CHAPTER ELEVEN (Faces from the past)

*Authors note: I added another song, please don't hate me. Like last time if you want to hear it you will have to trudge on over to my website to read the story http://www.geocities.com/jkstovercater/taulmaril.html and once again don't forget to come back here to review. Thanks for listening.

Disclaimer: See chapter one for full disclaimer, added for this chapter the Song Every Rose has it's Thorn by Poison (slightly altered to fit the whims of the author, namely me J )

CHAPTER ELEVEN (Faces from the past)

"Of all the wankers I could have run into" Spike said shaking his head in disbelief. "You know what, just forget it! I'll just go to the Plaza and spend the two hundred bucks a night, I can afford it" Spike said mostly to himself while gathering up his things that he had dropped.

"Well if it isn't Hostile 17, is this any way to treat an old friend?" Riley said as he was casually reaching for the crossbow that sat on his desk and firing the bolt quickly at Spike. Spike once again dropped his things and turned sideways as he plucked the bolt out of the air easily and snapped it in two. In one quick leap Spike was standing before the shocked man. Spike snatched the crossbow and crushed it easily.

"Let's not make this difficult." Spike said using every ounce of will power he possessed not to reach out and rip Riley's blonde head from his body. "I'm just going to find another establishment to stay at and I will be out of town tomorrow, just stay out of my way until then" Spike said harshly as he narrowed his eyes and glared at him.

"Oooo, big talk from the neutered vamp," Riley said as he pushed Spike on the chest knocking him back a step.

"You really don't want to do this Soldier Boy" Spike warned as he planted his feet to wait for an attack.

"Not Soldier Boy anymore, have you ever heard the term Dishonorable Discharge?" Riley asked as he was reaching around behind his back looking for his spare stake. "Yeah, it seems, the government doesn't like my tactics anymore, called me too much of a wild card" he finished as he brought the stake out of his waist band and started towards Spike. "It's time to finish what I started, back in Sunnydale"

"I tried to warn you" Spike said as he grabbed Riley by his stake hand and twisted himself under and flipped Riley over his shoulder with Riley landing hard on his back on the floor. In the same movement Spike moved so that he was standing with one boot on the floor the other pressed on Riley's neck. Spike still held Riley by the wrist. "Drop the stake" Spike said.

"Wait a minute" Riley gasped out. "You can't"

"I can" Spike interrupted "now drop it" he said indicating the stake still in Riley's grasp.

Riley tried to struggle momentarily before Spike applied more pressure to his wrist, which made an audible popping noise as the bones started to crack. Riley screamed out in pain and dropped the stake. Spike removed his foot from Riley's throat and kicked the stake across the room and released Riley's now broken wrist. Riley scrambled backwards as fast as he could from his current position. "How? When?" Riley asked in shock.

"Doesn't matter, like I said I'll be leaving tomorrow, just stay out of my way if you want to live." Spike replied as he headed back to the door gathering his things as he went and lighting a cigarette.

"I heard about Buffy" Riley said through clenched teeth. "Are you responsible for that, if you are I will find out and I'll be after you"

Spike just turned, removed the cig from his mouth and gave Riley his signature cockier than thou look as he said "Buffy is dead and there is nothing" Spike said stressing the next word "you can do about that, I suggest that if you want to live out your miserable existence here with your whores you will stay the hell out of California and stay out of my way. The only reason you're not dead now is because of Buffy's memory but a guy can only be sentimental for so long. I suggest you don't push your luck" Spike said as he took another drag from his cigarette and turned his back to Riley and walked out of brothel muttering "pillock".

Spike then drove across to the better side of town and waltzed into the Plaza Hotel and got himself a room. A few minutes later after tipping the bellboy Spike shut the door to his suite. He took off his coat and tossed it onto the nearest chair "I should have just done this to start with" he mumbled to himself as he flopped down on the king sized bed and opened the drawer on the night stand retrieving the phone book. As he was flipping through the yellow pages he thought to himself 'a hundred years of saving and investing, it's about time I started using some of it, I have to remember to thank Peaches for setting that up all those years ago' "Ah ha!" he said aloud "that's where she'll be" he said flipping the book shut and grabbing his cooler and putting the contents into the mini-bar save one carton which he put in the microwave just above the refrigerator and hit the start button. 'After dinner' Spike thought sadly 'I'll find her' the realization of what he was really here to do was starting to sink in.

. . . . . .

