Love Brings You, Chapter 9/14

Title: Love Brings You
Author: maryperk73703
Season: 5
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Buffy’s talk with Glory’s dying monk has surprising revelations.

Chapter 9

Drusilla hummed under her breath. She plucked at Miss Edith’s dress while she listened to the clackety-clack of the train wheels traveling along the rails. “Don’t worry. Soon we’ll be with our darling, deadly boy, and we’ll tell him all about who he really is. Stupid monks thought they could hide if from me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Spike stepped into the back of the Magic Box. The whole town was buzzing about the passenger train murders. Spike knew exactly what ‘severe trauma to the throats’ meant.

Vampires.

Spike had nosed around a bit, and he’d found about two out of town vamps holed up in an abandoned warehouse downtown. He hadn’t had a chance to check them out himself. So, he didn’t know how much of a threat they posed.

Spike paused at the door to the front of the store when he heard Buffy and Giles speaking.

“Her name is Glory,” Buffy said. “She’s a Hell-God here for the Key. I will do everything in my power to protect it.”

“I know you will, Buffy,” Giles said in a soft voice. “I have the decoy ready. What do you want to do with it?”

“For now, I’ll wear it.”

Spike had no idea what the ‘Key’ was or what it would open. He just knew that if it was important to Buffy, it was important to him. If she was going to protect it, he would too. He moved back to the door to the alley, and he slammed it to announce his ‘arrival’.

Spike clomped towards the front of the store. “Slayer,” he called out. “I found out about a couple of out-of-towners that might have had a hand in those killin’s on the train.” He stepped through the door to find Buffy and Giles sitting at the table.

Later, after Buffy and he had dispatched the two idiot vampires and decided that they hadn’t been the ones responsible for the massacre, Spike felt a familiar presence in Sunnydale. He parted company with the Slayer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Dawn stopped and looked around in confusion. Instead of being on Revello Drive, like she was supposed to be after walking home from school, she was at a warehouse near the train station.

“Weird,” Dawn whispered to herself. “Why am I here?”

Dawn turned to retrace her steps, but instead she started looking for a way into the warehouse. There had to be something inside that needed her attention.

Dawn stepped cautiously into the empty, dusty warehouse. She cleared her throat. “I’m not some defenseless little girl,” Dawn called out into the gloom.

“Look at the pretty little liar girl.” Drusilla danced out of the shadows, cradling Miss Edith like a baby.

Dawn hissed. “I should have known it was you, Grandma Drusilla. I’ll have you know your Sith mind tricks won’t work on me.”

“You hear that, Miss Edith,” Drusilla giggled. “Liar Girl is a know-it-all.”

“Why are you in town, Grandma Drusilla?” Dawn asked. “I know what you’ve been up to. Daddy told me everything.”

“Yes, Grandmummy is now my baby,” Drusilla crooned. “She’s being a bad baby, just the way I like them. Messing with Daddy’s head soon. You’re not the only grandbaby.”

“Connor,” Dawn replied. “Yeah, I’ve met him. Why are you here in Sunnydale? You’re not going to do something stupid, are you?”

“You mean like tell my Spikey how beautiful his pretty green glow is,” Drusilla asked in an faux-innocent voice. “I would never do that. I swear by the hair on my chinny chin-chin.”

Dawn shook her head. “Somehow I don’t believe that. If you tell him anything. And I mean anything about who he really is or who I really am, a very bad, no good bitch will hurt him. You don’t want that, do you?”

“You need to put a dollar in the swear jar, Liar Girl.” Drusilla waggled a finger at Dawn. “My sweet dark prince needs to know all about his burning baby fish, and why the Abomination is after him.”

“We need to let Buffy protect him. That’s her job.”

“What is your job, Liar Fish Girl?” Drusilla peered into Dawn’s face as if she was trying to see the young woman’s soul.

“Bait. I’m the bait.” Dawn crossed her arms over her chest. “If you tell Spike anything, I will hunt you down and make you very sorry, Grandma Drusilla.” A very evil smirk crossed the young woman’s face. “I will be talking to the pixies later. If you’re a bad girl, I’ll tell them not to talk to you anymore. And … and I’ll shave your eyebrows off!”

The warehouse door slammed open, and Spike swaggered in. He glared at Dawn when he saw her. “Does your sis know you’re here, Nibblet? She’ll have a cow and stake old Spike if she knew you were talking to Dru.”

“I was just about to go.” Dawn turned to hiss at Drusilla. “You better keep your mouth shut or else.” She marched out of the warehouse whistling the Imperial March.

Spike licked his lips. “Hello, Dru.”

“My dear sweet dark prince,” Drusilla cooed. “You’ve been a very naughty puppy. I’ve come to make everything right again.”

