Note: Thanks to my beta t_geyer for her unending patience, perseverance and support.

SECTION 7 - LAKE OF FIRE

People cry, people moan.
Look for a dry place to call their home.
Try to find some place to rest their bones.
While the Angels and the Devils try to make THEM their own.

(Nirvana, Album - MTV Unplugged with thanks to Zanthinegirl for the suggestion)




Chapter 7.08
Sunday, July 14th, 2002


Tara jumped as she heard the grating rasp of the Zippo's wheel on its flint, but a gentle smile spread to her lips as the flame illuminated the planes of the vampire's face. She extended a hand, which the vampire took as their protocols dictated he should, letting her know that it was really him rather than The First.

Spike used the grip to tug her close enough for a welcoming hug before he set her free, and gave a nod to Bee who was acting as the witch's partner.

"How goes it?" Spike had already circled the building site's perimeter at a distance. He had eavesdropped on the conversations of the pairs of watchers and potentials, listening for any signs of undue rancour between them and had been moderately surprised to find that even the normal bickering that seemed par for the course when the group were at the school was missing. This group seemed far less edgy than when he had made a similar visit to the other half of his group earlier in the night.

"I put a calming ch-charm over the area," Tara responded as if she almost expected the vampire to berate her for it. When he gave an encouraging smile instead she continued. "I need to strengthen it about every half hour because of the size of the area and I think the seal sort of wears it down... but so far no one's made a try for the seal."

"Knew I put you in charge for a reason," Spike replied with a grin.

"Spike, I-I."

The vamp pressed a single finger to her lips and turned to Bee. He gave a jerk of his head so that his chin pointed to a pair of watchers who stood about thirty yards along the perimeter from where they were. "Why don't you keep them two company for now, pint size, an' me an' Glinda'll go check on the troops? I'll give her back when we've worked our way round."

He waited until Bee was half way over to her new post and the watchers had obviously seen her coming before he put an arm around the witch's shoulders and began to steer her in the opposite direction, pausing when they were out of easy hearing range for any of the seal's other guards. He kept his voice low as he spoke. "Something you want to ask, precious, or d'you want me to take a guess at what's troubling you?"

"I, well, I was wondering why you put me in charge of a group. I mean Wes-." She hesitated when Spike gave a soft sigh, not of impatience or even really disappointment, but almost as if this had been what he expected.

"Kept Wes back 'cause if there're any more trips like that one to Gilroy to be made he's a good guy to have at my back. Picked you for all sorts of reasons.

First an' foremost, I trust you." Spike let that dangle in the air for long enough to make sure Tara took in its full significance before he continued.

"Then there's the fact that, unlike Wes, you've been training with most of these guys. You know their names, who they are, what they're like, an' that counts for a lot.

You've got a heart that's pure an' true and you're braver when it comes to the crunch than you think. That means that not only are you goin' to be the last person to cave to the vibe that that goat's head doodad is givin' out, but if there's magic to be done, then you're the best placed to do it. Knew it from a long way back, an' I guess from what I heard about you an' the watcher's bird doin' them wards the other day that maybe you've had to begin to accept it, too. You're one in a million, little owl. A heart pure as yours asks the right way for somethin' that doesn't go against her ways an' that goddess of yours isn't gonna have the heart to say no to you any more'n the rest of us would. Maybe you're not as showy as Red used to be. I can't see you hacking your enemies apart with a bag full of knives. It's not the way you work... Not who you are, an' that's not the sort of power that I'd ever want you to know, but when it comes to drawin' on the power that flows through the earth an' using it to protect those around you, the only limits there are to what you can do are those you set on yourself. S'why the watcher bint had to pull the power out through you to do the wards. She could tell it was there, but she had to work against the fact you didn't believe you could. Like I say, 'long as you stick to stuff as your goddess would be willing to give, an' you give her the respect that's her due... Figure even with all them watchers an' all, you're the best magic user we've got."

"Willow-."

"Willow would've been swallowed up by that thing an' spat back out by now. Willow took power wherever she could find it, good or ill, an' never stopped to wonder whether she should do anythin', just whether she could. That seal glowin' the way it is, she'd've been like a cat in a field of catnip. You've got a fortitude that Red never had in her life. School came easy to her. Magic came easy to her an' she never appreciated anythin' or anyone she had when she'd got them, because she never had to work to get any of them. Not Wolf Boy, not you, an' not even the power to bring someone back from the dead. Red was fireworks on the fourth of July, noisy, gaudy and brief. You're the moon in all its womanly serenity.

You're wiser an' stronger than ever Red was an', here an' now, I'd sooner have you than two of her. It's not just me as thinks so, neither. Wager folks here would mostly all do anything you wanted for the askin'. They know you won't ask more from them than you'd give yourself and that they're not just chess pieces on a board to you that you'd sacrifice as need be... That's more my line."

"Even though you're the one who should be back in bed with Buffy, but you're out here checking on us and doing the pep talk instead?" Tara raised an eyebrow over a suspiciously bright eye.

"A good commander always knows what's happenin' with his troops, an' I put my two groups on nights so that I'd be able to check on them. No point doin' that if I'm going to stay in m'pit."

"And Buffy doesn't object?"

Spike gave a wicked grin and began to steer the witch toward the next pair of sentries. "That'd depend how much I tire her out beforehand, poppet."

---

 

"Gah!" Buffy shivered as the naked vampire enfolded her in his arms. "You know most women just have to worry about cold feet."

