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To Save a Lady by slaymesoftly
 
Chapters 14 - 18
 
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Chapter Fourteen

For long seconds, they remained still, joined not only by their still-linked bodies, but by the teeth holding on to each other’s flesh. Spike was the first to move, gently removing his fangs from her neck and running his tongue over the small wounds he left. Buffy unclenched her jaw and let go of his shoulder, kissing the bloody bruise left there by her human teeth.

When Spike pushed himself up on his arms to look down at her and she could see the mark she’d made, she gasped and began, “Oh, Spike, I—“

The vampire shook his head, gazing down at her with wonder in his eyes.

“If you’re going to apologize for biting me, pet, please don’t. Don’t want you to be sorry about it.” He ducked his head a little and peered at her from under his thick lashes, “Anyway, I think you need to take a look at your own neck first.”

“But...but... that had to hurt you! It looks awful.”

“Biting and pain are part of love-making for a vampire, Slayer. You couldn’t have done anything more erotic and...lo- affectionate...if you’d wanted to. I’m just sorry I couldn’t control the demon enough to prevent him from biting you back.”

“It didn’t hurt,” she said softly, not meeting his eyes. “It felt kind of...” She paused and looked up at him questioningly, “It felt good. Does that make me a bad Slayer? Shouldn’t I be more wigged out about it?”

“Wasn’t meant to hurt you, pet. That bite had nothing to do with the kind of bites you’re dodging while you’re doin’ your job, and everything to do with how I feel about you. On some level, the Slayer in you recognized that.”

“Just like your chip did, I guess,” she mused, missing the almost invisible flinch when she mentioned his chip. He didn’t answer her, just rolled to his side bringing her with him. She shuddered briefly when he slipped out of her and couldn’t suppress a whimper at the loss of his presence inside her body. He pulled the covers up and wrapped his arms back around her to enjoy the body heat trapped under there.

There was a long, comfortable silence as they basked in the afterglow of their love-making, and Buffy was just drifting off to sleep when Spike spoke softly.

“I don’t think the chip is working, Buffy,” he said without inflection. He felt her grow rigid in his arms and cursed himself for a fool. He waited, neither removing his arms from around her body, nor trying to pull her closer. He waited patiently for her to make a decision, his lack of breathing and heart beat enabling him to hide the fear that was making his stomach hurt.

Just as he was sure she was going to stake him, he felt her body relax against his and he gasped in relief when she placed a light kiss on his bare chest.

“So,” she began conversationally, “what makes you think so?”

In a flat voice, Spike recited the recent incidents that caused him to wonder about the chip’s functionality.

“Does this mean you could be out there eating people again?” she asked, her tone giving him no hint what she was thinking.

“I guess it does. Haven’t tried it.”

She nodded against his chest, tracing her finger lightly around one of his nipples and watching as it hardened immediately.

“Why not?” she asked in a deceptively mild tone of voice.

He sat up and gaped at her. “Why not? In case you hadn’t noticed, luv, I’m living with the bloody Slayer. Thought you might have a little problem with it,” he finished sarcastically, as he flopped back down beside her.

“So, if I wasn’t here, you would be? Finding happy meals on legs, I mean.”

She kept her voice carefully controlled so that he wouldn’t know how badly she wanted to pretend he’d never said anything about it.

I’ve got to think like the Slayer, not like Buffy. If Spike is dangerous again, I have to do something about it. That’s my job. It’s who I am.

Buffy had forgotten that she was lying next to a master vampire and that just keeping her voice even and steady wasn’t enough to prevent him from realizing she was upset. Her increased breathing, accelerated heart rate, and the faintest smell of tears told him his next words were going to be vitally important to both of them.

“I...I don’t know if I can give you an honest answer to that, pet. You ARE here. Being with you...it colors everything I do. Has done for a long time. If you’re asking do I still want to feed, to hunt, to kill, to feel fresh warm blood filled with fear slidin’ down my throat – then, yeah, I don’t think that will ever go away. It’s what I am, luv. I’m sure, if you could get Peaches to give you an honest answer, he’d tell you that even the soul doesn’t make that craving go away. It just allows him to be ashamed of it.”

He felt Buffy stiffen again, and he knew she wanted to pull away from him. He tightened his arm around her almost imperceptibly, mentally willing her to let him explain.

“Hear me out, love, please. I’m trying to be as honest with you as I can and that means I have to own up to my nature. I can’t pretend it doesn’t exist.”

Buffy struggled weakly, more as though she thought she should move away than because she really wanted to and Spike loosened his arm, trying to hide the fear her withdrawal was feeding.

“And I can’t pretend I’m unhappy that the chip isn't working anymore. That soddin’ bugger the other night would have split your pretty little head open if I hadn’t stopped him. So, I’m not sorry I can hurt humans again. Won’t pretend I am.” He touched her cheek lightly, turning her to look at his pleading eyes. “But, I can promise you, I won’t do anything that would make you have to stake me. I can control myself – all the chip did was give me a reason to do it. It didn’t stop me from trying to kill. I did that myself when I realized I was gonna fry my brain if I kept it up.”

“But your reason’s gone now,” she responded, fighting the urge to soothe the worried look off his face.

Spike shook his head, never taking his eyes off hers.

“I’ve got a better one, now,” he said softly, his eyes searching for some glimmer of understanding and acceptance. “A much better one,” he added in a whisper, daring to lean in and brush his lips over hers.

Buffy didn’t try to pretend she didn’t understand what he was saying, just gave in to the relief his words inspired. She closed her eyes to keep the tears in and fell back against his chest, sighing when his arms went around her again. She didn’t want to admit, even to herself, the fear that had gripped her when she thought she might be faced once again with slaying a vampire she cared about.

