Story: What If, Book 1 (4 of ?)

[willow_25]

So, here's Ch 4.  Enjoy!

A/N: Hello, anyone home out there? I’m not seeing any reviews, people. A little encouragement gets you another chapter. So, if you like this one, please let me know.

 

 

Chapter 4

Jill smiled as William opened the car door for her. He usually let it go, but his manners were better when he was nervous. "It's going to be okay, Spike. We'll just explain to them that we're here to help if they want, and we'll stay out of their way if they don't, and then we'll get right out of there. There's no need to delve into…Unpleasantness."

 

Spike smiled lopsidedly at his companion. "And as great as that sounds, you're bloody off your nut if you think that's how things are gonna play out. Watcher'll make a case outta me bein' around, gonna wanna analyze me until I'm bored to tears, might try an' stake me…" The vampire's smile faded as he spoke. "Then again, maybe I should let him." Jill opened her mouth to reprimand his idiocy, but before she got a word out, Spike continued. "But I'm not bloody gonna. Tosser'll get knocked flat on his ass he comes near me."

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In the library, Joyce Summers sat in stunned silence as the handsome, mild-mannered librarian and her daughter's two friends explained to her about vampires and Buffy's mission to slay them. She'd be more skeptical if she hadn't heard the story before, in LA; but that didn't mean she wanted to believe it now any more than she'd wanted to believe it then.

 

"But, why Buffy?" Joyce asked once she recovered her voice. "Can't somebody else…Slay the…Vampires? I don't want Buffy to be this…Slayer. She's not allowed. I'll ground her!" Joyce's voice hardened defiantly.

 

Rupert sighed. They didn't seem to be getting through to her. "I understand your frustration, Ms. Summers, but the fact of the matter is, Buffy was chosen by higher powers; this is her sacred duty. It's inescapable, I'm afraid." He watched Joyce watch Buffy, noting the tears in their eyes. He wished he could make this easier on them. "Now, before it gets too late, I'd like to discuss the research I did today. I received a mysterious visitor last night; Buffy, I believe it may have been your 'friend' Angel."

 

"Tall, dark hair, broad shoulders, sticks to the shadows?" Buffy asked quickly, her interest peaked at the mention of the mysterious hottie.

 

"Er, yes, I rather believe that covers it." Giles took his glasses off and cleaned them as he continued. "He told me to research William the Bloody, as he would be coming here today."

 

Buffy shifted nervously in her seat. "You mean, our William? The weird vampire who helped us kill the other vamps doing their ritual thing at the Bronze? He's called William the Bloody? Well, that can't be good."

 

Xander piped up. "Seriously, he seemed more like a Billy Idol, than a William the Bloody."

 

"He stole the look from me, you know?" Five heads turned to find the vampire and witch standing just inside the library doors. After a few seconds of standoff, where Buffy and Giles both tensed up, Spike sauntered forward. "Well, I see my reputation precedes me." He came to a stop a few feet from the group, striking a defiant pose. "Don't suppose those books of yours said anything good about me?"

 

Giles slipped a stake out of his pocket, holding it up where everyone could see. "You've killed two Slayers." He bit out, wishing he'd had more time to warn the group. Shocked gasps flew from their mouths, and Joyce and Buffy both paled noticeably.

 

"Rupert." Jill stepped forward, positioning herself in front of Spike. "I'm sorry you found out before we had a chance to tell you, but there's nothing for it now. You'll simply have to trust that we are here to help…"

 

"I don't want that monster anywhere near Buffy!" Giles declared savagely. Buffy noticed the vampire's jaw tense, almost as if his feelings had been hurt, but his expression revealed nothing. "I don't know what kind of game you're playing here, but I suggest you forget it. You and your mysterious friend can both stay the hell away from us!"

 

"Friend?" Spike arched his scarred eyebrow, rocking back on his heels. "Who's 'at, then?"

 

Buffy suddenly found her voice. "Angel. You know, the big, cryptic guy who warned me about the Harvest. Isn't he with you?"

 

"Angelus?" Jill's voice squeaked, and she wobbled a bit. They'd been looking for Angelus for close to a year, but after all the research she'd done and the stories she'd heard, she would have been just as happy not to find him.

 

"Angelus!" Giles gasped. There was a vampire he'd no need to research. Tales of Angelus were famous within the Council. "Are you quite sure?"

