Title: Fast as You Can
Author: Elka
Email: [email protected] (I know, I know. Sigh. It's acting up.)
Post Date: 01-12-00
Rating: PG13/R
Part: 1 of ?
Distribution: The regulars.
Disclaimer: Joss is a winged god.
Spoilers: Season four. Draws directly from 'Harsh Light of
Day'.
Feedback: Pwease?
Author's Notes: A kind of 'What if?' fic. The first part is
a scene directly out of 'Harsh Light of Day'. The following
parts are completely original. Yes. Sigh. I did watch the tape
over and over again to try to make the fight scene as accurate
as possible. I'm sure I missed a few kicks, but other then
that, that's what happened. This part isn't proofread, at all.
Sorry, I'm sleepy.

And for Inell, my partner in crime. Gush. Missed ya.

-----

Buffy stared up at Spike in shock, he stood above her, a ray
of sunlight illuminating his glare. He moved a hand to his
belt, look up at the sky.

"Birds singing, squirrels making lots of rotten little squirrels.
Sun beaming down in a nice, non-fatal way. It's very exciting,
I can't wait to see if I freckle."

Buffy gathered her strength and jumped to a standing position,
stake in hand. She landed a solid punch, getting one back even
harder. She hit the ground again, throwing her legs up to block
him before he could jump on her. He fell back, using the force
of his fall to flip himself back up.

Right on her stake.

Spike grabbed her hand, leaning in close, his cool breath hitting
her cheek. "Oh, do it again. It tickles. You know, in a good
way."

Buffy withdrew the stake, horrfied as she watched the wound
heal instantly.

"The gem..." She whispered, staring at his chest.

"Oh, yeah. The Gem of Amarra."

He held his hand up to the light, letting her examine it for
a moment. He backhanded her and she fell back onto the hard
gorund.

Spike morphed into game face. "Official sponsor of my killing
you."

-----

Buffy blocked a kick from her knees, she threw a punch, but
he grabbed her arm, snapping it enough to cause her to cry
out and weaken her enough for him to pick her up and fling
her against a lamp post. She slid down the pole.

Before Spike had a chance to assault her again, she was on
her feet. Her foot shot out, but he caught it, shoving her
face first into the pole. He snarled on her neck.

The Slayer reached around to grab his neck, pulling him toward
her. She slammed her free elbow into his stomach, winding him
and sending him flailing backward. She picked him up and threw
him over her shoulders before he could find his place. Spike
went down hard, but recovered and used his own momentum to
return to his feet.

Buffy delivered a swift jab to the side of the head, knocking
him to his knees, his ribs were attacked next, kicking him
while he was down. She pushed him over the hard stone bench,
jumping over it herself. The fall had given him a chance to
anticipate her next move. He caught her leg mid-kick, picking
her up and dropping her on a glass table, smashing it under
the strength of the impact.

She rolled to the ground, meekly pausing before standing. He
walked toward her with a cocky smile set in his fangs.

"Getting tired, Slayer?"

Buffy pulled herself to her feet, poised to fight. He lost
his smile quickly, moving in for the battle. Kick, punch, punch,
jab to the ribs. They exchanged superhuman blows until Buffy
went down. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Xander sneak
behind Spike. She rolled down the three courtyard steps.

Spike turned as Buffy screamed.

"Xander! Get out of here!"

Into a nearby lamp post, Xander was thrown, he slid down the
hard, metal pole. Out cold.

Buffy cradled her left arm as she pushed herself back up again.

Spike turned his attention back to her. "So. You let Parker
take a poke, eh?" His hand rubbed lewdly on his abdomen. "Didn't
seem like you knew each other that well." He took the steps
slowly. "What exactly did it take to pry apart the Slayer's
dimpled knees?" He leered in her direction.

Buffy shook her head in disgust. "You're a pig, Spike."

He stared at her for a moment. He pushed himself off the stairs,
using his own movement for strength. His leg met her ribs before
she could react.

She sat on the ground a moment, dazed.

"Did he play the sensitive ladand get you to seduce him?" Spike
asked with a world of experience. "Good trick if the girl's
thick enough to buy it."

Spike easily dodged a weak spin kick, shoving her in the back.

"Wonder what you did wrong. Too strong?" He sneered. "Did you
bruise the boy?"

"Whatever." Spike shrugged. "Guess you're not worth a second
go. Come to think of it, seems like someone told me as much.
Who was that?" He focussed a hard glare on her. "Oh yeah, Angel."

Buffy went after him with renewed enthusiasm, driven by her
own pain. In seconds she had him pinned, his arm pulled back
almost to the breaking point.

