DISCLAIMER: See Part 1
Forgotten Conscience
Two roads, one path
By Christopher Andrews
Chapter 91
A little less hypocritical
Faith's POV
I reach the top of Giles' stairs and I knock at his door.
"GILES!"
I manage to cradle Buffy in one arm and start to pound on the door.
"Giles! Giles open up!"
I try and open the door, it's locked. I feel for B's pulse.
Oh god, I think she's getting worse.
"GILES!"
I bang on the door again and he finally answers the door.
"Giles thank god, you have to help her."
I take her in both my arms and push my way past him into his place.
"Faith what happened?"
"It was Adam he beat her up pretty bad."
I run into the living room and carefully put her down on the couch, trying to make her comfortable. He comes over to the couch.
"Is he?"
"He's dead, effectively neutralized even."
"Then why didn't you take her to the hospital?"
"I did they… it turns out they're evil."
"Evil? But…"
"Giles she's hurt just… MAKE HER BETTER!"
He looks at me and it's as if he understands.
"I shall do what I can."
He kneels down and starts to check her over.
"As far as I could tell she has two broken ribs, a cracked leg bone and internal bleeding."
"And you didn't wait until they repaired more of the damage?"
"Giles… evil doctors."
"How do you know?"
"They wanted to hurt her. They were talking about making sure she had… complications. We can't take her back there. They'd kill her."
"All right, I will do my best."
His best?
"Do better than your best Giles. You have to make her okay so I can tell her…"
He looks up at me and I freeze.
"Do something Giles."
He looks down at Buffy and then gets up.
"Giles what are you doing? You have to help her."
"There isn't anything left to do."
"W-What are you saying? You don't mean… oh god B."
I kneel beside her.
"She can't be…"
I take her hand in mine and hold it tight.
"No Faith, you misunderstand me. Buffy isn't going to die."
I look up at him.
"No?"
Oh god she's not dying.
"No, she'll be okay. The damage wasn't as severe as you thought and her accelerated healing is doing the rest. It's true she may have suffered internal bleeding but it appears as though the doctors took care of that, though I can't imagine why if they were evil as you say. The ribs are only cracked, like the leg. She should be fine."
"Really?"
"Yes."
I look at Buffy, still unconscious.
"Then what's wrong with her?"
"I'm not sure. It's possible they gave her a number of sedatives to keep her under until they decided what to do with her."
"So… she'll be okay?"
I put her hand against my chest.
"She should be fine."
"Oh thank god."
I kiss her knuckles. There's a moment of silence as I watch her sleeping.
"You really do love her, don't you?"
I don't say anything for a second before looking at him.
"T-That's not the point."
He takes off his glasses and cleans them before smiling at me.
"Not to worry. She will get better, and then you can tell her."
I just sit there looking at her.
"I… I…"
"Everything shall be fine. I promise."
"Thank you Giles."
I leave Buffy's side momentarily to wrap my arms around Giles.
"Thank you."
After hesitating slightly he puts his arms tentatively around me.
"It's okay Faith."
He made her safe, he made her okay.
"Thank you."
"It's okay. She will wake up."
I let go of Giles and drop back to Buffy's side, taking her hand in mine.
Thank god she's gonna be okay. Thank god I didn't kill her.
"I was so afraid that I killed her by bringing her to that… place."
"It's not your fault. There was no way of knowing…"
"She came to me for help. She came to me for help and I nearly got her killed."
"Buffy knew the risks."
He kneels down beside me next to Buffy.
"Faith I've known Buffy a long time, possibly even longer than she's known herself. And I know that she would have gone into that fight knowing that she might not come back. She knew the risk."
"But…"
"It's not your fault."
"It is. I should've helped her."
"She'll be fine. And you did help her, you got her here and you kept her safe."
"She needed me and I was there for her. Just like she was when I…"
He looks at me with concern.
"It's not important."
I go back to watching B, waiting for her to wake up.
"What's important is she'll be okay."
I see him get up and walk way out of the corner of my eye.
"Yes she will."
I hold her hand to my chest.
She's safe now, and she'll be okay. As soon as she wakes up I can go and not have to worry. I'm gonna be here till she wakes up.
