"And here it is. We can work together again. You can lead me to the Slayer, and I can take it from there."
        "Truth is I'm just nosing. I don't care to help you."
        "C'mon, Spike. You know you don't hate me."
        And there it is, what sets him off. 
       He grabs her wrist suddenly, slams it down against the table. "You're right, love," he says, casual and contradicting. "I don't hate you. I rehearsed hating you. Spent eighty years imagining how I'd put you down if I ever got the chance.
        His face is awfully close to hers. Lilith thinks he is going to go ahead and bite her, doesn't matter she isn't his first choice of meal. Demon and all. But all he does is smile, razor-sharp and mean. "Still might. Depends how bored I get."
        "Spikey!" sounds an angered female voice as a new pair of footsteps clatter the room. "You left me upstairs! I could've been killed by rats. Or, like, poor people."
        Spike pushes Lilith away and faces his girlfriend—who had just returned with perfect timing. Harmony stops cold when she sees Lilith, "Who's the skank?"
Spike deflects. "Her? Oh, just another lackey."
        Lilith glares at the back of his bleached head. 
        "I told you," Harmony reproaches, "I don't want female minions, especially not pretty ones."
        "Well, well..." Lilith looks her up and down. Blonde, barbie-like, dressed in pink. "She's not Dru."
        "Uh, no. I'm way better than her."
        "Left you again, didn't she?" 
        "Sod off."
        "She left him for a fungus demon. It's all he talks about most days." Harmony rolls her eyes.
        "Harm!"
        "Someone has a thing for demons."
        Spike glares at Lilith. "Quit it, would you?"
        She puts up her hands in defense.
        Harmony caresses Spike's arm, trying to soothe him. "So, Spikey, when do we get to announce ourselves? I want us to go on a date. Maybe you can finally kill the Slayer, that'll put you in a good mood."
        Lilith grabs Harmony by the shoulder, Harmony makes a face. "You know where to find her?"
        She nods. 
        Spike seizes the opportunity then. "Harmony, why don't you take Lilith over here, and tell her all about where to find the Slayer."


☀︎


        College party. Two nights later. That's where this gets her. 
        Harmony blabbers and blabbers and blabbers. Lilith wants to punch a hole through her throat, but she admits Harmony is better company than most of the guys around here. Besides, Harmony occasionally spills useful information—like how tonight's party is at the same college Buffy attends, or that time she let slip why Spike was digging so many holes at the Hellmouth.
        The Gem of Amarra. 
        Spike is looking for the one thing that will render him completely immortal, Lilith likes to toy with the idea of stealing it from him. A legendary jewel. Maybe she can sell it on eBay. 
        But most of her conversations with Harmony are about her latest obsession: becoming a supervillain.
        Lilith adjusts her black, backless top in the mirror, Harmony sprawled on the bed behind her in a pink satin skirt. "How do I look?" Harmony asks, spinning halfway. "Be honest. Does this make me look fat?"