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Chapter 14: Relentless

Spike pushes the door open of the shady demon bar on Fifth Ave, the bar that he literally refers to as ‘the shady demon bar on Fifth Ave,’ as the sign painted above the door with its name has deteriorated and become unreadable long ago. As the door swings shut all faces turn to see Spike and the Slayer stride in as they enter and they all take in the sight of an obviously pregnant Buffy. For a moment they can’t help but stare, can’t help but eye her up from head to toe, but after one pointed glare around the room the demons present quickly understand that the Slayer is not powerless and they turn away.

Spike swaggers up to the bar and leans forward resting on one folded elbow to better intimidate the thin dark scaled bartender. Buffy moves to stand beside him and the yellow eyed demon shifts his gaze back and forth between them obviously nervous.

“Need a bit of information mate,” Spike says.

“Wha… What do you need to know Spike?”

“Well it seems that my lady here,” Buffy gives Spike a pointed glare, but she says nothing, “has some vamps out after her and the baby… my baby. I wanna know who.”

“I… I don’t know anything.”

“Bollox… I happen to know that Cohlearic demons have supersonic hearing… I’m thinking there isn’t a conversation in this place that you don’t catch… so what’s it gonna be, you gonna point us in the right direction or do I have to make an example of you for the next bloke who decides he’s gonna keep somethin’ from me.”

The thin black scaled bartender gulps then slowly leans forward. “Left corner, vamp, long black hair… he got the group together that attacked her house the other night… his name’s Blackart I think, but that’s all I know I swear.”

--

Buffy slams the black haired vamp up against the wall of the alley, his face is already bruised and bleeding from a rough beating given by the Slayer. Her fist is coiled in his shirt and his long hair falls into his face from the force of her shove. Spike stands behind her taking out one of Blackart’s minions who came out to his rescue after they dragged him into the alley. If Buffy insists on having a fight better to keep it two against one Spike thinks.

“So, I’ve got this thing,” Buffy says. “I really don’t like it when guys like you get mobs together to attack my house, and since I don’t want it to happen again I’m thinking that killing you will be a good solution for that.”

The vamp laughs then sets his sights on Spike.

“Look at you, standing behind her. The Slayer’s loyal lap dog… you really think that child is yours,” Blackart says with a laugh and Spike growls.

“Shut up,” Buffy replies, “And look at me, you won’t get him to turn on me, wanna know why… because you know this child is his, that’s why you sent those vamps to my house to kill me.” The vampire’s light mood instantly changes and his face drops, Buffy hit it dead on. “Now drop the games.”

“The defender of the light must be destroyed… You can kill me Slayer, but it won’t stop others from coming, we’ll never stop.”

Rage boils within Buffy and she slams her fist into the vampire’s face, he clutches his broken nose, then she steps back and pulls a stake from her waistband. In less than a second she thrusts it through the demon’s chest and watches as his dust floats to the ground.

“No, but it’s a start,” Buffy says. Spike watches from behind her and can tell that this has seriously upset her, he takes a step toward her never taking his eyes off her. A moment of silence passes where Buffy just stares at the dust on the ground.

“He’s right you know,” A voice calls from the end of the alley and Buffy looks up to see five vampires standing there in game face.

Do these guys ever take a break, Buffy wonders as she rolls her eyes at the new assailants. They leer at her then charge. Spike quickly moves to her side as the fight mounts. So much for keeping it to an easy fight he thinks. They all aim for Buffy but Spike quickly draws the fight to himself as well. Taking on two of the demons at once Spike still keeps an eye on Buffy. Even pregnant he notes that she moves with more grace than anyone he’s ever seen. He watches her take out two of the vamps, one right after the other in one fluid movement then Spike is caught off guard as the two vamps he’s fighting get the upper hand. Spike gets a good right hook in against one and quickly plunges his stake into his chest, but the other kicks him from behind and pushes Spike up against the wall holding him there with his forearm pressed up to his neck.

Spike looks down at the vamp holding him against the wall and plans his attack. He’s raising his arm to strike one moment then in another the vamp is gone and he watches as his dust floats to the ground. Buffy stumbles through the falling soot, unbalanced by the extra weight around her midsection and Spike catches her by the hips as she tumbles into him.

“Oomph,” she says as he catches her. She steadies herself and stands petrified for a moment; her are mere inches from his and Spike can tell that she’s holding her breath. He doesn’t dare move.

Then he feels her breathe and her eyes flutter back and forth between his eyes and lips. She doesn’t make a move, but she also doesn’t back away. He can feel her heated breath on his skin, smell the vanilla of her shampoo, feel the goose bumps forming on her skin where his hand brushes against her arm. Spike can’t take it anymore; he moves in chasing away the rest of the space between them and brings his lips to hers. Buffy’s eyes close instantly as she allows herself to fall into him. Her hands move up his body traveling across his chest and feeling his muscles beneath his shirt. They find their way to his neck and tug at his hair as their kiss grows deeper. Spike wraps his arms around her wanting to hold her tight, and then suddenly she’s gone.

Spike opens his eyes and sees Buffy standing a foot before him her eyes cast to the ground and her hand touching her swollen lip. She looks at him with eyes wide as saucers and sees the passion still burning in his eyes. Buffy turns and begins to run away. This time Spike isn’t going to let her go, he quickly catches up to her and spins her around to face him. Her eyes rock back and forth in their sockets taking in his face and he remains silent trying to read her.

