There were fifteen of them. Ten surrounding her, four just fading out of the shadows, and one standing in the background…obviously the leader of the gang.
Part of Buffy was shocked - it had been forever and a day since the only thing she had to deal with was a group of vamps, but lately the vampire sightings had been getting more regular! Another part was amused...what was it with these vamps...even with this many, in her normal mood of late she could have dusted them in seconds.
These however, seemed to be going for the slightly more tactical approach of 'all-at-once' instead of the usual 'only-a-couple-at-a-time-attack-allowing-the-slayer-pleanty-of-time-to-stake-them-all-without-breaking-a-sweat!'.
Ah, well...she had a little time on her hands.
Buffy rolled her eyes as they slowly advanced on her, "Okay, guys, I gotta couple of minutes to spare." She checked her watch theatrically, "In your own time..."
As one, the group attacked, the shadow-four staying back until the slayer had tired a little. Buffy ducked under six punches, braving the brunt of a sharp kick to her hips as she swept out with her right leg, knocking three of them onto their backs.
She flipped up and over the group, landing neatly on the balls of her feet. Her sudden movement disorientated the vampires, and they lost their game-plan focus.
They ran at her in a line.
She was given a brief pause, in which she quickly retracted Mr. Pointy.
Fists and feet flew as she simultaneously attacked the first vampire, then defended herself against the second, then attacked the third, and so on.....
Soon, Buffy was staring at eight piles of dust, the two remaining vamps already tiring. As the slayer sent a sharp round-house kick to a dark head, her stake slammed into a lime green shirt *Definitely not a waste of clothing.*
The vampire picked himself off the floor and sprung at her with his remaining energy. Buffy used his momentum to send him flying into a tree. The demon landed on a tree branch, and with an agonizing scream, burst into dust.
Buffy flicked back her hair and turned to face the four shadow-vampires. "Come on guys, can we speed it up? Charmed's on in ten."
Her flippancy apparently didn't sit well with one of the four, especially on top of her speedy dusting of his compatriots. With a snarl he lunged for her. Buffy's eyebrows shot up at the sight, and her eyes rolled as he ran straight into her stake.
"Well, that was fun. Who's next?"
The three attacked as one. Buffy's stake slammed into the exposed back of one vamp, as he bent to cup his now aching balls, she ducked two punches; their fists meeting comically in the center. They howled in unison, one punching with their left arm, the other kicking out with their right leg.
Both blows hit their target, causing the slayer to wobble in the middle from the dual attack. As one moved into punch her, she grabbed his wrist, using their combined fists to smack him across the face as her opposite leg shot out, slamming into the other vamps' face.
As the second vamp shot up from the floor Buffy used the stunned first vampire to her advantage, swinging him around into his friend. She raised her leg and kicked hard, releasing his hand, watching as the two vamps flew into the same tree branch as earlier, dusting with simultaneous screams.
"Well done, slayer. Though I must say I'm not surprised, I'd heard you were the best." The final vampire finally emerged onto the battlefield. He was larger than most - but Buffy knew from experience that that didn't have to mean anything.
She just wanted it finished so she could go home.
"Yeah, well, can we get on with this - I wasn't kidding about Charmed." Buffy asked, blowing back the same errant strand of hair from her face as before.
"And the whole joke-thing...really cute."
Buffy sighed as he continued to chat in a sardonic tone that reminded her of her si- *So not thinking about him!*.
Buffy fidgeted, not happy with the direction her thoughts were headed. "Can we fight already?"
Out of no-where a fist flew into her face, stunning her as she tumbled backwards. "Damn it." She muttered as she back-rolled away from the foot that was about to crash into her head. "Stupid demon's using my confusing-chatting technique!"
Unfortunately, she was a just a second too late to avoid being picked up and thrown into a nearby tombstone. As luck would have it, it was shaped like a crucifix and the vampire vampire-slayer recoiled in pain, for the first time loosing control over her human visage.
The other vampire watched in shock as the slayer stood, her eyes yellow, her face not quite as demonic as most but still evidently not human.
"You're a vampire?"
"What?" Buffy winced as the burn on her back pulled slightly with her movement.
"The slayer's a vampire.......oh my God, I have to tell someone! The slayer's a vampire!" The bravado image of the still unknown vamp was lost in his jubilation of finding out such an amazing secret.
"Hey! No, you don't!" Buffy shouted, trying to grab him but only succeeding in pulling her burns further - damn these revealing strappy tops!
Buffy cried out in pain and was about to attempt to catch him when in a blur of white and black he was dust. As the particles cleared Spike stepped through them.
