Chapter III
Warning: Gross food combinations ahead. ;)
‘Grrr, I should have known better than to trust her. Nineteen years... and yet it seems I don’t know my mother as well as I thought. Of course there was a hook... and what a hook it was!’ Buffy thought as she headed towards a certain place, while remembering how her mother had cornered her into doing her bidding.
*Flashback*
As soon as she’d left her room, after celebrating the arrival of her oh so craved desk with a little dance and discovering the little surprises it contained, Buffy had found Joyce waiting for her in the corridor, with her arms crossed in front of her chest as she reclined against the wall.
“So, did you enjoy your gift?” the older woman wondered.
“Of course I did, and you wouldn’t believe what I fou—” Buffy began to say enthusiastically, but her mother beckoned her to stop by raising her hand as she pushed herself away from the wall.
“You’ll tell me later. Now, it’s payback time!” Joyce reminded her with a victorious smile, and this time she had many reasons to feel that way.
“Do you need me to work again at the gallery? It’s a bit too soon, don’t you think? But since I promised,” Buffy said, sighing dramatically before rolling her eyes at her mother. ‘She was too predictable, or maybe not so much,’ she thought as she noticed that her mother shook her head negatively. What the hell was that about?
“No, Buffy, it has nothing to do with the gallery. I need you to do something for me, but let me warn you that it’s something that you won’t like a bit.”
“That’s impossible. There’s nothing that I dislike more than working at the gallery,” Buffy responded with a sigh of relief that she won’t be going to the gallery any time soon, even if she had the nagging feeling that she wasn’t going to like her mother’s answer one bit.
“I’m pretty sure there is. I’ll give you a clue, it’s not something, it’s someone,” Joyce added, waiting for her daughter’s reaction.
“Spike?” she said, almost scared of what her mother was about to ask from her.
“Exactly, my dear.”
“So, to make things clear, what has Spike to do with the favor I owe you?” Buffy frowned.
“Well, he’s in a place that he doesn’t deserve to be, the poor dear boy.”
“Mom, you do realize that this poor dear boy is way older than you are, don’t you?”
This time it was Joyce who rolled her eyes at her daughter. “And that’s relevant, how? You owe me, Buffy, so, now you go talk to Rupert and persuade him to let William free. After all, with that chip in his head is not like he can hurt anyone anymore; there’s just no reason to keep him there,” Joyce explained.
“But...”
“No buts, Buffy. We both know exactly how persuasive you can be when you want to, so I’m sure you’ll have no trouble convincing Rupert,” Joyce insisted.
“But mom...” Buffy whined, as she tried to protest. Tried because it wasn’t as if her mother had let her open her mouth for anything more than that!
“Let me explain better how things work, darling. You do what I asked you to, and listen, honey, trying is not enough; you have to be successful, otherwise... I’m going to call the delivery guy and bye, bye desk!” Joyce threatened her with a sweet smile in her face.
“No. Anything but the desk!” Buffy pleaded with her, paling at the idea of losing her most prized possession.
“So?” Joyce wondered rhetorically, knowing perfectly well that Buffy wouldn’t say no to her now.
“You evil and skillful blackmailer, you!” Buffy snapped, putting her jacket on, walking downstairs and leaving, so enraged by what she was being forced to do that she practically took the door off its hinges as she opened it and left the windows rattling after she closed it with all her might.
*End flashback*
So that was the reason why between mumbles and grumbles, the blonde slayer was on her way to obey her mother.
‘The worst part is that it’s already sunset. So he could be awake already. And I really don’t want to see him... that will make things even more complicated. Geez, what the hell am I saying? There’s nothing to complicate!’ she scolded herself.
She had avoided seeing Spike ever since the day of the damned spell, but now—if she didn’t want to lose her desk—she was forced not only to see him but to help him get released from his house arrest at Giles’ apartment. And there was nothing else she wanted more than to keep that desk.
Her mind drifted back to William’s letter and poem, which she had practically memorized by then. ‘Oh God, this William must be like the king of all lovers. There’s nothing I wouldn’t give to be loved that way. He’s the symbol of the purest romanticism and I only wish that there was a way I could find a man like that.’ She sighed dreamily, as she kept walking towards her Watcher’s house.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Giles’ house, around the same time
Spike stretched as he got up from the armchair where he’d slept. It definitely had been a great idea to convince the Watcher of not chaining him up anymore.
It hadn’t been easy but Giles had finally agreed to set him free from the chains, mostly for two reasons: the first was that Spike tore apart every chain and rope they used on him—no matter how sturdy they were—it was almost as if it was some kind of challenge for the vampire to do so. And second and probably the most important, Giles simply had missed his bathtub so much!
