Memories That Burn
AUTHOR:Trace  (VvVWerewolfVvV@aol.com)
DISCLAIMER: Joss owns everything, except for my version of Spike’s first
meeting with Angelus.
RATING: R mention of rape,torture,strong language,etc...   
SPOILERS: Up to season 4 Buffy, season 1 Angel.
SUMMARY: Insight to Spike’s life before he was Spike.
FEEDBACK: Lots of it,or I won’t write anymore.

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    Part One:

    “Slaaaayer.Here,kitty,kitty,” Spike sing-songed.

    Buffy turned to face him,rolling her eyes. “What do you want?”

    Spike smirked. “Nothin’,luv,” he said, then punched her full in the
face. No pain. He jumped up and down a few times. “Yes,it worked!”

    Buffy wiped the blood from her busted lip. “What worked?”

    Spike grinned. “Got the soddin’ chip out.”

    Realization dawned. “Good.Means I can stake you now.”

    Spike backed up. “Don’t kill me,Slayer. I just had to know if it’d
worked.”

    “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you,” Buffy shot back.

    “What if I promised not to kill anyone? I won’t litter Sunnyhell with
bodies, and you won’t stake me. Sound like a deal?” He asked.

    Buffy glared at him,but finally nodded. “Fine. Just stay out of my way.”

    “Will do,” Spike said. “Less I see of you and your Scoobies, the better,
in my opinion.”

    “Whatever,” Buffy said, turning her back on him and walking away.

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        Part Two:

    Angel slowed as he passed the cemetery just inside the Sunnydale city
limits. He could see Buffy walking amidst the tombstones, twirling a stake
nonchalantly. He briefly considered stopping the car, but decided against it,
instead driving onward to themansion, in search of a book on demonology he’d
left behind.

        Part Three:

    Spike smirked as the Slayer walked away from him to continue her rounds.
    He set off to the Bronze in search of his first meal since he’d had the
implant removed. He missed the sweet,salty,metallic tang of human blood.
    No matter how warm it was, animal blood wasn’t the same. Nothing was the
same compared to the throbbing beat of a person’s heart, pounding
faster,harder, driven by adrenaline. Nothing could take the place of the feel
of a warm body crushed against his chest, the feeble attempts to escape, and
the terrified whimpers of those who knew they’d been defeated. The thrill of
victory coursing through his body as their blood filled his empty veins,
serving to prolong his life was better than any drug invented, in Spike’s
opinion.

    He spotted a girl leaning against the outside wall of the Bronze,
checking her make-up in a hand-held mirror, and he smiled.
    Spike sauntered up to her, hands in the pockets of his duster,trying to
appear as innocent as possible. “’Allo,luv,” he purred.

    The girl looked up from her mirror, startled. “Uh...hi,” she said,
looking a little uncomfortable.

    “What’s a pretty girl like you doin’ out ‘ere all alone at this time of
night?” Spike asked, smiling charmingly.

    The girl seemed to think for a moment, then smiled back hesitantly. “I
just needed some air.”

    “Care to go for a walk? We won’t go far. Not all the streets are lit,”
Spike said.

    The girl smiled a little more confidently. “Sure.”

    Spike smirked inwardly. It had almost been too easy to snare this one.
    They walked down the street until there weren’t any more lights in view.
    “Maybe we should walk back the other way,” the girl said nervously. “The
lights are all busted out down here.”

    Spike grinned at her. “I know,” he said cockily.

    The girl looked confused, then her eyes widened when she saw Spike, fully
vamped, leering at her.

    She screamed.

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        Part Four:

    Buffy was on her way home to the dorm when she heard a ear-piercing
scream shatter the night.
    Cursing under her breath, the Slayer took off at a dead-run toward the
sound,praying that she wasn’t too late.

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        Part Five:
   
    Angel drove back the way he’d come, the top of the car down to let the
air wash over him.He saw Buffy run across the street two blocks ahead and
frowned, wondering what was going on, when a shrill scream sounded.
    Flooring the gas pedal, Angel followed Buffy.

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        Part Six:

    Spike withdrew his fangs from the girl’s neck, seconds before taking too
much for her to survive. “I *really* missed that,” he said with a
grin,catching the girl as her knees buckled and keeping her from falling to
the pavement.

    He heard the sound of quick footsteps a moment before Buffy’s voice rang
out.“Spike!”

.
    “Oh,bloody hell,” he muttered,pulling the girl tighter to him and
turning to face the Slayer.

    The girl was sobbing, trying to push away from him, but too weak to do so.
    Buffy already had a stake out and was looking gloriously brassed off.
    “Slayer,she’s still alive. Will you put that bloody thing away?”
    “No.” The Slayer stared at him stonily. “Let her go.”
    Spike smirked. “Well,I would, Slayer. But, she’s feelin’ a little
drained,” he said, chuckling at his own joke.
    “Let her go,now!” Buffy’s voice was just below a yell.
    Sighing heavily,giving Buffy a long-suffering look, Spike let go of the
girl.

    She immediately collapsed to the ground, too weak to stand, sobbing
uncontrollably.

    “The deal was, I wouldn’t kill anyone,Slayer,” Spike said. “As you can
see, she’s very much alive. Albeit a little shaken. S’nothin’ a few years
with a shrink won’t cure.”

