Chapter Four

Buffy avoided the library most of the day, but when she had to walk past it between her last two classes, she couldn’t pretend not to hear Giles when he called her.

“What is it, Giles? I have a class.” Buffy didn’t go in, but paused at the entrance to the library.

“I’m just verifying that you will be here after school. When we’re finished here, I’ll drive you home and we’ll pick up your mother and go to dinner.”

“Oh yeah. That. I’m gonna have to skip the meditation stuff today. Mom’s picking me up as soon as the bell rings.”

“Didn’t you tell her we had important slayer-related work to do?” Giles got a slightly panicky look on his face.

“She said this time, her authority tops yours, so I guess we’ll see you when you pick us up at the house.  What time did you say that would be?”

Looking somewhat as if he’d been hit between the eyes, he mumbled something about “reservations at 7, but—”

“Okay. We’ll see you about 6:30. It’ll be dark then, right?”

“Uh, yes. Yes it will....”

“Gotta go. See you later.” Buffy waved and ran down the hall to her next class, leaving Giles staring after her with a frown on his face.

XXXXX

“I can’t imagine Angel was foolish enough to tell Joyce about the Cruciamentum, but I suppose I’d best check. It’s not like her to override my authority like that.” Continuing to mutter to himself about “like daughter, like mother”, he went to his office and dialed Angel’s number, frowning when there was no reply. The old vampire avoided the daylight and was always reachable during the day. After the phone continued to ring long past the point where someone with vampire hearing and speed would have been able to hear and respond to it, he gave up.

XXXXXXXXX

Buffy waved good-bye to her friends, thanking them for the birthday wishes and walking out to meet her mother, carrying her books and several balloons.

“Did you have a good day?”

“Yeah, I did. Willow and Xander gave me balloons and prezzies, and even my teachers were pretty nice to me.”

“And Rupert?”

Buffy shrugged. “He wasn’t as happy. But he didn’t try to make me stay. The reservations are for 7:00, so I told him we’d expect him about 6:30.” She glanced at the floor where there was a bag from her favorite store.
“Is that for me?”

“Yes. You can look at it when we get home or.... here,” she finished as Buffy dove into the bag and came out with a leather jacket she’d been coveting since the fall.

“Thank you! I love you!”

“You’re welcome, honey. Just don’t get demon guts on it, okay?”

“No demon guts. Got it.”

At Buffy’s urging, Joyce went home by way of a small shopping area where Buffy knew she could pick up pig blood.

“For Spike?”

Buffy nodded as she put the bag full of blood containers on the floor. “He’s got to be hungry, and I don’t want him having any excuse to bite somebody. Not that I think he would... but I don’t know why I think that. I really don’t know that he wouldn’t. But now he won’t have any excuse to do it.”

XXXXXXX

When they got home, Buffy put the blood in the refrigerator and went upstairs to shower and change. She somewhat reluctantly dressed more for fighting vampires than she normally would have for a night out at a good restaurant, picking her clothes for ease of movement and washability as much as for fashion.

When she came downstairs, Spike was sitting at the kitchen counter and drinking from a mug. She made a face when she peered into the cup. “Ugh!” She shuddered.

“My sentiments exactly, Slayer,” he said with growl.

“You didn’t think I was going to feed you human blood, did you?”

“Suppose not. But I may hit Willy’s later and pick up some O neg.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I got you lots of blood.”

“You did, and I ‘preciate it. I do. I just don’t like it.”

“As entertaining as this conversation about Spike’s disgusting eating habits is, I think I’ll just go upstairs and lie down for a while before I get dressed. If I’m not up by six, please get me up, Buffy. I don’t want to be still sleepy when I lay into Rupert Giles.” Joyce smiled as she spoke, but there was a glint in her eye that didn’t bode well for Buffy’s watcher. With a wave, she left the kitchen and went to her room.

“Don’t think I’d want to be the Watcher’s shoes tonight,” Spike said with a grin. “I won’t be surprised if your mum is toting her axe when she comes back down.”

“An axe might not be a bad idea,” Buffy said, sitting on the stool beside him. “I don’t know what I’ll be facing. A stake might not be the best weapon.”

“Your best weapon is right here, Slayer.” He nudged her with his arm. “Use what you’ve got.”

Buffy shook her head. “I’m really glad you’re here, Spike. Don’t get me wrong. And not just because you can back me up,” she added with a shy sideways glance that brought an answering smile from him. “But I really want to do this – whatever it turns out to be – by myself if I can.”

“It’s your right, Slayer. I’m just here to make sure it doesn’t go pear-shaped because the Council of Wankers thinks you’re too independent for them.”

 Buffy frowned. “They might think that. I know they don’t like me very much... but Giles.... I can’t believe he would set me up.” She stood up and wrapped her arms around herself in a less-than-comforting hug.
 
