I Will Follow
by kari mouke

 


This story is for Starshine. It's a light and fun adventure, free from angst. I hope the move goes beyond well, and that you find the happiness you deserve in your new life. NC17. Spuffy. An AU story of the summer of season three. Inspired by The Wish - no Evil Willow visit in this universe.
















Thank you Tam for not only prettying this up but for spicing up a sentence or two as well!





Chapter 1



Buffy was fighting for her life. Angel had left her. Xander and Willow were doing some kind of summer road trip thing. Giles was suffering from a mid-life crisis that seemed to involve a great deal of alcohol. It was just her. Like it was supposed to be. Stupid ‘One’ in Chosen One.



She gave the demon in front of her a vicious kick to the knee. He buckled, going down, but it didn’t matter. Nothing she did would. There were simply too many of them, as the sudden blow to her back attested. The funny thing was that she wasn’t even fighting to save the life of a human. Nope. She’d come upon a dozen demons standing around, playing some ancient form of soccer with a round, fuzzy little demon.



There was no way she could put into words why she’d rushed in. It was like when the Queen of Hearts uses those poor hedgehogs. It was just wrong. So, in she went.



The worst part was that not only was she going to die, but so was the little demon she’d been so intent on saving. She fell to her knees as a meaty fist hit the side of her head, looking into the eyes of the little guy as she went down. He would be gone before she was. He was fading fast.



A heel came crashing down on her back, pinning her to the ground. There was raucous laughter sounding out all around her. The bleeding, crushed little demon reached out one hand to her, brushing its own blood across her lips. He gave her a shy smile as he breathed his last.



A rope suddenly dangled in front of Buffy’s eyes, followed by more laughter. Fuck. They were going to tie her into a ball, and use her as a substitute for the now dead demon. She tensed up and closed her eyes, waiting for them to roll her up. After a few moments, when nothing happened, she opened her eyes. They were gone. So was the cemetery. She was lying on cement. She pushed herself to her feet, feeling slightly unsteady from the beating she’d taken.



‘Uh-oh,’ she thought as she looked around. ‘I am so not in Sunnydale.’



“You there!” a voice sounded to her left.



She turned her head. Police officers. Strange uniforms. They were wearing black leather with little caps. It was only the badges on their chest that let her know their profession.



“Yes, officers?” she asked hesitantly. When they came toward her she could tell instantly that they were vampires. ‘What the hell?’ She readied herself for a fight. Nothing obvious. Nothing that these dolts could tell meant combat.



“We need to see your paperwork, miss,” the taller of the two said.



“My paper work? You mean like my license, ‘cause I so don’t have one of those,” Buffy said. ‘Are these guys for real? Since when do vamps play dress up?’



“You’ll have to come with us for identification,” the second vampire said.



“What do you mean identification?” Buffy asked. She wasn’t going to go anywhere with these jerks.



A bar across the street from where she was standing suddenly opened its doors. Vampires poured out. They were coming one after the other out of the bar doors.



“It’s nearly sunrise, miss. We all need to get inside. Please don’t force us to stake you,” Tall Guy said.



“Stake me?” Buffy asked curiously. Couldn’t these guys tell she had a heart beat? Hell, even fledges usually figured that one out their first night free from the grave. That’s when she noticed it herself. The stillness inside. She put a hand up to her chest, trying to make it look like she was just scratching at her neck. Her knees nearly buckled. No heartbeat. ‘Oh, no. It can’t be!’



“We don’t want to do that, miss. Especially without identifying you first,” Shorty informed her. If they staked someone from an aristocratic bloodline their asses would be blowing in the wind, but then again if they let someone run around undocumented and they proved to be a rogue they were also destined for a second death. A kind of damned if you do, damned if you don’t scenario.



“Can you explain this whole identifying thing to me?” Buffy asked, trying to stall for time.



Tall Guy eyed her shrewdly. “You aren’t from around here are you?”



“No. I think I’m lost,” Buffy confessed. Boy, was that an understatement.



The short one smiled. She must be a loony. They got those sometimes. “Listen, miss. We’ll help you find your way home. Just come down to the station with us. We can identify your bloodline there with a simple test. Find you on the registry. Get you some papers and you’ll be on your way.”



“Okay,” Buffy acquiesced. What choice did she have?



Both men smiled at her as they hooked an arm in hers and started to lead her down the street. They walked past another building; a club that was emptying itself of its occupants. Everyone careful to get home before they were caught by the sun. Clubs charged exorbitant amounts for day-stayers.



Buffy noticed that everyone who walked by her was a vampire. This whole town seemed to be made of vampires. Including her. She caught sight of a splash of bleached blonde hair and black leather out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head, following the man. “Spike!” she yelled. Funny, how relieved she was to see a familiar face. Even if it was her mortal enemy.



Spike had just left one of his least favorite clubs. Of course he didn’t have any favorite ones. He hated it here. He hated it everywhere. He didn’t know why he just didn’t wait outside for the sun. Unlife sucked and it was all his great-great-grand-arse’s fault. Stupid blood machine. Let’s just drain all of the humans! Now there was nothing but livestock to eat. That or you could go rogue. Start attacking your fellow vamps. ‘Course that only lasted a kill or two before the damned police caught up with you and dusted your ass. A sudden shout of his name caused him to whip his head around.



“Spike!” Buffy yelled again, pulling against the arms of the men who held her. “Let me go! He knows me!” she cried.



Both men gave her a sly smile. William the Bloody knew lots of women. He was famous for it. Of course if he could supply her with an identification confirmation, even if just verbal, they’d let her go. This guy was descended from The Master himself. He had status. All his line did.



“Ah, Mr. William, could you ID this woman for us?” tall guy asked.



Spike gave the girl a smile. Right pretty bint. He had no idea who she was though. He may get around a lot these days, but his mind was keen and he never forgot a face. Just like he remembered every git that Dru had laid over the last two decades. The deceitful bitch. “I’ll try, gentleman, but you know how it is,” he snarked, putting his tongue against his teeth.



Buffy huffed. “Come off it, Spike. Now tell them who I am!” She thought about what she’d said. “Wait. Never mind. Don’t tell.” He’d holler out that she was the Slayer just out of spite.



Spike laughed at the girl. She was a little nutty. Nothing like Dru, though. He liked that. “Might need to take a sample just to refresh my memory,” he told his cop buddies.



Shorty and Tall Guy laughed as they roughly shoved Buffy into Spike’s arms.



Spike caught the tiny thing in a crushing embrace and bent her head sideways, exposing her neck in one smooth move. Didn’t matter that he hadn’t fed from the source for a while. Some things you just don’t forget. Before Buffy could even guess his intent he had his fangs buried inside of her.



Buffy’s entire body tightened up. A liquid hot pounding started at her core. She pressed herself against his hard body, trying to get… to get to him.



Spike felt her rich blood hit his tongue. He’d never had her, but he sure as hell recognized who had. Angelus. His grand-sire. The one who had walked out of their lives never to be seen again. He had dusted about thirty-five years ago. Spike and Dru had both felt it. That’s when she’d started fooling around. It was as if she’d been keeping herself chaste – excluding him as the approved chaperone – just for her sire, and now that he was gone, she was ready for some fun. Bitch.



The other thing Spike could tell from her blood -- she was a Slayer. A turned Slayer. It must have been Angelus, but he couldn’t taste any family connection in her blood. In fact he couldn’t taste any vampire family that he’d ever come in contact with. Which was beyond strange. He could also tell how aroused she was from his bite. Which was good. He was hard as a rock and had no intentions of letting her go. He retracted his fangs.



“Yeah, boys. I know her. She’s one of Angelus’. Gonna take her home. Set her to rights. Sorry if she’s been any trouble,” Spike said, holding the odd vampire to him.



Buffy wasn’t about to argue with Spike. He was the only sane thing in this insane world.



“Okay, have a nice night, Mr. Bloody,” the tall one said.



“Or what’s left of it,” the short one laughed.



Spike joined in on the laugh as he led Buffy away. He made swift work of getting her to his apartment. He shut the apartment door and turned the security system on. Being the childer of The Master afforded him certain privileges. Like this fancy apartment. Actual privacy. And loads of bagged blood. Fucking bagged blood.



“Make yourself at home, luv. I’m gonna get us something to eat,” Spike told her.



“No! I don’t want to eat anyone,” Buffy cried. Then she thought about what she’d said. It was more of a gut reaction than anything. She really didn’t mind the thought of eating a human. Still, best stick with her usual mode of doing things. “Yeah, I don’t want to eat anyone.”



Spike laughed. “You sound a bit unsure there, pet? Care to elaborate? Not that there is anyone to eat,” he grumbled as he pulled two bags of pig out of the fridge, popping them into the microwave and hitting the ‘blood’ button.



“You bag it? William the Bloody bags it? That’s just…. That’s just weird,” she concluded.



“That it is.” Spike pulled two mugs out of the cupboard. When the microwave dinged he pulled the bags out and poured them into the mugs. He came over to the couch where the girl was now sitting, staring at him as if he had suddenly sprouted slime covered antlers. He handed her a mug and sat down beside her, propping his feet up on the coffee table.



“Now, give me the story,” he ordered as he sipped his dinner.



Buffy sniffed the glass then took a tentative sip. “Blech!” She shuddered in disgust. “This is so not good.”



“No, shit. Drink up. It’s all there is. Well, got some cow, but it’s worse. Now, tell me who you are. Where you came from. Who your sire is. And why the hell you haven’t ever had bagged blood,” Spike said, restating his earlier request.



Buffy took a few long pulls of the blood. It was disgusting but it really did seem to do the trick. “Well. I’m a Vampire Slayer. I come from Sunnydale, California, which despite being on the Hellmouth has a hell of a lot less vamps than this place. I don’t have a sire. I was human. Doing my job. About to get killed. When suddenly instead of being used for some demon footie, I wind up here on the sidewalk, with dumb and dumber pestering me for papers! As for the bagged blood – where I come from vamps eat humans. Only Angel bags it, but that’s because he has a soul.”



Spike listened to her with interest. “You’re a traveler. Haven’t had one of those in ages,” he said.



“A traveler? You mind explaining, Spikey?” Buffy asked as she finished up her pig.



Spike sat his empty glass down. “A traveler is a dimension hopper. Usually they know what’s going on, however. You must have fallen into an open portal,” he guessed.



“Huh,” Buffy said. She really should be more worried. Than again when she thought about the high level of suck her life had been this summer. Just a whole lot of Angel missage. This wasn’t so bad. She’d been in worse places. Like hell.



“So, how do you know me? I have an alternate personality in your world or did my reputation proceed me?” Spike asked with a slight purr to his voice.



Buffy felt that purr in places she really shouldn’t. She crossed her legs. “You’re the one that got away,” she explained.



Spike smiled and leaned towards her. “Lost lover?”



Buffy meant to scoot back, but somehow she went in the wrong direction. “No, lost kill. I never could get the upper hand on you. The only demon I couldn’t beat. Unless you count the time The Master killed me. Or that last time when all those demons tried to turn me into a soccer ball. But I came back to life on that first one and I dimension hopped on the second – so go me!”



Spike closed the distance and placed a soft kiss on her lips. “You’re cute. I think I’m going to like having you around,” he whispered as he pulled away.



Buffy gave a sigh. “I think I might just like being around.”







Chapter 2



Spike grabbed the glasses off the table and took them into the kitchen to rinse them out; keenly aware of the way the girl’s eyes followed him. Girl. He couldn’t keep calling her ‘pet’ and ‘luv’ like he did everyone else. “Got a name?” he called out.



“Uh-huh. No poking fun of it though, William,” Buffy warned.



Spike laughed. This girl knew him. Which was weird. “Alright. No poking.”



“Well I didn’t say that!” she quipped, slapping a hand over her mouth when she realized what she’d said.



He laughed again. As he sat the now clean glasses in the drainer it dawned on him that he hadn’t laughed or felt this light hearted in decades. Little lost lamb was good for him.



“What I meant to say is -- I’m Buffy. Buffy Anne Summers of Sunnydale, California. Otherwise known as the Hellmouth,” she stated, still embarrassed at her previous comment.



Spike came back into the living room and looked at her with a smile. “Well, Buffy Anne Summers, it’s nearly sunrise and I’m exhausted. What say we head back to the bedroom and sort out the details when we rise?”



He’d said ‘we’ and he had said ‘bedroom’ – as in singular. She looked up at him. “Am I supposed to sleep in the same bed as you?” she asked, suddenly shy despite the pleasant memory of their earlier kiss.



Spike walked over and gave her both his hands. He pulled her to her feet. “Yes,” he whispered as he claimed her lips in another kiss. This time delving into her mouth with his tongue. Mmmm… Buffy taste.



Buffy tentatively kissed him back. Mmmm…. Spike taste. Then she giggled.



He pulled away, resting his forehead against hers. “What’s so funny?”



“This. You. Me. Us. In my world, you’d be ripping out my throat by now,” she explained with another giggle.



Spike gave a chuckle. “Let’s go to bed, little girl. Maybe I can tell you a thing or two about the big bad.” He led her into his bedroom, shedding both their clothes along the way. Each time he felt her stiffen in protest, he’d nuzzle at the side of her neck. She liked that. He noticed two sets of marks on her. His demon gave a vicious growl. Those would need to be taken care of, and soon.



By the time he had her down the long hall and into his room, they were both completely naked. Her arms were crossed over her chest. He got the feeling that she hadn’t been naked in front of his grandsire very often. She was acting almost virginal which was really quite odd for a vampire. Odd and completely endearing.



Endearing. Spike stilled. Uh-oh. He wasn’t supposed to find her endearing. Sexy. Sure. A good companion. Okay. Endearing. No. Endearing led to other things. Like love. Which was never a good thing for him. Maybe he should really just ‘sleep’ with the girl, help her get some paper work, and then send her on her way.



Buffy felt a change come over the master vampire. The lusty feelings she’d been getting off of him were suddenly gone. ‘Way to go, Buffy. You did it again. Completely turned a man off with your incredible lack of sexual skills.’ She spotted the bed and quietly walked over to it, slipping under the covers and staying to the farthest edge.



Spike could feel the waves of hurt coming off the girl who was now clinging to the edge of the mattress. He was somewhat surprised that she’d been able to read him so easily. He was usually damn good at hiding his emotions. Of course it helped that he never slept with anyone over fifty. The young ones couldn’t read anyone worth shit. This one would be the youngest of them all, but she’d clearly gotten his ‘keep the distance’ message. He shrugged. Nothing to do for it really. He couldn’t afford another emotional entanglement. There wasn’t much left of his heart. Not after Drusilla. He got into bed, staying to his side. Instinctively he waited until she fell asleep to slip into his own.



Buffy awoke before Spike. She was glad. A new day gave her a new perspective on things. She couldn’t believe how willing she’d been last night to just slip into bed with him. Did being a vamp make her easy? She got out of the bed and padded on bare feet to the bathroom. She didn’t need to use the toilet, but a shower and a brush of teeth were in serious order. She turned on the taps to heat the water and than rummaged through the drawers until she found an unopened toothbrush.



She’d been annoyed for about half a second when there was no mirror to be found, but then she’d remembered that she didn’t have a reflection anyway. Teeth clean, she stepped into the shower. It felt divine. She took her time soaping up her body and thinking about what she needed to do. It all came down to one thing. Getting home.



Her life may have sucked big time the last month or so, but it was still her life. She was young for a human even if she was old for a Slayer. She could still do something. Finish college if she was lucky. Avert a few more apocalypses. Love her mother. Hang with her friends. Bug the hell out of Giles. Oooh, and find a cute boyfriend with which to torture Angel. She laughed at that last thought.



“What’s so funny, pet?”



Buffy jumped and gave a little ‘eep’ at which Spike chuckled. “I was just thinking about what I wanted to do when I got home, Mr. Stealthy.”



Spike’s hand froze on his toothbrush. She wanted to go home. It was a good idea. It was the best idea, really. It was perfect. Kept her as far away from him and his stupid tendency to fall in love as possible. Yeah. So why did the very thought of it send a pain through his chest? What was with this girl?



“That’s a right good idea. We’ll need to see some people. Find out a thing or two about portals,” Spike said as he put the toothbrush in his mouth and started brushing.



“Spike, it’s beyond nice of you to help me like this. I can’t exactly understand why you’re doing it. Last night I pretty much figured it was about sex. Now, though… Now that you obviously don’t want that from me, I just want to say thank you for being willing to help me. If there’s anything I can do to repay you, please let me know. I can’t cook, but I can clean. Do laundry. Oh, and I can kill. I’m really good at killing things. Except for you of course,” she rambled as she rinsed off the suds coating her body.



Spike slurped the water cupped in his palms and swooshed it around in his mouth. He spit it out and leaned against the sink for a moment. She thought he didn’t want her. Youth. If it were only that simple. He heard the shower shut off and he passed a towel over to her. Best to avoid temptation.



“Thanks,” Buffy said as she used the towel to dry off.



“No problem. As for the other stuff. Got a maid. All part of the Aurelius line package. I’m helping you for my grandsire. I owe it to him. It’s obvious you’re his girl,” Spike said, trying to offer an explanation that made some kind of sense. He was surprised when a tiny sob came from behind the shower curtain.



“Buffy?” he asked in concern.



Silence. Then after a moment. “I’m fine. Sorry.”



The shower curtain parted, revealing the shower fresh girl. She had the towel wrapped tightly around her. She stepped over the side of the tub and onto the brick of the floor without so much as glancing up at him.



Spike realized he’d said something very wrong. He decided to let it go for now. “You can borrow whatever clothes of mine that fit best until we can get you some new ones,” he said softly.



“Thanks,” Buffy muttered again as she walked out of the bathroom. She seemed to be saying that to him a lot.



When Spike got out of the shower he caught sight of her wearing an old pair of his jeans with the waist rolled down and the bottoms rolled up. She had one of his few white t-shirts on. She looked cute as hell. He sent a direct order to his dick to disregard his eyes.



Buffy stared sightlessly at the ground as Spike got dressed. She’d made a mental list of things to do. First off, was identifying the demon who’d spread blood on her lips. That had to be the key. The one thing that was an anomaly.



