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banner created by AJ Hofacre © March 10, 2008

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...part VI...
.:whoever said "the truth will set you free" never met buffy:.

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They had to listen. They positively had to. If anything else, even though he wasn’t on their good side right now, he knew how they all felt about Spike. Unless they were all completely stupid, they would most definitely take his side against an evil soulless bloodsucking monster.

He lunged for the door of the Magic Box, only to find it locked. Right. Store hours were from eight to nine on weekdays, and after hours were Scooby meeting times. Of course the door would be locked. He anxiously pounded on it, and after a brief hesitation, the door opened a crack. When he looked through, he saw a pair of cornflower blue eyes peering out at him.

"Hello, Riley," Anya said with a tight, forced smile on her face. "You aren’t welcome here. Please leave now." She began to close the door but Riley stuck a foot in, stopping her.

"No! No, Anya, you’ve gotta let me in, I’ve got to tell you guys something!" Without thinking, he shoved Anya to the side as he pushed the door open. In the back he could see Giles, Dawn, and Xander getting up from their seats, and a shock of red and strawberry blonde told him that Willow and Tara were there as well.

Yay. The gang's all here.

Xander frowned, pushing his way to the front of the store while Anya shot a disdainful glare at the big idiot commando, rubbing her arm.

"You don’t have to be rude. And I believe that when someone means to shut a door in your face, it’s implied that you are not wanted in that general area. I attempted that, and you shoved me, so I insist that you –"

"Buffy’s in danger!" he blurted out. In under a second, everyone in the shop had shot up front, surrounding him. Giles appeared to be the calmest of the group when he began to speak, but it was apparent from the outright panic on his face that he was faking it.

"What do you mean she’s in danger?" he demanded. "What’s happened?"

Riley swallowed. "She’s at Spike’s –" and a collective sigh of near-relief that went up had his jaw dropping.

They were okay with her being at Spike's?

Goddamn it, he knew they were all fucking insane. But no, he put up with them for Buffy's sake, because they were Buffy's very best friends since high school, and everything else she'd ever been through, and blah blah blah...

"You’re worried about her being with Spike? Geez, frantic much? She can take care of herself, Cardboard Boy," Dawn snarked.

Dawn didn't hate Riley - on the contrary, she'd thought he was the first decent boyfriend that Buffy had ever had. He'd taken her out for ice cream a few times, even. But that had been before he and Buffy had gotten really serious. It was like, as soon as he realized that he was already in Buffy's good graces, he didn't need to try with her family anymore. He was always polite to Mom, but he never stopped and talked with her for hours, the way Spike did. Wasn't that what a boyfriend was supposed to do? Honor and cherish his girlfriend's mother?

Either way, Riley had lost any affection from Dawn long ago, when he had started monopolizing her sister.

Riley shook his head, staring dumbfounded at Dawn. Quickly, he said, "No, you don’t understand, listen to me. I was going to your house... to apologize, but she was leaving as I got there, so I followed her -–"

"Ew, you followed her? Gotta tell you, Riley-boy, not liking the Stalker-Guy chic that you’ve picked up here," Xander chuckled, wrapping an arm tightly around Anya’s shoulders.

Riley shot him a frustrated glance. "That’s not the... Can I finish here, please?" At their silence, which was accompanied by expectant (and hostile) stares – Willow was really going to have to ease up on the protective best friend bit – he continued. "Anyway, I followed her, and yeah, she went to Spike’s. Well, they had their usual fight and everything, but then they went into his crypt, and when I got to the door, he was on top of her, with his teeth in her neck. She didn’t fight him or anything, and then... Guys, Spike claimed Buffy."

Giles’ jaw nearly hit the floor. "Good Lord, he’s what?"

Riley looked exasperated. "He’s claimed her!" The four non-supernatural experts in the room gaped at the Watcher and Riley. Riley stared at them. "Do you have any idea what that means?" When the silence dragged on, Anya piped up.

"It means he owns her!" she declared excitedly. Xander, Willow, Tara and Dawn stared at her.

"WHAT?" was the only word out of their mouths, and in perfect unison as well. If this hadn’t been such a crucial situation, Riley might’ve laughed. The Scoobies were vaguely familiar with vampire rites and rituals, but obviously not as well as their very own ex-demon was. She was all too happy to explain.

