It was 10:30 on a Friday night in Los Angeles, and the Whisky a Go-Go was
packed to capacity. Amid the throng of bodies was a pair of lonely hearts
trying desperately to enjoy themselves. The girl wore a leather mini with
knee high boots and thigh high stockings, with a white silk blouse to top
it off. Her hair, shorter than she normally kept it, was still blonde, but
her brown roots had been showing for weeks. A few months ago, she would
have cared, but now, now was a different story. Her companion looked the
same as usual. He wore his trademark leather duster, covering a blood red
silk shirt with black pinstripes, beneath that a black tee shirt. He
sported black Levi's 501 jeans, bloused into a pair of old style military
issue combat boots. His bleached platinum blond hair was still
immaculately colored, but the style was slightly different. Instead of
slicked back, it was tousled, allowing his natural curls to show through.
He reached into his duster pocket and retrieved his Marlboros and Zippo.
As he put a smoke between his lips and prepared to light it, a bouncer
approached him.
"Hey, you can't smoke that in here! County Ordinance!" the bouncer exclaimed over the music.
"Bugger off, you bleedin' ponce!" replied Spike as he lit his cigarette. The bouncer started to reach toward the smoke, when he was suddenly stopped by Buffy. "I'm pretty sure he told you to get lost", she said, letting a little bit of her Slayer strength come through.
"Actually, I said bugger off, but th' meanin's th' same."
"Whatever. Go away, before he hurts you", Buffy said, pushing the bouncer away. The bouncer retreated quickly, trying to restore feeling in his arm. Spike looked to Buffy with an amused look on his face.
"What?"
"I'm certain I would've killed th' git, luv", he said, an evil grin spreading across his face.
"Nope, wouldn't have happened."
"And why is that, Slayer?"
"I would've stopped you like I always do. And don't call me that. It's not who I am anymore."
"Right, I forgot. So sorry, 'Anne'. Didn't mean to drag up old bones."
Buffy sighed. She couldn't win with Spike. He wouldn't even alter his appearance or change his name, to help them blend in, to stay out of the spotlight. No, Spike craved the attention. He knew full well that he couldn't smoke in the Whisky or any other LA club. He did it just to get a response. It was kind of endearing, really. Ever since she became the Slayer, Buffy had become accustomed to being in the shadows. Even her choice of friends, while strong and supportive, were on the outside looking in as well. But Spike didn't look in. He kicked in the door, pulled up a seat right in the middle of it all, made out with the prettiest girl, flipped the bird to everyone, and did it with a smile on his face and a song in his heart. He was.charming, in a perverse, 'I'm a vicious, bloodsucking demon' sort of way. Still, he was dangerous. Which was why Buffy had resigned herself to spending night after night out on the prowl with him, making sure that he didn't cross the line. She knew she couldn't stop him from feeding, but she could stop him from killing. Which she had done on several occasions.
"So, pet. You ready to go? Or would you like to hang about some more?" Spike leaned in closer to her, standing almost right on top of her.
"We are so leaving, Spike. You keep baiting these guys, trying to get into a fight. That kind of goes against the 'laying low'. Or did you forget that my mother and my friends are no doubt looking for me? Because if I need to remind you what will happen if they find you anywhere near me, I will. It involves Mr. Pointy and a certain 'Big Bad' going poof."
"Poof? There's no bleedin' way a wooden stake would make me a Nancy- boy.oh, right, you mean th' other poof."
"Are you trying to annoy me? Or could you possibly be that dense?"
"Well.Yeah, definitely tryin' to annoy you. Am I succeedin'? 'Cause I can be a lot more annoyin'. Dead cert."
"God, you're infuriating!! Let's go!" Buffy grabbed Spike's arm and dragged him from the club. They'd spent enough time out, it was time to go back to Spike's safe house. They left in a hurry, not paying attention to their surroundings. If they had, they might have noticed three people following them out into the night.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The trip back to Spike's safe house was in silence for all of 3 minutes. Spike turned his stereo on, cycled through his CD's and finally decided on Black Flag!. As Henry Rollins' anger filled voice cut through the silence like a knife, Buffy turned to him and asked, in a 'sweetly pissed off' voice, "What, are you tired of Johnny Rotting and Joe Romano?"
"That's Johnny Rotten an' bleedin' Joey Ramone an' you'd best see fit to not be disparagin' my bloody taste in music! An' for th' record, Black Flag! was instrumental in the LA punk movement. Most of th' 'edgy' bands o' today owe their very soddin' existence to Henry Rollins. Man's a friggin' genius. An' it's a lot better than that 'bubblegum' crap I catch you watchin' on the telly. 'NSYNC*?! What exactly are they in sync with? Certainly not each other. An' the Backstreet Boys? Th' back streets o' where? Bleedin' Disneyland?! Puh-lease. Bloody Nancy-boys, the lot o' 'em, I'd stake my reputation on it."
"Uh, Spike?"
