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Part 4
"That was probably the biggest scam that I've ever been involved with." Spike muttered to himself. He checked his watch. It was 1:00 p.m. He quickly looked out the window at the overcast sky. There was no trace of the sun.
Spike reached Sunnydale at 4:16 p.m. He grabbed the box of books and trinkets and headed into the bustling Magic Shop.
"Thank you! Come back and spend more money." Anya exclaimed.
"Anya , we've already had a discussion on the etiquette of retail." Xander started.
Spike slammed down his box and everyone jumped, including some customers.
"Spike? It's four in the afternoon. How come you're not . . ."
"Clouds you ninny." Spike replied as, everyone resumed their interrupted actions.
Giles walked over to Spike. He quickly looked at the contents of the box, quite pleased. Spike handed him two hundred dollars . Giles took it in shock.
Spike shook his head at the gesture . "I already took out my fee, Watcher. As I told you."
Giles scrunched his eyebrows inward and was about to say something when Buffy, Willow and Tara walked into the magic shop.
"Hey guys." Willow called out.
Spike examined Buffy. She was beautiful and smart and strong. What every man wants, or at least says that he wants. Today she looked like an average twenty-year old. No 'the-world-is-about-to-end' looks. But then again, there were relatively few daytime apocalypses.
"What are you doing here?" Buffy asked him.
"I brought the books, Slayer."
"You have some paint on your face ," Tara told him quietly . "Above your right eyebrow ," she added, pointing to her own face.
"Thanks wicca." Spike tried to rub off the paint but only ended up spreading it.
Buffy, Willow , and Tara began to giggle. Buffy took a napkin out of her bag , dabbed it on her tongue , and wiped the stain off of his face .
Spike could feel her every breath. Her hair smelled like sweet berries and her perfume invaded his nostrils as she stepped closer to remove the last of the paint off his forehead. He was completely enthralled by her. A part of him hated the deep love that he felt for her. He knew it would lead to nothing but his heartache.
"What the hell were you doing to get this stuff on you?" Buffy asked, backing away to get a better look at his face. The blue paint stained the tissue.
Spike growled and stormed out of the Magic Shop.
"What did I do?" Was the last thing he heard Buffy say before he took off.
It had been nearly six days since Buffy had last seen Spike. She was beginning to wonder if he had left Sunnydale. As soon as she finished her patrol, she went over to his crypt. The Slayer knocked on the door , but there was no answer. Buffy gave the door a hard shove and it opened onto a pitch-black crypt.
"Go away." She heard the British accent grumble.
"Spike, why are you here in the d . . ." Buffy tripped over something.
"Bloody hell." Spike gasped as the Slayer's boot connected with his ribs.
"Sorry." She cringed.
Buffy's eye adjusted to the dark. The moonlight shone in through the doorway. She saw Spike huddled on the floor, a blanket covering him completely. From memory, Buffy felt for the table near his tv and found a box of matches and three candles. She lit them and looked at Spike who lay with his back to her.
"Why are you lying on the floor?" Buffy asked , walking back towards him.
"Go away Sla . . ." He gasped in pain holding his head, then his body began to shake violently.
"Ohmygod." Buffy knelt beside him and pulled the blanket away. She gasped as the sight . "You're sick."
Spike's face was a ghastly white – even given his vampire state – and there were black circles underneath his bloodshot eyes. Violent chills wracked his frail body.
Buffy picked up his head and placed it gently in her lap, holding the vampire until his shaking stopped.
"Slayer, you should leave." Spike demanded weakly.
"No way. Have you eaten?" Buffy stroked his short platinum hair. Internally, she berated herself for the question, uncomfortable with the thought that she had some sort of feelings for the blond vampire.
"Yes. Now go."
"Liar." Buffy placed his head down gently and went over to his fridge. Opening it, she saw the untouched containers of blood. She grabbed one, switched on the generator, and stuck the container in the microwave. When it was finished, she hurried back to Spike.
His eyes were closed and he was completely still. Buffy proceed to prop up his head onto her lap and held the container to his mouth. He sipped it slowly. He hadn't even finished it when another spasm took control of his body. The violent action caused Buffy to spill the blood all over her jacket and shirt.
