Summary: Buffy has to choose whether or not to defy Angelus. Spike helps her to decide.

Warning: The last time Buffy and Spike met was when they fought in the church and Spike wound up in a wheelchair. At this point they definately do NOT like one another. So although the following chapters are Spuffy don’t expect fluffy.


Chapter 7: Obedience

“Fully entertained, if you get my meaning.” The menace and leering in his voice left little to the imagination. Angelus had never spoken to her this cruelly. Well, maybe at the beginning, when they were still trying to kill one another, but certainly not lately.

He turned from an indignant Buffy to an open-mouthed Spike. “You have my permission to do whatever you like with her for the night – as long as you don’t leave any visible marks and she’s not hurt too badly. She needs to be able to make her own way home before morning. I’m sure she wouldn’t want to miss school. It’s so important to get a good education.”

Buffy couldn’t believe what Angelus appeared to be saying. Surely he was teasing them both.

“Angel…” Buffy began. Occasionally she had fallen into the bad habit of calling him Angel instead of Angelus. Usually he no longer objected. But there was little about him that reminded her of Angel right now as he stood implacably in the doorway.

“Fine. Angelus. This is a joke, right? You’re not leaving me here with Spike just because I killed some vamp that happened to belong to you? That’s my job! It’s what I do.”

Angelus interrupted her, finally letting just a little of his fury at her show. “Let me try this one last time. You’ve asked me to do some pretty big things- make changes in the way I live my unlife, and I have agreed to try. I’ve been working very hard at it. Haven’t killed a human in weeks – ask Spike if you don’t believe me.”

Slowly Spike nodded his agreement. It was true; Angelus hadn’t killed a human in at least a week. What he had been doing instead was draining vamps who’d recently killed, sometimes at his instructions. It was a close to cannibalism as a vampire could come. True, it was maybe not exactly what the Slayer had had in mind, and not at all what the rest of them were stuck eating, but Spike felt it politic to keep that observation to himself.

Of course everyone knew what Angelus got out of the deal. He was banging and draining the Slayer with impunity. But even her rich blood hadn’t been enough for Angelus. Not by a long shot. Spike had schooled himself to live on very little since he had been confined to this wheelchair, and thought that he could probably sustain himself on just the Slayer’s blood. But he was realistic enough to know that it was unlikely that he’d ever get the chance to prove himself the better man.

“It’s been… a difficult transition, Buffy. But I want to be good.” Spike knew that Angelus had to be lying through his teeth. Now he was nuzzling the marks on her neck. It was disgusting. “Because it’s what you want.”

Angelus’s twaddle made Spike want to hurl. How could the stupid bint believe he was sincere? Didn’t she have a single brain cell left in her head?

Angelus barely spared a glance at Spike as he continued speaking to Buffy. Spike had to admit that the devil had a silver tongue that could charm a fish out of the sea when he wanted to.

“But it’s all been one-sided, Buffy. You say that you won’t stop killing vampires. And I can appreciate that. It’s in your nature after all. But I think it is only fair that you learn what it feels like to do something distasteful because someone you love asks you to. That’s what this is all about. It’s not a big thing really – just one night. Not a life-changing event. Nothing, really, compared to what you’ve asked of me.”

Spike had to hand it to him, Angelus knew how to put a spin on things. The next words out his mouth nearly made him laugh out loud. “And I trust Spike.”

That got Spike’s attention. Made him wonder if anything Angelus said ever had a scrap of truth in it.

As if he had read Spike’s mind Angelus amended, “I trust him to know where his best interest lies. If I tell him not to hurt you, then he won’t hurt you. Who knows, you might even enjoy it, though I doubt it. Besides, you owe Spike – you are the one who put him in that wheelchair. Now no one wants to go anywhere near him now, least of all Drusilla. He’s been suffering. And he’s terribly depressed. He could use a little cheering up.”

Buffy looked at Spike…if there was even the hint of a leer then she was gonna stake him, wheelchair or not. She crossed her arms and looked at her lover, “There is no way you are going to get me to do this, Angelus. There is not a scrap of Angel left in you that you would ask me to do this.”

Angelus pulled Buffy close and kissed her passionately, then pushed her away again. “Actually there is – otherwise for your punishment I might just throw you out naked for the minions to play with. I’m sure that if enough of them teamed up against you they’d get you to do quite a few things that you’d rather not. And I’d enjoy watching. Or I might decide to simply flog you. And afterwards, if you were still conscious, I might still give you to Spike. He’s been such a loyal little dog.”

Carelessly, he tossed Buffy away from him and into Spike’s lap. Not prepared for it, she tumbled helplessly, then scrambled quickly back to her own two feet.

“It’s your choice, Buffy. You two work it out. As I said I've got someplace to be. I’ll be back just before first light.”

He smirked as he shut and barred the door behind him. They could hear him down the hallway, “Have fun kids.”

Buffy couldn’t believe he was really gone. Angelus had left her alone in a locked room with Spike! There was no way this was going to end without one or the other of them dead. And she was certain that it wasn’t going to be her, whether she had her weapons with her or not. Without a wooden stake dusting him was going to be far more difficult. But Spike was stuck in a stupid wheelchair, and had been instructed not to hurt her. A few quick moves, and he’d be dust.

