ONE NORMAL LIFE / TWO EXTRAORDINARY LIVES
folder
BtVS AU/AR › Het - Male/Female › Buffy/Spike(William)
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
210
Views:
10,625
Reviews:
182
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
BtVS AU/AR › Het - Male/Female › Buffy/Spike(William)
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
210
Views:
10,625
Reviews:
182
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
NOT A TRACE
CHAPTER 31 - NOT A TRACE
“Well, here you are ladies,” Bernie said, as he stopped in front of their hotel.
It was 3:30am, and they’d been to every homeless shelter in Chicago it had seemed in the past 12 hours, not to mention going into some very unsavory parts of town to talk to some people on the street, as well as a couple of dozen seedy bars.
Nobody had seen or heard of anyone named Spike or William lately who fit the description. Buffy left the number of her red phone, in case somebody spotted him. After some debate with Dawn, she also offered a $5000 reward, knowing that she could also possibly get phony calls just trying to get the money.
“Thank you,” Buffy said, “let me pay you something else, we wouldn’t have gotten to nearly as many places, if it hadn’t been for you, Bernie.”
“That’s all right,” he said, “you keep the money. You may need it.”
“Thank you, again,” Buffy said.
“I have to work tomorrow, but if you want, I can come by in the cab, only thing is that I’ll have to charge what the cab company charges,” he said.
“That’s okay, I’d rather be riding with you than someone else,” Buffy said.
“So, the north side tomorrow?” Buffy asked.
“Sounds good,” Bernie said, “what time should I pick you up?”
“About 9:30am?”
“See you ladies then,” he said.
“Good night, Bernie,” Dawn said.
“Good night, ladies.”
Buffy collapsed on the bed, with her clothes on.
“What are we missing?” she asked, “seems like we’re missing something!”
“I know what you mean,” Dawn said, “but I don’t know either.
Over the next four days they checked with what seemed like, every homeless shelter, everyeleseless person, and every bar in the city and still, there wasn’t one person who had seen him. They even checked over a dozen hospitals, and even more, small clinics, all without luck.
“Willow said he was here,” Buffy said, disheartened.
“He probably is then, Buffy, but he could be anywhere! He could have gone home with someone,” Dawn stopped seeing Buffy’s horrified expression, “what I mean, is that somebody could have rented him a room or something. If he had money. Don’t suppose the prophecy sends you back with an American Express card or anything,” she said.
“No, more likely naked and lost,” Buffy said, “but maybe you’re right. Maybe someone took him home, I mean, he can be pretty charming, and he is good looking...maybe he's, I don’t know, with someone,” Buffy said.
“Are you crazy?” Dawn said, “you know you’d be the first person he would want to see,” she said.
“Yeah, maybe, but he has no way of getting a hold of me if he does. I’ve changed my name, Sunnydale doesn’t exist anymore, nobody has the same phone number or address. I don’t even have the same cell phone number that I used to. What if he’s tried, Dawn? What if he’s tried to and he can’t?” Buffy said, rubbing her hand through her hair.
Dawn shook her head, “I don’t know. I just feel like if he wanted to or could, he wouldn’t give up, you know how Spike is Buffy!” she said.
“I know how he was, Dawn, I don’t have any idea of how Spike is now,” she said, sadly.
“You don’t think he’d try to get in touch with Angel, do you? In order to find you or to ask for help?” Dawn asked, all of a sudden.
“God, I hope not!” Buffy replied, “but I don’t really know. Maybe, if he tried everything else first,” she shrugged.
The next day, late morning, Bernie collected Buffy, Dawn, and their luggage, for the one more tour through the seedier side of the city in search of Spike, on their way to their 8:00pm flight back to L.A.
Finally, late that evening, he turned the cab toward O’Hare, “I’m sorry you gals didn’t find who you were looking for. I still think you ought to try the police,” he said.
“No. I don’t want them involved,” Buffy said, quickly.
“I understand, really I do. But the fact is they may already be involved,” Bernie said, “they may have your guy locked up or something, plus if you give them his picture, you’d have thousands of eyes all over the city to help look for him.”
Buffy sighed, “I know you’re right, but I just can’t take that chance. They might spook him, or they might hurt him by accident,” she said.
“Yeah, but they could also help him, tell him you’re looking for him,” he shrugged, “your choice, Buffy,” he said, calling her by her name for the first time.
“I just don’t know what I’d tell them. It’s complicated.” she said.
ffy ffy thought, “Oh yeah, I’ll just tell the police that a former 100+ year old vampire, now recently human, appears to be lost in their city…sure that would get them looking real hard!”
“Well, why don’t I take his picture and let some of my cabby buddies see it, that way, they can at least be on the lookout for him?”
“That would be really good, thank you,” she said.
“Well, here you are. Now call me next time you’re in Chicago, and I know you will be!” Bernie said.
“We will,” Dawn said.
Buffy was mostly silent on the flight home. She couldn’t believe that after five days they didn’t have a clue as to Spike’s where a bouts.
“What am I missing?” she asked herself for the thousandth time.
