Chapter Twenty-two
Giles tried not to comment the next morning when Buffy joined him in the kitchen with a new set of marks on her neck. He sighed heavily and said as kindly as he could, “I do hope you are not making a mistake.”
“I trust Spike,” Buffy said in a tone that brooked no argument.
“Oddly enough, Buffy, so do I. I don’t doubt his feelings for you. Or yours for him. The possible long-term consequences of belonging to a vampire are what concern me.”
“I’m a slayer, Giles. Long term consequences aren’t real high on my list of things to worry about,” she said wryly.
“Yes. Quite.” He took off his glasses and polished them fiercely. “I am sincerely hoping that having a master vampire backing you up might go some small way toward extending your expected life span.”
“I expect it to.” Spike’s quiet approach startled both of them, as he’d intended it do.
He spent so much time around humans that they sometimes forgot that he was a supernaturally strong and fast being with other many other qualities of a successful predator. Qualities such as an ability to move silently, stand preternaturally still, and sense the presence of his quarry without using his eyes. And to overhear conversations taking place in rooms far removed from his.
Buffy turned to him with a smile. “I thought you would want to sleep all day like you did—“
“Time for sleeping when we’ve seen to the soulless wonder and his happy hooker,” he growled. “But I could use some very strong coffee,” he said, turning to the watcher.
Giles gestured to the pot on the counter and went back to his own cup of chemical energy. Spike poured himself a mug of strong coffee and sat down beside his newly mated partner. They shared a light good morning kiss before turning to face her surrogate father.
“All right,” Buffy started, “here’s the plan. I’ll go out today while it’s safe and start checking out the abandoned houses, warehouses, etc. to see if I can find them…” When Spike sat up abruptly and growled, she rolled her eyes and continued, “and then I’ll come back here and tell you guys where they are. We’ll go back for them just before the sun sets. I’ll get Willow and have her bring the soul spell and—“
“Bloody hell!” The twin explosions of identical words shocked her into silence and she stared at her ex-watcher and her mate as they both glared down at her. Both men had bolted to their feet and were struggling to find words after the initial outburst.
Spike found his voice first and he paced the room, waving his arms as he shouted.
“The bloody spell isn’t going to prevent this from happening again, Slayer. You cannot go into this thinking you’re just stalling him until the fucking soul is back. I won’t let you fight him unless you’re totally committed to sending his bloody soul to hell where it belongs!”
He finished his rant, taking deep unnecessary breaths and glaring at her from across the room. Buffy’s eyes narrowed and she stalked toward him, looking more like the Slayer that had ripped the Gem of Amara off his hand than he’d seen in a long time.
“You won’t LET me? Just what kind of rights do you think this claim gives you, vampire? I am the Slayer and I will decide when, how and if I go into this fight. And I’ll decide who goes where when I’m done. Including your precious Drusilla if she gets in my way.”
She finished her own loud response standing nose to nose with the angry vampire and daring him to contradict her. Behind her she heard Giles clearing his throat and shot him one look before turning back to Spike. The older man wisely swallowed his intended support for the vampire’s words and waited to see the upshot of the argument.
The two recently bonded blonds glared at each other for several minutes, Spike’s eyes flashing amber as his demon demanded to be let out. Buffy had no such issues, the Slayer was in full control as she stared up at him daring him to contradict her again. After a tense silence, the vampire dropped his eyes and relaxed his shoulders.
“Wasn’t tryin’ to tell you how to do your job, Buffy,” he said softly. “I just don’t want you getting killed because you aren’t taking Angelus seriously. He’s a wanker, but he’s a two hundred plus year old wanker and he knows how you fight. You can’t afford to cut him any slack if it comes down to it. Don’t care how many witches you’ve got chanting on the outside trying to put that soul back.”
Buffy relaxed her own belligerent posture at his soft words and worried look.
“I am taking him seriously, Spike. I promise you. Remember my dreams? I do. Angelus gets near me, he’s dust. But I owe it to Angel to let Willow try. He’s lived with that soul longer than he lived without it, and I think he’d want it back.”
Instead of arguing with her, Spike exchanged looks with the watcher over her head and said obliquely, “You know I don’t have a soul, pet, right?”
She frowned in confusion. “I know that. It doesn’t matter. I trust you. You’re who you are without it. What has that to do with—“ She stopped, struck by what she’d just said.
“Giles? Is he saying that Angel…Angelus…?”
Spike answered before the other man could speak.
“They’re the same person – vampire, Buffy. With the soul, his conscience - what he has of one - keeps him in line. Well, that and his wantin’ to be the only vampire to gain redemption,” Spike scoffed. “It’s all about him being special and being the bloody champion of the Powers That Be. He’s still the same sick bastard he’s always been, just hides it better and takes out his bloodlust on evil people and demons.”
