A car had to be hired, and Hilda busied herself making the arrangements. Spike sat with one leg flung over the arm of the couch, seemingly oblivious to the heightened atmosphere. The only clue that the emotions of the other three beings in the room were affecting him, was the drumming of his fingertips on his thigh.
“Is there anything I can get for you?” Professor Mackness was anxious to interview this unique creature, before he vanished.
“You got nothing I want - unless you’d like to donate a couple of pints of blood?” Spike smirked, but his eyes remained cold.
“Look I’m sorry that we got off to such a poor start, I am trying my best to make reparations.” The professor was becoming desperate - he had been busy compiling a questionnaire whilst the vampire had slept. “Just a few questions, it won’t take long.”
Spike’s expression did not change, except to harden a little. “So, just a cosy little chat with the bloke that slaughters hundreds of my fellow vampires at a time, mmm let’s see.” He said, sarcasm dripping from his lips.
The professor felt aggrieved. “I think I found the most humane way of despatching them.” He said stiffly. “A spell to put them to sleep then a quick staking – they knew nothing about it.”
“Like shooting fish in a soddin’ barrel.” Spike snarled, “at least when she does for ‘em, it’s face to face!” He gestured towards the Slayer.
Buffy started, she had been trying to think of a way of begging him to stay, without there being any actual begging involved.
“Uh, Spike I want to have a word with you.”
“I know what you’re gonna say.”
“You do?” her eyes were wide with astonishment.
“Yeah, something like ‘If you hurt Hilda, I’ll hunt you down and stake you good and proper.’”
“No, Spike, I…”
“Why can’t you believe I would never hurt her?” He was stalking up and down now, and throwing his arms in the air to emphasise his point. “Let’s face it, she’s more than able to defend herself – turn me into a purple earwig or something. And besides, I like the woman.” He threw himself back on to the sofa, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes.
Buffy gaped at him, at a loss. What the hell could she say to that? How could she convince him in just a few minutes that her opinion of him had changed? She hadn’t really got used to it herself.
Giles gave up all pretence of reading the paper. He couldn’t believe Hilda was going off with the vampire, “I still think he has some hold over her, she surely wouldn’t dream of going off with a bloodsucking monster like him otherwise.” He said loudly.
“Giles, that bloodsucking monster risked his unlife saving you.” Buffy said shortly.
The expression on Giles’ face was priceless, a combination of astonishment and anger. He crumpled the newspaper, threw it down, removed his glasses and begun polishing them vigorously on his handkerchief, before striding from the room.
Spike couldn’t believe his ears, was that the Slayer defending him? He looked over at her, eyebrows raised. He saw that she was blushing. Now what the hell did that mean?
The professor, desperate to regain Spike’s attention, remembered something Giles had said the previous evening, about the reason for their visit to the underground. It might get the vampire to stay for a while. “I found some really interesting equipment in one of the underground rooms.” He said casually. “I think there might have been some kind of forging industry going on. I didn’t have time to look at it properly.”
Attention hijacked, Spike sat up. “What did you do with it? Is it here?”
“No, the equipment was too bulky to fit in my car. It’s still in the room where it was found.”
Spike subsided, “There’s no way I’m going back to that hellhole,” before Mackness could reply he continued, “anyway, I don’t need that stuff anymore.”
Hilda appeared in the doorway. “The car will be here in a minute. The hire place is only just round the corner, and I got them to deliver it right to the front door. It’s overcast, but we can’t be too careful - don’t want vampire flambé.”
Spike strode up to her, took her hand and swept her to the front door. “Well, we’d best be ready then.”
Hilda looked at him frowning, “Don’t you think we ought to say our goodbyes?”
He laughed mirthlessly, “I think mine are more like good riddances, luv.”
Buffy watched them helplessly; would she ever see him again? It’s my own fault she thought, if only I had seen what he was before.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was fully dark when they finally reached the village. Hilda parked the car at the bottom of the narrow lane that led to her cottage, and they walked towards it in companionable silence. She suddenly halted and it was only his supernatural reflexes that stopped him from walking right into her.
“Damn.” She said quietly.
“What is it?” Spike crouched into a fighting stance. Extending his senses, he searched for the threat. Bloody hell, how had he missed the scent of so many human females? “Who are they?” he murmured
“My coven” she said thoughtfully.
“Oh, that’s all right then – isn’t it?”
She didn’t reply immediately, just motioned him to follow her. She made towards a small outbuilding at the bottom of the garden, opened the door and ushered him in.
He looked round the small room in bemusement. It was crammed with pots, baskets and gardening implements. Hilda cleared the top of a large chest in the corner and began to rummage around in it. She gave a grunt of satisfaction, as she pulled out a set of heavy iron manacles. He took a step back only to be stopped by the closed door.
“You’ll to have to trust me.” She whispered as she held them out to him. “I’m going to have to secure you before we go in there.”
“Bugger that!” He said pressed against the door.
She reached up to his collar and touched the crystal, which began to shine brightly giving the room an eerie blue glow. He was mesmerised, wondering whether this was how a rat felt when it was being menaced by a snake.
“You must do as I say.” She said simply.
He gaped at her – what the hell?
“Put these on.” She held the chains out to him again and he found himself complying. Spike watched his hands as if they belonged to someone else, as he meticulously fastened the cuffs on his own wrists.
“Come on, follow me.”
In a daze, he loped along behind her. When she opened the door and invited him in, he stepped in unhesitatingly, to be confronted by twelve pairs of hostile eyes, and a cacophony of voices.
“Hilda, where have you been…?”
“What do you think you are doing…”
“Why have you brought that thing here?”
“We’ve been really worried….”
“Hilda, how could you have brought that monster in here, after what happened to Steven?”
The combination of anger, hatred and magic swirling around him, was almost too much. It seemed float around his body, stinging him like a swarm of angry wasps. What the sodding hell was happening? He was seeing everything with extreme clarity, but seemed unable to move or speak. He hadn’t felt so vulnerable and weak since he was a fledgling in Angelus’s “care”. What was wrong with him? Why did he pick women who took delight in humiliating him? He found himself growling low in his throat.
“Spike, be quiet.” Hilda said softly, and then raised her voice “and everyone else BE QUIET!” The noise stopped abruptly. “Now tell me what on earth you are all doing here?”
A tall, thin woman spoke up. She had, incongruously, a high pitched childlike voice. “Did you forget calling a meeting? Surely you remember phoning me and telling me to let everyone know?”
“Then surely, Alice, you remember that I said we would not meet until Friday, don’t you?” Hilda said sweetly.
“Is this what the meeting’s about?” A woman about the same age as the Slayer walked forward and stared at the vampire. He stared back, only just keeping his game face under control.
“Listen everybody, I have driven a very long way and I’m tired. On Friday I’ll explain everything, him included – but until then you should all go home.” There was a general muttering and murmuring, but they all slowly obeyed.
Alice was the last to leave. “Do you need any help securing him? I have a very good immobilisation spell I can let you have.”
“No thank you, I have all the spells I need, as you well know.”
The woman glanced back at Spike, and he felt a momentary tingling, like a light electric shock in his chest and the crystal warmed against his throat. “Well, if I can’t be of any more help,” she said, “I’ll see you on Friday.”
Hilda locked the front door and slowly made her way towards the immobile vampire. He was glaring at her with golden eyes.
TBC
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