AGAINST DESTINY
Chapter Three : Still In The Dark
"Spike!!" Darius called out as he ran after the Ex-Vampire. Shortly, the Demoner spotted Spike with a blonde woman. He went up to them and froze on his tracks when he realized it was the Slayer that Spike had been talking to.
Buffy turned to face Darius and studied him. She put her hands on her hips and cocked an eyebrow. "Are you the president of the Spike Fan Club? I'm sorry but you have to wait for that autograph. I'm talking to him right now."
Darius shook his head quickly. "N-no. No autographs. I'm not part of any fan clubs."
"What do you want then?" Buffy asked, annoyed at being interrupted.
"Going to see Clem for a game of poker, we were," Spike supplied and made a look at the eighteen year old that told him to go along. The peroxide blond had decided not to tell Buffy about his little secret, yet. He would let her stew for awhile, get her worked up and then tell her.
"Yeah. Going to see Clem for a game of poker," Darius echoed and hoped he sounded convincing.
"Oh," she chuckled embarrassingly and looked dumbfounded. She waved her arm at the young man for emphasis. "It's just... you know, the clothes and all. Ha."
"Well then. Should get going," Spike announced and made a curt nod at Buffy. He motioned forward with his head for Darius to follow and turned around. "Night, Slayer."
"Yeah. Good night," Buffy replied in a low voice and watched Spike and Darius disappear into the shadows.
***
"Can't play poker," Darius admitted while they walked down an empty street, a safe distance from Buffy. "Only solitaire and asshole."
Spike rolled his eyes and spat on the sidewalk. "Not playing poker, you git. We're going to kick some demon ass."
"You sure? You seemed a little... not so okay back there."
The Ex-Vampire smirked a cocky smirk. "Oh, I'm fine. Better than ever. Keep your senses open for nasties, mate. Evil's afoot."
"Whatever," the Demoner shrugged and reached inside his duster. "Here. Catch." He pulled out two stakes and tossed one over to the older man.
Spike narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Darius. "Just what in the bleeding Hell are you packing in there?"
Darius laughed nervously. "Not much... it's just... you know, you'll never know when you'll become someone's dinner. Gotta be prepared."
"What kind of demon are you? That even your real form?"
"Me?! Oh... I'm a..."
As if on cue, the eighteen year old was cut off by a piercing scream from a nearby alley. The two black clad men forgot all about their conversation and bolted toward the source of the scream.
The leather wearing duo found a girl, about fifteen years old or so. She had blonde hair with pink highlights on her bangs. The damsel in distress was huddled in a corner, trapped by two vampires, one male and one female.
"There's our villains," Spike said and tightened his hold on his stake.
The two vampires whirled around to face who had come to disturb their dinner.
"We saw her first, Spike. She's ours!" the vampire man hissed, his voice territorial and possessive.
"And it's not like you can bite her. Run along now, gramps," the vampiress laughed cynically.
The Ex-Vampire took a step forward with a malevolent grin. "Make me."
Darius remained where he was with his arms crossed over his chest. ". . ."
With an angry growl, the vampire man darted forward only to have a stake run through his heart. Meanwhile, Darius had thrown his stake at the vampiress and hit her in the heart.
Spike let out a snort and shook his head in disgust. "Stupid gits," he muttered.
Darius slowly walked toward the frightened girl and knelt down in front of her. "You okay? No blood loss or bite marks?"
The girl nodded and smiled weakly. "Name's Cassie. Thank you... and I'm okay."
"It was nothing." The Demoner helped Cassie stand up and went over to Spike. "THAT was boring. Free kill. Wouldn't exactly call it demon ass kicking."
"Yeah." Spike shrugged in agreement. "But what'd you expect? Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum were just fledglings. There's better baddies out there that we could pound."
"Spike!!" a familiar voice cried out.
Spike and Darius turned around to face the owner of the voice.
"Slayer, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were following me," Spike said with a cocky smirk and an arched eyebrow.
Buffy's eyes widened a bit and opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. Yes, she had been following Spike. Why do such an act? She didn't know herself. What was it about Spike that made her do things she normally wouldn't do? The Slayer then closed her mouth and took a breath to compose herself.
"I-I wasn't following," she retaliated defiantly. "I saw you fighting vampires. Thought I should step in. It IS my job you know, being the Chosen One and all."
Spike fought the urge to burst out laughing. "You saw us fighting in the alley? And ALL the way from the cemetery? Bloody Hell, Slayer, your eyesight's getting pretty good. I better watch out."
Buffy felt her cheeks go pink and took a chance to change the subject. "What happened here?" she asked while she kept her eyes away from the Ex-Vampire's.
The peroxide blond nudged his head at Cassie. "This bird here was about to be dinner. Thanks to yours truly, she's safe with all body parts intact."
