Follows on directly from my story ‘No such things as coincidences’.
Continuity: Takes place roughly in the same timeframe as the BtVS season 6 episode ‘As you were’.
Disclaimer: Spike’s not mine… wish he were... If he were mine he’d be allowed to be a lot happier… most of the time. Buffy, Dawn, the Scoobies, none of them are mine. They all belong to the blessed Joss Whedon, and Mutant Enemy (Grr Aaargh). I’m just borrowing them to play with for a while. Joss said I could. Honest. So don't sue me 'cos I haven't any money. None at all.
Dedicated to James Marsters, without whom Spike would not be the passionate, sensitive, tragic, funny, romantic, pathetic, violent, beautiful, loyal, vulnerable, impulsive, sympathetic, loving, infuriating, emotional and sexy character he is.
All from Spike’s POV. Obviously other events, reactions, conversations, discussions and revelations will be occurring elsewhere, (sort of off-screen) but you’ll just have to fill those blanks in for yourself.
I'd like to thank my beta Gill for her invaluable input when the plot bunnies either went on strike, or went on the rampage and took me way off course.
Chapter one
Spike lay in bed totally relaxed, enveloped in the most aggravating, delectable, bewitching, irresistible, exciting… and yet paradoxically also the most relaxing, reassuring and comforting scent he had ever known. He had been right all those months ago. He was drowning in her… in her scent. He only had to take a single breath in this room to be overcome with desire for her, even now that the effects of the Slayer blood in his system had mostly faded. He smiled to himself and wondered if the magic would ever wear off, because as far as he could tell it was only getting stronger.
He sighed and stretched, he would have to get up soon. Not because she was going to kick him out, (and how unbelievably wonderful was that simple fact?) but because before long he would be needed to collect Dawn from Janice’s house. She was spending a couple of hours there after school trying to catch up on assignments she’d missed during the stay in Los Angeles. Buffy had insisted that the bed had to be made up before they got back.
She didn’t like her sister to get in and be confronted with the fact that they’d spent the afternoon in bed together even though she would know they had… and they would know she knew… and she would know that they knew she knew… Spike shook his head to get out of the loop of illogical thinking that had been generated by Buffy Anne Summers’ unique brain.
Three days he’d been here now, since they’d got back from L.A. He rolled the idea around his mind and tasted it. He had been living with the Slayer for three days. For three days he had been the boyfriend in her bed. He still couldn’t quite believe that he was here, in her room, in her house. He was no longer her dirty shameful secret. He had been accepted… well… mostly, mustn’t forget Xander Harris’s stubborn objections.
He hadn’t even been to his crypt since they’d returned. When she’d suggested that they should go together to pack up his stuff and bring it ‘home’, he had assured her that since he had his chest in the car there was nothing there he needed. It was now sitting in the corner of the living room next to her lovely new Slayer weapons chest.
Since they’d rolled off her bed onto the floor this afternoon however, he had begun thinking that his four poster was considerably larger and far more conducive to bruiseless lovemaking… and perhaps some of his rugs would cheer the basement up a bit… and of course there were his books. He frowned, how could he have forgotten his books? Most of them were trash, but he had some of his old favourites he wouldn’t want to lose and a few very rare first editions tucked away downstairs, and several volumes he thought Giles might be interested to have a look at… and what about his CDs? He’d have to make a trip to the crypt after all... what else might he have forgotten?
Currently his Slayer was in the bathroom from which, for the time being, he had been banished. She had said she needed some ‘girly time’, whatever that was. He suspected it involved some of those bottles and jars that cluttered every surface, all those lotions and creams and other mysterious toiletries that he saw no use for. As far as he was concerned all she really needed was her fruity shampoo, and some soap or gel to wash vamp dust and demon blood and guts off with. Nothing else was needed to enhance the perfection that was her own lovely glowing golden skin and delicious natural scent.
Massage oils could be good too, he admitted to himself. He made a mental note to check if she had some next time he was allowed in the bathroom. If he was going to be allowed to fulfil the role of boyfriend that would include being permitted to rub away all those aches and pains, all the stresses and strains caused by her Slaying duties… wouldn’t it? If she didn’t have anything suitable he’d have to get some.
Get some? He meant buy some... really he did, he meant buy some! Spike despaired of remembering all the things he’d promised when her ‘ground rules’ had been laid out. He knew that ‘no more thieving’ had come pretty high up the list. Still, he’d found that shopping could actually be fun! On Saturday when they’d got in Harris had dropped Willow and Giles off with the Watcher’s luggage and the huge mound of shopping bags that Buffy, Willow and Dawn had acquired, before haring off to take Tara to her apartment and then to be reunited with his Demon Girl.
After Buffy had insisted that Giles should stay here until he could find a new place, and they’d got settled in and unpacked, they’d all started feeling hungry. Upon investigation they’d found that the only food in the kitchen was half a loaf of bread gone mouldy, a rather suspicious jar of peanut butter whose lid hadn’t been put back on properly, half a carton of very smelly milk, a small tin of tuna and an opened bag of pasta shells that was well past its expiry date.
Spike had shepherded them all out to his car and taken them to the supermarket. He had ignored Buffy’s protestations that she had no money left, and Giles’s offer to make a contribution to the household expenses (and wasn’t Willow already doing that? Spike thought, surely she should be?). He had taken one of those unsteerable trolleys himself, pushed another at the Watcher, and told the girls to load them up. They had wandered up and down the aisles filling the trolleys with everything they could think of.
