IV - A Case of Coyote Ugly

AN: Last chapter. Now I can work on my other WIPs... at least until Xmas. *innocent grin*

And a big thanks to my betas, Aribelle and Jessica.



Spike laid there taking in unnecessary breaths, yet to become aware of the change in his new mate. Buffy was laying there panting as well, but not just in post-coital cool down. Her eyes were wide in shock and her eyes started to go towards where Spike lay beside her.

This is not happening. This is sooo not happening. Not with Spike. Sooo not with Spike... she thought to herself, hand going to her face as she fought to keep from actually crying.

Spike rolled over on top of her again. "Ready for round..." he paused thoughtfully, "well, I lost count... but ready for another?" He curled his tongue behind his teeth.

"Oh my god," she felt like she was going to be sick and she hurriedly shoved Spike off her. She looked around for something to cover herself with and grabbed one of the rugs lying around, wrapping it around her before hightailing it up the ladder without any word to the shocked vampire behind her.

"Well, at least she didn' bloody stake me..." he muttered when he realized what had happened and started to get up.

He figured it was best not to go after her. It would be best to let her get over her shock and calm down. Surely once she did she would come back for answers and explanations... and surely because of the pull of the claim. That's what he told himself as he headed over to the shower.

*****

Buffy ran all the way home clutching the rug to her and was glad that no one was around to see her at this late hour. She didn't need that adding to the shame she already felt at that moment. How could she... with Spike... Her stomach churned and she paused to throw up in the bushes near her house. Her stomach was still tied in knots as she hurried inside.

She stopped just inside, closing the door behind her and looking towards the living room where all the others were gathered. They stopped talking and turned towards her when she entered. They stared at her in shock over her nakedness. All except for Xander, that is. He was looking away and clenching his teeth. After a moment, Willow started to walk over towards Buffy with a concerned look.

Buffy held up a hand. "I... not now, Will. Okay? I'll be fine. I just can't deal with everything right now, though."

"I-I understand," the redhead nodded. She licked her lips and motioned to the others, "We figured out what happened to you after Xander found you with Spike. We figured it had to do with the teacher, and then he and Oz went to stop Dr. Fisk. Xander found out what spell she did on you and Oz...," she glanced at her boyfriend uncomfortably, "disposed of her."

"Dr. Fisk did this?" Buffy asked a bit incredulously and looked at the others then back to Willow. "I always called her an evil bitch, but sheesh..."

"She was a demon... I forgot the name, though."

"An anachri. They are a spider-like demon... the females are more human looking than the males." Giles supplied. "And she was also into magic to help her pass for a human and get close to you while she plotted. She slipped a charm on you while you were in the office and it enchanted you... Xander was a bit vague on that part, though."

"It turned me into my costume just like Ethan's spell," Buffy chewed her lip, glancing towards Xander with a slight embarrassed look. "I... I think I was a demon." She waved a hand. "But... I... well... I just need to get some rest. All's well once again... we can have a rain check on the movie night, okay?"

Before they could say anything else, she hurried upstairs to her room. She dropped the rug as soon as she had her door closed behind her and some privacy from prying eyes. She padded over to the bed mechanically and dropped to sit on the corner, dropping her head into her hands. This was just so unreal ever since the spell broke. She just couldn't believe that she had... with SPIKE.

She sighed and stood up, running her hand over her stomach which was still feeling wonky. Probably just from all the stress. She started to head towards the door for a shower, then thought against it. She needed sleep or at least to just relax for awhile. She hoped for sleep, though. So, she turned back to the bed and crawled under the covers with another sigh, pulling the blankets over her head and curling up on her side.

*****

Buffy slept late into the day and woke up mid-afternoon. Her stomach was still protesting as she padded to the bathroom for a quick shower before pulling on a pair of sweats and cami. She went downstairs and into the kitchen, passing a couple bags in the hallway. She glanced at them, then up at Willow.

