Disclaimer 1:

I just invented a couple of characters (Lilea, Navarre... the Gulthias demon), not much, all the others are created by the God Joss' mind... (THANKS GOD!) but when someone asked him how the fan could survive after the Buffy's end he said: "They can write fanfic." so I'm using them now, because I love them, and I miss the TV-show soooo much.

Spoiler: The fanfic is set after Spike went in Africa, but he didn't come back in Sunnydale as he did in Season 7.

Disclaimer2:

Honestly when I started this fanfic I didn't know about Dare Devil existence, so Lilea isn't inspired by him at all! I started this a couple of days after the last episode of season six, and I based it on the spoiler there was around in the summer (Spike's being back and Buffy having a job in the high school.)

Well I changed something:. Spike's crypt is still available and his bed is downstairs, Wood exists, but since I hadn't any knowledge of him apart from his name when I wrote about him, he's quite a normal principal with a herbal-tea passion. (I made him a little British-like, but not too much)

I use the +word+ in order to give emphasis on words.

Feedback are very welcome

Prologue

June 2002

Blood.

Her blood.

She could feel that it was flowing from the reopened injuries in her lower abdomen. She was so weak, she couldn't fight anymore. Her arms were immobilized and so were her legs. They forced her to lie on the ground.

"Please… leave me… I didn't do anything… PLEASE… I…"

"Shut up!" One voice told her. She couldn't see anything. She didn't know where she was.

"Please…" She felt one hand check her stomach.

"The bitch is bleeding."

"Who cares? She will be dead before the dawn."

"Navarre..." she whispered

"I said shut up!" She felt someone hit her in the face. Others were binding her wrists securely.

"Navarre... Navarre help me!!!" She cried louder, trying to escape again.

She felt one hand close over her mouth to silence her.

She struggled helplessly to free herself.

-O-

A motorbike whirred flying faster and faster away into the silence of the night.

The darkly dressed biker didn't care. He was trying to escape from something, most horrifying and to not avail. He couldn't run fast enough to escape from himself, from his past. He rode with the speed of the wind but his memories flew even faster, he couldn't escape them.

He saw a shadow not too far ahead the road, a motionless shadow. He decreased his speed a little, in order to look at it better. An animal was staring at him even though it was still quite far away.

The foolish beast didn't move even when he got closer.

'The first suicidal animal in history. Damn it!'

He swerved again, and again it followed, keeping its gaze fixed on his eyes.

The driver slammed on the brakes.

He stared at the wolf for a long moment. "Ok, buddy, what kind of demon are you?"

He stared at what appeared to be a wolf for a long moment.

The animal didn't move, nor even flinched.

"I've had a bad week, so don't piss me off, mate, get out of my way."

The blond guy was about to try to ride off, when a scream shattered the silent night.

A woman's scream.

The biker, instinctively turned his head in the direction of the scream. When he looked back again, the road was empty, no trace of the wolf-creature remained.

Again the dark rider heard the woman scream, louder and more desperate this time.

"Pleeeeeease no!!!"

Oh God. That scream, that plea. He had been running from the memory of such a scream, just such a desperate plea for over a month.

His bike whirred again, this time not fleeing but instead turning toward the haunting sound.

-O-

The blond biker drove closer, as fast as he was able to. He could see the girl on the grass, she was still yelling even as the guy bent over her was trying to shut her up. Both the guys were darkly dressed in a sort of black uniform, and well armed. It wasn't very difficult to understand who they worked for. He still remembered them too well.

Then suddenly, unnaturally, the girl's frantic cries stopped.

The two guys turned towards the noise of the engine, one of them aimed his gun, without any result, the headlight was blinding them. He fired a bullet but with an able gesture of his body the driver was easily able to avoid it.

The bike stopped near the unconscious body of the girl and the driver agilely got off. He dodged a couple of attacks, he kicked away one guy, screaming in pain. The other one hit him and the blond guy seemed to subside, then unexpectedly the wolf from the road appeared, snarling, showing his threatening fangs.

One of the guy shot it, but the wolf didn't seem to notice it. No reaction, no blood.

The biker used this distraction to take the still unconscious girl and drive away as fast he could.