While Spike sprinkled soft kisses over her head and face, she wrapped herself around his cool body and let herself fall into an exhausted sleep, knowing there would be no more dreams that night.

~~~~~~~~~

While a suspicious vampire watched carefully, Xander walked around the large area waving a stake in the air and asking plaintively, “But, WHY can’t I stake him? This isn’t our Spike – and I sooo did not mean that the way it sounded!” he blurted when Giles raised a curious eyebrow at him. “This is evil, unchipped William the Bloody, before he has killed two Slayers. I’d be doing the world a favor.”

“Or,” Giles said mildly, continuing to go through the instruction manuals he’d found in a nearby desk, “you could change the world completely, including ensuring that our Buffy was never called.”

“Oh,” Xander said in a subdued voice. “I didn’t think about that.”

He turned to glare at the puzzled vampire and waved his stake for emphasis. “Don’t think that means we’re going to be best buds, Deadboy, Jr. One funny move....”

The vampire sneered in derision. “I don’t MAKE ‘funny moves’, you walking meal,” he snarled back. “Which you will find out the instant I get out of these irons.”

In the few days since Buffy and Spike had gone away, leaving the unchipped, 19th century version in their place, Xander and the vampire had fallen into the same sort of mutual insulting relationship that had existed between him and the “real” Spike, as he preferred to think of him.

While the younger man spent his time mocking the chained vampire for his accent and clothing, the Watcher had actually managed to have a few conversations with him and had reached some understanding of where and when Buffy and Spike had probably been sent. However, long days and nights of poring over the technical books he’d found had not given him the information he needed to go about bringing them back and his frustration was growing with every day they were missing.

“Hi, guys!” Willow’s perky voice echoed in the large open space as she and Tara walked up.

“Got your blood here, Sp- uh, William. Sorry I can’t warm it up, but...”

“That’s quite alright, Miss Rosenberg.” The vamp’s face relaxed into a smile. “I quite appreciate it. Especially since the cretin won’t step close enough for me to have some of the real thing.”

He sent a glare in Xander’s direction, then turned his smile back on the two witches. One glimpse of what the two girls were capable of together, and he had quickly determined that it was in his best interests to be charming to them rather than threatening. He still shuddered slightly when he thought about the ball of fire they’d sent in his direction the first time he lunged at them. Since then, he’d gone out of his way to be polite and friendly – or as friendly as a fledgling vampire could be when surrounded by food sources he was unable to reach.

Willow smiled and poured the blood into a mug then walked closer to the vampire, halting just out of reach. Rolling his eyes in irritation, the younger version of Spike retreated to the other side of the pole he was chained to, following the protocol that had been worked out for feeding him. Giving him an apologetic smile, Willow quickly moved forward and deposited the mug on the floor where he could reach it. When she had scooted back out of arm’s reach, Spike swaggered back and picked up the mug.

“I’m not stupid enough to eat the person who feeds me, you know,” he grumbled as he sipped the pigs blood and made his usual face at it.

At Xander’s loud scoff, he grinned and admitted, “at least not while I’m chained up in this unpleasant place.”

Willow walked back over to where Giles was thumbing through the many manuals he’d found to ask, “Have you found anything that will help us get Buffy and Spike back yet?”

The older man shook his head and took off his glasses to rub his eyes wearily.

“No, my knowledge of technology is sadly lacking when it comes to the sort of physics that seems to be involved here. I think I may have narrowed down the number of manuals that apply to that device, but they are not clear about how one is to use it. I’m afraid we are not going to be able to do anything until Riley gets back in town.”

“Can I look at them?” Willow asked. Where a couple of years ago, she would have hesitated to question an adult, the confidence she’d gained through her relationship with Tara and their advancing skills with magic left her more than willing to show off her own knowledge of physics and technology and she reached eagerly for the books.

Giles started to frown at her, then remembered that the pretty redhead in front of him had almost perfect SATs and had been offered scholarships to several top universities as well as a post high school position with a major computer firm. He nodded his head and pushed the ones he’d identified as pertaining to the machine in her direction.

“By all means, Willow. Please see if you can decipher these and find some operating instructions. In the meantime, I will try to contact Riley and see if he can return sooner than expected.”

Leaving the books to the witches, he stretched and walked around the large area, finding his way back to the empty room into which his slayer and her vampire slaying partner had vanished. He was turning away when something caught his eye and he looked intently into the dark room struggling to see the glinting object. When he located it, he grabbed a nearby push broom and extended it into the room, hooking the object on the bristles and pulling it up the slippery metal floor until he could safely reach it.

When he realized what he was holding in his hand, he blanched and turned back to the computer expert at the desk.

“Willow,” he asked, holding out his hand, “what does this appear to be?”

“Um,” she glanced casually at his hand and then away, “it’s some kind of a chip, Giles. There are probably lots of them around here. What’s so special about this one?”

“The fact that I found it on the floor of the room where we last saw Spike and Buffy,” he said, closing his hand around it tightly.

“Oh, well, then, it’s probably just Spi—oh my God!” her wide eyes flew to meet the watcher’s. “It’s probably Spike’s!”

Xander rushed to the desk to look at the innocuous looking piece of silicone and metal in Giles’ hand.

“Spike is chipless? Buffy is trapped somewhere with Spike and he can kill again? This is soooo not of the good,” he groaned.

“You don’t think he’ll...hurt...her, do you, Giles?” Willow asked anxiously. “I mean I know he’s evil and all that, but...it’s Buffy...and...Spike...and they...”

“They fight like cats and dogs, Will,” Xander said.

“He isn’t going to harm Buffy,” Giles said firmly. “I don’t believe that and neither do either of you.”

Willow and Tara nodded their heads, unable to disagree with the watcher’s assessment. They would have had to be blind not to recognize the tension between Spike and Buffy that they channeled into their constant bickering and sarcasm.

“I don’t see how you can say that,” Xander began indignantly. “He’s a vampire, she’s the Slayer, they hate each other and they....” He gave in with a sigh. “Oh shit, who am I kidding? He won’t hurt her. I just hope she doesn’t stake him when she finds out.”

“What?” he blustered when Willow and Tara looked at him, smiling. “For Buffy’s sake! It’s not like I care if the bleached wonder never makes it back. I just don’t want Buffy to have to go through...”

His voice trailed off as he realized no one was listening to him anymore. He turned away muttering to himself about vampires and slayers and things that were never meant to be. When he saw the chained vamp looking at him with curiosity, he stopped muttering and really studied him.

“So, Deadboy, Jr.,” he said, moving a little closer to the wary vamp, “You’re still all about the evil insane one right now, huh?”

Spike snarled and glared at him. “If you are referring to my dark princess, she is everything to me. My salvation, the fount of my existence. I cannot imagine what could possibly have made me leave her side for this ‘Buffy’ person you seem to think the Spike you know would not kill if he could.”

“Well, probably that Chaos demon she—“

“Xander!” Giles’ voice thundered across the room and the boy jumped guiltily. The watcher had made it very clear that they were not to tell this younger version of Spike any more than they absolutely had to about where and when he was – and nothing about his future beyond what he could surmise from their original unguarded conversations about Spike and Buffy.

Giles was clinging to a faint hope that they could get Buffy and Spike back from where they were with a minimum of disruption to their time line, and sending Spike back ignorant of his future was an important part of that plan. They still had no idea if he had come from another dimension or from their own 19th century past and therefore no idea how or if his presence was going to change their own lives.

“What Chaos demon?” the vampire demanded, rising to his feet with his fists clenched. He always forgave Drusilla her infidelity with Angelus, knowing the sire/childe bond was one in which he should not interfere no matter how angry it made him. But to hear the irritating human imply that his ripe, wicked plum would be so cruel as to...

When Xander just shrugged and walked away, Spike sat back down telling himself the human was just looking for a way to provoke him. As much as he wanted to know more about his future, and the world he was in now, he was perfectly happy to leave that particular line of questioning completely alone.

Chapter Fifteen

Buffy awoke to the feel of Spike’s cool fingers gently stroking the skin on her arm and she opened her eyes to see him staring at the ceiling, not even aware of what he was doing. That he would touch her in such a gentle, absent-minded way when he was obviously thinking about something else, and when he thought she was asleep and unaware of it, told her all she needed to know about her safety around the unchipped vampire.

Although, the fact that I woke up all alive and breathing after sleeping in his arms, pretty much says he meant what he said about never hurting me. If he wanted to kill me, while I was sleeping on top of him would have been a good time for it.

“Good morning,” she said softly, so as not to startle him out of his deep thoughts.

He immediately turned his head to smile at her and drop a kiss on her forehead.

“Good morning, love. No more dreams?”

“Nope, not a one. Not even one about Brad Pitt, damn it...”

Spike’s growl made her giggle and poke him.

“Not much for humor in the morning, are you?” she teased.

“Didn’t hear anything particularly funny, Slayer,” he rumbled, but the faint smile on his face told her he knew she was kidding. “But I’ve got to say, if it’s a choice between Angelus and that wimpy movie whelp, I guess I’d rather you were dreaming about a willing shag with him than a....” He stopped and glanced down at her again.

“That WAS what last night’s dream was about again, wasn’t it?” He frowned down at her. “I want to hear it, Buffy. We’ve got to suss this out. I need to know how much danger you might be in-“

“Hey! My dreams to the contrary, I AM a fully functional slayer. I’ve kicked Angelus’ ass before, and I’ll do it again if I have to.”

“Didn’t mean to imply you couldn’t or wouldn’t, Slayer,” he said in a placating manner. “Just want to have your back and to do that I need to know what I’m dealing with.”

Buffy sat up, blushing at his smile of approval when she didn’t try to pull the sheet up to cover herself. Starting at the beginning, when she couldn’t sense him anywhere and admitting, shame-faced, how terrifying that was, she recited the whole nightmare. When she got to the part where Angelus flinched back from her neck and roared his displeasure about whatever prevented him from biting her, she was surprised to see Spike’s eyes widen in shock. She stopped and looked at him questioningly, but he shook his head and gestured for her to continue.

She tried to remember Angelus’ exact words as he faced his grandchilde while holding a naked Buffy by the arm. When she came to Darla’s flinging her aside and her inability to come to his aid as they ripped into him, tears filled her eyes and she stopped to throw her arms around him again and whisper apologetically, “I couldn’t move, Spike. I wanted to help you and I couldn’t move again. I’m s-so sorry.”

He wrapped his arms around her, murmuring soothingly, “Shh, pet. It’s okay. It was just a dream. Know that’s not you, don’t I? Know you’d never leave a...friend...like that. Not my Slayer. It didn’t happen, sweetheart, and I can’t imagine it ever will. You’re getting yourself all wound up about nothing.”

When Buffy had stopped sniffling and sat up straight again, he looked at her sternly.

“That doesn’t mean we don’t need to suss out why you keep dreaming that you can’t fight Angelus off, or even why the miserable bastard is around again. Did you say in the latest dream we were back in our time?”

Buffy nodded her head. “Yes, we were definitely us. They were wearing modern clothes, and Angelus knew who I was and he...he called me ‘lover’ like he did before when he lost his soul. But Darla was there, and she’s been dust for almost four years!”

“Let’s leave the tart out of it for a minute, and concentrate on the other two. You say Dru was there again? What did she do?”

“Just danced around babbling about how I didn’t tell you something or other and you went away because you thought I didn’t...oh, who knows? She was wrong, anyway, because you did come for me.”

“Always will, love,” he said almost absently as he mulled over her words. “And the big poof said as soon as he killed me, he could have you? Is that right?”

“Yeah – he was all ‘you won’t be protected anymore’ or something like that. Do you know what it means?”

“Maybe,” was the careful reply. “That’s not the important thing right now. We need to concentrate on the things that have been the same in every dream.”

He ticked them off on his fingers, “Peaches without his soul, Dru drifting around but not doing anything but talking to you about me, the blonde whore somehow back in the mix, and you not able to move to defend yourself. That about it?”

“That and the fact that Angelus apparently plans to rape and turn me – although so far, that hasn’t happened. You always seem to show up and get yourself trashed trying to save me.”

She smiled at him with gratitude, then frowned and added, “Which, I would not like to have happen, by the way. I’m just beginning to appreciate this body; I really don’t want it all torn up.”

