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And I Still Do (Love You) by slaymesoftly
 
Chapter Fourteen
 
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CHAPTER FOURTEEN



 



Winston nodded his agreement with Giles’s plan to wait until they heard back from the Coven and the Council before deciding what else to tell the Scoobies, and when. 



 



“I’d suggest we also wait to tell your…. friends—” 



 



Buffy’s unladylike snort and “Just can’t get the word Scoobies out, can you?” interrupted him, and he had to wait until they stopped snickering to continue.



 



“That we wait to tell them, just in case there will be information shared that needn’t be, because it may cause some… unhappiness.”



 



Spike spoke up. “That’s fair. We’re more than a bit ahead of the game so far, and we’ve already eliminated a few possible problems—”



 



“Besides Caleb?” Giles looked at him expectantly.



 



Buffy and Spike exchanged a long look and a quick conversation.



 



Tell them about me, love?



 



I dunno. It’s not important now. You aren’t crazy, the First doesn’t have anything to work with….



 



“Something you’d like to share?” Giles’s expression had gone from expectant to suspicious. “I thought we were past keeping secrets?”



 



“It’s just another one of those it-isn’t-going-to-happen-this-time things that might…. I dunno…. Help?” She looked to Spike for assistance.



 



Spike glanced at Winston to see if he might know what they were talking about. To his surprise, Winston nodded his head.



 



“I think it would be fine. The fact that you are willing to share, would indicate exactly how much it does not apply to this timeline.”



 



“So you knew about it?” Spike studied Winston’s face for some sign of fear or suspicion, but all he saw was the normal friendly affection he’d grown used to.



 



“Yes. It really was a fairly minor issue—” He frowned. “Well, not for the ones you—But it didn’t change the actual outcome, so it wasn’t a secret, and it didn’t work as well as the First had hoped it would.”



 



Buffy glanced at Giles, who appeared to be getting angrier by the moment. “Guys, either we tell Giles what we’re talking about, or he’s going explode. And that could be messy.”



 



With a grin, Spike said, “Is that right, Rupert? Are you going to explode all over us?”



 



“I’ll endeavor to keep the mess to a minimum, but since it seems the information everyone except me is aware of pertains to you, I suggest you enlighten me. Just in case…” He glared at Spike, who flashed his fangs in reply, but acquiesced.



 



“Long story short, I was more than a bit barmy for a good while after I got my soul. And the First was able to use my lack of… faculties… to worm its way into my psyche and install a trigger that would bring out the demon I used to be. Any time I would hear a line or two from an old song my mother used to sing, it would be lights-out for souled, chipped, white hat Spike, and hello, evil demon Spike.”



 



“You killed? The chip didn’t stop you?”



 



Spike shook his head. “Whatever happened when I got triggered, the chip didn’t have any effect on it at all. I don’t think it even registered what I was doing, being as how I wasn’t exactly in my own mind during those times.”



 



Giles stared at Buffy. “Surely you knew about this at some point. Why didn’t you stop him?”



 



“I did,” she snapped. “As soon as I knew he was doing it. But I didn’t dust him because I saw him when he was under the First’s influence, and I could tell he didn’t know what he was doing. That he wasn’t himself, and that there was somebody… some… thing… else in the room talking to him. So we chained him up until we could get it figured out.”



 



“It was actually Harris who brought up the idea of something external triggering the demon,” Spike said, then glanced at Winston. “But wouldn’t have been him in your time, I reckon?”



 



Winston shook his head. “No. I don’t know who figured it out, but it played out about the same way as far as I know. Anyway, the point is, you’re free of it now and have been for years, and it’s unlikely you’re going to become mentally or emotionally vulnerable this time, so it can’t happen again.”



 



Spike looked stricken. “What if it could?” He stared at Buffy. “What if it can make me dangerous again?”



 



Buffy grabbed his arms and shook him. “Then we know exactly what we need to do to snap you out of it.”



