*****
It wasn't fair, it just wasn't bloody fair. He'd been having such marvelous fun, until he had run into that snotty slayer, and his life had been dog-dead unfair ever since. Spike kicked at some trash as he skulked down the poorly lit street. His time with Dru had been a highlight, she was amazingly cruel in such a fun way. He fantasized how she would slowly scrape his throat out if she saw him in his current state, and he shivered in delight. He really did miss her.
The street led to a deserted part of town, the part the more well-to-do folks liked to pretend didn't exist. In his glum state, Spike thought it reflected his situation well. He had been flooded with joy hours before, when he discovered he could kill things without having that mind splitting pain in his head. He might only be able to kill demons, but what the hell, everyone killed them, right? There wasn't really anything likeable about them, and they screamed and bled as well as any mortal. The knowledge had been liberating and inspiring, and he wanted to spend a good amount of the rest of his unnatural life killing as many things as possible. It was just how he worked off tension. But could he get those two human twits to drag their arses off the sofa to go demon hunting? Noooooooo. They wanted to plant themselves in front of TV for the whole night! He shook his head ruefully. Americans were such idiots. They spent an inordinate amount of time doing something which produced absolutely nothing. He was quite sure he would never understand it.
Turning down a dim alleyway, his thoughts grew darker than the crumbling walls on either side of him. He needed a new strategy and was wondering what other havoc he could wreck in Xander's life, when he heard a sound of despair above him. He looked up just in time to have a huge weight land squarely on his face, knocking him off balance and throwing him to the ground. As his head bounced once on the glass-strewn pavement, the crushing weight slammed into his chest and stayed there, debris of various sizes raining down on him. It just wasn't bloody fair.....
* * * * *
It wasn't fair, it really wasn't. Riley knew he and Buffy had something, although he wasn't entirely sure what it was, and she sure as hell seemed to want to avoid it. Riley walked with only half an eye out for danger, he was not officially on patrol, but he often roamed when he needed to think. He sighed and climbed the stairs of an abandoned building he often visited when he needed to be alone. Passing through the rusty door to the roof, Riley paced while he wondered if he could ever convince Mz. "I-ain't-gonna-hurt-no-more" Buffy to trust him long enough to even consider seeing him again. It just seemed so perfect to Riley; no girl ever made him feel like he did when she was around. Hell, no girl had ever made him feel that way period. Up until last year he had considered himself completely gay, but now he wasn't so sure.
Riley sat heavily on the edge of the roof casement, wishing for the umpteenth time Darren was still alive. There was so much he needed to ask his older lover, so much that had been left unanswered. Was he really bi? And what about the destiny thing with the whole slayer bit? He couldn't help but think he was involved in that somehow. Riley sighed, leaning back a bit to gaze at the stars overhead. Why was it all so complicated? He was willing to believe it could work between himself and a girl; why didn't she have the courage to believe? He closed his eyes in frustration, and felt the old brick and mortar give way beneath him.
His arms shot out to grab hold of something, but too much of the area around him was going down with him. He gave a small cry of anguish, not only for his impending death, but also because he had been so out of sorts lately that his friends might suspect it was suicide. Pain shot through his head and the world blackened quickly. It just wasn't fair.....
*****
Part 2:
Spike moaned. Whatever subway train had decided to run him over was now parked atop his body, and showed no signs of leaving. Blessed as he was with acute vampiric senses, he could feel every sharp edged pebble of glass that had been embedded into the back of his skull. But he was also blessed with a vampire's ability to heal quickly; he was more concerned with what this had done to his new duds. After ruining his only set of clothes by trying to launder them, he had gone to great lengths to steal some suitable black jeans and a rather intimidating long, dark trenchcoat. He had become fond of the coat in the scant hour he had to wear it, and was going to be cross if it were torn. He found he was able to move his arms, and lifted his head to look around. On either side of his head was a human knee, with a butt effectively blocking his view of anything below his chest. Groaning, he pushed the dead body off of himself and stood, brushing grit and glass from his own backside.
The body made noise when he had shoved it aside, and its warmth indicated it was still alive. Anger flared through him, and Spike had a fleeting thought to kick it squarely in the ribs, but a ghostly pain ran through his head and he changed his mind. He looked about, wondering if anyone had happened to see or hear this bizarre occurrence, but the alley and street were empty. Even the scum had to sleep sometime, he supposed. Squatting down, he rolled the body over and peered into its face. What he saw made his breath catch.
