Banner by Copykween

Title: Just a Little Spell 12/9/04 Author: Slaymesoftly

Rating: NC17

Word Count 100,590

Season IV – begins during Something Blue Summary of this part - Short, sort of mild pwp, from Buffy’s pov during Willow’s spell. Followed by Spike’s pov of the same time frame. Non-canon, right from the beginning. Spike and Buffy get a bit more involved than they had a chance to on the show and must learn to live with the consequences. The rest of the story is about how they adjust to their new relationship and how it affects both their lives and the lives around them.

Just a Little Spell

Part I Buffy pov

I don’t know what everyone is so wigged out about. Yeah, ok, maybe it is kinda sudden, but it’s not like that attraction between us hasn’t been there since the first time I saw him. I mean, how blind does everyone have to be to not have noticed?

Blind. Oops, my bad. Poor Giles. I’m sure he’d be handling this a whole lot better if he wasn’t blind. But, hey! At least he got a chance to see how valuable Spike will be to us. What with his helping to find a counter-spell and all.

And Xander? Where does he get off criticizing my taste in partners? He’s dating an ex-vengeance demon and being pursued by hundreds more. His demon-attracting magnetism is going to get us all killed. Maybe that’s not his fault, but still....

I felt kinda bad for Riley. I guess he thought we had something going there until he saw me looking at the wedding dresses. I’ll have to explain to him that I was just mad at Spike when I started seeing him. Now that we’re back together and engaged, obviously I won’t be dating anyone else.

Got to figure out how to get around this whole “no sunlight” deal. I’d always thought I’d get married outdoors in the sunshine, but I guess that’s out. Spike’s right. We’d be checking in for our honeymoon as Mrs. And Mrs. Big Pile of Dust. Can’t have that. I’m really looking forward to that honeymoon...

Whew, that is IF we can wait that long for...Oh, good. There he is, still here and waiting for me. I’m glad nobody sat in “our” chair. It feels so good to be cuddled on his lap; to have those strong arms around me; to feel him nibbling on my lip; licking my neck; breathing in my ear...

I wonder what the lump is poking me in the butt…oh! That’s what it is! Seems awfully big – I’m sure Angel never felt like that when I sat on his lap. I wonder if anyone would notice if I just slipped my hand down there to feel…Whoa!

Hee! Made Spike jump. And groan. Need to shush him. I’ll tell him I’ll stop touching him if he doesn’t get quiet. Ha! That shut him up pretty fast. I guess he likes what I’m doing.

I wonder if Giles would mind if we left the room. He says he doesn’t want to hear us kissing. Maybe I should offer to go into another room. We could go in his bedroom…

Okaaay, then. Not a good idea to go to his bedroom. I had no idea Giles knew words like that! Maybe he’ll go into his bedroom. Since he can’t see, he might as well lie down. Think I’ll suggest that.

Oh, he liked that idea. Good night, Giles. Whoops! Ouch! Maybe I should help? I’ll bet that hurt, walking into the door like that. Let me go, Spike. I’m just going to help Giles into his room. I’ll be right back. Don’t go away.

See? I’m back. And you’re still glad to see me. I like the way it jumps in my hand when I squeeze it. And the look on his face. It’s pretty cool the way he bites his lip to keep from making noise. Such a nice lip. I think I’ll bite it too…

Now if we can just get rid of Anya and Xander…Oh, they’re going into the bathroom. Ha! They’ll be in there for a while. Now there’s nobody here except my fiancé and me.

I guess he noticed they were gone, those hands are getting…ooooo that feels good. I wonder what he…gah! Whoops, quiet, Buffy. Definitely don’t want to be interrupted just…yet…oh my god…what is he… what? How did he get my underwear off? I can’t believe I didn’t notice…oh, that’s nice, mmmmm, that just feels…feels…feels…like…oh my god…Spike!

Well, wasn’t that a revelation? Is he laughing at me? Bet he thinks he’s the first one to make me…well, ok, he is. But he doesn’t’ need to know that. Just act like it happens all the time, Buffy. No biggie. So he made me get a happy just with his thumb. It was probably an accident. Maybe he should try it again. I’ll bet I could ignore him….

Or, better yet, I’ll bet I can make him happy first…Just get this zipper down…oh…my…that is big…and…hard…and…okay, concentrate, Buffy. See how he scoots down in the chair and moans when you pull on it? Wonder what he’d do if I…hah! Guess he liked that!

I can do this. Just like licking an ice cream cone or a lollipop – except…bigger, and moving, and…whoa! Swallow, Buffy! Hurry, swallow faster!

Take that Spike. Now who’s all “look what I made you do, huh?”

Hey, mister! What do you think you’re…oh, forgot – no underwear. There’s nothing between him and my…oh, no, that thing won’t fit in there…well, okay, maybe if I just lower myself onto it a little bit at a time.

Stop groaning, Spike. This is going to take a while…in fact, it feels so good going in, it might just take a long ti-…oof! Okay, or we could just ram it in there. That works too.

I’m not sure how to do this. Angel just got on top of me and grunted away for a few minutes. It didn’t feel anything like this…this is really…quite…nice. When I move up and down, he moves too. Sets up some nice…friction…Willow would be proud of me. Good science word there. Friction. Friction is good. Like friction. More friction…more…friction…more…more…more…FRICTION!

Hmm, okay. There’s more than one way to get a happy. Good to know. And he’s still…love his face when he’s trying to control his demon. Pretty demon. It’s okay, you can come out and play. Just don’t get too close to my…oh, too late. He’s already licking my neck…feels kinda good. Sorta tingley, makes me want to…

I think I might be…again…Are those Spike’s fangs in my neck? Cause they sure don’t feel like…oooooh…who knew getting your blood sucked out of your body could feel so good? I think I’m going to…..oh yeah! Most definitely. Happy number 3…or is is 4? I think my brain is turning to mush.

I’m letting Spike suck on my blood while he sticks…other things…into other body parts. And it all just feels… I should be wigging out here. It’s one thing to be engaged…it’s something else entirely to let him…”Mine?” what the hell does he mean, “Mine”? I mean, yeah, okay, engaged to be married and all that, but “mine” sounds just a little possessive. Suppose I did that to him?

Two can play at this game, buster. Hmmm, he tastes pretty good, nice smooth skin, if I suck real hard…hah! Weren’t expecting that one, were you, vampire? You’re mine! And don’t you forget it.

This is nice. Just the two of us, resting together. He’s still inside me, that’s kinda cool. Makes me feel all…loved. Strong arms around me. Safe. Loved and safe. I could get used to this.

Whoops, Spike hears Xander and Anya coming out. Quick! Zip up your pants! Where’s my underwear? What do you mean, you don’t know? Okay, okay, skirt down. It’s not like anybody’s going to lift it up to see if I’m wearing underwear.

See, all good now. I know what you guys were doing in there. Not us though. Nope, just Spike and his fianceé, Buffy, cuddling in the big comfy chair. Old “wait for the wedding night” Buffy and gentleman Spike. Just cuddling, and kissing. Lots of kissing…kissing is good…got to be the best kisser on the planet.

Oh look, there’s Willow. She’s apologizing for something. I wonder what she did? Oh, that’s right. She put a spell on Xander and Giles. Good thing she didn’t do that to us. It might have…might have…no. No…this can’t be right. We’re… we’re engaged. We love each other. We…we’re the Slayer and a vampire…

Oh. My. God. It was a spell. And now it’s over. We’re not…we don’t…we can’t…why do I feel like crying? Why does Spike look so sad? Must get off the evil vampire’s lap before he throws me on the floor. Moving now. Getting away from evil vampire…must run to bathroom. Avoid looking at evil vampire. Just back away and leave the room…

I am not crying. It looks like I’m crying when I see my face in the mirror, but I’m not crying. There is nothing to cry about. It was a spell. It’s over. Not our fault. I don’t love him… He hates me… As it should be… Life can go back to normal now…Are those bite marks on my neck?

SPIKE POV

Don’t know what’s wrong with the stupid Scoobies. Even the Watcher. Isn’t he supposed to be watchin’ things? Seems like he might’ve noticed how I’ve never been able to take my eyes off his Slayer. Couldn’t kill her. Came right here to her for help when I go out of that…place.

So, yeah, maybe askin’ her to marry me was a surprise to everybody. But bloody hell, they HAD to know how I felt about her. Can’t say I was sure how she felt about me. Never prayed so hard in my life as when I was waitin’ for her to answer me. Would’ve begged if I had to. But she did it. She said “Yes”. My Slayer said she’d marry me.

Guess the Watcher can be forgiven for bein’ a tad upset. Must be hard to go blind all of a sudden like that. Got to be a spell. If I can help ‘im find a cure, that should ease his mind a little about his Slayer bein’ with me.

Soddin’ whelp. He’s shagging an ex-vengeance demon every chance he gets. Doesn’t need to be getting’ all high and mighty with Buffy about her choices. He’s jealous. I can smell it. She thinks he’s not, but he is. He wants her. My Slayer. Not gonna happen, whelp. Never givin’ her up.

So cute. The way she’s plannin’ this weddin’. Like we have choices about where and when. What with her bein’ the Slayer and me a vampire. In the middle of a meadow on a summer’s day jus’ isn’t in the cards. We could do moonlight, though. That might be nice. Have to mention it. Moonlight can be right pretty. And we could go right from the weddin’ to the honeymoon…

Wonder if she’s gonna make me wait till then? Jus’ looking at her makes me hard. I’ll be walking funny for the next six months if she tries to hold off till then. Don’t think she really wants to, though. Jus’ thinks she should say it.

Ah! Here she is. My own little heater. Sittin’ on my lap and cuddling with the Big Bad. She smells so good, tastes good too, got to have a little nibble of that ear. Can smell how she’s reactin’ to me. Know she can feel what she does to me….oh yeah, she feels it…

Holy shit! She’s really feelin’ it! Oh, Slayer. You don’ know what you’re doin’ to me…or maybe she does. Little minx, tellin’ me to be quiet or she’ll stop touchin’ me. I can do quiet…might put my teeth through m’lip to do it, but if it’ll make her keep that up, I can do it…

No way can I keep a straight face now. She actually asked the Watcher if we could go into his bedroom! Thought the sgit was gonna have a heart attack on the spot. Based on the words comin’ out of his mouth, Ole Ripper must’ve led an interestin’ life before he settled down… Fuck! She talked him into going to bed! That’s my girl. Always on top of things.

Hey! Not on top of things anymore…come back, love. Oh, alright. She’s jus’ helpin’ the Watcher to his room. Leaving me sitting here, my cock pushing against my zipper, getting all cold without her warm little ass covering it up.

Oh, good, she’s back. Ah, happy cock. Being petted with her hot little hands…What she’s doin’ to me…need to…bloody hell, she’s biting m’lip with her tiny little teeth. Wonder if she has any idea what that does to a vampire?

Got to love demon-girl. She’s draggin’ the whelp off to the bathroom for some noisy shaggin’. Good job, girl. You jus’ keep that interferrin’ git in there for a long time while I…

Smooth skin, so warm, so soft. I could run my hands over her body forever. Don’ know what I did right in my evil life that she would be wearin’ a skirt today instead of pants, but musta done somethin’ to make somebody up there happy. Can slide my hand right up that silky leg and into her warm, tight little…Damn, she’s wet. And ready for me. Love the way she moves under my hand, love those little noises, whimpers, come for me, love. Know you want to. Can hear it in those little gasping noises…come on, love…let it…Fuck! Who knew the Slayer would be so responsive?

So adorable. Trying to pretend that wasn’t new to her. Know the bloody poof didn’t worry about makin’ her come the one time he had her. All he cared about was getting his dinky little prick in her and losing his soddin’ soul. And no way a player like that Parker git knows how to please a woman. If he did, he wouldn’t be movin’ from one to the other like he does….

Wonder how soon I can make her come ag…bloody hell! She’s got me out and those hot little hands are making me…Bloody buggerin’ fuck! She licked me! Jus’ ran that hot little tongue up there like she…oh shit, oh fuck…Slayer, what are…no, stop, love, don’t …I can’t….aaaaaah!

That’s it. I love this woman. Love her with every undead cell of my body. And I’m not waiting for some fuckin’ honeymoon to show her how much. That’s it, love, let me in. Straddle me, pet. Jus’ spread those pretty knees and let me…god…you are so tight…so wet and hot, but so tight…you’re killin’ me here, love. Want to…too slow…I’ll teach you slow later…now I’ve got to feel you around me…now!

This is heaven. Know it is. Can’t be anythin’ else - feeling the Slayer all around me, breathin’ her scent, tasting her skin. Din’ take her long to figure out the best way to do this in a chair. She’s bouncing up and down on me like she…bloody hell…she came again. Knew she’d be a hot little number, but I had no idea…Got to keep the demon in. He wants her too. Wants to claim her…don’t want to scare her…my little Slayer. I’ll explain about claimin’ after we’re married..let her get used to the…now she’s just fuckin’ with me. Biting me, coaxing the demon out…she smells so good…tastes fuckin’ fantastic…just a little bite…what could it hurt…can make it good for her…that’s my baby. Come for me again, pay no attention to those fangs in your neck, you jus’ let yourself feel the love I’m sending you…Gonna make you mine…

I did it. Didn’t mean to, but I did. I claimed her. Claimed my mate. S’ok, I guess. We’re gonna be married anyway…she’s…what the hell? What does she think she’s doin—Jesus, she claimed me back! Oh god, love. You don’ know what you’re doin’ to me…Comin’ again, love. Come with me…come with me, Buffy…Make me….Buffy!

…This is nice. I could get used to this. Slayer sittin’ on me, all relaxed and cuddly. My limp cock still inside her warm body, her blood in my throat. Want to hold her and love her forever. Keep her safe. Never let her out of my…

Leave to the soddin’ whelp to interrupt a moment. Poor little Slayer, so afraid she’ll get caught with her panties off. That’s it, love. Jus’ pull that skirt down and they’ll never know what we’ve been doing. Not ‘less they can tell from the looks on our faces, anyway. Know I must look like I jus’ won the lottery…

What the fuck? Red jus’ popped into the room, all teary and apologizin’. Oh, she must be the one that mucked up the spell. Figures. Well, the Watcher’ll be happier now. And demons’ll stop trying to beat down the door for the whelp. Guess Buffy and I can jus’ stay here in the comfy chair and watch the others get over being…no…no…not us…we weren’t…it was real! It HAS to be real! I can’t give her up…can’t go back to…

Bugger. It was a spell. Spell to make us think we were getting’ married. But why’d it make us want each other so bad? Why’d I think I was in love with the miserable bitch? Speakin’ of which…why hasn’t she jumped off my lap yet? Shouldn’t she be wipin’ her lips off and stakin’ me?

There she goes…runnin’ to the bathroom without so much as a “sorry, Spike”…prob’ly needs to take a shower. Get rid of the smell of a vampire on her delicate little parts…S’what I should do too. Wash the scent of her off my body. Never get the taste of her blood out of my mind…pure ambrosia it was…I…bloody hell. I claimed her! The Slayer! And she claimed me back!

Fuck.

Part II

Chapter One

Amidst the recriminations, apologies and general uproar that greeted Willow’s arrival and the subsequent breaking of the spell, no one noticed that Buffy had retreated to the bathroom and not come out; nor that the resident chipped vampire had stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

Eventually, as Willow began a marathon “I’m sorry” cookie-baking session, and everyone had chocolate chip goodness in their mouths, Xander looked around and asked, “Hey, where’s the evil, undead, sooo-not-ever-going-to-be-a-bridegroom?”

“Who knows?” Anya said. “Maybe he went for a walk. You know, to clear his head after the spell?”

“Who cares?” said Buffy, shuddering. “He’s not here. That’s all I care about.”

“Right there with ya, Buffster. But shouldn’t we be keeping tabs on him?”

“He’s harmless. He can’t hurt anybody, and he has nowhere to go. He’ll be back,” she said quietly.

He’ll be back, and I’ll have to face him. Sooner or later I’m going to have to talk to him, or look at him, or touch….no, no touching. There will be no touching of the evil vampire. Not that he’d want to. He probably ran out to get away from me. He’s probably just as repulsed as I am. And I am. Repulsed. Totally. Never mind the amazing kissing and the soft touches and the…no! Repulsed. Just as I should be.

Giles cleared his throat and looked hard at the very subdued Slayer.

“I presume you would like to thank me now for turning down your generous offer to take Spike into the bedroom where your kissing noises would not disturb me? The Lord only knows what might have happened if you two had been left alone in that state.”

Before Anya could get the words out of her mouth, Xander and Buffy shushed her – putting a puzzled pout on her face and a frown on Giles'.

“You WERE never left alone, I hope?” He gave the ex-demon and her coughing boyfriend a threatening glare, while Buffy did her best imitation of a deer staring down a semi in the middle of the freeway.

“Well,” the boy began, “not alone, as such, no. Not for very long, anyway. I mean not long enough for any-“

“You irresponsible git! You left Buffy alone with William the Bloody while she was under a spell that had her thinking she was in love with him? What were you thinking?”

Anya refused to be shushed any longer and spoke up forcefully. “We were thinking that we wanted to have some orgasms and we didn’t want to do it in front of Spike and Buffy. Not that I don’t think we might be worth watching,” she added, with a nod in Buffy’s direction. “But Xander has this thing about privacy…”

“And, I repeat,” Giles gritted out between his teeth, “you left Buffy alone with a vampire that has already killed two Slayers.”

Anya looked at him as though he was a not very bright small child and explained slowly, “Spike was in love too. He wasn’t going to hurt Buffy. At worst, he might have given her an orgasm. Vampires can be very—mmmph!”

Xander’s hand over her mouth brought a merciful halt to her explanation. The resulting scuffle as the angry ex-demon removed his hand and berated him meant that they all missed the sudden scarlet color that flooded Buffy’s face. By the time any one was looking at her again, she had dropped her head and was studiously pretending to read a book.

“Well, I suppose there’s nothing to be done for it, now, “ Giles grumbled. “Fortunately, she seems none the worse for the experience.”

He glanced over at Buffy, who gave him a weak smile and immediately dropped her head back to the book. She pretended to read a while longer, then gave it up with a sigh and got to her feet.

“I need to patrol,” she said, edging toward the door. “With that spell and everything, who knows what might have gone on while I was thinking about…about weddings and things. See you tomorrow!”

She whirled and bolted out the door, not dissimilarly from the way the vampire had before her. As soon as she was safely away from the apartment and the prying eyes of her friends and watcher, she slowed down and finally came to rest sitting on a bench near the campus of S.U.

Her fingers idly traced the scabbed over marks on her neck as she relived the events of the last few hours. Unwelcome memories of how solicitous Spike had been when her watcher went blind, how gentle and tender he’d been with her, how overjoyed when she’d said yes to his proposal and worst of all – how completely safe and cherished she’d felt when he held her, all battled with memories of the many times he’d tried to kill her and the times he’d threatened her friends.

Suddenly she doubled over as a sharp pain shot through her solar plexus and she felt a bolt of rage and…was that fear? go through her. As quickly as it came, the feelings were gone. Shut off as though a switch had been thrown. She leaped to her feet, sending her senses out in all directions, seeking the source of the sensations.

Buffy wasn’t stupid. Even given her usual lack of attention to Giles’ attempts to educate her about demons and vampires, she had picked up some knowledge of claiming rituals. She knew immediately whose those feelings they were, and she almost growled in frustration at the way he’d cut her off.

She found that the marks on her neck were tingling, and that she could increase or decrease the tingles by turning in different directions. She was soon running through the campus, twisting and turning as the tingles got stronger or weaker. When they had settled into a steady throb, she knew she was approaching Spike and whatever had caused the initial pain.

Slowing down, she moved toward a clump of bushes on the edge of the campus, edging cautiously toward the sounds of a struggle emanating from the other side of the clump. She peered through the leaves and gasped as she saw Spike surrounded by men in black uniforms and commando gear. Immediately she recognized that these must be the men that had captured and neutered the blond vampire.

She stood there for minutes, torn between her duty as the Slayer to rid the world of vampires, and the incredible feeling of rage that was flooding her body as Spike tried to defend himself without setting off the agony in his head that she knew would accompany any aggressive moves on his part. She briefly admired his ability to dodge and evade the many blows that the small group of men tried to land. His vampire speed and his own innate fighting skills allowed him to hold his own for several minutes.

Suddenly Buffy was on the ground, shaking uncontrollably. As she struggled back to her feet, she saw that one of the men had apparently gotten close enough to the vampire to hit him with a taser. The men were now kicking him as he lay on the ground, unconscious and bleeding. With Spike unable to block the claim, Buffy felt echoes of every blow and she staggered into the clearing, placing herself between Spike and the largest of the commandos.

“Is this a private party, or can I play?” she asked in a chirpy voice. There was something vaguely familiar about the man in front of her and she saw him flinch just a little when he saw her face.

Interesting…apparently I know one of these guys. Definitely gonna have to explore that angle. After I get them away from Spike.

She felt Spike stirring behind her and risked a quick glance to see if he was all right. To her surprise, he looked up at her and said, “Get out of here, Slayer.”

She shook her head, “no” and turned back to face the advancing soldiers, backing up to stand over Spike as she did. The man who seemed to know her held up his hand and the others stopped their advance.

“What the hell, Finn? It’s just one girl and she’s trying to protect a hostile. Just let me move her out of the…” His attempt to push Buffy to one side resulted in his body being propelled across the clearing and into a bush, from which he could be heard cursing and thrashing around.

When Spike’s voice whispered in her head saying, “Leave! Buffy. Now. Get out of here.” she was almost in motion before the impact of what he’d done hit her.

Son of a bitch! He’s using the claim to order me around. I am sooo going to kick his butt!

“If you don’t get out of here, love, you won’t be kickin’ anything but plastic walls. You think they’re gonna let you go once they realize what you are? Leave me, dammit!”

Leaving the total wigginess of being able to talk to Spike without speaking aloud as something to worry about later, Buffy shook her head again and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Go pick on somebody who can fight back,” she said contemptuously. “This vampire belongs to me.”

At a signal from the leader, the remaining commandos jumped toward the Slayer all at once. Of the two coming at her from behind, Spike managed to trip one of them, causing only a minor headache, and Buffy flipped the other one over her shoulder and into the two advancing from the front. She followed up with a roundhouse kick to the chest of the man remaining on his feet, then turned to grab Spike’s hand and yank him to his feet.

“Can you run?”

“Yeah, Go. I’m right behind you.”

She threw a dubious look over her shoulder, but when she saw that he was, in fact, running easily behind her she increased her pace and they were soon off the campus and on the way back to Giles’ apartment. Buffy tried to ignore the fact that Spike was still clinging to the hand she’d used to pull him up. She told herself she was allowing him to hang on just so that she would know if he began to fall back.

As they approached the apartment complex, Spike slowed down, pulling on Buffy’s hand until she stopped and turned to face him. Now that the immediate danger was over, she remembered that she didn’t actually want to see him again, let alone be standing in the dark with his hand still in hers. As he began to gently rub his thumb over her wrist, she moaned and tried to pull away.

“No, Spike. Stop that. You need to get out of sight.”

“So do you, love,” he said softly, moving into her personal space and never releasing her hand. “They know you’re something special now and they’ll be wantin’ to put you in that place and find out what makes you tick.”

Damn. I don’t want to be this close to him. It’s too much like…what is he doing? Stop that!

“Stop what, love? All I did was touch your face.”

“Stop touching me! There will be no touching of faces, or any other body parts….and…and get out of my head!”

“Alright, Slayer,” he surprised her by saying aloud. “But you’re gonna have to learn to stop projecting your thoughts if you don’t want me to know what they are.”

“I NEVER want you to know what they are, Spike! You and my thoughts? Very not mixy . What do I have to do to make this…thing…go away?”

She thought she saw a flash of pain go across his face, but he quickly masked it with his trademark smirk as he answered, “You mean the claim you put on me, pet?”

“You claimed me first!” she protested. “What the hell did you think you were doing?”

“I believe I thought I was making sure the world knew how much I love…loved…the woman I was going to marry. Didn’t mean to cause you any harm, pet. ‘S why my brain didn’t fry when I did it, I guess. I’m sorry,” he finished so softly she could barely hear him.

Buffy guiltily remembered how she’d been all over him at the time and how she’d unwittingly put her own claim on him. She looked away from his dejected face and played with the buttons on her shirt.

This isn’t his fault. And it’s not mine, either. We were just caught up in Willow’s stupid spell and we acted the way two people who wanted to get married would have acted.

“I’m sorry, too,” she muttered, still looking at her shirt and missing the look of surprise that crossed his face. “This wasn’t anybody’s fault…well, I mean, it was Willow’s fault, but not yours. Or mine. We couldn’t help what we…Oh god!”

Her eyes flew up to meet his puzzled expression.

“Spike! We had sex! Me. You. Us. The Slayer. A vampire. Oh my god. I had sex with William the Bloody. I let you…I touched your…I…Oh my god…”

“Easy, pet.” He stepped closer and unconsciously rubbed her arms soothingly. “You’re gonna hyperventilate on me.”

When she didn’t calm down, but continued to babble as her heart rate shot up and her breath came even faster, he cautiously exerted the claim and sent soothing feelings into her. He also used his touch to calm her, placing his arms loosely around her body and pulling her into his chest.

“Easy, love,” he murmured into her ear. “Easy, pet. It’s gonna be alright. I promise. No one’s ever gonna know. We can get Red to do a forgettin’ spell if you want. You don’t ever have to think about it again, if you don’t want to.”

When he felt her relax and lean into him, resting her head briefly on his chest, he sighed and rested his chin on the top of her head. Knowing it might well be his last chance, he inhaled the herbal scent of her silky hair and stored it away in his memory.

When she felt his arms around her, Buffy immediately calmed down, basking in the somehow still-familiar comfort. The soothing baritone voice crooning in her ear worked like magic to ease the panic to which she had almost succumbed.

She looked up at him and tentatively asked, “No one will know? Are you sure? How can I trust you?”

She winced when she felt the pain that shot through him – even though he smothered it immediately and never let it show on his face. He quickly adopted his usual snarky expression and said, “Hey, I’ve got no desire to get dusted over somethin’ I did because of a spell. You think I want your Watcher or the whelp knowin’ we…especially now that I can’t defend m’self? And I’d be the laughin’ stock of the demon world if they knew I…if they knew I’d wanted to marry the Slayer. No worries, pet.”

Buffy suddenly realized she was being held in the very arms that she was so adamant she needed to forget, and she pushed herself away with a little gasp.

“What are we doing?” She felt the panic coming back into her voice, but she couldn’t help it. There had to be something very wrong with the way Spike’s arms felt so right.

“Nothin’, pet,” he soothed. “We’re not doing anythin’. Jus takin’ a little breather before we go inside. ‘S alright, love.”

“Stop doing that!”

“Stop doing what?”

“Stop calming me down! And stop calling me…love. It’s not…right. I’m the Slayer…not…not your love. That was just the spell. The spell that we are sooo going to forget!”

“Was it really all that bad, lo-Slayer?”

His hand gently traced her face and he didn’t try to hide what he was feeling. Buffy tried to ignore the sadness radiating from the vampire as he continued to stroke her cheek. She vigorously nodded her head, saying firmly, “Yes, of course it was. I mean there was kissing, and touching, and…then we…argh!”

No, it wasn’t all that bad. It wasn’t bad at all. It was amazing, actually…But I’m the Slayer. I can’t--

“What?!“ she demanded as the vampire regained his cocky look and moved closer to her, grinning at her indignant expression.

“Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”

“Huh? Who thinks? What lady? What are you talking about?”

“You’re projectin’ again, love.” He lowered his mouth to brush his lips across hers, smothering her protest as he did so. “You won’t have any secrets from me if you don’t learn to control the claim. I’ll know every little…” kiss… “naughty”… nibble… “thought”…lick… “you”…kiss… “have”.

“No fair,” she moaned as his tongue licked her lower lip and she unconsciously brought her own tongue out to tangle with it.

“All’s fair in love ‘n war, pet. Know you musta heard that quote.”

“This isn’t either one, Spike!” she pushed feebly on his chest as she struggled to ignore the warmth in her lower abdomen created by his lips and tongue. “We’re not at war anymore. And we’re not in lo-“

With a growl, the vampire dropped every barrier he’d put up to protect her from the claim and let what he was feeling flow between them. When he heard her gasp, “Oh my god!” and saw her squeeze her eyes shut, he smothered the flow before she could sense how badly she’d hurt him with her reaction.

Dropping his arms from where they’d remained around her slight body, he stepped away, his posture rigid and his face closed.

“Right then. Guess we’d best be getting’ in and talkin’ to Red about that forgettin’ spell. Can’t have the Slayer walking around remembering how much she wanted the Big Bad now, can we?”

He whirled and moved toward the door, not seeing Buffy’s hand that had come up to reach for him when he finished speaking. It had been a reflex action on Buffy’s part. An instinctive need to soothe the pain her mate was feeling; but when he didn’t see it, she let her hand drop and moved slowly toward the door, trying desperately not to think to or about him.

Chapter Two

When the vampire threw open the door and stomped through the room to the kitchen, Giles paused in what he was doing to glare at his unwanted houseguest.

“If you’re going to think you can come and go at will around here, would you please try to demonstrate some manners?”

“Sod off,” was the snarled reply, as Spike went into the refrigerator for a packet of blood. He wanted the bruises and sore muscles left by the commando’s kicks to heal immediately. He wanted no reminders of this night at all, including the taste of the Slayer’s blood in his mouth. For once, he was grateful for the flat taste of the pig’s blood they’d been feeding him.

Buffy came in the door behind him, closing it gently before she shrugged off her jacket and sat on the couch. She carefully avoided looking at the scowling vampire as he brought his mug of blood back into the room and sat in the big chair.

Giles looked back and forth between the two obviously unhappy people and asked, “Did something happen while you were out there? Is there a reason you came back together?”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“Aha,” Xander said, slapping the table in front of him, “things are back to normal. Buffy and Spike can’t agree on anything and all is right with the world.” He leaned back and smirked at the glaring vampire. “I’m surprised you made it back here, evil undead. I would have thought Buffy would’ve put a stake through your heart for all that hands-on stuff that went on while you two were…”

“Shut up, Whelp.”

“Shut up, Xander.”

“I’m just saying… You two were all cozy, cuddling there in that chair. All that kissing and…whatever. It made ME sick. I can just imagine how Buffy must—“

The growl from the vampire was matched by the angry hiss from the Slayer and for once the not terribly bright young man got the message and bit back the rest of what he wanted to say.

“All right, sheesh, I get it. You don’t want to talk about it. Can’t say I blame you, Buffster, but I would have thought--"

“Xander!” Buffy yelled just as Spike leaped to his feet and crossed the room too quickly for human eyes to register his movement. Before he could follow through on his clearly headache-inducing intentions, Buffy stepped between them and put her hands on his chest. She could feel him trembling under her fingers as she gently pushed him away from the table.

“Please,” she said quietly, unconsciously rubbing her thumbs against his tee-shirt covered chest in a soothing fashion. She felt the anger burning inside and couldn’t help agreeing with him just a little. What they’d done together had felt completely right at the time, and if what Spike had revealed about his feelings for her was true, then she could easily understand his rage at hearing it treated so casually.

As she gently ran her hands out to rub his upper arms, she could feel him begin to calm down and when he gave her an abrupt nod and turned away, she breathed a sigh of relief. She watched him go back to the chair and sit down, glowering at the bewildered boy across the room.

“Buffy! You saw that! He tried to attack me. Why isn’t he dust?”

“Shut up, Xander,” she snapped at him. “I don’t want to hear another word from you about the spell or anything that might have happened while we were under it. Is that clear?”

“Well, sure, Buff. You don’t want to talk about it. I get that. It must have been…But if you just stake him, you won’t have to think about it anymore. None of us are going to blame you for what the spell made you do, but if he’s not around to remind you…”

“Leave Spike alone,” she said in her best Slayer voice. “All of you,” she added, casting a look around the room. “Just leave him alone.”

Her watcher’s eyes narrowed as he looked back and forth between the two powerful people in his living room. As upsetting as he’d found it to listen to them kissing and making plans for a life together while they were under the spell, he found it much more disquieting that they were not back to their usual snarking and arguing now that it was over. The fact that his slayer seemed to be protecting the neutered vampire was even more disturbing.

Although it was now well after midnight, everyone decided that they would head for their own homes and dorm rooms to try to get some sleep before beginning the day. Xander and Anya left first, the boy staying a safe distance from the chair holding the morose vampire. Buffy and Willow gathered up their things and told Giles “Good night”. As they walked toward the door, Willow hesitated as though she was going to say something to Spike, then shook herself and kept going.

Buffy couldn’t help taking a last look in Spike's direction, only to find him staring at her with an unreadable look on his face. She flushed when his “Sweet dreams, pet” echoed inside her head and before she could stop herself she thought “Good night, Spike."

When the door had closed behind the two girls, Spike turned his gaze back to the room only to find Giles staring at him intently. He reminded himself that Buffy’s Watcher, tweed coats and spectacle polishing to the contrary, was neither stupid nor incapable of dealing with vampires by himself. He flashed back to when Angelus had killed the gypsy computer teacher and a grieving Giles had taken on the older vampire armed with nothing but a torch and a stake.

Spike forced himself to look harmless and uninteresting as he stood up and carried his empty cup to the kitchen. He started to drop it in the sink when a loud cough from Giles made him sigh and rinse it out carefully before setting it to drain on the side. He returned to the living room, giving the watcher an irritated glare just to reinforce his position as unwilling guest.

To his surprise, the other Brit went to the cupboard and came back with two glasses and a bottle of good Scotch. He raised his eyebrow at the vampire in query, then, at Spike’s suspicious nod, poured them both a full two fingers of the expensive blend. When they were both seated and sipping from their glasses, he looked hard at Spike and asked, “What happened tonight?”

For a minute, Spike panicked, sure that the watcher was referring to his claiming the Slayer and that he was graciously allowing him one last drink before he killed him. Then he realized that Giles had gone back to the original question he’d asked before they were all sidetracked by Xander’s jealous insistence that Buffy stake Spike.

Taking a long sip of the smooth liquor, Spike laid it out for the Watcher.

“Ran into a bit of trouble with those wankers that did this to me.” He gestured toward his head and the still visible scar there. “Did alright until one of them got me with the soddin’ taser and I went down. Slayer showed up while they were using me for football practice.”

Giles frowned. “Buffy stepped in? That was very foolish of her.”

“Yeah. Tried to tell the silly bint that, but I don’t think she listens real well.”

“You have no idea how right you are,” Buffy's Watcher murmured, waiting for the vampire to continue.

“Yeah, well, anyway, she’s tells ‘em to get lost, they try to manhandle her out of the way, and…you can probably guess the rest. We ran until we knew they weren’t followin’, then came back here.”

“Buffy fought humans?” Giles sounded more upset than he actually was. He was more than aware of how evil humans could be and had no real problems dealing with them, but it was unlike his Slayer to be willing to hurt them.

“Well, not so much fought as tossed ’em away from me. She only actually hit one of them. Big git, almost looked like he recognized her.”

“Did she know him?”

“Have to ask her that. They were all wearing masks and head covers – real ninja-type stuff. Would be hard to say what any of them looked like.”

“Would you be able to recognize any of them again?”

Spike didn’t bother to ask what the other man meant, he just responded thoughtfully, “Was tryin’ to keep my distance, so I didn’t get a real good chance to memorize anybody. Think I might be able to pick up on a couple of the scents though if I had a chance. Enough to know that I’d smelled it before, anyway.”

Giles nodded and continued to sip his drink. They drank in surprisingly companionable silence for some time before Spike cleared his throat and said, “Uh, Watcher?”

Giles raised his eyes, which had been focused on nothing as he digested what Spike had told him.

“These…people. The ones that run that lab. I don’t think they’re all that fussy about what they label ‘demon’ and now that they’ve seen the Slayer in action…”

Giles sat up with a start. “Dear Lord! Do you think they will come after Buffy?”

Spike shrugged and finished off his scotch. “Jus’ sayin’. She’s not exactly your average co-ed, and now that they’ve seen how strong she is, I’m thinkin’ they’ll be wantin’ to take a closer look.”

“You could very well be right, Spike,” the Watcher said, finishing his own drink and taking the empty glasses to the kitchen. “I will instruct Buffy to be careful until we can find out who and what these people are and what they are doing in Sunnydale.”

He turned his head to look at the very subdued vampire. “I suppose it’s pointless to chain you back up now that you’ve had the freedom to come and go as you please.”

“Not goin’ anywhere, Watcher. Not till the Slayer tells me to. Then I’ll try to find someplace to lie low till those wankers get out of here. Or until I can make them fix whatever they did to m’ head.”

“Well, I’m going to bed. If you are going to keep vampire hours, please keep the telly turned down low.”

“No problem. Prob’ly gonna catch some kip myself. It’s been a tiring couple of days and I’m a bit knackered.”

Giles shot him a look, but Spike's expression showed nothing but weariness as he threw himself down on the couch.

“Nighty-night, Rupert,” he drawled as he rolled over and put his face in the cushion.

“Good night, Spike,” he replied before he realized he was responding politely to a vampire. Shaking his head at the way Willow’s spell had changed them all, he went upstairs and shut himself up in his bedroom.

Below, Spike rolled back over as soon as the man left the room and lay on his back staring at the darkened ceiling. He relived every minute of the spell, beginning with his proposal and Buffy’s enthusiastic acceptance and all the way through to their short but intense moments of passion. He looked at the chair, trying to recapture the feeling of having his woman warm on his lap, the feel and smell of her as she wrapped herself around him.

He felt himself growing hard as he thought about their kissing and touching, and the way she’d innocently brought him off with her tongue like he was an adolescent boy. He groaned and unconsciously pictured her sucking on him, her golden hair spread across his bare abdomen and her head bobbing up and down in rhythm with his hips.

He unzipped his pants and allowed his aching erection to spring out and into his waiting hand. While he pulled on it vigorously, he imagined Buffy sitting astride him again, riding him hard, her head thrown back as she arched over him. Suddenly, he could feel her as she woke up, writhing with the sensations building in her body, the frantic movement as she tried to increase the pressure on her clit. He didn’t stop to think about how she would react to his being in her head while he was servicing himself, he just sent his thoughts out as he pulled even harder on his cock.

“Come for me, love. I know you can feel me. Want you so bad. Make yourself come for me, Buffy. I’m here, with you. Are you thinking about me, love? Can you feel how much I want you? How hard I am just thinkin’ about you? Come with me, Buffy. Let yourself feel me the way I’m feeling’ you.”

“Oh my god. Spike? Spike? What are you…oooooh….why am I…How is this happening? Why does it feel like you’re touching…mmmm…you have to stop…stop…don’t… stop…you’re making me…oh god, I think I’m going to…Gah!”

When he felt her find her release, he let himself explode in his hands, gasping her name as he spent himself. He lay still on the couch, taking unnecessary panting breaths as he let his thoughts go where they might. Suddenly, there was a tentative voice in his head.

“Spike? Can you hear me? Did we just… what just happened here? How did you…What the hell???”

He winced as her initial satiated bewilderment turned to outrage when the reality of what happened sank in.

“Sorry, pet. I didn’t realize I was projectin’. I was just thinkin’ about you while I…well, was just thinkin’ about you. That’s all. Didn’t know it could carry that far…or that you would…Didn’t know it would effect you like that till it was too late to stop.”

“Well, how the hell did you think it would effect me?. Suppose I hadn’t been alone? It’s just lucky that Willow went down the hall to the bathroom while I was sleeping. If she’d come back a few seconds sooner…Oh, this is sooo not good.”

“I thought it was pretty good, pet. Seemed to me like you were enjoying—“

Buffy could hear the smirk in his voice.

“Don’t even go there! You got into my head when I was sleeping and…and…”

There was silence for a full minute, silence that was permeated with anger and regret. Finally the vampire could stand it no longer.

“Buffy? Talk to me, love. I didn’t mean to do it. I swear I didn’t. But was it so awful? What’s wrong? Talk to me, Slayer.”

“What’s wrong, Spike” He flinched at the venom he could feel coming through as she said his name. “What’s wrong is that you got into my head while you were…whatever you were doing…and made me do it with you. It’s like…it’s like you raped me.”

The accusation tore through him, rendering him incapable of coherent thought.

“She thinks I…it felt like rape? I never meant to…would never…could never…not rape…never force her…jus’ want to love her…can’t help what happens to me when I think about her…how can she think…”

While he was able to block many of his incoherent thoughts from going through to the Slayer, there was no way for him to hide the anguish that her words caused. He curled in on himself on the couch, clutching his stomach and choking back the sobs that wanted to burst from his throat in a very unmanly fashion. As soon as he had enough control to do it, he set up the barriers between them, not wanting her to know how much her thoughts had hurt him, and unwilling to take the chance that she wasn’t through with him.

Across the town, on the campus of Sunnydale University, Buffy was sent into her own gasping ball of pain as the anguish Spike was feeling poured into her. Very few of his words came through coherently, although she picked up enough to get the gist of what he was thinking, but the incredible emotional pain, regret, shame and sorrow her words had inspired was overwhelming.

“Buffy? What’s wrong?” Willow’s concerned voice penetrated the rapidly fading pain and the Slayer sat up to look at her friend sorrowfully.

“I…I’m all right, Willow. It was just a sudden cramp. I guess I pulled something tonight throwing those big soldiers around. Go back to sleep. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” her friend said dubiously as she watched Buffy sink back down onto her bed. “If you’re sure you’re all right.”

“I’m fine, Willow. Just fine…” her voice trailed off as she sent her newly awakened senses out trying to find Spike, but there was nothing for her to follow. It was as though the vampire didn’t exist. She couldn’t sense him at all and was amazed at how alone she suddenly felt.

She eventually went back to sleep, her fingertips resting lightly on the scabs on her neck.

Chapter Three

Periodically throughout the day, Buffy sent tentative thoughts out, seeking some sort of contact with Spike, but there was no trace of him anywhere.

I’m not worried. Nothing’s happened to him. He’s safe at Giles. He’s just mad at me and doesn’t want –no he’s not mad at me. That’s not what I felt before he…it wasn’t anger. Not at me, anyway. Damn him! He knows me well enough to know I say things I don’t mean when I’m mad. He can’t think I really meant…I mean I did mean it. In a way. It WAS without my permission. I didn’t tell him he could…What does he mean, he can’t help what I do to him. The spell’s over. He CAN so help it. Look at me. You don’t see me mooning over him or dreaming about how it felt to…or what a good kisser he is…or how he made me…gah!

Telling herself she was just checking in with her Watcher before patrol, Buffy hurried to Giles’ apartment as soon as her classes were over. She burst in the door, startling the man who was quietly reading at the table.

“Buffy? Is something wrong? You’re all flushed and agitated…”

“No, nothing’s wrong. What could possibly be wrong? Everything’s fine. The spell is gone; I stayed awake in class today; everything is hunky dory. Why wouldn’t it be?”

Giles stared at her intently for a few seconds before shrugging and going back to his book.

“Indeed. Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Where’s Spike?” she blurted abruptly after scanning the visible parts of the apartment and seeing no sign of the vampire.

“I don’t know, actually. I got the impression he was planning to stay here until there was a reason to leave, but when I awoke this morning, he was gone. Quite rude, I have to say. To just leave like that in the middle of the night without leaving a note or anything. Well, that’s what I get for expecting a vampire to behave like a gentleman, I suppose.”

“Did you need him for something, Buffy?” he inquired when she didn’t respond to his reply, except to slump down into the chair she’d spent so much time in with the missing vampire.

“What? Oh, no. No, I don’t need him…I just…just wanted to talk to him about those commandos last night. To see if he…he…to see if he remembered anything important about them.” She paused her babbling, quite pleased that she’d come up with a good explanation for her behavior.

“Oh, well then, no problem. Spike and I chatted about that quite a bit last night after you left. I can bring you up to speed. Essentially, he did not get any more of a look at them than you did, although he does think he might be able to recognize a scent or two under the right circumstances.”

“Oh, well. That’s good then…he told you all about them…so you know…so I don’t really need to talk to him…”

Giles stared at her intently. “That is correct, Buffy. You have no need to talk to Spike.”

“Right. No need. Nope, no needing here.” She gave her watcher a dazzling smile. “I don’t need him at all.”

“Exactly.”

There was an uncomfortable silence while Buffy struggled to maintain her cheerful smile and the watcher tried to figure out why she was behaving so strangely. He mentally reviewed what Spike had told him about the previous night’s events and could come up with no reason for her behavior aside from perhaps knowing one of the men.

“Buffy?” he quietly interrupted her attempted cheerfulness. “Spike did mention that it appeared that one of the men recognized you. Did you know one of them?”

Grateful to have something else to talk about, Buffy hastened to answer him. “I’m not sure. He definitely acted like he knew me, and there was something sorta familiar about his size and voice, but…I don’t know, Giles. I can’t quite place him. Must not be somebody I know very well. Maybe somebody I’ve seen around school…” She drifted off in thought then her eyes went wide. “Oh my god! I think it was Riley! I even remember that one of the men called him, “Finn.” How could I have not noticed that?”

“Finn? Riley? Unusual name, that.”

“No, no. Not Finn Riley. Riley Finn. The TA in Professor Walsh’s psychology class. That’s who it was!”

“Someone on the faculty?”

“Well, a grad student. He’s very tight with Professor Walsh. Lives in a fraternity house with a lot of other grad students. All big, fit guys, now that I think of it…”

“And you know where he lives because…”

“Oh, well,” she blushed and looked down at her hands, “I think he likes me. We’ve gone out for coffee a couple of times and…What’s the matter, Giles?”

“I am just recalling something Spike said about those men and their…employers…having some interest in you now that they know you are not a normal girl. Buffy, I think you will need to be very careful around this Riley Finn. At least until we know more about this organization.”

“Spike’s just being paranoid. So far all these guys have done is capture demons and vampires. Why would they have any interest in me? I’m on their side.”

At least I am unless they’re trying to hurt Spike.

“That may be true, Buffy, but until we are sure they mean you no harm, I want you to be particularly careful around them. Give them no reason to suspect you know who they are, or that you are not a normal co-ed.”

“I AM a normal co-ed!” she pouted, then at her Watcher’s disbelieving expression she amended, “Well, except for the super-strength and the slayage….”

“Precisely,” he said dryly. “Just be careful, will you, please? Perhaps you could bring this Riley Finn around to meet us? Introduce him to your friends? That would give us a chance to size him up.”

“Well, Willow already knows him, cause she’s in the same class with me, but I guess I could…oh my god!”

“What? What?”

“I ran into Riley while I was under the spell. In front of a store selling wedding gowns! I told him I was marrying an older man…a man named Spike. Oh, I am soooo screwed.”

“Nonsense. You’ll just have to tell him…tell him you were kidding or something…you’ll think of something. I have great faith in your ability to come up with a convincing story, Buffy. Just imagine I’ve given you instructions that you’ve completely disregarded and now you have to explain why you did so. I feel sure you will come up with something.”

“Okay. Thank you…I think.” She stared suspiciously at her Watcher, not sure if she’d just been insulted or not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In a plush office deep under the Lowell House, a grim looking woman was questioning what she had, until now, considered her best squad of demon catchers.

“All right, Agent Finn. Explain this to me again, one more time. You had Hostile Seventeen down and were preparing to re-capture him when a small woman told you he was “her vampire”?

“Uh, yes, that was pretty much how it went.” He looked down at his feet uncomfortably while his companions nodded their heads.

“And when you attempted to remove her, she took out six of my best men. By herself. Without a weapon. And without actually harming any of you except for bruises?”

“Uh, Professor Walsh? The vampire tripped me,” one of the men offered helpfully.

“Oh, well I’m sure that made all the difference,” she replied with poorly concealed sarcasm. “Now to continue; when she had incapacitated all of you, she and the vampire ran off and you were not able to keep up with them?”

“They ran really fast,” Riley mumbled to accompanying agreement from his men.

“Do we have any idea who or what this woman is? Is she a demon? Another vampire?”

“Actually, Professor Walsh, I believe she might be a freshman here at the university. A student in your psych 101 class, Buffy Summers.”

“Not a vampire then, if she goes around in daylight. Perhaps a form of demon we’ve not encountered yet….”

“I…I don’t think so. She seems like an ordinary girl to me.”

Riley shifted uncomfortably as one of his men snickered. Maggie Walsh fixed the laughing soldier with a cold eye and raised an eyebrow.

“Riley is trying to date her,” the still snickering man explained. “He’d like nothing better than a chance to learn more about her.”

“Well, that works out nicely then, Agent Finn. I suggest you pursue a relationship with this girl and endeavor to learn more about her and her remarkable abilities.”

“He called her ‘Slayer’,” Graham said quietly.

Maggie whirled and fixed the soldier with a steely gaze. “Who called her ‘Slayer?’ and why wasn’t I told this immediately?”

“The vampire. Hostile Seventeen. He told her to leave and he called her ‘Slayer’.”

“This just continues to get more interesting. A hostile is rescued by a small girl whom he attempts to send out of danger and whom he addresses by the title of a mythical creature designed to kill his kind.”

“The operative word there is ‘mythical’, Maggie, “ Riley hastened to interrupt as he saw her go into ‘curious scientist’ mode. “The Slayer doesn’t exist. It’s just a story handed down by superstitious vampires.”

“It would appear, Agent Finn, that there is at least one extremely superstitious vampire out there who believes your Ms. Summers is, in fact, this mysterious ‘Slayer’. I suggest you put your efforts into both finding Hostile Seventeen and the rather expensive piece of government equipment he is carrying around in his head, and into learning more about Ms. Summers and her possible involvement with him.”

“She’s not ‘involved’ with him,’ Riley stated firmly, while behind his back his friends rolled their eyes. “If she actually intended to rescue him from us, I am sure she had a good reason. She probably doesn’t know he’s a vampire and thought we were mugging him or something.”

“Well, we’ll find out, won’t we?” She waved her hand in dismissal, calling Riley back into the room after his men had filed out.

“Riley, you know I trust you implicitly,” she began, “but I must have your assurance that you will take all precautions with this girl until we have learned more about her. Under no circumstances is she to learn about our facility until we know who and what she is and whose side she is on.”

“She’s not a demon,” he insisted stubbornly.

“That remains to be seen, does it not?” She turned away in dismissal and the big man left the room shaking his head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As darkness fell over the Hellmouth and the small city above it, a lone motorist drove past the “Welcome to Sunnydale” sign and headed for Los Angeles. Inside the big car with the tinted windows, a bleached blond vampire clutched the steering wheel and glared through the small opening in the darkened windshield.

That’s all I am to her. A vampire. Something that would rape her, kill her friends. Something beneath her. I’ll show her. If that’s all she thinks I can be, than that’s what I’ll be. There’s got to be some demon doctors in LA can figure out what those tin soldiers did to me and fix it. I’ll get this problem taken care of, and when I do…

He completely lost his train of thought at that point, because he really had no idea at all what he would do once he could kill again. Instinct told him to go back to Sunnydale and kill the woman who was making him so miserable. But her teeth marks on his neck, faded as they might be, and her blood inside him that was making every mile he traveled more painful than the last, were both telling him that he could no more kill her than he could spend the day at the beach.

