Banner by Spikes Slayer2


Chapter 3


AN: Okay, here it is. This is the worst of the chapters then the next chapter comes with the normal Buffy and Spike. There is some slight non-con in it, depending on how you look at it. Also, thank you to Ruth and DreamsofSpike for betaing.



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Drip...Drip...Drip...

For the time being, the only sound in the dark basement was that of William’s blood slowly dripping from his many wounds. He slumped limply in the corner like a discarded rag doll. His hair was dirty and matted, hanging down into his face. He was completely nude and exposed to anyone who might happen to make their way into his dark underground prison—not that it mattered to him anymore. He was, however, grateful that Elizabeth had decided to loosen the chains on his arms so they were no longer stretched painfully over his head.

The door at the top of the stairs opened and he lifted his eyes in fear. By now he had learned that only bad things came of that door opening.

“Little Willy,” the figure that appeared in the doorway called sweetly. Then the door closed and the light disappeared, but he still knew who was there. “How are you doing on this fine evening?”

There was no answer, as she made her way down the stairs to stop and stand in front of him. Her hand shot out to catch him by the chin, jerking his head up to look at her.

“You will answer Mummy when she asks you a question,” Elizabeth hissed in irritation.

“S-sorry,” he stammered out.

One hand caressed his cheek, while the other brushed his hair from his eyes. They were so very blue, and she found herself gazing into them intently. Then, the spell seemed to snap, and she jerked her hand away, horrified at her own behaviour but not about to let him see her lapse.

“Are you hungry, boy?” she asked, wanting to get back to her reason for being down there in the first place.

“Yes,” he answered truthfully.

He hadn’t eaten for several days. Whenever Elizabeth brought live food to him, he had still refused to kill, and eventually she had just stopped offering him food altogether. That was why her next words surprised him.

“I’ve brought you something to eat, but I was not sure quite what you were hungry for tonight.”

Saying this, she stood and walked back up the stairs. He didn’t know what to expect, but he knew that it definitely was not going to be good. His time under her “care” had taught him that.

Moments later, his fears were confirmed when Elizabeth returned, dragging three teenage girls with her. She forced them to their knees before him, growling at them in full game face. Finally, her amber eyes focused on him, and he tried to shrink back against the wall as she advanced on him.

“They do not seem to like my true face very much. Perhaps they will like your lovely face better; I know I find it quite appealing myself.” She reached out to tip up his chin with two fingers.

A protest rose in William’s throat, but the look in her deathly eyes killed it just as quickly as it began. He swallowed and focused on doing as she asked, bringing his demon face to the fore. According to her, his vampire face was not normal; he wouldn’t know, as he had never seen it for himself. In fact, he had only ever seen one vampire. Her.

Elizabeth watched with interest as she always did when he changed. At least not everything about this “new breed” was a let down. His skin took on a blue tint while the normal facial ridges formed. His eyes were silver and he had doubled fangs on top and bottom. It was truly an amazing sight. She forced herself, as she usually did, not to gawk at his true form.

“Beautiful, as always,” she murmured.

“I do not wish to kill,” William said again—as if he had not told her this every time she had tried to make him feed.

“Little Willy, you will select one of these girls for your dinner, or I will kill all three in front of you.” She stood and moved to stand behind the cowering females. “So, you choose. Shall only one of them die, or all three? If you do as you should, then two of these pretty ladies go free.”

Defeat caused him to wilt further as he relented, “Fine, give me one to feed on.”

“No.” A wicked smile curled her lips. “I want you to choose who dies.”

Pure horror washed over him as he realized the point of this game—besides, of course, forcing him into feeding almost willingly. He started to shake his head in refusal but she backhanded him before he got a chance to voice his objection.

“Choose!”

“Her,” he choked out on a sob, motioning to the frightened girl in the middle who immediately started screaming.

The girl was dragged across the room, despite her flailing struggles, to be shoved so close to William that the poor thing nearly fell onto her killer. He caught her and held her for a moment, looking up at Elizabeth as if his Sire might change her mind and call this off. Her eyes made it clear that that was not going to happen and he looked down at the pulse pounding wildly in the pale neck in front of him.

With a tortured cry, he sank his fangs into the exposed throat and started feeding, his demon taking over to sate the hunger that had been building from days of starvation. The stopping of the girl’s heart brought him back to his senses and he dropped the still body.

There—that had to be the end of the game, right? She would leave him alone now?

“Good Little Willy,” Elizabeth cooed into his ear and reached down to lift the body by the hair. “Was she good? I bet she was, laced with fear and maybe just a bit of excitement. She was young, and young blood is the best.”

“You will set the other two free now?”

When she got up and walked back toward the other girls, William let out a deep breath of relief. It was a premature reaction, as in a flash Elizabeth had grabbed each girl in turn and snapped their necks. His mouth was gaping in shock when she turned back toward him.

“They are free now,” Elizabeth announced almost serenely with a maniacal look in her eyes. “You did well.”

All he could do was sputter in helpless protest as she left the basement once again. Though he tried not to look, his eyes were drawn in horror to the bodies that she had purposefully left in there with him—just as she had done the night she had turned him, throwing that corpse in the grave with him for when he woke.

******

Another week passed before Elizabeth returned to the basement. One of her theories—her hopes—was that if she starved him to a certain point, the demon would take over out of desperation and kill whether that damned soul liked it or not.

However, it did not seem to be progressing as she had hoped.

Tonight was not about feeding. It was about something else entirely—more to do with breaking him and making him see that he was hers. This would be training for what she would expect from him in the future as her companion. She walked down the stairs, completely nude and sure that he could just make her out in the dim light. Could he tell yet that she was naked?

The gasp she heard a few steps from the bottom of the stairs gave her the answer.

“Good evening, sweetheart,” she said sweetly as she moved toward him with supernatural grace. “I thought perhaps I would do something different tonight. We will begin your...training in the art of pleasing a woman.”

