Chapter Nineteen

The sun was dropping down behind the nearby buildings when Spike and Buffy took a last look around the house, preparing to leave and spend the evening waiting for the portal to open again. While Spike went through his desk, making sure he hadn’t left any future-altering information behind, Buffy went back upstairs to look around. She was dressed in her usual nighttime outfit of boy’s trousers and a boy’s shirt; her own clothes were stuffed into a rucksack that Spike had found for her.

On a whim, she grabbed her nightgown and stuffed it into the sack with her skirt and blouse. She ran her hands over a few of her favorite dresses, sighing as she left them hanging in the closet. She also placed the box in which her diamonds would be stored into the pack, knowing she wouldn’t be wearing them after she got home.

After one last, lingering kiss at the front door, they slipped out into the night to find their way back to their own time and place. Spike pulled the door shut behind him, waiting until he heard the lock click into place before joining Buffy on the front lawn. With one last look at the house in which she’d been a spoiled and well-loved rich man’s wife, if for such a short time, Buffy squared her shoulders and walked off in the direction of the portal, rucksack slung over her shoulder and cap pulled down to hide her blonde locks and feminine features.

They quickly reached the general area in which they had been deposited the night they arrived and spent several minutes arguing about the exact location of the portal.

“It was right here,” Buffy insisted, kicking at a pile of horse manure. “I’m sure this was it. There’s the bush that the message was caught on last night. See?”

“Just because the bloody piece of paper was blown over to a bush, doesn’t mean that’s where it came in. When we sent it back, it was right over here.” Spike stood in the middle of the street, pointing to the ground for emphasis.

Buffy opened her mouth to argue, then suddenly stiffened and reached for the stake in her back pocket. She crouched, extending her senses, trying to identify the direction from which the vampire presence was strongest. She turned slowly, straightening up, but continuing to hold her stake as Drusilla stepped out of the shadows.

“Where is he?” She ignored the Slayer and spoke directly to Spike. “Where is my William?”

“I told you Dru. If it’s anything to do with us, he’ll be back here when we’re gone. Don’t know exactly when that will be.”

“I’ll wait,” she said quietly, moving back into the shadows.

“Oh great,” Buffy grumbled. “Not only do I have to stand around in the middle of a street all night, I have to do it with Miss Looney Tunes watching me.”

“She’s just waiting for her Spike to come back, Slayer. Ease up.”

“Ease up? Tell me something, William.” Her voice dragged his name out in anger, “How many children is she going to eat between now and our time because I’m leaving her unstaked? How many, huh?”

“I don’t know, pet, but they’re already dead, so all you’d be doing here is mucking up the whole thing. Who knows what kind of world we’d go back to if you changed something that major.”

“I know,” she admitted with a sigh. “It’s just really hard not to do what my Slayer side is screaming at me I should be doing.”

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Spike said quietly, “I’m going to go talk to her for a minute – are you alright with that?”

Buffy waved her hand airily. “Go ahead. No sense in both of us being bored. Just don’t go too far away in case we have to jump.”

“Don’t worry, love. Not letting you out of my sight.”

Buffy rolled her eyes as he walked toward the shadows in which his insane ex was hiding, wondering what he could possibly have to talk to her about. She tried to smother the pang of jealousy she felt when he didn’t even look back, but strode eagerly toward the woman he’d loved for over a hundred years.

I guess that’s a positive thing to know. That he can love somebody for over a hundred years – and still care about them even after they dump him for a slimy demon. Of course the chance that I’ll be around a hundred years from now is somewhere between slim and none, so I guess that’s not a worry for either one of us...

While Buffy stood impatiently tapping her foot on the curb, Spike made his way into the shadow where Dru was pacing anxiously.

“You might as well relax, Princess,” he said soothingly. “We don’t know what time it’s going to happen. Could be a long wait.”

She cocked her head at him, seemingly sane again for a few moments.

“What could have happened to my William to turn him into the Slayer’s doggie? And what kind of a slayer wants a vampire in her bed?”

“I’m not your average vampire, pet. And that,” he nodded in Buffy’s direction, “is definitely not your average slayer. You’d do well to remember that,” he added as she made a face.

“Daddy is going to be so angry with you,” she changed the subject abruptly. “I will have to tell him I punished you severely for leaving us or he will discipline us both.”

“Yeah, your precious ‘daddy’ always was big with the discipline,” he snarled. “One of his more endearing traits.”

Spike reached in the pocket of his duster and pulled out one of his few remaining cigarettes. He took his time lighting it with a match, rather than the Zippo in his pocket, and blowing the smoke into the air.

“What are you planning to tell him, Dru? About where William’s been and what he’s been doing?”

She waved her hand around vaguely. “I’ll just tell him, and grandmother, that you wanted to take your time killing the little girl and that I’ve punished you for allowing her to take you away from us. It will be alright.”

“He knows she’s a slayer, pet. He watched her in action.”

“He’ll forget about all that,” she said confidently. “He will think you were just using her to fool some more of those nasty people you used to care about. I’ll tell him how you ripped and tore, and drank until you were sick and they were all gone. And he won’t remember that the little girl was a slayer.”

She spoke with such confidence that Spike was seized with a sudden suspicion.

“You’re going to thrall him? You’re going to take your precious ‘daddy’s” memories and twist them?”

The brunette vampire ignored his question, just humming and twirling to music only she could hear. After a few seconds of watching her spinning and humming, he shrugged and walked back toward the street.

“So,” Buffy couldn’t keep the jealous edge out of her voice as he approached, “how are things in la-la land?”

“They’ll be better when we’re out of here. I hope I’m right and that her Spike is back in Sunnyhell waiting to be switched for me, although I don’t know why I wouldn’t remember something like tha--”

“How is that something to hope for?” she asked, her voice rising. “You were a stone cold killer! No chip, no Buffy. What’s going to keep you - him from killing everybody?”

“Dunno, love, but obviously something has or we wouldn’t be standing here waitin’ to catch the next bus that glows and hums. Speaking of which....”

Buffy whirled in the direction he was facing and saw the telltale green glow of the portal beginning to show. They watched closely as it gradually enlarged until the opening was big enough for them to step into.

“Alright then, Slayer, this is it. Vacation fun is over.”

Buffy reached for his hand, only to find it already linking to hers just as when they came through the first time. He gave her a wink and squeezed her hand, then stepped toward the open space pulling her with him. They stepped through together, moving into each other’s arms for a final kiss before they felt themselves being pulled away.

The transition from the dark London street to an equally dark metal room was as sudden as before, but his time they both landed off balance and fell to the floor. Spike twisted so as to land on the bottom with Buffy sprawled over him.

“Thought you wanted to break the news gently, pet,” he teased as the door flew open and all the Scoobies and Riley peered in at them lying on the floor. He felt Buffy’s body stiffen when Riley shouted, “Buffy! Are you alright? What are you doing on top of Spike? Do you want me to throw you a stake?”

With a sigh and an apologetic smile, she pushed herself off the vampire and stood up.

“I don’t need a stake, Riley. We just fell when we landed and Spike caught me. I’m fine. We’re BOTH fine,” she added for emphasis.

Spike kipped to his feet, grabbed the rope Giles tossed down to them, and handed it to Buffy. She took it from him, taking the time to look into his eyes and begin, “Spike, I...it might...”

“Whenever you’re ready, love,” he said, reading her mind. “I’ll wait. Not patiently, mind you, but I’ll wait.”

She gave him a grateful smile and pulled herself up the rope, quickly tossing it back down to him before Riley could get any ideas about shutting the door on Spike. Using the rope only for leverage, he was up and out the door, standing beside Buffy in one leap. He edged away from the door and stood off to the side while Buffy was engulfed in welcoming hugs from her Watcher and friends. He smiled indulgently until Riley picked Buffy up in an extended hug, which he tried to accompany with a kiss that she was able to dodge smoothly. The sight of the big man holding the woman he’d finally admitted to loving brought yellow flashes to his eyes and he felt his gums itch as his fangs tried to let down.

“Now is not the time,” came a quiet, but very firm voice beside him and he whirled to stare at the watcher in surprise. Their eyes met for several seconds before Spike nodded abruptly and shook off his demon.

“Soon as all the welcome back hoopla is over, we need to talk,” Spike said. “She was havin’ Slayer dreams the whole time we were gone.”

Giles nodded and gestured toward the table they’d been using for research.

“We might as well do it now, while we’re all here. If she’s been having them this whole time, It must be urgent.”

“Oh, it’s urgent alright, Watcher. You can count on it.”

Buffy was in the middle of an animated conversation with Willow and Tara about her experiences in 19th century London and theirs with fledgling Spike, when Giles interrupted to suggest they sit down so that she could fill them in on the whole experience. He emphasized “whole” and Buffy shot Spike a look before realizing he was talking about her dreams. She blushed when Spike leered at her, clearly guessing where her mind had gone at first.

“Let’s start with the dreams, Buffy. What were they about?”

“Well, they were about... um... vampires,” she started, looking at Riley and wondering how he would react to hearing than Angelus was planning to rape and turn her. She stalled for time, beginning by saying, “But Dru was in them and she’s in South America, and Darla, but she’s dust and-“

“Wolfram and Hart resurrected Darla somehow, and Dru is with her,” Giles said quietly. “Wesley called last night to warn us.”

Buffy and Spike exchanged a frightened look that was not lost on anyone in the room. “Then Peaches’ soul has gone walkabout,” Spike said flatly as he turned away from the table with his hands in his pockets.

No one questioned what he said, except Riley who sputtered and insisted there was no way for Spike to know that. Everyone ignored him, looking at Buffy and waiting for the explanation. She sighed and said, “Bring out your notes, Spike.”

Giles took the sheaf of papers that the vampire silently handed him, scanning them quickly. His “Dear Lord,” and the look he shot at Spike told him the Watcher had come to the part where Angelus had abruptly stopped his assault on Buffy. Buffy may not have known the significance of those actions and words, but it was clear that her watcher did. Giles continued reading through the carefully written notes about each dream, glancing at Spike again when he came to another reference to the “protection” Buffy somehow had obtained from the vampire.

He stared hard at Spike and for just a second the Ripper was very visible as he asked, “Did you?”

Spike shook his head “no”, adding, “I haven’t even told her about it.”

He somehow managed to imply that the watcher had failed in his duties to his Slayer, if she didn’t know what could have stopped a vampire attack that quickly.

Giles glared back at him, then said with a sigh, “I just never thought it would be important. It seemed better that she not know that...”

“That the creatures she slays every night could care about each other that much?” Spike challenged the man’s glare with a cold stare of his own, until the watcher dropped his eyes and nodded.

“It seemed best.”

By this time, Buffy was staring back and forth between the two, her irritation obvious and growing.

