Author's Notes:
As always, thanks to my great betas LisFayte and DreamsofSpike!
Thanks for reviewing too!
Hugs Inzey





“Vampires and Slayers do not go together like that. It is not meant to be. Vampires are evil, with the exception of those with a soul, while the Slayers are the epitome of good,” Giles said, lowering his gaze when the burn in Spike’s eyes became too bright.

He knew that his words would probably enrage the master vampire, but he had to get Buffy to see that this was wrong. “There are five recorded matings between Slayers and vampires. It is often between Slayers who have escaped The Council’s notice and master vampires. But… ehh…The Council…ehh…took ‘care’ of these earlier ‘cases’.”

“You mean the Council of Wankers offed them,” Spike said, grimacing slightly when Giles didn’t respond, silently confirming his statement. Spike snorted in disgust, before continuing “Couldn’t have a Slayer disgracing them, bastards. Arrogant men hiding cowardly behind one girl. They sit back and lecture the bird ‘bout what she’s supposed to do, thinking they own her.” Spike scowled at Giles, who glared darkly back at him.

Buffy just looked shocked, and cast a questioning look at Giles, before closing her eyes and shuddering.

“Ehh… The Council…ehh…umm,” Giles stuttered, looking at Buffy.

She was staring at him with accusation in her eyes, and he flinched slightly. His gaze flickered between her and Spike, still not quite believing that the pair were mated, hoping that it was all a dream. The other occupants of the room stared at Giles with shock marring their faces, not quite believing what they had heard.

“The Council killed them?” Buffy asked, trembling in shock.

She wasn’t sure if she believed it, but she knew that her mate wasn’t lying, and judging by the way Giles was acting, his words were true. She inhaled deeply, shuddering as she thought about the Council actually going so far as to kill some of their own Slayers. Spike felt her revulsion, and sent reassuring thoughts along the bond, soothing her. With his help she calmed, before looking into Giles’ eyes again.

“The Council killed whichever one of each mated pair they found first,” Giles said, instantly regretting his harsh words.

He threw back another glass of scotch, his gaze fastened on the table, his shame keeping him from looking at Buffy, and his disgust keeping him from looking at Spike. Thoughts flew through his head, hatred for the vampire he had just met, confusion at the way Angel had acted, and regret for letting Buffy leave the library after she had heard that she was supposed to die. If he had prevented her leaving, she might not have met the vampire standing at her side.

“That’s just bloody cruel!” Spike exclaimed, snarling.

Buffy looked at him with confusion in her eyes, and he sent her a much censored image of what happened when you killed one of a pair of mates. She began trembling, and he winced. He began stroking her arms, making soft, comforting noises. She soon calmed, but her new knowledge made her regard the Council in a new light.

“Ehh… If you want me to, I can tell you what comes next,” Giles said in a slightly apologetic voice, hoping they saw it as his way of apologizing.

He didn’t meet their eyes, his gaze focused on the book in front of him. He began to turn the pages, as if searching for something. Spike regarded Giles with a wary eye, not entirely trusting the man. He seemed to accept it too easily - but he was a watcher, and they didn’t just accept these things.

“Are we going to die?” Buffy asked Spike in a small voice. Panic had gripped her when Giles had said he would tell them what would come next, and she looked around, expecting the Council to burst into the library any second now. Spike saw her wide, fearful eyes, and he hurried to reassure her.

“No way you’re dying. I’m not letting you go. I’ll kill anyone who tries to kill you, luv,” Spike said, anger flaring. Buffy knew the anger wasn’t directed at her, but at anyone who might try to kill her. She knew she should say something, say that it was wrong of him to kill, but she didn’t, warmed by the thought that he wouldn’t let her get hurt.

