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Just a Little Spell by slaymesoftly
 
Chapters 7 - 13
 
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Chapter Seven

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(And why didn’t you tell me something was happening?)

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(You know I do, pet.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“An interesting relationship.”

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

(Doesn’t know the half of it, does he, pet?)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(So you can do what? Scold him to death?)


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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“And?”

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

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

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

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

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

“Hmph!” was the only response to that.

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

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

(You alright, luv?)

(Yes, I’m fine. Safely in my bed.)

(By yourself?)
The anxiety was palpable.

(Of course, by myself! What do you think I am, some kind of slut?) She made no attempt to hide the hurt and anger his question generated.

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

(Buffy? Slayer?)

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

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

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

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


Chapter Eight

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

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

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

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

“You are afraid of this girl?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Nothing demonic or strange about them?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She gave William a sideways look and said with an evil grin, “This could actually be a lot of fun…”
“Hey! Don’t get any ideas there, Missy. You might get to hold my leash, but you are NOT picking out clothes for me. I’ll stake myself before I let you dress me.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(What barrier?)

(Vampire? Ringin’ any bells here, Slayer?)

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

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

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

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

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


Chapter Nine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“You’re playin’ my song, luv.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Bollocks!)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What did they do to you?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I’m thinking, RUN, pet.”

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

(Commandos?)

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

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

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

(Deal. Now start screaming, William!)

(I’ll make you proud, love.)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Chapter Ten

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Hey, William,” she said softly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What are they doing?” she hissed.

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

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

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

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

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

(Was the demon that claimed you, love. Not some poncey poet.)_

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

(I didn’t mean to think that out loud. You shouldn’t have listened.)

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

(I’m working on it. I’m getting better, aren’t I?)

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

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

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

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

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

“Hmmm. How are we going to do that from in here? They’ve got cameras focused on all the doors, I’m sure….oh, I know! We’ll go out my bedroom window and come back in the front door.”

They went quietly through the dark house, up the stairs and into Buffy’s room. Spike looked around, inhaling the overpowering scent of Buffy that permeated everything in the room. He tried very hard to keep his gaze off the neatly made bed, but his eyes were continually drawn to it, visualizing Buffy sleeping there.

“Spike? Spike? Earth to Spike,” she whispered from the window. “Come on. What are you doing?”

“Nothin’, love. Jus’ indulgin’ in some wishful thinkin’.” He moved to the window and watched as Buffy opened it and slipped out with the ease of long practice.

“Done this before, have you?” he smirked as he followed her out onto the roof.

“Until you showed up wanting a truce and I had to tell my mother the truth. Every night, for almost two years.”

“Sh” He put a hand over her mouth, almost groaning aloud at the feeling of her warm, soft lips on his palm.

(We don’t know how sensitive those recorders are. Better not to talk till we’re on the ground.)

(I knew that!) Buffy was embarrassed that she hadn’t thought of being heard discussing her Slayer status or calling him Spike.

It took them only a few minutes to drop gracefully to the ground from the tree limbs. When Spike had looked around and spotted the camera, they carefully moved away until they reached the sidewalk. Once they were sure they were out of range, they turned around and began walking toward the house.

“I must say, Buffy. Life in Sunnydale is certainly more exciting than it is in London. I don’t believe we have creatures like that there.”

“Actually, William, I’m sure you do. You just aren’t as likely to see them as here. It’s important to know how to avoid them if you are going to be out at night in Sunnydale.”

They walked up to the front door, carefully maintaining their identities as cousins, although Buffy had obviously given up pretending she wasn’t a vampire fighter on some sort.

Once they were safely inside, they stood awkwardly in the front hallway, neither one sure what to do next.

“Well, I guess I’d better try to get some sleep before tomorrow,” Buffy said carefully. “College classes and all that.”

(I’ll go see Giles first thing in the morning and see what he wants me to do about those surveillance devices.)

“Yes. Your education is quite important. You should get your sleep while you can.”

(Hey! Maybe he’ll tell us to bash them with hammers. That could be fun.)

(I’m thinking more like, let Willow take one apart and see what they do. And, until we know that, we’ll just have to be very careful what we say to each other and Mom.)

(You know if they have heat sensors on them, we’re buggered, right? I can look and talk like William, but I can’t make my heart beat or my body temperature go up. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea. My bein’ here. Don’t want your mum havin’ to worry about those wankers too.)

(I’m not letting them take you back.)

(I’m not plannin’ to go back. Jus’ saying, maybe I shouldn’t be here.)

(Too late now. You’re here and if they noticed anything when we walked up, then we’ll deal with that when we have to. In the meantime, you can hide in the basement and sleep all day tomorrow while I have to pretend I wasn’t up all night.)

Aloud, she said, “Good night, William. I’ll see you tomorrow. “

“Good night, pet. Sleep tight.”

(Sweet dreams, Slayer)

(There will be NO dreams, sweet or otherwise, if you know what’s good for you! I need sleep, not…dreams…or whatever.)

(Fine) the disappointed sigh was impossible to hide. (But I can’t make any promises, love. Knowing you’re just up the stairs… alone… in your bed. Naked, maybe?) he added hopefully.

(Spike…) there was no mistaking the visual she sent him of a large, wooden stake.

(Hey, a bloke can hope, can’t he? Good night, Slayer.) He leaned in and planted a chaste kiss on her lips, drawing back quickly before she could object or turn it into something else.

“Good night, William,” she said softly.


Chapter Eleven

Buffy was up early, in spite of only having a few hours of sleep. Spike had been true to his word and the only dreams she had about him were her own, difficult-to-suppress, memories of how he felt pressed against her. She drifted off to sleep dreaming she was curled up next to his cool body and had to smother a pang of disappointment when she woke up alone. She dressed and went downstairs quickly, taking her mother into the bathroom and running the water to [pl;.,drown out their voices.

To her immense surprise, there were no voices to drown out. Neither she, nor her mother, was capable of making a sound. After several frustrating minutes, she grabbed a tablet and wrote down what she needed to say.

