Fic: Where in the World is Buffy Summers? – Chapter 11/12

Title: Where in the World is Buffy Summers?
Author: missus_grace
Rating: R
Summary: Buffy and Spike get their revenge.

It took two days, but they finally found Spike’s lair. Angel and Giles had nearly come to blows several times while the Coven worked around the clock to break the magical barriers that prevented them from locating slayer energy. The location had been scouted and with the sighting of vampire guards on the doors and Willow confirming that slayers were inside, they knew they were at the right place.

The white hats struck at the break of dawn. Once the guards were staked and the door blown in, Angel dashed from the back of the van where he’d hidden from the deadly light. They blew all the doors at once to prevent escape and swarms of slayers and Watcher’s Council commandos flooded the corridors. But what should have been a relatively easy operation quickly became a disaster. The vamps, having been tipped off by calls from Lynn to Buffy were prepared, and the invaders found themselves shut out from the main floor where their objective was located.

The inner sanctum was impenetrable; Spike’s magic-users created a practically flawless barrier. They knew it would hold, but all Spike and Buffy needed was a few minutes with their two newest captives.

Giles had been found first and was quickly captured and bound before they brought him before their Master. Angel was next having been easily subdued with a spraying of Holy Water. Black hoods kept them in the dark, literally, as they were dragged through the warehouse into a large, quiet area where they were forced to their knees. High-pitched gasps and cries of exclamation meant that the young slayers were nearby. Both looked in the direction of the girls’ voices after their hoods were removed.

The young women looked well enough even though they were inside a cage, and then Angel and Giles swiveled their heads at the sound of a throat clearing. Despair hit them both with the force of a hurricane.

Two ornate chairs decorated a raised platform, and in them sat the Master of London and his Queen. They were bedecked in black leather and red silk, game-faces at the fore and ready to conduct business. Spike’s bleached slickback was gone, but he looked no less menacing in his buzz cut. Buffy, even in her vampiric visage, was still a beauty, but both Angel and Giles keenly mourned the loss of her humanity.

Buffy rose gracefully from her throne and made her way down the steps to the captives, stiletto boot heels clacking on the cement floor. She said nothing, but went first to Angel, trailing a black-lacquered nail up one shoulder, tracing his hairline, then back down the other shoulder. Doing the same to Giles, she stepped in front of him and straightened his glasses, which had slipped a bit under the hood.

“You poor, misguided souls,” she purred, emphasizing the last word as she stepped back to assess them both. “You tried so hard to protect me, but all you did was drive me straight into his arms and onto his fangs!” Spike echoed her deep chuckle but otherwise stayed silent. Buffy was more than capable of handling these two on her own.

“Now what to do with you?” she continued, tapping a finger on her lips.

“Just…just wait a minute, Buffy,” Angel tried to keep his voice from shaking. “We can get your soul back, okay? And you don’t want to do anything that you’ll regret later.”

Buffy laughed again, but it wasn’t a pleasant sound.

“Regrets? There are no more regrets! I’m regret-free girl now, and I’m going to finally start enjoying myself.” She ran her tongue over razor-sharp fangs and moved closer to Angel.

“You bastard!” roared Giles, glaring at Spike. “How could you do this to her? You loved her!”

Buffy whipped her head around to hiss at Giles. “He didn’t do anything to me, Giles, except give me my life back. I asked him to do this.”

Some of the Slayerettes began sobbing and broke the stillness that followed Buffy’s announcement.

“No, Buffy, I know you. You’d never do something like that,” Angel pleaded.

“But I did. Tell me Giles,” she asked circling her Watcher. “How many times did I try to run away from my duty? Two, three, maybe four times? How many times did I die and get brought back?” She glanced lovingly at Spike and blew him a kiss. “Now I finally figured out a way to say goodbye.”

“Dear Lord, Buffy – I can’t believe you’d resort to letting Spike vamp you,” Giles said quietly. “It was once your worst nightmare; don’t you remember?”

“I had a lot of nightmares, Giles. And most of them came true. But this one has a happy ending, at least for Spike and me.” The older man had to look away when she smiled malevolently around her fangs. “I wouldn’t be so sure about you two. Now who gets it first?” Pointing her index finger, she chanted, “Eenie, meanie, miney, mo…”

“Buffy!” Angel barked. “I am your Sire’s Grandsire and you will listen to me. Release us immediately!” he commanded.

Buffy leaned towards him and laughed in his face. “Nice try, Peaches, but that tone of voice doesn’t work on a turned Slayer. I’m going to be unstoppable, aren’t I honey?”

“Absolutely, my deadly blood-sucking queen. You’ll be a legend,” Spike answered, unable to keep a grin off his face.

