Thanks to Beanmommy for her help with this chapter! I wrote this in a hurry, in response to multiple requests for a fast update, so I apologize in advance if it's lacking.
Chapter 22
"You didn't kill her." Angelus announced coldly.
"Why would I want to kill her when I can torture and torment her again when she wakes up? The evil bint doesn't deserve a quick death." Spike replied cynically.
Angel appeared satisfied with that explanation as he watched Spike step disgustedly over Joyce's prone form. The younger vampire lifted Buffy out of her seat, taking her place on the uncomfortable chair before bringing her down on his lap. Her head flailed back and Spike had to school his face to remain unaffected as he ran practiced hands over her head. He found the knot on the side of her head, right above the ear. Someone had clocked her but good, luckily not breaking the skin. The powerful scent of slayers blood was hard to miss, and if her skin had been broken it would have been a whole other situation. It was now evident that his kin had no idea whom they had captured, and Spike was grateful for that little bit of luck.
"What are you doing, Spike?" Angelus asked with a pained sigh.
Spike threw him an incredulous look. "I'm checking my property over, you git. Don't want to be saddled with some brain damaged loon." The not so subtle dig regarding Drusilla lingered heavily in the air, and Angelus sent him a thunderous look.
Dru dropped to her knees next to Spike, and stroked Buffy's hair softly, completely oblivious to the fact she'd just been insulted. "Such a pretty little thing, she is. She'll make such a nice addition to our nice little family. Won't she Angelus?" Dru looked up at the grim faced vampire looming over them and giggled. "Daddy will come around, little one." Dru whispered into Buffy's ear. "You'll see. Don't you worry about a precious thing. We'll be like sisters, you and I."
Dru tipped her curious face in Spike's direction, who was forcing himself to remain passive. His internal battle had come to arms once more, as unbidden thoughts of Buffy being with him forever crept into his head. She would make an amazing vampire, he mused, getting drawn into the seductive web Dru was spinning. Just as quickly as that thought came to mind, he beat it down, feeling ill that he had even considered for the briefest moment turning her. He knew first hand the truly sadistic mind that was housed behind Drusilla's enthusiastic innocence. Of course, the bastard Angelus was responsible for a good portion of it, but the innate demonic nature of vampires was evil. Spike couldn't afford to forget that Dru was cruel and a demon to the very core, no matter how strong and seductive the pull of family was. That was one thing that could not be forgotten. Spike found himself able to fight his evil, and he didn't question it, it was just something that had to be done. For the sake of Buffy, Joyce and Blake, he was able to fight his inherent nature, but the others had always been more sadistic than he had ever been. And he would never want that for Buffy, ever.
"Why hasn't she been turned yet? You appear to be so fond of the girl and everything. " Angelus's voice was cold and mocking as he watched Dru stroking the girl Spike had claimed as his own.
Once more assuming a bored voice, Spike responded, "I found that I liked my meat warm, it's a nice change, actually. Haven't quite decided yet if I want to keep her around forever though." Spike could feel Buffy's muscles twitching as she fought off the heavy weight of oblivion. The telltale increase of Buffy's heart and respirations as they responded to the panic slamming into her system were further proof she was slipping out of unconsciousness.
Dru clapped her hands gleefully, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "The little kitten is waking up! I can't wait to see what lovely eyes our little pet kitty has."
Spike didn't wait until Buffy had opened her eyes, he couldn't take that chance. Closing his eyes for just the briefest second, he asserted his power of her and was rewarded by her muscles going slack against him. She was now under his command, and he had to keep her that way for just a little while. She could kick his ass later, but this was for her own good. Their own good.
"Open your eyes, kitten." Spike said softly, rewarded by Buffy's head coming off his chest, her eyelids pulling back to reveal her dazed green eyes.
"Oh! Perfect! They're perfect!" Drusilla exclaimed excitedly. "She's perfect!" Continuing with her gentle ministrations to Buffy's hair, Drusilla smiled soothingly and announced, "We are going to have such grand times together, you and I."
"This is Drusilla, pet. She's the beauty that sired me." Spike told Buffy, feeling her trying to buck against his inner hold. He looked up at the scowling vampire lurking behind them. "That's Angelus, he sired Drusilla. This is my family, luv. They stopped by to check up on me, wasn't that nice?" Spike gestured to Joyce on the floor, still lying face down on the industrial grey carpet. "Sorry about your mum, luv. Had to drain the bitch, you know she never liked me."
