Buffy the Vampire Slayer 3

by Nancy Holder

  Ergo …

  The enemy of my enemy might just be my friend.

  Spike allowed the thought to wind its way through his mind, a faint flicker of delight growing brighter as it coursed through him.

  That flicker was only extinguished when the Slayer knocked him to the ground and began her assault to his face with her fists.

  Buffy had grown restless, sitting in her bedroom, thinking about Todd, and imagining what might have been if just once, a cute boy with a quick wit and a sparkling personality turned out to be no more than that.

  The only surefire way Buffy knew to deal with the regret was to stop dealing with it. And the best way to do that was to focus her attention on something else. Something she could do something about with a stake or a crossbow.

  She had already planned to find Callie that evening. Though her mother would be home soon with pizza for three, Buffy soon found herself scratching out a quick note expressing her sincere desire for leftovers, and heading out into the darkness to do the one job she knew she did well.

  And then she’d seen Spike.

  Standing over Todd’s very dead body.

  It’s amazing how the universe works, Buffy thought as she tackled him from behind. It had taken Todd from her, even before Spike had made a meal out of him, but it had also given her exactly what she needed in order to find Callie … the only person in town besides Buffy who had definitely seen her in the past few days.

  It probably wasn’t a fair trade, especially from Todd’s point of view, but she’d take it.

  Buffy had fought Spike several times in the past. He was incredibly strong and equally quick, but that wasn’t what made him so dangerous. Though it was always tempting to dismiss the bad Billy Idol wannabe fashion sense, Spike was easily the most tenacious vampire she’d ever faced. The guy just didn’t know the meaning of the word “quit,” and he seemed to truly enjoy pain, both the giving and the receiving.

  So she had a hard time understanding what the hell his problem was at the moment. He’d just made a fresh kill. He should have been brimming over with fight. But instead of tossing her off and laying into her with all his might, he was dodging her punches without throwing any of his own.

  Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve seen him out of his wheelchair, Buffy realized. Maybe he’s not quite up to strength.

  Finally, Buffy’s curiosity got the better of her. She didn’t stop punching, but she did ask, “Is it me, or is your heart just not in this?”

  “If you’d just stop for a minute, I might answer that,” Spike replied between blows.

  In a quick motion, Buffy grabbed Spike by his collar and rolled to her right. She then picked him up and forced him off balance, tossing him into a nearby tree. She pulled back, expecting a charge, but Spike surprised her again by slowly rising to his feet and holding up his hands in the universal sign of “I surrender.”

  “Okay,” Buffy said, “you want to play nice. Tell me one thing. Where can I find Callie McKay?”

  “She’s dead,” Spike said with obvious, and what seemed like genuine, regret.

  Buffy didn’t want to believe him, but she couldn’t help herself. She did.

  “Angelus killed her,” Spike went on with a hint of anger.

  Buffy was stunned. On the one hand, she was definitely relieved. She hadn’t honestly been looking forward to solving this problem, but she’d known what she had to do and was prepared to do it. On the other hand, why should this bother someone like Spike?

  “Did Angelus sire her in the first place?” Buffy demanded.

  “No, that was Drusilla,” Spike replied. “She wanted a new toy and then got bored when it didn’t dance to her tune.”

  Buffy could hardly believe what she was hearing.

  “Callie was a good kid.” Spike shrugged. “But she didn’t fancy Angelus, and he, being the bigger and badder of the two, made quick work of her.”

  “Boy, you guys are really something,” Buffy said.

  “You don’t know the half of it, pet,” Spike replied almost cordially. “Oh, and P.S., he’s also the one who killed your little friend there. Not that I mind taking credit for a good kill, but that was Angelus’s doing.”

  The nonchalance with which Spike tossed this out galled Buffy. After Todd’s confession, she wouldn’t have put good money on him surviving the week. Whoever had hired him to kill the Slayer must have been playing in the big leagues of evil. The fact that Angel had gotten to him first was really just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. She couldn’t help but wonder, however, why he hadn’t made more of a show of it for her benefit.

