Chapter 1

            She heard it.  Over and over it echoed in her head.  ‘Close your eyes.’  ‘Close your eyes.’  It was a mantra.  And it had pictures.  Pain wasn’t something you felt in your gut, on your skin, in your head.  Pain was something that gripped your soul and didn’t let go.  No relief.  No respite.  No breaks.  Pain.  Pain.  Pain. 

            She set the plate down with something that might have been a smile.  Shift over.  It was time to head back.  She gave her boss a nod as she grabbed her coat off the peg and wrapped it around her.  She didn’t feel the cold.  She didn’t feel anything but regret.  Regret was the pain.  If only she hadn’t dated a vampire.  If only she hadn’t insisted that they make love.  If only she’d killed him when she had the chance. Before his soul was nestled inside of his body.  Before he had looked at her with so much love, confusion, and trust.  Fuck.  Trust.

            She walked past an alleyway with a drug bust.  Not her territory.  Cop place.  Cop job.  She was a waitress.  She did the odd slay when it fell in front of her, but she didn’t patrol.  The Slayer had betrayed her.  The Slayer hadn’t been strong enough to do what it should when she needed it to.  But when she didn’t need it to?  When all she needed in this world was Angel?  The Slayer had been plenty strong then.  Bye, bye, love.  Hope hell is nice this time of eternity.

            She made it to her front door.  White.  Or at least it had been white, once upon a time.  She vaguely wondered at what the hopes had been when this place was designed.  She kicked the door closed, not bothering with the latch or lock.  Had an architect poured lovingly over his drawing pad, sketching out a happy little cluster of small living spaces?  There were courtyard pockets all around the dilapidated complex.  Flower gardens.  Herb gardens.  Evergreens.  What had the minds eye seen?

            She stripped out of her clothes and walked into the bathroom.  A hot shower.  A cold shower.  Fresh.  Dirty.  It was all the same, really.  All a useless functioning through the pain.  It never left.  If she had a third eye and opened it, she was sure she would see a hulking, puss oozing, monster mass lying across her shoulders.  Filth sloughing off from its flesh and plopping down her skin.  She may not be able to see it, but she could feel its crushing weight.  She could smell it.

            She stepped into the shower and leaned against the tile wall with her eyes wide open.  Why was she doing this?  Punishment maybe.  Live to feel the pain.  It was the least she could do for him.  Suffer.  Suffer until she died.  What then?  What would death hold for her?  What sins would she account for?  Would she see him?  Would she enter the realm of hell?  She gave a bitter laugh.  Being close to him would ease her pain, no matter what tortures they suffered.  Nope.  She wouldn’t be allowed to see him.  That’s when she realized it.  Suffering.  Without him she would suffer.  Alive or dead.  It didn’t matter.

            She could do it.  She could really do it.  Death.  It might not stop the pain for her, but at least her loved ones would know.  A phone call and they could all mourn for a time and then get on with their lives.  Live again where she never could.  Decision made, she got out of the shower.  She toweled off, folding the towel neatly in thirds and hanging it on the towel rack like her mother taught her.

            She didn’t get dressed.  Too messy.  She walked all over her shabby excuse for an apartment and tidied things.  Her mother might come.  She wanted her to be proud of how well she kept things while living on her own.

            When everything was in its place.  A note of goodbye – no apologies – no excuses.  She was ready.  She walked back into her shower, knife in hand.  There would be no mistakes.  No recovery thanks to Slayer healing.  She knew how to kill.  It was one of the few things she was entirely sure of and damn good at.  She would do this right.  At the neck.  Sever.  It was a good word.

            She closed the shower curtain.  She raised the machete up with her elbow angled out.  She jerked her hand out, stretching the shower curtain for the briefest moments before she came back towards her neck with every bit of slayer force behind her movement.  No sound.  No scream.  Just the briefest flashes of blissful sensation as the knife went through her skin, severing all the connective tissue, breaking through cartilage and bone, and finally embedding itself into the shower wall.  Down she fell, body and head.  A small pile of person parts resting on the chipped porcelain.

            ‘Ugh,’ her throat was dry.  She swallowed harshly.  Fuck.  Something was wrong.  She couldn’t swallow.  She opened her eyes.  They weren’t focusing properly for some reason.  Everything was filmy and white.  She tried to figure out where she was.  Bathroom.  Shower.  Big knife.  She closed her eyes again.  Apparently she’d fucked this up, too.  Must have missed.  She moved onto her hands and knees.

            She couldn’t resist the need to scream.  Of course there was absolutely no sound, so… kinda pointless.  She was on her hands and knees.  She could feel that she was on her hands and knees, but her view was the same fucking one it had been when she opened her eyes.  She scrambled forward with her hands until she felt it.  She picked it up, closing her eyes at the nauseating way the world moved when your head was being carried.  Not knowing what else to do she positioned herself face forward and shoved the severed object firmly onto her neck. 

            Immediately she felt a sucking sensation as her skin sealed itself back up.  A complete re-knit.  She bumped into something from behind.  She turned, dizzy with the quick moment, and looked behind her.  The machete.  It was still there.  A gruesome testament to her success.  A deep laughter started rumbling out from her stomach.  It wouldn’t stop.

            The laughter followed her as she stumbled out of the tub, ripping the shower curtain from its metal rings.  She leaned against the sink, laughing hysterically at the crazed woman staring back at her from the mirror.  No scars.  She traced the unline with her finger.  No scars!  No fucking scars!  Her laughter hit a shrieking note.  There was a hard response against the shared wall of her apartment.  She slapped a hand over her mouth.  ‘Oops!’  Too loud.

            She walked out of her apartment door.  She didn’t close it behind her.  She was walking out of the world and she didn’t think there was a door for that.  She headed out into the streets, her nudity not even registering.  She’d just been snubbed by death.  Passed by.  Not picked for the team.  Wasn’t there something about Mohammed and the mountain?  She’d just have to find death and explain a thing or two to her.  She was convinced death must be a woman.  Only a female could be this big of a bitch.

            She went to the vampires first.  They’d always felt like home.  Her special monster to kill.  Her favorite.  Obviously.  Best not go with that train of thought.  Didn’t need the hysterical laughter bubbling up again.  It would let death know she was coming.  She dropped down a manhole.  Into the sewers.  She felt the filth squish between her toes.  Didn’t matter.  Didn’t care.  Disease?  Infection?  Hah!  Least of her worries.

            It didn’t take her long to find her quarry.  “Hey guys,” she rasped.  Throat still dry.  “I thought I’d bring you dinner,” she said cheerily.  She waved a hand up and down her nude form like a game show hostess showing off a new set of Corning ware.  “Slayer, fresh with a death wish.  Mmmm, yummy.”

            The leader of the little nest she stumbled upon hadn’t dug himself up yesterday.  He got up and walked slowly over to the naked girl.  She was breathtaking.  Pain was rolling off of her in waves.  She stank of fear and desperation.  He reached out and grabbed her wrist.  She didn’t so much as flinch.  He held the wrist up to his nose and smelled.  No scent of drugs.  He used one clawed finger to puncture her skin.  He watched as the well of blood swelled up.  He smelled again.  No scent of drugs.  He looked at one of his least favorite minions.  “Gary, get your ass over here.”

            Gary hopped up.  Ready to do whatever his sire ordered.  “Yes, master?”

            “Lick,” the leader ordered.

            “Yes, Markus.” Gary licked.  Then he immediately vamped and sank his fangs in.  He couldn’t help himself.  This wasn’t blood.  It was better than that.  It was nirvana.  Liquid nirvana.  Far too quickly, he felt himself being torn cruelly away from his pleasure.  His back hit the wall and he fell to the ground, dazed and wanting more.

            Markus gave a laugh.  Gary was okay.  He was jonesing for more, but he wasn’t about to dust or anything.  There was no sickness on him.  Markus looked at his rag tag group.  “I guess it really is our lucky day.  A slayer with a death wish.  Everyone!  Feast!”  Markus dug in, not waiting for them to join him.

            Buffy felt fangs.  Fangs all over her body.  She could feel as her life’s blood was pulled out through a multitude of tiny holes.  Someone had decided they wanted more, however.  She felt a hard shaft poke against her bare thighs.  She rallied enough strength to reach down and tear the offending member off.  She threw it towards the wall, hitting poor Gary in the forehead.  “No!” she growled.

            Markus heard the howling of one of his minions.  Stupid fucker deserved it.  No sense disrespecting the power of the Slayer.  The immense gift they had been given.  He tore his mouth away long enough to shout “No one fucking touches her.  Feed only!”

            No one argued.  They weren’t that scared of Markus.  It was the thought of having their dick ripped off that made the idea completely unappealing.  They went back to feeding.  Finally, dropping the body to the ground as the last drop of blood was licked from the torn flesh.  Finished.  She was finished.

            “Can we fuck her now?”  One of the minions asked.

            Markus turned on him and plunged his hand into his chest cavity.  He grinned a wild grin as the minion turned to dust.  “I said ‘no’.  Respect.  Youth today has no respect.  We’ll bury this one after dark.  Give her the proper dues.”  Markus leaned against the wall with his eyes closed.  Sleep would be good after such a fine meal.

            Buffy woke up even thirstier then she had been earlier.  There was a roaring in her ears.  She put her hands up to them and the roaring got louder.  Shit.  The sound was coming from inside her.  It was her blood.  It was rushing back into her body, filling her veins at a breakneck speed.  She opened her eyes and all she could see was red.  She scented the air.  Vampires.  Stupid.  Weak.  Fools who couldn’t even kill anyone properly!  She didn’t have a stake.  She didn’t need one.  She could hear the faint muffle of screams through the roaring in her ears as she tore into them. 

            The feeling of her hands sinking into cold dead flesh was comforting.  She took her time doing it, and yet didn’t allow a single one of them to leave.  They all had to be punished for failing her.  Obviously, vampires had been a bad choice.  They were on death’s side.  She needed something living.  Something with light inside of it.  A human.  She needed a human to kill her.  When the sewers were thick with dust, she made her way topside.

            She looked around.  It was just getting dark.  She knew where to go.  The gangs.  They always had guns.  A nice round of human made ammunition.  Pop.  Pop.  Pop.  She could hear the ratta tat tat of the gunfire already.  If she tried, she could even imagine the feeling of the individual bullets entering her skin and stopping her heart.  Stupid heart.  It just kept beating.  Perhaps if she asked nicely one of them would cut it out for her.

                        Ja Ja had seen some strange shit in his time, but a naked, dirty, white girl coming at them down the street was a new one.  He figured she must be crazy.  Hell, even the crack whores stayed off this street.  He straightened himself up, gripping the gun in his jacket pocket tightly.  His instincts were kicking in.  She may look small, but this one was dangerous.  Crazy ones always were.

            Buffy watched the group of youths watch her.  Every eye was on her.  There were only three women in the bunch, but even their eyes were glued to her.  She swayed gently on cat feet.  Taking her time.  Heading gracefully towards death.  She didn’t want to rush it.  Didn’t want to scare them off.  As she neared, not quite within touching distance, she gave them a welcoming smile.  It was meant to reassure.

            Ja Ja felt his insides run cold.  It was like something from one of the stories his grandmother used to tell him.  She’d brought his mother here from Haiti twenty-seven years ago.  It was supposed to be different for them here.  It was supposed to be the land of plenty.  TB had visited grandmother, however.  No money for medicine and too afraid to go to the government for help because then she’d lose her job.  Couldn’t work in the kitchens anymore.  His mother had tried.  Tried and failed.  Grandma died.  Then it was just him, his brother, his sister and his mother.  His sister had gone bad.  She’d gone bad early.  Drugs drank her down.  Fifteen.  Junked up.  Hooking.  Dead.  His mother had lost it then.  Lost it and never found it.  It was up to him and his brother to keep things going.  So Ja Ja took to the streets.  Selling the same drugs that killed his sister.  Did it bother him?  Hell, ya.  Was there any other way?  Hell, no.  None that he could see.  Hope didn’t visit people like him.

            Buffy looked to the one with the knowing eyes.  The rest of them were just sheep.  But the one in the back.  The one who had stilled and looked.  Really looked.  He was the one for her.  She walked over to the boy.  She heard several voices.  Children squawking out their identity.  She ignored them.  No hands grabbed her.  It was just her and the boy with the eyes.  She looked at the hand in his pocket.  She gave him a nod.

            Ja Ja froze.  Shit.  He knew what she was asking, but he really didn’t want to give it to her.  Not here in front of witnesses.  Not anywhere.  Man he was fucked.  Fucked!  If he refused a creature like this, he would be in even worse shit.  Shit.  Shit.  Shit!

            Buffy could feel the panic pouring off the boy in waves.  It was sweet this fear.  She didn’t think she’d ever really experienced the true taste of human fear before.  No wonder the demons were always preying upon them.  They were delicious.  She reached out a hand.  She knew his dilemma.  The sheep.  They wouldn’t know.  They would get scared.  One might call the cops.

            Ja Ja took her hand.  It was cold.  It was the hand of the devil.  He just knew it.  He let her lead him, off the street and into an alley.  Down, down, the streets they went.  Further and further away from the safety of his neighborhood.  He thought about his brother.  He’d come home after work and would wonder.  He thought about his mother, sitting on the couch staring at the wall.  Who would give her a bath?  His brother hated to do that.  Who would roll her over?  Keep her from getting bed sores?  His brother hated to do that, too.  Finally, the devil stopped.

            “This is a good place,” Buffy said.  She smiled at him and nodded her head down at his gun hand.

            Ja Ja realized he still gripped the gun tightly in his now sweat slicked hand.  He took it out of his pocket and aimed.  It shook.  “You sure,” he found his voice.

            Buffy nodded and spread her arms out wide, waiting.

            Ja Ja looked around.  No one here to hear.  Just him and the devil woman.  He said a silent prayer.  He asked God to take care of his mother and his brother.  Then he aimed and fired.  He fired good.  He let loose every round he had into the creature.  He watched as the bullets entered her body, most leaving out the back.  She jerked back and forth, accepting the metal into her flesh, but she never faltered, never fell.  When his gun was empty he put it back in his pocket.  He looked at her.  Arms outstretched eyes closed.  Black holes all over her body.  Blood trickling down.  Still standing.

            Buffy felt a tickle.  Damn!  The few bullets that hadn’t passed through her skin, were being wiggled out.  Expelled.  Not excepted.  Just like her.  She fell to her knees and looked up at the sky.  “Why won’t you fucking take me!” she screamed.

            Ja Ja walked over to the devil woman.  He got down and helped her to stand.  “We need to get you some help,” he told her.

            She turned tear filled eyes to him.  “I’m past help.  Thank you for your kindness.  Go home.  Some people can’t you know.” 

            Ja Ja had no idea what she was talking about.  He watched as she walked away.  Still swaying gracefully.  He turned and headed back to safety.  He had to get out of Los Angeles.  Had to snap his mother out of it.  Tell his brother to pack.  They’d drive as far as their cash would allow, then get jobs wherever the hell they landed.  New lives.  Time for new lives.

            Buffy walked on and on.  She haunted the streets of LA.  She set herself on fire, but did not burn.  Hurt like a bitch though.  She tried everything short of blowing herself up.  She discovered early on that she could still feel any body parts that were severed, luckily they sucked themselves right back on when they were put back where they belonged.  The last thing she wanted was to be a million little pieces of sentient Buffy.  That was even worse than being whole Buffy.  Buffy.  Buffy.  Buffy.  It was her name.  The pain had changed, though.  Regret didn’t stifle her anymore.  It had crawled off her shoulders.  Replaced by desperation, hopelessness, and insanity.  Buffy.  Buffy.  Buffy.  It was her name.

