Author's Notes:
Thanks for all the reviews, they mean so much to me!
Thanks to my fabulous beta LisFayte!
Disclaimer: Not mine, but I play with them anyway!


“Well, then, let’s enter hell,” he said and smiled. He stepped away from her and took her hand. They walked carefully into the church and Buffy shuddered at the feeling of evil in the room. Spike looked around closely as they descended from the sewer tunnel and frowned when he failed to see anyone.

“Finally, the Slayer,” a disembodied voice said, and Buffy began to tremble. She felt him move around in the room, and yelped as he stepped out in front of her and Spike. The ancient vampire was corrupted by age, and twisted in appearances and the sight of him made Buffy shudder. ‘No wonder he’s alone down here’ flashed through Spikes mind ‘he’s a right ugly bugger.’ He growled softly and tightened the hand holding his mates’.

“So brave. It was noble of you. You heard the prophecy that I was about to break free and came to stop me. But prophecies are tricky creatures. They don’t tell you everything. You’re the one that sets me free. If you hadn’t come… William?” The Master said in an arrogant voice. When he saw Spike his eyes widened and he uttered his name in a shocked voice. Spike frowned, wondering if he was supposed to be insulted or not for being ignored when the Master delivered his speech. Buffy inched closer to her mate, at the same time eying the Master with a little fear. She could feel the power he housed, and it reeked of evil.

“What are you doing here? With the Slayer I’m about to kill,” he asked, smiling at the pair in front of him, anger in his crimson eyes. Spike growled at him, and realized he hadn’t sensed that he was mated to the Slayer. He smirked at the ancient vampire, who looked back at the younger vampire with confusion.

“You are not afraid of me?” The Master questioned the Slayer and muscle in his cheek twitched when she gave him a shaky grin in return. He growled, before he noticed the bite mark on her neck. He went from confused to enraged in the blink of an eye, almost roaring at them. “You claimed her, you insolent little fledge. How dare you? I’ll kill you both!”

“You can try,” Spike said with a cold voice, snarling softly at the other vampire. He knew this would be hard, the worst he had ever faced before. Both because he was family and he had so much power. ‘Be ready, luv,’ Spike sent to his mate, moving into fighting stance. His mate did the same thing and the youngest vampire smirked at his elder. The Master snarled in response before flying at them, launching a few punches at them both. Spike blocked the ones heading his way, responding with a fist against the older vampire’s chest. Buffy felt the last of the Masters punches connect with her jaw, and something resembling a growl emitted from her throat. Her fists flew at the ancient vampire, aiming for his head. The pair got in a few punches each, but the Master blocked the most of them. The slayer sent out low kick, matching it with her mates’ high kick. The Master growled as he tried to dance away, only to be swept off his feet by a vampire high on slayer blood. Spike chuckled darkly as he looked down at the old vampire at his feet.

The Master growled and rolled away from the pair. He jumped up as soon as he had a chance, and advanced on them again. He sent out a kick towards Buffy, sending her stumbling backwards. Spike growled and sent his right fist at the chest of the Master, who tried to sidestep and got hit in the shoulder instead. Buffy was back in the fight almost immediately, raining down punches on the ugly vampire.

“You little rat!” The Master spat, raking his claws across Spikes face. Spike inhaled sharply when he felt three scratches open on his chin, and growled. His hands shot out, grabbed hold of the older vampires’ wrist and brought it sharply down over his knee, breaking the wrist. The Master howled and used the other hand to backhand his great-great grandchilde. Buffy, seeing that the Master was distracted, sent out a kick that caught him behind the knee. He stumbled forward and growled. Spike pushed away from the wall and went to join the fray again.

“Getting old, are you, bat face?” Spike said and smirked. He stepped backward as the Master tried to punch him, his smirk growing wider. Suddenly he dropped down and swung out with his right leg, and the Master hit the floor with a thud.

“Now, any last words?” Spike asked the other male with a fangy grin. Buffy took a stake from her jacket pocket, twirling it lazily between her fingers. When the older vampire tried to get up Spike kicked him, hitting his chin and his head hit the floor with a dull thud. Buffy jumped forward, her stake finding its mark at the same time as the Masters head hit the ground. The blonde pair stepped back at the same time, watching the head of the Aurelian clan dissolve to dust, leaving only his bones behind. They stared at them for a second, before Spike reacted. "We need to crush the bones to prevent him from being brought back," he said, looking around for something to smash them with. Buffy turned around, and picked up a stone, silently holding it out to her mate. Spike frowned, but took it nonetheless. Buffy yelped as he brought it down on the bones, shattering the rib cage. Buffy picked up another stone and joined him in the bone smashing, giggling at the weirdness of what they were doing. Spike grunted satisfied as he saw no more whole bones, and concluded that they had done a good job.

