I can't say it enough, thank you to everyone who has sent in a review, if I failed to email you back, my apologies. My email has been a little funky of late.
And I also can not fail to give credit where credit is due. All characters and the buffyverse are property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.
Chapter 4 The Morning After the Night Before
She woke slowly, the pains of battle replaced with a raw throat and a thunderous headache. As she stretched she realized she and Spike were lying in each others' arms. Her eyes snapped open in panic, she sighed with relief when she saw they were both fully clothed. She relaxed a little, then suppressed a chuckle at how ridiculous that was, relaxing in the arms of the Slayer slayer. But she actually felt safe here, more than that she felt like a giant weight had been lifted from her. Spike had been right, she had needed to tell someone what she had done, how she felt.
She looked at him then, his face inches from hers. She was surprised at how sweet he looked in sleep, all of the arrogance and bluster stripped away. Looking at his mouth she remembered how it felt kissing hers, kissing along her neck and even the sensuality of the bite. She lifted a hand to trace his lips, but the clinking of the chain snapped her back to the reality of the situation.
I'm his prisoner not his bed buddy, she reminded herself, I need to get out of here. She vaguely recalled him putting the key in his front pocket, but she couldn't remember which one. Holding the chain taut with one hand to keep it quiet, she slid her fingers into the pocket he wasn't lying on. She came across his cell phone first and slowly pulled it out, setting it aside on the mattress. Her fingers returned to the pocket to fish for the key. He shifted and she froze, as he rolled onto his back she let her fingers slide out of his pocket. He settled and she studied him. Was he still asleep? It was hard to tell, she couldn't judge by breathing since vampires don't unless they're talking or choosing to do so. After a minute she decided he was either truly asleep or she wouldn't be able to tell. She inched her fingers into his other pocket, almost cheering when her fingers found the key.
She put one wrist on the bed so the shackle wouldn't fall and unlocked it. She quickly repeated the process with her other hand and her feet and she was free. Slipping silently off the bed she picked up her boots and started for the door. She only got about two steps when she realized she had to pee. Glancing at the bed, Spike hadn't moved, she decided to risk it, ducking into the bathroom.
She put her boots on, confident that she could still sneak out. She wondered if Spike really would have let her go at sundown. She wanted to think he would, but wasn't ready to risk her life on it. Still, she wished she could thank him without sticking around and decided to leave a note. Leaving the bathroom she moved quietly to the kitchen but found nothing to write with. She spotted his phone lying where she had left it. She snatched it up and tried to navigate the menus, then returned it to the bed.
Only then did she sneak out the door, opening it slowly and slipping out. Just before she closed it she whispered, "Goodnight Spike."
She wasn't surprised to discover that the cheap hotel he was staying in was less than a block away from her equally cheap apartment. That she hadn't encountered him before now was what was really surprising. But then she hadn't been out patrolling every night. She pretty much went to work and then went back to her hovel. She had been punishing herself and abandoning the world at the same time.
Hoping that Lily was still at her place, since she had left the key with her guests, she knocked at the door.
"Who is it?" Lily's very nervous voice came from the other side of the door.
"Buffy."
"Oh, thank god!" Buffy heard the various locks and chains being undone as she leaned against the door frame. She was still exhausted. When the door finally opened, Lily peeked out before opening it all the way and grabbing Buffy in a big hug. "I was so worried, you were gone for so long. I thought he had killed you." she stopped and almost jumped back. "He didn't change you into one did he?"
"No, see still human." She pulled the cross pendant out from under her t-shirt. She squeezed past Lily in the doorway and looked around, she was surprised to see that they must have washed any dishes they had used and the bed was made. "Where's Ricky?"
"I don't know. He was pretty freaked out about vampires being real. He left this morning, I was hoping that it was him who was knocking." she realized what she said and quickly backpeddled. "Not that I'm not happy it was you. Did you kill the vampire?"
"No, but I don't think he'll be bothering you. I'm sorry, I really have to take a shower." she just wasn't up to playing hostess.
"Oh sure, I mean it's your place. I'm going to go look for Ricky." She grabbed her bundle of clothing.
