“Broken Silence”

I.

The world had changed. Demons weren’t a secret anymore. Vamps walked around in game face and most demons had dropped the old habit of taking human visages. They walked the earth, not without fear, but certainly without hiding it.

The game had changed. A nest of vampires wasn’t automatically marked for death, though they usually got dusted anyway. As a general rule, vampires didn’t have a whole lot of self-control when it came to feeding. It was because of this fact that a beautiful, dark-haired woman stalked the streets of a small suburb of San Francisco. She smirked at the irony that so many hellmouths were situated under sleepy little towns.

With a soft sigh, Faith took a piece of folded up paper from the back pocket of her tight jeans. Andrew had sent it to her before she’d left for California. It had directions to the bar a vampire gang was known to frequent along with a small notation.

If you find Spike, you know what to do.

Faith scowled a little. The ensouled vampire was known to often return to California despite the fact that he didn’t really stay any place for long. Spike had a tendency to fly under the radar despite his infamy. According to Buffy, it had always been that way. As she strolled down El Camino Real, Faith considered her last phone conversation with Buffy.

‘I don’t get it, B. Why not take this job yourself?’

‘I’m flying out to Tokyo tomorrow. You know that.’

‘So send Andrew or Xander. C’mon, you’ve been all business lately. Gettin’ your slay on could do ya some good.’

‘It’s just a vamp gang, Faith. Two elite Slayers would be overkill.’

‘Yeah and what if I run into Spike?’

‘You won’t. I heard he was last spotted in Paris.’

‘That was months ago! Why are you avoiding him anyway? You ain’t still pissed that he got mixed up with Angel, are you?’

‘No, it’s just…Listen, I’ve got to pack. Call me when the job’s done, okay?’

Faith shook her head. That girl was a bundle of issues. True she’d chilled out some over the past five years, but relationships would always be her Achilles’ heel. Faith could relate to a point but even she’d settled down and was actually digging the whole monogamy scene with Robin.

Andrew kept tabs on Spike in his spare time. He had a hell of a man-crush on the bleach blonde vamp and dreamed of having him working with them again. He’d never understood why Buffy didn’t seek Spike out herself and visa versa. Faith had the sneaking suspicion that Spike had bounced the ball into Buffy’s court. He’d spent three long years pursuing, courting, and trying to prove his worth to her. He’d made the ultimate sacrifice and she’d confessed love. Maybe he was giving her the chance to prove that point.

Pretty idea, but he should really know better. The only way she was going to face down her feelings for him was if she couldn’t dodge them any longer. Buffy was damned good at making excuses and Faith was hoping to put her in a situation in which she couldn’t make excuses anymore.

+++++

The jukebox was playing his song.

Little by little I've begun to see
Just why love don't come easily
One step forward and two behind
Waiting for the best chance just takes time

And they call you
Billy Billy bad bad bad bad breaks
All you ever do is make mistakes

Yeah, that sure was the truth. Spike hadn’t gotten a good break since he’d laid eyes on that sodding Slayer. Before Buffy, he’d lived a pretty charmed existence. Had his girl, a dangerous reputation, Angel had been out of the picture, and he’d made an exciting unlife of scamming demons, causing anarchic chaos, and snubbing the ritualistic bullshit so many vamps fell victim to. It had been a bloody good time and yet…kind of empty. He’d never admit it aloud but he was a lot more fulfilled now. Helping was…neat. Demons were right bastards, most of them, and Spike had never felt bad about killing them. Anyway the romantic in him enjoyed the cheesy dark heroism that went with being a creature that was usually aligned with evil fighting on the side of good.

And was there anything better than saving a damsel in distress. Sure, he liked his women strong and fearless but he didn’t deny the charge he got after dusting a vamp that was trying to attack a defenseless woman. She’d get all starry-eyed. ‘Oh how can I ever repay you?’