“Anything you’d like to share with the class?” she huffed, turning her head to glare at Spike. When she turned her head, Giles could see the small, healed marks on her neck and frowned at the vampire again.

Again, Spike shook his head “no”. “Didn’t. Wouldn’t without her permission.”

“But...?” He gestured subtly toward Buffy’s neck, making sure Riley didn’t notice.

“Heat of the moment. Not the same thing at all,” he growled, moving to stand behind Buffy.

“Okay, that’s it with the cryptic! I want to know what you two are talking about and I want to know now!”

Rather than answer her, Giles spoke to an increasingly annoyed Riley. “Riley, I think it best if you move away from the table for a little while. Perhaps you and Xander could go look for more weapons? It appears we may need them soon.”

The big man started to object, but at a pleading look from Buffy, Xander stepped up beside him and said, “Great idea, G-man. Come on, Riley, let’s leave the strategizing to the...the strategizers and go find us some more cool things to blow stuff up with.”

“Please, Riley,” Buffy added. “Giles and I need to talk about my dreams and I would prefer to do it in private.”

The ex-commando glared pointedly at the vampire lounging behind her chair and growled, “And he’s here because...?”

“He’s here because I want him to be here,” Buffy said in a tone that brooked no argument. “He’s a part of this. You are not.” She winced when she saw the pain flash across her boyfriend’s face, but gazed at him steadfastly until he nodded and turned away.

As soon as Xander and Riley were out of sight, Spike moved closer to Buffy’s chair, resting his hands lightly on her shoulders and squeezing reassuringly. She reached up with one hand and touched him lightly, leaving her hand resting on his as she looked back at Giles and waited for his answer.

Giles looked at them and heaved a large sigh.

“Shall I assume from your behavior, that while you were gone you two figured out that which has been obvious to the rest of us for some time?”

“Wha-?:

“Bloody hell!”

Buffy tilted her head up to look at the vampire. “We were obvious? Why didn’t we know?”

He shrugged and pulled out the chair next to her, sitting down and linking his hand with hers. “Guess we’re a little slow, pet,” he said with a smile.

“Speak for yourself,” she grumbled. “I’m all with the quick knowing, and...”

“Could we get back to Angelus and leave the discussion of your mutual ability to live in denial until later?”

Her watcher’s voice brought them back to the subject at hand and Buffy leaned forward eagerly.

“Okay, so if Darla’s back and Dru is with her, then Angel either has or is about to lose his soul. The question is, in my dreams why can’t I move when he’s around? Why am I so afraid of him? And,” she shot a don’t-think-I’ve-forgotten-about-this” look at her watcher and the vampire, “what is keeping him from killing me and what does it have to do with Spike?”

“You tell her, Spike,” Giles said firmly. “You probably should have explained it as soon as she told you the dream. It may well be important.” His tone made it obvious that he would prefer not to be having this conversation at all.

“Yes, tell me Spike. What do you think you did in my dreams that kept Angelus from killing me?” She looked at him with suspicious eyes. She’d known he knew something about what was going on, but hadn’t realized it might be important until she saw her watcher’s reaction.

Spike squirmed uncomfortably for a minute, releasing her hand to play with his lighter, before looking her in the eye to say quietly, “Apparently I claimed you. That would be the only thing that would make him back off like that when he started to bite you. And that dusting me would remove.”

“Claimed? What do you mean, claimed? Like a piece of luggage?” Buffy’s indignant tone made it clear what she thought of being anyone’s possession, even his.

Giles took up the explanation while the vampire tried very hard to look as though he found the idea more shocking than desirable.

“If Spike was to say the necessary words while biting you, and if you were to give the appropriate acceptance, you would be marked as his... property. No vampire would be permitted to bite you as long as Spike was alive—er, undead. Even the attempt at rape would be out of the question. Angelus’ responses in your dreams indicate that you belonged to Spike.”

“Because he bit me? So Angel – Angelus won’t be able to bite me now?

“He could do it now, pet. Those little nips aren’t claiming bites. If he even noticed them, they wouldn’t stop him.”

Giles looked as though he had a bad taste in his mouth as he spoke slowly. “As unhappy as I am that you have put your teeth on Buffy at all,” he said with another glare at the unconcerned vampire, “I suppose we will have to take into consideration the fact that you could offer her an additional measure of protection if it appears she could need it.”

“So, in my dreams, Angelus stopped because I was marked as yours? That’s why he was so determined to kill you?”

“You’re not as dumb as you look, Slayer,” he said, trying to lighten the mood.

“Shut up, Spike,” she answered automatically, thinking hard for a minute. “Maybe you should do it, then,” she said finally. “I probably wouldn’t freeze if I knew he couldn’t touch me. That’s what we should do then. Here!” she added, tilting her neck at him.

She frowned when Spike almost fell off his chair recoiling from her offered neck. Her watcher’s red face, coughing, and vigorous polishing of his glasses told her she must still be missing important information about claiming.

“What’s the matter with you?” she asked the still shocked vampire. “Don’t you want to claim me?”

When he saw the hurt in her eyes that she tried to hide with anger, he moved back to her side quickly and, forgetting about the watcher, cupped her cheek with his hand as he said, “Nothing I’d like more, sweetheart. But it’s not something to be taken lightly. There’s a little more to it than your watcher said, and it’s definitely not something we would be doing in front of other people.”

He rolled his eyes at the still blushing older man and the two curious wiccas sitting at the table with them. Buffy blushed herself as she figured out some of what he was saying, and although she leaned into his palm briefly before sitting up straight again, she nodded her agreement before she turned back to Giles.

“All right. So dis-invites for Angel all around, and Willow will work on the re-ensouling spell in case she gets a chance to use it. Spike and I will patrol every night, looking for any sign of the evil threesome--”

Giles looked at his surrogate daughter with admiration and some concern.

“Buffy, perhaps it would be wise for you to remain indoors where it is safe until we come up with an explanation for the immobility Angelus seemed to inspire in your dreams.”

She glared at the older man. “I am NOT going to hide from him!” she growled. “I’ve already proved to myself that I can scare him more than he scares me, so I know the dreams aren’t 100% prophetic. The best thing I could do is to take it to him, not cower in my room.”

“Proved it how?” Willow asked curiously. “I thought these were just dreams.”

Buffy exchanged a look with Spike, then ducked her head and mumbled, “Lots of things happened while we were gone. It’ll take a while to tell you about all of them.”

“I feel confident there are some things we have no need to know more about,” Giles said dryly as Buffy blushed and the vampire smirked at him. “Please spare us.”

“I don’t want to be spared!” Willow whined. “I want to know everything.”

While Spike laughed and Tara whispered in Willow’s ear, Buffy huffed, “I MEANT that Angelus was there with us and I acted all scaredy-rabbit like in my dreams.”

“And yet, here you are, so clearly he did not attack you.”

“No, Spike was always there to keep him away. So, you see, that’s not like my dreams either. Cause in the dreams? Spike was always getting beaten, or ripped to shreds, or...”

“Hey!” The vampire’s indignant interruption brought attention back to him and Buffy smiled up at him. She surprised both him and her friends when she stood up and wrapped her arms around him.

“I’m just saying, in my dreams we’re always losing, but in real life, we chased him away.”

“Thought you wanted to take this slowly, pet?” he asked softly as he put his arms around her and whispered in her ear.

“They already know. So, they might as well start getting used to us now. Except Riley. I’m going to have to break up with him, and I don’t think it’s fair to do it in front of everybody, so...”

“Got it, pet. Better start now, then,” he said, dropping his hands and stepping away from her.

Buffy blinked at him in surprise, then noticed what he’d already sensed; that Xander and Riley were striding back into the room, arms full of various implements of vampire control. She nodded gratefully and sat back down at the table.

“How did you gather the courage to chase him away then, Buffy?” Giles brought the attention back to the subject at hand. “It may be important that we understand the mechanism.”

“IgotmadatSpike,” she mumbled quickly.

“You what?”

Xander and Riley approached the table in time to hear the question and Xander added his comments.

“She said she got mad at Spike. So what else is new? What difference did that make, Buffy?” he asked, turning to her curiously. “And, by the way, what are we talking about?”

“We’re talking about the fact that in my dreams, I couldn’t move anytime Angelus was around. I was paralyzed with fear. And, the first few times we saw him while we were back in that time, the same thing happened. I was all, ‘eek, a vampire!’ girl instead of a slayer.”

“So, getting mad at Captain Peroxide was the cure? Let’s hear it for irritating vampires.” Xander gave Spike a thumbs-up, causing Riley to glare at him angrily.

Buffy rolled her eyes while Spike smirked again and deliberately sat down beside her. Riley stomped to the table and yanked out the chair across from them, dropping into it heavily and planting his elbows on the table. He stared hard at the vampire sitting so close to his girlfriend and asked coldly, “What did he do to make you mad? And why did it help you?”

Buffy got her “deer in the headlights” look again as she remembered what the fight was about. “I...I...don’t...I mean, we...”

“Wasn’t important, GI Joe. Jus’ me shooting off my mouth when I shouldn’t have. Important thing is, she was so mad at me she went right back into her room and knocked the big poof off the roof.”

While Xander and Willow cheered, “Go, Buffy!” and “Way to go, Buffster!” Riley’s eyes narrowed and he said quietly, “Back to HER room? Where, exactly, were you two for the past two weeks?”

While Spike cursed under his breath, and Buffy continued to look like she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, Giles stepped in and answered calmly, “We have yet to get into a discussion of exactly where they were or how they managed. It is of much more importance that we evaluate the potential danger to her now and take steps to correct it.”

Buffy sent him a grateful look, nodding her head and adding, “We need to figure out if the soul is gone yet. And we need to warn Wesley and Cordelia, and the rest of Angel’s friends in LA. If they know about Darla and Dru...”

“I'll call Wesley as soon as I get home,” Giles said, standing up. “I suggest we all get some place safe and rest for what may well be a trying time.”

Everyone who was around the last time Angelus made an appearance, shuddered and nodded, while Riley looked at them in confusion.

“What’s the big deal?” he asked angrily. “He’s just another vampire, Buffy.”

“Not to me, he isn’t,” she responded quietly, gathering up her rucksack and preparing to leave with everyone else. She missed the black looks that went across the faces of both her current and soon-to-be ex boyfriends.

The group started toward the exit, everyone more than happy to see the last of the underground lab. Xander and Riley had large backpacks full of the weapons they’d collected and Willow and Tara were walking together when Spike saw Riley reach for Buffy’s hand.

