She raised her head slowly as the rummaging sounded closer. Ah that would be why she felt the impending sense of doom.
A bleached blonde Vampire stomped over to the bed and dumped a cardboard box next to Xander.
Willow scooted over and away from the vamp.
�A spell. For me. You're gonna do a spell for me.�
What was he talking about? Her head spun and he thought she was going to be sick, �Uh, what kind of spell?�
Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, Spike�s temper flared
�A *love* spell! Are you brain dead?� he stalked over to the dresser �I'm gonna get what's mine.� He picked up a bottle of what clearly wasn�t milk �What's mine.� And uncorked it �Teach her to walk out on me.�
Willow watched as he took several swallows of the brown liquid, her brain trying to make sense of what he was saying. Spell, love spell? Wasn�t he already in love?
Spike realised that Willow was staring at him �What are you staring at?�
Willow immediately looked away; let�s not piss off the drunken Vampire �Nothing.� She managed
Spike moved closer and asked �You can do it, right? You can make Dru love me again? Make her crawl!� his voice was almost desperate and Willow felt her head begin to clear as she made sense of the conversation. Drusilla had stopped loving Spike and he wanted her back. As he looked at her she realised he wanted an answer
�I-I can try.�
Once again this seemed to be the wrong thing to say, Spike grew incensed and grabbed her by the neck
�What are you talking about, trying? You'll do it!�
Oh goddess, �Yes, I'll do it!� anything to get him away.
Spike let go of her in such a hurry she fell against the bedpost banging her elbow. He broke his bottle against the opposite bedpost letting the liquid fall all over the floor and grabbed for her again. He thrust the bottle at her
�You lie to me, and I'll shove this through your face! You want that?�
The misty haze cleared and with it came terror
�No...� she pleaded
Spike took delight in her accelerated pulse and scent of fear
�Right through to your BRAIN!�
I like my brain, willow thought desperately �No, please, no...�
Spike stared at her pretty face wreathed in terror and forced himself to calm down. He pushed her away and leaned on the bedpost, able to smell the alcohol on the floor and wished he had some to drink.
Then it wouldn�t hurt.
�She wouldn't even kill me.� He dropped the broken bottle, his anger leaving and despair settling in. he walked around and sat on the bed next to the witch.
Drusilla, why did you leave me? �She just left. She didn't even care enough to cut off my head or set me on fire. (sniffs) I mean, is that too much to ask? You know? Some little sign that she cared?�
Willow watched in shock as Spike sighed heavily and carried on
�It was that truce with Buffy that did it. Dru said I'd gone soft. Wasn't demon enough for the likes of her. And I told her it didn't mean anything, I was thinking of her the whole time, but she didn't care. So, we got to Brazil, and she was... she was just different. I gave her everything: beautiful jewels, beautiful dresses with beautiful girls in them, but nothing made her happy. And she would fliiirt! (sniffs) I caught her on a park bench, making out with a *chaos* demon! Have you ever seen a chaos demon? They're all slime and antlers. They're disgusting.�
Willow shook her head; she hadn�t seen a chaos demon. Was Dru mad? Well okay yeah she was but Spike did form a truce with the Slayer for her and he wasn�t exactly hard on the eyes. Once he calmed down and wasn�t threatening her with a broken bottle. Her thoughts came to an abrupt stop as Spike reached up and began stroking her hair.
�She only did it to hurt me. So I said, 'I'm not putting up with this anymore.' And she said, 'Fine!' And I said, 'Yeah, I've got an unlife, you know!' And then she said... she said we could still be friends.�
He laid his head on Willow�s shoulder and began to cry in earnest. �God, I'm so unhappy!�
Ok that did it. She was used as an emotional doormat and research machine for her friends and the rest of the time they ignored her, she had Oz/Xander guilt, Cordelia and her band of evil bitches were still horrible to her and her parents were never home. On top of that she had to put up with a Vampire moaning about his love life all over her? Screw that.
�Well boo hoo.�
Huh? Spike�s head shot up to pin the irate witch with a glare
�What?�
She stood up and moved away to face him
�So she left you. You�re over a hundred years old, act like it.�
�Watch your mouth little girl.� Spike growled
�There, that�s much better.� Willow beamed at him �You�re a Vampire, not a child. So she left you- more fool her.�
Spike put his head on the side considering the witch, was she really insane?
