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Willow was trying to think logically. Now that her mind had cleared somewhat, she was able to recall Buffy's exact words. The Slayer had seen Spike laughing - in her yard. Now somehow laughing did not seem very robotic. Sweeping up the leaves, or trimming her hedge - sure. But laughing? She didn't think so. Which must mean that it had been Spike, rather than the Spikebot, that Buffy had seen. And that was a thought to make Willow's blood run cold. When she pictured a laughing Spike in her mind, especially in her yard, she could only imagine that the motivation was malice, or mockery, so ... Spike had seen the Spikebot. Maybe leaving her house, or [please, no] with her. Maybe even - [eeeuuwww] *with* her? Willow took a moment to take some steadying breaths before continuing with her train of thought. If he was laughing instead of demanding an explanation, that meant he had worked out - more or less - what was going on. Which was not that hard to believe; after all, he had gone to Warren's house with her, so he knew the mechanics of how she could have had it done. And he thought is was funny? The more Willow brooded, the more questions she had. Spike's remarks this morning about being used; they seemed eerily similar to the words Spikebot had spoken yesterday. Had Spike overheard that conversation? And why was he laughing instead of getting angry, or taking the chance to expose her to the others? And what about last night? Why hadn't he said anything to her when she went to his crypt? He must have come straight from her house; why had he just engaged in some normal Spike chit-chat? And undressing her and indulging in the Morning Grope - how did that fit in? Maybe he was biding his time, and had some evil scheme in mind that would guarantee her an absolutely humiliating future? That would be just her luck. Willow's headache was coming back with a vengeance, because the more she thought about it the more complicated it got. Where was Spikebot? If Spike had seen him last night, then he could have easily followed the bot, or done something with him, which would explain the bot's absence. And all the other absences - how could she explain those? Something very strange was going on, and she found herself in the unenviable position of being unable to ask any questions for fear of giving away too much information and getting herself even deeper into trouble. But one thing was for sure; Spike knew at least some of what was going on, most likely that a Spikebot existed. As to how much more he knew; that was the million dollar question. Willow tried to distance herself from the problem and think laterally. How to find out what was going on without asking questions? A thought came to her, and she smiled; of course, find the bot. Then he could tell her what had happened last night with Spike - if anything - and she could finally simplify this whole mess somewhat by de-commissioning the bot. After all, with the bot gone, no- one was going to believe Spike over her. So now - how to find the bot? Willow started her computer and prepared herself for a few hours of searching through Warren's files; there was sure to be something there that could help her. An hour and a half later, Willow made her fourth attempt to access the network that serviced the global tracking device which Warren had thoughtfully inserted into the bot after his difficulties with his own rogue robot. She had already done this three times, but she was hoping against hope that somehow, this time, the result would be different. She waited for the information to appear on her screen, and found herself holding her breath. The screen blinked, and Willow released her breath in a slow sigh. Once again, the computer was giving her the location of the bot, and to her despair it remained: Peaceful Memories Cemetery, Sunnydale, which also happened to be the home of one Mr William the Bloody, better known as Spike. [What the hell?] Willow fumed. That was all she needed; Spike had kidnapped her bot! ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"But what's the surprise?", Buffy asked with genuine interest. "I can't tell you; you'd just laugh," Willow said with what she hoped was girlish embarrassment. The last thing she felt like at the moment was fighting off an interrogation. Buffy gave Willow an intrigued glance, and tried again. "But Will, I really want to know. You're my best friend, it's part of the code. You have to share all your secrets with me, especially the boyfriend ones. And I promise not to laugh. Slayer's honour." Buffy put her hand on her heart and tried to look sincere. Willow sighed, trying to remain calm as she kept her eyes on the ground, keeping pace with the Slayer as they walked. "Well, OK, I could tell you." She paused for a few seconds for maximum affect, then said in her most sinister voice, "but then I'd have to kill you." Buffy snorted but refrained from pursuing the topic, obviously decided to spare her friend from any further questions - for now, anyway. "Fine, but you owe me! I can't believe it has come to this; me, the Slayer, getting involved in Spike's love life," Buffy declared dramatically, as Willow rolled her eyes. "All you have to do is keep him on patrol for an hour, so I can get the surprise ready," Willow said patiently. Agreeing good naturedly, although obviously wanting to know what exactly was going on, the pair continued to amble through Sunnydale's darkened streets, and Buffy allowed the redhead to direct the conversation into more neutral areas. And so the friends chattered about nothing in particular until coming to a halt about 100 metres or so from Spike's crypt. As agreed earlier, Willow ducked behind a tree while the Slayer headed off to collect Spike and take him on patrol . Willow had