Spells and the Future

Spike sat on the edge of the bed and watched Buffy sleep. For whatever reason, he couldn’t bring himself to leave her side. He wanted to make sure she was safe; he needed to know she would be alright. He still couldn’t figure out why he had saved her. The decision he made was one he didn’t regret, he’d do it exactly the same if he had to do it over again, but that still didn’t explain why he saved her. She could take care of herself, she was the Slayer, but Spike knew that she was not invincible. Hell, he’d killed two of them already. As that thought went through his brain, a new wave of possessiveness washed over him. He wouldn’t kill this Slayer and he’d kill anyone who attempted to kill her. Rational thought was escaping him, it had to be. He was a vampire. Vampires don’t protect the Slayer; they kill the Slayer, dance in her blood. Blood, life, her life. Things she’d always have as long as he was around…and he wasn’t going anywhere. Last night, he wasn’t lying when he told Buffy that his demon wanted to protect her. It was more than just want. His demon demanded that he save her. Her blood had called to his demon, but not to drink. Her blood stirred feelings within him that he thought he’d lost many years ago.
A pain in her side woke Buffy from her slumber. A tingle on her neck told her a vampire was in close proximity to her. Spike. It had to be him. Just like Angel, Spike had his own signature, one that she could discern in a group of them. Not wanting to alert him to her awakened state, she kept her eyes closed and allowed her thoughts to consume her. Spike saved her. The thought was new and surprisingly not scary. Unlike with Angel, Spike made her feel completely safe. He had told her last night that his demon wanted to save her, and she believed him. A more perfect opportunity wouldn’t present itself. She was unconscious, vulnerable, and yet she was alive. Angel’s demon hated her, wanted to destroy her, nearly did. Her Slayer side told her that Spike was just the same, he was just more cleaver about it, but her heart told her differently. If he only wanted her blood, he would have taken it last night.
Hearing the slight acceleration of her heart beat, Spike knew the Slayer was awake. He felt oddly relieved by that fact. “Mornin’ luv.”
“Mmm, morning,” Buffy mumbled sleepily.
“How’s the side?” Spike asked softly.
“Sore.”
Spike chuckled, “Can I look?”
Buffy’s eyes opened and she looked at Spike with wide, wild eyes.
“The cut, pet,” Spike told her.
After blinking her eyes a few times to clear her head, Buffy nodded her consent.
With more tenderness than he knew he possessed, Spike carefully pulled the cover down. Gently, he lifted the material of her shirt and looked at the gash on her side. The cut was shut, but a nasty bruise covered the surrounding area.
“Will I live?” Buffy asked.
“Yeah, you’ll live,” Spike said.
Buffy noticed that he hadn’t moved his hand from her stomach, but she couldn’t make herself tell him to stop. Secretly, in a place she didn’t acknowledge, she liked having his hand there, liked the contact. She bit her lip to suppress a gasp when she felt his finger delicately begin to caress the line of the cut. Her eyes fluttered shut as the sensation of his cool fingers on her warm flesh washed over her.
Spike couldn’t get enough of her. The warmth of her skin shot straight through to his unbeating heart. For reasons that remained elusive to him, he couldn’t stop touching her.
The phone started ringing and broke whatever spell was between them. Buffy jerked up and winced in pain.
“Stay down, pet. I’ll get the phone,” Spike said. He picked up the phone, “Wot?”
“Spike?” Willow asked.
“Yeah, Red?”
“Uh, is uh, Buffy there?”
“She’s resting,” Spike said.
“Oh, well, Giles found something that he wants us to look at. We’re going to meet at the library. Is she ok?” Willow asked with concern.
“She will be. When does Watcher Boy want us at the library?” Spike asked.
“Now.”
“Right. We’ll be there.”
Spike put the phone back in the cradle and looked over at Buffy. Her eyes were closed and her lips slightly parted. She looked perfect. Nothing could compare to her beauty.