 

Spike sighed, and rubbed Jill's back soothingly, a gesture lost on no one. "It's possible. Especially if he's informed of vampire goings-on. It may be hard to tell him from a human; some gypsies stuffed a human soul inta him 'round the turn of the century. But, that's neither here nor there, I can handle Angelus. My sire and I 'ave been lookin' for him for a while now."

 

Giles sputtered, dropping his stake. Three master vampires of renown settling on the Hellmouth couldn't be a good thing. Even if one of them did allegedly have a soul. Who'd ever heard of a vampire with a human soul? "Drusilla is alive?" Rupert was sure his voice had squeaked, but he was in full fledged panic mode, wondering how he was going to get his Slayer out of this alive.

 

Spike smirked at the panic and fear radiating off of the Watcher, and the nervousness and curiosity coming from the others. It was nice to be respected. "Well, no, Watcher. She's a vampire. More 'n a hundred and fifty years, now."

 

Jill elbowed him in the ribs, surprising most of the other occupants of the room. "William, stop taunting the Watcher. Now, let’s say what we need to say, and go." She glared at her vampire companion, and while he found it more charming than scary, Spike allowed himself to be steered.

 

"Right. So, here's the deal. My sire…Dru's sick, yeah? Needs her Sire, Angelus. Been chasing after the wanker a long time now, and this is the first time we've gotten close. Since I'm here, I'm willing to help out; slay the nasties, help train your little girl there, whatever. In return for my help, and Jill's if you need her, you leave Dru and I alone. Unless, of course, she slips and kills someone. Can't rightly fault you for going after her then. Of course, you kill my sire, I can't promise not to come after you." He met Rupert's and Buffy's eyes, seeing confusion and hesitation in them.

 

"So, what, you'll leave me alone if I leave your girlfriend alone; but if I do my job and kill her, I'm toast?" Buffy had secretly hoped to get a slay buddy out of this meeting, and possibly the number of the cute alley-lurker. Now, her potential slay buddy was threatening her, and her potential date was maybe a vampire. She was not a happy Slayer.

 

"That's about the size of it, Slayer." He nodded in Buffy's direction, smirking at her defiance. She was a cheeky little bird, he'd give her that. He'd noticed she was out of shape, though. She wouldn't make it long if she didn't start training up a bit. " 'S not like Dru's gonna hurt your lot, yeah?"

 

"And why should we believe you, blood breath?" Xander sneered. The guy seemed alright, but vampires had kidnapped, and likely eaten, his best friend. What made one vampire different from the other?

 

"Well," Spike sighed. "Technically, you shouldn't, right? I'm a vampire, not the bloody ice cream man. But, I am honest. Never liked those mind games Angelus used to play. That's what drove poor Dru bug-shagging, you know? If I meant to kill you, I'd tell you."

 

Joyce's faintly murmured, "Mind games?" went unanswered, as the group focused on Buffy's response.

 

What she'd heard was possibly the creepiest thing he could have said, but it calmed Buffy, actually. She'd met a few master vampires now, and she always did better with the ones who just fought her, instead of playing stupid tricks. "Wait, Angel drove her what, exactly? Are we sure this is the same guy, cause he didn't seem that bad to me. Okay a little creepy, but it's always creepy when you meet people in alleys."

 

Spike rolled his eyes. Great, another bird smitten with the gigantic poof. He'd never understand what they saw in the wanker. Rupert took his glasses off for another clean, and replaced them before cutting off the vampire to give his own reply. "Drusilla is said to be quite mad, although there is no record of who or what caused her condition. She was a postulant at a convent before she was turned, and was purported to have been a normal young woman at the time."

 

"A Whostulant?" Xander asked.

 

"A junior nun in training." Jill responded. "And I don't see why it matters. The part you seem to not be understanding is that this guy turned an innocent girl into a crazed killer; and don't get me wrong, I like Drusilla, but that woman put the bonk in bonkers. And if what we're all assuming is correct, the same guy is after your Slayer."

 

Rupert narrowed his eyes at the seemingly human woman, still placed protectively in front of the vampire's chest. "So far, Miss Walker, this Angel person has done nothing to harm Buffy in the least. He warned her that the Harvest was coming, and he warned me of William's history."

