Disclaimer: I own nothing
Xander backed up frantically. "Ricky, run!" He said. Ricky jumped down, capturing Spike's attention for second.
"Oh good lord!" Said Spike, horrified by the sight of Ricky in a thong. "What kind of unholy perversion is this?!" He glanced at Xander. "Is this a gay club?" He asked suspiciously. "I mean, I expected the FEMALE variety of strippers."
"No-no, it's a ladies' club." Said Xander. Spike frowned.
"Where the ladies watch the blokes? And I thought I'd seen everything."
Ricky wandered over, unafraid. "Hey, who's your boyfriend, Xander?" He asked.
Spike grabbed Xander, throwing him across the room. "I thought you said this wasn't a gay bar!" He said.
Ricky laughed, slapping Spike on the shoulder. "No, man, it's cool, just ragging on Xander, ya know?"
Spike punched him, dropping him to the floor. "Who do I have to kill to get some liquor?" He asked. His tone of voice made it very clear that it was really the killing part he was after, not the liquor part.
Claire walked in. "We're closed." She said in her toughest voice.
"Run!" Yelled Xander, climbing to his feet. He grabbed the cross hanging around his neck, holding it out towards Spike.
Spike casually reached over and grabbed the cross. His hand started to sizzle and smoke. "That works on vampires who are afraid of pain, Harris." He squeezed, and Xander let out a shrill yell. When Spike let go Xander did too, unable to hold on any longer. The cross fell to the floor. "Not on me." He added.
Xander stared at the blonde vampire. This was the baddest vampire he'd ever seen--the one who had killed two Slayers. The one who had attacked Angelus when Xander had gone with Buffy and rescued Giles. The one who'd left Willow and himself trapped in the old factory together.
The scariest vampire he knew, in point of fact.
He tried to punch Spike, but Spike caught the blow. "I want a drink." He said calmly. He leaned closer. "Now!" He added.
Claire was staring. "Okay." She said, walking behind the bar. She came up with a gun, not a drink, and Spike groaned. "I've had trouble with you boys before." She said. "You think you can just come in here?"
She fired, and Xander jumped away, not sure of her aim. She fired a few more times, knocking Spike to the ground. She smiled, lowering the gun.
Xander started running. "Get out of here!" He said.
"He's dead." Said Claire contemptuously.
Spike got up, in game face. "Yes, I am." He said.
Claire gasped as Spike rose with fluid grace, his duster flaring out behind him. Spike approached her, his eyes glowing a sharp golden. He snatched the gun out of her hand, smashing it in his hands.
She flinched back.
He grinned, leering at her. "Nice try, sweetie." He said to her. She stared at his long fangs, frozen.
Xander slammed into Spike from behind, knocking them both down. He punched Spike in the face a few times, slamming his fist down on Spike.
Spike grabbed his throat, cutting off his air supply. Xander's eyes widened and he began scrabbling at Spike's chest, trying to get loose. Spike didn't let go, standing up and lifting Xander into the air. "You bloody git." He said, laughing.
Then Ricky was there, holding a baseball bat, and he swung the bat at Spike, hard.
Spike let go of Xander, rolling with the blow, but still getting knocked back. "Hey!" He growled. Ricky took another swing, but this time Spike caught the bat. "I'm gonna drain you lot dry!" He hissed.
Xander rolled for the door. He'd tried to warn the others, but they weren't running. That was their problem. He'd given them fair warning.
He opened the door only to come face to face with a man. No, not a man. Men didn't have coarse, thick, leathery skin and big horns on their head. Men didn't usually have red glowing eyes.
And men NEVER made that growling noise.
Although Xander had seen men look as mad as the demon standing in front of him. Not often, but he had seen it.
"Where is he?" Demanded the demon, coming inside and pushing Xander aside.
"Oh, bloody--" Spike started, and then the demon attacked him.
Xander considered his odds for the briefest of seconds. Ricky was lying on the ground, moaning and holding his nose. Claire was behind the bar, trapped by the two fighting monsters between her and the door.
Xander ran in, scooping up the baseball bat. He began waling on Spike, beating him around the head and shoulders with the bat.
