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Coercion 3 Which Shall it Be?
It
was a rainy day, therefore an unexpected day off for Xander. After his call in
to confirm he wasn’t needed, Xander had wanted to snuggle back into the warm
nest of blankets and vampire, but
Spike had other plans. He spoke to the lump which was moving under the blankets
and leaving a damp trail along his side. “Spike?” A “hummm?” came from the lump. “Aren’t you sleepy? Vampires sleep all day don’t they?” “Nap later. Play now.” By this time the lump had reached his crotch. He
sighed and gave up as a cool tongue plied attention to his morning wood. The lazy day was spent in a cycle of sex-shower-food-nap. Sometimes this
cycle was changed, but the basic components remained the same. By unspoken
agreement, neither one brought up the Initiative and what it had done to
Sunnydale. The take down had happened a month ago. Because of the media exposure, heads were rolling in Washington. Hundreds of
law suits were pending. The compound had been sealed. For a week after the
investigations ended, trucks of cement rumbled through the streets. Some of
Oz’s connections had found out some details kept from the public. Maggie
Walsh, head of research, had been found dead of terrible mutilations. Riley Finn spoke with Buffy once, then vanished into the blue in a
helicopter. Apparently Jerry was fine. The bullet only went through four layers
of skin. The week before, he’d presented a plaque to Spike for heroic
diplomatic services to the demon community. The Scoobies had all escaped unscathed. Buffy was recovering from her loss
of boyfriendage and spending more time with her friends. And Spike had quickly recovered from the paralyzing pain. He remembered
little from the time his chip malfunctioned, and Xander didn’t tell
him or anyone about his chip being deactivated. Probably being
deactivated. When Spike asked about his uneasiness, he just told his lover it
was because of all the excitement and almost loosing him. The sun had set and the components of clothes wearing and television had
been added into the cycle. Xander paused on a rerun of an inane sit-com where a
bunch of men raised a bunch of little girls. The baby of the group had just made
the crowd coo. “She and her sister, twin child stars, you know?” “Yeah?” Spike tried to grab the remote, but Xander pulled it away. “They’re about eighteen now.” “So? Turn this crap off.” Spike made a playful grab for the remote
again. “I bet you… a hundred dollars they’ll be in Playboy when
they’re, oh, thirty-seven.” “I
bet it’s before that. They’ll be needing money before then.” Spike glared
at Xander, attempting to ignore the drivel on the TV. “A-ha! You see, they’re rich, so they’ll only do it for the publicity
and attention, not the money.” Spike braced himself against the pain the chip was about to deal him and
grabbed Xander’s arm, forcing it down. The chip didn’t fire, and both men
froze. He smelled a sudden fear from Xander. Puzzled, he let go of Xander’s
arm and experimentally pinched his lover’s thigh. Xander leapt off the couch and scrambled to the chest of weapons. He came up
with the wooden cross with a sharpened end and held it up. Spike absently picked up the remote and turned off the TV as he stood.
“Xander. What’s happening?” “That didn’t hurt you?” “No.” Spike’s brow furrowed. He stood and took a couple of steps
toward Xander, scenting the air and staring hard into his eyes. “You’ve not
become part demon, then…” His eyes widened. “Your chip is deactivated, Spike. I wasn’t sure if it was. The only way
to end the pain of that signal was to deactivate it.” “A month. I’ve been chipless for a month and you didn’t tell me?”
There was anger in Spike’s voice. Xander cringed at the change in Spike and held the cross steady. “How many
times have you longed for your good old days of mayhem and slaughter, Spike?
