Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em...I play.

Author’s note: Dialogue Taken from “Ginger Bread” I know I say this every chapter but it doesn't make it less important to say: thanks to BTL for the fab betaing. You are wonderful. *squishes*
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Chapter 11: Making Up

As the sun set Buffy followed her mom to city hall where it was as if the whole town had gathered for the rally. There were signs and there was yelling. Buffy’s vampire senses were being overloaded with all sorts of stimuli. The blood pumping through the bodies of the crowd of people with whom she had little to no connection with was tempting.

Until she bumped into Willow. With a smile and a hug they greeted each other.

“It’s like the whole town is here,” Buffy observed, looking at the large crowd.

Willow nodded. “Even my mother is here, which is a little odd. She finally noticed my new hair cut, that I got in August.”

“Does she still think my name is Bunny?” asked Buffy.

“Yeppers.”

“I saw Giles too.”

Willow leaned over and whispered into her ear. “I have it on good authority that he has stakes up his sleeves. I haven’t seen Faith yet though.”

There was feedback from the microphone at the podium, drawing the girls’ attention to the Mayor, standing, waiting to begin.

“Hello, everybody,” began the Mayor. “Um... I want to thank you all for coming in the aftermath of such a tragic crime. Seeing you all here proves what a caring community Sunnydale is. Now, sure, we've had our share of misfortunes, but we're a good town with good people, and I know that none of us will rest easy until this horrible murder is solved. With that in mind...” he picked up one of the rally signs that read, ‘never again‘ “I make these words my pledge to you. 'Never again!' Now I ask you to give your attention to the woman who brought us all here tonight, Joyce Summers.”

Buffy watched as her mother strode to the podium with a determined look on her face. This couldn’t be good...

“Thank you,” began Joyce. “Mr. Mayor, you're dead wrong. This is not a good town. How many of us have, have lost someone who, who just disappeared? Or, or got skinned? Or suffered neck rupture? And how many of us have been too afraid to speak out? I-I was supposed to lead us in a moment of silence, but... silence is this town's disease. For too long we-we've been plagued by unnatural evils. This isn't our town anymore. It belongs to the monsters and, and the witches and the Slayers.”

Buffy let out a groan as her mother ranted. It was all true of course, but it exposed so much of the world that the average person was not ready to deal with.

“I say it's time for the grownups to take Sunnydale back. I say we start by finding the people who did this and making them pay.”

“Oh my god,” muttered Buffy, burying her head in her hands.

The crowd around her and Willow was starting to chant, to mutter and generally was making her wig. Out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of Giles and Faith chatting.

The marks on Faith’s neck called out to her. She was feeling protective of Faith, that was what she intended from the mark, but Faith’s eyes, turning towards her were cold and full of hate.

With vampire speed, Buffy fled.

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When her mother found her at home watching TV she was all a flutter about the success of the meeting. Buffy didn’t make with the interest, to the extent with which her mother had expected and after a few moments of her daughter going ‘huh’ to everything she was saying, Joyce finally gave up.

“I’m sure you will hear all about it at school tomorrow,” said Joyce, turning away.

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Buffy’s appearance at school was becoming more and more familiar. Students knew to get out her way when she was running inside on a sunny day, teachers knew to close the blinds in their classrooms when Buffy was taking their class.

And they all knew that you did not piss off Buffy Summers.

It was nearly a daily occurrence when she stepped up to face a school bully only to have them run away when she gave them a menacing glare, sometimes even flashing some fang if she was feeling really pissed off.

It seemed lately that anyone who was even suspected of being different was a target. Buffy’s vampire senses had clued her into the fact that a large population of the school had some demon or magic in them and were afraid of the knowledge getting out.

And you would think that after all her help they would accept her with open arms. Not so much. Buffy was a social pariah, the regular kids didn’t like her and the demon kids knew she was a vamp.

Her only friends were Xander and Willow. And Oz on occasion.

Buffy headed into the student lounge looking for her friends. To her delight, Xander was sitting on a couch. Keeping out of the patches of sunlight, Buffy walked in his general direction.

“Buffy, hi,” greeted Xander, sitting up.

“Hey. Is Willow around?”

“How can I convince you people that it's over? You assume because I'm here, she's here, that I somehow mysteriously know where she is,” said an exasperated Xander.

With a cocked eyebrow Buffy pointed out the books sitting beside her friend. “Those her books?”

“Yeah. She's in the bathroom,” explained Xander in a huff. “But the fact that I know that doesn't change that I have a genuine complaint here. Look, I'm getting sick of the judgment, the innuendoes. Is a man not innocent until proven guilty?”

