Not Beneath Me - Chapter 19 (Out Of The Mouths Of Fools)
By Tasha

Chapter Summary: Riley and Dru are dust after they attacked Spike and Buffy in the cemetery. Angel showed up in time to actually help. Riley injected Spike with something that sucked his supernatural strength from him. Buffy had to carry him back to Giles' car and into the house. Spike is still unconscious, and Angel is waiting downstairs at Buffy's house for some explanations. **If you really love Angel, you might want to close your eyes.**

(Disclaimer and Distribution notes are listed in the Prologue of this story. Thank you ahead of time for reading and accepting or abiding by them.)

'Single' quote marks surround thoughts in this story. "Regular" quotes are around spoken words.

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Buffy sighed sadly. Her finger twisted through Spike's bleached curls. She quickly learned that the reason Spike slicked his hair back was to hide the mass of naturally curly locks. The rain dissolved the gel that had held his locks down. She sat on the side of her bed. Her heart willed him to wake up, but his eyes remained closed.

Other than a few incoherent bouts of consciousness during the ride how, Spike remained silent and still since she'd dusted Dru. He was lost within his own mind. Multiple chaotic images criss-crossed over themselves. None of it made sense, but the bombardment to his brain forced his psyche to retreat inot the farther recesses of his mind.

Buffy bandaged her wrist. It concerned her that Spike hadn't woke up as soon as she fed him a bit of her blood. What was going on in his system? She was scared for the man she loved. She hated feeling helpless.

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"I'll let you know as soon as anything changes. I'm sure he'll be fine, Dawn." Giles hung up the phone in the kitchen. He walked out into the living room with a cup of tea in his hand.

Angel paced from one end of the living room to the other. He was bombarded with the scent of Buffy's blood, what he thought was Xander's blood, and arousal. The various scents agitated him. He tried not to breathe, but his demon itched to follow the scent of Slayer blood to the source. The only time he sampled Slayer blood was when he was poisoned and Buffy forced him to take her blood.

Giles heaved a sigh. "Will you sit down before you break something?" Angel's pacing was what forced Giles into the kitchen in the first place. He understood the vampire's nervousness or confusion, but he was driving Giles insane with his muttering and shuffling around.

"How can you be so calm about this?" Angel whipped to face Giles, and he growled. "How long is she going to be up there?" Buffy promised answers once they got Spike home. It had been 45 minutes with no sign of the Slayer. "If she doesn't come down soon, I'm going to drag her down here."

"I'm sure that will make her more willing to talk to you, Angel." Giles' sarcasm laced every word he spoke. "Pillock." He muttered under his breath.

"It's just Spike," Angel said as if that statement alone held all the reasons needed to explain his agitations. "She shouldn't be wasting her time on him."

"I know she would disagree with you on that point." Giles straightened his position on the couch. After everything he'd seen this last week he added, "As do I."

"But ..."

"Spike is worth everything I can give to him." Buffy interrupted the conversation from her place on the stairs. She'd listened with pride on the upstairs landing while Giles defended Spike to Angel.

Angel walked over to the stairs. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs and watched Buffy descend. "I don't know what kind of spells Spike has worked over on you to get you to help him, but we'll figure a way to break it. I won't let him hurt you."

"Hurt me?" Buffy laughed tersely. "Spike wouldn't hurt me. That's your job." Her nerves were on edge. Spike was saved from the dusting her dream predicted, but he wasn't really unharmed. Instead she had a weak, comatose vampire on her hands. Was he still going to end up dust?

Angel placed a hand on Buffy's arm in an offer of comfort. Her words stung, but he chalked them up to a spell influencing her. "I know you're confused, Buffy. I'll stay to help you get rid of him."

Buffy pushed Angel away from her. "Help me get rid of him?" She stormed past Angel into the living room. "That vampire upstairs was willing to give his unlife to protect me. He fought to keep me safe." Her chest heaved with the quick inhalations of air she breathed in to try to calm herself. "He even used a familial claim to keep any Aurelians from harming me."

