Chapter 17: Dragon

The jingle of the entry bell as Spike walked in distracted the Scoobies from arguing with Giles. “Got nothing on who summoned our Smaug. Though I found a few who’ve seen it, and they’re scared silly. I tell you, it’s not gonna be…” He trailed off and looked around, taking in the tense scene before him. “Where’s the Slayer?”

“Fighting a dragon,” Xander said, with a hint of bitterness.

Spike stared at them incredulously. “By herself?”

“I thought it was best.” Giles ignored the piercing looks he was receiving from the others.

Spike scoffed at the Watcher. “Bugger that.” Heading into the training room, just as Buffy had earlier, he emerged bearing a sword in one hand and an axe in the other. “Where did she go?”

“We don’t know,” Willow told him. “She just left.”

Spike stared her down. With a gaze as intense as his, he didn’t need any lousy truth spell. When he was satisfied they really didn’t know, he nodded and said, “Right, then.” He’d just have to track her himself.

“Spike,” Giles said, stepping cautiously towards the vampire. He lowered his voice. “This is something she has to do herself.”

The two men focused on each other, the understanding unspoken between them. Spike didn’t need the Watcher to explain his intentions – he’d heard the “I have a death wish” speech firsthand. But Giles hadn’t had to watch her these past weeks, flirting with death, teetering on the brink of giving in to her desperate desire. She’d been facing down her demons every night, and scraping by with the thinnest of margins. But this… something as dangerous and powerful as a dragon, something that would've given her a run for her money if she'd been in top condition, that could be the end of her.

And he only knew one thing.

He could not watch her die again.

“No,” Spike replied. “It’s not.” He turned again and headed out after Buffy, furious that Giles was willing to sacrifice his Slayer in order to test her will to live.

Giles moved to stop him, but one glance from Spike told him it was useless. Even with the chip keeping him from hurting humans, the vampire still wouldn’t take orders from Giles where Buffy was concerned.

*****

Buffy stopped walking when she realized she was being followed.

“Spike.” She turned around and looked at him.

“Don’t even start. You really think you’re going to fight a bloody dragon by yourself?”

Buffy looked at him defiantly. “Giles thinks I can.”

Spike shifted both his weapons to one hand so he could grasp her arm. “Giles is a fool,” he said. “He thinks you’re gonna prove something by doing this alone.”

Her expression softened to one of curiosity. “Prove something?”

“That you wanna live.” He shook his head and let out a harsh laugh. “Thinks he can send you after some larger-than-life foe like it’s a bloody epic poem. Slay the dragon all by yourself, prove there’s something worth living for.” He stared at her. “But you and I know different, pet.”

“You think I’ll let the dragon kill me?”

“I think killing it’s not gonna solve your problems.”

“You think I shouldn’t fight it?”

“No, you’re definitely gonna have to fight it,” Spike said with a wry grin. “Even the nasties are scared of this one. Never seen demons whimper like that. No, you’re gonna fight it, and you’re gonna kill it, because that’s what you do.”

“But?”

“But you don’t have to do it alone. You’ve got me. Remember what I said?”

Buffy sighed, and the ends of her mouth twitched into a slight smile. “Yeah.”

“Then let’s go,” Spike replied, leading her away. “Got a tip this thing’s making a nest of sorts on the bluff outside town.”

*****

When Giles retreated to the training room, Willow pulled Xander aside. “I don’t feel good about leaving Buffy alone,” she said.

“Me either. What’s Giles thinking?”

“We can’t abandon her. Not after what we did to her…”

Willow’s voice broke off in a choking sob and Xander drew her against his side in a one-armed hug. “You think you can work some magic on the dragon?”

She glanced over at the table, where Tara, Anya, and Dawn were still going through the books, looking for something else that might be useful. “We’d be stronger if Tara and I did it together.”

Xander nodded. “Okay.”

“Tara?” The other witch looked up at the sound of her name. “We need to work on some spells to stop the dragon. Freeze it, shrink it, something to make it easier to fight.”

Tara glanced uneasily toward the training room, then back at Willow. “But Giles said…”

“Giles is out of his mind if he thinks we’re gonna let Buffy go off alone,” said Xander. “Willow and I have to do something. It’s up to you guys if you want to help.”

Tara and Anya paused for a minute, reflecting. Dawn swallowed hard, waiting for their answer, knowing she wouldn’t be allowed to participate, but feeling a stake in the outcome nonetheless. Finally, Anya said, “If we could use the talisman somehow, we might be able to control the dragon.”

“I think I remember seeing something like that.” Tara searched through the books on the table for the one she’d been reading on talismans and spells.

