Days Of Wine & Roses: Stronger Than Hate
by Fairfax
‘What are you doing here?’ Demanded Buffy.

‘There’s all sorts of crazy talk about this place, thought I’d come have a look.’

‘And attack someone.’

The woman had run off as soon as Spike’s grip on her had been broken. He was offended by Buffy’s allegation.

‘Silly bint was walkin’ along, clocked Big Bad and got her knickers in a twist.’

Buffy didn’t seem convinced.

‘I was trying to calm her down,’ insisted Spike.

‘In total vamp mode?’ Said Buffy sceptically.

Spike gave her a sheepish, toothy grin.

‘Can’t do anything about it.’

To demonstrate he attempted to morph into his razor cheekboned, almost beautiful human face. His features blurred for a second, then reverted back to the demonic.

‘Somethin’ about this place just flips my switch. I like it,’ he said with real enthusiasm. ‘I assume you’re here to end the festivities, Slayer.’

‘You got that right.’

‘Alone?’

Giles appeared behind Buffy, possessively placing a hand on her shoulder. She flinched then shrugged him off.

‘No, Buffy is not alone.’

Spike let out a snort of contempt.

‘As good as,’ he sneered. ‘This place is going to hell in a hand basket. Needs more than a cup of tea and a lecture to sort it out.’

Spike stepped forward, Giles stood his ground as they squared up to each other.

‘Or you going to give us all a good laugh, and start fighting?’ Spike leaned closer to Giles and whispered. ‘I like you when you’re unconscious, you have more personality.’

Giles shoved Spike, who shoved back. Arms were raised and fists clenched, before any punches could be thrown Buffy was between them.

‘Enough,’ she yelled. ‘Now is not the time for a testosterone frenzy. And Spike, shut up. Giles is…’

Buffy knew that she should defend Giles, however the abhorrent atmosphere made it hard to remember why. She turned from one to the other not knowing who she hated more, wishing they’d both leave her alone. Her brow furrowed in concentration, eventually a connection fired.

‘…mine.’

That earned her incredulous looks from both the man and the vampire. Spike recovered first.

‘You and him!’ He laughed in disbelief. ‘You’re shagging the bloke ‘ose been playing the father all this time? Even I think that’s a bit twisted.’

Giles slammed into the arm Buffy flung out to prevent him from attacking Spike.

‘No, leave him alone.’

‘I suggest you stop giving me orders,’ said Giles malevolently.

Buffy rolled her eyes in frustration, it was so pointless. This place was messing with their minds, they had to get beyond it or be killed.

‘Calm down or go,’ she said desperately, knowing that that would antagonise Giles further, yet unable to think of an immediate alternative. Sure enough, he turned and walked off without another word.

‘That’s better,’ leered Spike. ‘Now you and me can have a proper chat.’

He lounged amongst the junk that cluttered up the alley, patting invitingly on an upturned crate. Buffy stayed where she was.

‘I won’t bite.’

She hesitated, then got comfy. As much as Buffy didn’t want to admit it, having Spike here probably wasn’t such a bad thing. If The Khatojanan got physical, superior combat skills would be needed. Problem was, which side would he be on?

‘You and him?’ Repeated Spike.

‘Yes,’ said Buffy fiercely, struggling against the unnatural instinct that was trying to force her into denial. ‘Me and him.’

‘Unbelievable. Then again as last requests go, rollin’ in the hay with you is quite a good one,’ said Spike, grudgingly impressed. ‘Thought old Rupes would’ve opted for something more bookish.’

‘Say that again.’

‘Bookish,’ teased Spike. ‘Alright, I said ‘last requests’. Secretive type isn’t he? Obviously hasn’t told you that he’s not got long in this world.’

Buffy couldn’t speak.

‘Selfish bastard. You’d think he’d let the little woman know that he’s living on borrowed time.’

‘Stop it,’ Buffy was unable to keep her voice from shaking. ‘Stop saying that.’

‘Fair enough,’ said Spike gleefully. ‘Shall I say ‘dying’ instead?’

Buffy drew her knees up, wrapping her arms around them. Seeking comfort from what Spike was saying and the emotions that the influence of The Khatojanan meant she couldn’t keep a grip on.

‘Giles isn’t sick,’ she said emphatically, willing it to be true.

‘Never said he was,’ dismissed Spike. ‘But Rupes is damned as surely as if he were. So the stuttering poof got himself to the top of the pile and is now Brown Owl to his little pack of Watchers. Do you know what happens to leaders of the Watchers’ Council?’

Spike didn‘t pause for an answer.

‘They don’t die of old age. It’s like your lot, you pop up, get all righteous, fight the good fight and piss a lot people off. Eventually someone with a grudge comes looking.’

Searching through his pockets, Spike withdrew a battered pack of cigarettes, then took his time lighting up and basking in the first drag. He was hugely enjoying the effect his words were having on Buffy, and wanted to spin it out as long as possible.

