Summary: Spike stops a warlock's spell, inadvertantly getting himself into deep trouble. Will Buffy be able to accept the changes in him? And what are they going to do about Glory?
Rating: PG-13
Spike dashed into the Magic Box under a smoldering blanket. "'lo, all," he said as nonchalantly as a person stomping on a burning blanket can.
Willow looked up from the book she was reading. "Hey, Spike. You're up kinda early."
The vampire shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. Thought I might be useful if I was awake." He returned Tara's shy greeting with a smile and waved absently at Giles and Anya. "So what are we workin' on?"
It was a little more than not being able to sleep, of course. He actually hadn't been able to catch more than a few hours at a time for weeks now. He'd been up till nearly dawn watching Ben's grave, making sure no one came for the body. He should have been able to sleep past sunset, but the recurring dreams had haunted him, and so he'd come for the distraction as much as anything else.
"We're looking up resurrection spells," Willow explained eagerly. "It's all really interesting. Whoever they've got to do it has to be really powerful. That is, if they really want to bring Glory back, and not a zombie, you know."
"I-it's all dark magics," Tara said quietly. "Who-whoever they've got can't be very nice."
Giles had wandered up to the table, leaving Anya to look after the cash register. "You said last night that you might know who has been recruited, Spike. Did you recognize the name?"
The vampire glanced up at the Watcher and frowned. "Yeah, but hardly sounds like him. Bloke I'm thinkin' of's just this little old guy. But his name's Doc, an' he's got a reputation when it comes to resurrection spells. Could be the same one."
Giles nodded. "Do you think you could find him? If he is the one, you and Buffy might be able to stop him without waiting until tomorrow night."
Spike shrugged. "Dunno. But it's worth a shot. Where is the Slayer, anyway?"
"She had a meeting at Dawnie's school," Willow offered. "I think both of them should be here soon, though." The two witches exchanged a glance when Spike brightened imperceptibly. Now that they knew his true feelings, it was pretty obvious that he had it bad.
"That's good," he mumbled, trying to sound as though it didn't matter, even as his hand wandered to his cheek, touching the spot she'd kissed.
The bell over the door of the shop jingled, and they all turned to see Dawn and Buffy walk in, neither one of them looking very happy. "Ah, hello, Buffy. Dawn," Giles greeted them. Looking at the Slayer he asked, "Did you get it done?"
"Yeah. Dropped everything but the poetry." Buffy shot Spike a pointed glance. "Because I'm all about the poetry."
Looking slightly amused, he said, "Never said you weren't, pet."
Buffy almost smiled, nodded a greeting to the two witches, and then turned to Giles. "Can we talk for a minute?" At his nod, she looked at her younger sister. "Dawn, do your homework."
She followed Giles back toward the training room. Spike frowned. He could smell the tension, and just a touch of fear from the Slayer, which didn't make him at all happy. "What's up, Bit?" he asked in an undertone.
"We had to talk to the principal," Dawn muttered sullenly. "She's overreacting."
Spike gave her a pointed look. "Would you like to share with the rest of the class?"
"Not funny, Spike," she snapped. Dawn pulled out her geometry homework and then groaned. "I just don't get this."
Willow scooted her chair over closer to Dawn. "Let me see," she said. "Oh, geometry. Xander had the worst trouble with that class. Here, let me show you." She quickly began demonstrating the differences in triangles, and Spike looked over at Tara.
Tara was the one he didn't quite get. She was the quiet one, but he knew very well that still waters ran deep, and he had a feeling that she saw a lot more than she ever let on. He was about to say something to her, when Willow said, "Spike can help."
He looked at the red-head suspiciously. "Help with what?" They were still trying to cajole him into acting out a human triangle when Buffy came out. The vampire could see the stiffness of her posture, and unlike the others, he could hear what she was muttering under her breath. Apparently, whatever had happened at Dawn's school had really jarred her.
"I thought I told you to do your homework, Dawn," Buffy snapped.
Dawn's head shot up, a hurt look on her face. "I am. I was. Willow was helping me."
"Dawn-" Buffy's voice held a warning.
Willow stepped in, trying to play peacemaker. "We were just trying to explain the different triangles, Buffy. Really."
Buffy hesitated ever so slightly. "Fine, but I think it might be better if Dawn does her homework at home."