"Bloody HELL!" A grin ripped across Spike's face, a nasty parting of flesh to reveal gleaming teeth. This was choice! He recognized this young man, part of those responsible for of all his current frustration, lying limp on the cold cement. "Like manna from heaven..." He suppressed a hysterical giggle as he reached for a broken chunk of what used to be part of the roof. "Look Virginia, there really *is* a Santy Claus....and he loves me." He hefted the debris above his head and aimed his blow towards the face of the unconscious boy. Unfortunately, the pain ripped through his brain with heated intensity, causing him to drop the brickwork and press his hands at his skull in an effort to make the pain stop.
"Okay," Spike sighed. "Demons yes, humans still no." He sent deft fingers over the prone body. Amazingly there were no broken bones, only a purplish bruise by the hairline on the boy's forehead. Spike looked up, the building was high enough that the boy would have died if he had not landed on the vampire. He sat back on his heels by the still figure and thought.
"Now, the way I see it Lamb, you *owe* me. I can't kill you, much as that would fulfill my every waking dream. Torture seems the obvious choice here, but perhaps a kinder, gentler sort of torture. C'mon Will...you're so bloody clever. Think..." The vampire nibbled his lip and thought of his new strategy. "Hmmmmm......guess I'll just have to settle for fucking with your mind.....whoa...brill!" A plan began to form as he hefted the boy easily into his arms and strode into the darkened building, a grin again splitting his face.
This one was going to be a real pisser.
* * * * *
Riley woke to the smell of kerosene burning and a warmth covering him. His head throbbed horribly and he was somewhat stiff, but he forced his eyes open. Happily, it was mostly dark wherever he was, the main source of light was a small kero heater off to the right and several small candles in various places about the room. He risked turning his head to the left and looked square into the bluest eyes he had ever seen. Riley drew a deep breath, trying to process, and felt the warmth covering him shift. He realized the man with the blue eyes had been lying practically on top of him to keep him warm.
"It's okay love, just don't move too fast." The eyes seemed to warm as they looked at Riley. Where had he seen this man before? His mind was fuzzy, his thoughts swerving from one image to another.
Spike spent the time thinking up believable lies as to why they were in an abandoned building with nothing much but a heater and a mattress. The truth was he had found the items in the building, which had been housing some homeless people who were long gone. Happily, the place did not smell of booze or urine and there had been some matches and candles about as well. It wasn't much of a love nest, but Spike figured he could distract the boy sufficiently. Riley scratched his head, sighing. He began to remember trying to decide if he should go out with a girl he had met, but his bedmate chose that moment to press cool lips to his own, and he lost track of things until the blonde man pulled away to catch some air.
"Uh....where am I?"
"Shhhhh.....go slow love. What's the very last thing you remember?"
"Well, I...uh, there was this girl. I was trying to decide if I should go out with her, and...uh....."
The blonde man blinked in alarm. "That's the *last* thing you remember?"
"Well, yeah...sorta..." Riley looked groggily about the room, trying to make out his surroundings.
"You mean you don't remember ME? You don't remember US? Our love? Oh, baby, the doc told me you'd probably experience some memory loss, but I didn't expect it to be so much!" Spike stroked Riley's arm in obvious concern.
"What are you talking about?"
"You've got a nasty bump on yer head. Doc said you'd forget some stuff, but...I, I never thought.....not ME, certainly...." Spike looked away, tears clogging his voice and quivering his lower lip for good measure.
"Well, look, I'm, uh.....I'm sure it will all come back to me. You....you *do* seem familiar..." Not to mention that kiss was rather nice. Riley ran his fingers down the face of the distraught man to calm him. He really was beautiful in an angular sort of way, and Riley noticed he wasn't wearing a shirt under his jacket. Perfect pinkish brown nipples grazed his chest, which made his own nipples reach up to greet their fellow kind.
Spike pouted again. As much as he was enjoying his play acting, Riley was spoiling a huge part of his fun. He had been so looking forward to the shock and dismay Riley should have displayed once Spike had insisted they were a gay couple, yet Riley had returned his affectionate touches as if it were the most normal thing in the world. It was a piece of information Spike had no doubt he could use to humble Buffy some day, but it damn well made things duller right now. He was going to have to get really creative if he was to have any fun.
