man in motion
by SoulVamp
The basement was dark, save the flickering of two lone candles, one of which was clasped tensely in Spike’s hands, with the other in those of his counterpart. Faith had a crossbow trained on the vampire. “You drop that and you’re dust,” she’d told him when Willow gave him the candle.
“Oh, yeah,” he’d sneered. “I’d hate to shorten my life by twenty minutes.
But he’d held it grudgingly, and somehow this bothered Faith. He has to know what we’re gonna do to him, she thought. So where’s the struggle?
From the center of a circle ringed with incense, Willow sat cross-legged and peaceful, chanting softly in Latin for a few minutes before her eyes flew open and trained on the vampire.
“Solve hoc vinculum reserandum!” she cried.
Across the room, Spike gripped his candle tighter, his knuckles whitening.
***
Upstairs, Buffy was folded into a small huddle, nearly hidden in the corner of the couch. “Why can’t I be down there?” she asked, her voice soft, quavering. “You don’t have to babysit me.”
Xander couldn’t meet her eyes. “I think they were afraid that if something happened… if it doesn’t end up working right…”
Buffy hugged her knees closer to her chest. “That’s exactly why I should be down there.”
Xander reached for her hand and squeezed it. “It’ll work,” he said. Buffy looked up at him, smiling gently, sadly, and squeezed his hand back.
When the thunderous crash sounded from the basement, Buffy sprang to her feet and dashed across the room for the door. Xander bolted up to stop her, but she was too quick. Taking the stairs two at a time, she tried in vain to see through the dimness to figure out what had happened.
Suddenly the lights clicked on, and Buffy squinted against the abrupt brightness to see Spike, Willow, and Faith gaping at a creature shaped somewhat like a man, but the shiny, blood-colored skin, yellow eyes, and mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth revealed it to be something else entirely.
The spell had worked, though. That much was obvious, because the creature was still wearing the same clothes it had been when it was still tethered to Spike. As Buffy observed the demon, her mind spun. This is their true form, she realized. This would be what a vampire looks like without its human side.
She turned to the others, even as the demon snarled and violently struggled against its ropes. She beamed at Spike, somewhat wild-eyed and in awe, withdrew a stake from her pocket, and handed it to him.
“I think this one is yours to slay,” she said.
A grateful smile spread across Spike’s face as he accepted the weapon. Standing up, he regarded the creature and slowly began to circle it.
“Well, well, well,” he said. “This is the Big Bad? This is the motherfucker what turned me into such an evil bastard?”
Spike cocked his head to one side and studied the demon, his eyes softening from their previous expression of somewhat gleeful hatred into one of almost detached pity. “Somehow, I thought… I dunno, I figured you’d be a spot more intimidating,” he said, crouching down to meet the creature at eye level. “Thought if I ever saw you… really saw you as you are, that you’d scare the shit out of me… but you don’t.” He shook his head, and the demon growled, struggling against its bonds.
“In the end,” Spike continued, standing up, “you’re really just rather sad.” He grasped the stake, hefting it in his left hand, and let it bounce on his palm, feeling the weight of the wood. “Thanks for the memories, mate,” he said with a smirk, “but I’m afraid you’ve worn out your welcome.”
Spike thrust the stake through the creature’s heart, and its already-hideous face contorted into agony, the mouth opening as if to scream, but no sound came. The demon was a pale mist of ash wafting through the air, and then…
It was nothing.
Spike whirled around, his eyes wide as he grinned at Buffy. "I'm still here!" he said. "Did him in, and I'm still here!"
Buffy hung up the phone and frowned slightly. This wasn’t part of the plan. The plan was to enroll Dawn in school, get a job, slay some vampires, and otherwise make a life for herself here in Cleveland. No, it wasn’t adventurous or interesting, but it was normal. Mostly. This new idea of Giles’s… that would very much be not of the norm.
Still, though, it might be pretty cool, and the scenery would certainly be more interesting than that of northern Ohio. It had only been a few days since the demon had been destroyed, but already things were becoming comfortable around the house. Kennedy was home from the hospital, Wes and Fred had gone back to LA, and of course there was Spike.
Buffy grinned to herself as she thought of him. She had already planned a surprise for him today, which Buffy knew would make him happy. This news, however… how would he take it?
Okay, fun thing first, other thing later, she decided.
She steeled herself with a deep breath, then swung open the bedroom door. Buffy's smile immediately fell as she stared open-mouthed at the scene before her.
"Spike!" Buffy rushed to his side and snatched the gift-wrapped box away from him, swatting at his hands. "Where did you find that?! Mitts off!"
"But it's got my name on it, luv," Spike said. "As for findin' it, nearly tripped me up sticking out halfway from under the bed."
