The Wages of Hate
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Hilary
The Wages of Hate--Part 14 of 100 yrs of Solitude (Races condemned to 100 yrs of solitude do not get a second opportunity on earth)
PART B
By: Isabelle
-Disclaimers: Title belongs entirely to Gabriel Garcia Marquez--just borrowing it for the sake of the story. Buffy, Spike, Whistler and all the memories belong to Joss and his crew. All other characters are entirely mine. Lyrics belong to Marc Anthony, "Contra La Corriente" (Against the Current) and are used without permission.
-Summary: Series set 100 yrs after "The Gift," Season five finale. This is part AU and futuristic. Spike has been alive for 100 hundred years after Buffy's death. Whistler comes to him to let him know that Buffy has been summoned to fight a new evil. Therefore she will be brought back to life and needs a "guide". When Buffy wakes she finds that the only one to cling to is the only person left from her past. This is a B/S fiction.
-Rating: Overall rating of series is R. (Language and Violence)
-Spoilers: I will mention everything that has happened through "The Gift".
-Distribution: The only people that have permission to post these series are those who already archive my fic and have asked me for permission. If you want to post it please ask me. I'll be happy to let you. I just want to know where my fic goes.
-Author's Note: I adore Feedback, so please let me know what you think of the story so far! bih80reviews@yahoo.com
-Special Thanks: Nmissi and Wendy for BETA reading this and their awesome feedback, Karla for listening to me rant, and One Good Day group--may you be blessed with many chocolate covered naked Spikes! Thanks for all the reviews!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What happened?" Troll asked the woman who was grabbing the heavy medical case and hoisting it over her shoulder.
"Spike's down," Lucy said.
They all looked at her as if she'd gone crazy.
"Wha'dcha said?" Dalton asked.
"Spike's down, ok--he must have taken the ring off," She said harder. "Troll, put a barrier spell over the room, Dalton, can you handle the south side?"
The man nodded and grabbed a few more weapons.
"Ok, I shouldn't be long. We have to bring him back, so be on the defensive. Zeta, you've got the board." Lucy walked out of the room.
Zeta sat at the computer that was previously occupied by Lucy and grabbed the earpiece.
"Listen up, leaders. Black leader is down. Red leader, you're in charge," Zeta said.
"Copy green leader. Over and out," Mario said.
Zeta turned to Troll. "Spike's never gone down."
The old man nodded, "There's always a new one."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What did she say?" Loret asked her partner.
"Spike's down, you're in charge," he stated and kept walking in the shadows when a strong arm grabbed him by the collar.
He found himself facing a very upset Loret. "What do you mean, 'Spike's down'?"
He stuttered. "He's down, you know what that means, bitch,” he said pulling away from the woman.
Loret let him go and turned the other way.
"Where the hell are you going?" he asked her.
"South Side."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Too long had passed. His wound was bleeding profusely, and putting pressure on it might move the wood.
Buffy was shedding silent tears as Spike's body trembled in her arms. He had lost consciousness a few minutes ago. She could tell because his grip had slowly faded to non-existent.
She lightly ran her hand down his pale face. He looked so young when he was asleep, so vulnerable, and human.
"C'mon, where the hell are you?" she asked the thin air.
She looked down at the man in her arms. "I am not going to lose you,” she whispered as she pressed a kiss to the top of his head, inhaling the scent of rain-soaked hair.
He didn't respond.
She choked back a small sob. Pulling the wood out had passed her mind. But the only thing that was worse than having blood on her clothes was having dust.
Dust that would remind her always of him, dust that she would not be able to wash away--it would itch until she would have to scratch her skin off to get the feeling off and still she was sure she would feel it.
She heard steps running in her direction and her heart leaped up in anticipation.
"Buffy?"
"Lucy! Over here!" she cried out in relief.
The thin woman knelt in front of the vampire and the slayer. Her boss was unconscious and she knew it was up to her to get him back.
"How long has he been out?" she asked, carefully cutting away his tattered shirt.
Buffy shrugged. "Maybe five minutes."
Lucy heard the fear in the blonde's voice and she looked up. The girl had tear tracks down her face, her lips were trembling and her eyes were filled with fear.
"Hey! It'll be ok, we'll get him back to his annoying self as soon as possible." she smiled.
Buffy could just nod--all she could feel was Spike's limp body in her arms.
Lucy studied the wound. "We need to get him back to the game room--there's an operating room there, Troll needs to protect his heart with a spell and I need to make sure all the splinters are out of him."
"We can't move him." Buffy said holding Spike in place.
"We're gonna have to, Buffy. We need Troll. I am no good with spells." Lucy took out a piece of gauze and started wrapping Spike's chest.