If there had been any blood in his body he might have blushed at the declaration, not sure if this would be better or worse than her attempts to make him kill. His eyes were devouring her nonetheless, moving over her soft curves and darting away from her most private places.

“There is no reason to be shy. I have seen you naked every night,” she reminded him.

She took one of William’s hands and brought it to her breast, closing her hand around his to give it a squeeze. When she removed her hand, his stayed for a few moments, his eyes locked onto the mound of flesh in his grasp. Then he jerked his hand back but she caught it, moving it to the cleft between her legs.

“You might as well get used to touching me now; you will be doing a lot of it.” She rubbed herself using his hand, letting him feel the moisture that began gathering there. “You might as well be of some use to me besides being a dreadful annoyance.”

Dropping his hand again, she went to stand with her legs on either side of his body. Her crotch was right in front of his face and he was forced to either look at it or close his eyes. He knew she would only make him open his eyes again, so he looked. Her hips shifted towards him, opening herself more to his gaze. Then her fingers were in his hair, forcing his face forward to her pussy, so close that for once he was grateful that he did not have to breathe.

“You will start licking me like I am your favourite dessert,” she instructed, grinding herself against his face when he followed her orders. “Oh, you shall get better at this as we practice more.”

The fumbling attempts he made were laughable and she soon tired of trying to get much pleasure that way. She released him and dropped to her knees, straddling his thighs. She tilted her head and gave him a considering look, capturing his gaze when he tried to hide under his hair.

“Maybe we should not do this,” he said softly.

She clucked her tongue and shook her head. “We should—and we will.”

Elizabeth ran her hands down his chest, raking her nails over his skin and causing him to hiss at the sensation. She dipped her head to zero in on her target with her mouth, capturing his nipple with her teeth so that he bowed his back with unbidden pleasure. The chains rattled with his struggles to get away from her, but she would have none of that and sat firmly on his thighs to keep him in place.

“Good to know that this works correctly,” she teased maliciously as she reached down to grasp his now erect member. Her other hand deftly removed the ribbon that tied back her hair. “Nevertheless, you are a virgin; I can tell. And virgins, they can be highly...eager, but capricious.”

There was no elaboration on that point; instead, she gave his cock a couple hard pumps with her hand, making him groan with growing pleasure. Just as quickly, she stopped and wound the ribbon tightly around the base of his shaft, constricting his cock. He bucked up off the ground so that she had a bit of difficulty with tying the ribbon off.

“Now, just do as I say and I will reward you if you make me happy,” she told him, running a nail along the underside of his cock to have him hissing in pained pleasure.

She lifted herself up enough to position the head of his dick at her entrance, rubbing it along her slit before letting herself sink down onto him. His eyes rolled back in his head and she chuckled at his reaction as she leaned forward to bite down on his exposed neck with blunt teeth. His hips jerked up into her and she moaned, biting down again to get the same reaction. Immediately, her hips started grinding against his in order to find her own pleasure.

“Just...keep bucking your hips up—yes, like that—in time...oh...in time with my hips.” She looked him in the eyes for a moment before dipping her head back down to his neck.

Her mouth found the marks she had left on his skin when she turned him, sucking on them and worrying the flesh with her teeth. One hand braced on the wall behind his head while she rode him, the other curled around his waist with her nails scoring his back.

“Mm, William, I want you to...take my breast in your mouth...and suck.” She tossed back her head and arched her spine, bringing the jiggling mounds of flesh right into his face. “Suck it hard...and use your teeth, lover.”

It took a few tries, but eventually William was able to capture the bouncing target in his mouth, latching onto it fervently. He suckled as instructed and grazed it with his teeth as they moved together towards release. The movements of his hips were instinctual, surging upwards into her sheath with a primal need. His hands were grasping her ass, squeezing as she moved on top of him.

“Oh yes, oh yes,” she ground out as she felt herself getting nearer to her completion.

She angled her hips and the bow she had made in the ribbon brushed against her clit, almost as if she had placed it with purpose. The added friction sent her into a frenzy, bouncing erratically until she screamed her orgasm at the air ceiling.

Sliding off him slowly, she knelt between his legs with her hands resting on his thighs.

In the post-coital stillness, something started to gnaw at the back of Elizabeth’s mind. Something just wasn’t right. Suddenly, she wasn’t as sure of what she was doing as she had been before, when she had first turned William. Her eyes lifted to meet his and saw the way he was looking at her, with emotion that she couldn’t—no, didn’t want to—identify...despite all the torture she had put him through.

Maybe it was because she had yet to let him cum.

Or, it could be something to do with her being his Sire, something that she could never torture out of him.

Regardless, it started to burn inside her and she nearly clawed at her chest in a vain attempt to make it stop. She howled then skittered away from him, knowing that this had to be his fault. Everything had gone wrong since he had crashed into her life.

“Y-you!” She pointed an accusing finger at him, shaking with fear. “You did something to me!”

“I assure you,” he said hoarsely, arching his hips upward with need. He didn’t dare touch himself and incur her wrath. “I have done nothing.”

“It burns! It burns! And it is all because of you! I should never have sired you! I should have just killed you!” She tore at her hair as she screamed at him. “You came back wrong! Wrong!”

Before he could question her mad ranting, or beg her to release his swollen, angry cock, she was up and running across the basement to grab the key where it hung on the opposite wall. She flung it at him and started inching towards the stairs with wide eyes.

“I know I should stake you. There is no guarantee that would end this, though, and...and I cannot do it. You have tainted me with it. I feel it crawling and burning inside me! It is all your fault and maybe...maybe if I get far away from you...maybe I will get better.”

With another nod, her eyes distant, she ran up the stairs and left him in the pitch blackness. The silence boomed painfully in the aftermath of her raving. William looked down at the key beside him and picked it up, glancing towards the door as if she might come back to tell him this was another of her games.

