Randall's Crossing...

PG-13 but a leetle violent...shooting and murder...

Not a BR story...barely a B verse story...Might use it as either part of the Semi Complete Works of William Walthrop or the upcoming BR story "The Devil and Dr. Walthrop"

Archived at the Buffy Rebecca verse, www.geocities.com/buffyrebecca

Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series...

Summary: Just having a leetle fun...A rip-off of "Miller's Crossing"

***

William the Bloody aka "Spike" chief lieutenant and political operative for old Giles, Chairman of the Council of Watchers, the real power in Sunnydale, California, rolled over in his bed to look at his companion...

A young girl of 18...Dawn Summers...

She stared at him...Meeting his glance firmly...

"What about my sister?..." she asked him...

He cursed softly...

Wasn't he ever gonna be free of Buffy Summers...? Or, as most in the know called her now, Buffy the Weasel...Once a champion Slayer, best in Giles' stable of operatives...Now...

Once...Long ago...His...

Until death and resurrection had taken their toll...And the champion had turned yellow, turning to drugs and sex to kill the fear of death that now consumed her...

Finally even old Giles had been forced to let her go...

And now...She sold her services to the highest bidder...Poor as those services now were, her fear and shakiness making her useless for anything but the most easy kills...The stab in the back variety, usually after a little disarming romance...

But Dawn still loved her...The only one left who did now...

And wanted Spike, her lover...Second only to old Giles himself...To find her sister a safe haven...

Which, following her last action...Violating old Giles' insistence on kills being approved by him only...And a human, to boot...And more important, angering Giles' most powerful "junior partner", Angel of LA...Was sorely needed...

She was beyond the pale now, Spike told Dawn...And had dug her own grave...

Dawn looked coolly at him...

"You loved her...Once..."

Once...several times, Spike noted callously...

She slapped him...Hard...and ordered him out...

As he left, grinning at her...Sure he'd be recalled soon enough...

"Do this for me, Spike..." Dawn told him...If you really love me...

That what you say to old Giles, every night?...Spike smiled at her...

She tossed a vase at him and he left...

***

Problem...Spike noted as he entered the modest offices of the Council of Watchers...

The political and mystical center of power in Sunnydale...And therefore, all California...

The Mayor and the Police Chief were with Giles, Giles' secretary informed him...

Go on in...

The Mayor and the Chief...Giles' rubber stamped creatures...

Something was up...And Spike, as chief lieutenant, had a preety clear idea what...

Angel...Again...

Giles was getting annoyed with his uppity "junior partner"...And, Spike suspected, Dawn was encouraging that anger...

***

"Spike!..." old Giles waved him to a chair, nodding...

The Mayor and Chief greeting him warmly...

"We've just learned from the Watchers' Chairman that new evil is afoot in our fair city..." the Mayor smiled at Spike...

Angel's people are violating all kinds of city ordinances...The Chief grinned...

Spike shook his head...But waited until the two fawners left...

"You can't do this Giles...Not now..." he looked at his boss...

Giles frowned...

"Angel is throwing his weight around in LA...Even here..." he noted...

It's time to teach him who's still running things...

"Not this way...He's gotten too big...He's got too many friends...And you look shakey..."

Shakey?...Giles eyed his lieutenant...

Shakey...Spike repeated firmly...All this nonsense with Buffy Summers...And Dawn...

"Angel wants Buffy dealt with..." Spike noted...And it's his right...It was one of his top people she killed...And his money stolen...

But I decide who's to be dealt with in Sunnydale...Giles noted...

Not some punk like Angel...

"He's too big now to treat him like that, Giles..." Spike warned him...

And you can't let Dawn Summers twist you around her finger...You look like an old fool...

Giles stiffened...

"I'm marrying Dawn Summers..." Giles told him...Next month...

"You're a fool...She's only interested in protecting Buffy..."

And how would you know that?...Giles eyed him...

Because I sleep with her...Spike told him...

***

A badly battered Spike staggered out of Giles' office...

Old Giles had lost none of his form...

The secretary nervously arranged for him to be taken home...

***

The raids on Angel's people quickly turned into a disaster...

Only a few minor types being taken...And calls beginning in the press for an investigation...

Into the corrupt practices of Rupert Giles, Chairman of the Benevolent Order and Council of Watchers...Untitled ruler of Sunnydale...

Spike, now ousted from his position, watched as Giles' empire crumbled...

The Mayor and Police Chief quietly adjusting their sails to Angel's more favorable breeze...

Until it was Giles' people and places that were the subject of police pressure and scrutiny...

And he was forced to flee, facing prosecution...And worse...

Two days after Giles' flight to England, Spike was called in to the Angel headquarters...

By Willow the Red, Angel's top dog...A grim, cold, and potent enforcer...

With only one weakness...

Her girl Tara...

***

"Angel wants you on his team, Spike..." Willow told him coldly...

Not by my advice, you can be sure...But what the Boss wants, he gets...

