Spiked Ch. 01-05

Willow wrapped her arms around herself as she patrolled the streets of Sunnydale. She still couldn't help feeling as if she'd stumbled into one of her nightmares and had never been able to wake up. This was real though. . .and that was the real nightmare. Buffy was dead. It was as simple as that. One week ago, Buffy Anne Summers had died saving the world.

Rationally, Willow knew that this day would come, but she'd always hoped that Buffy would have more time. But that wasn't to be. And everything was happening so fast. A new Slayer had been called and would be reporting to Sunnydale with her Watcher soon. Giles had been called back to England by the Watcher's Council.

Evidently, after every Slayer's death, her Watcher would have to give a full report to the council. Giles was flying back to England with Buffy. . .with Buffy's body. Her headstone would be in a Sunnydale cemetery but her body would be in the Slayer's Crypt in England. A special ceremony would be performed in her honor as she was laid to rest. Giles would then have to painstakingly record the events of her death. For the council and for Buffy herself. His Slayer had made him promise to record every detail of her final battle to help the other Slayers.

Willow had seen Giles off at the airport and had organized the Scoobies into patrolling shifts. Word of the Slayer's demise had heated up demonic activity in Sunnydale. Anya and Xander would patrol just after sunset, the calmest time of the night. Willow and Spike divided up the later shift, each agreeing to take half of Sunnydale. Willow was powerful enough now that she had little to fear from the demon population.

Willow was amazed at the depth of feeling the blond vampire had for Buffy. He had truly loved her. He'd become despondent after her death. The only thing he was unliving for now was killing demons and taking care of Dawn. He'd been staying with the girl, offering her his consolation and receiving some from her.

Willow rounded a corner and bumped into the object of her thoughts. "Spike!" she said as she put her hands on his shoulders to steady herself. "What are you doing here? This is my half of town." He cocked his head to one side as he looked at her, he seemed a little dazed. Willow took in his bewildered look and brushed a hand across his cheek tentatively, trying to offer support. The poor vamp didn't know if he was coming or going. "Are you alright?"

Spike's lips curled into one of his familiar provocative smiles. He caught her hand as it was about to leave his face and squeezed it before he let go. "I'm fine, luv. Better than I've been in days, in fact. "

"I'm glad, I was worried about you. " She scrunched her nose up as she often did when she was thinking. "Spike, would you like to go somewhere and, uh, have a drink?" She didn't think he would except an offer to talk about his feelings for Buffy. But he needed to or he'd probably lose it, just like he did after Drusilla left. Pretty soon he'd be trying kidnap her again and get her to do a spell.

Spike got closer to her, invading her body space. "A drink, eh? Now that you mention it, I'm very thirsty." He licked his lips.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Spare me the bad ass vampire routine, 'kay? Let's go to my place." Spike seemed stunned for a moment but nodded and followed right behind her.

*******

On the front stoop, Willow issued Spike an invitation. The vampire had smiled so sweetly when she did that she felt bad that she had deinvited him from everyone's house. Once inside, she poured Spike some bourbon from her father's liquor cabinet and also got him a heated mug full of pig's blood. She'd bought some for him so he could drink it during Scooby meetings which were going to be held at her house until Giles returned. She poured a glass of orange juice for herself. Spike quickly tossed back the bourbon and even poured himself more from the bottle but didn't touch the blood. He sniffed it once when she set it down but hadn't picked it up since. Willow looked at him curiously but said nothing. The whims of vampires!

Spike looked at her expectantly. She toed off her shoes, trying to get comfortable. Then she took a deep breath, deciding to speak first. "So, Spike, is there anything you'd like to talk about?"

He frowned. "No. Anything you want to talk about?"

Damn, he was making this hard. Undaunted, she began again. "I imagine this has been a rough week for you, huh?'

He laughed a little bit and shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, pet."

"Try me."

Spike's eyes lazily ran over her from her fiery red hair to the tips of her brightly painted toe nails. "Try you? Well, I never refuse a lady."

"Bloody hell!"

Willow had been staring at Spike the whole time yet she hadn't seen his lips move. But she had distinctly heard his voice. What the hell. . .?

"Red! Get out of there. . . Now!" Willow's head whipped around to see a Spike standing at the window, hands pressed up against the glass. She turned back to Spike sitting at her family's dinner table. Two Spikes?

