Beautiful banner by xaphania



Chapter 14


Spike sat sprawled in a comfy armchair with one leg thrown over the armrest. Drusilla had fallen asleep while he was brushing her hair and with Darla being out, he finally had some time for himself. Darla often mocked him for being sentimental since the moment she caught him reading poetry. He didn’t give a piss about what others thought of him.


He’d been reading for an hour when he realized he was a glutton for punishment. Every poem was saturated with heartfelt emotions of love, and all it did was further antagonize the pain of losing Buffy. He saw her everywhere he turned, everywhere he looked, in every girl he saw. It was ripping him apart.


If he was soulless, why did it hurt so much?


Drusilla stirred in her sleep and frowned. She whispered something under her breath and folded her body into a fetal position, hugging her knees.


“No… not them… I’ll be… good… pure… please,” she whispered as tears started to trickle from beneath her closed eyelids.


Spike put down his book and went to sit next to her on the bed. It hurt him to see his Sire like this. So fragile. She and Darla were his family now, though each of them held a different place in his heart. While Dru was like a young girl he had to take care of, Darla took on the role of bossing him around. Darla was the one who set the rules.


He stroked Drusilla’s hair, his heart aching as an unnecessary breath hitched in her throat.


“Come on, Dru. Time to wake up.” He gently shook her shoulder until she awoke with a scream. Her eyes wildly glanced around the room before settling on his.


“Spike?”


He gathered her in his arms and rubbed her back. “It was just a dream. It’s over now.”


“You won’t let him hurt me, will you?” She glanced up at him with big pleading eyes full of trust. It was always after she woke up, those immediate seconds after her subconscious was in full control when she seemed to be lucid. As if a part of her human soul still lingered beneath the bloodthirsty demon she’d become.


“Never,” he promised. He knew that her insanity was her Sire’s doing. Angelus. Darla missed him even though she’d never admit it, but he caught her once staring at a blurry photograph of her Childe with a sad look on her face. From their tales, Spike was glad he’d never met the bastard. “Want to have a tea party, pet? We’ll spread out all your dolls and have ourselves a grand old time.”


She grinned at him and bounced. “Yes please. We shall invite princes and princesses. Will you dance with me, Spike?”


“Sure.”


********


Darla burst in the door, catching them in a peculiar situation. Drusilla was trying to teach him how to dance the Charleston, and she had obviously amused herself by doing his makeup too.


Darla stood there staring. “God, we need a real man in this family to balance out all the estrogen.” Spike scowled at her and she shook off the initial shock of the bizarre scene, remembering why she was in such a hurry. “We have to leave.”


Spike focused on her. “What? Why?”


“Because I said so.”


“You gotta give us more than that, Darla.”


She rolled her eyes. “Fine. One- I think the Council are after us. Two- It seems like the Master of the territory doesn’t like us stepping on his toes and the best of all… three- the new Slayer is in the area.”


Spike shrugged. “Yeah? So what? If the old wanker doesn’t like us being here he can bugger off. And what the bloody hell is a Slayer?”


“I don’t think I like you talking like a street urchin. Have some class, William.”


“It’s Spike now and don’t talk to me about class. It wasn’t me flashing my tits at college boys the other day.”


Drusilla giggled and went to Darla, leaning against her side. “Aren’t her breasts lovely? Like creamy puffs of sugar.”


Spike’s attention derailed to the said breasts when Darla and Dru started to grope each other before he remembered there was a supposed crisis at hand. “Hey, stop it for a second, would you? You didn’t answer my question. What’s a Slayer? And also… I’ll talk as I fucking please!”


Darla arched her elegant eyebrow and smirked. “The Slayer. The Chosen One. One girl in all the world chosen to kill our kind. Fight the forces of darkness until she’s killed and all that crap. But we have a more important issue at hand. The local Master let me know that if we don’t move out of his territory in an hour, he’ll send a horde of his minions after us.”


Spike’s mind whirled with the new information. The Slayer. Just one small girl to keep all the demons in the world at bay? That was impossible. Fruitless. Alluring. God, how he wanted to have a go at her. Taint her purity. Kill the chosen warrior of mankind. She must be stronger than him--probably quicker--and if he ever got to fight her it would be to the death.


He wasn’t afraid to bite the dust.


Finally the challenge he’d been looking for. The big demons nor the breakable humans he’d killed didn’t give him the satisfaction he craved.


Also, Darla was yelling at him to stop grinning like a maniac.


“Calm down, would you? I’ll deal with the old git. Can’t be that tough. Figure he’s sitting all day on his arse, having the minions bring him anything he wishes, right? I say let’s give him a workout.”


“Have you lost your brain? We can’t afford to be so reckless!”


