I went back and checked because I knew I had read another fanfic with Buffy, Spike and Truth or dare. But I think that this is different enough that I am not stepping on NautiBitz' toes. If not I apologize and no plagiarism was intended.

Thanks again for everyone who have reviewed the story so far. The encouragement is great.

And of course, the characters are not mine. All credit goes to Joss Whedon and his wonderful associates.

Chapter 3 The Game

Buffy closed her eyes and slowly shook her head at her own recklessness, she couldn't believe what she had agreed to.

"You're dripping." Spike's voice pierced her reflections.

Her eyes opened wide. Okay he did turn her on with his dirty talk but not that much. "What? No. I..." she stammered.

He chuckled, "The ice pack pet." he clarified, holding out his hand, "Are you done with it?"

"Oh." She pulled it away from her head, it was pretty much a bag of water at this point. "Yes, thank you." She handed it to him carefully.

He jumped off the bed, grabbing his now empty glass. "Fancy a refill Slayer?" he offered.

She started to decline, holding up her glass to show him, and she realized it was almost empty. When did that happen? "I guess one more would be okay." she gave him the glass.

She picked the brush back up and started again on her hair. It was slow going, for although the ice did seem to have helped, her scalp was still sore. Plus the manacles were cumbersome.

Handing her her drink, he jumped unto the bed, landing cross-legged opposite her. He was almost giddy.

"Okay, now answer my question." She demanded.

"You forgot to say 'truth or dare'."

She sighed in exasperation. "Alright, truth or dare?"

"Dare." His eyes were sparkling.

"Really? After all that you aren't going to tell me?"

"I always take the dare." he said it as if it should have been obvious. "So what devious command do you have for me?"

"Like I could think of something too disgusting for you to do."

"Hey, I do have some pride you know."

"Whatever, let me think." The brush caught painfully in her hair again. And it gave her an idea. "Brush and braid my hair, and don't make it hurt." she offered him the brush.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Nope. You going to do it? Or do I win?" She tilted her head, "Wait, what happens if one of us wins?" The few times she played the game it just sort of petered out.

"Don't rightly know." He took the brush and thought about it. "So if someone won't answer a question and refuses the dare, they lose and the other one gets to negate their ground rule."

"What!? Are you insane? There is no way I'm going to... you can't touch..." she put her drink between her legs and buried her face in her hands. "Please Spike will you just kill me now?"

"Are you planning on losing?" he asked.

"No, but..." She looked up.

"Look. If I win I'll let you decide who does the touching, just not what or how. I won't shag you, cause I told you I wouldn't." Her cheeks were burning, like they were about to burst into flames. "All you have to worry about is a little embarrassment. I have to worry about waking up dead. Now are you game?"

That was true, this was potentially a way for her to get her freedom back, she just had to be sure she didn't lose. She took a big swig out of her glass, She was really going to need the courage it was purported to provide. Then she gave a determined nod.

"That's my girl." He moved to be beside her on the bed, "Turn around so your back is to me." She did awkwardly trying not to spill either her drink or the popcorn. As she did she decided she would take her boots off. She had initially left them on in case she had to make a hasty escape, but she really didn't see that happening. Either she dusted Spike, not very likely, or she would win the game and her get out of jail free card.

"Sit still." Spike chided.

"Hold your horses." she countered. Once she had both boots off she picked up her drink and grabbed a handful of popcorn. "There, you may proceed." she said imperiously, but ruined the effect with a giggle which turned into a snort.

"Yes, your highness." he mocked.

He started where her hair was the most tangled and the brush caught. "Ow! It's not supposed to hurt."

"Yeah, yeah, hold on." He shifted to his knees behind her. "It's a right mess of elf-locks you got here." He took a section of hair and started brushing near the bottom in short strokes.

"I've got what?"

"Elf-locks, you've never heard of that before?" She shook her head slightly. "It's what me mum called it when I was a boy. As if the pixies had come in while I was sleeping and tied knots in my hair."