Willow jumped up and backed away from the grinning Spike who now stood in her kitchen. "You gave me an invitation, pet. You're not gonna back out now, are ya?"

"Get the hell away from her you bleedin' wanker!" Other Spike said from the doorway. A stake was raised in his fist. He stepped inside quickly and held out his hand to her. "Get over here, Red, and stay behind me."

Now, the question was. . . could either of them be trusted? Willow new that she was strong enough to hold off both of them if need be. She just didn't want to use her power on someone she cared about at the minute. Since Buffy's death she'd been unfocused, if she were the slightest bit distracted the real Spike might be ashes in less than a minute.

Spike glared at his twin. "The girl belongs to me. So, sod off!" He smiled sardonically. "Though you are a handsome bloke if I do say so myself." He vamped out then.

Willow shot a look at the recently arrived Spike. She just had a realization, he hadn't called her by her name. "What's my name?"

"Willow!" He smiled. "Good thinkin', luv. Always knew you were the smart one. Let me see. . .you're shaggin' that Tara witch. Xander is your best friend." He tsked. "Though why you bother with that git is beyond me."

Willow raised her hand and shot out a bolt of energy. "Stay!" she commanded and the vampy Spike was trapped behind an energy barrier. She walked up to the edge of it and crossed her arms. "That's better. So, where did you come from?"

His face smoothed back into his human features. "You don't have to look at me so mean, luv. I wasn't going to kill you, just shag the living daylights out of you." He grinned sheepishly. "Well, maybe I was going to take a nip or two of blood from you."

Spike came up behind Willow to glare at his counterpart who, from the look of things, was mentally stripping the young witch. "She's gay, you bleedin' idiot. Tell us what the hell you are doing here and why you have my face."

Spike #2 winked at Willow. "Gay, eh? I'd say you just haven't met the right vampire." He bestowed a derisive glance at his doppelganger. "As for your question. . .why do you I have your face? It's you that has MY bleedin' face. I'm William the Bloody, childe of Angelus. Killer of two Slayers. Who the hell are you?"

Spike and Willow stared at each other, dumbfounded. "I'm calling the other Scoobies. "

"You do that, luv. Meanwhile, I'm gonna drink some of that bourbon of yours." ****



They weren't getting anywhere. Willow was normally a calm, sensible person but the limits of her formidable patience were being tested. "Once again. . .where are you from?" She put a single finger up to forestall the vampire's habitual response. "If you say Sunnydale one more time, I'll. . .I'll-"

"Turn

him into a horned toad." Spike whispered, visibly suppressing a shudder. She gave him an incredulous look. The Big Bad was squeamish about a toad? He was indignant. "What? One time, Drusilla and I were in a swamp and then-"

"Not helping, Spike."

He crossed his arms, looking offended. "Fine," he sniffed. "But I heard you don't like frogs. They make you all twitchy and nervous."

She shook her head. "I'll turn you into a toad." Willow said finally, shooting a fierce scowl at the uncooperative vampire. The caged Spike merely raised a black eyebrow, keeping his emotional state a mystery.

Anya stood up and walked over to Willow's side. "You have to really threaten him, Willow." She patted the witch's arm, making sure she had her full attention before imparting some demonic wisdom. She regarded their captive. "You should tell us what we want to know. If you don't, Willow, whose a very powerful witch , will shrink your manhood." The vampire's eyes widened, she had his full attention. "I'm talking really small." She held her fingertips an inch apart. "It'll be the size of a gherkin" she paused for maximum effect. "if you're lucky. That's right, Spike, no more shagging. Ever." Both Spikes' mouths dropped open in abject horror.

The confined vampire cleared his throat and said with as much dignity as possible considering the circumstances. "No need for that, pet. We can have a nice, friendly chat without the shrinking of my organs."

Willow beamed at Anya and pulled the ex-demon into a brief hug before she pulled a chair over to the barrier. "Tell me when you arrived in Sunnydale." The trapped vampire also sat down in a chair on his side of the room and regarded them all with predatory looks, silently evaluating which one of them he'd kill first when he got released. With that cheerful mental image, he smirked before he opened his mouth to speak.

*******

An hour later, the only ones left awake were the two Spikes and Willow. Anya and Xander went home. Tara wasn't in town right now, she was visiting her family. Spike had brought Dawn over from the Summer's house for the night. They hadn't allowed her to see who it was they had captured.