Joyce’s face darkened as Buffy gave her a capsule version of the night’s events and explained that everything they might say, if they could speak, was probably being recorded.

“Of course, that doesn’t seem to be a issue just now,” she wrote with an angry slash. She scribbled some more words and shoved the tablet at her mother.

“It’s going to be okay, Mom. As soon as I get Giles and Willow here, we’ll find them and take them down. But you’re going to have to be careful how you talk to Spike until then. I don’t want them to find out William is the vampire they’ve been looking for.”

Grabbing the table from Buffy, her mother wrote furiously, “All right, Buffy. But please do not bring that soldier back here. I don’t know that I am that good an actress – and right now I want to take a baseball bat to him.”

“Whoa, Mom! And Spike thinks I’m violent!” Buffy laughed at her mother’s embarrassment and hugged her.

As soon as Joyce had left for work, Buffy hastened to the other side of town and Giles’ apartment. Just before she reached his door, she remembered why they’d had to go to her house last night and decided she really didn’t want to find her Watcher in bed with his guest. She paced around the parking lot, frustrated with her choices. On the one hand, she obviously couldn’t make a phone call, but on the other, knocking on the door seemed unnecessarily embarrassing for all of them.

Her dilemma was solved when the door opened and her fully dressed Watcher peered out. He saw Buffy and immediately gestured for her to come in. Once inside the apartment, they frantically scribbled back and forth. The morning news, which was done in closed captions, told about several people being found dead with their hearts ripped out. Giles had already put Olivia to work doing research, and as Willow and Xander and Anya arrived, the full Scoobie machine was at work on identifying the problem.

Looking over Willow’s shoulder, Buffy spotted a drawing of a figure that looked very much like the ugly man she and William had seen the night before. She pointed at the picture, gesturing to her eyes until Willow finally said, “You’ve seen one of these?”

Buffy nodded vigorously and scribbled, “Last night.”

Another hour of research, and they had their answers as to both the missing hearts and the missing voices. Buffy nodded her head when Giles wrote that she had to locate the box with the missing voices and open it before any more Sunnydale citizens lost their hearts.

Armed with the knowledge of what was needed to disrupt the Gentlemen’s quest for more hearts, she headed back to Revello Drive, the entire crew including Olivia following along. She showed them the cameras, and sensors, pointing out the hiding places as they approached her front yard.

While Anya and Xander took Olivia into the house, Giles and Willow bent down to look at one of the sensors. After studying it for a minute, Willow plucked a wire from the back and picked it up triumphantly. Buffy looked at the recording device and carefully stepped on the microphone pointed at her front door, crushing it beneath her feet.

When Willow stared at her, indicating she could have disconnected it also, Buffy shrugged and wrote, “Low tech solution to high tech problem.”

Giles shook his head and they entered the house, leaving the camera running until they could decide what to do about it. Willow and Buffy went out to the back yard and dismantled the camera, recorder and sensors they found there. A close inspection of the rest of the yard revealed one more camera, two more recorders, duly smashed by Buffy’s feet, and another sensor.

They went back in the kitchen door to find William having a mug of warm pig’s blood for breakfast and looking much too rested to suit Buffy. And much too cute. He was wearing the new blue button-down shirt and jeans. With his soft curls falling over his forehead and his startling blue eyes peering out from under them, he looked adorable.

She sincerely hoped she hadn’t been projecting when she had that thought, but William gave no sign that he’d heard her refer to him as adorable. Instead, he tilted his head at her and asked, (What’s with the mass laryngitis, pet?)

(I’ll fill you in later. Let’s just say you and I are going hunting ugly people after all.)

He raised his eyebrows, but didn’t pursue it when he noticed Willow giving them a funny look. He gave her his best, most innocent “William” smile and she relaxed and went back to examining the sensors they’d brought in.

Spike took his mug of blood into the living room and sat down to watch the news with Olivia, leaving the Scoobies to watch Willow as she dismantled the sensor. It occurred to him that Giles might very well have not told her he was a vampire, so he made sure to act as bewildered and confused as William would undoubtedly have been at all the weird happenings around him.

By the time evening was approaching, Willow had managed to incapacitate the sensors so that they could not record Spike’s lack of body temperature, or accurately count the humans present in the house. They carefully replaced them where they’d found them. The cameras were twisted just enough that they pointed to a wall of the house, rather than a door. There was nothing to be done about the microphones Buffy had crushed, but with no one able to speak, they doubted the commandos would be listening anyway.

With nightfall, Buffy and Spike went through the weapon’s chest, taking whatever easily concealed things they could find. Without knowing what to expect from the Gentlemen, they tried to be prepared for anything. As they worked at getting ready to go out, Willow studied them surreptitiously. She was positive they were communicating in some fashion other than with gestures, but she couldn’t imagine what it was or how they would have come to be able to do it.

Leaving the Scoobies at her house with her now home-again mother, Buffy left by the front door, conspicuously waving “good-bye” to William and Joyce. As soon as she was safely away from the house, she stopped and waited while Spike caught up with her.

(What took you so long?)

(Had a little trouble with the whelp wantin’ to follow me up to your room and keep me out. The witch had to step in and show him the tree outside the window before he’d let me set foot in there. The way he watched me, you’da thought I was gonna set fire to it or somethin’.)

Buffy was intrigued by the underlying hurt she could feel as he told her about Xander’s unwillingness to let him near her room. Afraid he would pick up on her thoughts, she pushed her curiously aside for the time being and concentrated on discussing their plan for the night.

(Okay, we’re going to search through the residential areas because that’s how they got the hearts last night – from people who were sleeping. We’ll save the dorms till last, cause nobody goes to sleep early there. We’re not going to get in the way unless we have to, to save a life. We’ll follow them back to wherever they’re keeping the voices and try to open the box.)

(I got it, pet. The first three times. What are you so nervous about?)

(I’m not nervous. I’m….concerned.)

(About?)

(I know the commandos will be out tonight looking for the same guys we are. What if they see us/you?)

