Fanfiction

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Chapter 2 - Spaced Out

He outstretched his arm, offering her a helpful hand. She accepted and leaned on him as rose to her feat. Without warning the back of her hand came flying at him and struck him over the chest.

"Dawn, I’m sorry I-" before he could finish his statement, the young girl had her arms around his neck and griped him tightly. If he wasn’t a vampire he would have suffocated.

"I’ve missed you so much." She finally spoke.

At first, he was surprised by the sudden outburst, but soon he was returning the gesture, wrapping his long arms around her small torso and lifting her off the ground. He was so glad to see her. She had grown. She was taller and her hair, which had been cut short, dangled over her shoulders. He hadn’t realised just how much he’d missed her until that very moment.

"Um… Spike?" he heard her call. "Spike!" her voice seemed desperate somehow, so he opened his eyes. "Oxygen. Need. Now!"

"Oh! Sorry!" he apologized, letting her out of his deadly grip.

They stood there and smiled at each other.

"It’s good to see you." She spoke calmly.

"It’s good to be seen, Nibblet." He replied, resting his hand on her shoulder, he took a lock of her hair between his cold fingers. "You cut your hair."

"Yeah. You like it?" she asked.

"I love it." He smiled at her.

"Buffy’s going to die when she sees you." Dawn said happily, but her smile crumbled when she saw the change on the vampire’s face. "What?"

His head was tilted, his gaze dropped to the ground at his feet.

"I don’t want her to know."

"Why not?" she asked.

"It’s complicated." He tried to avoid the subject, but she wouldn’t have any of it.

"Is it because of what you did? Before you left?" she spoke calmly, without any accusation in her voice.

"What?" he looked at her surprised.

"I know, Spike. She told me. Well, actually it was Xander, but… we talked about it." Dawn stared at him. The way her eyes showed nothing but concern and forgiveness made his heart break. "I understand. Things got out of control and…"

"I tried to rape her." he finally spoke. His voice was barely a whispered and his tone was filled with regret.

"You stopped." Dawn pointed out.

"She stopped me." Spike corrected, walking away from her.

She quickly followed.

"She couldn’t have stopped you if you wanted… to hurt her. You stopped." She tried to explain.

"There is no excuse for what I’ve done, I-"

"Spike!" Dawn cut in.

"Dawn, I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want her to know I was here." Spike put a stop to their discussion.

"Were here? Where are you going?" Dawn asked, stopping in mid stride.

"I just came by to collect my things. I’m leaving in a couple of days." Spike answered, coming to stand in front of the young teenager.

"But you can’t leave without at least…" Dawn trailed off when she saw the look of resolve in his face.

"Something between me and your sister broke that night. I went away thinking I could fix it, but I didn’t. I only made it worst." He began walking again.

"Spike!" she called out. He stopped and turned to face her.

"Don’t go." She begged, closing the distance between them.

"I have to." He answered, with a weak smile.

"At least stay for a while longer."

"I can’t-"

"Stay. Just for a couple of weeks. Then you can go wherever you wanna go." She looked at him. She knew she still hadn’t convinced him. "Come on, what are a couple of weeks against eternity?"

Spike sighed in defeat and nodded. Suddenly the little girl was dangling off his neck once more.

"Come on, I’ll walk you to the Magic Shop. Don’t want you running into any other nasties. Bye the way, where in the world did you learn to kick demon ass like that?" he asked with a grin on his face.

"Buffy, taught me! Pretty cool, huh?"

**************************************************

"Where is she?" Buffy asked for the one hundredth time that afternoon as she paced around the shop.

"She probably just, went out with Janice for a going back to school celebration." Willow offered with a sweet grin, but when she saw the look that everyone else in the room gave her she added. "Ok, fine. So I still am a geek. I liked going back to school. Summer used to get very boring and school was fun." That last statement earned her a new look, one that shouted You’re an alien, right? "Ok, shutting up now."

The ringing of the bell was heard as the door was flung open and a very smiley Dawn came through it.

"Where have you been?" Buffy asked crossing her arms over her chest. "And why are you so happy?"

"I was out with Janice. And why wouldn’t I be happy. School’s back." Dawn lied through her teeth. "Well, I’m not actually lying. Not in a world where Janice, school and Spike are synonyms."

"A-ha! See!" Willow said triumphantly.

"Whatever." Buffy dismissed the thought and sat down next to Willow. "So, Giles, what’s the verdict?"

"Hum?"

"What’s the reason behind the vamp gang?" Buffy rephrased.

"Well, I’m sorry to say there is no… verdict as of yet. I’m still researching. Are you sure you didn’t find any other demons?" Giles asked.

"Nop."

"Well, actually I just ran into a really nasty one back at the ce…" she paused but it was clear she had been caught so she continued. "metery."

"Dawn!" Buffy sighed in frustration.

"I went to see… Tara." She gave a quick glance in Willow’s direction. "And it’s daylight so – no vampires." "None except for Spike" she added in her thoughts.

