Latter Days by Enigmaticblue

Summary: Set post-Chosen. After the Slayers are activated, the balance between good and evil is disturbed, and the Scoobies are flung to the far corners of the world to respond to the crisis. In the midst of all of this, will they be able to keep their relationships strong? Or will they be divided by circumstances and torn apart by fate? Follows my short story Yesterday.

Author's Notes: Remember how things went after Chosen? Well, forget about all of that, and ignore the comics. This is my version. This series is comprised of Latter Days, Faithfully Dangerous, and Now and Always, and the entire series will be known by the third title. You’ll see why. (And although some of the locations mentioned in this fic exist, this is my world, which means that I’m twisting reality to my own ends.)

“What a beautiful piece of heartache/This has all turned out to be/Lord knows we've learned the hard way/All about healthy apathy…There is a me you would not recognize, dear/Call it the shadow of myself/And if the music starts before I get there/Dance without me, you dance so gracefully/I really think I'll be okay/They've taken a toll, these latter days/Nothing like sleeping on a bed of nails/Nothing much here but our broken dream/Oh, but baby, if all else fails/Nothing is ever quite what it seems…” ~Over the Rhine, “Latter Days”

Chapter 16

Author's Notes: It's off to London, and an all-Spike chapter.

Chapter 16: London, England

“…I’ve had some success here. The Lister are on board, and they’re working with another group in Indonesia to reach that Slayer the coven reported was there. They’ll notify us when they’ve contacted her. I’m still working with the Brachen. They’re being a bit more stubborn, but I think they’ll come around…” ~Excerpt from an email from Spike to Rupert Giles

Spike picked himself up off the ground slowly, reflecting that he hadn’t been kicked out of a demon bar since Sunnydale, just after he’d begun helping the Slayer for cash—unless he counted the bar yesterday, or the one the day before that. Word had apparently spread that he was trying to recruit for the Slayers, and no sooner did he enter a demon hangout than he was on the street again.

He might have given up, had it not been for his natural stubbornness, and his knowledge of how important this endeavor was. Willow was making headway reaching out to some of the demons in South America, and Xander was doing the same in Africa. Spike was not going to be shown up.

Wiping the blood off his lip with the back of his hand, he spat on the ground, wondering how long it would be before he could get blood again. If the demon bars weren’t going to grant him entrance, he might have to head back to Bath, just to get fed. The girls probably needed their teacher anyway.

“Are you Spike?”

The voice came from the deep shadows next to the building, and Spike’s eyes narrowed. “That depends on who’s doin’ the asking.”

“I’ve been hearing rumors that you wanted to see me—or us, I should say.” The demon that stepped out into the dim light from the streetlamp was definitely a Brachen. They were impossible to miss, with the green skin and blue spikes.

He nodded. “That’s right. Why didn’t you come forward inside?”

“Because my kind isn’t exactly welcome.” In a split second, the demon looked like an average young man out for a drink at the pub. “We’re half-breeds.”

Spike looked him up and down, then smiled. “Yeah? Join the club.”

“My name is Johnny Owen.” He held out a hand for Spike to shake, moving away from the building. “I’ve been hearing about you.”

“I’ve been lookin’ for you or someone like you for the last two weeks,” Spike replied. “The Listers jumped on board right away. I think you know that.”

Johnny shook his head. “We needed to be cautious. I’m sorry, but half-breeds aren’t generally welcome, and there have been a few attempts to purge demon kind of the taint.”

“Yeah? Anything recent?” Spike asked, concerned.

He nodded. “A few. It’s one of the reasons that the Listers joined up so quickly. You promised protection. I want to know if you’ll agree to the same deal once you know what you’re really up against.”

Spike could understand his concern. Humans weren’t exactly known for keeping their promises, particularly within the demon world. Then again, most of those who operated in that shadow world weren’t the sort you’d trust in the first place. “Tell me all you want, but I think that your enemies would be the same as ours. Purebreds don’t hesitate to kill humans, an’ they’d overrun the world if they could.”

“That’s why we decided to approach you.”

“An’ it’s just you?” Spike asked. “No offense, mate, but you seem a bit young for that.”

Johnny smiled. “Yeah, well, I’m just the scout. If you want to meet the real person in charge, we can.” He glanced at Spike. “We have food, if you’re hungry.”

“Food, or—”

“Beverage, I guess you’d call it.”

Spike hesitated, wondering if this was a trap. It didn’t seem to be, but he hadn’t lived this long by being stupid. Then again, there didn’t seem to be much of a choice if he was really going to strike a deal. “Lead on, Johnny-boy.”