Spike shook his head. “I don’t need you to make everything right again, luv.”

“Oh, but you do, sweet Spike. You’re off your feed. Tin soldiers put funny little knickknacks in your brain. Can’t hunt. Can’t hurt. Can’t kill.”

“Maybe, but I’ve got a sweet little set up here in SunnyD. Decent digs.” Spike shrugged. “You dumped me, Dru. I’ve moved on.”

“I know. I can still see the Slayer floating all around you. Laughing at me.” Drusilla pouted. “You’re covered in her. I look at you. All I see is the Slayer and the pretty green light.”

Spike gave Drusilla a suspicious look. “The pretty green light?”

Drusilla started to dance around the room, humming to Miss Edith. “Pretty Spike isn’t my Spike anymore. He’s her Slayer.” She snarled, and her face shifted. “Lies. All lies. The pixies say that he was never my Spike.”

“Yes, I was. Until you tossed me aside for antlers and slime,” Spike said.

Drusilla tossed Miss Edith aside, and she rushed at Spike with clawed hands. “No. They picked you out for her. First the monks, then the soldiers. Doing everything to make you taste like ashes.”

Spike sidestepped out of Drusilla’s way. He knocked her upside the head, and she went sprawling across the floor.

Drusilla rolled to her feet. She hissed at Spike. “I don’t even care if Liar Girl takes them away. They’re liars too. I didn’t make you, but I can unmake you.”

“What are you blatherin’ on about?” Spike was confused and it showed. “You followed me and turned me. I was there.”

“Fake! Fake! Fake!” Drusilla clutched at her head. “You are nothing but a fake. You’re not even a real vampire.”

“You’re really losing it these days, Dru.” Spike backed away. “You need to leave town before the Slayer finds you. I guarantee that she won’t be as tolerant as me.”

“The Slayer! You nasty disgusting soul mate, picked by the monks to hide the green glowiness. The god from Hell wants you to open her lock.” Drusilla screamed. “Your blood will flow and the world will be glorious.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Drusilla looked up at Spike, and he could see — for the first time ever — sanity shining through. “You are not who you think you are, William. You’re not even who I think you are. You are the Key and you belong to the Slayer.”

“I’m the one that the Slayer is protecting? I’m the stupid, bloody Key?” Spike growled. “When I get my hands on Buffy, I’m going to …”

Drusilla chortled. “There he is. The killer born to slash and bash and bleed like beautiful poetry. No little tinker toy ever could stop you from flowing.” Then, Drusilla let out an anguished screech. “Bad pixies. Not the tinker toy. The spark. Nasty, dirty spark.”

“Don’t you go comparin’ me with Gramps. There’s no gypsy shovin’ a soul into me,” Spike denied.

“No, not like my Daddy. Like a Slayer, you are. Slayer’s mustn’t be turned. They don’t play well with others when they’re filled with nasty, dirty sparks every one of them.”

“That’s balderdash,” Spike grunted. “I do not have a soul. I’m a vampire, through and through.”

“You just keep telling yourself that.” Drusilla marched over to pick up Miss Edith from where she landed earlier. “I wanted us to be a family again. You and me and Daddy and Darla.”

“Darla’s dead, pet. Your Daddy staked her years ago.”

“It’s like lollipops at the circus. Grandmummy has returned and now she’s your sister. Daddy isn’t ever coming back to me.” Drusilla looked disgruntled. “He set us on fire. Daddy is a bad doggy.” She marched out of the warehouse, leaving a slightly confused Spike behind.

Spike lifted his eyes to the ceiling. “Stupid soddin’ Powers. What the hell are you doing screwin’ with my unlife?”

There were no answers.

“Wonder if Buffy knows that I’m the Key,” Spike muttered. “Probably does. Explains why she’s being so damned nice to me.”

Spike strolled out of the warehouse into the cool evening, going over his conversation with Drusilla in his head. After a few steps, he came to a sudden halt. “What did Dru mean by soul mate?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Harmony stepped into the crowded train car. She’d heard about the passenger massacre a couple of days before while looking for Spike at the Alibi Room. Harmony was tired of being alone and ignored. She was going to go somewhere where she’d be appreciated.

Paris, maybe.

Or Seattle.

Anywhere with great shopping was on Harmony’s list.

Harmony walked to the back of the train car. She sat across the aisle from a dark haired woman in a long dress and holding a doll. After Harmony arranged her luggage, the woman leaned over and whispered, “Hear the pretty music? It’s a dirge for a funeral.” She looked towards the other passengers. “Their funeral. They will taste so yummy in our tummies.”

Harmony realized that the woman was a vampire too. She smiled. “Yes. Yes, they will.”

 

Originally posted at http://seasonal-spuffy.livejournal.com/539217.html