Chapter Six

Buffy awoke with a start and then relaxed as she remembered where she was and whose arm was across her body. She turned her head and smiled as she saw Spike gazing down on her. “Mornin’, Slayer,” he said as he pushed her hair back from her face.

“Morning?” she yelped, then groaned as she noticed the light filtering into the crypt around the door. “Oh my god. I stayed all night?”

“Yeah. I didn’t want to wake you. You looked like you needed the sleep.”

(And I didn’t want you to leave).

“How long have you been awake?” she asked curiously.

“Uh, awhile. Not too long. But you know, vampire – nighttime is my daytime……” No way was he going to tell her he had spent hours just watching her sleep and marveling at how beautiful she was.

“Oh, right. Guess it cut into your time – having me here all night. You should have woken me up and sent me home.” (But I’m glad you didn’t).

He touched her chin and turned her face up to his, “There is no place else I would rather have been, Buffy. And nothing more important than being with you.”

(Careful, wanker, you’re going to say something you shouldn’t and scare her away!)

Reluctantly pushing herself away from him, Buffy looked around for her clothes and began pulling them on. “I need to get back to the dorm and think about what I’m going to tell Willow about where I was tonight. I might even go to class today – who knows?” She looked at him over her shoulder as she ran her fingers through her tousled hair. “What are you going to do?”

“Uh, again –vampire, pet. I’m going to sleep. As soon as I can move around outside, I’m going to go looking for this Adam character. Should be somebody at Willie’s can tell me where to find him.”

“I don’t think that’s very safe.....that vamp that got away the other night, he’s seen us together twice. If he tells Adam you’re helping me...” Her forehead knit in worry as she looked at him.

“I’ll be all right, love. Got too much to live for to be careless.” He pulled her down for a lingering kiss. “And, I’ve got two years of missing you to make up for yet.”

Buffy smiled at him and brushed her hand across his cheek as she promised, “And I’m going to make you account for every minute of those two years. But,” she added as she stood up again, “right now I have to get back to the school. I’ll find you later tonight. OK?”

“OK, Slayer. Till tonight.”

Buffy went through the day’s activities with a far-away but satisfied look on her face that had Willow puzzled and somewhat worried. Finally, as they both arrived back at their dorm room to get ready for dinner, she pushed Buffy down onto her bed and ordered, “OK, dish. What’s with the Cheshire cat look today? What don’t I know that, as your best friend, I should?”

Buffy tried her best to look innocent as she replied, “I don’t know what you mean. What look?”

“That one! The one that says ‘I have a wonderful secret’ and I.......Oh, Goddess! Is it Spike?” She stared at her friend with eyes like saucers. “Buffy?”

Buffy tried to look shocked, but finally succumbed to both the guilt of keeping secrets from her best friend and the urge to share.

“Yes,” she said, bowing her head. “It’s Spike.”

Willow struggled to maintain her “supportive friend” face as she asked, “But, Buffy? Evil vampire? Good Slayer? How are these mixy things?”

“I don’t know, Will,” she groaned. “I just know he makes me happier than anyone else every has and I know I need him right now to help me with Adam.” She paused and looked apologetically at her friend, “Are you disappointed in me?”

“Hey, not one to talk about the unconventional relationships here – I mean, werewolf and.....Tara. Although, granted, they are both aliveand non-evil.....”

“Look, Will, I know this is hard to get used to. I’m not used to it either. And I don’t know where it’s going, if anywhere. He’s probably just here to keep his promise to help me with my slaying and when we kill Adam he’ll probably go back to whatever he was doing before....” her voice trailed off as a physical pain shot through her at the thought of Spike’s leaving again. Shaking off the fear that he would leave soon, she focused back on her friend. “Let’s just not tell Giles or Xander yet, OK? I don’t want them to freak.”

“Ok, Buffy. I won’t tell. But Giles isn’t stupid, you know. He might figure it out.”

“I’ll worry about that when the time comes. Right now I want to worry about Spike and Adam.

********
As soon as it was dusk, Spike wandered down to Willie’s and ordered some O Neg and scotch. As he sat nursing his drink, he looked around the room idly wondering which of the demons and vampires there might be working for Adam. (Must be my lucky night) he thought as he saw the vamp that had escaped from them twice come in the door. The scruffy looking vamp picked up a take out order and as he turned to leave, Spike slipped out the door behind him and put his hand on his neck.

The other vampire swung around in game face, then when he saw who was holding him by the neck he groaned and tried to pull away. “Hey, man, I don’t want any trouble,” he whined, looking around. “Where’s the Slayer?”

“She’s busy elsewhere,” Spike replied. “Not that her comin’ and goin’ is any of your business,” he added with a growl and a shake of the other vampire’s neck.

“Right, right, not my business. Got it! No problem.”

“Now that’s settled, take me to Adam,” Spike ordered quietly.

“Uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea, man. Adam isn’t going to want the Slayer’s......”

“The Slayer’s what?” Spike said with a dangerous glint in his eye.

“Urk!” the other vampire said as Spike squeezed his neck. “You....she....”

“Not your concern, mate. Just take me to your leader.” He smirked and laughed. “I always wanted to say that!”

The other vampire shrugged and said, “Your funeral” as he headed off toward Adam’s lair.

As they entered the lair and Adam looked up from his computer console, Spike took in his appearance. (Ugly bloke!) he thought to himself as his guide groveled in front of Adam, apologizing for bringing Spike along.

He stopped speaking as Adam waved his hand dismissively and waited anxiously to see what he would do about Spike. The blond vampire casually lit a cigarette and leaned against one wall as the mechanical/human/demon hybrid approached him.

“So, you are the vampire that is helping the Slayer,” he remarked. “Is there a reason I should not kill you?”

“Well, yeah, you stupid git. Because I can deliver the Slayer to you. Whenever and however you want her.”

Adam shot a look at his minion and said calmly. “I’ve been led to understand that you have some sort of ...relationship... with her. Why would you turn her over to me?”

“The ‘relationship’, which your minion there is too stupid to recognize, is that I have her in a thrall. Have had since two years ago. She’ll do whatever I say.”

“If she’s in your thrall, why isn’t she dead? Why haven’t you drained her? You do drink blood, do you not?”

“Let me explain this in small words so your mechanical mind can understand it – live Slayer in thrall means I can do what I want in Sunnydale. Dead Slayer means a new one is called and I have to fight a new Slayer every time I kill one.”

“Ah, I see,” Adam said. “this is a strategy then, not some kind of unnatural relationship.”

“Exactly” Spike threw his cigarette butt on the floor and crushed it with his boot.

“So, you want to talk to me for what reason?”

“Want to work out some kind of arrangement. I help you and keep the Slayer away, you give me my choice of whatever I want when Sunnydale is yours.”

“I will think about this, vampire. I may ask you to demonstrate your thrall at some point.”

“No problem, mate. Just let me know.”

“Are you believing him?” the minion asked in astonishment. “I already told you I saw him kissing the Slayer. What kind of thrall is that?”

Adam looked curiously at Spike who smirked and shrugged. “The Slayer’s a hot little number. No sense wasting a perfectly good thrall, just cause I’m not going to eat her.”

Adam frowned and shook his head. “This desire for physical contact is one of the things we will eliminate in our new race of warriors. It is an unnecessary use of energy.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Spike replied. “Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.” He straightened up and turned to go. “So, do we have an arrangement? I keep the Slayer away, you give me what I want?”

“I will think about this, vampire. Return tomorrow night and I will let you know my decision.”

Shooting the minion a two-fingered salute, he sauntered out of the cave and headed back to his crypt.
 

Chapter Seven

Buffy was waiting for him when he got to the cemetery. Her facial expressions went from relieved, through happy and directly to brassed off within the few seconds it took for her to see that he was back and in one piece.

“Where have you been?” she exploded at him, fighting the urge to punch him in the nose. “I was worried – “ she was cut off in mid rant as he picked her up and captured her lips with his. She assured herself she would continue to tell him how stupid he was being just as soon as she was tired of kissing him.

He kicked open the door to the crypt and carried her inside, dumping her unceremoniously onto the bed. Before he even looked at her again, he prowled through the crypt sniffing and checking the traps he had left to see if anyone had been in there while he was out. Satisfied that no one had been, he dragged a heavy sarcophagus over to the door and effectively blocked the only way in.

“Spike? What are you doing? Is something wrong?” She jumped to her feet to face him.

“Don’t think so, love. Just don’t want to take a chance on unexpected visitors. Don’t like surprises.”