 



“I don’t see how it could,” Winston said, adding his soothing voice to Buffy’s. “You’re not the same confused, newly souled vampire you were four years ago. I believe the idea was probably to take you out of the equation completely, preferably by having Buffy stake you.”



 



“Which would have taken care of both of us,” Buffy said, with sudden understanding. “He would have been gone, so no using his soul to close the hellmouth, and I would have been…. I would have lost my main support system. And, I would have dusted the man I loved.” She shuddered. “It would have changed everything.”



 



Giles looked back and forth between Buffy and Spike, both wearing expressions of horror at how close they might have come to losing, not just each other, but the battle itself.



 



“The rift between us. I’d almost forgotten what I told myself about it,” he said slowly. “That it was about trusting Spike.”



 



“It was,” Buffy said tersely. “But it’s over and done, and you’ve apologized for doubting him… and me…. Don’t worry about it. None of that stuff is going to happen this time.”



 



Winston made an obvious attempt to break the tension by reminding them of the subject at hand. “In the interest of knowing what we do want to talk about this evening, what do we think we should worry about?”



 



“Well, you know about the Council building blowing up, we can talk about that; lots of potentials and their watchers being killed and the ones who haven’t been killed showing up here so I could protect them, I guess they should know that could happen; breaking Faith out of jail so she could come to help—”



 



“Faith is in jail?”



 



“We’ll have to ask Wes. She was in our time, but everything went a little different here when she woke up from the coma, and we don’t really know where she went or what she did there.” Buffy shook her head. “He did say she was there and helping last year when Angel did whatever he did that rattled their cages, so we don’t know. Maybe she turned herself in, maybe she didn’t…. I probably should have followed up on her more than I did.”



 



“Not your job to babysit her, love. She’s either reformed and easy to find, or she isn’t, and we’ll just have to hope she doesn’t show up here again at an inconvenient time.”



 



“I think the most important thing to decide is what to do about the spell that activated all the potentials,” Winston said.



 



Buffy nodded. “I think I still want to do it. But I’d like to find a way to give them a choice if they want to be active slayers or not. Maybe we can think about that for a few days before we tell anybody about it?  You and Giles can brainstorm the pros and cons, maybe get some input from the Coven? And even from Max? There might be a way to tweak the spell so that it isn’t quite as big a deal.”



 



“Agreed. As far as the others are concerned, we could limit the conversation this evening to a report on the fight with Caleb, and why it’s important that he has been eliminated so early on. We may want to mention the possible danger still existing for other potential slayers…. if nothing else, we should warn Abigail and her mother.”



 



Spike snorted. “Between the way we met her and the wedding, I think she’s got a bloody good start on that.”



 



Buffy nodded her agreement, saying, “I think maybe Abby should be at the meeting?  Or do you think she’s too young?”



 



“She’s as old as you were when you and the Scoobies—” Spike snickered in Winston’s direction “—were foiling my every scheme.”



 



Giles shrugged. “Spike has a point. She is young, but she’s learned a tremendous amount since they moved here, and her mother had already provided an amazing level of training, considering it was all done without any weapons knowledge or mention of vampires and demons.”



 



Winston added, “She has a right to know what could happen, and what the consequences may be.”



 



“Okay, so adding ask Abby to the meeting tonight to the list.  Anything else?”



 



“Let us make our phone calls, and we’ll talk again this evening, either before or after the meeting. Is that all right with you, Rupert?”  Winston’s native tact made sure he always acted as if Giles was in charge of things, even though, by this point, there was no question that the three immigrants from the future were calling the shots. The snort from the former watcher made it clear he wasn’t fooled, and Spike smothered a grin.



 



“Time to go, love. Let the brains make their calls and have their discussions while the brawn has some lunch and goes home for a nap.”



 



The mental image he sent Buffy made if very clear what he meant by “nap” and she blushed as she got up to leave with a “Sounds good. We’ll be back before the meeting. Call us if you need anything.”