(Well, I could try screaming again, but I guess that won’t work if I’m holding a sword…)

(No.) There was a tone of command in Buffy’s thought. (If we run into them, you leave, or hide, or something. I don’t want them to see you. I don’t want them wondering why William is always with me when I’m out slaying.)

(Not leavin’ you alone, pet) Spike’s determination was palpable.

(You are if I tell you to.) Buffy’s determination was equally strong.

Their inevitable stand-off was interrupted by the arrival of several of the Gentlemen’s helpers. They fought all but one of them to a stand still, finding that the only way to kill them was to cut off their heads. The remaining creature ran off with its awkward, loping gait, arms swinging wildly, and Buffy and Spike in hot pursuit.

They followed him to a clock tower and watched as one of the Gentlemen floated past, carefully holding what appeared to be another heart. Close behind him, was a squad of commandos, led by Riley Finn. Shoving Spike behind a bush and ordering him to (stay here unless I call you), Buffy ran into the tower behind the Gentleman and ahead of Riley.

Ignoring the soldier, except to keep an eye on how he was doing in the fight, Buffy battled her way into the tower and began searching frantically for the voice box. Just as she located it, she was attacked by two of the long-armed creatures at once and pinned down. As she frantically tried to kick them off of her before the advancing Gentleman could take his scalpel to her chest, she gestured toward the box, trying to get Riley to smash it.

In her anxiety to get the box smashed quickly, she hadn’t realized she was projecting her frustration and thoughts until William burst through the door and brought his fist down on the box, releasing all the captured voices. Immediately, Buffy began screaming, not stopping until she ran out of breath and all the Gentlemen had succumbed to exploding heads.

For several seconds, no one moved or said anything. Buffy was struggling to regain her breath, William was hovering over her anxiously, and Riley was looking back and forth between the two as he struggled back to his feet.

“Buffy, we need to talk,” he said unnecessarily.

Spike gave a very un-William-like snort, and she shot him a warning look before turning to face the big commando.

“I suppose we do,” she said tiredly. “But not tonight. I’m tired and I want to go home. I’ll meet you in the coffee shop tomorrow. Is that all right?”

“I thought maybe you could come to Lowell House for coffee. We could talk there with more privacy.”

Buffy studied him for a full minute, trying to assess how much she could trust the man. She could feel Spike behind her, willing her to say “no”, but ignored him as best she could. When she nodded her head in agreement, and told Riley she’d meet him at Lowell House, the vampire stalked out of the tower and disappeared into the night.

“William isn’t walking home on his own, is he?” Riley asked with a grin.

“No, I’m sure he’ll wait for me. I think he just needed to get out of here and away from all the blood and gore.”

“He’s awfully delicate for the cousin of a Slayer, isn’t he?” Riley tried to appear casual as he used her title for the first time.

“He’s a good man,” she said shortly, neither confirming nor denying his implication. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Riley.” She went down the stairs and out into the night, leaving the commando and his team staring after her small form as she walked down the street toward her waiting cousin.

Chapter Twelve

The long walk to Revello drive was made in silence – mental and physical. Spike made no attempt to disguise the anger burning within him, but he didn’t project any thoughts toward Buffy at all. She knew he was furious that she’d agreed to enter the fraternity house by herself, but she was too tired to argue with him about it. The only thoughts she allowed to enter her head were thoughts of a hot bath and her soft bed.

They entered the house, still not speaking to each other, to find that everyone else had found their voice and there were at least three conversations going on at one time.

Giles, Olivia and Joyce were trying to have a dignified, adult conversation about Sunnydale, Slayers and Watchers – all of which had been new to Olivia until that morning. Xander wanted to complain to all and sundry about Spike’s taking up residence in the Summer’s house, and his obvious familiarity with Buffy’s bedroom. Anya was anxious to get home and get some quality time with Xander before it got too late and he fell asleep.

Buffy and Spike stood inside the door listening to the cacophony of noise and exchanged a look that clearly said, “Can we have the silence back again?”

Finally, Willow noticed their presence and shouted, “They’re back!”

“Good job, Buffster,” Xander spoke up first. “Way to dust those guys and get us our voices back.”

“Actually, William did that,” Buffy said, emphasizing “Wiliiam” as a reminder that their words might be heard. She thought she had smashed all the microphones, but wasn’t sure they didn’t miss one somewhere.

“Yes, well, good job, William,” Giles said, picking up on the vampire’s obvious anger, but at a loss as to what might be causing it. “Any complications, Buffy?”

With a snarl, Spike pushed past the humans in the room and went down to the basement. There was an uncomfortable silence following his departure and Joyce frowned slightly. She made a motion as if to go after him, but Buffy’s voice stopped her.

“Let him go, Mom. He’s just pissed at me.”

“Buffy! Language!”

Rolling her eyes, Buffy said tiredly, “If it’s all right with everybody else, I’m going to take a hot bath and get some sleep. I’ll fill you all in tomorrow night. I’ll know more about the commandos then, too.”

She turned and made her way upstairs, refusing to answer any of the questions being thrown at her about the commandos and how they figured in to the night’s actions.

In the basement, a furious vampire was pacing from one side to the other, desperate for something on which to take out his anger at the Slayer. Every time he picked up something to throw, he would recognize it as something Joyce probably valued, and he would set it down carefully, snarling the whole time.

(Bloody, stupid bint! Goin’ in there alone…and in the daytime, when I can’t go out. If anything happens to her, I’ll rip that place apart…brick by brick, body by body.)

He lifted his head as he heard a heavy step on the stairs and watched as Giles descended. He didn’t offer a greeting, just threw himself on the cot and glared.

“Would you like to let me in on what this little tantrum is about?” he inquired in a deceptively mild tone.

“Not a tantrum,” the vampire said with a growl. “If I was havin’ a tantrum, this place would be in shambles by now.”

“Point well taken. And I am sure Joyce thanks you for your restraint,” he answered wryly. “But I still want to know what’s going on…and why I should leave an angry vampire in the same house with my Slayer and her mother?”

“Wouldn’t hurt them,” he growled.

“Isn’t that couldn’t hurt them? I think we both know what you would do if you weren’t effectively neutered.”

