Because a couple of people think this is neat....

[agilebrit]

I will post Chapter Three of "A Mess of Pottage."

If you find any typos or mistakes, please let me know. I won't explode all over anyone who gives me concrit.

Chapter Three: Demonstration

Spike awoke the next day, after another bad dream, to a crick in his
neck and the smell of breakfast burning. He made his way into the
kitchen, where Alicia was swearing at the utensils and making an unholy
mess. She had flour in her hair, sugar on her nose, and something
unidentifiable stuck to her eyebrow. He appropriated the spatula from
her and flipped a pancake over. "Sit down, Lish. Good God. Never yet
met a Slayer who could bloody cook."

It didn't take him long to make something edible and slide it in
front of her. He sat down on the opposite side of the breakfast table
with a mug of blood and watched her eat. Nice to see a girl with a
healthy appetite, he mused. He waited for her to finish before he said
anything to her about the previous night--and then he was unsure how to
bring it up.

So, he dove right in. "Thought about our discussion?"

Immediately on the defensive, she snapped, "What else do you think
I've been thinking about?"

He sighed and fiddled with his mug. "Look, pet, I know I'm the last
one to be lecturing you on what being a Slayer is all about--"

"Then stop it! For God's sake! Don't you think I know?" She
looked
down at her empty plate. "I just don't know what to do about it."

"Let's get out. You and me. I'll take you up to Cleveland, and you
can cut your Slayer teeth on the Hellmouth up there. Actually, it's not
much of a Hellmouth, more of a Heckmouth, but still. We can leave
tonight. Pop out the bloody window and get away before they even know
we're gone."

"You make it sound easy," she said wistfully. "But I can't do that.
I owe Cain."

"You don't owe him a bloody thing. He's lied to you from the
beginning and would just as soon eat you as look at you." Spike lit a
cigarette and blew out a stream of smoke, exasperated. "Your sense of
loyalty is admirable, but misplaced. You've sold your birthright, luv,
and you're not even getting a bowl of stew out of it."

"Oh, you're one to talk about sold birthrights. You're a vampire.
Think betraying your own kind is just fine?" she sniped back.

He laughed at her. "Like it's any equivalent, luv. I'm working on
the side of what's good and holy now. You, to put it mildly, aren't."

She conceded his point with a twitch of her lips. "You really think
we can get out?"

"Don't see why not. We'll train today, just like always, then wait
for dark, maybe around midnight--and blow this place."

She frowned, chewing her lip. "All right," she said slowly. "If you
really think it's possible." She stood up. "I'll go get changed."

She closed the bedroom door behind her. Clattering the dishes while
putting them in the dishwasher, he didn't hear her pick up her phone.
"I need to talk to Cain."

---

As soon as his feet touched the ground outside Alicia's bedroom
window, the hairs on the back of Spike's neck warned him that all was
not well. He had enough time to see a Louisville Slugger aimed at his
head and hear the Slayer scream "Don't hurt--" before the bat connected
and sent him flying several yards. He was unconscious before he hit the
dirt with bone-crunching force.

Alicia rounded on Cain, who had wielded the weapon himself. "You
promised you wouldn't hurt him!" she accused.

He gave her a toothy grin. "I lied. Take the vampire to a cell," he
instructed a pair of minions. "You've done well, Slayer. Had you
actually betrayed us, it would have been the death of both of you. As
it is, only your fanged friend will be injured--and perhaps not so
badly as all that, when all is said and done. Go back to your quarters.
We'll return him to you when we're done with him."

Alicia's emotions were a mixture of anger, frustration, and remorse
as she made her way into her apartment. She had thought she was doing
the right thing by informing Cain of the escape attempt, but he'd
promised...And now who knew how badly Spike was hurt? The demon
boss
had said that he'd bring the vampire back when they were done with him,
but he'd broken one promise. What difference would it make if he broke
another one?

Lesson learned, she told herself grimly. Never trust the
word of a
demon, ever again.

