A/N: Hola! Okay, it's been a long, long time since I've written a Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel story, so I'm a little rusty. This story came to me in a rush and then in bits and pieces, so the flow is choppy and it's rushed. This isn't my best piece of work, I just had to get it down and if that's a problem with you, please hold back your troll-ish flames and be nice about it.

This will remain a one-shot and if I ever get the idea to make the OC have her own story with its background profiles and key roles, then I will do it. But this is not the time. Please read and review and remember that I warned you.

OOOOOOOOO

"You either want something or you're passing through," the redhead said, picking through the liquor cabinet. "So which is it, Fangy?"

The vampire tilted his head to the side, watching her with a smirk on his face. It was more staring at her ass than watching her, he had to admit. But with the view like that, how could he not? He caught himself wondering how she managed to fit into those tight jeans and thanked the Powers That Be that she had been able to do so.

"Just wondering what you're doing picking through Angel's liquor on a patrol night," Spike said, leaning lightly against the doorway.

"Who do you think you are? My mother?" The redhead found a bottle and closed the door though Spike could see that the lock was busted. She straightened and turned her bronze gaze on him. "Because news flash: my mother is long dead."

Spike smirked. "It's not news. I've heard you in your room during the day, love. You're not as quiet as you think you are."

The redhead didn't look embarrassed as she casually brushed back the curtain of hair that fell in her face. Two small horns stood out at her temples, marking her for the part-demon that she was. It always made Spike laugh – inwardly of course – to think that a Slayer could have been formed from a human mother and a demonic father. Surely there were codes against that somewhere in the history of the world.

Sticking her chin out defiantly, the redhead glared at him. "Maybe you should mind your own business and cool down on your sounds too." Her gaze slid towards the balcony off the side of the room. "I'm getting bored now. So unless you want to join me in drunken company, stop talking to me and get lost." She shook the bottle and grabbed onto the door handle. "El Vino Wannabe can keep me company…"

Without waiting for an answer, she slid through the door and left Spike staring at the spot she'd previously stood. Spike sauntered out onto the balcony a few moments later and saw her sitting casually against the railing, looking out at the world with the now-open bottle of liquor resting on her knee. Her bronze colored eyes hardly flit in his direction as he slid the door closed behind him.

"Something bothering you, Sharr?" he asked, plopping gracefully onto the floor across from her. "Besides the usual Slayer stuff?"

The Slayer shrugged a shoulder, continuing to look out at the world around them. "Just some family things…which are none of your business."

"Never said I wanted to get into the lives of your brothers and dad, love. Just wondering what's up with your life that has got you swigging alcohol like a sailor without sharing…"

Sharr tipped the bottle to her lips and took a hearty swig before offering him the bottle. "Didn't think vamps had a taste for alcohol…"

"We can't taste anything but blood, that's true," Spike said, taking a swig. "But that doesn't mean we can't enjoy the bite of alcohol." He turned the bottle in his hands and looked at the label. "Nice brew, but the alcohol level might be too much for you, love."

The Slayer reached for the bottle and sent a dirty look in his direction. "It is not. It would take a lot more than just one bottle of this to even get me buzzed." She tapped a finger against one of her horns. "Benefits of being half-demon."

"And a sex-demon at that," Spike agreed, glancing towards the door. "You know, Angel's got a bunch of bottles that he never drinks from. Care to partake in them?"

"You want me drunk. You want me so wasted that I'll forget how much you annoy me and hump the hell out of you." Her nose wrinkled in disgust. "Well Fangy, you're gonna have to get me really drunk for me to even consider it."

"Challenge accepted."

"Stupid vampires and their hot bodies," Sharr muttered under her breath, taking the bottle to her mouth once more. "Always trying to get into a succubus' pants…"

Spike smirked at her and climbed to his feet, heading back inside. Out of all the Slayers that he'd been around since the Sunnydale destruction, not one had been able to resist his charms. His accent and cockiness had earned him several bedmates and a fan-base that would drop their pants at any moment if he wanted them to. Even Buffy had joined him a couple times since The First had been knocked out of the game, but that was old news.

And then there was Sharr.

Sharr had turned up among the newly-turned Slayer group in LA and she had stuck out like a sore thumb. She stood taller than most of the Slayers and didn't have the stick-thin figure that most boasted. She was thick and curvy and mostly muscle as he found out when he sparred with her. Sharr followed the rules only when her fellow Slayers were in danger and annoyed the hell out of Buffy by sneaking off to do things on her own.

