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Chapter Nine

 “You just let him go with that hoochie-mama?”

“Spike doesn’t belong to me. And I’m not Faith’s boss. They can do whatever they want.” Buffy’s expression made it clear she did not want to discuss it anymore.  Which had the usual effect on Julie.

“I thought you were the boss of all the slayers?”

Buffy shook her head. “It’s way too complicated, and you’d never understand it.  I was the…  leader… for a while… And then we had an army. Somebody had to make decisions and do the fighting and I… Look. I’m nobody’s boss. Not anymore. I offer… suggestions.  But I’m retired from any kind of leader stuff. I slay. That’s all I do.  If anybody is the Slayer boss, it’s Faith. She’s the one who oversees the active slayers and works with the Council.”

Julie mulled that over for a minute, then said, “So, what’s with the vampire? If they’re all so bad and dangerous, why do you let him help you? I mean, aside from the whole ‘he’s awesome sexy’ thing.”

“Spike’s different,” Buffy said shortly. “And that’s all you need to know.”

From the bed, Bobby spoke up, seeming embarrassed, but determined. “I need to pee,” he said, blushing when both Julie and Buffy turned to stare at him.

“TMI,” Julie said, tossing her head.

“Do you need a nurse?”

“No. I just need to walk to the bathroom – without displaying my butt to two girls I don’t even know.”

Buffy frowned at him, wondering why he seemed so nervous about just going to the bathroom. It wasn’t as if there was no door on it or something. She looked at the dark window, a safe four stories from the ground, and around the room. She walked over and dropped the blinds, angling them so that anyone looking up from the ground wouldn’t be able to see into the well-lit room. She frowned again at the very faint tingles she thought she might be feeling.

“Hold on. Let me check the hall.”  She stuck her head out, but saw nothing amiss.  The nurse at the station at the end of their wing waved at her.  She didn’t see any sign that Julie was feeling anything, so Buffy shrugged off the faint prickle at the back of her neck as being left over from Spike’s presence, or maybe something about Bobby’s still-undetermined status. “Okay, we’ll just wait out here in the hall. Be quick about it.”

She herded a reluctant Julie out the door, leaving it open far enough that she could hear Bobby’s unsteady progress toward the bathroom.  She leaned against the wall, concentrating on listening to the sounds from inside the room. Beside her, Julie was staring at the floor and tapping her foot impatiently. It took Buffy a few seconds to notice that her vamp tingles had ratcheted way up. She spun around and saw several vampires wearing bloody scrubs making their way down the hall toward them. The nursing station was now vacant, and Buffy swore under her breath at the deaths that had probably occurred right under her nose.  She turned her head to find more vamps running toward them from the other, far end of the hall.

“Dammit!” She shoved Julie back into the room with instructions to lock herself in the bathroom with Bobby, then slammed the door and turned to meet the first of the newly-risen vampires.  Buffy’s enhanced powers, much diminished after the end of Twilight, but far from gone completely, allowed her to take out the first four vampires with minimal effort. The remaining two gave her just enough trouble to prevent her from noticing that another one had slipped past the fight and into the room.

She finished dusting the last two vampires and turned around to find the door standing open. Julie was standing in front of Bobby, stake in trembling hand, facing a snarling fledgling that was still wearing the clothes he’d been killed in.

“They are mine, Slayer,” cooed a voice from behind. Buffy whirled to find Dru holding one of the nurses up in one hand, while the other hand ran a sharp nail around the girl’s throat.  “Unless you want to watch this pretty dolly become all red and shiny… you must allow me to take my pets with me.”

Buffy’s growl came very close to matching the ones coming from the room behind her, where Julie’s inexperienced stake wielding was proving to be just enough to keep the fledgling minion at bay.