“Wouldn’t, couldn’t, same thing.” He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall. “You know nothing, Watcher.”

When Giles didn’t respond, but remained standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for an answer, Spike growled again and stood up. He smiled to himself when the Watcher couldn’t hide a small flinch as he stalked toward him. Giles recovered quickly, but Spike had seen the movement and felt the slight increase in heart rate.

Considering that he was still dressed like William, complete with glasses, the vampire was quite pleased with himself to think he could still frighten an experienced Watcher.

“Did she tell you what she’s gonna do?” he demanded as he invaded the watcher’s personal space. “Did she tell you what she agreed to?”

“The only thing she said was that she was tired and going to take a hot bath before going to bed. Perhaps you could be a bit more forthcoming?”

“She agreed to meet with that bloody piillock tomorrow – at his fraternity house. By herself.” He watched with satisfaction as Giles’ face paled, and added, “That would be the house that is full of soldiers pretending to be college boys, in case you’ve forgotten. The one that Red thinks is built over the lab where they use live demons for carving practice.”

Giles flinched again at Spike’s description of the activities that went on in the research facility. As a watcher, he, of course had no problems with groups that killed vampires and demons, but the idea of capturing them for the purposes of doing experiments on sentient creatures offended his British sense of fair play.

“I will certainly discuss the foolhardiness of entering the lion’s den, so to speak. However, as you have noticed, Buffy has a tendency to do as she pleases, not as she’s told.”

“Stupid bint’s going to get herself killed. Or worse.” He stalked back over to the cot and threw himself down again.

“I sincerely hope that will not be the case, Spike. But, if it should be, I’m quite curious as to why a vampire that came here with the stated purpose of killing his third Slayer is at all concerned about it.”

“She’s mine,” he answered shortly, looking away from the Watcher’s probing eyes.

“To kill, you mean. She’s yours to kill and you don’t want anyone else stealing your glory.” The expression on Giles’ face was grim and his hand twitched as though holding a stake.

Spike looked up at him and stared flatly until the Watcher looked away.

“Yeah, that’s right, Watcher. Wanna keep her alive until I can kill her myself.” He snorted with derisive laughter. “You know, for a Watcher, you sure don’t see much, do you?”

Giles took off his glasses and polished them vigorously. He’d been aware of a developing relationship between his charge and the neutered vampire, but to hear it confirmed by William the Bloody himself was to make it real.

“I’ve seen enough to know I do not want Buffy involved with another vampire. I believe one experience like that has caused her more than her share of grief.”

“I’m not him, Rupert,” the suddenly quiet William said, closing his eyes wearily. “Got no soul to lose, now, do I?”

Giles had no answer to that, and he turned to go up the stairs. He paused and looked back at the immobile man on the cot, but William’s eyes remained closed and did not look up again.

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

Giles offered Willow and Xander rides and they gladly accepted, joining him and Olivia in his old Citroen. He dropped them off and headed for his apartment and a few hours of, he hoped, quality time with his guest. Instead, he got a tearful discussion of how frightening it was to be visiting somewhere with vampires, demons, creepy, mystical gentlemen that took living hearts and armed soldiers that crept around in the dark.

Sighing for his non-existent social life, Giles agreed to drive her to the nearest airport in the morning so that she could go home to safe, un hell-mouthy, England. As a result, he did not have an opportunity to talk to Buffy before she got up and went off to meet with Riley.

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

Buffy had done exactly what she’d said she was going to. She went upstairs, ran a tub full of hot water and bath oil, and soaked in it until it got uncomfortably cool. Then she got out, dried off, and fell into her bed without even putting a nightie or pajamas. Spike’s comment about her sleeping naked briefly crossed her mind, but a tentative attempt to see if he was open to her resulted in nothing but cold silence and she gave it up for a deep dreamless sleep.

She awoke in the morning, glanced at the clock, and rushed to get dressed and meet Riley at the appointed time. She didn’t stop to have breakfast, so didn’t hear or see the basement door crack open as she ran out of the house.

As she walked up to the door of Lowell House, she suddenly felt very alone and found herself wishing for even a snarky remark from the vampire that had been her on and off companion for over a week.

(911, my ass! Stupid vampire. I could be kidnapped right now and he’d never know or care.)

(Yes, I would, Slayer.)

The feelings of relief and joy that flooded her at the familiar voice in her head caused Buffy to stop in mid-stride. She stumbled and almost fell before she could recover from the unexpected answer.

(So you’ve decided to speak to me again, huh?)

She tried to smother the happiness it generated, but she could feel his smile and knew he’d sensed it.

(If you’re gonna be all stupid and careless, Slayer, somebody’s got to be watchin’ your back.)

(I’m not being careless. I’ll be very careful. I’m all about the carefulness. And the only thing stupid I’ve done lately is go to sleep naked last night –by myself.)

She giggled uncontrollably when she felt the bolt of pure lust go through him and when Riley opened the door to invite her in, she was still smiling widely. Too late, she realized he thought the smile was for him, and she tried to back pedal quickly when he took it as an excuse to hug her. Squirming her way out of his smothering embrace, she backed up and looked up at him.

“I thought we were going to talk?”

“We are. I just thought…you looked so happy and…normal. Human.”

Buffy quirked her eyebrows at him in an unintentional imitation of a blond vampire.

“Okay, normal, I get. But, human? What do I look like, a chimpanzee?”

Riley laughed uncomfortably. “No, no, of course not. I just meant –we’re not really sure what a Slayer is…and…”

“We?” Buffy stiffened when she was suddenly surrounded by several clean-cut young men. She recognized two of them from the Bronze and gave them cold looks before turning back to Riley.

“This is how we’re going to talk?” She stared at him suspiciously and began edging toward the door.

“There’s no need for panic, Ms. Summers,” came a woman’s voice from the hallway. “We just thought we’d all have a nice chat and you wouldn’t have to repeat yourself over and over.”

“Why would I be repeating myself? I’m going to talk to Riley, and that’s it.”

