Chapter 9 -- 1630 Revello Drive


I pulled into a cul-de-sac half a block from Revello and checked the house number on the card Anyanka'd slipped in my pocket. I polished off my smoke and got the flashlight out from under the seat. This night just got longer and longer.

I walked up through the alleys to the back of the house and stopped out near the trash cans, naturally. It was dark downstairs, but one of the lights upstairs was on reflecting a little illumination out back. Oddly enough, even at this late hour of the night, the white painted wooden porch was occupied.
Spike was seated a step below Mrs. Giles talking low. Not touching anything but the hem of her robe, but it was easy to tell he wanted to be holding her in his arms. She looked like somebody'd kicked her puppy-- all big wet eyes and stifled sighs. After a little while she stood up and went back inside closing the door quietly behind her. He stood staring at the spot where she'd disappeared.

Before I could move from my frozen crouch, Spike had bounced down the steps
and straight up on top of me. He had me up against the fence in an rough grip before I could inhale. All I could see in the shadows was the glitter of his eyes and shining fangs and I knew what the little fishes felt like when a shark comes prowling around. Then, he recognized me.

I thought we had an agreement. You decided to tip me the double, Harris?
he snarled in my ear. I backed up a step, but he still had a loose grip on my arm, twisting just hard enough to remind me of what he was.

No, I'm not. I snatched back my arm and smoothed down the sleeve, I just got some information and came to check it out.

He made a sharp inhale and scratched his blonde curls, It's just... her, ya'know? I can't let anything happen to her. Not again. He made a swift subject change, drawing me back down the alley. Bring any weapons?

My service revolver's in the glove box loaded with silver bullets and I've got a lead weighted baseball bat in the trunk. Coupla other things.

He considered that and admitted with tongue waggling glee, The Slayer has a nicer selection than me. Couple of broadswords, five or six battle axes, a particularly fine morning-star.... My kind of woman.

We located my DeSoto without difficulty and he rambled through the contents of my trunk. I had to ask. What or who exactly is The Slayer?

He gaped at me. The Slayer? The Protector of Humanity? I could hear the capital letters as he intoned, She Who Protects the Innocent from the Evil Demons and Slays the Big Bad Vampires. Buffy.

Married to the head honcho of Demontown; has a vampire in love with her; super powered heroine whose secret identity was a Bronze waitress, Buffy? Just how did Slaying demons fit into our New World Policy of Inter Species Peace? I gave him a puzzled look, but the cool blue eyes were far away.

Seems like to me, she ought to have killed Giles when she met him, not married him. Or you either, for that matter. What's the matter? You didn't piss her off enough? I scoffed.

He snorted a laugh at that and shook his head, Let me tell you a little story, Mr. Harris. He hopped up on the hood of my car and fumbled in his pockets for a cigarette. Rupert Giles was her mentor... her Watcher first, then her husband. She loved him, too, I think. He rubbed his face with his free hand, as though the story hurt too much to think about. Things were hunky-dory. She slayed the bad guys, he watched over her. Then, came the Peace Accords and she retired from the Slay game to be a housewife. Rupert took up becoming a demon full-time. She tried to live with what he was doing and for a while it was okay, but there were other... complications.

This seemed to agree with what I'd already heard. He continued, Finally, she took off for L.A. Lost herself in the underground. Fighting the rebel element--the Old ones who refused to make peace with the human world. That's where she ran into a friend of mine. My sire, Angelus.

When was all this?

About two years ago, he replied with a slight tremble in his voice, A lot can happen in a two years.

I felt a tremor of fear and I remembered my last year in L.A. I still woke up in a cold sweat sometimes. Spike was still talking. It was like he couldn't stop.

Buffy and Angel hit it off and were real cozy for a while. That's where I first met her. I wanted to kill her, then I decided I liked having her around. he smirked, then got thoughtful. I took off for Vegas for a while. Giles showed up and it all went to shit.

He ran his hands through his hair, and continued, Time I got back, they were all long gone, and I found Angelus. What was left of him. See, Giles tortured him for a good long time. Kept him alive with Black magic until he'd had his fun. Just left him there. Alive, if you could call it that. Angelus has ... had such pride in his looks... his face...I think I can still hear him screaming sometimes. He squeezed his eyes shut at the horrors he'd seen. There are no words to describe the things he did to Angelus. For days. And he made her watch it all.

I shivered a little and thought maybe the heat wave had finally broken. Or maybe it was the tickle of memory in my head at the mention of a particularly repulsive crime scene. Maybe it was sympathy for this devil. No one deserves to remember that kind of torment. Buffy Anne Summers was a very brave or very foolish woman to walk out on that kind of husband twice. I just hoped Anyanka had taken care of my tail, because I didn't fancy ending up like poor old Angelus.

And, of course, there is her sister. That's how he finally got her home. Giles told the Slayer if she didn't straighten up and come home, he'd just take her sister instead. He flicked his butt out into the darkness. Some home.

Well, Fang-face had a point. Spike might be a monster and a demon, but I don't think he's much of a liar. He was in love with a gorgeous blonde killer of his kind. She was strong, feminine and probably more than a little mental after Giles' little games. Giles had played us all and I was sitting right in the middle of his new game---whatever it was.

I invited my new partner-by-default into the car and we started rolling toward the cemetery. I wasn't going to like anything about this business. That's the trouble with demons--- you know there's always gonna be trouble.

tbc

AN: Thanks to kimi for the desperately needed info.