"Oh." She thought about it for a moment. "I like it better than what my mom always called it."

"Which was?" he prompted.

"A rat's nest."

"That's not very flattering, is it?"

"I'll say, and I used to lie awake at night scared that there were really rats."

He resumed brushing her hair. "So, truth or dare?" he asked.

"Un-unh, you have to finish your dare first." The longer each turn takes the fewer embarrassing things she would have to tell or do.

"Where's that written?" He moved so he could see her face.

"Same place as 'ground rules go out the window if you lose' is. Oops." She had made a whooshing motion with her arm and some of the whiskey sloshed out of the glass. She giggled and licked her fingers. She noticed Spike watching her with a flicker of that hunger in his eyes and became very self conscious. She realized the alcohol was kicking in. Carefully she set down the glass and looked straight ahead. "Come on, back to my hair."

"Yes guv'nor." his accent exaggerated.

His hands were surprisingly gentle on her head and he began to hum as he worked, it seemed old from the tune. He got all the tangles out with minimal pulling then spent quite awhile just brushing her hair, following the brush with his hand to smooth it. It was very relaxing and she found herself swaying to the stroke of the brush. When he was satisfied that her hair was knot-free, he pulled her hair lightly back then his fingers moved to her temple separating small sections of hair.

"What are you doing?" she asked softly.

"A french plait, luv. You don't expect me to half-ass this do you?"

"Actually, I kinda did."

"If you're gonna do something, do it proper. Now hold still." His fingers moved deftly through her hair and across her scalp.

It was a pleasant sensation, a little too pleasant, because before she could catch it a "mmm" slipped out.

"You liking this, pet?" she could hear the smile in his voice.

"It's okay." she shrugged.

"Right." He stopped braiding. "Got anything for me to tie this off with?"

"Back pocket." she supplied.

"You really want me to go fishing for it luv?" he sounded incredulous and amused.

She snapped out of her reverie, "Oh...god...no." She slipped a hand into her pocket and dug it out, holding it up for him. "Not that I'm casting aspersions." she began, "But why did you give me a second chance on that? Why didn't you..."

"Cop a feel?"

"Yeah."

"Moment of weakness, I expect. Song stuck in my head." He tied off the braid on one side and shifted to the other.

"What's the song?"

"Some old folk song about a girl who's love left her. Me mum used to sing it when she brushed my hair."

"Your mom sounds like a nice lady."

"She was."

"Tell me about her." she urged, maybe if thinking about his mom made him sentimental that could help her somehow.

"I'm afraid that if you want to ask about her you'll have to add it to your list of questions."

He started gathering the small wisps of hair near her temple, and worked back. He didn't go back to humming the song, which she took as a bad thing. His fingers traced the contour of her ear as he collected the hair and she shivered and broke out in goose bumps. "Sensitive ears pet?" he chuckled as he ran his finger around the shell of her ear again. She scrunched up her neck, tilting her head to try to remove her ear from his grasp. She found the contact way too arousing.

"Stop that."

"You said it shouldn't be painful, not that it couldn't...tickle." she could tell he knew what it was doing to her.

She clamped one hand over her ear. "Spike." It was half warning half whine.

"Fine, no more ears." he capitulated, pulling her hand down so he could continue his task. "Unless you ask, of course." She turned her head slightly so she could see him. He had a smug look, and he waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Yeah, like that will ever happen." She rolled her eyes and looked forward again, shoving a handful of popcorn in her mouth. She was closer than she cared to admit to wanting him to keep touching her ears, or any part of her for that matter. Was it the whiskey? She had had run-ins with Spike many times before and had never found him anything but scary and repulsive.

She noticed he had stopped braiding and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. His eyes were transfixed on her neck, his lips parted slightly and he swallowed hard. "Spike!" she yelled and covered her neck with her hand.

He shook his head and seemed to snap out of it. "Sorry. Your neck looked so inviting, and I was remembering how good slayers' blood was."

Okay, fear and revulsion back now, she thought. "No invitation Spike. And gross." She kept her hand over her neck. "Hurry up with the braid."