Spike smirked when he thought about how many times Buffy had said, "If she dies, I'm going to kill her. I really will."

Obviously that hadn't happened and Sharr had wound up in Angel's territory, far away from Buffy Summers and what remained of the Scooby Gang. She never returned his advances, keeping up a cold indifference to him as she did with most people – something that he didn't understand really.

She was a succubus – a demon that lived, breathed, and embodied sex. He was himself – sexy as hell for a vampire of his nature. She should have been in someone's bed every night, preferably his, but she wasn't. As far as he knew, no one had gotten into her bed. At her age, she was the abnormal succubus because everyone knew that a succubus started experimenting with sex as soon as puberty hit. An eighteen year old virgin succubus was a rare, an almost impossible find and he was standing within feet of one.

All those buggers wanting to get into her pants, Spike thought, pulling the door off the liquor cabinet to get Angel even angrier about the situation. And she's not having any of it. Never even comes close to liking them. But why not me?

Spike picked through the different liquors. Sure, he'd caught her looking at him when they were working out before the nightly patrol. He'd seen her bite her bottom lip and look away when he openly looked at her, Sharr pretending that she hadn't been staring. There were moments where she would open up to him about what she was feeling or thinking about, but she kept him at a distance. He knew more about her than most of her girlfriends and even with all the soul talks she had with Angel, Spike still felt his relationship with her was closer than all of the other relationships she had in the past.

"She's like the half-demon form of Faith," Cordelia had said to him and Angel while Sharr was far out of earshot. "Only not so much keen on having sex as she is killing people…Bad people, but she still is like Faith…"

Sharr is nothing like Faith, Spike thought bitterly, pulling five more bottles out of the cabinet. There's more to her than rage and meaningless sex…Like her laugh and the pranks. Sharr is more than she lets the world see.

"Hey Fangy!" Sharr's voice floated from the outside world, breaking Spike from his thoughts. "What's taking you so long? I've already finished half the bottle. Where are you? And more importantly, where are the other alcohol bottles you promised me?"

"Coming your way," Spike called out to her, grabbing another bottle though his hands were already full.

"Ah yes," Sharr said, smiling. "My friend has come to visit…And look. It brought a neutered vampire with it."

Spike looked at her with a cocked eyebrow. "This vampire ain't neutered where it counts, love, and I can prove it if you'd like."

The Halfling's bronze gaze slid over his body and then back up again. Spike saw her bite her bottom lip and caught himself wandering what it would feel like to have her lips against his. The succubus shook her head with an inaudible mutter and brought her bottle back to her lips, ruining the moment.

"So, you were saying why you were drinking away everything," Spike said, taking a seat next to her with the alcohol bottles providing a small buffer zone between them.

"I didn't say anything. I just said that I was having a bunch of family issues that I didn't want to talk about." She tilted back the bottle she had started with, finishing off the last few swigs. "At least, not sober."

"Ah, so there is a way to get into the deep, dark recesses of your brain."

Sharr glared at him and tossed the now empty bottle into the nearest planter. "Haven't you learned that people's brains are not to be messed with? Pry too much and someone ends up insane."

"Insane, but insanely in love with someone else…That's always a welcome tradeoff."

"I wouldn't know. If you haven't noticed, this girl hasn't had any boyfriends in the last six months. That one demon ruined dating me anyone for the next eight years."

"Ooh…He was that bad?"

"Totally the worst…He hit me with green slime that smelled worse than bad eggs and it came from a very bad place."

"Down there?" Spike asked, waving a hand in the direction of his lower extremities.

"Nope, it came from his second nose under his chin. It got everywhere and he told me that it was a sign that I was now his property." Sharr grabbed another bottle and popped the top off of it. "He ruined one of my favorite shirts, so I chopped his head off." A wry smile turned up the corner of her lips. "And yes, it was that head."

Spike sucked in a breath of sympathy for his fellow male and shook his head. "Ouch."

The succubus' eyes lit up with silent laughter as she took another hearty swig of liquor. "Do you know I almost dated a woman? Just the run of the mill vampire chick."

"Was she attractive?"

