The empty, silent darkness of the crypt was broken suddenly by the grating of stone on stone, followed swiftly by a muted curse.  Noise followed, as someone fumbled round in the dark, groping on the floor.  Eventually, light flared as Spike found and lit the three candles he had been looking for.  The silver candelabra chinked as he set it down on the uneven stone surface of the tomb, and perched on the edge of the lid beside it.  

“Huh. Not exactly home sweet home, this.  Sodding mess,” he muttered, staring round at the empty, dank mausoleum.  He kicked idly at a chunk of stone on the floor, watching as it tumbled end over end before clattering into the far wall.   “It’s that bloody Slayer’s fault, that’s what it is.  Well, I’ll show her,” he nodded to himself. “Yeah.  She’ll get it, alright. She won’t know what’s hit her.”  He hopped off the tomb and pranced round, mimicking Buffy.  “Oooooh, I’m the Slayer.  Look at me, all blonde and slim and beaauuutiful.  I’m sooo bloody good.  I’m the best thing since sliced bread.”  He stopped and stood still, staring at the floor, slumped, hands hanging at his sides.  “Driving my Dru away.  My princess….” 

The voice behind him made him jump, coat flaring round like wings as he spun into a crouch, glaring in the direction of the door, instinctively changing.  A shape stood in the opening, indistinct in the gloom.  A mocking voice broke the sudden, tense silence.  

“My lovely Spike.  I’ve come back for you………”   

She stepped forward, delicately picking her way through the tumbled stones on the floor, dress whispering against them, cloak swinging behind her.  Black hair shone even in the dim, unsteady light from the candles, pouring down her back.  White skin and black, glittering eyes; red lips smiled as she stopped in front of him and raised a hand, brushing his skin.  “My Spike,” she whispered.

Spike stared, unable to speak, his eyes drinking her in, noticing the smoothness of her skin, the glow that said she’d fed, and recently.  The blood gave her an illusion of humanity, flushing her pale skin slightly, making her eyes shine.  She stroked his cheek, the way one might idly touch a favoured pet.   Spike swallowed and took a step back, relaxing into his human face.   Dru’s hand hovered for a moment then dropped to her side.   Her eyes narrowed slightly and she pouted.  “No welcome for me, Spike?  Haven’t you missed me?  I’m all better now, you know.”  She giggled suddenly, a small evil sound.  “Oh, yes.  All better.  I feel……strong.  Stronger than ever.”   She twirled in a small circle, raising her hands up above her head, dress and cloak swirling out around her.  She stopped and lowered her arms again, smiling, head tilted to one side.

Spike cleared his throat and looked at her.  “You…you got fed up with that Chaos demon then, did you?  Told you he was no good.   Told you you’d come running back to me.”  He moved away from her along the wall of the crypt, shoving his hands deep into his pockets.  Something was missing.  Joy at seeing her, for one thing.  He hesitated then turned to face her, making sure the bulk of the tomb was between them.   She’d turned to watch his progress round the mausoleum.  

“Thing is, Dru………… I’ve been thinking, you know, while you’ve been away.”  He paused, looking at her lovely face, as she suddenly changed, letting her true vampire face show through.  “It nearly killed me when you left.  I even tried to put a spell on you, to get you back.   All that mess with Angel and that bloody Slayer.  Well, I’m over it now.  I’m strong again too.  And I’m going to finally kill that bitch, get her out of the way for good.”  He found himself nodding.  “Yeah.  Do it.  Finally.”

He realised that Dru was laughing, softly, under what should have been her breath.  She took a few steps towards him and he backed away, making sure the way to the crypt entrance was clear.  She was laughing harder now, and then she suddenly stopped, as if she’d realised something.  She snarled and lunged without warning, catching him unawares, and pushed him against the wall, one hand grasping his throat as she pinned him.  She stared intently into his face.  Her other hand, fingers crooked, took hold of his chin as she turned his head this way and that.  She ran a pointed nail down his cheek, leaving a thin red line behind.  

