Fic: Spike Bad (7/7)

[Kris <krismpy@xxxxxxxxx>]

Sorry about the multiple postings of the sixth
part--I can be such a moron sometimes. Anyway,
here's the last part of this thing. With that
said, and all the discussion on public vs.
private Critique and Criticism, I'm going to put
my money where my mouth is and say, "Lay it on
me!" Public is fine, tell me as little or as
much as you want about why you like it or hate
it; or both if the case may be.

Kris

Title: Spike Bad (7/7)
Pairing: B/W
Disclaimers: Buffy and Willow and everyone else
in this belong to Joss and
Mutant Enemy.
Spoilers: All of season 6 so far, plus maybe
upcoming season 6 eps. 
Summary: My skewered version of season 6 
Rating: NC-17

Buffy burst through the double doors at the end
of the hall from Willow's hospital room, and
sprinted as fast as she could toward Willow's
door. She skidded to a halt at the door, and
turned the doorknob quickly, only to find it
locked. Without missing a beat, she ripped the
knob clean off the door, and nearly ripped the
door off it's hinges when she pushed in on it to
get it open. She hurried inside, just as doctors
and nurses were catching up to her at the
doorway. They were all greeted by the sight of
Xander slumped on the floor in a corner, blood
dripping from his forehead, and a man with a
pillow pressed over Willow's nose and mouth,
obviously trying to suffocate her. "Oh my God,
call the police!" one of the doctors shouted as
Buffy barreled into the room.

"Spike!" Buffy yelled as she slammed into him,
sending him flying through the window behind him.
She looked down out the window to see Spike
rising rather slowly off the pavement. She
turned around to look at the doctors and nurses
tending to Xander and Willow. "Are they both
going to be ok?" she asked. When she got an
affirmative from both sides of the room, she
turned back around, knocked off a couple of big,
hanging pieces of glass still clinging to the
window, and jumped out after Spike. 

She hit the pavement and rolled to a standing
position, looked around, then took off after
Spike when she caught sight of him limping away
off in the distance. She knew she could catch up
to him easily enough since he was hurt, so she
merely kept pace with him, not bothering to stop
him until he got to a more secluded area. When
he finally entered a cemetery, she sped up and
tackled him hard against a gravestone. He yelped
in pain as his injured leg smashed into it. 
Buffy quickly maneuvered herself so she had her
knee in his back, and his head pressed hard into
the ground with one hand. With her other hand
she pulled a stake from her jacket and held it to
his back, right over his heart, and applied a lot
of pressure to it so that he knew how dire the
situation was for himself. "You'd better talk
fast, Spike! What is going on?" When he didn't
answer, she shoved the stake into his back about
an inch, stopping short of his heart. "Now!" she
spat.

"Alright, alright," he said. "Don't get carried
away. It wasn't what it appeared."

"You're stalling," she hissed as she grabbed a
handful of his hair, pulled his head up as high
as she could off the ground, then slammed it down
hard. "Try again!"

"Ok, you win," he said spitting dirt out. "To
make a long story short, I'm the one who
convinced Willow to bring you back, then I messed
with her head so she wouldn't know if she were
coming or going, and used her to do things for
me. Look, there's no need to stake me over this,
though. I can help you."

Buffy was stunned. "You mean Willow is really
innocent? She was just some pawn to you? 
She...wait a sec," buffy untangled her hand from
Spike's hair, then punched him hard on the side
of his face that was toward her so she'd have a
few seconds before he recovered. She quickly
checked the pockets of his coat until she found a
wad of money in one of them. "I think I'm
beginning to understand," she said bitterly. 
"But why did you have her bring me back? Surely
it would've been easier to get away with things
with no slayer around? And by the way, when did
you get the chip out and how?" she said as she
threw the money down and once again pushed his
head back into the ground.

"Oh, it's still in there. I just had the volume
toned down a bit is all." he answered somewhat
smugly.

"What?"

"Well, you see, I had a friend of mine sort of
tweak it since he couldn't figure out how to get
it out. Now it only tingles a bit when I hit or
bite someone. Nothing unbearable, though."

"You still didn't answer my other question. Why
did you have Willow bring me back?"