Chapter 2

            Spike could not believe that he was heading back to Sunnydale.  South America had been lovely.  Sure his girlfriend had been a bit of a slutbag, but then what did he expect? He had sent her daddy to hell.  He needed to be punished.  But one day she came to him and said she’d had enough of hurting him.  Said it was time to go back.  To try and pull the great poof out of his torment.  So here they were, driving through LA.  Currently, Spike was cruising for some dinner.  Something quick and easy.  Young.  He wasn’t looking for anything that would really stick with him.

            Dru had been growing increasingly agitated as they drove through the busy streets.  “What’s up, luv?” he asked as she pulled on the hem of her dress.

            “Something’s not right, my Spike.  There’s something very wrong and I don’t like it.  I don’t like it at all.  Ungh…” she started moaning and rolling back and forth.

            Shit.  She was going into a spell.  Well, Spike would be damned again if he was going to be holed up in a motel room with a nutty vampire for who knows how long without a good meal first.  He heard a commotion coming from a passing alley.  He pulled the car to a stop.  Locked the doors with Dru inside and hopped out.  He really hoped it was a mugging.  Suddenly the thought of a more substantial meal was appealing.  Two for one would be nice. 

            He made his way to the back of the alley and sniffed the air.  Human.  He could smell human blood.  Two males and something else.  Something not quite human and vaguely familiar.  There was also an unbelievable stench in the air.  He turned the corner to where the alley had a slight alcove, a dip in another building.  Abandoned.  He looked down at the ground.  Two human males were grabbing at the place their privates should have been.  They were bleeding out.  Throats crushed so they couldn’t scream.  Nice work really.  He glanced further into the shadows to see what had managed such a lovely tableau.

            A small, dirty girl sat on the ground.  She held out her hands Lady Macbeth style.  “They wouldn’t go away.  I told them.  They wouldn’t listen.”  She looked up at him then.

            Spike felt his world shift at the look in those green eyes.  Deep pools of horror, the depths of which he had never experienced before.  Slayer.  Buffy.  He knelt down.  He couldn’t help it.  He touched her hands.  “Slayer?”

            She turned her head sideways, absorbing the sound.  Translating it.  “I don’t think so.  Didn’t Drusilla kill the Slayer?  I’m Buffy.  Buffy.  Buffy.  Buffy.  Can’t kill Buffy,” she chanted.

            Spike was unsure.  He thought about killing the wretched creature, despite her crazed muttering.  Something held him back, but then pity moved him forward.  But suddenly, he could feel Dru behind him.

             “Don’t, Spike.  Not for killing this one.  Can’t be done.  Broken girl,” Drusilla explained as she leaned down to eye-level with Buffy.  She reached out a hand and pushed back the matted mass of hair.  “Shhh… it’s okay, baby.  We’ve got you now.  We’ll take good care of you, we will,” Dru promised.

            Spike looked behind him at the still alive men writhing in agony.  He picked one up and drained him.  “Dru,” he said, holding the other out to her. 

           Dru took the offering and sucked it dry.  She dropped the body and turned back to her newest charge.  “Pick her up, Spike.  She’s coming with us.”

            Spike did as he was told.  The chit didn’t weigh a thing.  Light as a feather.  Smelled bad though.  He was extremely glad he didn’t have to breathe unless he wanted too.  Despite her filth he nestled her snugly against his chest.  Surprised at how easily she’d gone with him.  No fight.  No fear.

            Dru was already in the car when he reached it.  She held her hands out to him, waiting for him to deposit the former Slayer in her grasp.  He watched as she cradled the broken girl like an infant.  Then he got in the old car himself and started the engine.  “Hotel?”

            “Yes, please,” Dru answered.  “We’ve got you, my sweet.  It’s all going to be okay.”

            Buffy didn’t respond.  She knew who had her.  She knew what they were.  She knew what she’d done.  But she’d lost something.  A vital something.  Humanity.  It was gone.  She thought maybe death had taken it.  Pulled it right out of her.

            They arrived at the hotel.  Spike took the girl, leaving the bags to Dru.  People would look at them even more oddly than they were if Dru was seen carrying a girl nearly her own size.  Spike had wrapped his duster over the small being in his arms.  He stared daggers at the desk clerk who kept stealing glances his way while Dru registered them.  He didn’t know why, but he had an overwhelming need to protect this lost child. 

            Dru got the cardkey, and they made their way up to the hotel room.  It took the both of them over two hours to get her body washed, her hair brushed, her teeth brushed, and into bed.  She hadn’t fought them, so much as hadn’t helped them.  It made for rough going.  Spike and Dru each took off their clothes and slipped into bed on either side of the now clean creature.  They moved in, cocooning her, protecting her.  From what, they did not know.

            Morning dawned.  Buffy realized that she was warm.  She was clean.  Soft.  Dry.  Snuggled.  She let out a little giggle.  Two sets of blue eyes opened up and stared at her.

            “Are you with us then?” Spike asked.  Dru waited, like a child who has been given a new pet, excited at its every move.

            Buffy looked at him funny.  “I don’t think I’m with anyone else, am I?” she responded quietly.  Then she sat up and looked around the room.  She scooted herself back down and looked at Spike.  “Yep, I’m with you.”  It was a conspiratorial whisper.

            Spike couldn’t help the smile he gave her.  He loved crazy chicks.  He looked passed her to Dru.  The utter delight on his sire’s face came near to warming his dead heart.  It looked to him like they were going to be keeping the Slayer.  Not the Slayer.  He had to remember that. 

            “Are you going to try and kill me?” Buffy asked in a childlike manner of curiosity.

            “No point to that, is there?” Dru asked knowingly.

            Buffy turned on her side so that she could look at the dark haired vampire.  “Nope.  Can’t die.”  Buffy reached out a finger and ran it along the plane of Drusilla’s cheek with a deep sigh.  “So pretty.  I always thought you were so pretty, Dru.”

            Dru smiled and bit her bottom lip.  “Thank you, Buffy.”  She was nearly shaking inside with delight.  This was just what her Daddy had wanted.  It was perfect.  Crazy little girl.  Dru thought how proud her sire would be, that she kept this safe for him.

            “You’re welcome,” Buffy said proudly, pleased with the thanks.  Not wanting to leave Spike out, she turned the other way.  “You too, Spike.  You’re pretty, too,” she said with an emphatic nod of her head.

            Spike laughed.  “Thank you, Miss Buffy.  You’re rather fetching yourself.”

            Buffy touched her face.  Then she shot up and ran towards the bathroom.  They got out of bed and followed, standing behind her, unseen in the mirror.  “There’s nothing there,” she said in awe.

            “What’s that, luv?” Spike asked, watching in fascination as the girl examined her body in the oversized bathroom mirror.

            “No scars.  No lines.  No life.  Nothing.  Just Buffy.  Buffy.  Buffy.  Buffy,” she chanted softly.

            Dru wrapped her arms around the girl and pulled her against her bare chest.  She pulled the dark blonde locks aside and leaned into her neck.  She gave it a kiss, a gentle suck, before biting down.  She removed her fangs and they all watched in the mirror as the holes closed quickly, too quick for even a Slayer’s healing.

            Buffy sighed and closed her eyes.  “I think I made death mad.  Cheated her and now she wants nothing to do with me.  The Master killed me, but Xander brought me back to life, and now death’s mad.  No matter what I do, she refuses to let me play.”

            Spike had enough with the death talk.  He didn’t like this discussion.  He gently led both women back to the bed.  When they were once again settled he whispered, “No death.  You belong to us now.”

            Buffy looked at him.  “Okay, Spike.”  She didn’t question the change in her situation.  The streets of Los Angeles.  The comfort of two familiar vampires.  What did anything matter anymore?  She wasn’t real.  Couldn’t be real.  Couldn’t die.  Couldn’t be real.

            Spike looked at Dru.  “What’s our next move, poodle?  Still Sunnydale?”  Spike didn’t like the idea of taking his new treasure to the Hellmouth.  He imagined she still had friends and family there.  People who would try and take her away.  He didn’t want that.  He wanted to keep her for themselves.  He felt drawn to the tiny thing.  Protective.  It would be strange if it didn’t feel so right.

            Dru ran her fingers, lovingly through Buffy’s hair.  “She’s my little girl, now.  Not letting anyone take her.  She’s perfect.  She’s just like Daddy always wanted her.”  Dru got quiet.  She thought about her lost sire.  “We still need to help him, Spike.  Can’t leave him in a hell dimension.  He might get bored.  There’s nothing to destroy there.”

            Spike sighed in irritation as he rolled over on his back.  “Couldn’t have thought of that before the two of you decided to suck the world into hell?  Bloody stupid.  Eventually there would be no food.  Nothing to kill worth killin’.”

            Buffy rolled over and slipped her arms around Spike’s bare chest.  She was confused at Dru’s words.  They reminded her of something she’d forgotten.  Someone.  She buried her face into the space under Spike’s shoulder.  She inhaled deeply.  “I feel good when I’m with you,” she muttered as she closed her eyes.

            Spike pulled her tightly against him, giving Dru a stern look.  “You’re going to jeopardize everything by making us go back there.  We’ll probably end up dusted by the Slayer’s groupies, and they’ll take her back.  We’ll lose her.”

            Drusilla moved until she was spooning Buffy from behind.  She pulled her arms around the girl, rubbing against Spike’s arms in the process.  “Don’t be cross, my Spike.  I don’t like when you are cross.”

            “Dru, as long as you make me go to Sunnyhell, I’m going to be cross!”  Spike was giving into her, he always gave into her, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to be pleasant about it.

Chapter 3

            They awoke the next evening to see Buffy looking out the window.  She turned to them with a smile and climbed back onto the bed.  “I watched the sun go down.  I made sure it did as it was supposed to.  It can’t hurt you now,” she told them as she bounced a bit on her knees.

            Spike watched as her small breasts jiggled up and down.  He swallowed hard as he felt his shaft harden.  He reached out a hand to still her bouncing.  “Be still for a moment, kitten,” he said.

            Dru gave him a knowing look.  She got up on her knees and grabbed a hold of Buffy.  “I think you’re tempting our sweet Spike, dearie,” she purred into Buffy’s ear as she rubbed her breasts across the younger woman’s back.

            Buffy turned wide eyes to Drusilla, and her little mouth formed a round ‘O’.  She looked back at Spike and lifted the blanket up.  She leaned down and poked her head in.  She put the blanket down quickly and looked back at Dru.

            “I told you,” Dru whispered huskily as she leaned down and licked Buffy’s neck.

            Buffy considered things for a moment.  She’d been a good girl.  She had kept herself for him.  But she had trouble remembering who he was.  That funny feeling she’d had before when Drusilla had talked about ‘Daddy’ came back.  Daddy.  She looked at Spike, ignoring the gentle caress of Dru’s fingers across her bare skin.  “Who is he?”

            Spike knew exactly what she was talking about.  He didn’t know what had happened to the girl, what had made her like she was, but he felt instinctively it had to do with Angel.  His desire run swiftly away as he mentally prepared himself to have a discussion about his grand-sire.  He patted the spot beside him and laughed as Buffy dove onto her tummy, chin propped on the palms of her hands as she stared into his eyes.

            “He is Drusilla’s sire, my grand-sire, and he was your lover.  Once.  According to my dark princess, he was sucked into a hell dimension.  Do you remember any of this, Buffy?” Spike asked her.

            Buffy thought about it.  ‘Close your eyes’.  She sucked in a breath as a wash of pain stole over her.  “I killed him.  I told him to close his eyes.  I killed him.  I did it.  I…” she trailed off. 

            “Fuck,” Spike cursed as he pulled her roughly against him.  Dru joined him, and they held onto the broken girl as memories assaulted her.

            Buffy cried like she was dying.  She cried like she never had before.  Like she’d needed to for months.  Angel.  Love.  Angelus.  Hurt.  Acathla.  Pain.  Regret.  Regret.  Pain.  All of it.  Death’s rejection.  Her search.  Her weeks of exploring, looking for death.  Always denied. 

            Eventually, she lay there.  Relieved from some of the pressure of her torment.  She was in Spike and Drusilla’s arms.  How weird was that?  Another thing.  She didn’t really want to die anymore.  So help her, she just wanted to stay right where she was.  “Why are you helping me?” she asked warily, her face still buried into Spike’s side.

            Spike tightened his arms around her.  She was back.  He didn’t want the Slayer.  He liked the broken girl.  He hoped she wouldn’t be too much like the girl she once was. “Don’t know, luv.”

            “I know why,” Dru spoke up.  “I like you like this.  All broken.  Just what Daddy wanted all along.  He wanted to break you.  Make you better.  Now you are.  Now we can keep you.  But we need to go get Daddy.”

            Buffy was following what the crazy vampire was saying, and she feared that made her just as nuts.  It made a weird vampire kind of sense.  She was to their liking now.  She could be one of the gang.  “You can’t turn me.  At least I don’t think you can.  You can try, though,” she offered, willing to do anything to keep this sense of warmth and belonging.

            Spike’s previous erection came back in full force.  He couldn’t help it when his hips ground against her.  “Fuck, Slayer,” he hissed in response to her words.  Just the thought of it.  The thought of having something Angel had wanted.

            “No,” she said emphatically.  “I’m not the Slayer.  Not that.  Never again.  I did my part.  Kendra was the Slayer.  Now another girl’s been called, and she’s the Slayer.  But not me.  No more sacrifices.”  She looked at Spike.  “So, are you gonna do it?”

            Spike pulled her underneath him, never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He spread her legs with his knees and warned, “Oh, I’m gonna do it.  You may not be able to die, missy, but you sure as hell will be mine when I’m through with you.”

            “Spike!” Drusilla yelled.  “She belongs to Daddy!  You can’t take her!”

            Spike looked at Dru and gave a low chuckle filled with years of bitterness.  “Yeah, well I think the old man has enough things that belong to him.”  He looked into Buffy’s green eyes.  The most expressive eyes he’d ever seen.  “You still want me to do this?” 

            Buffy thought about it.  Belonging to Spike.  She felt the pain inching its way back in; threatening.  “We’ll it ease the pain?  Keep the monster off my back?”

            “Yes, Buffy.  It will ease the pain.  I won’t let any monster at you but me. You’ll still love him.  That won’t go away, but you’ll feel something else.  A tie to me.  A draw that helps spread your emotions out.  Speaking of which, we’ll feel things together.  I’ll be able to feel what you feel and vice a versa.  Come on, luv, let me in,” he prodded.  Damn, he wanted this.  He wanted to take her.  Make her his.  He knew exactly what was getting to him.  It was Drusilla’s quest to get her sire back.  Angel was everything to her.  Spike was always taking a back seat.  He was sick of it.  He wanted something that was his.

            Buffy looked over Spike’s shoulder at the worried face of Drusilla.  “Is it nice?  Do you like belonging to Spike?  Does it hurt?”  Buffy was so tired of hurting.

            Drusilla looked away, her eyes downcast.

            Buffy was confused.  She looked back to Spike.  “It hurts doesn’t it?”

            “No, Buffy.  It shouldn’t hurt.  It should feel good.  Like family,” he told her.

            “What do you mean should?  Don’t you know?”  She was more confused than ever.

            “Dru doesn’t belong to me.  She belongs to Angelus.  I’m just her childe and companion.  Lover when she wants it.  Nothing more,” he explained.

            It was the pain in his voice.  She knew pain.  She knew true pain, and he was in it.  She reached her hands up and brushed lovingly at his face and said, “It’s not good to hurt.”  She tilted her head, granting him access.  “Stop the hurting, Spike.”

            Spike wasted no time in latching onto the side of her neck, pushing his way inside of her at the same time, reveling in the feel of her walls surrounding him.  He was going to try and turn her, figured it wouldn’t work, but either way, when he was done, she would be his.  He sucked her blood down, greedily, all the while ignoring the stressful cries that Dru was making.  Fuck Angelus.  Spike didn’t care how pissed the old man would be when he crawled out of hell.  Her blood was amazing.  He could feel its power working its way through his veins.  He felt like he was becoming a part of her.  He wasn’t moving much.  She was so tight he was afraid he’d cum, and he didn’t want to do that until his blood was in her system.