---

Spike came to gradually, his head aching fiercely. He became aware
that he was sitting upright in a ladder-backed chair, his arms twisted
painfully behind him and bound to the crosspieces, and his ankles tied
to the chair legs.

Cain had been leaning against the wall of the cell, but he pushed
himself off and walked over to Spike when he saw him stirring. Baring
his teeth in a mirthless leer, he slapped Spike across the face with a
massive hand. "I told you she was ours."

Unintimidated, Spike scowled up at him. "You've had her for seven
months. I've been working with her for, what, four days?"

"You just don't get it, do you?" Cain slapped him again, with the
other hand. "The amount of time doesn't matter. This Slayer is
defective. She won't come over to your side, because she has no desire
to. In fact..." Cain stopped to think for a moment, then nearly knocked
the chair over with the force of the punch he delivered to Spike's jaw.
"The Powers must be getting short on Slayers, if they called this one."

Spike spat blood, dizzy but still fearless. "I seem to remember
another Slayer that everyone had given up on. She even spent time in
jail for murder. Then she fought by my side and helped save the world."

Cain scoffed. "Alicia has far too great a sense of self-preservation
to throw her life away on such a foolish endeavor. She won't be leaving
with you." This time the chair fell over backwards, and he knocked
Spike unconscious. "Ever."

---

Alicia leaped to her feet when they hammered on her door. She
wrenched it open to find Spike lying senseless on her doorstep and a
pair of Odobenus demons walking away down the hall, apparently after
dumping him there.

She breathed a sigh of relief for her Slayer strength as she picked
him up and carried him inside, and thanked whatever Powers That Were
that Spike hadn't been returned to her in an ashtray. She noted with
sorrow the bruises and blood on his face, and went to get a washcloth
so she could bathe his wounds.

When she came back to the living room, he was stirring on the couch,
starting to come around and swearing a little at the pain in his head.
"Shh," she soothed him, while she mopped his split lip. "It's all
right."

"Bloody hell. You sure about that?"

"Well, you're not a big pile of dust," Alicia said through tears,
"so I guess you'll live, anyway."

"Here, now, pet." Spike struggled to sit up, but fell back with a
little moan that he tried to hide from her. "What's with the
waterworks?"

"It's my fault he hurt you. If I hadn't told..."

"You think they wouldn't have stopped us anyway? And then it might
be me tendin' you, instead of the other way ‘round. Think I like it
better this way. By the by, luv, that pain you're feelin'? That's your
conscience telling you that you made right bollocks-up of the
situation. Thought I'd let you know that, seeing as your conscience
hasn't really had a workout until now."

"Oh, shut up. For what it's worth, I'm sorry. And it won't happen
again."

"Too bloody right it won't. We'll pick a much more opportune moment
for our next escape attempt. And, for what it's worth, I forgive you,"
he said easily.

Alicia rocked back on her heels. "You what?"

"I forgive you."

She sputtered. "How? Why? Look at you!"

"This?" Spike gestured at his already-healing face. "Another Slayer
did me worse than this, herself, and I went to her birthday party a
week later with no hard feelings. You didn't beat me up; Cain did. Him,
yeah, I've got plans for his ugly mug. You? All you did was what you
thought you needed to do to protect yourself."

"If we try it again he'll kill us both."

"If he catches us, he will." He gave her a roguish grin. "Guess
we'll have to be sure not to get caught next time."

"Next time? Spike, no..." She covered her concern over escaping by
trying to clean the blood off his eyebrow.

"Oh, bloody hell, Slayer. I don't know about you, but I don't feel
like spending the rest of my unlife running errands for Cain." He
batted her hands away and sat up, hunting through his duster pockets
for his cigarettes. Finding them, he lit one and inhaled deeply,
thinking. "Might be better to let them think they've knocked us back
for a bit, anyway. Keep a low profile for awhile."

"The semi-finals are in a few days," she said pensively.

"Yeah, so?"

"Cain'll probably want some sort of demonstration from us."

"Let's not disappoint him, then."

