The next night started out pretty much the same. I realize I've run out of smokes, put my jacket on to get some more. Harmony's still god knows where, and Dru got antsy some time last night, went to find herself something to fuck.
I'm cutting through the park, when what do my eyes alight on but the one thing I'd like dead and buried in the ground more than any other? She sees me, and stops me in my tracks with a glance that says, 'You're not going anywhere.'
The Slayer says with a smile, "Spike. Didn't expect to find you here."
Oh, fan-bloody-tastic.
"Well, you know me. I'm full of fun and surprises."
She chuckles, and shakes her head back and forth. I envision a flash of her hair on fire, and it perks me up a little. "I'd say you were full of bullshit, actually, but whatever you want to call it is fine with me."
"Look, I can't bloody fight you. You could have staked me by now if you wanted to. Do I have to stand here and take it up the--"
"That's not what I wanted to see you about."
Of course not. But I bet, if we fucked, you'd be on top, pretty-girl. You'd be on top, panting and moaning, and I'd be helpless under your spell, just--
Aw, fuck.
"What, then? Some end-of-the-world catastrophe you'd like me to avert, is there? Some problem with the homeboys? You broke a nail?"
Her fist is three millimeters away from my nose before I even move. Not that there's anything I can really do about it. I could lick her knuckles, or I could bite - no, I couldn't bite her, that might hurt.
Fucking Initiative.
She rolls her eyes. "Can we be serious for just a minute, Spike? These prison guys--"
"Oh, a fun crew. I like them." I pause, reconsider. "Actually, I like the human ones. The rest of them aren't much fun. I've heard the leader likes animals."
For breakfast. And for dessert.
"Yeah. I heard that too. You think that they're a threat? The human ones, I mean."
It goes without saying between both of us that Adebisi is a threat. I don't like him, I must admit. There are messed up motherfuckers, and then there's him in a class all by himself.
"Might I remind you that I'm not one of the good guys? I'm not all warm and fuzzy? Why the hell would you ask my opinion? If I think it could get you killed, don't you think I'd encourage it?" There. That's done lots for my ego, if not for my credibility, which I was trying to maintain.... But still. I feel better now.
She doesn't bite, and rolls her eyes again. "Oh, come on, Spike. You might hate to admit it, but we've got more goals in common than you'd like to admit. We're practically on the same side."
"Taunting even a helpless vampire isn't a good idea, brat." I don't even try and deflect the punch to my face. "And violence isn't going to solve anything." I sigh, and wonder how many painkillers I'd need to take to actually kill the bitch. "You want me to find out about the guys? Payment. Cash, up front."
She shrugs, and then spits out, "On delivery." I nod, and she adds, "But I'm sending someone along with you."
Oh, god. What did I do to deserve this? "What, gonna pit Xander against prison guys? Or, heavens forbid, maybe Willow wants to meet someone new and exciting, have a threesome? She could always just call me. I'm free..."
"Meet him here, Thursday night. You'll recognize him."
She vanishes between the mausoleums, and I sit down on one of the gravestones, pull out a cigarette. No matches.
Of course.
I'm in the process of wondering whether life could get any more pathetic, and where the hell all the fun I'd been dreaming about last night went, when everything goes black. I realize it's because there's a bag over my head.
Of course.
I say through the cloth, "I don't give a shit who you are or what you smell like. If I can eat you, I will."
I find myself shoved in a van, a few minutes later, and the bag's removed. I scowl. Balefully. Hope that my reputation with Angelus, or my reputation on my own for being a son of a bitch, will get me out of here and home before the Tonight Show. It's somewhat of a surprise, then, to be peering into the yellow eyes of Adebisi.
"Hi, neighbor. We got to talk."
~
When we get to the warehouse where Adebisi and his boys are calling home, I finally get untied and given a lighter. I light a cigarette with shaky fingers - ah, nicotine withdrawal, you'd think a vamp'd be immune - and stare some more at Adebisi. He's got that crazed look in his eyes that Angelus used to get before he branded someone.
Dru had a thing for branding irons.
A few minutes pass, and I watch the movement of drugs along a conveyor belt for a bit. There's a very intricate process in which one has to cook, cool, and refine heroin for consumption. Adebisi, being a street dealer, isn't being as careful as he should. I see arsenic sitting off to one side... hmm. Not a bad idea. Poison the drugs, then--
But if you're trying to make money, why kill off your clients? Doesn't make much sense to me. I mean, granted, I'm not a business expert, and yeah, killing is always a good pastime. But even I see the benefit in having a monetary basis from which one can buy things like smokes and beer...
"Adebisi!" I call out. "Why are you poisoning your market?"
I feel a hand close around my throat from behind, quite uncomfortable, actually. It reminds me that I'm in hostile territory, no matter how stupid these idiots act. Adebisi himself comes over from behind some crates. He waves an arm, growls, and the grip on me loosens, then reluctantly lets go. "It not enough to kill."
"Are you sure about that?" I peer at the mix, watch the little dials and things that mean absolutely nothing to me. He could be cooking shepherd's pie for all I knew. Look, that little blue dial means how hot the meat is, the little red one stands for how hot the carrots are.
I consider poking a finger into that pile of white powder, sitting in that tray over there, but think again when he grabs my wrist. With a snakish grin, he tells me, "No touching."
I wrench my hand away, but nod slowly. "Got it."
"So, William. You talk to the Slayer all the time?"
Oh. Right.
Shit. "Only when she accosts me in the park."
"And you didn't kill her, why?"
I - damnit. "There are certain extenuating circumstances, in this particular case."
He slaps one of my shoulders, and growls out, "She got your balls, man?"