"Can you leave the key? It's the only one I've got."
"Yeah, here, thanks for everything." She gave Buffy another hug and ducked out the door.
Buffy locked it behind her then took a long, hot shower, undoing the braid and washing the alley grime from her hair. She felt a little more human after that, she headed to the kitchen, starting some tea and looking to see what she had to eat. Lily and Ricky had been hungry and her choices were slim, but she found something. While waiting for her tea she drank a lot of water, she was still dehydrated from the whiskey and the crying.
As she was eating she realized the sun was probably going down and Spike would be waking up. Would he be angry to see that she was gone, or just relieved that she hadn't staked him once she got loose?
She quickly washed her dishes then crawled into bed, she was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
There was a pounding at her door. She rolled over and looked at the clock. She was going to have to get up for work in 10 minutes anyway.
"Buffy, is Ricky there?" Lily's panicked whine came from the other side.
Dragging herself from bed she opened the door. "No, he's not here. I'm sorry, if he knocked I slept through it." She gestured that the girl should come in.
Lily walked in and started pacing. "I've been looking all night, I can't find him anywhere. You don't think the vampire got him, do you?"
"No, I don't think so." She really hoped not at least. But there were other things out there, other vampires, even human predators that could have done something to Ricky. Not to mention the possibility that he just took off. "Look, Lily, he'll probably come back here looking for you. Why don't you just hang out here. I have to be at work in an hour. If he doesn't turn up by the time I get back I'll help you look. Okay?"
"All right."
"Do you want some breakfast?" Buffy offered.
"Sure." The girl looked excited at the prospect of another meal. Buffy poured two bowls of cereal and they sat on the bed and ate mostly in silence.
Finally Buffy asked. "Do you want a job?"
"What could I do? I don't know how to do anything."
"A waitress, I'm quitting today. I'm going to go home, after I help find Ricky." She added. "I can recommend you. It pays enough for food and this place."
"I don't know...Ricky says we can move into his cousins place."
"Well until then, why don't you try it. The rent here is paid through the end of the month. It might give you a chance to have regular meals and a roof over your head." This girl had to start taking care of herself.
"Once we find him, I'll ask Ricky."
"Okay, I'll put in a good word for you."
Lily offered to wash the bowls, so Buffy got ready.
"I'll be back around 6 tonight. If you leave, lock the door behind you."
"Okay."
As soon as she got in she told Mitch it would be her last day. He was upset, but she was able to talk him into giving Lily a try, despite her coming in ranting about vampires the other night.
Knowing that this was her last day made it crawl along. She was nervous about returning to Sunnydale, but determined. She had tortured herself and those close to her long enough. But finally it was over.
She found Lily waiting alone at the apartment, Ricky had not shown up yet.
"What if the vampire did get him?" Lily whined.
"Alright, I'll find Spike and ask. Do you want to come with me or look on your own?"
Lily looked terrified at the prospect of encountering Spike. "I'll look on my own, meet back here if we find anything?"
"Or in three hours whether we find anything or not. Okay?"
"Sure."
Buffy changed out of her restaurant uniform into something more slayer-y, then out the door. Spike had said he was going to move on, but his hotel was the best place to start. She knocked on his door, wondering if she should force it. She didn't have to, because Spike opened the door.
"You know if you're planning on sneaking in and staking me, you should do it during the day, and not knock." He smirked at her.
"I'm not here to stake you. Truce? I wanted to talk."
"Truce, come on in." He stepped back.
Shaking her head, she didn't go in. There was no place to sit in there other than the bed. "Neutral ground? How about the roof?"
"Lead the way." he grabbed his leather coat and followed her.
They had to force the roof door, but it wasn't a problem. She wandered aimlessly, he leaned against the door and lit a cigarette. Watching her for several minutes he finally broke the silence. "You know pet, talking requires you to say something."
She turned and faced him. "You didn't move out."
He shrugged and flicked his cigarette butt away. "You didn't stake me while you were taking your sweet time sneaking away last night. Figured you weren't going to come back to do it."