Willow flinched at his snarl and her eyes widened in fear when his face changed briefly. He cocked his head at her and asked with a puzzled face, “What’s the matter, Red? You know I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Right,” she said quickly, glancing at Riley who was holding on to Buffy but staring at them. “Cause you’re all with the chip and stuff, and not about the hurting humans...” Willow babbled, caught between her worry that Riley would figure out the chip was gone and her fear of a chipless Spike.

“Wouldn’t hurt you, or your bird, either way,” he said quietly. “You know that.”

Willow smile at him apologetically. “I know that, Spike. I’m sorry. It’s just been a long time since I’ve seen you go all ‘grrrr’, you know?”

“Better get used to it, pet,” he said, staring at the big man still clinging to Buffy’s reluctant hand.

He forced himself to relax and trust her to handle the situation in her own way, in spite of his demon’s demands that he tear the man’s hand off for daring to touch her. Letting Willow and Tara go ahead of him, he waited for the watcher and walked out with him, bringing up the rear of the little group.

Chapter Twenty

The walk out of the labyrinth that was the old Initiative complex was quiet and uncomfortable for both Buffy and Riley. She tried very hard to get him to release her hand without actually yanking it away and he tried very hard to ignore her lack of response when he laced his large fingers through her tiny ones. When he had to use both hands to open the door to the outside, she moved quickly away far enough that he couldn’t pick her hand back up easily.

Before he could do or say anything, Buffy turned to face the rest of the group and went into complete Slayer mode.

“Okay, here’s the sitch. We don’t know if Anglelus is back yet or if it’s still just a possibility. But we do know that Darla is back and that Dru is with her, so nobody goes anywhere unarmed or alone. Holy water, crosses, stakes, the whole enchilada. Spike and I will walk everybody in tonight and check the house before we leave you there. Willow will do a dis-invite anywhere Angel has been. Any questions?”

“Why Spike?” Riley asked quietly. His unspoken, “Why not me?” lingered in the air.

Still in Slayer mode, Buffy didn’t concern herself with his feelings as she snapped, “Because they’re his family. He’ll feel them if they’re anywhere around. Probably before I do. And because he’s got a better shot at standing up to them than anyone else besides me. Or have you forgotten that he’s almost as strong as I am? If my dreams are right, this is our fight – you aren’t a part of it. None of you are,” she added almost apologetically as she included her watcher and friends. “The most important thing to me is just to see that you are all safe somewhere before we go looking for Angel and his bloodthirsty harem.”

“To which we sincerely hope he will not be adding you,” Giles said dryly.

“Exactly!” Buffy said at the same time as Spike growled, “Not going to happen. I’ll dust first.”

“Whoa! Wait. Did I miss something while I was helping Riley collect new and awesomely manly toys? What’s this about adding Buffy to a harem?”

She rolled her eyes at Giles before saying calmly, “In the dreams, Angelus is trying to...to rape, drain and turn me. Not a fun experience. Spike is trying to save me, but he’s always chained or unconscious or something and I’m all pathetic, scared girl who doesn’t fight back. Now you know as much about the situation as we do, can we go now?”

Angry at having revealed so much of her dreams in front of Riley, she turned and began stamping toward the parking lot where she could see Giles’ car and Riley’s SUV.

“So, Big Bad, you’re more of a rescuee than a rescuer, huh?” Xander snarked. He flinched when Spike turned amber eyes at him. Eyes that managed to look dangerous and devastated at the same time. He said nothing, just glared at the young man for a second, then turned away, his shoulders hunched.

Buffy had already reached the cars and waited impatiently for everyone else to get there. It was obvious that they could not all fit into Giles’ small car and she reluctantly asked Riley, “Do you think you could give us a ride to my house? I want Willow to do the dis-invite there first, and I need to warn my mom. Once we’ve done that and Giles has dropped Willow and Tara off at the dorm, we can ride with him and you can go home.”

“Where are you going?” he asked suspiciously.

“Oh,” she waved her hand airily, “I’ll probably go back to my mom’s after Giles calls Wesley and we find out what’s going on in LA. But we...I can walk from there home, so you don’t need to—“

Spike touched her arm lightly. “Tell you what, pet. Why don’t I get to your house under my own power? Give you and Captain Cardboard here a chance to catch up?” His message was unmistakable – he was giving her an opportunity to tell Riley it was over between them before things could become really awkward.

“Sounds like a good idea,” Riley agreed quickly, opening the door for Buffy. With a little luck, he figured they would be there and done before the vampire showed up.

Buffy met Spike’s eyes and smiled softly. “Okay,” she said as she got into the big vehicle, “I’ll see you at my house.”

The vampire had vanished into the shadows before Riley even noticed he was leaving. “Well, that was easier than I thought it would be,” he said in a puzzled tone. “I thought we’d have a hard time getting rid of him.”

He pulled the car out after Giles, then passed the smaller vehicle to head for Revello Drive. Buffy put a tentative hand on his arm. “Riley, the idea is to stay with them so that I know they’re okay.”

“Oh,” he said, slowing down and checking the rear view mirror. “But aren’t you worried about your mother too?”

“Spike will take care of Mom,” she said dismissively. “That’s why he went ahead on foot.”

“Oh,” the ex-commando said again. “I should have known he wasn’t really giving me some time alone with you.”

“Actually, he was doing that too...” She took a deep breath and with an apology inherent in her voice, she began, “There’s something I have to tell you.”

“Is this where you tell me you want to stay friends? Cause, I’ve got to tell you, I prefer my friends not sneak around behind my back.”

She blinked, realizing that, just like everyone else, Riley had also seen the feelings building between the Slayer and the vampire. She sighed heavily.

“I really like you, Riley. And I’m very sorry if I’ve hurt you. I never intended to do that. And I did NOT sneak anywhere,” she said indignantly. “We fell into one of your old bosses’ secret weapons. We’ve been stuck in the past for the last two weeks with nobody to depend on but each other. We just had the time and...opportunity...to realize what everybody, except us apparently, already knew.”

“And that would be?” She was a little surprised by the nastiness in his voice, but attributed it to the hurt she was causing him.

“That we love each other,” she said simply. “I’m sorry, Riley. I truly am, but—“

“But all that stuff about not feeling any differently about me when I was a normal man was just a crock,” he said bitterly. “As soon as I couldn’t keep up with you, you ran off to fuck another vampire.”

Buffy smothered the hurt and anger she was feeling, and replied sadly, “Riley, this has nothing to do with how strong you are. It has to do with how Spike and I feel about each other. I’m sorry that I’m hurting you, but—“

“Spare me,” he snarled as he swung into the driveway. “And get the hell out of my car.”

“I’m sorry,” she repeated softly as she got down. “Be careful. Angelus knows who you are too.”

“I’m touched by your concern, but I’ll be fine.”

She opened her mouth to apologize again, but shut it without saying anything as Giles pulled up beside the car. As soon as she was out the door and had closed it carefully behind her, Riley threw the big vehicle into reverse and backed into the street, leaving black streaks as he accelerated away from the home in which he’d never really felt welcomed.

Obviously Xander had been filled in on Spike and Buffy’s new relationship, as his only comment on the abrupt departure was, “Good to know he’s taking it so well.”

Buffy sighed and walked toward the porch. “I hope he doesn’t do anything stupid – like go looking for Angelus or something like that. The funny thing is, he wasn’t surprised – just mad.”

When she pushed the door open, Buffy wasn’t surprised to find Spike in the kitchen already, watching her mother make hot chocolate for him. Joyce glanced up at the people crowding into her kitchen and went to the refrigerator for more milk. She also got out her teapot and put water on to boil for Giles, earning herself a grateful smile from the ex-watcher.

Willow and Tara went immediately to work on the dis-invite spell, while Buffy and Spike double checked the house to be sure Angelus wasn’t already in there. Satisfied that he wasn’t, and confident that he could no longer get in without an invitation, they relaxed for a few minutes over their hot chocolate.

The diamonds Buffy had forgotten to take off yet caught Joyce’s eye and pointing to the rings she said playfully, “Is there something you want to tell me, Buffy?”

“Uh, I thought we already did. Angel lost his soul, don’t let him in. Don’t go out after dark without me, don’t invite any blonde or brunette women you don’t know in—“ then she realized what her mother was looking at, and blushed.

“Oh! I forgot to take these off. I...we were...I had to...Spike gave...his mother...they’re not...” Taking pity on her babbling, the vampire interrupted.

“We explained Buffy’s presence by saying she was my American wife and I gave her those to wear to a party so she’d look like a proper Victorian matron.”

“So, you WERE in the past, then,” Giles said as he walked into the room. “We had assumed so, but...”

Buffy gave a shortened version of where they were, promising to fill in the details when the current crisis was over. Spike leaned over and whispered into her ear, “Gonna give them ALL the details, pet?” causing her to blush and smack him on the chest.

“No!” she hissed, “and if you try to, they’re going to hear all about your poetry.”

“You wouldn’t!” he said out loud.

“Watch me,” she replied smugly.

Drinks consumed and wards up, Buffy reluctantly hugged her mother, repeated her instructions to be careful, and followed Spike out the door to meet Giles and the witches at the dorm. A quick check of the room indicated no sign of Angel and she left them to create their own protective barrier. With space in the car, they joined Giles and Xander as they dropped him off at his house.

In spite of his insistence that “Deadboy” had never been to his house, let alone allowed in, Buffy and Spike gave it a quick once over before saying good-night. As Buffy went to join Giles in the car, Xander stopped Spike with a hand on his arm.

“Is it safe to assume you aren’t going to lose your soul and go all evil on her like her last undead boyfriend?” he asked only half joking.

“Already evil,” Spike folded down one finger. “Don’t have a soul to lose.” he folded down another finger, “And would never do anything to hurt her.” He folded down the last finger, leaving only one sticking up in the boy’s face.

“All right, all right, sheesh! No sense of humor at all...” he grumbled, batting away the obscene gesture in front of him. “I was just saying...”

“You were saying you care about what happens to her. I get that, Whelp.” He turned to go, then said over his shoulder, “Your parents. They need to know not to—“

“My parents were born and raised in Sunnydale. They’re drunks, but they aren’t stupid. Nobody gets invited in here unless they’re standing in full sun and basking.”

The vampire nodded and ran to get in the small car. The trip to Giles’ apartment was very quick and in a few minutes they were walking toward the door, only to find it standing open. The watcher’s skin crawled as he remembered coming home another time when Angelus was loose, finding the woman he loved laid out on his bed with a broken neck. He closed his eyes in pain as he flashed back to the horrifying scene.

Spike went into game face, snarling as he caught the scent of his grandsire. He ran toward the open door as Buffy pulled a stake from her waistband and, ordering Giles to stay close, followed Spike through the doorway.

A quick check showed that the older vampire had been there and gone. Buffy felt no trace of the tell-tale tingle that indicated the presence of a powerful vampire, and Spike could only find a scent that was hours old. With much trepidation, the three crept up the stairs and hesitantly approached Giles bedroom.