"Shit," she hissed. Spike didn't even hear her. His head was throbbing. He felt like an iron rod was being hammered through his head. He curled up into the foetal position , forgetting about the blood.
"Is it the chip?" Buffy asked worriedly .
Buffy reached for Spike, but he recoiled away from her.
"I'm going to get Giles."
"Now who in the bloody hell?" Giles walked down the stair of his condo to the sound of incessant knocking.
"Maybe it's your Slayer, Rupert. Do tie up your robe. I'm sure that she doesn't want to see you in your boxers." Olivia called out, perched on the top of the stairs.
Giles opened the door to see Buffy covered in blood. His heart and his stomach sunk to the ground.
"Buffy?" He said, reaching out his hands to catch her.
"Giles , something is wrong with Spike." Buffy started as she brushed past him into the living room. She spun around, noticing the concern on his face. Her gaze followed his to her ruined top . "It's not my blood Giles."
"What?"
"It's not my blood . I was trying to feed Spike. He's sick Giles. Really sick. I think the chip is going bad or something."
"Okay. I'll go change." Giles hurried up the stairs as Olivia walked down.
"Are you all right, Buffy?" she asked concerned.
"Yeah, it's Spike . . ." Buffy voice drifted off.
"You like him, don't you?"
"NO! That is a major NO. Hell no. Not in THAT way." Buffy answered quickly . "Plus he's a vampire. I've sworn them off. Plus he has no soul."
"I know he's a vampire, but he is very attractive. And the two of you - from what Ripper told me - have a sort of history." Olivia prodded.
"Yeah, the history of him trying to kill me and my friends and . . . You're ready Giles." Buffy said, relived as he came running down the stairs. He nodded his head as he grabbed several books from his bookcase. He kissed Olivia quickly on the forehead and they left.
Spike was still lying in the same spot where Buffy had left him when she and Giles reached the crypt.
"Spike?"
"Watcher, there's nothing you can do so just lea . . ." Spike grabbed his head and hissed as pain engulfed his brain and shot through his nervous system. Three seconds later, his body started to convulse again.
"Good lord!" Was all that Giles could say as he saw Spike thrashing around on the floor. Giles pulled Buffy outside.
"I'm not really sure there's anything that I can do for him , Buffy."
"But Giles . . ."
"Buffy, there's a doctor that I know . . . I'll call him, but he lives in Salem, Oregon . It'll take him a couple of hours to get here."
"Well, can't you do something now?"
"Like what? He's a vampire . I don't really have any vital signs to look for and I don't know the first thing about his Initiative chip or even how it can or does affect his brain."
"Fine Giles, go and call the doctor . I'll stay with him. Please, call my mom for me."
"Very well, Buffy. I do have some morphine. Here." He handed her a yellow medical container. Buffy raised her eyebrow. "Don't ask. It should at least knock him out for a while."
"Thanks Giles." Buffy went into the crypt.
Part 5
Spike woke up the next morning feeling like he'd been run over by truck. He heard an incessant thumping and felt something warm next to him. He turned to his right to see Buffy sleeping next to him on the floor of his crypt. He tried to remember last night. She had given him two white pills that had knocked him out. Spike sat up groggily and looked closer at Buffy. Her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, and she was using her jacket as a pillow. Spike gently replaced the blanket over her and stood. It was daytime; probably around 10:00 a.m. his internal demon told him.
He walked over to his tv and was about to turn it on when a metallic blue piece of paper on top of the tomb caught his eye. Spike walked over towards the royal blue, almost purple looking, envelope. Spike wondered if it was the Slayer's, but it was his name that was hand-written across it in gold pen: " William." Spike looked at Buffy, then again at the envelope. He opened it slowly to find a note inside.
'You have been restored'
Spike had no clue what 'restored' meant. Was he human?
"Oh God no." Spike groaned.
"Huh?" Buffy said groggily.
"Nothing Slayer. I think that you should go home to your Mum and such. Remember Glory and her looking for that key." Spike said, needing her out the door so that he could think.
