And Make a Lost World Thy Home: Chapter Eight

[jesterladyfic]

Chapter Eight

When Spike initially picked up the phone he’d been hesitant to talk to anyone. After Buffy had left with Angel his focus on reality had wavered again, which had lasted the night, with him crouched on Buffy’s bed, frantically breathing in her scent and hating this brand new unlife.

The hatred soon brought about anger and the conviction that he was not about to let a little thing like a soul beat him. He’d had one before and he’d have one again and if William wanted to cower in a corner because of what a bad man he’d been, well, Spike would let him. He just wouldn’t participate any longer.

Spike had gotten up, had not wanted a smoke, which was a bad sign, and had been relieved when Logan took him down to the basement and asked him to spar.

It was somewhat refreshing, letting his body take over his mind and remind him of the things he could do, the way he felt while he was fighting. He didn’t have to worry about what fresh memories his new soul would dredge up for him to think about.

Logan let him just work it out and Spike appreciated that, even though he could sense waves of worry coming off the other man. That he just couldn’t focus on, so he let it go, where once he would have pounced on it. Still, he actually had fun and he heartily thanked Logan when they were finished. Logan was breathing hard, covered in sweat, and Spike shrugged his coat back on, looking as if he had simply strolled around the room.

“I guess you didn’t forget after all,” said Logan.

“Body remembers everything,” Spike said with a leer.

Logan shuddered and looked away.

“Now that’s Spike. Well, my suggestive friend, shall we lunch and see what the girls are up to?”

“Sure,” said Spike, shrugging.

The meal was quiet, Veronica hurrying back to hole up in her office after only a brief bite and Cordelia off doing goodness knows what.

Then the phone rang.

Logan picked it up and his face lightened slightly. Spike could hear a familiar sounding voice on the other end and part of him froze and the other part lurched happily.

“That is for you,” Logan said, handing Spike the phone.

“ ‘Lo,” he said, shooting for casual.

“Let’s just say you’re way overdue on helping me with my anthropology paper,” said Dawn.

Some fear broke inside of Spike and he chuckled.

“Sorry about that, Nibblet. Got a bit held up being dead.”

“You’re always dead, that’s no excuse,” she reprimanded.

“Well, hard to argue with that,” he said.

“No one wins arguments with me,” she said. “So there.”

“Nothing like a winning comeback,” said Spike, shifting the phone to a more comfortable spot and putting his legs up on the table.

Logan gave him a look of approval and vanished from the room.

Spike settled into the most relaxed he’d been since he got back while Dawn chattered away about school and her ambitions and Xander and Anya’s new kid and Willow’s coven and Giles and his inability to change.

She didn’t question him, at least not very much, for which he was grateful. She peppered bits of her news with tidbits about Buffy and he soaked them in. But soon it was down to the end and he knew the part when he’d have to talk about him was coming up.

“I just hung up with Buffy,” Dawn finally said.

“Yeah?” Spike said, trying not to sound too interested.

“She sounded like she was in a hurry and didn’t do the sisterly dish that I was hoping for,” said Dawn. “Sorry, but that makes you it. Tag.”

“Not much to say,” said Spike. “I don’t know what happened. I was dying, and then I wasn’t. A bit of a letdown for a story.”

“You can do better than that,” said Dawn. “I mean it, spill.”

Spike tried to wrap his thoughts together. He had been having difficulties with that, but if anyone could help him straighten out those thoughts, it was probably Dawn since Veronica hadn’t really been around.

So he laid it out for her, coming back and finding out it was five years later, feeling guilt for the first time in over a hundred years, not knowing why he was back, and trying desperately to hold on to his sanity.

“I got a lot of mess in here,” he finished. “Not really liking the direction.”

“It’s a lot,” said Dawn. “In fact, I think it’s probably too much.”

Spike laughed.

“That what you’re applying that education to?”

“I’m going for levity,” said Dawn. “Agreeing with you sincerely will only bring out the brooding genetics grossly passed down to you through bloodsucking.”

“Bloody shut your mouth,” said Spike, not able to stop a smile though.