"Oh, I'm figuring I'm going to head back to the dorm," Willow said and washed out the mug she had been drinking from. She put it away then walked over to Buffy. "You... had a bad shock last night and I'll be there if you want to talk about it, but I figure you want some quiet time alone to deal with it." She smiled and hugged Buffy. "The others and I are even willing to take over patrolling for a few nights if you want."

"Nah, that's okay... I can handle patrolling. It's actually therapeutic... maiming evil undead," Buffy gave a small smile.

"I'll see you in a few days then, okay?" Willow picked up her bags and started for the door, waving over her shoulder before leaving.

Buffy watched her go then sagged against the counter. She was alone in the big house and needed to find something to keep her mind off things for a little while longer at least. Right now her motto was avoid, avoid, avoid. Her stomach was still rolling, but she was hungry so she figured she had to force something down. She dug through the fridge then went to curl up on the couch in front of the television for awhile. Watching movies was good for getting a person's mind off things.

Her stomach didn't ease up after she forced down a bit of food. In fact, as time went on it got a little worse. She hugged her stomach as she watched the movie she had found.

Just after dusk, she sat up with the intention of going into the kitchen to dig around for some Pepto-Bismol. She found some and took a long drink of the bottle then carried it back to the living room. She felt her stomach easing and thanked the yucky pink stuff. At the couch she turned around when she felt a familiar tingling.

Spike walked out of the kitchen where she had just come from seconds before.

"Spike..." she said lamely, looking him over before flopping onto the couch again.

"Slayer."

"What are you doing here? Come to make some snarky comments and rub it all in?" she asked and rested her arm over her face, not sure she could stand even looking at him at the moment.

"No," he glanced down at his feet them straightened to approach the couch. "Came t' see how you were doin', pet. You... All that was a bit shockin', yeah? You feelin' okay?"

She peeked out from under her arm at him. She could swear he almost sound concerned about her. "I'm used to the weird and wild life of a slayer by now... and nothing a bottle of Pepto can't fix." She shook the pink bottle at him before setting it down on the coffee table.

"Wasn' the pink stuff," he shook his head then went to sit across from her on the coffee table. "Felt better 'cause I arrived."

"You really are full of yourself, aren't you?" She sneered and lowered her arm to give him a withering look. "And here I usually get sick the moment you show up."

His eyes narrowed and his jaws worked. "It's the truth, you annoyin' chit." He picked up the bottle and shook it at her, "This shit doesn' work that fast." He threw it at the wall where it splattered. "You felt better the moment I showed up outside your house. You can deny it all you want, but it's true."

She sat up quickly to return his hard look with her own. "Oh really? And just what were you doing lurking outside my house anyway, huh?"

"I told you. I came t' see how you were doin' an' t' try t' make you feel better." He waved a hand, "An' this is the thanks I get."

"Excuse me for being skeptical of the evil, soulless undead telling me he cares if I've got an upset tummy," she rolled her eyes at him. Then she paused and wrinkled her nose, "How did you know I was feeling sick anyway?"

"I can answer both of those at the same time," he gave a slight smile. "It's the claim, luv. I care about how you're feelin' an' can sense it, too, because of the claim. You're my mate now. You could sense me too if you concentrated enough an' stopped blockin' the claim."

"C-claim? Mate?" Her eyes got wide and she looked at him in shock. "We're what?!"

"Mated," he repeated patiently. He didn't want to push her lest he end up dust on the floor. "I claimed you last night, while we were..." he made a motion with his hand and smiled at her blush, knowing she got the idea. He then sighed and looked away, "I guess you don' remember what happened while you were under that bloody spell. But, it did happen an' we're tied together forever now. 'Til death do us part an' all that rot, but for real. No divorce here."

"How could you do that without my consent? Especially when you say it's so permanent and... and... what if I don't WANT to be your mate?!" Her voice rose in distress. She stood and threw out her arms, "How could you do this to me? Wait... I know how you could. You're a soulless, evil BASTARD!"

"Hey!" He jumped up in indignation. "Like it or not, slayer, we're stuck together. I'm your mate an' there's no way out of this."

