly with most focused on Spike and Buffy...
Hopefully no vampires or demons...Neither Spike nor Buffy seemed to have sensed any as yet...
At least neither of them had gotten up on the excuse of a trip to the restroom in search of any...
***
Buffy ate enough for three strong men...But after all, three months in the grave...Spike noted...
However it did amaze him how she managed to stuff all that food into that slender body...And manage to avoid bursting out of that dress...She must have stomach muscles like iron bands...he thought...
She looked a little embarrassed...Asking to see the dessert menu...
"I ate like a pig..." she apologized... "Hope you weren't disgusted with me?..."
Buffy...You ate very politely...And after three months...I would hope you'd eat a decent meal...he told her...
She was much too sensitive these days...He noted...Poor Buffy...And really, considering how much she ate...She did eat very delicately...
It's interesting though...She seems calmer...Maybe all she needed was some protein in the diet...
I should mention it to Giles tomorrow...A few good meals and she may be right as rain...
"So..." she looked at him as they waited for coffee... "We've both been dead...We should compare notes..."
Hmmn...He nodded...Only thing is...He pointed out to her...My resurrection was demonic...I don't really have any after-death experiences...
Unless you count my past career over the last century...
***
The words he dreamed of for months now came to her lips...
"Spike...Why don't we go over to your crypt?..."she smiled at him brightly...
Well...She probably just wants to overcome her fear of cemeteries...Maybe she just wanted to see what he and Dawny had done with the place...
He noted that his crypt had indeed changed since Dawn and Bess had started a campaign to humanize his living space...And now that her posters and photos graced the place...
Perhaps after the movie...If Willow and the others were willing to join them...he thought...
Buffy continued...She could forego the movie...And maybe they could...After the others were settled in at the film...Slip off to the crypt alone?...
"We could have sex...Ok?..."
Not much room left for doubt there...
He didn't even mind the offer having come after Xander's...
Wow...
Whoa..Wait....
Ummn...This sounded like something that was sure to set Miss Bess and the others off...
Ummn...Buffy?...I'm on probation here, you know...Ummn...How to put this politely...
"You don't want to?..." she quickly moved from disappointment to despair...
"You don't want me anymore?...I'm a freak now...No one wants me..."
She looked sadly down at her hands...
"They're all saying...Look at the crazy dead freak...Who wants to have sex with her?..."
She looked back up at him, in tears...
"No one will love me now..."
Oh...
Spike was heartbroken, and rather shocked to find himself so...
My poor Buffy...
My God, I really do love her...He thought...I'm actually feeling for her without...Much of...An ulterior motive...
Victorian to the rescue...
What's she upset about?...Willow wondered to Tara...Is he?...
He took her hand and patted it...Kissed her on the forehead...
Tara noted Spike's gallantry to Willow...I don't think he got her upset...In fact...
No, actually...He does seem to be dealing with it...Well...Ok...For now...Willow agreed...
***
"Buffy...I swear...If I thought for a moment we could actually get away with it...We would be out there shagging like mad in a minute..." Spike gallantly told her...
Really?...She brightened...
"Absolutely...But we have to be careful...Or else Spikey never sees another sunset..."
He grinned... "More important...I never get another date with my Slayer..."
She was definitely picking up...
"And I have to take care of you, you know...I gave my word to the Nibs..."
She reflected...But he really would like to?...
Burning for it...He assured her...
Well...Maybe we should go slow...She agreed...
But really?...Well...Sorry to go on like that...She smiled sheepishly...
No problem, he grinned at her...A thought struck him...
"Did you ever imagine we'd end up like this?...Back in the old days?..." he smiled...
We had dinner together before, didn't we?...Oh no, we went out and had a drink...When I wanted to know about those other Slayers...Yeah...That was it...Right?...
Yes...He nodded his head, we did...But not quite the same circumstances...
I wanted to have sex with you then too...Buffy told him...
Oh...He looked at her...Blinking...And tried to nod...Pleasantly...
How to respond to this bombshell?...
"I think I started thinking about you...A lot...After we nearly got married that time..." she told him...
Oh...He nodded...Pleasantly...
He had to admit that probably he too...He told her...At that time...
And gave Willow a friendly glance...
Thank God for dear Willow and her magical incompetence...
"Well...Since we are taking it slow...How about that movie, Slayer?..."
She brightened to glowing status...Spike was the only person since she'd revived who'd called her...Slayer...