“Ehh… That was not what I meant,” Giles said, briefly lifting his gaze from the book, before continuing. “I am not exactly sure what will happen; the Slayers did not exactly tell us what they had 'gained', but we learned some of it. You, Buffy, are now immortal.” Buffy’s gasp made him pause, her expression unreadable. “You won’t die, but you can be killed. You are stronger, too. I am unsure if it is true, but the records say that two of the Slayers said that they sensed demons and vampires easier.” Giles smiled slightly, but still didn’t meet his charges eyes.

“Two Slayers confirmed that they could sense their mates, while one said that she could communicate with her mate through a telepathic bond. I do not know what sorts of effects you will have between the two of you,” Giles said, looking at them in confusion, when they looked at each other with unreadable eyes. He really hoped that their bond was not a strong one; perhaps he could more easily sway Buffy away from Spike if that was the case.

“Right… ehh… you, ehh…” Giles stammered, searching for words as he looked at Spike. Finally he averted his eyes and threw back another glass of scotch, before continuing, “You are stronger, too, like Buffy. Two of the vampires were caught out in the sunlight, and did not catch fire. So you might be able to be walk in sunlight, and might be more resistant to fire as well. Some even seemed to be resistant to staking.”

Giles stole a glance at the vampire sitting on the stairs, and was surprised to see a look of shock on the blonde vampire's face. Spike just sat there still as stone, shocked beyond words.

‘We might be able to walk in sunlight again!’ his demon thought, shocking Spike by how happy he sounded.

“We get gifts,” Buffy said to her mate in a warm voice, smiling at him with love in her eyes. ‘As if this isn’t great enough already,’ she added silently, earning herself a small nip on her claim mark.

She shivered and smiled goofily at the others, who were staring at her with slightly shocked expressions. Giles had to avert his eyes to hide the anger that was flaring up inside of him, while Xander openly stared at the pair lounging on the stairs.

“What happened with The Master?” Giles asked, looking directly at Buffy and doing his best to ignore Spike.

Buffy frowned at the expression on her Watcher’s face, worried that he might do or say something harsh to her mate. If she didn’t know Giles she would have said he might do something stupid, but she knew him, and she knew he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.

“We met, and talked some. Then we found the Anointed One -- or rather, the Anointed One found us, and he led us to… the… Master’s lair….”

Spike, guessing that it would be a long tale, had let his mind drift to more ‘fun’ things he would rather be doing right then with his mate. Fantasies danced before his open eyes -- and distracted Buffy, causing her to blush and stutter, until by the end of the first sentence she had problems putting together a coherent thought.

“Don’t,” she whined lightly, turning her head slightly and pouting at him. Spike inhaled deeply, mesmerized by the lush lower lip poking out. He growled quietly, and Buffy giggled. ‘Here,’ she thought, sending him one of her fantasies, making his eyes darken with lust. She turned her head back, letting her gaze sweep over the room as she snuggled deeper into her mate’s embrace, blushing slightly when she felt his erection against her rear. “I’m trying to tell them how brave we were, and you’re disturbing me,” she said lightly, throwing a smile over her shoulder to him.

“But it’s so much fun,” he chuckled, letting his fingers draw random patterns on her clothed stomach. She giggled slightly, and he smirked.

‘Ticklish, love?’ he sent, his fingers teasing her.

‘No!’ she denied, biting her lower lip to keep herself from laughing.

Spike smirked and tickled her some more, before finally stopping when he saw the dangerous expression on her Watcher‘s face. “Do carry on with our fascinating tale, pet,” he sighed, letting one hand fall down to idly stroke her hip.

“We went into his lair. You should have seen it, Giles, it was this creepy old church. We thought we were alone in there, but then he started talking, his voice coming out from nowhere. Then he just popped up in front of us, all ‘grr…I’m going to drink your blood!’ Then he saw Spike and went all ‘William!’ He sure didn’t expect to see him there. He asked him what he was doing there, and with the Slayer he was about to kill. Then he found out Spike had claimed me, and went all ‘kill now’. So we fought, and can I just say wow! We rocked, we totally kicked his ass, and then we staked him. Not, you know, his ass, we staked him in the heart, and then we crushed the bones,” Buffy said, smiling at the others. She had smiled and gestured throughout the whole story, and the others were surprised. She had always complained about being the Slayer, and now it seemed like she enjoyed it.

