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Never Alone by Lilachigh


Chp 15 Vampire Talk



Buffy prowled along a narrow dark tunnel that lay deep underneath the ground where the town of Sunnydale was being rebuilt. She’d found a torch in the bar at Willie’s and swung it from side to side to illuminate the uneven ground beneath her feet.

They had to find these demons called Shades, to discover if they were holding Clem’s little boy, Tosh. The thought terrified her. He’d be so scared. What if they’d harmed him in some way? According to Spike, they ate their captives! How could she ever face the gentle, wrinkle skinned demon again if that happened to his son and she failed to prevent it?

Behind her she could sense Spike following with every fibre of her being. The sound of his boots on the rocky pathway stirred up dangerous memories. How many times had they patrolled and hunted like this in the past? She’d never dreamt they would again.

Well, that wasn’t strictly true, of course. She’d had many dreams about them patrolling together, and laughing, and fighting, and making love. Dreams that had left her weak and sick and aching for a man she would never see again.

And now he was here, walking behind her, grumbling to himself in usual Spike fashion.

‘One minute I’m having a nice read, lying on me bed, happy as a sandboy and now look at me, trekking through tunnels looking for bleeding Shades with the bleeding Slayer!’

Buffy felt her lips twitch. She didn’t need to turn to know what the expression was on his face. She knew he was enjoying himself. The talk was just that - vampire talk.

Spike didn’t need the torch light to see where he was going, but for some reason, the swinging yellow beam made him feel happy. He watched the slim shape in front of him and grinned at the sway of her hips in the tight jeans.

Hmmm. Very nice. But that apart - he was beginning to get angry with himself. What was happening to him? Cheerfully going along with the Slayer on her quest. He was evil, a vampire, a big bad. He should be acting like one. Why had he let the Slayer take the lead? He must be getting soft allowing a girl be in charge.

Still, it was better for her to be in front than have her behind him. Although - he frowned - the thought of Slayer and stake and imminent death in one package didn’t worry him as much as it should. And that was wrong. Very wrong. He had to start behaving like the vampire he was, otherwise, who would he be? Nothing and nobody.

Suddenly he reached out and grabbed her arm. He sniffed the air. “Up ahead, Slayer,” he murmured. “Shades!”

Buffy switched off the torch and they stood there in the enveloping dark. She was trembling - not from fear but the feeling of his fingers on her bare skin. He was still holding her arm and one of his fingers was absentmindedly tracing a delicate circle in the fine golden hairs.

‘How many?” she whispered at last.

‘Three, maybe four. They’re not easy to distinguish. God they stink! Rotten eggs and sweaty socks times a thousand. No wonder no one knows much about them. Shouldn’t think anyone’s got close to them for centuries.”

“Can you sense Tosh?” Buffy eased her arm away from his hand. She needed to concentrate on finding Clem’s little son and having Spike standing so close to her wasn’t helping her do that.

“Nope. I don’t think he’s there, but to be honest, Slayer, the stink is so bad, it kind of hides all other scents, even from a vampire.”

Buffy hesitated. She knew she couldn’t defeat these things by her normal fighting methods. No, she was going to have to be far more tricky.

“So, what are we waiting for?” Spike muttered in her ear, his lips brushing the lobe in what felt like - a kiss?

She pulled away. No way. That had just been a misjudgment of distance on his part in the dark. This Spike, with his memories of their feelings for each other destroyed in the L.A. battle, would have no reason to kiss her ear.

“It’s pointless rushing in and attacking them,” she whispered crossly. “I only just got away from the one in the car. As far as I can tell, they only react to noise. It’s far more important to find Tosh just now. We can come back with another plan to wipe them out later on.”

Even in the pitch black, she could almost see the expression on Spike’s face. “You want me to back down from a fight, Slayer? No way!”

