TITLE: Remembrances
AUTHOR: Ragna (writinggoddess@aol.com)
RATING: FRT
SPOILERS: None
DISTRIBUTION: Sure, just tell me!
DISCLAIMER: Everything except what comes out of my pretty little head belongs to Joss and Mutant Enemy.
FEEDBACK: Wanted. Needed. SEND IT!

***

"Yes, Uncle Rupert. I made sure to only allow Spike into the house. If I don't bitch him out soon, he might just keep that very large chip on his shoulder."

The sound of a doorbell jarred her. "Hold up; I think he's here. I'll call in a few hours. If I don't call by" she looks at her watch "10, send Buffy over here. With stakes." She hung up and put the cordless on the recharger. Her favorite song, "The Perfect Drug" by Nine Inch Nails was on and she hummed along as she walked over to the door to open it.

Spike stood on her porch, soaked. The water dripped off his hair and duster, gathering in a pool under his feet. "Aren't you going to bloody well let me in?" he asked pointedly.

"Fine. In." She glared at him. "Cold?"

"Not really, no." He took off his duster and stood over by here fireplace. On the mantle were pictures of her with her parents and with her uncle, as well as her half-sister. Spike always went there, and looked at the same picture. It's of Alex, all alone, outside of a warehouse in Prague. Her red hair wass curled, and she was wearing a long white sundress.

"Then why do you always go over to the fireplace?" she asked.

"Prague. I mean, the picture of you in Prague. That's where you housed us, right?"

"Yeah."

Spike looked at her. She looked older, more tired. After being a Watcher for three years, she looked older than her young 20 years. He remembered the day she started to age. It was when she had to kill her fiancee...and couldn't do it. Spike broke his neck for her, and she then beheaded him. There was a picture of those two but Alex looked miserable in it. Jeremy wasn't much of a man. I could probably have done better, he thought.

"Hello? Earth to Spike?" Alex got impatient waiting for him to turn around again. She walked over there and looked over his shoulder. "My God, I should take that picture down. He was such a jerk." She reached over Spike and grabbed the picture, taking it out of its frame. She then threw it into the fireplace.

The two of them watched the picture burn. Alex stepped away from Spike; getting close to him made her feel strange. "Well, on to business. Do you know why you're here?"

Spike sneered. "Probably because I made you upset. I'm good at that, aren't I?"

Alex glared. "Yeah, that you are. Look, you can't kill me, but if you ever go after my uncle again, I will kill you."

"Go ahead. Life isn't worth living without Dru."

"Oh, BS. You've been okay. At least, you seem to have been." Alex looked at his face. He looked tired, more than anything else. "How much have you been eating lately?"

"One or two people a day. Not as much as I used to, but enough to keep my bloody stomach quiet."

"Um-hm. And how much moping around the warehouse have you been doing?"

"Quite a bit."

"Pathetic. After I killed Jeremy, I only moped for a few days. And even then, you..." Alex started to laugh, remembering the microwave incident.

"After YOU kill--What's so funny?" Spike asked, crossing the room to sit across from her.

"Remember...remember the microwave? How you tried to heat up one of the blood bags in a glass and it exploded? My kitchen floor still has stains on it."

Spike smiled. "Yeah. And I remember how upset you were. I'm surprised you didn't call me a wanker and throw me out into the sunlight."

"I was tempted. Believe me. But then I laid down those rules."

"I remember them. 'Don't eat me. Wake me up if you want more blood. Let me get at least a few more hours sleep. Anything that looks important probably is. Don't mess with it.' I almost choked on that, and then I realized I couldn't beat you to every blind in the house."

Alex smiled. "Yeah, that was a crazy day."

The two sat there, with small smiles on their faces. Alex looked at Spike, and saw the look of contentment on his face. Maybe, she thought, if I can get his mind off his problems for a while... Alex looked at Spike. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Spike asked quizzically. It was pouring rain, and frightfully cold.

"You'll see." She grabbed a jacket, but stopped. "Hold up a sec." She turned around and grabbed the phone. She dialed the library's direct line.

"Hello?" A female voice answered. It was her half-sister, Gabriella.

"Hey Gaby. Is Uncle Rupert there?"

"Sure. Hold on." Alex could hear Gaby scream "Uncle Rupert!" very loudly. "What's up, sis?"

"I have to go somewhere, and you know how much our uncle worries about me."

"Yeah, but I'm a Slayer. I don't know what's worse."

Spike moved around behind Alex. "Are you almost done?" he asked.

"Who's th-- That's Spike, isn't it!" Gaby exclaimed. "How...how could you...?"

"Gaby, nothings going on. What the hell is our uncle doing, anyway?"

"He's right here." The sound of the phone being passed was heard in the background.

"Hello?" Giles asked.

"Hey. I told you I'd call. Don't send Buffy over; I'm safe. Actually, I have to go somewhere. I won't be in my car, so call me on my cellphone if there's any problems, okay?"

