A/N: As mentioned in the summary, this story idea came from the movie Breathless, one of my favorite movies. If you've seen the movie, you may recognize some of the dialogue including some dialogue from the Buffyverse. I hope you enjoy it so please review. I need it.
A/N: For the sake of this story, Sunnydale is an hour outside Los Angeles.
Monday
William "Spike" Jones endured the painful needle as it etched its intent into his skin. He watched in silence as the tattoo artist created the work of art on his chest above his right nipple. The artist followed Spike's design right down to the last letter of the woman's name. Spike had spent his last fifty bucks having the permanent reminder done.
"You're crazy man. I can't believe you're getting the name of a chick you just met tattooed on your chest." The man with the bad acne scared face said, paging through an outdated magazine.
"I'm in love mate and she loves me too." Spike replied.
"How do you know?"
"I saw it in her eyes when we first met."
"That love at first sight stuff is a lot of bullshit...invented by some desperate ugly chick who took up stalking on some poor guy who wouldn't give her the time of day."
"How do you know some desperate guy didn't make it up?"
"Because men don't fall in love so easily that's a woman's thing."
"All come on Clem...let me ask you a question."
"What?"
"Have you ever been in love?"
"You already know the answer to that."
"Yeah right I forgot about that chick name Dawn."
"I wasn't in love with her and you know it...so my answer is no I've never been in love."
"I'm just fucking with you mate...I know...you see there...I rest my case."
"I'm just trying to get you to see that what you're doing is crazy. You spend four days with a hot chick and now suddenly you're in love. What do you even know about her?"
"I know she's beautiful. She lives in some place called Sunnydale. She's an Art History major at USC and I got her address and phone number."
"How did you get all that...I thought you told me she left you in the middle of the night without even saying goodbye."
"She did. I got the important information from the cute little clerk at the front desk of the hotel she stayed in. Clem my boy we're going to Sunnydale."
"You charming motherfucker. You know we have to get out of the country for a while at least until things cool down. We agreed no stops until we get to Mexico."
"I know but I'm taking her with us. We have to go through California anyway to pick up the money from that job we did. Besides, Sunnydale is only an hour away from Los Angeles."
"You're crazy...do you know that?"
"That's what I keep hearing but crazy in love is more like it."
"All done check it out," said the tattooed artist sporting the long ZZ Top beard.
Spike looked into the mirror and smiled. The tattoo was a perfect shaped heart in red with the letters B-U-F-F-Y heavily outlined in black and a pair of dice displaying snake eyes.
"That will be sixty bucks."
"Sixty you said fifty an hour ago. Spike replied, annoyed he'd just been hustled out of ten bucks.
"Well that was before you told me it was personalized."
Spike looked at Clem.
"Loan me ten bucks, mate. You can take it out of my share of the money."
"Wow that leaves me with $50,010." Clem whispered low into Spike's ear.
Both men laughed and walked out of the tattoo parlor. Before getting in on the passenger side of Spike' car, Clem stopped to inspect it. The black broken down Desoto's age was beginning to show.
"There is no way this hunk of junk is going to make it all the way to Mexico. We gotta get some new wheels man. Something that will get us to California in a hurry then my man Xander can hook us up with another ride that will take us all the way to Mexico."
"What are you talking about...this classic beauty has never let me down. There is no way I'm getting rid of this baby but you're right we do need some new wheels. I'll park her at my buddy's place until we get back from Mexico."
"How long do you think we'll be down there?"
"I don't know I've never seen the future." Spike replied, shrugging his shoulders.
Spike parked his black Desoto in the driveway of his buddy, Angel's place.
"So where are you heading?" Angel asked.
Not thinking ahead, Clem shouted.
"California"
Spike turned to face Clem, blazing his eyes at him. It wasn't a good idea to reveal where they were going to anyone in case something went down. However, Spike couldn't be mad at his friend. Clem was a little slow.
"What's in California?"
Clem was about to speak again but Spike nudged him into silence.
"We're going to visit a sick relative's of Clem."
Angel looked at Spike, picking up on the fact that he was asking too many questions.
"I see"
Removing the tension from the air, Spike asked Angel to drop them off on the Vegas strip.
"Hey, thanks mate. We really appreciate it. I owe you one."
"You owe me two but whose counting...just take care of yourself man." Angel replied, shaking Spike's hand with concern in his eyes.
