Disclaimer: NOT MINE

He was losing it. He was sure of it. Why else would he have actually -- willingly -- joined the Slayer for contemplative brooding? Had a slightly civil conversation with her? Taken her drinking? Or... for lack of a better analogy, acted like an insatiable, sex-crazed mutt, pressing up against her the way he had?

Maybe he was feeling just a leettle too sex-deprived. Stupid Dru.

Spike raked his fingers through his hair, then flopped down in the evil wheelchair. He’d returned from Buffy’s fairly quickly, making it to his bedroom in record time. Just in case of the off-chance that Dru came in to spend time with him, or Angelus entered to torment him, he’d changed his clothes to rid himself of the Slayer’s scent, combined with the outdoors-y smell that was tell-tale to the fact that he’d been gallumphing around outside. But the first thing they would question would be when and how and why had the Slayer gotten on him before they worried about how he’d gotten outside. The Slayer’s fragrant, earthy aroma completely covered him, so much so that he felt like he was swamped in it.

He wasn’t particularly tired tonight. He could hear Dru down the hall and -- Jesus, they were still going at it? Hmph. Yeah, that was what was keeping him awake. Although, he wouldn’t be surprised if he woke up tomorrow seated upright in the wheelchair -- it had happened before. To be perfectly honest, he could sleep anywhere, and still wake up completely refreshed. He figured it was just a weird vampire thing, since he’d originally Awoken six feet underground in a wooden coffin. Or maybe it was because he was one of the last European vampires still in existence, being born in 1855 and hailing from North London. He was probably just used to sleeping on uncomfortably hard and lumpy things.

Hard and lumpy... oh, for God’s sake, he was sex-deprived! Grrr. Maybe he should’ve gotten the Slayer completely drunk, then fucked her senseless. Or he could’ve used that little chit from the University that he’d fed on tonight. She wasn’t exactly the prettiest little thing -- for some reason that was completely beyond his comprehension, he had a thing for blondes, and that bint’s hair had been a completely unnatural flame-red -- but still, she would have done nicely.

He remembered that she had green eyes (the oddest things planted themselves in his memory). Green eyes and a distinct New York accent; she’d been from Brooklyn more than likely. Damn, he should’ve turned the little bitch. She would’ve made a nice minion, and he could’ve used her to keep an eye on the Slayer and her mates. Well, it was too late for that now. Bah.

He couldn’t believe he’d agreed to meet her at the high school library. He’d seen enough of her friends when they were in action to know that the whole lot was completely loyal to their cause. Or if not to the cause, then completely loyal to Buffy. With his luck, the cunt would probably forget all about letting the Super-friends know about their alliance, and he’d be attacked on entry. And since he was supposedly on the ‘other team,’ though he was certain he’d been booted off somewhere in the first five minutes that Angelus had been back, the Watcher was more than likely going to take his aggressions about Angelus out on him.

The more he thought about it, the more he frowned. This was so not the good idea. He paused, his eyesbrows furrowing. 'So not of the good?' Bloody hell, I've been in California too long.  Anyway, all he wanted was to permanently get rid of Angelus, and make Dru feel sorry for rejecting him, maybe get her to beg for him to take her back before he rejected her. Anyway, he felt like he was being set up, and he did not like that feeling one bit!

Maybe he should bring a back-up army with him, just in case.

Or he could go with Buffy’s suggestion, and wear a bullet-proof vest. Wait, no, a stake-proof vest. Did they even make those? They should. A lot of his stupid minions might actually survive a night out in Sunnydale if someone had the bloody sense to create such a genius contraption.

Oooh. He should think about doing that. There would be some definite money there.

Dammit. Those stupid books had been right when they’d defined his short-attention span as ADHD. All he had to do now was learn to squirm while in the chair in front of everyone else.

He had to stop that.

He jumped to attention when his bedroom door burst open. Oh. Yay. His ‘faithful’ girlfriend and ‘respected’ grandsire had come to pay him a visit (and he used both phrases loosely, a term that Drusilla seemed to be especially friendly with as of late). Hey, they’d actually remembered him! Well, woo-bloody-hoo. Who cared? He peered up at Angelus as the dark-haired bastard entered, a smug, proud grin on his face.

"Well, well, look who’s up and rolling. Can’t sleep? Such a shame." Angelus turned his head to openly leer at Drusilla. "Wonder why."

Dru offered a coy, sly smile in return, sauntering up next to the elder vampire. Rubbing her cheek against his right bicep, she snaked an arm across his waist and purred lightly as her fingers roamed up and down his abdomen. "Are we going hunting now, my Angel? My tummy’s all growly. It wants a nummy treat." Her sweet, lilting voice contradicted her evil, prowling demeanor. It was the same demeanor that said she was fully aware of what her open betrayal meant to Spike, and it also said that she truly didn’t give a damn about it. Spike had to fight not to flinch.

