Sunnydale Indian Summer
2002
"Daddy!"
"Daddy, wake up.
Mommy and I made breakfast for you," Michelle cried excitedly as she
jumped
up and down on the king-sized bed. It was a sunny Saturday morning, and
a smell
of autumn flowers hung in the air.
William Blackwood
turned slowly on his back, opened his eyes and looked tiredly at his
hyperventilating daughter. “Could you please stop with that
hopping? Otherwise
I'll get seasick.”
She dropped beside him
and slung her tiny arms around his neck. “Happy Birthday,
Daddy!” she said
and kissed him on his cheek.
“Thank you, nibblet!
You said something about breakfast?” He rose and sat on the
bedside, as
Michelle jumped from the bed and pulled his royal blue satin dressing
gown from
the hanger at the door. It pooled on the floor and she picked it up and
brought
it to her father.
William or Spike, as
his friends would call him, took it and went into the bathroom to take
a quick
shower. In the meantime, Michelle runs back upstairs into the kitchen.
Dru stood at the window
and looked out at the sea, as she talked into the phone. “I
don’t know, what
I should do, Darla. It can’t go on this way. Something has to
change. I'll
tell him today”, said Dru to her best friend. As she heard
that Spike was
about to come down she said: “I have to go, I call you later,
okay?”
She hung up as he
entered the room. “Good morning, luv. Did you sleep
well?” he asked and
kissed her.
“Good morning, honey.
I slept like a baby, but how I could, after all the things
we’ve done...".
she whispered in his ear before she nipped on his lobe.
“Eww!” they
hear
Michelle cry out and her parents looked at each other and began to
laugh.
Spike crouched before
his daughter and looked her in the eyes. “I’m sure
you'll do it yourself
when you're older, and then you won't think it's icky.”
“I don’t
suck on
ears," the little girl retorted and shook her head so vehemently that
her
dark brown locks bounced up and down.
Spike chuckled.
“Okay…let's begin with our breakfast and after
that we…” he was
interrupted by the phone.
“Blackwood!”
Dru looked at him and
saw how his facial expression changed.
“Problems? What kind
of problems?...Can’t
Angel…No…I’ll be there in one
hour…okay…will
do. Thanks.”
He put back the phone
on the kitchen counter and sat down at the wonderfully decorated
breakfast table.
“Who was it,
Will?”
asked Drusilla distrustfully.
Spike held his breath,
because he knew what would come. “It was Harmony. There are
some problems, and
Dad wants me to come to the office.”
“Mm-hm, right, and
Angel couldn’t do it? You took the day off, because you
wanted to spend some
time with Michelle. She's been jubilant all week,” said
Drusilla, pissed off.
“The whole thing's been going on for months now, you even go
in to the office
on Sundays. Michelle hardly even sees you, because when you come back
from work
she’s already asleep.”
William took a deep
breath and wanted to say something, as Dru interrupted him.
“Do you think
I’m dumb, Will? You're having an affair with this blonde
slut, Betty or
whatever her name is!”
“You’re
kidding,
right? I work with Miss Summers because - and only because - we want to
finish
the amalgamation of our law offices as quickly as possible. I'm not
having an
affair with her, the only one I love is you!" Spike defended himself
and
threw the napkin on the table.
Michelle didn’t catch
the fight between her parents. She was in the garden, trying to catch a
butterfly.
Spike stood up and
looked out of the window and watched his daughter with a smile on his
face.
“Okay…You
didn’t
have an affair with that slut…but I’m very sure
that you fucked your
secretary. That’s the reason why she always talked about what
kind of stallion
you are in bed”, said Dru with venom in her voice.
“Admit it!”
Spike rolled with his
eyes. He loved his wife, but sometimes her jealousy drove him crazy.
“God, Dru.
Stop it. You know that I and Harmony were together for a couple of
weeks, but
that's over.”
“Sure!
That’s why
she's always the one who calls you,” Dru said, and stood up.
As she approached
Spike she whispered “Would you mind if you and Angel change
your secretaries?”
“I have to go. We'll
talk later, okay?” With these words he left the kitchen and
stepped out in the
garden. Michelle came running and he lifted her up in his arms and
looked in her
sapphire
coloured eyes.
“Daddy? Do you have
to go again?” she asked sadly.
“Yeah muffin, but I
promise you, we'll go to the zoo tomorrow. Cross my heart," he said,
and
Michelle wrapped her tiny arms around his neck. “I love you,
Daddy.” She
kissed him on his cheek and gave him another one on his mouth.
“The first one
was for grandpa. Promise me that you'll give it to him, okay?”
