He got up from the cot and put his clothes on before going upstairs, another smile blooming on his face as he caught sight of Buffy. She and the little witch were bustling around the kitchen, and Spike wasn't sure he could remember a time when his mate looked more adorable. Her hair was pulled high up on her head in a messy ponytail and there was a bit of flour smeared on her cheek, but she was still so cute that he had to fight to keep from grabbing her, pressing her against the counter, and doing something to her that he knew would embarrass Red to no end, seeing as she was standing right there and all.
"Good morning, honey," Buffy said chipperly, letting Spike know she had indeed noticed him come into the kitchen. "We're making pancakes. You want some?"
"Sure," Spike replied with a shrug. He wasn't sure what Buffy's culinary skills amounted to, but he'd be willing to risk it at least.
"He eats pancakes?" Willow asked, glancing between Buffy and Spike.
"Yup," Buffy replied, pouring the batter for the first one into the frying pan. "I was surprised, too, but apparently he does eat normal food."
"Angel never did," Willow said.
"Angel's a pathetic git," Spike replied with a snort. "But yes, I do like pancakes. They're good with blood instead of syrup, too."
Both girls looked at him then, staring for a moment as they turned identical shades of green. "Baby, if you do that today, I'm so going to have to hurt you, 'cause I'll never be able to eat another pancake again as long as I live," Buffy warned him.
Spike chuckled, then came up to Buffy, wrapping his arms around her from behind as she flipped over the pancake. "Fine. I'll leave off the blood this morning…as long as you make it up to me later." He kissed her neck, then licked it, his tongue tracing the side of her jugular. Buffy moaned softly, forgetting where they were for a moment, and pressed up against her lover.
Behind them, Willow coughed softly, and Buffy jerked, shaking her head as she went back to her pancakes. Spike turned towards Willow and noticed the deep red stain on her face, realizing that his small display with Buffy had had an effect on Willow as well. He smirked and figured they probably did look pretty damn hot together.
Reluctantly, Spike pulled away from Buffy, knowing he'd have an easier time reining in his desire for her until they could be alone if he wasn't pressed against her. He kissed the top of her head then went over to the kitchen island and sat down.
"Do you want me to heat you up some blood again?" Willow asked, recovering from her reaction to Buffy and Spike's little display. "Not to pour all over your pancakes, 'cause I'm going to go with Buffy and the never eating pancakes again thing, but to drink from a nice, inconspicuous mug."
Spike raised his eyebrow. "Red, are you trying to keep me full so I don't get hungry and bite you?"
"No!" Willow blushed under his unwavering gaze. "Okay, fine…maybe a little."
To Willow's relief, Spike laughed. "I'm not going to bite you. I meant what I said last night—you're under my protection now. You and the Watcher. It's part of what it means to claim a mate."
"What does that mean exactly?" Buffy asked, glancing away from the stove for a moment. "I wondered last night when you said it, and I was going to ask you when you got home, but then when you did I got all, um…distracted."
Spike's brow furrowed as he took a moment to decide how to answer Buffy's question. His knowledge of claims, while greater than hers, was still limited, and some of the things he knew about it were from instinct filling in the blanks. "Initiating a claim—especially a mating claim—it's like making a promise. By claiming you as my mate, I'm promising I can protect you, the way a mate should, and that extends to people you care about as well."
"It's believed to date back to when vampires were more social creatures, and a nest was not merely a hunting party. If a vampire were to take a mate, then that vampire would have to have the assurance that her mate would not bring harm upon her nest." Giles cleared his throat and stepped further into the kitchen. "Willow, be a dear and get me a glass of water so I can take these aspirin, please." He shook the small pills in his hand.
"Sure thing, Giles," Willow replied, moving to comply with his request. After she brought him his water, she went to the freezer to start working on heating Spike's blood.
"You know much about claims, Watcher?" Spike asked once the other man had swallowed his aspirin.
"Some, yes," Giles replied. "To be honest, I always had a sort of fascination with them. They seemed to go so against the grain of what everything else has to say about vampires, and I often wondered if they were even based in fact. I had never seen a mated pair before until the two of you got here the night before last."
Spike wondered if Giles could possibly help him clear up some of the areas where he'd been fuzzy on since he'd claimed Buffy, but at the same time, he wasn't sure he was ready to ask. He'd have to open up to Giles about some very personal things in his life in order to do so, and Spike didn't think either he or the Watcher were quite ready for that.
