DREAMING OF YOU

CHAPTER TWO

REALITY

Buffy had no clue how long she had been a prisoner. RatBastardWatcher had taken her watch, while she was still unconscious, when he had first brought her here and the light was always switched on, in this underground room. She was always hungry and, unlike Spike, she had no innate sense of day and night. She figured it had been days.

Spike must be so worried or maybe, with their lack of contact, he thought she was dead. Would he die, without her? Maybe he already had; without their telepathic connection, how would she know?

“Feeling the separation, Miss Summers?”

Buffy looked up from the floor, in shock. How had RatBastardWatcher got in the room without her knowing? How long had he been there?

“You’re getting weaker and he will be, as well. Tell me what I want to know and it will be quick.”

“You want to write it all down, in your lame journals?” Buffy sneered.

Her mind was trying to work; RatBastardWatcher was wearing a different suit - still tweed but different from last time. Did that mean it was a different day?

“The last time this happened, was millennia ago. The records were sketchy, at best. The Watchers council need to know why this has happened, in order to prevent it from happening again. You were a slayer, you were supposed to fight vampires. Instead, you join with one of the most ruthless, notorious vampires who ever existed.”

“Is that why you made it so everyone forgot I ever existed?”

“Not at all, once you failed your cruciamentum, the spell was inevitable.”

“I didn’t fail.” Buffy muttered.

“Travers reported that you had died. Unlike most slayers, you were not under our control. American parents are fond of suing over every little thing that goes wrong in the lives of their offspring. Your mother would have made a fuss. She would have drawn attention to the council. We could not allow that.

“We considered every option, we could have had her killed but we were not sure enough of your watcher. Travers reported that he was baulking at your test conditions. Giles didn’t think it was fair.” He said this last word, as though he was swearing. “If your mother had died too… It seemed the forgetting spell was the best course of action. Far easier if the world forgot you.”

“You can’t just play with people’s lives.”

“You are not ‘people’; the slayers belong to the Watchers council. You are weapons in our arsenal in the war against evil.”

“What happened to the other slayer?” Buffy asked, wanting to break his neck for his attitude but wanting information, too.

“Her watcher killed her; only someone she trusted could get close enough. It had to be done; with her lifespan tied to that of the vampire, it could have been centuries before another slayer was called.”

“My replacement‘s already been called, you don’t need to kill me. I‘m still fighting evil.” Buffy replied, thinking furiously. Her lifespan was tied to Spike’s? Did that mean she wouldn’t age? If she got out of this, would she and Spike have centuries together?

“When you die, William the Bloody will die with you. I’ll be doing the world a service.”

“He’s not evil, anymore. He stopped Acathla and saved the world.”

“He is leeching your soul, through the bond.”

“We weren’t bonded, then. He did it because he loved me.”

“You really believe that?” He sneered, “He just wanted to bond with you. Why do you suppose he seeks out slayers? He wanted the power he would gain. The other two, saw through his act and he killed them. You are just a silly little girl, who fell for his manipulation.”

With this parting shot, RatBastardWatcher, left.

Spike actually owned a house, in England. Buffy had known, vaguely, that he had money but a whole house, that he didn’t live in?

“I bought it, just before I was turned. I was planning on proposing marriage to… a lady of my acquaintance and I wanted something to offer her. I didn’t feel that she would be comfortable moving into the same house as Mother, with her illness… So, I bought ‘The Folly’.” He explained.

“The Folly. Nice name.” Buffy said, inwardly smiling at the way his choice of words always changed when he was talking about his pre-vampire past.

“It‘s ‘William’s Folly’, actually; after Cecily, I renamed the place. I intended to take Dru there but she didn’t want to settle down.”

“Third time’s the charm.” Buffy murmured.

“You don’t mind? You wouldn’t rather I sold it and bought one with you in mind?” Spike asked, concerned that he might have hurt Buffy’s feelings.

“I’m the first woman you’ll have taken there?”

“Yeah and the only one, ever.”

“Then it’s fine. After all, I haven’t asked you to stop wearing the coat, have I?”

Once their minds were linked, they had found out lots of random stuff about each other. Buffy had been stunned to discover that Spike’s coat had been stripped from the still-warm body of a dead slayer. That explained all the custom made pockets and weapons - Spike was the only person she knew, who could carry a concealed crossbow! She knew she should be grossed out but she could feel Spike’s affection for the coat and his respect for its former owner.

“Dalton phoned ahead and got the caretakers to get everything ready.” Spike said, hoping that the place wouldn’t feel musty and unlived in.

Dalton had stayed behind, in Sunnydale, to keep an eye on Buffy’s mother. Just because she’d forgotten about all the nasties in town, didn’t mean she was immune to attack. He’d also been spending his time researching Buffy and Spike’s new ‘condition’ and had come up with some interesting information.

Like some animals, some demons mated for life and, as sentient beings, mutually chose each other and ‘bonded’, almost becoming one being. The advantages to this were increased strength, an awareness of each others thoughts and a greatly enhanced sex life. The disadvantage was simple, the death of one meant the death of both.

Vampires, very rarely bonded but it was not unheard of. Angelus had known of one such pairing but had, apparently, been sickened by the very idea. He had never bothered to pass his knowledge on to Drusilla and she, had she known it, would never have told Spike.

