First things first, the Legal part.
This story is not authorized by Lakeshore Entertainment or Screen Gems Productions. Underworld and its characters, and trademarks are the property of Lakeshore Entertainment, and/or Screen Gems Productions. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entities. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.
This story is not authorized by Fox. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its characters, and trademarks are the property of Twentieth Century Fox, Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and/or the United Paramount Network. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entities. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.
This story is not authorized by Whitewolf. The World Of Darkness and other trademarks are the property of Whitewolf. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entity. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.
Notes:
Fool For Her
Chapter 5
Spike sensed the front door open slowly and resisted the instinctive urge to leap to his feet. As a vampire it was his nocturnal nature to protect his daylight resting place and although he was sleeping he instantly awoke the moment his body felt it was in danger. He could tell by the way the intruder was moving that it was not Selene. Obviously it couldn't be her because she was still in her bedroom and Spike hadn't heard her leave but interestingly enough, Spike could tell that the intruder was not even a run of the mill human. It was large and clumsy, and its failed but humoring attempts to be stealth like were very obvious. A demon, Spike realized, a fairly large one. Spike silently sniffed the air and nearly cringed when he recognized an all too familiar scent. A Fyarl demon! Fyarls weren't the sharpest tools in the shed, they were more "crush and ask questions later", hence the reason its stealth like approach came as a surprise. Fyarls were known for there mucus, when exposed to oxygen it hardened very rapidly and it made them almost perfect for abduction jobs, if you could train one to be obedient enough that is. Spike knew that no one could have organized a Fyarl abduction for him this fast, it took a day at least to get location and an image of there victim engraved into their mind, so obviously this thing was after Selene and everyone who might be with her. The other reason they were used on missions like this was because of the fact that they spoke there own unique language that only a handful of people in the world knew, so even if captured they couldn't give up their master. Luckily for Spike, he could understand Fyarl tongue, so all he had to do was grab it and torture it until it started giving names.
He heard it moving closer and realized that the sun had about an hour before it set. The Demon had obviously come hoping to catch them while they were sleeping. Stupid git, any vampire who had been around for a century knew not to sleep fully during the day. That was when most hunters made their move.
The demon walked until it was standing over him and inhaled very loudly and audibly. Spike was preparing himself for the pounce when suddenly three loud consecutive gunshots rang out and Spike shot up to his feet to see the demon lying dead on the floor and Selene holding a smoking pistol, and judging by the steam rising from the entry wounds she had used silver bullets; the preferred method of killing a Fyarl.
"BLOODY HELL WOMAN!" Spike yalped, falling back into the couch.
"Your welcome." Selene said coldly. She had expected more gratitude for saving his life. Selene had heard it coming through the door, recognized it's scent and immediately reached for her armory.
"You killed the bloody thing! Now we'll never find out who sent it!" Selene sighed,
"It's a Fyarl demon, William. They can only speak in a series of spits and indistinguishable gargles. Only a handful of people in the world can understand it, so unless you know someone-" Spike sighed and raised his hand while bent over the body examining it. Selene cocked an eyebrow in recognition, "Oh, I see. Well that is unfortunate." She wasn't even going to apologize.
"Has this happened before?" Selene nodded, walking over to where spike was still examining the corpse, she took a spot beside him.
"Yes, but never from a non death dealer. Michael and I are ever vigilant. We rarely stay longer than a month in any one place." "So Michaels the name." Spike thought for a brief moment before saying, "Well it's a well known fact that Fyarls aren't exactly the thinking type, so I'm doubting he came on his own accord." Selene nodded in agreement.
"Yes, but the Zyvera Clan never hires third party mercenaries or assassins, they consider themselves of being above such things." Spike nodded, standing up from the demon corpse, the silver bullets Selene used were already disintegrating it like salt on a slug.
"Could it be someone working inside the clan?" Spike asked. Selene stood up with him and pondered this a moment before saying,
"Possible, but if they were to do so it would have to be behind the backs of the entire clan, otherwise they would be executed for treason. The only one I know of who'd be stupid enough to try something lik that is not in a position to do so. And sense I've killed the assassin we may be left with no option but to wait for the next one." Spike grinned and grabbed his duster on a nearby chair saying,
"Get your coat." Selene looked at him in surprise and annoyance,
"William, we have no leads what so ever, we could hit the streets all night and we'd be right back where we started." At this Spike turned and lifted one finger to make a point.
"Wrong luv, we've got one lead," Selene mentally reviewed the facts and suddenly understood what he was talking about. Spike continued with a grin,
"Like you said, there's only a handful of people in the world who can speak Fyarl. Me for one, and I know who to ask to find out who else in town can.
After the sun set, Spike and Selene left the apartment and took their respective vehicles and set out at very unsafe mortal speeds with Selene following Spike this time. After a fairly quick trip they arrived at a fairly impressive looking club. They each parked in the available slots Selene exited her car and asked,
"Is this a joke William? This is a mortal club!" Spike grinned and opened the door for her saying,
"Ladies first." Selene sighed, hoping that he was taking this seriously and stepped inside, but as she did she caught the name of the band that was performing tonight.
