Disclaimer:  I don’t own these characters.  Joss Whedon and ME have that much abused privilege.  Note:  trying to avoid using actual dialogue from Something Blue because it has been done and done very, very well by others before me.  I’ll be a chicken and avoid comparisons.  Baawk!

 

 

Chapter 1:  The Spell

 

In a Basement:

            Willow paced back and forth in Xander’s dingy basement room.  “You know, he’s never been able to kill her!  I don’t think he’s even really trying.  He keeps coming back to Sunnydale, but he keeps failing to bag his third slayer.  You know what I think?”

            “No, Will,” an exasperated Xander said.  “Why don’t you tell me?”

            No pause in her pacing.  “I think that he’d rather marry her than kill her!”

 

In an apartment:

            In the middle of bickering with the Slayer, Spike got down on one knee.  “Marry me, Buffy.  I’d rather marry you than kill you!”

            Buffy snorted, “What?  Giles!  Spike’s mocking me again!  You have to get in here and make him stop!”

            Giles heaved a heavy sigh and walked into his living room.  His decidedly blurry and overly crowded living room.  “What is it now, Buffy?”

            Buffy was actually kind of enjoying Spike kneeling at her feet, though.  “Spike says he wants to marry me.  See?  He’s mocking me!”

            “I don’t see much at all at the moment,” Giles complained, unconcerned with whatever new ploy Spike was using to pester Buffy with.

            Spike grabbed her hands, causing her to have to lean down towards him.  “Mocking.  You’re the one mocking!  You’re mocking my love for you!  Buffy, I can’t live without you.  Say yes,” Spike pleaded.

            Giles’ interest was peaked by the sincerity he heard coming from the vampire’s voice.  He walked a little closer and did his best to look into the eyes of the kneeling man.  He straightened up and turned toward his slayer.  “Buffy, I fear he’s quite serious,” Giles warned her.

            “Of course I’m bloody serious!  You lot think I just run around asking women to marry me?  This is probably the most serious moment of my unlife.  I love you Buffy Summers, and I want you to be my wife.  I’ll hold you for eternity.  Never let you go.  Fight by your side.  I’ll love the slayer and the girl.  Never make you choose.  Love you until I’m dust.  This I swear,” Spike said solemnly. 

            His words struck a cord in what little princess was left inside the jaded woman.  A forever love.  She shook her head.  Silly, Buffy.  Forever’s not for slayers!  She looked at Giles in a panic.  “What do I do?”

            “It’s obviously a spell.  I believe my…” he stumbled a bit.  “My now totally incapacitating blindness must also be the result of a spell.  Someone is obviously trying to weaken us.”

            “By having me marry Spike?  I mean your blindness I get.  No offense,” Buffy hastily added.

            “None taken,” Giles assured her, though he was slightly offended that she wasn’t trying to help him to the couch.  Did she not hear the part where he said he was completely blind?  “You are just going to have to humor him.”

            “So just humor him until the spell is over?” Buffy asked for clarification.  She had a bad feeling about this.  It probably wasn’t nice to humor vampires.  Kind of like baiting the wild animals at the zoo.  It just wasn’t done.

            “It is not a soddin’ spell!” Spike yelled.  “I am not getting up off my knees until you say you’ll be my wife.”

            “Buffy, for goodness sakes!  Just do it!” Giles yelled as he lay down on the couch.         Buffy sighed and shook her head.  Her hands were still firmly clasped in Spike’s.  “Okay, Spike.  I’ll marry you.”

            Spike got off of his knees and the next thing Buffy knew two strong arms were wrapped around her, dipping her backwards, and the softest lips she’d ever felt were sealed to her own.  Spike lips.  Wow.  Spike lips were good.  She felt him slide his tongue into her mouth and somewhere, some part of her gave a thought to protest, but then she remembered that she was supposed to be humoring him.  Hell, they were engaged!  She could kiss him all she wanted to.  So, she began returning the kiss with fervor.  She felt Spike pull her upright, all the while keeping his arms wrapped around her.  Never once did the kiss break.  Not even when he led her to the chair.  Not even when he took a seat and pulled her onto his lap.

            “Blind.  I’m blind, or did you not hear that?  Perhaps you’re deaf?  Another spell.  Oh, I know, it’s an inconsiderate spell.  Someone has struck you completely heartless!”  Giles griped.

            Spike broke away from his beloved’s lips.  “Actually, Watcher that would be a hell of a smart spell.  Should have thought of that one myself.  Make the Slayer heartless and you can pretty much raise all the hell you want.”

            Buffy punched him in the arm.  “Hey!  If I didn’t have a heart, you wouldn’t want to marry me!”

            Spike pulled her back down to him.  “Tha’s right.  Was your heart that I fell in love with.  Course it was undoubtedly your great body that showed me the way to the tender morsel inside.”  He pushed his growing erection against her. 

            “Whoa, Spike,” Buffy moaned, unable to stop herself.  Oh, boy.  That was…  He was…  She felt her panties moisten.  She was in so much trouble.

            Spike smelled her arousal.  And he couldn’t help the change that came over his features.  The demon inside of him wanted her just as much as the man.  He wondered briefly if that wasn’t the part of him that kept making it back to this hellhole.  “Like that, kitten?”

            Buffy knew she’d never live this down once Spike was himself again, but she also knew that with his vamp senses she didn’t have a hope of lying.  So she just swallowed and nodded.  Maybe she could stake him when this was all over.  Surely Giles would understand.  Giles!  She jumped off Spike’s lap.

            “We have to help Giles,” she explained to her surprised fiancé.  Hehe!  Fiancé.  She had a fiancé.  And it was Spike!  She couldn’t wait to let that one slip to Angel sometime.

            Spike understood the importance of family.  “Alright.”  He walked over to the bookshelves.  “What we need is a general reversal spell.”  He found what he was looking for and brought it over to Buffy.  “That ought to do!”

            Buffy took a look at the spell.  “We’ll need to head to the magic shop for some of these ingredients.”  She looked at Spike.  “Who knew how handy you could come in?”

            Spike gave her a wicked grin as he stuck his tongue between his teeth.  “Baby, you have no idea how handy I can be.”

            “Oh for the love of Pete!  Just go to the magic shop.  The both of you.”  Giles sat up as he heard them move to the door.  “Spike, please bring me my Scotch first.  I have no doubt that you know exactly where it is.”

            “Of course, Rupes.”  Spike walked over to the decanter and picked it up along with a glass.  He brought them both over to the supine Watcher.  “Here you go, mate.”

            Giles took them gratefully, holding them to his chest like they were his most precious possessions.  “Thank you.”

            “No, problem.”  Spike walked back over to Buffy and slipped his hand in hers.

            “We’ll be back!” Buffy called as she and Spike headed out the door.  Holding hands with Spike was kind of nice.  They were of a good height together.  Too bad he was evil.

 

Chapter 2:  Goodbye Normal

 

            Spike had been a delight.  He’d held her hand, pushed open doors for her, and told her a dozen times how amazing she was.  The magic shop hadn’t had any taigas root so they were headed back to Giles.  Suddenly, Spike grabbed her arm and rushed her over to a store window.

            “Look at this.  Luv, you’d make that dress look gorgeous,” Spike told her as he pulled her back to his chest.  He had each of her hands in his and he was rocking her back and forth while he sang ‘Going to the Chapel’.  Buffy couldn’t help laugh at his antics.  For just a moment she wished with all her heart that this was real.  That she was actually loved like this.

            “Buffy?”  A voice sounded behind them.  The couple turned to look.

            “Riley!”  A sinking feeling came over Buffy.  The kind of feeling that said she was about to say goodbye to normal.

            “What are you...?” Riley trailed off.  He looked at the strangely familiar bleached blonde who had Buffy wrapped up against him.

            “We were about to go into the shop here.  Want my girl to try on some dresses,” Spike told the interloper.  This guy looked a bit familiar.  It was putting Spike on edge, not to mention the way the guy was looking at Buffy.  His Buffy.

          Riley looked over at the shop.  “But those are wedding dresses,” he said in confusion.  Had this girl been playing him?  She had definitely not struck him as the type to jerk a guy around, but this…

            Buffy gave a nervous laugh.  “Yeah, it was kind of sudden.  Spike just asked me to marry him tonight.”

