~Chapter Three~
Willow and Tara started to worry more and more. They checked out Spike's crypt and he hadn't obviously been there in a long time, not that it had looked so good to begin with. His stuff wasn't gone, though. The two witches, against their better judgment, shared their concerns with Xander and Anya. As they had feared, Xander went a bit off the deep end. Finally, Willow had to do a small spell to calm him down.
"As much as I hate to say this... he's going to be even worse with worry now that he knows that Spike's gone too..." Anya said. "Not that it matters to me much... except with him like that, I'm not going to get many orgasms if any..."
Willow chuckled and rolled her eyes, helping the other two get Xander to bed. "So what do we do?"
"Has anyone called Giles and told him that she's missing?" Anya asked, trying to helpful.
"Yeah, awhile ago, but he told us he didn't know anything. He sounded busy and sort of rushed us off the phone. Was very odd. You would've thought he would be more concerned about her going missing," Willow shook her head as she tucked in Xander. "But we haven't called him since we noticed Spike was missing as well. Maybe now he'd get concerned since he distrusts Spike almost as much as Xander."
Tara nodded slowly. "Do you think we should call Angel again, too? He knows Spike the best... or has seen him?"
"After we call Giles." She checked her watch and calculated the time difference to make sure it wasn't a bad time then went to get the phone. She got Giles and after the customary greetings she dove right in. "Giles, Buffy still hasn't shown back up here in Sunnydale and we're really worried. There's also something new."
"Willow..." He said tiredly and she could tell the pause was for him to clean his glasses. "She obviously has some things she needs to work out, especially after dealing with her own death and other things. People do this all the time and just because she is the slayer doesn't mean she isn't subject to the same trends of people under such stress. She will come back when she is ready to come back."
"But Giles," she almost whined in frustration. This was the same thing he had said before. "There is something else! Spike, he's gone. It could be connected! She could be in danger and Dawn, too!"
"The chip prevents him from harming them. At best, he may have noticed she had gone and decided there was no reason for him to linger since it seemed he only stuck around for her. He may be looking for her, but then if you guys can't find her then he probably can't either."
"Giles..." Her mouth was gaping.
"Willow. Call me if anything seriously bad is happening and I will make sure to do what I can to help, because Buffy isn't doing this to leave you as easy prey for the bad guys. She just needs some time for herself." He sighed and then after a moment muttered, "I have to go. Call me if there is a serious emergency."
Willow looked at the phone as if it had sprouted horns and a tail... which isn't really a stretch on the Hellmouth. She looked at the other two, just stricken that she had gotten the brush off again. Giles didn't seem worried at all!
Tara walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe he's right."
The redhead glared at her.
She held up her hands. "Fine. But lets rest tonight and we'll try calling Angel later. Do a little bit more reconnaissance to see if anyone has seen Spike in town maybe."
Willow relaxed a bit and nodded finally. She looked over at Anya and nodded towards the bedroom, "Keep an eye on him in case he tries to do something stupid when he wakes up. Tell him we're going to call Angel next and just to sit tight. If you want, I'll make up something for you to keep him calm."
Anya nodded and walked them to the door, seeing them out before heading back to the bedroom to look over Xander. She sighed to herself. She sort of agreed with Giles, but she wanted to help the others as they were the closest thing she had to buddies anymore besides Hallie. She and Hallie had even grown apart a bit since she became human. She would also do what she could to keep Xander happy. Happy man meant many good orgasms.
Buffy stretched and started to get up, but Spike's arm pulled her back down and tugged her close. She chuckled and rolled over to give him a soft kiss. His eyes opened slowly, hazy with sleep and roamed over her. He purred and held her tighter. She curled her hand around the back of his neck and kissed him again, deeper this time with her tongue flicking over his lips playfully.
"I need to get up and get Dawn breakfast before she heads off to school," she told him and tried to pry herself away from him. "I can't be all lazy with you all morning like the last few days."
He kept his arms tight around her and pouted slightly "Mine."
She laughed. "Spike... let me up..."
