vi. Spells gone wrong
"Lilith, I killed you once."
Lilith has just pushed the Slayer a little too much. She doesn't know what drove her to do it, but she's come to terms with being good at it, pushing people that is. It's rarely intentional.
Lilith gives her this betrayed look as if she can't believe Buffy admitted to it. To Lilith, it was something that was to remain unsaid, sacred even.
Worse is that Lilith is not the only Buffy is telling this to, Spike is also in the room. Giles too if he hadn't left five seconds ago. But having Spike hear this is more than enough.
Even chained to a bathtub, he finds it in him to gloat as he says, tone all animated, "Really? I'd like to hear it."
"No," Lilith protests, eyes on Buffy as a silent threat.
Buffy looks at Spike, she hasn't looked at him since she helped Giles chain him to the bathtub. Of course, Lilith would bring them together. "It's a funny story. She, heh, was in school—"
"Enough."
Buffy grins, like she enjoys messing with them both. "Am I talking to you? Never mind."
To Lilith's relief, Giles arrives at the door, carrying a novelty mug with blood he heat up for Spike. At the smell of it, Spike seems to forget all about hearing his rival's death, "It's about time. Hope you got it warm enough."
Giles hands the mug to Buffy and Buffy nears the straw to Spike's mouth. He sips from it and makes eye contact with Buffy, making her grimace.
"I don't know why you're so dainty all of a sudden. You've done this for Angel — you must have."
Buffy pulls the mug away from him, Spike tries to scramble for it. It's to no avail.
"Hey, give it!"
Buffy stands, mug in hand. "Okay, that's it. The invalid amnesiac routine is over. The kitchen is closed until you can tell me something useful about the commandos."
This is what it's all about, the commandos that neutered Spike. It's his only bargaining chip. Buffy wants to know about this new threat and Spike has useful information that he won't budge.
He makes this voice that might get him the sympathy vote. "I'm tryin' to remember. It was very traumatic."
"How long are you going to pull this crap?"
"How long am I going to live once I tell you?"
☀︎
"I don't want you telling stories of my death to my sworn rivals," Lilith complains to Buffy, walking down Giles' stairs by her side.
As they get to the bottom, Buffy says, "I wasn't going to tell Spike. I just wanted him to think I was."
Lilith eyes Buffy with this newfound respect, but that feeling comes to an end as Buffy goes to stand next to Giles and they give Lilith this look, telling her she might not like what comes next.
Buffy had this planned all morning, it's the only reason Lilith was invited here. "What would you say to questioning Spike? He seems to like you...kind of?"
"I'll pass."
"Pretty please."
Because it's Buffy that's asking from her, Lilith will agree. It doesn't mean she has to make it easy for her. "And do, what? Flail him? On second thought..."
Giles intervenes then. "Lilith, we think what Spike's withholding from us, he might not from you. Perhaps not by a liking but an understanding towards you."
Lilith bites down on her tongue and extends her hand. "I'd do it for fifty."
Giles begins to take out his wallet, but Buffy stops him. "Giles, wait," she says, then looks at Lilith, "You want to show me you're on my side? Do this for free."
Lilith grumbles but concedes. Buffy is good at this.
☀︎
Lilith kneels in front of Spike as he's chained to the bathtub. She leans her arm on the rim of the tub and while piercingly looking at him, she says, "Here's how it's gonna work—"
"Save your breath. I won't help you."
"You're locked in the bathroom of some washed-up librarian that would probably let you go into vegetative state before he feeds you another ounce of blood."
Spike looks like he's pouting. "I can be sensitive."
Lilith scoffs, knowing he's far from that.
Spike lays his deal then. "Alright, how about this? You tell me the fun, little story of how the Slayer killed you, and I'll consider telling you everything I know."
Lilith isn't playing his way, she wants this on her terms. To make a point, she slams side of his head to the wall, admittedly using more force than meant to.
"Hey! No hurting the hostage," Spike complains, then he eyes the crack she's made on the wall. "That's gonna cost you."
"Okay, fine," Lilith concedes. "I tell you, you tell me?"
Spike nods, his smile is unconvincing. "Man of my word."
"Yeah, man of your word," Lilith repeats, like she knows him better than that.