Spike was walking in the shadows in an alley behind a nightclub called Diablo El Bailar (Dancing Devil). He spotted the back entrance of the club and quietly let himself in and made his way to the interior of the club. It didn't take long for Spike to spot Drusilla. She was slow dancing with someone in the middle of the dance floor while everyone else in the club was hopping around to a funky Latin beat. Spike took a seat in the very back of the club in the darkness where he wouldn't be spotted to watch, he needed to follow her back to wherever she was staying. She spun around gracefully to the music as she turned Spike noticed that her dance partner wasn't exactly an active participant in the dancing, the poor sap was already dead. His pale head lolled to the side exposing two holes and a small trickle of blood as Drusilla continue to spin.

A waitress approached the table where Spike sat and asked "Puedo conseguirle cualquier cosa?" (Can I get you anything?)

"Sí tráigame una cerveza" (Yeah, bring me a beer) Spike said handing the woman a few bills his eyes never leaving the dancing vampiress. The waitress nodded and headed to the bar and returned quickly with a cheap bottle of beer and handed it to Spike who mumbled "Gracias". He slowly nursed his beer and watched Dru dance with the corpse, unsure of how much time had passed since he arrived because he was lost in memories of yesteryear. Suddenly Drusilla lost interest in her partner and let him slide silently to the floor. She moved slowly towards the bar in a way that made her look like she was almost floating. At the bar she slipped her arms around a tall dark haired vampire and kissed him soundly. Spike slowly got up and got closer so that he could hear their conversation making sure to stick to the shadows so he wouldn't be seen.

"Did you have fun my queen" the Mexican vampire spoke in a rough broken English.

"Oh Raul, It was the most fun, his blood gushed like fireflies and danced like angels" Drusilla replied "I want to play with my kitten now" she finished in a pout.

"Your kitten is dead mi nina" Raul replied "and we have plans for the American who killed Miguel and took over the business, remember, mi amor (my love). You wanted to bathe in his blood"

"Tsc, Tsc" Drusilla said waving her finger at the man in front of her "The stars say to stay away, I'm going to play with my kitten"

"Fine, I'll take care of the gringo myself, you go ahead and play with your kitten" Raul replied. "I will avenge the death of my sire" Raul said to the four other Mexican vampires as they headed for the front door with Drusilla floating along after. Unbeknownst to the group Spike was also following along silently. Once outside, Raul kissed Drusilla and sent her up the street to the left while he and his gang went to the right.

Spike waited until Drusilla had quite a lead and then stepped out of the club to follow her. She only walked for a few blocks but it took quite a little time because she kept stopping to talk to the stars or to dance in the moonlight. She finally reached a little abandoned hacienda and she went inside. Spike watched her from under the cover of a tree across the street. Not long after Drusilla entered the building she appeared on a balcony on the second floor still dancing but this time holding her kitten that had long since expired. A single tear slid down Spike's cheek as he stealthy backed away from the tree and down the alley behind him. Once out of her range of vision Spike broke out in a run towards the brothel swearing at himself the entire way.

After a few block of running he snuck up on Raul and his buddies sitting on a car parked two blocks away from Riley's establishment. They were obviously making plans and bragging about how they were going to squash the insolent human. 'I should just stay out of it' Spike thought to himself. 'Riley made his bed he should just lie in it' Spike thought some more as the vampires started making their way to the house. 'Damn it' Spike cursed himself before stepping out of the shadows.

"Tan donde es usted hombres dirigidos?" (So, where are you men headed?) Spike asked as he stepped in front of the group effectively halting them. He lit a cigarette calmly.

"Ninguno de su negocio, ahora sale de la manera". (None of your business, now get out of the way.) Raul nearly shouted, flustered that someone had the nerve to stop him.

"No hay razon mara molestarse, solo preguntaba" (No sense in getting mad, I was just asking) Spike replied shrugging before tossed his newly lit cigarette away and he drew back and punched Raul in the face knocking him to the ground. Spike then whipped out two stakes and quickly took out the two vampires on either side of where Raul had been standing. They hadn't even had time to register what was going on before their dust flew in the wind. The next two behind them had a slight chance to prepare as the one on the right tried to take a swing at Spike. Spike easily ducked under the swing and popped up behind the stumbling vamp to plunge his stake through the back of the vamp. Raul was beginning to get some of his bearing back and started to rise. Spike helped his assent by kicking him under the chin knocking him up into the other vampire that was still standing knocking both of them to the ground. Spike then reached into the folds of his coat retrieving the sword that Giles had made him bring. Spike lazily spun the sword in his hand, liking the feel of the weapon. As Raul and his companion untangled themselves and were starting to rise again Spike spun around swinging the sword out wide cleanly taking off both vampires heads in one stroke. Spike returned the sword to its sheath that was strapped inside his coat, shaking his head in disbelief still not knowing why he stopped them from killing the nancy boy, or why he wasn't killing him himself for that matter. Spike headed back to the Plaza, head down, 'tomorrow night was going to be a long night' he thought downtrodden by what he had to do, 'I wish Buffy was here'. Even the thoughts of dreaming did nothing to cheer him up this time. Once back in his room he quickly did some sun proofing and stripped down to his boxers and got into bed. He tossed and turned for almost a half and hour before he drifted off.

