Memory Redux

Chapter 11: A Push in theht Dht Direction


Beth was officially on winter break, but she certainly didn’t feel like cheering. She had just left her literature exam, which Beth couldn’t get out the doors of the classroom quick enough. About two months ago, she had raced out of Sacramento, leaving William behind, and her class was now just a painful reminder that she had neither seen nor talked to him since that night. The Satyricon, the book she was reading in her class back then, was one of their topics of conversations their last night together. She could still picture him smiling as he talked about the history behind the book and the metaphors and sarcasm hidden within the text. All the while, his blue eyes watched her every move; his focus totally on her.

God, she missed him. She missed the cool feel of his hand, when for no particular reason, he reached across to touch her, his scarred eyebrow rose when he was teasing her, the slight smile on his face as she told storof hof home, and his questions that displayed his interest in all aspects of her life. In fact, she had repeatedly invited him to come to Sunnydale and have Thanksgiving dinner with her and her mom, but he always refused, teasing her that he was British and didn’t celebrate that American holiday. She always ended up laughing at his teasing, but was nevertheless disappointed.

Unfortunately, thinking of that disappointment brought Beth back to why she had left him. At first, she had run away and stayed away because she was been scared during the fight in that alley behind the movie theater by his abnormal strength and her own actions, the spin kick, in the fight in the alley. Then when her belief in her decision started to waver, she had to come up with other rationales for not going back to him, things like he was cold to the touch and couldn’t go out in the sun. In time, she eventually admitted to herself that those reasons were petty and insignificant, and hadn’t really affected their relationship in the least. The truth was she had enjoyed the feel of his cool skin across her own, but that only lead to thoughts of making love with him. His coolness against her heat, inside of her heat. After she put aside those reason, she had one of those dreams of walking with him in some cemetery. However this time when she woke up, she could vaguely remember them fight some other people and she wasn’t scared. On the contrary, she felt like she had fought in a cemetery before. That led her to using all the freaky coincidences that she felt around him and reasons to stay away from him. Recognizing him at that mall even though they had never met, and knowing how to recognize what knife and baseball bat wounds look like. Two more example were that she knew first aid but didn’t remember where or when she had learned it or to do a spin kick. She certainly didn’t remember ever learning how to fight. So as she went through rationales to rationales in her mind, she stayed away. But what she hadn’t her friends doing the same.

*****

To make sure before leaving, Spike made one more once over, making sure he had everything such as the case file, car keys, and cell phone. Just on the off chance that someone would need to get a hold of him, Spike never left the phone behind when he was out of the loft. The phone was never forgotten. Oh, sod it. Why the hell was he lying to himself? Even after two months, he still hoped Beth would call, but he knew that he was betting on the long shot in a horse race, a twenty year old nag against a two year old thoroughbred.

Not surprisingly, he thought about Beth frequently. Spike would stand in front of his window over looking the cemetery, his mind waing ing to the time he had with her, thinking about standing in the exact same spot, holding her. But unlike like with his thoughts of Buffy, which were bitter sweet with the accent on the bitter, memories of Beth were sweet. The only bitter memory occurred the night she had run away two months ago. When he closed his eyes, he could still see the look of horror and disgust contorting her beautiful face.

But that was the past, and he luckily had a case to concentrate on that night, the night after Christmas. With everything he needed accounted for, Spike opened the door to head out and ran into Xander. Literally rnto nto him, sending Spike’s case file flying, papers floating down the stairs.

Xander recovered first. “Oh, sorry, frosty. Didn’t mean to bump into like that.”

As Xander scrambled to pick up the scattered papers, Spike was still getting over his astonishment. “Harris? This is a surprise.” And Spike meant it.

“Bet you’re wondering why I’m here instead of slam dancing somewhere else. See, I came up to Sacramento to pick up some custom finished metal work for a job and thought I’d come by and see if you would show me some of this town’s night life. It’s got to be better than Sunnydale’s.”

