A/N: Beta'd by the awesome dawnofme and Mabel Marsters.

Happy Halloween everyone! :D I'll post the last two chapters next week.




Beautiful banner by xaphania


Chapter 47


Joyce and Giles stammered, blushing to the roots of their hair. It would have been funny if it hadn’t scarred Buffy for life.


“Honey, this isn’t what it looks like,” Joyce said and patted the front of her wrinkled dress.


If Buffy and Faith had come minutes later, that dress would probably have been flung to the floor already. Buffy’s eyes widened in horror at the mere thought.


“So you weren’t playing tonsil hockey with Giles? This is just so… weird.”


“I have to agree with B,” Faith said.”


Buffy dropped on a nearby chair and tried to make sense of what she’d seen. How was it possible that she hadn’t noticed anything? She didn’t even think to question Giles’ cheerful mood or her mother’s constant question on Giles’ well being.


“How long?” she heard herself ask, and leveled them with a steady gaze. “How long have you two been… doing… this?”


Giles fidgeted with his glasses, avoiding her eyes. “Uh… we haven’t really... about the time your mother came to Bath. But we talked before… on the phone.”


“And not either of you thought that, geez, maybe we should tell Buffy?” She turned to her mother. “I knew you were hiding something from me. Is this how you knew I was here? Did Giles call you first?”


“It wasn’t Rupert’s fault, Buffy. He wanted to help,” Joyce said.


“So if it weren’t for him telling you where I was, you would never have called.” Okay, that hurt. A lot.


Giles finally lifted his eyes. “It wasn’t like that. Yes, I did call your mother to let her know you were here, but she had already been looking for you. But the school records had been burned. She wanted to find you.”


“And you didn’t tell me anything.”


“I wasn’t sure how you’d react.”


Buffy shot to her feet and threw her arms in the air. “I’m an adult. I can handle stuff like this. You always keep secrets for my own good, but did it ever occur to you that I trusted you to tell me the truth?”


Giles ducked his head, embarrassed, and her mother approached him to land a hand on his shoulder in a show of support. “I asked him not to tell you.”


“Why?”


“I needed to take care of Ted first… had to leave him because I knew I had to sort my own life before trying to contact you. I’m trying to be a good mother. Please, Buffy, all I ask is that you try to see that.”


“I’m a Vampire Slayer,” she mumbled then repeated it louder, watching with satisfaction as her mother froze to the spot before numbly sinking down on the couch behind her.


“I hunt vampires and demons and all the things that go bump in the night. The things that aren’t supposed to be real. If you don’t believe me, ask Giles. Ask him to tell you why he found me in the first place.”


“Rupert?”


Giles scratched his cheek and glanced at Buffy in disapproval from the corner of his eye. “I-it’s true. She’s a… Buffy’s a slayer. A Chosen One. And I’m her Watcher.”


“Are you two joking?”


Faith made herself known for the first time since the whole situation started and lifted Giles’ phone in her hand. “They’re not joking. And I’m a slayer too.”


After Faith gripped the receiver and squeezed; it crumbled in her fingers.


Giles sputtered. “Was that really necessary? Now I’ll have to buy a new one.”


“My boyfriend is a vampire,” Buffy said.


“I need to sit down,” Joyce said, looking a little bit pale.


“You already are, Mom.”


“Oh.”


*******


Buffy couldn’t believe the way she’d blurted out the truth. In retrospect, it hadn’t been the most rational reaction to seeing Giles and her mother… Okay, that memory still kind of squicked her out. It would probably take her more than a week to get over that. Still, she had to admit that once she got over the initial shock, she could see they were good for each other.


They both deserved to be happy.


Even if she kind of found herself spending more and more time at Spike’s place to avoid hearing the smacking.


Buffy scrunched up her nose at the thought and glanced down at Spike who started to toss in his sleep. He’d been doing that a lot lately. If only there was a way for her to help him ease the pain.


“No… You can’t… It’s mine,” he muttered from sleep, his fists clenching around the sheets entangled around his struggling body.


“Spike, wake up.” She reached out to grasp his shoulder, gently trying to shake him awake. “Spike.”


*******


Fire surrounded him, engulfed him until all he could feel were the burning embers of pain coiling inside him. Wrapping around his soul.


He screamed and crashed to his knees, red and black merging behind his eyelids as he fought to stay conscious.


Even with his eyes closed, he could smell the presence of another being. The sulfurous stench of rotten eggs and evil as the man stepped closer.


“You’re mine, William,” he said. “I own you.”


“No, you don’t, you ugly sod.” He clenched his jaw against a new wave of pain ripping through him.


“Oh, but I do. Your soul is mine, has been ever since the ritual. All I have to do is wait. You might be immortal, but you’re not invincible, vampire. And once you’re dust, I’m going to enjoy collecting it.”


Hermes circled him and a sound of content rumbled through his chest. “I wonder… How long will it take to break it? I’m curious to see it ripped apart, piece by piece until all there is left is… an animal. Ready to do hell’s biding.”