Spike had surreptitiously removed some things such as huge bottles of soda, most of the packets of snacks and cookies, the sugar coated breakfast cereals, (no wonder Dawn was never able to keep still if she regularly consumed that much sugar, he had thought) and the microwave ready-meals. He had replaced them with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, herb teas, fruit juices, economy sized packs of pasta and rice and good quality meat and fish.
He was astonished to hear Buffy ask at the butcher’s counter for quantities of pigs’ blood, and even more astonished when a large brown bag full of plastic sachets was handed over without a single question being asked. Only in Sunnydale! He had always gone to the back entrance of the little butcher’s near Willy’s that catered for the more civilised section of the demon community.
At the checkout he had produced the money Angel had given him and peeled off the required notes which he belatedly noticed were all hundreds. A big fee from some demon clients indeed! In answer to Buffy’s enquiring glance he’d had to tell her about Angel’s generosity, and she had vowed to pay him back when her allowance from the Council finally materialised.
After he had ferried them back to Revello Drive with all the groceries Spike had abruptly folded in on himself and dozed off on the couch. Buffy had ushered him upstairs, stripped him off and tucked him into her bed where he had sunk into Slayer scented oblivion until nine o’clock that night when she had woken him to go with her on a short patrol through the closest cemeteries, leaving Willow and Giles to care for Dawn. It was wonderful being able to work side by side with her without worrying about whether she was going to suddenly jump on him and rip his clothes off, or insult him and punch him on the nose… or both.
When they’d got back he’d had to be invited in again. As part of their new ‘defence strategy’ Tara had returned to help Giles work a ‘demon barrier’ spell on the house, which meant that instead of just vampires, no demons could enter unless expressly invited. They still hadn’t come up with anything that might help repel unwelcome humans, but Giles said that he was working on it along with everything else.
On their second night back, he had dropped in to show his face at Willy’s after his trip to the demon barber for his trim and bleach job. It was essential to let it be known that he was back to stay, and to let his new claim mark be seen so that it was clear that he still going to be working with the Slayer. It would be better to be prepared for any trouble likely to come his way, and Willy would be the ideal person to keep him informed of any plans being made to bring him down. He was in a position to be able to set up challenge fights which would reduce the likelihood of him being attacked when out on patrol with the Slayer, he didn’t really want to get her involved in his demon feuds. After that they’d made a full sweep of the town, she’d decided they needed to make up for the time they’d been away.
They had found and dusted no less than eleven newly risen vamps, and on top of that they’d taken out two new nests. Someone had been taking advantage of the Slayer’s absence to turn lots of people, and she had been… he decided ‘upset’ didn’t really cover it. They would have to begin a concerted hunt for the ambitious vampire or vampires responsible.
Then there had been the battle against a huge lumbering blue creature with gleaming red eyes, four curly horns and huge floppy ears that they’d come across in Shady Hill cemetery as it was trying to catch a stray kitten. It had had an incredibly thick hide, and it had felt as if they were kicking and punching a slab of concrete. They’d worked together without a word, moving as if they’d rehearsed for months for this one fight. When they’d realised it wasn’t going to be an easy kill she had tossed him an axe from her weapons bag as she had dodged in to aim a flurry of punches and kicks at its ugly face to distract it, before rolling away at exactly the right moment as he leapt in from behind to decapitate it. They had actually laughed out loud and hugged each other when it had melted away into a puddle of blue goo. He couldn’t remember a previous time they’d shared a spontaneous hug, and hoped that it would prove to be the first of many, it had felt so good!
Buffy had been amused when Spike had tucked the little ginger and white kitten into his coat pocket and had teased him about his poor record at kitten poker until he’d explained he was taking it to Clem. She’d gone with him to meet the gentle loose skinned demon again, chatting in a very friendly manner as Spike had offered him the chance to take over his crypt. It was much bigger and more comfortable than Clem’s sub-basement room now that he’d got the power all hooked up and a makeshift shower connected to a water main in the tunnel, and the TV reception was much better. He should really clear out anything he wanted to keep before Clem moved in. Perhaps she would go with him and help him pick what to bring and what to leave?
Buffy had decided she wanted an outing to the Bronze before patrol tonight. They hadn’t seen much of the Scoobies since coming back from L.A. and she hoped that some if not all would be there. Tara and Willow were very preoccupied trying to catch up with college work, and presumably with their continuing reconciliation, which meant that Willow had spent most of her time at Tara’s.
Giles had decided that one night on the couch in a house containing three young women and a vampire was enough. He had found himself a reasonably priced hotel room for the time being, but practically lived at the Magic Box as he tried to research how they were to work the Portals.
Xander and Anya were still engrossed in their wedding plans, and although they’d seen Anya briefly at the shop, just to say ‘hello we’re back’, there had been so many customers they hadn’t had time for a chat. They hadn’t seen Xander at all. Spike knew that Buffy was upset at his attitude to the new situation, she clearly thought he was avoiding her. She had told him she wanted to make it clear to everyone that they were a ‘real’ couple now. Being seen at the Bronze openly together was apparently the easiest first step to advertising the fact, both to her human friends and to the demon population of good old Sunnyhell.
He couldn’t wait to be seen out in public with his Slayer on his arm, it would be their first real ‘date’. He made the connection suddenly, was that why she was locked in the bathroom with all her lotions and potions? She’d made it clear that she wanted to be seen with him, to be noticed. Was she prettying herself up for their date? He smiled at the thought, and then decided he had better check.
He jumped out of bed and knocked on the bathroom door. The immediate reaction was an emphatic “You can’t come in!”
“I know love, I just wanted to check. This trip to the Bronze… it’s mostly about us being seen together, right? To make a point about us being a proper couple now?”