             When her heart began to slow, he pulled away and tore at his own wrist.  He watched as the blood welled to the surface.  He placed it against her mouth.  “Drink, baby.  Do it.  Take me in.”

            Buffy latched onto his wrist and drank.  She drank deeply.  She suckled like a starving babe.  She could feel him moving now.  Really moving inside of her.  She felt his blood, too.  He was in her.  He was in her in every way.  She wasn’t alone anymore.  It was no longer just her and the pain.  He was there, too.  He was sharing it with her.  All of it.  She gracefully slid into her current deathlike state sobbing with the relief of it all.

            Spike felt the last beat of her heart and he let himself cum.  His hips bucked the last few thrusts into her now lifeless body.  He wondered if he’d done it.  Had he killed her?  No sooner had he thought it then the sound of her heart taking a strong beat resounded throughout the room.  Bugger.  No turning then.  Shame.  It would have been sweet to see the poof’s face when they pulled him out of hell and he realized that Spike had been the one to pluck the fattest cherry.   Oh well.

            Dru had stopped her fretting now that the deed was done.  She stared in fascination as the girl’s life was swiftly returned to her. 

            Buffy had felt this sensation before.  She recognized the roaring sound of the blood as it was returned to her system.  This time, however, there was something different.  This time someone was with her.  It was Spike.  It was his demon.  No, her demon.  Her demon and Spike’s.  She really wasn’t alone, and she never would be again.  She opened her eyes and searched for his.  “Sire,” she stated in reverence as she found what she was looking for.

            “Childe,” Spike answered.  He knew his eyes were watery.  He couldn’t help it.  He’d never done anything quite like this before and the moment was getting to him.

            “Now you’ve done it,” Dru said in that tone of voice that was this side of ‘I’m telling’.

            “I have.  I’ve done it.  She may not be dead, but she’s mine.  Mine in every way,” Spike stated.

            Buffy reached out a hand and ran it along his cheek.  “Yours,” she agreed.  She wiggled her way over to him, melting into him as if they were one being.

            “Didn’t do right by you the first time, kitten,” Spike said huskily.  “Need to make you scream.”

            Buffy felt moisture flood her core.  She made a growly little moan.  It was a sound that she’d never heard before.  Not from her.  Not from anyone.

            Spike had heard that sound.  It was the sound Dru made for Angelus, and here Buffy was making it for him.  It might just be the sweetest thing he’d ever experienced.  He felt his cock jump against his thigh.  Every part of him wanted this.

            Buffy climbed on top of her sire, impaling herself on his hard length.  She threw her head back in ecstasy.  This was exactly where she belonged.  She thought about Angel.  She still loved him.  Still regretted that she’d taken his soul, then given it back and sent him to hell.  But things had changed.  They’d changed more than she could ever have imagined.  Everything was shifted.  No.  More than shifted.  It had grown.  Her capabilities had grown.  What she was feeling for Spike was something that just wasn’t in the realm of possibilities for humans.  Humans didn’t link familial bonding with sexual bonding.  She let the newfound feelings take her over while she rode him for all that she was worth.

            Spike watched his childe’s face as she found herself.  She was exalting in a new existence.  She was beautiful, and she was his.  He looked at Dru.  Saw her watching them with curiosity.  Not a hint of jealousy in her beautiful features.  He should have known.  He wasn’t worth jealousy to her.  For once he didn’t mind so much.  He looked into the beautiful green eyes of the girl above him.  They didn’t reflect love, not yet, but they reflected adoration, belonging, and hope.  That would do for now.

            He felt her clinch her thighs and press into him harder as she reached her release.  Then she did something he never would have imagined.  It just wasn’t done, not by fledglings.  She let the demon out and dove for Spike’s neck.  She sunk her teeth in, right over Dru’s original marks and growled “Mine!”

            Spike saw Dru react now.  Saw her try and move.  Try and stop the inevitable.  Spike had always had a quick tongue, however.  “Yours,” he agreed, and the bond was completed.  Sire/Childe.  Mates.  It was done.

Chapter 4

            Drusilla was upset.  At first when they’d found the broken girl, she’d been pleased.  It would be a lovely gift for Daddy.  A welcome home present.  But now Spike had spoiled it.  The very worst part, the part that made her want to rip and tear, was that the broken girl had claimed her toy.  Her toy!  No one had ever taken anything from her before.  Well, except for Daddy.  At one time he’d taken absolutely everything, but then he’d given it all back – of a sorts.

            “Drusilla,” Spike huffed from beside her, his hand grasping Buffy’s.  “Don’t be like this love, let’s have a good hunt.  It’s Buffy’s first time.  Let’s make it good for her.”

            “She’s all you care about now.  You don’t care about your princess anymore,” Dru whined.

            Spike pulled Drusilla against him, giving the top of her head a light kiss.  “I thought this was what you wanted.  That you wanted to keep her, to take care of her.”

            Dru softened slightly.  “I did, but I was doing it for my Angel.  Now it’s all spoiled.  The party is ruined.  Simply ruined.  The cake has gone to mush and the present has gotten loose.  Mutiny abounds, Spike.  Mutiny!”

            Buffy found the other woman extremely curious.  Drusilla didn’t want Spike, yet she didn’t want Buffy to have him either.  While Drusilla did want Angel, yet she was perfectly willing to share Angel with her.  Very curious, but then again the woman was insane.  Perhaps they all were.

            “Drusilla, think about it.  Darla’s dust.  I’m Spike’s.  Nothing and no one stands between you and Angel.  Except the gates of hell of course,” Buffy said slyly as she kissed the other woman on the cheek.  “Please don’t be mad at me.  I’ve always wanted a sister.”  Buffy had no problem giving Angel away.  Angel meant pain, and she’d had enough of pain.  Spike meant healing and an end to the loneliness; she wasn’t going to give that up.

            Dru leaned, ever so slightly, into Buffy’s kiss.  “Oh, alright.  Sisters we will be,” she agreed as she let Spike lace his arm with hers.  The threesome strolled down the street, looking for something to eat.

            “Shouldn’t I feel badly about this?” Buffy asked as they walked along.

            “Badly about what, kitten?” Spike asked, only half listening as he scanned the crowds of party goers going in and out of the clubs.

            “Badly about looking for food?  It’s not like I need it.  I can’t starve to death.  Tried that.  Didn’t work,” Buffy stated.

            “Oh, you’ll need it, my sister.  You’ve a demon in you now.  It will need to feed.  Force you.  Make demands on your poor tummy until you can think of nothing else,” Dru confided.

            “Oh,” Buffy said.  “I had no idea.”

            Spike stopped their progress.  He turned to his special childe.  “I don’t want you doing anything that you don’t want to do, Buffy.”

            Both Drusilla and Buffy burst into laughter.  “Don’t lie, Spike.  You want me to do this so bad you can taste it,” Buffy told him.

            “Well, yeah.  Gettin’ hard just thinking about it,” Spike admitted.  Both women looked down at his crotch as if to test the validity of that statement.  “Time for that latter, my lovelies.”

            Buffy’s head turned sharply to the side just then.  “There.”  She looked in the direction of a group of drunken college boys.  They appeared to be cutting across town from one bar to the next.  Silly boys.

            “Ladies, we’ve found our dinner,” Spike said as he casually turned them in the direction of the lit up frat boys.

            Buffy and Drusilla leaned against Spike, appearing to all the world that they’d had one too many.  They followed the young men at a distance, waiting to see if they’d make a mistake.  Go in an alley.  They did of course.  It was somewhat amusing, because their destination could be clearly seen at the end of the alley, across the street.  So close, and yet…

            “Tom’s a pussy,” one of the boys declared.

            “Tom’s not a pussy, he’s just shy,” another one defended the possible pussy.

            “Tom’s right here, assholes,” the boy in the back declared.

            “Oops,” the first boy said.  “My bad.  Tom you are a pussy!”

            “Fuck off, Karl!” Tom yelled.

            Karl seemed to take offense at this directive.  He turned around and got right into maybe pussy, maybe not pussy, Tom’s face.  “What’s that?” he growled.

            “You heard me.  You’ve had too much drink.  You’re a total jerk when you drink like this.”  Tom wasn’t going to back down; if he did his pussy status would be confirmed.

            Buffy walked up to the boys, leaving Spike and Drusilla to blend into the shadows.  “Now, now.  We don’t need to argue.  I have a terrific idea.  We can find out once and for all who is the real pussy in this group.”

            The three boys looked at the hot little blonde.  She was sexy as hell despite the weird, frilly, little dress she was wearing.  “Well, well, what do we have here,” Karl said.  The night was looking up.  A little tail would be just right about now.  It was obvious the girl wanted it.  She’d approached them.  A thought came to Karl.  “You a hooker?”

            Buffy smiled.  Tom was the only one of the three that recognized the ferocity in that grin.  He started to back up, but two strong arms wrapped around him.  He looked down.  Tiny little hands.  It was girl, but she had a hell of a lot of strength.  He couldn’t break free.  He started to pray. He asked for forgiveness.  He knew his greatest sin and he concentrated on that.  Over and over he prayed, while he watched realization dawn on his friends’ faces.  Another face, flashed in front of his eyes.  The face of a sweet, slightly chubby little co-ed, passed out on his twin bed, face slack from the drug he’d slipped into her wine cooler.  Chrissy was his biggest sin, and she didn’t even know it.

            “This is how it’s going to work,” Buffy explained as she pushed her mark against the wall.  Spike and Drusilla did the same to theirs.  “We’re going to show you our true faces, and the first one to scream, wet their pants, cry for their mama, you get the picture, is the real pussy.  Ready?”

            All three of the fierce creatures slipped into game face.  The no-name guy was the first to wet his pants, Karl was the first to scream, Tom was silent.  He’d already clued in on the impending death thing and was taking care of business.  He felt the fangs sink into his throat, and it was okay.  He’d made his peace.  He was ready to go.

            Spike was a little disappointed that he’d been the one to get the true pussy.  The fear was nice, but the stench of urine was a little nauseating.  Still, a meal is a meal.  He drank his guy down and let the lifeless body slip to the alley floor with all of the other debris.  Then he looked at Buffy.

            She had her face buried into the side of the guy’s neck.  He was still screaming.  Spike walked up and punched his windpipe.  Somewhat unnecessary as the guy’s heart beat chose that moment to cease altogether.  Buffy dropped her food and looked up at her sire.  “Did I do good?” she asked, her green eyes sparkling with the rush.

            “You did damn, good.  Game and all,” Spike turned to look at Dru who was licking some blood off of her finger.  “What do you think, Dru, did little sister do good?”

            Drusilla threw her head back and laughed.  “Very.  She deserves a treat.  But for now we must go.  There are people coming,” Dru looked down at the fallen frat boys.  “The dumb one was a screamer,” she said, explaining everything.

            The three supernatural creatures crawled up the side of the building and onto the roof.  They soaked in the night, and reveled in their strength as they jumped from rooftop to rooftop, making their way back to the hotel.  They slipped into the open hotel window and threw themselves down on the bed.

            “Do you think I lost my soul somewhere, or is it just my humanity that is gone?” Buffy asked as she intertwined her fingers with Spike and Drusilla’s.  “Because that felt incredible.  I have no guilt at all.  If they’d been worthy of surviving then they would have.  They wouldn’t have gone down an alley, been heading out to bars, walking around drunk at night.  That kind of thing.”

            “Exactly, pet.  That’s exactly it.  Survival of the fittest.  It’s natural selection, and we happen to be the predators,” Spike agreed as he brought her little hand to rest on his not so little erection. 

            “But why do I feel this way, Spike?  Is it just the demon you gave me?” Buffy asked, gripping Spike’s cock through his pants.

            “Don’t know, luv.  Could tell you were different before I shared my blood,” Spike hissed as he ground himself into her hand.

            “I have felt different for a very long time.  Ever since the Master killed me.  I did what I was supposed to do, let the Slayer guide me for the most part, but my heart wasn’t in it.  Nothing was the same.  I didn’t really know myself anymore, and was scared to try and find myself.  I lost my fear, though.  After Angel.  After sending him to hell.  Somewhere on the streets of Los Angeles, with death turning her back on me, I lost my fear.”  She rolled herself on top of Spike, bringing Drusilla with her.  “I’m not scared to be me anymore,” she declared as she claimed his mouth with her own.

            Drusilla decided to undress the lovers as they engaged in their kiss.  She unzipped the back of the dress that she had loaned her sister.  She laughed as she pulled it down her arms and off her body.  This would not do.  “We have to take you shopping tomorrow, little sister.  My style is not your style.”

            Buffy rolled onto her back and held out her arms to Dru.  As the dark haired vampire leaned down, Buffy began to work on Dru’s dress.  “I agree.  Shopping would be good.  Fuck now, shop later.”

            Spike helped Buffy to take Dru’s dress off, and then he removed what remained of his own clothes.  Soon the three of them were a writhing mass of touching, sucking, tasting, and biting.  Spike made sure each of his girls reached their pleasure several times over.  The sun was chasing back the night before they were through.  Eventually, they lay there together.  A woman curled into Spike on each side, his dick resting against his thigh, finally spent.  Spike thought how perfect this moment was.  If only it could stay like this, if only Dru wasn’t so damn intent on bringing back her sire.  Spike drifted off to sleep with a seed of worry buried deeply inside of him.

Chapter 5

            They lingered in Los Angeles for another two weeks.  They taught Buffy the intricacies of both hunting and vampire socialization.  They also took her shopping.  Buffy was even able to spice up Dru’s wardrobe a bit.  For the most part the older vampire still insisted on wearing prim dresses, but Buffy convinced her to get a couple of outfits that matched with hers so the two could really look like sisters.  Dru loved the idea.  Spike loved the idea, too.  In fact, Spike loved everything about his new life except for the incessant reminders from Drusilla that it was time to go get ‘Daddy.’  That’s why they were on the road, headed to good ol’ Sunnyhell.

            Spike plowed over the Welcome To sign.  He didn’t do it with the same glee in which he had done it originally.  This time it was done out of sheer annoyance.  Dru wanted to be taken to the mansion so that’s where he went.  Stupid, crumbling heap.  It wasn’t like this place held the best of memories for him.  There was the whole wheelchair and lets sit by while someone else fucks your girl thing.  Not good.  He felt Buffy slip her little hand into his and give him a gentle squeeze.  He was seriously starting to fall in love with this girl.  She could read him like no other.  But that was another thing, what had seemed fun before – throwing his siring of Angelus’ current project in the old vamp’s face – didn’t seem so fun now.  Now he worried about the feelings Buffy had for his grand-sire.  It gave him a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, more so than it did with Dru.

            Buffy waited until Dru had hopped out of the car to go find her room.  Then she leaned in and gave Spike a kiss on the cheek.  “I’m yours, Spike.  Forever.  You are completely stuck with me,” she whispered.

            Spike leaned into her kiss.  “Yeah, but as soon as the great love of your life comes crawling out of the ground.  What then?”  He waited with his heart caught in his chest.

            “Angel brought me love, but it wasn’t easy, and in the end the pain far outweighed the love.  I don’t want that again, sire.  I want more.  It’s so easy to be with you.  No conflict.  Everything just feels right.  I want to keep feeling like this forever.  I’m not upset at death anymore.  As long as I can be by your side, I’m content,” Buffy assured him.

            Spike turned so that they were facing.  He looked into her eyes.  Nothing but the truth shouted back at him.  She really did want him.  He gave her half a smile before he pulled her bottom lip into his mouth, giving it a long suck.  “Taking you, Summers, is the best thing I’ve ever done.”

