When the past comes back with bite

Pairing: Spike x vampire!reader

Request: Last anon here! Could you write smth where spike meets his ex he stil got feelings for at wolfram and hart, because w/h is settling her super important demon divorce for her?(maybe her hubby is a demon prince or whatever) and during her marriage she changed from shy sweatheart the a bamf? Your work is AWESOMEEEE btw

Warning: cute anecdote(s) about the reader killing people. Swearing. Mention of everyone Spike’s been with.

A/N: Set in Angel S5 so spoilers if you haven’t seen it. I stole demon prince Barvain from an episode of Buffy. I can get a bit carried away with the back story sorry about that lol

You had been inside the office so long the walls were starting to close in on you. It was getting so desperate you had debated opening the necro-tempered windows and just allowing yourself to be committed back to the earth. This was taking its toll. You were speaking to your lawyer, Mr Gunn, trying to settle what had been a long and messy divorce. And not just messy because you had ‘accidentally’ killed your last lawyer when he suggested that your soon-to-be-ex-husband got the pay-out he didn’t deserve.

To say your husband was a demon prince, was to be hugely inaccurate. You know those emails you get with the sender claiming to be a ‘demon prince sitting on a large pile of jewels just waiting to be given away’? Well, if someone hadn’t heard or received them, they were lucky because his scam had snowballed and taken on many forms over the last few years as humans and demons alike actually fell for it.

“Gunn, this isn’t good enough! I want to speak to the big man”

“Uh, look, you don’t wanna bother him with this, I can sort you”

“I want to speak to Mr Angel. Now” You changed into your game face, but it was just for show. Gunn had really been trying for you, he even got another lawyer upgrade so he could find you more loopholes. He agreed, having heard what you did for a living, not to mention the activities you got up to in your free time. As you were walking through the corridor towards Angel’s office, you heard a familiar voice.

“Y/n… it’s, uh, been a while” the voice spoke and you couldn’t help turning around.

As your eyes connected, your past flashed before you. Stolen moments together with devotion dancing around you like reflection from a kaleidoscope. Your shared love blossoming in dark hideaways, the only sweet thing being your affection for each other.

“Spike!” You exclaimed, moving to hug the vampire you had spent decades with before you had found your husband. This wasn’t how you usually greeted people now, the smile so bright it almost made you cringe but you couldn’t help it. It was really him.

His hand lingered as he hugged you back. He leant into you, as if he wanted to stay there for a while. As if he hadn’t felt and embrace like that in a long time. Your relationship had ended as amicably between you as it could have done, knowing you both needed to part ways. It was one of those, right person, wrong time deals.

“Damn, you know each other? I should have guessed” Gunn said, surrendering and walking past you both. You were one of his most difficult clients. Spike frowned, you were his opposite, how had Gunn decided that? You had been a sweetheart, the one person to soften his evil nature before he had fought for his soul. You were so shy and kind, he had been convinced you had to have a soul hidden on you somewhere.

“How have you been?” You asked, cutting in before the inevitable questions about your very public divorce. He looked panic-stricken at the question, unsure of how exactly to chronicle everything that had happened since you last saw him. He had got back with Drusilla again – big mistake; gone to a little place called Sunnydale; fallen in love with a slayer – didn’t last; and fought to get a soul. He started to open his mouth to say something, but he was cut off by your attention switching to a very grand-looking demon sauntering your way. This, of course, was your husband, the demon prince, and his six-person entourage he never went anywhere without. Your honeymoon wasn’t pleasant. Apparently, he was being represented by a lawyer here too.

“Well, if it isn’t the demon formerly known as my husband” Your smile so achingly fake it was hard to keep up.

“Barvain, demon prince” He tried to shake Spike’s hand but he just stared, crossing his arms.

“Sorry, uh, I don’t care mate” Spike said, looking back at you to try to catch your eye. But your eyes were locked with your ex’s. Staring him down in a way you were often feared for. After a moment of thinking, Barvain’s eyes sparkled, he recognised the description you had given of one of your old lovers.