“Oh,” she said offhandedly, “Then I guess I’d better warn you I’m not wearing any underwear rather than let you find out yourself....” She giggled as he grabbed her and ran his hand under her skirt to check the truth of what she was saying.

He growled into her neck as he ran his hand over her firm cheeks and squeezed them. “You ran around town like this? You shameless vixen. I think you need to be punished.”

“Do you?” she breathed, not really sure what he meant, but liking the look in his eye. “Who’s going to punish me?”

“Big Bad, here, Slayer. I have just the punishment you need,” as he spoke he was pulling her into his lap and he laughed at her indignant “Hey!” as he flipped her over and pulled up her skirt to expose her ass. “Beautiful” he breathed as his hand hovered over her creamy skin. “But you have been very bad, you naughty girl,” he said as he brought his hand down with a hearty smack.

Buffy gasped as his hand came down on her bare skin. The surprise and sting of his hand was quickly followed by a flood of warmth where he had hit her and she was surprised to find it wasn’t at all unpleasant. The next slap was on the other cheek and now both were warm and tingling – as was another part of her anatomy. The vampire kept up the slaps, alternating cheeks until her entire rear was red and warm.

The longer he slapped her cheeks, the warmer Buffy got and she found herself grinding her pelvis into his thighs as he held her lightly in place. They both knew she could have easily escaped any time she wanted to, but curiosity and the growing wetness between her thighs kept her in place. Spike looked at her rosy cheeks and lowered his head.

“Bad Slayer. She’s been punished, now I have to make it better,” he said softly as he kissed and licked until his cool tongue and lips were as warm as the cheeks of her ass.

While he was “kissing it better”, Buffy’s hands were reaching for the buttons on his jeans and when she finally freed his hard shaft she pivoted on his lap and sat facing him, lowering her wetness slowly onto him. He sucked his breath in sharply as she teased him, sliding up and down but not quite letting him all the way in.

“Who’s being punished now?” she purred as threw his head back and growled in frustration. She continued to tease him as long as she could stand it, until she decided it was frustrating her as much as it was him and she suddenly dropped down all the way letting him fill her completely.

The steadily mounting desire brought on by Spike’s spanking as well as her prolonged teasing had them both already close to the edge and it didn’t take very long before she was clenching around him as she screamed his name and he was roaring his pleasure as he thrust into her.

Foreheads pressed together, they rested for several minutes until Buffy straightened up and said reluctantly, “I can’t stay tonight. I promised Willow I’d be back sometime tonight so that I wouldn’t miss class tomorrow. And......and.....” she took a deep breath and held his face in both hands so that she could look into his eyes. “And, I promised Riley I’d meet him for patrol so that we could talk some more.”

She flinched as Spike’s eyes turned golden and his forehead wrinkled, but she kept her hands on his cheeks and stroked them gently.

“It’s just patrol. I promise. I need to do this. I need to find out what he knows about Adam so we can figure out how to kill him. I can’t afford to pass up a chance to get more information just because you....we.....” Her eyes pleaded with him to understand and be Ok with it.

After a tense minute or two, Spike forced his demon back down and sighed as he turned his head to kiss the warm palm resting against his cheek.

“It’s OK, Slayer. I know you need to find out everything you can. I’m not sure how much I’m going to learn. I don’t think the science project trusts me enough to let me in on too much.”

Buffy slumped with relief and put her head against his chest. As she did, she felt his cock, which was still inside her, twitch back to life and she smiled up at him.

“Of course, I do have about 45 minutes before I said I’d meet him.......”

Standing up and keeping her in place while he did it, Spike walked to the bed and stood over it. Buffy’s legs were around his waist and she was squeezing his cock rhythmically as he walked. He dropped to his knees and gently laid her down on the scarlet linens. In a replay of the first time they made love, he slid out of her warmth and began removing her clothes.

Buffy’s whimper when he pulled out soon turned to mews of pleasure as he licked his way around her body while removing her shirt and skirt. In no time they were both naked and she pulled him down on top of her demanding, “In me, now!”

“Bossy bint, aren’t you?” he said with a smile as he complied.

“What’s a bint? Are you insulting me?” she asked as she wriggled under him.

He just shook his head and groaned at the feel of her warm walls clenching around him. “Never mind, pet. You can boss me around anytime. As long as you follow it with something like this anyway,” he smirked.

As he began moving within her, thrusting in as far as he could and adding a twist at the end that rubbed against her clit each time, she completely forgot about being insulted and concentrated on being soundly shagged.

Forty minutes later, as Buffy was collecting her clothing and preparing to leave for her patrol with Riley, she noticed that Spike was once again struggling to control his demon.

“What’s wrong?” she asked softly. “I thought you were OK with this?”

“You’re going out to patrol with another man wearing that short skirt and no underwear. What the hell do think is wrong?” he snarled.

“Oh! I almost forgot!” she giggled as she reached for her weapons bag. While he watched curiously, she pulled out a pair of jeans, a pair of cotton bikini panties, socks and sneakers.

“Ta da!” she said, waving them in his face. “I brought these to change into. The skirt was just for you,” she added shyly, blushing slightly.

“Oof!” she gasped as he swept her into his arms and twirled her around. “So that’s Ok, huh?” She giggled at him again.

“You are amazing, Slayer. Full of surprises, you are.” He put her down and stoked her cheek gently.

(NOT going to scare her away by telling her how much I love her. Don’t care how much that ponce, William, wants to, I’m not going to do it. Will ruin everything.)

Buffy stared back at him, trying to read his face and wondering at the confusion she saw there. She could see that he was struggling with something, but was afraid to think about what it might be.

(Vampire Slayer, here. Incredibly sexy and sweet vampire there. But evil. There will be no falling in love with the evil vampire. None. Nope. Not happening.)

Both blonds simultaneously pulled back and looked away quickly. Buffy pulled on her clothes and grabbed her weapons bag, edging toward the door.

“Well, I’ve got to go now. To meet Riley. To talk...and patrol...and find out about Adam.”

“Yeah, You need to go be the Slayer. That’s what you do. That’s what you are.” Spike walked over to the door and pulled the sarcophagus away far enough for her to open the door and squeeze through.

Buffy’s hand was on the door when she suddenly dropped her bag and leaped onto his body, throwing her arms around his neck. The vampire caught her in mid leap and pulled her into an embrace that would have broken ribs in a human girl.

“Wondered if you were gonna go without a good night kiss, Slayer,” he murmured as he captured her lips and slid his tongue into her waiting mouth.

Buffy was too busy kissing to bother to answer him.

Fifteen minutes later she was walking through the campus with Riley making uncomfortable small talk. Finally the big man stopped and blew out his breath. “Buffy, we’ve got to talk this out. What ever went, or is going wrong between us, we need to work it out. I....I miss you.”

Buffy winced with guilt as she read the truth in his honest open face.

“Riley, I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. I told you what I was very early on and although I know you don’t really understand what I am or what it means, at least I was honest with you. You, on the other hand, didn’t tell me about your involvement with the commandoes until we busted you. You’ve been dishonest with me, you and your men have been capturing vampires and demons to use for weapons, and worst of all, I know you know more about Adam than you’ve told me.”

“I was just trying to protect you, Buffy. I didn’t – don’t – want you to get hurt.”

She shook her head sadly, “My point exactly, Riley. I was Chosen to protect the world. As soon as I was called, when I was 15, the safety of you, your men, and everyone else in the world became my responsibility. You can’t protect me from that. It’s my birthright. When you keep important information from me, you aren’t protecting me, you’re making my job that much harder and more dangerous.”

“Does your birthright include hanging out with vampires?” he asked coldly. “Cause I’ve got to tell you, seeing you walking and talking with the one you told me to leave alone makes me wonder just what you were chosen for.”

“Have you been spying on me again?” A man more familiar with the Slayer would have recognized the dangerous tone to her voice, but Riley was still thinking of her as his girl friend.

“We just happened to be out patrolling when you two passed by. I guess you were so busy thinking about how to slay him you didn’t notice us,” he said sarcastically.

Buffy’s guilt over deceiving Riley about Spike and their relationship was the only thing that kept her from decking him on the spot.

“Look,” she began, running a hand through her hair in frustration, “Spike is here to help me. That’s why I want you to leave him alone. I may need him when it comes time to tackle Adam. Next to me, he’s the strongest fighter around.”

“So, you’ll accept help from a vampire, but not from me?” He made no attempt to keep the pain and anger out of his voice.

