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How to Treat Your
Lover
by Tami
Chapter 23
Chapter 23-A: Step 2 – Understanding (Part
6)
Sunnydale, Graveyard
All was quiet in the mist-shrouded cemetery. Suddenly, the peace was shattered as Buffy pounded a vampire dressed as a Van Halen-reject into the ground. She stood up and watched as it got to its feet.
“You know, it’s probably none of my business but I just got to ask . . .” she was saying as the vampire lunged at her. She blocked him with a backhanded fist. “Did you smell this bad when you were alive?” She kicked the vampire into a headstone. “’Cause if it’s a post-mortem thing . . . then, boy is my face red . . .” She flipped him over the headstone and whipped out a stake. “But, just so you know, the fast-growing field of personal grooming has come a long way since you became a vampire.”
Buffy did a somersault over the headstone, her stake raised and ready to strike. However, the vampire seized her arm as she landed, spun her around and plunged the stake into her abdomen. Her eyes widened with shock and pain as she looked down at her own weapon protruding from her body.
As she looked down in horror at the stake, she couldn’t believe this 80s-reject freak of a vampire had bested her. Spike, she could understand, but this guy? What the hell? She gripped the shaft with both hands and gasped in pain as she pulled it out. Her sweater was soaked with her blood.
For the first time since she was Called, Buffy felt real fear rise up inside like bile. She hadn’t felt this way since she mastered her abilities. She turned and fled, trying to escape the vampire. The hunter had become the hunted. Her wound slowed her down, however, and she kept glancing over her shoulder, terrified. Suddenly, the vampire leapt out in front of her and she stopped with a gasp, looking around desperately for another escape route.
“You’re going?” he asked mockingly. “But, you were having so much fun a minute ago!”
Buffy brought the stake up but the creature easily knocked it from her grasp and tossed her against a nearby crypt. She doubled over in pain as the vampire picked up her stake and approached with a predatory grin. Buffy was helpless for the second time in her life. Brief flashes of having to fight Kralik without her powers entered her mind. She realized that this is the moment she had been dreading but always knew would come. She was going to die.
As the vampire raised the stake for the killing blow, he was suddenly tackled to the ground by Riley. He rained blows down on the demon and took out a taser, but the vampire knocked it from his hand before he can use it and ran away across the graveyard. Riley was about to give chase when he noticed Buffy’s obvious distress and rushed to her side.
“Buffy! What happened?!” he asked worriedly.
She held up her bloody hands and then collapsed in his arms, unconscious.
**************************
Sunnydale, Summers’ Residence
Riley and Buffy were up in her room. She sat back and let him apply first aid and dress her wound. As she watched him, she commented, “I can’t believe I passed out. Do you think I’m a total wuss now?”
Riley scoffed. “Oh, yeah. I like a girl who can play a few hard sets of tennis with a major stab wound.”
Buffy frowned at him and glanced down at her wound. “You said it wasn’t that bad.”
“I said I’ve seen worse,” Riley corrected. “There’s a difference.”
“Well, at least no major organs got kebabed,” Buffy observed.
“I still think you need to see a real doctor,” Riley said as he finished his ministrations.
Buffy pulled her shirt over the bandage and looked at Riley skeptically. “That would put me in a real hospital which would get my real mom real freaked out. I can’t do it. Don’t worry. Accelerated healing powers come with the Slayer package. And the boyfriend who comes complete with combat medical training? That’s just a Buffy Summers bonus.”
She caressed his cheek and Riley held still for a moment before clearing his throat and cleaning up the bandage wrappers and antiseptic. “So, tell me about the bad guy – or guys. What do you think they were?”
“Vampire,” Buffy replied.
“How many?” Riley asked as he looked up at her.
“One.”
Riley’s eyes widened. He was surprised that Buffy was taken down by one vampire when she normally took on two or three at a time. “So . . . what, he was like a super-vampire or something?”
“No. No, he was the regular kind,” Buffy said as her cheeks blushed. “He just beat me.”
“Has that ever happened before?” Riley asked.
