Chapter Five

The vans had been parked several blocks from the shelter, in an alley behind a used furniture store. The girls made their way back to the transportation as casually as possible, pretending to be annoyed that the police lines prevented them from getting closer to the source of the flames and smoke. Spike and Buffy took the much slower, but safer route dodging from shadow to shadow until they also were able to climb into the relative safety of the vans.

The ride back to slayer central was uneventful and swift. The girls were soon gathered in the kitchen, congratulating themselves on a job well done, while the watcher did her best to patch up Caroline. When she’d finished, she turned uncertainly towards Spike and gestured at his arm.

“Do you…would you like me to set that for you?”

Spike studied the woman’s anxious face and the way her hands twisted together while her eyes darted around the room.

“That’s all right, luv,” he said, licking his lips. “Never know what the pain might do to me – or how my demon would react.”

Buffy smacked his head with the ice pack she’d been holding to her face and stepped between the laughing vampire and the white-faced watcher.

“He’s just kidding, Mrs. O’Toole. He’s always confusing being an ass with being funny. But don’t worry about it. I’ll fix it when we get upstairs, and he’ll be half-way healed by the morning.”

With a sigh of relief she made no attempt to hide, Mrs. O’Toole handed Buffy the things she’d need to set Spike’s arm. Leading him carefully past the shafts of sunlight that streaked the hallway, Buffy preceded Spike up the stairs to their room, muttering to him the whole way about how dumb it was to frighten people who didn’t know him well.

“A decent watcher shouldn’t scare that easy,” he mumbled back. “Bloody woman has no sense of humor.”

“A – she’s more of a house mother than a watcher - and you’re a moron.”

“Hey!”

“You just dusted one of the slayers who used to live here. And, yeah, okay, she was a vampire and trying to kill us, but still… Plus, these girls have lost at least five of their friends in the past couple of weeks – because we walked away from a situation that we knew was going to go bad. Chanterelle was our fault – and these girls know that. They don’t need to be reminded that you’re a vampire right now. They need some time to grieve and get used to the idea that you aren’t something they should be slaying.”

“Well, when you put it like that…”

Spike paused and moved silently back to the top of the staircase. He listened intently for several minutes, then nodded and returned to Buffy’s side.

“I’m sorry, pet. You’re right. Those bloodthirsty little bints downstairs are arguing over how mad you’d be if they dusted me!”

He sounded so aggrieved and indignant that Buffy had to smile in spite of the situation.

“I guess I ‘d better tell them, then,” she said with a sigh, as she pushed open the door to their room. She stopped just inside, cocking her head at him and asking wryly, “Wasn’t anyone sticking up for you?”

Before he could answer, they both noticed that they weren’t alone. Anita jumped up from where she’d been sitting in the only chair, falling into a fighting stance that was immediately imitated by Buffy. The two girls stared at each other for a tense few seconds before Anita relaxed and sat back down.

“Oh good, it’s you.”

“Who else might you have been expecting in our room?” Spike asked, grimacing as he tried to slide his broken arm from the sleeve of his jacket. Buffy rushed to help him, biting her lip in sympathy when he couldn’t suppress a groan.

“Caroline was afraid… We thought maybe…”

“You thought one of the other girls might try to slay herself William the Bloody while he was crippled?” Spike’s voice contained a level of disappointment that had Buffy wincing; she bristled on his behalf.

“What’s wrong with them?” she growled, completely forgetting that she’d just been lecturing him about why the slayers might not be comfortable with him in the house.

“They didn’t see Dora,” Anita said quietly. “Or Chanterelle. They don’t know what they were like… They don’t understand that you were facing a demon – a very strong demon. I mean, yeah, they understand it cause we’ve all been taught about what happens when humans are turned, but I don’t think they really believed it. They think you killed Dora.”

“Wonderful,” Buffy muttered. “He almost gets himself dusted so that they don’t have to face a very dangerous demon wearing the face of their friend, and their reaction is to get mad at him. Stupid girls!”