"Lets go..."
Seeing her "sister" and her protege rising, Bess thanked Parker for a very pleasant evening...
As she had paid for the meal one could excuse her for not suggesting that he accompany her to the movies...
Tara had to nudge Willow...Cool the withering gaze, sweetie...
"You have to admit...She's been having a good time...So far..."
Willow nodded...Lets hope blondie continues on the straight and narrow...
She rather enjoyed watching Parker's frustrated look from their table as Bess excused herself...
Though she didn't have the heart to disturb Anya and Xander...Still off on another world...
Time to call in to Giles...Phase one successfully completed...
***
As Spike had expected...The only problem was at the movies...A favorite killing field for vampires...Dark, romantic, lots of necking...
But Buffy was actually very pleased to sense that there were several vamps lurking around...
And insisted they do what they could to stop them...Though she accepted that one must be discrete and quiet in a movie theater...
However, she...Rather Loudly...Noted that many vampires showed no sense of courtesy...
Letting their dates pay and then killing them...Gross...
The Slayer would enjoy dealing with them...She bellowed...Pointing out to Spike that this oughta clear the place...And since the film hadn't started...
An attendant came by...who reminded her that one should be quiet in a movie theater...Or else...
She would be quiet when the lights went down...She promised...
"Tell him, Spike...I'm just doing my Slayer's duty..." she asked him...
Fortunately the attendant knew the Summers...Oh...This was the dead Summers girl's sister, right?...From Spain?...
"Si..." Buffy jumped into the role rather happily...
Spike noted a small number of patrons vamoosing...Casting rather anxious looks in their direction,,,And he sensed the immediate vamp population declining...Rapidly...
"She...A little?...From all the mourning?..." the attendant asked Spike...As he got up to explain poor Miss Summers' little problem...
He appreciated the attendant's perceptive skills...Spike told him...Yes, poor Miss Summers' sister...A little shaken yet...From the recent shocks...
"I was dead as a doornail..." she informed the attendant happily...Oops...Spanish, right?...
Very tired...From the exhausting past weeks...Spike noted...
"Si..." She said solemnly...Smiling at the attendant...
"You're her sis' old boyfriend, aren't you?...I saw you with her once or twice..." the young man noted...
Great...A chatty lout of a movie attendant...Pity one of the departing vamps couldn't have taken him out first...
Yeah...Buffy's old boyfriend...But of course a friend to the whole family...Spike noted...
"He's making time preety quick..." Buffy put in helpfully...Smiling at her beau... "I was barely...Ummn...Sis was barely cold..." She was so clearly pleased at her skill in assisting with the deception...Spike didn't have the heart to shush her...
She'll be just fine...Spike promised...Really...
Bess and the others were taking their seats...At strategic locations...
Whoops...So...Had he known the Summers a long time?...Spike asked the young lout...Moving him away from view of Bess...
"He used to be our paperboy..." Buffy noted... Oops...
"Ummn...Sis' paperboy...Mom said he stole stuff off our porch..." she became indignant at the thought...
No one steals from the Slayer's family...
"You give that stuff back!!!..." she yelled at him... "Or Spike will tear your throat out!!!"...
She'll be just fine...Spike assured the boy, leading him away from Buffy and keeping Bess out of his field of vision...By the way, was he by any chance a student of Psychology?...That remarkable perceptive ability of his...
The flattered lout admitted to several Psych courses at UCal Sunnydale...
Willow and Tara looked at Buffy who remained glaring at the attendant...As Spike slipped him twenty and again assured him that Ms. Summers would be fine...
Xander, brilliantly catching on to the situation, walked to where Bess sat and blocked her from view...Asking her how her "date" had gone...
Very pleasantly she told him, thanking him for his interest...Buffy seemed very happy, wouldn't he say?...
The lights mercifully dimmed...
Xander looked at Spike...Who nodded a grateful thanks...Both headed back to their seats...
"You'd tear his throat if it weren't for the chip, wouldn't you, Spike?..." Buffy asked, whispering as he retook his seat beside her...
Absolutely...he assured her...
She beamed, taking his hand...
But...Oh...Those vampires?...Shouldn't they?...
Bess...Or she...Would catch 'em later...Spike assured her...For tonight, it's Slayer vacation...
Besides...They were so scared leaving they'll probably give up humans for a month...
He was so sweet...She grinned happily...