"You can't honestly believe that Spike cares about your life." Angel huffed in anger. "I can't believe you let him bite you." He knew what was required to complete a familial claim. His demon was enraged that Spike touched Buffy in that way. "He has no soul. Killing Slayers is what he does best."

"You don't know anything, Angel." Buffy slapped Angel hard across the cheek. "How dare you waltz back into my life and assume that you know what's going on. You ignorant asshole."

Angel vamped out in anger. He grabbed Buffy's arms and shook her. "You are acting like an irrational and foolish child. I won't let you endanger yourself this way. Your blood is already all over this level. So something big is happening that isn't good for you."

"Let go of me, or I swear when I get free your heart will meet the pointy end of my favorite stake." Buffy struggled to break free of the enraged vampire's grasp. Unfortunately she was still weakened from the earlier battle and her blood donation to Spike. The emotional drain affected her physical stamina as well.

"How can you say you are fine when you are threatening to kill me, Buffy. I'm not Angelus. You love me." Angel pleaded with Buffy to see reason.

The high strung thwap of a taunt string being pulled into place to ready a crossbow brought all attention back to Giles. "Let her go, Angel." He held his ground firmly and seriously. He tried not to focus on the past, but a part of him would take great pleasure in dusting the creature responsible for Jenny's death.

Angel threw his hands up in the air, stepped back from Buffy, and leaned against the wall. He hadn't missed the glare or glint in Giles' eyes. It reminded him of the night Giles stormed into the factory to kill Angelus. Angelus may have taken pleasure in the pain and anger that radiated off the Watcher, but Angel merely seethed at Buffy's betrayal and took a more neutral stance to avoid a confrontation.

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Spike awoke to raised voices coming from downstairs. He was unable to decipher most of the words, but he surmised the three voices belonged to Buffy, Angel and Giles. His body shook from the effort it took him to get out of bed. He forced himself to stand on wobbly legs. Whatever Dru and Riley knocked him up with, it was wreaking havoc on her supernatural senses and strength. He should have been able to hear every word they were saying downstairs from his position on the bed.

Spike rolled his eyes at the various comments Angel made that he was able to make out. Spike used the wall to lean against as he moved from Buffy's room into the hallway. He wasn't able to fully support his weight yet. 'Stupid wanker.' He growled at the verbal assault thrown at Buffy.

'It's a shame familial claims can't mute the family from insulting as well.' Spike knew the power of words. A few well placed insults or doubts had a stronger effect than a punch to the jaw. Three little words, "You're beneath me", sent him out into the darkness to meet his first death. Those same three words from Buffy almost caused him to take her life in his anger and pain.

Spike fought for the progress of every step. Even though he wouldn't be able to physically protect Buffy from Angel, he needed to be by her side to support her. If the warmth in his body was any indication, Buffy wasn't in the physical form to fight either. He needed to have a talk with her about the timing of her blood gifts. He was worried that she'd weakened herself too much for his sake.

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"Vampires can make one way claims with humans that leave them as nothing more than a slave to the vampire." Angel lectured Buffy on the carelessness of her choices. "He could have recited that ritual instead, and you wouldn't have known the difference until it was too late. He could even have drained you completely."

"Giles and Dawn were in the room with us. He knows all about the rituals." Buffy countered Angel's argument. "Spike even made sure Giles was armed with a stake in case he lost control."

Angel looked at Giles for confirmation of both facts. He was astounded to see Giles nod in the affirmative.

"Even with all that Slayer blood at his disposal, he never lost control of his demon or himself." Buffy grinned with pride. She sent another barb Angel's way, "I never even felt woozy when the soulless vampire bit me, but I seem to remember a soulful one almost killing me. So who should I really be worried about?"

Angel hung his head in shame. He hated the power his demon had over him when he bit Buffy a couple years ago. It was hard to fathom that the younger soulless demon had more control over his bloodlust than he himself had. "His sense of survival probably kicked in because he knew Giles would stake him."