“Will do, princess.
I'll see you later.” He set the little girl down on her feet
and turned around
to go back into the house. Spike passed by his wife and picked up his
keys.
Before he opened the front door he turned around to look at Dru.
“We'll talk
tonight.”
She nodded, and he left.
******
When he arrived at the
office, the others were already there.
Rupert Giles, the head
of the law office they wanted to work with, Buffy Summers, the senior
partner of
the firm and his stepdaughter, William's half-brother Liam, that
everybody
called Angel, and of course his father Eric.
“Good morning. I hope
this is important. I was supposed to be doing something
else,” he said as he
entered the conference room.
“Good morning,
William. I'm afraid that it's very important. It looks like there are
some
problems that Rupert wants to discuss with you," his father answered.
Angel stood up
immediately. "Then I can go, right?" he asked, and made for the door,
as his father spoke up. “That would suit you, Liam, but
you're staying right
here to work on the files. Today is Saturday and this office still
works on
Saturdays. You already know that, my son.”
“I think we should
start”, said Rupert. “Buffy, you talk to Eric and
Liam, while I discuss the
problems with William.”
******
After five hours:
The phone rang and
William took the headpiece.
“Harmony, I said that
we don’t want to be disturbed”, he said a little
bit sulkily, but he stayed
friendly.
“I know, Boss, but
here are two officers who want to talk to you. They said that it was
very
important," said Harmony.
“Okay, tell them that
they should wait a moment…I’ll be right
there.”
Liam looked up from his
file and looked at his brother. “Something
happened?” he asked. “You look
so pale.”
“Two police officers
are here, and they said it was something big," replied Spike, and
wondered
what it could be that was so important, staring at a spot in front of
him.
“Okay”,
they heard
Eric say. “We managed a lot of work, and the problem is as
good as cleared. I
say, we meet tonight at my house and have dinner. Then we can talk
about the
rest, what do you say?”
They all nodded and
Eric approached his youngest. “Lets say about sevenish, and
bring my little
sunshine.”
Liam looked worriedly
at his half-brother. They didn’t get along so well, but
something told him
that something awful had happened. “Okay dad, I think Will
and I will be there”,
he said.
Buffy approached Spike
and laid a hand on his shoulder. “I hope it isn´t
so bad.” Then she took
her office case and walked out of the office with Rupert.
“Should I
stay?”
asked Eric fearfully.
William looked at him
with empty eyes and shook his head.
“I think you better
drive home. We call you when we know something," Angel said instead of
Spike.
Eric nodded and Angel
brought him to the door.
As the door shut, Angel
turned back and saw how his brother sunk into his office chair.
“Something
happened to Dru and Michelle! I can feel it.” He whispered.
“Something is
horribly wrong, Angel. I’m scared.”
The door opened a crack,
and Harmony's head looked into the room. “Can the officers
come in?”
“Sure," said
Liam. “Come in.” He led the two policemen into
Spike's office.
Although Spike was very
nervous, he stood up and welcomed the men. “What can I do for
you? My
secretary told me it was something important.” The fear and
despair was clear
in his voice.
“There was an
accident on the highway. A truck crashed head on into a bunch of
cars…Mr
Blackwood?”
William sunk to his
knees.
“Your
wife….”
“What’s
wrong with
her…Oh God, I hope she is alright. What about my little
angel?” he asked
hysterical.
One of the officers
crouched beside him and laid one hand on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry, but we
couldn't get to your wife in time,” he said calmly.
“NO, THAT COULDN`T BE
TRUE. THAT WASN´T MY WIFE”, Spike shouted and tried
hard not to cry.
For about five minutes
he only sat there and looked at his shaking hands. Then he asked, a
little bit
more calmly, “And what happened to my daughter?”
“She’s
alive, but
heavily injured. She was brought to the Sunnydale General.”
“I must go and see
her. She needs me.” Spike grabbed his suit jacket and
searched for his car
keys.
“I won’t
let you
drive by yourself," Angel said suddenly. “I'll drive you to
the hospital.”
William looked at him
doubtfully but nodded and ran out of his office.
His brother turned
around to the two officers. “Can you find your way
out?”
Both men nodded and
Angel followed his brother.
As he passed Harmony's
desk, he said: "Cancel all appointments for the rest of the
week.”
She wanted to know what
happened, but then they heard Spike shout Angel's name and the next
thing she
saw was the door of the lift close behind the two brothers.
******
Spike was in shock. He
didn’t allow any feelings to come through. He
didn’t talk, even though his
brother asked him a thousand things, but went into his own world.