Buffy put her hands on her hips. "Since when did you become the champion of people, Spike?"
Spike laughed at her obvious frustration. "What's wrong, Slayer? Afraid of a little competition? Afraid I can rescue kitties from trees faster than you before someone could dial 911?"
"Don't flatter yourself," she shot back angrily.
The peroxide blond thought she looked cute and adorable with the look of incomprehension plastered on her face and the way her emerald green eyes shone with anger. "Hey, a little pat on the back for someone who just saved the day here."
Darius smiled to himself with amusement as he watched Spike and Buffy throw barbs at each. "I wonder if they've always been like this?" he asked himself mentally.
"Thanks again for saving me. I'll be going now," Cassie announced and started to leave.
Spike and Buffy forgot all about their verbal war and stared at the girl. Buffy glared at Spike for a moment and turned away from him.
"Let me walk you home. It's really late and I don't think you'd appreciate it if something tried to eat you again," the Slayer offered.
Cassie glanced at the two leather clad men over her shoulder. "Watch your steps on your way back."
The black wearing duo considered what the girl said for a moment and ignored it. They just shrugged it off as the usual Sunnydale Hellmouthy weirdness.
"What now?" Darius asked when Buffy and Cassie were gone.
"Night's young, mate. Got more nasties to kill," Spike answered matter-of-factly.
Darius said nothing and followed Spike as he headed toward the opposite direction of the girls'. The two crossed the street to get back to the graveyard. Before the men in black could set foot back on the sidewalk, they fell down flat on their stomachs, having tripped on a pot hole near the curb.
"Bloody Hell!!" Spike cursed loudly.
***
"Call another one," Spike ordered.
Darius knelt down on one knee while heavy pants escaped from his lips, exhausted physically and spiritually. "I'm tired."
Spike grinned proudly and sinisterly. It was mid afternoon and the two had spent most of the day sparring. When morning came, the peroxide blond found himself at the mercy of his soul and conscience. To keep himself from going insane, he had watched 'Passions' to keep his mind busy. When his favourite soap opera ended and having no alcohol at the moment, he had decided to go out to hunt down Darius and drag him to his crypt to spar.
For someone so young and who used a lot of Magick, one would think that Darius was weak and frail but he was quite the opposite. He was strong, agile, and experienced in fighting, a good warrior in general. However, to Spike's disappointment, he had beaten the eighteen year old a little too easily, six times in a row. For unknown reasons, he could predict and expect his moves with little effort. The peroxide blond knew how, when, and where his attacks would come and how hard they would hit.
When Darius couldn't fight anymore, Spike had him summon his devil dogs and flying demon monkeys, which he had all defeated with some difficulty. Now, the Ex-Vampire just beat his last devil dog and wanted to pound another one.
"Fine take a break," Spike scoffed and sat down on the stone sarcophagus. "You weren't that bad... for a kid."
Darius stood up and shot him a dirty scowl. "I'm NOT a kid!" he said stubbornly. "I'm eighteen years old, an adult by law. I could watch rated R or X movies and go to strip clubs if I wanted to and it'll be legal." He paused and then went on. "Oh... and I could also get a Visa credit card."
Spike chuckled lightly. The 'kid' had fire in him. He liked that. "So, Demon Boy, can you summon anything else?"
The Demoner stood up and plopped down on the couch. "I could raise a Sluggoth Demon but you wouldn't want a giant worm monster ripping your place apart, now do you? I could do sea serpents but it'll be pointless. Could also call a Vlakorados Demon, a dragon monster, but I don't have enough energy."
"How about a Minotaur?"
"Can't. Don't do humanoid demons, only beasty ones. They're harder to control and take up more energy. You'll just have to find something else to do."
The door then opened with a loud crash, which startled the duo a bit. Dawn came in and her face lit up when she saw Spike.
"Hey, Spike," the Key greeted happily.
"Nibblet," the Ex-Vampire nodded curtly and got off the sarcophagus. "What brings you here?"
"Got out of school early. Buffy said I could hang out here till five," Dawn answered and noticed the other black clad figure in the room. "Who's he?"
"A Demoner I met at Willy's," Spike replied.
Dawn went over to the dark haired youth and sat down next to him. "Hi, I'm Dawn," she smiled.
"I'm Darius," he responded calmly.
"So, Bit, what've you been up to?" Spike asked as he seated himself on the armchair.
"Not much. Me, Buffy, Willow, and Tara are taking Xander out tonight to cheer him up," Dawn supplied.
The peroxide blond cocked an eyebrow. "What for?"
"He's depressed over dumping Anya at the altar. He realized what a big mistake he made now that Anya won't talk to him or anything."
Spike laughed. "You know, I've always wondered how the Crack Team foiled all of my plans in the past."
