Chapter 5
“Come on Spike, wake up, we’re here.”
Growling, he tried to push away the finger prodding him in the chest. “Go ‘way, sleep now.” He said inarticulately. The finger renewed its assault, so he gave up and opened an eye, “Wha’?”
“I said wake up, unless you want to be toasty vampire, in which case get out of the car anyway, the dust will take a lot of explaining away.” Buffy poked him again.
“Bloody hell, couldn’t you find a parking space under cover!” Spike groused, as he crawled out of the back seat and stretched the kinks out of his muscles.
“Oh shut up, and get inside.”
Spike eyed her suspiciously, she sounded almost jovial – for the Slayer that is.
“Where are we?”
“Giles said we’re about two hours away from London. He thought it would be safer to stay here for a few hours to rest up, before we try to find your friends. Imagine – you having friends!”
Spike revised his earlier opinion, he must have imagined it. This was more like the attitude he always got from her. Mind you “friends” was pushing it a bit. He and Dru had left Whitechapel last time rather hurriedly, after a slight misunderstanding.
He walked into the small hotel and was guided by Buffy up the stairs, to a landing with two doors. He waited patiently for her to tell him which was his, and was surprised when she opened one of the doors, entered and beckoned him in. Well, life was looking up! He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Buffy pointed to a couch, “that’s where you’re sleeping. Giles found it cheaper to get a suite with two bedrooms rather than three singles.”
“Bully for Giles, I suppose he’s got the other bedroom!”
“He is paying for it!”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, I forgot to pack my wallet before I started on my merry jaunt! And now I’ve get to sleep on a sofa yet again!”
“Spike, you were okay to sleep in the back of the car – I’m sure the couch is a lot more comfortable for a creature who normally passes out on a sarcophagus.” She gestured to a door, “That’s where I’m sleeping – and before you get any ideas – I sleep with a stake under my pillow.” And with that she swept into her room and closed the door.
He heard the snick of the lock and sighed, as he slumped down on the couch. Now that he had taken the edge off his tiredness, he found sleep elusive, and having the Slayer in the next room wasn’t helping.
He laid his head back and closed his eyes, arms outstretched along the sofa’s back. “Ah, Slayer”, he sighed, as a series of images of her ran through his mind. Her shocked look when the hood was pulled off his head, and she saw the state of him. (I thought I was dreaming). Her calm acceptance, when he had sobbed like a pouf in her lap, when he was expecting ridicule. Her indignation, when she thought he had told Mrs Norton what she was. Her shock, when he threw himself at the armed men. Her fury, when he ran away and then her look when he told her of his capture and transport. Just for a second, he thought he had seen – what? Understanding? Empathy? Sympathy even, but it had disappeared so quickly, he wasn’t sure that he had seen it at all. Then her look of disgust, when he opened his sodding great gob and told her about Angelus. Why bring Angelus into it at all? Sometimes he even disgusted himself.
He knew that he loved her more than his own unlife, more even than he had loved Dru – Why me? Suddenly, a terrible thought dawned upon him. Perhaps the behavioural modification chip did more than stop him hurting humans, perhaps it made him like them! He shuddered, that’s like a leopard liking deer, a wolf liking lambs! The thought sickened him. Why, he even found himself beginning to like the Watcher, and he was growing to love Dawn like a sister. Then his thoughts slipped to Xander Harris and he was immediately reassured – he hated that wanker! The only reason he still lived, was originally because of the chip and then because he was a friend of Buffy. Then he was picturing her again, only this time……..
He found himself lying flat, with his hands by his sides, paralysed, realising that he was back in the coffin, looking up through the small hatch. And suddenly there she was, standing above him, hammer in hand, giving him a look of cold hatred as she started to drive in the nails.
“It’s time,”
BANG
“you went,”
BANG
“back into the ground,”
BANG
“where you belong.”
BANG
He tried to scream, beg and plead with her, but he could make no sound, other than a pathetic whimper.
Buffy lay listening to the noises coming from the next room – what was going on in there? Perhaps vampires dreamed of hunting when they were asleep, like her auntie’s dog in front of the fire? Legs twitching, growling and whimpering while he chased dream rabbits.
She couldn’t remember Angel making any noises while he slept, but then there was no comparison between the two vampires. Spike always gave the impression of being slightly alien – there was no way that you’d mistake him for human, if you spent any time in his company. He was sublimely confident, direct, constantly on the move, full of nervous energy, his body angled, stalking about like the predator he was. Angel seemed much more human, easier to understand and cope with. But then of course he had a soul. She felt the familiar pain upon thinking of the souled vampire, and cursed Spike for stirring up feelings that she had safely stored away. But now she had started thinking about him, she couldn’t stop. All the defences she had carefully built up, crumbled away as she examined the relationship.
Angel was her first and greatest love. She had been so young, so innocent and the first night they had consummated their relationship, Angelus was reborn. She looked at those months full on for the first time – how incredibly painful and hurtful that time had been. She really didn’t know how she had survived. Now she was allowing herself to look at them dispassionately, she realised that the only way she had defeated the rogue vampire, was by making a truce with another one – Spike. Before that, every time she had had a chance of staking Angelus, she hadn’t been able to bring herself to do it, even when all the black, evil words were dripping from his mouth. She looked back and saw that Evil Angelus was so much more evil than Spike and that was before the blonde had the chip planted in his head. I like this world he had said, when all Angelus wanted to do was destroy it. When Willow did the spell to restore Angel’s soul and he found his way back from hell, he had been different. Not surprising perhaps, but when he had insisted that he leave for her sake, he had broken her heart all over again.