"Dingo's ate my baby, what the bloody hell inspired that name!" she thought. Spike followed her in and was instantly met with the sound of heavy rock music and all the screams one would expect to hear with it. The entire place was overrun with rabid young men and women who were all having drinks, asking for a dance, or trying to find someone to take home. Selene again looked at Spike for some kind of explanation, to this Spike gestured to the front stage where there was a group of young, attractive (in a mortal way that she didn't prefer), young men. The one who caught her eye specifically was a young man in his twenties she guessed playing lead guitar. He was slightly short with pale skin, bright nearly orange red hair, and a face that unlike his companions which were screaming out loud in passion, seemed almost…bored. That was when she realized it. Selene had been hunting Lycans all her life, she could feel instinctively when one was nearby and she recognized this young man for what he was, a wolf in sheep's clothing. The song reached a new peak of noise and Spike and Selene forced their way through the crowd until they were almost at the front. Both Selene and Spike got several stares, some at their leather attire, but mostly looks of desire. Spike was rather amused at the reaction a group of nearby schoolgirls had when he passed but Selene was desperately trying to keep from having a migraine as several flocks of grown men ogled her up and down, the fact that she wasn't used to being in large groups wasn't helping matters either.
The song abruptly ended and just before an enormous amount of applause began Spike lifted his hands to his mouth to increase the loud yell that followed,
"OZ!" Selene noticed the young Lycan with red hair turn to see them in the crowd.
"Curious name?" she thought. After the applause died down the lead singer began to say,
"Thanks everybody, now this next one's called-" he suddenly stopped when the Lycan called Oz tapped him on the shoulder. They had a brief exchange before the singer returned to the mic to say, "We're gonna take a little break folks." There were murmurs of "ughs" and "Come on's". Oz gave a nod of the head and with a gesture from Spike, they left the Crowd to Selene's great relief. They made a quick trip out the door and around the side of the club to find Oz standing near a back way entrance. He took a few steps forward when he saw them coming until the were all face to face. Oz certainly seemed out of place in the group considering that Selene and Spike were each covered in leather attire while he was wearing a simple windbreaker and jeans. Oz gave a short nod and began their inevitably quick interview,
"Spike." He stated.
"Oz." Spike returned.
"What's up?"
"Vacation."
"Ah, makes sense, what with the whole English thing. How's LA treating you?"
"Not so good."
"Sounds about right. Who's she?" He gestured towards Selene."
"Old friend." He answered.
"How old?"
"Century."
"She smells different."
"Zyvera clan."
"Cool. Name's Oz." He held out his hand. Selene's eyes widened, the entire exchange had lasted less than thirty seconds.
"Selene." She answered and shook it hesitantly. Selene was floored. He had to be the calmest werewolf she had ever seen! Even Lucian himself had never been this cool or collected. It was unnerving.
"Cool, she shook my hand." Selene gave a curious look. Oz answered, "Most Zyvera are pretty uptight. In your position they'd either run, shoot, or spit in my general direction typically. Not to mention that you're with with Spike, they don't typically like hanging out with other vampires." Selene didn't really know what to say to this. The fact was he was right. All of her combat instincts were screaming at her to kill both her companions. After a brief pause Oz continued.
"So what's the problem?" Spike nodded,
"Right, Fyarl demons. Who's new in town that understands them?" Oz thought for a moment before saying,
"Can't say I've heard of anyone new. There's the usual. The watchers probably have some interpreters." Spike shook his head.
"Wouldn't be them, sure you haven't heard of anyone new?" "Nope, things have actually started becoming more hush hush now in the demon world, what with the whole slayer multiplicity." "So the rumors are true," Selene thought, "there is more than one slayer." Spike asked again,
"Can't you think of anything else?" Oz shook his head.
"I'd suggest asking the watchers council here but I don't think they'd help. They might get turned off by the whole fact that you're vampire's. Anything else I can help with?" Spike sighed,
"No." "Alright, I gotta get back to playing then, the band really hates it when I do stuff like this." Oz stated. Selene spoke up.
"Just a moment, William, can I have a private word with him?" Oz cocked an eyebrow and came close to making an expression…almost.
"William?" He repeated. Spike gave him a warning glare to indicate that he should never call him this.
"Right, I'll be waiting." Spike walked away leaving the two alone. Selene waited until he was out of earshot, which took awhile with his enhanced hearing, before asking abruptly,
"What are you?" A brief pause.
"Lead guitar." Selene glared. "Oh that. I'm a werewolf."
"I know what species?" She asked.
"Species?" Oz half asked. Selene couldn't believe this, he didn't even know his own blood line!
"I'm Zyvera, William is an Aurrelian, but you're no Lycan, you have too much control to be an animal." Oz suddenly understood.
