Blood of My Blood
Chapter 7

AN: The plot bunnies keep breeding!! Hehe. I hope that’s a good thing. Thank you to Patti and Ruth for betaing.



******



When Willow arrived the next day, Spike’s absence was immediately apparent since there was no half-naked vampire hanging all over Buffy. Her brows furrowed together as she dropped the bags onto the coffee table. If it was something bad, Buffy would have come to get her. She was pretty sure of that.

“Is he still asleep?” Willow finally asked as she handed over the tacos she had brought.

“No,” Buffy said, hoping Willow wouldn’t wig out over the news. She still didn’t want the others to know and a freaked out Willow was likely to go running to Giles. “He’s out. He said he had some things to do, and I think I know what he’s doing.”

“You let him run around free in his state?” Willow’s brows disappeared into her hairline.

“Well...that’s the thing, Will. He’s not in that state anymore.” When Willow paled, Buffy quickly sat forward to grasp her friend’s hands. “No, wait. Please don’t flip out on me before I explain.”

A deep breath and then Willow nodded. “Okay, so he’s back to his normal self then?”

“Yeah, he is. Last night, he bit me and I guess that dose of my blood was enough to finally heal him. He promised me he’s not going to go back to being that killer he was.”

“And you still trust him?” Willow looked at her with a mixture of doubt and concern. “I took your word before...but I’m not sure if I can just be okay with it now.”

“I guess I should come clean about something then,” Buffy said, biting her lip. “I didn’t tell you before because I wasn’t sure you could handle it. I’m hoping telling you will be the proof you need to trust me that he’s not going to be a problem. While he was feral, Spike claimed me; and so, he wouldn’t do that because he knows it would hurt me and he doesn’t want to hurt me because...I’m his mate.” Wringing her hands, she kept her eyes down as she waited for the condemnation.

“Ohhh lordy...”

The redhead surprised her with the high-pitched response. Buffy wasn’t expecting that and her eyes darted to her friend again with furrowed brows. She walked over to stand in front of her.

“Willow, what is it? There’s something you’re not telling me too, isn’t there? That wasn’t really the reaction I was expecting.” She crossed her arms and gave the Slayer look.

“I started doing some research on my own after I first found out you were still alive,” Willow started to explain in a rush. “I mean, hoping to help by seeing if there was something to help Spike. I kind of figured out myself that your blood helped him and that got me curious about Slayers.” She started babbling even more. “I don’t know why I didn’t think to look into it before, since it would have been really helpful. I read some really weird things, though. The weirdest being this whole prophecy that freaked me out so much I wasn’t going to say anything. I didn’t even think it was possible until you told me...told me you were mated.”

Buffy stood there blinking, taking in the long ramble and letting it sink in before she could reply. “There was a prophecy that had to do with me being mated to Spike?”

“More like a myth about a vampire and a slayer getting it on.” Willow was blushing deeply at having to be that blunt. “Well, more like them having a child, but that would entail the whole ‘getting it on’ thing obviously.”

“That’s not going to happen.” An incredulous Slayer shook her head upon hearing such a farfetched prophecy.

“So, you haven’t been boinking Spike?”

A choked sound came from the blonde as her eyes got wide. “Once! As in the singular! And anyway, vampires can’t get people pregnant just because a prophecy says so!”

“Still, maybe you should tell him, so that he knows he might become a daddy.” Willow laid a hand on her arm, trying to get her to calm down. “I didn’t mean to let you know like that. I’m sorry. I was going to look into it more first.”

“No, I’m glad you told me.” She gave the other girl a smile. “Still, it could mean someone else. I’m probably not the only slayer to get involved with a vampire. It has to be somewhat common, ‘cause come on, I’ve already been with two!”

Willow decided to let her friend stay in denial for now, since it would be hard to remain there when she was several months along with a rather large tummy. Buffy might try to insist she was just getting fat, but it would be a futile attempt. Or, they could get lucky and Buffy could actually be right about it meaning someone else.

Fat chance.

“So...you’re not telling him then?” Willow asked.

“Not until we’ve done more digging into this.” Buffy nodded. “You said you were doing more research on this, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So what’re you birds gossipin’ about?” Both girls jumped at the sound of his voice, even though one of them was supposed to have an early warning system. “Cute boys?”

Spike sauntered over to Buffy and slid his arm around her. She gave him a smile while wondering how much he might have overhead before he interrupted. He had only just reassured her that he was okay with the whole claim thing; she didn’t want to see how he might react to the idea of a baby that might not even happen.

“Nope, just you,” she said cheekily, yelping when he swatted her behind. “Hey, you don’t want to undo all the work I did in convincing Willow that you’re my harmless mate.”

He growled. “I’m far from harmless, Slayer.”

Willow let out an ‘eep’ and took a step back while Buffy groaned, running a hand over her face.

“Do you want her to stake you?” Buffy shot him a dirty look.

“Look, Red,” Spike said as he slowly tore his dark gaze from his mate to look towards the other girl, “I wouldn’t do anythin’ to harm my mate or upset her, such as killin’ anyone. Also, I’d protect anythin’ she held dear—like you. Basically, we’re married—which you probably know—so, like any good husband, I intend to provide for my wife. You’re welcome in our home anytime, once we find it.”

Both girls were looking at him as if he sprouted a second head.

“If you think I’m playing the happy little wife, you’ve got another thing coming, bub,” Buffy muttered under her breath, so that only he caught it.

“You two are looking for a home? As in...a house or something?” Willow questioned before Spike could call Buffy on her comment. “How are you going to pay for that? I doubt Angel left that much money in his underwear drawer.”