�What are you dribbling about?�
�If you ask me she is the one missing out. You�re loyal and you love her and�and� you�re very cute- in a demonic way. She is the fool for leaving you.�
Willow�s words managed to deflate the last of Spike�s anger as he stared bemused at the redhead.
�But I love her. Have done for a century, I want her back. So you�ll do the spell for me?�
�No.� Willow decided
�What?� Spike growled again
�You said Dru left because she thinks your not demon enough for her, right?�
�Right.�
�Well by all this crying and pouting, you�re just proving her right. What you have to do, is not get some love spell. But prove her wrong. If you do it right- *she�ll* come crawling back to *you*.�
Spike was gobsmacked. That had never occurred to him. The mental picture of having Dru crawl on her hands and knees back to beg his forgiveness was enough to almost sober him up and a grin spread across his face.
�I like that.�
Willow smiled �Knew you�d see it my way. So I�ll just take my unconscious friend and be on my way.�
�Not so fast little witch.� He grabbed her arm before she could leave.
Shit. Thought Willow.
�What is it Spike?� Willow�s voice wavered
�You look like a smart chit. Plus I�m still a little hung over, you can help me.� Spike nodded sagely
�M-me?� that was not part of my plan. Willow tried to think of a way out of this
�Yeah.� Spike was pleased
�What do you want me to do?� Willow asked hesitantly
�Well, you help me. I want her to crawl back to me. What do I have to do?�
�How should I know?� Willow replied flippantly and immediately regretted it when he vamped out
�It was your idea, pet.� He bit out �So you tell me how to do it.�
Willow stumbled as he let go of her and she sat down on the bed again. He really doesn�t know.
�Ok, you need to set yourself up as Master- somewhere.� Please not Sunnydale �Somewhere big, like LA. Make minions- clever minions.� Oh god I just told him to kill people. Willow winced. �But not too clever, because then they�d challenge you for power. Um then I guess you�d need human servants.�
�What the bleeding hell would I need humans for?� Spike said sitting down next to her again
�Oh humans are useless,� Willow replied sarcastically �Not like they can go out during the day or go shopping or go into private residences or anything.� Her temper flared �you vamps are all the same, if it doesn�t have fangs it�s fair game, not useful for anything. Bah!�
She folded her arms and glared at him.
A grin spread its way across Spike�s face. This one was full of fire and so smart. She�d make a great vampire.
�Don�t sulk, pet.�
�Not a pet.� She mumbled
�Want to be?� he leaned closer and Willow scrambled off the bed
�What?� she screeched and Spike clutched his head
�What part of �I still have a hang over� confused you?� he moaned
�S-sorry.� She whispered contritely until she recalled why she�d jumped off the bed �Look, I�m giving you a plan here. So there will be no Vamping or pet-ting of any kind, with me.�
�Alright.� Spike smiled �What then?�
�Huh?� Willow was lost at his conversation jumping
�I make smart minions and then�� he prompted
�Oh, make a name for yourself keeping order and generally ruling your little domain. Strike fear in the hearts of all demons that dare cross your path. General demon stuff.� Willow rubbed her head. I want to go home. She thought miserably.
Spike put his head to the side considering her plan, sounded great. When he scared the local demon population, word would get around and soon Dru would know that Spike was back to full demon ness and would come crawling back, and in the meantime he�d get to have a little fun.
The little witch was a clever one that�s for sure. And handy to have around.
He measured her up. �Ok witch, I�ll do you a deal.�
�What?� she responded tiredly.
�I�ll let coma boy here live,� he thumbed over his shoulder at the still unconscious Xander �If you come with me.�
�What? I don�t want to be a snack.� Willow trembled
�No, you�re too useful to be a snack. And you don�t want to be a vampire, so that leaves my human pet.�
Willow�s eyes narrowed �Why should I trust you?�
�You shouldn�t.� was his wolfish reply �But I�m giving you the chance to come willingly, I could just kill him and take you but I�m too damn pissed to fight now.�
Willow thought quickly �ok Spike, I�ll come willingly with you and be your pet.� she spat out the word �Until Drusilla comes back and in exchange you leave my friends alone- all my friends. Buffy, Xander, Giles and Oz.� she swallowed over the last name.