***
Spike seemed actually glad to accept his suggestion that they all have a last coffee together Xander noted as they headed out of the movie house...
Buffy had never had a better time...Ever...At least that she remembered...She told Willow and Tara happily...At the coffee house...
But...She knew she'd acted a little...Was Spike embarrassed by her?...She asked them...
Not at all...they told her...
Oh...Then...Why didn't he want to have sex with her?...When she asked earlier?...
Ummn...
"He's just being polite..." Tara reassured her... "It's a little too soon, you know..."
Oh...Oh!...I didn't mean to tell you that...
"Don't kill him, please..." she asked anxiously... "He was very nice..."
No, no...We were there...He behaved himself very well...Tara assured the nervous Buffy...
Amazingly well...Considering Buffy's little rendezvous proposal...Willow thought...
He was clearly very concerned about her...Tara went on...Considerate...
And wants to see another sunset...Willow thought grimly...
Still...One must give Blondie his due...She'd had a great time...With no visible scars...
"Good job, there, Spike..." Willow whispered to him at the first chance...And sternly looking at him...
"I expect you to keep it up..."
***
Buffy hated to see the evening end...But, Spike pointed out...He had some Patrol to do with Bess...And...
Eyeing the others...
They'd see each other again...
"Tomorrow night?..." she asked happily...
Well...He looked at the others who looked at each other...
No?...She looked sad...And progressively sadder as he hesitated...
Of course tomorrow night, Willow told her...
He'd come over the house, they'd watch TV or something...
Great...Buffy told them...She and Dawny would make...Things...
Xander eyed Willow...Who shrugged...Do you want to tell her no?...
At least we'll all be there again...Anya noted to him...
"Enjoy it while you can, Spike..." Willow told him in a grim whisper...
Tara couldn't help patting his hand...Someone should show him a little appreciation for a job well done...Compliment him on his excellent restraint...Must have been difficult...
Why was Tara patting her date's hand?...Buffy asked...Rather annoyed...
Go to story
***
Dinner Party for Angel...
Anya looked at Giles as he hung up...
"What about...Spike?..."
Well...Best to leave that to Buffy...For now, Angel's presence might even be helpful...he told her...Another beloved friend to help jog Buffy's mind back to normal...
And, if he should be a bit...Surprised...To find that she and Spike were now hitting it off so well...
Well, we all know Angel's noble and self-sacrificing nature would lead him to make Buffy's well-being his primary focus...
"You still really hate Angel, don't you?..." Anya asked him...
***
Buffy now happily began putting out some plates and things for the evening...Spike helping with a smile...It had been a while since he had the chance to help set up for a dinner party, he noted...
Dawn mentioned to Spike that they would be having some special guests...Angel, Wesley, and Cordy were on their way...
Buffy frowned...She didn't want to see that bloody stupid twit...she told them...
"Buffy...He's coming all the way from LA...Most of the way in daylight...Just to see you..."
"I don't want to see him...He left me all alone here to die...And I know what he did with Darla...Wesley told Giles...And all those other girls in LA...Always talking about them...His Kate...Oooh...So brave..." she mimicked... "And his Annie...And all of them..."
"I bet he had sex with all of 'em..."
"Besides..." she smiled at Spike...
"William is my boyfriend now..."
She turned huffily and went to the kitchen to get more plates...Dawn rolled her eyes, looking at Spike...Will you talk to her...Please?...
She went in after her...
Spike looked after the two girls...
Thank You, God...he thought...I just want You to know...This squares us for my unjust damnation...
***
Still, for Dawny's sake...Who was clearly anxious that the evening pass off well...Spike reluctantly pointed out to Buffy that she should try to be polite to Angel...As a guest...
Her mother would be hurt if she didn't behave as a proper hostess...
And after all the fellow had shown up after Joyce died...Remember?...
Well...Buffy frowned...If he thought Mom would want her to be nice...She'd try...
And Angel had saved her a number of times before...she admitted...
But...She asked...He did want to be her boyfriend, right?...
More than he wanted eternal life, redemption, anything...Spike assured her...
More than...Dawn looked at him...Enough already...Well...He was truly very pleased that she wanted him for a dating companion...
Of course they'd have to see how things went once she was all better...
Dawn had an inspired idea...
They needed a few things from the store...Spike had his car outside...Would he mind taking Buffy?...
"Yeah!...Lets go!..." Buffy raced for her coat...
I'm trusting you on this, Will...Dawn told him, taking him aside...
