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CHAPTER 1: Very upset man


A bottle of iridescent greenish purple nail polish in one hand, the blonde girl examined her freshly painted big toe with a doubtful look, but she went back to work despite the result. She was curled up comfortably on a couch in the hotel lobby, her long hair swept to one side of her head so she could hold the phone receiver with her other shoulder. She could have said without any hesitation that she was happy at the moment, if it wasn’t for the more than awkward phone call to her best friend. The first contact they’ve had in over a year.


“Will?.. Willow… “ She tried to interrupt the other girl to no avail. When Willow Rosenburg was babbling, lost in her theories, nothing could stop her.


“WILLOW!” The sound of her voice echoing in the huge hotel made her drop her voice right away. “Honey, you asked so many questions in one sentence that I couldn’t even remember one if my life depended on it. Why don’t we wait until we see each other?.. You’ll be here in two days, right?” Buffy blew on her toes to make the polish dry faster and shook her head slightly at the result. *weird, but kinda pretty anyway..* She smiled to herself.


“Ok. So I’ll see you at the Hyperion Friday. … Yes, I assure you, I’ve never been better.”


She understood her friend’s worry, but for once in her life, she was saying the truth about this. Life was grand. End of the story.


“Bye Will. Can’t wait to see you too!” She said with an overly cheery voice. The truth is, she was feeling a bit insecure about this, but she knew the feeling would dissipate as soon as she was face to face with the redhead.


She stretched lazily on the couch and smiled brightly when she realized that Spike was sitting on the bottom stair, observing her.


It had been a week since the day she finally remembered her old life. The first few days had been tough, but she soon realized she was alright. The first moment of anger at being played by the Powers was soon replaced by gratitude. Gratitude because she didn’t think she would have been able to move on so fast and so completely without that little help from above.


Yes, she remembered her sometimes gruesome life as the Slayer, but she also remembered the past year as a normal girl. The endless shopping sprees, the trips to the beach, the girls’ night spent eating popcorn with her sister while watching chick flick. All this helped her reacquainting herself with Buffy Summers.


During her last year in Sunnydale, the Slayer side of her personality had become more and more dominant, making her sometimes scared of herself. Of how cold she’d become. She had been afraid that she might have lost touch with the regular girl in her forever. But last year had helped her reconcile the Slayer and the girl, bringing her back to a more healthy balance. And she sure as Hell laughed and smiled a lot more now. And she could also finally let herself enjoy her relationship with the man sitting on the stair. Which was a big plus in her book.


Said man who right now seemed somewhat upset.


“What’s with the brooding? You know, brooding is fine for Angel, but moody and sarcastic look better on you.”


She didn’t seem to notice his lack of reaction and just kept talking. “Or are you just listening to the voices in your head?” She got up and lifted her arms in front of her while walking slowly to Spike. “Kill… Kill…Kill Angel…” She said in a mocking tone. “Which reminds me. We should rent The Shining sometimes. This movie scared the shit out of me the first time I saw it, watching it again in this creepy hotel would be awesome.”


When she finally reached the stairs, she stopped in front of him and frowned at his silence. “What’s wrong?” She asked, more seriously this time.


Spike got up and walked away from her. He went to stand by the weapon display, seemingly lost in his thoughts as he admired the beautifully carved swords and knives. But she could tell, by the way he shoved his restless hands deep into his pockets that something was off.


“Spike?”


“Why didn’t you tell her?”


“Wha…”


“Willow. Why didn’t you tell her about us? Are we back at that?” He turned to look at her, and she could now see the anger and hurt flash in his eyes.


“But I..”


“It’s not like you didn’t have any opportunities, you’ve been yapping away for more than an hour! You know Slayer, it was bloody painful when you were doing it back in Sunnydale, but I fooled myself into thinking that we were past this! I didn’t think you were still ashamed of me after all we’ve been through together. I know being human doesn’t erase my less than stellar past, but I was delusional enough to think that we had put this behind us.”


She could only stare at the furious ex-vampire with her mouth gapping, her mind scrambling to find something to say to calm him down. But before she could find the words to explain to him what she had been thinking, he was on his way out, kicking viciously at the small table in his way, making it fly across the room.


“You know what? Sod all this…”


“SPIKE! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!”


But the blond fury was already out the door, almost knocking it off its hinges. She tried to follow him, but the cold night air reminded her soon enough that she was dressed in nothing but one of his black T-shirt. Not the best outfit to walk the streets of L.A. looking for her pissed off boyfriend.


“Stupid pigheaded man with his stupid bad temper” she mumbled to herself, but her heart wasn’t in it.


She knew she had involuntarily hurt him. Definitely not something she enjoyed doing anymore. Sure, it was meant to happen once in a while. A hurtful word could sometimes slip out during one of the daily dose of bickering they both enjoyed so much. But this was a very sensitive issue to him, after all she had put him through during their last two years in Sunnydale. Telling him on a regular basis that she’s never tell her friends about them because she was disgusted with herself and ashamed of him…


She winced at the memory. *Good job Buff… You just gave him a very nice flashback, and some happy thoughts to brood over for the next two weeks at least*


She went back inside and slammed the door shut behind her.


“You guys had a fight?”


Buffy almost jumped out of her skin when she heard Cordelia’s voice.


Cordelia chuckled at the very unslayer like shriek that came out of the blonde girl. “Sorry. I thought you had seen me. So, what happened?”


Buffy let herself down on the couch with a humph, and crossed her arms over her chest. “I kind of forgot to tell Spike that I wasn’t going to tell Willow about us being together over the phone. I wanted to tell her when she gets here and we’d be sitting comfortably over a pint of Ben&Jerry’s, having a girl talk. He heard my conversation with her, noticed I didn’t say anything about me and him, and assumed it’s because I’m still ashamed of being with him.”


