Lee The Vampire Slayer: That stake would look good in your heart
by adraztea
”Right, listen. I forgot to tell you. The Slayer has a vampire with a soul who helps her out,” Spike said. He had stopped trying to get away, probably because I pressed the stake to his chest so hard that it was starting to pierce the skin.
“And you expect me to believe that?”
“Fine. I lied. But I have helped Slayers, many times. Saved the world once. I’m on your bloody side!”
“How can I be sure of that?”
”I could’ve killed you as soon as I saw you. I didn’t. Besides, it’s my stake that you’re about to push into my heart. Why would I have given you that, if I wasn’t on your side?”
“I have absolutely no idea. Tell me, how many vampires have souls? Half of them?”
“No, just two. Listen, Slayer, I have a soul, I am good. What does it take to convince you?!”
“Show me,” I said, and he looked puzzled.
“Isn’t that what I have been doing the last – oh.”
He sighed as he understood what I meant. Then he transformed, letting the vampire face show. I looked at him. He looked a bit annoyed with me, but those yellow eyes didn’t showing hunger or anger, only… surrender?
“You happy now?,” he asked, the fangs showing. I couldn’t stop looking. So this was what a vampire looked like up close. It was… different. I could still see that it was him. I touched his face, feeling the bumps.
“I could’ve killed you by now, Slayer,” he said. “You’re attention isn’t very attentive right now.”
He was right, I wasn’t even holding on to the stake very hard anymore. I touched his fangs, him opening his mouth to let me. At the same time, he moved his hand to my right hand, the one I was holding the stake with, and removed the stake from his chest. His fangs were sharp, and when I pressed my thumb to one of them, the skin broke. I gasped at the sharp pain and moved my hand away, but he caught it, pulling it back to his mouth, and then he licked the small drop of blood away. Suddenly, I was very aware of him, the feel of his tongue against my hand, his muscles under me. I imagined being close to a wolf, or a tiger, would be a similar feeling. The strength, the danger. Our eyes were locked together.

The cell phone ringing made me jump. Spike raised an eyebrow, turning human again as he did so.
“Are you going to let me get that?” he asked, and I stood up, Spike following. He pulled out a small phone from one of his pockets.
“I didn’t think you were the cell phone-type,” I said.
“You have to change with the times, or you’ll end up dead. Or, well, deader,” he answered me before answering the call. “Yeah?”

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. Standing there eavesdropping on his conversation didn’t feel right, but at the same time, leaving didn’t seem like the right thing to do either, just having accused him of being evil. I bent down and got the stake that Spike had put down on the ground.
“They what?!” Spike said into the phone, and I could almost hear an upset voice answer him on the other end of the line. “They’re crazy,” he continued. “I’ve always known they were. This just bloody well proves is!”
He argued a bit more, then he hung up. He looked at me as he put the phone back into his pocket.
“Guess what, pet, the Council isn’t going to send you a Watcher,” he said, clearly annoyed.
“What? Why not? Was that the Council you were talking to?”
He started walking, and I kept up with him.
“Not the Council, an old friend. Seems they don’t think you’ll need one.”
“Why not?”
“The bets says you’re dead within the month. They don’t want do pay someone to train you for that short time.”
“What?” I screamed. “Dead?”
“Well, the life expectancy of a Slayer isn’t that long. Then there’s the trouble with the previous Slayers. Ten in just six years. What?” he added when he saw I was staring at him.
“Dead?” I repeated.
“Oh come on, you don’t believe them, do you? You’re going to be around a lot longer than a month.”
“How do you know?” I asked sulkily.
“Because you’re good. Already dusted three vamps, all on your own. Almost on your own, at least. If you just start remembering to bring stakes with you on patrol, you’ll do fine.”
“Can I bring you with me on patrol too?”
He looked at me, and then he smiled, his blue eyes a bit amused.
“Of course. I’ll even bring the stakes, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

