"Dammit all to bloody hell!" Spike cursed under his breath as he heard the sounds coming from directly ahead of him. He'd just been on his way home from patrolling with the Slayer when he heard the screaming and the sucking noises. There were vamps ahead of him, and they were having an early morning snack. Usually he would not have cared, but since being caught and defanged by the Initiative, if he couldn't have any fun, no other vampires would either.
Sprinting with his demon enhanced speed, Spike headed for the source of the sound. He burst through the trees of the UC Sunnydale college green to see four vampires feasting on a family of three humans. Spike pulled a stake from his duster, and grabbed the nearest vampire, a brunette Caucasian, dusting him.
The remaining three paused from their meal, and Spike was able to get a better view of the scene. Two adult humans were definitely dead and drained with their necks snapped. However,the human held in the grasp of one of the three was a little girl. She'd been knocked around a bit, but surprisingly enough, had not been bitten which struck him as odd since most vampires got a great high from feeding on children. Her eyes were frightened as she looked at her demon-faced captors.
One of the vampires smiled, licking his lips,"Looks like the second course just arrived." He stood his fellows doing the same.
*Newbies,* Spike thought to himself. *Can't even identify another vampire, let alone a master like me. They deserve what they're going to get.*
"Looks juicy,"agreed the red-headed girl on the left.
"He'll make up for us not being allowed to eat the little one," The third one, a blonde, added. The three vampires advanced upon him.
"Gee,"Spike said sarcastically,"What kind of wanker do you think I am? What kind of person wanders around in the middle of the night with stakes?"
The leader paused and looked confused,"Out of towners, like them." He indicated the two corpses and the little girl.
"Maybe," Spike agreed,"But then again, maybe not." He pulled his game face out and gave them his wickedest 'I-am-a-badass-master-vampire' grin. The posse relaxed noticeably, and that was when Spike struck.
He slammed his stake into the leader, dusting him, while delivering a round-house kick to the red-head. She went down, and Spike stamped down hard on her breast bone as he ducked beneath Blondie's swings. Battering the blonde with the stake, he broke Blondie's nose with a left and pushed the stake home with his right.
Brushing dust off his clothes, Spike almost didn't hear the frightened voice yell,"Look out!"
Spike turned just in time to receive a full body tackle from the injured red-head. She raked at his face with her nails, but he punched her back with a vicious uppercut. She went down again, and this time he held her down by sitting on her chest, stake over her undead heart.
She looked around frantically and smiled. Then she laughed.
"What's so bloody funny?" he growled at her.
"The . . .others. We failed . . .to get the . . .girl. But," Her eyes glazed over and then focused. "They'll be here any minute for you . . .and her."
Swearing he shoved the stake into her heart,"Too late, however, for you."
He stood and heard the telltale sounds of approaching people. They might have been the others the newly dusted vamp had been referring to or they might not. Either way, it was time to go. His yellow eyes flickered to the little girl who had saved him by calling out. She was staring at him with scared uncomprehending eyes.
She was what those newbies had been hunting for so he would have to take her with him. As if his evening couldn't get any worse. He ran toward her and took an flask of water out of his pocket, opening it carefully. He then opened the jaws of both corpses, and, with great care, poured it down their dead throats. He hissed as a drop hit his hand. Holy water hurt like hell, but he had to guarantee those two couldn't come back. Closing the bottle, he reached for the little girl.
The girl shrank back from him. Spike looked at his hands and saw that one had an ugly burn from the holy water and the other was bloody from the corpses. That was when he remembered that he was still wearing his game face.
He shifted back into his human face and extended his hand a little closer. "Come with me. Please," he said in his most soothing tone. "Trust me, I'll save you from the bad men."
Her eyes caught his for a brief moment. For that moment he felt he was being examined inside out. The feeling lasted only for a second because she stood up, placing her tiny pale hand in his bloody one. "I know you will," she said gravely, sounding almost like an adult.