Then again, Giles was completely aware that there was no real danger in letting him unchained. Spike couldn’t harm the Watcher, or anyone else for that matter. No matter how hard he’d tried with anything that came in handy, a hammer, a pair of scissors, or even one of Giles’ heavy books, the result was always the same, Spike on the floor, clutching his head as unbearable pain defeated him and his impulsive evil nature.
Anyway, in order to make him understand that even if he was being released from the bathtub, he was still not a welcomed guest in his house, Giles told him that he could sleep on the armchair on the living room, but the sofa was off-limits. He even went as far as to spray holy water over the damned thing so he wouldn’t even try to use it! Then he suggested that Spike could do some chores around the house, but Spike’s growl had been a very clear answer to that. So when Spike had offered himself as a cook, Giles had been more than a little astonished. After asking the vampire for a proof that he could actually cook and tasting that the results were infinitely better than his cooking attempts, he readily accepted the vampire’s offer.
In fact the results had been so much better than his that that was the reason that when Spike entered the kitchen, he found Giles waiting for him, sitting at the table.
“So, what's on the menu today?” the Watcher wondered with fake indifference, as he read the newspaper.
“Good evening to you too, mate, and yes, I slept well, thanks for asking!” Spike struck back sarcastically. ”Anyway, you know the rules, I eat first, and then it's your turn!” the vampire continued, opening one of the kitchen’s cabinets.
“By the way, you haven’t told me yet when did you learn to cook? And mostly why? You are a vampire!" Giles asked puzzled.
“Well, I'm a vampire who hasn't forgotten how good food is, and believe me, the whole thing about losing your sense of taste is just a bunch of crap! You concentrate, you taste,” Spike pointed out. “Anyway, I learned to cook because it’s such a hook up for girls. You know, sometimes, I needed something different from the quick kills... not that those aren’t fun either.” He winked at the horrified look that Giles was giving him. “So every once in a while, with Dru’s consent, of course, I would meet a girl, invite her to our place and cook for her. The girl ate what I cooked... and then I ate her, it was just perfect!" he smirked, almost melancholically, turning to see that Giles’ expression had changed from horrified to pissed off. “Hey, Rupert, you asked!” he defended himself.
“Yes, and I couldn’t begin to express how much I regret I did!” The man rolled his eyes, angry at himself for asking Spike about anything. He should have known better by now. Giles stopped berating himself, after all, it wouldn’t do him any good to give Spike any advantages over him; he already had more than enough as it was.
So he focused back on the vampire, but he wasn’t on the same place he’d been a few seconds ago, he was about to turn to scan the rest of the kitchen, when less than a second after, he heard the vampire cry in pain behind his back.
Turning, he saw the vampire cursing and letting a sharp knife fall to the floor, before he fell to his knees cradling his head between his hands.
“That's the fifteenth time in three days. Good Lord, Spike, when are you going to give up?” Giles asked him calmly, as he resumed reading the newspaper.
“Never! One bloody day this sodding thing will stop working, but I'll never know when if I don't keep on trying!” Spike grumbled, recovering and going back to the cabinet, taking the bread out and putting it over the counter, before taking two slices of bread out of the package.
“Uh! You know, we’re out of marmalade,” Giles warned him.
“Who said that I needed marmalade?” He sneered, drawing out his jar of blood from the fridge.
“Dear Lord, now you’ve made me lose my appetite!” Giles grumbled, leaving the room looking as if he was about to throw up.
“Great, it always works like a charm," Spike said satisfied, spreading the blood over one of the slices of bread and then covering it with the other and taking a bite of his Bloody sandwich™.
‘Finally! No more tub, chains or stupid ‘Kiss the Librarian’ mug! Well, in all fairness, it was kinda fun when the Slayer was there tempting me, batting her pretty eyelashes, pushing her pretty hair away from her pretty neck to make me see her pretty blood pulse in her pretty veins. Wait. There’s way too many pretties there!’ Spike scolded himself.
And then, inevitably, he also remembered what had happened after Willow’s wish, since it had been the same day. After all, the memories were still fresh, since it had been only four days from that event. But something told him that even an eternity wouldn’t be enough to erase those memories from his mind, mostly because, deep inside, he didn’t want them to disappear.
‘I still can’t believe what happened. One moment I was fighting her... or rather being punched down by her, and the next moment, she was wearing my ring and we were planning our wedding, with all that it entailed,’ he thought, unable to understand why he was smiling at the memory.
‘Of course you are smiling. She was weak then, and you took advantage of the whole situation like the big Bad you are!’ he congratulated himself, as his demon sang with pride.
But that song didn’t last for long.
‘To be honest, it’s not like I dragged her to my bed and abused her. Actually I... kissed her, hugged her, smiled at her. I... cuddled with her. Bloody sodding hell! I was just *courting* her... as the last of the sappy boyfriends would have done! Eeeww!’ he recalled almost nauseated by his behavior that day, throwing away the rest of his dinner on the trashcan.
