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* * * *
Chapter Four
Family
* * * *
* * * *
“Buffy? What’s wrong, why are you…?”
Buffy sighed as she heard the concerned British man’s voice on the other
end of the line. “Wesley. I thought you were Angel.”
Wesley frowned and looked down at the leather coat he was wearing. “That’s
been happening a lot lately.”
“Can I talk to him?” Buffy asked.
She hadn’t spoken to Angel since graduation. She’d always felt
uncomfortable around him, especially when Spike was around. Angel could
never understand why she would be with him when he didn’t have a soul.
Buffy knew Angel had feelings for her, but she’d never reciprocated…
except for that one time, after he’d returned from hell. She couldn’t help
but give him what he wanted after running him through with a sword and
condemning him to hundreds of years of torture in a hell dimension.
Luckily it hadn’t lasted long, otherwise she and Spike…
It’s not real.
“What?” She’d missed what he just said.
“I’m sorry, but he’s not here at the moment.”
Buffy’s brow furrowed. “Why are you answering his cell phone?”
Wesley turned his head away from Mr. Bryce’s men as they approach
Virginia’s door. He spoke in a rush. “So sorry, can’t talk right now. Hope
everything’s okay. Bye!”
“Wesley?”
The line went dead. Buffy frowned and hung up the phone. She didn’t know
why she wanted to call Angel. But if everything with Spike was a lie, then
she needed to know where Angel fit in to everything.
“So, Buff.”
Buffy wheeled around, almost forgetting that she was in the magic shop,
researching the evil blonde. Xander had his eyes on the flipping pages of
the book in front of him as he spoke.
“You figured out what you’re going to get Tara for her birthday?”
“I haven’t got a clue,” she replied, returning to her seat at the table
and picking up another demonic codex. “I mean, she’s really nice and all,
but I don’t really get her.”
“I know. The only thing I know she likes is Willow, and – got that.”
Giles walked over, his eyes focused intently on the pages of the book he
was holding. “You’re in a magic shop and you can’t think of what Tara
would like. I believe your both profoundly stupid.”
“Well,” Xander replied, “we don’t really know… the kinds of things witches
like. What, are we going to get her some cheesy crystal ball?”
Giles’ head shot up. “Bloody well better not. I’ve got mine already
wrapped.”
Buffy sighed. She felt guilty for not knowing more about Tara. If it were
Oz she could think of something, and he’s a guy, the hardest kind to buy
for. But Tara, she…
“Are all these magic books?”
A young man with blonde hair appeared suddenly at the front of the table,
and Buffy got an ick vibe from him right off.
“Uh, private collection. Books for sale are against the wall over there.”
Giles pointed to the other end of the shop. Yes, thought Buffy.
Run away, creepy little man.
“So, all these books got spells in ‘em? Turn people into frogs; things
like that?”
Everyone stared at him dubiously. “Yeah, we’re building a race of frog
people,” Xander replied dryly. “It’s a good time.”
The man grinned, and Buffy grimaced in disgust. This guy was definitely a
creep. She hoped he cause trouble so she could throw him right out into
the street. “So, uh,” he continued in his lazy drawl. “You all witches?
Hey,” he said, his hands out in front of him defensively. “Don’t do a
spell on me, now.” He dropped his hands and laughed. Buffy looked to
Xander. Was this guy for real?
Giles turned to him impatiently. “Was there something in particular you
were looking for?”
The young man continued his chuckling, which was drowned out by the sound
of girlish laughter and the bell above the door as Willow and Tara
entered.
“Her insect reflection. That is so good.”
Tara grinned sheepishly. “I just thought that’d be funny, you know, if her
center of power was–” The smile on her face disappeared almost as quickly
as it had arrived. Tara stopped dead in her tracks.
“What’s the matter. Don’t got a hug for your big brother?”
* * * *
Spike sat within the shelter of
the crypt’s shadows, taking another drag from his cigarette. Soon as the
sun went down he was going to find her. He’d waited for three days, hoping
she would come to him to explain herself, but Buffy hadn’t showed. He
hadn’t even seen her on patrol the last few nights. He thought he might’ve
just missed her, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but they had
this connection. Spike was always drawn to her, which helped him find her
if they ever got separated. He’d always chalked it up to a Slayer-Vampire
thing.
