Betad by Carol and dawnofme


Banner by dawnofme


Disclaimer: the characters do not belong to me - they are used purely for fun and not fiancial gain





Chapter Twenty-Six


The Mole Goes To Work


Once Willow, Dawn and Xander were settled watching an old movie on TV in an effort to forget for a moment the battle they inevitably faced, Giles went into the kitchen and prepared the spell that would strip Willow of her witchly powers. If Giles found it bizarre to follow the directions from memories that weren’t his own, he didn’t show it. He recited the incantation quietly and poured the powder into a mug.


“Anyone for tea or coffee?” called Giles.


A chorus of three voices shouted yes and told him their preferences. He made the drinks and carried them through to the others. He watched surreptitiously as Willow drank her tea. She didn’t notice anything wrong with it and drank it all. Giles allowed himself a small smile as he telepathically told Maggie that the deed had been done.


Later, as they were all going to bed, Xander having the couch and Giles Dawn’s room, Giles heard Spike talking to Willow.


“Um, Red, I was wondering if…er…well…” he stumbled over the words.


“What is it, Spike? Just say it. I’m really tired and need to get to bed,” said Willow, a touch impatiently.


“Oh, right, um…doesn’t matter then,” said Spike, turning to go. She caught his arm.


“I’m sorry, Spike. Come on, tell me what it is,” said Willow more kindly.


Spike took a deep unnecessary breath. “Thing is, Red, with these dream things; Buffy told you, right?” She nodded. “Well, I’m afraid to go to sleep, but I’m knackered. If I don’t get some rest, I’ll be fit for nothing. I just daren’t close my eyes in case they happen again.” He didn’t meet her eyes at any point, embarrassed to be admitting that he needed her help.


“So you want me to do a spell to make you sleep but protect you from the visions?” asked Willow.


“Yeah, can it be done? I don’t want to be made to sleep, and not be able to wake up if a dream hits me,” said Spike, his fear of having magic done to him was almost as bad as that of the visions.


“It’s easy, Spike. Any spell induced sleep is dream free because without the spell you’d be awake, and for some reason that blocks dreaming,” said Willow with a reassuring smile.


“Thank God!” exclaimed Spike with such relief that Willow realised just how terrified of the dreams he must be.


“Go and get into bed. I can do the spell from outside the door. Warn Buffy that it’ll be like sleeping next to a corpse because you won’t stir at all for about eight hours. If anything happens before then, I can reverse it quickly,” she added, when she saw him look worried at the mention of eight hours.


“Great. Thanks Red. Give me ten minutes before you start it, okay?”


“Ten minutes?” smiled Willow. “Is that all it takes? Poor Buffy.”


“Hey!” said Spike indignantly. “Just so I can get undressed and give her a goodnight kiss is all!”


“Okay, Spike, ten minutes.”


Giles stood behind the closed door to his bedroom.


“Thank goodness I heard that, otherwise if Spike had a dream they’d all know that something was wrong with Willow’s magics.”


Fortunately he knew the spell she was going to use and would cast it himself after she had.


So after ten minutes had passed, Willow asked Spike if he was ready. He told her he was and she cast the spell to no effect at all. Seconds after she’d finished and went to her room Giles recast the spell.


“I don’t think its wor…” started Spike, his words faltering as he fell instantly into a deep untroubled sleep.


“Oh, I think it is working,” said Buffy. She kissed Spike on his forehead. “Hope you get some proper rest now, Spike,” she added softly.


Ooooooo


Ironically it was Buffy whose sleep was troubled that night, not by visions but just because she kept trying to go over in her mind what they could do to stop Maggie. Although she’d played down the significance of his visions to Spike, she wasn’t so sure that they weren’t portents of the future. She meant what she’d said when she’d told him that the future wasn’t fixed, but if they even partly came true, it meant that both she and Spike, and most probably the others too, were going to end up in the Initiative; something she wanted to avoid at all costs.


She got up and paced about the room, not worrying about waking Spike since he was under the influence of Willow’s spell. She thought about Maggie, she must have missed something about her. She’d never liked the woman. There had always been a feeling that there was something more to her dislike of Maggie than just hating what she was doing to the demons. Try as she might she couldn’t put her finger on exactly what it was that bothered her so much.


She sat back on the bed, looking at Spike. His chest barely showed any rise and fall; since vampires don’t actually need to breathe it had always puzzled her why they did it at all. Spike told her it was just the body doing it unconsciously as it had when it was alive, exertion making it appear more normal. But when vampires slept the body barely moved at all. She reached out and touched his bare chest; it was cool to the touch, strange to be room temperature. She pulled the covers up over him.


If anything happened to him, she honestly thought she’d die too. Having been given this second chance with him, she was desperately afraid that one or the other of them would die at the hands of Maggie or Adam. She thought of how the others relied on her to keep them safe, too.


“God, I should have gotten Will to do a spell on me.”


She got back in to bed and under the quilt, snuggling up to the inert body of Spike and eventually, sleep came.

Ooooooo


When Buffy woke the next morning, she could hear footsteps on the landing as someone made their way to the bathroom. She glanced at Spike; he hadn’t moved all night. Then, looking at her watch, she noticed that he had about another hour of sleep left to enjoy. She pulled on her robe, ready to join the queue for the bathroom. As she opened the door, she saw Giles.


