Conversations About Dead People, Ch.11
Takes place during Triangle, right after the scene at The Bronze, and right before Buffy kicks Olaf’s ass.
Buffy/Tara
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Tara ran to catch up with Buffy, who was standing in the middle of the street, muttering to herself. “Okay. Follow the destruction. Where’d you go Olaf?”
Tara drew to a halt, scanning the demolished street. “That way. There are still some car alarms going off.”
Buffy smiled at her. “Good eye!”
They started making their way, slower now, watching to see if the path of debris would veer off in another direction.
“Buffy?”
“Hmm?”
“I was wondering about Spike. Should he, uh, should we have left him there? I mean, I know he can’t hurt anyone and he seems to have pretty good control, but there are people bleeding all over the place. It seems like it would be p-pretty easy to-“
“Feed?” Buffy was clearly distracted, still keeping her eyes and ears open for clues to the troll’s whereabouts.
“Yeah.”
Her reply was hurried, and she didn’t even look at Tara, who had a feeling that she wasn’t really thinking about what she was saying. “Don’t worry. He’s not going to do anything that would piss me off. He already thinks I’m mad at him. Does the damage to left or the right look newer?”
“Left. Why would you be mad at him? Besides the whole ‘enemies’ thing?”
“Oh, uh, he was the one who showed me what Riley was doing.”
Tara stopped in her tracks. “Spike showed you?”
Buffy doubled back, grabbed Tara by the arm and pulled her into walking again. “Yeah. He woke me up, told me he needed to show me something, and took me to the nest.”
“Why? Did he want money?”
Buffy shook her head. “No. He just said I needed to see it. And after I saw it, I didn’t really care why he showed me.” she stopped abruptly. “Oh no.”
“What?”
“This road. It leads directly to the Magic Box.”
Tara’s eyes widened. “Maybe they figured out some way to trap him?”
“Maybe.” They sped up anyway.
And then something about their previous conversation sunk in. “Hang on. Spike showed up at your house, didn’t tell you where you were going, and you just f-followed him?”
Buffy looked at her and shrugged. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I?”
Tara simply stared at her. For all the time Buffy spent declaring that she didn’t trust him, she’d still followed Spike into a vampire nest in the middle of the night. Alone. But pointing that out to an emotionally fragile slayer might not be the best course of action.
She was saved the trouble of responding by a dull roar, followed by a high-pitched shriek.
“Willow!”
They broke into a run, leaving all thoughts of helpful vampires and the slayers who trust them, forgotten on the street.
Buffy/Tara
xxxxxxxx
Tara ran to catch up with Buffy, who was standing in the middle of the street, muttering to herself. “Okay. Follow the destruction. Where’d you go Olaf?”
Tara drew to a halt, scanning the demolished street. “That way. There are still some car alarms going off.”
Buffy smiled at her. “Good eye!”
They started making their way, slower now, watching to see if the path of debris would veer off in another direction.
“Buffy?”
“Hmm?”
“I was wondering about Spike. Should he, uh, should we have left him there? I mean, I know he can’t hurt anyone and he seems to have pretty good control, but there are people bleeding all over the place. It seems like it would be p-pretty easy to-“
“Feed?” Buffy was clearly distracted, still keeping her eyes and ears open for clues to the troll’s whereabouts.
“Yeah.”
Her reply was hurried, and she didn’t even look at Tara, who had a feeling that she wasn’t really thinking about what she was saying. “Don’t worry. He’s not going to do anything that would piss me off. He already thinks I’m mad at him. Does the damage to left or the right look newer?”
“Left. Why would you be mad at him? Besides the whole ‘enemies’ thing?”
“Oh, uh, he was the one who showed me what Riley was doing.”
Tara stopped in her tracks. “Spike showed you?”
Buffy doubled back, grabbed Tara by the arm and pulled her into walking again. “Yeah. He woke me up, told me he needed to show me something, and took me to the nest.”
“Why? Did he want money?”
Buffy shook her head. “No. He just said I needed to see it. And after I saw it, I didn’t really care why he showed me.” she stopped abruptly. “Oh no.”
“What?”
“This road. It leads directly to the Magic Box.”
Tara’s eyes widened. “Maybe they figured out some way to trap him?”
“Maybe.” They sped up anyway.
And then something about their previous conversation sunk in. “Hang on. Spike showed up at your house, didn’t tell you where you were going, and you just f-followed him?”
Buffy looked at her and shrugged. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I?”
Tara simply stared at her. For all the time Buffy spent declaring that she didn’t trust him, she’d still followed Spike into a vampire nest in the middle of the night. Alone. But pointing that out to an emotionally fragile slayer might not be the best course of action.
She was saved the trouble of responding by a dull roar, followed by a high-pitched shriek.
“Willow!”
They broke into a run, leaving all thoughts of helpful vampires and the slayers who trust them, forgotten on the street.