Buffy grumbled and touched her bandaged stomach. “I’m in the best physical shape of my life. I mean, if you’re asking how it happened, I don’t --”
She was cut off when her bedroom door flew open and Dawn ran in.
“Dawn!” Buffy said irritably.
“Sorry to interrupt. I just want to tell you that Mom’s coming,” Dawn said excitedly.
Hearing that, Riley quickly hid the bandages and tape just as Joyce Summers entered the room.
When she saw that her daughters weren’t alone, she was startled momentarily, but quickly recovered. “Hi, Riley.”
“Hey, Mrs. Summers, how are you feeling?” Riley asked as he tried to hide the first aid kit under the bed a little better.
Joyce smiled at his sincere concern and replied, “I’m fine, bordering on chipper and tomorrow planning on being obnoxious.”
Riley returned the smile. “Glad to hear it.”
Addressing Buffy, Joyce said, “Buffy, when you have a minute I’d like to go over the grocery list for next week.”
Buffy put on one of her forced ‘taking one for the team’ smiles and replied, “You got it.”
Joyce turned to leave, but noticed the bottle of rubbing alcohol. “Are you disinfecting something?”
“Huh?” Buffy sounded surprised and then saw the bottle in question. “Oh, uh--”
For some inexplicable reason, Dawn decided to save Buffy from having to explain something that was possibly Slayer-related. “It’s mine! Some nail polish experiments are doomed before they even begin.”
Joyce indulged her youngest daughter with a smile. “But you keep pushing the envelope, honey.” She turned and left, closing the door behind her.
Dawn pivoted on her heel with a grin so big Buffy thought her face would crack. “Did I just pull a Slayer-related Mom cover-up thing? Come on, who’s the man?”
Buffy gave her an exasperated look. “You are, a very short, annoying man.” Dawn’s grin fell immediately, stung by her sister’s words. Buffy turned serious. “If I show you something, you promise you won’t tell?”
Dawn crossed her heart and Buffy lifted her shirt to reveal the bandaged wound. Dawn was awed by it. “Oh, cool!” When she saw Buffy’s less-than-amused expression, she corrected, “I mean, gross!”
“And Mom cannot know. Okay?” Buffy said with a tone of warning. “You’ll help me with the household stuff?”
Dawn pursed her lips together. “Oh, sure. I save your butt and you dump all your chores on me.” Buffy just looked at her expecting an answer. “I got it. You’re covered. We’re good. Just lucky it's not bikini season.” Buffy smiled and stroked Dawn’s hair.
“So, Dawn takes household duty. I’ll take tonight’s patrol,” Riley stated.
“By yourself?” Buffy asked astonished.
“It’s just a sweep,” he assured her.
Buffy winced at that notion. “Do me a favor? Will you take the gang along with you?”
Riley never understood why she insisted on taking Willow and Xander on patrol. They weren’t properly trained in dealing with demons as he had been. But to assuage her, he agreed. “Okay, I’ll patrol with the group tonight.”
“When do I get to patrol?” Dawn asked.
“Not until you’re . . . never,” Buffy replied.
**************************
Sunnydale, Crawford Street Mansion
“No.” Angel said stubbornly. Ever since they woke up his childe had been pushing those things at him. They reminded him of darker times.
“Why not?” Spike asked sullenly.
This idea had hit him so hard it woke him up. He had to crawl out from under Angel and that was no easy task considering how big his Sire was. That pig’s blood diet wasn’t doing anything healthy for the big ape. It took him a bit of time to search the closet, but he found the item of his dreams (literally) and then he restlessly waited for Angel to wake up to tell him about his great idea.
“Because they aren’t my style, they’re his,” Angel replied.
Angel had woken up to Spike maniacally grinning at him as he held up a pair of leather pants. He didn’t know what had gotten into his childe but it couldn’t have been good with that disturbing smile on his face. Angel tried to entice him back to bed, but Spike was on a mission to have Angel wear those damn things.
“Bloody hell, you share the same body. Obviously, you have the same sexual appetite if last night proved anything. So, you should have the same fashion sense,” Spike reasoned.
Angel winced. “Uh, I’m all clean fibers: silk shirts, pressed pants and a good pair of dark jeans on occasion. Angelus is the one with the kink for velvet, satin and leather.”
