"Sunnydalopolis..." Part XIV...

Sunnydalopolis part XIV

I'm going to lose them all, Giles thought, looking at Willow and her angry
face... Willow only knows part, and she's near hating me... and when all's
done and they know everything...I'll lose them all, whether or not Buffy
survives...

Buffy Rebecca had reacted exactly as he'd expected...Exactly as Buffy would...
It was heartbreaking to sacrifice her but he was prepared to do much more than
that...

But he would make sure Buffy Summers survived. Whatever had to be done...And
to do that he would need to speak with Spike...and make sure he played his
proper part...
***
Dr. Walthrop, Xortox cybernetist.

Much to Spike's surprise, Severn cut to the chase after his "Save the Children"
spiel and quickly made him a job offer that among other things would cause a certain
Mr. Harris to hang himself...

Considering his exemplarary record of behavior in the past two weeks, Spike
thought, that would not be an excessive demand to make... He could just
picture the scene, Xander engaging in his usual witty conversation, hearing
that...what, Spike is gainfully employed...what, Spike is working as a
what,...what, Spike is making how much... He was sure his first paycheck would
cover the rope... A gift to an old friend...

Easy...too easy, perhaps...
***
After the distinguished cybernetist had left, Severn called Willes back in...

"It's here." Willes told him.

"Mr. Willes, please...a little politeness never killed anyone..." Severn told
him.

Severn had not seen what "it" had done to one of his men the first night they
made contact, Willes reflected.

Harmony entered...looking a bit...peaked...Times were hard on Sunnydale
vampires right now...

"My dear..girl, please take a seat...Good to see you again..."

"Hi" Brightly... "Umm...before we talk, could I..."

"Willes,..."

Willes pulled out a blood bag and threw it to her... She ripped it apart and
drank feverishly...

"Now, my dear girl...about your friend...Dr. Walthrop...er Spike?"

Dr. Walthrop, thought Harmony, laughing...then wondering. Dr. Walthrop...Why
he never said he was a doctor?...All those nights in the crypt, "low on cash"
and he's a doctor... Is that why Buffy was going out with him...? That would
be just like her...

"Harmony?...Har-mony?...About Dr. Walthrop?...Do you happen to know this girl
and if he's been involved with her...?" Severn shows her a photo of Buffy...

"Well that's Buffy Summers...the Slayer...they used to hate each other...but
now...oh they're like...inseparable. "

"The Slayer? A vampire slayer...and a vampire...?"

"Well", reflects Harmony, "I have no prejudices but it seems to me..."

***
Buffy Rebecca was out on patrol when Spike returned... He was disappointed of
course not to be able to drop the news on her but that could wait...

He was a little worried about her going out alone, given Glory and...Buffy...
Well...

Giles' note reached him later by a courier for the vamp network...
***


"Hello, Spike. Thank you for dropping in..."

Giles waves Spike to a chair.

"Spike, I understand your 'friend' is not only willing but anxious to fight
Glory and protect her sisters'. I am doing my best to make that possible."

"You are...Nice of you, Giles...Very inhuman, my compliments..."

"It's really amusing... to hear you speak on inhumanity...murderer." Giles says
the word softly...

"I won't let her fight that maniac..."

"I've already spoken to her...She'll fight Glory...in Buffy's place and
gladly..."

"And if I stop her...Or stop you?"

"Then shall I tell Buffy where to find her twin? Or shall I destroy her
myself?"

"You've seen how strong my girl is, Giles? Do you really think any of you,
even the Slayer can take her?"

Giles regards the vampire coolly.

"Yes, Buffy Rebecca is powerful...stronger by far than our Buffy...Which is why
it's only logical that I should want her to meet Glory..."

"You don't understand, Giles. This is not a machine we're talking about...If
you knew her, you'd know...you couldn't let her face Glory anymore than you'd
let Buffy..."

"I'm throughly convinced that your Buffy is a near-perfect copy of ours, Spike.
I accept that she has for want of a better word, the soul of our Buffy...I
count on it. And that her desire to save others is sincere. Because that is
why she will meet Glory."

"That will not happen."

"Oh, yes...it will... Or, we will destroy her." He smiles at Spike. "You see,
it seems your Buffy has one design flaw, according to her creator...She can't
kill human beings. Ironic isn't, that neither one of you is capable of killing
a human being. For her that's doubly true in the case of those she loves. If
Buffy Rebecca faces Buffy or anyone of us, she will not even put up a fight...
I confirmed that tonight..."

He continues.

"And, in the end, Spike, she will fight Glory...no matter what you do to stop
her. I should know...I've tried to stop Buffy before... She'll do whatever it
takes...lie to you, slip around your back, advertise her whereabouts to
Glory..."

It was true, Spike knew. There was no way he could prevent Buffy Rebecca from
facing Glory... Even if somehow she could not prevent Buffy from fighting
first and losing, as she must, Buffy Rebecca would simply take over Dawn's
protection... There was no way out, really.