The drive to the
hospital took a eternity for him, and as they finally arrived, he
jumped out of
the car and ran into the hospital.
He approached the
reception. “Where is my daughter?” was all he could
say.
“What is the name of
your daughter?” asked the nurse in a friendly voice.
“Where can I find
her?” babbled Spike.
“Sir, if you
didn’t
tell me her name I can’t help you!” said the nurse
calmly…she could see
that he was in shock.
Spike looked around.
“ANGEL!” he cried.
Angel came running and
told him that he should sit down. He would find out where Michelle was.
Spike sat down on a
chair and looked on the floor. Suddenly he looked up and said something
that
Angel never thinks off he would ever hear from him.
“Please Angel, help
me,” He never saw that expression in the eyes of his younger
brother.
Angel smiled and turned
around to the nurse on the desk.
“Sorry, my brother's
not thinking clearly. Could you tell me where we can find Michelle
Blackwood?”
“Hold
on…I'll take
a look.” She made a few clicks and typed in the name on her
computer keyboard.
“Oh, that is the
little girl from the highway accident, right? I have to call the
doctor. He want
to talk to the family," said the nurse nervously.
Angel had an uneasy
feeling. “Okay…we'll wait”, he said and
sat down beside his brother. He
laid an arm around his shoulder. “Will?” he asked
carefully. “The doctor
would like to speak to you. I don't know where Michelle is, or what's
wrong.”
Spike looked at Angel
with huge eyes, but didn’t say anything.
After unbearably long
minutes, the doctor arrived. Spike stood up, his legs shaking, and
Angel tried
to hold him up so he didn’t collapse.
“Mr.
Blackwood?”
Spike stared at the doc
and nodded.
“How is my little
angel, doc?” he asked quietly.
“Your daughter is
alive, but there are some complications. It doesn’t look
good. One of her ribs
punctured her lungs and the spleen is damaged. We don’t know
if her brain is
okay, because of the contusion on her head.”
“You
mean…you're
saying….that my daughter will die?” Spike asked
slowly.
The doctor looked at
the broken man before him. “I’m sorry, but we
can’t do anything else for
her.”
Spike held himself up
on his brother's arm. “How long do you think she's
got?”
“There's a high
possibility that she won't survive the night," said the doctor.
“I´m
really sorry.”
Spike looked at the
doctor, and tears were gleaming in his eyes. “Can I see
her?”
“Of course, I'll take
you to her.”
William turned to his
brother and looked at him. Angel gave him a tight hug. “Would
you mind calling
dad, Liam?”
“Not at
all…can I
do anything else for you?” asked Angel and hugged his brother
tighter.
“No. All I want right
now is to see my daughter," said William and pulled back from Angel and
followed the doc into the ICU.
******
As he walked into the
room and he saw his little Princess lying there with all the tubes and
machines,
which were attached to her tiny body, he couldn't hold back anymore. He
sunk to
his knees before the bed and cried and shouted.
Two nurses and a doctor
rushed into the room and pulled him up, forcing him to sit down in a
chair. The
doctor prepared an injection and as he gave William the sedative, he
told him
that everything would be all right.
Did this man know what
had happened to him? His wife was dead and his little girl would not
survive the
night. How could he say that everything would be okay?
After a while the
medication began to work and Spike calmed down. He pulled the chair
beside the
bed and took the tiny hand in his. He was sure that his daughter knew
he was
there.
“I love you nibblet.
I hope you and mommy will be happy, wherever you go. I will always
think of you
both.” He took a little breather. “Michelle! Honey!
Please open your eyes.
Only one more time. Do it for Daddy. I want to see your wonderful blue
eyes…for
the last time. He said and breaks into passion of tears.
Spike didn’t notice
that Angel entered the room. He laid his head on the bed and sobbed.
“Will?”
Angel asked
carefully. “Don’t you think that you should call
Dru's parents? They should
be told. I'll stay here and watch over her, okay?”
“I think
you’re
right. They have to know. They'll have to come from England for the
funeral.”
With these words he left and called his parents in law.
******
One hour later:
Dru's parents were
devastated and blamed William, because he had wooed her to the U.S.A.
His father couldn’t
believe it and didn't wanted to come at all, but he changed his mind
when Angel
told him that William needed his help.
They all stood around
Michelle as she took her last breath.
William leaned down and
whispered,
“Sleep well my sweet
little angel. Tell mommy I love her and I will never forget
her.”
He kissed her forehead,
before he broke down and cried endlessly.
A little log cabin on a
lake had been his home for about five months. It was quiet there, and
nobody
could bother him.