She stirs, slowly waking up.
"Faith?"
She's awake.
Tara's POV
"A hypocrite? I'm not a hypocrite… am I Tara?"
I don't know I mean, the way things sound I'm just not sure.
"Well m… maybe you should, should t-talk to h-her a-again."
"What?"
"W-When you're n-not so anger, angry."
She's pacing around my room furiously.
"I tried to talk to her baby, but she wouldn't listen."
"W-well y-you t-told me she was, was worried about A-Adam. T-that he might b-be up to something."
"Yeah but she spent like the whole time talking about how much she loves Faith."
"So a-are you m-mad at her for n-not concentrating on, on Adam or f-for being in, in l-love with Faith?"
She stops in her tracks.
"What? No I… no that's not what… if Buffy thinks she can be happy with Faith then, then I'm not gonna you know, stand in their way…"
"So you're not mad at h-her for being in l-love with F-Faith."
"No of course not I… Buffy's my friend and I just want her to be happy it's just… this all happened right around the time we find out about the new big scary in town and for some reason they seem to be one step ahead of us. They seem to know exactly what to do to screw with us and exactly how we'll react. I'm just saying, maybe them falling in love was part of the plan."
"So, you want Buffy t-to be h-happy but you think the person s-she wants to b-be happy with is part of an, an evil plan?"
She looks at me with a questioning look.
"What's? Are you defending her? Why are you defending her?"
"I'm n-not d… I'm j-just trying to help."
"Well you're not."
I lower my eyes.
"I'm s-sorry."
"Oh… oh baby I'm sorry."
She comes over to me on the bed, kneeling in front of me.
"I didn't mean to… I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just, just angry and I shouldn't have taken it out on you."
I look up at her.
"It's okay, I understand."
I take her hands in mine.
"I'm just trying to understand what happened."
"Well what do you think?"
What do I think?
"I… I think we, we should try and give the t-two of them the… the b-benefit of the d-doubt."
"Did you know?"
Know?
"Know w-what?"
"Did you know about the two of them, about Buffy and Faith?"
Should I tell her? I don't want to lie to her.
"I-I knew there w-was something between t-them but I… I didn't know how far it went. N-now that I know I… what they have is real and I think we s-should let them be… whatever it i-is they w-want to be to each, each other."
"You really think so?"
"Yes."
She gets up and starts pacing around the room again.
"See I don't think I can do that. Buffy could get hurt, and I'm not talking just physically. There are other ways she could get hurt, worse things she could do. Faith isn't really known for being loving and considerate. She could…"
"She won't."
"But she might…"
"She won't."
"You don't know that."
"W-Willow, honey… I do know it. F-Faith feels the s-same way about Buffy t-that Buffy feels a-about Faith."
"Are you sure?"
"Y-Yes… Faith m-might be a l-little confused because, because she's n-never felt something like this before but it's there."
"You're sure?"
"Do you trust me?"
"With my life…"
"T-then trust m-me when I say they, they may have their r-ruff spots b-but neither of them would e-ever intentionally hurt each, each other."
She comes back over and cups my head in her hands and kisses me lightly.
"IF you believe it then I do too."
She kneels on the bed and puts her arms around my neck, effectively straddling me.
"You always do that."
"What?"
"Make me realize just how much I love you."
She kisses me deeply, pushing me back on to the bed.
Chapter 92
Need
Buffy's POV
"Faith?"
I'm still a little groggy as I wake up but there's only one thing on my mind.
"Faith?"
"I'm here Buffy, I'm here."
I feel a hand holding mine and the soft feeling is unforgettable. I open my eyes to the most beautiful sight I've ever seen, the woman I love staring back at me.
"Oh thank god you're all right B."
She leans down and hugs me tightly. The pain in my ribs shoots through my body.
"Ow!"
She pulls back in a panic.
"Oh my god did I… are you okay? Did I, did I hurt you?"
I smile at her and put my arms out to hug her back.
"I'm okay I'm just… I guess a little sore. Probably one of the drawbacks of fighting an invincible killing machine."
She hugs me again and this time I hug her back.
God she feels so good. I can smell the sweet smell of her hair.
