Chapter 13 – Itty Bitty Puzzle Pieces


Sunnydale, 2000


“Spike, wait,” Buffy said as she neared him, hearing him mumble as she got closer.

“Go away, luv,” he replied, beginning to walk faster. “You have more important things to worry about than me.”

“I don’t disagree, but will you stop for a second?” she asked, pleased when he turned and faced her. “Thank you.”

“You should go back to your friends,” he said. “The sun’s coming up soon, and I’d like to be back in my crypt before that happens.”

“I’m sorry that Giles and Xander-”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” he said, interrupting her. “I expect it from them, although I didn’t know Giles was suddenly against me. I thought we were on good terms before, but apparently that’s changed.”

“Probably because he’s being influenced by Xander,” she muttered, looking down. “Still, I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright,” he replied, shrugging. “I’ll get over it, and so will they. Once my name is cleared for good, maybe they’ll start to accept me as part of the group.”

“You are a part of the group,” she said.

“Maybe to you and the other birds, but that’s it,” he said. “I’m not involved with your mum’s disappearance.”

“I know,” she replied. “You should probably run – time’s ticking before the sun’s rays start being deadly.”

He nodded and turned, beginning to walk away.

“Spike?” she called after him, smiling when he looked over his shoulder at her. “Night.”

“Shouldn’t you be saying good morning?” he asked, smirking.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” she said. “Good morning.”

“I look forward to hearing you say that after we’ve slept through the night sometime,” he replied, grinning as he saw the stunned look on her face before he continued walking in the direction of his crypt.

She stared at him until he disappeared from sight before going home, her mind racing as she began to think about everything that had happened over the course of the past few hours.

~~~~~~~~~~

Joyce woke up after resting for a while to see Tessa sitting beside her bed again, watching her with a content expression.

“Hello,” Tessa said, standing up and loosening the bindings around Joyce’s wrists before taking them off completely. “I’ve been waiting for you to wake up. I had one of my minions go out to get you some food.”

She put a tray down on the bed that contained a glass of water, cereal, an orange, and toast.

“Thank you,” Joyce said, studying it cautiously.

“I told you before that I wouldn’t hurt you,” Tessa said, amused at the older woman’s nervous expression. “There’s nothing wrong with any of that food – it’s all brand new.”

“It looks nice,” Joyce said, managing a small smile before beginning to eat, feeling hungrier than before as she started peeling the orange. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure,” Tessa answered, sitting down on the edge of the bed and watching Joyce eat.

“Why did you kill my daughter?” Joyce asked, tears beginning to sting her eyes as she spoke. “She was sweet, innocent… What could she have possibly done to make you take her life?”

“I didn’t kill her,” Tessa said. “I told you before that my minions got a little carried away, remember?”

“You could’ve stopped them,” Joyce said sharply, looking at the vampire with a furious expression.

“I didn’t know until it was too late,” Tessa replied, looking down as she began to feel like she was being chided by her own mother.

“But why did you take her?” Joyce asked, noticing the vampire’s eyes flash amber for a second.

“I can’t tell you everything if I plan on letting you go,” Tessa answered. “You understand that, don’t you? I don’t want you to go home and tell your eldest all of my plans.”

“Then give me a general reason why you’re doing this,” Joyce replied sternly.

“Because my sire deserves to be punished,” Tessa said, raising her eyes to Joyce’s. “And I figure that the best way to hurt him before I actually do any real damage to him is to take away the women he cares about, one by one.”

“Why me?” Joyce asked, confused.

“Because Spike likes you,” Tessa answered. “Just like he cared about Dawn.”

“Spike is your sire?” Joyce asked, her eyes widening.

“Yes, he is,” Tessa answered, standing up.

“What did he do to you that would make you want to attack women he cares about?”

“He loved me, you know,” Tessa said as she walked to the door. “He turned me into a vampire because Drusilla, his sire, drained me and he didn’t want me to die at such a young age, to not experience more things in life. But he didn’t take care of me or protect me like he promised.”

She stopped as she reached the door, staring at the knob when she heard Joyce’s voice. “I don’t understand why you’d go after Dawn or myself, though.”

“He said he’d protect you and your daughters,” Tessa answered, opening the door. “But he won’t – he never protects those that he cares about, no matter how hard he tries. Your other daughter will be no exception.”

