Title: Sympathy For The Devil

Authoress: Sakuri

Rating: M

Summary: Spander slash. Slight AU. In a Sunnydale without Buffy, Spike is being held captive by the Initiative. When a newly de-souled Angelus arrives in town, he may be the only one with knowledge enough to help stop him. Enter Xander, new Initiative recruit, and the only person able to hold the vampire's interest for more than five minutes.

Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one

Chapter Twenty Five: Movie Night

xxx

Spike arrived with pizza.

He did it casually, like it was an everyday thing for them. Or, rather, an everynight thing. Xander woke to the sound of his door being jimmied open, but before anything like alarm could begin to set in, the vampire was striding into sight, pizza box balanced on one hand while the other clutched a six-pack.

"Don't get up," Spike announced magnanimously, dropping the pizza into Xander's lap and setting the beers down on the nightstand.

The human frowned groggily at him, wincing when the bedside light was switched on. "Mm? What are you doing? What time is it?"

"Dunno. Bout twelve?" He darted across to switch on the TV, then easily dragged the Barcalounger over towards the bed, flopping down onto it with remote in hand. "'Blade' on tonight. That's sci-fi enough for you, right? Come on, we can laugh at all the mistakes they made about vampires."

Xander groaned and pressed a pillow over his face as his brain finally woke up enough to process the invasion. For the past few nights Spike had continued to drop by uninvited under the pretence of making sure he was healing up okay. Said he had a 'vested interest'. Usually, however, he didn't stay more than a few minutes, as Xander wasn't exactly welcoming.

It looked like it might be a bit harder to shift him, this time.

"Oh god, go away Spike! I was sleeping, in case you didn't get that," he muttered resentfully.

"Hey, I'm bored out of my sodding mind over at Angelus's," the vampire replied, which to Xander seemed somewhat irrelevant. "Entertain me. Not like you have anything better to do, is it? Lounging around here on sick leave."

"I have sleep to be doing, actually, which really needs my full attention right now..." He pulled the covers pointedly over his head and all was quiet for a few blissful moments.

"...Uh huh. Well, you have fun with that, pet, but I'm gonna stay sitting here, if you don't mind. Oh, and if you happen to want any of this food, I'd recommend you get your arse into gear some time in the next ten minutes, 'fore I finish it off."

Xander stared blindly at the underside of his quilt, listening to the vampire settling in to watch his film. A beer bottle hissed as the lid was pried off, and then the warm smell of cheese, tomatoes and pepperoni filled his bedroom as Spike flipped the pizza box open. What might have been a defeated whimper emerged from under the covers and then Xander was struggling to sit up.

"I hate you," he informed the other coolly as Spike crowed in triumph.

Using unhealthy junk food as bait is not fair play. Stupid evil dead...

"Fine. Feed me and then you can get out."

The scarred eyebrow cocked upwards. "That's just charming, that is. Really know how to show a guy a good time, don't you Harris?"

Xander blushed and chose to nab himself a slice of pizza rather than meet the amused blue eyes. He didn't mean it, as the vampire well know. Not because he wanted Spike here – he didn't – he just hadn't quite figured out how, exactly, to go about kicking Spike out. It was really becoming a problem.

"So your birds been to see you yet?"

"My–? You mean Willow and Tara? No. Why?" He stared hard at Spike, suspicion blooming. "Did you speak to them?"

"Might have done."

"Oh my god, are they –"

"I you ask me one more time if I hurt them, I swear..."

Xander shifted awkwardly. "You can't exactly blame me, yanno. Anyway. Why were you even talking to them? What did you say?"

"Nothing important. Just told 'em to drop by and see you, is all. I should get credit for that, I should. Tell you what," Spike went on, pointing his beer bottle at the human for emphasis, "you'd think the bleeding Hellmouth would be safer for a vampire, wouldn't you? If it's not soldiers, it's bloody Slayers and witches..."

Xander frowned at him, annoyed at yet another reference to the girls being witches. Spike couldn't seem to let the idea go, even though they'd argued over it more than once now. Deciding he couldn't be bothered fighting it out again, he made the conscious effort to change the subject by asking, "What's a Slayer?"

