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In Harm's Way by dawnofme
 
3. Love is in the Air
 
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In Harm’s Way
Chapter Three: Love is in the Air


Spike stomped his way into the lair and went straight for the bedroom. He half groaned, half growled at Harmony when he saw her sitting at the desk with her head down. She looked up at him with sad eyes.

“Look, I don’t need your shite right now, ok?” Spike sat at the edge of the bed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I just came from fighting with the Slayer.”

Knocking the chair over, Harmony jumped up and flew at Spike. She landed in his lap while throwing her arms around his neck. “I knew it would work! She’s dead, right?” She pulled back and searched his face with bright eyes. When he just glared at her, she jumped off him and grabbed the spell book from under the bed. “Now that the Slayer is out of the way, you can stop obsessing and we can take that trip to France. Like a honeymoon!“ She paused and gave him an evil smirk. “Did she tell you that she loved you?”

In a flash, Spike was up, gripping both her wrists.

“Ow!” she said.

“What do you know about this?” The book fell to the ground as he shook her.

Spike picked it up and glared at her. “What is this?”

Backing up, she told him, “I did a spell to make her fall in love with the first vampire she saw.”

He roared out, “You stupid, stupid bint! You’ve messed everything up!”

“She’s not dead?” Harmony asked, getting a little angry herself. “I made it easy for you to kill her and she’s still alive?”

Spike turned away from Harmony and began pacing as he talked to himself. “No wonder she was acting crazy and saying she loved me.”

Harmony got in front of him. “The spell worked, but you didn’t kill her. What’s wrong with you?”

“You messed everything up. I wanted to get her in a fair fight.”

“She was in my way!” Harmony told him. “Buffy is all you ever think about,” she said in disgust. “Slayer this; Slayer that. I hate it.”

“Undo the spell,” he told her with a cold voice.

“No. Go kill her, like you should have done in the first place!”

He shoved the book at her and backed her into the wall. “I’m telling you, put it right. Fix it!”

Relaxing against the wall, Harmony let out a hysterical giggle. “No wonder Drusilla left you. The way you act, you would think you were the one in love with Buffy and not the other way around.”

Spike grabbed the chair and smashed it against the wall beside her. How dare she say such a thing. In the back of his mind, he recalled the things Dru had said to him before he left. She’d fallen short of accusing him of the same thing, but had said that he was surrounded by Buffy and her light.

White-hot anger overtook him and without thinking, he plunged the wooden chair leg into Harmony’s chest.

“You did it again,” she said, right before she turned to dust.

He picked up the book and leafed through it. From the looks of the intricate spells, there was no way that Harmony could have done it by herself. It was time to round up the minions. If he could find the vamp or vamps that helped Harmony perform the spell, he could get them to reverse it.


~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Despite being crowded with a bunch of young people, Giles’ condominium was silent. Buffy took up the big couch, as she lay unconscious on it, covered with a blanket. Xander and Oz sat on the floor, poring over books, while Willow knelt by Buffy with a juice box and oatmeal cookies.

“When will she wake up?” Willow whispered. “It’s been too long.”

Standing by the fireplace, Giles gazed at Buffy with concern. “She’s lost a lot of blood, but with her slayer healing, she should be coming around soon.”

Xander slapped a book shut and said, “I’m still not getting why Spike would bring her to you and walk away?”

“He just threw her at me and said she needed to be fixed. It makes no sense to me either,” Giles said.

Buffy groaned and brought her hand to her head.

“Oh, Buffy,” Willow said. “Here, have some juice. It will make you feel better.”

Buffy sat up but flopped her head back against the couch. “Spike.”

“It’s OK, Buff,” Xander told her as he sat down next to her. “You’re safe.”

“Where’s Spike? I have to find him.”

Buffy tried to stand up, but Giles was there, gently urging her back down.

From his spot on the floor, Oz said, “You can kill him later. You need to rest.”

“Yeah, Buffy. You need to get your strength up. Drink this,” Willow said, shoving the juice box at her.

She felt a little better after having some juice, but with everybody staring at her, she was a little bit uncomfortable. To stall for time, she grabbed a cookie from Willow and chewed slowly. How could they think that she’d want to kill Spike? She loved him. She had to make them see that.

“Don’t hurt Spike,” she told them.

“What?” Xander yelped, leaping to his feet. “He almost killed you. Of course we’re going to kill him.”

“No. You can’t,” she said. “I--I’m in love with him.”

Xander clutched his heart and hung his mouth open as he sat back down.

“Um,” was all Oz could say.