"Yeah." he seemed a little disturbed by his distraction as well. He actually finished very quickly, having done the finicky parts close to her head and only having the end to go. He shifted back to the foot of the bed and she resettled her legs on the mattress.

"Truth or dare Slayer?" He was visibly excited, and she was dreading whatever devious ideas were bouncing around his bleached head.

She picked up her glass again and took a sip, followed by a deep breath. "Truth."

"Why do you want to die?"

She blinked and stared at him, she was sure her mouth was hanging open. "I don't..."

"Careful pet, you lie and I win the game and I know you don't want that."

"What makes you think I want to die?"

"On some level all slayers do, it's a tough gig and you're all so young. Never really realized it until the first time I fought you though. The first time we fought, even though I almost won, would 'ave too if it weren't for your mum." He emphasized. "You fought like you wanted to live. The other times too." He got up from the bed and fetched the bottle of Jack Daniel's from the counter, refilling his glass on the way back. He wordlessly offered her more and she held up her glass automatically. "The other slayers, when I fought them, though they fought like wildcats, their spirit wasn't in it. Like yours tonight, only you didn't have your mind in the game either." He sat back down and put the bottle on the floor by the bed. "And since you came to, you've asked me a couple of times to just kill you." He sighed, "So Slayer, why do you want to die?"

She wanted to protest, but she knew that he was right, she just had never faced it before. It wasn't the slaying she wanted to end, it was being the Slayer and that would only end when she died. But she didn't want to talk to Spike, or anyone else, about why. She took another sip of whiskey. "Dare."

"Really? Now I'm even more curious."

"Just tell me what the dare is Spike."

"Don't rush me, so many possibilities." He looked her up and down. Now she wished she had said no nudity, touching him through his clothes would have to be less embarrassing than stripping for Spike. "Let's start of with an easy one." He shifted forward onto his knees. "Let me feed from you."

"What?" she actually recoiled from him.

"You heard me."

"That's an easy one?"

"Makes you wonder what the next one will be dunnit?"

"Dread, actually. But one of the unwritten rules of 'truth or dare' is that the dares can't be fatal."

"I won't drink that much, just a cup or so."

"You're crazy." she shook her head. She felt like her eyes were trailing behind her head as she did. She wondered if it was the booze or the concussion.

"Are you refusing both the question and the dare?" he asked.

"No, I just..." she remembered the pain of the Master's bite, but in retrospect it paled in comparison to the pain of killing the Angel she loved. "Bite me!" She said it not as an invitation but as an invective, but she turned her head and exposed her neck to him.

Spike looked like he had just gotten a pony for Christmas, or at least how she would have looked if she had gotten a pony. Incredulous and overjoyed. "Seriously?"

"Just get it over with."

"This isn't a moment to be rushed pet." He stood from the bed and motioned for her to do the same.

"Why?" she asked warily.

"Better angle, unless you don't mind me lying on top of you."

She stood quickly then, swaying slightly, but standing caused her arms to be stretched out behind her, it would be harder to push him away if he didn't stop, maybe that was his real reason. She offered her neck to him again.

He licked his lips, and leaned in. Every slayer instinct in her screamed, but she turned a deaf ear to them.

His hand came up and lightly stroked her throat, above her pulse, this was the other side of her neck from what had mesmerized him before, he pulled his head back slightly, "You've been bitten before. Angel?"

She shook her head slightly, "The Master, he actually killed me. Xander brought me back."

"Almost makes this a sacred spot, luv."

"Spike." she said with impatience.