Spike swept her up, pulling her as close as he could to his body, and took off in a dead sprint because the sounds of the unknown others were getting close. He didn't head directly home, if someone was tracking him by either sight or scent, he had to muddy the trail. Hurdling fences and cutting through yards, he ran through the quiet Sunnydale campus, avoiding lights and frat houses. Eventually he arrived at his own house, a two story white house with no distinguishing features. It looked like the other hundred or so houses that were contained within the campus. It's only identifying mark was the small sign in its heavily curtained window, reading 'Wild Billy's Electronic Repair.' Unlocking and opening the door, he stepped in with his burden and locked the door behind him.
Setting the girl on the black leather couch he got his first good look at his prize when he turned on a lamp. She was a small thing, probably five with a tumble of dark curly hair and the biggest, saddest set of green eyes he'd ever seen in all his long life. The girl had a smattering of freckles across her nose, and she oozed an aura of helplessness mixed with unearthliness.
*She's a mystery all right,* he thought wiping blood from the rapidly healing gashes on his face. Most vampires took a special joy in draining and turning children. Spike bared his teeth at the thought, which was one deed he'd refused to do, turn children. Their demon bodies could never get older, they never achieved full strength, and they resented everyone else because of it. Which could explain why Spike had so thoroughly enjoyed letting the Annoying One burn.
Somehow the vampires had refused to bite her even though they were newbies who had little control over themselves. There had to be something very special about this little girl. Something so important that it could make the undead ignore their basic instincts. He hated to admit it, but that meant that she needed his protection. When he signed on to help the Slayer and her little friends, this was one of the last situations he ever expected to find himself in.
"Who are you?" The little girl asked him.
He debated what to tell her, "I'm William."
"You are," she nodded as if she could have confirmed his statement. "I am Eve."
Perhaps Eve could tell him what happened in on the green. He sat next to her on the couch. "Eve, could you tell me what happened tonight?"
"Mommy and Daddy were scared. They wanted to take me someplace safe," her lip trembled. "Then the bad men came! They got Mommy and Daddy-" Eve burst into tears, sobbing loudly.
Spike froze, this was NOT in the job description. He was a blood-sucking undead fiend; he wasn't cut out for this. Hesitantly, he put his arm around the girl and let her cry. "It's all right, pet. I'm sorry 'bout your parents. It's okay." He awkwardly patted her on the head, "The bad men are gone. You're safe with me." He wondered where that last one came from; it just popped out on its own.
A pair of tearstained eyes gazed up at him, and Eve smiled, "You will!" A cautious look came over her, "Are you like my daddy? Daddy William?"
Sure he was going to regret it, but still surprising himself, he replied," Err-sort of. I won't let any more bad men hurt you." *Why did I say that? I don't have to take care of her,* he thought, only something inside of him stirred. He felt an overwhelming need to protect this little girl.
"Really?" she asked.
"Really," he confirmed. Then he noticed that she was getting a bit droopy eyed. Using his sitcom and soap opera viewing as an example, he said, "Looks like bed time for you."
Eve yawned, "Okay, Daddy William."
"Hold here a second." He ran to his bedroom and grabbed two objects, one from the dresser and the other from a shoebox. Spike returned and handed them to her, a cross wrapped in a white T-shirt. "I need you to go in the bathroom and put these on."
She followed him to the bathroom door. He opened it, checking for danger. Spike kept his bathroom like a human's, with toilet paper and soap, because he felt someday he might have human company, one person in particular. . .
Pushing thoughts of the Slayer aside, he let Eve in and closed the door. Then he ran to the guest bedroom and looked it over. It was a bright green room; it had a bed with white sheets, a dresser on the side, a closet , and two windows. An inspiration hit him, and he pulled the holy water out of his duster. He poured it over the window latch and frame, whispering in Latin "Kyrie Eleison." (Lord have mercy) Satisfied he had done all he could, he replaced the holy water and pulled the shades down and curtains closed to guarantee no sunlight would enter.