“Not ever going to happen,” said Dawn.

“What’s your best advice then?” said Spike. “Give it to us straight, luv.”

“I know how much you love waiting,” said Dawn thoughtfully.

“Not even sarcastically,” he said.

“Talking then,” she said. “Straight up, pouring out the feelings, not holding anything back, building up friendships with everyone, bonding, talking.”

“I like talking,” said Spike. “Especially bragging.”

“Do some of that then,” said Dawn. “You saved the world. Just be prepared for people who know you to shoot that down like the crap it is.”

“You’re the most inspiring,” said Spike.

“Duh,” said Dawn. “Now, do I need to come down there? Because I’m gonna do that anyway, but I just have a few more finals.”

“Finish it,” said Spike firmly. “I didn’t spend an entire summer slogging through your homework so you could fail college.”

“Yeah, it’s all about you,” said Dawn. “I’ll go study. Seriously, call me if you need me though. Sometimes it takes Buffy a long time to process, you know that better than anyone. She really missed you, Spike. So did I.”

“Would’ve missed you,” said Spike, shrugging even though she couldn’t see him.

“I really love you,” said Dawn. “You’re all the male relatives apart from father I never had.”

“So I’m grandad?” asked Spike.

“You’re old enough to be,” she said cheerfully. “Love you, bye!”

Spike looked at the phone for a second, trying to wrap his head around the call. A very good call. He was smiling when Veronica popped her head in the door.

“Buffy called, somebody took the amulet.”

***

Buffy was feeling strangely calm when she and Angel knocked on a woman’s door.

When it opened a smug looking smile spread across the woman’s face.

“I can’t say I didn’t expect you,” Lilah said, leaning just inside the door.

“Then you know why I’m here, so let’s cut to the chase,” said Angel. “I’d really like to get my lawyer interrogation quota up.”

“Which is partly why I stayed home today,” said Lilah. “It’s so much easier being interrogated when you’re not trying to strangle me.”

“I have never strangled…her,” said Angel, looking sideways at Buffy.

She rolled her eyes and stepped into the room.

“Yeah, so, I’m gonna actually cut to the chase here. Angel can’t come in, I can. The name’s Buffy, you already knew that, I’m what he has nightmares about, so tell me where the amulet is.”

Lilah’s eyes tightened for a moment but she simply walked away from the door and sat down on the couch, her black suit somehow crisp and perfect.

“The infamous ex,” said Lilah. “Well, at least it’s not Darla.”

Angel glared and looked like he’d love to push his way into the room if he could.

“As complicated and fun as Angel’s history is,” said Buffy, leaning on the couch arm over Lilah, “I don’t have time for it right now. Answer the question.”

“Do you honestly think that I got where I am today by spilling my company’s alleged secrets?” asked Lilah, a smirk on her face.

“It’s pretty much a weekly dance from what Angel tells me,” Buffy said innocently.

Lilah’s smile thinned.

“It’s easy to feel like you have the upper hand when all you use is brute force. Yet, somehow we’re all still here, even I’m here, and you’re not getting anything out of me today.”

“I’m told I’m very persuasive,” said Buffy. “I think it’s the hair.”

“I bet it is,” said Lilah, leaning back. “That and the super strength. Yet, it won’t work on me and before you break out the physical intimidation, I’d just like to point out one tiny problem with your reasoning.”

“By all means,” said Buffy, an inner feeling of annoyance deepening.

“If, as you suggest, Angel and I do a weekly dance of me confessing all of Wolfram and Hart’s sins, why on earth do you think they’d entrust something like this amulet to Angel’s go to gal?”

“Because they’re so evil they’re really dumb?” suggested Buffy lamely.

“You’re always knee deep in everything, Lilah,” said Angel. “You can’t fool me.”

“Come in, Angel,” said Lilah, a plastered look of confidence on her face. She stood up as he practically blurred through the door, towering over her. “You see,” she said, her voice slightly quivering. “I don’t have anything, I don’t know anything. Plausible deniability is a pretty basic lawyer trick. You really need to get to know some new people.”