            “I didn’t realize you were dating anyone,” Riley said.  This was her moment for redemption.  He really hoped she had an explanation.

            Buffy was trying to think of how to get out of this without seeming like a total flake.  “Uh, we fought for years.  We were never really dating.  In fact, we haven’t ever even been on a date.  So no dating.  Nope.  Not us.  Just getting married.”

            Riley’s confusion was only growing.  “Let me get this straight.  You’ve never been on a date with this guy and you are going to marry him.”

            “Love isn’t brains, boy, it’s blood…” Spike began.

            Buffy pulled Spike down for a kiss.  “Now honey, Riley doesn’t need to hear that lecture.  Let’s not forget how well that all went over with Angel.”

            Spike pulled away from her.  “I thought we weren’t going to talk about the great love of your life!”  Spike tried to take a step away from her.

            “Spike, don’t.  Not now.  I’m sorry I brought Angel up,” Buffy apologized, reaching for his hand to pull him back by her side.

            “Who’s Angel?” Riley asked.  Another boyfriend?

            “My grandpapa and little Buffy’s ex.  Big Neanderthal type.  Don’t know what the birds always see in him,” Spike complained.

            Riley looked at Buffy with a whole new set of eyes.  “You dated his grandfather!”

            Buffy’s mouth opened and closed several times.  “Well, date.  There’s that word again.  We never really went out on dates.  It was more like…”

            “Never ending, soul-sucking devotion,” Spike supplied as he wrapped his arms tightly about himself.

            “Riley, I can’t explain right now.  Maybe you should just go,” Buffy told the boy.  He gave her a nod and she watched him walk away with a wistful sigh.  ‘Yep, there goes normal,’ she thought.  Concentrate.  Back to Spike.

            “Spike,” Buffy walked toward him and tried to unwrap his arms.  “Angel is out of the picture.  You know this.”

            “What about college boy.  He out of the picture too?”  Spike was feeling a waver coming on, but he wasn’t about to give in that easily.  A bit of an ego stroke was in order here.

            “College boy, Riley, was never in the picture to begin with.”  She wrapped her arms around him.  “It’s just you and me.  Do you see me wearing anyone else’s ring?”

            He looked down at the hunk of silver on her finger.  “No.”  He looked into her eyes.  “You my girl?”

            Buffy gave him a smile.  “All yours, Spike,” she confirmed.  At least until this spell is over.  If someone had told her that she would be wooing Spike out of a pout she would have said they were crazier than Dru.  Drusilla.  A sharp stab of what could only be called jealousy hit Buffy’s stomach.  They had to get this spell reversed before she forgot that this wasn’t real.  She grabbed Spike roughly by the elbow.  “Come on.  We need to get back to Giles.”

            Spike finally unwrapped his arms.  “Oi, what about the wedding shop?”

            “You can’t see me in the dress before the wedding anyway, Spike.  It’s bad luck,” Buffy told him as she drug him along.

            “So, I don’t get to see you the entire day of the wedding?” he asked incredulously.  “That’s it then.  We’re having an early morning ceremony.  We’ll just have to bring out the fire blanket.  I’m sure as hell not going a whole day without holding you in my arms.”

            Buffy stopped in her tracks.  She looked up at Spike.  Then she moved like only a slayer could.  She had her arms wrapped around his neck and her lips crushed to his in less than half a second. 

            “What was that for?  Not that I’m complainin’, mind you,” Spike asked as she pulled away and resumed their frantic pace back to Giles’.

            “That was for being the best boyfriend I’ve ever had,” Buffy said sadly.  How pathetic was she?  Spike, the be-spelled vampire, was the best boyfriend she’d ever had.  She thought about Riley.  He probably would have made a good boyfriend, but what really could she offer someone like that?  She was guaranteed an early death.  She couldn’t offer a man a lifetime, at least not his lifetime; she could certainly offer him her lifetime.  She couldn’t give him children.  This was probably as close to getting married as she’d ever get. 

            Spike heard a little sniffle come from his bride to be.  He stopped her just outside of her Watcher’s door.  “Buffy, baby?”  He tilted her chin to make her look up at him.  “You okay?”

            She gave him a watery little smile.  “Yeah, I’m fine.  Just a little emotional I guess.”

            “Come here, sweetheart,” Spike whispered as he pulled her to him.  He just rocked her back and forth.  “It’s all gonna be okay.  You’ll see.  We are going to have a beautiful life.”

            Buffy looked at him.  Just this moment.  This was all she’d ever have of the fairytale.  She placed a soft kiss on his lips.  “Thank you,” she whispered as she opened the door.

            “For what, kitten?” Spike asked.  He still had his arms wrapped around her as they entered the apartment.

            “Thank you for loving me so well, Spike,” she explained, oblivious to the newly arrived couple standing three feet away from her.

            “What!” Xander, Giles, and Anya yelled simultaneously.

 

Chapter 3: My Very Own Spike

 

            “I thought you said she wasn’t affected by the spell,” Xander yelled to Giles in accusation.

            “She wasn’t when she left,” Giles tried to defend himself. 

            “Oh, relax!” Buffy huffed as she and Spike came fully into the room.  “I’ve just come to the sad realization that no one has ever loved me as well as Spike does at this moment.  It’s sad but true.”

            Anya gave Buffy a knowing nod.  She’d had a thousand years as a vengeance demon to see just how poor men could be at loving.  Spike wasn’t like them.  Anyone with a trained eye could see that.

            “Buffy, did you get the ingredients for the spell?” Giles asked as a crash sounded at the door.  “I’m afraid it’s more important than ever.  Xander has become a demon magnet.  Willow apparently is the inadvertent spell caster.”

            “What?  Why would she do this?” Buffy asked as she and Spike went to lean against the door.  Her slayer senses were letting her know that there was a demon trying to get in on the other side.

            “She didn’t mean to,” Xander said, rushing to defend his missing friend.  “She must have done some sort of spell to make herself feel better or to get Oz back and it’s having ramify-wathacallits.”

            “Ramifications, ya illiterate git,” Spike snarked as he put his full weight into the door.  The sound of crashing glass made the situation all the more perilous.

            “You are going to have to leave and find Willow, Buffy.  Xander should go with you for protection,” Giles explained.

            “Okay, we’ll go.” Buffy took a look at Spike, struggling by her side to hold the demon back.  She turned to her friends.  “Can I keep him?”

            “Excuse me?” Giles turned to the sound of her voice.

            “Spike.  Can I keep him?  I mean once we find Willow can’t she undo the spell on you two but leave the one on Spike?” she asked hopefully.

            “Are you insane?” Giles yelled.  “No, you cannot keep Spike.  It’s wrong.  And weird.” More glass came flying into the room.  “Perhaps now would be a good time to leave?”

            “Yeah, okay,” Buffy said begrudgingly as she and Spike tore open the door and dispatched the over eager demon. 

            “Hey, I can hurt demons!” Spike declared happily as they walked over the fallen carcass.

            Buffy gave him a great big smile.  “That’s great, Spike!”

            He pulled her into a passionate kiss as Xander and Anya stepped up behind them.  “You’d better believe it’s great.  Now I can protect my woman proper like,” he told her as he released her.  “I sense more demons coming.  We’d better find the witch.”

            The foursome made their way to Buffy and Willow’s dorm room.  They didn’t find Willow, however.  What they found was a note.  Apparently Willow had decided to head to her Nana’s for the weekend.  She would be back Sunday night.  Xander picked up the phone immediately and dialed Willow’s parents.  No answer.  He left a message on their machine that he desperately needed to get into contact with Willow.  It was the best they could do.

            “So, how do you plan to protect my Xander from all of the demons?” Anya asked Buffy as they made their way out of the hall and onto the front steps of the dormitory. 

            “For starters,” Spike said, “we need to get him the hell out of the Hellmouth.  This is demon central.  We should probably take him to Los Angeles.  Get some extra muscle from the grand-ass.”

            Buffy couldn’t help laughing at Spike’s new word for Angel.  “Spike’s right.  I’m surprised he said it, but he’s right.  Let’s head back to Giles’ and skedaddle.”