“And let me guess… He talked really fast, got really pissed, didn’t let you say a word, then stormed out?”


Cordelia smiled and sat next to Buffy.


Buffy pouted. “Yeah…”


“Typical.”


“I know!! Geez, could he be more annoying?! He didn’t even let me explain!”


“Do you think it’s men in general, or just vampires and ex-vampires?” the brunette wondered, an eyebrow arched questioningly.


“What? Angel does that too?” Buffy bit the inside of her cheek to refrain from laughing, finding the idea of Angel acting like Spike very amusing.


“Nah huh…” Cordelia shook her head and sighed. “Worse. He reacts like a fifteen years old in the middle of a teenager crisis. He crosses his arms over his chest, and repeats ‘getoutgetoutGETOUT!’ Very manly if you ask me.”


Buffy burst out laughing this time. “Oh my God! This is too funny. He seemed so much more mature when I was sixteen..”


“Yeah, unfortunately, I have a tendency to turn men into immature little boys.” Cordy pouted at her own comments. “That really sucks.”


Remembering just why they were talking about this, Buffy sobered up instantly. Cordelia noticed, and let out another sigh before turning to face the petite blonde sitting next to her.


“He’ll be back soon enough, I’m sure. He’ll be piss drunk and looking for a fight, you’ll give him just that, then you’ll kiss and make up.”


“You’re starting to know him pretty well, don’t you.”


“Yeah.” She answered quietly. “I’m starting to.” She hesitated to finish what she had to say, but did anyway. “And I also know that he must be broken right now. I’m not blaming you. You didn’t do anything wrong at all. I can see why you’d want to tell Willow face to face. That’s what girls do. We rant on the phone for hours about meaningless stuff like new hairstyles and Jimmy Choo stilettos, but have to tell each other the important things face to face.”


Buffy drew her knees up to her chest, and rested her chin on them, not looking at Cordelia. Her heart was breaking in her chest again at how Spike must have hurt when he realized that she was not telling Willow… again.


“Spike and I talked a lot after he arrived here. Mostly about you… and how screwed up your relationship was.”


Buffy shot Cordelia the death look. The brunette held her hands up.


“Hey! Not judging. I know where you’re coming from. I was there during the Angelus phase, remember? Plus, going out with a bloodsucker, not something you proudly tell everyone.”


“Cordelia,” Buffy interrupted. “I am WAY past that. I am beyond being way past that. I’m ready to go in front of the assembly and say: ‘Hi, I’m Buffy Summers and I’m in love with Spike, who used to be a bloodsucker.’. See? Not. Ashamed. I even manage to see a future for us when I lay awake at night. Which is something I couldn’t even do when I was with Angel or Riley. That says it all.”


“I know Buff, that’s not what I’m saying. I’m just saying that believing that you were somehow still ashamed of him must have reopened some serious wounds. That’s all he talked about when he got here… how he was not worthy of you.”


Buffy tried to blink back the tears, but failed. “Cordy… if one of us is not worthy of the other, it’s me. I will never forget that he…” She took a deep shaky breath. “I saw him giving up his life to save the world. I saw him starting to burn, but not even flinching. I saw the resolve on his face. And it wasn’t just for me, like all his past good deeds were. It was for himself and for the world. I will never forget that. I am proud to love him.”


Cordelia smiled softly at that. She stroked Buffy’s silky blond hair affectionately before getting up. “Then why don’t you tell him that when the bleached wonder comes back from his drinking binge. I’m sure that would make him happy.”


Buffy just nodded.


“You going to bed?”


“Nah. I think I’ll just wait here.”


“Ok. Goodnight then.”


She watched Cordelia’s retreating form before curling up on the couch to wait for Spike to come back home.


She fought sleep for as long as she could, but it eventually overtook her. When she opened her eyes again, the sun was up in the sky. Suddenly completely awake, she flew up the stairs to their bedroom and threw the door open. The bed was still undone from the night before, and it was empty. Sighing loudly, she lay down on it, pulling the covers around her. She took a pillow and put it over her face to silence a scream of frustration. “Argh!!”


*So that’s how those wives waiting up all night for their husbands feel huh?* She thought for herself. *He’s so gonna get his sexy ass kicked…*


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


“Damn Spike! Don’t you think that’s enough already?”


Spike slammed down another shot, and before the bartender could react, he snatched the bottle out of his unsuspecting hands.


“Bugger off all the way to Hell you wanker. I might be new at the whole human thing, but that doesn’t make me a toddler. I can take care of my own bloody self, thank you very much.”


“Watch your mouth, would you.” The annoyed man said while cleaning ashtrays. “The only reason you’re still here is because I allow you to. In case you haven’t noticed, the bar has been closed for an hour now. I could just throw you out on your ass if I feel like it.”


“Suit yourself. You’re more than welcomed to try mate.”


The forty something man just rolled his eyes at Spike, and put the ashtrays away. “You might be a strong son of a bitch, but I’ll have you know that I’ve seen my share of bar fights. AND you’re drunk off your ass. I’m not that impressed with you. But seriously man, I’ll have to meet that girl of yours someday.” He scolded at Spike for spilling some booze on his newly cleaned bar, but kept talking. “I’d be curious to see what kind of woman can bring a man like you to his knees. Known you for a year, and every time you stumble in here to drink yourself into a coma, it’s about her. She must be something else in the sack huh?” He wiggled his eyebrows, making Spike growl.


“Watch your yap mate, it’s my woman you’re talking about.”


