“Come on, help me. We need to get him down, fast.” There was a strange calm in Buffy’s voice that belied the fear in her eyes as she looked at the broken body of her vampire, still suspended in the same cruelly painful position he had been in for hours now. “Will…there’s blankets in the bedrooms down the hall. Could you bring me some?”

Willow immediately headed down the hall, and Tara followed her, eager to be able to do something to help.

“Xander,” Buffy instructed him softly, “help me,” as she moved to Spike’s side, trying to think of a way to get him down as gently as possible, without hurting him any more.

“You’re gonna be sorry for this, Buffy,” Riley sneered from where he crouched on the floor, holding his battered ribcage, gasping a bit still from the pain of the beating he had taken. “I don’t think I have to remind you that I’m a very powerful man.”

Buffy closed her eyes and stood there for a moment, her back still turned to him as she tried to control the rage building again inside her at the very sight of what Riley had done to Spike, tried to maintain the calm she knew she needed to help him. Finally, she shook her head and turned decisively back toward Riley.

“I should just ignore you,” she stated matter-of-factly. “You’re just distracting me. But that’s turning out to be a little harder than I thought it would be.”

A cocky grin spread over Riley’s face at her words, as he looked up at her with defiance and self-satisfaction.

The look was wiped from his face, into a slack, unseeing expression when her foot connected with his temple, hard, knocking his head into the wall and his mind into unconsciousness.

Turning back toward Xander with a shrug and a small smile, her calm firmly back in place, Buffy said simply, almost cheerfully, “Problem solved.”

Xander wiped the blood that still flowed from his split lip with the back of his hand, as he slowly returned her smile, pleased at the solution she had found. He had taken a few blows from Riley himself in trying to defend Buffy, and that was nothing compared to what Riley had done to the vampire before them. As he turned his eyes to Spike, he thought grimly that Riley deserved anything that Buffy might decide to do to him.

Buffy’s smile promptly faded when she followed her friend’s gaze and returned her attention to Spike, reaching up to carefully inspect the chains that bound his wrists. Fortunately, they fastened without the use of a key, so she could easily open the painfully small manacles that bound him.

She caught his weight as gently as possible, as he slumped down into her arms, moaning softly in agony as his torn, burned flesh came into contact with the stiff white fabric of her shirt, smearing it with his blood, and – Buffy felt a little sick at the realization – ash. She felt a pain in her own heart when she realized that his suffering had been enough to rouse him from unconsciousness.

As she carefully shifted his weight in her arms, wincing even as she did so, knowing that it would cause him more pain, a soft whimpering sound rose in his throat, and his head rolled back onto her shoulder. His eyes were still closed, but she felt an odd little twist inside when even in his state of semi-consciousness, he nuzzled his face against her neck, seeking the comfort of her nearness.

*Comfort,* she sneered at herself bitterly. *How can you offer him comfort? It’s your fault he’s hurt like this!* As she looked down through tear-filled eyes, she imagined that beneath the blood and bruises from Riley’s abuse, she could see the bruise that preceded it – the single one that she had left on his face that morning, glaring out in her vision, worse than all the others.

“Shh,” she murmured soothingly against his ear. “It’s okay…it’s okay, Spike, we’re gonna get you out of here.”

Willow and Tara showed up just then, with the blankets, and Buffy turned toward them, Xander close behind her.

“Okay,” she said in a softly decisive tone, “let’s get him out to the car…” Her voice trailed off at the horror-stricken expression on Willow’s face as she took in the sight of the battered burden she carried.

“My God, Buffy,” she whispered, shaking her head. “What did he do to him?”

Buffy felt her throat close off and fresh tears spring to her eyes, so that she could not answer. *What you *let* him do to him,* her inner voice responded with bitter accusation. *If you’d have stopped him…left him…a long time ago, none of this would have happened!* The tears rolled down her cheeks, clearing her vision a little.

She could not meet the eyes of her friends, afraid that they were also mindful of her guilt in the situation, as she carried Spike’s limp body out of the room and up the basement stairs, the entire Scoobie entourage following in her wake.