“Morning,” she said. “Sleep OK?”


“Good morning, Buffy. Yes, thank you. I slept very well despite being surrounded by Dawn’s collection of cuddly toys.” He smiled at Buffy. “How was Spike?”


“Oh, he slept fine; never moved. He’s still got a bit of time left to go before he wakes. Good old Willow, what would we do without her?” said Buffy.


“Indeed,” said Giles, delighted to hear his spell had worked. He went downstairs.


Willow came out of the bathroom, and Buffy went to walk past her to get in. Buffy stopped short when she saw her.


“Will, are you feeling all right?” You look dreadful.”


“No, I don’t feel so good. I’m going back to bed for a bit longer if that’s OK? I think I must be getting a virus or something.”


“’Course it’s OK. I’ll check on you in about an hour; see how you’re feeling then,” said Buffy.


Buffy got dressed after washing and went downstairs. Xander was still lounging on the couch but was dressed, thankfully. Dawn was in the kitchen helping Giles make some pancakes for breakfast.


“Hi, Buffy,” said Dawn when she saw her sister.


“Morning, Dawnie, those pancakes smell good. Did you notice if Willow slept OK last night?” said Buffy.


“She seemed to, why?” asked Dawn.


“It’s just she’s feeling ill and looks dreadful,” said Buffy.


“Willow is unwell?” asked Giles with concern, quickly relaying that fact to the Professor via the Lorac bug mind link.


“Did I do something wrong?” he asked her.


“No, not at all. If the witch is feeling unwell, she must have had a lot of power. Normally they don’t miss their powers in any physical way. She must be connected to it in a much stronger way than I anticipated and now feels weak without its support.”


“So what do we do? Will she know that her powers are gone?” queried Giles.


Once again, Maggie recited a spell to do on Willow, this time to restore her strength without restoring her powers. A tiny part of Giles’ mind wondered at how the Professor knew so much about magics, but the thought was soon suppressed by the domination of his mind by Maggie.


Ooooooo


Spike woke up suddenly, as if someone had flicked a switch.


“Wow, that was a weird way to wake up,” he muttered.


Willow had been right, his sleep had been totally untroubled by dreams of any kind. He got up and pulled on his jeans and went to go to have a wash before going downstairs. He heard Giles talking on the landing as he got to the bedroom door. He listened more intently, drawing on his vampiric enhanced hearing, but Giles had stopped talking. When Spike opened the door, he saw Giles standing outside Willow’s door, and he started when he heard Spike.


“You OK, Watcher?” asked Spike, looking at him suspiciously.


“Yes, yes, I’m fine. I was just checking on Willow. She was feeling rather unwell earlier.”


“OK,” said Spike as he went into the bathroom. “ Am I paranoid where Giles is concerned, or was he up to something just then?” he asked himself as he splashed cold water on his face. “Nah, still a bit pissed off at him for not believing in me, I reckon.” He shrugged, dried his face and went downstairs to find the others happily munching pancakes, Giles included.


“Hey!” said Buffy when she saw him. “I thought you still had another thirty minutes or so?”


“What can I say?” grinned Spike, tilting his head to one side. “Couldn’t wait to see you.”


“Eew! Mushy stuff over breakfast – gross,” said Dawn, pulling a face.


“That’s not being mushy,” protested Spike. He pulled Buffy into his arms and kissed her passionately. “Now that’s being mushy,” he said to Dawn, “and you,” he pointed at Buffy, “taste of maple syrup!”


“Want some pancakes then?” asked Buffy.


“No thanks, I’ll just have a couple of bags of blood. Don’t need to give my taste buds anything to work on except blood when it’s human I’m feeding on,” said Spike. “Pig’s blood just isn’t as satisfying. Thanks for getting me this, Xander.”


He took the bags out of the refrigerator, poured one into a mug then heated it up and drank it, changing to his ‘game’ face as he did. He repeated it with the second bag. He closed his eyes as he felt the blood replenish him - he could feel the power and strength it gave. He felt as strong as he’d ever been; his senses at the height of their abilities. He looked around at the others in the kitchen; he knew that he’d do anything to keep these people safe. It was strange, but perhaps the fact that he was feeding on human blood made it easier to keep his demon in control.


A few minutes later, Willow came into the kitchen, fully dressed and looking in perfect health.


“Wow, Willow, you look better,” said Buffy in surprise.


“I feel better. Weird how an extra hour’s sleep can help, I guess,” she said.


“Or a good bout of meditation,” said Xander.


“What do you mean?” asked Willow.


“Your hair,” said Dawn. “It’s back to normal; all the black has gone.”


“It has?” queried Willow. “I haven’t meditated though.”


“Perhaps that’s why you feel better, Willow. The dark power has been banished once more,” said Giles wisely.


“Must be,” agreed Willow. “Those spells must have taken more out of me than I realised.”


“Anyway, I’m glad you’re feeling better whatever the reason,” added Buffy.


Spike remained silent. He was leaning on the door frame just watching the others, his attention once more drawn to Giles. Something just didn’t seem right…


To be continued…