“Spike, this isn’t about your pride or my inclinations to destroy demons. This is about a little boy who’s lost in these passages. If the Shades are still hunting him, then we’ve got to get to him first. If you want to waste your time fighting them, that’s up to you. But my priorities are quite clear and if you’re really Clem’s friend, then so should yours be.”

“The only reason Clem is my friend is because he says he is!” Spike snapped, rubbing at the new scar that slashed through his eyebrow. Where had it come from? He had no idea. “I don’t remember him from any other demon.”

“But you let him help you.” She heard the rustle of his leather duster as he shrugged.

“Hey, if he wants to go out of his way to be of use, that’s down to him, Slayer. Me, I’ve always been bad. I don’t think I have any friends. I travel light. Always have, always will.”

Buffy flinched and the hairs on the back of her neck suddenly stirred. This wasn’t the old Spike of the Apocalypse days talking. And she was putting herself in great danger by forgetting that. This was a unchipped vampire.

Okay, he had a soul, but he’d even forgotten that. If you couldn’t remember getting one, if you didn’t know you had one, did that make a difference to the way you acted? Same old story, she thought miserably. Are you good because you have a soul, or are you just plain good?

She knew what Giles would say. But she’d exerienced too much over the last few years to be sure.

She tried to move away from Spike; they were wasting time, they had to find Tosh. Then the darkness in front of her became solid, there was the smell of leather and whisky and she realised his vampire speed had moved him into her path.

“Get out of the way, Spike. We haven’t time for - ”

His mouth came crashing down on hers, taking her breath. His hands were holding her arms down at her sides as he kissed her, long and thoroughly, his tongue slowly exploring her mouth.

There was a roaring sound in her head, a desperate feeling of coming home. This was safety, this was where she belonged. Every sense in her body wanted to respond, needed to push herself against him, wrap her arms round his neck, kiss him back, let him in.

But she couldn’t. This wasn’t a lover’s kiss. This was a domination. Vampire, Slayer, bad versus good. Spike was acting, not out of love, but as he thought he should. And that made her want to weep.

She schooled herself to stand still. Not to respond or move a muscle in his direction.

At long last he drew back and whispered into the dark, “See, Slayer, bad as they come.”

Buffy lifted a shaking hand and, in the dark. wiped the tears from her cheeks. No point in getting upset, she told herself fiercely. He doesn’t remember you. Pretend this is the Spike you met back in school when your mum hit him on the head with an axe. The Spike who would cheerfully have killed you. Had, in fact, killed two Slayers before you. Pretend all that has happened over the seven years you’ve known him never took place.

She called on every bit of acting ability she had. “Fancy your powers of seduction, do you?” she laughed. “Goodness me, Spike, you’ve got a lot to learn about women, obviously. I’m trembling all over from your charms - not! That was absolutely disgusting. Have you ever heard of a toothbrush and what you do with it? And if you ever touch me again - well, just never touch me again - especially as I need to get my tetanus jabs up to date! Now, if you’ve quite finished with the theatricals, I’m going to look for Tosh. You can do what you like. Hey, nothing new there, then!”

Spike heard her turn and head off down a side tunnel, away from the smell of the Shades. He watched as she turned on the torch once more and he could see the beam of yellow light getting smaller and smaller as she walked away.

He reached up and rubbed his scar. And no, his hand was not trembling. He was just - cold? Hey, vampire. No, but he’d been ill, wounded, he told himself fiercely. That was why he was trembling.

Why had he kissed her? To prove to her that he was all bad, and not some namby pamby poofter who could be ordered around just as she wanted.

But that kiss. He reached out a hand to support himself against the rocky wall of the passage. Holding her in his arms - that had seemed so - so normal. So right. As if he’d come home to safety after a long, dangerous journey.

And as the bobbing yellow light from the torch vanished round a bend in the passage, Spike realised one thing. He had been able to see her quite clearly, even though he knew she couldn’t see him.

He’d watched her wipe the tears from her face, puzzled because he hadn’t understood why she was crying.

But what was far more important was this - not once had she wiped his kiss from her mouth.


to be continued

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