            “But I need my clothes and my toothbrush.  Oh, and my vi…” Xander’s hand firmly stopped whatever else was about to come out of his girlfriend’s mouth. 

            Buffy just looked at the ex-demon in horror.  “We’ll use Giles to buy us stuff when we hit L.A.,” Buffy suggested, shaking her head at the mental thought of Anya using Giles’ credit card in some seedy sex shop.

            Twenty minutes and twelve demons later they were back outside of Giles’ apartment.  They ran in and slammed the door behind them. 

            “Have to go now, Giles.  Willow’s gone.  Grab your wallet and your car keys!” Buffy yelled as she pulled the man to a stand.

            “My wallet is on the counter by the vase.  My keys should be with it,” Giles said.  He didn’t argue.  He knew the sound of urgency when he heard it.

           The five of them made it to Giles’ rickety rack car and squished in.  Spike and Buffy were in the front seat with Anya, Xander, and Giles taking up the back.  Spike started the engine and told everyone to fasten their seat belts.  The car sputtered slowly and began to move in a forward direction.  Spike shook his head in disgust.  “Never mind the seatbelts, unless of course this has some hidden Flintstone action.”

            “Are you complaining about my car?” Giles huffed.  “I’ll have you know that this vehicle is saving our lives at the moment!”

            “Not for long,” Spike promised as he drove the heap into one of Sunnydale’s warehouse districts.  He pulled up beside a large wooden building and stopped the car.  “We’re gonna have to make a run for it.  The two of you flank Giles while the Slayer and I fight off the rabble.  The Desoto is inside, and she’s all souped up and ready to fly.”

            They opened the car door and made the mad dash into the building, Buffy and Spike slicing the heads off of two Garnash demons as they went.  They followed Spike as he rushed over to a gray tarp and threw it off.  There sat the Desoto.  Spike opened the doors and Anya slid in pulling Giles in beside her. 

            As Spike unlocked the passenger side door for Buffy, a big demon came jumping down from the railings above.  It grabbed Xander.  Spike and Buffy each stared hopelessly, knowing that they wouldn’t get to the boy in time.  They expected to see Xander torn apart.  Never in their wildest dreams did they expect what came.

            Xander knew he was going to die.  He just knew it.  He felt the scaly hands grip him around the neck and turn him around.  Great.  It was probably some kind of face eating demon.  The creature stared into Xander’s eyes before it opened its mouth wide, revealing row after row of razor sharp teeth, then  latched its black fleshy lips onto Xander’s.

            Anya was out of the car in an instant.  She had a dagger in her hand and moved swiftly behind the creature who dared to try and steel orgasmy goodness from her man.  She lifted the dagger and plunged it into the temple of the encroacher, knowing full well that the demon would go down.  Of course Xander went down with it.  Anya reached a hand out and pulled her lover up.  “Let’s go!” she ground out, as if it were somehow his fault.

            When all five of them were secured in the Desoto, Spike started the engine. He and Buffy were doing their best not to laugh.  Willow had made Xander into a demon magnet alright – a magnet of love.  Spike was only unaffected due to the opposing spell that kept him focused on Buffy.  It was going to be a harrowing ride into the city of angels.

 

Chapter 4:  A Love Monkey for Angel

 

            Several hours later, the rag-tag and somewhat assaulted group pulled to a stop in front of Angel’s building.  They hadn’t been able to call ahead of time.  The one time they’d tried to use a pay phone, a Fyarl demon had committed suicide at Xander’s rejection after a short bout of dry-humping that Xander felt would haunt his nightmares for years to come.

            “We’re here,” Xander cried in relief as they all jumped out of the car and dashed into Angel’s building.  Anya and Xander were holding on tightly to Giles, keeping the blind man from stumbling to the ground.  They burst into the offices of Angel Investigations to find Angel and Cordelia in a heated arguement.

            Angel took one look at Xander and rushed over, pulling him into his arms.  “Oh, my dear boy.  What’s happened?  Why are you so upset?”

            Xander looked at Buffy with the one eye that wasn’t pressed into Angel’s silk shirt.  “Uh, Buff?  A little help here!”

            Buffy didn’t move.  “In a minute, Xand.  This is just too good.  I have to really absorb this moment.  Take a nice, clear mental picture.”

            “Buffy!” Anya stomped her foot.

            “Oh, alright,” Buffy grumbled.  “Ruin all my fun.  Spike?  Help please.”

            The affianced couple managed to pull Angel away from the object of his desire.  They drug him clear across the room, hoping that distance would cause the effects to fade.  Angel fought them every step of the way.  He couldn’t understand why anyone would want to separate him from his love. It was cruel.  As he reached the back wall, however, a fuzzy feeling came over him.  He shook his head to clear it.  Then he looked across the room in horror at Xander.  Who just gave him a little wave.

            Angel looked at Buffy who still had a grip on his arm.  “What the hell just happened?”

            “Willow put a kind of love spell on Xander.  It makes demons attracted to him,” she explained.

            Angel realized that hers was not the only grip on him.  He turned his head to the other side and looked into disgustingly familiar eyes.  “Spike?  What are you doing here?”

            “He’s with us,” Buffy said quickly, not really wanting to give a full explanation.  “He’s helping us at the moment.”

            “I’ll always help you, baby.  You know that,” Spike said fervently.

            Angel turned back to Buffy.  “Huh?  What?”

            Buffy rolled her eyes.  “Willow, put a spell on him too, only he doesn’t know it.  He asked me to marry him.  I said yes.  Giles said I should humor him, but I’ve decided to keep him.”

            “You’ve decided to what?” Angel yelled.

            “Oi, don’t yell at my bride!” Spike yelled, giving Angel’s arm a good jerk in the process.

            “I want to keep Spike.  Is that so hard for everyone to understand?” Buffy stomped her foot.

            Angel realized that she must also be under a spell, and he felt himself relax.  “Okay, what else did Willow do?  And where is she?”

            “She made me blind,” Giles said across the room.  “We don’t know of any other ramifications.  Willow is gone for the weekend; she’ll be back on Sunday.  Until then, we can either find a way to reverse this ourselves, or wait it out.  But eventually a demon will walk by this place, sniff Xander out, and we’ll be on the run again.  That’s why we came to you.”

            “Strength in numbers and all that.  My idea actually,” Spike said proudly.

            “It’s a good idea, honey,” Buffy told him with a smile.

            “Oh, for gosh sakes!” Angel yelled.  “Let go of me.  I’m not going to go anywhere near Xander.  Though goodness knows I want to,” Angel said lustily as he looked at Xander.  He flinched from the incredibly dirty look he got from Xander’s girlfriend.

           Buffy laughed.  Sometimes life really was good.  “Is there someplace we could go, away from the street?” she asked.

            Cordelia was feeling shell shocked.  They’d been invaded.  They’d been invaded by ex-es and it wasn’t a good thing at all.  Though, seeing Angel lovingly embrace Xander had been on the funny side.  She wished Doyle were here.  He was gone for the weekend on some relic buying trip in San Francisco

            “We can go down to Angel’s apartment.  It’s fairly demon free.  Well, except for Angel,” Cordelia offered.  She led the way down the stairs.  Xander was brought in first and sat in the kitchen area.  Angel came down last, staying against the back wall, but he threw the occasional helpless look at Xander while he did it.

            Spike sat down on the couch, pulling Buffy onto his lap.  Angel watched and let out a tiny growl.  “Oh, knock it off, Peaches.  The girl’s mine now.  Get used to it,” Spike growled back.  “Besides, don’t you really want the whelp over there?”

            “Gosh, yes,” Angel agreed before he could stop himself.  “Isn’t there a way to break this spell?  Didn’t someone say something about that?”

            “There is actually, but we need taigas root.  Got any?” Anya asked.

            “No,” Cordelia answered.  “But I know of an all-night magic shop that carries it.”

            “Thank goodness!” Giles exclaimed.

            “We’ll go,” Spike said as he gave Buffy a nuzzle behind her ear.  He just wanted this whole thing over with so he could prove to them all, that he wasn’t under a sodding spell.

            Buffy reluctantly got off her fiancé’s lap.  “Where’s the shop?”