            Buffy pulled away and gave him a great big smile.  “Yeah, for once you got something right,” she teased and then bounded out of the car after Drusilla.

            Spike jumped out and followed her.  He loved a chase.  He came to a stop, landing hard against Buffy who was just standing there, staring.  She wasn’t staring at the creature chained to the wall.  She was staring at Drusilla.

            Dru was frozen with pain.  He was there.  He was back.  She hadn’t sensed his return.  Funny, that.  Probably because he had a soul.  A sick twisted thing.  Keeping him from his true place in the world.  Wrong.  All wrong.  She started to moan and pull her hair out.  Large dark strands coming loose in her hands, blood at the ends.

            Buffy and Spike scented blood at the same time and they rushed to pull Dru back.  The thing on the wall didn’t even move.  It was out cold.  It looked like it had been beaten into submission before being chained.  Funny, that.  When it clearly held a soul.

            “Dru, luv,” Spike called to her through the madness.  “Don’t hurt yourself.  At least he’s not in hell.  We’ve go him back, ducks.  Everything is going to be fine.”

            Dru just shook her head.  “No, not fine.  All souled up.  He’s all souled up, and I’ve lost my Spike.  He’s gone to little sister.  Now I’m all alone.  Always alone,” she cried.

            “We’ll find a way to rid him of his soul, Drusilla,” Buffy promised.  “It happened once, it can happen again.  It’s a curse, right?  All we need to do is break it.  He may not be currently capable of a moment of true happiness, but we can find another way.  Find some gypsies – just don’t kill any.  We don’t need anymore souls running around in dead bodies,” Buffy looked at the man chained to the wall.  She felt guilty.  She should have known he would come back with his soul, after all, that’s how she sent him to hell – souled.

            Dru dried her tears and looked up at Spike and Buffy.  “Okay, but you have to stay with him, little sister.  Pretend to be what you are not.  Pretend to be the golden one.  The chosen one.  The Slayer.  You have to protect him until we get back,” Dru stated.

            Buffy felt a sheer rush of panic wash over her.  She shook her head.  “I can’t.  No one would believe me.  I can’t be without Spike, Dru.  I just can’t!” Buffy yelled.

            Spike gripped Buffy tightly.  “She’s right, Dru.  It’s not safe for her here.  How would she feed?”  He didn’t want to leave his childe behind.  Not this one.  Never this one.  He’d finally found what he’d been looking for his entire existence. 

            Dru turned enraged blue eyes onto her stolen toy.  “You owe me, Spike.  I saved you in that alley.  I turned you into what you are, William the Bloody.  Now you’ve taken another to walk by your side.  You will give me my Daddy back!”

            Buffy realized in that moment that if she did not do what Dru was asking, they would never have peace.  They would always be slightly torn apart by her pain and her need.  “I’ll do it, but you have to promise me two things, Drusilla.  First, promise me that you’ll take care of him,” Buffy gave a little sob as she held onto Spike.  “Second, promise me that you won’t be gone long.  I don’t think I can last very long without him.”

            Dru took pity on her little sister’s pain.  “Yes, Buffy.  I promise.  We’ll leave now and hurry back.”  She glanced at the beaten creature on the wall.  “I don’t want to leave either, you know.”

            Buffy gave the other woman a tender kiss.  “I know, Dru.  I forgot for a minute, but I know.”

            Spike pulled Buffy away from Dru and into his arms.  “You don’t have to do this.  Hell, I don’t want you to do this.  I’m scared, Buffy.  I’m scared you’ll fall in love with him all over again, or worse that your friends will find a way to make death take a good long look at you.”

            “Not gonna happen, baby.  I promise,” Buffy said as she turned her head up for a kiss.

            Spike kissed his girl for all she was worth.  It was the kind of kiss that said you might not be back.  That things might never be the same again.  It wasn’t a goodbye kiss, it was more of a ‘I just don’t know’ kiss, which was somewhat worse than a goodbye kiss.  When he was done, Dru was pulling him away.  Out the door.  Away from Buffy.  Out of her life.  Leaving her to who knew what.

            Buffy watched them go; when she could no longer see the taillights of the Desoto she fell on her knees and sobbed.

            Angel came awake to the smell of family and the smell of tears.  He forced himself to open his swollen eyes and look around.  There on the ground, only inches away from him, was Buffy.  He’d thought she was dead.  When the other slayer, the one he’d never met before found him in the woods he’d thought it must mean Buffy was dead.  He hadn’t even fought her as she beat him to a pulp.  He figured that was why she hadn’t staked him.  Lucky for him, she’d gone to Giles and together they’d chained him to the wall in the old mansion.  Staring at Buffy’s crumpled form, he realized just how really lucky that was.  She was alive.

            “Buffy,” he croaked out.

           She turned her head, with bright eyes staring at him, tears running down her face.  She sniffed as she came to a stand.  “Angel, you’re awake.  I was worried.  Who did this to you?”

            “Slayer.  Not Kendra.  Not you,” he said around his fractured jaw.

            Buffy came up to him and ran a hand across his bruised features.  “That would be Kendra’s replacement.  I don’t know if you remember, but Drusilla killed Kendra.  I haven’t met the new slayer.  I… I ran away after sending you to… I am so sorry,” Buffy sobbed.

            Angel tried to pull her into his arms, but found himself restricted by the chains.  “It wasn’t your fault, sweetheart.  It was me.  I’m evil.  I deserved to be punished.”

            Buffy looked at him.  “But did it have to be me?  Did I have to be the one to punish you?  It’s so unfair.”

            Angel couldn’t argue with her on that one.  “Can you let me out of these chains, Buffy?  I’m not too keen on being chained up when that other Slayer and Giles get back.”

            Buffy got a hard look in her eyes, one that Angel had never seen before.  She reached up and snapped his chains off like they were dime store toys.  “Giles helped her do this to you?” she asked.

            Angel rubbed his wrists as he slumped to the floor on shaky legs.  “Yeah, but I can’t blame him.  I was evil the last time I saw him.  I tortured him and killed Jenny.”

            It took everything Buffy had not to roll her eyes.  As if the computer teacher hadn’t deserved it.  Hello?  She’d been taking them all for a ride!  And as for Giles… well she didn’t have an excuse for not caring about Giles being tortured.  Must be that lack of humanity thing.  She squared her shoulders and bent down towards Angel, putting on her best sincere face.  “Angel, that wasn’t you.  It was the demon.  You can’t be held accountable for what he does when he wears your body.  It’s like blaming someone for the actions of their brother.  It just doesn’t make since.  Now, we have to get you well again.  Let’s concentrate on that.  I suppose I need to let everyone know that I’m back.  When I left I was wanted for Kendra’s murder and my mom kicked me out of the house.  So I’m not too sure what I should do here.”

            Angel reached out a hand and pulled her down beside him.  He wrapped his arms around her, surprised at how familiar she felt.  He’d been in a hell dimension for a long, long time, and yet Buffy smelled like family.  She smelled like one of his.

            Buffy didn’t resist him embracing her.  It felt nice.  He smelled like family.  She was glad, however, that she had the perfect excuse for not having sex with him.  She belonged to Spike.  Now, if it was a group thing…. Well, that’d be okay.  But no one on one.  “Angel, you remember how you lost your soul, right?” Buffy asked tentatively.

            Angel stiffened and pulled away from her.  “Yeah, I remember.  About that….”

            Buffy forced his arms back around her again.  “I just want you to know I’m sorry for pushing it.  I also want you to know that even though we can’t have sex together, that I like being close to you like this.  That it’s okay.”  She really hoped that would put everything in its proper place.

            Angel couldn’t believe the generosity of this girl.  She was amazing, it was no wonder he fell in love with her, and for once the demon inside of him wasn’t howling for her blood.  It was almost as if Angelus also recognized this tiny little girl as family.  He felt hope creeping up inside of him, maybe everything really would be alright.

            “Buffy!” a voice yelled from the door way.

            Buffy’s head jerked quickly up.  It took every ounce of self control she had not to give out a warning growl.  The patriarch of her family was here and injured, and instinctively she felt the need to protect him.  She was starting to understand just why Dru had insisted she stay behind.

            “Hello, Giles,” Buffy said shakily.

Chapter 6

            “What are you doing here?  Where have you been?” Giles yelled.

            Feeling a little sorry for her sister Slayer, the brunette spoke up, “So this is the infamous Buffy.  Nice to meet you, B.  I’m Faith.  I’d shake your hand, but it seems to be all wrapped up in undead hottie,” the newcomer said.

            Buffy gave the girl a grateful smile.  “Nice to meet you, too.  And thanks for not killing him.”

            “No prob.  Thought it was kind of weird that he didn’t fight back or anything,” Faith explained.

            “Buffy, I believe I asked you a question.  Two of them in fact,” Giles persisted.

           “Is that blood?” Buffy asked him, looking down at the brown bag in his hand.  She knew damn well it was, of course.

            Giles followed the direction of her gaze.  “Ah, yes it is.  I brought it for Angel.  If he is in fact Angel again.”

            Before Angel could speak in defense of his soul, Buffy said, “He’s Angel.  He was Angel when I sent him to hell.  That’s why I left.  Had a bit of a breakdown.”  What an understatement.

            “I see.  And now that he’s back, you’re back.  It is clear where your priorities lay,” Giles said accusingly.

            Buffy ignored him.  “Can I have the blood?”

            Giles was hesitant to come too close to the now unchained master vampire and it showed.  Faith grabbed the bag out of his hand and walked over to Buffy.  “Here.  Sure you know what you’re doing, B?” she asked the other girl.

            Buffy took the bag with a small smile.  “Yeah, I’m sure.  Thanks.”  She opened the bag and pulled out the Styrofoam container of pig’s blood.  Then she gave it to Angel.  Who took it with shaky hands but made no move to drink.

             Buffy put a hand on his arm.  “Drink.  You need your strength.”

            Angel just looked at the blood.

            “Listen,” Buffy said, looking up at Giles and Faith.  “Could you guys just go?  He needs to feed to get his strength back.  He has his soul.  I swear.  I also swear no more end of the world crap.”  That much she could promise in all honesty.  She looked sideways at Angel and hissed under her breath, “That was a stupid idea!”

            “Sure, B.  We’re outta here,” Faith said and turned to leave.

            “What do I tell your mother?” Giles asked, still feeling shell shocked.

            “Tell her whatever you want.  I doubt she’ll care,” Buffy mumbled.

            “What?” Giles asked incredulously.

            “She didn’t tell you?” Buffy laughed.  “That’s rich.  She’s the one who told me to leave.  It was a sort of don’t come back thing.”

            The look on Giles face clearly said that he’d had no idea.  “We uh, talked.  She had questions, to be sure.  But she failed to mention that she asked you to leave,” Giles admitted.

           “Well, she did.  Apparently I wasn’t turning out quite the way she wanted,” Buffy said, thinking ‘Just look at me now, ma!’

            “I’m sorry, Buffy.  If I’d known…” Giles trailed off.

           “You’d have harbored a murder suspect?  No, Giles.  It was best for everyone if I just left.  So I did,” Buffy told him.

            “The charges were finally dropped.  I can talk to your mother for you if you’d like.  Explain things.  Or if you need a place to stay, you could come with me…” Giles offered.

            “I’ll stay here, thanks,” Buffy said.  Then she turned away, ending the conversation.  She waited patiently as Giles and Faith finally left the mansion.

            “Things were bad for you,” Angel said lamely, still just looking at his cup of blood.

            “Yeah, yeah.  Now drink.  I mean it,” Buffy insisted, thinking she would dearly like some herself.  She’d have to go out and hunt at some time.  The question was how to keep Angel from smelling blood on her breath.  Things were going to be complicated.

            “I don’t want to drink in front of you,” Angel told her.

            “Then I’ll turn my back.  But I’ll be thinking you’re a total wuss the whole time,” Buffy said cheekily.

            Angel couldn’t help the laugh that tore out of his throat.  “You’ve changed,” he said as he put the cup to his lips and drank.

            “You have no idea,” Buffy agreed.  She listened to him swallow.  When he was done she turned around and took the cup form him.  She put it in the paper bag and then made her way into the kitchen.  She opened up the closet that held the trashcan and had to hold back a rush of bile.  “Angel!” she hollered.   “As soon as you get some of that super-strength back you are so going to help me clean this place up.  ‘Cause eww!”

            She walked back to see him slumped against the wall.  She thought about offering him some of her own blood, but she was worried he would be able to taste Spike, and though they hadn’t discussed it, she thought that might be a ‘no no’ in Spike’s book.  She put her arms underneath him.  “Time for bed, big guy.  Then I’ll go out and find you some better blood.  I’ll push Willy around for some human.  After you suck that down, I expect you to shower.  The trashcan’s not the only stinky thing around here.”

            Angel listened to her talk.  She was so different.  He may have broken her before, with his death, but this girl beside him… this was not a broken girl.  She’d healed, and she’d done it without him.  The thought pleased him and made him sad all at once.

            Buffy got him tucked under the dusty covers.  She hated cleaning, but a cleaning was in dire need.  “I’m off.  I’ll be back in an hour or so,” she promised.

            “Be careful,” Angel told her.  She gave him a nod and he watched her leave.  It was funny, really.  The warning, the ‘Be careful,’ it hadn’t come from him.  It had come from his demon.  The one that didn’t seem to want to hurt her anymore.  Everything about her seemed right, comforting, familiar.  More familiar than it had before.  If he hadn’t heard her heartbeat, heard the rushing of blood in her veins, he’d swear she was a vampire.  And not just any vampire, one of his.  He drifted off to sleep with such thoughts troubling his mind.

            As for Buffy, she’d be having fun, if Spike was with her.  Willy was all alone in the store room.  Dumbass Willy.  He’d betrayed her one time too many.  “Hello, Willy,” Buffy said, startling him.

            “Slayer!  I thought you were dead or something.  There’s another broad running around beatin’ me up for information,” he told her.  He was wary.  He figured she must have been turned.

            “Yeah, that’s Faith.  My replacement.  I’m back now.  Though I don’t plan on muscling in on her territory.  I’m just here for a little visit, but while I’m here I’m going to need a few things, and I’m terribly short on cash, Willy.  Think you can take care of a girl?” Buffy asked.

            Willy swallowed.  He was in deep shit.  “Sure, Slayer.  Whatever you want.”

            Buffy reached out a hand, quick as a snap, and held him up by the neck.  “I’m only going to tell you this once, scum.  I am not the Slayer.  The name is Buffy.  Got it?”
He nodded against her knuckles.  She set him down.  “Good.  Now I need blood.  Human.  Several packs.  I’ll be back in a few days for more.”

            “Okay, sure, Sl… Buffy.  Whatever you say.  You’re the boss,” he agreed, scuttling away to do as she’d asked.  “How’d you get yourself turned?  You don’t mind me askin’?”   He opened up the refrigerator and pulled out five packs of his best human blood and handed them to her.

            Buffy smiled at him.  It was the weirdest smile he’d ever seen.  She walked up to him and grabbed his hand.  She placed it over left breast.  “This is the only time you’re ever gonna get a feel of this, so enjoy Willy-boy.  Consider it a thank you for goods delivered.”

            Willy felt his hand shake.  Shit.  She had a heart beat.  That was somehow even scarier than if she’d been dead.  He had a feeling the term ‘Rogue Slayer’ didn’t even cover this one.

            Buffy walked back to the mansion after helping herself to a bag of blood followed by a mint-chocolate chip ice cream cone to cover the smell.  She wondered where Spike and Dru were.  How far had they gotten?  Back to Los Angles?  Up toSan Francisco?  How long would they be gone?  She could feel the ache in her heart grow as he got farther and farther away.  It was mirrored by the ache between her legs.

Chapter 7

            The library was quiet.  Willow, Xander, Cordelia, and Oz stared at the pacing librarian.  When he paced and cleaned his glasses at the same time it was never a good thing.  Faith was there as well.  She seemed okay, kicking her feet back and forth underneath the table she was sitting on.

