Evening in Los Angeles
Joyce Summers looked out from her hotel window. The night was closing in on her in Los Angeles, and she was no where near home. No where near her daughter. "Buffy...I know that you won't have any problems tonight. And yes, Giles told me so himself, but I still..."
She sighed."No, the car won't be repaired until tomorrow. But if you want, I could..."
"I know that you can take care of yourself, honey, and I know that there's not much night activity going on right now, but I still think that...No, *don't* give it to Giles!" Joyce sighed.
"Hello, Rupert. Yes, I know, but...No, I don't still feel comfortable that I'm stuck here in Los Angeles and that Buffy's in Sunnydale. Yes, I know that we've discussed this quote,unreasonable fear, unquote of mine, but until you have a child of your own, Giles, I don't think that you should expect me to think very reasonable, especially after finding out that Buffy's a Vampire Slayer!"
"No, I can't get there tonight." Joyce sighed heavily into the phone. She saw the sun disappear into the horizen." All right, you guys win. I'll...stay here in L.A. for the night. Can you hand it over to Buffy?"
"Honey? Call me after you've done patrolling tonight. There's some leftover food in the fridge. Heat everything up before you...No, I don't think that you're incompetent in the kitchen, but I also know that cooking is not one of your stronger talents...All right, no more maternal advice. Love you, sweetheart. Bye."
Joyce hanged up the phone slowly as she sat down on the edge of the bed. [Damn that car! It would have to die on me in L.A.] She rubbed her face in her hands. It was not easy to face that she would not be home tonight. And it was not a night that she was looking foward to.
She had seldom left Sunnydale for the past month, ever since Buffy came home from that runaway stint she pulled. While Buffy was gone from her life, she had to face a few harsh facts thrust upon her. Her daughter was a Vampire Slayer. Her daughter could die at any night, at any given time. Her daughter had a limited lifespan. And tonight, Joyce Summers realized one more thing, she was deathly afraid that if she wasn't home, her daughter would die. Alone. Among her enemies.
"Stop this, Joyce. Buffy can take care of herself,"she said sternly as she shook herself."She did when you had those blinders on, and she will survive for one more night without you being home. If she doesn't, you'll just kick Giles in the....No, no, no! Don't think of that! She will not die, and she will be all right! Now go out there and do something rather than drive yourself mad with worry!"
Joyce walked to the closet, yanked her jacket and bag from it, and marched to the door, and walked out.
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Joyce smiled slightly as she smelled the odors from the food stores that assulted her nose as she walked towards the hotel. The dinner that she ate was not much, but at least it would keep her stomach from growling. [I could give Buffy lessons in not eating] Joyce smiled wryly. [I wonder what she's doing now...Is she alive? No, Joyce. Don't think about that. Of course she's alive. You'd know if she wasn't!]
She frowned as some part of her mind taunted her. [You didn't the last time...
[Oh, shut up. I think that you ought to...Nice, Joyce, you're starting to talk to yourself. Nice to go schizo about now...]
Lost in trying to admonish her taunting voice, Joyce continued to walk past her hotel. It wasn't until a car honked at her for being in the middle of the street that she realized where she was, a few blocks away from her hotel. [Oh, great...]
She was about to walk back when she heard a small crash coming from the dark alley near her. Curious, she started to inch towards it, when a huge alley cat sprang in front of her.
"Oh, only a cat,"she gasped. She turned to walk away when she heard a grwol and a small scream, and then ran into the alley, and came into a full stop.
In the middle of the dark alley, there were two vampires holding down a young woman on her knees. Ignoring the girl's sobs, the vampire thrust her head sideways, revealing the slender column of her neck. Looking around her quickly, Joyce spotted something to throw. She threw with all her might an empty beer bottle at the vampire that was about to bite the girl. It exploded as it connected to the side of the vampire's head, throwing him away from the girl. The other vampire, who was holding the girl's arms, looked up to see who the assailant was, and got hit in the head by a rotting melon.
"Run! Get out of here!"Joyce screamed at the girl. The still sobbing girl quickly got off her knees and ran out of the alley. Joyce was about to follow, but she heard a growl come from behind her, and then felt a cold hand reach for her mouth, jerking her back. She looked into the cold and evil face of the vampire that was about to bite the girl.
"You made me lose my breakfast, lady. So now, I'll have you,"the vampire growled. Joyce reached into her pocket, and squirted a little bit of holy water into the vampire's face. Screaming, the vampire let her go. As she got up from the ground, she was about to make another break for it when the vampire she hit with the rotting melon came towards her. She reached into her bag and pulled out a wooden cross, warding the growling vampire off. She started walking backwards slowly.
