Buffy & Spike, Lost In Cyber-Space part II Author: Anne Rose Email: anne3rose@yahoo.com URL: http://annerose.cjb.net Rating: R (but nothing you haven't seen on the show, at 8pm, in fact due to mentioning the show.) Disclaimer: Joss and Mutant Enemy, etc... own BtVS. No infringement intended. Any resemblance to people living, dead, or undead, or to real life events is all in your mind, is downright scary, and means you seriously need to get a life. Spoilers: Season 6, but story is set after 'Once More With Feeling' where Buffy lives, and a little later in Fic-land. Summary: S/B, Willow has been using her computer to do a little inter-dimensional hacking. Spike finds it and wacky Internet hi-jinks ensue. It gets a bit more serious as it goes along. Answer to Challenge from Stephanie Honey. Archive: I would be honored if you want to archive it. Please let me know where so I can visit it. Author's Note: time passes differently in different dimensions. So it can be almost end of Season 6 in one place and Season 5 in another. Oh wait, that's syndication. ;-) And don't get on my case about screen names. I'm just keeping them simple. Thanks to the Buffy Dialog Database (http://vrya.cstone.net/index.htm) and the Buffy Guide (http://www.buffyguide.com/episodes.shtml) for help with research and parts of episodes. Thanks to Clare009 and Hubby for beta reading. (c) April 25, 2002 --------------------- [Spoiled_Spuffy] fanfiction group challenge from Stephanie Honey Hey fic writes! I got a challenge for ya'll! Here it is: Requirement 1. Humorous Fic!!! Requirement 2. Buffy and Spike find a fanfic group. And can't believe some of the stuff fans write about them!!! Requirement 3. PG-13 or higher Requirement 4. e-mail it to me at honeymajandra@hotmail.com Option 1. Try to mention these members: Honeymajandra (me- Stephanie Honey), Sophie_limbourg (Sophie), Sarafina120 (Melissa), Lochnoir (Jerri) --------------------- Buffy & Spike, Lost in Cyber-Space By Anne Rose Part 2 ~*~*~ Spike continued to browse through files online, and what he found nearly made him blush. He felt like a bug under a microscope as he read about people he didn't know discussing him in the most intimate detail. And the things they wanted to do to him! He needed to find out how to get home addresses for several of these women. He tore a sheet of paper out of one of Willow's notebooks and made notes of some email addresses for later. Next to the name Lochnoir, he made a note, 'ask about the ice comment'. They were also engaged in a number of lively debates about him and the Slayer. 'Now this is interesting,' he thought, reading a thread on whether or not Buffy returned his affections. Actually, it wasn't so much a debate, as all the people were in agreement that she had feelings for Spike, it was the degree of those feelings that the real fighting was about. He was astounded as he read the analysis of just about every word they'd ever said to each other, every look, every touch. He was actually quite shocked at the final verdict - she was being a bitch and he should keep his big mouth shut. There were actually some rather creative suggestions on how to shut it. He chuckled again. 'So, I push to hard and don't know when to bloody well shut up, eh?' He mulled that over for a while. 'Could have had Buffy in Season 5,' whatever that is, 'if he had only used his head.' Now that hurt, he hadn't even figured out he loved the girl until a year or so before she died. He scrolled down and snorted, 'Oh, I see there's a comment about that too. If Dru could see it, what was up with Spike...? Easy for you to say.' He grumbled to himself. As he read on, he encountered more biographical information on him and the Slayer. Only, this time, he didn't recognize all the details. Perhaps these were prophesies about the future? Peaches and the Slayer were always running into those, it was only a matter of time till he got sucked into one. He didn't care much for the ones discussing him getting soul, but he was intrigued by Buffy's reaction to it. 'That's the last thing I need, to get all broody and soulful like Peaches.' He chuckled at his own pun. He continued on, this time the message was about the same basic events, but the details were all different. He remembered Peaches saying that the Oracles were confusing and contradictory at times. Maybe this was their work? He made another note on his paper, "Fic?" and circled it. It was the only common element so far in these posts, clearly it was significant. He wished Red were awake to help them figure it out. Now that he knew what to look for, he saw them all through the list. He began reading through the 'fic' posts, one by one. It was very confusing. They were disjointed, starting and stopping abruptly. But he was beginning to see patterns in the subject lines. Scrolling down to find another element labeled Fic he jotted down additional codes, "7/?, NC17, S/B" and then opened it. He and Buffy were fighting, no big surprise there, but then he hit her and his chip didn't go off. 