"I haven't seen many mated vamps myself," Spike said. "Angelus told me it used to be common at one point, but it had always fallen off by the time he was sired. Said modern vampires don't care for the responsibilities taking a mate entails."
"I have also read that it's something taken very seriously, something that usually comes about from a very deep connection already formed between two vampires," Giles added, his gaze unwavering as he directed it towards Spike. "I find it a bit odd, given the circumstances surrounding your relationship with Buffy, that you could have already evolved to a mated pair. It makes me wonder if you have somehow used this to manipulate Buffy since she couldn't possibly have known what you were doing to her at the time."
"Giles!" Buffy exclaimed with shock and more than a little bit of anger.
"No, pet, it's a valid question," Spike said, silencing Buffy before she could say anything else. He turned back to Giles. "Most of what has occurred as far as the actual claiming goes is between Buffy and me alone—it's personal. But as far as my intentions when I made the claim go, no, I didn't do it to manipulate her. I do realize that as far as the timing goes, it was a rather unorthodox move, but I acted on instinct, and I can't say that I regret it. I love Buffy, she knows it, and none of this is about controlling her." Spike raised an eyebrow. "You think if it was I'd be back here in Sunnyhell? Not bloody likely."
Giles didn't seem to have a response, and Spike knew he'd surprised the Watcher by coming out and admitting he was in love with Buffy. Spike didn't care what Giles thought, or even if the other man believed him. It was the truth, and he didn't see any point in denying it.
The microwave dinged and Willow retrieved Spike's mug of blood, bringing it to him quickly so as not to have to hold on to the heated ceramic handle too long. "Thanks, Red," Spike told her with a smile as she put it down in front of him, and Willow grinned. She felt helpful, and Willow liked feeling helpful. With Nancy, she'd felt more in the way than anything else. Even re-ensouling Angel hadn't seemed to help there.
Giles raised an eyebrow at the sight of Willow bringing Spike his blood, but didn't comment. He still wasn't sure if he believed Spike completely about either his affection for Buffy or his obligation to protect the people she cared about, but for the time being he was willing to take the chance. One thing that none of the texts he'd read had disputed was that a vampiric claim was permanent and that any attempt to undo one—especially after the initial stages—could very well lead to the death of the mated pair. So for the sake of the daughter of the woman he had loved and lost, Giles was forced to trust a vampire again. He could only hope it did not have the same disastrous effects as last time. The image of Jenny Calendar, lifeless in his bed, was one he would never find a way to purge from his mind.
Buffy finished cooking her pancakes and brought them over to the table. She offered some to Giles as well, but he declined, the effects from the amount of alcohol he'd had the night before still too apparent for him to eat. He did, however, watch the other three as they did, with more than a little surprise to see Spike join them as if his real breakfast was not in the mug Willow had brought him.
Spike was a strange vampire for sure. Giles had been aware of that from almost the beginning, his habits and actions as he hunted Nancy completely unlike any vampire Giles had ever heard of in all his days as a Watcher. And now, well, he appeared almost human—if one could imagine that his mug was indeed full of coffee, that was. He seemed younger than his true years in the company of the two girls, and his behavior with Buffy was very much that of a young couple just starting out. They seemed to be always touching, brushing against each other as if they needed the constant contact. Whenever Buffy was engaged in discussion with Willow, Spike would watch her attentively, a small smile on his lips and a glimmer in his eye.
That look confirmed things for Giles. Spike clearly adored Buffy. It was a look that couldn't be fabricated, even by the most experienced of con artists, and if Giles had learned anything from the time Spike had spent as the mortal enemy of his Slayer it was that the vampire was not one for falsehoods. It was a strange trait for an evil being, but Spike had appeared to almost always say and do what he meant. Granted, that usually applied to declarations of his intentions to murder the Slayer in horribly gruesome ways, but he was very upfront about it. It had been somewhat refreshing in light of the mind games Angelus played to always keep them guessing.