"Well, she wasn't an eyesore. Nice body, horrible attitude." Sharr shrugged a shoulder. "Liked biting a lot and then I found her in an orgy with four other people. She had the audacity to ask me if I wanted to join when she caught me watching." She knocked back another swig. "Killed all of their asses that night and moved on with my life in a blaze of fire."

"That was you?"

"Uh-huh…" Sharr looked at him and the smallest hint of a smile turned up the corner of her lips. "Wanna play a game?"

"Depends on the game, love." Spike looked into her eyes and smirked himself. "And judging by the way you're looking at me, I think it'll be a good one."

OOOOOOOOO

The potted plant on the balcony was soon overflowing with empty liquor bottles and Angel's liquor cabinet was empty of everything but the fruity drinks. Sharr's words weren't as slurred as a normal drunk person's and she wasn't very giggly like some of the girls that Spike had been with. She smiled and tipped back the last bottle, a soft glow in her bronze eyes.

"Good to the last drop, my ass," Sharr muttered, tossing the bottle at the planter. "Ain't got any bite to it once you get halfway through it."

"Love, that was wine," Spike said, glancing at her with a small smile. "It's not supposed to have any bite to it."

"Oh…" Sharr sighed and leaned her head against Spike's shoulder. "Wonder where The Brooder is…It's getting late. Too late for vamps to be out in the world…"

Spike didn't really care about the time or where his grand-sire was. After five hours of drinking with the succubus, he had learned so much about her. So much that he could relate to, that he felt he had already known about her, and how much he really wanted to be with her. He felt like he had finally got her to trust him – even if it was because of the loosening the alcohol had done to her tongue – and now he was hungry for more.

The vampire turned his head slightly and looked at the succubus out of the corner of his eye. "Sharr, can I ask you something?"

"You just did, but yeah. Ask away."

"Why do you hate me so much?" Spike asked, turning his gaze back out at the world where the horizon was slowly growing brighter.

"I don't…I don't hate you. Where'd you get that idea?"

"From your mouth, love."

Sharr shifted her position and lifted her head from Spike's shoulder. Her bronze eyes turned in his direction and glowed slightly in the dim light. The succubus bit her bottom lip again.

"Look Spike, I say that I hate a lot of people and most of the time I mean it," she said slowly, almost like she was picking her words carefully. "Succubi can tell when someone is not going to be a nice person and know how to distance themselves from future threats…That's why I don't let anyone come too close to me. Yeah, I work with people I hate like Summers and the newbie Slayers, but that's for survival issues…And I'm not ostracizing you from my life because you're a guy – I just can't get too close to someone like you or Angel or Lorne. People get hurt that way and I'm not going to be responsible for it."

"Sharr -"

"The thing is that I want a relationship. A meaningful one, but I can't. It's not in my breeding and it's not what the Powers will let me have. I like someone deeply and that's something that the world will throw in my face while taking that person away for good." The succubus leaned forward slightly, draping her hands over her knees. "Succubi can't really stay in love with anyone for very long or so my siblings and friends say…"

"But you're only half-succubus," Spike commented and immediately knew that he had said something wrong by the look on the demon's face. "Sorry."

Sharr shook her head and looked away from him, closing her eyes. Her silence left Spike feeling awkward as he stared at her. His hand wanted to snake around her and pull her close to him. He wanted to breathe in the scent of her shampoo and feel the warmth of her body against his as he held her in a hug that would never end.

Control yourself, Spike told himself.

"Everything gets harder tomorrow night," Sharr whispered to herself. "And there's nothing I can do about it." Her bronze colored eyes turned to look at Spike again. "Why does love have to be so hard?"

"Nothing in the world that's worth having is easy. Trust me, if love was easy – no one would want to feel it."

The succubus sighed and swiped a hand across her face before standing up. She leaned her hips against the railing of the balcony, her back to Spike. "It's not fair…Why can't there be more time? Something to change this stupid outcome…Why did you do this to yourself, Sharr? Why, dammit?"

"What's wrong?" Spike asked, rising to his feet.

"I can't…I can't…" The succubus shook her head. "Not today…tonight. I don't want to. I want – I want…"

Spike placed a hand on her arm and squeezed it. "Sharr -"

The Slayer turned her face towards him and he saw tears swimming in her bronze eyes. As far as he knew, she never cried in front of anyone. Behind closed doors he could always hear her sniffling, especially at night, but the tears always dried up when someone opened the door. To see her showing this vulnerability made his heart clench painfully in his chest.

