Humanity

By: KaNugget

Summary: During a night gone wrong in Prague Spike and Drusilla are turned human. In a quest to take care of his beloved and perhaps gain back their immortality Spike ends up in Sunnydale. Will Spike learn to accept his humanity or will the Hellmouth lead to Hell.

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of its characters.

Pairings: Tethers between a Spike/Dru and Spike/Buffy with Spike/Angel friendship (can be interpreted as slash if you so choose). Buffy/Angel in the background.

Edited 2/10/15

Blood. It was sustenance for a vampire. They needed it to survive. So how come when Spike awoke did the blood in his mouth taste so wrong? He sat up and examined the ground at him. It was sticky. It was bloody. He was lying a pool of blood. His own blood.

He rubbed his cheek. It was sore. That was when he realized why the blood tasted so wrong. It wasn't the taste of a freshly killed human which settled on his tongue after a long night of sleep. It was his own blood cut from his cheek. And the pool of blood and sat in was his too.

What could had happen to create such circumstances? He tried recalling the events of the previous night but all he could remember was a mob, fire and screaming, which was pretty par for the course for the creature of the night. He decided to get something to eat, a nice tasty human, and clear his head.

Spike looked around for his immortal lover, Drusilla. She was nowhere to be seen. Spike had a flash of a memory from the previous night.

They were on a bridge with two other lovers. Spike was with the woman, Drusilla with the man. They were doing what one would expect vampires to do: feeding. In the middle of their rendezvous with the dying couple the two vampires were attacked by an angry mob and the two humans were saved. The mob circled around Spike and Drusilla, pulling them away from each other. Someone shoved a wooden stake into Spike's chest, barely missing his heart. He stumbled backwards and fell off the bridge landing below, being knocked unconscious. In the commotion he didn't see what happened to Drusilla.

Was she dead? Did she escape? Spike didn't know, but he refused to believe it could be the former. Drusilla was his world, his everything. Just being away from her made his body ache. He felt a pang in his non-beating heart.

He surveyed the area. His body had landed a few yards away from the bridge. He stood up, his legs a little shaky from bruising, and leaning against a stone pillar. Reaching into his black, leather duster he pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He fished one out of the box and placed it between his lips, lit it up and took a long drag. The nicotine relaxed him slightly. But only slightly.

There was no use in waiting by the bridge. The sun would be up soon. He had to head back into the city and look for signs of Drusilla. He needed evidence that she was still alive. If she wasn't—he didn't even want to think about that.

Spike followed the bridge's pillars' to the city's limits and reentered Prague. He found his way toward a demon bar that he and Drusilla had partroned the night before. The owner was just getting ready to close up shop. Spike opened the door on his face, knocking him to the ground. The owner was a demon, Brechen genus. He had olive skin with pins covering his head.

Spike entered the bar and closed the door behind him. The place was empty. It was just the two of them and the reek of puke and booze. Spike picked up the Brechen by the collar of his shirt.

"Me and my girl were here yesterday," Spike said.

The demon looked at him with wide eyes filled with fear.

Spike continued. "Do you remember?"

The demon nodded.

"We were attacked. Hear anything about a vampire hunt?"

He shook his head.

"Wrong answer!"

Spike punched him. He shoved the Brechen against the wall, slamming the demon's head hard into it. It bounced hard and then hung chin to chest. Spike careful place his finger's around the other demon's chin, careful not to touch a pin, and raised it so he could look at Spike again.

"When I'm not with my girl I'm not very happy. So tell me, how do I find my girl so I can be happy again?"

The Bechen's head rolled slightly to the left. His gaze was unfocused. Spike shifted his face into its vampire form.

"Tell me!" he screamed.

The demon's head shot up. He looked alert. "There's a demon hunter. Lives up in one of those old stronghold fortresses outside of the city. If she's been taken she might be there. If not, he might at least know something."

"Thank you! Now is that so hard?" Spike punched the man in the gut as hard could, leaving him keeled over.

Spike left the bar. He looked out at the horizon. Just at its edges the sky was turning red with a golden sun peek out. It was starting to rise. It had been over a century since Spike had seen a century. And if he stayed up to watch this one it would be his last. He had to act fast and get out of the sun. Yes, he wanted to be reunited with his beloved but there was nothing he could do for her if he was burned to ashes by the sun.

He had little time to formulate a plan. Across the street was a rundown apartment tenement. He ducked into the building. It was a rathole so there was no one to stop him from entering. He found a supply closet and stole a toolbox. Then he walked up to the first door he saw and knocked. A fat, balding answered.

Blimey! Hard pass, Spike thought.

"Sorry, wrong room."

Spike walked away and knocked on the door next to it. An attractive blonde dressed in a sports bra and yoga pants answered. She smiled and greeted her in Czech.

"I've come to fix your pipes," he said in English. Despite vacationing in Prague he didn't speak of word of Czech. He held up his tool box and flashed her a grin, hoping she got the message. He counted on the fact that in a shithole like this everyone would be calling on the inattentive super who probably never showed his face.

The woman's smile grew wider. His plan worked. She said something in Czech that he didn't understand then beckoned him in. He didn't need to speak the language to know it was an invitation.

