Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me

Spike lit a cigarette, his lighter flaming in the dark for a moment, and the human in front of him gasped. He had to grin. From what the Watcher had said, this human thought he was the Great White Hunter and tougher than nails. “So, hear you’re Cain. Funny thing, you out to hunt weres and all. There are myths that the very first werewolf was Cain; it was his curse for killing his brother. Then again, they say the same thing about vamps too, so what do those wankers know?”

A gun was pointed at him and it was all Spike could do not to laugh out loud. “Who are you, one of that little girl's friends? Guess she decided she needed to send a man in, after all.”

“You know, if I liked the Slayer better I'd say something in her defense. As it is, I'll just point out that you should be glad not to meet the Cheerleader. She'd make you eat your balls. I'm just here to tell you that we've got wolfie penned up for the night so you might as well forget collecting his skin.”

“Who the hell are you? The Chairman of the Ethical Treatment of Werewolves?”

“Name's Spike. Was admiring your van. Got lots of neat toys in there, don't ya?” Spike acted like he was peering through the darkness but he could see just fine. This moron wouldn't know a supernatural creature if it came along and bit him on the arse.

“As I told the little lady last night, I have the gun so I'll be the one asking questions.”

Spike rolled his eyes. For once he agreed with the Slayer. This guy was just too fucking annoying. “Whatever, mate. Thanks for volunteering to be dinner.” He slapped the gun out of the git's hand and grabbed him, ignoring the various kicks the human was aiming at his legs. The guy was good but it seems as if he'd been too dependent on his toys and Spike was easily able to knock him halfway unconscious and then go for his throat.

Cain was old and tasted awful but Spike never turned down human blood. Still, Spike always got a charge out of drinking down someone while they were fighting and, while the man had mostly been incapacitated, he still had a little wriggling left in him.

Once Spike drained him he let the body drop and rifled through its pockets. The Watcher had been kind enough to warn him about this git earlier tonight when they'd met at his flat. That was right before Red's boy decided to go all wolfy. He had been hard pressed to keep the mutt contained while the Watcher and his mage dug up restraints and Xander had whispered to Cordelia and the Slayer about how he didn't want to know that much more about his Father Figure's sex life.

He'd almost lost his grip trying not to laugh at the look on the Watcher's face.

So now he was taking care of the hunter. He wondered if the Watcher knew he had intended to kill him. No matter, his opinion didn't count. Xander had looked at him and looked away so he figured his lover knew what would happen. Spike picked up the body and unlocked the van and dumped the dead weight in the back before getting into the driver's seat. He'd get rid of the body somewhere out of town and see if he could trade off the van and its contents for some reliable information on Angelus's latest lair. Xander still had some explosives, dear boy that he was, and Spike wanted a go with them.

Spike made a mental note to get Xander something special for that trick. You just had to love a man who, in the middle of worrying for his lover and going slightly insane, still remembered to steal high grade explosives.

*****

“Xander!! You cheated!!”

Sharp fingers poked him in the shoulder and Xander winced. “Ow!! Damn, Buffy! Psychic, not Slayer. You break me, you'll have to explain to Spike.”

“Ewww! And don't try to evade the question. You cheated on that test!”

Xander shrugged but on the inside he was grinning. Slowly but surely Buffy was starting to act like Buffy again. “I did not!! I just—can't help it if Stephanie Brown sat in my chair before me. She always passes her math tests; she's a math geek. I can't help it if my ass was picking up her vibes.”

“It's still not fair. Hey, where's Cordy?”

Xander slowed down and tried to make sure Buffy was in between him and the other students in the hallway. “She's at home. Harmony's funeral is this afternoon and she's doing girl stuff. Trying to find a hat with a veil or something, I don't know. She's really freaked out.” Xander shrugged. Harmony hadn’t been the best of people but she had been Cordy's friend for a long time.

Buffy got quiet again and Xander grabbed her by her purse strap and pulled her into an alcove. “What about you, Buff? Are you going to be okay?”

She sat down and it was as if all the energy had left her. “I really don't know, Xander. I'm just so angry and confused. The way Miss Calendar says it, Angel lost his soul when we—when we had sex. But you said that it was when I said ‘I love you’ and really meant it. I just…I don't know! I know he was acting a little different but Angel said it was because he loved me. He wanted me to spend more time with him. It got so it felt like, well, like he was my only friend. I mean, you were off with Cordy or, now that I know about it, Spike, and Willow was either talking about you or school. It was like he was the only one I had.”

Xander sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He should have watched more after school specials on spousal abuse or something. “Well, it's true, I was busy. Buff, you gotta know that I've always tried to make time for you. It’s just that you were so angry when you found out I was gay. I just couldn't tell you, or Willow, about Spike because I didn't think you'd understand. I mean, I'm here. And you have my cell phone number. I did call you a couple of times and left a message with your Mom but now I'm wondering if Angelus threw them away or something.”

“I—I really don't know. I got one or two but, well, it's like I wasn't all there or something. All I cared about was Angel.”

Xander knew he was smirking. “Nothing new there, Buff. Hate to say it, but that was you last year, too.”

“Oh!! Like you think of anything other than Spike!”