           “Oh, just tell them already,” Faith moaned.  She looked at the shining faces staring adamantly at the agitated librarian.  Virgins.  There was nothing more annoying.  She really needed to see about getting these people laid. 

            “Yes, well it isn’t easy,” Giles huffed at the dark Slayer.  He took a deep breath.  “Both Angel and Buffy have returned.”  He said it quickly, like ripping off a band aid.

            Xander shot out of his seat. “I knew it.  You guys tried to say she sent him to that hell place, but I knew she’d just run off with him.  Willow did the soul return thingy and she took her lover-boy and bailed on us!  To heck with her calling.  To heck with sacred duty.  To heck with friendship.  She doesn’t care about anything but Angel.  Never has never will.”

            “Xander!  That is enough!” Giles yelled.  “It’s far more complicated than that.  She did send him to hell, and he did have his soul.  It was an incredible act of selflessness.  I hate to think what that must have cost her.  It also turns out that her mother requested that she leave the house and not return.  Add to that the murder charges and she was a frightened, broken-hearted, teenaged girl.  We can hardly blame her for leaving like she did.”

            Willow raised her hand.  “If she sent Angel to hell, how is he back exactly?”  She gripped Oz’s hand tightly under the table.  She hated the hurting stuff, and there always seemed to be so much of it.

            “We don’t know how Angel returned.  Faith found him one night, she attacked him like she would any vampire, but he simply slid to the ground and let her beat him into unconsciousness.  Not her usual experience with vampires so she came to me.  Together we drug him to the mansion and chained him to the wall.  We went back the next day, to find him unchained with Buffy by his side.  Apparently, she must have sensed his return.  I failed to ask her,” Giles told them.

            “Why didn’t she come and tell us this stuff herself?” Xander asked, still not willing to give any trust to the friend he felt had betrayed them.

            “Angel is very week.  She doesn’t wish to leave his side until his strength returns,” Giles explained.

            Xander jumped to his feet.  “Then it looks like a good time to stake that murdering bastard!”

            Faith jumped down between the boy and the door.  “I don’t think so, cowboy.  I’m kinda gettin’ why B felt the need to protect the big guy with friends like you around.  The man has his soul.  End of story.  Unless I find out he’s feeding.  He lives.”

            “He is not a man.  He’s a vampire,” Xander said with loathing, but backing off nonetheless.

            “Whatever.  Names aren’t really my thing,” Faith replied.  “Listen, you’re girl was hurt bad.  She needs time with her guy.  You all need to just relax.  Let her breathe.”

            “Hello?  Who made her a member of the group!  You don’t even know Buffy,” Cordelia accused.

            “I may not know Buffy, but I know life.  It can kick the hell out of you.  I also know that I’m the Slayer, and I say back off!”   Faith wasn’t pleased with herself for letting the cheerleader get to her, but damn that girl could get under her skin.  She was like a chigger.

            “Faith is right, I’m afraid.  We all need to give Buffy time,” Giles said.

            “What about her mother?” Willow asked.

            “Yes, I suppose I will have to tell Joyce,” Giles admitted.  He was dreading that with every fiber of his being.  He could picture the woman marching right over there and demanding her daughter’s return.  Only the girl Giles had just seen wasn’t the same girl who had left here.  She was harder.  Giles seriously doubted that she’d ever be able to slip back into a normal life of any kind.  He looked at his newest charge.  Yet another child who would never be able to do all the things girls her age should do.  Maybe it was being the Slayer.  Maybe that’s why the Council tried to get them while they were young.  Stop them before they were able to build up things like dreams.

            “Alright,” Xander said bitterly.  “We’ll wait.  But not long.”

            “Very well, that’s all I can ask.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go talk to Joyce.  It’s best if I do so in person,” Giles told the group.

            “I’m gonna patrol,” Faith said, following Giles out of the library.  There was no way she was hanging around any longer than she had to.  A little patrol.  A little pool down at Willie’s.  It was all good, baby.

            Oz turned to look at his girlfriend.  “I’m sorry, Willow.  I have to go.  Dylan’s waiting for me.”

            “It’s okay.  I’m fine.  Just, you know, adjusting,” Willow said, purposefully putting on a stiff upper lip which he promptly kissed.

            “I have to go, too.  I promised my parents I’d be charming tonight.  They’ve got some IRS guy coming to dinner.  Or maybe it’s an accountant?  Whatever,” Cordelia explained.

            “I’ll walk you out to your car,” Oz offered.  “Are you guys leaving or staying?”

            “We’ll stay for a bit.  I want to talk to Xander,” Willow informed her boyfriend.

            “You’ll walk her out?” Oz asked the other boy.

            “Yeah, man.  I’ll walk her out,” Xander promised.  Then he and Willow sat back and watched as their significant others left the building.

            “I said I’d wait,” Xander looked down at his watch.  “You think ten minutes counts as waiting?”

            “I think ten minutes is twice as long as five,” Willow agreed.

            “Let’s go then,” Xander got up and dutifully walked Willow out of the building and over to the mansion.

            Humans.  Buffy could smell them.  She looked at Angel and could tell that he was also aware they were about to have guests.  She walked over to the weapons chest and pulled out a small dagger.  You never knew when you might want something sharp.

            Angel watched her.  “They’re humans, Buffy.  You don’t need that.”

            Buffy turned a hard smile on him.  “Oh come on, Angel.  Surely you know how deadly a human can be.”

            Angel realized that she’d seen a lot while he was gone.  The entire day had shown him how much she’d changed.  She was content to sit still much more than she ever had been before.  She didn’t bat an eyelash at his drinking blood.  The worst thing had been how easily she’d fallen asleep beside him.  No sexual tension.  No fear.  Just pure relaxed companionship.  It spoke volumes at how she felt about him now.  He realized it was for the best.  They would never be able to have a sexual relationship, but it still hurt a little.

            Angel scented the air.  “It’s Willow and Xander,” he told her.

            Buffy had been able to tell they were human, but she’d never had the scenting ability like this before.  It was a vamp trait, and so she’d never learned their signature.  She walked over and put the knife back in the weapons chest.  There was no doubt in her mind that she could take on those two without the help of the sharp and pointy.

            Buffy and Angel both sat on the couch, waiting.  They weren’t surprised when there wasn’t a knock on the door.  Knocking was a sign of respect.  They were both pretty sure that respect was the last thing entering into the current equation.

            “Dead boy,” Xander drawled from the doorway.  “So, not nice to see you back.  How was hell?”

            Willow stepped in beside Xander.  Her eyes only on the blonde.  “Buffy?”

            “Willow.  Xander,” Buffy rose to a stand.  “What are you doing here?”

            “What?  No hugs?” Xander said snidely.

            “Xander!” Willow hissed, digging an elbow into his side.

            “Please.  As if I’m going to be nice.  She left us!  She left the Hellmouth unguarded.  She left her mother, Willow.  Or have you forgotten these things?” he cried.

            Buffy spared a glance at Angel.  She wanted to slap him.  He actually looked contrite.  Like he deserved whatever verbal lashing Xander could dish out.  Well, she wasn’t playing.  Buffy stomped over to the boy and stood right in his face.  “Tell me more, Xander.  Give it all you got.  It’s been ages since I’ve had a good scolding,” she purred.

            Xander’s anger got the better of him and he pushed his old friend away.  Instantly, he found himself shoved against the wall with an angry vampire at his neck.

            Willow screamed, reaching for a stake.

            Buffy kicked the stake out of Willow’s hand and then she pulled her great-grand-sire off of Xander.  She caught a look in his eye as she dragged him to the other side of the room.  He was fully vamped.  All demon.  As quick as it had come, it was gone.

           Angel shook his head.  “I don’t know what happened.”  He looked at Xander who was rubbing the back of his head.  “I’m sorry.  I saw you touch Buffy and I just lost it.”

            “Yeah, ‘cause you’re a monster!” Xander yelled.

            Buffy knew exactly what happened.  Angel liked to think of himself as all soul, but he wasn’t.  There was a demon residing inside of him, and not just any demon, but family.  Angel had been protecting his own.  “You just got back from years of torture, Angel.  It’s going to take some time to adjust,” Buffy said softly.  Then she looked at the two humans who were still hovering near the doorway.  “We need time.  Leave.  Yell later,” she told them.

            Willow realized that coming here had been a big mistake.  Giles and Faith had been right.  “I’m sorry, Buffy.  We shouldn’t have come.  I just missed you.  I’m angry, too,” Willow admitted.

            Buffy looked at the red head.  Angry?  What the hell did these people have to be angry at her for?  As soon as Spike and Drusilla got back and took out Angel’s soul, Buffy was determined to eat them.

            Xander shook his head in disgust.  “How about forever, eh Buff?  Is that long enough for you?  Because I don’t think I want to see you ever again.  Why don’t you and lover-boy here just leave?  You’re not wanted.”  Xander spun on his heal, grabbed Willow’s hand, and walked out the front door.

            “Well, that was fun,” Buffy said as she shut the door and walked back into the living area to sit by Angel.  “Hey, I think you’re getting stronger, though!”

            Angel just looked at her.  That was all she had to say about this little episode?  “Stronger?  Buffy, I nearly killed Xander just because he touched you.  I don’t think you should stay here.  I don’t think you should be near me.”

            “I agree.”

            Both Buffy and Angel whipped their heads around.  They’d been dealing with so many thoughts that they hadn’t sensed the approach of another human.

            “Mom.”  Buffy said it like it was a dirty word.

Chapter 8

            “You’re coming with me,” Joyce said in a hard voice.  She had a strake gripped firmly in one hand and a cross in the other.

            Buffy looked down at the ground.  She took a deep breath and shook out her shoulders. “Put the cross and the stake down,” Buffy warned.

           “Not until you come with me.  I know what he is.  I know how to kill him.  Mr. Giles told me everything,” Joyce said.

            Buffy couldn’t help it.  It started somewhere in her belly and just burst forth from her mouth.  Huge guffaws.  “You…” Laugh.  “Actually think…” Laugh.  “That you can stake Angel?”  Tears started to roll down her face, and she found herself holding her side.

            “Buffy,” Angel hissed.  “I don’t think this is helping things.”  He looked at Joyce who was staring at her daughter as if she’d never seen her before.  “Joyce, I’m sorry.  I’ll talk to her.  She should go home with you.”

            “Oh, come on, Angel.  Don’t you find that amusing.  My mother.  The oh so with-it woman who couldn’t figure out that her daughter was into some heavy duty shit for the last couple of years thinks she can take down the Scourge of Europe.”  She gave her mother a hard, sober stare.  “I mean Hemery?  Honestly, mother.  Didn’t you wonder why I burned down the gym?  Oh, let me guess.  You and daddy thought it was all about you, didn’t you?  Poor little Buffy can’t handle the pain of you two fighting.  Please!  As if,” she ground out.  “You have no idea how much pain I can take before I snap.  I do.  I’ve been there.  It takes a hell of a lot.  Way more than you and my father are capable of giving me.”

            “Buffy,” Angel tried again.

            She whirled on him.  “Don’t, Angel.  Don’t even think about interfering.” 

            It was something in her eyes.  Something very familiar and yet indefinable.  Angel realized then that she really had snapped.  This wasn’t the sweet little girl he’d fallen in love with.  This was someone else entirely.  He changed his mind.  There was no way she could go home with Joyce.  Buffy was right about one thing.  Joyce wasn’t with-it enough to deal with whatever demons Buffy had to wrestle.  “Buffy, I’m sorry.  It’s okay.  I don’t want you to leave,” Angel said.

            “It’s not about what you want,” Joyce interrupted.  “It’s not about what either of you wants.  She’s under age.  She has to come home.  I’ll get the police if I have to,” she warned them.

            Buffy closed the distance between herself and her mother.  “Bring it on,” she challenged.  She figured as long as she kept Angel mostly undamaged Spike wouldn’t mind her killing half of the Sunnydale police department.  A little maiming, then she could knock Angel out and drag him to Los Angeles, and wait for Spike and Drusilla there.  Sounded like a plan.

            Angel came up behind Buffy and drew her back against his chest.  “Joyce.  I don’t think you want to bring any trouble.  Can you imagine what the government would do to Buffy if they found out she had super strength?  The testing?  You’d never see her again.”

            “Is that a threat,” Joyce asked, raising the stake.

            “Not a threat.  Just the truth.  Now if I thought it was best for Buffy to go home with you, I would send her home.  But I think in light of the things she’s gone through, she’s better off here with me.”

            “Exactly how do you figure that?” Joyce yelled.

            Angel could feel the power radiating off the tiny woman in his arms.  She was stronger by far then he was at the moment in his weakened conditioned.  He wasn’t a fool.  He knew she had allowed him to pull her back.  “Joyce, she’s stronger than you can even conceive of.  She could lift me up and throw me across the room.  She’s also been through the kind of emotional trauma that you cannot begin to imagine.  I know about pain and loss, and I’m much more of a physical match for her than either you or Giles.  You need to leave.  Give her time.  Come back in a week.”

            “A week?  A week with a monster!  You want me to walk out of this room and leave my baby girl with you?” Joyce asked incredulously.

            “All right.  That’s enough.  Playtime is over.  Mother look at me,” Buffy commanded.  Then she let her eyes flash yellow.  With Angel at her back and her heart pumping away he’d never guess.  “I’m not yours in any way.  I belong to another.  Your little girl is long gone.  She left when the Slayer came.”

            Joyce’s face shrank back on her skin.  The eyes.  Her daughter’s eyes.  Joyce had lived with Buffy and she’d spent time with Faith, but she’d never seen their eyes like this before.  She was horrified.  Rupert had never mentioned it.  “Is this what slaying does to you?”

            Angel figured he could answer this one.  “Yes, Joyce.  Slaying is a complete sacrifice of everything you are.”

            She looked at the man then.  She’d been told her was a monster, and yet somehow, the look in his eyes was so much more human than the look in her daughter’s.  She felt her hand shake and the stake drop to the floor.  A sob caught in her throat.  She closed her eyes and began to back away to the door.  “It’s not fair.  I don’t understand how this happened.  How could this happen to my little girl?”

            Buffy let her eyes return to normal.  “Maybe next time someone you love is in pain and fighting for their life, you’ll hold them close.  Help them instead of sending them away.”  She was relentless.  The pain of the other woman was a pale echo to the pain she had felt.  The pain insanity had clouded.  The pain Spike finally took away with his blood and devotion.

            Joyce gave a final nod before she turned and left.  Regret poured down on her.  She’d known what she’d said was wrong the moment Buffy left the house.  But it wasn’t until this very moment that she understood just how wrong it was.

            Buffy let Angel hold her against him until she could no longer hear her mother’s heart beat.  Until the scent of maternal betrayal was long gone.  Then she turned in his arms and looked up at him.  “You’re starting to get it now, aren’t you?”

            “Yeah, Buffy.  I am.”  And he was.  He’d have to keep his eye on her.  Protect her from herself, and protect the world from an unstable Slayer.

            “Now.  Let’s pour some more of that blood down your gullet, old man.  Gotta get you strong.  There’s a real Slayer out there.  You never know when she’ll wake up and realize just how dangerous you are,” Buffy teased.  Only it was a flat tease.  Like a joke told at a funeral.

            Angel followed her into the kitchen.  “Do you want to tell me about what happened?  What you went through after I…”

            Buffy prepared him a mug of blood and she got herself a cup of water.  “We so need to go grocery shopping.  Please tell me you have money!”

            Angel thought about it.  “It’s been a long time.  Hundreds of years where I was.  I lost count.”  He looked around the kitchen.  “I always did like to hide money in funny places, though.  We may have to do a little treasure hunt.”

            “Hundreds of years?”  Buffy thought about it.  “Do you even remember me?  I mean really remember me?  You didn’t know me very long,” she pointed out.