Spike choked slightly on the bite of pizza he'd just taken. He stared incredulously. "You're kidding me."

"What?"

"You mean to say this precious organisation of yours hunts, kills and captures demons on a nightly basis – and you've not one of you heard of the Slayer?"

Xander shook his head cluelessly. "If the higher ups have, they never mentioned it to me. So what is one?"

"She's the 'one girl in all the world'," Spike said derisively, sounding as though he were quoting someone or something. "Little bit of a girl meant to fight vamps and the forces of evil."

Xander looked sceptical. "What, just the one?"

"Only ever just the one. She dies, there'll be another one, though. Never stop coming. They're like roaches..."

Funny. I've heard that said about vampires. Out loud, he said only, "Wait, so let me get this straight. You're afraid of a girl?"

Spike scowled. "Not like she's a normal girl. Got super strength and everything. Anyway – not bloody afraid of her, git. I've got an unbroken record against Slayers, ta, so you can just wipe that smirk off your face."

Xander rolled his eyes and tried not to think about what might be meant by 'unbroken record'. To distract himself, he made a gesture at the beers. "Pass me one, then. There's a bottle opener on the –"

He stopped speaking abruptly, because Spike had picked up one of the beers, shifted casually into game face, and bitten down on the metal cap. It came off with a hiss, and the vampire spared a moment to pry it from his fangs before morphing back to normal. The gesture was clearly a practiced one, and he didn't seem at all aware that he'd done anything strange as he held out the now open bottle.

Xander looked thoroughly nonplussed. "...You're like, ten kinds of wrong, Spike."

"I try."

He still took the beer, realising alcohol might be necessary for any extended conversation with the vampire. "So this Slayer, then. There's one in Sunnydale? Think she'd wanna join the Initiative?"

Spike snorted. "Christ, you have been brainwashed, haven't you? 'Sides, why would she wanna join you lot? She's the original, mate. Not gonna take orders from a load of military wannabes, is she?"

"Alright, so what is she doing here?"

The vampire began to laugh, drawing his legs up underneath him on the Barcalounger, getting comfortable. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"'Kay. Well, you heard how Angelus used to be Soulboy, yeah?"

"Yeah..."

"Back in the day, apparently 'Buffy' – that'd be the Slayer – was his epic romance. What kind of name is Buffy, by the way...?"

Xander couldn't help it. He gaped. And reminiscent of a 13-year-old gossip, asked, "Seriously?"

"Yup. But hey, it's good news for you, since he's back to obsessing over her now. Might give you a bit of breathing room, yanno?"

Anyone ever tell him he sucks at playing the bad guy...?

The human finished his drink and Spike wordlessly replaced it, performing the same trick with the lid. His head was swimming slightly as the alcohol did battle with the painkillers already in his system. It was pleasant. Made tolerating the vampire's company a hell of a lot easier.

That's not true, piped up the troublesome voice in his head he thought he'd gotten rid of. He's not that bad and you know it. You hate it but you know it.

Spike, if nothing else, was entertaining. Xander could say with all honesty he hadn't experienced a dull moment since meeting the vampire. Admittedly, the moments hadn't all been golden, either, but they'd been... exciting. He felt like he'd been stuck in a rut without ever realising it, right up until the point Spike had sauntered into his life, smacked him upside the head, and proceeded to drag him kicking and screaming into the thick of things. Metaphorically speaking. It wasn't the best of arrivals, and it certainly wasn't a status quo that should necessarily be maintained, but he was... grateful, in a weird way, for the break in monotony.

Now, if Spike would just take that gratitude in the form of not having a stake shoved through his heart and be on his way, things would be working out quite nicely.

Xander sighed somewhat wistfully and resumed drinking.

"This film is naff," the vampire abruptly proclaimed, directing a scornful glance at the TV neither of them had been paying the slightest bit of attention to. "...Wanna make out instead?"

Xander didn't snort beer from his nose, but it was a very close thing. When he could, he levelled a glare at his grinning companion. "Let's not."

Spike shrugged loosely. "Why not? Could be fun."

