Betad by Carol and dawnofme


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







Chapter Twenty-Seven


Big Bad’s Back



After breakfast Giles approached Spike.


“Buffy tells me that you’ve been having dreams that you feel are portents of the future.”


“Yeah,” said Spike.


“I thought perhaps if you went through them with me that I could work out a way to help you,” offered Giles.


“Thanks, but no thanks, Rupes,” said Spike, starting to walk away.


“Surely you want to keep Buffy safe?” said Giles.


Spike stopped. “’Course I do.”


“So why won’t you let me help you? If anything happens to you it will affect her also.”


“Look, Buffy’s probably right; they’re just dreams is all,” said Spike, having no intention of confiding in Giles.


“Oh, OK, I’m here ready to listen if you change your mind.”


Spike nodded and walked away.


Giles closed his eyes as he informed the professor of his failure to get Spike to talk. He was surprised when she calmly said he had to try again later, and told him exactly what to say to Spike to convince him to talk.


Oooooo


As morning turned into afternoon, Spike wandered restlessly about the house, wishing that he’d stayed awake for the night and had Willow do her spell in the morning so that he could have slept the daylight hours away. He’d had enough of things happening to him; it was about time he struck the first blow. He went down into the basement and started pounding the punch bag, needing to burn off a bit of energy.


“Number Seventeen,” said Giles, behind him.


Spike stopped hitting the bag and turned to him.


“What did you call me, you git?” he snarled.


“Hostile Seventeen,” said Giles.


Spike took a step towards Giles, his face changing into his vampire features; Giles didn’t so much as blink.


“Hostile Subterranean Seventeen,” he said.


Abruptly Spike stood still, features fading back to human.


Giles smiled.


“Thank you, Professor, it worked.”


“You will now tell me your dreams, every detail,” said Giles quietly.


Spike started to talk, his voice curiously flat and monotone. He told him of each dream in minute detail. When he stopped talking, Giles repeated the three phrases in reverse order. Spike blinked a couple of times, and then looked around in confusion.


“Did you just say something, Giles?” he asked.


“No, I just came down to let you know that Buffy is going to patrol later, and I wondered if you were going with her.”


“Oh?” said Spike. He shook his head. “Was sure you’d just said something before…um…yeah, I’ll be patrolling with her. Not gonna let her go out without me. Why are you telling me this though?”


“I was just wondering if you could collect some things from my apartment for me whilst you’re out. I don’t want Buffy going there alone.”


“Yeah, I don’t see why not,” replied Spike.


“It’s just a couple of books,” said Giles, telling him the titles, “and some ingredients for spells that Willow left there. They’re in the kitchen cupboard near the refrigerator.”


“OK,” said Spike.


Ooooooo


When dusk fell, Buffy and Spike went to patrol, both armed with stakes, Buffy also having a dagger just in case.


“You OK, Spike?” she asked. “You’ve been a bit restless.”


“Yeah, pet, I’m all right, just all this waiting about’s getting to me I suppose. We’ve got to go on the offensive, Buffy; we’ve got to get those bastards.”


“Have you got a plan?” asked Buffy.


“Apart from go in and kick their arses? No, not as such,” sighed Spike.


“Think we need a bit more than that,” said Buffy with a smile.


“Why can’t we just take the professor out when she’s not at The Initiative?” queried Spike. “That’s got to be the easiest place to get her.”


“I don’t know where she lives,” replied Buffy.


“Well, surely Red could get that from the computer files she hacked into?”


“God, I’m so stupid! Why didn’t I think of that?” snapped Buffy.


“Not your fault, love, can be distracting for a bird to be so close to such a handsome and athletic fella,” said Spike with a grin.


“Pig,” said Buffy, but she returned his smile.


“God, Slayer, you look so hot.”


“Hot? These pants are so last year and the top--”


“Shh,” said Spike, putting his finger to her lips. He put his other hand behind her head and gently pulled her towards him.


When a vampire was feeling as good as Spike was, one side effect that he never minded, was a very, very healthy libido.


“Spike, need air!” gasped Buffy, pulling away from his kiss.


“Sorry, I forgot,” said Spike, nuzzling her ear.


“Suppose to be patrolling,” she protested. God, she loved it when he nuzzled at her ear.


