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Love Me When I'm Gone	By : Kella Category: > Buffy/Spike(William) > Buffy/Spike(William) Views: 1664 -:- Recommendations : 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.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
Author�s Note: Sorry it�s been so long. I�m afraid I have yet to update When Spike Met Buffy, either. Busy holiday season. ::sigh:: Anyway, to clear some things up for some people who have asked: I�m following the lines that were set by the established eps already. I�m basically just making sure that it�s better. LOL Spike�s getting a better role this season. It�ll be angsty, just cuz there�s only so much I can do with the already crappy material that they�ve fed us this season. But there will be a sweet Spuffy ending. I promise. I also wanted to get this chapter out before my computer completely dies. It may be awhile before I can fix it, but here�s hoping�
Chapter 11

Furiously pacing the room, Spike threw his hands in the air and shook his head, trying to ignore the sound coming out of his tormentor�s mouth. �Leave me alone! You�re not here! I�m here, who are you? Get out! This isn�t the time! Not hardly proper��

In the corner of the bedroom that Spike and Buffy shared, the figure smiled ominously. Stepping out of the shadows and into the frustrated vampire�s path, Spike was forced to stop and stare directly into his own face. Then his own mouth � only on the other face � opened with a cocky smirk. �You know the plan. We�ve been over this� the timing has to be perfect or the whole thing�s shot to hell.�

�NO!� Spike exploded, backing away from himself. �You don�t exist!�

�Oh, but I do,� Fake-Spike returned. �Soon it�ll be you that won�t exist, perhaps� But,� he stepped forward until he was less than three inches from Spike�s face, �I have always been here. I�ve always existed, waiting for my big number. And mate, the orchestra�s warming up��

With that, his borrowed features stretched into a painfully wide grin. Terrified, Spike ran a hand over his face, blinking. When he opened his eyes, less than a second later, the imposter was gone. There was no trace of his ever having stood there.

Numbly, Spike sat on the edge of Buffy�s bed and stared off into space, trying to block out the insanity of his conversation with himself�

Later in the day, as it was approaching the time that the Summers girls would come home from school, Spike was down in the basement throwing laundry in the washing machine. He had brought down the old clothes of his from his� no, Clem�s crypt, as well as a hamper full of Buffy�s clothing that she hadn�t yet found time to wash. He wasn�t about to go into Dawn�s room to find clothes to wash� or more accurately, to find the carpet through the myriad piles of clothes. She may not be overtly hostile to him now, but he was not about to take chances with particularly dusty consequences, one of which being rifling through a teenager�s room without their expressed, written permission in triplicate.

Best to let her do her own damned laundry, he groused silently. He reached up to the shelf above the washing machine and grabbed the bottle of detergent, pouring in a liberal amount before dropping the lid to let the cycle begin. He turned around and jumped backwards and up so that he was sitting on the now-active machine. Fishing the pack of cigarettes out of his pants pocket, along with a lighter, he lit one up and inhaled deeply. He sat that way for a while, enjoying the way the smoke from the tip of the cigarette curled into the air, providing him the ability to watch it and blank all conscious thought from his mind. He had no idea how long he sat there, or how many cigarettes he�d smoked, but when the voice interrupted his thoughtless haven the washing machine had already stopped its cycle.

�You know, those things will kill you.�

Jumping down off the machine and stubbing his latest cigarette out in the ashtray on the shelf, Spike opened the lid to pull the clothes out and throw them in the dryer. �Har bloody har, Bit,� he snarked back at the brunette behind him.

He heard movements behind him and he half-turned to see Dawn rifling through old musty boxes in the corner. He leaned up against the dryer, propping his elbows on it behind him, raising a scarred eyebrow. When she appeared to have come across what she had been searching for, he blinked in surprise. She was holding up Buffy�s old cheerleading uniform. He�d never had the pleasure of actually seeing Buffy in it, but he�d heard the tales � lewd, mostly � from Angelus after the whole �moment of happiness� debacle. What really interested him was that, as far as he knew, Dawn was completely anti-cheerleading, yet he vaguely recollected a conversation they�d had a couple of months before he�d left�

�Nibblet, you ever think about being a cheerleader, I will follow you around to every practice until you come home, just to make sure no bloody wankers try anything��

�Jeez, Spike, freaky much?� she�d scoffed. �Besides, cheerleaders, well� except for Buffy, are all shallow bleach-bottle creations. God, please shoot me if I ever show signs of losing my mind to become a short-skirt clone��

Hence the reason Spike stood there puzzled as Dawn pulled the yellow and burgundy outfit completely out of the box and held it up to check the size. �Nice outfit you got there, pet,� he said slowly, startling her to the point where she almost dropped the uniform.

�Spike!� she exclaimed. �I f-forgot you were there��

�You f-forgot?� he chuckled, mimicking her stammer. �I seriously doubt that to be the case.�

�Well,� Dawn said defensively, placing a hand on her hip. Her brow furrowed, as something inside her seemed to spark to anger. �It�s not like it�s any of your business what I�m doing anyway. I�m doing this because I am in love� Who loves you, Spike? You�re barely welcome here. Buffy doesn�t love you�� She stopped, biting her lip, realizing she may have gone too far.

