Chapter Four
Spike watched from his position behind a tree, as Angel skulked around the Watcher’s house. He was trying to see inside, but all the shades were shut tight. A smirk touched his lips as the dark haired vampire gave up, and stalked away.
*Wonder what Dru thinks of your little obsession.* He thought to himself, waiting to make sure Angel was good and gone. Druscilla could be viciously jealous, as Spike could attest to. He’d almost lost several layers of skin when he had finally left her.
Crushing his cigarette out under his boot, he stepped from behind the tree. Stretching his senses out, he made sure that Angel hadn’t doubled back before walking to the door.
After three sharp knocks, and a great deal of shuffling and whispering, the door swung open. There the Watcher stood, in a pair of casual khaki pants, a dark blue sweater, and well worn brown loafers. A crossbow was held unwavering in his hand. The blue eyes behind the glasses flashed dangerous sparks, causing Spike’s smirk to grow. He knew who this Watcher was. He’d almost been sent after him.
“Ripper.” Spike said, his scarred eyebrow raised. The Watcher, blanched a moment, but recovered quickly. That earned him points in the blondes book. “You know that won’t work on me.”
“It’ll slow you down.” Giles answered simply. A slight nod from the vamp conceded his point.
“Where is she?” Giles didn’t even pretend to not know what he was talking about.
“If I knew, do you really think I would tell you?” Spike rolled his eyes, and leaned against the door jamb.
“She’s a vampire.” he commented, “Do you really think, if she was aware, that she would want to live like that?” When the Watcher said nothing, Spike sighed, straightening. His face morphed, which had Giles’ eyes widen a fraction.
“You know I’m not bound by vampire etiquette. I don’t need an invitation to come in. It’s up to you whether or not I go through you to get there.” He took a step closer, impressed that the man continued to hold his ground. “I can smell, her, you know.” The silent battle of wills continued for a moment longer. Then, Giles sighed and stepped back. Spike’s human mask slid back into place as he stepped through the door. Looking around, he saw the small group of teenagers amassed in the living room. A look of confusion crossed his face just as a sharp sting in his neck had him spinning around. His hand came up to pull out the dart, his eyes landing on the Slayer, who was holding a gun.
*Stupid* was his last thought as the floor rushed up to meet him.
The three teenage girls studied the unconscious blonde. Cordelia and Buffy leaned on the back of the couch, the brunettes arms crossed over her chest. Willow was kneeling on the couch, her upper body draped across the back.
“He’s cute.” Cordelia stated, thoughtfully.
“Just cute? I thought he was HOT.” Buffy countered.
“Why do you think his hairs that color?” Willow wondered.
“It is a bit 80’s.” Cordy agreed.
“But it suits him. Kinda completes the whole ‘I’m a bad ass, don’t fuck with me’ theme he has goin’ on.” Buffy.
The other two nodded in agreement, ignoring the outraged gasping of Xander behind them.
“Shouldn’t we be stopping them?” he hissed at Oz. The two teenagers were sitting across the room, sifting through the piles of books Giles was having them read. He wanted them to see if there was any mention ANYWHERE, of a Slayer retaining her soul. “I mean, they’re ogling the evil, undead guy!” The werewolf looked at the three females, then between them to the object of their attention.
“Gotta say, Xand. He is good looking.” Oz said, in a tone that suggested that he was in complete touch with his masculinity, so he could say that. Xander blanched, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.
Spike had been awake for a while, but he was playing possum. He was trying to assess the situation, so he could get out of this mess. It wouldn’t look good for him to be bested by a bunch of gossiping hens. He did, however, bite his cheek to keep his smile at bay, while listening to the girls.
“Would you look at those cheek bones?” Cordy said with indignation. “Why is that GUYS get the eyelashes and the cheekbones? And we have to use mascara and blush to give us the ILLUSION of what God gave them naturally.” She snorted in disgust.
