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Hell's Kitten
He knew something was wrong the
second he heard his Sire's voice coming across the telephone.
'Come to LA. Immediately.' Was all the Poof had said. The wanker
hadn't even bothered to answer his questions. Just told him it
was 'important' and to not let the others find out about it.
And so here he was, speeding towards the City of Bloody Angels.
{More like City of Angelus} the blonde smirked. He cut off
a car, veering into his exit at the last moment. Thoughts of what
could possibly have his Sire so stirred up were tramping through
his mind. There was absolutely no good reason for the Great
Tosser himself to have ordered him to come to LA of all places.
Well, none he could think of.
{Unless. . .} Spike shook his head, a smirk flying across his
features. {No. . .if it had something to do with Red he would
have called Slutty- not me. I may be her 'boyfriend' but he still
would call the bloody Slayer first. Peaches probably just needs
my help with some new demon.}
Cutting the engine to his car, the blonde glared up at the
abandoned hotel his Sire had taken over as his offices and living
space. The place certainly had that old fashioned feel he had
come to expect from the king of brood. {At least I'll get
to see my Red. Still can't believe the chit agreed to stay here
for a few weeks and help me bloody Sire with his soddin
computers.}
Taking a deep, un-needed breath, the blonde strolled in the doors
of the hotel. "Where's Peaches, chit?" He growled
at Cordelia, lighting a cigarette as he waited for her to answer.
"I'm sure he'll be downstairs in just a moment."
The blonde eyed the girl warily. Something big was going on. For
once, she wasn't scared of him- just really, really. .
.sad? His eyes grew wide. "What's going on here?"
"I. . .I think you should wait for Angel," Cordelia
murmured. She cast her eyes down to her desk, hoping Spike
wouldn't pressure her for any more information. This wasn't
something she wanted to tell him. Better for it to be Angel.
At least he would survive the blonde's anger when he heard the
news.
Spike glared one final time at the former cheerleader before
turning his back to her. Taking a long drag on his cigarette, the
blonde allowed his senses to take over, searching for where his
Sire was in this monstrosity. He was tired of waiting. Something
was going on and he wanted to know *now*.
Only when he found him did the blonde start to get an idea of
what was deadly wrong with this situation. Somewhere above him
his Sire was in the room with another vampire. One that most
definitely was one of the dark haired vampire's childer. A
vampire that he recognized as being familiar to him in some
way.
His heart lurched and the cigarette dropped from his dead
fingers. "What floor?"
"I really don't think." Cordelia stammered.
"I don't care what you bloody well *think*, what
floor?" His demon slid forward and he growled at her.
"Second. First door on the left."
In a flash the vampire had crossed to the stairs, taking them two
at a time. His eyes were blazing and he could feel a sense of
nervous dread filling him as he stopped outside the door the
cheerleader had indicated. Forcing his human features back into
place, the blonde opened the door, letting it swing open wide
without ever setting foot inside.
There, sitting on the bed was his Sire, cradling a crying,
sobbing fledgling in his arms. The older vampire looked up as
Spike entered, immeasurable sadness crossing his face. He didn't
say a word, knowing that now wouldn't be the best time to explain
everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours.
The blonde growled, low in his throat, the demon straining to
come out. He dropped to his knees, ignoring his Sire as he gently
took the hand of the sobbing Childe. The newly made vampire
looked up, her tears dying in her throat.
"Spike." She launched herself at him, knocking
him onto his ass as she cried into his chest.
"Shh, Red. . .it'll be okay."
*-*-*-*
Spike held the sobbing red head in his arms, confusion creeping
across his face. How had this happened? How could she come to LA
for one little bitty week and end up turned? By his own *Sire*!
He listened as her tears quietened, her body finally ceasing its
erratic shaking. Looking down, he realized she was asleep.
The sight of his lover so obviously dead was disturbing to the
blonde. He had planned all along to turn her one day but had
never spent much time thinking of the results. Here they were
though, laid out bare before him in the package in his arms. Her
face was still, chest neither rising nor falling- all breathing
having ceased upon her death. Her features were pale, lips so
faded they might as well have been white against the starkness of
her face. Her hair was the only thing that still seemed to live-
looking more like a moving fire than it ever had in her life.
She was beautiful.
Standing as smoothly as he could manage with her in his arms, the
vampire laid her on the small bed, covering her now cool body
with the thin comforter. Only then did he turn his attention back
to the other occupant of the room.
"What happened?"
Angel's eyes opened wide and he actually sighed. For the moment
it looked as though his obstinate Childe was going to take the
calm approach to this. "Let's go downstairs. . .I don't want
to disturb her. . .this is the first time she's slept since. .
." He let the words hang in the air, unwilling to say 'since
she died'. That made it too final. She wasn't dead, just
different.
The blonde nodded. He took one final look at his sleeping goddess
before turning on his heel. He breezed through the door, walking
towards the stairs with the kind of detachment he would need if
he wasn't going to kill his Sire right off. Collapsing onto
one of the couches in the lobby, Spike waited for his Sire to
join him.