Sharr leaned forward and brushed her lips against his, lightly at first and then with more pressure. It took only a heartbeat for Spike to respond and pull her tightly against him. As he kissed her, he could feel the draw of her succubus nature pulling him in, making his head swim with the taste of her and the alcohol he'd consumed. Heat rose from his toes to his head, drawing him into the kiss more and more with each passing second.

The succubus pulled her lips away from his, breathing heavily and rested her forehead against his. "Why couldn't I have realized this sooner?" she whispered.

"It's never too late," Spike whispered back.

Sharr pressed her lips against his once more and then pulled herself from his arms, her head bowed and her arms hugging her body. "Yes. Yes, it is. Goodbye Spike."

The succubus stepped back into the main building and was gone before he could say anything to stop her. A moment later, he heard the door to her room open and close. Confused, Spike looked out at the horizon which was growing even paler.

"What'd she mean 'goodbye'?" he wondered aloud. "It's goodnight…"

OOOOOOOOO

Spike found himself awake at six in the evening with a small headache that he knew a small glass of blood would fix. The place was quiet – too quiet to be normal. Pushing himself off the bed, he wandered over to the wall and placed his ear against it, listening hard.

Nothing.

Not one hint of a heartbeat came to him through the thin wall.

Maybe she's eating? Spike thought, pushing himself away and heading for the door. Or exercising or something…

A quick scan of the nearest rooms told him that the succubus was nowhere in the house. The only person there, save himself, was his grandsire. Angel looked up from the paperwork on his desk and Spike saw the knowing look in his eyes. A look that he detested to high hell.

"Rough night?" Angel asked, setting his pen down.

"Up to now, no not really."

"Well, the broken door on the liquor cabinet and the absence of more than two-thirds of the alcohol tells a different tale."

"I wasn't drinking alone."

"Who was the date then?"

"Someone you know, not that it's any of your business. And I am not going to fill that bloody box up again, so don't bother asking." He glanced around the room again. "Where's the Slayer?"

"Obviously not here and wherever she went, she didn't seem too happy. Did you do something to her that pissed her off more than normal?"

"No, I didn't. Not that I know of." Spike glared at his grandsire. "Why do you always assume that it's me who pisses everyone off?"

"Because you have a bad habit of pissing people off. And she was pissed big time. So what did you do?"

"Nothing. We drank your piss-poor lot of alcohol and talked the night away. We kissed and she ran off into her room. That's it." Though I wish it was more.

"You kissed her?"

"Only after she threw herself at me. To tell you the truth, I didn't think that kissing was something that succubi did. Just the nasty and off onto the next thing." Spike's brow furrowed. "Must be the half-human side of her."

Angel sighed heavily and rose to his feet, raking a hand over his face. "It was just kissing, right? Nothing else? No make-out session? No…action."

"I wouldn't be standing here if there had been more action. I'd be in her room – or mine – going onto round seven or something." Angel paced away from Spike, causing the younger vampire to cock an eyebrow. "Why's that so important?"

"Because she's betrothed to a demon lord and is supposed to be married to him soon." Angel looked at Spike once more. "You really didn't know?"

"Y'know Sharr isn't always forthcoming with information…How could she have left that part of her life out of the Opening of Her Heart last night?"

"The letter came to her yesterday morning while we were sparring. Her father knows that she is still a virgin and that gave him some leverage when it came to getting the power he wanted all along. Why try to build an army of incubi on your own when you can barter for a larger army and a higher status with a rare virgin succubus adult as the offering?" Angel's dark eyes seemed haunted. "She didn't want Buffy to know because that would just add fuel to the fire. And you – she didn't want you to know for reasons she wouldn't tell me."

Spike smacked his hand against the wall, holding back the demon in his flesh. "She told me that she loved me…Maybe not in those exact words, but the message came across. Why didn't she tell me what the hell was going on?" He pushed himself away from the wall and reached for the phone on the desk. "I'm going to get some bloody answers."

Angel watched him as the younger vampire dialed the number for Sharr's cell phone. After all that he had learned, Spike thought it was likely that the Slayer wouldn't have brought her cell phone with her, wherever she was. But after two rings, someone answered.

"Yeah Angel?" Sharr's voice floated over the phone.

"Guess again," Spike said, his tone clipped with his annoyance. "Try for someone hotter than The Brooder."

"Spike…" The Slayer sighed heavily. "What do you want?"

