Los Angeles, 1986
Buffy was bad, she was wild, she was adventurous, and she was kind of scared. Her hand desperately grasped her cousin Celia's, as the two young girls stealthily hurried through the dark on the way to the park. Each had a backpack of supplies on her back, and a wide pasted-on grin for comfort. In her other hand, little blonde Buffy swung a frail Barbie flashlight across the shortly cut Californian grass.
Celia giggled. Buffy's return giggle sounded hollow to even her five-year old ears. Celia clasped both her hands to her mouth to stifle the nervous laughter, and Buffy found her security of contact in jeopardy. She slipped her arm through her cousin's elbow just as a twig snapped on their right. Both girls jumped and screamed. Nothing was there. Celia started to chortle again, but Buffy couldn't shake the uneasy feeling she was being watched. With arms still clutched, the blonde turned and began to drag the brunette back home.
They made it to the front lawn before they were both grasped and hauled into the night. The tiny pink flashlight shattered on the pavement where it landed after Buffy beamed it at an attacker's head. All was quiet.
Spike was playing people poker in a dank sewer nook when two minions scuttled in, each carrying a little girl. The pretty brunette was silently sobbing, and rested dejected over her captor's shoulder. Spike's attention was drawn to the little blonde hellion who was screaming and kicking. The minion came from behind and backhanded her. She bit her captor's ear. Howling, the underling dropped her to the floor and gave her a swift kick. The brunette was placed beside the blonde and the fledgling stepped over to his master.
"Your stakes sir."
The vampire across from Spike smiled wickedly. "It's a pity I'm behind in the game, I'd much rather take these children home and have some fun." The poker players all chuckled evil.
The cards were dealt, Spike inwardly scowled at his pair of twos, and the queen, jack, and king of hearts. He discarded the pair and was immediately dealt the other two twos. With years of practice under his belt he slipped a queen from the folds of his duster and replaced it with the jack.
Winning this round, Spike had enough chips to claim a person from the vamp across from him. The 'owner' of the two little girls beckoned Buffy to him. She came meekly, but kicked him hard on the shin when he reached out to touch her. The vampire howled. Spike smirked, no longer hiding his prevalent emotions for the game. One of the grungy minions grabbed Buffy by the hair and yanked her over to Spike. She was forced down on her knees before him.
She raised her hazel eyes defiantly, and Spike was struck the second time by those tear-streaked orbs. He jerked her chin up, noticing she was peering at him with hope from behind a curtain of bangs. He pulled her onto his lap and bared her neck. He was not a merciful person.
"Buffy!?" The timid voice of the tiny brunette was almost lost to Spike's superhearing, yet he did hear it, and he was chilled. Dropping one of her pigtails, he wretched his mouth away from her neck and snarled. She relaxed. He lunged again. This time one of his fangs grazed her shoulder and he could taste the sweet purity of her young blood. It was followed by an essence he couldn't quite identify. Maybe it was the taste of his betrayal. He turned away and struggled out of game-face. It would be useless to kill her now; after all he went through switching her as a baby.
The tiny blonde trembled on his knee and he placed an arm around her as he was dealt another hand. With her pressed against his front, there was no way he could cheat without risking someone noticing. Children this age had big mouths. He took a swig of whiskey, hoping his luck would change, since it was all he was playing with.
The stakes rose, Spike threw in more chips, and Buffy stared at his cards in fascination.
"If you get one more card with a 'K' on it, you'll have five. See." She held up her hand to demonstrate. "One, two, three, four and five."
Everyone folded. Spike stared down at his hand of a three, five, eight, ace and jack. He had nothing. He put his horrible hand down and smirked at the table, grabbing his winnings smugly.
"You know poker, luv?"
Her cute little blonde head nodded beside his chin. "My dad lets me play with him sometimes. Just like this." Spike felt a shot of protective anger go through him. A dad was supposed to teach a child cheating is wrong, not encourage it. That thought was quickly replaced with wonderings of how to corrupt her further.
