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*Squishy hugs* to Megan for the beta!

Thank you to: golddrake, Elizabeth_Anne_summers, jl1980, vladt, Karyn, alexpallex, kim, Verda, Lou, Bookchick_of_the_NovelClan, bloodshedbaby and slaymesoftly for the reviews!

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Deliverance
By angelic_amy


Chapter 2: Interloper


The plan had been to wait. Pretty simple: watch, follow, taunt and to inflict pain. Then and only then, when she begged for it… to kill. Of course the plan, which was decided about three seconds ago, was immediately thrown out the window the moment she turned her back on him.

He was William the Bloody! Second only to one, he was the most villainous, evil and deadly of vampires to have stalked the face of this planet. Countless had begged for their lives at his feet, then died on his fangs. For over a hundred years he’d offered death and destruction to almost every human he came across. The reputation he’d earned was well deserved and in no way embellished. So why did this one little girl, this slayer, constantly slip through his fingers?

Two of her kind had already succumbed to his fists and fangs. Yet she had not. A mixture of bad timing, outwitting him on her part, impatience on his part, and the fact that this slayer didn’t work alone—she had friends—were all possible explanations. But that wasn’t good enough. Spike didn’t want explanations or excuses; he wanted results.

This one had spunk; a fire in her eyes that he wanted to extinguish. Buffy Summers would be the third Slayer who met her demise by his hand, even if it took her entire lifetime to do it.

They say fresh air clears the mind. Situated on the roof of a building should’ve provided enough to allow Spike to think. So a foolproof strategy to achieving his goal could be plotted out with intricate detail. The beginnings of said plan had started to formulate in his mind. Well, they had been until the Chosen One in question turned her back on his presence and began walking down the street. This would not do.

Three steps toward the edge of the building and Spike dropped and landed like a cat—on his feet in a crouched position—on the floor of the alleyway, exactly where two of his kind had just met their demise.

Silently creeping closer was not an issue for Spike, stalking was something he was quite the professional of. The fact she was completely absorbed in thought was an added bonus.

~*~*~

One thing. One lousy little thing. That’s all she’d asked for. Peace and quiet. No more vampire attacks. A night off! But no, they couldn’t even give her that.

Evidently, the Powers had forgotten to attach their ears this evening.

For the second time in a matter of minutes her spidey sense had gone all tingly. Another vampire was nearby.

You would think a vampire would sense a Slayer and run, not go all Discovery Channel and want a closer look.

However instead of stopping, instead of turning to face off with the demon, Buffy continued on her way home. She’d had enough excitement for the one night. Nonchalant she’d remain until almost upon her doorstep and then she’d strike, dusting the creature and escaping into her apartment before another could appear. So ignorance was the plan.

Buffy hadn’t even planned to look over her shoulder as she travelled. Then it hit her. This vampire wasn’t your every day run of the mill fledgling. Immediately her steps faltered and her heart rate increased. She tried to mask her body’s natural ‘flight’ response with an over exaggerated sigh, painting the picture of a girl weary from a day’s work. But if the creature was anything like what she sensed, the ruse would not be believed.

Power. It emanated from the creature, stinking the air with its essence. Dark, black, and evil. Whoever the vampire was, they were old and dangerous. And most likely planning on killing her.

Buffy balled her fists by her side and prepared for the inevitable attack.

~*~*~

A burble of laughter died in his throat when the Slayer curled her fingers into fists. So she’d sensed him. That was something at least. Spike had known the moment she’d felt his presence, when the cadence of her heartbeat had jumped. A couple extra thumps of the muscle were enough to make it irregular. The motion of her hands coiling defensively meant she recognised him as the serious threat he was.

Still she did not turn.

Either she was too scared to turn around, or she was looking for an escape route.

Well Spike wasn’t going to allow it. His eyes were on the prize. And they were hungry.

“Well, well, well.”

~*~*~

Mid-step Buffy froze. It was not fear that halted her, but recognition.

Oh you have got to be kidding me!

“What do we have here?”

Buffy fought the urge to roll her eyes at the cliché of his address. Only one vampire could sound so self-assured and arrogant whilst thinking the words rolling off his tongue oozed some sort of sex appeal.

Unclenching her fists to place a hand on her cocked hip, Buffy turned.

“Of all the towns along the West Coast, you had to drop in on mine.”

Spike blinked in confusion. In the blink of an eye the Slayer had switched from frightened and meek to irritated and… was that bored? Any fear he’d felt resonating from her just moments ago had evaporated. His nostrils flared in annoyance.

“Your town? Didn’t realise you’d expanded your territory, Slayer.” The words were thrown mockingly. This was new ground and old threats had no weight here. He had just as much right to be here as anyone else.

This time Buffy did roll her eyes.

“Whatever.”

Then the Slayer did the most surprising thing. She turned around and continued on her journey. Spike was stunned. Nothing… That was all he got? A casual and dismissive comment—one that lacked her trademark acerbic wit, a roll of her eyes, and then nothing? Not if he had anything to say about it.

“I’m not done here!” he shouted petulantly as he jogged to catch up with her.

Buffy didn’t respond.

And this only furthered to infuriate Spike.

With lightening speed, he snatched Buffy’s arm from her side and wrenched her toward him, pulling her flush against his chest. “I was bein’ intimidating, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“Do you always inform your victims of what you’re trying to accomplish?” Buffy questioned.