"You to get your ass back here and give me some answers! That's what I bloody want from you!" Spike couldn't keep the growl out of his voice. "You've got some explaining to do, Sharr!"

"Well, you obviously know that I'm getting married," Sharr said, almost wearily. "To a demon lord named R'hal like my damn father wants."

"It's not what you want though, right?" The succubus was silent. "Right?"

"Spike, I've learned very quickly in the past two days that it doesn't matter what I want. I am a succubus – a sex demon – and am basically a slave to whoever bones me. Okay, so maybe I could have chosen the people I'd sleep with, but still…" Her breath hitched slightly. "There's no point in talking about that. I've got less than five hours to get ready and Lorne promised to help me with my hair."

The vampire glanced up when someone entered the room. Lorne was holding an envelope and peering at the letter within.

"Hey Angel, what's with the marriage -?" Lorne stopped when he saw that Angel wasn't alone in the room. "Oh…"

A soft growl built up in Spike's throat as he glared at the green singing demon. Lorne held up his hands in surrender, stepping around the desk so that it was between him and the pissed vampire.

"Lorne just showed up, didn't he?" Sharr asked before cursing under her breath. "Damn him and his stupid timing…Damn!"

"Sharr! Where the hell are you?" Spike demanded, sending one last glare in the direction of the green demon.

"Still in LA with lots of people living in rooms around me. And don't think that you can sniff me out. There are a lot of reeking people and I can barely keep my food down around them, so imagine your poor nose coming here. Not pretty, but probably hysterical." She coughed. "There's nothing you can do to change this, Spike. Trust me, I've looked for loopholes with the Powers and got zilch for my troubles."

"There are always ways to change things," Spike said, the growl dimming a little. "Just tell me where you are and we can find some."

"No, Spike. I have to do this and there is nothing you can do."

"I can't let you go, Sharr."

"You're gonna have to learn how to. I've had to."

"Then why did you tell me that you loved me?" Spike demanded, forgetting about the people in the room. "Why did you sit with me for hours, spilling your heart out to me? Why did you kiss me and why haven't you hung up the phone?"

"Spike –"

"I'll tell you why. You want someone to stop this. You want someone to come after you and fight for you. You want someone to save the day and bring you home. You want someone to care enough to listen to you and what you want."

He could barely hear her breathing on the other end of the phone.

"Well Princess, I'm going to find you and I'm to make you see that you are freer than you thought. That someone does love you and will die fighting for you. And that someone is me. I'm not going to let you go, not as long as I still walk on this damn planet. You hear me?"

"You don't have a lot of time to do any of that," Sharr told him, her voice so soft and broken that he knew she was fighting back tears. "I'll be leaving during the Once Upon A Time cliché hour and there's no way you can find the place I'm getting ready at before then because of the sun. I'm sorry Spike, but you can't play the knight in shining armor and there won't be any 'happy ever after's' for us. I'm sorry…"

The Slayer hung up the phone and Spike stared at his before tossing it aside. He raked his hand over his face, telling the demon within his flesh to calm down. The slightest movement of the green demon and Angel had him glaring at them. Lorne almost seemed to shrink under the heated stare and held his hands where Spike could see them as if that would save him.

"You two know something and you're going to tell me what or I'll bash your skulls in with a paperweight," Spike threatened, pointing at the said object. "So start talking."

Lorne glanced at Angel and then slowly reached into the breast pocket of his flamboyantly colored suit jacket. "I shouldn't be doing this…I really shouldn't be doing this…" He pulled out a piece of folded paper. "You didn't get this from me, okay? Sharr would kill me if she found out that I gave you that and she's a lot scarier than you, Spike."

Spike ripped the piece of paper from Lorne's hands and unfolded it. His brow furrowed as he read the words scribbled across the page. Angel stepped up next to him, but didn't glance down at the paper.

"Spike," he began. "Do you know what you're doing? You're fighting for someone who may not love you as much as you love her. Can you go through that kind of thing again? With Buffy -"

"This is different!" Spike growled, crushing the paper in his hand. "Sharr is not Buffy, Drusilla, or any of the bitches in my past. She isn't like them at all and I can't let her go. Not to someone that she could never love. And there's nothing you can do to stop me."