Don't make me regret it...And don't make me have Giles send Bess out after you two...
Less than an hour and back in one piece...he promised...
"Can I drive?..." Buffy asked as they went out...
Ummn...Well...Dawn shook her head furiously...It's a hard car to drive, dear heart...Spike began...
***
Willow looked at Dawn...Dawn looked a trifle sheepish...
But it had only been twenty minutes...
"You think it was a bad idea?..." she asked for the third time since Willow had arrived to help them set up...And learned Dawn had sent Buffy and Spike out shopping...Together...Alone...
"Dawn, I sometimes think letting William the Bloody live a day past the moment we first met him was a bad idea...Still...Spike has been trying..."
Astonishingly Willow had to admit to herself...It wasn't Spike she was worried about...
"He won't let her drive, you think?..." Dawn asked...
"Spike?...Let someone drive his car?...Nah..." Willow told her...
God...I hope not...she thought...
***
Forty minutes...
Willow patted Dawn reassuringly...Xander had seen them at the store...No problem...
They'd set back to work on setting up...
Giles called...The LA team had arrived and if all right they'd all head over in a few minutes...
Could Angel possibly speak to Buffy now?...
Ummn...
***
A robbery...Spike thought...
Of all the things we have run into in our times together...A simple, stupid...Robbery...
The nervous gunmen were still waving their pistols about...Demanding the clientele keep to the floor...Or else...
Buffy looked at Spike...We have to get home...Dawn will be upset...Which means Giles will be upset...Which means Bess...
Oh-oh...Which means I lose my latest boyfriend...
"William...Can you charge 'em?...You're resistant to bullets...Right?..." she asked in a whisper...
"DOWN!!!" screamed one of the nervous gunmen...Pointed at her...
She dropped her head to the floor...
Well...Sort of resistant...It still hurts...A lot...he told her...
But more important they'd probably shoot you and every human in here before I could reach them...he noted to her...
"You always think of me..." she smiled at him...
But he was in danger...If Dawn got upset and called Giles...
And it was all her fault...Oh...
"QUIET!!!" One of the gunmen screamed at her...Waving his pistol in her direction...
Hmmn...Thought Spike...I don't think all of our friends here are quite...Human...
"Hey..." Buffy hollered at the gunman... "My boyfriend and I have to go home!..."
He looked at her...
"You and your boyfriend have to go...Home?..." he smiled... "Lady, I'll send you both home...Right now..."
She looked at him curiously...She's sensed it too, Spike noted...
"You...You're a vampire?...Why are you holding up a store?..." she asked, genuinely curious...
They didn't seem to be taking any of the hostages for a quick snack...
The vamp blinked at her...His mates, human, Spike now noted...Looked at him and then her...
"She crazy?..." he grinned at Spike...Who smiled feebly, shrugging...
"Nutcase..." he looked at his pals...Apparently he preferred to keep his unique qualities under wraps...Spike noted...
"I am the Slayer..." she told him firmly...
"I kill vampires..." she explained...Just in case he was new to Sunnydale, she told Spike...
***
Sixty minutes...Time's about up...Dawn thought...
He said...Less than an hour...
She looked at Willow...Willow looked at her...
Tara, Xander, and Anya looked at them and each other...
"I could go over to the market...See what's keeping them..." Xander offered...
Buffy might just be having trouble picking out desserts...Or maybe there's a long, long line...
It happens...he assured Dawn...
No reason to think Spike decided to risk taking Buffy up on her sex offers...
If they're not at the market...Willow thought...And not walking through that door before Xander gets back here...
But for Dawn's sake she agreed with Xander...He was sure to find them mired in a make-out...er check-out line...
***
Fortunately, Spike noted, the one vampire in the group of robbers holding up the supermarket he and Buffy had chosen, seemed as unwilling as they for "trouble"...
He seemed in fact to be anxious that his human partners not learn what he was...And tried to brush off Buffy's questions of why a vampire was robbing a store...And not killing the customers and employees held at gunpoint...
Although her declaration of her Slayer identity had clearly made him more nervous than ever he continued to try to laugh off her statements...A real nutcase, he informed his pals...
And came over to her and Spike, grinning...
She was genuinely curious...
"You don't what your friends to know you're a vampire?..." she said in a conspiratorial whisper...
"I won't tell again if you let me and my boyfriend leave now..." she told him...
He really was afraid of being found out, Spike realized...