"She can make her own breakfast. Prob'ly be better if she did since your idea of makin' breakfast is puttin' out cereal an' milk. She can do that herself." He tilted his head to taste her neck lazily.
She closed her eyes briefly and then pushed at his chest again. "C'mon... Spike..."
"No. I refuse."
Her brows went up. "Spoiled much. I gotta get up sometime anyways."
"Later."
She grumbled and finally gave in, letting her arms go slack so that he could pull her flush against him again. "But that only gives you a few hours reprieve before I've got to get ready for work."
"Plenty of time t' have plenty of fun, pet," he purred into her neck before stroking his tongue over her pulse.
"Oh really... then I suppose I have enough time to get a shower before we start up again," she arched a brow at him then rolled over to crawl towards the other side of the bed.
He growled and caught her ankle, tugging her back. "I don' think so, Slayer." He pinned her beneath him, rubbing his erection against her ass. "Not lettin' you out of bed for a good long time. Goin' t' shag you eight ways t' Sunday 'til you're goin' t' need me t' carry you t' that shower." He growled into her ear before nipping at her neck.
"Spike..." she moaned breathily and tilted her head to give him better access to her neck.
He smirked and bit at her shoulder, pinning her down submissively before burying his shaft deep in her tight sheath. His fingers dug into her hips with bruising force as he began to rock against her slowly at first as she adjusted to him. He lengthened his strokes but kept them slow and smooth.
She gave a low moan and closed her eyes. "Spike please..."
He lifted his head briefly to kiss her neck and ask her in a husky whisper, "What do you want, Slayer?"
"World peace?" She said and looked at him. "You know what I want and how I want it by now, Spike..." She lifted a hand to curl around his neck as she kissed him, squeezing his dick with her inner muscles and causing him to growl softly into her kiss.
"I think I've got an idea, pet," he chuckled and bit at her shoulder again as his strokes picked up pace. His tongue stroked the flesh caught between his teeth while one hand finally left her hip to slide up her abdomen to her breast. He kneaded it with his hand and stroked her nipple to hardness with his thumb, eliciting deep moans of pleasure from her. He purred against her shoulder, "Like that, don' ya?"
He began to thrust hard and fast against her, growls rumbling through his chest and vibrating against her back. She pressed herself into his hand as he continued to tweak her hardened nub. His other hand slid around her hip to delve under her to where they were joined so he could stroke her clit, pinching and pulling. She arched her back and started crying out as her orgasm started to build. He was fighting his own release and just at the right moment, he vamped and sank his fangs deep in her neck. Her body went rigid and she gave an ear piercing scream as she came hard, his seed filling her in the same moment.
He collapsed on top of her and fought for unneeded breath, "Bloody amazin'... you're just... bloody amazin'..."
Her inner muscles rippled in an after shock as his cool breath feathered along her skin. "Mmm... a girl could get used to this..."
"You better, I don' plan on goin' anywhere," He rolled off of her finally and turned her to face him, pulling her close. His thumb feathered across her jaw and his lips followed soon after.
"I don't even know how long this... life or whatever you would call it here in Georgia is going to last." She sighed and watched her fingers as they traced the muscles of his abdomen.
"You say that as if it would matter if we went back t' Sunnyhell or anywhere else," his voice hardened at the implications of what she had just said.
"Well... if we went back to Sunnydale... you know how they treat you and they wouldn't understand... we'd have to go back to being cloak and dagger about anything," she chewed on her bottom lip. "But I don't even know how long it'll be before we even go back there. How long before it would be safe for Dawn or anything." Her eyes continued to watch her hand.
He grabbed for her hand and squeezed it to capture her attention with a hard look. "Buffy, have bloody you forgotten why you left in the first place?! Part of the reason you were in danger of losin' Dawn an' all that was because of the selfishness of your so-called friends. The way they never gave a thought t' you, usin' you because you were the slayer t' do all the dirty work an' even make their borin' lives seem cooler. What would be the point of all this," he swept a hand around them, "if you went back t' start it up again like nothin's changed?"