“Over your dusty body,” Buffy said, avoiding Dru’s eyes and setting herself in front of the open door. Behind her she could hear Bobby calling for his ‘princess’, followed by the sound of a fist striking flesh and then silence except for the minion’s continuing frustrated snarls.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Spike paused outside the hospital’s main door and sniffed the air like a dog.  “This way,” he said without explanation, breaking into a run toward the parking lot. Faith followed without question, her stake already in her hand when they intercepted a large group of newly-risen vampires shambling toward the hospital. While Spike began to effortlessly snap necks, Faith staked the slow-moving vampires one at a time, not even bothering to try to fight them.  When there was nothing left but piles of dust, she looked at Spike, who was searching with all his senses for any sign of Drusilla. 

With a disappointed sigh, he turned back to her. “Nice clean-up, Slayer Two.”

“It wasn’t exactly hard work. They were more like zombies than vamps. What’s up with that?”

He shrugged. “Dru only had one day to make herself minions. I’m guessing she did the least she could get away with and still have fledges that could walk.  She needed them to be ready by tonight, so she went with numbers and quick rising, not quality.”

“Don’t see the point in that. We dusted all of them in like, no time.”

Spike swore and took off running, too fast for Faith to even think about keeping up. “They took us away from the building, and kept us busy for a few minutes,” he shouted, flying toward the hospital.  Faith watched with her mouth open as he disappeared in a blur that ran up the side of the building and burst through the glass into the room where they’d left Buffy to protect Drusilla’s two victims.  Unable to duplicate his feat, and very grateful that he hadn’t taken her up on her offer to fight, Faith flew up the stairs and through the long hallways to the wing from which she could hear the sound of screams. She slowed as she neared Dru and the terrified nurse, hefting her stake as she approached.

“Collateral damage?”

Buffy shook her head. “Not if we can help it; I’ve had enough collateral damage to last me the rest of my life.  Anyway, I think the cavalry’s here—” Her words accompanied the sound of Spike bursting through the window in a spray of heavy-duty, shatterproof glass and broken blinds. He didn’t even pause, shoving the minion aside hard enough to stun him when his head impacted the wall.

“Get him,” he said to Julie, continuing through the room and into the tense tableau outside.  “Let her go, Dru,” he said. “You know you can’t fight all three of us.”

She cocked her head and stared at Spike and then at Buffy. Faith’s eyes narrowed at being ignored, but it was obvious that Buffy and Spike were the ones of real interest to the crazy vampire. As long as Drusilla held the nurse, she was in charge; all Faith could do was follow the lead of those who knew the vampire best.  Dru continued looking back and forth between Spike and Buffy, her face undergoing a sudden transformation as understanding grew behind her horrified eyes.

“What are you?” she whispered to Spike.  “Where is my black prince?”

“I’m what I’ve been for years, Dru,” he said, keeping his voice as soothing as possible. “Not your black prince, not anything of yours. Let the girl go and we’ll go outside and talk about it, yeah?”

Buffy’s swallowed her silent “Like hell you will” – wondering what he was trying to do. There was no reason for him to worry about a thrall, and if he kept Dru busy talking, either she or Faith might be able to stake her.

Dru began moving slowly away, still holding the nurse in a manner that would allow her to plunge a taloned nail into the girl’s throat before they could stop her.

“You’re ruined. She ruined you, just like she ruined Angelus…” Her eyes turned to Buffy and she brought her vampire face to the fore. “Why do you want to destroy my family? My two princes, tainted and ruined.” Her expression changed, and she looked sly. “But you’re not my Spike’s sunshine any more, are you?” She turned her head to smirk at Spike.  “The Slayer and Angelus. The things they did, my prince….” She waited for Spike’s response, but when he remained unmoved, she returned her glare to Buffy.  “I should kill you,” she said, seeming to lose interest in anything else but the slayer responsible for the loss of her family.  

“Give it your best shot, ho-bag,” Buffy replied, readying herself for an attack.