Angel reached under his desk and said, "Then you're going to need this…"

OOOOOOOOO

Sharr was standing on the beach by a group of people when Spike saw her. Her body was clothed in a white dress embroidered with purple flowers – tight enough in places to showcase her assets while maintaining some form of modesty. The redhead's eyes were downcast as a man with slightly similar features spoke to the demons around them. Spike thought he could see her trembling, but didn't know if it was from fear, sadness, or anger, and that had him taking longer strides with Angel and Lorne hurrying behind him.

"Hey Ugly!" Spike called out, watching demon after demon turn in his direction. "Yeah, I'm talking to all of you! Wedding's not happening, so all of you gits can get!"

"Spike," Sharr whispered, her bronze eyes lifting to meet his and widening in alarm. "What are you -?"

"Told you I was coming for you, didn't I?" Spike said, coming within feet of her before demonic guards stepped in the way. "Now which one of you ugly freaks is trying to steal the girl away in the name of illegal marriage?"

"The girl has been betrothed, Vampire," a demon with horns sprouting on the edges of his face said, stepping forward with a sword in hand. "She will be cared for and raised to higher living than any you could offer."

Spike stared at the demon for a moment before cocking an eyebrow in Sharr's direction. "You're leaving me for this? He's uglier than hell and probably thirty times older than you. He reeks and would make very ugly babies if you didn't get killed by his hundred spikes during -"

"Spike, he's not…" Sharr began.

"I am not the succubus' betrothed," the demon stated, cutting across Sharr. "I am the humble viceroy for the Great King R'hal."

"Well, then. That's good. You're not attractive enough to keep her around for very long." Spike glanced around at the other demons. "Then which one of you other ugly freaks is R'hal?"

The crowd of demon guards split and a tall demon sporting a silver circlet on his brow stepped forward. Four horns curled up from his temples – two to each side of his face – and his eyes burned red. There was a strange sense of attractiveness to the man that Spike couldn't understand and was at the same time jealous of. His face spoke of the Grecian type of handsomeness and he sported a long mane of messy black hair. The demon lord stood at least two feet taller than Spike and was twice as broad at the shoulders than Spike would ever be. And the long sword slung across his back told the vampire that the demon lord was stronger than he looked.

"I am King R'hal," the demon said, glaring down at Spike. "And you will hold your tongue or I will cut it from your mouth and give it to my bride as a wedding present."

Spike glanced past the demon lord and saw Sharr had a disgusted look on her face. "Yeah, I don't think she wants my tongue in that fashion, little man. Plus, she ain't going to be going to any hell-dimension with you – bride or not."

"You can't stop it," the man next to Sharr said, reaching out and clamping a hand around Sharr's upper arm. "My blood and R'hal's blood have been crossed on the oath. Sharr will marry the great king and I shall have what I want the most."

"Yeah, can't see that happening. I don't want it to happen and…" His brow lifted as his eyes met Sharr's. "And she doesn't want it to happen either."

"It doesn't matter what she wants," the incubus said, squeezing tighter. "Only the great king's wants count…"

"And yours, Dad," Sharr whispered, her voice almost drowned out by the ocean nearby.

Spike turned his eyes back onto the demon lord and said, "We're on Earth right now. And in America –land of the free and home of the brave – everyone is allowed to make their own choices. Succubi included." He waved a hand towards Sharr. "Let her speak up."

"No," the incubus and R'hal said at the same time.

"If it is the succubus you want, then you must fight for her," R'hal said, pulling his sword from the sling on his back. "And you will die."

Spike smirked and pulled out the sword that Angel had let him borrow. "Yeah, I don't think I will be the one dying here, git. They don't call me 'William the Bloody' for no reason."

"I have never lost in battle," R'hal declared, gesturing for his party to step back with a careless wave. "And I won't fall today."

"We'll see about that."

OOOOOOOOO

Spike stood over the bleeding and kneeling King R'hal, his sword stained deep crimson and swiped his hand across the side of his face, smearing blood where it touched his flesh. The demon lord panted, clutching his arm against his chest where it bled freely from the stump his hand was once attached to. R'hal glared up at the vampire with burning red eyes, challenging him in his silence. The demon's sword was plunged deep in the sand, far out of reach for the demon lord who had fought so hard.

"You lose," Spike told him, pointing the tip of his sword at the demon's throat.

"Kill me then," R'hal commanded, blood dribbling out of the corner of his mouth. "Kill me and take the succubus."