"Look...Slayer...Just can it will you?...I'm not harming anyone...I just need some cash..."
He paused, and earnestly pleaded...To both of them...
"I'm using it for blood...I'm no hunter...Just sit tight a little longer and I see
you...Everybody...Gets out ok...Ok?..." he looked at them...He put his hands out pleading for calm...Looking back to his friends now engaged in breaking open the closed cash registers...
"Well..." Buffy thought it over...If he really wasn't a bad vampire...Oh!...Spike...
She explained that her sister would be very angry with William if they didn't get home soon...And he was a vampire too...They were brothers, sort of...And he had to help him...
Plus she would remember him if he was nice...And check before she'd Slayed next time they met...Long as he was not bad...She'd leave him be...
Hmmn...Not every day the Slayer offers you a safe pass...
"Is she ok?..." he asked Spike..."She seems a little...And I heard the Slayer was dead..."
"The rumors of my death are..." Buffy got confused midquote... "I'm not dead...Now..." she concluded...
"You'd be wise to accept Ms. Summers' offer, lad..." Spike told him... "Not many vamps get on her good side, I can tell you..."
"Just you Will..." she told him happily... "And maybe you...If you're very nice..." she told the vamp...
Hopefully she's not planning to put him on the sex or marriage list, Spike thought...
"Are you sure she's ok?..." the vamp asked...Looking back at his mates...
She was dead three months...Spike explained...It takes a toll...Temporarily of course, he nodded to Buffy...Now almost all well...
She smiled...He was always so eager to spare her feelings...So sweet...
"I was dead as a doornail..." she told the vamp...
Say...Did he remember what it was like when he died?...They should compare notes...
***
Xander reached the market lot about five minutes later...
Just as Angel and co reached the Summers'...With Giles and Bess...
***
The vamp was apologetic...He didn't have any after-death experiences...You see...
"Spike didn't either..." Buffy told him kindly... "That's ok..."
He had to swing back in to look over other hostages, the vamp told them...Just cool it a bit and he'd be back...
The rest of the gang was now engaged in trying to open the office safe...Without much success...
Except for the several including their vamp who were nervously looking over the hostages at different spots...
Watching the group struggling in the office, Spike noted that they might well be here a while...
Buffy was nervous again...Dawn and Giles will be so pissed...If they don't have Bess stakeWilliam...At the very least we'll never get another date...
She noticed the vamp returning...
Having a moment, the vamp was curious...Why was the Slayer hanging out with the famed William the Bloody...
Buffy was pleased...The famed...Her boyfriend...
And thought quick...
"We're having a meeting...For a peace treaty..." she told the vamp solemnly... "William is representing all the good vamps who want to make peace..." She smiled at the vamp... "Like you..."
Oh...The vamp was interested...
Buffy?...Spike looked at her...
Hmmn-hmmn...And free blood for all the vamps who come in on the deal...she told him...
Really...Free blood?...The vamp was very interested...
Maybe I could slip you two out the door when the others are counting the cash out...he noted...
Nobody'd miss two less customers...
"By the way, I'm Leroy..." he smiled...
Leroy...She'd remember him...Very pleasantly...Buffy told him...If...
He moved to check on progress...Just sit tight and he'd be back...he told them...
Nice going, dear...Spike noted, smiling...She grinned back...Raising her eyebrows...
Not too bad for the crazy dead girl?...she whispered...
She noted Xander causally strolling into the store...Oh!...
That's my friend...she called to the returning Leroy...
"Xander...Hi!!!" she waved...
Buffy?...Spike?...What's?...He looked at them on the floor...And the other hostages, looking at him, frightened...And saw the gunmen in the rear...
They saw him as well...
And were not in a mood to receive additional guests...
***
Leroy now faced a moral dilemma...
Much as he liked the idea of a free and steady blood supply...Without the bother of a hunt or the need for a sustained cash flow...
His human mates were not likely to accept his switching sides with good-natured tolerance...
On the other hand...What were a few bullets compared to a safe pass from the Slayer herself?...
And it wasn't like the guys were old friends or anything...Just causal acquaintances...
"Down, pal!..." he called to Xander and turning back round opened fire on his former associates...Who'd come running out of the office with similar intent towards the unwanted intruder...
"Yeah!!!" Buffy cried... Hopping up as Spike desperately grabbed at her...He followed as she charged in the direction of the now panicking gunmen...Who fired wildly as they fled toward the back...