When she was done she looked over at the girl who had fresh tears on her eyes.
"Please, please get him back." Buffy pleaded.
Lucy smiled at her. "No problem, kiddo. Now, c'mon. I need you to lift him up carefully."
She complied and both women hoisted the body, careful not to move it too much.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Both Troll and Zeta jumped up when Buffy and Lucy burst in through the doors carrying a limp Spike. All they could do was stare at their usually strong and secure boss.
"Open the clinic!" Lucy cried out to Zeta.
The dark woman instantly reacted and opened the hidden door that led to the sterile room.
"Troll, we need a protection spell--for his heart."
The elder nodded and left to get his herbs. Zeta instantly went to get the blood bags that were stored in the refrigerator.
Buffy and Lucy eased the vampire down on to the white operating bed in the middle of the room.
Lucy left Buffy to grab the IV lines from the cabinet and approached Zeta who had a fresh bag of blood in her hand.
Buffy was carefully removing his coat, but Zeta stepped in with scissors and simply cut the sleeves to the neck line so the coat could be pulled off.
"What do I do?" Buffy asked the working two.
"Grab the alcohol from the counter and some scalpels, needles, and surgical tweezers.
The slayer nodded and did her best to retrieve the devices.
When she came back Lucy had already injected an IV into Spike's arm, giving him fresh blood.
Zeta was bringing more gauze and a metal object. Buffy preferred not to ask what it was for.
Spike was starting to come back into consciousness. Buffy could see his eyelids start to flutter.
"Buffy?" he asked in a small voice.
Buffy instantly grabbed his limp hand. "I'm here, don't you worry, you're gonna be fine," she said tenderly combing the hair off his brow.
He held her gaze for a moment, nodded and slipped off to unconsciousness.
Buffy bent down and kissed his hand tenderly before letting it go and looking up at the two very intrigued faces of the other women in the room.
"This is surreal." Lucy said shaking her head and spreading out the utensils in the dolly tray.
"What is?" Buffy asked confused.
"You being here, alive. With him. It's like watching a movie...in 3-D," Zeta said what was on her partner's mind.
"Stop doing that!" Lucy exclaimed glancing over her shoulder.
"Sorry, but I can't help it!" the woman cried in her defense.
"Hey! Spike's hurt. Do you have any idea what you're doing?" Buffy asked looking over at the scalpels and needles.
Lucy nodded, "I went to a couple of weeks of medical school."
"A couple of weeks?" Buffy asked horrified.
"For whiz kid, over here, it's like a full year." Zeta smirked.
Troll burst into the room with Loret in tow.
The red head ran past the older man and went directly to the bed were her ex-lover was lying.
"What happened?" she glared at Buffy ignoring the tear tracks on the blonde's face.
Buffy's jaw tightened when the other woman took Spike's hand in hers and did the same gesture that Buffy had done minutes ago.
"He got staked! What the hell does it look like, you bimbo?"
"You were his partner. The purpose of partners is to get you out safely. The only one I see in one piece is you," she retorted.
"It came out of nowhere," Buffy insisted.
"Spike comes out of nowhere, other things don't." She hissed, "You were probably distracting him, talking of other things."
Buffy's lips trembled as she accepted the guilt of Spike's situation. "I didn't mean..."
"Out!! Everyone out!" Lucy cried impatiently. "Only Troll and I stay. Everyone else get out there and kill whoever did this to Spike."
No one moved.
"Spike would have wanted us to," she added.
Both Loret and Buffy glared at each other. The slayer bent down and kissed Spike's wet forehead before inhaling his smell.
"Bring him back un-dusty," she pleaded with Lucy and ignored Loret's amused snort.
Lucy nodded and watched the three women leave.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Both Dalton and Mario are taking care of the south side. I disposed of one in the east side. Three are still roaming around," Loret informed Zeta.
The psychic closed her eyes and concentrated.
"They've spread. A large trooper moved to the north side and is closing in on us. The other two are still on the east side and stationed."
Loret nodded. She grabbed two wood spears from the shelf and tossed one to Buffy. "You head north and get the single one--I get the other two."
"Why?" Buffy questioned.
"Cause I said so." Loret said walking out the door.
Buffy turned to face Zeta.
Before she spoke the other woman knew what she wanted. "North side is up the stairs to the left and I'll contact you in case anything happens to Spike."
Buffy nodded and took a communicator from her. "Creepy."
Zeta nodded. "You have no idea."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spike tried to open his eyes again but a gentle hand closed them.
"Sleep well, old friend," Troll said and the vampire nodded off.
