Every time his eyes fell on her, she was smiling. No, grinning. Like a bloody loon, if the truth be told.
His arse was parked on the Watcher’s couch and it was all he could do to not faint with unaccustomed weakness while he waited for the idiots to feed him. He’d tried to dive for the boy’s throat—the one he’d almost managed to eat the year before during his ill-thought out attempt to retrieve Dru through magic—and managed to do nothing but fall on his face and succumb to a blinding pain that ripped through his skull.
Now he was on display like a circus freak, the Slayer and her goodie brigade watching him with a mix of wary and excited interest as he swayed from side to side on the verge of passing out. His body ached with fatigue and his head pounded enough to set his fangs on edge. And all these humans with pumping hearts were making his mouth water. If it wasn’t for the Slayer sitting right there, smiling softly at him like he was her long lost love brought back to her, he’d probably try to snack on them again. The little redhead had always been one he wanted a taste of. Pity her high-pitched chatter and rambling annoyed the piss out of him.
“Which bloody one of you is goin’ to come peacefully and offer me a snack?” His eyelids were drooping even as he fixed on the Slayer’s delectable throat and he licked his lips. He almost felt her shivered reaction and then it was black and he didn’t care anymore.
The Scoobies watched as the Big Bad they’d all been terrified of for the past two years flaked out in front of them.
“Well, that was a great load of anti-climactic fear,” Xander confirmed, Scoobies nodding in agreement even as they eased up a little.
“Xander, you told me this vampire was scary. He doesn’t look scary. He looks seriously in need of some good orgasms and some blood, but not scary.” Anya shared her rather oblivious grin with the surrounding crowd and then took another look at the resting vamp and licked her lips.
Buffy jumped to her feet, her hands already on her hips as she positioned herself in front of Spike.
“The vamp is NOT for you to play with. You have Xander to give you orgasms, and trust me, you two should stick to that. Come near him and I will conveniently forget your recent affliction of human status.” Buffy glared at the other blonde, feeling a slight satisfaction as her sappy grin slipped and she was backing away nervously.
“Whoa there, Buff…got it loud and clear. I see a Buffy stamp right there on his forehead. See, with the swirls of red paint that says, ‘Property of the Big Bad Slayer’?”
Buffy loosened her stance just a little, feeling suddenly guilty that she might have overreacted a tiny bit.
“Right…yeah…kinda sorry about snapping at you,” Buffy mumbled almost incoherently as her eyes searched for another focus and a change of topic. She saw Giles on his way to the coffee table, an armful of ropes hitting the polished surface with a thud.
“Oh no,” she objected, knowing all too well from her three day dream that chaining Spike to bathtubs and tying him to chairs was just massive on the overkillage. “He won’t be able to hurt any of us with the chip. Remember? I told you guys this. He’s all ‘grrrr’, but now without the ‘argggghhhh’.” Buffy was nodding at each of her friends in turn, a big happy smile on her face that was shocked right off of it the next second when a low, growly—possibly hungry—roar hit her eardrums.
“Is that bloody right, Slayer?” The outburst seemed to wipe out Spike’s vocal chords for a second and he pressed his lips together while waiting for another build-up of strength. His glaze flicked around the room and alighted on the smug face of the boy that he’d tried to munch on earlier.
Before he let words sap him of energy again, he wobbled to his feet and stood as menacingly as his shaking body could allow in front of the slayer, letting the curl of his lip show his derision.
“An’ pray tell, Miss Almighty. Why am I so bleeding helpless and fangless in your priceless estimation?”
“Oh no,” Xander objected, taking an initial step forward before his old prejudices and fears kicked in and he hastened to retreat that telling move. “Buffy knew it. Said you needed the chip and waited, or we would never have helped her get you out.”
It was a glare of pure hate as his face turned to ridges and fangs dropped.
“You self-righteous bitch. You knew those bleeding wankers were going to do something to me and you just sat on back and waited till they’d done it? What, do they give you a cut of the profits or something?” he snarled with feral fury.
Buffy stood shocked, contemplating either bursting into tears because it was all going so wrong, or belting Xander several times over the head for letting out the facts before she’d thought to tell him to keep his big over-confident mouth closed.
She couldn’t stop her bottom lip from wobbling though, and the confidence leaked from her stance as her green eyes were speared by furious amber.
“No. I-I just thought—“ She tried to stop her body from shaking, knowing that if she just took several deep breaths she could bring it all back on track and Spike would see she was just what he needed.
“Thought what? That one pet vampire is just not enough? I’m not interested in whatever games you’re playing. You’re turning my head inside bloody out and it’s got to stop.” He was struggling to get control of his fangs, wanting so badly to dive for her throat and make the bitch hurt.
“But…you need me?” Buffy sputtered hopefully, her eyes pleaded with him to just stop and give her a moment to regroup.
“Like hell do I need someone like you. You’re a bleeding menace, and not just to my peace of mind. No Slayer, I think you’ve done more than enough.” And in one giant huff, he’d managed to stumble to the door and was out in the night, too high on adrenaline and fury to know that he could be doing little but standing in dangers way.
One thought clicked over and over on repeat, bloody hell he was hungry.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
He couldn’t believe it. He knew the Slayer resented the fact that he was strong and had so nearly killed her on numerous occasions. But was she so jealous she had to render him completely unable to defend himself?