While Xander’s mouth was moving, all Spike thought about was that the carpenter was standing on his door step, wanting to hang out with him. “Harris…uh…how are you doing, mate?” What he wanted to ask was, ‘What the hell are you doing here?’

“Great. Did I catch you going out?”

Finally Spike pulled himself out of his stupor and nodded.eadieading out to track a bloke down.”

Handing Spike’s papers back to him, Xander spoke with eagerness evident in his voice. “Sounds way more interesting than a bar. Mind if I tag along?”

“Sure.” Where the bleedin’ hell did that come from? Spike meant to say no, but “sure” came out of his mouth instead. With a sigh, he handed Xander the case file and started down the stairs. “Come on. You keep the folder so you can study, and we can discuss the perp on the way.”

When they exited out into the parking lot, Spike continued. “This bail jumper, who is a pedophile, has already been twice convicted. So he already knows that if he gets caught, he’ll do life this time. And to top that off, inmates in prisons are notoriously brutal to child molesters.”

Xander held up a mug shot. “This is the warped puppy we’re after?”

With a sparkle in his eyes, Spike wiggled his eye brows. “The soon to be inmate’s number is up tonight. Name’s Sebastian Harksky. One glitch in tracking any skip is that he could change his hair, wear a beard, contacts to change his eye color, and so look the picture over close, paying special attention to his eyes, mouth, nose, all of which are hard to change.”

Xander thumbed through the rap sheets. “This…This is…I think I’m going to heave. How can you even stomach reading about this bottom feeder?”

Chuckling, Spike pointed out, “Now you know why these are my favorite kindtosstosser to offer a limousine ride to a nice, cozy cell.”

Studying the picture again, Xander nudged Spike in a gesture of conspiracy. “Well, William, if you put it that way, I can understand why you would like this career.”

The vampire shot Xander a wicked smile. “Word is that he’s staying with some other wanker he met off the internet. Probably child molesters.com. Problem is that I couldn’t get the address pinned down, but I do know which area of town he running around. So since the nasty bugger hunts kids, we go after him where the kids are.”

When Spike pulled into a well lit parking lot with kids around everywhere, Xander looked around with a I-can’t-believe-I’m-spending-Saturday-night-here expression. “Uncle Bill’s Indoor Family Entertainment Land.”

Laughing at Xander’s expression, Spike told him, “We’re here, Harris. What did you expect? A sleezy bar that caters to children under twelve?” Spike pulled out a piece of paper from the file and wrote his cell phone number on the back. Then he told Xander to do the same. As they exchanged the numbers, Spike gave some last minute instructions. “Don’t try to catch the bugger on your own. There’s a damn good chance this skip is going to try to run.”

“Got it. Spot him, don’t stop him. Call you. No problem.”

Spike rolled his eyes but couldn’t help but be amused by the carpenter. “Go ahead and take the picture with you, and when you get in there, look for placou wou would want to view children while not appearing too obvious. We’ll meet back here in half an hour.”

*****

Thirty minutes later, Spike was leaning against his car with his ankles crossed, watching Xander approaching. “Harris, how was your first taste of this profession? See anything?”

“Golly gee whiz, Blonde Batman, I thought my heart was going to burst from all that excitement and intrigue. How can you take all this non-stop action?”

Amused instead of offended, Spike raised an eyebrow. “So you’re saying you don’t like all the kiddies nipping at your ankles with their gushing mums chasing after their darlings?” He smirked, “Now you know why I sent you to that side instead of me, mate.”

“Ah, but you forgot the thrills of seeing all the kids with peach fuzz and A cup bras, making googly eyes at each other and wanting to pop the question, ‘Want to go steady?.’ See that handsome, young man in the green shirt with the pimples. I gave him some finer points of getting to the first base, and if he slides to the base safe, I told him to give me a call so I could advise him on getting to second base. Just call me Dr. Xander. Over one million happy couples.”

“Doctor? They should yank your license.” Spike rolled his eyes as he got into the car. “Harris, did YOU even make it to second base in high school?”