"Oh that! Actually I did that myself, hung out in the Tibet mountains, learned some yoga, tai chi, kung fu, and self control, harness my inner beast kind of." This completely through Selene off guard. This werewolf had undergone the same training Michael was currently practicing! She couldn't believe it! It was a well known fact that werewolves opposed Zen arts, they believed that it was the beast within them that made them strong, control was a bad thing. And yet in front of her was a werewolf who had successfully passed the training regime. It was plausible that he could have easily killed both her and William if he so desired. Selene's hands that had been laying at her sides slowly crept toward her hips to rest on her weapons. She didn't draw it as he had shown no hostility, but she was prepared. Selene stated,
"I have a friend undergoing the same training." Oz replied,
"Friend? You know I heard rumors of a zyvera woman and an…'abomination', they call it running around the world." Selene thought carefully and then nodded in confirmation. "What exactly is the abomination?" Selene again hesitated, but realized that he had answered her questions to the best of his ability, and so should she.
"A medical intern, human, who by coincidence was the only human alive who could harbor both the Zyvera and Lycan bloodline, creating a hybrid of sorts." Most would gawk at this or gain a dark look, Oz just said,
"Cool." There was a pause before he added, "Does he know?" Realizing that he meant Spike she said,
"He knows that Michael and I are involved if that's what you mean, but he doesn't know who Michael is." "Uh huh, look I don't know what Spike was like in the eighteenth century-" "Nineteenth." She corrected.
"Ok, still he's not going to appreciate you keeping things from him." "I wasn't keeping things from him, there simply hasn't been time to explain!" Selene said defensively. Oz said, non pulsed as always,
"Didn't mean to accuse, Spike and I don't even get along that well?" Selene cocked an eyebrow, that was how he acted around people he "didn't" get along with! Suddenly she had a dreadful thought,
"He won't be like you will he?" Oz realized what she meant and said,
"Oh, you mean the whole talk slow man of few words thing? No, I was always this cool. In fact, he'll be more or less what he was before getting bitten slash vamped, before the whole animal instinct becomes a factor. Accelerated hair growth not withstanding of course."
"Perfect!" Selene thought, "Perfect!" There was another brief pause before Oz said,
"Well the crowds probably getting angsty, later." And with that Oz returned through the back door and Selene made her way back.
Spike was leaning on her sedan waiting for her. When he saw her coming he said,
"So what was the conversation about?" Selene shrugged.
"Nothing important."
Another short trip saw them back at Selene's sanctuary. Spike was at the table drinking a glass of blood with vodka mixed into it while Selene was leaning against the window with another glass. The corpse of the Fyarl had long ago evaporated from the silver bullets Selene had imbedded in it.
"So let's go over the facts." Spike said. "The Zyvera's want you dead, simple. But someone else is obviously keen on taking you alive. Who though?" Selene thought a moment and said,
"Are you sure you didn't rule out the Watchers too quickly? Our relationship with there council was civil to a degree, but now that a new group has taken control-" Spike shook his head and said,
"Those ponces, even back before the hostile takeover by the Slayers would never use bounty hunters. Besides, with all the knew Vampire slayers around it would have been a simple matter to just assign one of them instead." Selene sighed,
"What do you think then?" Spike leaned back.
"Well we're dealing with someone who's pretty arrogant, that's for sure, otherwise he would have been more thorough and realized one Fyarl would be no where near enough. He's got lot's of money, and no balls…" there was a pause before he bursted out in defeat,
"Oh bugger it all, I've got no bleeding idea who it is! Can't you think of anyone who might be behind this?" Selene shook her head.
"As I said before, the only one I know of who would even conceive of such a notion is on the run himself as well. He's in no position to hire someone to capture me, though he certainly matches your profile. Spike glanced at her.
"Do you mean the bit about arrogance, or ball less?"
"Both." Spike gave a mild chuckle.
"Bloody hell! Well that tears it then. All we can do is wait for the next assassin. You taking first watch or am I?" Selene took jumped at her chance,
"Why don't we both take one, I still need to here your story." Spike smiled,
"So where do I start?" Selene asked the question that had been bugging her since the other night.
"First things first, 'Spike'?" She made sure to accentuate that particular word. Spike grinned.
"In one unintended reading of my poetry one ponce made a comment about how he'd rather have a railroad Spike shoved through his head then listen to more of my poetry. So about a week after I got vamped I caught up with him and remembered it. I took the saying to heart, and he took it quite literally to the head. Kind of stuck with me afterwards I suppose." Selene made no comment. Now that she had had that answered she decided that she had absolutely no desire to here about his masquerade throughout the ages as a monster, nor was she ready to her about how he became a vampire in the first place, so she asked,
"How did you get it back? Your soul I mean." Spike let out a breath in relief, obviously out of habit since Aurrelian lungs didn't need oxygen. He wasn't exactly ready to talk about this yet either. "Well there was this guy with flaming arms, swarms of insects, a few giant rats, a banshee singing Yoko Ono singles." Spike shuddered at the last one. "Long story short, I went to Africa, fought, go crushed to the ground through a series of trials, and at the end of the river won my soul back. Selene stared.