But, she did not come back—and William was alone.

Banner by Spikes Slayer2


Chapter 4


AN: I’m still waiting for the mods of the archives to get back to me about my penname change. I don’t want to open a new account and lose my reviews and make people re-fave me and have to re-fave all my faves...etc. Either way, the new penname is Blood Faerie, just so you know what to look for. Thank you to DreamsofSpike and Ruth for their spectacular beta skills.



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Sunnydale, 2001


The Bronze was packed with young adults—the same as usual. There was a band playing on stage while people swayed to the beat on the dance floor. The light was low and perfect for those that hid in the corners to flirt—or do more than flirt. Sweat, arousal, and alcohol all wafted through the air, attracting the not-so-human to come mingle and sometimes lure a victim away if they thought they were slick enough.

Above the crowd in her customary place on the catwalk, Elizabeth wasn’t one of those looking for a meal; she came just to watch. Maybe she would catch one of those shopping for a meal and stop them before they killed. Sometimes she went down and just pretended to be a normal person hanging out in a bar, but that was rare, and only if one of her friends were there. The term “friend” was used loosely for the current slayer and her merry band of supporters, whom Elizabeth tried to help when she could.

Yes, things had changed for Elizabeth over the last century since she had sired her first and only childe. She now went by the name Buffy, for one. To go with her new identity as Buffy, she wore her hair blonde and to just past her shoulders. Of course, she adopted the modern style of clothing unlike some vampires who seemed to be stuck in a fashion time-warp. That was mostly the mindless minions, master vampires were a bit better at adapting; that’s why they were masters.

Buffy didn’t feel like a master vampire anymore, but she knew she wasn’t a minion. She just...existed. So while she just “existed” she helped the slayer and her friends, hoping that in some small way it might eventually make up for all the evil she had done before...that night.

“Thought I’d find you up here,” a voice said from behind her and Buffy whirled around to see said slayer, Faith. “Musta been in some deep, deep thought to have not noticed me walking in the door...then walking up behind you, B.”

“Yeah, well, tortured soul and all,” Buffy said with a nonchalant shrug and stepped away from the railing. Her accent wasn’t as pronounced as it once had been. “Are you here alone?”

“Pretty much. Willow and Tara are at some voodoo-fest thing up north while Anya is doing inventory. And yeah, Giles is there ‘helping’ her.” Faith made air quotes and rolled her eyes. “Nick and I had a date, but he got paged to work...so here I am.”

That wasn’t all that uncommon, as Nick was a Federal Marshall that had been stationed in Sunnydale. It had been interesting when he kept finding Faith and the others connected to all the weird things that went on there—even more interesting when an attraction had grown between the two of them. The decision was finally made to let him in on the whole slayer thing before he decided that they needed to be turned in no matter how much he liked Faith.

“How about we do a small patrol?” Faith finally suggested after they stood there awkwardly for a few moments.

“Sounds good to me,” Buffy replied with a nod.

They started toward the stairs and stopped at the same time as they both sensed the same thing. A vampire had entered the club. Their eyes searched the crowd, only being able to pick out a shock of bright white hair that stood out against everything else.

Buffy elbowed Faith lightly. “Lead him out back and I’ll be waiting for our usual trap.”

Without waiting for confirmation, the blonde vampire hurried down the last of the steps and out the door. She went around to the alley and waited in the shadows with her arms crossed, leaning against the wall. This maneuver almost always worked, resulting in the vampire sensing Faith and following her right to Buffy.

The door opened and her eyes started to bleed yellow in preparation for the fight. First, Faith slipped out and darted away from the door, turning back to see if their target had taken the bait. When the door opened again, Buffy went into action and rushed the vampire, shoving him into the wall.

“Surprise!” she shouted with glee as she grabbed his shoulders, slamming him against the wall again and then raising her fist to swing at him.

Eyes met in the same instant that her fist was caught in a vice-like grip. She gasped as she recognized the face, the only thing remaining of the man she once knew. The rest was so different; she apparently wasn’t the only one who had gone through a complete overhaul. His hair was bleached and slicked back, while his clothes were a monotone black.

“William?”

“Surprise,” he repeated back to her with a mocking smile. “An’ the name’s Spike now.”

“Hold on,” Faith cut in as she came up beside Buffy. “You know him, B?”

“Bee?” His brows went up as he released her fist.

Buffy looked at him worriedly then back to Faith, biting her lip. “Yeah, I do. I’m his sire.”

She finally let go of him and tried to back away, but he grabbed her and spun her around to reverse their previous position. Faith started forward to help, but Buffy held up her hand.

“This is...personal. You should go on that patrol without me and I’ll fill you in later,” Buffy said then looked back towards Spike, adding, “If I can.”

“What the hell is that s’posed to mean?” Faith took a step forward.

Spike finally broke the glare he had going so that he could turn his head toward the slayer he had originally come to find. “She said go; this is between us.”

The brunette’s jaw clenched and her eyes narrowed for a moment. She didn’t like being ordered around, but another look at her friend told her that this really wasn’t where she should be at the moment. So with a tightlipped nod to Buffy, she turned and stormed out of the alley.

“Just do it. I know that’s what you want.” Buffy looked up at Spike passively when his hard eyes turned back on her. “Though, got to admit, I didn’t think you’d still be around.”

“The desperation to survive will make you do surprisin’ things,” he responded, then tilted his head. “An’ just what is it that you think I want to do?”

“Kill me. Do it; I deserve it.”

“No. I’m not lettin’ you take the easy way out.” He shook his head then tightened his hand on her throat. “An’ besides, I want answers. Why did you just leave me there? What the bleedin’ hell happened?”

“Your soul...I think it...tainted me somehow,” she explained softly. “I couldn’t stay. At first, I thought if I got far away from you that it would go away. Then I thought I could ignore it, pretend it all never happened, but it just got worse, eating away at me. By the time I learned to accept it, I thought it was too late and that you...you were dead. I mean, I never taught you much about being a vampire and you wouldn’t feed on your own. Not to mention the state I left you in...so I thought...”

