Chapter 2

“I went looking for Drusilla.”

Buffy pulled her hand out of his, clearly not expecting that. “What?” she said, hating how weak her voice sounded.

“It’s not what you think,” he commented.

“Okay, what do I think then?”

Spike considered how to answer that. “I wasn’t looking for her to get back together, if that’s what you’re thinking. That was the farthest thing from my mind. She found out about us and wanted to put a stop to it. She’s been sending these demons after me ever since Red’s spell, hoping that one of them would get rid of me. She wanted to punish both of us. I tried to find Dru to stop her, but she doesn’t want to be found. I spent months trying to locate her and all I found was more of her demons along the way. That’s how I knew about her plan in the first place. I got one of them to talk before I killed him.”

Buffy took everything in. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t want to worry you. You were finally happy and I didn’t want to make things worse. I won’t let Dru ruin what we have, Buffy. You mean so much more to me than she ever did. You do know that, right?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I guess it’s just hard to compete with someone that you’ve been with for over a century.”

Spike wrapped his arms around her, planting a kiss on the top of her head. “There’s no comparison, sweetheart. I love you.”

Buffy smiled against his chest. “I love you, too. Just don’t go away again, okay?”

He shook his head. “No chance of that ever happening. You’re stuck with me, baby.”

She looked up at him. “I could definitely live with that.”

Spike held her tighter. He still had a bad feeling that something was going to happen, but she didn’t need to know about that just yet.


* * * * *


They were headed back to the dorms when they finished with patrol.

Buffy was hoping for a quiet night with her boyfriend, but it seemed that the fates wouldn’t allow that.

They were suddenly jumped by a green, scaly demon.

“I have a feeling he’s another one of Dru’s.” Spike told her.

Buffy rolled her eyes. “I know you already realize this, but your ex is crazy.”

Spike couldn’t agree more.

The demon charged at them.

Spike was the first one to take it on.

Buffy just stood there and watched him battle the demon. It looked like Spike was trying to keep it away from her.

The demon had enough and grabbed Spike around the neck, throwing him away like a rag doll.

Buffy figured that it was her turn now. She fought the demon with all that she had, but it didn’t seem to be enough.

Spike got up just in time to see the demon knock Buffy to the ground. It was then that he realized what demon it was. He would know those claws anywhere. The claws that were about to slash Buffy. He panicked and ran toward them. He hurled himself in front of Buffy, just in time for the demon’s claws to slice him instead. He yelled at the pain.

“Spike!” Buffy exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him as he fell to the ground.

The demon took off after that.

Buffy didn’t even notice and just focused on Spike. “Are you okay?”

He winced a little and looked up at her. “It’s nothing I can’t handle. What about you?”

She nodded. “Yeah, thanks to you. Can you stand?”

He tried to get up and realized that he was having a hard time of it.

Buffy was worried and gave him a hand. She cringed at the sight of the claw marks. That could have easily been her. “Are you sure you’re okay? That doesn’t look very good.”

Spike glanced at his stomach to see what had her so concerned. He frowned at the sight of the wound, but tried to put on a brave face for her. “Just a minor injury. It’ll be healed in no time.”

Buffy seemed to be convinced and took his hand in hers. “We better get back to the dorm. I wanna take a better look at it, just to be on the safe side.”

He nodded and let her lead him to the college.


* * * * *


Spike found himself back at Giles’ apartment after Buffy went to sleep.

“Are you positive about that demon?”

Spike nodded, feeling himself grow weaker by the minute. “I’ve heard of them, never actually saw one before. It’s a Lochnah demon, nasty buggers. I know Drusilla sent it after me. The claws hold a venom that is perilous to vampires. It would also be dangerous to humans, but not as much. That’s why I still didn’t want it to touch Buffy. There’s no telling how it would affect a Slayer. I couldn’t risk that.”

Giles took his glasses off to clean them, then put them back on. “Are you saying that this venom could kill you?”

“I can already feel it spreading inside of me. There’s no telling how long it would take, but I probably only would have a few days left.”

“Dear lord, there must be a way to stop it.”

Spike shook his head, a frown forming on his face. “As far as I know, there’s no cure. I have to give Dru credit, she thought this one out.” It hurt knowing that his ex was trying so hard to kill him, but the demon went after Buffy. It was one thing sending demons after him, but not her. He wouldn’t let anything hurt his girl. He suddenly felt lightheaded and nearly collapsed.

Giles caught him before he fell and moved him over to the couch.

Spike lay down, taking a few deep breaths.

“We should let Buffy know about this.”

Spike was up then. “No, she can’t know about this. Not until I find out more.”

Giles knew the vampire could be very stubborn. He was almost as bad as Buffy. “Don’t you think she will notice? You shouldn’t be keeping this from her.”

“Just find me anything on the demon that you can. Look through your books or whatever you do. Let me know if you can find a cure or something that will help. If you can’t find anything, then I’ll tell her. I don’t want to worry her unless it’s necessary. She’s been through enough.”

Giles sighed. “All right, I’ll check my books. You should get some rest.”

Spike lay back down on the couch and did just that.

Giles knew that he was in for a lot of research. He may have never liked the blond vampire before, but he has been good for Buffy. She would be crushed if anything was to happen to him. Giles would do whatever he could to find a cure.