~~~~~~~~~~


South America, 1998


Tessa walked out of the small hotel she was staying in and tensed when she noticed a familiar scent. As she began to realize who it belonged to, she tracked it down to the first person who had ever tried to kill her.

“Drusilla,” Tessa said as she came face-to-face with the older vampire, who saw her and grinned.

“Well, if it isn’t my missing dolly,” Drusilla replied, giggling.

“If it isn’t my psychotic grandmother,” Tessa said, crossing her arms when Drusilla narrowed her eyes at her. “Is William with you?”

“I’m afraid my Spike has gone away,” Drusilla answered, looking down. “Back to the Slayer.”

“Wait,” Tessa replied, frowning. “Why did you call him Spike?”

“That is what name the stars gave him,” Drusilla said.

“And he went to find the Slayer?”

“He likes Slayers,” Drusilla replied. “He has killed two in the past, and the sun in California will stop shining like the others. They always do when he becomes the moon.”

“You really haven’t changed, have you?” Tessa asked. “You’re still as insane as before.”

“And you’re still so little,” Drusilla said in a patronizing tone. “I remember how small you looked when Angelus was on top of you, taking away the last bit of innocence you had.”

“What are you talking about?” Tessa asked, confused.

“Didn’t Daddy and Grandmummy ever play with you, dolly?” Drusilla asked, surprised. “Angelus always had such a desire for young blonde girls – I thought he would have enjoyed his time with you after they took you away.”

“What are you talking about?” Tessa repeated, becoming angrier.

As Drusilla began to explain what had happened the first time she and Angelus had raped her while she was unconscious, Tessa began to shake with fury, not believing that the vile details Drusilla was saying were true, but knowing how horrible Angelus was, she knew that Drusilla wasn’t making anything up.

“You let him do that to me?” Tessa asked, tears in her eyes. “And you joined in?”

“I couldn’t help myself, precious,” Drusilla said, reaching out to stroke Tessa’s cheek.

Tessa took a step back and looked to the side, noticing a wooden crate on the ground. She began to walk towards it, happy when Drusilla followed her.

“Feel like playing with your grandmum?” Drusilla asked with a wicked look in her eyes.

“I would love to,” Tessa said, spinning on her heel and grabbing Drusilla’s upper arms before turning and pushing Drusilla backwards, sinking to the ground with the older vampire as she pushed Drusilla’s back onto the wooden crate, hearing it break beneath her.

Drusilla scratched Tessa’s arm with her nails as she pushed Drusilla off of the destroyed crate and grabbed a piece of wood that had broken off before instantly shoving it through Drusilla’s chest, watching as she disintegrated into dust before her eyes and feeling satisfaction course through her.

“One down,” Tessa murmured, standing up and wiping her hands off on the pants she was wearing.

As she began walking back to her hotel, deciding that she didn’t feel like feeding after all, she realized something and stopped in her tracks. “William didn’t protect me from Angelus, from Drusilla. He broke his promise to me and allowed me to be attacked, to be used as a toy and tossed aside.”

She felt tears roll down her cheeks before she quickly wiped them away, her hands shaking as a new wave of fury coursed through her. “Three to go.”

~~~~~~~~~~


Sunnydale, 2000


The next night, Spike walked to Buffy’s house to talk to her and make sure she was okay after the events of the night before.

As he walked through town and made his way to the Summers house, he caught the scent that had been haunting him since Dawn had been kidnapped and decided to follow it, hoping to figure out who it belonged to.

He walked for a couple of blocks before he saw a blonde girl walking down an alleyway, a taller man beside her who was talking animatedly about something.

Although the girl’s back was to him, he felt a greater sense of familiarity run through him.

It was when she looked over her shoulder at him for a second that Spike knew exactly who it was.

“Tessa.”

Before he could fully register what was going on, Tessa and the man beside her vanished. He tried as hard as possible to track her down to find where they had gone, but when he came up short, he turned in the opposite direction and ran to see Buffy, pieces of the puzzle beginning to connect in his head as he sprinted.