Spike stood at the
waterfront of the big lake and looked over the water. The full moon
shined on it
and the water seemed to be glistening in the darkness.
With a deep sigh he
fingered in his jacket and pulled out a box with cigarettes. He took
one and put
it between his lips. The sound of a Zippo lighter was heard through the
woods.
He thought about his
past, a time when he wasn't living day to day as if there
wasn’t any hope in
the world. A time
when his father
didn’t call everyday and asked when he would be back. The
answer didn’t
matter because he hadn’t any reason to look forward. All he
cared for was
ripped out of his young life.
It was exactly five
months since Drusilla and Michelle had been killed in a car accident.
The funeral was the
worst day in his life, because he had to realize that they
wouldn’t come
back,…ever. What would he do without them? Did life have any
meaning at all
anymore?
A lot of people came,
to accompany both on their last journey. All the lawyers of the firm,
almost all
neighbours, even Rupert Giles and Buffy Summers were there.
But he didn’t see
anyone. He didn’t care how many people were there. All he
wanted was his peace,
but the trouble began, because Dru's parents wanted Drusilla and
Michelle to be
buried in
Unwillingly, they gave
way, but told him that he wasn’t their son in law anymore.
That was one thing
he could live with.
Dru had run away from
home as soon as she turned eighteen, and flew to William in the
He remembered the day
when she stood before the door, with her small suitcase, and how she
jumped into
his arms.
He could still see her
face as it looked four years ago when he asked her if she would marry
him and
she said “Yes,” with tears in her eyes.
They had got married
three years before, and on their wedding night, Dru told him that she
was
pregnant. That was really the best day of his life, but within hours
his whole
life changed.
******
A car horn pulled him
out of his thoughts. He was still standing on the border of the lake
and the
cigarette he had lit was burned down to ash. Spike wiped the tears from
his face
and turned around. He saw the car of his best friend. Alexander Harris
had been
his friend since the Blackwoods came to Sunnydale and he was the one
who brought
Spike groceries and other stuff every Friday.
Xander got out of his
car and approached Spike.
“Hey Spike, how are
you?” he asked and clapped one hand on Spikes shoulder.
Spike took in a deep
breath and looked at his friend in disbelief. “What are you
doing here, Xan?
Today's Wednesday…you're two days too early.”
“I know. Your father
called me this morning to say I have to take you to Sunnydale. There's
some
things that he needs to discuss with you. I think it has something to
do with
the other law firm and the merger," Xander said a little dazedly.
“I'm staying here.
Can’t they do anything without me? Why've I always got to be
there? They all
know why I’m here. I don’t want to know any of that
crap. Why can’t they
leave me alone?” Spike grumbled.
“Your father said
they need your signature. Without it, the merger won't be legally
binding. The
whole thing's just been sitting there since…since the
day…the day five
months ago," stuttered Xander.
Spike looked over the
water and then sighed as he looked upwards to the stars.
“Promise me that
you'll bring me back, after it's done, then I'll come with you,
okay?”
Without another word he
entered the cabin and fetched his old brown leather jacket. He locked
the cabin
and climbed into Xander's car. They drove back in a roundabout way,
because
Xander didn’t want to use the highway where the accident
happened.
******
Spike was obviously
nervous and fidgeted from left to right, as Xander entered the driveway
to his
parents' mansion. He hadn’t talked to his family face to face
for about three
months. At first they came to the cabin and tried to coax him to come
back, to
tell him that it was useless to crawl away from life. Finally, after
four weeks
of this, they gave up, because William could be completely pigheaded.
When he
took something into his head, then he followed it through.
The car stopped and
William rooted to the spot, on the passenger seat.
“Spike?
We’re there.
Don’t you want to step out?” asked Xander.
“I’m a
little
afraid. I must look like hell. I haven’t shaved for a couple
of days and my
hair's too long.” He did everything to talk Xander out of
putting him in this
situation.
“Good God! You're not
going to a beauty contest. Your father only wants one or two
signatures,”
Xander said and stepped out of the car.
William drew in a deep
breath, opened the car door and climbed out. He slowly walked up the
five steps
to the front door and rang the bell.
Lilly, the almost sixty
year old housemaid, opened the door and couldn’t believe her
eyes. “William?
It's so nice to see you.” She said and pulled him into the
entrance hall. All
she wanted to do was to hug him, because as soon as she started to work
for the
family she had taken him into her heart.
“Hey Lilly, is my
father at home?”
“He's in his study,
I'll go and ….”, she was about to turn around as
William cut her off.
“It´s okay,
I'll go
by myself…I still know where it is”, he said with
a tiny smile on his face.
