Spike spent what felt like a
lifetime lying face down on the ground. He was thinking. A strange
moment to be giving your brain a good spring clean, but there you go.
No-one said that he had a normal brain. But Spike was still on the ground
for a reason, he had a decision to make and he needed to make it before he
got up.
A boot smashed into his ribs for
the second time, but Spike barely even registered it. It was only a boot
after all. He was a Master Vampire, an evil un-dead creature of
darkness. Why the fuck should he be worrying about a simple human foot?
He had more important things to be thinking about.
Spike glanced over at his Chinese
takeaway that was scattered all about him. Damn! That meant that he was
going to have to go back for more. He had one *very* hungry human waiting
for him at home.
Spike thought about his human. His
Xander. Ten months they had officially been together. And it had been the
most fantastic ten months of Spike’s un-life. Sure they argued and fought
like two cats in cage, but it was that fiery spark that ignited the rest
of their lives together. The fighting would always turn into frantic,
hard fucking followed by whispered apologies and comforting embraces.
An angry voice shouted something
that was probably insulting and quite rude, but Spike ignored it. He
hadn’t finished his thinking. Now, where had he got to? Oh yeah, hard
fucking. That had been a surprise. Xander was not only extremely
willing, but he was also very much able, even shown Spike a couple of
things. He smiled at the memory.
The boot collided with his ribs
again.
Of course, it wasn’t all about the
fighting and fucking. It was about so much more than that. It was about
togetherness, friendship and companionship. It was about having someone to
share your life with. Someone to watch TV with. Someone to go to the
movies with. Someone to go (urgh) shopping with. Someone to cuddle up
with on a rainy night. Someone to look after you when you are sick.
Someone to comfort when they are sad……..Someone to love.
Spike had never told his human how
much he really did love him. Sure, he would try and show him through
little gestures and looks, but he had never said the words. Perhaps
tonight should be the night. Perhaps he would just get up off this
freezing cold floor, march home, fling his human on the bed and *tell* him
that he loved him.
Ok, so he was finally going to
tell Xander exactly how he felt about him, how much he meant to him and
how he could never live without him. Spike made a mental note to pick up
some JD on the way home. He suspected that they would soon both need a
stiff drink.
Right then. So that was one thing
sorted, now back to the matter at hand, the reason why he was lying on the
floor in a pool of his own blood.
A lousy, disgusting human hovered
over him and prepared to land another blow onto his body. Spike was not
even sure how this had happened, or even why this had happened. One
minute he was striding down the sidewalk, Chinese in hand and a punk song
in his head, and the next he was lying face down on the ground with no
Chinese in hand and nothing but a promise of death in his head. He was a
Master Vampire for Christ’s sake. No-one fucked with him. No-one should
dare challenge him.
Spike’s first instinct was to jump
straight up and tear out the throat of whoever had dared to confront him.
He had a stake in his pocket, his favourite stake. It was a multi
functional stake you know, not just for vampires. It would be so easy to
plunge it into this vile man’s ear and watch with a contented smile as it
appeared out the other side.
This part was always hard. It was
Spike’s instinct to kill. And to walk away and leave a human alive with
all limbs attached was an interesting challenge. But he would do it. Not
for the sake of man kind, not to keep the Slayer off his back, but for
Xander. He was onto a real good thing with his human and he was not going
to do anything that would jeopardise that.
It had been Xander that had asked
him not to kill. The other scoobies had just assumed
that he would go right back to his
old ways after the chip had malfunctioned, and they had threatened to
sweep him up and put him in the bin. But it was Xander that had showed
faith in him, told him that he was so much more than just a blood thirsty
vampire. Xander had asked him, not told him, not to kill. He had changed
his opinion of Xander Harris in that moment. The vision of the Zeppo had
disappeared and it was replaced with a picture of a warm caring human that
trusted to his very soul and treated everybody as an equal.
Spike wasn’t sure why at the time,
but he had agreed to Xander’s request. Of course, he had told the human
that there would be exceptions:
1, He would kill in self defence.
2, He would kill to save another
human or a nice demon
3, He would kill if the human was
particularly ugly, obnoxious or really smelly.
Xander had beamed at that last
condition. Although Spike had used a tone that said that he was deadly
serious, Xander knew him well enough to know that it was joke. He had
even teased that Spike could kill that funny little man that worked behind
the local newsstand. Bastard was always short changing them.
Spike thought back. How long ago
had that happened? How long ago had Xander Harris captured his un-dead
heart with one request? Spike smiled again. It was exactly one year
ago. One year ago, to the day, the chip had stopped working. One year
ago, to the day, he had promised Xander Harris that he would not kill a
human ever again. One year ago, to the day, his life had changed
forever.
With the decision made Spike
jumped up, switched to his gameface and roared. Ok so he wasn’t going to
kill this sad excuse for a human, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t
have some fun and scare the shit out of him.
The human screamed and promptly
pissed himself. Spike laughed and waved the human way. He had got the
desired result, no need to draw things out.
As Spike watched the terrified
human scuttle away, he pulled out a small pocket book from his duster. He
flicked at the tiny pages until he found the right place and hovered his
pen over the three hand drawn columns.
They read: Pissed self. Passed
out. Screamed like a girl.
Grinning, he placed a mark in the
first column and noted with a brief laugh that it seemed to be the most
popular choice so far. Spike thought about his human again, this was
another ingenious idea of Xander’s. How had his boy put it? “Ways to
have fun without the need for a funeral”
Jokes aside, un-life was hard.
Everyday Spike had the urge to kill and drink human blood. But every day
it got that little bit easier. And it was Xander that made it that way.
It was Xander that had got Spike through this last year. It was Xander
that had calmed him when he threatened to go and rip out a random jugular.
It was Xander that had held him when he cried, the urge to kill ripping
through him like a blunt sword. Xander had made it better, gave him
something to try for, gave him a reason to be good.
With Xander in mind again, Spike
turned and walked towards the Chinese takeaway. His boy must be ravenous
by now. He also decided to find somewhere that sold chocolate cake.
Spike had the urge to celebrate, he had lasted a whole year without
killing and with Xander by his side, he felt confident that they would be
celebrating a second anniversary this time next year.
The End