Xander looked like a deer caught in the head lights of a car. “Ah...maybe…No, no, I made it all the way around the bases and back home. Besides, who have you been talking to?”

“Don’t let any of those little buggers undermine your self-esteem.”

Visibly bristling, Xander glared at Spike. “Two words. Fuck. You. I have self-esteem. Self-esteem all over the place. Way much self-esteem. Least I don’t have to dip my head in perioxide to help my self-esteem.”

Not bothering with a reply, Spike just reached over and slapped him on the back of the head.

Xander laughed. “So where to next and will I need my heart pills?”

“The mall.”

“The mall? Have some shopping to do?”

“Do you think there is a pet shop? Could buy you a muzzle, Harris?” Spike watched Xander flip him off, but then they both chuckled. “Think it through. He wasn’t at the miniature golf in this area. So if you were scum that who liked to stalk children, where would you go?”

Xander thought about the logic for a minute and then nodded his head. “A shopping we shall go. If he’s not at Pervs-R-Us, then we’ll look at Lester the Molester’s Boutique.”

Since the mall would be closing in a little over an hour, Spike and Xander spilt up to search. To compound problems in the search, it was Christmas Break and no nights were school nights, there were kids everywhere, many without their parents, which made them perfect targets for Harksky. Spike sent Xander into an arcade while the vampire headed for a pizza parlor geared towards children. He had been hesitant sending Xander into a place that served food because Spike was worried he couldn’t get the eating machine back out.

Inside, Spike found the racket deafening, only to be surpassed by the chaos. He bumped his way through kids running amuck with a parent or two trying to unsuccessfully rein in their children. As he searched through the pandemonium, he often wished for his duster to rap up and protect himself. He would rather take on ten demons at once instead of this wiggling mass of screaming children. Spike finally made it out of the bite-sized torture chamber physically unscathed, but he suspected he was mentally scarred for his unlife, even more so than from riding around with the whelp.

When Spike met Xander out side the arcade, they compared their lack of success. After deciding the food court would be the next likely place, they rode the escalator and walked down to the far end of the mall. Before they actually made it to the food area, they stood on the terrace overlooking an ice rink. Xander found Harksky first. “Look, the fourth bench from the door, at the corner of the rink.” Both noticed that their target was seated on the left side of the rink with a clear escape route to door that led out into the parking lot.

Taking in Harksky and the possible escape route, Spike growled, “Got it. Let’s go.” As the blonde turned sharply around, heading towards the escalator near by, he left Xander still looking down. But the next thing Spike knew, Xander raced pass him.

Xander called over his shoulder. “Come on, Willy. He just stood up, and I think he is following a kid towards the doors.”

When Spike caught up, he looked over at the brunette and sent him a harsh glare. “Willy? You would have to die Harris if we didn’t need to grab Harksky. I owe you a death later.”

Practically running, Spike and Xander weaved thr the the other people on the escalator. As they neared the bottom, Spike laid out a rough plan. “You get on his left, and I’ll take the right. Wait until he’s outside to grab him, and follow my lead. Most importantly, make sure he doesn’t run.”

Regardless of how fast the pair was now moving, Harksky still made it out the door ahead of them, and even more sickening, they could tell he was undoubtedly trailing a young boy who was on his own. Subsequently Spike hoped that the pervert would stop just outside the door, the vampire was fortunately right. When he and Xander burst through the doors, Harksky had walked over to his prey, talking with the boy and trying to make friends. Instantly taking in the situation, Spike and Xander moved as one. Slowing down from a run, both swiftly walked up and grabbed an arm on each side of Harksky and guided him off the sidewalk and into the parking lot. Once behind a van, the pervert did try to make a brake for it. However, the icing on the cake was when the pissed off vampire quickly caught up with Harksky again, the fool tried to resist. Xander reached them in time to watch Spike take great satisfaction bringing his knee up sharply, slamming it into the guy’s crotch. As Harksky howled, Xander, also holding his own family jewels, couldn’t help but cringe, but quickly warmed up to Spike’s retribution. After helping Spike drag the whimpering man to the car, Xander smirked over at Spi “Ma “May I. Only for good measure, of course.”

