A New Man

Buffy kicked the door hard and relished the highly satisfactory feeling she got from it flying open. Walking in, she cast a quick look around the magic shop and then headed straight around the cash register. She bent over as she rifled through the payment slips, searching for a clue.

“Okay, credit card slips, sales receipt. Help me look.”

She was so engrossed in searching for the information that she barely heard Riley speaking as he stood next to her.

“You shouldn’t have done that to the door.”

The disapproving tone in his voice was enough to remind her painfully of Giles.

“I do not have time to play by the rules tonight.”

“I have a master key. It opens every shop on Main Street.”

Buffy paused and looked at him sheepishly. “Oh, well. Next time, absolutely.”

Opening a drawer, she pulled out a wad of credit card receipts and started flicking through them one by one, trying to ignore the way that Riley was flitting about seemingly not doing anything helpful.

“I don’t know what I’m looking for.” He watched her as she stared down at the slip in her hand.

“I do.” Tearing the piece of paper out of the pad, she frowned at it before slamming the drawer shut. “Ethan Rayne.”

“Who’s that?”

Buffy handed him the piece of paper. “Professional bad guy. He’s got to be the guy that made the demon attack Giles. At least we know who we’re looking for.”

She watched as Riley pulled something out of his pocket and held it to his ear. “Command, you there?”

“What are you doing?”

He ignored her and continued to talk into the device. “It’s agent Finn. I need a search. Local hotel registrations matching the name Ethan Rayne. R-A-Y-N-E. Call me back.”

Buffy raised her brows. “You can do that?”

“It’ll take a couple of minutes.”

“Get in the car. Be ready to go.” She moved to leave and then realised that something was wrong.

“Buffy.” He took a breath to steady himself as she turned to face him. “Earlier, when I talked to Professor Walsh, she gave me very specific orders.”

“Yeah?”

“She said when we located the demon I…I’m not supposed to bring you along.”

Buffy didn’t miss a beat. “Oh.”

She turned to leave.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to the car.” She looked back at him.

“Buffy, I can’t take you with me.”

Her tone turned cold. “You’re not taking me with you. I am going and I’m letting you come along.”

Riley realised that he wasn’t going to win this one but he couldn’t break orders. “Buffy, it’s not really your call. This is a military operation now.”

He froze as she caught him in a steely gaze, her eyes narrowing on his.

“Then call out the troops. Because nothing less than that is going to stop me. This demon is mine, Riley, it did something to Giles and I’m not going to let it get away with it. This is my call. This is my fight. I’m the Slayer and in this town, what I say goes.” Looking at the door and then back at Riley she suddenly wished that she’d never brought him along, she would have got the job done just as good without him. More and more these days he was just irking her, his constant talk of the initiative gave her an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. She realised it was partly due to Spike, she’d seen first hand what the initiative was capable of and she didn’t like it. She didn’t like the way they had taken control of her town. Or the way they now seemed to be trying to take control of her.


Buffy ran hard from the Magic Box, not waiting to see if Riley was following her and almost hoping that he wasn’t.

Turning the corner sharply she squeaked and stumbled backwards as she bumped into something vaguely soft but hard at the same time. She closed her eyes tight as she lost her footing and waited for the cold wet slap of her backside hitting the wet asphalt road.

It never came.

She could feel strong arms wrapped around her, holding her tightly as she leaned back at a forty-five degree angle. Slowly opening her eyes, she frowned down at the tight black t-shirt covering the hard body that was pressing against hers. She swallowed noisily and raised her eyes up to his face.

Spike smiled.

Buffy’s eyes widened.

“Little display of no balance not very Slayer like of you…Slayer.”

She pushed him backwards and stood up, finding his arms unwilling to let her go as he cocked his head and stared down at her. Pressing her hands against his chest she struggled to get him off her, her mind telling her that it was wrong to be in his arms while her body told her to hell with it--it felt good.

Spike relinquished his grasp on her as he heard voices echoing from down the alley.

“See you around, love.”

Buffy watched him start running up the alley and then frowned in the direction the voices were coming from. She caught snippets of their conversation like ‘hostile’ and ‘grey car’. As their shadows appeared in the alleyway, she turned on her heel and sprinted hard after Spike. It didn’t take her long to track him down and catch up with him, his signature was always stronger and clearer to her than most other vampires. In fact, all other vampires except Angel.