Soon he was back in the game. She never piped up, and he noticed his cards always had at least a pair in them… workable ones. No one paid attention to the little sprite on his lap. She slipped a broken chip off the table and hid it in her hand. When everyone's attention was centered on a new arrival at the door, she flicked the chip at the vamp across from her. It bounced harmlessly onto the floor. Spike grabbed another off the table and played with it for a moment.
"Like this, pet." Spike looked away conspicuously and flicked it strongly at the vampire across from him. It jammed bloodily in his eye. She screamed. What's-his-name roared. Spike shielded her eyes with his jacket and stared at the angering vampire. A trickle of blood rained down humanoid features as the injured vamp dug his sharp fingernails into the sensitive skin of a minion's stomach. Spike was amused a little chip could cause so much damage with just a flick of a wrist. Chaos broke out, captives scurried for safety, minions scurried to masters, the little girl in his arms wriggled as her cousin screamed in pain. Spike grabbed one of the foolish fledglings scurrying towards their master.
"I'll trade those two," He gestured over his shoulder to his many winnings tied on the floor. "For the other little chit." His poker buddy howled in pain. Bloody wussy ponce. "The lil bit and I'll be leaving now."
Gathering Buffy protectively in his arms while hiding the surrounding fiasco from view, he somehow managed to pick up the other child. One of his loyal minions scurried over to help, but he sent them home with a tilt of his head and a few harsh words.
They trekked far into the sewers, Spike knowing the tunnels like the back of his hand. He had the petite blonde snuggled to his chest while the other child clung desperately to the back of his jacket. At one point, finally annoyed by the constant tugging and whimpering, he jerked the leather out of her grasp. Celia cried out as she fell in the dank sewage. Buffy stirred in her drowsy state and blinked over his shoulder. Spike cursed and grabbed the little chit's arm and dragged her over to a nearby manhole opening.
Above them were human voices. Spike sat on the ledge, cradling Buffy with one arm and reached for a cigarette with the other. Lighting up, it occurred to him how ridiculous he was being. He untangled Buffy's hand from his coat and placed her next to her cowering cousin.
He was a few feet away when a strong young voice called out to him from the dark. "Who'll protect us from the scary monsters?"
"I am a scary monster." He lunged, slipping into gameface. He paid no attention to the brunette screaming and cowering behind Buffy, his eyes were on the future slayer. For the second time in his life he was shocked at her laughing in the face of evil. He stalked towards her, intending to show her just how evil he was. She never flinched, even when he grabbed her hard enough to leave a bruise on her tender young skin, but Spike did.
What kind of big bad was he if he had to terrorize children to prove his evilness?
Instead of hitting her like planned, he hoisted her back in his arms and turned towards the manhole. He made the companion climb the sewer ladder on her own. Buffy clung securely in his arms. At the top he nuzzled the soft skin of her cheek before placing her on the ground.
"You'll forget about this. Tomorrow you won't even remember anything about me." He stared down at her, trying out the bloody poncey hypno-thrall thing. He figured himself an even bigger wanker now than he ever was.
"Nope, your eyes are my favourite colour. I'll remember you because I want my eyes to look just like yours." She hugged his leg as he patted her soft hair.
Then to redeem his evil image he stole a small locket from around her neck and slipped it in his pocket. Fading into the shadows, he watched the brunette pull at a reluctantly staring Buffy, and followed them as the scuttled home into the dark night.
He spent some time hotwiring a vintage black DeSoto as the youth riskily climbed a tree and through a window next door. The engine caught as the window on the second floor shut quietly. Buffy turned and looked out the window, placing her palm on the glass as her young eyes peered wisely into the night.
He was able to read her lips as she whispered 'I won't forget,' into the still hours of darkness.
Neither girl spoke of the nightmare they had that night, soon Celia would be dead, and little Buffy would find out the reality of things that go bump in the night.