"Spike drank some of Buffy’s blood and placed a claim on her, which none of her other vampires have done, specifically, not Angel. Vampires don’t usually bother putting claims on humans since they just hunt and eat them, but since Spike seems to be extra fond of Buffy in the way that means plenty of orgasms for the both of them," -- Riley began sputtering in fury before Anya continued to talk over him, this time quite loudly -- "it looks like he wants to keep her all for himself. All in all, the claim pretty much means that Spike can sense if anyone touches or harms his property, i.e. Buffy. It protects her from other vampires that might want to kill her, and it connects him to her thoughts and emotions. Like, say a vampire attacks her and gets the upper hand, and goes to bite her. Well, he can’t, because Spike put his mark on her, claimed her. And Spike will know instantly, and most likely go after him. So the magicks surrounding Buffy would scare the vamp off. But the whole thing isn’t fully legit unless Buffy reciprocates it, which I doubt she will, since it’s never happened between a vampire and a human, much less a Slayer before. At least, it hasn’t to my knowledge."

Slack-jaws all around. Anya sat back with a smile, seeming proud of herself.

Giles was the first to clear his throat. "She left out one other little detail – with the claim, Spike can easily control Buffy with as little as a look. If she infuriates him, one growl would subdue her. It’s the same way that a Sire commands his Childe," Giles added, his hand over his eyes. A look of despair was crossing over his worried features.

Riley continued. "Which means that Spike could kill Buffy after subduing her, and she wouldn’t be able to fight back." His voice was urgent. He was praying to God that these people were like he thought they were, and hated Spike enough to trust him once again. They needed to save Buffy from that disgusting demon. He looked around.

"Are you guys getting this? If we don’t help her, Spike could be slitting her throat right now, and she won't be able to do a thing about it! He isn’t chipped anymore, and since he blamed Buffy for it, he’ll be gunning for her. The only way to stop him is to dust him, we have to go, NOW!"

How quickly he’d forgotten that he’d been part of the organization that had installed Spike’s chip in the first place. If anything, Spike would have been gunning for him.

A despondent but nonetheless angry look grew in Willow’s eyes, and he could’ve sworn he’d seen pink sparks of energy at her fingertips. Tara wrapped a comforting hand around Willow’s wrist, and the red-head took a deep breath. Giles echoed the witch, heading towards the door.

"I’ll kill him if he’s harmed her," Riley heard the elder man murmur, and grinned widely, following Giles. Finally!

"That’s the idea, let’s go!" he urged. Xander immediately jogged after him. Anya followed reluctantly, muttering something about ‘leaving the poor formerly neutered vampire alone’ and how he probably had 'more interesting things to do to a Slayer as sexually repressed as she was.’ All pleas fell on deaf ears.

Willow slowly took a step forward. This couldn’t be right. She’d watched Riley, and it had seemed like he was way too eager to be rid of Spike. Yeah, maybe he was worried about Buffy, but there had to be a better way to save her, right? And what if she didn’t even need rescuing? And couldn’t they find a way to not hurt Spike, too? He was a vampire, an evil one, and one that had probably holding on to a grudge for the past few years... but he was still a nice guy. Right?

Tara began to follow after the group, restraining herself from mentioning aloud the violent, conflicting marks in Riley's aura, knowing that what she said would fall on deaf ears anyway. When she noticed that someone in the group wasn't following, she stopped and turned around, seeing Dawn standing stock still, her face like stone, eyes narrowed in suspicion at Riley. Her arms were folded tightly against her chest, and her lips were set in a tight, narrow line. Tara moved back to the 14-year-old.

"What’s wrong, Dawn?" Her query caused the others to stop and look back at the two.

The teen looked up at the Wicca. "Spike would never hurt Buffy," she replied in a loud, clear voice. Dawn noticed that at her pronouncement, both Anya and Willow's eyes lit up; the redhead and the ex-demon both had a tiny, hopeful smiles on their faces, looking like they were thankful that someone had stood up for the vampire.

Giles, however, was frowning. "Now, Dawn, we’re not entirely certain of that. He does hold a grudge against her for the chip, and he does believe it to be her fault that it was placed in his head in the first place."

"Yeah, Dawnie, remember? Spike is the evil dead? He’s done nothing but pout, whine and moan over the past year about how he wants get the chip out to kill things, and, more specifically, kill the Slayer. Well, he most definitely has his chance now, and he's gunning for Buffy," Xander added. Dawn rolled her eyes, looking entirely disgusted at the men.

"Okay, first: if Spike would be gunning for anyone because of the chip, wouldn't you think it would be Riley? After all," she narrowed her dark blue eyes, "he's the one that put the chip in his head in the first place, and then spent a year chasing after him, trying to do more experiments on him, even though Buffy told him to let it go."

Riley got a decidedly shifty look in his eyes at that.

Dawn continued. "And, hey? Hello? Did you guys even hear what Anya said? About Spike being fond of Buffy? About the claim being more protection-y than kill-y? And what about the past three weeks since he even got the chip out? He hasn’t even been killing, he’s still living on baggy blood from Willy’s and the hospital! And if Spike wanted to kill Buffy so bad, don’t you think he would’ve done it by now? He’s had plenty of chances!