Catching hold of his arm, she gasped as he turned to face her, his vampire guise in situ as he growled.

Spike slipped out of game face. “Sorry, pet. Thought you were one of those Nazi’s.”

Buffy felt her heartbeat even out as she watched his face become smooth again. Her eyes immediately locking with his as they changed from amber to blue.

“What happened?” She hissed at him as he stared down at her.

His eyes narrowed on hers in a way that made her legs feel weak--she hated it when he did that.

“No time to talk, got to run.” Spike started again and found Buffy running along side him.

“Spike, tell me what happened. I heard the initiative guys. They were talking about you and a grey car. Did you steal Giles’ car?” She managed to frown up at him as she ran beside him.

“No. Giles’ and I took the car. He couldn’t drive, what with being all demony and all. So I drove. We picked up a military tail and the next thing I knew was Giles was out the car and I was crashing the sodding batmobile into a brick wall. Hurt like a bitch. Still, was fun while it lasted.” He smiled whimsically.

“Hang on…” Buffy panted as she knit her brows tight. “Giles is a demon?”

“Fyarl to be precise and he owes me three hundred bucks, so let’s just say I’m protecting my interests by doing this.” Spike turned the corner and tried to ignore the way it felt when she was following behind him rather than beside him. His hunting instincts screamed at him whenever she fell behind, her signature following him like she was chasing him, hunting him down. He growled quietly and tried to push away from the feelings it gave him, the desire it stirred.

“Fyarl. Oh god. Giles.”

“What?” Spike ground to a halt and breathed heavily as she stopped in front of him, her brows furrowed into a concerned look. He stepped towards her when she didn’t look like answering and placed his hand on her shoulder, leaning down so he was eye level with her and knitting his brows tightly. “Buffy, what is it?”

Buffy closed her eyes briefly as she felt his hand on her, his fingers pressing softly into her flesh.

“Giles. Riley thinks the Fyarl killed him. He’s got the initiative heading to the motel right now.”

“Then we beat them there.” Spike caught hold of her hand and started off at a sprint, not giving himself a second to consider just what he was doing or why. He gripped her hand a little tighter and frowned as her fingers intertwined with his. It was beyond wrong of him to be enjoying the feeling of her hand in his, the way her fingers pressed into him and warmed him, but he couldn’t help himself.

Buffy squeezed his hand as they ran down a network of alleyways, hoping that he knew where they were because she’d become lost about three blocks back. As they came out on the opposite side of the road to the motel Buffy could’ve hugged him, instead she sprinted across the road.


Dashing in through the already broken door, Buffy paused for a second to look at Ethan.

“He killed Ripper, and now he’s trying to kill me.” He pointed at the fyarl demon.

Buffy rolled her eyes and punched him. “Do I look stupid?”

Turning to face Spike, she found he was watching her closely. She gave him a hard look and nodded towards Ethan. “I don’t care what you have to do, just don’t let him get out of here.”

He nodded and moved to block the doorway as Buffy walked towards Giles.

Ethan straightened up and gave Spike a curious look, sizing him up as he leaned against the doorframe.

“Ethan Rayne, I presume.” Spike smirked at him as he folded his arms.

“Indubitably, and you are?”

Spike slid into vampire guise and gave himself a moment to enjoy the look of fear that washed across Ethan’s face. “William the Bloody.”

Ethan shot him a look that said he knew the name, and backed away from him until he bumped into a chair and sat down sharply. Looking up at the vampire, he couldn’t help noticing the malicious twinkle in his amber eyes.

Spike sucked his cheeks into a grin. He knew he was enjoying menacing the guy far too much but he hadn’t had an opportunity like this since being chipped and it was only made all the sweeter by it being Buffy endorsed.

Ethan twitched slightly in his chair as Spike ran his tongue over his incisors.

“Don’t move an inch, mate, I don’t think she’ll stop me from biting you and I’m feeling a mite peckish.” He grinned wide at him and then looked up at Buffy.

She was slowly circling the fyarl, her Slayer side was screaming for the fight and she still wasn’t sure if it really was Giles in there.

Looking deep into the fyarls eyes she smiled as she saw all anger reflected at her.

“Giles?”