“Fine, have it your way. You’re so not fun when you’re in that state.” He lifted a keg off the floor. “I’ll bring that to the back. When I’ll hear you fall off the stool, I’ll come back and put your unconscious ass in a cab.”


When he didn’t get an answer from the blond, Larry left him alone and made his way to the back storage room.


Spike watched the bartender leave, then took another swig of his tequila. All he wanted right now was to curl up on the floor under a table and forget about Buffy Summers.


*Liar*


The truth was that all he really wanted was to curl up in bed against said Buffy Summers and forget about that stupid fight.


The stubborn little voice in his head, the voice of the man who had suffered while longing for her, kept repeating that it would never be over. That she would never stop hurting him. But he couldn’t stop himself from hoping. Why she was doing this, he had no idea. Did she still think he wasn’t good enough for her? Remembering all the nights they had spent together during the past two weeks, and all the things she had said to him then, it didn’t make any sense. So why? After all that happened, why couldn’t she bring herself to tell her friends about them still? What was she scared of, and most importantly, what else could he do to make her accept him… accept them.


“I’m a bloody human now, isn’t it enough pet?” he mumbled drunkenly to himself.


He could offer her what she always wanted and more. The house with the white picket fence, the wedding, the kids, the walks in the afternoon sun… So what else did she want? And added bonus, he was still strong enough to take care of himself if attacked by some nasties…


His thoughts were brutally interrupted when something crashed painfully against his skull. He would have loved the irony of the moment if only he had been conscious to witness it.


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CHAPTER 2: Touched by a stranger


“Don’t you think you should at least get off that couch long enough to take a shower and change clothes? You stink.” The brunette vampire snorted and wrinkled his nose at Buffy, in a way that would have been funny if he hadn’t been dead serious.


Let’s just say he didn’t take too kindly to being told he had been a mere teenage obsession. Of course, that is not what Buffy had said, but the stubborn vampire had taken it that way, and nothing would ever make him change his mind.


They had had a conversation, or was it a confrontation, a few days after Buffy was back to her old self, about the ‘why’ and ‘how’ she had remembered Spike, and not him. Angel had been more than a little insulted about that, and wanted an explanation. The one he got didn’t make him happy. She had tried explaining to him that maybe her feelings for him hadn’t been as genuine as she thought they were. That taking a step back, and observing her past with the impartial eyes of a stranger, made her face things that she wasn’t ready to face before. That maybe, her feelings for him were more about obsession than love.


She had been a teenager when it all happened between them, and had seen him as her knight in shining armor. She was so blinded by how romantic and passionate it was, that she hadn’t been able to see things as they were. And the fact that they had been forced apart instead of choosing to split, had just made her cling to the illusion because you always want what you can’t have. But what they had now, him with Cordelia, her with Spike… That was the real deal. And maybe that was why she had recognized Spike at that club. Because she truly loved him.


“The cookie dough speech Angel… it wasn’t necessarily about you. It was about whoever would be in my heart when I’d be ready. And thanks to the Powers That Be and their mojo, I’m ready now. And Spike is the one who’s in my heart.”


Her explanation made sense. But Angel had focused only on one thing: “I was a fucking teenage obsession?!”


Buffy was shocked at his outburst to say the least. She just stared as he walked up the stairs and slammed his door shut. All Buffy could do was thanking the Powers that Cordelia was staying overnight at the hospital for tests. She had a feeling the brunette wouldn’t have liked it one bit.


She had gone upstairs to try talking to him, to no avail. The only answer she had gotten was to “get bent”.


Later on that night, when Spike had walked in the room after taking a shower, he found Buffy jumping up and down on the bed, making it bang loudly against the wall. She started moaning and screaming at the top of her lungs: “Oh SPIKE! YES! You’re soooo GOOD!!!”


Spike had just raised a questioning eyebrow at her.


“Vengeance” she said as her only explanation before letting herself fall on the bed with a last “Oh God!”. Loud, annoyed, banging could be heard coming from the ceiling where Angel’s room was.


Spike had laughed his ass off at Buffy’s antics, then dropped his towel to the floor. “Wanna give the wanker a repeat performance… for real this time?”


That had been a fun night.


Buffy smiled at the memory while looking at Angel cross the lobby to go get the messages on the answering machine. She wondered briefly if he’d ever forgive her for that little stunt.


Still smiling, she forgot for a moment to worry about Spike. It didn’t last too long though. She frowned when she looked at the clock on the office wall. It had been more than twenty-four hours since Spike had left. She knew he could take care of himself. After all, he had survived for a hundred and fifty plus years without her mothering him. But he had left upset, and he was well known for doing the stupidest things while upset.


She had stayed at the hotel, wanting to give him some space and time to calm down so they could talk. But it was getting too long and she was starting to feel antsy. She looked at the clock again. Eleven-thirty. She decided that if he weren’t there in an hour, she’d get dressed and go after him.


She didn’t have to wait that long.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


“She won’t come! Had a fight with the lady. She doesn’t give a shit about me anymore. Heard that you bloody PILLOCK?! SHE. WON’T. COME.” Spike yelled at the top of his lungs, rattling his chains, hoping the thing that got him would hear all the way from across the warehouse.

The Powers seemed to hear his prayers because next thing he knew, he was grabbed by the throat, and lifted off the ground by a snarling… thing. He wondered briefly what that demon was. Knew a lot of nasty buggers by name, but not that one. Never seen one of those before. He shrugged the thought off and smirked defiantly at his captor.


“Zwapacha aracha taga ra!”