Spike gave his Sire an exaggerated pout. “Come on, Ange, make a childe happy and put them on for me.”
Angel clenched his teeth at the shortened version of his name. Next thing you know, Spike will be referring to him as Liam and calling him Lee. He put his hands on his hips and adopted a beleaguered posture as he looked at Spike who was still holding up the leather pants.
“Why do you want me to wear those again?” Angel asked disconcertedly.
“Because, it’ll make me happy, and you look damn good in them. Even if Angelus was completely nutters the last time he was in them,” Spike replied.
“Oh, yeah, that sounds like a vote of confidence.” Angel looked at them as if they were a demon about to bite him. “Have they been cleaned?”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, you were the only one to wear them, it’s not like you can get a disease.” Spike heaved a sigh. They had been discussing the implications of donning leather pants for the last three hours.
“Spike . . .” Angel groaned.
The blonde vampire held the pants up to him. “Take those trousers off and put these on. I swear you’ll feel like a whole new man – demon, whatever.”
“Fine,” Angel grumbled as he snatched the leathers out of his childe’s hands. Spike just smirked at him with his tongue against his teeth as he walked away, dragging his feet. He couldn’t believe the things he let Spike talk him into in the last few months.
**************************
Sunnydale, Magic Box
Giles and Buffy were researching why she had nearly lost the fight with the retro-vampire earlier and the shop’s reading table was piled high with books, all of them Watcher’s Diaries from past Slayers.
Giles perked up from the most recent book. “Here’s another one. Early 18th Century Slayer . . .”
Buffy closed her book with a tired sigh and set it on the umpteenth growing stack. “Good; let’s hope she’ll be more helpful than this last one.”
Giles glanced up at the resigned tone. “Why? What did it say?”
“Same as all the others. Slayer called . . . blah, blah . . . great protector . . . blah, blah . . . scary battles . . . blah, blah . . . oops! She's dead. Where are the details?”
“Details?” Giles asked surprised and handed his book to her. “Well, it says this Slayer forged her own weapons.”
“You got to love a gal with an anvil,” Buffy said sardonically. “But, where are the details of the Slayer’s last battle? You know, what made that fight special? Why did she lose?”
“You didn’t lose last night, Buffy. You just--” Giles started to say.
“Got really close,” Buffy finished for him. “I slipped up, Giles. I've been training harder than ever and still I . . .” She sighed despondently. “There’s nothing in any of these books to help me understand why. I mean . . . look, I realize that every Slayer comes with an expiration mark on the package. But I want mine to be a long time from now. Like a Cheet-O. If there were just a few good descriptions of what took out the other Slayers, maybe it would help me to understand my mistake, to keep it from happening again.”
Giles cleared his throat nervously. “Yes, well, the problem is after a final battle, it’s difficult to get any . . . well, the Slayer's not . . . she's rather . . .”
“It’s okay to use the D-word, Giles,” she cut in on his stammering.
“Dead,” he finished. “Hence not very forthcoming.”
“Why didn’t the Watcher’s keep fuller accounts of it? The journals just stop.”
“Well, I suppose if they’re anything like me, they just find the whole subject too --” Giles tried to explain.
“Unseemly?” Buffy supplied. “Damn. Love ya but you Watchers are such prigs sometimes.”
Giles straightened his glasses. “Painful . . . I was going to say.” They shared a meaningful look and he went on, “But, you’re right. Accounts of the final battles would be very helpful. But, there's no one left to tell the tales.”
Buffy glanced at the piles of books, and then had a sudden revelation.
**************************
Sunnydale, Crawford Street Mansion
Spike sat on the couch facing the huge hearth, smoking a cigarette as he waited for Angel to come out of hiding. He had sent his Sire away with the garment in question twenty minutes ago.
“Hey, Angel, are you coming out any time soon?” Spike called out. When he
didn't get an answer, he chuckled and then used a William-y voice, “The night’s still young and I want t’ go hunting.”
“Doubt you’ll be hunting after I pull those fangs out,” Angel’s voice carried in from the hallway.
