{"id":13385,"date":"2024-04-07T12:19:48","date_gmt":"2024-04-07T11:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/?p=13385"},"modified":"2025-06-27T09:27:25","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T08:27:25","slug":"mercenary-hearts-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/07\/mercenary-hearts-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercenary Hearts 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

Crawford Street Mansion<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Spike woke with a hoarse yell. Sweat dampened his pale brow and harsh breaths pushed out between clenched teeth. Throwing aside the faded cover, he climbed off the bed and stretched until his lower spine clicked. A shaking hand rose to swipe at the moisture that dripped into his eyes.\u00a0 Coming face to face with that slayer had brought back memories long buried.<\/span><\/p>\n

It had been a while since he\u2019d had that particular dream – nightmare\u2026memory, and the familiar ache that settled in his clenched gut both unsettled and pissed him off.<\/span><\/p>\n

The curse of a soul hadn\u2019t changed him completely. Or Angel, come to that, and instead of hiding away from the world, both had managed, after several long, anguish-filled years, to handle the guilt that accompanied the bloody things.\u00a0 But in dreams, their conscious acceptance hadn\u2019t eased the torment.<\/span><\/p>\n

They soon found out that being a demon with a human soul was an anomaly, and as such there\u2019d been no handy user manual to help them along the way.\u00a0 The vampires were shoved between two worlds: Humans aware of vampires were still fearful; distrust in their eyes- and demons full of hate.<\/span><\/p>\n

Darla hadn\u2019t hesitated in throwing Angel out without so much as a by-your leave.\u00a0 Dru\u2026 she\u2019d attempted the path of denial, but even with a broken mind, dealing with her lover\u2019s curse had been too much to bear.\u00a0 His new refusal to wreak violence and carnage against humans mocked her every time she attempted to draw him back in.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pariahs to their own kind, Spike and Angel levitated towards each other purely because there was strength in numbers. A good idea when everyone-or thing, hated you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Misery loves company<\/em>. Never a truer word said, in Spike\u2019s opinion.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Boxer rebellion was always at the forefront of his mind – with good reason. It was the time both he and Angel, sick of each other\u2019s company, decided to try for the route of denial themselves. It had to be better than hiding away and living on rats in stinking alleys.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it had been far worse.<\/span><\/p>\n

Darla and Dru had taken them back, even as their eyes remained heavy with distrust. In a bout of desperation, Spike had followed Dru\u2019s urgings to face the then Slayer: an ebony-haired, sword-wielding dervish.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0*<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Spike dodged another blow from the Slayer\u2019s sword. \u201cJust like I pictured it. This good for you?\u201d he taunted softly.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0With a glare, the young slayer charged him, sword whickering through the air in a deadly blur. Spike dodged every swing and viciously backhanded the girl, breaking her grip on the sword.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0She went hand-to-hand with him, landing several kicks and punches to his head, serving only to further enrage him. He beat her back but began to lose ground again until she backed him up against a support column and pinned him there, her foot to his throat. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Raising a stake and poised to strike the killing blow, an explosion outside suddenly blasted part of the temple wall inward, the concussion breaking her hold.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Spike instantly went on the offensive, knocking the stake from her hand. As she bent to retrieve it, he seized her arm and wrenched it up behind her back. Pulling the hapless girl to him, he sank his fangs deep into her neck.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0The Slayer gasped in pain as her life drained away. Spike turned the dying girl towards him and she looked into his eyes. \u201cTell my mother I\u2019m sorry.\u201d She whispered hoarsely. Spike shook his head slowly.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m sorry, love.\u201d He responded, the regret in his eyes strangely at odds with the cockiness of his tone. \u201cI don\u2019t speak Chinese.\u201d Then he watched as the light in her eyes flickered, then died.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0For a moment he stilled, then roughly threw her to the ground like so much refuse. Panting heavily, he looked up, eyes connecting with triumphant brown. Licking his lips of the slayer\u2019s blood and forcing down the nausea, he pasted a grin on his face and made his way over to Dru, who\u2019d stood watching the whole while from the shadows.\u2026<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

That night, he\u2019d fled with Angel, too distraught to question why the other vampire carefully cradled a human baby against his chest\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Three demons still to find before they could move on. They\u2019d have to kiss goodbye the other half of the substantial payment they\u2019d demanded if they gave up now. <\/span>Also, the reputation the two vampires had developed as the best damn mercenaries’ money could buy, would be damaged beyond repair once known they\u2019d welched on a deal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Letting out an irritated breath, Spike walked over to the drawn curtains, twitching them back a bit with one hand while searching his back pocket with the other, before remembering his smokes were still in his coat pocket.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still dark.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sleep wasn\u2019t an option. With a low curse, he turned, shrugging on his duster, and left the room to make his way out of the crappy old mansion they\u2019d come across hours earlier.<\/span><\/p>\n