It was one of the hardest thing Angel had ever had to do- tell
his Childe exactly how his lover had died. He took a deep,
unnecessary breath, bracing himself for the tale to come.
Only to be cut off before he could start.
"Why?"
Angel looked at his Childe. "Going to have to be more
specific there, Spike. Why what?"
"Don't get coy with *me**Sire*," the blonde spat,
standing up so that he could glare down at the older vampire.
"Why is she sitting up there, turned as one of your bloody
Childer?!?"
The dark haired creature winced. He saw Cordelia look up from
across the room, arching her eyebrow at the little scene about to
occur before grabbing her coat and fleeing up to her room. Good.
One less person to worry about when Spike lost his cool finally.
"You want explanations? Sit down and let me explain,
then."
Sitting as far away from his Sire as he could manage on the small
couch, the blonde waited for Angel to begin.
"It happened yesterday evening. . .She was down in the
basement just looking around- seeing what had been left and
should be thrown away. . ." His face fell and his chocolate
eyes glistened with tears. "I didn't know anything was wrong
until she started screaming. I swear to you, I got to her as fast
as I could."
Spike nodded. He could believe that his Sire had been quick in
reaching the red head. She was important to both of them and he
knew the tosser would never let anything happen to her if he
could stop it.
"There was a demon that had been living in one of the
closets. . .when she opened it. . .the thing attacked. It clawed
her chest, there was blood everywhere. When I came down the
stairs it threw her against some of the debris. . .I killed it. .
.but. . ." He wiped a line of tears from his cheeks, looking
down at the salty wetness splashed now across his hands. "He
threw her against a broken table. . .one of the legs went through
her stomach. She was dying, Spike."
The blonde felt his heart break at the account of his love's last
minutes. He could only imagine what it was like to lay there,
something sticking through your gut and know you are dying.
"I knew she was dying. . .she knew she was dying. Damnit,
she's my best friend. I couldn't just let her go. I asked her if
its what she wanted- if she would hate me if I wasn't strong
enough to let her die. She thought of you with her last breath,
Spike. She said she couldn't die because you'd be lonely. "
Spike exhaled a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, falling
back on his mortal habits amidst the grief he was feeling. The
red head currently sleeping somewhere above him was his lover,
his love, his mate, his life. He didn't know what he would have
done if he had lost her. But she was his Sire's Childe, now.
"Souled?"
Angel nodded. "I had Wesley do the spell as soon as I turned
her. She's never killed. It will be easier on her that way."
The blonde lowered his head, staring at the marble tiled floor of
the lobby. He couldn't bring himself to thank Angel for saving
her- not when it meant she would never be *his* Childe. She would
always share that special bond with his bloody Sire.
"I should go back upstairs. . ."
Standing, the dark haired vampire offered a hand to his Childe,
both pleased and shocked when the blonde took it. "She's
gone through a lot, Will. . .be gentle. . ."
Spike regarded him with cool blue eyes for a moment before
nodding his head. No one needed to tell him that the red head was
going through a lot. It wasn't that long ago that he had been
turned after all- barely more than a century. He could still
remember what it was like.
Of course. . .he hadn't been cursed with a soul. That was bound
to complicate matters. He was deep in thought as he went up
the stairs, eyes distant as he tried to convince himself that
everything would be okay. He could deal with Red being Angel's
Childe if it meant she was still alive.
Quietly opening the door, the blonde crossed the room to where
his lover lay still on the bed. Easing out of his clothing, Spike
climbed in bed next to her, holding her cold body to his own.
This had to be a dream. Some sort of twisted nightmare. There was
no way his red haired goddess had been turned.
He pulled the proof of just that closer to him, bending his face
into the crook of her neck and breathing in deeply. She still
smelled the same- like his mate. There was just a subtle hint of
his Sire in there. It wouldn't be that hard to adjust, hopefully.
For her he could put aside the animosity he shared with the poof.
He hoped.
*-*-*-*
Spike woke to the sound of crying and noticed immediately his
arms were empty. He sat up, glancing around the room for Willow.
Finally he spotted her, sitting in a corner behind a small table.
"Red?" The crying never ceased, increasing even in
intensity.
Sliding gracefully off the bed, the vampire reached the red head
in four long strides, dropping to his knees in front of her. Her
head was bent down, fiery locks shielding her face from him.
"Baby. . .what's wrong?"
"H. . .hungry. . ." Slowly she lifted her head to look
into his eyes, pain etched in every syllable she had uttered.
Again, Spike found himself marveling at her beauty. This was the
first time he had seen her with her demon's face forward. Golden
eyes stared at him, the ridges of her face delicate in their own
monstrous way. He reached up, brushing his fingers gently across
one of them and was rewarded with her eyes closing and a soft
sigh whispering from her lips. Tears continued to spill from her
eyes, dropping with wet splotches onto the floor. "Well,
ducks. Just tell me where Peaches keeps his stash and I will get
you all fixed up."