"No interruptions, I'm rantin' here. You know whose fault it is? Kurt bloody Cobain, that's who. He goes an' gets all famous, an' he goes 'Oh, the fame is too bloody much. I know. I'll off myself.' Yeah, good plan. Now all the twelve year olds are even more depressed, so they want cheerin' up. An' you know who's there for 'em in their hour o' bleedin' need? The bleedin' lollipop gang, that's who."
"SPIKE!"
"WHAT!"
"Vampires!"
"What about 'em?"
"There are vampires attacking that couple in the alley!"
"Yeah, so what? That's what vamps do, luv."
"Hello? 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' ring a bell?"
"Oh, NOW you're 'Buffy the soddin' Vampire Slayer'. What happened to 'Anne the completely normal bleedin' bird'? She go on bloody holiday?"
"Spike. Stop. The. Car."
"Oh, bloody Hell! There goes my reputation!" Spike stopped the DeSoto, then followed Buffy into the fray. There were five vampires, four male and one female, surrounding the frightened man and woman, but only one of them noticed the rapidly approaching Buffy. He started to warn his cohorts, only to receive a stake in the heart for his trouble. His exploding into ash alerted the others that there was trouble. They backed away from the man and woman, trying to figure out their situation. The man and woman stood right where they were, paralyzed with fear until Buffy shouted, "Run! Get away from here, now!!" Only then did they make their escape.
"Hey!" shouted one of the male vampires, who by his appearance seemed to be the leader. He stepped forward, game face on, eyes glaring. "Not only did you cost us dinner, you killed Armand! For that, you must suffer!"
"Oh, please. 'Armand'? Let me guess, you're Lestat, right? No, don't answer that, 'cause I think I'd laugh myself to death." Buffy strode forward, stake at the ready. "Okay, kids. Single file lines. Plenty of time to ride this ride. Now who's first?"
The lead vampire, apparently not too dumb, stepped back, allowing his cohorts to leap forward. The two males went after Spike, while the female snapped a flurry of kicks at Buffy, who dodged all with ease. The female snorted, then swung a roundhouse punch, which Buffy ducked, then moving closer, slipped under her guard and rammed her stake home. Not even pausing to watch the female dissolve into ash, she turned to help Spike, who really didn't need any. The two males spent most of their time getting each others way, allowing Spike to slip by and grab at a broken wood crate. Snapping off two pieces of wood, he strode back into the fray, pausing to put a cigarette between his lips. "C'mon, y' ponces, I'm right bleedin' 'ere!" he yelled, as he casually lit up the smoke. The two males, infuriated by Spike's lackadaisical attitude towards them, charged as one. Their mistake, for as they charged, Spike merely held up a makeshift stake in each hand. Not realizing their mistake in time, the two vampires impaled themselves with a look of shock on their rapidly dissolving faces. "That's th' problem with kids today", Spike said, taking a long drag off his cigarette, "so impatient."
The vampire leader began to back off, completely caught flat footed by what had just happened. In the space of two minutes, he had gone from a five to one advantage to a two to one disadvantage. He thought about his situation for all of a second before deciding that discretion was the better part of valor. He took off as fast as he could, but before he could get ten feet away, he was struck in the back by a crossbow bolt. He dissolved into ash as he ran. Buffy and Spike spun around, ready to continue the fight. Out of the shadows emerged three figures, the same three that had followed them from the Whisky. They were young, maybe early twenties, if not younger. There were two male and one female, all three Black, and they were armed. The young man standing in the fore, apparently the leader, wore a black leather jacket that was in immaculate condition, considering the rest of his attire. Beat up combat boots, torn and dirty oversized brown cargo pants, and a simple black tee shirt made up the rest of his ensemble, along with his shaved head and wicked looking sword. The other male wore a similar outfit, only his jacket was an old LA Raiders starter brand hooded parka that had seen better days. His hair, though was meticulously braided into cornrows that ended just past his shoulders. The girl wore similar pants, but with thong underwear showing just above the waistline. She wore a half shirt, exposing her midriff, and a lightweight black windbreaker. Her hair was a halo of soft curls, pulled back by a hair band, and lightened to a soft brown. She carried a crossbow, which indicated that she fired the killing bolt. She reloaded her weapon as the trio made their way towards Spike and Buffy. The leader was about to say something when the boy in cornrows stopped him.
"What are you doin', dog? Alonna dusted the fang face, let's move out and let the snowflakes forget anything happened!"
"Chill, Jamal. Did you see what those two just did? They dusted four vamps. Four. And they ain't even sweatin'. Least we can do is say hi. Didn't your moms teach you any manners?" The leader approached Buffy, still on guard but relaxed. "You got some fly moves for a cheerleader, girl. An' your boy there is pretty bad ass himself."
"First off, we're not 'snowflakes', and second, I was only first alternate on the cheerleading squad. Why did I just say that?" Buffy moved forward, extending her hand. "I'm.Anne. The guy's named William, but everyone calls him Spike."
"Anne, huh? An' your called 'Spike'? What, you play football or somethin'?"
