“Beep, beep, beep, beep.” Stupid alarm! Reaching over I flipped the off switch and swung my self out of bed. I walked over to where I had left my clothes last night and quickly slipped them on. As I flicked the collar of my duster, a strange feeling emerged from my gut area and I recognised this immediately as hunger. Not too different from vampire hunger except the fact my stomach was making funny noises. Stepping into the kitchen I opened up the fridge and noticed that although there wasn’t much inside it, there was juice, an assortment of fruit and what looked like a microwave dinner. Egh. I took the juice and took a decent swig before grabbing an apple. I bit down on it, enjoying the way it crunched in my mouth. I don’t know how long I stood there with the fridge door wide open, crunching that apple in my mouth but I was interrupted by a soft tap on the door.
“Spike, are you ready?” It sounded like Fred. Crap. I half bit into the apple and holding it in my mouth I slammed the fridge door shut before I went to tug on my boots. I had almost had the first boot on when I heard the door click open. Whirling around in surprise, I lost my balance and fell flat on my butt. Pulling the boot all the way on, I heard a giggle and looked up. Fred was standing there, with her hands over her mouth.
“I am so sorry….” She gushed, her cheeks flushed red. I took the apple out of my mouth.
“Don’t be.” I spat out. I was more embarrassed then anything else.
“Come on, you got to have your reading with Lorne.” I half bit into my apple again and tugged on my other shoe. Standing up, I grabbed the bag on the table and took another bite of the apple.
“You can leave that here you know. It will be safe.”
“I would rather not.” I retorted between chews. I pulled the bag closer to myself, using it almost like a shield. Fred put her arms up in surrender.
“We must hurry or we are going to be late.” Realising I still had the apple in my hand I took another bite of it and discarded it on the table before following Fred out the door.
“This way.” She walked over to the elevator and pressed the button. Not again. Swallowing the remaining of the apple in my mouth I watched as numbers above the elevator clicked down. The doors slid open and Fred stepped in the thankfully empty elevator. I stepped in behind her, squeezing Buffy’s bag lightly. The doors clicked close and I closed my eyes. I honestly felt as though the floor was falling from underneath me as the elevator zoomed downward. The sudden halt made me snap open my eyes.
“You don’t like this much huh?” Fred asked softly. When I didn’t respond she replied.
“You will get use to it.” The doors slid open and I stepped out quickly. Realising that I was on the same floor as last night, I turned myself to Angel’s office. Quickly noticing that Harmony wasn’t at her desk, I sighed in relief. That was one thing I didn’t want to deal with just now. Walking behind Fred, we entered the double doors, seeing Peaches sitting at his desk just setting the phone down.
“Delivered as promised.” Fred smiled. I found a seat close by and sat down. I saw Angel glance at the bag I was holding but he didn’t say anything. Instead he turned to Fred.
“Thank you. I think Gunn is looking for you. He should be down in his office.” A wash of confusion spread on Fred’s face before she answered.
“Well, better go and see what that is all about then huh?” She gave Spike a little wave before she darted out the door. Great, we’re alone. I coughed before I spoke.
“Angel, I was wondering if you had told…” I paused before continuing. “….anyone about me yet?” Angel looked at me confused.
“It’s just that I don’t want Buffy to know….”
“I haven’t told her.” He retorted coldly. Thank god I sighed.
“Just until I know what’s going on. I don’t want to get everyone’s hopes up ya know?” I looked at him with pleading eyes, hoping that he would understand what I meant, that I didn’t have to go into detail. When he didn’t say anything I continued.
“I want to give them their belongings. I want to see them. But I don’t want to hurt them again.” I lowered my head. Please let him understand what I meant. Please.
“I understand. Your secret is safe.” I went to thank him when someone came bursting though the door. I whirled around to see Lorne, cradling the side of his face with what looked like an ice pack.
“Angel, sweet cakes, I am sorry I am so late. This demon up in the magic department wanted me to do a reading for him and let me tell you, it doesn’t look like happy sailing for him in the future. When I tried to give it to him gently and he flew off the handle at me and ow! That boy has a mean punch on him.” I saw Angel look at him almost amused. I had to admit, that would have been pretty bloody funny to see. Lorne turned to face me, suddenly noticing my presence.
“Oh, Spike you’re here! I finally get to see what you’re hiding in there.” He threw the ice pack onto Angel’s desk, much to his disgust I noticed.
“Great.” I mumbled. I wasn’t looking forward to singing, it had been a while and I honestly didn’t know if I was up to it. Plus I was drunk the last time I had belted out a tune. I gazed out the window while Lorne and Angel chatted in the background. I realised that I hadn’t been outside in two whole days. The sun seemed to glisten off the nearby skyscrapers, reminding me the way Buffy’s hair shone in the daylight…
“Spike! Earth to Spike!” I felt someone clicking their fingers in front of my face. Looking up I could see Lorne looking down at me strangely.
“Come on, Angel said we could use the conference room to do your reading.” He gestured somewhere behind me. Instead of looking in the direction he was pointing, I looked past him to look for Peaches. His leather chair was empty.
