Mr Spike

Author: Lilithangel

Fandom: AtS/BtVS

Characters: Spike

Rating/Warnings: kind of sad contains references to death.

Summary: Spike has a place he goes to do something nobody would expect of him. It started when he had the chip. He doesn’t know why he’s still goes because it hurts sometimes, but Mr Spike is the one who does good because it’s good and not for any other reason.



It started back in Sunnydale after he was chipped. He was in the hospital looking for ways of getting hold of blood. In everything else Sunnydale was deaf, blind and dumb to the actions of demons but when it came to the blood collection team well Spike had begun to think they employed some sort of new slayer. The woman in charge never left her guard down.

So he’d resorted to sneaking into wards and looking for unconscious patients hooked up and stealing sips where he could. It was downright humiliating but far less than relying on Buffy and her little gang.

He’d slipped into a room and found himself face to face with someone sneaking out.

“Who are you?” the young voice asked.

“Nobody,” Spike replied, “why are you out of bed?” he asked, curious despite himself.

“Couldn’t sleep.”

It was a young girl; maybe eight years old, Spike wasn’t sure. Her hair was shaved off and she had the unmistakable scent of death about her. Before the chip he would have taken her back to Drusilla for a treat. Drusilla liked the tang of disease sometimes; she said it made her tongue tingle.

“Who are you?” she asked again, “you don’t look like a doctor.”

“Not a doctor,” he said, “you can call me Mr Spike if you like. I was just taking a look around.”

“You’re not supposed to wander around the hospital,” she said.

“What were you doing then?” he said, raising an eyebrow at her.

“It’s boring being stuck in bed all the time,” she said.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Maddie” she said. She had on brightly coloured pyjamas and a pink robe and was clutching a yellow duck.

“What’s wrong with you?” Maybe he was lonelier than he realised, but he found himself unwilling to retreat from the room.

“Cancer,” she said simply, “mom cries a lot when she thinks I’m sleeping and I have to spend a lot of time in hospital.”

“That’s too bad,” he said. He’d never had much time for kids except as snacks for Dru but the little girl was so matter of fact about being sick he was captivated.

“Will you tell me a story?” she looked at him hopefully.

“I don’t know any,” Spike said.

“Everyone knows stories,” Maddie said, “why is your hair so white?”

“Cause I like it,” Spike said, “get back into bed then and I’ll tell you a story.”

She grinned and jumped back into bed. Luckily Spike had been used to telling Dru stories when she was sick and he still remembered some fairytales from his human days so he managed to put together something to keep Maddie happy until she fell asleep.

He came back the next night to finish the story and she told him there was a little boy down the hall who wanted to meet him to. Danny was younger than Maddie and had a hole in his heart that they couldn’t fix. To humour her he visited and found that Danny was more frightened than Maddie but easier to entertain.

Maddie’s face was streaked with tears when he arrived one night. She threw herself at him when he walked in and he found himself in the unusual situation of hugging a distraught little girl. He hummed a song barely remembered from his childhood until she fell into an exhausted sleep. When he checked Danny’s room was empty and waiting for the next patient and he guessed that Danny hadn’t just gone home.

After the First and the amulet and then his own visit to hospital after Dana chopped his hands off Spike found himself in the children’s ward.

There was no Maddie or Danny, but there was a Suzie and a Debbie, and two Jasons. One Jason had Cystic Fibrosis and had trouble breathing especially when he got excited. Suzie and Debbie had types of cancer and the other Jason had muscular dystrophy. All four were as loud and active as their conditions would allow. They had good days and bad days but every night was a good night when Mr Spike came to visit.

Suzie was the youngest (five and a half please) and loved to curl up in Spike’s lap when he told them stories and play with the buttons on his jacket. Both Jasons wanted to be Spike when they grew up and broke a little bit of his heart every time they said so.

Debbie curled into his lap one night after Suzie had fallen asleep and Spike listened to her heart stutter and slow. Once upon a time he wouldn’t have cared, once upon a time he would have drained her rather than waste good blood. This upon a time Spike held her until she was cold and then tucked her in one last time.

Debbie was replaced by Sam and Suzie went home when the chemo worked and Spike smelt her tumour shrink. Both Jasons came and went as their conditions dictated always knowing that Mr Spike would visit when he could.

Nobody knew about Mr Spike’s visits except the children. The nurses and parents thought it was an elaborate fantasy they had woven between them and Spike never mentioned it to anyone.

Mr Spike laughed, told stories and chased monsters away, but not even Mr Spike could chase death away. The children didn’t expect him to because in this at least children are wiser than adults. The children knew that Mr Spike was death but they didn’t mind because he was a lot more fun than their parents thought he would be.

END