"Like I said, this is something to be savored." She could see his face change as he moved back to her neck. His arms wrapped around her and she knew that he could easily kill her now. Maybe her desire to die was stronger than she thought. She clenched her teeth in expectation of the pain and gasped when she felt his mouth on her throat. But he didn't bite her immediately. His mouth moved along the vein, his lips covering a spot for a moment then moving a little and repeating the process. Really, he was kissing her neck and it was incredibly arousing and her body melted into it. She felt his fangs against her skin, before she could tense again, they pierced her flesh, but it was quick and straight, not ripping like the Master's bite. Then he started to suck, and her knees almost went out from under her. Angel had never given her a hickey, maybe it was too much temptation, but she knew now what the attraction was. Because if they were even a fraction as stimulating as this was she was sorry she had been missing out. She could feel her body responding. She didn't want it to, it had to be wrong didn't it? She was the Slayer and shouldn't get turned on by being bitten by a vampire.

"Spike." she moaned without meaning to. She bit her lip, to keep from doing it again. Maybe he didn't hear the pleasure in it. She felt him pull his fangs out and a shuddering breath escaped her. Then he licked the wound, and she trembled. He rested his head against her neck and she half-feared half-hoped he was going to bite her again. She felt his face shift against her neck. She realized she was panting a little.

His hands moved to her shoulders and he pushed her away slightly as he took a step back. His head was still bent and he didn't let go of her shoulders. "That was a stupid idea." he mumbled.

That really wasn't what she had expected to hear. Some stupid teasing comment but not that. "What?" she shook her head to get the fog of passion out of it. "What's wrong? Do I taste bad?" Embarrassed, as if someone had just told her she had BO.

He shook his head and then raised it to look at her, the hunger there was frightening. "There are many words I could use to describe your blood, but bad isn't one of them." His eyes traveled back to her neck and she tensed. His hand left her shoulder and one finger moved along her skin. He pulled it away and stared at it mesmerized. There was a drop of blood on the tip, slowly he brought the drop to his mouth. With half-closed eyes he extended his tongue so just the tip of it contacted the drop. As it did his eyelids fluttered and his eyes rolled up. He sucked his finger into his mouth and she had to look away, because it was so sensual and he looked so ecstatic it was effecting her. She looked down, and as her eyes scanned his body she saw that it wasn't only his taste buds that were affected.

"God, I could write a sonnet about your blood." he said huskily.

She looked back up at him and his hunger, no she saw it clearly now, his desire, had not diminished. How strong was his honor compared to this? Despite what her body might be feeling she really didn't want to find out. She took a deep breath. "Spike." He turned his face to her, but his eyes never left her throat. "Truth or dare?"

"Like I said, luv, always the dare."

"Go take a cold shower."

It took a moment for what she said to sink in then he laughed. "Slayer, I think that is the cleverest thing I have ever heard you say, not that there's a lot of competition there." He kind of shook himself and took a step back. "Alright stretch out." He indicated she should lie back down on the bed.

"Why?" Not wanting to be that vulnerable again.

"Because with as much slack as is in these you could probably break them given the chance and I'm not giving you the chance. So unless you plan on sharing the shower with me..." She could almost feel his eyes as they travelled down her body.

"Spike, remember, your promise." She said as she backed against the bed.

"You're making it hard Slayer, no pun intended. Well maybe a bit." he conceded. "But yeah, no shagging, though, god, I do hope you lose. Now on the bed."

"Is there anyway you can say that and not make it sound sexual?" she asked as she sat on the bed.

"Doubt it, feet up. Even if there were I wouldn't use it."

"Can you just take up the slack in the arms? I promise I won't try anything." she made the cross my heart sign.

He looked at her and seemed to be fighting with himself. "Tell you what, I'll shower with the door open so I can keep an eye on you and your legs can stay as they are."

"Fine."

He tightened the arm chains so that her arms were on top of the headboard and she was in the middle of the bed. "Now don't go anywhere." he joked, she just glared. "If I see you've been trying to escape, especially if you break my bed, all rules and promises are out the window."

"Just go, but remember it has to be cold."

He moved to the bathroom and took his shirt off in the doorway, she turned her attention to the kitchen. She didn't want him to catch her looking at his chest again. However, she couldn't help but to turn and look to see what was wrong when he made strange grunting sigh. She quickly turned away when she saw that he had just released his wedding tackle from his jeans. She did a doubletake though to confirm that her eyes had not deceived her. He looked big and was obviously ready. She felt color rush to her cheeks and she lowered her eyes.