"I..." Her eyes were wide, silver pools, staring up at him as her brain tried to process a response after his outburst. "Spike, I didn't mean... I just..." She shook her head slightly, trying to clear it to think straight. "It would just be more complicated once we got back. You know that."
"Then let me simple it up, slayer." He continued to pin her with narrow eyes full of blue flame. "If they're really your friends, then they'll learn t' get over it once you tell them that me an' you are together. That you're my mate an' it ain' changin' anytime soon."
"Mate?" She nearly choked in surprise. She had maybe started to think that he was her new boyfriend or whatever. But mate... well that implied a whole new level of stuff that she couldn't even comprehend at the moment.
"Yeah, mate." He ground out and dropped her hand as he sat up. "Or were you intendin' t' use my as a boytoy an' once you got your jollies you moved on t' somethin' else?" He was glaring at her, covering the brief flash of hurt.
"Spike... I just-" She started to defend herself as she sat up, reaching out to stop him as he climbed out of bed.
He cut her off with a glare over his shoulder. "Save your breath. I've heard it all before from you. I though it'd be different here, Buffy, but I was wrong." He started out the door and paused when she called out in alarm.
"Spike!"
He looked back slowly. "I ain' leavin'. Vowed t' look after you an' the bit, an' no matter what you think of me I do honor my word." He headed out, calling back to her. "You gotta get ready for work, slayer."
Buffy put her hands to her face and gave a frustrated cry. Why did he have to do that? It was always all or nothing with him... and she had to feel undying love for him right this second or he wasn't going to bother with her? She growled and pounded her fists on the bed in frustration before flopping onto her back. It was only recently she realized she didn't completely hate him and over night she was supposed to be all with the forevermore bullshit?! She resisted the urge to flail her limbs and have a hissy fit, instead taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. She got up slowly after a few minutes and headed for the bathroom to get a shower before work.
Angel paced, growling after he received a call from Willow informing him of the latest update on the disappearance of Buffy. Spike just happened to be missing at the moment as well. He agreed with the Scoobies; this was not just a coincidence whatsoever. He knew his Grand Childe much better than even they thought they did. William either had something to do with her disappearance or in the very least knew where she was.
He went over what they had told them in his head. Giles wasn't acting too concerned. His bet was that Giles knew where Buffy was as well, probably had helped with her little disappearance. He expected nothing less from the guy who had assumed the role of the slayer's surrogate father. There had to be a way to track down Buffy's whereabouts. He immediately had thought England once he came to the conclusion that Giles had helped her, but looking into that lead had proved fruitless. She wasn't in England with Giles. As far as he could tell, she was still in the United States.
He sat down in the chair behind the desk and clasped his hands, resting his chin on them as he brooded over all this. He had some options. A sweep starting from the west coast and going towards the east coast. He could start picking areas at random to investigate for signs of Buffy until he found her. He could-
"Hey, should I even bother asking what this most recent broodfest is about?" Cordelia leaned in the doorway and arched a brow at him.
"Cordelia, I'm not in the mood." He looked up at her with a frown.
"Oh, you're in A mood..." she rolled her eyes. "Like usual... especially when she's involved."
"Cordelia..." He growled in warning.
She sighed and backed off, turning to leave the room. She muttered something under her breath about need a big stick removed from someone's ass. He would have went after her for that remark, but a brilliant idea struck him. At least something good had come out of Cordelia's nosiness. He smirked slowly and leaned back in his chair as the plan for getting Buffy back formed.
Giles had told the Scoobies that if there was a dire emergency to call him. That was one of the reasons Angel knew that Giles had to know the whereabouts of Buffy, knowing that if there was something catastrophic that started to go down in Sunnydale that Giles would alert Buffy so she could come riding to the rescue. Most likely with Spike in tow.
