Title: Rabies
Author: Forsaken2003
Pairing: S/X
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I own none, all belong to Joss Whedon
Comments: Always welcomed!
Summary: There is a new dangerous demon on the loose in Sunnydale.
Warnings/Spoilers: Season 5
Beta'd by: Unbeta'd

Prompt #448 from tamingthemuse- Rabies

Note: From now on most of my tamingthemuse stories will be named as the challenge.

Note 2: This is a late Valentine's Day fic.

There was a new demon in town and it was possibly the worse demon that the Scooby's have yet to cross. This demon wasn't killing it's victims on site. It was biting them and letting them live… until they ended up in the hospital with symptoms of rabies. Twenty-eight cases to be exact, seventeen of them were on the mend. The law enforcements assumed it was a wild animal even though the victims describe their attacker to be anything but.

Giles did research on the any demons that could possibly do this and he came up with one demon. An Acrus was the only one in any of Giles's books that could possibly be responsible. With Willow and Tara on some sort of wiccan retreat Buffy, Riley, Xander and Spike split into groups of two. Xander was stuck with Spike. Wonderful.

So here Xander was wandering around Sunnydale looking for a rabid demon with Spike. Life was swell. He heaved the axe over his shoulder. Why did they have to be so heavy? Honestly it surprised Xander that he could actually swing it.

Spike grabbed the axe from Xander almost causing Xander to fall. "Hey!" Xander yelled.

"I don't know why out of all the weapons the watcher has you picked this," Spike said and handed Xander the sword he had been carrying. "You're better with a sword anyways."

"Oh… thanks," Xander replied. It was weird that Spike gave him a compliment.

Twenty minutes later Spike froze when the hair on the back of his neck rose up. Xander didn't seem to notice his patrol buddy stopped and continued down the street. The park was just a couple blocks away. Maybe Xander could convince Spike that they demon would be there and he could play on the swings for a couple minutes. Just as he was about to open his mouth and ask he was knocked over, his body hitting the curb hard. He was going to hurt tomorrow.

He rolled over to see a very large and very angry looking demon pinning him to the ground. When it snapped its big teeth at him Xander was able to move fast enough to put his hands on the Acrus's shoulders to stop it from munching down… barely. It snarled and snapped its teeth at Xander, as foam came from its mouth.

All of a sudden the demon's eyes rolled up and he collapsed on top of Xander knocking the wind out of him.

"If anyone is going to nibble on the boy it's going to be me," Spike declared as he pulled the axe out of the demons back. He bent over and rolled the Acrus off of Xander.

"There will be no nibbling on the Xan-man, period," Xander replied as he sat up. "Thanks for the save."

Spike pouted at Xander before helping him up off the ground. "It would be fun, pet. I'd make it feel good," he purred.

Xander looked around to see who Spike was talking to cause there was no way he was calling him pet or flirting with him! But there was no one in sight. "Uh… Spike?"

"Yes?" Spike said, his eyes wandering over Xander.

"Did you happen to do a bunch of drug recently?" Xander asked.

Spike snorted in amusement. "I haven't done drugs since I fed off a flower person at Woodstock and I spent the next six hours watching my hand move."

Xander didn't know how to respond to that.

Finally Spike huffed and without grabbing Xander too hard he planted a kiss on Xander's lips. He pulled away and waited for Xander's reaction, bracing himself to be slugged.

"Wh-what was that for?" Xander stammered out. His lips tingled.

"It's Valentine's Day. The day to show loved ones you care," Spike said. He cringed when he realized he sounded like a pounce.

It took Xander a minute for the words to register. He didn't even realize it was Valentine's Day. Also loved ones? That was… unexpected. He looked at Spike who was looking nervous. Xander never saw Spike nervous. So Xander said the only thing he could think of. "I'm starving… do you want to grab a bite to eat at the Bronze?"

Spike was sure he looked dumbfounded by Xander's reply. He wasn't expecting that at all. "Yeah… yeah I could go for some onion blossoms and a pint."

The started down the street towards the Bronze. Spike worked up the courage to take Xander's hand in his. He hid his smile as Xander intertwined his fingers with his own. As far as Valentine's Days went this was one of the most successful ones he's had.

The End