"Familiar?" An edge of hurt was in the blonde's tone as he looked at Riley with eyes wide. "I should bloody well say so! We've been bed mates for weeks now. I don't know what I would have done without you here, and I stood by you through all the hell you've been through...."
Riley scowled and tried to remember. "Hell?"
The blonde man squeezed him around the waist and nuzzled over his chest. "That wench..... friggin' cock tease. Almost had you thinkin' you were straight." Spike snorted and Riley managed a smile as well. It did seem rather unlikely. Still, he couldn't remember anything about this man, including his name. And his head hurt like the devil.
"I'm sorry, but...I really don't remember your name..."
The blonde man gently petted Riley's head and whispered, "It's okay love, they said it would be rough at first. I'm Spike. Well, my real name is William, but my lovers all call me Spike." He winked and leered at the young man under him. "Do you remember *your* name?"
The young man smiled. "Yes, it's Riley. I'm not that far gone." He winced as his fingers probed the tender bruise under his bangs. He had a fleeting memory of falling. "How...how did I get this again?"
Spike gently kissed his cheek and wiggled against him, an erection growing evident as it pressed into Riley's thigh. "You were in an awful fight sweetie, defending me. Oh, you were so manful! I knew you truly loved me when you stood up to those boys. What I'd give to slap some sense into that old bitch in the white coat..."
Riley scowled in thought. "You mean Walsh?"
"Yeah, that's the one. Once she knew about you and I sweetie, it was all over save for the screaming. Who knew she was such a phobe..."
Riley blinked and bit his lip. He vaguely remembered having disagreements with the strong willed woman who ran the Initiative project, but he couldn't remember any of them being about his sexuality. He did have the notion he had to keep it a secret, but he had no memory of Walsh ever finding out about it.
"I remember falling....I think..."
Spike pursed his lips in thought. "Well, you did tell me you had fallen in love with me just before the GI Homophobe troop showed up. It's prolly one of those damn Freudio, symbolic thingys." Spike waved his hand in a vague gesture and turned his attention to Riley's nipples. Riley nodded vaguely, the wet warmth of Spike's mouth through his shirt was fuzzing his mental awareness alarmingly.
"Makes sense......uh, mmmm...that's nice. You sure know what you're doing. Have...I mean, how long have we been doing this?"
Spike gently rolled the bit of flesh between his teeth, which caused Riley to hiss in pleasure. "Oh, weeks and weeks. It's been marvelous fun, until that bitch kicked you out for the love that dare not speak its name." He wiggled suggestively again, and started unbuttoning the young boy's shirt.
"And we've been...lovers...all that time?"
"Yes Poppit, I've told you already. Now stay with the program." Spike was going to lose patience with this boy if he didn't stop asking pointed questions. Riley grew breathless as rough hands slid possessively over him.
"Wha...what is the program exactly?"
"To fuck you stupid every chance I get." Tired of the yammering, Spike invaded Riley's mouth with a well practiced tongue and proceeded to move away any material that blocked a path to warm, quivering flesh. Riley's body arched to meet Spike's cool caresses, and the vampire marvelled at the responsiveness. The boy obviously was dying for some physical attention, and Spike was game. Riley was well put together, taut young skin covered his chest without a hair in sight. Small nips and kisses were strewn about Riley's chest and collarbone, while Spike's strong hands held the squirming boy firmly to the bed. Riley found he rather liked being controlled like this, and the pain in his forehead dimmed considerably.
Spike ran groping fingers down the boys sides which made the human jump and snort. Spike grinned wickedly and dug his digits into Riley's ribs very gently; with his vampiric strength, he could easily puncture organs. Riley squealed manfully and struggled futilely to escape.
"Gah! Hee hee...cut that OUT! I hate that..." Riley gulped air as he thrashed on the bed, his body grinding against the vampire.
Spike grinned, his voice confident. "I know Sweetheart, that's why I do it." Spike stopped then, no sense in having the boy lose consciousness due to lack of oxygen, but he had been enjoying the rough struggling immensely and his cock had responded by engorging with blood. This had a twofold effect; one was it allowed Riley to tell he was very turned on. The boy reached down and stroked the vampire through his jeans, making him moan in pleasure and leave off tickling him. The other effect was it increased Spike's hunger for blood, being as a large amount of it was now lodged firmly in his penis. It was the reason sex and feeding so often went hand in hand for vampires. He smiled as the young man gently squeezed his balls while looking him square in the eye. Riley was no simpering queen, he had a courage which Spike found intriguing.