“I’ll look,” Spike said abruptly, having smelled blood and wishing to spare Giles and Buffy a repeat of the horror of several years ago. He looked into the room and shook his head in disgust. Lying on the bed was the body of pretty, dark haired woman. She didn’t really look a great deal like Jenny Calandar, but at a quick glance the scene was close enough to have provided Giles with an unpleasant shock.

Spike held up his hand to stop the two humans behind him, saying, “I’ll get this. You go back downstairs and start the dis-invite.”

Buffy turned Giles around, pushing his unwilling body until he shook himself and started down the stairs on his own. He quickly gathered his materials and began his own version of a vampire dis-invite spell.

Upstairs, the vampire quickly rolled the body up in the bedspread and put it over his shoulder. He took a slow look around the room to be sure he wasn’t missing some other nasty surprise left by his grandsire, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. He carried the body down the stairs and out the door, taking it far enough way that it wouldn’t be connected to the apartment complex before setting it down gently in a parking lot.

He carefully unrolled the ruined bedspread and took it with him to the nearest dumpster, correctly assuming that Giles would not want it back on his bed. There were no worries that the Sunnydale police were going to be investigating the latest murder all that carefully that they would be checking dumpsters for evidence.

By the time he returned, the dis-invite had been done and Giles had to ask him in again; a necessary task that the older man did immediately. Spike wondered if the man would be as accommodating if he knew about the chip’s malfunction.

“I presume that bundle you carried out the door was not my dirty linen,” the ex-watcher said wryly. He walked to a cupboard and took out a bottle of scotch. While he waited for Spike to answer, he got out two glasses and poured a substantial amount of the amber liquid in each one.

He held one out to the vampire, holding on to it and waiting for his answer.

Spike shrugged and said quietly, “No, wasn’t your dirty laundry. It was, without a doubt, Angelus’s work.” He took the drink with a nod of thanks and sprawled in the big chair. Buffy walked over and sat on his lap, sniffing his glass curiously and making a face that brought a smile to the faces of both men.

“What did he leave me this time?” Giles’ weary voice was evidence of how little he expected to hear anything encouraging.

“It’s gone. Don’t worry about it.” Spike said gruffly. “Nothing any of us could have done.”

Giles closed his eyes and tilted his head back, swallowing his drink and setting down the glass. “Let me guess,” he said flatly. “You found a young, beautiful woman, possibly Hispanic or...or gypsy heritage, lying on my bed with her neck broken.”

“I’m sorry, Rupert,” the vampire said quietly, astonishing the other man with the sincerity of his reply.

Giles waved his hand dismissively.

“Thank you for sparing me that sight. Once in a lifetime is more than enough.”

Her watcher fixed a distressed-looking Buffy with a hard eye as he said, “I expect you to rid the world of that scourge at the first opportunity. Is that clear?”

“But, Giles...if Willow can do the spe—“

Her watcher threw his glass across the room, shattering it against the wall. “Forget the bloody spell! Clearly the soul is unstable and you need to do your duty this time.”

The implication brought tears to Buffy’s eyes and she jumped off Spike’s lap and ran out of the room. They heard the door to the bathroom slam shut with enough force to crack the wall nearby and both men flinched at the sound.

“That was uncalled for, Watcher,” the vampire said mildly, but Giles could see the amber flashes in his eyes and knew that his words to Buffy were both unfair and dangerous. He nodded his head in recognition of the truth of Spike’s words and sighed heavily.

“You are quite right, Spike. It was wrong of me to speak to her like that, or to suggest that Jenny’s death was in any way her fault. But the thought of that monster being back among us has—“

“Right there with you, mate,” Spike growled. “If she doesn’t dust the bloody wanker, I will. If it’s the last thing I do.”

“I suspect you will have your own problems to worry about for awhile. From the way her former boyfriend left tonight, I would assume she told him about the change in your relationship?”

“Dunno what she told him,” he said with a glance toward the bathroom. “But with Angelus about, neither one of us needs to waste time worrying about him. I hope he just accepts it and leaves her alone.”

“And if he doesn’t?” The older man looked at him intently.

Spike shrugged and decided now was as good a time as any for the conversation he’d been avoiding.

“I’m not quite the pushover I was when we left,” he said obliquely.

“Which would, I presume, have something to do with this?” As he spoke, Giles pulled his hand from his pocket and held it out toward the vampire. Lying in his palm was a small piece of plastic and metal.

Spike’s hand went to his head automatically, feeling the scar left by the chip’s insertion.

“You knew?”

Giles nodded. “I found it on the floor of the room when you were gone. Willow recognized it immediately as a computer chip and...well, let’s just say we were all very grateful that you no longer seemed interested in Buffy’s death.”

“I love her, Rupert. Wouldn’t hurt her, or anyone she cares about.”

The ex-watcher stared at the quiet vampire for several minutes, then shook his head as he muttered to himself.

“Another vampire in love with a slayer. And this one with no soul. They just never covered anything like this in Watcher training.”

Spike’s faced had darkened at the reminder of Angel’s relationship with Buffy.

“I don’t need a bloody soul to love her. And neither would Angelus if he wasn’t such a sick, sadistic bastard. She deserves better than that. She’s too good for either one of us.”

“And don’t you forget it,” Giles said in his best Ripper voice. “I want you to understand completely that, while I am accepting this...relationship, I am in no way happy about it. Nor,” he added, with a hard look, “am I happy about the new marks on my slayer’s neck.”

Meeting the other man’s stare, hard eye to hard eye, he answered, “Not concerned with your happiness, Rupert. As long as Buffy’s okay with it, that’s all that matters to me.”

“And is she? All right with it?”

The vampire tilted his head to one side, exposing the mouth-shaped bruise on the side of his own throat.

“Seems to be,” he said mildly, waiting for a response.

Giles blanched slightly and reached for his scotch bottle. He shook his head and sat down again.

“I don’t understand...” he muttered. “I’ve not taught her anything about vampire mating habits. Why would she...”

“Some things you don’t have to be taught, Watcher. Buffy didn’t. She knew what she wanted to do and the demon responded. Not saying she expected it the first time, but she didn’t stake me for it either. The next time was all her idea.”

“You drank from my slayer.”

“Get over it. This wasn’t about feeding and you know it. And it was more than mutual. If it bothers you, I suggest you look into what the Council of Wankers’ predecessors used to create these teen-age killers they’re so fond of ordering around.”

Leaving that unsettling thought for another day, the suddenly old-feeling man got up and walked to the bathroom. He knocked lightly on the door and when there was no response, he sighed and said sadly, “Buffy, please come out so that I can make my apology in person.”

Very slowly, the door opened and Buffy edged out into the hall, keeping her distance from her surrogate father. She gave him a hurt, angry look and walked back to the living room and Spike’s lap. Giles followed her and knelt down on one knee in front of her.

“I am truly sorry, Buffy. The evening has brought some very unpleasant memories to the surface, and in my sadness and frustration I said something I didn’t mean. I regretted it as soon as the words left my mouth. Please believe me that I do not in any way hold you responsible for Jenny’s death. And I am very aware that you did send Angelus – Angel to hell when you had to do so in order to save the world. Please accept my apology and forgive my thoughtless words.”