She grinned wickedly and ran a hand down his muscular chest to his flat abdomen, giggling at the tent that immediately rose in the sheet covering his hips and legs.

He grabbed her hand and put it on his covered erection, growling softly, “Neither do I, love. But just in case, feel free to start appreciating it right now...”

Buffy gave him a little squeeze, which brought a groan and caused the vampire’s eyes to darken as he reached for her. Before they could take it any further, they heard Molly knocking on Buffy’s door, then opening it and entering the room. With a sigh, Spike released her hand and kissed her quickly.

“Bloody servants, thinking they know when we should be getting out of bed,” he grumbled, tossing Buffy’s nightgown to her and pulling his own shirt over his head quickly.

By the time Molly left Buffy’s empty bedroom and knocked timidly on the door to Spike’s, they were both covered and Buffy was out of bed. With another quick kiss, Buffy walked to the door and opened it, joining the startled girl in the hallway.

“Good morning, Molly,” she said cheerfully. “Did we oversleep again? I think we’ll just leave William to nap a little longer while you and I plan our day.”

As she spoke, she was leading a confused Molly back to her own room and pulling open the curtains to let in the late morning sunshine. She distracted the girl with a flurry of questions about what she was going to wear and where she might be going that afternoon until the servant almost forgot that the master of the house was sound asleep in a dark room at 10:30 in the morning.

Spike slept until the early afternoon, joining Buffy then for an early supper and wandering freely around the east side of the house where there were no rays of sunshine to worry about. He spent the rest of the afternoon setting the groundwork for any possible sudden disappearances by the newly married couple, knowing that the watcher would be doing whatever he could to bring them back to their own time.

He also made sure that Mrs. Barstow and the barrister had met and that she understood that he would be handling the household finances in Spike’s absence.

“So, I’m to understand that you and Mrs. Sinclair do not intend to remain in this house for long?” Cook inquired with a trace of disapproval.

“No, I’m afraid that won’t be possible, Cook,” William replied. “While I certainly appreciate your coming out of retirement to take care of us, I do not want to impose on you any longer than necessary. When we leave, it will be just as it was before. I would like you to check on the house occasionally, perhaps have George send a crew to keep the gardens tidy, and see that it is kept in good repair.

“Mr. Saint-John will see that there are always funds available for upkeep and to repay you for your time and efforts. The house will remain in our possession, but we may, at some future time, rent it out in which case Mr. Saint- John will find a rental agent to handle things and you may retire completely.”

“Very good, master William. We will be sorry to see you go – especially Molly. She has become quite fond of your bride.”

“She’s a good girl, Cook. Buffy is very fond of her also. If it were possible to take her with us when we leave, I am sure she would want to do so. However, our lives are somewhat... unconventional, and it would not be in Molly’s best interest for us to take her. Please be sure she understands that, if we, for some reason, do not have a chance to say our farewells to her.”

“And why would that be?” Cook took advantage of her position as someone who had known him since he was a child to tap her foot and demand an explanation for such a potential lack of courtesy.

William shook his head, wishing he’d thought a little further ahead before beginning the conversation.

“I don’t know that it will. Certainly I would hope that we would have time before we have to leave to do it in a proper manner. But, the possibility exists that we may find ourselves leaving quite suddenly, with little time for packing or saying good-byes and if that happens, I want you to be prepared for the possibility. I have left letters with Mr. St. John for each of you, which he will distribute if it should happen that Mrs. Sinclair and I find ourselves unable to pay our respects before returning to her country.”

He could tell the old family retainer wanted to ask more questions, but her respect for their respective social positions kept her from pursuing the strange conversation and she simply nodded her head and went back to work preparing their supper.

When Mrs. Barstow had left for the evening, taking Molly with her for a night off, Buffy and Spike quickly changed into their patrolling clothes and slipped out of the house. They strolled through several cemeteries, dusting one newly risen fledgling before he even had time to figure out what he was. They were starting toward home when Spike hissed and touched Buffy’s arm.

“They’re around somewhere, pet,” he whispered.

“I feel him,” she said shortly, casting her Slayers senses around trying to find the location from which Angelus’ signature was coming.

“Not close by,” Spike said softly, “but somewhere around.”

“That’s not all I feel,” Buffy growled. “You need to give me some room – I think I’m about to get some exercise.”

“Got your back, Slayer. Have fun.”

Spike faded into the shadows as Buffy waited for the vampires she could feel approaching. He smiled as she rolled her shoulders and stretched while waiting for the first vampire to step forward.

“So, dead and smelly, are we going to do this?”

The vampire stared at her in confusion. “Do what? I’m a vampire, you’re food. Food doesn’t talk, it screams.”

“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Buffy. The Vampire Slayer? And you are....dust!” she finished as the onrushing vampire impaled himself on her stake.

The other newly-made minions that were with him, paused and looked at each other in confusion. No one had told them about Slayers – the two older vamps who’d sired them simply told them to go find the two people they'd described and to kill or capture the girl. Deciding their companion’s dusting was an accident, they rushed the petite woman facing them, only to be met with a whirling dervish whose feet and fists caused damage all out of proportion to her size.

Spike watched in admiration as she whirled, punched, kicked, staked and spun her way through the small group of vampires. When the last one was dust floating away from the point of her stake, she finally stood still and looked in the direction from which the minions had come.

“Hey, Angelus,” she shouted, “I hear Paris is very nice this time of year. You should think about it.”

The trace of Angel’s signature that she’d felt before was gone so quickly she wasn’t sure she hadn’t imagined it was there. She turned to Spike for confirmation and he was laughing so hard he couldn’t talk to her at first.

“What?” Buffy asked innocently. “Was I too subtle?”

“You were amazing, pet,” he gasped, picking her up and twirling her around. “Damn, I love you!”

The minute the words left his lips, he wanted to bite them back. The shocked expression on her face telling him more than he wanted to know about her reaction.

“You...you what me?” Her voice was barely a squeak as she stared down at his mortified face.

“Just a heat of the moment outburst, Slayer,” he backpedaled quickly, setting her back down on the ground and moving away. “Doesn’t really mean anything. Jus’ got a little over-excited by the way you handled the situation.”

“Oh,” she said, smothering the disappointment she didn’t want to acknowledge feeling. “Well, it’s nice to know you enjoyed the show.”

They began walking again, maintaining a physical distance that was as uncomfortable as was the silence between them.

Bollocks! Not that I’m not sure it’s probably true, but it’s too soon to let her know. Now I’ve scared her. I’ll never learn to keep my big mouth shut.

Okay, he says he didn’t mean it. Of course he didn’t mean it! Vampire, evil, - okay, not so evil anymore, but still...Can’t love without a soul, right? That’s what Angel told me. But Spike loved Drusilla. Still does apparently. Enough not to let me slay her. So, if he loved Drusilla, he could love me. But he took it back. Said he didn’t mean it. But he acts like he loves me. Most of the time, anyway. What if he does love me? Do I want him to love me? In my dreams he must love me or he wouldn’t keep getting himself beat up for me. Is that what the dreams are telling me? That Spike loves me?


The longer Buffy trudged along in silence, the more Spike cursed himself for blurting out what he now had to admit was probably the truth. He did love her. He just hadn’t realized how much until they’d fallen into his bed and become lost in each other.

The question is, mate, how does she feel about you? Poor little chit’s never had a real man make love to her. Could be all she’s feeling is normal, healthy lust. Just cause she’s enjoying some new experiences doesn’t mean she’s gonna forget what I am or what happened to her the last time she loved a vampire.

They were still lost in their own thoughts when Spike realized they were approaching the spot where they were deposited so unceremoniously several nights before. He touched Buffy’s arm briefly and when she turned to see what he wanted, he said, “This is the place we landed, pet. You know your watcher’s doing what he can to get us back...well, to get you back, anyway,” he admitted with a grimace.

“We should probably check here every night, just in case we have to be standing in the same spot or something like that.”

Buffy nodded her head in understanding. “You’re probably right. If we came through a portal of some sort, it makes sense it would re-open in the same place. We should check for it as often as we can, just so we don’t miss it.”

“Alright, then. That’s our new evening agenda. Go out, check portal, patrol, check portal, go home. Maybe we can find some layabout to pay to keep an eye on the spot for us in the daytime. Have to talk to George about that tomorrow.”

By the time they reached the house, they were almost comfortable with each other again, and both were hoping the awkwardness between them was gone for good. Those hopeful thoughts lasted until they had made their way upstairs and found themselves standing irresolutely between the two bedrooms.

“Buffy-“

“Spike-“

They laughed nervously, and looked away from each other like shy teenagers.

“Bloody hell!” Spike’s explosive epithet broke the impasse. “I don’t want you to sleep alone tonight, Buffy. I can’t take back what I said. It’s out there and you heard it. But if it’s going to keep you away from me...”

“I...I don’t want to sleep alone,” she said softly.

“Then why are we standing in the hall here like idiots? Grab that ridiculous nightie and get your delectable arse in my room. I’ll give you five minutes.”

“Or what?” she challenged.

“Or...or...or I’ll have to wait longer for you, I guess,” he admitted with a resigned shrug.

When Buffy appeared in his doorway several minutes later, hairbrush in hand and voluminous nightgown on, he shook his head at her and said casually, “When we get back, I’m taking you lingerie shopping. I don’t ever want to see that tent again.”

Silence fell between them again as each thought back to their lives in Sunnydale and wondered how they were going to reconcile their new relationship with the expectations waiting for them there. Buffy winced as she remembered that she actually already had a boyfriend. One who, she was sure, was not going to take very well the news that she’d been living with Spike. Spike remembered the same boyfriend, and her demon-hating friends and wondered what she was going to tell them about their stay in Merry Old England.

Shaking off his fears as something to worry about if and when it appeared that they were on their way back, he walked over to her and took the hair brush. He gently pushed her down on the bed, got behind her, and began carefully brushing her silky hair. Buffy sighed and relaxed into the sensually soothing motions. When she leaned back against his chest, he dropped the brush and began to nuzzle her neck.

“Mmmmmmm” she murmured, turning her head around so he could kiss her more easily. He put his arms around her and pulled her into his lap where she could feel his growing erection against her cheeks. Sliding his hand under the gown and into her warmth, he noticed that she was already wet. He groaned in wonder at her responsiveness.

“You are so hot, baby. So wonderfully warm and tight. Want you so much,” he breathed into her ear as he teased her with his fingers. “Love the way you get wet for me. Need to feel you...” Without turning her around, he lifted her up and brought her down carefully onto his waiting shaft.

“Is that alright, love?” he murmured in to her ear, running his hands up to cup her breasts. “Doesn’t hurt you like this, does it?”

Lost in the multiple sensations of his fingers working her breasts and clit at the same time and his thick shaft filling her channel, Buffy could only shake her head and whimper. Spike pulled the nightgown over her head and rested his chin on her shoulder. He felt her muscles tighten around him as his attention to her clit brought her quickly to an edge. With nowhere to put her hands in that position, she reached behind and wrapped them around Spike’s head, playing with the soft curls at the nape of his neck. She arched her body as he began to move his hips gently, nudging her toward her first orgasm of the night.

“Open your eyes, love,” he whispered in her ear and she obeyed to find herself reflected in the mirror. Her eyes were glazed with lust and her body was arching backwards as she spread her legs to allow Spike greater access.

“Look how pretty you are, sweetheart. Like little rosy petals, all open for me. Look at yourself, Buffy. You’re beautiful.”

Buffy was torn between embarrassment and fascination as he urged her to watch herself having sex with an invisible man. She could see her rosy little nubbin flatten out, then spring up again as his fingers manipulated it. She tried to watch her face as she fell over the edge into a shuddering orgasm, but her eyes went shut of their own volition as though her body refused to be distracted from the sensations ripping through her body.

Without withdrawing from her clenching walls, the vampire managed to turn her around so that he could lay her down on the bed and cover her with his own body. She immediately wrapped her arms and legs around him, holding his emotion-filled eyes with hers as she let her body say the words she couldn’t allow herself to think.