"Nah, mate. I stick railroad spikes in people's heads fer shites an' grins. Y'know, fer sport an' all that." Spike looked at the man's stricken face, and grinned, waggling his eyebrows. "I'm jus' funnin', mate. It's a.stage name. Yeah. 'Cause me an' Annie here, we're in a band. Yeah, a punk band."
"Oh. Ha ha. I get it", said the boy, not really relieved at the 'joke'. "So, you're in a band?"
"Yeah, Spike and I are in a band", said Buffy, looking back at Spike with the evil eye, wishing that he could lie a little better. "I play the drums."
"Hell on th' ol' skins, y'know!" added Spike.
"What do you play?" asked the girl, Alonna, not believing a word she heard.
"Well I sing."
"Okay, that's it. We're obviously not in a band. I'm gonna shoot straight with you. We're a couple of nonentities just trying to survive in LA. Now, if you don't mind, we'll just move along. Let's go, Spike." Buffy began to move towards the DeSoto when the leader stopped her.
"Hey, you don't wanna share the life story? Cool. Don't matter anyway. All I know is, you two got some moves, and you know about vampires. That alone makes you straight in my book. We do what we can, killin' vamps and the other nasties out there in the night, but you guys, you could do some real damage out there. I've been keepin' my eye on you two for a couple weeks now, figurin' that you were some new baddies, the way you two trash nightclubs. But it looks like I was wrong. We could really use your help." He gestured to his partners. "Besides Jamal and Alonna, I got fifteen guys out there. And none of them can handle themselves like you can." He pointed at Spike and Buffy. "You gotta help us out. People are dying out there. And no one cares."
"Well that's great an' all, mate, but we got places t' go. C'mon, Sl.Anne. Let's go." He grabbed her hand, trying to pull her along, but she stood firm. "Pet? What are y' doin'? Let's bloody well go!!"
"No."
"Oh, bugger. Lemme guess? Are we feelin' that heroic itch again, Summers? 'Cause if'n y' are, count me out." He stalked off to the car, sliding over the hood and slipping into the driver's seat. He revved the still running engine. "You comin' or you gonna sing 'kumbayah' with th' Justice League?"
"Spike, you want to leave me and break your promise? Fine. But these people are fighting a war. Just like my.friends. I couldn't help them. Maybe I can help these people. I have to do something. I just can't pretend like this kind of thing doesn't happen!"
"Yes you can. You've been doin' jus' that fer two bloody months. What changed? Some vamps pop up outta nowhere, causin' a li'l chaos? Or is it th' Justice League? They bring up memories o' th' poor, pathetic Scoobies you deserted? That's it, innit? You get tired o' runnin' away? Wanna be th' Slayer again?"
"Yes. I want to be the Slayer. I NEED to be the Slayer. These kids are doing MY job while I wallow in self pity. Well, I'm done wallowing. It's time to get back on the wagon."
"Oh, Bloody Hell! That's jus' great! An' what about me? Did y' think 'bout that, luv? Am I jus' supposed t' up an' go all white hat, become another soddin' poofter, like Angelus?"
"No, Spike. You don't have to do anything but respect my decision. I'd like you to stay with me. We've got a lot of history, especially over the last two months. But I won't try to make you deny your nature." Buffy walked over to the car, opening the passenger door. She sat on the seat. The three vampire hunters looked at the two in the car with a shared look of confusion.
"Hey, you guys got some issues to sort out. We gots to go. If you wanna hook up later, I'll be at a karaoke bar downtown. It's called Caritas. Can't miss it. By the way, she's Alonna, he's Jamal, and I'm Gunn. Nice to meet you. Later." The trio walked away, discussing what had just gone on.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The two lost souls in the black DeSoto stared at each other in silence. Neither wanted to say a word, for fear of violence. Finally, Spike spoke.
"You aren't ready for what this town will throw at you, Slayer. It's dark, an' scary, an' ."
"What, and Sunnydale was a paradise? C'mon, Spike. I need to do this. These kids need me, and they need you too."
"Oh, no. Y' seem t' forget, Slayer. I'm a big, nasty vampire. Evil, remember? They're walking happy meals t' me. I don't care if they need me. I need lunch, do they come runnin', satin' 'Here Spike, feed on me!'? No! So why would I give two shites 'bout what they need?"
"You care about what I need."
"No, I don't. We 'ad a bloody deal. We took th' most important part o' our lives from each other, so we agreed t' stick together fer a while. A couple o' months, if I recall. Never once did I say I wanted t' be yer soddin' bosom buddy. It's been a couple o' months, an' it looks like y' got yourself a new raison d'etre. Y' don't need me. An' I sure as Hell don't need t' be killin' my own kind. Think o' what would happen t' my reputation. Bad enough what happened in Sunnyhell, don't need it followin' me down here."