“No I don--” he began. Sarcasm hadn’t presented in her tone of voice but it was blatant in her word choice. She had implied that he couldn’t follow through. It was an attack both on his reputation as a master vampire and on his manliness. And he was offended. “Hey!”

Baby blues shifted to brilliant amber as his vampiric countenance surfaced. Incisors elongated and sharpened to deadly points and bumpies on his forehead and the bridge of his nose completed the transformation.

With the change came a heightening of his senses. Hearing and eyesight sharpened and his sense of smell increased. Every scent was amplified and with a deep inhalation, he catalogued everything within their immediate proximity. A fence had been freshly painted; someone or something had urinated in the gutter and the street smelled of exhaust. A hint of vanilla coming from the Slayer was enough to sweeten the air slightly. That he found it pleasant was disturbing. The fact he could smell no fear, see no increased dilation of her pupils nor hear an increase in her heartbeat was even more so.

“I never break a promise,” he proclaimed.

He waited and watched for a reaction. Several long seconds went by with nothing before Buffy blinked once, confusion settling in her eyes.

“What promise?”

Spike sighed in exasperation, throwing his hands up toward the heavens—a side effect of his dramatic gesture being that Buffy was released from his grasp.

“Alleyway, back of the Bronze, you staked one of my flunkies…” He trailed off, an expectant look on his face.

Buffy arched an eyebrow. “What you’ve just described could be any number of a dozen occasions. You’re minions were all the same—stupid and slow.” A broad grin stretched across her face, the first since she’d left Sunnydale. “Kinda like their mak--”

“Finish that sentence and I’ll cut out your tongue!” Spike snarled.

All hints of joviality left her expression as seriousness returned. “If you’re planning on killing me anyway, it’s not like I’ll need it.”

“So you DO remember!” Spike declared triumphantly.

“Ah, no. But that’s beside the point.” Buffy pasted a ‘well duh’ look on her face. “You’ve got this obsession with ‘making me your third’,” she continued, air quoting with her fingers. “It’s pretty obvious.”

Spike wanted to stamp his foot, and would have, too, if it wouldn’t make him look like a three year old. If he was going to redeem any of the fear factor he’d once had over her, acting like a petulant child was not going to help.

“What happens on Saturday?” he squeaked in a high-pitched voice, obviously attempting to mimic a female voice. He continued, his voice lowering to a deadly pitch, the truth in the intent of his words clear. “I kill you.”

It took a moment for the memory to register but when it did, a chill rolled up her spine. She remembered. The night Spike had first come to town. The one before he destroyed all her hard work on decorations and snacks for Parent Teacher night.

She fixed him with a deadly stare. “I spent all day getting the student lounge ready and you destroyed everything.”

Both of Spike’s eyebrows rose. “Have you gone daft in the melon, Slayer? The one thing that memory strikes up is a grudge about some spoiled punch and a few broken windows? I said I was here to ki--”

“Kill me, got it.” Buffy rolled her eyes. “For someone so fixated on an idle threat you certainly don’t seem all that focussed.” She tilted her head to the side in a mock of his current posture, and Harmony’d her expression and tone of voice. “Do you like, have a problem? You know, with performance?”

The look on Spike’s face was priceless.

“Do you get anxious?” Buffy couldn’t help herself. She was playing with fire and just begging to be burned. Whatever the outcome, it was all worth the dumbfounded expression on the vampire’s face. He’d never looked so indignant, so scandalized, or so stunned.

Spike’s jaw dropped as all consuming rage absorbed him. Oh he was going to revel in ending this girl’s life. Even more infuriating, any response on his part was going to sound an excuse. But he couldn’t just let that one slide.

“I’m the Slayer of Slayers!”

“Pshyeah,” Buffy snorted.

“I’ve killed two of your kind, without hesitation.”

“So what makes me different?” Buffy wibbled her lower lip. “Am I too scary for the Big Bad Spike?”

The double entendre of her words was the first thing that Spike recognised. Even as he turned her insult over in his mind and became even more enraged, a lascivious smirk curled his lips. Before Buffy could blink he closed the distance between them again. Fingers bit into her upper arms as he smashed her chest against his.

And immediately felt the hardened buds of her nipples.

Either she was cold or she was as turned on as he was. Even though she insulted his vampiric standing and his very manliness, he couldn’t help but be aroused by this situation. It was always what made their altercations so interesting; they were heated. She was a spitfire and there was nothing he would celebrate more than being the one responsible for her undoing. Curiosity thy name was Spike; he’d always wondered what it would be like to bed a Slayer. And it wasn’t as if this one hadn’t bedded the undead before. Spike thrust his hips forward, the hard length of his erection pressing beyond the thin cotton of her waitress uniform and against her sex.

The colour instantly drained from Buffy’s cheeks. For a moment she couldn’t move, couldn’t think, couldn’t react. Then he opened his mouth and broke the spell.

“Want a test drive?”

Without a second thought, Buffy took a half step back, raised her knee and with as much force the short distance would allow, she swung. Which was apparently enough. Spike hit the pavement with a thump and a groan of pain.

The second she was free from the vampire’s grasp, Buffy took off.

“We’re not done here, Slayer,” Spike promised with a growl as he glared at her retreating form.

The threat hung in the air, disregarded as Buffy disappeared into the night.

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A/N: And that's chapter two! Hope you continue to enjoy the fic - it's going to be very different to anything I've written before!

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