"You got your soul back……intentionally?" "Yeah, what did you think, I was cursed like my gramps?" Selene started to respond, then realized what he said and put two and two together.
"So Angelus is your sire?!?" Spike snorted.
"Grand Sire! And don't think for one minute that he had anything to do with the reasons I did it, or that this Aurrelian with a soul gig is some kind of hand me down! I had my own reasons for getting it back!" "And what were those reasons exactly?" Spike suddenly didn't seem to want to continue.
"They're not important-" Selene crossed her arms,
"Like hell they aren't! A demonic monster with no conscious actually fighting to get back his sense of guilt and right and wrong?!? It makes no sense! What on god's green earth could have possible promted you to do that?" Spike looked away.
"You wouldn't understand." "Try me." Spike paused and began saying,
"It was for a girl." Selene looked disappointed.
"That's it? You made it sound like I would be disgusted, we all do amazing things for those we love." Spike didn't look convinced. "What was her name?"
"Here's the kicker." Spike thought. "Buffy-Anne-Summers." A torrent suddenly flooded Selene's mind!
"The Slayer!!!" Spike nodded. It was impossible! A Vampire in love with a Vampire slayer! They were sworn enemies! They were-and with that thought an image of Michael flashed through her mind. Seeing her dazed expression Spike added,
"Told you you wouldn't understand." Selene shook her head in realization.
"I do understand, I understand exactly what it's like to love someone who you're forbidden to love." Spike looked up at her and she took a step forward. "Someone who you were taught was inferior," She continued walking until she was in arms reach, "Someone who you were completely wrong for, and yet completely right for also." Spike let these words sink in and stood up. Standing close he said,
"What did you ever see in me?" Selene suddenly realized that while she had been talking about Michael it could easily have been misinterpreted. But rather than say this and add more tension when things were just starting to loosen up she went with the flow and answered,
"I saw a man of truth, honor, and most of all decency amongst a horde of wolves. A man who valued what he thought of himself over what others thought of him." Spike came closer to her than he ever had in the last two nights, her scent was becoming intoxicating. She was becoming uneasy as she looked at the face she had been avoiding the past few nights, the face of her former lover.
"What do you see now?" He asked, his normal grinning expression gone, and his blue eyes looking almost doe like.
"What am I doing!?!" both Spike and Selene thought at the same time. Spike sweated out a second or two, afraid of what she might say.
"A Vampire with a soul." She answered. Spike nodded, so that was it then, that was all she thought of him. Suddenly, surprisingly, she put her hand on his unbeating heart. Spike looked at her in surprise before she continued, "A good man, a brave man." Spike took her hand and looked at her, remembering something he said several years ago.
"I'm a monster, but you treat me like a man…" It was more than anyone had ever given him…until now. Selene was able to keep her breath shallow but it was pointless at the rate her heart was beating. It suddenly occurred to Spike that since they had met two nights ago he had not even touched her yet. He reached out with his free hand and stroked her pale cheek and allowed his fingers to curl through her hair. Selene remained motionless the whole time, just feeling the soft strokes of his hand. Spike bent down, lowering his face to hers, Selene knew what was coming but she didn't move, she just said,
"Don't." Spike ignored her though, and kissed her. Selene hesitated, but after her initial moments of shock she kissed back.
Suddenly they were back on their street in London, kissing and throwing caution to the wind. Neither of them knew how long it went on, it had been a century of passion for each other that they had both thought forgotten and time had stood still, that is until time resumed with a rather loud thump.
Startled, the two looked too the doorway to see a young man standing there with a look of betrayal on his face. Spike looked and sized him up. His scent was odd, human and yet, not. He was tall with an athletic build, wearing some casual boots, jeans and brown leather jacket. He had medium length dirty blond hair and a classic all American face, square jawed and all, a real pretty boy. Selene looked at the man with shock,
"Michael." She whispered and suddenly Spike understood the predicament he was in.
"Oh balls! So what do I do now? I've got a soul, I'm trying to be a good guy now. Do I stay, do I leave?"
"Michael, let me explain." Selene said hesitatingly. Michael's face suddenly lost its look of betrayal when he focused on Spike, replaced by a face of pure malevolence.
"This doesn't bode well," Spike thought. Suddenly, to Spike's amazement, Michael began to change. His skin shifted colors, loosing pigment until it became a light gray. His eyes darkened and solidified to become jet black. He gave a tremendous roar, showing off a nasty set of pearly white teeth, and moved like a cannon ball straight towards Spike. He moved far to fast for Spike to even think of reacting and suddenly Spike felt himself crash through a window where he spent an awkward few seconds free falling several stories before reaching the street below. Landing with a hard thud, Spike thought,
"All right then, bugger wants a fight, bugger e'll get a-" Spike stopped that thought as he opened his eyes and saw Michael standing over him.
"Oh Bollocks." He stated before he was grabbed and thrown into an alley wall.