"You know you shouldn't help her, right?"
It's as if to keep herself from replying to this that Lilith finally ventures into the anecdote. "As she said, we were in the music room. It was a smart plan. I used her friend as bait. God, Xander is stupid."
"That ninny."
"We were fighting and I was this close." Lilith pinches her fingers together. "I bet even you haven't been this close to taking her out. Xander was passed out, no friends to come get her and I had her pinned down. All I needed to do was land the bite, but she freed herself at the last second, and she stabbed me—with a drumstick."
Spike looks like he wants to laugh. "A drumstick?!"
"It was snapped!"
This gives him dangerous ideas, all he needs is confirmation. "And that killed you?"
"As if you can't die from a toothpick."
"Couldn't have a made bigger fool out of you, could she? Think it's clear who kills the Slayers around here."
"Okay, that's it." Lilith starts reaching for his chains, about to break him free. "We've got a slayer to kill. You're pulling through the aneurysms."
Suddenly, the door is thrown open and Lilith is being dragged across the floor as she trashes and kicks, trying to break from the Slayer's grip.
"Eavesdropping bitch."
☀︎
Buffy shoves Lilith into the chair previously occupied by Spike. Lilith tries to stand up but gets pushed back down, causing her to give into her defeat. "That's it. It's your turn on the chair."
She should've known Lilith was more likely to side with Spike than her. It's in their nature. She braced for it but she wanted to be proved otherwise. For a second, she thought she might actually let her guard down around Lilith.
But she's proven to be just like any other demon.
Giles hands Buffy the rope, so she can start tying Lilith up. Surprisingly Lilith lets herself be handled, though she persists, "Fair fight, you and I. It's all I need."
Buffy ignores her, busy tying a knot.
"Scared you'll lose?"
Buffy steps away to admire some of her handiwork. "Uh huh. If we fight, you know I'll win by a long shot."
"Got more than two hundred years on you."
"Yeah? Well, I'm the slayer."
Lilith attempts to shrug but the ropes won't let her. "Doesn't make you immortal."
"I bet you once, remember? You got all fussy about it."
Lilith should back down now. Buffy is right, she doesn't exactly have a winning streak against her. Lilith is not stopped by that, which in hindsight might be stupid.
"But I'm back, so did you really?"
For that, Buffy tightens the ropes around Lilith, earning a low wince from her. Though, Buffy has been wondering how is it that she's back. She did the slaying part, Lilith should be all dust. Somehow she's not.
Lilith presses Buffy more, keeps going on about their needed fight. It doesn't stop till Buffy is done with tying her up. She steps away, Lilith only lets her have some moments of satisfaction.
"Difference between me and a starved vampire?" Lilith puts in some of her supernatural strength and the ropes go flying off.
Buffy seems discouraged by her wasted efforts. "But..."
Lilith is instantly on Buffy, like a feral, demonic cat. She knocks Buffy against the kitchen bar. Buffy is fighting and shoving her away, leading her towards the door. This is not how she expected her morning to go.
"Giles, the door."
Giles gladly lets them out, he can't have more of his amenities destroyed.
Outside, Lilith slams Buffy against the stone fountain. Buffy grunts, feeling her back make ugly contact with it. But she's back on her feet almost instantly, secures a kick to Lilith's stomach who doubles over. Still, she gets ahold of Buffy's foot before it returns to the ground and flips her over. It's futile. Buffy uses her for balance as well as the fountain she sets her hands on and lands a second kick—this time to Lilith's jaw. It makes her let go of Buffy, instinctively reaching for her jaw. Lilith regrets not becoming better at combat.
"All you got?"
"I've been dead!"
Lilith may be rusty from that. But she's also not used to fighting someone who matches her strength (or more). She can wield a knife, turn into this demonic thing and bite others. She realizes she's got it all wrong. She's not supposed to fight Buffy, that's something she'll always beat her at. Lilith has to bite her—kill her that way.
Lilith feels like herself again with these thoughts. Her killer instincts.
So, she gives Buffy the fight she asks for, brings Buffy back to the ground, head on the fountain's rim.
