Buffy glanced over at Spike worriedly. She had never seen him so quiet for so long - he seemed too subdued. He looked as though he was in shock – if vampires could experience shock. Not for the first time, Buffy wished she knew a bit more about them, other than what she’d heard from the Council. Even when Giles had insisted that she tie Spike down, whilst they were busy clearing the professor’s room ready for casting the spell, he submitted without so much as a frown. He had asked in a quiet voice to be near the witch and had even helped her to move the chair next to the bed on which Hilda lay. And now he sat staring into space, eyes unfocussed. She wished she knew what he was thinking.
Spike was still grappling with his feelings of confusion and fear. He was hungry – ravenous in fact, but the scent of the witch’s blood from her head wound, was making him nauseous. And the Slayer – he realised he still loved her with every fibre of his body. Bloody hell, he shouldn’t be feeling this way about his only natural enemy, it was unnatural! Usually he’d be proud of being unnatural – but this, this was sick! And as for having a dream about lying in her lap and smiling at her like a complete idiot – what a poufy prat!
He was desperately trying to wind himself up into a fury, and then he made the mistake of glancing over towards the Slayer, and all his anger dissipated like mist in the sunshine. He knew he loved her more than he had ever loved anyone – even Dru, but she at best barely tolerated him. He closed his eyes and ground his teeth to stop groaning.
Although he had no memory of the attack, he accepted that he had bitten and tried to drain Buffy. And now Hilda, the only human woman who had ever shown any sort of affection for him, was lying unconscious, at his hand. Bloody hell, he needed a drink. No, he needed several drinks – an entire brewery probably wasn’t enough.
No one as yet had wondered why he hadn’t had a migraine from his attack on Hilda. He supposed it was only a matter of time – then they’d stake him for sure. The ropes were chafing one of the wounds in his chest, he pressed against them to try and use the pain to submerge his thoughts – it worked for all of about five seconds. “Just stake me now.” He muttered under his breath.
The room was finally cleared and marked out for the spell casting. “I wish Hilda was well, she could probably do this in half the time and without all these messy ingredients.” Giles sighed and then gestured to Buffy and Mackness. “Well you two had better get back now, just in case something goes wrong.”
Buffy approached the vampire and the witch, under the pretext of checking on Hilda’s state of health. “How’s she doing?” She asked Spike.
“Heart’s steady. Just needs rest, I guess.” Spike answered in a monotone, not meeting her glance.
“As soon as Giles has finished the spell, I’ll cut you loose.” Buffy noticed that the ropes around his chest were stained red. She had offered to bandage his wounds before tying him down, but he had refused saying that they were almost healed. “And I’ll have a look at you, some of the wounds seem to have opened up again.”
“Don’t bother.” He said roughly, and then said something under his breath that sounded like “not worth it.”
“What?”
“If I hadn’t persuaded her to take me home, none of this would have happened.”
“Aw, isn’t he sweet, when he thinks he’s the centre of the universe?” A soft, if sarcastic, voice interrupted him.
Buffy and Spike’s heads swung round in unison, to see the witch looking at them groggily.
“Bugger me! I thought you were going to sleep for the rest of the night, you lazy bint.” Spike tried to look angry, but it was spoiled by the broad grin all over his face. “How’re you feeling?”
“Like someone hit me on the head with a stone floor.” Hilda smiled faintly at him.
“Hilda! Wonderful. You’re awake!”
“Bleedin’ observant ain’t he?” Spike said, frowning at the Watcher.
Giles ignored him. “Are you feeling well enough to advise me about this spell?”
“Look here you stupid wanker, she’s only just woken up – leave her alone!”
“It’s all right Spike, I can answer for myself. I’m sorry Rupert; I think I’m burnt out at the moment – no magic here.”
“Oh, I wasn’t suggesting that you do the spell, only advise me on the best way of casting it.”
While Hilda and Giles discussed the spell’s finer points, Buffy watched Spike. He had always been easy to read and for someone who considered himself the big bad, his emotions clearly showed on his face. He was glaring at Giles and, she was sure, unaware that he was struggling against his bonds. She made a decision, crouched down beside him, and started to try to untie the knots binding him to the chair. He swung his head round and gave her a penetrating stare.
“Won’t your Watcher be pissed off with you if you let me go?”
“I can take care of myself,” she said absently, as she struggled with the knots.
“That you can luv, that you can.”
She looked up just in time to catch his look. It was back. “The Look” was back. The look of tenderness and adoration. He recovered swiftly and the neutral expression, that she had become accustomed to over the past few days, replaced it. Her heart began to pound so hard, she thought it might break through her ribcage. Oh, god Buffy, The Look! The Look! She realised that she had frozen to the spot and was staring at him.
“What?” He said, trying to sound as casual as possible, “Can’t you untie it?” Why was she staring at him like that? Her heart rate and respiration were going wild. Was she ill? He was suddenly concerned. “What’s wrong Slayer, you sick?”
Giles chose that moment to interrupt. “Hilda agrees that it would be wise if you all kept away from the pentagram, in case there are any, um, accidents. Not that I think there will be, but it’s best to be safe. We have decided to try and encompass this entire level, so that we will be able to use the dormitory and the rest of the facilities. I think we could all do with some rest.” He smiled at Buffy and went to the centre of the room. She smiled faintly back – damn the man! She had been on the point of saying something to Spike, but now the moment was gone. He was talking softly to the witch, who was sitting close to him on the edge of the bed.