            Cordelia wrote something down on a piece of paper and handed it to Buffy.  “Here are the directions, but you’d better take Angel with you.  I don’t like the way he’s looking at Xander.”

            “We need him to protect you guys in case any more demons come,” Buffy explained.

            “Why doesn’t Spike stay here then while you and Angel go?” Cordelia asked.

            “Hell no!  I’m not letting him out with my girl!” Spike yelled.

            “Fine,” Cordelia stated.  “Then you and Angel go, and Buffy can stay here and be all muscley and stuff.”

            Buffy’s eyes welled up with tears.  “But, in like an hour we’ll have the stuff for the spell, and he won’t want me anymore.”

            Spike pulled Buffy into his arms.  “Slayer, baby, I told you.  I will always want you.”

            Buffy knew how very wrong he was.  Just once.  Just once she wished she could have something for herself.  “I’ll stay here and let the two of you go, on one condition.”

            “Name it,” Spike said.

            “You make love to me first,” Buffy answered.

            “What!” the entire group yelled at once.

            Buffy looked around at them.  “It’s the only chance I’ll get.  He’s gonna be back to his old self soon.  Back to hating me.  I’m engaged to the man.  Which is the closest I’ll ever be to actually becoming a bride.  I want a wedding night, and I want it now!”

            Angel groaned.  His head telling him that was the last thing he wanted.  He’d rather have sex with Xander then listen and smell as Buffy and Spike made love.  “Fine.  I’ll stay and try to not physically assault Xander while Buffy and Spike go to the magic shop.  It’ll be fine.”

            For once no one argued.

 

Chapter 5:  Going To the Chapel

 

            They were nearing the street where the magic shop was located and Buffy’s feet were seriously dragging.  Spike looked down at the hand he was tugging.  “Wha’s the matter, pet?”

            “You know what the matter is!” she yelled.

            “I’ve told you for the last time, woman.  There is no spell!” Spike yelled back.

            Buffy pulled on his hand until he came to a stop.  She looked up at him with tear filled eyes.  “Yes, Spike, there is.”  She stepped up against him, and rising ever so slightly on tip toe gave him a gentle kiss on the lips.  “One last kiss,” she said wistfully.

            Spike closed his eyes, savoring the taste of her on his tongue.  He hated to see her

so miserable.  “Come on,” he told her, dragging her down a different street.

            “But the magic shop is the other way,” she protested.

            “I know, but I have something I want to do first.  Now be a good girl and just follow me for once,” he told her.

            Buffy didn’t bother to argue.  Anything that gave her extra time with Spike was just fine with her.  After several twists and turns Spike finally pulled her into a shop.  A little bell went off over the door as they entered.  Buffy’s slayer senses kicked in, telling her the place was inhabited by nonhumans.  She looked at Spike questioningly.

            “Trust me,” he said, and then he reached over to the desk and hit a button.

            After a moment a violet skinned demon came into the room.  “Yeah, yeah, I’m comin’!”  It took one look at Spike and Buffy and stopped in its tracks.  “You realize that’s the Slayer you got there, buddy?”

            Spike rolled his eyes and opened his billfold.  “How much?”

            “For this it’s gonna be extra.  Word gets out that I married a vampire to the Slayer, I’m toast,” the brightly colored demon said.  “Two hundred.”

            Spike gave the man a hard look but passed over the required amount.  “I want rings,” Spike told him.

            “Rings are extra,” the demon said, pulling out a small tray with several gold and silver bands.

            “Figures,” Spike muttered as he looked at the tray.  He found what he was looking for and then held them up to the proprietor.  “Fair price, or I let my girl kill you,” Spike warned.

            “Sixty for the pair,” the demon said.

            Spike gave the man an additional sixty dollars.

            “Follow me,” the demon said, leading them to the back room.  “Do you folks want to pick a back drop, or some wedding attire?”

            Buffy looked around at the place.  It was horrible.  Horribly wonderful.  It was bright, tacky, and glittery.  She hadn’t said a word.  She was a little shocked.  She realized, however, that Spike was staring at her expectantly.  “Huh?”

            “What would you like, luv?” he asked.

            “Anything is fine, but Spike I need to talk to you for a moment,” she told him.

            “Alright you two love-birds, I’ll just set everything up and call my wives down to act as witnesses,” the violet guy said.

            When he had disappeared behind another door, Buffy turned to Spike and put both of her hands on his chest.  “We can’t do this,” she said sadly.  “It’s a spell.  It really, really is, and I’m just a foolish little girl with dreams in her head that have no business being there.”

            “Do you consider yourself a human, Slayer?” Spike asked.

            “Yes, I suppose.  I don’t really think too much about that,” Buffy said with an air of discomfort.

            “Well, than what’s the what, eh?  This doesn’t mean anything in your world.  Just let yourself go for one night.  Reach out and take what you want,” he encouraged.

            “Want, take, have, huh?”

            “Somethin’ like that, yeah.”

            “What about you, Spike?  What about when this is over.  Won’t this mean something to you seeing as you’re a demon?” she asked him.

            “Don’t you worry about me, Buffy.  I’m a rebel.  Like I’d let a little ceremony ever dictate my life,” he lied.  He wasn’t worried.  He knew it wasn’t a spell.

            “Okay, if you’re sure,” Buffy relented.

            Spike leaned down and gave her a passionate kiss.

            “Hey you two,” cheery voices called out.  “Save some for later!”

            Buffy and Spike broke apart to look at the voices.  A two headed demon the very same violet as the other demon stood waiving a gold feathered boa.  “We’re the wives of, Oswald.  We’ll be the witnesses,” the dual voices chimed.

            Buffy broke out into a smile.  “It’s nice to meet you.  I’m Buffy and this is Spike.”

            “Likewise, we’re sure.  Now if you could come stand next to this alter,” the wives instructed.

            Buffy and Spike did as they were told.  Soon Oswald came back in and the ceremony begun.  There was blood letting, oaths, and a traditional kiss.  The wives cried, including Buffy.  When it was over, Buffy and Spike murmured their thanks and headed out the door.  They rushed to the magic shop, not knowing just how long Angel could hold out before he decided to make a real man out of Xander.

            They got the taigas root and headed back to Angel Investigations.  They ran down the steps and into Angel’s apartment, holding the paper bag out before them.  “Got it!” Buffy yelled.

            “Thank goodness,” Angel cried.  He was crouched into a tiny ball in the far corner of the room.  “I don’t know how much longer I can last.  What took you so long?”

            “Got hitched,” Spike answered as he reached into the bag.  He’d grabbed the rest of the spell ingredients before leaving Giles’ and was basically ready to do the spell.  He looked around the group.  “Any of you lot experienced with magic?”

            Anya raised her hand.  “I am.”

            “Good,” he said, handing the lot over to her.  “All you have to do is add some water, shake it all up, and say this three times backwards.”

            Anya looked at the spell and nodded her head.  She took the ingredients over to the sink and turned on the tap.  She shook the bag vigorously.  She opened her mouth…

            “Wait!” yelled Buffy.  She grabbed Spike and pulled him down for one last kiss.  “I’m sorry,” she whispered, and then gave a nod for Anya to continue.

            Buffy kept her eyes on Spike until the last word left Anya’s lips.  Then she looked resolutely down at the ground.

            “I can see!” Giles yelled in relief.

            “I don’t want Xander!” Angel yelled in even more relief.

            “Yay!” Xander and Anya yelled simultaneously as they hugged one another.

            Buffy just kept looking at the ground.  She stayed looking at the ground as she heard each sound of his boots as they walked up the door and out of her life.  She waited until she could no longer sense his presence.  Then she looked up at the faces of her friends.  “I’d like to go home now,” she said quietly.

 

Chapter 6:  To Kill or To Kiss

 

            It had been six weeks since Spike had fled the scene.  Five weeks since he’d hunted down Drusilla.  Three weeks since he’d had the chip removed.  And three hours since he’d been back in Sunnydale.  He hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind.  Nothing was working.  Not his dick.  Not his fangs.  Nothing.  He was a ruined man and it was all her fault.  She had to pay.  He’d rip her head off with his bear hands.