"I don’t care what you think of him, but I would trust Spike with my life! When Angelus and Dru had me, they were so big with leaving an extremely dead little sister on the porch as a message to Buffy, like they did with Miss Calendar. But Spike protected me. He didn’t have to, and he didn’t have the chip then, so what in the hell makes you think that he’ll take advantage of not having the chip now?"

Dawn scrutinized the less-smarter men and noticed that the overgrown Boy Scout was starting to fidget nervously. I knew it she thought bitterly. That stupid prick just wanted to get rid of Spike so he could be deemed the hero and be accepted in the group again.

Giles pondered over her words for a bit, inwardly wondering how a not-really-there thousand year old green blob of energy in the form of his Slayer’s teen sister could be so perceptive in the extremely short span of two months that she’d actually been with them. Then he sighed. She was right. But still...

"All the more, Dawn, I’d feel much better if I saw her safe with my own eyes. Being that she is with Spike I am, needless to say, not entirely worried since I am aware that she can take care of herself. I am not entirely positive that she will come out unscathed, however, since Spike is a Slayer of two Slayers. But... I trust your words, Dawn. Let’s pray that Riley is mistaken about Spike only claiming her for the death."

Everyone began to file out the door, and Anya shut and locked it securely. As they walked to Spike’s cemetery, Dawn heard Xander mutter, "Yeah, sure, right. Spike’s probably made her his nummy treat by now."

She sighed. Not exactly something she wanted to hear.

---

She hadn’t been expecting this. Not at all. But she supposed it was a better deal than having Spike rip her throat out with his fangs, the way he’d always talked about.

"Mmmph," she grunted, feeling the urge to give a protest, despite wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer in to the kiss. Spike gave a low murmur of pleasure, and responded eagerly.

When he’d said he was going to teach her a lesson, she’d been honestly afraid that he was going to rip her limbs right off and beat her to death with them, or something equally worth a major ‘ew’ but that hadn’t been the case. In fact, she’d seen something flicker in his eyes the moment he had taken in her now helpless position. And then he’d pounced on her, all but ravaging her. She paused for a moment to look into his eyes, then ardently resumed the kiss full-force.

Yeah, definitely better. No throat-ripping for Buffy. Tonsil-swabbing with Spike was much better.

A lot more fun, too.

Spike growled ecstatically when Buffy continued the kiss with much more vigor than before. It was like she was using their lips to pull him into her. Not in the full-fledged hot, sweaty, naked, ‘woohoo! Fun!’ sense, but more... spiritually. Which was a huge gaff since he didn't exactly have that type of spirit. And actually, it made what she was doing to him make all the more sense, since he felt like she was sharing her soul with him -- just with a kiss. He shrugged it off, though; must be a mortal’s version of a claim.

And suddenly, he couldn’t take it anymore. He remembered back to that night last week, and the feel of his naked skin against hers... Gods, he needed to feel that again. He craved it. So once again, he began tearing at her top. And he all but cheered when she didn’t protest.

"God I want you," he growled, jerking the shirt over her head in one clean swipe. Taking one moment to appreciate the smooth, flawless, ample golden breasts before him, he dove down and captured one automatically hard, rosy-pink nipple in his mouth. Buffy cried out immediately, arching her back against him, her hand darting to the back of his head and clutching him to her. Spike’s free hand drifted up and cupped her other breast, kneading it roughly and toying with the other nipple. Buffy’s head fell back, her mouth open. Oh, god, so good... so, so good.

The moment Spike’s other hand moved between her legs was probably when all coherent thought processes crashed and burned.

She clamped her legs down and pushed her hips forward anxiously, trying to gain some form of friction by rubbing against his hand. Her own hands trailed down his back and began ripping at his shirt. Spike growled.

"Oi, watch it, luv! I like this shirt!"

Buffy giggled, sitting up and tugging his shirt off all the way. "Like you don't have fifty more just like it!"

Spike snorted and gently pushed her back down, pressing his cool skin against her. "None as comfortable, princess."

The Slayer replied with a contented ‘mmmm’ in a tone similar to a purr, and Spike groaned, hardening rapidly. He ground against her lightly, and a pleased grin quirked his lips. Good, she liked this. Now what if he just slid his hand down here...

"GNNAAHHHHHH!"

Yeah, she liked that. That was probably the best sound that he had ever heard. He snickered, releasing his hold and moving his hand to her clasp and zipper. Unclasping the button, he allowed his fingers to dance around above her mound, teasing her by dipping them downward sporadically. When the small fingers on the back of his head gripped hard and jerked his head up, he chuckled. Buffy glared down at him expectantly.