Spike jumped out the black convertible with ease and laughed when Clem tried to do the same but falling to the sidewalk instead. Spike helped him up, smiling at his best friend with nothing but love in his heart for him.
Clem was like a brother. They met in foster home when they were both ten years old and products of abusive homes. Instantly they became best friends running away from the foster home when they were only thirteen years old. They figured the streets had more to offer them than the foster home that treated them badly. They survived by stealing and hustling rather than turning tricks to eat like most of the other kids their age. The remainder of their teenage years was spent in and out of detention homes. In their early twenty's they graduated to county jails until they got smart enough to stay out. Spike was twenty-six years old, vowing never to return.
Jail was a horrible place especially for a guy like him. He was blessed with good looks and charm, which worked great with the ladies, but in jail it was the kiss of death. He often had to fight off several men at once to prevent them from raping him. He was successful in every fight. Quickly earning a reputation as a guy no one wanted to piss off in a dark alley. His buddy Clem wasn't so lucky. A week before they both were to be released from their last stint in jail, Clem was raped. Spike always regretted not being there to protect him like he always did. Not soon after leaving jail, the friends resumed their life of stealing cars and petty crime. They were naturals at it. Often recruited by others higher up the crime food chain to do special jobs so they didn't get their hands dirty. The last job Spike and Clem did was for a wealthy man by the name of Rupert Giles nicknamed The Ripper. The job required the best friends to steal a fleet of luxury cars to be sold over seas. The job was a success, netting them fifty thousand dollars each but there was a catch. They had to pick up the money in Los Angeles.
The two best friends strolled up the strip with only one thing on their minds, stealing a car.
"What about this one?" Clem asked, pointing to a black Porsche in the parking lot of a fancy restaurant.
"Perfect" Spike replied.
Clem was the look out man while Spike pulled out his homemade doorjacker he had hidden in his leather coat. The device was guaranteed to open any car he wanted. Quickly he gained access, hot-wiring the car and pulling out of the parking space. He signaled for Clem to get inside. He placed their duffle bags inside the car getting into the passenger's seat. The buddies eased out of the parking lot and onto the freeway. It was 235 miles from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. The plan was to pick up the money then head to Sunnydale to retrieve Spike's unsuspecting ladylove, Buffy.
"Come on man, push it. Let's see what this baby can do."
"I was just thinking the same thing but first I need to hear it man."
"No, not that damn song again."
"Hey I thought you liked that song."
"I use to until you started wearing it out."
"Tell you what you let me listen to it and I promise to never play it in your presence ever again...deal."
"Deal"
"What's so special about this song anyway?"
"It's a testimony to our friendship. If it weren't for you, I would have killed myself in that God forsaken foster home. You saved my life and I'll never want to forget it."
"Man stop you're going to make me cry. I love you too...now pick up the speed." Clem replied, wiping a way a tear in secret.
Clem looked over at his best friend, convinced he caught Spike tearing up.
"Is that a tear I see in your eye?"
"I don't cry."
"You are so lieing right now." Clem replied.
"Okay that one time was different. It was sad when they shoot old yellow. I loved that dog."
Spike talked about death often to Clem's dismay. The two lived on the edge a long time, always jumping off. Their lives were submerged in risk and danger but they loved the rush and not living by society's rules. They lived in the present. They lived for the moment and never planned for the future. Spike never wanted to get married, never wanted children, and he never had a steady girlfriend. Every woman he'd met wanted to tie him down except Buffy. She wanted nothing from him. He liked that. He'd never met anyone so naïve and innocent yet tough as nails. She was just 18 years old but was more mature than women his age. He cherished their four days together like they were a lifetime. Spike smiled while the thought of seeing her again caused his heart to skip a beat. He was getting excited, impatiently beating on the steering wheel.
"Hey mate what's the hold up play my song."
Clem reached into Spike's duffel bag and retrieved the beat up Creed CD. He inserted it skipping to the number five song and turned up the volume. Spike shifted the gears to increase the speed.