"You were awake. I thought maybe, but I couldn't be sure. Why'd you let me go?"
"Told you I would, didn't I?"
"Thank you." she said quietly.
"For letting you go? You're welcome."
"Not just for that, for not killing me in the alley, for not leaving me there, for not... taking advantage of the situation and for getting me to tell you about Angel. I'd kept that bottled in too long." She gave him a little half-smile.
"I knew something was up with you, my curiosity got the better of me is all." he tried to blow it off.
She walked up to him. "No Spike, what you did, and didn't, do helped me a lot. Most people, let alone vampires, wouldn't have behaved so honorably. I owe you."
"What 'a get out of slay free card'?" He raised his eyebrows.
"I'm serious Spike."
"I am too, I'm looking for Dru, I can't very well do that while worrying that you're coming to hunt me down. Not that you'd win mind you, it's just distracting."
"Okay, but during that time you buy your blood. I can't let you go around killing people no matter what."
"Sounds fair. Once I find Dru it'll be open season again?"
"Okay, but to keep it fair, you've got to let me know once you find her, not just show up on my doorstep ready to fight."
"Deal."
"Okay, now for the stupid question." she sighed, that piqued his curiosity. "Did you do anything to Ricky?"
"Who the hell is Ricky?"
"That guy who was with the girl who recognized you."
"Haven't seen 'im." His face brightened. "Wait, is he missing?"
"Are you happy that he's missing?" Buffy asked, appalled at his reaction.
"Might mean Dru's around. Whole reason I've been hanging around this miserable place. When she's upset she loves the taste of despair." He clapped his hands together and rubbed them, ready to get to work. "Alright, where was he seen last? Maybe I can track him."
"My apartment I guess." She thought she saw a dark look on his face out of the corner of her eye, but when she turned to look it was gone. "Come on."
"Are we working together?" he seemed surprised.
"Well your tracking skills are my best lead right now, and since I promised Lily I'd stay until we find him, I want to get on with it."
"Going somewhere?"
"Home, now that I got everything that happened with Angel off my chest I think I can deal." He smirked giving himself full credit for her turnaround, and she let him since she did too. "So is it okay if we team-up tonight?"
"Depends, are you going to stake Dru?"
She fought an inner battle over that, she did owe Spike big and he would take her away, although that didn't work so well last time. But was it really right to just move the problem geographically? After all, she would surely go on killing people wherever they ended up. But Buffy knew she would never be able to rid the world of vampires. "Can you get her to go away with you and not destroy the world?"
"Yeah, I can chain her up til we're gone and convince her to behave. I have ways to distract her."
"It will use up your slay-free card."
"Fair enough."
"Alright, let's go." She gestured to the door and he straightened away from it, holding it open for her.
As they walked to her place, she struggled to keep up with his long strides, she realized something. "Wait a minute, how do you know which way to go?"
"I followed you home from my place. Since you know where I live, it seemed only fitting that I should know where you hang your hat."
It made perfect sense, but that she had no inkling he was there bugged her a bit. She had really let her skills slip. "But the sun hadn't set yet."
"Sun doesn't make it down to the street much here, I was able to keep in the shadows of the buildings."
"Oh."
They got to her apartment and she went in, she turned to say something to him and was momentarily surprised that he was in the hallway. "Come in Spike." she invited when she realized why he had stopped.
"Thanks." He looked around. "I'm going to need something he touched, preferably something that will hold a scent like clothes."
"Try the bed." she suggested, not seeing any clothes other than her own.
Heading over to the bed he commented. "I thought you were still grieving for Angel, hadn't realized you had moved on."
"What? No." She shook her head emphatically. "He's Lily's boyfriend. I let them stay here when I left to hunt for you because she was so freaked out. He hadn't realized that vampires existed and couldn't deal so he took off."
He picked up the pillows and smelled them.
She grabbed a yogurt from the fridge. "Do you want anything?"
Looking at her out of the corner of his eye, he said, "Definitely, but I doubt it's what you're offering." His eyes focusing on her neck.
