A/N:I apologize in advance: I really can't write Spike. Really sorry, really I am.
Chapter Two: Trigger Happy
"...So what it all comes down to is this: Are you a veggie girl, or do you want meat, 'cause you can eliminate two-thirds of your choices right there."
"I...what?" Katherine stared blankly at Dawn.
"The Great Lasagna Cook-Off. ...Between Spike and Xander and Willow? Remember? Winner gets full bragging rights and doesn't have to baby-sit the Buffybot for a month...you have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"
"Not a clue," Katherine admitted, going back to staring out the window.
"Gee, I wonder why?" Dawn asked sarcastically, coming up beside Katherine. She peered out the window intently. "I don't see anything."
"That's the point."
"Right. Drop the cryptic. What's up?"
"Someone's out there," she replied calmly.
"How can you tell? It's pitch black out there."
"I just feel it. And whoever's out there, he can see us."
"Okay, that's just freaky." Dawn pulled the thick curtains together, shutting out the eyes of the unseen. "Are you absolutely sure someone's out there? Watching us?"
"Someone's been out there for a long time now. Since I first came to Sunnydale."
"Are you serious? Why haven't you told me this before?"
"Didn't wanna freak you out. ...I've been having these feelings in Los Angeles, too."
Dawn's mouth formed a small O of surprise. "Oh my God. Did you tell Wes or Cordy or...Okay, guess you didn't," she concluded by the look on Katherine's face. "Um, do you want me to tell Spike or Willow? Maybe they can take a look outside, or find your stalker."
"Oh, God, don't say it like that. It sounds so..."
"Real?"
"Creepy. And besides, I'm a Slayerette; I can handle myself. If I can hold my own against vampires and other little ooglies, I can take this jerk, whoever he is. So when I wanna go look, I'll go look."
"So do you want me to tell Spike or Willow?" Dawn repeated.
"Yes, please."
"Niblet! Dinner!" Spike called from downstairs.
"Coming!" She yelled back. "Come on. We'll tell them after dinner. Now, listen. The most important thing you have to remember about this thing is that you can't be the last one to give your vote, 'cause then you'll probably end up being the tie-breaker, and that can get ugly."
"Not the last one. Right."
"Oh, and flattery. Flattery's always good."
"Uh huh. Flattery. Got it. As Dawn pulled her out of the bedroom, she couldn't help but steal one last glance at the curtained window.
He stood in the shadows of the streets, hidden in the depths of the darkness. He could see her perfectly in the light of the bedroom, an impassive, expressionless expression on her face. Her eyes betrayed her, though. Her eyes told the world that she was worried, that she was scared.
He saw the younger girl come from behind her and close the curtains, and then he could see no more. But he could tell that she was still searching through the darkness, he could feel it. But if he had his way, she'd never find him. Not yet, anyway.
"So?"
"So, I, ah...I loved it. All of it. Delish. Yummy yummy." Her bright smile faded on the scowling faces of Spike and Xander. Only Willow looked amused. As Dawn had predicted, she was the last one to speak up, and was now the tie-breaker between Xander and Spike.
"Pick your favourite, pet."
"Um...the veggie one?"
Willow beamed. "Thanks, Kat. Glad you liked it. Three-way tie," she said to her fellow competitors. "It's a draw."
"No, it's a two-way tie," Xander argued. "The Buffybot doesn't even eat. She only voted for Spike because..." He noticed Kat and Dawn's interested looks. "Never mind."
"Where is the Buffybot, anyway?" Anya asked. "She usually doesn't stay this quiet for so long. Is she asleep?"
"She's a robot, Ahn. She doesn't sleep."
"Well, technically she doesn't, not like humans do, but-"
"Whoa!" Dawn blinked several times. She was pinned to the wall by the sleeve of her shirt. Luckily for her, the shirt was loose.
"Oops." All heads turned from Dawn to the Buffybot, who held a crossbow loosely by her side. "I'm sorry, Dawn," she apologized, effortlessly pulling the arrow out of the wall and freeing Dawn. "I was cleaning the crossbow, and I didn't notice that the safety was off. I didn't mean to hurt you. You're my sister. I love you."