Dru seemed to think for a second, then shook her head. “Another time. When you are not so strong…” She whirled and ran for the elevators, dragging the hapless nurse along with her. Spike ran after her, once again showing speed much enhanced over an ordinary vampire’s. He was in front of Dru by the time she got to the elevator, blocking the door with his body. “Let the girl go, pet. I’m not going to let you take her out of here.”

She cocked her head at him, shifting sideways so as to keep an eye on Buffy who had followed them with a speed that equaled Spike’s. She dropped back to her human face and stared at him with mournful, but rational, eyes. She seemed very sane as she took in her situation. With an abrupt movement, she threw the nurse at Buffy, hissing, “Only my sweet William can slay his princess. Only him,” and turned her eyes back to Spike. “Can you do it, sweet William? Can you kill me?  Can you kill your princess for the sake of sunshine that has lost its luster?”

“Sorry, princess. The answer to that is the same as it’s always been.” Without further speech, he grabbed her head and twisted until it joined the dust at his feet. 

The elevator next to them opened and a SWAT team burst out into the corridor, blinking in surprise when they saw nothing but the “private security” team they’d been told to watch for, one hysterical nurse and a very dusty hallway.  “What the hell happened here?” the leader demanded, staring around at the wreckage of Buffy’s fight with the minions, as well as the blood-soaked nurse’s station.  “Who did this?”

Buffy gave him a half-hearted smile. “Try ‘a gang hopped up on PCP’,” she said. “That always worked at my high school.”  She turned the nurse over to the other medical staff now moving into the area and began the walk back to Bobby’s room.

Buffy touched Spike’s hand as he fell into step beside her. “I’m sorry you had to do that. Are you all right?”

He stopped, put his hands on her shoulders, and turned her toward him. “Buffy, I offered to kill her for you years ago. Long before I had any reason to think—” He shook his head. “Did you really believe, after all these years and the soul, that I couldn’t—wouldn’t do it?” His face began to settle into the resigned, stoic lines that were becoming so uncomfortably familiar to her.  She reached up and cupped his cheek, stroking it softly.

“I knew you could do it. And I knew that you would. I never doubted you. I just thought… I remember how it felt to send Angel to Hell, and I… I didn’t want you to… I just thought it would hurt you less if I did it.”

Spike’s expression softened and for the first time in years, she was once again looking at the face of the man who loved her. He put his hand on top of hers and held it to his cheek for a second before turning his head to kiss her palm.  “And that’s why it was easy,” he said. “I lost any lingering feelings I may have had for her when you took me out of that basement and made me part of your life again. Never deserved you, and still don’t, but I’ll be yours till I’m dust in the wind.”

There was a gagging noise from behind them and they both whirled to glare at Faith, who laughed while Julie said, “Hey! Remember us? The reason you’re here?”  Spike and Buffy glowered at her, but walked into the room, staring at the glass-covered floor and bed.

“I guess you won’t be staying here tonight,” Buffy said to Bobby, looking at the destruction.  “Maybe they’ll let us take you out.” 

The expression on Bobby’s bruised face was confused and wary. His eyes flew to Buffy. “You killed her!”

“No, mate, I did. Had to be done.” Spike’s voice was soft and surprisingly sympathetic.

After a long minute, Bobby managed to say, “Oh.” He raised his eyes. “Does that make you my sire?”

“Fuck, no!”  Spike’s sympathy evaporated.  “Doesn’t make me anything except an old vamp who was turned by the same one that bit you.  Get over it. You’re free of her now. Stop acting like something you’re not.”

Bobby sat down in the chair, his shoulders slumped and his forehead wrinkled.  He looked for a moment like he might cry, but then Julie moved and he remembered her presence. He sat up straighter, and raised his chin, now staring at Julie with the same worshipful eyes he’d previously stared at Spike.  “She saved me,” he said, pointing. “She’s amazing!”

Spike snorted; Buffy and Faith exchanged eye rolls, but didn’t bother to remind him of how he’d gotten to the hospital in the first place.  As Julie blushed and preened under his admiring gaze, Faith said, “Not bad for a not-a-slayer. Are you sure you don’t want a job?”