Angelus let out a soft growl, pressing his lips to her ear before he turned to look at Spike. ‘Yeah, baby, we’re going."

Drusilla smiled and let out a soft humming sound before she too turned to glance at her former lover. "Do you want anything, pet?"

Angelus grinned. "Yeah. Want some take-out, Roller Boy?"

Spike’s jaw clenched, but he refused to give his Sire the satisfaction of seeing him get pissed. Angelus was not going to succeed in intimidating him. Instead, Spike met Angel’s gaze with a proud, defiant jutt of his chin, openly showing his utter disdain for the prick. "Go on ahead. Have fun. Oh, but you can do one thing for me. Why don’t you purposely trip on a tree branch an’ stake yourself, Peaches?"

Angelus smirked and none-too-lightly smacked the back of Spike’s head. "Funny! He thinks he’s a comedian!" He leaned in, his upper lip curling to reveal the disgust he harbored for his Childe. "You know, I might take you up on that." His eyes rolled over to Dru, who preened at her Sire’s acknowledgement, proud to be recognized as Angelus’s mistress. "Although... I’ll probably be doing the staking. Just so you know."

He stood up and patted Spike’s cheek twice roughly, giving the younger vampire a quick smirk, before hauling Dru out the door. The vampiress followed, clinging to her Master and tagging after him like a puppy begging after a piece of bacon.

Spike managed to contain himself until he could no longer feel their presence in the mansion. And then he jumped up and screamed psycho-serial-killer-bloody murder, kicking the wheelchair over and sending it flying into the wall.

Trap or not, he would fully align himself with the Slayer. Angelus and Dru were gonna pay for ruining his life.

She was off her rocker. She was fully positive that she was certifiable.

Making a deal with Spike? What in the hell was wrong with her? She was a headcase, that much was a definite. She seriously needed help if she actually believed that Spike was on her side. And furthermore, Giles was gonna kill her! She had just made an alliance with the freakin’ dark side, with the guy whose whackjob Sires had both had a hand in murdering Giles’s girlfriend! But the real thing Giles would focus on (oddly...) was going to be the fact that she’d done it without his consent. There was no telling how pissed off he was gonna be.

But... Sigh. She had told Spike that she would let everyone know about it before tomorrow so he wouldn’t be dust in the doorway the instant he arrived. She just couldn’t help it, though! This whole situation was wicked insane, and it was wigging her out! And rightly so, but if Spike’s departure was any indication, he was about as wigged as she was. In fact, he probably thought that she was planning to double-cross him, which... okay, well, the thought had briefly crossed her mind. But the bleached jerk was valuable, and he was the only one strong enough to help her defeat Angel and Dru.

Damn the system!

She grunted. Stupid vampires.

It figured that she would have to fall in love with a vampire that was cursed with a soul. It was sort of poetic. No, not poetic. Tragic, it was tragic. Hello, Romeo, so long Cinderella.

Okay, so her relationship with Angel hadn’t exactly been a Cinderella story. There weren’t any ball gowns, or castles, and her mother didn’t hate her. But she had found a Prince Charming, and she’d started to be all Happily-Ever-After with him, despite the whole vampire slaying hoo-ha that she had to put up with in This Thing Called Life that stalked her wherever she went.

But dammit, nobody had ever told Cinderella to kill her Prince Charming when he lost his soul and became an evil psychopathic fiend, who happened to drink lots of O pos and had around 230 years on her. Of course, it would have helped if Cinderella’s honey actually HAD lost his soul. And was a vampire. Stupid fairy-tales. Anyway, that was when Wherefore Art Thou Romeo came in. A tragedy in every way because the consummation of their love now meant certain doom for her loved ones in the wake of Jenny’s death.

That fairy tale wasn’t lookin’ too bad right now.

Buffy huffed. Stupid reality.

M’kay, that was getting a little creepy, even for her. She needed to stop blaming everything else (for now) and call the Scoobies to tell them about Spike.

With luck, nobody would collapse into epileptic fits.

Okay. The long and short of it was that the Circle hadn’t gone well last night. Giles, as predicted, had blown up at her for making a decision without consulting him. Xander was freaked to the max times ten to the forty-second power, and was pissed off at her on top of that for bringing another vampire WithOut A Soul into the fold.

Willow would be carrying a few (hundred) crucifixes with her (under her clothes, of course; being Jewish really did put a cramp on using crosses to guard against evil). She would also be hiding behind Oz during the meeting.

