AN: I apologize for the delay, but I had a lot of problems with my internet conection :(

Anyway, here it is chapter 7. Title by Marilyn Manson and lyrics by Avenged Sevenfold. Thanks to Slaymesoftly for betaing this chapter and to everyone who left a review. THANK YOU!

It's been a while since I posted last chapter, so in case you forgot what happened previously, here's a little summary:

Spike went to Africa to get a soul so Buffy would love him. Meanwhile, the Slayer had to deal with Joyce and Dawn, who seem to be part of the Spike's fan club. Our favorite vampire came back feral as a way of dealing with the soul and bit Buffy (twice!). Last chapter he was about to kill Dawn...

Enjoy and leave a review!


CHAPTER 7: “They Said That Hell's Not Hot”


Caught up in this madness too blind to see
Woke animal feelings in me
Took over my sense and I lost control
I'll taste your blood tonight
~Scream, Avenged Sevenfold~

                                                              
Both women were oblivious to the teenager now sitting close to the whimpering vampire. Too close. When she reached a hand to touch his face, a growl erupted from his throat, making Buffy and Joyce turn back to watch, horrified at what was happening inside the room.
“Dawn, don’t!”

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Buffy knew she wouldn’t reach them in time; Spike would rip her little sister’s throat out before she had a chance to raise her stake. Still, she tried and ran towards them, so intent on her task that she failed to notice that Spike wasn’t biting Dawn. I fact, he was hugging her waist while she rocked the distraught vampire from side to side and petted his head.

Buffy stopped in her tracks. He was purring again. He purred for everyone, it seemed.

Wow, jealous much?

At least now he seemed to recognize people without biting first. Did that mean that his mind was already healing? Maybe time was all he needed.

Dawn raised her head and looked at her sister from her position kneeling on the floor. “Buffy, we have to help him.”

“I know, Dawnie,” She looked at the distraught vampire hugging her sister, “I know.”

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Two hours later, Buffy was lying on her bed, staring at a crack in the ceiling and unable to sleep. There were too many things or her mind to even think about sleeping. She knew that Dawn was right and that they had to help Spike recover, but she didn’t know what to do in order to help him. The only one who knew what had happened to him was Spike himself, and he wasn’t very communicative at the moment. If she wanted answers, she would have to go to the man who seemed to know everything. Her watcher.

And if she was going to tell him, she might as well tell the gang, too. After all she wasn’t keeping secrets from her friends, mainly because she didn’t want them to think this was like when Angel returned from Hell. Because it wasn’t. She didn’t care for this vampire, for starters; she was only trying to help him because she needed him back to his former self. Now that he was back, she wasn’t so sure if giving him a chance to prove himself as a possible friend was a good idea. His feral state only helped her see him as what he was: a vampire. A purely evil and disgusting creature; she would have to be crazy in order to trust Spike.

Only, she did trust him, or at least she trusted him enough to accept his help with protecting her sister. If only out of the feeling of respect between two warriors, she knew he would protect Dawn; after all, he made a truce with her in order to save the world once. She knew that, if he promised to help again, he would keep that promise no matter what.

 He might be a vampire, but he always did what he said he was going to do; always upfront about his plans, ever since that first time they met. His honest “I kill you” in answer to her question about what would happen on Saturday was a perfect example of his transparence.
So maybe it wasn’t such a crazy thing to trust Spike a little. Boy, she was confused.

Buffy sighed and turned around so she was facing the window. Tomorrow, she thought, research party. I’ll tell the gang everything, and with their help I’ll find out how to help Spike. And if Giles seem to be stake-happy? Well, it’s just Spike, after all.

Ignoring the inner voice disagreeing with her and the feeling of dread that settled in the pit of her stomach, she closed her eyes, determined to get some sleep before the meeting in just a few hours.

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The bell above the door in the Magic Box jingled, announcing her entrance. Anya looked up from her place behind the counter, fixing on her most sunny smile. “Welcome to the Magic Box, today we have some great deals and…oh it’s you. I mean, hello, Buffy, please sit down and try not to scare my customers away.” She smiled at Xander, obviously pleased with herself. “See, Xander? I can be nice.”

He just rolled his eyes and turned to greet the Slayer. “Hey, Buffster. How are things going?”

