Rating: PG(to be on the safe side, plus being British don't know that much about US ratings, oh and one swear word)
Disclaimer: I'm going to university next month so yeah, I can afford to buy BtVS and all the rights to the characters. Not mine, I simply create havoc in their universe.
Author's note: Set in season 4, Spike has the chip but there is no Riley (woo hoo!). That relationship went wrong before it could get started (my universe, deal with it). Everything else should make sense. Though this is my first fanfic so that's unlikely. I wrote this when I fused the downstairs electricity (don't ask) so could not finish watching 'Ever After', that might explain the ending, ('Ever After' also not mine: big surprise there). Title has nothing to do with the fic but it is my fav song at the moment.
Summary: Set in season 4. B/S (yeah, I'm big on the details)
Feedback: R/R
'With the wind howling across the moor the hero leaned down to claim the mouth of our heroine.'
Buffy threw the book across the room, *and they all live happily ever after, yeah like that ever really happens*
The bang caused by the book hitting the door made Willow look up from her laptop, "Bad ending?" she queried.
"Girl gets guy of her dreams, blah blah blah"
"You don't like happy endings anymore?"
Buffy sighed running her fingers through her hair: "it's just…"
"You want one. Just because it didn't work out with Angel, and Parker was a poop-head and…"
"And Riley was too 'nice'" supplied Buffy *read: no chemistry, it was like going out on a date with a puppy………ugh, bad imagery*
"You'll find somebody"
"Who? And when?"
Willow's head turned towards the door "Spike"
If Buffy had of been drinking she would have sprayed it all over the room "What!? Will, I'm not gonna date Spike" *Though he's nice to look at* *Nice! Nice!, is that the best you can come up with no wonder your still single, sexy as hell's more like it!* *Who are you?* *You* *I would never think Spike's sexy* *Raised eyebrow look* *How can a voice look…never mind……..and shut up*
Willow giggled "No stupid, at the door"
Buffy turned
"Ready for patrol, pet? If you've finished debating the merits of dating me that is?" Spike drawled with a smirk.
"Shut up" Buffy muttered as she grabbed her weapons bag off the floor "'Night Will"
Moonlit cemetery (and the prize for originality goes to…!)
*I spend my life in what for some twisted reason romance writers see as being a romantic setting, they should spend time in it with a neutered vampire* *See they're right really* Buffy couldn't stop the blush, and silently willed for the voice, her… whatever to shut up.
Spike caught the rush of blood to her face and turned to look at her.
"You alright luv?" he questioned
"Fine, you're the one who is wrong if you go around asking stupid questions like that"
*Bloody hell, she's defensive tonight*, he decided to change the course of conversation before he ended up with a stake through his heart.
"What's with all the weaponry, pet?" he said gesturing to her bag
"Guadaros demon, Giles said he heard one was making a nest on the hellmouth"
"The Watcher has sources now?"
Buffy glowered at him for the jibe at Giles
"So how do we kill it, simple slice and dice?"
"Spike the thing has got three four inch claws on each of it's three arms, is like armour plated and has two flame throwers! Nothing about it is simple, why Giles wanted me to have some help on patrol, though I don't think you qualify"
"Shit….you meant a Kuadasa"
"what?"
"Not a Guadaros demon a Kuadasa, God your watcher must really hate me"
"Well yeah, you demon him….not. Why?"
"Kuadasa translates as Hell's Spawn, it's a killing machine, and I mean it kills everything, human and demon"
"How do you know this?
"Just do alright, don't survive for 120 years without knowing what can kill you"
"Then you go out, find them and spend your evenings with them?" Grinned Buffy,
Spike just rolled his eyes
A roar from the other side of the cemetery told them their prey was here. They immediately took off at full speed towards it, until Spike grabbed Buffy's arm sending her crashing into him. Spike gulped at the feel if her warm body pressed flush against his. Buffy took a step back and glared angrily at him "What the hell did you do that for fang face" Her voice came out more breathily than she'd been aiming for, *God how does he do this to me*
"How do we kill it?"
"What?"
"You haven't told me, luv. We got side tracked with the arguing"
"Chop off its head"
"You laughed at my slice and dice idea!"
"You said simple slice and dice; I was just pointing out th….."