Anita shrugged, her resemblance to Faith striking Buffy once again. “Hey, they come from homes where everybody’s good all the time.” She winked at Spike. “Bad boys scare them.”

Being referred to as a “bad boy” perked Spike’s spirits up and he leered at her, curling his tongue behind his teeth.

“But not you, luv? OW!” His attempt to flirt with the laughing girl was thoroughly quashed when Buffy chose just that moment to pull his arm into position. Ignoring his blood-curdling snarls, she briskly wrapped it tightly, winding the Ace bandage around and around until it was almost as firm as a cast. When she was satisfied that she’d immobilized it well enough, she stepped back and blinked at him innocently.

“I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?” she asked, smothering a snicker when he growled in response.

Shaking his head, he broke into a rueful grin and pulled her into his side with his good arm.

“’s alright, love. You know how chuffed I get when you go all jealous on me. Makes me feel manly and…”

Anita cleared her throat and gestured towards the door.

“Uh, I’ll just…”

“No,” Buffy said, giving Spike a squeeze before stepping away from him. She walked over to the cooler and took out one of the remaining packets of blood. Tossing it to Spike to catch with his free hand, she said, “I’m going to go downstairs and tell them the facts of life. I need for you to stay here in case anybody thinks she can be a hero all by herself.”

“I kinda doubt anybody down there could stake Spike – even if he does have only one arm,” Anita said, sending the preening vampire an eyeroll that still managed to be admiring. “I saw some of that fight with Dora – she’d have mopped the floor with any of us.”

“I doubt it, too,” Buffy said, as she left the room. “But just in case…

Anita shrugged and sprawled across the chair while Spike settled onto the bed and began to gulp down the red fluid Buffy had given him. The young slayer watched in fascination as his eyes changed color and his fangs descended while he swallowed. She’d seen his demon face while he was fighting the turned slayer, but there was something very different about seeing traces of it while he lolled on a bed having his dinner.

Spike noticed her stare and forced his demon away, licking the blood off his lips and smiling apologetically.

“It’s not human, pet,” he offered by way of atonement for his obvious enjoyment of his meal.

Anita shrugged. “Not a problem,” she said with a hard grin. “I’ve known plenty of humans whose blood I’d’ve been happy to see you chug. In fact, if you’re still hungry, I know just where to go to round up a donor…”

“My kind of woman,” he responded, no trace of flirtation in his voice or expression, only admiration.

She laughed and shook her head. “I’ve seen your kind of woman in action. I think it’ll be a while before I’m anywhere near that kind of slayer. And, I don’t think I’ll be looking to poach on her territory,” she added, just in case he was misunderstanding.

He smiled ruefully and got up to throw the empty bag away. “Truth is, luv, there’s no way you or any other woman – slayer or not – could poach. When it comes to other women, I’m all talk – no action. Comprende?”