“Don’t struggle, Spikey…” she sang softly, voice rising and falling. lilting, soft with malice.  “I just want to look at you………look inside you……”  She giggled malevolently again.  “See if what Princess knows is true………… you don’t want to kill the Slayer, Spike.”  She let go and turned away, letting him slide bonelessly down the wall.  “You feel something for her.  You’re tainted……….with feelings.  Like one of them.”  She moaned, swaying softly as she turned away from him.

He stared up at her, and began to shake his head, climbing to his feet, mouth open to speak .  She whirled and her face was suddenly filled with monstrous rage as she spat her next words at him.

“You - are - in - love - with - her!”  Her voice was harsh, no softness in it now.  Suddenly her face lost its anger and she became Drusilla again, insanity glittering in those fathomless, dreamy black eyes.   “Weak, stupid Spike.  She’ll kill you before she ever loves you.  You’re a demon.  You’re less than nothing to her, just a dog for her to beat.”  She began to laugh again, in rising waves that rang in the hollow crypt.  “I won’t kill you, Spike.  I’ll wait for you to come to me, and beg me to take you back, when the Slayer’s finished with you.  If she doesn’t kill you.  But I’ll leave you something to remember me by.”  Stepping forward, she bent swiftly and her hand lashed out, leaving four bloody stripes on Spike’s white skin.  

Turning on her heel, cloak swinging out, she swept away as suddenly as she’d come, leaving Spike standing in his empty mausoleum, staring after her.

He stood, frozen in place, for some time after Dru had gone.  Then suddenly exploding into movement, he grabbed a piece of stone and hurled it at the wall.

“I don’t love the Slayer!” he roared. “She’s destroyed my life and I’m going to destroy hers!”  Snarling, he kicked out at the tomb he’d recently sheltered in, knocking the lid off, listening to the hollow boom it made as it crashed onto the floor, watching as the candles scattered across the floor.  He tossed his head, feeling his teeth lengthen as his face changed into vampire form.  An evil smile formed on his face.  “Got do to it sometime……,” he whispered to the dark, “……might as well be tonight.”    He strode from the crypt, almost ripping the door from its hinges as he shoved it closed behind him.   

Buffy yelped in surprise as she thudded into the wall, hitting it shoulder first.  Almost immediately she rolled to her feet, hands up, stake ready to thrust forward.  The vampire snarled and charged.  She turned and spun into a kick, hitting the demon in the midsection, hurling it backwards.  She followed with another kick and then a punch, keeping the vampire moving back, avoiding its clumsy punches with ease.  It lunged at her and misjudged the distance; she moved in under its reach and lunged upwards with the stake, ramming it into the vampire’s chest.  A moment later and all that remained was dust drifting on the air.  

“Yes, well, um… very good.  But.  Um.  You were a bit slow there, Buffy, you should have worked faster than that.  That throw could have disabled you enough for him to get much to close to you.  You must make sure you don’t take chances like that.”  Giles moved out from the shadows, remarking on the fight he’d just watched.  Buffy turned to him, rubbing her shoulder, peering down to examine the tear in the fabric of her coat.  

“Gee, thanks Giles.  You want to fight next time, maybe I could give you some pointers.  It’s OK, you’re welcome.”  She sighed and tucked the stake back into a pocket.  “And I ripped my coat.  Mom’ll have a fit, it’s like, brand new.”   She glanced round at cemetery.  “Lots going on tonight.  That makes six.  Something going on, apocalypse-y, that we should know about?”

Giles frowned. “Well, I’ll do some research, but I can’t see any connection between any of the vampires tonight.  No…um…signs, or whatever.  Perhaps they were all just hungry at the same time?” he suggested, smiling faintly. 

Buffy grinned.  “Yeah, right, Mr Research-guy.  Come on, you look for the end of the world if I see two vampires in one patrol!  Remember the Sunnydale tourist attraction, oops, no wait, that’s the Hellmouth?”  She glanced upwards.  “It’ll be dawn soon.  Come on, let’s go.  I’ve had enough of patrolling tonight.  We’re not going to see any more.”

The voice rang out behind them.  “Any more WHAT, Slayer?”  They turned slowly.  Spike stood in the path behind them, slouching insolently, feet apart, cigarette dangling from his lips.  

