Fic: Where in the World is Buffy Summers? – Chapter 9/12

Title: Where in the World is Buffy Summers?
Author: missus_grace
Rating: R
Summary: Buffy is aware that Spike is in London and she has a plan.

Chapter 9

SPIKE’S COURT

Three terrified young women huddled together in a cage that was seemingly impervious to slayer strength. One by one they’d been taken from their teams and brought to an unremarkable warehouse where they were surprised to see their sister-slayers, shaken but not harmed. And they were not in unpleasant conditions; the temperature inside the old building was comfortable, and there were cots with blankets and pillows, as well as a cooler full of drinks and snacks.

They were left alone as the vampires went about their business, but they remained vigilant, hoping for some information or clues to their whereabouts. After some hours the vampire activity slowed down as daylight approached, so the girls chose cots and worked out a watch schedule. When a lone vampire approached, Vi, the first to have duty, gasped when she recognized the one vamp she knew, even though his appearance had been drastically altered.

Spike. Buffy’s former lover and the demon who had saved the world. His hair had been recently shorn but there was no mistaking the striking features of his gorgeous face. The black clothes and long leather coat were also a giveaway.

He chuckled as he drew closer to the cage. He had heard Vi’s intake of breath and increased heart rate.

“Cat’s out of the bag, eh pet?”

Determined not to let him get the best of her, Vi adopted a defensive stance, staying well away from the bars.

“Spike went up in flames in Sunnydale. I know what you are.”

“Do you now?” he purred, placing his hand on the cage bars and rattling it. “If I was the First would I be able to do that?”

“Spike? Is it really you?” Vi’s curiosity was stronger than her fear, but she still didn’t get to close.

“In the un-dead flesh,” he chuckled, giving the bars another rattle before releasing them.

“What’s all this rubbish, then?” she demanded, waving her arms about. “Have you gone evil again? And how the bloody hell did you make it out of the Hellmouth?”

“All good questions, ducks, but I’m not sharing answers just yet. You’ll see that your accommodations are more than adequate, if not posh, and you’ll be safe as houses here.”

Vi snorted. “Forgive me if I’m a bit skeptical. You’ve got a bunch of slayers in a cage in a warehouse full of vampires and you want us to think we’re safe.”

Spike shrugged and turned to walk away. “Believe what you want, but you’ll not be harmed, and I expect you to be out of there soon.”

“Buffy will have your hide for this,” she snapped.

“I sincerely hope so,” he whispered to himself. He walked to rest of the way to his quarters in silence hoping beyond hope that Buffy had taken the bait.

SLAYER TRAINING ACADEMY

Buffy had been right about the scene that met her when she returned to Council headquarters. The girls were panicked, the Watchers were in a dither, and witches from the Coven had attempted unsuccessful locator spells, indicating that wherever the slayers were they were being shielded by powerful magic. If they were still alive.

There were plans to set traps, use electronic surveillance, hit the demon scene for info, and the like. Anger simmered in her gut, giving her the fuel she needed to stay alert. Every plan was geared toward painting Spike, if it was even him, as the bad guy. She’d tried early on in the conversation to get them to stop making assumptions, but the need to identify a villain was strong and Spike fit the bill.

To make matters worse, Angel evidently had some supersonic jet at his disposal and was on his way here to “help.” And all Buffy wanted was to find Spike and talk to him. Rationally. And maybe kiss him.

When Angel arrived Buffy strong-armed him and Giles into the kitchen and demanded to know exactly what kind of game they’d been playing. Giles wasted no time in pinning the blame on the sheepish vamp.

“Did you really believe that this…this cockamamie plan was going to succeed?”

“You went along with this ‘cockamamie’ plan well enough, Giles. You wanted Spike as
far away from Buffy as I did.”

“Well, yes, but had you been truthful about the status of his soul I never would have agreed to deceive Buffy!”

“Who really knows with him, though? I would never trust Spike, ever, soul or not.”

Silence descended in the airy room as Buffy and Giles digested Angel’s vehement statement.

“And why is that, Angel?” Buffy asked softly.

“Because I know what he’s capable of. I’ve seen the destruction he’s wrought. And before you say it, yes, those are things I taught him. Things Angelus taught him.”

“But what about the soul?”

Angel chuckled, sounding very much like Angelus. “After all the years you’ve known me, do you really think the soul makes that much of a difference?” Buffy’s stomach gave a lurch and righteous anger chilled in her bones. She’d spent years rationalizing her love for Angel based on how completely separate he was from Angelus, and now he was going to give voice to one of her worst nightmares. “I had a hundred years to get used to living with my soul before I met you, Buffy. I made mistakes, I struggled, and I wasn’t perfect. Even now, I know you all don’t trust me. And Spike has only had his soul for what, a couple of years?”

“But that’s not what all this was about, was it Angel?” Buffy stepped into his space, arms crossed and prepared to blast him. “This was just about keeping us apart so you could have me, wasn’t it?”

His lack of response was all the confirmation she needed. And now she had to be crafty. She was even more certain that whatever Spike was doing, it was just to draw her out. But if she shared that with Giles and Angel they were bound to stop her from going to him.

“So let’s just leave it at this. I should have been told that he was back, and both of you were wrong to interfere. And all I want now is to find my slayers. Can we focus on that, please?” It was the right thing to say and there were hastily muttered apologies before they returned to the living room to formulate a rescue plan.

^^^^^^^^

The planning session slowed down as energy flagged late morning. Everyone needed to rest and the general consensus was if vampires were behind the kidnappings then they’d be sleeping, too.

When they broke for lunch Buffy managed to whisper in Lynn’s ear. The younger woman was eager to help Buffy and was able to contact two of the other girls without raising suspicion, and one by one they managed to discreetly disappear as dusk approached. Katya had printed out a map of the local area and they marked the places where the other girls had been last seen. Unfortunately Giles had done the same. But while he and Angel were focused on staying in the area, Buffy and her team were going the opposite way, hoping the kidnappers would do the same.

^^^^^^^^

They’d been out for about 30 minutes when the vampires struck. Buffy, her hair tucked completely beneath a black stocking cap, saw the attack from her perch on the roof above. From the soft light of a streetlamp she saw the vamps holding back, and it was obvious they were cutting out one of the girls from the group. Mission accomplished, they ran, the biggest of them with Katya slung over his shoulder, and Buffy followed. The other girls knew what to do and they strolled leisurely back to HQ making sure their stories were straight. They stopped for a snack, lurked around a few cemeteries looking for Giles’ teams, and generally lollygagged until they were sure they’d given Buffy enough time to put her plan in motion.

TBC

 

Originally posted at http://seasonal-spuffy.livejournal.com/271770.html