She dissolved into tears as the remorse and grief she felt tore at her all over again, as fresh as ever. He snarled and shook her harshly.

“You don’t get to cry!” He slapped her hard across her face and tossed her to the ground. “Yes, you tortured an’ starved me. You left me with only the key to my chains an’ bleedin’ little clue as to what I truly was. But then, you didn’t fully understand either because I was different, right? Even stakin’ me an’ puttin’ me out of my misery would have been better than what you did!”

“I’m sorry...so sorry,” she repeated as she held her hands over her face. “Just stake me.”

His duster rustled as he knelt beside the shaking vampire. He could hardly believe this was the same heinous bitch that had sired him and made his existence a living hell for so long. It could be true that she had been tainted by his soul, judging from what he had witnessed this night.

It didn’t mean he was going to forgive her, though.

He grabbed her hair and jerked her head back, leaning his face in close to hers. Her eyes were wide and fearful, then closed as she assumed that he was about to finally dust her.

“I told you; you don’t get the easy way out,” he hissed. “You need to suffer with that soul. Also, you workin’ with the slayer now?”

“Y-yes. I do help her and her friends.” She opened her eyes again and looked up at him pleadingly. “I want to make up for it. I want to make up for it all. There’s nothing else left for me.”

“You want to make it up to me too then?” He cocked a brow and dragged her to her feet with him. “’Cause you’ve got a lot to make up for, missy.”

“I know.” Her voice came out soft and resigned.

They both heard the sounds of humans approaching the door inside the club and he pulled her down the alley. She didn’t resist him, accepting her fate since she knew there was nothing he could do to her that she didn’t wholly deserve.

“We need to make this a bit more private. My revenge deserves the proper atmosphere...it wouldn’t be a fittin’ revenge if it didn’t live up to the crime.”

The mansion on Crawford Street seemed very fitting to Spike. It seemed the sort of place where nefarious things had always gone on behind closed doors—the sort of place that surely held many dark secrets. One of those secrets had to be why the grand house sat abandoned on the outskirts of Sunnydale, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Inside, they found a place that looked to be from another time, but covered with a healthy layer of dust. Spike eyed everything as he led her along behind him, weighing the possibilities of each room until he reached a bedroom with a large canopy bed. A sadistic smile curved his lips upward as he drew her toward the bed while pulling down the drapes so that he could use them to bind her to the four posts.

He straddled her waist and his fingers flitted over the V-neck of her wine-coloured halter, brushing against the swell of her breasts. His tongue darted out to wet his lips as he remembered what she looked like completely nude and he tore the top away. He lowered his mouth to capture one nipple between his teeth, giving it a tug and riding her when she arched beneath him. When he sat up again, he smoothed his hands over his bulging erection.

“I think you still owe me my release, yeah?” He arched a scarred brow at her. “Goin’ to take care of it for me now?”

Buffy’s eyes went wide for a moment as they locked on the area mentioned then darted up to his again. Her body went slack again and she nodded, closing her eyes as she opened her mouth.

This reaction brought a small frown to Spike’s face, but he shook it off as he decided that this was his lucky day. He quickly freed himself from his jeans and climbed further up her body so that he could slide his cock between those pouty lips. At the feel of her tongue massaging the underside of his shaft, he dropped his head back with a groan.

“Ohh, bloody hell, that feels good, luv,” he ground out and thrust his hips forward.

Revenge was the farthest thing from his mind as she used her talented mouth on him. Instead he was thinking things he shouldn’t be thinking about his former abuser. Images flooded his mind of other things he could do with her that would prove that he was quite different from that shy virgin he once had been.

Spike had gained plenty of experience over the years. The sad thing was that every time he had thought of her, unfortunately. She had completely ruined him in every way.

Not that he was really complaining as began to feel his body growing ever more ready to come into that lovely mouth. His hand tightened in her hair and that was all the warning she got before he started shooting his seed down her throat.

His eyes found hers and saw that she was prepared for him to take this further. That halted him—the same quiet acceptance that he still saw in her eyes, the same as he had seen when she had just opened her mouth for his cock a few moments earlier. The broken way that she was accepting his right to torture her in return for her own treatment of him—it just stopped him in his tracks.

Quickly sliding off her, he tucked himself into his pants and shook his head as he swiftly untied her. “No...no. If I did the eye-for-an-eye thing I would be no better than you. You deserve it...but I’m better than that.”

Buffy rose up on her elbows and swiped at her mouth with the back of her hand. “You don’t forgive me, though, and you’re not going to dust me. So...what does this mean?”

“It means that even if you did up your hair an’ talk differently, that I can’t look at you without seein’ the bitch that dragged me into hell. It means that I don’t bloody well know what to do with you takin’ away my chance at revenge by havin’ a soddin’ soul an’ wantin’ me to stake you!” His voice got higher with a note of hysteria on the end.

“Just tell me what you want me to do to help make it better,” she said as she started to rise from the bed to go to him.

“Stop! Stop!” Spike nearly screamed at her and stumbled backwards towards the door.

“O-okay, stopping.” She held up her hands defensively. “Please, just calm down.”

An inhuman laugh had her brows knitting together as he waved a finger at her. “You don’t get to tell me what to do. Not you.”

“Oh...William...” She bit her lip and walked over to him even as he started shaking his head angrily at the use of his name. “Tonight has been too much for you, hasn’t it?”

His only response was to whimper and try to jerk away from her.

“No,” she whispered soothingly. “Let me start here with being the Sire you deserve so that we can begin again—the right way.”

With that, Buffy opened the Sire/Childe bond for the first time in over a century and thrust energy down the connection to Spike, forcing him to sleep before he hurt himself or did something worse. His face went slack and he collapsed into her arms to be cradled close to her chest.