A fire and obvious earthquake damage hadn\u2019t made it entirely uninhabitable \u2013 he\u2019d stayed in worse. Bonus that the previous occupants hadn\u2019t even bothered to take most of their furniture. Old, dusty, but good enough quality to still be useful. <\/span>The bed he\u2019d chosen had been pretty comfortable, too. But physical comfort wasn\u2019t the issue right now.<\/span><\/p>\n

The walled-in garden at the back of the property was overgrown; part of one wall half-collapsed. Either the earthquake or the thick, dark Ivy that almost covered every inch.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lighting up a cigarette, Spike wandered over to an old bench and dropped onto it, lean legs sprawling out as his sightless eyes stared up at the clear, starlit sky.<\/span><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t all bad here, he grudgingly admitted. Angel had his eye on a little something that interested him. Couldn\u2019t miss the gleam in the otherwise hard mug of his Sire. Worth staying just to see him get his arse served on a plate. He grinned at the thought. Feisty little bit, that one.<\/span><\/p>\n

His eyes remained focused upwards even as Angel sat himself down on the wall of an old Koi pond; the water practically hidden by lotus plants and algae. Only to snap them down when his smoke was snatched from loose fingers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBout time you started buying your own ruddy fags,\u201d fresh irritation flaring at the slight smirk as the older vampire took a long drag. <\/span>\u201cWhen have you ever parted with money for anything?\u201d One last drag, then the cigarette flicked in a small arc towards the pond\u2019s surface.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNot the point\u201d, Spike muttered, absently taking note of the slightest glimmer of light touching the sky. \u201cYou got anything?\u201d he asked, changing the subject. Not that he was interested in listening right now, but he knew he had to ask. Partnership an\u2019 all that. \u201cI see you ain\u2019t got your sword back.\u201d Not that one was needed. Fangs and fists worked well enough for him.<\/span><\/p>\n

He personally reckoned his Sire just liked to show off. Bloody poof.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Angel scowled a bit, rising\u00a0lithely to his feet before responding.\u00a0\u201cNo. The Slayer must have taken it.\u201d He shrugged it off.\u00a0 He\u2019d get it back.\u00a0Eventually. It was the only item the vampire had taken with him the night they\u2019d left the others -for good.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Blacksmith had been a bit of a collector of Medieval weapons. Although the man at first refused to part with the sword, it hadn\u2019t taken much to change his mind. After engraving his initial as instructed and handing it over, Angel had tested the wickedly sharp blade on the Blacksmith\u2019s neck.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cFound a demon bar in town. \u00a0A human runs the place.\u201d \u00a0Spike wasn\u2019t surprised. Plenty of scrotes out there that were just as bad as the demon scum they hunted.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWas he helpful?\u201d A slight grin when Angel flexed his hands before continuing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNot so much on the ones we\u2019re after, but insight into the wider picture.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not here for the Wider picture, mate.\u201d Air-quoting with his fingers before reaching for another cigarette, the blond vampire rose to his feet and lit it. \u201cNot bein\u2019 paid for that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNarrow vision gets you nowhere.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Spike shrugged. \u201cHasn\u2019t stopped me getting things done.\u201d <\/span>Ignoring the role of his partner\u2019s eyes, he turned on his heel. \u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s getting light and I need a drink,\u201d he muttered, leaving Angel behind.<\/span><\/p>\n

*<\/span><\/p>\n

He was already holding a bottle of whisky and drinking from it when Angel walked in. \u201cCan\u2019t that wait until later?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

At the disapproving look, Spike took a longer swig of the booze. \u201cI know you need to get it all off your chest, Peaches, but right now, I\u2019m in the mood to get pissed. Not like we\u2019re goin\u2019 sightseeing or summat.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With one last irritated glance, Angel left the younger vampire to it. He was tired, and it was true they had all day\u2026. And he hadn\u2019t missed the haunted look that still darkened the blue eyes that avoided his. Personal experience of similar moods bled away his annoyance.<\/span><\/p>\n

After what he\u2019d found out earlier, it looked like their visit to Sunnydale was not going to be as cut and dried as first assumed. Not all bad, thinking back on their confrontation with the Slayer and her friends.<\/span><\/p>\n

Especially the gorgeous brunette. He grinned, dark eyes lit with amusement and avid interest.<\/span><\/p>\n

No, not bad at all\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Back<\/a> \/ Part 6<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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