Chapter 13

"Shit." Buffy raised an eyebrow at Xander's rather uncharacteristic swear, nearly bumping into him as he stopped. He rubbed his hands together before giving her a regretful look, "Uh...we gotta wait here a minute."

She gave him a patient sigh but just rolled her eyes and leaned back against the tunnel instead of saying something. He'd let her crash at his house last night, and what a house it had been. Two stories, obviously something he'd built from scratch considering how proud he was of it. He'd given her the rather impressive tour before showing her the guest bed for the night, presumably so Dawn and her babies could get a chance to meet Spike. She really wanted to be there, meeting him with them but she could understand the hesitation. Then she pouted to herself. Okay, maybe not. Her night had been rather sleepless and coffee had been readily available in the morning, Xander sending her an understanding look.

Frowning, she shifted a bit since the wall wasn't exactly the most comfortable thing to lean against before saying the hell with it and sitting down on the ground, "So...what's the what?"

He grinned and sat down next to her, nudging her shoulder with his, "We just have to wait for a bit of pack business going on in the next room."

Raising an eyebrow, "Pack business?"

Nodding firmly, "Yep."

"As in..."

"As in stuff I'm not talking about."

She stuck out her tongue at him and he chuckled. Huffing, "And then?"

Smiling with a nod, "Then you can see him."

She nodded, satisfied, and leaned back silently, crossing her arms across her stomach and trying to get at least a little comfortable. He nudged her with his shoulder again. She nudged him in return and the pair of them sat in companionable silence before the sound of a voice speaking from the cavern up ahead washed over her. A deep voice, full of power and anger and her eyes widened, head whipping around to stare at Xander. Her brunette friend gave her a weak smile. It was his. His voice, "...weren't thinking with your head, were you whelp?" Xander winced. It was never good when Spike used that particular nickname. He remembered well how it used to be his until recently, "You cost us time you ignorant sod. Minutes that separated her living from-..."

With a growl Spike paced away from the silent werewolf. This close and he might kill the little runt. Minutes that had decided whether Kat lived or died. All the ranks had been in agreement in a strong, forced rescue and then Oz had turned up missing. Minutes to figure out were he'd gone. Minutes more to decide if a straight attack was still an option or if it was best to wait and rescue them in route to the Corporation.

Oz knew when and when not to speak. Call it a gift but most of the time words weren't necessary so he said little until it was required. In this instance he knew it might get his head quite literally taken off so he stayed quiet. Thankfully Spike wasn't such a loose cannon that he attacked without provocation.

Spike pulled in a breath, ready to chew the werewolf out a while longer and froze as that familiar scent caught his attention. Seven years, but it was still the scent of vanilla and power that turned his head every time. So he gave Oz a second consideration before nodding to himself, "By Alpha's right and decree, you're demoted." Oz's head snapped up in shock. He'd been expecting a lot but that hadn't been one of them. But he didn't dare say a thing as he caught the familiar expression of anger filled golden eyes. Spike was about ready to tear his head off and his being a respectful pack member was the only thing keeping it attached. Spike's jaw ticked just to spit it out, "Beta 8." Growling lowly, "And you can thank Xander for speaking up for you or it'd be Gamma if I had my choice." Oz paled further than even he thought he could. Being knocked down five spots in the Beta hierarchy was bad but to be knocked down to Gamma would have been a crushing blow. Deserved or not in this case he was glad Spike didn't have his say, "Out."

Oz didn't say anything, didn't dare say anything actually as he hustled out of the cavern. He spotted Buffy and Xander sitting on the ground by the tunnel wall but just kept on going, hoping he could hide somewhere for a bit to salvage what little scrap of dignity he might have left.

Xander nodded a little at his silent companion, "Well...let's do this, Buff."

She raised both eyebrows at him. Seeing Spike for the first time when he sounded as mad as she thought he might be was certainly not what she had in mind. But she didn't say it. Buffy pulled in a cleansing breath, closing her eyes for just a moment before nodding and climbing to her feet. He helped her up and the pair of them exited the tunnel to enter the low ceilinged cavern. Buffy felt her eyes widen as she caught sight of him. Eight years and she was suddenly transported to the past, watching him slowly burn before her.

Her world condensed to slow motion and his eyes widened in shock a second before her punch landed squarely on his nose. He yelped and jumped away with a 'bloody hell' and she barely had time to register the werewolf dog pile before she was forced to fend off dozens of claws and fangs from werewolves that had just appeared out of nowhere.

Xander took a second to glance at Spike who was angrily checking his nose, "Fuck!" He grit his teeth and jerked, snapping the bone back into alignment before casually wiping at his nose, the small flecks of blood disappearing with an irritated swipe. Xander winced in sympathy before turning his attention back to the protective mob of wolves and slayer. Evil was standing just to the outside, both hands curled into fists and her eyes a burning fire of amber. If she joined the fight it would be a bloodbath. Barking at his brawling pack, "Hey! Knock it off!"

No one listened. No one could even focus on anything other than protecting a member of their pack. But they all paused as a low rumble shook the very ground they tread upon. That made them pause. The Alpha had just made his opinion known.

With warning growls and snarls they slowly backed away from the panting Slayer, moving behind Spike protectively. In all honesty that had blind-sided her. She hadn't expected a response like that and anything she was about to say got stuck in her throat when she saw the look of disgust on Spike's face. He didn't even seem surprised, just tired as he slowly shook his head, "Good to know some things never change, Slayer." He checked the edge of his nose carefully, sneering at her, "Me, personally, I might have been a might happier seeing someone I love but I guess that was just pissing in the wind, eh?"

Snarling at him, "Knowing you're alive would have been nice, yeah."

His eyes narrowed, "You made your choices, Slayer-..."