"Because I love you." Spike answered. Buffy
thought he almost sounded sincere.

"Yeah, you've said that before. I don't buy it,
though. If it were really love you wouldn't hurt
my friends, even without that chip in your head,"
Buffy said. "You may think it's love, but it's
probably just lust or something. You aren't
capable of warm, fuzzy feelings!"

"Like you?" Spike said craning his neck the best
he could to try and see her face so he could
guage her reaction.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Buffy
said defensively.

"It's bloody well obvious to just about everyone
that you're not right emotionally these days." he
said. Buffy briefly remembered her conversation
with Willow at the Magic Box. Willow had said
something to her about not showing the whole
range of human emotions.

"Your wrong, Spike. I'm feeling pissed-off right
now at you for hurting Xander and Willow!" Buffy
spat.

"Yes, but don't you see? The negative emotions
are the easy ones. The ones even we creatures of
the night are capable of. I know those are the
only ones you feel since you came back. You may
think you love Dawn and the others like you did
before, but it's just the shadow of rememberance
of love and friendship." Spike countered. He
paused to see if his words were having any affect
on her. When he saw she was processing what he
had said, he added, "Admit it slayer. You don't
feel love for your sister or friends any more
than I do."

"So that means I'm right. You really don't love
me!" Buffy said triumphantly.

'Damn, that wasn't the reaction I was looking
for.' Spike thought. "Well, sure I do," he said,
trying to get the upper hand in the argument
again. "If it were just lust like you say, I
would've just shagged you and been done with it;
but I didn't now did I?" 

Something clicked in Buffy's brain with his last
comment. "It was you! You're the one who raped
Willow!" she growled as her eyes narrowed at him.

'Shit!' Spike thought frantically. "Rape is such
a strong word, in my opinion." he said trying to
stall some more until he could think of something
better to get himself out of this mess. He
suddenly felt himself roughly hauled to his feet
by his hair, spun around, and punched hard in the
face. 'Well, at least that stake's out of my
back.' he thought as he stumbled backwards. But
before he could regain his composure, Buffy hit
him hard in the nose. "Ow." he said, bringing
his hands to his nose.

Buffy quickly grabbed the collar of his coat and
pulled him face-to-face with her. "Maybe I am
just working off the memories and not really
feeling," she hissed in his face. "But I
remember loving Willow with all my heart, and
you're going to pay for what you did to her!" 
With that, Buffy released him, took a big step
back, then delivered a bone-shattering kick to
his balls. He fell to his knees, clutched his
groin, and groaned in obvious pain. Buffy
smirked at his discomfort and let him feel it for
a while. Finally, she kneeled down in front of
him and yanked his head back hard with one hand,
while preparing to stake him in the chest with
the stake she still held in her other.

"Wait!" Spike yelled just as Buffy started her
forward trajectory toward his heart. "I can help
you get your soul back!"

"What makes you think it's missing?" Buffy said
glaring at him, her stake still held at the
ready. "Just because I don't feel right now? 
That'll come with time. I'm still just adjusting
to being back from heaven."

"Because when I fight you, my brain doesn't
tingle," Spike said quickly. "I told you the
chip is still there and tingles when I bite or
hit someone, but I feel absolutely nothing when I
hit you. That means you're soulless just like
all the other vamps or demons I can fight without
feeling anything in my head."

"You're lying!" Buffy yelled.

"No! I'm the one who found the right spell to
bring you back, so I know all about it. Look,
the others told me the urn got smashed by those
bikers toward the end of the spell. That means
your soul is stuck in limbo." he said.

"Pretend I believe you for just one second. So,
where is my soul and how do I get it back?" Buffy
said.

"Well, I don't know exactly how to get it back,
but I do know where it's at. A-and I can help
you get it back." he said. "I can go to the guy
who..."

"Where is it, then?" Buffy cut him off.

"Let me go, and I'll help you." Spike said, hope
rising in him again that he could get out of this
without being staked.

"Tell me and I'll consider it!" Buffy snapped.