Slowly, he went down
the hallway and looked at all the pictures that hung on the wall. He
stopped
before one, lifted his hand and traced over the glass with his fingers.
It was a picture of his
little family, and it was taken one month before the terrible accident
happened.
His eyes filled with tears and he couldn’t hold them back.
Eric stepped out of his
study and couldn’t believe his eyes, either.
“William?” he said in
disbelief. "Did Xander finally get you to come home?"
“Hallo,
Dad”, Spike
said and wiped the tears out of his eyes. “I'm only staying
till the papers
are signed. Then I'll be gone.”
“That's your choice,
but I hope you'll think about it again. We all miss you…here
and in the office”,
said Eric. “I think you should get some sleep and we'll talk
about this in the
morning, okay?”
Eric wanted to hug his
son, but Spike drew back a little.
“Okay…night
Dad!”
He said and turned around, as a young woman came out of his father's
study.
“We'll talk about the
other things tomorrow. I'll come around one o´clock into your
office, is that
okay, Liam?” she said, looking back over her shoulder.
Not seeing where she was going, she ran into Spike, who
was rooted to the
spot.
“William? I hardly
recognized you, without your bleached hair." She looked into his steel
blue
eyes. “How are you?”
Spike didn’t answer,
but just looked at her, startled.
“Um...I…I
must go.”
She said suddenly and dropped her gaze. "I'll see you tomorrow,
Liam.”
“Okay, Buffy. Till
tomorrow then”, they hear Angel say, while he was still in
the study.
“It was nice to see
you again, William,” she said to Spike and left. Spike looked
after her.
“That was Buffy Summers, right?”
“Yeah, she's the head
of Giles's partnership. The merger is ready to pass off. That's been
the plan
for more about than six months…doesn’t you
remember?” asked Liam, who
stood right behind him. “She's also a real hottie,
don’t you think?” he
whispered.
Spike looked at his
brother with huge eyes. “Does that mean, that
you….and her…?”
“Not yet. But maybe
my day will come”, Angel said with a grin and waggled with
his eyebrows.
“What does Darla
think about that, or Cordy? I don’t know which one you prefer
at the moment.”
Spike said in disgust.
“Why should I have
only one woman? You'll only be disappointed in the end, but why am I
telling you
that? You were the one who wanted to be happy with one woman. Now look
at you.”
Angel mocked him.
“LIAM! Back off. I'm
happy that William's even here right now. You don’t have to
start with your
hostilities right away," Eric cut his son off.
Spike wanted to say
something, but swallowed his anger. He wanted to get over with it. All
he wanted
was to get back to his cabin, where nobody could mock him.
His brother's empathy
for William and his loss had vanished quickly, after Michelle and Dru
were
buried. It seemed almost like someone had pushed a switch. Between one
moment
and the next Angel was his old self, with all the fighting and torment.
The only
thing was that William didn’t hit back like in the old days.
Slowly he went upstairs
and lay down on the bed. His thoughts wandered to his wife and
daughter. He
couldn’t forget them. How could he start a new life, if
everything reminded
him of them? He turned on his side and drifted into sleep, unaware that
his
tears still fell.
He stood up and made his way to the dresser. As he opened it he saw
that his
father must have sent somebody to bring all his clothes from the beach
house.
He took out an anthracite colored suit and laid it on the bed, and then
he made
his way into the bathroom to take a shower and to shave.
After he finished that, he put on the suit and made his way downstairs
to talk
to his father, but as he entered the dining room he saw that Liam was
sitting at
the table, eating breakfast.
“Morning," said William quietly.
“Morning, Will. I want to apologize, for what I said last
night. I’m really
sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“You’re not sorry. You love to hurt me. So
let’s drop it, besides I won't
be staying long, so I think we should just stay out of each other's way
while
I'm here," said William and took a seat.
“Will you come to the office?” Angel asked.
“I just have to. You need my help, otherwise I
wouldn’t be here.” Spike
looked at his brother.
You could see the hate in Angel's eyes, but he was asking himself the
same
question, over and over again. *Why is William back and why did Rupert
Giles
demand that HE sign the papers* And furthermore, there *were* one or
two points
in the contract that he didn’t understand.
“So you will go back to your asylum after you sign the
contract? Will you
drain yourself while you cry your eyes out over your dead wife and
daughter?
Wake up. Life goes on…” Angel said as Eric entered
the room.
“Did you have to argue as soon as the day broke?”
he murmured.
Angel stood up. “I have to go anyway. I’m meeting
Darla this morning.”
“Does your girlfriend know about Buffy Summers, or
Cordy?” Spike asked
without looking at his brother.