“You can’t break me. This just a dream. Just a dream,” Spike muttered and clutched at his midsection when invisible pokers speared through him. The scent of blood hit the air as it trickled from the corner of his mouth.


“It’s a reminder, William. This is the end. This is what awaits you. It might be decades. It might be tomorrow. But in the end, you belong to me.”


“I’m not. It’s mine, I got it back and it’s mine. You can’t take it!”


“Nobody can help you now,” Hermes said in a growl. “Certainly not that little slayer of yours.”


*******


He came to suddenly, drawing in a sharp breath before letting his lids drift shut again, and rolling onto his side to burrow into Buffy’s embrace.


“Nightmare?” she asked and he nodded. “They’ve been getting worse this week. You’ve been talking from your sleep.”


“Have I?”


“Spike, do you want to talk about it? Because I think you should. I want to be able to help you, but I can’t do that if you keep everything to yourself.”


He rolled onto his back, staring at the white ceiling. “There’s nothing you can do.”


She let out a frustrated sigh and leaned over him, her long hair creating a curtain around his face. “Try me.”


His slayer must be the most stubborn woman in the world. He both loved and hated that about her. “It’s stupid, really. It’s just a nightmare.”


If it was, why did he not sound convincing. He could tell from the look on Buffy’s face that even she heard the hesitation in his voice. No way was she letting him get out of this one without explanation. Not that he knew what exactly was going on himself.


“It’s about Hermes. You remember him? The wanker from hell that drove a dagger into my gut?”


Buffy winced then sat back on her heels. “Why have you been dreaming about him? Why now?”


“Reckon it’s got to do with my shiny soul. Says it’s his, he does. That he owns it. Once I bite the dust, he won’t be shy about claiming it either.”


Her forehead creased in thought. “Are they like prophetic dreams? Like I sometimes have?”


“Don’t know. Could be.” He rubbed his stomach. “The pain felt pretty real.”


“So how are we going to get you out of this?”


“I don’t think we can. He said nobody could help me now. Not even you.”


Buffy’s eyebrow quirked. “He mentioned me?”


“Yeah.” Spike frowned. “A bit weird, isn’t it?”


“That’s plenty weird. Also, if there’s one thing all the bad guys have in common… it’s trying to convince you of something because they don’t want you to see the solution. Which is so stupid, if you ask me. It’s obvious he doesn’t want me to get involved. So that’s exactly what I’ll do.”


“You think you have the answer?” Spike shook his head. “I don’t know, luv. Sounds pretty farfetched to me.”


“No, it’s not.” She stared into distance then, thinking hard and he had to smile. She was adorable.


“Okay, so he said he owned your soul? In those words?”


“Yeah. What’s running through that gorgeous head of yours?”


“I think… I feel like I’m missing something. It’s right there on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t-” She threaded her hand through her hair and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment.


“Come here.” He sat up and pulled her against him, kissing her temple. “It’s fine. We’ll figure it out. Now show me that tip of your tongue.”


She rolled her eyes at him, but quickly poked her tongue at him. It was hard to resume conversation when she was purposely teasing him like this. So he did what every self-respecting vampire would. He pushed her down to lie on the bed and covered her lips with his before nibbling on her tongue.


*******


Buffy smiled as she stood in the bathroom at Giles’ apartment, brushing her hair. She wondered if Giles and her mother even realized they were practically living together already. An extra tooth brush? Check. Her mother’s beauty products and perfume? Double check.


Her mom stayed here more often than not. Faith gruffly told Buffy that when she wasn’t around, Joyce showered Faith with overload of motherly love. She said it with a grimace, as though she wasn’t comfortable with it, but Buffy knew better.


“B, you’ve grown old!” came a voice from the doorway.


Buffy glanced at a smirking Faith. “Very funny. It’s not like you haven’t seen me yesterday.”


Faith shrugged. “It was patrolling, so it doesn’t count. You’re barely even here anymore.”


“I promise I’ll come around more often,” Buffy said and put the hairbrush on the vanity table. “I’ve just been thinking about you.”


“You have? Hope it was naughty.”


“Sure was. I was thinking of the two of us wrestling naked and covered in oil,” Buffy retorted with a grin.


Faith whistled. “Nice. But what would your boy toy say?”


“He’d probably want to tape it.”


“Then I’d want a copy of that.” Faith straightened up and her face turned more serious. “I actually wanted to tell you something. Damn you and your distracting.”


“So, what was it?” Buffy walked from the bathroom and glanced over at her shoulder to assure Faith was following her. They sat on her bed as she waited for Faith to speak.


“Right. The witchy coven called. Apparently, I am a slayer-- as we already knew.”


“Did they figure out how it happened?”


“They found a trace of magic in my blood sample. I don’t remember the potion’s name, but they said it was a healing one. If I hadn’t been a potential, it would have only woken me up from the coma. It’s used to bring out the strength, both physical and mental.”


“So it tapped into your potential and brought out your strength literally?”


“That’s what the survey says.”


“Huh. But who-”


“Who gave it to me? Hell if I know. But I owe them a big kiss on the mouth.”


“Ew. What if it was something slimy or old?”


“I’d take my chances.”


TBC