For The Love Of Spike
Chapter 2
When Spike dragged himself back to consciousness, he first heard weeping, but couldn't see anything. He was lying on a cold, hard surface. A damp, musty smell filled his nostrils.
Then, with a click, a bright light was shone into his eyes. He hissed reflexively and squeezed his eyes shut, jerking his head away. Whoever had him knew how sensitive vampire eyes were to light.
"Morning, honey," a familiar, mocking voice said. Spike gritted his teeth - not in pain, but again in anger.
"Angel," he said, trying to keep his voice light.
Spike swallowed. His throat was dry; he felt hot and parched. He hadn't fed since sundown, before seeing Katherine. God only knew if it was even the same day. He tried to ignore the nagging ache in his upper jaw and continued, "Nobody invited you into my building, so how did you get to me?"
Angel laughed. It was a free and terribly engaging laugh, a lot like his own when he forgot about his problems, but at the moment it made his teeth clench. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately, and it was particularly painful at that moment, so he tried to relax. Angel went on.
"I have my ways, old chap," he said mockingly. "But enough about how I'm doing. Where
did you get this...tasty...little morsel here?"At this, Spike growled savagely, struggling to sit up. He was weak with hunger, but he used all of his resolve to pull himself to his feet. Angel was dressed in his usual stylish black. He looked insultingly healthy, supernatural power almost radiating from him. "I'll leave you two love birds alone," he said, picking up a jacket hanging from a coat rack by the door. "But I'll be back soon, so don't leave before the party starts." Then he was gone, slamming the heavy metal door behind him.
Spike carefully walked over to where Katherine lay curled on the concrete. Her tangled red curls covered her face, which was turned toward the floor beneath her. Her slim shoulders shook slightly with her quiet sobs. Spike knelt and gently pulled her up to lean against him, her face pressed against his chest. Immediately her arms wove around his waist, holding on tightly. He ran his fingers through her hair, smoothing out the tangles, and murmured soothing words.
After a moment, Katherine pulled back and raised her head, keeping her eyes averted. "I'm all right," she said, and moved the shoulder which Spike had laid a comforting hand on. His hand fell away.
Spike raised an eyebrow at her tone, but rose without a word. "What did he do to you?" he asked, dreading the answer.
"He didn't feed on me, if that's what you're asking," she responded harshly.
Spike gently placed a hand under her chin and turned her face towards his. Her face was tear-streaked, her eyes wet, but also challenging. And her throat was unmarked. Spike exhaled in relief. "Then why were you crying?" he asked.
"Why do you care?" Katherine responded angrily. Spike quit being relieved and stared at her.
"It would be my responsibility if you got hurt," he said carefully. "And I think that you're alright, for a human," he added, helping her up. Then it was Katherine's turn to stare. Spike smiled slightly, embarrassed, and turned away towards the staircase. Katherine stopped him.
"I was crying because I was scared," she admitted. She dried her cheeks, cleared her throat, and asked, "Do you have to feed?"
Spike took a breath, still facing away from her, and said that he did.
Katherine walked around him and looked up into his eyes. What she then saw was extreme tension and something being strictly controlled. She made up her mind. Sweeping her curls away from her neck, she murmured, "It's all right. Just this once."
Spike gritted his teeth again. He couldn't help it - he could almost hear the blood flowing in her veins. She put her arms around his neck, closer now, and the next thing he knew he was hearing her gasp and his fangs were in her throat.
About a minute later, Spike lifted his head and looked down into her face.
Her eyes were closed, and she was breathing lightly through parted lips. Spike stepped away, giving himself distance. He'd felt very close to her while taking her blood; too close. It had almost seemed that something was about to burst in on them, into them. Spike brushed the strange feeling aside and led her over to a large, settee-like seat, covered in dark red velvet.
"Sit down. You might be weak from my feed," he said briskly. To his surprise, Katherine sank down without a word. He'd thought her more of the type to argue; something was different, strange, with her too, and it was making her more weak than what was safe.
Once he was sure Katherine was okay, Spike looked around the room. It was large, about two stories, with a staircase leading up to the second-floor level parapet which hugged all the walls of the room. More heavy, dark red velvet covered doorways in various spots around the room. Dim lighting gave the place a gothic feel. The door Angel had left through was on the second level, but Spike knew without looking that it had no knob or latch to open it. They were trapped within brick, steel, and stone.