She looked down at him tenderly for a moment before glancing around. “I don’t know where you’re staying, honey, and I know you don’t want to wake up here once you’ve had your rest. So the only other option is my place.”

That decided, she hefted him up over her shoulder so that she could carry him out of the mansion. From there she walked across Sunnydale, ignoring the stares as she made her way to her small apartment downtown. Inside, she laid him down on her bed and yanked his boots off with some trouble. Worse, she then wrestled him out of the duster so that she could put it along with the boots on the chair beside the bed.

As soon as she had him tucked into bed, she padded back to her living room where she made sure the curtains were tightly drawn before collapsing on the couch with a yawn.

What. A. Night.

Banner by Spikes Slayer2


Chapter 5


AN: Thank you to my lovely betas – DoS and Ruth.



******


The momentary relief at the end of Buffy’s troubled nightmares was short-lived when she found her sleepy eyes coming into focus on the angry blue ones hovering above her. A hand tightened on her throat and it was a good thing that she didn’t need to breathe—not that she would have fought him if he had changed his mind about finishing her off.

“What did you do to me?” Spike demanded harshly.

Her mouth opened and a choked sound came out, letting him know that he needed to ease up at least a bit so that she could answer him. He did and she coughed before replying.

“You were getting pretty freaked out and well...I was worried you were going to hurt yourself,” she said. “Or just...do something bad, so I mean...I wanted to prove I can be a good Sire. I...put you to sleep...so you could calm down and take some time to process things.”

He jerked his hands away from her and stepped away, allowing her to sit up.

She eyed him warily from under her lashes as she continued to try to explain. “I meant every word I said about wanting to make it up to you...but if you don’t want me doing the Sire thing, then that’s okay. I just...something in me that is your Sire, it couldn’t help wanting to take care of you.” She rubbed her neck reflexively.

“You don’t get to step back into the role of my master an’ exercise control over me,” he said, not sure if her response made him more or less angry with her.

“I’m sorry; it was the best idea I could think of...” Her eyes went watery as she continued, her voice trembling slightly. “And I know...I know being your Sire doesn’t automatically mean that I’m your master...at least, I know that now. I wasn’t meaning that...I mean it like...I dunno—a big sister?”

“So what, you think we just become the best of chums now?” He gave a harsh laugh as he spun away from her.

“No. I don’t. I guess you’ll never want to be my friend—or even be near me.” She sighed and stood. “I only brought you here because, well, I don’t know where you live and I knew this was a safe place to sleep.”

Buffy started for the bathroom. “I need to go see my friends, so I’m going to take a shower. I guess...you’ll be gone when I get out.”

Without even looking back for confirmation of her assumption, Buffy walked into the bathroom with slumped shoulders. The door clicked shut behind her and she leaned against it for a moment while she regrouped with a slow breath. At least she knew now that he hadn’t died all those years ago because of her wicked carelessness. That was something—not much, but something—off the constant weight bearing down on her soul.

======

The shower went a long way toward soothing her and returning her to her normal sense of calm. Buffy slung a towel around herself then left the bathroom with the intent of going into her bedroom to get dressed—but that wasn’t what happened.

A certain vampire was still standing in her living room looking lost.

“You’re...you’re still here...” she stated dumbly.

“Boy, you’ve gotten smarter over the years,” Spike snarked, his jaw working with indecision before he finally spoke again. “There’s a way that you can start at gainin’ my trust...or at least an uneasy co-existence. I came to help the slayer, an’ you know her, so...introduce me?”

“You came here to help the slayer?” Her nose wrinkled in confusion, taken aback at what he told her.

“Why’s that so weird? You’re helpin’ her.”

“I mean, I know you have the soul—that’s how I got...where I am. I just didn’t expect that; although, I’m not sure what I thought you came here for.” She shrugged then looked down at her feet awkwardly.

“I’ve been helpin’ slayers for awhile now. As soon as I found out about them, I sought them out, out of curiosity, and then I finally figured out that that’s where I needed to be. The Council of Wankers sends out a young girl with precious little trainin’ to fight against all the baddies with no help?” He snorted. “An’ demons are the soulless ones?”

“Oh, well, I just happened to be in the area when she was called. Seeing as we were both working toward the same goal, it was only natural that helping her would be beneficial to the whole…good-doing…thing.” She looked up at him briefly, then away again, nodding. “Let me get dressed and I’ll take you with me to the meeting I was heading to anyway.”

“I’ll be outside havin’ myself a fag,” he told her, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his duster as he headed for the door.

Watching him walk out of the apartment, Buffy let out a tired breath. All this drama was seriously draining, but how could she complain when it seemed that actually, she was getting off light for some reason? She still didn’t get why he had thrown her such a curve ball the night before. A blowjob was hardly the payback she had been expecting, and somehow, she knew that wasn’t all he had intended before changing his mind.

The next mystery was why she was giving special thought to what to wear.

Spike definitely didn’t care what she wore or how she looked. She finally muttered a curse at her own stupidity as she grabbed a random pair of jeans and a shirt to wear with it. This would do for a meeting with the slayer and her friends, as it was what she usually wore. That didn’t mean that she couldn’t brush out her hair a bit more than usual, and add some tinted lip gloss and mascara.

God, Elizabeth, you are so pathetic.

“Okay, I’m ready to go,” Buffy announced as she stepped outside. She took a moment to admire Spike’s new look while his back was turned, stamping out the cigarette that had been perched between his lips when she first came out. “Um, everyone meets at this occult shop that the Watcher bought as a cover for getting magical goods. They’re all nice, but might be a bit wary of you at first. I’m sure Faith has told them about you...and not in a good way.”

“I’m sure you’ll set them straight on which of us is the one to worry about,” Spike said sardonically as he took up step beside her.

