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A Very Strange Vampire by slaymesoftly Four AN: Need to get this finished before my Seasonal Spuffy posting date, so updates will be frequent from now on. CHAPTER FOUR “Come on, Spike. Stop playing around.” Buffy was sitting on a table, swinging her legs and twirling her stake impatiently. Before the startled minion could register what she’d said, his dust had joined the others on the floor and Spike hopped up on the table beside Buffy. “Bloke’s got to have some fun, Slayer. Can’t fight you now, gotta get my share of violence in somehow.” “You can fight me any time you want,” Buffy said as she dropped off the table into a ready stance. “I owe you a few broken bones.” “Are you ever going to shut up about that? Bloody hell, woman! You dropped a church organ on me and put me in a wheelchair for months. Don’t hear me whinging about it every time I see you.” He stepped off the table to face her. “That was different!” “How was it different?” They were standing nose to nose, tempers rising again. “Well, for one, I didn’t have any cheater Gem of Amara, so it was an even fight. And secondly... secondly... You’re... you’re evil. You deserved it!” She grinned triumphantly at him, and he broke into a reluctant smile. “Can’t argue with that, I guess,” he said, remaining in front of her until she blushed and moved away. Shaking himself, he began to wander around the large cave. “The maps were on the table, but that was weeks ago. Hard to tell what that airhead has done with them.” In spite of his words, he had only looked through one set of drawers and knocked the unicorns off one set of bookshelves before he found the rolled up maps stuffed onto another shelf along with the reference books he’d stolen from the library. “Ah, here we are. Surprised she didn’t burn all the things taking up precious unicorn space,” he muttered, pulling them out. He began to spread them out on the table, using the heavy books to hold down the corners. He grinned when Buffy noticed the stains on the table and wrinkled her nose. “Is that... Ewwww!” “Don’t be so dainty. It’s not like you don’t shed something’s blood every night.” “That’s different! It’s evil blood... and usually a weird color and stinky,” she added as if that settled it. “Tomato, tomahto, Slayer. I’m guessing the families of those demons would see you as the evil one.” “Well, they’d be wrong,” she said, somewhat uncertainly now that she’d heard his comments about harmless demons being killed by the commandoes. “Wouldn’t they?” He glanced up at her puzzled face and stepped away from the table to stand in front of her. “They would,” he said with surprising conviction. “Don’t ever think different. If you want to know what demons you could give a miss, you ask me and I’ll teach you which ones are harmless to humans. Anything else, you get them before they get you.” Buffy blinked at his earnest expression, watching him realize what he’d said and try to recover his big bad image. He straightened up and turned away from her gaze. “Not that I give a bloody fuck what happens to you, mind, but came all this way to kill you myself. Don’t really fancy knowing some over-eager demon is gonna steal my glory while we’re all truce-having and what not.” He kept his back to her as he returned to the table and began tracing lines on the maps. Buffy stared at him in silence, not sure what to do with this Spike who could go from crude, cold-hearted and evil to gentle and concerned and back again within only a few seconds. “Will the real William the Bloody please stand up,” she murmured to herself, blushing when he looked up and winked at her. “You weren’t supposed to hear that.” “Vampire, pet. You don’t want me to hear it, don’t say it. Now, come over here and let me show what we’ve got.” Somewhat reluctantly, she moved to his side and looked down at the maps. Spike put his finger a spot marked with an “x”. “We’re here, Slayer, and this,” he moved his finger, “is where we came from. Doesn’t go anywhere but to the treasure. But, if we were to go off in this direction, we’d be heading for the campus of Sunnydale U – where it looks like there’s a pretty big space. That’s where I’d look first, being as your soldier boys are all busy pretending to be college students. There are dozens of tunnels, some old, some new, but that’s the only place I see with what looks like a lot of open space. It’s one of the newer maps, too, so not some old leftover from when