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A reward for Angel-haters :-) Hope you're enjoying.
Her week was almost up and she wasn’t really sure what the result was going to be as yet. She decided to take some time off that afternoon to visit her friends though, feeling like she hadn’t seen them in years. They were all gathered at Giles’ and she smiled as she went in: nothing seemed to have changed much. Injuries had healed and everyone was smiling – which compared with the situation just two weeks ago was a pleasant contrast. They greeted her enthusiastically and she basked in the joy of having sane company.

“How are you, Buffy?” Giles asked softly, watching her with concern.

“I’m… I’m good. Things are starting to pick up.”

“And Spike?”

“Yeah, he seems to be getting better. He’s, you know, a bit less crazy now than he was before.”

She paused a moment before continuing.

“I think we might be moving him… to my mom’s.”

“Huh?!” Xander exclaimed, “When did this happen?”

“Well, my mom came round about a week ago…” – she sent a grateful smile in Giles’ direction – “And she wants me to come home. But I can’t leave Spike so she said he could come too.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Xander remarked, “I mean, he’s a vampire. Wouldn’t it be weird having him, like, walking around your house, making himself at home?”

“Somehow I don’t think Spike’s going to be acting like that anytime soon. When’s he’s not out of it completely, he’s pretty quiet.”

She shrugged and gave them a slanted smile.

“Guess it’s best for everyone. I definitely won’t miss the mansion.”



Willow, who had been silent so far, spoke up then.

“Speaking of… I mean… how’s Angel?”

“He’s… well, he’s Angel again. Mystery man, you know? Pops up now and again and then disappears again,” she explained with a smile and Willow giggled girlishly.

“You mean, he’s not staying at the mansion as well?” Giles asked in surprise.

“Na-uh.”

“I assumed he might stay and help you with Spike.”

“You’d think,” she mumbled under her breath, “No. That turned out to be a bad idea.”

“How so?”

“Spike kept getting worked up any time Angel was near him,” she told them, frowning slightly at the memory, “Lashing out at him and stuff.”

“I wonder why.”

She wondered too and had some pretty unpleasant theories about it that she didn’t dare run past Angel. Even if she sometimes forget, he was in some ways just as vulnerable as Spike right now.

“Bad history,” was all she told her friends with a shrug, “They never got on before anyway.”

“It’s quite common in vampire families,” Giles spoke up, “In my readings, I’ve often found instances when two males have fought. It’s rare that they both survive.”

She wasn’t the only one frowning at the thought and she shook it off uncomfortably. It relegated vampires to something too animal, in her view, and the vampires she knew definitely weren’t animals. They were more alive, more human than most people she knew.

“Well, I guess Spike got lucky when Angel got cursed first time round,” Xander commented.



She had never really thought about the previous relationship between the two vampires she knew best; had never imagined what things might have been like between them before Angel’s soul. Judging by the things Spike seemed to scream when Angel was around, she could guess that things weren’t exactly amicable.

“Buffy?”

She started out of her daze, giving her friends a sheepish smile.

“Sorry, I was just thinking. What did you say?”

“Well, erm,” Willow started hesitantly, looking to the other two and then turning back to her, “We were wondering, erm… are you and Angel still, like… you know, together?”

She paused before answered, thoughts swirling around her mind.

“Right now, I don’t really know,” she admitted.

“I think it would be best you not pursue anything,” Giles suggested, “I know you… care for Angel but-“

“But Angelus was a bastard, I know. Kinda got that memo.”

“I just don’t want you to… to put yourself at risk.”

And others around you, was the silent addition to that sentence.

“Guys, I’m not stupid. I’m not going to let that happen again. Ever.”

“We weren’t saying that,” Willow said quietly, “We’re just, you know, worried.”

“I know. So am I. But things… well, things just aren’t the same after you’ve had a sword fight to the death, you know?” she quipped to cover just how much the subject upset her.



She left her friends not long after that, dawdling as she made her way back through town towards the mansion, enjoying the feel of the last rays of the evening sun on her face. She had been cooped up indoors far too much lately. She was lost in though, considering what she had talked about with her friends: her and Angel.

He had been to the mansion almost every day in the last week and even though there had been several kisses and she had shared a bed with him at least two nights, something felt off between them. There seemed to be an underlying tension that wouldn’t go away and she wasn’t sure it was entirely due to the fear that Angelus might return. There was something else there, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. They had had no outright arguments since the last, but it almost felt like one was brewing. It didn’t help that she was more than aware of the fact that Angel was not happy with just how much time she spent with Spike. He never said anything about it – perhaps not daring to after last time – but he would rarely ask her about Spike and if she commented about something offhand, she didn’t miss the vampire’s negative reaction to his grandchilde’s name. His name on her lips in particular. She wasn’t sure he was completely over the ridiculous jealousy he had displayed in the first few days.