This story is not authorized by Lakeshore Entertainment or Screen Gems Productions. Underworld and its characters, and trademarks are the property of Lakeshore Entertainment, and/or Screen Gems Productions. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entities. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.
This story is not authorized by Fox. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its characters, and trademarks are the property of Twentieth Century Fox, Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and/or the United Paramount Network. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entities. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.
This story is not authorized by Whitewolf. The World Of Darkness and other trademarks are the property of Whitewolf. The author is not affiliated in any way with the aforementioned entity. This story is solely intended as an entertaining resource. No copyright infringement is intended nor implied.
Notes:
Fool For Her
Chapter 5
Spike sensed the front door open slowly and resisted the instinctive urge to leap to his feet. As a vampire it was his nocturnal nature to protect his daylight resting place and although he was sleeping he instantly awoke the moment his body felt it was in danger. He could tell by the way the intruder was moving that it was not Selene. Obviously it couldn't be her because she was still in her bedroom and Spike hadn't heard her leave but interestingly enough, Spike could tell that the intruder was not even a run of the mill human. It was large and clumsy, and its failed but humoring attempts to be stealth like were very obvious. A demon, Spike realized, a fairly large one. Spike silently sniffed the air and nearly cringed when he recognized an all too familiar scent. A Fyarl demon! Fyarls weren't the sharpest tools in the shed, they were more "crush and ask questions later", hence the reason its stealth like approach came as a surprise. Fyarls were known for there mucus, when exposed to oxygen it hardened very rapidly and it made them almost perfect for abduction jobs, if you could train one to be obedient enough that is. Spike knew that no one could have organized a Fyarl abduction for him this fast, it took a day at least to get location and an image of there victim engraved into their mind, so obviously this thing was after Selene and everyone who might be with her. The other reason they were used on missions like this was because of the fact that they spoke there own unique language that only a handful of people in the world knew, so even if captured they couldn't give up their master. Luckily for Spike, he could understand Fyarl tongue, so all he had to do was grab it and torture it until it started giving names.
He heard it moving closer and realized that the sun had about an hour before it set. The Demon had obviously come hoping to catch them while they were sleeping. Stupid git, any vampire who had been around for a century knew not to sleep fully during the day. That was when most hunters made their move.
The demon walked until it was standing over him and inhaled very loudly and audibly. Spike was preparing himself for the pounce when suddenly three loud consecutive gunshots rang out and Spike shot up to his feet to see the demon lying dead on the floor and Selene holding a smoking pistol, and judging by the steam rising from the entry wounds she had used silver bullets; the preferred method of killing a Fyarl.
"BLOODY HELL WOMAN!" Spike yalped, falling back into the couch.
"Your welcome." Selene said coldly. She had expected more gratitude for saving his life. Selene had heard it coming through the door, recognized it's scent and immediately reached for her armory.
"You killed the bloody thing! Now we'll never find out who sent it!" Selene sighed,
"It's a Fyarl demon, William. They can only speak in a series of spits and indistinguishable gargles. Only a handful of people in the world can understand it, so unless you know someone-" Spike sighed and raised his hand while bent over the body examining it. Selene cocked an eyebrow in recognition, "Oh, I see. Well that is unfortunate." She wasn't even going to apologize.
"Has this happened before?" Selene nodded, walking over to where spike was still examining the corpse, she took a spot beside him.
"Yes, but never from a non death dealer. Michael and I are ever vigilant. We rarely stay longer than a month in any one place." "So Michaels the name." Spike thought for a brief moment before saying, "Well it's a well known fact that Fyarls aren't exactly the thinking type, so I'm doubting he came on his own accord." Selene nodded in agreement.
"Yes, but the Zyvera Clan never hires third party mercenaries or assassins, they consider themselves of being above such things." Spike nodded, standing up from the demon corpse, the silver bullets Selene used were already disintegrating it like salt on a slug.
"Could it be someone working inside the clan?" Spike asked. Selene stood up with him and pondered this a moment before saying,
"Possible, but if they were to do so it would have to be behind the backs of the entire clan, otherwise they would be executed for treason. The only one I know of who'd be stupid enough to try something lik that is not in a position to do so. And sense I've killed the assassin we may be left with no option but to wait for the next one." Spike grinned and grabbed his duster on a nearby chair saying,
"Get your coat." Selene looked at him in surprise and annoyance,
"William, we have no leads what so ever, we could hit the streets all night and we'd be right back where we started." At this Spike turned and lifted one finger to make a point.
"Wrong luv, we've got one lead," Selene mentally reviewed the facts and suddenly understood what he was talking about. Spike continued with a grin,
"Like you said, there's only a handful of people in the world who can speak Fyarl. Me for one, and I know who to ask to find out who else in town can.
After the sun set, Spike and Selene left the apartment and took their respective vehicles and set out at very unsafe mortal speeds with Selene following Spike this time. After a fairly quick trip they arrived at a fairly impressive looking club. They each parked in the available slots Selene exited her car and asked,
"Is this a joke William? This is a mortal club!" Spike grinned and opened the door for her saying,
"Ladies first." Selene sighed, hoping that he was taking this seriously and stepped inside, but as she did she caught the name of the band that was performing tonight.