He only hoped that he didn’t regret it.

~~~~~

The room was filled with demons; Spike couldn’t smell a human in the bunch, although he could easily see that there were a number of half breeds. The man—or demon—he was there to see was standing in the middle of the crowd, his dull gray hair cut short.

“Arless?” Johnny called.

Silence fell over the room, and everyone turned to stare at them. Spike usually didn’t mind being the center of attention, but at the moment, he was feeling rather nervous. “I see you found the vampire.”

“Yeah. He said he was willing to listen.”

Arless turned to one of the young demons who stood next to him. “Get something for our guest to eat, please.”

“I appreciate it,” Spike said.

Arless nodded. “You are Spike?”

“That would be me.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “I hear you have some concerns about whether or not we’ll fulfill our end of the bargain.”

Arless motioned him towards the back of the large room. “Let’s speak in private.”

A murmur went up from among those gathered, and Spike got the impression that not everyone was happy with his presence there, or the deal they might possibly strike. He ignored them, however, and followed Arless back.

“Johnny told me you lot were having problems with the purebreds,” Spike commented as they reached the leather and wood study.

“You could say that,” Arless replied. “We dealt with the Scourge some years ago. You’ve heard of them?”

Spike took the proffered seat. “They have a reputation.”

The demon’s smile was grim. “Indeed.”

“I haven’t heard that the Scourge was active again.”

“There are always groups that seek to take their place,” Arless responded. “We’ve had a few problems recently. Several of our number have been assaulted, and two have been killed.”

“What do you want from me?”

“I want your guarantee that once we do what you want us to, you won’t forget about us, and leave us to our enemies.” Arless’ red eyes were piercing.

Spike stared down at the desk for a long moment, knowing that this was a key moment in the negotiations. He couldn’t lie to the other demon; there was no way he could guarantee that the Council wouldn’t abandon the Brachen when everything was said and done—but there was something he could promise.

“I can’t tell you that,” Spike admitted. “I don’t run the Council, but I can promise that I won’t forget. If you get no one else, you’ll get me. That might not count for anythin’ with you, but it’s what I can do.”

“Do you not have any influence with the Council?” the Brachen asked.

Spike shrugged. “Hard to say, but my girlfriend is the Slayer, an’ I imagine that she’ll back me.”

“That is good enough for me.” Arless leaned back in his chair. “You have our aid, Spike.”

He nodded. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“You’ll let us know what we can do?”

Spike nodded. “Yeah, I’ll—” He felt the cell phone vibrate against his chest. “Sorry. I have to take this.”

He flipped open the phone and answered brusquely. “Yeah?”

“Spike, we have a situation.”

“What kind of situation?”

Giles’ voice was as terse as his own. “There’s a Slayer in London. Miriam just called me. They’ve seen her in the bowl, being attacked by a group of demons.”

“Where?”

“Dawn will text directions to your cell phone,” Giles replied. “Can you go?”

“I’m on my way.” He snapped the phone shut and rose. “Sorry to cut this short, but I’ve got a situation.”

“Anything we can help you with?”

Spike hesitated for only a moment, before deciding that he could use all the help he could get, considering that he had no idea what he was getting himself into. Not that it had stopped him in the past. “Only if you have a few people who can handle weapons in a fight.”

“One moment.”

“Only one,” Spike warned, heading towards the front door.

He had no idea how Arless managed to do it, but by the time he stepped outside, there were four Brachen demons on his heels, all of them carrying weapons. Johnny was one of them, and he pointed at a group of motorcycles. “There’s one you can borrow. Where are we heading?”

Spike held out his cell phone so that Johnny could see the screen. The young man nodded. “I know where that is.”

“I’ll follow you, then,” Spike replied. He was familiar with London, but it had been a long time, and Johnny was more of a native than he was at this point. “Go.”

They set off at a rate of speed that would have frightened anyone but a demon or a vampire. The demons that had accompanied him were expert drivers, and they all wove in and out of traffic in tandem, each close on the back wheel of the rider just ahead of them.

Spike caught sight of the intersection Dawn had indicated, and he skidded to a stop, leaping off the bike and heading towards the alley. He could hear the sounds of demonic laughter, and he grimaced, realizing that he had little more than a stake and a knife on him. Then again, he was a vampire; he always had his weapons.

There were four demons in the alley, and they had cornered a young teenage girl who looked about fifteen. She was clutching a broken board, and although she looked scared, she also looked determined. Spike leapt atop a bin and somersaulted over the tops of the demons’ heads, landing between them and the girl.

“Back off,” he warned.

They laughed again, clearly not seeing him as a threat. Spike had no idea what they were, which was strange for him. He generally had no trouble figuring out what sort of enemy he was facing, and where he needed to hit for maximum impact.

One of the Brachen hit a demon from behind with a spiked baseball bat. When the demon sank to its knees, Spike felt a heavy pipe being pressed into his hand from behind. He risked a quick glance over his shoulder and saw the girl give him a feral grin.

He grinned back, realizing that they’d found a girl who was going to make a bloody good Slayer. Wielding the pipe now, Spike threw himself into the fight with a will. Between his pipe, and the bats and other heavy instruments that the Brachens had, they made quick work of them.

“Thanks, mates,” he said when the last demon lay dead.

“It was fun,” Johnny replied with a grin, shaking off the green skin and spikes.

“We’re off,” one of the other demons said. “You’ll give us a call if you need something else?”

Johnny nodded. “Sure thing.” He turned back to Spike. “You need anything else?”

“Not tonight, but we’ll need to talk later. I’ve got to—”

“I get it.” Johnny nodded at the bike. “Bring it by when you can.”

“Tomorrow,” Spike promised, watching as he left, then turning back to the young Slayer, who was watching him with interest. “You okay, kid?”

“I’m good. You got a name?”

Her accent was about as Cockney as it got, and Spike bit back a smirk at the way she sauntered forward, clearly thinking that she was hot stuff. “Spike. You?”

“It’s Talia,” the girl replied. “You’re not human.”

“I’m a vampire,” Spike replied. “You got a problem with that?”

“You going to try to kill me?” she asked.

“Not unless you prove to be really irritating.”

She grinned. “Yeah, talk to my parents about that.” Talia’s chin lifted. “So, what’s a vampire doing saving me?”

“You know what you are?”

“I know I’m sodding strong.” Talia shrugged. “The dreams told me the rest.”

Spike raised an eyebrow. “Is that right?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Thanks for saving my life.” She moved closer, clearly trying to flirt with him—rather clumsily.

Spike smirked. “It’s part of the job. I’ll walk you home.”

Talia shrugged. “They won’t notice if I don’t show up. We could go somewhere and you could buy me a drink.”

He couldn’t resist. Spike started laughing. “Yeah, pet. That’ll be the day.” He shook his head. “I think we’d better discuss schools.”

Talia made a face. “Schools?”

“It’s a special school,” Spike replied. “Heavy on the weaponry and light on the math.”

The Slayer brightened up at that. “Now you’re talking.”