The fyarl babbled something at her that she hoped was a reply.

She looked at Spike as he chuckled.

“What did he say?”

“ ‘Oh, thank god’…funny hearing a fyarl saying ‘god’.” Spike smirked and watched as she took a few tentative steps towards Giles. Spike moved his eyes back to rest on Ethan, favouring him with an icy cold stare as he knit his brows. “Bout time you fixed this mess, isn’t it mate?”


Buffy watched as Giles stared at himself in the mirror and smoothed down the black shirt that he’d taken from Ethan’s belongings.

“Feeling better?” She beamed at him, thinking of the countless times she would be able to tease him about turning into a demon.

“Much, thank you.” He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a smile.

Buffy looked past him to Spike. He was pacing in a rough semi circle around Ethan where he was sitting on the floor. His game face still in place, he kept his eyes fixed on him as he slowly stood up. She couldn’t help smiling over the obvious enjoyment he was getting from being the muscle in her plan. It struck a chord in her.

He missed being able to do that. He missed being able to scare people and hunt.

She made a mental note to take him out on patrol soon, let him hunt down some demons with her. It was a poor substitute for tracking and killing humans but it was the best she could do, besides, he might enjoy it more if she was there. He seemed to like working alongside her.

As their eyes locked she let her lips play into a small smile and watched his brows knit for the briefest of moments before he smiled back at her.

Spike felt a sharp pain in his forearm and then a blinding light filled his eyes. As the room came back into focus, Ethan was gone.

“Bloody bastard cut me.” Spike growled as he inspected the gash on his arm.

Giles rolled his eyes. “Unclean blood. He teleported.”

“Huh?” Buffy wrinkled her nose up as she looked at Giles.

“He worships Chaos. The blood of the unclean is said to have magical properties to them.”

Spike just mumbled and licked the wound. Buffy found herself watching him as his tongue ran up the length of the cut, becoming tainted with red before it disappeared from view inside his mouth.

She shook her head to bring herself out of her daydream. Spike arched a brow at her.

“We should…” Buffy started but bright car headlights flashed across the room and she heard the scrunching of gravel outside as they pulled to a halt. “…Get out of here?”

She gave Spike an edgy look and he stepped towards her, his body tensed and ready for action. Facing the door she felt Giles appear to her left and took a deep breath. She could hear voices outside, military code words filling the air as she waited to see what they were up against.

Spike clenched his fists as he listened to the people approaching. He was starting to wonder if all this trouble was worth it for a measly three hundred dollars. As the initiative soldiers appeared in view, he decided it definitely wasn’t.

Buffy raised her chin up defiantly as she met Riley’s eyes.

Riley looked back at her. She seemed different somehow, all the tenderness in her eyes had disappeared and she was staring at him coldly.

Casting a quick glance around the room, he let his eyes come to settle on the man standing to Buffy’s right. He frowned.

“Do I know you?”

Buffy tensed.

Spike swallowed hard and then rolled his eyes as he realised what he was doing. In front of him was another of Buffy’s whelps, little boys that were no match for him even when he was chipped. He was William the Bloody--no behaviour modification could change that.

Standing up straighter, he gave Riley a disdainful look.

“Recommend you let the little lady and the Watcher go, mate.”

Buffy let her mouth hang open as she turned to look at Spike. There was something in his devil may care attitude that had made her stomach heat through. She realised it was because he was protecting her and Giles.

“I know you…” Riley tried desperately not to seem flustered by the blond man, he was around half a foot shorter than him for starts and wasn’t particularly well built.

So why did his words and attitude make him want to think twice about what he was doing by blocking Buffy’s path.

“William the Bloody.” Spike grinned wide and walked towards him until he was close enough to feel him breathing. His tone turned low and venomous. “But I think you called me something different when you shoved this chip up my brain.”

Buffy’s eyes widened as she came back to reality and realised what was going to happen.

“Hostile Seventeen.” Riley narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his gun.

Buffy quickly placed herself between them, pressing the palms of her hands against their chests and pushing them away from each other.

“Buffy…tell me you haven’t been harbouring this HST.”

She gave Riley a sweet but sheepish smile.

“Jesus Buffy…he’s a demon…”

“He’s Spike…besides you guys made him pretty harmless with your nice little experiments.” She realised before she’d finished that her words had sounded contemptuous.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Riley glared down at her.