“Is it true that you’re the boss of the slayers?”

Faith shot Buffy a startled glance. “I am?  I mean, yeah, I am. Why?”

“I think I might… maybe, if you think I could… I mean, I know I need training, but….” She looked at Buffy.  “Do I have to go to Cleveland?”

“What’s wrong with Cleveland?”

“It’s cold. And windy. And it’s in Ohio… where my foster family lives….”

“And where Social Services is probably looking for you,” Faith sighed. “Got it.”  She shook her head, took a deep breath, and said, “Don’t make me sorry I did this… How about England? What if you went to England to get trained?”

Julie’s face lit up, then fell again.  “I can’t afford that. How would I get there?” 

Faith waved a hand at Spike and Buffy, took Julie by the arm, and began to lead her out of the room. “Well, see, here’s the sitch…”

 

Bobby’s face fell as Julie walked out without looking back, her attention on Faith and the explanation of how Julie would get to England.  Spike walked over and punched him on the arm. “Cheer up, mate. Slayers don’t make good girlfriends – they’re always out and about, saving the world and whatnot.” Studiously avoiding Buffy’s narrowed gaze, he grabbed Bobby’s clothes from the closet and threw them at him. “Get dressed. We’re going to leave here and find someplace less vamp-friendly for you to spend the night.”

In spite of all the evening’s events, it was still not very late when they worked their way out of the hospital, using stairs whenever possible and doors that didn’t lead past a lot of people. In the chaos left in the wake of the vampire attack, no one noticed the three people walking toward the parking lot.  Spike pulled out his communicator and muttered a few words and clicks into it, bringing the ship within seconds. It hovered over them, just high enough not to hit any cars in the parking lot. When the ladder dropped, Bobby’s eyes popped and he began to babble about aliens and space ships, edging his way back toward the relative safety of the hospital.  Spike grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and tossed him toward the ladder.

“Get your arse up there before you make me sorry we took you with us.”

Once inside the ship, and properly introduced to Bugs One and Two, Bobby relaxed and ran around like a toddler, wanting to touch everything.  Buffy couldn’t resist pointing out to Spike that Bobby’s sudden changes of mood and hyperactive behavior reminded her a whole lot of someone she knew. She snickered when he growled, “Bite your tongue, Slayer, or I’ll bite it for you.”

“Promises, promises,” she said, laughing and not noticing the way his wide eyes followed her as she flipped her hand and walked over to peer out the window.

The trip to Buffy’s building took only a few seconds, but Spike had the ship hover well above it while he found some less bloody clothes for the boy to change into.  While Bobby was changing, Buffy sat on the bed looking up at Spike.

 “Are you going to tell me what’s going on? When did you turn into super-vamp?”

He shrugged. “Don’t really know. The bugs are from another dimension, and while I was there I… changed.  Not right off, but a bit at a time. I got faster, stronger…” he held out his hands, claws extended, “… grew these things. Not over my sun allergy, but I can handle more of it than the average vamp my age.”  He cocked his head at her. “Best I can figure is, time passed differently there and I’m now a lot older than I was when Blue whisked me off without so much as asking if I wanted to see the universe.”

“Huh. So I guess that’s why Angel was having such a hard time killing you when he was all super-powered….”

He coughed. “Yeah, well, I don’t think that was going as well as I’d hoped. I was bloody grateful to have those extra years when he dragged me out into the sun, I can tell you. And never so glad to see the bugs and the ship.”

“I was so afraid he’d—we’d—killed you,” she whispered. “I wasn’t sure if the ship managed to catch you or not. Not till the first time you showed up at my window.” She gave him a small smile. “Thanks for that, by the way. I was getting pretty close to grieving all over again. It had been so long since—”

“Had to see if you were doin’ alright, didn’t I?” he said, running the back of his hand down her cheek. “You’d had a lot thrown at you. Things I knew you’d take to heart… Knew you’d come out the winner,” he added quickly when she began to frown. “But I was afraid—”

“You were afraid I’d be all depresso Buffy again.”

