Chapter 22: Train Wreck.


“Why didn’t you tell me?” Spike demanded when he made his way into the living room. “Patrolling? And I’m what, under house arrest?”

The occupants of the room were all taken by surprise, not having expected his outburst, nor knowing how it was that he found out that Buffy and Angel had left. A guilty looking Dawn appeared at Spike’s side, her arms folded over her chest in defiance even though she knew that she was probably going to be lectured for informing him.

It’s not like he wouldn’t have realized soon enough anyway… she mused.

“What, did you think I wouldn’t notice that they were both absent?” Spike continued, furious that he had been kept in the dark. Literally.

“Spike.” Giles said calmly. “It was a simple matter of the fact that Angel was awake when Buffy was preparing to leave.”

“Bollocks.” He snapped in retaliation. “Why am I being kept in the dark here?”

“Spike…” Willow tried to reason. “She’s just trying to look out for you. You know?” she said with a pointed look in Dawn’s direction; which caused the younger Summers to frown with confusion.

“You needed cover from daylight.” Anya said obviously. “That’s why you were sleeping downstairs and not up here where there was a chance that you would self combust.”

“Ahn, he didn’t mean it in the literal sense.” Xander said quietly.

“I am not going to just stand by and watch her get hurt all over again.” He vowed. He turned his stare from Willow to Giles. “If you’re right, and Darla is after Peaches, then there is nothing that is going to stop her from trying to get him. Nothing.” He said ardently. “Nothing. Not even whatever it is she has planned for me.”

Dawn’s gaze became accusing as she looked at the others in the room. “I tried telling Buffy and Giles that this morning but they wouldn’t listen.” She did a double take when what he finished with finally found her ears.

“Planned for you?” She worried, fear filling her at the thought of Darla harming anyone. If she was after Angel and Spike, then Buffy wouldn’t be safe with either of them. “What about plans for you?”

Spike turned to Dawn, taking her hands in his. “Nothing niblet. I just got to get your sister back here in one piece. And I’m going to make sure that happens. Alright?”

Dawn nodded.

“You just stay inside. Don’t go out, no matter what.” He ordered.

Again Dawn nodded.

Tara walked over to Dawn and wrapped an arm around her shoulder and began to lead her upstairs with the promise of teaching her a glamour spell, hoping to take the younger girls mind off her worries for her sister. Willow excused herself and followed the girls upstairs.

“Spike do you think this is wise?” Giles asked. “Buffy wants you to stay here.”

“And be an indoor kitty whilst captain forehead gets to play? Pfft.” Spike snorted. “Not bloody likely. If there’s some ass kicking to be had, especially of the Aurelius variety, then there’s no place else I’d rather be.”

“You do realize that there is a chance that it will be your Aurelian butt that cops the kicking if Buffy finds you out there?” Xander said with a raised brow.

Spike grinned at what Xander had meant to be a warning. He should have known that that wouldn’t serve to deter him. If anything, it encouraged him. With a smirk Spike turned and walked out of the house.

Xander shook her head from side to side. Buffy was not going to be happy about this.

~~~

Buffy and Angel walked side by side, the silence in the air deafening. They used to be able to walk like this in quiet and it would be comfortable, they would both feel at ease. But not anymore. The fact that things between them had changed was blaringly obvious. It was the elephant in the room that refused to keep its presence unnoticed.

Both silently wished for a vampire, or a demon to make their presence known so that tension wouldn’t hand in the air as it was. It had been quiet for several hours now, having run into absolutely no activity all night.

Someone up there must have been listening to their thoughts, because at that moment a pair of vampires was spotted at the south end of the cemetery. Nodding once at Angel to indicate he should take the left Buffy took off to the right. They fell into an old yet comfortable pattern, sneaking up on the unsuspecting pair and launching a double attack.

Angel threw punches at his opponent; whilst Buffy aimed a roundhouse kick to the midsection of hers. Like a well oiled machine they fought side by side. Buffy parried blows with the her vampire opponent, ducking punches that were thrown her way as she dropped to the ground and swung her leg at his knees and knocked him over.

Angel continued throwing punches at the vampire he was facing, backing his up against the wall of a mausoleum. They dusted their respective targets within seconds of each other, pleased smiles gracing both of their faces.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve done that.” Buffy said with a grin.

Angel nodded in agreement. “Yeah it’s been a while.”

~~~

Spike watched from the shadows of the nearby trees as the former lovers conversed. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. He had lied to her, not some little white lie. No, it was a tremendous life-endangering lie. Yet now here they were talking as if nothing had happened.

