Summary: Slightly AU, what if Spike didn't die at the end of the series? Spike is saved by an old friend, sorry if the summary sucks, I've never been much food at them 😐. Spike / OC.
Notes: this is NOT a spuffy fiction, before anyone throws any rotten fruit at me, because I know a lot of people love Spuffy ... and I do too, but it's been done so many times that I decided to go a slightly different way with my story.
Disclaimer: I own nothing and claim nothing other than the characters I create.
"I love you." Buffy said, tears shimmering in those beautiful blue eyes of hers, the blazing inferno that was consuming the hellmouth was reflecting within them. Making it seem as though there was fire in her eyes.
But there WAS fire.
There always had been. It was in her eyes, her heart and her very soul.
Spike grinned despite the fact that his demise was eminent.
Yeah ... the powers that be had done damn bloody good for themselves when they chose Buffy as the next slayer.
A loud crash suddenly brought them back to their terrible reality.
He smiled sadly at her.
"No you don't... but thanks for sayin' it."
She paused once more.
"Buffy come on! We gotta go!" Faith bellowed.
"Go! It's up to me to do the clean up!"
"Spike no... you've done enough..." she trailed off as she reached for the amulet.
"JUST GO! I've gotta do this!" He roared at her as he swatted her hand away.
She gave him one final agonized look, she looked to Faith, Who frantically gestured for her to hurry up, then back to him, still hesitant to leave him..
Buffy Summers ... Forever the savior... reluctant to leave anyone behind.
Even someone like him..
but she had to, if she didn't, she'd die here... like he was going to.
She couldn't though, all the potential slayers being awoken would need her to lead them. Faith sure as hell couldn't do it by herself.
He offered her a wink and nodded his head towards Faith.
"Go ... They need you more than I do." He said.
Buffy's eyes met his one final time before turning and racing to join the others.
Spike grinned to himself.
"I'm gonna see how it ends." He said, he could feel his skin beginning to sizzle, it wouldn't be long now.
Suddenly he saw it, a figure walking towards him as if in slow motion. The heat from the fire distorting their image, making them look like merely a mirage.
Spike shook his head and rubbed his eyes.
Shit maybe he was starting to see things? Maybe the pain was causing him to hallucinate?
The figure slowly came into view and he couldn't stop the sharp intake of breath in wake of his surprise.
It was a woman, she was tall, as tall or even taller than he was, her shortly cropped mohawk of electric blue hair was strangely visible against the flames.
Spike grinned again, he'd know that silhouette anywhere, no matter how many decades passed between glimpses.
"F ... Fancy meeting you here. " he ground out through the pain.
Her brilliant red eyes danced with the rich peel of laughter that rolled out of her mouth.
"I'm a fire demon, am I not? And besides, who's amulet do you think that is?" She said as with one fail swoop, she snatched the amulet off his neck.
Spike gulped in a few grateful gasps of air as he felt his skin slowly returning to its normal cool temperature.
She suddenly grabbed his hand and practically tossed him behind her
"Hold onto me, this is gonna be rough." She said as she shouted an Incantation.
The last thing Spike remembered before blacking out was a bright flash of light.
Spike came to, gasping and coughing, his lungs felt as though he'd inhaled a pound of ash.
His eyes snapped open and he was met with a profound inky blackness and he thought for a moment that he had gone blind.
However his predatory senses began to tingle, telling him he wasn't alone.
"Dark enough for you?" A low, gravely female voice suddenly came from his left as a pair of glowing red eyes suddenly appeared.
"Syntyche, doin' that's going to get ya killed one day, love." Spike growled.
"And I told you never to call me that." She replied shortly.
"But that's your name, isn't it?" He teased with a grin. He knew full well that she hated her given name with a passion that burned hotter than the fire she was born from ... And he never missed an opportunity to heckle her about it.
"And unless you want to take a swim in the caldera of a volcano, you will never EVER refer to me using that name." She snarled at him, her eyes blazing brightly as her electric blue hair glowed like the hottest part of a flame.
"Oh yeah what is it you go by ... Ember, was it?" He bantered her.
"And don't you forget it." She replied shortly.
"Where the hell are we anyway? I can't see my hand in front of my bloody face. " Spike grumbled as he slowly got to his feet.
"I thought your kind liked it dark?" She replied dryly.
"We don't do sunlight, love, but we still like to see where we're going." He bit back.
As soon as he finished speaking, torches suddenly roared to life around the space they were in, which Spike discovered was a cave.
Welcome to my humble abode. " She said as she made a grand, sweeping gesture with her hand.
Spike looked around him and he had to admit, he was... impressed... even if the decor wasn't what he would choose.
The cave had these unique walls that shimmered oddly in the dancing light of the torches.
The furniture was a pastel pink, as were the sheets and the duvet on the bed.
"It's so ... pink." He said as he made a face. Even the large area rug in the middle of room was pink.
