Banner by Selene
Banner
by Selene
Chapter 2: Remember Me?
Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean
Spike looked out the window of the Lear jet as it crossed the Atlantic Ocean. He
was trying to think of something to say to Buffy when he showed up on her
doorstep.
“Hey, luv, how s'ya been?”
“Nope, s’too impersonal. Damn!” Spike mumbled as he threw back another
shot of rum.
“Ya miss me?”
“Bollocks!”
'This is harder than I thought,' Spike thought as he refilled his shot
glass with rum and gulped it down.
“ARRRGGGGHHHH!!”
Spike stood up on unsteady feet and flung the glass across the airplane. He
picked up the bottle and drank from it straight. A minute later, the last of the
rum was gone and that empty bottle joined the other empty one of Jack Daniels on
the floor. Collapsing back into his chair, he thought about the events leading
up to him currently being on the plane. A smile came to his lips when he thought
about his conversation with Angel.
“I need to borrow the plane, Peaches.”
“Come again?”
“I said…I need to borrow the bloody plane, mate.” Spike’s bad-boy
attitude started to appear at having to repeat himself.
“What for?”
“Look. It’s just sitting at the bloody airport, not being used. What’s it
to you anyway? Thought you wanted to be rid of me, and all.”
“Buffy,” he growled.
“Yeah, what about her?” Spike questioned, playing innocent.
“You’re going to see her!”
“So?” Attitude was coming off of Spike in waves now. “What’s it to ya?
I’ve put it off long enough. Time to see where I stand with her. Lil ’Bit,
too. Tired of sitting here wallowin' in me sorrow. Forgot for a while who I was.
I’m not running away. Time for me to take what I want and damn the
consequences.”
Spike didn’t see the punch coming. One minute he was starting to get all
philosophical and rationalize his feelings for Buffy, the next minute he was
flying through the air, landing funny on the couch.
“Right then,” Spike said as he rubbed his throbbing jaw.
He vamped out, pushed himself to his feet and attacked. Angel was waiting for
him, already had his game face on. But, his grandsire wasn’t ready for a
determined Spike. He started running towards Angel, but before reaching him,
Spike launched himself straight at Angel’s midsection. The force of that
headlong dive sent them both crashing over and behind Angel’s desk. Since
Spike landed on top of Angel, he was able to get up first. Over and over, they
traded punches, kicks.
So into their battle, they didn’t hear Angel’s office door open. Didn’t
see Fred, Wesley, Gunn, and Lorne throw open the office doors and rush inside to
see what the commotion was all about. They were too busy concentrating on who
would get the upper hand. After a while, their bloodlust subsided.
Now, they were throwing punches for their own perverse pleasure.
Having had enough, Angel threw his grandchilde off of him saying, “Hurt her
and I’ll stake you myself.”
“Hello?! Slayer. If anyone’s gonna be doin the hurtin, ’s gonna be her,
Peaches.” The elder vampire raised an eyebrow over the obvious disrespect in
that nickname but didn’t comment about it.
“I’ll call the pilots and let them know you’re coming.”
Spike walked out the door, never looking back.
Spike rubbed his jaw, shaking his head ruefully.
“Bloke could still throw a punch,” he muttered as he drifted off into a
drink-induced slumber.
~*~*~*~*~
The jet touched down in England a few hours later. It was night when they
landed, so he could freely leave the plane. Walking up to the cockpit, he told
the pilots he had a few meetings but would be back before dawn so they could
resume their flight to Rome.
“Now to see a man about a girl,” he smirked as he headed out into the night.
About an hour later, he caught up with him. Andrew had just emerged from the
Watcher’s Council building. Hell, he even looked the watcher part, right down
to the tweed suit.
“Hey, mate.”
“Spike!?!?! What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in L.A.?”
“Old news. I need her address.”
“Who-. Oh, you mean Buffy’s? I don’t know if I should. She doesn’t even
know...”
“Oh, bollocks. Look, mate, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I may
have a soul, but nothing is gonna stop me from seein’ ‘er. I’ve been
bloody noble long enough.”
“Does Giles know that...”
“No, he doesn’t, and I want to keep it that way,” Spike cut him off
menacingly. His eyes flashed yellow and the ridges briefly appeared on his
forehead to emphasize his point.
“N-no problem. I wasn’t going to say anything. I didn’t say anything
before…after I came back from L.A.” Opening his briefcase, he took out one
of his cards and wrote the address down on the back.
Spike took it and left without another word. He didn’t think that Andrew was
going to keep his promise, but it was too late now. He was over halfway there,
he wasn’t turning back now.
~*~*~*~*~
Rome
5:00 a.m.
“Bloody hell!” Spike cursed as he looked out the window.
It was too close to dawn for him to leave the plane to try and find out where
her place was located. This did nothing to improve his rapidly deteriorating
mood. Frustrated, Spike slammed into the bedroom at the back of the plane to
attempt to sleep the daylight away.
Grabbing a pillow, he cuddled close to it imagining it was Buffy, and fell into
a fitful sleep.
8:00 p.m.
Night was finally upon Rome, and he was able to leave the plane. His Italian was
very rusty, so it took him a few hours before he found her place. Now that he
had located it, he was getting nervous. He headed to a bar around the corner
from her home to get a drink to help fortify his courage.
A few beers and things weren’t helping. Paying his tab, he exited the bar. It
was now or never.
Spike walked back to the address on the paper. Looking at the building, he was
surprised to see very few lights on.
“Great! Now I’ve missed her. She’s probably out on patrol.”
He knocked on the door anyway. After a few minutes, he could hear footsteps
coming closer to the door. He heard a few locks give way.
“Damn. Don’t they even ask who it is anymore?” Spike mumbled as the door
began to creak open.
The door opened and Buffy stood in the doorframe. Spike was trying to look his
fill. The last time he'd seen her, he had been burning from the inside out. It
felt like a lifetime ago.
“Spike?” Buffy whispered, reaching a hand out towards him. She promptly
fainted, but not before getting out a weak, “come in.”
“Bloody hell.”
Spike caught her before she collapsed to the floor. Scooping her up in his arms
he kicked the door shut and headed for the nearest bedroom.