The look on Spike’s face was priceless. “Huh? Look mate, I don’t even know WHAT you are. How am I supposed to understand what the bloody hell you’re saying?? And you were speaking perfect English on your cellphone a moment ago so why are you…”


“Oh. Pardon my rudeness. I said SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU ANNOYING VAMPIRE!”


Spike turned his head, face scrunched up in disgust. “Might wanna do something about that breath problem mate.”


The thing gave Spike a toothless smile that was somewhat ridiculous in its distorted face. What was even more ridiculous was that it was wearing what looked like a very expensive designer suit. It’s head, which looked like a blob of melted gray candle wax, was sticking out of the fancy Armani suit comically. Spike was pulled out of his musing by the affable voice of his host.


“My dear William. You simply don’t understand. It doesn’t matter that she won’t come for you. That is not the plan. Do you want to know the plan?”


Spike leant forward, feigning interest. “Why don’t you humor me mate?”


“She’s not coming to you Will. YOU, are going to her. Tonight, Buffy Summers, Vampire Slayer, will be killed by her lover, William the Bloody.”


Spike let out a short bark of laughter, honestly amused by the idea.


“And you find this amusing because..?”


“First of all, you STUPID pounce, William the Bloody doesn’t exist anymore. I’m human. I don’t kill. Second of all, you BLOODY STUPID wanker, even if I was still a vampire, you wouldn’t have been able in a million years to convince me to kill this Slayer. She’s my mate you brain dead loony. I would never hurt her.”


“I beg to differ Spike. You would and you will.”


Spike looked into the thing’s face to try to figure out if he should be scared or not. *Yeah, put a bloody candle on a heater for a few hours and then try to tell if it’s being serious or not* He growled, frustrated.


“Ok. Care to explain? Cause I’m really not following you.”


“Oh. It’s true. I think I remember you saying that you didn’t know what I am. I am a Tszaaree. Or a shapeshifter if you prefer. All I require is a drop of your blood…”


To illustrate what he was saying, he produced a knife from one of his pocket and dragged the sharp edge along Spike’s cheek, drawing blood. Reaching out, he wiped some of the blood with his finger and brought it to his mouth. His strange distorted features automatically melted into a very handsome face, with piercing blue eyes and white blonde locks. “And tada, I’m you. See? William the Bloody does still exist. And he WILL kill his mate after all.”


Spike’s eyes widen in horror. “You wouldn’t dare.” He growled menacingly at his reflection. “Touch one hair on her head you bloody fucking wanker, and I will make your pain last for eternity you hear me!?”


“See, I would usually care about your threats, but there’s a lot of money offered to the one who will bring the Slayer’s heart back and with my little talent, you can say I already won.”


“What in the soddin Hell are you yammering about?”


“Do you like sports Spike?… What a question. Of course you do! Well you see, its only sport. It’s not even personal anymore considering that there are a hundred or so Slayers around the world as we speak. But this one… This one used to be the greatest Slayer there ever was. Killing her would be an honor. And everybody knows she’s been out of practice. A year without even going out for a jog; the girl must be out of shape. So the demon population decided that it would be the best time to make bets. There’s a jackpot, and the one bringing back the Slayer’s heart takes it. May the best man win. And thanks to you, and my little talent, I AM the best man. She’ll be so devastated when the man she loves tries to kill her, that she won’t even try to defend herself. Isn’t it clever?” He waited for an answer, but Spike was too horrified by the idea to speak.


“Unfortunately, I can’t kill you because I can’t be you if you don’t exist. That’s why you’re here my friend. Sitting here like a good boy in your chains, while your girlfriend gets her heart ripped out. How tragic. Shakespeare would have loved it!”


“She’ll know you pounce. One look into your eyes, and she’ll know you’re not me.”


“Really? How come your voice doesn’t sound nearly as confident as your words?”


“Sod off!”


“Now, if you could just be helpful enough to tell me what it is you two fought about so I can apologize properly…”


Spike smirked briefly, an idea forming. “She won’t even talk to you mate. We fought cause I cheated on her with Angel.”


The fake Spike’s eyes widened a bit. “Really?”


“Yeah, really. I was drunk and all.”


Fake Spike snickered. “Why don’t I believe you then? Want me to go over there and make a fool of myself so she will know it’s not you, don’t you.”


Spike’s expression darkened considerably when he realized the shapeshifter had seen right through him. “Bugger.”


“Fine. I’ll figure it out. I just have to let her talk and go with the flow. I’ll do just fine. I’ll kill her, then I’ll come back and kill you. Isn’t it romantic? Reunited in death.”


“I think you’ve read Romance for serial killers one too many times mate.”


The shapeshifter got up and stretched his back. “I’d love to continue this conversation, but I’m getting increasingly bored and I have important things to do. So if you don’t mind, I’ll be on my way.”


Spike tried to jump at him to stop him from leaving, but the chains kept him from reaching the reflection of himself… who was on his way to hurt his girl.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Buffy jumped up to her feet as soon as she heard the front door open. It could have been anyone, Fred, Gunn, Lorne… But she somehow knew it was him. She quickly went to Spike and threw her arms around him, hugging him fiercely to her. She then took a step back and slapped his chest.


“Don’t do that again you stubborn pigheaded man! Next time you want to run away, wait for my explanation first!”


Spike shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other and seemed to be looking for something to say. “Huh… I’m s-sorry…”


Buffy took another step back. A strange feeling of uneasiness had suddenly washed over her. She ran a nervous hand through her long blond hair. “Don’t be sorry. I’m the one who should be sorry. Are you still mad at me?”


She automatically assumed her uneasiness was due to the fact that Spike was mad at her and acting cold and distant. She didn’t waste any time trying to understand her own instinctual reaction and went straight to the groveling.


“Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t want to hurt you, ok? I just wanted to tell her face to face, is all.” She frowned, taking his hesitation for a sign that he was still angry with her. “Come on, I don’t know what to say here. You got to help me out a little. I won’t do it again, I promise… Are we good?”


“Huh.. Sure. I… Of course we are.”


He wasn’t shy, insecure or at a lost for words. No, nothing like that. But he had no idea what the Slayer and Spike had been fighting about and didn’t want to say something that would alarm her. He knew the wise thing would have been to hug her and slice her throat right away. Quick, clean, painless, but easy kills tend to become disappointing after a while. No challenge. Not something he would go for. He was thinking about getting her alone first, and maybe getting a good fuck out of the deal. He wanted it to be a memory he’d cherish for years to come


He tentatively reached to brush a strand of hair from her forehead, then smiled at her in what he hoped was a reassuring way. “Let’s forget about this, shall we. What would you say about an evening just you and me…”


Buffy relaxed a little bit and leaned into his touch. “Mmm I’d love to, but there’s a slight problem.” She pointed behind her with her thumb in the general direction of the office. “Angel’s in the house. Kinda hard to kick him out of his own place.”


Spike put his hands on her waist and a chill ran up and down her back but she suppressed it. “You’d think, now wouldn’t you?”


She shrugged and turned to walk back to the couch. “Maybe we could go..”


“Angel, get your ugly white ass out of here for the night,” He yelled across the lobby. “I want to have loud obnoxious make up sex with my girlfriend and don’t want an audience!”


The loud demand was supposed to be funny but it made Buffy frown disapprovingly.


“Spike damn it, don’t do that! I thought we agreed no lewd remarks with Angel for a little while.”


He offered her an apologetic smile that looked more like a guilty grimace. “Sorry…”


“Found your way back, boy? Too bad.” Angel threw a pile of paper on the counter. He had his coat on. “Don’t worry, I’d rather eat rocks than spend the night alone here with the two of you. So if you don’t mind, I’ll be on my merry way. If I get an important call, I’ll be at Wesley’s. We have things to discuss…”


“Not that the story of your life isn’t interesting, but we could do without it.”


Angel growled at Spike, but decided that he wasn’t in the mood to get in a fight with the blond so he turned and slammed the door behind him.


Buffy was just about to scold him, but the disarming smile he gave her made her change her mind.


“You think it was wise of us to let him go to that boy’s place without a chaperon? I think it’s awfully inappropriate for two young respectable gentlemen to be alone this late at night without supervision.” She laughed, her earlier tension forgotten for now. “Don’t worry, I think they’ll behave. So, what did you want to do now that you got your way and we have the place for ourselves? Did you have anything in mind?”


“Why don’t you let me take you upstairs and show you just how much I love you baby?”


*Shit* He thought when he saw her hesitate. *I hope the God damn stupid bedroom IS upstairs! Rookie mistake.*


“I don’t know… Why don’t we just rent a couple of movies, buy a pizza and relax a bit? I don’t really feel like going to bed now.” Buffy frowned when she realized that she was stalling. She never stalled. She was always willing and eager when it came to getting Spike into bed. What was that all about?


*What the Hell is wrong with me?* She wondered briefly.


Unaware of the type of relationship Buffy and Spike had together and how highly unusual it was for Buffy not to jump on any occasion to have sex with her man, he didn’t let her hesitation faze him.


“I missed you baby.” He whispered in her ear, twisting a strand of her long silky hair around his finger. “I just want to cuddle up with you for a while. We could… talk… if you prefer babe.”


“Babe? You sure you’re alright? I think all that American fast food and liqueur might have gotten to your brain Blondie. You never call me baby or babe. Where does that come from?”


“I guess I must have picked it up from… some… guys I’ve been hanging out with at the bar… *British word! British word! Think!* huh... ducks. I just thought you’d like it.” *Idiot!!*


She put her arms around his neck. “Nah. I like it better want you call me luv or pet or whatever it is you call me. C’mon, let’s go upstairs and snuggle a bit.”


He prayed to all Gods that she would lead the way. This game was getting to be too exciting to screw up now. He wanted to see for just how long he could make the girl believe. *Maybe if I shut up for a little while…*


Buffy took his hand and led the way. He almost sighed in relief. He wondered for a brief instant why exactly he didn’t just take her on the couch, rape her if he had to, instead of wasting precious time. But this was so much more fun, he thought while watching her cute ass swaying enticingly as she climbed the stairs. So exciting to think that she had no idea the man who was following her was a complete stranger… and not even a man, to be perfectly honest. A stranger who was getting increasingly aroused at the idea of tasting that deliciously sweet looking girl.


She opened the bedroom door and walked in. He came to stand behind her, and putting his hands on her hips, he started kissing the side of her neck, kicking the door closed behind him at the same time.


Giggling somewhat nervously, Buffy disentangled herself from him and went to the bed. She sat and patted the bed in an invitation to join her. Instead of crawling on the bed and taking her in his arms like she was expecting him to do, he pounced on her playfully, yet awkwardly, and landed with his knee on her thigh.


“Ow! What are you doing? You hurt me!”


“Aww, come on Slayer, let’s have some fun.”


Buffy was getting a little angry and annoyed that he hadn’t even apologized. She’d have a bruise the size of a watermelon in the morning and all he could think of saying was lets have some fun? What the hell was up with him?


“I’m not in the mood Spike. I’m in the mood to cuddle and talk, not shag.”


She wondered angrily if he even heard a word she said with his head between her breasts.


