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Play it Again, Sam Part 7
More fic (as if everyone didn't get enough yesterday)!
For new friends and lurkers (do I have lurkers?) this is my 'Spike-gets-his-own-back-on-Riley' fic ('cause everybody hates AYW I think). Hmm, maybe a better description would be 'Riley learns a few lessons' (well he does in this chapter anyway). The story is actually not about Riley as such - as in AYW, he is more of a catalyst. But never mind all that. If you want to catch up, previous parts are here. All re-edited, thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
thedeadlyhook who finally made me get round to it! :)
And so onto the next bit - this chapter btw wrote itself completely. I've barely changed a word since I first wrote it down! I'm not sure if that makes me very clever or not, I just felt like telling you. Anyway, here it is:
Play It Again, Sam
Part 7
Walking back towards Wolfram & Hart in the early hours of the evening, the streetlights flickering to life as the daylight faded, Sam and Riley were tired, but excited, and chatting about the days events.
“I still can’t believe they managed to hush up that incident with Jack Nicholson so perfectly,” Riley said. “The story the media were fed about the golf buggy - how did they do that?”
He shook his head. “And to think this morning I thought Lorne was odd...”
Sam chuckled. “Not that you could ever call Lorne ordinary - although he is a perfect sweetheart!”
Before Riley could comment on this, she continued. “It’s a shame we can never tell the guys about all this - I mean, how would they react if we told them half of Hollywood was made up of demons?”
Riley considered this. “You know, I think they would laugh their heads off and tell us we were crazy! The demons we usually come across in our line of work tend to have a ‘crush, kill, destroy’ mentality. Bitching about finer point of etiquette is hardly their strong suit.”
Sam grinned. “You can say that again. It’s strange, I kept forgetting that they’re demons. I mean, take Spike. He seems like a perfectly nice guy, and then he suddenly talks about eating bats - what was that about, do you know?”
Riley shrugged. “No idea. I can’t say I ever talked to him much - beat him up for information, but that’s about...”
He stopped at the look on Sam’s face. “I mean... he was evil then - would have killed me if he could, said so himself!”
Sam shook her head and looked at him with eyes that dared him to even think about not answering her next question.
“What happened between you two? - And Buffy, I suppose I should say. He said, that he broke you up. You never mentioned that.”
Riley suddenly felt all the apprehension he’d managed to suppress come rushing back. How was he going to answer her? He didn’t want to lie to her, but telling her about the vamp ‘brothel’ was out of the question. He took a deep breath and plunged in.
“As you know, she didn’t love me as much as I loved her. And I wasn’t coping very well. I did some... stupid things. Spike found out and told Buffy. That’s how I realised that he was in love with her. Anyway, Major Ellis showed up that night asking me to join up again, and I decided to leave unless Buffy gave me a reason to stay. She didn’t. And then I met you and...”
He smiled softly. “...it all just seemed like a bad dream that I had finally woken from.”
Sam thankfully seemed satisfied with this and then continued. “How did you break them up? It must have happened when we were in Sunnydale, but you never said anything.”
Riley looked down. “I - I was not sure Buffy would want me to tell anyone, she was obviously keeping it a secret.”
Lifting his face he looked at her. “And it kind of threw me, you know. I never thought that she’d actually go to him. I knew there was some kind of connection between her and vampires, a part of her that she never let me see. Maybe she was in denial, I don’t know. It was part of the reason I left. And if I helped end whatever she had with Spike, I’m glad. It couldn’t have been healthy.”
Sam nodded slowly.
As they continued walking, Riley’s arm around Sam’s waist, they heard a scream.
It was dark now, and as they ran down the narrow alley, Riley looked around for something to use as a weapon, but found it hard to distinguish anything in the gloom. Soon they heard sounds of fighting. As the alley opened up into a small square, they saw what appeared to be five vampires fighting among themselves.
After a few seconds they realised that one of them was very blonde and wearing a long leather coat. And was fighting all the others simultaneously. Transfixed the two humans watched the fight.
Spike punched, kicked, rolled and jumped, moving like a large feline, yellow eyes blazing. There was a ferocity to him that made Sam suddenly uncomfortable. Maybe it was seeing him in gameface that abruptly marked him out as ‘other’. Maybe it was the inhuman fluid grace with which he danced with his prey. Because it was a dance, she realised, a deadly dance to which he knew every step, and that he revelled in. And this was who Buffy had turned to. Sam began to understand on some unconscious level why Riley had left Sunnydale.
She took hold of his hand.
Without warning, stakes seemed to appear from Spike’s wrists, and in the blink of an eye, two of the vampires were dust. The third quickly followed, and the last one, realising he was alone, set off down the alley.
Having retracted the stakes at his wrists, Spike leisurely produced another one from a pocket, lifted his arm, aimed, and the stake flew through the air. It caught the running creature in the back, and turned to dust with it.
Spike looked around, demon visage melting into human one. “Now, where’s my damsel in distress,” he muttered.
Riley and Sam quietly sunk into the shadows.
Ducking behind some cardboard boxes, he pulled out a pretty young woman in a nice evening dress. She appeared to be shaken and possibly in shock, but unharmed.