"Dammit, Spike, stop teasing me!"

Spike chuckled and unzipped her pants, sliding the scratchy material over her hips slowly. "Don’t worry, luv. It’s coming. Or rather, you are."

Buffy managed a soft giggle as Spike began tugging the pants down from around her calves. Finally he yanked the black slacks to the ground, followed quickly by her white floral lace thong. Buffy hissed softly, squeezing her eyes shut as the cold stone touched her burning skin. Then she looked up at Spike, who was staring down at her nude body, slack-jawed.

Sweet holy fuck he thought, refusing to allow his eyes to move even a single inch away from her body.

If he thought he couldn’t get any harder, he was dead wrong.

Buffy’s eyes lowered to his crotch, and a slow grin spread across her face. Ooh. She really liked making that happen to him.

She raised a strong, smooth leg between his, rubbing her thigh slowly against the throbbing bulge. Spike groaned loudly and ground into her harder, steadily. Grunting, he supported himself with one hand, while his other ran down her perfect left leg, spreading her wide open. Buffy’s eyes shot open as Spike thrust two chilled fingers inside of her, eliciting a loud passionate moan from her throat.

"Oh, god," she whimpered, arching into him. Her hips began to lift up, meeting each of his slow, measured thrusts, and her right leg, entwined between both of his legs, began gliding over his crotch, slowly at first, then gaining in speed. She threw an arm around his neck and concentrated on the feel of his hand inside of her as well as pleasing the very hard muscle between his heavy, well-shaped thighs. Spike let out a growl of gratitude for her attention to his aching cock, and in response, his fingers pumped faster. Buffy squealed.

"Ahh! Oh, god, Spike," she mewled again as Spike’s lips closed on her quickly healing bite wounds, pulling them open again with a gentle suck of his lips. He began drinking as the smooth, sweet, rich blood began flowing into his mouth, and with each pull of his lips, the feeling traveled down to her crotch. It made her muscles twitch around his fingers, made her thrust harder and higher.

Spike moaned, his eyes rolling up. Her arousal was absolutely intoxicating, and he had to say it: this was better than his last kill. Buffy was driving him up the wall. He jerked suddenly, pulling away, her warm blood splattering on his lips. His fingers slid out of her, and he ignored the disappointed cry that escaped her lips. His cool mouth began raining soft, worshipping kisses over her hot skin, starting at her neck and leading to her breasts. Pausing for a bit, he sucked and nibbled on the hard pebbled nipples, pressing harder kisses against her, moving down her tight, taut belly, to her hips, to her --

"Holy shit!"

Buffy shot straight up only to be pushed right back down again by a very persistent Spike hand. She got up again, attempting to close her legs and kick him away at the same time, but he gripped her firmly, holding her down like a steel clamp... Well, a heavy, pale, blonde, annoying, pressuring, muscular, positively gorgeous steel clamp. She vainly tried to kick at him, twisting on to her side and trying to crawl away.

"Stop it, Spike! Leave me – ow! I can not believe you just did that!" she squawked, rubbing a hand over the red handprint on her rump.

Spike grinned mischievously, pushing her down on her back again and firmly setting her legs apart. He trailed his finger slowly down her stomach. "Believe it, baby. Now HOLD STILL. Or do you want me to get rough?"

Buffy gaped at him, momentarily sidetracked by what the implications of his words could lead to, then squirmed again, snapping out of it and trying to protest. "Spike, don’t. Please don’t, Spike, no – oh!" Her cry resonated in the crypt, contradicting her attempted resistance. Spike chuckled softly, his face nuzzled happily right between his Slayer’s thighs. His tongue slid out and ran slowly along her slit, then pushed past her lips, touching the pointed tip just above her clit.

Buffy’s eyes were killing her. They had opened so wide, it was a wonder that they hadn’t fallen out yet. She was dying to grab Spike’s head and force him to go deeper, but as luck would have it, Spike had her hands pinned to the concrete. Damn.

Hold on.

She experimentally thrust against his mouth. She wasn't surprised when she was rewarded by an eager groan and a tongue pushing its way inside of her.

"Nnnghhh! Oh... Spike, yes... uhhh..." If she didn’t stop moaning like that, Spike’s head was gonna explode. As it was, he had to grind against the stone slab beneath him to keep himself somewhat sane.

She tasted amazing. Not too sweet, not too bitter. Warm and luscious... like a fresh, ripe peach.

Delicious.