"Well what did you expect? My favorite color is pink." She said matter of factly as she raised a pierced eyebrow at him.
Spike couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it, even though he had known the fire demon for almost as long as he'd been undead, the fact that her favorite color was a girly pastel pink had always struck him as funny.
"Are you making fun of my choice of decor?" She challenged him.
Spike shook his head, still chuckling as he fumbled around in his pockets for a cigarette, but came up empty.
Ember reached into her own pocket and tossed him a pack of smokes with a lighter.
Spike wordlessly lit a cigarette and tossed the pack back to her without so much as a thank you.
Not that she expected one, she'd known Spike too long for that, he'd never been the type to be polite.
"Well ... it's been rich and all, but I guess I'll be shovin' off now eh?" He said as he strode towards the exit.
"You're not going anywhere, its twelve noon, you'll burst into ashes as soon as you step outside, and then all my hard work I put into saving you would be for naught." She said with a grin as she flopped down onto the couch.
Spike paused for a moment before joining her as she flipped on the TV.
"Why did you save me, then?" He asked
She dug into her front jeans pocket and pulled out the amulet.
"This here? It was taken from me centuries ago by shrine robbers, when you attempted to kill yourself down there in the hellmouth, the amulet called to me.
The reason why it reacted so violently is because you're not it's true master... I am. It was forged many thousands of years ago by my my ancestors, the amulet will never harm its true master. " she said as she squeezed it gently in her hand before slipping it around her neck.
Spike didn't reply, he merly stared at the show on TV, but not really watching it.
"You want to find her, don't you? The slayer." Ember said, smiling ruefully
"Spike looked at her in momentary surprise before nodding as his gaze concentrated on the floor between his boots
"Well ... yeah... if nothing else, at least to show her that she didn't leave me to burn, ya know? I don't want her living with that. She's already lost so much." He replied.
"You love her." Ember said bluntly.
Spike didn't reply
"But she doesn't love you back." She added.
"Why don't you rub it in a little more?" Spike said as he forcefully got to his feet and walked around to the back of the couch.
Ember furrowed her brow, and Spike had to bite back a grin. Whenever she would go deep into thought, her brow would furrow and her nose would wrinkle as though she had just been assaulted by a putrid odor and he found it... dare he say... CUTE.
Though he would never admit this to anyone, even if they tortured him.
Do you know where they were headed?" She asked.
Spike shook his head. "That witch friend of hers did a spell that gave all the potential slayers their power, not sure if it worked, but if it did, they'd be settin' off to find em'." He said.
"They?" She repeated with a grin.
Spike gave her an annoyed look but chose not to reply.
"Spike the loner, is not only part of a team, but the good guys' team at that!" She said as peels of giggles rolled out of her.
"Hey ...! There's a lot you don't know about me anymore!" He roared at her, his face morphing into it's true demon form in his anger.
"Oh really? Like what?" She challenged him as she stood to face him, her arms crossed in front of her.
"I have a soul!" He roared.
All traces of mirth left her beautiful face.
"Wha... What?" She sputtered.
He grinned smugly at her.
"That's right love, your mate Spike's all rightous and soul-having now. Had to go through hell to get it, though."
There was a long pause as they stood there, staring at one another.
After what seemed like a fortnight, Ember finally spoke.
"Well ... I'll be a son of a bitch." She said, her tone of voice mirroring the surprised look on her face.
Spike smiled tragically at her as his face returned to its human form.
"Yeah. " he replied simply.
"Oh, Spike..." Ember trailed off as a pang of empathy hit her. She had seen how painful a soul restoring ritual could be and that was on a human, a being that was MEANT to have a soul. She could only imagine what kind of agony Spike had gone through.
"Don't, don't pity me. You know I hate that shit. I'm glad I did it ... I wasn't at first ... but I am now."
He paused.
"Now I'm like angel... just a big fluffy puppy with bad teeth." He said as he grinned at her.
Ember laughed again
"Oh no, Spike my dear ... you're NOTHING like Angel! Angel's all drab and melodramatic, you're all danger and fun ... soul or not." She said, the tone of her voice unintentionally deepening into a seductive purr.
This change was not missed by Spike, he stopped and turned to face her as his eyebrow quirked upwards.
"Are you hitting on me by any chance?" He purred in reply as he leaned against the back of the couch.
Ember's face, which normally had a pale orange hue turned a blazing fire engine red.
"As if! No way!" She squeaked as she turned her back towards him.
Spike grinned to himself, but made the uncharacteristic choice to not comment any further.
"So ... you say that your girl and her friends are going to try and find all the potential slayers around the world, right?" Ember said, quickly changing the subject.
"Well, yeah, but ..." Spike began, but Ember plowed on, talking over him.
"Then that's what we should do too then."
"What...?!" He began
"Yeah! If they're looking and were looking then we're all bound to bump into one another some point right?"
"Yeah... I guess but ..." He began
"Then it's settled, at dusk we'll begin." She said as an eager smile crossed her face.