Walking out of the watcher's office she realized she wasn't sure what to do. Where could she go? She continued walking, eventually finding herself in the hotel lobby. It was beautiful. The floor was tiled in a colorful mosaic pattern; the ceilings were cathedral high and in the center stood a plush red circular couch with a high back. It looked Victorian. To the corner of the room was a desk on which sat an antique phone. She turned to see French doors opening up to a garden surrounding a beautiful water fountain with a statue of a woman with long hair holding a jug and pouring its contents into the fountain. There were all types of flowers in bloom; she took a deep breath in order to take in the wonderful scent they gave off. Turning once more she saw a large dark room that piqued her interest. Shrugging her shoulders she walked in and realized the room was a library, a huge one with bookshelves that were almost ceiling high and a rolling ladder to assist in reaching them. The room contained a few comfortable looking couches as well as a massive oak worktable. The chairs around the table were cushioned with red pillows. Having nothing better to do, Rowena decided to look into what sorts of books a watcher and his two vampires collected.
An hour later found her engrossed in a book written by one Rupert Giles, a watcher who had written all of his knowledge regarding both William the Bloody and Angelus. Both individual's history was incredible and she couldn't stop reading about them. Most importantly, she couldn't wrap her head around their relationship with the Vampire Slayer named Buffy Summers. Both vampires had souls, but only Spike had gone out to seek his in order to make himself worthy of the Slayer. By the time she was done, she knew both of their personal histories. She was intrigued by the fact that Angel had sacrificed his love for Buffy in order to give her a normal life, but she had ended up falling for Spike. The two had lived a seemingly domesticated life together, fighting evil by night until her death. She was killed by a demon while out on patrol with Spike, not a very good way for a warrior to die, but she'd had something no other slayer had ever had, a love life. She seemed to have had it all; friends, a lover, and the fight. Rowena couldn't wrap her head around it. She had always been told that these were not things a slayer should have or want. A slayer's life was lonely, but loneliness was a worthy sacrifice for saving the lives of thousands of people.
She walked out of the library feeling as though she knew them all—even the dead slayer. She wanted to know more, to learn about her. How had she managed to make so many friends and also have a relationship- with a vampire no less? How had this been allowed and was what the watcher had written true? Had having these friendships allowed her to live longer – be stronger? Shaking her head and looking down at her feet she didn't see Spike coming and walked right into his chest.
"Look what we have here. Angel sent me to find you. Wants me to test your strength and fighting skills. Not supposed to tell you though, so mum's the word if he asks."
"What if I don't feel like being treated like a lab rat?"
"Could do something else." He said, his eyes roaming up and down her body. "Got any ideas?"
"Yeah, I do." She stepped closer to him and spoke, her mouth inches from his. "I want to know about your last slayer. Just read a lot of stuff about her. Looks like you're the 'go to' guy when it comes to Buffy Summers."
Spike turned serious and took a step back. "Nothing to talk about. She fought, had to protect people, then she died."
"Yes, but there was so much more. She had friends, and she loved you and Angel. I would like to know more about her."
"I'm more interested in finding out why you are here."
She rolled her eyes. Clearly he wasn't going to tell her what she wanted to know. "Apparently some people called The Powers the Be thought it'd be fun to bring me here to be your Slayer. Looks like after your last one died the line ended and you need one. So, here I am."
"And how do you feel about that? You must miss your home and your friends."
She looked down at her boots for a moment then back up at him. "I'm always up for an adventure. Come on, show me around this place. Looks like I'll be here awhile."
They ended up in the training room, pummeling each other once again. Rowena stood up off the floor where she had landed after Spike had kicked her in the face.
"I know you can do better than that," she told him, wiping the blood off her nose.
He was on her in a second and had her arms pinned against the wall, his body pressed against hers. "Be careful what you ask for little girl," he growled at her.
She felt his excitement through his pants and smiled at him. "Why Spike, is my bloody nose turning you on? How ever are you going to beat me if you keep letting yourself get distracted?"
Just as he opened his mouth to respond, she kneed him in the groin and delivered a series of punches to his face. She was pretty sure she'd broken his nose in the process. Payback's a bitch.
"There," she smiled, "now we're even."
He looked at her through almost swollen eyes and smiled. "Looks like we are. Whattaya say about getting ourselves cleaned up?"
It turned out that cleaning up meant going to her room and somehow ending up in the shower together. Spike attacked her the moment the stepped through the door, pushing her against the wall, his mouth on hers right away.
"Spike," she said between kisses, "shower."
He grunted something from where he was nibbling her neck and guided them to the bathroom without losing contact.
She lay under him now, recovering from their exertions, her long red hair loose, its waves framing her face above the pillow where she lay. She was looking up at him, blue eyes full and curious.
"You haven't stopped touching my hair since I undid my braid."
"Can't help it, its beautiful, so long and soft, smells like lavender."
"Is it like your last slayer's? Is that why you can't keep your hands away?"
"Let's not talk about her when we're like this."
She lifted her head up to meet his and kissed him deeply. When she pulled away she lay her had back down on the pillow. "I'm very curious about her. Vampires don't fall in love with slayers. I'm curious to know how that happened."
He ignored her and came down on her mouth for a soft kiss, lips lightly brushing hers. She ran her fingers through his hair, leaving it in disarray.
"Been with a lot of vamps have you?" He asked swatting her hand away from his hair.
"I've had my share." She put her hand back under her head exposing her underarm in the process. "None that I've wanted to keep around. I usually stake them when I'm done."
"That so?" He said and licked her armpit. She giggled and pushed him away.