She whispers to me before breaking the hug.
"Not so invincible any more."
She brushes my hair out of my face and smiles at me.
"I guess not. Thank you Faith."
"Don't mention it B. I did what I had to do to save the one I… the world. I did what I had to do to save the world. Isn't that what we hero types do?"
I suppose it is.
"Yeah, but how did you do it? I mean, I went up against Adam twice and he's kicked my ass both times, but you…"
"I know."
"You stopped him."
"I know."
I sit up, despite the pain, on what I now realize is Giles' couch.
"How?"
She stands up and I move to an upright sitting position so she can sit beside me, and she does.
"I'm not sure but…"
She takes my hand in hers and cradles it.
"I think it was you."
Me? What does she mean it was me?
"You think it was me?"
"Yeah I… we were fighting Adam and, something happened."
Happened? Is she okay?
"Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did Adam hurt you?"
"N-no… I'm fine, I'm okay. It's just… I, I saw what he was doing. I saw that he was hurting you and, and I just snapped…"
Snapped?
"I had to stop him, no matter what. I had to stop him from hurting you."
"And that made you snap?"
"Yeah, it was like before. When I tried to hurt you."
I look down at Faith's hand holding mine.
"That wasn't your fault that was the spell."
"I know but it felt the same way, like the spell."
"But the spell it… it's off."
"What?"
We look at each other and she has this look of hope on her face.
"What do you mean?"
"The spell is broken."
"But I thought Red's spell didn't work."
"It didn't… but she figured out the reason it didn't work is because the spell was off."
"What the hell are you talking about? How did it get broken?"
"It was us, our love…"
I grip her hand.
"When we kissed for the first time, it broke the spell."
"I… how?"
"The spell they used on you, it was supposed to make you hate me even more than you already did. But instead we fell in love, the feelings we share saved us both. Your love for me broke the spell, and my love for you brought us together. Or at least it did… until I screwed it all up."
She lets go of my hand and pulls away.
Oh god, why did I have to say that?
"Right. Look B I…"
"Please Faith can we… can we just be happy that we stopped Adam and that we're both all right? Can't we just be together? If only for a few minutes."
"I told you B, no matter what happened with us in the Initiative that it wouldn't change things between us and I meant it."
"Faith I…"
"You're okay, that's what's important. I couldn't live with myself if I let something happen to you."
I reach out to her and she gets up off the couch to avoid my touch.
"But you're okay now, so I can go."
Go? I don't want her to go.
She starts to inch toward the door.
"Faith, wait…"
I try and get up to stop her but the pain in my ribs makes it impossible. I look up at her as she struggles to decide whether to comfort me or not.
"Don't… don't you love me?"
She decides not to.
"I-I… I do care about you B. More than I could ever express to you, and if you ever need my help again just call. But things between us are not okay… and I don't know that they ever will be. One day maybe, but that day is not today."
She tries to leave and I get up, blocking out the pain in my ribs but my leg gives way sending me to the floor. Giles comes in from the other room with gauze.
"Faith? I've got some gauze to bandage her ribs until… Buffy?"
He comes over to help me.
"Take care of her G-man she looks like she needs it."
She leaves.
"Faith!"
Giles helps me on to the couch.
"Buffy you need to calm down before you hurt yourself."
I don't need to calm down, there's only one thing I need.
"What I need, is Faith."
I settle back into the couch and the pain in my mid section lessens, but only my physical pain. He looks at me with concern.
"You really do love her don't you?"
He smiles.
"With all my heart."
He starts to unroll the gauze.
"Then all shall work out. Lift up your shirt and I will bandage your ribs."
I lift up my shirt gently, the pain still running through me and he starts to wrap my ribs in gauze.
I have to get her back, I just have to.
"How do you know? She, she just left like that. She must really hate me."
"No, she does not."
"But…"
"Buffy when Faith came in here with you in her arms she was in a panic. The kind of panic only a person in love could be in if they feared the loss of the one they love."
He wraps the gauze around me a few more times and then secures it with a safety pin. I let my shirt fall, covering my injury.
"You… you really think she l-loves me?"
"I know it."
He starts to pull my right pant leg up to check it.