When Spike was dressed, and not a little bit troubled at her complete lack of interest in his previous naked state, he stood in front of her. “Buffy? Penny for your thoughts, pet.”



She looked up at him. “I need to talk to someone about identifying a demon. Or do you guys have libraries or something for that?”



Spike thought about it for a minute. “I’ve been around a bit. Describe the thing to me. Think it might be why you’re here?”



She nodded. “Okay, he was really little. Like about two feet high if I’d ever seen him stand up. He was being used as a soccer ball by these big assed demons. He was covered in brown fuzz. Kinda like hair, only not. He had huge black eyes. Two arms. Two legs. Primate features. The only thing really weird about him was this thing he did right before he died.”



“What thing?” Spike asked, mentally coming up with several demon species that would fit her description.



“He wiped his blood on my lips,” Buffy said.



“Huh,” Spike replied. “That is weird. I’ve got a few species in my old noggin’. I say we hit the library. But first, we need to see about getting you some papers.”



“What’s up with that?” Buffy asked as she stood up to follow his retreating form.



Spike walked into the kitchen to repeat the same process as the night before. This time he got out juice glasses. He needed variety. “It’s to keep track of the rogues and to try and monitor any vamps they suspect might turn rogue. See, vamps have bloodlust. Some more than others. Drinking bagged blood just doesn’t cut it. Every once in a while a vamp snaps and starts feeding off other vamps. A big ‘no-no’ in vamp society. There’s a tendency for vampires from the same lineage to go rogue, especially the younger ones. Though, oddly enough, the ones turned in The Great Turning almost never go rogue. It’s like they never had a taste, so they don’t miss it.”



“A taste of violence?” Buffy asked confused.



“No, a taste of human blood laced with fear and desperation,” Spike explained as he came into the room with their breakfast.



Buffy accepted the glass gratefully. She felt herself shift as she took the first sip. “So what’s The Great Turning?” she asked.



“It’s the stupidest thing ever. Once The Master made his blood machine and humans started disappearing left and right, pockets of resistance started popping up. Slayers were called, but they went out as quickly as they came in. Eventually, human numbers dropped to an all time low. Then they died out entirely. It took about ten years. When it was all over the vamps realized that about thirty percent of all humans over the past decade had been turned. It’s a huge number if you consider the usual figures. Only about an eighth of a percent were normally turned in a decade. It garnered itself a nickname,” Spike told her, finishing his blood.



This time Buffy stood up and took the glasses in to clean them. “Wow. That’s just… Wow. Who makes things? Who makes the blood packets, raises the pigs, and makes new stuff like microwaves with ‘blood’ buttons?”



Spike laughed. “When the humans started to go so quickly, a few enterprising vamp leaders took to turning the ones they thought would be useful. Now, when something is needed, vamps are trained to do it. The younger ones mostly. The old ones like myself get to sit around and get fat off government pensions,” Spike said in disgust.



Buffy dried her hands on the dish towel. She came back in the room, shaking her head. “That guy was as ugly as he was stupid,” she muttered, absently rubbing the scars on her neck. “Glad I killed him back in my world. I mean, all that’s happened here is that vampires have been turned into domesticated creatures like humans. With jobs. Training. Nothing to maim and kill. And eventually your species will just die out. There’s no way to perpetuate the race. You realize this, right?”



Spike turned to look at the little girl standing in his living room, hands on her hips. “I realize this. A few of the others have, too. A lot of the old ones commit suicide. Most of the other non-vamp demons either dimension hopped or relocated into the sunniest parts of the world far away from the likes of us. A few demons intermingle with vamps here and there. Do the odd job.”



“Is he happy?” Buffy asked.



“He loves it. The old guy was never about the kill. He was always about the pomp and circumstance. He’s in hog heaven,” Spike said, laughing at his pun.



“You should come with me. This is no life for a vampire. And I can’t believe I just said that. I think coming over all bumpy has made me kind of evil,” Buffy pondered.



Spike smiled at her. “What’s evil? I can’t remember.”



He stood up. “It’s not dark yet, but we can take the sewer access to this guy I know. He’s not a vamp. He can fix you up with what you need to get by until I can find a way to get you out of here.”



Buffy walked up to him. “I’m not trying to get you to stay with me or anything, Spike. Trust me; I got the ‘who Spike belongs to’ memo. I just think you’d like my world much more than yours.”



“I’ll think about it,” Spike agreed. “Now let’s go.”







Chapter 3



Buffy unerringly followed Spike through the sewers. There were a few vamps out here and there, but not many. No one questioned them and they didn’t see a single police officer the entire way. Eventually, Spike stopped at a place in the wall. He pressed a round object he’d dug out of his pant’s pocket into a depression in the wall. There was a scraping sound and the wall rolled back, allowing for a small space that Buffy and Spike were able to slide through.



The wall closed behind them and they walked on, Spike leading the way. Soon Buffy saw a light coming from in front of them. They rounded a corner and there was one of the oddest and yet most natural things she’d ever seen. A little cubby had been dug into the side of the earth. It was like a cross section illustration from a children’s book she’d read once about a tiny mole. There was a cozy little living room with an overstuffed couch, a wall of books, several end tables, and a bed in the far corner.



Sitting on the couch was a bear-like creature reading a leather bound volume that looked to Buffy to be numbered.



“Hello, Carl,” Spike said as they stopped outside of the creature’s dwelling. “I’ve got a job for you, if you’re interested.”



Carl didn’t bother looking up, he just continued to read. Spike was familiar with this drill. The old bear wasn’t about to stop until he got to the bottom of the page. Sure enough, one beefy paw reached out and swiped up a thin bookmark, placing it lovingly between the fragile pages. Then the book was put down, and Carl turned to look at his company.



“Hello,” he growled, showing his teeth in an effort to offer a somewhat Homo sapiens like greeting.



Buffy smiled back. “Hello,” she said sweetly.



“Come, sit.”



Buffy and Spike walked into the little living room and each took a seat on the couch next to the bear. Buffy tried hard not to jump when Carl leaned down and sniffed her.



“New. Needs papers, right? One of your line?” Carl asked.



“Sort of,” Spike admitted, entirely unsure as how to answer that.



Carl raised both eyebrows. “Sort of. Sort of he says. Humph!” With a great effort and a large depressing of the couch, Carl rose to a stand. “Let’s get this sort of relative sorted out.”



Buffy and Spike got up to follow the lumbering giant. Buffy watched in fascination as the bear-like creature walked behind the wall of book shelves. Spike slipped his hand in hers and pulled her after him. She realized that what looked like a slight ripple in the cave wall was actually another passageway.



They walked down a dank corridor and into an open doorway.



“Shut the door please,” Carl growled.



Spike did as the big guy asked, slipping his hand out of Buffy’s and trying hard not to notice the loss.



“Wow!” Buffy exclaimed. “This place is amazing.” As quaint as the hollow outside had been, this place was modern. It looked like a high tech advertising agency. There was a ton of computer equipment, printers, scanners, copiers. The walls were peppered with glossy examples of the kind of work that Carl did.



“Thank you,” Carl said as he slipped his skin off.



Buffy backed up. “Woah! Neat trick,” she said in awe as a thin, alien looking creature crawled out of the bear’s suit. He was small and slick with large, wide black eyes. His skin was a sort of pale grey. He looked like every alien she’d ever seen on series sci-fi movies.



“It’s such a bother, really,” Carl said, as his fingers began to fly over the computer keys. “Some idiot got a gander at one of us once and decided he’d seen an extraterrestrial. Ever since then, my people have been forced to don disguises or hop dimensions. Aliens. Really.”



“Why bother now with all of the humans gone?” Buffy asked curiously.



Carl gave a great sigh and shook his head. “The humans aren’t gone. Not really. They’ve simply turned into demons. They still retain human memory. They still believe in things like anal probes. It’s utterly ridiculous.” Carl swiveled in his seat to look at Buffy and Spike. “Do I look like someone who wishes to peer up the rectum of a human being?”



Both Buffy and Spike dutifully shook their heads ‘no’.



Carl turned back around and worked some more while Buffy and Spike looked on. “Female? Could you please shift your features into that of the demon?” Carl asked.



“What? Why?” Buffy shifted and waited for an explanation. What she got was an automated camera that swiveled in front of her face and flashed.



“Now back to humanoid,” Carl said, still tapping away at the keyboard.



Buffy did as he asked and was rewarded with another flash.



“Papers carry pictures of both faces,” Spike explained, taking his own papers out of his jacket liner and showing them to her.



Buffy pointed to his vamp shot. “This is good. Nice picture.”



“Thanks, luv,” Spike said with a smile as he put them back in his jacket. He didn’t really need them in the big city, but if he ever wanted to travel, they’d be imperative.



“It would be helpful, Spike, if you could do a circular bite with her. That way she has a hope of answering to your bloodline in a testing situation. Now that the repulsive bear costume is off, I can smell what you were referring to. She has no family line. I have to say I’m intrigued,” Carl admitted as he finished what he was doing and turned to face them again.



Buffy looked at Spike, unsure of what to say. He gave her a subtle nod. She looked back at Carl. “Well, I sort of just got magically morphed here. I was a human in another dimension, I guess, and this little demon that I rescued wiped its blood on my lips. The next thing I knew, here I was.”



Carl’s face brightened to a blinding white. “Fascinating! Utterly fascinating. I have never heard of such a creature. Perhaps it is unique to your dimension,” Carl suggested.



“Don’t think so, mate,” Spike spoke up. “From talkin’ to the girl on the way over here, the way I figure it our worlds took a bit of a detour. They appear to be exact replicas up to the point of the manufactured bottling of human blood. As for the circular bite, I kind of figured I’d have to do that. Just thought I’d wait a day or two.”



Carl’s face did another bright light switch, this time to a vibrant, blushing red. “Even more fascinating!”



One of the machines began to pump out all sorts of information. Spike stood up and handed a bunch of bills to the forger. Then he walked over to the machine and picked up the fresh documents. He swooshed them in the air to dry them. Then he looked at them closely. “These are really good.”



Buffy had just been about to ask Spike about the circular bite, but her curiosity got the better of her. She got up and peered over his shoulder. “That’s what I look like as a vamp? Neat!”



Spike smiled at her. Damn, she was cute. Everything about her just made him want to take her, shove her against a wall, and pound away at her for a century or more.



Carl got up and rummaged through a drawer. He handed Buffy a black booklet to keep her papers in like the one Spike had. “On the house. If you are ever able to come back for a more casual visit, please do.”



Spike grabbed Buffy’s hands again. “Will do, Carl. Thanks for the papers.”



Buffy let Spike lead her back out. She was looking at her paper work. “Do I look like an Imelda to you?” she asked him.



Spike laughed. “No, but you looked like one to Carl. The last name’s fits, though.”



“Spearhead! Imelda Spearhead Aurelius. That’s just…” Buffy trailed off as she listened to Spike’s chuckle.



“Funny’s what that is,” Spike said.



“Okay, it’s a little funny, Willy. Where we off to?” Buffy asked, loving the way her hand felt nestled in his, wishing she wasn’t so physically repulsive to him.



“The library. Gonna research your demon. The demon libraries were merged with human libraries about twenty years ago,” Spike informed her.



Buffy’s tummy gave a growl. “I’m hungry.”



Spike turned to look at her. “Well’s full dark now. Just up ahead there’s a nice little restaurant that serves…”



“Let me guess! Pig’s blood!” Buffy snarked.



Spike stopped and looked at her. “You are bloody brilliant! A regular mind reader, luv.”



“Aren’t I just?” Buffy asked with a smile.



They veered off at the next turn in the tunnels and popped into a little bistro. There was blood and there was beer. Spike had both. Buffy stuck with just the blood. They were having a good time, discussing people who walked by. Spike kept teasing her by calling her Immy. They were getting to know each other by telling tales of their adventures. Buffy had to alter hers to vamp adventures from Slayer adventures. Surprisingly, it wasn’t a difficult alteration. They discovered that they had a ridiculous amount in common. Everything was going great until some vamp ho walked up and ran a finger down Spike’s arm.



“Hello, Spike,” the ho purred. “Miss me, baby?”



Buffy felt a strange change come over her. She felt dangerous. Predatory. She watched with careful eyes as the girl pushed herself on Spike. It was as if there was some line Buffy was waiting for her to cross. Waiting almost eagerly.



Spike hadn’t missed the girl. He’d only fucked her one time. Of course he only fucked any of them one time. He was not the least bit interested in entangling himself at the moment. He caught sight of Buffy; well mostly not interested. “Mandi, right?” Spike asked, avoiding the question and knowing damn well her name was Mindi.



The girl gave a sexy little growl. “I knew you’d remember me, big boy,” she said huskily, not addressing the misspoken name. “Why don’t you ditch this bitch and come spend some time with a real woman?”



Buffy choked back a laugh, causing Spike to look at her with a raised eyebrow. She just shook her head, trying to stop the tears in her eyes. Real woman. This chic had fake boobs, fake nails, six inch heels, and had herself so tightly wrapped in pleather she was nearly shrink-wrapped. Real woman? Buffy snorted inelegantly.



Spike could feel Buffy’s amusement. He could also feel her jealousy. It felt good. Dru had never been jealous over him. Always so sure of his devotion to her. He gave Mandi/Mindi a warm smile. “Thanks for the offer, pet, but I’ve company.”



Not in the slightest bit put off, the vampire leaned in, brushing her breasts across Spike’s arm and whispered in his ear. “Bad company, Spike. She’s not worth it. I can make it good for you baby. Real good.”



Buffy felt the line had been crossed. Good. She growled. It was a low, warning growl. Several patrons in the establishment turned with interest to look at the small tableau.



Spike wondered if Buffy knew just what kind of growl she’d given the other woman. He tried to give a tiny shake of his head. To let her know that she should drop this. The creature coming on to him was nearly fifty years old. Buffy wasn’t even a few days old.



Mandi/Mindi turned to Buffy with amber eyes and growled back, wrapping one skanky arm around Spike’s shoulders.



Buffy did something surprising then. She smiled and then vamped. Giving another growl.



Spike winced. Now she’d done it. A direct challenge had been issued. A fight could not be avoided without a breach of vampire code. Unfortunately fights like this could be to the death if either combatant wished it. Spike was going to have to grab Buffy and run like hell. Then he’d have to do some explaining to the authorities when they showed up at his door with a written, signed, and witnessed complaint. These times just sucked.



Buffy instinctively knew what was going on. It would be a fight. She was good at those. Completely ignoring Spike’s pained expression she stood up and walked out of the bistro. The vamp ho followed.



Buffy turned around to meet a fist to the jaw. Her head snapped back. Then came slowly forward.



Spike started to move in, but as Buffy’s head came up, he realized something. She was grinning. Not just any grin, but a wide, maniacal grin.



Buffy swept her foot out and the vamp ho went down on her butt. “Aw, don’t just sit there, ‘baby’, get up. It’s no fun to kick ya when you’re down,” she said sweetly.



Mandi/Mindi gave a furious growl and leapt into the air from the ground with her claws drawn.



Buffy sidestepped the attack, watching in amusement as the vampiress flew face first into the street. “Ouch. That’s gotta hurt. Good thing all that skin will just grow back. Otherwise you’d be like totally disfigured.”



The other woman came to a stand with a terrible screech. This time she took Buffy seriously and came at her with some thought. She circled her prey, waiting for the perfect moment to make her move.



Buffy lifted a hand and pretended to examine her nails, knowing it would bug the hell out of the intense woman circling her.



Mandi/Mindi saw the way Buffy was disregarding her and saw red. She went in for the kill, pulling an illegal stake out of the waistband of her pants and aiming it at Buffy’s heart.



Spike yelled a warning, but watched in stupefaction as Buffy twisted the woman’s arm, without so much as looking at her, causing the stake to fall to the ground. She then pulled the woman against her. “You should have left when he made it clear he didn’t want you, Mandi. ‘Cause now you’re gonna die.” Buffy used her right hand to grasp the woman’s hair and bend her away from her, penning her still between her legs. Then she took her left hand, made a cupping motion, claws out, and shoved it under her rib cage and into the heart. She pulled the dead object out and looked at it for just a moment before everything crumbled to dust.



Spike was in shock. He knew that she had been a Slayer. But a fledgling was a fledgling. Still adjusting to different speeds and moves. It took years of training to be able to move like Buffy had, and Spike strongly suspected she’d been merely playing with the older vampire.



Buffy wiped her hands on her pants. “That was fun. Let’s go,” she said with a smile as she slipped her hand through his arm.



Spike stood there. Frozen. Then he grabbed her and rushed her backwards against the brick wall of the bistro. His lips slammed down on hers as he drove himself against her.



Buffy laughed into the kiss and wrapped her legs around his waist to bring him even closer.



He pushed away from the wall. All thoughts of the library forgotten. He had one need and one need only. To fuck. He started walking back to his apartment with her still firmly attached to his front.



Buffy was overwhelmed by the feel of him against her sex. By the way his hands were kneading at her ass as he carried her. By the way he kept sucking on her, alternating between her neck and her lips. When she heard the sound of a ‘ding’ she realized that they were back at the apartment, in the elevator.



She pulled Spike’s face off her neck. “You aren’t going to see me naked again and change your mind are you?” she asked.



Spike realized how vulnerable this little powerhouse was. “I couldn’t change my mind even if I wanted to. Which I don’t,” he gasped and then went back to sucking on her neck.



“Good. ‘Cause this time it would just piss me off,” Buffy warned as the elevator dinged again and opened onto Spike’s floor.



Spike laughed as he walked out the doors and down the hall. “I’ve seen you mildly annoyed. I’d hate to see you pissed.”



“Oh, you’ve seen me pissed, Spikey. You and I have beaten the hell out of each other,” she said, feeling a building pressure inside of her.



Spike groaned as he leaned her against his apartment door to open it. The thought of fighting with her -- of really going at it -- made his cock even harder. Made it pound with desire. “Gotta have you, kitten. Gotta be inside you. Need to feel you all around me.”



The door opened and the two of them fell through onto the rug. Buffy inched back enough for Spike to get his feet in and kick the door shut.



“Come and get me,” she dared, spreading her legs wide and throwing her head back in invitation.



Spike growled and attacked.