"Dingo's ate my baby, what the bloody hell inspired that name!" she thought. Spike followed her in and was instantly met with the sound of heavy rock music and all the screams one would expect to hear with it. The entire place was overrun with rabid young men and women who were all having drinks, asking for a dance, or trying to find someone to take home. Selene again looked at Spike for some kind of explanation, to this Spike gestured to the front stage where there was a group of young, attractive (in a mortal way that she didn't prefer), young men. The one who caught her eye specifically was a young man in his twenties she guessed playing lead guitar. He was slightly short with pale skin, bright nearly orange red hair, and a face that unlike his companions which were screaming out loud in passion, seemed almost…bored. That was when she realized it. Selene had been hunting Lycans all her life, she could feel instinctively when one was nearby and she recognized this young man for what he was, a wolf in sheep's clothing. The song reached a new peak of noise and Spike and Selene forced their way through the crowd until they were almost at the front. Both Selene and Spike got several stares, some at their leather attire, but mostly looks of desire. Spike was rather amused at the reaction a group of nearby schoolgirls had when he passed but Selene was desperately trying to keep from having a migraine as several flocks of grown men ogled her up and down, the fact that she wasn't used to being in large groups wasn't helping matters either.
The song abruptly ended and just before an enormous amount of applause began Spike lifted his hands to his mouth to increase the loud yell that followed,
"OZ!" Selene noticed the young Lycan with red hair turn to see them in the crowd.
"Curious name?" she thought. After the applause died down the lead singer began to say,
"Thanks everybody, now this next one's called-" he suddenly stopped when the Lycan called Oz tapped him on the shoulder. They had a brief exchange before the singer returned to the mic to say, "We're gonna take a little break folks." There were murmurs of "ughs" and "Come on's". Oz gave a nod of the head and with a gesture from Spike, they left the Crowd to Selene's great relief. They made a quick trip out the door and around the side of the club to find Oz standing near a back way entrance. He took a few steps forward when he saw them coming until the were all face to face. Oz certainly seemed out of place in the group considering that Selene and Spike were each covered in leather attire while he was wearing a simple windbreaker and jeans. Oz gave a short nod and began their inevitably quick interview,
"Spike." He stated.
"Oz." Spike returned.
"What's up?"
"Vacation."
"Ah, makes sense, what with the whole English thing. How's LA treating you?"
"Not so good."
"Sounds about right. Who's she?" He gestured towards Selene."
"Old friend." He answered.
"How old?"
"Century."
"She smells different."
"Zyvera clan."
"Cool. Name's Oz." He held out his hand. Selene's eyes widened, the entire exchange had lasted less than thirty seconds.
"Selene." She answered and shook it hesitantly. Selene was floored. He had to be the calmest werewolf she had ever seen! Even Lucian himself had never been this cool or collected. It was unnerving.
"Cool, she shook my hand." Selene gave a curious look. Oz answered, "Most Zyvera are pretty uptight. In your position they'd either run, shoot, or spit in my general direction typically. Not to mention that you're with with Spike, they don't typically like hanging out with other vampires." Selene didn't really know what to say to this. The fact was he was right. All of her combat instincts were screaming at her to kill both her companions. After a brief pause Oz continued.
"So what's the problem?" Spike nodded,
"Right, Fyarl demons. Who's new in town that understands them?" Oz thought for a moment before saying,
"Can't say I've heard of anyone new. There's the usual. The watchers probably have some interpreters." Spike shook his head.
"Wouldn't be them, sure you haven't heard of anyone new?" "Nope, things have actually started becoming more hush hush now in the demon world, what with the whole slayer multiplicity." "So the rumors are true," Selene thought, "there is more than one slayer." Spike asked again,
"Can't you think of anything else?" Oz shook his head.
"I'd suggest asking the watchers council here but I don't think they'd help. They might get turned off by the whole fact that you're vampire's. Anything else I can help with?" Spike sighed,
"No." "Alright, I gotta get back to playing then, the band really hates it when I do stuff like this." Oz stated. Selene spoke up.
"Just a moment, William, can I have a private word with him?" Oz cocked an eyebrow and came close to making an expression…almost.
"William?" He repeated. Spike gave him a warning glare to indicate that he should never call him this.
"Right, I'll be waiting." Spike walked away leaving the two alone. Selene waited until he was out of earshot, which took awhile with his enhanced hearing, before asking abruptly,
"What are you?" A brief pause.
"Lead guitar." Selene glared. "Oh that. I'm a werewolf."
"I know what species?" She asked.
"Species?" Oz half asked. Selene couldn't believe this, he didn't even know his own blood line!
"I'm Zyvera, William is an Aurrelian, but you're no Lycan, you have too much control to be an animal." Oz suddenly understood.
