Who is Who ((COMPLETED))

Chapter 8, Behind Door #1 Is?

Trying to block Dawn's view the best he could, Clem continued to look meaningfully at his friend lying naked on the floor.

Spike's mind was still on his dream, but the sound of Dawn's voice started to register his current surroundings on his dazed brain. "Has he stopped banging his head on the floor yet?"

"Yes." Clem answered glad to have made some progress. "Uh, Spike? Dawn's here. Like now…right behind me!" Clem reiterated with a nod indicating Spike's state of undress.

"Right. Stall her while I get dressed." Spike scrambled to throw on some clothes knowing she wouldn’t wait long.

Shortly, Dawn poked her head through the trap door. "Are you decent yet?"

Growling good-naturedly in her general vicinity, "Never, luv, but come on down anyways."

Dawn came down the ladder with Clem following close at her heals who clearly didn’t want to miss any possibly entertainment. Spike pulled a t-shirt over his head. "What's up, ducks? Big Sis is going to be put out you missing school and all.”

“Duh! It's Sunday. I just thought I would come over and train with you..."

"Huh? That's the problem, isn't it? Been thinking again."

"Train. You. Me."

"Again, huh? Missing the connection here. It should be you and the Slayer training."

“Buffy tries, but our sessions together just end up a yelling match, and she gets all bent out of shape when she doesn't win those. Plus if she is not patrolling, she is working at the grease trap as she calls it. So…I thought I would train with you today.” Now using her best tactic to cinch the deal, she deployed the big, brown puppy dog eyes. "You know I need to defend myself on patrols. You don’t want me to get hurt, do you?"

"Bloody hell, what does this look like, the Fighting Academy for Mini-Slayers? T’ai Kwon-Doe for Nibblets?"

Dawn now resorted to begging, “Pleeeese…”

”Don't start that pitiful sap with me…’Cause you know it always works. Grrr. Let me go up, get some breakfast, and we’ll see." With one last look of disgust of how easy she could play him, he headed upstairs with Clem following.

Not one to miss a golden opportunity when handed one, Dawn used the time wisely - and snooped. Feeling bold when she could hear them moving around upstairs, she searched his duffel bag. Boring, boring, boring. There's got to be something interesting in Spike’s stuff. Bingo! She ran across a piece of paper with some handwriting and read the first couple of lines.
A warrior begins a dark journey and quest
But a defining choice must be made in what way to go next…
Finally, something with potential. Hearing voices approaching the trap door, she tucked the slip of paper into her pocket for later.

Calling Dawn over to the trap door, Clem handed down a folding lawn chair. Then he followed balancing a large bowl of popcorn.

Spike followed him down and finished a jar of blood. "Ok, Nibblet, let's see what you’ve learned so far."

Before they could even get started, Clem cut in. "Wait…wait a minute, I forgot my drink."

Spike glared at his friend. "This isn't a spectator sport." When he turned back to Dawn - BAM! Dawn socked him square in the nose.

“So that's how you want to play it, brat.” Blinking his eyes rapidly to clear the tears, "What's with you Summer girls? Did Buffy teach you to go for the nose first? Definite Slayer opening move, at least with me.” As the stars in front of his eyes started to fade, "Let's see how you fall." Going instantly on the offensive, he swept her legs out from under her.

Having resumed his seat, Clem applauded enthusiastically, "Ooh, this is going to be much better than ‘Walker, Texas Ranger!’"

*******

Around 10 o’clock that night, a black suburban with blackened windows pulled up to the cemetery containing the Clayton Crypt. The driver was a huge demon in all dimensions: extremely buff, decidedly bald and slightly green tinged. He got out first followed by a small, meek looking individual who appeared totally out of place except he was carrying an oversized, stainless steel case identical to the one the driver also carried. From the back seat, two vampires also exited the vehicle dragging the egg broker between them. From the look of his pitiful condition, the torturing had obviously not stopped in London.

The driver stepped confidently up to the crypt door, threw it open, but stopped short when he came unexpectedly face to face with the Slayer.

Buffy, however, was ready for him. "Sorry that you came all the way from London, but the Suvolte Demon didn’t make it through the delivery. Ya know, I think the shock of us coming in to assist was a little much for her."

The driver, looking over the Slayer’s shoulder, saw one very dead demon and two girls systematically smashing eggs that had been laid on the crypt floor. The demon also saw Xander who had been helping Willow and Dawn in their smash-fest but came to stand behind Buffy when he heard the door open. Spike, however, waited to make his presence known, trying to put off the broker identifying him. He didn't have long to worry.