told Buffy she wanted to organise something special for the vampire and she needed to get into his crypt without worrying about him coming back unexpectedly. No doubt Buffy imagined that Spike was going to come home to a candle-bedecked crypt, or a scantily-clad Willow. Hah! Willow was really, really pissed off. Spike was trying to play an angle here; trying to put some scheme into play that she was sure was meant to result in her complete and utter humiliation. No doubt that faithless blonde vampire thought he could use this whole sordid episode to get into Buffy's good books; exactly how, Willow wasn't sure, but she was beginning to realise there were no limits to the Big Bad's devious nature. Well, if he wanted to play dirty, that was fine with her. First, she would locate the bot and remove him from the playing field, as it were, and then she would be setting her sights on the Big Bad himself. Seeing that Buffy and Spike were now a good distance away, Willow made her way carefully over to the crypt. She pushed the door open; there was one good thing about having no personal possessions of any value, she thought - no need to worry about home security. Clearing her throat, Willow winced as the sound seemed to be amplified in the quiet of the crypt. [Spike's gone, stop being ridiculous. Just find the bot!] she chided herself, before calling out softly, "Spike? Robot Spike?" There was no answer. Willow did a quick tour of the crypt, but she already knew the bot was nowhere obvious; otherwise she would have seen him when she was here last night. So - what she needed to do was to look in a not obvious place. There were not really that many options. No cupboards, no large pieces of furniture, just a crypt which she knew had sewer access, and therefore - lots of possibilities for tunnels and caves. Carefully examining the floor, the redhead soon came across a hatchway which, when opened, revealed a staircase leading down into absolute darkness. Wrinkling her nose at the rush of damp, fetid air that rose from the opened hatch, Willow wished she'd had the foresight to bring an oxygen tank. [Guess the foul air is not such a problem when you don't have to breath] she grumbled as she took off her backpack and unzipped it, searching inside before pulling out a hard hat with a torch affixed to the front. [Spike's is gonna pay for this, every revolting second] the redhead vowed as she took a last gulp of mostly fresh air - it was a crypt, after all - before stepping down onto the first step. And that first step was nearly her last; Willow felt her foot skid out from under her as her shoe slipped on something, and she grabbed at the sides of the hatchway to maintain her balance. [What the hell?] she fumed as she crouched down to take a better look at the stairs. Only to let loose a stream of much stronger language when she realised that the stairs were sprinkled with pieces of metal and plastic, some small but most large enough to make it clear what had occurred here. Spike had murdered the bot. Willow decided she didn't have time now to work out what it all meant. First, she had to be sure exactly what was here. After carefully walking down the entire staircase to the small room at the bottom, Willow had seen enough to be sure that the whole bot was here; there may have been a few screws missing, but all the basic body parts seemed to be accounted for. She had seen enough. Climbing back up the stairs, Willow tried not to kick the pieces of metal that lay scattered everywhere - she wanted to leave as little evidence of her visit as possible. Closing the hatch quietly, the redhead picked up her backpack and walked slowly back to her house, musing over all she had seen. Things were starting to make a really, really horrible kind of sense. She didn't know why, she didn't know when - exactly, any way. But one thing she was pretty sure of. From what she had seen at Spike's crypt, it didn't look to her as if the bot had just been dismembered last night. Many of the large parts had been covered in a fine coating of dust which, even allowing for Spike's poor housekeeping abilities, would seem to suggest they had been there for a few days at least. Which meant, that unless Warren had branched out into mass production with her bot as the blueprint - the drama queen robot who had been at her house for the past few days was none other than William the Bloody himself. It was only the sudden taste of blood that broke Willow from her trance, as she realised she had taken her confusion out on her lower lip. Sucking distractedly at the small cut, Willow looked around and tried to decide what to do. She was close to her house, but she really didn't want to go there. She wasn't ready to face Spike, not yet anyway. Instead she turned west towards the Magic Box. Maybe she could find a friendly face there, or at least a safe environment where she could try to work out what was going on, and what she needed to do about it. Willow had taken a few steps towards the safety of the familiar when she stopped again. [So what? Now I'm scared to go home in case I have to deal with Spike? He's got a chip in his head! Mind games are about all he's got left now,] she decided as anger started to build. [He wants to play me? I don't care what his game is, or what he thinks he's going to get out of it, or what evil scheme he's planning. I don't care! It's time to take control,] the redhead decided as she again changed direction and headed for home. [If Spike wants to play Let's Pretend - fine. He can be Spikebot, and I'll be Vamp Willow,] the redhead decided with an evil grin. Spike had killed her bot, and was playing her for a fool. It was time to let the Big Bad know he wasn't the only one who had a demon inside. ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
...end part 22 |