With a sigh, he put aside any thoughts of what he would do once he was relieved of his disability and drove on into the night.

Chapter Four

After four days with no sign of Spike, Buffy was having a hard time hiding the fear she felt for him from her watcher and her friends. Going through the days pretending to be glad she hadn’t seen him, that she was actually interested in the secret commando still trying to date her, that she wasn’t being eaten up with worry was turning her into a very cranky Slayer.

“Hey, Buffy. Wait up!” The cheerful shout from the TA leaving the cafeteria building was not what she wanted to hear just that minute. However, she remembered Giles’ admonition that she get to know the man and bring him around to meet her friends. She was under strict orders not to allow Riley to get her alone or to go anywhere with him without notifying her watcher.

“Hey, Riley. How are you?” She tried to look genuinely interested in him and not suspicious.

“I’m good. You?”

“Couldn’t be better,” she chirped, flashing him her best cheerleader smile.

“I thought…I mean if you don’t have plans…would you like to get some coffee?”

No. I’d like to find the annoying blond vampire that you were trying to capture the other night. And I’d like to know what you did you him and why.

“Sure, Riley. That sounds like fun.”

An hour and a creamy latte later, they had agreed to meet that evening for dinner and then to join her friends at Giles’ apartment. As Buffy walked away to hurry to her next class, Riley watched her hair gleaming in the sunlight and shook his head at the idea that she was anything but an exceptionally pretty coed. Perhaps one that had studied martial arts for many years, he allowed, remembering the kick to his chest that had sent him to the ground. But, normal. Surely, normal. Not a demon. Or a Slayer. Whatever that was.

When Buffy got back to her dorm to dress for her date, she called Giles to let him know that she was bringing Riley by that evening to meet him. They agreed that they would say Giles was her uncle on her mother’s side of the family and that they were so close because he had been the librarian at her high school for years.

Buffy had finished what she had to say and was preparing to hang up when her Watcher cleared his throat.

“What is it, Giles?” Buffy asked with a sigh. She knew that sound. It meant she was going hear something she didn’t want to hear. In this case, contrary to what her Watcher believed, that was not true.

“Uh, Spike has returned, Buffy. He has not been very forthcoming about where he was, but he is back and taking up space on my couch even as we speak.”

Buffy’s joy at hearing that the vampire was not dusted or captured was immediately mitigated by the knowledge that Riley would recognize him the minute he saw him.

“He’s going to have to hide, Giles. I don’t want Riley to see him, or to wonder why we’re keeping a vampire in the bathroom.”

“Nor do I, Buffy. However, he is being quite stubborn about leaving here until he has seen you again.”

“I don’t have time for this now. Put the bleached bloodsucker on the phone. Please,” she added into the chilly silence that greeted her demand. She rolled her eyes at the Brit and his insistence on good manners even in the midst of a crisis. She heard him give an aggrieved sniff before handing the phone to Spike.

“Slayer.” His voice gave no indication of his mood. He just waited patiently for her to explain why she wanted to speak to him.

“Spike.”

“Where have you been? I was worried sick. I thought you were…how could you do that to me?”

There was no response and she realized she wasn’t feeling anything from him. He was deliberately blocking his thoughts from her and she couldn’t tell if he was receiving hers or not.

“Fine,” she growled. “We’ll do it this way. You cannot be there tonight when I bring Riley over. He’ll recognize you immediately.”

“No he won’t,” was the cryptic response. “The only person he’s going to meet is your long lost cousin from the old country. Come to visit with Uncle Rupert.”

“Spike…” She put as much threat and warning into her voice as she could, but she could tell he was going to ignore her.

“It’ll be alright, pet. Just want to get a sniff of the wanker and see if he’s who you think he is. He won’t know me. I promise.”

As quickly as he appeared in her head, he was gone before she could respond.

He’s gonna have to teach me how to do that, dammit.

“What if you recognize him and go all “grrrr” on me?”

“Not gonna happen, Slayer. I can control myself if I need to. Anyway, it’s not like I could do anything to him if I did let the demon out, now, is it?”

“I suppose not,” she agreed with a sigh. “All right. Tell Giles we’ll be by around 8:30.”

“That late?” he responded noncommittally.

“Yes, we’re going out to dinner first. And I need to get off the phone and get dressed or I’m going to be late for my da- to meet him.”

There was no response from the other end of the line until Giles got back and said, “Buffy?”

“Giles? Where did Spike go?”

“He threw the phone down and stomped into the kitchen. What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Nothing’s going on. He’s just behaving like a baby. I’ll see you guys later.”

After a nice dinner at one of Sunnydale’s better restaurants, and a couple of glasses of wine, Buffy had decided that Riley was a pretty nice guy and much more interesting than she had originally thought. Of course, that was before I knew he had a secret identity, she admitted ruefully.

Over dessert she tried to get some information from him about what he’d been doing since he left Iowa as a brand new college graduate. She noticed he was a little vague about his “worked for the government, until I decided to try grad school”, but she didn’t want to alarm him by appearing to be too curious. She reminded herself that he probably had no idea she had recognized him the other night and would not suspect that she was pumping him for information.

It was fairly obvious that he was very interested in learning more about her, questioning her about how long she’d lived in Sunnydale, what her hobbies were, and what she liked to do in the evenings. She could see that her equally vague answers were frustrating him when he tried to lead the conversation into the martial arts and he finally came right out and asked her if she’d ever studied them.

Buffy was tempted to answer, “No,” just to see him get more frustrated, but she realized that would seem too much like a lie after what the man had already seen, so she nodded and admitted that she’d studied some “basic self defense stuff. You know, the kinds of things a girls needs to know in this town.”

She didn’t elaborate about what she meant by “this town” and he didn’t pursue it, just nodded happily to himself as though she had given exactly the answer he wanted to hear. Then he led the conversation into another direction, beginning with a discussion of the latest horror movie and, somewhat transparently, into a discussion of vampires and the unlikelihood of them being real.

Buffy laughed, but with the sideways look that he would have gotten from any resident of Sunnydale not dwelling in a fantasy world. For her to have lived in the town for as long as she had without at least suspecting that vampires were real would raise a red flag immediately, so she went with a denial that was intended to be accepted but not believed.

He accepted her laughing denial with good grace and they finished their dessert and prepared to leave for her watcher’s apartment.

The closer they got to Giles’, the more nervous Buffy became about Spike. She couldn’t imagine how he was going to disguise himself enough that he wouldn’t be immediately recognized both as a “hostile” and as the specific hostile for which they were searching. She reminded herself that Riley would not have her slayer senses to warn him that Spike was a vampire and she crossed her fingers that he had done something to hide his platinum hair.

She couldn’t’ resist sending him a quick thought as they approached the door, not really expecting him to be open to communication, but hoping he might be listening for their approach. She was caught off guard when, before she could send a coherent thought, he was in her head offering soothing advice.

“Calm down, pet. You’re heart’s poundin’ like it used to when you knew you had to fight me.”

Buffy could feel the smirk in his voice and growled back at him, “I’m just worried about you, you dumbass. And my heart sooo did not pound when I had to fight you. I always knew I could beat you.”

“Must’ve been something else that made it pound so hard then? If it wasn’t fear, what was it then? Hmmmm?”

“Shut up, moron. We’re here and you’d better be invisible.”

“Close enough to, luv. You’ll see.”

Buffy shook off her trepidation and gave the puzzled Riley a dazzling smile as she opened the door to the apartment.

“We’re here,” she announced unnecessarily as she pushed the door in. “Here we are. At my uncle’s apartment. To meet my friends. And my relatives. And, could I sound any more nervous?”

“I think it’s cute,” Riley said, smiling at her. “And, it’s okay. I’m a little nervous too.”

He moved closer to her and put his arm around her shoulders to give her a little squeeze. He then froze as the sound of a snarl echoed through the small room and he glanced around quickly, for something to use as a weapon. He felt Buffy stop abruptly, her face a study in shock and disbelief. He quickly scanned the room, but found no sign of anything hostile and no one else who seemed concerned.

When it appeared that no one else was disturbed about the noise, except possible her uncle who was whispering urgently to a young, bookish looking man in the corner, he relaxed and decided it must have been his imagination. Willow stepped forward to greet him with a little wave and a “Hi, Riley,” opening up the introductions.

He assumed the older man was Buffy’s uncle, and was a little surprised by the cultured British accent, but Giles smoothly explained that her mother had come to the US with their parents at a very young age, while he was left in England to attend boarding school.

He vaguely remembered being introduced to Xander and Anya one evening in the Bronze, and saw that his recollection of them as ordinary, boring people was perfectly correct. He waited for the young man in the corner to come forward, and when he didn’t, he strode over to him and extended his hand. Ducking his head shyly, the man introduced himself as Buffy’s cousin, William. He had a similar accent to her Uncle’s, and Riley assumed he was his son or some close relation.

At first glance, the much shorter, slim young man appeared very unassuming, soft, light brown curls falling over his forehead, thin, old fashioned looking glasses on his nose, and a younger man’s version of the tweedy English clothing that Buffy’s uncle wore. However, when he took Riley’s hand to shake it, his grip was very firm, almost to the point of pain and the man found himself squeezing back in the age-old masculine “mine is bigger than yours” contest.

Just as it appeared they would both give up the appearance of a friendly handshake and begin to try to injure each other in earnest, William grimaced in pain and relaxed his grip with a shrug and an apologetic shrug towards Giles who had been clearing his throat repeatedly.

“ My apologies, old man. I certainly didn’t intend for that to become a test of wills. I’ve been working on the firmness of my handshake as I’ve been accused of shaking hands like a woman, and I’ve yet to find that line between firm and too hard.”

The embarrassed looking young man peered up over his glasses and did his best to appear harmless and sorry. His other hand still clutched the book he’d been reading when they came in the door and Riley craned his neck to see what it was. When he caught the title, “Sonnets by Elizabeth Barrett Browning”, he laughed and relaxed.

“No problem, man. Although, I’ve got to tell you, that’s quite a grip you’ve got there. I can’t imagine anyone accusing you of shaking hands like a woman.”

Riley turned to walk back to Buffy only to find her standing just inside the door where she’d stopped when they came in. She was staring at her cousin with her mouth hanging open and an expression of profound disbelief on her face.

“Buffy? Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Buffy continued to stare at her “cousin”, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to say something coherent. “Wha…ba…mumph….gack” was the extent of her verbal ability and Giles quickly stepped into the awkward silence that followed her attempt at speech.

“I believe Buffy is simply surprised to find William here. He popped in unexpectedly last night and I’ve had no opportunity to tell her about his arrival.”

“Oh,” Riley said dubiously. He looked at Buffy again, surprised to see that she had shut her mouth and tilted her head as though listening to something he couldn’t hear.

“Get a grip, luv. Come and give your long lost cousin a kiss hello before the overgrown toy soldier suspects something.”

Moving like a sleepwalker, Buffy walked toward William and offered her cheek for a chaste kiss. She tried to ignore the way Spike was clearly inhaling her scent as he put his arms around her in a welcoming hug that stopped just short of going on longer than it needed to.

“You are sooo going to pay for this.” she thought at him as hard as she could. She could tell from the smile he tried to hide that he heard her and she fixed him with a threatening glare before turning around and walking back to Riley.

“Well, I guess you’ve met everybody, even some people I didn’t know you were going to meet,” Buffy said, struggling to regain her perkiness. She walked toward the kitchen, saying she was going to get them drinks and leaving Riley to make conversation with Willow and Giles.

“William,” she said in her sweetest voice, “Why don’t you help me in here and we can…catch up.”

“It would be my pleasure, love,” he answered, giving the other people in the room an awkward nod as he started toward the kitchen, tripping over the footstool as he did.

“Oh dear! I am so clumsy. I’m…I’m sorry…I’ll just be…” He edged his way carefully toward the kitchen, keeping his head down and avoiding eye contact the whole time.

“There’s something familiar about…William, is it? I can’t put my finger on it, I just have the feeling I’ve met him before somewhere.”

“That seems unlikely,” Giles said flatly. “He has only been in the country for less than a day.”

“If that’s true, then how does Buffy know him? Isn’t she a California girl, born and bred?”

“I think they used to travel a lot before her parent’s divorced and her dad found new ways to spend his money. She used to go to England every summer.”

Willow did her best to contribute to the “Let’s hide the vampire in plain sight” game and was very proud of herself when Giles gave her a pleased smile.

“Yeah,” Xander put in, “now she just gets to go to LA every summer and meet her dad’s latest squeeze.”

“So, Riley,” Giles began in his best surrogate father voice, “what are your plans after you get your degree in…what was it again?”

In the kitchen, Buffy was trying desperately to maintain her anger at Spike for being gone in the face of her equally desperate urge to laugh herself silly at his disguise.

The vampire stood in the entrance to the kitchen, watching the play of emotions flow over the Slayer’s expressive face and grinning from ear to ear.

“What’s the matter, pet? Don’t know quite how to act around a real gentleman? Is William a little too proper for you?”

“Is this what you were like before you were turned?” She tried to stifle the laughter still bubbling in her throat.

“If I say yes, will you lose all respect for me as the Big Bad?”

“Too late. I lost that when you stopped being able to bite.”

His eyes flashed amber for a second; he shrugged and said mildly, “I could find other ways to hurt you…if I wanted to.”

She flushed, reminded of the feelings for her that she now knew he was harboring. Which reminded her of her words the night he left and their effect on him and she looked up quickly and said, “Spike…what I said the other night…”

“Forget it, Slayer. You were right. I had no business…you didn’t need to know that much about my…” He paused and moved closer to her. He felt her heart rate increase again and stopped moving, trying to prevent the pain he felt from showing on his face.

“I wasn’t going to touch you, luv,” he said softly. “Please don’t be afraid of me.”

Buffy stared at him in confusion for a second before she realized that he had sensed how her heart sped up when he moved closer. Even though he was maintaining the barriers between them, there was no mistaking the pain in his voice and she closed the distance between them herself, touching him gently on the arm.

“I’m not afraid of you, Spike. If you’d stop deciding when you will and won’t let me feel you, you’d know that.” She looked up at him pleadingly. “I don’t want to be in your head all the time. And I definitely don’t want you in mine without my permission, but…but we’re going to have to learn to live with this thing until it goes away. And I can’t do that if you keep shutting me out.”

“Don’t want to shut you out pet, I just don’t want a repeat of the other night. I don’t want you to feel violated. I would never…wouldn’t force myself on you, luv. You’ve got to believe that.”

He took the hand that was resting on his arm and raised it to his mouth, planting a light kiss on her knuckles, then turning it over to kiss her palm. When his soft lips touched the center of her palm and his tongue slid out to caress the sensitive skin there, she gasped and felt moisture seep into her underwear.

“Not gonna promise not to try to seduce you, though.” He smiled up into her eyes.

Buffy snatched her hand back and tried to hide the effect he was having on her traitorous body. Before she could come up with an appropriate response, they were interrupted by Anya. The ex-demon pushed her way into the kitchen and hissed at Buffy.

“Stop hiding in here with Spike and get out there and do something about your boyfriend. He keeps staring at me. What if he figures out I used to be a demon and tries to capture me? I don’t want to be experimented on and emasculated like Spike was!”

Snickering at Spike’s outraged, “Hey!”, Buffy hastened to sooth Anya’s fears and send her back out to help keep Riley occupied.

“Don’t be silly, Anya. You’re not a demon anymore, and if you don’t act like you’ve got something to hide, he’ll never know you were. He’s probably staring at you because you’re so pretty.”

Immediately mollified, the ex-vengeance demon said, “Oh? Do you think so? Because I just tried this hair color and I haven’t decided if…” As she went on talking more or less to herself, she allowed Buffy to push her out into the living room again.

“Okay, 'William', help me carry these drinks out there,” Buffy said as she reached into the refrigerator for soft drinks and ice. “Do you think you can do that without tripping?”

“Very funny, pet. I could, but I’m not so sure about William.”

She rolled her eyes and handed him the ice bucket. “Then I guess you’d better take something easily cleaned up,” she said as she put the cans and glasses on a tray. “Let’s go….William.”

He stopped her with a light touch on her arm. “So, are we alright, then? You’re not still angry at me?” His speech was an interesting mix of his usual lower class cadences and the cultured tones he’d adopted for his disguise.

“Oh, I’m still royally pissed at you,” she said with a small smile, “but not for what happened the other night.”

“What then?” He raised his eyebrows as he followed her out of the room.

“For being gone for four freaking days without letting me know where you were or if you were all right! For all I knew you were back in the lab being sliced and diced.”

Buffy’s cheery smile at Riley and the Scoobies belied the fury she was sending to the astonished vampire. When William tripped again and dropped the ice cubes onto the Watcher’s back, it had nothing to do with his disguise and everything to do with the bolt of joy that went though him as he absorbed her words.

She was worried about me. The Slayer was worried about me….

Chapter Five

While William apologized profusely and scrambled to pick up the ice cubes from the floor and the watcher’s chair, Riley rolled his eyes and wondered how someone as athletic as Buffy could be related to someone so uncoordinated and clumsy. He watched idly as the embarrassed young man gathered the ice cubes and carried them out to the kitchen. When William returned with a fresh bowl minutes later, the other man had completely dismissed him and barely noticed when he sat down in the only vacant seat, next to Buffy.

After some general conversation about Sunnydale, the town, and the University, Willow asked innocently, “How well do you know Professor Walsh, Riley?”

He surprised everyone by saying quickly, “Well, hardly at all. I mean I work for her, so obviously I know her, but not well. No, not well. I hardly see her outside of class. No more than you do, probably. Why do you ask?”

His nervous, and clearly dishonest, response set off alarms bells for both Giles and Spike. Their eyes met briefly, and in response to Giles’ raised eyebrow the vampire nodded briefly, indicating that the man’s increased breathing and heart rate indicated he was lying. It occurred to Giles that having a vampire around to assist with interrogations, especially surreptitious ones, could be a good thing. He also reminded himself not to play poker with the canny vamp.

“Did you catch that, pet? The wanker is lying through his teeth.”

“So it seems.”

Spike frowned at the slight tone of regret in her voice. Is she starting to like the git? Has she forgotten what he is? He barely controlled his possessive growl as his demon reacted to the thought of his mate being interested in anyone else. He forced the demon back down and made sure his jealous urge wasn’t projected to Buffy.

“He is one of them, Slayer. I recognize his scent. He was definitely there the other night”

Buffy didn’t answer him, but she shifted around in her seat so as to be facing Riley and asked him with feigned indifference, “Why were you so curious about my martial arts training, Riley? Are you interested in things like that?”

Startled, he blurted out without thinking, “Yes, I’m a bit of an expert myself. I was the leading…” Recovering himself, he quickly amended, “but you don’t want to hear about me, let’s talk about your training. What have you studied?”

“Staking 101, Advanced beheading, Demon pummeling, Save-the-World 203…”

Spike smothered a laugh when Buffy punched him on the leg, then blushed when everyone looked at her curiously.

“Has William done something to anger you, Buffy?” her watcher inquired with a warning glare.

“Uh, no, no. My hand fell asleep and I was just shaking it out. It was an accident.” She turned to Spike and rubbed his thigh gently, “I’m sorry William, “ she said sweetly, “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

The vampire hissed at the heat from her hand on his leg and shifted to hide his immediate reaction.

“No, that’s quite all right, luv. You just go back to your conversation about your barbaric hobby.” He gave a shudder that caused Riley to roll his eyes again and everyone else, including Giles to have to hide smiles. “Perhaps he’d like to, oh dear, what is that word? To train with you sometime. What do you call it? Sparring? Yes, perhaps he would spar with you.” He bestowed a proud smile on Buffy and said to the astonished man, “Buffy is quite good, you know. Amazing, actually. If you like that sort of thing.”

“Yes, I’m sure she is,” Riley said with a hard look at the embarrassed girl.

“I am soooo going to kill you.”

“You keep telling yourself that, pet, and maybe you’ll come to believe it.”

Deciding he wasn’t going to learn any more about Buffy from the very strange people she hung out with, Riley reached for her hand and turned to Xander and Anya.

“I thought we’d finish our evening by spending some time in the Bronze. Would you guys like to join us?” he addressed Xander and Anya, but turned to include Willow and William in his question.

“Oh yes!” Anya spoke up quickly. “ Going to the Bronze. Just the thing an average human couple would do on a weekend night. We would do that. We do things like go to the Bronze all the time! We’re very normal that way.”

Xander quickly grabbed his girlfriend and hustled her into the kitchen to explain why referring to themselves as an average HUMAN couple might not have been the best way to avoid suspicion about her ex demon status.

Willow and Spike exchanged looks and he gave her a wink and a shrug as he said, “Well, if that’s acceptable to Ms Rosenberg, I might…that’s if Uncle Rupert doesn’t mind my running off on my first night in his home?”

“Oh, please,” Giles said, “By all means, you…young people should go out and enjoy yourselves. We have all day tomorrow to visit.”

“Well, that’s settled then. We’ll hit the Bronze for some music and liquid refreshment.” Riley pulled Buffy to her feet and steered her toward the door. “We’ll just go get my car and be right back.”

“Uh, why don’t I wait here for you?” Buffy looked up at him appealingly and pointed to her very high-heeled shoes.

“Oh, okay, sure. I’ll be right back.” He went out the door, pulling it quietly shut behind him. Instead of heading for his car, he paused outside the door and looked around, spotting a window that was slightly ajar and moving closer to it.

“So, Miss Rosenberg, you and I? Are you sure you don’t mind? I’m not really much of a club goer. I much prefer to spend my time in the library…” As he spoke, Spike was gesturing with his eyes and head toward the window and understanding slowly spread across everyone’s face.

Everyone except Xander who started, “Taking this a little too much to heart, aren’t you, dea-“ He was mercifully cut off by Anya’s hand on his mouth. When she was sure he was not going to continue, she removed her hand remarking, “I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time. Now you know how it feels, Xander.”

“Spike? Is he out there? Listening to us?” The anger came through loud and clear and he had to smile.

He just nodded and held his hand to his ear and cocked his head as though he was listening. Again, Giles was reminding of the value of having vampiric enhancements when dealing with humans.

“Well, he seems nice enough, Buffy. Have long did you say you’ve been seeing him?”

“This is our first actual, night-time date. We usually meet for coffee or lunch. He took me on a picnic last week,” she added brightly. “That was fun.”

“Rather a large fellow, isn’t he, pet?” William put in with a roll of his eyes.

“Yes, he’s very big and strong,” Buffy chirped, giving the vampire a glare. “I like that in a man.”

No one but Buffy noticed the vampire’s eyes flash amber for a second and she stuck her tongue out at him.

“That meant as an invitation, pet?”

“Nope, just my way of dissing you.” She took the sting out of her thought by smiling at him and was rewarded with a genuine, non-smirking smile in return.

Fortunately the other people in the room were all trying to maintain a conversation about the band at the Bronze, primarily for Riley’s benefit, and no one noticed the silent by-play between Slayer and vampire.

When Spike nodded his head and said, “Okay, he’s out of human earshot now – wait!” He stopped everyone and ran to the open window, leaning out to hear what Riley was saying and to whom.

He turned around, looking much more like Spike wearing glasses than William at that moment.

“The bloody wanker is talkin’ to someone about Buffy on a cell phone,” he snarled. “Sayin’ he’ll take her to the Bronze and they can ‘observe’ her there.”

“Dear lord!” Giles frowned and took off his glasses. “Perhaps you shouldn’t go Buffy.”

“Relax, Giles. I’ll be fine. So they ‘observe’ me – what are they gonna see? Buffy dancing? Buffy having fun? Nothing demony or Slayerish. And, anyway, I’ll have all my friends around. What are they gonna do to me with four other people around?

“Considering that the only one of those four who would be of much assistance in a struggle with someone Riley’s size is not able to harm humans, I would guess they could do whatever they wanted.”

“We’ll be fine, Giles. It’s not like they’re going to kidnap me from a public place for heaven’s sake.”

She stuck her lower lip out in a pout that made Spike groan to himself.

“And, anyway, I kicked their butts before and I can do it again.”

“Yes, well, you had surprise on your side that time. Just be sure you do not go anywhere by yourself. Or allow Riley to get you alone. And, please. Call me when you are safely home.”

The sound of car horn beeping cheerfully outside ended the discussion and with a, “See you later, G-Man,” from Xander, they all walked out to get into the large SUV the commando was driving. Before Riley could get out and come around to open the door for Buffy, William had already opened it and handed her into the large vehicle. He closed the door with a wink at the astonished Slayer and squeezed into the back with the Scoobies.

He never took his eyes off Riley on the drive to the club, only speaking when the big man went to put his arm across the back of the seat so that he could touch Buffy’s hair.

Swallowing his growl, William said in his most unassuming and worried voice, “Wouldn’t it be better to keep both hands on the wheel, Mr. Finn? Just for safety’s sake?”

“Don’t worry, William,” he replied expansively, “I’ve been driving for years. And it’s not like Sunnydale has all that much traffic.”

He left his arm where it was, but quit trying to reach Buffy who had slid over toward the window as far as her seat belt would let her. She risked one look into the back seat, but the eyes behind William’s glasses were uncomfortably warm and she quickly faced front again.

This is going to be an interesting night, she sighed to herself. She took another quick peek at Spike to see if she had unintentionally sent that thought out, but he didn’t seem to have noticed.

Maybe I’m getting the hang of this stuff, she though proudly, only to be rudely disillusioned when she heard, “And maybe I’m just ignoring you, pet. ‘S not like your thoughts are all that interestin’”

“Screw you, Spike” She regretted immediately her choice of comeback, but instead of the off-color reply she was expecting all she got was a sense of great amusement from the vampire. Face flaming, she shut down her thoughts as much as possible for the rest of the ride.

When they had reached the Bronze and Riley had put the huge vehicle into one of the parking places outside, William threw open his door and promptly fell out onto the asphalt. With an embarrassed whimper, he rubbed his knee as he stood up and opened Buffy’s door for her.

“Come, love. Let me help you down from there. It’s quite a drop to the ground.”

Buffy rolled her eyes at him, but took his offered hand and stepped daintily to the ground beside him. He held her fingers just a bit longer than necessary, but let go as soon as Riley came around the side of the car. He firmly suppressed his growl when Riley took Buffy’s tiny hand in his large one and led her toward the door, not bothering to look back to see if her friends were keeping up.

The three Scoobies and William followed the pair in front of them, trailing them to a table near the dance floor. A table that was conveniently vacated just as they came in, by four athletic looking young men with military haircuts. Spike caught the exchange of glances between Riley and one of the men, and made sure to memorize their faces.

As they took their seats, William made sure he was seated where he could see Buffy and Riley. He clumsily pulled out a chair for Willow, almost dumping her on the floor as he went to push it in.

“You don’t have to be so convincing that you kill me,” she hissed at him as she grabbed the sides of chair to keep from falling off.

“Sorry, Red,” he whispered. “William’s just not very comfortable around ladies.”

When the drink orders were taken, William gazed longingly at the long necked beer bottles being carried past their table, but forced himself to order a soft drink, insisting that, “I have absolutely no head for alcoholic beverages. I become quite rowdy when I drink. I certainly wouldn’t want to take a chance on embarrassing any of these ladies with my behavior.”

Willow and Buffy, both of whom had seen Spike drunk on more than one occasion, smothered their laughter with simultaneous coughing, causing Riley to look at them curiously.

With drinks dispersed around the table and the band beginning to warm up, the small group settled back to enjoy themselves as much as was possible for a group of individuals all trying to pretend to be something they weren’t.

Chapter Six

As the band began to play, Anya grabbed Xander and pulled him onto the dance floor leaving Buffy and Spike, Willow, and the secret commando to stare uncomfortably at each other.

“Do you dance, William?” Buffy asked with a sly grin, hoping to embarrass the vampire.

Right on cue, William ducked his head shyly and raked at the soft curls falling over his forehead as he fumbled for something to say. He looked at Willow pleadingly as he stammered, “I…Of course, I was taught the proper steps for dancing with a lady when I was…that is, I’ve been taught how to dance, but I’m afraid I am not very good at it. And this,” he waved his hand at the gyrating bodies on the dance floor in front of them, “this is not something I’ve ever even attempted.”

“Oh? Well I think you should,” Buffy responded with an evil look in her eye. “Willow? Wouldn’t you like to dance?”

“Wha? Me? With S-William?” Her friends eyes were open so wide Buffy was afraid they would fall out.

“Sure. You. You don’t mind dancing with my cousin, do you? He doesn’t get to meet many American girls and this may be his only chance to dance with one.”

“I know one that’s going to be ‘dancing’ with me as soon as get this soddin’ chip out, Slayer” came the angry growl in her head.

“Come on, what’s so hard about it? You can dance with Willow a little bit. It won’t kill you…oh that’s right, you’re already dead.” Buffy’s internal giggle made him smile in spite of himself.

“Jus’ remember, payback’s a bitch, luv.” he sent back as he offered Willow his hand and escorted the nervous witch to the floor.

“Relax, Red, I can’t bite you anymore. An’ dancin’ with me can’t be any worse than dancin’ with the whelp. In fact, I’d imitate his style, if he actually had one.”

With Willow’s embarrassed reluctance to dance with a vampire, and William’s obvious lack of comfort with the heavy beat of the music, they made an amusing couple to watch. Riley was openly sneering at William’s timid attempts to move with the music without actually moving any body parts besides his feet, and Buffy felt a protective bolt of anger go through her before she remembered that William was not really her cousin and didn’t need her to worry about his feelings.

When Riley’s sneer had almost turned to outright laughter, and Buffy could see Willow redden with embarrassment while William just looked more and more lost, she had had all she could take of Riley’s attitude toward her friends. She took his hand, and with a yank that barely concealed her Slayer strength, she pulled him onto the dance floor and began to move around him.

As she had suspected, the big man’s amusement at Willow and William was because he, himself, had absolutely no sense of rhythm or timing. While Buffy moved around him, her body responding almost unconsciously to the music, he stood in place and jerked his arms around, trying to look like he was enjoying the beat that he obviously didn’t hear.

He breathed a sigh of relief when the band switched to a slow tune and he could pull Buffy into his arms and just sway in one place with her. Of course that meant her face was mashed into his chest and she couldn’t see anything but the buttons on his shirt. Which was just as well, as William and Willow were attempting to move around the dance floor without tripping each other, to the great amusement of both Riley and the four commandos leaning on the bar.

“If you step on my feet one more time, I am going to turn you into a toad,” the red-haired witch growled into William’s ear.

“Sorry, pet. Jus’ tryin’ to make it look good for the peanut gallery over there. I’ll be more careful. Don’t fancy being a toad just now.”

There was a subtle shift in his demeanor and suddenly, although he still held her awkwardly, he was no longer treading on her feet and they were no longer bumping into other couples as they moved around the floor. She just had time to register that Spike appeared to be quite a good dancer, when they crashed, quite hard, into another couple and she heard him apologizing profusely.

“Oh, I am so sorry, Mr. Finn, Buffy. I’m so clumsy. Please forgive me. I hope we didn’t hurt anyone?”

Riley glared back at him briefly, then relaxed and laughed. “No problem, William. You just pushed us a little closer together. Can’t complain about that now, can I? Not with something as beautiful as Buffy in my arms.”

The fact that he referred to Buffy as something, rather than someone, was not lost on the three people watching him. Nor was the possessive way he held her against him and stroked her back.

Biting back the snarl that threatened to break out of his throat, William smiled shyly and suggested, “Perhaps Ms. Rosenberg would like a break from my abuse of her feet and we could switch partners for the next song. If my cousin is willing to risk her own toes, that is?” He gave Buffy a shy sweet smile that had her responding in spite of herself.

“Oh, I’d love to, William. You don’t mind, do you, Riley?” She turned to her date with a smile.

“Huh? No, of course not, Buffy. You and your cousin go dance and Willow and I will get to know each other better.”

Riley spent several minutes trying to figure out how to dance with Willow so that he could talk to her about Buffy without causing her a serious neck injury and he missed the first few minutes of William and Buffy’s dancing. When he finally sorted out the best way to be able to talk to Willow, seem to be dancing, and keep an eye on Buffy at the same time, he almost tripped as he spotted the blond duo.

Contrary to the awkward and self conscious way William had been dancing with Willow, he and Buffy were moving together in perfect rhythm, twirling and dipping as the music called for it. Just as the music slowed down to a very romantic and lush section, Riley lost sight of the two cousins. Even with his height, he couldn’t see over the crowd between them to follow what they were doing.

What they were doing was swaying together on the other side of the club, as far away from Riley and the Scoobies as Spike could get them. When he was sure no one could see them anymore, he wrapped his arms around Buffy’s waist and pulled her unresisting body closer. She rested her head on his shoulder and slid her arms up to wrap around his neck as her body nestled into his as though it belonged there.

Neither was willing to break the spell by talking, so they just let themselves get lost in the music, forgetting for a few precious moments that they were Slayer and vampire. And forgetting that there were four other people in the club whose job it was to watch Buffy. At the end of the bar, Graham craned his neck to keep them in sight, frowning slightly at their seeming involvement.

Although none of Riley’s friends were particularly happy that he’d taken such an interest in the strange little blonde, Graham’s loyalty to his friend caused a stab of anger when he saw her dancing so closely with the dorky-looking man who had come in with them. He relaxed when the slow song ended and they broke apart, both looking slightly embarrassed about their previous closeness.

Buffy broke the awkward silence first, saying with a reddened face, “That was…you’re actually are a very good dancer…I…I liked it.”

“Me, too, love,” he said softly. “Could have stayed like that all night.”

Any further conversation was drowned out as the band went back into another song with a pounding beat and Buffy began moving her body to the music. Before she could stop him, William’s hands were on her hips and he was matching her move for move as he danced behind her. Every shift of her hips brought her ass into contact with his body and it wasn’t long before she could feel the proof of what he whispered that she was doing to him.

Buffy pulled away and spun around to face him, still dancing, but keeping her distance. “Stop that!” She glared at him. “William would never behave like that!”

He laughed, and reached for her again as he said, “You got that right, pet. That ponce wouldn’t have known what to do with a girl like you.”

She danced just out of reach of his hands and studied him speculatively.

“Is that what you were like before you were turned? Is William really you?”

“What? Me? A light weight like that? Are you crazy, Slayer? You know I’ve always been bad.” He gave her his most evil leer, but Buffy could see the panic behind his eyes.

“Methinks the gentleman doth protest too much,” she snarked at him aloud, putting her hands on her hips. “I’ll bet that’s exactly what you were like. No wonder you like being a vampire so much! I’ll bet guys like Riley picked on you all the time. Didn’t they?”

“You don’t know what you’re talking’ about, Slayer,” he growled. “I don’t take anything off wankers like that and you know it.”

“Not now, you don’t…didn’t…before your…disability, anyway. But what about when you were human? When you were a sweet, gentle man who read poetry and wore glasses? Huh? What about then, Spike?”

“I never! You don’t know what you’re talkin’ ab—wait, did you just say I was sweet?”

“I said William was a sweet man.” She struggled to control the rush of color to her face and the increase in her heart rate. “You’re just pretending to be him. Aren’t you?” she asked almost pleadingly.

“Of course I am, pet. You know me. Big Bad, evil undead, just waiting to get this thing out of my head to go back to my killin’ ways.”

“Yeah,” she said quietly. “That’s what I thought. I almost forgot for a few minutes,” she added so softly he wasn’t sure he heard her. “Silly me.”

She turned and began walking back toward the table where Riley waited with undisguised impatience.

“Buffy…”

“Don’t, Spike. Just…don’t.”

Chapter Seven

The whole time Buffy and William were dancing, in addition to trying to watch them, Riley was grilling Willow about how well she knew her friend and if she had noticed anything “unusual” about her. Willow, never a good liar, was doing her best to field his questions with more questions of her own.

“Gee, Riley, that’s a funny thing to ask about someone you’re dating. If you thought she was strange, why would you ask her out?”

“I didn’t mean strange in a bad way, Willow. I just meant…is she stronger than normal? Maybe she runs faster? Does she believe in vampires?”

“Well, she runs faster than I do!” Willow responded brightly. “But then, my five year old cousin runs faster than I do, so…” She tried to ignore the vampire comment, and Riley wisely didn’t pursue it.

“William seems to have discovered his dancing gene,” he commented dryly, watching the two ‘cousins’ moving gracefully around the floor.

“Yeah, well, Buffy can do that to a guy. She’s a really, really good dancer and she makes the guy look good. Even somebody like William can look good if he’s dancing with Buffy,” she said cheerfully, not having noticed what a terrible dancer Riley was when he was with Buffy.

“Apparently so,” he grumbled, leading Willow back to the table. “I don’t dance like that with MY cousins, “ he muttered as he yanked a chair out for Willow.

As Buffy approached the table, he watched her work her way gracefully across the crowded dance floor and wondered what it was about the girl that attracted him so. Yes, she was pretty, and obviously very athletic if her actions the other night were to be considered; and, despite her lack of attention sometimes in class, he thought she was very bright, but there was something about her…something almost otherworldly, that drew him.

She can’t be a demon. She’s just too…pure…too full of light. But, something’s not quite right, there. I’ve got to find out what it is before Maggie goes into “Let’s cut it up and see what it is” mode.

Buffy gave Riley a plastered-on smile and sat down beside him with a sigh. She looked back toward the dance floor, but there was no sign of William and she briefly worried before she remembered he wasn’t actually a timid bookworm who was unfamiliar with Sunnydale. Although, he IS still kinda helpless if somebody picks a fight with him.

Shoving worry about William to the back of her mind, she turned to her date and tried to answer his implied question.

“William seemed to pick up some pretty amazing dancing skills when he left Willow for you…” The jealousy and suspicion were palpable.

Buffy shot a panicked look at Willow before replying, “Uh, yeah. See, the thing is, William isn’t really as clumsy as he seems to be. He’s just really, really…lacking in self-confidence around girls.” She ignored Willows attempt to muffle a snort of laughter. “But since I’m related to him, and we’ve danced together before, he doesn’t get all left-footed and tongue-tied around me. It’s a family thing, I guess.” She blushed prettily. “I get sort of tongue-tied and clumsy around guys I…like.”

Riley fixed her with an intense, but hopeful stare. “I’d like to think that explains some of things you say and do around me,” he said carefully.

Deciding she’d lied quite enough for one evening, Buffy settled for ducking her head and looking embarrassed, hoping he would take that for an answer. It must have worked, as he beamed at her and put his big arm across the back of her chair.

Sticking to safe subjects like Sunnydale U. and the various courses available there, they were able to manage several minutes of actual, non-probing conversation before Xander and Anya returned to the table. Xander tried to catch Buffy’s eye as he said carefully, “Buff? Think you might want to check on William. He’s having a bit of a problem.”

Her head flew up and she sat up straight. “Problem? What kind of problem?”

“Four problems, actually. Four, large, muscular problems.”

“Somebody’s picking on…William?” She rose to her feet, only to be stopped by Riley’s hand on her arm.

In a deceptively mild tone he asked, “Why didn’t you stop it, Xander? Why come and get Buffy? Surely you don’t expect a small girl to intervene?”

Xander’s “deer in headlights” look lasted until, with a disgusted snort, Anya said, “Of course, he came to get Buffy. It’s her cousin, after all. And she can-“

Recovering himself quickly, the boy interrupted, “Yeah, the thing is? The Buffster? She’s got this real knack of…calming people down, you know? They just kind of…back off…when she gets involved.”

Standing up to loom over her, Riley said, “Well, you aren’t going off alone to break up a fight on my watch. Where are they, Xander?”

He pointed silently toward the hallway where the restrooms were located and trailed behind as Buffy and Riley moved quickly in that direction. They arrived to find William crouched against the wall, holding his hands over his face defensively. Surrounding him were the four commandos that had been watching all night. One of them sported a swelling eye and another was nursing a bruised hand as they advanced on the cowering man.

“What the hell is going on here?” Buffy’s voice was not what you would expect from a frightened coed. There was no scream, no shout for the bouncers, not even, if appeared, any real concern for the welfare of her cousin. There was just cold steel that demanded an answer.

Riley looked angrily over her head at his men and added his, “An explanation would be really good right now.”

“We were just watching your back, Finn,” the one with the blackened eye grumbled. “We thought he was getting a little too friendly with your girl friend there, so we decided to scare him. The asshole swung on me so we had to rough him up a little.”

“He’s her cousin, you morons,” Riley glared at the surprised men. “They’re supposed to be friendly.”

Buffy felt a stab of guilt at Riley’s defense of their deception, but then she looked at William, sliding fearfully along the wall in her direction and got over it.

“What did you do to him?” she asked, pulling the cringing man behind her.

“And why didn’t you tell me something was happening”

“Didn’t want to blow your cover, pet. I had it under control.”

“Nothing,” Graham replied, nursing his hand. “We just pushed him around a little and said we were going to take him outside. Then he went nuts on us and tried to get away and when we stopped him, he hit Forrest in the eye.”

Buffy shot Spike a surprised look, wondering why he wasn’t on the ground in pain from his head, but he indicated the blood trickling from his split lip and she understood that the commandos had assumed his pain was from the retaliatory punch.

“So, he tried to get away from you, you manhandled him, he tried to fight back and you hit him? Do I have that quite right, guys?” Buffy’s expression belied the cheery tone of her voice and suddenly they all remembered what had happened to them the last time they’d tangled with her over someone she was protecting.

Behind her back, William was peering fearfully at the large angry men being faced down by a small girl. Spike was sorely tempted to stick his tongue out at them, but smothered the urge as something William would never do. He settled for getting as close to Buffy as he could and glaring at them over her head.

Riley stepped between the angry Slayer and his men, saying, “Buffy, why don’t you take William back to the table and get some ice on that lip while I talk to these guys? Obviously this was a misunderstanding of some sort and I think I can straighten it out.”

Giving the men one last glare, Buffy took William’s arm and began walking away with him. She didn’t let go of him until they got back to the table, where she fished some ice out of her glass and rubbed it gently on his rapidly swelling lip.

If the Scoobies were surprised at her solicitous behavior, they didn’t say anything. They attributed it to play acting for Riley’s sake as he made his way back to the table.

“What the hell were you doin, going off by yourself like that? They might have really hurt you.” Along with the residual anger, there was an edge of concern that she didn’t try to hide.

“They were just tryin’ to scare me, pet. If I hadn’t whacked one accidentally, they probably wouldn’t have touched me. You should have let it go. Thought for a minute there you were gonna go all Slayer on them in public.” The warmth, gratitude, and fear for her that accompanied his thought was strong enough to make her hand shake slightly.

“I guess that’s all I can do for that lip. You’ll be okay tomorrow.”

“I’ll be fine, love. It’s already startin’ to heal...unless you want to kiss it better…?”

“You wish!” She gave him a push on his shoulder and moved away quickly.

“You know I do, pet.”

Riley’s arrival back at the table put an end to the private conversation before she had to respond and Buffy quickly focused on the other man.

“So, what was that all about?” she demanded, hands on hips. “What will William think of Americans now?”

Riley blew out his breath and readied his explanation. “Those are some of my…fraternity brothers. They didn’t know who William was and they thought they’d try to discourage him from any thoughts of…They just thought they were helping me out, that’s all.” He turned to William. “I’m sorry, William. I hope they didn’t hurt you badly. Or frighten you too much,” he added, barely smothering a smile.

Buffy felt the surge of anger that went through Spike, but William replied meekly, “No, no. I’m quite used to being…bullied, actually. I’m usually better than that at getting myself out of such situations without harm. I’m grateful that you and Buffy stepped in, though. I’m afraid I may have made them very angry when I accidentally hit that unpleasant man. There’s no telling what they might have done to me.”

“Somehow, I think they would’ve been extremely sorry if they had,” he replied with a speculative look at Buffy. “Your cousin seems quite…protective of the defenseless.”

Everyone tensed as Riley came so close to describing such a big part of a Slayer’s mission, but William snorted and said, “Well, yes, when we were children if she wasn’t pummeling me herself, she was taking up for me when someone else tried to.”

“Yep,” Buffy said with a glare in his direction, “Nobody hits William except for me. That’s the way it’s always been.”

“An interesting relationship.”

He smiled at Buffy to show he was kidding, so missed the flashes of amusement that went across the face of the Scoobies.

“Doesn’t know the half of it, does he, pet?”

Buffy didn’t answer him, but had to duck her head to hide her grin and he smirked in spite of himself. He was quickly back to being William as Willow stood up and said, “It’s getting late. I guess we’d better be getting back…”

“Back? Back to where?” Riley was genuinely puzzled. “Surely, you don’t all live with Buffy’s uncle? Willow, I know you live in the dorm. Won’t you want to be going there?”

As he spoke, it occurred to him she might have been planning to go home with William so as to give Buffy and him some privacy. The idea that anyone would want to spend time alone with the wimpy William was so ludicrous he didn’t even consider it. Even a bookworm like Willow could do better than Buffy’s cousin.

“But, I’ll be happy to take all of you back there before I take Buffy home, if that’s what you want.” He spoke up quickly before Willow could change her mind.

“No, I think Willow just meant we need to get William back to Giles’ before she comes back to the dorm with me. That’s what you meant, isn’t it, Willow?”

Buffy’s eyes were sending very clear signals, and remembering Giles’ admonishment that she wasn’t to be left alone with Riley, Willow quickly corrected herself.

“Oh, yes! That’s what I meant. We’ll take William home, and then you’ll take me back to the dorm, and since that’s where Buffy lives too, we’ll all be where we need to be…” She let her voice trail off when she realized she was starting to babble.

Trying to hide his disappointment, Riley sighed and began to herd them toward the door.

“All right. We’ll drop William off at his uncle’s and Xander and Anya at his house, and then I’ll take you girls back to the dorm.”

The ride to Giles’ apartment was made in silence as everyone was afraid to say what he or she was really thinking. If Riley seriously wanted to take Buffy away, there wasn’t going to be much Willow could do about it.

“If he does anything to make you at all nervous, pet, you holler. Got it?”

“So you can do what? Scold him to death?”

He tried to smother the hurt her words caused, but the apologetic look she sent toward him told him she’d felt it.

“Jus’ sayin’, pet. We’ve got this thing, might as well use it. Consider me your 911.”

“Yeah, I can’t wait to hear you explain to Giles why you know what’s going on with me when I’m not there. I don’t think you’ll be real helpful with that stake in your chest.”

The wave of gratitude she sent him took the sting out of her words and he agreed ruefully.

“Good point. Pun not intended. Not saying I’m gonna tell him how I know. I’ll think of something if I need to. Somethin’ that won’t get me dusted.”

They pulled up in front of the apartment complex and Buffy sat in the passenger seat while Xander and Anya and William got out. Xander thanked Riley for the ride and said he lived close enough for them to walk home. He and Anya waved and began the short walk to the Harris’s house.

“Will they be all right?” Riley inquired. “Walking home at night like that?”

“Oh yes. Xander grew up in Sunnydale. He knows how to avoid the…bad neighborhoods.”

William stood outside the big vehicle, shuffling his feet and looking around apprehensively.

“Uncle Rupert was quite clear that I was to avoid being by myself in the dark,” he said nervously.

“You want me to walk you to the door?” Riley asked incredulously.

“What? Oh, no! No, my goodness, of course not. I just thought…no, that’s quite all right. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

“Well, good night then,” Riley was clearly impatient and anxious to get going. “You’d best get in and take care of that lip.”

“Good night, William,” Buffy said softly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Good night, Buffy, Ms Rosenberg. Thank you for a lovely evening. And thank you, Mr. Finn, for helping to rescue me from your overzealous…fraternity brothers.”

“No problem,” he replied, climbing back into the car. “I’m sorry they misunderstood the situation like that.”

As they pulled away, Buffy asked in a mild tone, “So, if William weren’t my cousin, you would have been okay with that behavior?”

Riley was not a stupid man. He thought long and hard before he answered her. Buffy waited, tapping her fingers impatiently as the man clearly struggled to find the right thing to say.

“Well, of course, I don’t approve of their bullying anyone. But they thought they were looking out for my interests.” He gave Buffy what was meant to be a flirty smile. “I’m sure if he hadn’t panicked and hit Forrest when then said they were taking him outside, they wouldn’t have actually punched him. They’ve been trai- I mean, you know how guys are. Someone hits us, we hit back. It’s a guy thing.”

“Uh, huh,” was Buffy’s only comment and they rode the rest of the way to the dorm in silence.

When they reached the campus, Riley parked and insisted on walking the girls to their room. Willow hastily said “good-night” and went inside, leaving Buffy standing in the hall while Riley obviously tried to think of way to get close enough to kiss her. Finally growing impatient with the foot shuffling and throat clearing, she went up on her toes and quickly kissed his cheek, thanking him for the nice evening.

Clearly disappointed, he stopped her as she went to enter the room and asked, “Can I see you again? Maybe without all the friends and relatives?” He smiled anxiously and she was reminded that she had actually enjoyed his company earlier in the evening.

“Of course. I’d like that.” She gave him a smile and said warmly, “Maybe we can have another one of those picnics.”

Buffy went in the room and closed the door on Riley’s happy face. She walked over to her bed and threw herself down with a sigh.

“Why does life have to be so complicated?” she complained.

“Uh, cause you’re the Slayer,” Willow ventured from her bed.

When there was no answer, she went on, “He seems nice, in an I’m-not-telling-you-who-I-really-am kind of way. Do you like him?”

“Not as much as I did before his buddies tried to beat up William,” Buffy growled.

“Uh, Buffy? You do remember that William is really Spike, don’t you? You know, evil undead vampire, tried to kill us? Tried to kill me, right here in this room just a couple of weeks ago.”

She sighed and rolled her head over to look at Willow. “I know, Will. I know he is. But he’s just so…” She shook herself. “Must be something left over from the spell.”

“He’s sweet, isn’t he?” Willow surprised her by saying.

“William? Yeah. Yeah he is. I wonder if that’s what he was like before he was turned?”

“I think so,” Willow said quietly. “I’m pretty sure he was.”

Buffy looked over at her friend in astonishment. “You do? Why?”

Looking uncomfortable, the red-haired witch said, “Well, in the first place – it takes one to know one. I don’t think he could be that convincing if he hadn’t been like that at one time. And….”

“And?”

“And every time he tried to kill me? Or threatened to, anyway. He was really very sweet about it.”

“Spike was sweet? About killing you? Splainy, please.”

“Well, when he wanted me to do that spell for him. You know, to get him back together with Drusilla?”

Buffy smothered the pang of jealousy she felt at being reminded of Spike’s hundred-year love affair with the dark haired vampire.

“I don’t think he ever was actually planning to kill me. He just wanted me to do the spell. He was so unhappy. I really felt sorry for him. All he wanted was to get his girl friend back.”

“Hmph!” was the only response to that.

“And when he came here looking for you? I was so unhappy about…Oz…and I thought nobody wanted me, and he…he tried to make me feel better. He told me I was pretty, and that he’d bite me in a minute, if he could…and…okay, maybe that’s not such a good example; but he was trying to make me feel better. Even when he was worried about what was causing him so much pain when he tried to bite me, he stopped and talked to me. He was a lot like William, only scarier.”

“And the complications go on,” Buffy muttered to herself as she turned over to go to sleep. She told Willow “good-night” and shut her eyes resolutely, vowing not to think about sweet vampires or nice secret commandos or anything except peaceful sleep.

“You alright, luv?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Safely in my bed.”