A little whimper of protest escaped from Buffy, and Spike smiled cruelly. "What? Oh don't worry, didn't kill the bitch. Not yet, anyway. Need to make her pay a little for all the snide comments she threw my way. And I don't think I'll be forgetting about her looking down her nose at me all that time, like I was some sort of garbage. A bloke just can't let that kind of stuff go, you know."
Spike made himself laugh at the look of betrayal on Buffy's face. "What? Thought I was all housebroke? Christ, your mum wouldn't even let me in the bloody house." He bit out in an angry tone.
He let her have some of her control back; if that hadn't served to let her know that he was playing both sides, he didn't know what would. Her face softened, and Spike could read in her eyes that she understood the game. With that, he took her completely out of the thrall, and she responded by continuing to lay slack in his arms. Spike cast a worried eye over to Dru, hoping that she didn't pick up on the fact that he'd had Buffy under his thrall, but Drusilla appeared fascinated by Buffy's hair, studying it curiously, running the silky tresses through her fingers.
"Stop playing with my hair." Buffy ordered weakly as soon as she was in control of her body again. Spike growled low in throat in warning, hoping Buffy got the hint to keep her mouth shut.
Drusilla laughed in delight, looking up at Spike with appreciation. "Such a feisty little kitty. What's your name, my little princess?"
"Anne" Spike answered, giving the alias in case the others were aware of the slayer's unusual name.
"Anne." Drusilla purred, patting Buffy on the cheek. "Such a sweet name for a sweet girl. I can see why my Spike was so taken with you. Fire and ice, purity and sin. And to wrap it all up in one beautiful little package, and we have you. And you, my little Anne, are going to become mummy's little princess. And Spike will be your daddy, and you and I will be the belles of the Gentlemen's Ball."
Buffy inwardly cringed, but managed a scared twitch of her lips in reply, since the creepy vampire was obviously expecting a reaction. Ok, she was beyond freaked now, but Buffy could feel the tension in Spike and knew he was probably just as freaked. She didn't even question his loyalty or trust, she just knew. While it pissed her off he had taken control of her, she knew why he did it. They obviously were clueless she was the slayer, and Buffy was willing to play it Spike's way. But what walked in the door next almost made her call all bets off.
+++++++++
The door burst open and Darla swept in, looking chic in a pair of form fitting black leather pants, red halter top and stiletto heels. Her petite blonde form ladled down with shopping bags, and she sighed dramatically upon her entrance. She was flanked by a pair of minions, who had a new pair of captives to add to the collection.
"Wow, we've got enough food stored up here to last us for weeks!" Darla commented airily, throwing her bags down on the table.
"Honey, please don't tell me you paid for these things." Angelus commented, rounding the table to draw Darla into his arms.
Darla laughed, snaking her arms around his neck. "You know I did. It gives me such a wicked thrill when I hand my money over, knowing I could just snap their necks and take what I want."
Drusilla rose from Spike's side and went over to join the entwined duo. "Mummy look. Our Spike has brought us a delicious new dolly for the playroom."
Darla looked across the room, eyes narrowing as she took in their wayward relative with a human girl cowering on his lap. She looked up at Angelus and asked, "So what did I miss?"
"It seems Spike has found himself a human playmate." He commented snidely, throwing a sinister look at the younger vampire.
"Hmm.. Interesting." Darla revealed, pondering this information. "You've been ignoring your family, William. That is not nice."
"Sorry Darla. Got a bit bored, is all." Spike replied, gripping Buffy with all of his strength to keep her from bounding off his lap. "Found something to relieve my boredom for a spell, you know how that is."
"You're still not forgiven. " Darla informed him, then smiled evilly. "But we'll work out your punishment later."
Spike nodded in acceptance, knowing full well what their idea of punishment entailed. Pain, degradation, violence, sex, bloodshed, domination. When they felt he'd been broken and bled enough, he'd be welcomed back into the fold. Amazing how that thought now left him cold, when he used to find some pleasure in it.
Spike allowed himself to finally look at the new captives that had been brought gagged into the room, their eyes full of accusations and betrayal. "Nice little pair you picked up there." Spike announced, digging his fingers into Buffy's hips to keep her still.