“You don’t know what you’re doing.” Giles appeared from behind the stairs.

“Well, we’re not going to let Buffy die again,” said Willow. “We worked hard to bring her back.”

“Yes, and don’t you see what that has done to her? She doesn’t want to be here. You pulled her out of paradise. Given the choice, she’d rather be dead.”

“Is that what you’re doing?” Anya asked. “Giving her the choice?”

Giles looked at her sternly. “In a manner of speaking, yes.”

“What is this, another Watcher’s test?” asked Xander. “Well, forget it. Buffy’s our friend. I’ve been fighting beside her for five years now, and I don’t intend to quit now.”

“Neither do I.” Willow moved to stand next to Xander, behind Anya and Tara seated at the table, so that they presented a unified front.

Giles just sighed and shook his head. He knew he couldn’t change their minds once the Scoobies had set their resolve. “Go, then. Try not to get yourselves killed.”

Willow glanced at Xander, then back at Giles. “You’re really not coming?”

*****

Buffy stood on the edge of the cliff and peered at the steep drop below. “Uhh… did I mention I’m afraid of heights?”

Spike glanced at her. “Really?” He hadn’t pegged the Slayer for the phobia type.

“It’s recent. Since, you know…”

Guilt swirled in his gut. “Right.”

Buffy came away from the edge and followed him as he scoped out the bluff. Why do I always say the wrong thing? she thought, kicking herself. She hadn’t meant to hurt him, just being her quippy self. But she realized the scars of that night ran deep in him. “I also have a newly developed fear of big swirly portal thingies,” she added, trying to lighten the mood. “And… not so big on the claustrophobia.”

Spike finally looked at her, but he kept his emotions hidden beneath the surface. “Getting stuck in a coffin’ll do that to ya.”

Buffy took a sweeping look around at the space between the edge of the cliff and the woods. “So, where’s our dragon?” Spike just stared at the sky behind her. Buffy heard the sound of large wings flapping and turned. “Well, ask and you shall receive,” she muttered, as the dragon let out a loud shriek, swooping towards them.

*****

“You sure that locator spell worked?” Xander asked as they trudged through the woods. “Cause I’m not seeing any dragons. Or Buffy.”

“It worked,” said Tara. “But… the dragon could have moved.”

“Great,” Anya muttered, doing battle with a prickly bush that had her by the sweater. “So we could be heading towards nothing. And this is cashmere!” Xander doubled back and calmed her flailing arms, carefully liberating her from the thorns.

“No, we’re close,” said Willow. “I can feel it.” They heard something very large fly over them and they all looked up. It was hard to see through the trees, but they were almost certain it was the dragon. Suddenly, they heard a horrifying shrieking noise coming from the direction it had been heading.

“This way,” Willow ordered, following the sound. “Come on!”

“Shouldn’t we be walking away from the big nasty noise?” Xander proposed half-heartedly, bringing up the rear as they broke into a run, heading towards Buffy.

*****

“Buffy, look out!”

Spike shouted a warning as the dragon let out another shriek and bent its head towards the Slayer. She backed up quickly, kicking up dust and gravel beneath her feet, but its fire breath managed to catch her and her clothes were set ablaze. Spike dropped his weapons and tackled her to the ground, ignoring his own combustibility as he used his body to smother the flames, rolling her back and forth until the fire was put out.

“You all right?” he asked, lying half on top of her.

“Little crispy, but I’ll live.” She wiped the sweat off her forehead and left a streak of dirt in its place. “You?”

“Flame-broiled to perfection. Still dead, but no more than usual.” He grinned at her, and in spite of the situation, she found herself smiling back. As they picked themselves up, he jerked a thumb towards the dragon. “You gonna kill this thing or just play with it?” he teased her.

“I don’t know, I was kinda thinking I might take it home, you know? Tame it, name it.”

“Piece of advice, love. If it breathes fire” – he grabbed the axe and threw it as hard as he could – “it probably doesn’t make a good pet.”

The axe embedded itself in the dragon’s side, but that didn’t even slow the thing down. The beast was enormous, its shiny black scales like a suit of armor, and Spike had no idea how they were even supposed to get near its heart with a sword, let alone pierce it. He ducked and rolled to avoid a rush of flames that was directed his way and was looking around for his sword when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the dragon’s massive iron-plated tail come swinging towards Buffy.

“NO!!” he cried, but the warning came too late. Buffy went tumbling over the edge of the cliff and disappeared out of sight. Spike’s stomach dropped with her, and if his heart were beating, it would have stopped in that instant.