Angel glared at her until Buffy thought his forehead was going to fall off. She studied Lilah’s face and while she found traces of smugness, fear, and vicious delight, she didn’t see the hint of a lie.

Angel finally looked away and sighed, then turned to Buffy, gesturing to the door.

“You might want to disinvite him,” Buffy said confidentially to Lilah. “He gets cranky when he doesn’t get his way.”

Angel shot her a glower, but left without a word. Lilah gave Buffy a short nod and then shut the door behind her.

“Was that necessary?” said Angel.

“What, it’s true!” said Buffy. “So, you think she was telling the truth.”

“Unfortunately, yes,” said Angel. “She folds under fear so easily, even if she is slipperier than a blood-soaked body.”

“You would know,” said Buffy, slightly impressed he was willing to even say that in front of her. Maybe it was Cordelia’s influence. “So what’s next, you make some new friends?”

“Eventually,” said Angel. “I think we should go back to Neptune.”

“Agreed,” said Buffy. “The Powers told us enough, even if it was in a very annoying way. I don’t think I should leave Spike alone.”

“Wolfram and Hart is playing this one close to the vest,” said Angel. “Lilah’s involved, Lorne said so, so did Cordelia’s vision and Veronica’s dream, yet she clearly doesn’t know anything yet. Wolfram and Hart is being too smart. They’re usually quite showy with their evil, so I’m a bit concerned.”

“Check, concerned about evil,” said Buffy, suddenly feeling quite tired. “This time I’m really sleeping in the car.”

“Wes can drive,” said Angel, looking just as worn.

Buffy nodded and they made their way back to the hotel in silence, a slight ping of joy filling her when she realized that for the first time in five years, she was going back to a place where Spike was and this time, she knew he was really there and that it was really him.

***

Logan prepared for the second big meeting at his house since this had all started. He wasn’t quite sure how they’d become the headquarters of this latest potential apocalypse, but at least it was saving him gas money.

He hung up the phone with his assistant and finished putting away the groceries. Veronica had been knee deep in research with Mac for hours now. Mac had finally gone home, but now Buffy, Angel, and Wesley were due back any minute. Tara had arrived a few minutes before and was helping him in the kitchen.

“You gonna tell me what Veronica said or do I have to charm it out of you?” he asked, going for flirtatious and charming rather than brooding and emotionally panicked.

“I give up. You know the manly charm always does me in,” said Tara.

Logan shrugged and winked at her.

“Can’t help but try.”

Tara smiled and turned to face him as he hopped up on the counter.

“She really is very much in love with you, you know?” Tara said. “I’ve never known Veronica when she wasn’t with you, but there’s this look in her eyes when she sees you that I never see any other time. Like…she’s actually comfortable, not restless, not trying to figure something out.”

Logan wanted to well up suddenly, but contained himself.

“She never has to be anything other than herself with me,” he said. “All I ask is that she doesn’t run.”

“I think I’m here to stay,” said Veronica wryly, coming into the kitchen.

Logan jumped a little. He was usually the stealthier of the two of them, but she had definitely learned how to be quiet on long stakeouts and used that to her advantage whenever she could. Plus, he might have been feeling slightly guilty about trying to wheedle information out of Tara.

“My darling wife,” he said, planting a kiss on her brow.

“Don’t worry,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I have not come with the wrath of the ages to rain fire down upon you. We can do all that later.”

“Such a tease,” said Logan and hopped off the counter.

Tara watched them with a fond smile on her face.

“What’s next?” she asked.

“They just pulled up,” said Veronica. “Let’s face the music.”

“Only if we can dance,” said Logan, leading the way.

Spike and Cordelia were already in the living room, having some kind of spirited argument about predicting the future and his ex, so it was to a packed room that Buffy, Angel, and Wesley returned.

Logan listened with extreme interest while Buffy and Angel explained their conversations with Lilah and the Powers That Be’s lackey. He noticed that Spike got more and more uncomfortable the more they spoke.