He finally released her arms, and her hands instantly made a grab for his head, the blonde locks curling around her fingers. Spike slid his tongue around before finally focusing on the clit. He licked a circle around it once, then rapped it sharply. He grinned to himself when Buffy responded, her hips jumping up, and he finally gave in to the poor girl, pulling the swollen nub between his lips, sucking it slowly but with an edge that made Buffy feel like she was being sucked by a vacuum cleaner. Her head lolled about above him, her face picturesque in her natural beauty, her lips letting slip soft moans and mewls that made him want to stay buried in her forever with each plunge of his tongue. A gasping cry slipped out of her mouth as Spike sank his teeth gently into the sensitive swell.

"Sp-ike! What... wh-wha... oh, god..." she choked out, her insides beginning to clutch. Thrusting frantically, she dug her fingers into his scalp, jerking his head down to meet her hips each time. "Harder... harder! Oh, god, harderharder, god, please, Spike!"

Spike really had to fight to keep control at the sound of the Slayer moaning, gasping his name, and begging – actually begging – him to go harder. He complied to her desperate pleas, his tongue pressing coarsely against her clit, pushing into it mercilessly.

Whatever you want, baby.

Harder, slower, faster, faster, rougher. He pulled out all the stops for her. He lashed at her relentlessly, and god, he was going to come right in his jeans if that beast inside of her got any louder. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her, thrashing around up there, like an untamed animal, her eyes shut, sweating, her beautiful hair all mussed up and -

He gave a loud growl and swallowed.

Buffy moaned, spasming into his mouth, her hips arching off the stone while her entire body convulsed.

And she thought his fingers were talented.

This was incomparable, and the feeling she was being bombarded by was ten times the way she’d felt when he’d first introduced her to the intimate side of his hand.

It was somewhere between the last quakes of her orgasm, and her settling emotions when she realized a few things. First... this was fun. Second...

She was really, really late for training.

But her third and fourth realizations shocked her the most. Third, she didn’t care if she was late, and fourth, she didn’t want to leave. Sitting up, her eyes lowered once more to Spike’s swollen crotch.

Buffy REALLY didn’t want to leave.

Spike lifted his head to stare at her face, licking his lower lip clean of her juices, then tilting his head. He watched as the emotions flickered through her eyes. Slowly, Buffy leaned forward, pressing her lips gently to his. Spike's purr rumbled softly inside his chest and he threw an arm around her, kissing her back feverishly.

"Buffy," he gasped, pulling away from her kiss for a bit to nuzzle her neck affectionately. Buffy pulled away and studied him for a moment, looking into his eyes. Her hand slowly reached forward, moving toward his jeans, and Spike watched silently, shivers racing up and down his body in anticipation.

Suddenly he looked up. Uh-oh.

He jumped to his feet and helped Buffy off of the sarcophagus. He gathered her clothes and shoved them at her.

"Get dressed luv. Come on, put your things on, quick." Buffy gave him a confused look but obediently began fumbling for her things, hopping on one leg as she squirmed into her panties.

"Why, what is it?" she asked, hopping into the slacks and pulling on the peasant top. Spike shot a paranoid, despairing glance at the door of the crypt, then looked back at Buffy.

"Hit me." Buffy did a double take, staring at him, astounded.

"What?" Spike gazed at her, grasping her shoulders.

"HIT ME." Buffy jerked away from him in shock.

"How can you expect me to do that? After what we just did? I’m not gonna hit you, Spike, no way!" Spike growled. He shouldn't be surprised. Not listening to him was one big Stubborn!Buffy trait. He knew that the only way to make the bull-headed little chit listen (usually) was to piss her off.

Luckily, he happened to excel in that particular department.

"HIT ME, you stupid bloody bint!" he yelled, tossing an effectively powerful, violent punch across her face. Buffy’s head snapped to the side, and her hand promptly rose to her cheek, covering the mark. Her head slowly turned back to scrutinize him, incredulous. Then, instinctively, she hauled off and gave him a blow that sent him flying right onto his ass in the middle of the crypt.

And Here Enter Scoobies.

Buffy glared down at Spike angrily, nearly ready to strangle the stupid blonde bastard, until she saw his eyes flit to something behind her. She followed his gaze and turned, finding several shocked friends and an extremely unwelcome boyfriend gaping at her. She turned back quickly to stare at Spike in astonishment. How the hell... Oh, god. Her face fell. Spike had known that they were coming. He’d known, and he’d told her to hit him so they wouldn’t be caught in any compromising positions.

She stared at him quietly, her heart nearly breaking at his pained expression.

She couldn't ever just listen, could she?

She turned back to her friends and watched them nervously. "Um, hi, guys."

Giles looked over the top of his glasses at his charge, frowning heavily, glancing around Spike's completely trashed living space. "Buffy, what is going on here?"