“By yourself?” The anxiety was palpable.

“Of course, by myself! What do you think I am, some kind of slut?” She made no attempt to hide the hurt feelings his question generated, nor the resulting anger.

“I’m sorry, Buffy. That was William’s insecurity…or the demon’s possessiveness. Not sure which. I didn’t mean to suggest you-I’m sorry, love, truly, I am.” Spike sounded so much like William, Buffy smiled in spite of herself.

“Buffy? Slayer?”

“Relax, Spike. It’s okay.” She gave a mental sigh. “I didn’t even kiss him good-night.”

“Didn’t kiss me good-night, either.” Buffy had no idea how a person could send a pout telepathically, but there it was, and she had to smile.

“Good night…William…” Buffy pictured herself pressing her lips to his cool soft ones and wasn’t surprised when she felt an answering pressure. Before the kiss could turn into anything that would lead to embarrassing movements and noises, Buffy broke it off and snuggled into her bed.

“Good night, love” was the last thing she heard before she closed her eyes and allowed sleep to overtake her.

Chapter Eight

“Well, Agent Finn?” Maggie Walsh tapped her foot and waited for Riley to tell her what he’d learned about Buffy.

“I’m sure she’s not a demon. Although…I can’t say I don’t think there’s something going on with her. I just can’t put my finger on what it is.”

“She’s scary as hell,” Graham put in. “That’s what it is.”

Maggie looked at him with astonishment and not a little dismay.

“You are afraid of this girl?”

“Well, not most of the time,” he squirmed and looked to his friends for help. “But when she stepped in last night…there was just something about her…”

“Her friend, Xander, said she’s really good at defusing situations. Maybe that’s how she does it. By sounding scary.” Riley was reaching for explanations, knowing that no one was buying it.

“Tell me about her friends, and the family you met.”

“Not much to tell. Her uncle seems nice enough. Very English, very bookish. Her cousin’s kind of a younger version of the uncle. Neither one looks like he could fight his way out of a paper bag. Whatever Buffy has going for her, it certainly isn’t genetic.”

“Got that right!” Forrest and Graham exchanged high fives, remembering how frightened her cousin had been. Conveniently forgotten were the black eye and bruised hand, both courtesy of the wimpy cousin.

“Her friends are okay. Willow, you know from class. She’s a brain. Very conscientious, not really very outgoing. Xander’s kind of a…I don’t know. I think he and Willow are childhood friends or something. His girl friend is a little strange. Comes out with the oddest things sometimes. They’re always shushing her. That’s about it.”

“Nothing demonic or strange about them?”

“Nope, just regular old people. Oh, the cousin has one hell of a grip when he shakes hands…”

“Stronger than yours?” Maggie’s voice indicated her sudden interest.

“Hard to say. He was giving me a run for my money when he stopped and apologized. Don’t know where it would have gone from there. There’s no way he’s a fighter, though. He’s afraid of his own shadow. Just wants to sit around reading poetry.”

“Things are not always what they seem, Agent Finn. You, of all people, should know that.” Maggie paused to think, then said with an air of decision, “All right, I’ll give you the rest of the week to learn what you can about this girl while we try to obtain information about this mythical ‘Slayer’. We’ll meet again on Friday and decide on a course of action then.

“And, gentlemen? I haven’t forgotten that Hostile Seventeen is still out there somewhere, nor that Ms. Summers is the reason he got away the second time. I want this situation rectified, soon.”

“Yes, Ma’am,” they chorused as they left her office.

“Where do you think we should start looking for the hostile?” Forrest asked as they walked back to the elevator that would carry them back up to Lowell House.

“I think we should begin with her uncle. She seems to spend a lot of time there. Maybe we can get him to tell us something. Or that wimpy cousin of hers. I doubt he’d stand up to an interrogation.”

“I think we’d better be damn sure we know what we’re looking for, before we start harassing her family,” Graham said mildly. “I’ve got a feeling she wouldn’t like it very much, and I’m not sure I want to see her get mad again.”

“Come on, guys. You’re talking about Buffy like she was six feet tall and had big teeth and claws. She’s an athletic little girl, with martial arts training who caught us by surprise. That’s all.” Riley shook his head at his men.

“Tell you what. I’ll ask her to come in and spar with us. Give us a chance to really size her up and see how good she is.”

“I’m not sparring with some woman that only comes up to my belt buckle!”

“Fine, I’ll spar with her. It shouldn’t take long to prove she’s just a human girl who got lucky.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You want me to what?” Buffy put her hands on her hips and glared at her watcher indignantly.

“I want you to take Sp-William shopping for some clothes. My things are too large for him and if he’s going to continue to pretend to be your cousin, he is going to need more than one shirt and one pair of pants.”

“If Buffy doesn’t want to go, she doesn’t have to,” the vampire said quietly from his place in the big chair. “I’m perfectly capable of buying my own clothes.”

“I am not sending out a vampire who may, or may not, be permanently harmless, to roam through the Sunnydale Mall without someone to watch him.”

“Haven’t hurt anybody yet, Watcher. And I got to mingle with all sorts of plump, blood-filled bodies the other night at the Bronze.”

“You also almost got yourself re-captured and/or beat up,” Buffy said with a sigh. “Okay, I guess we can do this. We’ll hit the mall tonight. Find clothes for the vampire.”

She gave William a sideways look and said with an evil grin, “This could actually be a lot of fun…”

“Hey! Don’t get any ideas there, Missy. You might get to hold my leash, but you are NOT picking out clothes for me. I’ll stake myself before I let you dress me.”

“Now, if you want to undress me, pet, that’s a different story.”

He gave her a most un-William-like leer and she tossed her head and turned away with a sniff.

“Let’s go, William. I have things to do later tonight.”

“That right, Slayer?” he asked as they walked out the door with a wave to the Watcher. “Gonna let Capt’n Cardboard find his way to second base, are you?”

He was careful to keep any trace of real worry or fear from reaching her, but she shot him a suspicious look all the same.

“He’s a nice guy, Spike. Don’t blame Riley for his what his obnoxious friends did.”

“Are you starting to have feelings for that pillock, Slayer? Have you forgotten that he’s been lying to you since you met him? That HE knows somethin’ about what you are and you know nothin’ about him except that he wears dark clothes and prowls around in the dark pickin’ on innocent vampires?”

“I’m lying too, Spike. I haven’t admitted to him that I’m anything more than a martial arts expert – or told him that I know it was him the other night. OR,” she cocked her head at the scowling vampire, “that my ‘cousin’, William is actually the vampire he was trying to recapture.”

“Yeah, well, you’re lyin’ for a good reason,” he grumbled, brushing his hand against hers as they walked down the street. When she didn’t pull away, he moved closer and they finished their walk to the mall touching briefly with every step.

They wandered around the men’s department of the first store, arguing about what they should and shouldn’t buy.

“Okay,” Buffy agreed with exasperation, “you can buy a pair of jeans, but they have to be blue ones – no black. And no tight tee shirts. Here, this will look good on you.” She held a light blue button down shirt up under his chin, admiring the way it brought out the blue in his eyes.

“Think it’ll look good, do you?” He took the shirt and held it at arm’s length. “Guess I’ll have to take your word for it, luv. ‘S not like I can see myself in the mirror, is it?”

Sunnydale being what it was, none of the clerks in the store commented on the fact that the cute little guy in glasses never tried anything on or looked in the mirror. They just smiled and agreed with the pretty girl helping him pick things out that he needed a little color in his wardrobe.

When Buffy thought they had got enough “nancy-boy wear” as Spike called it, to get through the next week or so, they walked though the mall looking into windows. Spike kept Buffy giggling with his comments on the people passing by. He would try to guess what they were thinking and kept trying to get her to stop them and ask if he was right.

When a rowdy group of boys walked by, ogling Buffy and commenting on her body parts, he began to growl and she had to grab his hand and pull him away.

“Okay, okay. We both know what they were thinking. But, growling? So not a William thing to do.”

“William wouldn’t like them talkin’ about you like that either, pet,” he said with a glare back over his shoulder.

“Maybe not, but he wouldn’t GROWL. You’ve got to be more careful when we’re out in public. More William, less Spike.”

As Buffy spoke, she stopped in front of the Victoria’s Secret store to admire the display. She felt William step up behind her and he rested his hands lightly on her shoulders as he growled softly.

“What did I just tell you?” She turned around and glared at him. “William would NOT be growling at everything!”

“Trust me, love, standin’ here in front of this window with you? William would be growling – you jus’ wouldn’t have been able to hear him like you can me. He’d be embarrassed, but he’d be growlin’.”

The truth of what he was saying was evident in his heated gaze that went from her angry face down to her suddenly hard nipples and damp crotch and back up again. He licked his lips as he scented her arousal and felt her leaning toward him. Before he could capture the lips so near his he was jostled by a passing shopper, and the moment was lost.

Blushing furiously, Buffy started walking again, pulling him away from the lingerie store, only to find that the next store, based on the things in the window, might as well have been called, “Spike’s store.” The window was done almost completely in black and red and contained various leather articles of clothing as well as an assortment of spandex tops.

He pulled Buffy into the store and held a leather mini skirt up to her as he turned her around to look at herself in the mirror.

“It’s you, pet. This skirt and one of those stretchy tops…you’d turn William into a wild animal.”

“Why am I thinking that isn’t such a stretch for him?” she laughed, pushing the skirt away. “And it isn’t William that wants me to dress like that…he’d be ashamed to be seen with me in that outfit.”

“You wouldn’t have to wear it out in public, Slayer…”

“No! We are not using the money Giles gave me to buy things for me to wear just for you.”

“Would you wear it if I paid for it, Slayer?” He wiggled his eyebrows at her hopefully and gave her his sexiest smile.

Before she could answer him, he suddenly dropped the leering look he’d been giving her and, grabbing her hand, he pulled her out of the store quickly. Buffy was just opening her mouth to ask him if he’d lost his mind, when William was tugging her away from the store, head down and mortified expression on his face.

“Good lord, Buffy!” he said in a close imitation of Giles at his most incensed. “Mother would throw me out of the house if I brought one of those spouse-abuser shirts home to wear! How could you even think about taking me into that kind of store?”

Buffy was torn between picturing Spike’s ripped body in a tight wife-beater, and wondering what the hell had gotten into him all of a sudden. Then she felt the hand on her arm as Riley said, “Buffy! Imagine running into you here. What are you doing?”

Shooting Spike a grateful look, she covered smoothly, and only slightly dishonestly, “ Oh, I just took William out to see a shopping mall and maybe pick up some more California-friendly clothes. Tweed coats and heavy sweaters aren’t all that useful here in Sunnydale.”

“I suppose that’s true.” He turned to the embarrassed looking young man. “So, William. What do you think of our local mall? Bet there’s nothing like this back in England, huh?”

“Quite so, quite so. Buffy is showing me many strange and wonderful things here in her city. I’m quite exhausted from all the sight seeing.”

“Well, why don’t I give you two a ride back then? You can rest at your uncle’s and I’ll take Buffy back to the dorm.”

Since neither one of them could think quickly enough to offer a good excuse why not, they soon found themselves back in the SUV and heading for the apartment complex.

Riley pulled up near the door and waited for William to get out, frowning slightly when Buffy reached for her door also.

“I said I’d take you back to the dorm, Buffy. I thought we might stop and have a drink or some ice cream on the way.” He looked hurt and disappointed and Buffy sighed.

“I have to check in with Giles first, Riley. Be sure he knows I brought William home safely and with his credit rating still intact.”

“Fine,” he said, opening his own door. “I’ll just come in with you and then we’ll leave from here.” As they walked toward the door, he commented lightly, “I’m just amazed that everyone keeps expecting you to keep William safe. It’s like they think you have…oh, I don’t know….super powers or something.”

“Hee, hee,” Buffy laughed weakly. “What a silly idea, Riley. It’s just that he’s new to the city and not very…adventuresome.”

“I’m actually quite cowardly when Buffy isn’t around,” William volunteered eagerly. “She brings out the explorer in me.”

Riley rolled his eyes at that amazing remark and held the door open for them. Only to be met by a very surprised Giles and an attractive woman with café–au-lait skin.

“Buffy! W-william. I wasn’t expecting you back so soon. This…this is Olivia. An old friend. She just popped in and we were…catching up.”

“Uncle Rupert, you old dog, you,” William snarked as he walked into the living room with his packages.

Giles shot him a dirty look and then turned to Buffy.

“I, ah, I’ve been trying to, ah, resolve the…sleeping arrangements…and I…um…I spoke to your mother, Buffy.”

“My mom? What for? Do you want Olivia to stay there? I’m sure it’s okay.”

“Don’t believe it’s the bird he’s trying to get rid of, love.” She could feel the amusement in Spike’s voice, even as she saw him turn away to hide his smile.

“What? What do you mean? You mean he wants you to… But why? Then he’d be alone here with…oh! Oh my! Ewwww!”

“Um, er, actually, I had hoped that your mother would be willing to give William a place to stay for the night. And she has graciously agreed, although she requested that you accompany him – just for the, um…fun of it,” he finished lamely.

Riley’s disappointment was palpable, but he cheered himself with the thought that meeting Buffy’s mother would add another piece to the puzzle that was Buffy Summers.

“I’d be happy to drive you there, Buffy – William. I’d like to meet your mother, anyway, Buffy.”

“Uh, okay, sure, that would be…great…I guess.” She gave Giles a look, clearly asking if he’d filled her mother in on what was going on. He gave her a brief nod and began shepherding them to the door.

“Well, good. That’s settled then. I’ll see you all tomorrow sometime. Nice to see you again, Riley. “ He practically shoved them out the door.

“Well, that was just…” Buffy was at a loss for words. She’d not seen Giles express any interest in a woman since Jenny Calendar had met her death at the hands of Angelus, and to be practically thrown out of the apartment so that he could be alone with one she’d never heard of or met was throwing her for a loop.

Spike’s obvious amusement at her distress and surprise was becoming irritating. He made no attempt to hide his internal laughter, even though he was outwardly very controlled. Finally, Buffy could take it no longer and she blurted out, “Stop it!”

Riley turned to her in surprise. “Stop what?” he asked in genuine confusion.

“Uh…I…uh…I thought I saw something run in front of the car,” she explained weakly. “I guess it was nothing, though, cause, you know, no bump in the night…”

Shaking his head at more inexplicable behavior from her, Riley turned onto the road to Buffy’s mother’s neighborhood. They drove in apparent silence for a while as Riley allowed Buffy to remain lost in thought. He would have been less accommodating if he’d known that he was the subject of her thoughts. Hers and William’s.

“Spike? He never asked me where Mom lives. He still hasn’t asked me for directions or an address. He’s just going there.”

“Noticed that, pet. Kinda makes you wonder what else the wanker knows that he shouldn’t, doesn’t it?”

As they pulled up in the driveway of the house on Revello Drive, Spike began to worry about getting into the house. Hoping Joyce would have enough sense to ask him in, he slowly followed Buffy and Riley up the sidewalk. When she notice how slowly he was walking, Buffy turned around and said, “Come on, William. You know Mom is anxious to see you.”

“Is she gonna be anxious enough to remember I need an invite? Cause I don’t feature having soldier boy watchin’ me bounce off the barrier.”

“What barrier?”

“Vampire? Ringin’ any bells here, Slayer?”

“Oh, THAT barrier. Doesn’t exist. I never took you off the guest list.”

With that blithe remark, Buffy opened the front door and held it for William and Riley, ushering them in with a flourish. Before Spike could get over the fact that the Slayer had never done a dis-invite spell for him, her mother was hugging him and cooing over the “handsome man” he’d turned in to since she’d last seen him.

When William and Joyce had finishing pretending to be long lost relatives, rather than a barely acquainted vampire and mother of the Slayer, Riley was introduced as someone from Sunnydale University that Buffy was seeing. If he was disappointed at not being introduced as a boy friend, he hid it well, shaking Joyce’s hand and complimenting her on the décor of the house.

It wasn’t long before Riley became uncomfortable with his clearly unnecessary presence at what he assumed was a family reunion and he finally excused himself for the evening. Telling Buffy he’d see her in class the next day, he shook hands with Joyce and flipped a wave at William as he went out the door. He lingered for a minute in the doorway, apparently hoping Buffy would step out onto the porch with him for a kiss, but when she didn’t, he gave up with a sigh and left.

He was half-way back to the base before he realized what he’d done. Shit! I never once asked her where her mother lived. Just went right there. And she never asked me how I knew where it was. I wonder why?

Chapter Nine

Once Riley was gone, and Spike had walked around the house to confirm that he was not listening outside a window, Joyce and Buffy went into the kitchen where there was hot chocolate simmering on the stove. Spike hesitated in the doorway of the kitchen, looking very unsure of himself and more like William than he had at any point yet. When Joyce noticed him hovering bashfully just outside the room, she gave him a genuine smile and said, “Come on in, Spike – er, William. I know you like my hot chocolate.”

“Remember that, do you?” he smirked as he regained his confidence and took a seat next to Buffy.

“Well, yes. It’s not every day a lovesick, drunk vampire appears on my door step looking for my daughter,” she said with a wry smile. “Those kinds of things tend to stick with you. Especially,” she added, “when said daughter comes home and tells you how dangerous the vampire is and yells at you for letting him in while she beats on him.”

“Ah, good times,” Buffy laughed as Spike glared at her.

He turned to Joyce and said with complete sincerity, “I would never hurt you, Joyce. In spite of what your daughter might say about me. You have my word.”

“So, the Summers women have nothing to fear from the Big Bad, even if you get the chip out? Is that what you’re saying?” Buffy’s voice was teasing, but her eyes bored into his looking for an answer she knew she had no reason to expect from the vampire.

“I was talkin’ ‘bout your mother, pet. She’s always nice to me…well, except for that axe thing…You, on the other hand…”

“Hey! I’m nice to you. This is me, letting you sit in my mother’s kitchen and drink hot chocolate.”

She stuck her lower lip out in a pout and watched with great interest as his eyes zeroed in on her lip. She flashed back to the spell and how he sucked on her lower lip every time she stuck it out. Suddenly the room was very warm and she felt her underwear growing damp. Spike’s eyes flew open wider and she flushed, sat up straighter, picked up her cup and made a show of finishing off her cocoa.

“Well, that was really great, Mom. I – we – really appreciate you letting ‘William’ stay here while Giles has company. Where do you want him to sleep?”

“I fixed up the cot in the basement,” she said, turning to Spike apologetically. “It’s not very fancy, but I thought you’d be safe from the sun there.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you, Joyce. I’m sure it will be fine. I’m just sorry the tin soldier had to be there when we made the arrangements. I’d rather he not know that you are involved in this.”

“I gave birth to the Slayer, Spike,” she said dryly. “I couldn’t get uninvolved if I wanted to. Not that I want to, honey!” she turned quickly to Buffy and smiled brightly at her daughter. “I’m very proud of you and what you do every night.”

Buffy rolled her eyes, knowing her mother would give almost anything to have a normal daughter who was going to marry, have children and more than likely outlive her mother by many years.

“Thanks, Mom. I know you are. And speaking of what I do every night – I haven’t patrolled much lately. You up for a little violence, vampire?”

“You’re playin’ my song, luv.”

Spike bounced to his feet and stood eagerly by the door. Buffy and Joyce had to laugh at him.

“You look like a puppy dog, that can’t wait to go out.”

“You might at least have said I looked like a big, mean guard dog,” he grumbled as they went out the door.

Still laughing at him, Buffy waved at her mother and told her they’d be back late. Joyce said she was going to bed and fumbled for something to say, finally settling on, “Have fun slaying, dear.” She shook her head at herself as they Buffy rolled her eyes and closed the door.

“I probably shouldn’t be letting you come with me,” Buffy said quietly after she’d quit chuckling at him. “We don’t know where those commandos are or how many of them might be out tonight.”

“All the more reason for me to be with you, pet.”

She stopped and faced him. “You won’t be able to do anything to help me. They are all obviously human. You’d just get yourself captured again.”

“I’m not lettin’ you go out by yourself until we know those sadists in that lab aren’t plannin’ to add you to the ‘let’s see if it bleeds when we cut it’ list!”

Buffy stared at him, watching his eyes flash amber and his forehead begin to wrinkle until he fought the demon down.

“You won’t LET me?” she asked in a voice that was cold steel.

Bollocks!

He tried his best to look repentant, even as his lower lip came out and he repeated stubbornly, “Didn’t mean to sound all ‘me Tarzan, you Jane,’ on you, pet. That was the demon speakin’ to his mate. But, you don’t know what those people are like, Slayer. And I don’t want you to find out the hard way. Won’t apologize for that.” He glared at her defiantly.

She glared back just as defiantly, daring him to repeat what he’d said. For several long minutes the two powerful beings challenged each other, neither one willing to back down. Finally, Buffy threw up her hands and spun away from him.

“Fine!” she snarled. “Don’t come complaining to me when you have to spend another week in their lab nursing a giant headache!”

They walked silently toward the nearest cemetery. Spike kept the mental barriers up between them so that she wouldn’t sense the profound fear he had for her. He knew her well enough to know she wouldn’t want to be coddled or protected.

Know it’s her job to be the protector, don’t I? But she could let me help her out. Not tryin’ to take her job. Just want to keep her alive.

“So,” Buffy said quietly as the reached the gates to Restfield, “sadists?”

“Don’t know what else you’d call someone who performs autopsies on livin’ demons, do you pet?”

“What?” Buffy’s stomach churned at the mental picture. “You must be wrong. No one would do that. Even to a demon. That’s…that’s….” She couldn’t think of what to call it.

“Called it vivisection in my day, pet. That’s what they called it when they did it to kittens and puppies. Nasty business, that.”

Buffy shuddered and unconsciously moved closer to the vampire. She tried to wrap her brain around the idea that humans could be so cruel. Suddenly she turned to Spike.

“What did they do to you?”

“Nothin’ I couldn’t handle. Vampire, here, you know. Pain is like…foreplay to us.”

He grinned at her, but his eyes slid away from her probing look. He could tell she was trying to get into his head, and he deliberately conjured up visions of naked dancing girls and leather-clad women carrying whips.

“Ewww, Spike!” She slapped him on the arm and made a face, while he laughed.

“Gotta be careful goin’ into my head, pet. Never know what you might find there.”

“Hmph!” Any further discussion was delayed by the arrival of a group of hungry looking fledglings. One look at the small girl and her meek looking escort and they were salivating.

“See, guys? I told you we’d find something to eat soon.”

The first one in line reached for Buffy, saying, “I’m taking the tasty blonde. One of you can have her date.”

“What do think, William? Play a little or just dust them right away?”

“I’m thinking, RUN, pet.”

Before Buffy could register her disbelief, Spike was in her head telling her that he could hear heartbeats from the surrounding brush and thought there were at least four or five humans watching them.

“Commandos?”

“Don’t know what else would be hiding in a cemetery in the middle of the night, pet. Do you?”

“Shit, shit-shit-shit! Okay, there’s nothing I can do about it. This moron is going to bite me if I don’t stop him. But you can still be William. Maybe they won’t notice you.”

“I’ll play – but only as long as you’re winnin’, Slayer. One slip and these wankers meet a master vampire.”

“Deal. Now start screaming, William!”

“I’ll make you proud, love.”

During the course of their rapid mental communication, Buffy had held the puzzled vampire off with one hand, trying not to be obvious about it. As soon as Spike began backing up and shouting, “Oh dear, Oh my god, oh, help! Someone help us!” she shrugged and plunged a stake into the vamp’s heart with her other hand.

Figuring she was busted no matter what she did, Buffy began to fight in earnest, dusting them as she got a good opening and punching and kicking when she didn’t. She could see from the corner of her eye, that even as he appeared to be shrinking back in fear, William was moving around so as to be able to guard her back no matter how she changed position.

In no time, the fledglings being inexperienced and stupid, she had dusted all but one of them. The remaining vamp tried to grab William on his way out of the cemetery, only to find himself being held by a hand that was gradually crushing the bones in his arm.

Still shrieking hysterically, William held on to the panicked vamp until Buffy had strolled over and put her stake through its chest. When it exploded into a dust cloud, the man threw himself into her arms sobbing in relief. Buffy put her arms around him and whispered comforting things in his ear until she realized he had buried his head between her breasts for a reason. Pushing him away, she stood up and yanked him to his feet.

“All right, William, pull yourself together or I’ll have to slap you,” she snapped at the smirking man. “I told you, you shouldn’t have come with me tonight. Maybe next time you’ll listen!”

As she scolded Wlilliam, and he shuffled his feet in embarrassment, they were working their way toward the gate of the cemetery. As soon as they knew they were out of sight, they sprinted away, only slowing as they neared the house on Revello Drive.

They paused once when a strange-looking man appeared behind a hedge, but didn’t stop to look at him more closely when Spike couldn’t sense anything demonic about him.

“Ugly bugger,” he commented, looking back over his shoulder at the tall, skinny man.

“Slaying ugly people is not in my job description,” Buffy said, tugging him along with her. “Let’s get back to the house before I have to do more explaining than I feel up to right now.”

They had no sooner reached Buffy’s home, than Spike heard the roar of engines rapidly approaching. Tumbling through the door, they quickly hit all the light switches, plunging the house into darkness to match all the others in the sleeping neighborhood.

They knelt down, side by side, to peer out the front window and watched as two black SUVs, just like the one Riley drove, came roaring up the street. The vehicles slowed when they got close to the house and rolled to a gradually stop across the street.

After several minutes of waiting, they saw doors open and men wearing infra-red glasses got out and stared at the house. They then reached into the vehicle and pulled out a binocular-like device, which they began to point at the house.

“Basement!” Buffy hissed, grabbing Spike and yanking him toward the kitchen.

They threw open the basement door and jumped down the stairs, landing easily at the bottom. Buffy stumbled slightly and Spike caught her, frozen in place as her warmth was pressed up against his cool body. He was ordering his arms to open and let her go, but they refused to listen; instead, pulling her in closer and sliding around to encircle her waist.

Buffy was mesmerized by the feel of the hard body pressed against hers. Except for the short time they’d spent dancing in the Bronze, she’d had very few opportunities to feel how well their bodies fit together. Without her volition, her arms went around his neck and she raised her mouth to his descending lips.

Chapter Ten

The gentle pressure from his soft, cool lips was all it took for Buffy to realize how much she’d missed the non-stop kissing they’d done while under Willow’s spell. With a small moan, she melted into him, allowing herself to be supported by the supernaturally powerful arms wrapped around her. Spike slanted his head and deepened the kiss, sending his tongue out to trace around her lips and teeth.

She sent her own out to meet it and they became lost in re-learning each other’s mouths. Buffy sent her tongue tracing over his gums, teasing at the retracted fangs and making him groan in ecstasy. When she cut herself on the incredibly sharp tip that Spike couldn’t prevent from protruding, the taste of her blood almost brought him to his knees.

Rather than pull her injured tongue out of his mouth, she continued to push against his, letting him pull it in further as he sucked on it, desperate for more of the elixir that was her blood. The feel of him pulling on her blood again made her legs give out, and she sank to the floor, pulling the vampire down with her.

Their mouths never parted as Buffy lowered her head to the floor and let Spike cover her with his body. She relaxed her thighs to allow him to settle between them, the hard ridge of his erection pressing against her. When that pressure wasn’t enough, she brought her legs up around his hips and pulled him into her harder than he would have thought possible.

Buffy’s entire focus was on the intense pleasure being generated by the pressure of his hard length and the matching sensations taking place in her mouth. She ground her pelvis against him, completely lost in the building orgasm towards which she was gasping. Spike thought his cock was going to catch fire from the heat and friction her grinding hips were creating.

Buffy’s muffled scream into his mouth and the accompanying arching up of her body was more than he could withstand and his hips jerked as he came against her quivering body. He let down the barriers and the waves of sensation ran back and forth between them, prolonging the pleasure until they collapsed in mutual exhaustion.

The vampire remained on top of her, taking his weight on his elbows, but allowing their hips to remain pressed together. Buffy slid her legs down to wrap around his thighs lightly. Her arms remained around his back, holding him to her while her heart rate slowed to normal. Removing his mouth from hers so that she could take in the gasping breaths needed to recover, he licked at his marks on her neck, thrilling at the immediate response he got.

Buffy reached up and ran her fingers through William’s soft curls, twirling them around her fingers as she did. His glasses had somehow remained in place throughout all the activity and she pushed them gently back up on his nose.

“Hey, William,” she said softly.

“Hey, yourself, love,” he answered with a smile, leaning down to plant a light kiss on her nose.

“Somehow I don’t think that was very William-like behavior,” she said sternly. “I’m sure he wouldn’t approve.”

“The dry humpin’? Maybe not, pet, but going off in his pants? Very William-like. Trust me,” he said ruefully.

“Ewww. TMI, Spike!” she said, shoving him away gently.

He laughed and rolled off, being sure he kept one arm holding her to his side.

“You brought it up, love. I’da just as soon left William out of it.”

“I LIKE William,” she said with a small pout. “He’s sweet.”

He nipped at her lower lip gently and said, “I’m not him, Buffy. You know that, don’t you?” He had a frightening thought and asked abruptly, “That’s not why you…why we…bloody hell, Slayer. Is that what this is all about?”

He dropped his arm and sat up suddenly, looking at her intently. When she dropped her eyes and looked away, he felt his heart clench and he moved away from her, cursing at the wet, sticky pants he was now wearing.

Suddenly desperate to get away from her, he prowled the edges of the basement, listening carefully. In spite of the intensity of their recent experience, only a short period of time had actually elapsed since they leaped down the stairs to avoid the infra-red sensors wielded by the commandos, and as coherent thought came back, both Slayer and vampire remembered that there were potential enemies outside the house.

When she started to say something, he held his hand up sharply and cocked his head. Looking around the dim room, he spotted a dirty window and moved toward it as silently as only a vampire could. Buffy sat on the floor where he’d left her, watching intently as he clearly tracked someone around the perimeter of the house.

When Spike got to the window, he cautiously raised his head to peer through a small clear spot in the glass. In the gloom, Buffy could just barely see him shift into game face as he looked out into the dark yard. He flinched and dropped just as a dark figure crept by the window and hesitated for a second. With his hearing strained to the limit, the vampire could just hear the whispered radio conversation.

“I don’t think they’re back yet, Finn. There’s no way her cousin could have moved that fast, no matter what she can do. We beat them here. What do you want to do?”

Cursing silently that he could not hear the response, Spike listened intently as the man outside the window answered.

“Got it. Cameras, sensors and recorders. I’ll get the back yard. Hey, there’s a window here to the basement. Want me to see if I can get in? I could put a sensor in there. If they’re hiding a hostile, that’d be the place to do it.”

"Be ready, Slayer. He’s talking about comin’ in this window. Much as I might like to rip his throat out, I don’t think I shou—“

Buffy’s voice in his head was practically screaming as she interrupted him.

“They want to come in my HOUSE? The place my mother lives? All you need to do is get out of my way when I—“

“Down, Slayer!” Buffy felt the admiration he was not trying to hide. “Somebody musta said “no” to that idea. He’s movin’ off to put stuff in the yard.”

Buffy moved over to the window to look out, but her night vision was not good enough for her to make out the black shadows in the yard.

“What are they doing?” she hissed.

His cool breath stirred tendrils of hair as he whispered in her ear, “Puttin’ cameras and some kinda sensors and recorders around.” He felt her heart accelerate when his lips brushed the shell of her ear. He wanted nothing more than to pull the fleshy lobe into his mouth and suck on it, but he was still hurt at her obvious preference for a man he no longer was.

They waited in silence, Spike using every one of his vampire senses to follow the progress of the men as they circled the house, hiding their high tech devices under bushes and in trees. Finally, they were done and they moved back to their vehicles, pulling away from the house much more sedately and silently than they had arrived.

Buffy and Spike waited impatiently to be sure they weren’t coming back, then crept back up stairs. Before Buffy could reach for the light switch, Spike stayed her hand, his touch freezing them both before he made himself let go and said, “Gimme a few minutes to listen for heartbeats – just in case they left somebody behind.”

Nodding in agreement, she smothered the disappointment she’d felt when he stopped touching her. She tried to ignore the obvious unfairness of her wanting Spike to be William, the man, while making use of the vampire’s gifts to help her when she needed it.

After all, I didn’t even know there was a William when I was engaged to Spike. I was engaged to the vampire. I didn’t mind the demon then.

“Was the demon that claimed you, love. Not some poncey poet.”

Buffy blushed in the dark, but Spike could sense the rush of heated blood to her face and smiled.

“I didn’t mean to think that out loud. You shouldn’t have listened.”

“Yeah, well, evil vampire, here, pet. You don’t want me readin’ your thoughts, don’t put ‘em out there like that.”

“I’m working on it. I’m getting better, aren’t I?”

“Prob’ly. I’m trying to stay out of your head ‘less I need to tell you somethin’ important. But when you’re thinkin’ right at me like that…”

Buffy changed the subject abruptly, asking, “Do you hear anything?”

“No,” he replied aloud, following her lead. “Do you want to go smash the stuff now, or wait until daylight?”

“If we do it now, they might come back to put new ones around. Let’s just leave them till morning and I’ll tell Giles about it. See what he thinks we should do.”

“In the meantime, pet, they’re gonna be expecting to see us comin’ home pretty soon.”

“Hmmm. How are we going to do that from in here? They’ve got cameras focused on all the doors, I’m sure….oh, I know! We’ll go out my bedroom window and come back in the front door.”

They went quietly through the dark house, up the stairs and into Buffy’s room. Spike looked around, inhaling the overpowering scent of Buffy that permeated everything in the room. He tried very hard to keep his gaze off the neatly made bed, but his eyes were continually drawn to it, visualizing Buffy sleeping there.

“Spike? Spike? Earth to Spike,” she whispered from the window. “Come on. What are you doing?”

“Nothin’, love. Jus’ indulgin’ in some wishful thinkin’.” He moved to the window and watched as Buffy opened it and slipped out with the ease of long practice.

“Done this before, have you?” he smirked quietly as he followed her out onto the roof.

“Until you showed up wanting a truce and I had to tell my mother the truth. Every night, for almost two years.”

“Sh” He put a hand over her mouth, almost groaning aloud at the feeling of her warm, soft lips on his palm.

“We don’t know how sensitive those recorders are. Better not to talk till we’re on the ground.”

“I knew that!” Buffy was embarrassed that she hadn’t thought of being heard discussing her Slayer status or calling him Spike.

It took them only a few minutes to drop gracefully to the ground from the tree limbs. When Spike had looked around and spotted the camera, they carefully moved away until they reached the sidewalk. Once they were sure they were out of range, they turned around and began walking toward the house.

“I must say, Buffy. Life in Sunnydale is certainly more exciting than it is in London. I don’t believe we have creatures like that there.”

“Actually, William, I’m sure you do. You just aren’t as likely to see them as here. It’s important to know how to avoid them if you are going to be out at night in Sunnydale.”

They walked up to the front door, carefully maintaining their identities as cousins, although Buffy had obviously given up pretending she wasn’t a vampire fighter on some sort.

Once they were safely inside, they stood awkwardly in the front hallway, neither one sure what to do next.

“Well, I guess I’d better try to get some sleep before tomorrow,” Buffy said carefully. “College classes and all that.”

“I’ll go see Giles first thing in the morning and see what he wants me to do about those surveillance devices.”

“Yes. Your education is quite important. You should get your sleep while you can.”

“Hey! Maybe he’ll tell us to bash them with hammers. That could be fun.”

“I’m thinking more like, let Willow take one apart and see what they do. And, until we know that, we’ll just have to be very careful what we say to each other and Mom.”

“You know if they have heat sensors on them, we’re buggered, right? I can look and talk like William, but I can’t make my heart beat or my body temperature go up. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea. My being here. Don’t want your mum havin’ to worry about those wankers too.”

“I’m not letting them take you back.”

“I’m not planning to go back. Jus’ saying, maybe I shouldn’t be here.”

“Too late now. You’re here and if they noticed anything when we walked up, then we’ll deal with that when we have to. In the meantime, you can hide in the basement and sleep all day tomorrow while I have to pretend I wasn’t up all night.”

Aloud, she said, “Good night, William. I’ll see you tomorrow. “

“Good night, pet. Sleep tight.”

“Sweet dreams, Slayer.”

“There will be NO dreams, sweet or otherwise, if you know what’s good for you! I need sleep, not…dreams…or whatever.”

“Fine.” The disappointed sigh was impossible to hide. “But I can’t make any promises, love. Knowing you’re just up the stairs… alone… in your bed. Naked, maybe?” he added hopefully.

“Spike…” There was no mistaking the visual she sent him of a large, wooden stake.

“Hey, a bloke can hope, can’t he? Good night, Slayer.” He leaned in and planted a chaste kiss on her lips, drawing back quickly before she could object or turn it into something else.

“Good night, William,” she said softly.

Chapter Eleven

Buffy was up early, in spite of only having a few hours of sleep. Spike had been true to his word and the only dreams she had about him were her own, difficult-to-suppress, memories of how he felt pressed against her. She drifted off to sleep dreaming she was curled up next to his cool body and had to smother a pang of disappointment when she woke up alone. She dressed and went downstairs quickly, taking her mother into the bathroom and running the water to drown out their voices.

To her immense surprise, there were no voices to drown out. Neither she, nor her mother, was capable of making a sound. After several frustrating minutes, she grabbed a tablet and wrote down what she needed to say.

Joyce’s face darkened as Buffy gave her a capsule version of the night’s events and explained that everything they might say, if they could speak, was probably being recorded.

“Of course, that doesn’t seem to be a issue just now,” she wrote with an angry slash. She scribbled some more words and shoved the tablet at her mother.

“It’s going to be okay, Mom. As soon as I get Giles and Willow here, we’ll find them and take them down. But you’re going to have to be careful how you talk to Spike until then. I don’t want them to find out William is the vampire they’ve been looking for.”

Grabbing the table from Buffy, her mother wrote furiously, “All right, Buffy. But please do not bring that soldier back here. I don’t know that I am that good an actress – and right now I want to take a baseball bat to him.”

“Whoa, Mom! And Spike thinks I’m violent!” Buffy laughed at her mother’s embarrassment and hugged her.

As soon as Joyce had left for work, Buffy hastened to the other side of town and Giles’ apartment. Just before she reached his door, she remembered why they’d had to go to her house last night and decided she really didn’t want to find her watcher in bed with his guest. She paced around the parking lot, frustrated with her choices. On the one hand, she obviously couldn’t make a phone call, but on the other, knocking on the door seemed unnecessarily embarrassing for all of them.

Her dilemma was solved when the door opened and her fully dressed watcher peered out. He saw Buffy and immediately gestured for her to come in. Once inside the apartment, they frantically scribbled back and forth. The morning news, which was done in closed captions, told about several people being found dead with their hearts ripped out. Giles had already put Olivia to work doing research, and as Willow and Xander and Anya arrived, the full Scooby machine was at work on identifying the problem.

Looking over Willow’s shoulder, Buffy spotted a drawing of a figure that looked very much like the ugly man she and William had seen the night before. She pointed at the picture, gesturing to her eyes until Willow finally said, “You’ve seen one of these?”

Buffy nodded vigorously and scribbled, “Last night.”

Another hour of research, and they had their answers as to both the missing hearts and the missing voices. Buffy nodded her head when Giles wrote that she had to locate the box with the missing voices and open it before any more Sunnydale citizens lost their hearts.

Armed with the knowledge of what was needed to disrupt the Gentlemen’s quest for more hearts, she headed back to Revello Drive, the entire crew including Olivia following along. She showed them the cameras, and sensors, pointing out the hiding places as they approached her front yard.

While Anya and Xander took Olivia into the house, Giles and Willow bent down to look at one of the sensors. After studying it for a minute, Willow plucked a wire from the back and picked it up triumphantly. Buffy looked at the recording device and carefully stepped on the microphone pointed at her front door, crushing it beneath her feet.

When Willow stared at her, indicating she could have disconnected it also, Buffy shrugged and wrote, “Low tech solution to high tech problem.”

Giles shook his head and they entered the house, leaving the camera running until they could decide what to do about it. Willow and Buffy went out to the back yard and dismantled the camera, recorder and sensors they found there. A close inspection of the rest of the yard revealed one more camera, two more recorders, duly smashed by Buffy’s feet, and another sensor.

They went back in the kitchen door to find William having a mug of warm pig’s blood for breakfast and looking much too rested to suit Buffy. And much too cute. He was wearing the new blue button-down shirt and jeans. With his soft curls falling over his forehead and his startling blue eyes peering out from under them, he looked adorable.

She sincerely hoped she hadn’t been projecting when she had that thought, but William gave no sign that he’d heard her refer to him as adorable. Instead, he tilted his head at her and asked, “What’s with the mass laryngitis, pet?”

“I’ll fill you in later. Let’s just say you and I are going hunting ugly people after all.”

He raised his eyebrows, but didn’t pursue it when he noticed Willow giving them a funny look. He gave her his best, most innocent “William” smile and she relaxed and went back to examining the sensors they’d brought in.

Spike took his mug of blood into the living room and sat down to watch the news with Olivia, leaving the Scoobies to watch Willow as she dismantled the sensor. It occurred to him that Giles might very well have not told her he was a vampire, so he made sure to act as bewildered and confused as William would undoubtedly have been at all the weird happenings around him.

By the time evening was approaching, Willow had managed to incapacitate the sensors so that they could not record Spike’s lack of body temperature, or accurately count the humans present in the house. They carefully replaced them where they’d found them. The cameras were twisted just enough that they pointed to a wall of the house, rather than a door. There was nothing to be done about the microphones Buffy had crushed, but with no one able to speak, they doubted the commandos would be listening anyway.

With nightfall, Buffy and Spike went through the weapon’s chest, taking whatever easily concealed things they could find. Without knowing what to expect from the Gentlemen, they tried to be prepared for anything. As they worked at getting ready to go out, Willow studied them surreptitiously. She was positive they were communicating in some fashion other than with gestures, but she couldn’t imagine what it was or how they would have come to be able to do it.

Leaving the Scoobies at her house with her now home-again mother, Buffy left by the front door, conspicuously waving “good-bye” to William and Joyce. As soon as she was safely away from the house, she stopped and waited while Spike caught up with her.

“What took you so long?”

“Had a little trouble with the whelp wantin’ to follow me up to your room and keep me out. The witch had to step in and show him the tree outside the window before he’d let me set foot in there. The way he watched me, you’da thought I was gonna set fire to it or somethin’.”

Buffy was intrigued by the underlying hurt she could feel as he told her about Xander’s unwillingness to let him near her room. Afraid he would pick up on her thoughts, she pushed her curiosity aside for the time being and concentrated on discussing their plan for the night.

“Okay, we’re going to search through the residential areas because that’s where they got the hearts last night – from people who were sleeping. We’ll save the dorms till last, cause nobody goes to sleep early there. We’re not going to get in the way unless we have to, to save a life. We’ll follow them back to wherever they’re keeping the voices and try to open the box”

“I got it, pet. The first three times. What are you so nervous about?”

“I’m not nervous. I’m….concerned.”

“About?”

“I know the commandos will be out tonight looking for the same guys we are. What if they see us/you?”

“Well, I could try screaming again, but I guess that won’t work if I’m holding a sword…”

“No.” There was a tone of command in Buffy’s thought. “If we run into them, you leave, or hide, or something. I don’t want them to see you. I don’t want them wondering why William is always with me when I’m out slaying.”

“Not leavin’ you alone, pet.” Spike’s determination was palpable.

“You are if I tell you to.” Buffy’s determination was equally strong.

Their inevitable stand-off was interrupted by the arrival of several of the Gentlemen’s helpers. They fought all but one of them to a stand still, finding that the only way to kill them was to cut off their heads. The remaining creature ran off with its awkward, loping gait, arms swinging wildly; Buffy and Spike in hot pursuit.

They followed him to a clock tower and watched as one of the Gentlemen floated past, carefully holding what appeared to be another heart. Close behind him, was a squad of commandos, led by Riley Finn. Shoving Spike behind a bush and ordering him to “stay here unless I call you”, Buffy ran into the tower behind the Gentleman and ahead of Riley.

Ignoring the soldier, except to keep an eye on how he was doing in the fight, Buffy battled her way into the tower and began searching frantically for the voice box. Just as she located it, she was attacked by two of the long-armed creatures at once and pinned down. As she frantically tried to kick them off of her before the advancing Gentleman could take his scalpel to her chest, she gestured toward the box, trying to get Riley to smash it.

In her anxiety to get the box smashed quickly, she hadn’t realized she was projecting her frustration and thoughts until William burst through the door and brought his fist down on the box, releasing all the captured voices. Immediately, Buffy began screaming, not stopping until she ran out of breath and all the Gentlemen had succumbed to exploding heads.

For several seconds, no one moved or said anything. Buffy was struggling to regain her breath, William was hovering over her anxiously, and Riley was looking back and forth between the two as he struggled back to his feet.

“Buffy, we need to talk,” he said unnecessarily.

Spike gave a very un-William-like snort, and she shot him a warning look before turning to face the big commando.

“I suppose we do,” she said tiredly. “But not tonight. I’m tired and I want to go home. I’ll meet you in the coffee shop tomorrow. Is that all right?”

“I thought maybe you could come to Lowell House for coffee. We could talk there with more privacy.”

Buffy studied him for a full minute, trying to assess how much she could trust the man. She could feel Spike behind her, willing her to say “no”, but ignored him as best she could. When she nodded her head in agreement, and told Riley she’d meet him at Lowell House, the vampire stalked out of the tower and disappeared into the night.

“William isn’t walking home on his own, is he?” Riley asked with a grin.

“No, I’m sure he’ll wait for me. I think he just needed to get out of here and away from all the blood and gore.”

“He’s awfully delicate for the cousin of a Slayer, isn’t he?” Riley tried to appear casual as he used her title for the first time.

“He’s a good man,” she said shortly, neither confirming nor denying his implication. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Riley.” She went down the stairs and out into the night, leaving the commando and his team staring after her small form as she walked down the street toward her waiting cousin.

Chapter Twelve

The long walk to Revello drive was made in silence – mental and physical. Spike made no attempt to disguise the anger burning within him, but he didn’t project any thoughts toward Buffy at all. She knew he was furious that she’d agreed to enter the fraternity house by herself, but she was too tired to argue with him about it. The only thoughts she allowed to enter her head were thoughts of a hot bath and her soft bed.

They entered the house, still not speaking to each other, to find that everyone else had found their voice and there were at least three conversations going on at one time.

Giles, Olivia and Joyce were trying to have a dignified, adult conversation about Sunnydale, Slayers and Watchers – all of which had been new to Olivia until that morning. Xander wanted to complain to all and sundry about Spike’s taking up residence in the Summer’s house, and his obvious familiarity with Buffy’s bedroom. Anya was anxious to get home and get some quality time with Xander before it got too late and he fell asleep.

Buffy and Spike stood inside the door listening to the cacophony of noise and exchanged a look that clearly said, “Can we have the silence back again?”

Finally, Willow noticed their presence and shouted, “They’re back!”

“Good job, Buffster,” Xander spoke up first. “Way to dust those guys and get us our voices back.”

“Actually, William did that,” Buffy said, emphasizing “Wiliiam” as a reminder that their words might be heard. She thought she had smashed all the microphones, but wasn’t sure they didn’t miss one somewhere.

“Yes, well, good job, William,” Giles said, picking up on the vampire’s obvious anger, but at a loss as to what might be causing it. “Any complications, Buffy?”

With a snarl, Spike pushed past the humans in the room and went down to the basement. There was an uncomfortable silence following his departure and Joyce frowned slightly. She made a motion as if to go after him, but Buffy’s voice stopped her.

“Let him go, Mom. He’s just pissed at me.”

“Buffy! Language!”

Rolling her eyes, Buffy said tiredly, “If it’s all right with everybody else, I’m going to take a hot bath and get some sleep. I’ll fill you all in tomorrow night. I’ll know more about the commandos then, too.”

She turned and made her way upstairs, refusing to answer any of the questions being thrown at her about the commandos and how they figured in to the night’s actions.

In the basement, a furious vampire was pacing from one side to the other, desperate for something on which to take out his anger at the Slayer. Every time he picked up something to throw, he would recognize it as something Joyce probably valued, and he would set it down carefully, snarling the whole time.

Bloody, stupid bint! Goin’ in there alone…and in the daytime, when I can’t go out. If anything happens to her, I’ll rip that place apart…brick by brick, body by body.

He lifted his head as he heard a heavy step on the stairs and watched as Giles descended. He didn’t offer a greeting, just threw himself on the cot and glared.

“Would you like to let me in on what this little tantrum is about?” the man inquired in a deceptively mild tone.

“Not a tantrum,” the vampire said with a growl. “If I was havin’ a tantrum, this place would be in shambles by now.”

“Point well taken. And I am sure Joyce thanks you for your restraint,” he answered wryly. “But I still want to know what’s going on…and why I should leave an angry vampire in the same house with my Slayer and her mother?”

“Wouldn’t hurt them,” he growled.

“Isn’t that couldn’t hurt them? I think we both know what you would do if you weren’t effectively neutered.”

“Wouldn’t, couldn’t, same thing.” He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall. “You know nothing, Watcher.”

When Giles didn’t respond, but remained standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for an answer, Spike growled again and stood up. He smiled to himself when the Watcher couldn’t hide a small flinch as he stalked toward him. Giles recovered quickly, but Spike had seen the movement and felt the slight increase in heart rate.

Considering that he was still dressed like William, complete with glasses, the vampire was quite pleased with himself to think he could still frighten an experienced Watcher.

“Did she tell you what she’s gonna do?” he demanded as he invaded the watcher’s personal space. “Did she tell you what she agreed to?”

“The only thing she said was that she was tired and going to take a hot bath before going to bed. Perhaps you could be a bit more forthcoming?”

“She agreed to meet with that bloody piillock tomorrow – at his fraternity house. By herself.” He watched with satisfaction as Giles’ face paled, and added, “That would be the house that is full of soldiers pretending to be college boys, in case you’ve forgotten. The one that Red thinks is built over the lab where they use live demons for carving practice.”

Giles flinched again at Spike’s description of the activities that went on in the research facility. As a watcher, he, of course had no problems with groups that killed vampires and demons, but the idea of capturing them for the purposes of doing experiments on sentient creatures offended his British sense of fair play.

“I will certainly discuss the foolhardiness of entering the lion’s den, so to speak. However, as you have noticed, Buffy has a tendency to do as she pleases, not as she’s told.”

“Stupid bint’s going to get herself killed. Or worse.” He stalked back over to the cot and threw himself down again.

“I sincerely hope that will not be the case, Spike. But, if it should be, I’m quite curious as to why a vampire that has repeatedly made it his goal to kill his third Slayer is at all concerned about it.”

“She’s mine,” he answered shortly, looking away from the Watcher’s probing eyes.

“To kill, you mean. She’s yours to kill and you don’t want anyone else stealing your glory.” The expression on Giles’ face was grim and his hand twitched as though holding a stake.

Spike looked up at him and stared flatly until Giles looked away.

“Yeah, that’s right, Watcher. Wanna keep her alive until I can kill her myself.” He snorted with derisive laughter. “You know, for a watcher, you sure don’t see much, do you?”