Spike casually disarmed Xander, taking the bat, and began using it on the demon, to lethal effect. "When will you lot stop hounding me?" He asked, beating the demon to the ground. "When will you just learn to leave me be?" He demanded, grabbing the demons horns and snapping its neck.
Xander was already dragging Claire and Ricky back through the swinging doors into the kitchen. The Chinese guy was already gone, proving smarter than the others.
Xander was breathing heavily, hyperventilating. Spike was here, had just killed a demon, and would probably want to finish it off with a midnight snack. Things could not possibly be worse.
"What-what?" Stuttered Claire.
"Is there a house here? Nearer than your house?" Xander asked Ricky.
"Across the street is Claire's place." Said Ricky blankly. "Did you see his face?"
"I've seen Spike's face!" Said Xander, pushing them. That snapped Claire out of it.
"Spike? You know him!" She said, realization flooding her. "This is your fault!"
There was a crash, and Spike was in the kitchen with them. "Oh, please." Said Spike. "Like I'd take the time to track Harris down? He's small potatoes."
Xander whirled, his mind racing. They were trapped with the most dangerous vampire on earth.
"Why was that demon after you?" He blurted.
Spike was holding a bottle in one hand. Claire made a choking noise as he took a long draw from the bottle. "Little matter of debt." Said Spike. "I owe them a few. Maybe more than a few." He took another drink. "Say, you aren't here with the Slayer, are you?" There was a hopeful edge to his voice.
"Uh, yeah. She's outside."
"Cool!" Said Spike. "And now I have the hostages!"
Xander hesitated. "I was lying." He admitted.
"I know." Said Spike, swaggering closer. "I'd know if the Slayer was within a mile of me. Vampire thing. Who's your little friend?" He sneered at Claire. "Kinda cute, really."
"What's the matter, girlfriend run off on you again?" Asked Xander.
Spike snarled and charged him. He got his hands on Xander's throat, gripping him. "You flaming little git!" He snarled, not letting go. "I'll kill you!"
Xander gagged, the powerful fingers around his throat feeling like iron bands, squeezing inexorably closed, cutting off his air.
The doors swung open again, and two more demons came in. "Stinking Fyarls!" Snapped Spike, letting go of Xander. "Never give me a moment's peace."
Xander grabbed Spike's belt, not letting go as Spike tried to run away. Hampered by the human, Spike was stuck there until he kicked Xander off. That gave the Fyarls plenty of time to cross the floor and grab Spike.
Xander thought about it quickly as the demons pummeled Spike. "This could be a good thing." He said.
Another Fyarl strode in. "Kill the humans." He roared in an atrocious accent. "I want no witnesses."
"Or this could be a bad thing." Xander admitted.
"Hey, monkey-boy!" Said Spike, inbetween blows from the Fyarls. "I know I was about to kill you, but the enemy of my--ow!"
The Fyarls were on top of Spike, beating him down. Xander did the mental arithmetic fairly quickly, considering that arithmetic was his worst subject.
He hurled himself on top of one Fyarl, holding the horns and kicking at its head. His feeble kicks managed to make it look up from Spike, surprised.
Claire was also fairly good at this sort of arithmetic. She grabbed a plate and threw it. It hit Xander in the back, knocking him off the Fyarl. He landed on top of Spike with a grunt.
Her arithmetic was good, but her aim was bad.
Spike pushed Xander away, using the momentum to slide himself back across the floor, away from the demons. "Thanks, monkey-boy!" He said, rolling to his feet and making for the door.
The demon at the door stopped him, growling and getting ready to fight him. Spike stopped. "Three of you buggers!" He said.
"Spike!" Squeaked Xander.
"Shut up!" Scowled Spike.
"If we help, you've got to promise not to eat us!" Said Xander. Spike turned, grabbing the Fyarl who was trying to sneak up behind him, slamming a boot into his crotch. The Fyarl fell over backwards.
"Not to eat you? Could you even trust my promise?" Sneered Spike.
"Er, no." Said Xander. "But I'll take it!" He added quickly as the other Fyarl scooped him up, holding him over his head.
Spike rolled his eyes. "Sodding pathetic bugger." He said.