"You okay, love?" His soft voice cleared her from her stupor.
"Oh my God!" Buffy muttered, turning hastily around, her burns forgotten as she tried to shield her vampire face from him.
"Christ, pet, what happened to your back - are you hurt anywhere else?" Spike spoke quickly, "Come on, my crypts just over there we need to get you bandaged up."
He tried to turn her around, still unaware of her discomfort. "No!" Buffy recoiled from his touch, walking as quickly as she could away form him, her face forward, wincing with every movement.
"Come on, Buffy, don't be a bitch about this, you're hurt." He caught up with her and grabbed her arm, forcing her to face him.
"No! I don't want you to see me like this." She shouted out before she could stop herself, a tear slipping from her amber eyes.
Spike frowned, "Like what? Hurt?"
She didn't answer him as she continued to shake, " Pet, just 'couse you're the slayer doesn't mean you're indestructible! Nothin' to be ashamed of." He tried to reassure her but Buffy wasn't listening.
"Can't you tell?" She whispered.
"What?" He asked, just as gently.
"My face...I've....I've changed."
"Oh." Spike smiled at her, then frowned. "Why don't you want me to see you? You're beautiful."
"Ugh!" She turned angrily and began to walk away, he followed as she knew he would. "Don't lie, Spike."
"I'm not lying!" She stopped and faced him.
"Right! Because this is beautiful?" Her angry statement seemed less of a statement, more of a question.
"Yes." He reached out and swept that unruly strand of hair out of her eyes. His hand lingered, brushing along the more defined swell of her cheekbones, then along her brow; mesmerized by the small indentations along her skin.
"So beautiful..." He murmured, running the pad of his thumb against her lower lip. Her lips parted automatically as her tongue nervously wet them.
"Show me..." She whispered timidly.
Spike looked up into her eyes, knowing what she wanted. Effortlessly and without ceremony his face slid into it's natural visage.
Spike watched through yellow orbs as her amber eyes traced his features.
-----
With black paint smeared across both cheeks, and decked out in green, a commando hid in the bushes, regarding the interaction between the two hostiles.
He watched as the female vampire lifted her hand, gently exploring the face of the male.
Riley could feel the anger burning inside him as he watches them.... together.
A scream sounded in the background and the two rushed off.....together.
With a growl that couldn't have rivaled a kitten's he marched off in the opposite direction.
---
Xander's face contorted as he tried to burrow deeper into his covers and away from the banging on 'his' door. When the banging only got louder, knowing that it would eventually wake his parents (which wouldn't be good), he threw off the covers, shivering as he made his way to the door.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming!" He called to the person on the other end.
Riley burst through the door, standing to attention once he was inside the door - looking every bit the soldier.
"Riley, what the hell are you doing here, man - it's like...." He checked the clock.
"Shit, 3 am! I gotta get up for work tomorrow!"
"Permission to speak granted." Xander said after a few moments of silence.
Riley scowled at him, "I need to talk to you about Buffy."
"Look man, I don't know if I should - you're not her favorite person right now-"
Riley cut him off, impatiently. "I don't care about that. I'm talking about her and Spike."
"Look, buddy, everyone knows how much I don't love Spike especially after the latest stunt - yeah , I was all for the lets go kill him, but Buffy may need him."
"For what?"
"I don't know, but Willow said it and I happen to agree - we need to be here for Buffy. She didn't ask to be turned."
"She certainly doesn't seem to have a problem with it. Her and Spike looked awful cozy in the cemetery a minute ago."
Xander sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily - not seeing the point of this conversation. "Dude, you gotta get over the jealousy - her and Spike? Never
gonna happen. Even in peroxide-boy's crazy perversions.....never gonna happen."
"You didn't-"
"No I didn't, but if you ever want another chance with Buffy then you're gonna have to be there for her. She needed you and you freaked on her. She's lonely, and if it’s giving Spike the opportunity to mack on her then its your fault - now, I gotta get some sleep!" He ushered Riley to the door. "Think about it." He advised, and pushed him out.
"But-"
Xander shut the door and locked it. "Man, can he talk." He flopped back into bed and shut off the light.
"This is getting old real fast." Spike said, as he chopped off the second of the creature’s arms.
It had one more.
It knocked the vampire away with its tail and turned once again on Buffy, swiping at her face with its claws, and missing.
"I guess you're big bad number one." Buffy grunted, as she kicked the moss creature in the stomach, causing it to double over before Spike sliced off its' head.
"Hey!" he said, leaning on the sword, appearing fakely pissed.