Darla threw a bored look over her shoulder, dismissing the new additions with a flick of her heavily adorned wrist. "Bit scrawny, but they'll do."
Spike stared into the condemning eyes of Willow and Xander and tried to convey for the briefest moment to play along, before tightening his face up into a sneer. "Bet you wished you hadn't come to the bloody mall today, don't ya?"
++++++++++
Cordelia lost sight of Willow and Xander briefly in the throngs of shoppers impacting the mall, standing on tippy toe trying to pick them out of the crowd. Geez, why did everyone have to pick today to shop? Was there like some fantastic sale that she was totally missing out on? If that was the case, she was going to be seriously bent if she missed out on the action. Finally she saw a glimpse of red hair and heaved a sigh of relief, never thinking that she'd EVER appreciate the atrocity that Willow liked to call the color of her hair.
Pushing her way rudely between people, Cordelia sped to catch up, positive that Willow and Xander could reunite her with the grubby crybaby's parents, and she could go get her nails done. She heaved a great sigh of disgust when she saw the two fashion victims go through the doors that led to the bathrooms, and she stomped her foot in irritation..
"Oh so no way, I am so not going in there again." She imparted, shuddering with the tortured memory of going through those doors into the hallway of grunge and filth. So totally disgusting, god only knew the last time it had been cleaned. Not to mention all that beige totally washed her coloring out. No, she was not putting one Prada encased stem through that door, looking down and admiring her new shoes. She would just wait for them to come out.
Having made her empathic decision, she sat down on a bench with her reluctant charge and set about to wait. Evidently, the word had gone out about the disgust level of that bathroom, nobody taking the brave plunge to walk through those doors. Probably opting for the well decorated ones on the lower level, Cordelia surmised.
Blake had stopped crying and was asking now continually for his mommy and daddy, every word out of his mouth driving Cordelia seriously up the wall.
"I don't KNOW where your mommy and daddy are, for like the millionth time." She complained to the little boy. "If I knew that, you think I'd be sitting out here with YOU?"
When the bottom lip began quivering again, Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Oh great. Not again. Hey, Blake, don't cry, ok?" She told the little boy sitting next to her. Desperate for some way of shutting his trap, Cordelia rummaged through her purse. Pulling out a Cliff bar, she unwrapped it and handed it over. "This was supposed to be my lunch and dinner tonight, but here." she told him in a long suffering voice, forking over her allotted food source of the day.
"Blake!" Cordelia heard a male British voice call, and her hopes shot up. Oh thank GOD, it was about damn time. After this, she was totally asking to be paid for her babysitting services, and she wasn't going to be cheap, dammit.
"Unker Giles!" Blake called happily, in that manic way that children have, crying one minute, laughing the next. Cordelia looked over and saw...the school librarian??? Could this day GET any weirder?
"Cordelia." Giles began, casting his eyes around warily. "I wish to thank you for your assistance with young Blake here."
"Yeah, well, here you go. I've got mass things to do." Cordelia replied, standing up and attempting to hand Blake over.
Giles took a step back and shook his head. "My apologies. I'm afraid I am not able to assume guardianship of him at this particular time. You're going to have to keep him with you for a spell longer."
Cordelia stared at him incredulously. "You have so got to be kidding me. This went beyond totally insane about 10 minutes ago and has now entered the realm of freaksville. What is going on here?"
"I'm afraid this is neither the time or place to fill you in properly. I just must ask you this one favor. Keep the boy out of harms way, and if... nobody comes to claim him, would you kindly contact either willow Rosenberg or Xander Harris?" The librarian's face was serious and grim.
"Well, since I just saw them go through those doors, that shouldn't be a biggie." Cordelia replied snidely.
Giles turned ashen. "Good lord. Are you quite certain?"
"Hello, did I stutter? Nobody else but Willow has that Ms. Clairol Gone Seriously Awry shade of hair. They went through there like 5 minutes ago."
"Oh truly fantastic," Giles grumbled, his mind working through this new development. "Cordelia, it is most imperative that you keep this boy safe, do you understand? Can you do this for me?" He asked seriously, inwardly cringing that this task had been left to this.. cheerleader of all people.
"I didn't ask to be part of the Babysitter Club you know. I have better things to do with my time. My cuticles are just screaming for a treatment."