Riley, meanwhile, was more than a bit surprised at himself. He didn't normally go in for sex with strangers, and despite all Spike had told him, he still did not remember him. For Riley, it had been a long time since he had been touched intimately, and his libido was running this show. He couldn't keep his hands off of the lean blonde male and the lust brought about by the other man's obvious hard-on was very satisfying. He vaguely remembered being confused about Buffy, but male sex was ground he was familiar with. His other hand stroked Spike's bare chest, toying with his nipples. Riley smiled; he might not remember him, but at least he was Riley's type.
Spike rose up and discarded his overcoat, then worked Riley's shirt off his torso. The young human shivered slightly, either from cold or desire; Spike couldn't tell.
"Should I turn the heat up, Love?"
"I wouldn't mind that." Riley smiled and stretched seductively, he was really getting into this. His stretch ended in a lower body squirm that made Spike leap off the bed and tear off the sexy black jeans he had been so fond of. Getting his boots off would have been screamingly funny if Spike did not posses vampiric strength. As it was, he nearly damaged himself ripping them off his feet. His flamboyant Godzilla boxers flew off next, revealing a large cock nestled in a patch of dark fur. Riley just lay on the small bed, licking his lips and watching the show, his hand slowly inching towards his own groin. But Spike was faster.
"Ah! I think not. That's mine, Pet." Spike, wild and naked now, grabbed Riley's arms and pinned them above his head, then swooped down for a heated kiss. Riley began to moan low in his throat, making delicious vibrations in his chest that seemed to speak directly to Spike's cock. For a brief moment, Spike wondered whether or not Riley would make a decent childe, he hadn't had a male lover by his side for many, many years. Then he remembered he couldn't make a childe if he wanted to, and his anger threatened to flare. He managed to avoid the feeling and it's accompanying pain, and settled for simple regret instead. He hadn't felt regret in quite some time, and it wasn't a bit of fun, so he decided to stop thinking and just have sex. Dragging his tongue over Riley's silky wet inner lip made him shiver; it was closest thing to having blood run smoothly across his tongue and it made him whimper with desire for it. Riley began to tremble under him, having misread Spike's needy sounds. Spike hazarded a look into Riley's eyes and saw himself reflected back in the enlarged pupils. Fondling Riley's nipples with his tongue one final time, Spike then descended to work on Riley's fly before the poor kid popped.
He managed to work the button and zipper open despite the bucking and squirming, and pulled the worn jeans off the boy with agonizing slowness. Riley was breathing hard and growling which turned on Spike more than he wanted to admit. Once he had pulled the material off the boys hips, Spike noticed some darkening bruises from the fall off the building. He gently kissed each one, fairly worshipping the blood which was so close to the surface, yet so far away. Tight, white briefs held Riley's erection painfully snug, and the wet spot on the front blossomed bigger as he grew more excited. Riley lifted his hips and the underwear divebombed after the jeans. Spike licked his lips, Riley was a picture of sculpted muscle and hairless skin. He looked up at the boy, who was shaking with need and covered in a sheen of sweat, his eyes black as night.
Spike put on his best lust-purr. "What do you want Pet?"
Riley's growl of frustration ended in a moan. "Ahhhh....please....please, anything. I want you..."
"I'm right here. Can you be more specific?"
Riley gave a half-hearted laugh. "You bastard...."
"Ah, ah....I prefer complete bastard. Now let me hear you beg, Sweetie."
Riley looked hard at him with wild eyes, his chest heaving and every inch of him screaming to be touched. He wanted to beg, he really did, but something told him he'd get much farther with Spike if he didn't. He arched his hips towards the blonde man and used a firm voice. "Suck me. Please."