Lilith punches her cheek, Buffy gears back an elbow at her nose. It makes Lilith's head rear back and when Buffy can see her face again, it's changed. Her eyes are slitted like a snake and her teeth all punctured. She lunges at Buffy, gaping mouth aimed at her chest.
"Oh, no, no, no," Buffy rolls over, getting out of her vicinity and Lilith can't stop her momentum so her teeth slam onto concrete.
Lilith turns over, teeth aching. She looks defeated. "Fuck!"
She glances over at Buffy, already up. She wants her triumphant look gone. Laying there, her right leg is not far from Buffy's feet, so Lilith skates a hard kick, landing Buffy back on the ground. Again. Lilith is on her, punching at her and Buffy smacks heads with her. The sound is ugly but neither seem to be badly hurt.
Giles sees this from the open door and picks up the phone to call Willow. He needs dire help.
☀︎
Willow gets there later than intended. But Lilith and Buffy break up the fight themselves—rather Lilith does, almost broken down by the Slayer. They sulk in Giles' dining table, sitting across from each other. They're alone. Giles is in his studio, Spike is chained upstairs and Willow has ran off to work on a truth spell.
The truth spell is to do what Lilith couldn't—get all the deets on the enemy out of Spike.
Despite the outcome, Lilith seems far too cheerful. She grins with a busted lip. "I beat you, Slayer."
Buffy furrows her brows, one has a cut above it. "Huh? You backed down."
Somehow Buffy only has one cut whereas Lilith feels too hurt to count her wounds. It's what she gets for looking for a fight.
Lilith shrugs, her shoulder aches. She needs her self-healing to speed up. "I'm still alive, that's different from before."
Buffy seems to agree with this, then goes back to why she brought Lilith here in the first place. "I'm just glad we didn't waste any money on you."
Lilith has nearly forgotten that she was here to question Spike. "I could've done it—with torture." It's how things are done in hell. "But you're dainty about that, aren't you?"
"It's Spike, you think I care?"
Lilith is perplexed by this. She gains an interest on morality, especially the Slayer's morals. Kill one, save the other. It seems the only defining factor is having a soul.
"Really? Interesting."
☀︎
Lilith leaves Giles' home after stealing one of the pig's blood bags meant for Spike, something he'd be mad about later if he finds out. Drinking it helps speed up her healing. Of course, ingesting more solid, human stuff does the trick better. Either way her muscle aches are nearly gone, the cut on her lip has sealed itself and her teeth no longer hurt.
She's back in campus, recalling she has a comm project due soon. Only one assignment out of the three classes she's taking: comm, British history and anthropology. She's surprised by how focused she is on school, all because it's something she's never tried before.
Days later, in between runs to the library and her dorm, Lilith runs into Willow and asks her how truth spell went. Willow has been stumbling less over her words when she's with Lilith. It's not that Willow thinks her nice company but somehow, she's more comfortable around her.
"The spell? Oh, the spell! I...I never got around to it. But I have everything for it, I just need to...do it."
"Break up depression?"
"Don't call it that, like...like you know what it is."
Lilith throws her head back, nagging. "My god, Willow, we've been through this. I do have feelings—not like yours but they're there."
Willow doesn't tell her about the spell she did get around to—to have her will done.
"Have you seen Giles? He just left."
"Giles? Old librarian that babysits a vampire now?" Lilith asks, Willow nods. "Haven't seen him."
Willow seems a bit discouraged by this. She's recently had an argument with Giles and ran him out of her dorm, now she feels guilty about it.
"I heard everyone's worried about you," Lilith says.
"There's nothing to worry, I'm fine. Very fine." Willow looks down at her colorful outfit as if that can tell her. "Do I look fine? You have to be honest."
Lilith did not know it yet but she will not be able to tell a lie for the rest of the day.
☀︎
In Xander's basement, Willow goes on about how all relationships are evil and there's no point in having one. As she puts it, "I think we're all doomed to badness."
"We're not doomed."
"Oh, yeah? Let's look at your bio. Insect Lady, Mummy Girl, Lilith, Anya...You're a demon magnet."
"I was just trying to help," Xander says, beaten down.
Yet after her spell, the things Willow says become a little too literal.
