"Sunnydalopolis..." Part XXIII...

Sunnydalopolis part XXIII

Harmony is discussing Dr. Severn's request for the immortality conferring Scroll of Anastais
with her supplier, Phil "the Voice"...Spike's "acquaintance" in the package industry...

"So...this thing will work, won't it?..." Harmony is skeptical...Surely a scroll capable of
conferring immortality on its reader would be more in demand...Advertized on TV...

Phil, a "professional", is hurt...

"Of course it works...on money-back guarantee...I never welch on my customers...I might
want to do business with a man like Severn again..."

"Well...then, how come you've never used it?..."

"Vampires are already immortal, remember...Besides I tried it six times
on myself...Just in case it restored humanity...It only works on humans...
But I've seen it in action and it works..."

Well...Harmony thinks...I've got to have something to show for my work...Dr. Severn seems
like the demanding type and I don't want to lose a good job just now...

"Well, can you bring it to his office tomorrow night?...And Phil, can you give it that "Voice"
touch...He's my boss and I want to make an impression..."
"Sure...We'll give him the red carpet treatment. Mystical monks, incense, the whole thing..."
Phil is used to "enhancing the experience" of acquiring a mystic and priceless object for his
customers...A little flash, some chanting, a few tricks...some impressive deep "Voice"
pronunciation from a dark corner...Keep the customers happy, he always says...

Besides Xortox seems to be an equal opportunity employer for vampires...And Phil is thinking
of a career change...

Scodos, former leader of Dreg's vampire mercenaries enters the bar where Harmony and Phil
are holding their business conference...

"Hey, Scoo...How'd that Apocalypse plan go?..." Phil calls...

"Same as always...Big Talk...Slaughter...Slayer...Piff...Why do I keep listening to every crazy
minion who comes by Sunnydale with an Apocalypse plan?..."
***
Buffy had avoided meeting her friends at the Greenwood crypt after speaking to Warren and
picking up Dawn...

But she was at the hospital with Tara when Will came in the next day...

...Or was she...Will couldn't help wondering...It's hard...almost impossible to tell...

"It's me, Will..." Buffy reads her thoughts...

Me...who...?

"You know, the one everyone hates..." A sad, but hard edge in her voice...

"Buffy, we don't hate you...But we had to let...her...know we were grateful...As for Dawn..."

"Well, I failed in my assignment there, didn't I?...Wasn't I supposed to die for her?...No
wonder she feels let down..."

"I'm sorry if we let you down...I promise...I'll never see her again..." Will takes her hand...
"Buffy, I know this is hard on you...But Dawn just can't see how terrible a thing Spike has
done...She only sees another you...And then, well...she knows the truth about herself..."
"I've never...never...made her feel...that she wasn't...Dawn Summers...And it's hard, Will...to
have her against me on this..." Buffy sorrowfully pats Tara's hand, looking away from Will...

"We won't let you down again...Buffy...I promise."

Buffy looks up at her and grins a little...

"So...You guys...Partying with Spike in his crypt...Well?...Has... my 'sister' gotten him to
clean up after himself?..."

Will grins back... "Well, now that you mention it..."
***
Back at the Walthrop's crypt, Buffy Rebecca remained in her biotank most of the day
regenerating her damaged skin and tissues...

Spike was reading the paper...Real Estate...Well, she wants to "get a real place"...

The night before he had asked Xander...much to Xander's shocked surprise...what he thought
of the Crestwood/McGarvey area...

"Crestwood..." Xander had looked at him... "Well, property's cheap there...But that area's full
of..." Spike smiled...Not for long once the Greatest Slayer of all time moves in...

Buffy Rebecca emerged from the tank in the afternoon...She was still looking peaked but she
wanted something to eat...And to get out of that damned biogel goo...

Spike and Buffy Rebecca love theme

She smiled at him...And briefly squeezed his hand before going back...

"William...You really came through for me the other night..." And she went back...to her glop tank...

He couldn't help staring at his hand where she'd squeezed it...The first time...

And...William, again?...In more than a century...no one...

At least not unless followed by "the Bloody"...

And Drusilla didn't believe in science...

***
The next day Buffy reached the offices of Xortox Labs on schedule and went up to Warren's
office...

She was not unobserved...

***
Buffy came in quietly and faced Warren...He showed her around the lab...

They said almost nothing to each other during the neural recording process...

Warren's momentary anger concerning his 'daughter' had long faded, leaving guiltiness behind...

He desperately wanted to apologize to Ms. Summers and to excuse himself...

"Ms. Summers..." he began awkwardly...

She waved a hand at him... "Warren..."

"If you could understand why I went ahead with this..."

"Well?..."

"I was afraid, of course, of Spike, at first...but then...he seemed so desperate...so lonely..."

"He seemed to need this so much..." Warren eyed her...

"And I thought it might...Help him somehow."

"And you so wanted to prove what a great genius you are..." She looked at him narrowly...
"And so you made the bomb...And helped Spike drop it...On me."

"I wasn't thinking...and then...when Buffy Rebecca was so human..."

"And I saw her with him...And saw how he was trying so hard for her."
"I just couldn't believe there could be anything evil in what was happening...To both of them."

"What do you want me to say, Warren?...That I forgive you...That I welcome Buffy Rebecca
as my latest sister with open arms?...Why not?...Making sisters for me has been a growth
industry this year...And we all know what a peach your Buffy is...No wonder Dawn loves
her..."

She is no longer speaking just to him...

"Can't you see...I haven't even been allowed to grieve for my Mom in peace...I have to share
her...with two people...who claim to be hers..."

"I want to love Dawn...and I do...but I hate what was done to me...And how do I..." She pauses...

"How do I know these...people didn't kill my mom?...Anything to get Dawn closer to me...
Make me throw my life away to protect her..."

"Do I love Dawn freely?...By my own choice?...The answer has to be...No..."

"And now you and your Buffy Rebecca come along, just when I'm trying to deal with the first
one..."

"So you see...you picked a bad time to do this to me, Warren...Twice in a few months my own
thoughts...My emotions...taken by strangers...used...One sister imposed on me was quite
enough..."

She bit her lip, trying to make him understand...

"So here am I with two sisters, imposed on me by others...Do I hate Buffy Rebecca...No...Do
I hate what she represents...Absolutely..."

"You all ask too much of me..."

She paces...

"I'm aware that Spike is different from other vampires...I've known that even before he got that
chip screwed into his head...."

She looks hard at Warren...

"Do you think I don't feel for William Walthrop...for every poor soul trapped in that torment?...
That I don't...oh God...wish I could help them?...Every night I go out I have to deal with this,
Warren...Am I killing monsters...or helpless people...who can't help what they do? Am I giving
them peace? Killing them? Do these people deserve what I do to them?...And not just
strangers...people I know..."

"Last month I killed vampires who used to be classmates of mine...I knew them... I can't say I
liked them...but I knew them and I destroyed whatever was left of them..."

"And one day...It will be my friends...my family...or me...who'll be that face in the dark..."

"I can't hope to survive if every vampire I see I have to judge...How human is this one?..."

She stops and looks at him...

"Warren, if you had come to me...Told me that you thought that this could save Spike in some
way...Well..." She grins at him for the first time... "I'd still have thrown you out the door...But in
time...maybe... At least I would have had the choice..."

Warren nods, ashamed...

She is ready to go...But stops for a moment...

"But...you can tell her...I don't hate her...And maybe, someday..."

Warren opens the door for her...

"Warren, my boy..." Dr. Severn smiles at him...Willes and several burly security men backing
him up...

Severn regards Buffy..
.
"And you, my dear...I'm so pleased to meet you...At last..."

***