She couldn’t have forgotten so soon… could she?

He refrained from lighting up a cigarette, not wanting to betray his position even though he was desperately craving one right now.

~~~

Angel reached forward, offering an arm to Buffy to help her to her feet. Accepting his hand she stood, the fact that he held her a moment longer than he had to not escaping her. She brushed the vampire dust from her clothing once they parted, feeling the need to say something before the uncomfortable silence overtook again.

“So… how are things in LA?” she asked. She probably could have picked a better topic for conversation, but all others escaped her right now.

“Good.” Angel replied with a nod. When she quirked an eyebrow in response he laughed. “As good as they can be.”

“Those lawyers still giving you hell? Or trying to?” she asked with a grin.

“Yeah.” He said with a roll of his eyes. He took a step towards her, and hesitantly reached out with a hand. “You’ve got a little…” he said as his fingers brushed against her cheek. “…vamp dust.”

“Great. Vamp dust. As if I need anything extra to make me look gross.” Buffy blushed, wiping at her cheek with her hand. “Better?”

“All gone.” Angel confirmed with a nod. “And you don’t look gross. You’d look beautiful if you were covered in mud.”

The words he spoke caused the atmosphere around them to thicken, which they both felt. Buffy blushed even redder at the compliment, wondering when things between her and Angel had become so strained that a compliment could set them both on edge.

~~~

Spike couldn’t watch anymore. He had seen enough. Turning on his heel he stormed away from the pair who by all means looked as if they were repairing the rift between them. The last thing he wanted to be around for was a reconciliation.

Not caring that his exit wasn’t exactly stealthy, he made his way towards the nearest liquor store.

~~~

“So.” Buffy said, as the tension in the air rose to a new high. “Shall we do a sweep of the next cemetery before we head back to the house? Giles will probably want us to help with the research.”

It was a lame excuse and she knew it. Considering that it was getting quite late now the others were most likely in the process of heading to bed.

Angel nodded slowly, the moment between them having passed and Buffy’s expression closing off again. He had no one to blame but himself for the way things were between them. He caught himself wishing he could turn back time and change the last few days, quietly berating himself for those thoughts a few moments later.

He had already done that once, a few months after he had first left Sunnydale. Not again.

That forgotten day still haunted his dreams. He had been human, and he had been happy. With Buffy. But a threat against her life had spoiled his newfound humanity. He couldn’t bear to stand by and watch her die, which was an almost certainty if he remained human. So he had turned back the clock and the divide between the two of them had widened as he tried to distance himself from the memories that only he had.

~~~

Xander walked over to the window and parted the curtains for the fifth or sixth time in the last 15 minutes. Spike, Buffy and Angel had all been gone for several hours now and he was beginning to worry. About Buffy of course. While he was not a great fan of either vampire, they had both proved their usefulness over the last few years and it would be disappointing if something happened to either of them. But his focus was on Buffy.

Much to Anya’s annoyance.

“She’s the slayer. She can take care of herself.” She said with an impatient stamp of her foot, preferring it if Xander’s attention was fixated on her and not staring out that blasted window.

“She’s an injured slayer. And my friend. I’m just worried.” Xander said as he finally let go of the curtain and returned to Anya’s side, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles as he took one of her hands in his.

“I’m sure she will be fine.” Giles assured, even though inside he was just as worried as Xander was.

As of yet, Dawn and Willow had yet to leave the young girls room. Tara had come downstairs once to give a status report to Giles before she retreated back upstairs.

It was remarkable how Buffy’s brush with death had everyone at unease. She dealt with death every night, faced her own every time she set foot outside to rid the streets of Sunnydale of the evil element that prayed on the ignorant. But when her death comes close, they are all reminded of just how dangerous her calling is.