"Take it off me this way and we both burn." He winced.

"Really? Let's see." Buffy positioned two fingers around the
ring.

Her arm snapped, broken in six places before she could pull
the jewel off. She passed out from the sheer pain of the injury.

Spike dusted off his hands and stepped over her, glancing down
at the unnatural angle of the girl's arm.

He headed off with satisfaction in his step. He had plans.

"Now. Where's that redhead?"

-----
-----

Willow tilted her face to the sun, letting the warm rays dance
over her pale flesh. A small smile passed over her lips as
she thought of the night before. She felt so whole when she
was with Oz.

Her watch beeped, interrupting her thoughts. She glanced at
the hands and stood with a sigh. She shouldered her bag, standing
in the deserted campus courtyard. She crossed the grassy lot
slowly, in no hurry to get where she was going.

Spike lurked in the shadows of the trees. He avoided staring
at her directly, keeping his gaze aimed at her trailing shadow.
He didn't want her to feel his eyes on her and turn. That would
ruin all the fun. He didn't want Willow to ruin all the fun.

No. He thought to himself. The fun was just beginning.

Willow's pace paused as she heard a twig snap slightly to her
left and back a bit. She threw a glance over her shoulders,
but saw nothing. She continued, shaking it off. It was daytime.
What kind of danger could be out there?

Spike almost bit his lip to keep from cursing at his own carelessness.
He froze behind the thick trunk of a large tree, his shadow
hidden in a clump of adjacent bushes. His sensitive hearing
detected her resumed footsteps and he cautiously slid to the
next hiding place, waiting. And watching.

Willow reached up to distractedly push a lock of red behind
her ear. When she lowered her arm, her bag slipped from her
shoulder to the ground. She bent at the waist to pick it up.

"Good morning, luv."

The sound of Spike's voice and his hand slicing through the
air were the last ones Willow heard before he connected with
the soft recess between skull and neck. She fell unconscious
to the ground.

He kicked her roughly in the ribcage, flipping her on her back.
He reached down to pull her over his shoulders.

"Good night, luv."

-----
Part 3:
-----

The throbbing behind her eyes was the first thing Willow felt when she
finally came to. She was slung over Spike's shoulder, her arms hanging down
his back, his hand gripping her firmly. He didn't seem to realise she was
awake.

Willow deeply breathed in the smell of old leather and cigarettes. She
glanced around for some way of escape, but the entire campus was abandoned.
Everyone was in class.

She knew she had to get away. With the Gem of Amarra, which he obviously
had, he was practically unstoppable. She began a rapidfire assault on him,
kicking her legs furiously, pounding her fists into his back and screaming
at the top of her lungs.

Spike threw her to the ground. He didn't detect any other humans in the
area. He reached down to clamp a cool hand over her mouth, silencing her.

"I was going to have a little fun with you, but if you want to die now, I
could arrange that."

Her eyes grew wide.

"That's what I thought." He removed his hand, pulling her to her feet. She
winced from the pain in her side.

"Yeah." Spike said. "Sorry about that. Couldn't help it."

"Let me go." Willow pleaded.

"Hardly. Had a run in with the Slayer. Not too pleased. She gave me a
bruise, so you bleed."

She shook the remaining faintness off. Her fist shot out, aiming for his
face.

He stopped her easily, bringing her to her knees in pain. She whimpered,
staring up at him.

Spike lost his human disguise, glaring at her angrily. "Don't try it, little
girl..."

Willow did the only thing she knew to do. Before he could finish his threat,
she reached out, making a grab for his crotch and twisting as hard as she
could.

The blood drain from Spike's face, along with his demon features. He dropped
his grip on her, falling to the ground in agony. The blinding pain made him
scream out.

Willow ran.

Spike watched her go through blurred vision.

"Bloody hell." He managed.

-----
Part 4:
Willow stumbled through the nearly empty campus. She glanced over her
shoulder every few seconds to assure herself that Spike wasn't following.
She felt like the token girl in the horror movie playing down at the cinema
every Saturday night. The girl that ran from the killer, tripping over her
own feet and tears of terror.

Except this time it was real.

She caught a glimpse of a figure stalking angrily towards her.

There were no closing credits to save her.

She weaved through the cars, the gap closing between them. She yanked on car
door after car door. Locked. Screaming would do no good. No one would come.
That's the way the plot was always played.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are." Spike called in a singsong voice,
his eyes scanning the rows of cars before spotting a chock of fiery hair
glowing in the sunlight.