Spike tossed the cigarette to the floor once he’d smoked it to the filter.
No, it ran deeper than that. Were she not the Slayer, and were he not a
vampire he’d still know. What he felt when she was near ran deeper than
flesh and blood. She felt it to… didn’t she?
He pulled another fag from his shirt pocket and lit it quickly, feeling as
though he would burst out the door if he didn’t have the buzz of nicotine
satiating his lungs, sunshine or not. Spike was itching to make things
right, although he still didn’t know what he’d done wrong. Went to her
house, just like she’d asked. Stayed downstairs with her Mum, helped her
fight the She-Beast, walked her home…
Something happened during the trance. She must’ve seen what was hurting
her Mum. Spike laughed at his stupidity. It was all about her mother.
He relaxed slightly; blowing smoke in the dark air in front of him and
watching it slowly disappear. Although, she had attacked him and little
Dawnie. Something else must be brewing.
Spike groaned. He hated it when she got him to sit alone and think all
day. He never thought as much before her. He really should just rip her
head back and drink her dry, all the things she’d done to change him.
His eyes widened. Did he just think about killing her? He sat in the
corner, frozen in shock as the cigarette slowly burned between his
fingertips. Not only did the thought cross his mind, but a part of him
liked it.
* * * *
Tara watched from behind a
bookcase in the magic shop as the others discussed the new Big Bad. Willow
entered. OK, everyone’s here. It’s now or never.
“Blind Cadria,” she whispered. “Desolate queen. Work my will upon them
all. Your curse upon them, my obeisance to you.”
She held her palm in front of her and blew, sending red dust flying. It
flew magically towards the table where everyone sat before it hit them.
Tara was slightly alarmed when they all tensed in shock, but heaved a sigh
of relief when they shook it off and continued with their conversation.
Good, she hadn’t hurt them. Hopefully it worked. She didn’t want them to
see what she really was. They couldn’t see the demon inside.
* * * *
Spike walked into the back door of
the magic shop, finding just what he was looking for. Buffy was having a
go at the punching bag with the intense focus only a Slayer could possess.
Spike smiled. He always enjoyed watching her go at it. Turned him on like
nothing else. But that’s not why he was here.
“Hello, luv,” he greeted, slowly walking up behind her. He didn’t want to
startle her – otherwise he’d be lying on the floor sporting a bloody nose.
Or worse. But she didn’t turn around, she just kept punching. Spike knew
that she had to have heard him, so he sighed. “Right. I know you’re upset,
and I’m sorry I didn’t realize it before.” He moved around her so that he
could see her face as she continued to wallop the punching bag, but she
didn’t look at him. “I should’ve known it had something to do with the
trance, but I never thought I’d see you have a go at the Bit. And then you
came at me,” he said with a small laugh. “I don’t know what’s going on,
luv, but… are you even listening to me?”
Buffy showed no sign that she was. In fact, Spike was fairly certain she
didn’t even know he was standing right in front of her.
“Bloody hell,” he muttered, waving a hand in front of her face. “What’ve
you done, a spell?” He’d figured she didn’t want to see him for a while,
but this was ridiculous.
Spike reached out to touch her but before his fingers met her skin they
were joined by unwelcome visitors.
“Lei-ach demon!” he cried in warning as he pulled his hand away, frowning
once he remembered that she couldn’t hear him. Spike rolled his eyes and
frustration and grunted, grabbing her by her shoulders and wheeling her
around to face them. Her eyes widened in shock and instead of focusing on
the Lei-ach demons, she spun around and threw a punch at him. He caught it
and spun her around. “What are you doing, you crazy bint? Don’t you see
the…” She stared straight in front of her as the demons started charging.
Spike’s eyes widened as he realized. “Demons?”
He tossed her out of the way as they were attacked, sending her rolling on
the floor. Spike blocked a punch from one of the demons and got one in
himself, but the beast quickly recovered and grabbed Spike’s wrist, giving
it a good twist. He cried out. “Stupid bugger!” he growled, spinning and
kicking the demon in the head, sending it to its back.
“Giles!” Buffy shouted, pinned to the floor by a demon she couldn’t see.
“There’s something in here!”