"Spike –"

"Can I just ask," the vampire interrupted, "is it the fact that I'm a demon or the fact that I'm a guy that freaks you out so bad?"

"I have to choose?" Xander asked sarcastically. "Trust me, there's not one thing about you that doesn't freak me out."

"Sure got an interesting way of showing it. Can't say I've ever screwed around with something that did a number on me as bad as you're making out. Well. Maybe that one time..."

Sensing a story coming on, Xander cut it short. "Alright, seriously now, you can't keep bringing this up."

"Why not?"

"Because you just... can't! I feel like we've had this conversation before. Whatever you're hoping for between me and you isn't going to happen."

"S'already happened coupla times, pet. Don't see why you're putting a stop to a good thing now."

"It's not a good thing!" He was aware he was becoming dangerously close to shrill, and that the hand gesture he made verged on flailing, but some things needed the extra emphasis. "How could it ever be a 'good thing'? We don't like each other, we don't trust each other, we don't have anything in common except the fact that we should be trying to kill each other!"

"Best things always did have a bit of danger to 'em," Spike joked, but it was said quietly and the smile was fading from his face. "Don't you ever get tired of living according to what you 'should be' doing?"

"Fucking around with a vampire is a bit beyond teenage rebellion, don't you think?"

"Can't you just... I don't know, pretend I'm not one or something? Everyone else in this bleeding town manages it..."

Xander began to laugh despite himself. "It's a bit hard to pretend you're normal when you open beers with your extremely fangy teeth, Spike."

The vampire looked vaguely sheepish. "Yeah, well..."

"Besides. I'm not gonna just up and forget about the fact that you kill –"

Spike suddenly stabbed a finger into the air, eyes gleaming as he leaned forward. "Ah! No! Told you I was going on a new diet, didn't I? I've been a good vamp, me."

Xander raised an eyebrow. "You expect me to believe you haven't been biting anyone?"

"...Well, now, didn't exactly say that."

"Knew it."

Spike slouched backwards in the chair, sighing heavily. "This the thanks I get for trying, is it? Might just decide I can't be arsed putting the effort in anymore..."

Xander's expression flickered minutely. He turned his face away, staring determinedly into some corner of the room. "You do that, Spike. You just do that."

The vampire uncoiled from his reclined position with one of those disconcertingly fast movements, springing to his feet and prowling around the bed to bring himself into Xander's line of sight. "Know what you are, Harris? You're a fucking tease."

"How? I've told you from the start I don't want –"

"Yeah, but you still let me be here, don't you?"

"I don't 'let' you do anything. You do it whether I say no or not."

"You're a tease and I'm getting bloody tired of it!"

"Then leave me alone!"

They glared at each other, anger crackling in the air. Xander had sat up too fast, and now his side ached fiercely. Spike's cool gaze flickered over him knowingly.

"You say you don't like me, but you do," he insisted, voice low and slow like he was addressing some spooked animal. "I make you laugh. I make you think. I make you feel something, and that's what's scaring the shit out of you."

"You don't –"

"And maybe it'd be sensible not to trust me, but you do. You've been alone with me more times than I can count, defenceless, and I've never laid a finger on you. An unwanted one, anyway. You don't even go for a weapon when you see me anymore."

"That doesn't mean I trust –"

"I've never told you a lie and you know it. I've saved your life. I've fucked you and bitten you and you've come out in one piece. There are reasons you trust me, pet. Valid ones."

Xander could feel himself recoiling from the firmly spoken words. He wanted to flee them, pretend he hadn't heard them – because there was truth there, god help him. He stared fixedly at the covers, jaw clenched so tightly the muscle spasmed.

Spike eventually sneered. "Yanno, I was wrong. You're not a tease – you're just a coward."

He couldn't explain why he felt his cheeks burning when the vampire said that, or why he felt the need to defend himself. I don't care what he thinks, he reminded himself sternly.

"Oh, and for the record," Spike snapped, already heading for the door, "you can speak for yourself from now on. I like you just fine, actually – though for the life of me I can't remember why, right now."

The door slammed behind him and Xander blinked.