This is early Spike, so he's a real bad ass – but he's also madly in love with his lady. Beta read by ebineez01.

~o0o~

Finding Dru hadn't been much of a problem. Convincing her to come with him on the other hand had, so he decided on a fairly simplistic plan. Knock her over the head and drag her away.

The moment he caught her slender body he was overwhelmed by the way she felt in his arms, and he simply stood for a moment, holding her close.

Now that she was awake she was glaring at him with a fire in her beautiful eyes that he remembered well. She didn't even test the chains holding her up. He knew exactly how strong she was. She simply stood, tall and proud, every inch the dark queen that she was.

He used whatever he could think of – holy water, knives, his fangs. He bit her more than once, and he wasn't playing. Every time he broke her sweet white flesh was like a revelation. Drinking her blood was taking her back, and he could tell she was getting weaker.

It had always been the other way round. Oh how Dru had loved causing him pain... He'd never been into it, but he'd figured it was her way of showing him how much he meant to her – and besides he'd never been able to say no to anything that would give her joy. She was his sire after all. She'd made him. She owned him. He was hers.

Now the tables had turned, and he was surprised to find that he enjoyed torturing her. Huh. Seeing her weak and in pain used to be a horrible thing, but now that he was the reason for her pain he liked it. A lot. He didn't get his name for nothing...

He thought she'd never looked more beautiful, more delicate than she did now, her strength fading, her resistance crumbling. It wouldn't be long until she'd start begging...

Dru's voice was so low, so weak that he almost missed it when she finally broke:

"Please, Spike. I'm so weak. Please let me feed on you. Just a few drops of your blood, my love."

He straightened.

"Why would I trust you?"

"I'm sorry, Spike. I'm sorry I hurt you. Please."

Spike considered allowing her to bite him. It would be delicious, and he wanted it. Badly. But he didn't trust her. Which was probably a wise thing after what he'd just been doing to her. So he cut across his wrist and let her drink. At first the touch of her sweet mouth was like a tender kiss, but then she shifted to fang face and bit down hard. He let her, lost in the sensation of his sire sucking his blood, taking his unlife...with a lot more effort than he had expected he pulled away.

"I'll go hunt. Maybe I'll bring you something to eat."

"No! Please don't leave. Don't leave me alone, my sweet."

A smile spread across his face.

"I'll be back, luv. Be patient."

When Spike came back he wasn't alone. He had his arm around a beautiful blonde who was obviously more than a little drunk. The moment they entered he murmured a few Latin words that Dru remembered well. Smart, a perception spell. And it worked. The pair kissed right in front of Dru, and still the girl said:

"So you're all alone?"

"Not a single soul."

The little smart ass. Dru was so proud of him.

The girl traced Spike's jaw.

"Why would any woman in her right mind leave a man like you?"

He turned with her in his arms, looking straight at Dru over her shoulder.

"I guess you would have to ask her that."

~o0o~

Drusilla closed her eyes, unwilling – not unable, she told herself – to watch any longer. But she couldn't shut out the sounds she knew so well. She'd known him for more than a century, her lover, her companion, her partner in crime. She wanted him back.

"My sweet Spike. I miss you so much."

Spike's head whipped around when the girl made a startled sound, amazed that Dru had found a way to break through the spell. His beautiful, powerful Dru. He stared at her for a very long moment. When he finally remembered the girl in his arms he shifted to fang face. Her screaming stopped when he snapped her neck. He dropped her slack body to the ground, Dru humming her approval. He stepped over the dead girl and stood close to Dru.

"So am I demon enough for you now, pet?"

Dru moved in as close as the chains would allow.

"Yes you are, my love. Please forgive me for saying that."

How could he resist that? His face shifting back he claimed her mouth in a hungry kiss, freeing her from the chains without breaking contact. She slumped against his body, her slender arms coming up around his neck. Oh sweet Dru, so good and so familiar.

"Come, feed, luv", he whispered in her ear, and she broke away from him to drink from the girl's neck. Spike watched her, watched new strength flowing into his lover's perfect body, and he just couldn't control the need any longer. He needed her. All of her. While she was still feeding he took her, slow, deep, forceful.

"You're mine, Dru. Don't ever do that to me again. You and I are forever."

~o0o~

Spike woke up to his sire kneeling over him stake in hand. Without thinking he blocked her move and flipped her on her back.

"That's a nasty looking thing you have there, luv. Why don't we put it down now, what do you say? You love me, right?"

Dru lay perfectly still under him.

"I do love you, Spike. But it's just not enough. I'm trapped, but I have to break free. I have to fly, like a bird..."

He held her gaze.

"At least this time you care enough to kill me."

He let go of her and lay back down, his arms spread wide.

"Fine. Go ahead."

When he just kept looking at her Dru got up and left. No word. No looking back over her shoulder.

"No she doesn't", Spike whispered to himself, curling up on his side, hiding his face in his arms. Bloody tears, bloody useless buckets of salt...