Before she had completely recovered from the first orgasm, Buffy found herself spiraling up again to join him as he pounded into her until his own release left him shaking and clinging to the girl beneath him. The hope inspired by the look in her eyes as she clung to him lent another level of intensity to the powerful feelings sweeping through him as he emptied himself into her welcoming depths.

When he had stopped shaking with the intensity of his orgasm, and Buffy was breathing almost normally again, he reluctantly rolled off of her and reached for the bedding. He covered them up and pulled her into his arms, curling himself around her warm body and purring as he let sleep take him.

Chapter Sixteen

“H—Hi, Riley,” Tara stammered as the big ex-soldier stormed into the make-shift research area the Scoobies had set up near the mysterious little room.

“Where are they?” he demanded, glaring around to emphasize his displeasure with being left out of the loop for so many days. “Are they back yet?”

As soon as Giles had reached him in Iowa to say that Buffy was missing due to a mishap at the Initiative, he had promised to come back and offer whatever assistance he could. When, at the conclusion of the conversation, he’d overheard Willow in the background talking about SPIKE and Buffy’s whereabouts, he demanded Giles tell him the whole story. In less than a hour, he was headed back to Sunnydale, having talked his way onto an army transport plane heading west.

Riley looked around the large, hanger-like area. He vaguely recognized it as one of the experimental rooms, but it had not been part of his operation so he wasn’t really sure what he was seeing. He walked around the room/device into which Buffy had disappeared, trying to remember what he’d heard about its purpose and abilities.

Eventually, he spotted the chained vampire leaning against his pole and walked over to stare at him. In spite of the light brown curls and unusual clothes, recognition soon filled his eyes and he reached for a nearby stake.

“Whoa there, big guy!” Xander grabbed his arm. “What’re you doing?”

“What’s it look like I’m doing? I’m going to make this... thing... tell us where Buffy is.”

Spike had risen to his feet, a gleam in his eye as he realized the newly arrived human might actually be stupid enough to step close to him. He bounced on his toes, completely unconcerned about the man’s size or the wood in his hand.

“Uh, Riley, that’s not Spike. I mean, it IS Spike, but it’s not our Spike. This one isn’t chipped and he’s already told us what we need to know about where Buffy is. We just don’t know how to get her back.”

“Then why is he still here? If he’s served his purpose, there is no reason to keep him around...unless you are planning to bring Spike back with Buffy?” His tone expressed his opinion of that idea.

“That was the plan,” Giles said dryly. “They were pulled into the portal together, I would assume it is important that they come back that way. Hence the presence of our less-than-pleasant friend over there.”

“I beg your pardon!” Spike complained loudly, “I’ve been more than pleasant. For a vampire who’s been chained up and fed pig slop by a secretive bunch of wankers who won’t answer any of MY questions, I think I’ve been a paragon of pleasantness!”

“What’s with the accent?” Riley asked, glaring at the young vamp glowering back at him.

“It seems like old Spikie wasn’t quite the bad boy he told us he was before he was turned. According to Giles, William, here is a veddy upper crusty Englishman. What our Spike would call a ‘nancy-boy’.”

“Take these chains off and I’ll show you a ‘nancy-boy’,” the vampire muttered, not really expecting Xander to acknowledge the threat. To his surprise, the new arrival stepped closer, saying, “Bring it on, William the Bloody. I’d like nothing better than a good excuse to kick your ass.”

Spike snarled and leaped to the end of his chain, narrowly missing Riley’s face with his claws as he slipped into game face. In spite of himself, the larger man flinched back in the face of an enraged, fully functional vampire. The possibly bloody or dusty ending to the situation was averted by the Watcher’s dry tones from the research area.

“As entertaining as it may be, baiting the vampire, it might be more useful if Riley were to help us wade through the manuals for the instructions to this device.”

“Of course,” Riley was immediately contrite. “the important thing is to get Buffy back, we can dispose of the vampires later.”

Tara and Willow exchanged raised eyebrows at the ex-commando’s terminology and his use of the plural, but they didn’t say anything, just moved over to make room for him around the large table.

With Riley and Willow discussing the physics involved in transporting living things through time and space, and Giles filling him in on what they had determined about the probable date and time to which Buffy and Spike had been sent, Xander and Tara were left to their own devices. Xander went off to look for more discarded weapons. He was having a wonderful time using his army memories from an earlier Halloween to identify the guns he was accumulating.

Tara walked closer to the now-quiet vampire and smiled timidly at him.

“It’s alright, pretty lady,” he said calmly, “I’m not going to bite you. I don’t fancy having your fiery-haired friend turn me into a toad or something equally disgusting.”

Tara smiled again apologetically. “It’s just...it’s hard to remember sometimes that we have to stay away from you, you know? You are so much like our Spike in some ways, and so not like him in others.”

“So, what does ‘your Spike’ think of that wanker?” he asked, nodding toward the large man leaning over the table of books. “Don’t tell me they’re friends too?”

“Uh, no. I’m pretty sure they don’t like each other very much ...I mean what with the whole Buffy and Spike being engaged thing, and--”

“Engaged? I get engaged to a Slayer!” The vampire’s horror was palpable and Tara giggled before she answered.

“Well, not really, it was just a spell. Only lasted a day or so. But...”

“But?”

“But I think Spike is...very fond...of Buffy now. And she...she depends on him for...stuff. Stuff that Riley can’t do anymore. So, it’s kind of uncomfortable for everybody when they...”

The vampire smiled in genuine delight.

“So the overgrown constable is jealous of me? That’s just delicious.”

He sank back against his pole, smiling happily to himself as he watched the humans poring over the manuals.

“I-it probably wouldn’t be a g-good idea to mention that in front of Riley,” Tara stammered. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Spike blinked at her in amazement, tilting his head to study her blushing face.

“I’m not him, you know,” he said quietly.

“I know, but you will be. And he’s...he’s my friend.”

“I’m sure he is, pet. If I wasn’t evil and hungry, I might be your friend too.”

Tara smiled at him softly. “I can’t do anything about your evilness, but I could get you a mug of blood if you’re hungry.”

“I’d appreciate that, luv.”

******************

The time passed quickly for Buffy and Spike, now that they had settled into a routine. Buffy passed lazy days reading in the garden when London’s less than sunny climate permitted it; shopping for dresses she doubted she would have the time to wear before going back to Sunnydale, and taking Molly with her so that she could roam London during the day and visit some of the places Spike took her to at night.

In the evenings, after enjoying one of Mrs. Barstow’s good meals, they waited for Molly to fall asleep, or to leave with her aunt if it was her night off, and then changed into patrolling clothes to go out on the dark streets and search for something to keep Buffy’s skills sharp and Spike’s need for violence satisfied. They finished each patrol with a walk to the spot they hoped to see a portal open and after waiting impatiently for awhile, continued home to end the night with creative and passionate love making.

Spike never bit her after his unintentional lapse the first time. Although Buffy secretly nurtured the hope that he would forget himself and do it again, he was carefully to remain in his human face and limit his biting to nibbles of her lower lip and neck. Neither of them mentioned his slip of the tongue when he said he loved her, tacitly agreeing to pretend it never happened.

Angelus made no more appearances, and Buffy hoped he’d taken her advice and gone to another country, taking his two consorts with him. A week or more of the routine nights and days, uninterrupted by Slayer dreams or actual visits from the older vampires allowed Buffy to become so comfortable with their new life that she began to wonder if she really wanted to go back to Sunnydale and her responsibilities there.

As she prepared to sleep after another night of prowling London’s cemeteries, followed by a bout of mind-blowing sex with Spike, she mentally scolded herself for not being more concerned about her watcher and friends and family back in Sunnydale. With a sigh, she resigned herself to the importance of getting back home and letting Giles figure out the meaning of the dreams. She snuggled in next to Spike, grateful for his comforting presence that seemed to be keeping them at bay and vowed to make more visits to the portal site.

*****************************

Buffy woke up wondering what time it was and why Molly hadn’t come to wake her up yet. Even with the heavy drapes pulled, she could tell it was well into the day. She turned her head and nuzzled the velvety skin on Spike chest, marveling at how soft it felt over the hard muscle underneath. She stuck out her tongue and ran it lightly around the flat nipple in front of her face, smiling when it hardened into a point.

Glancing down the bed, she could see the sheet tented over Spike’s morning erection and, after sneaking a look at his face to see if he was still asleep, she slowly moved the sheet aside until she could see the cool pale column rising over his stomach. She wriggled down the bed until she was facing the object of her curiosity.

Taking another quick glance at the sleeping vampire’s face, she ran her tongue up the length of him, then around the tip. She giggled softly when his hips arched up and he moaned under his breath. She teased him some more, running her tongue under his foreskin and dipping it into the tiny opening there, tasting him and planting open-mouthed kisses on it.

She felt the vampire shudder and suddenly his hand was on her head as he said, “Don’t be startin’ something you’re not planning to finish there, pet.”

Startled, she sat up quickly, blushing all over.

“I’m sorry,” she gasped. “I thought you were asleep!”

“You expected me to sleep through that? What the hell do you think I am, woman? I’m dead – not buried. And what do you mean, you’re sorry?”

“I don’t...I mean, I know, I shouldn’t...and I’m not very good at...I just wanted to...I thought I’d try...”

Buffy stopped, blushing so hard he was afraid she would burst a blood vessel.

“If you want to, love, do it. Not going to hear any objections from me. DO you want to, Buffy?” he asked curiously.

“Well, I don’t really know how...I mean I tried once, but Riley told me I wasn’t doing it right.” At Spike’s gobsmacked expression, she hastily went on, “but he said it was okay that I didn’t know how to do it because only...only a whore would actually WANT to do that. And he didn’t expect me to be very good at it and I—“

Spike’s snarl split the morning air, and she flinched back from the flashing amber eyes. She watched in fascination as the vampire visibly forced himself to calm down. When his beautiful human face was back and William was looking at her with sad eyes, she finally let out the breath she’d been unconsciously holding.

“I’m sorry, love,” he said gently, touching her face with his fingers. “I didn’t mean to scare you, I just can’t believe that bloody fool would say something like that to you.”

“I’m sure he was just trying to make me feel better about it,” she said in defense of her boyfriend.

“Stupid git,” he muttered. “Is offered a gift and doesn’t know what to do with it. “

“That’s why I thought I’d just...when you were asleep...so you wouldn’t know I was...I mean, not that you’d care if I’m not a nice girl. I mean, evil vampire and all, but...am I babbling again?”

“Yes, you are, darling. But it’s adorable. Now look at me and listen carefully.” He took her chin in his hand and looked into her worried eyes.

“There is nothing two people do together, or do to or for each other, that is wrong or dirty or evil or any other adjective that arse might have used to try to smother the wonderful passion you have inside you. Not if they’re both willing and nobody’s being hurt by it.

“Don’t ever be afraid to ask me if you want to try something new or different. And if you think for one minute that waking up to find your hot little mouth on me is something you need to apologize for...” He shook his head, completely lost for words to express the insanity of that idea.

“So,” she said, recovering her usual cheekiness, “you don’t mind if I practice on you?”

He laughed and dropped back onto the bed. “Practice away, pet. I’ll let you know when you get to perfect.”

He smothered a grin at the determined look on her face as she said, “I’m going to learn to do this right, if it kills me. You’ll tell me if I’m doing it right, won’t you?”

“I’m pretty sure you can count on that, love. I’m not known for being silent when—ahhh!” He stopped talking when her soft, heated lips closed over the head of his cock and she swirled her tongue around it. Encouraged by the involuntary movement of his hips, she moved her mouth down the shaft as far as she could without triggering her gag reflex.

Spike's gasps, hisses and moans were all the encouragement she needed to begin an inexpert, but enthusiastic bobbing up and down on him, sucking in her cheeks as she came up each time. By the time she had established a good rhythm, the vampire was babbling a stream of praise and encouragement for her efforts and she concluded that the only thing wrong with her performance with Riley was the object of her attentions.

“Oh god, baby, like that, yessss, oh jesus, don’t stop, love, please baby, oh god, sweet jesus, bloody buggering fuck!” When she opened her throat and took him all the way in, he surged off the bed chanting her name over and over. “Buffy, Buffy, Buffy....”