Willow mentally reviewed the information they had collected. The new Spike had arrived exactly one week ago, the night Buffy died. Obviously, he'd been transported here through the gate Dawn had unwillingly opened with her blood. The vampire had been cunning enough to evade their tracking party. The Scoobies had been forced to hunt down all the demons that had escaped into their dimension.

Spike had been at the Bronze feeding in the alleyway when an almost blinding bright light appeared. He said that he'd been drawn to it and dropped the girl he was eating to get a closer look. By that time, it was too late, he'd been taken into the gateway's pull.

That had answered two questions. He was still bitey and from another dimension. The only important question that remained was what do with him. Opening the portals again was out of the question but killing a demon from another dimension was risky. It could possibly affect all the dimensions.

Willow was on the phone waiting for Giles to answer. A recorded voice answered instead. "Your party is unable to be reached at this time. Press one to leave a voice mail for the occupant of room 213."

Willow pressed the number and spoke at the beep. "Giles, this is Willow. I'm sorry to bother you, I know that this a difficult time for you. But, we have a situation, another Spike showed up in Sunnydale and I'm pretty sure he still has his bite. The situation is alright for now, I have him trapped behind an energy fence and he didn't harm any of us. We could really use your input. Give me a call, I'm staying at my parent's house." Willow hung up the phone. "Spike?"

"Yes, pet?' They both answered in unison.

"This is too confusing. We need another name for you, er, him." Willow said, speaking to 'her' Spike. "How about William?"

The captive's eyes flashed with indignation. "The name's Spike, luv. I haven't been William for over a century."

"Then why did you tell us you're name was William the Bloody?"

His jaw tightened. "Because that's what some people still know me as. Angelus never liked to call me Spike."

"Oh.". She turned to the other vampire. "What were some of Harmony's nicknames for you? Let me think a minute. Blondie Bear. Ooh, I know! We could call you Timmy."

"Blondie Bear? Timmy?!?" The vampire seemed like he was about to explode.

"Yeah, after the doll on Passions."

"Passions?!"

"It's a soap opera." Her eyes danced with subdued laughter.

The imprisoned vampire regarded his twin with revulsion. "You're a regular poof, aren't you? Hanging out with humans, watching the shows on the telly that only chits should see." He sniffed the air. "And have you been drinking pig's blood?"

Spike placed his hands on Willow's shoulders. "You should get some sleep, Red. I'll keep an eye on him."

She tilted her head back to meet his eyes. "Thanks. I'm exhausted." Willow stood and waved her hand in the direction of the energy field, reinforcing it. She pulled Spike with her into the foyer. "I'm sorry about teasing him like that. I couldn't help it, he made me so mad. I want to- thanks for helping us out. If it weren't for you, I don't think I could've made it through this week." On impulse she embraced him briefly, it was the first real physical contact she'd had with the vampire since he'd thrown her on her bed and tried to sire her. She placed a kiss on his cool cheek before she went to the stairs to go to bed.

*******

Spike heated up some blood in the Rosenberg's kitchen. He was unwilling to face himself just yet. He was still thrown by tonight's events. Never a dull night in bloody Sunnyhell! He had a doppelganger running around and Red had hugged and kissed him. What was the chit thinking? He wasn't a hero, he was the kind of male her mother had warned her about in hushed tones. Spike looked down. Or maybe not. Maybe he was a chipped, helpless vampire sipping pig's blood from a dixie cup.

He scowled, time to get rid of these kind of thoughts. Spike sauntered into the room occupied by the confined vampire. He was curious about this other version of himself. "What do you want?" His double demanded.

"Just a bit of information, mate. Tell me about yourself."

"Why? So you can tell your little pets all about it?" He made a face.

Spike was miffed. "Hey, if you can't trust me, who can you trust?"

"Trust you? You helped them trap me." Spike's mouth abruptly twisted into a sly grin. "This is starting to make sense now, I know why you're helping them. This is all about that little redhead, isn't it? Should have known." The vampire pulled a pack of cigarettes from his duster pocket and promptly lit up. "If you want my advice, take her away from her friends. Shag her until all she thinks about is you." His eyes got a faraway look. "Yeah, somewhere nice where you could lay her down and-"

"Enough! This has nothing to with Red." Spike's hand shook a little he reached for his own pack of smokes.

"I should trust you? Well, don't lie to me. It's always about a woman with us, mate."

