Mastery
by ComedyofErrors
Chapter 15
Joyce looked around the mall. The last time she could remember being here had been with Buffy. They'd been shopping and Buffy was supposed to pick up a dress for Joyce before the shop closed. She hadn't done it. Joyce recalled being furious at the time. She'd mentioned the incident to Rupert on the drive here. He said that Buffy'd been fighting a vampire in the mall parking garage instead of running the errand. Irony seemed to haunt them these days; now, they were going to the mall to meet her daughter the vampire.
Joyce had been pouring herself a cup of tea when she heard Rupert's glass shatter in the living room. She rushed in from the kitchen to see the watcher looking pale and clutching the arm of the sofa beside him for support. He'd stared at her with steely eyes, then murmured an agreement into the phone. Joyce couldn't hear the other end of the conversation, but she felt her heart skip a beat when Rupert asked the person on the end of the line, "Would you like your mother to come with me?"
It was Buffy. Her Buffy had finally contacted them. She was alive...no, not alive. As alive as a vampire can be. But that had to mean something. Did Buffy need them to come rescue her? No. Was she coming to them? No. She wanted them to meet her on neutral ground to discuss fighting Angelus. Rupert had hung up the phone shortly afterwards. Buffy hadn't asked to speak with her mother.
After nearly two weeks without a sight of her little girl, Joyce found herself at a loss. She had no idea what she could possibly say to Buffy. Her daughter had been tortured for days by what was arguably the most evil demon ever to exist alongside humans. Then she'd escaped with William the Bloody, the grandchilde of Angelus. She'd been hiding with him for a week, heaven only knew where and why.
Dr. Spock had never envisioned this scenario when writing instructional material for parents.
Had Buffy been kidnapped from her kidnapper? If she was a prisoner, was this some horrible trap? If so, why meet at the mall, where hundreds of people were present to witness this reunion, and armed security personnel prevented anyone from entering with visible weapons? Hundreds of questions whirled around inside Joyce. She desperately needed answers and at the same time all she wanted was one more chance to hold her baby. To say 'I love you.'
Was Buffy still her daughter? Or was it like the Watchers' Diaries said? A demon was wearing Buffy's face, soul or no.
Joyce and Rupert were walking toward the food court. That was where they had been told to wait. They reached the sea of little white tables and chairs. Rupert pulled a chair out for her automatically and she sat down. She glanced at Buffy's Watcher. He remained stiff and alert, even when he sat down beside her. Joyce could tell that Rupert did not believe for a moment that this was an above board meeting. He believed that Buffy had been tainted in her turning, even though she had a soul. It was his only explanation for that video Angelus had sent them.
It had been addressed to Joyce Summers. Giles brought it in while the children were at the hospital visiting Xander. After pulling the tape from the package she put it immediately into the VCR. She'd shrieked when Buffy appeared on screen. Buffy in torn clothing and covered in blood. She could hear Angelus in the background for a fraction of a second. Then Buffy shifted. She was holding a small boy. As Joyce watched, Buffy put a hand on either side of his head and twisted it sharply.
They hadn't told the children. They were still assuming they'd never see Buffy again; Xander, Willow, Oz, and Cordelia didn't need to remember Buffy like that. Joyce wished she could have been spared the sight too. But she didn't need an explanation to that. It was too surreal to really touch her. Just one of the many things that had happened because of Angelus. Whatever had happened, it wasn't her daughter's fault.
Joyce tapped her fingers nervously on the table. The children were at home waiting as patiently as possible. If this was indeed a trap, Joyce and Rupert didn't want them involved. Mother and Watcher had come alone, armed with a few stakes and their fears. Suddenly she saw Rupert stiffen out of the corner of her eye. She slowly turned to look in the direction he faced.
She was thinner than Joyce remembered. A little paler. A little aged around the eyes. She was clean and well-dressed; there was no reminder of the girl in that video. Beside her walked Spike. If Buffy was thin, he was gaunt. But he still exuded that confidence Joyce remembered from the Parent/Teacher Night. The two vampires were holding hands, Joyce noticed. Or, really, Buffy was clutching his hand so tightly that what blood there was in it normally had been forced out, leaving it even paler than the rest of his skin.
They had stopped walking. Spike and Buffy were standing about five feet away. Five feet. That's all the space that separated Joyce from her daughter. She couldn't tear her eyes away from Buffy's face. She felt a few tears slide out of her eyes; Buffy's green eyes were also moist. She heard Buffy mumble a quiet word. "Mommy?"