“Fine, I’ll go alone.”


“But-”


“Not worried about me, are you?


Darla scoffed. “Don’t be stupid. Just don’t feel like finding, turning and initiating a new fledge. It would be a shame to lose someone so… talented.” She fluttered her eyelashes at him like the trained whore that she was and Spike internally winced.


“Give me the address.”


********


Buffy wiped the sweat from her brow and entered Giles’ apartment with a heavy sigh. Her muscles ached from the exertion of fighting the overweight fledgling. It was like hitting a brick wall. Only this one hit back.


As she tossed the weapons into the big wooden chest beside the outdated television, Buffy turned around and almost got a heart attack.


“Faith! Why did you sneak up on me like that?”


Faith shrugged and grinned. “Buffy.”


“Yes, that’s my name.” She eyed her friend suspiciously.


“Go out with me tonight.”


“After last time? No way in hell.”


“Come on! It’ll be fun. No drinking, promise.”


Buffy raised her eyebrow in disbelief. “You said that the last time… a few minutes before I found you downing shots of tequila like it was water.”


“Yeah… that. The hot guy paid… was I supposed to say no? But never mind that, B. Just you and me tonight. We’ll dance for a bit, then go home. Please?”


“I’m tired.”


“That’s why we have to go!”


Buffy frowned. “I don’t see logic in that.”


“Just trust me.”


Buffy sighed. “I know I’m going to regret this.”


********


Music blared from the speakers and Buffy welcomed the ear splitting volume. It left no room for thinking. So far, Faith had managed to keep her word to stay away from booze. Buffy trusted her enough to let her grab their drinks while she sat at the table.


“Diet Coke, as you asked,” Faith yelled at her through the noise and set their drinks down before perching on the seat next to Buffy. “See? Got a Diet Coke myself.”


“Good to know.” Buffy smiled and took a sip, moaning as the cold beverage slid down her throat. “So, any cute guys on radar?”


Faith leered and winked at her. “Sure are. But I’m here with my girl tonight.”


“You don’t have to hang around me if you’ve got other plans.”


“Hey, I invited you, didn’t I? We came here together, we leave together. Though I’m beginning to feel that celibacy isn’t really for me. I need me some action soon.”


“Faith!”


“What?”


“You’re such a slut,” Buffy said with a grin.


“And damn proud of it too. Don’t think Giles would appreciate it if I dragged some horny guy into his apartment though. On the other hand I could tell the guy that Giles is my ‘sugar daddy’ the next day… bet it would make the whole process of getting rid of the one night stand quicker.”


“You are so bad. I’d love to see Giles’ expression if you did that.”


“He’d just clean his glasses and flee in the opposite direction. You should have seen his face when I complained about being on the rag.”


Buffy giggled. “Poor Giles. He’s not used to living with women.”


“He’s a cool guy though… even if he’s old. Kind of like a dad I’ve never had. It’s really nice of him to let me stay.”


“He’s like a dad to me too. Weird, huh?”


Faith playfully punched her shoulder. “That would make us sisters then.”


Buffy raised her glass. “To having an obnoxious sibling!”


“I second that.”


They grinned and downed their drinks.


“Wanna dance, lil’ sis?”


“Okay,” Buffy said and let Faith pull her from her seat and to the dance floor.


The club was full and people writhed all around them as they danced. For the first time since the horrible night, Buffy let herself go. Nothing but moving to the beat of the music mattered. There was no room for thoughts or depression. It was similar to slaying. The exhilarating freedom of movement and pulsing energy.


Beads of sweat rolled down her back as she danced, hips swaying from side to side, arms raised in the air. She could feel Faith’s closeness as they sinuously moved together in the same rhythm.


Buffy was unaware of the attention they provoked with the sensual display of grace. It was only when someone circled her waist from behind that she snapped out of her trance. She swirled on her heel to face the man and opened her mouth to tell him to keep his hands to himself. Before she could get any word out, the stranger leaned down and kissed her.


She froze in his arms, too shocked to react for a few seconds. Everything in her screamed at the repulsive feeling of someone else’s lips pressed on her own. Not William’s lips. This man tasted like beer and she couldn’t stand it. With an unrestricted violence, Buffy shoved him away and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. He crashed into people dancing behind him and they all fell to the floor.


Faith grasped her shoulder, talking at her but Buffy couldn’t hear her through the noise. Couldn’t bear to be there any longer as the nausea rose up in her stomach. It was imperative that she get out of there. Forcing her way out of the crowd, elbowing the dancing people out of her way before she finally found herself standing at the edge of the dance floor.


Desperation prompted her to run out of the club into the dark alley where she collapsed to her knees and threw up.


TBC