Pointing a finger at him, "Oh no. No! Spike, I so was not dating the Immortal. Can I just say EWWW!!" She rolled her eyes at him, "Soulless doesn't work for me." As soon as the words were out of her mouth she wanted to snatch them back, whipping around to stare at him and excuse on the tip of her tongue.

But it died at the look in his eyes. His face was expressionless but his eyes held no surprise, just bitter understanding, voice soft, "I know that. Took me four months to figure it out but I finally got the message. You never could love me without an excuse. Take away the soul or the chip and I'm just soulless garbage again." He shrugged, the cockney accent fading to leave behind a crisper English, "I suppose the kids were just a fluke, then."

He pivoted on his heels to storm away, pausing to stiffen as her hand lightly gripped his arm. A chorus of snarls and growls surrounded them but the pack stayed their distance, "Spike-..."

His eyes flashed gold as he glanced over his shoulder, "Keep your mitts to yourself, Slayer. Far as I'm concerned, you're just passin' through." Xander winced. Buffy snatched her hand back as if burned and backed away from him in confusion. This was not the Spike she was used to dealing with. Spike would be happy to see her and he'd never held her tendency to punch first and ask questions later against her. Nor was it the souled vampire that he had become, who'd been nothing but sweet and patient with her. She didn't know who this stranger was wearing his face and carrying his voice but it was not her vampire. He smirked to himself and turned around fully, arms crossed. He knew exactly what was running through her head right now, "Think you know me so well, do ya Slayer? Think you know me inside out after a few months of shagging and a few years as mortal enemies?" He snorted with contempt, "Got news for you and the watcher... haven't even scratched the surface." He gestured outward to the protective pack around him, "I'm not on the outside looking in anymore. That's you, now. Not looking for a crumb from you, so you're gonna have to work a lot harder than snapping your fingers if you expect me to come."

Snarking at him, "I didn't snap my fingers-..."

Pointing a finger at her nose, "No, you put your hands on me, thinking it's allowed. Thinkin' you can push me around like you always have. Cause that's all I've ever been to you and yours. A thing. An it. Just a chipped, annoying vampire who never shut up, just waiting for a good staking and then sweep up the mess." Buffy flinched as he summed up everyone's opinion of him so eloquently. They'd all treated him so callously. Like he was disposable.

And she was the worst of everyone and she knew it, "We just needed to get to know you, Spike. To trust you. Beyond the mortal enemy stuff or you threatening to kill us. Then-..."

"Then that changed later, yeah. Then I was the babysitter. The hired muscle..." His voice grew quiet, "...just an itch to scratch in dark, lonely corners or a punching bag for your anger and frustration." It was obvious he had no intention of broadcasting that part and she didn't know whether to be embarrassed or thankful. But his voice had already returned to normal, neither seeing Evil's expression grow darker, dangerous in it's ferocity since with her vampire hearing she could hear them in whisper or otherwise, "Just a pathetic little puppy vampire with no backbone and no self respect who'll take any attention you throw at it and thank ya for it...cause we always hurt the ones we love, don't we?" Spike, for all of his gift for nonstop talking, always had a way of laying out the truth no matter how ugly. In this case he summed up a year of bad decisions and selfish emotions with just a few sentences. Horror raced across her face, her mind immediately shifting to that alleyway where she'd left him bruised and bloodied. She'd tainted his beauty with her punches and he'd looked almost grateful for it. Because it was attention. For a while she'd been focused on him and she suddenly felt sick to her stomach. He must think she was some horrible monster, and rightly so. He stood up a little straighter, no emotion on his face, "We made a mess in the end. Me more than you and I'm not defending it." She flinched slightly thinking about that night but not because she'd ever really blamed him. They'd both been spiraling out of control and no one had clue enough to stop them, least of all themselves. And somewhere deep inside she'd known he would have stopped, "Still. Not your little puppet anymore, Slayer. You wanna talk, you ask for it. Wanna discuss things, I'll consider it." He took a step closer, his voice lowering an octiv and she shivered, barely forcing herself to stand her ground, "But you are never laying your hands on me like that again." Unable to speak, unable to really move, she slowly nodded and he turned on his heels and left, not looking back.

Xander stared hard at her for a moment, his eyes holding a calculation to them that didn't quite go with the Zeppo that everyone in Sunnydale knew. That boy was the reliable guy who stood in the background with a handy wise crack ready. That boy was loud and opinionated and absolutely clueless. The look in his eyes now spoke of the hyena. Of the soldier. Of something that had lay hidden and sleeping in the boy all this time. But then he was suddenly Xander again, slowly shaking his head, "Geez, Buff, you just had to piss him off."

Lowering her head and studying her shoes, "Yeah...I'm good at that."

He shook his head to himself, about to suggest Evil escort her back to the temporary housing and swiftly changed his mind of that idea when he saw the look on her face, "C'mon, I'll walk you-..."

"I'll do it."

The reply was snarled around a set of long fangs and Xander sighed at her, "I really don't think that's a good idea."

Her amber eyes burned a hole through him before they faded back to violent, her tone no more inviting than it had been, "Better?"

Sarcastic, "Oh, yeah, I'm suddenly feeling so much better about this."

Rolling her violet eyes a split second later, "Relax, it's fine. I'm pissed but it's fine. This way Slayer."

Xander stiffened but just nodded slightly and with a very wary glance Buffy slowly followed. Frowning to himself before calling out to his old friend, "Catch." Buffy turned on the balls of her feet, catching a hand carved stake and raising an eyebrow at Xander, "If she attacks go for the throat, Buffy." Grumbling to himself, "Cause god knows she will." Buffy silently raised both eyebrows before following after Evil even more slowly.