“So…again I ask: Who first?” Snaking around her two former friends, she clasped Giles around his shoulders. “I’m hungry, so I guess it’s you.” Turning to Angel, she added, “You, I’ll just stake.”

Giles’ protests died on his lips as she got behind him and wrenched his neck to the side. Angel was struggling to his feet, trying to shake off the guards holding him, yelling for Buffy to stop. Buffy moved in, got her fangs in just the right place, and bit.

Giles closed his eyes, muttering, “Just don’t turn me, please,” and waited for the darkness. Angel’s yelling and scuffling barely registered as he felt Buffy’s hair brush his shoulder and noted the breath of hot air on his neck just before she bit. Wait a minute, she shouldn’t be breathing…he heard her straighten up but the sharp teeth in his neck didn’t move.

“Hey! These things totally fell out, Spike! We should get a refund!” Giles winced as Buffy’s teeth were pulled from his flesh. He wrenched around and saw her standing there, holding her fangs and grinning at him. With her normal smile.

Angel fell to his knees and listened hard. There was only one heartbeat nearby, and that was Giles. But clearly, Buffy had not been vamped.

“What’s going on?” Angel asked as one of the minions came forward, carrying a small case. Buffy returned to her throne and the other vamp went to her, and pulling out a Q-tip and small bottle liquid, set about peeling the vamp wrinklies off Buffy’s forehead.

“I would think that’s fairly obvious, Peaches, Spike sneered.

“You faked it,” Giles said quietly.

“But I don’t hear your heartbeat, and you have no body heat,” Angel was struggling to get to his feet. “Can you untie me now, please?”

“First things first, and I’m busy right now.” Half her prosthetic was off and she winced as an eyebrow was pulled.

“Bloody hell, Spike. Do please let us up and we can talk like rational adults,” Giles nearly spat.

“Not my place to do such, Rupes. It’s the lady’s show and she’s calling the shots here.”

Buffy’s vampiric forehead finally came off and she reached into her eyes, pulling out the yellow lenses. She handed the contacts to the vampire make-up artist and spoke to the guards.

“You can let them go now.” The bonds were cut and the men began rubbing their sore wrists.

“Really Buffy, was all this necessary?” Giles began, but Buffy cut him off.

“No, it really wasn’t. But I loved watching you squirm. And to answer your question,” she said, glancing at Angel, “we do have a mage or two among our numbers here.”

“Well, you got us, okay?” Angel spat. “You got us. And if you’re done playing your little games there are more important things to talk about here.”

“More important things than my life? Like how you two wasted valuable time and resources trying to keep Spike and me apart?”

“I daresay there’s the matter of several kidnapped Slayers in that cage,” Giles commented drily.

Spike snapped his fingers and one of the guards unlocked the cage. “You’ll not find a scratch on them, Watcher. They were treated fair.” He held out his hand to Buffy as Giles called the newbies to join them. Buffy resumed her seat at Spike’s side and smiled apologetically at her sister slayers. Katya gave her a smart little wink and Buffy nodded her head toward the younger girl. Katya had been instrumental in keeping the girls from panicking during their captivity. She’d told the girls that Buffy had a plan and none of them would be harmed, no matter what they saw or heard.

“Spike would like to apologize for kidnapping all of you. Right, Spike?” She nudged him gently with her elbow.

“Not really, pet. My plan worked, didn’t it? Can’t be sorry for that. If any should be sorry it’s these two berks. They had the unlimited resources of White Hats, LLC and Evil, Incorporated at their disposal, sending us hither and yon. I had to make do with the proceeds from selling one measly car.”

“A car you stole from my company,” Angel growled.

“I figured I was due payment for services rendered, Boss-man.”

“Enough!” barked Giles. “There’s more than enough blame to go around, so let’s get down to brass tacks, shall we? You, Spike, are now the Master of London and we must know your intent. There is also the small matter of the state of your soul.”

Spike scowled. “I’m not sure why my soul is anyone’s business but my own. If I’m good enough for Buffy, then that’s all you need to know.”

“You pledged loyalty to Hedrick, then killed him. You took over as Master and have set up a court. What are we supposed to think?”

“If you’d done your homework, Angel, then you’d know that there has been no increase in murders since Spike took over. The min…” they hated being called minions; “the court only drinks the bagged stuff or animal.”

Angel scoffed loudly while Giles sputtered, “That’s impossible! Do you mean to tell me that every, single vampire in this building refrains from killing humans?”

“It’s the truth, Rupert. You can ask Angel. There are vamps like this in every major city, mostly in Europe. Not every vamp wants to bring about hell on earth or kill a slayer.”

