Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Mercedes and Audrey.
Author's Notes:
Two chapters for the price of one, pretty cool huh, but sorry about the wait, the next chapter should be up by the end of the week.
CHAPTER 18-SHOWERS
She stared solemnly at the cup of blood in her hands. She knew that she needed it but didn't in the least feel like drinking any of it. All of her thoughts were centered on if she had made the right decision to follow Spike's orders and leave the hospital. Kristine wasn't about to wake up suddenly; the doctors had told her that she would be out for several more days at least. She had been content to stay there at her bedside and wait, knowing that it would be several days before she would have no choice but to leave and get some blood somewhere. She feared that idea though as she hoped that when the time came that she needed blood desperately that she'd be able to control herself and keep from taking the blood from Kristine.
"Is your blood to cold," Nina asked with a worried and nervous look on her face as she cautiously sat down next to Mercedes on the couch.
"No…it's fine, it's just that…wait, you're not a vampire, so what's with the blood," Mercedes started to reply with a nervous and awkward smile on her face before she looked over and noticed that Nina was holding her own cup of blood.
"Werewolf…actually, I don't exactly need the blood like vampires do, but a little every now and then helps keep the wolf inside of me quiet, if I don't have it I get antsy and snap at people and even become violent if I wait long enough," Nina replied softly with a guilty and embarrassed smile on her face as she ever so slightly pulled away from Mercedes before she put the cup to her lips and took a sip, swallowing before Mercedes opened her mouth to speak.
"Okay, that's news to me, we always had one policy for dealing with werewolves, kill them before they killed us…uh sorry," Mercedes stated with a still unclear tone to her voice as she slowly brought the cup to her mouth before she drank some and swallowed hard.
"Yeah…so do you have a soul then, Angel and Spike do but," Nina started to answer with a nervous look on her face before Mercedes' eyes grew wide at the revelation of who had a soul.
"A…soul, Angelus and Spike…my Spike, have souls," Mercedes sputtered out with a look of total disbelief on her face as she nearly dropped her cup of blood.
"Yeah, Angel was cursed with a soul by some gypsies a long time ago and Spike fought for his a year or so ago, they're special," Nina said softly with a slightly confused but content expression on her face before Mercedes stepped back in.
"Guess that makes me special to, because I have a soul," Mercedes mumbled with a nervous and awkward look on her face as she tried to smile for a bit before taking another drink of her blood.
"Since when," Spike wondered with a skeptical tone to his voice as he stepped back into the room and stared straight at Mercedes.
"Since I started working for The Immortal, he has my soul in a small glass urn on his bookcase, he said that if I served him long enough he'd give it back to me," Mercedes shakily replied with a somewhat scared tone to her voice before Spike launched into his next question.
"It doesn't work that way luv, Angel and I have our souls in us like regular people, it's with us all the time, and how do you know that he isn't lying," Spike asked with an impatient and still skeptical scowl on his face as he rounded the edge of the couch.
"Because…I had a friend give me a spell, one time when the Immortal was out of his office I snuck in, said the words, and the urn glowed white, just like it was supposed to, it's my soul," Mercedes replied with a serious look on her face though it was clear to Nina and Spike that she felt ashamed of herself and foolish when she spoke The Immortal's name.
"So why didn't you just take it while you were there," Spike asked with an impatient and unconvinced look on his face as he lightly glared straight down at Mercedes.
"That's exactly what I'd like to know as well," Angel stated with a firm tone to his voice as he walked into the room and steadied his gaze straight at Mercedes.
"Because he came back in right as I was about to grab it, I haven't really thought about it much since, I've been to busy," Mercedes replied with a slightly guilty smile on her face as she meagerly kept her gaze from Angel and Spike and instead drained the rest of her cup of blood.
"Of course…anyone seen Wesley and Faith," Angel grumbled back at first before he posed a question that he wanted to know the answer of sooner rather than later.
1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
Faith turned the water off and sputtered out the rest of it. They had finished having sex several minutes before but ended up giving each other a shower to remember, leaving Faith wondering why she hadn't done this with others before. But now it was Wesley, and any thoughts of other men left her head quickly. Behind her Wesley ran a hand through his hair before looking down and watching the water swirl down the drain. He was about to speak up when she spoke as she started to squeeze the water out of her hair.
"That was…different," Faith said softly, with her true feelings hidden by the tone of her voice, as she turned around and faced Wesley, trying to keep her eyes focused on his face instead of allowing them to trickle down his body.
"Is that good…or bad," Wesley asked with a nervous and confused look on his face as he started to take a step back out of the shower stall before Faith grabbed his arm.
"Very good," Faith whispered huskily with a hungry look in her eyes before she pulled him back into a kiss that almost led to another round between them but Wesley broke the kiss off reluctantly.
"We have to stop, Angel…the others will be looking for us," Wesley said softly to Faith, as their faces were still close enough that their noses were touching, before Faith jutted out her bottom lip in an impatient pout and locked her arms around the back of Wesley's neck.