Buffy shifted on one foot, but made no attempt to come closer to the gang. "Oh, uh, nothing. I, uh, I came here to talk to Spike. To get some info. On a vamp nest somewhere downtown. And he, uh, pissed me off. So I hit him. Because, uh... that's what I do."

Spike was now getting to his feet, wiping a streak of blood from his mouth and licking it off, shooting the entire group (Riley in particular) a dirty look. He stood a little ways to the side, behind Buffy.

Xander cocked his head. "Well we can see that, Buff, not that he probably didn’t deserve it, whatever he did, but –"

And that did. Spike was fed up. "Why is it that you lot never see fit to knock on my bloody door, but even if I’m not invited, I go out of my way to knock on yours?" he growled, effectively shutting Xander up for a moment with his icy glare. "I don’t see why it is that you can’t fuckin’ respect me. I am a powerful, irreconcilable force, now, people! I can kill you all in one single instant, but hell knows why I haven’t! It’s one thing when you’re searchin’ for some bloody info, but this is my fuckin’ home! I don't give two shits if you like me or not, learn to fuckin' respect me, an' more importantly, learn how to fuckin' knock! Now get out!"

At that instant, Dawn pushed forward, moving toward the extremely pissed off vampire. Riley reached out to grab her and pull her back, but Dawn shoved him away angrily, running to Spike’s side and grabbing his arm.

Giles reacted with apprehension. "Dawn, get away from him!"

The teen glared rebelliously at the group in front of her, then turned to the vampire, her gaze softening. Spike, who meanwhile had been glaring at the three men of the group hatefully, jumped lightly when Dawn tugged on his arm. He'd been so incensed that he hadn’t even realized she was next to him.

"Spike? You okay?" Spike looked down at the little brown-haired morsel in confusion. When he realized that the girl was actually concerned about his welfare, his eyebrows rose, the hard angry lines vanished from his face, and he gazed at the fourteen-year-old in wonder.

Dawn knew he’d gotten the chip out. She knew that he could rip her apart at any moment. And she still wasn’t afraid.

This girl was officially his now. He didn’t need to claim her to show that. The Summers girls -- all three of them -- were his.

He nodded slowly, reached a hand up to cover hers, and gently squeezed it. "Yeh, luv, I’m fine. Don’t worry your pretty head about me," he murmured. Then he lifted his head and glared past Buffy at the men.

"Watcher, I respect you. Honestly, I don’t know why, seein’ as you’ve never treated me with one ounce of respect since we met. But I do. Harris, I... tolerate you on the good days. An' Cardboard, get this one thing straight – I hate you. Can’t stand you. Despise you, want you nowhere near me. Right now, though, I can’t stand lookin’ at any one of you pillocks, an’ I want you to get the bloody hell out of my home, now."

Giles, who had managed to become stunned by Spike's obvious affection toward Dawn, nodded wearily to show that he had heard the vampire. If anything, Spike had looked touched that Dawn had been worried about him. And he’d also noticed that Spike was being completely civil to the girls.

He wondered if he had always been this way - if he had always had a softer spot for women, and viewed other men as nothing more than beasts intruding on his territory. He sighed. It wasn't likely that he would find out anytime soon. "Come along, Dawn, Buffy. Your mother will be fretting, and we really shouldn’t leave her alone too long."

Dawn nodded at the Watcher, and as Giles left, she turned to Spike and threw her arms around his waist tightly, completely taking the vampire off-guard. His eyes widened, and he awkwardly patted the girl’s back.

"Uh, thanks, pet. Go on, now. Mum’ll be wonderin’ ‘bout you."

Dawn nodded again, giving him a final squeeze. "Take care. Don’t let Buffy act like she’s on top of the world and push you around or anything, kay? 'Cause you know she's not," she said, grinning.

Spike favored her with a smile and chuckled. "Natch, pet." Dawn grinned and bounced out the door. Tara shot Spike a weary but grateful smile, then worriedly hurried out the door after the fourteen-year-old before she could find and/or create a calamity. Anya fidgeted slightly and tugged impatiently on Xander’s arm.

"Can we go now, please? Buffy’s fine, see? She’s hitting Spike like normal! And I've just been struck by that damn monthly ritual that human females go through. You know, the menstrua—" Xander clapped his hand firmly over his girlfriend’s mouth, blanching. He gave everyone a sheepish grin, shot a scowl at Spike (who had a huge grin on his face, managing to keep himself from laughing his ass off), then dragged her out the door.