“Let me suss this out,” Spike said. “I’m resting in peace after bloody saving the world and then the Evil League of Lawyers decide they want my shiny bauble and bring me back, but the Powers That Ruin Lives decided I was too good an opportunity to waste and get the white hats to do it first and now both sides are gunning for my sodding connection to a piece of jewelry even Dru wouldn’t wear voluntarily?”

“About sums it up,” said Angel.

“You were brought back for a reason,” said Wesley. “Some higher purpose or calling, to help save the world.

“Well, who gave them the bloody right to do that?” said Spike.

Buffy gave him a sharp glance and Logan narrowed his eyes at the look of pain on her face.

She shrugged it off and addressed the room at large.

“Whatever, we know the amulet and Spike are important to Wolfram and Hart’s plans and that they’re the ones who enhanced Veronica’s dreams.” She turned to Veronica. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t get more information. Hopefully you and Tara have figured out some more?”

“Not much,” said Veronica, shifting uncomfortably. “We had a good breakthrough talk, but still need to sift some data around to determine if this is permanent and find the exact origin. But knowing the Powers power-started this sudden influx of dreams definitely gives us a starting point.”

Logan made a mental note to ask her exactly what the breakthrough was and returned his concentration to the conversation.

“This is fascinating and all that,” said Cordelia. “I can’t wait to see what Spike and his diamond do to enhance the quality of my life with their new higher purpose. Yet, I find myself asking the obvious question of what exactly it is we’re supposed to do about Wolfram and Hart?”

“Yes, that’s important,” said Angel, glancing sideways at Spike. “Wolfram and Hart always have an angle and we don’t know it. Since they’ve decided to move on…to Spike,” he said it with a slightly bitter tone and Logan wondered if he even realized how he sounded, “we need to figure it out.”

“So, how and where?” asked Logan.

“I think Spike needs to stay away from LA,” said Buffy.

“I’ll just be a kept man, shall I?” said Spike in a sullen tone.

“You’ll be a safe man,” retorted Buffy. “None of your harebrained ‘run off into the danger because you got bored’ plans.”

“Yes, Slayer,” Spike said with as much insolence as Logan had ever heard come out of someone’s mouth.

“Angel is the best person to keep track of Wolfram and Hart,” said Cordelia. “We’ll go back home and see what we can find out.”

“I doubt I’ll find anything, but I’ll keep researching,” said Wesley.

“So will Veronica and I,” said Tara. “Other than that, I think we have to wait until we know more.”

Logan and Spike shared identical looks of annoyance across the room.

“But I’m not leaving yet,” said Cordelia. “You guys just got here. We’ll stay the night and then leave, is that okay?” she asked, turning to Veronica.

“Of course,” said Veronica. “You know where your rooms are.”

“Then let’s all turn in and stop obsessing over our separate issues,” said Cordelia, almost pushing Angel in front of her.

Logan had to hide a smile. The woman unnerved him, but the way she handled Angel was nothing short of genius. Especially considering how grumpy Angel looked about all the attention being lavished on Spike.

Of course, Logan had his own axe to grind with the situation they were now facing. He watched as everyone dispersed and Veronica and Tara lingered at the doorway before Tara left for home. After waving goodbye at him, Tara left and Logan approached Veronica, determined not to pry or freak out.

“Care for some pillow talk?” he asked, leaning against the doorjamb.

***

Veronica had found that finally confessing to someone about Lilly was actually quite freeing. It meant she wasn’t spending all of her mental power trying to convince herself it didn’t mean anything.

Once she and Tara had talked, Tara had done another reading on her and said she thought she’d know more once she looked in one of her books, which she’d been doing before the others got back.

Now that Buffy was here and had brought the information about the Powers, Veronica suddenly felt very calm.

She walked Tara to the door and didn’t even need to ask.

“This is your gift,” said Tara warmly. “Your abilities are inherent within you, I’m sure of it. It was a small gift, ignored perhaps in favor of your other more naturally acquired abilities, but something likely triggered in danger and deep emotion. It was just there when you needed it, shaped by one of your strongest memories of sadness and fondest memories of joy.” Veronica blinked and tried to keep back a tear. That was one of the best descriptions of Lilly she’d ever heard. “Then you were chosen,” continued Tara. “The Powers enhanced that gift inside of you. That’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“Lucky me,” said Veronica, feeling peace about only one particular aspect of that thought.