Spike nodded...A job's a job...

Bastard...Willow thought...No loyalty...Pity...I could've killed him here and now if he'd just have turned us down...

First, though, she smiled a terrifyingly sweet smile at him...We need some proof you're gonna play our game...

Angel wants you to deal with Buffy...

***

A car with four "operatives" ferried a plainly terrified Buffy to the woods at Randall's Crossing...The train stop just outside Sunnydale...

Spike one of the four...

She begged, pleaded...She knew she'd stepped outta line...But she and Angel...Once...Were like...That...

Call him...He'll listen to me...

Three grinned at her...Yeah, he'll listen...

Spike watched her carefully...

They dragged her from the car into the woods...

"Spike!..." she turned to him...

Spike!...You loved me...Don't let them do it...

"You didn't seem too put out killing that fellow, Buf..." he noted calmly as the group forced her down the path...

He eyed her...She'd seen better days, that's for sure...

And had picked up a whining, pleading tone that had earned her the nickname..."the Weasel"...

But fear is a powerful force...Especially in a Slayer...

She broke free of three of them and raced down the path...Spike in pursuit, the others falling back...

He caught up to her...The others too far away...

"Don't do it, Spike...Honey, please...Spike?...You loved me..."

Long time ago, Buf...he smiled at her...

Looky what I got...she pulled out a book page...

He stared...Ledger accounts of all of Angel's activities...Along with some of old Giles'...

From Angel's old pal...A leetle gift...she smiled...Enough to put Angel and old Giles away forever...

But...She smiled...This is only page one...

Worth my life?...

He continued to smile at her...

But watched her carefully, thinking...

"Spike..." she burst into tears, whining a bit...

"I know you care...I know you have a heart...A soul...'

Look into your heart...Look into your soul...she pleading, whining more...Tears running down her face...

"I'll do anything, Spike..."

"Look into your soul!!!" she grabbed his arm, kneeling and crying...

He stared at her, thinking...

Give me your bracelet and ring...he told her quietly...She stared at him but removed them and handed them to him...He wrote an address on a clean fragment of the sheet she'd given him and handed it to her...She still staring, beginning to relax a bit...But listening anxiously for the others...She clenched the slip in her hand...

Run...he told her...

She looked at him...

Run...he looked back at her...

She stumbled off...Just as the others caught up to him...

He fired off a shot in her general direction...

"Couldn't get a clear one on her..." he noted...

Tara, Willow the Red's right-hand...And squeeze...Eyed him suspiciously...

Maybe you're still sweet on her, she noted...

Spike looked at her...

"I could care less if Miss Summers lives or dies..."

Fan out, Tara told the others angrily...

Not you...she ordered Spike back to the car...

He slipped away a few minutes later while the others were fully occupied with their search...And caught Tara in the back while she hunted for Buffy through the woods...

Flipping her over, he fired in her face...With her own gun...And, after wiping it quickly, tossed it aside...

Reasonable pass for Buffy, he thought...Placing the bracelet he'd demanded of Buffy before her flight on Tara's arm...And removing any identifying jewelry or items.

He hid the body carefully in a small gully...And returned to the car...

Tara's companions returned a short while later...

Not a sign, Spike responded to their questions...

After waiting an hour, they returned to town...

Angel, hearing of the fiasco demanded answers...And had the woods searched as Spike had expected...And counted on...

***

Spike found himself called in a short time later...

Buffy had been found...Angel told him...At least, so it seemed...

Shot in the back and then the face...Your bullet in the back...So you did fire at her just as the guys said...Angel patted Spike gently on the arm...

Welcome to the family...

But...

Seems Tara shot her in the front...

But why'd she run off afterward?...

Upsetting poor Red like that...Unless...

"She may be up to something, Angel..." Spike noted...

If Buffy had something on her...And Tara grabbed it...

She did, Angel noted grimly...

She'd of had access to all my records courtesy old Joe my bookkeeper...

Her last victim...

And now...Spike paused...Tara has them...

And will probably pass them to old Giles...

***

Angel sighed...Old Giles...Holed up back in England and still refuses to die...

But...They'd get him...Sooner or later...

Pity...He liked old Giles...You know, Spike...He taught me everything I know about running things...

Just never had any respect for me...

Good old Giles...A real shame...

***

Well, Spike...Willow says I shouldn't trust you, Angel noted...

And me and Willow...We go way back...

But Giles always trusted you...And I know you're honest...

A rare thing in our business...

And I know you'd never have let sentiment keep you from doing your job...

"Tara?..." Spike looked at him...

Angel, you know it's Tara...he paused...And...

Willow...

"You've got to deal with it..."

Angel sighed...

"I know Tara is The Red's girl...But..." he looked at Spike...

Me and the Red go way back...

***

Spike showed up at the point where he'd told Buffy to meet him...With the first page of the ledger of accounts...

She came, grinning...