"I didn't mean like that! You know you'll always be my number one evil." she amended crossing to her sire's side to examine the creature. She was about to bend down to get a closer look at the pentagon shaped necklace that had come off, when Spike had decapitated it, when said sire yanked her into his arms kissing her passionately.
He was all jacked up from the fight, and he had some idea how to release the tension that seemed to resonate in his crotch.
He rubbed his pelvis against Buffy's causing her to moan throaty as she kissed him back, thrusting her hips up into his. Knocking his feet out from under him she straddled his waist, she ran her hands under his duster, un-tucking his shirts, as his hands fondled her breasts, pinching her nipples through her bra.
Spike unclasped the front of her bra, before reaching up to undo the bow holding the halter top around her neck. As her breasts spilled free he clamped his cold mouth over her nipple.
She moaned loudly, thrusting her chest into his mouth. His fangs cut gently into her smooth skin, as her blood entered his mouth Spike's hips bucked up and Buffy gasped at the sudden extra surge of lust passing
through her.
Spike flipped her on to her back, evading her lips, holding her wrists above her head as he stared down at her.
"What?" She whispered.
He growled down at her, his voice husky as he spoke. "Change."
"I can't." She whimpered, thrusting her hips up under him; seeking friction.
"Huh?" Spike frowned at her.
"I haven't learnt to control it yet...I can't just...do it." Buffy admitted sheepishly.
"Fuck, I'm sorry pet...I should have stayed...showed you how..." He swooped down, capturing her lips once again with his.
She reached down and unzipped his jeans, she pulled out his member, stroking him lightly.
Spike groaned and reached a hand underneath her skirt, ripping away her panties, finding her dripping wet. She moved his cock to her opening....
---
"Ooooh!" Buffy moaned as she awoke, her face having changed in her sleep.
Yellow eyes searched the bed, her room, for her sire.
She let out a sharp cry of loss, when she realized it had just been a dream,
and buried her face in her pillow, not noticing or simply not caring how her blood tears stained the white linen.
----
Spike growled loudly as he awoke, reaching out for the slayer, only to find that she wasn't there.
"Fuck!"
He picked up a near by candle, the flame barley flickering above the slowly melting wax, and threw it against the wall. He watched as the wax and shards of candle, slid down the wall, crumbling at the floor.
It had been so real....too real. He realized, he'd heard about it. Hell, he'd experienced it once or twice with Dru. If a sire and their first childe were separated for prolonged periods the two demons tended to share dreams; it was like it was their demons way of pushing them back together-Both seeking the safety of the other's companionship.
The dreams with Dru had stopped about a year after the chip. He hadn't had one since.
Suddenly he rose from the bed, quickly dressing. He had to find her, talk to her about it...make sure she knew it was okay. If the 'her' in the dream had been anything to go by - she was having trouble....and as her sire he had to help her.
----
"Shit, Buffy! How did this happen?" Spike asked, as his hands frantically tore at the chains that held her.
"I don't know...they just came out of no-where....." Buffy looked around at the carnage that surrounded them. Hands, legs, spleens...all body-parts imaginable were scattered about them, however, as the vampires' hearts were still in tact their bodies had yet to dust....resulting in maximum pain.
"Did you have to go all Rambo on them?"
Spike grinned at her sheepishly, "Sorry, pet. Kinda lost it, huh?" He ran his hand up her leg as he released the links around her ankle. Buffy shivered in response, her body jerking forward into his at the caress.
"Yep!" She squeaked the word, then scowled at him as she recalled her train of thought. "Were you holding back on me all those years ago?"
"Would I, ducks?" Spike chuckled at her frustration with his evasive answer, his hands unable to resist the temptation of stroking her body as he helped
her down.
Buffy looked up at him and smiled, still within the circle of his arms. His thumb was gently caressing the base of her back, where his hand rested.
"Thanks."
Spike nodded, staring at her lips, as his other hand began massaging the back of her neck.
"Spike?"
"I'm sorry you got hurt." He raised a hand to the small cut on her lip.
"I..." Her voice trailed off as his thumb traced her bottom lip.
"I dream about you....."
"I....dream....about....you.....too....." Buffy panted, as his cool tongue
carefully bathed the cut on her lip.
Buffy groaned as he tugged her lower lips into his mouth, sucking on it gently so as not to break the almost-healed cut.
"I know." Spike murmured, before his lips finally pulled hers in to a full fledged kiss. His tongue slowly probed her mouth, and he groaned as hers came out to meet it.
Buffy pulled back slightly, "How do you know?"
"It’s a vampire thing, love."
"Oh…” Buffy allowed herself to be pulled back into the kiss.