            He flicked his cigarette onto the floor of the factory and watched as the embers faded out.  It was time to roll.  It was time for him to become a widower.  He felt he was nicely suited for the part.  Black was his color.  He headed out to into the streets of Sunnydale.  He figured at this time of night he could find her in one of the cemeteries.  On his third one, he caught a whiff of her scent.  Careful not to alert her to his presence, he began tracking her down.   He was less than pleased to discover that she wasn’t alone.  He wondered briefly at not being able to scent the man with her, and then he realized it was one of the commandos – college boy.  The soldier boys had some sort of spray they used that clouded their signatures.

            Riley reached out a hand to stop Buffy’s rapid advance.  “Slow down.  I can’t keep up,” he told her.

            Buffy huffed.  That was the plan.  She turned to look back at the boy, shaking his hand off her shoulder.  “Look, Riley.  We’ve been over this.  I don’t need help on patrol.  This is what I do.”

            “Okay, fine.  Then let’s just call it spending time together,” the boy clarified.

            “We’ve been over that as well.  I’m married, Riley.  End of story,” she stated turning away.

            “Willow told me all about that, Buffy.  You’re not really married.  It was just some meaningless demon ceremony.  It was all because of a spell.  Even that hostile got it.  That’s why he left.  I don’t understand why you’re having so much trouble with this, Buffy.  I really don’t,” the boy said.

            Buffy turned teary eyes on him.  “Because I wasn’t under the spell.  It wasn’t real for Spike.  So he left.  But it was real for me.  I said the words.  I made the vows.  I’m not the kind of girl who can just go back on that.”  She turned away only to be whirled back around again by the demanding commando.

            “It wasn’t even consummated!  Willow told me,” he yelled.

            Buffy’s whole body tensed.  “I’m not going to tell you again.  Leave me alone.”

            It was a warning.  Spike recognized it clearly.  And if she wasn’t willing to make good on it, Spike was.  He couldn’t believe the anger coursing through him at the stupid boy’s words.  And the touching!  That offal had the nerve to touch what was his.  Spike was just itching to make him pay.  He didn’t even question why he was reacting the way he was.  Nor did he question why her words had gone straight to his heart.  Before any action could be taken, however, the distinct sound of clumsy footsteps came crashing through the hedge.

            “Hey guys!” Willow greeted cheerfully, followed by Xander and Anya.

            Xander spotted Riley’s hand on Buffy and gave them both a big grin.  “Look at the two of you, all cozy in the cemetery.”  He was glad to see Buffy out with someone.  She’d been all mopey girl since the spell.  It wasn’t pretty.

            “We are not cozy,” Buffy shook Riley’s hand off.  “What are you guys doing here?”

            “We thought you might like to head to the Bronze after patrol.  Tara’s going to meet us there.  I’d really like you guys to get to know her better,” Willow explained.

            Buffy gave Willow a rare smile.  “Sure, Wills.  I’d like that.  I was nearly all finished here anyway,” she said to her friend.

            “Cool,” Willow declared.  She had felt so guilty when she’d come home from her Nana’s and found out what she had put her friends through.  It was rough going at first, but now things seemed to be getting better.  Willow had been putting a lot of effort into the Riley/Buffy thing in order to make amends.  He was perfect for her friend, if only Buffy would take the time to see it.

            Spike stayed back, watching them as they made their way to the night club.  He growled low in his throat every time Riley’s hand purposefully brushed Buffy’s.  That boy wouldn’t live out the night if he had his way.  He waited until they got into the crowded club before slipping inside himself.  He saw several vamps enter as usual and figured they’d help to block anything Buffy might pick up.  He walked into the crowded building and made his way up to the mezzanine.

            There she was, sitting at a table.  The college boy by her side.  His arm was resting on the back of her chair.  Spike watched as it inched higher and higher, coming ever closer to rest on her neck.  Fuck.  He should have bitten her.  Claimed her good and proper.  That neck was his.  Just when he thought he couldn’t take it anymore, just when the idiot’s thumb dared to caress the back of her neck, Buffy jumped out of her seat.

            “I need to get a breath…” she mumbled as she made a mad dash for the exit.

            Riley stood up as if to follow, but Willow made a sitting notion with her hand.  “I think this is more of a best friend’s thing,” she said apologetically as she followed Buffy out the door.

            Spike made his way to the crawl space in the ceiling and onto the roof.  He scrambled over to where he could smell the Slayer and watched as Willow came to lean on the wall beside her.

            “Rough night?” the red head asked.

            “Yeah,” Buffy answered.

            “You want to talk about it?”

            “Not so much, Wills, sorry.”

            “No need to be sorry.  We can just sit here.  Or lean here, rather,” Willow said and waited.  It was always better to wait with Buffy.

            “I don’t want him, Willow, and I need you to stop encouraging him.  Okay?” Buffy said quietly.

            “You may not want him, Buffy, but you need him.  For once in your life you need to have someone who wants you back!” Willow said harshly.

            Buffy cringed and looked down at her feet.  “A bit rough tonight, aren’t we?” she asked softly.

            “I’m sorry, Buffy, but hedging around things hasn’t helped.  You need to be happy.  The unrequited love thing is a phase that needs to pass,” Willow declared.

            “I get it.  You guys think I don’t get it, but I do.  Angel, Parker, Spike.  None of them wanted me.  I know that.  But hey, at least Spike didn’t sleep with me first and then walk out on me.  That’s a plus.  I’m improving, I think,” she joked.

            Willow gave her a half-hearted smile.  “I suppose it’s an improvement of sorts.  But do you want to know what’s really an improvement?”

            “Huh?” Buffy asked, knowing full well what the burgeoning Wiccan was about to say.

            “Dating a guy who really, wants to be with you.  One who isn’t repulsed by you!” Willow cried.

            Buffy cringed.

            “Don’t be upset.  I’m just saying.  Vampire – Slayer.  It’s a repulsion kind of thing,” Willow explained.

            “I wasn’t repulsed,” Buffy pointed out quietly.

            Willow put a hand on her arm.  “No, honey, but that’s because you were hurting.  After Angel and Parker, Spike seemed like a knight in shining armor.  But it was only a spell.  That wasn’t the real Spike, Buffy.  You have to see that.”

            “I do see it. I see it now and I saw it then.  What you don’t see is that I’m done.  I said my vows.  It’s over.  What does any of it matter anyway?  I’m gonna be dead soon.  I’m getting older and older…” Buffy stopped mid-sentence and cocked her head.  “Did you just hear a growl?”

            “Huh?  A growl?  No,” Willow told her.  “What makes you think you’re going to die?”  Willow was worried her friend was feeling suicidal.

            Buffy turned knowing eyes on her friend.  “I’m a Slayer, Willow.  We all die young.  We come with an expiration date, remember?”

            Willow looked down at the ground in shame.  “I’m sorry, Buffy.  Sometimes I forget.  All the more reason you should…”

            Buffy put a hand up to stop her from saying anything further.  “All the more reason my friends should respect my decisions and quit trying to make me do things I don’t want to.  I may have a condensed life, but at least for one night I got to feel what it’s like to be really loved.  I can carry that with me.  I do carry that with me.  I’m not as mopey as you guys think I am.  I’m just a little introspective, that’s all.”  Buffy turned her head up to the night sky.  “I can feel it, Willow.  Death.  It’s calling me.  One night, one day, some monster is going to have himself a real good time.  It’s the way it goes.  Then I can rest.  No more worries about life.  No more feeling bad about being unlovable.  Death isn’t necessarily a bad thing, Willow.  I think for Slayers, it may just be a blessing.”  Buffy turned back to see her friend staring at her with tear filled eyes.  She reached up a thumb and wiped the lone tear that escaped.  “Don’t cry.  Dance.”  Buffy pulled the other girl back into the club.  “Let’s just dance,” she said as the door closed on them.

            From up above, Spike brought shaking hands up to his face.  Fuck.  Dru had been right.  He didn’t want to hurt the Slayer.  He wanted to love her.  All of her.  His Slayer.  His wife.  And he’d be damned all over again if he was going to let death have her.