Spike raised his brows as he watched them, wondering where Buffy was about to go with what she’d been saying.

“Just that you all walk around like you’re gods gift to Sunnydale, experimenting on demons left, right and centre…and in reality…you’re a bunch of Frankenstein’s.” Buffy felt her temperature rising as she thought about how Riley and the initiative were starting to act like they ran Sunnydale now and there was no place for her. “This is my town, my demons…if I want to harbour one of them then that’s my prerogative.”

Riley looked stunned for a moment before frowned at her. “Thought you were meant to slay demons…not protect them.”

“Hang on a bloody minute, mate.” Spike growled and stepped towards him again but found Buffy blocking his path.

“He can’t hurt humans anymore…your stupid chip works…besides…he’s Spike.” Buffy frowned at herself for saying that--it caused a whirlwind of conflict to run through her. So he was Spike, did that grant him special treatment? What was that meant to mean anyway, he’s Spike?

Spike arched a brow.

Riley didn’t miss a beat. “So, there’s something going on between you two?”

“Now wait a minute.” Buffy shot him a dark look and desperately tried to ignore the feeling of Spike behind her. She swore she could feel the intensity of the questioning look she knew he was giving her.

“Then what is it?” Riley looked from her to Spike and back to her again.

“History…okay, we have a history.”

“History?”

Buffy felt her stomach tighten up with frustration, the desire to stamp her foot or hit something almost overwhelming her.

“Listen, farm boy.” Spike stepped around Buffy, placing himself between her and Riley. He looked down at the ground and then up into Riley’s eyes, his head cocked to one side as his thumb hooked over his belt. “She doesn’t have to explain anything to you. Why don’t you just run along home? Let the Slayer do her job and stop getting in her way.”

Riley just smiled. “You can’t hurt humans…I’m meant to be scared of you?”

Spike tensed his jaw and rolled his neck as he closed his eyes, barely able to restrain himself. He let a smile creep slowly across his face.

“Right…that’s it. Had just about enough of you, you stupid git. Get it through your thick skull that she isn’t interested in your army of mad scientists. Pack up and get the hell out of my town, before I do some serious damage.”

Riley laughed. “What’re you going to do?”

Buffy’s eyes widened as she watched the scene unfold in front of her eyes. In one lightning fast movement, Spike had punched Riley hard enough to cause him to fall to the floor--the floor about ten metres from where he’d been standing.

Her heart pounded hard against her chest as she realised that he’d had the guts to do what she’d wanted to.

Spike shot Buffy a sidewards look as he clutched his head. Walking out of the now clear doorway, he gave Riley a disdainful look as he scrambled about in the dirt and then rifled through his pocket for his cigarettes.

Lighting up a smoke he inhaled deeply and sighed as the pain echoed around his skull. He was going to have one hell of a headache for a while, but it had been worth it--not only for the look on the farm boys face but also for the look on Buffy’s. For a moment, he swore he’d seen some kind of gratitude flicker in her green eyes.


Buffy wrapped her arms tightly around herself as she walked through the cemetery. It was a starless night, clouds hung heavy in the sky and the air was damp. A portend of rain.

It had been two whole days since the night she’d fallen out with Riley over the initiative and her rights as the Slayer. The only thing she regretted was not being the one who had punched him.

Spike.

She wondered where he was now. She’d seen neither hide nor hair of him since that night and she couldn’t blame him for laying low. The initiative had shown no sign so far of backing down and leaving Sunnydale.

Twirling her stake, she heaved a long sigh and then paused as her senses picked up a familiar scent.

Spike.

Closing her eyes, she focused her Slayer abilities and tried to hone in on his signal. He was close. She just wasn’t sure where he was.

Trying to follow the scent, she felt like she was chasing a ghost, going round in circles as she walked through the cemetery. She stopped dead and almost laughed out loud at herself.

What was she doing?

She was seriously trying to find Spike, like it mattered to her if he was safe and sound.

She froze as a chill swept up her spine and cold realisation dawned on her.

She cared what happened to Spike.

Her stomach twisted and turned upon itself. She breathed heavily as she leaned against the nearest wall and held onto her abdomen. It felt like her whole world was shifting around her as she stared at the floor.