“What are you talking about?” Willow asked playfully, hoping that she was just joking. “You haven’t even seen him in a long time. You’re dating Parker and Spike hates you.”

Buffy stood up on shaky legs. “That’s where you’re wrong. He could have killed me, but he didn’t. He has the gem and he’s invincible now, yet I’m alive.” With eyes shining and a sweet smile on her face, she said to her friends, “He loves me, too.”

Giles, Xander and Willow all started talking and moving at once. Buffy couldn’t understand a word they were saying, but the odd look Oz was giving her was the worst. Why did they all have to get upset about something so amazing?

The door was kicked open and Spike barged in, glaring at everyone.

“The barrier!” Xander said while staring at Giles with accusing eyes. “You’ve invited him in before.”

“It’s the gem. Barriers don’t work,” Giles sighed.

Oz calmly grabbed weapons and tossed them to the others. With trembling hands, Xander held his crossbow and readied it, while Giles wielded a sword. Buffy ignored Oz’s offer of a weapon and just stood where she was, smiling at Spike.

“That’s right. With this gem, all your little protective measures are gone.” Spike held out the now battered book. “I know what the problem is, but you’re going to have to fix it.”

Giles stretched out as far as he could and grabbed the book. A couple of papers dropped out of it and floated to the floor.

“Sorry about that. Had a little trouble with the minions. Stupid wankers. I thought maybe one of them helped Harmony put the spell on the Slayer, but none of them would own up to it. Even when I hit them over the head with the book.”

“Spell?” Willow asked as she edged over to Giles and took the book from him.

“Yeah, the love spell,” Spike said in disgust. “The twenty-four hours still stands. You’ve got until tomorrow afternoon to figure out how to reverse it. I’m coming back either way and killing the lot of you.”

Xander aimed the crossbow and let a shot off. The thin bolt hit its intended target and went right into Spike.

“Xander! No!” Buffy yelled as she wrenched the crossbow away from him.

Spike looked down and watched with the rest of them as he tugged the bolt out and the hole in his chest closed up. “This one,” he said with a snarl, pointing at Xander as he stepped closer to the terrified boy. “I think I’ll kill him right now.”

Xander whined, as Spike got ready to twist his head and break his neck.

Buffy calmly put her hand on Spike’s arm. “You’re not going to hurt him.”

“Why ever not?” Spike snarled at her.

“Because these are my friends and you won’t hurt them. I know it.” She smiled, as she looked him in the eyes. “Let him go. For me.”

Spike pushed Xander away, and with a growl, began jumping up and down, not knowing what else to do.

Before any of them could stop her, Buffy wrapped her arms around Spike and squeezed tightly. “Thank you so much--wow, you smell so good.”

He pushed her away from him and with his hands in the air and a face screwed up in disgust he said, “This is bug-shagging crazy! Fix it!” He turned and ran out the door.

Xander sat on the floor and gingerly touched his neck. “I’m alive,” he said in wonder.

“See, guys. I told you he loves me,” Buffy said with a far off look.

Giles cleaned his glasses.

Oz smiled down at Xander. Then he chuckled. “Did you see the look on Spike’s face? Buffy’s really got him spooked.”

“This is not good,” Willow told them, shaking her head and sitting down next to Xander. “All the pages are loose and out of order.”

“Man,” Xander said, looking at the mess in Willow’s lap. “And they didn’t even number the pages back then.”

“This is going to take all night,” Giles stated.

Walking towards the door, Buffy said, “I’ll go search for Spike.”

“Oh, no you don’t,” her watcher said, grabbing her arm. “You’re staying right here.”


~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Spike slowed down when got to the college campus. As late as it was, there wasn’t much activity and he enjoyed a cigarette as he strolled slowly along a path.

He knew it was just a spell, but the Slayer trying to get close to him and giving him compliments just threw him for a loop. Talk about smelling nice. She’d smelled like cinnamon and brown sugar.

He was passing a couple of college students who were sitting at a dark lunch table and drinking from red plastic cups, when he overhead, “What was her name again?”

“Buffy,” a familiar voice said.

As the group of boys laughed, Spike went behind a tree, curious to hear what Parker would have to say about the Slayer.

“Dumb name, I know, but she was pretty,” Parker said through his laughter.

“Oh, yeah. I’d hit that,” another guy said. “Was she good?”

“Yep,” Parker said with a pop. “Girl has stamina like no other I’ve had.” He let out a short laugh. “But the girl is so thick, she couldn’t take a hint. She really thought I was going to call her. I’m almost positive if I called her up right now, she’d spread her legs for me again.”

“Woo hoo!” The group whooped.

