Story: What If, Book 1 (Ch 7 of ?)

[willow_25]

Previous chapters here

A little trip back into cannon, or at least closer to it, in this chapter.  Enjoy!

Chapter 7

"That's it, Slayer, keep your knee extended as you swing around, then snap your foot down as you complete the turn. Good, a little off balance, but you'll find your center as you practice. Go again. Make sure to keep your senses on point, you should know where I am at all times." Spike circled the petite Slayer, who was supposed to be focused on perfecting her spin kick.

She'd been improving steadily over the last two weeks, but today she'd looked inexplicably shaky when she showed up, so they were working on form. When her confidence had not returned by the fifth kick routine he guided her through, Spike had to face facts. Something was wrong with the Slayer.

"Alright, let's take a breather, shall we?" Spike dropped to the exercise mat-covered floor near Buffy's feet, and the Slayer contemplated him warily for several seconds before she joined him. The vampire waited for the teenager to grab a water bottle and take a few drinks before he attempted to question her. 

"So, Buffy, wanna tell me what's bothering you? Seem a bit off your game today, pet."

Buffy shrugged, in a failed effort to appear nonchalant. "It's no big. Just some wacky stuff going on at school this week. A bunch of kids got possessed by Hyena spirits; and they ate the school mascot, and the principal, and Xander…" Buffy paused, and her face tightened. "Xander…He attacked me…And I didn't wanna hurt him, because he's my friend, but he was stronger than normal, and he wouldn't get off of me, and he said these awful things…"

Spike watched the girl he had come to admire shake, tears in her eyes, and he filled in the blanks. And he got pissed. He'd never in his life forced a woman. He'd seduced, sure, and he'd had no problem hurting them once they'd agreed, or killing them as he got off; but to violate a woman that way…It was so wrong that even a soulless vampire knew it.

"Miserable whelp; you killed him, didn't you? Because if not…"

"No!" Buffy practically shrieked. "There will be no killing of Xander. He was possessed, and…I stopped him before he did more than beat on me and make some yucky lewd remarks… and…"

"And nothing. The whelp needs a good talking to, because if he gets away with trying to hurt you, he'll think he can get away with it again, on a girl who can’t protect herself." Buffy shivered and averted her eyes, and Spike pressed on, trying to make her see sense.

"Luv, have you ever been possessed?" Buffy frowned and shook her head. "There are different types of demons and spirits that can possess a human. Some of them take total control, while others blend with the existing personality and only partially change it; for example the vampire demon, which enhances the need for violence, and heightens emotions like anger and passion, while taking away guilt. Someone needs to research the spirit, and find out how it affected him, then speak to the boy about it. No telling what he's capable of, if what he did was an effect of enhanced emotions he already had."

Buffy nodded, making an effort to calm down. "Okay, I see where you're going with this. Giles and Willow researched the hyena spirit when we were trying to figure out how to cure them, and Giles said he didn't remember anything after, so…"

"Umm, Slayer, I don't want to scare you…"

"I'm not scared!" Buffy glared at the vampire indignantly. "I've slain hundreds of vampires and demons, and the vampire that killed my first Watcher, there's no way I'm scared of…"

"Alright, alright, keep your shirt on." Spike made a calming gesture, clenching his teeth to keep from popping her one. She really was a stubborn, arrogant little thing. "I'm trying to be understanding, here, but you make it bloody difficult."

Buffy grinned a little at Spike's expression. He was pretty short tempered, and she thought his British curses were funny. "Sorry." Buffy got the smile under control, but didn't manage to sound very repentant.

Spike sighed. "Look, it was a very personal thing, getting attacked by a friend, and a sexual attack at that. I get why it's making you a bit barmy. Thing is, he should remember something, no matter what crawled inside 'im. So, either he was so traumatized he blocked it out, or your Watcher is covering for him. I can understand him being just as upset and embarrassed as you are, in his own way, but that doesn't give him the right to lie to you. Need to be able to rely on him for backup, can't do that if you can't trust him."

The Slayer nodded. Part of the reason Xander's attack was still bothering her was his lack of remorse. And while he couldn't express remorse if he didn't remember what he'd done, Buffy had begun to take more notice of the way he looked at her, and she wasn't convinced anymore that he'd forgotten, no matter what she tried to believe. Spike was right, she couldn't trust Xander until they resolved this.

"So, what do you think I should do?" Buffy hung her head, playing with her hands in her lap. Spike had earned her respect, but on some level she still felt weird having conversations with the vampire. Now that she was calmer, awkwardness had set in.