"Cordelia, please. Will you do this?"
Cordelia expressed a pained heavy sigh, then looked down at the little boy gazing up at her with guileless eyes. "Fine." She agreed. "But I expect some total compensation from this."
Giles allowed a brief distracted smile, as he considered his options. There was no one else to call. Willow and Xander were apparently already involved if the cheerleader was to be believed, and Spike had been unsure of the condition he would find Buffy and Joyce. Since Spike had arrived in Buffy's life, Giles had investigated his background and bloodlines, finding himself greatly disturbed by the results. If what Spike had said was true, there were some notoriously powerful and evil vampires here in Sunnydale, apparently in this very mall. This was not going to be pleasant, of that Giles was most certain.
Finding no other option than to conduct his own investigation, Giles discreetly slid a compact crossbow from his jacket pocket. Cordelia caught sight of it and shrieked, "Oh god, what kind of freaks are you people?"
Giles sent her a harsh look to shut her up, but was interrupted by a youthful voice breaking in. "Unker Giles, go. Bad men."
Even Cordelia could hear the quiet dread in Blake's voice and allowed Giles to leave without further comments. Looking down into his blue eyes that were so much like his daddy's, Cordelia said, "Guess it's just you and me again, Blake." Blake remained silent as Cordelia settled them back on the bench.
+++++++++
Xander and Willow had been pushed unceremoniously to the floor, luckily near where Buffy sat pretending to cower on Spike's lap. When Xander got his first look at Joyce's body on the floor, he struggled to buck away from the horrifying sight, trying to deny the gaping bite marks on her neck, the utter stillness of her form, and the pale ashen tone of her skin. Oh god, she'd been drained, he thought frantically, struggling to get away. The other three master vampires were on the other side of the room, so when one of the minions made a move to discipline the prisoner, Spike cut him off with a lethal look.
Pushing Buffy off his lap roughly, Spike stood and moved quickly to where Xander was huddled on the floor, his hands tied tight in front him. Grabbing the mortal boy around his upper arms, Spike hauled him to his feet. Pushing Xander so his back was flush with the wall, the vampire grinned demonically at the boy, the fresh torrent of fear being released stroking that evil presence that would always reside within him. Spike had to give himself a mental shake and remind himself that this was the boy he had gone to the silly prom with just the night before. Making sure that the others attention was being paid elsewhere, Spike slipped out the switchblade he carried in his pocket and deftly sliced through the ropes that bound him. He ignored Xander's startled look, keeping up a deluge of taunts and threats. Xander played his part and acted like the weak scared human, head bowed and body trembling. Spike slipped the knife into Xander's pocket with a warning look, hoping he could trust the boy to not do anything rash and give things away too soon. They were too many and too spread out all over the huge room, Spike wanted them closer together before they struck.
"Spike if you are done tormenting our dinner, we have some things to discuss." Darla snapped, as always irritated by Spike's obnoxious behavior. She had been in favor of forgetting about him, but since they had gotten word the Slayer lived in the same town that he had evidently settled, they decided to kill two birds with one stone. They would all be in on the hunt for the Slayer, but it was Drusilla's turn to be the one to go in for the kill.
Spike grabbed Buffy's hand and pulled her up, grateful that she had the presence of mind to act fearful of the others. He did smell some fear from her, not as much as there should have been, but it would have to do. "Come on, pet. This is going to be your new family, after all."
"That still remains to be seen, William." Darla announced, as they approached the corner of the table that the other three had taken over.
"I don't need your permission to turn anybody, Darla." Spike countered.
"Oh you can turn whoever you want, William." Angelus replied smugly. "But as you well know, it's quite a simple matter to dispose of your messes."
Spike didn't reply to his elder's taunt, knowing that is what they expected. He felt Buffy tense next to him, and squeezed her hand in reassurance.
Drusilla excitedly patted the empty seat next to her. "Come sit here, my pretty little poppet. Don't listen to Daddy, he's always cross whenever he's around our William. Like little boys, they are."
Buffy looked at Spike, still allowing her face to reflect fear and at his nod, went to sit hesitantly next to Drusilla. She tried not to shiver in revulsion when Drusilla slid her cold hand through hers, her other hand going once more to Buffy's hair, where it was stroked with reverence. "Oh, Spike! Miss Kitty is so deliciously warm! I'd like to keep her this way for a while, oh yes."