Through the hair that fallen over her face, Buffy surreptitiously observed the vampire sitting incongruously innocent looking in his wheelchair. He was still dangerous, Buffy knew that. She was glad that she had gotten herself far enough away from him. As long as she didn’t put herself in reach of his fangs, she felt relatively safe. Idly she wondered what Angelus’s reaction would be if she simply dusted Spike. Unfortunately Angelus was already in a foul mood and she had a feeling that action would make him even more furious with her. If she had to, she’d goad Spike into attacking; then a dusting would be totally justified.

Of course the easiest choice would be to simply leave. She tried the door unsuccessfully a few times before she swore. She unleashed her full fury at it, but still nothing. Finally, exhausted, Buffy slid down by the threshold, determined to wait and regain her strength before trying again.

Spike had remained almost eerily silent the entire time. As Buffy rose to resume her assault on the door a second time he finally spoke. “So, you’ve chosen the minions then?”

She looked at him a little blankly, “What?”

“You prefer to be gang raped than share your bed with a cripple. I can understand, luv. No one else seems to find me too attractive about now either,” he said bitterly.

“It won’t come to that. He was bluffing. I don’t know what he wants, but it’s not that.”

“Pet, Angelus doesn’t bluff. Not ever. And he doesn’t make threats he doesn’t mean. When he gives orders he expects them to be obeyed. You’re quite lucky really. He’s told you the consequences of refusal. So you can make your own choice. You might rather choose the flogging, though. It’s damned painful, but you’d probably survive.”

“What’d you mean?”

“There’s only three ways of dealing with Angelus.” He counted off on his fingers, “One – you do what he says. Two - you accept whatever punishment he chooses to dish out. Three – you kill him. I wouldn’t really recommend you try that last one though – not unless you have a death wish or an unfair advantage. And certainly not tonight- not while you’re unarmed, surrounded, and already emotionally exhausted. Not the best circumstances for a showdown. Odds are not in your favor.”

Unfortunately he was making a lot of sense. “So you’re left with doing as you’ve been ordered, or taking the consequences. Truth to tell I think you’d be better off doing as he’s asked, for a number of reasons. Of course, you could just accept your punishment like a good little Slayer. I wouldn’t mind watching that either.”

He looked her up and down and his voice and demeanor changed. “I can promise you that I’ll make it worth your while, if you’re up for the shag.” He’d been stuck in this chair for what seemed like forever already. He’d do anything for a good lay. Even if it meant making nice with the Slayer.

She shuddered, remembering Angelus’ words, ‘whatever happens tonight, it will be your choice.’ Was this the ‘choice’ he had been referring to?

“So not gonna happen Spike. Just because Angelus and I are still seeing each other, that doesn’t mean that he owns me. He can’t tell me to do something utterly repulsive and expect that I’ll just agree to it because he asked me to.”

“Now, that’s the crux of the matter right there pet. Whether you like it or not, Angelus has taken leadership of this clan, and that includes obligations as well as privileges. You’ve been pushing him pretty hard, Slayer. Maybe too hard. Others are starting to notice. He can’t afford to appear weak in front of them, or they’ll gang together against him. He’s got to prove that you are his property, and not the other way around. It’s a vampire thing, luv.”

Spike recalled their visitor from last night. He was probably the ‘business’ Angelus had referred to. Angelus was probably taking him to some secret room where they could both sit back and watch the show unfold. Spike wondered if this little drama tonight was solely for the benefit of the dapper vampire and whomever he represented. But he rather doubted it. The whole situation reeked of Angelus’s Machiavellian nature. No, he had been planning something like this for a long time. Something where the Slayer was forced into obedience. One way or the other.

“What are you talking about?”

“Slayer, vampire relationships aren’t about human emotions like ‘love.’ They’re about lust, and power. I’ll warn you now. If he wants to pass you around, well, that’s his right. But he’d never tolerate it if you tried to cheat on him. He can do whatever he wants. Whenever he wants.” Just to be cruel he added, “He’s probably doing Drusilla right about now.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Why not? You ever ask him if he’s being monogamous? I’ll tell you now; he’d sooner give up drinking human blood than pledge that. It’s part of how he proves he’s pack leader.”

“This is sick. I can’t believe that Angel would do this to me.”

“Why do you keep calling him Angel, pet? You know that he’s not Angel. That sod is gone and he’s just plain Angelus now.”

“Of course I know he’s not Angel. Just because I’m a blonde does not mean I’m stupid.”

“Never said you were stupid, pet. You’re just very young, is all. And you think that wanting something will make it so.”

Spike tilted his head slightly as he looked at the girl huddled under the lintel of his door. What was it that Angelus saw in her? She was pretty enough – short, slightly built, nice figure, wore the ridiculously erotic clothes they all wore nowadays. Course, she was the Slayer, so that added another layer of appeal. But Spike didn’t understand why Angelus didn’t just kill her and be done with it. After all, he’d killed Slayers before; it wasn’t that hard.

But there was nothing to be done for it. Spike wasn’t going to kill this Slayer, at least not tonight. Not if he knew what was good for him. And it wasn’t like he could protest Angelus’s orders. Not from a wheelchair anyway. Whatever Angelus’ reasoning, Spike decided it was probably best not to refuse a gift from his Sire. He’d take what he was offered at face value, and worry about the implications later.

Decision made, he looked over at the girl in the corner and said simply, “Strip.”