I Will Follow

Chapter 4



They ripped at each other’s clothes until nothing but smooth, bare flesh was between them. Buffy wrapped her legs around Spike and threw her head back in anticipation as she brought him closer.



“Wait,” Spike cried, stilling.



Buffy slowly brought her head forward and gave him a hard look. “You said no stopping when I got naked this time.” She used her legs to throw him across the room. “Am I that repulsive when my clothes are gone?” she demanded as she looked around for something to cover up with.



Spike was frozen for a moment. She thought she was repulsive? That’s why she thought he stopped the other night. How on earth could someone who looked like she did and had such a hot, tight little body think that she was repulsive? The answer came to him. A man. By the scent of her not just any man. Angelus. Fuck. The dumbass had used her for one of his mind games. Spike never could understand why he did that shit.



“Buffy,” he said finally regaining mobility. He got on his hands and knees, crawling over to her. He sat down on his haunches with his very obvious erection standing proudly between his thighs. “Woman, look at me. Just look at me,” he requested with his arms spread wide. “Does it look like I find you repulsive?”



Buffy spared him a glance. Her mouth watered. Yummy. He certainly wasn’t repulsive. Her eyes were particularly drawn to the mammoth between his legs. She shook her head.



“It isn’t you,” he began.



Her head jerked up, narrowing in on his eyes. “If the next words out of your mouth are ‘it’s me’ I am So going to dust your ass,” she warned.



Spike chuckled. Fuck, she was cute. “Not exactly what I was gonna say. Last night I stopped because I got scared. Not very big bad of me, I know. Tonight I stopped because of something Carl told us. The circular bite.”



Buffy cocked her head. “What’s this circular bite thingy?” She was very relieved to realize that he wasn’t put off by her sexually.



“It’s where I bite you while you bite me. We transfer blood. It isn’t done too often. It can be quite painful and sexually stimulating at the same time. That’s the good part. The bad part is that it can cause a mixing of the bloodlines. Something that isn’t too popular in this culture. We’re proud creatures and like to keep our lines pure. Carl suggested we do it so that if a blood test is done on you, you won’t show up as a null,” Spike explained.



“But won’t this mess with your blood heritage or whatever?” Buffy asked, not wanting him to do something that he didn’t want to do.



Spike smiled. “I could give a rat’s ploppy ass. I didn’t suggest it before just because of the sex thing. Normally I’m damn good at keeping sex as just sex, but normally I’m not having sex with you.” Spike reached out and grabbed her to him. “Buffy Anne Summers, you are going to complicate things.”



She let him wrap her up in his arms, and then she titled her head up to look at him. “So, you really were scared of me last night?”



Spike should have known she wouldn’t let that one drop. “Yeah, kitten, I was. I don’t have the greatest history in the romance department. Straight fucking I excel at, but the softer side of things usually doesn’t go too well for me. Don’t feel like having my heart trampled on again,” he confessed.



“Me neither,” Buffy agreed. “I’ve only had sex once. Exactly one time. With Angel. Remember how I told you about all the stuff up until our worlds divided?”



Spike nodded, waiting for her to continue.



“Well, Angel was all souled up. It was my birthday. My birthday, Spike! We made love. It was beautiful. Sweet. Romantic. Everything a girl could want. When I woke up, I was alone. Not the greatest morning after. It got worse. When I saw him he implied that I wasn’t any good. I needed experience. That hurt. It turned out that I’d fucked the soul right out of him. He spent the next few months trying to drive me insane. I finally had to send him to hell, but not before his soul was returned. I had a breakdown. Left. Came back. He came back. We did the tortured love thing, and finally he just left. No goodbye. Just left after a big battle. Now, I’m all alone,” Buffy said quietly.



Spike held her tightly to him, rocking her back and forth. Soul or no soul, his grand-sire had always been a right prick when it came to women. Spike imagined it was only because of her vampiric state that Buffy was even willing to give it another go. Sex for vampires was kind of like breathing or going to the bathroom for humans; a necessary bodily function.



Buffy gave a sniff and a giggle. “I guess I do complicate things, huh?”



“What do you mean?” Spike asked, liking the sound of her mirth.



“You said you had the feeling I was going to complicate things,” she giggled again. “Just look what I did to Angel. Just look at what I’ve done to you. Encounter with the cops. Take a strange girl home. Visit alien bear guy. Dust slut. Now you are going to do that circle bite thingy. Definitely complicated.”



Spike laughed along with her. “You’re like fine wine, Summers. You have many subtle flavors. I’m just going to have to get over my fears and have myself a little taste,” he warned as he nuzzled her neck.



Buffy giggled again. “You already had a little taste. This time you’re going to have to drink down the whole bottle.”



Spike groaned. She even made stupid metaphor’s sexy. He stood up with her in his arms and carried her to the bedroom. The very thought of what they were about to do was making his dick hurt. He’d never done this before. Never wanted to. With Dru it was unnecessary. Their blood was one and the same.



Buffy luxuriated in the feel of Spike’s naked body as he carried her. “I’ve never really been with someone like this. With Angel, it was a mostly under the covers thing. You’re so open and direct. It’s… It does things to me,” she confessed as she rubbed her legs together a little.



That tiny movement coupled with her innocent words had him stumbling. “Fuck, girl! Watch what you’re doing. I can only take so much.”



Buffy loved that she could have such an affect on him. She rubbed her face against his bare chest and sighed. He would be so easy to love.



Spike sat her down on the bed and slid in beside her. He brushed her hair aside, giving her neck a stroke with the back of his fingers. “I’m gonna bite you, luv. Need you to bite me at the same time. We keep drinking from each other until our blood has been completely interchanged. Some of mine will come back into me due to the different volumes. Don’t worry about it. I’ll let you know when to stop.”



“How do I do it?” Buffy asked.



“Do what?”



“Bite.”



“Oh, that’s right. You’ve never bitten anyone.” Spike thought about for a moment. “Well, first off, slip into game face.” He put his own demon on and then opened his mouth. Buffy mimicked his actions. “Feel how the jaw is kind of loose?” Spike mumbled open mouthed. “It unhinges a bit. Different than human mouths to allow for different bites. Our fangs can be a weapon if we need them to be. Some things are big. Certain demons. Need a big bite for them. For what we are going to do, a smaller bite will suffice.” He leaned in and put his mouth on her neck, just grazing her skin. Then he pulled away. “Now you try it.”



Buffy copied his movements. The moment his skin touched her tongue, she whimpered.



Spike chuckled. “You are so damned responsive.” With an effort, he pulled her away and looked into her eyes. “You ready, kitten?”



She nodded. He gave her a soft kiss on the lips and then he maneuvered their bodies so they were sitting face to face, with their legs wrapped around each other. His erection, butting against her stomach. Then he brushed her hair off her neck again. “Bite me,” he hissed as he claimed the unscarred section of her neck for his own.



Buffy did as he asked, slipping her fangs into Spike’s neck as if she was born to it. The first taste of his blood on her tongue caused her to climax. It was totally unexpected. She’d never reached orgasm with Angel. She’d tried it on her own a time or two but had always quit as the pressure became too much. Scared of what would happen if she continued. Instead of making her feel satisfied, it made her want more. She moved as close to him as she could get, drinking him in and writhing against him.



Spike felt her orgasm. Tasted it in her blood. He’d been right. She was incredibly responsive. His grandsire was such a dick. And a fool. A fool for letting this one go. Her blood was a rich gift. It was filling him in ways he had never been filled before. It went beyond satisfaction. It sang to him. It whispered to him. It screamed at him. Its message was clear. Possession. He’d send her home. But he would follow. He would never let this one go. He would possess her as surely as she possessed him.



The two drank on. Each trying to get as close to the other as possible. When the transfer was complete and Spike could feel a portion of his own blood coming back into him, he gently extracted his fangs from her and looked at her. Lust crazed blood-red eyes stared back at him.



Buffy could have stayed at Spike’s neck forever. Never let him go. She looked up at him as he held her gently at arm’s length. His eyes. His eyes were filled with such passion and they had turned a dark, blazing red. She reached a hand up and ran it along his brows. “Your eyes,” she whispered. “They want me.”



With a primal roar, Spike unwrapped them and laid her out on the bed. He spread her thighs and dove into her, sheathing himself in her warmth. He was beyond control as he moved in and out of her in hard, driving plunges. He felt her nails rake along his back. He felt her legs wrap around him, pushing him deeper with each thrust. She was meeting him at every juncture. Their passion equal. Their need to possess driving them both.



Finally, they clung on to one another in near desperation as their orgasms were ripped from their bodies, each reverberating throughout the other. It was eerily similar to that of the circular bite. When they were done they rolled onto their sides, still holding one another.



“I’ve never experienced anything quite like that,” Spike confessed as he tried to wrap his mind around what had just happened.



“Is that how a circular bite works?” Buffy asked.



Spike gave a laugh. “No. Witnessed one or two in my time. I’ve never seen any of them do that. Were my eyes red?” he asked.



“Yeah. Mine?”



“As blood, baby. Red as blood,” he confirmed.



“I guess we’re just special,” Buffy said, her youth allowing for her easy acceptance. That and the extreme lassitude that was stealing over her body.



Spike smiled and kissed the top of her head. “That we are, luv,” he whispered. He felt her relax and his own body began to follow suit. His last thought was that she had no idea just how special they were.



Chapter 5





A pounding at the door woke them both up an hour later. Spike threw the covers back in irritation. “What the fuck?” he yelled as he stood up and pulled on his discarded jeans.



Buffy watched him with sleepy eyes. She sucked in a hiss of breath as he zipped up the jeans. “You even make getting dressed look sexy,” she purred.



Spike felt his cock twitch. “Hush with that talk, kitten. We got company,” he told her as he threw a robe off the back of the door to her.



Buffy slipped on the robe and followed Spike out to the living area. They both paused as he stepped up to the door. Spike turned to look at her over his shoulder. She gave him a nod. They both scented who was on the other side of the door. It was Shorty and Tall Guy. The vamp cops.



Spike opened the door. “What can I do for you gentleman?”



Both men looked very uncomfortable. The tall guy was the first to speak. “Well, Mr. William, we’ve had a complaint of death filed against your… uh…” He stared past spike at Buffy.



“My childe?” Spike finished for the man. “I told you yesterday she was one of Angelus’. He’s gone. So that makes her mine. Drusilla’s in no shape to take over his get.”



“Yes, sir. Your childe. We just need to confirm the bloodline. Maybe see her papers and we’ll be on our way,” Shorty said.



“This about what happened earlier? ‘Cause I know I can find several witness to attest that the fight was more than fair and started by the bint that got dusted,” Spike informed them, still not inviting them in. They didn’t need an invitation to enter, but formalities were strictly followed.



“Yes, sir,” Tall Guy confirmed. “Apparently Miss Mindi had a friend with her who felt that the fight was unjust.”



Spike laughed. “It was unfair maybe. The chit was totally out of her league against my girl, here. But unjust it wasn’t. Not by vamp law, boys,” he stated.



“Yes, sir,” Shorty agreed. “We talked to several witnesses before coming here and they all said the fight was more than fair, but we still have to file a report and for that we need to confirm your guest’s bloodline.”



Spike sucked in his cheeks and squared his shoulders. “Come in, gentleman. Test away.”



Both officers gave him appreciative nods as they passed over the threshold. The taller one had a mobile testing kit with him. Spike shut the door behind them and locked it for good measure. Just in case.



Buffy pushed up the long sleeve of the robe and offered her arm to the tall guy. “You got a name?” she asked him.



“Gabe, ma’am,” he said as he fiddled with the device.



Buffy looked at the other one. “And you?”



“Charles. My friends call me Charlie,” he said. “Do you have those papers?”



Buffy nodded her head towards the kitchen counter. Charles walked up and grabbed the papers scattered there. Imelda Spearhead Aurelius. Charles shuddered. That was a horrible name.



“Call me Immy,” Buffy said, trying not to laugh at the way the officer tried to guard his face of any emotion. She watched as he sat the papers back down and turned to Gabe.



“Her papers are in order,” Charles said.



Gabe didn’t answer as he took out a long needle. He rubbed an alcohol pad over one of Buffy’s veins which seemed unnecessary to her. Apparently protocol found its way in even under the most unusual circumstances. Her blood came up the tube and into the machine. Gabe took out the needle, wiped off her arm again, and put a cotton ball and small piece of tape over the puncture. Buffy was highly amused.



The portable machine made a slight whirring sound as Gabe punched in a directive into the tiny computer console. A moment later a red light flashed and a name came onto the LCD. Aurelius. Both cops looked incredibly relieved. They turned to Buffy and Spike with apologetic smiles. “So sorry to have to do this to you guys. Enjoy the rest of the night.”



As they headed out the door Spike called out. “Wait a minute. Gabe, Charlie, can we have the name of the person who filed the complaint?”



Both men looked at one another. Then Charlie shrugged his shoulders and leaned in close to whisper. “We’re not supposed to tell, but this one sat funny with me. A Miss Harmony. I can’t tell you her bloodline name.”



Spike winced. “That’s fine. I know it. Thank you both. Have a nice evening, boys.”



“Will do,” Charlie said as they left the apartment and Spike closed the door.



“Fess up, bucko!” Buffy teased. She’d seen the wince.



Spike rolled his head back on his shoulders. “Ex. Not even an ex. Just a regular fuck that got ideas. Grabbed onto me like she owned me. I shook her off. She got a little pissed. She wasn’t a friend of Mindi’s. She’s just really not a friend of mine, if you get my drift.”



Buffy looked at him with a knowing smile. “Oh, I got your drift. Mr. William’s a slut,” she said and then took of running to the bedroom.



Spike growled and took off after her. “Slut!” he yelled as he tackled her and threw her on the bed. “I’ll have you know I can be quite monogamous when I’m properly motivated,” he informed her as he started tickling her.



Buffy laughed as his fingers worked across her ribs. Then she used her legs to flip him over, penning his wrists above his head with her hands. “Think I can motivate you, Spike?” she asked seriously, clueless of the way her eyes bled red again.



“Oh, yeah,” Spike said in a shaky voice as unbidden emotion rushed over him. He was just going to go in for a kiss when the phone rang. “What the buggering fuck is up with this shit!”



Buffy rolled off him as he reached over for the phone on the nightstand.



“Ya?” he hissed into the receiver.



“Darla. I’d say it’s a pleasure but I try not to lie. What do you want, you old whore?” Spike groused, holding the phone away from his ear as a string of expletives poured out.



Buffy smiled. Darla was alive here. Shame. But then again maybe she could get the chance to kill her herself this time. That would be fun. Than Buffy remembered that Darla was the favorite childe of The Master. Best just leave the bitch alone and see about getting the hell out of Dodge. Spike was seriously confused if he thought for one second Buffy was going to leave him behind.



After a moment Spike heaved a big sigh and then put the phone back up to his ear. “Well, listen to this. I paid my dues. I took care of that crazy bint for over a hundred years. A hundred years, Darla. I’m done. It’s your turn. Be a nice little granny and see to the faithless bitch. Do me a favor, though. Give her my hate, won’t you?” Spike slammed the phone down.



Buffy could feel the real pain rolling off him. She didn’t like it. She knew a thing or two about pain. His was as bad as hers. Worse maybe. She took the robe off and curled herself against him. Her naked breasts pressed against his chest. “It’s hard, isn’t it? You want to go to her, but you know you shouldn’t. I’m sorry, Spike. I really am. It sucks. People, vampires, whatever, should be loyal. Love should be stronger than anything. It should make you more than you are. Conquer all obstacles.”



Spike ran his fingers through Buffy’s hair as he tried to stop his shaking. “Love isn’t the problem. Or, I guess it is the problem. I loved her. She loved Angelus. Angelus loved both her and Darla. Darla only loves herself, possibly The Master. We’re just a fucked up group. I guess all vampires are really.”



Buffy thought about what he said. “Okay. So it’s not love. It’s character. Let’s just say that you and I have more character than the rest of those assholes.”



Spike laughed. “I like that. Character. We got character.” He squeezed her tightly. “I’m startin’ to grow fond of you, Summers.”



“Good,” Buffy whispered against his chest. “There’s a definite growing fondness from my side, too.”



Spike was tempted to show her just what was growing but he knew they didn’t have time. “We got to go, kitten. Dru being in town is definitely not good. Chances are word of you will soon get back to Darla and The Master, as well. They’ll wanna meet you. Make it all formal and such. I think it would be best to get out of here before that.”



Buffy looked up at him. “Get out as in the both of, right? You are going to come with me? There’s nothing here for you, Spike.”



He gave her a serious look. “Will there be something there for me, Buffy?”



“Besides me?” she asked coquettishly.



Spike growled and rolled her over. He felt her hands at his zipper. Well, maybe there was a little time. “Suddenly, you’re all that I really want,” he admitted.



Buffy took out his very aroused penis. “Ditto,” she purred as she guided him into her wet folds. “Spike,” she gasped.



Spike threw his head back in the air. The feel of her. “Fuck, Buffy. You feel like heaven. You feel like sin. You feel like…” he trailed off. He couldn’t explain it. He’d never felt this way before. It wasn’t love. Not yet. But whatever it was it was growing. It was intense. Then it hit him. It was belonging.



He looked down at her with dark, red eyes. “You’re mine,” he said.



Her own red eyes looked into his. “Yours. Completely. And you’re mine.”



“Always,” he affirmed.



They bit into each other’s necks and sucked down the sweet, familiar blood. Both feeling a sense of urgency they pushed themselves on, coming quickly. Then they got in the shower, gently cleaning the other off. They got dressed and headed back out into the night.



“Where are we going?” Buffy asked.



“To a vamp who can answer our questions. Smart guy. He keeps his own council. Doesn’t hang with all of the vamp politics. I think something went off on his turning. Like there was something there already,” Spike explained.



“Something there?” Buffy asked.



“Yeah, like with you. You got that Slayer power going for you,” Spike told her, enjoying the way her little hand rested in his. He liked this. Companionship. Partnership.



Spike stopped walking. He grabbed her shoulders. “I meant what I said earlier. You’re mine. I want… I want this to be different. It’s about that character you were talkin’ about. I want to be your partner, Buffy. I’ll stand by you and I expect you to stand by me, too. Equals.”