She was holding his balls in one hand as she supported his cock with the other and she felt them tighten under her hand. Correctly assuming he was about to explode, she shook her head when he frantically tried to pull her off, redoubling her efforts until she heard him roar her name and felt his milky spendings hit the back of her throat. She swallowed quickly, the flexing of her throat muscles pulling even more from the incoherent vampire as he continued to arch into her mouth until he collapsed on the bed.

Buffy felt a jolt of purely feminine pride when she took in the euphoric look on his slack face and she sat up with a smile.

Take that, Riley Finn! she thought with satisfaction as one sparkling blue eye came open and looked at her with adoration.

“Come here, you,” he growled softly, pulling her into his arms and burying his face in her neck. Her long hair tickled his nose as he breathed in and out, inhaling her scent and enjoying the feel of her warm body on his.

“You know that was absolutely amazing, don’t you?” he asked when he could talk again. “I don’t know who that bleeding idiot was talking about, but it sure as hell wasn’t you.”

“So, it was ok?” she inquired teasingly. “I did it right?”

“Think you could say that, love. I don’t want to call you a liar, but there’s no way you--”

“I think I was inspired,” she whispered into his neck, embarrassed to let him see her face as she admitted how much she enjoyed knowing she was giving him that much pleasure.

He couldn’t speak. He wrapped both arms around her tightly and hoped some of what he was feeling would be understandable from the way he was clinging to her. He knew if he opened his mouth, “I love you” was going to fall out of it again and he didn’t want to ruin the moment.

They lay together like that for a long time, the temporarily satiated vampire holding her tightly and lightly caressing her back; the vampire slayer draped over his body, her face buried in his neck. She wrinkled her nose as the smell of the shoe polish he’d been using to cover his platinum hair competed with his own unique scent.

Eventually, nature called and Buffy reluctantly squirmed until he let go of her so that she could sit up.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he growled.

“I’m going to pee,” she said primly, standing up and grabbing her nightgown. “And then I’m going to go look for Molly. It’s got to be late, I don’t understand why she didn’t come and wake me. She knows I’ve got a lot to do today to get ready for that party tonight.”

Spike gave a groan at the reminder that they were expected at the Saint-John residence that evening for a social event.

“Should never have told that bloody wanker he could throw a party for us,” he grumbled. “If I wanted to see any of those people again, I’d of turned ‘em and let them be minions.”

“Don’t you want to show off your new wife?” she asked tossing her head? “Or are you ashamed of me?”

He was off the bed so fast she was very grateful he wasn’t still planning to kill her.

“There isn’t one of those overfed snobs that can hold a candle to you. And don’t you forget it, missy.”

“Okaaay. Hit a nerve there. Should be a fun evening. I can’t wait.”

Spike snorted, “Oh yeah, lot’s of fun.”

By the time Buffy had finished in the bathroom, Spike was already downstairs drinking his blood in the study and frowning in thought.

“What’s up?” she asked, coming up behind him to run her tongue into his ear and suck on his earlobe.

“What’s usually up when you start doing things like that,” he grinned at her, jarred out of his thoughts.

At Buffy’s, “Have you seen Molly?” his frown came back and he shook his head.

“No, and neither has Mrs. Barstow. No one has seen her since she went out with her girlfriend last night. The other girl is missing too.”

Buffy blanched. “You don’t think....?”

“I don’t think anything, pet,” he tried to soothe her. “She’s young and you’ve been letting her be more of a friend than a servant. She’ll know her aunt will be furious, but she probably thinks you won’t say anything. Maybe they met a couple of attractive blokes and are afraid to come home after staying out all night. Mrs. Barstow has someone else coming in to help you get dressed for tonight. After the party, we’ll go looking for Molly if she hasn’t turned up by then.”

“Promise?”

“Yes, love, I promise. Now go do whatever it is women do to get ready for parties that don’t start for hours.”

“Yes sir, hubby, sir,” she giggled at him as she saluted in mock obedience.

“Don’t get smart with me, woman,” he glowered back at her. “Don’t forget in this era you’re just another one of my possessions.”

“Is that so?” she asked saucily. “So I’m yours, huh? Hah! You wish!”

She flounced out of the room, not seeing the look on his face as he whispered, “You have no idea how much I wish that were true, Buffy. No idea at all.”


Between Willow’s brains and Riley’s knowledge of the Initiative and it’s projects, they were finally able to narrow down the manuals to the one with the instructions for the “matter transferring” device, as it was referred to. Hours and days of reading through and comparing possible ways of interpreting the technical jargon later, and they felt they were ready for a trial run.

It was Tara who suggested they try sending back something Spike or Buffy would recognize if they happened to be nearby when it came through. But it was the vampire chained away from the group who said calmly, “Why don’t you send them a message? Tell them when you will be turning it on again so they can be ready.”

All eyes turned to him in astonishment.

“What? You think I WANT to stay here in this underground hell-hole, chained up, fed cold, disgusting animal blood, and not knowing where or when my dark princess is? I’m just saying...”

“Actually, William, that is quite a good idea,” Giles said quickly before anyone could tell the vampire to shut up.

He immediately tore a large sheet of paper off the flip chart they’d been tracking their ideas on and wrote in large letters, “24 hours. Be ready.” Willow took the marker from his hand and added underneath, “We miss you.” She blushed and said, “Well, it’s true isn’t it? They might be having a good time and not want to come home. I just thought I’d remind them they have friends here.”

“Would you quit referring to Buffy and that vampire as ‘they’!” Riley growled. “We’re getting Buffy back – if the neutered monster has to come with her...well, there’s always a down side. It doesn’t mean anybody misses him.”

The Scoobies exchanged looks, but no one bothered to contradict the already annoyed man. They just shrugged and made plans to send the message so it would arrive in London sometime during the night.


Chapter Seventeen

As Buffy descended the stairs, Spike stared at the woman he was escorting to the party that evening and marveled. The maid that Cook had managed to find on short notice was a former personal maid to a member of the peerage and she knew exactly how to get the most out of the few dressy items that Buffy had purchased.

Her golden hair was piled on top of her head, with just a few curly tendrils framing her face and drawing attention to her graceful neck. The dress was a soft moss green that went beautifully with the gold of her hair and her brilliant green eyes. Although Buffy still felt naked without her usual make-up, the maid had assured her that anything more than a touch of color on her cheeks would be “cheap” and she had to settle for biting her lips to make them pink and being grateful for her naturally dark eyelashes.

The only thing missing was any trace of jewelry. Since Buffy had been technically “working” when they’d been sucked back to this time, she had none of her own with her, and she was reluctant to dip into the few pieces belonging to Spike’s mother without his permission. As soon as the maid mentioned jewels, definitely implying that he was falling down on his responsibilities to see that his wife was properly attired, Spike pressed some coins into her hand, thanked her for her efforts, and pushed her out the door.

While Buffy stared at him in confusion, he went into his study and opened the locking drawer where he kept his blood. He stared into the drawer for a minute, then pulled out a velvet box and held it out to Buffy.

“Here,” he said gruffly, “see if you can find something you like.”

Buffy frowned at him, taking the box and turning it around before releasing the clasp. When it popped open, she gasped and almost dropped it. Sparkling on the silken lining were small, delicate diamond earrings, a silver chain with a small diamond-encrusted locket, and a set of rings, one clearly an engagement ring and the other a simple band with small diamonds across the top.

“Wha-? Where? Who? Oh my god, they’re beautiful, Spike. Where did you get them?”

“They were my mother’s,” he said quietly. “I think she would be happy to have you wear them. Even if it is only temporary,” he concluded, looking away from her awed face.

Buffy put the earrings on, then held the locket out to Spike and asked softly, “Would you put this on for me, please, William?”

With trembling hands, he fastened the necklace around her neck, leaning down to kiss her bare shoulder when he was done.

“They look lovely on you, pet. Mother would be pleased.”

Buffy stood there, awkwardly holding the box that still contained the two rings, not sure what she should do with them. The vampire noticed her confusion and took the rings out, reaching for her hand.

“Everyone is going to expect you to have a wedding ring, love. You don’t mind, do you?” he asked as he slipped the rings on her finger. The fit was perfect and their eyes met briefly as he held on to her hand long enough to plant a light kiss on her knuckles.

“There you are, Mrs. Sinclair. All properly decked out to show everybody why you married me.”

Buffy reached up and stroked his sharp cheekbones, then ran her finger over his soft lower lip. Even with his toned down hair and unneeded glasses, he cut a fine figure in his tailor-made suit that showed off his muscular legs and broad shoulders.

“I think it should be pretty obvious why I married you,” she said softly, blushing slightly.

He cupped her hand in his, turning his head to plant a kiss in her palm, smiling when her heart rate went up.

“If we don’t leave now, pet, you’re not going to make it out the door in that dress,” he growled.

Placing a light shawl on her shoulders, he put his hand in her back and guided her to the carriage waiting outside.

After an hour of smiling politely as she was introduced to men and women who were as insincere as they were boring, Buffy was ready to leave the party and go slay something. She could tell the women were eyeing her dress for any trace of cheapness, and she caught the looks at her rings when they thought she wasn’t looking.

One dark-haired matron with a gigantic chest shoved up to almost spill out of her dress, insisted on following Buffy around and asking her pointed questions about where she met William, what she knew about him, how much money he had, and, finally, asking if he ever mentioned her.

“Cecily? Cecily? No, I don’t believe he has,” Buffy responded cheerfully. “Should he have?”

“Oh,” she said with some disappointment. “Well I guess it’s understandable. I did break his heart, after all. I presume it is still painful for him.”

She beamed at Buffy, clearly expecting her to cringe at the thought that her husband might have loved someone else. She frowned when Buffy laughed merrily and said, “If I had a penny for every woman who thought my William was in love with her. But if it makes you happy to remember it that way...” She waved her hand airily and moved off to link her arms with Spike’s and smile up at him adoringly.

“What are you up to, pet?” he whispered. “That bitch wasn’t giving you a hard time, was she?”

Buffy tossed her head. “Puleeeese! “ she sniffed. “I went to high school with Cordelia Chase. I can’t be bothered trading barbs with amateurs.”

His rich laugh and the possessive arm he wrapped around Buffy spoke more loudly than anything they could have said to convince most of those watching that William had made a love match. The only ones not convinced, were the few men left alive of those that had been particularly unkind to the younger, meeker William.

While it wasn’t lost on any of the women present that William had matured while he was away and become a self-confident, attractive man, his former tormentors refused to see him as anything but the gentle poet they were accustomed to pushing around. As the evening went on and more alcohol was imbibed, old habits took over and they were soon badgering William for a poetry reading.

“You did know your husband was known as William, the Bloody Awful Poet, didn’t you, Mrs. Sinclair?” one of them asked. Buffy’s shocked look told them she didn’t, although they had no idea the real reason she looked so flabbergasted.

One look at Spike’s face told her the old insult – which it clearly was – still hurt and she found herself stepping in front of him to look up at the laughing man.

“I cannot imagine how someone with William’s gift for writing lovely sonnets could have earned a title like that. Surely you have confused my husband with someone else – perhaps someone like yourself with no appreciation for beautiful things?” She looked pointedly at the man’s jewel covered, but extremely plain wife.

“Feisty, isn’t she?” snarked a recovered Spike as he put an arm around her waist. “In addition to being drop-dead gorgeous, of course.”

While the other man’s face darkened in anger, Spike steered Buffy toward their host and hostess, telling them that they had thoroughly enjoyed themselves, but, being newlyweds, they were more than ready to go home for the evening.

Mr. Saint-John looked wistfully at Buffy as he nodded his understanding and wished them a safe ride home. He had no idea why the vampire he knew as a member of the Scourge of Europe was spending his time with a human woman, but he had to admit the man had excellent taste. During the course of the evening, Spike had mentioned to the barrister that he might be leaving soon and explained what he wanted done with the house and his retainers.

The man wisely didn’t remind him that he’d given the house to the girl at his side, just nodded and promised to continue handling Spike’s affairs as he had been before. He assumed the vampire was tiring of playing at being married to the woman and was planning to kill her or turn her and go back to his life as a vampire. He hadn’t worked for Wolfram and Hart all these years not to know when to look the other way and keep his questions to himself.