"Tell me where it hurts."
He gently touches my leg, checking for sore spots.
"How? Did you talk to her? Did she tell you she loved me?"
If she told him she loved me, why did she leave?
"We spoke briefly…"
He touches a bad spot.
"Ow!"
"Sorry."
He takes the gauze and wraps it around my upper calf.
"I must admit that I was originally quite sceptical about what was happening between the both of you, but after Faith brought you here I realized she only has your own best interests at heart. Even if she might be unsure about her own."
He finishes wrapping my leg and pins it with a safety pin. I lean forward and hug him.
"Thank you Giles I… thank you for understanding and for, and for giving us a chance."
After a second Giles pulls away and I let him go.
"Yes, well… I was your Watcher Buffy. It was my job to look out for your best interests, and even though it may no longer be official I still feel responsible for your well being."
"I know and I wanna thank you for that."
He stands up and back away.
He's always been uncomfortable with the whole caring about people thing.
"It's all right, I don't mind. Now, what do you want to do now that Adam is out of the way?"
We should get together.
"We should get the guys together. I wanna tell them what happened."
"Okay, I'll make the calls."
"Thanks."
She'll come back to me, she has to.
Chapter 93
Coming apart
Buffy's POV
"So what's going on?"
Going on? Faith just trampled over my life is what's going on.
"Did Buffy find another reason to yell at us?"
"I… I'm not gonna yell, not unless someone gives me a reason."
I won't, I'm gonna keep my cool for the sake of the group. Just as long as they don't start attacking Faith, if they attack Faith I'm gonna yell.
"Okay well, I'd like to be elsewhere when she does that."
"Anya please, now is not the time."
"It's never the time to be honest is it Xander? It's never time to say exactly what we mean with you guys."
"Adam is dead."
The conversation comes to a dead halt at my words, everyone with a slight look of shock on their face. Everyone but Giles and Tara that is.
I know why Giles isn't shocked but Tara? Why is she trying to hide her smile? It's almost like she's happy for me. Why? I feel like crap, she should be picking up on that. Why is it making her smile?
"Adam's dead? When?"
"Faith brought Buffy here about 20 minutes ago, she was in bad condition."
"Who Faith?"
I lift up my pant leg to show them the bandage on my leg.
"Oh my god! Buffy, are you okay?"
"Well I'm not in the greatest condition like Giles said, but I'm alive and healing. As you can see Will."
"What about Faith?"
I turn to Xander.
"What about her?"
"Is she all right?"
"Do you care?"
He looks at me for a second, without the indecision I thought I'd see in his eyes.
"Of course I care Buffy, we all do. Just because I don't get along with Faith, well except for that one time, doesn't mean I want her to die any more than you do. I noticed she wasn't here."
"She's fine she…"
I close my eyes for a second and take a deep breath before continuing.
"She had to go."
"Where?"
"I don't know she said, she said she had somewhere else she had to be."
We break into silence.
"Well okay… this is great, Adam's dead. I knew you'd take 'em down sooner or later Buff."
"It wasn't me."
"What?"
"It was Faith."
"What do you mean?"
"Faith was the one who killed Adam."
"What? How?"
"Well I was kinda busy struggling to breathe at the time but… I was fighting Adam and, and all of the sudden she attacked him. She just attacked him and it was like she became this force. It was like she wouldn't stop until Adam was dead."
"Really? Did she, did she say how she did it?"
"She thinks it was me."
"She thinks you did it? Well maybe you did."
"N-no that's not what I meant. I was, I was fighting Adam and he was kicking my ass and…"
"Where was Faith?"
I glare at Willow.
"She was busy getting thrown across the room. Okay so, she said she saw how he was hurting me and she just snapped. She said she couldn't let him hurt me anymore. She would do whatever it took to stop him from hurting me, and she did. She killed Adam to keep him from hurting me."
I feel like I'm gonna cry as I bury my face in my hands.
She did that for me and she still left.
"Really?"
I try and wipe the pain off my face before looking up at anyone.
"Yeah, she did."
I drop my head into my hands again as my previous attempts to keep from crying aren't working.
Faith…
"Well that's good… isn't it? I mean Faith doing the right thing, trying to be part of the good guy team, that's good right?"