“Maybe it has to do with all that nature crap.” Buffy suggested, looking between her two friends. “You, know, the male of the species has to be prettier than the female to attract a mate, or something like that.”
“Oh yeah, like peacocks. The males are all bright and colorful, while the females are drab and brown.” Willow piped in.
“Speaking of cocks. . .” Cordy raised a delicate eyebrow, as all three sets of eyes traveled to the area in question. Spike wasn’t sure whether he was relieved or annoyed when the whelp squawked with righteous fury for the direction of the conversation.
“Xander, what are you blustering about?” Giles asked, walking from the back of the apartment. He was carrying yet another book, reading as he walked.
“They’re out here talking about his cheekbones, his eyelashes, and . . .his other parts.” The brunette yelped, waving his hands for emphasis. Giles looked at the three in question, taking in Cordelia’s cool expression, Buffy’s aversion of her eyes, and Willow’s face that matched her hair.
“Why is it okay for guys to talk about this stuff, and they’re considered just normal red blooded boys? But when a girl is curious about it, we’re treated like pariah’s or something.” Cordy huffed, glaring at Xander.
“Yeah!” Willow and Buffy chimed in, lending their support to their fellow female. Before any of the men had a chance to answer, Spike raised his head.
“That’s the way it’s always been, pet. Women aren’t supposed to be sexual creatures. Even though they are the embodiment of sexuality.” His blue eyes pierced into the Slayer’s, both feeling the electricity shoot between them. “Now, would somebody bloody well tell me WHY you gits are acting like its an every day thing to have two vampires in your midst?” All eyes stared at him, as if struck dumb for a moment. Willow had blushed as even deeper shade of red at being caught in their perusal.
Cordy merely shifted hips, and rolled her eyes. Xander backed away from the scene, placing the couch between him and Spike. Oz watched in quiet interest, while Giles simply closed his book with a sigh. Buffy and Spike continued to look at each other.
“Well, we usually only have one soulful vampire in our midst. That is before he lost it.” Willow started.
“Don’t you mean before Buffy screwed it out of him?”
“Cordelia!” The teens chorused. Giles took his glasses off and began to clean them furiously.
“What?” The brunette asked. “That’s what happened.” Rolling her eyes again, she stomped away from the couch and flopped in a chair. Grabbing her magazine she flipped through it, her fingers making each page snap.
“What. The bloody HELL. Are you talking about?” Spike pulled on the bindings at his wrists, finding it futile. They must have used magically enhanced rope. He glanced around the room, waiting for an answer from anybody. He couldn’t figure out why he didn’t feel any fear from any of them, towards the Slayer. Or how they all knew what she was to begin with. Slayer’s didn’t have friends and family as a rule. “Don’t you people realize your in danger?”
“Yes. We do.” Giles said, stepping in front of him. “But, I assure you, the threat does not come from Buffy.” Spike snorted at that.
“Right. And why’s that?”
“She kept her soul.” Another snort, and a disbelieving look was his answer. But he couldn’t deny the lack of fear in the room. Or the odd feeling he got whenever he looked at her. He turned his gaze back to her, searching deep into the hazel depths of her eyes. The first thing that struck him was the torrent of emotion that flowed through them. Anger, fear. Sadness and grief. Nausea ran through him as he recognized these as uncharacteristic of a soulless vampire. She should have already killed everyone on the room, long before he got there. Yet, witness them still alive. And despite the whelp, none of them seem uneasy around her. Hell, the three girls had just been discussing his bits and pieces.
His eyes widened a fraction as another thought struck him. If she had kept her soul, than the others. . .He couldn’t even think of it. All these years, he had believed what he had been doing was right. That giving up part of his humanity was a small price to pay against the threat of a turned Slayer. And after his brief exploration of his vampiric nature, he had resumed his duties tenfold, believing in the cause even stronger.
“Let me see if I got this right. You shagged Angel, he lost his soul. He turned you. And you kept YOUR soul. S’that bout right?”
“In a nutshell.” Buffy answered, watching as he struggled with this information.
