Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy. God knows I wish I did, but it's a tad late for that, so I'll just have to settle for envying the heck out of Joss Whedon
Oodles of thanks to Ivykins, my Beta who sticks with me through my worst moments of "I CAN'T DO THIS!" and to Jaxi for feeding my horrid Buffy addiction and getting me interested in it in the first place. So, without futher ado...
Roses in December
Tani Hissatsu
Chapter One
"It's surprising how much of memory is built around things unnoticed at the time"
Buffy grunted in pain as her head smacked against the brick wall of the alley. Shaking off her temporary dizziness, she jumped back to her feet.
The nine foot tall demon (Giles had called it something that sounded like "telephone" and "quiche" all at once) let out a roar and charged, swinging arms the size of tree trunks. He moved remarkably fast for something built like a small truck. She ducked his first punch and came up swinging, wincing as her fist connected forcefully with his jaw. The spikes that studded his face dug into her hand, breaking skin, and blood trickled down her wrist.
The demon staggered and crumpled to the pavement. Buffy jumped back, cradling her hand and cursing. She paused at the feel of a familiar hand on her shoulder; glancing up, she saw Spike smirking at her with a double-edged axe in one hand. "Take five, Slayer, I've got this one."
The disoriented monster saw Spike coming and struggled to rise, but the vampire was on him before he could do more than lift his head off the ground. Spike raised the axe and swung it viciously at the demon's head.
As Buffy watched, a strange expression crossed his face. "What the–"
The axe fell from his hands and clattered on the ground. There was a heartbeat of silence where everybody was too surprised to do anything but stare. The demon, recovering first and spotting his chance, surged upwards and head butted Spike in the chest. The vampire flew backwards and slammed into a wall.
"Spike!" Buffy yelled. She could see something dark moving on his hands – what was going on?
No time for that now. The demon was advancing on the prone vampire. Buffy snatched the axe from where it had fallen and followed it, raising the blade above her head.
"Hey, Ugly!" Okay, so not the most original insult ever, but it'd have to do. "Over here!"
The demon turned with a snarl as she swung the axe at its neck. A moment of abrupt silence where the snarl turned into a gurgle – then the demon's decapitated body slumped to the ground at her feet.
Buffy wiped her hands – now covered in demon blood – on the edge of her jacket. There was something to be said for black; it didn't show bloodstains all that easily.
A movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Spike. With a sigh, she walked over to the groggy vampire lying in the dirt.
"Spike, what happened–"
She stopped, shocked. Spike didn't seem to notice. "Hell if I know, Slayer. One minute I'm holding an axe, next thing I've… got…"
His voice trailed off as he noticed what had caught Buffy's attention ten seconds earlier. He scrambled to his feet, holding his hands in front of him. "Holy shi-"
There was a roiling black cloud on both of his hands. Small flickers of lightning played around his fingers. The cloud was at the second knuckle of his fingers, and in the places where the cloud had already been there was… nothing.
Nothing corporeal anyway. Buffy hesitantly touched the ghostly, transparent fingers. Her hand went straight through them.
She looked up and saw that the horror she felt was mirrored by Spike's face. "Spike… you're fading."