"Alright," Spike drawled. "Willow has it." 
Buffy just stared at him stunned, not sure
whether or not to believe what he was saying. 
"It's true," he continued when saw Buffy's
hesitation. "She was the vessel--the focal
point. When the spell was interrupted and the
urn broken, your soul got stuck in her. Now, I
know we can put our heads together and figure out
a spell or something to get it back to you if
you'll just let me help." Buffy still looked
skeptical to him. She believed what he was
saying about the spell and her soul, she was just
debating whether or not to let him help. Spike
sensed this, and decided to try a slightly
different tactic. "And once Red knows
everything, you know she'll double over backward
to help, seeing as how she's in love with you and
all."

"Huh?" Buffy blinked a couple of times and
unintentionally let her grip loosen on both Spike
and the stake. Seeing his opportunity, Spike
summoned all his strength and hit her as hard as
he could square in the face. Buffy tumbled onto
her back and just lay there, unaware of Spike
hobbling off as fast as he could. 'Is it
possible?' Buffy thought as she lay there. 'Does
Willow really love me as much as I love her? Or
at least as much as I used to before I died?' 
Finally Buffy came to her senses enough to
realize Spike had gotten away. "Damn!" she
hollered as she rose from the ground. 'Spike's
not what's important now, though. He'll probably
skip town anyway,' she thought. 'I've got to get
back to Willow. If everything Spike said is
true, then there's a chance we could both be
happy.'
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Buffy sat in a chair next to Willow's hospital
bed. She held the witch's hand in both her own,
hoping today would be the day Willow woke up. It
had been three days since she had found
everything out from Spike. The doctors told her
Willow would come out of the coma ok sooner or
later. The redhead had been showing signs of
improvement even though she hadn't regained
consciousness yet. She tossed and turned a lot,
didn't need a respirator any more, and seemed to
respond really well whenever Buffy would talk to
her. Buffy released Willow's hand and stretched
in her seat, trying to work the kinks out of her
muscles from sitting there so long. As soon as
Buffy let go of her hand, Willow started
whimpering and rolled over on her side, facing
away from Buffy. She stood up and watched as
Willow wrestled with the hospital blanket in her
sleep. First Willow pulled the blanket up to her
chin. Then the witch tried her best to get a hold
on the part of the blanket that was draped over
her back, but was having difficulty reaching
behind and over her shoulder. Buffy realized
with a start what the girl was doing. Willow had
known Buffy was there, and felt safe--until Buffy
let go of her hand. To compensate, she was
trying to draw the blanket completely around
herself. 'Sort of like feeling warm and
protected in the womb.' Buffy thought. Buffy
shook herself out of her thoughts, took the chair
to the other side of the bed, and sat down again.
She gently folded back the blanket so she could
take Willow's hand in hers once more, then lay
her head down on the side of the bed to try and
get some sleep.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Willow slowly opened her eyes, but was greeted
with a stabbing pain. She quickly closed them
again and let the pain subside to a dull ache. 
She decided instead to try and take stock of her
surrounding without the use of her sight for now.
She concentrated on the sounds and smells around
her, and decided, without a doubt, she was in a
hospital. 'I guess I'm not dead.' she thought. 
She debated whether or not to try opening her
eyes again, but didn't want the pain, so she
opted not to. Suddenly she became aware of a
pressure on one of her arms. It wasn't
unbearable, but it was a little heavy. She still
didn't want to open her eyes for fear of the
pain, so she decided to try and gently move her
arm out from under whatever it was. 'I've
determined that I'm in a hospital, so it
shouldn't be a demon.' she reasoned. Besides, it
was soft and warm. Nothing like most demons or
vampires. Ever so slowly and carefully she
started to move her arm, and felt something stir
and groan in return. "Buffy?" she rasped,
wondering why the blonde was here. "Willow? You
awake?" Buffy said. Willow could hear the sleep
in Buffy's voice, and was now afraid to open her
eyes for fear of seeing hatred or blame on
Buffy's face. She didn't know what to think
about Buffy being there, so she slowly started to
move away, even though she knew she wouldn't get
very far.

Buffy saw the confusion and uncertainty on
Willow's face, not to mention some fear, and felt
a stab of guilt at being the cause of it. "Easy
Willow. Don't try to move too much. You're ok,
your safe now." Willow stopped moving. She felt
somewhat reassured by Buffy's gentle speech. 
"Can you open your eyes?" Buffy asked. Willow
felt like she heard genuine concern in Buffy's
voice that time.