---

They drilled hard for the next three days. The afternoon of the
semi-finals, Cain called Alicia into his office. "I trust your training
with the vampire is going well?" he said.

"Pretty good," she answered cautiously. "He's teaching me some stuff
I didn't know before."

He showed his teeth. "I'm sure we have something in the cells that
you can show off your newfound skills on. Spike was quite impressive
with the Chaos Demon, after all."

She gulped a little. "We'll be ready."

"See that you are."

---

Alicia rolled her oiled shoulders and paced back and forth in
nervous anticipation. Spike watched her with quiet amusement, leaning
against the wall and smoking. The chanting in the arena grew to a roar
as the door opened in front of them. "Slayer! Slayer! Slayer!"

Spike flicked his cigarette away and gave her a grin. "Ready?"

She took a deep breath. "As I'll ever be, I guess."

They stepped out, and the roar of the crowd intensified as they
raised their battleaxes over their heads. Spike didn't think they could
get any louder, but discovered he was wrong when the opposite door
opened and a pair of Grox'lar Beasts, each armed with a mace, tromped
in. Spike saw her eyes go wide, and he gave her an encouraging nudge.
"I've got your back, Slayer. You know what to do."

She walked toward their adversaries, Spike a half-step behind.
Breaking into a run, she emitted a banshee-like yell and brandished her
axe up over her head. They planted their feet and waited, grinning
hideously. At the last second, she slid to the side and swung the
weapon horizontally, but the Grox'lar blocked the blow with its mace.
Without pausing, she delivered a spinning kick to its face, which
knocked it back a few feet.

It raised its club and aimed a strike at her head, but Spike had
taught her how to dodge those. She ducked and used a leg sweep to knock
it off its feet, onto its stomach. Leaping onto its back, she dropped
her axe and grabbed its head, preparatory to breaking its neck.

She'd forgotten about the other one. It had smashed Spike back with
its mace after he'd cut its arm with his axe. Standing behind Alicia,
it raised its weapon over its head and started to bring it down with a
blow that would have broken her back had it connected. But Spike
charged right back into the fray, and, before the slow-moving Beast
even knew he was there, his blade sliced through its neck. Its head hit
the ground as Alicia broke its companion's neck with an audible "snap."

She stood up, and she and Spike clasped hands and raised them in
victory. The approbation of the crowd washed over her in a flood, and
she felt fulfilled for the first time in a long time.

---

Back in her apartment, she was practically bouncing off the walls.
"That was so cool!" she gushed, over and over.

Spike sat on the couch, grimacing a little as his aching ribs
reminded him that Grox'lar Beasts might be slow, but they were strong.
Time to take her down a peg or two. "Was it, pet?"

"Well, yeah. It was awesome! Did you see that leg sweep?"

He raised his eyebrow. "Did you see the Beast behind
you...that I
killed before it bashed your head in?"

She frowned a little. "Well...you said you had my back. I trusted
you."

"I won't always be there to have your back. The Slayer needs to be
aware of her surroundings, at all times. You can't count on other
people. Not even me. What if the other one had killed me when he'd hit
me with his bloody mace?"

"You're a vampire," she said. "You can't be killed with a blunt
instrument...right?"

He snorted. "He could have taken my head off with that thing--or at
least knocked me out. Then where would you have been?"

She chose that point to change the subject. "What do you mean you
won't always be there? You can't leave. Cain would kill you."

"I've survived several apocalypses, killed two Slayers, and bested a
Hellgod. Do you really think I'm worried about a ponce like Cain?"

"So...you're leaving me?"

"Hey, I didn't say that, exactly. You're more than welcome to come
with me when I go. In fact, I wish you would, pet. There's no future
for you here."

"There might be. If you would stay."

"No sodding way. I've got an unlife, as I've said before. And it
doesn't involve staying around here being a lapdog for the likes of
Walrus-boy. First opportunity I see, I'm out. Whether you come along or
not is strictly up to you. But be watching, because I'm not telling you
beforehand again."

"You don't trust me," she pouted.