The sincerity of his words was clear, in spite of their pompousness, and Buffy softened her look and nodded her forgiveness as she snuggled back into her new vampire’s embrace. All three were silent for several minutes, each lost in his/her own thoughts about the return of Angelus and what it might mean for the future.

~~~~~~~~

Riley sped away from Revello Drive, jealousy and anger churning his gut as he contemplated Buffy’s words. He guided the large vehicle to the warehouse district, pulling up behind an apparently empty building with an unusual number of cars near it. A quick knock on the door, a muttered word, and he was admitted to the place that had become his refuge before he left for Iowa.

A thin brunette stood up from her place on the couch and moved toward him, smiling warmly.

“You’re back. I thought you might have decided you didn’t like it as much as you seemed to.”

“Let’s go,” he answered abruptly, pulling her by the hand toward the stairs.

To his surprise, she shook her head and said, “Why don’t we go somewhere more private instead? I have my own place now. We could be alone there...”

Too angry at Buffy to exert his usual caution, he nodded and allowed her to lead him out the door and into the alley. When she started walking instead of getting in his car, he hurried to catch up. Without even the smallest hint of suspicion, asking, “How far is it? Shouldn’t we drive?”

“It’s not far,” she said lightly. “I fixed myself a couple of rooms in a building right over there.” She gestured down the darkened alley and kept walking. When he didn’t immediately follow her, she paused and asked, “You’re not afraid of me, are you? You know I won’t hurt you. No more than you want me to,” she added, licking her lips.

“I’m not afraid on any bloodsucker on earth,” he blustered, hurrying to catch up with her. “Least of all a $10.00 whore.”

He missed the angry hurt on her face as he marched beside her, anxious to get some relief for his damaged self-esteem and aching cock. He followed her into a dilapidated building that was surprisingly well-furnished on the inside. She guided him into a small apartment and led him straight into the bedroom where he immediately stripped off his shirt and unzipped his pants in preparation for the exchange of services about to take place.

The skinny vampire dropped her skirt and underwear on the floor, letting her demon out as she walked toward the waiting man with swaying hips. Just as he reached for her to pull her on to the bed with him, she exploded in his hands, her dust floating around his puzzled face.

When he had stopped coughing and could see again, he was surprised to find himself looking at not one, but two beautiful women – both looking at him as though he was something good to eat.

He grabbed his pants, attempting to pull them closed as he stared at the two giggling women. Before he could do anything, the blonde was beside him, her cool hand on his cock as she cooed, “Oh, don’t put that away big boy. We can still have some fun with it.”

The brunette was moving toward him, humming to herself as she got behind him on the bed and sniffed at his neck.

“Do you think Daddy will be angry if we take a little taste?” she asked in a childish voice, running her tongue up the suddenly frightened man’s neck.

“Y...you...wouldn’t want to make your daddy mad,” Riley gasped out as the two vampires forced him down onto the bed.

“It’s all right. I don’t care what they do to you, as long as they leave you alive for awhile.”

The deep, amused voice was vaguely familiar and sent a cold shiver through his body as he attempted to raise his head and look toward the door.

“Bad boy to try to look at Daddy,” Drusilla purred, effortlessly holding his hands over his head while Darla pulled his pants and shoes off. “He says we can have you to play with so you need to look at us.”

Obediently he looked at the two beautiful women holding him down without any apparent effort. He shuddered as their faces slipped from human to demon and they lay down beside him, one on each side. Darla ran a sharp nail down his torso, following the bloody trail left there with her tongue, while Dru sank her fangs into his wrist, pulling several deep draughts of his blood into her mouth.

Suddenly there was a large man standing over him and looking on with satisfaction. Recognition hit and Riley gasped, “I know you. You’re Angel.”

“You don’t know me at all, boy,” Angelus said with a toothy smile. “But you’re going to before I’m done. You’re going to know me very well.” He began to unbuckle his pants and Riley’s eyes got big as he began to struggle in earnest against the two powerful vampires holding him down.

He’d known about that strange connection between pleasure and pain from his increasingly frequent visits to vamp whores. But now he learned more. Not all vampires were the same. Not all of them offered more than pain.


AN: Warning – this chapter contains some non-graphic but clear non-consensual sex, slash and torture. If that squicks you out, you might want to skip the last section.


Chapter Twenty-One

“Are you going home tonight, Buffy?”

Giles’ sudden question brought them all out of their solitary thoughts and she shifted uncomfortably on Spike’s lap.

“I…I don’t know. I…we…I mean, for the past two weeks…”

She looked to Spike for help, but he just squeezed reassuringly and waited to hear what she had to say. Biting her lip, Buffy took a deep breath and said quickly, “I don’t want to sleep without Spike. He keeps the dreams away.”

“If the dreams are truly prophetic, I don’t know that keeping them away is a very good idea,” Giles said apologetically. “It might be best if you left yourself…open to them.”

With a growl, the vampire leaned forward to glare at the other man.

“You don’t know what they were doing to her. Or how real they were for her. We know what we need to know. The poof has lost his soul again, the whore is back with him, and apparently so is Dru. And he wants to add Buffy to his unholy harem. The only thing left to figure out is why she goes all catatonic around him. Got to be magic. No way is this slayer afraid of that wanker.”

He sat back, hoping sincerely that he’d spoken the truth when he said Buffy wasn’t afraid of his grandsire. It bothered him to hear her admit that it was because he kept Angelus out of her dreams that she didn’t want to sleep without him and he tried to smother the pang that went through him at the implication.

Is that all I am to her? A security blanket against bad dreams?

As though she had read his mind, Buffy tilted her head back to nuzzle the side of his neck reassuringly. She hadn’t missed the way he stilled when she said he kept the dreams away and she correctly guessed what was wrong. She turned and fixed her surrogate father with a hard eye.

“Giles, I’ve been living as Mrs. William Sinclair for the past two weeks. In every way,” she added, just in case he missed her meaning. “I’m not ready to give that up just yet.”

The older man took off his glasses and polished them vigorously, clearing his throat and trying not to see the smirk on the vampire’s face as he looked at him over Buffy’s head.

“Yes, quite. More than I wanted to know, I am sure.” He grimaced and put his glasses back on. “So, then. Where ARE you planning to spend the rest of the night? As understanding as your mother may be, I do not see Joyce welcoming Spike into your bedroom.”

Buffy sighed and nodded her head. “Neither do I. I guess we’ll just stay at Spike’s cryp—“

“NO!” Spike’s outburst had them both staring at him in surprise.

“It’s not safe, love. Remember finding Dru in Molly’s room?”

Ignoring the watcher’s “Dru? Molly?”, Buffy nodded and said with a sigh, “I forgot. Don’t suppose you’d like to give me your crypt too?” She smiled at him impishly and he laughed, kissing the tip of her nose as he answered, “I’m beginning to think you married me for my money, love.”

“You know I didn’t. Although got to say – I really like my diamonds,” she teased, holding her hand out to let the light catch on her rings.

Still not getting any answers to his questions, Giles continued to mutter to himself, “Give me your crypt TOO? Married? Money? Diamonds?” While Spike and Buffy took advantage of his distraction to indulge in some noisy kissing.

“Oh dear lord,” he finally interrupted them. “It’s going to be just like Willow’s spell again, isn’t it? Could you two keep your lips…and other body parts off each other long enough to decide what you’re going to do for the night. While you’ve been vacationing in the old country, I’ve been working around the clock to get you back here and I’d like to get to sleep at some point.”

“I’m sorry, Giles,” Buffy apologized with a rueful smile. “I know you have and I…we are very grateful. We’ll just get out of here and let you get some sleep. We’ll figure out where we’re going to sleep later.”

“Yeah, sorry, Watcher,” Spike surprised him by saying with apparent sincerity. “We got used to not thinkin’ about anybody but ourselves for awhile there. Guess we’re still not back mentally.”

Since their primary actions once they’d returned had been to see to the safety of everyone they thought might be in danger, Giles knew that wasn’t true, but he nodded and graciously accepted the vampire’s apology.

Clearing his throat carefully, he ventured, “I do have a guest room. If you promise not to keep me awake doing things I would rather not imagine,” he shot a hard look at the vampire before continuing, “you are more than welcome to stay here for the rest of the night. That will give you all day tomorrow to work out a more permanent arrangement.”

They exchanged looks of silent communication, then turned back to the waiting man.

“That’s very…understanding of you Giles. We appreciate it. And I promise, we’ll be out of your hair as soon as we find a place to live.”

Giles nodded wearily and swayed to his feet. He started to leave, then stopped and turned back to look at his Slayer.

“You are planning to continue to live together then?” he asked as calmly as possible.

“Well…I didn’t mean…I…we…” She floundered for an answer and looked up into Spike’s curious eyes.

“Whatever you want, love,” he said softly, determined not to push her into anything she would regret.

“I thought I understood you to say you were merely pretending to be married, Buffy. I do not believe the state of California considers diamond rings, however lovely they may be, a substitute for a wedding license.

Buffy blushed and got off Spike’s lap to open her rucksack. She took out the box that the diamonds belonged in as she grumbled, “It was just force of habit, Giles. I’m used to thinking of myself as half of a married couple. It might take a while to stop saying ‘we’.”

She missed the wince from the vampire when she referred to her use of “we” as a habit. Giles, however, didn’t miss the pain that flashed across Spike’s face when she pulled the diamond studs out of her ears and the rings off her fingers. He watched with great curiosity as William the Bloody appeared to be struggling to hold back tears when Buffy presented him with her neck, lifting her hair so that he could unfasten the locket.

Surprising himself with his desire to give the vampire some privacy, he turned away with a quiet, “You both know where the spare room is. I’ll leave you to find it and say ‘good-night’ then.”

Spike didn’t look up from his concentration on the back of Buffy’s neck as she gave her watcher a wave of her hand. When she didn’t feel the locket being lifted off her neck, she looked back over her shoulder and caught the unhappiness on his face.

“Hey,” she said softly as she turned around so that his hands were encircling her shoulders and she was facing him. “I have to take them off, you know. I don’t want anything to happen to them while I’m slaying. Anyway, they’re a little dressy for jeans and sweats, don’t you think?” She tried to get a smile out of him and he obliged with a half-hearted smirk.

“No worse than half the other stuff you wear, pet.”

“Are you insulting my wardrobe, vampire?” she mock growled as she poked him in the chest.

“Nope, I’m insultin’ your taste in clothes.” He gave her a genuine smile, the familiar banter easing his fears that she might be putting him off with the rings.

“No worse than my taste in men,” she laughed as he growled at her. She spun away from him and carried the bag into the bathroom, telling him she’d be out in a minute.

Shaking his head and growling at himself for being so insecure, Didn’t take much to turn you back into poncy William, did it? Spike went into the spare room and shrugged off his duster. He removed his boots, pants and shirt and slid between the crisp sheets. When he heard Buffy open the bathroom door he glanced up expecting to see her in her tee shirt again. Instead, she came into the room hesitantly, her voluminous nightgown sweeping the floor.

The vampire stared at her open-mouthed as she slowly approached the bed. She looked at him anxiously, wondering if he would understand what she was trying to get across. When his shocked look gave way to a happy smile and he held out his hand to her, she knew he had understood.

“This your way of telling me we’re still Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair when we’re in the bedroom, pet?” he asked, pulling her gently onto the bed and into his arms. “Cause I’ve got to tell you, that’s the only reason I’m not ripping this tent to shreds.”

“I…I don’t want you to tear it up,” she said shyly.

“Why not? I’ll get you something from Victoria’s Secret. Hell, I’ll get you a closet full of nighties. Soon as we send the bloody poofter back where he belongs.”

“I want to keep it. It reminds of a time when…when I was really happy.”

She raised her eyes to see to see a mixture of fear and happiness in the depths of his blue stare.

“You still don’t think we can be happy here, love?” He touched her face lightly with his free hand, stroking his knuckles down her soft cheek.

Her heart lurched at the pained acceptance in his voice, and she quickly turned her head to kiss his knuckles reassuringly.

“I…” she dropped her eyes, not sure how or even if she should say what she was thinking. “I think I could be happy almost anywhere, if you were there with me,” she said softly. “But it isn’t going to be the same here. I know it and you know it.

“Giles was right. We’re not really married. To everybody here, we’re just two friends who happened to get stuck in the past together for a while. We can’t just start living together. This is real life, not make believe. I’m just afraid…”

“You’ve got nothing to be afraid of, Buffy,” he said with a tremor in his voice. “I’m here and I will always be here as long as you want me around. We may not be the happy married couple we were back in London, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be together in some way. Not leaving you, pet. Not for all the ex-watchers and axe-wielding mums in the world.”

“Ugh! Mom. You had to remind me,” she grimaced. “I can’t wait for that conversation.”

He laughed lightly and kissed the tip of her nose. “I think your mum might surprise you, love. She’s a smart woman. I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t know exactly how I feel about you. Probably knew it before I did.”

“Yeah, she’s got that whole I’m-the-mom-and-I-see-right-through-you thing going for her,” Buffy admitted with a rueful smile.

“So, let’s not worry about it right now, alright? Just get some sleep and tomorrow we’ll suss out who and what we are now.”

He fell back onto the bed, pulling her with him and spooning himself behind her warm body. Buffy sighed contentedly at the familiar feeling of his cool arms around her and began to drift off for a few hours of much-needed sleep. The vampire lay awake for much longer, storing up the memory of her sleeping in his arms in case it was the last time for awhile.

He awoke from the doze he’d finally fallen into to find Buffy muttering and tossing, the nightgown wrapped tightly around her kicking legs. Remembering that she wanted to keep the gown and knowing that her powerful kicks were going to rip it sooner or later, he tried to untangle it without waking her and without catching a powerful Slayer foot in his face.

He finally worked it loose from where it was caught and began easing it up her legs away from her still restless feet. When his hands brushed against her thighs as he pulled the gown up, her muttering turned to a breathy sigh and she stretched her body out completely.

Unable to resist, he lowered his head and kissed the now bare thigh, moving up until his mouth was just resting over the pulse in her femoral artery. He could feel saliva pooling in his mouth as his demon struggled to taste the rich blood flowing so tantalizingly close.

With a groan, he pulled back from her body only to be stopped by a strong hand on the back of his head.

“Do it,” she said, her voice still rough with sleep. “You haven’t had anything to eat since before we left London.”

“Won’t,” he said firmly. “You’re not a bloody meal to me. Just need a second to calm down the demon and I’ll be fine.”

Buffy sat up and pulled the gown the rest of the way off, leaving her as naked as he and just as wanting.

“It doesn’t have to be about having a meal,” she said, shocked at her own boldness. “That could just be a bonus effect.”

When he just stared at her, she moved closer and pulled his head down to her neck gently.

“Or, you could do that claimy thing now.”

“Buffy, my love, sweetheart, darlin’, you really don’t know what you’re asking for.”

“Do you love me?” she asked softly.

“You know I do.”

“Do you want me?”

“Always.”

“Do you want to keep me safe?”

“How can you—“

“Shhh. Will a claiming bite keep Angelus from turning me?”

“As long as I’m alive, it will.” Spike could feel himself weakening as she continued to push.

“Do you want me to be yours?”

She held her breath, waiting for his answer. She actually knew a little more about claiming than she had let on to either Spike or Giles and she knew it could be forever.

“More than anything in the world,” he breathed, giving in and taking her in his arms again.

“Then make it happen,” she whispered back, pressing her body against his. “Make me yours, Spike. Keep me safe.”

Instead of answering her, he captured her lips in a tender kiss that quickly deepened as his tongue traced around her mouth prodding for entrance. His groan as she sucked on his tongue and teased it with her own was evidence of his complete capitulation and he began to run his hands over her body.

Buffy shivered as she felt his cool fingers stroking her breasts, trailing down to her abdomen and caressing the silky skin on the inside of her thighs. Her breath came faster and she moaned as he lightly ran one finger from her already wet entrance up to her clit, spreading the moisture and teasing the swollen nubbin.

Her legs fell apart involuntarily, allowing the scent of her arousal to reach his nose and he groaned again. Tearing his mouth from hers, he followed the path his fingers had made with wet kisses, pausing again at her artery and licking it. He pulled the skin into his mouth and sucked lightly before lightly nicking it with his fang.

The sensation of Spike’s mouth pulling lightly on her blood so close to his still-stroking fingers sent Buffy’s hips arching off the bed and she began to whimper. When he released her skin and moved his mouth to where his fingers had been, her whimpers turned to panting cries as she threw her head back and forth. His strong and talented tongue alternately stabbed into her, touching everywhere it could reach, and emerged to run over her inner and outer lips.

He finally allowed it to caress the needy tissue inside those lips, stroking and sucking on it until he could tell from her panting that she was ready to come. With a final sucking motion, he let his fangs drop and just as she clenched around him, he slipped one razor sharp fang tip into her clit, sucking hard on the blood as he covered her screaming mouth with his free hand.

When she had collapsed bonelessly on the bed, he pulled the tip of his fang out and licked the tiny wound closed, causing another shudder to run through her sated body. He crawled up until his cock was resting at her soaked entrance and, as he had before, asked hoarsely, “May I come in, Buffy?”

As answer, she wrapped her arms and legs around him and pulled him to her, using her supernatural strength to hold him in place. He waited there for a minute, enjoying the feel of her heated walls, the way they held him tightly, squeezing almost to the point of pain.

When he felt she was recovered from her first orgasm, he began gently rocking his hips against her, each time delving a little deeper until she responded to him by pushing back and falling into his rhythm.

He maintained the steady, easy rhythm as long as he could, but soon his demon was taking control and he began pounding harder, his hips pistoning as he tested her slayer strength. A strength that let neither one of them down as she met him thrust for thrust, grinding her pelvis into his and beginning her own build-up to release.

When he could hold back no longer, he placed his mouth on her neck and growled, “Come for me, love. Come for me now. I can’t wait any longer…”

“Do it,” she gasped. “Oh god, Spike! Do it now!”

As he felt her begin to tremble around him, he sank his fangs into the buttery soft skin on her throat and allowed her blood to flow over his tongue. To smother the scream that threatened to burst from her own mouth, Buffy bit down on his shoulder and shook her head back and forth with the force of her orgasm.

The vampire took deep, slow draughts, pulling in blood with his mouth while filling her with his own release . Time seemed to stand still as the two supernatural beings exchanged simultaneous growls of “Mine”. The mutual claim sent rapturous shivers through both vampire and slayer. Buffy felt both William and Spike joining her essence, even as the vampire felt the light and purity of a slayer’s soul entering his body.

When their bodies had stopped shaking and trembling against each other, and Spike was able to raise his head enough to look into her awed eyes, he repeated softly, “Mine.” Buffy met his tear-filled eyes and answered clearly, “Yours.” Then she ran her tongue over the torn flesh on his shoulder, tasting the blood oozing there and repeated, “Mine.” “Yours,” he agreed immediately. “Forever yours.”

While invisible magic swirled around the two exhausted lovers, they rolled on their sides and went back to sleep wrapped contentedly in each other’s arms.