At his hungry look and the remembrance of the feeling of his teeth on her neck a little ember of passion lit in her, but she fought against it. "I'm not your sippy cup Spike." she said with a roll of her eyes.
He looked at her through narrowed eyes for a second and then smirked, "Didn't think so, but you can't blame a bloke for trying."
Something in his look made her worry that he had picked up on her reaction. "But I can stake him for it." she said brightly. "Do you have the scent yet?"
"Yeah, I got it." his voice dripped with innuendo but she couldn't figure out what he was implying.
"Then let's follow your nose." She threw the yogurt cup in the trash and the spoon in the sink.
On the street Spike stood for a moment getting his bearings and smelling the air, then without a word he started walking. He paused at the corner sampling the air again before turning and walking the opposite direction and repeating the procedure at the other corner. He looked frustrated. "He hasn't been by here recently. Probably hasn't been back this way since he left. That was what? Yesterday morning right?"
She shrugged, she really should have asked Lily for more details, but that timing would make sense. "Yeah, sounds about right. He would have stayed the night to be someplace safe and then split in the morning." She sighed, "He may even have just split not intending to come back and is fine someplace else."
"We can walk around a bit, if he's around I should be able to pick up on it."
They started walking up and down the streets, pausing at alleys and corners for Spike to try to catch a scent. After a block or so Buffy asked, "If you don't find Dru here what are you going to do?"
"Head to Sunnydale, see if she went back there, assuming that won't get me staked."
"Does the blood bank there sell blood?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, same rules and your card is good." She stopped walking, he had gone a couple steps before he realized it, he turned to her. "Spike, if she's killed any of my friends I'll kill her."
He nodded. "Yeah, I figured that'd be the case. Let's deal with that if it comes to it."
She nodded and they resumed walking. At the doorway to an abandoned building he stopped. "Is he here?" she asked.
"Maybe, it smells kind of like him, but different somehow." He pushed the door aside and went in.
She walked silently next to him, scanning the darkness. There were others here, mostly teens but some old people as well, all seeking refuge from a world that had no place for them. They watched the pair pass with fear, shrinking back into the darkness that was their only protection.
They must have gone through most of the building when Spike stopped, he was staring down at an old man. "Sorry, just some old geezer, smelled like the boy though." the vampire looked frustrated.
"Hold on." Buffy walked up to him and felt for a pulse, there was none but that's when she saw the tattoo. "It is him." she said softly.
"You're sure?"
"Yeah, see the tatt?" She turned his arm so Spike could see it clearly. "Lily has the other half of the heart and it says 'Ricky'. What could make him age like that?" She stood.
"Some things can drain the life force, leave you looking old." Spike offered. "We could check out the demon place two blocks over."
"What demon place?"
Spike shrugged, "Some demon's running a place, advertises it as a safe place for runaway kids to go."
"Wait, that guy with the bowl haircut talking about fear and despair?'
"Haven't heard his line of bull, but the haircut sounds right."
"Take me there." she ordered as she stomped through the trash spread across the floor.
Spike led her to the building and stopped, sniffing the air. "She's here." he said glancing at Buffy over his shoulder.
"Lily?"
"Yeah and the boy, at least once he was old was here." he turned to her. "How do you want to play it Slayer?"
"Can you go in without an invitation?"
He looked at the building. "Most likely, it's not a home and even if the demon lives here only human homes have that protection."
"Will they know you're a vampire?"
"Depends, he's in disguise so I can't tell what kind of demon he is. He didn't show any signs of recognition when I passed him on the street."
"Okay, let's go in quietly and try to find Lily. If we run into bowl cut -Ken – I knew I'd remember it, don't kill him until we find her." He nodded his understanding.
She tried the door and it opened. No one was in the short hallway so they walked down it quickly but silently. A door opened at the end of the hall.
"Hey, what are you doing here." the guy who appeared asked.
"Demon or human?" Buffy whispered to Spike.
He took a quick sniff, "Demon."
Buffy stepped right up to him. "Where's Lily? Take me to her."
"I don't know who you're talking about, but you can't go in there." He tried to block the door.