-O-

Blood

Her blood.

He could smell it. He could feel it flow from her. It was intoxicating him.

But this was definitely human blood. Why was the Initiative trying to take this girl away?

Her blood was on his hands, on his clothes, the smell was filling the air, and strangely he wasn't tempted to taste it at all. Was this a side effect of his newly restored soul?

A few times driving towards his temporary refuge Spike was tempted to take her to the closest hospital, but he remembered the time the Initiative took the witch's were-wolf ex-boyfriend. They had been torturing him.

'Could I let her risk the same thing happen to her?' The vampire wondered when he made her lie down on what was his new bed: one worn mattress covered by a formerly white sheet. A very worn blanket, or at least what once was probably a blanket.

No, he couldn't. So the only thing he could do was try to care for her here. Spike undid the girl's shirt and skirt, slowly, trying to not hurt her too much, he was forced to cut both the skirt and her underwear allowing him a better view of the injuries. The girl wasn't going to be happy about this, but it was the only way. The most serious was the one in her abdomen, the others in the rest of her body were not so worrying.

The cut was strange: deep and regular, it didn't seem accidental, but studied, calculated. It had been covered with a coarse bandage, it was recent, but it hadn't been done tonight. It had probably reopened whilst she was trying to escape from the Initiative.

Whatever sedative they had given her was very strong because she didn't even moan when they arrived here, and not even when the blond guy was treating her.

Sometimes being so old was very useful. Or maybe it was all the ER episodes he had watched since he had that stupid chip in his head? Whatever it was it seemed to work. The bleeding stopped.

The girl was unconscious for several hours, completely motionless. After he treated the injuries, Spike sat on a improvised chair, waiting, patiently, for her to wake up. Again, he wondered what he was going to do with her, after she regained consciousness. How could he explain to her they were in a crypt? And this one wasn't as comfy as the one he had in Sunnydale.

Then eventually he saw the girl move her hand towards her stomach. She was mumbling something. The vampire moved closer, then realized the girl was still sleeping. She could hurt herself more, or make the wound open again with a wrong move.

"It's my baby…you can't do that!! It's my baby you can't! Navarre help!!! Please don't take away my baby!!!" In her dream the girl was sobbing and crying.

And then Spike understood why her wound was so regular. It wasn't an accidental cut, it was a surgical one. That's how someone - the Initiative? - took the baby she was having nightmares about.

Her nightmares didn't stop until the late morning. Even if the blond vampire had easily understood the first one, he wasn't able to figure out what the others were about. Mostly she kept calling this Navarre guy.

The vampire sat near her watching her, and wiping the sweat from her face and neck with a wet towel until she calmed down. The girl was a brunette, her hair was ruffled and messed up, her face like the rest of her body was dirty and dusty, the hem of her skirt was covered in mud. She definitely hadn't had a wonderful day. But she didn't seem like a girl running away from home. The outfit was chosen with care, the color of the skirt was matching the color of the collar she had. But even under all that dirt she seemed beautiful, young and lost.

This damn soul! How could this girl's pain affect him so much? He hated this. He stood up quickly and headed towards the exit, in the direction of the sewers. He was going to just leave her there, now. Who cared about this stupid girl? He had to leave the town as quickly as he could! What if the Initiative connected him with the guy who helped this girl to escape? He had to rush, drive as fast as he could towards… Towards what? Sunnydale? His home was there but he couldn't. He simply couldn't go back there after what he did to +her+. God! He loved +her+! How could he?! And how could he be so stupid thinking that a new soul would make him the one +she+ deserved? It just made him feel worse. And into his head all the screams he was so flattered to hear when he was killing people were hunting him, screaming into his mind, always.

And +her+ scream and this girl's screams.

He hated this! He hated not being himself anymore. Crap! He didn't even know who he was anymore.

Shit! He couldn't leave this girl alone. He grimaced, Buffy would never forgive him for abandoning an injured girl on her own. So he turned back.

"Hey! How in hell did you get in?"

The wolf's eyes stared at him for a moment before it began barking.

"So you're a friend of hers, aren't you?" Another snarl.

The vampire looked at the animal. No sign of a gunshot wound on it. It was sitting a few inches away from the still unconscious girl.