"Oh yes there is..." She growled and went towards the stairs, intending to go upstairs to get a stake.

He caught her and spun her around. "You can' do that, pet. It'll kill you, too."

That stopped her. She had thought when he said the death do they part thing that he had meant if one of them died that it would go away. She took a deep breath and looked forward unseeing in shock, face pale. Then she did the only thing she could think to do. The most familiar reaction to stress for her.

She cocked back her fist and drove it into his nose.

"Bloody hell!"

"Get out of here, Spike. Now." She looked up at him quietly, jaw set.

He knew now was not the time to push it. Just as he did the night before, he decided it was best to give her time to deal with this. Or else he would probably be dust and now take her with him. His gut clenched at that thought, but shoved it aside. No time to turn into a poofter over a bird that had just decked him. With a flare of his duster, he turned to stalk back out of the house and towards his crypt.

As soon as Spike was gone, Buffy collapsed on the stairs crying. When she thought she couldn't cry anymore, she dragged herself up to her room and crawled into bed to cry herself to sleep. She tossed and turned in troubled sleep, whimpering now and then incomprehensibly.

*****

Spike paced in his crypt the next day while waiting for the sun to go down. The rational side of his brain told him just to wait for her to calm down and give her time to accept it. Even try to woo her if she wanted it like that. He was immortal and they were bound for eternity; he definitely had a lot of time to get her to come around. But then, when was Spike ever accused of being the rational one?

He had spent all night as sick as Buffy over being separated from his mate. He had to just sit there while sensing her torment and her distress, not able to go to her and comfort her. She was his mate, it was okay to be a ponce once in awhile for one's mate. Better to keep the birds happy than to suffer their wrath as his bloody nose last night proved. That seemed to be the idea males shared since the beginning of time, and he was no exception. Well, he told himself, he was only going to act soft for that reason. He was the Big Bad... what other reason could there be?

Anyway, he was losing hope that she was going to come to her senses with every moment that passed to prolong his agony. And, being the impatient vampire that he was, he was starting to think of things to do to speed up the process. Going over there and intimidating her might work, if he found a way to subdue her before she beat the shit out of him. But, the demon and the William side of him both actually agreed he didn't want to scare his mate into being with him. He wanted that feeling again. The feeling he had when she told him she cared about his pleasure and wanted to take care of him. That feeling. The one he had never really felt before and now craved so badly.

Just as with the idea of intimidating her, his next idea faced the same problem. It would be very tricky trying to subdue her to turn her. Probably damn near impossible without doing something he really didn't want to do to his own mate.

It spawned another idea. Turning her into A demon, not necessarily a vampire, was probably about the only way to make her come around. She accepted him when she was a demon.

He stopped and nodded. He should turn her back into a demon. Then he could have her back and they could be proper mates again. He went over to the ladder to drop into the lower levels. Surely there were some magic books among all that junk down there. He was sure he had seen a big pile of old, dusty looking books in one corner at some point while digging around.

His inner William thought this wasn't such a hot idea either, but he just told the poof to shut his gob then went in search of those books.

He found the pile of books under some other junk and started pawing through them in search of the magic books. He tossed books here and there as he searched. Now and then he found a magic book with spells and flipped through it to see if it had a spell to do what he wanted. They went over his shoulder as well when he found nothing promising.

He froze when he sensed it. She had just entered his crypt and was walking around upstairs. He started to take a step towards the ladder, then shook his head. He wasn't getting his hopes up. For all he knew, she was there to berate him some more and punish him for claiming her. He went back to searching the books, a little more frantic now.

Buffy came down the ladder and turned around, ducking at the last second to dodge a book that came flying at her. She pouted, thinking Spike had thrown it at her on purpose. Well, she probably did deserve that. Then she saw he wasn't paying attention to her at all, totally engrossed in the pile of books he was pawing through. She walked over curiously, dodging a couple more books on the way there.

