Chapter 33

Spike was free of the chains. He’d had to dislocate both thumbs to get loose, but the pain was worth it. The sire’s blood he’d drunk would mend the thumbs quickly enough. He took a moment to look around the warehouse. There were three fledglings in a front room, playing cards and bullshitting. Two more lingered by the back door. Dru and Riley were still going at it in an interior room; Spike could hear the shrieks and moans. Spike smirked. It sounded like Riley was doing most of the shrieking.

Seeing no easy way out of the warehouse, Spike found a chair and sat down, propping his feet on a convenient pile of junk from which he extracted several stake-sized slivers of wood. With his back to the wall and a makeshift weapon stowed in each boot, he waited.

Eventually, a battered and bleeding Riley limped into the main part of the warehouse. Spike could see the long welts that were already closing on the beefy vampire’s back. Sex with Drusilla had always involved much blood, both spilled and drunk, so Spike knew that the other man’s strength would not be much diminished. Spike laughed out loud at the dumbfounded expression on Riley’s face as he looked at the empty chains and scratched his head. “You really aren’t very bright, are you, G.I. Joe?” Spike’s voice was low. Riley spun around and growled at him. Spike carefully stood, flexing his hands to make sure his thumbs were healed. They were. He leaned against the wall in a casual pose.

“So, mate,” he began conversationally, “how’d she get ahold of you?” Riley glanced back at the door through which he’d entered the room, and then shrugged. He crossed the floor to stand about ten feet from Spike and also leaned on the wall, mimicking the older vampire’s stance. “She got us in South America. Our squad was clearing out a nest of hostiles. It turned out to be *her* nest. She had a bunch of minions and some demons. There was one big Chaos demon that was her mate. I killed him.” Riley looked smug as he recounted the story. “Bet she appreciated that,” Spike said.

Riley snorted. “No, she did not appreciate that. She went berserk. She killed most of the squad and turned me.” Spike looked the other vampire over. “Seems like you came out OK, mate,” he observed. Riley grinned evilly. “Well, once I woke up, I had a new perspective on things.” They looked at each other in silence for a moment. “So, whatever happened with you and Buffy?” Riley asked. Spike grimaced. “Broke up. You know how those things are – summer fling and whatnot. How’s the wife?” Riley grinned again. “She was delicious. How did the soul come about?”

“I took a little trip to Africa. You pick up the oddest things when you travel.” Spike’s voice was flat. “You’ve trained Dru.” It was not a question. Riley laughed. “Yeah, had to. She was fucking nuts. She’s adaptable, though. I’m pleased with her progress.” His voice was brave, but Spike noticed that Riley glanced behind himself as he spoke. “I see she’s trained you, too,” Spike said.

Riley’s eyes hardened to ice and he straightened. “When did you start fucking Harris?” he asked. Spike also straightened. “Just this week, as a matter of fact. I intend to continue doing so for quite some time,” he answered. Riley began to circle Spike slowly. Spike turned with him, keeping the other man facing him. “You’ll like him better once Dru turns him,” he hissed. “The improvement in stamina alone is worth the loss of the body heat.” Spike pushed his sudden rage away and forced himself to stay loose. “Luckily, that’s not a problem for my boy,” he smirked.

The two vampires continued circling one another, and Spike suddenly realized that the strange sensation he was feeling at the back of his neck was his awareness of Angel. Angel was near. If Angel were nearby, Buffy and Xander would undoubtedly be with him. He decided he’d better speed things up a bit. “So, Captain Cardboard,” he said, slowly closing the distance between them on each circle, “you asked about the soul. That was kind of your fault, actually.” Riley gave him a disbelieving look. “True,” Spike asserted. “Just after you left, Buffy decided she was through with me. I heard about a demon in Africa who could make me what I was, so I decided to become a better man for her.” He laughed bitterly.

Without warning, Spike stopped circling and lashed out at Riley, catching him with an uppercut to the jaw. Riley reacted, and the two spun across the warehouse floor, throwing punches. Despite his military training and size advantage, Riley was the weaker fighter. He landed a couple of blows, but was dangerously outclassed. Spike continued talking as he heaped damage onto Riley. “Being a better man for Buffy? That didn’t quite work out to plan.” Each word was punctuated with a punch to Riley’s already-battered face. “Turns out I wasn’t the vampire she wanted. She went back to Angel, and I went insane.” Spike kicked Riley between the legs as hard as he could.

Riley dropped to his knees, cradling his damaged balls with both hands. Spike grabbed him by the hair and savagely pulled his head back. He looked into the other vampire’s pain-filled eyes. “I found insanity, as a lifestyle choice, to be vastly overrated. But I guess you know that, having spent quality time with Dru. Don’t,” he said, when Riley’s mouth opened to call for her. “The point of my story – and I do have one,” he said, “is this. I was crazy for a bit, but I got better. And then I realized that having a soul wasn’t a curse. Then, recently, I found out that it’s actually a blessing. Because I have a soul, I get to have friends who love me. And I get to have Xander, who will.” Riley opened his mouth as if to contradict Spike, who used his hand in the other vampire’s hair to shake his head violently. “Don’t interrupt your elders,” he admonished, “it’s rude.” Riley’s mouth closed again.

“So, I guess what I’m trying to say is thank you,” Spike continued. “If my having a soul is your fault, then I owe you some gratitude. So, thanks.” Spike loosened his hold on Riley’s hair, and the other man took the opportunity to surge to his feet and launch himself at Spike. Whereupon he immediately found himself impaled on the sharp piece of wood that Spike had pulled from his boot and held in front of his chest. Spike had to laugh at the cow-eyed look of surprise on Riley’s face as he dusted. Spike tossed the sliver of wood away and brushed Riley’s dust from his hands as he turned. Which also happened to be the exact same moment that Drusilla attacked him.