Oz meanwhile, had been as calm and stoic as ever. He had replied with a simple, "Huh. Okay," to her message, then agreed with her decision before hanging up with her.

Cordelia hadn’t been given a message. Simply for the fact that, even though she was dating Xander, she still thought of herself as the Queen C, all bow down before her Highness Cordelia.

Okay, okay, so she wanted to see Cordy jump a little. Was that so wrong? Probably, but it was still gonna be wicked funny. Hehe.

It was the night after, and she had come home from school to meet Mom for a rare dinner downtime, before heading off to study at Willow’s (read: patrol). Then she’d come straight back and changed into another outfit for the Scooby meeting, because God knew she stunk and she really didn’t need Cordy pointing it out to her.

She had told him that they would meet at the high school library. So she was understandably freaked when he popped up at her door, raising his eyebrows with questionable innocence. "’Ello, pet."

She let out a very unSlayer-like yip, spinning around and punching him. "Asshole! What the hell are you doing here? I said we’d meet at the library!"

Spike growled and punched her back, connecting with more accuracy since he didn’t have adrenaline or the slightest jump of fear running through him. He pulled back, scoffing as she hit the ground, then sighed. Reaching out his hand, he grabbed her arm and hoisted her up, lifting her right off her feet before they touched the porch. "Excuse me for being the slightest bit of cautious, luv, but I don’t really fancy walking with my eyes in the back of my head, right into a trap. So you have the esteem pleasure of having me accompany you there."

She groaned. "It is not a trap, you leather-bound dimwit! I told you I’d let them all know beforehand, and I did!"

He grunted at her. "Right. An’ I’m sure little visions of setting me up had never crossed your mind? I’d just as well start praying under a cross!"

Buffy’s lips zipped and she stared at him. That was not fair! He had seen right through her, sensed that she’d contemplated betraying him! God, if only she had that Spidey-sense in her Slayer arsenal. "Okay, so maybe I did. But it was only for a second. Can you be anymore paranoid?"

"Paranoid, yes. Stupid an’ gullible, no. Get moving, Slayer. I wanna get this over with an’ be back ‘fore the wankers notice." He started stalking off in the direction of the school, and Buffy half-skipped, trying to catch up to him.

"How did you get past them anyway? Wouldn’t they know if you’ve been somewhere, and don’t they have minions guarding wherever it is you’re staying now?"

Spike huffed, walking faster, his strides so long that Buffy’s efforts to catch up were almost doubled. "See, that’s the problem with Peaches. He underestimates me. Doesn’t realize that the Big Bad is back, doesn’t have a single soddin’ clue of what I could’ve done to him while he slept. That right there?" He looked at Buffy and continued when she nodded. "That’s his weakness. The sonofabitch is too damn arrogant."

Buffy snorted. "So are you!"

He scowled at her. "Arrogant is being so caught up in yourself that you think you’re bloody immortal. I’m cocky. Cocky is knowing that you can handle yourself, and knowing when to back off when you’ve been beat. I’m cocky, whereas he’s arrogant. That’s the difference between us, luv. I got out easy because Angelus went hunting with Dru again, an’ from past experience, I know they’ll be gone till just before the bloody sun comes up. Second, the minions Angelus enlisted are idiots. Taking after their Sire is all."

He seemed more annoyed tonight than he usually was. Something must’ve pushed him to that edge since the night before. Angel had probably made fun of him again, or something. Which brought up a question in her head. "Why does Angel seem to hate you so much?"

Spike’s eyes flickered toward her briefly, then back ahead as they rounded a street corner about a block away from the high school. "We playing Twenty Questions, then, are we? He doesn’t seem to hate me, luv. He does hate me, an’ I hate him every bit as much. Guess I was too much of a rebel for him to handle. Angelus never really enjoyed the whole parenting feature that came along with being a Sire. I never listened to him, I called him a ‘poofter,’ an’ I ran out an’ did things he told me not to do. That’s how I killed my first Slayer. He told me the bitch would find me an’ kill me if I didn’t lay low, an’ that just made me wanna find her all the more."

Buffy frowned. "So Angel hates you because you don’t listen to him?"

Spike glanced at her again, slowing down slightly. The school was just around this corner, and he didn’t particularly want to be quick going in without Buffy. "Angelus, pet," he corrected gently. "Call him by his rightful name. He isn’t the bloke you knew anymore." Buffy looked down, nodding slowly.