“Oh, come on! You’re no fun at all. You’ve got to learn to live a little, mate. Just because you’re burdened with a soul doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the simple pleasures in life,” Spike answered.
“When has my life ever been simple?” Angel retorted.
“You see? This is why I was always the one that got the women creaming their knickers while you brooded on the sidelines. If you hurry up, we can go out, tease some unlikely prey – I mean, unsuspecting girls, and if Angelus is feeling amorous, a few boys – but,” Spike held up a hand as if Angel was there to see it. “We won’t kill them or even drink them, ’cause a childe knows his Sire,” he said sardonically, nodding his head. “And biting would be out of the question.”
“You’re just aching for another round of punishment, Spike,” Angel growled. He walked out of the hallway, fiddling with his pants. “These aren’t me.”
Spike nearly set the couch on fire when his jaw dropped open and the cigarette fell out. After a quick slap to put the embers out, he looked up at Angel. “What do you mean they aren’t you? They look like a soddin’ second skin. On second thought, you know what? You’re right, take them off. The way you wear ’em makes ’em look obscene.”
Angel growled. “I’m not changing clothes on your whims. Besides, it was a bitch to get these on.”
Oh, please! I thought souled vampire champions weren’t supposed to lie? It tarnishes the image. You damn near came when you slid them on, Angelus smirked. Then he gave a low whistle. Damn, they still look good on me. You let Spike talk you into wearing them, even though you suspect it means it’s me he wants. Did I ever tell you that Spike has the best ideas? You may as well take advantage of the situation.
Don’t flatter yourself. It’s not you he wants any longer, it’s me! Angel shot back with a low growl.
Spike heard the noise and chuckled. “Have I lost you, peaches? Seems yer more interested in what’s going on in your head than me.” He got to his feet, walked up to Angel and started rubbing his hands over the leather material. “Had to make sure they weren’t painted on. You goin’ t’ be able to breathe in those?” he asked as he looked them over.
“I don’t breathe,” Angel said in thick voice as he watched Spike. “Don’t call me ‘peaches’, not after last night.”
Spike looked up with a smirk. “I wasn’t talking about you, git. I was talking about that monolith you’re packing around between your legs.”
“You are the crudest demon . . .” Angel trailed off.
“It’s a part of me charm,” Spike said. Then, he rubbed his hand over the telltale swell in the crotch of the leather pants. “You know, I could take my pants off and just rub against you if that’ll get it to go down. Don’t want t’ scare the chits.”
Angel felt his cock strain at the words and growled, “Talking about it isn’t helping.”
“Not brooding again, are you?” Spike asked with a furrowed brow. “What, now you’re goin’ t’ say that was all Angelus? Thought you said it was just as much you as it was him?”
“It was,” Angel growled. Then, he walked Spike back toward the couch until his childe fell back on it and loomed over him. “Don’t try to say that you didn’t want me last night.” He teased; voice was thick and dark. It sent shivers down Spike’s spine. “I am not the Angel you think you know.” The dark vampire sat down next to him and caressed the most recent bite mark in his neck. “I know how to be the vampire an unsouled childe needs and I think I proved that last night.”
Spike took hold of his Sire’s hand and moved to straddle the other vampire. Then, he watched Angel’s dark eyes smolder as he brought the fingers up to lick the tips. “So then, you’re not brooding over your actions from a century ago anymore?” Angel moaned softly in acknowledgement and Spike smirked. “Next, you’ll be telling me that you’re goin’ t’ let me feed on whoever I want.”
“Depends on who you want to feed on,” Angel replied roughly as he watched Spike’s tongue slip over his fingers.
I know a couple a’ lawyers who come to mind, Angelus whispered darkly.
Why stop at just the two? Angel asked.
Angelus grinned evilly. Why Angel . . . who knew you could be so malicious?
“I might know of some unwilling necks for you. Hell, they may even be fun and struggle,” Angel said, addressing Spike as his free hand moved to rub his childe’s balls through the black jeans.
Spike groaned at the feel of the groping hand. Considering where they were and the topic of discussion, maybe Angel had changed. His cock hardened at the suggestion and the tone of his Sire’s voice. He let go of Angel’s hand and reached down to open his jeans. The second the flap was open, the elder vampire’s hand was wrapped around his aching cock.
