What If, Book 1: What if Spike had regained his repressed memories before he did?
A/N: This story is the first installment of the 'What If Books' series; I found a challenge on the Bloodshedverse that inspired a scrap of an idea to form a full-fledged plot bunny. The question was asked by Buffy. Spike's repressed memories are first discussed in my story 'Fade Away Again'. This story begins during 'The Harvest'.
I intend no infringement on the copyrights or other intellectual properties of Mutant Enemy, Joss Whedon or his brilliant staff of writers, Fox, FX, UPN, (do they still have rights if they're defunct?), and anyone else who owns a piece of the BtVS pie, legally speaking. This is a purely creative endeavor, I'm making no profits from it.
Chapter 1
A Black DeSoto crashed into the overly-cheerful 'Welcome to Sunnydale' sign, hitting the curb across the intersection as it rolled to a stop. From the driver's side, a slim bleached-blonde man emerged in a cloud of smoke, turning to face the petite strawberry-blonde who had popped out of the passenger door.
"Well, Jilly-bean, this looks like the place." He turned in a circle, wandering away from the car as he lit yet another cigarette. "Not very Hellmouth-y lookin', is it?"
The woman rolled her eyes at him. "As the kids say these days, 'duh', Spike. If it looked like a Hellmouth, there'd be no humans hanging around." She turned her attention away from her companion and towards the neighborhood around them. "It's a nice cover, very homey. Cleveland's not nearly as good at hiding what it is; people are always so suspicious in the city. I'll bet you could vamp out in the middle of the street here and no one would notice."
Before he had a chance to respond, a scream rent the air. Spike whirled towards the noise, focusing until he spotted a woman running through the park across the way. "Jill, stay in the car with Dru. Lock the doors." Before she could acknowledge him, he'd taken off at a dead run.
Jill snorted. "Stay in the car. Make sure the car is safe, you mean." Rolling her eyes, she strolled around to close the driver's door. "Men!"
Spike easily waylaid the fledgling vamp he'd seen hunting, allowing the woman to escape. Dusting the nasty little bugger, however, had proven more challenging. The vamp led him on a whirlwind tour of Sunnydale, before cutting through a cemetery and tripping over a tombstone, giving Spike the chance to catch up.
"Bloody stupid wanker." Spike grumbled as he dragged the disoriented fledge to his feet. "First, you interrupt my evening, then, you don't even have the courtesy to stand your ground and fight!" He began pummeling the other vampire, who took a few swings, but was so injured by that point that Spike barely noticed his punches. "Come on you sod, fight back a little."
Just then, Spike noticed a heartbeat in the vicinity. He stepped back to look around, and give the other vamp a sporting chance, but the fledgling just sank to the ground, moaning in pain. Spike sighed, eyeing the puddle of blood and vampire critically. "If I were your sire, I'd be ashamed. Waste of perfectly good blood, you are." The vampire at his feet moaned again, and shifted as if to crawl away.
"Oh, no you don't." Spike reached down and grabbed the younger vamp by the throat. "I'm going to kill you now. But first…" He vamped out, and met the frightened eyes of the vampire frantically clawing at the hands around his throat. "Here's a little lesson in being prey."
Spike unerringly sank his fangs into the other vamp's jugular, draining what was left of his blood before rearing back and twisting the other vampire's head off. As the body in his hands disintegrated, Spike wiped his mouth and turned back in the direction he'd come from. "Wanker," he muttered. "Not even a decent spot of violence out of that one." He shook his head disparagingly.
As the vampire's footsteps sounded on the sidewalk outside the cemetery, a small form slid out from behind a large oak tree. The Slayer made her way over to examine the pile of dust, as though that would give her a clue what had just happened. The dust was nothing but dusty.
"Well, that was wiggy." Buffy shook her head, and looked at the gate the other vampire had left through. She carefully headed in that direction, but of course he was gone by the time she reached the street. With a shrug, she decided to tell Giles tomorrow, maybe, and headed home.