"Let’s begin," Lucy said and Troll nodded at her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy scanned the area with all the tricks that Giles had taught her
so long ago. She became one with her
environment. The walls were her skin, the floor her feet, the ceiling
her head—when one of them were missing a
part of her was wrong.
The creature was near by, it was taunting her senses. She followed but
not too close—clutching tightly the wood
spear in her hand. The walls became less cluttered and more expansive
and in the dark Buffy could feel that she
had entered a large tall room.
The movement to her left made her skin prick with anticipation. She turned
in fighting position. The vampire was in
the room—it was an older vampire; it knew how to play with his surroundings.
The last vampire she fought who was
really worth her time was Spike—but that was so long ago she felt
alien to a good old-fashioned vampire to slayer
fight.
She heard a low chuckle-yep definitely old.
"So…if it ain’t the cowgirl herself." The German
accented creature came into view. It was large and wide-he reminded
Buffy of a drunk football player.
"What do you say we skip over the "nice to meet you’s"
and get down to the good stuff. All this chitchat is starting to
bore me." She smiled still clutching the wood piece into her palm.
The creature laughed and jumped from the railing it was on. It landed
gracefully on all fours. He was a cat, hunting for
the mouse.
He laughed again. "You must be the slayer." He smiled—game face still on. "Always wanted to kill me a slayer."
Buffy smiled. "Really?" she spun around and gave him a surprise
kick on the face—he fell back against a metal pole.
"Maybe today is your lucky day." She punched him with her right
hand letting his drop to the side. "Maybe it’s not."
He jumped up and kicked her gut sending her rolling on the floor. She smiled, this one ought to be fun.
"I’d say I have a fifty-fifty chance." He punched her, "I like my odds."
Buffy quickly did a cartwheel landing a swift boot-kick on his neck. "So do I."
The vampire grabbed her legs and quickly twisted it, landing Buffy hard
on her stomach. She groaned and tried to
stand up but he sat on her lower back and leaned in to whisper into her
ear.
"Tell me, Slayer, you like the work I did on your toy vampire?" he sneered. "I think he looked better with wood carvings."
Hot blood scorched her thoughts and with strength and speed Buffy didn’t
know she possessed she pushed the
heavy weight off her sending the vampire smashing against the wall.
"Now you dug your own grave…or should I say your own ash tray?"
The yellow eyes flared and he charged at her, she gave him no time to
think and flipped him over her back and landing
him flat on his spine.
He flipped himself up and smiled at her. "Is that the best you can
do? C’mon—give it to me, sing me your song,
cowgirl."
Buffy’s eyes narrowed and she spun in the direction he wasn’t
expecting, landing behind him in a three-second move.
"Yippee Kay-ay, mother-fucker."
The wood spear lashed into his heart sending the ashen dust to the floor.
Buffy waiting until the dust settled on the floor and she glared at it. "That’s for Spike."
The slayer turned and walked out of the darkness and into the lightening hallway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy was the last one to arrive at the game room; the players were already sitting down doing a report of the situation.
Loret was pacing by the infirmary door and glaring at the slayer when
she came in. Mario and Dalton were sitting
down in front of a hostage. The young fledging was sputtering blood all
over the carpeted floor.
Lucy was typing away in her computer and Troll was cleaning up the last herbs from his spell.
"How is he?" she asked Lucy ignoring the looks she got from everyone else.
Lucy looked away from her computer screen, "Sleeping. Troll’s
spell made him snooze and I made sure all of the
wood was out." She paused and reached for her coat pocket. "Here,"
she said, handing Buffy a ring. "You might
want to make him have this on all the time."
Buffy stared at the ring of Amara in her hand. "Stubborn vampire." She murmured.
"Can I see him?" Loret interrupted.
Lucy looked at Buffy and then at the red head. "I think you should
let Buffy see him first and you should be questioning
our hostage."
Loret’s jaw visibly tightened, she turned to look at Buffy. The
slayer cocked her head back and dared her to confront
her.
"Of course, let her break his heart while she’s not busy letting him get staked." She hissed and walked away.
Buffy walked to the door and pushed in the cold metal underneath her fingers.
The light had dimmed down to make it more comfortable for Spike. He was
laying on the operating bed sound asleep,
his shirt had been removed and there was a perfect square patch of gauze
on top of his heart.
She walked to him and took his limp hand, sliding the ring into his finger.
A momentary flash back took her back to
that day they thought they were to be married.
It had been a perfect day. She had been so happy, at the end of the spell
her dreams and hopes had shattered and
died. He had been perfect then. Now he was full of imperfections. There
were so many things she would change, so
many things she would do over.