“Watcher equals wanker, pet. Never forget it.” He turned around on his stool and pulled her into a genuine embrace that left her with her head on his chest and her arms at her sides.
 
“I don’t want Giles to be a ‘wanker’ — whatever that is.” She sniffed back the tears she refused to let fall.
 
“Ah, Buffy, love. Don’t want him to be either. For your sake. But he hasn’t done much for me to think different.” He breathed in her scent and nuzzled her hair, working his way down to her ear. He nibbled there until he felt her arms come up behind his back, then found his way to her mouth.
 
“Missed you, Buffy. Missed this... and this... and....”
 
“How can you miss something we’ve only done once or twice?” Buffy tore herself away from the lips she really wanted to fall into. “I mean, there was the spell... so okay.... lots of kisses and... other stuff. But the rest of the time was just fighting and then not fighting and then killing things together and some more kissing and then stupid Angelus and Dru interrupted—”
 
“Missed it because that whole time we were fighting, not fighting, and then fighting together, I was thinking about it. It’s all I can think about. Kissing you, holding you, feeling you....” Buffy moaned as she felt his hard body against hers, meeting in all the right places while his hands roamed over her torso, pulling her hips against his.  With a whimper, she pressed closer, giving a little gasp when he lifted her up and her legs went around him without any conscious decision on her part.
 
With the hard bulge in his jeans now pressing against her, she was soon grinding against him, her whimpers growing more frequent and louder as she felt herself building toward something she hadn’t realized she was missing until just that second.  Spike whispered a steady stream of alternately tender and vulgar words in her ear as they worked together to a mutually satisfactory conclusion.
 
Buffy clung to his neck, her flaming face buried in his neck. “Did we just....”
 
“We did,” he said. She could hear the smile in his voice. “Probably the best I can do with your mum upstairs and you all dressed up to go out. I can make it better for you. Will if you let me.”
 
She let her legs drop to the floor, but continued to support herself with the arms around his neck. His hands on her firm butt cheeks ensured that she wouldn’t fall if her legs failed her. When her breathing was under control and she thought her legs would allow her to stand unassisted, she pulled away from and looked up.
 
“You can make it better?”
 
“If you’ll let me, I will.”
 
“I think I’d....” She blushed and tried to look away, but he touched her chin and turned her face back to his.  “I think I’d let you,” she said.  “I’m pretty sure I’d let you.”
 
“All I’m asking for is a chance, love.” He leaned his forehead against hers. “Just a chance.”
 
“We are talking about... more of what we just did. Right?” She gazed into the blue eyes so close to hers, trying to read the meaning there.
 
“If that’s what you want it to be.” He raised his head, but didn’t take his eyes off hers.
 
“Spike... we can’t... and if I could... and you... and Angel... and I can’t....”
 
“Are we talking ‘can’t’ or ‘won’t’?” he asked, his face expressionless. “And, no, we’re not just talking about shagging.”
 
“Can we talk about it later? Like after I kick Council pet vampire ass?”
 
He nodded and released her, relaxing with a sigh when she didn’t move very far away and began playing with the buttons on his shirt.
 
“Absolutely, love. I’m a git for even bringing it up. You need to concentrate on tonight, not be distracted by something you weren’t expectin’.”
 
Buffy snorted. “Being blindsided by things you aren’t expecting is kinda the description of a slayer’s life. Trust me, that was a lot nicer than the kind of stuff I usually get surprised with.”
 
He laughed and grabbed the hand playing with his buttons, raising it to his lips. “Let me clean up a bit and we can watch some telly till your mum gets up.”
 
“Clean up...oh. Ewww. The bathroom’s right there.” She pointed down the hall, blushing again.
 
“Such a dainty little thing you are,” he said with a laugh. “I’ll have to work on that.”
 
“Or, you could work on not being gross,” she muttered.
 
“Or that.” He closed the bathroom door and Buffy went into the living room and turned on the TV.
 
XXXXXX
 
When Joyce came downstairs, Buffy and Spike were sitting on the couch, arguing over the remote, but laughing as they did so. They looked up when she entered the room, and Buffy tried not to look as guilty as she felt about what they’d done in her mother’s kitchen.
 
“What time is the watcher supposed to be here?” Spike stood up and stretched.
 
“In about fifteen minutes,” Joyce said. “But I can’t promise he won’t be sorry he
came... actually, I probably can promise that he will be sorry.”
 
Spike laughed and gave Joyce a thumbs up.  “Think I’ll help myself to some more of that pig swill the Slayer thinks I should be happy with.”
 
He walked to the kitchen and fixed himself another mug of blood, studying the microwave for a minute before Buffy reached past him and pushed the buttons.
 