Joyce smiled as more tears escaped. "Yes sweety." In an instant her arms were filled with her baby. Joyce was almost knocked over by the force with which Buffy leaped into her embrace. The two women cried without concern for anything else. Joyce murmured comforting words into Buffy's ears. "It's okay baby. Mommy's got you. Oh, I missed you so much sweetheart..."
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Spike had been nervous about meeting them in the mall. He felt exposed here, but it was the best option he could think of for the conference. They could run if there was trouble and the minions were stationed clandestinely around the food court, but that didn't lessen his trepidation. Part of the worry was over Buffy's first exposure to so many hearts all beating in the same place. She was still a fledgling vampire, souled or not, and the call of that much blood was powerful. They'd walked around together for the last hour so that she could get used to the overwhelming sensations of sight and sound that a mall affords a vampire.
The Watcher was his biggest worry. He had been willing to kill Buffy before rather than let her live a prisoner; would he still consider her a prisoner? Did it matter? Weren't all vampires equally worthy of death?
He could sense Buffy's growing nervousness as the time for the meeting drew near. She was petrified by the idea that they would reject her. Or that even if they still loved her, they would try to take her away from her Sire. Her boyfriend, as she so innocently put it. Spike hadn't addressed her fears directly. He couldn't pretend they weren't real possibilities. All he could do was stand beside her. Nothing would keep him from doing that.
He'd led her to the food court in silence when the time came. He'd seen the Watcher and Buffy's mum from a distance. Mrs. Summers seemed lost in her own thoughts while the Watcher searched for danger. Spike looked for Alexa, who had positioned herself by the Chinese restaurant. She gave him a thumbs-up; good, the humans were alone. They approached slowly, giving the Watcher plenty of time to spot them. Spike saw the calculating cool in his face. He was suspicious.
Spike had warned Buffy to stay nearby, in case of trouble. She'd looked at him quizzically, but nodded. She trusted her Sire. But then she'd seen her mum and Spike felt her control slide. She was still so much a little girl that needed her mother. Buffy darted forward with the full use of her vampiric speed, nearly tackling the poor woman. They both began to sob and clutch at each other.
When Buffy leapt for her mum, Spike saw the Watcher flinch as his hand reached inside his coat. Spike tensed, prepared to kill the man if he pulled the stake Spike suspected was hidden beneath the tweed. The Watcher seemed to realize that Buffy wasn't hurting her mum and let his hand reemerge empty from his inside pocket. As if he sensed Spike's scrutiny, the man turned his head to face the vampire. His eyes were cold and intense. Spike returned his stare with all the predatory force he could put into a gaze. The Watcher looked away, but Spike was fairly certain he'd gotten the message. Buffy was not to be harmed.
Buffy and Joyce remained oblivious to the silent communication between Giles and Spike. After a little while Buffy raised her head to look at her mother. She sniffled, "I'm sorry Mommy."
"For what baby? You haven't done anything wrong." Joyce cupped the side of Buffy's face, then stroked her hair as she had when Buffy was little.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was the Slayer. I'm sorry I didn't come home-" Fresh tears burst out.
"Shh, baby, it's okay. It's not like you never tried. I'm sorry I made things so hard for you..."
Spike listened as his childe resolved things with her mother. He was glad Mrs. Summers was so understanding. She was a strong woman though and fiercely protective of her daughter. She reminded him a little of his own mum. She could help them win over the Watcher if she believed them. Lost in his thoughts, Spike was startled to hear Buffy call his name. He turned to see her standing beside her mother, both of them looking his direction. Buffy looked to her mother and said, "Mom this is Spike. He's my Sire."
Spike stood up a little straighter and extended his hand warily. "Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Summers."
Joyce stared at the vampire, puzzled. He seemed nice enough, in spite of the bad boy image. Not exactly the kind of man, er, vampire that a mother wanted her daughter to bring home, but she knew instinctively that he wasn't going to harm Buffy. Something about the way he always kept one eye trained on her. He was almost as protective of Buffy as Joyce was. She took his hand and they shared a firm handshake.
"Nice to see you again Spike. Of course, I didn't get a very good look at you when I hit you with that axe." He grinned sheepishly and looked at the ground. A bashful vampire. How odd. "And Spike?" He raised his head to meet her eyes. "I still have an axe." His smile faded slightly to a bemused grin. He gave a nod of understanding.
"How is it that you are Buffy's Sire?" Giles spoke for the first time. "I was certain that Angelus turned her."
Joyce saw Buffy frown. Her daughter hesitantly moved away from her to stand closer to Spike. Spike was considerably shorter than Rupert, but he showed no signs of being intimidated by either the Watcher's height or manner. He spoke calmly. "He did turn her. But he then rescinded his claim as her sire. I adopted the position."