Xander...Though still a bit puzzled...Joined the pursuit a moment later...Calling to Buffy to watch out...And Spike to watch...Her...
Fortunately two of the three front fast-moving targets now presented had a high lead tolerance...
And the third was the fastest moving of the three...
She was upon one of the fleeing robbers before the rest reached the rear doors...And raced for their cars...
She clubbed the startled fellow one...Good...
Down for the count with one blow...
She was grinning in triumph as Spike and Leroy reached her...
He might only be a human...But...
The Slayer is back...
"She really is the Slayer..." Leroy noted to Spike...Who nodded...
Made the right call on that one, mate...Spike told the vamp...
"She definitely is the Slayer..." Grinning back at her...
"What the hell is going on?..." Xander called, coming up...
Peace negotiations...Buffy solemnly informed him...Smiling at Leroy...
***
Well...Dawn noted grimly...Listening to their explanation...
Long line...Very long line...
As long Xander vouches for you...
It was a madhouse there, Xander informed her...
Smiling at Buffy...And Spike...
Hmmn...Thought Willow...Well, best not to press it right now I guess...
"Hi, Wesley...Cordy!..." Buffy hugged them...
"Hello...Angel..." she said...Politely...Offering a hand...
Angel looked at the others...What's?...Did I do something?...
He glared suspiciously at Spike...Who stood watching with a Cheshire cat grin...
Remarkably similar to one Giles was wearing...
Even Willow was not all that sorry to see his discomfort...
Where the hell had he been during the fight with Glory, anyway?.
***
Buffy maintained a polite and composed pose with her dinner guest, Angel...For the best part of ten minutes...
Who...While naturally pleased to find her alive and more or less functional...Was rather distressed to find a less than joyous welcome from her...
What'd I do?...He looked pleadingly at the others...
Cordelia and Wesley surprised as he...Buffy?...
Even Spike felt a modicum of sympathy...
Oddly however...The other Sunnydalers...Did not seem...All that...
"Please sit down...Dawn and I are very glad to have you all here..." Buffy told the
group...Formally...But looking to Giles...Willow...Spike...Xander...Anya...In
turn...Anxiously...For a little encouragement...
First dinner party in months, after all...
Am I doing ok?...They each smiled and gave a nod or a wink...Just fine, Buf...
She looked at Dawn...
"That's the way to do it, right?..." she whispered...Loud enough to be heard...
Absolutely...Dawn whispered back...Don't sweat it...
What's with her?...Cordelia hissed to Willow...Who shrugged...
She has been dead three months, you know...
They all sat down...Spike taking his seat next to Giles and Bess...Dawn diplomatically grabbed the other seat between Wesley and Spike...Hinting with a wave to a disappointed Buffy to sit near the LAers...
The special guests...Oh, right...
"Sorry, Spike...I have to entertain our guests..." she called over to him...
He nodded...Absolutely...
The LAers looked at each other...
Buffy took a seat with her guests...But distinctly away from Angel...And crossing her legs demurely began a pleasant conversation with Wesley...
Had he killed many things since they last met?...she asked...
Ummn...Well...
Wesley looked nervously at his Boss...Who glared back at him...And stepped over...
Buffy not deigning to notice him...
"Buffy?...Could we talk?...Go outside for a moment, maybe?..." Angel asked her...
"Ummn...Angel..." Dawn said, looking over... "I think it's best if you guys stay indoors..."
"I don't want to go outside with you, Angel..." Buffy told him regally, turning back to Wesley...And frowning at Dawn...
"But I could...If I wanted to..." she brightened...And turned to Spike...Who was pumping Giles for info on the medical evaluation performed on Buffy that morning...Pleased to hear that his diagnosis might have been on target...
"Spike!...Lets go out again..."
"NO!!!"...Dawn...
Ummn...Buffy...It's not polite for us to leave your guests...Spike noted to her...
She nodded...He was right, of course...And apologized frostily to Angel...Who'd glared Wes out of his seat...She was sorry if she'd said or done anything to offend him...But he had to understand...She...Had recently been in a terrible battle with a terrible, powerful enemy...
He picked up a bit...An opening...
"Yes, Buffy...Giles has been telling me how great you were fight..."
She cut him off...All alone she told the room at large...Alone...She looked at him...Well, except for her good friends...And dear William...
Yes, I know, Buffy, and I...Angel tried desperately...
William?...he thought...As she interrupted his effort...