Willow drifted toward Buffy, her head tilted to one side, and she gently put her hand on the blonde’s shoulder. She’d been watching her friend before, and noticed that the blonde kept shooting guilty looks at Spike, though the bleach blonde was pointedly ignoring them. He was now shuffling about the crypt, gathering the things that had been knocked out of place and setting them right. Buffy looked up at the touch of her friend’s hand, and she gave Willow a weak smile.

"Hey, Wills," she murmured, watching Spike as he finished cleaning, before lifting himself up onto the sarcophagus. Lying down on his back, he folded his arms behind his head. Willow looked at Buffy.

"Are you okay? You look kinda... conflicted, y’know?"

Buffy smiled. "Yeah, I’m good. Just a little tired. You know, with the... the bursting in, and the... fighting, and... well, the bursting in and the fighting." She sighed. "I don’t know."

Willow frowned sympathetically, then leaned in. "Buffy, did he bite you again? I-I mean, not that he... uh, but, um, Riley said t-that he did, and I, uh, just wanted to m-make sure."

Buffy’s eyes shot to a suddenly stoic Riley, standing as a sentinel at the door of the crypt. Hmph. A soldier through and through. She narrowed her eyes, then sighed. "Yeah, he did. BUT," she added quickly, holding her hand up to cut off an inevitable Willow ramble, "I let him. I didn’t stop him. In fact," she turned a paranoid eye towards the vampire," I... I kinda... made him. I... wanted him to bite me."

Willow’s eyes widened. "Buffy!"

"Shh! Vamp hearing!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Willow shifted on one foot, looking around nervously. "So, you, uh... wanted him to? Really?"

Buffy bit her lower lip, peeking up at Willow from under her lashes guiltily. "Um... yes?" She sighed and pouted. "I don’t know why. I can’t explain it really well... I just wanted him to. It’s... intense, y’know? It's kind of like... like he's a great big Spike magnet, and I can't help but be little magnetized Buffy, heading for him at full speed. I can’t understand why but... I sort of... like being around him!" she whispered in the lowest possible voice. She truly hoped it was low enough to slip past Spike’s already spectacular hearing, but she knew she was asking for too much.

Once again, this was Spike.

Willow smiled gently. She knew that Buffy was probably writhing in agony over this. She probably didn’t even realize that it was the claim having that partial effect over her. "Buffy, you might be happy to know that there’s a reason for all this. Riley said that Spike claimed you."

Buffy looked up, surprised. "What? He saw that?" She blinked and shook her head. "No, no, Will. I know he did, but that’s not why. The Spidey goes extra wiggy when he’s around, yeah, and I feel connected to him, even when he isn’t around, but that's the claim. I don’t know where the hell these other feelings are coming from."

Willow looked at her in surprise. "So you knew? A-And the claim, how do you know what’s the claim and what isn’t?"

"Well I only just found out when he bit me again, cuz I heard him. And it’s just a feeling. A Slayer has never been claimed before, so there might be some different effects. I dunno, Giles told me. I wasn’t paying much attention."

Willow nodded slowly. Was this bad?

Buffy was shaking her head, sighing. "I don’t know. I’ll figure it out eventually. You should probably go. You have that Sociology class tomorrow, while I have to deal with a moody vampire and a neglected ex who can’t take a hint."

Willow smiled gently. "You’ll be careful?"

Buffy grinned. "As always, I shall deal. See you later."

"Later, Buffy!" Willow called, walking out the door.

When Willow had disappeared, Riley turned toward Buffy, folding his arms.

"So. Are we gonna –"

"No," Buffy said firmly. "Get out, Riley. I don’t want to deal with you right now. In fact, I don't want to deal with you ever. I thought I’d made it pretty clear when I said I never wanted to see you again. Would you please listen to me this time? I'll say it again, really slowly: I never, ever want to see you again. That means don’t come near me. Don’t come near my family and friends. And stay the hell away from Spike, I can take care of him on my own."

Spike’s head shot off the stone at the mention of his name. What now? Oh. Buffy was telling the Ring-A-Ding Dick off. Sounded like she was breaking up with him.

Wait, what?

Oh. Yes! Fuck yes, she was dumping him! She’d remembered his request for the front row seat!

Riley stared in disbelief at Buffy, unwilling to accept what he was hearing. "Buffy, are you insane? You’re breaking up with me? I thought we had something good here, what’s going on?"

Buffy straightened, folding her arms. "What’s going on is that I’ve finally gotten some... stones," she replied, hazarding a glance at Spike, her eyes widening slightly in surprise when she saw him watching the scene intently. She looked back at the commando. "Riley, you think everything has to be a competition between us. I let you lead me around on a short leash when I’m with you, because I felt bad about my strength, and my purpose in life, and I felt bad that you had lost yours. But now, you’re always clinging to me. You expect me to drop everything I’m doing and run to your side the minute you say my name.