“Matt, come on, it’s time for bed!”
“Don’t want to.”
Matt was sitting behind the couch in the living room, making it impossible for me to reach him. I wasn’t even sure how he got there.
“Mattie, you’re tired, and you know it. If you come out, I’ll read you a story.”
“Don’t want to.”
I was so tired of the kids. At least I didn’t have to fight with Madison too, as she was spending the night at one of her friends. Mark was still at work, and Pam was off on one of her “staff meetings.” The last couple of weeks had been hard on me – going to school during the day, looking after the kids in the evening, and patrolling at night. The only thing that made it a bit better was Spikes’ company, as we patrolled together. I sat down at the couch.
“Fine, we’ll just stay here, then. I’ll wait until you fall asleep, and then I’ll carry you to your room. No story.”
It was quiet for a while, then Matt crawled out.
“I want a story.”
“You’ll get an extra special one,” I said, lifting him up and carrying him up the stairs to his bedroom. As usual, he had fallen asleep long before I had read even half the story. I smiled down at him, giving him a kiss on his forehead before I left the room, turning the lights off as I left.

Down in the kitchen, I turned the radio on and did the dishes from dinner. A knock on the back door made me jump, and Spike smiled when I opened the door.
“You shouldn’t jump when things scare you, you should immediately go to fighting position.”
“I’m working on it,” I said with a smile. “What are you doing here?”
“I should be asking you the same. Isn’t it time for patrolling?”
I looked at the clock on the kitchen wall. It was far later than I had thought.
“Yeah, sorry. I can’t leave ‘til Mark’s back.”
“And when will that be?”
“Don’t know. Soon, I hope.”
I went back to the dishes, and Spike was left standing outside the door.
“You’re not going to invite me in?”
“Isn’t it only people who actually lives in a house that can invite you? I don’t live here, you know, even though it seems like it sometimes.”
“Right. I forgot. And both the kids are asleep?”
“Madison’s away, and Mattie’s sleeping. I won’t wake him up to invite you.”
“Too bad. It’s cold out here.”
He sat down at the stairs, and when I had finished the dishes, I went out and sat next to him. It really was cold.
“I got you this,” he said, handing me a short battle axe.
“Wow, you really know what a girl wants,” I teased and took it. It was small enough to carry around without drawing too much attention, and sharp enough to cut through vampire bones.
“I’ve always been good with the ladies,” Spike answered. Then he stood up. “It’s too bloody cold here.”
“I thought cold wasn’t supposed to bother vampires?”
“It doesn’t bother me, it just annoys me.”
I got up too, and went inside.
“Come on in then,” I said, convinced that it wouldn’t work. Spike looked just as surprised as he went into the kitchen.
“Obviously, someone thinks you live here. Or possibly, The Powers That Be felt sorry for me out in the cold.”
“That must be it,” I said. “Do you want some coffee?”
He accepted, and I made us a cup each. Just as I was starting to feel warm again, I heard Mark coming in through the front door. He walked into the kitchen, and smiled at me.
“Hey Sweetheart. Who’s your friend?”
“Hi. This is my…”
My mind was completely blank. I couldn’t say he was a friend from school, because he looked too old to be.
“Cousin,” Spike filled in, and my mind went into panic-mode. I didn’t have any cousins, and Mark knew that.
“Second cousin,” I tried.
“Twice removed,” Spike said, seeing the panic in my eyes. “From England. There’s just the two of us left of the whole family.”
“Really?” Mark said. “That’s interesting.”
“It might even be thrice removed,” Spike continued. “I’m not really sure. Made some research for relatives, since I was all alone back in England. Lee here was the only one I found.”
“So you came here to find her?” Mark asked and came over to me, stroking my hair.
“Yeah,” Spike answered. “Had to see the family, you know. You folks sure are nice for taking her in.”
“She’s like a daughter,” Mark said with a smile that made my skin crawl. I could actually see Spikes’ eyes, flashing yellow. I got up from the chair, almost making it fall over.
“Do you want some coffee, Mark?”
“I’d love some,” he said and patted me on the back. Spike moved so fast I barley saw it, suddenly standing very close to Mark.
“I’d watch those hands, if I were you. Don’t want to get on my bad side.”
Just for a second, he let the demon face show. Mark went pale. Spike smiled and took a step back.
“It’s just a friendly warning,” he said. “I’d really hate to have to rip your head from your body just because you touched my second cousin in the wrong way.”
I grabbed Spikes’ arm, dragging him with me to the back door.
“We have to go. Mattie’s sleeping, try not to wake him up. The coffee’s in the pot.”