Willow opened the car door. She slid into the seat, slamming the door and
locking it.

Spike's fist connected with the metal on the back hood. He circled the car,
leaning on the bonnet.

"Aw. Come out and play, luv. No fun when you're all safe and protected." He
jumped on the bonnet, his eyes flashing yellow.

Willow's hand felt under the seat for something she could dust him with. She
landed on something cool and hard. She pulled it out.

Keys.

She didn't know how to drive but there was no better time like the present
to learn. Giles was always pushing them to achieve knowledge. She wasn't
sure if running away from bottle-blond vamps and stealing cars was what he
had meant, but Willow had learned to swap context with real life every once
in awhile.

The car roared to life. She threw it in reverse and stepped on the
accelerator. It lurched backwards, sending Spike up and over the vehicle. He
landed on the asphalt solidly, but pulled himself to his feet quickly,
stumbling forward a few steps.

Willow fiddled with the car's instruments. She glanced in the rearview
mirror nervously. He was no longer in her line of sight.

Spike cursed the girl as she sped away in the car.

It didn't matter. He knew where she was going.

-----
Part 5:
Fast as You Can (5/?)

"Angel." Cordelia called as she stepped into the office, closing the door
behind her. She glanced at her boss as he entered the room. She frowned
disapprovingly at him, her hands on her hips. "Nice outfit. Glad to see your
mixing up that black on black corpse look with a little depressing gray."

"Thank you, Cordelia. As always, your compliments made my day a little bit
sunnier." He replied stoically.

"But the sun makes you go all burny...oh. Hey!" She frowned, setting her bag
down at the desk.

"That's a hard'in look on you Cordy, I appreciate fully." Doyle openly eyed
the femme, replacing his brown bagged mystery drink on the table beside him.
He rubbed his temples painfully. "Ugh. Nothing like a good stiff drink to
chase away..."

"...a previous good stiff drink?" Cordelia interjected with a snap.

He switched to a quick glare. "Funny, princess."

"Not trying to be." She shrugged innocently. "Speaking of not trying, can we
have a quick discussion about your choice of clothing articles..."

Doyle grabbed his head in pain, the images shooting through his brain
rapidly. He crumpled to the floor, pushing the chair into the wall.

Cordelia quickly crossed the room, falling to her knees next to him. She set
a hand on his shoulder protectively. Angel leaned forward, eyes dark with
concern.

"What is it, Doyle? What did you see?"

He drew in a breath, rocking back on his heels.

"Vampire. Evil one. Big bad. And a little one. Sneaky, scheming guy. Didn't
get a look at him. All I saw was two sets of fangs. And a girl. With red
hair, like fire. Coming from a big place, like a school or a campus in a
blue car. Didn't look like she knew what she was doing much."

Angel leaned back on the desk, crossing his arms over his chest. He had an
unreadable, but rare glimmer in his eyes.

"Willow..."

-----
Fast as You Can (6/?)

Angel twisted his wrists in an effort to loosen the tightened muscles. The
lift clanked noisly as he was lowered to the basement underground he called
home.

He pushed the metal gate aside, sighing deeply and entered the chilled
living space. He preferred the cold and the dark. It helped him brood
better. No sense brooding in good conditions. Takes the fun out.

He raised his head and sniffed the air sharply.

"Willow."

"Good guess." The redhead stepped out of the shadows of the kitchen, her
face filled with fear.

Angel stared at her. "You're in trouble."

"One more correct answer and you win a million dollars. You're at 250
thousand."

"Who are you running from?"

Willow sighed. "Spike. He came back looking for some Gem of Ariel or Amana
or something. Buffy went to find him but I guess she never did. He ambushed
me on campus. In the daylight and everything. I got away and didn't nowhere
else to go. I couldn't stay in Sunnydale."

He took a seat in a straight-backed chair. "You drove here?"

"Yeah. Not very successfully. Every time I turned I signalled with my
windshield wipers."

"Since when do you have a car?"

"I stole it."

Angel raised an eyebrow. "Rebel. Well, you're safe here. But are you sure it
was Spike and not a fledging that got ahold of it?"

"I'm sure. It was definitely Spike. I think he might have followed me." She
sunk into the sofa with a sigh. "He chased me all the way from Sunnydale to
L.A."

Angel stood, walking through the wide shadows to look out the window. He
stood silently for a few moments.

Willow looked up at him curiously. "Angel?"

He turned slowly, his face illuminated in the moonlight.

She drew back in fear. He glared at her with glowing yellow eyes.

"Spike, my boy."

Demon face set over his human features, he stepped into the room, joining
Angel. He looked down at Willow.

