Chapter 14. Options


Forcing the guards to remain outside, Spike and Buffy returned to the small prop room first. Ostensibly Spike was there to pick up the rest of their clothes, but mostly it was because he needed to gather a shaken and cowering Willow from the closet where she had stayed hidden all this time.

“They’re all gone?” the witch quavered. “Everything’s okay?”

While they were alone Buffy dropped the mindless zombie bit. For a while there she had been afraid that she had really zoned out. Nah, never happen.

Buffy looked uncertainly at Spike. “I’m not completely sure, but we’re all right for now. All the vamps that saw you are dust, Willow, and Spike somehow explained everything to the vamp in charge, so we’re good to go upstairs.”

“Good.” Willow nodded. “I should be able to re-establish the glamour soon. I’m not so sure about right away, though.” Thank the goddess that all the vampires and demons who had seen her true human form had somehow been eliminated. If Willow re-appeared in her vampire guise later, no one would question it.

“Sorry, Red, but for now, you’d better get in the trunk,” Spike ordered. “We’ve got a bleeding escort waiting for us, and they don’t need to see you looking like that. Slayer’s right. We’re not out of hot water yet, don’t need any more trouble. Just hope the guards are too busy leering at Buffy to notice the extra heartbeat.”

Uncomplaining, Willow stuffed herself into the footlocker, grateful that like Buffy she was small. She tried not to make a sound as Buffy lifted the trunk carefully, and began carrying her down the hall while Spike barked out orders.

One of the guards waiting for them was smarter than the rest. “What’s with the chest?” he challenged.

“Toys,” was Spike’s terse answer. If the guard insisted on opening the trunk, they’d have even more problems on their hands. But apparently Spike’s explanation was enough, as the guard just grinned and leered at Buffy.

~ ~

Slamming and locking the hotel room door behind them, Willow breathed a sigh of relief at climbing out of the cramped trunk.

“There’s a whole herd of demons just out the door, Red. Sorry for the rough ride, but I couldn’t figure how else to get you past them.”

“It’s okay, Spike. We all knew that this plan was gonna be dangerous.”

“Can you put wards on the room? Wouldn’t do for the vamps outside to overhear anything.”

Willow merely muttered a few incantations, then indicated that everything was kosher. It really was a relief to be able to cast simple spells without all the props and bother. Really, all that stuff they sold at the Magic Box was just for amateurs.

Buffy waited until Willow was finished casting her magic. She could read Spike better than Willow. While Willow was slightly concerned with the current state of affairs, mostly the loss of her vampire glamour and the trouble that had caused them, Buffy knew that something else was wrong. She wanted to know what.

“Okay, spill. I can tell you’re upset. Isn’t this what we wanted all along?”

Spike swore. Of course the girls didn’t understand. “Bloody Auctioneer is a bloody profiteer, is all. He smells money and he won’t let me out of the contract to sell Buffy. Good news is, I know the most likely buyer is still Anton, and that’ll allow us to get in close to Tara with no questions asked.”

“So, no problem. I don’t get why you’re unhappy.” Willow wasn’t following this very well. Was there something she was missing?

“Haven’t told you the bad news yet. Like I told Buffy earlier, there are generally only two types of human slaves. Most are intended as bloodstock. That usually means there’s some quality to their blood that makes them worth savoring. That’s how I intended to sell Buffy.”

“We know all that. So where’s the problem?”

“Well,” Spike hesitated. He really, really didn’t want to get staked over this. “What with all the complications, lies I’ve had to tell to keep our hides intact this long…Buffy’s been moved from one category to the other.”

“Meaning?” Willow looked blankly from Spike to Buffy and back again.

Spike cleared his throat and thought about how he could possibly put this gently, yet still get his point across. “They’ll be expecting her to do a damn sight more than allow herself to be bitten.”

Buffy swallowed hard, but didn’t say anything. Why was it that the thought of sex with Spike was suddenly not as distasteful as she thought it would be?

Willow thought for a moment. Suddenly it came to her, “Oh.” Maybe that was why Buffy was sans clothing in the prop room. “Well then, they’ll just deserve to be staked extra hard.” She blushed a little thinking that perhaps that hadn’t come out quite the way she meant it. “For thinking that I mean. I mean, they won’t actually be able to… I mean, we wouldn’t go through with this if there was any chance of that actually happening.”