“Well, the thing is,” Maggie Walsh said, entering the room to stand just out of reach, “Agent Finn and his men work for me. You are here at my request. I wish to study you.”

“STUDY me?” No one missed the steely tone in the Slayer’s voice, and the men who had already tangled with her backed up a step. Maggie Walsh, however, didn’t flinch. Instead, she relaxed her posture and put on her most charming smile.

“I’m sorry, Buffy – May I call you Buffy? – I’ve not made myself understood. Until recently, we thought that the Slayer was a myth, something to be evoked to frighten young demons. We are delighted to find that not only is she real, but that she lives right here in Sunnydale.

“I simply wish to sit down with you and learn more about who you are and what your life is like. How did you become the Slayer? When? How long do you plan to continue it? Things like that.”

She smiled at Buffy with what appeared to be genuine warmth.

“I’m sorry we’ve gotten off to such a rocky start. Why don’t we all come into the game room and sit down and relax. You will tell us about yourself, and we will tell you what we can about our…operation. Agent Finn, please get Buffy some refreshments. What would you like, dear?”

Buffy reluctantly followed the older woman into the large adjoining room and perched nervously on the edge of a chair. She gave Riley a tentative smile of thanks when he handed her an opened can and said, “Diet Coke, right?”

(What’s happenin’, Slayer? Where’d you go? Why’d you’d get so nervous?)

(It’s OK, Spike. I just misunderstood or something. She said they wanted to study me and I--)

(NO! No, Buffy! Don’t let them take you to the lab.)

(Relax, she didn’t mean it that way. We’re just sitting down in the frat house to talk. I’m have a Diet Coke and I’ll tell them about me and they’ll tell me about them, and then I’ll be on my way home.)

(Don’t trust them, love. Please. Listen to me. And who is “she”?)

(Professor Walsh, my psychology teacher. Turns out she’s in charge.)

(Cold, nasty piece of work? Looks like a man?)

(Well, that’s kinda rude, but, yeah, I guess you could say that. How did you know?)

(That’s the bitch that put this thing in my head! She runs that bloody charnel house. Get away from her, Buffy. Now!)

(What am I going to say? The vampire who talks to me in my head says I have to go now? You’re over-reacting. I’m a human. They’re not going to hurt me. She just wants to know about me.)

(Slayer, Buffy, please…love. Just get out of there. Tell them you’ll talk to them later. Tell them your house is on fire. Tell them the bloody world is endin’! I don’t care. Just do what you’re told for once in your soddin’ life!)

(You do NOT tell me what to do! Get that idea through your thick head. Now leave me alone so I can concentrate on my conversation!)

(Fine, you stupid, stubborn, bitch! Find out the hard way.)


Buffy almost cringed at the anger pouring out from the vampire, then shuddered as the link closed down completely. She told herself she was glad he was out of her head, but she suddenly felt very alone.

(This is not a problem. I’ve been doing things alone ever since I was called. I don’t need some paranoid vampire with a grudge against these people telling me how to do my job. The Slayer works alone. That’s how it is.)

As Buffy finished her mental pep talk, she realized that Professor Walsh had asked her something, and she had to think quickly. Unfortunately, the first thing she came up with was, “huh?”

“I’m sorry, Buffy,” Maggie was at her most patient and charming, “I guess I didn’t make myself clear. I was asking if you would mind working out a little with one of my men. Just so we can study your techniques and speed.”

Even though the whole idea of being “studied” was giving Buffy the wiggins, she couldn’t think of a good way to refuse and found herself trailing after Riley and his friends into a well-furnished gym just off the game room.

“Uh, Buffy,” Riley said as he pointed to a man taking off his shoes. “This is Graham, I think you met—“

“We met at the Bronze,” Buffy said coldly. “You were threatening my…cousin”

Graham shuffled his feet uncomfortably. “Actually, we met once before that – you threw me into a bush”

“Oh yeah, I remember. You told Riley not to back off because I was ‘just a little girl’.” Buffy gave him her best cheerleader smile. “Kinda pissed me off.”

“Yeah, I got that. I thought we might spar a little and I’d try to get some of my own back. If that’s all right with you,” he added hastily as Riley frowned. “I’ll be careful. I won’t hurt you. I promise.”

“Oh, I know you won’t.” Buffy smiled sweetly and took off her own shoes.

She stepped onto the mats and began stretching and warming up as the young men watched in admiration. When she was comfortable that her body was awake and ready, she turned to Graham and said, “I’m ready when you are.”

For several minutes they just circled each other cautiously, until Buffy was sure she was going to scream from boredom. When she stopped circling and put her hands on her hips impatiently, the commando rushed her with a grin on his face. Only to find himself flying across the room and slamming into the padded wall.

Buffy turned around and faced him, hands back on hips and head cocked to one side. With a furious glare, he charged again, carrying her to the mat with his weight. Before he had time to savor his victory, Buffy had put her hands under his chest and lifted him off her body far enough that she could get her feet between them and kick him over her head. She immediately whirled and landed on his back, pressing his face into the mat and painfully pinning one arm behind him.

She was immediately picked up off the downed soldier and tossed across the mat. She looked up to find herself facing a furious Forrest who was standing over Graham and glaring at her.

“Normal human girls can’t move like that. And they aren’t that strong. I don’t know what you are, but it isn’t human.”

Buffy stared at him in astonishment. “Exactly which part of I’m the Slayer didn’t you get? Along with my “Chosen” career choice which requires me to spend my life in dark, stinky places fighting with disgusting, dead things that want to kill me, I was given some assets to help me do my job. I’m just as human as you are, just stronger and faster.”

She put her hands back on her hips and glared back at him.

“And, incidentally, I spend enough time fighting supernaturally strong creatures to know that you guys are faster and stronger than normal humans too. So what does that make you, huh?”

Before the angry man could reply, Maggie stepped in and said smoothly, “I’ve chosen only the cream of the crop for my operation. They all came here in perfect physical condition and I have only enhanced their natural abilities. You see, just like you, Buffy, they must fight beings that are stronger and faster than they are; so we give them all the advantages we can. The finest in technology and the newest scientific and medical advancements.