Perhaps there was something in what Mrs Norton had said about Spike, that he was different – no what had she said – special? And his aura having green and gold in it, not the usual dead black that would have been expected. Unfortunately that conversation had been interrupted and she hadn’t been able to ask any questions.
She laid thinking about how her life sucked, and now even her vacation sucked. Oh great, now she couldn’t sleep and she needed to pee. She got up and went into the bathroom. When she finished, she couldn’t resist the temptation of looking in on Spike and finding out what he was doing – I might regret this, she thought ruefully. Spike was lying rigid on the couch, occasionally twitching slightly and still making faint whimpering noises. She stopped and looked down at him curiously, he seemed to be having a nightmare not a dream and she fought the urge to lean down and stroke his head comfortingly. Nope, better leave that well alone – mustn’t give him the wrong impression, especially at night, when he was in a horizontal position. She had to admit there didn’t seem to be too much predator in him at the moment, more like a little boy lost. Woah, so not going there!
When Buffy woke the next day, she felt as though someone had lifted a heavy weight from her chest. She had been carrying all those feelings of guilt and sorrow about Angel around for so long, that she hadn’t realised how much they had affected her. As she got up, she began to hum, and as she showered she began to sing in a loud silly voice, dodging in and out of the spray and making a large puddle on the floor.
Spike was hunched on the sofa, his head in his hands. His eyes felt gritty and his body was stiff and sore. He felt as though someone had wrapped a large metal band round his chest, the feeling of tension was too much. He heard the Slayer begin to hum and then sing.
“Someone’s bloody cheerful this morning” he groused under his breath as he surged to his feet and began pacing up and down the room “I dunno what she’s got to be so sodding happy for.”
The English witch had treated him like a human, like a man, and he thought of her fondly. But she knew nothing about Buffy – just tell her you love her, indeed! He’d be lucky to get away with a broken nose. No she’d probably dust him, to make sure that he never said it again. For his age, he’d had no real experience of women. Hadn’t needed it, with his dark princess taking up all his time, and he didn’t think that Buffy would appreciate being treated like a mad vampire. He didn’t count the women that he had charmed, shagged and drained, usually within the same hour. They were nothing to him, and Buffy was everything.
“Oh, sodding hell!”
Buffy finished her shower, and heard movement on the other side of the door. She opened it and peered out. She saw Spike, walking towards the main door.
“Where do you think you’re going?” she asked
“None of your soddin’ business!” he snapped back and then he looked again, craned his neck, and said in a different voice, “Are you naked behind there?”
“Don’t even go there,” she said as she closed the door to a crack and pulled the skimpy towel more tightly around her body, “in fact don’t go anywhere, I won’t be long.”
She dried and dressed herself quickly, and then heard Giles calling to her, “is Spike in there with you?”
“What! No, of course not.”
“Then he has done a disappearing act again.” Giles’ voice was filled with venom.
“I told him not to go anywhere, but when does he ever listen to me, or to anyone, come to that.”
She flung open the door and stormed down the stairs, beginning a search of the hotel. After about five minutes and a thorough search, she was about to give up, when she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. A white blonde head appeared on the other side of the reception desk, he was busy looking around and, as Buffy approached, he picked something up and put it in his pocket.
“Spike, what do you think you’re doing?”
He swung round at her voice, but didn’t even have the grace to look guilty.
“Got bored, so I thought I’d have a look around. Hey!”
She had grabbed a handful of his shirt, and was hauling him round to the other side of the counter, and then she dragged him up the stairs.
He leaned back against her pull and said “Why don’t you get me a nice collar and lead luv, it’d save on the clothes.”
They both looked down to where her fist was grasping, and ripping, his shirt. She looked back at him with a glimmer of a smile, “A nice big bell’d be a good look for you, too.” With that she let go, and with a yelp, he tumbled backwards down the stairs.
“Ah, the feline grace of the predator,” she intoned in a National Geographic voice and broke into giggles.
As he lay sprawled at the foot of the stairs, he glared up at her furiously. She had never looked lovelier to him, even with eyes streaming and face contorted with laughter.
“Bloody hell Slayer!” he growled, but he couldn’t keep up the façade of anger, the laughter was so infectious. When she offered him her hand he could hardly see it through his own tears of mirth. They propped each other up as they made their way back to the room.
“I found him Giles.”
“I think the whole bloody hotel knows that you found him. So much for a low profile.”
They both sobered and looked suitably contrite.
“What’s wrong with you Spike, why can’t you stay in one place for five minutes?” Giles snapped.
“Well, I am the big bad you know. Evil.”
Buffy looked at Spike, snorted, and put her hand over her mouth to try and stifle more giggles. Spike caught her eye and they both collapsed into laughter again. Giles looked at them and against his will, began to smile and then chuckle, even though he had no idea what he was laughing at. It was good to see Buffy laugh again after the traumatic experiences of the previous day. Maybe he’d give the vampire the benefit of the doubt after all.
After Buffy and Giles had breakfasted, Giles went shopping and brought back some fresh clothes for Spike and three containers of blood. When the vampire had eaten and freshened up in Giles’ room, they checked out of the hotel.
“Ah,” said Spike, as they approached the front entrance, “vampire weather.”
The sky was grey and it was pouring with rain. Buffy and Giles exchanged long-suffering looks. “Well, we did have almost two weeks of sunshine”, said the Watcher consolingly. “Come on, let’s get Spike’s papers and we can get back to sunny California.”
Neither of them saw the apprehensive look Spike shot at them
TBC
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