"Spike, that's crap. You don't care what anyone thinks of you. You've never cared! What happened to 'Oh, I'm th' Big Bad. Ain't no one tellin' me what t' soddin' do.'? You know most of the nasties out there want to see this world burn. That means no more happy meals, no more Leicester Square, no more anything! Those kids can't stop every creep, vamp and boogieman out there. Hell, even with me helping them, they don't stand a chance. You could make a difference. You could leave your mark on this world. Angel needed to get his soul back to want to save the world. You could do it to spite everyone. Help me and it'll be like spitting in the face of authority. You'd be the rebel you always say you are. Help me. Be the Big Bad. Be a hero. Be MY hero." She looked at him with tears in her eyes. She needed him to stay with her. She knew she needed to save lives. She had to be the Slayer. She had to be the Champion of mankind again, but she needed a champion of her own to help her deal.
Spike looked at her intently. He studied her pained face, looking for that vibrant, powerful force of nature he had fought all those months ago at the high school.
"Well, Spike? What's it gonna be? Leave me and be just another vampire, or stay, fight the good fight, and be something special?"
"Bollocks."
"I'm sorry, I left my bad English translation dictionary in my other imaginary purse. Could you tell me when 'bollocks' became a yes or no answer?"
"You're full o' shite, an' y' know it, Summers. Don't lay all that 'be a hero, save th' world' crap on me. You want me t' stick around, tell me why. An' I want th' bleedin' truth, not some cockamamie Savior riff, 'cause I don't wanna hear it!"
Buffy gaped at Spike, not knowing what to say. He called her bluff. He had no aspirations of heroism, and she knew it. She just needed him. But how to say that to him, that was the problem.
"Well? I'm bloody waitin', Slayer. Convince me. Tell me why I should turn my back on my kind, an' help you kill th' lot o' 'em. Anytime now. Sun'll be up in a five hours, an' I would like t' be in th' safe house by then. D' ya even 'ave an answer? No, I wager y' don't."
"I DO!" Buffy began to cry even harder. Loud sobs came choking forth from her, almost making her convulse. Even then, she was shaking. It was like when Angel was gone all over again. Angel. All over again. Realization came across Spike like a shadow, darkening his features.
"He'd want you to keep fightin', wouldn't he?" Buffy nodded. "It's what THEY'D want to, innit?" Another nod. "But you can't do it, not alone, not like this?" Another nod. "An' since you can't do it alone, you figure that 'Hey, Spike's not doin' much but beatin' up bouncers', well, actually, you've been beatin' up th' bouncers, but I've been startin' th' flamin' fights, but I digress. You figure that I'm not doin' any o' th' bad nasty stuff that vamps do, I've been drinkin' pig's blood, or what I can nick from blood banks, an' not killin' people, so maybe I had some epiphany, jus' woke up one night an' said 'I wanna be good for th' Slayer.'? Well, no such luck, pet. I'm still evil, jus' layin' low. An' I've been doin' that for your sake, not mine. If it was jus' me, I'd be runnin' this town. An' those kids? Breakfast, lunch an' supper, right there. What d' ya think o' that?"
"I.I think.I think you're a monster." Buffy wiped the tears from her face as she regained her composure. "That's never changed for me, you bastard." She drew herself up, feeling stronger with every word. "You're a killer. Stone cold killer, and I keep letting you live. I should have staked you after what you did to Angel. Drusilla be damned. That skanky ho got what she deserved. And you know what? I'm NOT sorry she's dead. I'm happy! I'm so ecstatic that I got some sweet revenge for Kendra. SHE didn't deserve to die, especially how she died. It wasn't fair, which as far as I can see is your ONLY redeeming value, your fairness. I should've staked you and been done with the whole damn Order of Aurelius! Then I should've just gone home, got grounded by my mother, and gotten ON with my life! But NO! I get so traumatized by the fact that the only man I've ever really loved is gone forever, that I shack up with his psychotic grandson! And now, I'm so screwed up, I go and try to convince you to become a good guy, a HERO, just so I make believe that I have everything I gave up! I'm sick and pathetic! I'm.I'm just LIKE YOU!"
"Right then. Shall we go?"
"WHERE!?"
"To that karaoke bar th' kid was talkin' 'bout. What was his name? Gunn. He said t' meet 'im at Caritas once we dealt with our issues. An' I think we did."
"What are you doing?"
"I'm gonna help you."
"Help me what?"
"KILL BLEEDIN' VAMPIRES! What else would I be doin' goin' with you to that place? Singin'?"
"But you said."
"I told you t' convince me. An' y' did."
"But.your reputation? What about all that stuff you said to me?"
"I don't care what anyone thinks o' me. Y' hit that one right one th' head there. But I wanted you t' know why y' wanted t' do this. For real an' all that. You are in a real bad place in yer life. You haven't grieved. Y' jus' kept everythin' all bottled up. That's not healthy an' I think y' got a lot o' what's been weighin' y' down off o' yer chest. You understand that I'm not doin' this for me. I'm doin' this for you. I've made my peace with Dru bein' gone. Now, maybe you can do th' same for th' poof."
"I don't understand."