So...I'm off the hook?...she asked...

Have barely begun, Buf...he noted...

You stay here and lay low...Or else...

"What do I get for that?" Buffy groused...

You're alive Buf...Settle for that...

"No...I want mine...My share of what this..." she tapped the ledger page... "Is worth"...

He glared at her...

Now Spike...she grinned...And frowned...

You humiliated me the other day, Spike...I was the Slayer once, you know...Your lover...But you just let me whimper and beg...

Very embarrassing...

"You're the one in trouble now, Spikey...If I go to Angel or Willow...And tell them..."

And if I choose to blow your head or cut your throat instead...he noted...

You won't...she smiled...

All I gotta do is turn on the waterworks and you'll back down...

"I'll speak to Angel...See what he'll do..." Spike looked at her...

Him?...He's crazy...Buffy noted...

Only he or old Giles would be interested, Spike noted...

And old Giles is unavailable...

Then we gotta get him back ..Or rather, you do...Buffy smiled...

***

Spike sent the ledger page to Angel with a note supposedly from Tara...Demanding payment...Today...At the building just across the street...

By Angel...Alone...

On receiving the letter Angel raged...As Spike came into the office...And who agreed it looked bad...

Tara had him...They'd have to deal...

But...Spike eyed him...

You know Tara doesn't have the brains for something like this...

I know...Angel pounded his desktop...

I know...

***

Willow arrived a half-hour later...

Storming in...

"Where is he!?..." she shrieked at Angel...Who eyed her carefully, but only nodded to where Spike sat...

Willow raged at Spike...You...

"It wasn't Buffy you killed...It was Tara...It was my Tara!..." she screamed...

Her eyes blackened and she grabbed Spike by the throat...

As they struggled, Angel pulled out a gun and shot her...In the head...Repeatedly...

He raged at Spike, waving the gun...

"Three times in the head!!!...That's what I tell my people!...When it's a magics person, three times in the head!...And you know they're dead!!..."

Angel shook...

Spike took his arm...

"Angel, we've got no time...Tara's waiting upstairs across the street...What do you want to do?..."

He calmed...He was ok...Angel of LA was o...k...

He'd deal with Tara...Just a little cash to keep her happy and it'd be over...

***

Spike took him to the building across the street...

Angel was fine now, he told Spike...Just had to let off a leetle Angelis back there...You know...

Can't abide a traitor...Even in an old friend...Especially in an old friend...

But, old Tara...No real magics ability...And no problem...

Angel smiled and went up the stairs...

Just old Tara...No problem...

Spike heard a gasp from the stairs and the sound of wood hitting the hard stairs...

He went quietly up the stairs...

Buffy standing over the ashy remains of Angel...

Smirking a bit...

"Well...?...So much for old Angel, eh..." she grinned at him...

Giles should be ready to talk business now, right?...she looked at him...

Spike stared at her and said nothing...

Well?...We had a deal...Didn't we?...Buffy looked at him...

***

He sighed...

"It's no good, Buffy...They'll know I killed Tara...Unless they find you..."

Spike...? Buffy backed away...You loved me...Once...

That was a long time ago...he noted...

No...You can't...You won't...You love Dawn...She'd never forgive you...

Probably not...he sighed...But...That's the way things are...

No...No...You loved me...You still do...she tried to smile at him...

He stared at her...Well, at least she wasn't going to...

You can't...she whimpered...

"Look in your heart!...Your soul!..." Buffy whined...

Same old Buffy the Weasel...he thought...

"Who's got a soul?..." Spike asked her quietly...Gently tearing her throat open...

He left her body on the floor, beside Angel's ashes and headed home...

Where he called his demon bookie...Any poker tonight...?

***

In his office, Giles was screaming at the Mayor and the Police Chief...

The Chairman of the Council of Watchers was back...Clearly...

His secretary smiled at Spike as he waited patently...The Mayor and Police Chief leaving in a shaken hurry...

Giles called him in...

***

The Chairman looked at his old lieutenant...

And smiled...Indicating a chair which Spike took...

"So...You set Angel up?..." Giles looked at him...

The whole thing was just a set up, wasn't it?...he smiled...

Spike looked straight at him, saying nothing...

"Well...It was a good play..." Giles nodded, clearly a hair embarrassed...

Spike?...he paused...

"You know I'm...Grateful..."

"I give anything if you'd come back and go to work for me again..."

As for Dawn, well...She's young, you were lonely...

"We're gonna be married, Dawny and I...Soon as she ends the mourning..." Giles twisted a bit, not looking straight at his old lieutenant...

"I forgive you...Both of you...You know that..." he paused, smiling faintly...

So...

"I didn't ask for that and I don't need it..." Spike replied coldly...

I was still on your payroll...So I did my job...What had to be done...

He got up, Giles staring at him...

Through the window of the office Spike could see Dawn standing in the outer room...She looked straight at him...Without expression...

Then turned away...

***