 



 



XXX



 



When Buffy and Spike got home, they found a dark-haired girl sitting on the curb, looking like she was trying not to cry.



 



“Are you okay?” Buffy asked. “What’s wrong?”



 



The girl tried not to sniffle as she replied, “I was told to come to this address to find Buffy Summers, but something is keeping me from getting close enough to knock on the door, and there’s nobody in the office, so I couldn’t get in there either. And I’m tired and hungry and almost out of money, and I don’t know what to do!”



 



Buffy and Spike exchanged looks that didn’t go unnoticed by the girl.



 



“What? What do you know?”



 



Buffy sighed. “I’m Buffy Summers. And who sent you here to look for me?”



 



“My wa—my guardian. He said to find you and you would help me.”



 



“Terrific,” Buffy muttered. “Your watcher told you to find me, but he didn’t tell you how to find Giles or the Magic Box?”



 



“Who? What box? And no. He just said to find you.” She stared at Buffy dubiously, then glanced at Spike and his white blond hair and leather jacket. “Why? How are you going to help me?”



 



Instead of answering her, Buffy asked, “Why do you need help? What kind of help? Why isn’t he helping you?”



 



“I think he’s dead,” she said dully, hanging her head. “I tried to save him, but there were too many of them, and he told me to go.”



 



“Bugger!” Spike growled, causing the girl to give him another look. She tensed, then glanced up at the sun, not yet sinking into the west, and relaxed again.



 



“I’m sorry,” Buffy said, giving Spike a glare. “Come on in, and tell us all about it.”



 



“But I can’t—”



 



“You can now,” Buffy said as she began to walk around the building toward their apartment. “Follow me.” She led the way, saying over her shoulder, “What’s your name and where are you from?”



 



“Melinda. But most people call me Mel. We live—lived—outside San Francisco.”



 



Buffy didn’t say anything else until they were inside and seated on the couch. Spike went to the fridge and took out a diet coke for Buffy and raised an eyebrow at Mel, who nodded her head.



 



“Yes, thank you,” she said. “I’m really thirsty.”



 



“Runnin’ for your life can be thirsty work,” he said with a nod as he handed her the can.  He then retreated to one of the stools in the kitchen and let Buffy take charge.



 



“You said there were ‘too many of them’. Too many of what, or who?”



 



Mel shrugged and shook her head. “I don’t know if they’re whats or whos,” she said. “They wear like… cloaks… and when you see their faces, they look weird.”



 



“Bringers,” Spike snarled. “They’re still in business, then.”



 



Mel turned a hard look on him. She seemed to have gotten over her damsel in distress attitude now that she’d met Buffy and found that Buffy understood her. She narrowed her eyes at Spike, who obliged by flashing his fangs and letting his eyes go amber. Even without going into full vamp face, it was clear what he was, and she jumped to her feet, a stake in her hand.



 



He let his face go back to normal, and shook his head at her. “Good instincts, pet, but I’m on your side.”



 



Mel looked back and forth between the obviously unperturbed vampire and an equally unperturbed Buffy.



 



“I don’t understand. Isn’t he…?”



 



“He is,” Buffy said. “But, like he said, he’s on our side.”



 



“But he was….”



 



“Not your average vampire, luv,” Spike said with a smile.



 



Mel shook her head. “My watcher sent me to somebody who hangs out with a vampire… what was he thinking?”



 



“He was thinking that the best place for a potential slayer who was being hunted by Bringers was with the real thing. That’s why he sent you to Buffy.”



 



“Real thi—Are you the Slayer?”



 



“Guilty,” Buffy replied. “And this is Spike. AKA William the Bloody. My partner in world save-age, and my husband.”



 



Mel sank back onto the couch, shaking her head. “I’m confused.”



 



“It’s a lot to take in and catch up on,” Buffy said sympathetically. “I think you should come to the meeting with us tonight and meet Giles.”