"Fine, dear." There was a long pause. "Is Spike going with you?"

"Yeah. Look, I'll be fine. Don't worry so much. Good night." Alex hung up the phone and looked at Spike. "Let me grab my phone and then we're off. Your car. I'm driving."

Spike had a wry look on his face. "The last time you drove..." and he left it hanging.

"I don't think we're going to be attacked or anything, so I won't have to wreck another car. Though I have to admit, it was interesting to watch it get unwrapped from around a telephone pole."

"At least you were safe." A note of tenderness entered Spike's voice. Maybe he wasn't attracted to Alex, but he protected her. She was one of the few mortals who would save his life even after knowing what he really was. And the fact she was a Watcher made it all the more amazing.

Who was he kidding? He was head over heels for her. He just couldn't figure out a way to really feel that way without an enormous sense of guilt washing over him as well.

"Enough bad thoughts. Let's go." They ran out to the car with the heavily tinted windows. Clambering in, Alex remarked, "I can't believe I'm doing this."

"Doing what?"

"Going somewhere at eight o'clock at night with a vampire. Oh well. Both of us need to forget our problems for a bit."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

They drove down the quiet streets of Sunnydale, towards the ocean. The closer they got to the coast, the less it rained, until it had completely stopped. She drove right up to the entrance to the pier.

"Why are we here?" Spike asked, completely confused.

"The ocean has an...interesting effect. I can totally be myself here. I grew up in a surfing community, so I developed a bond with the ocean."

"Pagan."

"No. Wiccan, but you already know that. Actually, I just wanted to come down here. Besides, if you're here, I'm safe. You can't kill me, and you won't let anyone else hurt me."

They walked over to the end of the pier and sat down. For the next few hours, they talked. A lot. Alex came to learn quite a bit about Spike, and Spike learned just as much about Alex. At about 11 o'clock, Alex heard her phone ringing. She answered it.

"Hello?"

"Alex, this is Willow. Where are you?"

"I'm at the pier. Why?"

"We need you at the library. How soon can you get here?"

"Back up for a sec. What's going on?"

"We're sorta under attack."

"By what?"

"Vampires. But...there's something different about them."

"I'll be right there. Cast a spell on the building or something until then." Alex hung up and glared at Spike. "Did you have something to do with this?"

"With what?"

"The vampires attacking the library."

"No, actually, I didn't."

"Can I trust you?"

"You bloody well know you can."

"Fine. we need to go there. Now." They got up and ran to the car. "You don't need to come with me. Just drop me off."

"No, if you're going to be fighting, I want to make sure you stay alive. I didn't kill all those people for you to die because of a stupid mistake." Those words hung in the air, as both of them thought about the last stupid mistake that had been made.

It was almost six months ago. Alex had left to go to England, for a meeting with the Watcher's Council. It was also the time for the Watcher's retreat, and her uncle had gotten invited for the first time. After the two of them had left, Buffy, Gaby, Xander, Willow and Oz were left to their own devices. A demon far worse than any other that had existed had attacked Sunnydale. But he didn't attack everything in Sunnydale, just the Slayers, their friends and Spike.

This demon, Laigon, had a personal vengeance against Spike. Spike had imprisoned him by accident during an incantation almost a century before. However, the manuscript to release him had been stolen by Ethan Rayne, Rupert Giles' worst enemy. Ethan decided to release him, and Laigon went after Spike. Alexandra had returned to Sunnydale a few days later to be met with Buffy in the hospital and no Slayer except her sister, who wasn't trained. Together with Spike, they figured out Laigon's weakness. But not before he found Spike's two weaknesses: Drusilla and Alex.

While Gaby, Alex and Spike were on their way to defeat the demon, the demon was luring Dru into a trap. Being a clever shapechanger, he pretended to be Spike and led her to a deserted area of the mansion were Spike and Dru were staying. Right as the three walked in, Laigon staked Drusilla. Spike broke into a rage, and ferociously attacked Laigon, but ended up hurting himself more than Laigon. He stood back as Alex and Gaby started the incantation. Suddenly, Laigon grabbed Alex and started to beat her. Though she could defend herself for a bit, when Laigon struck her knees, she was helpless. Gaby and Spike finished the incantation, which banished Laigon forever, but at a great cost. Dru was dead and Alex...

She spent the next two weeks in the hospital, going in and out of a coma. She was bleeding internally and had to have a rod inserted into one of her legs. But slowly, she got better. When she could walk again, the first thing she did was see Spike. He had been consumed by guilt over what had happened. Especially because he had truly loved Dru, not matter how insane she was. And he believed if he'd been faster, he could have stopped Laigon. That thought went through his head quite a bit.