Keeping his eyes focused on Buffy, the driver pulled out a vicious, serrated knifed.
Xander smirked, "Nice toy. I see you’re a customer of the HSN's Knife Collectors Show. I always wondered who bought that stuff."

But the Driver ignored him completely, surprising everyone when he turned suddenly to the broker. "Alpha said to bring back the eggs or your head. Guess it will be *just* your head." With one swift motion, the demon slit his throat from ear to ear, all the way back to the spine. Now turning his attention to Buffy, " Little girl, you and your pathetic friends are next.”
Ne
Never fond of threats unless he was making them, Spike swaggered into view. "Little? I'm sure your past women have humored you, telling you size doesn't matter, and all that rot. But with a git such as you, maybe it does." And looked pointedly below the demon’s waste.

One word interrupted, "Traitor." One of the vampires instantly recognized Spike, saying the word with great disgust and lunging towards Spike.

So the fight began. The driver lunged for Buffy as she ducked out of the way of the blade. Then she kicked him in the stomach and hit down on his back with both hands clasped. Despite these powerful blows, the driver only grunted. ‘Definitely not a good sign!’ she thought.

Meanwhile, Xander jumped on the last vamp who was putting down the body of the broker. Regardless of the getting in the initial strike, Xander soon discovered that his vamp was a lot stronger than he looked. Nevertheless, Xander gave as good as he got with the help of a trusty axe.

Spike’s opponent had much more anger going for him than ability and was easily overcome, allowing Spike to quickly stake the vamp. However, Spike drew back orange slime on his stake instead of dust. Regretting he didn’t have time to inspect this oddity, he intercepted the nerd making his way towards Willow and Dawn. One back hand sent the man flying across the room. Nodding to the girls as he passed by, “Get the egg business done. Time’s wasting.”

Spike made his way over to Xander, who had lost his axe and was beginning to go down under his adversary’s blows. “Harris, quit playing.” Spike yanked the vamp off Xander. “Go keep the little one off the Bit and Red.”

Rushing the best he could in all the slick egg slime, Xander went over, immediately hit the man in the nose and was surprised to see it profusely bleed bright, red blood as if from a human. Shock clearly evident in his voice, Xander exclaimed, “Your not a vampire!”

The little man was now whimpering against the wall. “I’m not even a demon,” he answered with an English accent. “I’m human, a medical student gathering eggs for extra credit and a free trip to the United States.”

Xander was still trying to process this unexpected turn of events. “Human? Buffy, this one’s human!”

Now in the middle of the crypt, Buffy certainly did not have time to reply. Her and her opponent were still exchanging blows while slipping and sliding across the slick floor. Thus negating the Driver's bulk advantage, Buffy started to get the upper hand.

Just as Spike staked the second vamp, receiving a satisfying cloud of dust, Buffy pinned her opponent to the floor. Now was time for some threats of her own. “Demon dead, eggs scrambled. Now go crawl back to whatever part of the world you normally hide. Tell your boss to buy a chicken. Fresh eggs, daily, without the ass kicking included."

What the Scoobie Gang didn’t know was that as soon as the driver and human stumbled out of the crypt, the driver changed the Slayer’s plan. "Follow the slayer and see what you can find out while I go and report to Alpha. If you value your head, don’t come back without something useful."

Xander pointedly asked Buffy and Willow to walk him part of the way home, leaving Spike to walk Dawn home. They could hear Dawn talking excitedly for a couple of blocks.

Having finally deduced what was bothering him about the human in the fight, Xander told Buffy the bad news about the chip. To Buffy it felt like a physical blow: tunnel vision, blurry images in the middle, fuzzy voices that she couldn’t quite make out. When she heard Xander say that the chip must not be working, her brain shut down, tuning out any further information, now realizing how much hope she had been secretly harboring at Spike’s return.

As the shocking information and all the ramifications started to sink in, her vision slowly returned, and she began to understand the voices around her again.

“… He has to be killed.”

“…but he saved us last night against those drunks. Didn’t even want credit and even offered to leave right then and there.” Willow was starting to mount a defense which quickly gained Buffy’s full attention. “Buffy, he didn’t kill them and could have easily.”

Xander quickly cut in, “He eventually will kill. Somebody, somewhere. Just a matter of some-when.”
However, Willow was not backing down either. “He saved YOU tonight…again! How many times does that make now?”

