Chapter Two

A month passed by, and Spike wasn't any closer to finding his sire. He'd tried multiple witches, warlocks, and demons, and none of them were of any help. There was one answer they all seemed to have in common: "It wasn't supposed to be this way."

He didn't know what it meant, couldn't make sense of it, and every time he'd tried asking them, all they could respond was "you'll see in time" or "find Bane Windu." Unfortunately, Spike concluded that the bloody wanker was the only person that could help him find Dru. This meant he had to be patient and do whatever Bane wanted if he ever saw his dark princess again.

The sire connection he had with Dru had weakened, but it was still there, enough of a hold to let him know that she was still alive. That didn't mean she was okay. The rest of the mob could be torturing her or worse. He tried not to think of it much; he couldn't afford to let his emotions get to him. It wouldn't do any good to have the human half in charge; William was too delicate. The demon had to be in order if he wanted Dru back. That's why Spike only wore his demon face now. The demon was quicker, stronger, and had a better sense of smell and sight while in his true form. Most vampires never shifted into their human guise unless they were hunting for dinner, but Spike had always been different. He shifted in between the two often. As did Dru, so had Angelus and Darla. Some vampires say it had something to do with being a part of the Aurelius bloodline and seeing how ugly old BatFace was and not wanting to look like that, which was inevitable if you lived (or unlived) be the Master's age. The term "young and beautiful forever" was a myth describing vampires—even immortals aged eventually.

Weeks flew by, and Spike rarely watched the soon-to-be Slayer, leaving the task up to Dalton and Vanessa. He'd report to Bane if anything happened with her, but from what his minions had told him, the girl was just a basic teenager: school, boys, parties, cheerleading. His minions were annoyed watching her; that's why he gave them tonight off and watched her instead.

Honestly, he wished he hadn't.

Spike looked on from the darkness of a street corner, staying in the shadows as he watched the girl and her date enter the movie theatre. He growled as they did, his irritation becoming uncontrollable. He believed that this mission was a complete and utter waste of his time. He didn't care for Bane's ridiculous plans. It was also beyond insulting. He didn't know how he, William the Bloody, Slayer of Slayers, had succumbed to being a lowly watchdog to an insipid teenage girl. It was belittling. He was glad nobody knew what he was doing–other than his minions. If only Angelus could see him now, he shook his head, mentally telling himself not to go there, ever.

Besides, he had far better things to do with his time, like finding Dru. He didn't have time to watch a silly girl trying to explore her sexuality because watching her have her first date with a pimply hormone jock made him want to dust himself. Although he didn't mind watching Titanic, the movie the jock took the potential future Slayer too. Bloody brilliant movie. And the theatre was dark enough so nobody could see his face. He sat two rows behind the teenage couple. Had to stop himself from laughing when he saw the jock attempt to steal a kiss from her, only to fail and wrap his arm around the back of her seat instead. Spike sensed her discomfort and her lack of interest in her date, causing a wave of pleasure to move throughout his body.

Good, he thought, slightly amused. At least we will both suffer through this awful fucking night.

Three hours later, he was driving behind their car back to her home. The jock pulled up to the side of her driveway and parked. Spike watched curiously as he used his vampire hearing to listen in on the conversation.

"Thank you for tonight, Brian. I had a lot of fun."

"I had fun, too. Would you want to do something that could make this night even more fun?"

"... Um, sure. What do you have in mind?"

Spike rolled his eyes. Bloody teenagers. It was one thing to watch over the girl, but no way in hell was he going to listen to her shag the boy. He turned his keys in his ignition, about to drive away when his vampire hearing caught two words from the car across the street.

"No, stop!"

And that was all it took for him to cross the street and open the driver's door, pulling the pimply teenager out. The kid gasped and went to scream when he saw Spike's face, but Spike quickly put his hand over the kid's mouth before he could, silencing him.

"Word of advice, mate. When a girl says 'stop,' you should stop," he warned.