Giles took off his glasses and polished them vigorously. He’d been aware of a developing relationship between his charge and the neutered vampire, but to hear it confirmed by William the Bloody himself was to make it real.

“I’ve seen enough to know I do not want Buffy involved with another vampire. I believe one experience like that has caused her more than her share of grief.”

“I’m not him, Rupert,” the suddenly quiet William said, closing his eyes wearily. “Got no soul to lose, now, do I?”

Giles had no answer to that, and he turned to go up the stairs. He paused and looked back at the immobile man on the cot, but William’s eyes remained closed and he did not look up again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Giles offered Willow and Xander rides and they gladly accepted, joining him and Olivia in his old Citroen. He dropped them off and headed for his apartment and a few hours of, he hoped, quality time with his guest. Instead, he got a tearful discussion of how frightening it was to be visiting somewhere with vampires, demons, creepy, mystical gentlemen that took living hearts and armed soldiers that crept around in the dark.

Sighing for his non-existent social life, Giles agreed to drive her to the nearest airport in the morning so that she could go home to safe, un hell-mouthy, England. As a result, he did not have an opportunity to talk to Buffy before she got up and went off to meet with Riley.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy had done exactly what she’d said she was going to. She went upstairs, ran a tub full of hot water and bath oil, and soaked in it until it got uncomfortably cool. Then she got out, dried off, and fell into her bed without even putting on a nightie or pajamas. Spike’s comment about her sleeping naked briefly crossed her mind, but a tentative attempt to see if he was open to her resulted in nothing but cold silence and she gave it up for a deep dreamless sleep.