Her shoulders slumped, because she really didn’t feel she had a good comeback for that. Really, she had no right to defend her actions at all. They had been heinous and she knew that she would never be able to fully make up for them.

“I’m not that girl anymore...” was what came out so quietly that he only was able to pick it up because of his enhanced vampire hearing.

At least she didn’t see when his eyes flashed silver at her comment. She was too busy worrying her lip with her teeth as she thought about how she was going to explain everything to the slayer and her friends.

At the front door to the Magick Box, Buffy paused and looked up at Spike thoughtfully. “Maybe I should go in and sort of explain you a bit before you come in, so as not to spook them too badly.”

“Nuh-uh, luv. I’m comin’ in with you.” He caught at the hand holding the doorknob. “We go in together.”

“Fine, have it your way.”

With a toss of her hair, she opened the door and went inside. The usual gang was predictably gathered around the table in the back with books spread out across its surface. All eyes were on them, curious at the newcomer. Except for Faith, whose eyes narrowed slightly as she recognized who it was.

“So, you’re still in one piece,” the slayer said mildly.

“Yup, and here to give you an explanation of last night’s little scene behind the Bronze.” Buffy looked over at Spike. The other vampire just watched her as she spoke and gave no sign of jumping in, so she took a deep breath. “I never told you the details of how I got my soul or whatever it is I have. We just had Tara confirm it and you took me for my word that I was here to help you because of it. Though you probably don’t really want the details of how it happened, I need to give you at least a glossed over version to explain Wil...Spike.”

Still, Spike watched her quietly, and his unwavering gaze didn’t help her uneasiness.

“I was a very...very bad vampire, as you can imagine. I did the whole murder and mayhem bit...and then one night I came across William.” Her brows drew together at the memory. “I was going to kill him, but saw the sign of the Master in a birthmark and decided turning him would be more fun. I knew he would be different because of the legend about his marking, but was surprised to find that ‘different’ basically meant—well, for one, he had a soul. Oh, I tried to torture it out of him, but it didn’t work and instead, I was...changed. When I realized what he did to me, I ran out and left him. I thought he had perished—but here he is.”

“The sign of the Master?” Giles was a little distracted by that piece of information and almost missed the rest. “I seem to remember hearing about that somewhere. It had to do with a special breed of vampire...but it was only a myth.”

“Not anymore,” Buffy said and nodded to Spike. “I don’t know if he’ll let you go all research mode on him; that’ll be up to him, of course. Tara can confirm his soul, though.”

All eyes turned to the meek blonde and she smiled tentatively at Spike. Then Tara looked at Faith and Giles in turn, nodding her agreement.

“He has one,” she told them. “And it’s even brighter than hers. I suspect partly to do with the fact that, as she told us, she has done her share of evil before she got her soul and he has barely been touched by it.”

“Yeah, but I’m a little curious as to why he’s here, since I saw what happened in the alley. Even the good guys get their rage on every now and then, and hey, I can’t blame you for wanting to do some serious bad to the person that tortured you.” Faith rested her arms on the table and looked up at them with a look that plainly said that she was not fooled by Buffy’s awkward “glossing over” of their shared past.

“Spike told me he’s been helping Slayers since we parted, and seeing as I knew the current slayer...” Buffy lifted a shoulder. “As for the rest—it’s personal.”

“Well, does he at least speak?” Anya asked bluntly.

Buffy knew this was not a good time to laugh, but couldn’t help grabbing for an excuse for Spike to step in so that she could stop babbling nervously. She sat down at the table and looked up at Spike with head tilted as if to say, “Well, do you?”

“Yeah, I do,” he said gruffly, shoving his hands in his duster. “But she was doin’ a pretty good job so far of explainin’ it all. I don’t know about lettin’ you do your Watcher thing, seein’ as I know how you guys get, but I’m here to help fight the good fight.”

“Well, I’m not just going to trust you with my back,” Faith informed him, looking to Buffy and back to Spike. “She’s earned it, but you haven’t. Her word and Tara’s will buy you some points, but you’ll have to prove yourself as a part of the team same as everyone else.”

“Fair enough.” He nodded and started turning toward the door. “I take it you patrol, same as every other slayer, so I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for you, Slayer.”

As Spike left, Nick was coming through the door. The vampire barely spared him a glance while the Federal Marshall thumbed over his shoulder, looking at the others questioningly.

“Who was that slice of happiness?” he asked dryly.

******

There had been more questions once Spike had left the Magick Box, especially from a Watcher eager to record all that he could for future reference. When Buffy had left, Giles had been digging through all of his oldest tomes for any reference to the Master and the mythical bloodline. Nick had wanted filling in on everything he missed, but Buffy had begged off and left that to the others. They would surely make it all sound so much more exciting anyway.

On the way back to her apartment, Buffy stopped off at the butchers for more blood, not sure why she was stocking up.

She just had a feeling that she might need it.

And that feeling seemed to make a lot more sense when she reached her apartment to find her childe lounging in the hallway outside her door.

He straightened upon seeing her and affected a casual air. “I haven’t found a place yet an’...it might take some time. I’m not the type of blighter to hide out in some crypt—reminds me too much of a dark basement.”

The implication made her cast her gaze downward in shame and she shifted the bag in her arms. “You want to crash here?”

“Give you a chance to do that thing you were talkin’ about earlier, the whole havin’ the motherly instinct towards me because you’re my sire.” He shrugged. “Still not sayin’ I’m over any of it, but can use it to take advantage of a nice place to stay for now.”

“Fair enough,” she echoed his earlier words to Faith and went to open the door. “Good thing I went to get more blood then. I must have some sort of sixth sense.”

His eyes followed her, still wondering why he had decided to do this. He definitely had enough money to get a hotel room for awhile if it had really been a problem, but a part of him had decided this would be a way for him to give her a chance to prove she had changed. She had claimed she wanted to do the Sire thing; this would be a way to allow her to do that.