"Even so, I don’t like you going near the graveyards by yourself." Buffy commented.

"What kind of a demon was it?" Giles asked.

"I don’t know. Though it was pretty ugly." Dawn offered

"Well, that cuts the list short." Xander finally spoke sarcastically.

"Hey!" Anya protested. "Vengeance demon here."

"Oh, sorry forgot." Xander apologized unconvincingly.

"Right. You are really asking for-"

"Anya!" Giles warned.

"Yeah, Anya!" Xander imitated.

"Xander." The librarian called.

"Yes?"

"Shut up!" Giles said flatly and turned his attention to Dawn. "You were saying?"

"Well, it was scaly, tall, big horn coming out of his forehead and I killed it by snapping his neck. Nothing else seemed to work." She sat down when she finished speaking.

"You killed it?" Buffy asked as her face lit up with sisterly pride.

Dawn nodded.

"You go girl!" Xander congratulated her and patted her on the back.

"That sounds like a Juanola demon." Anya offered.

"Juanola?" Willow asked.

"Yeah. Though it’s strange it would be around these parts. Lives in the tropics. You know, heat and lots of rain. Mostly around the Amazon river."

"What would it be doing here?" it was Buffy’s turn to inquire.

"Beats me." Anya shook her shoulders.

"A Juanola demon in Sunnydale." Giles said to himself.

*******************************************************

"No, Dawn. How many times do I have to tell you? Right, left, right, kick, then left." Buffy sighed in frustration, her head peeking out from behind the punching bag.

"Sorry. First kick then left. Got it." Dawn tried to memorize.

"Ok. Now let’s give it another try." Buffy said holding the bag against her chest.

Dawn threw three swift punches, alternating between her right and left hand, then she twisted her torso, bringing her leg up high, connecting with the bag almost at the same time as her left fist hit the lower end of the training device.

"Good." Buffy congratulated.

"Finally!" Dawn breathed heavily as she began to unwrap the pieces of protective cloth she had over her knuckles. "This is really hard."

"Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it." Buffy reassured her as she came to sit next to her sister.

"Hum… Buffy?"

"Yes?"

"I know this it taboo and everything. And if you don’t want me to talk about it I won’t bring it up again, I promise." Buffy could sense the nervousness in her little sister’s voice.

"What is it Dawn?" she asked with a soft smile.

The younger girl drew in a deep breath and finally blurted out:

"Do you miss Spike?"

Buffy choked at the sound of his name. She coughed uncontrollably.

"Are you ok?" Dawn asked, patting her on the back.

"Yeah, I’m fine." Cough.

Eventually the coughing subsided and the two stood in silence.

"Do you? Miss him?"

Buffy pondered what she would say and finally simply answered:

"Yes."

Dawn smiled sweetly, pushing back a lock of her wild hair behind her ear.

"I miss him too."

"Dawn, he’s not coming back." Buffy spoke quietly.

"What?!" the younger Summers asked confused.

"I talked to Clem, he said he talked to Spike and he said he’s not coming back to Sunnydale." Buffy’s eyes were buried in the floor in front of her as she spoke.

"Do you want him to come back?" Dawn inquired after a brief pause, but Buffy didn’t have time to answer as she heard a loud scream coming from the back door.

She immediately jumped to her feet and went into Slayer mode.

"Dawn, go inside and call the others. I’ll go see what’s happening."

The young teenager nodded as she saw her sister run towards the back exit.

Buffy was dumb struck by what she saw. The entire street was filled with all sorts of demons. Tall, short, thin, fat, horny, not horny, peeling, flaky and…

"Clem!" Buffy called out but he didn’t seem to notice her, so she jogged her way between the crowd of demons. "Clem!" she called again grabbing the flabby demon by his right arm.

When she turned him around she noticed the spaced out look on his face. In fact, know that she thought of it, all the demons around them seemed to be that way.

"Clem! What going on?" when she didn’t get an answer she shook the life out the demon and that seemed to do the trick.

"Slayer?" he asked confused.

"Clem, what are you doing here?" she questioned as she looked over her shoulder and saw Giles and Xander coming up behind her.

"Buffy, what’s going on here?" the young man asked.

"That’s what I want to figure out."

"Well, whatever this is we better get inside. We never know when these demons are going to snap out of their trance." Giles offered.

As they entered the Magic Box, Giles stayed behind and carefully locked the door.

"Do you mind explaining to me what you were doing in the middle of the street in broad daylight? You do remember you’re a demon, right? You’re not supposed to go around fraternizing with the whole town." Buffy asked a dazed Clem as he sat down.

"I don’t know. One moment I’m comfortably chatting with Spi…ders, "Clem caught himself just in the nick of time. "next thing I know I’m in the middle of the street and you’re pulling at my arm. By the way, you better watch that grip. That hurt." The demon protested as it rubbed the flabby skin under his forearm.

"Spiders?" Xander asked confused. "You talk to spiders?"