As the accurate jab sunk in, Xander could no longer meet her eyes, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “Then he’s got to go…Now.”

Buffy said quietly, “He said he was leaving. If he doesn’t I will do something.” But why did she have this empty ache forming in the pit of her stomach? She should be glad he’s leaving if the chip doesn’t work. “I trust him with Dawn, and tomorrow he’ll leave or I’ll handle it.” Leaving no room for further argument, “Come on, Will, we need to call Giles.”

*******

Willow and Buffy returned home, going immediately to the kitchen where they could hear Spike and Dawn talking in the backyard. Buffy called Giles to let him know everything was successfully resolved. While Willow talked to him at the end of the call, Buffy sed oed out onto the back porch to address the new problem.

She was surprised to find her sister and Spike lying flat on their backs in the middle of the yard, head to head, legs pointing out in opposite direction, gazing up at the stars. With as much slayer attitude and resolve she could muster, she said, “Spike, I know about the chip no longer working.”

Spike groaned dramatically before answering. “Thanks for the news flash, Slayer, but I already knew.”
Interrupting, Dawn immediately jumped to his defense, “But Buffy…”

Amazed at how many people were defending Spike tonight, Buffy, however, kept going in a voice that did not even soconvconvincing to herself. “Since you saved Willow and Dawn last night, I won’t stake you.”

“You could try, but it hasn’t worked yet.” With a forced chuckle, he continued. “But, pet, I have already called the airport to make a reservation for tomorrow night before coming out here.”
At this point, Buffy was abashed enough to keep her mouth shut but not Dawn.
“Can I drive you to the airport? Please…I *soooo* need the practice.”

Appreciating the change in the conversation, Spike answered. “I’m sure you do, Nibblet. Alright, as long as I don’t get a heart attack along the way.”

“You won’t. Besides, your heart doesn’t even beat, dead boy.”

Willow came outside and was instantly intrigued. “What’s everyone doing?”

Smirking, Spike was the first to reply. “The Slayer is making her usual obligatory threat interrupting Platelet and me from our astrology.”

Dawn added, “Yeah, we haven’t done this since last summer.”

Willow happily joined them on the grass. “Tara and I loved to sit on the roof of the dorm and talk about the stars.”

Everyone was quiet for a moment unsure how to reply. Dawn was the first to break the uncomfortable silence. “Do you think she is watching with us?”

Spike tried to lighten things back up. “Probably laughing at us mucking up the names.”

“I hope she is, Dawnie. I would like to think she is.”

“I remember a while back, there was this bloke that tried to convince everyone the Egyptian pyramids of Giza were built to align with the stars.”

Caught hook, line and sinker. Willow interrupted excitedly, “Oh, Oh…I know this one. His name was Cacye, and he thought the pyramids were built in 10,500 BC instead of 2000 BC and built to align with Orion’s belt.” As Dawn entusiatically pointed out the constellation, Willow continued. “He said that the only time the constellation aligned with the pyramids was 10,500 BC.” With a sign, Willow added, “I’ve always wanted to travel there.”

“Ew, all those dead people laying around.” Dawn squinched up her nose at the thought.

Willow laughed. “But not a change for us,” and motioned towards Spike.

“They’re mummies, Bite Size. Just think, you might have known some of them, since you are old as dirt or sand in this case.”

Laughter broke out as Dawn rolled over to playfully hit him on the head.

Unable to stand it any longer, Buffy haltingly stepped off the porch to join the happy group lying below her, finishing out the fourth point of their own lawn star. She was always bewildered how her friends bounced back so quickly from potential disasters. Not an hour ago, all their lives were in mortal danger, but now everyone was happy, cy eny enjoying the night. Only in Sunny-D. Funny, she went out every night on patrol but couldn’t remember the last time she had even notice that there were stars still up in the sky. Let alone take the time out to look at them.

For a few moments, Buffy enjoyed the conversation flowing around her, comfortable not participating. She reveled in the tranquility of the night and the closeness of her friends, vicariously enjoying Dawn’s happiness, glimpses of the old Willow, and the conversation kept lively by a cocky, smart-mouthed vamp.

Wait…had she just thought of Spike as one of her friends? When had this started? How ironic that some of the most peaceful memories she had in the past few years included this backyard and Spike, which only reminded her that Spike had to leave tomorrow. Damn her slayer duties, and damn the chip that no longer made him safe! But what or who was ‘safe’ exactly anymore?