~~~~~~~

Riley lay on the dirty floor in the old warehouse, completely unrestrained. He knew was too weak to move fast enough to get away from the powerful vampires lying together on the mattress in the middle of the room. Blood oozed slowly from a dozen bites around his body. None were traumatic enough to cause him to bleed to death, and with chilling clarity he knew that they could keep him alive, but too weak to leave, for as long as they wanted.

He was on his side, his buttocks and rectum too painful from the attentions of Angelus for him to rest comfortably on his back. He gave a ragged cough in place of the laugh that trembled in the back of his throat at the thought. Comfortable. After a long night of being a combination toy and meal for the three vampires, he was more than willing to settle for lack of new agonizing pain as a substitute for actual comfort.

He felt his heart begin to pound in fear as Angelus rose from his place between the two naked female vampires and walked over to look down on the trembling man.

“Not so brave without your guns and tasers, are you, boy?” he asked, not really expecting an answer. “Not hard to see why the Slayer would leave you for Spike. Not that my errant grandchilde isn’t going to pay for his arrogance, taking what’s mine like that, but it was certainly a step up from your worthless body.”

“Not pretty like my William,” Drusilla put in from her place on the bed. She licked her lips and began to crawl across the mattress. “He should pay for that naughty chip in my Spike’s head. Made him all soft, it did. Made him love the Slayer. All your fault,” she finished, turning a look on Riley that made his blood run cold. “It’s all your fault he wants the sunshine now.”

“Back off, Dru,” Angelus growled. “I’ve got plans for him and he needs to be able to walk.”

With a shrug and a look that promised future retribution, she threw herself back on the mattress and began to run her fingernails up and down Darla’s bare skin. The blonde vampire stretched like a cat, purring as Dru followed the bloody marks with her tongue. She took her own fingernail and drew a bloody trail from her navel to clit, moaning as the other vampire took the hint and followed that trail with her tongue.

Angelus watched his women on the bed playing with one another until he was hard enough to turn his attention back to the cringing soldier on the floor. He laughed at Riley’s feeble attempts to get away as he threw himself down, pressing the bleeding body into the floor as he drove into him from behind. When he’d finished, he flipped the sobbing man over and put his mouth over his throat.

“Never done this before, but I need a minion who can go out in the daytime, so you’re the lucky one,” he growled before taking a large, painful bite out of Riley's neck. “Mine” he growled, putting his mark and his claim on the bleeding human. He threw the still alive man back onto the floor, making sure first that he wasn’t going to bleed to death, then returned to the two vampires writhing on the bed.

He laughed as they vied for his attention, idly wondering what it would be like when he had added Buffy to the mix.

Chapter Twenty Two

Giles tried not to comment the next morning when Buffy joined him in the kitchen with a new set of marks on her neck. He sighed heavily and said as kindly as he could, “I do hope you are not making a mistake.”

“I trust Spike,” Buffy said in a tone that brooked no argument.

“Oddly enough, Buffy, so do I. I don’t doubt his feelings for you. Or yours for him. The possible long-term consequences of belonging to a vampire are what concern me.”

“I’m a slayer, Giles. Long term consequences aren’t real high on my list of things to worry about,” she said wryly.

“Yes. Quite.” He took off his glasses and polished them fiercely. “I am sincerely hoping that having a master vampire backing you up might go some small way toward extending your expected life span.”

“I expect it to.” Spike’s quiet approach startled both of them, as he’d intended it do.

He spent so much time around humans that they sometimes forgot that he was a supernaturally strong and fast being with other many other qualities of a successful predator. Qualities such as an ability to move silently, stand preternaturally still, and sense the presence of his quarry without using his eyes. And to overhear conversations taking place in rooms far removed from his.

Buffy turned to him with a smile. “I thought you would want to sleep all day like you did—“

“Time for sleeping when we’ve seen to the soulless wonder and his happy hooker,” he growled. “But I could use some very strong coffee,” he said, turning to the watcher.

Giles gestured to the pot on the counter and went back to his own cup of chemical energy. Spike poured himself a mug of strong coffee and sat down beside his newly mated partner. They shared a light good morning kiss before turning to face her surrogate father.

“All right,” Buffy started, “here’s the plan. I’ll go out today while it’s safe and start checking out the abandoned houses, warehouses, etc. to see if I can find them…” When Spike sat up abruptly and growled, she rolled her eyes and continued, “and then I’ll come back here and tell you guys where they are. We’ll go back for them just before the sun sets. I’ll get Willow and have her bring the soul spell and—“

“Bloody hell!” The twin explosions of identical words shocked her into silence and she stared at her ex-watcher and her mate as they both glared down at her. Both men had bolted to their feet and were struggling to find words after the initial outburst.

Spike found his voice first and he paced the room, waving his arms as he shouted.

“The bloody spell isn’t going to prevent this from happening again, Slayer. You cannot go into this thinking you’re just stalling him until the fucking soul is back. I won’t let you fight him unless you’re totally committed to sending his bloody soul to hell where it belongs!”

He finished his rant, taking deep unnecessary breaths and glaring at her from across the room. Buffy’s eyes narrowed and she stalked toward him, looking more like the Slayer that had ripped the Gem of Amara off his hand than he’d seen in a long time.

“You won’t LET me? Just what kind of rights do you think this claim gives you, vampire? I am the Slayer and I will decide when, how and if I go into this fight. And I’ll decide who goes where when I’m done. Including your precious Drusilla if she gets in my way.”

She finished her own loud response standing nose to nose with the angry vampire and daring him to contradict her. Behind her she heard Giles clearing his throat and shot him one look before turning back to Spike. The older man wisely swallowed his intended support for the vampire’s words and waited to see the upshot of the argument.

