Title: Checkers
 
Author: Anne Rose
 
Email: anne3rose@yahoo.com
 
URL: http://annerose.cjb.net
http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=47579 
 
Rating: PG-13
 
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: Intervention and beyond
 
Summary: S/B, Follow-up to Intervention (the Buffybot episode).  What
happened after Buffy left Spike's crypt?
 
Archive: Yes.  I would be honored if you want to archive it.  Please
let me know where so I can visit it. 
 
Author's Note: Thanks to Caffey and Spiletta for ripping this story
apart and helping me fix several issues and confusing bits.  Thanks to
Hubby for initial plot help and Raven and Tamytha for catching even
more of my typos.  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.  (c) August 15, 2002
 
~*~*~*~
 
Checkers
by Anne Rose
 
 
Part 1 - Prologue
 
~*~*~
 
They had won.  At least they'd escaped without casualties - unless you
counted the robot. 
 
Buffy stood to the side and stared at it, lying lifeless on the Magic
Box table.  She watched Willow dig around inside its back, trying to
figure out why it had stopped working.  As she watched, she tried very
hard not to think about why the bot had been created.
 
Tara hovered near the table, watching.  After a moment, she looked up
at Buffy.  "Is it weird?"
 
"Oh yeah."  Buffy walked around and sat down at the table.  "At least
it's not a very good copy.  I mean..."  She laid her head on the table
and examined the bot's face.  "Look at it."
 
"Uh ... yeah," Willow mumbled, giving Tara a look, but not saying
anything else to burst Buffy's bubble of denial.  However, it was
undeniable that the bot looked exactly like Buffy.
 
Buffy's head snapped up as bell on the front door jingled and Xander
and Giles walked into the shop.  She went to stand behind Dawn and
crossed her arms.
 
"What'd you guys do with Spike?  And please let the story have a dusty
ending," Buffy asked.  Her expression didn't quite match her words. 
She was trying a bit too hard to portray the injured party in Spike's
latest adventure.
 
"We dumped him back in his crypt," Xander explained, looking down and
sounding slightly apologetic.
 
Giles shrugged, also not making eye contact.  "Tried to find out if
he'd ... told her anything, but he was too badly beaten to make much
sense."
 
"Well, even if he told her, he'd just lie to us about it anyway,
right?"  Anya added.  
 
Giles raised his eyebrows but didn't comment.
 
"Yeah, you can count on it," Buffy said, barely above a whisper.  "But
I have to know, now.  If he did give us up, Dawn and I need to get out
of town.  I mean, she could be on her way right now."
 
Dawn's expression changed from relief that Spike was ok, to concern
about Glory.  Giles noticed and tried to cover.  "But, uh, not to
worry, you know, I'm sure we'll all be perfectly safe."
 
"We're safe... right."  Dawn rolled her eyes.  "And, uh, Spike built a
robot Buffy to play checkers with." 
 
Buffy frowned at Tara.  
 
"I-it sounded convincing when I thought it," Tara said, smiling
self-consciously.
 
"Hey! I-I think I found somethin'," Willow interrupted, bringing their
attention back to the bot.
 
"Uck!"  Anya said.  "Looks very complicated in there.  Personally, I'd
rather look at guts," 
 
Willow ignored her and looked at Buffy, clearly quite proud of herself.
"I found where she's broken. Some of these wires got fried extra
crispy.  It's an easy fix."  Her perky mood evaporated when Buffy only
gaped at her.  "I mean ... not that I would," Willow backpedaled.
 
"God, I feel ... kind of bad for the guy."  Xander looked somewhere
between embarrassed and amazed as the words left his mouth.  "Gets all
whupped and his best toy gets taken away."
 
Buffy snapped her head around and stared at Xander.  Were all her
friends losing their minds?  "Please don't be suggesting what I'd have
to kill you for suggesting."
 
Xander backpedaled.  "No, no, travesty, completely on board, it's
just..." and there was the pity again, "the guy was so thrashed."
 
Buffy's expression softened slightly to one of concern.  Glory had
beaten and tortured Spike because of her and Dawn.  There hadn't been a
chance to get a good look at him during the fight, but if it was enough
to impress Giles and Xander, it must have been pretty bad.  But then
her resolve face returned.  "We need to know for sure.  Willow, help me
get those clothes off the bot."
 
Willow looked up from her work, clearly confused, but she closed the
flap on the robot's back and started helping Buffy strip it.
 
Buffy squeaked as the bot's anatomically correct breasts were exposed. 
She blushed and threw the shirt back over the bot's chest as she
stepped between it and the guys.  "Uh, Xander, Giles, do you mind?"
 
They stared at Buffy for a moment, not understanding her.  Giles
suddenly cleared his throat and removed his glasses.  "Xander and I
will be in the training room, in case you need us."
 
"Hunh?"  Xander said.  Giles stood quickly, took him by the arm, and
lead him away.  They heard Xander say, "Oh!" just before the door
closed.
 