“Yes, that’s right. Of course getting to dance with you again will be of the good too…”
Spike smiled to himself, “So this will be a proper date when we arrive together, dance together, and then leave together, right? You want us to be noticed? To make an impression?”
“A good impression, yes.”
“Right pet, I’ll see what I can do.” He pondered for a moment. So this was going to be their first date, and she wanted to make an impression. A special night then, so he had to make an effort too. Shouldn’t there be flowers? He was sure he had read somewhere that when a bloke took a girl out for the first time there should be flowers… and possibly chocolates. He’d have to check with Dawn, he didn’t want to make a fool of himself.
He frowned as he tried to decide what to wear. If only his lovely new blue silk shirt hadn’t been soaked in demon blood. While they had been dancing in LA Dawn had said it brought out the colour of his eyes. The violet one hadn’t survived the night in the collapsed building, and his favourite red one had been shredded one night a few weeks before during a fight with a knife wielding demon. He couldn’t bring himself to wear the black and silver print shirt, it had bad memories attached to it after that night in the alley. Upon reflection he decided he might just throw that one out.
He decided to collect Dawn early so he could have some time to quiz her, and possibly to do some shopping. There was still a thick roll of Angel’s cash in his pocket, and although it might not strictly be in the ‘tiding Buffy over’ category his grandsire had intended, this night out seemed important to her and he felt justified in using some. He dragged on his clothes and quickly straightened out the covers on the bed. Everything was a bit rumpled underneath, but he couldn’t see that that mattered.
“Just going for the Niblet pet” he called through the bathroom door, “We might be a while, I have to make a couple of stops, okay?”
He received a muffled “Okay” in reply. Running downstairs he grabbed his duster from its new home on the coat rack by the door. It lived there since Buffy had said she didn’t want him to wear it indoors, she claimed it looked as if he was always on the point of leaving. With the old football helmet off the shelf tucked under his arm Spike went out to the motorbike parked at the kerb.
Half an hour later he was wandering around the mall with Dawn, trying to find inspiration. He had decided he didn’t want to wear his usual black jeans and t-shirt, but so far he hadn’t found a ‘look’ he liked and Dawn wasn’t being much help. He examined the window of a menswear shop trying to imagine himself in the outfits displayed in the window while asking Dawn’s opinion of each. He suddenly realised she wasn’t answering him any more, and when he turned towards her he saw he was talking to thin air. He looked around to see where she had got to and saw her staring wide eyed at the window display of a neighbouring ladies-wear shop. He asked, “Whatcha lookin’ at Niblet?”
“Look!” She pointed at the window, “Wouldn’t Buffy look gorgeous in that!”
He crossed to stand beside her and looked to see what had caught her attention. It was a bright scarlet dress with very little by way of a bodice. The front neckline was a deep V with a sort of draped cowl effect, and only two very thin straps held it up over the shoulders as it was completely backless down to the waist, with a short very full bias panelled handkerchief hem skirt. The points of the hem just reached the knees of the display dummy, while the slits went up to mid-thigh. Suddenly Spike knew exactly what he was going to do. “Right Niblet, wander over to that shoe shop and find us a pair of shoes for her to wear with it, something totally impractical, all straps and high heels, you know her size and the sort of thing she likes.”
Giggling, Dawn ran off to the shoe shop as Spike went in to buy the dress and a couple of other things that caught his eye once he was inside, and then he made a brief stop in Victoria’s Secret before joining her. Dawn had found a completely silly pair of scarlet strappy shoes with four inch heels, just perfect for showing off Buffy’s slim toned legs as she danced, and they were quickly paid for together with a small matching bag. Next he led her back over to the menswear shop. “Now Niblet, I can’t see my reflection, so you are going to have to tell me when I get the look right to go with Buffy in that dress, okay?”
The next twenty minutes passed with Spike trying on several outfits until he got an appreciative squeal and enthusiastic nod and grin from Dawn, at which the roll of cash came out again. “Just one more stop pet,” Spike announced, then after a very serious discussion with a florist, they mounted the motorbike for the ride home with Dawn trying to hang on to Spike while not dropping her school bag or any of the shopping bags hooked over her arms.
During dinner it took Spike and Dawn’s combined efforts to persuade Buffy to put herself in his hands for their night out. Eventually Dawn had to use her patented little sister ‘you’d do it if you really loved me’ pout, but at last Buffy stood naked in her bedroom with a length of black silk tied over her eyes as she was dressed by invisible hands. First came the underwear, which simply consisted of a thong, after which she was told to sit on the bed as shoes were eased onto her feet and buckled at the ankle. Then she was ready to stand and hold her arms up as a dress was slipped over her head, and thin straps were eased up her arms to her shoulders before it was fastened at the waist.
She protested when she felt lipstick being applied, which made it necessary for it to be removed and redone, and then again when she was told to sit still and wait for a few minutes as Spike changed and quickly covered up with his duster. For the first time for decades he had fastened it, in order to keep his new outfit secret.
He insisted she kept her eyes closed as he removed the blindfold. As he was combing her hair he paused for a moment to take a deep breath. “You’ve changed your shampoo, rosehips instead of lemon and lime.”
“What do you think?”
He ran his fingers through her hair as he arranged it. “Your hair is even softer, and it’s still beautifully shiny. It smells all sweet and summery, I like it.” Finally he handed her a tiny clutch bag and turned her to face the full length mirror. “Open your eyes.”
The reaction was a very quiet, “Oh!” and a beaming smile as Buffy gently swayed her hips to see how the full skirt flowed with her movement. She reached up to touch the corsage of twin scarlet lilies attached to a black comb that caught her hair up into a knot leaving the silver scars on the side and nape of her neck clearly visible while leaving a few artfully arranged wisps to frame her face. As she turned to get a profile view she noticed that the dress was backless, and gave Spike a suspicious look.