Truthfully, he'd seen his fair share of girls raped in his unlife (mostly by Angelus), so he didn't care much if this girl were, but Bane didn't want her harmed. He didn't know whether that included rape or not, but he wasn't going to take the chance. Not when Dru's life was on the line. No one would lay a hand on the soon-to-be Slayer. He could tear the jock's head off, but that would cause a scene, something that, for once in his unlife, he wasn't trying to do. Instead, he hit the kid in the head, knocking him unconscious and pushing him back in the car.

Looking up, he caught green eyes staring back at him, mouth agape and ready to scream. Spike used his vampire speed and put his hand over her mouth before she could.

"Sorry, luv. Can't let you do that," Spike said. The girl continued to stare at him in horror. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Although he would like to rip her throat out.

"If I take my hand away, will you scream?" She shook her head, no. Satisfied that she wouldn't, he removed his hand.

"Y-you-your face," she stuttered, shocked.

His hitting and knocking her date unconscious isn't what frightened her; it was his demon face. Interesting. She wasn't as airheaded as he'd initially thought.

He leaned in close and lowered his voice into a threatening tone, "You should get inside before scarier beasties than him," he pointed towards her unconscious date and then back to her, "want a bite of you."

She didn't waste any time running towards the house, but before she entered, she turned around and said something so quietly that if he didn't have advanced hearing, he wouldn't have heard it.

"Thank you."

When she was safely in her home, Spike returned to his car and waited for the jock to wake and leave before returning to his apartment.

After that night, he had Dalton and Vanessa continue their duties of watching over the girl.

It'd been too easy; he knew it. Too bloody easy. He'd been watching the Slayer (or his minions had) for two months, and other than the one night when he had to intervene on her date, nothing terrible had happened. It only made sense the Powers That Be had to fuck him over by doing this. It could be karma for one of the million horrible sins he'd committed throughout his unlife. It was a bad fate of luck.

Buffy Summers had moved to Sunnydale.

Vanessa had informed him that her parents had gotten a divorce, which left the mother with little to nothing afterward. Everyone in California knew that Sunnydale was the cheapest town to live in. And the deadliest. This meant that watching over Buffy had made his job all the more challenging. The Master ran the city. Batface had gotten out of the cave he'd been stuck in a year ago. Spike did not doubt that this was one of those 'events' Bane had wanted to happen before the girl was called as the next Slayer. Hopefully, that meant that his time of watching over her was ending.

To make matters even worse, Darla was here… and Angelus. He could feel their presence. He knew they could feel his, too. He'd wanted to stay far away from them for however much longer he had to continue watching over the Slayer, not wanting to see them laugh at how pathetic he'd became without Dru.

Bane had requested his presence today at his mansion. Spike had only seen the wanker twice while living in Los Angeles. He hoped this meeting meant that Bane had finally found Dru.

"Ah! Spike, come. Sit." Bane gestured towards the empty chair across from him.

Spike sat and drank down the pint of blood the minion offered him.

"I must say I didn't expect Buffy Summers to still move to Sunnydale, especially when everyone knows the town is run by demons," Bane started. "I like what the Master has done here. He and I are getting along very well. It's only a matter of time before the current Slayer is to be killed, and the world is without a Slayer."

"What about Dru?" Spike asked. He didn't give a fuck about this town or even killing the current Slayer. He just wanted his black goddess back.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I may be close to finding your sire," Bane waved it off as if it were unimportant.

Spike shot up from his slouching position in the chair. "Where?"

"Calm down, my friend. I haven't made much progress. The people who have her haven't made it the easiest code to crack. In the meantime, continue watching over Ms. Summers for me while I find your sire," Bane replied.

It took everything in Spike not to rip the warlocks head off his shoulders. He balled his hands into fists as he tried to reel in his anger.

Bane didn't comment on Spike's anger, whether he noticed it or not.