She sat on the only chair left at the table, smiling at the group gathered there. “Hi, guys. Actually, I have something to research.”

Willow’s perked up at that, “Ooh, research party! Not that we aren’t researching now, with the Glory thing, but, well, we haven’t found anything new, and, well, what do you need?”

Giles looked up from his book, taking off his glasses.”Yes, Buffy. What do you need our help for? A demon, perhaps?”

She looked at her Watcher, nervously wringing her hands. “Umm not exactly, well it’s…I’m not sure what happened and…” spit it out, already!  “Spike is back.”

Giles looked confused at his charge. “I was not aware of his having left.”

“He left some weeks ago and I don’t know where he went, but my mom made me look for him and I couldn’t find him and now he’s back.”

Xander raised his hand, smiling uncertainly. “Umm Buff? What does the Bleached Menace have to do with anything?”

She sighed. Let’s get this over with. “Ok, I’m going to start at the beginning. You remember how a few weeks ago Spike tied me up and told me that he loved me?” She waited for the expected reactions of her best friend and her Watcher before continuing. Sure enough, Xander mumbled something angrily and Giles started cleaning his glasses. “So after that, he left and was gone for a few weeks, but he came back the other day. The thing is, I don’t know what happened to him, but he was badly beaten and he wasn’t… he’s not himself. I don’t know how, but he seemed to be all feral and growly; at first he didn’t even recognized me, but after he bit me…oops?” She cringed, waiting for the inevitable explosion.

“He what? You let him bit you?” Xander said, always quick to jump to conclusions.

“Oh, my god! His chip’s not working!” Willow gasped, looking worriedly at Tara.

“Well, that surely changes things. I hope you realize that you need to do your duty. Now that he is no longer restrained by an electronic device in his head, he is dangerous and unstable. He needs to be terminated.” Giles kept rubbing his glasses, waiting for the Slayer to agree with his decision.

Buffy looked at all the faces staring at her, her voice wavering. “Umm I’m not going to kill him. Guys, he’s the only one, besides me, strong enough to protect Dawn against Glory. We have to help him.”

Giles stared at her, but his face showed nothing. “Buffy, I sincerely hope you’re not developing any kind of sympathetic feelings towards Spike. We may need him to fight Glory, but you can’t let that fact keep you from performing your duty as the Slayer.”

“What? No, no feelings. I just need him to help me against Glory, but he’s not with the helpfulness right now, being feral and all. And he’s not that dangerous, I mean, yes, his chip is not working, and he bit me, but, after tasting my blood he seemed to recognize me and Dawn.”

Xander gasped, “So he bit you and you didn’t dust him? And why was Dawn there? Are you completely out of your mind?”

Willow looked at her childhood friend, nodding her agreement. “Xander’s right. Buffy, you should have dusted him. He could have hurt Dawn! And why didn’t you tell us sooner? We’re your friends.”

Xander sneered, “That’s right, Buff. How long have you been hiding a vampire instead of dusting him? Uh?”

A fist slamming down the table startled them all. “Enough!” The Watcher looked at all the faces staring at him before setting his eyes on his charge. “Buffy, you’re not thinking clearly. Giving an out of control vampire access to your neck is a questionable movement, at best. You can’t use your blood as a remedy to heal vampires every time you feel like it!”

“What are you implying?  I only did that once! To help Angel, and this is not the same at all. I’m not using my blood to heal Spike! And…wait does that mean that slayer blood can help him?”

“Well, I can’t be certain about that, but slayer blood is known to be a very potent remedy for vampires…but that doesn’t mean you have to feel obligated to give him your blood. Please, tell us what happened so we can reach an agreement on whether you should dust Spike or not.”

Xander mumbled under his breath, “Or we could just agree on dusting Captain Peroxide and be done with it.”

Buffy huffed and proceeded to tell the whole tale.

Two hours later they weren’t any nearer to deciding what to do with Spike, but it didn’t matter. Whether her friends decided to help her or not, she had some answers now. Apparently, something had happened to Spike that hurt him either physically or mentally so badly that his personality retreated behind the demon for protection. Now she knew the only possible remedy was slayer blood. She started walking to the mansion with a spring in her step.

She had a vampire to help.


TBC...


End Notes: What will Buffy do? Let me know what you think!