Hell Is In the Details
Thereby Hangs A Tale
"Courier New"'>Hell Is In the Details – Chapter 17 – Thereby Hangs A Tale
"Courier New"'>
Anya
"Courier New"'> had granted Buffy’s wish of Justice for Spike.
This particular vampire was a unique case and it was going to be a royal pain
in the ass to arrange. The hoops she’d have to jump through to set this up… and
the dangers.
And as for the dangers it presented to
Spike… Hoo Boy, Buffy was not going to be a happy
camper when she found out about the risk to Spike.
It was the specific wording of her wish
all the trouble. Buffy had said:
understand how wrong your actions were, Angel.”
The problem?
done was proper according to demon laws. It’s where he sold him and for what end
that was the subjective sticky part – the reason she was called.
So
the question became how to reconcile both the legality and the morality – well,
such as could be considered moral in the eyes of both Slayers and squabbling
familial vampires.
Angel
would be judged and punished according to the whims of the Tribunal judges.
Eventually.
The
part Buffy was going to go ballistic over was that Spike would be judged,
first. And, being Orderless – with nobody to speak on
his behalf, or guarantee his future behavior – he could be summarily executed
at the discretion of the Tribunal if found to be unworthy in the eyes of the
Court.
Which didn’t exactly satisfy the Justice wish
she’d made in the first place, and would probably entitle her to a second wish,
which couldn’t bring back a yet again dusted Spike, which would equal a highly
pissed off Slayer.
Oh
poo! Some days it really didn’t pay to get out of
bed.
ext>There
had to be something she could do to help the Slayer. For her to lose Spike at
this stage of the game went against Anya’s romantic
nature. Besides, between the two of them, Buffy and Spike had already died four
times. Living happily ever after would be the best form of revenge against
Angel.
The
trick would be getting Spike through the Tribunal in one undusty
piece.
Anya shook her head. Only a fucked up demonic legal
system would have the victim on trial for his life, while the perpetrator would
be let off the hook with a simple punishment. Determined to
make things right, she teleported to the Tribunal’s home dimension, in the hopes
of pleading clemency for Spike in advance.
~*~
Her arrival at Arashm’har
left her shaken. She had tried to explain the extraordinary circumstances of
William the Bloody. That he had been the wronged party and was not in need of judgment,
but the Tribunal would not be swayed.
They had informed her that their system had
been in place for millennia, and it would take more than a pretty little
vengeance demon to shake things up. Spike would stand trial first, to be deemed
worthy or not of seeking judgment against his erstwhile Sire. His execution
would be swift and relatively painless if it came to that conclusion.
At least they called her pretty.
Doomed.
"Courier New"'> Anya knew she should have ignored
that cry for Justice from Buffy. Anything, anything
relating to the Scoobies was bound to cause grief and
heartache and was certainly going to ruin her standing with D’Hoffryn.
And her record had been really spotless
since her return to the vengeance game.
As humble as her nature would allow,
mso-bidi-font-family:"Courier New"'>“Ahhhh, my lovely “Can it, D’Hoffryn. He smiled – which did nothing to dispel the Anya “It’s just… well, the only one who ever She waved her hand in the air, dismissing This time D’Hoffryn’s ~*~ It had been a beautiful day. Buffy looked up as a shadow fell across the “Death is overrated, you know.” “So,” Buffy sighed, “who brought you back? “I heard you had a bit of a vampire “Not so much – it’s all right now. Saved Anspanspan> “What? Pricks? No.. “Now, now, Both Buffy’s “Sorry, “I Buffy “You “But “It
Anyanka.” The elder demon was in a good mood, even
though he already knew the reasons for his girl’s appearance. “Tell me, my
dear… to what do I owe this honor?”
That coy act hasn’t worked with me in centuries. I know that you know just why
I’m here, so let’s get down to brass tacks already. You know there isn’t mutimetime.”
“no matter which way you go with this, you’re so fucked” vibe he gave off.
“Good enough. You’re here to seek dispensation from granting this latest wish.”
He sighed, shaking his head. “What is
it with that lot of humanity that keeps you so tied to them? It never works out
well for you in the end.”
"Courier New"'> thought long and hard before she answered. “It’s true. They
never really accepted me into their group. Ex-demon and all with my history, I
suppose I should be grateful Buffy never attempted to slay me while I was
human.” ~And so totally glossing right
over that whole frat-boy incident~
showed me real kindness, was Spike. Always on the periphery – never allowed in…
and his body count was way less than mine. But as a soulless vam, he, he held
me when I was hurting, and made me feel like things weren’t all
my fault. And the sex? Hell, you can’t beat a
vampire when it comes to zero refractory time.”
that particular line of conversation. “Oh, c’mon,
owe Spike. A lot, if I can help it. And if Buffy’s actually going to champion
his cause – I don’t want her wish for justice to leave her without the man
she’s fighting for!”
smile was genuine, soft for his favorite vengeance demon. “You’re a remarkable
girl, Anyanka. To care enough for a
vampire and his erstwhile nemesis to risk my wrath again. I’ll tell you
what, you go set up the vampires’ trial. The
patience and I’m sure the Slayer needs to be forewarned. She has an annoying
little tendency of slaying first, asking questions later and I believe she’s
rather on edge at the moment.”