"It'll do you no good, lady. There are two of us, and Rickster and I are *very* hungry,"the vampire growled as he circled toward his friend. "Ain't that right, Rickster?"
"You bet, Leo,"growled Rickster as he started to slowly circle around to Joyce's left. Leo started to slowly circle towards her right. Joyce looked at the both of them from the corner of her eye, and started to wonder about what she was going to do. Slowly, she smiled coldly at the vampires.
"I don't think so,"Joyce said slowly."You try and eat me, and my daughter will come down here to kick your undead asses."
The two vampires looked at each other and then at her."Why the hell should we care if your daughter would come here to kick our asses?"
"Because, my daughter is The Slayer,"Joyce announced clearly."And I think that she would take it *very* personally that a vampire had her mother for dinner! In fact, I can guarantee it!"
"The Slayer has a mother?!?"yelped Leo in surprise. For a moment, Joyce scowled at him.
"Yes, the Slayer has a mother!"
Rickster snarled at her."The Slayer's in the Hellmouth! She wouldn't know what happened to her mother, if that's who you are!"
Joyce's eyes widened at the stupidity of the vampire."You don't think that my daughter would come down here, back to Los Angeles, to find and eradicate this city of you things?!? You don't think that the Slayer would take it personally that her mother was eaten by a vampire? What are you,stupid?"
"She wouldn't know what happened to you if she can't find your body,"Rickster shrugged. He took a step closer, Joyce retreated a step."So now we know that the Slayer has a mother. Let's eat!"
Joyce braced herself when Rickster flung himself towards her, but only felt a rush of air hit her face. When she opened her eyes, she saw a blonde haired man grab Rickster by the collar and throw him at his friend. Both vampires fell on the ground, growling at the blonde haired man. He growled back.
"Are you two insane? You want the Slayer to come down here like a plague?"he shouted."If you eat the Slayer's mother, none of us would have a fighting chance!"
"You mean that she's *really* the Slayer's mother?"Leo yelped. Rickster punched his friend in the head."Who the hell are you? And what the hell do you want?"
"I'm Spike, and I want you two nodcocks to listen up: Eat the Slayer's mother and there's going to be hell to pay! So lay off!"
"Spike huh? I heard about you, rumor has it that you've gone to the Slayer's side. Stopped Angellus from letting Hell come to earth. You're a traitor demon. You're soft!"Rickster growled at he went towards Spike. Spike stepped aside, and caught the vampire with his fist. Rickster sprawled backwards.
"I'm also the one that killed two Slayers and the Annoited One, so what of it? Want to see who has the bigger wrinklies here? I can say that it sure isn't you,"Spike snarled."And call me a traitor again, I'll have your guts for garters. Now beat it!"
The two vampires got up, and slowly backed into the other end of the alley. The darkness enveloped them before Spike turned to look at the Slayer's Mother. Joyce held her breath, and looked straight at Spike's game face.
"Well? Aren't you supposed to be gone?" Spike snarled. Joyce looked at him and wondered at the irony of life. A vampire just saved the life of the Slayer's mother."Well?"
"Wait right here,"Joyce ordered."And I mean it."
Joyce quickly ran out of the alley,and within five minutes, she came back as Spike was walking out. She threw a package at him. With a deft hand, he caught it, and eyed it curiously."What the hell is this?"
"It's fresh pig's blood,"Joyce said flatly as she looked at him."I wanted to thank you for saving my life back there, and so I got you this."
"Pig's blood?"
"Well, I wasn't going to offer you mine, nor was I going to go get someone to be a meal for you, so the pig's blood will have to do."
"You do know who I am, right? I'm the one that tried to kill your daughter. You do remember that?"
Joyce smiled at him wryly."I remember that. I also pay my debts. You saved my life, and now we're even. That's all I have to say about it. Take the pig's blood, say thank you and leave it at that."
"You're not my bloody mother,"Spike snarled. Joyce looked at Spike coolly.
"Your bloody mother would be turning in her grave if she heard you be so ungracious. It's not the behavior of a gentleman,"Joyce shot back, her finger in the air as she took a step towards him."And furthermore, I beleive that she would be most ashamed of you, right down to her noble English soul, that you will not accept a momentary token of thanks. Being an unwanted orphan does not exscue you from the niceties of life!"