“Wesley just called him.” Lorne answered, following my gaze. I shrugged and stood, waiting for the demon to show me the way.
“This way.” I turned to see Lorne open a door that lead to another room. Curious, I stepped inside behind him. The room was ordinary enough. It was mostly filled with the large table that was situated in the middle of the room. There were chairs tucked in all around. I noticed a few filing cabinets on the other side of the room and strangely enough a potted plant. I scoffed.
“That thing isn’t real is it?” I pointed to the plant.
“What? That old thing. Don’t be silly. It’s plastic. Made its way in here coz they got a new one for the foyer.” I smirked at this. Angel had never been one for live plants. Art was more his thing. I drew out a chair closest to me and plonked myself down on it. I heard Lorne shut the door before he too chose a chair and sat.
“Now all I need you to do Spike is choose a song of your liking and sing. Just do me a favour and please don’t sing ‘Oh Mandy’.” I saw the demon shudder. He didn’t have to say anymore, I knew why. It was Peaches favourite song not long after he got his soul and I knew that he couldn’t hold a tune to save himself. I let out a little laugh.
“Don’t worry mate, I wouldn’t kill ya twice.” I gazed up at the ceiling for a moment, as if I was thinking. I saw the green demon pull out a chair for himself and sat down.
“Twinkle, twinkle little star?” I mockingly taunted.
“What? Don’t you dare! Sing something with meaning. Something close to your heart.” Lorne urged. I stopped and thought for a moment. Suddenly, the perfect song entered my mind.
“So when do you want me to start?”
“When ever you’re ready, I’m all ears.” Taking a deep breath I began to let the lyrics flow and getting lost in there meaning.
Feel her breath on my face
Her body close to me
Can't look in her eyes
She's out of my league
Just a fool to believe
I have anything she needs
She's like the wind
I finished singing and Lorne shot up out of his seat, applauding as he did so. Startled, I almost fell off my chair.
“Whoh, Spike my boy. Who knew you had such a good set of pipes on you.” Hmm, the demon was impressed huh? I didn’t think I was that good but an ego boost is an ego boost.
“Just a silly little tune off one of the video’s the Bit use to get me to watch. Nothing special.”
“Are you kidding me? That was…that was beautiful! Amazing! I can usually tell so much about a person just by their song choice and you just nailed it in one my boy!” He let out a kind of squeal and I raised my eyebrow up at him. What was up with that?
“So, what did you see?”
“So much, so much Spike you have no idea.” The demon shook his head.
“Well…” I was getting impatient.
“I can see you hold great strength within you Spike. I can tell you that there is great love in the future. That you indeed hold a great and powerful love for this person. But it is going to be tested greatly. How it ends depends on the outcome of the test.” I growled in frustration and thumped the table.
“Haven’t I proven myself enough already? Bloody hell I sacrificed myself to save everyone I love, isn’t that enough of a bloody test? What more do you bloody want?”
“I’m sorry I can’t tell you much else. I just hope your choice is the right one.” I went to question this when there was a sharp tap on the door. Before either of us could respond, the door swung open and Angel popped his head around the corner.
“Lorne, a word please.” The green demon walked towards his boss. I stood to follow.
“No, Spike you stay right there.” I let out a short growl as Angel shut the door. I could hear the two talking in muffled voices and letting my curiosity getting the better of me; I pressed my ear to the door.
“His link is to the amulet Angel. When he sacrificed himself, his soul was captured in the amulet and his soul only to be released by a true love’s wish.”
“What’s the catch?”
“There is a test and if he doesn’t pass his soul will be lost forever.” The words seem to echo in my head. Lost forever? I didn’t want to hear anymore. I slumped myself into the chair I was sitting in before and waited for the two to finish. One thing was for sure. I had to find Buffy. I clutched Buffy’s bag to my chest, letting my head be filled with images of her. It seemed to be my only comfort at the moment. My body ached to see her, even just to see her smile again. I sighed. I knew I had to play my cards right, Buffy finding out I was back would be shock enough without the added shock he now had a heartbeat.
The door swung open but instead of Angel standing there, there was Gunn looking down at me with an amused look on his face.
“Wanna come and kick the crap out of a punching bag?” Sounded like fun. I stood, not letting go of Buffy’s bag for a second.
“Sure, sounds better then being poked with needles all day.” The black man led the way though Peaches office. I glanced quickly over the room as we passed by it but he was no where to be seen. Typical, the sodding poof probably thought I was treading on his turf or something. He lead me though a variety of corridors and I was thankful that we didn’t go in any elevators, just down a flight of steps. He opened a door and gestured me to enter. My mouth dropped in awe when I stepped inside what was clearly their training room. It was far from the basic wooden set up the librarian had set up at the back of the Magic Box in Sunnydale. Very fancy indeed. I let out a low whistle.
“I take it that you like then yes?” Gunn asked. I heard the door close softly behind him.
“Bloody hell, you guys sure know how to live it up don’t ya?” Gunn grinned at me.
“Shall we?” He gestured to the boxing bag not far from where I stood. I carefully placed the bag down on the floor next to the wall before I flicked the collar of my duster. Game on black boy.