She awoke in the morning, glanced at the clock, and rushed to get dressed and meet Riley at the appointed time. She didn’t stop to have breakfast, so didn’t hear or see the basement door crack open as she ran out of the house.

~~~~~~~~~~

As she walked up to the door of Lowell House, she suddenly felt very alone and found herself wishing for even a snarky remark from the vampire that had been her on and off companion for over a week.

911, my ass! Stupid vampire. I could be kidnapped right now and he’d never know or care.

“Yes, I would, Slayer.”

The feelings of relief and joy that flooded her at the familiar voice in her head caused Buffy to stop in mid-stride. She stumbled and almost fell before she could recover from the unexpected answer.

“So you’ve decided to speak to me again, huh”

She tried to smother the happiness it generated, but she could feel his smile and knew he’d sensed it.

“If you’re gonna be all stupid and careless, Slayer, somebody’s got to be watchin’ your back.”

“I’m not being careless. I’ll be very careful. I’m all about the carefulness. And the only thing stupid I’ve done lately is go to sleep naked last night –by myself.”

She giggled uncontrollably when she felt the bolt of pure lust go through him and when Riley opened the door to invite her in, she was still smiling widely. Too late, she realized he thought the smile was for him, and she tried to back pedal quickly when he took it as an excuse to hug her. Squirming her way out of his smothering embrace, she backed up and looked up at him.

“I thought we were going to talk?”

“We are. I just thought…you looked so happy and…normal. Human.”

Buffy quirked her eyebrows at him in an unintentional imitation of a blond vampire.

“Okay, normal, I get. But, human? What do I look like, a chimpanzee?”

Riley laughed uncomfortably. “No, no, of course not. I just meant –we’re not really sure what a Slayer is…and…”

“We?” Buffy stiffened when she found herself suddenly surrounded by several clean-cut young men. She recognized two of them from the Bronze and gave them cold looks before turning back to Riley.

“This is how we’re going to talk?” She stared at him suspiciously and began edging toward the door.

“There’s no need for panic, Ms. Summers,” came a woman’s voice from the hallway. “We just thought we’d all have a nice chat and you wouldn’t have to repeat yourself over and over.”

“Why would I be repeating myself? I’m going to talk to Riley, and that’s it.”

“Well, the thing is,” Maggie Walsh said, entering the room to stand just out of reach, “Agent Finn and his men work for me. You are here at my request. I wish to study you.”

“STUDY me?” No one missed the steely tone in the Slayer’s voice, and the men who had already tangled with her backed up a step. Maggie Walsh, however, didn’t flinch. Instead, she relaxed her posture and put on her most charming smile.

“I’m sorry, Buffy – May I call you Buffy? – I’ve not made myself understood. Until recently, we thought that the Slayer was a myth, something to be evoked to frighten young demons. We are delighted to find that not only is she real, but that she lives right here in Sunnydale. I simply wish to sit down with you and learn more about who you are and what your life is like. How did you become the Slayer? When? How long do you plan to continue it? Things like that.”

She smiled at Buffy with what appeared to be genuine warmth.

“I’m sorry we’ve gotten off to such a rocky start. Why don’t we all come into the game room and sit down and relax. You will tell us about yourself, and we will tell you what we can about our…operation. Agent Finn, please get Buffy some refreshments. What would you like, dear?”

Buffy reluctantly followed the older woman into the large adjoining room and perched nervously on the edge of a chair. She gave Riley a tentative smile of thanks when he handed her an opened can and said, “Diet Coke, right?”

Recalling Spike’s story about the drugged blood they’d tried to feed him, she pretended to sip the Coke, then set the can down on the nearby table.

“What’s happenin’, Slayer? Where’d you go? Why’d you’d get so nervous?”

“It’s OK, Spike. I just misunderstood or something. She said they wanted to study me and I—“

“NO! No, Buffy! Don’t let them take you to the lab.”

“Relax, she didn’t mean it that way. We’re just sitting down in the frat house to talk. I’m have a Diet Coke and I’ll tell them about me and they’ll tell me about them, and then I’ll be on my way home.”

“Don’t trust them, love. Please. Listen to me. And who is ‘she’?”

“Professor Walsh, my psychology teacher. Turns out she’s in charge.”

“Cold, nasty piece of work? Looks like a man?”

“Well, that’s kinda rude, but, yeah, I guess you could say that. How did you know?”

“That’s the bitch that put this thing in my head! She runs that bloody charnel house. Get away from her, Buffy. Now!”

“What am I going to say? The vampire who talks to me in my head says I have to go now? You’re over-reacting. I’m a human. They’re not going to hurt me. She just wants to know about me.”

“Slayer, Buffy, please…love. Just get out of there. Tell them you’ll talk to them later. Tell them your house is on fire. Tell them the bloody world is endin’! I don’t care. Just do what you’re told for once in your soddin’ life!”

“You do NOT tell me what to do! Get that idea through your thick head. Now leave me alone so I can concentrate on my conversation!”

“Fine, you stupid, stubborn, bitch! Find out the hard way.”

Buffy almost cringed at the anger pouring out from the vampire, then shuddered as the link closed down completely. She told herself she was glad he was out of her head, but she suddenly felt very alone.

This is not a problem. I’ve been doing things alone ever since I was called. I don’t need some paranoid vampire with a grudge against these people telling me how to do my job. The Slayer works alone. That’s how it is.

As Buffy finished her mental pep talk, she realized that Professor Walsh had asked her something, and she had to think quickly. Unfortunately, the first thing she came up with was “Huh?”

“I’m sorry, Buffy,” Maggie was at her most patient and charming, “I guess I didn’t make myself clear. I was asking if you would mind working out a little with one of my men. Just so we can study your techniques and speed.”

Even though the whole idea of being “studied” was giving Buffy a creepy feeling, she couldn’t think of a good way to refuse and soon found herself trailing after Riley and his friends into a well-furnished gym just off the game room.

“Uh, Buffy,” Riley said as he pointed to a man taking off his shoes. “This is Graham, I think you met—“

“We met at the Bronze,” Buffy said coldly. “You were threatening my…cousin”

Graham shuffled his feet uncomfortably. “Actually, we met once before that – you threw me into a bush”

“Oh yeah, I remember. You told Riley not to back off because I was ‘just a little girl’.” Buffy gave him her best cheerleader smile. “Kinda pissed me off.”

“Yeah, I got that. I thought we might spar a little and I’d try to get some of my own back. If that’s all right with you,” he added hastily as Riley frowned. “I’ll be careful. I won’t hurt you. I promise.”

“Oh, I know you won’t.” Buffy smiled sweetly and took off her own shoes.

She stepped onto the mats and began stretching and warming up as the young men watched in admiration. When she was comfortable that her body was awake and ready, she turned to Graham and said, “I’m ready when you are.”

For several minutes they just circled each other cautiously, until Buffy was sure she was going to scream from boredom. When she stopped circling and put her hands on her hips impatiently, the commando rushed her with a grin on his face; only to find himself flying across the room and slamming into the padded wall.

Buffy turned around and faced him, hands back on hips and head cocked to one side. With a furious glare, he charged again, carrying her to the mat with his weight. Before he had time to savor his victory, Buffy had put her hands under his chest and lifted him off her body far enough that she could get her feet between them and kick him over her head. She quickly whirled and landed on his back, pressing his face into the mat and painfully pinning one arm behind him.

She was immediately picked up off the downed soldier and tossed across the mat. She looked up to find herself facing a furious Forrest who was standing over Graham and glaring at her.

“Normal human girls can’t move like that. And they aren’t that strong. I don’t know what you are, but it isn’t human.”

Buffy stared at him in astonishment. “Exactly which part of ‘I’m the Slayer’ didn’t you get? Along with my “Chosen” career, which requires me to spend my life in dark, stinky places fighting with disgusting, dead things that want to kill me, I was given some assets to help me do my job. I’m just as human as you are, just stronger and faster.”

She put her hands back on her hips and glared back at him.

“And, incidentally, I spend enough time fighting supernaturally strong creatures to know that you guys are faster and stronger than normal humans too. So what does that make you, huh?”

Before the angry man could reply, Maggie stepped in and said smoothly, “I’ve chosen only the cream of the crop for my operation. They all came here in perfect physical condition and I have only enhanced their natural abilities. You see, just like you, Buffy, they must fight beings that are stronger and faster than they are; so we give them all the advantages we can; the finest in technology and the newest scientific and medical advancements. But, I believe I speak for everyone, when I tell you that we don’t quite understand what sorts of enhancements you have, or how you got them. Can you enlighten us?”

Buffy looked back and forth between her professor and the men in the room and shook her head.

“I think you ought to talk to Giles. He knows all that stuff. I wasn’t really paying attention when Merrick explained it to me.”

“Giles? You mean your uncle? And who is Merrick?”

“Merrick was my first Watcher. He was the one who told me I’d been called.”

“Ah. The more we learn, the more questions I have. What is a watcher? Why do you have one? What is Mr. Giles connection to all of this?” Maggie smiled at Buffy. “You can see why we are reluctant to let you go until we’ve had time to thoroughly debrief you.”

“To de-what me?” Buffy wasn’t sure, but thought they might be planning to take her underwear. She stood up very straight and said sternly, “There will be no de-briefing of this girl. Oh no. You can talk to Giles and let him explain stuff to you. I’m done here.” She turned and started toward the door.

“I’m afraid not, dear,” Maggie said calmly as she gestured to Riley.

With a quick, “I’m sorry, Buffy,” he plunged a needle into her neck and forced out the liquid in the syringe.

Buffy had time to think Damn that vampire. I hate it when he’s right! before the sedative took effect and she lost consciousness.

Chapter Thirteen

Spike spent the afternoon sulking, refusing to send so much as an “up yours, Slayer,” in Buffy’s direction. When Giles got back from taking Olivia to the airport he immediately tried to call Buffy in her dorm room, but only got a surprised Willow who assured him she hadn’t seen Buffy since the previous night.

“She said she was really tired, Giles. Maybe she just stayed at her mom’s and slept all day.”

“That’s probably it, Willow. Thank you. I’ll call her there.” The Watcher hung up the phone with a frown, remembering Spike’s angry insistence that Buffy had decided to go the fraternity house and meet with Riley alone. He felt a twinge of fear at the idea of her not having at least checked in with Willow, or gone to class all day.

When the phone began to ring, Spike stared at it with indecision before finally grabbing it and growling, “What?” Followed immediately, by a much more William-like, “Good afternoon, Summers’ residence. William speaking.”

“William? It’s Uncle Rupert. May I speak with Buffy, please?”

“She’s not here. I haven’t seen her since she left this morning for her visit with the toy soldier.” Spike made no attempt to keep his disdain for Riley out of his voice. “She’s probably in class or back in the dorm.”

“No,” Giles said carefully, not sure who might be listening,” She’s not. No one has seen her since last night.”

There was a short silence, followed rapidly by a lengthy string of British profanity. When he ran out of obscenities, Spike paused and Giles took the opportunity to put in, “Quite right you are, but that is not helping us locate her. I will call Willow and bring her over to try a locator spell.”

“Wait a minute,” Spike said shortly, opening up his mind and extending it out frantically searching for Buffy.

“Come on, love. Just tell me where you are. Talk to me. Tell me you’re all right and I’ll go right away again. Buffy? Please, Slayer, just say something. Tell me you hate me. Threaten to stake me for interrupting your good time. Anything.”

There was no answer, and he couldn’t sense Buffy at all. His stomach clenched at the implications, but common sense told him there was no way she could have died without his feeling it.

Right then, unconscious. I’m goin’ to hang that bloody soldier with his own entrails.

“Watcher,” Spike’s voice was nothing like William, and Giles felt a chill go up his spine at the tone, “I think we’ve got a situation. Tell the witch to come to your place. It’s closer.”

“What do you know?” Giles surprised himself by not questioning the vampire’s instructions.

“I know she’s not dead; but she’s not conscious either. I’ll be there in ten,” he added, hanging up before Giles could question how he knew those things.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy came back to consciousness slowly, and kept her eyes shut as she tried to remember where she was and what had happened.

Oh yeah, they wanted to take my underwear, and then the lights went out. All useful information, I’m sure.

She did a quick check of her body and discovered that not only was she missing her underwear, she was missing her entire wardrobe.

Naked. Naked is never good. And…tied up. Even more not goodness. Tied, though, with rope. Not chained. Stupid amateurs still don’t get it. Okay, tied up and hanging by my arms. Feet are not tied. Room is…warm? No, the room is hot. And getting hotter by the second. Are they planning to cook and eat me? What the hell?

Unable to figure out anything else about her situation, Buffy opened her eyes and stared around. She found herself hanging from a pole, her feet just inches off the ground. The room she was in was obviously one of the lab’s experimental rooms that Spike had alluded to. She cursed herself for not making him tell her exactly what happened to him when he was in there so that she would have some idea what to expect.

Sweat began to pour off her body as the room continued to get hotter and hotter and she squirmed against the ropes in an effort to loosen them.

“Ah, I see that you are awake again, Buffy,” came the voice of a woman the Slayer was really beginning to dislike. “We’ve begun our testing program. Would you please let us know what you are feeling just now?”

Buffy was dumbfounded at the calm, pleasant tone of Professor Walsh’s voice as she asked the sweating, naked girl how she felt.

“I’m hanging by my arms, which are getting tired, by the way; some pervert has taken all my clothes, and I think I’m inside a giant oven. How the hell do you think I feel, you arrogant bitch?”

“There’s no need to be abusive,” Maggie answered in a tone that undoubtedly cowed the young men under her command. “We are simply running you through some of the same tests we use on the vampires we capture.”

Changing the subject, she asked, “So, you do feel the heat then? That’s interesting. It didn’t seem to bother the vampires that much.”

“Because they’re DEAD!” Buffy shouted. “Are you stupid?”

There was no reply, but the temperature in the room began to go down noticeably. And down, and down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Giles’ apartment, he, Willow, and Spike stared at each other.

“What makes you think Buffy is unconscious?” the older man was asking. “And how can you be sure she’s not dead?”

“I’d know if she was dead,” he mumbled, not really wanting to tell the watcher how he knew, but desperate to make him believe him.

Willow stared hard at the squirming vampire and said quietly, “He knows she’s unconscious because he can’t hear her right now. Isn’t that right, Spike?”

“Wha-? No! Don’t be ridiculous, Red. How would I be able to hear her? Vamp hearing is good, but it’s not—“

Giles looked back and forth between them. “What do you mean, he can’t hear her? We have to assume she has been taken to the facility under Lowell House. He’s quite right. Even vamp hearing can’t extend that far.”

“That’s not what he’s using. Is it, Spike?” Willow put on her “resolve” face and made the vampire look her in the eye.

“Don’t know what you’re on about, Witch,” he growled, trying to look away.

“You know, for somebody who’s all about the evilness, you don’t lie very well,” she responded.

Before Spike could respond, he felt the first confused stirring of consciousness in Buffy and he held up his hand for silence. Cocking his head, he listened as she collected her thoughts and sorted out her surroundings. He snarled when she realized she was naked, and groaned in recognition when she noticed how hot the room was getting.

Willow and Giles watched in slow understanding as they saw the emotions play across the vampire’s expressive face. Relief, followed quickly by outrage, and fear that they knew instinctively wasn’t for himself.

“ Buffy? I’m here, love. We’re comin’ to get you. Can you tell me where you are?”

“Spike? I’m where you were. She said they’re running the same tests on me that they run on the all vampires they catch.”

He couldn’t disguise the stab of fear that went through him at her words, and she asked anxiously, “What else are they going to do to me? They took my clothes, and it looks like they took blood out of my arm…oh, and they just tried to cook me, but it’s getting better now.”

“It’s going to go from hot to cold, pet. They tried to see how hot or cold they could make us before we couldn’t function anymore.”

“Terrific. I’m gonna go from baked Buffy to a Slayer-sicle”.

“What’s going on?” Giles put aside his questions about how Spike was communicating with Buffy for the time being and demanded to know what was going on.

“They’ve got her in the lab and they’ve started their regular vampire tests on her.” Spike’s voice was even and cold.

“Buffy’s not a vampire, for the love of god! What are they thinking?”

“They’re thinkin’ they’ve got somethin’ they don’t understand, and they’re gonna take it apart and see what makes it tick. “

“Giles! We’ve got to get in there. We’ve got to find Buffy before they really hurt her.” Willow’s eyes were wide with worry.

“Yes, we do, obviously. However, we know nothing about that place or where she is inside it. Spike,” he turned to the vampire, “write down everything you remember about the facility and how you got out of there. Willow,” he pushed the anxious red head toward the table, “search on the web for whatever you can find out about what may have been built under there. There is no point in our charging in without a plan and some idea where we’re going.”

*************************

Buffy was still hanging in the room that was rapidly becoming colder and colder. Goosebumps burst out on her arms and legs, followed quickly by uncontrollable shivering.

“Hang in, love. We’re working on this. Need to figure out where you are exactly and how to get there.”

“I’m cold, Spike. They know I’m not a vampire. Why are they doing this?”

The discomfort and just a trace of fear that he felt in her voice, had the vampire growling aloud even as he tried to soothe her with the reassurances he was sending.

“You need to think about warm things, pet. Like my tight, little body and how hot it makes you. Think about my hands on your breasts, my tongue teasing your needy little...”

He felt a weak trace of amusement from the Slayer, even as her thoughts became disjointed and confused.

Cold, sleepy, think of warm things…so cold…William makes me warm…Spike…Spike is warm…no…Spike is a vampire…not warm…why does he make me warm?…warm…sleepy…too cold…doesn’t hurt anymore….

“Buffy? Slayer? Come on, pet. Stay with me. Don’t go out on me again, love. Buffy? Buffy?”

One look at the anguish on the vampire’s face and Giles knew things weren’t going well for his Slayer.

“What happened? What’s going on, Spike?”

“She’s passed out from the cold. Let’s hope the wankers are smart enough to figure out she could die from cold like any other human and don’t just leave her there like they do the vamps.”

“What happens to them?” Willow couldn’t keep the trace of scientific curiosity from her voice and he gave her a glare before reluctantly answering.

“The first few, they jus’ left there to freeze solid. Then they whacked them apart with hammers and laughed when they shattered. By the time they got to me, they were trying to figure out exactly how long it took to get a vamp so cold it couldn’t move, so they took me out when I stopped movin’.”

“Well, they’ll know that Buffy can’t freeze and live, won’t they?”

“I’m sure they will, Willow.” Giles’ voice was as reassuring as he could make it while he was pondering how many explosives it would take to blow up Lowell House if his Slayer didn’t leave it alive.

***********************

Buffy woke up to find that someone had put her clothes back on her, and draped her in a blanket. She was also strapped down to a table with an IV drip in her arm.

“Ah, Buffy,” came the hated voice, “I’m glad to see you are awake. That was quite informative. It appears that you can withstand temperatures much higher and lower than the average human, and yet, had we left you there, you would have died. Very interesting.”

“You could have asked me, you know,” she gritted out through teeth that still wanted to chatter.

“Oh, we are planning to,” Maggie’s voice was cheerful and she nodded to the technician standing beside the examining table. He twisted a knob on the tubes leading to the IV and Buffy immediately felt herself getting woozy again.

“This is one of our better discoveries here. It is designed to elicit truthful responses from subjects – whether demon or human. Far superior to old fashioned ‘truth serums’.”

“Not telling you anything,” Buffy growled, sounding a great deal like a certain blond vampire.

“You sometimes sound surprisingly like Hostile 17, as I recall him,” Maggie said, speculatively. “Perhaps it’s an attitude thing you have picked up from spending so much time around vampires.”

“I don’t tend to spend much time with them. Only as long as it takes to make them dust.”

“And yet, you prevented my men from recapturing Hostile 17. Why is that, Buffy?”

Buffy fought the urge to tell the woman everything about Spike and their history, although she couldn’t prevent herself from growling, “He’s mine.”

“Yours? Interesting. We will have to go into this further. But right now I have some questions about your uncle and your friends. Tell me about Rupert Giles.”

“No,” Buffy said flatly.

Maggie gave an exasperated sigh. “Very well, we’ll do this the hard way. Is your uncle in any way connected to your Slaying duties?”

Buffy thought about her mother’s brother in Ohio and grinned to herself. “No, he’s not,” she said truthfully.

The older woman glared at her, then turned to the technician. “Turn it up,” she ordered. He looked at her as though he wanted to argue, then shrugged and twisted the knob again. Buffy felt more warmth as the increased drug flowed into her veins.

“Now, lets try again. Is Mr. Giles aware of your activities?”

“Yes.” Buffy responded immediately. “But shouldn’t you already know this stuff from your cameras and recorders?”

Before she could stop herself, Maggie replied, “They don’t seem to be working very we-- Oh, very clever, Buffy. You’re not a dumb as you look, are you?”

“Nope!” Buffy replied cheerfully and truthfully.

Gritting her teeth and vowing that the impudent young woman tied to the table in front of her was not going to rattle her, Maggie Walsh turned and called Riley into the room.

“Agent Finn, I want you to bring in Ms. Summers’ uncle, cousin, mother, and those other young people who seem to be part of her circle. We’ll see how they respond to my serum.”

Buffy pulled furiously at the restraints holding her down, glaring at the smiling woman.

“You leave my friends and family out of this!”

“I don’t think so. I think we’re going to find that they are in this up to their ears. Aren’t we, Miss Summers?”

“Yes,” Buffy almost sobbed as she was unable to prevent the word from leaving her mouth. “But my mother isn’t. She doesn’t have anything to do with it.”

“She gave birth to you. I’m sure there is something we can learn from her.”

The professor turned to leave the room.

“I’ll be back when we have more subjects to study. Until then, enjoy your stay. Perhaps Graham and Forrest might want to keep you company…”

“Hurt my friends and family and I WILL kill you.” There was no trace of the young coed Maggie knew from class in her voice. The sound of an angry Slayer made the woman hesitate for a minute as a chill went up her spine.

“I don’t think so,” she managed to say without her voice quivering. “Such braggadocio is admirable, but hardly believable from someone in your situation.”

“Truth serum,” Buffy said coldly and smiled to herself when she saw the meaning of the two words hit the other woman.

Lab coat fluttering, Maggie quickly left the room without saying anything else, vowing to humble the irritating girl before she was done with her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Willow put the spells she’d found that she thought might be helpful into her pocket along with the layout of the ductwork in the facility. While the actual facility itself was apparently a secret, it hadn’t seemed to occur to anyone that the schematics for blocking out the duct work and electrical wires gave anyone who cared to look at them a very good idea of what the layout was. Willow had no trouble hacking into the systems of the companies that did the work and printing out their plans.

Giles and Spike, who was still dressed in William’s new blue shirt and jeans, were digging through the weapon’s chest for easily hidden, but lethal objects to take in with them. They each slipped sharp knives into ankle holsters, as well as garrotes in their pockets. Although he didn’t change out of William’s clothes, Spike did get his Doc Martin’s and exchange William’s loafers for his own boots. He raised his eyebrows curiously when Giles went to the hall closet and pulled out a metal box. When he pulled out an automatic pistol and loaded it, Willow’s eyes bugged out.

“I never knew you had a gun, Giles!” she said wonderingly.

“There is a great deal you don’t know about me, Willow,” he replied evenly, causing the vampire to give him a hard look, even as he admired the comfortable way the other man handled the gun.

“That wouldn’t help you much against vamps, Watcher,” Spike drawled as Giles shoved the gun into the waistband of his pants.

“Not everything evil we meet is bullet-proof, or non-human,” Giles answered with more than a trace of Ripper in his voice.

“True enough, Watcher. True enough.”

The three would-be rescuers stood in the middle of the living room, double checking their weapons and going over their plan.

“I’m sure Buffy appreciates your willingness to assist us, Sp-William, but I can’t see what help you think you can be when you will rendered immobile the first time you hurt a human.”

“You let me worry about that, Watcher. If they don’t know about my…disability…, just flashing m’ fangs might be all it takes to back somebody off. And if they do, I’ll jus’ have to pick my one human really carefully.”

He looked at the dubious man and said firmly, “’M not leaving her in that place, and ‘m not gonna sit here and worry until you get back.”

“Fine. I suppose you are old enough to make your own decisions about something like this.”

Willow and Spike both smiled at Giles’ words and the vampire snarked, “That I am, Uncle Rupert. But I do ‘preciate the thought.”

“Then I guess we should get going. We’ll need to figure out how we’re going to get into the--“ When Spike’s head flew up and they realized he was listening to Buffy, Giles stopped talking and waited.

“Spike? Can you hear me?”

“Yeah, I hear you, pet. What’s goin’ on? Had me a little worried there, Slayer. What with turnin’ into an ice cube an all.”

“I’m okay. But I’m tied down to a table and they gave me truth serum to make me tell her about Slayer stuff.”

“ What do they know?”

“Not much. I made her mad and she left until –Spike! You’ve got to get away somewhere! They’re coming to get Giles and Willow and mom, and William. You need to hide!”

“Not happenin’, pet. We’re just leaving the Watcher’s to come get you.”

“I don’t want them to get their hands on you again.”

“It’ll be alright, pet. You concentrate on getting’ loose and quit worryin’ about me. ‘M jus’ another vampire, love, nothing for the Slayer to be concerned about.”

“Dammit, you stupid vampire! I don’t want anything to happen to you – I don’t want to lose you!”

Spike couldn’t respond for a few seconds. He swore his unbeating heart skipped a beat as he felt her embarrassment at the unintended admission.

“That the truth serum talkin’, love?” He didn’t try to hide the effect her words had on him.

Buffy didn’t answer him directly. She just said, “Please, Spike – just don’t be there when they come…Giles can tell them William went back to England or something.”

“Too late, pet,” he said as the door burst open and Riley came in, rifle held in front of him and followed by two more commandos. “See you in a bit.”

“We should have no problem finding Buffy, Uncle Rupert. It seems as though we’re getting an escort.”

Chapter Fourteen

William stepped back behind the Watcher, trying to shield Willow, but Riley gestured with his gun for all of them to move ahead of him.

“Let’s go. Professor Walsh wants to meet all of you. You too, William,” he said as Spike tried to slip toward the kitchen. “She said ALL of Buffy’s friends and relatives. That includes cousins from other countries.”

“My goodness,” William said, eyeing the rifles apprehensively. “If this woman wants to meet us, why didn’t she just invite us to tea?”

“Consider this your invitation,” one of the other men said with a grin as he nudged the cowering man with his rifle.

“Oh dear, oh dear,” William kept repeating as they moved toward the door, managing to keep himself between the guns and Willow. Just before they reached the door, Riley stopped them and looked at the surprisingly calm older Brit speculatively.

“Let’s see what you’ve got in those pockets, ‘Uncle Giles’, he said, gesturing for him to come closer. For a second, Giles looked like he was planning to resist, then he shrugged and stepped forward.

Riley set down his rifle, indicating to the other men that they should keep all three of the nervous people covered, and began to pat down Giles’ pockets. When his hand bumped against the gun, he grinned in satisfaction and pulled it out.

“Look at this, boys. Our tweedy librarian seems to have some unusual accessories.”

The soldier was so smug and proud of himself, he didn’t bother to search Giles thoroughly or even to order him to empty out his pockets. Thinking he’d found the only weapon the other man was trying to smuggle in, he tossed it onto the sofa with a laugh and said, “NOW, we’re ready to bring these people in. Although,” he added, turning to look at a nervous William and frightened-looking Willow, “I can’t imagine why Maggie wants to see you two.”

“M—me neither,” Willow said moving closer to William. “Why don’t I just stay here and—“

“Sorry, Willow” Riley said with a disinterested shrug, “Maggie wants all of you, and your other friends too, as soon as we can find them. Let’s go.”

He gestured for Willow to go first and gave William an unnecessary shove as he went by.

“You can be quite sure, Mr. Finn, that the British consulate in Los Angeles is going to hear about this outrage. I am a loyal subject of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, and as such, not to be trifled with.” He stuck his chin up in the air and shoved his glasses back up his nose as he bravely met Riley’s amused look.

“Do be quiet, William,” Giles said, hiding his smile. “I am sure Agent Finn is not interested in hearing your intention to bring diplomatic pressure upon his organization.”

“Well, he should be,” William blustered. “This is an outrage, that they think they can treat British citizens like…like…animals!”

When Riley raised his rifle as though to bash William in the face, he cringed back immediately and whimpered in fear. The commandos all laughed, missing the amber flashes in his eyes as he ducked his head.

They were put into the back of the SUV; by themselves, but with one soldier facing them at all times. He was instructed to keep his eyes primarily on Giles. Even though the Watcher’s demeanor was that of a middle-aged man caught doing something quite out of character, Riley was suspicious. The fact that the man even had a gun, let alone that he was planning to bring it with him when looking for his niece, told Riley there was more there than what seemed obvious.

Willow and William he dismissed as weak and cowardly, and he paid little or no attention to them until the driver commented, “Hey, Finn, do you think we’ll get to see this one’s goodies like we did the blonde?” He jerked his head at Willow who had gasped, then leaped to put her hand over William’s mouth just in time to muffle the snarl. She could feel his fangs just edging out of his gums, and saw his eyes flashing amber as he tried to suppress the demon that wanted to rip the driver’s head off.

“Serenity!” she hissed, projecting as much magic as she could summon without a spell. To the surprise of all three, Spike immediately calmed down and slumped in the seat, looking relaxed and calm.

“Whoa!” Willow whispered. “I should have done that a long time ago!”

“Quite a trick there, Red,” he whispered back. “It’s not easy to push down an angry demon.”

“That was quite impressive, Willow. I must say.”

“What was quite impressive?” The soldier guarding them looked at her suspiciously.

“Nothing!” they chorused together.

He frowned, but could see nothing wrong. All three were still sitting quietly on the back seat, their hands in plain view.

“Buffy? You there, pet?”

“Where the hell else would I be?” she grumbled at him. “Still tied to a table here – I think I might have loosened one of the restraints, though. I think I’m on a table meant for ordinary humans, not Slayers. Did you know leather stretches when you pull on it?”

“They’re bringin’ us to you, Slayer. Do what you can, but don’t let ‘m know you’re loose until we get there.”

Into the silence he said, “You hear me, Slayer? You wait till the cavalry gets there.”

Her sigh was almost audible and he had to smile, “Well, you’d better hurry. I’m getting bored and….oh, peachy, here comes the goon squad again…later.”

Spike couldn’t get her to talk to him again, but he was able to visualize what was happening through her disjointed thoughts and emotional reactions. He whispered to Willow that she’d better have her calming spell handy as he picked up on what was going on in the room.

The two soldiers approached Buffy, laughing at the way she glared apprehensively at them.

“Not quite so brave, now that you can’t move, are you, ‘Slayer’?” Forrest said “slayer” like it was a dirty word.

“Maybe she’s not comfortable,” Graham put in. “Didn’t she look more relaxed when she was naked?”

“Yeah, now that you mention it, she did. I’ll bet she’d like to be naked again; that right, Buffy?”

While the men were amusing themselves trying to intimidate her, Buffy was flexing her muscles and stretching the leather restraints to the point that she could slip her arms out. She kept her hands under the table so that they wouldn’t notice that her upper body was free.

“If they touch you, they’re lunch. You know that, don’t you, Slayer?”

“I appreciate the sentiment, Spike, but – news flash – if they touch me they’re little piles of broken bones long before you get here.”

“Let’s just get her out of those uncomfortable jeans, huh? I don’t know why Maggie made us dress her again. Naked was working for me.” With a nasty chuckle, Forrest reached for the zipper on Buffy’s jeans only to realize that with her legs tied down, he would not be able to remove them or slide them very far down her legs.

“What the hell are you doing?” Graham almost yelped as the other man reached for the restraints holding Buffy’s feet and legs. “You know you can’t let her loose.”

“Relax, I’m not going to. I’m just going to undo one leg at a time so we can get those pants off her. What can she do with only one leg free?”

As soon as Buffy’s left leg was freed, she brought it up to sweep Forrest’s head down onto the table with a painful thump. At the same time, she sat up and grabbed Graham before he could reach for his rifle, slamming his head down against the edge of the table.

While both men were stunned, she quickly undid the remaining restraint and jumped to her feet. Before Graham could rise, she slammed both hands into his back and forced him down across the table, using it to hold him up while she punched his kidneys until he sank to the floor moaning.

Forrest raised his head and saw with bleary eyes what was happening to his friend. He moved toward the weapons they’d left by the door, but immediately found a small, barefoot, and very angry girl standing between him and his gun. Completely ignoring how fast she’d just shown she could move, he charged toward her, only to find himself propelled through space and slamming into the door with his shoulder.

A credit to his training, he did not back off as the tiny predator stalked toward him, but held up his one good arm in a defensive posture and fell into a fighting stance. A stance which did him no good as, with a flurry of punches and kicks, Buffy reduced him to the pile of broken bones she’d promised Spike she would.

While she stood, panting, over his broken body, she cringed slightly as she looked at what she’d done. The whole time she’d been beating on the man, she’d been aware of Spike’s presence in her head, urging her on with his own rage. She paled as the implications hit her.

Oh my god. My behavior is being influenced by one of the most notorious and deadly master vampires in the world. I was out of control. I almost killed these guys.

Spike had followed the whole thing – trying to maintain his contact with Buffy while getting out of the car and entering the lower level of the facility. Willow’s calming grip on his arm was the only thing that kept him from vamping out as soon as the commandos starting talking about Buffy, but nothing could prevent the surge of rage that went through him when they actually tried to take her clothes off.

He knew the rage was flowing through the claim, but he didn’t try to stop it. He rejoiced in every punch and kick, his demon cheering at the sight of the man lying unconscious on the floor. When Buffy turned her attention back to Graham, he was ready to offer more suggestions when her regret and shame flowed back to him and he realized what he was doing to her.

He immediately tried to push his demon down, smothering the possessive feelings toward his mate that had inspired the demand for violence. Buffy relaxed slightly as the urge to kill both men faded and she was able to assess the damage she’d done. Graham appeared to be in one piece, with the exception of a large, swelling over his eye where his head had hit the table and the obvious pain he was in from her blows to his lower back.

She tried to feel bad about the way he flinched in fear when she approached him, but decided that both Buffy and the Slayer were just fine with what she’d done to him. Forrest, on the other hand, she couldn’t look at without guilt. Yes, the man definitely deserved to be punished for what he’d been trying to do to her, but she knew that without Spike’s influence she would never have continued to beat him after he was no longer a threat.

She knew Spike was controlling the demon and she sent him grateful acknowledgement, even as she tried to hide the fear and disgust she was feeling at her behavior. Her first terrified thought about being controlled by William the Bloody had come through loud and clear, though and Spike had felt his heart clench in fear at the way she’d reacted.

“We’re here, love. We’re in the building. Let’s work this out later, alright? Know you’re upset, but now’s not the time. Soon’s you’re safely out of here, we’ll talk it out, yeah? We’ll suss out what we can do about it. I promise, love. Jus’ don’t shut me out yet.”

Riley delivered his captives to Maggie Walsh’s office, waiting quietly by the door as she looked them over. Giles, who’d already met her once and decided he hated her when he just thought she was an arrogant college professor, stared back at her with a cold expression on his face. Maggie was somewhat taken back at the change in demeanor from the self-conscious, stammering man she’d dismissed from her office and the one standing before her. This one was clearly not someone to be taken lightly and she reminded herself that Buffy had admitted he had something to do with her Slaying duties.

She indicated with her eyes that Riley was to stay close to the man, and then turned her attention to the nervous-looking redhead and the young man beside her. William was trembling just slightly, but the psychologist in Maggie picked up on it and she smiled at the fear she thought was being evidenced. Willow could have told her that the trembling was from Spike’s struggle to control the demon trying to get across the desk to the white-coated woman, but she kept silent and concentrated on sending soothing magic toward the angry vampire.

“Well, Miss Rosenberg, I must tell you I am quite surprised in your choice of companions. I’ve been quite taken with your intelligence and talents and had actually given some thought to recruiting you. It is quite disappointing to find that you are already involved in demon hunting in some mystical fashion.”

Willow just stared back at her in amazement. She was so shocked at the thought of being recruited by anyone that she couldn’t even indulge in her usual babbling. Then she remembered that this woman had kidnapped her best friend and, based on what little Spike had shared with them, possibly tortured her and she drew herself up and did her best to give an icy glare

“You kidnapped my friend,” she said with more confidence than she felt. “Why would I want to work for you?”

Maggie waved her hand dismissively and looked at Willow with open speculation. “I wonder what your place is in this little gang of demon-hunters? I wonder what we don’t know about you that we can discover in our labs?”

Calling on reserves of courage she didn’t know she had, Willow stared back at her teacher and said calmly, “You might find out more than you care to, Professor Walsh.”

Maggie blinked in surprise; then, tired of being threatened by what she insisted on thinking of as little girls, she turned toward the young man who appeared so meek and yet according to Riley was so strong.

“And you, William, is it? How do you fit in here? Are you really just a visitor from out of the country? If you are truly related to the Slayer, I wonder if we will find that her strength is inherited? I’m curious as to how such a slender man could have such a strong grip. Perhaps we will have a chance to find out how strong you actually are also.”

“Oh, I think you can pretty much count on it,” Spike answered, making no attempt to sound like William.

When Riley whipped his head around in surprise, Giles leaped for him and twisted the rifle away, bringing the stock up and hitting the man in the chin. He whirled and held the gun on the woman who was reaching for her phone saying coldly, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

She froze, her hand just inches away from the intercom on her desk.

“You’ll never get out of here alive, you know,” she said, relaxing back into her chair.

“We’ll see,” was the only answer. “Now, where’s my Slayer?”

Maggie smiled. “She’s under control, and entertaining some of my men. Men who are not terribly fond of her, I might add. Perhaps if you answer some of my questions first, I will see that she is brought here. Or, better yet, I will take you to her.”

Giles looked at Spike and the vampire made a face and shook his head.

“Hate to spoil your plan there, you ugly bint, but the Slayer is not under control, the men who were with her will be needing serious medical assistance, and she is on her way to this office. She’s quite brassed off, by the way,” he added, as Maggie paled.

“There is no way you could know that,” she growled. She saw Riley edging toward Giles and as the big man reached for his rifle, she tried to hit the intercom. Only to be stopped by a very fast, cool, and strong hand on her wrist.

“Wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” William drawled. “The Slayer didn’t leave much for me to do to those wankers that were trying to rape her, but I can have you dead and drained before she gets through that door.”

He took off his glasses and vamped out at her, smiling when she cringed back in her chair with a small cry. Recovering herself, she glared back at him and said, “Hostile 17, I should have known. You won’t be killing anyone. The harder you try, the more that chip in your head will fire. You’re more helpless than Ms. Rosenberg.”

“Well, since Red here is turnin’ into a right powerful little witch, I don’t believe that should be givin’ you a lot of hope.” As he spoke, he was squeezing her wrist, smiling as her eyes widened in pain.

“Your chip…I put that in myself…” She tried to speak through the pain in her hand. She stared in fascination as the vampire seemed to be listening to something, then sighed as he reluctantly eased his grip on her hand.

“Keep it off that intercom, or I’ll break it off,” he snarled as he let go.

“If you made me let go of that bitch jus’ so you could have a go at her, I’m goin’ be really brassed off at you, Slayer.”

Riley and Giles were wrestling for the gun, but as the larger man gained the advantage, the door burst open and Buffy stormed into the room. Riley had been so involved in his struggle with Giles that he had not seen the byplay between Spike and Maggie. He assumed he was still holding two helpless people and an older man hostage. He turned the rifle he’d finally regained possession of toward Buffy and said, “I’m pretty sure you aren’t bulletproof, Buffy. So, just go stand over there near your friends while I figure out what to do here.”

Looks were exchanged quickly and Giles nodded toward Maggie as he and Willow moved as inconspicuously as possible to be close to her chair. As they did, William shoved Buffy behind him. When Giles grabbed Maggie in a choke hold, holding her in front of him like a shield, Riley fired at William. He smiled in satisfaction as he saw the Englishman’s body jerk and blood appear on his blue shirt.

Chapter Fifteen

“Spike!” Buffy’s cry was part anguish and part anger.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?"

"Puttin’ the already dead bloke in front of the bullet, you ungrateful bint"

"I didn’t ask you to take a bullet for me," she growled, fear fueling her anger.

"Didn’t have to. No way was I gonna watch you get taken out by somethin’ we both know couldn’t hurt me."

Aloud, he said, “Relax, Slayer. You know a bullet can’t kill me.” He examined the hole in his shirt and peered inside to see the hole pouring borrowed blood down his chest. “Hurts like a bugger, though,” he said, just before he slid toward the floor, grabbing at the desk for support.

Buffy immediately wrapped her arms around his waist and lowered him gently the rest of the way down. She looked up at her watcher and best friend, ignoring for the moment the furious woman Giles was gleefully holding immobile.

“I need something to cut a bullet out,” she demanded.

“Check my ankle, pet. There’s a knife there.” Spike’s voice was hoarse with the strain of both the pain he was feeling and his attempts to keep it from bleeding over into his mate. Buffy glared at Maggie as though the older woman had pulled the trigger herself. A suddenly outnumbered Riley had bolted out the door as soon as he shot William, using the confusion to put some distance between himself and the angry Slayer.

Buffy reached down and found the slender knife attached to Spike’s lower leg and pulled it out. She ripped his shirt off, exposing both his muscular chest and the still-bleeding hole in it.

“Damn! I liked that shirt,” she muttered as she tried to see through the blood and gauge how deep the bullet was.

"I can buy another one just like it, if you like it that much, pet. But I refuse to wear it where anybody but you can see me."

Ignoring his attempt to distract her, she used the shirt to blot up the blood so that she could locate the bullet.

"I’m sorry," Buffy sent him quickly, as she probed the wound with her finger. He nodded at her to continue and went back into vamp face as the pain brought his demon to the fore. Her searching finger found that the bullet had lodged in the back of one of his ribs as it went through his body.

“I found it!” she said triumphantly, then sobered. “But I’m not sure how I’m going to get it out without doing more damage. And you’re losing a lot of blood.”

Buffy looked at Giles for help and he shrugged, shoving Maggie down in her chair not at all gently. He pulled the overlooked garrote from his pocket and placed it around her throat, anchoring it tightly to the back of her chair. He had Willow get another one from Spike’s pocket and used that to tie her hands securely.

Looking her directly in the eye, he said in his best Ripper voice, “If you try to move, you’ll strangle. Is that clear?”

An answering glare was her only response, and he nodded, turning to Willow.

“If she so much as breathes funny, turn her into a toad,” he instructed.

Willow made a face and cringed. “Ewww, Giles, you know I hate frogs and toads! Can’t I make her a kitten or something?”

Maggie listened to the perfectly serious exchange between the out-of-work librarian and the unassuming, but brilliant, girl with a combination of fear, shock and an overwhelming urge to learn more about these people. Wlillow folded her arms across her chest and fixed the woman with her best resolve-face glare, daring her to think about moving.

Giles knelt down on the floor near Buffy and looked into the wound.

“I suggest we go in from the back to get that out. With vampire healing being what it is, it needs to come out before the bone begins to grow around it.”

Using his ruined shirt as a cushion, Spike lay down on his stomach and clenched his fists as the Watcher picked up the knife and began to make an incision in the vampire’s back. Heedless of who else was watching, Buffy pulled one of Spike’s hands into her lap and began to stroke it gently as Giles cut into Spike’s back and dug the bullet out of the bone.

"I’m sorry, I know we’re hurting you, but it’s for your own good."

"Bet you say that to all the demons your Watcher carves up for you" he snarked, fighting the urge to scream as the knife began digging into the bone around the bullet.

As the bullet was pried loose and popped out onto the floor, Spike’s control slipped and Buffy gasped when a stab of pain went through her back.

"Sorry, pet. Slipped there for a minute" Buffy could feel the weakness from the blood loss slipping up on the vampire and she rubbed his hand vigorously, ignoring her Watcher’s frown.

“Come on, Spike. Don’t leave us now. We still have to get out of here,” Buffy pleaded with the almost unconscious vampire.

“He needs blood, Buffy. Human blood.”

Slayer and Watcher turned as one and looked at the suddenly pale woman sitting behind the desk. They gave her several minutes to contemplate the obvious answer before Buffy said with a sigh, “The Slayer doesn’t kill humans, Giles. That’s the first thing Merrick ever taught me.”

The relief on Maggie’s face was visible – and short-lived. While Buffy turned back to the semi-conscious vampire and gently stroked his light brown curls, Giles leaned in to the wary woman and whispered, “My Slayer doesn’t kill humans. Neither I nor the vampire are encumbered with those issues.”

He had to smother a grin at the fear he could feel rolling off the arrogant professor as she understood his implied threat.

Keeping her back turned to the rest of the people in the room, Buffy reached a quick decision and used the sharp knife to slash her wrist. She held the bleeding wrist to Spike’s mouth and whispered, “Drink, Spike. It’s freely given. Slayer blood, come on, you know you want it.”

Spike’s demon took no time fastening his mouth on the bleeding wrist and the elixir coming from it. As he swallowed healing draughts of Buffy’s blood, the demon receded and Spike became conscious of what he was doing. He groaned as the powerful Slayer blood flowed down his throat and began the healing process. In spite of his wound, Buffy’s nearness, enhanced by her blood, had the same effect on him it always did and he shifted uncomfortably against the rapidly growing bulge in his jeans.

"I could make this a lot more fun, love, if we were just…"

"This is medicinal, Spike! Just drink and get better."

Buffy was very grateful that no one could hear their thoughts as she blushed, remembering what happened that last time he drank from her. She closed her eyes briefly and let the incredibly sensual feeling wash over her. As his swallowing slowed and came to a halt, Spike ran his tongue over her wrist until the bleeding had stopped and the edges began to close. He finished with a light kiss to the wound; then moved Buffy’s hand back to her lap.

"Not that I don’t appreciate it, love, but what was that all about?"

Spike was allowing the feelings engendered by her gift to flow freely between them and Buffy found herself blushing again as his gratitude and undisguised lust filled her.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” she replied, trying to ignore his heated gaze. “And nobody wants to carry your lazy ass.”

The sound of Buffy’s voice brought everyone’s attention back to the pair on the floor and one look at Spike’s sparkling eyes and almost healed body had Giles grabbing his Slayer’s arms and turning them over. When he spotted the newly healed cut on her wrist, he dropped her hand with a growl that would have done credit to a vampire.

“What the bloody hell are you doing?” He shouted at her. “Letting William the Bloody drink from you? He might have killed you!”

“No, he wouldn’t,” she answered with a surety that paused the man in mid-rant. The Slayer and the man who’d been fired from the Council for being too fond of her, stared at each other for a long minute. Spike rose to his feet and stood behind Buffy, resting his hands lightly on her shoulders.

“You know better than that, Watcher,” he said calmly. “You know I’d never hurt her.”

“Angel was in love with her, and he almost killed her when she let him have her blood.”

Spike’s face darkened and his grip tightened on Buffy’s shoulders. When she winced, he apologized silently and rubbed them gently.

“I told you, I am NOT the bloody great poof. My demon doesn’t rule me the way his does. I don’t hurt the people I…care about.”

“What’s done is done,” Buffy interrupted. “Now that he’s healthy again, we need to concentrate on getting out of here.”

She turned to look coldly at Maggie Walsh.

“I’m assuming her…employees…will not want to lose her, so she’s going to be our ticket out. I’ll handle any fighting we have to do, and Spike will –“ she turned to look at the vampire.

“Spike will do what needs to be done,” he said enigmatically, stepping around to stand beside her.

‘Well, don’t get shot again, please.”

"I don’t know, pet. Considerin’ the cure, it might be worth it…Maybe you could use me as a non-human shield." His silent laughter told her she didn’t even need to mention that he was a pig.

“Your blood healed him.” Maggie’s flat, no-nonsense voice brought everyone’s attention back to her. She was staring at Buffy with undisguised fascination, and Spike stepped forward growling.

Buffy put a hand on his arm and he stopped, but he never took his icy blue eyes off the white-coated woman. She temporarily ignored him while she studied Buffy intently.

“How is it possible that your blood heals? What is the mechanism for it?”

Spike waved his hand at her face, “Vampire here, ‘case you’ve forgotten. Lives off blood? Quick healing? Can’t be killed ‘cept for certain methods? Stop me when I get to somethin’ you don’t already know from your little party games.”

Maggie turned her attention to him briefly. “You didn’t heal that quickly when you were fed blood before. When we—“

“When you what?” Buffy’s voice was deadly as she stepped closer to the woman who seemed so anxious to learn more about her. “What did you do to him while he was in here?”

Maggie was suddenly reminded of what Buffy had said about hurting her friends or family and she wondered exactly how strong the Slayer’s inhibition against killing humans was.

It was Spike’s turn to take her arm and distract her from thoughts of mayhem.

“She’s our ticket out of here, pet. Let it go.”

With a final glare at the nervous looking woman, Buffy relaxed and turned around.

“All right, here’s the plan. We use Cruella here as our hostage/bargaining chip/shield, whatever it takes to get us out of this place.” She looked at Spike, “Do you remember how you got out the first time?”

He shook his head, saying, “No, but I was on this level and I know I went out past the cages. There was an opening into some tunnels which led to the caves outside of town.”

“Let’s go then,” Buffy said, yanking Maggie to her feet.

Chapter Sixteen

Riley had quickly picked up the two men who’d helped him capture Giles and the others, taking them with him as he raced toward the labs. He found Graham crawling painfully toward the emergency phone and signaled the others to help him. One glance at the broken body that was his second-in-command and he knew that Maggie might have bitten off more than she could chew this time.

After getting the injured men to the infirmary, he called up his remaining squad members and sent them to guard the exits. He took two men for himself and headed for the area from which he knew Hostile 17 had escaped before. He reached the end of the long hall leading up to the tunnel entrance and pushed the heavy door closed, gesturing to the other men to take up positions on either side of the hall while he placed himself in front of the door, gun at the ready.

Using his radio, he found that the small group of intruders was working its way from Maggie’s office toward his position. It was clear they were using Maggie as a hostage, and threatening to decapitate her if anyone got in the way. Riley knew the technicians they were passing were not going to interfere in any way that might get Maggie killed and his remaining men were too scattered around the facility to be of much help. He looked toward the open door at the far end of the hall and prepared himself for what was about to happen.

He was surprised when the first person to look out the door at him was Willow, and even more surprised when she waved her hand and their guns suddenly became so hot none of them could hold on to them.

He was shaking his burned hand and cursing when he saw William come out the door and begin walking toward him. A frown creased the big man’s brow. He was completely thrown that the first two people he saw were the ones he deemed the least dangerous. He looked back down at his blistered hand and wondered whom else he might have underestimated.

He watched William remove his glasses and carefully place them in the pocket of what was clearly not his own shirt. Aside from having changed out of his bloody clothing, there was no sign that William had just been shot at close range. Riley frowned again as the unassuming man continued to walk toward him. There was no sign of blood or any residual effects from the bullet that had ripped into his body just a short time ago.

“Your sudden courage is admirable, William, but I don’t care how strong you think you are, there’s no way you can fight the three of us. You’d best let your cousin handle this herself. If she can,” he added with a smirk.

There was no reply from the other man, just a gradual change in his demeanor as he strode down the hallway. From the clumsy, insecure wimpiness they were all used to, he slowly gained a grinning confidence that sent a chill through the three soldiers. He began rolling up the sleeves of his shirt as he moved down the hall, his stride becoming a predatory swagger. The closer he got, the less he resembled the bumbling William. With only a third of the way to go, there were gasps from the men on either side as they recognized Hostile 17. As he watched the now vamped-out Spike stalking toward him, Riley laughed and got ready for hand-to-hand combat with the chipped vampire.

“I guess now we know why William was so reluctant to fight for himself,” Riley said confidently. “Are you sure you don’t want to re-think this, Hostile 17?” he continued as the vampire approached. “You know how it’s going to end, don’t you?”

“Oh yeah, I know how it’s goin’ to end,” Spike agreed with a feral grin. “ ‘S goin’ to end with your blood in my throat and your balls in my hands.”

“Not likely,” the commando growled, rushing the vampire and throwing a hard right. Spike gave a shout of joy as his head snapped back and he immediately began to pepper the bigger man with short jabs, backing him up all the way to the heavy metal door. As the vampire continued to throw punches, seemingly enjoying the fight more than he was trying to end it quickly, Riley frowned and gasped out, “But you, you can’t…why…the chip…”

“Oh,” Spike paused and cocked his head. “Were you looking for this?” He reached in his pocket and took out a small silicone chip, holding it up so that the other man could see it. He heard the gasps from behind when Buffy and Giles realized what he was holding, but he never took his eyes off the man in front of him.

When Riley realized he was facing a fully functional vampire, a vampire that had every reason to be carrying a very large grudge, he shrank against the wall. He felt something warm going down his leg as his bladder accepted what his brain hadn’t yet. He was going to die. And if the look on the vampire’s face was any clue, it wasn’t going to be quick or easy.

Buffy had followed Spike into the hall, handing Maggie off to Giles to control with the thin line still around the woman’s throat. She watched with interest as Spike seemed to grow taller and more powerful with each step he took toward the soldiers that had tormented him.

She winced when she saw his head snap back with Riley’s first punch and moved forward to take up the slack when he collapsed in pain. She saw the flurry of retaliatory punches and frowned slightly when he didn’t seem to be feeling anything. When she saw his hand reach into his pocket and take out the chip, her blood ran cold.

She heard matching gasps from the three people behind her as the grinning vampire dropped the chip back into his pocket. Before she could think about what, if anything, she wanted to do about it, she saw the other two commandos sliding toward where Spike had gone back to fighting with Riley. They were both holding wooden stakes as they tried to get around behind the vampire, and without thinking Buffy leapt the last few remaining feet between herself and the combatants.

She turned to face the two soldiers, shaking her head and saying, “Ah, ah. This looks like a fair fight to me, boys. I don’t think you’re invited.”

She could feel Spike fighting behind her and had a brief flash of what an unbeatable team they would make if they were working together. Then she concentrated on proving to the still advancing men that she was serious about keeping them out of the fight.

It hadn’t occurred to either of the men that the broken comrades they had found on the floor of the lab were last seen heading for this very same small girl who had been bound to a table and unconscious at the time. They’d watched, along with everyone else who wasn’t busy, as Maggie tested her for resistance to heat and cold, but everyone had lost interest when the testing moved on to the much less interesting, and fully clothed, truth serum questioning.

With that being all the testing completed at that point, except for the scuffle in the training room, they really had no idea who or what a Slayer was and what she could do. Moving confidently, they each approached her, stakes held at the ready if they needed them for weapons. Buffy let them get within arm’s reach before she jumped up and kicked them both in the face at the same time.

Even with bare feet, the heel of a Slayer’s foot was a pretty potent weapon, and they both dropped to the floor, stunned and in pain. Buffy casually picked up the stakes and put them in the waistband of her jeans as she turned to watch Spike and Riley.

There was no way to call what was happening a fight. Even with his enhancements, the big commando was no match for a fully vamped out, vengeful master vampire. Without ever touching the man with his fangs or claws, Spike had reduced him to a bleeding, crying specimen of humanity. He held the larger man up with one hand while he stood, head cocked to one side, contemplating his next move. Buffy spoke silently and sarcastically as she watched him ponder what kind of pain to inflict next.

"As much as I hate to interrupt your good time, we ARE actually trying to get out of this place. Do what you need to do and lets get going."

"Do what I need to do? Does that mean I have permission to eat the stupid git?" His disbelief was obvious.

Buffy’s sigh was audible to everyone, even those who had no idea there was a conversation going on.

"I’d really rather you didn’t. Not while Giles and Willow are watching. I’m going to have enough trouble with them knowing that you CAN kill, without dealing with them seeing that you will."

"Good point, love."

Spike’s relief that Buffy did not seem bothered by the news that he could once again kill humans made him feel magnanimous and he dropped the mewling soldier on the floor.

“Ok, Scoobies, let’s go. Through here,” he said as he wrenched the heavy steel door open and held it for them.

Buffy went through first, quickly followed by Willow, Giles and a very reluctant Maggie Walsh.

“You’ve made your point,” she said as she tried to plant her feet. “I give you my word that I won’t send anyone after you right away if you leave me here. That’ll give you plenty of time to get out of our complex and away from the base.”

“And, you, of course, will just forget you ever saw us…”Giles scoffed, “as well as the fact that Buffy and Spike have incapacitated your entire squad of demon hunters…”

He shoved the woman through the door and into the dark tunnel. Behind him, Spike let the door begin to swing shut. Just before it closed completely, he reached around the edge and slashed a claw across Riley’s throat. His demon growled at the waste of good blood as it spurted onto the tile floor, but he just stepped away and let the door slam behind him.

“Alright, Slayer, let’s get out of this place.”

The tunnels were dimly lit with small bulbs every hundred feet or so and they were able to move quickly in the direction Spike indicated. The vampire soon moved up beside Buffy and they walked in the front of the group, shoulders brushing occasionally as the uneven ground threw them together.

"When were you going to tell me?"

Spike didn’t pretend not to know what she was talking about.

"When I needed to," he replied honestly.

"How long has it been out?" Suspicion and hurt were evident in her thoughts.

"A while."

"Why didn’t you tell me? Don’t you trust me?"

His heart gave a leap at the direction of the conversation. He’d expected immediate anger and threats of staking.

"Didn’t think YOU’d trust ME, pet. Wanted to wait ‘til I’d had time to prove m’self to you. To show you I could control the demon when I needed to. That we didn’t have to go back to being enemies jus’ cause I could feed again."

"If you start feeding again, we WILL go back to being enemies, Spike. I can’t let you go running around eating people!"

"Not even bad people, Slayer? I could stick to murderers, rapists, wankers like that that nobody’d miss. Or, how about if I don’t drain them? Maybe just take a little taste every once in a while…you know, jus’ to get the taste of pig’s blood out of my mouth."

"You could do that without going after strangers."

He was puzzled for a few seconds until her barely visible blush and accelerated heartbeat made her meaning clear. Ignoring the startled people walking behind them, he stopped abruptly and turned her to face him.

"Are you sayin’ what I think you’re sayin’, Slayer?"

"My name’s Buffy. Why can’t you call me Buffy?"

"Don’ change the subject, love. I need to know what you’re sayin’."

"I’m not changing the subject. I need to know that I’m more to you than another Slayer to conquer. That you aren’t using this…whatever it is between us…just to get close enough to bite me whenever you want."

"You’ve been inside me more than once, Buffy. Don’t tell me you don’t know what you mean to me."

Oblivious to the staring people around them, who’d all been forced to stop when the two super beings stopped to carry on their obviously very private conversation, Buffy and Spike faced each other, his intense blue eyes boring into her wary green ones. The Slayer was the one to look away first, letting her eyes slid away and turning to go.

The vampire growled and grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to meet his gaze again.

"I love you, Buffy Anne Summers. God help me, I love you with everything I have and am. If that’s not good enough for you…"

She looked back at him, feeling the truth of what he was saying flowing into her. She was suffused with such overwhelming gratitude for the adoration, lust and protectiveness that she felt from the vampire that she had to blink back tears.

"It’s good enough."

"Alright, then."

"Okay"

Their mutual grinning at each other was interrupted by the sound of Giles loudly clearing his throat as he pointed out the obvious.

“Whatever you two find so important that you must stop our escape to discuss it - quite rudely, I might add – it is going to have to wait. We need to get out of here and decide what we are going to do about this harridan I am forced to walk with.”

The laughter from the Slayer and her vampire echoed off the walls as they turned and led the way toward safety. Shaking his head at them, Giles roughly shoved the woman in front of him and set off after the still laughing pair.

Chapter Seventeen

As they moved quickly toward where the tunnels opened into the caves surrounding Sunnydale, Buffy and Spike continued to walk side by side. When their arms brushed against each other again, Spike reached for Buffy’s hand and entwined their fingers. She hesitated for just a second, then squeezed lightly and moved a little closer to him.

He hadn’t been sure how she would react to the PDA in front of her watcher and best friend, and he let out an unnecessarily held breath when she didn’t pull away. He allowed his thumb to gently stroke hers as they walked along together. Behind him, he heard Giles' pulse rate increase when he saw them, and waited for the reprimand that never came.

Instead, Willow said in a whisper, “Awwww, Giles, Do you see that?”

“Yes, Willow, I do,” he growled back, making no attempt to lower his voice. His tone promised there would be conversation about what he was seeing as soon as they were safely back in the world.

Spike glanced at Buffy to see if she’d heard any of it, but she remained focused on the dim tunnel in front of them and didn’t react at all. He wanted to bring her hand to his lips and kiss it in appreciation of her willingness to acknowledge their new relationship, but decided that might push the watcher past his limits. Buffy’s quick sideways glance and the small smile on her lips told him she’d sensed the unspoken thought. She squeezed his fingers lightly and mentally blew him a kiss.

Before Spike could follow up with any more stimulating mental images, they reached the end of the lighted tunnels and he turned unerringly into the darkened corridor opening on the left.

“This is the way,” he said confidently, pulling her into the darker passageway. He quickly vamped out as the dim lights of the tunnels faded into the solid blackness of the caves. When Willow tripped over something, they stopped and the vampire looked down, finding a cache of equipment obviously left by the commandos. Included were several flashlights, some rope, and a couple of their ubiquitous tasers.

Scooping up the tasers and the flashlights, Willow and Buffy turned to go on when Giles cleared his throat.

“Have you given any thought to what are we going to do with this unpleasant woman when we get out of here?” he inquired, jerking his head toward Maggie. “I believe kidnapping, contrary to what she obviously believes, is still illegal. No matter how deserving the victim,” he added, glaring at the equally angry woman.

“Exactly!” she said firmly. “You have no choice but to let me go. Things will go much better for you if you do,” she added in her best “I’m the only one capable of making a good decision here” tone of voice.

Her apparent confidence and implied threat rubbed Buffy the wrong way.

“Do you remember what I told you would happen if you did anything to hurt my friends or family?” she asked coldly. “I believe you told me I was not in a position to make threats at the time. It seems to me our positions have changed, Professor Walsh.”

“I heard you say yourself, you do not kill humans. If you can’t kill me, you have to let me go. My men will turn this town upside until they find me.” She spoke confidently, having now figured out that in crisis situations the Slayer was in charge and she could ignore the growling vampire and the man holding her arm.

Buffy looked from Giles’ expressionless face to Spike’s icy stare and shrugged her shoulders.

“No,” she said calmly, “I don’t.”

She tugged on Willow’s sleeve and began to walk away, not looking back when the older woman began to sputter and argue.

“You cannot leave me with these two conscienceless creatures! That’s the same thing as killing me yourself!”

“No, it isn’t,” Buffy threw over her shoulder. “It’s Spike’s decision what to do with you. Giles will stay to make sure there is no torture involved and that he doesn’t eat you. Anything else is between them.”

The two Brits watched as the flashlights disappeared around a corner, then looked back at the nervous woman. Spike’s eyes were flashing back and forth between blue and amber as his demon demanded vengeance for the acts inflicted on both him and his mate by the human now quaking in front of him.

Giles observed him curiously. If he’d been asked a month ago whether a vampire could control his blood lust, could be around humans who trusted they were safe with him and not kill them, he would have responded with a resounding “no”. And if he’d been asked if a demon could love, he would have laughed bitterly, remembering how Angelus had gone out of his way to torment Buffy and how he’d killed Jenny.

But he also remembered seeing the pain on Spike’s face as he sat in his wheelchair and watched Drusilla hanging all over her Sire -- and the flash of compassion and admiration when Giles resisted Angelus’ torture. He knew Spike had not wanted Angel to free Acathla, and yet he had suggested letting Dru use her thrall to get the information they needed from Giles rather than let Angelus continue to torture it from the helpless mans.

So, rather than speak, he waited patiently to see which would win the battle clearly taking place inside the vampire. Would the demon triumph and snap the woman’s neck in retaliation of what she’d done to him? Or would the gentle Victorian man Giles now knew resided inside the vampire demonstrate mercy toward her?