"I've been here before," he said quietly. Katherine raised her head and looked at him. He went on.
"A while ago, I was led here, believing to have access to the Slayer." Stopping, he made sure she nodded in understanding. She had been "watching from the shadows", apparently. "I wasn't able to kill her, and she trapped myself, Dru, and some minions in here. It took hours to break open the door. It's only accessible on the outside, you know. But now, we don't have hours, and I don't have enough strength or my minions to help me break open the door. We're stuck until Angel returns, and only then might we have a chance."
Katherine nodded again. "But there's one thing I don't understand. Why is Angel doing this? Wasn't he an ally of yours?"
Spike's mouth tightened. "He found out about something I was planning to do to him, for leading Drusilla away from me. We fought, and I drove him out of my home, then kicked Drusilla out too. She wasn't very happy with me," he said thoughtfully, changing the topic. He remembered how she'd tried every bargaining trick in the book before trying to pierce his eyes out. "Oh well." Katherine laughed at his blas‚ attitude, and he slowly smiled in response.
Katherine continued. "What are we going to do? How can we fight him?"
Spike looked around the room, then strode to a curtained doorway. He tore the cloth away, revealing instead a brick wall, then tossed it to Katherine. "Take that," he said, "and be ready to wrap it around Angel's head, so he can't see. Once you do that, I think I can take care of him." He grinned.
Katherine frowned. "He's taller than me."
Spike looked her up and down. She was a couple of inches shorter than himself, and he and Angel were about the same size.
"Okay, let's try this then. I'll lead him away from the stairs, and you run up from underneath and bag him, alright? I'll be over here, looking sick or something."
At that moment, Spike heard footsteps outside.
"Quick. Under the stairs." As she began moving, Spike drew a fingernail quickly across his temple. Blood welled up from the cut, and he sat on the floor by the seat, draped an arm over the cushion, and lay his head on his arm. Sprawled.
The door clanged open.
Spike heard cheerful whistling as the blood slowly trickled down the side of his face. He couldn't sense Katherine's presence if he didn't try; maybe Angel wouldn't either. She was safe for the moment.
The whistling stopped, and footsteps pounded down the stairs. They slowed again, most likely because Angel had caught sight of him.
"Well, well. Bested by a Slayer again, old boy? I guess you're just not a match for any of their kind." Spike was startled by what Angel had said, but he kept his facade and slowly raised himself off the floor.
"I'm not down yet, Angel," he said, and circled around him so that Spike's back was to Katherine, under the staircase. Angel advanced, and Spike backed away, under the stairs, pretending retreat. Hopefully Katherine would be backing away as well, thus being able to go up the stairs and into position while Angel was distracted.
Then, with perfect timing, the curtain swooped down from above, covering Angel's head, the edge wrapping around his throat and jerking him back. As Angel stumbled, howling in rage, Spike shifted his weight and planted his booted foot in Angel's stomach. The air rushed out of his lungs in a whoosh and he went down.
"Go! Get out of here!" Spike shouted to Katherine, dragging Angel up by his shirt, then sending his fist into his jaw. Angel staggered backward and fell again.
"Hello again, mate. Might I say, you don't look so good," Spike sneered, bending down to look into Angel's face. "Actually, you kind of look like there's something upsetting your gut!" With the emphasis, he landed a vicious kick into Angel's middle, sending him out of his hands-and-knees position. Angel slumped forward, face down. "Oh, I bet I know what it is. You're feeling like I'm going to beat you into next Tuesday!" And with this, Spike grabbed a fistful of Angel's hair, lifted his head, and slammed it back down onto the concrete.
Spike turned, adrenaline singing in his veins. He hadn't felt better since doing a life force transfer ceremony months earlier, which had involved driving a holy dagger from the Cross of du Lac through Angel and Drusilla's hands, transferring his lifeforce to her. Damn, but Angel's screams had been bloody golden then!
Spike jerked his head at Katherine, motioning for the door. "Let's go, pet," he said, and they ran out of the room and into the rainy night, slamming the door behind them. It was Angel's turn to get himself out now.
Chapter 3