“Buffy,” Spike whispered in alarm, rushing over to pull the demon off of
her. He sent it flying into the wall and Buffy’s eyes went wide, realizing
that her invisible attacker had disappeared by another unseen force. Spike
extended his hand and she grabbed onto it, her eyes going wider.
“S-Spike?” she asked, staring blindly at him.
He smiled at her in relief before he took a blow to the back of the head.
His forehead bumped into Buffy’s and he wrapped his arms around her waist
to prevent her from falling onto her back. She didn’t attack him, which
meant she knew he had her. Spike let go once he knew she was steady and
spun around to attack his assailant. Three blows to the head and a
roundhouse kick to the chest later and it was on the floor. Spike grabbed
a spear off of the wall and raised it over his head. He grunted as he
fiercely shoved the spear into the Lei-Ach demon’s chest. After a few
sputters its eyes closed.
One down.
“Buffy!” Dawn wailed from inside the magic shop.
Buffy turned away from the demon she’d been fighting. “Dawn.” She bolted
through the door that lead into the main room, leaving Spike alone with
the demon.
“Right,” he said as the demon charged at him. “Let’s have it.”
* * * *
Spike ran into the magic shop in
time to see Buffy snap the last of the demons’ neck… right in front of
what appeared to be three customers. Well, bollocks.
“What in god’s name is that?” asked an older man as Giles helped Buffy to
her feet.
“A demon,” Buffy replied impatiently.
Well, if they’re sharing. “Lei-Ach demon, to be exact,” Spike
chimed in, walking into the center of the shop. Everyone turned and faced
him, surprised. “Fun little buggers. Big with the marrow sucking.”
Dawn wrinkled her nose in disgust, and the man in front of the door stared
at Tara. Spike turned and saw the timid witch sitting on the floor, guilt
etched across her face. So she must’ve done a spell. “I don’t understand,”
said the man.
Buffy folded her arms and looked at Tara. “I’m not sure I do, either.”
Spike stood with his hands on his hips. Was she evil? No, she couldn’t be.
He would’ve smelled it right away.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized pitifully. “S-s-so sorry. I was, I was trying
to hide.” Willow walked over and knelt in front of her. Tara looked up
with her with large, sad eyes. “I didn’t want you to see… what I am.”
“Tara… what?” breathed the witch, utterly perplexed.
“What do you mean, what you are?” Buffy asked with concern, still in
offensive stance.
The man Spike suddenly realized to be Tara’s father spoke up. “Demon. The
women in our family have demon in them. Her mother had it. That’s where
the magic comes from.”
Tara looked away from Willow in shame.
“We came to take her home,” Mr. Maclay continued with a sigh. “Before,
well… before things like this,” he pointed to the demon on the floor,
“started happening.”
“You cast a spell on us,” Giles said to Tara. “So that we couldn’t see
your demon side.” He turned to Buffy. “That’s why we couldn’t see our
attackers.”
Buffy met Spike’s eyes, and he didn’t like what he saw on her face. She
had fear in her eyes.
Buffy turned away and cast a glance at Dawn. “Nearly got us killed.”
“I’ll go,” said Tara miserably. She scrambled to her feet and faced Buffy,
though her eyes were still on the floor. “I’m very sorry.”
Spike stared at Buffy while Willow and Tara’s father took turns speaking.
Their voices faded away as he tried to sense her troubles, why she had
looked at him like he was some sort of…
Monster.
Spike turned and glared at the real monster.
“I’m taking you out of her before somebody really does get killed.” Mr.
Maclay turned to the others as Tara wept. “The girl belongs with her
family. I hope that’s clear to the rest of you.”
“It is,” said Buffy. “You want her, Mr. Maclay? You go ahead and take
her.” Mr. Maclay stared at her suspiciously as she placed her hands on her
hips. “You just gotta go through me.”
Hope crossed Tara’s features so quickly that Spike thought her face was
going to explode. Soon all the Scoobies had piped in, standing behind her
with their arms crossed like some sort of street gang. Finally the man
gave in.
“Well,” began a blonde girl, her voice quivering. “I hope you’ll all be
happy hanging out with a disgusting demon.”
“Excuse me. What kind?”
The girl faced Anya, shocked. “W-what?”