“You are guilty. You got illicit smoochies, gonna have to pay the price.”

“But I'm talking about the future guilt. Look, everyone expects me to mess up again. Like Oz. I see how he is around me. You know, that steely gaze... that pointed silence.”

“Yeah 'cause he's usually such a chatterbox.”

“No, but it's different now. It's more a verbal nonverbal. He speaks volumes with his eyes.”

Buffy stifled a laugh and turned as she sensed Willow approaching.

“Wills, any more news on that monster?“ asked Buffy.

“Ooh, yes!“ Willow got out her notebook, flipped to a page and showed Buffy a symbol. “This is it right? The symbol that was on the kids’ hands? It’s a protection symbol.“

“Doesn’t look like it did its job,“ observed Xander.

“So either they were wearing the symbol for protection that they really needed or whoever did this is trying to frame witches?“ pondered Buffy.

Suddenly the hallway was filled with the sound of lockers slamming.

Buffy, Willow and Xander turned their heads sharply.

“Please step back. Stay away from the lockers. This is police business,” boomed a loud voice.

Buffy ran over to the hallway to see what was going on. The police were going through students’ lockers. Buffy’s thoughts turned to her own locker and the contents, her incriminating lunch more particularly.

With a worried awe, Buffy watched the police officers confiscate various items, books, strings of garlic cloves, and herbs.

“Aw, man, it's a police state, and I've got Playboys in my locker!” whined Xander over her shoulder.

“They just took three kids away,” came Oz’s voice from behind her. He was speaking to Willow, but Buffy could hear him clearly.

“What are they looking for?” Buffy asked.

“Witch stuff,” answered Amy, who had also joined the group.

“What?” cried a worried Willow.

“They got my spells. I'm supposed to report to Snyder's office,” explained Amy.

“Oh, my God.”

The group watched in awe as an officer approached them.

“Okay, Amy. You'll have to come with me,” the officer ordered. Taking Amy by the elbow they walked away.

“I have stuff in my locker. Henbane, hellebore, mandrake root,” babbled a worried Willow.

“Excuse me. Playboys. Can we turn the sympathy this way?” interrupted Xander.

“Oh, God, my locker's next. Buffy, I didn't do anything wrong!” Willow panicked, clutching onto her friend‘s arm.

An officer pulled some plastic bags from Willow's locker, nodding over to Snyder, who snatched them from the officer.

The smug troll man, principal Snyder walked over to the group with the bags in hand.

“Ms. Rosenberg. My office,” he instructed, his voice almost gleeful.

Buffy watched Willow gulp and follow after the Principal, Oz right behind her being all supportive.

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The rest of the day was a blur for Buffy. Willow was suspended, along with Amy and a bunch of other students. She didn’t know how she got out of the same fate. She had heard rumours that Giles’ books had been confiscated, and she felt the tiniest twinge of bad for him.

The fact remained that she was still keen on her own survival and wasn’t about to jeopardise it for teatime with Giles.

It was as if there was this sense about her that she very soon was going to be in an unlife or dust situation. She just couldn’t shrug it off, and yet she couldn’t do anything about it. Well that isn’t true, she thought. Buffy felt Spike call out to her through their bond again. She knew that he was asleep and he was probably doing it in his sleep without being aware of it.

Buffy returned home, via the sewers, to find her mother in the midst of command central for this group that she had formed. MOO was all over the house.

“MOO?” asked Buffy sceptically, a little ticked off that her mom hadn’t picked her up from school. If she had to go to school during the flamey death others referred to as daylight, the least her mom could do was drive her to and from school.

“Mothers opposed to the Occult,” answered her mother simply. “I don't want you seeing that Willow anymore. I've spoken with her mother. I had no idea her forays into the occult had gone so far.”

“You're the one who ordered the raid on the school today,” Buffy exclaimed as the thought came to her.

“I did, and I’m not explaining myself. The occult did this to those children.“

“Demon children!“ Buffy yelled exasperated. “You keep forgetting that those children were demons!“

“I do not forget that Buffy,“ Joyce stated firmly. “I don’t believe that they deserve to be killed even if they are demons. You are a demon and perfectly good one.“

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Vampires the world over aren’t exactly known for being all good. That’s why there is the Slayer... Remember, I used to be one? And nice acronym, Mom,” said the former Slayer as she left the room.

Buffy stormed upstairs to her room. Her world was coming down around her ears again. With a glance to the shoebox that sat on her dresser, Buffy decided that it was time.