Buffy felt her eyes tear up. “Oh, Spike.” She reached up on tip toes to give him a sweet kiss. “That’s the best thing anyone’s ever offered me.” She laughed as she went back down on her heels, her hands going to cup his face. “I have to warn you. I’m falling in love with you. I didn’t think I could love again. Certainly not this quickly. But you… You’re something different. You feel right. You feel like home.”



Spike picked her up and twirled her around in the air. “I’m scared that you’re too good to be true.”



Buffy laughed as he put her down. “Right back at ya,” she said as they resumed their earlier pace with her hand nestled back in his.



Spike walked them up a flight of steps and knocked on a door. “’S me, mate. Open up!” he yelled as he felt a presence move behind the peephole.



The door opened. “Buffy Summers?” a surprised British voice sounded out.



“Giles!” Buffy yelled in shock.



Chapter 6



“You’re a vampire,” Buffy mumbled as Spike pushed her through the door.



Giles backed up. “So are you,” he pointed out as he shut the door and waved a hand for them to sit down. “Scotch?” he asked Spike.



“Yeah, mate. So, you two know one another?” Spike asked with a strange edge to his voice. One Buffy had never heard before.



“I was a Watcher before I was turned,” Giles said as he sat a scotch down in front of Spike. “Miss Summers, what can I get for you?”



“Nothing, thanks,” she said. “So, you know me? Were you my Watcher here?”



Giles turned to look at her in confusion. “Excuse me? You know I wasn’t your Watcher. I should have been but you never showed up on the Hellmouth. Not until it was too late. I thought you’d been killed. I never realized you’d been turned.”



Spike and Buffy realized he thought she was her other self. The one that had lived in this dimension. Lived and apparently died. Spike pulled Buffy over onto his lap as he sipped his drink. He really didn’t like the thought of the her that was from his world not existing. It made him feel cheated. Like something that belonged to him had been taken before he’d even got the chance at hit. He held onto her tightly.



Giles watched the exchange with a smile. Spike he liked. Most of the vampires he met up with were no different than the humans had been before. Just mindless sheep following the flock. Spike was different. He was a rebel. Giles knew why he himself wasn’t the average evil vampire. Oh, he was evil alright. Just not average. It was Ripper. The essence of the demon Eyghon that had been left behind long ago. It was equally as strong as the vampire demon. The two had come to some sort of compromise. Neither was particularly pleased about the state of things. They kept to themselves. Researching. Finding a way to make the world what it once was.



“My girl here has a story,” Spike said. “Need your promise on this one, though.”



Giles looked the master vampire in the eyes and nodded. “You have my most solemn promise, Spike. I will tell no one,” Giles gave a bitter laugh. “There’s no one to tell really. Certainly not those gits who consider themselves my sires.”



Spike laughed. “Willow and Xander aren’t the best of parents, eh?” he teased the man.



Buffy stiffened. “Willow and Xander are vampires?”



“Everyone here is a vampire. Except for the occasional demon,” Giles said reconsidering the girl in front of him. “You aren’t her, are you? The Slayer. The one I met.”



Buffy shook her head. “No. I’m not. I’m from another world. Spike and I figure that our worlds were exactly the same up until the point of The Harvest. In my world I defeated The Master. After he killed me of course.”



“Is that how you came to be a vampire?” Giles asked.



“No. He bit me. Nearly drained me. Drowned me. Xander revived me. Did that CPR thing. I got over being dead and went out and killed him back,” Buffy explained.



“When did you arrive on the Hellmouth?” Giles asked, stifling a laugh at the killing him back part. This girl was different from the one he had met.



“My sophomore year of high school. What about in your world?” she asked.



“No. You came later in my world. I believe your arrival might just be our divergent moment, Miss Summers,” Giles said, thinking furiously.



“Call me Buffy. In my world you are my Watcher after all. Okay, currently you’re fired from the Council, but in my heart you’re still my Watcher. I quit when they got rid of you,” she said.



Giles smiled. Every demon bit inside of him appreciating the feistiness of this girl. Not to mention the loyalty. “Alright. Buffy it is. Can you tell me when and how you came to be here?”



Buffy described the events that led up to this day. “I want Spike to come back with me. I won’t go if he can’t come.”



Spike buried his nose in the crook of her neck. “My Buffy,” he muttered as he inhaled her scent.



Giles had stood up at some point during the story to rifle through his books. “That may be a problem, I’m afraid. Otherwise I’d go with you myself.” He looked down at the page he was holding. “There.” He turned it to Buffy. “Is that the little demon who rubbed its blood on your lips?”



Buffy nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. “They used him for soccer!”



Giles looked at her strangely. That wasn’t the type of thing to normally bother vampires or Slayers for that matter. “You are different aren’t you?” he asked her.



Buffy shrugged. “You always seemed to think so. You took one look at me and threw out the Slayer Handbook.”



Giles laughed. “I wish I’d had the chance to know you. To really know you. I think I would have enjoyed your company,” he told her as he took a seat.



Spike growled a warning to the other man.



Giles laughed again and raised his hands in the air. “Not that Miss Summers, I mean Buffy, isn’t scrumptious but I meant that in a completely nonsexual way, William. It is quite clear that the two of you are mated.”



Buffy and Spike both tensed. Spike looked at the other man in confusion. “We did the blood circle and we had sex, but we didn’t do a mating ceremony, Rupert.”



Giles got up and grabbed the entire bottle of scotch. He set it down on the table between them. “You didn’t need to. The two of you are connected. Tell me, Buffy, in your world what have been the interactions between you and Spike?”



Buffy smiled. “We fight. We fight like hell. It’s a blast. Neither one of us has been able to kill the other. Not even when Spike hired a group of demon assassins to do me in.”



Spike sputtered, spitting scotch over the both of them. “I did what? Fuckin’ pillock! That ain’t me.”



“Oh, it most certainly is you, William,” Giles said. “The demon that sent Buffy off did so in an effort to save her from what he was certain would be her death. He isn’t a particularly powerful demon. He could not have sent her to a different dimension only an alternate dimension.”



“Explain?” Buffy asked.



“A different dimension is one that runs separate from Earth and its universe. They interact only in the same way that Italy interacts with Peru. It happens here and there. An alternate dimension is one that comes off the other. Due to any number of reasons from anything as great as a cataclysmic event to something so simple as a wish. That’s when a copy of another dimension is made. With any differences either built in or coming from the point of the split. It takes a lot less power to move an object between alternate dimensions than it does to move it to a completely different one. Oftentimes a completely different dimension requires the rigors of clearance. Passports that type of thing,” Giles explained.



“So it shouldn’t be hard to move Spike and I back into my dimension then?” Buffy asked.



“Wait a tick. I still want to know why the fuck I would have hired people to do my own dirty work. I like dirty work!” Spike asked, barely listening to Giles’ long explanation.



“Spike,” Giles said, getting the agitated vampire’s attention. “I believe you hired the assassins to do something that you did not want to do yourself. Namely kill this woman.”



Buffy looked up at Spike with bright smile. “You couldn’t kill me.”



Spike looked into her eyes and said fervently. “Never. Certainly not without turning you.”



Giles pointed a finger at him. “Exactly. And what would Dru have had to say about that!”



Spike groaned and shuddered. “I’m not with her in your world am I?”



Buffy flinched. “A little. I think. It’s hard to tell. You left a few months ago after coming back and kidnapping Willow to do a love spell on Dru for you.”



Spike nearly dumped Buffy off his lap. “What? I hate that me. That’s not me!” he declared.



Giles cleared his throat. “Oh, I’m afraid it very much is you, actually. In fact, if you go back with this girl you will cease to be.”



It was Buffy’s turn to jump. “What? Not gonna happen. I’ll stay here. With the stupid vamp police and the papers and the no food.”



Spike was with Buffy on this one, only he was worried about what Dru’s presence in the city meant. She may not want him but he seriously doubted she’d let someone else have him. Chances are the damned pixies had filled her in on a thing or two. Spike’s instincts were telling him they didn’t have time. “What happens exactly, Rupert?”



Buffy whirled on him. “How can you even ask that!”



Spike pulled her down to him. “Hush, luv. Let’s hear the man out. I’ve got my reasons. Just trust me,” he told her.



She sniffed. “Okay. I don’t want to leave you here. It’s horrible here. It’s boring. You hate to be bored!”



Spike laughed. “That I do, luv. That I do. Let’s just listen.”



“Okay.” They turned to look at the former Watcher.



“The reason that Buffy is here as her self from her world is because she died on this plane. The reason that she is a vampire has to do with the desire of the being that sent her here. He wanted her to be safe and he sent her where she would be safest. It’s no coincidence that she ended up across the street from you, William. She could have ended up in South America with Dru. Had her neck snapped as soon as she appeared. Demons like him have a death gift. It’s usually passed on to a loved one like a son or daughter. But this one didn’t have a loved one with him at his death. He had Buffy. So he gave her his gift,” Giles explained.



Buffy started sniffing again. “I knew I liked that little guy.”



Spike pulled her in for a snuggle. “You did the best you could for him, luv. Hell, you would have died for him.”



Giles was fascinated by the way the two interacted. He was getting the rare privilege of watching two people fall in love. He wished he had better news for them. “If you both go back to Buffy’s world I believe that Buffy will return in a mostly human state. There will be some ramifications of the experiences you’ve had here, but largely you will be you. Spike will become Spike. There is no telling what kind of memories he will retain.”



“So I don’t stop existing. I just exist in one body.” Spike clarified. That wasn’t so bad really. Anything was better than being stuck here.



Giles was surprised to realize the vampire was actually considering it. “But you have to ask yourself? Am I me without myself?”



“What?” Spike and Buffy asked at the same time.



“Without your memories do you exist? Or are you someone else entirely?” Giles rephrased his earlier question.



Buffy thought about it. “We stay.”



Spike thought about it. “We go.”



“No way. I’m not going back to face some you with Drusilla,” Buffy cried.



“Listen, kitten. Dru has more power here in this world than she does in yours. She’s one of The Master’s closest relatives. She can make life hell for both of us. Keep us separated. Or worse. This is our only chance. Besides, if I had to hire assassins to do you in, you got me, Summers. You got me, you just never knew it,” he declared passionately.



Buffy sniffed again and turned teary green eyes up to him. “You really think?”



“I know,” he swore to her.



“Okay. We do it. But if you don’t want me, I’m chaining your ass up in my basement,” Buffy warned him.



“Just my ass?” Spike asked playfully, grabbing his crotch for emphasis.



Buffy hit him upside the head. “Pig.” Then she turned to Giles. “Okay. How do we do it?”



Giles bent down and retrieved a book he’d deposited on the floor. “It’s relatively simple. We need to gather a few ingredients and do a ritual. Than the two of you should be sent back to the world as it was when it was worth something.”



Spike heard the longing in the other man’s voice. “You want to come along, old man?”



Giles shook his head sadly. “I’m not as brave as you, William. The thought of not really being me is far too disturbing.”



“Alright, mate, but the invitation stands,” Spike said.



“You need you,” Buffy put in her two cents. “The you in my world is going through this total sloppy midlife crisis. There isn’t even a hot babe involved. Just alcohol and books.”



Giles looked around his pathetic little home. Maybe things wouldn’t really be so different. Before he could process that thought all three vampires felt a powerful presence coming up the stairs.



Chapter 7



Spike and Buffy looked at one another. “Dru.”



“Oh, dear,” Giles said as he came to a stand. “Should I answer it or are we going for a jump out the window kind of thing?”



“Answer it. She’ll know where we are wherever we go. Trust me,” Spike groused.



Giles hovered just on the other side of the door, waiting for her knock. Still, when it came he jumped a bit. He opened the door with a smile, his eyes politely downcast. “Hello, Miss Drusilla.”



Drusilla sailed on past the other man. “Hello, lovey,” Dru said to him absently as she walked into the room to eye Spike and Buffy.



Buffy was sitting a respectful distance away from Spike. Sure Dru would be able to smell them all over one another, but scenting sex and blood and seeing two people on the precipice of love were entirely two different things.



“Dru,” Spike snarked, knowing she would expect nothing else of him. “What brings you here?”



Drusilla gave her errant childe a shake of her finger. “Can’t hide from mummy, Spike. I know that I’ve been a bad mummy. Haven’t seen to my boy, but even mummies have needs you know. I’m here now, though.” She turned crazed eyes onto Buffy. “No need for this one. I know what my boy likes.”



Spike tensed. His demon did not like the way Drusilla was eyeing Buffy. In fact, Spike felt like he was barely in control. If anyone had told him that he’d be capable of fighting his sire at all, and over another woman of all things, he would have laughed in their faces and ripped out their hearts. Now here he was, not even knowing the chit for more than forty-eight hours, and he was ready to fight for her.



Buffy felt Spike’s reaction and sought to comfort him. There was only one way she could think of. She got up and walked over to Dru, tilting her neck as she did so.



Dru took a step back. There was power here. She could not defeat this one. Yet supplication was being offered. Suddenly the lines of Spike’s body became clear in Drusilla’s mind. She realized that he was willing to fight her for this one. She laughed and stepped back, away from the girl’s tempting neck. “It’s done then. I’m too late. You’ve replaced your princess.” Dru gave a shake of her head as she grabbed her ears. “Shut up! Shut up, I tell you!” she screamed at what the others could not hear.



Spike put a hand out to both Buffy and Giles, urging them to be still. He was familiar with these episodes. It was best just to wait them out.



Dru lowered her hands with a wild look in her eyes. “The night whispers to me, my Spike. They’ll come for her. They’ll come for your new toy. They’re scared of her. My fault. I brought her to light. I’m sorry. I just wanted to keep you. I wasn’t ready to let my knight go,” she said bitterly.



Spike came to a stand and wrapped the other woman in what he knew was a goodbye hug. “Who, Drusilla? Who’s coming for Buffy?”



“Grand-mum and the old one. Your girl is the only one strong enough to kill him,” Dru looked very confused for a moment. “Was supposed to kill him.” She gave Buffy a hard glare. “Why didn’t you kill him?”



Buffy smiled at the lost woman. “Because he killed me first,” she said honestly.



Dru’s eyebrows rose up. “Oh. That would do it then. You must run. Take my boy and run. You need to go now. They’re following my scent as we speak. Go out the back, my Spike. I’ll hold them off for you,” Dru said.



Spike gave her a sad smile. “Thank you, sire.”



“You’re welcome, childe,” she said softly and then turned her back. She wouldn’t actually fight The Master or Darla. No. Nothing so blatant. She’d just have one hell of a mad fit. It would send out psychic energy and cloud things, not to mention all the screeching.



As Giles, Buffy, and Spike crawled out of Giles’ bedroom window and onto the fire escape they could hear a wailing caterwaul start from behind them. Giles glanced back at Spike.



“She’s fine. It’s a thing she does,” Spike told the man. “Just glad I’m not on the receiving end of it for once.”



Buffy giggled as she landed on the ground beside Giles. When Spike dropped down they took off in a run.



“I know of a place we can go to get what we need for the spell,” Giles said as he led them on twists and turns throughout the city.



Twenty minutes later they were winded, muscles stretched to screaming, but they had arrived at their destination. Buffy watched in fascination as Giles took out a set of picks and began to work at the intricate lock. A series of soft clicks sounded and then suddenly the door came open with a swoosh.



Giles stood back and let Spike and Buffy precede him. There was a strange and yet familiar smell to the place.



“Where are we?” Buffy whispered.



“The house of my sires. The female, Willow, is a witch. She’ll have all of the ingredients we need,” Giles explained.



“They make you pick a lock?” Spike asked, surprised. Usually childer such as Giles were welcome into the fold.



“Oh, no. I just rather like doing that,” Giles confessed with a cheeky grin. “They won’t be a bother to us so long as they aren’t aware The Master is interested in Buffy. They’re fiercely loyal to him for some odd reason.”



As they walked down the hall of the extreme, modernist style house Buffy suddenly picked up the sound of moaning. Someone was having sex. She really hoped she wasn’t about to get an eyeful of Willow or Xander sex. ‘Cause yuck.



Thankfully, Giles made a turn away from the sound and toward a quiet end of the large cement structure. He pushed open a large wooden door and stepped inside.



Buffy and Spike walked in after him. They were shocked at what they found. The rest of the dwelling was all cement, chrome, and glass. But this place looked like something out of an English manor.



Giles gave a goofy smile. “This was done in honor of me, actually. I taught her magic and she designed this place for us to study in. She thought it would make me more comfortable.”



Buffy looked at the man before her. “You love her, don’t you?”



“Yes. For all the good it does me. She’s taken everyone but me to bed. And I do mean everyone. She has a particular fondness for young girls. I’m afraid both youth and ovaries are something I lack,” he informed them as he started opening drawers and putting small bits of things inside of baggies.



Buffy digested what Giles had just told her. Willow liked girls. Giles liked Willow. “So what does Xander like?” she asked curiously.



“He likes what he sees,” a very un-Xander sounding voice came from behind them.



Buffy turned around with wide eyes. It was Xander. But it was like hyena-possessed Xander. All sexy and confidant. Weird.



“Hello, sire. I’ve brought friends. We’re going to do a spell and I needed a few rare ingredients. Have you been having a nice night?” Giles asked Xander as he came over and offered his elder his neck.



Xander reached down and bit into the proffered neck. He closed his eyes as he took a single swallow of Giles’ rich blood. He straightened his childe up to look at him. “We’ve missed you, G-man.”



“Yes, I’ve missed you as well,” Giles confessed. It was true. He did feel the pull of family, but he just didn’t feel right here. They were young despite being his sires. They were brash and impulsive. They worshiped The Master. And they head sex without any care for true passion. In time they would grow out of these things as they learned to control the base impulses of the vampire. But for now, Giles felt like he must walk alone.



“So, who’s the new girl? I recognize William the Bloody, of course. Welcome to my home, Mr. William,” Xander said graciously.



“Thank you, Mr. Xander. This is my mate, Immy,” Spike said.



“She looks vaguely familiar,” Xander replied, trying to figure out where he might have seen her before.



“Is everyone having a party without me?” Willow asked, coming into the room. She’d felt her childe enter and hurried with the girl she was fucking, ordering the slut to stay inside her room in case she wanted more of her later.