            “No, I didn’t, but of course I remember you.  In… where I was, I thought about you a lot.  It helped me hold it together,” he said quietly.

            Buffy could read more into what he was saying.  He was hiding something.  “It’s okay, Angel.  It’s okay if there was someone else you remembered more than me.  Someone more real to you.  It’s only natural.”

            Angel looked up at her with guilt clearly shining in his eyes.  “It’s just because we were together for so long, and there’s a family connection.”

            “Please tell me you’re talking about Dru and not Darla,” Buffy begged, taking a sip of her water.

           A look of revulsion came across Angel’s face.  “Please!  Darla was a heartless bitch.  She never did stand up for me.  The only person she ever cared about besides herself was the Master.  I get the sire connection, but just the thought of fucking that thing…” Angel broke off and looked at Buffy in horror.  “I am so sorry, Buffy.  I shouldn’t talk like that in front of you.”

            Buffy laughed.  “It’s okay, Angel.  I want to know the real you.  All of you.  I think we both realize by now that the love is gone so to speak.  I mean I will always love you, but I think the star-crossed lovers thing has definitely run its course.  You know what I mean?”

            “I think I do,” he admitted, drinking more of the blood.  It was good.  So much better than the pig’s blood he had forced himself to drink over the last few years.  He could feel himself growing stronger by the minute.

            “So, you thought about Dru then while you were gone?” Buffy probed, wondering if perhaps he could be brought back into the family fold even if they didn’t find a way to remove that pesky curse.

            Angel looked a little sheepish.  “Why are you asking me this?  Yes.  I thought about Drusilla.  I made her.  I broke her.  And I loved her.  She’s easy to love.”

            Buffy had to stop herself from agreeing out loud.  Instead, she reached a hand across the table and slipped it into Angel’s.  “It’s okay to love her.  A soul shouldn’t make any difference when it comes to love.  The way I see it, it’s about guilt.  The soul is like a conscience.  It stops you from giving into your demon.  But the demon, well it has its own set of emotions.  Different than human emotions.  You know what I mean?”

            “When did you get so wise?” he asked sadly.  He could see that the idealism of her youth had fled and she wasn’t even eighteen yet.

            “On the streets of LA,” she confided.  “I took off.  I only had a little money.  I lied about my age.  Got a job at a diner in a section of town where they don’t ask too many questions.  Then I slowly started to fall apart.  Tried to kill myself.  It didn’t take.  And after that I went a little insane.  It wasn’t pretty, and I don’t think it smelled too good, either.  I wandered the streets for a while.  Defending myself when anyone tried to… other than that I just didn’t care.”

            Angel gripped the little hand in his tightly.  “Fuck, baby. I’m so sorry,” he said honestly.

            “It wasn’t your fault, Angel.  It was mine.  I made some bad choices, but looking back on it, I wouldn’t change a thing.  I’m happy where I am right now.  I had a sort of epiphany.  That isn’t even close to the right word, but it’s as close as I’m willing to let you get for the moment,” Buffy said with a secret smile.

            Angel didn’t understand a thing she’d said with that last bit, she obviously had left a lot of her story untold.  “Okay, I’ll wait.  But when you’re ready to talk.  I’m ready to listen.”

            Buffy got up, grabbing both mugs and walked over to the sink.  She turned the taps on to wash the mugs out.  “How is it exactly that the electricity and water are still on?”

            Angel heaved a heavy sigh.  “I suppose I should see about changing that.  I sort of just stole it.  Demons have a way of going around things like utilities.  One demon does a favor for another demon.  Angelus was feared.  I guess no one thought to turn anything off after the Acathla thing.”

            Buffy set the now clean mugs on the counter.  “Ooh, so we’re stealing.  Aren’t we just the big bad?” she teased, and this time it was okay.  This time they were both smiling.  No truths had been spoken, but yet an understanding had been reached.

Chapter 9

            The week had gone by smoothly for the creatures in the mansion.  Giles had dropped by several times and even Faith had come once, but thankfully the others had stayed away.  Angel’s strength was gradually returning.  He and Buffy had started sparring.  They had also gone on a scavenger hunt.  They’d discovered money and valuables all over the mansion.  Buffy had gone out during the daylight hours to pawn a few things and to do some major shopping.  She’d bought clothes and supplies for herself and Angel.  She’d also hidden a few presents for Spike and Drusilla in one of the spare rooms.  The rest of their time had been spent cleaning the place out.  It was starting to look like a home.

            Buffy threw a dust pillow at Angel’s head.

            “Hey!  Watch it, woman!” Angel yelled.

            “Sorry, your big head looked like a good place to beat the dust out of that old thing!” Buffy teased.

            “Oh, yeah?” Angel asked with a threat in his voice.  He launched the pillow back at her.  She tried to dodge it, but it struck the side of her face as she moved.

            “You are getting your own back, you master vamp you!” Buffy cried.  She started to throw the pillow back at him, but she stopped, clutching the pillow in her right hand.  She looked at Angel and could see that he was also aware they were about to have company.

            Angel walked over to Buffy.  They stood side by side and waited for the invasion.  He’d stopped wondering at how in tune her senses were to his.  He’d also stopped wondering at the protective way his demon reacted to her.  He knew without a doubt that if he were to lose his soul at this very moment, Angelus would welcome Buffy with open arms.  Whatever had happened to her, it seemed to please the bastard.  Angel mourned the loss of her innocence, but at the same time he was enjoying the companionship.  They seemed like equals now, where before she’d been like this treasure.  This golden thing that was beyond him and the world around him.

            There was an actual knock on the door.  Buffy got up to answer it, Angel right by her side.  There on the threshold, in the darkening sky, was the entire gang of Sunnydale white hatters, sans her mother of course.

            “Well, to what do we owe this prestigious visit?” Buffy asked.

            “We need help, actually,” Giles admitted.

            Buffy finally noticed the bruises littering their faces and arms.  “Damn, what got to you people?”

            “A troll,” Oz said.

            “Wow.  Neat.  Come on in,” Buffy and Angel stepped aside to let them through.  They watched as the rag tag group threw themselves into various cushiony seats with sighs of relief.  “That bad, huh?”

            Angel felt the prickle of anticipation rolling off of Buffy.  He recognized it easily, because he was feeling the same thing.  He hadn’t had a good kill in ages.

            “That bad, B.  It kicked our asses,” Faith confessed.  “Speaking of which, do you have any pain relievers here?”

            “We don’t have any analgesics,” Angel answered.

            Buffy laughed and walked into the kitchen.  She returned a moment later with a bottle of tequila.  She tossed it at Faith who caught it unerringly.

            “Just what the doctor ordered.  I think I’m falling in love with you, girl,” Faith said gratefully as she took a swing of the fiery liquid.

            “Faith, perhaps you shouldn’t… I mean you are underage,” Giles spoke wearily, secretly wishing he were the one with the bottle of liquor.

            “As if.  I’ve been on my own for years, old man.  I don’t need you or the law telling me what I can and can’t do,” she gave him a wicked smile as she took another swig.

            “I have diet coke, too,” Buffy said cheerily as she put a six pack of cola on the coffee table.

            “Thanks,” Oz said reaching for a can.  He handed it to Willow and then got his own.

            Xander and Cordelia also grabbed cans, but withheld the thanks.  Giles looked up at Angel.

            Angel smiled.  He walked over to a cabinet and poured some amber liquid into a glass.  He brought it over to the battered watcher.  “Will this do?”

            Giles took the whiskey like it was the most blessed drink on the planet.  “Yes, thank you.  This will do nicely.”

            “You’re welcome,” Angel answered.  “I assume that if you came to us, you need help.”

            “Yes, I need some serious muscle by my side,” Faith told them.

            “Hey!” several of the gang yelled in protest.

            Faith held up a hand.  “It’s not like I don’t appreciate the help, people.  But come on, we got the beat down from this thing.  I’m willing to go back and teach it a thing or two, but I’d like some super power with me.  No offense.”

            “Offense taken,” Xander grumbled.

            “We’d be glad to help,” Buffy offered.  “Where is it and how do we kill it?”

            “Willie’s.  It headed into Willie’s after swatting us around like flies,” Faith said.

            Buffy and Angel both went to the weapons chest.  Angel pulled out a large crudgel and handed it to Buffy.  Then he took out a mace for himself.  He looked up at Faith.  “Do you need anything?”

            Faith put the bottle down and jumped to her feet in excitement.  “Oh, toys!”

            Angel and Buffy both laughed as the voluptuous brunette began rifling through Angel’s goodies.  She pulled out a wicked looking knife.  “I’ve always had a wet one for a big blade,” she purred.

            The people still seated all gave groans of disgust, but the ones standing with weapons of their own gave the girl a knowing nod.  “Let’s go kill us a troll!” Faith said excitedly, her pains forgotten.

            “Sounds good to me,” Angel agreed as he and Buffy followed the Slayer out of the building.  They heard several moans of protest sound from behind them as the humans decided to get up and join in the troll hunt.

            “How can they be so chipper?” Cordelia asked.  “I mean I get Buffy and Angel, because they didn’t just get their hineys kicked, but Faith?  Come on.  She got it harder than any of us and look at her!”

            “It is a bit sickening,” Giles agreed as he watched the way the three in question were moving eagerly forward.  They were practically vibrating with anticipation.  He was getting too old for this kind of thing.

            “It’s probably the aspect of going to Willie’s.  You did all see how fast Buffy pulled out that liquor,” Xander grumbled.

            “Yeah, Xander, I’m sure Buffy, Faith, and Angel are just headed out to party.  Give them some credit.  They didn’t have to come help us tonight,” Willow said.  She’d felt badly about the way she had treated Buffy the week before.  She’d just been so hurt, but Oz had explained a thing or two to her over the last few days.  He was really quite wise for someone who was repeating his senior year of high school.

            “Yes, Willow, they did have to come,” Xander reminded her.  “Buffy is supposed to be the Slayer, and Angel is supposed to be on a path of redemption.  We’re the ones who didn’t have to come.  We’re the real heroes, and I can’t believe no one else can see that.”

            Giles looked at the angry young man.  He did have a point.  “Xander, I don’t say this often, but I want you to know how much I appreciate all that you do.”  He looked around at the group.  “All of you.  You are indeed an extraordinary group of young people, and I am privileged to know each and every one of you.”

            Cordelia hit the watcher in the back of the head.  “Great!  Do you like tempting fate?  A speech like that just means we’re all going to die.”  She stomped ahead of the group.

            Oz looked at Giles.  “She’s right, man.”

            Before Giles could reply they found themselves staring at the backs of Angel, Faith, and Buffy as they entered the bar several yards ahead of them.  They increased their pace in order to catch up and reached the door a few moments later.  Just in time to hear several loud crashes and a roar come from inside.  Giles looked at the young faces before him.  “Perhaps we should wait out here, all things considered.”

            No sooner had the words left his mouth than the door opened and several demons ran out, so concerned with their own safety they didn’t even respond to the tender humans hovering within their reach.

            From inside the bar things were bad.  Well, bad if you were Willie.  The slimy proprietor had to sit back and watch as his bar was assaulted with weapons, bottles, and bodies.  The troll hadn’t come in intending on doing any damage.  He’d ordered a vat of ale and sat himself down on a table, and then he’d complained about being attacked by a group of humans while he’d been minding his own business. 

            Angel was having a good time.  A really good time.  He had something to pummel and two beautiful women to pummel with.  It reminded him of better times.  Times when he had fought with Spike and Drusilla by his side.  A meaty fist hit him in the side of the head and Angel went flying to the back of the bar, crashing into a velvet painting of an old woman and her cats.

            Buffy saw Angel go flying, she would have been worried if it weren’t for the big grin spread across his face.  Still, she felt she owed the troll one.  So she raised the crudgel and let it fly with all of her strength at the troll’s booted foot.

            “Aughh!” the big oaf yelled.  Now he was angry.  He swatted the brunette to the side and went in for the blonde.  She smelled funny anyway.  He wasn’t able to decide what she was and he found that annoying.  He picked her up by the back of her neck and dangled her three feet off the ground.  He swung her back and forth, preparing to throw her against the mirror behind the bar, hopefully cut her up good, but he was slammed in the gut by the vampire’s head.  He made a large “Oof,” sound and dropped the girl to clutch at his stomach.

            “You okay, Buff?” Angel yelled.

            “Just fine.  Just fine,” Buffy replied, wondering if Angel knew he’d used Angelus’ name for her.  She looked at Faith who gave her a thumbs up before closing her eyes.  It looked like the Slayer was down for the count, but would be fine with a little rest.  Buffy turned back around to see how Angel was faring with the troll just in time to see Willie raise a cross bow in the air.

            “That was a picture of my grandmother you bastard!” Willie yelled as he let loose the bolt.

            Angel was in the process of breaking the troll’s neck and didn’t even bother looking over at the human bartender.

            Buffy leapt into the air, taking the bolt meant for Angel.  It landed right in her throat.  Dead center.

            Angel dropped the lifeless body of the troll just in time to see the bolt enter Buffy.  “No!” he yelled in full vamp face.  He ran to her side.  There was blood rushing out of the wound.  There was no way she could breathe like this.  He put both hands on the bolt to pull it out, knowing that would mean more blood but that it would also clear her air passage. That is if she didn’t drown in all of the blood.  He didn’t feel there would be any way to save her.  The rage inside of him was warring with concern as he bent over her.  His demon was howling fiercely as if it was losing one of its own.

            Buffy couldn’t breathe, but she wasn’t panicked.  She wished she could let Angel know it would be okay.  She reached out a hand and grabbed his arm.  She tried to squeeze it in a gesture of comfort, but he only interpreted it as one of pain.  He was looking into her eyes.  His were yellow and full of compassion, rage, and worry.  She let go of his hand and pointed to her throat, catching his attention.

            “What the hell?” he cried, looking down at her rapidly healing throat.  She gave him a tiny, pained smile.  “That’s.  That’s just not possible.  Even vampires don’t heal that fast, and I’ve wounded a slayer or two in my time, but I’ve never seen them do what you’re doing, Buffy.”

            Finally able to speak again, Buffy cleared her throat.  “Sound a little more pleased that I’m not dying in front of you, why don’t you!”

            “Sorry, of course I’m happy.  But how’s this possible?” he asked.

            Suddenly two mugs of fresh blood were placed underneath their faces.  “Sorry about that.  Gut reaction.  That painting meant a lot to me.  Please don’t kill me,” Willie begged.

            Angel immediately grabbed the little man by the neck, prepared to squeeze until it popped, but Buffy sat up and put a restraining hand on his arm.  “Angel, don’t.  He does give us our blood after all.”

            Angel dropped him with a growl.  “Don’t you ever try to harm me or mine again or I will kill you, and I’ll make it hurt, Willie.  Do you understand?”

            “Yeah, Angel buddy, I got it.  No problem.  It was a mistake.  I swear,” the little man replied, stepping out of harms way, but still offering the mugs.

            Angel took his and gave it a sniff.  “It’s clean.  Why don’t you get Buffy some water,” Angel ordered Willie.

            “Sure thing, but I figured after losing all that blood she’d need a fix,” Willie replied.

            Buffy felt her face shifting at the smell of the rich, fresh liquid.  Willie was right.  She needed it.  Well, there was one jig that was thoroughly up.  She reached out and took the mug from Willie.  “Thanks, Willie.  Water would be nice, too.”

            Angel looked at her.  He could see the struggle for control.  “You… You’re a… Buffy?”

            “Not a word.  Not now.  We can discuss it when we get home,” she said as she quickly drank the mug of blood down.  She was worried the humans hovering outside the door would be coming in at any moment.  As soon as the mug was drained, she could feel herself regaining control of her demon.