  Maybe he knew the truth about Todd before I did and he was just clearing his own way, she decided.

  Either way, this was no time to get too wound up in the mystery. She was, after all, still facing the only vampire she’d ever confronted who had actually killed a Slayer. Two, if memory served.

  “So what’s your story?” Buffy asked. “You just out for a walk?”

  “Honestly, I’ve been thinking,” Spike surprised her by saying.

  “Not your strong suit, Spike,” Buffy replied.

  “Hear me out,” he said. “I know you want to off Angelus, but up until now, you’ve played right into his hands. You want to beat him, you have to stop playing defense. Take the bloody fight to him.”

  “And you’re telling me this why?” Buffy asked.

  “I don’t know. I’m a puzzle, aren’t I?” Then Spike almost smiled, shook his head, and took off running down the street.

  Buffy found herself strangely reluctant to follow, so stunned was she by both the message and the messenger. It only took her a moment to come to a shocking revelation.

  He’s right.

  She hated to admit it, but he was. For weeks she and Giles and the rest of her friends had driven themselves crazy researching Angelus’s past and trying to foresee his next move. She knew their final confrontation was just around the corner, and she’d busied herself preparing to face him whenever and however he eventually chose to come after her. In fact, the only one of them who had taken any kind of offensive action against Angel had been Giles, and only when he was in a blind rage over the death of Jenny Calendar. Though Buffy had chastised Giles for rushing in, he had succeeded in destroying the factory that Angel, Dru, and Spike had called home. Only Giles had scored anything resembling a point in their favor recently.

  So what the hell was she waiting for?

  The deaths of Callie and Todd would trouble Buffy’s dreams in the coming days. But infinitely more troubling would be Spike’s advice. It would force her to ask again and again the question she’d been avoiding and to see clearly the answer she’d only thought she had come to accept.

  Buffy had been waiting. Subconsciously. Unintentionally. Whatever. She’d been biding her time, telling herself that she was preparing for the coming battle, but in reality, she had been waiting for some kind of miracle that would make the nightmare end and bring Angel back to her.

  But Angel wasn’t coming back. The time for hopes and dreams had passed.

  Buffy now knew what she had to do.

  She would only lose sleep now wondering why Spike had been the one to make her see it.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Monday morning, about half an hour before class was to begin, Buffy and Willow were on their way to the library to check in with Giles. Everyone including the Slayer had done much catching up on lost sleep over the weekend and as best Buffy could tell, things were back to as normal as they ever got on the Hellmouth.

  “I’m really sorry to hear about Todd,” Willow said once she’d gotten the whole sordid story from Buffy.

  “Which part?” Buffy asked.

  “I guess the ‘he was really trying to kill you’ part,” Willow decided, “though I’m also not happy that Angel killed him.” After a moment, she added, “You don’t think Angel … you know …”

  “Turned him?” Buffy finished the sentence for h
er. “The funeral was yesterday,” Buffy replied. “I didn’t attend, but I did spend some time there last night making sure Todd wasn’t just mostly dead.”

  “Well, that was almost thoughtful of Angel,” Willow suggested.

  “No brownie points on this one, Will,” Buffy said decisively. “Angel is evil. And he’s going to go the way of all evil that is unfortunate enough to cross the Sunnydale city line.”

  “What did your mom say about Todd?” Willow asked, as much to derail the Angel conversation as anything.

  “I told her he wouldn’t be coming back. She wasn’t pleased about it until I told her it was because he’d developed sort of a crush on me and I didn’t think that was appropriate in a student-tutor relationship,” Buffy replied.

  “Well, it was sort of true,” Willow said.

  “It was as much of the truth as she needs to know,” Buffy agreed. “I think she was actually a little impressed that I showed so much emotional maturity, given the circumstances. She said that as long as my grades stay up through finals, she won’t insist on hiring another tutor anytime soon.”