Angel only looked at him and left the dining room. After he pulled on
his coat
he made his way into town.
“What was that?” Eric looked questioningly at his
youngest.
“Liam knows what I mean.” William said and poured
himself a cup of coffee.
“How can you watch, while he ruins the life of three
women?”
“I knew about Darla and Cordelia, but what has Buffy Summers
to do with that?”
William looked at his father, and raised one brow. “Please,
don’t tell me
that you haven't recognized he wants more from her than just to put
contracts
together.”
A grin appeared on Eric’s face. “But she doesn't
want anything else from him.”
“Are you serious?” asked William curiously.
“She doesn’t have any interest in your brother.
She's been working with him
for about five month now, and she treats him like a business partner,
nothing
more. But with you…that was a bit different. In the three
months you worked
together, she got shy every time you talked to her and she
couldn’t look into
your eyes,” he informed his son.
Eric went around the table and laid a hand on William's shoulder.
“She often
asks me about you. I think she liked you. Still does.” With
these words his
father left the room.
Spike looked at his plate and thought about the words his father said,
and then
he slowly got up and followed Eric into his study.
“I'll leave later today. This city makes me sick.
I’m not ready to start a
new life," he whispered. “I’m sorry to disappoint
you, Dad.”
“Rupert's wish is that you and Buffy take over his part of
the business. I
told him that you would probably say no. He's coming over for lunch
today,
though, and he'll want to talk to you, if that’s okay with
you," Eric
said, looking up from his papers.
“I will do anything in reason, but I can’t come
back. Maybe there's another
way to arrange things. Maybe Liam can…”
Eric interrupted him. “Rupert wants you…Liam will
lead my part of the office.
Rupert doesn’t trust Liam.”
“Okay…I’ll wait to see what Rupert has
to tell me. Excuse me…I want
to…go…to the…cemetery.”
William stuttered, turned around and left the
study.
******
"BUFFY?" Giles shouted.
She ran down the stairs, and shouted
“Coming!...What’s up?” she asked more
quietly, as she reached the last step.
“Would you like to come with me? I have an invitation from
Eric Blackwood for
lunch,” he asked.
She looked sadly to one side. “I can’t. I have a
meeting with Liam at 1
o'clock in his office.”
“I’ve heard that William is back, so we could
discuss the rest with him,
don’t you think?” He winked at her, because he saw
how his stepdaughter
looked at the youngest Blackwood.
“Yeah…I saw him yesterday…he
doesn’t look so good”, she responded
softly.
“So…will you come with me?” Giles asked
again.
“Sure. I'll call Harmony. She can tell Liam that I
can’t make it. He'll be
angry…that’s for sure," she said with a devilish
grin.
Giles looked her in the eyes. “You don’t like him,
either?”
Buffy looked back at him. “I hate him for all the things he
did a couple of
years ago.”
“What did he do?”
Buffy coughed slightly. "Ah…nothing important, it
doesn’t matter. I
don’t like him…so shall we?”
*He will pay soon enough* Buffy thought to herself as she made her way
to the
car.
******
A little bit earlier at Restfield Cemetery:
William walked slowly over the cemetery. He held his head low as he
went. There
were not so many people around at this time of the day.
In his hand he held a bouquet of white roses, Dru´s favourite
flowers. Slowly
he approached the grave, knelt in front of it and picked up some
leaves. He laid
the flowers down and stood up. He looked down on the white marble stone
and
tears were rolling down his face. With a breathy voice he whispered:
"Hey…I know that I haven't come here for a long
time…I’m sorry about
that…but…I
can’t…won’t…God, this is
hard. I can’t forget you.
Everyday I think about you and I ask myself why you had to be on that
damn
highway? Where were you heading, Dru? And why did you take Michelle
with you?
That are the questions I ask myself, over and over again, but I
can’t find the
answers.” He stood there for a long time, crying quietly.
“I have to go, but I will come back before I leave again,
promise. I love you
both.”
He kissed the gravestone and left the cemetery. As he was about to get
into his
car he heard somebody call his name.
“William? William, is that really you?” the blonde
woman asked him.
He turned around. “Hey, Darla, what are you doing here. I
thought Angel were
with you?”
“He was, but he said that he had a meeting with Miss Summers.
He was there for
a quickie and left right after that…like always.”
Darla said sadly.
She was used to it that Angel treated her like crap, but she really
loved him.
“Did you visit Dru and the little one?” she asked.
As he didn’t answer she
spoke up again. “I’m here every day. Dru was my
best friend. How are you, by
the way? You don’t look so good...”
Spike drew in a deep breath and his lower lip quivered a little bit.