Buffy’s lips tightened and she shook her head.  “Oh, look, it’s Mr I-think-I’m-soo-Evil.  What’s up Spike, come for another fight that you won’t win?  Haven’t you any pride at all?”

Spike ground the cigarette out under his heel and moved forward.  “Think you can take me then, Slayer?  Think you’ve got it, do you?”

Buffy shared a glance with Giles and started to laugh.  “Like I haven’t taken you before?  Like I couldn’t take you now?  I could beat you with one hand tied behind my back.  Spike, you’re nothing.  I don’t want to waste my time with you.  But if I have to, I will.”  She paused and turned.  “Giles, you’d get out of here.  This is between us.  I don’t want you getting hurt, just in case he decides to play dirty.”

Giles stumbled backwards as Buffy pushed urgently against his shoulder to get him moving.  “I-I-if you’re sure.  It’s, yes, alright, I’m going.  Don’t forget training tomorrow!” he called over his shoulder as he hurried away.

Spike grinned as Buffy moved forwards, circling, hands up and ready to fight.  She leapt suddenly, kicking out.  He ducked and twisted, grabbing her foot and throwing her up and back.  He heard the air rush out of her as she hit a gravestone and fell, twisting.   She clambered to her feet, wary now, looking at him.   Something was different, though it was hard to see any expression, hard to see anything but the lethal fangs that showed as he smiled.  

“Come on then, Slayer.  Come and play!  Thought you were gonna show me?  Thought you could beat me one handed?”  He laughed, head back.  “Sure you’re going to be training tomorrow?  I owe you a lot, Slayer.  And it’s payback.” he said bitterly.

Buffy lunged forward and punched, fist landing solidly in Spike’s face.  He grunted and staggered back, hands coming up, leaving his stomach open.  She jumped and kicked, knocking him over, watching as he rolled to his feet.   They circled each other.  “What happened to your face, Spike?  Someone beat you already tonight?  But you came looking for me anyway?”  

“It’s your damn fault!” he suddenly shouted at her, “Your fault she left, your fault…… all of it!  Your fault I’m alone………  You haunt me, you’re all I think about. You’re always there, changing things, making things ……… all this, the way I feel, wrong!  It’s Dru I love.  DRU!   Not you.  Never you!”

Buffy stopped moving in surprise, staring at him while her mind tried to sort out what he’d just said.   As she stood, he rushed forward, pinning her arms, spinning her round so her back was towards him, gripping her wrist so tightly that she gasped in pain and dropped the stake she’d been holding.  She tried to kick but he’d braced his legs apart and there was only air, nothing to hit.  Buffy twisted and fought but for once Spike was too strong for her, and she couldn’t free herself.  She wrenched sideways, throwing them both to the ground, rolling over as he just gripped harder.  He pinned her to the ground, leaning all his weight on to her shoulders to hold her down, grunting with effort as she bucked and twisted.  

Buffy stopped fighting and lay still.  Clenching her fists, she stared up into his face and forced out words through gritted teeth.  “ What…do…you…want?  I’m fed up with the games, Spike.   Let me go!”

He smiled slowly, the moonlight twisting across bestial features, his eyes reflecting like a cat’s.  “I’ve been thinking about this.  You know.  You being a slayer.  You go round, killing us all the time.  Ever think what it might be like to be one of us, Slayer?  Ever crossed your mind, has it?”    Buffy’s mouth trembled slightly as he gave her a shake.   “Well,” he carried on, face alight with an emotion she couldn’t identify, “I’m fed up with being alone.  I’m fed up with turning every corner and having you there, with a pointy stick in my face.  So I’m going to change things for you, the way you change everything you touch, every time you stake one of us.  But on the bright side, you’ll be young forever.  You’ll be with me forever.  Slayer……”

Buffy gasped as he lowered his head, incisors gleaming bright in the moonlight, and began to drink.
 