            Willie came back with the water and took the empty mugs from the vampires just in time for the front door to open and the not so brave Calvary to pour in.  Angel just looked at her.  He was more confused than ever and at the same time things finally started to make sense.

            “Faith,” Giles yelled in concern as he made his way over to the unconscious girl.

            “She’s okay, Giles.  She’s just knocked out.  No bleeding or anything,” Buffy explained.

            “Still, we should get her to a hospital,” he fretted.

            Cordelia leaned over the girl and threw a half empty glass of water she’d found in her face.  Faith immediately sputtered awake.  She gave the cheerleader a hard glare.  “See?  She’s fine,” Cordelia told everyone.

            Giles and Xander helped the fallen Slayer to her feet.  “Are you all right, Faith?” Giles asked.

            “Five by five,” Faith told him as she wrenched her arms away from the men.  She hated to be coddled almost as much as she hated to have water thrown in her face.

            Giles looked around the room at the debris and the dead troll.  “I take it everything went alright?”

            “If you call being drenched in blood alright,” Willow said as she walked over to look at Buffy.  “Where are you hurt?”

            “Oh, I’m not hurt.  It’s not my blood,” Buffy lied easily.

            “We need to go now,” Angel said, dragging Buffy by the arm and out the door.  He didn’t say a word as he pulled her down the street and back towards the mansion.  Which was just as well as far as Buffy was concerned because it gave her a chance to come up with a convincing story.  Somehow she figured he wouldn’t take to well to the idea of just waiting around for Spike and Drusilla to rip his soul out.  She gave a fierce swallow that stuck in her throat as she saw the mansion come into view.  She was in so much trouble.

Interlude

            Spike rolled over on the thin motel mattress.  Over, away from Drusilla and her grabbing hands.  “There’s nothin’ wrong with it!  I’m just not in the mood is all,” he grumbled.

            “You haven’t been in the mood since we left!” Dru yelled.  She wasn’t stupid.  She realized what the mood breaker was.  It wasn’t that she didn’t understand his plight, but really!  What was she supposed to do?  He’d always been there for such things.  It was the main reason she had turned him, after all.

            Spike just wanted to go back to Sunnydale.  He wanted Buffy.  Being away from her made his heart hurt.  Apparently his penis felt this just as strongly as his heart, because it flat out refused to respond to anything Drusilla did.  This had never happened to him before.  He wasn’t stupid.  He knew it wasn’t a mood.  It was Buffy.  It was all about Buffy.

            He kicked the covers off and stood up.  “I’m going for a smoke,” he declared, pulling on his pants.  He grabbed his cigarettes and walked out onto the sliver of plaster and railing that made up the worst excuse for a patio Spike had ever been privy to.  He lit up and pulled the nicotine into his dead lungs.  Fuck, he needed to get back.  This was ridiculous.  They’d been in this small Washington town for a week and nothing.  No one knew how to break the curse without giving the poof a moment of pure happiness, and every wise man or woman they talked to said that the fact that Angel now knew about the moment of happiness thing would make it nearly impossible for him to achieve it.  Something about the purity of it being corrupted by the knowledge of potential.  Whatever.  They were screwed.

            Now he just needed to convince Drusilla to give it up.  They could go back to Sunnydale, make sure the blighter had his strength back and all that, grab Buffy, and get the hell out.  Go somewhere just the three of them.  It could be good, he knew it.  They could be good, if Dru would just get over her damn daddy complex.  Honestly!  She was far too old for such things.

             He flicked his nearly finished cigarette to the ground and raised a bare foot to stomp out the glowing embers.  The moment his foot touched the ashes a searing pain went through his throat.  He grabbed it with both hands and fell to the ground.  It took him a moment to realize that it wasn’t his pain.  That it hadn’t somehow been caused from the cigarette but.  The pain was Buffy’s, and despite the fact that he knew damn well she couldn’t be killed, he was terrified. She was hurt and he wasn’t there.  It was as simple and unacceptable as that.  Once the pain had receded he was on the move.

            “Come on, Dru!” he yelled, opening up their small suitcase and throwing things in.  “We gotta go back.”

            “What?  But we can’t.  My Angel.  He’s all wrong.  I don’t want him broken.  I want him fixed.  You promised to fix him!” Drusilla accused.

            Spike could sense the beginning of an episode and he really didn’t have time for it.  He walked over, suitcase firmly grasped in his right hand, and he clocked her hard with his left.  He watched as she slid in an unconscious heap to the floor.  Then he bent down, thanking his supernatural strength, and picked up his sire.  He threw her over his shoulder and headed out to the Desoto.  He had one purpose and one purpose only:  to get to his childe.  He drove the car like a man possessed which meant he was forced to eat a few highway patrol here and there, but hey, a man’s gotta eat.

Chapter 10

            Angel dragged her into the house and up to the master bedroom.  He immediately started to search her.  When he couldn’t find what he was looking for he started to take her clothes off.  She’d acquiesced up until that point, but now she put a restraining hand on his arm.  “Don’t,” she warned.

            “I have to see where it is!” Angel growled.

            “Where what is, you freak!” Buffy yelled.

            Angel put his hand on his hips and gritted his teeth.  “The gem,” he said in exasperation.

            “What gem?”

            “The Gem of Amara.  It gives vampires full immunity, and I’m assuming makes them appear human as well.”  He stood there waiting for her to confess.

            Buffy rolled her eyes and started to remove her clothes.  When she was completely naked.  She sat on the bed and spread her legs.  “Search,” she said, her voice dripping with acid.

            Angel had been around the block a few hundred times.  If she thought he was going to be daunted by such a command, she could guess again.  He gave her a grin straight out of the book of Angelus and kneeled between her open legs.  He put in one finger, then another, searching around her cavity.  Then he flipped her over, enjoying the squeal of surprise she gave.

            “Don’t you dare!” she yelled in mortification.  Too late.  He dared.  Buffy did her best to relax as he finished his search.  When he removed his fingers she flipped herself back around.

            Angel stepped back, prepared for her wrath.  “You could have swallowed it,” he said drolly, indicating that just because he hadn’t found it, it didn’t mean it wasn’t there.

            Buffy huffed.  She got to her feet and sent a kick to the side of his head.  She watched in satisfaction as he hit the wall on his right with a hard ‘thunk’.  “I’ve never even heard of your stupid gem of America or whatever.”

            Angel brought himself to a stand.  He was hard as a rock.  Between her being naked and thoroughly pissed he was getting highly aroused.

            Buffy noticed the bulge in his pants.  She shook her head and backed up.  “Uh-uh.  No way.  Your soul, remember?”

            Angel gave her a wicked smile.  “That was when you were Buffy.  Now you’re just another demon, baby.”

            “You don’t believe that, if you did you would have given me up to Giles and the gang.  You wouldn’t have drug me back here like that,” she pointed out.

            “How do you know I didn’t just want the gem for myself?” Angel asked, advancing ever so slowly towards her.

            “I seriously have no clue about the gem thingy, but think about this Angel.  Why would I be here, protecting you like this if I weren’t still Buffy?” she asked.

            “I’m going with a sick, sick game on this one, babe,” he snarked.

            Buffy pointed a finger at him.  “Please, that’s your thing.  Not mine.”

            “What is your thing then?  Why don’t you tell me why you’re here and why you have a heart beat?” he challenged.

            “Okay, but put that thing away,” she said, pointing to his still obvious erection.

            Angel laughed as he walked across the room and took a seat in the arm chair, allowing her to sit on the bed.  The fact that she was adverse to his sexual advances spoke in her favor, making him willing to listen to whatever it was she had to say.

            Buffy sat down, keeping a wary eye on her great-grand-sire.  “I was in LA like I told you.  I was a mess.  A total wreck.  Regret was eating at me.  I wished I’d never fallen in love with you, never slept with you, or at the very least that I had killed you before your soul returned.  I can’t explain how this ate at me.  It never stopped.  It was this ‘thing’ riding me every minute of the day until just breathing became painful.  I felt like pain was all that I was.  Then one night after I got off work I came to the realization that I couldn’t possibly hurt any more.  I thought that if I at least died, then my family and friends could find some kind of peace.  So I tried to kill myself.  I took a machete and whacked my head off in the shower.”  She looked up at him, pleased to see he seemed to care.  She could tell her words cut him.  Good.

            “I woke up disoriented.  Head and body very much unattached.  It freaked me out to say the least.  Then I sort of just lost it.  Scary crazy.  Went around trying to find ways to kill myself.  Kept wandering the streets of LA, naked and crazy.  Then one night after I had attacked two human males who were trying to ah…”  She looked down at the bed and her voice grew quiet.  “They were trying to rape me.  I hurt them and crushed their throats to stop their screaming.  I was just sitting there, crouched, watching them die slowly.  Then they came.  He picked me and carried me so close.  It was wonderful.  They cleaned me up and tucked me into bed, holding me the whole night through.  I woke up and felt different.  Still crazy but content.” 

            “They took care of me.  Brought me back to myself.  I let him try and turn me.  It didn’t completely take, however.  So this is how I ended up.  Then I came back here to try and help you.  End of story,” she finished.

            “It was Spike.  Spike turned you didn’t he?” Angel asked.  He felt like his heart was shattering.  He couldn’t believe the mess he’d left her in. He was a very grown man.  He should have stopped things between them before they started, but he’d never had much self control when it came to this tiny blonde.

            “Yes, it was.  Spike and Drusilla.  They helped me,” Buffy said quietly.

            Angel put his head in hands and began to sob.  Huge wracking sobs of guilt and regret.  He felt her move onto his lap and wrap her arms around him.  For once he didn’t fight the comfort, the peace; he let her pull him out of his grief.  He let the feeling of family and belonging rush over him.

            “Shhh, it’s okay.  I’m okay now, Angel.  No more crazy Buffy.  Not fully human Buffy, but at least I’m not running around naked on the streets of Los Angeles trying to kill myself.  That’s good right?” she whispered.

            Angel gave a laugh that came out like a seal’s bark.  “You’re still naked,” he pointed out.

            “Oh!”  Buffy jumped off his lap and started getting dressed.  She looked back at him and could see that he’d gained control of himself.  “Are you going to wash those fingers anytime soon, ‘cause it’s kind of squicking me out.”

           Angel laughed for real this time.  She was still in there.  Whatever else she was, she was still Buffy.  Just not his Buffy.  He stood up and walked into the bathroom.  He washed his hands and came back in to see her fully dressed.  “So you’re in love with him aren’t you?”

            “Spike?” Buffy clarified needlessly.

            “Your sire, yes.”

            “I love him.  I’m not in love with him yet.  I need him, though.  I want him.  I miss him terribly,” she confessed.

            Angel walked over to the window and drew back the heavy curtains.  “It’s funny.  You and I are more compatible than ever and yet we’ve never had less of a chance.”

            Buffy walked up and wrapped her arms around his waist.  “We don’t have a chance as a couple, but you still have a chance, Angel.  Dru still loves you.”

            “She can’t love me with this soul,” he said with conviction.

            “Yes, she can.  She does, but she doesn’t think you’ll let her anywhere near you,” Buffy told him.

            “Darla was repulsed by me.  She made me leave,” Angel said, thinking back to the past.

            “Doesn’t that just piss you off?  I mean the people who are supposed to support you no matter what just kick you when you’re down.  Makes you redefine the meaning of family,” Buffy growled.

            Angel turned in her arms to face her.  “Your mother?  You feel betrayed by your mother like I feel by Darla, don’t you?”

            “Yep.  I’ve made my mind up.  I’m sticking with the people who pick me up, filthy and broken, and take me home and give me a bath, no questions asked.”  Buffy smiled at him.

            “Where are these people now?” Angel asked, thinking she might be right.

            “They left after dropping me off.  They left me to help you get back on your feet,” she explained.

            “So now that I’m back to normal you’re going to leave?” Angel asked, he could feel his heart breaking again.  He didn’t want to lose her companionship, what love she did have to offer him.

            “I don’t want to Angel.  I want you to come with us.  We can be a real family,” she pleaded.

            “No, Buffy, we can’t.  I won’t try and stop you.  I won’t tell Giles or the new Slayer, but I can’t go with you.  I can’t stand by and watch Spike and Drusilla kill humans.  I’m having trouble understanding that you can,” Angel told her.

            Buffy looked down at the ground.  “Angel?” she whispered.  “I don’t feed off of blood bags.”

            He stared at her in horror.  “What?  But you’re still you.  How could you?”

            She held out her hand to him.  “This is me, Angel.  It’s all that I am.  Buffy.  No Slayer.  Just Buffy.  I’m not the girl you thought I was.  I’ll just pack my things and go.  I’ll try and track Spike and Drusilla down.”  She walked over to the closet and opened the door.  She began pulling her clothes down to put in a duffle bag.

            Angel slumped into the chair.  His head reeling.  When he thought she was a vampire it seemed so simple.  It wasn’t Buffy.  Not really.  But this.  This was still Buffy.  He couldn’t kill her, but then again he hadn’t been able to kill Drusilla or Spike either.  Now she was leaving.  He would be alone again.  Alone like he was in hell.  Alone like he was here on earth for so many years.  She was right.  It hadn’t been his fault.  He shouldn’t have to atone for the sins he committed while he was Angelus.  He’d been a demon.  He would have to atone for the sin he was about to commit, however.  This time he knew what he was doing.  Knew what he was asking.

            “I’m leaving, Angel.  Have a good life,” she said sadly as she picked up a bag with her clothes in it.

            “Wait,” he called out, stopping her.  “Do you know where Spike and Drusilla are?  Do you know where you’re going to go?”

            “No.  They were going to come back for me when they could,” she explained.  “I’ll be fine.  Hell, I can’t die!”  She laughed.

            “Stay here with me.  Wait until they come.”  He looked up at her with a world of sorrow in his eyes.  “I want to go with you when you leave,” he told her.  “But I can’t… I can’t go like this.  I want you to try and make love to me one last time.”

            Buffy dropped the bag to the floor.  “Angel do you realize what you’re asking?”

            “Yes, so help me, but yes I do,” he said in a shaky voice.

            Buffy walked over to him.  She climbed back into his lap and took his face in her own.  “I’ll do it, but I’m not sure it’s going to work.  It was a moment of true happiness kind of thing.  Something tells me this is going to be painful for you.  Knowing I’m not your true love, that I belong to another and that you’re willing going over to the dark.  I seriously doubt there will be a moment of happiness involved.”

            Angel looked up at her with soulful brown eyes.  “Let’s pretend.  Let’s pretend for one moment that it’s real.  That we’re real.”

            “Okay,” she agreed softly and kissed him.  “I have one request, though,” she said as she broke the kiss.  “We wait until Spike and Dru come back.  That way I’m not stuck here alone, keeping the Hellmouth closed from whatever nutso scheme you cook up.  Plus, as much as I’ve fantasized about eating Xander and Willow, it probably isn’t the best idea for our long term health.  The Council can be pretty powerful when it needs to be.  Is that okay?  Is it okay if we just let things be for awhile?” she asked.

            “You think you can keep pretending to be normal Buffy?  ‘Cause I gotta tell you, you haven’t been doing the best job of it!” he teased, more than willing to put it off.

            “I have, too!  You would never have guessed if I hadn’t started to go all ‘grrr’ back at Willie’s,” she yelled punching him in the arm.

            “Oh, I would have guessed.  Two more days tops,” he told her.

            “Two day’s my ass!  I had you suckered!”

            Angel vamped and carried her over to the bed.  He dropped her on it and began to tickle her mercilessly.  “You see, while the man in me was only slightly suspicious.  The demon knew who and what you were all along, sweet-thing.”

            Buffy vamped as well as she pulled him on top of her for some serious tickling pay-back.  Angel looked at her face with awe.  She was beautiful.  Amazing.  He was a little more than pissed that Spike had gotten to her first.  What’s done was done, however.  Now they just had to wait for his childer to come home.  They both ceased their tickling and lay there, side by side, in comfortable companionship.  Somehow he didn’t think this was going to be that difficult for him at all.

