A/n: This story isn't complete yet, but it's been a year and I promised something for this sequel. So, I'm going to be posting what I have written (which right now is five chapters). One chapter every three weeks, because you know I'm trying to draw it out so maybe I can finish writing and there's not another year long wait. Heck, let's make it one chapter a month. One chapter every month, barring finishing the story soon.

Once this story is finished I'm going to do full edits and apply them to the chapters I already have up, and then the whole story will get posted, probably with an update a week. This means that the chapters I'm posting now could change in the final version. The warnings below will also probably change because I'm not totally sure what warnings I need yet.

Warning this story contains:

Blood

Blood drinking

Violence

Physical injury (including broken bones, bite wounds and knife wounds)

Death (including murder, violent death and complications from surgery)

Guns (mostly non-lethal)

Electrocution

Unethical experimentation on sentient beings

Inaccurate language around mental health and mental health treatment

Medical procedures (including a CAT scan and references to surgery)

Cancer diagnosis

Sexual relations

Mild swearing ("bloody", "hell", "bitch")

Chapter 1: New York State of Mind

Lucy

Frank Sinatra was right when he called New York the city that never sleeps. As Lucy walked down Greenwich Avenue, the city was alive with lights and sounds all around her. It was a warm night, so she wasn't getting many odd looks for her usual sleeveless, corset-forward ensemble. She got more appreciative stares from collage boys celebrating the end of the semester, either because they'd already had too much to drink or because she was wearing leather pants. The two men sitting at their usual table on a café patio gave her a wave. Lucy waved back. Mack and Julian owned a bookstore that she made regular visits to. They didn't point out her lack of reflection and she didn't ask about Mack's loosely attached shadow or the feathers that sometimes fell out of Julian's ankle-length coat.

Lucy smiled as she turned the corner onto Eighth Avenue. The demons in New York weren't as active as the ones in Sunnydale. They had more poker nights and book clubs, less trying to end the world. New York was a city where demons could disappear into the crowd. Horns, claws and trails of corpses drew surprisingly little attention, even if the police were more effective than in Sunnydale. Lucy had been slitting the throats of all her meals once she was done with them, and she knew other vampires and human-eaters had their own routines for covering up demonic involvement. The ones that didn't weren't around for long. Either demon hunters got them or another non-pacifist demon killed them before they could draw too much attention. There were very few who got the option to leave town after a close call.

The warehouse where Lucy and Spike lived was in an area less frequented by foot than the main streets. That meant that the kissing couple pressed against the side of the building could really only be the result of one thing. "William?" Lucy asked once she was close enough for a human to hear her without yelling. "What are you doing here? Who is she?"

Spike quickly got untangled from the willowy blonde he had pressed up against the wall and turned to face Lucy. "Hello, love. How was your final?"

"Easy. It was just history." She stepped closer to Spike and the girl—that's all the blonde was, a round-faced girl in glitter and denim—and crossed her arms. "Who is she?"

"Who are you?" the girl demanded.

"I'm his girlfriend," Lucy said.

The girl paled. She shrank back against the wall like she was trying to put more distance between herself and Spike. "I...I didn't know! He didn't say—"

"But you're not sorry, are you?" Lucy closed in and tilted the girl's head back so she'd have to meet her eyes. "You're thinking you'll go back to your friends and tell them what a bitch the hot guy's girlfriend was, but he was obviously more into you so it's fine." She looked at Spike. "What were you planning?"

Spike shrugged. "I thought you'd be longer. I was going to bring her home for you."

Lucy studied the girl more closely. Big eyes, pink cheeks, delicate neck, and she smelled like her blood was A-positive. Spike preferred O-type blood. "Well, she is more my type than yours. I guess you're forgiven for the illicit smoochies."

The girl yanked her chin free of Lucy's grip. "I'm not your type."

"Aren't you?" Lucy trailed her fingers down the girl's cheek and neck, down her body and resting her hand on the girl's hip. "It's been a while since we had another girl in our bed. You wouldn't even have to be with me. I could just watch."

The racing of the girl's heart was loud in Lucy's ears. She smelled of fear, mostly, and a sharp ache underneath it that was want or lust. "I don't want to be part of whatever freaky sex thing you guys have!"

Lucy sighed. "Your mouth is saying 'no' but the rest of your body is saying 'yes'." She stepped back, giving the girl space to run. "Go then, if that's what you want."

The girl made it five quick steps away before she hesitated and turned around. "Do you live near here?"

Her name was Crystal and she was a virgin. She didn't try to pretend she wasn't. Lucy caught her first screams on her lips and kissed her until they turned to moans. They'd had human boys in their bed before, her and Spike and Drusilla. Boys were easier to lure away but there was always something bitter about them. Crystal was all sugar.

Crystal didn't notice when Lucy stopped trailing kisses and caresses on her skin and bit into her shoulder, sucking trickles of blood out of the small veins there. Her blood was sweet and warm, and Lucy wanted to drink more of it but disposing of a body near where they lived was a good way to draw attention to them. It would have to be catch and release. At least Crystal would have a good story to tell the frankly (in Lucy's opinion) terrible girls she called friends. If Lucy had half of Drusilla's skill with thrall she would have planted the suggestion that Crystal dump those girls and find people to hang out with who didn't pressure her into hooking up with strangers and skipping classes and laughing at crude jokes about people who weren't like them. It was just a thought.

"Did you like that?" Spike asked. Crystal nodded, her eyes closed, still caught up in feelings. Lucy leaned over her and pressed a kiss to Spike's lips. If she ignored that Crystal breathed and her heart beat, it was almost like Drusilla was still with them. Almost.

Spike and Lucy walked Crystal back to the nightclub that was around the corner. Crystal's so-called friends were still inside, at a table near the bar laughing at something inane. Crystal nibbled her bottom lip nervously.

"Give 'em hell," Lucy suggested. "Or at least a shock."

"Yeah. Yeah, okay," Crystal said. "Thanks." She flashed a genuine grin before going to join her companions.

"Let's really mess with their heads," Spike said when all five of the girls conspicuously turned to look at him. He smirked and pulled Lucy in for a kiss.

Lucy sighed when their kiss ended. "I want to do more than watch." She pressed her cheek against his and whispered in his ear, "Can we kill someone first?"

She felt Spike smile. "Of course, love."