“Yeah,” Spike moaned as he rocked his hips, thrusting his erection into Angel’s fist. “Believe that when I see it.”
Angel watched Spike’s Big Bad façade crumble under his ministrations. The sight of his childe’s lust, either as William or Spike, never grew old. Then, an almost sinister smile crept onto his face and he whispered something that the blonde had missed due to the roar in his ears.
“What?” Spike panted. His eyes snapped open and he looked at Angel who had the strangest smile on his face. Now that he had on the leather pants and dark, lightweight pullover, if Spike didn’t know Angel still had his soul, he could have sworn Angelus was under him.
“Pull your pants down more,” Angel repeated as he continued to stroke him.
Spike tugged his jeans down until they were blocked by Angel’s body and cursed his trembling fingers. Great, now the fucking claims were messing with his hand-eye coordination. He was beginning to resent the connection with the big lummox. It made him feel weak. Not emotionally or physically, but the claims had shot holes in his carefully-constructed Big Bad persona.
Angel reached a hand between his legs and caressed his fingers over the perineum and the tight ring. When Spike shuddered, he squeezed his hand around the blonde’s shaft. “You never know what the future may hold, baby boy,” he said in a low voice.
Spike groaned and slammed his mouth down on Angel’s as he rocked into the dark vampire’s touch. Just then a feminine gasp broke through the haze of passion.
“Oh my God,” Buffy gasped when she saw what appeared to be Spike on the couch in front of the fireplace sitting on top of someone with dark, spiky hair. She wasn’t sure who it was until the man spoke and then she realized it was Angel. Angel and Spike were on the couch making out!
Angel had left town two years ago saying they could never be together. Yet, here he was in Sunnydale, in this Mansion – where she had sent him to a Hell dimension – with Spike! He was here with Spike, making out on the couch. That was the same couch she and Angel had talked about her going off to college. It was where she told him that she had a date for homecoming. It was where he told her that the kiss with Faith when they entrapped the dark Slayer meant nothing to him. Now, he was here on that very couch with Spike!
Said vampire broke away from Angel and glanced up to see Buffy standing in the doorway behind the aforementioned couch. “Bloody hell,” he groaned, dropping his forehead onto Angel’s shoulder. Stupid, blonde bint always had impeccable timing. He started to pull away when the dark vampire held fast and stopped him.
“You got to let me go, luv. Your precious Slayer is here and I’m in a rather compromising position,” Spike smirked.
And, there’s one of those unwilling necks right now. I bet she’d struggle, Angelus said flippantly.
Angel reluctantly let him go. He sat up to look behind the couch and saw Buffy’s shocked expression. “Buff, uh, hi.” When her brows furrowed a little in confusion, he corrected himself. “Buffy, why are you . . .? How did you know we were back?”
Buffy shook off the astonishment at seeing her former boyfriend and her current menace in each other’s arms. She walked closer and stopped a couple of feet from the couch. “I didn’t. I didn’t even know you were living here again. I asked Willy were Spike was and he directed me here.”
Spike growled and rolled his eyes. That sleazy bartender was going to have a very short life with all his informing. He pulled his jeans up and buttoned them as he climbed off his Sire and reached for his smokes.
“I’m not living here. Spike is,” Angel corrected her.
“Then, why are you here? ’Cause I clearly remember you saying that we couldn’t be in the same town, let alone the same room,” Buffy asked irritably.
Angel growled softly and stood up. Then, he turned to face Buffy. “As much as you’d like to think so, Buff, not everything I do concerns you. Spike and I were settling an argument that had nothing to do with you.”
“And, the best way to settle it was by – by making out on the couch?” Buffy asked derisively.
“That’s what a reconciliation is, Slayer. You fight, you have makeup sex,” Spike retorted with a smirk around his cigarette.
“Ew, Spike!” Buffy cringed at the images they brought to mind.
Angel’s cock throbbed at those same images and he growled at his childe. “Not helping, Spike.” Spike gave him an innocent look and he turned to Buffy. “Why are you here?”