Spike inhaled sharply as he felt something slam into him. Power, much power. ‘Bloody hell!’ he thought and growled. This wasn’t planned, and he wasn’t sure if it was wanted either. Buffy watched her mate with curious eyes, sensing that he was in deep thoughts and also sensing something else. She stepped over to him, careful not to let her dress touch the dust of the Master, and snaked her arms around his chest. ‘What is it?’ she sent, burying her head in his chest and inhaling deeply. Spike took a deep breath and mentally prepared for what he was going to tell her.

“Bloody buggering fuck,” he muttered. “I’m the head of the bloody clan,” he said, and she looked up at him with furrowed brows. He sensed her confusion and began elaborating.” The Master was the head of the Aurelian line. His childe was Darla, who sired Angelus, who sired Dru, who sired me. When we killed him his power would have gone to Darla, but she’s dust. So next in line was Angelus, but he can’t be head of line while he has a soul. And Dru can’t be head because of her head. And that leaves me.” Buffy nodded slowly at his words. He exhaled softly and placed his arms around her waist, dragging her closer to his body. She sighed and snuggled deeper into his embrace, blushing slightly when she felt his erection against her stomach. Spike groaned and decided it would be for the best if they broke it off for now.

“Time to report in to your watcher, pet?” Spike asked, lifting a hand to her hair. He dragged his fingers through it slowly and smiled down at her. He almost couldn’t believe it, that this golden girl would choose him, claim him as hers. And she was his, his girl, his slayer. Buffy groaned at the mention of her watcher. She so did not want to face the Scoobies now. She wanted nothing more that to crawl into bed and stay there for a week, all snuggled up with her mate. Okay, maybe not only snuggling, maybe some fun too. She told him that, sending some naughty images with along the bond. Spike growled and looked at his mate with lust in his eyes, which caused her cheeks to flush slightly and she averted her eyes. His demon was telling him to rip off her clothes, while William urged him to wait. He agreed with William for now, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have some fun. He smirked and sent some images of what he wanted to do to her, and when she blushed he kissed the top of her head.

“Yeah, we should report in. Then…” she said, smiling teasingly as she promised. She lifted her head and locked eyes with him, and she saw the lust in his eyes. Spike growled when he saw the lust mirrored in her eyes, and he swept down and caught her lips in a tight embrace. She moaned when his cold, soft lips touched hers, and he used the opportunity to let his tongue delve into her mouth. His tongue danced around hers, urging it to come out to play, and she finally relented, deepening the kiss. Spike groaned and Buffy felt butterflies dance in her stomach. Slowly they broke apart, panting for breath and eyes glazed with lust.

They left the church of the Master behind, walking quietly through the sewers, Spikes arm around his mates’ shoulders. Buffy stared ahead, contemplating what to tell her friends and watcher, while Spike concentrated on leading them out. Buffy was nervous about what her friends would say, and how they would react. But one thing she was certain of, and that was that nobody would keep them apart. ‘Got that right, pet,’ Spike sent, having felt her nervousness. Buffy smiled at him and snaked her arm around his middle, under the duster.

A thought struck her and she frowned. “Am I still the Slayer?” she asked in a calm voice, her fingers tracing soft patterns on his t-shirt. He sighed and rested his cheek on her head. He was unsure of what to answer, and he frowned as he found no words. Buffy chewed on her lower lip, feeling a little guilty for not being sad that she might not be the Slayer anymore. She did not know what to feel about the fact that she might not be the Slayer anymore. They reached a ladder and climbed up. Buffy recognized the area and told Spike they were across town from the school. He only nodded, and they began walking towards the school.

“Dunno, pet, a new bird might have been called, or maybe not. Me, I think you’re not the Slayer anymore,” he said at last, holding a hand up in a kind of defensive manner, before continuing. “I think you’re the girl who ‘was’ the Slayer, you just got upgraded. But you can call yourself the Slayer if you want. I’ll lo…” Spike said, abruptly stopping before he could embarrass himself with saying something she might now want to hear right now. Besides, one night? Wasn’t that a little fast?

“Thanks,” Buffy murmured, unsure herself if it was for explaining or the words he nearly said. She smiled softly at him, before continuing. “We’ll see, maybe I’ll be the Slayer, or maybe not. And Spike, I’mfallinginlovewithyou.” The last part came out in a rush, but Spike caught it. He stopped walking and turned towards her, an awed look on his face. She smiled up at him, waiting patiently for him to come back to her. After some seconds she got tired of waiting and smashed her mouth to his. He moaned at the contact and slipped his tongue out to battle with hers, making her moan.

