Chapter 3: Summer Nights

Lucy

Lucy stretched. Next to her, Spike burrowed deeper into the blankets and murmured something nonsensical.

"Get up, sleepyhead. We've got work to do," Lucy said.

"I'd never have sired you if I'd known you'd be such a taskmaster." Spike chuckled. "You need to have some fun."

Lucy sat up. "I've had fun. I've had a whole year of fun. New York was fun."

Spike lifted his head enough for her to see his smirk. "Only you would call university fun."

That wasn't true. Lucy was sure Willow would call collage fun too.

Spike reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Stay in bed a bit longer, kitten. Dalton and Disco Andy have been running things well enough, they can handle a few hours more without us."

That was true. Dalton had held his place as their chosen regent at the top of Sunnydale's vampire hierarchy, and he and Andy had kept everything from the suckhouses to blood sales to the tax on Sunday's operation at UC Sunnydale running smoothly in their absence. They were down a few minions, but that was to be expected with two Slayers and a potential Slayer in town. The minions left were the ones with more than one brain cell each who'd learned to keep their heads down.

"I guess you're right." Lucy moved, giving Spike a little push that ended with him lying on his back and her straddling him with her palms on his bare chest. "But I'm not tired."

"Would you like to remedy that?" Spike asked with a smile. Lucy responded by kissing him and curling her fingers until her nails dug into his skin. He growled.

Spike didn't end up tiring her out. It probably helped that she drew blood. Sire's blood was powerful. Better than any cup of coffee.

Lucy gave Spike one more kiss before they got dressed and headed upstairs. The minions had cleared out a while ago, but Dalton and Andy were waiting for them on the factory floor. Dalton was sitting at the table reading, of course, and Andy was a few seats away playing solitaire.

"What have you got for us?" Spike asked.

Dalton put down his book. "Returns on blood sales are up two percent. I took some books from Sunday's last haul that I thought Lucy would like."

Lucy smiled at him. "Thank you."

Dalton inclined his head and continued. "We lost ten vampires to the Mayor, but only two of them seem to still be walking around."

"We'll have to pay them a visit," Spike said. "Is there anyone else who had trouble following orders?"

Dalton sighed. "I made a list."

"Good man." Spike clapped a hand on Dalton's shoulder before turning to Andy. "What about you?"

"We got the suckhouses cleaned up," Andy said. "Profits are rising. It's amazing how many more humans will walk into a suckhouse when it looks pretty."

"I told you, honey not vinegar," Dalton said.

Andy waved him off. "Yeah, you were right, again." He grinned. "Don't rub it in."

Dalton smirked. "No promises."

Lucy held back a giggle. It was so nice to see the two of them getting along.

Dalton and Andy finished their report with numbers. They had twenty minions staying at the factory and nine more with their own places. They'd lost twelve minions to Buffy and Kendra. Of the ten vampires who'd ignored Dalton's orders and gone to work for the Mayor, six had been minions.

"You've done well," Lucy said. "The ones the Slayers killed, they were drawing attention. They're no real loss. You did warn them."

"Do you want to replace them?" Dalton asked.

Lucy looked at Spike, who shrugged. "They're your plans, luv. What do you think?"

"I think we can work with what we have for now," Lucy said slowly. "Everyone we've got left has enough brains to be careful, and we can always make more minions later if we need numbers. Keep poaching the ones left to rise alone though. That was a good idea."

Spike nodded. "You heard the lady, business as usual. Now go get yourselves some breakfast."

Lucy and Spike left the factory a few minutes after Andy and Dalton did. Spike lit a cigarette as they walked and blew out streams of smoke.

"Do you want to see what's left of the school?" Lucy asked.

Spike grinned. "That'll be a sight. Lead on."

When Lucy had left to go back to the factory before the eclipse ended, Sunnydale High School had still been burning. Two nights later there wasn't any fire left, just a dark, empty shell that used to be a building.

"The Slayer's boy did a good job," Spike said. "Doesn't even smell like snake here."

Lucy picked her way around a chunk of rubble that had been left on the sidewalk. "Was that a compliment? Did you just compliment Xander?"