“Your Watcher found something of interest, it seems. He wants us to go to the library,” Spike said.
“Now?” Buffy asked.
“Yeah, pet,” Spike said.
“Sunlight, won’t you go all dusty?” Buffy asked.
“I’ll take a blanket and go through the sewers. Don’t worry your pretty head about me,” Spike said.
“No concern here. This is concern free Buffy,” she told him with a smile.
“Now, go get yourself all pretty. We should be off before the Scoobies have a heart attack,” Spike said.
An hour later, Buffy walked into the library.
“Is Spike here?” she inquired.
“No, not yet. Should we be expecting him?” Giles asked.
“Yeah. He was taking the sewers. He stayed with me last night,” Buffy said.
“The Evil Undead stayed at your house?” Xander exclaimed.
“Yes, Xan. He watched over me,” Buffy said.
“You’ve really got this vamp whipping down to an art, B,” Faith said.
“Jealous?” Buffy teased.
“Nah. I like my men with a pulse,” Faith said.
Spike stood in the shadow of one of the stacks. He listened intently to the conversation below. It seemed as if Buffy truly liked having him around. “Don’t kid yourself, mate. She’s just repaying your for savin’ her life. Nothin’ more to it.”
“You’re loss,” Spike said as he descended the stairs. Before he could explain further, a small hand landed harshly across his face.
“Where in the hell were you?” a very brassed off Slayer inquired.
Smirking, Spike answered, “Worried about me, pet?”
Realizing what she had just done, Buffy mentally scolded herself. “No, of course not.”
Spike chuckled, which earned him another slap. “Bloody hell, Slayer.”
She simply smiled in response and seated herself at the table. “What’s the what, Giles?”
Giles, who had been watching the pair with interest, was delayed in responding. It didn’t escape his notice that his Slayer and Spike seemed to be more familiar with each other, almost as if they were friends. “Right, well I have found a spell that could possibly be the source of your memories and visions. It is done from the future to have some impact on the past. Clearly someone wanted something to change.”
“Way to be vague, G-man,” Xander said.
“Are we thinking this is a good someone or a not so good someone?” Buffy asked, ignoring Xander’s comment.
“I’m really not sure,” Giles said as he removed his glasses to polish them.
“I get Buffy, Slayer and all, but why Spike?” Cordy asked.
All eyes in the room focused on Giles.
“That is a question I have been asking myself all night,” Giles responded honestly. It was a bit of a blow to realize that he had no better answer to give his charge, but this was a completely unprecedented occurrence. A rarity on the Hellmouth, and that was never good.
“So, this is all some mojo?” Spike asked.
“It appears that way, yes,” Giles answered.
“This isn’t something I can kill, Giles. I need something I can kill. I mean how am I supposed to fix the future? I don’t even know what happens in the future…that’s why it’s with the future and all,” Buffy babbled.
“I feel this is something I should inform the Council of. They might be able to assist us,” Giles said.
“Right. They were so much help last time around. I don’t trust them, Giles. They put my mom in danger. My mom. I’m used to danger, Slayer here, but no one, NO ONE, puts my mom in danger,” Buffy said.
The evenness in her voice was unnerving to everyone in the room. Even though Spike knew very little about this girl, he knew that voice was dangerous. There was a threat hidden beneath that calm exterior, and he didn’t want to imagine what kind of revenge she would force the Council to endure.
“Buffy,” Giles began carefully choosing his words, “I know you don’t trust them and I understand your reasons, but I fear that they must be informed.”
“Uh, Giles?” Willow asked, “I thought you were kinda, ya know…fired.”
Giles opened his mouth to respond, but closed it quickly. It was true. He was fired. The Council would not heed anything he said. The new Watcher would be the only one who could communicate these findings to them. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the new Watcher had yet to make an appearance.
“So, if you’re fired, why are you still here?” Spike asked.
“Duh,” Cordy said, “He’s the librarian.”