Willow stared at her, seeming to realize that something was seriously wrong. "Are you sure, Buffy? I could help if you want to stay."
"No, I think we should both go home." Buffy looked over at Spike. "You want to meet me tonight?"
Spike nodded hesitantly. He could still smell the fear on her. "Sure, Slayer. Slight change of plans, though. You want me to come to the house?"
She nodded, and then motioned to Dawn. "Let's go."
"This is so not fair," Dawn muttered under her breath angrily, stomping out the door ahead of Buffy.
The vampire watched as they left, frowning slightly. He didn't like the look of things.
~~~~~
Spike spent most of the day with the witches helping (aka distracting) them while they researched resurrection spells. Spike had, to his astonishment, discovered that he very much liked both of them, and not just because they were connected to Buffy. Perhaps it was because they both seemed to like him; he wasn't quite sure.
Once the sun had set, he took off for the Summers' residence, deciding to check Ben's grave on the way. He wanted to be certain that the body hadn't gone anywhere as long as they were going to be looking into other leads. It probably would have been a good idea to have the witches, or even the Whelp watch the grave while he and Buffy checked out Doc's place. But Buffy had other things on her mind and obviously hadn't thought about it, and Spike had Buffy on his mind.
And then he saw the grave, open, with all their carefully replaced dirt scattered everywhere. "Bloody hell," he snarled, and took off running for the Slayer's place.
"We've got a problem," he announced as he stalked into the house, not even bothering to knock.
Buffy glanced up at him from where she was seated on the couch in the living room. "Well, hello to you too, Spike," she said sourly.
He stared at her, not quite knowing how to interpret the mood she was obviously in. Over a century of living, and he still hadn't figured out women. "The body's gone."
The Slayer sat up straight. "What do you mean, 'the body's gone?'"
"The body," he replied impatiently. "Ben's body. You know, the one they need for that blasted resurrection spell? It's gone. Went by the graveyard on the way over here, and somebody's already taken it."
"Great," Buffy muttered. "Just great. Exactly what I needed today. A missing body, a potentially resurrected Hellgod, and social workers breathing down my neck. Perfect."
Spike stared at her. He got the body and the god part, the meanings there were pretty obvious, but he wasn't so sure about the social workers. "Huh?"
She glanced over at him. "Sorry. When did they take the body?"
He hesitated, still trying to puzzle out what was going on, and then he shrugged. "Dunno. Had to have been some time today though. I stayed till dawn last night, an' I went by not that long after sunset."
"I thought you said graverobbing was a nighttime sport," Buffy accused.
Spike raised his hands in a gesture of defense. "Don't blame me, Slayer. I stayed last night, I went by tonight, I did my part. Daylight stakeouts aren't a possibility for me."
Her face softened a little. "I know, Spike. I'm sorry I snapped. This hasn't been the best day." Spike was still trying to get over the fact that she'd apologized, when she continued. "Okay, we've got a missing body. That means we either need to find out what they'll need and keep them from getting it, or we need to figure out who's doing it, and stop them."
"Already there, Slayer," Spike replied easily. "The guy who's doin' the spell, Doc, I think I know where we can find him. I have a pretty good idea anyway."
Buffy nodded. "All right. Let me get my jacket, and we can go."
"You want to wait until someone can get here to watch Dawn? I think Red and Glinda are still at the Magic Box."
Buffy shook her head. "She should be fine on her own for a little while. I'll call Giles and let him know what's going on, and he can send someone over. It shouldn't take too long for one of the gang to get here." She left to get her jacket and make the call while Spike waited for her by the door. It still seemed odd to be inside her house without Joyce there to offer him a cuppa. He figured it had to be that much worse for the Slayer and her sister. Joyce would be missed for a long time to come.
"Let's go," Buffy stated, heading out the door, not even looking behind her to see if he'd follow.
Spike managed to keep up with the Slayer's angry strides easily enough. He was waiting for her to realize that he knew where they were going while she didn't. After a couple blocks, she stopped and looked back at him. "Okay, Spike. Where are we going again?"
He cocked his head to the side. "Sure you don't want to tell me what's wrong, luv?" Buffy simply looked at him, unable or unwilling to explain. He sighed. "Fine, then. It's this way." They had been going in basically the right direction; if they hadn't he would have stopped her earlier. But Spike still remembered the scent of fear on her earlier that day, and he broached the subject again, wondering if he was just being stupid for wanting to know so badly.