Giles gave Willow a genuine smile. “Hello, sire,” he said reverently. Both Willow and Xander had drained him and offered him their blood, but it was Willow he had awoken to. It was Willow who he felt the strongest bond with.



Willow opened her arms, smiling as Giles moved into them. She didn’t wait for him to offer her his neck. She liked to tilt it on her own. It gave her a twisted since of satisfaction to have dominion over this man.



Giles did his best to still his arousal as her cool hands tilted his head. He grabbed onto the side of the bookshelf near him as her sharp teeth sank into his flesh, drawing out his blood. He knew the others would smell his need. He tried not to feel ashamed. He failed as usual.



Willow let him go. She never let herself have him and she never would. She didn’t like who she had been as a female. When she crossed over she swore to never be that weak again. Rupert Giles would make her weak. She could feel it. This was someone she could loose herself in. Love completely. It wasn’t that she didn’t love Xander. But her love for her old friend was gentle and strong. Solid. Her love for Rupert if she gave into it would be wild and consuming. She didn’t want to be consumed.



“So what are you three up to?” Willow asked all of them, running an appreciative eye over Buffy. “You’re a pretty one, aren’t you?”



Spike growled and pulled Buffy closer.



Willow and Xander both laughed. “Oh, we wouldn’t dare touch something that belongs to you,” Willow assured him as she walked over to Xander and leaned against his chest.



“Good,” Spike said. He didn’t like the vibes he was getting in this house. He was an evil creature, but these two were twisted in ways that weren’t even healthy for vampires. “Got what we need, Rupes?”



“Yes,” Giles answered. “I’m taking some herbs and whatnot, Willow. I do hope that’s okay?”



“Of course. What’s mine is yours,” she said dramatically as she ran a sharp nail down Xander’s exposed arm, drawing blood that she languidly lapped up. “Toddle off now. Then come back tomorrow night and share all of the lovely details with us, Giles,” Willow said suggestively.



“It will be a pleasure,” Giles told her.



Spike ushered the both of them out of the house as quickly as possible. “Where to, mate?” he asked Giles as they left the house of debauchery.



“As far out of town as we can go,” Giles replied, knowing strong magiks such as they would be using could be sensed. Giles walked over to a tarp covered vehicle and pulled off the cover. “This is my car.”



“Not what I’d call a car,” Spike grumbled.



Buffy threw her arms around the surprised man. “Uh-huh. This is a Giles car,” she said as she gave him a fierce hug. She’d really needed to see something that didn’t make her skin crawl. Something normal. Something familiar.



Giles started up the old vehicle, and coughing and spurting they made their way to the city limits. They ditched the car in a ravine, out of sight from the main road and proceeded on foot to a clearing. The sun would be up in about two hours. Plenty of time for Giles to send the two travelers on their way and get himself safely back home.



Buffy and Spike watched as the man spread the ingredients out on a piece of leather. Then he spit into it and rubbed the leather together. “It’s ready,” he told them. “I need you both to stand in the circle I’ve drawn.”



Buffy and Spike stepped into the circle of dirt. “Sure you don’t wanna come with?” Buffy asked him one more time.



“I would, I think, at this point,” Giles confessed. “But unfortunately I would need someone to do the spell for me. Someone has to stand outside of the circle. I doubt I can convince Willow to let me go like this. Or trust her with this kind of information,” he said sadly.



“Guess it’s goodbye then, mate,” Spike said. “Thanks for everything.”



“Yes, thank you, Giles,” Buffy said with tears in her eyes.



“You are both welcome. Just promise me that you will kick my arse right out of the malaise I seem to be in, and promise me that you’ll find each other. I need to know that someone somewhere is giving into the passion that is offered them,” he said adamantly as he lit the small bundle in his hands on fire.



“We promise,” Spike and Buffy said in unison.



Giles recited the ancient words as Buffy and Spike stood hand in hand, looking into one another’s eyes. As the leather burned in hands and disappeared so did the couple. Soon he was alone in the middle of a field in a world without hope. Even for vampires.



Chapter 8





The first thing Buffy noticed was that her hands were empty. No Spike. She opened her eyes. Great. The cemetery. The same one she’d left in. At least there were no big demons around. She got up and dusted herself off. Then she let out her senses. No Spike. Damn it. She knew logically he’d be wherever the Spike from this world was, but somehow she hadn’t really thought about it. Somehow she’d thought he’d be right here.



Now she had one goal. Locate Spike. How did one go about finding a vampire exactly?



She decided to start where she always did. Giles. She began the long walk from the cemetery to her Watcher’s. She felt Spike’s loss intensely. How could she possibly have become so dependent on someone in a mere forty-eight hours? It was ridiculous. Ridiculous, but true. She needed her Spike. She had a brief mental flash of just where he could be. Drusilla. She gave a fierce growl.



A shriek from an elderly woman on the street across from her made her realize what she’d just done. She’d growled. Really, really growled. Uh-oh. What had vamp Giles said about dimensional leftovers? She spotted a store window and walked over. She had a reflection. Good. She tried to go bumpy. Nothing. Good. With a sigh of relief, she continued on her way.



Nearly to Giles’ apartment she heard a scuffle. Stupid scuffle. She didn’t have time for Slayer duties at the moment. Didn’t the world understand she had a sort of boyfriend to find? She made her way through a hedge towards the scuffling noise. There in front of her were two vamps feeding off of some man who had obviously been trying to take the trash out.



Buffy jumped the dual diners, pulling them off what she feared was corpse. She pounced on the biggest one, penning him with her thighs while she reached down and ripped his head off. As the dust beneath her swirled she moved instinctively in the direction of the other, now fleeing, fledgling. She caught him just as he tried to leave through the same hedge she’d just entered. She pulled at his feet, scraping his face across the patchy grass as she did so. When his neck was clear of the shrubbery she bent down. She could have used a stake. She was sure she had one somewhere. Why she decided to twist his head off like the other guy, she really didn’t know. But it was fun.



Dust all settled. She got up to check on the homeowner. She walked over and leaned down, putting a hand to his neck to check for a pulse. There was none. He was dead. She felt only a slight bit of remorse at not reaching him quicker. She pulled her hand away, shrugging her shoulders. She couldn’t save them all. She made her way through the hedge and continued on to Giles’. She never noticed how she’d put her fingers in her mouth, sucking away the blood that coated them as she went.



She got to Giles and knocked. The door opened before she managed to finish the second knock. Nifty.



“Oh, Buffy,” Giles cried. “Thank heavens you’re safe.”



“Huh?” Buffy asked.



“You’ve been missing for two day,” Giles exclaimed. “I think that requires more than a ‘huh’. Don’t you?”



“I was. I was gone for two days,” Buffy said as she walked into the apartment.



Willow and Xander were sitting there. Eyes all puffy.



“I thought you guys were on a road trip? Why aren’t you road tripping?” Buffy asked as she took a seat.



“Because we thought you died!” Xander cried as he got up and wrapped her in a big hug. Then he pulled away and looked at her. “You didn’t die did you?”



Buffy laughed. “Nope. I just got attacked by these soccer players.”



“Soccer players?” Giles asked in confusion as he joined the others in the living room.



“Move,” Willow demanded as she pushed Xander out of the way to give Buffy her own hug.



Buffy hugged her best friend back fiercely. So happy to hear that everyone in the room had pulses. Wait a second. Since when could she hear pulses? She thought about the dead guy taking out his trash. She’d known. She’d known before she leaned down to check his pulse that he didn’t have one. She looked at Giles. She needed to tell them what happened but first she wanted to find Spike.



“These demons beat me up. I started it though. They were playing soccer and I interrupted. Anyway, got lost for a couple of days. I’m back now, though. Is my mom freaked?” Buffy asked, wanting to get all of this out of the way so she could concentrate on the important thing. Finding Spike.



“Yes, uh – no. She called. I said you had to go away suddenly on urgent Slayer business,” Giles explained.



“Well, be glad. You didn’t lie. Now, I need a bath and some sleep. Listen, Giles. If I wanted to track a vampire how exactly would I be able to do that?” Buffy asked.



“Why would you want to do that, Buffy?” Giles asked. He was completely unsatisfied with her explanations. Got lost. What did that mean? As soon as she’d had some rest he would have to see about having a serious conversation with her. She was hiding something.



“I just need to talk to someone. A vamp someone,” she said evasively.



Giles let out an exasperated breath. He should have known. It had to do with Angel. It always came back to that git. “Buffy, you don’t need to track him. I know where he is. He gave me his number.”



“He did!” Buffy cried, excitedly. “Where is it? I need it!”



“Angel was very explicit. He doesn’t want to talk with you. The number is only for emergencies,” Giles said.



“Yeah, Buffster,” Xander spoke up. “Talking to Angel will only lead to badness.”



“They’re right, Buffy. Much heartache. You don’t need anymore heartache,” Willow said softly.



Buffy looked at them all like they were speaking another language. “Angel. You have Angel’s number. I need it.”



“Buffy, I must insist,” Giles trailed off. It was useless. His Slayer was walking over to his phone book. Perhaps placing the number in there under ‘A’ for Angel wasn’t the most inconspicuous of places.



Buffy committed the number to memory. Then she turned around to her friends who were looking at her like she was one ball short of a Petanque set. “I’m going to go home. Kiss my mother. Take a shower. Call Angel. Get some sleep. I’ll explain more latter. I know you guys think I’m being weird. I wish I could explain. Well, I could explain…”



“Just go, Buffy,” Giles said in a pained voice. She was terrible at duplicity. It was not a pleasant thing to watch.



“Okay!” she said with a smile and took off. Out the door. Without even shutting it.



Giles walked over and closed the door. Then he turned to the others. “We’ll have to call Angel. She’s… I don’t know what is going on or where she’s been. I fear she may be suffering some kind of mental break down.”



Xander and Willow both nodded, dumbly. Then Xander offered everyone a big smile. “Hey, at least she’s not dead.”



Willow agreed. “There is that. That’s good, Giles.”



“Yes, quite.” Giles picked up the telephone. He hated talking to Angel. He couldn’t get the image of Jenny out of his head, spread on his bed, the smell of flowers in the air. He shook his head to clear it.



“Hello?”



“Angel? This is Rupert Giles.”



“Is something wrong with Buffy?” Angel asked anxiously.



“Yes, I’m afraid there is. She went missing for two days, and she just showed up here as if nothing happened. She said something about demons playing soccer and then asked for your phone number,” Giles explained.



Willow’s hand shot up and was promptly ignored by Giles who turned his back. She rolled her eyes. All she wanted to do was point out that Buffy hadn’t exactly asked for Angel’s phone number. She’d asked how to get a hold of a vampire. Not Angel. Giles had been the one to mention Angel. People didn’t think details were important. They always accused her of rambling, but a lot of it was just her need to get the facts out.



“I apologize. I did not intend for her to get your number. She rather took it, actually. She’s planning on calling you after she gets home. I just thought you should be prepared. Please let me know if she tells you anything useful.” Giles hung the phone up and looked at the kids in his living room.



“That man annoys the hell out of me. He acts like I’ve breached some sort of trust by letting Buffy have his phone number. Honestly. The nerve,” he huffed.





Buffy picked up the phone and punched in the numbers she’d memorized earlier. She’d kissed her mother. She’d showered. She’d even eaten half a sandwich. It was funny because she was starving but she couldn’t seem to get herself to eat the whole thing. Still, half made her mother happy. Now she just had to get Angel to tell her where Spike was.



“Buffy?” Angel’s voice came over the receiver.



Huh. No ‘hello’. Clearly Giles had been busy. “Yeah, it’s me,” she answered.



“I don’t think you should call here. We… It’s just better if we don’t…”



“Save it Angel. I’m not brooding over you,” Buffy told him, desperately trying to reign in her irritation. “I need to know if you’ve heard from your family lately.”



“That’s not amusing. You know I killed my family,” Angel said. What was wrong with her? Giles was right. Something was off.



Buffy had to bite her lip. He was such a prat. “No, Angel. Not that family. Your vampire family. You know, two childer. One dark haired and crazy. The other blonde and ho… hostile.” She’d almost said ‘hot’.



“No, I haven’t seen them. Why are you asking me about them?”



“Because I heard some demons talking about them, and I wondered if the rumors were true. If either of them had been seen near Sunnydale?” There. That sounded believable.



Angel gave a deep sigh. She was so obviously trying to come up with a reason just to speak with him. “Buffy, listen, sweetheart. It’s over. We can’t be together no matter how much we both want it.”



“Has Los Angeles made you loose your hearing? I asked about Spike and Drusilla, Angel,” Buffy said irritably.



“Fine. That’s how you want to play this? No. I haven’t heard from them. They don’t usually look me up. It’s not like we’re on the friendliest of terms, is it?” he asked. Why was she doing this? It was so… pathetic. Had he broken her this badly?



“How can I find out where they are?” Buffy asked.



“You can’t.”



“How would you do it?” she persisted.



“I can’t reach them like I once could. The bonds are too weak. Buffy, I’m ending this conversation. Don’t call here again unless it’s an emergency.”



Buffy stared at the phone and growled. He hung up. The asshole hung up on her. Buffy put the phone back in its cradle. She stood up and looked out the window. “Where are you Spike? Come home. Come home to me.”



Chapter 9 Warning: Spike/Other



Spike flew down the road in his blacked out car. “Taste like ashes! Bitch!” Spike hissed as he gripped the steering wheel tightly in his hands. Smoke was curling up from his skin. He didn’t care. He had one goal. Get to the Slayer. The fucking cunt who’d broken him and his dark princess up. Bitches the lot of them. Women sucked. And not in the good way. He’d show Dru. He’d kill the Slayer. He’d gorge on her blood. Go back to South America reekin’ of the beautiful blonde and not let Dru get a fang anywhere near him. Rub his success in her slime covered face. That’d do it.



Plan in mind he drove on. He listened to every kind of music Drusilla had ever expressed a dislike for. He listened to it loudly. He even went into a record store and swiped some Olivia Newton John CDs. Drusilla had hated the Aussie ever since she’d seen Grease. Jealous. It was funny how Let’s Get Physical could grow on a guy if he listened to it long enough.



The miles flew by. He didn’t stop to feed. He could feed on the Hellmouth. A driving need kept forcing him on. It was like a pressure on his chest. It was almost like a type of pain. He figured killing the Slayer would end it. He realized he was becoming obsessed with her. Okay, more obsessed. From the first moment he’d seen her tight little body dancing away he’d wanted her. He thought about fucking her as much as he thought about killing her. There was just something about this one. Something he couldn’t put a finger on. He felt his cock jump. Great. Now he was hard. He needed to get laid.



Days later he pulled into Sunnydale, running over the sign as tradition demanded. He pulled into a motel parking lot, intending on getting a room. He got out of the car and heard a sound. Feeding. He could really go for some of that.



He followed the sound around the corner. There by a dumpster was a blonde head buried in some guy’s neck. Perfect. Dinner and desert. Spike walked up in complete confidence.



“Hello, luv,” he purred. “Care to share with a bloke?”



The blonde head reluctantly tore itself from its not so hard won pleasure. “Find your own food!” the vampire hissed, but changed her mind instantly when she spotted the body attached to the voice. “What I mean to say is be my guest.”



Spike cocked his head, his tongue in his teeth as he walked over to the couple. “Got a name, beautiful?” he asked as he helped himself to some of her date.



“Harmony,” she giggled. “It’s my name. Are you new in town? Because I have a lair and everything.”



Spike finished the guy, dropping his dead body to the ground. “Do you now?” he asked. Things were looking up. He wasn’t normally attracted to blondes, but suddenly he had a craving. “Is that an invitation?”



Harmony nodded. “Oh yeah. Anything you want. I’m all yours.”



Spike laughed. Fuck this was easy. “I’ve got some wheels. Why don’t I take us back to our place? We can have a little fun before the sun comes up.”



“Okay,” Harmony agreed and followed him out of the alley.



Spike drove his car as close as possible to the spot the blousy blonde beside him had indicated. He turned the engine off. “Go on, girlie. I’m right behind you.” He got out of the car and followed the ass sashaying in front of him. A strange feeling of wrongness came over him. It was like a swell in his gut. He shook it off.



“This is it!” Harmony said to her new found goodness as she led him into a cave entrance.



“Nice,” Spike commented as they walked into an opening. He tried hard to not even see the unicorns. The rest was a bit of alright. “I like the bed, pet.”



“I bet I can make you like it even more,” Harmony said in what she hoped was her best bedroom voice.



“I just bet you can,” Spike told her.



Harmony giggled and then she started taking her clothes off.



Spike watched the girl disrobe. She was nice. Another point in time he would have found her fucking gorgeous. But not now. Thoughts of another blonde kept entering his head. The wrongness came back in double. He forced it back. He also forced something else. One of the best vampire tricks in the world was the erection. The erecting of the male penis was all about blood flow. A vampire could be hard anywhere anytime.



Harmony watched joyfully, feeling the power of her womanhood as his pants got a noticeable bulge in them. “Let me help you out with that, blondie bear.”



Spike nearly lost his concentration and his erection. Blondie bear. She had to be fucking kidding him. He felt his zipper go down and her cool mouth surround his member. He closed his eyes. He could do this. He’d done it before. Many times before. Can anyone say ‘Grand-sire’? Spike shuddered. Luckily, the stupid chit thought it was in pleasure.



Harmony let go when she felt she’d given him a proper seeing to. She didn’t want him to finish in her mouth. That was just yucky. She may be a vampire but she was still particular in what she allowed in her mouth.



Spike felt her unlatch and he swallowed a sigh of relief. He opened his eyes. She was on the bed. Bugger it. He climbed up on the bed and shoved himself inside the girl. Fine. He’d fuck her senseless.



Harmony couldn’t help the scream. She’d never had it so good. He was pounding her into the mattress. It was incredible. She felt her walls begin to clinch. Too soon. Her orgasm had come too soon! She gasped and stiffened as her whole body rode out the climax. Then she lay on the bed utterly spent and disappointed with herself. Oh, well. There would always be tomorrow.



Spike was relieved as hell. He pretended to get the job done and let the blood flow back to his brain where it wanted to be. He rolled over on his side, glad for once that vampire sexual etiquette didn’t require any kind of cuddling. He felt physically sick. What the hell was wrong with him? The girl was pretty. She was willing. She had a place for him to stay. Hell, even when he and Dru had been at the height of their honeymoon existence he hadn’t felt put off by sex with another woman. Not like this. Sex was just sex to a vampire. Like eating. It had to be the Slayer. She’d eluded him and nothing, no one, had ever done that before.