old Batface ruled down here.” Buffy snickered at his description of the Master, earning a smile from the vampire. “Never did congratulate you on that, did I?” “Wasn’t he, like, your great, great, something or other? Shouldn’t that make you mad? That I killed him, I mean.” “Hell no! Couldn’t stand the old bugger, and he couldn’t stand me. Only tolerated me cause I came with Dru. Liked having the girls around, he did.” Buffy shuddered. “He was so... ugly... I can’t imagine even a vampire....” She shuddered again. “Ugh.” Spike’s chuckle sounded right in her ear, and she jumped with a little “eep!” “Not all vamps are as good lookin’ as I am, Slayer. And most of them don’t care as much about beauty as I do,” he said, nuzzling her neck and inhaling deeply. He frowned when she flinched away and put a defensive hand to her throat. “Wasn’t going to bite you, Slayer.” She tried to ignore the disappointment on his face. “Well what were you doing then?” “Nothing, I guess. Sorry. Forgot myself there for a second.” Buffy stared at him, trying to figure why he seemed so mad about what seemed to her to be a perfectly logical reaction to finding his mouth near her throat. “Le... let’s go,” she said, moving toward the tunnel he’d pointed at earlier. Without speaking, he took one of the torches off the wall and strode off down the dark tunnel, leaving Buffy to hurry after him. After they’d been walking briskly for several minutes, he slowed and dropped back to walk beside her. “You smell good.” “Huh?” “You smell good. That’s why I had my face on your neck. Wasn’t tryin’ to bite you.” “Oh... I smell good in a ‘I vant to drink your blood’ kinda way or ...?” “You smell good in a womanly kind of way. And yeah, I’m a vampire, so your blood is part of that, but not what I was thinking about.” Suddenly very sure she didn’t want to know what he had been thinking about, Buffy didn’t respond except to say, “‘K”, but she relaxed and walked beside him easily. When the silence began to be uncomfortable again, she asked, “If you hate Harmony so much, why were you dating her? She can’t be the only female vamp in Sunnydale.” “Aren’t that many,” he said. “Met her the first night I got back and....” “And...? Or is this going to be something piggy that Xander might appreciate more than I would?” He laughed. “Yeah, suppose it would be. Let’s just say I’m not used to being alone, yeah? Always had a woman in my life, and Harm’s right pretty. Took me a while to figure out she really is as dumb as she seems, and that she never stops talking unless you put something in her mou—” He didn’t quite stop himself in time to keep Buffy from rolling her eyes and moving slightly away from him. She heard him sigh as he shook his head. “Sorry, Slayer. Not helpin’ my case much am I? Don’t know what to tell you. Stayed with Dru for well over a hundred years, loved her and took care of her through everything, and she left me anyway. Told me I wasn’t demon enough for her and that I—” “So ‘cause Dru did you wrong, you think that makes it okay to be mean to other women?” “You’re right, pet. I’m a wanker.” He threw up his hands in defeat. “Well, in your defense, Harmonyis a shallow, catty bitch... and evil.” She sighed. "I guess I should cut you some slack.” He huffed a laugh. “Remind me never to question your wardrobe.” “That isn’t about— okay, maybe a little bit.” She looked down at herself. “Do I look that bad? These are slaying clothes – black, so blood doesn’t show and I blend, stretchy pants for kicking, awesome boots – also for kicking. I don’t know what her problem is.” “Don’t know what it is, either, Slayer. You look fine to me. She’s probably just jealous... and have I mentioned stupid? Stop!” His suddenly hissed command and the arm he threw across in front her stopped her in mid-stride. His tense body posture made her swallow her complaint, but when he threw the torch down a side tunnel and pulled her in the other direction, she balked. “What are you doing? How am I supposed to—” She cut herself off when she notice the faint glow from ahead of them, letting Spike pull her into a small crevice in the wall. The torch guttered out, leaving them in darkness and huddled together in the small space. Only the tension she could feel in Spike’s body as he listened and scented the air kept her from shoving him away. “What is it?” she whispered. “What’s out there?” “Don’t know for sure. But whatever it is, it’s coming this way. Not human. Not vamp. Must be some kind of