“Comprendo,” she responded with smile.

~~~~~~~~~

Buffy entered the room just in time to hear Caroline shouting down one of the slayers who hadn’t been involved in anything except setting fire to the shelter.

“You’re an idiot!” she was saying. “In the first place, Buffy trusts him. He saved the world, for God’s sake! He fights on our side. He has a soul. What the hell is wrong with you?”

She paused in disgust, pointing at her bandage-wrapped leg. “And even if he wasn’t on our side, I sawthat fight with Vamp-Dora, and it lasted a lot longer than the half-second it took for me to be out of it. Let me tell you, there’s no way any of us could take him – broken arm or not. He’s…I’ve never seen a vamp fight like that.”

“Not to mention,” Buffy’s voice broke into the babble that followed Caroline’s speech, “anyone who wants to take on Spike, has to go through me.” She fixed a cold stare on the most hostile face she could find and waited until the other slayer dropped her gaze. “We’ll be leaving by nightfall,” she added. “We have jobs to get back to. Jobs training girls like you how to fight like Spike does, so that you get to live longer than your friends did.”

She fixed her gaze on Caroline’s sympathetic face and said softly, “We’re sorry that Anne got herself turned into Chanterelle. But she was human when we left and it’s not like we could kill her just to keep it from happening. There was always the chance that she would make the right choices…we had to give her that chance.”

Without another word, she turned around and went back upstairs to their room. She found Spike and Anita arguing over which was uglier – a Fyarl demon or a Chaos demon. She shook her head, laughing as Spike stood up and attempted to imitate something with horns that dripped slime all the time. Anita laughed along with her and conceded the point.

“Okay, okay, you win. Slimy antlers wins over bad breath and claws.”

“We’re leaving tonight,” Buffy announced, breaking into the laughter and tossing Spike another bag of blood. “Better drink up, you won’t get any more until we get home.”

“Is everything okay?” Anita frowned at the lack of expression on Buffy’s face.

“It’s okay. I don’t think anybody’s going to come after him now. But there’s no reason for us to stay. You girls are more than able to handle any minion clean-up there might be. I’d watch for another batch to be heading for the shelter tonight, if I were you. Maybe send some patrols out to check the nearest cemeteries or empty buildings.”

Buffy spoke matter-of-factly as if it there could be no question that Anita should be in charge of the evening’s plans, and the girl found herself contemplating where to send her patrols before she’d even realized that she was taking herself out of her normal roll of sarcastic onlooker and into the roll of leader. She nodded and headed for the door, still going over plans in her mind as she descended to the main level.

~~~~~~~

“So, Slayer.” Spike interrupted Buffy’s gathering of their few belongings by putting an arm around her waist and pulling her to a halt. “Have we outstayed our welcome, then?”

Buffy let out an explosive breath and shook her head. She turned around and nestled into him, taking comfort in the familiar smells and the voice rumbling in her ear.

“I don’t know. But they don’t need us, and I don’t want to be here, so we’re leaving. I don’t know how to talk to girls like that – they think they know everything, and that they’re so special that nothing bad should happen to them.”

“They are special, love,” he murmured. “Just not as special as you are. You and Faith – you’re the last slayers to understand what it meant to be the one girl in all the world.”

Buffy nodded against his chest, then stood up straight and pulled away.

“And I hope they never have to find out,” she agreed. “But still, there’s something about having all these girls out there with Slayer powers and no real watchers to teach them about…stuff. I’m a little worried about where this could go.”

“Nothing you can do about it if it does all go pear-shaped, sweetheart. It won’t be your fault.”

“How can you say that? Of course it will be my fault! I gave them those powers. If they--”

“Stop,” he said firmly, tipping her chin up so that he could meet her eyes. “Whatever happens, the only thing you’re responsible for is figuring out a way to defeat the First Evil and save the world. If some of these silly bints misuse the gifts they’ve been given, it’s on them, not on you.”

He waited until she nodded and he felt her shoulders relax before releasing her.

“Right then. That’s settled. How long before you want to leave?”

“It’s barely afternoon yet. We’ll have to wait until dusk to leave for the airport. And then I don’t know if we’ll be able to get on a plane tonight or not. But we’re not staying here.”

“I know where there’s a nice hotel…”

“You do? Where--oh.”

“Yeah, ‘oh’. You might remember it. Seems to me we spent some quality time there not quite a year ago...”

“Do you think we could get the same room?”

“Worth a shot, isn’t it?” He gave her his most appealing leer, laughing when she pushed him down on the bed and straddled him.

“It might be at that,” she agreed. “But I don’t think Giles would be happy paying for us to stay in a hotel when we have a perfectly good room here.”

“Old tightwad,” he muttered, pulling her down to nestle against his chest.

“Well, it is his money. Or the Council’s anyway.”

Buffy snuggled against him. “Let’s just take a little nap until it’s time to leave for the airport. To be perfectly honest, I’d rather make love in our own bed than in some hotel. We can wait until we get home.”

Her eyes were closing, so she missed the happy smile that filled his eyes and curved his lips as he listened to her casually referring to their small apartment and large bed as “home”. He shifted her into a more comfortable position and gingerly rested his bandaged arm on her stomach.

“We can wait till we get home,” he echoed. “That we can, love.”

the end