Then he attacked the Fyarl at the door. The demon holding Xander threw him at Spike, a large, overhand throw. Xander kicked off the Fyarls shoulder, changing his course, heading right at the Fyarl in the door. The impact knocked them both back through the doors, with Xander ending up on top of the Fyarl.
He started raining ineffective punches on the Fyarl, who bashed him in the head with one hand, sending him spinning across the floor seeing stars.
"Oh, oh." Said Xander, staring at the Fyarl, who stood up to loom over him.
Xander reached back, encountering a chair behind him. He whipped it around, holding it between them in lion trainer fashion. The smoothness of the move was hampered by the little wobble in his step.
"Pathetic." Said the demon. "What do you do when you're in real trouble?"
"I yell help, and my best friend, the Slayer, whups you--"
The Fyarl didn't really want to hear this, and grabbed the chair, smashing it against his forehead, sending chunks of wood flying around the room.
"Now, let's see if we can't make this interesting." Growled the Fyarl. Xander backed away quickly, still a little light-headed.
There was a howl of pain from the kitchen, and Xander flinched. The Fyarl chuckled. "Your little friends, they crumple from the pain. I wonder how loud you will scream?"
A body fell through the swinging doors. It was a Fyarl demon, and the Fyarl still standing glanced to Xander, then back to the body.
"I wonder how loud you'll scream." Said Xander.
Spike swaggered out of the kitchen, green demon blood all over his face and spattered over his shirt. "You think you can just hunt down William the Bloody, Slayer of Slayers?" He asked coldly.
As he advanced he grabbed a surprised Xander. "Sorry, Harris, but I'm a liar." He said, grabbing Xander by the hair and preparing to bite into him.
"There's more outside!" Said Xander.
Spike hesitated.
"You let me live, we'll help you." Said Xander.
"Aw, cripes." Muttered Spike. "Can't believe I'm doing this." He pushed Xander away from him, hard. "All right, let's do this all together, then." He advanced on the Fyarl.
"There's nobody else outside!" Said the Fyarl, incensed.
Spike glanced back, but Xander was already running away with Claire and Ricky, out the front door. He closed his eyes and counted to three. "Unbelievable! Lying's my gig, you bloody thieves!"
Then he attacked the Fyarl.
Xander backed up frantically. "Ricky, run!" He said. Ricky jumped down, capturing Spike's attention for second.
"Oh good lord!" Said Spike, horrified by the sight of Ricky in a thong. "What kind of unholy perversion is this?!" He glanced at Xander. "Is this a gay club?" He asked suspiciously. "I mean, I expected the FEMALE variety of strippers."
"No-no, it's a ladies' club." Said Xander. Spike frowned.
"Where the ladies watch the blokes? And I thought I'd seen everything."
Ricky wandered over, unafraid. "Hey, who's your boyfriend, Xander?" He asked.
Spike grabbed Xander, throwing him across the room. "I thought you said this wasn't a gay bar!" He said.
Ricky laughed, slapping Spike on the shoulder. "No, man, it's cool, just ragging on Xander, ya know?"
Spike punched him, dropping him to the floor. "Who do I have to kill to get some liquor?" He asked. His tone of voice made it very clear that it was really the killing part he was after, not the liquor part.
Claire walked in. "We're closed." She said in her toughest voice.
"Run!" Yelled Xander, climbing to his feet. He grabbed the cross hanging around his neck, holding it out towards Spike.
Spike casually reached over and grabbed the cross. His hand started to sizzle and smoke. "That works on vampires who are afraid of pain, Harris." He squeezed, and Xander let out a shrill yell. When Spike let go Xander did too, unable to hold on any longer. The cross fell to the floor. "Not on me." He added.
Xander stared at the blonde vampire. This was the baddest vampire he'd ever seen--the one who had killed two Slayers. The one who had attacked Angelus when Xander had gone with Buffy and rescued Giles. The one who'd left Willow and himself trapped in the old factory together.
The scariest vampire he knew, in point of fact.
He tried to punch Spike, but Spike caught the blow. "I want a drink." He said calmly. He leaned closer. "Now!" He added.
Claire was staring. "Okay." She said, walking behind the bar. She came up with a gun, not a drink, and Spike groaned. "I've had trouble with you boys before." She said. "You think you can just come in here?"