  Willow paused thoughtfully. “You know you’ve got a great mom, don’t you?”

  “I do.” Buffy nodded.

  “Come to think of it, I wouldn’t mind trading,” Willow added.

  “Is Mrs. Rosenberg still restriction-happy?” Buffy asked.

  “She’s mellowed a bit. No more afternoon curfew. But she’s still looking into that kibbutz,” Willow said with disappointment.

  “Don’t worry,” Buffy said reassuringly. “There’s always a chance the world will end before you have to go.”

  “Very true.” Willow nodded. “Or maybe she’ll just conveniently forget. It wouldn’t be the first time.”

  “Good morning, Buffy, Willow,” Giles said cheerfully as they entered the library. Xander and Cordelia were there as well, seated side by side on top of the main table, clearly awaiting the arrival of the Slayer.

  “So, Buffy,” Xander said enthusiastically, “you saved the world … again. What are you going to do now?”

  “I’m going to see how I did on my latest chem quiz, and turn in a truly spectacular essay on Victorian poetry,” Buffy replied without missing a beat.

  “I must say, Buffy, you really did a wonderful job this past week,” Giles said.

  “Thanks,” Buffy replied. “A few more like this and I should make employee of the month in no time.”

  “Yes, we’ll see about getting you a plaque,” Giles joked.

  “Or a good set of steak knives,” Xander suggested. “Or maybe just a really good set of stakes. You know, not the everyday stakes, but the kind you only bring out on special occasions.”

  As everyone had spent their waking weekend hours trading telephone accounts of Buffy’s adventures with the principal as well as the secret agenda of her tutor, there was little else to discuss at this point, and the group seemed pleased to default to attempts at witty banter.

  “I do have a question for you, Buffy,” Giles interjected.

  “Shoot, Coach.”

  Giles accepted her retort as gracefully as possible before asking, “Did you happen to know a freshman by the name of Joshua Grodin?”

  Buffy thought before replying. “Doesn’t ring any bells.”

  “I have him in my fourth-period computer lab,” Willow offered. “Why?”

  “He’s dead,” Giles said seriously.

  “Oh no.” Willow sighed. “He was a really good student. Kind of quiet. I think his mom died last year.”

  “Yes, well, his body and that of his father were found dismembered in their basement last week. Apparently the neighbors started to complain about the smell. The police contacted me because they found this book among his things,” Giles went on, passing the old, leather-bound tome to Buffy for her perusal.

  “Raising Demons?” Buffy asked as she read the title.

  “It’s from my private collection,” Giles said somberly.

  “He keeps it right next to his first edition of Demon Recipes: One Hundred Ways to Eat Entrails,” Xander offered.

  “Did Joshua steal it?” Buffy asked Giles.

  “He must have.” Giles nodded. “And he appears to have paid quite a high price for it.”

  “So that’s how Paulina got into Sunnydale?” Willow asked.

  “It’s hard to know for sure,” Giles replied. “None of the spells in the book relate specifically to her, but she was a relatively new demon and might have been able to answer Joshua’s call. At any rate, it’s highly likely that the two events were connected.”

  “Well, I think we can all learn a valuable lesson from this,” Cordelia interjected.

  “What’s that?” Buffy asked.

  “Raising demons is bad,” she said, as if it weren’t already obvious.

  “And they say kids aren’t learning anything in school these days,” Xander quipped. “It’s not all about test scores, you know.”

  Buffy wanted to let it go, but she had come to the library that morning with a purpose, and taking Giles aside, she asked quietly, “Have you had a chance to find out anything about the person or persons who might have hired Todd?”

  Giles shook his head. “It’s hardly the first assassination attempt, Buffy, nor is it likely to be the last. Though for a demon to hire a human, it’s just …”

  “What?” Buffy asked.

  “Pedestrian,” Giles replied. “Normally any self-respecting demon would look to the Order of Tiracca, or the Benevolent Brotherhood of Malpasa …”

  “The Benevolent Brotherhood … isn’t that kind of false advertising?”

