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To the professor’s astonishment, Buffy swung round to face the approaching vampires with a delighted grin on her face.

“Just what I need – a little exercise.”

And then she started to fight. Two of the vampires vanished into dust within the first few seconds and Mackness began to breathe again. He couldn’t take his eyes off her, she moved with such grace and fluidity, it was almost like a dance. He heard her talking to them, taunting them and obviously enjoying every moment. One vampire she tossed over her shoulder and it landed near the professor, with a sickening crash. It lay still for a moment, but then struggled to its feet and went back into the attack. The professor shouted a warning, but Buffy was intent on the other two. Without thought, Mackness picked up one of the bricks that lay at his feet and threw it at the vampire with all his strength. The brick bounced off the vampire’s head, but all it did was to take its attention off the Slayer and on to him.

Other than Spike, the only other vampires that the professor had encountered had been restrained and usually drugged – this one had murder in its eyes. He shrank back against the wall, terror running through him. Part of his mind was saying, “I’m sorry boys,” over and over again, as visions of his sons flashed across it.

The vampire took its time stalking up to him, enjoying his fear. “This looks like easier meat.” As its jaws opened, Mackness closed his eyes in resignation. There was a strange noise and then a sudden silence.

“Sleeping on the job Prof?”

He opened his eyes a crack and saw a grinning Slayer standing before him. He opened them wide and quickly glanced round and then sagged against the wall in relief.

“It’s OK, they’re all dust. Let’s get this over with, before any more show up, shall we?”

In the end, Buffy had to bury the ward; Mackness was still overcome with shock. She was so used to battling vampires with the Scoobies, that she had forgotten that ordinary human beings would be so affected.

“I, I’m sorry.” The professor managed to stutter. “Wasn’t much use to you was I?”

“Hey, I don’t suppose it was on the menu at your college.” She put on a stuffy voice, “This term, it’s “Vampires and how to slay them.””

He smiled gratefully at her and pushed himself up, “well, as you said, we’d better get going.” He wanted to get out of this awful place and return to the relative safety of his office, as soon as possible.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


When they got back to where they had parked the electric car, it was gone.

“Are you sure this is where we left it?” Buffy said, more in hope than expectation.

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” Mackness said quietly.

“Oh hell. How far did you say it was?” She looked down at her feet. “These boots were definitely not made for walking.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“The bloke’s got no booze!” Spike slammed the desk drawer shut. “What sort of bloke keeps no booze handy?”

Giles eyed him with distaste. “Shut up Spike, or I’ll be forced to tie you up again.”

“Oooh! I’m scared. Does big Watcher man think he’s a match for a master vampire?”

Hilda hurriedly interrupted before the situation spiralled even more out of control. “Spike, Rupert, I think we had all better calm down, or we’ll be doing our enemy’s job for them.”

“Yes, you’re right.” Giles tore his gaze from the smirking vampire. “I’ll check the perimeter – make sure that everything is okay.” He was quite proud of himself, as he refrained from slamming the door as he left.

When Spike resumed his pacing, Hilda sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. This was going to be a long night. “Spike, I think - “She stopped mid sentence, as he swung round and snarled at her, yellow-eyed. For the first time, she felt afraid of him.

Her change of expression hit him like a blow to the gut. He had been battling with his demon since Buffy had gone with the professor, removing the distraction that he felt whenever she was in the same room. He realised that, unconsciously, he had been considering Hilda as a potential meal. He forced the demon down, “Oh, bugger. I’m sorry pet – I’d never hurt you, you must believe that.”

It suddenly all made sense to her. “When did the chip stop working?” she asked flatly.

Now it was his turn to be afraid. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on Spike; don’t treat me like an idiot. When you attacked Buffy, you had a massive reaction, bleeding from your nose and ears. It deactivated then – didn’t it?”

Without her seeing him move, he was suddenly on his knees at her feet. “You don’t know how sodding hard it is.” She saw the anguish in his face, “not a day has gone by, since they shoved this bloody chip up my head, that I haven’t dreamed of hunting and feeding. I know what I said to you the other day, but now it’s real – I don’t know whether I can control it.”

“You say you wouldn’t hurt me – how do you control that?” She couldn’t prevent her voice from trembling.

“I think about losing you – that kinda counteracts the hunger. Besides I know that if I attack anyone Buffy knows, she’d dust me for sure.”

“Do you think she’d accept you attacking and killing a stranger?”

“Well, she wouldn’t know, would she?” He looked up at her earnestly.

How do you reason with a creature that had no conscience and no sense of guilt? Hilda thought desperately.

“Spike, she’d know – somehow she’d know. In a small town like Sunnydale, news must travel fast and she’d have to kill you, whether she wanted to or not." It sounded feeble in her ears, but he sighed and nodded.

“Yeah, I think you’re right pet. I’ll have to be real careful.”

“And if I thought that you were hunting again, I’d be so disgusted, that I’d never have anything more to do with you – ever!” She yelled the last word and felt as though she had just finished a hundred-yard dash.

His shocked eyes met hers. “Bloody hell – you mean it don’t you?”

She took a deep breath, “you have managed life with the chip for this long, can’t you just carry on as if it were still there?”

He groaned and dropped his head into her lap, “you don’t want much do you? I’m a vampire – hunting and feeding is what I do, what I’m for. If I don’t have that, what am I?”

“Spike, you have come so far - made yourself into a worthy man.” She stopped as he shuddered at her words. “Well, perhaps worthy isn’t quite the word I’m looking for - someone that I want as my friend. If you go back to killing, all that feeling will turn into disgust.”

He made a noise that sounded like a mixture of a sob and a sigh. “I’ll try luv, I really will.”

“No Spike. Not good enough. I have to know that you’d never go hunting again.” Inspiration hit her, “what does Buffy say about hurting humans?”

“She won’t do it. Says the law deals with them.” His voice was muffled. Then he raised his head and met her stare, “You’re saying use her as a kind of replacement chip, aren’t you?”

“Will it work?”

He gave it thought. Then his face twisted with regret and loss, “Yeah, I think it will.” His head dropped back into her lap.

She raised her hand slowly and carefully and started to stroke his hair. He sighed gustily and began a low rumble in his chest. This is what it must feel like having a panther as a friend she thought ruefully, he’s even purring.




TBC





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