"Most women don't have a gorgeous hunk of man flesh to warm them up." Spike turned Buffy to face him and pressed a languorous kiss to her lips, his hands rubbing her back as if the friction would compensate for the chill that the night had given his flesh.

"Most women don't have their guys sneaking out of their bed to visit other women less than a week before their wedding," Buffy retaliated, but not until her contented sigh had given away the fact that she was nowhere near as annoyed with him as she might pretend.

"Can I help it if I'm popular?" Spike replied, and despite the darkness Buffy knew there was a smirk on his lips.

In a trice she rolled them until she straddled her fiancé's waist as he lay on his back. Her fingers traced their way along his arms until they met and intertwined with his, holding his hands out to either side of his head. "You can help if you're a great big undead flirt," she answered, ducking her head to claim another kiss.

"I do what it takes to keep morale up."

Buffy couldn't prevent her mind from flashing on the image of Spike in nothing but a pair of jeans, demonstrating hand to hand moves for an audience of enraptured potentials, every lithe muscle on display. They definitely paid more attention to his teaching than they did to hers. She wasn't shivering any more.

"An' I think you mean a great big undead tease. Bints all know I'm taken, heart an'... well, maybe not soul."

"Better be," Buffy mock threatened as she shifted against him, her body instinctively seeking to unite more intimately with his.

"Till the end of the world, starshine," Spike answered as Buffy enveloped him in her warmth.

There were no more words, just the unhurried slip of flesh on flesh and a flood of reverence and love as Spike allowed his emotions to flow into her as freely as his seed.

Long minutes later Buffy freed her hands from his and laid her head on his shoulder. Her lips pressed against the mark of her claiming with nibbling kisses and she earned a rumble from Spike's throat that came somewhere between a growl and a purr for her efforts. "We are so going to have to stop doing this all the time now that there's no hot water to wash in, or I am going to be stinky Buffy."

There was something about the idea of Buffy being marked so pervasively with his scent that it was obvious not only to his vampire senses but to those of every male with whom she came in contact that appealed to Spike at a primitive level. Clearer than any words could have expressed, his dick, which had previously been semi-rigid in the cocoon of Buffy's muscles, returned to attention.

Buffy's eyes widened as Spike rolled them over once more. His hips slammed hard against hers once and then his pelvis began grinding in a tiny figure eight that pressed on all the right spots. His bent his head to tease one tiny erect nipple with the brush of his tongue.

In a breathless gasp Buffy found her voice to protest feebly, even though her body's instinctive arch toward him belied her words. "This would be the vamp version of stopping, huh?"

"I guess I'll just have to lick you all clean when we finish," the vampire growled, amusement in his words, before he turned his attention to her other breast. He sucked hard on the rosy bud at its tip before administering a playful nip that induced Buffy to give a ragged moan. His tongue swept lower to lick a bead of sweat from where the curve of her breast met her ribcage. "Every salty inch."

---

 

"Spike? Are you awake?" Buffy whispered. Morning light filtered through the sheeting that covered the tiny window in the roof of their room and the slayer knew that the time had come.

"More or less. Wha's up, apple blossom?" The vampire yawned and kissed the bare shoulder in front of him.

"I'm going to the vineyard. Today." She rolled over to face him, her eyes holding a plea that he didn't yet understand. "I'm tired of waiting for him to come to us. I'm tired of taking the defensive."

"Just say the word and I'm there. You know that."

"I know... and... I appreciate it. Really, I do..."

"But?" Spike asked, beginning to realise what was coming.

"But if you're right about him having some weapon there, then you aren't going to be any better placed to get it or use it than Caleb is. He won't expect us to hit during the day. We've been keeping to night time patrols, so far, and we haven't made a direct attack. It's our best chance."

"We could take the DeSoto..." Spike knew he sounded pathetically over-eager.

"I... You know that when it comes to a fight that there's no one on this earth that I'd rather have at my back than you, but there's more to this than that. I don't know why, but my gut is saying that this is a slayer thing. This is something we have to do. Me and Faith. Together. She's spent too long in my shadow. We have to do this and we have to do it as equal partners. If you're with us, then Faith ends up being the third wheel. We have to go alone. One to distract Caleb and one to find the slayer spear of destiny or whatever it is."

Spike rolled to the edge of the bed and swung his legs over the side, rubbing at his face with both hands, not wanting to let her feel his turbid jumble of confusion and resentment, lest it undermine her.

"I-. Hell, you know already how much it'll tear away inside me, knowin' that you're in danger an' feelin' that I should be there to help you. Figure if you know that, an' you still feel it's not my place, then 'bout all I can do is give you my blessin'."

"I don't get it either, Spike." Buffy shuffled across the mattress on her knees and wrapped her arms around Spike's shoulders, pressing against his back. Spike was surprised to find that her own feeling of loss echoed his own. "But it feels right. It feels like something we have to do. It's a step that I have to take with Faith, but it's just one step and the rest of the way it'll be me and you."

"Bollocks!" Spike gave a resigned sigh. "Buffy, you know I'll be waiting right here when you get back."

"I expected more pacing in the lobby, actually."

"Well, yeah, like as not, but here in the building, waiting to hail the conquering heroes just the same."

"Heyyyyy," Buffy allowed a touch of humour to return to her voice now that she had his acceptance. It would have been easier for her to sneak out while he thought she was busy with a training session, maybe even to leave him a note, but it would have been wrong somehow to begin this with a deception. "No hailing any heroes other than me."