"Might have been." Spike turned his head. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" There was a small animal nearby whose heartbeat she could hear. Someone, probably a demon, was heading to the beach on a rattling bicycle a few streets away. The mental voices of everyone for she didn't know how far around were a steady hum in the back of her mind. Then she heard the sound like a shifting of stones that Spike had been talking about, and another alert mind nearby that he definitely hadn't. "Oh, that. That's...Harmony?"

Lucy headed towards the sounds with Spike following after her. They went straight through the burnt out school, climbing over and around debris until they reached the place that had been the courtyard. It was littered with broken wood, chucks of concrete, the remnants of folding chairs and smears of dried blood. Most of the bodies had been removed. The few corpses that remained were buried under rubble that no one had gotten around to shifting yet. Most of them smelled of the beginnings of decomposing except for the one by what used to be the stairs. Harmony was digging her way out of the debris that covered her, looking less like a vampire and more like a statue come to life. Lucy and Spike watched as she freed herself and tried to dust off her clothes.

"Ugh!" Harmony said. "This is never going to come out."

"Why do you care?" Lucy asked. "You didn't like that shirt."

"Well, yeah, but it's the principle of the thing." Harmony turned and apparently accidently caught sight of them. "Oh hey, I know you. You're in Dingoes Ate My Baby. Is he in a band too? He looks like a rock star."

"I was in Dingoes Ate My Baby," Lucy corrected. "This is Spike, my boyfriend."

Harmony gave a little wave. "Hi. What happened to the giant snake? Did we win?"

Lucy shrugged. "The snake got blown up but you're dead so up to you if that's a win or not."

Harmony stared at them. The thoughts running through her mind made it clear that did not compute. Lucy sighed. She didn't remember Harmony being this dense, but maybe it was different now that she was listening in on her thought process. Devon did say that she was flaky.

"You're a vampire," Spike said slowly.

"Oh," Harmony said. She nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense. We were fighting vampires. What do I do now?"

"Whatever the hell you want," Lucy said. "Just remember that Spike and I are in charge."

Harmony frowned. "Why you? In charge of what?"

Lucy growled. Her face changed as she stepped towards Harmony and she bared her fangs. "Sunnydale."

Harmony squeaked.

"Are you sure you want to keep her?" Spike asked for the umpteenth time.

Lucy gave him a tense smile. "I went to school with her and I didn't totally hate her. It would feel weird to let her get staked." That didn't mean that she wasn't considering staking Harmony herself. The girl had been staying at the factory for only two days and she was already getting on everyone's nerves.

"You don't sound sure," Spike said.

Lucy shrugged. "She could be useful. We could send her to L.A. to annoy Angel."

Spike's laughter got the attention of the group of people walking ahead of them. One of the boys turned around and glared. "Do you mind?"

"Do you?" Spike asked. "Hang on, you look familiar. Do we know him, luv?"

Lucy looked at the boy and pursed her lips. "We know him. Hello, Jimmy. I'm surprised you're still alive. I went looking for your grave the other night."

Jim Drake, formerly of the Sunnydale High School swim team, frowned. "Who the hell are you?"

Lucy had to laugh. Of course he didn't remember her.

Jim's friends stopped walking and turned around to see what was going on. All four of them were UC Sunnydale students from out of town. Either Jim had grown apart from his old swim team buddies or they'd died during the last year. This being Sunnydale, they were probably dead.

"Oh, you're that bloke," Spike said. He studied Jim for a moment, shrugged and punched him in the face. Jim went down with blood leaking from his nose.

"Hey!" one of the girls shrieked. The two boys looked at each other, but neither of them jumped in. Funnily enough, each of them was thinking that they'd get involved if the other did.

Jim pushed himself to his feet, mentally cursing his glass jaw. He was lucky that he was even getting up. Spike definitely hadn't been punching at full strength. The blood in the air smelled wonderful. Lucy had to force her face not to change.

"You didn't have to hit him, Spike," Lucy said. "Appreciated, but not necessary."

"What was that for?" Jim demanded.

Spike bared his teeth. "You upset my girl." He turned to Lucy. "Do you want to kill him?"

She did, a little. She hadn't had the fun of killing Dr. Capson last summer since the (not literal) hell he was going through was far better than anything she could have done to him. Whoever had cursed him had done a wonderful job. He was in so much pain and it was delicious to watch. Jim wasn't as bad as Dr. Capson, but killing him could still be very satisfactory.