He lifted his hand to toss another just as she got there. She pivoted to avoid getting it thrust in her face and grasped his wrist quickly. "Spike. I know you sensed me the moment I walked in..."

"Yeah," he replied, stilling but refusing to look at her, "an' I'm busy with somethin', Buffy."

"Well, now I know something's up. You actually called me by my name," she rolled her eyes and released his wrist.

He rounded on her. "Of course somethin's bloody well up!" He growled at her and raised his hands to grab her by her upper arms, barely resisting the urge to shake her. "I claimed the bloody slayer! Though, I don' care if you're the slayer or the bloody Queen of England. You're my mate an' my mate is refusin' me... an' gave me a broken nose when I went t' comfort her!"

"I..." she blinked up at him with wide eyes, "You... you want me as your mate for real? It wasn't just some big mistake?"

"Well," he relaxed his hands on her arms, "wasn' like it was planned... but you're my mate now either way."

"Oh..." She looked down.

"Oy, don' look like that, luv. I don' mean it like what you're thinkin'. I mean it in that I didn' set out t' have a new mate that night, but I don' think it's some horrible fate. Was here waitin' for you t' calm down so you'd come back an' try t' work this out with me."

"Oh yeah? Then what was up with the tossing of the books at my head?" She arched a brow and motioned around at the books scattered on the floor.

"Wasn' aimin' at your head." He grumbled and took a step back, turning away to hide the guilty look and going over to where his duster lay to dig out a smoke.

"Okay... but doesn't seem like you were just sitting around waiting for me... what was so important that you were looking for?" She watched him then went to look down at the books he had been looking at, picking one up and starting to thumb through it.

Spike snatched it from her and tossed it aside. "Nothin'. Needed somethin' t' occupy me while you got the stick out of your ass, didn' I?"

Her eyes widened briefly then she frowned. "You know, it's comments like that that make it REALLY hard for me to believe you're all happy about this claim thing!" She considered cold-cocking him again, but resisted the urge because she had come here to talk and not pound her annoying mate to a pulp. "I DID finally come here to try to work this out. I almost felt bad for breaking your nose last night and was starting to get over my shock, but you know what. Maybe it wasn't worth it."

She started to turn around and he looked at her stunned before snapping out of it to grab her before she hurried up the ladder. He pulled her back to the bed, clearing everything off it then pushing her down to sit on it.

"Okay okay, let's both call a truce an' try not t' insult each other," he exhaled a stream of smoke slowly as he thought of something to say. "Let's start this again. Yeah, this wasn' planned an' happened cause my demon got a bit overzealous while we were shaggin', but I don' think it's so horrible. You're not so bad when you're not tryin' t' bust my nose."

"If it hadn't been for the spell, though... would you have even... I don't know... realized you didn't want to kill me anymore?" She sighed.

"Maybe eventually," he said defensively. "An' if I had been in my right mind, would have waited 'til after the spell an' asked you proper t' be my mate... or tried t' woo you first even... but your demon an' mine, they... I can' explain it t' you. You wouldn' understand an' probably wouldn' believe me either."

She chewed her bottom lip and looked down at her feet for a moment, then back up at him through her lashes. "I guess we'll never know if we would have eventually come around on our own time. And it's pointless to be thinking of the 'what ifs'. It won't help us deal with the reality of the situation."

"Yeah," he dropped to kneel in front of her. He ran his hands lightly over her denim clad legs. "So what did you come here t' say in the first place, luv?"

"For starters, that I was sorry for hitting you last night and thank you for coming over to try to make sure I was okay," she lifted a corner of her mouth at him. "Then, that maybe there was some sort of compromise or something that we could make to try to make this work since I guess I have to accept that, like it or not, I'm stuck with you... for as long as I live. I got questions about that part... but it can wait. Anyway, compromising seems a bit more rational than me committing a murder-suicide or something."

His eyes lit up then he looked away, busying himself with finding something to put his cigarette out in. He didn't want to look so eager. No need to look like some big wanker.