There were various forms of the bond: both parties dominant - during sex, both parties bite the other and declare ‘mine’; one dominant, one submissive - one declares ‘mine’ the other ‘yours’ and, finally, the strongest bond; both parties declare ‘yours’. The form the bonding took was dependant on the true feelings of both parties, the wording couldn’t be chosen. Remarkably, in total ignorance of what they were doing, Spike and Buffy were pledged to one another in the strongest possible way. As far as Dalton’s research went, a vampire/slayer pairing was unprecedented. He had no idea what powers the two of them would gain and eagerly waited for Spike’s phone calls and emails, updating him.

Buffy adored the house. It was Victorian - obviously - and William had originally had it furnished in the - then - latest style. ‘Quaint’ was the first word that came into Buffy’s head.

‘Tactless bloody yank!’ Spike thought, with affection.

‘Yeah, that’s me. Where’s the bedroom?’ Buffy thought back.

The bed was a sumptuous four poster. Heavy mahogany, softened by cream lace canopy and curtains. Crimson satin sheets completed the look. Spike smiled, the caretakers had done their jobs well.

He’d hired the Brachen demon couple, years previously; mostly because they could pass for human and he trusted them. As technology had advanced, they had ‘tweaked’ the house accordingly. The fireplaces in every room, were now just a functioning decorative feature, not a necessity; under-floor heating took care of the day to day needs. The Victorian plumbing had been redone to keep the look but update the pipe work.

Best of all, were the windows. Ever mindful of Spike’s needs, the couple had installed Necro-tempered glass, throughout. Inside the house, daylight would no longer be an issue.

The loyal demon couple had waited years for Spike to come home…

* * * * *

REALITY

Buffy lay back, the satin caressing her naked skin and Spike’s cool fingers and tongue exploring her. She could taste her own excitement, through their link and could feel Spike’s desire rising…

“What are you thinking about, Miss Summers?” RatBastardWatcher’s hateful voice, brought her back to reality, with a jolt. “You look so… satisfied.”

“Your death.” Buffy replied, disgusted that, once again, he’d entered the room without her noticing.

He smiled, as the crystal flared red.

“I don’t think so.” He said. “Are you ready to talk to me, yet?”

“Why do you want to know Spike’s location? I die, he dies, what more do you want?”

“Oh please, do you think I just want you and him dead? What about all his minions? I can’t leave them running around with no master, now can I?”

“Can’t you?” Buffy replied, coldly, wondering what he’d think if knew that they had no minions - not in England, anyway.

“I need his location and I need to know why you ended up changing sides. Was it because of your watcher?”

“Why would it be because of Giles?”

“It isn’t as though he was the best we had but then, neither were you. You weren’t under our control; we somehow failed to locate you while you were still a potential - silly, blonde, Californian airhead - none of us thought you’d last. Merrick, Giles; neither of them top men because when an untrained potential is called, they usually take their watchers down with them.”

“Poor Merrick, he was so proud he’d been chosen.” Buffy said, remembering how shocking it had been to find out what she was and how wretched she felt, after Merrick’s death, when her parents booked her into the sanatorium.

“Did Giles bungle your training, in some way?”

“No. Giles was like a father to me.”

“That accounts for it. No objectivity. How can a watcher send his slayer out to fight and maybe die, if he cares for her?”

“How did you even know I was still alive?” Buffy asked, changing the subject. She really didn’t want to get into the problems Giles had had, after Jenny’s death.

“You must be really foolish if you thought you could stay hidden.” RatBastardWatcher said, with a smug smile. “We regularly perform locator spells, to find potential slayers. You were pinpointed but I was the only person who could see it.”

“Because you’re the only one who remembers me.”

“The spell gave a time and a place, I simply showed up and dealt with you.”

Buffy remembered how happy she had been. She’d found a decent sized shopping mall and was spending the day. She had her new card and she was planning some surprises for Spike - sexy underwear to make his eyes pop - but first, she needed a whole new wardrobe…

She had practiced ‘hiding’ things from Spike; it wouldn’t do for him to know everything she was thinking, surprises were good. She managed to conceal the sexy undies and to make him feel better about that, she had opened up to him in a couple of shop changing rooms and asked his opinion on clothes she was trying on. This link they had was brilliant, he could be with her, even in daytime when he couldn’t leave the house.

She had stopped in the food hall, for coffee and a slice of chocolate cake and looking back, that must have been when it happened. The elderly man, who politely asked if he could share her table in the increasingly busy coffee section, turned out to be RatBastardWatcher.

Buffy had begun to feel woozy, even before she had finished her coffee and the last thing she remembered, was the man, putting his arm around her and helping her towards the car park.

“You drugged me and abducted me, in front of all those people. None of them tried to help me?” Buffy said, disgusted.

“I told them that you were my grand-daughter and ‘in the family way’, they were very kind and helpful.” He said, smugly.

“You deserve what Spike’s going to do to you.” Buffy said, coldly.

“Your pet vampire will do nothing to me. I’m tired of playing with you, Miss Summers.” With these ominous words, RatBastardWatcher pointed his gun at her and fired…