“Try not to think about it tonight,” said Tara and hugged her. “It will all be there come the morning and you’ve got all of us on your side. The Powers can’t take away what’s inside of you and you can control this.”

“Do you promise?” asked Veronica.

“I never make promises,” said Tara sadly, “they’re too easy to break.”

“Good night,” said Veronica.

Tara waved.

She stood and watched Tara go before feeling more than seeing Logan come up behind her and lean against the doorjamb.

“Care for some pillow talk?”

She turned around and studied him, a picture of casual interest, and all hers. She tried to process what she was feeling, but everything was a bit too much. What she held on to in the cacophony of emotion was that Lilly, however much Lilly might be her own power manifesting itself, was her protector. The only person who loved and knew Lilly like she did was Logan.

“We have to talk about Lilly,” said Veronica.

Logan looked very confused and she didn’t blame him, but she took his hand and took him upstairs to their bedroom.

There was a small window seat in the room and Veronica had fallen in love with it the first time she saw it. It was one of the main reasons why she’d wanted this house in particular. She’d pictured many hours there, lightly working on cases or having talks like this one.

She sat Logan down and she wanted to curl up against his chest and turn the lights off and see if they could see stars outside the glow of the street lamps like they sometimes did, but instead she placed her back against the opposite wall and faced him with a small smile on her face.

“What’s going on, Veronica?” asked Logan, much more gently than he normally would.

She shook her head and tried to figure out what she wanted to say.

“I’ve always been this,” she finally said. “I’ve always seen the future or pieces of it. I just didn’t know that’s what it was.”

“How?” he asked. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I never told anyone,” she said. “I didn’t know how. It was just…my personal thing, you know?” He nodded, but was clearly still waiting for more. “After Lilly…died, I saw her,” she said, picking at her sleeve. “I saw her at her house and before the bus crash and I dreamt about her the night your d- Aaron tried to kill me. I dreamt about her a lot over the years and she’d always tell me things, help me piece together what I was missing on a case, or just talk to me. After we met Buffy I figured she was really there and it wasn’t just me being crazy, but I thought it was all about Lilly, not about me. I’ve dreamed other things, too, and Tara says she’s really sure that this is all me, that I’ve always had this gift.”

“Makes sense,” Logan said, resting his hand on her ankle, but not moving any closer to her.

“So the Powers took what I had and enhanced it,” said Veronica. “This is me; this is who I am, and who I’ll always be.”

“I still don’t know what that means,” said Logan. “Can you control it, force it, channel it? What is it?”

“I’ll work on that piece,” said Veronica, forcing a smile. “I feel…okay though.”

“Good,” said Logan.

“Do you feel okay?” she asked, looking at him.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t really know anything. I need you to talk to me, I’m glad you are.”

“I know,” she said, breathing out a sigh. “Honestly, this was just something I was never going to tell anyone ever. It was so private, my best friend keeping me safe from beyond the grave.”

“How did she look?” asked Logan and Veronica looked up at the crack in his voice.

He had his wounded puppy dog look on and she knew it wasn’t on purpose. When Logan wanted to fake a wounded look he could never quite hide the impish part of his eyes, but when he was crushed, she’d never known anyone who could look that wrecked. It made her want to cry every time.

“She was good,” said Veronica. “Always. Just being Lilly in all the ways that Lilly could be Lilly.” He laughed slightly. “I know that this is a good thing,” she said. “Because even if my powers decided to give me Lilly to help me predict the future, it was Lilly, and I trust that.”

“That doesn’t sound very Veronica,” he said, teasing coming back into his tone.

“I’m allowed to have layers,” said Veronica, scooting toward him like she’d wanted to do from the beginning.

He welcomed her into the circle of his arms and she took a moment to bask in the comfort of his steady breathing. There was nothing quite like hearing someone’s heartbeat to make you feel safe.

