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Welcome to my Glass House -- by Echo
Rating: PG-13
Description: Several members of the Scooby Gang are sure something's going on. They just don't know what. They're too busy dealing with someone's loss of soul, sequel to The Difference a Day Makes.
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. J.W. does. The title is a lyric from the Jake Lee Rau song 'Welcome'.
Spike was about to make a move when he saw a woman throw herself at Angelus through the open window. Screaming on impact. The shock and force of it caused him to release Willow. They struggled hitting the ray of sunlight coming in through the open window. Angelus howled in pain. His game face sliding on. They fell on the bed. The figure was screaming wildly. Angelus grabbed her and threw her across the room. She hit the wall. She groaned and slid to the floor, but she was far from out of the game. Spike did a double take. Cordelia?
"I was so hoping you'd do that." She pulled a dart gun from somewhere on her person and shot him twice in the chest.
"You bitch."
"You know it." He fell to the floor. She looked at Spike. "Tie his undead ass up. Willow, I hope you still know how to do a soul restoration."
She had run the whole way there. She went tearing into the house. Graham could hardly keep up. He could hear her crying. He knew what she'd seen because he was pretty sure he'd seen it too. He just hoped they weren't too late. She stumbled twice going up the stairs. She flew through the doorway of the bedroom, smacking into Spike and Anya. The three tumbled to the floor. She rolled off of them on to her back. She lay stunned and crying.
"Fuck, you're heavy." Spike had landed on Anya.
"Anya, don't swear. It's not ladylike. " Xander moaned.
"Xander?" She pushed Spike off and crawled to him. She touched his jaw. He winced. "You're going to have a very ugly bruise." She leaned down and kissed him. "You scared me."
Giles sat up coughing. Anya put her hand on his arm. Her eyes said it all. "Yes, I'm fine." He looked around the room. "Dammit."
Spike was rattled. Everything was going too fast. He'd been about to praise Cordelia on her amazing show of badass-ness when he found himself knocking Anya to the floor. It was slightly hard for him to move, like the air was heavy or something. Weeping entered his fogged brain. He looked at Willow. She was staring at them with her mouth open. He turned his head the other way. The blonde witch was next to him. She was lying on her back and crying so hard her whole body was shaking. Spike sat up and pulled her up too. Graham was watching him from the doorway with barely controlled jealousy. Spike rolled his eyes.
"It's alright, pet." Spike glared at the soldierboy and nodded to Tara. Graham moved quickly and pulled her up into his arms. She continued to cry. This whole thing was just freaking Spike out. Buffy groaned. Spike moved to her side. She opened her eyes.
"What happened?"
"Cordelia did. You alright, pet?"
"My head hurts, and I feel a little heavy, but other than that I'm fine, lover." She caressed his cheek. He looked at Willow in alarm. The redhead shrugged her shoulders. She was too busy hog-tying Angelus with an extension cord. "Help me up, Spike." He pulled her to her feet. She pressed herself into him. "Care to put the Buffy taste back in your mouth?"
"BUFFY!" Xander and Willow screamed at the same time.
Cordelia opened her eyes. "Did she hit her head?"
Xander turned his head, seeing her for the first time. "Cordy?"
"Hi, Xander."
The conscious people in the room took in the former cheerleader's appearance for the first time. She was cradling her left arm to her body. The right one still held the dart gun. It rested limply by her side. The shirt she wore under her jacket was torn and bloody. There was a ring of dark bruises around her neck. An angry bite mark was showing under her torn collar. Her face was a mass of black and blue. Her lips were busted. Her nose was bleeding. She just sat there looking very tired and let it bleed. Cordelia sighed. She closed her eyes again. She WAS very tired, and she knew it was far from over.
"Oh my god. Cordelia!" Willow grabbed a scarf off of Buffy's dresser and rushed to the brunette's side. She held it to her nose. Cordelia brushed her hand away and held the scarf herself.
