intuitivelyapt

[ she heaves an exhale of surprise when she feels the knife meet its mark and bury in his spine. her hands stay rooted to it for a minute in disbelief, then she slowly moves them away and lets him slump forward, stepping back some and looking grim. it takes a moment, but then she looks at spike. ]

Got your worldhopper thing?

[He pulls out the lighter, looking a bit sad a second before he dashes it.] Got it, luv. [Spike's getting up, dropping a hand to her shoulder and then they're in Santa Verde. He winces--it is still daylight--but nothing happens. Different dimension thing, it gets him every time.] You alright?

[ she's visibly distracted for a minute, because it's never easy to get used to the time/space-warp deal. when she looks back at him, the distraction seems to persist at first. ]

I've had better days. [ but as she hesitates for a moment, that distraction turns to a stern, grim resignation. ] You're gonna pull it out as soon as you get back, aren't you? [ it comes across like an accusation. ]

[He tips his head to the side, confused a second.] Is that how I bring him back? [Oh wait, that was a question for him first.] What else would I do with him?

You could always do the world a favor and burn it. [ bitter? not at all. ] He's obviously not all that reformed if he's still going all psycho kidnapper! He's just a liar. And when he snaps again like he did with Elle, guess whose fault it'll be?

You think I should kill him. [There's no emotion in his voice, he's just having a hard time following Claire right now.] I should've...

I'm sorry.

[ claire is being highly unfair right now, but she can't help it. she's emotional. and when she's emotional, she gets biased and violent and vengeful. it's a fatal flaw, but that's not gonna stop her. there's an obvious effort towards keeping her tone even instead of letting her emotions run away with her. ]

Did he ever tell you? What he did to me. What he did to all of those people. Everyone that he's hurt -- and he's not sorry for a single one. The only thing he's sorry for is that people see him for what he is.

You're probably right. [It's all he says for a long moment, patting his pockets for cigarettes.] And you have every right, bein' mad at me. Stake me where I stand, if that's what you want.

Or you could sit down with me and I could tell you a story.

I'm not going to stake you. [ For starters, Willow would be mad. On top of that, she really does believe Willow's explanation about Spike's redemption and seeing him want to give Sylar a chance instead of just being evil with him kind of hammered that in. Made it feel more real. ] ... What kind of story?

[He sits down in the grass, gesturing for her to follow.] Surreal, having the Sun on my face like this.

[ With a sigh, she moves to sit beside him, getting comfortable and flopping back onto her back. ] It doesn't hurt?

[Spike shakes his head, stretching out beside her.] Different dimension, different rules.

Maybe you should seriously consider a cross-dimension move. It'd do wonders for your tan. [ She pauses, looking conflicted for a minute, then fixing him with a resigned look. ] If you're thinking this is gonna distract me, you're wrong. I want him dead, and that's not going to change. Not ever. If you won't do it, I will. This isn't the first time I've killed him.