 

 

Chapter 7:  Honey I’m Home

 

            Buffy had dutifully walked her friends back to their perspective homes.  Willow was staying the night at Tara’s since it wasn’t a school night.  Riley then insisted on walking Buffy home despite her protests to the contrary.  When they reached the entrance to her dormitory she made to go up the steps.

            “I can go in with you if you like.  If you don’t want to be alone.  No touching, I swear.  Just friends,” he told her quickly.

            Buffy raised in eyebrow at him.  “Just friends.  Riley, if I thought you could honestly do that… Well, I still wouldn’t take you up on it because I just want to be alone tonight.  I’m tired.”

            Riley walked up to her and grabbed her hands in his.  “Just friends, Buffy.  I swear.  Now let me come in with you.  All I want to do is hold you while you sleep.  Is that too much to ask?”

            “It is when it’s another man’s wife,” a deep voice sounded from the nearby trees.

            “Spike!” Buffy jerked her hands out of Riley’s and turned to look at the vampire.  “I didn’t sense you.  Why are you here?”

            Spike sauntered up to them, reaching out a hand and drawing Buffy snuggly to his side.  “Can’t a man come home to his wife?”

            Buffy got a hard look in her eye.  “Go inside, Riley.  I’ll meet you in there.  She pulled a key out of her pocket and tossed it at the boy.

            “I’m not leaving you out here with this monster!” Riley yelled, catching the key in mid-air.

            Buffy spared him a glance.  “He’s harmless, remember?  Now, I need to figure out what he really wants and then I’ll be inside, but he won’t talk in front of you.  So please go,” Buffy pleaded.

            Riley reluctantly agreed and headed inside to wait for her.

            Buffy immediately pushed Spike away.  “Don’t touch me!”

            Spike laughed.  “What’s the matter, honey?  Got a headache?”

            “Apparently, I do now!” she hissed.  “Now, tell me the truth.  Why are you here?”

            “I’m here for you, Slayer,” Spike told her, trying to take a step closer but finding it only made her take a step back.

            “Just go away, Spike.  I’m too tired for games.  I apologized to you before, remember?  Right before the spell was ended.  And I am truly sorry.  It was wrong of me to want to keep you.  I’m one screwed up pup, and I know it.  But please, don’t mess with me.  That’s Angelus’ game.  I expect more from you,” she told him.

            Spike dropped his cocky act.  “I’m not messing with you.  I just…”  He ran a hand through his hair in exasperation.  “Can’t we go somewhere and talk?”  He looked up at her dormitory.  “Are you really going to let that pansy stay with you?”

            “He’s one of the soldiers from the Initiative, Spike.  The people who put that chip in your brain.  I thought it would be best if he was as far away from you as possible and giving him what he wants – entrance into my bedroom – seemed to be the swiftest way of making that happen,” Buffy confessed.

            Spike growled low in his throat and approached her.  “No one has the right to entrance into your bedroom but me, pet?  Remember?  Husband here.”

            “Believe me, Spike, I’m not likely to forget,” she answered, not backing away this time, needing desperately to feel him just a little bit closer to her.

            Spike looked down at her hands.  “Still wearing the ring, I see,” he pointed out as he advanced.

            Buffy looked down at her clasped hands.  “Yeah.  I know it’s stupid.  It doesn’t mean anything, but I just can’t seem to get myself to take it off.”

            Spike closed the distance and pulled her into his arms.  “Not stupid and it did mean something,” he said as he claimed her mouth with his own.

            Suddenly the door to the dorm rooms flew open and Riley ran outside.  Buffy broke away from the kiss and realized she could hear the sound of boots on gravel.  Shit.  She looked at Riley with pure hatred.  “You think calling your buddies to capture my husband is going to get you in good with me, Riley?”

            “He’s a hostile, Buffy, and that chip cost the government a lot of money,” Riley said.

            Buffy squeezed Spike’s hand.  “Once again, Spike.  I’m sorry.  I seem to be on the toxic side.”  She looked around at the suited men before her.  All people she went to school with.  All holding tazers.  “Well boys, I guess you get to see what it’s like to fight a Slayer, because there is no way you’re taking him while there’s still breath left in my body.”

            “Buffy, don’t be ridiculous.  This doesn’t concern you,” Riley told her.

            “You are trying to capture my husband and it doesn’t concern me?”  Buffy asked incredulously.  “He can’t even defend himself thanks to you!”

            “Husband?” one of the soldiers asked, looking at Riley.

            “She’s confused,” Riley shouted.  “Just take him.  You all have your orders.”

            The men pointed their tazers and fired.  Spike had been expecting this.  Holding tightly onto Buffy’s hand he jumped in the air, sure that she would follow him.

            Buffy felt Spike move and she let herself relax into the motion, using his body as a guide for hers.  They sailed over the heads of the soldiers landing on the other side and broke into a jagged run.  The men turned and fired, but Spike moved them in and out, up and down, in such a way that they couldn’t predict where to aim.  Soon he and Buffy were in the trees and on their way to safety.

            Buffy followed him, running for everything she was worth.  Even after the threat of the soldiers was long gone, she ran by his side.  She didn’t hesitate when they reached a motel and Spike took out a key.  As soon as the door was open she went inside, sliding into an exhausted heap on the floor.

            Spike locked the doors and turned off the lights.  Originally those goons had put a tracking device under the skin in his back, but Dru had sensed it and removed it with her nails.  It hadn’t been fun.  Getting the chip out hadn’t been a picnic either.  In fact the entire last six weeks had been sheer hell.  It wasn’t the physical pain.  He was a vampire after all.  It was his heart.  His heart had hurt and he hadn’t even known it.  Not until he had seen her.  Now here she was and here he was.  It was time to get some things straight.  He leaned down and picked her up off the floor.

            “Damn, Slayer.  One little run and you’re all done in,” Spike teased as he laid her on the bed.  He heard a funny chocking sound coming from her and he looked down with his brows drawn in.  “Slayer?”

            “It wasn’t the run,” she said in a thick voice.  “It was you.  I was so scared for you,” she admitted.  She took his hand in hers.  “You have to go, Spike.  Leave now before they find you.”

            Spike’s heart lurched.  She was worried about him.  He’d heard her talking to the witch about him, but it seemed like she was all about the honoring of the vows and not so much about him.  “Not going anywhere without you, luv.”

            “You have to.  I couldn’t bear it if you got hurt,” she confessed.

            “Slayer?  Buffy?” he whispered, a world of questions in his eyes.

            Buffy looked away, down at her hands, at her ring.  “I fell in love with you, you idiot.  One stinking day and my whole life changes.  Stupid spell.”

            Spike grabbed her hands in his, bringing them gently to his lips.  “You’re not alone,” he admitted as he kissed her fingers.

            “I’m not alone as in you’re in this room with me, or I’m not alone in being in love,” Buffy asked, looking at his lips on her hands.

            Spike grinned around her knuckles.  “Both.”

            “Really?” she asked.

            “Really.  Good grief, woman.  Must you always doubt everything I say?” he huffed as he released her hands and sat down on the bed.

            “Well, last time we were together you kept saying you wanted to marry me.  Excuse me if I don’t wonder if you’re a little confused,” she pointed out, shifting ever so slightly closer to his leather clad body.

            Spike gave a funny laugh.  “You know Slayer, the words to that spell.  Didn’t Xander tell us she said I’d rather marry you than kill you?”

            “Uh-huh,” Buffy agreed, scooting closer until she was pressed up against him.

            “How many times did I tell you I loved you during that spell?” he asked, wrapping an arm around her and gently leaning her down so that they were both lying instead of sitting on the bed.

            “Lots and lots,” Buffy said as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

            “Spell never said anything about love, did it?”

            “Nope.  But that’s why people want to get married,” she said in confusion.

            Spike gave another laugh.  “Hardly.  Trust me, babe, people get married for a variety of reasons.  I could just have easily wanted to marry you for power.  As a matter of fact that’s what line of reasoning I should have been struck with, but I wasn’t.  It was all about you.  The girl and the Slayer.  It was all about loving you, Buffy Summers,” he said, baring everything to both her and himself.

            Buffy tilted her head up and gave him a brilliant smile.  “I love you, William.  Can we have a wedding night, now?”