demon...” The glow grew brighter, and soon Buffy could hear the sound of shuffling footsteps as the demon approached. She couldn’t help a muffled gasp when it got close enough for them to see what it was. Even in the poorly lit corridor, they could see that the creature looked like some sort of demon Frankenstein monster. It moved ponderously on feet that were crudely stitched onto legs that were a different color, and scaly where the feet had profuse hair growing on them. Where it should have had a hand, one arm ended in a skewer of some sort. The other, more normal-looking arm and hand held a flashlight. The eyes were vacant and staring, as if it was following directions only it could hear. As it passed them, a large scar indicated where it must have once had a tail, and attached to it’s back was some sort of mechanical device. It shuffled past, giving no indication that it was aware of their presence. Once the light from the flashlight was once-again just a glow in the distance, Buffy let out the breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding and relaxed against the body behind her – until she remembered who it was. She straightened up with a mumbled apology, putting an inch or so of distance between them. “Wasn’t complainin’, luv,” Spike’s voice rumbled in her ear, his breath stirring the hairs around her face. “Can lean on me anytime you want to.” “As long as we have a truce you mean,” she said, fighting off the shiver that had gone through her. There was a long pause before he spoke. “Yeah, ‘s long as we have our truce. That’s what I meant.” There was an awkward silence as they stepped out into the tunnel and Spike picked up the torch. He took out his lighter and flicked it on. “Guess we should keep going, yeah? Must be headed the right way.” “Maybe we shouldn’t light it again?” Buffy gestured to the distance where there was still a glow, even though the demon and his flashlight were long out of sight in the other direction. “I could just hang on to your coat again.” “Alright. I’ll just leave it here in case we need it on our way out. Grab hold, Slayer.” He closed the lighter and put it back in his pocket, waiting until he felt Buffy’s hands on his waist before starting forward. The glow grew steadily brighter and Buffy was soon able to see almost as well as Spike could. They crept silently along the now-smoother floor until they reached a place where the tunnel forked and there was a sharp turn to the left. Ahead of them, was the same dirt and rock wall they’d been following, to the left, the walls were smooth concrete, with lights placed just often enough that it was possible to see. “Where do you think we are?” Buffy whispered, even though Spike hadn’t indicated there was anything around. “If I had to guess, I’d say we’re right under the campus, but maybe on the edge. Where the frat houses are located,” he added somewhat unnecessarily as Buffy was way ahead of him. “Great. So there’s something under Lowell House. Something with man-made walls and patchwork demons wandering around in it. Do you think we can get close enough to see what it is?” She felt him shrug beside her. “We can try getting a little closer. Gonna be no place to hide in that tunnel, though. If we get spotted, we’re as good as caught.” “We can fight our way out,” Buffy said with more confidence than she felt. “Feeling bullet-proof are you?” She sighed. “Not really. But seriously, if we can just get a peek at—” “Alright, Slayer. Let’s go. Bullets can’t kill me, and they probably can’t kill you either now. Maybe,” he added under his breath. Moving quietly and slinking along the walls, they made their way down the corridor. Pausing when he thought he heard something, Spike was listening when Buffy began to tug on his arm. “What?” he hissed. “I’m listening here.” She pointed silently to the ceiling and a large vent there. He nodded and grinned. “Still like crawling around in ceilings, do you?” He bent down so that she could get on his shoulders, standing up as soon as she was set. He held her ankles as she wrestled the cover off the vent and put it inside the opening. “Ready, pet?” Without waiting for her nod, he raised his hands over his head, lifting her until she could pull herself up through the open vent. She turned around and peered down at Spike. “How are you going to get up?” She extended an arm. “Can you grab my hand? Maybe I can—” He shook his head and gestured at her to get back. “No time, luv. Incoming. Get