Spike quirked an eyebrow at the other vampire as he sank down into a comfortable chair and prepared for a long story. "Tell me about it.

********

"I guess I'll start this little tale at the bleedin' beginning." Spike idly blew a ring of smoke in the air. " I was sired by Angelus in-"

"Angelus turned you?"

He nodded. "Back when I fancied myself a nancy boy poet. I ran into him one night, crying my soddin' mortal eyes out. "

"Cecily?"

"Yeah." The other Spike smiled sheepishly. "She was. . . well, you remember what that whole mess was like." His twin smiled knowingly. " Anyway, Drusilla had asked her sire for a present. She'd been chattering away about a prince of her very own. I guess I was the first bloke that came by."

Spike shook his head and said softly. "So, Dru didn't sire you." In this other vampire's reality, Drusilla didn't have the powerful hold on him that a sire had on a child. That must have affected their relationship.

"Wait a minute!" He threw his head back and laughed. "Dru's your sire?"

"Yeah, so what?" He said defensively.

"She was beautiful, don't get me wrong. But she was as batty as a bedbug, mate."

Spike couldn't argue with either of those statements so he attempted to change the subject."Was? She's dead in your reality?"

"Yep. By her own hand, too." Spike shook his head. "Angelus, Dru, and Darla all went to this gypsy camp for a late night snack. They asked me to go but I knew better than to mess with 'em. Seems that Angelus saw this pretty young thing he just had to have. She ran from him though, ended up in a villager's house where he couldn't touch her. But did he leave it at that? Course not. Kept going on and on about her and how much he wanted her blood. So, Darla and Dru went back for her and brought her to him as a bleedin' birthday gift." He took another drag off his cigarette. "Pissed off the local witch royally. She gave all three of 'em shiny souls for eating her granddaughter."

Spike was having a hard time imagining Drusilla and Darla being as guilt-ridden and angsty as the great poof. "What happened then?"

"Angelus and Darla made this whole big dramatic exit speech about all the horrible things they did and how they deserved to die. Blah, blah, blah. Then, they kissed before they staked each other." He flicked an ash from his cigarette. "Then, Dru walked out into the sun because 'Daddy' was dead. She always did love that pillock." He sighed a bit, she wasn't all there in the sense department but she had been a beauty. They'd had some wonderful times together feeding and shagging their way through London. He really didn't get the chance to know her all that well.

"She was the best, mate. In my time, Angelus was the only one to get his soul back. While he was crying over spilled blood, the two of us went round the world together causing all sorts of hell to break loose."

"Sounds like fun." Though having Angelus around wouldn't have been that great. He was a bore sometimes, playing silly mind games with people instead of killing them. Besides, Spike liked being his own vampire, he hadn't answered to anyone since the night his sire staked himself.

"That it was." Spike regarded his identical companion. "What then? Said you killed two Slayers, too?" The other Spike nodded. "Me too. One in China, during the Boxer Rebellion and -"

"China?" He shook his head. "No, she died fighting a gang of vamps. I almost had the chit too. My first was in New York." He touched his duster lovingly. "Took it from her, just like you did." He nodded to the other Spike's coat. "The other was in Sunnydale."

"Sunnydale? Was it. . .was it Buffy?"

"No. Some chit named Faith. Wasn't much of a fight really." Spike grinned, showing an even row of lethal white teeth " She cursed a blue streak at me too and pounded the hell out of my face. I was black and blue for a week. Her blood was delicious though."He vamped out as he remembered the taste.

Spike felt a wave of relief roll over him. "When did you kill her?"

"Killed her right after Mayor Wilkin's Ascension as I recall. Can you believe the bloody mayor wanted to turn himself into a slithery snake?" The other Spike shook his head, equally baffled. The Scoobies had told him tales of the Ascension. "Anyway, both of the Slayers before her were killed before the mayor even got here. Fought The Master and won but died doing it. Faith. . .Faith was mine though. She managed to rig up the soddin' highschool with explosives and lured the damn snake thing inside. There were bits of demon everywhere. After that battle she was so tired, hardly had the energy to fight with me. "

Spike crossed his arms as he sat back in his chair. It was so strange to hear how his life could have gone. Just imagine what it must have been like to be his own vampire. The specter of Angel or Angelus not hanging over his head. He regarded his companion carefully. This Spike was more confident, more deadly than he'd been before the chip.