"Oh that! Actually I did that myself, hung out in the Tibet mountains, learned some yoga, tai chi, kung fu, and self control, harness my inner beast kind of." This completely through Selene off guard. This werewolf had undergone the same training Michael was currently practicing! She couldn't believe it! It was a well known fact that werewolves opposed Zen arts, they believed that it was the beast within them that made them strong, control was a bad thing. And yet in front of her was a werewolf who had successfully passed the training regime. It was plausible that he could have easily killed both her and William if he so desired. Selene's hands that had been laying at her sides slowly crept toward her hips to rest on her weapons. She didn't draw it as he had shown no hostility, but she was prepared. Selene stated,
"I have a friend undergoing the same training." Oz replied,
"Friend? You know I heard rumors of a zyvera woman and an…'abomination', they call it running around the world." Selene thought carefully and then nodded in confirmation. "What exactly is the abomination?" Selene again hesitated, but realized that he had answered her questions to the best of his ability, and so should she.
"A medical intern, human, who by coincidence was the only human alive who could harbor both the Zyvera and Lycan bloodline, creating a hybrid of sorts." Most would gawk at this or gain a dark look, Oz just said,
"Cool." There was a pause before he added, "Does he know?" Realizing that he meant Spike she said,
"He knows that Michael and I are involved if that's what you mean, but he doesn't know who Michael is." "Uh huh, look I don't know what Spike was like in the eighteenth century-" "Nineteenth." She corrected.
"Ok, still he's not going to appreciate you keeping things from him." "I wasn't keeping things from him, there simply hasn't been time to explain!" Selene said defensively. Oz said, non pulsed as always,
"Didn't mean to accuse, Spike and I don't even get along that well?" Selene cocked an eyebrow, that was how he acted around people he "didn't" get along with! Suddenly she had a dreadful thought,
"He won't be like you will he?" Oz realized what she meant and said,
"Oh, you mean the whole talk slow man of few words thing? No, I was always this cool. In fact, he'll be more or less what he was before getting bitten slash vamped, before the whole animal instinct becomes a factor. Accelerated hair growth not withstanding of course."
"Perfect!" Selene thought, "Perfect!" There was another brief pause before Oz said,
"Well the crowds probably getting angsty, later." And with that Oz returned through the back door and Selene made her way back.
Spike was leaning on her sedan waiting for her. When he saw her coming he said,
"So what was the conversation about?" Selene shrugged.
"Nothing important."
Another short trip saw them back at Selene's sanctuary. Spike was at the table drinking a glass of blood with vodka mixed into it while Selene was leaning against the window with another glass. The corpse of the Fyarl had long ago evaporated from the silver bullets Selene had imbedded in it.
"So let's go over the facts." Spike said. "The Zyvera's want you dead, simple. But someone else is obviously keen on taking you alive. Who though?" Selene thought a moment and said,
"Are you sure you didn't rule out the Watchers too quickly? Our relationship with there council was civil to a degree, but now that a new group has taken control-" Spike shook his head and said,
"Those ponces, even back before the hostile takeover by the Slayers would never use bounty hunters. Besides, with all the knew Vampire slayers around it would have been a simple matter to just assign one of them instead." Selene sighed,
"What do you think then?" Spike leaned back.
"Well we're dealing with someone who's pretty arrogant, that's for sure, otherwise he would have been more thorough and realized one Fyarl would be no where near enough. He's got lot's of money, and no balls…" there was a pause before he bursted out in defeat,
"Oh bugger it all, I've got no bleeding idea who it is! Can't you think of anyone who might be behind this?" Selene shook her head.
"As I said before, the only one I know of who would even conceive of such a notion is on the run himself as well. He's in no position to hire someone to capture me, though he certainly matches your profile. Spike glanced at her.
"Do you mean the bit about arrogance, or ball less?"
"Both." Spike gave a mild chuckle.
"Bloody hell! Well that tears it then. All we can do is wait for the next assassin. You taking first watch or am I?" Selene took jumped at her chance,
"Why don't we both take one, I still need to here your story." Spike smiled,
"So where do I start?" Selene asked the question that had been bugging her since the other night.
"First things first, 'Spike'?" She made sure to accentuate that particular word. Spike grinned.
"In one unintended reading of my poetry one ponce made a comment about how he'd rather have a railroad Spike shoved through his head then listen to more of my poetry. So about a week after I got vamped I caught up with him and remembered it. I took the saying to heart, and he took it quite literally to the head. Kind of stuck with me afterwards I suppose." Selene made no comment. Now that she had had that answered she decided that she had absolutely no desire to here about his masquerade throughout the ages as a monster, nor was she ready to her about how he became a vampire in the first place, so she asked,
"How did you get it back? Your soul I mean." Spike let out a breath in relief, obviously out of habit since Aurrelian lungs didn't need oxygen. He wasn't exactly ready to talk about this yet either. "Well there was this guy with flaming arms, swarms of insects, a few giant rats, a banshee singing Yoko Ono singles." Spike shuddered at the last one. "Long story short, I went to Africa, fought, go crushed to the ground through a series of trials, and at the end of the river won my soul back. Selene stared.