A flash of surprise and pain went through Spike's face as he looked down at the package. Gripping it tightly, he muttered,"Thank you for your gift, Mrs.Summers. And I am sorry for being rude."
Joyce nodded brusquely."You're welcome, Spike. And apologies are not needed. Good night."
"Wait,"Spike called out. Joyce stopped to look at him."What do you know about my mother being a noblewoman? Or my being and orphan?"
Joyce smiled wryly at him."I can recognize an orphan right off. I always could."
"How? Why?"
"Because, Spike, I used to be one,"Joyce said softly."I used to be one."
[What the *hell* am I doing here? With her?] Spike asked himself for the upteenth time as he looked around the brightly lit booth that he was in. He looked at the woman calmly sipping coffee in front of him.
[ What the *hell* am I doing here? With him? ] Joyce Summers thought as she sipped the hot coffee. She looked at the vampire sitting across from her, looking at anything and everything, except her. When he looked at her, she cocked her eyebrow at him."I guess that I should voice the thought we've both been having, what the hell are we doing here?"
An involuntary chuckle came from Spike's lips."Beats the hell out of me, Mrs.Summers. If you can. Tell me something."
Joyce waited as Spike paused, started to word something, then pause again, trying to figure out what he wasn't sure he wanted to ask."What makes you think that I'm an orphan, let alone a noble woman's son?"
"Other than the fact that I read some of the very little information that the Watcher's Journals had on you?"Joyce asked blithely,appearing to have not a single care about with whom she was talking to."And from what Buffy had told me about you? And from what I saw of you? Very little that added to what I know."
"What does the Watchers' Journals know about me? And what did the Slayer say about me?"Spike frowned.
"From Buffy, I got that you only helped her in order to get Drucilla away from Angel and that you killed two other Slayers before her. From Giles, only the information that you appeared little under two centuries ago, in England, near the county of Hampshire, in the township of Warwickton, killing and destroying most of the inhabitants and buildings of that village,"Joyce said matter-of-factly."And from myself, I have seen you in my house long enough to note that your manners are at odds with your...demeanor."
"I don't get it. What are you saying?"
"A near two hundred year old vampire from the gutters doesn't *just* develop refined manners once he's become undead. There is no need to. So while you were...not part of the undead, you must have had some training in being a gentleman,"Joyce said gently. "So Spike, am I right? You were a part of the nobility when you were young."
Spike grabbed the coffee cup in front of him, then, after a long moment, glared at Joyce."I was the illegitimate son of the Earl of Wharton and a knight's daughter. Mother...died when I was near twelve."
Joyce nodded slowly. Spike looked at her sharply."So what about you? What's this about orphans recognizing orphans?"
"My parents, my biological ones, were from England. They died in a car accident when I was ten,"Joyce said slowly."I had no family there, but my mother had a cousin in America, and so here I came. She and her husband did their family duty, and took me in."
"You're from England?"Spike asked stunned. Joyce looked at him with a wry smile."I had a nanny,too. And if you really press me, I can make a heavenly good batch of scones with currants, crumpets with clotted cream, and kidney pie."
Spike looked at her oddly."Scones? Crumpets? Kidney pie? How-"
"Odd, I know, but my since my parents had given me totally to my nanny, I learned how to cook from her,"Joyce said as a wistful look sped through her face briefly."When I was adopted by my mother's cousin and her husband, there was no need for her. So she went back to England."
"Then what happened?"
"I went to school, then college, met Buffy's father, got married then divorced, and I am now an art gallery manager who is at this moment realizing that she is having a cup of coffee with the vampire that tried to kill her daughter last year, but had just saved her life thirty minutes ago,"Joyce finished in one breath."Sorry it all just hit me just now."
"Don't be. It's all just hitting me that *I'm* having coffee with the Slayer's Mother. It's weird that, you know. The Slayer having a mother,"Spike mused."Must be one for the dalies."
"Why? The Slayer has to be born into this world just like everyone else does."
"I guess. Never really thought of it, never really cared,"Spike said as he drank his coffee."Slayers were just pretty much there to kill, not to get to know. Kill the Slayer, and you've got it made as a demon."
"Spike, better not talk about killing Slayers right now,"Joyce warned with a militant look in her brown eyes. Spike looked at her, then, to his astonishment, reddened slightly. He took a quick sip of his coffee.
After a moment Joyce resumed the conversation."So what happened to you after your mother died?"