She sighed and turned as if giving up, then did a back kick hard in his abdomen. He didn't fall as she had hoped, but he did bounce forward off the door and she was able to grab his arm and yank him toward her keeping him off balance. "You want him?" she asked Spike before spinning the demon towards him.
"I could always do with a spot of violence." He smiled as he started pummeling the demon, who hadn't been able to put up a defense.
"Catch up." She said as she opened the door and rushed through, it swung shut behind her.
"Wait!" he called after her. "Bollocks." He took out his annoyance at her going ahead without him on the now bloody demon. Parts of its mask were hanging in tatters and it was only still vertical because Spike had it by the front of its shirt. Shifting his hold, he snapped its neck and let it fall. It was probably less than 5 seconds between when Buffy entered the door and he followed, but a lot had happened in that time. Spike saw a pair of girl's feet disappearing into what looked like a pool of tar and Buffy fighting Ken. Before he could join the fray, the two fell into the tarpool as well. With only a second's hesitation Spike jumped into the pool after them, but he didn't go through. He was stopped at the surface, his boots not even making an impression in the goo. "Bloody hell."
Stepping out of the area he paced, the portal must be keyed to only allow humans and the demons that created it through. He had heard of that before, after all demons aren't much on open door policies. Maybe there was something here that controlled the portal, give him some idea where it went. Squatting down he looked for any kind of rune or symbol along the edge of the pool.
A hand shot out of the slime, flailing around, looking for something to hang onto. He reached out and grabbed it, pulling it as he stood. It was a teenaged girl, but not Buffy or Lily. She looked scared and she had on a rag of a dress. He easily pulled her out of the portal, setting her on solid ground. He was about to ask her about Buffy when another hand appeared. He pulled about half a dozen kids out before Lily appeared. When she saw who was pulling her out she panicked and tried to twist free. Spike shook her slightly, "Stop it you silly bint, where's Buffy?" Another hand appeared and Spike swung Lily to the side, dropping her to the floor before grabbing the hand.
"Buffy, watch out!" Lily called as the Slayer's head broke the surface.
Buffy offered her other hand to Spike. "Lily, it's okay, Spike's helping me."
"He is?" She had picked up a lamp and was getting ready to hit him with it.
"Yeah." Spike had swung Buffy gently around until the floor was solid beneath her feet.
"Thanks." She told him as he set her down.
"Not a problem."
"You didn't follow." It was more of a question than a statement.
"It wouldn't let me through. See." He went to step on the black pool again, but it disappeared. "Now that's just rude." He said to the blank bit of floor. "What happened? You were gone for less than a minute."
"It was longer for us. Time travels faster in that dimension. It's how Ricky had appeared to age so fast." She said the last quietly so Lily wouldn't hear.
Spike nodded knowingly. "Yeah I know the drill, that's why I never travel across dimensions. What are you going to do with that lot?" He nodded towards the homeless teens, but they were already slinking away, except for Lily, who was standing by herself looking lost.
"I'll take Lily back to my place and then head to the bus. Thanks again Spike, see you around."
"You want a ride back to Sunnyhell? I'm heading that way."
She actually thought about it for a minute, it would save her money and the bus was less than appealing, but being alone with him for so long in a confined space after being his prisoner for the day just seemed a little awkward, especially with the way he could make her feel with just a look. "Thanks, really, but no. I've got to make sure Lily is okay and if you're going to make it before dawn you've got to leave soon."
"Suit yourself." he shrugged and headed for the door.
"Good luck finding Dru." she said to his back.
"Thanks, good luck with your mum." He said with a wave, and then he was gone.
Lily found her clothes in the room she had changed in for the "cleansing ritual" and hugged the bundle to her as they walked back to the apartment. Buffy, talked her into taking a shower when they got back to the apartment and put a can of soup on for her before packing her bag. She left a couple of outfits in addition to the waitress uniforms, as well as her alarm clock and everything in the kitchen.
Once Lily came out she explained the highpoints of the waitressing job to her. Including her schedule for the week. After agreeing that Lily could take the name Anne, Buffy left for the bus station.