Bending of wills
A light is shed
"Spike, I have a problem. Buffy and I went to a party
at the Sigma house on campus," Willow paused as her brother started
yelling at her. "I know. We’re high school students. It was stupid,
but... be quiet! I can't find Buffy
anywhere!"
Spike would swear later that upon hearing his sister’s
frantic statement, his heart stopped for the briefest moment. Closing his eyes,
he took a deep breath. They need me to be
strong.
needs me to be level headed, and Buffy… he almost sobbed at the
thought of what Buffy needed right now.
hysterics. For her to be this upset and to resort to calling him, the situation
must have turned dire.
“
Spike’s voice was deceptively calm, “First, tell me, have you
looked all over the house? And, yes, even in the bedrooms and bathrooms.”
Spike paused for her sister to answer.
replied rapidly. He interrupted his sister’s ramblings. “I just
want to make sure. Buffy would not appreciate me riding in to the rescue if she
is just having fun in one of the bedrooms.” It pained Spike to say this,
but he certainly did not want to go storming the gates just to interrupt a
snogging session.
replied, but her voice was so soft that Spike could not understand a word she
had said. “I didn’t catch a word you said. Speak up.”
Spike strained to hear his sister, but again she spoke so
softly, her voice just a touch louder this time but still too quiet to hear.
“Red, you better speak up! I can’t make heads or tails of what you
are trying to tell me.”
By this time,
had lost her temper and no longer cared who heard her. “Spike, Buffy is a
VIRGIN! I doubt she went off with Angel, on their first date no less, to have
fun in one of the bedrooms!” At this point, she was yelling into the
phone and not even the least bit phased when a guy poked his head out of the
door to see what was going on.
Spike was shocked. A
virgin? After his brain processed that, his next thought was
with?”
sighed. She knew that this was not going to go over well. I might as well get this over with. “Angel. Angel
O’Malley.”
Cringing, she waited for Spike to lose his temper again. She
knew that he was already peeved that they went to a college party, but he was
going to absolutely lose it with the knowledge that one of his best friends
invited them.
Spike was very confused. “Angel?” he asked,
clearly perplexed.
“Yes!” came the annoyed, yet worried voice.
“He’s YOUR friend so you better find out where he took her!”
“And if he hurt one hair on her head,” she began angrily. She was
about to continue when her brother broke in.
“
down!” Spike’s mind was racing a mile a minute.
know there has to be a reasonable explanation for all this, but for the life of
me I have no clue what it is. Angel
told me he was in
Why would he lie? Did he come back early? Yes! That must be it. But what is he
doing inviting Buffy to a party and then disappearing with her? This makes no
sense. “
go sit in you car. I will call you right back. I am going to try and ring Angel
and find out what’s going on. Maybe Buffy was just feeling ill, and they
couldn’t find you so they left.” And what? Forgot to use her cell to call
disbelief. With that thought still
banging about his head, he hung up the phone and dialed Angel’s cell
number right away.
What the bloody hell
is going on? Spike thought. Angel
better have a good excuse. Spike stared out his bedroom window, making sure
to keep his ear pressed to the phone. Angel’s phone was ringing. He
stared, transfixed, watching the trees whip in the wind. It had stopped raining
quite a while ago, but while the rain had stopped, the wind had started to pick
up. At first, it was just a gentle breeze, but as the night wore on the wind
had increased, bringing with it a low howl.
Spike was so lost in his own world that he was startled when
he heard his name being called out in a rather annoyed fashion. It was then
that he realized Angel had finally picked up his cell. A bit pissed off that
Angel should sound so annoyed, Spike became a bit snippy too. “Well,
I’m so sorry for interrupting your date, but
for you two! She was in a complete panic so I sent her to her car. You sure as
hell better go bring Buffy there right now. We will talk later about why you
not only forget to tell me you were back in town early but were taking high
school girls to frat parties!” Spike knew he was being a prat but,
fucking hell, Angel KNEW he liked Buffy! Hell, they both thought she was hot
but decided that even though she was eighteen, she would be off limits till she
was out of high school. Then they would see who she might fancy.