"You're a demon, buddy." He turned. "Then if you take care of her, I can go." The wolf started to growl threateningly. The vampire grimaced.

"I guess this means that I have to stay." The wolf yelped turning towards the girl. Its nose caressing her wrist.

Spike strode up with big steps towards the bed.

The sleeper moaned, starting to move again. She opened her eyes. Her hand moved instantly to cover them. She breathed deeply when she brushed her stomach. Her eyes filled with tears. She started to hit her head against the pillow, as if she was doing it against the wall, trying hard to not cry.

"It's all right, you're safe here." He spoke with the same tone he used to Dawn last year when she was scared about being evil.

She stopped abruptly, starting to tremble, her eyes moved around, as if trying to see if there were other people in the room.

"Who are you?" The girl's voice shook badly.

"A friend."

"Why am I still alive?"

Spike saw the wolf's muzzle caressing the girl's wrist again, but the girl moved her arm away as if this scared her to death.

"I'm… undressed." Her voice trembled even more, her face blushed violently.

"I don't wanna hurt you, I treated your wounds, that's why, I didn't peek… not too much."

"We aren't in the lab again, are we? " The girls hand felt her bed trying to find a better way to sit.

"Does this place look like a lab? And you shouldn't try to move. You stopped bleeding just a few hours ago." He said abruptly, walking over to a bottle of bourbon he had nearby .

"Here smells different." She noted with an absent voice, watching him move. Then she moved her gaze to the wolf, and again to the vampire. "The light, it's you… why are you glowing?"

"What in hell are you talking about?"

"You're sparkling… I can see you… that… and this light too…" She pointed at the wolf "But you're different darker and brighter… Why can I see you?"

The vampire strode towards the bed moving his hand in front of the girl… she tried to move away vainly.

"You're blind."

The girl nodded, trembling.

Goddess. Navarre thought she was brave and fearless, and she was when he was near to her. But now… everything was different. And she was alone. Scared. And she felt so small, too small.

She bit her lips before asking again "How come I can see you?"

The wolf yelped trying again to catch the girl's attention.

"What is that?" she asked with a hushed voice.

"Isn't it your wolf?" She shook her head slowly "Not your personal demon?" She answered again in the same way.

"Strange. This wolf demon made me stop to help you?"

"It has beautiful colors…"

"It seems like quite an ordinary wolf to me."

The girl moved her hand towards the animal, who caressed it with its nose.

For the first time she smiled a sad smile, almost undetectable.

She turned to face the mysterious guy.

"Why did you help me?"

He shrugged, then he remembered that the girl couldn't see that. "I don't like it when girls are in trouble".

"You… you're not … human…" She said the word almost whispering, as if she was afraid to make him angry

"No, I'm not." His voice became even more serious.

Again a ghost smile on her face. "Even Navarre wasn't, but he was wonderful". Her voice sounded heartbroken and distant.

The wolf yelped again.

The girl yawned and her eyes closed a couple of times. She was fighting to stay awake.

"Sleep. We can't rest in this town much longer…"

"Are you leaving the town?" she mumbled

"Not me, we. Do you want to stay?"

"I have no reason to stay here." She bit her lips until they almost bled. "Not anymore." She added with a sigh.

The stranger moved closer to her. "I have to go now. I need to find some stuff. I'll be back as soon as I can. Sleep, the wolf will stay with you." His tone was quite sharp, but strangely this time he didn't scare her.

She nodded.

"I'll be right back."

The girl tried to caress his face, but he had already moved away, and so she only brushed his arm

The guy took her hand, and she held it "Thanks… I would've been dead by now."

"You need to rest. Do it." the vampire ordered. Why he tried to be purposely disrespectful was a half mystery to him too. However it seemed to work. The girl took her hand away, turning her head to the other side.

She didn't fall asleep, even though she was clearly tired. She breathed deeply, but her breaths trembled like a child who can't stop sobbing.

Stupid soul!

"Hey…"He paused before leaving "Everything will be fine." He paused "I'll be back. I promise."

The last thing she remembered was the sound of his steps move away and her almost crash into a dreamless restoring sleep.