"I forgot what an aphrodisiac slayer's blood was." he explained with a chuckle. Great, he saw her look.

"Please show a little modesty. At least get in the bathroom."

"Only modesty I've got is false, luv." But he did go into the bathroom. Not that that blocked him completely from view, but she had to be trying to look at him to see him.

She heard the shower start up and relaxed a little, at least for the few minutes he was in there she could be alone with her thoughts. Unfortunately, they kept drifting to the image of Spike naked in the doorway. Again, because of her shyness, she hadn't actually looked at Angel naked. She had touched his manhood only tentatively, and she wasn't sure how it compared with Spike's, but she remembered how it felt when he was in her and her body was aching for that feeling again. She leaned her head back against the wall and half closed her eyes. From under her lashes she glanced towards the bathroom and was startled to see that the shower curtain was only half-drawn and she could see Spike watching her from the shower, thankfully only his head and shoulders were really visible.

"What?" she asked.

"Just making sure you're not trying to escape." he claimed and then she realized what he was really doing.

"Oh my god Spike! Are you looking at me and...and...jacking off?" she was appalled, at least mostly. She found that some traitorous urge in her was turned on by the prospect.

"Trying, now shush a mo, or do something sexy."

"Gross Spike!" She turned her head then got her knees under her a bit and turned her lower body away from him as far as she could.

She wished she could turn her ears away as easily as her eyes, because she could hear the small noises escaping him. As she shifted she could feel her own arousal, she tried to squeeze her legs together tighter to silence it but that added fuel to the fire.

A roar came from the bathroom and she reflexively spun to see what the danger was, and saw Spike leaning back against the wall of the shower, panting. "Thanks pet." he said when he saw her looking at him.

"I didn't do anything." she wanted no credit for what he just did.

"Are you kidding, twisting around like that, exposing your neck and wiggling your bum at me. Hell, if I don't stop thinking about it I'll have to go another round."

"Are you sure that water's cold?"

"Want to come check?" He winked at her but she just rolled her eyes. "Cold showers don't really work, luv, especially on vampires. Really the only thing to do is rub one out." He turned off the shower and opened the curtain all the way. Reaching for the towel he then dried himself vigorously. When she realized she was watching him, she turned away, but not before he saw her looking. "See anything you like, pet?"

"You're a pig Spike."

"Oink oink luv. But that wasn't disgust on your face. You don't have to love someone to find them attractive, hell you don't even have to like them. The first time I saw you, when you were dancing in the Bronze with your mates, I could see you were beautiful. Didn't mean anything though. I still planned on killing you."

"When did you watch me dancing?" She shook her head things seemed to be getting kind of fuzzy.

"That night we met. I'd just gotten to town. Told the "Annointed One" that I'd kill you. Had to go check you out." he shrugged.

"Oh yeah, that kid vamp. Whatever happened to him? Suddenly he was poof-gone." She turned to look at him but he was still naked, turning away she wondered how long did it take to dry off.

"Exactly. I put the pompous little ponce in a cage and hoisted him into sunlight. Poof-gone."

She thought she should feel sorry for him since he was just a kid, but found it too funny and ended up snorting her laughter, finally just giving into it. "I would have loved to see the look on his face."

"Didn't fancy him pet?" he asked chuckling.

"Little brat led me to my death. Of course it was prophesized? Prophesied? That he would, but still." She looked back at him. He was just leaning against the wall, naked, chatting with her. "Can you please get dressed?" she asked in exasperation. Whether or not it was okay to find someone you didn't like attractive or not, she was finding Spike's body very distracting and it was hard enough to concentrate with the whiskey.

He shrugged, "I might just stay like this so you can keep enjoying the view." he grinned.

"I'm not..." he arched an eyebrow as she began to deny it. "Fine, I admit it, you're a hottie. But it's embarrassing." Both looking at you and liking it, she added to herself.