He’d pull a gruff anti-hero line and say something like, ‘You can be more careful for a start. Bloody dangerous for your kind at night and next time I might not be around to save you.’ Then he’d turn on his boot heel and walk away, duster swirling gracefully around his long legs. Sometimes she’d ask for his name but he’d just keep walking.

…But more often than not he’d dust the poor girl off, treat her to a cup of coffee, and talk her up for a few hours. Spike was, after all, terrible at the whole lone wolf thing. For most of his life and unlife, he’d rarely been alone. As a mortal man he’d lived with his mother, and after he’d been turned he’d run with Angelus, Dru, and Darla and then just Dru after Angelus was cursed with a soul.

After Dru had cut him loose, he’d quickly rebounded to Harmony. He honestly didn’t know what he’d been thinking when it came to her. Sure, she’d been a cute little bimbo of a girl, the eternal schoolgirl fantasy, and what red-blooded male could resist that? She’d been game for any perversion his dirty mind could dream up and had loved him desperately or at least whoever she’d thought he was. Harmony had been no Dru, though, and hadn’t taken a lot of interest in his various scams and certainly hadn’t shared his Slayer bloodlust.

After getting chipped, Spike had slowly wormed his way into Buffy’s little gang of white hats. Especially after he found out he could fight demons. At first he’d done it just for the chance to get his stones back. He’d bloody well have his bad ass reputation even if he had to betray his own kind. Then it had been all about supporting Buffy and protecting Dawn.

When he’d accidentally been transported to L.A. and Wolfram and Hart, Spike had often wondered why he stayed after becoming corporeal. If he were to be honest with himself, it was because he’d known he had a place there. Sort of.

He took a pull off his beer and nearly choked on it when he felt a hard shove to his shoulder. He rolled his eyes and thought, Finally....

“Hey! You’re Spike, aren’t you?” An angry male voice demanded.

He turned and smirked at the young vampire. “Who wants to know, mate?”

++++++

There was a fight going down when Faith arrived at the Mardi Gras. No surprise when it came to bars frequented by demons, but she was shocked when she saw the black clad figure at the center of it. It was too easy! She watched as Spike easily dispatched vampire after vampire. In fact, she was so distracted by the fight that she’d missed the vamp sneaking up on her. He grabbed her from behind and pressed a hand against her throat.

“Yo Spike!” He called out to him as Spike dusted another one of his buddies. “I’ve got a hostage now!” The vamp mimed his intent to kill by nipping at the side of Faith’s neck. “Pretty little thing too. Wanna keep her safe?”

Spike turned his attention to the hostage situation. He looked worried until he realized who the victim was. Faith smirked at him and couldn’t help jibing him a little bit.

“Yeah Spike, poor helpless me might get drained dry.”

His lips twisted with barely contained amusement. Spike’s posture relaxed into a slouchy, insolent pose as he lit a cigarette. “Go ahead and try it, mate. This should be good for a laugh.”

“What the fuck are you--”

Faith cut the vamp off with a hard jab to the ribs with her elbow. She heard bones crack and he let her go with a grunt of pain. In one quick motion, she flipped him onto his back and jammed a stake through his heart.

He dusted as Spike joined her with a laugh and surprising hug. “You’re a sight! What are you doing here?” He leaned invasively into her space and flirted playfully, “Come to ride me at that gallop, pet?”

Faith laughed as she pushed him away, “See now if you’d been down with it five years ago, you wouldn’t have kept me off you.”

“Still shacked up with Wood, are you?” Spike nodded knowingly and strangely without a hint of disdain.

Faith chuckled ruefully, “Yeah, maybe he’ll make an honest woman outta me. Wouldn’t that be a trip?”

Spike snorted as he took a drag off his cigarette. “Sure as hell wouldn’t be a white wedding.”

Faith made a face at him, “Hey thanks a lot. Bad enough that every time I look at you I end up with Rebel Yell stuck in my head.”