"I'd like to watch him die," Lucy said.

Jim paled. Lucy smiled.

"Freaks," the second girl standing behind Jim hissed. "Let's go, guys."

"You can't leave now." Lucy gave in and let her face shift into its demonic form. "The fun's just getting started."

"Dibs on the blonde," Spike said, referring to freaks girl.

Jim turned and ran. While his friends were frozen in horror, he took off at a sprint. Lucy grinned. Welcome to Sunnydale, where people are so desensitized to weirdness that they're actually able to run when running would be a good idea.

Jim made it a hundred feet before Lucy caught up with him. She dragged him into a handy nearby alleyway and threw him against a wall. "Still don't remember me, fish boy? I'll give you a hint, I promised to spit on your grave."

Under the blood dripping down his chin, Jim blanched. "We went to school together?" he stuttered.

"And you told our whole class we had sex, that I was easy. And then my friend punched you in the face." Lucy smiled. "I wonder how your blood will taste."

It was almost disappointing how quickly Jim stooped to begging. She hadn't hurt him much. But what did she expect? She already knew he was a coward. His blood was sweet with fear. She drank every drop.

Lucy was halfway through cutting Jim's throat when she remembered that she was back in Sunnydale now. Covering up a "barbeque fork stabbing" would draw more attention than leaving it alone. She paused for a moment, shrugged and proceeded to hack his head off completely. Call it insurance that he wouldn't rise.

"Having fun?" Spike asked.

Lucy dropped Jim's head on top of his body and wiped her knife off on his shirt. "Absolutely. Is there blood on my clothes?"

Spike looked her over. "Not a drop. Except..." He closed the space between them and ran his thumb over her lips. "There. Perfect."

Lucy smiled. "Don't you like me covered in blood?"

"With blood, without blood, without clothes..." Spike nuzzled her neck and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "I'll always think you're perfect."

"You're a hopeless romantic and I wouldn't have it any other way," Lucy said. She hugged Spike and breathed in his scent for a moment before reluctantly pulling away. "Come on, we have places to be."

Aunt Joy had left a thermos of hot chocolate and a bag of tiny marshmallows on the back porch. Spike poured the hot chocolate into the mugs waiting on the windowsill while Lucy knocked on the door.

The door was opened by a barefoot brunette girl dressed in a Wonder Woman t-shirt and boxer shorts. She looked at Lucy and raised an eyebrow. "You must be Lucy." She had a Boston accent. Interesting.

"And you must be Faith," Lucy said. "Nice shirt."

Faith didn't know if Lucy was being serious or not. "Thanks," she said. "Shouldn't I be killing you?"

"Shouldn't I be setting your house on fire with you inside since I know where you live?" Lucy smiled. "Mutually assured destruction, Wonder Girl."

The sound of footsteps in the house approached the door. Aunt Joy appeared behind Faith. She had a few more grey hairs than the last time Lucy had seen her, probably thanks to the two Slayers and one potential Slayer she was parenting.

"Hi, Aunt Joy," Lucy said.

"I'm gonna head downstairs, Mom," Faith said.

"Don't stay up too late," Aunt Joy told the potential Slayer as she walked out of sight.

Spike handed Lucy her mug of hot chocolate. "'lo, Joyce."

The three of them stood in silence for a moment. Lucy heard Faith walking down to her bedroom in the basement and Aunt Joy wrestling with not being able to invite her and Spike inside.

"How have you two been?" Aunt Joy asked.

Lucy sipped her hot chocolate. It would have been a little better with a splash of blood, but only a little. Aunt Joy made the best hot chocolate. "Good. New York was fun."

"You were studying the whole time," Spike said.

"Fun," Lucy repeated. "Remember Central Park?"

Spike smiled. They'd had several midnight picnics in Central Park and killed more than a few wannabe muggers (the two were not always the same thing). The best thing about Central Park was all that space. It felt like they could run forever.

"And there's this bookstore," Lucy said. "You'd love it, Aunt Joy."

They talked until long after the hot chocolate was gone. Aunt Joy said goodnight with a smile on her lips and a wish in her mind that she could keep all her children safe at home.