Spike sighed and continued. "And he hates me because he thinks I’m a lesser vampire than he is. Just because I don’t roam around, snatch a body off the street, then play a round of Torture Club with them. Torturing... it’s just not me, y’know?" A wicked grin overtook his features. "I like the fighting." He cleared his throat after a bit, a thoughtful look appearing on his face. "What was it he said once? Ah, yes." He looked at Buffy, gave her a tight smile and wiggled his eyebrows. "He believed I was ‘in it for the food.’ If I was in it for the food, Dru would have just made me a minion. I was in it for the bloody freedom it gave me."

Despite herself, a quirk formed her lips and she smiled. Through all his way too obvious faults, it was funny imagining that Angel thought that this guy was only in it to get some free eats. And another thing -- he was being friendly. Annoyed, but friendly still. It was a rare side that she hadn’t seen before, and in spite of her, she found herself enjoying his company.

Wiggy.

They entered the high school and started down the hall the library was in, before Buffy stopped and pushed him to a wall. He glanced down at her, raising his eyebrows. "Yes, pet?"

She glanced at the doors, then back at him, her countenance becoming almost violently serious. "Those are my best friends in there. You make one move at any one of them, and you're gonna wish I had finished you off at the church that night. Got me?"

He looked in her eyes, holding her gaze for about a minute. The girl was deathly serious. She was willing to kill in order to protect these people, just as he knew without a doubt that those people in there would willingly risk their lives for her. He wondered what type of person she really was to have such loyalty. What type of person he would have to be to gain that loyalty from the one he loved.

After a bit, he nodded slowly, and Buffy released him. His stance relaxed and he regarded her with a slight smile. This girl was every bit the anomaly in her world as he was in his. She was his complete opposite, and yet, at the same time, his exact equal. She was the female version of him. That was a rarity to find.

And absurdly, he found himself liking the girl more and more.

Clearly, she wasn't like the Slayers he had faced before. He had known that the instant he had locked his gaze on her at the Bronze that first night. It intrigued him, and at the same time, he worried.

Because it aroused him as well. It was unheard of to find such an equal in your very own enemy.

Whoops. She was talking. "... who Giles is. The dark-haired guy in there, I’m pretty sure you know, if you don’t, his name is Xander. Ignore his attitude and his bad jokes, cuz I’m sure that the second he opens his mouth, you’re gonna want to kill him, but you can’t. The red-head is Willow, and the guy she’ll be hiding behind for most of the meeting is her boyfriend Oz. The long-haired brunette chick with the caustic tongue and really bad attitude is Cordelia, she’s Xander’s girlfriend." He peeked through the window of the library, then looked down at her with one raised eyebrow. She sighed. "I know. Believe me, I know. I don’t get it either."

She turned and paced for a moment, thinking, before she came back to him. "Remember, you touch or look at any one of them in a way that means, ‘ooh, blood packets, nummy,’ and I’ll rip your head off with my bare hands. I mean it, Spike." She glanced up at him for a moment, her bright green eyes searching the sapphires that his had become, then turned to the door when he nodded.

"My, but you’re a protective little bint, aren’t you, luv?" he murmured softly, his annoyed tone floating into her ears, hiding a hint of a smile.

Buffy glanced up at him again. "They’re my family. When it comes to the people you love, you have to be."

His smile disappeared instantly at her words, and Buffy frowned to herself. She wondered idly if he must have been thinking about Drusilla. Shrugging it off, she pushed open the doors and entered to a round of chorused hello’s for her, and distrusting and fearful looks for Spike. A scream split the air, and Buffy whipped her head around to glance at Cordelia, who was staring at Spike with wide eyes while her trembling arms looped around Xander’s neck in fear. Buffy tried her best to hide her amusement before she glanced at Spike.

The vampire had his head tilted to the side, and was staring at Cordelia like he was mentally dissecting her. She understood that he was trying to push through the fear in order to view her character. And apparently, whatever he found was amusing as all hell, because he was looking back at Buffy now and grinning like an idiot.

"I take it she didn’t know yours truly would be making an appearance?" he asked knowingly.

Buffy grinned and looked down sheepishly. "Whoops. I guess I forgot to mention that to her."

Xander looked at her from the study table in the center of the library. "You forgot to tell her that Dead Boy, Jr. would be here?"

Spike scoffed at the nickname as Buffy shrugged. She grinned again. "Sorry, Cordy!"

Cordelia glared furiously at Buffy, her eyes blazing. "I’ll just bet you are, Summers!" She turned to her -- snort -- boyfriend and buried her face in his shoulder. "Xander, she did it purposely to hear me scream!"

Xander rested his head on top of Cordy’s, gently stroking her hair and her back. "I know, I know. Bad Buffy. Bad, mean Buffy, scaring my poor Cordy like that," he scolded, all the while giving Buffy a thumb’s up and a wink behind Cordelia’s back.