“Pfft,” Spike scoffed, “Billy Idol is a sodding fashion punk. Total wanker.”

“Then why’d you rip off his look?”

“Ya think?” Spike frowned a little, “I always fancied I looked more like David Vanian.”

Faith rolled her eyes, briefly thinking back to when she’d started slaying. She sure would have never imagined standing in the middle of a demon bar talking about punk rock and Billy Idol with a vampire.

“You're weird, Spike, but hey, it’s cool.” She almost added, ‘I’m weird, too’, but wasn't really in the mood to get touchy feely with him. Not in the emotional sense anyway.

The jukebox started playing a new song. It seemed to emphasize the serious expression that was spreading over Spike’s face. Slow, mean, and sinister, Faith thought she recognized the song from a movie.

“So you never answered my question, luv,” Spike pointed out gently. “What are you doing in my neck of the woods?”

“Got sent to take out a nest of vampires,” Faith replied.

“The ones I just took out?”

“Yeah.”

“Well,” Spike sniffed as he went back to the bar. “Guess you’ll be on your way then.”

He extinguished his cigarette in an ashtray and retrieved his beer even though the female bartender put a fresh one in front of him. Other than Faith and Spike, she was the only one left in the bar.

“Sure,” Faith drawled as she sat down on a stool next to him, “As soon as you agree to come with me.”

“Need another pair of fists, do you?” Spike snorted, “Why don’t I believe that? Oh right, you’ve got an army of Slayers at your disposal and a powerful witch. Cut to the chase, girl.”

Faith hated being called “girl” but held her tongue. Fighting with him wouldn’t accomplish her goal. “Listen, a lotta the girls are green. They got raw talent but that’s nothing compared to a century plus of fighting experience.”

Spike smirked, “Flattery will get you everywhere, you know.”

Faith narrowed her eyes at him. It couldn’t be this easy. “So...you’re on board?”

“On one condition,” Spike replied.

“Shoot.”

“This best not be about needing a vampire to stop some impending apocalypse. I’ve no desire to die again, and I ain’t stickin’ my neck out for a lot that hadn’t bothered contacting me in five years, understand?”

“You’re crystal, Spike,” Faith nodded as she snagged the untouched beer before him. She downed half of it in one pull. The bitter brew tasted like victory. She only hoped she was clever enough to make this all work out.


TBC....

II.

Spike took her to an old building that was a residential hotel. He’d rented a room for a week, a minor annoyance and reminder that he really did need a permanent mode of transportation.

Being late as it was, the manager was nowhere to be found. Though he wasn’t supposed to have overnight guests, he couldn’t bring himself to care since he was leaving tomorrow night. Ooh you rebel, Spike thought as he rolled his eyes.

He led Faith up the stairs to room 302 and put his key in the lock. “This is me, pet. Ain’t much but it’s shelter during the day.” It was a spartan room with a narrow bed, a ratty armchair in front of a television set, a bureau, tiny closet, and sink beneath a mirror. “There’s a shared bathroom and shower down the hall. Can’t miss it.”


“One bed,” Faith smirked, “That’s gonna be a fun arrangement.”

Spike snorted, “Only if you make it fun, luv.”

She cocked an eyebrow at him and he shook his head. “Relax, Slayer. I didn’t bring you round to take advantage of you. Don’t wager your man would fancy you bedding down with his mum’s murderer.”

Faith let out a heaving sigh, “Damn man, lighten up. Nothin’ wrong with a little harmless frustration. It ain’t like Robin’s my ball and chain.”

Spike just shrugged out of his duster and threw it across the chair. He dragged a huge duffel bag out of the closet. The bottom of it was lined with stakes and a couple huge knives in leather sheathes. He started pulling his meager wardrobe off the hangers (black tee-shirts and the odd button down shirt) and then went to the bureau to retrieve his jeans, all of them black denim save one that was a blue so faded it was nearly gray.