  “At any rate, Buffy, you must remain on guard,” Giles warned her.

  “I am. And I will. But I think we should talk more later about Angel.”

  “Why is that? You said yourself you don’t think he was responsible for hiring Todd.”

  “I think we might want to consider some new tactics,” Buffy countered. She hadn’t gone into detail yet with Giles about her encounter with Spike, apart from reporting his news about Callie. But she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it either. “It might be time to start playing offense instead of defense,” she added.

  “It’s definitely worth considering.” Giles nodded. “See you after classes?”

  “Where else would I be?” Buffy asked, then added, “Isn’t that depressing?”

  “Hey, Buffy,” Xander interrupted from across the room, “tell me again about the toe.”

  “The toe?” Giles asked. “Do I want to know?”

  “Xander, we’ve been over this,” Willow said, obviously not warming to the topic.

  “No, I mean, did it just disappear, or was there actual ripping involved?” Xander wanted to know.

  “There was ripping.” Buffy nodded. “And then there was lots of blood.”

  “It is actually kind of fascinating that Principal Snyder regrew that toe every night when he entered the demon dimension,” Willow said.

  “Paulina said she wanted her son back just the way he was when he was a little boy,” Buffy reminded them. “I guess that included toes.”

  “I wonder what’s worse,” Willow said, “losing that toe every morning when he left the gateway, or living with the idea that he sold it in the first place to get rid of his mother?”

  “Personally, I want to know who in the demon world is so toe-happy that they’d accept Snyder’s littlest piggie as payment in full for turning someone into a demon,” Xander added.

  “Did anyone see the game this weekend?” Cordelia interrupted, apropos of nothing.

  “What game?” Xander asked.

  “I don’t know. It was the weekend. Somebody must have played somebody else at something. I’m just done with all this talk about ripping and toes,” Cordelia replied.

  Xander jumped off the table and helped Cordelia to her feet as well. “And that’s our cue, ladies and gentleman. Time for another fun-filled day at Sunnydale High.”

  “See you gu
ys at lunch?” Buffy asked as they made their way into the hall.

  “Absolutely,” Xander replied. “Fish sticks all around, on me.”

  Willow and Buffy exchanged a smile at Xander’s generosity as they passed the principal’s office and the group went their separate ways toward their respective classes. Though Snyder’s office was unoccupied, Buffy did pause long enough to note through the office door window that the spelling bee trophy that had been retrieved from Paulina’s home now sat on one corner of Snyder’s bookshelf. It wasn’t exactly a place of honor reminiscent of the dresser top, but it would also never be out of Snyder’s eye line when he was seated at his desk, Buffy realized, surprised by the twinge of sadness that welled up inside her at the sight.

  In all of the telling and retelling of the story of her encounter to her friends and her Watcher, Buffy had found herself leaving out the details about the spelling bee and the trophy. She didn’t know why. It wasn’t embarrassing for her in any way. She just felt strange about it. It was like seeing somebody’s report card or test score by mistake. Snyder and his love for that trophy, despite the tactics he had used in order to acquire it, was somehow too private for casual conversation. It was like she’d seen him naked, and that was a memory she was determined to bury as soon as humanly possible.

  Still, as she passed him a few doors down in the hall berating a freshman girl publicly for the length of her miniskirt and the height of her shoe heels, Buffy found the unpleasant memory easier to bear.

  It takes a monster to make a monster, Buffy thought as she passed him, pleased that he hadn’t even bothered to glance in her direction.

  “Isn’t that right, Cecil,” she said just soft enough that he might not have heard it.

  Buffy would never know if he had, but she would often wonder. The moment the words left her mouth, Snyder stopped his harangue in midsentence, looked quickly around the hall, and, with a huff, hurried back toward his office.

  Buffy smiled to herself as she saw the immediate relief on the young student’s face at her sudden reprieve. Being the Slayer was a huge responsibility. But from time to time, it also came with unexpected rewards.