“Riley, I can’t do this right now. I’ve got a battle to fight and if you can’t help me by giving me more information about your escaped weapon-“ she almost grinned at his start of surprise.
(Bingo! Now we know Willow’s idea was right)
“Then the most helpful thing you can do is stay out of my way.” She finished talking with her hands on her hips and with a harder look than he had ever seen on her face.

The soldier studied her for a minute, then spit out, “He’s practically indestructible. He has a poisoned skewer that comes out of his left arm, an energy cannon in his right and he’s powered by a small nuclear device in his chest. Unless you can get close enough to rip out his power pack, I don’t know what you can do to stop him.”

She relaxed and allowed her face to soften as she said quietly, “Thank you. And...Riley? I’m sorry. I really am.”

“Yeah, me too.” He spun around on his heel and marched away quickly.
 

Chapter Eight

Buffy did a quick patrol after dark the next evening, then headed for Giles apartment to bring everyone up to date on what she had learned from Riley. She asked Spike to meet her there so that they could plan a strategy.

When she reached the door, she was surprised to find it already open and she got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she entered and saw an over turned table and an unconscious Anya and Tara. Anya appeared to have a vampire bite on her neck, but she was alive and breathing. Tara was clutching a wooden stake in her hand and had a small dusting of something on her clothes.

As Buffy knelt beside the two unconscious women, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and the familiar tingling that meant there was a vampire near. She whirled in time to see a skinny, dark figure trying to escape out the door.

“Hey!” she shouted as she jumped to her feet and sprinted toward the door. She stopped abruptly as she nearly ran into the fleeing vampire – now held aloft wtih Spike’s left hand wrapped around his neck.

“Lose somethin’, pet?” he drawled as he brought the struggling vampire back into the apartment.

“What happened here?” she ground out, ignoring Spike’s question and pinning the vampire with a glare. She was pure Slayer as she pulled the vampire out of his grip and shook him.

Spike watched her in admiration as she held a cross next to the vampire’s face and repeated her question.

“Th-th- the master wanted us to bring him your watcher and the witch. We took the man too just in case.”

“What happened to Tara and Anya?”

“We....we....were hungry?” he offered in a shaking voice. “We tried to eat them, but they fought back and Joe got staked, and then I heard you coming, and-“ his confession was brought up short by the stake Buffy drove through his chest.

By the time Buffy finished with the vampire, Anya and Tara were awake and clinging together as they eyed Spike warily. They confirmed the minion’s story and said Giles opened the door to what he thought was one of Riley’s commando buddies, but which turned out to be a human/robot creature that did not require an invitation to enter the apartment. When he had thrown Giles out of the house, he then invited the rest of the attackers into the building and they proceeded to knock Willow out before she could work any magic on them. Tara had staked the vampire that was attempting to feed on Anya, but was then struck on the head by something.

“Let’s go, Spike,” Buffy said grimly as she headed for the door.

“It’s got to be a trap, love. You know it is.”

“I know,” she sighed, her shoulders slumping. “But what else can I do? I can’t let him turn my friends in mechanical zombies or vampires...”

“All right, pet. We’ll do it. He won’t be expecting both of us. I think I have a plan to get us in safely....”

*************************

As Spike and Buffy strode through the caves to Adam’s lair, the Slayer concentrated on looking dazed as though she was in a thrall. She trailed behind Spike as he confidently walked into Adam’s inner sanctum and began the story they had prepared.

Against the wall Buffy could see Giles, Willow and Xander. Willow’s mouth was taped shut. Buffy assumed so that she couldn’t make a spell, and Giles and Xander were tied up. Willow appeared to be free, but she was guarded by a young minion who straightened up threateningly every time she tried to move.

Adam looked at Spike with his usual lack of expression and said coldly, “And once again you are with the Slayer. Why is this?”

“Saw her headed here with fire in her eye and thought I’d follow along to see if you needed me.” Spike replied with no trace of guile or concern. “Put her back in the thrall first, just in case.”

Behind him Xander was sputtering and cursing as he heard what Spike said. “You see!” he snarled at Giles and Willow. “I told you she couldn’t trust him! He was lying about helping her. Now he’ll-“ he was abruptly cut off as Willow smacked his face and glared him into silence.

Adam studied the young brunette for a minute then turned to Spike to ask, “Her friends knew about the thrall? And they didn’t stop you? I find that very hard to believe, vampire.... they seem to think you were assisting the Slayer. I would find that very.....disappointing.” He stared at the vampire speculatively.

Xander paled as he realized what his ranting had done. He shrank back against the wall as Spike fixed him with a look that clearly promised the imminent removal of his lungs.

“Of course I wasn’t helping them, you git. Had to tell them something to explain the Slayer’s lack of killin’ me, didn’t I? Why don’t I prove it to you by eating that wanker right now?” he growled as he turned toward Xander. He reached for the young man and managed to slash his bonds as he lunged at his throat with his fangs. He shoved the shaking boy into the watcher and slashed his ropes quickly also.

Xander was gibbering in fear and shrinking away from Spike as he screamed, “Buffy, Buffy! Help me!”. Giles, however, was much quicker on his feet and grabbed both sets of ropes and held them behind his back so as not to give away their new unfettered status.

Buffy was saved from the sight of her lover tearing out the throat of one of her friends by Adam’s, “No, I think not. Stop now, vampire.”

Spike appeared to reluctantly pull away from Xander’s throat, leaving only two tiny holes where his fangs had pierced the skin. He looked toward Adam and snarled, “What?”

“I have a better idea. Why don’t you prove your thrall by drinking from the Slayer. Now. Where I can see you.” The cyborg’s voice indicated quite clearly that he was issuing an order.

Spike became, if anything, paler than normal as he turned a panicked face toward Buffy. Before he could do or say anything that would get them all killed immediately, she raised her chin and offered him her throat. Her eyes gazed into his with complete trust and his unneeded breath caught in his throat.

“Come here, Slayer,” he managed to snarl out, never taking his eyes off of hers. He hoped Adam would attribute the long term staring into each other’s eyes as part of the thrall process and not recognize it for what it was – an apology on his part and permission on hers.

When Buffy had walked up to him and once again tilted her head to give him access to her neck, he leaned in to her and whispered, “I’m so sorry, love,” as he slipped his fangs into her throat.

He held her up as he pulled the precious and strengthening Slayer blood into his mouth, taking care not to let his demon take over and drain her. He could feel his body exploding with energy and borrowed strength from her blood and when he felt her begin to weaken, he pulled back and whispered, “I love you, Buffy” as he threw her to Giles.

“Get her out of here!” he cried, as he intercepted the minions rushing to recapture them. With his borrowed power, he was able to hold off the entire group of vampires, whirling, kicking, punching and breaking bones with such speed and strength that they couldn’t get past him to follow the rapidly escaping Scoobies.

Spike’s innate fighting ability, combined with the extra strength provided by Buffy’s blood, allowed him to cripple or dust almost all the minions Adam had with him in the lair. However, even enhanced as he was, eventually the sheer numbers took their toll and he ended up unconscious on the floor at Adam’s feet.

The cyborg shook his head almost sadly and said, “What a perfect example of how incapacitating emotions can be. This one could have been my second in command. Instead, his emotions have turned him into an enemy.”

The remaining vampires, all nursing various injuries inflicted by the unconscious blond at their feet, asked if they could drink from him. They jostled each other to get closer in hopes of tasting some of the borrowed Slayer blood.

To their great disappointment, Adam instructed them to carry Spike to entrance to Initiative’s complex and to leave him on the door step. In spite of his insistence that emotions were a waste of time, he found the thought of Spike’s being experimented on by the Initiative to be very pleasurable.
 

Chapter Nine

Since it was obvious that Giles’s apartment was no longer safe from Adam’s army, the Scoobies hustled to Xander’s house and huddled in his basement room to discuss the situation.

Buffy was furious with them for taking her away and leaving Spike to fight by himself, but had to admit that, weak as she was, she would have been more of a hazard than an aid. Her frustration at having to lie around regaining her strength was making her more short-tempered than usual.

When Xander reminded her for the third time that Spike had bitten her, she threw the empty orange juice carton she had just finished at his head and screamed, “What part of ‘it got us out of there alive’ are you not getting? I’m not dead; I’m not drained; and I’m not really even hurt. Give me another hour and I’ll be fully recovered. That borrowed Slayer blood is what allowed Spike to hold off 40 other vampires while we escaped. I do NOT want to hear about it again!”

She stopped and glared at her friend, with no trace of anything but the Slayer on her face. The young man shrank back away from her in fear. He had seen that look before, but never directed at him and he quickly determined that he never wanted to see it again.