"I hadn't planned on turning her just yet, Dru, so she can be your own personal furnace." Spike said cryptically, standing in back of Buffy's chair.
"Oh, I'd like that! We can have tea for two and watch the ships on the bay."
Buffy smiled hesitantly at the dark haired vampiress petting her. Not much going on upstairs, Buffy thought. Suddenly Drusilla giggled like a school girl, her hand daintily covering her mouth in response to her mirth. "Someone has decided to crash the birthday party, and he wasn't invited."
"What are you talking about Dru?" Darla asked rudely.
"Enchantments and spells, sends a buzz if someone crosses the finish line before the game is done."
Darla and Angelus looked at each other with irritation, both remembering why they wanted Spike back. When neither one had figured out Dru's ramblings, Spike said in disgust, "Bloody hell, didn't you have Dru enchant your little massacre?"
Four minions were dispatched to investigate, returning moments later with yet another prisoner. Spike and Buffy exchanged looks as the man was dragged in, one of the game faced minions sporting a crossbow bolt from his shoulder.
"Well, well. It looks like someone was expecting us." Angelus commented unnecessarily. "Wonder how that came to be? Spike, you have any ideas?"
"Why would I bloody know." Spike scoffed, curling his lip in contempt.
"Well, let's see. Maybe because you're with a human now, and we were holding your mate." Darla supplied snottily, flipping her blonde hair back over her shoulders.
Buffy made brief eye contact with Giles, concerned for his safety. This was about to get really ugly quickly, she could feel it churning in the air like a killer tornado ready to touch down.
"I'm a vampire, ladies and gentlemen. I don't betray my kind, my family, for a lot of sodding humans."
"Well, we'll just have to see about that." Angelus said with a icy look. Spike knew it well, the one that promised pain and lots of it. What they needed here was a distraction, so they could get all their players in place, and get the odds evened up on their side.
A distraction was provided, but it was one that froze the stagnant blood in Spike's veins. The shrieking of "NO! Go way! Bad!" followed by the irritated voice loudly complaining, "Hello, disgusting smell coming from little child equals end of my involvement. This was so not part of the deal. Now where is everybody.... HELLO! A little certain someone has polluted the air with foul bodily functions! And I am so sick of smelling it!"
"Hark! I hear an appetizer calling." Darla announced sardonically, cupping her hand around her ear. Crossing over to the door, she opened it and peeked her blonde head out. "Hi!" She greeted in a friendly voice. "Can I help you?"
Cordelia sighed with relief as she saw the smartly dressed woman, frowning as Blake twisted in her arms trying to escape. "Well, I can only hope. I'm looking for this kid's dad."
Darla held the door open wide for them to enter. "Well, maybe he's in here. We're having an impromptu meeting of sorts, and there are a slew of potential fathers in here."
"God, I hope so. He did this whole superman disappearing act earlier after ordering me to watching his kid and now I just want to go get my nails done." Cordelia replied cynically, as Blake cried to be released. "What is with you?" She asked him, looking into the child's scared face as she went through the door.
"Bad men." Blake whispered, eyes wide with fear.
"That was a woman." Cordelia scoffed. "Some keen observer you are."
When she finally looked up, Cordelia's own eyes widened with fright, as she tried to process what she was seeing before her. There were people tied up on the floor all around the outskirts of the room, their gagged faces frozen in terror. "Ok, if this is Candid Camera, you guys have gone WAY too far." Again, no Alan Funt appeared. She was never watching that show again, dammit. There were more guys looming around, with the freaky faces like Spike, but none of them anywhere near as hot as Blake's dad. God, ew, were they... LEERING at her? Oh, totally gross.
A big dark haired man came forward to relieve her of the burden in her arms, who suddenly wasn't such a burden. "Thank you for the delicious little snack." He said with mock politeness.
Ok, now this guy was kind of hot, Cordelia thought. In a hulkish kind of way. "Oh, you don't want him. He totally stinks. About made me gag and throw up the banana I had for breakfast. Plus he's kind of whiney. No, he's nothing but a problem." Cordelia announced, trying to keep the terrified little boy in her arms. She looked around wildly for help, finally noticing the kid's studly dad bent over the huge table in the room, a sharp piece of wood positioned at his back by one of those pervert freaky guys. He was glaring at her with blatant rage on his face, and Cordelia suddenly remembered his parting words about keeping his son safe. Oops.