“So, where do you want to go from here?” he asked.

“Logan, I feel okay about having these powers,” she said, and wondered if she could voice her fears properly. “I’m not okay with the Powers using me as their conduit to do…whatever. But can we just focus on the okay with it part for tonight?”

“I’ve always been a sucker for a woman with superpowers,” he said in response, lightly kissing the back of her head. “My wife, the superhero. We’re going to have to give you a name, you realize?”

“Don’t you dare,” she said, smiling.

“Ah, ah,” he said. “The hero never gets to choose, it’s part of the burden. Now…let me see, Sibylline? No, The Illimitable Detective.”

Veronica tried to quell her laugh as he named off ridiculous things into the night, clinging to the sound of his voice and the rhythm of his breathing before facing what came next.

***

Spike found himself a bit on edge now that Buffy and Angel had figured out why he was back. After all, he’d done the whole Champion saving the world bit, wasn’t he entitled to some kind of peace or at least a choice in what happened next? But then again, in some ways, being Spike had never really been about choice. He was a patchwork man and always had been; full of ideas and books and other people’s conceptions, rebelling against his past, but always finding himself smack dab in the middle of it anyway.

He just didn’t like the idea of someone deciding his future and what kind of path he would have. Yes, he’d decided to stop being actively evil and to stay with Buffy and to be her Champion and receive a soul and stay in the Hellmouth as it collapsed around him…but none of that gave any Higher Power or Lower Evil the right to pop him in and out of existence and time like he was their puppet.

Buffy watched him out of the corner of her eye and he knew he should be giving her some kind of reassurance about how he was feeling but he felt instead rather like picking a fight. A bit of violent sparring perhaps, yet somehow the idea also made him feel a bit sick. The influence of the soul, that. The rough and tumble would have given him his jollies before, but now the idea of hurting anything was repugnant to some part of him that was more prevalent than before. That angered him because violence and the adrenaline rush that came with it was the blood that ran through his veins.

“I’m not gonna fall apart, Buffy, you can stop looking at me like that,” he said.

“I wasn’t aware I was looking at you at all,” she said.

“Right, must be some other bloke who’s recently come back from bleeding death,” he said.

“I take it you’re not too thrilled about that,” she said carefully and he hated her tact. She was supposed to tell him the truth bluntly.

“What I do is nobody’s business but mine,” he said, pacing a little.

“Interesting viewpoint,” she said. “Maybe you’ve actually been given a chance to do something else, Spike; did you ever try to look at it like that?”

“That what you thought?” he said, looking harshly at her. “When you got back I bet the first thought was how bloody happy you were to be ripped out of heaven.”

She didn’t flinch but he could hear her heart start to beat faster.

“You’re well aware of what I was thinking then,” she said quietly. “But our circumstances are a bit different unless there’s something you’re not telling me.”

“I always tell the truth,” he said, flinging it at her.

“Now there’s a lie,” she said, walking closer and mimicking his voice badly. “ ‘What can I tell you, baby? I’ve always been bad.’ Ring any bells?”

“With you,” he said. “When I’m with you, there’s no lies. But it’s not easy coming back, you know that.”

“Which is why I can help you,” she said. “No one else can, not even Angel.”

Spike stiffened at the name and the reminder.

“I don’t want your pity,” he said.

“I wanted your comfort,” she said. “That’s all I’m trying to give you. What happened while I was gone? I thought you said…”

“Well, I didn’t have all the facts,” he said. “Now that I do, I still don’t know anything. I’m walking in a world where everyone else knows their place.”

“Your place is with me,” she said finally. “Always, it’s with me.”

He stopped pacing and tried to find an irrational response to that, but none of the warring parts inside would let him. There was something so very captivating about her in her vulnerability that made him both swell with pride and want to weep from shame.

“Right,” he said. “Sorry, love. In fact there’s no place I’d rather be, except it’s just a bit hard to fall back into place until I know who I am.”

“No one’s rushing for a finish line here,” she said. “We have time now.”