Please come now I think I'm falling
I'm holding on to all I think is safe
It seems I found the road to nowhere
And I'm trying to escape
I yelled back when I heard thunder
But I'm down to one last breath
And with it let me say
Let me say
Hold me now
I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking
That maybe six feet
Ain't so far down
I'm looking down now that it's over
Reflecting on all of my mistakes
I thought I found the road to somewhere
Somewhere in His grace
I cried out heaven save me
But I'm down to one last breath
And with it let me say
Let me say
Hold me now
I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking
That maybe six feet
Ain't so far down
Sad eyes follow me
But I still believe there's something left for me
So please come stay with me
Cause I still believe there's something left from you and me
For you and me
For you and me
Hold me now
I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinking
That maybe six feet
Ain't so far down
"Man that was beautiful," Clem said, laughing.
"Hey don't joke me, mate. I love that song.
"I'm just kidding." Clem replied, knowing every time he heard the song it touched him. Spike was the most important person in his life. He tried to shake off the emotions.
"Enough of this morbid and emotional shit, lets see what this baby can do. I got the need for speed."
Spike looked over at his friend, laughing. He was always quoting that line from the movie "Top Gun" that's why he never let Clem drive.
"Hey make yourself useful." Spike said, pointing to the glove compartment.
Clem opened it, jerking back when a gun came tumbling out. He picked it up and examined it. Spike had taken his eyes off the rode briefly to look back and forth over at his best friend. Spike saw the look in his eyes. It was clear Clem was fascinated with his discovery. Spike hated guns. They were bad luck and unlike most of their criminal minded friends, he was glad he and Clem never had to use one.
"Hey man, get rid of it."
"No, we might need it." Clem replied.
"For what."
"What if this Rupert guy doesn't give us our money?"
"Then we take it...it's what we're good at"
"Well this will insure it."
"That's not a good idea, mate. I told you guns are bad omens."
"There you go again with that." Clem replied, waving the gun carelessly.
"If you want get rid of it...I will.
Spike reached for the gun but Clem pulled away.
"Hey man, don't that. This thing might go off."
"You didn't check to make sure the safety was on first."
"Safety?"
"Yeah...didn't you know that?"
Clem searched for the safety on the gun but it was too dark inside the car. Not paying attention to what he was doing, he placed the gun in between his thighs with the barrel facing up. He reached up to turn of the interior light. When he tried to pick up the gun, his thumb touched the trigger and he shot himself in the head.
Blood splattered all over the passenger seat and the side and back windows even on Spike causing him to lose control of the car. He swerved off the rode trying to regain control and too afraid to look over at his friend. While his eyes focused on the rode, he chanted in his head he's not dead. His heart beat loudly in his chest, filtering through his ears and drowning out the music as he continued to play long after his song had finished.
He pulled to the side of the rode and finally looked over at his dead friend. Spike pulled him into his lap and cried for the second time in his life, rocking his Clem in his arms. He closed his eyes, trying to make sense of what just happened. Only one thing made sense, guns were bad luck. He looked down at his friend shedding one last tear watching it drop onto Clem's blooded face. Spike lowered his head and whispered ashes to ashes and dust to dust in his ear. He raised his head and looked into the rear view mirroring, seeing the approaching state trooper's car creeping up behind the stolen vehicle.
Spike panicked, grabbing the gun and trying to decide what to do next. The trooper shouted for Spike to step out of the car with his hands up. Spike followed his instructions, concealing the gun. Still panicking, he ran pulling the gun out and throwing it as far as he could. The trooper chased after him, shooting. Spike stopped then held his hands up again. Reason entered his mind, he didn't want to die like his friend in the dessert but he didn't want to go back to jail either. He turned around to face the officer watching him point the gun at him. The trooper walked behind Spike in an attempt to handcuff him. Spike spun around, grabbing the gun. They struggled falling to the ground. The gun accidentally fired. Both men stilled until Spike wiggled his way from beneath the dieing man, kicking up dirt and staring in shock. Nervously he looked around, summing the strength to keep it together. He moved back over to the trooper, turning him over onto his back. Spike checked his pulse relieved the trooper was still alive but unconscious. Spike removed his jacket, placing it under the trooper's head then ran back to car. He pulled Clem's lifeless body from the vehicle, placing it on the side of the road. He'd taken all the cash from his wallet knowing he would need it and covered Clem's face with a shirt from his duffel bag. He ran over to the state trooper's car and radioed in officer down. He jumped back into the stolen Porsche and sped off, leaving tire tracks in the asphalt.
A/N: For those of you still interested in how this story plays out, please review.
squawks
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!