Thudding.  Regular and deep, booming hollowly in the distance.  The feel of earth and grass under her skin, wetness soaking through her clothes.  Pale warmth on her face, light prickling gently at her closed eyelids………

Buffy woke with a gasp, jerking into an upright position, gazing at the sun as it made its first appearance of the day.  Her hand went involuntarily to her neck, feeling for the punctures that were still tacky with her blood.  Bewildered, she looked round at the empty cemetery, seeing nothing but the rows of tombstones and graves, a few of the grander mausoleums, grey stone muted in the early light.   

She pieced together what had happened, things coming back, slowly fitting the events together in her mind.  Spike, the fight, the attack.  Drusilla.  The appearance of Dru had stunned Spike, made him release his hold on her, stop drinking.  He’d meant for her to turn, to become a demon like them.  Buffy shuddered at the thought of her nightmare made flesh.  Then, Drusilla, lunging for the discarded stake, raising her hand, sobbing as she brought her arm down…………

Afterwards, she’d looked at Buffy, the insanity in her eyes clear.  “He was never meant for you.  My lovely Spike,” she’d whispered brokenly. “You killed him, Slayer.  My baby.  My child.  My Spike.  His blood is on your hands.  If you hadn’t come, if he hadn’t loved you like a human, he’d still be mine.”  She’d moved away then, turning to look round.  She giggled, an odd sound in the otherwise silent cemetery.  “This is a……bad place.  Princess…doesn’t like it here,” she'd murmured, turning to wave a finger at Buffy.  “No following Princess, now, Slayer!  Princess doesn’t want to play with you anymore.  Princess is going to find her Spike.  Naughty boy is hiding from her.”   She’d wandered away through the graves, calling softly for Spike to come out of hiding, while Buffy had gazed at her in stunned horror, unable even to get up, frozen in place.  The next thing she remembered had been waking, and remembering……… the look of shock, of horror  and then relief on his face, followed by nothing, as he was gone.  Just dust, drifting on the still air, settling to the ground in a pathetic heap of grey.

Later, she went to Giles in the library, to begin her training.  If he noticed the scarf wrapped firmly round her neck, he said nothing, just handed her a polished quarterstaff.  After their clash, he leaned against his staff, panting, a light sheen of sweat glinting on his forehead.

“Any trouble last night?  With Spike?” he asked quietly.

Buffy shook her head and stared at the floor. “No………no.  Nothing I couldn’t handle.”  Troubled, she raised her eyes then and looked at Giles. “Spike’s dead, Giles.  He tried…tried to make me like them, or something.  I don’t know, it was weird.  He said he …… he said he loved me.   Then Drusilla came from nowhere, I don’t …… she staked him.  Didn’t give him a chance to fight.  Just pouf! and gone.  She caught him by surprise, but she left me.  She’s looking for him now, I - she doesn't seem to know what she did.  She’s totally wigged, Giles.  I mean, she was never stable, but now?  We’d better hope she leaves Sunnydale.  For good.”  She paused, hand unconsciously touching the scarf at her neck.  "I just……I feel…… it's strange that Spike's gone, you know?  And Drusilla doing it, well, it's ……it's like it was with Angel.  When I had ……had to," her voice trailed into silence, eyes filling with tears.   Giles moved forward, gently folding her into his arms, murmuring soft reassurances.  Buffy wiped a hand across her face, unsteadily, then stepped back from him.

Drusilla knelt in the crypt, swaying backwards and forwards, watching the deadly sunlight creep across the floor towards her.  She was almost hypnotised by the golden light, the dust motes dancing in it, nearly able to feel the warmth.  Directly in its path as it streamed through a broken panel in the roof.  “My Spike.  Why did you leave me?  My lovely Spike……… nothing without you.  Gone.  Left me...  Oh my beautiful, deadly Spike……  All alone.  Spike?  Where are you?  Come back to Princess……………,” she whispered.  “You couldn’t love the Slayer.  She was weak.  Only I loved you.  A vampire’s love.  Not human.  You need me.  Forever………”

The light flared white hot as it reached her, burning instantly.  It left nothing behind, not even ashes drifting on the air. Just the empty, dark crypt, with only the echo of her voice to break the quiet……… 

“Forever……my Spike……………”