�The Slayer?� Spike whined until he saw the famous resolve face. �Ok fine but when Dru comes back- all bets are off, deal?�
�Deal.�
�Good, now let�s get out of here, I need a smoke.�
They left Xander at the factory- still unconscious- and Spike drove to Willow�s home to pick up a few necessities. Like a change of clothes and her laptop. She also left a message for the slayer to let her know where Xander was.
Spike was waiting impatiently in the DeSoto, since she refused to allow him access to her house, tapping his fingers on the wheel.
�Get all you need, pet?� he raised an eyebrow at her bag. It wasn�t a very big bag, he thought all girls and women packed their house whenever they left it.
�You said be quick. So I got essentials.� Willow explained throwing her bag on the back seat �Besides if we stick around for long, Buffy will be here and there will be a fight and broken deals and badness.�
�Right.� Spike agreed with her supposition.
He threw the car into drive and they quickly left Sunnydale. Willow stared out of the window as they passed familiar houses and shops. In a way she was leaving home and it hurt. She probably wouldn�t see her friends again.
A tear made its way down her face and she hastily scrubbed it away, she was not going to show weakness in front of a Master Vampire, even if it was a drunken one.
As they left Sunnydale Spike made sure to hit the sign making the car jolt and Willow let out a squeak of surprise and glanced quickly at Spike who had a huge grin on his face like it was some huge joke.
Mumbling something about destruction of property Willow leaned against the window and closed her eyes.
�Red?� Willow felt her shoulder being shook �Wake up Red, we�re here.�
Willow opened her eyes and immediately wished she hadn�t. she had been having a nice dream where she was sitting in the Bronze with her friends listening to the Dingo�s and drinking some nice hot tea. Now she was sitting in a bashed up DeSoto with a drunken Vampire plotting to win back his insane lover, and if that wasn�t enough it seemed they were pulled up at the sleaziest motel America had to offer.
�Where?�
�I need to feed and get out of the Sun for a while. You�ve been asleep all night and now it�s my turn alright?� Oh he sounded much more sober. Wasn�t that a frightening thought?
Willow climbed out of the car and clutched her bag in front of her. She stared at the place in distaste. Spike joined her.
�Ok so it�s not the bleeding Ritz but I�m knackered, so it�ll have to do.� Spike marched up to the reception leaving Willow to follow him belligerently.
Spike glared at the bubble gum chewing receptionist who turned away from her soap opera and looked at him like he was dirt.
�Yeah?� she snapped obviously annoyed at missing what the lead hero (who looked like Angel) had to say to his gay lover/transvestite partner (who looked suspiciously like the Watcher.)
�I want a room. Bed and bathroom.� Spike snapped back. If he wasn�t so tired and hung over he�d snap the bitch�s neck. But that could wait until tomorrow.
�Forty dollars a night.�
�Whatever.� Spike threw the money at her knowing full well he�d get the money back from her cold corpse in a few hours anyway.
�Room 16� She turned back to her soap ignoring him and Willow who stood a little way behind him.
�C�mon pet.�
�Not a pet.� Willow mumbled again as she followed him down the hall and into a grungy looking room.
Willow looked at the room in disgust. There was no way that she could sleep on that bed. The sheets were grey and gross and she was afraid of catching something. Oh plus there was only one bed.
Spike lopped onto the bed and leered at her guessing her thoughts.
�H-how �bout I sleep in the car?� she stuttered and his grin grew
�Nah, smart little thing like you would probably hot wire it and take off.� He patted the bed next to him and waggled his eyebrows.
�I couldn�t!� she thought for a second �Okay I probably could but I wouldn�t!�
�And I�m big on trust ducks.� He yawned �Now get your sweet little ass down here.�
�S-Spike, I know Vampire�s can�t get diseases but humans can and I �I�m not sleeping on that.�
Spike rolled his eyes and shrugged off his duster. He laid it on the bed next to him.
�Sleep on that.� He ordered. Willow sidled closer to the bed and pulled the duster further away from where Spike lay, ignoring his chuckle of amusement. She perched on the end of the bed and dropped her bag next to her feet on the floor. She closed her eyes and tried not to think of the perilous situation she was in.
Meanwhile back in Sunnydale, Cordelia and Oz ran through the factory and down some abandoned steps to find Xander alone sleeping like a baby.
Spike grinned as he wondered what the witch would say when she woke up. He had gradually pulled her close to him in the night, so that she was snuggled against him, she was tucked under his chin, his arms wrapped tightly around her feeling her soft warm body against his hard cold one.