"The Slayer thinks I'm sexy, the Slayer thinks I'm sexy." He sang with a smirk in his voice. But he pushed away from the wall and walked towards the bathroom. She caught herself watching his butt and shook her head.

"Oh, my god, are you like 10 years old or what? And I swear, if you ever tell anyone I said that, or anything about this night I will cut you in pieces before I stake you."

He came out of the bathroom with his pants on and his shirt in hand. "Oh yeah right, like bragging about tonight will get me points in demon circles." he changed his voice to mimic talking tough to his pals. "The Slayer? Yeah I kicked her ass, brought her home, chained her to my bed and then spent the day playing kids' games." he scoffed at the idea and she began to giggle which quickly grew to a full laugh as she actually pictured the faces of various demons and vampires looking at Spike aghast.

"Don't forget you braided my hair." She gasped out. "That should give you bonus points among the more fashion conscious demons."

"'Fraid those are few and far between, pet." He was leaning on the footboard of the bed. Smiling at her.

"Tell me about it. You vamps need some sort of manual that tells you to change your clothing styles every now and again. Half the time all I have to do is look for someone dressed like 'Flock of Seagulls' to spot the vamp." He nodded. "You should tell that to Dru, I mean for the most part you're okay, can't go wrong with a t-shirt and leather jacket."

"For the most part?" He looked ready to be offended.

"Well the hair is a little Billy Idol."

"It would be more accurate to say his hair is more 'Spike' since the birk stole it from me."

"Really, you know Billy Idol?"

"Met him a couple of times." he shrugged, "Hung out in a lot of punk bars in the late seventies/early eighties. Course he stole the look before he sold out and made it big."

"Wow, I'm impressed."

"Pft, I can top that. I knew Sid and Nancy."

She could tell by his expression that he thought she should be impressed, and she tried to stop herself from saying it, but her mouth wasn't listening to her. "Who?"

"Sid Vicious and his girl Nancy." He explained as if that should make it obvious. Her face must have shown her cluelessness. "God, what are they teaching you in school? The Sex Pistols? Only the most important band since the Beatles."

Okay she had heard of the Sex Pistols, although she wouldn't have been able to name a single song they had done. But she wasn't going to let Spike know that. "Oh, them. Yeah they changed everything." She nodded emphatically.

"Damn right. God, she and Dru got along like gangbusters. Of course the poor thing was almost as crazy as Dru."

"Where is Dru anyway?" it occurred to Buffy that all of Spike's promises would go out the window if Dru showed up and didn't want to go along.

"Yeah, back to the game but it's my turn to ask."

"What?" She was really hoping he had forgotten about the game.

"Truth or dare Buffy?" he asked, retrieving the bottle from the floor and drinking directly from it. Okay something about Drusilla is really upsetting him.

"Can you at least loosen the chains again? My nose itches."

"Yeah, hold on."

He quickly gave her back slack in the chains, but this time he slid the key into his jeans pocket instead of returning it to the kitchen. Maybe if he falls asleep, I can get it. She hoped.

"There, now truth or dare?" He sat back at the foot of the bed, first offering her the bottle, which she shook her head at.

"Truth?" It was more a question than a statement.

"How did the final fight go down between you and your ex? And I want details, 'cause obviously you won or we wouldn't be here." He looked ready for an exciting story.

She could feel the color drain from her face and she pulled her knees up against her chest and hugged them to her. "Dare." she whispered, not making eye contact with him.

"You're sure about that pet? You would really rather have me bite you again, or worse, than tell me about it?"

She took a deep breath and looked at him. He was studying her with an odd look. His eyes were narrowed, his head cocked to the side and it felt like he was looking into her soul. She looked away, "Just tell me what the dare is." she said with a sigh. He continued looking at her for another moment or two and he nodded, a slight smile on his face.

"You have to kiss me, and I'm not talking a little peck on the cheek, full on the mouth, tongues, the whole 9 yards, for 1 minute." He was grinning ear to ear and his eyes were laughing at her.