"Let em find us, I don't know about you but I've got nothing to hide," Faith said with a confidant and proud expression on her face before she hopped up again, wrapping her legs around Wesley's waist, and kissing him fiercely. They continued to kiss for a few more moments before Wesley's left hand hit a newly formed scratch surrounded by a bruise on Faith's back and she hissed into his mouth.
"Sorry about that," Wesley said softly with an embarrassed and regretful look on his face as he pulled his hand back away from the bruise before Faith answered.
"Don't be, after what I did to you…I got off lucky," Faith joked with a very guilty and self loathing smile on her face as she tried to laugh the pain of the scratches and bruises and the memory of what she had done to him off but failed miserably.
"Yes…without slayer healing my body will take a bit longer to mend," Wesley started to say back with a tired look on his face before Faith accidentally bumped one of his broken ribs with her elbow and Wesley instantly grunted in pain and started to double over.
"Wesley," Faith shouted in surprise and fear as she quickly slid off of him and used her slayer strength and body to support him as she helped him over to a chair that had a small towel thrown over it.
"I…I'm okay," Wesley said softly with a shaky grin on his face as he wiped a bit of blood off of his lips, just being able to hide it from Faith.
"You sure, don't scare me like that," Faith whispered with a very scared and concerned look in her eyes as she sat down in Wesley's lap and wrapped her arms around him, lying her head on his shoulder at the end.
"I'll try not to, but I can't make any promises," Wesley replied with a shaky tone to his voice as he had to fight to keep from coughing again, wincing slightly as Faith leaned back to look him in the eye.
"So what now…for us I mean, was this just a release…or are we really fucked," Faith asked with an anxious tone to her voice and nervousness in her eyes as she ran the pad of her thumb along Wesley's jaw, liking the scratchy feeling.
"Well I…we're bloody fucked," Wesley started to say back with a serious look on his face before cracked a smile and leaned into another kiss.
"Good, then I don't have to pretend to be upset, now I just have to find something to wear," Faith stated with a relaxed smile on her face as she broke the kiss, hopped up off of Wesley's lap and then started to pilfer through the boxes.
"What are you doing," Wesley asked with a tired and pained expression on his face as he pushed himself out of the chair and back up to his feet before Faith turned and tossed him a long sleeved turtleneck.
"Finding some clothes, the ones that we were wearing are all soaked and reek bad, besides, we might find a few…surprises," Faith started to answer with a content and happy smile on her face before she opened a box, quirked up an eyebrow, and then pulled a riding crop and a pair of handcuffs out of one of the boxes, holding them up to show them to Wesley.
"Maybe they have horses…novelty handcuffs perhaps," Wesley said with a weak tone of explanation to his voice as he tried to downplay what the two items might say about the owners of the house.
"Maybe…then again maybe I'm starting to like these people a little more…and these aren't novelty cuffs Wes, I've worn enough of them to tell that," Faith said back with a sly grin on her face as she knew that Wesley had come to the same conclusion that she had but was just trying not to joke about it to much.
"Police handcuffs or…otherwise," Wesley asked with a slightly displeased scowl on his face as he slid the turtleneck on and then crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"You keep your nose to mine and maybe you'll find out," Faith replied with a kinky grin on her face and twinkle in her eye before she opened up a box and inside found clothes that oddly enough were her size.
"Is that a promise," Wesley asked with a telling look on his face as he smiled a bit and walked towards Faith, finding a pair of jeans in another box that to his surprise fit him well enough.
"Hell yeah," Faith shot back over her shoulder as she pulled out some of the clothes and slid into them, finally pulling her hair back up into a ponytail so that she could slide a beater over her head and then pull on a men's blue long sleeve dress shirt that she liked the cover of. Her well-worn light blue jeans, with holes in the knees and fraying everywhere, topped off her look of being comfortable and relaxed. She wriggled her toes with a soft chuckle on her lips as she tossed a box aside before finding a pair of sandals that looked like they'd fit well enough.
"God you're beautiful," Wesley whispered very softly as he took a step back and stared at Faith as she started to tuck the beater in before she felt his eyes upon her and she looked up with a sheepish grin on her face while sweeping her hair off of her face and back behind her ears.
"What was that Wes, I didn't quite catch it," Faith asked with in impish grin on her face as she looped her thumbs into her front pockets and began to rock back and forth ever so slightly on her heels, biting her bottom lip just a little bit.
"You heard me, you okay," Wesley grumbled back with a fake look of anger on his face as he zipped up the jeans and then pulled out a pair of shoes that he had seen earlier along with a pair of socks.
"Five by five," Faith shot back with a bored sigh before she turned around and started towards the stairs. "You coming," Faith asked loudly, without turning around, as she lifted her left foot up to the bottom step.
"Do I have a choice," Wesley asked with an impatient frown on his face as he hurriedly put the shoes and socks on and tied the shoes before hurrying over to Faith's side.
"Not in this lifetime," Faith shot back with a proud smile on her face before she hurried up the stairs leaving Wesley behind.
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
"Told ya there was something going on between those two," Mercedes said with cute grin on her face as she half turned and spoke back to the darkness behind her.