It was actually Alex that put things in perspective. If he hadn't been there when the two girls needed him, she said, the world would have been totally changed. While Dru may have been alive, the world he loved would have been so different and so horrible. And Spike would eventually have had to face him. True, if he had been faster, maybe Dru would have lived. But then Dru may have been the one in Alex's place, and since a vampire wouldn't have been able to be in a hospital, she would have suffered.

That thought eased his mind a little, but not enough for him to stop being tormented. But tonight, for the first time since, he was at ease and doing something he never thought he'd do: enjoy his afterlife...even if it wasn't with Dru.

They arrived at the library. "Where are those vampires?" Alex asked no one in particular.

"I have absolutely no idea." The voice that said that belonged to neither Alex or Spike. It also didn't belong to any of the Scooby Gang. But Alex recognized it just the same.

"Ethan Rayne," she said, and slowly turned around, only to fall unconscious as Ethan hit her with a baseball bat. He turned to Spike next, not entirely recognizing him.

"You're next." Ethan swung and missed, and Spike ducked down. As he stood up, his game face was on. The Spike everyone feared was back. And Ethan was a very unlucky man. As Ethan kept swinging, Spike kept deflecting. Ethan kicked Spike's feet out from under him and prepared to hit Spike using an overhead swing. Spike rolled over and grabbed the bat as it descended. Spike stood up and faced Ethan, about to deliver a forceful blow. Ethan, looking scared, ran off. Spike picked Alex's limp body up and took her towards the library. As he tried to enter the door, he couldn't get near it. "Open the bloody door!" he bellowed. Xander came to the door.

"Well, if it isn't the demented Billy Idol. What have you got there? A peace offering?" Xander laughed until he got a good look at who was being held. "Willow! Reverse the spell!"

"Why?" came the reply from behind the stacks.

"We have injured!"

"Who?"

"Alex!"

Suddenly, Spike could get through the door. "I can't do anything to help her. Ethan Rayne beat her across the head with a baseball bat." With that, his vampire face re-appeared. "He attacked me, and no bloody wanker gets away with that." With that, Spike turned and left the room. Giles, who had come to the table where Spike had left Alex, looked at the swinging door, then at his niece. She was breathing, but it sounded shallow. And her eyes weren't opened. Oz was checking her pulse. "She's alive," he said.

Giles looked at him. "Very good. Help me move her onto the couch." Oz and Giles picked up his limp niece and carried her to the couch.

Alex started to stir. "Wha--what happened? Where am I?"

"You're in the library." Giles said. He looked to Xander. "Go find some ice. And find Buffy and Gaby as well. Oz, go help." The two guys ran out of the library. Giles looked back at his niece. There was a ghastly cut across her forehead, and a huge bruise covered the left side of her face.

"Ow. I really hurt. How'd I get here?"

"Spike carried you in and told us what happened. He's looking for Ethan know." Giles let a wry smile cross his face. "Though I wish I'd killed him before, maybe Spike going after him is the best punishment." The smile disappeared from his face. "Enough about that."

"Do you have any idea who's behind this?" Just then, Buffy and Gaby came in.

"My God!" said Buffy. Though she hadn't trusted Alex completely before the fight with the creature in Beaufort, she did now. "Where is that jerk of a vampire? I'm going to--"

"Spike didn't do this," said Willow, who had come down from the stacks when the Slayers had walked in. "Actually, it was Ethan Rayne. And I think I know what's going on."

"Well, tell us already!" Gaby said. For a cheerleader, she was pretty impatient. In fact, at times she was worse than Cordelia had been. Alex actually liked that about her.

"It's a demon. Before you say 'Duh!', let me explain. This demon is one of vengeance," Willow explained. "Ethan Rayne is probably behind it all. My guess is that he called forth the demon to hurt Giles."

"Another vengeance demon?" Alex moaned as she slumped back into the seat. "Aren't there other types of demons around here?

"Hurting Giles meant getting to Alex and Gaby and all of us," said Buffy. "While the demon had us under attack, he knew we'd call Alex to come help. I think that's why they disappeared right before the fight outside."

"And I bet that's why he went after Alex first," said Xander, who had just come in with Oz, carrying a Ziplock bag full of ice. "Broke into the teachers lounge."

"You guys becoming felons now?" Alex said, sitting up.

"Becoming? They already were," said Buffy. She looked at Gaby. "Let's do a check, just in case."

"Sure. Bye sis! See ya later!"

"Bye, Gaby." She sat up all the way, and felt like she was about to fall over. "Uncle Rupert, can you drive me home?"

"Sure. I think this means this evenings festivities are over. I hope."

Alex and Giles walked out to his car. Alex started to doze off and before she knew it, she was home.

"Wake up. You're home. Will you be alright?" Giles asked.

Alex squinted and waited for her eyes to adjust. She nodded. "I'll be fine." She got out, unlocked the front door, and opened it. Standing inside the hallway was a very familiar looking young woman. Long black hair, long white dress, pale skin and gleaming fangs. It was Drusilla.

Or rather, her ghost.