Spike waited as Giles snapped closed the lid on his prized guitar and thanked the manager of the coffee shop before heading out the door and down the sidewalk. "That went surprisingly well, I thought," Giles said with reserved enthusiasm.

Spike smirked, adjusting the strap of the borrowed guitar across his chest, the guitar slung on his back. "Sure, you'd say that, you've got mother Summers practically salivating on her knees."

"Must you be so crude?"

"Must you be such a bloody prude all the time? Lady's clearly got a thing for you. Christ knows why."

They continued their walk, heading back toward Giles' flat. Spike couldn't help noticing how his comment had barely registered on Giles' face and he made a note of it in the event they ever played poker. His thoughts were interrupted by two large men lumbering down the sidewalk toward them. A low warning growl resonated in Spike's chest and he shot Giles a side glance as the pair of them drew close enough for him to recognize them as vampires.

"Wouldn't happen to have a stake on ya, Watcher?" Spike muttered.

"Feeling peckish are you?" Giles replied dryly.

"Not me, but I think those fellas might be looking for a bite to eat and I rather doubt they share my little handicap."

"Ah, yes, I see what you mean— No I'm afraid I'm woefully unprepared."

"Bloody brilliant," Spike scoffed.

"Whadda we got here?" the shorter of the two vampires asked, nudging his companion in the arm.

The taller vampire tilted his head in mock consideration. "Couple'a pansy music geeks, I'd say."

"Bloody Neanderthals," Spike huffed. "I enjoy a spot'a mayhem and destruction as much as the next demon but for Christ sake, just because a bloke gets a bit creative now and again doesn't make him less of a man."

Giles narrowed his gaze on Spike attempting to figure out where he was going with this and desperately wishing he'd thought to bring at least one stake. He was getting far too comfortable around Spike and here was the moment of opportunity he needed, presented on a silver platter.

Spike sucked his cheeks in, assessing the situation and weighing his options. On one hand he could just sit back and watch these two numskulls rip Giles apart slowly and maybe even get a snack. A taste of home, as it were.

He smirked at the thought, and then sighed when Buffy re-entered his mind. She'd kill him herself if the Watcher so much as scratched his glasses and yet what was he supposed to do? He couldn't fight, bite, kick, hit— or could he? It was obvious the sodding chip worked on humans, the boiling, radiating pain that sparked throughout his brain every time he so much as slapped a living person was all the evidence he needed on that front, but what about demons? He hadn't exactly spent more than a few minutes with his own kind since he'd been taken.

The way she had looked at him tonight; the internal struggle visible on her face, giving way to pure desire. God, he'd do almost anything to keep that glint in her eye.

The taller vamp shot out one large hand, squeezing a pressure point in Giles's shoulder, drawing out a howl of pain from the former librarian.

Spike reached out, gripping the brute by the lapel of his canvas jacket. Sodding, love's bitch, that's me— Even if it means defending her precious Scoobies it would seem.

"Don't think you'll be wanting to do that, mate, could be bad for your health," Spike drawled, pulling him down to face him, twisting his fist into the fabric until the fibers creaked.

"My health?" the vampire laughed, unimpressed eyes glowing in the street light as he released Giles with a shove and reached for Spike.

The air around them seemed to thicken with the promise of a good fight, Spike let his face shift, a low growl emitting from his chest as he gave the vampire a jerk with his fist. "You clearly don't know who you're fucking with," he taunted almost gleefully when the chip remained dormant.

Well, fuck, this might actually be worth a shot.

In a heartbeat, Spike slugged the vamp in the jaw twisting to the side to deliver a kick to his companion. The guitar strap across Spike's back spun around his torso, inadvertently blocking a hit from the taller vampire with a sickly twang from the instrument.

From behind him Giles let out a curse along with a disappointed groan.

Spike ripped the strap of the instrument over his head, swinging it in an arch that connected noisily with the taller vampire's head.

Spike let out a crow of glee, bouncing slightly as he gripped the now damaged instrument by the neck, preparing for his next attack. "That's right! I'm back! Back in black!"

The shorter vamp charged him and suddenly the the AC/DC song exploded in his brain, filling him with glee.

'Cause I'm back

Yes, I'm back

Spike swung the guitar like a gulf club into the vampire's stomach, the neck broke away from the body, the two halves now connected only by the guitar's strings.

Well, I'm back

Yes, I'm back

Well, I'm back, back

While the vamp was still doubled over, Spike gripped a half of the guitar in each hand, shoved the vamp down on his knees with a boot on his back, "Yeah, I'm back!" Spike laughed as he proceeded to wrap the neck of the guitar around his throat, pulling back hard so that the strings cut into flesh. With a powerful twist of his upper body, Spike pulled the strings through, grinning maniacally as the vamp turned to dust.

Yes, I'm back in black…

Still grinning, Spike took the now separated neck of the guitar, shoving it through the heart of the second vampire with a decisive thrust.

Throwing the broken guitar pieces to the sidewalk, he straightened his spine turning toward Giles. "God, that felt good." Spike let his face melt back to his normally smooth features, breathing heavily, letting the exhilaration wash over him.

Giles took a nervous step back, uncertain of what this meant in regards to Spike's chip and his own safety. "Spike?" he hedged.

"Well that answered that burning question. Not so toothless after all am I? I can kill a demon!" he shouted with a laugh.

"You suspected you could kill demons?" Giles asked, stepping forward.

Spike shrugged. "Figured those lab boys went through all this trouble to protect other humans— probably only works on the living."

"Lucky for me I suppose."

"I'd say this calls for a drink, wouldn't you?"

A/N: Title and lyrics used are from the song Back in Black by AC/DC

A of course a big thanks to Geliot99 3