‘Back in the day a Slayer’s blood was the greatest thing a chap could aspire to, happy times.’

Spike was briefly lost in a private reverie.

‘Now there’s a load of you it could be that Rupes is the highest prize, doubt he’ll taste as sweet. Admittedly the old man has proved that he‘s hard to snuff out, but of course the killer only has to be lucky once. He has to be lucky all the time.’

‘This is crap.’

‘You wish. Ask him,’

Spike’s body language was that of concern, however his expression was joyful.

‘I’m doing you a favour, love. Wouldn’t want to see you disappointed. ’Cos whatever happy ever after, raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens future he’s promised you, ain’t gonna happen. I give him another year, tops.’

Spike crept closer to Buffy. Inches away from her, he breathed:

‘Forget about the Watcher, we both know you prefer men whose hearts have already stopped.’

He grabbed her wrist, hard. Holding her hand to the centre of his chest.

‘That’s how you like it, isn’t it?’

Jumping up, Buffy wrenched her hand free and pushed Spike away. He deserved a beating, but that could wait. She had to see Giles.

‘I’ll always be around, Slayer.’ Spike shouted at her fast retreating back. ‘I’ll never leave you.’

With a satisfied chuckle he withdrew further into the shadows to wait patiently for the sun to set and the fun to begin.

********************

The motel had been trashed, presumably by the staff who had now abandoned it. Windows were smashed, fire extinguishers had been emptied covering everything with sticky foam, doors were hanging off their hinges revealing the rooms beyond them to be in a state of total disarray.

Buffy found Giles in his room, holding the covers of a book in one hand and a bunch of torn pages in the other. She wondered if he had managed to get over the desecrated books and notice that all his stuff had been ripped to pieces and thrown around.

‘I guess The Khatojanan aren’t big on literature,’ hazarded Buffy, putting a comment out there in order to gage Giles’ mood.

‘That would appear to be the case,’ he said quietly.

Unwittingly Spike had thrown off the insidious influence of the enemy with his cruel speech. The shock Buffy felt on thinking that she was about to lose Giles, cleared her mind, it was a nightmarish scenario only because she loved him. The strength of that feeling flooded her senses, arming her against the seductive waves of hatred battering her soul. Now she needed somehow for Giles to be similarly effected, to replace the derision in his eyes with the gentleness to which she was accustomed.

‘Do you read much these days, like pleasure ‘once upon a time’ reading?’

‘No,’ Giles gave her a suspicious look. ‘What’s this got to do with anything? I’m really not in the mood for random conversation.’

Buffy took a centring breath, hoping that what she was about to say would have the desired effect.

‘It must’ve been great when I was dead. More book time, I bet you really enjoyed the enhanced leisure opportunities,’ She was cringing as she spoke, but forced herself to carry on. ‘Dead Buffy must’ve made for a happier Giles.’

‘Happy? What the fuck makes you think I was happy?’

The vehemence of his reply, took her by surprise. This had better work or she was going to be left to take on The Khatojanan alone.

‘No me, no responsibility. Being through with all that had to have felt good.’

A bitter smile played on Giles’ lips. ‘I can‘t say that it did.’

They were silent for a while. Buffy ran her next sentence over in her mind, preparing to play on one of Giles’ weaknesses - the fact that he would never admit a situation was beyond his control.

‘Yeah, I suppose physically could have been a bit rough. Getting over the whole spear thing,’ she gave him a reassuring smile, continuing in a false, bright fashion. ‘And because of that Dawn got kidnapped then we were all clueless about what to do because you weren’t really making proper decisions, so I had to take my swan dive. Been meaning to tell ya, we all stopped blaming you a long time ago.’

‘I never stopped blaming myself.’

Got him.

‘I kept going over it, again and again. There must have been something else that I could have done. S-something that I missed.’

Giles gripped the back of his neck and stared down at the carpet, lost in the memory. Buffy ached to intervene, though she knew that she had to let his distress run its course.

‘It became almost an obsession. I’d think of you by day and dream about you at night - you were always falling. More than once I could still see you lying there broken when when I awoke.’

Giles straightened up and looked Buffy in the eye.

‘And you ask if I felt good. I felt like I was losing my mind.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I love you. I love you more than you’ve ever guessed.’

Comprehension dawned in Giles’ eyes as soon as he said the words, Buffy pulled him into a hug.

‘A bond stronger than hate,’ he quoted. ‘Was all that strictly necessary?’

‘Fraid so,’

Buffy was almost delirious with relief at having got the real Giles back.

‘I assume Spike did something similar to you.’

She nodded.

‘He wasn’t trying to help, he was just being Spike.’

‘He‘s dust,’ said Giles grimly.

‘Shush,’ soothed Buffy, kissing him. ‘Later.’

Trying not to break his embrace with Buffy, Giles reached out and pulled the duvet off the bed, it fell to the floor taking all the rubbish with it.

‘I can think of a pleasurable way to pass the time until then.’




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