“Now I take it you were on your way to dinner and fancied a shortcut.” Spike said with no introduction.
The girl nodded mutely.
Spike looked her over, eyes narrowing. “I’d say, new boyfriend, second, possibly third date, right?”
She nodded again, and tried to find her voice. “How... how...”
Spike smiled. “See pet, shortcuts in this part of town mean that you turn into dinner, instead of having it yourself! So unless you fancy bein’ part of the menu, you’d better go by cab from now on. Understood!”
Another nod.
“Good. Hop along now.”
He turned to leave, but she grabbed his arm. “Who are you? How can I thank you? Can...”
Spike quickly held up his hand to stop her: “For Christ’s sake woman, shut up! Helping the helpless is what I do, ok? You qualified. I helped. Don’t want your bleedin’ gratitude. Now go!”
He took her arm and gently, but firmly, propelled her in the direction of the road.
Seeing that she was on her way, he turned to the shadows. “Mr. and Mrs. Finn. Had a nice day?”
Riley came out into the dull light followed by Sam.
“You knew we were there,” he said simply.
Spike frowned. “Well, yeah. You’re not invisible. - And even if you were, I’d be able to sense you anyway!”
Sam stared at Spike. “I... I have never seen anyone fight like that before. It was truly amazing.”
Spike noticed the slight tremble in her voice. How tight she was holding Riley’s hand. How close together they stood.
And unbidden memories came into his mind. Images of Riley paralysed by a chip; Riley in the dark with a vampire’s fangs in his arm; Riley in his crypt, drowning his sorrow with the only other creature who understood, even if he was the enemy in more ways than one.
Spike looked at the man and forgot for a moment that he couldn’t stand him.
“You know - I’m glad you found someone who doesn’t want some monster in her man. You deserved more than Buffy could give you.”
Riley looked at him dumbfounded, and, Spike realised, for the first time ever saw him as a man and not a demon.
There was an odd silence. Sam tried to understand what had just happened, but the look on her husbands face was one she couldn’t read.
Spike seemed to snap out of it first, half turning as he pulled out his cigarettes and muttered to himself.
“Bloody soul. Turning me into a bleeding nancyboy.”
Riley slowly took his eyes off the blonde and looked at his watch. “Sam, we’re going to have to go. Dinner. Remember?”
Spike smiled. “Oh, the double date! Have fun. Sam, Nina’s a nice girl, you’ll like her. Personally, I’m going further downtown to clear out a few vamp nests. See you tomorrow!”
The couple said good-bye and went back down the alley.
Part 8
For new friends and lurkers (do I have lurkers?) this is my 'Spike-gets-his-own-back-on-Riley' fic ('cause everybody hates AYW I think). Hmm, maybe a better description would be 'Riley learns a few lessons' (well he does in this chapter anyway). The story is actually not about Riley as such - as in AYW, he is more of a catalyst. But never mind all that. If you want to catch up, previous parts are here. All re-edited, thanks to
thedeadlyhook who finally made me get round to it! :)And so onto the next bit - this chapter btw wrote itself completely. I've barely changed a word since I first wrote it down! I'm not sure if that makes me very clever or not, I just felt like telling you. Anyway, here it is:
Play It Again, Sam
Part 7
Walking back towards Wolfram & Hart in the early hours of the evening, the streetlights flickering to life as the daylight faded, Sam and Riley were tired, but excited, and chatting about the days events.
“I still can’t believe they managed to hush up that incident with Jack Nicholson so perfectly,” Riley said. “The story the media were fed about the golf buggy - how did they do that?”
He shook his head. “And to think this morning I thought Lorne was odd...”
Sam chuckled. “Not that you could ever call Lorne ordinary - although he is a perfect sweetheart!”
Before Riley could comment on this, she continued. “It’s a shame we can never tell the guys about all this - I mean, how would they react if we told them half of Hollywood was made up of demons?”
Riley considered this. “You know, I think they would laugh their heads off and tell us we were crazy! The demons we usually come across in our line of work tend to have a ‘crush, kill, destroy’ mentality. Bitching about finer point of etiquette is hardly their strong suit.”
Sam grinned. “You can say that again. It’s strange, I kept forgetting that they’re demons. I mean, take Spike. He seems like a perfectly nice guy, and then he suddenly talks about eating bats - what was that about, do you know?”
Riley shrugged. “No idea. I can’t say I ever talked to him much - beat him up for information, but that’s about...”
He stopped at the look on Sam’s face. “I mean... he was evil then - would have killed me if he could, said so himself!”
Sam shook her head and looked at him with eyes that dared him to even think about not answering her next question.
“What happened between you two? - And Buffy, I suppose I should say. He said, that he broke you up. You never mentioned that.”
Riley suddenly felt all the apprehension he’d managed to suppress come rushing back. How was he going to answer her? He didn’t want to lie to her, but telling her about the vamp ‘brothel’ was out of the question. He took a deep breath and plunged in.