Life is a funny bitch, she thought.
She felt him stir under her hand. His pallid eyelids fluttered open and he looked disoriented around the room.
"Welcome back, sleepyhead." She smiled at him.
The lost look on his face melted down to a smile on his face. A gentle
smile Buffy had only seen on him when he
had good memories of Drusilla.
"Am I dreaming?" he whispered to her.
She shook her head.
He frowned. "But you’re dead." He stated.
Buffy reached out and brushed her fingers across his face. "So are
you." She stated. "A very dead vampire with
no ring."
He frowned at her then closed his eyes again and sighed. "Love you, baby." He murmured and drifted back off to sleep.
She smiled and kissed his cheek. "I know."
His eyes flew open, bright and awake. He was quite aware of what was
going on as he sat up and hissed at the cut
on his chest.
"Lie down, get some rest." She told him trying to push his
shoulder back, but he removed her small hands from him
and shook his head.
"What happened?" he asked her.
She took a seat on the edge of his bed. "You got staked. And you weren’t wearing the ring."
Spike looked down at the patch on his chest then at his hand. "Bloody ‘ell." He said under his breath.
Buffy nodded and glared at him. "Was there a particular reason why you decided to leave your jewelry home?"
Spike took out the IV from his vein and grabbed the half-empty blood bag.
"Didn’t think I would need it." He said and ripped the bag open, drinking its contents in a gulp.
Buffy wrinkled her nose at him. "Gross much?"
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Then leave." He retorted.
Buffy stood up abruptly and spun her heel but was grabbed by her arm and turned to look at the shirt-less vampire.
"We have a hostage." She stated.
He ignored her reply. "How did I get ‘ere?"
She shrugged. "Lucy and I carried you."
He nodded and raised his eyebrow. "Why didn’t you leave me?"
his grip got stronger and she struggled against it.
"You endangered the mission, put not only your life in danger but
the lives of my players, and put my health in priority
to us getting caught."
Buffy gaped at him with anger and frustration seeping from her eyes. "I…I…"
"Stupid!" he grabbed both her arms. "It ’twas idiotic, Buffy! Someone could’ve died!"
"That someone could’ve been you!" she cried back in her defense.
"I don’t matter!"
She ripped her self from his grasp and stepped back. "You ungrateful bastard!"
He jumped off the bed and stalked up to her. "Listen to me, pet.
I don’t save this world on a monthly basis. That’s
your job and them people out ‘here." He pointed at the gauze
on his chest and ripped it off, revealing an angry red
line with simple butterfly stitches holding it together. "This. This
happens, slayer. I am a liability, you’re not."
"I cannot believe that you think so lowly of yourself. You were never like this," she spat back at him.
Spike sighed and grabbed a clean shirt that was folded next to his bed.
Hissing as he pulled it over his head Buffy
moved in to help him pull it over his head.
She smoothed down the wrinkles on his chest and looked up at his startled face.
"Things change." He stated and placed his larger hands over
hers that were still resting on his chest. "My life is in
danger day after day. There’s only one reason why I have survived
this long."
Questioning green eyes looked up at him.
"I don’t care whether I live or die." He whispered and walked past her to the waiting door.
Buffy stayed looking down at her hand, she cradled them to her chest
and sighed. The moment she felt that she had
found him that was the moment she lost him all over again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The expectant players looked up at their boss as he walked back into the room.
Spike’s gaze narrowed as he saw the gagged minion in the middle of the room. His eyes were swollen a black and his lips were cracked and bloody, he’d estimated about three broken ribs and maybe a bruised lung. Loret had probably gotten to him before anyone else could.
"I supposed he’s said nothing." Spike asked the players.
Mario and Dalton looked down and Zeta walked up to Spike.
"He’s scared—but he knows what’s good for him. He’ll talk, give him a couple of hours with you." She smiled.
Spike smiled at the scared minion. "What’s your name, mate?"
The fledgling’s jaw tightened.
"Not speaking are we?" he asked and walked up to the body, he squat in front of him and looked at him eye-level.
"Tryin’ to be brave, are we?"
The minion said nothing.
"Let’s play a game, shall we?"
No answer.
"I ask a question, you give me an answer. If I ask and you ignore then I hurt ya. If I ask and you lie I dust ya." He paused and stared at the trembling figure. "Like my game?"
After a pause he nodded.
"Good! And you said he wouldn’t cooperate," he said. "Dalton…bring out the case."
Dalton smiled and brought out a black doctor’s bag. He set it on the table to the minion’s front. He started emptying the contents.
Holy water, crosses, stakes, toothpicks, knifes, hammer, and whip.