He had pushed her T-shirt up to allow him access, and was now kneading and biting her soft breasts roughly.


“Ow! Spike, stop. I’m not kidding. I want you to stop that, you’re hurting me.”


“Am I hurting you good baby?” He mumbled against her skin.


“No. Not good. Stop its not funny anymore.”


Buffy was breathing heavily, not from arousal but more from the beginning of a panic attack. *Buffy, this is ridiculous… it’s Spike. Just relax* She tried to calm herself down without success. All she could think of was that Spike would never do that. He wouldn’t. Not after what happened in Sunnydale that night… She kept repeating to herself that he wouldn’t, while asking him to stop. But he wouldn’t. She now had the certainty that something was definitely wrong.


“Would you stop wiggling already? Just relax babe, we’ll have fun, you’ll see.”


He shoved his hand down her thong and caressed her roughly, hurting her. Reacting quickly, Buffy kneed him in the groin. Not hard enough to cause permanent damage, but enough to give her time to get away from him.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


CHAPTER 3: Just like the movies


Sweat was dripping in Spike’s eyes but he couldn’t reach his face to wipe it off. So he just clenched his teeth and kept kicking at the wall like he’d been doing for the past hour. Colorful curses could be heard in the empty building as tiny little pieces of whatever the wall was made of fell to the floor. He had managed to damage the wall around the ring holding his chains a little bit, but not enough for him to break free.


Once again, he stopped to try the chains. He sat on the floor facing the wall, put his feet on either side of the ring, and yanked on the chains as hard as he could without popping his arms out of their sockets. Nothing. He tried a couple more times with the same result.


Spike let out a long scream of frustration, then got up and started kicking at the wall again.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Buffy stared at the howling man on the bed for a few seconds, not knowing what to do. She had to think fast because it looked like he was already starting to recover. She knew Spike and this wasn’t Spike. Or it probably was Spike, but he was under some kind of spell, or drug, or maybe even possessed. Something was affecting him, that was for sure and she was now worried about what he could do.


“Is that your idea of fun you stupid bitch?” Spike wheezed from his spot on the bed. “You should have told me… you were into S&M. I would have come prepared.”


“Spike, please, listen to me. You have to stop this. I don’t know what got into you, but that’s not you talking. You have to calm down. Do you remember anything strange happening since you left the other night?” Buffy’s eyes were darting left and right, trying to locate some kind of weapon that she could use to defend herself without hurting him to badly in case things got out of control.


But she was out of luck. Not only was their bedroom almost furniture free, but it was also completely weapon free. Except maybe for that lamp by the bed but he would definitely get to it before her. Fortunately, she was between the bed and the door so if things came to that, she could make a quick escape.


Spike slowly looked up. The pained expression on his face was gone and he was now leering at her, his blue eyes cold and unfeeling. “What’s wrong little Slayer? Starting to feel twitchy? As a favor to you, I’ll tell you what is your mistake here. A good fighter must always stay calm and collected no matter how bad the situation. And never, ever let emotions interfere. Even when the man you love is just about to slice your lovely throat.”


The smile on his face chilled her to the bones. She took a small step back.


*Mind control? Or.. or maybe the First Evil is back? It has to be something like possess… Ok, escape now, figure it out later!* She thought as she watched Spike slowly get up from the bed and pull out a wicked looking knife from his jacket sleeve.


She kicked at a T-shirt on the floor and sent it flying in Spike’s face to create a diversion, then ran out of the room and down the hall. But the diversion hadn’t slowed down Spike all that much, he was right behind her.


He grabbed her by the back of her T-shirt and she only stopped long enough to punch him the face. She cringed when she heard his nose break and mumbled a quick “sorry” before trying to escape again but he caught her with the knife. She felt the burn of the blade slicing through the first layer of her skin from her right shoulder blade to her left hip. She didn’t let it stop her though and burst through the first door she encountered, locking it behind her.


“Oh come on Slayer! I was just getting warmed up. Be a good sport and come out of there! How come nobody ever wants to play with me?” He started banging on the door, putting all of his weight into it to break it down. “Don’t make me come and get you, you little whore.”


The door shook a couple more times, then stopped. Buffy breathed a sigh of relief even though she knew this couldn't be good. And she was right. It really wasn’t.


Turning the light on, Buffy looked around the room. It was Cordelia’s. She hoped to find something to defend herself with, and possibly a first aid kit because she could feel the blood dripping down her back. She knew that if she had just faced him while they were in the room, she could have tried to knock him unconscious. She had enough space in there to fight properly.


She didn’t know why she had the stupid idea of running away. Probably because she couldn’t stomach the idea of hurting him. But now, not only was she stuck in Cordelia’s room, which despite being big, was cramped with all kinds of stuff, but her back was hurting too much for her to have a chance against Spike.


The power went off.


“Fuck!”


Buffy jumped, startled by the sound coming from the door. He was hacking into it with an axe! *Shitshitshitshit! Ok, now I’m freaked!*


When he made a hole big enough, he looked at her through it. “Hey babe. Missed me? Aren’t we having fun or what? I couldn’t wait to get back to you so I could cut you into little pieces.”


Without answering, Buffy made a run for it. She got into the bathroom and locked it behind her. It would have been the stupidest idea ever if Buffy didn’t know the hotel. Cordelia’s room had originally been the maids quarters, and her bathroom used to be a storage room for cleaning supplies.


While giving Buffy “the tour” Cordelia had pointed out her own private escape hatch-- the original laundry chute she’d kept when they had renovated the bathroom. At the time, Buffy had laughed and said that if Cordy wanted to avoid Angel, she could go pretend to take a bath, jump down and escape through the basement. She would never have thought she was the one who would need to use it.