She fired, and Xander jumped away, not sure of her aim. She fired a few more times, knocking Spike to the ground. She smiled, lowering the gun.
Xander started running. "Get out of here!" He said.
"He's dead." Said Claire contemptuously.
Spike got up, in game face. "Yes, I am." He said.
Claire gasped as Spike rose with fluid grace, his duster flaring out behind him. Spike approached her, his eyes glowing a sharp golden. He snatched the gun out of her hand, smashing it in his hands.
She flinched back.
He grinned, leering at her. "Nice try, sweetie." He said to her. She stared at his long fangs, frozen.
Xander slammed into Spike from behind, knocking them both down. He punched Spike in the face a few times, slamming his fist down on Spike.
Spike grabbed his throat, cutting off his air supply. Xander's eyes widened and he began scrabbling at Spike's chest, trying to get loose. Spike didn't let go, standing up and lifting Xander into the air. "You bloody git." He said, laughing.
Then Ricky was there, holding a baseball bat, and he swung the bat at Spike, hard.
Spike let go of Xander, rolling with the blow, but still getting knocked back. "Hey!" He growled. Ricky took another swing, but this time Spike caught the bat. "I'm gonna drain you lot dry!" He hissed.
Xander rolled for the door. He'd tried to warn the others, but they weren't running. That was their problem. He'd given them fair warning.
He opened the door only to come face to face with a man. No, not a man. Men didn't have coarse, thick, leathery skin and big horns on their head. Men didn't usually have red glowing eyes.
And men NEVER made that growling noise.
Although Xander had seen men look as mad as the demon standing in front of him. Not often, but he had seen it.
"Where is he?" Demanded the demon, coming inside and pushing Xander aside.
"Oh, bloody--" Spike started, and then the demon attacked him.
Xander considered his odds for the briefest of seconds. Ricky was lying on the ground, moaning and holding his nose. Claire was behind the bar, trapped by the two fighting monsters between her and the door.
Xander ran in, scooping up the baseball bat. He began waling on Spike, beating him around the head and shoulders with the bat.
Spike casually disarmed Xander, taking the bat, and began using it on the demon, to lethal effect. "When will you lot stop hounding me?" He asked, beating the demon to the ground. "When will you just learn to leave me be?" He demanded, grabbing the demons horns and snapping its neck.
Xander was already dragging Claire and Ricky back through the swinging doors into the kitchen. The Chinese guy was already gone, proving smarter than the others.
Xander was breathing heavily, hyperventilating. Spike was here, had just killed a demon, and would probably want to finish it off with a midnight snack. Things could not possibly be worse.
"What-what?" Stuttered Claire.
"Is there a house here? Nearer than your house?" Xander asked Ricky.
"Across the street is Claire's place." Said Ricky blankly. "Did you see his face?"
"I've seen Spike's face!" Said Xander, pushing them. That snapped Claire out of it.
"Spike? You know him!" She said, realization flooding her. "This is your fault!"
There was a crash, and Spike was in the kitchen with them. "Oh, please." Said Spike. "Like I'd take the time to track Harris down? He's small potatoes."
Xander whirled, his mind racing. They were trapped with the most dangerous vampire on earth.
"Why was that demon after you?" He blurted.
Spike was holding a bottle in one hand. Claire made a choking noise as he took a long draw from the bottle. "Little matter of debt." Said Spike. "I owe them a few. Maybe more than a few." He took another drink. "Say, you aren't here with the Slayer, are you?" There was a hopeful edge to his voice.
"Uh, yeah. She's outside."
"Cool!" Said Spike. "And now I have the hostages!"
Xander hesitated. "I was lying." He admitted.
"I know." Said Spike, swaggering closer. "I'd know if the Slayer was within a mile of me. Vampire thing. Who's your little friend?" He sneered at Claire. "Kinda cute, really."
"What's the matter, girlfriend run off on you again?" Asked Xander.
Spike snarled and charged him. He got his hands on Xander's throat, gripping him. "You flaming little git!" He snarled, not letting go. "I'll kill you!"
Xander gagged, the powerful fingers around his throat feeling like iron bands, squeezing inexorably closed, cutting off his air.
The doors swung open again, and two more demons came in. "Stinking Fyarls!" Snapped Spike, letting go of Xander. "Never give me a moment's peace."