“I haven't been here since the funeral”, he said
softly. “Every night I
dream about them. I try to save them, but I never succeed. The worst
thing is
that I couldn’t tell her how much I loved her. We had a fight
that morning,
you know! The last thing I said to her was `We'll talk about it
later´.” He
looked like a picture of misery and the tears were flowing freely now.
Darla approached him and pulled him into a tight hug. She whispered
soothing
words into his ear. She recognized when William had calmed down a bit
and
loosened the hug.
She knew all about the fight they'd had. Dru called her right after
William left.
But she wasn't going to add to his misery by telling him that.
“Are you feeling okay? Should I drive you home?”,
she asked instead,
worriedly.
He looked at her with reddened eyes, and smiled slightly.
“It’s okay, I can manage that. I’ve been
going through hell the last five
months, and I'll survive this, too.”
Darla nodded, and told him that everything would get better, it would
just take
some time. She turned around and walked away.
William looked after her and asked himself what this woman saw in his
brother.
Didn’t she realise that he had one affair after another?
He sighed, got into his car and drove back to the mansion.
As Darla heard him start the engine, she stopped and turned around once
more.
She knew where Drusilla had been heading to, and she knew why they
really had
that fight earlier that morning.
Drusilla had been having an affair for about five months and on that
day she had
decided to end it. After that she wanted to tell William everything.
But that never happened.
Darla asked herself if she should tell him everything, as Drusilla had
intended
to do herself. Would he feel better when she told him the truth? She
didn’t
know what she should do. Maybe he wouldn’t believe a word she
said.
As Spike drove by she waved to him, then she went to the cemetery gate
and
visited her dead friend…as she did every day.
The intercom crackled and Harmonys piercing voice could be heard.
“Mr.
Blackwood?”
Angel was a little pissed off, because it was one thirty and Buffy
hadn’t
arrived yet.
“What’s the matter now?” he said grumpily.
With an edge of fear colouring her voice Harmony replied.
“Miss Summers called
and cancelled her appointment. She said something about your brother
and lunch
at your father’s house.”
“Why didn’t you tell this earlier? I was here the
whole time, wasn’t I?”
he yelled.
“I thought that you and Miss Chase didn’t want to
be disturbed?” Harmony
said firmly.
Angel sat down in his office chair and rubbed his eyes.
“Sorry, you’re
right. Did I have any other appointments today?”
“You are meeting Mr. Wolfram for lunch, in about half an
hour…it’s about
the case….”
“I know, I know…is there anything else?”
he interrupted her.
Harmony drew in a deep breath and rolled with her eyes.
“No…that’s all for
today.”
“Thanks, you can call it a day now. Take the afternoon off go
meet up with
your friends or do whatever it is you do in your free time.”
“Thank you, Mr. Blackwood” Harmony replied happily,
glad to be getting away
from her moody boss for the day.
Angel settled back into his chair and was inarticulate with rage. His
brother
had hardly been back in town five minutes yet everybody was falling
over
themselves to look out for poor little Spike. Okay…he had
lost his wife and
daughter, but was that a reason to lick his boots?”
He took a glance at his watch. In twenty minutes he would meet Bill for
lunch.
Maybe his brother would already be gone when he got home.
******
Spike was a nervous wreck, all he wanted to do was go to his room to be
alone.
He’d totally forgotten that Rupert was there to discus the
contract.
As he opened the front door, his father approached him immediately.
Eric took a
good look at him and shook his head. Then he said quietly,
“Get upstairs and
freshen yourself up, and then come back down for lunch.”
“Dad?” Spike asked his father so quietly that he
almost didn’t hear him.
“Do I really have to? I’m not in the mood for
company. Liam can do it just
as well.”
Eric sighed. “William! I already told you that Rupert wants
to speak to you.
Oh…by the way… Buffy is here, too.” He
looked his son in the eye and hoped
for a reaction, but he met with nothing, William didn’t react
at all.
“I'll be there in a minute”, Spike said walking
slowly up the stairs. After
he splashed his face, he sat down on his bed and called Xander. He told
him that
he could pick him up at Five. After he hung up he made his way
downstairs.
He entered the dinning room quietly, unobserved by the others. Eric
stood
together with Giles and Buffy in front of the fireplace talking about
this and
that. Buffy was the first one who saw him and smiled at him. Spike
returned the
smile and cleared his throat.
“Rupert, it’s nice to see you again.” He
said in a friendly tone and took
a step forward.
“William! It’s nice that you could make it. You are
the most important
person in all this. I hope you feel okay?” asked Giles.