"You will. Jus' give it time. Now, let's go see a man 'bout some vampire slayin', shall we?"
"Alright. But I want you to know, this isn't over. We have a lot to talk about."
"It'll keep 'til tomorrow. Now, fasten yer seat belt."
"You're a strange person, you know that."
"I prefer to think o' myself as 'quirky'."
"I thought you were 'EVIL'."
"Yeah, well, I am. Evil. An' quirky. An' devilishly 'andsome, if I say so myself."
"Strange."
To Be Continued.
"Hey, you can't smoke that in here! County Ordinance!" the bouncer exclaimed over the music.
"Bugger off, you bleedin' ponce!" replied Spike as he lit his cigarette. The bouncer started to reach toward the smoke, when he was suddenly stopped by Buffy. "I'm pretty sure he told you to get lost", she said, letting a little bit of her Slayer strength come through.
"Actually, I said bugger off, but th' meanin's th' same."
"Whatever. Go away, before he hurts you", Buffy said, pushing the bouncer away. The bouncer retreated quickly, trying to restore feeling in his arm. Spike looked to Buffy with an amused look on his face.
"What?"
"I'm certain I would've killed th' git, luv", he said, an evil grin spreading across his face.
"Nope, wouldn't have happened."
"And why is that, Slayer?"
"I would've stopped you like I always do. And don't call me that. It's not who I am anymore."
"Right, I forgot. So sorry, 'Anne'. Didn't mean to drag up old bones."
Buffy sighed. She couldn't win with Spike. He wouldn't even alter his appearance or change his name, to help them blend in, to stay out of the spotlight. No, Spike craved the attention. He knew full well that he couldn't smoke in the Whisky or any other LA club. He did it just to get a response. It was kind of endearing, really. Ever since she became the Slayer, Buffy had become accustomed to being in the shadows. Even her choice of friends, while strong and supportive, were on the outside looking in as well. But Spike didn't look in. He kicked in the door, pulled up a seat right in the middle of it all, made out with the prettiest girl, flipped the bird to everyone, and did it with a smile on his face and a song in his heart. He was.charming, in a perverse, 'I'm a vicious, bloodsucking demon' sort of way. Still, he was dangerous. Which was why Buffy had resigned herself to spending night after night out on the prowl with him, making sure that he didn't cross the line. She knew she couldn't stop him from feeding, but she could stop him from killing. Which she had done on several occasions.
"So, pet. You ready to go? Or would you like to hang about some more?" Spike leaned in closer to her, standing almost right on top of her.
"We are so leaving, Spike. You keep baiting these guys, trying to get into a fight. That kind of goes against the 'laying low'. Or did you forget that my mother and my friends are no doubt looking for me? Because if I need to remind you what will happen if they find you anywhere near me, I will. It involves Mr. Pointy and a certain 'Big Bad' going poof."
"Poof? There's no bleedin' way a wooden stake would make me a Nancy- boy.oh, right, you mean th' other poof."
"Are you trying to annoy me? Or could you possibly be that dense?"
"Well.Yeah, definitely tryin' to annoy you. Am I succeedin'? 'Cause I can be a lot more annoyin'. Dead cert."
"God, you're infuriating!! Let's go!" Buffy grabbed Spike's arm and dragged him from the club. They'd spent enough time out, it was time to go back to Spike's safe house. They left in a hurry, not paying attention to their surroundings. If they had, they might have noticed three people following them out into the night.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The trip back to Spike's safe house was in silence for all of 3 minutes. Spike turned his stereo on, cycled through his CD's and finally decided on Black Flag!. As Henry Rollins' anger filled voice cut through the silence like a knife, Buffy turned to him and asked, in a 'sweetly pissed off' voice, "What, are you tired of Johnny Rotting and Joe Romano?"
"That's Johnny Rotten an' bleedin' Joey Ramone an' you'd best see fit to not be disparagin' my bloody taste in music! An' for th' record, Black Flag! was instrumental in the LA punk movement. Most of th' 'edgy' bands o' today owe their very soddin' existence to Henry Rollins. Man's a friggin' genius. An' it's a lot better than that 'bubblegum' crap I catch you watchin' on the telly. 'NSYNC*?! What exactly are they in sync with? Certainly not each other. An' the Backstreet Boys? Th' back streets o' where? Bleedin' Disneyland?! Puh-lease. Bloody Nancy-boys, the lot o' 'em, I'd stake my reputation on it."
"Uh, Spike?"
"No interruptions, I'm rantin' here. You know whose fault it is? Kurt bloody Cobain, that's who. He goes an' gets all famous, an' he goes 'Oh, the fame is too bloody much. I know. I'll off myself.' Yeah, good plan. Now all the twelve year olds are even more depressed, so they want cheerin' up. An' you know who's there for 'em in their hour o' bleedin' need? The bleedin' lollipop gang, that's who."
"SPIKE!"
"WHAT!"
"Vampires!"
"What about 'em?"
"There are vampires attacking that couple in the alley!"