'Ah, now it's getting interesting,' he thought. They were fighting inside a large house, throwing each other around, and arguing. Then, suddenly she kissed him, just like after Sweet's spell, the author pointed out, as they started to rip at each other's clothes. Spike read on for a few minutes, glued to the screen as the author went into great detail about their activities. Then Spike and Buffy lost their balance and crashed through the floor and into the basement. "She looked into his eyes with mild surprise, and they picked up where they left off... TBC..." "What! Where is the rest of this?" Spike swore as he searched through the archive. He tried different parts of the subject line. Finally a list came up, the 'stories' as they were called, all had similar subject lines over and over and a code, 1/?, 2/?, 3/?, 4/?, 5/?, 6/?, 7/?. He stared at it and then it clicked. "This story is unfinished, there is no more! Oh that's just bloody great, leaving us 'lower beings' hanging." He went back and searched on a couple of other stories he had particularly enjoyed, only to find that they too were unfinished. "Bloody hell! Don't these girls ever finish a story! This is worse than when Timmy was down the well!" "Obsessed much?" Buffy interrupted. "And what stories are you talking about?" He jumped at her voice, and pulled the earphones out of his ears. He had been so absorbed in his reading that he hadn't noticed that she had come back. She had found Joyce's laptop, and was setting it up to the right of Willow's while she waited for him to answer. As she connected the two computers, she got a jolt of what felt like electricity. "Whoa! What was that?" She gasped. Spike grabbed her hand and examined it, turning it over to check for damage. "Looks like you're ok, and the computer's still working. Same thing happened to me. We should remember to ask Willow about it." She rubbed her hand some more, and looked at his computer. "Did you figure out what a Spuffy was and why they spoil?" "No idea what a Spuffy is, but I have a lead on Spoilers. There was a lively little debate on them. Apparently they're little bits of prophecy, and they're often wrong." He explained. "If they're often wrong, then what do people do with them?" She asked, pretty sure she wasn't following him. "Here's a message on it," he said. "It's to 'Sophie' from 'Stephanie Honey'" ------------- "Sophie! I'm going to kick you ass when you come to the US if you don't stop reading those Spoilers!" ------------- Buffy looked shocked. "Do you understand that?" She asked. "Not all of it, but apparently these spoilers are highly addictive. Knowledge of the future it tempting. I ran across talk about a list for spoiler addicts." He said. "I figure we should steer clear of those till we figure out more about this." She nodded and began setting up an account for herself and searching the list of groups for ones that looked promising. After she had joined a couple, and started some searches, she asked, "So, what stories where you yelling about?" "I got into that list, and it seems to be full of writings on us - you, me, the Scooby gang, even Peaches and his crew in LA," he said showing her the list. "They call them 'stories' or 'fic'. Some are about events in the past, others seem to be about the future, but they all seem to have a few elements in common, like you and me." He said grinning. "Do I want to know?" She said, typing on her keyboard. "I'm not a big fan of staring in prophecies." "Well Pet, let's just say they all really like me, and they think you should too." He waggled his eyebrows at her as he said it. She glared at him. "That's good, cause on this list the seem to hate you." She typed 'Spike' into the search field and showed him the result. "See," she pointed to the message titled, 'Spike Sucks!' "Ahhh," he gasped, clutching his heart. Then he 'recovered' and said dryly, "Ya, that one smarts. Is that the best you can do?" She scrolled down the list to 'Essay on BtVS Subtext: Proof Riley is better in bed than Spike,' and turned to smirk at him. She opened the message and they read a bit. "That is NOT true!" He sputtered, genuinely offended at the theories put forth in the essay. "I'll set them straight. What's the name of that one?" Buffy laughed till tears started rolling down her face. She couldn't answer so she highlighted the name of the group, 'Buffy and Riley, Luv Forever.' Spike looked like he might vomit. Buffy had had a similar reaction earlier, but tormenting Spike was making it all better. When she could talk again, she said between chuckles, "It won't help, the whole list is like that. Here, look at this one." She put in another search, 'Spike' and '500'. He cocked his head, curious what that could possibly mean. He just sat and stared at the result. There were 30 hits on, "500 reasons Spike should die," and "500 ways Spike should die," with a link to "next 30 hits." He closed his mouth and his face crumpled a bit. "That's a bit harsh, don't you think? I mean, did they really all think up 500 different ways." She popped open one of the messages and started scrolling through it, chuckling and pointing to certain items on the list. She found a particularly amusing one and was starting to point it out when she caught his expression. He didn't look like the cocky Big Bad. It was more like a lost puppy. For some reason seeing him like that twisted at her heart. She closed that window, and without thinking, she reached over and patted his arm. "Consider the source. They think I should still be with Riley. How lame is that?" He looked over and met her