“Feel free, mate.” Spike chuckled when Xander’s knee shot up into the guy’s crotch. That sick ticket wouldn’t be using his pecker any time soon, but he would be able to sing soprano in the prison choir. Throwing the groaning man into his back seat, Spike handcuffed the perp to a ring he had welded to the floor. As he started the engine, the guy sputtered in a high pitched, “You two are cold blooded bastards.”

Spike smirked, “You have no idea, but just so you know, mate, you got one part right about me, but I’m no a bastard. But keep talking, I will be more than happy to pull over, and for every child you touched or even thought about touching, I’ll slam your nuts with my knee until they bounce off the roof of your mouth.”

Xander looked smug. “Yeah. What he said. But for the record, I’m not a bastard either, and he really is cold.”

Not doubting that they would make good on hireatreat, the guy blanched as he sat back against the seat, keeping his mouth firmly shuThe The bail jumper was sure that the jail would be safer than ever getting near that bleached blonde and brunette again. Once was enough.

*****

By midnight, the pedophile was sitting in jail, and Spike and Xander were ensconced in a bar, sipping beers. Stretching out in his chair and watching people pass by their table, Spike idly asked Xander, “How’s Anya?”

Startled, Xander was about to ask how William even knew about Anya, since his girlfriend had not come with him to the arts festival. But then he figured out who had told him. It must have been Beth. Good. What a perfect way to bring his miserable friend back in Sunnydale into the conversation with the other half of the couple. Actually, Xander’s mission tonight was to see how William felt about Beth after two months of no contact between the pair. When he had first met William, Xander would have bet a month’s pay check that the blonde radiated his love for Beth. No Geiger counter needed. And Willow had already told him about Beth’s confession of love for William to her. So, Xander put on his meddling cap, and with Willow’s encouragement, he had headed up to Sacramento to see if William’s love had been fleeting or of a more permanent kind. For what he had seen of the couple’s happiness in each others presence, and if they still loved each other, William and Beth should be together. So, Xan the meddling man to the rescue.

With a couple of beers under his belt and using the opening William had just given him, Xander was ready to be the weather vane of love and see how the wind blows. “Did Beth tell you about Anya?” Xander watched William close his eyes for a moment and then open them again before answering with one simple word, “Yes.”

“I don’t know if Beth told you or not, but Anya and I live together now. I’m even considering the “m” word. “Marriage. The big plunge. Shackles and chains. Ugh.” Xander watched Spike who was now more composed. The blonde cocked an eye brow at him, but Xander couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

After a pause, Spike looked back away and changed the subject. “So how’s Willow doing?”

“Doing great. We see more of her now that school is out for winter break. Of course, Beth is out on break also.” Now to tell a little white lie, Xander thought, for a good cause, and Beth’s happiness was a very good cause. “A guy from one of her classes keeps calling, asking her out and “accidentally” running into her different places that she hangs out such as the Magic Box.” Xander watched the blonde’s jaw clench while staring down into his beer. Xander was pretty convinced that William was still hooked on Beth, but he needed to be absolutely sure. “I think she is considering going out with this guy just to get him off her back? Who knows?”

‘That did it.’ Xander tried not to smile when William’s head shot up. His ice blue eyes boring into Xander’s brown ones. ‘William’s eyes might as well been green,’ Xander thought. ‘The same shade of the green eyed monster of jealousy.’ Xander decided the question of William’s affections for Beth were now answered without a doubt. If he didn’t know that his jealous rage was not directed at him personally but towards Beth’s fictitious suitor, William’s ferocious stare would have made Xander want to scoot his chair back. Way back. Willow thought he should ask if William is dating someone new, but not only was he ninety-nine percent sure that William was not dating again, Xander wasn’t sure he could stand another blast of this guy’s anger.

Instead of turning tail and running, Xander decided to change the subject before William exploded. “William, that was really satisfying tonight, putting that low life back in jail. I now know why you do this job now. Would you mind if I come back up some weekend and help you again?”