Xander grabbed Spike's belt, not letting go as Spike tried to run away. Hampered by the human, Spike was stuck there until he kicked Xander off. That gave the Fyarls plenty of time to cross the floor and grab Spike.
Xander thought about it quickly as the demons pummeled Spike. "This could be a good thing." He said.
Another Fyarl strode in. "Kill the humans." He roared in an atrocious accent. "I want no witnesses."
"Or this could be a bad thing." Xander admitted.
"Hey, monkey-boy!" Said Spike, inbetween blows from the Fyarls. "I know I was about to kill you, but the enemy of my--ow!"
The Fyarls were on top of Spike, beating him down. Xander did the mental arithmetic fairly quickly, considering that arithmetic was his worst subject.
He hurled himself on top of one Fyarl, holding the horns and kicking at its head. His feeble kicks managed to make it look up from Spike, surprised.
Claire was also fairly good at this sort of arithmetic. She grabbed a plate and threw it. It hit Xander in the back, knocking him off the Fyarl. He landed on top of Spike with a grunt.
Her arithmetic was good, but her aim was bad.
Spike pushed Xander away, using the momentum to slide himself back across the floor, away from the demons. "Thanks, monkey-boy!" He said, rolling to his feet and making for the door.
The demon at the door stopped him, growling and getting ready to fight him. Spike stopped. "Three of you buggers!" He said.
"Spike!" Squeaked Xander.
"Shut up!" Scowled Spike.
"If we help, you've got to promise not to eat us!" Said Xander. Spike turned, grabbing the Fyarl who was trying to sneak up behind him, slamming a boot into his crotch. The Fyarl fell over backwards.
"Not to eat you? Could you even trust my promise?" Sneered Spike.
"Er, no." Said Xander. "But I'll take it!" He added quickly as the other Fyarl scooped him up, holding him over his head.
Spike rolled his eyes. "Sodding pathetic bugger." He said.
Then he attacked the Fyarl at the door. The demon holding Xander threw him at Spike, a large, overhand throw. Xander kicked off the Fyarls shoulder, changing his course, heading right at the Fyarl in the door. The impact knocked them both back through the doors, with Xander ending up on top of the Fyarl.
He started raining ineffective punches on the Fyarl, who bashed him in the head with one hand, sending him spinning across the floor seeing stars.
"Oh, oh." Said Xander, staring at the Fyarl, who stood up to loom over him.
Xander reached back, encountering a chair behind him. He whipped it around, holding it between them in lion trainer fashion. The smoothness of the move was hampered by the little wobble in his step.
"Pathetic." Said the demon. "What do you do when you're in real trouble?"
"I yell help, and my best friend, the Slayer, whups you--"
The Fyarl didn't really want to hear this, and grabbed the chair, smashing it against his forehead, sending chunks of wood flying around the room.
"Now, let's see if we can't make this interesting." Growled the Fyarl. Xander backed away quickly, still a little light-headed.
There was a howl of pain from the kitchen, and Xander flinched. The Fyarl chuckled. "Your little friends, they crumple from the pain. I wonder how loud you will scream?"
A body fell through the swinging doors. It was a Fyarl demon, and the Fyarl still standing glanced to Xander, then back to the body.
"I wonder how loud you'll scream." Said Xander.
Spike swaggered out of the kitchen, green demon blood all over his face and spattered over his shirt. "You think you can just hunt down William the Bloody, Slayer of Slayers?" He asked coldly.
As he advanced he grabbed a surprised Xander. "Sorry, Harris, but I'm a liar." He said, grabbing Xander by the hair and preparing to bite into him.
"There's more outside!" Said Xander.
Spike hesitated.
"You let me live, we'll help you." Said Xander.
"Aw, cripes." Muttered Spike. "Can't believe I'm doing this." He pushed Xander away from him, hard. "All right, let's do this all together, then." He advanced on the Fyarl.
"There's nobody else outside!" Said the Fyarl, incensed.
Spike glanced back, but Xander was already running away with Claire and Ricky, out the front door. He closed his eyes and counted to three. "Unbelievable! Lying's my gig, you bloody thieves!"
Then he attacked the Fyarl.