~~~~~

Spike leaned back in his seat on the train with a sense of accomplishment. Not only had he saved the Slayer, but he’d also convinced her parents to send her to Bath. Giles was supposed to send one of the witches from the coven to pick her up. Granted, convincing her parents hadn’t been much of a challenge; they hadn’t been able to wash their hands of her fast enough.

He honestly couldn’t wait for her to give Giles a hard time. Talia was going to be a handful, and he was looking forward to it.

Spike had always enjoyed a challenge.

His cell phone buzzed, and he picked it up immediately. “Yeah?”

“Spike?”

“Hey, Buffy.” He smiled. “How’s it going?”

“I hear congratulations are in order.” There was a smile in her voice. “Giles said you clinched the deal.”

“We’re goin’ to have a visitor in about a week to talk details,” Spike replied. “The agreement should be nailed down by then.”

“That’s great, Spike. He said you rescued a Slayer, too.”

“Talia, age fifteen, an’ her parents were definitely relieved to be sendin’ her off to boarding school.”

“You sound happy about that.”

“I’m always happy when I know Rupes is goin’ to be havin’ a hard time,” Spike replied. “You haven’t met this bint yet, luv. She’s somethin’.”

“Oh? You sound like you’re fond of her already.”

“She reminds me of your sis at that age,” Spike admitted. “She’s got some spunk to her.”

Buffy let out a laugh. “Yeah, that figures. I’m coming back to Bath.”

“When?”

“Today, actually. Davis and Erna showed up yesterday, and since they’re my replacements, we’re heading back. Are you going to be there?”

“For you, I’ll be anywhere,” Spike promised. “I can hide from your Watcher for a few days. We can head up to the Lake District, maybe rent a place. We’ll sleep all day an’ shag all night.”

“I love you.”

“I know you do. I’ll see you later, luv.” He paused. “I love you, too.”

The call ended, and Spike tucked his phone away, the smile on his face widening. A job well done, and his Slayer by his side at the end of the day.

His eyes drifted shut, and Spike fell into a peaceful sleep.