He gave her a wicked smile, then turned serious. "So, you planning on keeping me 'round or are you going to stake me when we're done?"
"I find you very interesting. I want to know more about you." She arched her body up so that her breasts brushed against his chest. "Besides, I like what you do in bed and I get the feeling I haven't learned all your tricks."
"Oh yeah?" She laughed when he came down to kiss her neck growling against her skin, then continued making his way slowly down to her nipples, speaking to her between kisses. "What about Angel then? He's not dust yet either."
"Oh, him." She wriggled her body against him to get more attention, but he ignored her. "He is a true mystery. Why does he always brood? Can't he just be happy? It's curious how different you are from each other – I mean you both have souls. You've both done horrible things, but you carry your guilt differently."
At this Spike grabbed her legs and wrapped them around him. "I'll show you different."
She laughed and played along making him wonder at how oddly wonderful it felt to be with a slayer who was so cheerful in bed. Moments like this with Buffy had been rare. Just when they were about to start the real fun they heard a knock on the door.
"Roe, it's Angel, I need to talk to you."
She gave the vampire above her a malicious grin that rivaled his own, then said, "Come in, Angel."
He came in and was visibly shocked by what he saw, but quickly plastered a smile on his face to cover.
"Oh Angel, hi. Sorry, we got sidetracked from our mission," she explained.
"Bonus points for her though, turns out slayer's as much of a minx in the bedroom as she is on the battlefield, nothing new to slayer behavior as you already know." Spike cocked his head to the side as if realizing something. "Come to think of it, you wouldn't know, would you?"
Rowena slapped him on his arm. "Spike, be nice to your friend will you? He tolerates all of your foolishness doesn't he?"
Spike smiled down at the eccentric blue-eyed beauty below him, and then looked back up at Angel. "Sorry, mate. You know how competitive and nasty I can get."
Angel merely nodded, but she saw that his hands were balled up into fists. Standing up from the bed, Rowena faced Spike, showing him her fully naked body while Angel got a view of her behind. Spike stared at her breasts, his eyes lingering over her pink nipples. Her thinness reminded him of Dru, and he hadn't thought of her in a long time. He took in her toned arms, stomach and legs; this girl was all muscle, thin and sinewy, no fat. He missed the days when a few extra pounds on a woman was something to be proud of. His eyes rested on her delicious cunny. He hadn't had a taste of it yet, though it looked perfectly delectable, her soft red hair trimmed into a perfect triangle… he was hard just thinking about licking and nibbling at her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. It felt like he'd be betraying Buffy in some way. This one, Rowena, had his marks all over her, she'd let him bite and bruise all of her. He had her written all over himself as well. This slayer gave as good as she got, in a good way, not in vengeance or hatred of him or of herself. This was something new to him. Dru had allowed whatever sexual violence had transpired between them because she was well, crazy, and Buffy had allowed it only because she wanted to be back to dead or later, when she finally loved him, she'd done it to please him, not herself. It was a good thing he remained under the covers, he had not desire to have Angel take in his arousal at this gorgeous girl.
Angel on the other hand, was enjoying the view of the girl's backside. He was curious about the small white scars etched onto her back; a particularly wide, jagged one ran diagonally from her right shoulder to her left buttock. Her ass was firm and perfect, he couldn't move his eyes away once they'd landed there.
"Excuse me boys, I have to go freshen up," she told them as she gave Spike another smile. "I'll be right back. Spike, entertain my guest, and remember," she wagged her ginger at him, "be nice."
They watched as she sauntered into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.
"Now that is my kind of woman." Spike said, his gaze remaining on the bathroom door.
"Spike, you were only supposed to test her strength and skills," Angel hissed.
Spike sat up and shrugged. "What can I say? Slayer had an itch I had to scratch. You must have heard about slayers ,Angel. There's no satisfyin 'em. They always want more."
"She's not from here Spike! We don't even know where she came from. You're taking a risk here, how do you know she won't stake you when she's done getting what she needs from you. Why can't you take things seriously?"
"Now there's a surprise."
Both vampires turned to look at the woman who had emerged from the bathroom. She was back in her tank top and pants standing barefoot before them, her face tilted to the side in a very Spike-like way. Her hair was not in a braid this time, but in a pony tail that hung from the nape of her neck across her front side reaching down to her waistline. She was radiant after her time spent with Spike. Angel hated to admit it, but she glowed and he found himself mesmerized by her lips, plump and red, most likely from Spike's biting and teasing at them.
"I wouldn't have expected you to protect Spike. From what I've seen so far, I expected you to tell him to stay away from me so that I wouldn't get hurt."
"I've done a little observing too, Roe, and I've learned some things. You're a big girl. You can handle yourself."
She laughed her wonderful lighthearted laugh again and walked over to him, Spike watched from the bed enthralled by her every movement. Every word that came out of her mouth, her hand gestures, her mannerisms, everything about her made him want her more. She was not like Buffy, a little like Faith, but not entirely, she was a brand of Slayer he'd never seen.
"It's true," she told Angel, "you wont find a damsel in distress here, I can handle myself and so can Spike." She took his hand in hers. "Spike and I have found in our 'researching' of each other, that we are very much alike. Almost equal in strength."
She looked at Spike and smiled. "I have to go do some things with Angel. If you stay here we can play some more when I get back. Maybe you can tell me about her then."
"Will play when you come back, but don't expect much talking about things that are over and done with when you return."
She nodded and walked out of the room taking Angel with her, their hands entwined.
"Bloody wanker." Spike grumbled when they had gone.