With a loud growl, Spike shook the demon off, and reached for the ropes left by her soldiers. Without speaking, he trussed her up so that she could not move, and left her sitting against the wall near the pile of supplies. He put a lit flashlight at her feet and stood back to stare into her curious eyes.

“Much as I’d like to rip out your entrails and strangle you with ‘em,” he growled, “I have to answer to that pretty girl you were so anxious to know more about, and I know she wouldn’t like it. So, I’m leavin’ it in God’ hands. If what’s left of your toy soldiers finds you first, I guess you get away with your kidnappin’ and torturin’. If one of the nasties that come through these caves finds you first, you get what you deserve and I don’t have to grovel for forgiveness tonight.”

Scientific curiosity won out over fear, and she couldn’t resist asking, “You are clearly a very powerful vampire – the most powerful we’ve ever tested in here.” She flinched when Spike vamped out at the word “tested”, but when he remained still, she went on, “Why would a...creature…like yourself be afraid of a little girl? I know she’s quite strong,” Maggie rushed on before he could say anything, “and that she kills vampires, but surely one such as you has nothing to fear from her? Why would you ‘grovel’ to her?”

The vampire stared at her then said flatly, “Killed two Slayers before this, and fought a couple more.” He felt Giles start beside him and grinned to himself at the Watcher’s surprise. “Fell in love with this one.” He turned away to leave, then paused and looked back at the astonished woman, “And, she can kick my arse nine times out of ten. Best remember that when you’re callin’ her a ‘little girl’.”

Laughing at the woman’s insistence that he come back and tell her more about these other Slayers and about vampires and their relationships, he strode after Buffy and Willow.

Giles looked at the still-objecting woman and said quietly, “Who would have thought that William the Bloody would be more compassionate than I? You should be very grateful Buffy left the decision in his hands. Mine would have been less gentle.” He turned away and hurried through the dark corridor after the vampire.

He caught up with him much more quickly than he expected, as it turned out Buffy and Willow hadn’t gone very far and were waiting around a sharp bend in the cave tunnel.

“Well?” Buffy was demanding, hands on hips.

Spike explained what he’d done and waited to hear her reaction. To his surprise, she just nodded and turned away muttering, “You should have killed that bitch. She’s never going to leave us alone.”

He rolled his eyes and hastened to catch up and take her hand again. “Feelin’ bloodthirsty, are you, Slayer?”

She sighed and leaned toward him briefly. “No, I’m glad you didn’t kill her. I’m just afraid she’s going to make more trouble.”

“She has to survive until someone from that place finds her, first, pet. At worst, she’ll have plenty of time to think about whether or not she really wants to come after us.”

“And at best?”

“She won’t have time to do much of anythin’,” he said softly.

Buffy nodded and they continued working their way toward the fresh air Spike could smell ahead of them. Suddenly, he froze and gestured to them to stop. He cocked his head listening, then went into vamp face and moved forward cautiously. Buffy fell into step behind him, pulling one of the confiscated stakes from her waistband.

The small group rounded another corner only to find themselves facing a vampire stalking angrily toward them.

He stopped when he saw Spike; then looked intently at the stake-wielding slayer behind him.

“Does she have you, or do you have her?” he inquired, looking from Spike to Buffy.

“Y’might say we have each other,” Spike drawled, dropping his vamp face. “This isn’t a real good place for a lone vamp,” he offered. “Lot’s of nasty humans further back that way.” He jerked his head toward the way they had come. “Bloke could get staked... or worse.”

“They took my mate,” the other vamp snarled. “Worse has already happened.”

As the humans stared in complete amazement, the other vampire dropped his game face and they saw tears on his cheeks.

“I know she’s gone. I just thought I’d try to take a few of them with me before I join her.”

“Don’ know how many we left standin’, mate, but you’re welcome to what’s left.”

The vampire turned to face the girl still clutching a stake, but staring at him with sudden understanding.

“I know I can’t beat you, Slayer, so I’m just asking. Will you let me go by? Let me meet my end at the hands of the people who took my reason for living away from me?”

Buffy slowly lowered her hand and nodded her head, unable to speak for the lump in her throat. The grief the other vampire was carrying was palpable and she had no doubt he had no intention of ever coming out of the tunnels. Behind her she could almost feel Giles’ eagerness to get back to his apartment and add the things he had learned about vampires tonight to his watcher’s diary.

The other vamp gave a grateful nod and started down the tunnel the way they had come. Only to be stopped by the older man accompanying the Slayer and her unusual assortment of friends.

“The woman who runs the place is tied up about a half-mile back. If you get there before her men find her…” He didn’t finish his sentence, just stepped back away from the astonished creature and wondered how the Council would react to one of their former members giving directions to a vengeance seeking vampire. Deciding he didn’t care, he responded to the other’s nod of thanks and followed his Slayer and her vampire out of the caves.

Chapter Eighteen

Dawn was threatening to break over the horizon when the small group finally reached Giles' apartment. He and Willow staggered toward the couch, groaning and insisting they were never going to walk anywhere ever again. Only slightly less tired, Spike threw himself into the easy chair and automatically opened his arms so that Buffy could sit on his lap and fold herself into them. For a long time the only sounds to be heard were the soft snores of the watcher and the occasional sleepy snort from Willow.

Buffy snuggled into Spike’s chest, enjoying the safe feeling she always got when his arms were around her. She idly wondered how someone who set her whole body tingling, could at the same time make it feel so secure and comfortable.

" ‘S cause you know I’ll never hurt you, love. Even the Slayer in you knows you’re safe with me, no matter how much your “spidey senses” tell you you’re cuddlin’ a vampire."

"Not just any vampire. MY vampire."

She felt his inward smile.

"Your vampire," he agreed, kissing the top of her head. They soon joined Giles and Willow in some much-needed restorative sleep.

Which lasted only until Xander and Anya came crashing through the front door, shouting for Giles or Buffy. They stopped abruptly when the four drowsy people all raised their heads and blinked at them.

“Xander,” Giles said in his most patient voice, “Is it at all possible for you to speak in a normal tone of voice? We’ve had quite a long and eventful night and I feel sure I speak for all of us when I say…what the bloody hell do you want?”

“We…that is…I…Joyce was worried…and you…no answer on phone…and couldn’t find Willow…and…Willow, why is Buffy back on the evil undead’s lap?”

“Uh…I guess…cause Giles and I were taking up the whole couch?” Willow tried bravely.

Xander looked back and forth from between his two closest female friends, noticing for the first time that Buff was gently stroking the arm that lightly encircled her body.

“Buffy? You know William is really Spike, right?” His question was really a plea for denial of what he was seeing.

She sat up with an exaggerated sigh and said, “Xander, Spike and I are…we’re… together and I need for you to try to be okay with it. Can you do that for me?”

“What? No! No, I won’t do that for you. You’re my friend and I won’t have you being taken advantage of by a soulless demon. Without that chip, he’d have killed us all by now. He’s just trying to get close to you in case he gets his vampire rocks back and then he’s going to kill you!”

The young man was waving his hands about hysterically as he ranted at the unfazed girl still curled up on the vampire’s lap. Spike gave him his best evil leer over Buffy’s head, then doubled over when she drove her elbow into his stomach.

“Ow, pet! What was that for?” he laughed, rubbing his sore mid section.

“You know very well what it was for,” she grumbled. “I’m trying to calm him down and you’re making stupid faces behind me.”

"He’s not gonna calm down, love. He’s jealous. I could be wearin’ wings and a halo and he’d still be mad."

She rolled her eyes and tried again.

“Xander, I know this is a surprise to you…although I’m not really sure why…but I’m asking you to understand and to try to accept Spike the way you would any other boyfriend of mine.”

“That is not a boyfriend. That is a mistake. A carry-over from the spell. An Angel substitute—“

His rant was interrupted by a furious snarl from the vampire, and only Buffy’s grip on his arms kept him in the chair as he went to leap at the rapidly retreating boy.

“Stop it! Just stop it, both of you!” Buffy’s voice was wavering between anger and tears.

“You,” she pointed to Xander, “need to get over yourself. This is my life and I will have in it whoever I choose. I’m not giving you a hard time for dating an ex-demon who has killed and maimed thousands of men before we trapped her here by breaking her talisman.”

“And you,” she turned on the smirking vampire, “you need to stop going all fangy every time somebody says something you don’t like. You’re going to hear Angel’s name from time to time. Get used to it.”

Giles sat up with a groan and glared at Xander who was standing in open-mouthed shock as Buffy’s words sank in.

“I suppose, since we are all here and awake, NOW,” another glare at the fuming young man emphasized how angry he was at being awakened so abruptly, “we may as well get this out of the way.”

He turned to the two powerful people occupying his biggest chair and said in his best Watcher voice, “I presume I’m going to hear that the chip was removed some time ago and we only learned of it today due to the circumstances?”

He fixed Buffy with a hard look and added, “And I am assuming from your reaction today that you did not know about this situation, not that you decided to keep it from me for some unfathomable reason?”

Spike gave an audible sigh and sat up straighter, still holding Buffy lightly as though she might slip away if he didn’t maintain contact.

“Got the chip taken out in LA while I was away. It’s been gone for weeks. Needed to give the Slayer time to find out I could control m’self so she wouldn’t try to put me down like a rabid dog when she found out. So, no, she didn’t know about it.”

“Interesting that you could hide that kind of information from someone who can read your mind,” Giles said. His tone was mild, but his look was sharp as he watched their reaction for some indication that they were lying, but all he saw was a guilty shrug from Buffy.

“I…we…it doesn’t work that…I mean, I have to…he has to…” She gave up trying to explain and just waited for Giles to give her some idea how much he had figured out. He didn’t disappoint.

“Exactly when did you claim my slayer, Spike?” he asked through gritted teeth.

Buffy’s guilty start told him his guess was correct and he groaned inwardly, even as he maintained his steady gaze at the girl he thought of as a daughter and the vampire he had actually begun to trust. Only the fact that the vampire so far hadn’t seemed to use the claim in any way except to help them get Buffy out of the lab, kept him from leaping for the nearest stake.

“It was during the spell, Giles,” Buffy spoke up before Spike could say anything. She heard Willow’s guilty gasp, and she sent her friend a reassuring smile before she continued. “And, it wasn’t just him. I claimed him back.”

The watcher’s groan this time was audible. “When were you planning to tell me that you had…bound…” he couldn’t bring himself to say “mated”, “yourself to a master vampire? Did it not occur to you that this was information I needed to have?”

Buffy flushed and ducked her head.

“I…we…were going to tell you, but we weren’t sure at first if it would last. I mean, we haven’t…I mean, we did, but that was the spell and since then we…” she trailed off and looked at Spike for help.

“Oh, dear Lord.” Giles' verbal dismay was followed by Xander’s “What? They what the what?”

Giles turned to glare at Xander and Anya. “You two couldn’t keep your pants on long enough to keep my slayer from being claimed by a vampire? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

Anya shrugged and muttered, “We didn’t do anything but give Buffy and Spike a chance to work out all that sexual tension that’s always there when they’re in the same room. And, how can it hurt her to be mated to a master vampire? It seems to me he’s perfect for a slayer – with the super strength and violent temper and all. They’re made for each other.”

Xander’s face had paled, even though he didn’t really understand what a claim was. But he had no trouble reading between the lines of Buffy’s babbling to understand that while he and Anya had been out of the room, Buffy and Spike had had sex. That much he got.

He was heading toward the chair containing Buffy and the vampire he was determined to rid the world of, when something of the earlier part of the conversation percolated to the front of his brain and he slowed, lowering the stake in his hand.

“There’s no chip? Spike can kill?” There was an edge to his voice that bordered on hysteria.

One look at the vampire’s cold stare answered his question, and he retreated behind Giles.

“Well, that settles it. She has to kill him now. Giles, why isn’t she killing him?”

The other people in the room ignored his whining and continued to stare at the vampire and the increasingly distressed slayer. Spike’s hand was rhythmically stroking her arm in an attempt to calm his mate. When no one had anything else to say or ask, Spike addressed Giles directly.

“You know how I feel about her, Watcher. I would never hurt her, or anyone she cares about,” he added with a significant glare at Xander. “If she doesn’t want the claim, all she has to do is send me away. I think it will fade with time if I’m not here and we don’t… if we don’t do anything to renew it. But it’s Buffy’s choice; not yours and certainly not theirs,” he finished, waving his hand at the Scoobies, all now standing behind the watcher.

“Well, that’s that then!” Xander refused to by shushed by Anya as he self-righteously indicated what Buffy’s clear duty was. “Tell him to get lost, Buffy.”

Spike waited confidently for Buffy to tell Xander to shut up, but when she did nothing but cringe against him, her eyes darting back and forth between her watcher and her friends, his hand stilled and he dropped his arms.

"So, that’s it, love?" He couldn’t keep the disappointment and anger from her and didn’t really want to try.

"No! Yes…maybe…I don’t know!" Her voice was a wail in his head as she looked from her disapproving watcher and friends to the crushed vampire on whose lap she was still sitting.

"Well, when you suss it out, you let me know, yeah?" He stood up and gently deposited her back on the chair.

“What are you doing?” her voice contained a note of panic as he strode toward the closet where they’d put his clothes and pulled out his leather coat.

“Spike,” the watcher’s voice came quietly. “Please wait. I need…I want to explain something to you.”

The vampire stood by the door, stubbornly refusing to look at Buffy who was staring at him with eyes from which she refused to let the tears fall. He tried to put a mental wall between them, but he could feel her despair and knew she could feel his grief just as strongly.

Giles looked back and forth between Spike and Buffy, sensing their unhappiness, even as he cursed the day Willow had first played with magic. He took off his glasses and polished them vigorously.

“Buffy is not the first slayer to be claimed by a vampire.” He ignored the startled gasps that greeted his announcement. “It happens. Sometimes it’s because the vampire wants to control the slayer, sometimes it’s because he thinks….well, I don’t know what they’re thinking sometimes.” He gave a sigh, “And sometimes it’s because they are in love.” He refused to meet anyone’s eyes as he went on, although he didn’t miss Buffy’s surprised intake of breath. “The Council considers it a very dangerous situation. If they had any idea that William the Bloody had claimed a Slayer, they would send a team in to kill her. Immediately.”

There were gasps around the room as the true danger Buffy could be in became clear. Spike involuntarily stepped closer to her at the conclusion of the watcher’s speech.

“They would kill their own slayer? What kind of people do you work for, Watcher?”

“Well, that’s the thing, isn’t it? I do not ‘work for’ them anymore and therefore, fortunately, am not obligated to report to them everything that Buffy does. However, it would be ingenuous of me to presume that they do not have their own sources of information in Sunnydale and it is only a question of time before the change in your…relationship…comes to their attention.”

“So, if I’m not here, there’s no problem, right? No reason for them to concern themselves with the Slayer guardin’ the Hellmouth for them.”

Spike’s voice was controlled and quiet. Only his eyes gave away what it cost him to suggest what Buffy could sense was coming.

"No, Spike. Don’t…"

Ignoring everyone else in the room, he turned to her and said softly, “Not gonna put you in danger, pet.”

“I’m in danger every night of my life,” she said, standing up and moving closer to him. “They tried to kill me once already. Didn’t work then and it won’t work now.”

"Don’t leave me." The Slayer’s silent plea was all the more powerful for being brief and to the point.

"You think I WANT to go? That I’m not gonna go crazy wondering how you are, what you’re doin’? If you need me?"

While they carried on their internal exchange, the two would-be lovers moved closer together until she was wrapped in his arms, the leather coat half hiding her from the room. Her own arms were around his back. It would be hard to say who was clutching harder, but there was no question that normal humans would have been crushed by the forces. Buffy’s head was buried in his chest as she continued her silent argument. Spikes face was resting on her head and he inhaled the scent of her hair and skin as he argued back.

"You need some time to figure out what you want to do about us anyway, love. Give the claim some time and space to calm down and see if you still want me without that pullin’ on you."

"Don’t try to tell me what I need. I need you. Here. With me."

He dropped a kiss on the top of her head, then lifted his own and tilted her chin up.

“Buffy, Watcher’s right. If the Council of Wankers knew you were doin’ anything with William the Bloody except staking his—“

Willow had been watching her best friend and the vampire she was coming to view as a friend, until she couldn’t stand it any longer.

“That’s it!”

Chapter Nineteen

“That’s it!”

Five pairs of eyes turned to look at the excited witch, now bouncing up and down on the couch as the solution came to her.

“William!” she shouted, gleefully.

“I think that ship has sailed, Red,” Spike growled. “Don’t need to keep using that name anymore. Whatever’s left of those gits, they more than know who and what I am.”

“No, no, not them,” she hastened to explain. “You can be William – Somebody Giles knows from before he came to Sunnydale, or a distant relative, or…I don’t know…think something up. You’re evil – you’ll think of a good lie. No offense,” she said quickly when Spike quirked an eyebrow at her.

“None taken, pet,” he responded, waiting for the rest of her explanation.

“See, here’s the thing. Only those lab people know William as Buffy’s cousin. To anybody else in Sunnydale you’re just another Englishman who came to live here for awhile and…and…you met Buffy, and you started dating…and, do you see where I’m going with this?”

“You want me to STAY William? Pretend I’m some kind of poncy nancy-boy for the rest of my unlife?” Spike’s horror and dismay were so evident that even Xander had to laugh.

“No, no – you don’t have to be JUST like William. That was to fool Riley and his men. But you can be William…Smith…or whoever. Buffy’s boyfriend who helps her out with Slaying. It’ll be like a secret identity!” Willow was so pleased and excited with her idea she was practically glowing.

“Don’t you see? It’s perfect! ‘William’ has already been here long enough for people to remember seeing him around, but no one knows we were saying he was Buffy’s cousin, or that Giles was her uncle. It’ll just be like he decided to stay here because he and Buffy started dating. The Council won’t have any reason to know he’s really a vampire. They don’t care if slayers have boy friends, do they?”

Giles looked up at Willow’s eager expression and then at Buffy’s hopeful face. He took a quick look at Spike and saw that the vampire recognized the real issue.

“Actually, they do care about that, but I think they have long since given up trying to control this particular slayer’s love life.”

He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“The issue is the claim. While the telepathic connection between Spike and Buffy was extremely useful in this particular instance, it does allow one of the world’s most dangerous…” He glared as Spike visibly puffed up with pride at hearing himself referred to as “most dangerous” and quickly added, “and most arrogant vampires to have an unhealthy amount of control over the woman chosen to eliminate his kind.”

He looked at them, still standing close enough to be touching, although no longer wrapped around each other and he sighed audibly.

“While another vampire would never have been my choice as Buffy's next…boy friend…if I learned nothing else from her relationship with Angel, it is the futility of trying to control her heart. I will put up no objection to the relationship, but I’m afraid I must insist that you,” he looked pointedly at Spike, “do whatever is necessary to remove this thing.”

“You want me to dust m’self?”

The Watcher glared at him briefly, before muttering, “Don’t tempt me.”

A glare from Buffy stopped Xander’s automatically raised hand before he could finish volunteering for the job.

When she started to object, Giles waved his hand in the air dismissively, “Obviously not an acceptable option for my Slayer, so we must discuss the next best thing.” He looked at the two of them, allowing a small measure of sympathy to soften his face as he saw their tightly clenched hands.

“Do you think that time and distance can make this unintended claim go away?”

“Don’t really know, Watcher. “S not like I make a habit of going around claiming slayers. I jus’ know between vampires the claim will fade if the two are separated for long periods of time. It has to be renewed occasionally to stay active.”

“Can I be the first to say, I REALLY don’t want to know what you do to renew it?” Xander held up his hand again, making a disgusted face.

“I can tell you, Xander-“ began Anya in a chirpy voice. “ They have to—mmph!” Her boyfriend’s hand placed firmly over her mouth prevented him from having to picture the renewal.

“Ahn, which part of ‘I really DON’T want to know’ wasn’t clear to you?”

“And,” Giles ignored them and removed his glasses again, polishing them vigorously, “ if I understand Buffy correctly, you have not done that as yet?”

“No,” the vampire answered shortly. “We haven’t.”

“Then I believe a long trip is in order for William,” Giles said firmly. “Perhaps a trip back to the mother country to make arrangements for moving to Sunnydale.”

Buffy’s face wore a resigned pout, matching the equally unhappy, but equally resigned expression on the vampire.

“How long to do you think it will take?” she asked meekly.

“Dunno, love. I guess when we can’t feel each other any more, we’ll know it’s gone.”

“Where will you go? You aren’t really going to go back to England are you?” she asked anxiously.

“Nah, I’ll run down to LA and annoy Peaches for a while. Maybe try to earn some dosh to keep William in style until he gets a job.” The expression on Spike’s face made it obvious how thrilled he was with the prospect of working.

“That’s settled then. Spike…er…William will take a trip and when he returns he and Buffy can begin seeing each other. That will explain his presence with her every night as she goes about her slaying duties, in case anyone is watching and reporting back to the Council.”

He looked at his surrogate daughter and said softly, “This really is the best thing to do, Buffy. If the council should somehow find out that William is indeed, Spike, they may not respond with the same vigor as they would if they knew he had claimed you. And,” he added with a hard look at the vampire, “I think it is important that they continue to assume you are harmless to humans.”

“Yeah, yeah. I got it. The Big Bad is history – as far as the Council of Wankers is concerned.”

The pained expression on his face made Buffy giggle in spite of herself.

"Don’t you dare laugh at me, Slayer. If you ever needed proof of how much I love you..."

"I don’t need proof, Spike. Not as long as we can still feel each other."

"Speaking of feeling…" He moved closer to her and pulled her back against his chest, facing the other humans in the room.

“If that’s settled, then, the Slayer and I have some ‘good-byes’ to say before I leave tonight.”

He stared defiantly at the two men glaring back at him until the older one sighed and nodded.

“Just be careful, please. Do not do…anything…that might make the claim stronger.”

“ ‘M not stupid, Watcher,” Spike growled as Buffy blushed and nodded her head. He didn’t deign to notice the dark-haired young man and his hate-filled eyes, although he felt Buffy flinch when she saw the anger there.

"I’m telling you, pet, he’s jealous. I could be a bloody Boy Scout and he’d still be hating’ me."

"I know. But, he’s my friend. I want him to be happy for me, and all he’s ever done is tell me how bad my choices are."

"Well, gotta say, pet. He’s been right up till now."

The shared laughter as they walked toward the door, as well as the light punch to Spike’s arm told the onlookers that another private conversation had taken place. They watched as Spike put his coat over his head and prepared to dash to the nearest manhole. He pecked Buffy on the lips and said, “I’ll beat you home,” as he went out the door and ran for shelter.

With a wave over her shoulder, Buffy took off in the other direction, sprinting toward Revello Drive in the sunshine.

There was silence within the room for several seconds until Xander exploded in barely suppressed rage.

“How can you condone this? Spike has tried to kill us all – multiple times! He gave me a concussion. He put a bottle in your face!” he turned to Willow. “Don’t tell me you weren’t terrified.”

“I was. But the more I think about it, he was really only trying to get his girl friend back. I don’t think he would have hurt me. And he could have killed you, and he didn’t. He carried you back to the factory and put you on a bed.”

“As a HOSTAGE! G-man, help me out here. Think about when Angelus was torturing you. Spike was right in the thick of it, wasn’t he?”

“Actually, Xander, he was in a wheel chair. And he did what he could to help me, in spite of being at Angelus’ mercy.”

“He’s a vampire,” Xander ground out. “He has no soul, he can’t love and he can’t be trusted.”

“Not really," Anya spoke up. Vampires can love quite well. I'm surprised that Spike is willing to let the claim lapse. It is meant to be an eternal bond. He must really love Buffy if he’s willing to let it go just to keep her safe. It’s quite unselfish of him, really.”

Giles turned and looked at Xander’s girl friend as though seeing her for the first time.

“You KNEW vampires could love without their souls?”

“Of course, I did. Ex-vengeance demon here. I’ve cursed plenty of unfaithful vampires for their lovers. That’s all Council propaganda that being soulless means they can’t love, or be trusted. All you ever see here are fledglings – or that nasty Master who was probably certifiable after all those years underground.”

“But, but…”

“They ARE violent, and let’s face it, they need our blood to live, so really not something you’d want to welcome to the neighborhood; but they’re all different. Just like people. Some are actually quite…well, ok, maybe ‘sweet’ isn’t the right word, but…tolerable. Very, very tolerable!”

Anya beamed at the humans staring at her, quite pleased with herself and her grasp of vocabulary.

“Anya,” Giles began hesitantly, “What else can you tell me about vampires and demons?”

“Lots of things – you learn a lot in a thousand years.” She smiled at him brightly.

“And why have you never told us these things?” He struggled to sound patient and kinds.

“No one ever asked me,” she responded immediately. “You all act like you think I’m stupid.”

Giles and Willow both looked down, ashamed to admit how right the ex-demon was.

“I must apologize for having given you that impression, Anya,” Giles said sincerely. “And, when you have the time, I would be most appreciative of any information you could give me to add to what I’ve learned in the past few days.”

“Sure, Giles!” Anya’s face lit up at the attention the attractive older man was giving her. “Any time. It’s not like either one of us has a job or anything like that.”

He winced at the reminder of his currently unemployed status, but smiled tightly and agreed, “Well, good then. We will plan to get together soon.”

Willow was standing by herself, chewing thoughtfully on her lip.

“I wonder what it’s going to be like for them?” she wondered aloud.

“You wonder what ‘what’ will be like for who?”

“Buffy and Spike. For weeks they’ve been able to communicate whenever they wanted to just by thinking at each other. Been able to have private conversations if they needed to – can you imagine how helpful that would be in a fight? To be able to talk to each other without…and to be able to share…” She blushed bright red and stopped quickly.

“It just seems to me that there would be a level of… of …intimacy,” she ignored the strangled sound Xander made, “that could be hard to give up. I know I wouldn’t want to lose something like that.”

Giles sighed and removed his glasses again. “I am sure you are quite correct, Willow. Unfortunately for Buffy and Spike, she is the Slayer and must make some sacrifices in the pursuit of her duty.”

Chapter Twenty

Buffy arrived, somewhat breathlessly, at her front door just as her mother was leaving for the gallery.

“Buffy! Where have you been? I was worried sick. And when Xander said he couldn’t find Giles or Willow…”

“I’m okay, Mom. It was a long night, but we’re all okay. Spike was shot, but we fixed him an-“

“Shot! Who shot him?” Her mother’s eyes narrowed. “Was it that supercilious soldier?”

Buffy gaped at her mother’s possessive anger.

“Uh, yeah, actually, it was – but it’s okay!” she hurried to add as her mother looked like she was planning to head for the Sunnydale University campus with her axe in hand. “Spike took care of it himself.”

“Oh. Well, OK, then.”

Buffy had to laugh at the almost disappointed look on her mother’s face. Not for the first time, she wondered if her mother was a potential slayer who just hadn’t been called before she aged out of the window.

“Go to work, Mom. We’re all fine, just really, really tired.”

“Then you should probably spend the day in bed,” her mother said; quickly amending her statement when she noticed Buffy’s blush. “Sleeping! You should spend the day sleeping!”

“That’s the plan,” Buffy said, trying to look as innocent as possible. “Lots of good, restful sleep. I’ll fill you in on what happened when you get home tonight.”

Her mother rolled her eyes in an excellent imitation of her daughter and walked toward her car.

“I’m counting on that, young lady. I want to know every detail.”

Already mentally adding up the details she planned to skip, Buffy entered the house and went immediately toward the kitchen. Just as she reached the entrance, Spike burst through kitchen door, smoldering under his coat. Buffy quickly grabbed a towel and ran water on it. She patted him down with the soaking towel until she was sure he wasn’t going to combust on her, then laughed at the wet curls all over his head.

“Something funny about me almost burning up, Slayer?” he growled, reaching for the wet towel with one hand.

Buffy laughed and danced out of reach. He grabbed for her, catching the edge of her shirt and pulling her back toward him. He used the other hand to flick the wet towel into the sink as he pulled her into his body. Buffy’s hands slid up around his neck and she lifted her face to his.

“I just thought you looked cute with your hair all curly and wet. Very William.”

“William is going to haunt me for the rest of my un-life, isn’t he?” he said with a sigh, leaning down to graze her lips with his.

“I hope so,” she whispered, catching his lower lip in her teeth and pulling on it gently. Her warm breath floated over his face and he groaned as he fastened his lips on hers. Standing in her mother’s kitchen, Buffy felt the fear that had tormented him while she was gone as it gradually left his body. Their lips and tongues slowly gave physical expression to the emotions flowing from one to the other, and Buffy began to sense the true measure of what she was going to be losing when the claim no longer existed.

With a moan, she melted into his body, as though she could maintain the feelings by becoming a part of him. Strong arms crushed her into his hard chest as he tried to pull her even closer, his hands clutching at her back and hips hard enough to leave bruises.

Her hands came down from his neck and slid up his back under his tee shirt, stroking the cool skin she found there and kneading the muscles under it. The heat from her hands caused the vampire to hiss with barely restrained passion as he picked her up and rested the damp warmth he could feel through two layers of denim against his aching length. She gave a soft moan as she felt him pressing against her and she pushed back, seeking more contact.

With a sudden gasp, he pushed her away, setting her on the counter in front of him and moving out of her reach.

“Spike? Wha—what’s wrong?” Her voice trembled and he could feel the insecurity behind her question radiating through the claim. He shook with the need to reassure her of his desire.

“Nothing’s wrong, love. It’s jus’ I can’t be close without wanting to touch you and I promised the watcher we wouldn’t do anything to reinforce the claim.”

“Don’t you have to bite me to renew it?” Her voice was a whine, and she knew it but couldn’t control it. “Can’t we just make love without the biting?”

Fear darkened her eyes as she asked quickly, “You CAN have sex without biting, can’t you? Please tell me you can.”

“Of course I can, pet. Would never bite you without permission. But I don’t know exactly what it takes to renew a claim. Who knew that a claim made by two people who were under a spell and really didn’t mean it would take? Would have thought it would vanish with the spell.”

“You didn’t mean it?” Her voice was very small and the insecurity came flooding back.

Bloody hell! How can such a desirable woman be so fuckin’ insecure about it? That asshole Angelus should be castrated!

“I meant it at the time – but if you’ll recall, we weren’t exactly in our right minds jus’ then. You jumped off my lap like...like a Slayer who found herself kissing her mortal enemy. I just figured the spell made me do it…and I know that’s bloody well what made you do it back. Don’t try to deny it.”

“So you’re sorry you did it then?” If anything, her voice became even smaller. “You’re glad it’s going to go away?”

“I’m not sorry,” he said gruffly. “Without it, who knows what would have happened to you in that place before we got there. But I’m not…” He blew out an unnecessary breath. “Damn it all, Slayer, I told you I love you. And I do. Got nothin’ to do with that miserable spell. Why do you think I came to you for help when I got chipped? Figured if anybody was gonna take me out, it was gonna be you – not some over-grown Boy Scout. Wanted your face to be the last thing I saw.”

She peered up at from behind the hair that had fallen in her face when she put her head down to hide the tears brimming behind her lashes. She searched his face for any sign of deception; then realized how foolish that was when she could feel his sincerity in every breath she took.

“Then why…?”

He moved toward her again and gently took both hands in his.

“YOU were under a spell, pet. Wouldn’t matter how much I meant it, YOU did it under the influence of the spell. And since then you’ve been under the influence of the claim.”

He stepped between her open legs and pulled her close again, planting light, butterfly kisses on her face and neck as he said softly, “I want you to love me back more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life – or my 126 years of unlife. But I want to know that you’re doing it of your own free will, not because somethin’ magic is making you feel things you really don’t.

“I want you to want ME, Buffy. Me. Spike. Not some vampire that got lucky and got mated to you because a novice witch mucked up a spell. And not some non-existent human that I’m pretending to be so that other humans don’t separate us by killing one or the other of us. Tell me you understand what I’m trying to say, love. Please,” he finished, burying his head in the hair flowing down the side of her neck.

“You’re saying you don’t believe I could love you.” There was an angry edge to her voice that was echoed by the feeling flowing through the claim.

He sighed audibly and mentally. “I’m SAYING, you stubborn bint, that I want you to love me of your own free will. Because I’m me, not because there’s anything else influencing you.”

“What…what if I don’t?” she said slowly. “What if it IS the claim making me feel this way?”

She looked up into his shocked eyes and repeated, “What then, Spike? What do we do then?”

He stroked her hair gently and tried to smother the gut-wrenching fear her words generated before she could feel it.

“Is that what you think is gonna happen, love? Do you think you won’t want me anymore?”

He felt his heart crack down the middle as she hesitated and tried to put her feelings into words. The longer it took her to answer, the more sure he was that he knew what she was going to say and he dropped his arms, stepping back from the counter.

His face closed down and he walled off his feelings as he waited for her to find her voice. Suddenly, the wall was knocked down as a wave of absolute panic and despair rolled over him. Buffy’s face was crumpling even as she fought to contain the tears threatening to fall from her fear-stricken eyes.

Without warning, he swept her off the counter and carried her now-sobbing form into the living room. Grateful that someone had pulled the drapes so that he didn’t need to worry about the sun, he settled them onto the couch and rocked back and forth with her, sending her reassurances as he did so.

"Won’t matter, love. I’ll be here no matter what you decide. Couldn’t stay away from you. If you don’t want me as a lover, I’ll be your friend, your bodyguard, your willing slave. Just tell me what you want, and I’m it. I’m yours, Slayer. Whether you’re still mine or not, I’ll still be yours. Forever. You’ll have to dust me to get rid of me."

"Don’t wanna dust you. I just don’t want to go back to the way we were. Maybe the claim is making YOU love ME. Did you ever think about that? What if you hate me when it wears off?"

"Never happen, pet. I told you before. My feelings were already there. Might have taken the spell to bring them out, but they were there. ‘S why the demon was so quick to claim you. Been wanting you for so long…had to take the chance while I had it."

“I’m afraid, Spike,” she said aloud, never moving her head from where it rested on his chest. “This has been the most…” He felt her internal struggle to put what she was feeling into words. “I’m terrified that when the claim is gone, one or both of us isn’t going to…” She raised her head and her wet eyes bored into his. “If we lose this, I’m afraid I’ll never feel like this again. And I don’t think I could stand it. Knowing how it can be, but never having it ag--”

He stopped her with cool, soft lips that moved gently over hers, caressing and urging, but never demanding. He put everything he was feeling into the kiss; using his lips and tongue to convey the emotions he would have been sending through the claim. He felt her responding, her breathing quickened and her pulse increasing as she moved in his lap to be facing him.

He deliberately kept the barriers up as he used purely physical means to express the effect she had on him. His hands slid under her shirt and, cool as they were, left heated trails everywhere they touched. When he moved one hand to edge between them and run his thumb against the bottom of her breast, her breath caught with a small gasp and she fell sideways to allow him more access.

With freedom to move his hands around, he quickly pushed up her shirt and fastened his mouth on the lace covered nipples in front of him. The arm that wasn’t supporting the Slayer’s upper body moved down to the waistband of her jeans, unsnapping them and slipping in to slide down the silken skin on her stomach. He kept his hand in her pants, gently teasing her as he stroked through the soft curls covering her mound and ran his fingers down the incredibly smooth skin where her thighs met her abdomen.

With a growl that made him smile, Buffy unzipped her own jeans and pushed them down as far as she could without actually leaving his lap. He grabbed her hands and pushed them back up, as he slid down so that they were lying side by side on the couch.

“Ah, ah, Slayer. Let me do this, love. Let me show you it can still be good for you. I can make it good.”

As he spoke, his hand was running over her exposed skin, slowly working its way toward the source of the arousal he could smell permeating the air. He dipped into the moisture between her legs, then slowly ran his finger up to her clit, spreading it as he went. He felt her shiver beneath him and arch up toward his hand, but he pushed her back down with a “Tsk, tsk, Slayer. Don’t be so impatient.”

He leaned in and captured her lips again, his tongue sliding around her mouth, in and out, touching hers then withdrawing, then touching it again before he drew it into his own mouth and sucked on it gently. Between the bone-melting kisses and the cool fingers playing against her soaked quim, she was sure she was going to pass out from pleasure and denied release.

Spike’s fingers played over her pelvic area, never staying with one place or one rhythm long enough for her to find that release and she was soon whimpering in need as she continued to try to thrust her hips against his elusive fingers. When he dipped his fingers inside her again, she clamped her muscles down on them, growling and making the vampire laugh with joy as, instead of trying to pull them out, he thrust harder and curled his fingers up to find the spongy bundle of nerves that sent her hips flying off the couch while she shrieked in surprise.

He continued to massage the spot with his fingers as his thumb found its way to her clit and began to rub it in circles, pushing against the pressure from the inside. He fastened his mouth back on hers, swallowing the little moans and cries that were leaving her throat without let up. The dual pressure on her most sensitive spots soon sent her screaming over the edge and she arched into his hand, her whole body trembling with the force of her orgasm.

When he felt her come, Spike dropped the barriers between them and allowed everything she was feeling to flow through him and straight to his cock. As Buffy’s orgasm spasmed around his hand, he felt his cock swell and throb with the sensations flooding his body through the claim. And when she shuddered to her final release on his lap, he felt himself explode onto the heat of her hip into which his erection had been pressing the whole time.

For minutes neither one moved, except for Buffy’s gasping breaths and his equally desperate, though unneeded, gulps of air. The Slayer lay sprawled beside him, her legs open as far as her partially removed jeans would allow, her eyes unfocused and her lips swollen from kissing. He thought he’d never seen anything so wanton and beautiful in his life and he made no attempt to hide his thoughts from her. He felt his cock stirring back to life as he gazed down at her golden body, so relaxed and open to him.

The eye she opened to look at him and the eyebrow she cocked disbelievingly told him the claim was still open. He grinned at her and nudged her hip with his once again rock hard erection.

"If and when I can move, I might do something about that." Her thought was clear, but she made no attempt to move from her relaxed and boneless position.

"‘S alright, pet. I jus’ wanted you to see that we didn’t need the claim to have fun. Wasn’t about me."

"But you opened it up. I felt it." She blushed, remembering the additional thrill that had gone through her when he reached his own climax against her leg.

"Yeah, well, I cheated a little bit at the end there. Wanted to feel you come one more time. Didn’t know it was gonna bring me off too."

Buffy yawned and stretched, laughing at his expression when she arched her back up and unintentionally pushed her breasts toward his face. Reluctantly, she tugged her jeans back up and fastened them before sitting up and pulling her shirt down.

“I don’t know how you did that – it was like being naked without being naked. Kinda…”

“Sexy?” he asked hopefully.

“I was gonna say ‘kinky’, but okay, your word works, too,” she admitted with a blush. He ran a hand lightly up the side of her cheek, stroking the smooth skin and memorizing the shape of her jaw.

“Nothing that happens between us can be anything but sexy and wonderful – not as long as we love each other.”

Before either one of them could spoil the mood by remembering out loud that they might not still love each other the next time they met, he stood up and took off his coat. When he started to walk away, Buffy grabbed his pocket and said anxiously, “Where are you going?”

“Jus going to clean up a bit, pet,” he said, leaning over to drop a kiss on her forehead. “Don’t fancy driving to LA in wet, sticky jeans. I’ll be right back.”

He disappeared into the kitchen and she heard him going down the basement stairs as she allowed herself to stretch back out on the couch. The lack of sleep and turmoil of the past day and night caught up with her, and when Spike came back upstairs dressed in his signature black jeans and tee shirt, she was sound asleep, her head resting on one arm while the other stretched out toward the edge of the couch as though reaching for something.

After staring at the sleeping girl until his eyes began to water, he kicked off his boots and gently settled himself beside her, picking up her arm and putting it across his chest. Immediately, without waking, she curled her hand around his side and snuggled closer to him. She threw one leg over his and sighed contentedly.

Bringing his hand up to rest on her arm, he closed his eyes and allowed the sun he could feel outside to put him to sleep. When Joyce got home from work, they were still there, chastely curled up against each other on her living room couch.

Chapter Twenty-one

Joyce cleared her throat loudly as she walked into the kitchen and deposited the bags she’d brought in. She made a point of rattling completely unnecessary pans until a yawning Buffy appeared in the doorway, followed shortly by an equally sleepy looking Spike.

She smiled at them briefly before suggesting that Buffy go wash her face while she fixed dinner.

“I stopped at the butcher’s, Spike,” she said with a glance at the vampire. “I was afraid we were out of blood and I didn’t want you to go hungry.”

Once again, Joyce’s habit of not treating him like the monster everyone else assumed he was, had him at a loss for words. The best he could come up with, as he stared at her with worshipful eyes was a mumbled, “Thank you, Joyce. ‘Preciate it.”

After a quick shower and change of clothes, Buffy joined them in the kitchen and she filled Joyce in on the highlights of the previous day while they ate. Although Buffy did her best to keep the events as vague as she could, she could tell from her mother’s tight face that the older woman was reading between the lines and knew that Buffy had been in some considerable danger.

Before she could act on her stated intention to march to the home of the Sunnydale University president and order him to investigate Maggie Walsh and her “teaching assistants”, there was a knock on the door and Willow, Xander, Anya, and an apologetic Giles filed into the house.

“I’m sorry for interrupting your dinner, Joyce,” the Watcher began, “but Willow has some interesting information for us.”

Excited that she was the source of new information, Willow was almost bouncing up and down as she told them what she had learned on campus that day.

“Rumors are flying everywhere about Professor Walsh and the Lowell House fraternity. All her classes have been cancelled until further notice and the house has been boarded up. There are all sorts of mysterious people in trench coats running around campus, and a bunch of Army guys camped out just outside of town, near where we got out of the caves.”

“So, is anyone looking for us?” Buffy asked hesitantly.

“I don’t think so. Although some guy did come by the dorm asking for you, but he went away when I told him you went home to visit your mom. He just said to tell you he doesn’t know what happened and doesn’t want to know, but that you don’t need to worry.”

“Yeah, right!” Spike snorted. “Like that doesn’t come with the job!”

“Aren’t you supposed to be gone by now?” His attention having been drawn to the vampire, Xander couldn’t resist commenting on his presence.

“Had to wait till dark, didn’t I?” Spike rolled his eyes in disgust.

Xander walked quickly to the window and peered outside before announcing with great finality, “It’s dark now.” He crossed his arms over his chest and glared triumphantly at the frowning vampire.

“Gone?” Joyce looked at Spike in surprise. “Why would you be going anywhere?”

“It’s jus’ temporary,” he said, snarling at the still-glowering boy. “I’ll be back soon.”

Joyce looked at her daughter and Buffy just sighed and said, “I’ll explain it later, Mom. When it’s just the two of us,” she added with a pointed look at her friends.

Willow quickly took the hint and began herding Xander and Anya toward the door, promising to catch up with Buffy tomorrow and bring her up to speed on classwork. Giles waited until they were safely out the door, then turned to the vampire and said slowly, “I know this will not sound sincere, coming from someone of my…background…but I AM sorry, Spike. I just am not willing to risk Buffy’s life for…”

“Got it, Watcher. I don’t want those wankers coming after her either. Trust me, if I didn’t know it was needed to keep her safe, I wouldn’t be getting more than a couple feet away from her for the next long while.”

Joyce looked back and forth between the two in bewilderment, then back again at her daughter who looked suspiciously as though she was about to cry.

“Is someone going to tell me what’s going on here?”

“I’ll explain it later, Mom. I promise.” Buffy’s voice was resigned and quiet. “Just let me tell Spike ‘good-bye’ in private, please.”

With a last look at the vampire, Giles and Joyce moved into the living room, leaving the two lovers facing each other from several feet apart.

“Guess it’s time for me to go, love,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Give me time to get to LA and find a place to hunker down until we get this sorted out.”

“Ho—how long do you think it will take?” Buffy could feel her chin trembling and she willed herself to be strong for him, knowing that any sign of distress on her part and he would refuse to leave.

“Don’t really know, pet. ‘S like I told the Watcher, I never claimed anybody before – human or vampire. I’ll just think about you every night, and when I can’t feel you anymore, I’ll know it’s time to come home.”

He turned toward the door, but stopped when she put her hand on his arm.

“You aren’t going to kiss me good-bye?” Disbelief and sorrow battled to come through the controlled voice she tried to use.

“’M afraid if I touch you, I’ll never let go,” he said honestly. “Thought it’d be easier this way.”

“And is it? Easier?”

“Bloody hell, no!” he exploded, whirling and picking her up to crush against his chest as he fastened his lips on hers.

When they had been kissing so long that Buffy was turning blue from lack of air, he reluctantly let go of her mouth and buried his face in her neck. She gradually slid down until her feet were on the floor, then pushed him gently away.

“Well, that’s more like it,” she gasped, still recovering. “Now I really do believe you’ll miss me.”

Giving her his trademark smirk, he said, “Oh, you’re gonna know how much I’m missing you, pet. Every night while I’m gone – gonna make that little episode on the watcher’s couch seem like a day dream, I am.”

Rolling her eyes, she smacked his arm and ordered, “Just get out of here before I have to do some proactive staking so that I don’t get embarrassed in front of my roommate!”

Laughing, he went out the kitchen door and slipped off into the darkening night. Just before she lost sight of his pale face, he turned back toward the house. Buffy was framed in the kitchen doorway, silhouetted by the light streaming out from behind her.

"I love you"

"Come back to me."

When she could no longer see him or feel that special tingle on the back of her neck, she sighed and closed the door. She squared her shoulders and prepared herself for the questions she knew her mother was going to have about the claim.

Hey, it could be worse! I could be dating a human and have got myself pregnant or something like that. All I did was bind myself to a vampire for the rest of my life. And this time she actually likes the vampire I’m dating. So, go me!

Satisfied that she could put a spin on the situation that would keep her mother from wigging out too badly, she put a smile on her face and went to join the older couple waiting in the living room.

Chapter Twenty-Two

When Buffy finally returned to the campus of Sunnydale University the following day, she was amazed to find fire trucks and other emergency equipment all over. Joining a crowd that was moving toward Fraternity Row, she listened to the conversations around her and tried to separate the rumors from the facts.

“There was a big earthquake – just under Lowell House!”

“No, no. It was an explosion. My brother’s a fire-fighter and he said—“

“I heard a science lab blew up. I saw a lot of people being carried out wearing lab coats.”

“I think the Army was testing weapons. As soon as the building blew up, all those soldiers camped outside campus got into trucks and left.”

When she finally made her way to where Lowell House had been, Buffy found only a very large, smoldering pile of debris surrounded by yellow crime tape. Closer inspection of the men standing around the scene told her the Army hadn’t gone as far away as rumor had it. Their military haircuts and erect posture gave away the fact that they were more guards than onlookers.

Spotting Willow talking animatedly with a sweet looking blond girl, Buffy worked her way through the crowd and waved at them.

“Buffy!” Willow sounded excited and embarrassed at the same time. “Buffy, this is Tara. We met in the Wicca group. She’s an awesome witch!”

Buffy studied her best friend with a bemused expression. She didn’t know the last time she’d seen Willow so flustered – but it was good to see her smiling again.

“Hi, Tara,” she offered. “It’s nice to meet you. So, you do magic too?”

Memories of high school and Amy’s spells made Buffy a little wary, although she had to admit Tara seemed very nice, if very quiet and somewhat shy.

Remembering what Spike had said about being in her dreams every night, Buffy tried to broach the subject of sleeping arrangements.

“Uh, Will? I, uh, that is, I think I…I might be sleeping at home for awhile. In my own bed. In my own room. By myself. Uh, just until Spike gets back, probably…”

She was surprised when, instead of looking hurt, Willow blushed and stammered, “Uh, gee, Buffy. You’ll probably get plenty of alone time in our room. Tara and I…that is…we have spells and…things…to go over. SoI’llprobablybestayingwithheratnight,” she blurted out, turning almost as red as her hair.

Completely mystified by Willow’s obvious embarrassment, but too delighted to find out she wouldn’t have to worry about any sounds she might make in her sleep to pursue it, Buffy beamed at the two Wiccas.

“Oh, well, that works out great. I mean, not that I don’t want you there, Wills, but with the dreaming and the thinking and the…I’m just going to stop now.”

Changing the subject back to the giant crime scene in front of them, Willow asked, “What do you think happened here?”

“I am assuming the Army is cutting their losses and destroying the evidence of this misguided experiment,” came the calm English voice from behind them as Giles walked up and joined the crowd staring at the remains of Lowell House.

“Hi Giles,” Buffy turned to smile at her Watcher and asked cheerily, “What’s up?”

“I was looking for you, and Willow,” he added, with a nod toward the red-head, “to tell you that you will be able to find me at the Magic Box from now on.”

“The Magic Box? Gee, Giles couldn’t you think of anything better to do now that you’re unemployed? Why would you be spending time there?”

“Because I just bought the store,” he said, annoyed at the assumption he was looking for entertainment. “I intend to be the proprietor. Being unemployed does not agree with me, it seems.”

“I kn..kn..know the Ma..ma..magic B..b…box,” Tara stuttered out. “It’s a very g..g…good store.”

“Yes, thank you, Miss…”

“Tara!” Buffy and Willow said together. “Her name is Tara. She’s a Wicca and a friend of Willow’s,” Buffy finished.

“Yes, well, thank you, Tara. I hope to make it even better. And,” he turned to Buffy, “There is a large room that I think we can turn into an excellent training area with room for weapon storage.”

It suddenly struck him that Tara might find it a little strange that they were discussing training and places to store weapons, but the attractive blond was just nodding her head approvingly.

She turned to Willow and whispered, “We’ll want to do some cloaking spells so that the vampires and demons can’t find the weapons.”

Willow nodded eagerly and beamed at her new girl friend before turning to Giles and Buffy.

“Isn’t she wonderful? You see how much help she’s going to be to us?”

Somewhat taken back by the girl’s enthusiasm, Giles just nodded his head. “Yes, well, so it seems. Thank you for your suggestions, Tara.”

The blonde girl ducked her head shyly and hid behind her long hair, blushing furiously.

“Well,” Buffy said into the uncomfortable silence, “I need to actually go to a class or two today and find a way to explain why I missed the last two days. I’ll stop by the Magic Box later, Giles. And, hey, go you, all with the business-having and working!”

“Thank you, Buffy. I think,” he muttered as he turned to leave. “It was lovely meeting you, Tara. I hope to see you again soon.”

“Oh, you will!” Willow’s enthusiasm brought raised eyebrows from both Buffy and the watcher as they watched the two Wiccas walk away together. With a final “good-bye” to Giles, Buffy headed for the classroom buildings and her much neglected studies.

*****************

After a busy, but uneventful day and evening of school work, patrolling and admiring Giles’ new place of business, Buffy was more than ready for a hot shower and an early bed time. She smiled at Willow’s empty bed and slid between her sheets, mentally reaching out for Spike as she did so.

When, after several minutes of trying to contact him, she hadn’t been able to feel anything, her lip went out in a pout and she snuggled down in the bed, huffing indignantly.

Stupid vampire! He said he’d be with me every night and here it is only the first one and where is he? Nowhere – that’s where.

She was still grumbling to herself when she felt an amused chuckle as she heard, "I can see that lower lip sticking out all the way from here, Slayer. Keep it up and something’s gonna get it…"

"Spike! Where were you? I’ve been calling you forever."

"What’s the matter, pet. You yelled “frog” and I didn’t jump high enough?"

The warm affection she could feel accompanying them took the sting out of his words and her lip went back out again.

"No, you big jerk. I just wanted to say “good night” before I went to sleep. Why didn’t you answer me? Is it fading already?"

"No, I heard you, love. I was jus’ in the middle of something and wanted to wait till I could give you my undivided attention, is all. And, it wasn’t 'forever,' it’s only been 10 or 15 minutes."

"Hmph!"

Without warning, she felt a burst of lust coming through the claim and going straight to her lower body. Unbidden images of penetrating blue eyes, cool soft lips and a strong, compact body suddenly flooded her mind. She moaned softly as she slid further down in the bed.

"What are you doing?" she was able to get out as she squirmed in her bed, wishing she could feel that body pressing against hers. She rolled over onto her stomach and pushed her hips into the mattress, seeking pressure on suddenly needy parts of her body.

"I’m jus’ saying “good-night”, pet. Wanna be sure you don’t forget about me while ’m gone."

Her mind was filled with images of cool hands kneading her breasts, soft, cool lips kissing their way down her neck to suckle a nipple, while long fingers brushed over her waist and followed the curve down over her ass. She moaned into her pillow and thought about smooth, velvety skin under her hands and hard muscles quivering beneath her fingers. She pictured herself freeing his erection from his jeans and wrapping her warm hand around it.

"Ah…love….that’s it. Show me what you want to do to me. You know what I want to do to you, don’t you? I want to touch you, Buffy. Want to make you scream for me. Want to taste you, feel you… Touch yourself for me, love. Show me how you miss me."

Even as she blushed at what she was doing, she was sliding a hand down into her underwear and imaging cool, talented fingers stroking her into a frenzy of need. She ran her fingers around her outer lips, dipped into the moisture pooling between her legs and ran the now slick fingers up to massage her eager nubbin.

"That’s the way, love. Pleasure yourself for me. I’m holdin’ on to myself with both hands, pretending it’s you touching me, your warm little hand stroking me, your wonderful little mouth sucking the demon out of me…"

While he was moving toward his own release, Spike was sending Buffy image after image of his mouth and hands caressing, rubbing, licking and nipping at her body. As her hand moved faster and faster and her hips pushed down harder into the mattress in an effort to increase the friction, she could feel him rushing toward orgasm and she rubbed harder using the incredible sensations of pleasure coming through the claim to boost her own orgasm past anything she’d every experienced by herself until she gave a muffled shriek and collapsed onto the bed shaking with the after effects.

For several minutes she didn’t even try to think, just soaked up the incredible satiated feelings flowing back and forth between herself and the vampire. When she could once again have a coherent thought, she sent a plaintive question to her equally content lover.

"What did we just do, Spike? Was that like phone sex? Only without the whole, you know, phone thing?"

"I guess that’s the closest analogy, pet. But I think we’d prob’ly melt a telephone right down to scrap."

“Analogy? Is that William speaking? Cause that really didn’t sound much like the Big Bad," she teased. "He’s going to fit in just fine here at Sunnydale University, isn’t he?"

"I’ll have you know, William has a bloody good education, Slayer. Wouldn’t be surprised it he couldn’t teach some of those poncy poetry classes that you’re always going on about."

Buffy was amused at the slightly offended tone of his thoughts.

“Okay, okay. I was only teasing. I still have a hard time picturing you as William sometimes. William the Bloody, Slayer of Slayers and William the poet just aren’t such mixey things, you know?”

“Well neither one of them butchers the English language the way you do, love.”

“Now you sound just like Giles!” She had to stifle a yawn, but she couldn’t hide her fatigue from the observant vampire and he quickly ended their bantering to suggest she go to sleep.

“I ‘spose there are worse blokes to sound like.” She felt the internal shudder as he pictured Xander for a second. “Now go to sleep like a good little Slayer.”

“‘K. I miss you.”

“I miss you too, love. But I’m always here if you need me. Just shout – I’ll hear you.”

“Good-night, Spike”

“Good-night, Buffy. I love you.”

“Love you, too,” she sent out sleepily, barely noticing the bolt of joy that went through him as she dozed off. Her sleep that night was deep and peaceful; encased as she was in a warm mental cocoon.

Chapter Twenty-three

Life quickly fell into a routine for Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies. Xander would go to work at his construction job until quitting time, then grab some take-out and meet Anya at the Magic Box where she was helping Giles inventory and sort the supplies. The ex-Watcher was delighted to find that Anya was quite knowledgeable about the various herbs and potions needed for spells and also had a good sense for which items would be the best sellers and needed to be re-stocked frequently.

After the first week of her willing assistance, he offered her a job working in the Magic Box with him. The ex-demon was delighted to have something responsible to do and quickly showed an affinity for making money. It didn’t seem to matter to her whether she was personally making the money or the shop was. She just enjoyed creating profits.

Giles was delighted at this new aspect of Anya’s personality, and found he thoroughly enjoyed their time together. When things were slow in the shop, they would sit at the table, sipping freshly brewed tea and exchanging demon lore. Everyone except Xander could sense a developing sexual tension growing between the forty-something ex-watcher and the thousand-year old ex-vengeance demon as they spent more and more time together and found more things they had in common.

To Willow’s delight, Tara had quickly become a welcome member of the group; her knowledge of earth magic more than compensating for her unwillingness to speak out and draw attention to herself. In spite of her reticence, her quiet common sense and gentle disposition were soon noticed and appreciated by all of them.

If anyone other than Giles and Anya suspected Tara’s relationship with Willow was more than platonic, they didn’t say anything. After dealing with Willow’s lengthy relationship with Oz, and her devastation at its ending, the idea that she might have moved on to another relationship already was beyond Buffy’s and Xander’s ability to comprehend. That the relationship might be with another girl was not even on their radar.

Buffy and Spike had slipped into a comfortable sense of belonging to each other that showed no signs of going away. Throughout the day, as she went to classes, shopped, visited at home, patrolled and joined her friends at the shop that was rapidly becoming their second home, she could always feel him lightly on the edge of her awareness and she knew he could do the same.

When, after a particularly grueling night of slaying, she slipped while fighting a vamp that appeared older and more experienced than the usual run of fledgling’s and found herself on the ground, she felt the marks on her neck pulsing when the vamp’s teeth reached for her throat. She could sense Spike’s fear and frustration as he recognized her danger and knew he was powerless to do anything about it.

The vamp’s surprised reaction to finding a master vampire’s mark on the Slayer’s neck gave her just the split second she needed to bring her stake around and drive it through his back and into his heart. Aided by Spike’s panicky order to dust the “bloody wanker that dares to touch my mate!” she drove the stake so hard she almost stabbed herself through the dust cloud that was all that was left of the would-be Slayer killer.

Coughing and waving away the dust floating in her face, she quickly reassured him that she was fine and no, it was not necessary that he jump in his car and dash back to Sunnydale.

“I’m fine, Spike. Really, I am. It’s just been a long night. With the Initiative gone, the vamp and demon population has picked back up and I’ve been pretty busy every night. Guess I could use some rest. I’m getting careless.”

His growl came through loud and clear. “Where the hell are the Scoobies? Aren’t they supposed to be watching your back while I’m not there?”

“They all have lives, Spike. You know that. I’ve kept you up to date on what’s going on. Willow has a new Wicca friend and they spend all their time practicing spells; Xander and Anya spend all their time…well you know what they spend their time doing…and Giles is busy with his new shop. The Slayer works alone. That’s just the way it is.”

“Not this Slayer! Not while I’m alive…er…undead.”

She didn’t reply, just allowed him to feel her gratitude for his loving concern as she basked in the possessive protectiveness she felt flowing from him.

“I wish you could come home,” she said suddenly. “I really miss you.”

“Me too, love. But as long as the claim’s this strong, we know it’s not going away.”

“What if it never goes away?” He could fell the panic in her voice and responded with his own jolt of fear.

“It will, pet. It has to. If it doesn’t…well, .we’ll deal with it. I’m not staying away forever. Patience is not one of my virtues, you know.”

Her giggle was immediate. “I didn’t know vampires HAD virtues.”

“You know what I mean, you sassy bint. I’m getting tired of waiting.”

While they carried on their internal dialogue, Buffy was walking toward the dorm and as she entered her room, she yawned again and said, “I’m going to take a shower and go to bed. I have late classes tomorrow, so I can sleep in.” There was a pause and the vampire could feel her indecision and worry.

“What’s the matter, pet?”

“No-nothing. I’m just really tired and I…not that I don’t want to…but I’m really sleepy and would you mind…if you do, it’s okay…but…”

It took him no time to figure out what she was trying to ask. In the time he’d been gone, they’d formed the habit of ending each night with their version of long-distance sex, sending each other mental images of that night’s fantasy. Buffy found herself with an intimate knowledge of the erotic arts courtesy of Spike’s one hundred plus years of experience and his vivid imagination.

“Bloody hell, pet. You think I can’t love you if I’m not shagging you silly?”

She felt the trace of hurt he was feeling and hastened to reassure him.

“No, of course not. It’s just that we always do…and I was afraid if we didn’t you’d think I don’t…that I stopped loving you. That it would mean I didn’t want you any more.”

“‘M that insecure, am I?”

“Uh… Sometimes?…I don’t know. Maybe I’m that insecure. I’m sorry. I’m too tired to make sense.”

She felt the warmth flowing through the claim and allowed it to soothe her until she was almost asleep on her feet. Forgetting about the shower, she dropped her clothes as she moved toward the bed and collapsed on top of it.

“Pull the covers up, sweetheart. Don’t want you to get cold.”

“‘K, Good-night, Spike. I love you.”

“Love you, too, Buffy. Always.”

When Buffy awoke the next morning, she felt completely refreshed and immediately stretched her mind out, waiting to get up until she knew Spike was there. As soon as she felt his sleepy response, she sent him a mental kiss and told him to go back to sleep.

“What the bloody hell did you wake me up for, if you were jus’ gonna tell me to go back to sleep?”

“Note to self – the sleepy vampire is grumpy in the daytime.” She didn’t try to hide her amusement, but quickly and sincerely followed it with, “I just wanted to be sure you were there.”

“‘M always here, love. Always will be.” With that comforting message, he fell back into the deep sleep that daylight evoked in vampires.

Buffy sighed with as much contentment as she could muster when they were still miles apart physically, and got up to head for the showers. She was in the midst of enjoying her hot shower and shampooing her hair when it became obvious that the sleeping vampire was having an erotic dream that involved her.

Grateful that there was no one else in the communal bathroom at that time of day, she slumped against the wall and allowed Spike’s dream and the sensations it created to flow over her. She leaned against the wall, shuddering with him as he came in his sleep, locking her knees so that she wouldn’t collapse into the soapy water near the drain.

“Damn horny vampire,” she grumbled as she straightened up and began to rinse her hair. A sleepy chuckle drifted through her head and was gone before she could think of an appropriate response.

Later that night, after they were all gathered at the Magic Box and speculating on why there was such a sudden increase in the vampire and demon population, Buffy suddenly became silent and her eyes unfocused as she felt Spike’s agitation and anger.

Her friends watched her curiously as she concentrated on what she was hearing and seeing through the vampire’s eyes, then they jumped as she snarled and reached for the phone. She punched in a number with so much force Giles cringed for his newly purchased business phone. He shook his head at Xander as it appeared the boy was planning to interrupt her to ask what was going on.

Tara stared at Buffy, watching her normally bright aura turning dark and angry as the Slayer waited impatiently for the phone to be answered. No one, except possibly the oblivious Xander, doubted that something was happening to or with Spike. Something that had sent Buffy totally into Slayer mode.

Miles away, in the city of Los Angeles, two vampires faced each other angrily. The larger of the two had a face like a thundercloud as he bellowed in disbelief, “You did what?”

Spike, who was being held in place by humans wielding large crosses and squirt guns of holy water, snarled back at his grandsire furiously.

“I told you, it was a bloody spell done by the witch. Had us thinking we were getting married.”

“A spell made you think you were getting married? WILLOW did a spell that made Buffy think she wanted to marry you. Tell me another one, Spike. What did you do to Buffy? How did you get her to let you close enough to bite her?”

With another snarl, Spike pulled back the collar of his leather coat and exposed the still-visible marks of Buffy’s human teeth on his neck.

“We bit each other, you stupid wanker! Have you got hair gel in your ears? The witch did a spell, we thought we were getting married, the demon bit his mate and the Slayer bit me back. I’m here to give the claim a chance to fade away, so the soddin’ council doesn’t come after Buffy.”

“Because you care so much about what happens to her, right?” Angel’s voice was dripping with sarcasm.

“Bloody right, I do,” Spike mumbled. “If I didn’t, I would never have left Sunnyhell. Would have just kept--" Spike’s brain abruptly caught up with his mouth and swallowed the rest of what he was going to say. It wasn’t quite fast enough to avoid suspicion from his Grandsire, though.

“Would have just kept doing what, Spike?” The older vampire’s voice was soft and dangerous. “What is it that you were doing that you didn’t want to leave?”