So, to get Buffy back, at this moment the quickest way seemed for Giles to have a reason to send word to Buffy that she was needed back in Sunnydale. He was surprised the Scoobies hadn't thought of this already, but then they probably had yet to figure out that Giles was part of the whole plan and probably was still in contact with the slayer. And, even if they did, they would probably just keep whining to him over the phone until he changed his number. It wouldn't even occur to them to do what Angel was thinking of doing.
He sniggered as he thought of a really good excuse. Cordelia's little cameo into his thoughts had given him the perfect idea and excuse for calling Giles. Her visions. He would simply have to call the Scoobies, all alarmed over Cordelia's latest vision which would involve something big and horrible for the town of Sunnydale and the Scoobies. Impress on them how this was just too much for him to handle, especially with all the things he had on his plate over here in Los Angeles. They would of course... eventually... realize that this meant they needed to call Giles and inform him of the dire circumstances they found themselves in. And voila, Buffy comes riding in to the rescue.
He would just have to deal with the fact that this might mean the return of his wayward William when the time came. For all he knew, Spike hadn't been able to find Buffy and had really just left town after noticing she was gone to go track her down himself. Or, after she left had simply decided there was no reason for him to stay in Sunnydale. Angel wouldn't put his money on either of those possibilities, though, still certain that he knew his William much better than that.
Now, what vision did he want to come up with that would be so so bad. It would definitely have to involve the Scoobies, as that would definitely have the slayer running to the rescue. He had to make this good, too. But, not too big or it would have a backlash. Or being too big would give it away as the fraud it was since there was usually signs of apocalyptic sized events. No, he just needed enough to put some fear into the Scoobies for their safety and fear into Buffy that she needed to be there to save them.
He nodded as he picked up the phone, quickly dialing Willow's number.
"Angel? Didn't expect to hear from you again so quickly." Willow blinked slightly and looked over at Tara with raised brows.
"Yeah, well, didn't think I would be talking to you again so soon either. But coincidently, as soon as I got off the phone and started talking to the others about what you told me, Cordelia got one of her visions. I told you about those, right?" He paused.
"I.. think so." The redhead tilted her head in thought.
"Well, she's been getting them more and more. They usually are warning us about bad demons doing bad things, but this one seemed to be very timely. It involves you and the others over there in Sunnydale. I mean, we figured this had to be coming with Buffy gone. Just like when she died and things went wild as you told me. They were eventually going to find out that she was gone again. Cordelia's vision confirms it. Demons, bad demons, are going to start causing trouble and she saw... well bad things happening to you guys." He put the right amount of concern and wariness into his voice.
"Oh my... you're right... we were so worried that was going to happen again. This time we don't even have the Buffybot to decoy them from figuring it out for awhile longer." She chewed on her bottom lip. "What're we going to do... is there... I mean, do you have any ideas..."
"I can't come. My plate is full here. Los Angeles may not be a Hellmouth, but it sure gets a lot of action." He paused for a little bit, to give the illusion of him thinking deeply on this matter. "Maybe you could try calling Giles again? He might know what to do... perhaps the council might even be willing to help?"
"Yes, we should. And this time he definitely has to get concerned. I mean, he did tell us that if there was something to go down that we should call him." Willow brightened some at the prospect of them finally getting through to Giles about how desperate their situation was in Sunnydale without Buffy there. "I'll call him... immediately... no matter what the time difference is. He has to know right away about this vision of Cordelia's. He might ask what type of demons they were, though. Was she able to tell?"
"No... she only got brief flashes," he supplied quickly. "Call me back and tell me what Giles says about this."
He hung up and leaned back with a self-satisfied smile. So far, this was going perfectly. Giles would call Buffy to come riding in to Sunnydale and she would do some intense patrolling to let vampires and demons know she was back in town and there wasn't going to be anymore shenanigans. They would keep an eye out for awhile and when nothing happened, would rest assured that they had warded off the incidents in Cordelia's vision and were safe again.
Then, he could worry about what to do about Spike if he tagged along. As well as how to make sure that Buffy didn't just run off again as soon as her "turf" was secured for the time being. He had some time to make those plans, though.
tbc...