"I know everything isn't fine, Buffy." Spike glanced over at her again. "Tell me what's wrong."
There was a note of pleading in his tone, and Buffy couldn't help asking. "Why does it matter so much to you?"
"Because you matter to me," he said reproachfully. "You should know that by now."
Heaven help her, she did know it. It was hard to miss with him always around, telling her with his eyes, if not his voice, that he loved her. Not fair, she wanted to cry. Not fair that Angel hadn't loved her this much, not enough to stay. Not fair that his curse made it impossible for them to be together. Not fair that she hadn't been able to love Riley, to give him what he needed. Why on earth did it have to be Spike? And why on earth did she have to be falling for him? Because at this point she could admit that the friendly feelings she had for him were rapidly becoming just a little more than that.
She sighed, knowing that every time she used him as a sounding board, every time she told him what was going on before she told her friends, she was letting him that much further into her life. "Dawn's principal wanted to talk to me about the fact that she's been skipping classes. And her grades are falling, which makes sense since she's never there."
Spike frowned, trying to see things from the Slayer's point of view. Dawn was a teenager, therefore Dawn should be in school. Skipping classes, while not necessarily right up there with murder, was bad. "Wouldn't tell the Niblet this," he began hesitantly, "but she's been through a lot recently. Could just be a stage she's goin' through."
"Which is what I said," Buffy replied. "Unfortunately, that really doesn't matter when they're talking about legal guardianship. Basically the principal warned me that if I can't make Dawn go to school, they're going to take her away from me."
"Oh." Spike wasn't quite sure what to say about that. It didn't seem right, somehow, them threatening that kind of thing.
"Yeah, oh," Buffy said glumly. "And of course Dawn isn't helping, because she's still talking about how she isn't real and that she shouldn't have to go to school. I don't think she's coping very well either, you know, with friends and stuff."
Spike was feeling more than a little out of his league at this point, not sure of what to say to her to make it better. Not sure that he could make it better. So he just listened, and finally said, "Anything I can do, luv. You know that."
Buffy smiled at him. "I know."
Then they were at Doc's place, and there was no more time to say the things they might have liked to say. Unfortunately, while both were in the mood for a little violence, it didn't look like they were going to get any. Doc had cleared out, though from what Spike could tell, he'd left in a hurry, and there were more than a few things he'd left behind. "What now?" Spike asked.
Buffy frowned. "I guess we need to get this stuff back to Giles. He might be able to make some sense out of it, figure out what they're planning exactly. We need to find out where they're doing this. I don't want to have to face Glory again if I can help it."
"Don't blame you, pet," he replied, grabbing one of the boxes. "Let's go then."
Willow and Tara were at the Magic Box when she and Spike got back, looking a little frantic. "Buffy!" Willow stood when they entered. "Dawn's gone."
The Slayer's eyes widened. "Where?"
"I don't know," Willow said. "Tara and I headed over there as soon as Giles got your call. By the time we got there, Dawn was gone. It looked like someone forced the door."
Buffy shook her head. "But who? And when? There must have been like what, twenty minutes in between when we left and you got there?"
"They were watchin' the house," Spike said dully. "Bloody hell, I can't believe I didn't see them, didn't sense them at least."
"It's not your fault," Buffy snapped, more out of anger at herself than him. She'd had similar thoughts, and felt that it was her fault for not waiting for someone to get there. "Dammit. Where's Giles?"
"Right here," her Watcher replied, coming out of the back room. "I just called Xander and Anya. They should be here shortly."
"Great," Buffy said. "We have a missing body, a missing demon, and a missing Dawn."
"You think they're connected?" Spike asked.
Giles pulled his glasses off to clean them. "It seems a bit too coincidental to not be." He frowned and looked over at Spike. "How are you at tracking?"
Spike blinked. "You asking me if I can follow the Bit's scent?" At Giles' nod, he hesitated. "Dunno," he confessed. "'m not a bloodhound, but if the trail's fresh enough, maybe." Spike was reluctant to finish his thought, but continued anyway. "More scared she is, easier it'll be to find her. Fear's about like blood to a vampire. Not quite so easy to trace, but it helps."