“I know you feel something,” Spike finally says and Buffy opens her mouth to object but nothing comes out. She turns from him again and takes off into the night. This time Spike lets her go.

--

Buffy walks into the living room to see the gang waiting up for her. Her walk home has her mind buzzing with thoughts about Spike. He kissed her, but she wanted him to. She really wanted him too, not because she wanted to forget the pain or to lose herself in something or because of a spell, but because she really wanted to kiss him. Being attracted to Spike is something Buffy noticed some time ago, but wanting to act on that attraction… Buffy’s head hurts; could she actually be considering a… a, what, a relationship with him.

“Angel called back,” Willow says and Buffy snaps back to reality. She had completely forgotten about calling Angel.

“What’d he say?”

“Dead boy has his very own dead boy Jr.” Xander says and Buffy nods.

“He got worried when I asked though,” Willow says nervously, “He wanted to know why.” Buffy’s eyes go wide. “I had to tell him something, and… well I left out the part about Spike, but… he said he’s coming here.” Buffy unconsciously stops breathing for a moment. “He’s coming down tomorrow after sunset.”

Buffy feels her heart drop into her stomach. For a moment she’s reminded of the pain of their break up. Remembers him calling them a freak show, remembers him backing away into the orange flame lit smoke beside a fire truck. She remembers him showing up suddenly out of the blue and leaving just as quickly, remembers the way their love turned into tension, how their passion turned to regret. She remembers the back and forth of how their star-crossed love bounced. Then she remembers Spike, telling him what they had was a freak show, remembers how he would never leave no matter how hard she pushed. She remembers the feel of his lips on hers, of his hand on her belly, the look in his eyes as he stared at an ultrasound monitor. She doesn’t know what to make of all of it, but she does know that what she has with Spike is not a freak show by any means.

--

Buffy twists in her sleep. She may want to drift away into her dreams, but the baby inside her has other ideas. She feels her doing flips in her belly and every time the Slayer closes her eyes the only thing she can think of is her baby keeping her dreams at bay. Buffy sits up in bed with a sigh and runs her fingers through her hair. She gets out of bed.

The white light of the fridge illuminates the kitchen as Buffy reaches into the cold metal box and pulls out a carton of pig’s blood. The baby kicks. Buffy pulls the lid off the carton and drinks it cold. The red liquid is thick and salty, but despite Buffy’s disgust for it in the past, now she craves it. The baby kicks again. Buffy sighs and sets the empty carton on the counter. Kick. Stressed and in need of sleep Buffy steps out on to the back porch and sits down on the step. Kick.

Setting both her hands on her belly Buffy looks down at her stomach and feels her daughter moving around.

“Come on baby, let me get some sleep,” Buffy pleads.

“You alright?” A voice says and Buffy looks up to see Spike standing in her yard a few feet from her. She sighs; dealing with him is the last thing she wants to do right now.

“Spike…” Buffy begins in a warning tone, but he puts his hand up and takes a step toward her.

“Jus’ one mo’… look, Slayer… I’ve always been a selfish son of a bitch, never really had to care about anyone other than myself, not even Dru, not really, don’ get me wrong I loved the loony bird, but I never really cared ‘bout her… but there’s something about you, about this baby, this impossibility that makes me want to… to give everything I have to protect her, an… Look, I want you, you know that, but I don’t wanna make you run off and push me away and so ‘bout earlier, lets jus’… forget it.”

“Right, forget it… good,” Buffy says in a distracted tone. Kick. Spike looks at her quizzically.

“So we’re good then yeah?”

“Yeah… yeah, sorry it’s just,” kick, “your demon spawn has decided to declare war on the inside of my stomach… that or she’s going to be a really great soccer player.”

A large smile crosses Spike’s face, as Buffy looks up from her belly she sees Spike’s smile and can’t help but smile back. After a moment, Buffy sighs then scoots over on the porch step and Spike moves to sit beside her. Kick. They both face each other for a moment then turn to stare back out into the empty yard.

“Angel’s coming here tomorrow,” Buffy says.

“That so?”

“He has a son… and he’s worried about me, I guess he called Willow back while we were out.”

“I see,” Spike says then is silent for a moment. “What are you gonna tell him?” Buffy takes a deep breath.

“The truth, I guess…” Buffy looks to Spike and meets his eyes seeing a wealth of emotion behind them. “Will you be here tomorrow night?”

“Looking for some backup in dealing with peaches eh?” Buffy smiles.

“Actually… kinda… I mean that’s probably a terrible idea to have you there and will most likely end with my coffee table and the good lamp getting destroyed, but… but, it’s easier sometimes… when you’re around.”

Spike is silent and nods. He glances at her then out of the corner of his eye and watches as her eyes sparkle, she breathes in the cool night air, and sighs then turns to face him. As Spike looks into her now peaceful face he knows that he’d do anything for this woman.

Buffy smiles, a moment ago she had been frustrated and sleep deprived but now just after this short conversation Buffy feels rested. The baby has stopped kicking and she feels less stressed.

“Well,” Buffy says. “I should get some sleep,” She stands and Spike stands as well then with one final glance she heads inside.





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