Buffy turned to Spike. “Slayers, you killed two of them.”
Spike looked at her warily as he pocketed his lighter and agreed, “I did.”
“You’re going to show me how,” Buffy demanded.
“Bossy chit ain’t she?” Spike smirked at Angel and then nodded at the blonde Slayer. “What’s in it for me?”
“Other than staying undead you mean?” Buffy asked sardonically. Spike and Angel just looked at her.
**************************
Sunnydale, The Bronze
The three unlikely companions found a secluded booth set off in an alcove of the club. Spike and Buffy sat on the outside facing each other with Angel in the middle. Spike watched his Sire and the Slayer fidget over the rim of his beer mug.
Before Spike had ordered the beer, they bickered over who would pay for it which resulted in Angel shelling out the $5.00. Buffy watched the whole interaction with a stoic expression. She was still clueless as to why Angel and Spike were even getting along let alone reconciling on the couch in what she thought was an empty mansion.
Spike held up the half empty mug and licked his lips. “You know, there are quite a few American beers that are highly underrated. This unfortunately is not one of them.”
Angel kicked him under the table and received a scowl.
Buffy’s brows furrowed. The blonde menace who had been a pain in her ass since they first met was expecting her to wine and dine him to get the information she needed out of him. “Update, Spike. We're not here to discuss the fine choice of hops. It's about two Slayers: one in China during the Boxer Rebellion, one in New York.” She held up a roll of bills, waved it at him threateningly and then snatched it back when he tried to grab for it. “Both were killed by you. Tell the tale, you get the cash.”
“Right,” Spike said skeptically. “You want to learn all about how I bested the Slayers and you want to learn fast. All right then, we fought. I won. The end. Pay up,” he said as he held out his hand.
“Spike,” Angel said in warning just as Buffy said, “That’s not what I --”
“What did you want, Slayer? A quick demo? A blow-for-blow description you can map out and memorize. It’s not about the moves, luv.” He sat up straight and said smugly, “Since I agreed to your little proposition, we can do this my way. Wings.”
“What?” Buffy asked.
“Spicy buffalo wings; order me up a plate. I’m feelin’ peckish,” Spike said petulantly.
“I can’t believe you can stomach human food. It’s unnatural,” Angel said with a grimace.
“That’s the difference between you and me, mate. I still enjoy the good things in life,” Spike retorted.
Buffy heaved a sigh and leaned out of the booth to signal for a waitress. “Excuse me --” She was cut short when the movement aggravated her injury and she winced in pain.
The two vampires caught the expression that flittered over her face. Then, they picked up the faint scent of Slayer’s blood as the wound had split open a little.
From where he sat across from her, Spike licked his lips lasciviously and leered at Buffy. “Just as I thought: some nasty thing got a hold of you.”
Buffy glared at the blonde vampire. “Don’t get all excited. I’m fine.”
“Is that why you’re in a dark corner with a couple ‘a creatures you loathe, diggin’ up the past, ’cause you’re fine,” Spike said skeptically.
Angel was more concerned. “What happened, Buffy?”
“A hazard of the job,” Buffy replied. “Just tell me what I want to know, Spike.”
“I told you. No one's narrating on an empty stomach here,” Spike said petulantly.
Buffy shook her head in exasperation. “Were you born this big a pain in the ass?”
“What can I tell you, baby? I've always been bad,” Spike smirked.
Angel developed a coughing fit at that. “The hell you were. You were mousy little William when you were human. Though, after following Drusilla and finding her with you, I knew you’d be trouble the second you were turned.”
Spike glared at his Sire. “I was not mousy! William was a young, misguided poet who fancied himself in love with someone in a better class. When you found me with Drusilla, you all but offered to fuck me.”
Angel’s face fell in disbelief. “I did not offer to fuck you; I offered to make into you a companion for Drusilla. The fucking came later.”
“Yeah, how many minutes was that?” Spike asked sarcastically. “Not more ’an two weeks and you wanted to jump me bones. Always looking to get your end away, didn’t matter what hole your cock was pushing into.”