    Buffy dimly registered the sound of a car coming to a screeching halt
behind her, but didn’t take her eyes off of Spike. “This deal is not going
to work,Spike.”

    “Why not? I stay out of your way, you stay out of mine,” Spike argued.

    “No,” Buffy shook her head.

    “You’re gonna break the truce,then? You know it’ll get back to Giles. I
may not be a fluffy bunny like my Grand Poof of a Sire, but the Watcher
wouldn’t approve of you goin’ back on your word,luv,” Spike said.

    “Don’t call me that,” Buffy hissed.

    “Fine.Just go back to shaggin’ your commando into the floor and forget
I’m even in town,ducks,”Spike said.

    “Shut up,Spike,” Buffy spat.

    Spike pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his trench and lit one. “Why?
You’ve been so busy with GI Joe lately, you haven’t paid attention to
anyone, includin’ your friends.Why not keep it up?”

    “You bleached blonde Billy Idol wannabe,” Buffy said, glaring daggers at
him.

    “You’re one to talk, Slutty,” Spike shot back.

    “Spike,” Angel said warningly.

    Spike grinned. “Peaches! We were just talkin’ ‘bout you.”

    “Really? I’m touched. Truly,” Angel said dryly.

    “Shove it, poof-wad,” Spike snapped.

    “Don’t start with me, childe,” Angel ground out.

    Spike gave an inelegant snort. “You have no idea who you’re talkin’
to,mate.”

    “Neither do you, apparently,” Angel shot back, moving almost too fast to
see and slamming Spike against a tree,knocking the cigarette out of his hand
and pinning him with a hand around his throat.

    Spike growled. “Come off it, Peaches.”

    “Do you remember what happened when you mouthed off to me in Stockholm?”
Angel asked him, his voice deadly calm.

    Spike’s eyes widened, and he somehow managed to pale further. “I
remember,” he said nervously.  

    “Say it,” Angel glowered at him.

    Spike glared at him. “No.”

    Angel slammed his head into the tree. “Say it.”

    Spike’s eyes flashed golden as his anger rose. “Sod off,Angelus! You
think you can torture me to death and I’ll be grateful to you, you stupid
wanker? Forget it!”

    Angel growled. “Say it, and I’ll let you go,Spike.”

    “Screw you,Angelus. You’re not conquerin’ me again. Ever,” Spike spat
the words into his Sire’s face venomously.

    Angel tightened the hand around Spike’s throat. “Say it, or you’ll beg
me to kill you.”

    Spike snarled and shoved Angel away with all his strength. “Fuck
you,Angelus! You did everythin’ you could to me centuries ago. I begged you
for death once, never again. You bleedin’ pillock. How *dare* you try to pull
dominance shit with me? I listened to my family scream for hours and couldn’t
do a damn thing to save ‘em. Did it make you feel like a big man when you
raped my daughter before you tore her throat out?
Huh, Angelus? You like six year olds, you sick bastard?”

    Angel stared blankly at Spike as he continued his tirade.
    “You have fun watching my wife choke to death on her own blood after she
snapped my newborn son’s neck rather than let you get ahold of him?
C’mon,Angelus. Did you get off on it when you tore her throat out and watched
her suffocate? Did you? DID YOU?!?” Spike screamed the words at him, tears
streaking his face.

    Buffy was frozen, the stake long ago having dropped from nerveless
fingers.

    “Spike...I....I’m sorry,” Angel said, his voice cracking slightly.

    Spike gave a short burst of hysterical laughter. “*Now* you’re sorry.
Oh,that’s bloody priceless. You took everythin’ I had to live for away from
me in the space of a few hours, but it’s all okay because you’re bleedin’
*sorry*,” he sneered. “I hope my Emily’s face haunts your nightmares,
Angelus. I hope you burn with the memories of what you did
to my family before you killed me. I hope you fuckin’ *choke* on the guilt,”
he said, then reached into his shirt and tore the necklace from his neck,
flinging it at Angel’s feet and storming off

    Angel’s face was white with shock as he bent down to pick up the
necklace, staring at the wedding band on the chain. “He kept it...all these
years,” he whispered brokenly.

    Buffy went to Angel’s side slowly. “What is it?” she asked, her voice
soft.

    Angel looked at her as if he’d forgotten she was there. “His...his
wedding band.”

    “Is it true?” the Slayer asked him, her voice barely above a whisper.

    Angel refused to meet her eyes,staring at the ring instead. “I...I did
it. All of it,” he said,swallowing to keep his own tears from overflowing.
“I killed them all,right down to the toddler in its crib. I don’t even
remember if it was a boy or girl,” he said, his eyes slightly glazed.

    “Angel, look at me,” Buffy demanded softly, gripping his chin and
turning his face to her when he refused to acknowledge her.

    “I...have something of his...help me find it?” He pleaded, the pain in
his eyes almost enough to slice them both up.

    Buffy nodded. “Where?”

    “The mansion,” Angel said.

    “What is it?” Buffy asked quietly.

    “A painting. Spi-William and his family,” Angel told her. “He doesn’t
know I have it. He thought it burned with the house.”

    Buffy sighed. “Let’s go,Angel.”

    Angel nodded numbly and headed to his car.


Memories That Burn: Part II