Hellmouths are for Lovers

Chapter Five

It never ceased to amaze her what the Powers That Be considered "helpful information". They would bend the universe backwards to allow an angel to bring her a message from Giles, but could they provide her with an address where she could find the Winchesters? Of course not. Even if Lilith had broken another seal to do it, at least magic had been restored to the world. One location spell later, she was standing outside a seedy motel door numbered 113. The first knock did not produce much but some grumbling. The second time she pounded so hard the cheap metal numbers vibrated on their loose nails. There was more grumbling, then shuffling, and then cursing.

"... don't worry, I'll get the god damn..."

The door flew open, and Buffy Summers got a face full of angry, sleep deprived Dean Winchester.

"... Slayer."

"Morning sunshine," she grimaced, shamefully remembering the condition in which she had left him after their brawl, "Sorry about... mangling your danglies."

"Ouch, mate- my condolences."

Leaning into the doorway, Spike clapped an empathetic hand down on Dean's shoulder.

"Spike?" Buffy nearly choked, eyes wide by his sudden, unexpected appearance.

"You have exactly one second to put on a shirt," Dean responded flatly, eyes noticeably averted away from shirtless Spike.

"Don't get your kickers in a twist..." Spike grumbled, ignoring Dean's warning, and cocking a lustful eyebrow at Buffy, "What, no kiss hello?"

"One Mississippi..." Dean counted, cracking his knuckles for emphasis.

Pushing past Dean to shove Spike into the room, Buffy asked, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"You're life on the line, and you expect me not to come runnin'?" Spike feigned offense as he slipped a black t-shirt over his head, "You wound me, Slayer," He huffed, "Insultin' my loyalty..."

Loyalty... the word did not sit comfortably with her, and as the bathroom door opened and he appeared through a cloud of steam, suddenly Willow's runes made a lot more sense.

Two vampires, loyalty and forgiveness. Spike and... Angel.

The towel from his hand hit the floor, and she had him pinned against the room's decorative divider before he even knew she was there. The point of her stake pressed sharply through the fabric of his shirt, needling his skin above his heart.

"You son of a bitch!"

"Buffy?" Angel managed.

"Is that the Slayer?" Sam asked, having arrived, diner bag breakfast in hand.

Dumping the bags on the table, Sam tried to intervene, but Dean grabbed his arm to hold him back.

"Let her go, Sammy," He whispered, "We needed him to find the slayer, and she just walked through our door. End of business relationship."

"Dean," Sam jerked out of his grasp, "They helped us."

"You mean, like Ruby helped us?"

"They have souls!" Sam reminded him breaking towards the Slayer.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't?" Buffy taunted.

"Buffy... I..." Angel stammered.

"Not a reason," She spat, pressing the stake further until it made him wince.

Sam's hand came down over Buffy's nearly covering it, "I think we all just need to relax."

Her shoulders dropped, "Yeah, I'm just upset..." She admitted, quickly elbowing Sam in the gut, causing him to stumble backwards, "...because the last time I saw this bastard I had to watch him twist my Watcher's neck like a bottle cap."

"I gotta agree with the lumberjack, love," Spike protested, "Don't waste your energy on this useless wanker. There are bigger fish here in Cleveland."

"You know what, you're right..." Buffy agreed, throwing Angel to the ground.

Flat on his back, Buffy jammed her boot into his neck, and flipped up the shade on the window. Sunlight flooded the room. In less than a second sparks were flaring on his skin. The agony of the searing light was evident by his attempt to scream, but Buffy's boot heel allowed nothing but a strangled whine. After what could have been no more than a few seconds, she dropped the shade and lifted her foot.

Bending down towards his ear, skin scalded, but already beginning to heal, she said, "That's just the teaser trailer for what I have planned for you..."

Stepping away, she left him there writhing in pain. The others who stared in horror, or in Dean's case, awe, said nothing as she approached Spike. He of course had the most to fear after Angel.

"Congratulations, Miss Congeniality" She smirked, grabbing his hand and slamming the handle into his palm, "You just moved up to my favorite vampire- if he moves, stake him."

Clearly disturbed by her ferocity, unfamiliar when aimed at someone she had loved, or at least had once loved, Spike was silent. He merely closed his hand around the stake and nodded.

"Those of you with tans, we need to talk."

And, with that, Buffy was out the door. Sharing a few astonished looks, they said nothing with exception, of course, of Dean.

"That... was..." he searched for the appropriate words to express his feelings towards what he had just witnessed, "fucking awesome! Shit, I am thankful all I got was a shot in the junk."

"You coming, or what?" Buffy shouted, voice bouncing around the hall.

"I wouldn't keep her waiting," Sam pushed Dean out the door.

Peeling himself off the ground, Angel brought himself to his knees. Though freshly repaired, a tinge of heat still blushed his skin. Heavy with guilt, he could not bring his eyes to meet Spike.

"Go ahead," Angel spoke, "say it."

"Say what?"

"Don't act like you're not loving this."

"She may hate you, and that gives me a certain amount of jolly, but, that... that wasn't Buffy. At least, not the Buffy I knew, and certainly not the Buffy I loved."

"Well, thanks to me, that Buffy is gone. I as good as killed her when I killed Giles."

"And, that wasn't you."

"Yeah, and at what point does that stop being an excuse? I'm sick of being the walking time bomb."

"Listen, I know our history is just one long fight punctuated by birds, but I know you would throw yourself on a stake for Buffy. That's why I'm going to walk into the bathroom for thirty seconds, and when I come out, you're going to be disappeared."

"What about Lilith?"

"After what I just saw," Spike hesitated, hand on the door handle of the bathroom, "If she's sane, she's gonna to run too."