Chapter Seven
Buffy and Dawn were up and at the hospital by 8:00 AM the following morning. Early enough to see their mother and give her kisses and hugs before she went off for her surgery. They then went to the waiting room and stared blankly at the television as they waited for the doctor to come and tell them how it went.
By 9:30, all the Scoobies were there, as well as Giles and a very subdued and repentant Riley. Buffy easily avoided his attempt to kiss her mouth, but did allow him to hug her and whisper an apology in her ear. She shrugged and managed to appear mollified without actually saying that she forgave him.
By 11:00, Buffy and Dawn were beginning to cast anxious eyes toward the doors to the operating area and Buffy was pacing from one side of the waiting room to the other. When the young doctor they’d met the other night appeared and gestured to Buffy, she ran to him, her eyes pleading for good news even as she held herself rigid and tried to appear calm for Dawn’s sake.
“She’s going to be fine,” he told her with a smile. “We got it all and there is no sign of cancer. It was a benign tumor and now that it’s removed, she should be up and about within a few weeks.”
Buffy let out the breath she hadn’t even been aware of holding, and clasped his hand tightly.
“Thank you, Thank you so much. I can’t tell you how much this means to me...us. We’re-“ Realizing she was one more incoherent sentence from complete babbling, Buffy took a deep breath and gave him a dazzling smile as she repeated. “We both thank you. When can we see her?”
“You’ll have to wait a while for that. She’s in the recovery room and she’ll be sedated for the rest of the day, just to keep the brain activity down. You can see her again tonight, but she probably won’t be able to talk to you until tomorrow sometime.”
After making sure he had any and all possible phone numbers to use if he needed to reach her, Buffy went back over to her anxious sister and curious friends to announce with a watery smile, “She’s going to be fine. Mom is going to be fine.”
She hugged Dawn, and then felt them being surrounded as Xander and Willow and more slowly, Tara and Anya, put their arms around the two grateful sisters. Giles cleared his throat several times, wiped his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose before finally saying, “Oh, what the hell...” and putting his arms around the whole group.
No one noticed as Ben’s face took on a panicked expression and he mumbled, “No, no, not now!” as he ran back through the door to the locker area.
When the thankful group hug had finally ended, they began to split up, agreeing to meet there again in the evening just in case Joyce was awake by then. As Riley went to shake the watcher’s hand “goodbye” his sleeve slipped up and he saw Giles’ eyes go to the newest marks on his arm. The watcher’s eyes narrowed as Buffy saw the marks also and said, “Oh my god, Riley! Did a vamp get you last night? Why didn’t you come and tell me? I would have—“
“It’s no problem, Buffy,” he said uncomfortably. “I, uh, I took care of it myself. No big deal. It’s not like she took a lot of blo-“
“She?” Giles asked in a mild tone of voice. “It was a female vamp, then was it?”
Completely missing the by-play, Buffy continued to fuss over the ex-commando, asking how many there were and if he was injured anywhere else. When she ignored his efforts to resist and pulled up his other sleeve, she gasped at the marks inside that elbow also.
“Boy,” she said with an attempt at humor, “I thought I was the only open-all-night vamp bar in this town.”
“Comes with the territory,” her boy friend said shortly as he pulled his sleeves down and fastened them. “No big deal.”
He dropped a quick kiss on the top of her head and hastily left the room, promising to check back with her later to see how her mother was doing.
Giles stared after him thoughtfully, but chose not to say anything to Buffy about his suspicions just then. He did mention as casually as he could to the other Scoobies that they probably should keep their doors locked and be careful who they invited in for awhile. He hoped he managed to make his point without actually coming out and saying that he wanted them to be careful of Riley.
Once Dawn was safely at school, Buffy decided to head for the Magic Box and do some training. They hadn’t seen Glory for awhile and she was worried that she wouldn’t be ready if and when she appeared again.
She was surprised to find Giles deeply involved in a conversation with Spike. The conversation stopped abruptly when she walked in and the vampire walked over to her to ask, “How’s your mum, love? The Watcher says they got the nasty thing all out?”
She smiled at him warmly and nodded. “Yeah, Ben—uh—Dr. Lewis, says she’ll be fine after a couple of weeks’ rest. Guess you’ll be taking care of her now,” she teased.