"It wasn't halfway under the bed when I put it there," Buffy replied. "Are you sure you weren't getting snoopy?"
Spike grinned. "Maybe a trifle."
Buffy gave a dramatic sigh and handed the present back to him. "Fine, fine. Here. Happy belated... um... birthday or something."
He raised an eyebrow at her, taking the box and pulling at the ribbon. "Birthday's not for five months, Slayer," he said. "Either you're very late, or just a bit early."
Buffy sat down beside him on the bed and watched eagerly as Spike peeled the wrapping paper off and tossed it onto the floor. "Not your real birthday, silly," she explained. "Your, you know... 'not-dead-anymore' birthday."
"Ah, I see," he said. Spike pushed aside the tissue paper lining the inside of the box and blinked in surprise. "Where the hell did you find this?" he asked.
"Yes."
He turned to her. "Come again?"
"'Where the hell' is exactly right," Buffy said. "The Hellmouth. Um..." She lowered her eyes. "After everything happened, Robin and Faith went down to make sure we'd gotten everybody out that we could, and they brought it back with them. I found it just before you came back."
Spike withdrew the duster reverently and gazed at it before laying it down against the pillows of the bed and enveloping Buffy in a tight embrace. "Thank you," he said, his voice nearly breaking.
"Don't thank me yet," she said. "I have some news." Buffy took a deep breath and let the words tumble out in a rush. "Giles wants me to help him reassemble the Watcher's Council. In London. I want to go."
Spike released her and fixed his attention on the empty box, fiddling with the tissue paper. "Interesting," he replied quietly. "When would you be off, then?"
"Two days."
"Two... two days?!" he asked. His hands clenched into fists, and he stood up. "Two -- bloody hell, Buffy, when were you going to tell me?!"
"I only just found out now!" she countered. "We have to get started immediately if we're gonna do this right."
"I s'pose none of what went on as of late means a thing to you, then, that it?"
Wait, wait, he thinks... Oh, my gosh! Buffy began to giggle, her laughter swiftly turning hysterical. She doubled over and clutched her stomach, howling with amusement.
Spike folded his arms across his chest and narrowed his eyes at her. "What the devil is so bloody hilarious?"
Buffy was still laughing when she sprang from the bed and vaulted herself at Spike, knocking him to the floor. She rained kisses down on his face, finally settling on his mouth, which she tended to passionately until she felt him relax beneath her, arms winding around her waist and pulling her closer.
"Do you think I'd have agreed to go if you weren't coming with me?" she finally asked.
"You mean old Rupes gives us his blessing?"
"Not yet," Buffy admitted. "But I was all 'no Spike, no Buffy,' so he doesn't really have a choice, does he?" She leaned down and kissed him again.
"Well, then..." Spike murmured, sweeping her hair away from her face. "It's time I went home again after all. Might be fun. Get to show the niblet the sights and such. I'm in."
"Thank you," Buffy sighed. She snuggled herself against his chest.
"Y'know, I got a bit of a surprise for you as well, pet," Spike said, dropping a peck on her forehead. "Check the top drawer of your bureau."
Buffy drew back and looked at him quizzically, but Spike merely tilted his head toward the other side of the room. "Have a peek."
She walked to the bureau with slight trepidation. "There better not be a bunch of those springy snake things waiting to jump out at me," Buffy said. "If you give me a heart attack, you're in big trouble, honey."
Spike gave a hiccupy chuckle. "Honey?" he asked.
"Sweetie?"
"Er, let's work on that, shall we?"
Buffy giggled and opened the drawer, gasping when she saw the contents.
"What did you do, buy out the entire condom section of Walgreens?!" she squeaked.
Spike came up behind her and licked her earlobe, causing Buffy to jump slightly. "Well, yeah," he whispered.
***
The hotel was dark when Fred unlocked the door. Wes carried their bags inside, leaving them at the bottom of the staircase. He strode to a couch and stretched out on it. "I'm thoroughly knackered," he said. "God, what a bloody wretched time this has been."
Fred began to follow him, longing to wrap herself up in his arms, when a rapping noise made her stop, her eyes darting fearfully about the lobby. "Wesley?" she asked. "What was that?"
Wes sat up. "I think it's the front door there," he said. When Fred began to turn to answer it, he got up and steered her away. "No, let me," he said, opening it a crack and peering outside. "My God! Come in!" Fred heard Wesley shout excitedly. "We heard you --"
Wes's voice was silenced as the door swung open the rest of the way violently, sending him careening across the room, his back striking the wall hard. Fred cried out to him, moving toward his side when fingers gripped her neck and pulled her a foot off the floor.
She stared into familiar eyes, and she screamed.
"Gotta love consequences," Angelus said.
Fin