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 Thirty Five: Scoring
xxx
Xander fell back heavily against the thin pillows, trying dazedly to catch his breath. This, he was pretty sure, had to be a low point in his life to date.
Dear god, I just had sex in a crypt. This is getting depraved...
The worn mattress springs creaked next to him as Spike arched his back like a contented cat, one arm folded behind his head. He was making that rumbling sound that was ridiculously like a purr – and not the least bit endearing – and without having to look, Xander knew the vampire would be wearing an expression of unbearable smugness. So instead of acknowledging it, he simply continued to blink unseeingly up at the damp ceiling while he tried to get himself under some semblance of control.
"So... Staying here now," he observed lamely, after a few minutes.
Spike snorted and rolled towards the edge of the rumpled bed, leaning down to root through the pockets of his discarded duster. Predictably, when he settled back, it was with smokes and lighter in hand. "Bit of a downgrade," he conceded, taking a slow drag until the embers shone in the gloom. "Not exactly the Ritz, but needs must and all that." He held the cigarette out in offering.
Xander eyed it thoughtfully for a moment, then shook his head. He glanced across at the vampire, trying not to be obvious as his gaze was inevitably drawn to the expanse of ice white skin on display for him. They'd actually managed to remove shirts this time, although patience hadn't endured much further than that and they both still wore unbuttoned jeans. Spike had a fresh set of cuts and bruises across one shoulder, and Xander could still feel the tingle of vampire blood on his tongue from where he'd kissed the spot with no small amount of enthusiasm. The memory caused heat to rise in his cheeks, not entirely out of embarrassment.
"Where'd you get them?" he asked abruptly, voice emerging slightly rougher than intended.
Spike looked blank for a moment, before following his gaze down to the small set of injuries. He grunted dismissively. "Got in a fight. S'nothing. Be gone in a day or two."
"Who'd you fight with?" A flash of strange and sudden alarm shot through him, because while he was pretty sure that the vampire had some weird, unacknowledged truce with Buffy – for now, anyway – that only left the Initiative soldiers or Angelus who'd have any vested interest in targeting Spike. He couldn't really decide which of those thoughts was worse, and winced as he tried to work it out.
But Spike didn't seem overly concerned, stretching out a little more comfortably and tapping ash over the edge of the bed. "Oh, some little upstart fledge down at Willie's. Wouldn't even have done this much damage if he hadn't taken me by surprise. Wanker..."
Xander frowned cluelessly. "Some random vampire attacked you? What, that how you guys say hello or something?"
Spike turned to look at him, dark brows drawn together with mild incredulity. "No, you tosser."
"Then, what...?"
The vampire shrugged with false casualness, regarding the ceiling. "Angelus put it around that I sided with the Slayer and a soldier. I'm not what you'd call well liked at the mo', pet."
Xander blinked. "Oh." Huh. Well that's just... Huh. "What happened to the vampire? Yanno, the one who..." He gestured vaguely at the half-healed cuts.
Spike smirked. "What you think? Dust." Slowly, his expression became a little more subdued. He shifted slightly, and moved the hand from behind his head to rest on his stomach. "Might have to stay clear of the bars a little while, mind. Don't fancy being lynched, if I can help it."
He must have known this was going to happen. He must have known before he broke with Angelus. And he did it anyway.
Xander blamed that unsettling revelation for what popped out of his mouth next.
"If you're going to be getting in fights with demons, you should make yourself useful and come with us on patrol."
Spike snorted with laughter and derision. "Oh yeah, wouldn't that go over just peachy? I don't think your mates would take too kindly to Hostile 17 lending a helping hand –"
"Uh," Xander interrupted sheepishly. "I didn't exactly mean an Initiative patrol. I'm meeting Buffy later tonight. We're doing a sweep of the cemeteries."
That got the vampire's attention like nothing else. He sat up, glaring over his shoulder at the prone human. "You're what."
Xander lifted a shoulder, unrepentant and unimpressed. "Meeting Buffy. I kinda wanna see what's with the big fuss about Slayers." And it'd be nice to prove I can actually do my job. It's not all about sleeping with/being kidnapped by vampires, despite what first impressions she may have been left with... "It'll be cool. We'll swap notes."
"Christ..." Spike shook his head, looking tired and vaguely horrified.
Xander sat up as well, swinging his legs off the bed and turning away to hide the small grin that passed across his face. He reached for his T-shirt, tugging it on over his head and then standing up to fasten his jeans.
"Might point out you're s'posed to be on sick leave again," the vampire drawled, watching him.
He held up his hand in a mocking scout's honour. "I'll let Buffy kill all the really big demons, I promise." Then, turning back to look at the other properly, the awkwardness hit him again. He fidgeted. The whole scenario seemed suddenly far too casual and civil and... mutual. "Right. Well. I better be... yanno, on my way. Never keep a woman waiting and all..."
Spike snorted, looking amused despite himself. "What? No kiss goodbye?"
