Fic: Shanshu 33 - Pull Out His Eyes, Apologize

[dragonyphoenix]

Title: Pull Out His Eyes, Apologize
Fandom: BtVS
Prompt: 463 - Snake's Eye View
Rating: PG
Summary: Another chapter for Shanshu
Word Count:1158

“We should stop.”

Will wanted to scream at her, to shout “Stop? But they'll catch us. We need to get out of here.” That, however, was no way to treat a lady. “Of course, if you need a rest.” He glanced around. The tunnel had expanded out into a rough circle about eight feet across but there was no place to sit. “Perhaps if we continue on a bit further, we'll come across a bench.”

Willow's grin told him he'd said something terribly amusing. She sat onto the ground as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Ah, yes, modern women. Didn't play by the old rules and didn't need his help. Most likely she'd have escaped already if she hadn't had him anchoring her down. As he joined her on the ground, he voiced his thoughts. “I suppose you wish Spike were here.”

“Spike? Well, he did have a certain snake's eye view of things.”

Snake? Ah, yes, the shattered glass he'd – his other self – had held to her throat. “Did I, he I mean, did he ever apologize to you?”

“Apologize?” She seemed to have no idea what he was referring to although that seemed unlikely. It had to be dodging her every thought. Would the beast attack again? No, not would, but when would the beat attack again.

“For the bottle. I have a memory of you, or of us I suppose, uh, that is, I … he is holding glass, a broken bottle, to your throat.”

“Oh, I, uh, no, I don't think he ever apologized.”

Which meant Spike hadn't even known he'd done evil. What kind of a monster had he been? For six years Will had regretted his lost memories. What a waste of time that had been. He should have been glad. “For what it's worth, I am sorry. I'd take it back if I could.”

“Oh, I, uh, thank you.”

“I know you'd rather not be here with me. The memories it must bring up. A cad. A snake.”

“Snake? Oh, no, that's not what I meant. It's just that Spike had this sort of low perspective, or, no, not low! Not low at all, but he was sneaky, or, well that sounds bad too. He was just, um, resourceful. He was good at getting out of this kind of situation.”

Not only a cad then but the most worst kind of a cad. The kind of detestable man who could treat a woman with disrespect and be admired for it. “And of course I'm of no use to you. Couldn't get out of the cage. Didn't know how to defeat those creatures tailing us. Froze in the face of that giant worm.”

“But, no, that's not true. I'd have been crushed by that rock if you hadn't pulled me out of the way.”

There was that. He'd managed to do one thing right. He'd saved the girl if only once. Maybe he could do it again. “So, how do you usually get out of these situations?” Situations. Notice the plural there. This nightmare was commonplace to her. “Find an exit? Blow up a building like they do in the movies? Send out a bat-signal?”

“My friends usually help. Or I help them. But if we are in another dimension then I don't know how they're gonna find us. Oh, wait!” She looked around the stoney ground as if she'd lost something. “Oh.” Whatever it was, she hadn't found it.

“What is it?”

“Well, from your comment about the bat-signal, I thought if I had my cell phone then I could sort of boost the signal but I lost my bag. I think it's still back in the cafe. You don't, maybe, have your cell on you, do you?”

“Nope. My cell was missing when I woke up in this place.”

“Oh.”

“But I might have …”

“What?”

He stood to go through his pockets. “Ah, here we are.”

“What is it?” Willow stood to get a better look although he didn't see how that would help. It looked like an ordinary piece of plastic to him.

“A GPS trackable chip. From Millay. Ah, a friend of mine.”

“Your friends use GPS to track you?”

“I was on my way to see that Harris guy and she was worried. I, well, not to say that I distrusted your friend or anything.”

“No, no, that's okay. I get it. Stranger says he knows you. Caution's not a bad thing.”

He held the chip out to her. “I don't suppose you can do anything with it?”

“Actually, yeah,” she said as she took it from him.

She held her two hands out before herself, the left hand under the right and the chip laying on top. Will couldn't place the tongue she was chanting in, which was odd in and of itself. Over the past six years, as he'd try to work out who he'd been before the amnesia, Will'd figured out that he knew a hell of a lot of languages, smatterings in most of them, words related to cops and criminals largely but also a good number of swear words. It was almost as surprising as learning he had a scholar's knowledge of both Latin and Greek.

When the chip started glowing, it casted an eerie light up along Willow's face. It took Will's breath away. Beautiful. How had she suddenly become beautiful? He saw a flash of a dark-haired beauty, her face lit from below, as Willow's was, but by candlelight. “You naughty boy.” She, whomever she'd been, had been pleased with him based on her tone if not her words. Another flash, Willow, her hair short, curved above her neck, sitting at the far edge of a bed. She'd looked upset but not I'm being threatened with a broken bottle upset. “I know I'm not the kind of girl … . It's always like, "ooh, you're like a sister to me," or, "oh, you're such a good friend,” she'd said. And he'd replied. “Don't be ridiculous. I'd bite you in a heartbeat.” Bite you? What kind of talk was that?

“What is it?” she said.

“Huh? The light from the chip was fading. “Oh, uh, nothing. Nothing.” He looked around. They were still alone. “So, what now?”

“We get moving.”

“I thought that chip or spell or whatever was supposed to call the cavalry.”

“If they go looking for us … When they go looking for us, I mean. I boosted the power and marked it with my sigil. When they look, they should see it, but we should still get moving, see if we can find a way out on our own.”

In a cave far from where the two had been speaking, a wizened hand waved across a scrying pool, removing the images that the Three Sisters had been viewing. “The Shanshu's memories are returning. One more push and he will become what we need him to be.”

Comments

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

OOOH! The plot is really thickening! I love that Spike is so confused about who he is, but I think the return of his memories is no unmixed blessing!


Gabrielle

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Yes, the plot really is thickening. Oooh, and look at your icon. It matches my scene!

Full memories coming up. That'll be fun to write, she said sarcastically.

[rbfvid.livejournal.com]

Poor confused Will. You are doing such a great job writing him.

[dragonyphoenix.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I love hearing that I'm getting something right. ;-)