"Um...yeah. It's fine. I'm fine." Dawn subtley moved out of the Buffybot's reach, and everyone stood around uncomfortably.
"Dawnie, are you sure you're fine?"
"Right as rain, Buff." Unlike everyone else, Dawn treated the Buffybot like she was Buffy. It didn't have anything to do with displacing her feelings of her dead sister onto the robot. Nope. Not at all. The Buffybot meant well. She was nice enough.
"On that note, I think I'm gonna hit the streets," Katherine announced. "I feel the need to get my hurt on."
"You've been hanging around Gunn, haven't you?" Dawn asked, smiling slightly. She'd met Angel's friend at Buffy's funeral, and had talked with him several times when he had driven Kat up to Sunnydale.
"I feel up for a spot of violence," Spike added, grabbing his duster.
"What the hell," Xander shrugged. "Let's make it a family affair."
"There's a lot of vamps out tonight," Kat remarked.
"Your point?"
"Well, is it some kind of vampire holiday, or is it just the pull of the Hellmouth?"
"Bugger if I know."
"Well, I figured you would, since you're a vampire and all."
"You know pet, this is the first time you said more than two words to me all summer."
"This is the first time you've said more than two words to me all summer," Katherine countered, flipping a vampire over a tombstone and staking it.
"I've been in mourning."
"So have I."
"How d'you know the Slayer, anyways?" Spike asked casually, leading the way around a crypt.
"Friend of my mother's," she replied easily, then stopped in her tracks.
"S'wrong?"
"Nothing." She shook her head. "Nothing. I just got a feeling..." She dismissed it with a wave of her hand, but her senses were alert and ready.
"I've learned that it's better to trust your instincts than ignore them." He followed her line of sight to the old Alpert tomb. Eyeing her carefully, he hefted the broadsword. "Stay here, eh? If you need me, gimme a holler."
Katherine nodded mutely and kept watch for any vampires, wondering what Spike was up to.
Katherine.
She jumped, startled.
Katherine. It's me.
Katherine blinked and looked around, unnerved. "Willow? ...Where are you?"
On top of Crestfield crypt.
"But that's on the other side of the cemetery..."
We're communicating by telepathy.
"Wow, cool. I didn't know you could do that."
Kat, stay on track.
"Right. ...Um, which track would that be?"
Where's Spike?
"He went into the Alpert tomb. Uh, he went to go check out something in there. Why? What's wrong?"
Dawn and Giles are over by the church. They're outnumbered. They need help.
"But Spike told me to-"
Go! Now!
Katherine nodded, then realized Willow couldn't see her. "Consider me gone." The fastest way to get to the church was to vault onto the tomb's roof, then race across the tops on the three other crypts.
"Let's see if I can still do this." She counted to three in her mind, then jumped and pulled herself onto a nearby tree. From the tree, she took a flying leap and landed in a heap on the stone roof.
"Well, at least I made it," she gasped, and pulled herself up. She scrambled over the slippery concrete, holding the crossbow away from her and trying not to fall. She went down anyway. She heard shouts but was only aware of her falling.
"Ow..." She moaned, lying on the ground, her eyes closed. She was just glad she didn't impale herself on her crossbow.
"God, who dropped the piano?" She heard another voice groan. It was then that she was aware that she had landed on someone.
"Spike?"
"Yeah?" She turned her head. The blond vampire stood a foot away, with a crossbow aimed at her.
"Spike?" Katherine asked again, more panicked. He came closer. "Spike?" He grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. "Okay, ow." It felt like her arm had been torn out of her socket.
"Get up," Spike growled. "Now."
Katherine, massaging her arm, looked up to see the figure on the ground slowly stand up. "Oh, God, I'm hallucinating," she murmured. "That fall...oh, God."
"Did you gain weight over the summer or something? Because- Ow! You shot me!" Grey pulled out the arrow and clamped a hand over the bloody hole in his shoulder. He stared at her, shocked. "You shot me!"
"That was for the weight comment. Jerk."
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