“Ok, Spike gimme a couple of kicks while I hold the bag.” Sure no problem. I stood in typical fighting stance and hit the bag hard and fast. As I recoiled my foot I watched on in amazement as Gunn flew across the room and landed with a soft “ooph” on the floor, the bag swinging wildly.
“SHHHIIITT!!!” I watched as he got off and dusted off his sweats and back over to me.
“So the boy has game huh? Next time you won’t be so lucky.” He grabbed the bag again and I smirked as I watched him ground himself.
“Hit me with everything you got.” He cockily taunted. Fine by me. I lined up the bag with my eyes before delivering two sharp blows with my fist followed by a hard left side kick. I smirked as Gunn stumbled to the side.
“So the boy does have game. Strong too.” I had to admit, I was a little surprised by my strength. It almost felt as though I still had my full vampire strength with a heart beat. But that couldn’t be right could it? Is this apart of this test the green demon was telling me about maybe? Trying to brush it off, I thought this would be the perfect chance to push myself and see what I could really do.
“What else you got for me? I mean come on, give a man a challenge.” Man. Sounds strange coming from my mouth.
“A challenge you say. Wesley!” I was surprised when the former watcher popped his head though the door only moments later.
“Yes Gunn?”
“My mate Spike here wants a bit of a challenge. Wanna do your thing Wes?” Wesley smiled and stepped into the room.
“Sure. You wanna stay?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for anything.” I looked at the two men bewildered. What the bloody hell were they talking about? However I didn’t have too long to think about it when Wesley started uttering some thing that sounded like gibberish and Gunn pointed behind me with a wide smile on his face. I whipped around instinctively and damn! Walking towards me was the most foul smelling, disgusting looking demon I had ever seen. Trust me; I have seen plenty and this thing took the cake. It was about my height but looked slow on its feet. And the drool….
“What the bloody hell is that?”
“A challenge.” Gunn laughed. I looked around the room for a weapon. Anything to defend myself with.
“Oh there is an axe on the wall over there if you need it.” Wesley pointed. Trust it to be on the other side of the bloody room! The demon was almost on top of me now which left me no choice but to stand and fight. Making a split decision that it would be easier to clean my boots I laid in a swift right kick to the demons chest. As it connected I heard the demon growl in anger. The sodding thing didn’t even move an inch! Ok, got to find this demon’s weak spot. The demon swung its fists at me which I managed to dodge just barely. They gave me an axe to use right? Gotta get that axe. I could see the demon was getting pissed off which didn’t surprise me because he kept missing. Loser. I dodged a few more flying fists before I planted a few punches on the demons jaw line. Eww, demon drool. I shook my hand to get the gunk off.
“Oh gross!”
The blows didn’t seem to have any affect on him again so my next make shift plan was to play dirty. Hey, I’m the Big Bad. Playing dirty is what I do. Pulling my leg back I swung it forward fast landing the kick in between the demons legs. Bingo. The demon let out a howl in pain and I used this chance to skittle past him unnoticed to the axe as its hands flew to its groin. Twirling it around in my hand, it felt so right so comfortable. The demon turned and looked at me and let out a snarl. This was actually turning out to be fun. As I held the axe I expected the demon to lunge at me so I could kindly lop its head off and end its embarrassment. Instead I was knocked to the ground from what felt out of thin air.
Looking up I could see the demon looking down at me, drool dripping from its mouth. A dollop of drool landed on my duster while I franticly searched for the axe but it had flown out of reach. Looks can be misleading that’s for sure. I cringed as the demon reached down and picked me up by the shoulders, flinging me into the wall behind me. I hit it with a thud and I could swear the wall cracked on impact. Crumpling to the ground, I could feel the pain sear though my back. No time for that now. I looked up and saw the demon advancing on me again. Just as it went to lean down to grab me again I used all my strength to dive though its legs to safety. I spied the axe not far away and quickly snatched it up and hid it under my duster before the demon noticed. I rolled back onto my back only to have the demon standing over me again.
Great.
It reached down and grabbed me again. It held me by the shoulders as before, my feet just missing the floor. Slipping the axe down in between my legs I gripped it with both hands and swung it, hard. I felt it catch in the demon’s flesh as it howled. It dropped me to the ground and with the last of my strength; I ripped the axe upwards, splitting the demon in two; the axe coming out near its right shoulder. Demon goop covered me as its lifeless body hit the floor. Sighing in relief, I let the axe drop with a clang before turning to the two men standing at the door. Both of their mouths were ajar.
“Lucky it was sharp huh?” I quipped before buckling to the ground in pain. Bloody hell my back hurt. My whole body seemed to be throbbing in pain. I saw the two men rush towards me, concerned looks on their faces.
“You know Spike you really go far and beyond don’t you?” Gunn quipped. I grunted as Wesley rolled me onto my side. Suddenly I felt my head become heavy before I felt myself sinking into darkness, the bright lights from the room fading as I slipped in to unconsciousness.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Just a quick note: I forgot to mention that the song Spike sings is She's like the Wind sung by Patrick Sawzy. (Dirty Dancing) Just incase you didn't know ;) I thought of it last night as I was going to bed and felt terrible!