“You should go home, Buffy, get some rest,” Giles said as Buffy yawned.

He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Getting some rest sounded good about now. If he could just get the kids to leave he could lock up the school, go home, have some more scotch, before going to bed and hoping that he would wake up in the morning to find out that this was nothing more than a bad dream.

“No, not yet,” Spike said, standing up and dragging Buffy up along with him. She frowned, wondering what he was doing. Spike smiled at his mate, before reminding her what they were going to do. She smiled at him and threw her arms around his neck, whispering a quiet ‘thanks’.

“Wha-What?” Xander stuttered, staring wide eyed at the blonde pair. “What are your plans for her, vampire? You can’t make her do anything, Buffy’s her own Slayer!” he continued, glaring at the vampire.

Spike merely looked at him, before turning towards Buffy and lifting an eyebrow, a small smile playing on his lips.

‘I still stand for what I said. He’s not the brightest boy,’ Spike sent, earning himself a glare from his mate. She quickly softened when he pouted slightly at her, and she relented with an affectionate smile in return.

“I promised her she would get her dance, so I’m taking her to the dance. I keep my word,” Spike said, kissing his mate’s neck. She giggled and blushed. Spike smirked at her and stroked her arms. She turned and looked into his eyes, blushing again as she saw them darken.

“It’s a little weird, but kind of cute too,” Willow whispered to Xander, blushing when Spike and Buffy looked at her. She swallowed loudly as she met the vampire’s blue eyes. She expected to see something evil, but instead she saw love and warmth shine in his eyes, something that surprised her.

“My girl’s already dressed, would be a shame not to take her to the dance,” Spike said, smiling at his mate. He bent down and kissed her, making her moan and blink lustily at him when he drew back. ‘I’m getting the car, love, so stay put. Remember, we’re forever,’ he sent, before sauntering out through the double doors. Even though he had left her wanting more, Buffy smiled at his retreating back, and sighed happily.

That was, until Giles began talking.

“Buffy, how could you? Did you not think about your calling when you did this? You acted very irresponsibly!” Giles got up, anger shining in his eyes. Buffy guessed he had held his anger at bay while Spike was in the room because he feared the vampire, but now that he had left, he was ready to let it out on Buffy.

“You mated with a killer. He is a vampire, he has no soul, which means he has no good inside of him. He still kills, and he will continue to kill. Why would he stop now? He will go out and kill, and come back to drink your blood, which will give him even more power than he has now. It is disgusting! You disgust me! “

As Giles let the last words leave his lips, Buffy’s world came tumbling down.

“I can’t believe you would say something like that after you sent me out there to die!” Buffy said. Her eyes filled with tears and a sob escaped the hand now covering her mouth. She gave her Watcher a heartbroken look and ran from the library. Exiting the school, she fell down on her knees, tears pouring from her eyes. She could feel her mate nearing -- and she could feel his anger at the Watcher.

An old, black Desoto came to a sliding halt in front of the school. Spike burst from the driver’s seat, falling to his knees in front of Buffy. He embraced her, holding her head gently against his chest as he stroked her back. He had heard the harsh words from her Watcher through the bond, and read her emotions like they were written in an open book. His heart ached for her, clearing feeling her pain.

“I know it’s sudden, love, but I love you. Don’t listen to his words, he is a Watcher, he is influenced by the Council of Watchers. According to the Council demons can’t love, can’t feel, but we can. I would never hurt you, it would kill me to do so. I know that if I fed and killed it would kill you. You’re the Slayer, or you were, and you still feel the need to protect. I can feel it, and the fact that you still feel that need is bloody admirable.” Spike held as she sobbed, slowly rocking back and forth. Soon her sobs died down to sniffles, and she held him close in silence, clutching his T-shirt.

