| Growing Up on the Hellmouth pt 13/? AUTHOR: Faery FEEDBACK: Remember, feedback is like a cattle prod�the more you hit me with it, the faster I write :-) DISTRIBUTION: If you've already asked me, go ahead and take it. Anyone else...I would be honoured, just let me know first. PAIRING: Spike/Dawn RATING: PG-13 for a couple of naughty words. Nothing too bad though DISCLAIMER: Joss owns all. Joss rules all. But if he ever wants to give up Spike I'd be more than happy to play with him for a while. AUTHOR'S NOTE: The timeline is a little out of wack, but canon does make an appearance every once in a while SUMMARY: Two Buffies equal twice the trouble for Spike "Why are there two Buffies?" Dawn asked suspiciously. Buffy's head snapped up as hope filled her eyes. "You can see me?" she asked excitedly. "Of course I can see you Buffy. What's going on?" "I'm a ghost," Buffy said dejectedly, her consussion making her tone seem almost child-like. Giles stepped towards Buffy and gently pushed her hair out of her face. "Buffy, I can assure you, you are most definitely not a ghost. But you are in serious need of some medical attention. I'm afraid you've had quite a bump to the head." "Is that why everything is so blurry?" she asked dreamily. "Yes, I'm afraid it is," Giles said softly, his gentle tone a quiet cover for the anger building inside of him. "You must tell me though, however did you get the idea that you are a ghost?" "Well," Buffy said slowly, "I remember coming to the crypt, ready to give Spike a whole new meaning of the word pain, when suddenly everything went black. I woke up, and...I could see my corpse lying there. Spike was actually grieving, believe it or not. I started screaming at him, and he didn't even notice. When he finally saw me, he told me I had died. But maybe it's not too late! If I'm still here, can't you like, magic me back into my body?" "Buffy, you must believe me when I say you are very much alive," Giles said patiently. "Dear," he muttered more to himself than to anyone else, "you must have hit your head rather hard to actually believe a word that came out of Spike's mouth." Spike's head turned sharply to look at Giles in silent protest as he continued to inch his way towards retreat. While Buffy and Giles had been speaking, Spike had been slowly edging his way towards the door. Dawn had been standing in shocked silence, but she snapped to attention when she noticed Spike trying to leave. "Stop right there, mister!" Dawn grabbed Spike by the front of the shirt and dragged him over to where Buffy was chained up. Even though he could easily outmatch her, he followed like a whipped puppy. "First, you are going to give Giles the keys to unlock my sister. Then you are going to tell me *exactly* what is going on here, starting with what happened to Buffy, and why there is a corpse that looks like her in that coffin." Spike gave Dawn a sexy grin and slowly dug into the pockets of his tight, black jeams to produce a large, iron key for the shackles. Shifting uncomfortably under Dawn's very unamused look, he began his version of the story. "Um, well...yeah. You see...Buffy, she came in here with this bright idea that she was gonna work me over real good, but somehow you ESPed a message into my head. Warning bells went off, so to speak, and I was all ready to relocate myself, like some pansey-assed poof of a vampire, can't even defend myself properly. Damn shame it is to, let me tell you..." "Spike!" was the curt reply from a very impatient Giles. "Do get on with it!" "Oh, bugger off!" Spike angrily replied. The two Englishmen glared at each other and Dawn pointedly coughed and raised her eyebrow. This was enough to quiet both of them, and Spike continued his story. "Anyway...blondie here stormed in before I could make myself scarce. Thing is, she rushed on in, in such a righteous rage, that she set the door flying back into the wall. Caused a small cave-in, it did. These crypts aren't the sturdiest of homes. What with the rate of people dying in this God forsaken hell-hole, these crypts have to go up mighty fast I'd gather. She huffed and she puffed, and down came part of my roof. Can check for yourself if you like. The stones came down and knocked her right out." "Spike, this does not explain how Buffy came to be *chained to a wall*, the belief that she is dead firmly implanted in her mind. Do tell...how do you justify playing with the mind of a woman you claimed to have loved?" "C'mon now, Watcher. Think for a moment. This woman spurned my love...rejected me at every turn. Now what do you expect me to do? Chip or no chip, a vampire's got to have his respect. Here I am, the Slayer all bleedin' and unconscious at my feet. Can't kill her. Oh no, we can't have that. But here is my enemy, the bane of my existence, the blonde terror who has humiliated me more than any other. You expect me to just bandage her up nice and neat and kiss it better? Hell no! I've had my fill of