“I’m sorry, Buffy,” he mumbled. “I just thought.....”

She whirled away from him and glared around the room.

“Does anyone else have a problem with what I did?”

The other youngsters all hastened to assure her that they were fine with her decisions. Her watcher met her glare steadily, then nodded his head.

“It was a good decision, Buffy. It would, obviously, not have been my first choice, but it did allow all of us to escape.”

“Not quite ALL of us, Giles,” Buffy said quietly as she turned away so they couldn’t see the tears in her eyes. She blinked them away, then turned back to the room. “I have to find him. I have to know.....” She drew a ragged breath instead of finishing her sentence.

Her surrogate father’s voice was gentle. “Buffy, you know it is very unlikely that he survived that battle. As strong as he was-“ at a look from her he amended his verb. “is, as strong as he is, the chances that he was able to defeat that many other demons, as well as Adam himself.....”

“A chance is a chance, Giles. I won’t believe he’s gone until I see the dust.” She turned away to indicate that she didn’t want to talk about it anymore. She went to the small refrigerator and pulled out another carton of juice. While she drank, she paced the small room impatiently.

While they waited for Buffy to regain all her strength, they were startled by a knock on the door. Xander hesitantly put his hand on the doorknob as the Scoobies moved away from the door and picked up weapons. Buffy got up from where she had been resting on the bed and stood to his side, balanced and ready for whatever came through the door.

“Who’s there?” Xander asked loudly.

“It’s me, Riley. I need to find Buffy.”

At her nod, Xander opened the door and let the burly commando into the room. Riley stopped abruptly when he saw Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies.

“Buffy! You’re all right!” The relief was evident on his face and she softened her look as she answered him.

“I’m alive and not being turned into a robot,” she allowed. “I think all right might be a stretch. What do you want, Riley?” she asked, not unkindly.

“Well, when we found your....vampire....” he tried to ignore her gasp as she turned a hopeful face toward him. “When we found Spike,” he spit out the name as though it was something distasteful, “and saw his condition....”

“Condition?” Buffy wrapped herself in her Slayer persona to keep the quiver out of her voice.

“He was badly beaten. Lost a lot of blood I guess and had some broken bones. Someone had left him at our front door. I guess they thought we could use him. Maggie – Professor Walsh – was happy to have him. Even though he killed two of our men before we got him into the cage.”

He glared at Buffy, daring her to defend the vampire, but she ignored him except to say, “I told you to leave him alone.”

Riley stared at her with disbelief.

“Did you hear me, Buffy? I said he killed two of my men.”

“Did he eat them?” she asked calmly.

“What? No, no of course not. He was fighting them, trying to keep them from putting him in the......” his voice trailed off as she raised an eyebrow at him.

“So,” she said conversationally. “You found someone you knew I was counting on to help me. He was badly injured, but instead of calling me or helping him, you decided to keep him to experiment on and use as a disposable weapon. And when this badly injured...friend... of mine killed two soldiers while trying to defend himself, you decided to come and complain to me?

“Does that about sum it up, Riley?” she asked, slipping immediately into Slayer mode and chilling him with the look on her face.

“He’s a VAMPIRE, Buffy,” he blustered. “A thing.”

“Where is he?” she asked shortly. When there was no response, she grabbed the large man by his shirt and pinned him up against the door. “I asked you where he was, Riley. Tell me. Now.” She emphasized her seriousness by shaking the large man she was holding with one hand and banging him against the wall.

Riley stared back at the girl he had thought he knew and spat out, “He’s in the lab. Being fitted for the chip.”

Before he finished speaking, she dropped him to the floor and pushed him toward the door.

“Take me to him,” she ordered as she grabbed Willow’s hand and pulled her out the door with them.

With Riley as their very reluctant driver and guide, they sped toward the Initiative base. When he balked at helping them get in, Buffy turned toward him and took a deep, calming breath.

“Riley,” she began carefully, “Listen to me. That...man...in there knows where Adam’s lair is. He is capable of fighting over 40 demons at one time and surviving it. He killed two physically enhanced, well-trained commandos while he was suffering from broken bones and blood loss. Do you understand why I want him out here, fighting by my side when I take on your walking proof that demons don’t make good weapons?”

Riley looked back at her and asked quietly, “Is that why you want him out, Buffy? Because he can fight? Or is there some other reason?”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “I so don’t have time for this kind of crap right now. Yes, there’s another reason. There are several other reasons, one of which is that I asked him to come here and help me. I put him at risk and I owe it to him try to save him. Not to mention, he got into that condition saving my life, and we’re wasting time standing here arguing about it!” She whirled around to keep him from reading the guilt in her eyes.

(No need to mention that I think I love him and if anything happens to him I won’t want to live.....)

Using Riley’s ID and knowledge of the facility, they were soon entering the lab where technicians were attempting to implant the controlling chip in Spike’s brain. Buffy burst into the room through the steel door and shoved an angry Maggie Walsh into the wall hard enough to knock her out. The doctor that was working on Spike’s open head glanced up, holding the chip in shiny forceps.

“Do it!” she heard Riley shout behind her. As the doctor’s hand moved toward Spike’s open brain, Buffy screamed, “No!” and rushed across the large, open room. Beside her, Willow took in the scene and threw her hand into the air, fingers pointing at the doctor.

“Away!” she shouted and smiled when the doctor flew back away from the table. The chip flew out of his hand and skittered across the floor. By the time the doctor had stopped sliding on the tile floor, Buffy had reached Spike and was stroking his slack face, searching for signs of life.

She could see blood seeping from his still exposed brain and knew he couldn’t afford to bleed any more than he obviously already had from the many wounds on his body.

The doctor was staring at the two women in fear and curiosity. The daily work with demons and vampires had expanded his scientific notion of what was possible in this world, but a red-haired coed who could knock him down from 20 feet away and a petite blond who could break in a steel door were not on his list of physically possible things.

Buffy noticed him watching her and growled urgently, “Get up here and stop this bleeding. Sew him up – now.”

The doctor took a moment to look at Riley for guidance, but one look from Willow and he quickly approached the table where Buffy was holding Spike’s hand and staring anxiously at his still-exposed brain. When she gave him another glare, he picked up his instruments and began the process of repairing Spike’s skull.

When he was finished and had moved back away from the table, Buffy pulled Spike into a sitting position and patted his cheeks trying to wake him up.

“Come on, baby,” she muttered. “Rise and shine, Spikie.”

When she got no reaction from the limp vampire, she glared at Riley and the doctor, demanding, “What’s wrong with him?”

The doctor hesitated, then at a nod from the Commando, he explained. “He was given blood with drugs to make him sleep. It was the only way to get him in here without risk to our personnel. You really shouldn’t get so close to him,” he added, as Buffy continued to hold Spike up. “ He is quite vicious and dangerous.”

“Not half as dangerous as I’m about to be,” she snarled at them. “Help me get him out of here and maybe I won’t show you how vicious a Slayer can be when her... friends...are abused.”

Riley cast an apprehensive look at the still-unconscious Professor Walsh, then reluctantly agreed to help. Buffy let Spike lie back on the gurney while she and Willow donned technician’s coats. When they were ready, the doctor pushed the gurney out through the broken door and into the main area. Following Riley’s broad back, the walked quickly past any initiative employees they saw, hoping the curious looks would not become actual questions.

Apparently the presence of Special Agent Finn, as well as the doctor was enough to compensate for Willow and Buffy’s lack of ID, and they were allowed to proceed unhampered to an unguarded door that opened near the fence. On the other side of the gate, Xander and Giles waited with the car.

As Buffy and Willow went to push the gurney toward the gate, Riley grabbed Buffy’s arm again. He quickly released it when he felt her muscle grow rigid, remembering how easily she had manhandled him earlier.

“Buffy,” he started, “I know you’re angry at me – us,” he waved his hand to indicate the Initiative complex, “but we’re all on the same side here. We need to stop Adam before he becomes too powerful. Please, let me – us – help you.”

She blew out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding, then nodded her head.

“All right, Riley. You can help us. But I’m going to take care of Spike first. When he’s awake and can tell us what he knows, we can discuss how to get in there and what we need to do to destroy your escaped weapon.”

She started pushing the gurney toward the gate, saying over her shoulder, “I’ll call you later to tell you where we’ll be. You can meet us tonight and we’ll go over things then.”

He looked at the still un-conscious vampire dubiously and asked, “will he be able to tell us anything by then? He still looks pretty--”

“He’ll be fine,” Buffy said cryptically. “I know how to fix him.”