He grinned and sheepishly rubbed at the back of his head. “Well, not all the time. Just most of the time I'm thinking of Spike. Or something in relation to Spike.”

“You are being careful, aren't you?”

Xander blushed and wondered if he could hide behind the little sofa they were sitting on. “Jeeze, Buff!! What's with the sudden caring? I am so not talking about my sex life and protection with you!”

“God, Xander!!” There was a sudden sting on his shoulder and Xander realized he'd been smacked. “If guys are such horn dogs, it's amazing gay couples even make it out of the house. I don't mean that kind of being careful, you moron! I mean with the sex and the not letting him bite.”

If possible, Xander felt himself blushing even more. He could sense worry and concern coming from Buffy and, after the last few months of the Buffy-pod, that was nice. Problem was, he could also sense her curiosity and Xander just didn't want to know. Or ask. Or anything about this conversation. He opened his mouth once or twice.

“Xander?”

“We haven't had sex yet. I mean, sex sex.” There was no way he was going to say full anal penetration. Not to Buffy. Or to anyone else. “He's—we're—God!! Buffy! If you want to kill me, why don't you just break my neck instead of trying to kill me with embarrassment?!!”

For the first time since Angelus had popped out, he heard an honest to god laugh coming out of Buffy's mouth. “You—your face! God!”

“So very glad my sex life can provide you with amusement. For your information, Spike was just waiting on me to be all ready and stuff. Actually, if you really want to know, I was thinking it would be romantic to pounce on him on Valentine's Day. I mean, Dru never did remember what day it was, much less holidays, so it might be nice if someone gave him a present for once.”

By this time Buffy had sobered up a bit. “Don't you worry, especially with your new Jedi tricks? I mean, wouldn't you worry that you're just a replacement for Drusilla?”

Xander shook his head. “Nope. For one thing, now I can touch him and feel what he feels about me. It's pretty fucking cool. But even before that I didn't because, while Dru and I may look sort of alike and have all of our other similarities, we're really very different.” He leaned forward and frowned at her for a moment. “But, Buffy, I don't know what happened when you...well, you know. But biting is part of, well, being with a vampire so when that happens, as long as I'm out in the sun, don't get all stake happy, okay? Did...”

Xander didn't want to bring up Angel, or what she did with Angelus. For one thing, he really didn't want to know; ignorance is bliss was becoming his favorite saying. He didn't want to hurt her, either.

“No. He...well, we didn't do that. But...”

“You wondered?”

“Yeah.”

Xander sat back. There really wasn't anything for him to say. “So, do you think Willow will be okay with me and Spike, or at least to the level of not thinking about it that you're at?” Xander wasn't fooled. Buffy still wasn't happy; she just wasn't going to say anything. He could deal with that.

“To tell the truth, Xander, I really don't know. Some of it…well, it's my fault, I guess. I really thought you and Willow belonged together and she just loved you so much. So she's hurt, and there are all sorts of other things going on. I think she just needs time.”

Xander sighed and tried not to let his disappointment show. “Yeah, I guess. Plus she just got a boyfriend of her own and Oz turns out to be a werewolf. That's gotta throw you.” He looked at the clock. The last period of school was about to start but he was skipping. “I gotta run. I've got to pick up a suit and I promised to take Cordy to Harmony's funeral. You going to come?”

“No. It would be too weird. I'd feel all guilty and apologize to her parents and then have to explain why. Xander, do you know if she'll-- I mean, will I have to take care of her?”

Xander sighed and closed his eyes. He couldn't really tell anything but he'd already had part of this conversation with Spike. “See, the problem is, even if she was a vamp, it was Angelus that vamped her. She'd be totally loyal to him in a way, depending on how he turned her. Minions are pretty damn stupid.” He opened one eye to see if Buffy was going to make any comments about Harmony being stupid before getting killed but she was quiet. “He said that he'd take care of it, though, so you don't have to worry about staking any more of your “school chums”. Sometimes I think British people make up half of the words they use.”

“O-kay. I guess that's a good thing, then. I'd thank Spike but I'm sure it's one of the signs of the apocalypse if a vampire and a Slayer ever get along so I'll leave it up to you to thank him. Valentine's Day, huh? I promise to ignore any limping and/or body punctures for at least a week but if it's still happening after that then we're going to have another embarrassing conversation. Got it?”

Xander blushed again. “Damn it, Buffy! You're driving out all thoughts of sex out of my head. I'm seventeen; do you know how hard that is to do? I've got to go. I've got a funeral to get to.”

They both stood up and Xander tried to ignore the fact that Buffy was giggling at him. Still, it was better than her being all broody. Or trying to kill his boyfriend. She put a hand on his shoulder. “Don't worry about Willow too much, okay? She'll come around.”

“Thanks, Buffy. So...we're okay?”

“For now. Mostly. I still have issues with you dating a serial killer but everyone has their kinks. Ask me again once we deal with Angelus, okay?”

Xander gave a smile but his heart wasn't in it. He could see Buffy totally flipping out once they killed Angelus and going after Spike. But it was enough to know that, for now, they were okay. “Thanks, Buff. Really.”

*****