Spike hid his surprise and smiled slowly at Riley, the kid had balls. Chuckling slightly, Spike settled between the young man's heated thighs and wrapped his tongue around the swollen head of the bobbing cock. Riley arched back, hissing his pleasure and leaking even more onto the vampire's flat tongue. Spike held his cock in a firm grip, stroking the skin slowly, making Riley's body tense. He wondered how long it had been since the kid had had sex, he seemed pretty wound. A few more licks and Spike deep throated the boy, dragging a ragged moan from Riley's own throat. Spike bobbed several times and then dipped his finger in some jar of slippery muck he had found by the bed and rubbed it over Riley's sensitive anus, making the boy squirm and whimper. This was more fun than Spike had thought it would be, the kid was letting himself go completely.
One thing Spike always hated were guys who tried to make like this sort of thing didn't affect them, it always ended in Spike getting pissed off and tearing out their throats. Or worse, when they pulled his hair. He *hated* when they pulled his hair. Spike glanced up. Riley's fists were knotted in the bedsheets. Someone had taught this boy manners. Spike rewarded him by inserting a firm finger into him, which caused almost non-stop moaning. Spike worked the boy, rubbing his cheek against the silky inner thigh and searching for Riley's internal love button. He knew he'd found it when Riley's hips rocketed up, nearly sending Spike flying off the bed. Using his vampiric strength, Spike held him down. He let the cock slip from his mouth, but he added another finger to the first and worked them in and out of Riley.
"I bet you don't know your name now, Pet." Spike chuckled. Riley was heaving and bucking, he was obviously close. Spike added a third finger, which made Riley yell a bit, either from pain or pleasure Spike didn't know, and he was sure Riley didn't either. Drawn to the sweet smell of hot skin, Spike couldn't help but open his mouth and place a sucking kiss on the smooth inner thigh. The flesh felt warm and pliable, so good he wanted to bite it. Maybe he could even give Riley a decent hickey to at least prove to his schoolmates he was getting some action. Stroking Riley's prostrate with faster strokes, Spike sunk his teeth into the salty skin and moaned.
To his astonishment, his game face came up, complete with fangs! The sharp canines sank deep into the flesh and sweet, sweet blood trickled over Spike's thirsty tongue. Riley moaned louder and grasped Spike's shoulders, but he didn't try and push him away. Spike groaned, he was in pure heaven. He sucked the blood as fast as it would come from the two small holes he had made while still nudging Riley's prostate, going into a sort of zone-out on the taste and dropping into a quiet world of his own. How he had missed the tang of fresh blood! There really wasn't anything like it, and Spike kept his lips glued to the spot so as not to miss a drop. His mouth would fill slightly with the warm substance, then he would languidly swallow. He wished it would never end, but then he wondered what would happen if he drained Riley to death. Would the pain in his head go on, never stopping until his skull burst? Spike wasn't sure, but he didn't want to risk it, so he reluctantly pulled his fangs out. His game face disappeared as he lapped at the wounds removing any traces of blood and applied pressure to Riley's leg to halt any bleeding. With luck, the boy would accept the excuse of his getting carried away in the moment. The tang of semen reached Spike's nose, and he saw Riley had cum all over himself, probably as Spike had been drinking from his leg. Spike smiled, they had both achieved Nirvana together.
"Better, Pet?" Breathing hard, Riley rolled unfocused eyes at him and gave him a quirky smile before his head lolled to the side, he would never be able to put into words how great he felt at that moment. Spike was a master, and it had been so very long. In fact, Riley was not surprised to find that his cock had not completely gone down, and Spike noticed as well. The vampire rose up and nudged Riley's legs onto his shoulders, positioning himself at Riley's opening and mumbling to himself. "Young kids today, it's all sex, sex, sex."
The blood Spike had taken was singing through his veins and settling into his already turgid cock. Fresh blood always made you feel alive and frisky, and having a young hunk spread open before him was more than enough to get Spike's motor humming. Smearing his cock with Riley's own seed, he aligned himself and began pushing while Riley pushed back. Spike felt the familiar "pop" as Riley's muscles gave in and Spike rocked his way completely inside the boy, moaning long and loud. He always loved the feeling of a tight butt around his member, and Riley was adding to his pleasure by squeezing his inner muscles. Spike began pulling nearly all the way out and darting back in again, making Riley squeal and writhe, his breaths coming in time with Spike's thrusts. The boy's cock was back at full mast again, slapping between their bodies and driving Riley crazy. Spike picked up the pace and began screwing the boy in earnest, his cock pistoning in and out with brutal regularity. Riley clung to Spike's shoulders and hung on, enjoying the wild ride. He hadn't had this sort of man-handling since Darren, and he relished being taken like this. Spike was primal but sensual, and he knew how to fuck.