 

"He's stalking her. That's how he always starts." Spike cut in, before he had to listen to the Watcher extol the virtues of the great lunk who'd made his life miserable. "You met him in an alley, you said?" He arched an eyebrow at the Slayer, who nodded hesitantly. "Let me take a wild guess. He followed you, and wouldn't have approached, but you spotted him. He was either very sweet and coy, or sarcastic and mocking. Trying to get your blood to race, you know, so he could really hear it. Once he knows you're paying attention, he drops the warning. Then he gives you a gift, something to show that he knows a bit about who you are…"

 

Buffy felt like she was drowning. It had felt strange at the time, but in an only-slightly-stalkerish way. Not in a vampire-stalking-prey kind of way. "So, that's Angelus, huh?" She whispered shakily. "Is he here to kill me, you think?"

 

Spike frowned. He hadn't meant to scare the girl; well, not much anyway. "Don't think so, ducks. Not unless that soul of his has slipped the leash, and I think I'd have heard something about it, if it had. No, what I think is, he wants to be near you for some other reason. But it's in his nature to be secretive; and you'll never see Angelus get into a fight he doesn't know he can win. That's likely why he warned you about the Harvest, but didn't come 'round to help." Spike ran a hand through his hair, feeling frustrated and awkward, and suffering from a desperate need to pace and smoke. This meeting was not going according to plan.

 

"Look, this is all coming out wrong, I think. I don't mean to say he's truly dangerous, because I don't know one way or the other. When we lived together as an order, he was everyone's worst nightmare. When Dru and I found him the last time, about 15 years ago, he was living off animal blood and steering clear of humans. If it's him, coming out of hiding to consult with the Slayer, I don't know what to think. He could be dangerous, or not, or you could have some human stalker with a similar name for all I know. Point I was trying for was, be careful around him, keep your guard up, and you're gonna wanna train up your vamp-sense a bit more, so you can detect the demon past the soul."

 

The urge became unbearable, and Spike began to pace. "If it is Angelus, this makes my job much easier, actually. Just snatch the bugger, convince him to help Dru, find the spell to cure her, and I can be on my merry way."

 

"William, we can't leave Dru on the Hellmouth." Jill said quietly, with a lot more calm than she was feeling right then. "It's far too dangerous. If we can cure her, we're still going to have to get her out of the country."

 

"And I still don't see why Angelus can't take responsibility for her." Spike's voice raised in anger, causing everyone except Jill to tense. "I've been with her for years, and ever since…" His voice trailed off, and he kicked an empty chair in his anger, causing Willow and Joyce to shriek. "How come when he got his soul, he never bloody cleaned up the mess he made? If he really wanted to help the buggering humans, he should've just staked us, instead of running off."

 

Giles raised his eyebrow in response to the vampire's words. His curiosity was peaked, and he was taking frenzied mental notes. Rupert wondered if this vampire wasn't ensouled himself; or suffering under the control of the woman, as was his original theory. He seemed far too human to be the fiendish killer described in the journals.

 

Willow shakily raised her hand, as though they were in class. "Um, excuse me, but why would it be particularly dangerous to leave…Drusilla? here? Wouldn't Buffy just stake her?"

 

Spike opened his mouth to reply, but Jill shut him up with a look, and turned her attention to the group. "Dru, as we've pointed out, is insane. She hears voices, talks to the pixies; the works. Her control is no better than a fledgling's. She can't hunt without killing, and she tends to create a large number of fledglings if left to her own devices. Also, she's a seer, and has inclinations towards black magic. She might hear a voice that tells her it would be fun to open the Hellmouth, or see that you were about to defeat a powerful demon and prevent it. She also has a very powerful thrall. She can look into your mind, and make you see visions so lovely you'll beg her to bite you, and be glad to tell her whatever she wants you to say."

 

Spike shook his head. "It's entirely possible the Slayer could take her; Dru's not much of a fighter. Then again, the Slayer could die horribly. It's pretty much a toss up."

 

Giles glared at the vampire, his anger fading in the face of his outrage. "And you want to leave her here in Sunnydale? So, now you've stooped to having your paramour do your dirty work, is that it?"