"You don’t seem to understand or care that my mother is sick, and I have to take care of her and my teenage sister. And on top of that, I have to continually try to save the world and protect this stupid town night after every fucking night from demons and vampires and, and demony-human hybrid things! I refuse to balance on my fucking head every fucking time you want me to, and I have finally had it with you! We are through!"

Riley’s hand shot out, shoving her to the wall. He grabbed her, squeezing her shoulders tightly. "Wait a minute—"

The second his hands touched her, Buffy’s fists instantly flew out, punching him and wrenching out of his grip. She tried desperately not to shudder. What had once offered calmness and comfort now gave her a sense of filth, and a really strong urge to vomit.

"Don’t touch me!" she shrieked, "Don’t put your hands on me ever again! Get away, stay the hell away from us! Get out!"

Riley gazed at her, his shock stilling him enough to keep him from reacting on his anger. Dammit all to hell, this was all Spike’s fault! It had to be! Turning on his heel, he stormed out of the crypt.

Buffy wrapped her arms around herself, glaring in the direction the bastard had gone in. Thank God; she was finally free. It was so weird; once, he’d been sweet and dorky, doing anything to win her affection. Then the moment she gave in, he turned into some freakish psychotic tyrant.

History had a really bad habit of repeating itself.

When a cool presence behind her alerted her of Spike, she gasped and spun around, staring into a pair of beautiful blue eyes.

Spike tilted his head, watching Buffy with the utmost curiosity and intrigue. Wicked. Righteous. Powerful. Beautiful. Strong. Vulnerable. Brave. Timid. Warrior.

Yet, through everything that she was, no matter how old she was, or what she’d seen, Buffy was still one thing.

A girl. She was still just a little girl, though her eyes had shown her way too much of the world.

Such a brave, brave girl.

Yeah, he was definitely in love with her.

He gently took her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it with a gentleness and sincerity that she hadn’t expected, not from him. She began to shake. Why hadn’t she been this nervous earlier? There he’d had his head between her legs, and she hadn’t even twitched with embarrassment, but this... All he’d done was kiss her hand, and she was ready to faint from the fright of it all.

She let out a shaky breath as Spike wrapped an arm gently around her waist, pulling her close. With an equally tranquil hand, he brought her chin up and cupped her cheek, his thumb idly stroking it.

Oh, boy. This was gonna be big, he could feel it. The sensations were running rampant from his toes to his scalp, bouncing around inside of him. He had never felt this way around a woman, not since William had found the courage to speak to a particularly cruel, selfish, aristocratic bitch all those years ago. One that he knew now he had been foolish enough to declare love for. Spike prayed to God that didn't listen to his kind that he wasn’t making the same mistake.

Damn him if he didn’t know any better. He could swear his heart was beating off the charts, banging around aimlessly inside of his chest. He leaned in slowly, licking his lips and swallowing hard. He was fully prepared to kiss this girl right off her feet.

The second before Spike’s lips touched hers, Buffy made a dismayed sound and jerked back, ruining Spike’s vision of the most perfect kiss of his entire existence. Trembling violently, she began to walk backwards, then spun around and shot out the door at light speed.

And in that moment, Spike felt his heart stop beating once more, before it completely shattered.

Watching her leave, with a pained expression on his face, he sank to the floor.

---

Buffy raced down the street toward her home. Screw the Scooby meeting. She could throw off patrolling until later.

This was getting out of hand.

No one was supposed to make her feel like this, no one except for Angel, and she was long past her romantic teenage views of him. But he’d been the only one who had ever made her feel so quivery and weak. And that was something that Spike should NOT have access to.

But he did. Something different had happened when Spike had tried to kiss her. At first, this whole thing had just been some weird sort of hidden attraction, then later, a way to keep her mind off of Riley. It never meant anything... to her, anyway.

The way he’d moved... the way he’d touched her had shown her a completely different side of Spike. A side she wasn’t so sure she wanted to see. He’d been mean, evil, icky Spike for so long, and seeing sweet, gentle, yummy Spike with the evil, sharp teeth was... well, it was wiggy. (Actually it was more like a kick in the gut – the yummy Spike part was big and disturbing enough as it was).

What was even more wiggy about it was that she liked sweet, gentle, yummy Spike with the evil, sharp teeth.

She looked up and realized she was in front of her house. Mom would be in her room. Dawn was either at Janice’s or watching TV.

She should probably check in.

Instead, she sank down on the porch steps and buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook, and she involuntarily let out a sob. Her entire body shuddered, and her crying deepened.

Oh, god, what was happening to her?






TBC.


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