All alone...She went on...Except for my loyal friends...Especially Willow and William...Fighting a terrible, powerful enemy...A goddess no less...she noted, nodding...
Well, Buffy...Cordelia tried to put a word for the Boss...Angel was...
And she'd been dead as a result...Of being...Almost all alone in a terrible, deadly fight...Dead...As a doornail...So...Buffy hoped he...And the others...Would understand...
Death...She concluded...Makes one distant...When one has fought...All alone...
She looked...Narrowly...Back at a startled Angel...
Almost...Except for one's friends, of course...
Plus...Buffy couldn't resist breaking her aloof pose and grinning happily at her beau...She had a new boyfriend now...
So Angel would just have to under...
He exploded...This was too much...
"What?...Spike is your...Boyfriend?!!...Buffy?...What the hell?..." he glared at Giles who returned a noncommital look...Before returning to his Cheshire cat grin...
Wesley and Cordelia were equally shocked...Buffy?...And Spike?...
Willow gave Spike a rather Puckish look...
Enjoy yourself, Blondie...While you can...
Actually...
They're being a little rough on old Christ, Jr. he was thinking...In spite of the pleasure of watching Angel squirm...
Tara, sympathetically tried to move the conversation along...And provide Angel an escape hatch...
"Angel, I understand you guys were trapped in another dimension?..."
He got hold of himself and calmed...Yes, he nodded...
Place called Pylea...By way of a dimensional...
"Portal!?...Portal?!..." Buffy jumped up... "You were in a portal?...And you didn't even stop to pick me up?..."
It wasn't the same portal, Buffy...Spike told her gently...
And you were dead...
Angel looked at them...I don't believe this...
"What did you do to her?!!..." he yelled at Spike...
"DON'T YELL AT MY BOYFRIEND!!!!" Buffy hollered at him...Poise forgotten...
"Buffy...Stop shouting...Sit down..." Dawn told her...
Spike tried to calm her...Angel was just concerned...
But she had crossed a barrier...And intended to have her say, now...
She glared back at Angel...Fire in her eyes...
"You had...Sex...with..." she paused...Ummn...Oh yeah... "Darla!..."
Well...Angel looked nervously at the others...Willow?...Help me out here?...
"It was only to help her, Buffy...I knew it wouldn't bring me...Happiness..."
"Just doin' your duty, huh?..." Buffy looked at him, swaying hips as she spoke for
emphasis...Eyes narrowing...
He looked at the other Sunnydalers for help...Spike...Giles...Xander, even...Seemed to be...Enjoying this...
Yeah it probably wasn't all that happy for him...Xander noted quietly to Anya...Very helpful for Darla, though...I'm sure...
Even I find that one hard to stomach, Willow noted...
Giles kept his noncommital look...
Bess smiled pleasantly...
Though he could see Buffy was not herself...Angel was moving...Rapidly...Towards a little...Annoyance...
After all, Buffy had jumped into the sack with ole Riley fast enough...he couldn't help noting...
The Sunnydalers looked at him, a little...Jumped into?...Closing ranks...
However...Dawn tried to help...
"Buffy...Angel couldn't help not being here..." she paused... "When you needed him so badly...He was...Probably very busy..."
Cordelia was getting a bit...Who do these Sunnydalers think they are?...
"Angel was saving our lives...He had no idea that..."
"He knew Glory was after me...He was here before...Why didn't he stay?...He always leaves..."
Buffy noted...Glaring at the now very annoyed Angel...
"Spike never leaves..." Proudly beaming...
Spike did his best to maintain an innocent but concerned...And friendly...look...Avoiding a direct glance at the now hotly glaring Angel...
Buffy...Wesley put in, a trifle indignant...You know Angel can't stay with you...There's Angelis...And the Prophecy says...
Prophecy...Smaphecy...she sniffed...I don't pay attention to dumb ole Prophecy...The Master...He tried to fool us with that...
She looked proudly at Xander and her good, loyal friends...
"Xander was too smart to be fooled by that kind of stuff...What if he'd left me dead?...Went off and said 'Ooh...The Prophecy...The Prophecy...'...#&$@!!!...It's stupid..."
Buffy...Dawn hissed...Guests...What would Mom say?...
Got to watch my language around her these days...Willow thought...
You could've stayed and watched over me...Buffy glared at Angel...At least when Glory came here...
We wouldn't of had to have sex...she told him...