“Ta, pet.”
 
“You’re welcome. I guess we—” She stopped as they heard the front door burst open. Waving at Spike to stay put, she ran to the foyer to find Giles standing there, breathing hard and frowning at Joyce, who was glaring at him and holding a heavy ashtray in her hand.
 
“If you think I’m letting my daughter go anywhere with you tonight...”
 
“I don’t intend to take her anywhere,” Giles said. He turned to Buffy. “I’m sorry, Buffy. I just found out a while ago when the Council team showed up to ask why you hadn’t come for you final....session—”
 
“Those would be the ‘sessions’ where you’ve been drugging me so I won’t have my powers when I fight whatever the Council has set up for me to fight?”
 
Buffy joined her mother in glaring at him, arms crossed and tapping her foot on the floor.
 
His shoulders sagged. “Yes. It would have been. But I’m very glad you didn’t come. It seems that they are setting you against a very powerful vampire and they don’t really expect you to survive. I’ve told them I will not permit it, but I don’t know for sure that I can prevent it. We can avoid them tonight by not going where they expect us to be, but we will only be able to avoid them for a limited amount of time, and I’ve no real idea how long it takes for the drugs to wear off.”
 
“What happened when you told them you wouldn’t let them do it? Didn’t they say okay, forget it?”
 
He cleared his throat. “It’s possible I’ve been relieved of my duties. If I understood them correctly, I am to deliver you to the appropriate place at the proper time, or I am fired.”
 
“Well, let’s not disappoint them,” Buffy said cheerfully. “Can’t have you going on unemployment pay, can we?”
 
“Buffy, did you not hear what I said about a very powerful vampire? I will not permit you to face something like that in your condition. Certainly not alone...”
 
“She isn’t going to be alone.”
 
Giles’s face paled and he pulled a cross out of his pocket as Spike’s voice preceded him into the room.
 
“Oh my God, Buffy. They’ve sent William the Bloody. Move away from him!”
 
Giles jumped in front of Buffy and held out the cross, which Spike batted away, baring his teeth in a grin that wasn’t at all friendly. “But if they had picked me, you’d be a little late being sorry about it.”
 
“Stop it, Spike.” Buffy poked him and stepped between them. “You’re scaring Giles.
 
“He deserves to be scared,” Spike growled. “He should be bloody terrified of me. If you weren’t here to stop me, I’d rip his traitorous head off.”
 
“Buffy! What is this creature doing in your house? Joyce? What the hell is going on here?”
 
Buffy took a deep breath and sighed. While she’d mentioned having formed a truce with Spike as they worked against Angelus the previous year, she’d been sure to emphasize that his motive was to get Drusilla back. She hadn’t shared with Giles that her regular patrolling had been supplemented with fighting practice guided by the notorious William the Bloody. Nor that they’d spent hours together every night, developing a mutually affectionate and respectful relationship—until he and Dru had mysteriously left Sunnydale shortly before Angel was re-cursed with his soul.
 
“Spike and I... we have a little more history than you know about. And when he was helping me train to defeat Angelus, we... we became friends.”
 
“That’s how you knew about the Cruciamentum. He told you.” Giles glared at Spike who met his glare with human eyes that were all the more frightening for being balls of blue ice. The vampire held up two fingers in a gesture than meant more to his fellow Brit than it did to the two women.
 
“He told Mom. And he told her to call him when it was time for my birthday, especially if I was getting weak.”
 
Giles stared at Joyce. “You invited him into your house? William the Bloody? Slayer of slayers?”
 
“He is here to protect my daughter. From the danger you put her in. I suggest you change your tone.” Joyce’s glare made it clear she wasn’t impressed that Giles had decided at the last minute not put Buffy through the test – not because he thought it was wrong, but because it was meant to kill her.
 
“So, you see, Giles. I won’t be facing this ‘old powerful’ vampire by myself. I’ll give it a shot, but if I’m not strong enough to slay it, Spike’s got my back. So let’s go. You promised me a dinner.” Buffy started to put on her new jacket, then changed her mind. “Oops, no demon guts on this.” She put on a sweater instead and walked to the door.  “Where are we going?”
 
“Hold on there, Slayer.” Spike walked up to Giles, forcing him to meet his now-yellow eyes. “Where are they planning to ambush her? It is going to be an ambush, I take it?”
 
Giles nodded dumbly. “I’m supposed to send her out to the parking lot after dinner while I keep Joyce inside for a few minutes.  It will happen there.”
 
“What restaurant?”
 
“Morton’s. On the edge of town.”
 
“I know where it is. I’ll meet you there, pet.” He touched Buffy’s cheek, causing Giles to blanch again. “Don’t start without me.”