“Well, it’s getting late,” one of them said. “Got an early class tomorrow, so I think I’ll turn in.”

Spike was seething with anger as the others all got up as well. He was mad at Parker for saying the things he’d said about the Slayer, but he was twice as mad at himself for being angry with Parker.

“Since Parker is the only one who got laid this week, I think he should clean up this mess.”

The others agreed whole-heartedly, and Parker good naturedly shooed them away.

“Hey,” Spike said after he was sure the others were far enough away. He told himself he was doing this because he hadn‘t fed in a long while, but he was just kidding himself. With the gem on, he had no need to feed. “Remember me?”

“Oh, yeah,” Parker said pleasantly as he stacked cups. “Buffy’s friend from the party. You know, this isn’t a Goth club. It’s a college campus. It’s probably best if you were moving on.”

Spike chuckled. “I plan to do that, after I have me a little midnight snack.” He vamped out and was on Parker’s neck before he could scream.


~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~


Buffy was so bored. They’d been going over the book all night. They had all but a couple of the pages together now for the love spell. There were pages spread out on every flat surface in the room. Giles had said an hour ago that they were close. Xander and Oz had been ready to leave to get ingredients, but now they where slumped over each other, fast asleep. Giles was nodding off in the easy chair with a book on reversal spells open in his lap.

She couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. A spell. How stupid. She knew in her heart that what she felt was real. She had sat and listened to them all try to talk sense into her, but they were the ones that were crazy. Why wouldn’t they let her go to him? He wouldn’t hurt her. This afternoon had been proof of that.

What wasn’t there to love about Spike? Well, she guessed there were a few things. The fact that he ate people was a big one. She shrugged. He could stop; for her, he would. He had really nice eyes. They seemed to see everything. He wasn’t all that tall, but since she was short, Spike was perfect for her. She wouldn’t have to stretch and hurt her neck to kiss him. Oh, she longed to kiss him. The thought of him kissing Harmony or doing other things with her was driving her crazy. She had to go to him and make him see how right they were for each other.

Finally, Giles closed his eyes and relaxed. Buffy glanced over at Willow, who was still wide awake.

“Willow,” Buffy whispered. “I’m just going to go outside for a minute and get some fresh air.”

“What?” Willow said without looking up from her notes. “Oh, yeah. Ok.”


Once she was outside, she took off running until she was sure she was far enough away, where they couldn’t catch up. As she caught her breath, she tried to think of where Spike’s hideout might be.

“Hey, Slayer!” a guy with an English accent called out from across the street.

She narrowed her eyes at the vampire and started to cross the road.

“Stay where you are and I’ll tell you where to find Spike.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because Spike is an idiot and I want him dusted,” the British vamp said. “He’s kicked us all out to fend for ourselves.”


~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~


Bryan had given her perfect directions and she was glad now that she hadn’t gone after him with a stake. It was more because she couldn’t wait to see Spike than out of any mercy. She’d made her way through the tunnels of the lair and found Spike’s bedroom.

Buffy had her stake out and was prepared to help Harmony meet a dusty end, but she was pleasantly surprised to find him alone. Her happy meter went up a couple of notches when she saw that not only was he alone, but he was also shirtless. All those wonderful muscles out in the open.

He whirled around when he heard her sigh. Pointing at the stake in her hand, he said, “I see the spell’s been reversed and you’ve come ready to do battle.”

In a fit of frustration, she threw the stake across the room. “Why is everyone so focused on that spell? Even if it’s reversed, it’s not going to change how I feel about you.”

His evil grin faded. “Then what are you doing here?”

“The sunrise.”

“What?”

“While I was stuck at Giles’ place, I was thinking about you,” she told him shyly while looking down. Buffy gazed at him again. “When was the last time you saw a sunrise?”
Spike frowned at her and shook his head. “It‘s like I stepped over into the soddin‘ Twilight Zone.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Running his hand through his hair, he said, “Um. Well over 120 years.”

“Well, then,” Buffy said with an out stretched hand. “If we hurry, we can make it up to the Midridge lookout. I‘ve heard that‘s the best place to see the sun coming up.”

“No way. This has got to be some kind of trick.”

“Come on! I’m in love with you. This is not some stupid trick. I just want to share this experience with you.” She kept her hand out and motioned for him to come. “It’s not like you’ve got anything better to do, right?”

He took a step forward, and then paused, mumbling to himself. He took another step towards her, eyeing her outstretched hand as if it still held a stake. “All right. I’ll go. But there’s no bleedin’ way I’m holding your hand.”


 
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