“I had a bad time…but that isn’t your
problem. Pardon my asking, but why
do you want me for the Managers position in your part of the firm,
together with
Miss Summers? She could do it quite well without me. If my memory
serves me
right, she has a far better diploma than I do.” Spike
commented and looked
Giles directly into the eyes.
Giles broke the eye contact to look at Buffy.
“That’s right, but she
didn’t have the nerve to do it all alone.”
Buffy looked down at the floor, because she could feel Spikes eyes on
her.
Spike looked from Giles to his father. “I’m sorry,
Rupert. I will sign all
the contracts, but I have to refuse the management position.”
Now it was Buffy who spoke up. “Don’t be so quick
to turn it down Spike.
Take your time to think about it. You don’t have to do it
right away, if
you’re not ready for that step. I think your brother can help
me out for a
while and Giles and your father are still there, too.”
Eric watched Buffy trying to avoid Spikes glances and grinned to
himself.
“Xander will be here in two hours to pick me up. It would be
nice if we could
finish everything off before he gets here.” Spike said
ignoring what Buffy had
said.
“Sure”, Buffy replied. “ but, under one
condition.”
“And what’s that?” asked Spike curiously.
“You take your time to think about that management job,
okay?”
Spike looked her deep into the eyes. “Okay, I will think
about it.”
Buffy felt how her cheeks suffused with heat under his intense gaze and
she
looked bashfully at her feet.
“Let’s go into the office and get on with the
paperwork. I hope you
haven’t had lunch, Rupert? I’m sure my cook has
outdone herself and made her
famous roast pork.” Eric commented as he guided Giles and
Buffy into the next
room.
Spike followed slowly and couldn’t take his eyes from Buffy.
He had to admit
that she was a good looking woman.
*** ***
Spike signed all the relevant papers and that done they all went back
into the
dinning room where lunch was already being served.
Spike watched Buffy during the meal and realized that every time their
eyes met
she turned her head and looked everywhere but at him.
“Do you have Internet access at your cabin?” Rupert
asked him suddenly.
“I have a telephone connection, but no Computer“,
Spike answered and averted
his gaze from Buffy. “Why do you ask?”
“I was thinking, if you don’t want to work here we
can stay in touch over
the Internet. If you want you can do your work from there!”
Giles looked
hopefully at him.
Spike thought about it for a moment. “I’ll drive
back first and take my time
to think about it.”
“Promise?” asked Rupert and Spike nodded.
The rest of the lunch was taking in silence. Eric suggested that they
should
take their coffee in the living room while they discussed the last few
details.
They had almost entered the room as Liam stormed through the front
door. His
eyes landed on his brother and he snapped at him. “Are you
still here? I
thought you’d have already crawled back into your
hole.”
Spike looked at Angel with no emotion in his eyes.
“Don’t worry, I packed my
bags, I’m just waiting for Xander to take me back.”
He just finished the sentence as the door bell rang.
Lili opened the door and Xander stepped into the entrance-hall.
“Hold on, mate.
I’ll go and get my stuff and then we’re outta
here.” Spike called back as
he ran up the stairs.
Buffy was waiting at the bottom of the stairs when he came back .
“Here is my
number. If you need anything, call me…I’ll be
there for you.” She gave him
her card and smiled.
“Thank you, I’ll call you when I’ve
decided what I want to do.” William
was the one now that blushed, and Xander looked curiously at him.
“I’m gone now, Dad!” Spike shouted.
“Have a good trip…and I hope you won’t
be back later”, he heard Angel
call back.
“Asshole”, whispered Xander as he and Spike left
the mansion.
The whole drive neither of them said a word. Spike looked out of the
window and
didn’t even realise that Xander was driving on the highway.
“Anything else I can do for you Spike?”?”
Xander asked as they came to an
halt before the cabin.
Spike turned his head and looked at him. “Could you bring me
a laptop and a
printer next Friday?”
“Sure! Do you want to work again? Did the cute blonde have
anything to do with
it? Xander asked with a hint of amusement.
Spike opened the passenger door and took his bag from the trunk. He
leaned down
and looked at Xander through the car window.
“Maybe!” he said and grinned.
“I’ll see you on Friday, Xan.”
Xander watched as his friend entered the cabin.
“It’s about time.” he said
to himself, turned the car and drove back to Sunnydale.
Spike closed the door behind him and dropped his bag on the floor. He
made his
way into the kitchen and made himself a big cup of coffee.
Sitting down at the table he looked out of the window. “Maybe
there are still
some things worth living for.” he said out loud and took a
huge gulp out of
the cup that stood steaming before him.
TBC……