Faith sat on the bed and watched him intently. After a few moments, she ducked around his pacing form as he packed and began going through the pockets of his duster. Finding his wallet and pack of smokes, she settled back on the bed. He ignored her blatant invasion of his privacy, knowing that she wasn’t about to steal from while he was in the room and if she did he really didn’t care. He had plenty of savings, left over from being on Wolfram and Hart’s payroll.

She did, however, nick a cigarette from his pack and sighed lustily as she lit it. “How the hell do you have filtered Lucky Strikes? They’ve been off the market for years!”

“Got connections,” Spike grunted as he stuffed thick black socks into a pocket compartment of his bag. In truth, they were easy enough to order online.

“Hm,” Faith intoned as she began snooping through his wallet. She pulled out a California driver’s license.

“Cute picture,” Faith chuckled before frowning in confusion. “John Simon Ritchie? I thought your real name was William.”

Spike shrugged, “It is. Peaches thought he was bein’ clever puttin’ Sid Vicious’s given name on my fake ids.”

“Oh yeah,” Faith nodded, “Knew it sounded familiar. Could be worse, y’know. He coulda tried to rig it so your name was literally ‘William the Bloody.’”

“Wouldn’t have put it past him,” Spike muttered, “Guess it just pissed me off since the wanker knew my real name and it’s not like something exotic.”

“So what is it?”

“Sorry kitten, that belongs in the past. Man I was is dead and buried. Left him behind in a London cemetery.”

Faith just pouted at him and continued to study the license. “Born July 18, 1981,” She continued with an ironic chuckle. “Boy, Angel really went all out.”

“What? You expect it to say the truth?”

“Well, were you really twenty-seven when you were turned?”

“Yeah, but get this,” Spike couldn’t help grinning as he stopped to gaze down at her. “Peaches’ id clocked him at twenty-five but the git was pushing thirty when he was turned!”

Faith grinned, “Never figured him the type to care about that sort of thing.”

“You kiddin’ me?” Spike was starting to pace as he ranted a little. “Always pissed me right off, how Buffy used to call me vain and self-absorbed when she’d fallen all over Peaches. He fuckin’ epitomized those words!”

The room got quiet at the mention of her name. Faith’s lips parted, and Spike made a cutting gesture with one hand. As he went back to packing the silence reigned, broken only by the sound of late night traffic.

++++++

Tokyo was one of the loudest cities Buffy had ever visited. As she drank tea at a tiny cafe in the Shibuya district, Buffy thought she heard a Dir en Grey song blasting from a passing car. She smiled ruefully. Thanks to living and interacting with so many different young women Buffy knew an awful lot about music these days.

Spike would be so proud.

The errant thought made her sad. She missed him terribly but had never summoned the courage to go find him. How ironic: Buffy could face down an army of demons with only marginal fear, but romance and relationships left her trembling with terror.

Xander, always quick to take her side, insisted Spike was to blame. ‘If he loved you half as much as he claimed, he would be with you.’

Buffy wasn’t so sure about that. She’d treated him so poorly when they’d been together, only truly softening toward him after he’d gained a soul. There was a good chance that he figured coming back to her would garner him the same treatment. Spike was love’s bitch to be sure but even he had a breaking point. Though he’d loved Drucilla with his entire being, her rejection of him had eventually pushed him away for good.

It put a bad taste in Buffy’s mouth to compare herself to the madwoman but she couldn’t deny the parallels. On top of their shaky history as lovers was the high profile “relationship” she’d had with The Immortal. In truth, all he’d been was an informant but she’d used a lot of feminine whiles to pay for that information. Though Buffy had never slept with him, the “dates” at fancy restaurants had fueled rumours that she just hadn’t had the energy to deny.

Anyway, there had been benefits to being considered The Immortal’s girlfriend. Vamps and demons had spilled their guts much more readily, and a whole new upper crust of society had accepted her like never before. Guilt eventually caught up to her, though....

