Interlude II

Days Go By

Driving away from Sunnydale was easy.

Two separate cars, driving in different directions, but both with the same goal. Get away from the Slayer, before you do something stupid and end up dust.

Spike listened to the Clash, being torn in two. Part of him said to leave Dru where she was, let her be. She didn’t show him half the respect that the Slayer did. Didn’t believe in him. Didn’t love him.

That was it, in fact. The bloody bint never loved him anyway. Never would claim him, always an excuse about Daddy not liking it. She had always belonged to Angelus, even when Angelus was tamed with the soul. Never been his. Never would be.

His anger rose, and he shattered the whiskey bottle in his fist. Now, the Slayer, he thought, she would be a worthy mate. Lover, fighter, spunk and sass rolled together, he could see spending an unlife with someone like her. Trouble was, Slayers keep their souls. So instead of the fun-loving, fist-throwing girl he would be stuck with a female Peaches.

Sod that.

No turning. What’s left, then?

Shrugging, he turned the music up a little louder, and concentrated on the task at hand. He would give his princess one more chance. A chance to love him and claim him and keep him. He was a young vamp, and a good-looking one to boot. If Dru didn’t want him, then he was certain he could find someone who did.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He drove in silence.

His thoughts were enough company.

Buffy. Just her name was enough to make his soul yearn. The demon, chained to submission, gagged and churned in his mind, confusing his thoughts even further.

He went through it step by step in his mind. A sense of missing something niggled in his brain, and pissed him royally when he couldn’t find it outright. Buffy and Spike acted off, even though he knew there was nothing between them, knew that….

He smelled Spike on the towel. Their mingled scents. Stirred with lust and tainted with blood.

Slayer blood.

He slowed the car, and flipped a U-turn in the center of the highway. Even if they couldn’t be friends, even if they couldn’t see one another, he could still protect her. He could still watch her back. He could still be a part of her life, even if it had to be from afar. He could still be there, protecting her from Spike.

Spike would think nothing of slaughtering another Slayer. Especially one that held Angel’s heart; it might even give him more satisfaction than a normal kill would.

He had to be there. To protect her.

Even if she didn’t want him to.