I dig my fingers into my skull trying to keep myself from crying.
"Well yes… it could be quite beneficial to have a second slayer on our side. Especially with her apparent new strength."
"Yeah but…"
Here it comes.
"Well, taking out Adam is no small order. Buffy's really strong and Adam beat her up pretty bad."
Okay pull yourself together. You can't just let them suggest what they are about to suggest. No matter how much I might want to break down and cry.
"What if her new power makes her change her mind? She might…"
"She won't Xander."
I look up, composing myself.
"But…"
"If she cares about me at all the way I know she does, she won't."
"She took Adam apart, who's gonna stop her from…?"
"I am."
"Buffy if she…"
"No… when I said I'm gonna stop her I didn't mean by killing her. If she ever tries to hurt someone, she's gonna have to kill me to do it and I KNOW she can't do that. But more than that I KNOW that it would never come to that. She wants to do the right thing and she IS a good person."
"Buffy…"
"And nothing any of you can say will EVER convince me otherwise."
I love Faith and I trust her and our love. I won't betray it for anything.
"Maybe… maybe we s-should argue about t-this."
I look over at Tara, who's still trying to conceal her happy look.
I should really talk to her about that maybe she knows something I don't.
"Tara's right. We're never going to agree on this. You guys don't trust Faith at all and I trust her completely. We may never agree on anything involving Faith ever again. We should probably stop trying."
"It's not that we don't trust Faith, Buff. We just want you to be prepared for the worst. Your relationships have a tendency to go badly and it really does a number on you when it does."
I lean forward and pain from my ribs shoots through me.
"Can we, can we not drudge up my track record with love right now? My ribs are killing me and I just wanna go home and go to bed."
"Buffy is correct, now is not the time for this. Adam is gone, and there doesn't appear to be any immediate threat from the vampire cult. I believe we could all benefit from a good night's rest."
Good.
"Especially me. I'm gonna go."
I get up despite my leg and make my way to the door.
"Buffy do you want…?"
"No."
I can't deal with people right now. I get to the door and someone stops me.
"Tara?"
Chapter 94
Dropping of the eaves
Willow's POV
"Buffy did you want…?"
"No."
She just cut Giles right off.
She really isn't okay is she?
Tara stands up from her chair and takes my hand.
"W-Willow, honey… I'm gonna g-go talk to B-Buffy."
Talk to Buffy? About what?
"Will you be okay f-for a m-minute?"
"Of course honey, go ahead."
I let go of Tara's hand and she smiles at me before heading to catch up with Buffy.
She probably just wants to help her deal with whatever's eating her up inside. Buffy looked like she was in a bad way a second ago. It could've been the fight with Adam, or it could've been something else. The fact that Faith just left seemed to really get her down.
"Buffy?"
Maybe I should stop listening.
"What do you want Tara?"
"I… I just wanted to s-see if you were okay. Are you all right?"
"No I'm not, and you of all people should know that."
"I-I'm sorry."
"No I'm sorry I… it's just she's gone. We saved the world together and she just left. I feel like crap Tara. My ribs hurt, my leg is killing me and she just left like she didn't even care."
"But she d-does."
She does?
"Does she? I mean, I wanna believe that she cares I really do it's just…"
Buffy seems to weaken slightly and Tara comes to her rescue, putting Buffy's arm over her shoulder.
"I need to go."
"Of, of course."
She leads Buffy out of Giles' place and on to his porch. I don't know why I decide to eavesdrop but I do. I stand just out of view of the doorway.
"Buffy you don't have to w-worry. S-she does c-care about you."
"She said that too but… I don't think she, she meant it."
"B-B-Buffy she, she s-saved your life didn't s-she?"
"She didn't do that because she cared about me, she did that because she… she owed me for, something."
"See I… I d-don't think that's what it was. She saved your l-life because she, she loves you. You… you said she killed Adam to, to save you. That's s-something isn't it?"
"I don't know anymore Tara. I just don't know."
There are a few moments of silence.
Buffy is really hurting over what happened with Faith. I wish there was something I could do.
"Did you tell her?"
What?
"T-tell her what?"