The recently bonded couple glared at each other for several minutes, Spike’s eyes flashing amber as his demon demanded to be let out. Buffy had no such issues, the Slayer was in full control as she stared up at him daring him to contradict her again. After a tense silence, he dropped his eyes and relaxed his shoulders.

“Wasn’t tryin’ to tell you how to do your job, Buffy,” he said softly. “I just don’t want you getting killed because you aren’t taking Angelus seriously. He’s a wanker, but he’s a two hundred plus year old wanker and he knows how you fight. You can’t afford to cut him any slack if it comes down to it. Don’t care how many witches you’ve got chanting on the outside trying to put that soul back.”

Buffy relaxed her own belligerent posture at his soft words and worried look.

“I am taking him seriously, Spike. I promise you. Remember my dreams? I do. Angelus gets near me, he’s dust. But I owe it to Angel to let Willow try. He’s lived with that soul longer than he lived without it, and I think he’d want it back.”

Instead of arguing with her, Spike exchanged looks with the watcher over her head and said obliquely, “You know I don’t have a soul, pet, right?”

She frowned in confusion. “I know that. It doesn’t matter. I trust you. You’re who you are without it. What has that to do with—“ She stopped, thinking about what she’d just said.

“Giles? Is he saying that Angel…Angelus…?”

Spike answered before the other man could speak.

“They’re the same person – vampire, Buffy. With the soul, his conscience, what he has of one, keeps him in line. Well, that and his wantin’ to be the only vampire to gain redemption,” Spike scoffed. “It’s all about him being special and being the bloody champion of the Powers That Be. He’s still the same sick bastard he’s always been, just hides it better and takes out his bloodlust on evil people and demons.”

Giles cleared his throat and responded to Spike’s words carefully. Buffy was looking and back and forth between the two of them with a stricken look on her face and he sighed as he added to what the vampire had said.

“I’m afraid Spike is probably right, Buffy. Angel’s desire to do good and redeem himself is a very recent development in his time as a vampire. It appears to be related to his being sent to help you and to the…feelings…he developed for you at that time. Up until that time, while he wasn’t actively killing, he gave no sign that he had any interest in defeating evil.”

“I didn’t mean to yell at you, love – well, that’s not totally true. I DID mean to yell at you; but only because I’m afraid for you.”

He stepped back up to her and ran one hand gently down her face. “You know if anything happened to you, I’d lie on your grave and wait for the sun to rise, don’t you?”

She leaned into his hand, nuzzling his palm as she nodded her head. “I know. I could feel you. But you can’t tell me how to be the Slayer. I have to do that by myself. Alone.”

“By yourself, maybe. But not alone. Never alone.”

The warmth that flooded Buffy as she absorbed the truth of his words filled her with more confidence than she’d ever had and she stepped back and smiled at him with wet eyes.

“Ok. I’m going to go now. I’m just going to look for them. That’s all. I promise. I won’t go in anywhere and I’ll be back in a couple of hours. If I haven’t found them, we’ll have Willow do a locator spell.”

“Do be carefully, Buffy,” Giles added his request to the vampire’s murmured, “Come back soon, love.”

“Be back before you notice I’m gone,” she said, waving cheerfully and walking out into the late morning sunshine.

A stop at the dorm to be sure Tara and Willow were all right and she had her work cut in half for her when Willow got on her laptop and checked the real estate records for a list of recent vacant homes as well as those condemned by the city. She printed out the list for Buffy and they narrowed down the possible lairs by eliminating any that were visited frequently by real estate agents.

Buffy thanking Willow and asked the girls to meet her back at Giles’ apartment in the late afternoon to go over the evening’s plans. In spite of Spike’s words, Buffy asked Willow to bring the en-souling spell with her as well as the necessary Orb of Thesela.

She could feel Spike’s worry nibbling at the edge of her thoughts and remembered what he’d said about never being alone. She stroked the marks on her neck and tried to think calm, reassuring thoughts in case he was picking up on her emotions the way she was feeling his. She decided that as weird as it seemed, being able to feel his presence, it was something she could definitely get used to it.

A check of the houses that might have harbored vampires indicated no sign of them and Buffy grabbed a late lunch before heading for the warehouse district. She ignored the catcalls from the men working around the buildings that were still in use, just walking past them toward the obviously vacant ones behind. The late afternoon sun told her she needed to hurry if she was going to get them all checked out before she had to go back.

Spike’s anxiety as the day went on and she still wasn’t back was coming through loud and clear and she smiled at his impatience. She decided she would check just the first set of buildings and then return, leaving the others for another day.

She was looking carefully for any signs of entry to the boarded up buildings, as well as casting her slayer senses around any trace of vampire signatures when she suddenly spotted a body lying between two buildings and cautiously approached. She checked briefly to be sure the alley was empty, but with the sun’s rays slanting all the way to the end it was obvious there were no vampires lurking there and she hastened toward the body. Just as she reached it, Riley raised his head and croaked, “B-Buffy?”

“Oh my god, Riley! What happened? How badly are you hurt?”

She cringed as she took in his ripped clothes, the bloody bites all over his chest and arms and his bruised face. She shuddered at the deep fang marks in his neck, wondering how he survived such blood loss. She carefully helped him to his feet, taking most of his weight on her slender shoulders as he staggered with her to the alley’s entrance. They paused at the end of the alley, the big man swaying slightly as he tried to support himself.

“Weak, thirsty…” He tried to talk and she shushed him, insisting that he would be fine as soon as she got him to the hospital. “No…no…have to help them…still alive…inside…”

“Inside? Inside where? Help who? Who needs help, Riley?”

“Ch-children. In there,” he gasped, gesturing toward a door that she hadn’t noticed in her haste to get to him. “Vamps…two of them…dusted one and got away, but still children inside.”

“Wait here,” she ordered, “Stay in the sunlight. I’ll be right back.”

Without a thought, she burst through the door, scanning the large room for any sign of a vampire or potential victims. Her senses were tingling, telling her there was at least one vampire around but she couldn’t yet see in the gloom, her eyes still used to the bright California sunlight outside. The tingles in the back of her neck ratcheted up several notches and she began to back slowly toward the door as the signatures of several powerful vampires began to make themselves felt.

Buffy felt the familiar fear begin to slow her down as she recognized Angelus’ signature and realized she might have made a big mistake. She heard the door slam shut behind her, and whirled to find Riley advancing on her with large piece of nail-studded wood. She ducked away from him, taking a painful cut on her shoulder as she did so. She was preparing to knock him out of her way just as something very heavy came down on her head and she slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Chapter Twenty-three

Back in Giles’s apartment, the vampire stopped the worried pacing he’d been doing almost since she left and froze in place. He had no sooner felt Buffy’s anxiety levels go up when she suddenly vanished and his demon let out an anguished roar, startling the watcher out of his doze on the couch.

Giles opened his eyes to find a fully vamped out Spike ripping a blanket off the bed in preparation for going outside. As he yanked the door open, Willow stumbled in, her hand still on the knob she’d been about to turn.

“Spike!” she yelped. “What the—“

“Get out of the way, Red. I’ve got to leave.”

“Spike.” The watcher’s quiet voice stopped his rush out the door into the sunshine and he paused to turn and look at him with devastated eyes.

“I can’t feel her anymore, Rupert. She was scared…and then she was gone.”

“G…gone?” Willow stammered. “You mean like…dead? Buffy’s dead?”

“Not dead. I’d know if she was dead. But unconscious. And hurt. Could feel the pain before I lost her.”

“Spike,” the watcher spoke again, the sympathy and fear in his own voice stalling the vampire’s dash into the still deadly sunlight. “Let Willow do a locating spell so we know where to go. By that time the sun will be down far enough for you to be safe out there. If you burn yourself to a crisp looking for her, Buffy won’t be happy with any of us.”

Calming down and realizing the logic in the man’s words, he turned around and pulled the door shut behind him.

“Make it damn quick, witch,” he growled, sliding back into his human features.

Hands shaking with fear and nerves, Willow and Tara quickly set up the things they needed for a locating spell and Spike gave them Buffy’s nightgown to use as a conduit. His eyes dared any of them to say anything as he handed the voluminous, heavy gown to Tara. In spite of the seriousness of the situation, the watcher smothered a smile at the sight of the Victorian nightwear.

Spike watched anxiously as the two witches muttered the appropriate words over the nightgown and studied the map in front of them. By the time the locator light had settled on the warehouse district, Spike was already at the door again. He threw the blanket over his head as protection from the waning sunlight and left the building, shouting over his shoulder, “She’s waking up. I’m going on foot. You can bring the backup in the car.”

The instant the sun dropped below the horizon, the vampire dropped the smoking blanket on the sidewalk and continued running. He was using every bit of the vampiric speed he usually saved for fights, passing people so fast they weren’t sure they had actually seen anybody. He could feel Buffy’s fear building and tried to send her reassurance as he struggled to get there before his vampire family could turn the fear into something more fatal.

