Chapter 4

The crypt door flew open as Spike was attacked by a tiny blonde, who was now smothering his face with kisses. He hated to push her away, but knew something wasn’t right. He got his answer when he took a good look at Buffy, her eyes that used to be a bright green, were now dark.

“Love, are you all right?”

She beamed at him. “Of course, I’ve never been better. I feel so free, Spike, like I can do anything. I never want this feeling to end, but I had to share it with you.”

He shook his head. “You’re not making any sense, sweetheart. What’s wrong with your eyes?”

Buffy shrugged, not understanding why he wasn’t happy for her. “Nothing, why do you ask?”

Spike was about to respond, when her eye color suddenly turned back to normal, wondering if he just imagined the whole thing. “Your sister paid me a visit earlier, gave me yet another warning about keeping away from you. She seemed pretty keen on staking me this time if I didn’t agree with her.”

Buffy grew angry at the thought of Faith taking him away from her, she wouldn’t allow that. “Stupid bitch, I’ll make sure she leaves you alone.”

Spike raised his eyebrows at the abrupt change in her attitude. He expected her to be somewhat upset, rolling her eyes and whatnot, but not this kind of reaction. “It’s fine, pet, I don’t think she would really do it. She was just trying to scare me.”

“Things are going to be different from now on, Spike. I’m through taking Faith’s crap, and so are you. We shouldn’t have to deal with it anymore.”

He nodded. “I agree, but let’s not get too carried away. She’ll come around in her own time; this grudge can only last for so long.”

Buffy smiled, back to being pleasant. “Let’s not talk about her anymore; I’d rather focus on you.” She caressed his shirtless chest, licking her lips at the sight of him. With a quick thrust, she shoved him back down on his bed, getting on top of him a second later. She kissed up his neck, taking his earlobe in her mouth and sucking on it. “I want you to fuck me,” she whispered, lightly biting his ear.

His eyes widened, once again pushing her away from him. “Not that I really mind this change, but what brought it on? You’re not acting like yourself.”

“This is who I am now, Spike. I’m tired of being the same boring Buffy, always living in my super sister’s shadow. If it wasn’t for her, you would have never even known that I existed, but now I’m my own person. She’s not the only special one anymore.”

Spike cupped her cheek. “You’ve always been special, love. You don’t need to prove anything.”

“You don’t know what it’s like. I’m a nobody at school, at home, the only time I feel anything is when I’m with you. I need you, Spike. I know you want me. Let me show you how great we could be together,” she finished, giving his erection a squeeze and causing his eyes to roll back.

“Fuck, baby, you have to stop. I do want you, but not like this. Something isn’t right; I won’t take advantage of you.”

Buffy was infuriated as she got off of the bed, scowling at him. “God, what kind of vampire are you? I’m offering myself to you, and you don’t even take it? You don’t have a soul; you’re not supposed to care about taking advantage. Fine, if you don’t want me, then I’ll find someone who does.”

He hurried after her, catching her before she could leave his crypt. “You know that won’t solve anything. Please, love, let’s just talk about this. I can help you.” Her eyes flashed black again, and before Spike knew it, he was flying across the room. A room that was now covered in fire, flames that came from Buffy’s hands.

“Fire doesn’t really go well with vampires, so I suggest you don’t follow me.”

Spike watched her walk out, wondering what the hell just happened, but he had a fire to deal with first. He thought quickly, jumping over to the blanket by his telly and quickly smothering the flames, luckily it hadn’t spread too far yet.


* * * * *


“What are you doing?”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “What does it look like? I’m getting out of here.”

Faith moved out of the way as Buffy stormed by her, a bag in her hand. “You think I’m just gonna let you leave? Mom will be back soon.”

“I’m sure you’ll think of something to tell her,” Buffy spat. “I’m tired of being here. I’m moving in with my friends, their dad said he’d love to have me. At least with them, I feel like I belong somewhere. They understand me, unlike you and Spike. I thought I could count on him, but I guess I was wrong. You both deserve each other.”

Faith grabbed her before she could make it to the front door. “What has gotten in to you? If this is how you’re acting, I don’t think they’re very good friends, and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let you stay with people I don’t know.”

“You may think you own Spike, but you don’t own everyone else, especially not me. I’m going now.”

Faith was usually against using her Slayer strength on her sister, but didn’t have much of a choice as she grabbed her even tighter. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“You really don’t want to do that.” Like Spike before her, Faith was flung across the room, an angry blonde staring down at her. “You’re not the only strong one anymore.” Buffy walked out of the house, not looking back once.


* * * * *


Faith barged into the crypt, only to see the mess that it was in, Spike nowhere in sight. She headed down to the lower level, where he was currently sitting on his bed, a pained expression on his face.

“What happened?”

He looked up at her. “Your sister decided to set my place on fire.”

That was the last thing she expected to hear. “Okay, now I know something is really wrong with her. She just left the house, after nearly knocking me unconscious. I’m the fucking Slayer, and she throws me across the room like it was nothing. I don’t just mean she picked me up, either. She never even touched me. How is that possible?”

“I don’t know. She set the crypt on fire without the use of a torch, or matches, how do you explain that?”

Faith cursed herself for not seeing it sooner. “Fuck, this isn’t happening. Magic, just like our dad.”

“What are you on about?” he wondered.

“Hank didn’t leave us for his secretary all those years ago, he got wicked hooked on magic, the really dark kind. He couldn’t be stopped, so my mom called an old friend of hers, who apparently used to belong to a pretty powerful coven. They stripped him of his powers, and sent him to some far away country for rehabilitation. We haven’t seen him since, and we really haven’t cared to. Buffy and Dawn never knew the truth about him, for all they know, he just skipped out on us. I had no idea she would end up following in his footsteps, anyway. I think it has something to do with these new friends of hers, Buffy said that she was going to move in with them. They don’t sound like cheerleaders to me.”

Spike shook his head. “They wouldn’t be. Buffy quit the squad a while back; she hasn’t fit in with them for quite some time now.”

“Why didn’t she ever tell me?”

He raised his eyebrows. “Why do you think? You’re caught up in your slaying, and you have your own worries to deal with. Buffy didn’t think you would care. Look, whether she shows it or not, that girl admires you. She’s always wanted to be more like you, strong, special, and now she thinks this is her only way to accomplish that. She doesn’t realize how dangerous it is. We have to figure out how to get her away from them.”

Faith shrugged. “They’re human; I can’t do anything to them, no matter how much I want to. Buffy would never listen to me, but she might listen to you.”

Spike scoffed. “Did you not see the charcoal upstairs? Yeah, she did a right fine job of listening to me.”

“What happened before that?”

He took a deep, unneeded breath, choosing his words carefully. “She came on to me, and I turned her down because she wasn’t acting like herself. It wouldn’t have been right.”

Faith nodded. “And she was hurt because of it, hence her acting out. For some reason, my sister worships you. No matter how much I’m against it, Buffy loves you, always has. She was just hurt at the thought of you rejecting her, which means she’s still in there somewhere. They haven’t completely taken over yet.”

That gave him some hope, a smile on his face at the thought of his beautiful girl loving someone like him. One way or another, Spike was going to get her back.