"Kiss you, for a whole minute." She said with some trepidation.

"I'll even set a timer. Keep us honest." He pulled out his cell phone and set the timer on it. He moved the bowl of popcorn and placed it on the floor next to the bottle. He edged a little closer.

"Alright, other than the kiss, you don't touch me." She looked at him warningly.

"I'll put my hands behind my back. So quit stalling." He leaned in towards her, but stopped, waiting for her to close the distance between them.

"Fine." She took a deep breath and blew it out. Then a shallower one, with utter disbelief that she was doing this she tilted her head and slowly closed the gap. Spike was accommodating and tilted his head the other way. He kept his mocking eyes open as she approached and she finally closed hers to block them out.

Their lips met and she kissed him gently, as she and Angel had always kissed, he let her control the kiss. She tentatively slid her tongue past his lips. She was just thinking it was actually nice and was a little horrified with herself when Spike took control of the kiss. His lips pressed hard against hers, his tongue moved against hers with urgency. She withdrew it in shock, but his followed, entering her mouth and exploring, somehow lighting a fire within her. His lips moved against hers quickly, like he was devouring her mouth. She found herself reciprocating, her lips becoming as hungry as his, her tongue battling his for dominance. She was breathless now, but still she pressed on, she felt him start to pull away and she grabbed the back of his head to keep his mouth on hers. He chuckled deep in his throat and she could feel the vibrations in her lips. He twisted his head to the side, his cheek against hers.

"Times up, luv." there was amusement in his voice, but it was somewhat breathless.

"Huh? Oh. Oh my god!" she shrank back against the pillows and pulled her knees up and put her forehead against them. How could she have enjoyed that so much? What was wrong with her?

"Well you certainly took my advice to heart."

"What advice?" she didn't raise her head.

"If you're going to do something, do it proper." He paused, when she didn't say anything. He continued. "Your turn."

"Give me a minute, okay?"

"Another one? I'm still out of breath from the last one."

"Dammit Spike!" And in one smooth movement, planted her hands on the mattress on either side of her and kicked out at him with both legs. She felt the jolt as she made contact square in his chest, knocking him into the railing at the foot of the bed and bending a good chunk of it. Satisfaction washed over her as he fell to the floor, followed by a flood of fear. Oh crap, he really is going to kill me now. That was probably the dumbest thing I have ever done she thought to herself. She started frantically pulling on the chains. If she had managed to knock him out, she might just be able to get free, before he woke up.

"Finally!" His voice roared from the ground at the foot of the bed and he jumped up. He had a trickle of blood running from the corner of his mouth, but he was smiling, with all the satisfaction she had felt a moment before.

She tried to take as defensive a posture as possible chained to the bed. "Finally what?" she asked warily, waiting for him to attack.

"Finally I got you pissed off enough to show a little fight. Hell, if you'd kicked me like that in the alley it might have been worth my time." His tongue shot out to lick the blood from his mouth. He rounded the corner of the bed and sat back down at the foot. She backed away as far as she could. "Now didn't that feel better than all of your moping?"

His words were slowly sinking in but she didn't drop her guard. "You wanted me to attack you?"

"Yep."

"And you aren't angry?" she asked incredulously.

"Hell no, been trying to get a rise out of you all day. Instead you've been sitting there just sucking it up." He shook his head. "I don't know what all happened to you, Slayer, but I knew as soon as we started fighting tonight that you weren't the same girl who told me 'No, Spike, this is going to hurt a lot.' She's the one I want to fight. Or fuck, that line really turned me on." He gave her a lusty look. At the horrified look on her face he added, "Not that that kiss did nothing for me, mind."

"Not really what I was upset by, Spike."

"Yeah, right Slayer, you were totally unaffected by it." he scoffed.

"Why are you trying to get me mad?" She was trying to ignore the fact that the kiss had affected her, way more than she wanted to admit. But she was still trying to figure Spike's plan out.