Giles cleared his throat and responded to Spike’s words carefully. Buffy was looking and back and forth between the two of them with a stricken look on her face and he sighed as he added to what the vampire had said. “I’m afraid Spike is probably right, Buffy. Angel’s desire to do good and to redeem himself is a very recent development in his time as a vampire. It appears to be related to his being sent to help you and to the…feelings…he developed for you at that time. Up until that time, while he wasn’t actively killing, he gave no sign that he had any interest in defeating evil.”
“I didn’t mean to yell at you, love – well, that’s not totally true. I DID mean to yell at you; but only because I’m afraid for you.” Spike stepped back up to her and ran one hand gently down her face. “You know if anything happened to you, I’d lie on your grave and wait for the sun to rise, don’t you?”
She leaned into his hand, nuzzling his palm as she nodded her head. “I know. I could feel you. But you can’t tell me how to be the Slayer. I have to do that by myself. Alone.”
“By yourself, maybe. But not alone. Never alone.”
The warmth that flooded Buffy as she absorbed the truth of his words filled her with more confidence than she’d ever had and she stepped back and smiled at him with wet eyes.
“Ok. I’m going to go now. I’m just going to look for them. That’s all. I promise. I won’t go in anywhere and I’ll be back in a couple of hours. If I haven’t found them, we’ll have Willow do a locator spell.”
“Do be carefully, Buffy,” Giles added his request to the vampire’s murmured, “Come back soon, love.”
“Be back before you notice I’m gone,” she said, waving cheerfully and walking out into the late morning sunshine.
A stop at the dorm to be sure Tara and Willow were all right and she had her work cut in half for her when Willow got on her laptop and checked the real estate records for a list of recent vacant homes as well as those condemned by the city. She printed out the list for Buffy and they narrowed down the possible lairs by eliminating any that were visited frequently by real estate agents.
Buffy thanking Willow and asked the girls to meet her back at Giles’ apartment in the late afternoon to go over the evening’s plans. In spite of Spike’s words, Buffy asked Willow to bring the en-soulling spell with her as well as the necessary Orb of Thesela.
She could feel Spike’s worry nibbling at the edge of her thoughts and remembered what he’d said about never being alone. She stroked the marks on her neck and tried to think calm, reassuring thoughts in case he was picking up on her emotions the way she was feeling his. She decided that as weird as it seemed, being able to feel his presence, it was something she could definitely get used to it.
A check of the houses that might have harbored vampires indicated no sign of them and Buffy grabbed a late lunch before heading for the warehouse district. She ignored the catcalls from the men working around the buildings that were still in use, just walking past them toward the obviously vacant ones behind. The late afternoon sun told her she needed to hurry if she was going to get them all checked out before she had to go back.
Spike’s anxiety as the day went on and she still wasn’t back was coming through loud and clear and she smiled at his impatience. She decided she would check just the first set of buildings and then return, leaving the others for another day.
She was looking carefully for any signs of entry to the boarded up buildings, as well as casting her slayer senses around any trace of vampire signatures when she suddenly spotted a body lying between two buildings and cautiously approached. She checked briefly to be sure the alley was empty, but with the sun’s rays slanting all the way to the end it was obvious there were no vampires lurking there and she hastened toward the body. Just as she reached it, Riley raised his head and croaked, “B-Buffy?”
“Oh my god, Riley! What happened? How badly are you hurt?”
She cringed as she took in his ripped clothes, the bloody bites all over his chest and arms and his bruised face. She shuddered at the deep fang marks in his neck, wondering how he survived such blood loss. She carefully helped him to his feet, taking most of his weight on her slender shoulders as he staggered with her to the alley’s entrance. They paused at the end of the alley, the big man swaying slightly as he tried to support himself.
“Weak, thirsty…” He tried to talk and she shushed him, insisting that he would be fine as soon as she got him to the hospital. “No…no…have to help them…still alive…inside…”
“Inside? Inside where? Help who? Who needs help, Riley?”
“Ch-children. In there,” he gasped, gesturing toward a door that she hadn’t noticed in her haste to get to him. “Vamps…two of them…dusted one and got away, but still children inside.”
“Wait here,” she ordered, “Stay in the sunlight. I’ll be right back.”
Without a thought, she burst through the door, scanning the large room for any sign of a vampire or potential victims. Her senses were tingling, telling her there was at least one vampire around but she couldn’t yet see in the gloom, her eyes still used to the bright California sunlight outside. The tingles in the back of her neck ratcheted up several notches and she began to back slowly toward the door as the signatures of several powerful vampires began to make themselves felt.
Buffy felt the familiar fear begin to slow her down as she recognized Angelus’ signature and realized she might have made a big mistake. She heard the door slam shut behind her, and whirled to find Riley advancing on her with large piece of nail-studded wood. She ducked away from him, taking a painful cut on her shoulder as she did so. She was preparing to knock him out of her way just as something very heavy came down on her head and she slumped to the floor, unconscious.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thanks to Abbyland for catching the mixup with the chapters - for some reason, the site won't let me reply to your comment or Sarah g's last one. I'll have to talk to Pari, I guess. I do appreciate the heads up!