"Also," he continued. "I suggest becoming acquainted with your old friends again. I'm sure they are just dying to know how you've been doing lately," Bane mocked. "Together, we will bring this world to its knees… with your beloved sire too, of course."

Spike stood and stormed out of the room before his anger overtook him. If he heard one more word spill out of the warlock's mouth, he would indeed rip his head off. The day he had Dru back, the warlock would die.

The following weeks went by quickly. Maybe because there was more for Spike to do in Sunnydale than in Los Angeles, he still tried to search for others that could help him find Dru but had no luck. He'd made sure to give equal shifts between him, Dalton, and Vanessa when watching the Slayer. It wasn't easy. Sometimes she would barely make it in before sunset. A few times, she wouldn't leave the school till past seven, which everyone in Sunnydale knew was reckless. And since the school was atop the aperture of the Hellmouth, Spike sometimes found himself creeping through the hallways, making sure nothing ate her.

It helped that Bane had given him a hit list of people he wanted dead. It passed the time. Something about them messing Bane's plans up in the future if they stayed alive: luckily, he put addresses down too, so Spike didn't have to run around town finding them.

He made his way to the first house, hoping he could catch her outside. Worst case scenario, he'd set her home on fire if he had to. He was halfway there when he heard a commotion in an alleyway. Turning the corner, he saw a little blue demon with a horn sticking out of the top of his head huddled beside a dumpster and two vampires hovering above, ready to kill him.

Spike shrugged and continued walking, then stopped as the demon's description made him remember what breed it was. He could be of use to him.

Turning around, Spike walked back into the alley.

"Is there a problem, mates?"

The two vampires turned around and looked at him.

"None of your business," short and ugly said.

Fat and smelly sneered at him. "Why don't you leave and go on about your night before you make us mad?"

Spike shrugged and then hit fat and smelly in the face, sending him flying back into garbage cans.

The other vampire roared and attacked him. Unimpressed, Spike blocked every hit, toying with him. Not even a challenge, he thought. Bloody fledglings. It didn't take long to rip off the vampire's head. He turned around to fight the other, but the little blue demon was already on his back, beating his hands over the vampire's head. The little demon had spunk; Spike would give him that. The vampire threw the demon over his head and stalked towards him; before he was able to do anything, Spike put his hand through the vampire's chest and ripped out his heart. The dust followed.

The little blue demon looked up at him in admiration and then bowed down. "Thank you, Master. I owe you my life."

Spike smirked. Leyak demons were known to have devoted loyalties for their Master's. They didn't question or argue; they just did whatever their Master commanded. Earning the rank of Master to them was easy as well. Far better than minions.

"Stand up. What's your name?" Spike asked.

"This one's name is Amon," he replied.

Spike nodded. "Come with me."

He didn't want to waste any time. He didn't need backup, but he also didn't know precisely what creature he was about to face. Even though Amon couldn't fight a kitten, it was better always to have a backup. The two continued towards the first address on Bane's hit list.

Just his luck, the woman was unloading groceries from her car when he arrived. He could sense she was human. It amazed him how idiotic humans were. No regard for the creatures that hid in the dark. It was pathetic. He knew precisely when she sensed his presence because her back became rigid. She slowly turned and gasped at his demon face. The adrenaline Spike felt when people feared him was exhilarating. "Run," he whispered. And she did. He let her get to the front steps of her porch before he used his vampire speed and grabbed her, throwing her into the lawn. He laughed evilly as she tried to crawl away, having hurt her leg from the fall. Bending down, he grabbed her by the neck and lifted her into the air. With a roar, he tore into her neck–none too gently–and drank until he felt her life slip away. He threw her dead body on the ground. The good thing about Sunnydale is everyone ignored dead bodies with fang marks.

Amon clapped happily. "Fantastic job, Master!"

Spike looked down at the list Bane had given him and took a pen out from his coat pocket. He drew a line through the first name on the paper.

Margaret "Maggie" Walsh