Spike left Buffy standing on the large front porch while he went to fetch their carriage, not doubting that the Slayer could take care of herself if necessary. She cast her senses around for vampires or demons, never noticing the drunk men behind her until one of them wrapped an arm around her shoulders and breathing his whiskey-soaked breath in her face said, “Fess up now, Missy. Where did William pick you up? How much is he paying you to pretend you’re married to him? I’ll match it for a couple of hours of your time,” he added, leering at her cleavage.

Buffy threw off his arm with an ease that the would-be accoster was too drunk to notice and shoved him back toward his friends.

“If I were you, I’d get lost before William gets back,” she gritted out through clenched teeth. As much as she wanted to punch the man’s face in, she knew that was completely beyond the pall for Victorian ladies and she really didn’t want to embarrass Spike in front of these bullies.

The angry man, charged toward her, his weight carrying them both into the railing and sending Buffy’s good intentions right out the window. Bringing her knee up, she sent him gasping to the floor. She was just reaching for him, preparing to throw him over the railing and into the street when a voice she hadn’t heard in years said, “No, Slayer. This one’s mine.”

There was no sign of the gentle man she had learned lay beneath the vampire’s hard exterior. Facing the gasping bully was the Spike she hadn’t seen since he attacked her high school. With one hand he picked the whimpering man up and shook him. His vampire hearing had picked up every word of the conversation, including Buffy’s attempt to handle it without giving away how different she was from the other women at the party.

“You dare to touch my wife?” he said in a voice all the more frightening for its even, cold tone. The man he was holding forgot completely about his aching balls as he stared death in the face. Sudden realization hit him as he remembered the strange and violent deaths that had decimated their social set shortly after William’s disappearance several years ago. Even as he contemplated his own demise, he understood why the frightening deaths had happened to the most egregious bullies in their set.

While his friends wondered if they dared challenge the monster holding their companion, and if his life was worth the risk, the small blonde woman stepped forward and put a slim hand on his arm.

“Spike, please?” was all she said, but the monster’s features faded back to his human visage and he sighed regretfully, lowering the crying man to the floor.

“He insulted you,” he grumbled, letting go and watching dispassionately as the man fell to the floor and curled into a frightened ball. The acrid smell of urine was in the air and Spike sniffed appreciatively.

“I can take care of myself, remember?” she said gently.

“Yes, pet.” He sighed again, rolling his eyes. “I remember. Just had a Victorian moment there. I’m sorry,” he added, sticking his lower lip out. “Forgive me?”

In front of the forgotten drunk’s staring cronies, she stood on her tiptoes and grabbed his lower lip with her teeth and shook it gently.

“Are you going to make it worth my while, husband?” she purred.

“Count on it, you little minx,” he answered, lifting her up and kissing her thoroughly.

“Okay, let’s go then,” she chirped, turning to wave at the still immobilized party-goers. “Bye, guys!”

They managed to get all the way into the carriage before collapsing in each other’s arms laughing uncontrollably.

“Bloody hell, Slayer, I hope your watcher gets us home soon. We won’t be able to show our faces around here anywhere for months!”

Spike had already given the driver instructions to swing by the street upon which their adventure had begun, and Buffy peered out the window looking for any sign of the green glow that had brought them there. She was just slumping back in disappointment when a fluttering caught her eye and she yelled for the driver to stop. Before the carriage had come to a complete halt, she was out the door and snatching at the large piece of paper drifting on the slight breeze.

Her face lit up when she saw the message and she whirled to show it to Spike, her smile fading when she saw his face.

“So, twenty-four hours,” he said noncommittally.

“I thought you wanted to go back,” she asked, confused at his lack of enthusiasm.

“I do, pet. Just caught me by surprise, that’s all.” He made an effort to look happy and gave her an encouraging hug. “Wasn’t really expecting them to figure it out so fast.”

“Oh, well,” she said, turning away to look at the message again, “They probably called Riley to come back and help them figure it out. Hey, do you think we can find something to write with? Just in case we can send it back?”

Spike’s stomach clenched at her casual mention of her boy friend having participated in the retrieval. He’d hoped to have a week or two to sort out where they stood with each other before having to deal with another man in the picture.

Fortunately, he was spared having to say anything by a tiny green glow that began in the middle of the street and grew. Buffy grabbed some mud from the gutter and quickly wrote, “We’ll be here” before throwing the paper into the rapidly expanding portal. They stood, side-by-side, watching the paper disappear into thin air and then the glow was gone and they were alone except for the impatient cab driver.

Spike was uncharacteristically quiet on the way home, silently paying the driver and following Buffy toward the house. His ears picked up the sobbing minutes before she did and he was already running toward the house right in front of Buffy.


They reached the porch to find a sobbing Molly waiting for them. Buffy flew up the steps and put her arms around the hysterical girl, asking, “Molly? What’s wrong? Did something happen to your aunt? Did someone hurt you?”

Before Spike could stop her, she opened the door and said, “Come on in, Molly. Tell us what happened to you. We’ve been so worried. Get in here where I can see you,” she finished, pushing open the door and helping the sobbing girl through it.

When they got inside, she could see that Molly was covered in blood and she gasped as she began to examine the girl for wounds.

“What happened? Who hurt you? Tell us, we’ll...”

Molly turned to look at Buffy and with a sly smile she said, “He said to tell you he was going to go, but he was leaving you a going-away present.”

“Who was going away? And what present?”

“Me,” said Molly as she shifted into her demon face and lunged for the stricken slayer. She turned to dust before Buffy’s eyes; dust through which Buffy could barely see Spike and the stake he’d used. Tears of rage and grief filled her eyes as she began cursing Angelus.

“That son of a bitch!” she ground out. “He couldn’t come after me – he had to pick on a defenseless girl!”

“That’s his way of coming after you, love. You should know that from before. He’s a sick fuck and he gets his kicks from making women cry – not from an honest fight or a clean kill. I’m sorry, love,” he added, wanting to comfort her, but wary of touching an angry Slayer. “I liked the girl too.”

“She died because of me. Because I taunted him instead of doing my job,” she said dully.

“She died because Angelus is a miserable bastard. Has nothing to do with you, Buffy. It could have and probably would have happened whether you were here or not. Maybe he wouldn’t have bothered to turn her, but if he was hungry she’d be just as dead.”

Without answering, Buffy turned away and headed for the stairs, her head down and tears still running down her cheeks. She quietly changed out of her now-blood stained dress and into the nightgown Molly had been so insistent that she wear even though they both knew it wasn’t going to stay on very long. She gently stroked the nightgown, vowing to make Angelus pay somehow.

She was still wearing the diamond jewelry as she turned to go into Spike’s room, turning silently so that he could undo the locket.

“You’ll have to remember to lock them back up tomorrow,” she said as he removed the locket and set it on the table. She reached up to undo the earrings, but he stopped her with a gentle hand.

“Leave them on for awhile, pet. They look beautiful on you.”

She nodded, then looked at her hand and the two rings resting there.

“Those too,” he said, gently turning her around to face him. “We’ve got one more night of being Mr. And Mrs. Sinclair. Might as well keep the perks while you’ve got them.”

Buffy smiled slightly, closing her hand around the rings.

“One more day,” she agreed. “Then it’s back to homework and dirty laundry and crowded dorm rooms for Buffy. Bye-bye rich, pampered wife of William Sinclair and back to the boring life of a college girl.”

“Who just happens to be the Slayer,” he reminded her gently.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Who just happens to be the Slayer,” she agreed. “A slayer who needs to tell her watcher about all those dreams before I forget important details. Giles is very big on the details in Slayer dreams.”

“Come on, love. Let’s get some sleep. Who knows what time that paper was sent through tonight. We’ll have to camp out near the portal all night tomorrow so we don’t miss it.”

Buffy allowed him to steer her to the bed and settle her under the covers. She was almost asleep when she realized he wasn’t there with her. Her eyes flew open and she sat up, her heart thudding.

“Spike? Aren’t you coming to bed?”

“I’ll be there shortly, sweetheart,” he replied absently. “I want to check the downstairs again, just in case.”

“They can’t get in,” Buffy said. “If they could, Molly would have been able to get in before we got home. The only vampire that can get in here without an invitation is you.” She frowned at him, suddenly remembering his pushing her in the door the week before. “Why didn’t I need to invite you in?”

“I suspect it’s because I was already in the house when I transferred it to you. Invitation by implication, I guess. I dunno.” He shrugged, clearly not interested in why he remained able to come and go in his own house.

“I guess that makes sense,” she yawned, snuggling down in the bed. “Hurry back up, ‘k?”

“I’ll be back before you can fall asleep, pet.”

Leaving the room, he went silently back down to the foyer and stared at the small pile of dust that was all that was left of a girl he remembered chasing around her aunt’s kitchen when she was a child. A girl whose sparkling eyes and saucy mouth had kept Buffy from feeling alone and alienated in this time so different from her own.

With a sigh, he went to the kitchen for a broom and dust pan, determined to remove the reminder before Buffy came down in the morning. He swept it up quickly and walked back into the kitchen. As he opened the door to toss the pan of dust into the garden, movement caught his eye and he looked up to see a white shadow swaying on the path.

“What do you want, Dru?” he asked through tightly clenched teeth. He knew she hadn’t been the one responsible for Molly’s death, but she was a part of Angelus’ family.

“I want MY Spike back,” she surprised him by saying with perfect clarity. “You are not my sweet William anymore.”

“No, I’m not. Don’t know where your Spike is, but if he’s gone because of me, he should be back tomorrow night. Not promising, mind you, but that’d be my guess.”

“Daddy and Grandmother left tonight. They were angry that I didn’t go with them, but I said I had to wait for William. He’s been a bad boy and I will have to punish him for going away.”

“You do that, pet. Punish him all you want – probably make you both happy. Now get off our property.” He turned his back and went into the house, closing the door firmly behind him and taking the back stairs up to his room.

He smelled her tears as soon as he entered the room and knew instinctively that they weren’t the angry, frustrated tears of the Slayer, but the grieving tears of a young girl who had just lost a new friend. With a sigh he shrugged off his clothes and slid into the bed behind her, pulling her into his arms and nuzzling her neck.

When she turned to face him, he licked the tears off and kissed her gently.

“I’m sorry, Buffy. I know she was a good friend to you. I liked her too.”

Buffy sniffled and nodded, grateful that he wasn’t trying to cheer her up with platitudes. It occurred to her that Spike never tried to convince her things were anything but what they really were. He always told her the truth, even when he knew she didn’t want to hear it.

She was suddenly filled with fear that what they had between them, whatever it was – and she really didn’t want to examine it too closely – wouldn’t be able to stand up to the return to Sunnydale and the obvious problems waiting for them there. She buried her head in his neck, wrapped her arms around him and whispered, “Make love to me, William, please.”

“It would be my pleasure, sweetheart,” he whispered back as he began kissing his way from her ear to her mouth.

Teasing her lips open with his tongue, he gently ran it over her teeth, stroking them until her own came out to join his in a sensual dance that was all the more erotic for its lack of urgency. For long minutes they remained holding each other, allowing their lips and tongues to gradually build the need for more contact.

Slowly, his hands began to stroke her silky skin, reveling in the warmth of her body and the way her breathing quickened under his hands. When she sent her own hands moving around his torso, leaving heated trails behind, his response was immediate and impossible to miss.

With a sigh, Buffy ran one hand down to stroke his erection, lightly touching him just enough to cause him to push his hips toward her seeking more contact. He slid one hand down to cup her full ass and pull her closer to him, murmuring his approval when she threw one leg over his hip, allowing the head of his cock to rub along her already damp slit.

Buffy gasped as he used the tip of it to spread moisture along the length of her sex, unable to suppress a shudder when he touched her sensitive clit. For as long as he could stand it, he teased her with light touches and strokes that never left his hard length in one place long enough to do anything but make her crave more.