As Angel spoke, he was moving toward his grand childe, fist clenched at his sides and eyes flaring yellow.

Bollocks!

Before the larger vampire could follow up on his clearly lethal intentions, the phone in his pocket played the first chords of “Mandy” over and over. He hesitated, torn between wanting to rip Spike’s heart out and wondering who was calling him. A glance at the phone showed him whose number it was and he sighed and picked it up.

“Yes, Giles,” he snapped. “What is it? I’m a little busy here.”

“Touch him and you’re dust.” The Slayer’s voice held no trace of the young girl who had made him the center of her existence for three years. It was pure menace.

“Bu—Buffy? How did you…?” He shot a horrified look at the now smirking vampire opposite him.

“You can hear us? You and Spike…No, that’s not possible. That kind of connection only happens when two…No.” His voice held complete conviction.

“Who called you, Buffy? How did you know Spike was here? And,” his voice took on a note of uncertainty, “why do you care what I do to him? If he’s telling the truth and he’s here to break a claim, then I would think you’d be happy to have me dust him for you.”

There was genuine bewilderment in Angel’s voice as he looked over at Spike who was lighting a cigarette in defiance of Cordelia’s scowl.

“I know he’s there because I can hear everything you’re saying, and I can feel everything he’s feeling –and tell him I said to stop being so smug!"

Spike’s guilty start as she apparently sent him the same message told Angel, better than any words could have, that he was seeing the impossible. A claim between a vampire and a human that had resulted in such a mutually powerful connection that it allowed them to sense each other and to communicate telepathically. The kind of thing that was supposed to happen only between two very powerful vampires, who were in love and intending to stay together for eternity.

“But…but you’re human! The claim would only make you subservient to him; not an equal partner. And, you’d have to be in lo--” He stopped, refusing to finish the thought aloud.

“Maybe Slayers aren’t as human as we’d like to think we are, Angel,” Buffy sighed as she heard the pain in his voice. “I don’t know why it’s like it is. I just know it is and I don’t want anything to happen to him. He wouldn’t have left here if we weren’t worried about the Council and their reaction to it.”

“They’ll try to kill you both,” Angel said absently, as he gestured to his friends that they could put away their weapons. Angel was an older vamp and had been sired by the Master’s favorite. He knew more lore than Spike did and he was well aware of what happened to Slayers that allowed themselves, willingly or not, to be claimed by vampires.

“We’re hoping they won’t learn about it and we can pretend Spike is my…just another Scoobie.”

“So he’s here until, what? You tell him he can come back?”

“Until we can’t…until we know the claim has broken. Giles thinks that since Spike is unable to hurt humans…” It hurt Buffy to lie to Angel, but the fewer people who knew about the loss of the chip, the better off they’d be. “Since he can’t hurt humans, and he’s been helping me, that maybe they won’t care as long as there’s no claim for them to worry about. I mean, they didn’t mind that you were helping me.”

“I have a soul,” he said with a decided pout. “I was special.”

Buffy gave an exasperated sigh. “Yes, you were. You still are. Very special.”

Angel swelled up visibly and sent his glowering grandchilde a triumphant look.

“But Spike is special too. And he did it without a soul. Just because he…he loves me. And…I love him, Angel,” she added softly. “I need for him to be safe until he can come home.”

Angel winced internally at her words; the idea that she knew she was “home” to Spike somehow more telling than her whispered, “I love him.” He put on his best solemn face and said, “All right, Buffy. I won’t hurt him. And he can stay here--” he paused to soothe his surprised and disbelieving employees—“until it’s time for him to go back to Sunnydale.”

He responded to her grateful “Thank you” with a mumbled, “Wouldn’t do this for anybody but you,” and flipped the phone shut. He glared at his cheerful grandchilde and growled, “You can stay here, but keep away from me. I’m only doing this for Buffy.”

He turned to go into his office, then stopped and faced the other vampire again. “If you hurt her, Will, so help me…”

“Won’t. Wouldn’t. Couldn’t. Love her too much.”

Spike’s bright blue eyes were guileless and Angel nodded briefly. As much as the younger vamp irritated him, he was more than aware of Spike’s capacity for love and the lengths to which he would go for it.

Chapter Twenty-four

Two weeks later, Buffy and her friends were sitting in the Bronze, listening to the new band and enjoying their drinks. They had talked her into going out with them, even though she was more interested in staying in her room and trying to find Spike. For the first time in a month, she awakened without that little extra buzz that told her he was there if she needed to talk to him, and she’d spent the whole day trying to get a response from the missing vampire.

Common sense told her he was as alive as a dead man could be. She knew she would have known in an instant if he’d dusted. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t be in some kind of trouble and just be blocking her access to him. She’d become so used to his constant presence in the background that she felt oddly lost without it and she’d almost forgotten that not being able to sense him was what she’d been waiting for the past month.

Suddenly Buffy’s vampire radar went off and she stopped talking to look around the big room. Just as she realized that she was feeling one particular vampire, she heard Xander say, “Oh look. It’s the evil undead. We were all hoping you were on your way to South America or somewhere.”

“That right, whelp? All of you were hoping that?”

Buffy turned slowly and looked up into what she had decided were the most beautiful blue eyes she’d ever seen and said softly, “No, not all of us.”

While Willow and Anya beamed at her, she stood up, faced the smiling vampire, and took his outstretched hand. In spite of Xander’s audible groans, she turned and stood beside Spike. Although his hair was still the soft light brown of William, he was wearing his signature leather coat and normal jeans and tee shirt.

“William and I have to go now. We have...evil to fight. Demons to kill...”

Anya studied them closely for a second, than announced calmly. “They’re going to go have sex.”

While Xander muttered strangled denials, Spike slipped his arm around Buffy’s waist and smirked at him. Willow smiled at them and waved her hand as she said, “Well, you’d better get going then. Lot’s of evil out tonight.”

As they walked away, Xander continued to sputter in disgust.

“If he’s back, then the claim is gone. And if the claim is gone, then she shouldn’t want him anymore. There must be something wrong.”

“Actually,” said Tara shyly, “It looked very right to me.”

Willow turned to smile at her girl friend. “What looked right to you, baby?” she asked, not noticing Xander’s double-take at her endearment.

“Their auras. Buffy’s is always bright – unless she’s mad about something–“

“Well, THAT never happens,” Anya snorted sarcastically.

“And Spike’s is very unusual for a vampire. Full of life and color. And together, they made a lovely mauve color when they meshed.”

“Meshed?” Xander’s voice went up an octave. “What meshed? There was no meshing! No meshing with the vampire. Not on my watch.”

“Oh, Xander, would you get over yourself?” Anya said in disgust. “Buffy loves Spike. She doesn’t love you. Not in a ‘give you orgasms’ kind of way like I do. She’s the Slayer. She’s too strong for a human male anyway. She’d probably hurt you! And if Spike makes her short life happy…”

The dark haired carpenter subsided, mumbling to himself about vampires and auras and souls not being important anymore. The women at the table ignored him and went back to their conversation about the band.

Spike and Buffy got no further than the darkened area under the stairs before she spun him around and pulled his mouth down to hers. Warm, pliant lips met soft, cool ones in a kiss that gradually deepened as tongues began to tangle and move around. Buffy pressed her body up against him, enjoying the way it fit into his so perfectly.

She moaned when he ground his erection into her hip and slipped his muscular thigh between her legs. Buffy caught her breath when she felt his hard leg press up against her already damp crotch. Forgetting where they were, she wrapped one leg around his and began rubbing against him.

Spike removed his lips from hers briefly so that she could catch a breath and murmured in her ear, “That’s it, love. Ride me, Buffy. Ride me hard. Come for me, baby. Show me you missed me.”

I’m not really doing this, am I? I am not trying to get off on Spike’s leg while my friends sit drinking a few feet away. I should stop this right now....before...I can’t....stop....no stop....don’t stop.....Spike!

With a muffled shriek and a shudder, she collapsed against his chest and allowed him to hold her boneless body up as she regained her equilibrium. She could feel his duster wrapped around her back and hoped it was protecting her from any curious eyes that walked by.

“So,” he said with a smirk in his voice, “missed me, did you, Slayer?”

“Apparently so,” she grumbled as she stood up straighter and pulled back to look up at him. “And you can just wipe that smirk off your face, mister.” With a sudden change in demeanor, she asked quietly, “Did you miss me?”

“You have no idea, love. No idea at all.” The smirk was gone, replaced by such yearning that she whirled away and pulled him toward the door.

“Then we should go.”

There was no argument from the vampire as she tugged him out the door and down the street. He stopped her when he realized where she was going and gestured to the large, dark vehicle parked across the street.

“We can drive, love. I came straight here when I got back and found out where you were. Haven’t put the car away yet.”

Using the old Desoto, it took only a few minutes to reach the edge of campus and the attractive apartment building located there.

“Uh, what are we doing here? I thought we’d be going to…well I don’t know where I thought we’d be going. The dorm, I guess. But here?”

“Need a place for William to live, don’t I? This way I’ll be close to you when you’re in school and you can pick me up on your way to patrol.”

“You…you’re going to live here?” Buffy looked at the clearly expensive apartment building and back at the grinning vampire.

“Did you kill somebody?” she demanded suspiciously.

“Didn’t need to, pet,” he smirked, opening her door for her. He ushered her into the building, nodding at the concierge as he took her to the elevator.

“Isn’t he a demon?” Buffy whispered, turning to look back at the waving man at the desk.

“Yes, but not one you have to worry about, Slayer,” he said with an edge to his voice. “He’s a good upstanding citizen of Sunnydale – as is his human mother who lives on the third floor.”

“Human? His mother is human?”

“What? You thought you were the only one to find a demon attractive?” he teased her gently as he pushed the button for the penthouse.

“Well, most demons are…ewwww and all with the smelly and claws and teeth and…Are you laughing at me?”

“Maybe a little,” he admitted. “You are so adorable when you’re confused.”

“I’m not confused…and…you think I’m adorable?”

“You know I do, love,” he said, pulling her close as the doors slid shut. “That hasn’t changed. I think you are adorable…” he ran his lips over her jaw, planting a light kiss on her chin…”and beautiful…” a kiss on her neck...”and strong…”kiss…”and sexy…and…” whatever else he was going to say was cut off as Buffy interrupted the little kisses he was sprinkling across her face by grabbing his lower lip in her teeth and pulling on it gently.

“Oh, Baby wants play, does she?” he growled, sliding his hands around to her ass and pulling her against his hard length. “Why don’t you put your little teeth somewhere useful, Slayer?”

Before Buffy could respond, the doors slid open and they stepped out into the plush lobby of the penthouse apartments. Spike walked to the door at the end of the wide hallway and pulled a key from his pocket, inserting it in the door and pushing it open with a flourish.

“Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly,” he said giving her one of his best leers.

Buffy rolled her eyes at him and started to walk by, only to find herself swept up and into his arms into a traditional groom-carries-bride-across-the-threshold pose. They stayed frozen like that for a few seconds. Buffy’s mouth was open in shock and she finally stammered, “Wha…what are you doing?”

“Probably never get to do this for real,” he said gruffly. “Want to see what it feels like.”

Buffy thought he’d never looked more like William than he did at that particular moment as he waited anxiously for her reaction. When she didn’t say anything, she saw the resignation fill his eyes and felt his muscles flex as he prepared to set her down. She quickly brought her arms up around his neck and whispered, “I think it feels wonderful, William.”

Too overwhelmed to speak, he just beamed at her and stepped through the door into a spacious living room with one whole wall of tinted glass doors leading to an outside area. Before she had time to take in the whole room and its furnishings, Buffy found herself being carried across it to an open doorway and deposited gently in the middle of a large four-poster bed.

Spike immediately joined her on the bed, pinning her down with his body and fastening his lips on hers almost desperately. The heat radiating off her writhing body, made him groan with long-suppressed desire. They kissed frantically, lips and tongues alternately gentle and demanding. Strong body clutched strong body, until the urge to feel naked skin became overwhelming and the vampire tore his lips away.

Ignoring her complaining whimper, he slid back down the bed and began to take her boots off, caressing each foot as he did so and kissing each toe before he put the foot down. When he pulled one of her toes into his mouth and sucked gently on it, Buffy gasped as fluid pooled between her legs; then blushed to think that she was finding herself aroused by something so simple.

Spike moved his hands slowly up her legs until he reached the top of her thighs, where he allowed his thumbs to gently stroke her through the fabric of her jeans. His fingers were splayed across her lower abdomen, holding her hips still as his thumbs teased her.

She sat up and reached for him, trying to pull him back up where she could continue the kissing, but he shook his head and murmured, “Been waiting so long for this, love. Wanting you, needing to feel you, to taste you…” He buried his face in her lap, inhaling the rich scent of her arousal and nipping at her demin-covered mound.

Without moving his head, he reached up with one hand and unfastened her jeans, sliding the zipper down and moving his mouth up to the now-exposed golden skin on her lower abdomen. His other hand pushed her gently back down on the bed as he quickly pulled her jeans and underwear off, letting her kick them free of her feet and to the floor.

He again buried his face in her now open and dripping sex, laughing when her hips shot up off the bed at the touch of his cool tongue. He paused long enough to push her shirt over her head and slice through the strap of her bra with one of his sharp canines. Then he sat back on his knees to look at the vision spread out before him.

“Hey,” she said with a pout. “I’m all naked here and you’re all with the clothes on. What’s wrong with this picture?”

“Nothing wrong from my point of view, pet,” he leered as he deliberately ran his eyes down her body to the soft curls covering the source of the intoxicating aroma wafting around the room. With a growl, Buffy wrapped her legs around his torso and flipped them over so that he was on the bottom and she was sitting on his stomach.

She tore his shirt down the middle, casting the pieces away and reached for the buttons on his jeans. She popped the buttons off and pushed the now open jeans as far down as she could get them without moving any farther away than his upper thighs. Looking down onto his pale, hard muscled chest and abdomen, she licked her lips and said, “Now, I’m starting to like this picture!”

Buffy scooted all the way to the bottom of the bed and tugged on his boots until she had them off and could yank his jeans the rest of the way down his legs. She fastened her eyes on his thick, erect shaft, ignoring the way he was jostling her as he kicked his pants the rest of the way off.

In spite of their quick sexual encounter while under the spell, the incredible orgasm he’d given her on her mother’s couch, and their weeks of erotic mind games, this was the first time they had actually been naked together in a bed and Buffy found herself suddenly shy. When she saw that Spike was watching with amusement as she stared at his long, thick cock, she blushed and looked away in embarrassment.

Quickly, he rolled them back over again, tipping her face up to look at him as he ran the other hand down the silky skin of her flank.

“Look at me, pet. Remember what I told you?” He traced a path down her neck and across her collarbone. He dropped back into William’s voice and manner of speaking. “Nothing we do here is wrong or shameful as long as we’re both willing and it’s done with love. I want to see you – all of you. And I want you to see me. Don’t be ashamed to look at my body. It’s yours. To do with as you wish.”

Slowly, he moved off to her side, turning her slightly so that she was facing him. “I’m going to look, okay?” he murmured, kissing her lightly on her open lips. “Just remember, you are beautiful to me. Every single part of you.”

She nodded her head slowly, trying to control the blush that spread through her cheeks as his eyes traveled from her face down to her breasts, lingering there for seconds while he licked his lips, then continuing down to her toes and back up again. When he reached the top of her thighs, he gently pushed her down on her back and pulled her legs apart until she was lying spread out in front of him and blushing from her head down to her nipples.

He reached a gentle hand out and touched her worshipfully.

“Ah, love,” he breathed, stirring her curls with his cool breath, “you’re like a flower, you are. Soft and pink and delicate.”

Buffy shivered when she felt the cool air moving across her most private parts. She found it both embarrassing and incredibly arousing to be lying there exposed in front of his admiring eyes. Her hips rose slightly toward his face even as she tried to cringe away. He leaned in and planted a soft kiss on the silky skin where her thigh joined her abdomen, then another kiss on the other side. With a reluctant growl, he pulled himself away from the sight of her swollen clit calling to his mouth and tongue, and lay back down on his side facing her.

“Now you, pet. I want you to know me the way I intend to know you. Every bit of skin, every sensitive nerve ending, I want you to look at me until you could describe me with your eyes closed.”

“Is there going to be a pop quiz?” she asked with a nervous giggle.

“Well, there will definitely be a practical test,” he purred, stretching his arms over his head and flexing all his muscles.

Buffy couldn’t help the way she licked her lips as she watched the muscles moving under his alabaster skin. She let her eyes travel from the strong column of his neck, down to his flexed biceps and strong, but gentle hands. Her gaze skipped down to the defined pectoral muscles on his chest and then down to the rippled abs leading to the body part that started the whole embarrassing exercise. Deliberately skipping the bobbing cock in front of her, she ran her eyes down his prominent hipbones, admiring the way they drew her eye to the base of his shaft and the dark blond curls surrounding it. With a quick glance at his face to see if he was going to make fun of her, she moved down the bed to take a closer look at his scrotum, reaching out a hand to gently cup his balls. When he let out an involuntary groan, she grinned and drew her hand back.

Good to know. I wonder what else is really sensitive?

She ran a light hand down his firmly muscled, but trim, thigh, bringing it back up on the inside of his leg and just brushing his balls again as she pulled her hand out. A low growl told her he knew exactly what she was doing and she smothered a giggle. Where he had pushed her onto her back to look at her, she pulled him forward so that he was lying on his stomach, head turned to look at her curiously. She ran her eyes across the strong planes of his back, ghosting her hand down his spine until she reached the cleft of his ass.

She traced the outlines of his firm buttocks with both hands, cupping her small hands around them as best she could. When she ran a curious finger down between them until she reached his balls again, he couldn’t control the shudder that ran through him or the startled hiss.

Buffy snatched her hand back quickly, saying, “I’m sorry. Do you not want me to do that?”

A muffled groan and a “bloody hell, yes,” made her giggle and she became bolder in her exploration, sliding both hands down his legs and back up to tease him again with touches to the spot between his balls and his tightly puckered hole. When she felt every muscle in his body tense at her gentle prodding in that spot, she stopped her teasing. She nipped gently at one firm buttock, dropped a quick kiss on the other, and then tugged his shoulder until he rolled back over to face her.

“I think I’ve seen enough,” she breathed. “Less seeing, more touching. Now, please.”

“Your wish is my command, milady,” he answered, pulling her close to his body and running his hands lightly up and down her back. He began running his lips down her neck, pausing to lick and nuzzle the tiny scars left from the claim. When he felt Buffy’s heart rate increase at his touch, he stopped and pushed himself back far enough to look into her worried eyes.

“Don’t worry, love,” he said softly. “I don’t intend to do anything that would make me have to leave you again. I just…it feels good to remember that for a short, wonderful time we belonged to each other. Touching my marks…it’s just a way of reliving it. Wouldn’t do again, sweetheart. Please believe me.”

“I believe you don’t mean to do it,” she responded fearfully. “But you didn’t mean to do it the first time, either. What if you can’t stop the demon? I don’t want to go through a month-long separation every time we make love.”

“Trust me, love, “ he said with a wry smile. “Neither does the demon. He’ll behave. You have my word.” He studied her anxiously for a minute. “You DO trust me, don’t you, Buffy?”

He stared into her eyes as myriad emotions flew across her face and his stomach was clenching in fear until her look softened and she answered clearly, “With my life. I trust you with my life.”

Chapter Twenty-five

“Alright, then,” he growled, fastening his mouth on the soft skin where her neck met her shoulder and sucking gently.

Buffy felt the sucking all the way down to her womb, and tipped her head to the side to give him more access. At the same time, he was sliding his cool fingers up the inside of her thigh and into the moist heat waiting there for him. The lengthy foreplay he’d planned for their first real love-making session went out the window when she whimpered and clenched her muscles around his fingers. He could feel how ready she was for him and suddenly feeling her around him again was the most important thing in the world.

“Need you now, love. Got to be in you. Please, Buffy. Let me in. Want you so much…”

As he pleaded with her, he was covering her body with his, the head of his erection nudging gently at her entrance. As badly as he wanted to thrust his way into her, the memory of how roughly he’d pulled her onto his cock when they were under the spell kept him still until he knew she wanted him inside.

With a growl of her own, Buffy clutched his ass with both hands and pulled him up and into her, giving a little shriek as he filled her channel and bumped against her womb. She clenched around him, trembling from the sensations his cool shaft was creating. She wrapped her legs around his hips, locking her ankles and pulling him in so hard he was afraid he would hurt her, but her needy whimpers as she ground her clit against his pubic bone told him it wasn’t pain she was feeling while she rocked her hips against his.

He allowed himself to get lost in the scent and feel of her warm sex as she clenched her muscles, squeezing him as though he might escape if she relaxed at all. Between the rocking of her hips, and the rhythmic squeezing that he wasn’t even sure she knew she was doing, he felt his release building incredibly quickly and he fought for control.

“Buffy, my love. Sweetheart. Darling girl, you’ve got to slow down or I’ll never last. Want this to be good for you, love. Can’t…”

Buffy was ignoring him. She felt his warm voice washing over her; she heard the endearments and the pleading, but she was lost in the feeling of him filling her so completely. Every one of her senses was being overwhelmed by the familiar scent of tobacco, whiskey and leather that meant Spike to her; by the feel of his cool, velvety skin; the sound of his voice rumbling in her ear; the fiery trails where his hands were moving around her body and the shivers his lips were inducing everywhere they touched her skin.

She knew he wanted her to slow down before he came too soon, but she could feel her own release building and refused to do as he asked. When he grabbed the skin of her neck with his lips, sucking on it and groaning in need, she flew over the edge and buried her own teeth in his shoulder to muffle the scream trying to escape from her throat.

Spike felt her whole body tense as she arched into him, shuddering from the force of her orgasm and clinging to him as though he was the only thing holding her together. With a growling howl, he slammed his hips into hers and allowed himself to fill her with his spending. There was something so life affirming about filling her with fluid rather than taking from her that he felt tears in his eyes as he allowed his trembling body to collapse onto the woman beneath him.

Buffy felt the tremendous spurt as he came and gloried in the feel of him filling her spaces with his ejaculate. She found it hard to believe that anything that felt so alive spreading throughout her welcoming body could be as cold and dead as she knew his sperm to be. Unbidden tears came to her eyes as she looked up into his worshipful face and she couldn’t have said if they were tears of joy for what they had, or tears of sorrow for what they never would.

He lowered his head and began licking away the tears sliding down her cheeks, murmuring his devotion to her as he did. For once his insecurity didn’t control him, and he was able to recognize Buffy’s tears for what they were – an affirmation of her feelings for him.

As they came down from the physical and emotional highs of their first real lovemaking experience together, they gradually relaxed and allowed themselves to separate enough for Buffy to breath easily. He rolled off to one side, only far enough to get his weight off her chest, and rested his head on the arm stretched over his head. Their legs remained entwined as she shifted to her side, facing him and stroking him with a gentle touch.

“Not quite sure, love, but I think we might have set some sort of record here.”

“Yay, us,” she said softly, running a small hand over his chest .

“Yeah,” he answered, cupping her face with his free hand. “Three bloody cheers for us.” He rubbed his thumb gently along the soft skin of her cheek, searching her eyes for what he needed to see.

“So,” he said carefully, “I guess this means there still is an ‘us’?”

“Looks like.”

“So, it wasn’t just the claim, then,” he said almost to himself in a wondering tone of voice.

“I TOLD you it wasn’t! I don’t know why you didn’t believe me,” Buffy huffed indignantly. “It isn’t like I make a habit of going around telling men I’m in love with them, you know.”

“Damn well better not,” he growled, pulling her over on top of him and worrying the side of her neck with his blunt human teeth. Buffy moaned at the immediate response created by the touch of his mouth on her neck. She suspected that she was going to struggle just as much as the vampire when it came to resisting the urge to renew the claim. She pushed the worry to the back of her mind and surrendered to the sensual feel of him sucking on the soft skin covering her artery, lying flat on top of him and tilting her head to give him better access.

Spike was lost in the taste of her skin and the scent of the heated blood he could feel flowing under the skin in his mouth. He laved it with his tongue before going back to suckling on the rapidly reddening area. The feel of Buffy’s breasts sliding over the skin of his chest, combined with the heady taste of her skin, had him growing hard again. With a muffled growl, he ran his hands down to cup the globes of her ass, lifting her up and onto his burgeoning erection.

Buffy pushed herself back and sat up on him, impaling herself even more deeply. She squirmed around on him, wriggling her ass and grinding herself into his pelvic bone while he held her hips and arched up into her. In one fluid motion, she reached down and grabbed his shoulders, pulling him up so that she was sitting on his lap, kneeling on the bed with his hips between her thighs in the same position they’d made love while under the spell.

Using her powerful thigh muscles, she slowly raised her body up, letting him slide almost all the way out, before slowly lowering herself down onto him again. The exquisite torture of feeling him sliding out of her, and the equally exquisite feeling of his cock sliding back into her a little bit at a time had them both moaning and biting their lips.

“What are you doing, pet?” he gasped. “You’re killing me here.”

Biting her lip in concentration, Buffy gasped back, “I want to see how long we can keep doing it like this before one of us can’t stand it anymore.”

“So, it’s a contest then?” he asked with something between a groan and a growl.”

“Uh huh,” she managed to say before it turned into a whimper as he almost slid all the way out. She began the slow descent, letting herself feel every inch of his velvety thickness as she eased back down until nothing separated them. A glance down at herself showed her own light brown curls tangled with his, so that she couldn’t tell where she left off and he began.

The vampire noticed her look and sent his own gaze admiringly toward their joined bodies.

“Made to go together, weren’t we, love? Look at us. We belong like this.”

A whimper was the only reply as Buffy forced herself to slowly rise up on her knees again until just the head of his cock was inside her entrance. She was squeezing her internal muscles the whole way up and saw Spike’s eyes cross when he tried to keep them focused on their now barely connected pelvic areas.

A low moan escaped the Slayer’s throat as she once again began the long slow slide down onto him. Her walls clenched around him, sending sensation to places she had no idea even existed. She swore she could feel every pore on the skin on his cock as it dragged past her clenched muscles, cooling her internal heat at the same time it was making her want to scream.

Spike had lost all ability to form coherent thoughts or words. He was reduced to groans of “Oh, god, yes. Please, love, you win. Whatever you want. It’s yours. I’m yours. Only you. So sweet, so hot, so strong, squeezing me. Loving me. Feeling me, feeling you loving me. Making me…”

Buffy felt a purely feminine thrill at the way she had reduced a 126 year-old master vampire to a whimpering, quivering bundle of pure need. Before she could decide how she wanted to celebrate her victory, she found herself flipped over and pinned under a strong, demanding body that was pushing into her so hard it forced her up into the headboard.

“I quit, you win,” he growled as he began pounding into her, sending a whole new host of sensations throughout her already overly stimulated body. Buffy was forced to put her arms up over her head and brace herself on the headboard in order to keep from being knocked unconscious by the rapid and continuous thrusts from the growling vampire.

With the slow but incredibly erotic build-up they’d both had from Buffy’s impromptu “contest”, it took no time at all before they were once again pounding their way toward simultaneous orgasms that had the Slayer tearing at the skin on his back with her nails and sinking her teeth into his shoulder as she arched up into him with a scream. When he felt her clench around him, her walls quivering with her release, Spike vamped out and bit into his own arm to keep from ripping at the skin on her throat as he roared with his own climax.

Buffy sat up in surprise when, instead of collapsing beside her to recover as she expected, Spike leaped off the bed and headed to the bathroom.

“Spike?” she called plaintively. “William? What’s wrong?”

She reluctantly ordered her satiated body to get up and started toward the bathroom, only to meet the vampire coming out clutching a towel to his bleeding arm.

“Wha…what happened? Why did you do that?”

For an answer, he gestured to his bleeding shoulder and then turned so that she could see his back. A look at the human bite marks on his shoulder and the bleeding crescents on his back shocked her into silence for a minute and she couldn’t do anything but watch him apply pressure to the much deeper bite he put in his own arm.

“I’m sorry?” she ventured timidly. “I didn’t mean to hurt you—why didn’t you make me stop? And why did you bite yourself?”

He shook his head, laughing as he tossed the bloody towel back into the bathroom. The wound he’d put in his own arm was already beginning to close and he put his wrist to his mouth to lick it again for good measure.

“You didn’t hurt me, love. But I think I’m going to have to explain to you about vampires and biting. I think there are some things your watcher has left out of your education.”

He took her hand and pulled her back to the bed, stretching out and tucking her into his side. He kissed her puzzled face, nuzzling the barely visible scars from his bite months ago. Buffy gave a little gasp as she felt the same familiar thrill go through her when he touched the marks.

“Is it always going to do that?” she grumbled when he smiled at her reaction.

“Bloody hell, I hope so, pet,” he laughed. “Want to be having that effect on you for a long, long time.”

“Hmmph!” was the very unconvincing sound of disgust from the smiling girl. “Doesn’t seem fair. That you can do that to me all the time.”

“Quit complainin’, Slayer,” he said, running his hand through her silky hair and winding it around his finger. “You can do that to me anytime you want to just by being in the same room with me. And don’t pretend you don’t know it, missy,” he added with a growl as she grinned up at him.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she teased, leaning in to run her tongue over one nipple; eliciting a warning growl when she went to take it in her teeth.

Surprised, she looked up at him and protested, “I wasn’t going to actually bite you!”

“I know you weren’t, pet. But we need to have that talk about biting and vampires before you go nibbling on me like that.”

“Fine,” she huffed, moving away from him and flopping back onto her pillow. “I’m listening, Giles, Jr.” She turned her head toward him and asked half-seriously, “Should I be taking notes?”

“Don’t know. Maybe. Depends on how often you think you’ll be biting vamps,” he snarked.

“How often do you think you’re going to be making me feel like that?” she challenged.

“Every day for the rest of your life, I hope,” he answered, suddenly serious as he fixed his intense gaze on her.

“I hope so, too,” she responded, equally seriously.

The conversation was put on hold while they lay in each other’s arms and allowed their eyes to convey the things they could no longer feel through the claim. Along with the love, passion, and trust clearly visible in their eyes, there was the shadow of loss. An undercurrent of sorrow for what was now missing in their lives.

Chapter Twenty-six

After many lingering looks and mutual attempts to communicate some other way than with their eyes and mouths, Buffy felt herself begin to tremble with the knowledge that she would never again have that comforting presence on the edge of her consciousness.

It’s okay. I can do this. I lived my whole life without that connection and I only had it for a couple of months. I can get used to being without it again. It’s just a question of time. It’s only hard because I’m not used to it yet.

Even as she told herself how inconsequential it was that the claim was no longer active, she was blinking back the tears that threatened to spill over and spoil the moment. Spike could smell the tears gathering in her eyes and felt a responsive tightening in his throat as he guessed at the reason. He stared back at her and willed her to feel him.

I love you, Buffy.

“Can you tell what I’m thinking, love?” he asked softly, pushing a stray strand of hair off her face.

“That you love me?” she whispered, knowing she was right.

He nodded his head and smiled sadly. “That’s right, sweetheart.

And losing the claim hasn’t changed that at all. Jus’ means I’m gonna have to remember to say it out loud more often, that’s all. We’ll get used to it again. Not like we haven’t lived like that most of our lives, is it?”

“I tried to tell myself that,” she sighed, resting her head on his chest, “but it felt so …right. Before.” She looked up at him suddenly and blurted, “I’m going to miss it. Miss you. Miss us.”

“So am I, pet,” he wrapped both arms around her and leaned down to kiss her gently. “So am I. But we’re still us. And I’m not going anywhere.”

Buffy curled into him, bringing her free arm around his rib cage and sliding one leg between his. She rested her head on his chest and breathed in the scent she had so quickly come to associate with warmth and safety. She remained still for so long, Spike thought she might have fallen asleep and was just closing his own eyes when she startled him by resuming the conversation.

“So,” she said abruptly, sitting up and changing the subject. “You were going to tell me what I need to know about vampires and biting – other than, if they do it, I stake them?”

“No, you- sil--,” he gave an exasperated sigh, “I am going to teach you about BITING vampires. Whole ‘nother thing entirely.”

“You were about to call me one of those rude British names, weren’t you? Like, ‘bint’ or ‘goose’ or something kind of food thingie.”

He grinned at her and shook his head.

“You’re adorable when you’re indignant, Slayer. Have I ever mentioned that?” He laughed as her expression grew even more annoyed.

Sobering, he sat up, facing her on the bed and trying to keep his eyes from wandering around her naked body as she sat cross-legged across from him.

“Alright,” he started, then his voice trailed off as his eyes went to the damp curls between her legs and the pink flesh he could just see peeking out. Buffy frowned when he didn’t continue, then followed his heated gaze to where it was focused on her exposed crotch. Blushing, she immediately shifted so that her legs were crossed and all he could see was the outside of her thigh.

She laughed when his lower lip went out in a pout and she leaned toward him, snapping her teeth at it as a reminder.

“Right!” he said, sitting up straighter. “Gnashing your teeth at the vampire. Very bad idea, pet.”

“Why?” she asked with mock innocence, picking up his hand and nibbling on his fingers. He groaned and tried to pull his hand away, swearing under his breath and making her giggle.

“You’re always nibbling on me. Why can’t I nibble on you?”

As she pouted her question at him, she leaned down and fastened her blunt little teeth gently on the inside of his thigh. She heard him hiss, then, moving faster than she would have thought possible, Spike had her pinned to the bed with his fangs just touching the skin on her breast .

Her heart rate shot up and she couldn’t have said if it was from surprise, fear, anger or the way the lightest touch of his fangs on her skin sent tremors all the way through her body.

Glancing up at her with amber eyes, he allowed one fang to lightly graze her skin, bringing a small line of blood to the surface. His nostrils flared as he inhaled the scent before sending his cool tongue out to lick it off, effectively closing the wound at the same time. Buffy gave a shiver that had nothing to do with the temperature of his tongue.

He rolled off of her, his face shifting back to its human form as he lay on his back staring at the ceiling.

“What the hell?” Buffy’s indignant question was somewhat compromised by the breathy tone in her voice.

He rolled his head to the side and looked at her with his once-again startlingly blue eyes.

“Biting is a very…arousing…activity for a demon. It’s a big part of sex between vampires and every time you put your little teeth on me, the demon is screaming to be let out to play. He doesn’t want to hurt you…much…but he wants to bite you back. He wants to taste you.”

“Oh,” was the only thing Buffy could think of to say. She mulled over what he’d said for a few minutes, then, remembering the thrill that had gone through her when his teeth were touching her skin, she blushed and said, “I…I don’t think I mind it. It’s very…” She couldn’t bring herself to say how erotic she found it when he bit her, but he had no trouble following her line of thought.

“Yeah, think I got that, love,” he said wryly. “Way back when we were under the spell. Makes me wonder where all that Slayer power comes from…”

She stared at him for a second; then dismissed the implication as impossible.

“So, if you like to do it, and I don’t mind it…”

He sat up, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, hands dangling between his legs. He didn’t look at her as he answered as honestly as he could.

“I can’t control him, love. We’ve already seen that. If he –no, if I get my teeth into you, I want to make you mine. And I jus’ spent a miserable month cooling my heels in Peaches’ city to fix what happened the last time. Not gonna do that again.”

She nodded her head and looked down at the rumpled sheets, idly tracing the path of a wrinkle as she tried to think what it was about what he’d just said that disturbed her. Suddenly, her eyes got wide and she grabbed his arm.

“Why did you change from ‘he’ to ‘I’ when you were talking about the demon? It is the demon that does those things, isn’t it?”

Spike cocked his head and looked back at her earnest, puzzled eyes and smiled sadly.

“ Ole Angelus really did a number on you, didn’t he, love?”

He took one of her hands in his and silently urged her to listen carefully.

“The demon and I – we’re one and the same, Buffy. He’s always here, and William’s always here. Together, we’re Spike. The vampire who loves you. It would be no more honest of me to say ‘the demon made me do it’ than it would be to say that only William was in love with you. I can’t separate them – they’re both me. All I can do is control the demon side, so it doesn’t hurt anybody. I can’t make it go away. And I can’t deny the things it wants to do because I want them too.”

“You want to claim me again?”

“I want you to be marked as mine for all the world to see. Can’t help it, pet. I’m an insecure bastard, and—“

Buffy stopped him with a hand on his lips. She lightly ran her fingers over the soft skin there, smiling when he pulled one finger into his mouth and sucked on it gently.

“I love you,” she said simply. “I know that’s not enough, but that’s all I can give you.”

“It’s not enough, Buffy.” He grabbed her chin as she tried to lower her head to hide the stab of pain his words caused. “It’s everything.”

His eyes bored into hers, demanding she believe what she saw in their blue depths.

She trembled at the depth of feeling she saw there. Even without the openness of the claim, he was laid bare to her and the truth of what he said was undeniable. The fact that she loved him meant more to him than any amount of blood sharing or public display.

“ ‘K, then,” she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut against the tears that once again threatened to fall.

Time to change the subject, Buffy. You’re turning into a complete crybaby.

She gave herself a little shake and slipped off the bed, kissing him quickly as she did so to reassure him that she was coming right back. When he realized she was heading for the bathroom, not her clothes, he relaxed and leaned back against the headboard to await her return.

Buffy let herself into the large bathroom and looked around in awe. In addition to the toilet and a bidet tucked into an alcove, were a large tub sunk into the floor, a separate shower, two sinks and a floor length mirror. A closer inspection of the counter top by the sink showed an assortment of shampoos, conditioners and soaps –all in the brands she used.

Each sink had a cup and toothbrush, complete with it’s own toothpaste. She smiled as she saw that while “her” sink’s toothpaste was her brand, the other held a new tube of extra-whitener toothpaste for heavy smokers.

She quickly used the toilet and experimented with the bidet, twisting her mouth in disgust as she sprayed water all over the room. “Note to self,” she grumbled, “learn how to use one of those things from somebody who knows.”

She splashed water on her face and eyes to cool them down and erase any traces of the tears that had been appearing there so frequently since they’d arrived. She studied her face in the mirror until she was satisfied that she no longer looked like she’d been crying half the night, and then walked back out to where Spike was waiting for her on the bed.

She gave the slightest hesitation when she felt his eyes devouring her naked body, then shrugged and continued walking toward him with her shoulders back and a confident stride.

“That’s my beautiful girl,” he grinned in appreciation and praise, having picked up on her momentary hesitation. “Show me what you’ve got, baby.”

“I think what I’ve got is a body that would really like to get some sleep before it has to get up and pretend to be interested in Freshman English at 9:00 in the morning,” she admitted with a yawn.

She climbed into bed and settled under his outstretched arm, murmuring her appreciation as he pulled the covers over them and made sure she was warm and comfortable before he reached out and turned off the light. Buffy’s last thought as she drifted off to sleep was that as much as she had enjoyed their nightly bouts of shared sexual fantasies, cuddling up with his real body after real sex and falling asleep with his real arms around her was definitely preferable.

Chapter Twenty-seven

When Buffy awoke, it took her a minute to remember where she was. The way Spike’s arm automatically tightened around her waist as she tried to get up quickly reminded her and she gently moved it, kissing his knuckles as she put his hand back down on the bed.

“I’ve got to get to class, Spike. I’ll be back tonight.”

“Better be,” he mumbled into the pillow as he burrowed into the bed, not really waking up enough to protest.

She quickly used the bathroom, showering and scrubbing her teeth with her new toothbrush. Buffy smiled as she saw the hairdryer, still in its box and waiting for her on a shelf. She was soon dressed and hurrying out the door with a quick glance back at the seemingly dead man on the bed. It surprised her that she wasn’t more wigged about spending the night sleeping next to a corpse, but shrugged it off as another perk of being a Slayer.

All that practice being around dead things must be coming in handy.

As she waited for the elevator, she looked around at the posh waiting area and vowed that she and Spike were going to have a long talk about how and where he got the money to live in a place like this. She also made note of the obvious mix of demons and humans in the lobby. Most of them greeted her cheerfully enough, although she could sense an undercurrent of fear coming from some of the less human-looking demons.

Since they all appeared to be on their way to some sort of legitimate work place, she pushed down her Slayer urge to start killing things and hurried out of the building toward the campus.

A quick stop at her dorm to change out of last night’s Bronzing clothes and grab her books and she was soon dashing into the auditorium where her first class was meeting. Her eyes searched the room for Willow and she gave the red head a grateful smile as she slipped into the empty seat beside her friend.

“I’m guessing from the circles under your eyes that it was a good reunion?” Willow whispered with a blush.

“It was wonderful,” Buffy whispered back, blushing slightly herself but with a very self-satisfied smile.

They had settled in to listen to the professor lecture them about concise, clear writing when Buffy felt Willow stiffen beside her. She followed her friend’s gaze to the doorway where a tall man with military bearing was staring at her. He lowered his eyes and moved away as soon as he realized Buffy was looking back at him and Buffy felt Willow nudging her hand. She grabbed the note her friend had just scribbled out and saw, “That’s the guy who was asking about you right after Lowell House blew up.”

Buffy nodded her head and shot another narrow-eyed look toward the doorway, but there was no sign of the lurking man. She turned her attention back to the instructor and concentrated on not falling asleep on Willow’s shoulder.

When class was over, they walked toward the campus café so that Buffy could ply her tired body with enough caffeine to get through the day. Buffy watched with interest and a certain amount of curiosity at the way Willow’s face lit up when Tara entered the shop and walked toward their table.

Boy, the last time I saw her look at anybody like that, it was Oz. She must really like Tara.

Conversation turned from more general things to Buffy’s description of Spike’s apartment and Willow volunteered to go on line and see what she could find out about the apartment’s occupant. With several hours before their next classes, they all walked to the Magic Box where Willow could use her laptop in relative quiet.

The three chattering girls arrived just as Giles and Anya were finishing their lunch and there was an awkward moment as they realized that they were interrupting what seemed to be a private meal. Giles stood up and began rapidly polishing his glasses as Anya gave the interrupting non-customers a glare. She gathered up the remains of their meal and carried it back to the small kitchen in the back while Giles attempted to pretend that he was not embarrassed by their arrival.

Buffy and Willow exchanged equally shocked and dismayed glances as they watched their best friend’s girl friend and Buffy's surrogate father try to hide the fact that they’d been enjoying a romantic lunch. At least, Giles was trying to hide it. Anya really wasn’t making much of an attempt to hide her irritation at being interrupted as she stomped over to the counter and began dusting perfectly clean candles.

Doing his best to appear unembarrassed at being caught in an almost compromising situation with Xander’s girl friend, Giles welcomed the three girls and asked them to have a seat at the table. “Not that I am not glad to see you,” he began somewhat stuffily, “but to what do I owe this middle of the day visit? Surely you all have classes to attend?”

“We’re free for a couple of hours and Willow’s going to do some research for me on her computer. We just thought this would be a good place to do it. You don’t mind, do you?” she added, with a glance at the still glowering Anya.

“No, no. Of course not. You’re welcome here anytime. You know that, Buffy. I just wasn’t expecting you until this evening.”

“Yeah, well, I really need to know how Spike—“

“Spike? Spike is back? Why didn’t you tell me? Have you seen him yet?” The Watcher frowned as he threw questions at her startled face.

“Yes, he’s back. We said he would only be gone as long as it took for the claim to go away. And, I didn’t tell you because this is the first time I’ve seen you since he got back. It was late last night.”

Ignoring her explanation for not telling him immediately, the older man asked quietly, “And is it? Gone?”

“Yes,” was the short, curt answer. “It’s gone.”

He studied her face for a minute, taking in the tight jaw, and cleared his throat noisily.

“I am sorry, Buffy. But it is for the best. Surely you understand that?”

“Let’s be clear about something, Giles. The only reason I agreed to let the claim lapse is so that the Council wouldn’t be hounding me and trying to kill one or both of us. The claim was mutual and neither one of us was using it to control the other. It poses a danger to no one but us. The danger is from humans, I might add. It actually protected me from some demons. “

He cleared his throat again and looked at his surrogate daughter apologetically.

“I understand how you feel, Buffy. But, surely—“

“”No, Giles, you don’t understand how I feel. And I don’t want to talk about it any more.”

She turned away from his frowning face and asked Willow, “Finding anything, Will?”

“Yeah. It looks like the building is owned by a William Carlisle. He seems to have bought it fairly recently. Not much information about him, though. Everything seems to have been done through his lawyers. I think the apartment Spike is staying in belongs to the owner. Maybe the guy owes him money or something.”

“Or maybe Spike ate him and took over his apartment.”

Xander’s arrival made the atmosphere in the room even more uncomfortable than it already was. Once again, Giles looked like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar, while Anya busied herself behind the counter, deftly avoiding having to give her boyfriend a kiss hello.

Buffy whirled on him and snapped, “He didn’t eat anybody. I’m just trying to find out how there can be a building in Sunnydale that has both human and demon residents and we never knew anything about it till now.”

Giles' curiosity overcame his reluctance to get close to the angry Slayer and her oblivious dark-haired friend.

“Humans and demons? In the same building?”

“Yes.” She answered curtly, going on to fill them in on what she had seen that morning. “And some of the…people…there are half-breeds. Half human and half demon. How is that possible?”

“I have heard of human/demon hybrids….” Giles went into full Watcher mode as he pondered the possibilities. “But I thought they were quite rare. And demons living side-by-side with humans and having jobs…it quite boggles the mind. This definitely requires more research.”

“Oh joy,” Xander groaned, dropping into one of the chairs. “Research. Always a fun time.”

“What’s to research?” Anya finally broke in. “If you’d bothered to look around, you would know there are demons working all over Sunnydale. Who do you think makes pizza deliveries after dark? Or cleans the sewers? Humans wouldn’t last ten minutes in those jobs.”

They all turned to stare at her in amazement.

“You KNEW this? All this time? And you never told anybody?”

“It’s one of those things you never asked me,” she snipped back at them. “I’m surprised Spike didn’t tell Buffy, though. Just to keep her from killing anybody she shouldn’t.”

The Slayer’s face paled at the thought that she might have killed someone who was an innocent denizen of Sunnydale. She thought back to the people she’d seen that morning as they left for work and realized that most of them looked perfectly human and probably wouldn’t have triggered her Slayer radar unless they got very close.

Suddenly the funny responses she sometimes got from people in stores and at school began to make more sense. Every now and then she would enter a store and the proprietor would smile politely and back away, turning her over to another salesperson. If there was no one else available, they would shuffle their feet and fidget nervously until she left.

“I’ll bet if you check out the owner of that building, you’ll find he’s a demon too,” Anya offered. “That would explain why Spike is living there. He probably won a month’s rent in a poker game or something.”

Suddenly Giles got up and went to one of the shelves on which he’d begun to store his own collection of books. Taking down one that looked slightly familiar to Buffy, he thumbed through it until he came to the page he was looking for. Shooting an inscrutable glance at his slayer, he said quietly, “I think you might want to look at this, Buffy.”

With a sigh at the thought that she might actually WANT to read something, she approached him and gave the book a cursory glance.

“I’ve already seen that, Giles. I know all about Spike’s past as William the Bloody. Why do you want me to look at it again?”

“Because it tells you in here what his name was before he was turned. I think you might want to take a look.”

She grabbed the book from his hand, sending him an apologetic glance when he winced at her treatment of the rare book. She started at the beginning this time, reading down the page and stopping occasionally to reread something. She looked up at Giles with her mouth open.

“Spike is William Carlisle? A stuffy Victorian gentleman? A graduate of Cambridge? MY Spike? “

“It would appear that his turn as William was not as much of a stretch for him as we thought. It WAS quite obvious that he was educated and had, at one time, learned some manners; but I had no idea that he came from such a…”

“Ok, whoa. Just whoa!” Xander marched over to them and grabbed the book out of Buffy’s hand, causing Giles to wince again. “Sorry, G-man,” he mumbled as he looked over the page. The 19^th century drawing of Spike when he was first turned looked eerily like the William they’d spent time with, except for the Victorian clothes.

Xander skimmed through the text, frowning as he read about William Carlisle’s education and wealthy family.

“Well,” he said, tossing the book on the table, “obviously they screwed up and found some guy who looks like Spike and thought he was William the Bloody. Spike has less education than I do – and it certainly was never a Victorian gentleman!”

He gazed around the room triumphantly, his smile fading as no one else seemed to agree with him.

“Guys! Come on! It’s SPIKE, for Pete’s sake. He doesn’t have any money. He wears the same clothes every day. He bleaches his hair!”

“Not anymore, he doesn’t,” Willow interjected mildly. “He can’t bleach it and still be William. Not for awhile, anyway.”

“Don’t tell me you’re still going with that goofy plan to pretend to date him, Buffy?” The dismay and disbelief in Xander’s voice made her flinch in spite of herself.

“Yes, Xander,” she answered, squaring her shoulders and looking him in the eye, “that is exactly what we plan to do. And we won’t be pretending,” she added, with a frown. “Where did you get that idea?”

He stammered and appeared genuinely surprised, “Well, I just assumed…I mean if the claim is gone, then there’s no reason for you to…” He blanched as he remembered how she’d left with the vampire the night before and what Anya had said about their plans.

“Where did you go with the bloodsucker last night, Buffy?” he demanded, not even noticing the shocked looks from everyone in the room. “I thought you were going to tell him to forget it and just wanted to let him down easy.”

Buffy stared at her friend incredulously. “Why would you think that, Xander? You were there when we talked about why he was leaving and how long he would be gone. You know how I fe-“

“I don’t know anything about how you feel,” he snarled at her. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you that you have to keep hooking up with the undead when there are perfectly nice human men yours for the asking.”

“And we all know who would be first in that line, don’t we, Xander?” Anya snipped from her place behind the counter.

“Shut up, Ahn,” he snapped, not even looking in her direction. Instead of the flinch that would have accompanied his less-than-loving treatment of her in the past, she just shrugged and turned back to her counter-polishing.

Anya’s remark reminded Buffy of what Spike had said about Xander’s jealously, and she made one last attempt to prove to herself that they were wrong.

“Xander? I don’t understand. I thought we were friends. Don’t you want me to be happy? I love Spike. And he loves me. We want to try to make this work. I was hoping my friends would be supportive…”

“You can’t to expect me to support you when you want to wallow in filth with an undead demon. I thought you might have learned something from your little walk on the wild side with Angel, but I guess getting a cold, dead happy is more important to you than risking your friend’s lives! I’m sure Giles is all onboard with that!”

Buffy recoiled in shock and dismay at the venom coming from Xander’s mouth. Tears sprang into her eyes at his reminder that her moments with Angel had cost Jenny her life. Before she could find a way to respond, her Watcher’s voice rang out.

“That will be enough, Xander! You will apologize to Buffy immediately, or you will leave my shop.” The look he was giving the boy was pure Ripper as he saw the pain flash across Buffy’s face.

“Fine!” he answered with another snarl, “Let’s go, Ahn. We’ll leave these demon-huggers to find out the hard way.”

He turned and gestured imperiously at the door as she strode past the counter where Anya was looking at him coldly.

“You do remember I was a demon for over a thousand years, don’t you, Xander?” she asked in a chilly voice.

“Of course I do. Almost every time you open your mouth. But you’re human now. You have a soul. Let’s go,” he added impatiently as he held the door.

“I’m not through working today, Xander,” she answered slowly. “I guess you’ll have to go on without me.”

She met his astonished look defiantly, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Fine,” he ground out. “I’ll see you tonight.”

Without another word or look at anyone else in the room, he whirled and left the shop, slamming the door behind him and leaving five very disturbed people behind.

Chapter Twenty-eight

There was shocked silence for several minutes after the dark-haired man’s abrupt departure. The little bell over the door continued to chime as the vibrations from Xander’s slamming kept it from stilling.

Giles stepped closer to Buffy as the tears continued to flow down her face, but when he tried to hug her, she cringed and turned away.

“I’m sorry, G…Giles,” she hiccupped. “I kn…know I was a bad Slayer before; but Spike isn’t going to hurt anybody. He promised me. He even has his refrigerator full of pig’s blood so he won’t get hungry.” She took a deep, shaky breath and continued in a determined voice, “And if he does, I know what I have to do. I’ll never shirk my duty again, no matter how much I love—"

Her ex-Watcher interrupted her before she could finish.

“Buffy, I never blamed you for Jenny’s death. It was not your fault. I blame Angelus, and to some extent, Jenny herself. If she had been honest with us about what she knew, we might have been able to avoid the entire Angelus incident. I never thought you were a bad slayer.” He looked at her anxiously, waiting for her hiccupping to stop. When she took a deep breath and gained control over her emotions, he added, “And I trust Spike considerably more without a soul than I do Angel with one. I’m not sure what Xander is so angry about; but please don’t let his words upset you.”

With an apologetic look at Anya, Buffy said hesitantly, “Spike says he’s jealous. I told him that was ridiculous, but he—"

“He’s right,” Anya said flatly. “Xander wants Buffy for himself. He always has. He tries to pretend they’re just friends, but that’s not what he wants. The reason I dragged him into the bathroom during the spell is because he wanted to stake Spike for kissing Buffy and I knew she’d hurt him if he tried to do it while she thought she was in love with him.”

“I thought he got over that a long time ago…” Buffy frowned in confusion. “He was in love with Cordelia – and now you. I don’t get it.”

Anya shrugged her shoulders. “What’s not to get? He wants you. He can’t have you, so he makes do with whomever else he can get. It wasn’t a problem until you fell in love with Spike. You couldn’t have sex with Angel, and your human boyfriends didn’t bother him because he knew you weren’t in love with them, but Spike…” Her voice trailed off as everyone nodded, agreeing that it was very obvious how she felt about the vampire.

“He would hate him anyway – just because you love him. The fact that he’s a vampire just makes it worse because he knows he can’t compete with him physically, and now that he knows William was educated and has money…”

“Terrific.” Buffy slumped back down in her chair. “What are we going to do about this?”

“I’m sure he’ll come around, Buffy.” Willow tried to reassure her best friend that her other best friend would get over his anger. “He got used to Angel. He’ll get used to Spike. After all, he’s got Anya and…”

She stopped when Giles abruptly cleared his throat and Anya suddenly left the room.

“Now what?” Three sets of eyes looked at the embarrassed man for an explanation.

“It appears,” he began, talking off his glasses to polish them vigorously, “that Anya has become somewhat… disenchanted… with Xander and his constantly treating her as though he were ashamed of her. She is seriously considering…well, she is considering terminating their relationship.”

“Anya’s going to break up with Xander?” Willow’s eyes were large green searchlights. “Oh, this is not going to lead to anything good.”

“Yes, well, we will just have to see, won’t we? It is entirely her decision and I feel I…we…should support her.”

Willow and Buffy exchanged looks, remembering the intimate little lunch they had interrupted when they arrived.

“Okaaaay,” said Buffy with a forced smile. “I think I’ve had just about enough new information for one afternoon. I’m off to class. Coming Willow? Tara?”

“Oh yeah. Class. Class is good. We go to class to learn things, and…not that we aren’t learning things here, but…” Tara’s soft hand on her arm put a stop to her babbling, and Willow looked at her gratefully.

Waving at Giles and throwing quick “good-byes” toward Anya, the three girls left the Magic Box and began the walk back to campus. They were silent for most of the walk, Buffy and Willow each pondering the things they’d learned about both Xander and Spike, and Tara, as she always did, keeping her own counsel until asked for an opinion.

Finally, Buffy had exhausted her ability to keep her thoughts to herself and she turned to Willow, asking, “If Xander’s already upset about me and Spike, what do you suppose he’s going to do if Anya breaks up with him?”

“I don’t know, Buffy. I’ve seen him get mad before, and I’ve seen him be hurt, but I’ve never heard him sound as…vicious as he did today. I never thought I’d hear him talk to you like that. Or to any of us. Although,” she frowned, “I guess we have just gotten so used to hearing him tell Anya to shut up or that she’s stupid that we just don’t notice it anymore. That’s really not very nice of us.”

“H…hi…his aura was really very dark,” Tara ventured.

“His whata?” Buffy looked at the blond girl in surprise.

“Tara sees auras. She can tell if someone is happy, or sad, or angry, or…”

“Oh. Well, that’s just really… cool. In a disturbing sort of way.” Buffy looked at the other girl out of the corner of her eye. “What does…what does mine look like?” She tried to look casually curious, but her tense shoulders gave away her anxiety.

“Oh, Buffy, yours is always so bright. It’s full of light. There’s a little tinge around the edges, probably because you’re worried about Xander, but the rest of it is glowing. I’m guessing the arrival of the attractive vampire last night has something to do with that,” she added with a sly smile.

Buffy blushed and nodded vigorously as she sped up. Tara and Willow hurried after her as the Slayer entered the main building and headed for her next class. With a promise to meet that evening at the Magic Box, Willow and Tara went off in the other direction for an afternoon Wicca meeting.

When Buffy came out of class and started toward the exit, she stopped abruptly when she heard someone say, “Miss Summers?”

She turned to see the man who had been watching her earlier and narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. A quick glance around the busy hallway didn’t indicate any lurkers who might be additional military types and she relaxed slightly and allowed him to approach. She was careful to remain out of arm’s reach, just in case he had one of their tasers with him. He shook his head and gave her a rueful smile when he noted her caution.

“My apologies, Miss Summers, if I’ve given you any reason to worry about my presence. I’m not here to try to capture you, or to interfere with you in any way. My job is simply to observe you for a brief period of time and determine that you are, in fact, who we’ve been told you are.”

“Ok, we established that I am Buffy Summers. Who the hell are you and why have you been watching me?” She continued to glare at him suspiciously. He quickly introduced him self as Colonel John Edwards and offered his hand, which he withdrew when she ignored it.

“It was important that I verify that you are, in fact, the Slayer. And that I observe you attending to your duties as you so diligently do every night. We had to be sure that the hellmouth was going to be protected before we completely wrapped up our operation here.”

“It’s just as protected as it was before you came here – and as protected as it will be after you’ve gone.”

“So it would seem. I’ve been quite impressed. You seem to be out there every night removing any hostiles that appear.”

“Slaying,” Buffy said coldly. “I SLAY any ‘hostiles’ I find.”

“And yet, you protected Hostile 17,” he fired back at her. As they talked, they had been walking toward the exit and Buffy stopped in the middle of the quad, putting her hands on her hips.

“Hostile 17 was rendered harmless. There was no reason for me to slay him anymore.”

“I take it you knew it/him before we captured him?”

“Yes, he helped me save the world a couple of years ago.”

Buffy met his astonished look with such stony-eyed conviction that he eventually nodded his head and agreed, “I guess that might entitle him to a pass if he isn’t eating people anymore.”

“He isn’t,” she said, with no elaboration.

The man gave a sigh and asked, almost pleadingly, “Miss Summers, I know that you and our organization got off on the wrong foot. I can assure you the government wishes me to extend sincere apologies for any harm that may have come to you or to your family and friends due to the…overly zealous…activities of our former administrator.”

A disbelieving snort was the unladylike reply, but he continued bravely.

“I am authorized to tell you that we are pulling our remaining personnel out of the Sunnydale area and leaving it to you to handle any hostiles that may present a problem here. However, should you at any time require our assistance, please contact me and we will respond at once.”

He handed Buffy a business card with his name, a phone number and an e-mail address. She reluctantly extended her hand and took the card, staring at it suspiciously.

“That’s it? You’re leaving?”

“That’s it. There are other…hot spots…around the globe that do not have a resident Slayer and our time will be better spent there.”

“Oh.” Buffy was left without much to say, as the man waited for her response. “Well, that’s…that’s good then,” she responded weakly.

“It’s been a pleasure watching you work, Miss Summers,” he responded. “Please don’t lose the card. We look forward to working with you sometime in the future.”

“Uh, sure. Likewise, I guess. Bye now!” she finished cheerfully, walking off before he could say anything else.

When she got back to her dorm room, she found that Willow and Tara were both there, lounging on Willow’s bed. Buffy blinked her eyes, sure for a second that she had seen them kissing just as she walked in the door. Shrugging the thought off, she greeted them enthusiastically and told them about her meeting with the Army officer.

“So, they’re just going to go away and leave us alone?” Willow asked dubiously.

“That’s what he said. I guess we’ll see if he means it.”

When Willow saw Buffy throwing some things in an overnight bag, she winked at Tara and asked innocently, “Going somewhere tonight, Buffy?”

The blond slayer started to stammer out an explanation, then noticed the twinkle in her friend’s eye and Tara’s quiet laughter.

“Very funny, Will,” she grumbled. “You know I am. I’ll be at Spike’s if you need me. I guess I’d better get a cell phone so that you can reach me if you need to.”

“Is that where you’re going right now?”

“Yeah, Spike should be waking up soon and I want him to come to the Magic Box with me tonight after patrol. I’ll see you guys when I get there.”

With a flip of her hand, she grabbed her bag and left the room; once again brushing off the feeling that Willow and Tara were sitting much closer together than seemed necessary.

When she entered the apartment building, having stopped to grab a salad along the way, she noticed the people she’d seen in the morning returning from work, and another group obviously leaving for their evening jobs. She studied them closely, trying to sense which ones might be demons and which ones were fully human. She found that she recognized a few of those leaving as people who worked in the restaurants and bars that were open late, as well as some that were dressed for evening shifts at the hospital.

She realized she was making them uncomfortable when several of them turned away and hastened out the door, and she quickly looked away and headed for the elevator.

“You’d think I was the demon, the way some of them were looking at me,” she grumbled out loud to herself.

“To some of them, you are, darling,” said a sweet voice entering the elevator right behind her.

Buffy turned to see an attractive, middle aged woman carrying a grocery store bag and smiling at her in a friendly fashion. The woman pressed the button for her floor, as well as pushing the penthouse button for Buffy.

“Uh, do I know you?” Buffy asked.

“Oh dear, that’s right. We haven’t actually met. I’m Millie,” she said, holding out her free hand. “My son is the concierge and I helped him stock the apartment for Mr. Carlisle. I feel like I know you through your toiletries,” she added and then looked embarrassed. “I suppose that was quite rude of me.”

“Oh no, not at all. I’m sorry,” Buffy stammered. “And thank you. It was wonderful to wake up this morning and find my shampoo and body wash waiting for me.”

“Well, Mr. Carlisle was quite specific about what brands to get. He was very concerned that you have everything you might need or want. He’s such a sweet man.” She beamed at Buffy.

“Uh, yes…yes, he is,” Buffy agreed, wondering if she should tell the woman that Spike was a vampire. Then she remembered her saying that her son was the concierge and realized that this was the woman who had been married to a demon.

The older woman waved and smiled cheerily as she got off on her floor, insisting that Spike and Buffy join her for dinner as soon as they got “settled in”.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Just as Buffy reached the door to Spike’s apartment, she realized that she had no way to get in if he was still asleep. She was just raising her hand to knock when she felt his unmistakable signature and dropped her hand. Almost immediately, the door opened and Spike greeted her with a, “Took you long enough to get here, pet.”