Checking his watch for the time and noting that only a few minutes had passed since the last time he had looked at it, Giles sighed with resignation and returned his attention to research.

~~~

Spike guzzled the whiskey as if it were blood, wiping the trickle that escaped his lips with the back of his other hand as he removed the bottle from his lips. He was beyond intoxicated right now and it most likely wouldn’t be too long before he passed out. His foot hit the edge of the curb, and he barely managed to keep his balance as he stumbled forward and grasping at a street pole to steady himself.

Yep, he was drunk good and proper now. Buffy would be so thrilled when he turned up at her house, stumbling and slurring.

Buffy…

His face shifted repeatedly from its vampiric to its human form, back and forth as he fought the urge to seek her and Angel out.

Angel…

A low growl rumbled from deep within him when he thought of the vampire who he had once considered his mentor, with his paws all over his Buffy. His Buffy. That was a laugh. His pursuit of her was pathetic. He knew that. She could never feel anything for him. He was an evil, soulless monster if he remembered her words correctly. Sure things had been changing of late, but that didn’t mean anything the moment that Angel arrived on the scene.

“Wanker.” Spike spat out, kicking a trashcan over as he walked past, sending the contents skittering across the street and feeling mildly placated by the mess he had caused.

Well he wasn’t going to stand by and watch whilst the object of his desire and the vampire that was the bane of his very bloodied existence, reunite. No he would not. It was better he left now, before he had to watch the bloody train wreck that was his life shatter into a million pieces.

Buffy had the power to break him, physically, and emotionally. Right then and there he decided he wasn’t going to give her the chance. He would go by the house, say goodbye to Dawn, grab the keys to the Desoto that he had left downstairs in the basement, and leave.

Say goodbye to this sodding hellhole of a town like he should have done years ago.

Taking another large swig at the bottle of whiskey he turned 180 degrees and began stumbling towards the Summers house.

~~~

Jake and his men hit the cemeteries, figuring they were the best of any place to begin their search. If nothing turned up, then they would set Plan B into motion.

The house…

~~~

Spike staggered up the driveway to the Summers house, his earlier plans of leaving already forgotten. During his walk back to the house he had finished off the whiskey, the empty bottle still clutched in his hand. That fact was however forgotten as he raised it to his mouth, cursing when it yielded nothing. His arm fell limply to his side as he looked up at the house before him.

Images of Buffy floated into his mind, filling his heart with hope. He needed to see her, to feast his eyes upon the golden goddess that was the slayer. The inner poet in him began mumbling under his breath about her beauty, about her wit, about her strong right hook. Moments later the visions distorted and visions of her with Angel surged forward and clouded his psyche. The bones in his face shifted as the demon seized his features; the need to claim what it felt was rightfully his taking over.

“BUFFY!” he roared towards the house, beckoning her to come out to him. “BU-FFEEEY!”

A light upstairs switched on and it was Xander who poked his head outside via Buffy’s bedroom window.

“Spike?!” he called disbelieving what he was seeing right now.

Spike was on the front yard and by the looks of it was drunk out of his mind, shouting at the house for Buffy.

“She’s not back yet, she’s still out on patrol with Angel.” He announced.

That was obviously not the best thing he could have said as a low growl reverberated from within Spike. The vampire took two steps towards the house, tripped on his own feet and fell face first to the ground. The bottle flew from his hand and smashed when it hit the driveway a few feet from where he lay.

Groaning, he rolled over onto his back.

Sighing with annoyance Xander watched as the vampire tried to pull himself into a seated position but failed. “Stay there, I’ll come down in a second.”

Spike had no intention of going anywhere. He didn’t think he could move if he needed to right now. Even in the state that he was in, he realized that allowing himself to get this smashed was probably not the wisest plan he had ever thought up.

The brilliant light streaming towards him from the oncoming vehicle was blinding, and he raised a hand to try and block the brightness from his eyes. The vehicle pulled to a stop on the street in front of the Summers house, the side of what he now identified as a van opening up and several people leaping from it and moving up the driveway.

Only they weren’t people…

~~~

Xander moved back inside the room and slipped a shirt on over his bare torso before exiting the room and moving down the stairs as silently as possible. He made his way to the entranceway without waking anyone else upstairs but stirring from within the living room suggested that Spike’s shouting had woken Giles.

“Is that who I think it is?” the watcher asked as he rubbed at his eyes.

“The one and only.” Xander replied with an exasperated shake of his head. “Drunk of his ass and calling for Buffy.”

Giles sighed, lifting himself from the sofa and following Xander to the front door. The vacant second sofa in the room suggested that Buffy and Angel had yet to return from patrol. Giles tried to quash the worries that that thought caused to rise within him.

The sound of squealing tires echoed down the street and both men shared a confused look before they threw the door open.

Both men started forward when they saw Spike being lifted from the ground and carried towards a van on the street that was obviously waiting for them.

“HEY!” Xander shouted as he ran out of the house and onto the lawn.

“Xander!” Giles shouted in warning as the teen ran towards the vehicle, seeing what he didn’t moments before it happened.

He felt the sharp sting of something hitting his chest, the sound of tires squealing reaching his ears seconds before everything went black.



~~~~~~~~~~