“Oh, this is the spike? I thought he’d be a little more impressive, all things considered”

“Oi-” Spike started, but you spoke over him.

“Can it, prince of the four corners of fucking nothing”

“Didn’t see you as someone that would run back into a man’s arms like that, but I guess he was always your weakness” He took credit for ‘building you up’ and ‘making you strong’ but your change in attitude was absolutely nothing to do with him.

“Just sore that I’m not crying over the very painless loss of you?” You roll your eyes.

“Yeah, the crying. Tough on the outside but a crumbling mess over your precious Spike inside - I thought marrying you would set you right, but it just made you a vindictive bitch” he quipped, his entourage laughing and joining in as he spoke.

“All right, Barvain, that’s it” You decided, easily changing into your game face and landing blow after blow on the various demons and men that started to walk towards you when you ran at your ex. You easily gained the upper hand, dusting a few vampires that had been taunting you with two swift movements. You went to attack a human but Spike pulled you back both times you tried it. Eventually, you rounded on your ex. If you hurt him, it wouldn’t do you any good - you just wanted to show him you weren’t scared of him. But Spike didn’t know this, so he pulled you back away from him as some lawyers scurried into their offices to lock themselves in so they weren’t caught up in the fight.

Spike had pulled you back but not before you thinned the demon half of his entourage in the process, dust cascading around the corridor like snowfall. You had become somewhat of a fighter. Actually, that was being modest, you had mastered several martial arts, aced weapons training and had made serious money off your talents. People actually came to you if they needed someone threatened or taken out. You were well known and people paid you a lot for it, more than any scam your ex could come up with, hence the messy divorce.

Barvain knew he wasn’t winning in a fight against you, which is why you usually only spoke through lawyers, so he departed with two of his entourage left trailing behind him. Spike turned to you, a mix of impressed and confused. Had he missed something? You were badass all of a sudden. You had never so much as looked at someone wrong when he knew you. He couldn’t help admit that there was something elegant about the way you fought, no matter how brutal.

“Don’t tell me you actually went out with that git” Spike asked, apparently in a bit of a daze. He wasn’t entirely sure he hadn’t just dreamed you mercilessly beating up that group without so much as a pause for an unneeded breath. It was so different from the meek person he had once fallen for. He could see it was still you, but you had gotten tough.

“I fucking married him!” You sighed, checking your knuckles for any damage and shrugging.

“You never used to swear”

“You never used to care if I killed people” You said softly, not that you ever really had when you had been with him. You ate when he went out and found someone for you but never really went hunting for yourself. You had been shy talking to people, even humans, to try and get them to come with you into an alley to feed. This became a problem when you and Spike had parted ways, you had stuck to animal blood for the most part. Until, your darling husband had all but driven you to killing. You had a lot of free time on your hands after you were married and it was a surprisingly nice tension release.

You both stared at each other for a moment, you were now stood agonisingly close together. Feelings both of you had never quite forgotten igniting easily. Your gaze never faltered from the other, until Spike finally spoke up, “Drink then?”

“Oh, you bet” You confirmed, following him out.

“To love” He toasted sarcastically, as your bottles clinked together at the bar he had brought you to. Apparently, there was a nice onion flower they served here. You took a sip of your drink, watching him. You had noticed the difference as soon as you cast eyes on him.

“You know, you’re a little different than I remember… tamer perhaps” You teased lightly, his eyes searching your face as if he were trying to memorise every feature, every expression you made in case you disappeared from his life again. Your confidence was so new to him, he really liked it. You had blossomed since he last saw you, but your face was exactly the same.

“You heard about that?” he asked finally, wondering if this meant he was going to have to fight against you one day.

“I didn’t believe it at first, a soul suits you though” You complimented him, he had always been so gentle with you but it was so fascinating to see how he coped with a soul.

“And your new attitude suits you” He added, a nod of approval and a smile on his lips as your eyes locked. He had never once stopped thinking about you. He had been with people since you, Drusilla for a while. Harmony, even the Slayer. But even through that, his mind had always wondered to you. Thinking what you might have been up to. Wishing you had stayed in contact. Hoping against everything that you had kept yourself safe, not getting yourself caught. You had been so sweet, he had been scared you would have let someone dust you for being an inconvenience.