After the fifth attempt to sink his fangs into a succulent and promising neck, he’d about keeled over in blinding pain. He was in the process of looking for something sharp so he could cut his own head off, anything to stop this mindless torture. And then came the knowledge that he needed help, and it galled him no end that he’d have to almost crawl back to the evil troupe that called themselves White Hats. They were more evil than he was for what they’d allowed. She could have just staked him, given him a challenge and a death worthy of the master that he was. Was. Hardly a master now when he couldn’t even hunt and feed himself. Instead, she’d bloody neutered him like some troublesome dog.
As Satan and Angelus was his witness, he’d find some way to snap that pretty golden neck before he was done, or have his head explode while trying. Then again, he could be just left to hang out in this fabulous display of sunlight and dust all over the Watcher’s front door mat. Spike could be considerate like that. He’d even ignite and take his raggedy blanket with him.
By the time the door creaked open, Buffy spying who it was and hauling him violently inside in relief, he didn’t much care about the spark that had started a tiny fire on his back. She belted him good, though, and put that little flame out, digging into a spot of charred flesh while she was about it.
Spike was laying chest down on the floor, letting his cheek rest on the Watcher’s lovely carpet as his vision blurred from starvation. He was finished with the lot of it. Too hungry, too tired, too disgusted with his unusual vampire weakness. This floor looked right comfy and as far as he was concerned, he was happy to lay there and rot, as long as he never had to look at that chirpy ‘I told you so’ face ever again.
“Spike? Spike. Come on, don’t be a big vamp baby. Sit up and let me help you.”
He rolled over and saw a grinning Slayer swimming in his vision above him.
“’M hungry,” he told her, refusing to acknowledge the blissful looking smile she was bestowing on him while she picked up his hand and began to help him off the floor.
“Well, of course. That’ll happen when your little Happy Meals get taken off the Spikey menu. What can I getcha? And did I say yet, ‘I told you so’?”
He had that small bit of energy left in him to remind him who he was. Remind him why he was where he was. Spike snarled and let his lip curl in that way he loved to show how much he hated who he was talking to.
“Screw you, Baby Hitler.” He wrenched himself away from her helpful hand and almost fell the rest of the way to the sofa, smirking internally at how the description fit. She was twice as ferocious as the little Nazi bugger, and he would know, having met the burk at least twice.
Once he made it to a reclining position, he gave up on caring if they ever gave him food, ready to die by whatever means was quickest. One deep breath and he caught the faint whiff of distress, but as his own was rather high on his ladder of concern, he couldn’t give a toss about it.
His audience looked on as he faded out once again, sprawled spread-eagled over the couch like he owned it.
Buffy sniffled as she kept her eyes clamped to his body.
“M-maybe I made a mistake?” she said as she looked and found the sympathetic glances of her friends and watcher. “Maybe I shouldn’t have let him get chipped. I was being selfish. I had no right, and now he may never forgive me and I’ve ruined everything the Power’s showed me. What good is having visions if I just muck them all up?”
“Buffy, I’m sure everything will turn out okay. I mean, he’s all hungry vamp right now, and look, he’s a bit on the weak side, and no guy likes his girl to see him weak. Being a vampire, I’m sure looking less than his powerful mastery best in front of the Slayer is not the height of his happy moments.” Willow rubbed Buffy’s back reassuringly, her eyes wide with panic as she looked at Xander and Anya for some input.
“Yeah, Buff. I’m sure once Captain Peroxide gets some blood down his belly, he’ll be all with the happy and the smoochies in no time.” Xander was looking like he wanted to puke at the sentiments he had just given voice to. His lack of desire to see his Buffy anywhere near the bleached misfit weighed heavily on his staking hand, despite the rather definite chin wobble that Buffy was struggling to control.
“You really think so?”
Why oh why was she looking at him to confirm the obvious disaster of all things joined vamp and slayer?
“Oh abso with the lutely. It’ll be terrific. But hey, the guy needs blood. Giles?” he bellowed as he quickly moved away from Buffy’s hopeful gaze, not wanting to be sucked into this farce of a relationship anymore than he already had been.
An agonised moan on the sofa had Buffy rush to give his poor head a pillow in her lap and she looked frantically at her Watcher, still rooted to the spot despite Xander’s attempts to drag him away from the situation like some kind of alibi when things went wrong.
“Giles?” She’d caught him, decidedly punishing him for standing still throughout the drama. “Can you heat the blood up?”
And they were all active, some like Xander darting out the door for other day to day activities that didn’t include feeding impotent vampires. Giles tended to the necessity of blood, surrendering his least favourite mug to the cause, so that his Slayer stayed happy and functional.
The smell of blood brought him to, wondering at the slight incline of his head on something soft. When a mug was waved under his nose and he was helped to sit, he finally realised he’d been cushioned on his enemies lap.
He took the mug to his lips without a word, sipping slowly despite the great tearing hunger that made his whole body hurt. He felt himself held upright against her body, felt the warmth of her flesh even as he was infused with the artificial heating of his blood.
With resigned acceptance he fed, leaned on her and mentally plotted his revenge. Before he was dust he would see this room coated in red.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Hey, I'm back momentarily. I've managed to get this done and have been enthused with Holly's enthusiasm for this fic, so with a bit of luck it won't take me long to get through the next chapter. Pssst, I HAVE started it. Thanks to Holly, Tami and Schez for all suggestions and betaing.