Blake was finally torn from her grasp and held up for inspection. "Let's get a look at you." Angelus remarked, holding Blake up to face him.
"You bad man." Blake suddenly shouted, his face scrunching up in anger. He was facing away from where Spike was being held down, stake at the ready; and where Buffy was being restrained by yet another minion, an anguished look on her face as they waited for the moment to make their move.
Angelus suddenly laughed. "I like this kid." He brought Blake against his chest, supporting him with one arm, amused by the fiery little glares this little boy was sending him. They reminded him of something, but he couldn't put his finger on it. "The girl was right, you do smell." Angelus commented suddenly as the foul odor of excrement hit his olfactory senses. He was about to throw the boy away from him in disgust when he caught a hint of something else. Angelus buried his nose in the boy's neck and breathed deep, then looked over at Spike, a cruel grin spreading across his face. "It seems William has been keeping a few secrets from us." Angelus announced to the others.
Buffy and Spike exchanged looks, tensing up to make their move. What happened in the next minute would dictate how things played out, the anxiety building as both worked to clear their mind for the upcoming battle. Buffy looked at Giles and saw that he was aware of his role.
Angelus looked back down at Blake's defiant look, know recognizing it as a miniature replica of his father's, and turned so that the boy could see the entire room. "Is your daddy here, son?"
Blake caught sight of his father with a stake at his back and cried out in distress. "Daddy!!!" Angelus set him down on the ground and Blake ran over to Spike's side, tears streaming down his face. "Bad men." Then he saw Buffy and ran to her, hugging her leg.
"Isn't that adorable." Angelus commented, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. "But like I said earlier, I will destroy any mess that you create, Spike. I think I'll start with this one."
Cordelia, who had been standing in a state of shock as she watched this drama unfold, began to inch towards the open door. Drusilla noticed the movement and moved swiftly to capture her. "The party has just begun, we haven't even had our tea and cakes. The mistress will be most upset if we leave before the ball has dropped in the square." Drusilla told the struggling girl.
Buffy took this opportunity to go from helpless mortal to super slayer. Using the element of surprise, she flipped her captor over her head, then efficiently snapped his neck, not pausing as he turned to dust beneath her hands. Buffy grabbed Blake and threw him under the table before turning to the minion who had Spike and kicked the stake out of his hands. Picking it up, she quickly thrust it into the minion's chest, and was rewarded with a pile of dust as Spike jumped from his submissive pose. Buffy shattered a shelf, supplying them with lots of nice wooden pointy objects and they turned in unison to face the onslaught.
"Hello everyone. Allow me to introduce myself. Buffy Summers, Vampire Slayer." Buffy quipped, feeling the familiar anticipation of the fight flowing through her veins.
"You claimed the Slayer?" Darla yelled at Spike, amber eyes flashing. "You stupid idiot!"
"Yeah, but he's MY stupid idiot." Buffy informed her possessively , as Drusilla charged her. And the fight was on.
+++++++++++++
Now Cordelia was sure she had entered the Twilight Zone. Right before her eyes, just as she was sure death was inches away by this loony bin reject, Buffy Superfreak Summers just went all bionic woman and started snapping necks and stuff. Then, the Way over the Cuckoo's Nest chick threw her aside and jumped in to fight, screaming about her precious little kitty, and Buffy threw her across the room. And everybody had those freaky faces on. Well, everyone but Buffy.
Just as Cordelia began inching out the door again, she saw another sight that boggled her mind. The school's geekiest duo jumped up and joined in, and the school librarian, and oh my god, was that... Buffy's MOTHER???
Cordelia sneezed as the dust flying set off her allergies, and was getting all set to flee and set herself in total denial that this whole thing had ever taken place. Then she saw that dark haired guy from earlier who had taken Blake from her, except now he wasn't as hot because he had a freaky face on, snatch Blake from his hiding spot underneath the table. Now Cordelia emotions were torn. Spike and Buffy were both battling the loony and the pretty blonde, and the others were otherwise engaged. Oh, what to do, what to do...