“I want him here. No matter who the Council sends, Giles will be my Watcher,” Buffy said.

A truly ugly vampire, with cloven hands stared at the vast array of technological advances that made no sense to his prehistoric mind.
“Mr. Trick, talk to me,” the vampire ordered.
Mr. Trick looks up at the vampire and begins, “Check this out, this town, this very street, wired for fiber optics. See, we jack in a T-3, um, twenty-five hundred megs per, we have the whole world at our fingertips.”
The vampire looked at Mr. Trick with a blank expression. “Really, what is the point in hiring help if you can’t understand a single word that passes through their lips?”
“What I’m saying is,” Mr. Trick continues, “We stay local – where the humans are jumpin’ and the cotton is high – but we live global. I mean, you know, you get the hankering for the blood of a fifteen year old Filipina, and I’m on the ‘Net and she’s here the next day, express air.”
Irritated, the vampire yells, “I want the blood of the Slayer!”
Trick sighs, “On that note, there’s good news…and bad. Rumor has it that this town already has a Slayer, which makes two.” Trick pauses to shake his head, “I’m not real sure how that happened.”
Jumping up from his chair, the vampire yells, “I don’t care if there are a hundred Slayers! I’ll kill them all!” He pauses to point to his scarred, blinded eye, “She’s going to pay for what she did to me.”
Mr. Trick nods in understanding, “Yeah, she is. I’m running a computer check on every hotel, rooming house, and youth hostel in town. Meanwhile, as soon as the sun goes down, we’re going out in force.”

“There is another matter we need to discuss. It seems that there is a new vampire in town,” Giles said.
“New vamp?” Faith asked.
“Kakistos. It’s Greek. It means the worst of the worst. It’s also the name of a vampire so old that his hands and feet are cloven,” Giles said.
Faith gasps and dashes out of the library before anyone can react.
“What are the chances of this guy showing up two days ago?” Buffy asked.
“Right around the time Faith hit town,” Oz said.
“You think he and Faith are connected?” Giles asked.
“Giles, there are two things I don’t believe in: coincidence, and leprechauns,” Buffy answered.
“Well, Buffy it is entirely possible that they both arrived here by chance simultaneously,” Giles countered.
“Ok,” Buffy conceded, “But I was right about the leprechauns, right?”
“As far as I know, yes.”
“Good. Ok I’m going to chase down Faith and see if ‘khaki trousers’ rings…”
“Kakistos,” Spike corrected her.
Buffy glared at the blond, “Kakistos rings a bell. Or an alarm.”
Spike hopped off the counter and followed Buffy out of the library.
It was dark by the time they were out of the library and Spike was finding it increasingly difficult to keep pace with Buffy.
“Slayer, she’s not going anywhere. Bloody well slow down,” Spike said.
“She’s running, Spike. That think has her seriously wigged. She ran before and if I don’t get there soon, she’ll run again,” Buffy said.
As they approached the motel, Buffy slowed down. When she came closer to Faith’s room, she could hear voices.
“The room’s eighteen dollars a day. That’s every day,” a gruff male voice said.
“Yeah, I know. I’ll get it to you by tomorrow, I swear,” Faith said.
“It’s not like I own the place,” the male said.
“But I bet you will someday,” Faith said in a seductive voice.
“Not if I listen to broads like you,” the man answered.
When they reached the room, Spike tapped the man on the shoulder to get his attention.
“Roommates are extra,” the guy said to Faith.
“We’re just visiting,” Buffy answered.
“Bugger off, mate,” Spike said to the man.
“So, what brings you to the poor side of town?” Faith asked once the pair had entered the room.
“Cloven guy. Calls himself Kakistos,” Buffy said.
Faith froze. “He caught up with me already? Run. Run now.” Faith hurriedly began to pack her bag.
“Someone’s not happy to see old friends. Wha’d he do to you, pet?” Spike asked.
