A/N: Still writing through a brain fog…forgive me.

OOOOOOOOOOO\

Spike walked into the office, only to stop dead in his tracks. Some girl was standing next to Angel. Some very pretty girl.

"What's this?" Spike asked, causing the two of them to look up from the computer. "Who's your friend, Angel?"

Angel glanced over at the girl briefly. "This is Calli, our new secretary."

"What happened to the old one?"

"Heart attack."

"Oh." Spike held out his hand to Calli. "Name's Spike."

Calli glanced at him and then back at Angel. "This the one that you told me to watch out for, Angel?"

"Yes." Angel said, looking back at computer. "He likes shiny things and you're shiny."

Calli rolled her eyes and pointed at something on the computer. "That's spelled wrong. And that would be better in a condensed file."

Spike got lost in the technical mumbo jumbo. Calli ignored him when Angel kept her attention. But at some point, Calli got annoyed and shooed Angel away.

"Your filing system sucks!" she complained, making herself at home in the vacated seat in front of the computer. "Don't bother me for two hours and I'll have this sorted out better."

Angel tossed a warning glance over at Spike. "You hear that? Don't bother her."

Spike held his hands up in surrender. "I'm behaving. Model citizen, right here."

Angel sent him one last warning look before walking away. Spike waisted a few moments to make sure that Angel was gone. He scooted a chair next to Calli's and leaned into her space.

"You ever date a vampire?" Spike asked in a sultry voice.

Her fingers never stopped moving on the keyboard. "Yes."

"Really?" Spike frowned. "Ever shag him?"

Calli shook her head. "No."

"How come?"

"Don't you have something else to do?"

Spike leaned back in his seat. "Nope. I've been grounded to office duty this week."

Calli's fingers paused. "Angel did that."

"Self imposed."

"You're a moron."

Spike offered her a smile. "At least I'm a sexy moron. I could be a bloke with bloody boils all over me."

Calli rolled her eyes and continued typing. Spike glanced down at her bag and noticed that there was a book on top. A very particular book."

"You write smut," Spike commented, looking back at her.

"The term is 'erotica'. Not 'smut' unless you're a fanfiction nerd."

"Yeah, yeah. Very different. You wrote the Celestial Chronicles! Bloody brilliant pieces of literature for the viewing pleasure!"

Calli's face flushed. "They're not that great."

Spike stared at her in awe. Can she get any cuter? "Not that great?! They're brilliant! You make me need to pop off one with your scenes! Really."

Calli blushed harder. "T-Thank you? I think?"

Spike smiled at her. "We're going to be great friends, pet."

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Spike kissed Calli in what would be her room once everything was unpacked. She leaned into him and Spike smirked. Calli moved back to let herself breathe after a few moments.

"Am I going to be in trouble for this?" Calli asked, running a hand through her hair. "Because Angel said…"

Spike shook his head. "Nah. Angel is a softy. You'll be fine." He pulled her closer by her hips. "You'll never be in trouble with him. Unless you've gone and murdered someone. Then he might have a stern word for you."

Calli laughed and fell back on her bed. Spike sat next to her and ran his hand over her thigh. Calli's body flinched under his fingers before relaxing.

"Calli…" Spike began slowly. "Have you been hurt before?"

The girl flinched, losing her smile. "That's – that's none of your business!"

Spike's eyes narrowed. "What did he do to you?"

Calli grabbed a pillow and smacked him with it. "You don't need to know what they did! Drop it!"

Spike frowned and looked at her with pity. "There was more than one?"

"Go away if you only want to talk about that," Calli ordered, glaring wetly at him. "I don't want to carry on that conversation with you and I shouldn't have to!"

Spike stared at her. When I find out who hurt her…

His soul ached with the dull reminder that he had changed from a blood thirsty monster to somewhat decent. But Calli pulled on his heart strings. She needed protection. She deserved vengeance.

Calli rolled her eyes. "You are not playing superhero, Spike."

"Give me one good reason that I shouldn't."

"I never asked for you to do anything."

"You shouldn't have to. Any bloke should want to make your abusers pay, even without a direct request."

Sparks flew off of Calli's fingers. "Spike, just don't."

"I make no promises."

Calli rolled onto her side, facing away from him. "Go away. Get out and don't bother me anymore."

Spike knew that he had been dismissed. He looked at Calli for a moment longer and then left the room, knowing that he had some work to do.

OOOOOOOOOO

Spike heard his bedroom door open and close in rapid succession. He sat up in bed and saw Calli standing at the foot of the bed. Her eyes were wide and she was shaking as she chewed on her bottom lip.

"Pet?" Spike asked, half rising from the bed.

"Can I – Can I sleep next to you for a bit?" she asked, shaking harder.

Spike shifted on the bed. "Yeah. Sure."

Calli crossed the small space between them and slid under the covers. She rolled onto her side and kept her attention focused on the wall for several moments. Then she turned over and snuggled into Spike.

"You all right?" Spike asked, looking at her as he slid an arm around her. "You're shaking."

Calli looked at him sheepishly. "Just – just a bad dream…don't worry about it."

"Pet," Spike sighed and held her closer. "All right. Try to sleep. I've got you."

They laid in silence for several moments. Calli sighed and closed her eyes.

"I've lost count of the people that hurt me…" she whispered. "I've lost count of the boys that hurt me. All they do is take and take and take. Then when they've had all their fun, they throw me away and leave."

"That's not right."

"That's life."

Spike held her closer. "That's not your life anymore."

Calli nuzzled him. "You say that and part of me wants to believe you."

"Then believe me." Spike looked at her though her eyes remained closed. "I want nothing but to get to know you and take care of you."

Calli opened one eye and looked at him. "Why me?"

"Why not you?"

The girl shrugged. Spike sighed and pressed a kiss to her temple.

"We'll work on that," he promised. "For now, try to get some sleep. Angel keeps weird hours."

"I've noticed." Calli yawned, snuggling more into him. "Night, Spike."

Spike didn't correct her that it was actually daytime. He simply closed his eyes and let his mind take him on a journey that all led to Calli…

OOOOOOOOOOOO

A/N: And that's that. Let me know what you think, please. -Scarlet