The bathroom door opened, and Spike went to greet Eve.
"All ready for bed?" he asked
"I didn't brush my teeth," she said regretfully.
"When I find you a toothbrush, you'll brush 'em, okay?" He just wanted her to go to bed so he could sort out what to do tomorrow.
"Kay, Daddy William," she replied holding up her arms.
After a second of confusion, he understood she expected him to pick her up. He complied and nestled her trustingly in his arms. Carrying her to the guest bedroom, he set her on the bed. She immediately climbed off and knelt by the bed. She began to recite her prayers in a high sweet voice, "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. God bless, Mommy and Daddy, take care of them in heaven. Care for my new Daddy William," her voice dropped into a lower octave. "Give him strength to face the darkness," her voice returned to her original one. "And please bless my three cats that we gave to the neighbors. Amen."
Spike was a bit startled to be prayed for; people tended not to pray for unredeemably evil people like himself. It was very strange, but not altogether displeasing. Eve climbed back into bed and crawled under the covers. He was turning to leave when she called out to him, "Tell me a story."
He paused searching his mind for an appropriate one. What kind of story should a vampire tell a little girl who just watched her parents get eaten by vampires? Several ones that certainly didn't fit the bill sprang to mind, but he did finally come up with one. "If I tell you this story, will you go to sleep.?"
"Yes," she agreed.
"Okay, here goes. Umm. . .once upon a time, many dark bad men lived on earth. They did all sorts of bad stuff and hurt people."
"Like my mommy and daddy?"
"Yes, like that," he continued, "Things were very unhappy back then; everyone was scared of the night, but then someone appeared on the horizon. It was the Slay-Chosen One. She was a beautiful girl chosen by God to fight the darkness. The Chosen One had special powers, she was stronger than the darkness. So she fought it."
"Like you?"
*Not really.* "A bit," he said truthfully seeing as he did slay other vampires. "Sometimes, though, the dark ones would win and kill the Chosen One." he heard her gasp of fear and reflected back on how he had personally been one of the dark ones. That was probably not the most comforting thing he could tell her in this story so he plowed onward, "But even when the Chosen One died, another was called to fight the dark bad men. Right now, the Chosen One is the best and strongest that has ever lived. She fought the darkness many times and won, saving the world. She even turned some of the darkest ones onto her side." Eve's eyes seemed droopy so Spike decided to finish the tale," Just know then that the Chosen One is out there protecting the world from the dark." With that he slid toward the door and turned off the light.
"Daddy William," the little voice said, and he returned to her bedside. "Can you give me a kiss goodnight?" Her sleepy eyes looked at him hopefully, and not even he could resist her innocence and complete trust. She had no idea who he really was, that he was all the darkness and more, and still she let him get that close. Spike brushed her forehead with his lips and walked out the door again.
A sleepy voice commented from the bed, "Daddy William, you're like the Chosen One. You need each other-" Eve dropped off into sleep.
He stood staring at her, one part wonder, one part gentleness. Was his confusion over the oh-so-gorgeous Slayer that evident. Or was it because she could see inside of him, past his walls. She looked so cute, a little angel, in his giant T-shirt and white bedspread. *Damn, I'm turning into a bloody poof like Angel.*
Closing the door behind him he returned to his living room. He sat on his couch and looked at his entertainment center. It took up one whole wall: a CD player, wide-screen TV, DVD, VCR, three different video game systems, speakers, the works. He walked over to it and picked up a remote. Pressing a code, a panel on the entertainment center flipped open revealing a state-of-the art security system control center. Before he moved into his house, he had had the system installed because he didn't want to get caught unawares by the Initiative. The system had security cameras over every door and window, motion and heat sensors, and an electronic locking system. Keeping a wary eye on the feed from the surveillance cameras, he removed his duster. He took the cell phone from one of its pockets and punched a number. It was cheaper to call from his house phone, but the cell phone was less traceable, and it had an encryption setting on it. You never knew who was listening.
