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Dark Paladin by Thianna
 
17 - What I Asked Him to Do
 
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Disclaimer: The characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer are owned by Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and Fox studios. This story is not meant to infringe upon anyone's rights, only to entertain.

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A/N: Thanks to Amarysso for betaing.


CHAPTER 17 – What I Asked Him to Do

The return trip to Sunnydale was a bit different than the one the Slayer and her guard experienced a few days ago. There was less tension in the air and noticeably more laughter with a few happy sighs.

Spike looked down on Buffy’s sleeping form. She had fallen asleep a few minutes ago, leaning against him with his arm protectively around her shoulder. He smiled to himself. He felt a sense of relief wash over him that he no longer had to keep the claim and how he felt about her a secret. He had reinstated the claim and she had in turn initiated her own. They belonged to each other now, though mate doesn’t quite describe what they were to each other. Not yet anyway. That was something Spike would want to remedy in the future, but just not yet. He didn’t feel like she was ready for all of that though he could tell her body spoke differently. He knew that with the claim in place he could easily sway things to his favor but he wouldn’t make that decision for her. There were already many things in her life that she had no control over. He wasn’t going to add to it.

He soon parked the car on Merrick’s driveway and Buffy roused from sleep just as soon as he turned the ignition off. She smiled up at him and leaned over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek before she stretched out. A small frown crossed her lips when she realized where they were.

“Why are we here? I was hoping you’d take me straight home.”

“Sorry, luv. You know Merrick would want you to check in with him as soon as we got back.”

“Well he could call and I’m so not in the mood to deal with Mr. Brooding Shadow.”

Spike couldn’t help but chuckle at hearing Angel’s nickname pass through Buffy’s lips. Sure enough, the first one to greet them as Spike stepped out of the car was his Sire. He had a stern look on his face.

“I trusted you William. I thought you would have known better.”

Spike let out a sigh. “She’s safe. The vision quest was administered and there’s no apocalypse in the horizon. I think I’ve done a pretty good job mate.”

Angel turned to Caden who had gone outside with Niko and Merrick following him. “I told you we should have forced him to break it. Now look what has happened. He didn’t have enough self control and look at what he’s done now.”

“You’re questioning my bloody self-control? Fuck you Angel!”

“I knew you couldn’t do it. You were always impulsive and reckless.”

“And what would you have done last year with the whole Lothos thing?”

“I would have had the sense to set her free.”

“Why do you keep on thinking that she’s a prisoner?”

“Because you’re taking her freedom away.”

“THAT’S ENOUGH! I’m tired of being the topic of discussion here. Everyone is talking about me but no one is talking to me!” Buffy exclaimed as she moved from the other side of the car to stand beside Spike. “I am not imprisoned. I have free will and Spike didn’t force anything on me.”

“He bit you.” Angel tried to reason.

“Because I wanted him to. Because I asked him to.”

Angel, Merrick and Caden looked on in surprise while Niko seemed to be smiling to himself and giving Spike a toothy grin.

Buffy looked at her two guards and her Watcher with dismay. “The way you guys are looking at me it seems like we have an apocalypse in our hands.”

“Buffy, do you even know what you asked him to do?”

“Nothing more than what I did to him.”

Caden stepped forward to examine Spike’s neck but only the mark of the vampire that had drained him was visible. The elder vampire took a deep breath and leaned his head against this vampire he viewed so much like a younger brother. “What have you done, Spike? I can’t protect you from everything you know.”

“I don’t need protecting Caden. You know I would never harm her. If I have kept myself from harming a Slayer I disliked, do you really think I would harm one that I … umm … cared for?”

“I don’t know if I can keep Angel from contesting this.”

Spike just shrugged his shoulders. “Why is he so against this anyway?”

“He has his reasons and despite all the bickering and arguing he does care about you.”

“Sure he does.”

“He is your Sire.”

“Not by choice. I was forced upon him.”

“Yet for over a hundred years he has kept watch over you.”

“Because the Council pays him to do so.”

Caden wanted to argue some more but the heated discussion between the Slayer and her head guard was growing louder.

“Buffy, how could you do this? You let yourself be claimed by a vampire?”

“So?! It is my decision. It is my life.”

“You don’t know what you’ve done.”

“And I can’t believe that you would keep something this important from me. For months now I’ve known something was up but none of you would let me in on it. You’ve told me it was nothing… that it wasn’t important. You’ve lied to me. You’ve forced something this important away from my knowledge and have made both of us suffer for it. How many more months of this would you have let me… let him endure? I was missing a part of me… I was feeling incomplete.”

