Title: Buffy & Spike, Lost in Cyber-Space Author: Anne Rose Email: anne3rose@yahoo.com http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=47579 URL: http://annerose.cjb.net Rating: R (but nothing you haven't seen on the show, at 8pm.) 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 6 ~*~*~ Later that day, just after sunset, Buffy met with everyone at the Magic Box. Giles was shaking his head. "This level of exposure is unprecedented," he said, as he paced and compulsively cleaned his glasses. "I don't understand how the Council could be unaware of it." Buffy pointed at the laptops Spike was setting up. "See for yourself." They were online quickly, since he hadn't turned them off and had only hibernated them for the trip to the shop. Spike had carefully arranged to be the one leading the Internet tour. It wouldn't do for any of the Scoobies, particularly Xander, to find out certain things about the future. He showed them a page that hadn't been updated since Buffy's death. They crowded close around the laptop as he scrolled through the information. "It's all of us," Tara said, shocked that they had files on her as well. From there, Spike took them to pages focusing on the 'Nerd Herd' and their schemes since Buffy's return. It included a number of things that hadn't happened yet - the freeze and invisibility rays, Jonathan's magic use, and the death of Katrina Silber. At this point, even though the page was centered on the three geeks, pictures of Buffy and Spike, in decidedly non-fighting positions, began to load. Buffy coughed, and Spike scrolled rapidly down the page. "Hey, what was that?" Xander barked. "I saw, things. Wrong things. Things that should not be happening." He grabbed onto Spike's arm to stop him from scrolling, but Buffy stepped between them, pushing Xander back. She was uncertain what to do next. "Why don't you all just calm down?" Spike said firmly. "They summoned Rwasundi. Rest of that was nightmares and hallucinations." "Oh," Anya gasped. "The Rwasundi are very rare. Their presence in our dimension causes a sort of localized temporal disturbance." They turned and looked at her. Encouraged, she continued, "Human perception is based on a linear chronology. Being exposed to the Rwasundi for more than a few seconds can cause, vivid hallucinations. And, a slight tingly scalp," Anya concluded, clearly very pleased with herself. "Right," Spike agreed, "So if we prevent those three from killing the girl, then we don't have to worry about any of the rest of that. Won't happen." "Yes, but if these are prophecies, won't they be kinda hard to change?" Xander asked, looking around at the others. "I mean, isn't that the whole idea of a prophecy?" Giles shrugged and pulled his glasses off again. He wished he had been cleaning them when the glimpses of Buffy and Spike had flashed by earlier. "Buffy has done some amazing things before, but some of those were still in line with subtle interpretations of the texts." Spike growled impatiently. "Look, it's not like that with these. These oracles showed us a whole... range... of possible outcomes. It all depends on what we do. They said specifically that we can change the writing." He closed the page and stood to pace around. "Take Rack for example." "Rack?" Giles asked, alarm evident in his face as the name registered. "Yeh, you heard of him?" Spike asked. Giles nodded grimly. "Red's gonna figure out how to restore Amy, and as a thank you, she'll drag her off to Rack's. After that, things get ugly, really messy. You know what he can do." Spike fudged the details a bit, but he needed to get their attention. "Yes... yes, I do." Giles murmured. "What?" Willow gasped. "Who is he?" "He's a very powerful practitioner of the black arts." Giles explained. "He feeds off witches and other weaker individuals. They think they're gaining power from him, but as a result, they actually become dependant on him." He paced some more. "People *have* tried to shut him down before... to destroy him. But he cloaks his lair and moves it regularly. It's almost impossible to locate him unless you are already into the black arts yourself." Giles looked up again. "I wasn't aware he was back in Sunnydale." Spike relaxed, as they discussed the impending situation with Amy and the trio. It was like the old days - before this particular slayer and the Scoobies - back when his plans succeeded and he was a force to be reckoned with. He glanced at her. She looked less tense. He caught her eye for a moment, and she gave him a quick smile. He nodded back. He was surprised when she drifted around the rest of the gang, who were concentrating on hammering out a plan, over to him. He felt her hand on his arm. "I guess I need to thank you again," she whispered. "For setting up the computers, and showing them around? It was no trouble. I was glad to do it." "Not that. Well, not just that." She shifted her weight nervously. "I meant for getting Xander off those pictures, and keeping them on track." He smiled. "Happy to do it, Luv." He reached up and quickly squeezed her hand that was still on his arm. "Figured I needed to get them off researching and planning, cause I was just about out of 'safe sites' to show them. Xander'd stake me first and ask questions later if he saw a lot of that stuff - especially that one picture of him, me 'n Angel," he said with a wink. She chuckled and nodded. Breaking contact, she moved towards Giles to see what sort of progress