She ignored the shocked look Willow sent at her and continued pushing Spike toward the gate. The red-haired witch hurried to catch up, waving a quick good-bye to Riley as she ran after her friend.

Buffy gently put Spike into the back seat of the car and climbed in after, putting his head in her lap. She gave Giles directions to the crypt Spike had moved in to and settled back against the seat with her eyes shut. Her fingers were gently stroking the vampire’s head as she relaxed for the first time since they had escaped from Adam’s lair.

When they reached the crypt, Buffy insisted on moving Spike by herself. (No reason to let Giles or Xander see this set-up) she though, remembering the soft bed, crimson linens and candles inside. (It looks just like what it is – a place to have lots of mind-blowing sex.)

When she had settled him on the bed -carefully pulling the sheets into some semblance of neatness first - she quickly hid most of the candles, the wine bottle and the chocolates. As soon as she felt that it looked more like a place for a master vampire to bed down for the day, and less like a place for planned seductions, she allowed Giles and Xander to come in.

They glanced around curiously and Xander couldn’t resist commenting, “So this is where evil bloodsuckers stay when they can’t get a motel room. Got to say, Old Drac’s castle had a lot more class.”

Giles had no comment and his continued silence was making Buffy very nervous. Somehow she was sure that he wasn’t being fooled at all about her relationship with the blond vampire. However, as long as he didn’t say anything to her, she was more than willing to pretend he didn’t. Denial was no problem for the Chosen One. No problem at all.

Giles insisted that his apartment would be perfectly safe now that they knew what to be wary of, and he wanted to get back there to see what else Willow could find on-line about Adam or creatures like him. And, he wanted to get to his weapons chest and be sure they had everything they would need for the planned attack.

When he suggested they all leave, Buffy stared at him steadily as she said, “I need to stay here with Spike. I’m not leaving him defenseless. As soon as he’s OK, we’ll meet you there.”

Her Watcher looked at her grimly. “Buffy, I don’t thin-“

“Giles. It’s my decision.”

Only Willow had any idea what the staring contest was about. Xander was looking back and forth between the Slayer and her Watcher in bewilderment.

“I know I’m missing something here, Will. Care to fill me in?”

“Uh – no, no I don’t know what you’re talking about Xander. Just Buffy and Giles having a.... conversation.”

The staring contest between Buffy and Giles could have gone on much longer, but the Slayer finally turned away and walked further into the crypt saying over her shoulder, “We’ll see you later this afternoon – or tonight.”

The older man clenched his jaw, but managed to grit out, “I hope you know what you’re doing”

“I do, Giles. Believe me, I do,” she answered softly. Her eyes pleaded with her only father figure to understand.

Shaking his head, he finally turned away and walked out the door, calling to Willow and Xander over his shoulder as he did so.

Chapter 10

When the group had left and Buffy had dragged the sarcophagus over to the door again, she finally took a good look at the still-unconscious vampire. She could see the bruises, bites, and scratches from his fight with Adam’s minions. She could also see the edges of his broken ribs pushing through the skin on his chest. She knew, from Riley’s description of him, that there were other broken bones hidden by his jeans.

In spite of the drugged blood that he had been given at the Initiative, very little healing had actually taken place; no doubt due to the additional trauma of having the top of his skull opened and his brain poked and prodded. The incision of the top of his head still oozed slightly around the hasty stitches that the doctor had taken to close the wound.

Buffy sank down beside the battered vampire and allowed tears to flow down her cheeks for the first time since they found him.

“Oh, Spike,” she murmured, as laid her cheek next to his. “I’m going to make it better, baby. I promise.”

Clearly there was no way the comatose vampire was going to be able to drink from her through a bite, so Buffy searched the crypt until she located a knife that looked sharp enough to do what she needed it to. Sitting as close to Spike as she could get, she gritted her teeth and ran the knife across her wrist. She pressed the now-bleeding wrist over his mouth and verbally encouraged him to drink.

“Come on, Spike, Slayer blood. Take it, please. You know how good it made you feel the last time.......Made you fight like a....like a champion. Take it now and get better. For me. Please?”

As she spoke, she was prying his lips open and dripping blood into his mouth and onto his tongue. Without opening his eyes or giving any sign that he was aware of what was going on, the vampire growled and fastened his mouth on her wrist.

As soon as she felt him sucking hard, Buffy relaxed and let her self sink down beside him on the bed, careful to keep her arm where he could reach it. She was surprised to find there was no pain, and in fact, she was feeling a pleasantly euphoric sensation that extended to parts of her body not at all connected to her wrist.

When she felt herself getting light-headed, she remembered that he had already drunk from her once in the last 24 hours and realized she probably wasn’t back to 100% herself. Reluctantly, she sat up and got ready to pull her arm away from his mouth. To her surprise, he let go the instant she moved and when she looked at him, he was staring at her in awe and adoration. The intensity of the devotion in those incredible blue eyes was so strong that she almost flinched. Instead, she smiled at him and said softly, “Welcome back. I thought you were going to sleep all day.”

“Feel like I already have,” he smiled back at her. “Amazing stuff, your blood. A bloke could grow addicted to it.”

She flushed and looked away, “Yeah, well don’t think it’s gonna become a habit. ‘Cause that would mean you were getting hurt all the time and I...” she looked back at him with complete honesty, “and I think I’ve seen all of that I want to for a long time.”

“Me too, pet. Me too,” he sighed and pulled her back down beside him. “So, Slayer, what did I sleep through?”

Buffy snuggled up beside him and rested her head on his chest. She tried to surreptitiously check his ribs for healing, but he felt what she was doing and stopped her hand gently.

“They’re healing, love. I can feel them knittin’ themselves back together. Jus’ need a little more time and maybe more blood.”

“Oh!” Buffy jumped up quickly, then fell back against him when dizziness caused her to almost black out.

“Easy, love.” He rumbled with concern. “I been takin’ too much out of you recently for you to be leaping around like that. Stay put for a while.”

“No,” she insisted as she sat up again more slowly. “I’ll be all right. I need to get to the cooler and get you some more blood, and some water or something for me. We need to get ourselves back up to speed as soon as we can.”

Moving much more slowly, she stood up, stretched and walked to the cooler where Spike had been keeping his bagged blood and the goodies he had bought for her. She took out several bags of O Neg, and several bottles of water and the chocolates.

He watched her walk back to the bed with her supplies and knew he was hopelessly hers forever. When she presented her throat to him in Adam’s lair, he was humbled by the trust she was showing him and he blurted out his feelings, thinking he was probably going to be dust before she got home. He knew it was only because it was necessary to give them time for the escape attempt, but his heart had rejoiced all the same.

To wake up and find her again sharing her powerful blood with him; this time for no other reason than to help him heal..... The poet in him struggled to find words to express how completely he was hers to do with as she wished. His demon, on the other hand, was demanding he claim her. That he make that incredible blood and the woman it came from his forever. He fought to push the demon back, knowing his place was as her willing slave – not her partner.

Completely oblivious to the thoughts going through the vampire’s head, Buffy sat back down and shyly handed Spike the bags of blood.

“I don’t think I can give you any more right no-“ she was interrupted by the vampire’s “Bloody hell, woman!”

She blinked at him in surprise and hurt. “I...I’m sorry. I just don’t think....”

(Is he mad at me because I don’t have any more Slayer blood to spare? Who the hell does he think he is?)

He could see the anger replacing the concern on her face and hastily completed his thought.

“I meant, you silly bint, that you’ve already given me more than you should have. For god’s sake, Buffy, don’t be apologizing to me because you can’t let me drain you! You’ve already done more me than I have any right to expect. More than I deserve....”

As quickly as it had risen, Buffy’s anger dissipated. “You saved us all, Spike. You could have...died.” She allowed him to see in her eyes exactly how she would have felt if that had happened. “You deserve whatever you need to recover from it. And if that means more of my blood, then more of my blood is what you get.”

He looked into her expressive green eyes and tried to control the hope he was feeling at what he thought he saw there.

(Don’t read too much into, mate. She’s just feeling grateful and her sense of fairness is making her do and say things she doesn’t really -)

His internal scolding was interrupted by Buffy’s soft, warm lips as they met his and she murmured against his mouth. “I thought you were....gone. I don’t ever want to feel like that again. Promise me you won’t every leave me. Promise me.”