Bloody hell. How am I gonna get to sleep when I get home with that image in my mind? I want her dead. I really do. And this Nigerian bastard in front of me, too. Maybe they'll kill each other....
Oh. Ohoho-ho. There's something I could get behind. I rub the back of my neck, wonder how I can play this. "In a way, mate. Actually--" and I lean in towards him, to feign privacy, "If you could get rid of her, you'd be doing us all a favor."
He eyes me for a long moment, chews on - is that really a finger bone? Finally, he spits whatever that godawful thing is on the ground, and grinds it down under his heel. Curtly, he replies, "I'm gonna do that anyway."
I start to grin, and plan out where I'm gonna be sitting when it all goes down.
~
They drop me off at home - how thoughtful - after some idle threats about consorting with the known enemy. I play yessir, no sir, three bags full sir, until I can't take it... then I do it some more.
By god, I'm gonna have that bastard's head, and the rest of him, too, if he tries to talk to me anymore. Him, I can kill.
Harmony's home when I unlock the door, and watching a fashion show on television. Chicks that look like twigs are not my idea of entertainment, and I'm not in the mood for fucking, so I don't have to indulge her even for a little while. "Give me the remote, Harm. The Tonight Show's on, and some punk band is playing."
After hitting her over the skull with a dictionary of Spanish-to-English phrases, she finally gives it up, and goes into her room to sulk. Which promptly drives her back out to complain. "Look what that... that bitch did."
She holds out some revolting dress, torn to shreds. I shrug. "So?"
"So! That was my favorite dress, Spike!"
I go back to the telly. "Is that all. You looked fat in it, anyway."
The door slamming is like music to my ears.
~
Dru saunters in about ten past three, while I'm sifting through floor-plans of the warehouse district. It always helps to know thy friends, and that Adebisi has something going on. I'd feel more comfortable if O'Reily had one less side to pick that wasn't mine, if nothing else. But, she comes in and all thoughts of strategy just flee. She smells like flowers and pollen, and dead grass and burnt leaves. She dances past me, and I stand up immediately.
At her beck and call.
I sit back down again.
She puts her hand out, and I take it between my fingers. "Baby. Have a good night?"
"I think it's going to snow, Spike."
I grit my teeth a little, clench my other fist to stop from breaking her hand. "This is California, Dru. The only time it snows here is if a spell's gone wrong."
She croons, waving her hands. She's wearing a midnight blue dress, and her hands are deathly cold. Still, she manages to make me sigh when she says to the ceiling, "Is there magic up there? Are you going to snow?"
I drop her hand, and stare at my palms while she brings a birdcage out of the bag she's holding. I sigh again, and immediately hope she didn't hear it. Again with the birds. "Dru, baby, what have you brought home now?"
"I found it fluttering around, all alone."
"You didn't buy it, did you?"
She ignores me, starts cooing to the pigeon instead. Oh, lovely, a rat-with-wings to keep me up. What with Harm bringing home half the mall every time she blinks, and Dru making me crazy, things can't get worse.
And then, of course, they do.
~
"Come on baby. You know you make me crazy when you do that."
Dru's standing in front of me, naked, and she's holding the dead bird to her breasts, and moaning. I want to jump her, turn her inside out and upside down, I want to rape her, dress her up, put a blond wig on her, have the best of both worlds and then and knock her senseless--
"Baby, please! You knew it was going to die. You snapped its neck."
She looks at me, face wrinkled up and heartbroken. I move to put my arms around her, and she backs away, moaning again. Goddamnit....
"Fine, then, Dru. Whimper. I have shit to do." I sit down, and turn my back on her nakedness - she doesn't want me to touch her, I sure as hell am not going to comfort her about the stupid bird she killed, and now misses. Maybe later, I'll take out the whip, or the manacles, but right now it's just too much trouble.
This time, when the door slams, I put my face in my hands and shake my head.
~
I've been up for way too long, more than a whole night, and somehow things just don't look as bright as they should in the first rays of the sun. Dawn's supposed to bring the happy thoughts, the life, the laughter, and the love, to a person's mind, right?
All I can see is how the nighttime is being chased away. It's like a flashlight, being held into my eyes.
But, I still have my peace and quiet. Harmony's out there, probably crying on the shoulder of a chaos-demon while he spits at flies and tries to find more ways to prove his lack of intelligence. Dru is wherever Drus go. All good little boys and girls are tucked into their beds at night, and the bad ones know to stay the hell out of my face.
Or, if they don't, they haven't found out where I live yet. Which is another blessing.
Watching children's cartoons doesn't appeal very much to me, and I have to mentally curse that wanker, Angel, for destroying that ring. If I could walk around in the sunshine, I could get myself some coffee. Maybe a bagel.
Much as the thought of tormenting my sire-turned-lapdog is heartening, I already asked Ryan last night to send someone after him, and me going myself might be a bit of overkill. Whoever O'Reily dug up for the job is, I'm sure, more than adequate for the information I want.
Information. I just want to know how he's doing, whether he's ever coming home. A sentimental twat I am, sure, but at least I admit it.
Nancy-boy can stare into half the windows of Sunnydale and not even admit he's still in love.
Some time passes, and I look at the blackout curtains, leaking a little light inside. Some duct tape'll fix that, and so I do it. I pace. I lay down, try to rest.
It's eight in the morning already, and still I can't get to sleep. Dru has to be holed up somewhere, and I'm worrying about where that hole might be. So I'm tossing, and I'm turning, and then I'm remembering what she said she came back for.
What kind of necklace would bring my baby back from the land of her birth and youth? I mean, pretty things have always been important to Dru, but she can see all these things that other people can't. And she knows that here, well, here ain't the place for either of us.
I start to get a little more excited, and finally get to sleep thinking about what my baby might have found.