they had made. ~*~*~ Spike pulled Tara into the practice room to talk privately with her. She was essential to his plans. "Tara, all I know is when you leave Red, she goes round the twist. I'm not saying it's your fault - it's not, but I think you could stop it." Tara just shook her head and looked away. "I d-don't know why you're putting this on me. I can't control her. She's out of control." Tara pleaded. "I'm telling you because Amy encourages her to do crazy, dangerous things," he lifted her chin up, and looked her in the eye. "And Dawn pays for it." Tara shuddered and gulped. "I don't know if I can help, but I'll try." "That's my girl," Spike said, patting her on the shoulder. "I'll tell you what else the oracles told me about her, and we'll see what we can do." ~*~*~ Coming out of the training room, Spike ran into Giles. He was deep in thought and barely avoided running into Spike. "Uh, excuse me Spike." Giles muttered as he stepped aside. "No problem." Spike grinned at the distracted watcher. "So, Rupert, what do you make of all of this?" Spike asked conversationally. Giles looked up from his book. "It's not like anything we've encountered before. I'm sure the Council will be fascinated. Although, I'm not sure how much to tell them, and once they know a little, they will want to delve into all of it, and some of those images," he pulled his glasses off again, and absentmindedly cleaned them. "Some of those images... I mean, some of those events will... upset them." "That's an understatement. Wouldn't do me or the Slayer a lot of good either if they got out." Spike nodded. "Um, Spike," Giles hesitated. "They were all from the future, weren't they?" Spike stared at him, not shocked by the question, but that Giles would actually voice it. "I should say something like, 'it's none of your business,' or 'you should ask your slayer,' but I won't Rupert, because...." He trailed off and shuffled his weight nervously back a forth for a minute as he studied his shoes. Finally looking back up at Giles, with determination, "Because I would like you to trust me, at least a little." Giles nodded. "Those were all from possible futures. Depends on what we do now." "I see," Giles grimaced. He didn't look relieved, as Spike had hoped. "If it makes you feel any better, they had pictures and stories about you and me too." "No.... Actually that doesn't make me feel any better." He was busy wearing a hole in his lenses now. "I find the whole thing very unsettling." "Is that what you're going to tell your watcher buddies, when you get back to England? You're going to have to come up with more than that." Spike pressed. "What? How did you know about that?" Giles asked with alarm. Spike didn't answer, he just looked at Giles, pinning him with his eyes. "Please don't say anything to her. I haven't decided for certain." Spike shrugged, and tilted his head. "I guess I shouldn't try to discourage you from leaving." He continued to drill Giles with his eyes as the watcher flinched. "It's what drives her into my arms." Giles grabbed Spike's collar and shoved him up against the wall. All the confusion was gone from his eyes, replaced with a fire. "Why are you telling me this?" He demanded. "What are you up to?" Spike returned his look with one of equal determination. "I told you. I want to earn your trust. Without it, I can't keep her." Spike looked away for a moment. "You're keeping things from her. Well, I am too. And I'll keep your secret if you keep mine." Giles thought for a moment, and then nodded, relaxing his hold on Spike. "All right then." Spike rolled his shoulders and rubbed his neck. "After you leave, she turns to me. We have a fabulous couple of weeks, and then the guilt sets in. What will her friends think, what will you think. Tears her up." He sighed heavily. "She becomes unhappy, does some self-destructive things, and then she breaks it off. Is that what you want for her?" "No, it isn't," Giles frowned pensively. "And you're saying if I stay, it won't happen?" "Truth is, I don't know." He ran a hand through his hair, and paced. " I only know she winds up desperately unhappy when you leave. Everything falls apart. By the time Riley and his wife show up, and she hears about Darla having Angel's baby, she's a mess." "Oh dear," Giles exclaimed. "Yeh, Oh dear is an understatement." He stopped pacing and looked at Giles. "And what would be so wrong about me and her? If it made her happy? You all accepted soul boy. Why not me?" He pleaded with such an earnest expression. Giles sighed deeply. "Spike, that ended quite badly, I hardly think...." "Never mind," Spike interrupted. "I'm good enough to save her life, to protect Dawn, to risk my own life, but not good enough to date your daughter. That's it isn't it? She's like your daughter, and I'm never going to be good enough." He started to walk off, but Giles caught his arm. "Spike, I do want her to be happy. She's never going to have a normal life, like other girls. I've watched you over the last two years, and you seem sincere. If I thought you could make her happy," he smiled slightly. "I might consider not staking you, if I found you two were 'dating'." "Then let me tell you one more little secret, just between you and me." He waited for Giles to nod. "This chip of mine," he said pointing to his head. "It works on all of you... but it hasn't worked on her since she came back." Spike watched with satisfaction as Giles mouth dropped open. TBC...