The look in his eyes told you he was reminiscing as you were, remembering the times you had spent together. He moved in, closing the gap between you, lips meeting yours so gently you were surprised it was him. After you adjusted, the kiss as sweet as the one you shared to say goodbye, his hand moved to cup your cheek as you rested a hand on his chest.

The kiss reminding you of how you were back then. How you were his. You wouldn’t change back to how you were, but you wouldn’t mind getting to know him again. Your lips moving against each other, as if no time had passed. He clung onto you, as if he were scared you were an apparition of his own design. He tried to deepen the kiss but you knew it wasn’t wise. You were still technically married after all. You moved from him, smiling and telling him you should go, getting up to leave.

“Will I see you again?” he asked, the desperation in his eyes fuelled by more than the one beer he had been nursing since you arrived at the bar.

“Oh, Spike, I really hope so” You said honestly, smiling at him before sauntering out of the bar, knowing for a fact that he was watching you walk out.

A New Man

From a Kate episode to an Ethan episode. A New Man is the name. 1. Riley and Buffy are making out a lot. In a bed. Willow is at the science library all night. 2. Willow is back, instead. They have trouble in the rec room. Vampires don’t breathe fire. 3. Buffy has better things to do tonight than kill. 4. It’s a surprise party! 5. Riley’s in the credits. 6. Giles is being nice to Anya. 7. Buffy is introducing her boyfriend to her father. The library has gone downhill since Giles left. 8. Buffy wants Giles to meet Walsh. But Walsh is like 40. 9. Spike is moving out of Xander’s place. “That’s my radio!” “And you’re… what? Shocked and disappointed? I’m evil.” 10. “I’ve known corpses with a fresher smell. In fact, I’ve been one.” 11. “I don’t know why (Buffy) didn’t come.” “She has an appointment with someone who’s actually still scary.” Cut to Buffy telling Walsh about her Slayerdom. 12. Walsh is working on getting Buffy security clearance. Riley has killed or captured 17 hostile subterraneans. 13. “Oh. Wow. I mean that’s… seventeen.” 14. Giles has a book. He’s dusting but he stopped to stare at his book. He’s doing math on his fingers. Something is happening. “Oh, crap.” The Demon Prince Barvain is going to rise tonight. 15. Now Riley is being insecure about Buffy’s stories. Riley doesn’t want ice cream. “Now it turns out, I suddenly find myself… needing to know the plural of apocalypse.” 16. Riley: *insecure* Buffy: *seductive* Riley: *suddenly okay* 17. Giles is meeting Walsh. 18. Walsh is unimpressed with Giles. Which makes me unimpressed with Walsh. 19. Wow. Walsh is being awful to Giles. Utterly awful. 20. Giles, Willow, and Xander are hunting the demon. But the demon isn’t there. Willow and Xander know about the Initiative, but Giles doesn’t. Nobody told Giles. Spike knows, and Giles doesn’t. 21. Giles is upset, and sending Willow and Xander home while he waits for the demon. 22. Oh, great. Ethan’s there. He says something interesting is about to happen. Giles caught him. 23. “Ethan Raine. You have no idea how much thrashing you is going to improve my day.” 24. Ethan talked himself out of a beating, and now he and Giles are having drinks. This is a mistake. 25. “Something happening in the dark worlds. It’s only whispers and rumors. Something’s harming demons… and it’s not the Slayer.” Ethan, you’re a bit behind the times. 26. “Something called three-fourteen has them scared most of all.” Huh. That’s new information. 27. Buffy and Riley are sparring. Buffy is holding back. Riley is too. But less than Buffy is, by a lot. 28. Riley demanded Buffy go all out. He got kicked acros the room. Ouch. His precious, fragile masculinity is more wounded than his ribs, and his ribs are likely at least bruised. 