Relentless Revenge ((COMPLETE))

Title: Relentless Revenge, Chapter 2
Author: MadRog
Email: madrog@ev1.net

Chapter 2: Shock

Dawn was wearing a hole in her carpet pacing in her room for what seemed like hours (or in adult time,minuminutes). Willow and Buffy were out on patrol so she had no one to talk to, and Spike wasn’t answering his messages. Finally, the ding from the computer echoed in her room, letting her know someone sent her a message. Please, please let it be Spike…

Carpe.Noctum: Hey, Nibblet. What’s up?

Trapped.in.SD: It’s Buffy. For the last couple of nights, her patrols have been especially rough.

Carpe.Noctum: What do you mean rough? She’s usually the one dishing out the rough stuff.

Trapped.in.SD: Just more beat up than usual. A black eye is not exactly a good fashion statement. Willow and I are trying to get her to take a night off to heal up, but you know her, no way.

Carpe.Noctum: Why doesn’t Red and the Whelp help on patrols?

Trapped.in.SD: They have been trying, but it’s Buffy the demons always zero in on. Wait, she just got home and headed for the shower.

Carpe.Noctum: Go get her an ice pack for the back of her neck and see how she is doing. I’ll wait.
Nine minutes later, (Spike did count), Dawn was back online.

Trapped.in.SD: Spike, they broke her arm tonight. Willow said she and Xander were of little help again even though they tried. The demons just shrug them off and go back after the Slayer. Buffy still got beat up pretty bad.
There was no immediate reply from Spike. He knew for the Bit to say it was bad, it must really be bad.

Trapped.in.SD: I think I can hear you swearing all the way here. Spike??

Carpe.Noctum: Sorry, Nibblet. Just have Buffy email me when she gets out of the shower.
Now it was Spike’s turn to pace. The hard part of waiting this time was that he wasn’t even sure Buffy would ‘chat’ with him. In relief, he sank back in his chair when her message came through. Twenty-one minutes this time – forever in Spike time.

Newbie: Thanks for the ice pack. It feels *so* good!

Carpe.Noctum: Slayer, what’s been going on?
Newbie: Just heavy demon action the last couple of nights. I am sure it will go back to normal Hellmouth levels soon.

Carpe.Noctum: Dawn said your arm was broken tonight.

Newbie: Dawn should keep her big mouth shut.
Spike just let her stew for a few minutes, hoping his silence conveyed his glare.

Newbie: Ok, these demons have been real grabby, more than usual. Instead of trying to hit or kill me, they try to hold on. Demons can be such perverts. You should know.

Carpe.Noctum: At least those demons have good taste. But I will rip out their spines and beat them to death if they even get a taste of you.

Newbie: Ooo, listen to the Big Bad Vampy. Grrrr. Argh.
God, it felt good to laugh, again, but Buffy decided it was time to change the topic to something that would put Spike on the hot seat instead of her.

Newbie: Spike, what did you go to Africa for?

Carpe.Noctum: Subject change? I can take a hint – for now. I went to see a demon.

Newbie: Why?

Carpe.Noctum: I like a challenge. *You* should know.
To think that she had not wanted to talk to Spike at first, but now Buffy could already feel her spirits lift.

Newbie: What challenge?

Carpe.Noctum: If I won, the demon would grant my request.
Buffy loved a challenge herself.

Newbie: Did you win what you wanted?

Carpe.Noctum: The jury’s still out on that one.

Newbie: Color me confused. What did you ask for?

Carpe.Noctum: You’re just gonna have to wonder, pet. Gotta go meet Giles now. Will you promise to rest up and take tomorrow off?

She started to give a glib reply. She usually hated it when people fussed over her, but for some reason, this was different.

Newbie: I promise I won’t patrol until this arm has healed.

Newbie: Spike?

Carpe.Noctum: Still here, pet.

Newbie: I miss the bickering.

Spike had a good idea what she was referring to but wanted to see what else she would say.

Carpe.Noctum: I will try to be less agreeable tomorrow night.

Newbie: No, I meant I miss bickering with you in person. It’s just not the same.

Carpe.Noctum: Me too, luv.

Spike figured this was Buffy lingo for “I miss you.” Sporting an enormous grin, he printed it out to save before he left to meet the Watcher.

*******

Sticking to the Underground System to avoid the sunlight, Spike arrived at Giles' flat early. The other commuters on the tubes had given the agitated blonde a wide berth. After talking to Buffy, he just had more questions than before, and he needed answers. Worry was eating him alive, or dead, in this case. Bullocks, something just wasn't right when those demon blokes don’t try to kill the Slayer. Spike was marginally relieved to find out that Giles had talked to Willow and had some other tidbits of information.

