Turned
by Bob Head
Part 8
[reviews]
Disclaimer: None of the characters below belong to me. All the BtVS/Angel people belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox. (Damn it!) I'm just trying to have fun.
Pairing: Buffy/Willow, of course.
Spoilers: A few general ones for Season Six and a few specific ones for 'Once More With Feeling'.
Distribution: IKOLY and the Immortal Slayer. Anybody else, just ask.
Rating: NC-17 for language, violence, and the occasional sexiness between B/W.
Feedback: Yes please! frank_8281@yahoo.com
A/N: I know that many people don't like the musical episode of BtVS. I am NOT one of them. I liked it. The only part that I didn't like was that damn kiss at the end. So what if that kiss had ended... differently.
A/N 2: For the purposes of this little AU, the so-called Trio are not an issue so I'm just gonna ignore them.
A/N 3: (Buffy's demon.)
Turned
Part Eight
The girls came to an abrupt halt as they rounded the corner. There was a crowd around the entrance to the club along with two police cars and an ambulance.
Buffy's mouth narrowed to a hard line as her demon hissed, (He's been here!)
"We're too late," said Willow.
"Yeah, but..." Buffy looked around and then sniffed the air as a familiar scent wafted to her nostrils. She grimaced as she recognized it.
Seeing the exasperated look on the blonde's face the redhead asked, "What is it?"
Gesturing for quiet, Buffy moved stealthily back down the street to the entrance of an alley. She lunged with preternatural speed into the darkness, quickly subduing the two figures hiding there, she marched both of them back to where Willow was waiting. The redhead's eyes twinkled with laughter as Dawn and Xander struggled uselessly in the Slayer's grip.
~~~~~BtVS~~~~~
"Let go of me!" Dawn cried petulantly.
Buffy shook her sister, "Not until you explain what the hell you thought you were doing following us."
"Buffy..." Xander began only to be interrupted by a glare from Buffy.
"I'll get to you in a minute." she said.
Irritated, Xander looked away. "Don't yell at him! I'm the one you should yell at!" Dawn cried. "It's not like he could have stopped me from following you anyway."
Willow looked on in amusement as Buffy and Dawn argued, 'I knew getting her to go with Xander was too easy.' She thought, shaking her head.
Out of the corner of her eye, a flash of peroxide blonde caught her attention. Not believing their luck, she watched Spike cruise past in his old Desoto on the opposite side of the street.
~~~~~BtVS~~~~~
" Hey... Hey!" she said trying to get Buffy's attention.
The Slayer Vampire was locked in verbal combat with her sister and missed Willow's call. Willow strode angrily to a red Firebird parked nearby. Magically unlocking the doors and starting the engine, she slid into the drivers seat and fastened the seatbelt. Putting the car in gear she pulled into the entrance of the alley where the others were arguing, just barely missing them as she screeched to a halt.
Startled Buffy cried, "What the hell, Will?"
"Get in! I just saw Spike headed that way!" she said pointing to her right.
"Shit!" Buffy cursed. Almost breaking the door handle in her haste she rushed Xander and Dawn into the backseat.
Piling into the passenger seat and slamming the door, Buffy looked expectantly at Willow. "Well?"
"Seatbelts." Was the redhead's only reply.
Buffy simply gaped at her lover. Seeing that she had her resolve face on, the Slayer fastened her seatbelt. When her other two passengers had complied as well, Willow slammed the car into reverse and backed across four lanes of traffic.
Various exclamations of fear and panic assaulted Willow's ears during this maneuver.
"Holy shit!" cried Dawn.
"Ohmigod, we're gonna die!" said Xander numerous times.
"Goddammit, Willow, are you trying to get us killed?" Buffy exclaimed, clutching the dashboard hard enough to leave handprints.
"No, I'm trying to catch the son of a bitch that murdered you!" she replied, shoving the gas pedal to the floor and burning rubber after Spike.
Buffy felt something akin to awe at the rage she saw on Willow's face.
(Wow!) said her demon, (Remind me never to get her pissed off at me!) The Slayer Vampire silently agreed.
~~~~~BtVS~~~~
After a few minutes of extra-legal speeds, and a few more near collisions, Buffy called out, "There he is! Slow down before he spots us Will."
The witch slowed to a reasonable pace less than a block behind Spike, eyes fixed intently on his taillights. "Do you know this part of town Buffy?"
"No." the blonde admitted, "But there's a graveyard nearby, somewhere in that direction." She pointed to the left.
Sounding confused, Dawn asked, "How can you tell?"
Glancing into the back seat at her little sister, Buffy replied, "It's a Slayer thing."
Moments later Spike pulled into the left turn lane, waiting for an opening in traffic. Willow changed to the far right lane to be as far from Spike as she could when she passed.