“But, I believe I speak for everyone, when tell you that we don’t quite understand what sorts of enhancements you have, or how you got them. Can you enlighten us?”

Buffy looked back and forth between her professor and the men in the room and shook her head.

“I think you ought to talk to Giles. He knows all that stuff. I wasn’t really paying attention when Merrick explained it to me.”

“Giles? You mean your uncle? And who is Merrick?”

“Merrick was my first watcher. He was the one who told me I’d been called.”

“Ah. The more we learn, the more questions I have. What is a Watcher? Why do you have one? What is Mr. Giles connection to all of this?” Maggie smiled at Buffy. “You can see why we are reluctant to let you go until we’ve had time to thoroughly debrief you.”

“To de-what me?” Buffy wasn’t sure, but thought they might be planning to take her underwear. She stood up very straight and said sternly, “There will be no de-briefing of this girl. Oh no. You can talk to Giles and let him explain stuff to you. I’m done here.” She turned and started toward the door.

“I’m afraid not, dear,” Maggie said calmly as she gestured to Riley.

With a quick, “I’m sorry, Buffy,” he plunged a needle into her neck and forced out the liquid in the syringe.

Buffy had time to think (Damn that vampire. I hate it when he’s right!) before the sedative took effect and she lost consciousness.
Chapter Thirteen

Spike spent the afternoon sulking, refusing to send so much as an “up yours, Slayer,” in Buffy’s direction. When Giles got back from taking Olivia to the airport he immediately tried to call Buffy in her dorm room, but only got a surprised Willow who assured him she hadn’t seen Buffy since the previous night.

“She said she was really tired, Giles. Maybe she just stayed at her mom’s and slept all day.”

“That’s probably it, Willow. Thank you. I’ll call her there.” The Watcher hung up the phone with a frown, remembering Spike’s angry insistence that Buffy had decided to go the fraternity house and meet with Riley alone. He felt a twinge of fear at the idea of her not having at least checked in with Willow, or gone to class all day.

When the phone began to ring, Spike stared at it with indecision before finally grabbing it and growling, “What?” Followed immediately, by a much more William-like, “Good afternoon, Summers’ residence. William speaking.”

“William? It’s Uncle Rupert. May I speak with Buffy, please?”

“She’s not here. I haven’t seen her since she left this morning for her visit with the toy soldier.” Spike made no attempt to keep his disdain for Riley out of his voice. “She’s probably in class or back in the dorm.”

“No,” Giles said carefully, not sure who might be listening,” She’s not. No one has seen her since last night.”

There was a short silence, followed rapidly by a lengthy string of British profanity. When he ran out of obscenities, Spike paused and Giles took the opportunity to put in, “Quite right you are, but that is not helping us locate her. I will call Willow and bring her over to try a locator spell.”

“Wait a minute,” Spike said shortly, opening up his mind and extending it out frantically searching for Buffy.

(Come on, love. Just tell me where you are. Talk to me. Tell me you’re all right and I’ll go right away again. Buffy? Please, Slayer, just say something. Tell me you hate me. Threaten to stake me for interrupting your good time. Anything.)

There was no answer, and he couldn’t sense Buffy at all. His stomach clenched at the implications, but common sense told him there was no way she could have died without his feeling it.

(Right then, unconscious. I’m goin’ to hang that bloody soldier with his own entrails.)

“Watcher,” Spike’s voice was nothing like William, and Giles felt a chill go up his spine at the tone, “I think we’ve got a situation. Tell the witch to come to your place. It’s closer.”

“What do you know?” Giles surprised himself by not questioning the vampire’s instructions.

“I know she’s not dead; but she’s not conscious either. I’ll be there in ten,” he added, hanging up before the Watcher could question how he knew those things.

***********

Buffy came back to consciousness slowly, and kept her eyes shut as she tried to remember where she was and what had happened.

(Oh yeah, they wanted to take my underwear, and then the lights went out. All useful information, I’m sure.)

She did a quick check of her body and discovered that not only was she missing her underwear, she was missing her entire wardrobe.

(Naked. Naked is never good. And…tied up. Even more not goodness. Tied, though, with rope. Not chained. Stupid amateurs still don’t get it. Okay, tied up and hanging by my arms. Feet are not tied. Room is…warm? No, the room is hot. And getting hotter by the second. Are they planning to cook and eat me? What the hell?)

Unable to figure out anything else about her situation, Buffy opened her eyes and stared around. She found herself hanging from a pole, her feet just inches off the ground. The room she was in was obviously one of the lab’s experimental rooms that Spike had alluded to. She cursed herself for not making him tell her exactly what happened to him when he was in there so that she would have some idea what to expect.

Sweat began to pour off her body as the room continued to get hotter and hotter and she squirmed against the ropes in an effort to loosen them.

“Ah, I see that you are awake again Buffy,” came the voice of a woman the Slayer was really beginning to dislike. “We’ve begun our testing program. Would you please let us know what you are feeling just now?”

Buffy was dumbfounded at the calm, pleasant tone of Professor Walsh’s voice as she asked the sweating, naked girl how she felt.

“I’m hanging by my arms, which are getting tired, by the way; some pervert has taken all my clothes, and I think I’m inside a giant oven. How the hell do you think I feel, you arrogant bitch?”

“There’s no need to be abusive,” Maggie answered in a tone that undoubtedly cowed the young men under her command. “We are simply running you through some of the same tests we use on the vampires we capture.”

Changing the subject, she asked, “So, you do feel the heat then? That’s interesting. It didn’t seem to bother the vampires that much.”

“Because they’re DEAD!” Buffy shouted. “Are you stupid?”

There was no reply, but the temperature in the room began to go down noticeably. And down, and down.

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

In Giles’ apartment, the Watcher, the red-headed witch and the vampire stared at each other.

“What makes you think Buffy is unconscious?” the older man was asking. “And how can you be sure she’s not dead?”

“I’d know if she was dead,” he mumbled, not really wanting to tell the watcher how he knew, but desperate to make him believe him.