He grinned wickedly, “There won’t be a single person there who won’t notice you and remember you. That’s what you wanted, right? Every girl there will want to scratch your eyes out because her fella will be paying more attention to you than he will to her. Believe me Buffy, word will spread across town within minutes.”
Buffy looked very smug as she examined her reflection, taking in the beautifully ridiculous shoes and matching bag, which she found contained nothing but a couple of tissues, a comb, the new scarlet lipstick and her keys and ID. She briefly lifted the skirt to see a tiny scarlet lacy thong and giggled wickedly, “Very sexy!” She winked at him, “Not at all scarlet woman.” Spike had to use immense self-control to resist throwing her onto the bed to ravish her there and then, but succeeded in restraining himself because he was determined he wasn’t going to miss this night out for anything.
As they waited in the hall for Dawn to appear Buffy asked, “So what are you wearing then? I’ve never seen your coat buttoned up before, what are you hiding under there?” Then seeing he was carrying a holdall she added, “And what’s in the bag?”
“As for what I’m wearing, it’s a surprise. Don’t worry, I won’t show you up, the Niblet helped me pick it out. The bag has our fighting things in so we can change there and go straight out on patrol after.”
When Dawn at last came galloping down the stairs she insisted on Buffy doing a twirl so she could see the whole effect. “Told you!” she cried, giving Spike a punch on the arm. “It’s perfect!”
“Yeah… it is.” He admitted, draping a fluffy black pashmina shawl around Buffy’s shoulders and brushing his lips over his mark on her nape, “Ready to go love?”
When they arrived at the Bronze Spike led his girls to a free table and as they sat he went to the bar, returning with two glasses of juice and a bottle of beer. He sat with them, still in his coat, as they commented upon the dancing people and sipped their drinks. “Aren’t you going to dance?” Dawn asked after a while. “I thought that was the whole point of the ‘date’ thing.”
Buffy looked at him questioningly. He answered them with, “Not until some of the Scoobies get here Niblet, don’t want to leave you sitting on your own.”
It was about fifteen minutes later that Willow and Tara edged through the crush towards them, and Spike made another trip to the bar for refills for Buffy Dawn and himself, and drinks for the two witches. There was quite a queue, so by the time he got back to the table with the tray of glasses and his beer he had been gone for over five minutes, and he found Dawn sitting alone with Anya.
“Evenin’ Anya.” As he transferred the drinks to the table Spike asked, “What’ve you done with the whelp?”
Anya pointed, “He’s dancing with Buffy. I’m letting him do that so they can make up.” She sounded very proud of herself.
Spike scanned the dance floor. First he saw the two witches clinging together, lost in each others’ eyes, then a flash of scarlet caught his eye and there they were. His Slayer was moving sinuously with her arms above her head, hips swaying to the beat of the music, her eyes on the face of the tall dark young man who was moving slightly awkwardly with her as they smiled and chatted together. Spike found himself growling very softly as his jealous demon protested. Buffy moved closer to Xander and put her hand on his shoulder, and he responded by resting a hand on her waist.
Spike sat down and closed his eyes so he could no longer see them, but that didn’t pacify his demon who only substituted an image of what he feared might happen next which was even worse, causing his growl to get louder and deeper. Spike’s hands began hurting, and he opened his eyes to see that his fingers were clutching at the edge of the table, his elongated vampire claws gouging deep into the wood.
Dawn finally heard his growl above the thumping music, looked over to him and saw his face, her eyes going wide as she looked down at his hands. “Spike? What’s with the bumpies… and what did the bad table ever do to you?”
Anya’s eyes followed Dawn’s to Spike’s face and she frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Anya,” Spike growled softly, struggling to keep a very tight rein on his demon. “Are you by any chance familiar with the nature of a vampire mating claim?”
Immediately Anya brightened up, she loved to show off her expert knowledge of the demon world. “Oh yes, it’s very romantic you know. Vampires don’t usually bother about who gives them orgasms as long as they get lots of them, but very rarely a couple will decide…”
“Anya!” Spike growled louder to stop her babbling, “You understand that once bonded, a vampire will jealously guard his claimed Mate?”
“Yes Spike, of course I do!” Anya answered crossly, upset at having been interrupted.
His jaws were twitching from tension as he suggested, “Then perhaps you’d like to explain it to your young man before I lose control over my stupid soddin’ demon and end up doing something that we will all regret.” He took a deep breath and muttered, “Bloody woman, she’ll be the death of me yet.”
Anya gaped at Spike, noticing for the first time the new scar on his neck. “Mated? You and Buffy?” She clapped her hands and bobbed up and down in her seat excitedly, “Oh how wonderful, why didn’t you say? Oh congratulations!” She suddenly sat quite still and frowned, “But that’s not right, why would you do that to me? It’s my wedding next week, you’ve gone and jumped in before me. I’m supposed to be the centre of attention now, not Buffy…” She looked as if she was about to cry.
“Anyanka… please…!” Spike groaned, “I’m sorry, it wasn’t deliberate, but you need to get Harris away from Buffy now! I’ll have to try and explain it to her too, she obviously hasn’t realised what she’s doing.”
Giving a little discontented sniff Anya got up and walked onto the dance floor. Meanwhile Dawn was staring at Spike, her eyes wide as understanding dawned. “This claim thing, it’s a bit more important than you said before isn’t it? What’s going on? What’s a vampire mating claim?”
“It’s all a bit complicated Niblet. Something unexpected happened while we were in L.A. and we don’t really understand it ourselves yet.”