"Ello, luv. Ready to have some fun?"

-----
"Angel?" Willow cried, backing up and over the couch.

"He's not Angel anymore, pet." Spike sneered, a clear smirk set on his demon
features. "Be a good girl and welcome Angelus back, will you?"

"No. No. No." She whispered over and over again. "It can't be."

"Oh but it can, witch." Angelus stretched his arms over his head, flexing
the powerful muscles. "And it is."

"What-what are you going to do?"

"Well, I thought - just  thought - that I might kill you." He grinned,
shrugging his shoulders slightly. "Then I'd get the Gem of Amarra from old
Spikey boy here and go play out in the sun. I like to play. I love to
frolic. Then, oh I don't know, maybe go kill the Slayer once and for all.
Sniveling little bitch."

"Oh."

"Hold on there, mate." Spike stepped up. "About this Gem of Amarra, bit. See
that's bloody mine. I had to fight the Slayer for it. I'm not just going to
give it up."

Angelus faced his childe slowly, a wide smile on his face. "Are you trying
to deny me something, Spike?"

Willow crept toward the stairway, her eyes trained on the vampires. They
glared at each other, neither one backing off.

She took a deep breath and turned to the stairs. Before she put her foot
down on the first step, he was there. Angelus grabbed her wrist, flinging
her against the railing. She screamed as her back hit the wood harshly.

"Wanna run, Red? You can run." He leaned down, seconds from her face. "Run.
Run as fast as you can. See if you can find anyone to help."

Willow's foot lashed out and connected with his face. He stumbled backwards,
morphing into his human disguise briefly before steadying himself.

She charged up the stairs without looking back, tripping over the fifth step
but pulling herself back up again. She ran through the back hallway of the
first floor investigation office.

"Cordelia." She cried under her breath.

The brunette calmly stood in a thin sliver of a shadow in the main office
area, her back turned to Willow.

Willow reached her, glancing over her shoulder to make sure neither Angelus
nor Spike had followed. She spun Cordelia around, jumping back in horror.

Cordy stared down at her. She patted her stomach twice, smiling slightly
through fangs.

"Hungry."

-----
-----

Willow was paralysed to that spot on the floor. Her already throbbing fear,
heightened as she realised how trapped she was. There was nowhere else for
her to run. It was night, so they could just follow her outside. Not that
she'd even make it to the door.

She looked up at Cordelia.

Cordelia the vampire.

Footsteps were heard on the stairs.

Angelus chuckled as he entered the room, followed slowly by a bruised and
disgruntled looking Spike.

"Lookie, here. My, my Cordy. Already have her cornered."

The new vamp smiled at him brightly, lowering her head to peer at him
through long lashes.

"I've been good, Daddy. Promise. I didn't take a bite, not even a nibble."
She giggled. "Not that I'd really want to. I mean, look at that shirt. Looks
like they were having a sale in the Salvation Army bin behind the
supermarket."

"Good, good." Angelus turned to Willow. She shook like a leaf against the
wall.

"Any questions before you die?"

"How-how did you turn?"

Spike snorted with laughter.

"All part of the fun. All part of the fun, my girl. I never had a soul.
Ridiculous bullshit. Just an excuse to get it in for awhile. See, eternity
can get boring sometimes." He explained. "Thought it would be fun to try
something a little different. See just how stupid humans are."

Her eyes widened. "Never?"

"Never. Never had a soul. It's impossible. Once the soul is gone, it's
lost." He grinned. "But who cares?"

Spike stepped forward. "Humans are so whimsy about their vamps. Kind of
amusing actually." He morphed into his true demon face, glaring down at the
girl.

"Ready to run again?" He pulled her to her feet. "Run. Run as fast as you
can."

Willow pushed away from him, heading for the door.

A powerful hand reached down to snag her ankle. She fell to the floor, her
jaw hitting the hard landing.

Angelus dragged her back in the room. He rolled her over.

"Oops." He smiled. "Not fast enough."

His human face disappeared. He lunged for her neck, fangs bared.

-----

Willow awoke with a jolt, sitting straight up in bed. She was breathless,
her chest heaving.

"Not fast enough." She muttered, remembering the dream with perfect clarity.

She shook it off, nudging the sleeping figure beside her.

"Spike." Willow murmured.

He turned slowly, yellow glowing eyes.

She snapped her hand back.

"Witch."

Angelus entered the room, hands clasped behind his back.

She looked up.

"Ready to run?"

The vampires snarled hungrily at her.

"Fast as you can."

-----

The End.