Giles threw several crossbows, holy water guns, and stakes into the car before joining the witches and following the vampire as quickly as he could. Fear for the slayer he loved like a daughter gripped his bowels and he vowed to kill Angelus himself if Buffy was so much as scratched.

~~~~~~~~~

Buffy woke up to find herself living out one of her worst nightmares. She was lying on a filthy mattress, her arms and legs tied with ordinary rope to various poles or pieces of machinery about the room. As if to make her worst fears come true, the terror that filled her at being in the same situation as in her last Slayer dream froze her in place and she didn’t even try to test the ropes that held her. She just moaned and shrank back as Angelus stood over her, smiling his pleasure at having her spread before him even if she did still have her clothes on. He planned to take care of that little problem very soon.

“Hello there, lover,” he crooned. “You know your heart is going so fast I can’t even count the beats. Is that because you’re so excited to see me? Or, wait, is it because you know what I’m going to do to you?”

Even as Buffy’s heart rate increased again for fear of the look in his eyes and the plan she knew he had for her, she sensed Spike’s arrival and realized he was coming to save her. She had no sooner begun to relax when she recalled that in her dreams he was not able to help her – that in fact he needed her help and she was unable to give it. Immediately her heart sped up again and she quailed against the mattress when she saw Riley standing in the doorway, stake and cross in hand.

She wondered briefly what Angelus had done to Riley to cause the vampire-hating, ex-commando to become an apparently willing accomplice in her entrapment. Then she decided it didn’t matter – the important thing is that he was currently standing between her and rescue, threatening her mate with dusting.

Telling herself that Spike would have no trouble with the obviously weakened and over-confident ex-commando, she looked around the room for Darla and Drusilla, trembling when she saw them go into vamp face as they felt Spike’s arrival. She frantically tried to send him a message to go away, to leave her to her fate, knowing that he wouldn’t listen but willing him to keep away.

Tears poured down her cheeks as she fought the paralyzing fear that she was going to see her mate torn to pieces and be unable to stop it. She didn’t even notice the feral grin on Angelus as he misunderstood her tears to be about her own fate.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The car slid to a stop at the entrance to the alley just in time for them to see Spike’s duster disappearing into the open doorway. Tucking the stakes into his pockets and leaving one crossbow and the holy water for the witches, Giles grabbed the other crossbow and prepared to follow the vampire into the building. He ordered the girls to remain in the locked car and begin the soul restoration spell that he was sincerely hoping would not work in time to prevent the death of Buffy’s first love.

Inside the building, Spike was striding toward the area where his senses all told him Buffy was waiting for him. He could feel the terror pouring through the claim, and the relief when she sensed him in the building. When he felt the fear turn to sheer terror, he increased his speed and flew toward the area in which he could sense his mate. He made no attempt to hide his approach, knowing his “family” would have already sensed him.

Spike reached the entrance to the room, only to find a bloodied Riley blocking his way with a large cross in one hand and a stake in the other. Behind him, Spike could see Buffy lying on a dirty mattress, her arms and legs outstretched. He frowned when he saw that she was not fighting against the less than substantial looking ropes holding her. Her eyes were fixed on him and he understood the increase in fear he’d felt. She was no longer afraid for herself, she was afraid for him.

Even as his heart was warmed by her fear for his safety.--fear that he could feel radiating from her--he frowned at the way it was contributing to her inability to fight back. He looked back toward her, willing her to fight the fear and show them what kind of slayer she was.



“Ah, Will, you’re just in time to watch me take the Slayer before I drain her and make her a member of our little family. Maybe, when I’ve punished you enough for joining forces with her little band of do-gooders, I’ll let you play with her sometimes. After I tire of her myself, of course.”

Angelus just smiled in response to Spike’s outraged snarl and gestured for Darla and Dru to join Riley in seeing that the younger vampire could not get into the room. While they blocked Spike’s way, Angelus stalked toward the Slayer, unbuckling his pants as he did so. Buffy’s eyes widened as the former love of her life prepared to bring her nightmares to life by damaging her in the worst possible ways.

Ignoring the large man waving a cross in his face, and snarling at Darla so fiercely that she flinched back from her great grandchilde, Spike focused on Buffy and the obvious fear holding her to be mattress. Her eyes sought his and he could see her confusion when he didn’t just break the ex-commando’s neck and rush to her side.

As desperately as he wanted to tear Angelus’ head off and feed it to his blonde whore of a sire, he waited for Buffy to understand that she could and should be handling this herself. He had no intention of letting any actual harm come to her if he could prevent it, but the sight of his strong, resourceful mate paralyzed by fear made him ill.


The disappointment and confusion on her face when he didn’t rush to her side made his stomach hurt, but he continued to pretend to be afraid of the foolish man in front of him. He waited to see what Buffy was going to do, startled when he heard her watcher behind him snarling, “What the hell are you waiting for?”

Without taking his eyes off the scene in front of him, Spike growled back, ”I’m waiting for her to remember she’s the Slayer. If I go in there now, she’ll doubt herself from now on. And that will get her killed.”

“As opposed to what’s about to happen now?” came the sarcastic rejoinder, but Giles acknowledged the truth of Spike’s remarks and waited, holding his cocked crossbow in front of him.

Spike sucked in a totally unnecessary breath as he watched his grandsire fall onto the body of his mate and reach for her neck with his fangs. The furious roar as he threw himself to the side and sprang to his feet was all Spike needed to know the claim had done its job.

“You dared!” he snarled. “That is the last time you will disrespect me, William.” He turned yellow eyes to his waiting women and his human minion.


“Kill him,” he ordered flatly and turned back to the now feebly struggling Slayer. “You might as well learn now how I deal with disobedience,” he said to her, placing a foot on her chest to hold her still. “As soon as he’s gone, you’ll be mine. It will be a lesson well-learned.”

At his words, Riley had rushed Spike with his upraised stake, confident that the vampire was helpless against him. He had no time to register his surprise as Spike backhanded him away into the advancing Drusilla who promptly bit him, holding his large body easily until she had drained him completely. She dropped his body to the floor and watched as her grandmother attacked her childe with teeth and nails.

“What the hell are you doing, Dru?” Angelus roar was even angrier. “I told you to kill him. You can make yourself another toy later.”

The brunette vampire shook her head, whimpering as she looked from where Darla and Spike where tearing at each other to where Angelus glared at her from beside the Slayer. She held her head in her hands, pulling on her hair as she wailed and cried, “Not mine. Not mine to kill.”

“I’ll do it myself, you crazy bitch,” he snarled, leaving Buffy to rush across the room. He grabbed Drusilla and shook her before flinging her away from him.

“You’ll pay for this later,” he promised, turning away and joining Darla in her attack on his errant grandchilde. He ignored the “Noooo!” from the now hysterical slayer as he grimly went about helping his sire dust their most irritating family member.

Giles watched Dru helplessly as the insane vampire crept closer to his slayer. He cautiously stepped into the room, taking care not to turn his back on the battling vampires as he tried to get close enough to get a good shot at Drusilla’s heart. He saw her lean over Buffy and groaned, picturing her fangs ripping out his slayer’s throat.

However, to his amazement, she appeared to be whispering to Buffy rather than biting her, and then she astonished him by using her talons to slice through the ropes holding the slayer down.

Buffy rubbed her wrists gingerly, staring at the carnage in front of her and moaning. Suddenly the vampire slapped her across the face and she whirled to glare at her, pulling her fist back to punch her in the face.

“Ah, there’s the Slayer,” Dru crowed as she picked herself up. “There’s the sunshine that my William loves. He needs you, sunshine. Save my William.”

Buffy whirled to see Spike going down under Darla and Angelus and without a thought she crossed the room in three bounds, pulling the larger vampire off her mate and flinging him into the wall. Freed of the weight of both vamps, Spike staggered to his feet and kicked Darla away from him. Blood was pouring from numerous wounds and he swayed slightly as he waited for her to attack again.

Her angry leap back at the injured vampire never happened as Giles’ crossbow bolt went through her back and into her unbeating heart. He watched in satisfaction as the dust drifted to the warehouse floor and Spike sank back down in relief, resting against the wall.

Buffy was kicking Angelus up and down the room, inhuman growls coming from her throat as she punctuated her kicks and hits with muttered oaths.

“You miserable, arrogant, bloodsucking son of a bitch,” she hissed as she kicked him against the wall. She walked over and grabbed the dazed vampire by his shirt, throwing him back into the middle of the room. “What makes you think I would ever let you touch me? With your teeth or with any other part of your anatomy?” She held his shirtfront in one hand while she punched him with the other. “Did you think I would ever want you again, now that I’ve had a real man? Er, vampire?

“And, news flash, ‘Peaches’, never, NEVER try to kill a Slayer’s mate.” With a final punch, she drove the unconscious vampire to the floor and looked around for her stake. She picked it up, pausing to acknowledge Spike’s weary applause with a tight smile before turning to the body of her former lover. She was just raising the stake when Angelus shook all over, his body almost rising off the floor and a scream tearing from his throat as he clutched his chest.

When he slumped back down, he took two gasping breaths and Angel was looking up at Buffy with tears in his eyes.

“Oh my god, Buffy. I am so sorry. I never meant to…” He looked at Riley’s body and cringed before looking back into her still-cold eyes. “I don’t know what to say. I am more sorry than you can imagine. Can you ever forgive me?”

“I’ll let you know,” she replied, already turning away to rush to Spike’s side. She helped him to his feet, taking his weight on her small shoulders and helping him walk toward the door. Suddenly she was propelled forward as something heavy crashed into Spike, tearing him from her grip.

“You dared!” Angel roared, sounding very much like his soulless alter ego. “You claimed Buffy. Did you think I wouldn’t remember it?” While Buffy watched helplessly, her furious ex boyfriend brought the stake he’d picked up over his head and prepared to drive it into Spike’s heart.

“Angel!” Buffy’s horrified scream did nothing to change his mind, but it did distract him long enough for her to throw her own body over Spike’s.

“Get out of the way, Buffy,” he said more calmly. “I’ll take care of this. As soon as he’s gone you’ll be free and this urge to protect him will go away.”

“I don’t WANT to be ‘free’, Angel. I did this willingly, with my eyes open.”

“But why?” her heart softened at the bewilderment on his face, but she kept her voice firm as she replied.

“Because I love him Angel. And he loves me. We did this now to protect me from Angelus.” She bit her lip as he grimaced in remembered pain at what Angelus had intended to do to her.

“He’s gone now, Buffy. You don’t need to be protected from me.”

His pleading voice made it harder to speak calmly, but she struggled to get the words out.

“You didn’t let me finish, Angel,” she replied quietly. “We did it now to save me from you.” He flinched at her use of the pronoun, but remained quiet. “But we would have done it eventually anyway. We belong to each other. And we always will. I’m sorry, Angel, but this is the man I intend to spend the rest of my life with. He completes me.”

‘He’s not a man. He’s a vampire.” Angel’s voice was anything but understanding, and Buffy was grateful for Spike’s supportive hand on her back.

“He’s MY vampire, Angel. Please try to accept that.”

She stared into his anguished brown eyes sorrowfully, then stood and bent to help Spike back to his feet. She never even felt the rush of air as the stake once again arced toward her mate’s back, but she saw the dust drifting past and whirled to see Giles slowly lowering the cross bow.

“I’m sorry, Buffy,” he said in a voice that held only a hint of sincerity, “It was Angel or Spike. I made a choice.”

Buffy looked sadly at the dust on the floor and the stake lying nearby and shook her head tearfully.

“It’s all right, Giles. At least it wasn’t me who did it this time.” She leaned lightly against Spike until she felt him tremble and remembered that she was supposed to be holding him up, not looking for sympathy because her ex was dead. “And hey, you killed Darla too, so bonus points all around.” She did her best to look perky as she helped Spike out of the building and into the car.

As the humans left the building, a figure floated out of the shadows and knelt sadly beside the pile of dust on the floor. She slowly picked up the stake lying beside all that was left of her sire and turned it over and over in her hands.
She looked further into the room and saw the dust that was her grandsire and thought about the words from her childe’s chosen mate.

She closed her eyes and swayed, listening to voices no one else could have heard. Then she nodded her head and put the stake down gently.

“Even strong slayers don’t live forever, my William. I can wait for you to come back to your dark princess. Someday you will need me again and I will find you. Your princess will find you. Someday.”

She brushed the dust of her sire and grandsire into one small pile and placed it in an empty jar she found in one of the back rooms. Humming to herself, she carefully put the lid on the jar and slid out the door into the welcoming darkness.