Anya returned a few moments later dragging a confused looking Xander by the hand. He was closely followed by a curious Tara and Willow, and a frowning Buffy. She sat down beside him, put her hand over his and asked, “What’s the matter Spike? What’s got you all spooked?”
“Can’t you guess? Isn’t it obvious?” Spike couldn’t believe she didn’t understand. He tore his hands away from the table, pulled her over onto his lap and buried his face in her neck nuzzling his mark, then glared across the table at the bewildered Xander. Having her so close allowed his demon to relax and he was able to resume his human face.
Following his gaze Buffy lifted an eyebrow, “You were jealous? But I was only dancing with Xander. You know I don’t feel that way about him!”
Spike shrugged, “That doesn’t seem to make any difference love.”
After a moment’s thought Buffy added, “Do you think that might be why I was feeling so uncomfortable?”
Spike looked at Anya, “Can you try to explain to Harris, Dawnie and the witches, Anya? I need to have Buffy to myself for a while.”
When she nodded Spike stood up and set Buffy back on her feet. He turned to Xander and asked, “See if you can get a big bottle of water or some juice laid on for us would you?” When she raised a questioning eyebrow he explained, “You’re gonna need to keep topping up Buffy, we’re gonna dance all night.” With this he unbuttoned his duster and shrugged it off. He tossed it over the back of the chair with her shawl and held his hand out for her to take. “Starting now.”
Speechlessly she put her hand in his and allowed him to lead her out onto the dance floor. He spun her into his arms, beginning with a slow swaying of their hips to the beat of the music with his right hand splayed in the small of her back to crush her against him and his left hand resting on the warm skin of her shoulder blade. Her arms automatically went up into position around his neck.
Spike sighed. “I’ve wanted to dance with you like this since that first night I saw you here mangling the French language then dancing with your friends. You were so fresh and full of life. I wanted nothing more than to dance the night away with you, take you somewhere comfy and shag your brains out for a few days, then drain you dry.”
“And what would Drusilla have said to that?” She asked, dryly.
He mumbled, “Well... it was only a fantasy… I didn’t have the time…” He reluctantly admitted, “Umm… I wouldn’t necessarily have told her about the shagging part…” He cocked his head and rolled his tongue behind his teeth, smirking, “But two out of three isn’t bad going is it? I think I’d pass on the ‘drain you dry’ part now. I think I’d rather keep you around…”
“Hmmm…” Buffy appeared to consider the question and then nodded, “Yes, I think I’d rather you kept me around too. Do you know what? I think I’d like to keep you around as well.”
“Well, that works out nicely then, doesn’t it?”
“Very nicely.” They continued swaying and shuffling to the music as a new song started. Then Buffy remembered what she was going to ask him. “What was all the growling and fanginess about then?”
“Had you forgotten you’re mine now Buffy?” He squeezed her tightly, “It seems as if my demon can’t stand you getting that close to anyone else. So… now you don’t dance with anyone but me… got it?”
“Got it.” She nodded, “It was your jealous demon I was feeling through the claim bond wasn’t it? Sorry, I didn’t realise. That’s going to take a bit of getting used to.”
“I know… for me too.” He had an idea. “Will you do something for me Buffy? I want to do a little experiment.”
“What?”
“Close your eyes a minute,” He checked that her eyes were closed. “Picture us in your mind, imagine us dancing, what everyone here is seeing when they look at us…” She nodded. “Now take you out of the picture and replace you with Anya.”
A few seconds passed as Buffy frowned in concentration. Then she tensed up in his arms and growled. A real growl. Not a girly ‘grrr’, a real honest to goodness ‘angry animal’ sound. Her eyes flew open in astonishment. “Oooh…! I wanted to strangle Anya! Scary! I just couldn’t help myself! Is that what happened to you?”
“You got it pet, I felt you getting all homicidal too, seems the link works both ways.” He had a nasty thought, “We’re going to have to be bloody careful until we figure this thing out. I’d get a nasty migraine if I tried to kill someone you were getting cosy with. You don’t have that sort of safety catch.”
“Oh dear, that can’t be good…” She looked up into his eyes anxiously, “You’re going to have to be really unflirty. I’ve seen you work your magic on the female population of this town often enough to realise you don’t know when you’re doing it half the time. All you have to do is flash those gorgeous baby blues and the cheekbones and you have women melting at your feet. If you can’t control it we’re going to leaving a trail of strangled women behind us… and hey… supposed to be saving lives here, not taking them. I think this is one of those things we’re going to have to report to Giles…”
Spike had become fixated on one little bit of her worried rant, “Gorgeous? You think my eyes are gorgeous?” He smiled shyly, “And you really like the cheekbones?”
Buffy chuckled and stroked his face, “Hey, just because we were mortal enemies it didn’t mean I couldn’t always appreciate the hot gorgeousness that is you. You have the most criminally soulful eyes... particularly considering you don’t have one in there with you… and I would kill for your eyelashes… and as for the cheekbones… well…” She shrugged, “they really should be illegal.”
Once again she’d managed to render him speechless. Finding himself without words he did the only thing he could think of. He kissed her. As always the kiss very quickly began to get just that little bit out of hand. They were concentrating so completely on each other they lost the sense of their position relative to their fellow dancers and were jostled quite roughly. Spike regained his awareness of where they were and looked around at the faces of the surrounding dancers, quite a few of which were turned in their direction appraisingly. “You want us to be noticed, right?” He whispered.
“Um… oh… yes…” Buffy seemed a bit dazed. “And your outfit should help with that!” She giggled weakly.