"Spike. Sit. Please. You are making my head spin with your pacing. We should be sorting through what little details we do know." To the Watcher's relief, the vampire threw himself in a chair across from him at the table.

As the two pieced the sparse clues together, they formed three very unpleasant speculations. These demons were organized, their focus was solely the Slayer, and their objective was to capture instead of kill. Why? Neither had a clue, but they could agree that recent events did not bode well.

With the force of a small explosion, Anya blew in the flat. No knock of warning, just a whirl wind of shopping bags. Giles took off his glasses to clean them to make sure he was seeing her correctly. "Anya, I sent you out to gather a few supplies, not on a shopping spree."

”Don't worry. I used your credit card, and you can turn in the receipts to the Council."

"Does it matter that there are no nse nse reimbursements from the Council?"

"Why not? Well, you should just charge them more per case."

Anya was quickly covering the dining table with her bags. Giles opened his mouth a couple of times doing what Spike thought was a great imitation of a drowning man trying to come up for air. Oblivious, Anya unpacked rubber gloves, tons of make-up, and finally a short, black wig.

Twirling the wig in his hand, Spike joked, "Anya, luv, you don't need a disguise for tonight. But later if you two want to play dress up, fine with me. None of my business but which one of you is going to wear the wig?"

"Oh, these are not for me. Let's see if the wig fits you."

The vampire’s shocked gaze traveled over from the wig she was trying to put on his head to all the make-up on the table. Male testosterone panic attack quickly set in. Ducking and backing away from her, "No way I am wearing any of that rubbish.”

As much as Giles was enjoying Spike's discomfort, he also was not sure where Anya was headed with this. "Let's make sure everyone is clear on tonight's plan. Our target is assumed to be a Elykl Demon who has been preying on stragglers from tourist groups leaving Piccadilly Square on foot. Being similar to an eel, this particular demon has the ability to direct electricity which he produces. The enormous shock causes severe back spasms, breaking the victim’s spine. Thus the victim is immobilized, allowing the demon time to move the body and eat in private. Our strategy is for Spike to tag along behind a group leaving the square, acting as a decoy, and when Spike engages the demon, Anya and I will step in and apply a dampening spell to even out the playing field. Any questions? Comments?"

Anya raised her hand. "First, eeeww on that whole back breaking part. Glad I never dated one of those. Second, Spike will never be mistaken for a Japanese or any other oriental tourist. You did say yesterday that this demon was only attacking Asian tourists."

Giles nodded, "Quite right." Both he and Anya looked at the supplies and then expectantly at the vamp lounging on the far side of the room.

Suddenly feeling the need to defend himself from the two conspirators approaching, Spike took up a fighting stance. "Now, I can understand the gloves to avoid shocks, but oh no, you’re not making a friggin poofster out of me."

*******

When they finally arrived in Piccadilly Square, Anya was in a huff, Giles was quite put out, and Spike had a smug grin. The vampire was now sporting a knit cap to cover the bleach blonde hair, Giles' favorite black overcoat, an Anya's black wrap-around sunglasses to disguise his blue eyes. He had conceded to wear the gloves but was still balking at wearing a camera around his neck.

Two hours later, Spike was getting bored. Bored, bored, bored! He had already followed three groups of tourists with nccesccess. Not even a bleedin’ nibble.

Giles and Anya were no longer pretending to window shop. Well, at least Anya was no longer pretending. She was currently dragging Giles from window to window adamantly gesturing and chattering non-stop. Giles' apparent distress was one of the highlights of Spike's evening until he found a good use for his camera, taking pictures of beautiful women passing by, trying to guess their nationality, and more importantly, judge if they had real or fake breasts.

Distracted by his new hobby, he almost missed the fourth group of oriental tourists leaving the square. He followed behind, still snapping photos trying to blend in and hoping Giles and Anya were following, also. Suddenly, Spike felt someone jerk him by his collar off his feet, pulling him into a side alley. When he regained his balance, Spike spun around to confront his attacker. “Picked the wrong sushi this time, mate.”

While calling for Giles and Anya, Spike quickly took a swing with the blunt side of the small axe he had hidden under his coat, snapping the Elykl Demon's head to the side. Luckily, the shock Spike received only felt like static electricity, but he didn't want to see how bad it could get. "Watcher, where the hell are you and that bint?" They were suppose to keep him in their sights at all times, not ogling a soddin’ frock in a bloomin’ shop window.