"Rude much? Buffy grumbled. "How's the head?" she asked as she straightened from the floor. Look at this ungrateful bastard. Last night he was dying. Again. And this morning he wants to throw me out. Wait, he wanted to do that last night too. I really like abuse.
"It's fine thanks to those little white pills you gave me. What were they?"
"Just stuff. I better go." Buffy threw off the blanket and grabbed her coat. She looked back at Spike who had his back to her looking at something.
"Thanks Buffy." Spike said quietly. Buffy smiled when she heard him but didn't reply as she took off out the door.
Part 6
As soon as sunset, Spike headed to the liquor store. He had fully recovered from last night's ordeal. Plus, thanks to some careful experimentation with sunlight, he had reassured himself that he was still undead.
Spike paid for his selection of whisky, scotch, rum, tequila, vodka, and wine and headed out the door.
Spike was nearly two blocks away from store when he heard whispering behind him. Spike smiled, the wonders of vampire hearing.
"You grab the liquor and I'll take care of him."
"You gonna kill him?
"Of course not. But if he doesn't give up the liquor, I'm a do, what I gotta do."
"Yeah. There's four us and one a him. He wouldn't be that stupid."
"Take the coat, before you gut him Trev. I want it."
Spike kept walking. He would walk all the way to Buffy's house if he had to. No, the magic shop. That's where I should go. Spike rounded the corner.
'You have been restored,' a voice whispered through the air. Spike stopped dead in his tracks, a smile playing on his face. "You have been restored."
The would-be assailants stopped in their tracks as they saw Spike unexpectedly waiting for them as they turned the corner.
"It's now guys . I think he's on to us."
"Hey you! We want your stuff that you got there."
Spike smiled, "Why don't you try and take it."
"Oh , you want to do this the hard way."
"You ain't gonna survive this, pretty boy." The clicking of switchblades cut through the air. Three, if Spike's hearing was correct. Spike gently placed the bag on the ground, and took off his duster and laid it next to the bag.
"You are a fool, blondie." The first one said. At 5'7", he was shorter than Spike, but weighed about fifty pounds more than the vampire.
He charged at Spike with full force. Spike stepped out of the way and then lashed his foot out , connecting with the man's ankle. The thief lost his balance and fell to the ground behind Spike. His friend growled and took a swing.
Spike grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his assailant's back, spinning him in the direction of his fallen friend. Spike felt a sharp pain in his back as a third man stabbed him in his lower back. He pulled it out and was about to stab Spike again when the vampire - in a blink of an eye - turned and grabbed the man's wrist. Spike's attacker watched in horror as his own knife was turned against him and he stabbed himself in the stomach. The vampire smiled as the bleeding man's face turned white in fear, becoming even paler as he took in Spike's demonic face.
"Holy shit." The man called out as he slumped to the ground in front of Spike.
"You asshole." One of the guys behind him yelled.
"No, Trevor don't . . ." The stabbed man called out, but it was too late. Trevor, knife in hand, lunged at the vampire. Spike turned, game face on, and Trevor gasped. The vampire grabbed Trevor by his throat. The injured thieves on the ground watched in horror as their six foot-two, 225 pound friend was lifted off the ground like a rag doll while Trevor slashed uselessly with his knife.
"I have been restored," were the last words Spike said before he crushed Trevor's throat. Blood gushed from Trevor's mouth as his veins popped from the pressure.
Spike smiled as he heard the only non-attacker run off into the night. The vampire let go of Trevor, dropping the body to the ground. Spike ignored the rapidly fading stab victim, and walked to the thief's whose ankle he had crushed. Spike knelt to the ground next to the injured man.
"Was it worth it?"
"Wh . . .what?" The man looked at Spike as his human mask returned.
"Was your friend's death - and yours - worth a couple of bottles of liquor and coat?" Spike looked at him .
"What? What are you? Death?" The man was going into shock.
"What's your name?"
"Karl." The man looked at Spike confused.
"Well goodbye, Karl." Spike's demonic face returned as he sunk his teeth into the man's neck. Karl gurgled in pain, but was too afraid to scream. The fear only made his blood taste sweeter to Spike.
Spike's demon smiled as he drained his victim. Now onto new things. A little revenge on some old acquaintances.
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