Eventually Spike lost his rhythm and slammed into Riley with abandon, forcing his cock into the young man as far as it would go and letting out a roar of pure pleasure. He thrust several more times, and felt Riley's seed dribble onto their bellies. All but collapsing on the boy, they spent several seconds catching their breath, their bodies slick with sweat. Riley groaned as Spike slipped out of him, but the vampire quickly scooped the boy into an embrace, cuddling him close to his body. He loved how humans smelled after sex, it was just so decadent. He soothed Riley's hair as the boy's heart rate slowed, and then he caught his mouth in a lazy kiss. He liked Riley's lips, they were full without being mushy.
Riley gazed at Spike with sleepy eyes, a droopy smile playing on his face. He still didn't remember this sharp, lean man who had taken possession of his body as if he owned it, but Riley had decided it was okay, He felt oddly safe in the circle of his arms, and he nuzzled Spike like a kitten.
"I don't remember it, but I can see part of why I told you I loved you."
Spike snorted and traced Riley's eyebrows with a thumb. He very nearly regretted lying to the human, who was slipping into slumber already. Considering his head injury from his fall, Spike was surprised the kid hadn't passed out long ago, he had certainly cum hard enough. Twice. Within seconds Riley was out cold. Unlike the human, however, Spike was rejuvenated and couldn't lie still. He crawled out of bed and shucked on his jeans, boots and jacket. He wanted to get out into the night air, and he only paused long enough to throw a blanket around the sleeping boy before he strode out of the building.
He raced along the deserted streets, feeling more whole than he had been for some time. Not only could he whup demon ass like his old self, he could feed from humans again! All he had to do was approach the whole act from a sexual point of view. The pain in his head was more due to violence than the act of bloodletting alone. Spike walked past parks and down streets, enjoying how he slipped through moonlight like a predator again. Before he knew it, an hour had passed and he decided to make his way back to the abandoned building. He wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do with Riley. Eventually the jig was going to be up, as good a liar as Spike was, Riley was going to catch on. In fact, Spike was fairly certain Riley had his doubts about the whole story and would have been more nosey if Spike hadn't distracted him with hot sex. Spike smiled inwardly, the boy had been a nice distraction himself.
Halfway back to the building, Spike passed by a darkened theatre, his preternatural vision easily making out the figures on the large poster advertising a movie called "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." He had almost walked past when the lead actor's face struck a cord in his memory, and he stopped to peer at the ad, recognizing him. "What bloody cheek...." His hand rose to stroke the glass covering the ad, thinking how very smooth it was, and his memory provided images of unnaturally smooth skin, sensuous black eyes and soft, wet lips kissing in spots that still made him shiver. He smiled in spite of himself, wondering at the latest generation of vampires and how brazen they were. He could clearly hear Angelus' voice in his ear moments after being made a childe of the dark; "Keep your pale ass out of sight, live to drink another night." It was simple, sound advice, yet the new vampires flaunted their pale skin and eerie beauty while humankind fashioned them into objects of desire. Spike shook his head and walked on. He enjoyed the spotlight as much as anyone, but you didn't live as long as he had by being seen by thousands of humans.
He was near the building where he had left Riley when he saw the fully dressed boy walking shakily down the street. The young man must have regained consciousness and wandered off to find him. Before Spike could cross the street to hustle the hapless human back inside, a car crammed with young women drove by and stopped next to the wobbly boy. Spike ducked out of sight between two buildings and climbed a fire escape. He watched from above as the carload of sorority girls clucked and fussed over Riley, who did not have enough strength to argue when they insisted they take him home. Riley cast a last bleary look around the street, and Spike grinned, thinking the boy had been far safer in his custody. He watched, detached, as the girls drove off, like a lone cheetah watching a pack of hyenas making off with his hard won kill. Normally he would have been royally pissed, but his spirit was buoyed with the knowledge that he could easily reproduce his ability to drink from humans again, he just had to incorporate sex into it. Jumping down from the fire escape, he doubled back and passed the theatre again, planting a kiss on the poster. Maybe it was time to go back to L.A., he thought, as he strode jauntily down the gravel strewn alley.
Fin