The minion stared at the contents and looked back to the smiling Spike.
The elder vampire reached out and un-gagged him. The minion took a deep breath.
"Shall we begin?" he asked.
Again, no reply.
"Who sent you?" he asked.
No answer.
Spike looked over his shoulder at the man holding a cross.
"Dalton?"
The large man came in front of the minion and smiled. "Would be jast’ easier if yah would play, but yuh’s insist on being all quiet, so yuh’s gonna scream tonight."
The minion’s jaw tightened as the skin on his cheek sizzled at the touch of the cross.
Dalton pulled back when the white puss-filled bubbles appeared on the sensitive skin.
"You must really find another hobby." Lucy stated from her
corner as she ignored the torture session and continued
typing the report.
"It’s fun." Loret stated as she propped her long legs on the chair across her.
"Yes, the scent of burning skin makes for an excellent room freshener," Zeta commented dryly from her chair.
Loret glared back at the woman and rolled her eyes.
"Ladies, torturing here," Mario reminded them.
Spike ignored them and looked back at the fledgling.
"Do you now remember who sent you?" Spike asked very calmly to the vampire.
"You know who sent me." He answered.
"Oh look, he knows how to speak." Mario commented, dryly.
Spike nodded. "What’s your name, mate?"
"David."
"David?"
The fledging nodded.
"Well…David, who sent you?" Spike asked.
The minion looked straight ahead. Without warning Spike back slapped him and sent a mouthful of spit-blood flying, landing on Loret’s shirt.
"Fuck!!" she cried out.
Mario and Lucy chuckled at the sight.
Loret stood up and trotted up to the minion, grabbed him by the neck and lifted him in the air.
"Talk now or I’ll make you lick your own blood from the floor after I am done with you." She hissed.
The minion laughed, low and un-humorous.
"You think I won’t do it?"
"Oh I believe you." He laughed again. "But who the fuck are you?"
She grabbed him tighter. "I’m a bad-ass bitch who don’t take no shit from trash like you."
"A no name bitch." He stared icily at her. "And someone I don’t care to say my last words to."
Loret threw him across the room and turned to face the vampire behind her.
"Feel better?" Spike asked as he leaned back against the table with his arms crossed at his chest.
"Like you would’ve done any different?" she retorted.
Spike took out a cigarette and lit it. "No, you’re right…but I wouldn’t have called myself a bitch." He smirked.
Loret scowled at him and walked away, murmuring curses about her stained shirt.
"Pick ‘im up." Spike said to Mario, but Troll intervened and lifted him magically with a transportation spell.
"Sweet." Mario said nodding.
David was sat down, again, on the chair he was at.
"Back to the good stuff." Dalton smiled.
David looked wearily at Spike who squat before him. "Who sent you?"
Bright yellow eyes looked back at placid blue ones who waited patiently.
"Chino."
"Tell me something I don’t know," Spike said. "Who’s he working with?"
The vampire visibly paled more than he was. "I can’t say, man…she’ll kill me…or worst…make me crazy."
Spike sighed and turned his head to look at the slayer who had entered the room.
"Just tell us what type of demon I am fighting." She stated, looking hard at the scared fledging.
David dropped his voice to an icy whisper, "She’s not a demon…you’re fighting a god."
Buffy and Spike both looked at each other in horrid understanding. "Glory," both said at the same time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I grow weary, I grow bored, and I grow tired."
"Would you like me to belly dance to please you?" Chino asked the blonde sarcastically.
She let go of her strands of hair and turned to look at the patient demon.
"You promised me the slayer." She accused him.
"And I killed you a slayer, what more do you want?" he retorted.
"I want The Slayer" she walked closer to him. "I want Buffy and her precious vampire. I want them broken, I want them bleeding, and I want them dead."
"It’s not as easy as you make it seem." He lighted up a thick cigar. "They now have the players, those assholes will beat an army of my men—I lost fifteen today, how many am I going to loose tomorrow?"
She smiled and sat on his lap. "As many as it takes." She licked his wrinkled ear. "For me?"
The old man looked at her with suspicion.
"This is no longer about my key, or getting home. This is about
payback, and this time, I’m gonna hit them were it
hurts."
"Starting with the vampire?" he asked expectantly.
She smiled and ran her hand down his bald scalp.
"Oh, yes. That vampire will suffer, and he’ll pay. He’ll pay in tears and blood."
Chino smiled at the blonde and kissed her fervently.
Glory pulled back.
"I like the way you think." He commented.
"I know you do." She whispered.
"You want me to start phase three?" he asked acidly.
"Oh yes—there’s nothing like the blood of the innocent to get me in a good mood."