When her moans turned to whimpers and she pushed her hips against his seeking more, he gently rolled her onto her back, following over so that he was on top of her, his cool, smooth skin caressing her warm body everywhere they were touching. He positioned himself at her opening, nudging gently without actually penetrating her willing entrance.

“Invite me in, love,” he pleaded softly. “Tell me you want me to come in.”

Startled by his uncharacteristic reluctance to take what he wanted, but oddly moved by his willingness to wait for her permission, she nodded slightly and whispered, “Come in, Spike. Be inside me, please. I want you to be in me.”

With a shuddering groan, he slowly slid into her, pausing when he was fully in to allow her to get used to him. As he felt her relax around him, he began to move his hips slowly, setting up a gentle rhythm that was as soothing as it was erotic. Buffy gave a contented sigh and began to move with him in gentle syncopation with his movements.

She marveled at how good it felt to have this vampire, this slayer of slayers, joined so intimately with her body and how right it seemed to have him there. She struggled to think of a word to describe how she felt about it and finally decided that it made her feel completed. With his cool, thick cock inside her, she felt like together they were a complete person.

She didn’t realize she’d said the word aloud until Spike paused and asked, “What’s that, pet?”

She bit her lip, then blurted. “I said ‘complete’, you make me feel complete. When you’re inside me. That’s how it feels.” She blushed and shut her eyes in case he was going to laugh at her. Instead, she felt him rest his forehead gently against hers as he choked out, “I love you so bloody much, Buffy. You have to know how much I love you.”

Her heart rate sped up and she turned her head, terrified of what she would see if she allowed herself to meet the eyes she could feel burning a hole in her own.

“Look at me, love,” he said softly. “Please, Buffy, just look at me.”

She turned frightened eyes back to meet his unwavering gaze and remained caught there in his darkened eyes as he told her, “That was just a statement of fact, love. It had to be said again, and this seemed the right time and place. Wasn’t a question, or a demand for a response. Doesn’t mean you need to say anything in return. I don’t want anything from you – know I’m beneath you; that you can’t love a soulless monster. Just needed you to know it for sure. Love you. Think I always have at some level, and know I always will. I’m yours for as long as you’ll have me. Longer, probably.”

“Mine,” she said slowly, reaching up to touch his face gently.

“Yours,” he agreed, dropping his head to kiss her sweetly. His hips maintained their easy movements, neither of them feeling any reason to rush the release gradually building in their joined bodies.

Spike felt he could remain like they were forever, just allowing the heat of her body to warm his own and letting himself drown in the sensation of being surrounded by everything Buffy. He poured everything he was feeling into his lips, hands and hips as he tried to physically demonstrate what she meant to him.

Buffy clutched the vampire with her arms and legs, trying to use her body to say the words she wouldn’t allow to leave her lips.

I can’t love another vampire. No matter how much I want to, I’m the Slayer and it’s wrong. This one doesn’t even have a soul. I can’t do it.

As the inevitable release neither one was really seeking approached, tears leaked from Buffy’s eyes at the thought of losing the intimate contact that was all she would allow herself to feel from this vampire. Even as the tension built up until she was screaming Spike’s name as she fell over the edge into shuddering ecstasy, the tears continued to slid down her cheeks, silent testimony to the emotion to which she refused to admit.

Spike felt her strong walls clenching as she shuddered underneath him, arching up and screaming his name and he allowed his demon out to add his heightened vampire senses to the spasms shaking his body as it emptied itself into her depths.

Buffy’s slayer senses somehow knew when Spike changed and she threw her head back, offering her throat to the demon with complete fearlessness. The tiny pain of his fangs sliding into her throat was immediately banished when the strong pulls of her blood sent her shuddering into another, more powerful orgasm. The demon pulled on her blood while her supernaturally strong muscles squeezed his cock until there was nothing left but the satisfying pain/pleasure.

When their bodies had experienced as much sensation as they could without losing consciousness, they gradually subsided into trembling gasps for air. The vampire carefully licked his bite until it was closed and healing, He began to reluctantly pull away from her, but she held tightly with her legs and said simply, “No”.

He nodded his understanding, saying gently, “Just going to shift us, love, so you can breathe a little easier.”

He carefully rolled onto his back, bringing her with him so that she was draped over his body, his limp cock still buried inside her. Reaching with one hand, he grabbed the covers and pulled them back up over her shoulders, smiling as she murmured her thanks.

“You’re welcome, my love,” he whispered, knowing from her even breathing that she was already asleep.

Throughout the night, they remained intimately joined, waking enough to make slow, sensual love again two more times, before they allowed their bodies to finally slide apart.

Chapter Eighteen

They woke up to make slow, achingly sweet love one more time before getting up to prepare for the return to their lives in the future Sunnydale, California. No words were exchanged, but there was now another aspect to the sex that left them both feeling satisfied on more than a physical level. It was also tinged with a trace of sadness about their uncertain future.

When Buffy got downstairs, she was surprised not to find Mrs. Barstow there, but she went about getting herself breakfast in the kitchen she was now comfortable finding her way around. She took Spike’s blood from the delivery boy, thanking him warmly and taking it right to the study where she found Spike scribbling notes, his glasses perched on his nose.

“Why do you wear those when you don’t need them anymore?” she asked idly, handing him a mug full of blood.

“Goes with the look, pet.”

She cocked her head to the side in an unconscious imitation of him.

“You know, maybe you should bring them back with you. I think they’re kind of sexy – in an intellectual kind of way.”

“If you think I’m gonna let the whelp see me like this....”

She giggled and climbed onto his lap, pushing the chair away from the desk as she did so.

“You could wear them when he’s not around...” she murmured, running her fingers up to play with his shirt collar. “We could play Mr and Mrs Sinclair...”

“If it’s games you want, pet, I can come up with lots more interesting ones than that,” he leered at her suggestively.

“I like this one,” she said softly, all teasing gone from her tone. “We’ve been happy here – mostly, anyway,” she added, suddenly remembering Molly.

“That we have, love,” he agreed, pulling her against his chest. “You don’t think we can be happy back in Sunnyhell?” he asked carefully, trying to hide the fear that filled him.

“I think it’s going to be a lot harder, don’t you?” She glanced up at him quickly enough to see the pain in his eyes.

Before he could answer her, they heard the kitchen door open and Buffy jumped up, closely followed by Spike. Instead of Mrs. Barstow, they saw George. The look on his face told them he knew something about Molly.

He gave a half-bow in their direction and then launched into his explanation for his Grandmother’s absence. He explained that while they had not found Molly, they had found the body of her friend with her throat torn out and covered with too much blood to be all hers. They feared the worst, and Mrs. Barstow was staying with Molly’s mother until they knew something for sure.

Buffy and Spike exchanged looks, knowing there was nothing they could say to give the family answers without revealing too much. Buffy’s obvious distress didn’t register on George as anything other than the same fear his relatives were feeling. He was grateful for the tears in her eyes as he knew Molly was very fond of her mistress and he felt somewhat comforted, knowing it was reciprocated.

Spike went back to the study and returned with several of the notes he’d been writing, telling George to assure Mrs. Barstow that she wasn’t needed and was to stay as long as she needed to. He gave him a note to her, explaining that he expected to be leaving again that night and she was to follow up on his instructions from earlier in the week.

He ran through the same instructions for George, asking him to take the other notes to the bank and to Mr. Saint-John’s office telling them the same thing. He assured Mr. Saint-John that it was his wish that the house remain in Buffy’s name, although in the event of her death it was to revert to him. He asked Buffy to sign that section of the note, and she looked at him oddly before doing as he asked.

With many thanks for the way his family had made them comfortable during their visit, and false assurances that Molly would be found alive and well, they bade the young man good day and Buffy closed the door against the rays of the sun slanting into the room.

When she followed Spike back into the study, Buffy spotted the velvet box that the jewels had been in and started as she realized she was still wearing the rings and earrings. She said, “I forgot to take these off. Let me just go get the locket and you can put them away...” She turned to go up stairs.

“Buffy.” His voice stopped her and he stepped up behind her, resting his hands on her shoulders. “I want you to keep them, love. They aren’t doing anyone any good locked up in a drawer. Go get the locket and put it on.”

She looked back over her shoulder at him, twisting the rings on her fingers.

“But, Spike, I can’t...we aren’t really...”

She winced at the pained look that crossed his face and turned all the way around to wrap her arms around his waist and press her face into his chest.

“Except for the nightmares and Molly, this has been like the perfect vacation. A nice house, good food, lots of pampering, unlimited shopping, a little slaying,” she raised her head and looked into his downcast eyes, “and a wonderful man to share it with.” She willed him to understand what she was trying to say. “But we both know it’s coming to an end. We aren’t really married, and when we get back to Sunnydale—“

“So, you’re kicking me to the curb then?” His face shuttered as he hid what he was feeling behind the cold mask of a dead man.

“No!” She shook him hard, startling him out of his self-induced pain. “I’m not saying that at all! I’m just saying it’s going to be different there. There are going to be complications – friends to explain things to, boyfriends to break up with, a watcher to calm down. We can’t just show up and say, “Hi everybody! Guess what? We’re back and we’re in love.”

“We’re in what?”

Buffy’s eyes took on the trapped look of a deer caught in a poacher’s searchlight as she realized what she’d said. She started shaking her head rapidly, trying to back away from the suddenly predatory vampire stalking her around the desk.

“Nothing. I didn’t say that. I didn’t mean—mmmph!”

The vampire in question captured her mouth in a bone-melting kiss, effectively cutting off her denials. He continued the kiss until she gave in and responded, curling her arms around his neck and allowing him to support her body as it molded itself to his. When she was about to pass out from sheer lust as well as the lack of air, he raised his head and looked at her with awe and gratitude.

“You’re not going to take that back now, are you?” he asked with some trepidation.

“Like you did, you mean?” she teased.

“Didn’t want to scare you off,” he muttered. “Was too soon – just barely knew it myself then.”

“Hey, news flash, vampire. I’m the Slayer. I don’t scare that easily.”

“I guess not,” he grinned happily, picking her up and squeezing hard enough to injury a normal girl. “Lucky me.”

He tilted his head at her and asked seriously, “So what’s the plan then, love? Tell me how you want to play it and I’ll follow your lead.”

“I don’t know. We’ll just have to see what the sitch is when we get home. Who’s there, what’s gone on while we were away. The most important thing is to give Giles our notes and try to figure out these dreams...”

“You know what the common theme is, pet. Don’t try to pretend you don’t. You have to be ready to deal with Angelus if that’s what we’re coming home to.”

She sighed and nodded her head. “I know. That’s the obvious message – well, that and that you’ll do anything to protect me.” She flashed him a grateful smile and he responded, “Always,” before she went on. “But then there’s the whole Darla thing – why would a pile of dust be in it? And Dru with her cryptic little warnings and scoldings about telling you...oh my god! Do you think that’s what she wants me to tell you?”

“What?” he asked with an innocent look.

“You know,” she said looking uncomfortable. “What I said – almost said – whatever.”

“I know,” he grinned. “Just want to hear you say it again.”

“Don’t push your luck, vampire.” She tried to look intimidating but only managed embarrassed and annoyed.

“Feeling pretty lucky today, pet,” he said softly, moving closer again. “And newsflash for you, Slayer. In spite of what Dru said? I will always come for you. Wouldn’t matter if you loved me or not – I’ll dust ten times over if it will keep you alive and away from Angelus.”

She studied him for a minute, then asked lightly, “You don’t have to answer this, but...which is more important – alive or away from Angel?” She deliberately used her souled ex’s name, noticing the slight flinch that Spike gave at hearing it. To her surprise he answered her with complete honesty.

“To the demon, keeping you away from the great poofter is the most important thing. He doesn’t care if you’re alive or undead, as long as you’re his...” He looked at her with a certain amount of shame, but she nodded encouragingly and he went on, “But me, the part of me that’s still a man, wants you alive and breathing, even if it means...” He couldn’t finish the sentence, wanting to tell her he was fine with it even if she wasn’t with him, but he couldn’t choke out the lie.

“Well, I’m going to vote for alive AND yours, if that’s ok with you and your demon,” she said briskly. “Now let’s get ourselves ready to catch that portal when it gets here.”

