White Knight, Black Knight

A scent hit Spike, one that spoke of decay and carrion. Whatever it was that was about to come down the tunnel in front of them, it was what they were looking for. He glanced at his companion. With his vision he could see the boy clearly. He could tell Xander was nervous, but ready to face whatever it was.

Whatever other thoughts he might have were banished when another roar sounded right in front of them. Spike stepped forward; hoping to see it before it saw them, thanking whatever it was that looked after vampires that they were in one of the larger tunnels.

They turned another corner and there it was. About five feet tall, it looked like a giant rat.aws aws curved from its human-like hands and a long tail whipped around behind it. While the thing was tall, it was thin. Otherwise it might not have fit in some of the smaller crawlspaces.

“Oh shit, an ROUS! I so don’t need bubonic plague! That one Thanksgiving was enough, thank you very much!” Spike couldn’t help but snort at that last bit that Xander had said under his breath. At the time, seeing the boy so sick was the only thing that cheered him up, just getting out of the Initiative and all.

Other than that he could tell the boy was trying to stay quiet until Spike made the first move. He’d been teaching the boy to be his backup, and he was quite good at it.

Right then. Spike gripped the sword he held tighter and charged the beast, going for the throat. He got one good swipe in before a claw grazed his side and threw him against the tunnel wall. The rat turned to him there, and Spike saw Xander come up behind the thing and take a good swipe at its back leg.

Blood spurted and the rat turned to the boy, giving Spike time to get up and go for its throat again. The rat was crippled now, but still going after what had hurt it. To give Xander credit he didn’t run, but joined Spike in assaulting the beasts head area, choosing to gouge out an eye with the sword while Spike was hacking at it’s neck.

The beast was half mad with pain and partially blind and thrashed around, trying to shake them off. Xander had dropped his sword, but was taking his ax to the other eye and any other bits he could reach. Spike finally got through the thick hair and managed to make a fatal cut to its jugular. “Harris, I got it!” He jumped back, content now to watch the thing twitch in death.

Xander was bent over, panting and sounding like he was trying not to puke. Spike couldn’t blame him, the black blood that poured from the thing was worse than the smell of its breath. They were both covered in it though, along with grime and various substances from the sewers that Spike did not want to think about.

“Well now, that was a right bit of fun. Always did hate rats, nasty little buggers. How and why Peaches lived off the damn things I’ll never know.” Spike pulled a pack of cigarettes from his duster and lit one. Anything to get that smell out of his nose and mouth.

“Gotta admit, Deadboy sure likes to punish himself.” A few more deep breaths were taken. “Hey, you think there are any more ROUS’s around? Don’t they travel in packs or groups or whatever?”

Spike looked at the boy, confused. “Harris what in all Hells is an ROUS?”

Xander looked shocked at the question. “That. That was an ROUS. Rodent Of Unusual Size. You know, from The Princess Bride? The movie. Please tell me you’ve seen it, it’s a classic!”

Spike bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Only Xander would be thinking of movie references in face of giant rats. “Can’t say as I have mate. If I went to see it, I was either distracted by Dru or eating one of the ushers.” He was letting the boy distract him. “If there are any more of these bloody things we’ll find out soon enough. I for one want a cup of blood and a good draft.” He tucked the sword away in one of the loops of his duster and turned back the way they had come. He watched as Xander picked up his sword, wiped it off on his already ruined shirt.

“Hey I got an idea. My truck is at your place, why don’t you grab a change of clothes and whatever else you want and you can come shower at my place. In return I can make you watch Princess Bride. Can’t have a master vampire running around ignorant of one of the finer points of human culture!” Xandas was walking along behind him, but he could just imagine the grin on his face.

“Oh bloody hell no! Not gonna watch something called The Princess Bride. Do I look likponcponce?” Actually Spike was kind of looking forward to it. The shower at least, not the movie. He was mainly arguing because that was what they did.

“Come on Spike, you know you can’t get this goop off in your crypt! I’ve got beer and a menu for that new rib place that moved downtown. Besides there are monsters, and giants and all sorts of things!”

They continued arguing all the way back, much like the trip down the tunnels. Whether or not the new ribce hce had human ribs, to which the boy and gone “Ewwww!” to, who got the shower first, who was buying beer. The sort of things friends fussed about.

It was almost a strange feeling for Spike. The boy had hit it on the head earlier that summer when he said that Spike missed a hunt partner. Even when Dru was well she had the attention span of a gnat, running off to wherever her stars or dollies told her to. Even Angelus wasn’t reliable, apt to leave you in the worst lurch. His bitch of a sire taught him that, she had run off on him, leaving him for that bastard Holtz. It happened before he was turned, but he’d heard about it.

So he took the boy in hand, teaching him things he was almost desperate to learn. If you would have told him a year or six months ago even that he would be voluntarily going home with Xander Harris he would have walked into the sun. He had to admit, the boy was not only loyal but had balls as big as boulders. Not a bad thing in a partner.

They stopped at his crypt and Spike threw a change of clothes and a couple packs of blood into a bag. His side still ached where the thing had swiped him, but it would heal. He had a thought though, “That thing didn’t swipe you did it? Don’t wanna nurse you if you’ve got some sort of cooties from that thing.”

They made their way to Xander’s SUV. “Nah, bruised but not broken yet again. I may die of asphyxiation though, don’t see how you can stand it. You have first shower and I’ll order.” The cemetery was deserted.

Spike watched as Xander opened up the back of his truck and pulled out some handy-wipes and a couple of tarps. They cleaned up as best they could and got in, careful of sliming the seats. Spike had long since given up being surprised what the boy kept in his truck. Tools, a first aid kit bigger than some hospitals had, towels and cleaning stuff. As they drove off, Spike was thinking it only made sense. After all, not only did they boy have a white knight complex; he was a bloody Boy Scout as well.