“We should… They’re… Waii… Waiting,” Buffy moaned and broke off the kiss. She was panting for air, hazel eyes locked with lust filled cerulean ones. She frowned as a quick smirk stole across his lips and only had time to let out a small yelp before he swept her off her feet. She clung to him, arms around his neck, while he strode quickly through the streets, determined to get as quickly as he could to the high school. She calmed, and rested her head against his chest. She exhaled quietly, and yawned softly.

“Sleep, love,” Her mate said, hoping she didn’t catch that he had changed it from ‘luv’ to ‘love’. He smiled down at the girl nestled in his arms, and kissed her brow softly. Buffy smiled at him with closed eyes. She had caught the ‘love’, and it had warmed her inside. She sighed and snuggled deeper into his chest, almost asleep by now.

“Love you…” She murmured, finally falling asleep. He almost stumbled at her low words, staring down at her with awe. He almost couldn’t believe it. She had said that she was falling in love with him, and just before falling asleep she had said she loved him. Him. She loved him, William the Bloody. “I love you,” he said, looking down on her sleeping form with wonder in his eyes.

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Buffy looked around, and found she didn’t know where she was. She was on a beach at night, the full moon shining down at her and bathing the surroundings in an eerie blue light. The sea was lapping at the silver sand on the shore, and the faint rumble of the sea was like soft background music. The sky was clear, and a myriad of stars were shining down on her.

“We’re forever, love,” the wind whispered faintly. Buffy turned around, and yelped slightly when she saw her mate sitting besides her. He wasn’t there a minute ago, and that freaked her out a little. Somehow she knew it wasn’t the Spike besides her who had spoken, and she frowned.

“I’m right, love, you know that?” This time it was the Spike beside her who spoke, sapphire eyes soft as he held her green ones. She saw pain in them, and wanted to ask what was wrong, but the words wouldn’t come. She knew this was her Spike, she could see the three just-healed scratches the Master had left on his cheek, but there was something weird with this picture. She tried to speak again, but no words were heard. She tried to send, but it got no reaction. She wanted to scream in frustration, but settled for watching her mate.

“I know. And you know I love you. ‘Cause we are forever, you and me. Like two other things that are supposed to be together.” The words came from her mouth, was formed by her lips, yet she wasn’t the one who said it. It was her voice, and she saw Spike react to them. Buffy wanted to tell her mate that she wasn’t the one who had come up with the words, but yet again, no words were said. Somebody was in control of her body, somebody who wasn’t her.

“There is a wolf in the sheep herd. Things are coming, bad things. They want to part us, doesn’t like us as one. But we’re forever!” The last words were a plea, his hands now clutching hers. The fear and insecurity in his eyes was heartbreaking to witness, and she felt tears softly trailing down her cheeks. ‘Slayer dream’ she thought suddenly, realizing that this probably was a slayer dream. That meant that this was something she had to know.

“We’re forever, love,” Spike whispered with in a heart wrenching voice, tears trailing down his cheeks. His eyes were scared and she felt his hands clutch hers even harder. “Tell me, love, please tell me!” His voice faded, along with the surroundings, and Buffy felt herself coming awake.

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“Wakey, wakey, love, we’re here,” Spike said, kissing her forehead. She stirred, before drowsily opening her eyes. She looked stunning staring up at him with sleepy eyes, and he growled before bending down and kissing her hungrily. She responded eagerly and moaned. Both panted for air when they broke apart, and her lower lip jutted out in a pout, missing his lips on hers. He groaned when he saw her lip, but his mind was set, and he put her gingerly down on her own feet. She wrinkled her nose and he chuckled, placing his arm around her shoulder.

“We’re forever?” she asked with a small voice, her eyes staring at the stairs leading up to the high school. She replayed the scene from her dream, where Spikes eyes were so pain filled, and she had to blink furiously to keep her tears away. Spike blinked surprised. She sounded nervous, and he frowned slightly. He thought he could smell salt, and he looked at her averted eyes. He didn’t see any tears, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t any.

“Yeah, love, bloody right you are,” he said gruffly, tightening his grip on her shoulders. “We’re forever,” he added, kissing the top of her head. She sighed and closed her eyes, sending a silent thanks to whoever was listening for sending her mate to her. Spike stood absentmindedly staring at the school, feeling nervous about the meeting they were about to have. ‘Bloody fool, feeling nervous about meeting a group of humans,’ he thought to himself, and shook his head slightly. He realized he was feeling Buffy’s' nervousness, and that he himself was nervous of what Buffy might think after the meeting was over.

“Ready for our doom?” She asked him.