"I've not heard of that particular aspect of the Sire/Childe relationship before. Is it common for a sire to..."
"Orphan a childe? No. It's sadistic. A childe needs its sire. It has few instincts or survival skills as a fledgling. Combine that with the inherent need for the sire's approval and the child is completely dependent on its sire. Abandoned childer usually dust themselves rather than go on without a sire."
"Ah, so you saved Buffy from this terrible fate out of the evilness of your heart?"
Spike sighed. "She's been through enough. I've got too much respect for her to let my best enemy go out like that. Nobody deserves to be cast out by that bastard."
Giles snorted. "Forgive me, but I find it difficult to place William the Bloody's motives along such altruistic lines. Surely you considered the benefits of having a former slayer as your childe. She's a powerful weapon to use against your enemies. And then she's not bad looking, either, now that Drusilla's dust."
Buffy saw Spike's jaw tick during Giles's speech despite his apparent calm. She could sense his anger at Angelus for abandoning her and his rage at Giles for questioning Spike's motives. She wasn't exactly happy herself. She placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him. It was too early to get this angry. They still hadn't talked about teaming up against Angelus. He turned to stare at her, his blue eyes stormy and threatening to turn gold. She kept her hand there until she felt his demon face ease back farther below the surface. She walked slowly toward Giles, then waited for him to look at her. His cold eyes stared into hers.
Then she slapped him.
Not as hard as she could have. Not hard enough to break bones. But more than hard enough to get his attention. His glasses were knocked loose, falling to the floor. He stared back at her in shock. Buffy put her resolve face firmly forward. "Hello Giles. You're my Watcher and I love you. But you have no right to speak to me or my sire like that." She faltered. "I...I'm sorry I hit you." Buffy backed away from the stunned Watcher, coming to rest beside her shocked sire.
Joyce watched the exchange angrily. She had never seen Rupert so blatantly judgmental. But then she did sometimes forget that he was a watcher. His views on vampires were taught in an academy. She was stumbling through based on a few books and personal experience. Rupert automatically assumed deception on the part of a vampire because he couldn't allow himself to believe the subtle signs that continually passed between Spike and Buffy.
What he said about the rights of a sire over his childe was true in reference to sex. God, how she wanted to avoid thinking about her daughter in that way. But what Spike and Buffy had didn't seem to a novice like her to be strictly a Sire/Childe relationship. Spike seemed to be almost in awe of Buffy for the way she had just stood up for them. And Buffy was being very possessive of Spike. It had all the earmarks of a genuine romance. Joyce's romantic sensibility warred with her fears. Buffy was well on her way to being an adult and her mother felt a few more tears threaten to escape at that thought.
"Maybe we should sit down and talk quietly for a while. Give all our tempers time to cool." Joyce kept her voice kind and conciliatory, but firm. "Rupert, come sit by me. Buffy, Spike, please sit down." She gestured to the two chairs on the other side of the spindly table.
"Thanks Mrs. Summers." Spike went to the opposite side of the table and pulled Buffy's chair out for her. She smiled at him nervously and sat down. Spike quickly took the seat beside her. They watched Giles bend down and pick up his glasses before sitting. He removed a cloth from his pocket and began to polish them.
She smiled at the vampire. "You can call me Joyce, Spike. Now. Why did the two of you invite us here?"
Spike waited a few moments to see if Buffy wanted to answer, but she remained silent. She still seemed a little shocked by the fact that she had slapped her Watcher. Not that the git didn't deserve it. "We want to talk to you about pooling forces against Angelus. On our own we don't have a chance of defeating him, but together we can work out something."
"Isn't that diplomatic of you?" Giles snarked.
Spike's eyes narrowed. "I've had about enough out of you Watcher. We haven't done anything to you."
"You've tried to kill us." Ripper replied, anger coloring his voice again.
Spike nodded, but continued to scowl at the man across from him. "In the past. Listen, I don't care if you like me or believe me. But bloody hell, if you don't trust me you ought to at least trust your slayer."
"How can I after her behavior today and seeing that video..." He trailed off.
Buffy shivered. "What video?" She asked timidly. And then he told her. She listened as her watcher detailed the finding and watching of Angelus's little present. Buffy watched her mother and her Watcher during the retelling. She was glad her friends didn't know about it; they would have enough trouble looking at her as it was. Her mom was sad but seemed sympathetic. Giles was worse. Much, much, worse. She could feel his disappointment. She could feel his contempt. She could feel his distaste. And it made her angry.