"My mother's mother took care of me for the next year, until she died. And then my uncle threw me out of the house with only enough clothes and money to get me to London, to see my...father,"Spike said flatly. He looked at Joyce with cold eyes."He would have thrown me out on my...ear if it hadn't been for my grandfather, his father. I stayed until he, my grandfather died."
"I see… So, then,"Joyce said hesitantly."Where's Drucilla?"
Spike only looked at his coffee. Joyce waited for a moment, and then realized that he wasn't going to answer. Not thinking, she touched his hand in comfort. She whispered softly."Oh, Spike. I'm so sorry."
Spike's head shot up, his eyes furious."Sorry about what?"
"That she left you. That she didn't want you,"Joyce replied simply. Spike stared at her, then laughed harshly.
"You're delusional. Drucilla's never left me...she just went out hunting without telling me, and something's happened to her. I just have to find her, and make sure that she's all right."
Joyce shook her head."You can lie to anyone but me Spike. I know that Drucilla's left you, and that it hurts that she doesn't want you."
Spike growled."How the hell would you know? What do you know about not being wanted? What do you know about hurting?"
"Just because I was adopted by my mother's cousin, doesn't mean that I was wanted, Spike. Just like a baby is not always wanted by its parents,"Joyce said softly. "At least, according to my mother’s grandmother, my parents never wanted me, but it was the right thing for my father to do. My cousin's husband never really wanted me, but it was the right thing to do. But sometimes, the right thing to do isn't the really good thing to do."
"Like having a bastard,"Spike whispered. Joyce froze when he said that. "When she could have had everything in the world just by asking, but instead, wanting a bastard that even his father didn't care for."
“Like having a bastard.”Joyce agreed with a bitter smile.”But not just a bastard, an English bastard born to good Irish stock.”
Spike looked at the woman across from him.”More than just an orphan, weren’t you?”
“Just like you,”Joyce answered calmly as her hands played with the napkin in front of her.”I should tell you of my life…But then again it’s a familiar one with a modern twist.”
Spike looked at her, resentment filling his eyes."I don't like this...I haven't felt any of these feelings for lifetimes. So why don't I just kill you now?"
"Because Buffy would hunt you down like the vampire you are, and be nasty about it,"Joyce replied calmly."And because, even though you may love Drucilla, she was more like a pet to care for, not...she was not...a friend. And I don't think that you eat your friends, Spike. That would go too much against the grain, even for you."
"A friend?"Spike echoed."Friend?"
"Yeah, friend. You like, amigo? But I wouldn't go far as compadre, not just yet,"Joyce said as she drank the last of her coffee. Spike still had that stunned look on his face.
"I've...I've never really had a...friend, not since....well, not for a long time,"Spike sputtered."Friend?"
"Friend,"Joyce said firmly."And friends don't threaten each other. Nor do they eat each other. Much too impolite."
Spike nodded."All right...friends. We're...friends."
Joyce looked out the window and saw the night. It was still a bit frightening, thinking that there were live monsters out there in the dark, but she was learning to cope. And now, when life handed her the irony of being saved by a vampire, her daughter's sworn enemy, she made a friend. Life was...weird, to quote her daughter. Life was very weird."I have to get back to my hotel room. But a word of caution, Spike. before I go."
"Oh?"Spike tensed. Joyce smiled at his tense look.
"I have two rules to tell you if ever you decide to come and visit Sunnydale. The first is that you can come into the house, but you can't eat anybody. And the second, try not to fight with Buffy if she *is* in the house. I like my furniture."
Spike laughed involuntarily. Joyce walked away a few steps before she looked back at him."And keep Drucilla away from Sunnydale, Spike ...My daughter's still grieving over Kendra, and you wouldn't like the choice I would have to make between my daughter and my friend's girl."
Spike watched Joyce's retreating back, and slumped into the booth. It was...a very weird night. In saving the Slayer's Mother, he had gained a friend. It was an irony in life that he had never thought he would, in his wildest imaginings, ever made. His friend was the Slayer's Mother. He frowned angrily. [Cor! I've got to go out and kill someone just to see if I could still do it! Me! Friends with a human! And the Slayer's Mother at that! Bull!]
He rose from the seat, and out rolled the packet of pig's blood that she had given him in thanks for saving her life. He stared hard at it before he picked it up, and stuffed it into his pocket. [It was a gift, and bloody shame to waste fresh blood.] He fingered the packet gingerly as he walked out the door of the diner. [And she is...a friend...Argh! I need to kill someone just to prove that I can!]