"Get you back into fighting trim, luv." He bent and picked up the whiskey and took another swig. "Last night's fight is your one freebie. Next time we fight, we fight and only one of us comes out on top." Putting the bottle down again, he lounged on his side, his elbow propping him up, he looked at her expectantly.

"Now what?"

"It's your turn." he said as if it was obvious.

"You want to go back to that stupid game?"

"You've got anything better to do?"

"No, but isn't it a little pointless?"

"Are you capitulating, pet? Cause, I have plans for when I win." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Truth or dare?" she finally asked, knowing he would say "dare" and really unable to think of what she would ask him to do.

"Truth."

"Really? What about you always take the dare?"

"Just want to show you that confession is good for the soul."

"You don't have a soul."

"But you do and I think you should follow my lead." he looked at her with narrowed eyes again, contemplating something, looking suddenly very astute, which was never something she would have suspected in him. Then returned to his normal arrogant but dim look. "So, you want me to answer what you asked before or do you have a new question for me?"

She shook her head, "What did I ask you before?"

"The question that started all this was 'What am I doing in LA?' however you also asked where Dru was."

"Answer either one, take your pick." She was still trying to get herself to calm down. Her nerves were still all on edge from the adrenalin rush.

"Actually the answer to one is the other, I'm in LA looking for Dru." He took another swig from the bottle.

"You lost her?"

"We got in a fight and she left. She was mad that I helped you stop Acathla from destroying the world. Went on about how you had contaminated me or something. She ditched me while I was pumping gas. We were almost halfway through Mexico. I've been backtracking ever since hoping to find her before she gets to Sunnydale, since I figured you'd kill her if she showed up there. Guess I didn't need to worry."

"What makes you think she was going back there." Dru could do some serious damage to her friends while she was here having a pity party.

"Kept going on about having to get back to Angelus, saying he was more evil than me, more of a demon." He looked angry and hurt. "I hope you made it painful when you killed the soulless bastard."

"I didn't." she whispered.

"Made it quick did you? I guess it was probably easier that way."

"No, I didn't kill the soulless bastard." she was barely audible, her throat was constricted so tightly.

"You mean he's still out there and you abandoned Sunnyhell to him?" Spike almost looked outraged.

She stared blindly at the wall behind him, tears began falling from her eyes but she didn't brush them away. "He wasn't soulless. He had already used his blood to open the gate." Her voice was flat. "We fought, at one point he almost won, but I didn't let him. I got back up, and finally I won. I had him on his knees in front of the statue. I was about to finish it and then suddenly his eyes glowed, and he was back. He had his soul again. He didn't know where he was, or what he had done. We held each other, but I saw the gateway was opening and I knew the only thing that would close it was his blood. So I told him I loved him and to close his eyes. I kissed him one more time, then I drove my sword through him and he got sucked into the vortex." A sob ripped from her and then her body was racked by them. "He reached out to me confused and hurt and I just let him go." As she was speaking Spike had slowly sat up straight.

"Damn Slayer, you've got the stones." Spike said with admiration and pity.

But she didn't hear him, the floodgates had broken and everything she had kept bottled up had to be said. "I loved him, I loved him so much, and I betrayed him. I sent him to hell, body and soul, the soul that had done nothing, an innocent soul. Was that right? Is that what being a slayer is?" She was yelling, not at him but at whatever made her the Slayer. "Who do I have to kill next time to save the world? My Mom? Willow? Xander? Children? Is it all okay if the world doesn't end?" She looked at the ceiling and screamed. "Is that fighting evil? Is that good? Does that balance the cosmic scales? Tell me! Tell me!" She just kept saying that over and over, her voice getting smothered by her sobs.

"Bollocks." Spike mumbled before moving next to her on the bed and wrapping his arms around her, pulling her into a hug with arms of steel. At first she struggled against it, trying to push him away and when that failed, pummeled his back. But he held her until she used up all her strength and just cried in his arms. The last thing she remembered before falling into an exhausted sleep was William the Bloody stroking her hair and making shushing sounds.