Spike held onto the edge of the table in front of him. He concentrated on keeping it in front of him. Not throwing it out of the way to get to that snide, superior bastard sitting in front of him. Not leaping up to go hunt down Angelus. He focused on his childe. She was deceptively quiet. He could smell her fury at the way the man spoke to her. If either of them was going to burst, it was going to be her. Her voice did not shake as she spoke. "So, Giles, do you want to hear my side of that story?"
"Oh I can guess. Angelus was going to kill the boy anyway, so it didn't really matter. It probably saved the both of you some pain." Giles leaned across the table and spoke sincerely, trying to remember that she'd been through so much conflict in the past weeks. "But that doesn't mean it was the responsible and correct thing to do, Buffy. You didn't have to give in like that. It may have seemed like it at the time, but an objective judge-"
Buffy rocketed to her feet and planned her hands on the table in front of her. "Objective judge? Is that you Giles? You don't have any idea what you're talking about. You weren't there. You didn't get chained to a wall for a day in ripped clothing so that minions could leer and spit at you. You weren't there when my first sire offered to forgive me for being rebellious if I would kill for him. You didn't watch him rape and torture the people that came before that little boy.
"Do you want to know what happen to the kid that died before him? He was about seven. After he molested him until he bled, Angelus stripped off all his clothes. Then he ripped off the kid's toes, one at a time. Then his fingers. Then his feet at the ankles, then his hands at the wrist. And on and on until finally he dug his fingers in around that seven-year-old kid's spine and ripped it in half.
"Responsible. You're right, I didn't want to be responsible. Not for seeing the same thing happen to the rest of those children. I'm glad I did something that you find so irresponsible and wrong. I killed him and I'd do it again. Who are you to judge Giles? You helped kill one of your best friends when you were a kid so that you could get off magic! You have no right to speak to me like that."
Buffy jumped when she felt Spike's hand on her shoulder. He was standing beside her and pulled her into a loose hug. She accepted it but didn't reciprocate, too worked up to be tender. But she was grateful. After a few moments she slid back down into her seat.
Spike looked at the stunned Watcher. Buffy had certainly give him something to chew on. Spike didn't envy him the tongue lashing he was going to get from Joyce on the ride home. His childe's mum looked ready to explode at the man for his audacity. Hell, if Angelus were here he was pretty sure she'd do the dismemberment trick on him barehanded. "Maybe we should call it an evening. Let things settle a bit." He looked to Joyce for confirmation.
Joyce shook her head. "We need to talk about Angelus. We've been a bit too distracted." She shot a dark look at Giles. "But maybe you're right Spike: we do need a break. And I think all of us should be involved in this discussion. Why don't you two come to the house tonight, around nine, and we'll talk. It'll give me time to get everyone ready."
Spike looked at Buffy for confirmation. She nodded. "We'll see you then. Thank you Joyce."
Joyce walked around the table to share a last kiss and hug with Buffy. She then turned to the Watcher across the table. "Rupert. Let's go."
Giles stood and followed Mrs. Summers after one last glance at the blonde couple by the table. He didn't notice the young woman with brown hair walking toward him until she collided with him. He was thrown off balance and ran into a kiosk of cell phones. She looked at him unapologetically and said with a cheeky voice, "I'm sorry." She then walked toward the food court behind him. Giles straightened his jacket and continued walking.
Spike snickered as Alexa approached. She'd almost knocked the old man to the floor. He saw the other minions closing in as well. "I take it you heard the conversation."
"The entire food court heard the conversation, Master. Several people at tables near you left in fright after it started." A seething Alexa came to stand beside their table. Jacob, Chris, and Ryan nodded in agreement with her statement.
Spike sat down again and turned his chair to face Buffy. She was trembling as her adrenaline waned. He clasped her hands in his own and massaged the backs of them with his thumbs. He could hear the repressed tears in her voice when she spoke. "He hates me. Mom still loves me but Giles can't stand to look at me."
Spike sighed and shook his head. "He doesn't hate you pet. He's just confused. He still loves you. He wouldn't have been so mad about what Angelus made you do if he didn't."
She sniffed. "You really think so?"
"Yes." Spike looked at his poor, drained girl. She seemed to have wilted in the last few minutes. This day had been hard for her, but he couldn't have been more proud of her strength. He told her as much. She smiled. Then he pulled her up and put an arm around her to lead her to the exit. He hoped she could get a little sleep before tonight's meeting.
*****
Hello again. Thank you for all the kind reviews of last chapter, and thank you for continuing to read. Just a few more chapters left to go. Thanks Linda.
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