"I... I..."
"Oh, just go, Harris."
Xander went. Quickly.
Spike waited until he was out of earshot before laughing.
xxx
"Hey, you finally got one! So what's the score now?" Buffy asked a couple of hours later, all innocence. "One to you, three to me?"
Xander grimly wiped vamp-ash off his shirt and frowned down at the mud on his jeans, muttering, "Yeah, well you try being locked in a basement for days on end without food and water, see if it doesn't throw your game off a bit..."
She smacked him lightly in the stomach as she passed, ignoring his wince. "Oh, don't make excuses. It was a week ago and you're perfectly fine now."
Xander narrowed his eyes and trailed after her.
There was an... odd working dynamic between them. If he had to guess, Xander would have said that the Slayer was enjoying the novelty of having company during a patrol. It was the most animated he could remember seeing her – hell, the friendliest he'd ever seen her. At first she'd been edgy, and he could tell she'd felt the need to look out for him, not trusting an average human such as himself to go up against vampires.
But he'd gradually convinced her he could take care of himself, even jokingly trading his military-issue stake for her hand-carved one. They'd hastily swapped back, though, not liking the change.
It had gotten competitive after that, and it had surprised him how quickly she'd gone from seeing him as a hindrance to seeing him as a partner – even if he couldn't quite live up to the standard she set.
Doubt any normal human could. She was... something else. As strong and fast as any demon he'd ever met, maybe more so. Vicious, too, though that particular character trait was in strange contrast to the lighthearted, easygoing, generally blond persona she otherwise exhibited.
"So tell me about the Initiative," she said currently, as they made their way along the cemetery footpath.
He shrugged. "I've told you already."
"Yeah, you told me why you joined, but what's it like? Must be pretty efficient. This is a Hellmouth, right? But I haven't seen one really powerful demon other than Angelus."
"They're... efficient alright." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "You should probably try and stay away from them whenever you go on patrol, by the way."
"Oh yeah? How come?"
"Because you're –" They both stopped walking and fell silent as a branch snapped somewhere nearby, but when nothing emerged from the shadows, Xander continued. "You're something we haven't seen before. You're... different. They're not exactly big fans of 'different'."
Her eyebrows arched. "Unlike you, huh?"
"Me?"
She grinned, gave him a knowing look. "Oh come on. You're out here with a Slayer, your best friends are witches, and your boyfriend's a –"
"Alright, alright!" he cut her off, somewhat desperately. "Point taken, okay?"
Buffy shook her head and they resumed walking. Xander idly fingered the stake at his belt, next to the tranquilizer gun he rarely used these days. "My boss would probably want me to recruit you," he blurted, apropos of nothing.
She gave him an amused, sceptical glance over her shoulder. "What? So I can spend my days locking drugged-up demons in underground cages? I'll pass, thanks."
"You sure?"
"Hey, I'd squish a spider but I wouldn't pull its legs off first, yanno?"
He stopped in surprise, staring at her, feeling his stomach turn over sickeningly at the unexpectedly ruthless image she'd so casually conjured. He remembered seeing the two vampires locked in together down in The Basement, to see if they'd fight. He remembered the holy water incident. Remembered everything else Spike had told him about what had been done to him. Suddenly couldn't get it out of his head.
"It's... not like that."
She gave him an almost sympathetic tilt of the head. "It kind of is."
They might have continued to argue the point except Buffy suddenly went tense and whirled around, stake held high. Xander looked past her, saw a flash of platinum blond. "Stop!" he ordered immediately, even as she surged forward.
Buffy managed to halt with the stake poised over the vampire's chest. Spike managed to halt with his hand around the Slayer's throat. They pushed away from each other, cursing, while Xander looked on with exasperation.
"Bloody hell, Slayer, take it easy will you?"
"Oh I'm sorry, what was I thinking? You being such an innocent bystander and all..."
"Come to offer my valuable services and this is the thanks I get? Nice, that is."
"Your services? What the hell do I want with your 'services'?"
"Ask him, it was his idea!"
They both turned on him and Xander flinched under glares that were remarkably similar for two people who despised each other.
"You invited the vampire on patrol with us?" Buffy asked, looking thoroughly nonplussed.
"He's killing demons anyway," Xander attempted to reason, feeling sheepish. "And... well, I didn't think he'd actually listen."
Spike sauntered closer, hands in his duster pockets. "Someone's gotta stop you getting yourself killed, pet."
"I could have done that on my own," Buffy snapped sullenly.
Xander frowned. "I'd like to remind you both that I've survived this long without either of you looking over my shoulder. Shocking, I know, but there you have it."
The vampire waved him off dismissively. "Look, I need to kill something. We going to go find a demon or should I just take a crack at the Slayer?"
Xander sighed and gestured for him to lead the way. Spike swaggered off into the night.
"This is so going to mess up the scores..." Buffy complained as they followed.