"What are you doing Will?" cried Buffy.
"Don't worry, we won't lose him." The redhead replied calmly.
They passed him just as the bleached blonde vamp made his turn. As soon as they were clear Willow stomped on the gas again cutting off two other cars in order to make the next left. Roaring across oncoming traffic, the witch heard Xander start to take up his 'we're gonna die!' mantra again only to be cut off by the sound of a sharp slap.
"Thanks." Said the carpenter.
"Don't mention it." Replied Dawn cheerfully.
Buffy looked ruefully at her little sister, "You're having a blast, aren't you?" she accused.
Dawn grinned. "Sure! Riding in a stolen car, chasing a villain in the dead of night, Willow driving like a maniac," at this Willow objected, "Hey!" only to be ignored by the teen. "What's not to love?"
Buffy just shook her head and returned her attention to where they were going just as Willow turned onto the street where they saw Spike last.
"Dammit!" she cursed "Will, I don't see him."
"He's got to be up here somewhere Buffy. We'll find him." Willow said determinedly as she accelerated along the dark roadway.
As they passed the next intersection Buffy cried "Stop Willow!"
Willow slammed on the brakes, bringing the Firebird to a screaming stop on the pavement.
Almost decapitated by her seatbelt, the younger Summers sister cursed, "Goddammit, Willow!"
"Language Dawn!" Buffy said absently. "Back up Will, I saw something down that side road."
Putting the car in reverse, Willow backed up to the intersection. They all looked down the road Buffy indicated
"See it?" getting no response Buffy continued, "All the way down at the end, in those bushes to the right."
"Is that Spike's car?" asked Willow.
The blonde nodded as she exited the car. "Park down the street Will. We're goin' in on foot from here.
~~~~~BtVS~~~~~
Staying in the shadows, Buffy quickly checked Spike's car and found it empty. She went further down the road until it dead-ended at a wrought iron gate in a stone wall about eight feet high. She saw the cemetery she had sensed earlier on the other side.
She heard the others approaching and whispered, "He's in there somewhere."
"How'd he get in?" asked Xander, pointing at the heavy chain and padlock on the gate.
Dawn, looking at him as if he were a backwards child, replied, "He probably jumped over it."
"We're, uh... not gonna hafta jump it, are we? Cause I can mojo the lock if you want..."
"Nope. No mojo required." Buffy replied as she snapped the thick chain like twine.
Willow grinned at her girlfriend as Xander muttered, "Showoff."
~~~~~BtVS~~~~~
In the crypt he was staying in Spike was jamming clothes into a duffel bag. "Damn Scoobies always muckin' about and screwing things up! Why couldn't they have stayed in fuckin' Sunnyhell like they were supposed to?"
"It was supposed to be different." He whined. "She was supposed to be mine, like a proper vampire, not be all soul-having like the poofter!"
He carefully wrapped a couple of bottles of whiskey in a pair of jeans and placed the parcel in his duffel. "Still," he added, " all I've gotta do is get the hell out of town and lay low for a few decades. After watching her little friends age and die maybe she'll realize that I'm the only one she can count on."
Closing the bag, he moved to the entrance and squatted down, busying himself with something in a wooden box. Placing the lid on it, he retrieved the bag and exited the crypt muttering, "And if some of them happen to die a little sooner, rather than later, so much the better." He smiled.
~~~~~BtVS~~~~~
The Scoobies crept through the silent graveyard. Buffy was on point, Willow following close behind. Dawn was next and Xander brought up the rear.
(He's close.) The demon whispered in Buffy's mind.
'How do you know?'
(I can sense him, as you would be able to if you didn't ignore the gifts I offer that aren't purely physical!)
'And let you into my head more than you already are? No, thank you.'
(Sigh. Fine, but have the witch do a cloaking spell or he'll sense us!)
~~~~~BtVS~~~~~
Spike strode along the pathway leading to the gate, bag throne over his shoulder, when he abruptly stopped. Looking around warily, he drew in great lungful of unneeded air, trying to identify the wisp of scent that caught his attention.
'Thought I smelt...' he shook his head. 'There one sec, gone the next. Like magic...'
"Shit," he said aloud, setting the bag down.
~~~~~BtVS~~~~~
As soon as they saw him stop Buffy realized that something had tipped him off. Silently she motioned for Dawn and Xander to circle behind him and cut off his escape. Giving Willow a quick kiss, Buffy stepped onto the path to confront her killer.
As soon as she moved from the Witch's side, the spell cloaking her was dropped. To Spike it seemed as if Buffy had just appeared on the path in front of him, her face grim.
"Ah, there you are pet." He said, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. "Come to your senses have you? 'Bout my rights as your Sire that is?"