"Yeah, so what? That's what vamps do, luv."
"Hello? 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' ring a bell?"
"Oh, NOW you're 'Buffy the soddin' Vampire Slayer'. What happened to 'Anne the completely normal bleedin' bird'? She go on bloody holiday?"
"Spike. Stop. The. Car."
"Oh, bloody Hell! There goes my reputation!" Spike stopped the DeSoto, then followed Buffy into the fray. There were five vampires, four male and one female, surrounding the frightened man and woman, but only one of them noticed the rapidly approaching Buffy. He started to warn his cohorts, only to receive a stake in the heart for his trouble. His exploding into ash alerted the others that there was trouble. They backed away from the man and woman, trying to figure out their situation. The man and woman stood right where they were, paralyzed with fear until Buffy shouted, "Run! Get away from here, now!!" Only then did they make their escape.
"Hey!" shouted one of the male vampires, who by his appearance seemed to be the leader. He stepped forward, game face on, eyes glaring. "Not only did you cost us dinner, you killed Armand! For that, you must suffer!"
"Oh, please. 'Armand'? Let me guess, you're Lestat, right? No, don't answer that, 'cause I think I'd laugh myself to death." Buffy strode forward, stake at the ready. "Okay, kids. Single file lines. Plenty of time to ride this ride. Now who's first?"
The lead vampire, apparently not too dumb, stepped back, allowing his cohorts to leap forward. The two males went after Spike, while the female snapped a flurry of kicks at Buffy, who dodged all with ease. The female snorted, then swung a roundhouse punch, which Buffy ducked, then moving closer, slipped under her guard and rammed her stake home. Not even pausing to watch the female dissolve into ash, she turned to help Spike, who really didn't need any. The two males spent most of their time getting each others way, allowing Spike to slip by and grab at a broken wood crate. Snapping off two pieces of wood, he strode back into the fray, pausing to put a cigarette between his lips. "C'mon, y' ponces, I'm right bleedin' 'ere!" he yelled, as he casually lit up the smoke. The two males, infuriated by Spike's lackadaisical attitude towards them, charged as one. Their mistake, for as they charged, Spike merely held up a makeshift stake in each hand. Not realizing their mistake in time, the two vampires impaled themselves with a look of shock on their rapidly dissolving faces. "That's th' problem with kids today", Spike said, taking a long drag off his cigarette, "so impatient."
The vampire leader began to back off, completely caught flat footed by what had just happened. In the space of two minutes, he had gone from a five to one advantage to a two to one disadvantage. He thought about his situation for all of a second before deciding that discretion was the better part of valor. He took off as fast as he could, but before he could get ten feet away, he was struck in the back by a crossbow bolt. He dissolved into ash as he ran. Buffy and Spike spun around, ready to continue the fight. Out of the shadows emerged three figures, the same three that had followed them from the Whisky. They were young, maybe early twenties, if not younger. There were two male and one female, all three Black, and they were armed. The young man standing in the fore, apparently the leader, wore a black leather jacket that was in immaculate condition, considering the rest of his attire. Beat up combat boots, torn and dirty oversized brown cargo pants, and a simple black tee shirt made up the rest of his ensemble, along with his shaved head and wicked looking sword. The other male wore a similar outfit, only his jacket was an old LA Raiders starter brand hooded parka that had seen better days. His hair, though was meticulously braided into cornrows that ended just past his shoulders. The girl wore similar pants, but with thong underwear showing just above the waistline. She wore a half shirt, exposing her midriff, and a lightweight black windbreaker. Her hair was a halo of soft curls, pulled back by a hair band, and lightened to a soft brown. She carried a crossbow, which indicated that she fired the killing bolt. She reloaded her weapon as the trio made their way towards Spike and Buffy. The leader was about to say something when the boy in cornrows stopped him.
"What are you doin', dog? Alonna dusted the fang face, let's move out and let the snowflakes forget anything happened!"
"Chill, Jamal. Did you see what those two just did? They dusted four vamps. Four. And they ain't even sweatin'. Least we can do is say hi. Didn't your moms teach you any manners?" The leader approached Buffy, still on guard but relaxed. "You got some fly moves for a cheerleader, girl. An' your boy there is pretty bad ass himself."
"First off, we're not 'snowflakes', and second, I was only first alternate on the cheerleading squad. Why did I just say that?" Buffy moved forward, extending her hand. "I'm.Anne. The guy's named William, but everyone calls him Spike."
"Anne, huh? An' your called 'Spike'? What, you play football or somethin'?"
"Nah, mate. I stick railroad spikes in people's heads fer shites an' grins. Y'know, fer sport an' all that." Spike looked at the man's stricken face, and grinned, waggling his eyebrows. "I'm jus' funnin', mate. It's a.stage name. Yeah. 'Cause me an' Annie here, we're in a band. Yeah, a punk band."
"Oh. Ha ha. I get it", said the boy, not really relieved at the 'joke'. "So, you're in a band?"