“What kind of demon is she? There's a lot of different kinds. Some are
very, very evil. And some have been considered to be useful members of
society.” She smiled proudly at Xander, who grinned back at her.
“Well, I-I ...” she stuttered, then put on her stubborn face. “What does
it matter?”
”Evil is evil,” spat Mr. Maclay.
Buffy glanced at Spike, but looked away before he noticed.
“Well, let's just narrow it down,” Anya replied.
Spike groaned. “Why don’t I make this simple?” He walked forward and
tapped Tara on the shoulder. When she turned he punched her in the face.
Spike grabbed his head as the blinding pain shot through him.
“Hey!” Willow protested as Tara covered her sore nose. Then it hit her.
“Hey…”
“He hit my nose,” Tara whimpered.
“And it hurt. Him, I mean!” Willow said excitedly.
“And that only works on humans,” Buffy informed Tara’s family.
“I’m not a demon?” Tara asked with a hopeful smile. Willow shook her head
and smiled.
“No, you’re not.”
Tara whimpered. “He hurt my nose.”
“Yeah,” Spike muttered, recovering slightly. “You’re welcome.” He marched
into the back room, wanting to get away from all the people. Once he was
in the training room he sat down on a stool by the window and cradled his
aching head in his hands. He wasn’t alone for long.
“Hey.”
“Slayer,” he muttered. All that patience he’d been working on disappeared,
leaving bitterness and migraine. Buffy frowned and stood beside him.
“You OK?”
“Oh, just peachy,” he replied sarcastically. “Remind me why I put up with
your friends, again?”
Buffy placed a comforting hand on his shoulder without thinking. Troubling
thoughts overwhelmed her and she pulled it away like she’d been shocked.
Spike raised his head and stared at her. “And what’s with that? You, not
being able to look at me… to touch me.” He stood and stared down at her,
which, in retrospect, probably wasn’t the best stance to take to get her
to open up.
“I’m just really confused right now. I still don’t know what to think
about…” She crossed her arms and looked down at her shoes. Spike’s
eyebrows went up.
“About what? Buffy, did you see something?” Her eyes met his. “When you
did the trance – you saw something, didn’t you?”
Oh god. That look in her eyes told him all he needed to know. Well, all he
thought he needed to know.
“You don’t trust me, do you? The way you came at me... you think I’m going
to start hurting people.”
“No, Spike, it’s…”
“Help me out, here, luv. I’m tryin’ to be there for you, but you keep
running away.” He stepped closer to her, leaving a mere two inches between
them. “The other night…”
“No, Spike,” she protested, trying to move away. He put both of his hands
against the wall on either side of her head, blocking her in.
“This isn’t right. Something’s going on and you’re not telling me.”
She swallowed hard and nodded. “You’re right. You’re right, it’s just...”
Tell him. Tell him so he’ll say it isn’t true. “That trance, it didn't
work out right. I got all confused and, I dunno... it's been kind of hard
to tell what's real and what's not. I'm... I'm sorry."
Spike didn't respond. He simply looked into her eyes, as if waiting for
the real answer. Buffy looked away, feeling guilty for not being able to
tell him the truth. She felt Spike shift in front of her and she looked up
to see him nodding his head.
"Alright," he said, though with little conviction. "But you're better now,
yeah?"
Buffy put on a smile and nodded. "Yeah. I'm okay."
Spike smiled. "Good. That's what matters."
She couldn't help but genuinely smile back at him. "So, you're head's
okay?"
"It usually hurts for a couple o' minutes, but eventually it goes away."
"That was a good thing you did in there. For Tara."
Spike shrugged. "Couldn't let those wankers torture a good girl like Tara.
Though even if she were a demon, I'd still like her."
She attacked him with a fierce hug, her arms tightly wrapped around his
neck and her face buried into the leather collar of his coat. Not wanting
to question anything for fear of scaring her away, Spike instead placed a
hand between her shoulder blades and another in her hair, pulling her
closer and savoring the touch he’d longed for the past few days. This girl
was like a drug.
“Did you take care of everything in there?” Spike asked, inclining his
head in the direction of the magic shop. Buffy nodded and held him
tighter. “What’d you say?”
“I said that we were family.”
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