The Slayer Vampire's eyes widened in disbelief, "Your..." she shook her head. "I know your turning me wasn't an accident Spike, and you think I came here to fuck you? Angel always said you were stupid but I had no idea you were this stupid."
"Yeah, Peaches said a lot of things." The bleached blonde vamp grinned, 'Specially during that whole Angelus phase he went through, you remember, when he lost his soul? Oh, that's right, you caused that didn't you?"
At the memory of that disastrous time, Buffy faltered, (Don't listen!) her demon said, (He just wants to put you off, distract you. He's playing for time, don't give it to him!)
'I still need answers. Besides, I promised Will.' Ignoring the demon's growing frustration, Buffy asked, "I need to know one thing Spike, how'd you do it?"
The vamp quirked an eyebrow, "Do what luv?"
"The chip? How'd you beat it?"
"You mean this?" he asked, pulling a flat black rectangle, about one inch wide by two inches long from his jacket pocket.
~~~~~BtVS~~~~
During his time with the Scoobies, that summer when Buffy was dead, there were many occasions when they had left Spike to watch after Dawn. After she'd gone to sleep, he'd try to figure out Willow's computer password so that he could search for any information she might have on the Initiative scientists that had developed the behavior modification chip that prevented him from hurting humans. One night he'd typed B-u-f-f-y and silently cursed himself as the computer came to life.
He didn't know a lot about computers but he hadn't survived almost two centuries without being able to adapt. So the next time he babysat the Slayer's sister, he'd brought a laptop that he'd stolen for just this purpose and copied Willow's entire hard drive onto it. Once back in his crypt, he spent hours poring over the files Willow had appropriated from the Initiative on the day when the Slayer and her gang had destroyed Adam. Finally, he had found a list of scientists and surgeons who had worked on the project with Maggie Walsh, Adam's insane creator.
~~~~~BtVS~~~~~
"After that, all I had to do was find out which ones were still alive and where they were." He smiled evilly and tossed the butt away, "You can probably guess the rest."
"You... or more likely, some demon thug you hired, tortured or terrorized one of the surgeons into removing the chip."
"Right as rain luv! I always knew you weren't just a pretty piece of ass. In spite of what Peaches said."
Ignoring the jibe, the Slayer asked, "Once the chip was out, why didn't you just kill them all and go on your merry way Spike? You've spent the last two years telling us just what you were going to do to us. Why change your mind."
Spike chuckled, "That was my plan at first, kill all your friends horribly and then take the niblit with me back to Europe. Wait a few years for her to mature and then offer her the choice to stay young forever or to wither and die. Then I saw Red's journal."
"You read my journal?" Willow cried in outrage as she stepped into the open, releasing the obscuring spell as she did.
"Hello Red." Spike said, "Yeah. Very interestin' reading too. All about urns and resurrection rituals and why you were doin' 'em." He took a deep breath and gave a lascivious grin as he asked, "So Red, is she as good in bed as I always thought she'd be?"
"You're a pig Spike!" Spat Buffy as Willows face tried to match her hair color.
"Hello! I'm evil." He said as he picked his bag up. "And as entertainin' as this has been, I think it's time for me to go." He whirled and threw the bag at Xander, who'd been sneaking up behind the vampire, bowling him over. He then seized Dawn and bodily hurled her into the Slayer and the witch. Taking to his heels Spike fled down the path back towards the mausoleum he'd emerged from only minutes before.
~~~~~BtVS~~~~~
Buffy cursed as she tried to untangle herself from Dawn and Willow without hurting them. Finally managing it she sprang to her feet and chased after Spike, pausing just long enough to shout, "Dawn, stay with Xander!"
She caught sight of her quarry just as he slammed the door of the crypt. Rapidly closing the distance, she unleashed a straight kick that blasted the steel door from its hinges and across the interior just missing Spike who was opening a steel trap door on the far side of the room.
"Bloody hell!" He exclaimed wide-eyed as he dropped through the opening and pulled the door down behind him.
Buffy leaped across the room to the trap only to find it locked. "Shit!" she cried seizing the handle and pulling upward.
Willow ran into the crypt to find Buffy wrenching at the steel trap to little effect as it resisted even her prodigious strength.
"Buffy?"
"He ducked down through here Will!" The Slayer Vampire replied as the stubborn door groaned in its frame.
With a puzzled expression the redhead glanced around the room. 'He was packed and ready to go.' she thought. 'Why would he come back here, even to use that bolthole? His car was closer. Unless...'
Then she saw the box next to the door. Its lid had been blown off by the violence of Buffy's entrance. Inside, Willow saw a red lit digital display, counting down. 12...11...10...09...08...07...
"Oh my god!" she cried running to Buffy and wrapping herself around her as she raised a magical energy shield around them both.
"Willow, what are..." the rest of the blonde's question was swallowed up by the explosion.
TBC...