 



“Who’s Giles?”



 



“He is—was—my watcher. I’m surprised your watcher didn’t send you to him rather then directly to me.” She smiled encouragingly. “Doesn’t matter, though. We’re all going to end up on the same team eventually.”



 



XXX



 



Mel’s arrival having put an obvious end to Spike’s plans for the afternoon, he fixed himself a mug of blood and retired to the bedroom for a real nap. Buffy smiled her thanks at him as he closed the door, saying he was going to “leave the violence-prone females” to their conversation.



 



“Have you eaten?” Buffy suddenly remembered that Mel had been travelling while she was having a nice lunch at Spike’s favorite bar, and that she’d said she was hungry.



 



Mel shook her head. “No. I didn’t want to take a chance on stopping, and I used most of my money for the ticket to get here.”



 



“Okay. Let’s see what I can find…” Buffy rummaged around in the fridge, muttering to herself about trying to remember to buy real food next time they went to the store.  “How about a sandwich?” she asked, taking out a loaf of reasonably fresh bread and some deli meat. She just set the bread, meat, several condiments, a knife, and a paper plate on the counter and told Mel to help herself.



 



Which she did. Showing she had a true slayer metabolism, she fixed and ate three sandwiches before pushing to plate away. “Wow. I really was hungry. Hope I didn’t take all your food!”



 



Buffy shook her head and laughed. “We don’t actually eat here all that often,” she said. “Just breakfast usually.” She pointed to the cereal boxes on the top of the fridge. “Someone needed to eat that stuff before it went bad.”  She walked to the couch and sat down. “So, come on over here and tell me about yourself and your watcher.”



 



XXX



 



By the time Spike emerged at sunset, Buffy and Mel were chatting like old friends about what it was like to grow up as a potential slayer with and without a watcher.  Mel glanced up and squirmed anxiously as he went directly to the kitchen.



 



“Is that where the bathroom is?” she whispered to Buffy, pointing to the bedroom.



 



“Oh my god, yes. I’m sorry! You must be dying to pee by now. You should have said something! It’s right in there.”



 



Mel bolted for the bathroom, blushing as the sound of Spike’s laughter followed her.



 



“Poor little chit,” he chuckled. “Was she too afraid to come in, or just being polite?”



 



“Probably both,” Buffy admitted. “That was dumb of me. I should have realized….”



 



“Don’t go all mother hen on me now, love. She’s gonna be a slayer. She’ll be able to take care of herself.”



 



“It’s starting, isn’t it?” she sighed.



 



“Might be,” he allowed. “But the First is in for a rude awakening if it thinks it can get away with everything it did in our time. Come on, love. We did for the Frankenstein monster early on, got rid of Glory with minimal loss of life and limb, and took care of Mears without Willow having to go all world-ending witch on you. This non-corporeal git will be a piece of cake.”



 



Buffy laughed. “You know if I said that, you’d tell me I was jinxing us!”



 



“Was a bit of challenge, wasn’t it?” He glanced upward. “Just kidding there, Powers That Be. Just kidding!”



 



Mel came back into the room and stared at him.



 



“Who is he talking to?”



 



Buffy laughed. “Did your watcher ever tell you about the Powers That Be?”



 



Mel shook her head. “Should he have?”



 



Buffy shook her head. “I dunno. We’ll ask Giles if he thinks you need to know about them. They kind of mess with us sometimes, so it couldn’t hurt to know who to yell at about things.”



 



Buffy called Giles and told him she was bringing a “guest” and that he should order pizza for before the meeting. She also called Abby and reminded her that there was a Scooby meeting to which she was invited. When she hung up, she giggled at how excited Abby sounded when she yelled to her mother that she was invited to the meeting. She also made a mental note to find Amanda and explain to her why she might be in danger. She groaned at the idea of having to explain about slayers, but knew she was going to have to tell her sooner or later.



 



 



 



 




 
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