“It seems that Rupert is not the only one who lost his appetite now!” Spike grumbled.
It was almost as if fate had decided to make fun of him that day, because a couple of minutes after the cause of his sudden loss of appetite knocked on the front door. After waiting for a little while, she turned the knob and finding it unlocked, she opened the door and crossed the threshold.
“Hello? Giles, may I come in?” she called him out, deciding to sit on the armchair while she waited for him.
“Why do you ask? You’re already in!” Spike snapped, leaving the kitchen.
“Geez and you are already up!” she rolled her eyes.
“Yes, and I’d prefer it if you do not sit on my bed!” he added and she jumped off the chair, seemingly squeamish and disgusted.
“Oh, why the face now, pet? We did so much more than sitting on that chair, a bunch of days ago... correction. I sat on it, you sat... on me,” he commented slyly.
“Eeeww! You, you pig!” she snapped, as she tried to understand why that memory had caused a tiny flip-flop in her heartbeat.
“Why? I’m just telling you the truth. And among all the words that came out from your pretty mouth that day... ‘Eeeww’ was surely not one of them!” he reminded her.
‘Bloody hell! Again with the pretty stuff, quit it. And what exactly are you doing? Because it sounds like... flirting! Just quit it, bloody just quit it!’ he summoned himself.
There was a minute of deep and awkward silent, where neither of them dared to say a word, until they both saw Giles come downstairs as a their salvation.
“I heard you calling me before, but I thought it was just my imagination. Hello, Buffy.”
“Hey, Giles. Mom sent me to talk to you,” Buffy explained.
“Oh, dear Joyce. Please, give her my regards!” Spike said, smiling fondly.
“Geez and here we go again with the Mutual Admiration Club!” Buffy rolled her eyes. Spike looked at her curious over what she could have meant with that, before shrugging it off. He didn’t care that much to want to find out what it was.
“Oh my, did something happen to her?” Giles asked her... with way too much concern, at least in Buffy’s opinion.
“Nope, she is more than fine. No, wait, on second thought she must have become kinda insane overnight, judging by what she just asked me to do.”
“Why? What did she ask you to do?”
“She wants you to... set Spike free!” she informed him.
“Have I said that I adore that woman already?” Spike commented with a huge smile.
“Buffy, please tell me I misunderstood what you just said?” Giles exclaimed, clearly in shock, taking his eyeglasses off to polish them with a handkerchief he took from his pants’ pocket.
“Sorry, there’s no misunderstanding and before you ask, this is not a joke. Anyway, mom has some good points for asking this,” she justified her mother.
“Such as?” Giles questioned her disbelievingly, putting his eyeglasses on again.
“Well, since he can’t hurt people anymore, he’s not a real danger,” she made him notice, although she knew that even with a hundred chips in his head he would still be dangerous for her. And judging by the way he was looking at her, Spike seemed to know that, too.
“Plus, it’s not completely necessary to keep him here just because we need information on the commando guys. He could find a new crypt nearby, and come here when he remembers something important... if he ever does, that is,” she continued.
“Uh, yes, I think that some freedom would help refresh my memory,” Spike pointed out.
“C’mon, Giles, I know how much you miss your privacy. You’ll finally have the whole house for yourself once again,” she insisted.
“Yes, but you forgot something. He can’t defend himself if he gets attacked, and I hate to say it but we can’t take such a high risk. It pains me to admit this, but we…” He cleared his throat, clearly unable to believe what he was about to add. “We need him at the moment.”
“Well, people, I’ve got the perfect solution. Take my chip out,” the vampire suggested nonchalantly.
“Spike, shut up!” Watcher and Slayer said at unison.
“Uhmm, all right, I’ll concede that it would be great to have my house for myself again, especially with the…uh, peculiar dietary habits that Spike has been displaying lately.” Giles shuddered remembering the last one of those displays. Oh, yes, he definitely wouldn’t miss the bleached pest once he left, but that didn’t mean that he could leave him unprotected. “But when he’s not in his crypt or in a safe place, he can’t be alone. You’ll have to look after him, Buffy,” Giles stated.
The two blondes’ eyes almost bulged out of their sockets as they yelled only one word, which was coincidentally the same one. “WHAT?”
TBC
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Next chapter: Spike and Buffy patrol and make a little discovery. And William makes a discovery of his own. ;)
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Author's Chapter Notes:
We want to thank: cordykitten, Brat, Ellie, aoife, TammyAsh666, RB, Amelia-Jane, Im_bloody_English, jt, Laura Liz, kalahara and Bridget, for reviewing. It means a lot for us that you took the time to tell us what you think of the story. :D Hope you enjoy this chapter as well.