"I've never been the one to listen to the commands of a beaten foe," Spike said, taking a step back. "King or not, you're not going to be bossing me around." He twitched the sword. "Now go. Take your group of ugly blighters and leave town. Go back to whatever hellhole you came from and take him –" he pointed at Sharr's father " – with you."

"An honorable man would kill me," R'hal told him, trying to climb to his feet as his guards stood back. "A king disgraced in battle is not worth living. I will not stand for this."

Spike knocked the demon's knees out with the flat of his blade, sending him crashing to the ground. "Then stay down there. It doesn't matter to me what happens to you now. You've lost and I've won, so I get to make the decisions." He turned and approached Sharr, who was watching him with wide eyes. "Hey there, love. What do you say we get going and find a nice big bottle of scotch?"

The succubus reached into the top of her dress and pulled out a silver knife, pushing him aside without saying a word. The knife flew past him and embedded itself in the shoulder of R'hal as Spike watched. The demon lord's grip on his sword faltered and blood spilled onto his shirt. The demon lord glared up at the people standing in opposition and a soft growl escaped his lips as pain clouded his eyes.

"You will kill me," the demon lord said through clenched teeth. "A true warrior would." His eyes shifted onto Sharr. "I will not stop hunting for the succubus as long as there is air in my lungs. She will be mine, virgin or not."

Sharr shook her head at him and moved closer to Spike. "No…"

R'hal's viceroy stepped forward, his hand resting on the hilt of his own sword. "Vampire, take your party and the succubus away from here. As victor, you will be permitted to leave unhindered by the sworn. Leave and live in peace."

Spike nodded and tossed his sword back to Angel. He slid an arm around Sharr's waist, which she promptly removed, and ushered his small posse away from the crashed wedding site. His ears picked up the sound of a sword being unsheathed, the whisper of the metal going through air, and a small thud of something hitting the ground. He knew that he didn't need to look back to know that the demon lord was very much dead.

He won't be bothering us anymore, Spike thought with the barest hint of a smirk.

OOOOOOOOO

Sharr sat next to Spike on the balcony with a glass of scotch held loosely in her hand. She hadn't said much since they had returned home. No offerings of gratitude. No chiding about how stupid he'd been to challenge a demon lord. Just silence.

The succubus Halfling sighed and looked out at the world still lit up even though most of the city was asleep. "Spike…" she began quietly. "I…I thank…"

"You don't have to thank me," Spike said, shrugging a shoulder. "All I did was save you from becoming the unfortunate bride of the Great R'hal and cause a new war between those ugly blighters about who is the next king…No thanks needed for that, love."

Sharr smiled slightly at him, biting her bottom lip. "Of course not…" She bumped her shoulder against his. "But thanks anyway, Fangy."

"You're welcome, Slayer."

"Can I tell you something?" Sharr asked after a few minutes passed in comfortable silence. Spike nodded and the Slayer turned her gaze on him. "I hate you because deep down, I love you. You're not the knight in shining armor that girls dream about, but you're the asshole vampire that I want to spend time with."

Spike quirked up an eyebrow and looked at her. "What?"

"And I understand if you don't want to be in a relationship…God knows that I deserve to suffer a bit after all the shit I've pulled, but I had to tell you." She took a deep breath. "I had to tell you that I loved you, just in case I never get the chance to again."

A smile stretched across Spike's face and he placed a hand on her knee, squeezing it gently. "You'll get plenty of chances, love. Because neither of us is going anywhere any time soon and I'll make sure of that." He leaned closer to her, his nose just brushing against hers. "And I'll tell you something I've wanted to tell you for a long time. I love you, Sharr. And nothing is going to take that feeling away."

Sharr's bronze eyes filled with emotion. "And we're not going to tell Buffy about this?"

"Of course not. We can't always let her be right," Spike agreed before stealing a kiss from the succubus. "It'll be our own little secret and that'll make it more fun…Now, how about we make that pretty dress of yours disappear?"

Sharr laughed and let him pull her away from the balcony and into his room…

OOOOOOOOO

A/N: For those of you who managed to stick around until the end, thank you. You have greater patience than I would have. Not much description was placed in here and I am sorry for the rush, but I had to get this out. Flames will be welcomed but helpful critiques are what I really want. I need some guidance about how I could make this better and you are probably the best people to come to. Thank you in advance for any help and for reading this story. Thanks! –Scarlet