“No problem, pet,” he said seriously. “Whatever she needs. I’ll run by the gallery tonight and take care of the stuff that came in. Tell her not to worry.”
Their conversation was interrupted by the bell over the door, and Buffy watched as Spike melted back into the shadows in the back of the store. She turned to see Riley come in and looked at him in surprise.
“What are you doing here? I thought you had to work today and wouldn’t be around until tonight.”
“I, uh, took the day off. Thought maybe I’d come help you get back in shape. For fighting vampires and things,” he added unnecessarily.
The way her Watcher was looking at him was making him uncomfortable, and he pulled Buffy into the training room and away from the man’s speculative gaze.
While Buffy and Riley indulged in some half-hearted sparring, Giles went to the back of the store where the vampire was hiding.
“Are you absolutely sure, Spike?” Giles demanded, continuing their previously interrupted conversation.
“Know what I saw, Watcher. Weren’t the first time either, I’ll wager.”
“How could the man be so stupid!” the watcher blew out an exasperated breath. “As though Buffy didn’t have enough on her plate as it is.”
“My thinkin’ exactly,” the vampire said smugly.
Giles shot him a hard look and said, “You know, if I hadn’t seen the marks myself, I’d be sure you were making this up just to cause trouble between them.”
“Trust me, Watcher, I wish I had nothin’ better to do than to make up stuff about that wanker. Not sayin’ I don’t want him gone. Jus’ sayin’ he’s makin’ it awful easy for me.”
“Well, as long as he’s here, we—I’d -- better take the bull by the horns.” Giles turned and headed for the training room, shaking his head at the stupidity of the younger man.
When he opened the door, Buffy had just thrown Riley into the mats and ran to him to apologize.
“I’m sorry, Riley,” she said as he winced and rubbed his chest. “I just forgot you weren’t...”
“You forgot I wasn’t as strong as you anymore,” he said with more than a little bitterness. “Yeah, I got that last night. I suppose you’d rather be sparring with Spike,” he sneered at her.
Buffy blinked at him, a hurt expression on her face. The only thing keeping her anger at bay was the knowledge that he was right. She WOULD have preferred to be sparring with Spike.
Making one more attempt to soothe his feelings, she said, “Riley, you never were as strong as me. I just didn’t used to have to worry so much about hurting you....” her voice trailed off as his face darkened and she realized she’d just made it much worse.
“That’s right. I keep forgetting. You don’t really need me, do you? For anything. Why do you keep me around?”
“Good question, Slayer,” came a drawl from the doorway. “Why do you?”
Buffy and the soldier whirled simultaneously to glare at the lean, muscular blond lounging against the door jamb.
“Spike...” Buffy began, as she started toward him, only to be interrupted by Riley as he snarled, “she doesn’t need advice from a vampire,” his voice dripped with contempt and venom. “There’s nothing a blood sucker could offer...”
“That right, soldier-boy?” Spike said, meeting Riley’s eyes with a cold stare. “You sure blood-suckers have nothin’ to offer?”
The bigger man froze in place, trying to process Spike’s words as well as the innuendo behind them. He turned away and shook his head saying, “I’ve got nothing to say to you, Spike. Get out of here.”
Buffy was so busy staring back and forth between the two men, trying desperately to understand the obvious undercurrent in the room, that she hadn’t noticed her watcher’s approach until he was right up next to them. Forcing Riley to look him in the eye, he ordered, in his best Ripper voice, “I want you to take your shirt off, Riley.”
When the other man just stood there, staring at him, he added in a deadly tone, “Now.”
“Do as he says, wanker,” the vampire added as he glided into the room, moving like the deadly predator that he was. “Let’s see what you got under there.”
Once again Buffy was the bewildered onlooker to a three-way conversation between her watcher, the vampire and the man she was supposed to be dating.
“What are they talking about this time, Riley?” she asked with an edge to her voice that clearly indicated she wasn’t going to be put off.
“Nothing, they’re talking about nothing,” he mumbled as he edged toward the door. Giles moved quickly to block the exit, bringing a well-used fighting staff out from behind his back when the soldier looked as though he was going to try to go by him.