Killing her was becoming even more of a priority. He’d love to get his hands around her hot little neck. Squeeze it. Nuzzle it. Suck it. Bite it. Push against her. Feel her wrap her taught legs around him in response. Fuck he wanted her.



Spike sat straight up. Both Spikes. He looked down at little Spike. ‘Oh, now you want it. And with the bloody Slayer no less. You’re a sick fuck’ he mentally told off his penis. He lay back down and turned over on his stomach. He had to quit thinking about the Slayer. After an hour and a good wank he was finally able to get some sleep. Thoughts of the blonde and her glittering green eyes filling his head and his dreams.



The next night Spike had planned to go straight out. Find the Slayer. Kill the Slayer. But some nearly useless follower of Harmony’s said a magic word. He said Amarra. As in Gem of. Spike took the wimpy vampire aside and tortured him for information. Being the kind hearted bloke he was, he dusted the git when he was done. Then he rounded up every available vampire he could find. He had a change of plans. Find the bauble. Become invincible. Then seek out the Slayer. He tried desperately to ignore thoughts of the elusive blonde in the sunlight. Spinning around, golden arms outstretched.



Two weeks later he was nearly where he needed to be. He could almost feel the Gem beckoning to him. A few more hours of digging and it would be his. Unfortunately the stupid vamp bitch who had latched onto him like he was her sugar daddy and now was insisting he take her out. Out. Like she couldn’t fucking go out on her own. When it looked like she wasn’t going to just leave. Like she was going to sit and bitch at him all night. He gave up.



“Alright, Harm. We’ll go out,” he snapped.



“Yay!” she clapped her hands once. “You won’t regret this, Spikey. We’re gonna have fun. And I’m going to look amazing,” she promised.



Two hours later, fuck that woman took a long time to get ready for someone who couldn’t see her bleedin’ reflection, they were headed out into the night. To some frat party. Harmony had suggested it. Spike figured it would be the last place he’d find the Slayer. She was probably out protecting the streets of Sunnydale like a good little girl this time of night.



Chapter 10



Buffy was bored. She was bored and she was sad. She’d had zero luck in locating Spike. Not even Willie had been able to give her any info. Plus, how annoying had her friends and Watcher been? They’d started some kind of pep up Buffy plan. It involved the horrors of chic flicks. Buddy nights. Watcher and me classes – okay they were training sessions. Whatever. Now tonight she was on an actual date. She would have blown it off but Willow and Xander had accompanied her. Just to make sure. She was so screwed.



Buffy gave the dark haired boy with the overly thick eyebrows a tight smile. Did he really think she’d buy his shit? Fuck, he was a bore. She looked across the room to see if Xander and Willow were still watching her. Yep. So draining this asshole was out of the question. It was the first time since she’d discovered her little need for blood that she actually welcomed it.



The first few days after being back she’d been really sick. Completely upchucked everything she tried to eat. Her mother had even bought her a pregnancy test. Big negative. She tried to tell her mother to save the ten bucks but she wouldn’t listen. It wasn’t until Giles had called and told her sick or no she had to get herself up and about. Vampires in the cinema.



She’d met the gang at the back entrance, used her super strength which was surprisingly strong for someone so sickly, and busted open the service entrance. They split up. Stakes in hand. Buffy was careful to send the others in a vamp-free direction. Left. Right. Straight ahead. When the three had tottered off, she made her way unerringly to where the real party was.



She started staking the vamps in the middle of their suck fest. That’s when the hunger pains began hitting her again. By the time the last vamp was dust she was in complete agony. Doubled over on the ground. Lying in something wet and sticky. Blood. It was blood. She licked the floor clean. Thankfully, the one human left alive was passed out from blood loss and didn’t see her freakish actions. By the time Giles, Willow, and Xander had found her. She’d not only polished up the floor, but the remainder of the blood in the three victims in the workroom. The one who was still breathing she’d left alone. She still had her soul, after all.



Right now, said soul didn’t seem to matter much. She was imagining a thousand ways in which this jerk-off could die. And here she was wearing such a delectable ‘come fuck me’ shirt. Total waste. Not that she’d let anyone but Spike fuck her, but still.



“Buffy would you like to dance?” Parker asked. He was losing this one. He could tell. She just wasn’t taking the bait. Heck. He wasn’t sure if she could even see it. Or him. Her mind seemed to wander as much as her eyes. He suspected she’d been more aware of her two friends who’d insisted on tagging along than she was of him.



“Dance? Okay. I’ll dance,” Buffy said absently as she got up to follow him into the other room. Something at the back of her neck made her stop. She thought she’d felt it a few times over the past couple of weeks. A familiar pressure. A longing. She turned her head. Joy. There he was. And he was with Harmony. Buffy saw red. Her joy replaced by cold, driving rage.



Spike spotted the Slayer at the same time she spotted him. He nearly dropped the drunk ass whose arm was slung over his shoulder. He’d thought he felt her, but he seemed to always feel her these days. Like the whole fucking town was covered in her. Or maybe it was just him. “Slayer?” he said in confusion. Why was she looking at Harmony that way? Wasn’t he the big bad? She should be lookin’ at him!



Buffy moved away from Parker. She had rage and she had a clear target.



Spike watched in utter shock as the Slayer walked up to Harmony and grabbed her neck with one hand and began squeezing. Fucking hell. She was gonna pop her head off in front of all these onlookers. He didn’t know why he cared. Why he stopped her. But he dropped the drunken boy and stepped in. “Not here, Slayer,” Spike said.



Buffy ignored him. She squeezed harder.



Desperate now, Spike growled. “Stop!”



To his surprise she did. She didn’t let go of the girl, however. Instead she wrapped an arm around her and pulled her outside with Spike being forced to tag along after them.



Willow and Xander watched in horror. What had gotten into Buffy? Dusting vampires was a good thing but not in public! They followed their friend out, giving a lame excuse to Parker about Buffy needing her medication as they went. The boy seemed almost relieved, happily staying behind at the party.



Buffy drug Harmony outside and around to the side of the frat house. She stopped when they were out of the line of sight of any passers by. “Now?” she asked.



Spike was a little unsure she was talking to him.



“Blondie bear!” Harmony screamed. “Help me. Kill her!”



“Yeah, Slayer. Now’s good,” Spike said, wincing at the horrible nick name.



Buffy put her hand around the stupid bitch’s neck, lifted, and squeezed.



Xander and Willow came around the corner in time to see Harmony explode in a cloud of dust.



“Buffy seems to be having issues tonight,” Xander said, slightly squicked at seeing Buffy act so aggressively.



“Uh-huh,” Willow muttered. “And that was just Harmony. I can’t imagine what she’s going to do to Spike.”



Xander rubbed his neck. “It almost makes me feel sorry for the bleached wonder.”



Buffy turned to Spike with dark red eyes, her back to Xander and Willow. She looked him over and gave him a smile. Then his scent hit her. “You smell like the bitch,” she growled.



Spike’s dick was rock hard. It was taking every ounce of control he had to not jump her and just start dry humping her right there. Her growl helped to splash a little awareness on him. “Nifty upgrades, Slayer. They pass those out when you live through high school?” he asked, thinking of her eyes and her new voice register.



“You don’t know me, do you?” Buffy asked, ignoring his comments.



“You get knocked on the noggin or something? ‘Cause that would explain a thing or two. Course I know you. How could I possibly forget the annoying bint who’s ruined my every plan for the last couple of years?” Spike hissed.



Buffy smiled. “Good answer. I mean sucky answer in the big picture of things, but good answer in the little picture,” she said as she gave a meaningful glance at Spike’s crotch. At least he hadn’t cheated on her. He’s slept with Harmony, but he was completely unaware that he had a mate.



Spike followed her eyes and grabbed himself in protest. “Oi! I’ll have you know there ain’t nothin’ little about this.” He wagged his member.



Buffy laughed. “Fuck, I’ve missed you. Wanna dance?” Buffy asked, realizing she’d have to lead him into this. Something inside of him had to know her. To really know her. She needed to make a connection with that. Get her Spike back. Until then she needed to keep his interest up.



Spike bowed. “Love to.”



Buffy’s foot stretched out, sweeping at his feet. Spike laughed and jumped into the air. He sent out his fist as he landed, connecting squarely with her jaw. Buffy’s head jerked backwards. She felt blood fill her mouth and swallowed it down in glee.



Xander and Willow watched as the two mortal enemies kicked the shit out of each other. “Is she gonna pull a stake out anytime soon?” Willow wondered.



“I’m thinking maybe we should help,” Xander said as he brought his own stake out.



Buffy was having fun. She loved fighting Spike. Not as much as she loved fucking him. But anything was better than nothing.



Spike smelled the Slayer’s arousal. He couldn’t help feeling chuffed that it was him who caused it. He didn’t know what the hell had happened to her since he’d been gone but it was an improvement. He loved the eyes. “So, how’s Peaches?” he asked as he knocked her against the side of the house.



Buffy lifted her feet, using the house as support, and planted them squarely in his chest, throwing him backwards. “Peaches? Oh, you mean Angel! He’s good. He thinks I’m stalking him,” she giggled.



“Stalking him? That’d be a switch,” Spike laughed as he picked himself off the ground and ducked her right hook at the same time.



“I know! Could he possibly be more full of himself? He actually changed his phone number. He broke up with me did you know that?” Buffy asked as she used her elbow to dig into Spike’s ribs.



Spike grabbed his ribs. “Fuck, Slayer! That hurt. He broke up with you?” he weezed.



Buffy stopped for a moment. “You okay? I didn’t mean to break anything,” she asked worriedly.



Spike nodded not finding her question odd. “So, he just left or what?” He asked as he aimed a kick at her knee that she cleanly avoided.



“Yeah, broke up with me right before prom than took off after graduation. I had to call him awhile ago for some information and he thought I was calling to moon over him,” Buffy huffed as she landed against the side of the house again.



“Conceited prick!” Spike growled as he got a nice punch in.



Buffy held up a hand while she got her breath back. “That was a nice hit,” she said as she took up her fighting stance again.



“Thanks,” Spike said. “So he actually changed his phone number?”



Buffy giggled. “Yeah, but I broke into my Watcher’s house and found the new one. It was in a drawer on a sticky note by the phone. Amateur! I’ve been making crank calls ever since,” Buffy confessed.



It was Spike’s turn to hold up a hand as he started laughing so hard he couldn’t move. He heard Buffy join in with him. “Could you give me that number, luv? I’ve got a few…” he broke off as he was suddenly faced with a stake an inch away from his heart.



Buffy had seen Xander at the last moment. She was able to stop the stake but not her anger. She flung Xander across the yard with a vicious growl. “Mine!” she yelled, moving to go after the boy.



Willow didn’t know what was happening. One moment Buffy and Spike had been fighting, the next they were laughing. Xander seemed to get really angry at the laughing. All of the sudden he ran at Spike trying to stake him. Willow watched as Buffy intervened and Xander went flying through the air.



Buffy found herself caught up against a thin red head as she tried to get to Xander. She looked down. It was Willow. Willow was pushing against her, holding on for dear life, trying to keep her from reaching him. Buffy relaxed and lowered her head. She hoped neither of them had seen her eyes. She took several calming breaths.



“It’s okay, Xander. You can get up. I’m fine. I just lost it there for a minute,” Buffy called out.



Willow stepped away from her friend. She watched carefully as her eyes opened. Green. Just normal green Buffy eyes. For a moment Willow thought Buffy’s eyes had looked red. “I think maybe we should take you to Giles, Buffy,” Willow said in concern.



Xander got up but kept his distance. “Yeah. I’m with Willow. You’re acting freaky and you let Spike get away!” Xander pointed behind Buffy.



Buffy whipped her head around in time to see a flash of peroxide blonde disappear into the night. Fuck. And now she had to go get interrogated by her Watcher. She wondered if she could blame her weird behavior on Angel missage?



Chapter 11 Warning: A little angsty for a bit.



“So let me get this straight,” Giles said as he paced in front of the three seated teens for the twentieth time. “Buffy ripped Harmony’s head off…”



Xander raised his hand. “I’d go with ‘popped’. It was more of a pop,” he clarified.



“No, it was definitely a squeeze,” Willow argued.



“Fine. Poppled. Sqeezed. Semantics aside. Buffy removed the vampire’s head and thereby dusted her, but she just played around with Spike?” Giles asked, coming to a stop in front of them. Buffy was sandwiched between the other two, looking as if she’d bolt at any minute.



“I wasn’t playing around with him. We were just sort of catching up while we were fighting,” Buffy explained. She really wanted out of here. She wanted to go find Spike. Now that she knew he was definitely in Sunnydale she planned on fully stalking his ass. Much as Angel accused her of doing to him. Idiot.



“Once again, word clarification is highly unnecessary. What I want to know from you Buffy is why exactly you risked exposing your calling in front of a room full of people by attacking Harmony in the first place. Why you didn’t just stake her. And finally, why you so obviously let Spike go,” Giles said, placing his hands on his hips. He wanted answers from her this time. She’d been dancing around his questions for the last few weeks. He didn’t like it. He was growing increasingly worried about her mental state. So was Angel. The two of them had been keeping in close contact lately in regards to their Slayer.



Buffy gritted her teeth. She could just eat him. She could eat them all. Go find Spike. Sex him up. Claim him. She’d been reading up on that stuff. Eradicating Dru’s marks was fast becoming one of her most prevalent obsessions. That would have to wait, however. Now she really had to do some damage control. Eating them was a nice little fantasy but out of the question. Pesky soul.



Buffy let tears well up in her eyes. “I don’t know what’s wrong. I’ve just missed Angel so much. Spike is like his grandchild, you know?” She sniffed dramatically. “There is a part of him that lives inside of Spike.” She looked into her Watcher’s eyes and said in an Oscar worthy performance, “I’m desperate, Giles. I’ll take whatever I can get of him.”



Giles felt his own eyes moisten. This poor girl. What had Angel done to her? The hearts of young women were fragile things. He knelt down and took her hands in his own. “We’ll get through this, Buffy. You are not alone.”



“Yeah, Buffy,” Willow said, placing a hand on Buffy’s lower arm and accidentally brushing against Giles’ fingertips.



Buffy saw the way the two jumped a bit at the contact. Curious. “Thank you all so much,” Buffy sobbed.



Xander put his arm around Buffy’s shoulders. “It’ll be okay, Buffy. It just takes time.”



Giles let go of her hands and stood up. “Time and perhaps something else. I worried about this at the time, but I was hoping there would be no ill effects. That time and distance would sever any ties. But I’m afraid I was wrong.” Giles took off his glasses and began to give them a thorough cleaning. “Buffy I believe that when Angel drank from you when he was poisoned that he might have accidentally claimed you, and that is why you are feeling the way you are. It would certainly explain your strange behavior. The almost possessive way you acted towards Spike in regards to Harmony.”



A laugh tore out of Buffy that she was able to turn into a choking cough. Xander patted her on the back.



“I’m going to call Angel. He needs to come. We need to investigate this and take what measures we can to break the claim if it does indeed exist,” Giles said.



“You are going to call Angel here? Now?” Buffy squeaked. This was not good. This was really, really not good.



“I don’t want to, believe me, but I’m afraid I have no choice,” Giles stated forlornly.



Buffy shot up out of the sofa and ran to the door. “I have to go!” she yelled out as she threw it open.



Giles watched her run out. “Why exactly is it that she has ceased to be able to shut a door?”



Buffy ran. This was bad. When she got halfway to nowhere she stopped running. She had to find Spike. She had to concentrate. She forced herself to relax and let her senses out. There. A tiny thread. She began to follow the pull of the thread. Focusing in on just that one thing, allowing the rest of the world to fade away.



She went down into the sewers. Turn after turn she felt the connection grow. The thread was growing thicker. Almost like a rope. She heard a hiss and the world came back into sharp relief. Several vampires were standing before her. Fledglings. They appeared to be guarding the entrance to something. Buffy felt herself smile wide. A fight. Goody.



She made a step to throw herself into the group and then remembered the whole use a stake lecture she’d received from Willow and Xander on the way to Giles tonight. She pulled a stake from her back pocket with a long sigh. “Sorry, boys. I was gonna do this the fun way, but I’m trying to be a good little Slayer.”



The vamps all jumped her at once. She swung. She jabbed. She kicked. She even bit once, but only a little. Soon there was nothing but dust swirling in the air around her. She put the stake back and walked through the entrance. She smiled. Someone had been busy. What was Spike up to this time?



She heard the sound of power tools and followed. No need for the thread thingy. There he was. On a ladder. Wearing protective goggles. Only Spike could make protective goggles look hot. She climbed up on the ladder behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.



For one moment Spike thought Harmony was there to annoy him. Then he remembered that the annoying blonde was no more. That’s when he felt it. The strange tingling in his gut that let him know the Slayer was around. Not any Slayer. Just this one. He turned off the machine and set it on the top of the ladder. Then he pushed the goggles up on his head and looked down at her.



“Can I help you, Slayer?”



Buffy giggled and caught her bottom lip between her teeth. “Maybe. What else you got in the way of equipment around here?” she flirted.



Spike shook his head, unable to squelch the grin that her words caused. “What is up with you, missy? Lost that stake up your ass?”



Buffy laughed and wiggled her ass. “Why don’t you look and find out.”



Spike sucked in his cheeks and cocked his head. Then he turned so they were face to face. Her arms were still firmly wrapped around him, causing him to rub against her sex. His cock immediately came to attention. “I’d love to,” Spike whispered, answering her challenge.



“First, tell me what you’re doin’! Oh, and we have to hurry. You gotta leave town. Angel’s coming,” Buffy told him.



“I’m lookin’ for a little something. There’s supposed to be a bit of goods buried around here somewhere. Why would I need to leave if that prat’s coming? And why the hell is he coming anyway. Thought the two of you weren’t an item anymore,” Spike groused, surprised at how much he hated the thought of Angel going anywhere near her.