"Damn straight I don't. I trust three creatures on this earth.
Myself, my Cleric, and my dog. You're not even close to being on the
list, after that last stunt you pulled, Delilah."

"But...I thought you forgave me."

Spike lit a cigarette and grinned at her sardonically. "I did.
Doesn't mean all is forgotten, or that I'll make the same stupid
mistake as before. But you keep watching me. You'll know when I've
decided to make a break for it." He blew a stream of smoke in her
direction. "And then you can decide if you want to follow me or not."

---

The morning of the Finals, Alicia stood over Spike, who was still
asleep on her couch. She'd done up her hair and makeup just so. He
seemed restless, and she licked her lips nervously as she contemplated
him. The Glads would end tonight, and then the Clan War would commence
the next night--but not here at the Compound. Cain had said something
about some holy ground or other, and the night of the full moon; she
hadn't paid much attention. She might never see Spike again after this
weekend, and she wanted...

What did she want? She wasn't sure anymore. This vampire dredged up
all kinds of conflicting emotions in her, some pleasant, some less so.
These past two weeks had been a whirlwind, and now that it was crunch
time and she was scared, she'd just about decided she wanted him.
Badly. Maybe it was because he was the closest thing to human that she
had contact with in this place. Maybe it was because he had high
expectations for her, something no one else in her life had ever done.
And maybe it was because she thought that one or both of them might
die, and she didn't want that to happen without at least trying to
reach out somehow.

She had an ugly feeling about the Clan War. And she was about to do
something stupid. But if she did it quickly she wouldn't have time to
talk herself out of it.

She leaned down, placing her hands softly on his shoulders, and
kissed his lips. Gently at first, then hungrier, more demanding. He
started to respond--

Then his startled eyes snapped open, and he sent her flying across
the room with a violent, instinctive shove. "Bloody hell, Slayer!"
Spike sat up and ran his hand through his hair, exasperated. "What was
that all about?"

She sulkily picked herself up off the floor, flung herself into the
recliner, and crossed her arms over her chest. "I could ask you the
same question. Pushing me like that."

"I was dreaming, and not pleasantly. What's your excuse?" He lit a
cigarette and glared at her through the smoke.

She deflated. "Tonight's the Finals. And then the War."

"Yeah, so?" He tilted his head at her, then nodded in comprehension.
"Bit unnerved, luv?"

"No!" she flashed at him indignantly. Her eyes slid away. "Okay.
Maybe a little. And I just..." She shrugged, embarrassed now.

"Not that I'm not flattered and all, but I told you nothing like
that would happen, the day we met. Nothing's changed."

A surge of anger coursed through her at his rejection. "Fine. I
wasn't serious anyway. Especially since you're probably leaving pretty
soon. Not much chance for anything long term."

"Funny, I would've thought you were after a quick tumble. Didn't
know the phrase ‘long term' was in your vocabulary, pet." He lifted his
eyebrow at her caustically.

"You know what? Screw you. I don't need you. I don't need anyone."
Stung more by the truth of his statement than anything else, she leaped
to her feet and stalked out the door, slamming it behind her.

Spike put his face in his hand and shook his head, only now
registering that she'd put on makeup and perfume. "That went well," he
muttered to himself.

---

Pacing up and down Cain's office, Alicia ranted furiously. "Who the
hell does he think he is? I'm the Slayer! I kill his kind for a living!
He's lucky I didn't stake him right then and there!"

"Yes, well," Cain soothed, "he is unworthy of you. And you have more
pressing matters to attend to anyway."

She calmed somewhat. "The Clan Wars."

"We're emptying the cells tonight as well. Do you wish to fight in
the arena as a warm-up, or would you rather conserve your strength for
tomorrow?"

"I'll wait. No sense in taking a chance on getting wounded in
something that doesn't matter. You can do whatever you want with Spike
though. I think he might be planning on making a break for it soon."

Cain smiled at her and reached into his desk drawer. "You've done
well for us, Slayer," he said, taking out an apple and tossing it to
her. "Your reward will be great."

She bit into it and munched slowly while he spoke into his intercom.