With the grace and speed she had long since grown familiar with, Angel threw himself back into action after the initial shock of seeing Spike on his back step. Striding across the small back porch, Angel grabbed Spike by the collar, hauled him off the step and held him a foot off the ground against the wall.
Almost against her will, Buffy tried to push between them, even knowing that not even Slayer strength could hold itself against two angry vamps. I'm looking to get myself killed here, she thought distantly, trying to insinuate herself between her lovers past and present. "Guys! Guys! Angel, put him down, he's different now! He's different! He's got a soul now, Angel, don't kill him!" They two vamps were like rocks, cold and immovable, and still she tried her hardest.
Though her actions were ineffectual, her words froze Angel solid and, taking advantage of the older vampire's shock, Spike managed to wrest himself free from Angel's grip. Stunned, Angel just stared at the vamp who used to call him sire. With his usual cocky defiance, Spike met him stare for stare while dancing just out of Angel's reach. Watching, Buffy thought that it seemed like it took Spike's sire returning to bring Spike to anywhere near what he used to be.
Still stunned, Angel made no move to grab Spike again. "Say that again, Buffy," he said slowly, still staring.
"Lady's right, got all my original pieces back few years ago. Not so much different between us now, mate. In fact, probably less than you think."
Buffy could see it as Spike slide his eyes towards her, making an accurate guess about the fact that she had never told Angel about the two of them. Bad enough that Riley had found out; Angel would have been past disappointed. Although Buffy had to admit to herself that her actions tonight in saving the younger vamp's life had probably given her away more clearly than anything she could have said. She was the Slayer, and this was Spike, and since when in Angel's memory had there been anything between the two of them besides a fight? Angel had to have noticed that Buffy herself had tried nothing to hurt the black-clad vampire.
"Two years ago," Buffy clarified, alternating the direction of her gaze between Spike and Angel. She could practically smell the testosterone in the air. Not for the first time, she wondered how it was that Spike and Angelus had managed to travel together for so long without killing each other. The rivalry between them was obvious from a mile off. "He made a deal with a demon. It didn't go so well," she finished. Why was she defending Spike? He had left her. And yet, no part of her wanted to see one of her lovers kill the other.
"How is it that I've never heard of this?" Angel wondered aloud, but Buffy noticed that he now seemed uninterested in fighting with Spike. Instead, Angel was simply staring at Spike as if it would be possible to find Spike's soul just by looking into his eyes. Spike matched him stare for stare, all of his body language screaming that he wouldn't just roll over for Angel.
"Been out of the country for awhile. Better part of the two years. Doubt your ears stretch as far as I've been." Still that cocky grin, the wicked curve of his mouth and flash of his teeth as he smiled.
"But you two..." and Angel's words took in both Buffy and Spike, as well as Angel's confusion that the both of them were still alive, despite having been alone together on the porch. "How do you even know this stuff. Buffy? You two were enemies..." Buffy could hear in Angel's voice that he was beginning to guess at the truth, and just didn't want to admit it. If she closed her eyes and wished real hard, could she vanish and show up someplace else, where none of this was going on?
So this is what it felt like to have all your lies catch up with you at once, Buffy thought. What was she supposed to say now? Sure, she and Spike were enemies, except that torrid little affair they had indulged in, and the pesky little fact that they had fallen in love without any thought to common sense or decency. Carefully, she tried to think of something to say that wouldn't make this whole situation explode. Spike had seemed more dismayed than jealous to learn of her and Angel, but she didn't think she could count on that kind of a calm response from Angel. Even as Angelus, the homicidal maniac intent on destroying the world, he had been jealous of anything that took her attention away from him.
Somehow, it wasn't a surprise that Spike reacted faster than her. Then again, this had to be just the sort of fact that he had been hoping to hear. Despite his later desire for her to be honest about their relationship, Spike had always gained a certain amount of glee from the power he got through her desire to keep him secret. That had been his biggest weapon while they were sleeping together, that he might tell everything. Looking at Angel's bafflement, Spike only grinned wider, a grin Buffy remembered only too well. With a sinking heart, she listened as Spike gleefully started to speak.
"You meant the Slayer didn't tell it all to her new-old love, Angel? Tsk, tsk, tsk. And to think, some people think a relationship can't survive with basic honesty. Let me be the one to tell you, old buddy of mine, that Buffy and I have been a lot more than enemies. Fact is, if you hadn't come home right when you did there, the girl was about to tell me how much she still loved me." The pride in his voice as he said the words were almost unbelievable; there was no way Angel could miss it.
It was done. It was said. The fight went out of Angel as soon as Spike finished speaking. It was like nothing she had ever seen from the centuries old vampire before. He simply sat down on the porch like a puppet that had had its strings got. Spike chuckled dangerously, a sound Buffy remembered from too many nights that she wished she could forget. Buffy knelt by Angel's side quickly, trying to think of some way, any way, to explain away what Spike had just said. From the look of horrified realization on Angel's face, however, there weren't any words that would make it better. It was probably only a matter of time before he broke out of the shock and tried to kill Spike where he stood.
Spike, on the other, kept up with the gloating, clearly thrilled beyond measure that he could throw this kind of a wrench into the relationship. "Yeah, mate, fact is, Slayer and I were a couple, for a time. And was she ever a bleeding miracle under the sheets. Can't believe you ever told me she wasn't worth a second roll. Girl left bruises on me that took days to fade. Gotta admire someone that can bring that kind of a fight-"
His words stopped cold as Buffy punched him in the face, landing a nice solid blow on his nose. She could hear the bone crack under her hand and even knowing that it would heal in minutes, she took some vague satisfaction from the fact that she could still hurt him.
"Shut up, Spike, just shut up!" This was the Spike she was used to, the one that didn't knew when to shut it. What had she been thinking all those years ago. What had she been feeling, that this was the creature that she had fallen in love with?
Angel was still just watching like he couldn't believe any of this. And to Buffy's amazement, Spike kept gloating, even with his new broken bones.
"That's it, pet, you show him what we were like together. C'mon, love, don't it crawl under your skin, needing what you can't get?" And Spike's voice dropped to a seductive whisper, never mind the fact that Angel could still hear him. "I've seen what you need, Buffy, and we both know you can't get it from Angel. Hell, I had a hard time keeping up with you. Be honest, you came out here tonight cause you needed something more than you're getting."
He was so close that if Buffy moved at all, she would be against him. Angel was still just watching; it was hard to tell what he was feeling. Spike's grin was pure evil, and his eyes were looking straight into hers. Buffy was actually surprised that he would be looking anywhere but at Angel's. drinking in how painful his words must have been, but instead, his gaze was locked on hers like it was impossible for him to look anywhere else. "You know you came out here to find me because you missed me, missed what I could give you."
Her breath stopped. He was so close, so intent, some old Spike, same old Spike that she hadn't been able to refuse. "You know you did," he whispered again, and his voice was seductive, the same voice that had been his every night they spent together.
Oh hell, thought Buffy distantly, trying not to fall under Spike's lure again. Musn't kiss Spike, my boyfriend is watching.