☀︎
Lilith stops by Giles' again, she has no idea why. She goes through the front door as if some mystical energy is dragging her here.
She sees all the Scoobies in the middle of the living room, eyes are instantly on her. She doesn't want to be here. She nags before someone asks her why she is. "Something's wrong with me. I can't tell a lie. Fix me. Oh, what the hell am I doing here?"
"Yeah, I'd like to know, too."
"I was on my way to dinner to the frat house, you know, someone for dinner. That's...not a lie. Fuck. Xander—! I'm here because of Xander."
Xander points to himself. "Me?! Why me?"
"I was lured to you."
Anya steps in front of Xander. "Hey, back off."
Lilith rolls her eyes. "Oh, shut up, Anya."
It's not like that. Lilith doesn't go for the human variety if it's not for eating. Anya can keep her boyfriend.
Speaking of boyfriends, there's Spike (unchained) with an arm around Buffy and Buffy with her head to his chest. They're gazing at each other, like they're the only ones that matter in this room. It's...romantic.
How much has Lilith missed?
She's not only missed Spike and Buffy getting together but they're wedding announcement as well, which surprisingly those news seem to knock some sense into Xander.
He looks at the engaged couple, the ring on Buffy's finger reflects the light. "Wait...married...I know something. What is it...? Everything's so familiar...Work, brain — work! Oh! Oh, oh! Willow!"
That seems to snap Buffy out of her love fest—being in the middle of kissing Spike. "Mmm...what about Will...mmm, honey, get off." She breaks their kiss but keeps a hand on Spike's arm.
"Something about Willow and her griefy-poor-me mood swings — so, so tired of it."
"You mean I don't have to be nice about her anymore?" Anya says, strangely cheerful.
Buffy sounds less unsympathetic. "Well, we're all tired of it, but what does it have to do with what's going on?"
"She told me I was a demon magnet," Xander says, then gestures at Buffy and Spike, "and you two should get married."
They hadn't been the only ones affected by Willow's spell. There'd also been Giles who lost his sight ("You don't see anything"), and Lilith who was forced to be honest about everything.
"She did a spell," Buffy realizes.
"Yes, to have her will done. Whatever she says is coming true," Giles concludes.
Buffy seems oddly relieved by this. "And you were all affected. I probably only escaped because I'm the Slayer. Some kind of natural immunity."
Lilith sees the truth better than her. "You're getting married to fucking Spike. I'm sure that's far from immunity."
"Hey!" shouts Buffy at the same time Spike points at Lilith and says, "That's it. You're off the usher list."
"I didn't wanna go anyway." Even without the spell, Lilith would've been honest about this.
The Scoobies decide on going a search hunt for Willow.
☀︎
The Scoobies are trapped inside a crypt with demons after them and no sighting of Willow yet. They are doing their best to fight them off. So far, there's one down out of four.
Spike is on the ground, defeated by a demon. Buffy is on top of him and it's like they forget about the demons they have yet to kill because they're now making out. Xander and Anya are the ones doing the fighting, clinging onto the demon as if trying to choke him.
Lilith is in a corner of the crypt, back against the wall and arms crossed. She's had enough wrestling for the day. She's also not doing much talking either now that she can't lie. Besides, it seems demons still hold some level of respect towards her and don't attack her. All thanks to her father. She wonders how long this effect'll last.
If the group's mortality and morality brushes off on her, she's done for.
Suddenly, Willow appears in the middle of the crypt. It looks like she found them first.
She looks all sheepish and embarrassed. But she's quick to jump into her spell breaking. "Let the healing power begin. Let my will be safe again. As these words of peace are spoken, let this harmful spell be broken."
Thunder crashes and lightening flashes from the small, barred window of the crypt. The demons disappear. Thankfully, Lilith remains. Buffy and Spike bolt away from each other, a look of horror mixed with disgust passing over their faces.
"Eugh!"
"Oh, bloody hell!"
They wipe at their mouths, making a show of gagging.
Lilith is more relieved than them. She leans away from the wall and sighs. "Oh, I can lie again."
something blue is one of my favest buffyverse eps. i needed to do this chapter justice. i love writing for this story, there's so little plot that it's all so easy. i just have fun w lily.