“What can I say? All you had to do was bat those big blue eyes and anyone was putty in your hands,” Angel replied nonchalantly.
“Ahem,” Buffy cleared her throat. “Can we get back to why we’re here? How’d you kill the two slayers?”
“Not much for listening to a story is she?” Spike pondered out loud.
“So you’re all bondy and stuff now. I so don’t want the details,” Buffy said with a cringe.
“Yeah, William had just been rejected by a girl whom he fancied, and he was ridiculed by the elitist prigs. When he blindly ran out, he ran smack into Angelus, Drusilla and Darla. Dru followed him and turned him,” Spike said.
Angel chuckled. “You really believe that’s what happened boy?”
“I doubt Angelus was charitable with his precious blood,” Spike scoffed.
“Then, you’d be wrong. Angelus offered you to Drusilla to drink. He had your hands restrained behind your back and you were writhing against him. You intrigued him, so he bit into you on the opposite side. When you came out of the grave, he passed you off as Dru’s to get past Darla. After he turned Drusilla, Darla wasn’t to keen on him turning anyone else.” Angel reached over and idly caressed the claim marks. “But, you were the exception to the rule. He wanted to preserve William’s beauty for an eternity.” Angel shook himself out of his reverie. “Anyway, he let you believe your siring mark was from Dru and didn’t reclaim you until it was certain that she wouldn’t care for you properly.”
“That’s just . . . ew,” Buffy said, wrinkling her nose. “Can we skip past the seduction of the not-quite-so-innocent and move on?”
Spike harrumphed and Angel shrugged. “Then, you went and changed your name and became a pain in the ass. Had us running from mobs everywhere we went.”
Buffy looked between them. The starry-eyed gaze Angel usually gave her wasn’t there, but something more primal was. She carefully reached behind her back and caressed the stake that was hidden there. She wasn’t sure if she would have to stake them both. However, if this kept up . . .
Spike got up and went to the pool tables. Angel just grinned at his back and got up to follow. When Buffy was still sitting there in a daze, he snapped his fingers in front of her face. “Buffy, if you wanted that story, you’d better hurry up before you miss it.”
“Huh? Oh.” She got up and followed Angel to a pool table where Spike was setting up the balls.
Angel hardened again as he watched Spike move with the simple action of picking up the billiard balls and putting them in place. He watched his childe with an intense gaze as Spike seemed to be mulling over the tale concerning his turning.
Oblivious to what was going on between the two vampires, Buffy commented, “So, you traded up on the food chain; then what?”
Spike scoffed. “No, please. Don't make it sound like something you'd flip past on the Discovery Channel. Becoming a vampire is a profound and powerful experience. I could feel this new strength coursing through me. Getting killed made me feel alive for the very first time. I was through living by society’s rules and decided to make a few of my own. Of course, in order to do that . . .” Spike glanced over at Angel to see the dark vampire swallow hard and noticed the bulge pressing against the fly of the leather pants. “I had to get myself a gang.”
Angel didn’t know if he was going to survive this tale. The way Spike talked about his introduction into vampirism made his body hum with arousal. Being turned didn’t have the same affect on Angelus. He didn’t change his ways after he turned. He still sought his pleasure, but instead of paying the whores a few coins for their time, he drained them.
“I killed my first Slayer because she dropped her stake and I took the upper hand. After that, I was obsessed. I mean, to most vampires, the Slayer was the subject of cold sweat and frightened whispers . . . unless you’re luring one,” Spike pointedly looked at his brooding Sire and the Slayer. “I never hid though. I sought her out.”
“You mean you were reckless and had no common sense,” Angel commented.
“What d’ya want me to say? I was young!” Spike shot back.
“You got off on killing her,” Buffy pointed out derisively.
“You’re telling me you don’t?” Spike asked skeptically.
I know I did, Angelus commented.
Angel rolled his eyes at Angelus’ comment.
“So how’d you kill her?” Buffy asked, wanting details of that more than a report on the testosterone levels that were currently skyrocketing around the billiard table.