"Thank you, Willow. We need to get him tied better than that." She nodded to Angel. Willow started digging in the closet and came up with some thick rope. She went back to Angel and started tying more knots.
Buffy was trying to feel his ass. Spike was really starting to get worried. "Stop that!"
"Spi-ike. I want my smoochies. You know for someone who's gonna be married to me, you sure don't like to put out." Her hand grazed the crotch of his pants. Spike jumped away. Riley was watching intently from his place on the floor.
"Bloody hell."
Giles and Xander had been attempting to help Cordelia to her feet. Anya had her hand on Riley's arm, ready to assist. They all stopped to stare. It was Willow who spoke. "Buffy, are you ok?"
"Spike, don't you love me anymore?"
"You know that I don't, cutie. What in the bloody hell's got into you?" Her eyes filled with big, fat tears. "Come on now, pet. You hit your head. It was a game remember?"
"You don't want to marry me?" He voice squeaked.
"Sure I do. In the middle of a sunny day in a big church, crosses everywhere. I'll get someone to break my spine again, so I can be in that bloody wheelchair for another six months with the added bonus of rolling, not walking, down the aisle. We could contact that Ethan chap and get him to do his little Halloween mojo again, so you'd be a simpering idiot. Peaches could be the best man. We'll get Faith to be the maid of honor." He laughed hysterically at that one, due to the words Faith and maid in the same sentence. "We could invite Dru and Harm. Hell, let's resurrect that bitch Darla. I'll call in the Order of Taraka again. We could reassemble the Judge. Get soulless down there to bring about Acathla for our reception. We'll party. It'll be great." They were all staring at him in shock. Spike had officially lost it. He grabbed Buffy and shook her. "Not real! A game! It's not me you want! Come on now, you HAVE to remember! You and I are just friends!" His voice had a slightly psychotic quality to it.
Tara could feel it. Something wasn't right. The air was so heavy with it. Magick. She turned to Willow to say so and fell to the floor. She heard Graham say her name. It sounded far away. Then, she heard a loud thump. The floor moved next to her.
Xander saw Tara and Graham fall to the floor. "What the-" He was cut off by Cordelia and Giles toppling him to the floor. His head smacked on the carpet, hard.
"Xander!" Anya tried to move, but she got dizzy and stumbled. That's when she felt it. "Bad magick." Riley tried to catch her. They both hit the floor.
Spike was wondering what the hell was going on. He was screeching like a lunatic and everybody was dropping like dominoes. He felt the slayer slump against him. He tried to move her to the bed. He caught the horror-filled look on Willow's face right as his legs gave out, and he crashed to the floor with the slayer in his arms. He reached out for the redhead as his eyes rolled back in his head. His hand fell like dead weight on the carpet.
Willow was terrified. When she saw Spike falling, She'd tried to move, but she couldn't. The air was so heavy. She made herself move, but somehow she got tangled on Angel's limp body and crashed to the floor. She pushed herself up on her knees. The room was starting to spin. Magick. She could smell it. Someone was casting on them. She saw Spike's arm reaching for her. She reached out, and fell to the floor. She felt the tips of his cold fingers. She made her hand grab his. Then she lost consciousness.
Joyce Summers saw her front door standing open as she pulled into the drive. She parked and got out. She put her keys in her purse and grabbed the baseball bat out of her back seat. She walked into the house slowly and shut the door. It was dark and quiet. Too quiet. She saw light coming from upstairs. She walked up the stairs slowly, listening for anything.
She stepped into Buffy's room and froze, the bat falling from her hands. Bodies. Giles. Cordelia laying on Xander. A blonde girl with a large guy with brown hair next to her. Anya and Riley. Spike holding Buffy with one arm and Willow's hand in the other. Angel tied up. Joyce rushed to her daughter. She was breathing. She touched Willow. Warm. She could see the rise and fall of everyone's breathing except Spike's and Angel's, but vampires didn't breathe. It looked like they were all asleep. Joyce let out a sigh. She wondered what Hellmouthy thing did this. It didn't seem so bad. As much as this group ran around, they could definitely use the rest.