"Buffy?" Spike asked at the look of horror that had just formed on her face
*He said my name, wow…* *OK, great you finally start to come round to my way of thinking but…BIG MONSTER, can we please not die just yet!*
Spike's head swung round to follow her gaze
"Bloody hell" he whispered
The 9 foot demon had come up behind them while they'd been arguing.
Spike saw the spark in its flame ducts and grabbing Buffy dived to the left just as the Kuadasa sent two long jets of fire at them. Rolling underneath to break her fall Spike yelled "Where's the bloody weapons bag?". Buffy snapped out of her stupor "I dropped it, I think I left it back where we were before"
They were both up and running before the demon noticed they weren't deep fried crispy bits.
"This one's slow" Spike yelled "Probably hasn't eaten yet".
"Which means it's really hungry right now, great!" Buffy retorted with sarcastic cheerfullness "we can be the entrées… wait what do you mean this one, you've fought these before?"
"You don't fight these things Slayer, you run" Buffy turned to look in his eyes and saw honest to God fear in them for the first time *We're gonna die* Spike seemed to be reading her mind *Not yet luv…. There's the bag"
Buffy grabbed her crossbow and Spike took an axe. They turned to see the Kuadasa gaining on them. "I need a weak spot" screamed Buffy over the roars of the demon. Spike's eyes were desperately searching for somewhere that Buffy could aim at that wouldn't be followed by the arrow bouncing off the creatures impenetrable scales. He saw the little spark in the flame ducts, the precedent to a jet of fire.
"The flame throwers" He yelled at her "They're unprotected"
The demon screamed in rage as the arrow penetrated it's flesh and it whipped it's tail round to send Spike flying into a tree where he fell into an unconscious heap at the bottom. Buffy stopped herself from screaming out his name as he fell. The Kuadasa was concentrating totally on Spike, it had forgotten about her. Allowing her to creep up behind it, picking up the axe Spike dropped on his way.
With mounting horror Buffy suddenly realised what the Kuadasa intended to do. The creature drew in a deep breath, Buffy watched in shock, terror rooting her to the spot. Then she grinned as relief washed over her, the demon couldn't flame her arrow must have done some serious damage. Buffy's smile widened, as she swung her axe at the creatures neck. It bounced off. *OK, no flame throwers, but 9 claws, a crushing tail and an impenetrable neck, maybe I could persuade it to sit down for a manicure to even the score up a bit* Buffy thought. She jumped over its wildly sweeping tail. She turned as she heard Giles' yell. Spike staggered upright just in time to see Buffy turn away from the demon's down crashing backhand. "Down" Spike screamed. Buffy's legs seemed to responded to Spike's cry before her brain even had time to process it, the Kuadasa only caught her left arm, instead of sending her crumpling to the ground.
Giles and Willow started chanting sending a huge cloud of shimmering green around the head of the creature. "Buffy the axe!", but Buffy was already halfway towards it,
"Behind much?" she retorted to Spike's yell ducking under the demons flailing arms, the spell Buffy figured was disorienting it, and hopefully allowing her to kill it. She swung the axe towards the creature burying the head of the axe itself in the back of its neck.
After letting out an outraged scream the creature stumbled to the floor crushing Spike beneath an outstretched limb. Buffy ran around the demon to Spike "Giles, he's stuck" *Oh, God. He's unconscious*, Buffy could see the blood pooling around the top of the Kuadasa's arm. Suddenly the demon began to melt down. Buffy had barely had time to register the thought that at least she wouldn't have to get rid of its corpse when Spike started screaming. The demon's remains were burning him. Buffy swiped her hands across Spike's stomach to try and remove the goo but lept back as it started to burn her too.
"Will, we have to help him" Buffy pleaded. The agony on Spike's face was shattering Buffy's heart. Willow stood over Spike's prone form and raised her hand's in the air, levitating the creature's remains away from him.
"Buffy are you alright?" Willow queried breathing heavily from the exhaustion caused by performing two spells so close together. "Giles realised you wouldn't be able to kill it with out making the scales around its neck disappear. He translated that bit after you left for patrol"
"Thanks Will, is he going to be alright?" Buffy asked turning her attention back to Spike.
"Buffy I'm sorry" said Giles "I didn't realise how powerful this beast really was otherwise I wouldn't have sent you out here".