Spike tried to hide his surprise. “Sure. Just let me know first so I can make sure the skip isn’t a serial killer or something.” Damn, this was a red letter day. The whelp was actually asking to do something with him again. Even with Beth gone, the shocks just keep coming.

Xander leaned forward, telegraphing his interest. “Have you ever been shot or just shot at?”

Now this was a subject that he could sink his fangs into. How Spike loved to brag. “Well, there was this big bloke with a shot gun that…”

*****

Sure that William was hurting as much as Beth, Xander was so anxious to tell Willow the outcome of their plan that he called her on his way back to Sunnydale, which was at two in the morning and woke her up. “Will,…”

“Xander, it is…”

“But Willow…

“2:48 in the MORNING!”

“But you should have seen me helping William on a job. It was so cool. See, we went after this pervert…”

“Xander…Xander. Sounds great, but did you find anything out about how he feels about Beth.”

“Oh, yeah. Investigator Xander was so slick, and William is still so hooked on Bethou sou should have seen his face when I mentioned her. Sad actually. Anyway, I’m ready to be Matchmaker Xan-Man.”

“Great.” Willow couldn’t help making a huge yawn. “Super. Fantastic. Xander?”

“Yeah, Willow.”

“I’m going back to bed. I love you, but DON’T call me for another 8 hours.”

After that, Xander was talking to a dial tone, but he just had to boast some more. Using his speed dial, he called the only other person that would listen to his story at three o’clock in the morning. “Anya, let me tell you how my little trip went?

Xander could just see her with her hand on her hip. “Xander, I still don’t understand why I couldn’t go.”

While rolling his eyes, Xander tried to placate her. “Anya, it wasn’t you personally. I needed some information from William, so we would know if we should push Beth back to Spike.”

Anya gave a loud sigh that Xander could hear clearly. “Beth has been so miserable in the last few weeks. I say that instead of pushing her, what she need a s a swift kick in the ass. Then go back to him and have great make-up sex.”

“An, way more information than needed.”

*****

The day before New Years Eve, found Willow, Xander, Anya and Beth sitting at a table in Xander’s favorite restaurant, having a quiet dinner together. The group was planning their New Years Eve party strategy, and everyone was tossing out their own opinions. Whatever party they went to, Xander wanted to make sure to that there was primo food and lot it. it. Anya did a great deal of talking, mostly about dancing and if there would be a place she could get Xander alone. Willow stopped Anya before she began to explain in great detail what she wanted to do with him in those alone spots, and then Willow also made mental notes that if she couldn’t find Xander, to NOT go looking for him. Willow just wanted a party that she would feel comfortable and enjoy the night with her friends.

Beth was last but her brain wasn’t at the table. When she looked up at Willow, Xander and Anya, they were all staring at her expectedly. At first she didn’t know what she was suppose to say since her mind was a on hundred plus miles north of the Sunnydale party scene. Then when Xander asked again for her party opinion, she started to tell them that she didn’t really care because the only place she wanted to be was William. Instead, she stayed quiet.

Anya broke the increasingly uncomfortable silence that, to tell the truth, she hadn’t really noticed. “So Beth, what kind of wild parties do you want to get jiggy and drunk at? You and Willow should dress sexy and find a couple of healthy males. You could drag them in a dark corner like I am going to do with Xander and have up-against-the-wall sex. But just don’t use the corner we are in. Find your own.”

Sitting at the table, Willow could see Beth’s profile, but instead of turning red with embarrassment about Anya’s so not needed details, what she saw was her best friend again spaced out in some unhappy place. Beth had a notable absence of smile, and a look in her eyes that led you to believe that her thoughts were far away. Willow would bet her chemistry grade that Beth’s thoughts were with her heart she she had left in Sacramento, but the bright side was that Xander had found out that William’s heart was there in Sunnydale.