“What do you think?” He suddenly wondered if he had got it all wrong. “The Bit said it would go with your dress…”
“Oh yes, classic all black as usual, I like it.” Spike smiled down at her. “Although I didn’t know they made men’s trousers that tight,” she whispered hoarsely. “As for the shirt, love the lace-up front, but it’s done up way too tight. If we’re really gonna show off the goods we’ve got to undo those laces…” Taking her right hand from behind his head she pulled the end of a lace at the loose bow under his chin, then tugged the sides of the collarless fine cotton lawn shirt apart so that there was a deep V of pale muscular chest on display. “There… that’s better… are you wearing heels? You seem taller than usual…”
“New boots,” he admitted. “Cuban heels so I can measure up to you in your bloody great spikes.” She chuckled quietly then laid her head on his shoulder and slid her arm around his waist. They swayed together in silence until the end of the song.
The next song began with a much livelier beat, and suddenly Spike’s feet were moving as well as his hips. “Did you ever see that film with Patrick Swayze?”
“The one with the pottery?” She raised a teasing eyebrow at him.
“Not ‘Ghost’ you nitwit, ‘Dirty Dancing’!” He smirked at her, tongue peeking out cheekily. “You want to be noticed, that’s how we dance… okay?”
“You’re on!” She grinned mischievously back up at him.
With that they began dancing flamboyantly, strong muscles flexing as their bodies rubbed together insistently, her skirt and his full sleeves flying out as they spun and writhed to the music, legs intertwining and hands stroking and grasping possessively. As they danced they ignored everything around them, eyes locked together as they only avoided colliding with other dancers by using their enhanced senses.
As the last few notes of the song faded away they stopped and clung together, both slightly stunned at how easily they had got lost in the music and each other. Another slow song then began, and as they started dancing again Buffy frowned and looked around at the fellow dancers. After a few moments she turned in Spike’s arms and held his hands clasped over her belly, scanning the crowd anxiously.
“What’s up love?” He whispered into her ear.
“I can feel vampires, several of them. Can’t you?”
Spike sent out his vampire senses and felt the tell-tale tingles from two different directions. “I think there’s a couple up on the balcony, and three or four over by the bar. Is that about what you can feel?” One of those tingles briefly felt very familiar, but after a moment’s consideration he decided he must have been mistaken.
“That would be a yes. I don’t suppose you’ve got a stake hidden in those skin tight trousers? I haven’t got anywhere to keep one in this outfit…”
“We’ve got some in the patrolling bag; let’s edge back over to the table. Don’t forget we want word to get out about us, so we should just take out one group, and let the others take note of our new claim marks and watch us working together, and leave them to go and tell everyone… okay?”
“Right, let’s get the group by the bar; the pair on the balcony have a better view.” Buffy guided them back to their table where Spike rummaged in their patrolling bag while she fended off comments and questions from Dawn and the Scoobies with a terse “Back in a minute, Slayer duty calls.”
Spike tossed her a stake, grasped one himself and then she grabbed his hand, leading him towards the bar. They slipped easily through the crowd that seemed automatically to part before them and close up after them. Just because the Slayer worked incognito it didn’t mean that a lot of the residents of Sunnydale, California didn’t recognise that Buffy Summers was different. Many of them had seen enough weird things to know that if she was heading purposely towards something it was better to get out of her way and let her get on with whatever she was doing. What’s more, it would probably be safer to move in the opposite direction for a while.
As they approached the bar three men and a woman began edging away towards the exit. Exchanging a glance and a nod, vampire and Slayer split up. Buffy placed herself between their prey and the door, while Spike blocked the vampires from moving further into the crowded club. Finding themselves cornered the group vamped out and attacked.
It didn’t take long for Spike to notice that only the small female had come his way, the three huge males were all menacing his Slayer. It took a few more seconds for him to realise that the female wasn’t really attacking in an attempt to kill him. She was fighting defensively. She just seemed to want to block his way to where the others were fighting. So that was the way of it, he thought, the Slayer was the main target and he was being distracted.
Abruptly changing his style completely Spike stopped making the showy moves he so enjoyed and stepped neatly to one side as the female vampire flailed at him, and stuck out a foot to trip her up. As she fell he staked her in the back and turned towards his Slayer before the dust had settled.
The human patrons of the Bronze had all edged away from the bar when the fight had broken out. Their ingrained habit of denial regarding any of the frequent supernatural happenings on the Hellmouth replaced the sight of ‘vampires attacking’ in their minds with ‘a drunken brawl’ or possibly ‘a gang fight’. This gave Spike a convenient open space which he crossed at full vampire superspeed to grab the shoulder of the male closest to him and pull him around into his fist then his stake, which made the fight an even two against two.
Of course when one of the two on the ‘home team’ was the Slayer it wasn’t even remotely a fair fight, even when said Slayer was hampered by totally impractical four inch heels and a dress that revealed far more than she would have wished when she needed to high kick or roll under a boot aimed at her belly. She neatly dodged an enormous fist to stamp on an instep with her sharp heel which caused one vampire to howl and break off his attack hopping off balance as he bent forward to grab at his foot. She stood there, fists on hips, and told him sharply, “All I wanted was one night out with my boyfriend without having to worry about the undead... well… except for him of course… but no… you just had to go and spoil the mood didn’t you?”
As he stopped hopping and looked up at her in disbelief she expertly staked him. She looked around to find Spike having fun holding the third male vampire by the front of his jacket and repeatedly punching him on the nose, and she watched indulgently for a few moments. “You really shouldn’t…” {punch} “attack my girl…” {punch} “you know…” {punch} “it makes me…” {punch} “all cranky…” {punch} “and you…” {punch} “really don’t” {punch} “want to make…” {punch} “me cranky...” {punch}.