“None of this would have been necessary if he had done what I had asked him to do in the first place. You would not have been subjected to such feelings.”

“Maybe. But couldn’t you have let me decide on my own if I wanted this or not? I have enough people in my life telling me what I should and shouldn’t do. Here I am risking my life for the world and I can’t even make decisions on my own. I’m not a child Angel. I’m the Slayer. If I’m old enough to save the world, don’t you think I’m old enough to make decisions that concern my life? You’re my soddin’ guard not my mother.” Buffy looked a little puzzled as the English slang word came out of her mouth. She looked at Spike in wonder but the vampire just grinned at seeing his girl tear his Sire a new one.

“Buffy, dear… We only have your well being in mind.” Merrick commented.

“So does Spike!”

Merrick let out a sigh and looked at his charge and the vampire that had dared claim her. The day Merrick found out that he was assigned to the unknown Slayer was also the day he first met all four Vampire Guards. He met Spike first actually since he was the one that opened the door to the office where he was told about his new assignment.

“Oi, he looks a little old, but at least I can tell he can fight.” Spike said with a toothy grin. “Welcome to our merry band of misfits. And don’t believe everything they have in my file about me.” He said handing Merrick a thick stack of papers. He then proceeded to walk passed the stunned watcher with a very irate older vampire calling after him.

“Get your butt back in here Spike.” Angel called out.

“You know about me and closed spaces Peaches.”

“Exactly, there’s no connection between you and enclosed spaces.”

Spike turned around and gave his Sire a smirk before turning to look at Niko. “Hey, Niko you look bored. Up for a spar after I smoke?”

Niko looked up. “I’ll join you now,” he said as he got up and headed for the door.

“Stop. None of you are leaving. We’re here to meet the Watcher, get acquainted and figure out how to deal with the unknown Slayer.”

Spike just shrugged his shoulders, lowered his head for a second before plastering an overtly fake smile on his face before turning to Merrick. “Hi. I’m Spike and this here is Niko. We’re Vampire Guards and you’re a Watcher. We protect the Slayer and you train them. In this case we have to find the bird first so might I suggest a modified locator spell. And before you protest about the spell, it exists, specifically tailored to find the bird’s signature and all. Now I’m off for a smoke.” He turned and walked down the hall followed by Niko who was chuckling the entire time.

Merrick looked back into the room to catch Angel pound a fist into the table and Caden, leaning against the far wall with an amused smile on his face.

“Umm… how did he know you could do a spell like that?”

Angel let out a sigh but it was Caden that answered. “Because there was a time in his life he was one of you.”


Merrick had learned early on that Spike was never one to follow the rules which made it all the more of a surprise to learn that before he was turned he was nothing more than a quiet Watcher. Not even a field agent at that… just a quiet librarian that happily catalogued books and read all day. Now he was anything but quiet. He had read what other Watchers had written about William the Bloody so he shouldn’t have been surprised to see that Spike had reiterated the claim and now with Buffy’s prompting had completed it.

This was all Merrick needed. How was he going to tell the Council that his charge was now mated to one of her guards? If they felt lenient then maybe Buffy would just be on probation and he would have to force the two of them to break the claim. If they felt threatened, then he wouldn’t put it pass the Council to call for the execution of the Slayer and her vampire lover. Why did he even allow the incomplete claim to exist months ago? He should have pressed the issue then. But would it have mattered? Merrick once again looked at Buffy then at Spike and saw the tenderness in their eyes when they looked at each other. Despite the anger that she was showing towards Angel, her body didn’t seem as tense and there was a quiet confidence in her stance. As much as he didn’t want to believe it, Spike was good for her. Spike seemed to balance her out and it seemed like the same could be said for the affect she had on him.

“Buffy, are you happy?”

The question took her unawares. “Huh? Umm… yeah,” she said giving a sideward glance up at Spike, her eyes shining.

With a sigh Merrick turned his back and headed back into the house. Who was he to go against that? Her destiny was to save the world and the life she had dreamt of was ripped away from her. Who was he to begrudge her any form of happiness? But he wondered how Spike was going to deal with the loss when her time came. It was an inevitable fact that though she was the Slayer she was still mortal. He just hoped that Spike would be strong enough to deal with it when the time came.

 
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