Tell who what?
"Did you tell Willow about what happened?"
Tara was supposed to tell me something?
"I… it n-never happened re-remember?"
Something never happened?
"I know but that doesn't mean you should lie to her."
Lie to me?
"I'm not lying. It, it was nothing."
Tara's never lied to me before. Is she lying to me now?
"You were there when I needed you, Willow will understand that."
What is it I'm supposed to understand?
"It, it's not that I d-don't w-want to tell her it's that there's… there's nothing to tell."
"I'm sorry Tara I shouldn't have brought it up. You're right it was nothing you don't have to tell her. You love Willow and I love Faith, no matter how much she hates me, that's all that matters."
"She, she doesn't h-hate you."
"Yeah… right… I'm gonna go home, maybe cry myself to sleep."
I peak around the door and Buffy is making her way down the stairs, her injuries making it hard to leave.
"Is she okay? Maybe we shouldn't let her go alone Adam did a lot of damage."
"She'll be all, all right. I'm more worried about her in-inner pain then her out-outer pain."
I take Tara's hand in mine.
"She's really hurting isn't she?"
Tara turns to face me.
"You should talk to her."
What?
"To Buffy? I don't think she'd listen even if I did. She's kinda angry with me."
"Not her, F-Faith…"
Faith?
"Faith is even less likely to listen to me. She and I have never really gotten along and I don't see that changing."
"B-but you can h-help her."
"Faith was able to take out Adam all by herself, she doesn't need my help."
"But B-Buffy does."
Buffy? I thought she wanted me to help Faith.
"You're not making any sense honey. You asked me to talk to Faith."
"Talking to Faith d-does help B-Buffy."
"I'm confused."
"Buffy t-thinks that Faith h-hates h-her."
"Doesn't she? I mean you heard what Buffy said about what happened. She said Faith just let Adam beat on her, and then when it was over she just left."
"N of, of course not. F-Faith loves Buffy, re-member? We t-talked about this. But the only one who could convince B-Buffy she's w-wrong is Faith. If you t-talk to Faith she m-might do that. T-talk to her Willow, f-for me."
I close my eyes and grip Tara's hand a little harder.
"I wouldn't know what to say."
I open my eyes to look at her and she's not angry, thank god.
"I under-understand."
"Can we just, go home and go to bed?"
We both look down the stairs to notice that Buffy has disappeared from the immediate area.
"Are you sure she'll be okay?"
"I think so… but let's let her be for a-a while."
"Good idea, let's go home."
"Okay."
We walk down the stairs on our way home.
I'm sorry Tara, I love you but I'm not gonna talk to Faith. It's like I said I wouldn't know what to say to her, and she probably wouldn't listen if I did.
Chapter 95
Kicked out
Buffy's POV
I walk down the second floor hallway to my dorm room.
The pain from the fight with Adam isn't so bad anymore I think I can bear it for a few more minutes. I'll get some rest, maybe cry myself to sleep, and in a couple hours I'll be okay. Well as okay as I can be without Faith to come home to. But that will never happen. She'll never love me the way I love her, not after what I've done to her.
Damn it! I should've trusted her. I should've believed her. If I had then maybe we'd be together now, maybe she'd be here with me now helping me home. Maybe she'd bring me home, put me to bed, kiss me and make everything all better. Maybe she'd love me.
I stop just outside my door, leaning against the wall with my left hand.
God Faith, what I wouldn't give to hold you in my arms right now.
I look up at my door which is barely hanging off its hinges, the door's been kicked in and the lock broken. A pink note on the door catches my eye.
What's this?
I take the note off the door and go in. I start to read the note.
'Dear Ms. Summers, we regret to inform you that due to a number of recent tragedies on campus which through various sources have been linked either directly or indirectly to you we are terminating your tenure here at Sunnydale University. We have also learned that a Sunnydale citizen who has been linked to a number of murders last year has been staying with you for a number of days.'
What the hell? Why is that a problem?
'As you well know, it is against University policy for any person who is not a registered student to stay on campus over night without a guest pass for any reason. You are also clearly in violation of campus policy as we do not condone the actions of any student who has committed or is connected to any criminal activity on or off campus. We ask that you vacate the campus completely by next wee or we will be forced to remove you.