Buffy was tired of being a user and now all she wanted was a true life partner.

She was pulled out of her introspective reverie by a softly accented voice. “Buffy Summers-san?”

She blinked and looked up at the young woman who stood before her. Her mind fished for a name as she got out of her chair to greet her. Buffy held out a hand without thinking and mentally kicked herself when the girl bowed at her.

“It is an honour to finally meet you,” she said. Reika, Buffy remembered suddenly.

“Likewise Reika, er...san?” Buffy stumbled as she bowed quickly. Honourifics confounded her.

Reika chuckled good-naturedly, “Forgive my formality. Old habits die hard.”

“No problem,” Buffy smiled, “We’re all good here. It’s me who should apologize for taking so long to meet you. You’ve been in charge of the Tokyo branch for how long now? A year?”

Reika waved away her words, “You’re here now. That’s all that matters”

“Thanks,” Buffy coloured with mild embarrassment. She never imagined wishing for the old days when it was she and her friends against the demon world, but some days she did.

+++++

Faith woke up around eight in the morning. Spike was asleep in the armchair. A heavy, dark blanket covered the window, blocking out the sun’s deadly rays.

She’d slept in her tank top and panties. Spike had been a modern gentleman, unfazed by her near nudity but polite enough not to make any off-colour remarks. She was a bit perplexed by it, still too accustomed to guys acting like pigs around her.

Faith stretched languidly, pulled on a her jeans, and got out of bed. She stealthily moved about the small room as she located her shoes, stole a cigarette out of Spike’s pack, and the key for the front door.

Faith had a lot to do before nightfall but was in desperate need for a caffeine fix. She was pretty sure she’d seen a cafe at the train station and decided to make that the first stop.

As Faith stepped out onto Main Street, she blinked rapidly. The California sun was bright and during the day it was so easy to forget about how different things were. She half expected to see Buffy walking down the street with her friends. This town was so similar to Sunnydale it was creepy.

She took her cell phone out of her pocket and speed dialed Andrew. The line crackled a bit as he answered.

“What’s up, my dark sister Slayer?” Andrew asked.

“I found him,” Faith replied curtly.

“Who?”

“Who do you think?”

There was a long pause before Andrew gasped, “You found Spike? How is he?”

“Kind of on the bitter side,” Faith said, “Are you sure this is going to work?”

Andrew made a soft, cliking sound with his tongue, “Well of course he’d be bitter. He’s got a lot of pride to him, but he loves Buffy. Devotion like that just doesn’t die. It’s like when Integra ordered Alucard to drop all his restrictions. He totally could have ripped her throat out but he took out her enemies instead and still acknowledged her as his master.”

Faith rolled her eyes, vaguely embarrassed that she understood what he was babbling about. “I don’t really think that’s a great comparison, Andrew.”

“Okay fine, but Spike did get his soul for her and that’s a big deal. Before that, he willingly fought on the side of good and even if his reasons were a bit selfish, he was denying his true nature.”

Andrew had a point but Faith was still a bit skeptical. Spike hadn’t exactly jumped at the idea of coming back to their fold. “I don’t know, man. He hasn’t asked after B. once. Maybe this is a lost cause.”

“Don’t worry,” Andrew insisted, “I’ll arrange Buffy to go to New Orleans on the pretense of meeting with the watcher advising the Slayer enclave that’s there. You take care of the rest. Oh god, this is so cool! Like a Bond movie!”

“All right,” Faith sighed wearily, “I’m renting a car. It’ll take about a week give or take since we’ll be traveling by night.” She ended the call without saying good-bye and shoved the phone into her back pocket.

Traveling by plane was too much of a hassle these days, ever since they’d ramped up security, and anyway she wanted to take the time to feel Spike out. Faith was a cynical woman and didn’t have the same unwavering confidence as Andrew. The situation needed some kind of closure, though, even if that closure was Spike telling Buffy off.