Willow stared hard at the squirming vampire and said quietly, “He knows she’s unconscious because he can’t hear her right now. Isn’t that right, Spike?”

“Wha-? No! Don’t be ridiculous, Red. How would I be able to hear her? Vamp hearing is good, but it’s not—“

Giles looked back and forth between them. “What do you mean, he can’t hear her? We have to assume she has been taken to the facility under Lowell House. He’s quite right. Even vamp hearing can’t extend that far.”

“That’s not what he’s using. Is it, Spike?” Willow put on her “resolve” face and made the vampire look her in the eye.

“Don’t know what you’re on about, witch,” he growled, trying to look away.

“You know, for somebody who’s all about the evilness, you don’t lie very well,” she responded.

Before Spike could respond, he felt the first confused stirring of consciousness in Buffy and he held up his hand for silence. Cocking his head, he listened as she collected her thoughts and sorted out her surroundings. He snarled when she realized she was naked, and groaned in recognition when she noticed how hot the room was getting.

Willow and Giles watched in slow understanding as they saw the emotions play across the vampire’s expressive face. Relief, followed quickly by outrage, and fear that they knew instinctively wasn’t for himself.

( Buffy? I’m here, love. We’re comin’ to get you. Can you tell me where you are?)

(Spike? I’m where you were. She said they’re running the same tests on me that they run on the all vampires they catch.)


He couldn’t disguise the stab of fear that went through him at her words, and she asked anxiously, ( What else are they going to do to me? They took my clothes, and it looks like they took blood out of my arm…oh, and they just tried to cook me, but it’s getting better now.)

(It’s going to go from hot to cold, pet. They tried to see how hot or cold they could make us before we couldn’t function anymore.)

(Terrific. I’m gonna go from baked Buffy to a Slayer-sicle).


“What’s going on?” The Watcher put aside his questions about how Spike was communicating with Buffy for the time being and demanded to know what was going on.

“They’ve got her in the lab and they’ve started their regular vampire tests on her.” Spike’s voice was even and cold.

“Buffy’s not a vampire, for the love of god! What are they thinking?”

“They’re thinkin’ they’ve got somethin’ they don’t understand, and they’re gonna take it apart and see what makes it tick. “

“Giles! We’ve got to get in there. We’ve got to find Buffy before they really hurt her.” Willow’s eyes were wide with worry.

“Yes, we do, obviously. However, we know nothing about that place or where she is inside it. Spike,” he turned to the vampire, “write down everything you remember about the facility and how you got out of there. Willow,” he pushed the anxious red head toward the table, “search on the web for whatever you can find out about what may have been built under there. There is no point in our charging in without a plan and some idea where we’re going.”

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

Buffy was still hanging in the room that was rapidly becoming colder and colder. Goosebumps burst out on her arms and legs, followed quickly by uncontrollable shivering.

(Hang in, love. We’re working on this. Need to figure out where you are exactly and how to get there.)

(I’m cold, Spike. They know I’m not a vampire. Why are they doing this?)


The discomfort and just a trace of fear that he felt in her voice, had the vampire growling aloud even as he tried to soothe her with the reassurances he was sending.

(You need to think about warm things, pet. Like my tight, little body and how hot it makes you. Think about my hands on your breasts, my tongue teasing your needy little...)


He felt a weak trace of amusement from the Slayer, even as her thoughts became disjointed and confused.

(Cold, sleepy, think of warm things…so cold…William makes me warm…Spike…Spike is warm…no…Spike is a vampire…not warm…why does he make me warm?…warm…sleepy…too cold…doesn’t hurt anymore….)

(Buffy? Slayer? Come on, pet. Stay with me. Don’t go out on me again, love. Buffy? Buffy?)


One look at the anguish on the vampire’s face and Giles knew things weren’t going well for his Slayer.

“What happened? What’s going on, Spike?”

“She’s passed out from the cold. Let’s hope the wankers are smart enough to figure out she could die from cold like any other human and don’t just leave her there like they do the vamps.”

“What happens to them?” Willow couldn’t keep the trace of scientific curiosity from her voice and he gave her a glare before reluctantly answering.

“The first few, they jus’ left there to freeze solid. Then they whacked them apart with hammers and laughed when they shattered. By the time they got to me, they were trying to figure out exactly how long it took to get a vamp so cold it couldn’t move, so they took me out when I stopped movin’.”

“Well, they’ll know that Buffy can’t freeze and live, won’t they?”

“I’m sure they will, Willow.” Giles’ voice was as reassuring as he could make it while he was pondering how many explosives it would take to blow up Lowell House if his Slayer didn’t leave it alive.

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

Buffy woke up to find that someone had put her clothes back on her, and wrapped her in a blanket. She was also strapped down to a table with an IV drip in her arm.

“Ah, Buffy,” came the hated voice, “I’m glad to see you are awake. That was quite informative. It appears that you can withstand temperatures much higher and lower than the average human, and yet, had we left you there, you would have died. Very interesting.”

“You could have asked me, you know,” she gritted out through teeth that still wanted to chatter.

“Oh, we are planning to,” Maggie’s voice was cheerful and she nodded to the technician standing beside the examining table. He twisted a knob on the tubes leading to the IV and Buffy immediately felt herself getting woozy again.

“This is one of our better discoveries here. It is designed to elicit truthful responses from subjects – whether demon or human. Far superior to old fashioned ‘truth serums’.”

“Not telling you anything,” Buffy growled, sounded a great deal like a certain blond vampire.

“You sometimes sound surprisingly like Hostile 17, as I recall him,” Maggie said, speculatively. “Perhaps it’s an attitude thing you have picked up from spending so much time around vampires.”

“I don’t tend to spend much time with them. Only as long as it takes to make them dust.”

“And yet, you prevented my men from recapturing Hostile 17. Why is that, Buffy?”

Buffy fought the urge to tell the woman everything about Spike and their history, although she couldn’t prevent herself from growling, “He’s mine.”

“Yours? Interesting. We will have to go into this further. But right now I have some questions about your uncle and your friends. Tell me about Rupert Giles.”

“No,” Buffy said flatly.