"I think you're grasping at straws, Angel." Giles entered the conversation again in Spike's defense. "He never gave any cause for concern during the ritual. He only remained in his demon mask long enough to bite and satisfy the ritual's need for vampiric family recognition."

"And because of that you trust him not to drain, Buffy?" Angel turned back to face Buffy instead of Giles. "You just got lucky."

"I trust him because he loves me, all of me. He doesn't put me on some pedestal of virtue. The man and demon accept me as I am, faults and all." Buffy nearly growled the words out at Angel. He was really starting to tick her off. It was almost like he wasn't listening to a word she said, and she hated being ignored.

"He's playing you, Buffy." Angel was extremely frustrated. What was going on in Sunnydale that Buffy and Giles were both so accepting of Spike in this way? It was wrong, all wrong. "He'll gain your confidence and then destroy you."

"Head games are your gig, Angelus." Buffy emphasized the name Angel used for his soulless state. The more time she spent with Spike the more she wondered just how separate the demon and man were. Spike seemed to be blended in all aspects human and demon. It was true that oftentimes one part of him was in the dominant role, but even then the other part would still fight through when needed.

"That's not fair, Buffy. You know that I would never ..."

Buffy held her hand up to stop Angel from continuing. "That's right. That was my fault for fucking the soul right out of you."

Giles cringed at the harsh words Buffy threw Angel's way. His inner Ripper delighted in every barb thrown at the vampire. Every bit of pain that he noted on the vampire's face made him feel that he'd gotten back a bit of himself that he'd lost when Angelus killed Jenny. "Buffy ..." His fatherly side placed a warning hand on Buffy. He was worried about how far Buffy could push before Angel snapped.

"No, Giles. I'm tired of this crap." Buffy stepped closer to Angel. "You gave up all your rights for this protective crap when you left for L.A. You don't get to tell me who I can date or have in my bed."

Angel growled low. Just the thought of his unruly Childe sharing a bed with the woman Angel loved made him mad. His demon was enraged that Buffy allowed his unruly Childer to take his place.

"That's right. In. My. Bed." Buffy emphasized each word. "Get used to it because he isn't going to be kicked out of it anytime soon. You see, he is quite the lover, and he's actually still there when I wake up the next morning."

Angel pushed off the wall. He stood right in Buffy's face. He towered over the petite Slayer, and he faced her in fury. "I swear I will kill him myself if you don't give up this nonsense."

Their height difference didn't matter. Buffy stood her ground against her first teenage love. "The last person to try that ended up in the hospital." She poked Angel in the chest. "You will not touch my, Mate."

"Mate?" Giles jumped into the conversation in shock. "I was unaware that you two had formally completed the claiming and mating ritual." He wondered where they found time to finish that one. 'Perhaps it was when I took Dawn to the hospital after the familial ritual.' He pondered the different times Buffy and Spike were alone.

"We haven't, but I want to." Buffy blushed shyly at Giles. "I wanted to ask you for one of your books, and then I was going to talk to Spike about it." She shifted her weight from one foot to another. "I want to make sure that it is something he wants too."

"Something I want?" A shaky voice from the stairs carried into the living room. "Cor, Buffy. I want that more than anything." Spike held onto the railing at the bottom of the stairs to keep himself steady.

Angel vamped out in rage. He stormed over to Spike, grabbed him by the throat and held him off the ground. "How dare you think you can claim what is mine, boy?"

Spike hung from Angel's grasp. He tried to kick out, but his strength was still reduced to practically nothing. He gazed in pain at Buffy.

The twang and swish of a crossbow being fired and the bolt flying through the air to embed itself in Angel's shoulder echoed through the room. Giles hastily reloaded the weapon when Angel turned with Spike in his grasp to face him. Giles aimed the reloaded crossbow at Angel's chest. "The next one will not miss, Angel. That is your last warning. Let. Spike. Go."

Angel threw Spike to the floor in a heap at his feet. He twirled away to the front door. "This is not over, Buffy. I will find out what the Hell is going on to make you do this."