Almost like living in a young child’s crayon drawing. Buffy was putting away
the remnants of their picnic lunch, when she frowned. It wasn’t like him not to
be there with her. He always stayed to do the cleanup.
blanket. “Hey, Anya.
thing didn't work out real well for you, either. Come sit with me,” she said,
patting the pink blanket. “He’s not here for some reason. He’ll be sorry he
missed you.”
tending to. Things go all willy-nilly without proper attention.”
Was it Xander? I know he missed you.”
problem.” Anya’s vengeance demon mask was firmly in place
when she looked down.
the guy – dumped the dream.”
"Courier New"'> looked dismayed. “But you have no flowers. You got the guy
without the flowers… just thorns. Everything pricks at you.”
no.. nuh
uh. No pricks. Nothing pricks.”
Buffy,” the vengeance demon gentled, patting the Slayer on kneeknee.
"Courier New"'> “Don’t be crude. I just meant there’s no peace. You saved the
guy but the villain went free.”
women looked towards the darkening sky, which was now a roiling mass of
blackened storm clouds as the rain began to fall.
lip quivered. Storms frightened her, and they were targets for lightning
sitting out in the middle of nowhere. “Can you stop the rain,
be canceled.”
no can do.” She smiled, sadly. “Into each life… blah, blah, blahdy,
blah, blah – you know the drill.
do know someone who can build you a shelter. It’s small, but it's dangerous. It
can burn you instead of protecting you. But once you're safe inside... the rain
will stop, and the flowers will bloom - without thorns.”
looked down at her hands. “But I'm all brown thumbs! Gardening and
have to try, Buffy - every garden needs a little rain - and you don't get
blooms without hard work. Trust in yourself. Risk the danger.”
other gardeners - they'll help you weed out the danger.”
I don't know anyone else who likes the flowers I do.”
doesn't matter. With their experience, anything will bloom.”
“I
really don't know how to take care of a garden,” Buffy cried, tears mixing with
the falling rain. “I'll kill all the flowers.”
Taking
pity on the sobbing girl, Anya handed over a small
parcel wrapped in brown paper and twine. “Here, I'll give you the book - it'll
be up to you to read it.”
A
loud clap of thunder made Buffy jump, and she woke up screaming in her bed,
sweat pouring from her body... a talisman clutched tightly in her hands.
~*~
“What
was that? I don’t know if it’s the hour, or the long distance – but proper
enunciation would go a long way in helping me understand you.”
Buffy
gave Giles time to clean his glasses and put them back on his face. “I said –
Angel is evil and all my plans have changed.”
“Yes,
Buffy, I’m fairly sure I got that part… but I’m not senile, and I distinctly
recall you saying something about Spike. Did your Slayer dream involve his
death in any way?”
“I
hope you’re sitting down, Giles,” she mumbled, “and have all the sharp and
pointy things in another room. I said Spike is back. He popped back into Angel’s
office a week after we left the country.”
“So,
Spike’s back, you say? And he’s been back for a year, and Angel knew all about
it?”
Buffy
was amazed. He was being so calm about the revelation. “Yup,
in unliving black and white.”
“Right,
dear. And I’m the bloody Queen of England.”
reaction I expected.
“Giles, I swear it. Spike’s been back for a year and that bastard never saw fit
to tell anyone.”
Giles
practically snorted his derision. “Look, Buffy – if what you say is true, and I
do mean if it’s true… what makes you
think he’d come flocking to you? He’s unchipped and
free for the first time in nearly eight years… I’m sure he’d be off… “
“Oh, no! Don’t you dare go there again, Giles.”
Gone was the nervous girl; Slayer to the fore. “Spike would have called me the
moment he was back if he knew where I was. If he was capable
of making a call. Don’t you dare belittle what he did for the world or
for me.
“I
thought you understood! We held a fucking memorial service for both Spike and
me at least he was at rest now.” Buffy was fuming. How dare he? “You really
don’t have a bloody clue as to who or what Spike had become, or how much we
relied on each other. You would have killed him and we all would be living in
hell. Or dead!”
Lorne
peeked his head into the room, the volume of Buffy’s
yelling had reached Spike’s room, and both vampire and demon were concd fod for
the young woman.
“Hey, strudel.
all right? The walls upstairs were shaking in their supports, and we
were getting worried you’d blow out your vocal chords.”
“You
tell Spike I’m talking to Giles. I’ve had a Slayer dream, and if he ever gets
his head out of his very British ass, there’s a whole lot of actual discussion
that needs to take place. Spike’ll understand the
reason for the yelling.” Before Lorne closed the door, Buffy said, “And I’m
sorry for the Banshee level screams. I’ll try not to disturb anyone else.”
“No
problem, sweet girl. Should I have Spike pick up the phone?”
Buffy’s eyes widened in horror, as she imagined
the conversation between the two Brits. “God, no. I
don’t think I could stand it right.”
“It’s
your call, bubbelah! Just bellow if you need me. I’m
down here to your rescue if he could.”
As
soon as she was alone, Buffy lifted the receiver to her ear. “Giles, are you
still there?”
“Well,
either whoever else is in the house with you is delusional, or you were being
truthful about Spike returning from the ashes. I-I’m sorry, Buffy. I know our
opinions on Spike will never come to an accord, but the fact that he’s risen
from the grave once again might have it’s bearings in prophesy.” Giles’
inherent Watcher had finally awakened. “Now that I am more fully alert, why
don’t you tell me the full story of your visit to
everything is tied up in one big Gordian knot.”