"Spike, are you
sure?" Drusilla was smiling, but still suspicious.
"Yeah, baby, I am." Spike's blue eyes shone with
honesty. "I dunno what I was thinking....it would
never have worked, with the Slayer. You're my girl, now and
always."
"I'm your princess, right Spike?"
He smiled at her adoringly. "That's right,
ducks."
"Everything inside me is dancing." Drusilla began
to spin in circles. "Dancing and playing....dancing Spanish
dances. Do you remember Barcelona. Spike? Do you
remember Brazil?" Her glittering eyes went dreamy.
"I liked Brazil, Spike...better than Spain...better than
Prague, even. Better than the Hellmouth."
"I know, pet. Too bad you won't get to see it
again; but I prefer California."
"But Spike...the Slayer is here!" Dru's eyes
flashed. "It's not...you don't want to stay near her,
Spike?"
"Of course not, pet. Now....now I'm ready to
kill her."
"Really, Spike?"
"Really, ducks. And my princess gets to watch!
Won't that be fun?"
"Miss Edith wants to see the Slayer die," Dru
said happily.
"Can't do without her, now, can we, pet?" Spike
gave the battered doll a look of barely-disguised loathing, but
Drusilla never noticed.
"When will you kill her, Spike?" Dru asked
expectantly.
"Tomorrow night, Dru. In the graveyard."
Drusilla clapped her hands in delight. "I'll go dress
Edith."
She swirled out of the room as Spike grabbed his cigarettes and
lit one avidly. He really hoped the Slayer knew what she
was doing...hell, he hoped HE knew what he was doing!
What kind of vampire fell for a Slayer anyway?
He recalled a long-ago conversation with Angelus, about the way
in which his sire had changed.
"Not us!" Spike had protested. "Not demons!"
He'd been so sure he was right; and now....
Drusilla wanted to sing; but Spike convinced her it really wasn't
a good idea for someone to sing in the graveyard at night.
Made people curious....
He prevailed on her to wait over near the mausoleum.
When Buffy entered on patrol, Spike was ready for her. The
sight of her made his long-dead heart throb, just once,
painfully.
"Spike?" Buffy's voice mirrored her
confusion. "What are you doing here? I
thought...we were supposed to meet later?"
He gave her a sad smile. "No, Slayer....no time like
the present." He reached out and touched a lock of her
hair. Still felt like watered silk. "Sorry,
luv." His voice held infinite regret. "But I've
never been one to beat my head against a brick wall.
Vampire and Slayer...well, it won't do, will it?"
"Oh." Her voice was tight with tears.
He tilted up her chin. "It was a beautiful dream,
Slayer. I'll think of you, you know....on nights like
this. I'll remember you and I'll want...things to be
different. But they're not different, are they? We
both know I belong with Drusilla."
"Did you...always intend to go back to Drusilla? From
the first?"
"I don't know what I intended, " he answered
honestly. "But Dru and I...are two of a kind,
pet."
"You do have a history," she gave him a
heart-breaking smile.
"We have an eternal love," he said deliberately.
"It's as simple as that."
"Not quite," Buffy's expression changed from sad
to angry. "I think maybe you should have an eternal
death to go with your eternal love!"
Suddenly a stake was in her hand; but Spike was
unperturbed. "We both know you aren't going to stake
me, luv," he said calmly.
"No." Buffy agreed, "Not YOU!"
And she leaped like Nureyev across the intervening space that
separated her from Drusilla.
"No!" Spike yelled, lunging after her.
But he was too late...once again they stood as they had long ago,
with Spike watching helplessly as the Slayer pressed a stake to
Dru's heart.
"Spike?" Dru faltered.
"It's all right, baby," he assured her.
The Slayer smiled mockingly. "Is it?"
"Drusillaaaaa!" The scream echoed behind Buffy.
"Let her go!" The demon charged at Buffy,
who dropped the stake and turned to meet the attack.
Spike hauled Dru out of the way.
"It's Sarvaak!" Dru breathed, watching the demon
fighting the Slayer. Spike saw Buffy barely dodge a pair of
wicked-looking antlers.
"Ohhh," Drusilla sighed, "he's come to save
us, Miss Edith!"
Buffy was obviously struggling against Sarvaak; his skin
was too slimy to get a grip on.
"He's going to kill her!" Dru was thrilled at the
thought.
The chaos demon backhanded the Slayer so hard she crashed though
the open door of the mausoleum. She didn't come out.
Drusilla flung both arms around the chaos demon, not caring that
he left an oozy green slime all over her.
"Drusilla," the creature hissed, "I came
here for you!"
She looked at him with liquid eyes. "Will you take us
back to Brazil? Miss Edith wants to go back!"
"Yesss," Sarvaak promised, antlers bobbing
eagerly. "Let's go now, Drusilla."
"Yes," she assented happily. She slid one arm
around the chaos demon's slimy waist. "Let's go back
to Brazil right now. Spike..." she spared a glance for
him, "...we can still be friends!"
Spike stood immobile while his one-time lover strolled blithely
away with the chaos demon.
Then- he rushed inside the mausoleum.
Buffy was sitting nonchalantly on the stone sarcophagous,
swinging her legs.
"Dru left with Sarvaak," he informed her.
"I knew she would," Buffy said smugly.
"That makes one of us," Spike said grumpily. "What's more, I was scared that wanker would kill you!"
"He couldn't do that," Buffy shrugged, "Not
unless I was comatose or something!"
"Well, it all seems to have worked out," Spike
admitted, "except...kitten, I don't get why I had to pretend
to choose Dru over you? If Drusilla wanted Sarvaak anyay,
why would she even care if I loved you or not?"
"Trust me, Spike," the Slayer assured him, "it's a
girl thing! Drusilla would be a lot happier going off with
Sarvaak if she thinks he beat me up while you dumped me!
Plus, she gets the bonus of having her lover follow her
across two continents...she was practically swooning, she was so
happy."
"Yes, about that, pet," Spike began, "Have
you any idea what it cost me to charter that plane from
Brazil?"
"Well, Sarvaak couldn't take a regular flight,"
Buffy argued. "And as long as Drusilla stayed in
Sunnyhe..uh, Sunnydale...there was no telling what kind of
trouble she'd make!"
Spike shuddered at the thought. "I guess it was worth
it, after all," he conceded. "With Dru back in
Brazil with Sarvaak, we can relax."
"And, Sarvaak's not a bad guy. He's even sort of cute,
if you can get past the slime and antlers. For a chaos
demon, I mean," Buffy added.
Instantly his jealousy flared. "None of that,
Slayer." He grabbed her waist and lowered her onto the
sarcophagous, holding her in a vice-like grip.
"No other demon touches you," Spike insisted. "No other male. No other...anything! Except me. Me and only me! Got it?"
Buffy looked up at him, and her mouth quirked up into a smile.
"I got it," she purred.