"Refrigerator is downstairs. . .down the left hall, then a
smaller hall, last door on the left. . ."
The blonde listened as the directions whizzed past him and shook
his head slightly. That just wouldn't work. He could wake his
Sire up and have him get it. . .but he had no clue where the poof
was sleeping. Taking the red head in his arms, he pressed her
back against his chest, cradling her to him. "Drink from me,
luv."
Willow stiffened. "No. . .no. . .I can't. . .I don't want to
hurt you."
Chuckling, the vampire pushed his arm closer to her mouth,
feeling one of her fangs graze it ever so lightly. "You're
not going to hurt me. Quite the opposite, but we can talk about
that later when you've had a chance to adjust to this whole
bloody mess."
"I don't know. . ." the former witch growled softly.
Her demon was pushing her, screaming for her to drink from him.
It whispered how delicious one so powerful would taste to her
starving senses. Wetting her lips, she tilted her head down to
his wrist. She licked lightly along the vein, letting the taste
of his skin roll around in her mouth.
Spike moaned aloud when her dainty fangs pierced his skin. He
could feel her suckling gently at the wound she had inflicted and
grew hard. His eyes closed, head tilted back in quiet ecstasy as
he let her take what she needed from him. It was all he could do
not to throw her down and take her there, on the floor as she fed
from his wrist.
After a few moments of feeding, Willow pulled away from her
lover's wrist. She licked at the twin punctures, capturing the
last drops of life giving blood on her tongue before leaning back
into his embrace. When she pushed back into his hard length, she
finally understood what he had meant by her not hurting him. She
giggled, feeling a little better with the infusion of his blood.
"Spi-key. . ."
The blonde groaned, feeling her small hand reach behind her to
grab at his aching shaft. "Red. . ." Grabbing hold of
her face, he turned her head enough to kiss her. When his eyes
opened he noticed she had never slipped back into her human mask.
"Gonna wear this all night, ducks?"
She pulled back, away from his fingers, her mouth open with
sadness. She hadn't even realized she was still vamped out and
his words stuck a dissonant chord within her soul, making her
ache with worry. "I'm ugly now. . .aren't I?"
"Not bloody likely, pet," the blonde grinned. He
grabbed a hold of her hand, guiding it back to his raging
hard-on. "The sight of you with a demon is even more lovely
than when you were human." He pushed into her hand, waiting
for her to take up the stroking he was so avidly seeking. Leaning
forward, he ran a tongue gently along her cheek, capturing the
few tears that had been shed from his careless comment. He smiled
gently at her, grabbing her face with his hands and licking along
the prominent ridge on her forehead. "*This* is true
beauty," he murmured, never stopping his tender licks and
caresses.
Willow had never felt pleasure like she was experiencing by her
mate's hands. From making love to him in the past she knew that
he enjoyed having her touch his ridges. Only now did she
understand why. It was the single most erotic thing she had ever
experienced in her almost twenty-one years of life.
"Pet," Spike whispered shakily, trying to fight back
his own growing arousal. "As much as I would like to do
this, I don't think this is the best time to be exploring a
vampire's sexuality. Maybe after you've adjusted to the whole
bloody thing. . .but not now."
The red head's face contorted and her human mask slipped into
place. Did he not find her attractive any more? The rational part
of her mind was quick to step up- telling her that he was right.
"Yeah. . ." she whispered finally. "You're right.
There will be plenty of time for that later."
"Lots of time, pet. A whole eternity worth," he purred
softly.
"Eternity?" Her eyes grew round and fearful.
"That's a long time." Tears formed again in her eyes
and she could feel her demon wailing inside her for her show of
weakness. "Will you be with me that long? Not just a decade
or a hundred years. . .but hundreds of decades. . .thousands of
them?"
The blonde smiled down at her, showing all the gentleness he
could bear to give. "Of course, Red. You are mine
forever."
"Forever and ever and ever?"
Spike laughed at the child-like quality to her voice. He could
see the changes in her, his demon knew and recognized her for
what she was- but there were moments when she still seemed so
much like her human self. "Forever and ever and always,
ducks."
"Good, 'cause I want that."
"Enough for now, Red. My demon is screaming over all this
bloody sap and I know yours can't be too happy either."
The red head grinned. "You're right. Will I ever get used to
this? I mean. . .you and Angel handle it so well. . .but I just
can't imagine not feeling like this- confused and angry and sad,
all at once."
"It will get better. I bloody well promise." He stood,
offering her his hand and pulling her smoothly to his feet. With
a smirk he lifted her, depositing her gently on the bed and
crawling in next to her cool body. Wrapping her in his
arms, he closed his eyes, letting sleep come to take him.
"Spike?"
"Yes, luv?" The weary blonde opened his eyes. He looked
into her smiling eyes and couldn't help but grin back. "What
is it pet?
"We can wait to tell Buffy, right?"