All he had to do was keep reminding his lower brain that she was definitely off limits. That was pretty hard, when he had plenty vivid memories of her naked body and touching that perfect form as recently as the night before.

Bloody hell, you thought about it and now you have to find a way to discreetly adjust yourself, dumbass.

Spike quickly did so as Buffy went to put the blood away in the fridge and went to settle on the couch. He rested his arm on the back, looking back towards her. The swaying of her backside as she bent in the fridge door did nothing to help his problem so he jumped back up.

“I’m, uh, goin’ to turn in then.” He thumbed toward the bedroom then beat a hasty retreat, mourning the fact that it would be difficult to get a good wank in with her having the same vampire senses he had.

Buffy straightened and watched him go with a puzzled frown, wondering why he would want to go to bed now, when it was still the middle of the night.

Banner by Spikes Slayer2


Chapter 6


AN: Sorry for taking so long, these fics started kicking my muses’ butts. Hehe. Then my betas had to help put me back on track with some advice on what I was doing wrong :P Besides that, had work and been feeling icky. Thank you to my awesome betas – DreamsofSpike and Ruth.



******


For the millionth time that night, Faith shook her head as both Spike and Buffy seemed to be doing all her work for her. She knew there was bad history there, but they really just needed to fuck and get it over with, in her opinion. Then they could leave some slaying action for her and stop constantly trying to one-up each other. The whole sexual tension thing had been kind of funny at first, but now she was bored and her sense of humour was wearing thin.

“Guys,” she said, stepping forward when the dust of their latest vampire victim settled, “I think we should call it a night. We’ve done a full patrol and that was the only thing we saw in over an hour.”

“You can head home an’ we’ll continue a bit more,” Spike replied, totally oblivious to the meaning behind her request to call it quits for the night.

“Nah, I don’t think you should do this without a chaperone.” Faith’s look was pointed to make sure he got the hint that time before she turned to Buffy. “Maybe you should drop by the Bronze tomorrow night, B; blow off some steam.”

“I’ll think about it,” Buffy told her, not quite sure what to say besides that. “Goodnight, Faith.”

Once the Slayer was gone, Buffy glanced at Spike sideways from under her lashes. She tucked away her stake and started down the path toward the side of town where their apartment was located.

“How about we take her advice? I can order a pizza and we can pick up some movies on the way home.” She paused and looked over her shoulder at him, waiting for his response.

“You like human food, too?” Spike asked with amusement as he moved to catch up with her. “It’s a deal if you throw in some hot wings.”

“Hot wings it is.” A small relieved smile graced her lips at his acceptance of her idea. “Now, let’s hope we agree as easily on what movies to get.”

His hand caught her arm in a gentle but firm grip. “I mean, it’s still not all better. That doesn’t mean I can’t...get to know the new Buffy a bit by hangin’ out with her now and then. It’s not like I have anythin’ better to do when I’m not fightin’ the good fight.”

“I haven’t forgotten that I’m on friend probation,” she said softly, glancing down at where his hand lay. “So don’t worry. I’m just grateful for whatever chances you give me.”

His hand dropped away almost reluctantly and he sucked in his cheeks. “Yeah, well...I’m not even sure sometimes why I decided to give you a chance, but I did. I suppose some part of me needs my Sire...like a child wantin’ his mum.”

“I’m sure bathing you will be an experience.” She quickly blushed at the images that popped into her mind and she turned away just as quickly. “Movies. I remember saying we should get movies. So let’s do that. Now.”

With that, Buffy hurried down the street toward the Movie Gallery on the corner, leaving behind a highly confused Spike to shake his head. Bloody birds were just as confusing as hell, no matter how long he lived. It was only this one he wanted to shag senseless, though, regardless of how his mind rebelled at getting that close to his former abuser.

******

“You want the last piece?” Buffy held it up to Spike with brows lifted, sitting on the couch with him on the floor in front of her.

“We can share.” He took a huge bite from it and chuckled around his the pizza that filled his mouth.

“Thanks, I like the crust anyway.”

Spike had to look away from the adorable sight she presented with her nose turned up oh-so-cutely. That was when he noticed that his hand was touching her feet, lightly stroking her soft skin.

What in the bloody hell is wrong with me?

Needing a distraction, Spike stood up to take the empty boxes to the garbage. In the privacy of the kitchen, he stole a moment to adjust himself yet again before returning to the living room.

When he returned, Buffy was sitting with her back rigidly straight. What was that about? It didn’t even occur to him that if he worried about her enhanced hearing keeping him from having a good wank he should worry about her sense of smell as well.

“I’m goin’ to turn in for the night, luv. Ta.” He gave a little salute then hurried off to the bedroom, pausing in the doorway. “Not that I don’t think you deserve to sleep on an uncomfortable sofa after bein’ an evil hellbitch, but maybe we can keep our ears open for available apartments...or at least see about gettin’ you a futon.”

She stared at him, gobsmacked, as he closed the door.

What was that all about? she unconsciously echoed his earlier thought.

Then she immediately wondered if it had anything to do with that oh-so-obvious scent she kept picking up lately when he was around.

Oh, at first she had missed it because...well, she had to admit she had felt a bit of attraction to him, too. There had been some back when she had first met him, but that Buffy hadn’t been the type to handle things like that very well...not that she was so much better now, but she wasn’t about to try to beat him into submission. And so, at first she had assumed she was only smelling herself and her own arousal, until she had gradually come to be able to tell the difference.

Next, she went through a period of denial, which was easy since he seemed just as happy as she was to pretend like nothing was going on between them. But then, Faith’s comments that night had surprised Buffy, since apparently their denial didn’t keep others from seeing what they were trying so hard to ignore. So...Spike had to be aware of it, too, right?

He had to be disgusted with the thought of either of them being attracted to the other, considering their history. So then, what was up with the talk of making her more comfortable...as if he cared, and this would be a long term thing? When he first came around, he had made it seem like a temporary stay of convenience that he was merely putting up with.