As impossible as it seemed to Giles to be able to take all of this at face value, he couldn't find any signs of Spike toying with them. The journals Buffy had presented him with certainly appeared to be genuine, and Giles knew as painful as it was to face, the idea of the Council having Joyce killed was certainly a plausible one. Furthermore, if Spike had wanted to kill them, he could've done it several times over by now. He had an invitation in the house, and Giles certainly hadn't been in any position to defend himself the night before.
The sound of the front door opening and closing brought Giles out of his thoughts, and soon, Nancy was walking into the kitchen, bringing with her an uncomfortable silence. The three people seated at the table stopped eating and turned towards her, making Nancy uncomfortable enough to squirm a little.
Giles regarded her coolly. "Nancy. I didn't expect you back this morning."
Nancy lowered her eyes. "I know. Giles, I'm really sorry about last night. I shouldn't have said what I said, and I know that now. I was being a brat, and I'm really sorry. I guess I was a little jealous of Buffy since you two seemed to be getting along so well." She looked over at Buffy. "And I'm sorry to you, too. That was horrible what I said about your mom, and I feel like such a bitch for saying it."
Spike sat up a little straighter and looked at Nancy. Something was…not right. He couldn't put his finger on it exactly, but there was something very unapologetic about her apology. And then he saw it. Just a flash, but it was there, in her eyes. Hatred. Directed right at Buffy. Seeing someone look at his mate in such a way made Spike's skin crawl, and he reached down to grip Buffy's hand. She gave him a quick, puzzled glance, but Spike just squeezed her hand, letting her know this was something they'd have to address later.
"And I'm sorry to you, too, Willow," Nancy said, not waiting for either of the other two people she previously addressed to accept her apology. "You're my best friend, and I shouldn't have treated you like I did. If you want to be friends with Buffy, too, then that's perfectly fine with me. Honestly, I'd like a chance to start things over with Buffy, maybe be her friend, too. Would you be willing to give that a try, Buffy?"
Buffy smiled brightly, yet completely insincerely. "Nancy, I can tell you now that I want to be friends with you just as much as you want to be friends with me."
Spike smirked at Buffy's response. She really was all fire, his girl—and smart, too. She obviously wasn't falling for whatever game Nancy was playing, and Spike was glad to see it.
Buffy's response threw Nancy, her brow wrinkling with confusion as she tried to decide how to respond. "Um…thanks," she said after a moment. Then, Nancy looked back at her Watcher. "I'll understand if you still don't want me here, Giles."
"No, it's your home, too," Giles said after a moment, with some reluctance it seemed. "However, I will not stand for anymore talk of that nature regarding Joyce Summers—or Buffy for that matter. Are we completely clear?"
"Yes, Giles. And really, I am sorry."
Giles didn't respond to her apology, something Nancy obviously didn't miss, and a flash of hurt went across her face. "I'm just going to go back up to my room," Nancy said. "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night."
She left the kitchen again, and soon after, Giles cleared his throat and announced, "I'll going back to my study to go over Howard's journals again, see if there's anything I missed that might be of help to us. Don't hesitate to disturb me if you need anything."
As soon as Giles as out of earshot, Buffy leaned further in, closer to Willow and Spike, and whispered, "Anyone else getting a no-good vibe from Nancy?"
"Loud and clear," Willow whispered back. "Nancy never apologizes unless she thinks she'll get something out of it."
Spike gestured with his head towards the basement door. "Let's go and suss this out where we can have a bit more privacy, yeah?"
The two girls nodded in response as they got up, leaving their unfinished breakfasts on the table as they walked down into the basement.
Contrary to some of the reviews I've received, I am not pushing Spike and Buffy to the side in this story to focus on Nancy. For one thing, why would I? It's a Spuffy story—what sense does it make to suddenly make it all about someone who's, for all intents and purposes, an OC? Also, that last chapter was almost completely about Spike and Buffy's relationship. Only the last scene had anything to do with Nancy and that was to move the plot along. Previously, I kept getting people complaining about a lack of actual plot and too much concentration on the couple. Now, it's the opposite, and I have to say, that's frustrating. I'd appreciate it if people would give me the benefit of the doubt through to the end of the story. I know where I'm going, and I know why I'm doing what I'm doing. I haven't just randomly decided to turn this into a Nancy bashing fic. If at the end you still don't like what I've chosen to do with the fic, fine, but until then, just relax and let me tell my story instead of trying to read my mind and make assumptions about where I'm going. Thank you.