“Mayhap,” he said. “Still, it’s weird, innit? Talking to a dead man who’s a bit more dead than usual.”

“Our relationship has never been what anyone would call normal,” she said, smiling slightly. “Anyway, it turns out normality is underwhelming.”

He nodded and took a step toward her, taking her hand and pressing it against his chest for a moment.

“Gotta clear my head, yeah?”

She frowned, but then nodded.

“I’ll be waiting for you in my room,” she said.

Spike strode past her and headed outside where he stood on the porch and for the first time since he’d been back wanted a smoke.

Seeing as how he didn’t have any and he knew none were in the house, he thought he’d go and see if he could get some.

He walked down the driveway, unfamiliar with the exact area, but he’d been in Neptune enough to know the main layout. He patted down his pockets and remembered he didn’t have any money. With a smirk he decided he’d try a bit of sleight of hand, feeling pricks of guilt, but in the long run, what was a pack of cigarettes?

He hadn’t gone far when he had the sensation he was being watched. It was a coldly familiar sensation that he wasn’t sure he wanted to remember. He kept walking, senses on high alert, but he didn’t hear or see anything. He just kept feeling like something was wrong.

He began looking for some kind of weapon, but the kind of neighborhood Veronica and Logan lived in didn’t really lend itself to handy steel pipes or long planks of wood.

There was a rough hissing sound from his left and Spike instinctively ducked. A cold scaly hand clipped his shoulder and Spike twisted to the right. A demon had come up to him, scaled and reptilian, humanoid in form. It was dressed in black leather and carried a long, hard, baton-looking cyclical shape in its hand.

“Was I bothering you, mate?” asked Spike.

“You will come with me,” said the demon, the voice raspy and echoing.

“My mum told me something about not going off with strangers,” said Spike. “Sure, I ignored her once and got turned into a vampire in an alley, but fool me twice and all that.”

A part of him was starting to get excited and he bounced a little on his feet.

“You will come,” said the demon, lunging at him again.

It was fast and Spike just barely dodged the baton aimed at his skull. He pitched forward, driving his shoulder into the demon and knocking it backwards. Its back hit a tree with a thud and Spike used the momentary pain to drive an elbow into its face.

It pulled the baton back from behind Spike and jammed his shoulder, tugging him closer to the demon, who reached his other hand to try and get it around Spike’s neck.

Spike twisted to the ground and punched the demon’s midsection before backing away for some metaphorical breathing room.

The demon hissed and came at him again, Spike trading punches and dodging blows, amazing to see how easily this was coming back to him. Pretty soon he was fully enjoying himself, any bits of guilt he might have felt being exorcised in the glory of beating something that was doing wrong.

Still, the demon was strong and fast and clever, using the area around them as well as its own weapon to leave Spike with some rather fantastic bruises. It backed Spike into a corner of a fence and began to rain heavy and fast blows, then lunged back for a hard punch that would leave Spike disoriented enough to capture. Spike jumped as far upward as he possibly could and grabbed hold of the top of the fence above him. He used his feet, kicking the demon several times before spring boarding off the fence and taking off running.

He was so close to the house that it didn’t take him long to make the driveway. The demon was following close behind him, but Spike didn’t want to make too much noise so he didn’t try to alert anyone. Luckily, it was trash day and Spike grabbed the cover off of Veronica and Logan’s trash bin and smashed it over the demon’s head. It cracked and broke apart like the plastic it was and Spike looked at it in disgust before kicking the demon in the ribs.

The porch light behind them went on and Buffy and Angel ran out of the house. The demon hissed and used the distraction to kick Spike in the face and run down the street, hopping fences. Angel ran after it while Buffy stopped where Spike was bent over, hands on his knees.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“Just keen,” he said, spitting out some blood.

Angel came back just then and stopped Buffy from heading out after him.

“It got away,” he said. “But that was a Kov’leth, they’re bounty hunters.”

“I’d say Wolfram and Hart wants you back,” said Buffy. “Needy lawyers.”

Spike couldn’t help but agree with her.