Thank you.
Dean of Students'
They… they can't do this.
My knees buckle and I fall to the ground.
They're kicking me out?
The tears in my eyes start to pour out of me.
What am I gonna do? I'm getting kicked out. There's not way I can fight this. They're right, they have every reason to kick me out and I haven't got a thing to fight back with. I have nothing. I have less than nothing. I lost my love, I lost Faith, my friends don't trust me, and now I don't even have classes to take my mind off it. What am I gonna do?
I crawl along the floor to the foot of my bed.
Oh god I wish I was dead.
I run my fingers through my hair, grabbing it trying to tear it out of my head.
I need you Faith. I need you hear with me to help me through this. I don't think I can live like this, knowing I have to go on without her.
I just lie there and cry my head against the end of the bed.
What am I gonna do?
Spike's POV
Bugger… why did I have so much to drink? I should know by now, with all the drinking I've done over the years, the more you drink the worse the soddin hangover in the morning.
The door to my crypt flies open, the dawning sunlight making my skin sizzle as I jump off the crypt top to the safety of the darkness.
"Hey watch it."
"SPIKE!"
Not this wanker again.
"What are you doing here John?"
He takes the blanket off and throws it on the floor.
"Hey pick that up would ya? I just tidied up the place."
"Why are you here Spike? Shouldn't you be out slaughtering the innocent soldiers of the Initiative?"
"That scene didn't really agree with me."
"What?"
"Yeah I got bored decided it was more fun to do nothing."
"We had a deal."
"Actually we didn't. Adam told me if I help him he'd take my chip out, so I helped him. It had nothing to do with you, and besides which our deal was kinda contingent on one very important factor."
"What's that?"
"That Adam be around to remove the chip later, which he's not."
"Adam's dead?"
"Yeah ain't it a tragedy? In a happy kinda way."
"How?"
"Well, just to take a wild guess here but… I'd say it was the SLAYERS."
I pick up my lighter and my smokes.
"I know that Spike, I was asking how they did it."
I take a smoke out of the pack and light it.
"Don't know, don't care."
"Well you've gotta find out."
Find out?
"Bugger that."
"Why not?"
I take a drag of my ciggy.
Am I really gonna have to go through this again?
"I told you, the only reason I help you Omega wanna-bees is cause Adam promised to remove the soddin chip in my head after the big battle. But with Adam six feet under, or I guess it would be more like 30 feet under, I've got no reason to help you. Plus I don't much like you either."
"What about the slayers?"
Buffy and Faith?
"What about them?"
"You want them dead just as much as we do."
"So?"
"So you help us and that can happen."
"Maybe so but I wouldn't be the one doing the killing would I?"
"What?"
I take another drag.
"I take one swing at either of them and this bloody chip goes off."
"You still get to see them die."
"You're not getting it, mate. It's no fun unless you do it yourself. I've killed two slayers in my day, both of them with my own two hands. That's something you'll never be able to understand, killing a slayer with your bare hands is a powerful experience. Sinking your teeth into their nubile young flesh is unlike anything you've ever experienced."
"I know what it's like to drink blood Spike."
"Not slayers blood mate. Slayers blood is different than normal blood, it's sweeter, and it has a better after taste. It's not something you can drink from a glass, in order to get true satisfaction out of it you have to get it from the source, from the sweet supple neck of a slayer… god I miss being able to drink the fresh blood of a nice ripe little girl."
I look at John as I take another drag of my ciggy and he's not impressed.
"Are you gonna help us or not?"
I roll my eyes at him.
"Not unless you let me kill the slayers myself, or you can get this chip out of my head."
"Not as such."
"Then shove off before I shove you off."
"Spike you…"
I pick up his blanket and throw it in his face, blinding him as I lead him to the door and throw him out.
"Now sod off."
He starts to sizzle and he covers himself with the blanket as he runs off for shelter.
Stupid ponce.
I close the door to my crypt and go back inside. I lie back down on the slab of concrete I call a bed and go back to dealing with my hangover.
I hope the slayers beat the crap out of him before they stake him. I think really wanna be there to see it too.