"Xander! That’s not the point." Buffy interrupted before the demon had anytime to answer. "The fact is we have a bunch of seriously spaced out demons wandering in the middle of the streets and we have absolutely no idea why."

"Buffy has a point. This can’t be good." Giles noted out.

"Why is this happening, Giles?" Willow asked.

"I don’t know. Maybe some dark mystical energy is drawing everything that is of demon nature to Sunnydale. Maybe the Hellmouth has increased its pull over them." Giles proposed.

"Then why isn’t Anya all stoned out too?" Willow questioned. "She is a vengeance demon after all."

"I-I’ll have to research this." Giles finally admitted.

"Well, in the meantime what to I do about our doped out friends outside. If I could snap Clem out of it they are bound to wake up sooner or later." Buffy pointed out sitting next to Clem, who seemed a little more awake.

Giles was about to answer when Anya spoke.

"Well, you don’t have to worry about that. They’re gone." The vengeance demon informed as she stared out the window at a now empty street.

"Gone? They can’t be." Xander refused to believe, walking towards the window.

"They’re gone. I’m telling you, but you never believe me, do you?" Anya snapped.

"I don’t believe in you? How can you say that?" Xander never made it to the window, instead he turned to follow Anya around the Magic Shop as she nervously dusted the various bookshelves in the place.

"Because it’s true." She said matter-of-factly.

"I do-"

"Will you two stop fighting and focus on the matter at hand. This is very serious. We need to find out what this is. Now!" a very pissed off Giles interrupted.

"Sorry!" the two said in unison.

***********************************************************

"There you are." Spike sighed in relief as he saw Clem enter the crypt. "Where were you? We were talking and you just stood and left. I know you must be a little tired of listening me yap on and on about the Slayer, but that was just bloody rude, mate."

"I was at the Magic Shop." The demon answered dropping its entire weight on the couch.

"What? You told her? I told you not to tell her! What’d she say? Does she know about the… you know… Soul?" Spike rambled on and on nervously at the thought that the Slayer might know of his presence in town.

"Calm down, I didn’t tell her anything." Clem finally spoke; his eyes never left the TV set.

"Oh." There was a hint of disappointment in his voice but he quickly disguised it with a question: "So why’d you go there?"

"I didn’t. Well, not of my own free will anyway. I just woke up in the middle of the street and the Slayer dragged me to the Magic Shop." Clem explained. "I don’t know how I got there."

"Well, as far as I can tell, mate, you did it with your own two feet. You walked out of here more dazed out that a Beatle on LSD." Spike commented, taking a cigarette and lighting it.

"I wasn’t the only one. There were a bunch of us demons in the middle of the street. The Watcher thinks it might have something to do with the Hellmouth’s pull on us, or something."

"Well, then we didn’t I get a happy too?" Spike questioned curious.

"Beats me. Oh,oh… Felicity’s on! I love this show." Clem smiled as he turned up the volume on the TV set.

****************************************************************

Buffy twirled the axe in her hand as she walked between the headstones of the graveyard. Giles had decided it was best for her to took extra armour on patrol that night and so she was stuck with carrying it plus two sharp knifes, one tucked on the inside of her boot and the other right next to her trusty stake, behind her back.

She walked around for hours and nothing. It reminded her of the patrol she had gone two nights before. She didn’t like this quiet. She preferred the heat of the battle, where she could actually see her enemies. A cold chill travelled down her back as she felt eyes on her. She turned around and scanned the perimeter. There was nothing there so she continued to walk. Four more steps and she sensed it again. Once more she stopped. She felt her heartbeat accelerate and her palms begin to get damp and slippery because of the small beads of sweat that slowly formed.

In the shadows, hidden in the safety of large and thick bushes he watched her. She was just as beautiful as he remembered her and he caught an unneeded breath at the sight of her. Her hair had grown back and she worn it loose over her shoulders. He frowned when he noticed her wardrobe. She wore snickers, comfortable jeans and a baggy sweater. It was so strange. She usually dressed up for everything, even patrolling. Spike wondered why the sudden change of heart concerning fashion choices, but the thought seemed to melt away as he saw her stop and turn to face him. She sensed him and he knew it. He watched her as she scanned the perimeter like a wild cat searching for its prey. "God! She’s beautiful." He thought to himself.

Buffy moved towards the bushes; slowly at first but gradually gained speed. As she reached the foliage, she jumped high in the air and landed on the other side of it. She was surprised to see no one was there. She was sure she felt a presence there. It was so intense it was actually overwhelming. She felt strange, uncomfortable, she felt… him.

Spike continued to observe her every move from his new hide out behind an abandoned crypt. She had been quick on her feet but he had gotten away just the nick of time. "She’s still got it." He smiled at the thought.

In the meantime, Buffy struggled with her senses. Every bone in her body told her he was there. She could almost smell him but her mind denied it. Finally, she gave up and turned away from him heading home. In the distance he heard her murmur to herself.

"It’s not him. There’s no one here. Don’t start going all wacky."

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