The car was large, but still not meant to comfortably seat more than five, especially when one of them was not capable of sitting up on his own. After a few minutes of discussion over what would be the best arrangement, Anya and Willow crammed together into the front seat with Xander, who was driving, while Tara and Buffy sat on either side in the back, with Spike between them, almost fully supported by Buffy’s strong arms around him.

“Don’t you – don’t you need anything? Before you go?” Willow asked her anxiously, turning in her seat as Xander turned the key in the ignition. “Clothes? Anything?”

“I’ll come back,” Buffy sniffed back tears as she replied, her eyes still focused on Spike. “Right now we just need to get him out of here and taken care of.”

The power of the affection and concern she felt for the semi-conscious vampire on the seat beside her surprised and overwhelmed her. She had been trying to deny the feelings that she had been developing for him, afraid of the effect those feelings might have on her marriage.

But now, that farcical marriage meant nothing, and she had had a revelation that had thrown her entire world view, every thought pattern on which her life was based, into a tailspin.

The man she had been struggling so hard to be faithful to…did not exist.

Riley had never loved her, not really, and had made no such attempts to honor their marriage as she had -- well, until last night. Seeing the horrific devastation he had left of Spike’s body had driven the point home to her with violent force -- Riley Finn was not a person that she even knew anymore. She had probably never really known him to begin with.

She was pulled suddenly out of her pensive thoughts by the sound of a weak voice at her side. "B-buffy?" Spike gasped out, his swollen eyes open just a bit, and struggling to focus on her face. His seemed disoriented, not knowing where he was or what was happening, and his voice was so uncertain and afraid that her heart hurt at the sound.

At that moment, Xander pressed his foot down on the gas pedal, not very hard, but the forward motion of the car jarred Spike's abused body, pain shooting all through him at the sudden movement, and he let out a soft cry of pain.

"Sorry!" Xander winced from the front seat, giving the Slayer an apologetic look in the rearview mirror. "I'm driving as easy as I can."

Buffy reached a comforting hand toward Spike's face, stunned when in his pain and confusion, he flinched back away from her hand. "*Mistress*," he quickly corrected himself in a pained whisper. "M-mistress...I -- I'm sorry." He struggled to get the words out against the wave of pain that shuddered through his body.

Buffy felt as if she had been punched in the stomach. She could not even breathe for a moment as an overwhelming sense of guilt came over her with the realization that in his confusion, Spike had thought that she had intended to punish him, for such a simple, innocent "offense" as calling her by her name.

*We were past that,* she thought, confused and dismayed by his reaction.

*Yeah,* she reminded herself with a self-directed sneer. *Until you pushed him back again...*

"No, no," she said hurriedly, gently stroking back his disheveled blonde curls in an attempt to reassure him, even as he flinched back from her again, expecting a blow. "No, it's okay, Spike. You didn't do anything wrong, it's okay."

Her soothing soft touch and reassuring voice seemed to calm him, and she was relieved to feel his tense body relaxing against her, allowing her to support his weight in her arms again. She glanced up to look at her friends around her -- and was stunned by the expression on Tara's face.

The blonde witch was staring at her, a look of rising accusation -- and disgust -- in her soft grey eyes. Buffy felt a sense of shame come over her, realizing it was a reaction to the little scene that had just passed between her and her slave, and did not attempt to defend herself. Tara had seen exactly what she believed she had seen, and Buffy had no defense.

If she had never hurt Spike before, never taken out her fury on him over some minor thing that really did not deserve to be punished, even in his state of semi-conscious confusion, he would not have *expected* to be punished simply for speaking her name.

Buffy knew very well that Tara, like her other friends, was strongly against the slavery movement, and found the practice disgusting and appalling. But this was the first time that it had occurred to her to wonder how they would react to the fact of her ownership of Spike.

She lowered her eyes in shame, unable to look at Tara for the rest of the ride back to Willow and Tara's house.

When they reached their destination, Buffy gently carried the wounded vampire into the house in her arms. Willow went ahead of her to lay down a couple of soft blankets on the couch, and then hurried off to the bathroom to get first aid supplies. Tara flew into action behind her, heading for the kitchen to get some things to help clean his many grievous wounds.