*Bugger* he thought.
“Untie me.” his voice was quiet, but the words clear. His jaw was clenched as sorrow coursed through him, almost choking him with it’s intensity. What had he done?
“Er, I don’t think. . .” Giles started, only to stutter to a stop at the look in the blondes eyes.
“UNTIE. ME.” Buffy moved around her hesitant Watcher.
“I’m trusting you not to attack.” she told him, waiting for his nod of agreement before bending to grapple the bonds at his ankles.
“Buffy! Are you crazy? Undead. Vampire. Ring a bell?” Xander griped from a cross the room.
“I’m not undead you nit.” Spike sneered, rubbing his wrists once the ropes were gone. He stood and approached the Watcher, a desperate pleading in his eyes. “Does the Council know?” he asked.
“I do not know. It’s possible, I suppose.” Spike nodded, not really thinking he had the answer. Running an agitated hand through his hair, his other reached for his cigarettes.
“Would they have still sent you after her, if they did know?” Willow asked him. She had moved from the couch to her boyfriends side once Buffy had untied him. She didn’t think he would hurt them, but she wanted to be as far away as possible just in case. The look he sent her so full of anguish and confusion, her heart couldn’t help but go out to him.
“I dunno.” He dragged absently on the cigarette, his eyes getting a faraway look. He turned on his heel and strode out of the apartment, the door slamming in his wake.
“God, rude much?” Cordy snapped at his abrupt departure.
“Cordy.” Buffy hissed, glaring at the girl before striding out the door behind him. She got to the edge of the walk, turning in a circle to see which way he had gone. To her amazement, she didn’t see him any where. But her enhanced sense of smell picked up the lingering scent of tobacco, and she turned to go in that direction.
“BUFFY!” She stopped at the sound of her name, swiveling to face Giles.
“I don’t think it’s wise go after him. We don’t know if he will still try to kill you or not.”
“Did you see the look on his face?” He nodded, a grim smile settling on his features.
“He has a lot to think about right now. Give him a day or two, then we can try to talk to him again.” Buffy looked in the direction he left, then back at her Watcher. Nodding her head, she followed him back inside.
Spike stalked through the cemetery, looking for something, anything to pummel. A little spot of violence would calm him down enough to call Travers. *Guess I won’t be going back to the mansion tonight, again.* he thought offhandedly. Dru would probably be tearing the walls down by the next day when he didn’t show up. He knew she had some fantasy about her, Angel, and him being some sort of ‘family’. His stomach rolled at the thought.
The sound of a struggle to his left caught his attention. Flinging his fifth cigarette of the hour away, he took off at a jog. Their was Buffy and what he guessed was the new Slayer, fighting off a small horde of minions. Recognizing them as Angels’, he hung back, not planning on interfering unless he had too.
He was a tad annoyed that it was the Slayers. He was trying to get himself together enough to deal with this. He realized that he could be working himself up for no reason. There was a very real possibility that the other two hadn’t kept their souls. But instinct kept telling him that they had. It wasn’t exactly like he had stopped to ask. He’d hunted them, fought them, and killed them like the good little puppet he was.
A sharp cry brought his attention back to the fight in front of him. The Slayers had managed to cut the numbers down from ten to three, but, the dark girl was starting to tire. She had stumbled, and the vampire she was fighting took advantage of her distraction. Before she knew it, her arms were pinned behind her, the vamp reaching up to yank her head to the side. While the girl was still struggling, a cloud of dust burst around her. She landed hard on her butt, glaring up at Buffy.
“You could have warned me.” she groused, her accented voice clipped.
“Fine, next time I’ll let the nasty vampire eat you for a snack.” The girl on the ground rolled her eyes, but accepted the hand held out to her. Spike shrank back behind the tree, watching as the two girls walked out of the cemetery, good natured bickering flying between them.
He stared after them until he could no longer hear their voices, then turned in the opposite direction. He had a phone call to make.