“Apparently Giles thinks I’m losing it. Goin’ a little loco. He thinks Angel claimed me when he bit me a couple of months ago. So he’s having him come here to break it or something,” Buffy explained. She really loved the feel of having him in her arms again. Though she could do without the ladder.



Spike growled. He grabbed her head and tilting it this way and that he examined her neck. He lowered his head to sniff at the two sets of bites that were clearly visible. “Looks like the Aurelius men have a thing for your neck, Slayer, but no claim from Angel or that even uglier old fuck. Did you kill him by the way?” Spike asked, still examining her neck. There was something here. It wasn’t Angel. He couldn’t quite figure out what it was. A particular spot on her neck was drawing him. He couldn’t see any bites; it was almost like the ghost of a bite. He pulled away and shook himself.



“I did kill him, yes,” Buffy answered. When he’d hovered over the spot he’d marked her – well, where his other self had marked her -- she’d had to stop herself from moaning.



“Good on you. Hated that ass. Slayer, why are you letting me so close? Letting a vampire right at your tender neck,” Spike asked as he absently ran a thumb across the ghost spot on her neck.



Buffy shivered and leaned into his touch. She was about to answer him when the ceiling above them came crashing down, revealing a large cavern above them. They shook the debris from their hair and looked up. Then they looked at each other with knowing smiles. Spike pushed himself through then he reached down to help Buffy up.



Buffy looked around. “Cool!” she exclaimed.



Spike laughed. “Very cool. This stuff will bring a hell of a price at auction.” He began rifling through things.



Buffy watched him. “Whatcha lookin’ for?” she asked.



“This mystical gem that will make me all invincible like,” he said.



“So your plan was to find this gem thingy and then come kill me, wasn’t it?” Buffy asked, annoyed.



Spike looked at her. What had her all brassed off? “Yeah, Slayer. It’s what I do, innit?”



Buffy’s shoulder tightened. “I suppose it is. There was the Order of Taraka after all.” She walked over to the hole they’d climbed through and jumped down.



Spike poked his head through. “What’s gotten up your butt?”



“I guess the stake’s still there, William. See ya around,” Buffy said sadly as she made her way out of the tunnel.



Spike watched her go, feelings of confusion and oddly enough loneliness coming over him. Of course he was here to kill her. Why else would he be here? Then again it wasn’t the killing her part that seemed to upset her. It was something else. He thought about the assassins he’d hired. Not his most shining of moments Big Bad wise.



He got up and resumed his search. He tried on several horrendous pieces of jewelry using his liter to test out each one. Giving himself the occasional burn. Hurt like a son of a bitch but it would be worth it. A ring caught his eyes. He put it on. Flicked the liter. Nothing. Nothing! “Fuck yeah!” he yelled, somewhat less excited than he would be if she were with him.



Now he was ready. There was nothing she could do to stop him. He looked down at the ring. That was it. That’s what had made her seem so… disappointed. She thought he was cheating. Taking the fight out of it all. Just a cold killing.



He thought about it then. Her death. Cold. Her lying cold and dead. No longer existing. A sharp pain shot through him, causing him to put a hand to his chest. Her not existing was not okay. It was very not okay. He looked down at the ring again. A new plan forming in his mind.



Chapter 12



By the time Buffy got home he was there. Sitting on her front porch. Looking forlorn. Looking sorry.



“Lucky for you my mom’s away,” Buffy grumbled.



He stood up. “Giles called. This has to stop.”



Buffy shrugged her shoulders. Hell, if Spike took her on armed with that gem thing it would stop. She suddenly felt very tired. “Angel. Go home. Giles doesn’t know what he’s talking about. You and I both know there’s no claim. Angelus was in charge that night, and I’m not exactly high on his list of top ten favorite things.”



Angel looked down at the ground. She’d be surprised at how wrong she was on that. How it was the soul that had come in and prevented the demon from claiming her that night. “We need to talk. I was wrong to leave without saying goodbye,” Angel admitted.



“So. Say it. Say the words, Angel, and then go home,” Buffy walked past him and put her hand on the door. “I’ve had a long night. I just want some sleep.”



Angel put a hand on her shoulder, trying not to notice the way she stiffened underneath him. “I’m going to be staying at Giles. Please come by tomorrow after your classes. We just want to help you,” he implored.



Buffy opened the door and stepped over the threshold. The one he wasn’t invited over. “Gee, that sounds like so much fun.” She looked up at the sky. “It will be light in a bit. Why don’t you go? I’ll show up tomorrow. I’ll let you and Giles do whatever it is you think you need to do, but then come dark you’ll leave.” She shut the door.



Angel stared at the door. Giles had said that she wasn’t handling his leaving very well. From the phone calls he’d felt the same. But seeing her in person… She didn’t seem like she was missing him. She seemed… off. Whatever was wrong, it was a good thing Giles had called. They needed to get to the bottom of this.





Buffy stumbled through classes. It was hard to concentrate today. Not that it was super easy for her on other days. She just wasn’t good at sitting still. But today she was especially distracted. There was the whole up and coming happy time with Angel and Giles. Then there was the real thing. Spike. Was there any part of the other Spike left? Did this world’s Spike absorb the other one so completely that he had no memories of her whatsoever? No desire for her? If so, he was truly lost to her. She was tired of loss.



She walked across campus, deep in thought. She caught sight of Willow talking to Riley. The TA from psychology. She was probably trying to talk the poor guy into asking her out like she’d done with Parker. A sudden tingling at the back of her neck had her turning around. There he was. Standing in the sunlight, arms spread wide, turning around with his face in the sun. When he stopped he looked at her and smiled.



She didn’t mean to smile back, but she couldn’t help it. He looked so pleased. Like a little boy with a new toy. She walked over to him, away from the eyes of her friend and her potential future date. “Think you’ll freckle?”



“Doubt it,” he said putting his hands at his sides. He felt nervous. Jittery.



“Well, I think we ought to make this more private, don’t you?” Buffy asked. “I’m sure we can find another patch of sunlight that you can kill me in without witnesses.”



Spike heard the tone in her voice and flinched. She sounded so resigned. So beaten. “Was thinking maybe we could do something else,” he told her.



Buffy took in a deep breath and held it. Then she closed her eyes and let it out slowly, wishing she could let everything out like that. “Like what, Spike? A little rape. A little torture. I’m bored already. Let’s just go somewhere quick and get this over with. There’s more out there. I know it. Death might just be a new beginning for me.”



“I think maybe you’ve got some multiple personality thing going, Slayer. Last night you were all sassy and spunky. Full of fun. The kind of girl I could… Never mind. Than today you’re just willing to lie down and die. What’s up?” He moved closer to her.



Buffy laughed. “I fell in love. In retrospect it wasn’t the smartest of things to do,” she told him.



“With Peaches? I should think not,” Spike cried, annoyed that she’d mentioned her great and tragic love affair. “But don’t let that arse make you suicidal!”



“As if. You really don’t listen. No one does,” Buffy huffed as she turned around. “If you aren’t going to kill me, you’ll have to excuse me. I’m supposed to go to my Watcher’s. Angel’s there. They are going to try and figure out what’s wrong with me. Some kind of claiming cleansing or something.”



Spike watched her walk away. He was going to let her go. Figured his plan to ask her out was probably a bust. But then she’d said ‘claiming cleansing’ and all of the sudden he found himself in game face. He rushed her. Grabbed her arms. Whirled her around. And he kissed her thoroughly.



Buffy felt his tongue enter her mouth and every other thought she’d had was gone. In their place was Spike. Her head and her heart were full of him. She pushed her hands inside of his coat, wrapping them around his waist. He tasted so good. So right.



Spike realized that Buffy wasn’t pushing him away. In fact she was kissing him back. He’d thought for sure she would be either disgusted or amused by any advances he made on her. But he was occasionally a gambling man. This time it paid off. “Wanna go for a walk, Slayer?” he asked as he broke the kiss.



“I’d like that,” Buffy admitted breathlessly as she let go of his waist and slipped her hand in his.



Spike felt the way she leaned into him as they walked. It made him feel solid. More real than he’d ever felt before. They came to a place on the edge of campus where the school had long ago planted a copse of trees. It was filled with dappled shade. Spike took off his coat and spread it on the ground. Then he took her hand and pulled her down to sit on the coat beside him.



Buffy leaned back on her elbows with her face lifted toward the sky. “It’s really pretty today,” she said quietly.



Spike was looking at her. “Yeah, it is, luv.”



“You really want to know what’s been going on with me, Spike?” Buffy asked.



He smiled. “Have to admit to being a bit curious. First thing you do when you spot me is kill my girlfriend. Not very nice of you,” he teased.



Buffy growled and turned red eyes on him. “Tell me that ho was not really your girlfriend, William!”



Spike tensed. “She thought she was. But no. What do you care anyway? And what’s up with the growlies and the eyes?”



“I was going to tell you, but then you had to go and mention Harmony. Harmony, Spike!” she exclaimed in disgust.



“Look I needed a place to stay. She had minions and everything. It was a thing. Trust me, it wasn’t about the sex. Had to fake that,” he grumbled.



Buffy felt her eyes bleed back to green. “You faked it? I didn’t even know guys could do that!” She laughed.



“Laugh it up. It’s not pleasant. Now enough about my pathetic sex life. You were about to reveal all,” Spike reminded her as he turned on his side to prop his head up on the palm of his hand.



Buffy turned to face him. She took her hand and drew her hair back off her neck, exposing the side where his bites no longer lay but could still be felt by her. “Taste and see,” she whispered.



Spike felt his dick jump and he closed his eyes for composure. “Are you actually offering me a taste of your blood? Willingly?”



Buffy giggled. “You are so cute when you’re struggling for control. I love that I can do that to you.”



Spike opened his eyes and looked at her, annoyance helping to ground him. “And just how the heck do you know that you make me lose control?”



Buffy gave him a hard, pointed look. “The Order of Taraka. The freakin’ Gem of Amarra. A vamp in control doesn’t need that shit. You’re above that, Spike. At least with me. We’re equals. A fight between us should be a thing of glory,” she said passionately.



“You’re right. I’m sorry, Buffy,” he said quietly.



“Good. Now bite me,” she demanded, tilting her head invitingly.



“Just remember that you asked,” he warned before moving in on her. He wrapped one arm around her waist and drew her tightly against him, giving just a bit of a grind. Then he bent over her and sank his fangs into her tender neck.



Buffy couldn’t help the leg that stole over his. She needed to get as close to him as possible. Crawl in his skin if she could. She felt her own fangs descend and had to force herself to not bite him back.



The moment her blood hit his tongue Spike knew. She was his. His girl. He swallowed, feeling the blood fill him like nothing had before. He could have let go then. But he didn’t. He stayed there, just nursing at the source of his pleasure.



Buffy ran her hand through his hair, holding him to her. She felt a sob rise up her throat and was powerless to stop it.



Spike heard and he let go. He licked the wounds and then laid her gently back on his coat. “Love?” he asked, worried.



“I’m okay. Just emotional,” she admitted. “Do you know who I am now?”



Spike looked into her eyes. “You’re Buffy and you’re mine. I have no idea how, but you are definitely mine.”



“Yes,” she cried. “Exactly.”



Spike lay down and gathered her against him. “Care to explain how this came about?”



“Soccer players,” Buffy said.



“First off they’re football players, damn it, and second – what?” he asked in confusion.



Buffy laughed. “I came across this little demon being used by these big demons for some footie. I stopped them, but they seriously kicked my ass. There was no way I was going to walk away from the fight. The little demon guy rubbed some of his blood on my lips. The next thing I knew I was in this other world. One that actually is a shoot off from this world. But in the other world – let’s call it Vamp World – I was killed by the Master and he’d wiped out all of the humans. Totally not good. You guys had to eat pigs’ blood and everything was totally boring. It’s like you were all a bunch of humans only with a definite Nazi touch. I was a vamp there, I guess because humans didn’t exist or whatever. Anyway, I found you. You were going to help me get back home, but we fell in love. Well, I don’t know if you were actually in love with me yet or not. But you were definitely starting to fall. You decided to come with me.”



Spike didn’t like her story. He unwrapped his arms and moved away. “So, I’m just some replacement for another me. One that got your rocks off or something,” he stated in a cold, cold voice.



Buffy felt the loss of him at her side intensely. “What? No. It doesn’t work like that. This wasn’t a completely separate dimension. That world came from this world. We are still who we are. It’s an exact copy of us. The you there and the you here are one in the same. In fact, when you followed me here you were absorbed right into you. See, one in the same.” Buffy was desperate to get him to understand.



Spike stood up. “I see perfectly. You and your boyfriend thought you’d use me like some sort of host. He could just jump right in and the two of you could go off and live happily ever after. It’s no wonder Drusilla left me. She said I was covered in you. But it wasn’t really me, was it? It was your parasitic boyfriend!”



Buffy felt a white hot pain shoot through her. She steadied herself and then slowly came to a stand, picking up his coat on the way. She held the black leather out to him. “You’re right. We didn’t think. It was all happening way too fast. Drusilla said we had to go, that Darla and the Master were going to come for me. We ran. We did the spell without thinking about all of the consequences. I’m sorry, Spike. I’ll take care of everything. I won’t bother you again.”



Spike took his coat, slipping into it, trying to ignore the way their scents mingled in the lining. “I got what I came for.” He flashed the ring at her. “I’ll be on my way. I have had enough of this hell-hole.”



Buffy gave him a tight smile, and then she walked away.



Spike watched her go. It hurt. But he comforted himself with the fact that it wasn’t his hurt. It was someone else’s. Some other him.



Chapter 13



Buffy walked into Giles apartment with her eyes unfocused. There was so much pain. He was right, though. They’d done wrong by him. She was going to fix things the best she could. “There is a claim. I need you to break it. Only it’s not with Angel. It’s with Spike,” she said.



Giles and Angel looked up at her in complete shock.



Buffy tilted her neck, showing off the bites there. Thanks to her Slayer healing they’d closed enough to not look completely fresh by the time she walked in. “He’s willing to have it broken. That should help.”



“How did this happen?” Giles asked.



“It happened during the time I was missing. I fell into another world for a couple of days. I was going to tell you about it once I talked to him, but I don’t think I can now. I’m sorry. Maybe someday. Just… just for now please make it go away,” she cried.



Angel stood up and walked over to her. He sniffed at her neck and winced. “Yeah, Giles. She’s claimed.” He put a hand under her chin and tilted her to look up at him. “So, that’s why you called? Why you asked if I’d heard from them? You were looking for Spike.”



“Yeah,” Buffy admitted. “Sorry, for the other calls. You just annoyed me.”



Angel laughed. “It’s okay. Cordelia’s pissed though. She had to get new cards printed and everything.”



Buffy gave a wobbly smile. “Can it be taken away?”



Angel nodded. “Yes. It’s not easy though. I’m going to have to draw your blood out. Bite you myself. We’ll need fresh blood for you. An IV.” He looked at Giles. “Can you get something like that?”



Giles nodded. “Yes. Is this going to be painful for her?”



“Very,” Angel confirmed.



“The Council knows little about breaking claims,” Giles admitted.



“So do most vampires. It’s not a common process. I’ve never even heard of it being done with a human. Usually they’re just killed. But vampires undergo this ritual. It’s very rare. I saw it done once a couple hundred years ago. Some vampires in Italy. The female’s mate had suffered brain damage and it was causing her to go into a coma. If they staked him she would likely follow into death. Her family wanted her to have the choice to live without him. She was a favored childe. So they did the ritual,” Angel explained.



“What happened to her? Was she okay?” Buffy asked.



Angel looked at her. “Her mind was restored but her spirit was broken. She picked her lover up and went up on a hill. They met the sunrise together.”



Buffy’s eyes filled with tears and her chin wobbled. “Oh,” she said in a choked voice.



“It won’t be like that, Buffy,” Angel promised as he gathered her close. “You haven’t been mated to Spike for eighty years like these two had been. You’ll see. You’ll be fine.”



“Okay,” Buffy quietly.



“It will take me a few hours to get the medical supplies,” Giles said.



“Okay,” Buffy mumbled again, moving out of Angel’s arms. “I’m just going to go out for a bit. Get something to eat. I’ll come back before dark. I promise.”



“Alright, Buffy,” Giles said.



Buffy turned and walked out the door, shutting it softly behind her. She needed a drink. She also needed blood. She made a beeline to where she knew she could get both. Good ol’ Willies.



Spike was working on a tall glass of beer. He had the Desoto loaded with the loot he hadn’t placed with the demon he knew that did auctions. He was gonna blow this town just as soon as he finished this beer. He’d leave and never come back.



Buffy walked in and headed over to the counter. She felt Spike. She really didn’t care. Nothing much mattered right now except easing her bloodlust and her heartache with a little liquid comfort.



Willy knew it was bad when the Slayer was paying. He took the ten she’d put on the counter and he made her one of his specials. She’d come to him over a week ago to hassle him for blood. He’d designed this drink just for her. It was a mixture of blood, vodka, and ginger ale. “Bad day?” he asked as he placed the drink in front of her.



She looked up at him with wide green eyes. “Bad day, Willy. I might need a couple of these. The night promises to be even worse than the day.”



Willy laughed as he went to make her another. It really must be bad if she was actually joking with him. He kind of liked the girl, truth be told. She was spunky and she had a good heart. Not a lot of those out there.



Spike watched her. He knew she could feel him. She never once even looked his way. When she’d first come in he thought for sure it was to make some pitiful attempt to get him to stay. But she’d just walked over and sat down at the bar. Now she was drinking what distinctly smelled like blood. Must have something to do with the claim. He didn’t know too much about these things. It wasn’t like Dru had ever cared enough to participate in one with him. Not even a one way let alone the dual thing he’d tasted in the Slayer’s blood.



Buffy drank down the nourishing liquid, enjoying the slight burning at the back of her throat. It wasn’t the coming pain that Angel said she’d feel. Pain she could handle. Even the emotional pain. It wasn’t like she’d live that long anyway. No, it was willingly letting Angel bite her. She felt like she was betraying Spike.



“So, Slayer. You find away to take care of our little problem or you planning on just getting drunk,” Spike asked as he took a seat beside her.



“It will be done by morning, Spike.” Buffy still didn’t look at him. She just stared at her drink.