Buffy carefully lowered herself down on the floor by the couch, to lay Spike gently on top of the soft blankets that covered it. He bit back a cry of pain as she slowly slid her arms out from under his body, turning his head away, and she cringed, almost feeling the pain herself.

"It's okay, Spike," she whispered reassuringly, one gentle hand running through his hair, the other reaching for his hand. "It's gonna be okay. I'm gonna take care of you."

He turned his head back to look at her through pain-clouded eyes of startling blue, and she squeezed his hand gently, reassuringly, in hers. "B-buffy," he whispered. "I -- I..." Another spasm of pain hit him, and he stifled a moan before struggling on, "He -- he said -- you w-wouldn't...come..."

"Shhh," she whispered, her voice firm but gentle, lowering her hand from his hair to brush over his dry, trembling lips. “You’re safe now. You’re here with me, and I’m gonna take care of you,” she assured him, a rare tenderness in her eyes and her voice.

His deep, expressive eyes stared into hers for a long moment, and she could see fear, uncertainty, and the hurt from her earlier actions still evident in them. But there was also undeniable love, and a tremendous sense of relief. As he looked at her, he leaned his scarred, bruised cheek into the caress of her hand, and her heart ached with the desperation of his need for her reassurance, for her to undo the hurt she had caused that morning with her rejection.

She was surprised at the fierce possessive desire that came over her, at the simple, submissive gesture of trust and affection from her vampire slave, who was slowly but surely coming to be so much more to her. She knew that he longed to be hers, truly, to be loved and cherished by her as much as he loved and cherished her himself. She knew that above all, he yearned to hear from her mouth the words he had spoken to her the night before.

She could not give him what he wanted, not all of it – not yet. Her heart was bruised and battered, still huddled among the wreckage of the relationship she had just now found the strength to end. She was terribly confused about her feelings for her husband, and for her slave, and could not even tell *herself* how exactly she felt about Spike. How could she possibly tell *him*?

But as she gazed down into those wide, trusting eyes, so devoted and filled even now with his longing to please her, she felt a rush of warmth for him flood her heart, and she knew that there was at least part of what he wanted that she could give to him.

Holding his gaze the entire time, she leaned slowly down to place a tender, chaste kiss on his bruised lips. She felt him beginning to hungrily return the kiss, despite his injuries that made the slightest movement painful, and felt his body tense in pain at the effort.

Gently, she pushed him back down with her hand at his shoulder. “You’re mine, Spike,” she told him slowly, earnestly, meeting his eyes firmly as she spoke the words that were a comfort, rather than a bond. She was claiming him, not for her to use and to hurt, but to protect and cherish. “You’re mine – and I’m not gonna leave you behind, and I’m not gonna let anyone hurt you, ever again. I promise, Spike. I promise.”

There was so much more than mere ownership expressed in her words, reaffirmed by the look in her eyes, which remained intent on his, as her hand ran slowly through his hair again in a soothing, reassuring rhythm. Her soft words and touch served to make him feel safe and secure again, after the horrible ordeal he had endured, and he allowed his body to relax into the couch on which he lay, closing his eyes for a moment.

“Buffy...” he whispered. “Buffy, I love you…” Crystal blue eyes opened again to search hers, so open and vulnerable that it took her breath away.

There was a wealth of emotion in her glistening green eyes as she just looked at him, not having any words to say, as she could not speak the ones he longed to hear. Affection, sorrow, relief, all mingled in her expression, all things she simply could not find the words to express.

So she did not use words at all, and simply leaned down to give him another brief, tender kiss, claiming as hers what she had once denied. She could not honestly say that she loved him, not with any certainty, not yet. But she knew that he loved *her*, and that she wanted him, and that he meant more to her than the man she had been married to for the past five years. She knew that it was his love for her that had drawn her out of that miserable situation, and that she wanted to do everything in her power to thank him for it, no matter how long it took.

And for that moment…that was all she needed to know.