Maggie gave an exasperated sigh. “Very well, we’ll do this the hard way. Is your uncle in any way connected to your Slaying duties?”

Buffy thought about her mother’s brother in Ohio and grinned to herself. “No, he’s not,” she said truthfully.

The older woman glared at her, then turned to the technician. “Turn it up,” she ordered. He looked at her as though he wanted to argue, then shrugged and twisted the knob again. Buffy felt more warmth as the increased drug flowed into her veins.

“Now, lets try again. Is Mr. Giles aware of your activities?”

“Yes.” Buffy responded immediately. “But shouldn’t you already know this stuff from your cameras and recorders?”

Before she could stop herself, Maggie replied, “They don’t seem to be working very we-- Oh, very clever, Buffy. You’re not a dumb as you look, are you?”

“Nope!” Buffy replied cheerfully and truthfully.

Gritting her teeth and vowing that the impudent young woman tied to the table in front of her was not going to rattle her, Maggie Walsh turned and called Riley into the room.

“Agent Finn, I want you to bring in Ms. Summers’ uncle, cousin, mother, and those other young people who seem to be part of her circle. We’ll see how they respond to my serum.”

Buffy pulled furiously at the restraints holding her down, glaring at the smiling woman.

“You leave my friends and family out of this!”

“I don’t think so. I think we’re going to find that they are in this up to their ears. Aren’t we, Miss Summers?”

“Yes,” Buffy almost sobbed as she was unable to prevent the word from leaving her mouth. “But my mother isn’t. She doesn’t have anything to do with it.”

“She gave birth to you. I’m sure there is something we can learn from her.”

The professor turned to leave the room.

“I’ll be back when we have more subjects to study. Until then, enjoy your stay. Perhaps Graham and Forrest might want to keep you company…”

“Hurt my friends and family and I WILL kill you.” There was no trace of the young coed Maggie knew from class in her voice. The sound of an angry Slayer made the woman hesitate for a minute as a chill went up her spine.

“I don’t think so,” she managed to say without her voice quivering. “Such braggadocio is admirable, but hardly believable from someone in your situation.”

“Truth serum,” Buffy said coldly and smiled to herself when she saw the meaning of the two words hit the other woman.

Lab coat fluttering, Maggie quickly left the room without saying anything else, vowing to humble the irritating girl before she was done with her.

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

Willow put the spells she’d found that she thought might be helpful into her pocket along with the layout of the duct work in the facility. While the actual facility itself was apparently a secret, it hadn’t seemed to occur to anyone that the schematics for blocking out the duct work and electrical wires gave anyone who cared to look at them a very good idea of what the layout was. Willow had no trouble hacking into the systems of the companies that did the work and printing out their plans.

Giles and Spike, who was still dressed in William’s new blue shirt and jeans, were digging through the weapon’s chest for easily hidden, but lethal objects to take in with them. They each slipped sharp knives into ankle holsters, as well as garrotes in their pockets. Although he didn’t change out of William’s clothes, Spike did get his Doc Martin’s and exchange William’s loafers for his own boots. He raised his eyebrows curiously when the Watcher went to the hall closet and pulled out a metal box.

When Giles pulled out an automatic pistol and loaded it, Willow’s eyes bugged out.

“I never knew you had a gun, Giles!” she said wonderingly.

“There is a great deal you don’t know about me, Willow,” he replied evenly, causing the vampire to give him a hard look, even as he admired the comfortable way the other man handled the gun.

“That wouldn’t help you much against vamps, Watcher,” Spike drawled as Giles shoved the gun into the waistband of his pants.

“Not everything evil we meet is bullet-proof, or non-human,” Giles answered with more than a trace of Ripper in his voice.

“True enough, Watcher. True enough.”

The three would-be rescuers stood in the middle of the living room, double checking their weapons and going over their plan.

“I’m sure Buffy appreciates your willingness to assist us, Sp-William, but I can’t see what help you think you can be when you will rendered immobile the first time you hurt a human.”

“You let me worry about that Watcher. If they don’t know about my…disability…, just flashing m’ fangs might be all it takes to back somebody off. And if they do, I’ll jus’ have to pick my one human really carefully.”

He looked at the dubious man and said firmly, “’M not leaving her in that place, and ‘m not gonna sit here and worry until you get back.”

“Fine. I suppose you are old enough to make your own decisions about something like this.”

Willow and Spike both smiled at Giles’ words and the vampire snarked, “That I am, Uncle Rupert. But I do ‘preciate the thought.”

“Then I guess we should get going. We’ll need to figure out how we’re going to get into the--“ When Spike’s head flew up and they realized he was listening to Buffy, Giles stopped talking and waited.

(Spike? Can you hear me?)

(Yeah, I hear you, pet. What’s goin’ on? Had me a little worried there, Slayer. What with turnin’ into an ice cube an all.)

(I’m okay. But I’m tied down to a table and they gave me truth serum to make me tell her about Slayer stuff.)

( What do they know?)

(Not much. I made her mad and she left until –Spike! You’ve got to get away somewhere! They’re coming to get Giles and Willow and mom, and William. You need to hide!)

(Not happenin’, pet. We’re just leaving the Watcher’s to come get you.)

(I don’t want them to get their hands on you again.)

(It’ll be alright, pet. You concentrate on getting’ loose and quit worryin’ about me. ‘M jus’ another vampire, love, nothing for the Slayer to be concerned about.)

(Dammit, you stupid vampire! I don’t want anything to happen to you – I don’t want to lose you!)


Spike couldn’t respond for a few seconds. He swore his unbeating heart skipped a beat as he felt her embarrassment at the unintended admission.

(That the truth serum talkin’, love?) He didn’t try to hide the effect her words had on him.

Buffy didn’t answer him directly. She just said, (Please, Spike – just don’t be there when they come…Giles can tell them William went back to England or something.)

(Too late, pet,)
he said as the door burst open and Riley came in, rifle held in front of him and followed by two more commandos. (See you in a bit.)

“We should have no problem finding Buffy, Uncle Rupert. It seems as though we’re getting an escort.


 
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