I looked over my shoulder when we walked out the door. Mark was pale, almost shivering. I loved seeing him that upset.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” I said to Spike as we walked over to the cemetery. “You really shouldn’t have done that.”
“Probably not,” he agreed. “On the other hand, he was begging for it. He was coming on to you!”
“I know,” I answered. “I’m just… It’s just that I have to live there. I really have to, because I have nowhere else to go. Pissing him off really isn’t the right approach.”
“I didn’t piss him off; I scared him to bits.”
“Yeah, and that’s probably not better.”
“Well I had to do something. Couldn’t just stand there like a damn fool.”
“And threatening to decapitate him was the best thing you could think off?”
”I have a tendency to resort to violence. Not sure why,” he said at the same time as he ducked an attacking vampire, letting me stab it through the heart.
“Did you father never tell you that violence never solves anything?” I asked as I dusted off the vampire from my coat. “It’s always better to talk about things.”
“It’s more fun to fight than talk.”
I smiled at him.
“From what I heard, life’s not supposed to be fun all the time.”
Spike snorted.
“It’s better if it’s fun the whole time. Had any more of those dreams lately, speaking of fun things?”
I made a face at the lame attempt to change subject.
“Actually, yes. It’s all the same though, that blue thing, and lots of vampires.”
“Doesn’t sound too good. Could explain why there haven’t been so many vampires around town lately, if that smurf is up to something.”
“Not many vampires? Spike, we’re staking at least a couple every night!”
“Exactly my point. There’s usually many more around here.”
“Glad I got started as a Slayer during a slow time, then,” I said and rolled my eyes. Then I saw a man standing a couple of graveyards away. He felt like a vampire to me, so I nodded in the direction and went closer. Spike put a hand on my shoulder, stopping me.
“I know that guy. Wait here.”
The man had heard us, and turned around. I stayed back as Spike went over there. They greeted each other, and then shared that kind of awkward hug that men share when they’re trying to be manly at the same time as they hug. I couldn’t help but smile. I moved a little bit closer, just so I could hear what they were talking about.
“I had to come,” the stranger said. “I always think about her this time of year.”
“Yeah, I understand,” Spike answered. “Nice flowers. She’d liked them.”
“That’s kind of the point. I like the ones you have put there, too.”
“I make sure there’s always fresh flowers here.”
“Good. She deserves it.”
They stood quietly side by side, looking down. I had been there before, and I knew the place. Spike always looked down at that grave when we went past it, even though we never stopped.
“So,” the stranger said after a while, “I take it the girl you’re with is the Slayer?”
“Yeah. I’ll introduce you.”
They turned around and came over to me. The stranger had dark hair, and dark eyes. In all other aspects, he resembled Spike: the same kind of clothes, for one. I got the same kind of feeling from him as I usually got from Spike.
“Slayer, this is the other vampire with a soul. Lee, meet Angel; Angel, meet Lee.”
We shook hands. That explained why he felt the same.
“Nice to meet you,” Angel said. “Sorry about the Watcher-business.”
“Angel’s the one who got in contact with the Council for me,” Spike explained.
“Oh. Yeah, well, I seem to get along without them,” I said. Angel smiled and looked out over the cemetery.
“You're probably best off without them. I haven’t seen many vampires around. Are you having a slow night?”
“A slow couple of weeks, more like it,” Spike answered. “Lees’ been having these dreams, so we think there’s some smurf demon trying to rule things.”
“Smurf demon? What’s that, a very small demon with white pants?” Angel asked and raised his eyebrows.
“Blue.”
Beneath me, the ground suddenly decided not to behave as it was supposed to. It moved, and everything around me seemed to be moving too. I grabbed on to Spike, and he tried to steady me, but since the ground was moving just as much everywhere, that wasn’t too easy. Angel fell to the ground, and pretty soon afterward, we did too. A large gravestone close to us cracked with a deafening sound, and a tree over by the gates fell over. Then everything stopped. It became quiet, so quiet that I could hear myself breath. It was a bit disturbing that my breath was the only thing that could be heard.
“What the hell was that?” I squeaked. “Was that an earthquake? Here, in Cleveland? Is that even possible?”
“No,” Angel answered.
“That wasn’t an earthquake,” Spike said, looking around us, “that was the sign of an apocalypse.”


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