"Willow and Tara are back together, that's something good that's happened in the past few weeks."
"Good for them. Always had a soft spot for the Wicca Lovers. Up for a game of rummy?"
Dawn's eyes sparkled. "Sure. I've gotten pretty good."
Darius stood up. "I better be going."
"Wait! You can play rummy with us," Dawn suggested.
"Don't know how to," the Demoner admitted sheepishly.
"We can teach you," the Key offered. "Right, Spike?"
"Guess we could, Nibblet," he agreed and pulled out a deck of cards from his duster's inside pocket.
"Fine." Darius went back to his seat and picked up his cards as Spike dealt them.
The afternoon passed by quickly for the trio. After the game of rummy, Spike and Darius sparred some more while Dawn did her homework. When the Demoner was finally completely worn out, he bid farewell and left. Spike and Dawn spent the rest of the day watching TV and didn't notice the hours pass by.
Suddenly, the door to the crypt slammed open with a loud bang and Buffy strode in, all anxious and worried.
"Spike!! She hasn't come home yet!! Have you..." the Slayer said and trailed off when her emerald green eyes found her little sister. "...seen Dawn..."
A look of panic fell on the teenager's face. "Oh God! Buffy!! I'm so sorry! I lost track of time!"
Buffy put her hands on her hips and tried her best to imitate Joyce's motherly and reprimanding face. "It's 6:30 You're late. VERY late."
Spike stood up. "Don't be too hard on her, Slayer."
The blonde woman rolled her eyes and said nothing. Why did she have to be the bad guy in this situation?
Dawn packed up her things quickly and went over to her big sister. "Thanks for letting me hang, Spike. See you around," she smiled.
The peroxide blond nodded with a grin. "Anytime, Little Bit."
"Come on, let's go. Willow and Tara are waiting for us." Buffy turned around and walked out of the room with Dawn following behind her.
Spike watched the Summers girls leave and picked up his duster from the armchair. He put it on and counted how much money he had in his pockets. Tonight, he had planned on going to the Bronze to get drunk, just a little experiment to see how much alcohol his human body could take. Deciding that he had enough cash, the Ex-Vampire left his crypt and sauntered into the night.
***
Spike chugged his third mug of beer and was surprised that he wasn't a little bit tipsy, yet. The Ex-Vampire leaned back on his chair and looked up to the ceiling. He sighed happily and smiled. Life was good. He wasn't Buffy's whipping boy anymore. He was having a great time for once in a very long time. If only his soul would stop torturing him with guilt and remorse every now and then, everything would be perfect.
Having finished his plate of spicy buffalo wings and wanting more booze, Spike stood up from his chair and stalked toward the bar. He ordered another plate of wings and a mug of whiskey. The blond sat on one of the bar stools and surveyed the crowd while his order was being prepared.
He found the Scoobies at the dance floor, swaying with the fast, upbeat music that the band played. Xander danced with Willow and Tara while Buffy with Dawn. His sapphire blue eyes came to rest on the blonde woman. She wore a red, long sleeved shirt and black tight pants. Spike remembered the outfit; it was the one she wore when they kissed at the back alley of the Bronze. He watched Buffy bounce up and down with intensity and desire in his icy blue orbs. The feisty woman had a lot of fire in her and he was more than tempted to go up to her and ask her to dance with him. He could dance with her all night and never get tired of it. He...
Spike stopped himself before he could continue the thought. What just happened? Why was he looking at Buffy? Why couldn't he stop looking at Buffy? The Ex-Vampire shook his head a bit before the Slayer could completely take over his thoughts.
"Something wrong?" an all too familiar voice asked.
Spike turned to his left and found Darius with a plate of fries and a large cup of ice cappuccino. "Well, well, if it isn't the Demoner."
"Spike," Darius greeted with a nod. "What's wrong? You look like your night's been ruined."
"Could say that." The blond reached for one of the youth's fries and shoved it into his mouth. "Can't take my eyes off the Slayer. Why?"
Darius took a sip from his frozen beverage. "Come on, just look at her. You ARE straight, right?"
The Ex-Vampire let out a growl and gave him a threatening sneer. "Don't even go there, KID. I'll rip your head off and feed your rotten carcass to Fyral Demons."
"I'm NOT..."
"...a kid. Heard the tune before. Memorized it even. Do you want the sheets?" Spike stole another fry from Darius. "So tell me, Demon Boy, what's with the Slayer? Don't think the spell wore off. 'Cause I still need to breathe and all that rot."
"Simple. You're attracted to her," Darius told him as if it was the most obvious answer with mischievous glint in his dark brown eyes.
"B-but how?! The spell..."
"...probably wiped out whatever love you felt for her," the Demoner shrugged. "But that doesn't mean you can't be attracted to her and fall in love with her all over again."
"Bugger."