            Spike groaned just before crashing his lips to hers.  “Fuck, baby.  You taste so good.  You’re gonna get your wedding night, but not here and not now.  We need to blow this town until those soldiers are long gone.”

            “I can’t leave the Hellmouth unguarded,” she reminded him.

          Spike looked at her incredulously.  “And just what are all those soldier boys here for anyway?  Hmm?  And peaches?  He’s only a couple of hours away for the heavy stuff.  I think the least everyone can do is give you a timeout for your honeymoon!”

            Buffy nodded in eager agreement.  “You’re right.  Let’s do it.  Let’s go on our honeymoon.  Oh, but we don’t have any money or clothes or anything!”

            Spike sighed.  “Do you really think I lived as long as I have without a few windfalls?”

            Buffy’s eyes lit up.  “Does that mean I get to buy new clothes?”

            “Yes, luv, but I get to help pick each and every piece out myself,” Spike declared.

 

Chapter 8:  Family

 

            Maggie Walsh sat at her desk holding a piece of paper.  It had come in a box.  The paper informed her that the vampire known as Spike, or William the Bloody, was not to be touched under any circumstances.  It also stated that the vampire’s wife, a Miss Buffy Summers, was also not to be harassed.  It was signed ‘A loving mother’ in what looked to be blood.  She picked up the radio that was ever present by her side.  “Lilac?” she called.

            “Yes?”

            “Abort the mission on Hostile 17.  He and Miss Summers are to be left alone.”

            “What?  No!  There’s no way!”

            “That’s an order, Agent Finn.”  Maggie clicked off.  She’d have to see that Riley Finn was transferred to duty in South America as quickly as possible.  He’d be fine.  As a matter of fact she knew of a young soldier down there named Sam who she thought might just be the thing to cure Agent Finn’s ails.

            She turned around and pulled an object out of the box.  She walked over to a painting that sat across from her desk.  She pulled it down and put it on the floor.  In its place she hung the object from the box.  She was straightening it when a knock sounded on her door and a colleague entered.

            “Doctor Walsh, that’s lovely.  The grain on the wood is gorgeous.  Is this your family tree?” he asked.

            Maggie gave him a tight smile.  “Yes, it is.  My entire family.  Every living member is represented on this.”

            “Wow.  You’re lucky.  It’s hard to get something so detailed and embossed like this,” he said.

            “I feel quite fortunate, thank you,” Maggie agreed, taking the man’s arm and guiding him out of the room.

            The other object that had been in the box was resting in a small drawstring bag inside Maggie’s pocket.  She fingered it occasionally as she walked along the corridors.  What goes in may come out.  She wondered idly if the micro-chip could be used again, if the technology had survived the removal.

 

 

            “Angel Investigations?” Angel said into the mouthpiece of the old fashioned black phone Cordelia had picked up for him.

            “Angel?  It’s Giles.  It’s about Buffy.  Riley Finn came up to Willow a few moments ago and told her that Buffy had been abducted by Spike.”

            “I thought he had a chip,” Angel said.

            “Yes, well he indicated the chip must have been removed.  He said that Buffy and he tried to fight Spike off but that he was too strong.”

            “Spike?  Too strong for Buffy?  Not to mention whatever this Finn has going for him.  Who is this guy by the way?” Angel asked.

          “He is a boy that Buffy may have been seeing.  I couldn’t seem to get a straight answer on that from Willow.  I also believe he is one of those Commandos that captured Spike originally.  I know Spike isn’t normally so strong, but I can say that we’ve looked everywhere for Buffy and we cannot seem to locate her.  We thought you could perhaps find them.  You have more demon contacts than we do as well as a familial bond with Spike.”

          “I’ll give it a shot, but, Giles; I have a feeling that something’s rotten in the state if you catch my drift.  Last time I talked to Buffy it seemed like fighting Spike was the last thing she would want to do,” Angel pointed out.

          “I agree, but on the off chance that this young man is speaking the truth we must act,” Giles said.

         “You’re right.  I’m on it.  I’ll call you when I find them.”  Angel hung up the phone and turned to Cordelia and Doyle.  “Looks like we are going hunting.”

          “For Buffy?” Cordelia asked.

          “Uh-huh.  They think Spike abducted her,” Angel informed them.

          “This the same girl you were saying was all boo-hooin’ over losin’ her boy?” Doyle asked.

          “One and the same,” Angel admitted.

          “So basically she got what she wants and we’re goin’ to do what?” Doyle asked.

          “Embarrass ourselves probably.  Which is why you both are going with me.  It’s bad enough that I lost the great love of my life to that bleached idiot.  I’m not about to face them all cozied up somewhere on my own,” Angel declared.

          “We should pack and bring lots of expense money!” Cordelia cried excitedly.

          “Why’s that?” Angel asked.

          “Duh, it’s obvious.  Spike came back, sorry for totally dumping her right after they got married, swept her off her feet, and now they’re having a hot and heavy honeymoon somewhere.  Somewhere with room service,” Cordelia said dreamily.

          Angel just growled.  “You two go pack.  I’ve got some phone calls to make to track him down.”

          “You can do that?” Doyle asked.

          “He’ll need money for something like this which means he’ll have contacted our solicitor,” Angel answered.

          “You have a solicitor?” Cordelia asked.  “Wait!  You have real money?”

          Angel grimaced.  “Of course I have money.  It takes money to run evil schemes and to keep Drusilla and Darla in clothes and crap.  But it’s blood money and I won’t touch it.”

          “So why do you keep the accounts open then?  Why not just give it all to charity?” Doyle asked, wincing as a fashion magazine was whacked over the back of his head by an enraged brunette goddess.

          Angel looked down at the ground and shrugged.  “It’s complicated.  I know it doesn’t make any sense but that all has to do with another me, another life. I kind of feel like I don’t have the right to interfere with that.”

          Cordelia would work on getting him to interfere with it in her own way later, for now she was going to get him as mentally distanced from Doyle’s charity idea as possible.  “Angel’s right.  That money belongs to Angelus.  If that guy ever gets loose again, the last thing we need is for him to go on an even bigger killing spree in a desperate need to increase his portfolio.”

          Angel and Doyle just looked at her.  Okay, so she was so shallow she was practically transparent.  So what?

 

Chapter 9:  Being Sure

 

          Buffy giggled with glee as Spike carried her over the threshold, kicking the door shut with his foot.  He walked over to the massive four poster bed and placed her gently down upon it.  He gave her lips a soft kiss before his fingers began to work her clothes free.  He laughed when he felt Buffy’s hands join in.  “Don’t know why I fought this for so long.”

          Buffy’s hands stilled and she looked away from him, staring at anything that wasn’t him.

          “Buffy?” Spike asked in concern.

          “It’s nothing.  Just give me a minute, okay?” she said softly, trying hard not to cry.  He hadn’t wanted her.  She’d wanted him so very badly, but as usual he hadn’t wanted her.  At least he hadn’t slept with her first.  That was still a point in his favor.  More than Angel or Parker had managed.  She pulled her now open blouse together.  “This isn’t going to work.  I need to leave.” She scrambled to the other side of the bed.

          Spike growled and pulled her back.  “You aren’t going anywhere.  I thought you wanted this.  I thought you wanted…” over a hundred and thirty years of self doubt poured down on him.  Of course she wouldn’t want him.  She had a moment of clarity and realized that she was beneath him.  They all did eventually.  Just took some longer than others.  Buffy was sort of falling in between Cecily and Drusilla.

          Buffy jumped up and put her clothes to rights.  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come.  This is all wrong.  I’m not meant for this.  I’m the Slayer.  I’m only meant for death.  Not love,” Buffy sobbed as she ran toward the door.

          Her words penetrated Spike’s brain just in time.  Using all of his vampiric speed he beat her to the door and barred her way.  “Wait.  What’s this about then?  Is it me?”

          Buffy looked up at him with watery green eyes.  “It’s not you.  It’s me.  I’m unlovable.  Angel couldn’t do it.  Parker sure the hell couldn’t do it.  What’s the point?  I’m just gonna die anyway.  I’m so sorry I dragged you into this.”