She came out of nowhere, swiftly and silently. Spike was stunned by a hard kick to the face. He could feel his recently healed nose break again with a gush of blood down his throat. He rocked back on his heels, but did not fall. He jumped backward, and when Drusilla rushed him again, he swept her feet out from under her. She went down hard, but was back upright instantly. Spike wiped blood from his face and casually flicked it on the floor at her feet. “That hurt,” he said mildly. Her eyes were huge and bright in her pale face, and she was shaking with rage. Her voice rose in pitch as she moved closer, aggressively invading Spike’s personal space, stopping with her nose barely an inch from his bloodied one.

“You idiot! You *killed* him!” she shrieked. “He was mine and you killed him. We were going to be a family – just my three boys and me. You were to be my perfect loves – and you killed him!” Spike looked her in the eye for a moment, then placed both hands on her chest and shoved her. He was surprised when she only moved back a step – he’d expected to throw her across the room. “You made him, Dru, and you’re calling *me* an idiot? I’m pretty insulted by that – ow!” he yelled when she reached out and dragged her sharp nails down the side of his face, leaving behind four bloody gouges from the corner of his eye to his jaw.

Spike retreated a step and leaned down lightning fast to pull a stake from his boot. Even faster, she stepped forward and snapped his wrist, handily palming the stake and turning it toward him. Cradling his broken wrist – oh, fuck, he thought, when he saw the bones sticking through the skin – he backed away from her. She lunged at him just as Buffy and Angel burst through the front door of the warehouse and the back door exploded under the force of Willow’s spell. Spike turned slightly to look past the petite witch, trying to catch a glimpse of Xander. As he turned, Dru plunged the stake into his shoulder, driving him to his knees. As he fell, Spike heard Xander shout, “Will!” Drusilla kicked Spike savagely in the head and smiled when he fell onto his already broken wrist.

Buffy dusted the second of her three fledglings easily and gestured for Angel to help Spike. At the same time, Willow yelled something in Latin that caused the two fledges at the back of the warehouse to glow brightly for a second and then disappear. Seeing this, Xander turned toward Spike and Dru at a dead run. Angel tackled her from the other side as Xander slid to a stop on his knees in front of his lover. He gently turned Spike over and tried to straighten the horribly bent wrist. The sliver of wood was still lodged in the vampire’s shoulder, and his face and nose were bleeding freely; he was barely conscious. Xander looked into his eyes, and Spike tried to grin. “Get that fuckin’ thing out of my arm, would ya, Xan?” he asked weakly. Xander grasped the stake and pulled it out. Spike groaned.

Xander looked up as Willow and Buffy joined them. Angel had Dru facedown on the floor, and was holding her down with a knee solidly planted in her back. Willow walked over to them and exchanged a few words with Angel. At his nod, the witch spoke a spell and gestured toward Dru with a spiraling motion of her hand. Glowing ropes of energy encircled the female vampire, and she levitated off the floor, caught in Willow’s binding spell. “I can hold her for a bit,” Willow gritted out, “but not forever – help Spike.” Angel turned back to Xander and Spike, and his mouth fell open as he watched Buffy use the dagger from her boot to slice Xander’s wrist. The human pressed the oozing cut to Spike’s lips.

Spike drank for a moment, and then pulled away. When he did, Xander and Buffy changed places, and he took the knife to slash her wrist. Spike’s eyes flew to Xander’s. “Drink it, Will,” he said. “Her blood is strong, and you need it.” Spike lowered his mouth to Buffy’s arm, and nearly bit her when Xander took advantage of his distraction to pull the compound fracture in his wrist straight. The blond vampire howled as the bones aligned, but Xander was happy to see the ragged tears in his skin begin to close. Angel laid his hand on Buffy’s shoulder, then slipped into gameface and used a fang to cut his own wrist, which he then offered to Spike. Spike took it and drank for a moment. He released Angel and climbed to his feet.

Spike ran his hands over his bloody face, feeling the gouges in his cheek seal, and closed his hand over his nose. With a sharp jerk, he straightened the bones, grimacing. He held a hand down to Xander and pulled the taller man to his feet. As they came face to face, Xander ran a hand through Spike’s hair. “You look like shit, baby,” he said with a wan smile. Spike leaned in and pressed his forehead against his lover’s. His eyes closed. “I’ve felt better, luv,” he said. Angel and Buffy climbed to their feet just as Willow said in a strained voice, “I hate to break up the reunion, but I can’t hold this spell much longer.” The bands of energy that held Dru were weakening, and she was howling and thrashing in rage. Xander, the two vampires and the Slayer ranged themselves in a loose circle around Dru, and Xander signaled to Willow to release the spell, which she did with a sigh.

Dru fell to the floor in a heap, but was up in an eye-blink, swinging at Spike. He ducked, and Buffy kicked the female vampire hard in the knee. Drusilla whirled to face Buffy, and as she did, Spike and Angel each grabbed one of her arms. Using her own momentum, the two male vampires turned her body to face Xander as Buffy tossed him the stake from her pocket. Looking her straight in the eyes, Xander stepped forward and plunged it directly into her heart. As Drusilla dusted, Angel, Spike and Xander collapsed together into a heap on the floor. Buffy and Willow rushed to them.

All three men were silent. All three looked stricken. Buffy and Willow exchanged a look of alarm. Buffy pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and spoke into it briefly, while cradling Angel’s head to her chest. Willow wrapped her arms around Spike and Xander, who sank against her, their free arms rising to embrace one another. That was how Dawn, Jase and Cordelia found them, fifteen minutes later. The new arrivals pulled everyone to their feet. Dawn assisted Willow; Jase and Cordelia flanked Spike and Xander, and Buffy helped Angel out to the van.