"Nothing is making me do anything!" Buffy screamed at Angel from her kneeled position on the floor next to Spike. She cradled his head in her lap. "I love him, damn it!"

Angel opened the front door, and it slammed into the half wall behind it. "I refuse to accept that." He disappeared out the door into the remainder of the night.

Giles finally relaxed when the door snapped closed on it's own behind Angel. He lowered his crossbow. "I'll go call Dawn and Joyce.

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"Pumpkin Belly," Joyce tried to get Dawn's attention. The teenager's nervousness was starting to agitate her. Between the pain in her head, the worry over Buffy, the fear for Dawn, and now the worry over Spike ... she was quite near the end of her rope. "Please stop doing that."

Dawn looked up from her seat. She stilled the hand drumming its fingers on Joyce's table. "Sorry, Mommy. I'm just so worried. Nothing has ever done that to Spike before. Well, if you don't count the time Buffy dropped an organ on him."

Joyce nodded. "I am sure that Buffy and Giles can handle things." She was trying to be understanding of her youngest daughter's feelings. "He said that he would call as soon as there was a change."

Dawn sighed. "He also said Angel was there. I'm scared he'll do something to Spike, and Spike won't be able to fight back right now."

"Buffy won't allow that to happen." Joyce was interrupted by the ringing telephone. "Hello?"

"Hello, Joyce." Giles started with his return to the living room, and he conveyed everything that happened to Joyce. He sighed, huffed and let his anger out during various parts of the conversation.

Joyce shared in Giles' anger, and she asked Giles if they could have a disinvite spell done. She didn't want to take any chances with Spike's life.

"I'll need to talk to Willow. She would have all of the ingredients more readily available than I would." Giles explained.

"She just walked in." Joyce handed the phone over to Willow. "Giles needs to talk to you."

Willow took the phone. Tara sat down in the chair near Dawn's. Both Dawn and Tara watched Willow while she talked on the phone. "Yes, Giles?"

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Buffy ran her fingers through Spike's mussed curls. "I'm so sorry, Spike." Tears fell down her face to drop on Spike's cheek.

Spike blinked in amazement at the tears in Buffy's eyes. "Shhh ..." He cupped her face with his palm. He still lay in Buffy's lap. His body ached too much to move yet. Even the Slayer blood Buffy gave him before wasn't healing him as fast as he should be. "Angelus can be a right bastard when he wants to. Don't listen to him."

Buffy half smiled. She turned her face to kiss Spike's palm. "I meant what I said to him, Spike. I'm not giving you up." She kissed each fingertip then entwined their fingers together in clasped hands. "I'm yours even without the claiming, Spike."

Spike closed his eyes. He was beyond amazed to hear the words the first time. Hearing them again elated his entire being. "Every ounce of pain Angelus has ever given me was worth it to hear you say that, pet."

Buffy's smile brightened. "Just remember you are mine too, vampire." She mock chastised him. "None of that Alpha Male crap. Been there done that. Equal partners."

Spike laughed. "Always yours, Buffy." He held his aching ribs with his free hand. "Not going to be anywhere but by your side." He worked himself into a sitting position. "Unless I'm over that sweet body of yours making sweet love or having passionate animal sex with you."

Buffy's skin flushed. "No fair to talk like that when you are injured this bad. I don't want to hurt you."

"No pain, no gain." Spike teased.

Buffy slapped his arm playfully. "Heal first. Sex later." She stood up and helped Spike stand the rest of the way up. "Actually sleep first after you get another dose of your medicine."

Spike wrapped his arm around Buffy's waist. Together they walked up the stairs slowly. "Medicine?"

"Yep, Slayer blood. So potent it is only available by prescription from Dr. Buffy." Buffy teased. They walked together to her bedroom.

"We are going to have a talk later about you weakening yourself this much." Spike sat down on the bed followed by Buffy. "You have to be careful, especially if I am unconscious."