          Spike took a steadying breath.  He was about to ask her a question that he very much did not want to ask.  “Do you really love me?”

          Buffy just looked at him.  It would be so easy to say no.  She could say no and she knew he’d let her walk out that door and she’d never see him again.  It would be so simple.  Then she could go on with her life for what little time she had left in utter misery.  But when was love ever simple?  Her mouth formed the right word, “No,” she told him as her head nodded up and down and more tears poured down her face.

          Spike gave her a small grin as he reached up a hand and wiped the tears away.  “No, huh?” he muttered as he leaned down and swept her off her feet again.  He carried her back to the bed and proceeded to just lie down beside her.  He ran his hands through her hair as he placed gentle kisses all over her body.  But instead of warming her to the lovemaking, it caused her to sob in earnest and grip him tightly.

          “I’m so scared, Spike.  I’m so scared that I won’t be able to survive you.  That this time when you leave, I won’t be able to go on.  Not that I’ve been going on very well since you left.  Not after you showed me what it could be like to be loved.  Why do I need it?  Why do I need love?  They made me the Slayer.  They didn’t ask.  They put this power inside of me, so why couldn’t they take the heart out?  Why, Spike?” she cried.

          Spike felt his own heart breaking at her sorrow.  “I’m not going to leave again, Buffy.  I promise.  I ran the first time ‘cause I was right scared.  It’s not everyday that a master vampire finds himself married to a Slayer.  I shoulda stayed.  Sussed things out, but I didn’t, and for that I am more sorry than you’ll ever know.  As for the heart?  Baby, that’s what makes you such a good fighter.  Everything you do -- you do with your whole heart.  That’s what made me fall in love with you,” he told her.

          She turned to look him the eyes.  “You really love me?  You didn’t just say that before because I said it first?”

          “Yeah, you silly bint, or I wouldn’t be here would I?” he teased.

          Buffy gave him a watery smile.  “I guess that’s true.  Say it.  Say it again, please,” she begged.

          “I love you, Buffy.”

          “I love you, too.”

          He crashed his mouth down upon hers and put his fingers back to their original course of business.  Soon the both of them were lying under the covers, skin to skin, rubbing gloriously against one another.  “So good, baby.  Fuck.  You feel so good.  I’m gonna make you mine.”

          “I’m already yours, Spike.  From the time you went down on your knees I was yours.  I just didn’t realize it for another couple of hours,” she confessed.

          He stopped what he was doing and looked at her.  “I did get you pretty fast, didn’t I?  What was it you told your mates?  Oh, that’s right.  You told them you were keeping me.”

          “And I was right.  I’m gonna keep you,” Buffy promised.

          Spike’s face shifted, his canine’s elongating.  “Are you sure you want all of me, Slayer?  This isn’t some chained up vampire.  This is the real thing.  No soul.  No government chip.  Just me.  Spike.  That gonna do for you?” Spike asked, knowing he had to get it all out in the open.

          Buffy had suspected from the moment he showed back up that the chip was gone.  “Are you going to kill innocents?”

          She hadn’t said humans.  She’d said innocents.  “No.  Not innocents.  I’ll bag it, baby.  I’ll fight beside you until the last.  You aren’t going anywhere on my watch.”

          “Then make me yours, Spike.  Do it and promise me you’ll never leave,” she asked with her heart in her eyes.

          “I promise.  I don’t leave, Buffy.  It’s not who I am,” he told her.

          She arched her neck, offering him access to so much more than her blood.  She felt him push his way between her thighs, entering her slowly.  Then she felt him at her neck, sucking on the skin as he began to move in her wet passage.  This was it.  This was what she’d been wanting.  The desperate need that tore at her soul, that kept her from feeling complete was being washed away by the man at her throat.  The vicious killer that she called husband.  When his fangs entered her, eradicating the bite from Angel, she found herself gripping him hard and twisting so that she could reach his flesh while still keeping him inside her.  She made contact with alabaster skin and she bit down hard, drawing blood into her mouth. 

          Spike realized what she was doing and he didn’t fight her.  He wanted to be hers.  The fact that she was instinctually claiming him brought every one of his decisions into focus.  This was what it was all about.  This is what change and sacrifice was for.  This was what he’d been searching for as a man and as a vampire.  This is what he really wanted in that alley all those years ago.  Who would ever have thought it would be a Slayer to give it to him?  That a Slayer could make him whole?  He pulled away from her sweet blood and brought her with him until they were eye to eye, nose to nose, and mouth to mouth.  “Mine,” he declared softly.

          “Mine,” she echoed.

          “Yours,” they whispered just before their lips met and they came in a quiet wave; a long, lingering orgasm that coursed throughout their entire bodies.

           They were so caught up in their newfound love that they didn’t sense the coming intruders.  The door to the suite burst open, wood splintering.  Spike and Buffy turned stunned faces to broken door.

          “Angel?” Buffy asked while Spike issued a low growl deep in his throat.

 

Chapter 10

 

          “Ah, see?  I knew this would happen,” Angel said in irritation as he stepped through the door, followed by Cordelia and Doyle.  Doyle tried to put the door back into place in order to allow the two very naked lovers privacy.  Of course they were on the inside of the door, so privacy was a relative term.

          “Then why didn’t you just knock?” Cordelia asked, not overly excited about seeing Buffy and her vamp hubby in their birthday suits. That is; until she got a good look at said vamp hubby.  Talk about salty goodness!

          “It seemed kind of stupid to knock if he was turning her or torturing her!” Angel yelled defensively.

          “He’s right, Delia,” Doyle said.  “That would have been pointless.  What would the evil one had said:  ‘No sir, I’m not hurting the girl.’?  Not like we would have believed him.”

          “Here’s an idea,” Buffy hissed.  “How about if you’d knocked and the girl in question had been the one to answer:  ‘No sir, I’m not being hurt by the big bad vampire who just happens to be my husband!’?  This is my wedding night people!  What are you doing here?”

          Spike slipped into his human guise and waited with his bride for answers.  He’d just had the most meaningful moment of his life and now he was forced to look at the face of his grand-sire when all he wanted to do was stare at the face of his bride, and do a little basking in the afterglow.

          Angel looked sheepish.  “I got a call from Giles, who got a call from someone named Riley Finn, who said that Spike had his chip out and that he’d attacked you, abducted you.”

          “So you rode to the rescue?” Buffy asked in irritation.

          “Thanks, mate,” Spike said, surprising everyone.  “Thanks for coming for her.  It means a lot to me to know that you’ll protect her when it counts.”

          Angel’s mouth fell open.  Buffy just smiled proudly.

          “Spike!” Angel squealed.  “You’re really in love with her.”

          Doyle and Cordelia each grabbed one of his arms because it looked like he might topple over at any moment.

          “Yeah, Peaches, I am.  She’s my everything.  My mate.  My wife.  My girl.  My life,” Spike said, looking only at Buffy.

          “I love you so much,” Buffy sobbed as she burrowed herself back in his arms.  She felt him instantly harden against her.  “Want you!  Want you inside of me now!” she demanded.

          Spike smiled and growled as he plunged home, heedless of the shocked gasps in the room.  This time it wouldn’t be slow and gentle.  This time it would be primal.

          “I think that’s our cue to leave!” Cordelia cried.

          “Please,” Angel begged, closing his eyes and letting his friends guide him out of the broken door.

          “Liquor, Angel,” Doyle promised.  “We’ll get a room.  At another hotel and we’ll get drunk as skunks.”

          “Sounds good,” Angel agreed as they left the room.

          “Sorry about the door,” Doyle called out as they propped it up in the frame.

          Spike and Buffy didn’t answer.  They were busy.  Very, very Busy. 

          They finished up their honeymoon, thankfully without running into anyone from Angel Investigations again and returned to Sunnydale.  They headed straight for Giles. Buffy had called ahead and knew everyone would be waiting. They knocked on the door and the Watcher opened it and let them in with a worried sigh.  They took seats in his armchair with Buffy curling into Spike’s lap.  The Sunnydale gang was all seated on the couch.  Backs rigid.  Eyes wide as they stared at the couple, waiting for Buffy to make some sense of things.

          “What!” Buffy yelled.  “I told you I was keeping him!”

 

The end.

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