trying to get into her good graces. Not this vampire...never again. So, I did what I could in this situation. I had myself a spot of fun. I guess the government blokes didn't wire me for mental anguish when they worked me over, so I took my chance to play around a bit. I convinced our dear Buffy that she had joined the ranks of the dearly departed. Gave her just a fraction of the pain she caused me, I'll tell you that." Spike sneered down at the semi-conscious form of Buffy, now cradled in Giles's arms. "But Spike," Dawn interjected, "that still doesn't explain the body in the coffin." "Oh, right. That." Spike kicked the coffin and grumbled, "Wake up you stupid sod." The Buffybot sat bolt upright and looked around the room. She saw Dawn and a mannequin-like smile lit up her face. "I'm Buffy," she said brightly. "You're Dawn, my sister." Spike grimaced slightly and continued. "What you see there is a marvel of modern technology. Now, as we are all painfully aware, I was rather besotted with the damn Slayer. Embarrassing tidbit of info I'd like to keep quiet, by the way. But, in my love-sick state, I ran across a maker of androids. Ordered myself a replica of Buffy. Figured if I couldn't have her, I could at least have something." "Oh. My. God. You bought a sexbot. Can I say Ewww! With a capital E?" Dawn shivered as she looked at the mechanical monstrosity that bore an uncanny likeness to her sister. The Buffybot took the insult with a smile plastered on her face. Seeing Dawn was upset, she tried to explain her purpose. "Dawn, my sister, I am not just for sex anymore. At first that was all Spike wanted. He had me specially programmed just for that. But he was displeased so I was given extra programming. I can make him happy in lots of ways now." She smiled again, certain that she had fixed everything. "You slept with that...that *thing*?" Dawn asked, furious and hurt at the same time. Spike stepped towards her, his hands up in defense. "Now pet, you have to let me explain..." "Spike, you have really outdone yourself. I didn't think you had it in you, but you have the mental torture thing down to an art. You must be so proud. The Slayer and her sister in one fell swoop." Dawn glared at him, and then purposely spat out, "You are *just* like Angelus." Spike recoiled as if he'd been slapped. His whole life he had tried to get out from Angelus' shadow, to be anything except like his sire. Dejectedly, he said, "now that's hitting below the belt, luv." Dawn felt a pang of guilt run through her. She had purposefully distanced herself mentally from Spike, but the hurt on his face still stung her heart. She was about to take back her words when the Buffybot tried to come to the rescue. "Dawn, you can't be angry at Spike. Spike loves you. He wouldn't have sex with me until I pretended to be you. I used your voice to please him. You are what makes him happy." The Buffybot tried to give Dawn a hug, and she sprung back in horror. "Fuck!" Spike exclaimed. "Buffy, sleep mode," he said quickly, trying to keep her from causing any more damage. The Buffybot collapsed to the ground, and Dawn stood above her death- like form in shock. "I can't even *begin* to describe how low you are Spike," Dawn said in an icy voice. "I trusted you." She showed him the marks on her arm and on her neck. "I opened a *vein* for you! I gave you as much of myself as I could possibly give, but NO, that wasn't enough. I wouldn't sleep with you, so you went and fucked some robot because you couldn't keep it in your pants long enough to wait until I was ready. You have ETERNITY, and you couldn't wait. But I guess you got what you wanted. Best of both worlds. A robot that looks like Buffy, but can sound like me. I hope you have what you want, because you will *never* have me. I hate you!" she screamed, tears rolling down her face. Spike paced back and forth, anger and regret warring inside of him. "Would you just listen to me for one BLOODY second?" he shouted. "This thing," he said, kicking the robot at his feet, "was a mistake... just a way to shag the Slayer. Virtual Buffy, all pliable and willing. But I wanted her before I knew you. I have something better now, so I had her reprogrammed. She was supposed to be a soddin' *doctor* for God's sake. A present for you and your mum. Someone to look out for Joyce when you lot couldn't be around. Underneath the cheerleader smile, she's got the wiring of a neurosurgeon. Didn't know that stupid git who built her didn't erase the original programming. So now I've got this robot who's only goal is to make me happy. She sees that YOU are what makes me happy, so she tries to give me you. And I was weak...I let her. But don't you see...I want *you*, not some robotic imitation." "Wake it up, Spike," Dawn said calmly. "What?!" "Wake that thing up. What I have to say, I want you both to hear." Spike kicked the robot again and muttered, "Wake up you stupid sod." "Hi!" the Buffybot said in a chipper