He groaned and folded her in his arms, ignoring the pain in his ribs. “I will never leave you, my love. I’m here for as long as you want me to be. Nothing could make me leave you now.” He buried his face in her neck, licking the wounds from his bite the day before. Again, his demon was screaming for him to claim her and his inner poet was begging him to grovel at her feet.

When Spike’s tongue went across the almost healed bites on her neck, she felt the tingle all the way down to her toes.

(How can a lick feel that good? Makes me want to.....No! Bad Slayer thoughts. I do NOT want him to bite me again. That would be very wrong, and bad, and.....really, really hot. Gah! Not thinking that! Not, not, not!)

Spike felt her heart rate go up and her body tense slightly. He immediately stopped licking, but couldn’t resist smiling when he heard her whimper softly at the loss of his tongue on her neck.

“What’s wrong, love? I’m not goin’ to bite you again. I promise.”

Buffy buried her blushing face in his neck and mumbled, “That’s what’s wrong. I think I want you to! Something must be very wrong with me!”

Spike brought her chin up so he could look into her eyes. His hand was trembling as he lightly held her face up.

“It’s the bite, love. My demon wants to claim you and you’re feeling those affects through the bite. ‘S my fault. When I bit you, I was thinkin’....”he paused, wondering if she remembered or had even heard what he said as he finished drinking from her in the cave.

She looked at him with sudden understanding. “You were thinking...you said.....” she couldn’t finish, but Spike did it for her.

“I was thinking jus’ what I said. I was thinking I love you – more than anything in the world. That I would die for you if I had to. That’s so close to a claiming, my demon must have started to feel it. And he’s making you feel it,” he added softly. “I’m sorry, love. I think it’ll fade away as long as we don’t –“

She met his eyes steadily and stated firmly, “We won’t. Now. But someday we will. If your – if you still want to.” She ducked her head shyly and missed the look of complete and utter joy that crossed his expressive face.

When he could finally speak coherently, he pulled her into his chest again and whispered against her hair, “I will always want to, love. Never doubt that. But it doesn’t have to happen. Don’t ever think that it does. I’m yours forever.”

He held her gently for several minutes, then realized she was falling asleep. Shaking her gently, he tried to get her to sit up and drink the water she brought over.

“Com’n, Slayer,” he coaxed. “No sleeping until you’ve put all that liquid back. See, I’m drinking my blood right now.” He sounded almost like a parent trying to get a child to eat.

Buffy sat up long enough to drain both bottles of water, then snuggled back into his side and pulled the quilt up around them.

“Sleep now,” she mumbled against his neck. “Kill Adam later.”

The vampire’s eyes drifted shut as he joined her in the healing sleep they both needed. “A’right, pet. Sleep now. Kill later.”

The next time either of them awoke, Spike’s vampire senses told him it was late afternoon. He tried to read his body without actually moving it and disturbing the fragile-looking girl sleeping in his arms. He could tell the bones were knitted and healed, and most of the cuts had closed up. He gingerly felt the top of his head and wondered briefly how he got so injured up there. He frowned slightly as he felt the stitches and looked down at the sleeping Slayer.

The slight movements he’d been making were enough to interrupt Buffy’s dreamless slumber and she stirred and stretched before turning to smile up at him.

“Hey,” she said softly when she met his soft gaze.

“Hey yourself, pet,” he smiled down at her. “How do you feel?”

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that? You’re the one that was all beat up. All I did was donate a little blo-“

She was interrupted by his, “All you did was everything. It was everything.”

Buffy blushed and changed the subject. “So, bones all back together? Wounds healed? Head....” she stopped, remembering that he didn’t know what had almost happened to him.

“Uh, yeah, about my head....” he looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

“Do you remember anything after we....left the cave?”

“Remember one helluva fight,” his eyes lit up briefly as he thought back to his one-man war in Adam’s lair. “Think I might a’ lost it though.”

“You think?” she snarked at him. “Do you remember anything else?”

“I dunno. Think I remember fightin’ with Capt’n Cardboard and his toy soldiers, but I guess I was just dreamin’ and wishin’. Know they weren’t there.”

Buffy sighed and proceeded to fill him in on what had happened to him and what was about to happen when they found him. He seemed more disturbed at the thought that he’d killed two of the commandos than he was at his close call with the behavior modification chip. He studied Buffy’s face as he asked carefully, “So, I killed two of those military wankers......”

He waited for her to tell him how wrong it was of him to kill humans, but to his surprise she just muttered, “I told them to leave you alone. Stupid soldiers.”

“So you’re OK with that? That I killed two humans?”

“Well, I’m not feeling real cheerful about it,” she allowed. “But they WERE soldiers, and they were trying to cage you, and you didn’t eat them – so it was self-defense. Not slay-worthy,” she finished, smiling up at him.

He just shook his head. “You continue to amaze me, love.”

Buffy blushed and ducked her head shyly. Somehow all the things that were so bothersome to her Watcher felt so right when she was around Spike. She knew that Giles, at least when he was feeling Ripperish, was okay with violence toward humans when necessary. But she also knew that he would see no gray areas when it came to a vampire killing humans whatever the reason. She wasn’t looking forward to the conversation she knew they were going to have once Adam was defeated.

Sighing slightly, she put it out of her mind for the time being and simply asked, “How do you feel? Do you think you’re ready to go with me to Giles’ apartment and talk strategy?”

“Yeah, I’m workin’ on being fine. Let’s go kill things.”
 

Chapter 11

When the Slayer and her vampire walked into Giles’ apartment, they braced themselves for the condemnation they knew was coming. Buffy had wrapped her cut wrist and was wearing long sleeves, but she knew that was not fooling Giles or Willow. The very fact that Spike was up and bouncing on his toes ready to fight again was a dead giveaway as to how he got better.

To the vampire’s great surprise, she took his hand in hers and walked in to face her surrogate father and her friends. There was silence for several long seconds as the Scoobies read the silent message in front of them. Buffy kept Spike by her side, making no attempt to hide their linked hands, long enough to be sure everyone got the picture.

When the expressions of surprise and/or horror had faded to resignation, Spike gave her hand a little squeeze and moved away from her to sprawl in a chair.

“Well then, Rupert. What’s the plan?”

He forced the Watcher to meet his eyes and read the truth of his feelings there. After several tense seconds, Giles nodded slowly and everyone relaxed.

“We’re just waiting for Riley and his men –“ everyone flinched as the vampire snarled and went into game face. At a look from Buffy, he forced his demon back and slumped back in the chair. When he was sure that was the end of Spike’s comments, Giles continued, “ When they get here, we’ll decide where and how we want them to start the distraction so that Buffy” he paused and looked back and forth between his Slayer and her vampire, “and you can get into the lair.” He leaned back and added, “Although I’m still not sure how you two will be able to kill something that powerful.”

“Think Red can give us a bit of mojo?” the blond cocked his eyebrow in Willow’s direction. “Just enough to get us close to him. I think we can do it from there.”

“I can hide you for a while. Maybe work a cloaking spell like the one Tara did on the demons last month.....but sooner or later he’s going to know you’re there.”

“He’ll know the Slayer’s there – I’m not so sure he’s wired to pick up on a demon’s scent. He’s all about the mechanics and technology. Don’t think he’s ever been up against a master vampire before.”

Buffy was looking at him suspiciously. “What makes you think he won’t see you?”

He grinned at her and shot a look around the room at the other Scoobies. “Jus’ because I don’t use all those gypsy tricks like Drac does, doesn’t mean I can’t, pet. I can be pretty invisible and stealthy if I want to be.”

She looked at him dubiously. “Then why am I still alive? How come I wasn’t Spike-lunch the first time we met?”

He looked at her and ignored the other people in the room. “Because it was all about the fightin’ with you. Not so much the killin’. Wouldn’t have been any fun if I’d snuck up on you, now, would it? Where’s the sport in that?”

He grinned as she turned crimson, remembering their first time together and the fight that preceded it. Giles cleared his throat, interrupting them. “Yes, well, if we can get past this little trip down memory lane.....”

The knock on the door was a welcome interruption and Anya hastened over to open it. Outside stood Riley Finn and several of his commando buddies.

The atmosphere in the room became thick with tension as the soldiers looked at the vampire that had killed two of them, and the vampire glared back at the men who had almost neutered him. Buffy stepped as casually as she could between her lover and her ex-boyfriend, poised to jump if she needed to separate them.

To Spike’s surprise, Willow slipped over to his chair and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. When he blinked up at her, she gave him a small smile and said, “Let’s go talk about that mojo, okay?” When he saw the pleading look in Buffy’s eyes, he lowered his own gaze and swaggered into the kitchen in the witch’s wake. His vampire hearing allowed him to follow the conversation in the living room while still talking to Willow about how long they would need the spell to last and what it needed to conceal.