back.” Before he’d finished speaking, he had left the ground and propelled himself into the open space. Buffy grabbed his arm and pulled him forward, falling backwards with Spike on top of her. They froze for a moment, but Spike’s ears told him there was no time to enjoy their position. With a “shhhh” he rolled off and grabbed the vent cover. He’d just reinstalled it when even Buffy’s ears caught the sound of booted feet. Lying flat and staring through the slats, they watched as a small group of black-clad commandoes passed beneath them, talking among themselves. “So, Finn. What’s the plan tonight? Are we after the hostile or the girl?” “Whichever one we find first, I guess. We can go after Buffy in the daytime, so unless she’s out doing her ‘slaying’ tonight, we should probably concentrate on that hostile. Maggie really wants a chance to study him.” “Man. If a chip could harness the power that vamp had....” “He’d be a hell of a weapon behind enemy lines, wouldn’t he?” Their voices faded as they moved away, but Buffy could tell that Spike was still listening, so she remained silent until he rolled over on his back and stared at the invisible ceiling above their small space. “Spike?” she whispered tentatively when he seemed to have disappeared. Her voice startled him out of his thoughts and he turned his head to reassure her. “Still here, pet. Just trying to understand what those wankers were talking about.” He suddenly grabbed her hand tightly. “Promise me something, Slayer. Promise me you won’t let those bastards have me. Promise you’ll kill me first.” He clung to her hand while she moved closer, shaking her head. “What are you talking about? And no – I’m not going to kill you. I mean, not right now, anyway.” “Just promise me,” he repeated, not releasing her hand when she tried to pull away. “Okay, okay, I promise, but— What did they say?” “Let’s just say I’ve had some experience with that kind of military thinking and I’m not planning to be anybody’s lab rat – or secret weapon.” He let go of her hand and rolled to his hands and knees. “Let’s see where this air duct goes, yeah? Maybe we can learn more about this place.” “You are going to explain this to me,” she hissed, crawling after his rapidly disappearing legs. There was just enough light from the widely spaced vents that she could see him, although not well. From the speed with which he was moving, she assumed he must be wearing his fangs and wrinkles. Her own vision was just good enough to make out his feet ahead of her. She’d let her attention wander when he stopped suddenly, and she bumped into him. “Oops?” She sat back on her heels, embarrassed at how she’d run her face into his leather covered rear. “Are you being clumsy or kinky?” he whispered, moving over so she could come up beside him. “Cause if you wanted to get closer to my arse—ow!” His muffled laughter did nothing to relieve the heat that she was sure was turning her face into a glowing mask. She punched him once more for good measure, then hissed, “Why did you stop?” He pulled her a little closer and pointed down. Instead of the corridor that was all they’d seen so far, they seemed to be looking down into some sort of operating room. Strapped to a table, with a ball gag in his mouth, was a wide-eyed and terrified-looking vampire. His eyes went to the ceiling for a second as he heard their voices, but his attention went back immediately to what was happening to him. Behind him, someone in a white coat was shaving a portion of his head. Buffy watched in sick fascination as the technician sliced into the vampire’s scalp, then took a small power saw and cut away a piece of bone. Even with the gag, they could hear the high-pitched shriek as the saw cut into the vampire’s skull. Buffy gasped and unconsciously moved closer to Spike. Never taking his eyes off the procedure below, he whispered, “Promise me.” Buffy nodded vigorously, unable to take her own eyes off the room below. The ‘doctor’ doing the operation used tiny forceps to take something off a tray and insert it into the vampire’s open brain. There was some muttered conversation and some more work that ignored the whimpers and snarls coming from the restrained vampire. When she was finished, the doctor put the piece of bone back and sewed the scalp closed. She stepped back, stripped off her gloves and mask, nodding to the burly men standing nearby. “Let him go,” she said. “Professor Walsh!”
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