While inwardly Spike was fuming at the knowledge that he couldn’t actually hurt the larger man, he allowed none of that to show as he went into game face and backed the watcher up.
Deciding she’d had enough of the cryptic, and more than enough of the stand-off now taking place, Buffy walked up to Riley and ripped the shirt off his back. She gasped when she saw that his arms, chest and shoulders were covered with vampire bites in various stages of healing.
“Riley? Wha-?” She looked from her watcher to her boyfriend in dismay and bewilderment.
“Yes, Riley,” Giles asked calmly and coldly, “What exactly have you been doing to have accumulating all these bites?”
“Riley?” Buffy raised a tentative hand toward a scar just over his left nipple. “What happened? Did you stumble into a nest? How did you get so many bites? And why aren’t you dead?” She looked back and forth between the three men again, correctly reading from the tension between them that Giles and Spike knew the answers to her questions.
Riley stared back at her, anguish warring with anger as he tried to think of an explanation that wouldn’t mean the end to their relationship. He stepped toward her, ignoring the growl from the vampire, and said hesitantly, “Buffy, can’t we talk about this...privately? Somewhere quiet where I can explain—“
“She’s not going anywhere with you,” her watcher said in a voice that brooked no argument. “You tell her or we will.”
The watcher’s inclusion of Spike was all it took to tip the balance from anguish to anger, and Riley’s face changed as he snapped at Buffy, “I got them from something that needed me, Buffy. I got what I needed and she got what she needed. An equal exchange. Not something you’d know anything about!”
Buffy’s eyes filled with tears at his words, but she held them back as she tried to understand what he was saying.
“I...I don’t understand. Did you let a vampire bite you? Why would you do that?”
“Your vampire does things for you, mine does things for me. What’s the big deal?” He sneered at her shocked face.
“The big deal, you ignorant bastard, is that ‘Buffy’s vampire’ isn’t drinking from her and she’s in no danger of being killed or turned. I’m not putting her or her family at risk.” Spike’s eyes were amber daggers aimed at the other man.
“I don’t understand,” she said, trying to control the tremble in her voice. “Where did you find a vampire that wouldn’t try to drain you?” She looked at her watcher in confusion
“In a vamp whorehouse.” Spike’s cold, even tone belied the jumble of emotions he was suppressing. He was shaking with the need to hurt the blustering young man the way he was obviously hurting Buffy, but Giles’ hand on his arm and the knowledge that he wouldn’t get more than one punch in before the chip incapacitated him, kept him from following his instincts. The horrified look on Buffy’s face pleased his demon, at the same time that his heart ached for her.
“A what?” She looked back at her boy friend and cringed when she saw the truth on his face. “Riley, how could you? I don’t understand...I thought you loved me...”
Riley looked back at her defiantly, “I did...do... love you, Buffy. But you don’t need me. I’m just another human to you. Something for you to protect.” His face collapsed and he shuddered as he said, “I’m sorry, Buffy. I never meant to...” He turned, pushed past Giles and ran from the room. They heard the bell jangle as the door to the shop opened and shut behind the ex-commando.
Buffy sank to the floor with her head in her hands, letting the tears she hadn’t wanted to shed in front of her former lover fall.
“I did this? Is that what he’s saying? I made him feel so inadequate that he....” She raised tear-filled eyes and looked back and forth between her watcher and the vampire. “This is my fault.”
Spike’s “Bloody hell!” was muffled by the roar from her watcher as he pulled her to her feet.
“This is NOT your fault! None of it. The bloody wanker made his own choices and for him to use his relationship with you as an excuse is unforgivable.” He shook her gently and forced her to look at him.
“Do you hear me, Buffy? This has nothing to do with you and everything to do with Riley’s inability to deal with the loss of the enhancements that were killing him. I will not have you adding that man’s inadequacies to your burdens.”
She looked back at her surrogate father with dull eyes, then dropped her gaze and nodded slowly.
“All right, Giles. I’ll try not to think about it. Just another crash in the ongoing train wreck that is Buffy’s love life.”
She was looking down as she spoke, and missed the pain that shot across Spike’s face at her statement. When he was sure she was not going to begin crying again, her watcher let go of her shoulders and turned away saying, “We need to let everyone know that Riley has become someone to avoid. Just in case he...” He didn’t bother to finish his thought. They all knew the dangerous path Riley was choosing.
