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dragonyphoenixFandom: BtVS
Prompt: 453 - Ooze
Rating: PG
Summary: Part 23 of Shanshu
Word Count: 1008
Note: time moves more slolwy in the demon dimension.
Will sat there stroking Buffy's red hair. It wasn't appropriate. He knew that. This was the girl he'd raped. Tried to rape Millay would say, as if that made a difference. It wasn't appropriate for him to hold her but she'd passed out after being thrown into the cell and he certainly didn't want her resting against the dank walls. And he'd been afraid for so long, alone and afraid. It felt like he'd been trapped for months. Based on the how often they'd fed him, it had been weeks, but it felt like forever. So who could blame him if he reached out for a little comfort even if he did know it'd end badly.
When she came to her senses, she'd, well, come to her senses. She must have been raving when she'd been dumped into the cell. She'd sounded, almost, like she'd been glad to see him but that must have been the drugs talking. Given how quickly and deeply she'd passed out, they must have given her something to keep her quiet. Once she woke it'd be like that other time. Not that he was going to hold jagged glass to her throat, but she'd remember it and be afraid. Maybe she'd lash out and smack him around. His image was of her cowering, but he didn't think of her as the type to tremble in fear. While he had the chance, Will reached for what comfort he could. He held her close and waited for her to wake.
It took quite a while but her first words were coherent, better than his had been when he'd woken up in the cell. “Ugh, what happened?”
He should say something but until he knew how she'd react to him Will couldn't bring himself to speak.
As she sat up on her own, Will pulled his hands back, certain she wouldn't want him touching her. She wobbled a bit and had to reach her hands out to the wall to steady herself. “Ugh, oozy,” she said as she pulled her hands off of the greenish-gray ooze that clung to the dank stone. “Oozy, whoozy.” She was wobbling so much that he put his hands to her shoulders to straighten her out.
That got her attention. As she turned to look, Will braced himself for a blow. He didn't get it. “Spike? Oh thank Goddess, we found you.” He found himself wrapped in another hug as he sat there stiff as a board. How could she be glad to see him? As she sat back, she looked surprised, as if she hadn't expected he wouldn't hug her in return. Then she took in their surroundings. “Torchlight. Not quite as nice as candlelight, but I like the ambiance. So, what are we doing in a dungeon?”
She was showing the same unexpected calm that Will had felt when he'd first awoken. Of course she didn't know about the people who didn't look exactly human yet, and he didn't know how to tell her. “What's the last thing you remember?”
“We were in a cafe and, oh Goddess.”
“What?”
“Morgan, your friend, I knocked him out.”
What could Morgan have done to offend her? Granted he was an imbecile, but he was more annoying than outright dangerous.
“And then there was that woman, uh, Ash? She gave me a drink and, stupid me, I drank it.”
“Ash got you too, eh?”
“Seems like. Who is she?”
“A friend. I thought.”
She didn't seem to have a response to that. Instead she asked where they were.
“Don't know.” No, that sounded too stark, like he didn't want to talk. “I woke up in the cell.”
“Hmm, Xander saw me taken so they'll be looking for us, but we should still try to get ourselves out.”
Ah, that's why she wasn't castigating him for that past attack. They were prisoners together. Once they were out, then she'd have nothing more to do with him. The thought left Will feeling unexpectedly hurt.
“Do you know how many demons there are? Can you hear them or smell them or something?”
“Demons?” Bugger, I've got another crazy one. Another crazy one? Where had that thought come from?
Her eyes widened as if he's surprised her. “Oh, Xander had said … You really do have amnesia?”
He wasn't sure how much he should give away but they were in this together. Will nodded.
She struck out at his neck. “Hey, get off.”
“Spike, stop it. I want to check your pulse.”
What the? Check his pulse? He kept still but kept a wary eye on her.
“Oh, by Ishtar's round firm tits, you are human.”
Demons? Human? Maybe Ash hadn't drugged her after all. Maybe she liked the hard stuff a touch too much. “Look, Buffy …”
“Buffy? I'm not Buffy.”
Wait. What?
“Oh, right, amnesia. I'm Willow, but of course you'd remember Buffy. Why wouldn't you? She just betrayed you with your Sire. It's not like I'd ever hurt you. I mean, except that almost ending the world bit, oh or taking your memories but of course that wasn't just your memories or that time when I made you think you loved Buffy but then of course it turned out that you did.”
It seemed he knew how to handle crazy. He took Willow into his arms and shushed at her until she quieted down. “I didn't remember Buffy. Xander mentioned the name. I have a memory of you, and I just put the name together with the face.”
“Oh, well that's okay then.” Her face lit up. “You remembered me before you remembered Buffy?” Crazy as a loon. Definitely.
And then it hit him. He'd tried to rape Buffy. Before, when he thought Willow was Buffy, he could pretend that had been a one time kind of a deal. But now he knew it wasn't. Holding the glass bottle to Willow's throat was something else, a separate event. He'd attacked two women, at least two. God, what kind of a monster was he?
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Date: 2015-03-23 04:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-23 04:50 am (UTC)