"Joyce?" She jumped at the sound of Angel's voice.
"Angel, what happened?"
"I'm not sure. Untie me."
She looked at him for a minute. She leaned over and put her hands on the knots over his wrists. She smiled sweetly. "As Spike would say, not bloody likely." She tightened the ropes. "Angelus."
"Go Joyce." She turned to see the bleached blonde vampire she'd come to know smiling at her with pride. He sat up with a still sleeping Buffy in his arms. "Someone couldn't fool mom." He said in his infamous singsong voice.
"Screw you, Spike!"
"Not even if you begged for it, peaches." He laid Buffy gently on her bed. He crouched next to Willow and pulled her into his arms. She stirred.
"Not the frogs. Anything but the frogs." She whimpered.
"Willow." She opened her eyes.
"Spike?"
"You alright, Red?"
"Mmmmmm." She snuggled into his chest and closed her eyes. She breathed in wanting to memorize the smell of him. "Yessssssss."
"Isn't this special? William the Bloody lusting after Willow the Werewolf Cast-off."
Willow's eyes flew open. She jumped out of Spike's arms and glared at the dark haired vampire on the floor. "You ready for round three of 'Who Wants To Be A Souled Vampire'?"
"I gonna rip your heart out and eat it, bitch."
"Is that your final answer?" She smiled. Angelus growled.
He screamed. His eyes glowed the familiar yellow they had before. Buffy heard her voice in the back of her mind. <Close your eyes> She started shaking. Spike grabbed her hand. He knew where her mind was. He, Buffy, Joyce, Xander, Graham, Riley, and Cordelia were sitting around Angel on the Summers' living room floor. Angel started shaking and rolled to his side. Willow, Giles, Anya and Tara rushed in from the kitchen.
"Did it work?" Willow was practically screaming.
Cordelia moved to Angel and rolled him on his back. He was crying silently. When he saw her face, a broken sob tore through the room.
"So sorry." He could barely form the words. She pulled him in her lap and started to stroke his hair. He squirmed but his hands were still tied. "So s-s-s-s-sorry."
"Shhh. All over now."
Willow ran through the group and started untying. When his hands were free, he grabbed her to him and started sobbing loudly. Willow just held on and tried to whisper words of reassurance in his ear. He felt another set of hands on his arms. He looked up to see Buffy staring at him. She put her hands to his face and kissed him, lightly.
"Wasn't you."
Willow and Cordelia got out of the way as he crushed the slayer into his arms. They both started crying. Willow and Cordelia wrapped their arms around the former lovers. Everyone just stared, not sure if they should look away. The three women who mattered the most to Angel were holding him and telling him everything was going to be fine. Buffy pulled back to look in his eyes. She turned to see Spike kneeling beside her. He grabbed Angel's head. His blue eyes locking with brown ones.
Angel's eyes narrowed as the realization hit him. "Dru."
"What do we do about that, mate?"
"What are you prepared to do, Spike?"
"Something violent, I hope." Both vampires looked at Buffy. It was like they forgot they weren't the only ones in the room.
Spike looked in Buffy's eyes. It hit him like a ton of bricks. He actually cared for her. He cared for a slayer. Deeply. He hated the pain he saw in her eyes. "I'm prepared to end it."
"There's strong magick involved here." Anya whispered.
"You felt it too?" Tara asked.
"Had to be to strip Angel of his soul without the happy trigger." Willow chewed her lip.
"It was like the air was all heavy." Everyone looked at Spike. "I know a bit about magick. Dru was into it."
"What do you want to do Spike?" Buffy asked. She felt bad for him. Sure, her ex lover had tried to kill her too, but a quick soul restoration and he was back to being a brooder. They couldn't un-loony Drusilla.
He looked at her. She was actually concerned about this hurting him. He could see it in her eyes. Spike was stunned. A slayer not wanting to hurt a vampire, but then again, she used to date one. "I told you, pet. It stops. Now. We end it."
To be continued…
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