"Anyone could have seen that, don't get cocky," Spike grumbled with an impatient frown on his face as he stepped out of the shadows in the basement and walked past her. After Wesley and Faith had come back up into the main house and started speaking to Angel Mercedes had slipped away, needing to get out of the clothes that were still covered in Kristine's dried blood. A shower sounded like the perfect thing to her at the moment.
"Kettle…pot calling," Mercedes quipped back with a sly grin on her face as she walked over to the shower, disregarding Wesley and Faith's clothes before she slung her bloodstained shirt to the floor and soon stepped out of her jeans and panties with her bra falling just outside of the shower. She turned the water on and stepped under it before turning around as Spike spoke up.
"Aren't you going to close the curtain, at least act like you have a bit of modesty," Spike asked with an almost bored tone to his voice as he sat down on one of the small couches in the room behind the shower.
"You're on speaking terms with every inch of my body Spike, it's not the first time that you've seen me naked, remember Rio," Mercedes answered with a carefree shrug of her shoulders before she dipped her head down a bit and did her best to rinse Kristine's blood out of her hair.
"Of course, but I don't seem to remember you with red hair, brunette was you wasn't it," Spike grinned and nodded his head despite himself before he grew more serious and squinted at her.
"Yeah, but then I remember being told that you didn't always have the bleached blond locks that you do now so…okay actually it's because the Immortal wanted me to look enough like Willow that I could," Mercedes said back with a shrug of her shoulders as she reached for the soap.
"Steal Kennedy away from her and weaken Buffy and the others," Spike stated with a grim scowl on his face as he stood up and began to pace back and forth just a few feet behind Mercedes.
"He didn't want them together, he said that if they stayed together then they'd threaten his plans…you sure you don't want to join me, we know there's room for two in here," Mercedes answered softly at first with an unhappy frown on her face before she turned back to Spike and wiggled her hips back and forth a bit while grinning wickedly at him.
"Very sure, you and I have had our fun, I've got my eye on someone else right now," Spike said back with a subtle smile on his face as he spun away on his heels and started to slowly walk away.
"She still loves you Spike, you know that right, she wouldn't be with him if she knew that you were alive, I swear," Mercedes said with a very serious look on her face as she turned around and stared at Spike, without the slightest hint of a joke in her voice.
"If only it were that easy luv," Spike softly said back with a sad frown on his face as he sadly smiled and then hung his head as he got closer to the stairs.
"How do you know it's not," Mercedes asked with an impatient look on her face as the rushing water washed away the rest of Kristine's blood out of her hair and off of her body.
"Because nothing that good ever is for me," Spike replied with a somber tone to his voice as he turned around and headed back towards Mercedes.
"Thinking that it's to good too be true huh, kind of like how I felt when the Immortal recruited me out of the slums, I was pulling some pretty shitty jobs for this lowlife chaos demon when he found me, he tried to seduce me but for some reason it didn't work, after that he offered me a job, been working for him ever since…and then next time that I see him I'm going to give that son of a bitch my two weeks notice," Mercedes said with a slight nodding of her head at first before her tone and the look on her face grew bitter as she recanted the story of how she had come under the employ of the Immortal. The edges of Spike's lips curled up into a snarl as her mention of a chaos demon.
"Maybe his plan didn't work because you didn't bat for his team anymore," Spike said back with a cocky smirk on his face as he plopped himself down on the first open chair that he could find and leaned back.
"I bat for both teams Spike, it all depends on the person, or demon," Mercedes interjected with a shrug of her shoulders as she began to lather up.
"Uh huh, just don't go and be getting any ideas about trying it with anyone here, with the scent coming from those two earlier everyone's happy where they are," Spike said with a serious and almost impatient expression on his face as he scratched a bit of black fingernail polish off of one of his fingernails.
"Don't worry Spike, other than those two we passed coming down here the rest of you aren't my type, besides…I'm not going to leave Krissy when she really needs me, or Kennedy…damn, I wonder if she even knows," Mercedes joked back at first with an interested grin on her face before her countenance changed and grew much more serious as she thought about Kristine lying there in the hospital and how Kennedy might react to the news.
"I have a feeling that she does, and knowing the Immortal he'll play the innocent and everyone will believe him, nothing changes," Spike grumbled back with an unhappy sneer on his face as he stood up and then angrily kicked a box of china, shattering every piece inside of it as it flew across the room and slammed into the wall.
"Once I know that Kristine and Kennedy are safe I'm going to rip his throat out and," Mercedes started to say with a very determined and angry sneer on her face before she was stopped as Angel stepped around the corner.
"Get yourself staked at this rate, you get your friends out of the line of fire…the Immortal belongs to me," Angel interjected with a very serious look on his face as he walked over towards Spike with his hands in his pocket.
"Don't you mean us there Peaches, you don't get to have all of the fun," Spike growled with an accusing tone to his voice as he turned his head to look up and over at Angel.
"Trust me Spike you'll have plenty of fun, because Nina just called Willow from a pay phone a couple of blocks away, she's going to get us the book that we need to fully translate the one that you stole…tonight," Angel replied with an equally serious look on his face as he slowly walked past Spike and sat down beside him in the next chair over, trying not to look straight at Mercedes as she continued to shower but couldn't help but sneak a peek every now and then.
END OF CHAPTER 18