"Giles it's fine, help me take Spike home."
"Back to his crypt?"
"NO! Giles look at the state of him can you take us to Mom's".
1630 Revello Drive
"Buffy what happened?"
"Hi Mom, demon run in, Spike's pretty beat up"
"Oh dear, come in, put Spike on the couch"
Buffy went inside and laid Spike down while Joyce turned on the light
"Oh my God!" she exclaimed, "Buffy he's burnt and he's bleeding"
"He got hit into a tree and then burnt by demon goo"
Buffy lent down and carefully eased Spike's duster off.
*Oh God* she struggled to contain the wave of nausea that swept through her at the sight of Spike's torso. His black t-shirt had three large tears across his abdomen. Blood was seeping from the skin torn by the clawed hand that had thrown him into the tree.
"Mom, I'm gonna need some bandages, and he needs some blood, could you call Willy's and have some delivered over"
"Of course sweet heart, then do you mind if I go to bed, I've got a long day tomorrow, you'll stay the night here?"
"Yeah Mom, don't worry, I'll make sure Spike doesn't bleed on the couch"
Joyce couldn't hide her smile when she turned at the top of the stairs to see Buffy tenderly run a hand through Spike's wayward hair.
Spike woke the next morning heavily disorientated *Where the hell am I?*. He blinked open his eyes, but quickly shut them again as the pain of attempting to sit up was too much. He extended his senses to try to work out where he was. He froze, it smelled like the Slayer *I'm in her house, what happened?..............Oh yeah the demon, shit that hurt* he thought remembering the claws tearing into his stomach. *I should feel weaker than this, she must have found me some blood,* he tried to push down the feeling warm fuzzy feelings that sent him. Something that had been knocking on his senses for the last couple of minutes finally got through, he froze. *She's here* He forced his eyes open and turned to look at the chair next to the couch. She has curled up with his duster over her still fast asleep.
He hauled himself up into a sitting position, fingering the bandages across his stomach. As he shifted so he could see her better, he assessed his injuries. His back and head was bruised, but that had almost healed. The burnt skin across his lower arms and stomach was healing too *Wait, burnt, when did I get burnt* "Slayer, slayer" he whispered, he wasn't sure who else was in the house, and it was only just after dawn. *Nothing, great now I'm going to get into trouble for waking her mum up* "Slayer get up" he called. All she did was snuggle down further into his duster *God the girl could sleep through a thunderstorm, and she's using my duster as a sodding duvet, when I get it back it's going to smell like her…….* He swallowed heavily.
"Spike?"
Spike dragged his gaze away from the sleeping slayer
"Hey Joyce, I didn't wake you did I?"
"I've got to go in early to the gallery" she said waving away his question
"Are you feeling better?"
"I'll be all healed by the end of today, nothing's broken, but the sodding Slayer won't wake up"
"She's not very good at mornings"
"Hey! I'm awake now anyway I'd be less tired if I hadn't been lugging your carcas back here" She exclaimed, glaring at Spike
"You could of just left me"
"Left you Spike you were unconscious and badly burnt!"
"Your hands are burnt too" he retorted
"Trying to save you" She returned angrily *God, he gets me so mad*
"What" he whispered *She tried to save me!*
Look of shock on his face made Buffy dip her head and nervously lick her lips
"The erm,…. demon melted,…you were trapped,….under, under it….it started to burn you……"
"Buffy?" he whispered, putting his hand under her chin to lift her face so he could see her "how did you burn your hands?" he asked seriously.
"Trying to get the melting demon away from you, you were in so much pain even though you were unconscious, I had to make it stop, and then it burnt me too, though not as badly as you, maybe it reacts with dead skin more or something, then Willow levitated the stuff off you and……"she was cut off in her rambling by Spike pressing a finger to her lips to silence her.
"Thank you Buffy"
Buffy's jaw dropped and her eyes widened. *Oh wow!*
Spike swallowed nervously, "What?" he queried
"You apologised and you called me by my name"
"Well don't get used to…." He tried to joke, but was cut off by Buffy covering his lips with her own. He pulled back shocked "Buffy?" he asked uncertainly. He was thrown by the huge grin that spread across her face.
"You did it again!"
"What?"
"You said my name"