tone of voice. "Listen and listen well," Dawn said, addressing the Buffybot. "You can have him. Make him happy however you want. He no longer concerns me." The Buffybot looked up at her, a confused look appearing on her mechanical face. "Spike, you can take you and your `present' and go to hell. I want nothing to do with either of you." Dawn felt compelled to add one final blow, and tell him he was beneath her, something she knew would hurt him to the core, but she didn't have it in her to be that cruel. Instead, she purposefully turned her back on Spike, insulting him in a vampiric fashion by treating him as no threat. With an effort, she kept the tears from flowing as she walked towards Giles. "C'mon...let's get out of here," Dawn said matter-of-factly. "Buffy needs a doctor and mom's probably already at the hospital, it's so late. We have to hurry though. I'm guessing the sun is either about to set or already down. I don't think I can handle any more vampires today." Giles saw the pain etched across Dawn's face and rose to embrace her. "I am so sorry, my dear." A wobbly Buffy staggered to her feet and leaned against the wall. "I don't feel so good, guys." Giles gave Dawn a final squeeze before rushing to Buffy's side. "We're leaving...can you walk?" "Yeah, I'll manage," Buffy said, trying to gather her strength. Giles helped support Buffy as they walked to the entranceway to the upper level. Dawn moved to follow, and Spike stepped in front of her, blocking her path. "You can't just leave, Dawn," Spike said in a pleading voice. "We're connected, you and I. That just doesn't go away...that will *never* go away. You are mine and I am yours, whether you like it or not!" "Goodbye, Spike" Dawn said, brushing past him. Spike stood for a minute in stunned silence, half hoping that Dawn would come back. Finally he moved to follow the group out of the crypt, the Buffybot trailing blithely behind him like a loyal puppy. Spike raced outside and watched Dawn's retreating form as she and Giles rushed to get Buffy to the car before any vampires began to rise for the evening. Spike followed at a distance, making sure nothing attacked them on their way through the cemetery, before finally letting Dawn go. When he got back to the crypt, his robot was waiting for him. Without a second though, he decided to take his pent-up frustration out on the Buffybot. His fists clenched as he turned to glare at her. "Fine mess you've gotten me into," he growled as he shook her roughly and then slapped her across the face. The Buffybot crumpled to the ground. "You are displeased," she cried in a despondent voice, oily tears leaking out of her eyes. "Bloody hell! Figured that one out, did ya? Of *course* I'm displeased, you stupid bint!" The Buffybot slowly rose to her feet and walked over to where Spike was pacing, standing in front of him with her head bowed. "I'm sorry, Spike" she apologized quietly. "I want to help...how can I fix this...how can I make you happy?" Spike looked down at the oil-streaked face of the robot who would do anything for him and actually felt a twinge of guilt. It wasn't her fault things had gotten so royally screwed up. With a groan, he gathered the crying robot into his arms. He rested his chin on her head and sighed, "You know, you might just be the only friend I have left. You wanna help though? Delete anything in your program about having sex with me. Never talk about it...*especially* around Dawn, and never try to have it with me again...*ever*. Understand?" Spike heard a slight whirring sound coming from inside the Buffybot. When she looked up at him again, the fanatical admiration in her eyes was gone. "I think I understand," she replied. "We are just...friends. I can still make you happy, but it is not my job to sleep with you." "Oddly put, but yeah, I think you've got it. Go on inside now. I just need some time to clear my head." From a distance, several pairs of eyes watched the exchange between Spike and the Buffybot. They were too far to hear their conversation, but they noted with glee the way the Slayer seemed to hold this one in high esteem above all others. "See how patient she is with this one," one of Glory's minions said knowingly. "There is none of her characteristic temper. With all of her other companions she is quarrelsome and mouthy, but she takes his abuse quietly and even moves to comfort him. She must care for him a great deal." Nods of agreement were shared between the trollish minions. Echoes of "he is the one" rippled through the small group. Stealthily, they moved to surround Spike. By the time he heard their approach, it was too late. He was already surrounded. Spike fought with a fury, killing several of the creatures, but in the end their numbers overpowered him. Kicking and yelling, Glory's servants dragged Spike along in the direction of Glory's lair. "Glorificus will be well pleased," the head minion said smugly. Faery So...did you like? :-) |