Giles stood in the shadows, regarding his charge and her vampire mate. He was shocked to the core by the words the vampire had spoken, what he swore to the slayer he would not do. He was astonished by the sincerity in his voice, how genuine his words sounded, but even if the vampire had sworn a blood oath, Giles still would have doubted his words.

He knew what he had to do; he knew he would have to swallow his pride and hide his contempt, even if it was only temporary.

Giles stepped forth from the shadows beside the doors leading into the school, his eyes locked on the pair in front of the stairs. He took a step down, but a growl from the pale vampire halted him. Giles visibly flinched when the blue eyes turned amber upon looking at him, and he steeled himself, knowing that the vampire probably wanted to kill him right now.

“Ehh…I just…I am terribly sorry, Buffy…for what I said…inside…it was very rude of me,” Giles said, fidgeting with his hands. He took off his glasses, shifting them from hand to hand, before putting them on again.

Spike was glaring at the Watcher with loathing in his eyes, while Buffy looked at him hopefully with tearstained eyes. He felt slightly guilty, but the feeling soon disappeared, replaced by disgust. He masked his feelings, a small wordless spell from his ‘Ripper’ days all he needed.

“I truly am sorry, Buffy, I was out of line. I was just…overwhelmed… You are almost like a daughter to me, and I truly mean it when I say I did not mean those words I spoke,” Giles said, grateful that he remembered the spell to mask his feelings.

The vampire was staring too intently at him, and Giles was sure that if he hadn’t used the spell, the vampire would have guessed what he was feeling. Giles carefully eyed Buffy, who was still sitting on the ground. Her eyes were red, her hair in disarray and her knuckles was gripping Spike's duster so tightly that they shone white. Spike held her close, hand still stroking her back soothingly, and at the same time wondering what the Watcher’s next move would be.

‘You wanna go back inside, or you wanna go to the prom. Just say the word,’ Spike sent along the bond, moving his cerulean gaze over to her.

Buffy both felt and saw his concern for her, and she leaned forward, resting her forehead on his lean chest. She sighed quietly, before attempting to stand up. Spike got up along with her, both arms still around her. Buffy turned inside his embrace, wanting to regard her Watcher. She frowned slightly, feeling that there was something weird going on, but she shrugged off the feeling, thinking it was only her Slayer side feeling a demon nearby.

“It’s okay now, Giles. I’ll see you on Monday, ‘cause we’re going to the prom now,” Buffy said, giving her Watcher a small half-smile.

Giles blinked and nodded, watching the pair head over to the car. Spike walked Buffy to the passenger side, opened the door and closed it after her, before returning to his own side. The pair drove off, and Giles went back inside the library, dismissing the others, telling them to leave. He only nodded absently minded when Xander and Willow said that they would head over to the prom, too preoccupied to bother to respond.

When silence had reigned for a couple of minutes, Giles went into his office, his bottle of scotch in one hand. He sat down in front of his desk, and then promptly began drinking the alcohol straight from the bottle. After a little while he put the scotch on the desk, and began looking in his desk drawers after something he would knew he had in one of the drawers. Now and then he stole a longing glance at the still-not-empty bottle, cursing himself for having to look for what he needed. Suddenly he gave a small shout of joy, and his hand emerged from a drawer holding a leather journal.

He opened the book he had been given when he first had been told about the Slayer he had been assigned to, and stared at a long row of numbers placed neatly under a name. He put down the book, took another healthy swig of scotch and found the phone. He dialled the numbers with shaky fingers, inhaling and exhaling dramatically while he waited for someone to pick up. A gruff voice greeted him, and he swallowed deeply before starting.

“Hello, Mr. Travers. This is Rupert Giles, and I’m calling to tell you about my charge, Miss Buffy Anne Summers.”