A look of confusion crossed Angel’s face.
a note of laughter he responded, “Spike have you been drinking? What in
the world are you talking about?” Angel had no clue what was going on
with his friend, but he definitely was not making any sense.
“What do you mean what am I talking about? You
disappeared with Buffy, and
is freaking out! How can I be any clearer?” Spike yelled in the phone.
His patience had finally worn out, and he had no clue why Angel was being so
stubborn. “Just get Buffy out to
so we can all go to bed!” Spike was tired of all this.
were going to. He just had to one up me.
“Spike, what in the fucking hell are you talking about?
I’m in
you idiot! How in the world am I taking Buffy anywhere?” Angel was mad.
Here he was, tired as hell. It had been a long day; and he had just gotten out
of an all day meeting and had came straight back to the hotel. And he was
definitely alone, as usual. (Although being alone didn’t mean that he
couldn’t have a bit of fun. Meaning he jerked off to a porno on T.V.,
which was ok but nothing compared to the real thing.) In fact, for the last few
months, he had had a bit of a problem finding a date, or at least the time for
one.
Spike started to feel sick; a sense of dread was building up
in the pit of his stomach. His voice started to crack as a slowly spoke into
the phone. He dreaded finishing the sentence and hearing the answer.
“You’re not kidding, are you? You’re still in
“Yes, I’m still in
exasperated, “but you know this, remember? I fly in tomorrow night?
You’re picking me up at the airport? Don’t tell me you
forgot?”
“Angel, I think we have a problem,” Spike was in
full panic mode now. If Buffy was not with Angel, then she was with someone
pretending to be Angel and, for the life of him, he couldn’t come up with
any good reason as to why someone would claim to be Angel. Spike’s voice
dulled as he spoke, “Buffy is on a date with someone claiming to be you,
and she is missing.”
Angel felt his mind start to shut down. T
sure they are claiming to be me? Maybe it’s just some other guy named
Angel.” That had to be it.
“He called himself Angel O’Malley,” Spike
stated quietly.
“Oh, God; and she’s missing?” Angel felt a
sick at the thought of someone using his name and what they could be doing. He
knew nothing good could come of this.
This was not good.
The persistent voice that told him that something was wrong, very wrong was now
screaming at him. He was going to have to call
She was certain to panic the moment he told her that the man that Buffy met was
not in fact Angel, but someone pretending to be Angel for whatever reason. This
was going to be a long night. He knew it was asking for a lot but he prayed all
would work out. God, please let Buffy be
okay.
“Angel, listen to me carefully. Go to a police station
now. You might need an alibi, in case this turns badly.” P
Please keep Buffy safe till we can find her. Spike didn’t consider
himself a religious man by any means, but he hoped someone was listening now.
“What are you going to do?” Angel asked
resignation heavy in his voice.
“Go to the party, and see if I can find them. The
police won’t do anything for at least twenty four hours.” I
it is. “I’ll call you when I know anything.” With that,
Spike hung up the phone.
For a few moments, Spike simply stared at his phone
wondering when he would wake up from this nightmare. He even briefly pondered
going to bed and just pretending that nothing had happened. It seemed almost
better then the other option. How am I
supposed to tell my sister that her best friend is not with Angel but someone
using his name? With a heavy heart, he picked back up his phone and punched
in the familiar numbers.
picked up after the first ring.
“
Spike began, “we have a problem.”
had spent the last half hour staring out her car’s windows, willing Buffy
to come out. Her cell phone was clutched tightly in her right hand as she
waited for her brother to call back and say that everything was okay. True, she
hadn’t liked what she had seen of Angel, but he was Spike’s friend.
That meant he couldn’t be too bad, right? And Buffy? She was a smart
girl. I’m sure there’s
nothing to worry about. I’m perfectly calm,
told another story.
Her fingers raced to flip open the phone, the moment it
began to ring. It was Spike.
but her smile quickly dissipated as soon as she heard Spike begin to
speak. She listened intently as her
brother explained what he had just found out. Before he could even finish,
gasp, jumped out of her car, and proceed to throw up. Oh god, Buffy! She fell to the ground next to her vomit and cried.