Spike moved behind Buffy and smirked at Angel over her head. “Funny you should ask,” he whispered as his hand whipped out and took her by the neck. She instinctively reacted, bringing the pool cue up as a weapon, but Spike held her wrist at bay. Across the table, Angel was on edge. Part of him knew this was a lesson and the other part of him wanted to intervene.
“Lesson the first: a Slayer must always reach for her weapon,” Spike said and shifted into his demon. “I already got mine.”
That’s my boy, Angelus grinned.
Why are you encouraging him? Angel growled. This is just supposed to be a lesson.
He’s got good instincts, Angelus replied. Besides, she was all sneer-y about us fucking like we were some kind of deviants.
You are a deviant!
Plus, she smells delicious when that little dash of surprised ‘oh shit’ factor comes from her pores.
I see you sidestepped the fact that you are a deviant. You’re not going to object about that? Angel asked as he watched Spike’s interaction with Buffy. How long should I let this go on? He could hurt her . . .
You’re asking me when to restrain the boy? Angelus sounded surprised, and then for his own sick pleasure he asked, What’s the difference between a dead baby and a sandwich?
Angel gave an exasperated sigh. He was going to regret this. What?
I don’t fuck the sandwich before I eat it, Angelus replied, chuckling to himself over his own joke.
Ugh! You are the vilest, most disgusting demon . . . You’re right. Why am I asking you how to discipline Spike when you’re as immature as he is? How the hell he survived under your tutelage is beyond me, Angel sneered at his darker half.
Oh, now if we’re talkin’ discipline, lad, that’s a whole other thing. I thought we were talking about reining my boy in before he adds another notch to his belt. Not my cuppa tea, that’s more your department there. The wet blanket thing . . .
Wet blanket? You are the most unreliable . . . how did you survive? You wanna know how? Me inside your head, that’s how. I’m the intelligent one of the two of us. It was my resourcefulness that got you out of the messes you created.
Angel refocused on the scene and saw Spike shake off his demon. His three-minute discussion with Angelus felt like it went on longer than it did. After a moment, Spike released Buffy’s neck and took the pool cue from her.
As the blonde vampire walked around the table and lined up his shot, he said, “It’s a good thing, too. Become a vampire, you've got nothing to fear. Nothing, but one girl. That's you, honey. Back then . . . it was her.” Spike took his shot and looked up at Buffy. “How many of our kind do you reckon you’ve done?”
“Not enough,” Buffy replied sardonically.
Spike nodded and the corner of his mouth quirked up as he walked toward her again. “We just keep coming. You can kill a hundred, a thousand, a thousand-thousand and the enemies of Hell besides and all we need is for one of us – just one – sooner or later to have the thing we're all hoping for.”
Buffy shuddered but didn’t back down. “And that would be what?”
Spike leaned in closer and whispered in her ear, “One . . . good . . . day.”
Buffy pushed him away from her and furrowed her brow in anger, but Spike merely laughed at her reaction. “Hey! You asked and I'm tellin’. The problem with you, Summers is you've gotten so good, you're starting to think you're immortal.”
“Not really. I just know I can handle myself,” Buffy said with a flip of her hair.
“Oh?” Spike asked with a raised eyebrow. “Then, how do you explain this?” He reached out and lightly punched Buffy in her wound. As Buffy cried out in pain, Spike was yanked back against his Sire’s hard body.
“What did you do that for?” Angel hissed in his ear.
“I was showing that she isn’t as good as she thinks if she let some git get the drop on her,” Spike said derisively.
“This lesson of yours had better be fair, Spike or so help me, I’ll drag you back to the mansion and chain your ass to the bed again,” Angel growled softly.
Spike turned his head a little and smirked. “Why do I get the feeling you’d be doing that anyway after this is over?”
Angel silently cursed his childe for being a cock-tease and then he cursed the duster for being in the way. With Spike wearing it, he couldn’t touch him without Buffy noticing and she had already voiced her displeasure over seeing them together.
Buffy gasped as the pain slowly receded. She glared at the two vampires who were whispering to each other below human hearing. “So that’s it, lesson over?”
Both vampires looked at her as if they hadn’t noticed her standing there before she spoke. Spike tilted his head and said derisively, “Not even close. Come on.” |