She had not been sure what she had been going to say to Spike when she had first stepped on the porch tonight. But typical Spike, he already had a reply to her thoughts even though she hadn’t even finished forming them yet. The problem was that for once, he had not predicted her thoughts and feelings accurately, but she could see how he replied based on past Buffy thoughts?

Lying here on the ground, she wasn’t even sure she wanted him to leave at all. Couldn’t there be a way he could stay? Yes, Buffy grudging admitted, she wanted him to stay, but the Slayer part of her knew he should go. The vulnerable woman in her, the part wanting him to stay, hoped he would be his old, contrary self and refuse to leave, taking away her guilt for betraying her slayer duties to dust all vamps and removing the guilt caused by preconceptions that Spike just didn’t fit. Their time apart and his return had showed her that she wanted times like tonight to continue, wanted to be able to go to him for advice as she had in the past, and especially wanted to turn around and find him suddenly there filling her senses with his attention focused solely on her. She wanted back that antsy, warm feeling that only his presence made for her.

A slayer pining for a vamp. Not really acceptable in her line of work, but there it was. Guilt sucked!

Buffy’s wandering mind was jolted back to reality when Dawn made everyone jump at her unexpected squeal. Pointing out a firefly passing over their heads. A bit late in the season, but there he was drifting by. Still torn by her warring opinions, the Slayer watched the ‘evil’ vamp gently catch the luminescent insect, roll over and place it on her sister’s nose. To Dawn’s great delight, the firefly glowed, lighting its path across her face, and then smoothly flew off again.

Thus started the bug races. Sure this was a ‘girl thing,’ Spike sat out of the fun trying to memorize this scene for future lonely nights. He would need such pleasant memories to recall when he returned to London. These women warmed his cold body as no others could as he watched engrossed these three sprites gaily chasing elusive fireflies around the yard. He just laughed when the Bit came over to put out his cigarette, admonishing him for fumigating the poor undeserving insects.

As the girls scampered to catch more fireflies, no one noticed a fifth witness leaving his hiding place at the side of the house. A witness who had listened to all their plans for the following evening and was now racing to report to his boss. Maybe this was his ticket to keeping his head when he had to face Alpha again.

******

The next night, Spike made his brief farewells to Clem. “Well, mate, I’m outta here. Do you want to join the joy ride? Sure to raise you heart beat. Glad I don’t have one.”

Taking a step back, Clem was quick to reply. "No, I'm not that brave. Besides, I have a pizza being deliver. You know, 30 minutes or free. Always hoping for 31."

After a quick walk, Spike came to the street he was suppose to meet his ride, arriving in time to witness the beginning of a Chinese fire drill. Willow, who must have been driving, was headed to the back seat while Buffy was racing from the back calling shotgun. Dawn was coming around from the far side heading for the driver's seat, but as she rounded the trunk, she was snatched up and carried off by a demon with a tattoo clearly visible on his hand. Spike first heard and then could see a second demon run out of the bushes to his left, trailing the swiftly retreating pair.

Into instant slayer mode, Buffy quickly pursued her sister with Spike and Willow close behind. The chase lead to a grave covered with a concrete slab. Spike caught the second demon as, in an attempt at a flying tackle, Buffy dove after the kidnapper. The kidnapper, however, had something else in mind. At the last second, he shoved Dawn to one side as he dove to the other, leaving Buffy to sail through and land on the slab, which she unexpectedly plummeted through.

Seeing everything out of the corner of his eye, Spike yelled, and when he saw her disappear below, blindly dove after her. The demon quickly stepped back to look down in the hole, asking associates unseen below, "Got’em?" The answer could not be made out by Dawn and Willow, but they did hear a loud clang of metal heavily meeting metal, and the demon finishing. "Good. Then go…Go!"

The demon disappeared as Willow and Dawn rushed over to look down the hole, shocked to discover that the slab had been covering a false grave.

Immediately Dawn began screaming for her sister and Spike, but Willow shushed her, telling her to listen. They could hear growling that may have belonged to Spike, several sets of footsteps, and maybe wheels traveling across stone. All were quickly fading away.

Dawn started to climb down into the hole. "We have to go after them."

Willow grabbed her arm stopping her. "We will, but not until we have weapons and some help. You go get Clem and any weapons Spike might have left. I will go get Xander. Hurray."

TBC