"You got your soul back……intentionally?" "Yeah, what did you think, I was cursed like my gramps?" Selene started to respond, then realized what he said and put two and two together.
"So Angelus is your sire?!?" Spike snorted.
"Grand Sire! And don't think for one minute that he had anything to do with the reasons I did it, or that this Aurrelian with a soul gig is some kind of hand me down! I had my own reasons for getting it back!" "And what were those reasons exactly?" Spike suddenly didn't seem to want to continue.
"They're not important-" Selene crossed her arms,
"Like hell they aren't! A demonic monster with no conscious actually fighting to get back his sense of guilt and right and wrong?!? It makes no sense! What on god's green earth could have possible promted you to do that?" Spike looked away.
"You wouldn't understand." "Try me." Spike paused and began saying,
"It was for a girl." Selene looked disappointed.
"That's it? You made it sound like I would be disgusted, we all do amazing things for those we love." Spike didn't look convinced. "What was her name?"
"Here's the kicker." Spike thought. "Buffy-Anne-Summers." A torrent suddenly flooded Selene's mind!
"The Slayer!!!" Spike nodded. It was impossible! A Vampire in love with a Vampire slayer! They were sworn enemies! They were-and with that thought an image of Michael flashed through her mind. Seeing her dazed expression Spike added,
"Told you you wouldn't understand." Selene shook her head in realization.
"I do understand, I understand exactly what it's like to love someone who you're forbidden to love." Spike looked up at her and she took a step forward. "Someone who you were taught was inferior," She continued walking until she was in arms reach, "Someone who you were completely wrong for, and yet completely right for also." Spike let these words sink in and stood up. Standing close he said,
"What did you ever see in me?" Selene suddenly realized that while she had been talking about Michael it could easily have been misinterpreted. But rather than say this and add more tension when things were just starting to loosen up she went with the flow and answered,
"I saw a man of truth, honor, and most of all decency amongst a horde of wolves. A man who valued what he thought of himself over what others thought of him." Spike came closer to her than he ever had in the last two nights, her scent was becoming intoxicating. She was becoming uneasy as she looked at the face she had been avoiding the past few nights, the face of her former lover.
"What do you see now?" He asked, his normal grinning expression gone, and his blue eyes looking almost doe like.
"What am I doing!?!" both Spike and Selene thought at the same time. Spike sweated out a second or two, afraid of what she might say.
"A Vampire with a soul." She answered. Spike nodded, so that was it then, that was all she thought of him. Suddenly, surprisingly, she put her hand on his unbeating heart. Spike looked at her in surprise before she continued, "A good man, a brave man." Spike took her hand and looked at her, remembering something he said several years ago.
"I'm a monster, but you treat me like a man…" It was more than anyone had ever given him…until now. Selene was able to keep her breath shallow but it was pointless at the rate her heart was beating. It suddenly occurred to Spike that since they had met two nights ago he had not even touched her yet. He reached out with his free hand and stroked her pale cheek and allowed his fingers to curl through her hair. Selene remained motionless the whole time, just feeling the soft strokes of his hand. Spike bent down, lowering his face to hers, Selene knew what was coming but she didn't move, she just said,
"Don't." Spike ignored her though, and kissed her. Selene hesitated, but after her initial moments of shock she kissed back.
Suddenly they were back on their street in London, kissing and throwing caution to the wind. Neither of them knew how long it went on, it had been a century of passion for each other that they had both thought forgotten and time had stood still, that is until time resumed with a rather loud thump.
Startled, the two looked too the doorway to see a young man standing there with a look of betrayal on his face. Spike looked and sized him up. His scent was odd, human and yet, not. He was tall with an athletic build, wearing some casual boots, jeans and brown leather jacket. He had medium length dirty blond hair and a classic all American face, square jawed and all, a real pretty boy. Selene looked at the man with shock,
"Michael." She whispered and suddenly Spike understood the predicament he was in.
"Oh balls! So what do I do now? I've got a soul, I'm trying to be a good guy now. Do I stay, do I leave?"
"Michael, let me explain." Selene said hesitatingly. Michael's face suddenly lost its look of betrayal when he focused on Spike, replaced by a face of pure malevolence.
"This doesn't bode well," Spike thought. Suddenly, to Spike's amazement, Michael began to change. His skin shifted colors, loosing pigment until it became a light gray. His eyes darkened and solidified to become jet black. He gave a tremendous roar, showing off a nasty set of pearly white teeth, and moved like a cannon ball straight towards Spike. He moved far to fast for Spike to even think of reacting and suddenly Spike felt himself crash through a window where he spent an awkward few seconds free falling several stories before reaching the street below. Landing with a hard thud, Spike thought,
"All right then, bugger wants a fight, bugger e'll get a-" Spike stopped that thought as he opened his eyes and saw Michael standing over him.
"Oh Bollocks." He stated before he was grabbed and thrown into an alley wall.