“Be that as it may, and I find it highly doubtful, we still need to know what your…what this organization’s goals are. Buffy’s feelings aside, if evil is being perpetrated then we will intervene.”

“Bloody hell! Peaches is in evil up to his giant forehead and you’re completely in league with him! I just wanted to find Buffy and I get the Spanish bloody Inquisition!”

“I am in league with no one..” Giles protested.

“Just answer the question, Spike” Angel demanded.

Buffy stroked Spike’s arm. “Tell them and maybe they’ll leave.”

“Well, I sodding don’t know, do I? Everything I’ve done these past few weeks was to find you.” He looked at the other men, smirk firmly in place. “And now she’s here. So what can a Slayer and a vampire with a soul do for kicks? Maybe we’ll start some kind of agency. A ‘Help the Helpless’ kind of deal, since that gig is open now.”

“You’re telling me that the Master Vampire of London is going to continue the mission,” Angel scoffed.

“Damn right, Angel. It’s what we’ve been doing.”

“You know damn well that you’re going to be under constant attack.”

“Did you get some of that nancy-boy hair gel in your ears, you Neanderthal? I repeat: We’re taking care of it. The challengers, the mission, all of it.”

“And I’m going to be part of it, Giles,” Buffy added. I think the vamps and the slayers could work together on this…” she was interrupted by a coughing sound by Spike and gave him a piercing glare. “We could probably work together…occasionally.” When she got raised eyebrows from all 3 men she threw up her arms.

“Whatever! No matter that I will ever trust you two again,” and this time her glare was focused on Angel and Giles, “but I have finally made peace with my destiny and the work I do with the slayers. As much as you have done to help us,” she said directly to her former watcher, “I can’t trust you anymore. And I’m not sure where to go from here. I want to help with training and go on missions and fight the bad guys, but I will no longer take orders from you.”

She next leveled her steely gaze at Angel.

“And you. We may not know what the hell you’re doing at Wolfram and Hart, but that doesn’t mean we’ve turned a blind eye toward you. If Angelus so much as peeks out from that glass tower of yours, he’s dust.” She stopped to take a breath and closed her eyes for a moment, holding up a finger when she heard the first protestations from their lips. She looked at Angel again, but spoke more softly.

“There’s so much more I want to say to you about souls and good deeds, and fighting the good fight but I don’t think you’d listen. I’m not sure you’re listening to anyone these days and I see trouble on your horizon.”

“We’re going to fight evil from the inside, though!” he said indignantly.

“And I’ve got a bridge to sell you over some land in Florida if you really believe that, Angel.”

“Well Buffy, I’d say you made yourself perfectly clear. We may never all agree on how to fight evil, but we are, at the least, in the fight.” He cleared his throat. I assume you’ll be staying in touch through Dawn or Willow?” His famous British reserve was holding up, but Buffy could detect a slight tremor in his voice as he realized their relationship was irrevocably damaged.

“I will. They’ve probably been briefed by now – Lynn and Amber were in on this with me and they were going to tell the others.” She and Spike rose from their seats, and it was impossible not to see the symmetry of their motions. Even Angel had to admit that they were a perfect fit, but he couldn’t resist one last dig.

“Are you sure you really want to stay here, Buffy? Living in a warehouse? It’s beneath you.” He could barely suppress a smirk when he saw Spike’s face cloud over. But then he saw the tenderness with which Buffy touched her mate’s furrowed brow and stroked down his cheek and he knew he’d lost her for sure.

“It doesn’t matter where we live. A crypt, a penthouse suite, a house in the suburbs with a white picket fence; as long as we’re together that’s all that matters.”

“I thought that you couldn’t see yourself with Spike in the future,” Angel, desperate, threw out.

“A girl’s allowed to change her mind, isn’t she?” She made shooing motions with her hands. “Now it’s time for you all to go. Spike and I have a lot of lost time to make up.” She was surprised that her heart didn’t ache as she watched two of her closest friends walk out the door, and told Spike as much. “I guess I’m all grown up now, aren’t I?” she stated, looking eagerly at her lover. I actually feel free for the first time since I became a Slayer.” Neither of them noticed the diminishing presence of vampires in the room as they drew into each other’s arms.

“You are free, Buffy,” Spike said softly as he caressed her face with his lips. “You can be as responsible or irresponsible as you want, and I’ll be with you all the way.” His hand found its way under her shirt to stroke the soft skin of her back and she was starting to unfasten his belt when they were interrupted.

“Get a room,” a female voice spoke.

TBC

 

Originally posted at http://seasonal-spuffy.livejournal.com/272163.html