The demon just shook off the vampire’s blow, raised his hand and shot out a lightening bolt, hitting Spike in the chest. Wham! He found himself slammed into a trash bin across the alley, sliding down across the dent his own body created in the metal container. “Did any one get the number of the bleedin’ train that just hit me?"

Several sensations registered in his dazed brain at once: the smell of burning hair and flesh, his silver bracelet branding his wrist, ringing in his ears, and the copper taste filling his mouth. When the stars circling before his eyes cleared, the first thing he was able to focus on was his axe lying at the feet of the demon. Balls!

"You're not Asian,” The Elykl Demon commented while casually tossing an electrical ball of energy casually between his hands. “I am on a strict oriental diet."

Starting to stand, "No, Sparky," Spike shifted into game face, "but I'm an equal opportunity killer who 's going to kick your arse all over this alley." Picking up a spare piece of pipe, the master vampire swung full force, but when his swing connected, a shock rocket up his arms sending him into a stack of crates.

Looking to the end of the alley for Giles and Anya, Spike noticed people were starting to gather, watching the unusual show. An elderly lady in the front nudged her husband, "Look, Herman. What pretty lights." The rest of the crowd was cheering each and every flash of electricity.

’New plan,’ Spike told himself, ‘Stall - with weapons that *don't* conduct soddin’ electricity.’ Using parts off the wooden crates for defense, Spike started ducking and dodging around the alley. Out of the corner of his eye, he finally saw his absentee assistants making their way to the front of the rather large crowd and finally began reciting the electrical dampening spell. A very good thing, in Spike’s opinion, because he was running out of lumber which kept bursting into flames with every bolt landed by the demon. However, immediately after Giles and Anya finished the spell, the demon’s next bolt came out only as a tiny, single spark.

"Well, Sparky, how are you without the voltage?" After exchanging a few blows, Spike easily gained the upper hand much to the crowd's delight, happy to see the underdog winning. Spike grabbed the demon in a head lock and bowed to the crowd's applause. Then, as casually as possible when dragging a struggling demon, he backed around a corner to chop off its head.

Taking Spike’s lead, Anya thanked the crowd for coming to their little show and made up where they could buy tickets for the full-length special effects show the next night. Then she and Giles politely sent the crowd on their way.

While brushing himself off and grimly bearing their laughter, Spike joined the couple at the mouth of the alley. The usually well-groomed vamp, was still smoking with his normally immaculate hair now standing on end with black singed tips. Neither were laughing, though, after Spike handed the Watcher his coat riddled with burns and Anya her designer sunglasses melted into a small, plastic lump.

*******

The following day, Anya and Giles stopped by to check on Spike. The vamp was still surly but pretty much healed. When Spike gave them a copy of his recent email chat with Willow, the conversation, of course, turned to the dilemma in Sunnydale. .

Anya read the correspondence over Giles’ shoulder.

Red: Spike, are you there?

Carpe.Noctum: Here. How's Buffy?

Red: You need to come back.

Carpe.Noctum: Red, HOW IS BUFFY?

Red: Fine. Her arm is healing fine and tonight Xander and I were more help with the latest group of demons.

Carpe.Noctum: And?

Red: Spike, I think they have the same tattoos as those demons wht tht the trap for Buffy last week.

Carpe.Noctum: Are you sure?

Red: Yes. Spike, I think you should come back.

Carpe.Noctum: Still too soon, luv. We've talked about this before.

Red: You once gave me a quote that helped me. Here's one for you: “If you have behaved badly, repent, make what amends you can and address yourself to the task of behaving better next time. On no account brood over your wrongdoing. Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean.” (Aldous Huxley)

Carpe.Noctum: Brood? Never. *Don’t* ever confuse with that poof in LA.
Red: Take a bath already and COME HOME.

Spike wasn’t quite sure what to do, but he knew he hated indecision. After reading the correspondence, Giles looked the vampire in the eyes for long moments. Spike got the distinct impression that the Watcher was coming to an important decision of his own which was confirmed when Giles spoke, "Willow is right, you know. This is not your home. Sunnydale is you home."

Anya clapped her hands indicating her resolve and headed for the bedroom. "So, let's get your bag packed. We’ll ship the rest of your things over later.” Then she paused to share a look with Giles that made Spike wary. With a slight smile, Giles nodded before Anya continued, “Since you are moving back to Sunnydale, we have a proposal for you..."


TBC…