"The Enemy"

"Hey! Oh, Mr. backstabbing son of a bitch
You're living in a world that will soon be dying
And I know, everybody knows you try to be like me
But even at your best, as a man you couldn't equal half of me

I am realizing, that everybody's lost their simple ways
And now that is here, I see it all so clearly
I've come face to face with the enemy, oh the enemy!

You! You're another shit talking punk to me
You're living inspiration for what I never wanna be
And I see, you've been blinded by what you believe
And now back up and sit down, shut up and act like you need to be

I am realizing, that everybody's lost their simple ways
And now that is here, I see it all so clearly
I've come face to face with the enemy, oh the enemy!
Come to me, come to me, the enemy, come to me, come to me

So predicting, you're the reason why
I lie
Simple decision took too much time
To fly
Oh, check me, check me...

I am realizing, that everybody's lost their simple ways
And now that is here, I see it all so clearly
I've come face to face with the enemy, oh the enemy!
Come to me" Godsmack (The Enemy IV 2006)


Fred couldn’t help staring at the clock. Her day had started out badly and had then rapidly gone to shit. Days like today almost made her wish that she had never left Pylea. First had been the early morning staff meeting. Eve had been present and when Spike wasn’t around she continued to gush about how wonderful it was for Wolfram and Hart that the company had a chance to have the Power’s Seer under contract. Fred was going to scrape out her own ear drums if she had to listen to the spiel about how pleased that arrangement would make the Senior Partners. Then Angel had started his usual rant about how useless Spike was and how Angel didn’t see what all the fuss was about. Now, she was stuck working late on a project that anyone of the Wolfram and Hart minions could have taken care of. She wanted to be working with Wesley researching Spike’s resurrection and visions. That way she could sabotage any inquiries that might be harmful to Spike. Remembering part of the conversation from that morning’s meeting, Fred vowed to do a little sneaking.

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“I mean really! So the little shit came back from the dead! That’s no big deal. I did that before he did.” Angel grumbled.

“I believe that was because Buffy had to send you to hell in order to save the world.” Wesley commented blandly. The constant stream of comments was weighting heavily on Wesley. Something was off about the whole situation and Wesley certainly did not like not having all of the facts.

“That’s not the point!” Angel growled. He didn’t like being reminded of his less than perfect past. Besides, that wasn’t him. It had been Angelus who had tried to end the world. “He’s nothing but a pathetic leech. He latches onto somebody and sucks the life right out of them. The world would be a better place if he’d been dusted years ago.”

“If he’s so bad then why didn’t that girl of yours ever kill him?” Gunn asked.

“Buffy and her friends only ever felt pity for him. That’s why they let him hang around. Also he was useful then. Now Spike’s just a pain in the ass.”

“That’s not true!” Fred cried. “After all that he’s done for them? Surely they wouldn’t think such a thing.”

“Well they did say that they had no place for him in their organization and that it would be best if we found some use for him here.” Wesley stated quietly. He fervently prayed the Fred would not shoot the messenger.

“That’s putting it rather politely.” Angel mockingly chuckled. “ They were simply glad to be rid of him.” Turning serious, Angel turned to face Wesley.

“Wes, I want you to use any resource available to find out why Spike’s here. I don’t accept that the Powers would willingly send him their visions. Something else must be going on.”

A dark red spread over Fred’s cheeks. her temper flared. She wanted nothing more than to track down those heartless assholes from Sunnydale and give them a piece of her mind. She settled for promising herself that she would never let anyone hurt Spike like that again. He was her friend. Only Fred knew that Dawn had arrived that morning, and she knew that the young girl would be a potent ally.

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Hearing the half sobbed half choked nickname, tears filled Dawn’s blue eyes. Barely holding back a sob of her own, Dawn wrapped her arms around Spike. Feeling him return her clinging embrace, Dawn’s tears spilled down her cheeks. She scarcely felt Spike’s as the landed on the top of her head.

“I’m sorry! I love you! Please don’t hate me.” Dawn cried into Spike’s t-shirt. Some how he had managed to get them both inside. Time stood still as the two reconnected. Too long had they let the mistakes of the past stand in their way. With the second chance they had both recieved, Spike and Dawn simply did not want to waste another precious moment.

Gently pulling out of her embrace, Spike quickly got her bags into the apartment.

“Why don’t you go get cleaned up and I’ll order some more food for us, okay Bit?” Spike asked gently wiping the tears from her face. Sniffing, she nodded her head in agreement. She did smell a tad ripe.

“Bathroom is the first door on the right and there are some towels in the hall closet right across form it.”

“Spike?” Dawn called from the doorway of the bathroom. Turning to face her Spike raised his eyebrow in question.

“I know you might not believe me just yet, but I’m glad that your back.” Turning quickly Dawn slipped into the bathroom and closed the door. Spike’s knees nearly gave out on him and he just made it back to the couch. Eyes wide and breathing labored, Spike could feel his heart pounding inside his chest. More tears spilled down his cheeks. His girl. His Bit, loved him again. She had flown all the way from Rome just to see him. Burring his face in his hands, Spike let got of the tight rein he had on his emotions and cried.

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Buffy was frantic. Her sister was missing and no one knew where she had gone. Her clothes were gone, as was her suit case. No note had been found and every locator spell done had come up empty. Currently Willow was searching through various computer systems to try and track where she had gone. Walter, Buffy’s current potential human boyfriend, rubbed gentle circles along her back. Instead of soothing, it irritated her. Buffy knew that Walter was simply indulging her. He through that Dawn had simply run away, like the irresponsible and selfish teen that he perceived her to be. They had only been formally seeing each other for four days and already he was pressuring Buffy to put Dawn in a boarding school. He claimed it would help with her discipline issues and lack of respect for her elders. Buffy simply hadn’t told him that Dawn thought he was a ‘complete wanker’. She would have dumped him ages ago but he was normal and her friends constantly told her how good he was for her. Normal was what she wanted. Buffy told herself while ignoring the little voice in her head that sounded suspiciously like her mother when she was exasperated with her.

A triumphant cry from Willow pulled Buffy from Walter’s embrace. Hurrying over, she waited anxiously for the nervous redhead to tell her what she had found.

“Ummm Buffy. You may want to sit down for this.”

“Why? What’s wrong?” Buffy asked, a hint of fear lacing her words.

“It’s just that, well, Dawn’s in L.A. She bought a first class ticket on the Council’s credit card while you were out with Walter.” Willow answered cringing in anticipation to her friend’s reaction. She didn’t have to wait long.



A/N: Don't worry, vampy Spike is not gone. Just alive. I'll get to that later. ;)