"Yeah, Spike and I are in a band", said Buffy, looking back at Spike with the evil eye, wishing that he could lie a little better. "I play the drums."
"Hell on th' ol' skins, y'know!" added Spike.
"What do you play?" asked the girl, Alonna, not believing a word she heard.
"Well I sing."
"Okay, that's it. We're obviously not in a band. I'm gonna shoot straight with you. We're a couple of nonentities just trying to survive in LA. Now, if you don't mind, we'll just move along. Let's go, Spike." Buffy began to move towards the DeSoto when the leader stopped her.
"Hey, you don't wanna share the life story? Cool. Don't matter anyway. All I know is, you two got some moves, and you know about vampires. That alone makes you straight in my book. We do what we can, killin' vamps and the other nasties out there in the night, but you guys, you could do some real damage out there. I've been keepin' my eye on you two for a couple weeks now, figurin' that you were some new baddies, the way you two trash nightclubs. But it looks like I was wrong. We could really use your help." He gestured to his partners. "Besides Jamal and Alonna, I got fifteen guys out there. And none of them can handle themselves like you can." He pointed at Spike and Buffy. "You gotta help us out. People are dying out there. And no one cares."
"Well that's great an' all, mate, but we got places t' go. C'mon, Sl.Anne. Let's go." He grabbed her hand, trying to pull her along, but she stood firm. "Pet? What are y' doin'? Let's bloody well go!!"
"No."
"Oh, bugger. Lemme guess? Are we feelin' that heroic itch again, Summers? 'Cause if'n y' are, count me out." He stalked off to the car, sliding over the hood and slipping into the driver's seat. He revved the still running engine. "You comin' or you gonna sing 'kumbayah' with th' Justice League?"
"Spike, you want to leave me and break your promise? Fine. But these people are fighting a war. Just like my.friends. I couldn't help them. Maybe I can help these people. I have to do something. I just can't pretend like this kind of thing doesn't happen!"
"Yes you can. You've been doin' jus' that fer two bloody months. What changed? Some vamps pop up outta nowhere, causin' a li'l chaos? Or is it th' Justice League? They bring up memories o' th' poor, pathetic Scoobies you deserted? That's it, innit? You get tired o' runnin' away? Wanna be th' Slayer again?"
"Yes. I want to be the Slayer. I NEED to be the Slayer. These kids are doing MY job while I wallow in self pity. Well, I'm done wallowing. It's time to get back on the wagon."
"Oh, Bloody Hell! That's jus' great! An' what about me? Did y' think 'bout that, luv? Am I jus' supposed t' up an' go all white hat, become another soddin' poofter, like Angelus?"
"No, Spike. You don't have to do anything but respect my decision. I'd like you to stay with me. We've got a lot of history, especially over the last two months. But I won't try to make you deny your nature." Buffy walked over to the car, opening the passenger door. She sat on the seat. The three vampire hunters looked at the two in the car with a shared look of confusion.
"Hey, you guys got some issues to sort out. We gots to go. If you wanna hook up later, I'll be at a karaoke bar downtown. It's called Caritas. Can't miss it. By the way, she's Alonna, he's Jamal, and I'm Gunn. Nice to meet you. Later." The trio walked away, discussing what had just gone on.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The two lost souls in the black DeSoto stared at each other in silence. Neither wanted to say a word, for fear of violence. Finally, Spike spoke.
"You aren't ready for what this town will throw at you, Slayer. It's dark, an' scary, an' ."
"What, and Sunnydale was a paradise? C'mon, Spike. I need to do this. These kids need me, and they need you too."
"Oh, no. Y' seem t' forget, Slayer. I'm a big, nasty vampire. Evil, remember? They're walking happy meals t' me. I don't care if they need me. I need lunch, do they come runnin', satin' 'Here Spike, feed on me!'? No! So why would I give two shites 'bout what they need?"
"You care about what I need."
"No, I don't. We 'ad a bloody deal. We took th' most important part o' our lives from each other, so we agreed t' stick together fer a while. A couple o' months, if I recall. Never once did I say I wanted t' be yer soddin' bosom buddy. It's been a couple o' months, an' it looks like y' got yourself a new raison d'etre. Y' don't need me. An' I sure as Hell don't need t' be killin' my own kind. Think o' what would happen t' my reputation. Bad enough what happened in Sunnyhell, don't need it followin' me down here."
"Spike, that's crap. You don't care what anyone thinks of you. You've never cared! What happened to 'Oh, I'm th' Big Bad. Ain't no one tellin' me what t' soddin' do.'? You know most of the nasties out there want to see this world burn. That means no more happy meals, no more Leicester Square, no more anything! Those kids can't stop every creep, vamp and boogieman out there. Hell, even with me helping them, they don't stand a chance. You could make a difference. You could leave your mark on this world. Angel needed to get his soul back to want to save the world. You could do it to spite everyone. Help me and it'll be like spitting in the face of authority. You'd be the rebel you always say you are. Help me. Be the Big Bad. Be a hero. Be MY hero." She looked at him with tears in her eyes. She needed him to stay with her. She knew she needed to save lives. She had to be the Slayer. She had to be the Champion of mankind again, but she needed a champion of her own to help her deal.