eyes for an instant. Maybe it was the stories he had been reading, but he was sure he saw something besides pity in them. Pulling himself together he exclaimed, "Ya, they're just sore cause they're on the losing side." Some of the old bravado was coming back into his voice. "Right then, what else is out there?" "That list seems to be all old information. I think the one you found looks more promising. Show me how to join it." She said leaning over. Spike panicked for a second. "Uh, Slayer, I think it's not enough information on that list to need both of us looking at it. I saw a site earlier with biographies of you and your mates, and Niblet. Didn't get a chance to read much of it. Maybe you should look it over?" "Ok, send me the URLs. I signed up as Elizabeth@yahoo.com." She waited for a moment as he typed and sent. Opening the email from William@yahoo.com, she clicked on the link and started to look over the page. There were pictures of her, all her friends, and her sister. It was unsettling. After reading through the frighteningly accurate biography on her, she searched for one for Spike. She glanced surreptitiously at him, as the cursor hovered over his picture. He was concentrating on his screen. She clicked, and a page titled "Spike, a.k.a. William the Bloody" appeared on the screen. She hesitated for a moment, not sure if she wanted to know, but then she took a deep breath and plunged in. The first things she noticed were the pictures. There was one of the Spike, and another of a gentle looking man with light brown hair and glasses. 'Must be a relative,' she thought, and she clicked on Spike. A page popped up with pictures lining the left edge and text down the middle. The pictures seemed to be of Spike, starting with a couple years ago and matching the timeframe of the text next to them. Not all of them had loaded yet. It looked like it was a fairly long page. She glanced at the pictures and started reading. It detailed Spike's first arrival in Sunnydale, with Drusilla. There was link to Dru, but she skipped it for now. There was a discussion of Spike's devotion to Dru, and how unusual that was, contrasted with other vampires. That was interesting, she paused to read it. To back up their argument, there was link to a set of video clips. She slid on her headphones and clicked the link. It took a moment to download, and then it started. She watched as a car arrived in Sunnydale, and a very familiar pair of feet got out. He sauntered into the factory and faced off with the Anointed One's minions. She chuckled at his comment about how he'd fed off a flower person at Woodstock and spent the next six hours watching his hand move. He was in game-face and cocky as ever. She shivered as she watched him offer his solution to the child-like vampire. "You've got Slayer problems. That's a bad piece of luck. Do you know what I find works real good with Slayers?" He paused for effect. "Killing them." His face was hard and cold as he bragged about killing two previous slayers. Then, suddenly, his face softened and he turned to see Dru had walked in. Buffy was amazed at how quickly he shifted into his human face, complete with obvious concern and affection for Dru. She was cold, and he whipped his duster off and put it around her. Anger and amazement churned in her stomach. She'd never really seen Spike and Dru together, not really. They were always fighting her. And there was that awful time in his crypt, when he offered to kill Dru to prove his love. Until now she hadn't understood what that had meant to him - even if he hadn't gone through with it. That realization caused another feeling to push to the surface. It was the same way she felt when she had seen Angel talking with Dru. 'I am not jealous of Drusilla,' she told herself. But the knot in her stomach said differently. She had been present for the next clip, at Dru's birthday party. She skipped forward past her and Angel, confronting Spike and Dru, and the Judge. Now they were in a room where Dru was keeping Angel until the ceremony to restore her to health. He was covered with burns, and she was about to splash him again with Holy Water, when Spike walked in. Angel taunted him, about old times with Dru, until he had Spike furious and seething with jealousy. He almost staked Angel right then and there. But at a word from Dru, he stopped. She watched his face when he said, "See, if I kill you now you go quick, and Dru hasn't got a chance." The pain and concern evident in his face, as he realized he'd almost allowed his impulsiveness to harm her. Again, she felt a pang of jealousy, as she saw the depth of feeling Spike had for his "black goddess." 'Enough of that,' she thought, shrugging it off. 'I really don't need to be feeling jealous of Dru.' She scrolled down to the link 'William the Bloody'. Again, she hesitated. He had said over and over that he had always been bad. If Angel had drained his own family immediately after being turned, what horrible things might Spike have done? She tapped idly on the keyboard for a moment, trying to decide if she wanted to know. Then it occurred to her. This was just the thing to inject a little reality check into her fantasies about Spike. He was a ruthless killer, he always had been, and she needed to face it. She clicked on the link. ~*~*~ TBC...