Grabbing a stray piece of wood, Cordelia walked up behind the dark hulk, closed her eyes, and struck out with the piece of wood as hard as she could, like she'd seen the others do. She pried one eye open to what had happened just in time to see Blake flying through the air through a cloud of dust. Instinctively, she reached out and caught him, feeling a rush of emotion as pudgy little arms were thrown around her neck as Blake buried his face against her, sobbing. Ok, so maybe he was kinda cute. In a smelly, sticky, annoying kind of way She brought her hand up and rubbed his back in slow soothing circles, talking to him while making sure they were out of harms way. Ok, she wasn't crying over a little boy, she wasn't. It was just... all the dust in her eyes.
++++++++++++++
As Spike had been fighting Darla, he'd seen Angelus nab Blake and almost lost it. His loss of concentration had almost ended the fight right there, but he'd managed to stake Darla right at the last second. Just in time to see the cheerleader blindly stick a piece of wood into Angelus's back, just when he was sure she was going to bolt through the door. Blake started falling through the air as the body holding him dissolved and was once again saved. A flush of relief washed over him, then he laughed at the irony. The great Angelus taken out by a bloody cheerleader. Spike surveyed the room, noting with satisfaction that the others had cleaned up this mess. A pang of sadness struck him at the loss of Drusilla, but she was a monster in sheep's clothing, and he knew it.
When the dust settled, an emotionally fragile group took a look around, noticing the hopeful looks from the people tied up around the room. Xander and Willow went to begin the process of releasing them from their bonds, and the sound of tearful heart wrenched thank you's were soon heard echoing around the room. Except for the human loss in the bathroom, nobody else had been sacrificed.
Buffy walked over to where Cordelia stood trying to comfort her son, and offered her a small smile. Cordelia peeled Blake off of her, and held him out, smiling when Blake saw her. "MOMMY!!" He yelled, his sad face lighting up. Buffy clutched Blake to her, as tears began to fall, thankful that this threat was over. Spike joined them, wrapping his arms around them both, his own tears rolling down his face. Even Cordelia had to admit they made a nice looking little family. Even if it was Buffy.
"I thought I'd lost you both." Spike whispered hoarsely to his girl, as she buried her face into his chest, sobbing with relief.
Joyce wandered over to where the little family were reunited, and Cordelia exclaimed, "Oh my god! What chewed on your neck?"
A guilt stricken face popped up, and Spike took in the pale unsteady form before him. "Oh christ, I'm so sorry, Joyce."
Joyce laid her hand on his arm, and smiled weakly, the blood loss making things fuzzy. "It's ok, Spike. I know why you did it. I'd probably be dead if you hadn't."
Spike's silence was confirmation that her assumption was correct. "You need to get to a hospital, Joyce." He told her, worried by her ashen appearance. Joyce offered no resistance, and Xander took her, with Buffy accompanying. Giles and Spike were left behind to explain things, or attempt to explain things, the police much preferring to accept the story that didn't fit the crime rather than the story that did.
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It was hours later, and Joyce was upstairs in bed, still wiped out even after receiving a few units of blood. Buffy and Spike were laying together on the couch, with Blake sleeping on his favorite spot against his daddy's chest. The day had drained all of them. It had alsobrought new things to light and helped cement Spike's credibility and trust with her Watcher and friends, as well as everyone else . He had been quiet since they had come home, and Buffy knew instinctively that he was mourning the loss of his vampire family, and had just given him silent support.
Buffy was just repositioning herself on the couch so she could snuggle even closer to Spike when he broke his silence and the words that came out of his mouth were the most beautiful things she had ever heard.
"Buffy, I love you."
Tears filled her eye and she rose on one elbow to peer down into his serious face, hand reaching out to cup his chiseled cheek. A tear drop slid down her face and landed on shirt, and Buffy wiped the rest away self consciously. "Sorry." she told him, giving an embarrassed laugh. "It's just been kind of an emotional day."
He reached out and drew her head down for a gentle kiss. "I mean it, Buffy. I do. Today made me realize how much, and I almost didn't get a chance to tell you. I love you."
Buffy smiled through her tears. "I love you too, Spike."
TBC
a/n But hey, no cliffhanger! I don't know how much updating I'll be doing this week since I have to get ready for Writercon and I've got a TON of stuff to do, so I made sure I got them out of there. And a little spuffy cuddles for Maidenro
Thank you for all the reviews!
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