Her attraction, on the other hand, was nothing new; she had felt it since she had first found him. She was just determined to ignore her ever-increasing attraction to her childe, since he was definitely in the ‘hands off’ category, because of his completely healthy and natural resentment of what she had done to him.

If he could handle all this weirdness without giving in to the temptation, then so could she—no matter what Faith hinted at. In fact, the offer of some Bronzing was a good opportunity to go fishing for a guy that wasn’t her abused childe. Not that she really felt the need to have a guy—she was normally happy being alone—but she figured that maybe a distraction would help her not think of Spike in bad, bad ways.

Totally wrong ways.

With another glance toward the bedroom, Buffy settled down on the couch to sleep, unable to stop the dreams of haunting blue eyes—dreams that flashed from good to bad and back again in the most confusing way.

******

The ice had long melted in her drink, but still Buffy stirred it as she watched Faith dance with Nick. She should be out there with the slayer and finding a random guy to dance with. Hadn’t she decided the night before to get all distracted from the attraction to the wrong guy?

Unfortunately, her mind remained stuck on that certain guy. At least he wasn’t there.

Damn it.

Apparently, she had assumed too early, because as she glanced away from Faith she saw a flash of platinum hair weaving through the crowd. She saw that he was in fact heading in her direction and quickly decided to make a hasty exit. Fleeing from her own childe seemed a bit silly, but much better than an uncomfortable meeting.

Spike caught her just outside the bathrooms and spun her around to press her back to the wall. His hands braced on either side of her head to keep her in place while he leaned in close.

“Runnin’ from me?” he asked, quirking a brow. “Why?”

“Well, what are you even doing here?” She lifted her chin as she got defensive. “You were there when Faith invited me here, so you knew I’d be here.”

“An’ here I thought it was a free country an’ I could go wherever I pleased,” he snarked.

“That’s not what I...well, you can be here if you want, but you were coming right over to me like you were going to join us.”

“So, you’re sayin’ if I see you in public you want me pretendin’ not to know you?” His eyes turned deadly, flashing silver.

“That’s not what I meant! You keep putting words in my mouth!” Her voice rose in alarm. She waved her hands between them. “I saw you coming over and I was trying to avoid all that awkward stuff that’s been going on lately. And really, we live together; do we need to spend every moment with each other? Especially when I know you hate me?”

“Elizabeth...Buffy...” He turned his head and took a deep breath, not even sure what to say to her scattered justifications. “I’m not sure what to make of you anymore. I hate what you did to me, but as for you...you’re different, but still I know that shouldn’t let you off the hook for everythin’ just because of your shiny soul. I gave that to you, so the way I see it, you owe me.”

“O-owe you?” Her eyes got a bit wider. “I already...the first night, told you that you had every right to get payback, but you let me off easy.”

“Not what I meant, but—”

They both stopped and turned their heads to look toward the front of the club. Spike was the first to turn his gaze back to her.

“What...it’s like when I sense you, but different,” he said curiously.

“It’s family.” She started pulling him toward the door that led to the back alley. “I’m glad you’ve never found out first-hand what that sensation is, because this is bad. I sense age and power, and there’s only a handful from our line that are older than me.”

“An’ I take it they would be less than thrilled with your soulful self?” Spike gave a humourless smirk as he followed after her.

“Something like that; and, we had a falling out even before that came along,” she told him as she started down the back streets of Sunnydale. “I’m more concerned with them getting their hands on you and figuring out what you are. The fact that you’re souled will be the least of your problems.”

“You’re sure who it is then?”

“Like I said, not many older than me...plus, as you age and stuff you can get better at honing your senses.” She stopped and turned to him. “Have you heard of the Scourge of Europe while doing the whole ‘helping slayers’ thing?”

“Yeah, a few times.” He shrugged.

“I was one of them—before you came along. Darla was sired by the Master—the guy I told you that you’re related to—and she sired the son of a bitch, Angelus. She lets him pretend to run the show. He eventually tortured a girl, Drusilla, into insanity before turning her. He wasn’t happy with just two whores at his beck and call, so then he came after little Elizabeth.” She paused to let that sink in before going on, “Once I was strong enough, I let him know I was tired of being one of his skanks. I took the first opportunity to get the hell out of Dodge.”

She didn’t like that glint of pity in his eyes. She didn’t deserve it, especially not from her former victim.

Turning away to continue their dash for home, she hissed, “Don’t go all ‘poor Buffy’ on me; it wasn’t just to get away from his abuse. I was soulless, remember? I wanted to be the one to call the shots.”

Somehow, he didn’t look like he completely bought it when she glanced back to make sure he was following. She really didn’t care if he believed her.

Really.

“Anyway, when we get home where it’s safe, we can call Faith and then Giles. I’m not sure if they sensed us since they might have been distracted if they were in the middle of all those humans, or focused on whatever they were there for. Even if they didn’t know we were there, though, they’ll know soon.”

“And what’s your plan? To run like you did when you saw me?” Spike asked sardonically as he caught up with her.

“Do you have a better one? They’re going to come after us and I won’t let them have you.” She looked up at him with a determined frown.

“I bloody well do! We get rid of them and stop them from killing anyone else!”

“You’re little more than a fledge compared to them!” She stopped outside their door to give him an incredulous look.

“Yes, but I’m some super-vamp, remember?” he shot back and then motioned between them. “An’ I got you on my side as well as a slayer an’ her chums.”

“This. Is. Stupid,” she spat at him angrily.

“Well, the way I see it, you can’t force me to run with you an’ if you’re so gung-ho on protectin’ me then you’re goin’ to stay here to fight with me.” He crossed his arms and gave her a satisfied grin.

She gritted her teeth and turned to open the door, walking inside as she muttered, “You’re so getting the couch tonight.”