"Anything you want, pet." He looked back towards her after a moment then caught himself. "Well... you know... within reason an' all that rot..." He frowned slightly.

"Well, that would be the point of compromise..." she rolled her eyes. Gawd, Spike was borderline schizo at times... "Anyway, guess we have to learn to get along for one since, as has been made really apparent to me the last couple days, it's not fun for us to be apart because of the claim."

"Meanin'... you'd be willin' t' live with me?" He tried to not look too hopeful.

"I guess we don't have much choice if we don't want to continue to go around feeling yucky." She paused then waved a finger under his nose, "And me living with you doesn't mean free booty!"

"Wasn' thinkin' anythin' of the sort." He smirked. "Though, maybe eventually... I mean, that's the point of mates..." He lifted a brow.

She rolled her eyes and looked away. "Oh good grief, all you think about is that, isn't it? Your mind is one big porno channel."

"And after the other night, I have such lovely imagery t' fill it." He curled his tongue.

"Yeah, I'm sure..."

"Look, pet. I know you don' remember it all, but it was great. You were great. Like nothin' I've ever experienced before."

She shook her head, cheeks flushing. "Actually, I do remember it. Vividly."

"Y-you do?" He looked shocked, thinking she had led him to believe up to this point that she didn't remember what happened during the spell. But, when he thought back he realized she never did say one way or another and had in fact avoided his comments about it.

"Yeah, though I had been trying so hard to forget it the last couple days."

"Oh..."

She sighed, "Yeah, before I calmed down and tried to be rational about all this."

He lifted his eyes to her again. "Pet, I promise not t' do those things t' you again. You don't have t' be afraid t' be my mate. I let myself get a bit out of hand."

"Spike, that is one promise you better break," she put a hand on her hip. "Or else I might have to rethink the being your mate thing." She grinned impishly and blushed again.

He looked shocked again then smirked, leaning towards her slowly. When she didn't punch him or shove him away, he leaned in the rest of the distance to kiss her. "Okay, then I promise t' do those things t' you as much as you want, luv."

He kissed her again, deeper this time. He pulled her flush against him and eagerly let his hands roam her body, craving her touch after being away from his mate for so long. The demon roared in approval, calling for him to toss her down on the bed and take her again. He reigned it in, just barely. He settled for nibbling at her lower lip and stroking a hand down her back.

She put a hand to his chest and leaned back, taking a deep breath. She tilted her head, "Now tell me... just what were you looking for in those magic books?" She picked one up off the floor.

"Uhh..." he started to stand with a deer in the headlights look, trying to think of a good excuse. "Pet, really... it was nothing."

"Spike," she grabbed him and dragged him back down to her with a sigh. "If it was nothing, you wouldn't be avoiding my question. Now tell your pretty mate what you were doing."

"Lookin' for a spell."

"Obviously..."

"...toturnyouintoademon..." he let it out with a rush of air then tried to pull away, closing his eyes tightly against the impending punch to his nose.

"Whatta?" she let go of his shirt and he toppled backwards. "Why did you want to turn me into a demon?!"

"I was gettin' desperate!" He threw up his hand defensively. "Thought you weren' goin' t' come around an' thought if I turned you into a demon again you'd come back."

"Oh." She put the book back down.

"'Oh'? Is that all you have t' say? 'Oh'? You're not mad?"

"Not really. Not if that's the real reason."

"It is." He looked at her warily.

"Then I guess I can't be mad that you were that willing to get me back." She shrugged and gave him a small smile. "In the interest of the truce, I choose to take it as flattering."

He grinned and dropped to sit beside her on the bed, relieved he wasn't going to get hit. That then dwarfed by the relief that she had finally chosen to be with him as a proper mate. No need for any spells to trick her. Her own free will. His grin turned into a genuine smile. She had chosen him. That feeling of someone actually wanting to make him happy came back in full force and he was nearly knocked to the ground by it.

"Though, you couldn't wait like a couple days for me to come back? I mean, good god, you're immortal for crying out loud!"



La Fin.