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Buffy sat down on the merry go round in the park, the same one that her mom had found those dead demon children on and set down the shoebox beside her. The sun had set. The merry go round was littered with candles and flowers, cards and teddy bears, a sort of memorial to the two children. It didn’t bother her to sit there though. She relaxed against the handlebars and let her mind drift, letting down all the guards she had built up in her mind.

Spike, my love? she communicated softly.

She could feel the shock he felt. She had shut him out for so long, she didn’t want him to over whelm her, but at the same time she just wanted to be in his arms, make all the hurt go away.

I’m sorry.

In reality, it probably wasn’t the best place to fall asleep, vampire or not. Buffy did feel that it was perfectly justified. Vampires weren’t suppose to be up all day and her mother didn’t seem to understand that.

Buffy woke a few moments later to find Spike stroking her cheek tenderly, gazing into her eyes like he hadn’t seen her in centuries.

It felt like centuries, she heard him think.

She smiled sweetly and reached up to claim his lips with hers. She wanted this. She wanted the closeness, a closeness that she was lacking with pretty much everyone else.

The merry go round shifted under their weight breaking them from their kiss. Nonchalantly, Spike sat on the other side of the handrails, pushing aside some flowers and got out a cigarette.

“Hey,” he said between puffs of smoke.

“Hi,” she responded feeling slightly chilled.

“You wanted to see me?“ he asked.

Buffy looked over at her mate and Sire with a roll of her eyes.

“If it makes you feel better to keep up this big bad, ‘I don’t care’ aloofness then whatever, but you know I wanted to see you and you know what about,” started off Buffy. “I miss you.”

“The life you’ve been trying to relive is being a bitch and you don’t like it.”

Buffy waned a little and smiled at him sheepishly. “Maybe a little. And then there’s the Christmas present you sent me,” she said bringing the box to sit in her lap. “Why?” she asked trying to catch his eyes.

“Cause I thought it was what you wanted. Bloody hell Buffy! I can’t take this back and forth thing. It isn’t right, it isn’t normal. There’s a lot I can tolerate, but never knowing if you are going to blow up at me for being myself. You knew what you were getting into that night. I only wish I had known,” he answered, an underlying bitterness to his tone.

“What I wanted?” asked Buffy, incensed. “I didn’t want this! I didn’t want you to dust her just for me. Send her away sure! Not dust her!”

Spike finally returned Buffy’s gaze, perplexed. “Just whom do you think is in that box, Goldilocks?”

“Drusilla...“ she answered, feeling doubt behind it though. “Isn’t Drusilla in this box?”

Spike snorted out his laughter. “That’s not Drusilla Buffy.”

“Eww, then who is it?”

“The minions. The whole lot of ‘em.”

Buffy looked at the contents of the box for a moment before dropping the contents to the ground.

“You dusted all the minions?” she questioned. It made sense now, there was a lot more dust in that box than one vampire made.

Spike blew another puff of smoke out of his dead lungs and nodded.

“Then where is Drusilla?” she asked.

“Brazil,” he admitted.

“Really?”

Spike nodded again. “Told me last week that she needed to be away for a while, something about the fairies and her friend Carl, whoever he is. She was right ticked off when I dusted the lot of scampering minions. Don’t think she really forgave me for that.”

“She’s gone,” Buffy said, more for her own sake than for Spike to reaffirm it.

The silence over took her, the creak of the playground equipment the only sound to accompany her thoughts.

“School was a mistake,” she stated simply. “My mom really didn’t know what she was forcing me into. Everyone is afraid of me. Except Willow and Xander. Well that’s not true. I think Xander’s a little afraid of me too. And now it’s all oppressive dictatorship at school and Willow’s been suspended for witchcraft. Why did things get so out of hand? Over a couple of demon children.”

“Not children Goldilocks,” Spike responded with a glance over at her.

“Huh?”

“Those bodies you found, not children, just one full grown demon split in two. It’s been around for a while. It’s time we got the hell out of Sunnyhell pet, before this blows up in our faces.”

“Just what do you mean by that?” asked Buffy.

“I mean, love,” he started, locking his gaze with hers. “That if we don’t get out of here, we are going to end up set on fire or some such thing by a mob of people. It’s happened before, it’ll happen again. It’s what drove Dru and I from Prague to come here.”

“All they want are witches...”

“And soon it will be all demons. This demon, love, it makes whole cities and towns do crazy things.”

Buffy stood up and began pacing. “Then we have to take Willow and Amy with us.”

“Uh, come again pet?”

“I can’t leave them here if they are gonna be all burnt at the stake. Oh god! They are gonna be burnt at the stake aren’t they?” she cried.

“Sometimes it happens. Just so long as it isn’t you being burnt, I’m ok with it.”

“Spike! Willow’s my friend!”

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tbc...