Buffy drew a deep breath and mentally shook herself. “Okay, now then. Would someone please explain to me what a vamp whorehouse is, and why anyone would go to one?”
She looked back and forth between Spike and her watcher to see which one was going to fill in the gap in her knowledge of vampires. Giles looked studiously at the floor and cleared his throat several times. When he took off his glasses for the third time, Spike burst out, “Oh for...I’ll do it, Watcher. You go make your phone calls.”
Giles gratefully left the room, leaving Buffy staring at Spike expectantly.
“What do you want to know, love?” he asked with a sigh.
“Uh – why? How?”
“The why is easy – some vamps just don’t have the ability or desire to stalk and kill their food. They’re lazy, or dumb or jus’ not very inclined to kill. But they have to have blood to live, so they have to find a way to make humans want to let ‘em drink.
“A lot of humans like takin’ chances. They enjoy walkin’ on the wild side and they seek out vamps for sex...and other things.” Buffy raiser her eyebrows, but he shook his head and said, “you don’t want to know, pet. Trust me.”
“So, they find these vamps who won’t hunt and pay them for sex and to drink from them?” She shuddered and added, “Why would you pay someone to hurt you like that?”
Spike smiled briefly and muttered almost under his breath, “some things can hurt really good, Slayer. Remind me to show you sometime.”
She glared at him and he smirked back at her. In spite of the disgusted look she was giving him, he heard her heart rate go up slightly and got a quick glimpse of curiosity before her face closed again.
“You’re saying it feels GOOD to get bitten? Hey, been there, done that, not fun.”
“Well, I don’t know about the bite, love. But the blood pullin’? Can have some interestin’ side effects. Interestin’ enough for some humans to become addicted to it.”
“Side effects?”
“It enhances the sensation – if you get my drift.”
Buffy frowned for a second, then her eyebrows shot up. “Oh! Oh my.”
“Yeah,” he said with a genuine smile. “Oh my. For both parties.”
There was silence while Buffy digested the new things she was learning about vampires.
“Why didn’t Giles teach me this stuff?” she demanded. “I should know about ...things. It’s my job.”
Spike laughed, “I suspect old Rupert would choke on his tea before he’d tell his Slayer that gettin’ bit by a vamp could get her off. Don’t know why you didn’t know about the whorehouse, though. Would have thought you’d run across it at some point.”
She gave him another piercing look. “How did you know about it?”
“Demon, love, remember? Everybody knows where it is and who works there.”
“So, these vampires don’t kill anyone? They just ...”
“They take what’s willingly given. No more, no less. Most of the time, anyway.”
“MOST of the time?”
He shrugged, “accidents happen. Somebody gets carried away and takes too much. Usually they’ll just turn the victim. Out of guilt or somethin’, I guess.”
“So, Riley could get turned if he keeps going there?”
“Could happen. ‘S why the watcher and I decided to confront him. He was putting you and yours in danger.” His eyes flashed yellow as he thought about how reckless the soldier had been.
She looked at Spike speculatively. “So, when you got chipped – do you think you could have gotten blood that way? Would the chip fire if you weren’t trying to hurt the person?”
He stared at her with his mouth open. “Are you askin’ me if I’d sell myself for blood? If I’d...” he stopped his indignant tirade when he saw her raise her eyebrows. “Well, hell yes, if I could’ve found a willing donor, I would have. Would have tried it, anyway. Don’t know what the soddin’ chip would do.” He looked at her from beneath his eyelashes and shuffled his feet.
“Wouldn’t have sold myself, though. Would’ve had to be somebody I actually wanted to... Anyway, I’m a master vampire. I couldn’t be seen in a whorehouse with all the misfits and weaklings. I’da starved first.”
“You almost did, if I remember right,” she snarked at him.
“Yeah,” he said softly. “But I came to the right place for help, didn’t I?”
“I guess you did,” she answered slowly. She raised her eyes to his. “I’m glad you came to us, Spike.”
He glided closer to her and reached out to push a piece of hair off her face. “So am I, love. So am I.”
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