~~~~~~~~~

Giles walked toward the waiting vampire, the key to the chains in one hand and the taser in the other. Behind him Willow and Tara looked at Spike sympathetically. He cocked his head at the watcher and then at the two witches.

“What’s this, then? The tooth rattler isn’t enough, you want to mojo me too? I told you I want to go back. What makes you think you need any of that?”

He managed to look disgruntled and innocent at the same time, causing the girls to smile.

“I don't think it is in anyone’s best interest for you to have any memories of us or this place. Willow and Tara will make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“They’re going to mess with my mind?” The vampire rose to his feet, snarling and causing the witches to flinch away.

“W—we—we’re really sorry, Spike,” Tara stammered. “I hate this, I really do. But if we let you go back, knowing—“

“We can’t take a chance on your knowledge of the future doing any—“
Giles began pedantically.

“I could change it,” he interrupted with a resigned sigh. “I get that, Watcher. I’m not stupid, you know.”

“Yes, I know,” the man answered. “If there were another way...”

“Alright, fine. Let’s get it over with. Let me get back to my unlife and you’ll have your precious slayer back.”

He stood up and held out his hands. “If you hold off the mojo till I’m in the time machine there, you won’t need that thing. I’ll go willingly and I promise not to eat anybody on the way there.”

Just then, Riley and Xander came into view, obviously arguing about something and the vampire stiffened. “Never mind,” he growled, “I can’t keep that promise.”

“You could if you wanted to,” Willow scolded.

“Don’t want to,” he muttered, glaring at the approaching ex-commando. “I don’t know why I dislike that oafish git so much, but I would eat him in a second if I had a chance.”

“Your honesty is commendable, William. Unfortunately, you realize it leaves me no choice?”

“Yeah, yeah, just get on with it, Watcher. I want out of this place. Need to get back to my ripe wicked plum and the rest of my bloody family .”

He presented his muscular back to the other Englishman and waited to be zapped. Making a small face of discomfort, Giles quickly pressed the taser against the surface presented and held it until the convulsing vampire fell to the floor unconscious. He knelt quickly and unlocked the manacles, nodding to Xander and Riley to pick up the surprisingly small body.

The two young men grabbed the vampire’s shoulders and feet, carrying him to the room and tossing him in the door. Riley watched dispassionately as the unconscious man slid down onto the center pad. He moved to one side as Tara and Willow stepped to the door, preparing to do their spell wiping all memories of his time with them. At a nod from Giles, they cast some powder toward the vampire who was just beginning to stir and began their chant.

Spike managed to wink at them just before the spell took hold and all trace of recognition left his now-demonic face. As soon as they finished the chant, they stepped back and Xander slammed the door, wincing when he heard the lock click shut.

“At least this time I did it on purpose,” he muttered, stepping away so that Riley and Willow could set the controls the way they needed to.

Once again, a humming sound filled the space and the room began to glow green. They could hear the vampire snarling inside as he reacted to the feeling of his atoms being separated and put back together for the second time.

Outside the small room, a tense group waited anxiously for the humming to stop and the door to open. As the green glow faded and the door tumblers could be heard falling into place, there was a collective intake of breath from the small group of humans. Tara and Willow clutched each other’s hands tightly as they waited to see what they would find behind the slowly opening door.

 
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