Once inside Spike kicked the door closed and put down his toolbox. He grabbed the girl. She gasped. He pulled her close. She was intoxicating; she smelled like vanilla. He rubbed his hand on one side of her neck and stare at the other while his face changed into his vampire form. He could see her icy blue veins throbbing. She said something in a panicked tone. He still didn't speak the language but he knew what she was saying. They all said the same thing. She was begging for her life. His teeth sank into her neck. She screamed, but her cries of anguish quickly quieted. She died in his arms. He threw her lifeless body on the musty carpet.

Spike licked his lips. The woman had been delicious. A necessary snack to replenish his strength. He made his way to her bed, which was located in the same room of the tiny studio apartment, and tucked himself in underneath her brightly colored comforter. He slept. When he emerged from his slumber it was dark. It was time to find Drusilla.

The stronghold was located exactly where the Brechen said it would be. Spike had to walk through a forest to reach it. When the trees cleared he came upon a castle. It was like something out of a fairytale. The walls were made of gray stone and it stood nearly three stories high. The building seemed to go forever. It was just so large. Majestic. Spike was in awe of its beauty for a moment. But the moment passed. The key to finding Drusilla was inside.

Guards patrolled the area, with a group of four at the entrance and a few more scattered about. Spike could slowly kill each guard, one-by-one, picking them off easily and without a fight. He would have to be stealthy as to not drawn attention to himself, but it was his smartest option. Or he could just mount a frontal attack and kill anything that comes near him. He opted for the later.

He started by walking right up to the castle doors, vamping out his face and breaking one of the guards necks. Two of the other guards attacked him while the fourth called for backup on a walkie-talkie. He grabbed the two and smashed their head together, hard enough for them to crack open. They weren't dead yet so he threw one body at the fourth guard, knocking both men to the ground. He went back to the other survivor and pulled him close to his body. He took a bite out the man's jugular, killing him. The blood was warm.

Spike walked over to the other two guards, stepping on the neck of the one he had already injured and grabbed the last guard, picked him up and used him as a battering ram against the heavy steel door that served as the castle's entrance. He knew it would do nothing to the door but it brought a smile to Spike's face seeing the way the head cocked to the side when it hit. All four guards were dead.

The first reinforcement arrived to the scene. Spike decided to go for some old fashion punches with this guy. He hit him a few times. The guard got a lucky shot and landed a punch square on Spike's nose. Spike laughed then straggled the guy to death.

A few more guard arrived. The fighting continued. Ten minutes later Spike had killed over a dozen men. At that point Spike realized he had no idea how he was actually going to get into the building. He walked around the structure and when he reached the back he noticed a servant entrance.

The smell was putrid. He followed it into a kitchen filled with many workers. On the stainless steel counter laid the body of a dead demon that some workers, dressed like chefs, were cutting up.

Interesting appetite this one has, Spike thought.

The worker paid no attention to him so he was able to reach the hallway without a fight. The corridor was stone, just like the outside but it was furnished with Gothic artwork and interior design. If Spike had more time on his hands he probably would had admire the artwork. He probably would have found the dark themes homey. But he was on a mission.

Luckily the halls were barely guarded. Occasionally a guard would walk by and Spike would quickly kill with a clean neck break. He had no time to get fancy or for a fight. He had to find Dru.

He reached the highest point of the castle. The door was guarded by five men. Spike rolled his eyes and quickly killed one.

"I've killed every single guard in this castle, the bleein' ones outside, the soddin' ones in the hall and even your mate here. I can kill every single of one of ya but I really don't have ten more seconds to spare so I'll let ya run. Your choice, mates."

The four guards looked at each other with wide eyes and then ran past Spike and down the stairs. Because of the time he saved Spike fished through the pockets of his coat for his pack of cigarettes, pulled one out and lit it. He entered through the door and into tower.

Drusilla was lying on the floor. "You're the Devil's child and you do the Devil's deeds," Drusilla said. She was sitting of the floor, rocking back and forth and holding her head. "You're a bad, bad little girl. You'll hunt and you'll eat but it won't be enough. God doesn't want you and neither does Daddy anymore."

Spike ran towards his lover and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her neck and laughed. She was alive. Safe and sound and none the worse for wear. At least not as far as he could tell just yet. He wanted told hold her and never let go. But she squirmed in his arms.

"Don't touch me Demon. I'm clean. All washed up and now you've gotten mud on my pretty little dress." She looked at Spike with a glare and furrowed brow.

Spike didn't see the man with a devilish grin and bloody knife enter the room.

"Time for your bath, then we play," Drusilla said.

Spike looked up and saw the man. "What did ya do to her?" Drusilla had always been crazy but she always calmed down when Spike was near. She knew he could protect her.

"The impossible, my dear boy," the man said while staring at his knife.

"Human! Human! It crawls inside me," Drusilla screamed. "Can't get it out. Warm blood. So thirty."

Spike held her closer but he noticed something. Her skin was warm. He quickly examined her and stared at her moving chest. He placed his head next to her heart.

Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump.

"How?" Spike asked the man.

"Would you like me to show you?" the man said.

The man came closer but Spike did not move. His immortal lover was immortal no longer. She was human. With Drusilla gone what was the point of fighting back?