Jocelyn stopped in front of the building swarming with teenagers.
"We're going to the Bronze?" she said with a frown.
"Come on, it'll be fun," Anya said, taking her by the arm and pulling her towards the crowd rife with underage girls and college boys. "Buffy's training with Giles, the boys are off doing their thing, so this'll be our girls night out!" The bounty hunter grimaced as an already drunk teenaged girl careened into her, only to be pulled upright by her not as drunk boyfriend.
"Besides," her captor continued, pulling them through the crowd, "I can't risk showing up a demon bar. Not too popular there these days." Jocelyn died a little on the inside as they approached the bouncer. She'd always known that one day the ex-vengeance demon would back her into a corner and drag her on an outing. She'd just held out hope that the coming apocalypse would happen first.
"You live in a garage?" Spike said dubiously as Wood undid the padlock on the industrial door.
"This is my getaway," the other man responded as the lock fell open. He pushed open the door, revealing the yawning darkness of the interior. "I come here to unwind."
"Uh-huh," Spike said, stepping over the threshold. "A place to relax after a long of principal-ing? Let your hair down?" The door slammed shut behind him, leaving the two men in utter darkness. Spike's heightened hearing let him track the other man's movements through the room while he stayed rooted to the spot, using his other senses to look for traps. Buffy might trust the man, but that didn't mean he had to. Light abruptly flooded the room, and the trap became apparent.
Crosses covered every inch of the four walls, including the doors and windows.
"Bloody hell," Spike said, crossing over to the middle of the room. "What are you playing at?"
"I told you," Wood said, going to stand by the only piece of furniture, a computer desk, "this is my sanctuary. When you live on a Hellmouth, you can never be too careful."
"I think this is overkill, even for the Hellmouth," Spike said, watching as the other man turned his back to him.
"That's the kind of man I am," the other man said over his shoulder, "careful. What kind of man are you, Spike?"
"Never was one for self-reflection," the vampire responded, shifting his weight onto his back leg and sinking slightly into a defensive crouch.
"I think I know," Wood said, turning around to reveal gauntlets strapped to either arm. Spike raised an eyebrow.
"Oh do you now?" he said, mirroring his opponent's movements as the other man began to pace.
"You're a hurricane," he said, slowly circling the vampire. "You blow through life wreaking havoc and destruction, never giving a thought to anyone else" -his fingers flexed in anticipation through the metal covering his fists- "living only for the hunt and the thrill of the kill."
"Been practicing that little speech, have you?" Spike asked with a smirk, eyes never leaving his opponent. The two men stopped, having made a full circle around the room.
"Ever since you killed my mother," Wood, by the computer again, said as he put his hand over the mouse.
"I've killed a lot of people's mothers," Spike answered, eyes narrowing as he saw the screen come to life.
"You'd remember mine." Wood moved the mouse over the only song on the playlist, and clicked.
"Early one morning, just as the sun was rising, I heard a young maid sing, in the valley below…"
"You're here to kill me then," Spike stated as the familiar tune rolled over him, dredging the same old emotions- pain, rage, and searing loss- to the surface. The emotions hit him all at once, dragging him unwilling back to a warm night in April. Smoke was in his nostrils, screaming filled his ears, and blood was on his hands, but it wasn't enough. He wanted more, deserved more, and he lashed out to take what he had been denied.
"I want to kill the monster that murdered my mother," Wood said, watching as Spike shifted into his demon face and lunged.