“As you know, she didn’t love me as much as I loved her. And I wasn’t coping very well. I did some... stupid things. Spike found out and told Buffy. That’s how I realised that he was in love with her. Anyway, Major Ellis showed up that night asking me to join up again, and I decided to leave unless Buffy gave me a reason to stay. She didn’t. And then I met you and...”
He smiled softly. “...it all just seemed like a bad dream that I had finally woken from.”
Sam thankfully seemed satisfied with this and then continued. “How did you break them up? It must have happened when we were in Sunnydale, but you never said anything.”
Riley looked down. “I - I was not sure Buffy would want me to tell anyone, she was obviously keeping it a secret.”
Lifting his face he looked at her. “And it kind of threw me, you know. I never thought that she’d actually go to him. I knew there was some kind of connection between her and vampires, a part of her that she never let me see. Maybe she was in denial, I don’t know. It was part of the reason I left. And if I helped end whatever she had with Spike, I’m glad. It couldn’t have been healthy.”
Sam nodded slowly.
As they continued walking, Riley’s arm around Sam’s waist, they heard a scream.
It was dark now, and as they ran down the narrow alley, Riley looked around for something to use as a weapon, but found it hard to distinguish anything in the gloom. Soon they heard sounds of fighting. As the alley opened up into a small square, they saw what appeared to be five vampires fighting among themselves.
After a few seconds they realised that one of them was very blonde and wearing a long leather coat. And was fighting all the others simultaneously. Transfixed the two humans watched the fight.
Spike punched, kicked, rolled and jumped, moving like a large feline, yellow eyes blazing. There was a ferocity to him that made Sam suddenly uncomfortable. Maybe it was seeing him in gameface that abruptly marked him out as ‘other’. Maybe it was the inhuman fluid grace with which he danced with his prey. Because it was a dance, she realised, a deadly dance to which he knew every step, and that he revelled in. And this was who Buffy had turned to. Sam began to understand on some unconscious level why Riley had left Sunnydale.
She took hold of his hand.
Without warning, stakes seemed to appear from Spike’s wrists, and in the blink of an eye, two of the vampires were dust. The third quickly followed, and the last one, realising he was alone, set off down the alley.
Having retracted the stakes at his wrists, Spike leisurely produced another one from a pocket, lifted his arm, aimed, and the stake flew through the air. It caught the running creature in the back, and turned to dust with it.
Spike looked around, demon visage melting into human one. “Now, where’s my damsel in distress,” he muttered.
Riley and Sam quietly sunk into the shadows.
Ducking behind some cardboard boxes, he pulled out a pretty young woman in a nice evening dress. She appeared to be shaken and possibly in shock, but unharmed.
“Now I take it you were on your way to dinner and fancied a shortcut.” Spike said with no introduction.
The girl nodded mutely.
Spike looked her over, eyes narrowing. “I’d say, new boyfriend, second, possibly third date, right?”
She nodded again, and tried to find her voice. “How... how...”
Spike smiled. “See pet, shortcuts in this part of town mean that you turn into dinner, instead of having it yourself! So unless you fancy bein’ part of the menu, you’d better go by cab from now on. Understood!”
Another nod.
“Good. Hop along now.”
He turned to leave, but she grabbed his arm. “Who are you? How can I thank you? Can...”
Spike quickly held up his hand to stop her: “For Christ’s sake woman, shut up! Helping the helpless is what I do, ok? You qualified. I helped. Don’t want your bleedin’ gratitude. Now go!”
He took her arm and gently, but firmly, propelled her in the direction of the road.
Seeing that she was on her way, he turned to the shadows. “Mr. and Mrs. Finn. Had a nice day?”
Riley came out into the dull light followed by Sam.
“You knew we were there,” he said simply.
Spike frowned. “Well, yeah. You’re not invisible. - And even if you were, I’d be able to sense you anyway!”
Sam stared at Spike. “I... I have never seen anyone fight like that before. It was truly amazing.”
Spike noticed the slight tremble in her voice. How tight she was holding Riley’s hand. How close together they stood.
And unbidden memories came into his mind. Images of Riley paralysed by a chip; Riley in the dark with a vampire’s fangs in his arm; Riley in his crypt, drowning his sorrow with the only other creature who understood, even if he was the enemy in more ways than one.
Spike looked at the man and forgot for a moment that he couldn’t stand him.
“You know - I’m glad you found someone who doesn’t want some monster in her man. You deserved more than Buffy could give you.”
Riley looked at him dumbfounded, and, Spike realised, for the first time ever saw him as a man and not a demon.
There was an odd silence. Sam tried to understand what had just happened, but the look on her husbands face was one she couldn’t read.
Spike seemed to snap out of it first, half turning as he pulled out his cigarettes and muttered to himself.
“Bloody soul. Turning me into a bleeding nancyboy.”
Riley slowly took his eyes off the blonde and looked at his watch. “Sam, we’re going to have to go. Dinner. Remember?”
Spike smiled. “Oh, the double date! Have fun. Sam, Nina’s a nice girl, you’ll like her. Personally, I’m going further downtown to clear out a few vamp nests. See you tomorrow!”
The couple said good-bye and went back down the alley.
Part 8