Chapter 8

Buffy was determined to find one of the things she knew she needed – a virgin – even though most of the residents of Sunnydale had left because of the demons she now controlled. It was frustrating her that things had not been going as planned. And to top it all off, she thought that Spike would have left town the minute she died. She didn't think he would stay and keep his damn promise. And now, he was there: annoying, meddling, and fucking things up on top of having trouble translating the text.

She was about to head back to Restfield and take her anger out on another demon's head when she saw Dawn and Spike a few yards away. The first word that popped into her mind was virgin. Smiling widely for very different reasons than what Dawn thought, Buffy jogged toward them and called to Dawn.

“Buffy!” Dawn's face lit up and she started for her sister. When Spike held her forearm and stopped her, she turned to face him, her confusion clear in her expression.

Buffy halted just a few feet away from them, facing the vampire she'd just deemed a major plan-spoiler. “What do you think you're doing?”

Spike moved in front of Dawn, putting himself between her and the slayer. “Where's Willow?”

Without thinking, Buffy quickly answered, “She's safe, with me.” Dismissing Spike, she turned her attention to her very confused sister. “Dawn.”

“I can't let you near her.” Spike shook his head.

Buffy scoffed. If she was pissed off at Spike before, now she was sure she could drive a stake through his chest without any hesitation. “Let go of my sister,” she said through a clenched jaw.

Spike gripped Dawn back tighter when Buffy started to move toward them once more. “As far as I'm concerned, you're not the slayer.”

Dawn's gaze shifted from Buffy's infuriated expression to Spike's equally enraged one. They were glaring at each other, but Buffy's eyes seemed fiercer, darker, scarier. She clutched Spike's arm and whispered, “What's going on?”

Buffy stretched her hand out to her sister. “Dawn, come here,” she said in a coaxing voice.

Dawn glanced at Spike and knew she needed to trust him by the look in his eyes alone. She looked at Buffy, still bewildered and eyes filling with tears. “I...”

Buffy chuckled derisively. “Who are you going to listen to? Me or this freak-show, lame excuse for a vampire?” she asked, pointing at Spike with disdain.

Dawn gave Buffy her answer; she moved behind Spike further, biting back the urge to cry.

“You ungrateful little brat!” Buffy snarled while she shook her head in disgust. “What did this thing do while I was gone that you’d choose to believe him instead of me? I’m your sister!”

“Better shut your gob, slayer,” Spike said, impatient now.

“Oh, should I?” She wanted to kill the little bitch, but she bit her lip and curled her hands into fists at her sides to abate her anger. She took a deep breath and forced a smile before advancing toward the two, reaching for Dawn’s arm. “Dawn, don't be silly!”

Dawn pulled her arm away from her sister's grip as Spike quickly put an arm across her front. He pushed Buffy by the shoulder and backed away. The two stared at each other for a moment, before Buffy turned to Dawn. She saw the fear in her sister's eyes and knew that if she couldn’t get Dawn to trust her, she wouldn’t come with her. She decided to back off for now.

“Fine. If that's what you want. I just wanted to be with you.” She whirled around and left with an ominous look in her eyes. She was determined to get to her sister some way, even if it meant eliminating the obstacles.

Lips trembling, Dawn watched her sister walk away. She couldn't believe what had just happened. If that was the consequence of having her brought back to life, then she didn't want it. And if her sister's friends bothered to ask her what she wanted she would have done everything she could to keep them from trying. She'd rather keep the good memories of her sister than to see her like this.

That thing wasn't the Buffy she knew. It wasn't her at all.

Spike turned around and saw Dawn trembling, tears streaming down her cheeks. He took her by the arms and said quietly, “Let's get you home.”




Buffy stormed into the crypt, passing and ignoring Roh'gna who asked if she had found what she was looking for. She went straight to the hole in the ground and dropped down. “Tell me you have something.”

Willow turned to her with her mouth slightly open. She had a worried and surprised look on her face, and she hesitated to speak. “Y-you've only been gone a few --”

Buffy exhaled sharply. “Useless amateur!”

Willow threw the papers at the floor and stood up, facing the slayer. “I think you better stop talking to me that way.”

Buffy laughed. “Or you'll what? Turn me into a frog?”

“I'm powerful enough to bring you back. Don't you think I could put you back in the ground? So maybe it's best if you don't piss me off.”

Buffy chuckled at her, a taunting, menacing laugh. Without warning, she slapped the witch sharply on the cheek.

Willow stood still, breathing heavily, head still turned to one side. A teardrop slowly ran down her crimson cheek, past the blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

Buffy pushed her down onto her seat and walked away. “Don't stop until you decode that fucking text.”




Spike and Dawn's walk home had been quiet. Neither knew what to say, and Spike didn't force a conversation. He figured Dawn would ask for an explanation when she was ready to talk about it.

Wrapped in a blanket and staring blankly at the pieces of the coffee table, Dawn sat on the living room couch. She was still shaken up about seeing Buffy alive, but not recognizing her at all.

Spike went into the living room, a cup of hot cocoa in his hand. He handed it to Dawn who thanked him in a voice so quiet he wouldn't have heard if he were human. He sat beside her.

She took a sip and then set the cup on her thighs, her hands wrapped around the mug for warmth. She lifted her head and asked in a tentative voice, “What happened to her?”

Spike chuckled softly. “She's angry, isn't she?”

“Boy, is that the understatement of the year.” Dawn rubbed the side of the mug with her thumb while she stared at it. “She doesn't want to be here.”

Spike knew from the tears welling up in her eyes what she meant. She thought Buffy didn't want to be with her. “There's definitely something different about her.”

“This is all Willow's fault,” Dawn said spitefully.

“Dawn,” Spike reprimanded. It was, of course, how he felt, too. But instead of blaming Willow, they should be finding her and trying to help Buffy. He doubted the witch was safe, especially if she was with the crazy slayer.

“Well, it is!”

“She just --”

“Missed her.” She exhaled deeply while tucking her hair behind her ear. “I know. We all did. But I would have never done something as selfish as what she did.”

Spike gave a faint smile. “Remember the time you wanted to bring your mum back?”

Dawn opened her mouth to refute him, but he was right. She sighed and took another sip of her cocoa.

Spike placed a hand over her knee and said, “She'll be okay. She'll be all right, yeah?” If he could convince Dawn, Spike thought, then maybe he could convince himself.