Had she imagined it? Wanted so much to see him look at her with love, that she had just seen what she wanted to see? Then Giles started the incantation and all thought fled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Magic filled the air like static electricity, crackling and sparking as Giles began his chant. Buffy could feel all the small hairs on her arms and legs stir, and then stand on end. She shivered involuntarily at the sudden chill in the air and looked at the others, who appeared to be just as affected.
At that moment, Giles said the last words of the protection spell and everything faded into white for a second. The professor gasped in shock. There was a brilliant flash of bright blue and then their surroundings came back, but looking slightly out of focus, shifting eerily. Giles sat down abruptly, as if his legs could no longer take his weight.
“Bloody hell!” The Watcher spluttered, “That packed a punch.” Buffy pulled him to his feet and helped him to sit down next to the witch, who was looking at Spike worriedly.
“Oh my! Oh my.” She was saying over and over again.
“What’s wrong Hilda?” Spike was looking just as worried.
“Something that has only just occurred to me, when I saw the crystal react.” Then she muttered under her breath, “Oh Hilda, you are such a stupid witch.”
“Tell me what’s wrong!” the Vampire shouted.
“I’m sorry Spike, but I’m going to have to remove the ward.”
“What?” Spike gaped at her
“I’ve just realised how they have managed to track us so well. They have been following the magic of the ward all this time – it’s acting like a beacon. I should have thought of it before – I’m so sorry.” She buried her head in her hands.
“Hilda, you have spent most of the time here unconscious. I’m not surprised that the thought didn’t strike you before. Give yourself a break,” Giles smiled at her and she smiled faintly back.
“Won’t the protection spell, you know – protect us now?” Buffy asked.
“Yes, but the ward is shouting our position to them loud and clear. If they get here, we’ll be protected all right, but then all they have to do is wait until we run out of food….”
She left the others to fill in the end of the sentence. “We just have to hope that they haven’t pinpointed us yet.”
“Oh bugger!” Spike said dismally – the collar was precious to him, a gift from a friend.
“I’ll make you a new one, when we get out of this.” The witch reached over and unclasped the ward from his neck, as he smiled at her shyly.
Buffy crouched at the vampire’s side again and started to wrestle with the knots around his body, trying not to show the jealousy lancing through her.
“Here,” the professor was holding out a red handled knife, “Swiss Army knife, it was a present from my boys.” He smiled at her, “should make short work of the rope.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“What are we going to do with it?” Mackness asked.
“Put it on a train – that’ll lead them away from us.”
“No Spike, if anyone finds it, as they are bound to, and then puts it on, they would be just as vulnerable to the witches as you were.” Giles was busy polishing his glasses
“So?” The vampire struggled to understand that argument.
“Oh for Pete’s sake!” Giles jammed the glasses back on his nose, “we can’t let innocent people suffer.”
“Well, they can’t be that innocent. Taking something that’s not theirs.” Spike muttered sullenly.
Giles pointedly turned his back on the vampire and said “Any suggestions?”
“What about hiding it at St Mary’s?” Mackness said diffidently. “No-one goes there, not even the workmen, now I have disbanded them.”
They all agreed that it was a good idea, but then couldn’t agree about who should take it. Spike insisted that as it belonged to him, he should be the one to dispose of it. Hilda argued that, since he had already been attacked through it twice, it probably wasn’t a good idea. That also discounted her, as she had also been attacked and was the one that the other witches knew best. Giles volunteered, but he was the only one who could cast spells, as Hilda was temporarily out of commission.
“I’ll take it. Since I’m the only one that doesn’t have special powers, maybe they won’t notice me.” the professor spoke so softly they almost didn’t hear him.
“You!” Spike said derisively, “what are you going to do if evil, bloodthirsty vampires attack? Scream and cry for your mummy?”
Over the uproar those words generated, Buffy said, “I’ll go with him.”
It seemed the best solution. Hilda wrapped the collar carefully, in a strip torn off the bedsheets, emptied her leather shoulder bag and placed it inside.
"Don’t touch the metal, just in case they’ll be able to sense you somehow. Bury it, bag and all, that’ll be the safest.” She smiled at him and patted his arm.
Giles shook his hand, “Buffy is an experienced warrior – do as she says and you should be safe.”
Mackness picked up the bag in shaking hands and tried to smile bravely. “I’m sure we’ll be back before you know it.” He could see the vampire rolling his eyes in the background and somehow this gave him strength. “Let’s go.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy looked down at her fashionable high-heeled boots, “just how far is it?”
“Oh, it’s about three miles away – but don’t worry, we have transport.” The professor led her to an alcove in the tunnel, in which a small electric truck was parked. It looked just like the ones they used in airports.
The journey was uneventful, boring even and Buffy was glad when the professor told her that they had reached their destination.
They entered the large area that used to be St Mary’s station and memories came flooding back into Buffy’s mind. Giles collapsing, Spike carrying him and half carrying her and then trying to fight off the crossbow-wielding humans. She realised that it was then that the love that she was starting to feel for him had started. She sighed sadly.
Mackness took the bag over to a pile of rubble where a wall had partially collapsed and started to dig a hole. He heaved some bricks aside and then burrowed into the detritus that was underneath. He looked up, about to ask the young woman if she thought it was deep enough, when he saw a movement behind her.
“Oh my!” Was all he could manage, when he saw a group of five grinning vampires descending upon them.
TBC
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