"You see, Spike, one learns in being a Watcher the danger of interference, of
letting one's natural inclination to join in the fight and take an active part,
no matter how hopeless the odds, rule over the need to hold back, study the
enemy, acquire information, and above all not distract the Slayer from her
task. It may seem that this role is an easy one, a safe one, but there's a
terrible price to pay for that safety...One must watch an innocent young woman
whom one has trained and nurtured fight terrible evil...and sit by, never
stepping beyond the bounds, in the knowledge that the feeble help one could
offer would be worse than a wasted effort, it might cause the defeat of the
Slayer."

He smiles at the vampire.

"Now you're finally a Watcher too, Spike... And if you want Buffy Rebecca to
win, you must watch, not interfere, and hope that she can survive this fight."

Spike looks at Giles. William Walthrop the third-rate Cambridge poet facing
Rupert Giles, the mild-mannered librarian, William the Bloody, vampire
confronting Giles the Ripper, sorcerer...

And each knows the one across from him is equally capable of killing and
sacrificing the innocent to protect those he loves...

"She can fight by herself...or with all the information and help we can give
her...The choice is up to you. But then, no one should know more than you what
usually happens to a Slayer who has no one to support her..."

Then Spike knew...He knew just how far the Ripper was willing to go...

"It's not Buffy Rebecca alone you're willing to sacrifice, Rupert. Glory will
simply kill them one at a time or together...You need Buffy Rebecca to bring
that thing out... But to stop her...the only ways are destroying the key or
giving her what she wants..."

"It's my hope that Buffy Rebecca will win...with our help, but you're quite
right I don't know if she can defeat Glory. And yes, sacrificing the Key has
been the one way out...until your robot appeared..."

Giles looks at Spike.

"Spike, Buffy Summers has saved thousands, perhaps the entire world on
occasion. She's seen friends die, lost her family, and never has and never
will receive a single reward for it."

Giles' voice gets steelier. " She's never asked for anything more than to be
allowed to live a simple, quiet life. No one had the right to saddle her with
this responsibility...to play on her emotions, all in ruthless calculation of
her vulnerability...To force her to be willing to sacrifice her life to save
someone...who never really existed before a few months ago."

He hates them, Spike thought, looking at Giles. More than any vampire, demon,
monster they've ever encountered. He hates them all, the fat, bloated fools of
the Watchers Council, the fanatic monks, all those worthless, pompous cowards
and fools sitting on their backsides and calmly plotting ways to get a young
woman to risk her life and save their miserable necks. And he'll risk Glory
getting Dawn, even the apocalypse, to save his...daughter. Certainly more his
daughter than the worthless Mr. Summers...

He'll even risk her finding out what he's planning, Spike realized...Even that.

"And you do know what would happen if Buffy were ever to hear of what you're
planning?..."

"Oh, Spike," Giles smiles thinly. "I'd destroy you long before that could ever
happen."
***

"General" Dreg/Weak troops to the front lines

We must make up in quality, Dreg thought as he reviewed his forces, for what we
lack in quantity... Yes, quality...but...as he looked at the motley collection
of Brethren and the few wretched vampire mercenaries who dared come out in the
face of the Slayer's now constant pressure...Didn't that girl ever sleep now?...
This was hardly a force fitting for the final battle of the Goddess of Glory and
Victory's legions against the forces of the Byzantine Emperor and the Slayer...

Naturally the entry of Glorificus herself into the fray would throw the balance
of power decisively in their favor...But until she was able to overcome
Benedictus' restraint and access the Key's power these troops must prevent the
destruction of the Key...

He pulled himself up to the tops of his new, Glory-purchased shoes and sucked
[ Play ...Glory and Dreg theme...(Moonglow)]
from the drink of the Divine Julius...Ah, now there was a Caesar who
appreciated Glorificus' blessings...Ah, happier days he sighed... A speech,
Dreg thought...yes that was it...an inspiring speech by the Commander of
Glorificus' legion to rally...No, he looked at the mercenaries' faces...I don't
think so... He returned to studying the map of the Sunnydale Mall Building
which he had taken the night of his blessed grand outing with her most glorious
divinity.

"Why the Sunnydale Mall...?" Scodos, leader of the ragged mercenaries
interrupted his ruminations...

"After her manifestation our Divinity will require neural energy to maintain
herself against the efforts of Benedictus', the Slayer, and the Byzantines
until the Key is hers...I have noticed that humans tend to herd there...A
simple solution..." Besides, he thought...It's our place...

"I believe we should place your troops in the front lines, Scodos...Frankly
they look weak...and I have read that panic always starts in the rear among
weak troops." The Byzantine emperor would appreciate that...although his
defeat was of no real consequence still to lay before her gloriousness the
severed head of the descendant of her humilator...Oh the joy...

"We shall soon move to capture the Slayer's sister and other hostages as
possible...then the final battle...You may go until we call..."

"What is he talking about..." Scodos said to Dreg's Brethren assistant as he
left. "Front lines?...rear?...we have barely enough to surround that
building..." The assistant shrugged. "One night out with Glorificus..."

Yes...Dreg thought...Weak troops to the front lines...panic always starts in
the rear...He continued to survey the mall map...
***