Buffy covered up her grin by clapping her hand over her mouth, then sat down next to Oz, squishing him in between herself and a word-lacking Willow.

Spike roamed around on the outer edges, eyeing the remaining seat next to Xander like it was covered in flesh-eating Egyptian scarab beetles. He leaned down, crouching next to Buffy. "You’re not gonna make me sit next to him, are you?" he asked out loud. "I can feel my self-respect diminishing just by looking at him."

Whoosh. Cordy’s fear went out the window. She whirled around, gazing at Spike. "You can feel it too? Oh, thank God, I thought it was just me!"

Buffy snorted and then looked down in embarrassment when both Giles gave her the Disapproving Librarian Look and Spike smirked, then began stewing as he plopped down on the steps leading up to the stacks.

Xander, meanwhile, glared back and forth between his girlfriend and Spike, before he settled back. "Hello! Cordy, I’m sitting right here, this is me, your boyfriend, remember?"

Cordy scoffed. "Don’t remind me."

All at once, Giles cleared his throat and Spike stood up at the sound, meeting the Watcher’s steely, untrusting gaze with one of his own. Buffy stood up as well, preparing to be mediator for the two, should they come to blows.

"Giles?" she asked tentatively.

The Watcher ignored her and instead, spoke to Spike. "I don’t trust you."

Spike shrugged, his gaze never wavering. "No surprise there. I don’t trust your lot here either, mate. Only reason I’m here is that we’ve got common enemies."

Xander, still glaring at Cordelia for her earlier comments, huffed and crossed his arms. "Well, there’s one thing we never thought we’d have in common with you."

Spike snarled softly at the boy, then glanced back as Giles continued. "I have no idea as to what you believe you can gain by joining us in our fight against Angelus, but rest assured that if this is only a mere plot deviation formed by yourself, Angelus and Drusilla, we will not hesitate in the least in killing you."

Spike raised his hand to the bridge of his nose, pinching as he looked down and closed his eyes. After a moment, he looked back up again. "Mate. If this was something Angelus had come up with, all on his lonesome, with that one remaining braincell in his head," he ignored the dirty look he received from the Slayer, and the muffled laugh Xander made, "I wouldn’t even be here. Believe me. I want my shithead of a sire out of the picture as much as you do."

Giles held the vampire’s gaze for a moment longer, then nodded shortly. "Very well, then. We appreciate whatever information you can give us."

Spike nodded slowly, then came down off the steps, circling the table with his hands behind his back. "The last couple of days, Dru’s been prattling on an’ on ‘bout some sort of star alignment. At least, that’s what I got out of her when she wasn’t busy shagging..." he glanced up and his eyes caught Buffy’s. He quickly glanced back down again and covered up his words. "When she wasn’t ignoring me in Angelus’s favor."

He looked up again, and noticed that Buffy was staring at him in confusion. Now that he realized it, almost all the kids were. Giles, however, was gazing at him with some form of consideration. He realized then that the Watcher was the only one who’d caught his slip.

He shrugged it off and sighed. "Anyway, according to her, something big’s s’posed to be happening, but there’s always something big happening when she has a vision. Something’s coming to town, an’ from what I gathered, it’s some big evil. Problem with it, is that it’s stone. Which is what I don’t get. What the hell’s so evil about stone?"

He gazed at Giles expectantly, placing his thumbs through his beltloops as the teenagers of the group glanced between the vampire and the Watcher.

Giles frowned and took off his glasses, then placed the plastic end between his lips, chewing on it as he pondered the information. "Something set in stone? Perhaps an ancient scripture? Or perhaps..."

The Watcher stopped in his tracks, pulling the end of his glasses out of his mouth and looking up. "Stone.... stone..."

Spike rolled his eyes as Giles took off toward his office. "Were you possessed by a drone? We know it’s stone, what do you make of it?"

Giles came back out, holding an envelope with a few sheets of paper in his hands, studying them furiously. Appearing not to have heard a single word that Spike had said, he furrowed his brow and began chewing on the ends of his glasses again. The vampire frowned and glanced back at the group he stood next to. Buffy, Oz, and Xander, in unison, snorted loudly. Buffy, still glaring at him, shook her head, waving her hand -- a look was on her face that stated ‘don’t even bother.’

Spike grunted and sighed. He was insane. All those years with Dru had finally rubbed off on him. He was insane as hell to have even considered coming here.

Oh, well. Albert Einstein had been insane, and people called him a ruddy genius.

three || one || fog home || the naughtiness