"Well…How 'bout, when you stop by to train again, you bring your little friends. Jill can hang about and entertain them, and she can add her observations to mine. She's good with the auras and such."

Buffy nodded. She liked Jill, even if she hadn't spent a lot of time with her. She'd avoided the Wiccan today, because Jill's perceptive abilities freaked Buffy out. Last week, when Angel cornered her on patrol and she came to the house after, Jill had bundled her into the study and begun making cocoa before Buffy said more than 'hi'. It was nice to be understood, but Buffy wigged a little when Jill could repeat an entire conversation she hadn't been present for.

"Yeah, okay, I'll do that. So, umm, do you wanna train some more?" Buffy was ready to move on, maybe this time she'd do a better job of burying her reaction to the near-rape.

"Nah, pet, why don't we take it easy for a while. We'll hang about, you can finish your homework, and once it gets dark we'll do some distance running, search the far edges of town for vamp nests. I'll even let the Watcher come along and observe. Sound good?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. Once Spike got over the whole 'what the bloody hell is a Slayer doing in high school' thing, courtesy of her mom giving the vampire a good talking to, he got serious about her doing homework. He and Jill even convinced Giles to reduce her training schedule, so she had more time and energy for 'lessons', as Spike called them.

"Sure, Teach. Homework, woo." Buffy stood and grabbed her backpack, hauling it towards the room where Jill had set up a place for Buffy to study. The room was a greenhouse, Spike and Jill called it the 'solarium'. All of the windows were done in the special vampire-proof glass the front porch had, so Spike felt free to check on her. It was sunny and filled with plants and wicker furniture with over-stuffed pillows, and Buffy loved it. Whenever she entered, she felt like she'd been transported back in time. It almost made homework bearable.

********

Spike got up and put the mats away, before heading up to check on Drusilla. His poor fragile plum had been stuck in bed for the better part of a month now, and between working with the Slayer and nursing his Sire, Spike hadn't had much time to hunt down Angelus. Buffy's confrontation with 'Angel' the previous week had given him some clues to work with, but so far they hadn't managed to locate him again.

Evidently, the old brooder had finally confessed his status as a souled vampire to Buffy, and made some flowery speech about the Powers That Be assigning him a mission to protect her. When she questioned him about what he'd been doing with his time since his soul was returned, how the ensouling had come about, and what his plans were for helping, he'd avoided her questions and tried to make her feel guilty for asking them. Buffy had been a wreck when she arrived on their doorstep. They'd had to call in Rupert and Joyce to calm her down.

If the wanker was trying to pull that shit on the Slayer, Spike suspected he wouldn't be willing to help Drusilla heal. And the saddest part of it was, Rupert had located the ritual they'd come to Sunnydale to find, and translated how to perform it. Spike suspected the Watcher was simply trying to get them to leave town, but the help was still appreciated, to the tune of a very expensive bottle of Scotch and an old book of vampire lore.

Spike opened the door of the darkened bedroom, to find the vampiress curled into a ball in the center of the bed. He remembered fondly the time when she'd been a sprawler, and a cover-hog, but these days she seemed to take up less and less space. Her body temperature had also begun to drop, though they kept her room very warm on the advice of a local shaman and demon doctor.

She would recover for short periods; the evening of the Harvest she'd wanted to hunt, and had to be chained. She'd actually snuck out of the house on him a few nights later. Still, it wasn't likely she'd last the decade without Angelus' help. She might be well enough to be out of bed again in a few days, but it wouldn't last.

He sat gently on the side of the bed, attempting not to disturb her sleep, but her eyes popped open. "My Spike." Drusilla smiled faintly. "You smell like Sunshine."

Spike shook his head, smiling faintly at Dru's nickname for the Slayer. Although she wasn't well enough to get out of bed and meet her supposed nemesis, Dru had taken an interest in the teenager, constantly asking questions about her. "Reckon her smell's all over the downstairs by this point. She was upset earlier, kicked up lots of hormones."

"The nasty boy upset her." Dru replied somberly. "He shall have no tea and cakes. He tries to take what is not meant for him." Drusilla's eyes fluttered shut again. "He will keep the dawn from coming, if his demon does not settle."

Spike frowned. As far as he knew; from talking to Buffy and the Watcher, and brief contact with her friends; the boy was human. Dru was likely referring to the recent bout of possession. Then again, there were many demons who could breed with humans, and Slayer blood seemed human enough. After the whelp's recent attack on the Slayer, it was something to look into.