She had almost reached the mansion now and looked up at the large, dark building. Somehow, coming back to it always caused a shudder to crawl over her and she was definitely glad that she would hopefully be leaving soon and returning to her own home. The house was silent as she went in and climbed the stairs somewhat wearily. She was headed for what had quickly become her room – next door to Spike – but as she approached his door, she heard muted voices. She edged closer and picked out a woman’s voice.

“The sun has taken you away, my Spike. Taken you away to play with it. But I shall bring you back.”

“Dru, please.”

She threw the door open, startling both vampires. Her eyes flew around the room, taking everything in and she stared horrified at the dead girl at Drusilla’s feet. Spike, meanwhile, was huddled against the wall, throwing looks of longing and disgust at the dead body.

“Slayer!” Drusilla hissed at her and she squared up defensively, wishing she had a stake on her.

“Drusilla, why don’t you just leave, okay? I really don’t want to have to kill you in front of Spike.”

That was apparently the wrong thing to say as the vampiress flew at her, nails lashing out and catching her just under the eye. She cried out in pain and struggled as the vampiress tackled her to the ground, slipping into game face.

“I really do want to have to kill you in front of Spike,” she taunted with a cruel smile and grabbed hold of Buffy’s hair, pulling her head back and baring her neck. She began to struggle even more, very aware of Drusilla’s intentions. The vampiress was too close and when her fangs scratched across her throat, breaking the skin, she knew she was in big trouble.



And then, in the next minute, she wasn’t. Drusilla was thrown from her and she rolled over in a half-daze, watching with wide eyes as Spike struggled with the vampiress. She backhanded him across the face and, as weak as he was, he dropped to the ground.

“The sunshine will take you and burn you up into little pieces!” Drusilla spat out and whirled round, disappearing out of the door before Buffy could even make an attempt to catch her. She sat up dazedly, holding a hand to her bleeding neck. Spike’s eyes flew to hers and then slid to the dead girl behind her, pained and hungry.

“Spike,” she called out shakily, trying to distract his attention from the corpse, “Spike, please.”

He wouldn’t take his eyes off the girl and she carefully shifted until she was right in his eye line, forcing his gaze away from the dead girl. He growled lowly, shifting into game face and she tensed, ready to fight. But he just sat there, golden eyes watching her, flicking briefly to her neck and then back to her eyes again. She didn’t know what possessed her in that moment, but in the next, she was crawling towards Spike, kneeling just before him.

“Spike,” she whispered, removing her hand from her neck.

His eyes dropped to her neck and she saw his whole face twitch with the smell of Slayer’s blood. She reached out a trembling hand and placed it on his shoulder, eyes meeting his golden ones.

“Take some,” she whispered, surprising herself even as she did so.



Everything seemed to slow down but the next thing she knew, strong hands were dragging her close and his mouth was hovering over her neck. She let out a shaky breath, forcing herself to relax and she just felt his tongue pass over her neck. She closed her eyes, taking long, deep breaths as his tongue passed over her gently. She kept waiting for the piercing pain of his fangs, but it never came. His touch was gentle, reverent even, and she barely felt any pain more than the slight ache of the cut itself.

Suddenly, a deep, dangerous growl sounded and her eyes flew open, her heart jolting as she took in the sight of an angry Angel at the door.

“Angel,” she gasped.

Spike jerked away from her and turned to face his grandsire, surprisingly confident-seeming. Angel stared at his grandchilde and then enraged golden eyes flew to hers.

“I knew it,” he growled around his fangs, sending a shiver down her spine.

She scrambled to her feet then, moving towards the older vampire.

“Angel, it’s not-“

Before she could even finish her sentence, he lashed out and backhanded her around the face, sending her flying against the wall. Cradling her face, she could only watch on in horror as he stalked over to Spike and dragged him to his feet, only to sling him into the far wall.

“You think you can touch her and get away with it?!” Angel growled, slowly approaching his grandchilde, who seemed to have lost what confidence he had before and was now huddled into a protective ball.

“Angel,” she called out helplessly.

“Shut up,” he spat out, turning hateful eyes on her and she couldn’t help but recoil in fear. She had never seen Angel look so dangerous. In a way, he was scarier than Angelus right now.



He suddenly seemed to notice the dead girl and he turned golden eyes on her again.

“Feeding him other girls as well?” he asked tautly.

“It’s not like that,” she got out, pushing herself to her feet, knowing she needed to diffuse this situation and quickly. He took another step towards Spike and she quickly spoke up.

“Angel, don’t. Please. This isn’t you, I know it isn’t.”

He was deathly still for a pause and when he turned to her, his eyes turned brown again.

“Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do,” he got out, his voice softer now as he took a step back. She didn’t really know what to say to that but she took a step towards him.

“I can explain everything,” she said softly, “You see-“

“Don’t,” he interrupted, eyes pained and cold at the same time, “Just save it, Buffy.”

“But I-“

“Leave it,” he snapped and with another look at his grandchilde and at the dead girl, he turned and strode out of the room, leaving them in deathly quiet. She stood there in silence for long seconds until finally her brain caught up with what had happened and she sank to the floor, unable to stop the tears from coming.





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