Buffy breathed out quickly. "I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I guess we have to hope that Dawn's scared silly then." She turned to the witches and Giles. "Look, go through the stuff that we brought back. Hopefully that'll help us figure out what's going on with the resurrection spell. We have at least until tomorrow night on that one. Spike and I will try to find Dawn. Staying here isn't going to do us any good right now."
Giles nodded reluctantly. "I agree. Finding Dawn has to be our first priority. If you can't manage it, however, I'd like you both to come back here immediately."
"Done," Buffy said. "Let's go, Spike."
They went back to the house on Revello Drive, where Spike took a deep breath, trying to find the scent. He frowned slightly and sniffed again, while Buffy watched worriedly. They had no other way to find Dawn other than Spike's abilities, and she gave a relieved sigh when he nodded decidedly. "This way."
Buffy watched him as he followed the trail, his lean form almost cat-like as he moved, sometimes almost running, sometimes moving more slowly. He wasn't wearing the duster much anymore, she realized. Knowing how he'd gotten it, Buffy could understand why. It was that missing coat that made her realize how deep the change in him went, however. She'd seen faint signs of change before the curse, but he would never have considered not wearing the duster, not for a moment.
Finally, he slowed down, pausing outside a construction yard. "That's where they took her," he whispered.
Buffy looked around, and she could see the scabby minions moving around. "Can you tell where?"
"Not without going in there," he replied. "Not enough cover and too much activity for that right now."
Buffy had to agree. Sneaking in was not going to be fun. Or, at least, it could turn out very unpleasantly for the both of them if they were caught. "Still, if Dawn's in there." she trailed off, and Spike nodded.
"Can't help but think they wanted her for something," he agreed. "Better to get her out of there now maybe."
"Inside there," Buffy said quietly, pointing to the only building on the premises that was actually built, and really the only place to secure someone.
Spike nodded, and they circled the site until they could find a hole in the chain link fence. He held it back for her so she could duck through and then followed quickly. Buffy went from shadow to shadow, trying to remain unseen as Spike watched her back. The Slayer had to admit it was nice to have Spike there. She felt safer.
They made their way to the building, and when Buffy peeked in one of the windows she saw no sign of her sister. "I don't see her," she hissed.
"We'll have to get inside," he replied, his lips barely touching her ear. "The window, there." He pointed up, towards an open window, and Buffy shook her head reluctantly. "Someone should tell Giles and the others where we are."
"You go, luv," he murmured. "I'll grab the Niblet."
"Spike-"
"You go," he insisted. "I'll meet you back at the shop." When Buffy still hesitated, he grabbed her by the shoulder. "If I don't make it, you'll need to come with backup. Go back to the Magic Box. If Dawn and I aren't there in an hour, you know what to do."
Buffy searched Spike's eyes, trying to understand why he was suddenly suicidal. What she saw was complete assurance that if he couldn't handle it, she could. "Fine. We'll wait an hour, but no more." Hesitantly, she touched his cheek. "Be careful."
"Of course." Spike watched her go, knowing he'd done the right thing. The Slayer would be able to get her Watcher and her friends to come without question, whereas they would be much more reluctant to listen to him. Besides, if he did run into trouble, he was more likely to survive than the Slayer.
He waited until he was sure she was gone and then opened the window further, trying not to make a sound. Pulling himself through and dropping down, he crept quietly through the building, trying to catch the Bit's scent. She was close, he could tell, and scared to death. But he couldn't smell her blood, and that was a good sign.
Spike found the room Dawn was in by trial and error, and when she saw him, her eyes lit up and she opened her mouth to speak. He gave her a quick shake of the head, and then went to work freeing her hands. "You came," she whispered joyfully. "Where's my sister?"
"Getting help," the vampire hissed. "We're s'posed to meet her back at the shop. What happened?"
Dawn shook her head. "Some demons came in, right after you left, and grabbed me. I tried to fight back, but there were too many of them."
"Shh," he comforted. "I'm gonna get you out of here, pet. Just hold tight." Dawn's eyes suddenly widened, and he knew there was someone behind him.
The girl's hands and feet were free, however, and Spike pulled her to her feet and shoved her behind him. "Well, this is interesting," the small, unimposing man said. "I hadn't thought to find a vampire in here. Perhaps the Slayer, but not you."
"I have business here," Spike said, his voice dangerously soft.
Doc smiled an evil little smile. "Is that right?" And then he moved so quickly, Spike never saw it coming.
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