After the third ring, a groggy voice answered, "Hello?"
"Slayer, please," he replied in a clipped voice, checking his watch and seeing he had only ended his patrol with her an hour and a half ago. They'd met at the cemetery, staked eight new vampires, and, as usual, bickered unceasingly. He loved arguing with her; it got her all frazzled, plus she looked so sexy.
"Buff," he heard over the line. "Phone, Spike." There was a noise as the phone changed hands.
"What?" Buffy said in an irritable voice.
"Bit touchy pet?" Spike said in the cocky voice he knew was particularly annoying to her.
"Pet, nothing. It's 3 a.m. Is this a prank?"
"Would I do that? Strike that, I would." He smiled at the sputtering sound she made. "You think I would have interrupted your much needed beauty rest for no good reason."
"At least beauty sleep does me some good, unlike you who haven't changed your look for what, a century? Does this have a point?"
"Actually yes, I ran into some trouble after we separated."
"Trouble, what kind?" The playfulness in her voice was replaced by what he recognized as the Slayer's business tone.
"The fangy kind, but, have no fear Slayer, I took care of it. Problem is that I got a bit of a situation here. I need to lie low for a couple days. No biggie, I'll call if I need any help."
"Spike," She called over the line, but he'd already hung up.
The phone rang immediately. "I see Star 69 works. Miss me much?" He purred.
"Annoying much," she replied and took a deep breath. "I need to know, are you like injured or something, preferably holy water, garlic, or cross related."
"Why Slayer, I never knew you cared."
There was hesitation over the line, "Well,you know I can't have my favorite slaying buddy giving it less than 110%."
"I'm your only slaying buddy since none of your friends want me around. And, yes, I have all my pieces in all the proper places."
"Okay, then. Umm, I guess that's it then." She paused.
"Guess so," he agreed unwilling to end the call.
She appeared to be fighting the same battle. "Well then, I had better be going."
"Go ahead, you called me."
"You called first. Whatever. Good night, Spike." She still didn't hang up.
"Good night, Slayer. Get that beauty sleep."
"Good night, Spike," she repeated and finally hung up.
"Dream of me," Spike said out loud into the dead line. He allowed himself a brief, sour smile. At least the Slayer was still as uncomfortable about this thing as he was. Whatever they had been before, those kisses had completely changed everything. They had done it under there own free wills; there was no spell to blame it on. They were mortal enemies and were supposed to hate each other. She loved his sire, but that didn't keep Spike from wishing at the most inopportune times that he could grab, kiss, and shag the Slayer. It was completely against his nature, alot like what he would be doing tomorrow morning.
He relocked his door, adding a few extra chains and bars that could only be taken down from the inside. Spike also double secured every window and carried some stakes into his red walled bedroom right next to the guestroom. After stripping down to the waist, he placed some stakes under his pillow and prepared for sleep. It was very early for him, but tomorrow he would have to care for Eve. And strangely, he was almost looking forward to seeing what kind of a dad he would make.
"That was strange, "Buffy said to the silent phone.
"What was?" Willow asked stretching in her bed.
"Spike. He said he met some vampires, staked them, and is lying low." Buffy replaced the phone on its hanger and got back into bed.
"So what's the problem? Maybe he's hurt," Willow suggested.
"Nah, he'd be angrier," Buffy dismissed.
"He could have staked one of his old posse. Or maybe a vampire got away."
Buffy shook her head, "He doesn't care about his old friends too much anymore, especially if one takes a shot at him. If a vampire had gotten away, he'd have been a whole lot more pissed off. Why am I having this discussion? He's Spike, strange is his middle name."
Willow turned off the light, "You started it. Besides would that make his whole name William Strange the Bloody?" She ducked as Buffy threw a pillow at her. She threw it back. "He's fine, well as fine as you can be with being undead. We won't be fine if we don't get sleep for Psych tomorrow morning."
"You're right. Need sleep." Buffy fluffed her pillow and wondered what situation Spike had gotten himself into.