Riley gave up any last hope of salvaging his relationship with Buffy when she launched into a discussion of the plan for killing Adam. She was all business and treated him no differently than she did Forrest or Graham. One soldier to another, she laid out their plan and told them what she needed them to do

. If they could launch a serious enough looking decoy attack from the Initiative itself, she and Spike would slip in through the cave entrance and hopefully catch Adam when he had few or no minions around to help him.

“You’re sure the power pack is in the front?” she asked. “I won’t get more than one shot at it, I’m pretty sure.”

“Yes, but I still don’t see.....how are you planning to remove it?” Forrest asked in genuine confusion.

“Spike will hold him while I rip it out of his chest,” the Slayer said calmly as though she pulled internal organs out of things all the time.

A chill went through Riley as he realized that she very likely did exactly that from time to time. For the first time, he really understood the deadly power contained in that small body and got a sense of the darkness behind it. Suddenly it didn’t seem so strange that her slaying partner of choice might be a vampire, or that she might have feelings for what was to him a completely unnatural and evil being.

With a sense of relief, he let go of the last vestiges of his emotional attachment to the small blonde and mentally stepped back to observe and admire her.

When Spike and Willow returned to the living room, there had been a noticeable change in the room’s dynamics and they stopped to study it for a minute. The witch quickly picked up on the different vibes coming from Riley and Buffy and Tara nodded at her to indicate that she read the auras that way too. Much of the tension in the room had dissipated and everyone appeared much more relaxed.

Spike studied the big soldier for a minute and noted that his demon wasn’t picking up any trace of threat to his claim. When Riley met his eyes and nodded slightly, the vampire resisted the urge to smirk at him and simple nodded back before crossing the room to stand beside the Slayer.

Chapter 12

The commandos left to begin their assault on Adam’s lair from within the Initiative complex, and the Scoobies left to assemble near the cave entrance that Spike and Buffy were planning to use. All had agreed that Buffy and Spike would wait until the battle was well underway before approaching the inner caves. The hope was that all or most of the minions would have been drawn off to the fight, leaving Adam alone in front of his computer monitors.

At a signal from Xander, who was holding the walkie-talkie and thoroughly enjoying playing soldier, Willow, Giles, Spike and Buffy entered the caves. As they had hoped, the caves were very lightly guarded.

In spite of Adams’ disdain of any human emotions, he was not immune to arrogance himself and clearly felt invulnerable in his lair. Buffy easily dispensed with the few vampire and demon guards they met on their way in. When they knew they were just outside the control room, Buffy nodded to Willow and she began the cloaking spell.

As soon as Buffy and Spike became invisible, Willow nodded to Giles and they retreated to the outer cave area. With a quick squeeze to Buffy’s hand, Spike pushed open the door and slid into the lair. He immediately moved up the wall, using small hand holds in the rock to climb up to the ceiling. Buffy made a mental note to remember that some vampires can climb like spiders before she eased into the room after him and hugged the wall.

Adam raised his head suspiciously, and sent his infrared eyes roaming the room. When he got to Buffy, the heat of her body triggered an image on his brain and he smiled to himself. Without letting her know he had seen her, he allowed his gaze to continue to track around the room and up to the ceiling. However, Spike’s lack of body temperature meant that there was no image to pick up and the cyborg’s eyes went right past him. Adam walked in the general direction of the Slayer, then suddenly reached out and grabbed her by the throat.

Lifting her up off the ground, he tilted his head as though he could see what he was holding and asked her, “Did you really think you could beat me, little girl?”

Buffy brought her feet up and kicked out into the monster’s chest, freeing her throat and allowing her to croak out, “Thought crossed my mind, yeah.”

She flipped backwards and went into a fighting stance.

Adam shrugged and said, “I don’t have time for this human posturing.”

He raised his right arm and prepared to blow her to pieces with his energy cannon. Just as she rolled toward him on the ground to avoid the blast, Spike dropped from the ceiling and pinned Adam’s arms behind him.

“Now, Buffy!” he shouted, knowing that his hold was very tenuous and not likely to last long.

Adam registered some surprise at finding another opponent in the room, but quickly recovered and pulled his arms loose, reaching around to grab the vampire. As he threw Spike across the cave and into the wall, Buffy finished her forward roll and popped up in front of him. His arms were in the air over his head, preparing to throw Spike and he could only watch as the Slayer plunged her hand into his chest and pulled out a glowing orb.

Momentum allowed him to complete his toss of the vampire, but before his dismay and astonishment could fully register on his face, he was falling toward the Slayer, crashing to the floor with her under him.

For long seconds it was very quiet in the room, then the blond vampire lifted his head and crawled toward the collapsed cyborg. He could see Buffy’s hair behind her on the rocky floor, but her body was completely hidden by the much larger monster’s inert frame.

“Buffy? Slayer? Talk to me, love. Are you alright?”

Muffled curses from underneath the heavy, partially metal body indicated that she was at least alive. With Spike’s help, she was able to lift the body enough to worm her way out from under it. She lay beside him on the dirt, panting and gingerly touching her ribs where the mechanical monster had fallen on her. She rolled her head over to look at the equally battered vampire. Blood was seeping from the lump on his head where he’d met the rocky wall of the cave.

“I think we won,” she said with a small smile.

“Yeah, pet. I think we did.” He smiled back at her tenderly.

“Yea us.”

They rested for another few minutes, then Buffy sat up groaning and pulled on his arm. “Come on. Let’s get out of here and see how everyone else is.”

Spike staggered to his feet and swayed briefly before straightening and offering her his arm. “At your service, milady.” He smirked at her and tucked her hand in his before leading her out of the now-abandoned room.

************

When everyone had checked in and casualties had been taken care of, the Scoobies decided to head back to Giles’ apartment to relax. The commandos had done a good job of destroying most of Adam’s minions and those that escaped had appeared to be leaving Sunnydale as quickly as they could. When Riley saw the bleeding, battered Slayer and her vampire, he tried to smother the urge to take Buffy to the nearest hospital and watched instead as they laughed and joked about their injuries.

Spike made gentle fun of the Slayer’s language when he found her pinned under Adam, and she mocked him for his flight across the lair and into the wall. Neither one seemed overly worried about the injuries they clearly had sustained in the short fight and that, more than anything else that he had seen, gave Riley some insight into exactly how different Buffy’s life was from other girls’.

He stared at the compact blond at her side her, but when Spike sent him what was clearly the British version of a “fuck off” gesture and Buffy did nothing but shake her head and smile, he turned and marched off after his men. If he hadn’t been sure before, their behavior now made it very clear that not only could he not compete with the vampire; he wasn’t even in the running any more.

Buffy was sitting in Spike’s lap in the crowded car, her head resting on his chest. As they passed the cemetery, Spike spoke suddenly. “Oi, watcher. Let us off here, mate.”

Buffy raised her head sleepily, saw where they were and dropped it again after agreeing, “Yeah, Giles. We can get off here.”

There was a tense silence in the car as her Watcher met the eyes of the vampire. He looked at Spike steadily and asked, “So, Spike. Now that you’ve given Buffy the help she requested with Adam, I guess you’ll be anxious to get back to.....wherever you were before?”

He held the vampire’s eyes and hoped the message he was sending was coming in loud and clear.

Spike looked back at him steadily and answered with no trace of his usual cockiness, “I guess that’d be up to the Slayer. Don’t think I want to be that far away from her anymore. Just in case she needs me again,” he added for the benefit of the other Scoobies.

“We all want what’s in her best interest, don’t we?” Giles refused to give up the subject.

“Hey! Right here in the car!” Buffy sat up to complain. ”Giles, just drop it. Please”

Her Watcher sighed and remained silent as his surrogate daughter and the vampire who loved her got out of the car. He drove off and left them standing at the gate to the cemetery, holding hands like they had just left a movie.

Chapter Thirteen

Several hours of healing sleep later, the small blond woman stirred and turned to face the man spooning her body. When he didn’t respond except to shift his legs to allow her to press up against him, she reached up and began pressing kisses along his jaw line and down his throat. When she bit gently into his throat with her blunt little teeth, he growled softly and opened heavy-lidded blue eyes that darkened with passion as he looked at her.

“Do you want somethin’, Slayer?” he rumbled as he pulled her closer to his chest. “Somethin’ I can do for you?”