"Uh, yeah. B-but it hurt my eyes and head the
first time I did." Willow answered.

"Wait a second," Buffy said. Willow felt and
heard Buffy get up. "The lights are fully on in
your room. Maybe it's the lights. I'll shut
them off and turn on the back light above your
bed." Buffy said as she did so. Willow saw it go
dark behind her eyelids, then heard a click
somewhere above her head and 'saw' a much dimmer
light. "Do you want to give it a try again?"
Buffy asked.

"O-okay." Willow squeaked. She slowly opened her
eyes again, blinking several times to try and
clear up the bluriness and ward off the small
amount of pain the little light above her bed
caused. Finally she focused on Buffy's face.

"Hey." Buffy said, reaching over to Willow to
brush away a stray lock of silky red hair. She
felt Willow tense up a bit as she touched her. 
"Will, it's ok," she said in as gentle a voice as
possible. "I know everything. I'm not mad at
you any more. God! I should have never been mad
at you to begin with. You didn't do anything
wrong, it was Spike--all Spike!" Buffy hissed out
the vampire's name with such venom that Willow
recoiled from Buffy, tensing up a second time. 
Seeing this, Buffy tried again. "Geez, Will. 
I'm sorry," she said, trying to sound reassuring.
"It's just that, when I think about what he did
to you, it makes my blood boil. Even more so
when I think about how I blinded myself to what
was going on." Buffy saw Willow start to open
her mouth, and quickly, but gently, put a finger
over Willow's lips. "Shh, don't say it, Will. I
know you'll try to put at least some of the blame
on yourself, but don't. Now, I don't know
exactly what Spike said or did to you while I was
dead, but I know he manipulated and used you, and
I should have been there for you once I was back.
If I wouldn't have been so self-absorbed and
feeling sorry for myself, I could have stopped
him from hurting you any further," Buffy looked
at Willow with pleading eyes, "Can you ever
forgive me?" she asked softly.

Willow sighed, relieved everything was more or
less out in the open. "Of course Buffy," she
said, tears starting to well up in her eyes. She
was happy things looked like they were going to
be ok between them. "But I could have stopped
Spike, too. I just blindly believed everything
he told me because I wanted it to be..." Willow
was cut off.

"Hey, I said none of that." Buffy silenced
Willow's self-recriminations. Willow knew Buffy
was serious, so just nodded and stopped talking. 
"Besides," Buffy continued, "There's actually
some positive that may have come from Spike while
you were out," she said, gathering Willow's hands
in her own.

"D-did you kill him, Buffy?" Willow asked.

"No. I was going to, but he got away," Buffy
answered. Seeing a twinge of fear pass through
Willow's eyes, she added, "But I don't think
he'll dare show his face around here again, now. 
And if he does, I promise I won't let him hurt
you again. I'll die before I let that happen."
Buffy finished, giving Willow's hands a firm
squeeze. 'God,' Buffy thought, 'I can almost
feel my love for her even without my soul!' With
that thought, she slowly leaned forward and
brushed her lips tentatively against Willow's. 
Willow froze for a moment, unsure, then let the
wonderful feeling wash over her and deepened the
kiss a little. 

Suddenly Willow couldn't breathe--couldn't move. 
Her eyes went wide in fear and panic, and then
she saw and felt a thin, white strand of light
come from her mouth and flow slowly into Buffy's.
Buffy pulled her head back from Willow's a bit
as the energy flowed into her. Finally it
stopped, and Willow gasped for air as Buffy's
head fell forward onto the bed. "Buffy!" Willow
shouted as she released Buffy's hands to shake
her friend's shoulders. "Hey, are you ok? 
Buffy!" she yelled, frantically shaking her.

Buffy lifted her head and looked at Willow. 
Buffy's eyes were wet with unshed tears, and
Willow saw pure joy and love in them. "I'm fine,
Will."

"What was that?" Willow asked.

"I just found my soul." Buffy answered.
-----------------------------------------------------

END




__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Buy the perfect holiday gifts at Yahoo! Shopping.
http://shopping.yahoo.com