“Oi! Not you, too!” He spun to look at the confused girl. “I got money. I was just off seein’ about gettin’ it transferred to a bank here in Sunnydale, I was. I also went an’ talked to someone about real estate. Got us a list here of houses we can check out tonight to see if Buffy fancies any of them.”

Buffy arched a brow and grabbed the paper from his hand as soon as he removed it from his pocket. After looking at the list, she lifted still skeptical eyes to him.

“These are from the upscale side of town. You can’t honestly be thinking of buying that pricey of a house and what would we need with a big house for just me and you anyway?” She put her hands on her hips. “You won’t even be using the top half of the house since you’ll be staying in the basement away from the evil sunlight.”

“I’m sure Red’ll be stayin’ over now an’ again for your girly nights. We can also turn one room into a trainin’ room for you an’ use another one for storin’ books an’ other helpful stuff for fightin’ the good fight.” He stepped closer to take the list back, tilting his head forward to look at her from under his brows. “An’ it would be good to keep us away from parts of town frequented by that watcher of yours an’ the whelp, don’t you think? As much as I want to rip their bloody throats out for abandonin’ you, I’ll let you deal with it how you want; but, I figure you don’t want them findin’ out about you until you’re good an’ ready.”

“That was really...thoughtful of you.” Her expression softened and she nearly forgot Willow was there as she leaned into him.

A pointed cough broke up the moment.

“Newlyweds,” Willow quipped with a roll of her eyes. Then she looked at her watch and jumped, “Oh my, I nearly lost track of time and I got distracted from my news by...well, your news.”

“You have news?” Buffy tilted her head. “Spill.”

“I really don’t know how you’re going to take this, but here goes. Giles got a call and they’re sending another slayer—the girl who was called after Kendra died. She’s arriving today and I’m supposed to go with Giles and Xander to pick her up at the bus station. Her name is Faith.”

For a moment, Buffy’s face dropped to the floor as she absorbed the news. Spike moved to put an arm around her and she shifted away, grabbing for the list of houses again.

“Well, I guess that means I’m off the hook for the slaying deal now. That’s good. I was worried, what with me being out of commission because of my arm and taking care of Spike.” She turned away from them then turned back with an overly cheery smile. “You better get going then, Will, before they suspect something; and we’ll go check out these houses.”

Willow opened her mouth to say something, her brows drawn together, but Spike gave her a quick shake of the head. So instead, she nodded and gave Buffy a hug before leaving.

******

“So, you want to tell me what’s wrong, pet?” Spike finally asked a few blocks from the mansion, glancing sidelong at her.

“Nothing,” Buffy replied, looking down at the paper in her hand again as they turned onto a new street. “I’m just eager to see these houses.”

He narrowed his eyes, studying her for a moment before deciding to let it go for the time being. There was no need to start a fight right then, because she would do just that only to avoid facing whatever her problem was. It was standard Buffy operating procedure. He could delve into her mind using the claim to get the truth, but little good that would do him if she refused to open up and talk about it. He growled softly, frustrated with his inability to make it all better.

It wouldn’t help their tenuous new relationship if he pressed her to open up to him, causing her to run away as she was prone to do in such situations. All he could do was make it clear that he was there for her and eager to help. Eventually, she had to get the picture and begin trusting him.

“There’s the first one,” Buffy said, breaking him out of his thoughts. She pointed across the street, then tilted her head. “Not bad, really. I’m still not sure about this big house thing, though.”

“Well, let’s check out the inside before we shove off to the next one.” He took her hand and led her towards the driveway. “Now, these houses are at least partially furnished. I figured to ask about that, since we obviously only have what’s in the mansion an’ it’d be nice to have better stuff than that dusty, rat-chewed garbage.”

“Especially with all the bad memories, right?” She gave him a small, knowing smile.

“Right.”

******

Two hours later, the two mates were standing in the living room of a two story house that had struck their fancy. It had a wrap around porch, a large basement, and a swimming pool in the back. The furnishings were done in dark shades and not cluttered. It was almost...perfect.

Spike tore up the list and tossed the bits in the air like confetti. “Looks like we’ve found home, luv.”

“Home,” Buffy echoed in wonder, still taking it all in. She turned around, inspecting everything again before facing him once more. “You sure you can afford this? I don’t want you to do this because you think it’s what I want or something.”

“Do I need to show you my bank statement before you believe me?” He stepped up close to her with a smirk. “An’ for the millionth time, I’m doin’ this because I take care of what’s mine.”

Her chin hitched up defiantly. “I don’t belong to you.”

“You do,” he countered, snaking an arm around her while his mouth brushed against hers enticingly. “Just as I belong to you.”

“And what if I don’t want you, huh?” Her bottom lip poked out.

“Mmm, that lip.” His teeth latched onto the piece of tantalizing flesh and gave a tug before soothing the bite with his tongue. His lips moved to her ear and he murmured, “How about we christen our new home?”

“Spike!” she gasped, slapping his chest.

Undeterred, Spike backed her into the wall while kissing down her neck. His hands slid under her shirt to skim over her rapidly heating skin while his teeth found his mark. The scent of her arousal permeated the air and made his aching cock even harder.

“We can’t...do this here,” she continued to protest, eyes closing of their own accord.

“Oh yes we can. Not to mention, you got a bit of payback comin’ your way, if I remember correctly.” He gave her a smoldering look with his tongue curled behind his teeth. “An’ I’m about to start cashin’ in.”