Spike looked at her intently. He studied her pained face, looking for that vibrant, powerful force of nature he had fought all those months ago at the high school.
"Well, Spike? What's it gonna be? Leave me and be just another vampire, or stay, fight the good fight, and be something special?"
"Bollocks."
"I'm sorry, I left my bad English translation dictionary in my other imaginary purse. Could you tell me when 'bollocks' became a yes or no answer?"
"You're full o' shite, an' y' know it, Summers. Don't lay all that 'be a hero, save th' world' crap on me. You want me t' stick around, tell me why. An' I want th' bleedin' truth, not some cockamamie Savior riff, 'cause I don't wanna hear it!"
Buffy gaped at Spike, not knowing what to say. He called her bluff. He had no aspirations of heroism, and she knew it. She just needed him. But how to say that to him, that was the problem.
"Well? I'm bloody waitin', Slayer. Convince me. Tell me why I should turn my back on my kind, an' help you kill th' lot o' 'em. Anytime now. Sun'll be up in a five hours, an' I would like t' be in th' safe house by then. D' ya even 'ave an answer? No, I wager y' don't."
"I DO!" Buffy began to cry even harder. Loud sobs came choking forth from her, almost making her convulse. Even then, she was shaking. It was like when Angel was gone all over again. Angel. All over again. Realization came across Spike like a shadow, darkening his features.
"He'd want you to keep fightin', wouldn't he?" Buffy nodded. "It's what THEY'D want to, innit?" Another nod. "But you can't do it, not alone, not like this?" Another nod. "An' since you can't do it alone, you figure that 'Hey, Spike's not doin' much but beatin' up bouncers', well, actually, you've been beatin' up th' bouncers, but I've been startin' th' flamin' fights, but I digress. You figure that I'm not doin' any o' th' bad nasty stuff that vamps do, I've been drinkin' pig's blood, or what I can nick from blood banks, an' not killin' people, so maybe I had some epiphany, jus' woke up one night an' said 'I wanna be good for th' Slayer.'? Well, no such luck, pet. I'm still evil, jus' layin' low. An' I've been doin' that for your sake, not mine. If it was jus' me, I'd be runnin' this town. An' those kids? Breakfast, lunch an' supper, right there. What d' ya think o' that?"
"I.I think.I think you're a monster." Buffy wiped the tears from her face as she regained her composure. "That's never changed for me, you bastard." She drew herself up, feeling stronger with every word. "You're a killer. Stone cold killer, and I keep letting you live. I should have staked you after what you did to Angel. Drusilla be damned. That skanky ho got what she deserved. And you know what? I'm NOT sorry she's dead. I'm happy! I'm so ecstatic that I got some sweet revenge for Kendra. SHE didn't deserve to die, especially how she died. It wasn't fair, which as far as I can see is your ONLY redeeming value, your fairness. I should've staked you and been done with the whole damn Order of Aurelius! Then I should've just gone home, got grounded by my mother, and gotten ON with my life! But NO! I get so traumatized by the fact that the only man I've ever really loved is gone forever, that I shack up with his psychotic grandson! And now, I'm so screwed up, I go and try to convince you to become a good guy, a HERO, just so I make believe that I have everything I gave up! I'm sick and pathetic! I'm.I'm just LIKE YOU!"
"Right then. Shall we go?"
"WHERE!?"
"To that karaoke bar th' kid was talkin' 'bout. What was his name? Gunn. He said t' meet 'im at Caritas once we dealt with our issues. An' I think we did."
"What are you doing?"
"I'm gonna help you."
"Help me what?"
"KILL BLEEDIN' VAMPIRES! What else would I be doin' goin' with you to that place? Singin'?"
"But you said."
"I told you t' convince me. An' y' did."
"But.your reputation? What about all that stuff you said to me?"
"I don't care what anyone thinks o' me. Y' hit that one right one th' head there. But I wanted you t' know why y' wanted t' do this. For real an' all that. You are in a real bad place in yer life. You haven't grieved. Y' jus' kept everythin' all bottled up. That's not healthy an' I think y' got a lot o' what's been weighin' y' down off o' yer chest. You understand that I'm not doin' this for me. I'm doin' this for you. I've made my peace with Dru bein' gone. Now, maybe you can do th' same for th' poof."
"I don't understand."
"You will. Jus' give it time. Now, let's go see a man 'bout some vampire slayin', shall we?"
"Alright. But I want you to know, this isn't over. We have a lot to talk about."
"It'll keep 'til tomorrow. Now, fasten yer seat belt."
"You're a strange person, you know that."
"I prefer to think o' myself as 'quirky'."
"I thought you were 'EVIL'."
"Yeah, well, I am. Evil. An' quirky. An' devilishly 'andsome, if I say so myself."
"Strange."
To Be Continued.