Tara and Willow suddenly remembered they needed to get a volume from
one of the back shelves while Dawn helped Buffy swap clothes with the
bot.  
 
As they finished dressing the bot, Dawn looked at it thoughtfully. 
"Buffy, I understand why Spike had Warren build the robot, but..."
 
"Dawn, I really don't think we should talk about this -- ever."  Buffy
cut her off, blushing again.
 
"Oh, no," Dawn said, starting to blush now as well.  "I didn't mean
about that.  I meant, I saw the bot fighting, and we know she went out
patrolling.  And," Dawn added, talking faster, as Tara and Willow
returned followed by Xander and Giles.  "There's all that stuff about
us that she knew."  Dawn paused.
 
"Is there a point?"  Buffy asked.
 
"I was just thinking that it didn't need to know all those things, or
be able to fight, or want to patrol, in order to just 'play checkers',"
Dawn said, making little air quotes.
 
"Dawn, you're too young to understand..."  Buffy began and then paused
as what Dawn said sunk in.  It wasn't what she had expected and her
prepared response didn't fit.  None of her rehearsed responses to Dawn,
or even to herself fit this situation.  Giles raised an eyebrow, but
said nothing.  Even Xander remained silent.
 
"Maybe," Tara said, breaking the silence.  They all turned to look at
her.  "Well, you only need those things if you were planning to hold
conversations with it, or if you wanted it to join you when you went
out 'to get a spot of violence,' as Spike would say."
 
"It thought it was the slayer," Anya said, nodding.
 
"I know," Buffy said, collapsing back into the chair.  "But this is
still Spike we're talking about.  Right?"  She looked at them, her eyes
pleading.
 
"Yes, it's Spike.  He's still evil," Willow said, swinging her fist
with clearly faked enthusiasm.
 
Buffy looked at her friends and her sister.  They were just as
conflicted as she was.
 
Buffy stood, straightening the light pink tank top and darker pink
pleated skirt.  She looked again at the bot.  "Right.  Well, I still
need to find out what Glory knows."
 
~*~*~
 
Spike was lying on the sarcophagus in his crypt, where they had dumped
him.  His face was bruised and cut.  One eye was swollen shut, and the
other was almost as bad.  The part of his chest showing through the
tear in his t-shirt was covered with cuts and bruises, and one deep
puncture where Glory had dug around inside his chest with her hands. 
It was turning out to be a very bad day.  
 
He heard the door slam open and someone walk in.  
 
"Spike!  You're covered in sexy wounds," a voice exclaimed.
 
Spike turned his head toward the sound, opening his eye slowly.  He was
surprised to see the bot standing there.  "Yeah."  He grimaced as he
pushed himself up into a sitting position.  "I feel real sexy," he
groaned.  "Where you been?"
 
"I fell down and got confused.  Willow fixed me.  She's gay," the bot
chirped.
 
Spike was astonished.  This was just about the last thing he'd
expected.  He leaned heavily on his arms and looked at her.  "Will
fixed you?  I thought they'd melt you into scrap."
 
"They were confused too."  She flashed him one of her plastic smiles. 
"Do you wanna ravage me now?"
 
"Give us a minute.  Got some bones need mending."
 
At that, the bot moved forward and looked concerned.  "Why did you let
that Glory hurt you?"
 
Spike sighed.  Maybe he should have thought twice about having Warren
program so much personality into the thing.  He knew the bot didn't
really care, but it still made dealing with the real Buffy that much
harder.  "She wanted to know who the key was," he explained.
 
The bot spun around to walk out.  "Oh, well, I can tell her, and then
you'll..."
 
"No!"  Spike yelled.  The effort caused him to start coughing.  "You
can't ever.  Glory never finds out!"
 
"Why?"
 
Spike sagged slightly.  "Cause Buffy... the other, not so pleasant
Buffy... anything happened to Dawn, it'd destroy her.  I couldn't live,
her bein' in that much pain.  Let Glory kill me first.  Nearly bloody
did."
 
Buffy frowned as she heard his words and then slowly leaned forward
gently kissed him on the lips.  Spike started to respond, kissing her
back, but something wasn't right.  She was so warm, so soft.  Suddenly
he pulled back and looked at her - Buffy.  He couldn't do anything but
stare at her as she started to walk away.  He was so battered that he
hadn't noticed her scent until now.
 
She was walking away, and he needed to explain, to say something.  "And
my robot," was all he managed.
 
Buffy paused and turned.  "The robot is gone.  The robot was gross and
obscene."
 
Spike felt what little energy he had drain out of him.  His head sunk. 
"It wasn't supposed to..."
 
"Don't.  That ... thing, it ... it wasn't even real."  Buffy
interrupted.  He could see she was disgusted with him.  It was bitter
irony.  He'd endured torture and never betrayed her or her little sis,
and the day he'd picked to do it was the day she discovered the bot.
 
She was walking back towards the door when he heard her stop again. 
"What you did, for me, and Dawn... that was real."
 
Spike managed to lift his head and looked at her.
 
"I won't forget it."
 
~*~*~
 
TBC...