29. Giles is drunk. With Ethan. This is a mistake. Ethan is joking about poisoning Giles’s drink. Pretty sure he enchanted it instead. “We’re still a couple of sorcerers. The night is still our time.” 30. Willow and Tara are doing magic together. Holding hands. Willow didn’t explain what they’re doing. They’re levitating a rose and plucking its feathers. They have to be in synchronicity. Not the Sting album. 31. Wind and rising rose. They lost control of the rise though. It’s zipping around the room. Petals kind of disintegrated. 32. Giles is in bed. Getting up. He’s a demon. Very demon. 33. He broke his wall. And his stairway. And his chair. He’s going to kill Ethan. He broke his phone He can’t get his shirt on without tearing it. He liked that shirt. He’s wearing a blanket instead. He broke his door. 34. Huh. Willow is lying about time with Tara. She specified that she was by herself. 35. Huh. Willow sensed some evil magic. Powerful evil magic. It broke her rose spell. Willow is sending Buffy to tell Giles about the evil magic. 36. Things with Riley are going well. 37. Willow is right about it not being right for Buffy to hold back. 38. Giles is in Xander’s basement. It’s 10:30 in the morning. Xander is still asleep. 39. Huh. Giles isn’t speaking English. He’s speaking a demon language and doesn’t know it. But he understands English. Xander is throwing cookware at him. 40. “Bloody humans!” 41. Now they’re at Giles’s house. Which he wrecked with his demon strength. Anya found the shirt and thinks the demon ate Giles. 42. Spike is measuring a crypt to move into and Giles found him. Spike can understand what Giles is saying. Giles is a Fyarl demon, and Spike speaks Fyarl. 43. “And I’m supposed to help you out of the evilness of my heart?” 44. Giles’s pride is wounded, so he doesn’t want Spike to get Buffy. That’s a mistake. They’re going to go find Ethan. 45. Riley’s at Giles’s. The Initiative gets 911 calls. 46. “He’d be great right now. Find himself in a second. Nobody is cooler in a crisis than Giles.” 47. Spike can’t drive stick. 48. Giles is terrorizing Maggie. That was mean of him. 49. Buffy knows what Fyarl demons are now. The mucus thing is real. He has paralyzing mucus. 50. You kill a Fyarl with silver. 51. “Why would a demon steal a car?” “Why would a demon steal THAT car?” 52. Buffy got Giles’s silver letter opener. 53. Huh. Spike and Giles know where Ethan is staying. 54. Riley has a master key to all the shops on Main. That’s… troubling. 55. Buffy knows Ethan is in town. Riley has a car too. Maggie doesn’t want Buffy to go when they engage the Fyarl, but Buffy’s going anyway. 56. The Initiative was chasing Giles and Spike, but Giles jumped out after offering Spike another hundred bucks to get them off his tail. So now they’re just chasing Spike. 57. Now Buffy is fighting Giles. And Spike is having a car chase with the Initiative in Giles’s car that he can’t drive. He crashed. 58. Buffy is fighitng Giles and Riley is fighting Ethan. 59. Buffy recogized Giles’s eyes after stabbing him with the letter opener. Now Riley is making Ethan turn Giles back. The letter opener wasn’t made of real silver. 60. “It’s the stay-and-gloat that gets me every time.” 61. Giles is wearing Ethan’s shirt. 62. The Initiative just arrested Ethan. He’s going to a secret detention facility. For sorcerers. Giles wants to watch him get manhandled. 63. Riley’s masculinity has recovered and he has accepted that Buffy is stronger than him. 64. Giles bought a new cordless phone. 65. Giles is worried about the Initiative. “Are you sure you’re not just saying this because you don’t like Riley’s boss?” “No.No, I’m not saying that at all. Though do I hate her quite a lot.” 66. Maggie is having a similar conversation with Riley. 67. Maggie went in a door. She’s at door 314. And episode end. Overall: I liked that one. Mr. Head is a great actor even in a ridiculous amount of prosthetic, Spike remains wonderfully funny, and it showcased the strength of both the Initiative as an organization and Buffy’s cleverness and instinct very well. This episode set out to accomplish things, and did so in a workmanlike fashion - not great, but good, and reliable.