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Chapter 14

When Spike’s lips touched hers, Buffy’s brain went on hiatus. The kiss prompted memories of other kisses. As he gentled his hold on her, softening the bruising punishment but not the intensity of the kiss, her hands seemed to move of their own volition to the nape of his neck, her fingers teasing the soft curls there. Pictures of engagement induced caresses, musical nights with movie ending kisses and passionate embraces under the stairs at the Bronze flittered past her mind’s eye. Buffy was lost in the moment, but a gentle cough from the watcher on the couch bought her back with a crash.

Pushing away from the kissable blond vampire, Buffy was stopped from launching into her usual litany of recriminations by her mother’s playful tease. “It’s nice to see you treating your gifts so well, dear.”

“Gift?”

~*~*~

Coat billowing dramatically behind him, Angel strode with confident purpose towards his goal. It was Saturday morning, Buffy and the others would still be sleeping, this time the watcher would face him alone.

He had returned to the Summers home in the early hours of the morning. Watching his beautiful Buffy sleep, he had seen her dreaming. Clearly the dreams had been of a sensual natural; writhing in the bed until she dislodged her sheet and mumbling things too quietly for him to hear. His cock had hardened painfully at the sight of her nubile young body. Soon. Soon she would be his completely. The fact that she was dreaming of him like that suggested he wouldn’t have to wait long at all.

As Angel entered the library, ready to battle the watcher, he found the place empty. Deciding to wait, he made himself comfortable at the table, mentally going over all that he had to say. He was sure he wouldn’t have long to wait.

~*~*~

“Buffy, may I ask you something?” Giles looked over at the petite blond.

“Sure, Giles,” she smiled over at the watcher from her seat on the couch.

Sitting forward in his recliner, hand clasped and resting on his knees, Giles was the very picture of seriousness. “Why are you so insistent that the council should not be brought into this?”

“Oh that reminds me, you have to contact another watcher. He’s in the Caribbean somewhere…um, Sam something.” Buffy looked at him expectantly.

“Sam Zabuto?”

”That sounds right. Can you contact him? He’s the watcher for the other slayer and we sooo don’t need Kendra turning up here too. You have to make sure he knows that there’s already a slayer in Sunnydale and that she should stay where she is.” Memories of the beautiful and exotic dark skinned slayer flitted through Buffy’s mind.

“It would be easier to go through the council, Buffy.” Her insistence for no council involvement had him puzzled. He couldn’t for the life of him figure out the cause for her reluctance to contact the council. They dealt with the supernatural. Surely this situation was something right up their alley.

Giving Giles a look that held him like a vice grip, Buffy plainly stated her position; “There are so many reasons why I don’t trust the council, Giles, but first and foremost is always going to be the Cruciamentum.”

“I didn’t?” the shocked disbelief in his voice, caused Buffy to study him curiously. He seemed totally horrified at the thought of being a part of the ritual.

“You did, Giles. You had me study crystals and while I was hypnotised you injected me with the serum that stole my powers.” Buffy’s voice filled with pain as she relived the night of horror. “On my eighteenth birthday, my father and I had a tradition, we would go to the ice-capades, but that year he cancelled out on me and just sent me the tickets instead. I asked you to go with me; I figured that you were a better father than he was, so, why not have you replace him in the birthday tradition too.

“I’d been getting weaker for days, but I felt safe knowing that I would be with you on my birthday.” So lost in her memories, Buffy failed to see the gentle watcher’s eyes fill with tears. “Apparently you stopped by the place where the ritual was to take place to check in on things and discovered the tomb of the vampire the council was going to use was empty and one of the guys looking after him was dead. That was when you decided to tell me what was going on.

“Long story short, the vampire kidnapped my mom and I was forced to face him to save her. I had finally managed to beat him, by tricking him into drinking holy water, just before you arrived to help. When we got back to the library, Quentin Travers was there.” Buffy spat out the man’s name, her distain for the head of the Council of Watchers obvious. “He commended me on successfully passing the test, but he said that you demonstrated a relationship with me that the Council deemed too close, like the way a father loves his daughter and you were fired.” Looking directly at the tear-streaked face of the watcher, and begged him; “Please don’t involve the council, Giles, I couldn’t handle being betrayed by you again.”

The devastated man sat silently, trying desperately to get his bearings. He couldn’t imagine any scenario that would have him agreeing to perform the outdated and barbaric ritual. Floundering in confusion, he lifted tear filled eyes to the daughter of his heart and pleaded with her to help him understand the upheaval his mind was going through. “Why would I do that? I don’t approve of the ritual. I swore I’d never put you through that. What could have happened to make me change my mind?”

“Angelus,” Spike offered from the hallway, his hair still damp and curling from his shower. “I don’t mean to intrude, Rupert. So tell me if I’m butting in where I’m not wanted.”

“Not at all, Spike. Please, if you can cast any light on this matter at all, I would be most grateful.” The distressed watcher almost begged his new friend.

Spike moved further into the room, mentally arranging his thoughts. “I think that Angelus damaged all of you, but you losing your gypsy girl, like you did, changed you Giles. You would never have admitted it, but on some level you blamed Buffy, and, more importantly, you blamed yourself.

“You believed that if you had been a better watcher, Buffy wouldn’t have hesitated when she had the chance to kill the bastard. I think that’s why you changed your mind about the ritual. You never wanted to lose another person you loved. If the ritual could harden her resolve and turn her into a more focused warrior, one who wasn’t governed by her emotions, then you would have accepted the need for it, the demand for it even.”

“That makes sense, in a scary sooo don’t want to go through it again way.” Buffy nodded in agreement.

“I think we need to do what ever we can to ensure that we never have to.” Giles offered solemnly.

~*~*~

Just after lunch, a brisk knock on the watcher’s door, had both Buffy and Spike scrambling for cover. Giles checked to make sure they were indeed hidden before he opened the door to a stranger. “My name is Brother Luther. I’m here to see the protector of the Key.”





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