“Bit hard to walk away now, Red, even if we wanted to. There’s a dozen hall monitors out there with stun guns. But no, it won’t come to that.” He smirked, “Cause I’ll be right there to protect the Slayer’s virtue. So, no worries.”

What the HELL? What did that mean? Who was he gonna be protecting her from, himself? “And that thought just makes me feel so much better! As in NOT,” Buffy exclaimed. “NOTHING is going to happen because I won’t let it happen. You’re just here as part of my cover. And I still think you are enjoying this whole thing way too much.”

“Well, I won’t deny that it does conjure up a pretty picture.” At Buffy’s warning glare he attempted to hide the leer on his face.

“I’m still a little confused,” Willow admitted. “Let me see if I’ve got it straight. The vamps are thinking…bad thoughts about Buffy, rather than just wanting to keep her in thrall and drink from her until she dies. But you’re not worried, Spike, because you think Anton will definitely buy her, and you’ll be there to protect her from him – how can you know that when you weren’t so sure before?”

Spike wasn’t sure he’d categorize himself as ‘not worried.’ He was just worried about different things. He didn’t like how things had spiraled out of his control. It was past the point of fists and fangs already. But he figured he could handle Anton, one on one. If he got the chance. If Buffy didn’t stake him first.

“Because I told the vamp in charge that I’d changed my mind,” he explained. “That I didn’t want to sell Buffy, and that will get around. I wish we’d never come up with this whole scheme, but it’s too late now. We can’t get out of the contract. Apparently it’s backed by some magic users from Wolfram and Hart, and nasty things will happen if we try to break it.”

“Not to put too fine a point on it then, but all the consequences would fall on you, wouldn’t they?” snarked Buffy. “I mean, you’re the one who signed the thing without reading it. So, as far as me and Willow, no problem!”

“Buffy, that’s not very nice. Spike’s been trying to help us.”

“And he’s been enjoying it far too much, Willow. I’m not sure, but I think he’s done something to me…” Like letting me catch sight of him just in that towel, like being sexy as hell, like… “I’m just saying it’s an option, is all.”

“We don’t know that, for sure. Let’s not make any assumptions. Maybe Red can take a look at the bloody thing and parse out what it says.”

“Sure. I think I can handle legalese. Can’t be much worse than some of those watcher diaries Giles tries to get me to read. Do you still have your copy?”

“In the night stand, Red.”

As Willow sat on the bed and examined the contract, Spike sat opposite from Buffy at the small table. He hated to ask, but he needed to know.

“So, pet, just what do you think I’ve done to you – that you didn’t ask for that is?”

Remembering how she had felt back in the prop room, and what she had practically begged him to do to her, she stumbled for an answer.

“I don’t know,” she stammered. “Just, sometimes, when I’m around you, I feel…”

“Heat, desire?” Spike suggested.

“No! Loathing and disgust. I mean, it’s not normal or natural to feel anything else. You’re a vampire. Ergo, you’ve done something to me. Put me under thrall without my knowing it, or I don’t know, something.”

That was far too close to the truth for Spike to be comfortable. He knew that he couldn’t admit that he’d had her under thrall, or she’d take that as confirmation that her conflicted feelings were something that he had manufactured. Even if the thrall didn’t work that way. Never would, never had. But she would never listen. Sure, he could probably make her DO something against her better judgment, but he couldn’t make her FEEL something she didn’t already feel. But it would be impossible to explain that to her.

So all he said was, “You’re a piece of work, Slayer. Peaches has done a better job on you than he ever did on Drusilla.” Turning away from Buffy, he called over to Willow. “Find anything, Red?”

“Yeah, and neither of you is going to like it.”

“Well, don’t keep us in suspense. What’s it say, Willow?”

“It says that if the contract is not fulfilled within a certain period of time, then the magic will take over, and certain things will happen automatically.”

“Well?”

“For starters, Spike would become human.”

Spike paled, but Buffy seemed unperturbed, “That’s not so bad. We could probably live with that. You said there’s more?”

“Yeah. And you won’t like it much. It's not just Spike that will be affected. Demons transform into humans, and humans become demons, it doesn’t specify the type. Slaves become masters," Willow noticed Buffy's smirk and hurried to continue, "only, not for very long. See, the way they’ve written it, well, if you break the contract, after the transformation, well, you’ll both be drawn back to Wolfram and Hart. Then they’ll turn you back over to the auction house, and, well, then they will sell you BOTH.”


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