Chapter 16 – Prepare For the Worst


Sunnydale, 2000


Buffy’s eyes slowly opened as she woke up, instantly feeling Spike holding her close to him while he continued to sleep. She smiled and put her hand on his, surprised when he pressed a kiss to her temple.

“Good morning,” he murmured.

“Good morning to you, too,” she replied, watching as he grinned. “What?”

“Told you before that I looked forward to hearing you say that,” he said.

“Was it worth the wait?” she asked, giggling.

“Absolutely,” he answered. “What time is it?”

She looked at the clock on her bedside table and frowned. “The gang should be here soon – we should probably get out of bed.”

“Probably should,” he agreed before kissing her softly. “Probably won’t.”

“Keep it in your pants, pal,” she replied, narrowing her eyes at him before smirking. “We have more important things to do.”

“Maybe more important to you, but to me-”

“Come on, Big Bad,” she said, getting out of bed and stretching her arms.

“What if today is our last day on earth?” he asked, pouting. “You could regret making such a hasty decision.”

“Spike, we have a fight to prepare for,” she said, looking at him. “A fight that we’ll both survive, like we always do.”

“I know,” he said, sitting up before getting off of the bed. “Just wanted to see if I could guilt you into lying around for a while longer.”

“Nice try,” she replied, smiling. “Let me go through the house first so I can close all of the curtains and shades. The last thing I need is to lose two of my soldiers.”

“I have a feeling Angel won’t be happy when he finds out I was up here,” Spike said.

“Then we won’t tell him,” she said before walking out of the room.

“Trust me, he’ll find out,” he muttered as he waited for her to tell him when it was okay for him to move around in the house.

A couple of minutes later, Spike joined Darla and Angel in the living room, talking to them as they waited for the others to arrive, and Joyce and Buffy were in the kitchen, making breakfast.

“So, I couldn’t help but notice that Spike was in your room last night,” Joyce said, looking at Buffy as she poured a bowl of cereal for herself.

“He needed a place to sleep,” Buffy replied nonchalantly.

“And how did that go?” Joyce asked, smiling.

“He was on his best behavior,” Buffy said as she poured cereal into another bowl for Darla.

“Were you?” Joyce asked.

“Mom!” Buffy replied, shocked. “Nothing happened – we both slept. You should get your head out of the gutter and focus on more important matters, like you regaining your strength and relaxing after the chaos of the last few days.”

“I’m fine, Buffy,” Joyce said. “And I was only teasing – I’ve missed doing that.”

They exited the kitchen and walked into the living room, and as Buffy moved past Angel, he noticed Spike’s scent on her and froze. Spike, who was on the other side of the room, figured out that Angel was putting two and two together when he grabbed Buffy’s arm and pulled her closer to him, smelling her skin.

“What are you doing?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Want to tell me why I can smell Spike on you?” Angel asked sternly.

“I told you that they’re more than friends,” Darla replied, grinning as she started to eat her cereal. “Besides, he wasn’t in the basement with us, Angel – where did you think he was?”

“I… didn’t want to think about it,” Angel said, angry. “Did you two-”

“I didn’t think it was safe for you two to sleep in the same area, so I offered him half of my bed,” Buffy cut in.

“Is that all you offered him?” Angel asked, crossing his arms.

“Is that your business?” Buffy shot back, irritated.

“She’s fine, Angel,” Spike said. “I was a perfect gentleman – I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“How come I doubt that?” Angel asked, turning his attention to Spike.

The doorbell rang, so Buffy went to open the door, letting her friends walk in. Giles, Willow, and Xander took notice of Darla and were surprised to see her, even though they had known she was there.

“Hello, everyone,” Joyce said, smiling when she was instantly hugged by Willow and Xander before Anya joined them.

“It’s nice to see that you’re alright,” Giles said, giving her a small smile before he went into the living room. “Have we missed anything?”

“Just a discussion about why Spike was allowed to share Buffy’s bed last night,” Angel answered, looking between Buffy and Spike as they exchanged glances.

“What?” Xander asked, staring at them.

“It’s really not as bad as it sounds,” Buffy said sheepishly.

“She’s alive – that’s a good sign,” Anya said, looking around at everyone.

“You two… slept together?” Willow asked, surprised.

“We didn’t shag,” Spike answered. “She slept on one side of the bed, and I occupied the other side – what’s the big deal?”

“You shouldn’t be near her,” Xander said. “Ever.”

As Spike took a step towards Xander, Xander reflexively put his hand over his nose and moved away.

“Can we talk about something else?” Buffy asked. “Or has everyone forgotten about the Tessa situation?”

“She’s right,” Tara said quietly, smiling when Buffy gave her an appreciative look.

“You can change the subject now, but that doesn’t mean we won’t return to it later on,” Xander mumbled as he sat down on the couch with Darla, raising an eyebrow when she looked at him for a long moment. “What?”

“You have a nice neck,” she answered.

He quickly stood up again and returned to his girlfriend’s side.

“She’s not a vampire anymore, remember?” Willow asked.

“She’s still creepy,” he whispered.

“Before we got horribly off topic, I had asked if we missed anything,” Giles asked. “I was referring to anything about Tessa and what her plans might be.”

“We have nothing new,” Buffy said. “Unless there’s anything you forgot to mention last night, Mom.”

“I don’t think there’s anything I missed,” Joyce replied. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Buffy said. “Now, let’s try to figure out a game plan.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Tessa sat in her bedroom and flipped through an old journal she had kept from around the time she had been sired, smiling as she remembered the good times she had experienced with William.

One of her minions knocked before walking in, raising an eyebrow when he saw how relaxed she was, which was odd compared to how she had been acting since he had met her a year ago in Mexico.

“Shouldn’t you be forming strategies?” he asked, leaning against the doorframe. “I mean, if you’re expecting Spike and the Slayer later, shouldn’t you be thinking about tactics as to how we’re going to take them down?”

“Do you remember the day you were sired?” she asked curiously as she closed the journal and looked at him. “It’s funny how after one hundred and twenty years, I can remember almost every exact detail of that night.”

“I think most vampires typically remember it,” he answered. “Why are you asking?”

“Did you know your sire?” she asked.

“No,” he said. “I went out to a nightclub, got drunk, and ended up leaving by myself before I came across this really beautiful woman.”

“She was a vampire?” she asked, smiling when he nodded. “Did she teach you how to feed, how to live as one of us?”

“No,” he answered, looking away. “She turned me and left me in a building before walking away. I never knew her name or saw her again – who knows if she’s still around today.” He shrugged. “It’s probably for the best that I didn’t know her – things could have ended up really weird if I had.”

“I know what you mean,” Tessa replied before opening her journal again. “Go rally up everyone else and make sure that they’re ready for tonight – I have a feeling it’s going to be an interesting experience.”

“Do you think we’ll get through it without a scratch?” he asked.

“I don’t really know,” she answered. “Prepare for the worst but hope for the best.”

He nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him.

She looked at the journal in her hands and frowned. “Hope for the best, indeed.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Darla, Angel, Spike, and the rest of the Scoobies followed Joyce’s directions to Tessa’s lair and remained quiet as they walked, everyone’s minds focused on different things.

Both Angel and Darla had a feeling that the truth they had been hiding for so long would finally be revealed, whereas Spike was wondering exactly why Tessa had targeted him and if everyone would make it through the fight.

Buffy, meanwhile, was intent on staking Tessa as soon as she saw her.

As they arrived at the front door of the house, Buffy looked at everyone around her before letting her eyes lock with Spike’s for a long moment.

“Are we ready?” she asked quietly.

When everyone nodded, she took a deep breath and kicked the door down.