She couldn’t like him. Couldn’t care about him. No.

Standing up straight, she took a deep breath and felt calm wash through her body. It was just a moment of weakness. It wouldn’t be repeated again.

Her eyes moved to rest on the large metal door beside her as she realised that Spike’s scent was strongest here.

Pushing it slowly open, she ignored the way it creaked and peered around it into the large crypt.

Empty. Blackness.

She walked down a few steps, reaching her senses out as the nerves bubbled up in her stomach. It was pitch black and the air smelt like candles recently blown out. Her skin crawled as she imagined just what could be lurking in the darkness around her, waiting to catch her off guard as she walked steadily forwards into the deeper recesses of the room.

A shuffling noise to her right caused her to spin around, her stake raised up ready for action as she wondered why the hell she was putting herself in such a dangerous position. She couldn’t see a thing, not even the way she’d come in.

Moving her eyes quickly around the darkness, she bit her lip and gripped her stake a little tighter. She swore she’d heard something.

Maybe it was just her imagination.

As a hand clamped down over her mouth, she tried to scream and found herself held tightly from behind by something. A cold hand grasped the one she was holding the stake with and span her around as her weapon was taken from her.

The moon drifted out from behind a cloud.

Buffy caught the smirk on Spike’s face as he held her stake up for inspection.

“Jesus, Spike.” She went to hit him but found his hand grasping her wrist tightly as he pulled her up against him.

The moon disappeared again and plunged the crypt into darkness.

Buffy’s heartbeat accelerated as adrenaline flooded her veins, her breathing coming in short sharp bursts.

The hand holding her wrist disappeared.

She tilted her head back as she let her lips part softly. Waiting in the blackness for him to make a move she felt like her body was on fire, her nerve endings prickling as she tried to guess where he’d appear next.

Something brushed against her stomach and made her gasp. Electric tingles washed through her body.

She swallowed noisily, her eyes darting about as she tried to figure out what he was going to do with her.

Spike smiled in the darkness as he felt her signature go off the deep end, the heady scent of her arousal flooding the air of the crypt and making him hunger her.

Buffy rolled her eyes closed as he breathed softly into her ear.

“You know…” He purred quietly and felt her tremble against him. “…You really should knock on a fella’s door…especially one you have history with.”

An involuntary shiver ran up her spine as his cool breath tickled her neck, causing the fine hairs there to stand on end.

“Sp…” She moved to speak but found his finger against her lips.

“Not a word, pet.” He whispered at her before disappearing again.

She could feel her heartbeat in her throat now; it seemed to echo through her entire body as she waited with apprehension for his next move. Part of her wanted him to just take her up in his arms and have his way with her while the other part of her told her to run while she still had the chance.

She stayed rooted to the spot. The more time that passed the worse her nerves became. She was trembling badly as she listened hard for a sign of him.

Strong hands caught her waist and she almost jumped out of her skin as his body pressed up against hers as he emitted a low sensual growl. She felt her knees weaken as it rumbled through her, her heart pounding hard against her chest as she turned to putty in his hands.

As his lips brushed against her throat she let out a small moan, her head falling backwards as she threw caution to the wind and let her desire take over.

Spike rolled his eyes closed as her body pressed against his, the whole of her relaxing into him as her arms snaked around his neck. He growled low and lifted her up, kissing down her chest and delighting in the way she gasped.

Threading her fingers into his hair, she clutched him to her chest and didn’t realise that he was moving with her until she felt a cold stone pillar pressing against her back.

Spike pressed her into the column with his body and relinquished his grip on her for a moment to tear open her shirt, followed by her bra.

Buffy didn’t protest. She just held him tighter against her chest as he wrapped his lips around one of her nipples and sucked greedily on it. Her abdomen ached as he caressed her skin, licking and kissing it as he slowly lowered her.

Surrendering to her desire and him, she closed her eyes and furrowed her brows as she felt him pushing up her long denim skirt and revealing her thighs.

Spike tore away her panties with a low growl.

Pressing his groin into hers, he licked a trail up the curve of her throat and sighed out through his nose as he felt her heat seeping into him. The next thing he felt was Buffy’s lips capturing his as her hand fumbled with his belt.