. . . . . .

"Where are we this time?" Spike asked aloud as he looked around. It was nighttime and he was standing in a grove of trees. "Buffy?" Spike asked hopefully still looking around and this time spotting a light coming from the west so he started walking towards it. When he reached the edge of the woods he saw her. Buffy was sitting on a blanket in a clearing next to a small campfire. She was wearing white shorts and a white tank top and was holding his guitar and strumming it slowly. She hadn't looked up to see he had entered the clearing. Spike was about to say something to her when she started singing.

They both lie silently still in the dead of the night.

Although they both lie close together they feel miles apart inside.

Was it something they said or something they did?

Did their words not come out right?

Though he tried not to hurt you, though he tried.

But I guess that's why they say ev'ry rose has its thorn,

just like ev'ry night has its dawn.

Just like ev'ry cowboy sings his sad, sad song

ev'ry rose has its thorn

Listen to our favorite song playing on the radio

hear the D.J. say love's a game of easy come and easy go.

But I wonder does he know, has he ever felt like this?

And I know that you'd be right now

if I could've let you know somehow.

I guess ev'ry rose has its thorn,

just like ev'ry night has its dawn.

Just like ev'ry cowboy sings his sad, sad song

ev'ry rose has its thorn

Though it's been a while now

you can still feel so much pain.

Like the knife that cuts you, the wound heals,

but the scar, that scar remains

No one could have saved your love that night no matter what they say

Instead of making love you both made your separate ways.

Now I hear she's found somebody new

and that shouldn't mean that much to you.

To hear you tears me up inside and to see you cuts me like a knife.

I guess ev'ry rose has its thorn, just like

ev'ry night has its dawn.

Just like ev'ry cowboy sings his sad, sad song

ev'ry rose has its thorn

"Buffy?" Spike asked.

Buffy finally looked up from her spot near the fire. "Good you're here, come sit with me" she said while patting the blanket next to her.

Spike obeyed and walked over taking a seat "I didn't know you could play guitar" he said as he was staring into the fire.

"Oh, I don't, it just one of those all knowing dreamy things, Spike we need to talk" Buffy said seriously. Spike turned his sad eyes to Buffy but said nothing.

"Spike I don't want you to kill Drusilla" Buffy said flatly.

Spike's eyes go wide and his eyebrows shot up in surprise "But Buffy, it's the only way"

Buffy interrupted him "No, I don't want you hurting like this, it's not fair. I gave up my life willingly, I don't want to break your heart to bring me back"

"But Buffy you are my heart" Spike said as he took her hand. "Drusilla and I spent many years together but in all those years I never knew what true love was, I didn't know that until you. I'm not going to tell you that it won't be hard, but it would be so much harder to go on living without you, luv."

"I just don't want you to regret your decision and resent me later" Buffy said sadly "I don't have the greatest track record with men, they always leave me"

"Not going to happen here, pet" Spike said sincerely "Think about it luv, you died and I'm still here trying to win your affections." As he finished Spike pulled Buffy into his lap to cuddle her.

Buffy's eyes started to tear up "Just look at me, I was trying to comfort you and you ended up taking care of me"

"Well you better get used to it, I plan on taking care of you for a good long time" he said before kissing her slowly.

As they broke apart Buffy sighed quietly "Oh Spike" as she slipped out of his lap and laid down on her side facing the fire. She held her hand out to him "Hold me?" Spike slowly crawled behind her lying down and putting his arm around her waist. Buffy snuggled her back to his chest and threaded her fingers through his. Neither of them said a word and both drifted off to sleep content to be holding on to each other and neither wanting the dream to end.

Several hours later Spike felt Buffy's lips brush against his own and heard her say goodbye. When Spike opened his eyes he was back in his hotel room and he could sense that dusk was approaching. He sat up in bed, swinging his feet down to the floor, he grabbed his cigarettes and lighter from the nightstand and lit a cigarette with shaky hands "'Tis a far better thing I do than I have ever done before" he mumbled sleepily to himself as he tried to prepare mentally for the task at hand.

TBC . . .