Wished out loud you could kill and drink? How many times have you threatened to
kill all of us? To kill me?” Spike was still mad, but stood down fractionally. “Spike, I’ve never forgotten what you are, but I’ve come to
know who you are. Deny it all you want, but I’ve seen the man within
the monster. I think you can be more than that monster, or I wouldn’t have
saved you.” Spike could see the resolve in Xander’s face as real as the lust he’d
looked at him with earlier. “Xander, I…” “Hear me out, I don’t think I can say this if I stop.” Spike nodded,
relaxing and taking a step away. Xander lowered the cross, but kept it at the
ready. “You don’t know exactly how you feel about the chip being out, do
you?” Spike paused, then shook his head. “Well, I’ve thought about it a
great deal, Spike. Even before all the Initiative shit went down. What you need
to do is go and find out for yourself. Leave here, tonight. Hunt, feed, torture,
do what ever you’ve been wanting to do since you’ve been chipped. Go until
you know for certain who you are or what you are.” “Xander…” “Shut up, I’m not done. Oz and I are the only ones who know about the
chip. He won’t tell. He hates the chip as much as you ‘cause if they’d
caught his wolf self they’d have chipped him, too. “You won’t be happy until you know. Go and… explore. I’d like to
think of you just feeding on muggers and rapists, okay? If you kill any
innocents, I don’t want to hear about it.” Stunned, Spike nodded. “If any
of my family or friends get vamp bit, you’d better have a damned good alibi,
‘cause I’ll stake you myself. “If you feel the need to kill me, just warn me. There are some things
I’d like to say first.” “No, Xander, I’d not…” “You don’t know for sure, do you?” Spike shook his head. He’d not
thought beyond what a freedom it would be. Not thought about the emotional
impact it would have on anyone else. “No, you don’t.” Xander sighed and
ran a hand through his hair, but did not take his eyes off Spike. “Go pack
what you need and get out. I… I’ve gotten us cell phones. You can call me
from anywhere in the world, they claim. I’ve programmed in all my numbers,
plus Giles.” Spike nodded. Again a surprise from Xander. As the boy spoke, Spike had
realized how exactly right he was. Spike had to know. His fangs were itching to
sink into hot flesh again and the demon howled within. He took a long look into
Xander’s eyes and turned away. “Spike?’ “Yeah… Harris?” Spike half-looked over his shoulder but couldn’t
meet his lover's eyes again. “Call me when you’ve figured out if William the Poet, is stronger then
the Bloody and wishes to keep… to keep whatever the hell it is we’ve got
here.” “Can I ask you something truly?” “Sure.” “Do you want me to come back?” Spike could smell the tang of tears as
they welled in Xander’s eyes. “If you can live as we have been and be happy, yes.” Spike couldn’t resist. “How will you know I’m not playing you?” he
asked and swallowed his own pending tears. Xander barked a laugh. “How do you know I’ve not been playing you?” Spike laughed. “Sounds fair. I’ll be out of here shortly.” From long
practice, Spike quickly dressed and packed. He hesitated, then plucked the
little stuffed bat and the first book of poems Xander gave him off the shelf. He
tucked in Xander’s pajama bottoms and zipped it closed. Back in the living
room, he found Xander standing well away from the door, still holding the cross. “Cell phone’s on the table.” He said quietly and watched as Spike
swung his coat around his shoulders and checked the pockets before tucking the
cell into an interior one. He looked up and met Xander’s eyes. He could only nod, or his resolve would crumble. “Spike?” “Yeah, Pet?” “Call me whichever way you decide, okay? I… I’ve enjoyed what we’ve
shared and…” “Me, too.” “And I’ve not thanked you, for any of it.” “Guess I’d better thank you, too.” Spike grabbed up his duffle and was
gone with a swirl of coat. Xander let the cross fall from nerveless fingers, then followed it to the
floor. He curled in on himself letting the sobs wrack his body. The chip was gone. Spike couldn’t believe it. Quickly, he got in his
battered DeSoto and drove into town. Shortly, he was prowling the busy town
square near campus with it’s lining of shops. The rain had stopped long ago
and lots of people were out. Hunting skills, dormant almost a year, rose to the
fore and the vampire soon spotted a very pretty brunette near the mouth of an
alley. She was pacing and looking at her watch, her back to the alley most of the
time. With a thrill, Spike quickly moved around the building and slipped into
the alley. He watched, motionless, as she paced in the brightness outside the
alley and waited for his chance. Already, he could taste the fresh blood as it
spurted into his mouth. When the monument was right, he attacked.
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