“No bad things about tonight ‘cept me,” whispered Spike. He lifted her up and carried her behind a mausoleum, regretting that his crypt was trashed.


“Oh bollocks!” exclaimed Spike, putting Buffy back on her feet rather unceremoniously.


“What?” said Buffy just before Spike pushed her away, whipped out the stake from his duster’s pocket and rammed it in to the chest of a huge vampire as it leapt at him. Coughing slightly on the dust, Spike turned to Buffy.


“Spoke too soon.” He inclined his head in the direction that the vampire had come from.


Buffy turned and looked. “Timing much,” she complained as she saw five vampires approaching.


“Oh well,” thought Spike, “Good bit of violence is nearly as good as sex. Christ, did I really just think that?”


He grinned and planted a kiss on Buffy’s lips; he turned to the vampires and put on his ‘game face’.


“C’mon then, what are you waiting for?” he yelled and he launched himself at them with glee.


Mesmerized, Buffy stood rooted to her spot against the crypt. She’d never seen Spike fight like this. He was so fast, his movements so fluid that the other vampires didn’t stand a chance. Two were dusted within the blink of an eye. With those two out of the way, Spike started to have some fun. He lashed out with a foot, kicking one backwards; almost simultaneously he grabbed the other and broke its neck - damn near ripped its head off its shoulders. Only one managed to land a blow, but it barely had an effect on Spike at all. He whirled around and staked the vamp that had kicked him before his foot had returned to the ground. The last remaining vampire had seen enough, and so he turned to run.


“And where do you think you’re going?” cried Spike, as he turned the stake over in his hand before throwing it as if it were a knife. It hit the vampire in the back, piercing its heart; it turned to dust.


Spike walked over and picked up the stake from where it had fallen, then turned to look at Buffy.


“What?” he asked, seeing her looking at him in bemusement.


“God, you’re amazing,” she said.


“And you’ve only just worked that out?” he grinned. “Shame on you.”


He went to her and put his arms around her. She shrugged him off.


“No, Spike, seriously. I’ve never seen you like that before. You were so quick, so strong, so agile,” insisted Buffy. “What’s happened to you?”


Spike was suddenly solemn.


“OK, love, you know when we first met and we wanted to kill each other all the time?”


“Yes, I remember, but what’s that got to do with it?” asked Buffy.


“Did you always think that you’d beat me if we really had to fight one on one? Be honest.”


“Well, yeah. Yes I did,” replied Buffy.


“Even though you knew I’d killed two Slayers?”


She nodded.


“How about now?” he asked.


“What?”


“If we went one on one now, are you still certain that you’d beat me?”


Buffy hesitated for a moment then said firmly, “No, I don’t think I would.”


“You’re right, Buffy, you wouldn’t.” His serious expression gave way to a smile. “Told you that I was the Big Bad.”


“You still haven’t told me why you’re like this now. What’s changed?”


“Getting the right amount of human blood mostly,” replied Spike. “Getting a good solid eight hours sleep, just like my old mum used to tell me I needed and of course, being totally in love with you.”


“You’re messing with me,” said Buffy crossly.


“A little bit.” He pulled her towards him once more and kissed her. “It’s mostly the blood. Contrary to popular belief, when I was first in Sunnydale with Dru, I didn’t exactly go around feasting every night. I had to find food for Dru when she was ill, and so I went without myself too many times to keep my strength up to maximum. Then, thanks to you, I was in that bleeding wheelchair and only got fed when Dru or bloody Angelus remembered to feed me. The sodding chip meant I ended up eating pig’s blood as it was easy to get, but it isn’t the same as what I was designed to eat. And don’t forget, I’ve got a little bit of you inside me now, too.”


“So are all vampires capable of being like you are now if they feed well enough?” asked Buffy.


“No, I’m special,” he said with a grin.


She thumped him.


“Seriously, I think it’s because I’m descended from the Master. Angel can be like this, and Darla and Dru were no slouches either.


“Thank God for that. I was just thinking my job was going to get much harder,” said Buffy.


“No, it’s easier ‘cause I’m here to help you,” said Spike, kissing her neck near her ear. “Now where were we before we got interrupted…”


To be continued…