Sometimes Spike wonders what would have happened if the whelp and the missus hadn't drove him to madness that night , even without voices they were irritating as all bloody hell. He had to get out and decided a stroll across campus would do him some good.
He was deep in thought when she crashed into him, well more like made him fall completely ass over tea kettle was more like it. He was about to yell when he realized the futility of even opening his mouth. Then he saw the look on her face . That look of complete and utter fear and dread that used to get his nethers all tingly but on her it was different , he could feel that look in his gut somehow. Then she spun him around to show him what the problem was. Seems like some oddly demonic fellows and their straight-jacketed flunkies were giving this poor girl a go. He seriously thought long and hard about just handing her over but then he looked at her face again and his shoulders slumped … dammit this was going to hurt his head … a lot …
He could KILL THEM … the little joy-buzzer in his head didn't make a peep as he twisted the flunkies neck with all his strength until that sound of crunching bone played across his ears like the sweetest symphony . He was expecting a brain blow out and what he got was a good spot of violence and the accompanying erection. Five minutes ago he felt toothless and like ending it all and as he snapped another neck THE BIG BAD WAS BACK BABY. He probably could have killed at least all the minions but the bird was pulling at his duster and her eyes were pleading with him to run. He begrudgingly sprinted away with her . It seems like those blokes got distracted by something else anyway but he still ran until they were in an alley and the only thing to be heard was the overhead street lamp. She ripped off a piece of her skirt and started wiping his face as his brain finally left the idea of being able to kill again and caught up with the moment. It didn't click in for a few moments after he came back to reality with her fussing over a few cuts and scrapes. He looked at her oddly when he realized he was still in game face and had been that entire time. She looked as if she didn't even give it a second thought as she wiped it over the ridges, never breaking eye contact . She just smiled and mouthed Thank You when he finally made actual eye contact.
A scream that remarkably sounded like the Slayer broke the silence in the night and he felt relief as her heard the sigh in his unneeded exhale. He was just about to leave when the bird snagged his sleeve and he gave her a smile as she said "Hi, I'm Tara".
He decided even though he hadn't been a gentleman in a century or two that he would walk her to her dorm and then sdhe insisted on getting him a beverage. He insisted he wasn't a coffee drinker but then again , she did have that same hot chocolate that Joyce did along with marshmallows. They talked and somehow she had caught him on a good day because he vented as much as she did about their respective pasts and mistakes made along the way. She actually listened attentively to every word as did he and in one night he felt her knew more about her than he ever did Drusilla in a hundred plus years. When she found out he was bouncing between places she insisted he crash in her dorm because she had no roommate anyways and she made sure the drapes were thoroughly closed.
He shrugged and plopped down on the bare mattress and she threw her spare comforter over him. She yawned and buried herself under her covers on her own bed and silence filled the room.
"goodnight, Spike" She said softly.
"goodnight, Tara" He replied and a slight smile played across his face as sleep overtook them both.