“Call me a Doubting Thomas, but I wouldn’t mind hearing some details on this. It does affect me after all,” he said, somewhat annoyed that she wouldn’t look at him.



“It won’t. Details don’t matter. You don’t have to do anything. I get to keep all the fun to myself,” she laughed bitterly, taking a long drink. She pushed the now empty glass away and reached for another. “You should get on the road if you’re planning on leaving today. Angel said it’s going to hurt. I’m pretty sure he just meant me, ‘cause I’m the one getting bitten and getting the transfusion, but just in case, you don’t want to be on the road. We’re going to start at dusk,” she said.



Spike grabbed her arm roughly. “What do you mean you’ll be the one getting bit? Why do you need to get bit? Did Angel tell you this?”



When she didn’t answer he gripped her harder and forced her to look at him. “Did he?”



His voice was low and dangerous. For some reason it made her laugh.



“This isn’t funny, Slayer. I want to know what the fuck he’s going to do!” Spike hissed, his eyes going blood red.



Buffy put a hand to her mouth to stifle a sob. He looked like hers. Like this he looked like her guy. “Two days. It seems wrong,” she said through her tears. “You shouldn’t be able to fall in love in two days. Doesn’t that just seem wrong to you? Like the universe is cheating!” She jerked her arm out of his and turned back to her drink. “Please leave, Spike.”



He watched her guzzle down the rest of her drink and stand up. She stood a little too quickly though and he had to grab her arm again to steady her.



Buffy jerked her arm out of his hand. “Let go of me,” she growled. She took two steps back and then turned around and walked away. “Goodbye, Spike.”



Spike laughed. “Not gonna happen. Not like this. Not with him,” he hissed as he followed her out of the bar and into the fading sunlight.



“Fine,” she said, changing direction.



“Where are you going?” he asked.



“Cemetery. I didn’t see any vamps back in Willies. I figure come dark a few will be out waiting for some new idiot to rise. I’ll grab one and take him back to Giles. Then Angel doesn’t have to bite me and you don’t have to feel like your losing someone to him again, alright?” She walked faster hoping he’d just let her be.



For some reason that didn’t comfort him anymore than the thought of Angel biting her. “I don’t want anyone to bite you, damn it. If there’s a transfusion why the hell does there have to be a bite?”



“I think it has something to do with breaking the bond,” she said, stopping. “Please, Spike. I know you’re mad. I understand. I really do. And I’m trying to make amends. But try and see how hard this is for me. I’m not like you. I have all of the memories. I remember what it’s like to be held by you. What its like to feel my teeth inside of your neck, with all of you inside of me. I remember what its like to laugh with you. I’ve never laughed so much or smiled so much as I did when I was with you. We were in this horrible situation and yet we had so much fun. I know exactly what I’m losing, and I hate it. I just want to get it done so I can go on with slaying and with college. Just go. Don’t make this harder on me than it is. Please,” she begged.



“Fine,” Spike said, feeling a little shell shocked by her words. “Let Angel do it. I’ll go.”



Buffy closed her eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered. When she opened her eyes they were red again. She gave him a saucy little smile. “Now, I’m gonna go beat something up. I mean it’s a shame to have walked this close to the cemetery without getting a little fun in. Maybe I can get covered in demon guts. A little something to turn Angel’s stomach when he goes for my neck!”



“You do that, Slayer,” Spike said. He stood rooted to the ground as she took off. Everything inside of him was telling him to stop her. To stop the breaking of the bond. He repeated over and over again in his head that it wasn’t him feeling this way. It was that other guy. The Spike lucky enough to get the girl for once. That sure as hell wasn’t him. He never got the girl.



A tiny laugh from the bushes behind him reached his ears. He turned around and looked down. “Who’s there?” he asked in irritation. He didn’t feel like playing at the moment.



A small, brown, hairy demon came out. “You wrong. You always get girl, you just don’t always know how to hold onto her,” the demon said.



“What would you know about it?” Spike asked.



“I know lot. Been around for three thousand years. My mate around even longer. He die here. At Hellmouth. The Slayer tried to stop it. She jump right in even though she outnumbered, even though she knew she never walk away. My mate sent me images at death. A goodbye card. He also sent me image of his gift. You and this Slayer were to get together later in this world, after she suffer great tragedy. Unfortunately, it end bad. You loose girl through sacrifice and then fear. But for a while. A brief while, mind you, you have girl. He was trying to help you. To help her. Save her sure by sending her away from the demons, but more than anything to help her get to you. She’s always safest with you.”



Spike digested what she was saying. “Wait a minute, you’re telling me that this world or another I get her. I always get her.” He pointed in the direction Buffy had disappeared in.



The tiny demon smiled sadly. “Yes, William. You always get her. You just don’t always know what to do with her.”



“What about the me that’s stuck inside of me? He didn’t get her. Not the her of his world. He got my her. How the hell does that count!” Spike yelled.



“His world never meant to be. It taken off of this world. That only way my mate could do it. Could send her to you. At time of his death you in bed with Drusilla. This sweet Slayer would have died instantly. So he reach into the possibilities and find way. A way to keep her safe and happy,” she shook her head. “Shame didn’t last.”



Spike looked down to say something to her but she was gone. He looked back up to where Buffy had gone. “My girl. My slayer. You hear that inner me? She was mine. Never meant to be yours. She was always meant to be mine! So, take that!” Spike shouted triumphantly. Then he realized just what he was saying. “Shit!” he yelled and started running.



Buffy couldn’t find anything to pummel but the run through the cemetery had done her good. She arrived at Giles resigned. Somehow telling Spike about Angel had made her feel better about it all. Took the whole creepy adultery and betrayal feeling away. “Okay, boys. I’m ready. De-claim me,” she said as she walked in.



Chapter 14



Spike ran through every damn cemetery Sunnydale had. He couldn’t find her. He started to panic. Watcher’s. Her Watcher’s. She must be at her Watcher’s. He took off running in the direction of town. He made a point to feel her. He hadn’t tried that before. Instantly a thread opened up to him. She was still his.



Buffy was lying on Giles’ table. Waiting. Waiting. More waiting. “What exactly is taking so long?” She could feel Spike. It was almost like he was trying to contact her. “If we are going to do this, we need to hurry.”



Angel looked at her funny. “I agree on getting this done, but what’s wrong?” He had no idea why Giles suddenly claimed he was having trouble with the tubes. Everything seemed fine then suddenly he saw Giles’ shoulders get all stiff. Now there were problems. If Angel didn’t know any better he’d say Giles was stalling.



“I don’t know. I just feel weird,” she said. “I feel Spike. Strongly.”



Angel’s brows drew together. “Like the claim is getting stronger?”



“I don’t know, Angel! It’s not like I got a manual on this, is it?” she sassed.



Giles chuckled.



Both Angel and Buffy turned to look at him.



“Are you feeling okay, Giles?” Angel asked.



Before Giles could answer the front door burst open revealing Oz, Willow, and Xander. The three young people took one look at the equipment and Buffy lying on the table and a chorus of questions burst out. Even from Oz.



Buffy had expected Giles to start explaining. What she hadn’t expected him to do, and certainly what Willow hadn’t expected him to do, was to walk up to the redhead and push her up against the wall, kissing her passionately.



Willow was beyond shocked. Then she was beyond aroused. She’d always had a secret crush on Giles but felt certain he’d never look beyond the age thing. So she’d pushed it down, ignored it, and grabbed what she could. Now here it was. He was kissing her. She figured there was a good chance he was possessed or it was a spell, but she decided she didn’t give a damn. She wrapped her legs around his waist. Her arms around his neck. Then she kissed him back, giving him all of the passion she had kept deep inside.



“Giles!” Buffy yelled. “You came!”



Giles broke the kiss. “Not yet, but I hope to soon,” he quipped.



Xander pointed a finger at the man. “That is not Giles! Giles would never say that!”



Oz looked pained. He turned his head to Willow. “Wills?”



“I’m sorry, Oz,” she said, meaning it. She was very sorry that she was hurting him again, but at the same time she’d seen the way he’d been looking at the girl in that band.



He just shook his head and turned and walked out the door. Something inside of him had always told him it wasn’t a forever kind of love, but he’d ignored it. He should have listened. He should have listened the first time it happened.



Giles watched the boy go. Then he looked down at the gorgeous woman in his arms. “I’m sorry, Willow, but he wasn’t the right man for you.”



Willow looked him in the eye. “And you are?”



“Oh, yes,” he said passionately as he claimed her mouth again.



Xander watched the goings on with his gaping jaw resting firmly against his chest. He was just about to try and form some kind of coherent protest when suddenly; Angel, Giles, and Buffy all turned their heads to the door.



Giles called out, “Spike, come in!”



Before Xander could figure out exactly what that meant the front door opened yet again. This time it was the bleached menace.



Spike walked through the door. “Thanks for the invite, mate,” he called out to the Watcher.



“You’re quite welcome,” Giles said.



Spike walked over to the table. He could tell that Angel hadn’t so much as licked her. He smiled down at her. “Slayer. You are mine. Mine. Do you understand?”



Buffy broke into a brilliant smile and nodded her head.



“Good,” Spike leaned over and gave her a gentle kiss. “Now, let’s get the hell out of here.”



“Stop!” Angel yelled. He looked around the room. “What’s going on here? Why is Giles tonguing Willow and why do you suddenly want Buffy?”



“I’ve always wanted Buffy,” Spike said. “As for the Watcher. Guess he suddenly grew a pair.”



Buffy and Giles both laughed knowingly.



Buffy jumped off the table and into Spike’s arms. “I don’t know what made you change your mind,” she cried. “But I’m so glad you did.”



“A little demon. I’ll tell you all about it later,” he promised as he led her to the door, past a still gaping Xander and away from a confused Angel.



As they stepped over the threshold, Giles called out. “By the by, if you do the circular bite again he’ll remember everything.”



“How come you are all knowing guy?” Buffy asked curiously.



“I had a very powerful witch help me with this spell. She wishes me well.” Giles looked down at Willow. “She wishes us both well.”



Buffy felt her eyes grow moist. “That’s so sweet.”



“Come on kitten,” Spike said, pulling her out the door. “Does he mean the bite I think he means?”



“Yeah,” Buffy purred. “My mom’s gone. Come home with me and I’ll show you just what he means.”



“I will follow you anywhere, Summers,” Spike promised.



“I know you will, William.”



Epilogue



Spike thought having his cock buried in the Slayer was as good as it could get. It was certainly better than anything he’d felt before, but now… Now everything had changed. His fangs. Her fangs. Their blood. With one bite his world had rolled over into another. He had memories of another life. A terrible life right up until the time a fiery little blonde appeared.



Buffy felt his blood hit her tongue and she was lost. It was like coming home all over again. She knew he felt it too. She could taste the knowledge in his blood. She could also taste the love and incredible tenderness he held for her. This was her guy. Old Spike. New Spike. It was all Spike, and that was the reality of it. She suddenly understood everything. It didn’t matter what world she found herself in, one way or another she’d find her way to him. He was her other half, corny or not.



When the Spike tasted his own blood, filtered reverently through his beloved’s body, on his tongue, he allowed himself four more long pulls. Then he released her, laving at the side of her neck.



“Spike,” Buffy begged. “Look at me, baby. Look at me.”



Spike turned so that he was staring down into her eyes. Blood red again. Only this time he knew exactly why they were red. It was power. Their power. It was what they were when they were together. “I never knew,” he said in a broken voice.



Buffy reached a hand up and ran it tenderly over his cheek as she stared into his equally brilliant orbs. “Never knew what, my love?”



“What it was like to be whole. To be loved like this. Thank you,” he whispered, moving in so that the last word was said against her lips.







“This is us, Spike. This is what we’re capable of. Angel. Drusilla. They only play at love. This is real love. This is what you give to me,” Buffy whispered into his mouth.



Spike kissed her then.



When he finally pulled away they both felt a little drunk. That’s when he remembered he was still nestled inside of her. He laughed as he started to move in and out. It was the first time he could remember laughing during sex when it didn’t involve the pain of another. This was something new. Everything about her felt new and yet familiar at the same time.



Buffy slipped effortlessly into rhythm with him. For no reason at all one or the other would burst out into joyous laughter. It wasn’t awkward. It wasn’t a turn off. It was just a part of the healing. A great breath of relief for the very near miss they’d just had.



Eventually, Spike felt her walls tighten around him, felt her thighs grip his hips, heard her breath catch in the back of her throat, saw her lips part and mouth form a little ‘oh’. He let himself go, pouring his seed inside of her. Before it had seemed like a useless function. There was no life he could offer by this means. But now, with Buffy, the knowledge that a part of him coated her deeply inside made him feel like purring. He collapsed against her, laughing once again.



Buffy held him to her chest; her fingers were running through his hair. “Do you remember now?” she asked hesitantly, scared he would feel cheated again somehow.



Spike sucked a nipple into his mouth and then let it go. “Yeah, I do. I’m me. I’m all of me. I remember that other world and this one. Or at least I remember the two points from which they shifted. It’s like I have a complete set of memories for both.”



“So you’re okay with everything now?” Buffy asked, needing to be sure.



Spike laughed once again as he looked up at her. “Very okay, Imelda.”



Buffy tried to look stern, but she ended up breaking into laughter herself. “That’s a horrible name: Imelda Spearwhatsit Aurelius. That’s not even slightly believable.”



“Well, it worked for the two coppers,” Spike pointed out playfully.



“Yeah, well they weren’t exactly the sharpest knives in the weapons chest, if you know what I mean,” Buffy replied.



“I’m glad to be here. It was worth it. Being confused like that. Leaving behind Drusilla. It was all worth it to be here with you,” Spike declared.



Buffy got a funny look in her eyes. “She’s here, too. Drusilla. If you want…”



“Are you nuts?” Spike yelled. “You aren’t ever getting rid of me, Summers. Not ever. Got it?”



A beautiful smile broke over Buffy’s face. “Got it,” she affirmed. “I love you, Spike.”



A look of extreme tenderness came into the master vampire’s eyes. “I know, Buffy. I love you, too. So much. Everything’s going to be okay. We got Giles. We got super powers. We got love. What more could we ask for?”



Buffy heard a car door slam and winced. “A place of our own?”



“So how is your mother going to take all of this anyway?” Spike asked.



Buffy’s eyes flashed. “She either accepts it or we eat her,” she growled.



Spike’s eyebrows rose. “Really?” he asked, liking her wicked side, but also remembering how fond he was of Buffy’s mum.



Buffy broke into another laugh. “No, just kidding!”



“Good,” Spike said in relief. “Joyce is good people.”



“Not that good,” Joyce’s voice sounded harshly from the door as she threw it open. “Care to explain what you’re doing, Buffy?”



“Having sex with, Spike,” Buffy answered unabashedly.



Spike on the other hand was actually blushing. He rolled over and pulled the blanket over himself at the same time. “Mrs. Summers, I can explain,” he began.



“Let me guess,” Joyce interrupted, “you’re having sex with Buffy?”



“Well, yeah, but…”



“No buts. I want the two of you dressed and downstairs with an explanation of ‘why’ and not ‘what’ in five minutes,” Joyce demanded.

When the door was shut, Spike turned to Buffy. “She’s scary as hell, that woman is.”



“No kidding,” Buffy grumbled as she hoped off the bed and started throwing her clothes on.



Spike followed suit and soon the two of them were dressed, but they were hardly ready. “Maybe you should pack a bag or something, luv,” Spike suggested.



“What for?” Buffy asked in confusion.



Spike just looked at her for a moment. Then he sighed. “Do you actually think I’m capable of being apart from you? I understand that you’ve got school ahead of you and all, but your nights belong to me. I’ll patrol with you, but when that’s done you, little missy, are all mine. Got it?”



Buffy smiled at him. “Got it.” She walked over to her closet and pulled out a large, striped bag. She began throwing things into it with Spike adding the occasional frilly undergarment that he found in her drawers. A short stop in the bathroom and they were as ready to facing Joyce as either of them were capable of.



Joyce was sitting on the couch. She’d thought Giles’ rushed excuse about Buffy’s whereabouts was suspicious. Obviously something big had happened.



Spike was the first to speak as they came into the room. “I love your daughter, Joyce. I love her with all of my heart and I will never stop loving her. I will fight by her side. She will not die an early death like all of the other Slayers. Not so long as I walk this earth.”



Joyce had expected a lot of things. But somehow, she hadn’t expected that. Lust spell. Sure. Marriage spell. Sure. Actual love between her daughter and the bleached blonde vampire in front of her. Not so much. “When did this happen?”



“It always happens,” Spike said. “I ran into a demon tonight, one whose mate had saved Buffy’s life.” He pulled her hand up to his mouth for a kiss, hating the thought of how close he’d come to losing her. “This demon explained that Buffy and I are meant to be. We are always meant to be. It doesn’t matter what world. What time. If there is a Buffy. There is a Spike, or William. And there is an us. We’ve been lucky enough to be given a heads up in this place. A golden opportunity and neither of us whishes to waist a moment of it.”



Joyce looked at Buffy. So far Spike had done all of the talking. “Buffy?”



Buffy wasn’t paying her mother any attention, however. Her eyes were trained on her mate. “I love you so much,” she said with a cry.



Spike pulled her in close to him and gave her tender kiss. “Love you, too, kitten. Always.”



That’s when Joyce knew. She knew her daughter had found her soul mate. Her other half. Whatever people wanted to call it. Buffy was complete. “You have my blessing,” Joyce said in a thick voice. She saw the bag in Buffy’s hand. She knew what it meant. Even though her baby was to have moved into the dorms in a few weeks, this was different. This was permanent. There would be no summer vacations. Her baby was leaving home for good.



Buffy let go of Spike and launched herself into her mother’s arms. Joyce held out another arm for Spike who wasted no time in getting himself a motherly hug. That’s when the front door flew open and Xander came rushing in with Angel bouncing back against the barrier.



Xander stared down at the sight before him. Joyce was hugging Buffy and Spike. “The world’s gone mad. I’m the only sane one left!” he cried.



“I’m sane!” Angel yelled, leaning against the barrier.



Xander dismissed him with a wave of his hand. “That so doesn’t help,” he said forlornly. He didn’t know what had just happened to his world, but he knew things would never be the same again.



And they weren’t.



The End.

 

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