Not stopping to question her actions he kissed her hard, letting his tongue tangle with hers as she worked to free his cock, her frantic movements making him painfully hard for her.

She struggled to breathe as she desperately pushed his jeans down slightly, allowing his cock to spring free. Her hand was on it immediately, guiding it to her entrance like there wasn’t a second to spare.

He let his head fall backwards and growled at the ceiling as he felt her easing down onto him, her legs wrapping around his hips as she clung to him.

Buffy moaned out her approval and dragged his lips back to hers. As he started to move inside her, she kissed him fiercely, trying to get out the desperation that was growing inside her and all the passion she was feeling.

Spike bit her lip and growled into her mouth as he thrust into her, pushing her hard into the wall with every meeting of their hips and drowning in the feelings whirling out of control inside him.

The moon flooded the crypt with pale blue light, illuminating them where they were stood in the middle of the room.

Buffy stared deep into Spike’s eyes and blinked.

Spike slowed his movements. No longer aching to get this feeling out of his system, but hoping it was never going to leave.

Her eyes said it all. Large and round, soft but tender in the darkness. There was more than history stopping her from killing him and fuelling her desire to protect him from the initiative.

He brought his hand up and traced the gentle curve of her cheek, letting a smile play on his lips as he tried to show her that whatever she was feeling, he felt it too.

Buffy bit her lip as she let herself fall and hoped he’d catch her because she couldn’t go through what she did with Angel all over again.

Spike held her tighter and slowly kissed down her neck. “It’s okay, baby.”

She clung to him and furrowed her brows as she let her head fall to one side, exposing her neck to him and tightening her muscles around him.

“More…please?”

The pleading tone in her voice made a burning desire sweep back through his veins and he pressed her hard against the column again. Thrusting up inside her, he found her tongue licking his lower lip as she held him tightly and he let his tongue come out to meet hers before reclaiming her mouth.

Kissing her fervently, he continued his movements inside her, giving her long hard strokes with his cock as he relished the way she felt around him. He could feel her whole body tightening up as he moved his attention to her neck and buried his face there, his lips brushing against her skin as he struggled to contain himself.

Buffy felt him shifting against her, his whole body seemingly growing stronger and harder. It made her knees weak and her thighs quiver as his signature flooded her system. Her body ached for release and hummed with delight as she felt his tongue lathe against her neck.

Grabbing hold of his hand, she felt him pull away and stare at her. Ignoring his incredulous look, she drew his claws down her neck, scratching a deep cut on her throat and giving him the release that she knew he was looking for.

She caught him around the back of her head and bit her lip as she felt his mouth wrap around the wound she’d inflicted upon herself.

Spike didn’t bother asking why she’d done it. He was just silently thankful that she had as he sucked hard on the cut and pulled her blood from her. Her body stiffened against his, her muscles holding him tightly as she dug her fingers into his.

As she felt the possessive grasp on her waist tighten and his teeth scrape against her skin Buffy moaned low and felt her whole body quake. She let the back of her head press hard against the column behind her as she came, her brows furrowing and her mouth opening in a silent scream.

Spike gripped her tighter and lost control. Sinking his teeth into her willing flesh, he growled as he tugged her against her and thrust up into her heated depths, spilling himself there as he came.

Buffy panted hard as his movements slowed, she could feel his fangs embedded in her throat as he drank from her and his cock pulsing inside her.

Resting her cheek against his, she smiled wide and held him tightly, not wanting to ruin the moment by thinking about what they had done.

Spike released her neck and licked it. Slipping back into human guise, he pulled back and looked at her moonlight bathed face.

Buffy ran her fingers down his cheeks and cupped them both as she looked at him.

He opened his mouth to speak.

Buffy shook her head and pressed her thumb against his lips.

“No questions. No thinking. Just be with me.”

Spike nodded.

He never had been one to question.

Or think.

But being with her, that was something he could definitely do.

Closing his eyes, he brought his lips back to hers and kissed her softly. A smile twitching on his lips as he thought about the opportunity the initiative had given him without knowing it. He held Buffy tighter in his arms and raised his brows.

They hadn’t just given him an opportunity. They’d altered both his life and hers dramatically. They’d made them finally see the feelings that they’d been blind to all these years.

In fact.

She was a new girl.

And he was a new man.

~*~ End ~*~

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