 

"Oi, none of that now, I'm here to give you fair warning we're in town, after all. And you, Watcher, should know nothing in life is certain." Spike shrugged and started pacing again, his hands in his pockets. "If the Slayer's any good, she'll make it. And I've done my time with Dru, thanks ever so. It's about bloody time someone else had the pleasure. I just want it over with, so I can go on to other things. Angelus is her sire; he should be carin' for her during her illness, he should help restore her to health. She's never gonna be well enough mentally not to be a danger, but with a firm hand and some heavy chains she can be controlled. No reason to let her dust if there's a vamp willin' to keep an eye on her."

 

"So, what happens if Angelus, or Angel, won't help her?" Buffy asked. There were a lot of confusing gray areas in this situation, but the one of the things that stood out in her mind was that William seemed to care about this Drusilla, even though he wanted to give her to Angel. The other thing that stood out was that William was right, Angel should have stopped his childer from killing when he got a soul. Even without knowing for sure, she'd placed the mysterious Angel in the box labeled Master Vampire, and sadly given up her passing interest in him.

 

Spike sighed, and came to an abrupt halt slumped against the banister of the stairs. "If Angelus won't help cure her, then Drusilla dies. We've exhausted every other option. Two years we've been searching for a cure. This is the last chance. She might hang on for a while, maybe even another decade, but eventually this illness will kill her."

 

His tone was tight with anger and frustration, yet Buffy wasn't scared of him anymore. This was a man preparing to lose a loved one. Okay, well he wasn't really a man, but he sure seemed like one in that moment.

 

"How awful." Joyce murmured. She'd become caught up in this man's anger and sadness, and felt deep sympathy for him, having to tend his dying friend. She didn't understand the concept of sires and childer, so she couldn't grasp how painful it truly was.

 

Spike snorted. "I appreciate the thought, madam, but I wouldn't waste your pity on Dru, or myself for that matter. You understand that we've killed more humans than you'll probably ever meet, yeah?"

 

Joyce Summers shivered in discomfort and fear. She couldn't make peace with her own nearly 40 years, let alone three times that, which he had mentioned as the woman's lifespan. One person a day was a conservative estimate of a vampire's diet, she remembered that from what Mr. Giles had said earlier. For two vampires, that was thousands of people. Still, she felt a tug of pity for this monster with a human face. Unable to express her conflicted feelings, Joyce simply nodded.

 

Jill took the stack of handouts she'd prepared from her bag, and passed them across the table towards Giles. "I think William and I have said all we need to say to you tonight; here are some notes I had prepared; for some reason I thought we'd be able to have a civilized conversation, but I guess that was too much to hope for." Giles grunted a response and refused to look at the papers before him. Willow took one packet for herself, and passed another to Joyce at the urging of the older woman. Jill sighed, and removed another piece of paper from her bag. "Here's our address and phone number, in case you need us for anything. Feel free to drop by if there's an emergency." The woman nodded and smiled sadly as she turned to go.

 

Spike glared defiantly at the Watcher who'd upset his friend, and insulted him. "You see Angelus, tell him Spike's looking for him, he can ask around at Willie's Alibi Room. Otherwise, stay away from me and mine."

 

"William!" Jill hissed, turning back to the group in an attempt to diffuse the situation.

 

"No." Spike's voice boomed through the library, making the humans' skin crawl. "He's just proven what I said all along. You can't trust Watchers, they're no good." He turned his piercing gaze on Buffy, causing her heart to pound. "You ever want some real training, or need anything else from me, Slayer, just call. Same goes for your family." With that, the master vampire turned on his heel and stormed out of the library past the witch.

 

Jill froze in place, wondering how she could keep the Watcher and vampire from allowing their resentments to put all of them in danger. She took a moment to close her eyes and pray to Gaia and Athena for guidance, and as the Powers bathed her in a glow of knowledge, she opened her eyes to rest her gaze on the other humans, taking in information from their auras and their body language. With a minimal nod to the group, she turned to follow William out.

Comments

[flostonparadise.livejournal.com]

Nice. It flows very easily. Do you write pretty clearn first-draft copy or do you have to re-write a lot?

[willow-25.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for the kind words, I'm glad you like. I usually write large chunks, then go back and tweak (change words I use too often, fix the punctuation, re-write the dialect and slang so that it's more true to character, etc.). If my beta isn't super busy, then it goes to her for critique; otherwise I might post it first on one site or on LJ to get random feedback. Then, I give it a final read-over in hard copy, so I can spot the mistakes more clearly, and then I post. So, yeah, I re-write a lot, I guess.

That said, if you ever see a thing that needs fixing, let me know.