Buffy kissed Spike tenderly. "I trust you, Spike." She nestled her face against his cheek when they both laid down on the bed together. "Your demon loves me too in his own way. I know it." She traced circles on Spike's chest.

"I don't want you to ever be proven wrong, luv." Spike moved Buffy's golden tresses off her neck. He licked sensually along her jugular. Her blood pumped closer to the surface, calling to him. "I wouldn't want to live one day longer than you if you were wrong." He sank his canines into Buffy's neck swiftly. He kept his bite shallow, and he drew the smallest amount needed with each pull on her life's blood.

Buffy clutched the back of Spike's head. She purred and moaned in pleasure. Every time he bit her it turned her on more than the last time. She didn't know how she ever lived without the connection that she got when bitten by Spike. It wasn't this way with Angel or Dracula, and it certainly wasn't good when the Master bit her. She felt one with Spike whenever he took her blood into his own body. She felt loved.

Spike listened to the fluttering beat of Buffy's heart. The rapid pacing and pounding was from arousal not weakness. He was careful to keep track of her entire body's reactions to him. It pleased him to know that she wasn't scared of his demon. Instead she welcomed him.

Buffy moaned at the loss the moment Spike's fangs left her neck. Her body tingled while he licked the wounds clean and sealed them. She scooted down a little bit in the bed. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and closed her eyes. "Sleep my love."

Spike's demon was both thrilled and satiated. He loved the taste of Slayer blood, but it was even more precious because it was Buffy's blood. The Slayer willingly gave him blood again. His demon roared inwardly in triumph. His broody assed Sire had no place in his soon to be Mate's life anymore. Every taunting word Angelus sent his way over Drusilla was erased. He had something so much better ... A woman who loved him as much as he loved her. Buffy was his now.

Spike closed his eyes with a smile on his face. His weakened body called out for the rest it needed, and for now he would give in. He drifted off to sleep happier than he could ever remember being before.

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Giles relayed the events of the evening to Willow. She had been downstairs checking on Xander's status when he called the hospital the first time. After he finished he told her, "Do not, under any circumstances, allow Xander to get near Angel. I fear what those two would do together."

"But Xander hates Angel, Giles." Willow wondered why Giles was worried about Xander and Angel working together.

"But they have a common goal to destroy Buffy and Spike's relationship." Giles sighed on his end of the phone. "Common hatred leads to strange bedfellows, Willow. Please do what you can. I don't care if we have to follow him around Sunnydale."

"Xander doesn't have the benefit of Slayer healing." Willow remembered how Xander looked when she peeked in on him earlier in the night. "When I talked to the doctors, they said he'd be here at least a week before they will discharge him."

"That long?" Giles found that out of the ordinary. Usually the Sunnydale hospital wanted people out of there as quickly as possible.

"The doctor said something about complications and security. Whatever that means." Willow rolled her eyes.

"So long as we know where he is at then." Giles' nerves eased up a little bit. At least he wouldn't have to worry about the problem being compounded by having Xander added into the mix. "I need to go check on Buffy and Spike. I should be back at the hospital in a hour or two. I want to make sure they are both settled."

"All right, Giles. I'll let Mrs. Summers know. We're going to bring Dawnie home now. She's pretty tired."

"That sounds fine, Willow. Don't dawdle. Buffy is not up to taking on a Hell God right now."

"We'll be careful."

The phone line clicked after both parties hung up. Willow returned to Tara's embrace for a supportive hug. Giles slipped up the stairs to Buffy's room to watch over his sleeping charge and her vampire lover.

Buffy and Spike held each other snugly. Both sported equally possessive looks on their faces and arms over each other to reassure themselves of the other's presence.

With a sigh, Giles closed Buffy's bedroom door. He swore he'd seen Riley jab a needle into Spike's arm before he went weak. He wanted to head to the cemetery to check out the scene again. Maybe he would be able to find some answers as to what happened to the vampire. If there was a drug that reduced supernatural senses and strength for a vampire, must like there was one for a Slayer, perhaps they would be able to use it against Glory. It was worth checking out.