Buffy felt the usual thrill run through her body when his growl vibrated against her, and her breathing got faster as she felt his body responding to her. Although both Slayer and Vampire were still sore and tired, Spike pulled her leg up over his hip and slid into her already wet entrance gently.

As she lay on her side facing the vampire, feeling him filling her as only he could, Buffy could almost believe that they were just an ordinary couple. The touch of his cool fingers on her ass as he pulled her hips toward him reminded her very quickly that this was not an ordinary man and that life with him could be very complicated.

They sighed together, content for the moment to remain connected without feeling any urgency to proceed.

“I wish we could stay like this forever,” she whispered into his chest.

“Nothin’ lasts forever, love. You know that,” he replied, kissing her forehead.

She stuck her lower lip out in a small pout and grumbled, “Well, I want it to. I don’t see why not.”

The vampire smiled and gently pulled on her lower lip with his teeth. “Well, because then we couldn’t....” he rotated his hips carefully, rubbing her clit just enough to make her gasp.

“Oh! Well, that would be not good. Because this is...” she used her internal muscles to squeeze his cock rhythmically making him groan in pleasure. “...good,” she finished breathlessly.

They were soon moving easily against each other, each trying to provide maximum pleasure with minimal pain and damage to already battered bodies. Bruises and cuts were soon forgotten as their desire built and they fell against each other shuddering with the force of their release. They stayed intimately connected as Buffy’s breathing and heart rate returned to normal and the vampire gently stroked the silky skin on her back. Suddenly he took an unnecessary breath and looked down into her questioning eyes.

“Sla- Buffy, you know how much I love, don’t you?” He willed her to see the truth of it in his eyes. “I would die for you. And I don’t ever want to do anything to hurt you...”

Buffy looked up at him with the first glimmer of fear in her eyes. “Why does it sound like there’s a really painful ‘but’ lurking in there somewhere?” she asked calmly.

He sighed again and pulled her tightly against him.

(I’m not a strong enough man for this. Know it’s the right thing to do, but....)

“Buffy,” he finally said, “Your Watcher is right. If I was lookin’ out for your best interests, I’d leave here immediately. Before the Council of Wankers finds out, before your friends figure it out... “

She felt a ball of ice in her chest as she realized what he was saying. “You’re going to leave me?” she asked in a very small voice. “You don’t want to stay with me?”

“More than anything in the world,” he breathed into her ear as he clutched her harder. “You’ve got no bleedin’ idea how much. But the Council of Wankers will never let you...... and you’ll never be able to have a normal life if I’m in it.”

“Hello! Vampire Slayer here! Not expected to live past 20! Fights vampires and demons every night. Lost her virginity to a 126-year-old master vampire. Fell in love with said vampire. Saves the world every spring...stop me when I get to something that sounds remotely normal to you.”

Her voice had risen as indignation replaced her fear of rejection.

(Who does he think he is, making decisions about my life for me? Him and Giles - talking about my future like I have nothing to say about it!)

As she ranted, she had pushed herself up away from him and was now sitting on him, still impaled on his rapidly hardening cock and glaring down at his smiling face.

“I don’t know what you’re smiling about,” she growled at him. “I’m mad at you! How could you even think about making that kind of decision without talking to me about it? What about the claim?”

He continued to gaze up at her, admiring the way her breasts moved with her indignant huffing and the animation on her face. He could almost feel his demon and William wrestling with each other for dominance. William, of course, wanted to do the noble thing and leave Buffy to go back to her life. The demon was raging against any suggestion that he leave this woman to whom he was almost mated.

Buffy’s voice and expression softened as she watched the war of emotions going on behind those intense eyes. “What about the claim?” she repeated softly. “Doesn’t that make me yours? Don’t you want me?” She unconsciously squeezed him with her internal muscles as though her body was trying to cling to whatever part of him it could.

With a groan, he lost himself for seconds in the sensation of being sheathed in her wet heat, surrounded by everything Buffy. He fought his way back from the urge to surrender to his demon’s demands and said hoarsely, “We never really completed a claim, love. It will fade over time and ...and...we could move on to other.....”

Suddenly the worried girl was gone and the Slayer was staring down at him. “You try moving on, vampire, and I’ll ....”

Too quick for him to realize what she was planning, Buffy dove toward his neck and bit down as hard as she could with her blunt human teeth. She didn’t stop, in spite of his bucking beneath her, until she had drawn blood. Then she kissed the wound and said softly, “Mine. You’re mine, Spike.”

At the first pinch of her teeth on his neck, Spike’s demon threw William completely out of the contest. When hefelt her break the skin, the demon emerged in all it’s primal glory. With a roar, he fastened his fangs onto her throat and answered her claim with his own. He slipped his sharper teeth easily into her soft skin and pulling fiercely he growled, “Mine.”

Visions of William, his mother, Cecily’s cruel comments, Drusilla, pain, darkness, clawing desperately out of a grave, Angelus, Darla, bloodshed, other Slayers, running over the Sunnydale sign, watching Buffy, fighting with Buffy, making love to Buffy on the damp grass of the graveyard – all those scenes flashed through the Slayer’s mind as she swallowed the blood on her tongue and felt the vampire’s pull on hers.

As they shared the blood from their wounds, the intimacy between the two supernatural beings increased exponentially. Neither one could say where he/she left off and the other began. The swirl of emotions and memories made them both dizzy. Without actually moving, the still-connected couple was suddenly shaken by orgasms so powerful that they both lost consciousness. They fed on each other’s ecstasy in a continuous loop that only ended when their overloaded brains were no longer able to experience it.

When Buffy came to her senses, she found that she was still sucking gently on Spike’s neck as he licked her softly and purred into her throat.

“Whoa,” she gasped. “That was....was....Help me out here, poet.”

She laughed as Spike winced at her newfound knowledge about William’s life before he was turned. He smiled ruefully with her, then his expression turned serious.

“It was forever, love. I hope you’re ready for that.” He stroked her face, letting her see how shaken he was by the experience and how much it meant to him.

She gazed back at him and answered with complete honesty, “As long as you’re with me, I think I can be ready for anything. I love you, William.”

Epilogue

“Well, Spike, we’ve faced Giles and the Scoobies, we’ve faced down the Council and got them to agree to leave us alone as long as you aren’t killing; this is all that’s left. Are you up for it?”

The 145-year-old master vampire looked around nervously and slowed down his usual ground-covering strides.

“I dunno, pet. You mother doesn’t keep any axes around the house, does she?”

She smiled at the reminder of how her mother had interrupted his quest to kill his third Slayer at Back to School Night. It seemed like much more than two and half years ago that Spike had first come into their lives.

“Trust me, if my mother wants to make someone uncomfortable, she doesn’t need any weapons,” Buffy said wryly.

“Well that’s bloody encouraging, love. Why don’t I just wait out here while you explain things to her....”

He paused on the sidewalk and looked at the front door of the neat bungalow on Revello Drive. She turned to face him and reached up to touch her lips to his softly.

“Don’t be such a coward. You know my mother likes you. And she’s grateful to you for coming back to help her daughter. It’ll be fine.”

“Helpin’ her daughter fight baddies is a long way from claiming her forever,” he grumbled as he followed her up the steps and opened the door for her. Buffy tossed her hair at him and walked into the house without looking back to see if he was following.

She actually wasn’t as confident as she pretending to be. She was well aware that her mother still struggled with the idea that her daughter was the Slayer and that the normal, happy life she wanted for her was not likely to happen.

And, while her mother did genuinely like Spike, and seemed totally unfazed by the fact that he was a vampire, Buffy really wasn’t sure how she was going to take the news that he was now a member of their small family. They’d not really made any attempt to hide their feelings for each other, but Buffy had never told her mother about the mutual claim or what it meant in terms of her future and she wasn’t really sure how the older woman was going to take the idea that her only daughter was essentially married to a much older, much less alive man......forever.

Spike stood behind her, shuffling his feet nervously and studying the rug on the floor as Buffy called out, “Mom, we’re here.”

When Joyce came out of the kitchen carrying a tray on which she had put mugs of hot chocolate with small marshmallows floating in one of them, the Slayer relaxed and gave Spike a brilliant smile. The smile Joyced gave Buffy and Spike was warm and welcoming, but there was a trace of sadness visible around her eyes. She could feel the connection between the two blonds in front of her without even seeing the looks they were giving each other, and she regretfully let go of any last dreams of grandchildren she had been clinging to as she said, “ So, I understand you two have something to tell me? Why don’t we all have some hot chocolate while we talk about it?”

The End