Leroy walked into the nurse’s lounge at the start of his shift. As he was walking over to his locker, a picture on the bulletin board caught his eye, thinking it was a picture from someone’s vacation, he walked over to take a look. was was a copy of a drawing of a man standing in what appeared to be the Eiffel tower. For some reason the man looked vaguely familiar. Then he read the words underneath. “Missing! 5’10” 165-170lbs. Blonde or Brown hair, curly, or gelled back. Prominent cheekbones, blue eyes. Goes by either Spike or William.”
“William? William?” Leroy took down at the name and number under the picture, “William!” and picked up the phone.
He wrote down the number that was at the bottom of the page, promising himself ouldould call it after his shift ended.
Buffy arrived back home about 11:00pm California time, but it felt like the middle of the night to her. Back in her slayer days, that term didn’t mean much, now with her, so called, “normal life,” it meant that staying up all night, every night was hard on her.
She picked up the phone and called Willow, before going to bed.
“Hello?”
“Willow? It’s Buffy.”
“What happened? Did you find him?”
“No. Not a trace. When Dawn and rst rst got there we went over to The Field Museum, to talk to Donald Johanson, but he was on vacation. They were putting in new security cameras and I happened to ask the desk person why and she tells me that there was a naked guy who was chased out of there a while back. Guess what day it was?”
“When?” Willow asked.
“May 20th, exactly 5 years to the date that…he died. I was so sure that must have been Spike! I’m still sure. Well, almost. Dawn and I spent the next 5 days looking through every homeless shelter, talked to homeless people, went to hospitals, clinics, bars, and every type of place we thought Spike might have gone to. Not one person even thought he looked familiar. It was a total dead end.”
“I’m so sorry, Buffy. I should’ve come with, we could have covered more territory, or maybe I could’ve read him through you, uose ose and personal,”Willow said.
“No, I doubt you would have been able to help us. We met this cabby last time we were there and he drove us around the whole 5 days, so we made good time for such a large city, just…”
“Couldn’t find him?” Willow filled in.
“Yeah,” Buffy said, “well, I just wanted you to know we were back and what happened. I gotta think what I’m going to do next, thinking maybe I’ll rent a place there for the summer, maybe. Go out every night looking? I don’t know what else to do, but I can’t afford to stay at a hotel for weeks on end, but I gotta go back.”
They finished up their conversation, with Willow promising to come and help if Buffy rented a place in Chicago.
Buffy finally got to bed around 2:00am. She had only been asleep for about 1 hour, when the phone rang.
“Hello?” she answered groggily. There was nobody there, and a phone was still ringing.
“What the hell?” she said, then realizing the red phone was still in her purse, she stumbled into the living room and grabbed it from her purse.
“Hello?”
“Buffy? This is Andrew. I think I’ve found Spike.”
END CHAPTER 31
“Well, here you are ladies,” Bernie said, as he stopped in front of their hotel.
It was 3:30am, and they’d been to every homeless shelter in Chicago it had seemed in the past 12 hours, not to mention going into some very unsavory parts of town to talk to some people on the street, as well as a couple of dozen seedy bars.
Nobody had seen or heard of anyone named Spike or William lately who fit the description. Buffy left the number of her red phone, in case somebody spotted him. After some debate with Dawn, she also offered a $5000 reward, knowing that she could also possibly get phony calls just trying to get the money.
“Thank you,” Buffy said, “let me pay you something else, we wouldn’t have gotten to nearly as many places, if it hadn’t been for you, Bernie.”
“That’s all right,” he said, “you keep the money. You may need it.”
“Thank you, again,” Buffy said.
“I have to work tomorrow, but if you want, I can come by in the cab, only thing is that I’ll have to charge what the cab company charges,” he said.
“That’s okay, I’d rather be riding with you than someone else,” Buffy said.
“So, the north side tomorrow?” Buffy asked.
“Sounds good,” Bernie said, “what time should I pick you up?”
“About 9:30am?”
“See you ladies then,” he said.
“Good night, Bernie,” Dawn said.
“Good night, ladies.”
Buffy collapsed on the bed, with her clothes on.
“What are we missing?” she asked, “seems like we’re missing something!”
“I know what you mean,” Dawn said, “but I don’t know either.
Over the next four days they checked with what seemed like, every homeless shelter, everyeleseless person, and every bar in the city and still, there wasn’t one person who had seen him. They even checked over a dozen hospitals, and even more, small clinics, all without luck.
“Willow said he was here,” Buffy said, disheartened.
“He probably is then, Buffy, but he could be anywhere! He could have gone home with someone,” Dawn stopped seeing Buffy’s horrified expression, “what I mean, is that somebody could have rented him a room or something. If he had money. Don’t suppose the prophecy sends you back with an American Express card or anything,” she said.
“No, more likely naked and lost,” Buffy said, “but maybe you’re right. Maybe someone took him home, I mean, he can be pretty charming, and he is good looking...maybe he's, I don’t know, with someone,” Buffy said.
“Are you crazy?” Dawn said, “you know you’d be the first person he would want to see,” she said.