Xander could tell, also, that something wasn’t right with Beth, and he also suspected it had to do with the bleach blonde that he had seen three days before. For now, he decided to let Willow handle the preliminary intervention, so Xander started Anya in one of their frequent semi heated debates, which this time was over possible party dips and crackers at the parties. Making her move, Willow leaned across and toucher fer friend’s hand. “Beth, are you ok?”

“Huh?” Beth started at Willow’s touch. “Did you ask me a question? But I warn you, I didn’t really understand the last question? Kinda feels like my calculus class here.”

“I was asking if you were ok? Well, ya know…it’s like…Beth, you seem to be getting more depressed and withdrawing into yourself for a couple of months now.”

Not able to hold back, Xander jumped into the conversation between his two best friends. “Holda sea sec, Anya.” He looked over at Beth, who was now starting to look uncomfortable. “Beth, I’m with Wills on this one. It does look like you’re draining away before our eyes, and what’s up with the mime act lately? You rarely talk anymore.”

“I’m ok, Wills, Xander. I’m just space-o-girl lately. Nothing’s wrong. See, I’m now happy girl.” She gave them a huge grin that didn’t fool anyone at the table. It came in sth pth place in a race between seven people.

“And I’m guessing that this ‘nothing’ happens to be named William.” Beth’s fake grin shifted to a frown and a look of guilt that easily told all at the table that Xander was right on the mark.

Beth took in a deep breadth, which of course was a requirement of any first rate lie. “No, I…” Beth let out her breath. “Ok, I may miss him…a little.”

“Hey, Hey,” Xander was waving his arm wildly. “Missing him a little is like saying an ocean is really a pond.”

Willow beamed at him and thought, ‘Way to go, Xan. Great simile. Mayll tll those years of tortuous English classes are paying off.’ Focusing back on her miserable friend,Willow kept pushing. “Beth, why did you leave him?”

“Lots of reasons. Tons. Truck loads. Truck loads of truck loads.”

“Ok, so spill. What are your football stadium full of reasons?”

Beth went through all of her reasons, and everyone listened without saying a word. The only interruptions were made by the wait staff. “So that’s everything. See. William Sacramento. Me Sunnydale. No mixy.”

Willow’s forehead crinkled up with confusion. “I’ve got to tell the truth. I’m not really seeing the whole stadium full picture here.”

“So why aren’t you seeing him anymore?” As Anya guilelessly asked this question, Willow wanted to laugh, suddenly loving her direct, open personality.

However, Xander was clearly exasperated when he looked over at his girlfriend. “Anya, Beth just went through all her reasons.”

Taking exception to Xander’s eye roll, Anya frowned back at him. “I’m not deaf. I just didn’t hear any good reasons why she is staying away from this William guy.”

Willow interceded before Xander and Anya had another one of their spats. “Anya, I think what Beth was trying to say is…uh…no, I have to agree with Anya on this one. I’m also a little confused. Beth, I don’t think any of the reasons are enough for you to make yourself this miserable.”

Staying on her straight line, Anya asked, “Do you love William?”

“What…I…Well it’s like…let me stick with a big huh?” Beth wasn’t sure what to say in the bright light of her friends’ scrutiny.

Knowing that Beth did love William, Willow watched Beth squirm, thinking that it would do her good to do something other than sulk.
le Wle Willow and Xander continued to watch Beth, Anya kept on rolling. “Do. You. Love. Him?”

When Beth finally nodded, Anya blessed Beth with some more of her logic. “Simple. If you love him, go back to him.” Anya smiled as if she had solved the problem of cold fusion.

“I know. It may be a shock, but I agree with Anya on this.” Xander shrugged his shoulders. “Beth, do any of your reasons really make a difference to you being with William? Go talk to him. Love’s too hard to find to waste it over little reasons. Besides, I have a very good feeling that he misses you as much as you miss him.”

Willow nodded while trying to give Beth a smile that conveyed sympathy and but encouragement at the same time. “I think you should drive up to Sacramento and see him. You’re the one that ran away from him; so you need to be the one that goes back. And you might even have to grovel little…maybe a lot? Tons of lot.”

TBC