“It’s what I did to him, alright?” Faith said.
“And what was that?” Buffy asked. She sighed deeply. “Faith, you came here for a reason. I can help.”
Taking a break from her packing, Faith glared at Buffy. “You can mind your own business. I’m the one that can handle this.”
“Yeah,” Spike said, “You’re a bloody bad ass when it comes to packing.”
“You don’t know me, blondie. You don’t know what I’ve been through. I’ll take care of this, all right?” Faith asked.
“Like you did before you came here?” Buffy asked.
Faith stopped. “My Watcher…”
“He killed her, didn’t he?” Buffy asked gently.
“They don’t have a word for what he did to her,” Faith said bitterly.
A knock at the door keeps either blonde from responding. Faith walked up to the door muttering, “Oh, what now?” under her breath.
“Faith, you run, he runs after you,” Buffy tried to reason.
“That’s where the head start comes in handy,” Faith said as she answered the door.
Faith gasped and backtracked into the room.
“Faith,” Kakistos said. Before she could move any further back, Kakistos grabbed the Slayer by the neck.
“No!” a panicked Faith screamed.
Noticing that Faith is too shocked to react properly, Buffy throws herself between the cloven vampire and Faith. This forces Kakistos to release Faith. Not wanting to be left out of the fight, Spike pushes the vampire out the door and locks it.
“That should have bought us a little more…” Buffy began.
Before she could finish, Kakistos had punched through the door and had Spike by the neck.
“Time,” Buffy finishes as she dashes over to dislodge Spike.
Curled up against the wall, Faith chants “No” over and over again.
“Spike, grab Faith. Let’s go,” Buffy commanded as she leads them out the bathroom window and into the alley.
Once they are safely outside, Buffy takes a moment to catch her breath. “Faith, what happened?”
“I-I was there when he killed my Watcher, and I saw what he did to her…what he’s gonna do to me. I tried to stop him, but I…I couldn’t. And I ran,” Faith said. She shook with fear.
Still trying to catch her breath, Buffy answered, “Faith, first rule of Slaying: don’t die. You did the right thing. Okay? You didn’t die. Now you do the math. One of him, two of us.”
“Three,” Spike corrected.
Buffy raised a skeptical eyebrow at him.
“Wanker nearly popped my head off. I want some action,” Spike said.
“Three of us,” Buffy told Faith.
After a good, long ‘rough ‘n tumble’, the three left the alley. Faith had overcome her fear of the vampire hand put a rather large wooden beam through his heart.
“You hungry?” Buffy asked.
“Starved,” Faith answered.
Spike laughed at the two Slayers. It amazed him how after such an even the two mortals spoke causally about things like food. Granted he was always full of mindless conversation after a kill as well, but he was immortal. These girls had a shortened lifespan, he had an eternal one.
Ignoring Spike’s laughter, Buffy said, “Let’s head to my house. Mom will make some hot chocolate and she always has food.”

“The council has approved our request. Faith, you are to stay here indefinitely. I’m to look after you both until a new Watcher is assigned,” Giles explained.
“Looks like you get to stop running,” Buffy told Faith.
“Yeah. Not quite sure what to do with myself. Figure I’d get out of the hotel. Manager’s a real ass,” Faith said.
“Any idea where you’ll stay?” Willow asked.
“Nah, but I’ll be fine. I’ll come out on top,” Faith said.
“You can stay with me, Faith. Mom will love to have someone else to look after, especially when I tell her that I have Slaying help,” Buffy offered.
“Seriously, B? I don’t want to impose,” Faith said, “But I’m not about to let an offer like that slide.”
“Then it’s settled,” Buffy said, “So, Giles, any idea when this new Watcher is due?”
“No, but I suspect it will be soon. I informed them about the Spike situation, and they expressed their desire to have a conclusive answer soon,” Giles said.
“Well, that was good of them,” Buffy replied flippantly.