The part of her that still felt the bad blood between herself and Buffy thought that maybe, just maybe she’d deserve that. Yet the rest of her wanted them to reconcile. She understood Buffy’s fear and wanted her to exorcise it. The girl need to take a chance and stop taking the easy way out.

+++++

Spike woke up shortly after sundown to the sound of a TV program with volume set low. Faith was sitting on the floor with a couple boxes of Chinese take-out beside her.

“G’morning’,” she greeted him around a mouthful of fried rice, eyes glued to the screen. Glancing at it, he recognized that she was watching a Bruce Lee movie.

Spike smiled ruefully as he ambled over to the small refrigerator. Though vampires, like Slayers, were predisposed to fighting ability, Spike had stolen quite a few moves from viewing Bruce Lee films. Of course to most people, Spike had cooked up some cock and bull story about learning to fight from an honest-to-god ninja when he and Dru had visited Japan around the turn of the century. Few knew the differences between various martial arts, after all.

“Such a shame,” Spike murmured as he crushed unfrosted shredded wheat into a paper bowl, “The curse.”

“Huh?” Faith replied as she turned and gave him a weird look. It occurred to him that, given the limited time they’d spent together, Faith probably wasn’t used to his tendency toward non-sequiturs.

“Right,” Spike cleared his throat as he opened the refrigerator, retrieved a container of pig’s blood, and poured it over the cereal, “The curse of the Lee family, luv.”

“Oh yeah, that,” Faith replied thoughtfully as she nibbled at a fried chunk of chicken coated in bright orange sweet and sour sauce. “D’ya think it was real or just a coincidence?”

“Who knows,” Spike shrugged and took a bite of his blood and shredded wheat concoction. He winced slightly. Cold blood was awful, but he’d gotten somewhat used to it. Being a vagabond was difficult when not feeding on humans, but at least it eliminated having to get rid of bodies. “So what have you been doing all day?”

“Had to pick up a rental car and my travel bag from the motel I’d checked into when I hit town.”

Spike made a face, annoyed that Faith had failed to mention as much. Of course it probably wouldn’t have mattered all that much to Spike. Even the platonic company of a beautiful woman was better than none at all.

“Where are we going?” he asked. “You never said.”

“New Orleans,” Faith replied as she turned off the television and gathered up the take-out boxes. “We should leave soon. How are you going to get blood, by the way?”

“Lots more demon bars, pet,” Spike explained softly, “I’ll be fine.”

Faith frowned, “You really don’t feed off humans anymore? I mean, you could just drink a little bit, couldn’t you? That’s what they do at those bite clubs, right?”

Spike studied her thoughtfully as he chewed on the blood soaked cereal. There was no suspicion in her questions, merely honest curiosity. “Bite clubs tend to be a bit dodgy for my taste. For as many humans there are that willingly bear their necks, just as many are coerced or hypnotized into surrendering. Anyway, it can be difficult to stop once you start. The blood is the life but the victim’s death is the true thrill.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Course I miss it. You think a junkie quits because he stops liking it? He stops using because he realizes that it’s destructive.”

“That’s no comparison,” Faith shook her head as she shoved the remnants of her dinner into the garbage. “A junkie doesn’t need the drug to live.”

Spike smiled faintly, “A vampire doesn’t need to kill to live, my dear, and that’s a fact.”

Faith eyed him long and hard then shrugged. There was something in her gaze that was both thoughtful and rueful. “You’re smarter than you look, ya know that?”

Spike laughed and slipped an arm around her waist simply because he could. Though he wouldn’t take advantage of Faith in an erotic sense, he didn’t have a problem using her to get the physical contact that he craved.

She relaxed under his touch. They were one in the same in so many ways and maybe, under different situations, they could have been lovers. Perhaps not, though. Girl needed a man in her life that didn’t want to fuck her.

“Let’s get outta here,” Faith sighed, “Hellmouths make me bitchy.”


TBC...