Suddenly the battered vampire tore out of his jacket, leaving it dangling from Spike’s hand, and tried to make a break for the exit. He didn’t get far as Spike and Buffy closed on him, and he disintegrated as two stakes entered his chest simultaneously, one from the front and one from the back.
“Hey! He was mine!” Buffy protested when she saw Spike’s raised stake through the cloud of falling dust.
“Don’t be daft, I got him first!”
“But you got the woman and the other big male, that’s not fair!”
Spike chuckled when he saw her sulky pout and a wave of nostalgia swept over him. “Oh pouty! Look at that lip... gonna get it... gonna get it.” He took one pace forward to close the gap between them and swept her up into his arms, kissing her passionately.
When after a few moments she had to tear her mouth from his to breathe, Buffy gasped into his ear, “Hey you, watch what you’re doing with that stake in public.” Spike realised that his left hand, which had slid up under her skirt to fondle the smooth warm bare flesh of a buttock, still held his stake and it was nudging between her legs.
“I’d rather watch what I’m gonna do with it in private.” He smirked back at her.
He got a thump in the ribs for his trouble. “You’re a very bad man,” she sniggered. “Come on, I need a drink to wash away all that vamp dust.” She disentangled herself from his arms and straightened her dress, then removed the comb and its slightly squished flowers from her loosened and lopsided topknot allowing her hair to fall loose, before slipping her arm around his waist and snuggling into his side as his arm was draped around her shoulder. Vampire and Slayer calmly walked back to their table as the crowd relaxed and the queue at the bar reformed as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
As Spike silently marvelled that he’d got away with calling her ‘his girl’, and that she had called him a man, he felt the tingles from the vampires on the balcony as they passed underneath. Once more he was puzzled for a second when one of them struck him as familiar. Unfortunately having the source of the powerful ‘Slayer’ vibe combined with the newly developed and excitingly intimate thrill that defined ‘Mate’ clamped to his side, the sense he received of any other vampires in the vicinity was reduced to a blurred impression at best. He made a mental note to keep his senses open in case he recognised it again when his Slayer wasn’t close enough to mask it from him.
When they reached the table Buffy retrieved her little bag from under a fold of her shawl and took out her comb. Passing it and the corsage to Spike she turned her back to him and asked, “Put me back together please, I’ll never be able to do it myself.”
Sighing and muttering sulkily Spike took the offered items. He gripped the end of the corsage comb in his teeth, combed all the vamp dust out of her hair and then with a couple of quick flips of the comb and a flick of his wrist the topknot was rebuilt. He carefully replaced the corsage comb to hold it all together. As he handed her comb back to her he nibbled at his mark on the back of her neck and whispered, “I expect to be suitably rewarded later for impersonating a poncey hairdresser in public.”
Turning to smile up at him she winked and whispered back, “You can count on it…” Then as he sat down and reached for his beer bottle she nudged his hand out of the way and instead of sitting on the free chair opposite him she settled down on his lap with a little wriggle that suddenly made his skin tight trousers not such a wise choice for wearing in public. His arm went around her waist as he adjusted her position so that he was more comfortable as she passed him his bottle then grabbed her own glass and sipped it.
As he drained his beer Spike realised that all the Scoobies were gaping at them wearing expressions ranging from excited and delighted, (Dawn) through intrigued, (Willow and Tara) and sulky, (Anya) to glowering, (Xander). “What?” he asked of the group in general.
“Umm… Anya’s explained what a Vampire Mating Claim is.” Willow ventured, “How come you two’ve suddenly gone from boinking buddies to making a lifetime commitment?”
The two vampires observing from above exchanged astonished glances and melted away into the shadows.
“Well… WeDidn’tReallyMeanToItJustSortOfHappened…” Buffy muttered sheepishly.
“All I started out doing was marking the Slayer to take over Angel’s claim.” Spike added defensively, pointing out Buffy’s scar. “But the Silly Old Poof never explained what we were supposed to do… or more to the point what we weren’t supposed to do. What with one thing and another the proceedings got just a little bit out of control... and before we knew where we were… there we were… mated!” He squeezed Buffy possessively and added quickly, “Not that I’m complainin’…”
“So how do we undo it?” Xander asked abruptly.
“I don’t think we can,” Buffy told him gently, “The word Angel used was ‘unbreakable’.” She looked down into Spike’s worried eyes, “And anyway... I’m not sure I’d want to undo it even if we could…” She caressed the back of his head, running her fingers through the soft hairs there that had escaped his ruthless application of gel. As he relaxed again she laid her arm around his shoulders and turned her gaze towards Anya, “Anya, can you give us any idea of what we can expect? Angel said he’d never heard of a mating claim involving a human before, let alone a Slayer, so we’re working blind here. All we’ve got so far is that both of us get violently jealous if someone tries to come between us, and we can each feel the other’s jealousy through some sort of emotional link.” She concentrated for a moment then caught Spike’s eye again and nodded upwards, and lifted a questioning eyebrow. Spike nodded in confirmation and tilted his head towards the exit.
“What was that? Some sort of telepathic communication?” Dawn squeaked excitedly, “’Cos that would be so cool…”
“Huh? Oh no, we were just discussing the fact that the vampires who have been spying on us from the balcony have now gone,” Buffy explained. “We want them to spread the word of our new Mating Claim and the fact that we’re going to be fighting together on a permanent basis, so we left them to watch when we took out the other four just now.”
“Four? Wow! That was quick work…!” Dawn exclaimed. “And you got all that into a couple of nods and an eyebrow? How?”
