“Don’t?” He repeated in a questioning tone.
“That’s what I said, Spike.” She replied as she pulled off the boot she had been unlacing, tossing it in the corner. He moved to her, crouched in front of her, stilling her movements to unlace the other boot, by doing it for her.
“So I guess we can just call it quits then.” He spoke but kept his eyes on the task of getting her boot undone. She didn’t respond only stared down at the top of his head, and then reached out and gently played with the soft brown curls. “The way the red head is telling it, if we don’t go help her and her lot out everyone is as good as dead, so what do you say…” He asked now lifting his head to stare up at her, having finished untying the boot, and had removed it and tossed in the corner with the other one. “I guess we could go on vacation, you me and Dawn, live out the last of our days lying on a beach somewhere. That is if we can find a beach that isn’t so polluted it would eat your flesh off.”
“Please don’t ask me to do this Spike, I can’t it’s too…”
“I know it hurts baby, I loved him too and I miss him everyday, but wouldn’t it be good to see him again…alive…a grown man?” He asked as he reached up and pulled her down to him, settling her upon his lap. She shook her head in reply.
“No, I’d hate to see him; I’d hate him for being alive while our Giles is dead. Why did it have to happen? How could we be so careless?” Nina asked as the tears now rolled down her cheek.
AU, Belgium 1966
“Ahhhhhhh!” A death cry pierced the still night air.
“You know I could do this all night, and I will until you tell me what I want to know.”
“I will tell you this if you do not let me go he will hunt you down and burn everything you love.” The bloodied and marred woman spoke through cracked and split lips. “Ahhhhhhh!” She screamed out again as another douse of holy water splashed against her bare back.
“That’s not the answer I’m looking for, Drusilla, it’s simple I only want to know where Angelus is. You tell me that and I’ll dust you quickly and painlessly.”
“What’s wrong pet are you still sore, because he didn’t turn you, but left you in that alley to die like a dog?” Drusilla asked with a smirk on her swollen face, which quickly was replaced with a look of shock just before she crumbled to dust. Nina turned her attention to the man standing behind her, who was re-holstering his gun.
“You do know she was the only real lead we had to Angelus, right?” Nina asked not really caring that he had sped up the inevitable, by dusting Drusilla, but just wanted to nag Spike with his own words about how she’s shouldn’t dust first and ask questions later.
“Yeah, but she was pissing me off and she wasn’t gonna tell us anyway.” Spike said as he pulled the large barn doors opened and lead the way out in the cold night. Nina followed close beside him.
“Was it weird?” Nina asked after several moments of silence trying to think of a way to word what it was she wanted to ask.
“What?”
“Killing her?”
“Just another suck head, and now one less in the world.” He answered nonchalant.
“Yes but she gave you life.”
“Yeah and spend the rest of the time torturing me and make said life miserable, and you think I should have been a little more grateful?” He asked as he now looked at her curiously. “Besides, wasn’t the intention all along to kill her, whether she talked or not?”
“Yeah but I didn’t expect you to do it.”
“It was the proper way, I had to be the one to release her.” Spike said and Nina nodded her understanding.
“Man I hate all this damn snow.” Nina said, changing the subject as she kicked at the snow that covered the ground.
“Its Christmas time luv, and it just wouldn’t be right without snow.”
“Says the man whose body isn’t affected by the cold,” Nina grumbled as she hugged her arms around herself.
“Don’t worry baby, daddy’ll warm you up.” Spike cooed, enveloping her in his embrace as they hurried down the cobblestone road, back to the inn they were staying at. “And you know Giles loves snow, and with snow comes very cloudy day and I actually get to go out with him and romper around in it and stay out as long as he wants.”
The thought of it brought a huge smile to Nina’s face, as it always did when she thought of their ‘son’ Giles, the little boy who brought them both more joy than they ever thought they’d have, or deserved. She couldn’t wait to get back to their room, where they left their little angel, who wasn’t so little anymore at the age of eleven, sleeping under the watchful eye of Ms. Hingley the Inn’s keeper; a very robust and joyous old woman who loved to pinch cheeks and kiss everyone she met, which Nina didn’t mind but Giles and Spike hated. When the Inn came into view Nina smiled and became distracted with her thought of Christmas day and watching Giles opens his presents, so distract she hadn’t notice the huge snowball coming right at her head, until he knocked her to the ground. When she sat up and stared wide-eyed at Spike, he burst into a deep laugh that she had never seen or heard from him.
“Oh you know this means war,” She exclaimed and she now kneeled in the snow, scooping up all the snow about her into a huge pile. Spike quickly took off running as fast as he could towards the Inn, knowing that if he could make it through the doors Nina wouldn’t attempt to hit him with the snowball and mess up Ms. Hingley’s clean floor. Spike made it to the steps and paused and looked back to see that Nina was approaching but at a slow pace since she was carrying a snowball nearly her size. Spike chuckled at the sight and then moved up the steps only to stall at the door, which had a large present in front of it. He stared at the present curiously for a millisecond before his senses were set off. Spike vamped out and shot a look back at Nina, who instinctively and instantly dropped the snowball and took a fighting stance.
“Nina, stay back.” Spike commanded and she obeyed as she scanned their surroundings, calling on all of her slayer senses to focus. Spike turned his attention back to the box, which he now knew housed something bloody, he plucked up the card that was attached and read it.
Spike squatted before the box and slowly lifted the top off, he then crumbled to his knees and let out a low mournful sound that startled Nina and made her jump.
“Spike,” Nina called out to him, now scared by the way he was acting, curious about why he was acting that way, she knew that nothing scared Spike, nothing caused him pain, nothing except…She swiftly moved to him, at first in a trot and then in a full speed sprint, but he heard her coming and quickly moved to intercept her, grasping her about the waist and moving them further into the street. Nina looked up at him and saw that he was crying, a sight she had never ever seen, and it chilled her to the bone.
“We have to go luv, we have to go now.” Spike said and Nina nodded her head.
“Ok, then lets go.” She said as she attempted to move around him only to be blocked again by him.
“Now luv,” He said in a hoarse voice that sounded like it belonged to someone else.
“But we have to get Giles, he’s…” In that instant Nina’s world came crashing down around her, as it all began to click. She made another move to go around Spike and again he blocked her, and so she tried the other side and he blocked her.
“No luv, lets just go.” He said his tears still pouring from his eyes as she stared up at him as if he were the most disgusting thing she had ever seen, and then she did something she had never done before, had never ever thought of doing, she struck him with all of her mite, making him crumble to the ground clutching his bloodied nose, and then she made her way up the steps and to the opened box., where she only caught a glimpse of the little head inside before everything went dark.
AU - Present Day, Sunnydale
“So what exactly is it I have to do?” Nina asked with her arms across her chest, as she and Spike re-entered the main room of the warehouse, where the others, included the new red head stood talking.