"My demon...*kiss*....crying out.....*nip*....for your demon.....*suck*..." Spike explained in between kisses, as his hands continued to roam her body.
"Oh." Buffy moaned throatily, as he backed her up against a nearby tombstone, and wrapped her legs around his waist.
"Yeah..." Spike agreed, nuzzling against her lips, as his body rubbed against hers.
"And mine for yours?" Buffy asked timidly, even as she slid her fingers through his hair.
Spike's eyes glazed over at this thought; "Yeah..." He murmured, swirling his tongue around her bottom lip as he tugged her back for another embrace.
A sharp beeping sound cut into their euphoria, causing both to groan loudly at the crappy timing.
Spike pulled back as Buffy hurriedly searched her pockets for her beeper.
"Shit, where are you?" Buffy muttered.
Spike looked around, spotting a small vibrating black cube on the ground. He bent down and plucked the beeper from the ground.
"This is, pet?"
"Thanks." Buffy murmured, <<Dawn>> flashed across the screen. "I gotta..."
Without another word Buffy sprinted from the cemetery, from the vampire....from his arms.
"Well, I'll just go home then..." Spike murmured to himself, watching her fast retreating figure fade into the background. "Not like I could of helped."
With a dejected sigh Spike turned and headed back to his crypt.
-----
Lurking in the background, unseen, wide yellow eyes were glued to the spectacle in front of them.
As the key players departed, the unknown vampire turned and rushed home…he’d found something better than blood tonight.
-----
*I'm a fucking puppy-dog.* Spike thought, annoyed, as he scaled the tree outside Buffy's bedroom. He nimbly crossed to the flat roof outside her room, freezing at the wails that emitted from her mouth.
"Buffy?" He whispered, careful not to startle the girl or alert Joyce with his arrival.
The slayer seemed unaware of his presence, continuing to sob softly. Spike edged further into the room, finally settling on the bed. Carefully, he reached out, brushing a strand of hair from her cool, wet face.
Buffy still said nothing.
"What happened, love?" He murmured gently, as he moved so that he was face to face with her – his heart pleading for some sort of reaction… anything.
Buffy sniffed and curled up in his arms. "Pizza."
"What?" He frowned, sure he hadn't heard correctly.
"Dawn wanted me to get pizza for her on the way home." Buffy sniffed again.
"Oh." Spike finally caught up- that was the reason behind the beeped message. For a few minutes they continued to lie there, Spike's thumb gently caressing the small of her back. His hand moving in a slow, comforting caress.
His words barely above a whisper Spike finally asked: "Why were you crying?"
"You didn't follow..." Buffy muttered.
"You didn't say anything! You just left!" Spike objected, feeling his previous hurt at being ignored flare up again.
"I thought you'd know I'd want you to come, and you weren't there! I might have needed you."
"But you didn't." Spike tried to calm her down, feeling like he was speaking to a child....then remembering he was.
Buffy shifted in his embrace, her voice muffled but still vampire-hear-worthy, "I did."
Spike felt his unbeating heart contract at her soft words, and with gentle fingers tilted her face up to his. "I'm sorry." He carefully brushed his mouth against hers, sighing happily when he felt her moan and relax against him.
For a second time that night, ringing broke through their moment, shattering their peace.
With an annoyed sigh, to which Spike smiled, Buffy reached over and snagged the telephone off the hook, bringing it back to her ear as she lay back down.
"Hello?" She spoke through a yawn, hoping the person on the other end would get the hint that she was tired and therefore didn't want to talk.
"Hello, Buffy?"
Both bottle blondes froze as they recognized the caller.
"Riley." Buffy clarified flatly.
"Look, Buffy I know this probably isn't the best time to talk but every time I try - you're out."
"I-" Buffy began, frowning as Spike began moving away from her.
"I'm sorry I freaked out on you before...it’s just..."
"I know. Its okay." Buffy murmured absently, watching as Spike threw his hands up in the air as he began to pace the room.
"You know how I feel about you....I love you." Riley spoke earnestly.
Spikes' features tightened as he watched Buffy's soften at the soldier’s words.
"I-" Buffy started.
"Fuck this!" Spike muttered, sure he was about to hear her return the declaration, he headed for the window.
"Spike, wait!" Buffy called immediately, dropping the phone to the bed.
"Buffy?! Is Spike there?!" Riley squeaked down the phone.
"Where are you going?" Buffy asked, grabbing hold of his arm.
He shook her off and climbed out the window. "When you decide what you want, you know where I’ll be."
"But-" Before she could even finish her sentence he'd left.
"But, I want you." She whispered to the empty air.
Alone, she sank to the floor and cried.