“Oh, they’ve always done that... haven’t you noticed?” Anya put in, “It’s a predator teamwork thing. Of course now the mating bond will make it even easier, and they’ll be able to feel all each other’s strong emotions. The last time I came across a vampire mated to a human the vampire shared some of her supernatural abilities with her man too, although of course she got a bit weaker in exchange. He developed extra strength and faster healing and his lifespan increased. When I met them he was about a hundred years old although he only looked about fifty. His sense of smell, his hearing and his vision improved too.”
She turned to Buffy and Spike. “As you’re the Slayer Buffy I expect you’ll both share each other’s supernatural abilities, so you should get improved hearing and sight, a more sensitive sense of smell and a longer life. Spike you should get some of Buffy’s Slayer strength and reflexes in exchange for some of your vampire abilities, so when you add it all up you should both be better off… oh and the sex will be amazing!” Spike and Buffy exchanged amused glances, which Anya picked up on. “Well it will!” she insisted. “A vampire’s the perfect mate for the Slayer. You have super stamina Buffy and can keep going for hours… and vampires are notorious for being insatiable… and now you’ll be able to sense each other’s pleasure you’ll be setting world records for orgasms…”
“Ahn!” Xander protested desperately, “We don’t talk about people’s orgasms in public... I’ve told you that!” He shuddered, “Particularly not when it’s Spike you’re talking about… it’s just too disturbing…”
Unaware of all the smiles around the table Anya grumped, “Well Buffy asked me what they should expect… I was only telling them that their sex life is going to get even better!” She turned to Xander, on the brink of tears. “But Buffy’s not only gone and snuck her Mating in when everyone is supposed to be concentrating on my wedding, she’s going to be getting lots more orgasms than me... it’s just not fair!”
“What does it feel like?” Willow asked, wearing her ‘scientific research’ expression. When everyone turned to look at her in astonishment she realised what they thought she meant, and back-pedalled hastily. “Oh… not the orgasms... not asking about the orgasms... really not interested in the orgasms you have… have I made it really clear that I wasn’t asking about the orgasms? I meant the Vampire Mating Bond… really I did. I wondered what the Bond felt like. Oh dear… shutting up now…” She shrunk down into her seat and buried her face in her glass, blushing furiously as everyone giggled.
Dawn came to her rescue. “What does the Bond feel like Buffy?”
Buffy turned to her sister, “It’s really hard to describe…” She closed her eyes and concentrated for a few moments. “It feels as if a big gaping hole inside me that I never even knew was there has been filled. The last piece of the jigsaw puzzle that is Buffy Summers has been fitted into place, and at last I’m complete. It makes me feel as if I’ve come home, I’m safe, I finally know where I belong… and that’s right here.” She smiled shyly down into Spike’s adoring eyes.
He gazed up at her, “That’s it exactly, there’s a feeling that everything has fallen into place, it’s at last exactly the way it was meant to have been all along. I know exactly who I am and at last I belong somewhere... and it’s with you.”
A respectful silence fell around the table as Slayer and Vampire gazed into each others eyes, apparently totally oblivious of their surroundings. Tara sighed wistfully, “Oh that’s just beautiful… so romantic …”
Xander protested angrily, “Beautiful? Romantic? We’re talking about Spike here people, the evil soulless vampire who came to Sunnydale to kill Buffy… remember him? A fully paid up member of The Scourge of Europe! The slayer of Slayers who has never once shown any regret for all the killing he’s done!”
Anya looked at her fiancé thoughtfully for a moment and then turned to Spike. “Spike, you’ve been a vampire for about a hundred and twenty years haven’t you? How many people do you think you’ve killed in that time… about one a day on average?”
Spike tore his eyes from Buffy’s and frowned at her, “Sounds about right Anya, but I don’t really like to…”
“I just need to make a point here Spike. So you’ve killed about forty five thousand people… most of them for food.” The people around the table displayed a variety of shocked and dismayed expressions. “Well I was a vengeance demon for eleven hundred years, killing and maiming and doing extremely unpleasant things to a lot of men. It was my job. Among other things I helped to start a couple of major wars, including the Russian Revolution in which at least ten million people died.” She turned back to Xander. “If we compare how many people we’ve killed Xander, I think I can beat Spike easily. Why do you keep bringing up Spike’s past, and never mine?”
“But you’re not a demon any more Ahn, You’re human now! you have a human soul!” Xander explained desperately.
“Have I really?” Anya asked seriously, “How can you be sure? Perhaps I still only have my demon soul.” She took his hand and spoke very gently. “Do you remember why I came to Sunnydale Xander?”
“I expect you came to do vengeance didn’t you?”
“Yes, I came to give Cordelia a wish after you cheated on her. I came to do vengeance on you. Cordelia’s wish changed the world. The Master had risen and you and Willow had both become vampires. After I lost my powers and the spell was reversed I tricked Willow into doing a spell with me to try to get my powers back. All it did was bring Vampire Willow from that other reality. Do you remember that?” Xander nodded. “Have I ever said I felt bad about all the things I did, the people I killed?”
“Well… no. But Ahn…”
“Do you know why I tried to change and started fighting evil with you? It wasn’t because I felt it was the right thing to do, it was because that is what you did and I wanted to be with you.” She took a deep breath, “So Xander, how am I any different from Spike? You say Buffy shouldn’t be with Spike who loves her and has tried to change for her, because of his past, even though she is clearly happier with him than she ever was with Riley. If that’s so, how can you justify being with me?”
Xander just sat staring at her open-mouthed in shock. With great dignity Anya gathered up her things and very quietly walked out of the club, leaving everyone staring thoughtfully after her.