He looked embarrassed. “I don’t mind depresso Buffy as much as you might think... But I never want to see you in that much pain again.”

“Depresso Buffy treated you like shit!” she said, disbelief in her voice. “She—I almost killed—  What’s wrong with you?”

He gave her his best “Duh, vampire” look, then opted to take her question seriously. “You also trusted me enough to turn to me for comfort and companionship,” he pointed out. “ And you let me be your distraction from the pain… Gave me some of the best—” He stopped himself and cleared his throat. “Was worth every bump and bruise,” he finished, not meeting her gaze.

At that moment, Bobby emerged wearing Spike’s slightly too big jeans and a black tee shirt.

“Oh my God, he looks so much like you.”  Buffy stared at the boy standing there with bewilderment on his face.  She walked around him, ignoring his embarrassed squirming.  She glanced back at Spike.  “Is there something you need to tell me?” she asked, her lips twitching. “Were you by any chance human for a day, say about eighteen years ago?”

Spike frowned in confusion, not having heard about Angel’s brief bout of humanity.

“Pretty sure I’d have remembered it, pet,” he said. “Doubt it would have lasted long, anyway. Dru would’ve turned me right back, I’ve no doubt.”

“I was just kidding,” she said. “I’ll explain it later.”

“I got it, Slayer. But I wouldn’t have had to be human if there were prophecies and such like involved, would I?”

It was Buffy’s turn to look puzzled. “Prophecies?”

“Yeah, you know, like the poof and the whore—” He froze. “Bloody hell,” he breathed. “He never told you….”

“Never told me what?”

“Nothing,” Spike said firmly. “Nothing at all. If it ever comes up that you need to know, I’ll tell you about it. Promise.”

Buffy’s expression made it very clear that she expected him to tell her about it now, but before she could work up a good head of steam, Bug One came in and began clicking at Spike. He sighed and nodded, gesturing the insect out of the room.  Buffy watched the bug walk out, her face expressionless. Before Spike could decide how to phrase what he had to say, Buffy said tonelessly, “You’re leaving again.”

“I am,” he replied with a sigh. “Got my responsibilities to the… got my responsibilities to tend to.”  Ignoring Bobby’s curious eyes, he stepped closer to Buffy and tipped her chin up. “I don’t like leaving yo—leaving all the time, not knowing when I’ll be able to come back. I’m thinkin’ it might be time to give up some of those responsibilities,” he said softly. “But I’d need to know if there’s a reason to do it.”

She bit her lip and stared into his eyes, blinking hard. “Would the fact that I really, really hate saying good-bye to you be a good enough reason?”

“Best one I can think of,” he murmured, leaning in and kissing her until Bobby’s frantic throat-clearing got their attention.  They broke apart, laughing—Buffy with embarrassment, Spike with joy.  “Sooner I get out of here, sooner I’ll be back,” he said, steering Buffy and Bobby toward the door where Bug Two and the ladder awaited. With a final wave, he watched them go down the ladder, then pulled it in and shut the hatch.

Buffy and Bobby stood on the roof and watched as the ship disappeared into the night sky.

“Were we really just in a space ship?”

“Yep. We were.  Now come on. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired and I have to work tomorrow, so let’s get you settled on the couch so I can get some sleep.”

The adrenaline of the night’s events was wearing off, and the boy nodded obediently as he followed her down the stairs to her apartment. He was asleep a few seconds after he settled down on the couch that Buffy had quickly converted to a makeshift bed.  Leaving the decision of what to do with him until later, Buffy washed her face, brushed her teeth, and stumbled into her bedroom, dropping her clothes as she went.  She slid into bed and pulled the covers up, smiling to herself at the remaining traces of tobacco and Spike’s unique scent that lingered on the sheets.