She tried to look down, but it was pitch black. Actually, not that much different from the bathroom. Just finding the trap door in the dark had been a challenge; now, she had to jump down that thing, not knowing if she’d make it to the basement in one piece. It was only three floors and maybe she could slow her fall down with her hands…


Thinking fast, she took two towels and wrapped them around her forearms. This way, she could use her forearms to slow herself down and not get hurt doing it.


“Oh Slaaaaaayyyyer! Are you hiding in there? Are you stuck?… Let me get you out then.”


Buffy took a deep breath and, climbing on the edge of the bathtub, lowered herself into the tight opening. “And here goes nothing…”


She fell for what seemed like a lifetime and landed in a crouch on the basement floor. She looked up but she was sure that he wouldn’t fit in the chute anyway. Spike was lean, but he still had large shoulders. If she barely fit, he definitely wouldn’t.


Not wasting anymore time, she scanned the basement for anything useful. Soon enough, she located some rope and a couple of two by fours. She put the rope across her shoulder. The pain shooting through her back as she did this made her wince, but she didn’t have time to feel sorry for herself. She picked up a two by four and stopped only long enough to turn the power back on, then rushed up the stairs. She hoped against all hope that she would make it before him.


Buffy opened the door carefully, her fist cocked, ready to strike. The lobby was lit up brightly, and no one was there… yet. She threw the rope on the couch so she’d be ready to fight when he showed up, then she went to the center of the room and waited. And… waited.


After a few minutes, she started getting impatient and nervous. The plan was to let him come to her, but what if he didn’t come? What if he had a plan of his own that involved hiding and waiting her? Or maybe he was just upstairs, not understanding where she had disappeared. She finally decided that taunting would probably work better than patience in this case.


“Come on Spike! What are you waiting for? Are you scared of taking me one on one in a fight?” She waited a beat. Nothing.


“You used to be the Big Bad. Why don’t you show me how you got your reputation?” Still nothing.


Using all the bad words she had ever learnt in school, Buffy started carefully approaching the office area. By doing so, she turned her back to the weapons display, were she hadn’t noticed the shadow observing her every move. As soon as her back was completely turned, Spike lunged at her and tackled her to the ground. He had let go of the bulky ax so he could move faster, and only had the knife.


Buffy yelped and tried crawling away from him. She freed one of her legs and tried kicking him in the face but he grabbed her leg and pinned it underneath him. Reaching as far as she could, Buffy took hold of the two by four she had let go of during her fall and twisted herself sharply to hit him in the head. But he blocked her blow with his arm and threw the piece of wood away.


At the same moment, they both heard a startled “What the Hell is going on in here?!” coming from the front door.


Buffy lifted her head to look and saw a very shocked Willow standing there staring at them. “Willow, stop him. Do something!” Then, she thought about it for a second when she saw Willow’s eyes turn black and added: “DON’T KILL HIM! DON’T KILL HIM!”


With a flick of her wrist, the witch threw Spike away from Buffy. Stunned, he tried to get up, but Willow said a few words in Latin and he found himself incapable of even blinking.


Seeing that her spell was successful, Willow rushed to Buffy’s side and took her friend in her arms. The two girls embraced and Buffy finally let herself cry.


“God, Buffy, are you alright? What happened? You’re bleeding! Why was Spike trying to kill you? Has he completely lost his mind? Thank goddess I arrived early…”


“Willow! Please. First things first.” She got up and went to get the rope. “Help me tie him up would you.”


The two girls grabbed Spike by his arms and lifted him off the floor and sat him on a chair. Buffy tied the rope securely around him, making sure that he wouldn’t be able to escape if the spell didn’t last. Finished, she collapsed on the couch.


“There’s something wrong with him, Will. I don’t know what it is. Didn’t have much time to think about it while he was chasing me around the hotel with an ax.”


Willow gasped. “With an… ax? Geez, psycho much? Maybe if you tell me everything that happened, we could figure out what’s wrong with him. I could do a spell to see if there’s magic involved, but I’d have to cancel the spell he’s under right now.”


“Later. If he escaped right now, I’m so exhausted that I think I wouldn’t even fight back.”


“Ok, stay right here, I’ll get the first aid kit and some tea, and you can tell me everything.”


She came back a few minutes later to find Buffy looking at Spike with a sadness Willow had never seen on her friend’s face before.


“Buff, are you gonna be alright?”


“Yeah, I guess.” She answered in a lifeless tone.


Willow made her take off her bloodied T-shirt and started cleaning up the wound. “So, why don’t you tell me what you know?”


Buffy sighed heavily. “We had a fight, right after you called the other day. I upset him and he left. Up until then, it was nothing to be worried about… I mean nothing supernatural or anything like that. Just typical Spike and Buffy bickering. He was gone for a little more than twenty-four hours. When he came back, I knew right away that something was wrong. He was acting normal but there was something.”


“What was it?”


“I just knew. I know, it’s not the kind of proof you base a scientific theory on, but I could feel it in my guts.”


“Just a question before you continue so I can understand the situation better. You guys are together?”


“Yes. We are.” Buffy looked down at her hands, still feeling stupid for not telling Willow over the phone. “I was going to tell you when you got here. I wanted us to spend time together like we used to. Remember when we were gossiping in my bedroom and giggling while talking about Oz and Angel? I thought we could do that. I miss that. I missed you.”


“Aww, Buffy! I missed you too, you have no idea.” The two friends held each other for a while but were interrupted by the front door crashing open and the loud noise of chains rattling on the floor.