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Angel paced around the mansion's living room. He was livid. How dare she not only protect Spike, but she admitted to having sex with him and wanting to be mated to him? "Over my undead body." He growled. He picked up a vase and threw it at the wall next to the fireplace. The vase shattered from the force it was thrown with against the hard surface. Bits of china embedded themselves into Angel's coat and hands, but he didn't seem to care.

Cordelia Chase and Wesley Wyndham-Price finally arrived from L.A. as Angel stormed into the mansion. The both looked at each other. Neither one of them wanted to be the one to talk to Angel first. They were in Sunnydale, however, and that gave Cordy a good indication that Buffy had something to do with Angel's mood.

Wesley drew the short blade of grass. "Bloody Hell." With a sigh he entered the mansion first. He walked tentatively closer to Angel. "Hello, Angel." He wished he had a tranquilizer gun with him.

Angel swirled around in a blur of black. "What took you guys so long to get here? You have no idea the Hell I've been living in the last day. This whole town is under a spell or enchantment. They're all insane."

Cordy followed in behind Wesley. She kept her distance from both Wesley and Angel. She was ready to bolt back to the car if necessary. Why hadn't she thought about bringing the crossbow with her from the car? 'Probably because you didn't think you'd need it against Angel, you ninny.'

"Insane?" Wesley queried. Cordelia's visions were quite vague, but he figured something like a while town being under a spell wouldn't have slipped by Cordy's perceptions. "Did you find Drusilla and Spike?"

"Find them?" Angel laughed haughtily. "Dru's dust along with her new Childe. You'll never guess who that was ... Riley Finn."

"Buffy's boyfriend?" Cordelia was the one to speak up with a question this time.

"Apparently they aren't dating anymore." Angel started his pacing again. "You'll never guess where Spike is though." He barreled on in his tirade without letting them answer. "He's safely ensconced in Buffy's house because he is her NEW boyfriend."

Wesley and Cordelia gasped in shock. That was something neither of them expected. "He wasn't trying to kill her then? He was trying to protect her?" Cordy tried to sort out the various images from her vision. She knew Spike was fighting someone in them, and she'd seen Drusilla as well. Had they assumed wrong, and Spike wasn't the one trying to hurt Buffy.

"He has them believing that he wants to protect her. Her Watcher even stood in defense of Spike. He shot me in the shoulder with a crossbow bolt." Angel threw his hands up in the air. "They're all insane. It has to be a spell. I want you both on this right now!"

Wesley and Cordelia both nodded. Wesley dared to make a comment that he knew his employer wasn't going to like. "It is possible that Spike has changed in the time that you've been gone." He stepped away from Angel to make it harder for the vampire to reach him. "You always said that he acted a bit too human for Angelus' liking."

"I will NOT accept that Spike gets to claim Buffy." Angel stared darkly at Wesley and Cordelia. "He doesn't deserve her or the reward of her love." He snarled in hate.

"Angel," Cordelia spoke up to gain Angel's attention. "What upsets you more? The fact that Buffy moved on like you told or to, or is it the fact that she wants to be with Spike?" Her voice held the seriousness in it that her body language mirrored. "You've never been good with accepting that you and Buffy will never be together again."

Angel launched himself in Cordy's direction. He stopped just a couple feet short of the former cheerleader. "Just find out what is going on. I'm not leaving this town until I know how to stop this."

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Hell isn't freezing over any time soon, Angel. Just admit that you've lost her and move on." She turned and walked out of the mansion to get their bags from the car.

Angel turned to Wesley. "You and I are going to investigate where the fight took place. Spike seemed weak, and Buffy muttered something about an injection when she was carrying Spike up to her room." He headed towards the door as he talked, expecting Wesley to follow him without question.

Wesley gave no argument. He kept his position a couple steps behind the vampire while they walked. His research told him that Drusilla was a seer and had an inclination towards magic, but he doubted she was powerful enough to cast a spell on the entire town. He planned to bide his time, do his research, and then hopefully talk some sense Angel.

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(To Be Continued)