He pulled her into the room, kicking the door shut behind him as he lifted her up, capturing her lips in an open-mouthed kiss. Immediately dropping her bag on the floor, she wrapped her arms and legs around him, clinging like a child. Spike walked backward until his knees hit the couch and he sat down, still using his lips and tongue to steal her breath away.

When Buffy finally wrenched her mouth free, gasping for air, he nuzzled her neck until she was breathing normally and could talk. He finally pulled away to beam at her flushed face.

“Did you miss me?” she smiled up at him. “Or have you just been sitting here watching the Playboy channel and getting horny?”

“Bit of both, pet,” he teased. “If you’re going to leave me alone all day while you go to school, you’re gonna have to expect to make it up to me when you get home.”

Buffy played with the front of his shirt, noticing that he had apparently bought another blue button down just like the one Riley had ruined. Her fingers trailed up and down the buttons as she thought about what he had so casually said.

“Um, Spike?”

“Yes, love?” he said, running his lips from her ear back to her mouth. He had felt her heart rate accelerate when he finished speaking and while he kept his tone light, he could feel his stomach clench as he waited for her to react.

Bollocks! I shouldn’t have said that. Gonna scare her away. Come on, love, don’t panic on me.

When Buffy didn’t say anything else, he ran his knuckles lightly down her cheek and breathed into her ear, “I’m not trying to rush you into anything, Buffy. It’s just an expression - jus’ slipped out like. Don’t freeze up on me, love. Please.” He knew he sounded like a complete ponce, but for once, he didn’t care.

She took a deep, shuddering breath and turned her head to kiss the hand caressing her cheek.

“It’s ok. You just caught me by surprise, that’s all. I haven’t really thought past the fact that you’re back and we’re still together.”

She looked up at him apologetically and continued, “Let’s just see how it goes – the dating thing, I mean. If it turns out I’m here all the time, then…”

“You’re absolutely right, Slayer. No sense rushing into things. This is my apartment and if you happen to find yourself here so often that it makes sense to bring some clothes over…well, we’ll just think about that if it happens.”

Buffy watched his expressive face as he spoke, and although he had his head turned away, she knew that if the claim was still active she would be feeling an ache in her heart right now. She leaned into him and rested her head on his chest while she tried to think about what she wanted to say to him.

“You know,” she began slowly, “when I was talking with Angel, I asked him to take care of you until you could come home.”

“That right, pet?” he answered noncommittally.

“I didn’t mean to Sunnydale. I meant until you could come home to me.”

She looked up at him with a little frown marring her smooth face.

“I never thought about it until just now. That I just expected wherever I was would be home to you.” Her expression changed to a mischievous smirk. “So I guess I can’t get too upset when you expect me to think your home is mine, can I?”

“Well, knowing you, you could,” he teased, relaxing back into the couch cushions, “but it certainly wouldn’t be very fair.”

She gave him a half-hearted swat for the implied slur on her sense of fairness, but there was no real menace in it. He captured the hand and began planting light, wet kisses on her palm.

Buffy snatched her hand back reluctantly and said, “Not so fast, there, mister. You have some ‘splain’ to do, William…or should I say, Mr. Carlisle?”

She laughed when Spike’s expression went from self-confident to panicked.

“Did you really think you could keep this a secret? Or that research-man Giles and computer-girl Willow wouldn’t be able to find out?”

She looked at him expectantly and watched the emotions play across his face. Anger, fear, embarrassment and finally resignation.

“Dunno, love. I guess I thought I could pretend for a while longer and tell you about it gradually. So much for my plan,” he sighed.

“It went about as well as any of your other plans ever did,” she said with a giggle, earning herself another thunderous frown.

“Watch it there, Slayer,” he growled, baring his teeth. “I thought William went pretty well. Fooled those bloody government wankers, didn’t it?”

“Because you weren’t pretending! You really ARE William, you big faker.”

“Well if you think I really am him, then I wasn’t faking, was I? Not that I am saying I am him, mind you. Cause I’m not. Big Bad, here. Part of the Scourge of Europe. Evil incarnate…”

“Yeah, yeah, vampire, Big Bad, Slayer of Slayers, I know, Sheesh! Insecure much?” She rolled her eyes at his posturing. “I MEANT that you were faking the accent and all that ‘I’ve always been bad, crap’ you tried to feed me. You were a gentleman. William the Bloody was a …a…Victorian Giles.”

“You take that back, missy!” he growled, going into game face.

“Make me,” she whispered, leaning in to him and fearlessly running her fingers over his brow ridges. She stuck her tongue out and lightly ran it around his lips and over his fangs. He groaned and dropped his head back against the cushion.

“Jesus Christ, Buffy, we talked about this. You can’t tease the demon like that, love. You just can’t.”

He was visible trembling with the effort to control himself and she sat back with an apologetic look and waited for him to regain his human face. When, with a final deep breath, his fangs receded and his eyes went back to their normal bright blue, she hung her head and apologized softly.

“I’m sorry, Spike. I should have known that wasn’t a smart thing to do. I didn’t mean to tease you – well, I mean, I did, obviously, but I didn’t mean to tease your demon.”

She peeked up at him through the curtain of her hair and added, “So, just touching your fangs is on the list of no-noes?”

“ ‘M sorry, pet. You already know what touching your tongue to my gums does to me. Running it over my fangs, jus’ begging for a bloody cut…that’s just tempting fate, Slayer.”

“If it’s so hard to control your demon, why haven’t you eaten everybody yet? Or, Xander, at least,” she said with a small smile.

“I’m a master vampire, Buffy. I can control my demon jus’ fine under most circumstances. But not when his…my…not when my former mate is waving her blood under my nose like that. One little knick on that cute little tongue and…” With a shudder, he lifted her off his lap and set her to one side carefully placing her where she wouldn’t be touching him.

“So,” she asked quietly, “even without the claim, we still have some issues?”

“Seems like,” he replied just as quietly, dropping his eyes. “Looks like this might be a little harder than I thought it would be.”

Speaking almost to himself, he mused, “I don’t understand why it’s so bloody hard. S’not like I’ve never shagged a human without biting her…I’ve done it plenty of ti—“ A look a Buffy’s rapidly darkening face had him swallowing the rest of the sentence and looking for an escape route if she decided to grab a stake.

What sounded suspiciously like a full-fledged growl was building in the Slayer’s small body and he back-pedaled quickly.

“Of course, that was over a hundred years ago and usually Dru ate them when she found out. And I wasn’t in love with any of them, anyway, so no claiming urge to worry about. And…. I’m not making this any better, am I?”

In response, Buffy leapt to her feet and went to pick up her bag from near the door. His heart went into his throat as she stood by the door, holding her bag and irresolutely looking back and forth between the bedroom and the door. After what seemed an eternity, her shoulders slumped and she walked slowly across the big room toward the bedroom, dragging her bag behind her.

Spike jumped up and followed her into the bedroom, watching from the doorway as she dropped her bag on the floor again. She just stood staring at the big bed, her back to him and her body rigid. Suddenly her shoulders began to shake and he crossed the room with supernatural speed to grab her arms and whirl her around.

Expecting to see tears and hear sobs, he was rocked back when he saw her face and realized she was laughing and shaking her head. He frowned and started to drop his hands, then saw the near hysteria behind the laughter and gathered her shaking body into his.

“Ah, Buffy, don’t, love,” he crooned as the laughter turned to a mix of giggles and sobs. “We’ll work it out. I promise, sweetheart. Got time, don’t we? S’not like it’s an everyday thing – Vampire/Slayer. We’ll have the Watcher look into it. See if there were any other vampires and slayers that fell in love. Some that managed to do it without the claiming part. “

“What if there weren’t any?” she hiccupped. “What if that’s what happens when a slayer and a vampire fall in love? They claim each other and then the Council kills them. What if that’s just the way it works?”

“Then we’ll just have to prove it can be different. What are chances any of those other slayers were as stubborn as you are? Or that those other vamps could hold a candle to me when it comes to getting m’ way?” He put his hand under her chin and raised it until she was looking at him with wet eyes. “There’s never been anybody like us, pet. We’re gonna re-write the books. I promise.”

She stared into his intent eyes for what seemed like ages, then slowly nodded her head.

“Okay. Just so you keep your promise,” she sniffled.

“I never break a promise to a lady,” he said softly, dropping a chaste kiss on her forehead. “Never,” he whispered into her hair, praying he was telling the truth.

Blowing out a breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding in, Buffy squeezed him tightly, then moved away, picking up her suitcase and putting it on the bed.

“We need to patrol and then go to the Magic Box for a Scoobie meeting so that I can tell Giles about the Army guys leaving.”

“They left?” he asked, more to take his mind off the sight of her shimmying out of her skirt and into a more slaying-friendly pair of jeans, than because he actually cared what they did.

“Um hm,” she murmured, turning around in time to catch his lust-filled gaze. When he began moving toward her purposefully, she squeaked and dodged around to the other side of the bed, somewhat hampered by the jeans which were not yet all the way up her thighs.

“Get that look off your face, vampire. We’re leaving here right now to go kill things and meet with my Watcher. We don’t have time to—mmmph!”

The rest of what she was going to say was smothered by the cool lips that landed on hers when the vampire flew across the space between them and tackled her to the floor.

Note to self. Vampires are very agile and fast when properly motivated.

“We’ll make time, Slayer,” he growled, grinding his hard-on into her lace-covered crotch. He could feel the heat flowing off her body and smell the arousal already soaking her panties as she put up a token resistance.

“I told them we wouldn’t be too late…oooooh!…..everybody will know why we weren’t on ti—gah!” She gave up the attempt to argue when his now released cock slid between her legs and rubbed against her sodden underwear. Giving up to the inevitable, she kicked off her jeans and yelped when Spike pushed her underwear aside to slide two fingers into her tight channel. He removed the fingers, bringing them to his lips for a quick lick before reaching between them again and holding the panties to the side so he could position himself at her entrance.

Now that she’d decided to stop pretending she wasn’t just as eager as he was, Buffy arched her hips toward him, trying to make more contact than the light little nudges he was giving her. She moaned in frustration, wrapping her legs around his hips and trying to pull him in.

“Spike,” she gasped out, “I thought you wanted to do this? Come on. Stop fooling around. Stop teasing me.”

Although it was taking every ounce of control he had not to slam into her and bury himself to the hilt, he held back, rubbing the head of his cock gently against her clit. When she whimpered and tried to push against him harder, he dropped down to nudge at her entrance again, laughing at the growing frustration on her face.

Suddenly, Buffy whipped her arms out to the side, hitting his elbows and forcing him to collapse on her, thus losing his ability to keep his hips far enough away to prevent penetration.

With a triumphant, “Hah!” Buffy pulled him in with her legs and felt his cool, thick shaft slide into her. “Gotcha!” she whispered, sliding her legs down this thighs to increase pressure on her clit as she began rotating her hips and rubbing against his pubic bone.

“That you do, Slayer,” he purred into her ear. “Now what are you going to do with me?”

As he spoke, he was moving his hips in rhythm with hers, keeping a steady pressure on her swollen nubbin as he let the rhythmic clenching of her strong walls pull him closer and closer to the edge. When he heard Buffy’s whimpers change to the gasps and panting that he knew meant she was reaching orgasm, he let himself surrender to the building pressure in his balls. As she screamed his name and spasmed around him, he came in a series of spurts that filled her and left him lying on top of her panting for unneeded air.

“I hate you,” she mumbled into his neck, stretching her limp body and trying to generate enough energy to push him off.

“No you don’t,” he rumbled back. “You wanted that just as much as I did. Don’t try to deny it.”

“Hummph,” was her only reply as he rolled to the side, pulling her with him and kissing her pouting face.

“You’re just a little better at denying yourself pleasure than I am. Must be that Slayer martyr complex or something,” he said, smiling.

“I do NOT have a martyr complex! I just know how to be responsible. Unlike some undead creatures I could name.”

“Yeah, well, evil, you know. Want, take, have. The vampire motto.”

Sitting up and casting him a glare that tried very hard not to look as thoroughly content as she felt, she stood up and headed for the bathroom.

“Now I have to clean up before I can get dressed again. You made me all messy,” she complained as she shed her soaked underwear and reached for a towel. In truth, she loved the feeling of Spike’s spendings running down her legs and the scent of him lingering on her body. Instead of washing, she settled for just wiping off with a towel and putting on clean underwear before coming out and pulling on her jeans.

This time she was able to get them up all the way and fastened while Spike lay on the floor watching her and smirking in an irritatingly self-satisfied way.

“Get up, lazy,” she grumbled, kicking his leg. “We have evil to slay and people to see.”

He kipped athletically to his feet and pulled his jeans back into place while she stashed some stakes around her body and tapped her foot impatiently. He zipped up his pants, moving toward her as he did so.

“Alright, pet. Let’s go find some bad guys to beat up on. I could use a nice spot of violence to top off the evening.”

Chapter Thirty

After a relatively uneventful stroll through Sunnydale’s cemeteries where they dusted all the fledglings they could find, Spike and Buffy headed for the Magic Box. They walked in to find Willow and Tara huddled together at the table, trying very hard to ignore the shouting match going on in the front of the store. Giles was pacing back and forth muttering, “Oh dear, oh dear,” while polishing his glasses.

“I asked you why you didn’t come home tonight,” Xander was shouting at a defiant Anya as Spike and Buffy walked in the door hand-in-hand.

“Well, I’m guessin’ your splendid treatment of her would be one reason,” Spike snarked as their entrance was hampered by the two arguing people in front of them.

Xander whirled on the two new arrivals, almost choking when he saw their clasped hands.

“Sheesh, Buffy! Do you have to walk around town like that with him? What if somebody saw you?”

Buffy’s formerly happy expression hardened and dropping Spike’s hand, she stepped closer to her friend. She tilted her head back to look up at him and said coldly, “I expect people to see us, Xander. This is my boyfriend, William. Why wouldn’t I be holding hands with him?” Her expression dared him to pursue his line of thought.

Common sense would have told anyone else to drop the subject, but Xander couldn’t see beyond his anger at Anya and his disgust at Buffy and he blurted, “Because the Buffy I know wouldn’t have anything to do with a slimeball like him, that’s why. He’s not fooling me with that ‘William’ crap. It’s Spike, Buffy. Why can’t you see that?” His voice had taken on a whining, pleading tone. “What’s wrong with you? You’re the Slayer! You should be killing vampires, not fu-“

Moving faster than the eye, Spike had one hand on the boy’s neck and was lifting him off the floor before Buffy could intervene.

“Don’t even think about finishing that sentence,” he said with quiet menace. His eyes were blue ice as he stared into the frightened brown ones in front of him.

“Spike.” Buffy’s quiet admonition broke through the outrage he’d felt on her behalf and he dropped Xander with an apologetic shrug and moved off into the room.

He gave Willow and Tara what was meant to be a reassuring smile, but he could hear their heartbeats accelerate when he approached the table and he mentally berated himself for losing his temper.

“ ‘M sorry, Red. Didn’t mean to scare you. ‘Fraid William’s temper is worse than mine when it comes to his lady.”

He smiled gently at Tara, hiding his surprise at smelling Willow all over her. He carefully sniffed at Willow and smiled when he found Tara’s scent all over the red haired witch. He cast an appraising eye at the nervous girl and raised his eyebrow, grinning lewdly when she blushed to the roots of her hair.

“Does Buffy know?” he whispered, leaning toward the two girls.

“N…no…I’m going to tell her. I just haven’t found the right…”

She was interrupted by a renewal of the arguments in the front of the store. Xander had shrunk away from Buffy after complaining to her that she let her “undead fuck toy” manhandle him and was back to berating Anya for not showing up when he expected her.

Hands on her hips, Anya glared back at him and snapped, “You ordered me to come to your house.” If anyone noticed she didn’t refer to his basement apartment as “home”, they didn’t comment. “I never said I was going to be there. I had…things… to do here. I do have a job, you know!”

“Oh please. So the G-man lets you tell him tales about being a demon and dust off old books. I’m sure he could have spared you long enough to eat dinner with me.”

“It smells to me like you drank your dinner,” she replied in a quieter tone. “Again.”

“So I had a few beers while I was waiting for you. What are you now, my mother?”

She stared at him calmly, forcing him to think about his parents and the alcohol-fueled fights that went on over his head every night.

“No,” she said quietly. “And I don’t intend to become her.”

She turned her back on him and walked over to the table, sitting down conspicuously between Tara and Giles, leaving Xander nowhere to go but the vacant chair next to Buffy. Spike was lolling in his chair, his arm resting lightly on the back of Buffy’s, as he waited quietly to see what the boy would do. After several tense moments of indecision, Xander yanked the chair out and sat down facing away from her, arms crossed over his chest and a thunderous look on his face.

Buffy quickly filled everyone in on what the Army officer had told her about watching her and being willing to leave Sunnydale and the Hellmouth to them. Spike snorted when she told them about his offer of assistance and there was a flurry of answering smiles around the table as she handed Giles the card she’d been given.

To everyone’s surprise, the ex-watcher took the card and carefully put it in his wallet.

“There may come a time, Buffy, when we would be glad to have some well-armed assistance. I will keep this in a safe place just in case.”

“Pfft,” Buffy waved her hand in dismissal. “Maybe if I had to fight an army someday…Oh wait, I already did that. They lost.” She tossed her hair and smiled at Spike’s answering smirk.

Giles shook his head at the lack of imagination she was showing and said quit seriously, “You fought a very small part of an army – and Spike did some of the damage. Don’t be so quick to dismiss this offer. We don’t know what is going to be thrown at us in the future. An army at our disposal could come in quite handy someday.”

“Yeah, OK, whatever,” she said airily. “Are we done here? Cause I’m feeling the need for some major ice cream eatage before we go home for the night.”

There was a noticeable wince from Xander, and a slightly less noticeable one from Giles at the “we go home”, but neither one said anything. Spike suppressed the happy grin that threatened to burst out on his face at her casual remark, and settled for rubbing his thumb gently along her shoulder where it was touching the back of her chair.

“We could use some ice cream, couldn’t we, Tara?” Willow ventured, thinking this might be the best opportunity to tell Buffy about her new relationship.

“I li…like ice cream,” the blond agreed, ducking her head bashfully.

“K, then. We’re off to put some nice cool sweet things in our mouths!” Buffy re-thought her remark as soon as the words were half out, but it was too late to call them back. Fortunately, the only one who noticed Spike’s coughing fit to cover the laughter he couldn’t control was Tara who twinkled at him and giggled softly as the Slayer turned almost purple with embarrassment. The situation was saved by the renewed argument between Xander and Anya, which made the two of them and Giles miss the suggestive by-play.

“Let’s go, Ahn,” Xander began. “I could use some sugary goodness. Maybe we can finish up the evening at the Bronze. Stop by for a couple of beers?” He carefully avoided looking at Spike and Buffy, but included Willow and Tara. “I could stand to be surrounded by beautiful women tonight.”

Before Willow could respond, Anya sighed and rolled her eyes.

“I’m not going out with you tonight, Xander. I think we need to take a little break from dating for a while. And,” she added pointedly, “you don’t need anything else to drink tonight.”

There was an uncomfortable silence as his face darkened and they could see Anya begin to cringe as she waited for the explosion they were all expecting. Unnoticed by anyone except Spike, Giles moved marginally closer to the ex-demon as though to protect her from Xander’s reaction.

However, he surprised them all by just nodding his head thoughtfully and turning to walk out the door. He stopped with his hand on the doorknob and turned to look at her again.

“I suppose that’s what I get for falling in love with an ex-demon,” he said quietly, with barely suppressed anger. His gaze went around the room, touching each one there with his scornful gaze. “A bloodsucking dead man, a vampire slayer who dates them, an ex-demon, two witches and a man who runs a magic shop. I’m the only normal person here.” He shook his head and went out the door without further comment.

The sight of Buffy, Willow and Anya tearing up over Xander’s scornful dismissal of them brought Spike’s demon to the surface and he growled softly, rising to his feet as though to take off after the younger man.

“Let it go, William,” Giles ordered to everyone’s surprise. “He’s angry and hurt and, unfortunately, has chosen to strike out at his only friends. We need to give him some time to adjust to the changes that have taken place lately.”

“What if he doesn’t? Adjust, I mean. What if he just stays mad at us?”

Willow’s lip trembled and without thinking Tara put a comforting arm around her, kissing the top of her head. Buffy’s mouth dropped open, but Spike had his hand on her arm in warning before she could say anything. Anya just nodded wisely as Giles blinked and took his glasses off for another round of unnecessary polishing.

“Haruph!” he cleared his throat noisily. “I’m sure he will come around. After all, you ARE his friends, are you not?”

“I thought we were,” Buffy said stubbornly, “but if he doesn’t lay off the complaints about my boyfriend choices…”

She didn’t finish her threat, just stepped closer to Spike and faced her watcher with her lower lip sticking out. Giles shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

“Buffy,” he said, with an almost apologetic look at Spike, “You cannot expect any of us to be happy that you are in a…relationship…with another vampire. After the way the last one worked out.” He held up his hand to forestall the growl emanating from the vampire in question.

“Yes, yes, William. I know. You are not Angel/Angelus and you have no soul to lose. And I think we can all agree – Xander being the notable exception – that you seem to genuinely care about Buffy and her family. However, you ARE a master vampire, one quarter of the former Scourge of Europe, and the killer of two Slayers. You cannot expect us to just forget those things from your past and accept you into our bosoms, so to speak.

“Your actions over the past few months have done a great deal to prove that you have good intentions, but actions like your almost decapitation of Xander tonight show us that the demon is still very much a part of you. At this time, we are accepting your presence among us entirely for Buffy’s sake. Whether that grows into a genuine appreciation of your value as a member of our circle or a desire for your friendship will depend entirely on your actions in the future.”

The vampire seemed to be pondering the ex-Watcher’s words for a few seconds, then with a glance at Buffy’s anxious face, he shrugged and said, “Fair enough, Watcher.”

Turning away, he took Buffy’s hand again and said, “So, luv, are we on our way for ice cream?” He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Or did you have in mind something else cool and sweet for your mouth…?”

“Willow? Tara? Are you ready to go?” She looked at them expectantly, trying not to be wigged out by their body language and the way they were smiling at each other. Spike gave her hand a reassuring squeeze as she struggled to hide her shock.

Ok, think about the things Spike and I have done, or imagined we were doing while we were apart. Not much room for Buffy-squeamishness just because Willow seems to have a girl friend. I can deal.

“Sure!” Willow responded perkily. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence while everyone looked at Anya, wondering what she would want to do. The ex demon looked at them impatiently and said, “Well, if you’re going, you should go then. Rupert and I have important Magic Box business to discuss!”

Spike couldn’t control the wide grin on his face as the older man turned bright red and removed his glasses to polish the spotless lenses vigorously. When the grin threatened to turn into outright laughter, he sent the vampire a thunderous look and reached for a bottle of holy water. Still snickering, Spike quickly backed up, holding up his hands in appeasement.

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist, there, Watcher. We’re leavin’ now, aren’t we, love?”

Giggling in spite of themselves at Giles’ obvious discomfort, the three girls left the store with the vampire and began walking toward the ice cream shop, Willow and Tara in the lead and Buffy and Spike following closely behind. To the casual observer, they were four young friends out for the evening. A good-looking, if not overly tall, blond couple who appeared very much in love, accompanied by a pair of attractive young coeds. Just what one would expect to see in a town with a college campus.

Standing in the shadows, however, was a very un-casual observer, whose brow crinkled in surprise when he didn’t see a fourth young woman in the group. Staring back in the direction they had come from, he frowned at the closed door of the Magic Shop, wondering why Anya hadn’t joined everyone else.

Chapter Thirty-one

Unaware of Xander’s belligerent stare, they entered the ice cream shop and the girls ordered hot fudge sundaes. Spike shook his head lightly when Buffy asked if he wanted some, going to secure a table near the street while the girls waited for their sundaes.

When everyone was sitting down and digging into their cool goodness, Willow looked up at Buffy timidly and said, “Uh, Buffy. I…we…have something to tell you. But you have to promise not to wig out on me, ‘K?”

“Okay, Wills. But I don’t know why you think I’d wig out just because you tell me Tara’s your girlfriend. I think it’s great that you have somebody in your life again.”

Buffy beamed at Willow’s astonished face and giggled while Tara smiled self-consciously and hid behind her long blond hair.

Willow turned to Spike accusingly. “You told her! I said I was going to do it.” Her lips tightened and her eyes flashed.

With visions of being turned into a frog lending haste to his words, Spike quickly defended himself. “I didn’t tell her anything, Red. Slayer’s not as dumb as she looks, you know.”

Buffy’s indignant, “Hey!” and accompanying punch to his arm was no more serious than Spike’s comment about her looks and they were soon sharing her sundae and playing games with their tongues and the spoon that had Willow and Tara eating very quickly and standing up to go back to the dorm.

Spike smiled to himself at the arousal he could smell coming off both girls, but decided that wasn’t information he needed to share with the volatile slayer beside him. He did, however, insist that she finish quickly so they could walk the two witches back to the dorm.

“It’s no trouble, Glinda,” he said when Tara protested that they would be fine. “We have to go in that direction anyway. ‘S’not like I don’t think you two couldn’t protect yourselves from most nasties out there, but as long as you can have bodyguards, you might as well enjoy it.”

The shy girl smiled her thanks at him and the small group continued toward the campus of Sunnydale U. Now that Willow no longer felt they had a secret to hide, she and Tara held hands as they strolled through the warm evening air, and Buffy found that after her initial surprise, she was very comfortable with the new couple.

Just before they reached the dorm, a group of college jocks that had clearly been drinking for most of the evening approached and sneered at the two witches. When the sneers turned to ugly remarks and the men surrounded the small group, Spike’s eyes began changing color and Buffy had to clutch his hand hard to keep him from tearing into them.

The leader of the group cast a contemptuous eye on the athletic-looking, but not terribly imposing man with the three girls and decided he was nothing to worry about. He leaned over Willow, his beer-soaked breath making her cringe away as he leered at her.

“If you ladies are finding there’s a shortage of real men on campus, we can help you out. Can’t we, guys?” he gestured expansively at the men with him.

“We sure can,” said a bulky boy with bad skin as he fingered a strand of Tara’s hair. “Come with me, baby, and I’ll show you what you’re missing…”

“Leave her alone.” Willow’s voice was cold and contained, but oozed power. Spike and Buffy stared at her in shock as she took Tara’s hand and pulled the blushing girl away from the big man.

He attempted to shrug off the way her voice had made him drop his hand by blustering and posturing at Spike.

“Who’s going to make me?” he demanded, pushing his finger into Spike’s chest. To his surprise, the smaller man didn’t flinch; nor did his body move at all in spite of the fairly hard push.

“I ‘spect any one of us that wants to,” he replied mildly, earning a grateful smile from Buffy.

The boys laughed and with a disbelieving snort they moved closer to the small group, effectively surrounding them and cutting off any escape. The less drunk ones in the group frowned slightly at the obvious lack of fear or concern being expressed by these potential bullying victims, but most of them were oblivious.

Rather than cringing in fear as expected, the coed couple just looked at each other and grinned. The man rolled his shoulders and fell into a relaxed, but visibly anticipatory stance; balanced on the balls of his feet, hands hanging loosely at his sides. The small girl beside him gave herself a little shake and went into a similar pose. The two wiccas, still holding hands and staring hard at the man who had touched Tara, began a soft chant under their breath.

Spike looked at Buffy with disappointment. “Bollocks! Does this mean Red’ gonna spoil all our fun with some kinda spell?”

Buffy shrugged and continued to watch the grinning men as they crowded in. “I don’t know, but I don’t think your buddy there is going to wait to find out.” She jerked her head toward the man who had poked at Spike’s chest as he drew back his fist and swung. Unfortunately for him, Spike’s eager face was no longer there, although his hand was. He wrapped his long, cool fingers around the would-be bully’s fist and began to squeeze slowly.

The man’s indignant curse rapidly turned into a moan as he went down to his knees from the escalating pain in his hand. Before his friends could move to help him, Tara and Willow were surrounded by a shimmering wall of light that distracted everyone. The two girls, still holding hands, began to walk toward their dorm, ignoring the confused men standing in their way. Those that didn’t move away, quickly found themselves thrown to the ground by the forces surrounding the two witches.

When they got to the steps of the dorm, the field evaporated and Willow waved cheerfully to Spike and Buffy.

“Night, guys! Thanks for the escort home!”

“Anytime, pet,” Spike called as he continued to crush the now-whimpering man’s hand in his.

The less drunk members of the group had started backing away, having no desire be flung to the ground by invisible forces nor to have body parts crushed by the deceptively small man now grinning evilly at their friend. The original leader looked back and forth from Spike to the disappointed-looking girl bouncing on her toes beside him. When she made a “bring it on” gesture in response to his threat to hurt her if Spike didn’t let go of his friend, he accepted that they’d made a serious error in judgment when they stopped to harass the harmless looking group.

“Hey, hey,” he back pedaled, “no need to get nasty here. We were just having a little fun. Didn’t mean any harm.”

“That right?” Spike asked, letting go of the other man’s hand and allowing him to drop to the ground to sob and cradle his swollen fist. “You meant no harm when you decided to be abusive to those girls? Was that before or after you were planning to show them what ‘real men’ you were?”

As he spoke, Spike was gliding toward the much larger man, his face changing as he approached. One look at the demon’s amber eyes and the fangs now visible in Spike’s mouth and what remained of the original group of drunks took off screaming like little girls. By the time Buffy whirled him around to look at him, Spike was wearing William’s handsome human face and he just smirked at her irritated expression.

“You flashed some fang at them, didn’t you, you big dope?“ she hissed at him. “Don’t try to pretend you didn’t,” she added as he tried to maintain an air of innocence.

“Don’ know what you’re talking about, Slayer,” he said cheerfully. “All I did was reason with the big git.”

A groan from the ground behind Buffy reminded them that the young man Spike had injured was still there and Buffy swallowed hard as she turned to look at him. He was trying to get to his feet, but without the use of his injured hand to help push himself up, he just kept falling back down. Spike and Buffy watched with mild interest for a few minutes then with a muttered, “Oh, for bloody hell’s sake,” the vampire reached down and grabbed the man by his good arm, yanking him to his feet and holding on until he stopped swaying.

“Prob’ly ought to get that looked at, mate,” he said blandly as he released his hold on the thoroughly confused man.

With a tentative nod, the lone remaining frat member took off after his long-gone friends, whimpering every time he jarred his hand as he jogged after them.

“You couldn’t let me handle it, could you?” Buffy grumbled as he continued to beam in satisfaction. "Your first night out with me, and you have to let a bunch of drunk frat boys know that William is a vampire.”

“Come on, pet. Those stupid gits aren’t going to be telling anybody that two little girls surrounded themselves with a force field and walked away from them. Or that one bloke chased them all off because his teeth were a little longer than theirs. And if they did, everyone would say they’d been drinkin’.

“Anyway,” he huffed, “how would it have been better for them to be tellin’ people a skinny little blonde kicked the stuffing out of them? Either way, somebody’d be busted.”

“So much for secret identities, I guess,” she admitted ruefully. “I’d just hoped William could hang on to his a little longer than that. That’s all.”

Spike put his arms around her and kissed her pouting mouth as he said, “William would have stepped up too, love. He never would have let ladies be insulted like that.”

“Really?” she looked up hopefully, knowing the truth in his words. “He would have fought those guys?”

“Hell, yeah! He would. Course, he would’ve got his arse handed to him,” he admitted, ducking his head. “But he would’ve tried. Stupid git.”

“I don’t think he’s stupid,” she said softly, leaning into him.

“That right, pet?” he purred in her ear, pulling her closer. “What do you think he is?”

“I think he’s sweet and brave and romantic and—“

“And devilishly handsome and sexy?” he interrupted hopefully.

“And incredibly full of himself!” She laughed, pushing him away.

“So, you don’t think ‘m sexy?” he asked, sticking his soft lower lip out in a pout. He ducked his head and peered at her from under his thick lashes, somehow managing to appear both childish and mouth-wateringly good looking at the same time.

Buffy just shook her head at him and began walking away from the dorm toward his apartment building.

Right then. She’s coming home with you tonight. Don’t push your luck you bloody idiot.

He hastened to catch up with her, taking her hand when he did and linking their fingers together. They finished the walk to his building in companionable silence, enjoying the chance to feel like a normal couple for a brief period of time. A normal couple who were both thinking about the big bed awaiting them in the penthouse apartment and the time they had left before morning sent Buffy to class while Spike slept.

Chapter Thirty-two

By the end of the week, Buffy and Spike had settled into a routine in which she went to her classes and ran errands in the daytime, then stopped in her dorm room to pick up a change of clothes and the books she would need for the next day before walking to Spike’s apartment. Although he had done his best to stock the apartment with the things he thought she might need, it was still becoming annoying that she had to bring a bag with her every day so as to be ready for the next morning.

Inevitably, she would forget something important like lip gloss or eye liner and have to run back for it in the morning, or buy another one to keep at his apartment. When she got up one morning and realized she hadn’t brought any clean underwear, she sighed and kicked her bag in frustration.

“S’matter, pet?” came a sleepy voice from the bed.

“Nothing important,” she growled. “I’m sorry I woke you. I’m just cranky Buffy this morning. I don’t have any clean underwear with me. And I haven’t done any laundry all week, so I doubt I even have any back at my room.”

Spike leaned up on his elbow, wanting to suggest the remedy for her dilemma, but afraid to upset her by breaking his promise not to push the issue. He settled for offering, “Why don’t you bring your laundry with you this afternoon, love, and we’ll do it when you get here? There’s a washer and dryer in the room right down the hall.”

“I could do that, I guess. It’s a pretty big bag, though – or at least it will be when I collect all my dirty clothes from the floor of my dorm room.” She smiled at him apologetically. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to drive me back over tonight after patrol to get it?”

“No problem, pet.” Striving to be very casual, and not looking directly at her, he added carefully, “You might want to think about grabbing anything else you don’t want to be carrying back and forth all the time, while you’re at it. Your books, maybe? Stuff like that.”

He carefully kept his eyes on the bed clothes while he waited for her reply. He heard her heart beat increase, and braced himself for the expected negative response. His undead heart leaped when, instead, she said in a soft voice, “I guess that makes sense. It’s hard trying to live two places at the same time.”

He looked up to find her eyes on his face while she watched for his reaction.

“Does that mean…?”

“Do you want me here? All the time, I mean?”

Spike couldn’t believe the trace of anxiety in her voice. He leaped out of bed and crossed the room to her, completely forgetting he was naked. He ran his hand down her jaw, tipping her chin up as he looked down at her.

“You know I do, Buffy. All the time. Forever.”

He leaned down to kiss her and they both laughed when his burgeoning erection poked her in the stomach.

“All of me does,” he smirked, pulling her tightly against his body and enjoying the warm pressure on his cock.

Buffy giggled and slipped her hand down between them to give him a little pat. When he drew his breath in with a hiss, she turned the pat into a caress that made him groan and begin pulling her back toward the bed. He flopped down on his back, pulling her down on top of him and planting small, nibbling kisses on her neck.

She let herself succumb to the heat that flooded her body for several minutes, then reluctantly pushed herself up and away from him.

“I really have to go – I haven’t been to this class since last week. And it’s your fault,” she added when he began to pout.

“S’not my fault I wake up wanting you,” he growled, trying to pull her back within reach of his lips. He’d learned that if he kept his mouth on her almost anywhere, she would soon give in to her body’s urges and they could start the day the way he wanted to.

Buffy, however, had also learned her lesson over the previous several days, and she deftly avoided his attempts to kiss her, batting his hands away when he tried to pull her back down.

“Cut it out! You’re the one who keeps insisting I have to get my college education, Mr. I-went-to-Cambridge.”

“You just going to leave me like this, Slayer?” he gestured to his throbbing hard-on and tried to look pitiful.

Buffy got a wicked gleam in her eye and moving too fast even for him, she said, “No, I’m going to leave you like this!” dipping down to run her tongue up his cock and plant a kiss on the tip.

Laughing at his groaned, “Bloody hell!” and the glare he sent in her direction, she danced away from the bed and blew him another kiss.

“See you this afternoon,” she said cheerfully as she went out the door still laughing at the muttered British profanity coming from the bedroom.

Once she was gone, Spike stopped swearing and settled back against the pillows with a smile on his face. As much as he would have liked a morning shag, the fact that she could be so playful with him, not to mention the fact that she was obviously working her way toward moving in, made it impossible for him to be really angry.

Reaching over the edge of the bed, he picked up the thong underwear she had discarded the night before and held it to his nose. As he inhaled the heady scent, he stroked himself vigorously and was soon much more comfortable. With a satisfied smile, he rolled over and went back to sleep, still clutching the little scrap of lace in his hand.

*********

As Buffy and Spike worked their way around Sunnydale’s cemeteries that evening, finding little in the way of newly-risen vampires to slay and only one harmless-looking demon that scuttled away when it saw them coming, they talked about Anya and Xander. Spike carefully avoided saying anything about the developing relationship between Anya and her surrogate father. He was surprised, then, when Buffy asked suddenly, “So, do you think Giles has a thing for Anya? And isn’t that kind of…weird and…and…icky?”

“Why would it be …ok, I just can’t use the word ‘icky’,” he grimaced. “Why would you think it was weird, pet? S’not like the demon girl isn’t really a thousand years older than he is. He studies demons; she was one. Seems like a perfect match to me.”

“I don’t know. I guess just because she seems like she’s my age and Giles is…well, he’s old.”

The vampire didn’t try to hide his grin as he told her, “You wait about twenty years, pet, and then try to tell me he’s old.”

Buffy rolled her eyes at him, then suddenly sobered.

“What are chances I’m even going to be around twenty years from now?” she asked quietly. “I’m already past my expiration date. I’ll never know what it means to be old – or even middle-aged.”

“You’re gonna be around then because I’ll dust before I let anything happen to you.”

He gripped her arms so tightly it hurt as he stopped her and forced her to look into his eyes.

“Do you hear me, Slayer? You have a bodyguard for the rest of your life. I’ll be watchin’ your back every night and kicking your cute little arse if you take any unnecessary chances. You are going to be the longest-lived Slayer ever.”

Buffy tried to make light of the intense emotion radiating off the vampire as he held her arms with desperation.

“William the Bloody is now a Slayer bodyguard. Who would have guessed it?” she said teasingly.

“Anybody who knows how much I love you,” he countered. “Anybody who knows me and how I take care of the people I love.”

Buffy flashed back to how he cared for Drusilla when they first came to Sunnydale; how she was able to use his love for the mad vampire to gain the release of humans intended for food and how he had risked so much to save her from Angelus’ insane attempt to end the world.

“Yes, you do, don’t you?” she said softly, going up on her toes to kiss him lightly.

“I do and I will. Forever,” he promised, leaning into her kiss and sliding his arms around her back. They remained together for several minutes, basking in the comfort of having each other.

Reluctantly, he let her go after a while and said gruffly, “Best go check in with the Watcher and the rest of your little Scoobie pals, pet, so we have time to go get your stuff before it’s too late. You need to get more sleep than you’ve been getting lately.”

Smothering a yawn, Buffy said, “And whose fault is that? Huh? Who keeps me up all night by giving me happies until I’m too tired to move?”

He smirked at her with pride. “Didn’t hear you complainin’ last night, Slayer. What was it you said? Oh yeah, something along the lines of, ‘can we do that again?’”

Blushing, she turned away from him and started toward the Magic Box.

“I was just saying that so your feelings wouldn’t be hurt,” she threw over her shoulder, giggling at the indignation on his face. When he growled and started after her, she broke into a run, the vampire in hot pursuit, threatening to keep her awake and screaming his name for the next three days straight.

They burst into the Magic Box, laughing and, in Buffy’s case, flushed from the run. Willow and Tara greeted them with indulgent smiles and even Giles looked pleased to see her in such good spirits. She quickly reported the night’s patrol events, waiting impatiently while Giles jotted them down for his Watcher’s diary.

Even though he was no longer employed by the Council of Watchers, life-long habits were hard to break and he still kept meticulous records of the events on the Hellmouth. The only concession he’d made to their status as disobedient Slayer and fired Watcher was to keep his own private journal in which he recorded things he didn’t want to share with the Council. Which included the fact that the Slayer had been claimed by William the Bloody and was now romantically involved with him.

If he’d had any doubt about the strength of their relationship, the carefree joy on their faces when they burst through the door banished it. Watching Buffy’s casual banter with the snarky vampire and Spike’s unabashed adoration shining through his deliberate attempts to rile her up, he had to admit that they seemed to be very much in love. He felt the last vestiges of concern about the relationship slipping away as he watched Spike’s interaction with the witches and listened to their story about the previous night’s events.

There are worse things than having a master vampire of Spike’s reputation and prowess guarding a Slayer’s back. Somehow I suspect Spike will do a much better job of assisting her in her duties than Angel ever did. He’s doing it out of love, not some hope of reward or redemption for his past sins.

Giles walked over to the table to join the younger people as their conversation turned from the band expected at the Bronze that weekend to speculation about which of Spike’s neighbors were demons and which ones were unsuspecting humans.

“I doubt any of the humans in our – my – building don’t know who else lives there,” the vampire offered dryly. “ 'S not like they’re stupid; just open-minded. Most of them are there because they’re friends with somebody already living there. Don’t think you could stay friends with a demon for too long without figuring out something was up.”

“It just seems strange,” Willow said quietly. “To think we could have lived here so long and not figured out that we see demons every day – or at least, every night. And we’re supposed to be the experts!”

Spike’s derisive snort brought glares all around and he grinned in delight at having provoked a reaction. Buffy poked him in the ribs in retaliation for his deliberate baiting of her friends and discovered to her delight that he was ticklish. She was soon chasing him around the room giggling and sending him into laughing profanity every time she caught him. When he turned the tables and began to tickle her back, she quickly called a truce and retreated to the table, hiding behind Willow and Tara who jokingly threatened Spike with flying splinters of wood if he didn’t leave Buffy alone.

Giles watched in bemused wonder at the antics of the master vampire, known for having killed two Slayers, and the girl born to kill him. Watching them running around the shop, there was no way to distinguish either of them from any other young people in Sunnydale. While he knew that Spike was a good 100 years older than he was himself, the vampire’s mannerisms, clothing, and youthful face let him blend easily with the college students at the table. And, the high energy level and constant need for amusement contributed to the illusion of youthfulness that surrounded him.

Shaking his head at the contradiction in front of him, the ex-watcher went to fix himself a cup of tea. While he was in the tiny kitchen, the bell jingled and Anya came in hurriedly. She glanced around the room quickly and then visibly relaxed as she headed for the kitchen. Giles greeted her with a warm smile, standing up straighter and running a hand through his hair. He and Anya were so busy smiling at each other that they completely missed the knowing looks going around the table.

Giles fixed the ex-demon a cup of tea and they both moved back into the main room, taking their places at the table and joining the desultory conversation now going on again. Anya quickly joined the discussion about the human-looking demons living in Spike’s building, contributing what she knew about those that actually looked like humans vs those that could take that appearance, but, like vampires, could look otherwise if they chose.

Giles was soon busy, happily copying down descriptions of the various humanoid demons and mentally reviewing which ones he now realized he had seen and done business with through the years. The atmosphere around the table was relaxed and friendly if heavy enough on the estrogen to have the vampire and watcher exchange the occasional male-bonding look of disbelief at some of the comments.

The comfortable atmosphere in the room lasted until the bell jingled again and they all looked up to see Xander stomp into the shop and walk right to Anya’s chair. He glared down at her, breathing hard, and everyone flinched back at the reek of alcohol on his breath.

“Where the hell did you go?” he asked, somewhat rhetorically, as he could clearly see that he had found her. “I told you not to leave. We weren’t through talking yet!”

“I was quite through, Xander,” she answered primly. “You were being verbally abusive and unreasonable and I saw no reason to stay there any longer.”

The angry brunette looked around the table as though hoping to find support, but encountered looks ranging from sympathetic, from Willow, to cold and threatening. Surprisingly, the threatening look was not coming from the vampire sitting behind Buffy, but from the suddenly dangerous-looking man sitting near Anya.

He changed his tone, saying in a wheedling voice, “Ahn, I just want to talk to you. We need to work this out. You know you can’t get along without me to help you. You don’t know enough about being human yet. You need me to keep you from saying stupid things and making dumb mistakes.”

“I don’t think so, Xander,” she replied as pleasantly as possible for someone who had just been completely insulted. “I have a job, friends “– she bestowed a dazzling smile on Giles - ”my own place to live. What I need is some space to find out who I am and what I want to do with this new life. Why can’t you let me have that?” she finished plaintively.

Instead of answering her, he grabbed her by the upper arm, pulling her out of the chair and toward him, ignoring her gasp of pain and fear. Spike and Buffy immediately stood up, but in spite of their superior reaction times, Giles was already between the two former lovers. His face and voice were pure Ripper as he buried his fingers between the younger man’s neck and shoulder, saying through gritted teeth, “That will be quite enough.” He squeezed until Xander released Anya’s arm with a very unmanly cry. She cringed away, scuttling behind Giles and peering around him with fear-filled eyes.

Without releasing the startled boy’s shoulder, Giles began dragging him toward the door of the shop. He opened the door with his free hand and threw the protesting Scooby out, ordering him to “Go home and sober up and do not come back here until you are ready to behave like a gentleman. And stay away from Anya,” he added coldly. “She has made it clear she does not wish to belong to you anymore. Respect her wishes or suffer the consequences.”

Willow stage-whispered to Buffy, “Is that Giles-speak for I’m going to kick your ass?”

“I’m pretty sure it is,” she whispered back, feeling somewhat proud of her Watcher even though it was her friend he was manhandling.

Spike watched with knowing eyes as the other Brit returned to the back of the shop and began rubbing Anya’s arm and worrying over the bruises on it. A little nudge from Buffy, and Willow and Tara stood up to join the other two onlookers in saying a hasty “good-night.” As they left, they could hear Anya complaining that she couldn’t go home, as Xander was likely to be camped out in front of her apartment building. Spike’s vampire hearing picked up the watcher’s murmured answer and he puzzled the three girls with the big grin that spread across his face.

The walk back to the dorm was uneventful this time, and Buffy was soon in her room collecting her dirty laundry as well as deciding what belongings to take with her when Spike got back with his car. She told herself that as long as she left something in the dorm room, she wasn’t technically moving in with the vampire, but as soon as she picked up Mr. Gordo and added him to the pile of things for Spike to carry out, she knew she was kidding herself.

By the time Spike was back and had begun carrying bags of clothes and boxes of books out to fill the Desoto’s large trunk, Buffy had left very little behind to indicate someone lived on her side of the room. As she picked up the last bag of clothing and added her jewelry box to the stack, it slipped, falling and allowing the contents to roll across the floor. Spike swooped down to help her pick things up, pausing when he came across the ring he’d given her during their “engagement”.

“You kept it, huh?” he asked nonchalantly, holding it out to her.

She blushed and took it, closing her fist around it tightly. “Yes,” she admitted quietly. “I kept it. I wore it the whole time you were gone – but it was too big to stay on my thumb, so I had to put it on a chain and wear it around my neck.”

“Why’d you stop wearing it?”

She blushed again and looked up at him with a guilty smile. “I was afraid if you saw it I had it, you’d want it back and I didn’t wan-”

“Never,” he said simply.

“So you don’t mind if I wear it sometimes, then?” she asked, already sure of the answer but wanting to hear him say it.

“I would be the happiest man in the world,” he said, paraphrasing his speech when he’d asked her to marry him during the spell.

Forgoing the opportunity to point out that he wasn’t a man, Buffy smiled happily and slipped the ring onto its chain before hanging it around her neck. She didn’t notice Spike’s thoughtful silence as they picked up the last of her things and by the time they got to his building he was his usual snarky self.

Chapter Thirty-three

They drove up to the loading dock entrance to the building and Buffy was surprised to find Justin, the concierge and two other men, all cheerfully waiting to help carry her stuff up to the penthouse. Spike introduced the three briefly, gliding over the last names. Buffy thought she felt some reluctance on the part of the man he introduced as “Teddy” when she went to shake his hand, but it was over so quickly she couldn’t be sure. She peered at him suspiciously, wondering why her slayer senses were activating. When she saw the ease with which he picked up a box full of heavy textbooks, she realized why he was so uneasy about shaking hands with her.

She pulled on Spike’s arm and said in loud whisper, “I think Teddy is a vampire, Spike!”

He rolled his eyes at her, stepping between the Slayer and the obviously frightened vamp holding her books. In spite of being bigger than Spike and Buffy put together, Teddy appeared ready to drop the heavy box and bolt any second.

“Brilliant deduction, pet. Did they teach you that in Slayer school? Cause, you know, loud whispers? Vamp hearing? Not the best way to keep a secret.”

“But…but he’s holding my books,” she said in a voice that even she realized sounded more like a whiney brat than an adult Slayer. “And he’s not dust. Why isn’t he dust, Spike?”

“Because he’s a friend of mine, love,” he said soothingly. “Teddy has never willingly hurt anyone in his unlife. There’s no reason for him to be dusted. And, anyway,” he added, “He’s the night desk clerk/watchman for the building. He works for me.”

Buffy gaped at the still-nervous vamp in disbelief. Teddy was nodding his head rapidly in agreement with Spike’s comments. Fighting down her instincts, she took another look at him and saw the gentle expression on his face and the complete lack of anything but fear directed toward her. She looked back at Spike for more explanation.

“Teddy was one of my minions,” he explained. “He almost starved to death before we realized he wasn’t eating anyone. He doesn’t mind being a vampire, he just doesn’t like the evil part of it. Must have a really lazy demon,” Spike snarked with a laugh at the embarrassed vamp.

Teddy stood, holding Buffy’s box of books and shuffling his feet as Spike explained what a failure the gentle giant was as a minion until they discovered that he was an excellent assistant for Dalton due to his education and love of research. Spike didn’t say it, but Teddy’s gentle nature had reminded him of himself before he was turned and he found himself very protective of their resident non-evil minion.

“So, what does he eat, then?” Buffy was still dubious, but gave Teddy a reassuring smile anyway.

“I bag it most of the time,” he admitted quietly. “Either pigs’ blood from the butcher or the real thing from Willie’s if I want a special treat.”

“So, you never eat people?”

Teddy looked at Spike helplessly and his boss stepped in, turning Buffy so that she wasn’t staring at the nervous vamp.

“Once, he found a man trying to rape a little girl and he ripped the perverted wanker’s throat out. It was well-deserved and I’m sure nobody missed the ugly blighter. Ever since then, if the demon gets antsy, he finds some low-life trying to hurt somebody and he gives them the fright of their life. Usually leaves ‘em alive though, don’t you, Teddy?”

Teddy nodded again, sending Buffy a nervous smile. “I don’t kill them, Slayer. I just take enough to satisfy the demon for awhile and scare them into thinking about changing their ways.”

“Oh,” was all Buffy could think of to say. Her training in a Slayer’s duty was warring with her common sense and it was giving her a headache. In typical Buffy fashion, she chose to ignore the problem.

“Let’s get this stuff upstairs while I still have enough energy to put it away,” she said cheerfully, leading the way to the elevator without actually acknowledging the explanation.

Spike shook his head warningly at the confused vamp and said, “Right, then. Let’s go men. She’s got boxes to unpack and shoes to put away.”

A quick trip to the top floor and Buffy’s things were quickly piled in the middle of the living room floor and she was thanking the three helpers with a sincere smile. Spike added his gruff, “Thanks, mates,” as they left the apartment as rapidly as they politely could.

“Do I make them nervous?” Buffy asked with the beginnings of a pout.

Spike raised one incredulous eyebrow at her and she had the grace to blush.

“I guess I do, huh? Well, they’ll just have to get used it. The Slayer lives here now.”

Ignoring the astonished vampire gawking at her with a widening smile on his face, she began pawing through the bags of clothes for the dirty ones. “Ah ha!” she said triumphantly as she held up a large plastic bag full of laundry. “Here it is! Off to the laundry room with you!”

A bemused Spike followed the chattering girl down the hall to the laundry area wondering who this person was and what she’d done with the usually serious Slayer. She filled two washers with underwear and school clothes, then turned around and crossed her arms across her chest.

“I’m guessing I don’t need to stay here to be sure nobody takes my stuff,” she said, smiling widely at the vampire. “What with you being the boss and everything…”

“Your things are perfectly safe here, love. Anybody who’s not afraid of me is probably terrified of you, so I’m thinkin’ yeah, it’s as safe as houses.”

“Is that a vampire thing? ‘Safe as houses?’ I mean, what makes houses so safe? Unless you’re a vampire, and then I guess…”

“What’s the matter, pet?” He moved closer to her and ran a hand down her arm until he could link their hands. “Not having second thoughts, are you?” he asked, suddenly realizing the real reason for her unusual chattiness.

Buffy squeezed his fingers tightly as she struggled to find the words she needed to say. She sighed heavily and dropped the false cheeriness.

“I…I don’t know. It’s just such a…big step, you know? Living together, I mean. Not us,” she hastened to assure him. “I’m all about the us being…us. It’s just…I mean what’s my mom going to say? And what if the Council finds out? If Willow and Giles could figure it out, I’m sure they will. And then what?”

“We’ll sort it out, love. We talked about this before. I’m going to be William in public. A much less poncy William than before, but not the Big Bad. Unless somebody tells them what’s going on, they’re just going to think you’re trying to have that normal life that most slayers never get. Nobody in this building is going to be talking to anyone from the Council of Wankers. You can be sure of that.”

“What about my mom?”

He pushed a strand of hair back from her worried face and said carefully, “I think your mum will surprise you. She knows you’re not her little girl any more. And she knows what the life expectancy is for Chosen Ones and that you’ve already exceeded it. Even if she didn’t like me, I don’t think she’d object to you living with somebody whose only goal in his un-life is to keep you alive for as long as possible.”

“That’s your only goal?”

“Well,” he moved closer and ran his lips down her neck, causing her to shiver all over, “that and shagging you silly on a regular basis.”

“Oh,” she breathed leaning into him and sliding her arms around his waist. “I like that goal.”

“We could begin now, if you’d like,” he responded, sounding much more like William than Spike.

He ran cool hands up under her shirt and began stroking her silky skin while his lips continued to move around her face and neck, leaving small moist spots where they paused for seconds. His tongue laved his bite marks, sending tingles directly to her lower abdomen and causing a release of moisture into her last pair of clean panties.

Buffy moaned in barely restrained desire as she melted into his body, trying to feel every hard muscle. He moved his mouth up to her lips and she lost herself in one of his bone melting kisses. She almost passed out trying to maintain the kiss as long as possible. Breaking away for one quick gulp of air, she came back immediately, attaching her lips greedily and sending her tongue out to twist around his.

She was dimly aware of the sound of the door opening, but her back was to it and she didn’t see who came in. She did see Spike raise his head and flash his fangs at whoever it was. There was a frightened squeal and the door shut again abruptly. With a snarl, Spike reached the door and twisted the doorknob so that it was locked securely.

He turned to look at Buffy, leaning weakly against the washer, all flushed and disheveled and his face melted back into William’s adoring countenance. Without seeming to move, he glided toward her, lifting her up onto the washer and running his hands up her thighs until he got to the waistband of her jeans. He teased the warm, taut skin of her stomach with his fingers, running them around the inside of the waistband, then suddenly dipping into the back to cup the globes of her ass.

He leaned down to take one fabric-covered nipple in his mouth, pulling on it gently while his hands slid around to the front and unfastened her pants. Taking his mouth off her breast, he began slowly pulling the pants down, pausing to hook his thumbs in her underwear so as to pull them off at the same time. He pushed her back gently so that she was leaning on her elbows on top of the washer while he tugged her pants off and dropped them on the floor.

Buffy looked at him from her place on the washer, marveling at how much he had taught her in the past week. Instead of blushing and cringing away from his heated gaze, she lay where he’d placed her, legs open while his mouth worked its way from her knees up the inside of her thighs until he was nibbling lightly on her nether lips.

Her gasp and involuntary tilting of her hips made him smile and he nuzzled her soft curls as he whispered, “Something you want, love?”

“Mmmmm, hmmmm,” was the most coherent thing she could think of as she continued to push toward his mouth and the talented tongue that was teasing her with little licks here and there. In one quick movement, he ran his tongue up her slit, pausing to press it into her clit before pulling back again. Buffy had thrown her head back at the first touch of his tongue and he stopped to admire the wanton picture in front of him.

There was something incredibly sexy about the sight of her, completely clothed from the waist up and naked and spread open for him from the waist down. He took one leg in each hand and placed them on his shoulders, cupping her ass in his hands and bring her heated sex toward his face. When he plunged his tongue into her, she choked back a scream as she arched up into his mouth.

Using his lips and tongue, he brought her to the edge of orgasm so many times she lost track, only knowing that her body was crying out for the release he was denying her.

“Spike!” she almost sobbed as she writhed on the cold metal beneath her. She felt him smile against her clit as he worried it with his blunt teeth, turning her sobs to gasps of “Oh, God, oh, God, oh God”. Gritting her teeth, and using her strong stomach muscles to pull herself forward, she grabbed the curls on his head and held it against her while she rubbed frantically against his face.

Realizing he had pushed her beyond the point of sanity, and worried about his own safety, he relented and pulled her throbbing clit into his mouth, working it with his teeth and tongue while he sucked on it as only something that lives on freshly pulled blood can. In seconds, she was shuddering against him and screaming his name as the orgasm he’d been delaying for so long tore through her body. He held her tightly while the tremors continued to shake them both, only letting go when he felt her go limp in his hands.

He slid her completely limp body off the washer’s top and cradled her in his arms waiting for her to open her eyes. Instead, he felt her give a contented groan and snuggle into his chest, dropping immediately into a deep, much needed sleep. With a resigned sigh, he opened the locked door with one hand and carried her back to the apartment.

He set her gently on the bed, holding her up with one hand while he took off her shirt and bra. Except for an unintelligible mumble when he kissed her forehead and whispered, “Sweet dreams, my love,” she gave no sign that she was aware of anything around her.

With a last, longing look at her naked body, he pulled the covers up and went back down the hall to collect her discarded clothes from the floor and to switch her clean clothes from the washer to the dryer. He gave a rueful growl as he realized what a sight it must make – a master vampire doing the Slayer’s laundry while she slept trustingly in his bed.

Thank the powers that ole grandpa dusted Darla before she had a chance to see this. That hell bitch would be laughing so hard she’d probably dust from the vibrations.

Chapter Thirty-four

Spike and Buffy strolled through Restfield cemetery, hands linked and senses alert for any signs of trouble.

“You know, I’m almost afraid to say this out loud, but-“

“Whatever you do, do NOT finish that sentence!” The Slayer’s idle speculation was interrupted abruptly by the vampire’s horrified voice. “Do you want to bring about an apocalypse, pet?” he continued in a less terrified, but no less serious tone.

“I’m just saying – we’ve dusted so many vamps lately that it seems like there aren’t any left to make new ones. I’m going to get fat and lazy without any work to do.”

Spike pulled her into his body, rubbing against her so that she could feel his rapidly hardening cock.

“If it’s burning calories you’re interested in, I think I can take care of that, love,” he purred into her ear.

“Mmmmm,” she agreed, jumping up to wrap her legs around his waist and let his erection press into her instantly wet crotch. Heedless of the fact that they were standing in the middle of a public place, albeit one with very few visitors after dark, they ground against each other until Buffy gave a muffled shriek and trembled against him.

“I’m sorry,” she gasped, sliding down his body to an accompanying moan from the vampire as her heat left his aching cock. “I didn’t mean to—“

“S’alright, pet. Watching you come is almost as good as doing it myself,” he grinned at her flushed face and tried to adjust himself inside his jeans.

“Here, let me do that for you,” she purred, sliding down the zipper and slipping her warm hand into his pants. His hiss of pleasure and the jerking of his hips brought a wicked smile to her face. “I think I can fix this problem before we go to Mom’s” she giggled, kneeling in front of him and taking him into her warm mouth.

“Ah, love. Your mouth – so hot, so wet - feels like heaven…that’s it, love, don’t stop, Buffy… only you, pet…. Slayer… Buffy….I’m…love you, Slayer…need to…. Buffy!”

Licking her lips, and smiling in pure feminine pride at the look on his face, she stood up and tucked him back into his pants. Giving his now softened cock a little pat, she cooed, “See, problem solved.”

As she went to leave, he grabbed her arm and pulled her around to face him. She wrinkled her brow in confusion as his beautiful eyes bored into hers.

“Spike? William? Is…is something wrong?”

Shaking his head, he continued to stare into her puzzled eyes until he could see that she was about to say something else and he stopped her with a gentle finger to her lips.

“I love you, Buffy Anne Summers. More than you will ever know.”

He felt her smile against his finger just before she pulled it into her mouth and bit down gently. He growled a warning, but she just held his finger in her teeth until he relaxed and smiled at her.

“I love you, too, William,” she said softly. “Very much.”

“Just so that’s settled then,” he said gruffly to hide the tears threatening to embarrass him.

“Yup, all settled. Now let’s go. We’re going to be late for dinner.”

When they got to Revello drive for what had become a regular weekly occurrence, Joyce greeted them both with hugs and pecks on the cheek. They followed her into the kitchen and watched as she filled plates and handed them to the hungry Slayer.

“Here, honey, you put these on the table while I warm William’s blood.”

“I’ll do that, Joyce. You go visit with your daughter and start eating. I know we’re late. You’re prob’ly starving.”

When Spike joined his lover and her mother at the dining room table, he could tell he’d interrupted something serious.

“Should I go out and come in again?” he ventured as identical pairs of green eyes turned to him.

“Mom was just asking me what our plans were,” Buffy said quietly.

While Spike stared at the older woman in shock, she looked back and forth between them and shook her head.

“Exactly how stupid do you two think I am? And when were you planning to tell me you were living together?”

Suddenly reverting to the socially inept William he hadn’t been for over a 100 years, Spike stuttered and mumbled as he looked anywhere but at the mother of the girl he’d been mated to so briefly.

“How--?” Buffy’s timid question was interrupted by a wave of her mother’s hand.

“Oh please, you haven’t been in your dorm room for weeks. If I need to call you, I use Spike’s cell phone; which he then hands to you no matter what time of the day or night it is. You two act more married than most married people.”

She paused and her look softened. “I’m just a little hurt that you felt you couldn’t tell me about this. What did you think I would say?”

“Dunno, really.” Spike looked up from his feet to meet Joyce’s eyes, saying honestly, “I guess I just thought you’d be wanting something more for your daughter than a monster in a man’s body.”

Buffy’s eyes flew wide as she heard him refer to himself as a monster and she whirled to look at him.

“Don’t call yourself that! You…you’re not a monster.”

He held up his cup of warm blood and with a sardonic lift of his eyebrow, saluted her with it before talking a big sip.

“I am, love. Always will be. You know it. I know it. And your mum knows it. No sense tryin’ to pretend otherwise.” He looked apologetically at her mother, then met Buffy’s unhappy eyes. “The monster loves you, pet. Can’t deny that either. But it doesn’t change what I am – any more than that soul changes what Angelus is. We’re what we are – what we were made to be. Having me fall in love with the Slayer is just the Powers’ way of having a little fun at my expense.”

He turned back to the older Summers woman. “I know I’ll never be good enough for her, Joyce. But nobody could love her more than I do, and I’m going to do my best to keep her as safe as I can for the rest of her life. Any big bad that wants to take out this slayer is gonna have to go through a master vampire to do it.”

“So, you’re going to take over her slaying?” Joyce asked skeptically, but with the tiniest trace of hope in voice.

One look at Buffy’s scowling face told him he needed to be