“BUFFY! STAY AWAY FROM ME, I’M NOT ME! I’M SOMEONE ELSE WHO WANTS TO KILL YOU! I MEAN… HE IS…” Real Spike was standing in the doorway holding heavy chains in his arms, and he looked dangerously close from an adrenaline overdose.


Before he knew what was happening, Buffy was in his arms, kissing him all over. “You’re you! I knew you weren’t you!”


“You knew I wasn’t me?”


“Of course, doofus. I knew you weren’t you and I know you are you, you!”


“Huh… you guys are giving me the mother of all headaches.” Willow said from her spot on the couch. “And Spike,” She pointed at the chains with the huge piece of wall still attached to it. “Is this your new Halloween costume? Ghost of the Manor?”


“Ha bloody ha. Hello to you too, Red. And for your information, it took me three hours to get these chains out of the wall. I’d appreciate a bit of respect.”


“Sorry Spike. I’m glad you didn’t turn out to be an ax murderer after all.”


Buffy and Spike came to sit next to Willow, facing the fake Spike who was still tied up on his chair.


“So,” Buffy finally asked. “Who is this, and what is he doing wearing my boyfriend’s hot body? Is he your evil twin or something?”


Spike told them everything that happened after he left the Hyperion the night before, his kidnapping, the Slayerfest, the shapeshifter, how he escaped. “So, what do we do with him now?”


Spike looked at Buffy like she grew a second head. “What the bleeding hell is wrong with you? We kill him. That’s what we do!”


Buffy bit her nails and looked away, mumbling something that nobody heard.


“What’s that pet?”


“I said… He looks like you. I’m not gonna kill someone who looks like you. I’ll have nightmares for the rest of my life.”


He gave Buffy a funny look but turned to Willow without commenting.


“Hey! Don’t look at me! I’m not killing you either.”


“But it’s not me!”


The girls looked away.


“Bloody Hell! Have you birds gone completely stalkers? IT’S NOT ME!… Fine. I’ll do it. Then maybe later we could rent a movie and have a quiet night in to try to forget that you girls forced me to kill my own bloody self. You said you wanted to see The Shining, right?” He smirked evilly at his girl.


Buffy shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. “A whole world of NO WAY IN HELL. I had enough psychos for one night, thank you very much. Take that ax and kill your own damn self already so we can get this over with.”


Spike chuckled. “Alright then. All sensitive girls who don’t want to see my gorgeous head fall, go in the office now or have nightmares forever.” He stood up and took the ax from the coffee table. Before going in the office, Buffy whispered something into Spike’s ear. He gave her a disgusted look, his mouth slightly opened in shock. “You’re sick, Summers. Get in the office so I can kill the bugger.”


She ran to the office, giggling like a schoolgirl. A moment later, he called them back. “Oh Slayer… come here for a second would you pet. I have something to show you.”


Willow and Buffy walked out of the room and they both made a grossed out face.


“What the Hell is that thing?”


“This,” He held up the head of the shapeshifter, who had regained its original form after dying, “happens to be the thing you suggested we could have a threesome with, you nitwit. Still interested?”


Willow almost fell to the floor in hysterics. Buffy turned green.


“I think I’m gonna be sick…”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Epilogue


The room was small, dark and crowded with twenty so demons. They were standing all over the room and you could just feel the excitement crackling around them. The backroom of the bar was normally used for clandestine poker games and had never been this animated before. The noise from all the different demon dialects spoken at once was deafening.


In the middle of all this confusion, a huge demon sat awkwardly on a chair too small for him in front of a dirty table. He looked oddly like a king presiding over an assembly of ministers, or, maybe a demonic version of Al Capone. He was big, he was ugly and he looked down right annoyed. A scrawny assistant was standing next to him holding a pad and a pen, ready to jump at his boss’ next order.


Big Ugly dragged a disdainful look over the crowd and shook his head. These were the ones who claimed they would win the contest? These were the ones who said they could defeat the greatest Slayer ever and bring back her heart? He sighed and rubbed his massive forehead wearily. Not only was he the one to come up with the idea, but he had the strong impression that he’d be the one walking away with everyone’s money as well.


He stood, straightening up his impressive body as much as the ceiling allowed without impaling it with his multiple horns.


“Silence you pathetic excuses for demons!”


His voice was so loud that some of them had taken a step back.


“Why don’t you approach the table so we can discuss our progress in this exciting game.” He tried to smile encouragingly, but the rows of gigantic fangs adorning his large mouth were anything but friendly.


Big ugly took a seat, and gestured for the nearest demon, a small green slimy thing with bright red eyes, to do the same. A Fyral demon sat too, and soon, the crowd of demons was pressing against the small table.


“Alright, alright… Quiet! First of all, I think the question to ask would be: Did any of you succeed in bringing back the heart?”


They looked at one another in silence, anxious to see if the jackpot had been won or if they still had a shot at it.


Seeing that nobody was going to answer, Big Ugly was about to talk again when a big, smelly, non-human heart landed on the table in front of him. All the demons gasped and stared at the heart in fascination, not understanding what was going on.


“See, I was wondering… The bloke who brings back the Slayer’s heart gets the jackpot, but what about the one who rips all of your hearts out? Does he get to walk with the money too? Cause I was thinking about buying a house for my girl here and some extra cash would come handy.”


The demons hesitated to attack when they saw a group of humans and demons blocking the doorway. The excitement they had felt earlier gave way to pure fear when they recognized who they were faced with. Every demon’s worst nightmare: the Slayer and her friends.


“Red, would you do us the honor?”


The witch’s eyes turned to pure black and she smiled.


“It will be my pleasure Spike. Let the fun begin.”


The End