He was struggling to keep his composure...Clearly Buffy was...But even so...
Giles had meanwhile lost a little of his composure...He felt a bit uncomfortable to be reminded that he'd been ready to accept her loss back there with the Master...If only for an instant...
Spike stayed...She told the hapless Angel...Even when Dru came and tried to get him to go way...She looked proudly at her beau...Do you know what he said?...
He said...No way...I'm staying with Buffy...She nodded her head emphatically...
She dropped to a proud, confidential whisper...
"He even offered to croak her to prove he loved me..."
Had her in chains...Knife right by the throat...She smiled happily, picturing the moment...
Angel was staring at her...He looked at Giles...Willow...
What the hell is wrong with you people?!...
His gaze locked back on to Spike...You...
Spike returned his stare...Innocently...
Buffy remembered she was mad at Angel...Eyes narrowing again...
"You didn't even try hard to kill Darla..."
He might have hung around a bit longer after Mrs. Summers died, Tara couldn't help noting to herself...
Bunch of inflated egomaniacs...Wesley thought...
A little reputation, a few minor successes, and they think they can sit in judgement of the rest of us and...
Of course...He couldn't help noting to himself...If it had been my true love...
Oddly enough, outside his LA staff, it remained only Spike who seemed to feel a bit of pity for poor Angel...In the midst of enjoying the experience...
He'd been on the receiving end of Buffy's glare often enough...
"Buffy's been a little...High-strung...Angel...I hope you understand..." he told him...Pleasantly...
No need for a scene, mate...
Angel looked at him...Understand?...Why, you...Little blond maniac...
He started over...
Buffy was watching...A shy, sly grin on her face...
Her boyfriends were gonna fight over her...
Neat...
Dawn looked nervously at Willow and Bess...They're not gonna fight are they?...Now?...
In the house?...
"Spike is quite right, Angel..." Giles told him quietly, stepping quickly over to him... "Buffy is just a little agitated these days...We must make allowances...You understand..."
Bess watched pleasantly...Ready to step in as required...
Angel calmed again...And grimly retook his seat...
He understood...Of course...Glaring again at Spike...
"He looked like Angelis just then, didn't he?..." Buffy noted to Willow...
Actually...Willow thought...
Buffy looked at Giles...Spike...Her mood changing abruptly...Oh?...Had she embarrassed them?...
Not at all...Spike gently smiled at her...Just explaining things to Angel and the others...
"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Angel..." Buffy told him, looking back at him...Haughty pose forgotten with the grievance...She remembered how he'd saved her lots of times...She was just...What Giles and Spike said...
She was sad now...She'd done it again...Stupid, crazy, dead Buffy...Does it again, she noted...Despairingly...
Mom would be so...
No, no...William told her, heading over to her...Patting her hand...It's just...A period of readjustment...Angel understands...Right?...
He nodded at a startled Angel...Startled as much by the way the other Sunnydalers looked to Spike...William?...William?!...To take Buffy in hand...
He recovered and assured Buffy he did understand...No problem at all...
The LA team looked in wonder at William the Bloody comforting a now deeply embarrassed Buffy...
Who apologized again for losing it...She'd been dead as a doornail...Ask Spike or Giles...
She held out a hand to Angel...Who finally got his hug...Though still nothing like the hug she also gave to her latest...
Who was always...So sweet...She noted to the room...
Giles mercifully brought this part of the evening to a close...Suggesting politely that Buffy needed her rest...
***
He laid out what he'd learned after Buffy reluctantly went up to bed...Having given Angel a last friendly if rather dutiful hug...While reminding William that she was still his girlfriend...With a rather bone-crushing hug...
"Careful on Patrol, Spike...Bess!...Watch out for him..." she called to the robot...Who nodded pleasantly...
Dawn once again having refused her request that Spike not be forced to go back to
that...Place...Again...
Poor Spike...She groused...I bet Angel doesn't have to...
Spike looked away from a renewed Angel glare...Ummn...You've gotta understand, old pal...
He'd be fine in his crypt...As always...Spike assured her...
Well...They were all friends again...Buffy noted...So...She'd leave it up to Spike on the living arrangements...For now...
Oh!...She reminded Spike to tell Bess about Leroy...The good vampire...Not to be staked...If he remained good...
He'd describe him to her in detail...Spike promised her...Maybe they'd meet tonight...He'd give him her best...If he was still a good vamp...
Good night, everybody...she called...Heading up...