Spike, for his part, said nothing. He didn�t move. He simply stared at the demon standing in front of him that looked like Dawn, and sounded like Dawn, but wasn�t acting like the girl he had come to grow so fond of in the past two years. Neither of them moved, locked in a painful eye contact that neither was willing to break. In that moment, Spike knew without a doubt that something was amiss, as well as re-examined his place in the life of the Summers� women. He wasn�t very shocked to find that he couldn�t find one for himself.

After several moments of silence, he tilted his head and lowered his gaze to the uniform. �You� might want to take that wherever you were going to take it before Buffy sees you.� He turned, showing his back to her, and focused all of his attention on the dryer. Or so it seemed. The slight hunch of his shoulders and the fact that he was slowly and deeply inhaling in an apparent effort to steady himself told Dawn that she had definitely crossed the line.

She worried her lip between her teeth for a brief moment as she stared at his back, then quickly made her way up the stairs.

�Dawn?� Buffy�s voice startled the younger girl into hiding the purloined uniform under her bed, mere seconds before her older sister opened the door. �Have you seen Spike?�

Feeling a twinge of guilt for her earlier outburst, Dawn tamped it down and shook her head. �Not lately, why? He might be in the basement doing laundry��

�No,� Buffy leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms, a worried look coming to her face. �I�ve checked there too. I�ve been all over the house and he�s not in it.�

Dawn forced a small laugh. �Yeah, that�s Spike for you. Never around when you want him, always around when you don�t�� She trailed off at the raised eyebrow Buffy gave her. �Well,� she gestured to the window. �It�s after dark. He�s probably out enjoying the world that is not our home.�

Buffy gnawed at her lower lip for a moment, then nodded and left Dawn�s room, leaving the younger Summers girl to breathe an unnoticed sigh of relief. As Buffy made her way down the stairs she noticed the door opening, and for a brief moment she felt hope that it was Spike about to walk over the threshold. No such luck, she mentally cursed as she discovered a mere second later that it was only Xander.

�Wow. There must be a mass-injuring of knuckles in the Scooby Gang,� Buffy muttered dryly as she headed into the kitchen, taking a seat next to Willow as the witch sipped at her tea. Willow raised a questioning eyebrow at her as Xander stood in the kitchen entrance, utterly confused. Elaborating, Buffy shrugged her shoulders. �I mean, something has to be to blame for the change nowadays�Remember when people used to make some sort of noise at the door, then wait for the person inside to open it?�

�Ah yes, politeness,� Xander rejoined with a smile. �I believe we may have studied that briefly in high school. It�s one of those subjects that we never think we�ll use in life��

Willow winked at him. �So it gets filed away in the �useless� pile, along with �Algebra�?�

Xander made a face. �Actually, I think mine got shelved behind �Foreplay��

�Okay,� Buffy pushed away from the counter and busied herself getting something to drink. �So didn�t need to hear that, mister.�

Laughing, Xander gestured in the air. �Oh, come on, Buffy. Besides, the rude entering of people�s homes, uninvited, is what separates us humans from the vampire community.�

Oblivious to the glare Buffy shot Xander, Willow leaned in for a confused whisper. �They�ve formed a community now?�

�Yes, Wills. I hear there�s talk of them forming their first town dance, also. Just don�t drink the punch��

Setting down her cup of tea loudly, Buffy snorted and shook her head. �You have way too much time on your hands, you two. I think it�s time we changed the subject before I change the slaying rule to include humans.� She shook her head humorously and gingerly took a sip of her beverage.

�Yes, and speaking of painful topics, where is the Walking Dead?� Xander joked, leaning back on his stool briefly.

Staring down into her mug, Buffy shook her head slowly. �I don�t know, but he�s not here.�

Willow broke the silence that descended upon the three with a comforting smile to Buffy. �Well, I�m sure he�s all right, Buffy.� Off Buffy�s look, she continued hastily, �I mean, hello� Century-or-so-old vampire, only briefly insane, but still able to take care of himself, right?�

�We don�t know that, Wills,� Buffy said softly. In the same low tone, after she had checked to make sure no one was standing within earshot of their conversation, she said, �And Dawn was acting majorly strange when I asked her where he was.�

Xander leaned forward slightly, concern creeping over his features. �Strange? Strange how?�

�Like, guilt-trippage strange.� She shook her head and stood up. �I have to get ready to patrol. Hopefully I�ll find him out there.� She went to the sink to rinse out her mug.

�Oh, man,� Willow breathed, turning to Xander. �Even with how well Spike�s been doing lately, he�s still fragile. If Dawn said something to him that wasn�t��

Xander nodded. �Yeah, no love lost between me and Dead-Boy Junior, but I get what you�re saying. And,� he muttered, �he did help me out the other night.� He ignored Willow�s questioning look, turning his gaze to Buffy. �Buffster, you need help finding, er�patrolling, tonight?�

The blonde stopped and shook her head before offering him a smile. �Thanks, but no. Just�stay here with Dawn?�

Her friends nodded as she silently went upstairs to change. She blinked, trying to clear the mist forming in her eyes as she decided what outfit to wear.

TBC
- 9
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Love Me When I'm Gone