“Yeah, maybe, but he has no way of getting a hold of me if he does. I’ve changed my name, Sunnydale doesn’t exist anymore, nobody has the same phone number or address. I don’t even have the same cell phone number that I used to. What if he’s tried, Dawn? What if he’s tried to and he can’t?” Buffy said, rubbing her hand through her hair.
Dawn shook her head, “I don’t know. I just feel like if he wanted to or could, he wouldn’t give up, you know how Spike is Buffy!” she said.
“I know how he was, Dawn, I don’t have any idea of how Spike is now,” she said, sadly.
“You don’t think he’d try to get in touch with Angel, do you? In order to find you or to ask for help?” Dawn asked, all of a sudden.
“God, I hope not!” Buffy replied, “but I don’t really know. Maybe, if he tried everything else first,” she shrugged.
The next day, late morning, Bernie collected Buffy, Dawn, and their luggage, for the one more tour through the seedier side of the city in search of Spike, on their way to their 8:00pm flight back to L.A.
Finally, late that evening, he turned the cab toward O’Hare, “I’m sorry you gals didn’t find who you were looking for. I still think you ought to try the police,” he said.
“No. I don’t want them involved,” Buffy said, quickly.
“I understand, really I do. But the fact is they may already be involved,” Bernie said, “they may have your guy locked up or something, plus if you give them his picture, you’d have thousands of eyes all over the city to help look for him.”
Buffy sighed, “I know you’re right, but I just can’t take that chance. They might spook him, or they might hurt him by accident,” she said.
“Yeah, but they could also help him, tell him you’re looking for him,” he shrugged, “your choice, Buffy,” he said, calling her by her name for the first time.
“I just don’t know what I’d tell them. It’s complicated.” she said.
ffy ffy thought, “Oh yeah, I’ll just tell the police that a former 100+ year old vampire, now recently human, appears to be lost in their city…sure that would get them looking real hard!”
“Well, why don’t I take his picture and let some of my cabby buddies see it, that way, they can at least be on the lookout for him?”
“That would be really good, thank you,” she said.
“Well, here you are. Now call me next time you’re in Chicago, and I know you will be!” Bernie said.
“We will,” Dawn said.
Buffy was mostly silent on the flight home. She couldn’t believe that after five days they didn’t have a clue as to Spike’s where a bouts.
“What am I missing?” she asked herself for the thousandth time.
Leroy walked into the nurse’s lounge at the start of his shift. As he was walking over to his locker, a picture on the bulletin board caught his eye, thinking it was a picture from someone’s vacation, he walked over to take a look. was was a copy of a drawing of a man standing in what appeared to be the Eiffel tower. For some reason the man looked vaguely familiar. Then he read the words underneath. “Missing! 5’10” 165-170lbs. Blonde or Brown hair, curly, or gelled back. Prominent cheekbones, blue eyes. Goes by either Spike or William.”
“William? William?” Leroy took down at the name and number under the picture, “William!” and picked up the phone.
He wrote down the number that was at the bottom of the page, promising himself ouldould call it after his shift ended.
Buffy arrived back home about 11:00pm California time, but it felt like the middle of the night to her. Back in her slayer days, that term didn’t mean much, now with her, so called, “normal life,” it meant that staying up all night, every night was hard on her.
She picked up the phone and called Willow, before going to bed.
“Hello?”
“Willow? It’s Buffy.”
“What happened? Did you find him?”
“No. Not a trace. When Dawn and rst rst got there we went over to The Field Museum, to talk to Donald Johanson, but he was on vacation. They were putting in new security cameras and I happened to ask the desk person why and she tells me that there was a naked guy who was chased out of there a while back. Guess what day it was?”
“When?” Willow asked.
“May 20th, exactly 5 years to the date that…he died. I was so sure that must have been Spike! I’m still sure. Well, almost. Dawn and I spent the next 5 days looking through every homeless shelter, talked to homeless people, went to hospitals, clinics, bars, and every type of place we thought Spike might have gone to. Not one person even thought he looked familiar. It was a total dead end.”
“I’m so sorry, Buffy. I should’ve come with, we could have covered more territory, or maybe I could’ve read him through you, uose ose and personal,”Willow said.
“No, I doubt you would have been able to help us. We met this cabby last time we were there and he drove us around the whole 5 days, so we made good time for such a large city, just…”
“Couldn’t find him?” Willow filled in.
“Yeah,” Buffy said, “well, I just wanted you to know we were back and what happened. I gotta think what I’m going to do next, thinking maybe I’ll rent a place there for the summer, maybe. Go out every night looking? I don’t know what else to do, but I can’t afford to stay at a hotel for weeks on end, but I gotta go back.”
They finished up their conversation, with Willow promising to come and help if Buffy rented a place in Chicago.
Buffy finally got to bed around 2:00am. She had only been asleep for about 1 hour, when the phone rang.
“Hello?” she answered groggily. There was nobody there, and a phone was still ringing.
“What the hell?” she said, then realizing the red phone was still in her purse, she stumbled into the living room and grabbed it from her purse.
“Hello?”
“Buffy? This is Andrew. I think I’ve found Spike.”
END CHAPTER 31