Chapter 11

            Angel was nervous.  Faith had come by to drag them to a meeting at the library.  It was the first time that he’d been out with Buffy, knowing what she was.  He felt like he had to keep a constant eye on her.  As they walked into the school building, Angel furiously hoped that Xander would keep his big mouth shut.

            “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the bat boy and his faithful side kick,” Xander quipped as they walked into the library.

            “Shove it, Xander,” Faith hissed as she came in behind them.  “They’re here to help us, remember?”  She flung herself in a seat, purposefully separating Angel and Buffy from the rest of the group.

            Angel gave the Slayer a grateful smile as he took the seat beside her, leaving the last seat on the row for Buffy.  The seat furthest from the humans in the room.  He put one hand on her thigh under the table.  He could see out of the corner of his eye that it made her smile.

            “I’ll be a good girl,” she whispered low so that only he could hear her.

            Giles came out of his office and gave them a nod.  “Thank you for coming.  Faith found out that there is a group of demons planning a ritual that will not open the Hellmouth, but will allow for the membrane separating the two dimensions to become thin enough only for the space of time that the demons are able to keep up the chant.  Our goals are to stop them before they start it, or to stop them as quickly as possible and also to kill anything that comes through,” he explained.

            “What kind of demons are we talking about here?” Angel asked.

            “I don’t know, man.  I lost the next round.  Stupid cue slipped in my fingers,” Faith complained.

            “You were paying pool for information?” Angel asked her.

            “I prefer to play for money, but these things weren’t dealing in US currency,” Faith told the group.

            “What kind of currency were they using, Faith?  That would perhaps tell us what sort of demons they are and what sort of demons they may interact with,” Giles said.

            “Kittens.  They were dealing in kittens,” Faith told him.

            “Who deals in kittens?” Willow cried.

            “They’re used as food,” Angel explained.

            “Are they yummy?” Buffy asked him and promptly received a hard squeeze on her thigh.

            “I wouldn’t know,” Angel said tightly.  “I’ve never eaten one.”

            Willow was horrified.  “I can’t believe anyone eats kittens!  I mean humans I get, but fluffly little kitties?”

            “You get humans?” Oz asked her.

            Willow looked at him.  “Oh, not in the I’m gonna go eat me a nice fat baby kind of way, more in a rung on the food chain ladder sort of way.”

            “That’s good,” Oz declared.

            “Yes, well all distress aside, what demons would deal in kittens as currency, Angel?” Giles asked.

            Angel looked down at the table.  “Most would.  They can be exchanged for other goods.”

            “You’ve played for kitties?” Willow squeaked, her opinion of the vampire plummeting even further.

            “Not me per se, but I sent Spike out to a time or two.  He’s a really good poker player.  Or I should say he’s really good at cheating,” Angel admitted.

            Buffy heard the name Spike and immediately her bottom lip began to tremble.  A tiny little sob escaped her lips.

            Angel heard the sob and looked down, to see fat tears pouring down Buffy’s cheeks.  “Oh, baby.  Come here,” he said as he picked her up and put her on his lap.  “Shh, it’s okay.  I’ve got you.”

            “Oh, please.  Quit with the boo-hooing, Buffy.  No one’s buying that you give a fig about cat currency,” Cordelia snapped, annoyed at the tender way the blonde woman was being held by the hunky vampire.  Beastie or no that was one fine specimen of man flesh.

            It was a good thing Buffy’s face was buried against Angel’s shoulder.  Well good in a wide sense.  In a very close and personal sense it wasn’t too good for Angel because the involuntary shifting resulting from Buffy’s ire over Cordelia’s flippancy caused her fangs to accidentally slice into his skin.  “Oh fuck,” he moaned.  It didn’t hurt.  That wasn’t even close to being the problem.  He started to chant in his head ‘Waiting.  We’re waiting’ over and over in the hopes that his penis would get the message.

            Giles just shook his head.  He was at a loss when it came to the female species.  They could watch the most extreme violence in a movie, such as a western, but it was only when the horse got shot that they would turn their heads away in horror.  Strange creatures.  “As long as we do not know what type of demons we’re looking for, we are going to have to set up wards here in the library that alert us to when they’ve been breached.  I think perhaps that Buffy and Angel should be the recipient of any such alarm.  Buffy can go out during the daylight and Angel and she both can go out during the night, come straight here, and stop the demon chant as quickly as possible.”

            Faith hopped up.  “That works for me.  Meanwhile I’ll see what other info I can hustle out there.  Which is my own personal cue to let myself leave this funhouse.  Later,” she called out as she hoped to her feet and ran outside.

            Buffy looked at Angel as she got up off his lap.  “I’ll be right back.  I need to ask Faith about something.”

            “Buffy,” Angel warned.

            She leaned down and whispered.  “I’m not gonna hurt her.  How stupid do you think I am?  I’m the one who said we should play nice and wait to bring Angelus out,” she reminded him.

            “Alright,” he said, letting her go.  Then he turned to Giles.  “How can I help you?”

            “The spell is rather easy.  I can set up the wards here and give you the proper things to set things up at your end,” Giles told him.

            Angel followed Giles into his office to retrieve the necessary items and a print out of instructions to follow.  When he and Giles returned they found Buffy engaged in an actual conversation with Willow and Xander.  “Ready?” he asked her.

            “Yep,” she said, coming over to meet him.  She looked at the stuff in his hands.  “Cool!  Spell stuff.”

            “Sort of,” Angel replied.  “Giles, are you sure you don’t need help with this?”

            “No, thank you.  Willow and Oz have volunteered to lend me a hand,” Giles explained.

            “We’ll head back to the mansion then and set things up on our end,” Angel looked at Buffy.  “We need to go by the magic shop first.  Giles didn’t have the right kind of string for the bell.”

            “Sounds good,” Buffy said agreeably.  She was feeling cheery.  She grabbed Angel by the arm and led him out of the library, down the hall, and into the school parking lot.  Cordelia and Xander followed closely behind them.  A sudden scream coming from Cordelia had everyone looking at the dark haired girl.

            “My car!  Look at my car!” Cordelia yelled.

            They all looked at the shiny red automobile.  The words ‘Queen C’ were etched in the side of the car. 

            “Who would do such a thing?” she cried.

            Xander had to bite his tongue.  He loved his girlfriend, but he could actually think of quite a few people who would be more than happy to take her down a peg or two.  “I don’t know, Cordy.  We were in there for like three hours.  It could have been anyone.”

            “That’s so mean.  I hate mean people!” she howled.

            “I know.  I’ll help you take it to a body shop tomorrow.  It’ll be fixed in no time,” Xander promised.

            “That sucks, Cordy,” Buffy said.  “Well, Angel and I have to go.  Bye!”

            Angel kept his silence until they were halfway to the magic shop.  “Did you scratch that on Cordelia’s car, Buffy?”

            “No!  What?  Of course not!  I would never!  Okay, I did.  I’m evil.  What do you expect?” she chirped as she resumed walking.

            Angel followed two steps behind her.  She was right.  What did he expect?  It was such a Spike like action that he found it almost hard to be mad at her for it.  How many times over the years did he have to drag Spike and Drusilla to safety because of some stunt the brash vampire had pulled?  Now here he was dealing with the antics of Spike’s childer.  Unlife was strange.

Chapter 12

            Buffy was waiting outside of the magic shop after having been sent out there by Angel.  Apparently she was making him nervous around all of the breakable items.  She was leaning against the wall, bored as hell, when she noticed a commotion coming from a car parked down the street.  Her interest peaked, she went to investigate.  The closer she came the more she could tell about the goings on inside the vehicle.  There was a girl, sobbing, and a boy placating.  His tone was so condescending it was making Buffy want to retch. 

            She walked up to the passenger side window and gave a little knock.  The window rolled down to reveal the teary eyed face of a beautiful blonde.  “Yes,” the blonde asked.

            “I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute,” Buffy said to her sweetly.

            “About what?” the girl asked with a sniff.  The boy on her other side was checking the new comer out with more than just avid curiosity.

            “About your boyfriend,” Buffy leaned in and whispered into the girl’s ear. 

            “Oh, he’s not my… I mean I thought we were…. But it turns out…”  The girl burst into a fresh round of tears.

            Buffy opened the door herself and drew the girl out into a hug.  Then she whispered something else in her ear.  The girl nodded her head gratefully at Buffy before turning around and walking away.  Buffy watched her go for a second and then slipped into the passenger seat and shut the door.

            “Well, I’m glad she’s gone,” Buffy said as she gave the dark haired young man a seductive smile.

            The boy looked her over appreciatively.  “Me, too.  I thought that was going to drag on forever.  Some girls just don’t understand that it’s okay to have a moment.  A single moment can mean as much as years of inconsequential interactions if not more.  Some people just don’t get that,” he said softly.

            “I get that,” Buffy told him.  “What’s your name?”

            “I’m Parker.  You are?”

            “I’m your moment, Parker,” Buffy purred seductively as she leaned into him.

            Parker couldn’t believe his luck.  The night had started out about as bad as it could get.  Mindy had literally jumped into his car and insisted that they talk.  Hadn’t they said enough?  He’d had to talk her ear off for three days straight before she’d given it up to him.  He was running out of sincerity.  Then she finally gives in, and she won’t give up.  It really brought him down when women refused to have the depth of understanding that he did about intimate relations.  But this one now seemed to get it.  His night was definitely looking up.

            “Would you like a kiss, Parker?” Buffy asked.  “I have a special kiss just for you.”

            “A kiss is the meeting…”

            “Oh, shove the philosophy, frat boy,” Buffy growled as she dove in. 

            She had her fangs sank good and solid into his jugular.  The blood was rich and sweet.  But she wasn’t anywhere close to being satisfied when she suddenly felt the presence of angry elder behind her.  Shit.  Angel.  She let go of her prey, leaving him alive but slumped against the steering wheel.  She opened up the door and got out, shutting it firmly behind her.

            “Are you all done?” she asked in her most chipper voice.

            “Yes, are you?” Angel asked in a flat tone that did not bode well for her at all.

            “Well, I wasn’t actually, but I guess that will have to do,” Buffy groused.  Angel grabbed her arm and dragged her away.  “Ouch!  You’re hurting me.”

            “Not nearly as much as I’m about to, Buffy,” he hissed.  “You are so lucky I got there before you drained him!” 

            “I know better,” Buffy declared.  “I wasn’t going to drain him, just scare him.  A lot!”

            “Oh, please!  One more minute and he would have lost too much blood to recover from.  You are too young to try and drink without killing.  These things take practice,” Angel told her as he clutched the bag of spell ingredients tightly.

            “Then you need to teach me!” Buffy yelled.

            Angel whirled around.  “That’s not my job!”

            “No, mate, it’s mine,” a deep voice rang out from above.

            “Spike!” Buffy shrieked in joy as she saw her sire leap from atop the roof of the building next to them.  He sailed gracefully to the ground, coat billowing out from behind him.  His feet barely made contact with the ground before he had an armful of Buffy.

            He laughed as he held her tightly.  “Miss me, baby?”

            “Yes,” Buffy sobbed.  “So much.  So, so much.  I can’t believe you’re here.  I didn’t feel you or anything.”  She wasn’t letting him go. 

            “I was cloaking.  Just in case the poof here wasn’t in on things, but I could tell from your little conversation that he’s learned a thing or two in the time we’ve been gone,” Spike said.

            Buffy pulled away just far enough to look into his eyes.  “I didn’t mean to tell him, but I got hurt and I needed blood and…”

            “You’re not in trouble, baby,” Spike assured her as he kissed the top of her head.  “Fuck, kitten,” he groaned leaning into her. “I missed you, too.”

            “Where’s Dru?” she asked.

            “In the Desoto.  Come on.  I’ll drive us back to the mansion,” he said as he led them to an alley where he’d parked the old black car.  “Just how much does grandpa know?” he whispered low into her ear.

            “The whole thing,” Buffy admitted.

            “Really?” Spike asked dumbfounded.

            “Really.  I’ll explain it all to you in the car,” Buffy told him.  “Did you find what we need?”

            “No, luv, we didn’t.  I felt when you got hurt, and I made Dru high tail it back here.  She was pretty pissed.  It’s a bloody good thing Peaches is in on this, or I was going to be in right shit for days,” Spike confessed.

            Buffy stopped him and pulled him down for a heated kiss.  When she broke away she looked into his blue eyes.  “I love you,” she whispered, the sudden realization making her knees go weak.

            Spike felt her falter and he held her tightly to him.  “I love you too, kitten.  Love you so much.  It’s been killing me to be away from you,” he moaned as he claimed her lips again.

            “Hey, lovebirds,” Angel said sarcastically.  “Why don’t we continue this back at the mansion?  Some of us have spell casting to do.”  It was making him a little sick to see Buffy so obviously in love with Spike.  He’d suspected it.  He thought he may have even known before she did.  But seeing it first hand was a little nauseating.

            “Sorry,” Buffy said, blushing.  Then she saw the dark body of the Desoto and tore out of Spike’s arms.  She ran over to the car and threw open the door.

            Angel looked at Spike questioningly as he heard the distinct squealing of two women come from inside the car.  Spike smiled at Angel and pointed to his black beauty.  “You don’t want to miss this, mate.”

            Angel hurried over to the car and peeked in. “Oh, damn that’s good,” Angel said huskily as he watched Drusilla and Buffy in a heated kiss.

            “You have no idea,” Spike told him.

            “I’m going to, boy,” Angel promised.

            “I’m not stopping you, grandpa.  But know this – Buffy is mine.”

            Angel turned luminous brown eyes down on the smaller man.  “I figured that out already, Spike.  She’s been a wreck without you.”

            Spike looked down at the ground, not wanting his emotions to get the better of him.  “Me, too.”

            Angel put a hand on his shoulder.  “It’s good to have you back, Will.”

            “Yeah, yeah,” Spike huffed.  “Get in the car, you poofter.”

           Angel got in the car and received a lap full of Drusilla who had moved to the back seat in anticipation of his getting in.  “Daddy!” she shrieked.

            “There’s my girl,” Angel declared as he captured her soft lips with his own. 

           Buffy and Spike shut the doors.  Spike started the engine and drove them home.  They had a lot of catching up to do.

Chapter 13

            They pulled up to the mansion and tore out of the car.  Each couple having lost time to make up for.  Buffy took Spike up to the room she had prepared just for them.  It was done in his favorite colors and it was clean and had a bed.  Of course the look in Spike’s eyes said he could give a damn if they were on the side of the interstate.  He was going to have her now.

            Spike let Buffy make it half way across the room before he pounced.  Within seconds he had her clothes gone and was buried inside of her.  He didn’t move he just sighed one long heart felt sigh as he rested his forehead against hers.  “Missed you girl.  Can’t understand how you got under my skin so damn quick.”

            Buffy laughed.  “I know what you mean,” she said, moving ever so slightly despite the warning growl Spike gave her.  She looked up into his eyes.  “You know what, though?  I think it’s supposed to be like this.  Love doesn’t have to be hard.  It doesn’t have to hurt.  Rip you apart.  Make you bleed where no one can see.  It can be beautiful when it’s right.  I think we’re right Spike.  I think we were meant to be together all along.”

            Spike lifted her legs so they were wrapped around his waist.  He was still fully clothed with only his fly open.  He walked them over to the bed and dropped Buffy in an ungraceful heap while he removed the remainder of his clothes.  He looked down at his throbbing cock and could see traces of her juices glistening back at him.  He inhaled deeply.  This was it.  This was the scent of home.  When he was completely naked he crawled on the bed toward her.  “I’m coming for you, baby girl,” he purred.

            “As long as I get to cum to, Mr. Bloody,” Buffy teased as he reached her.

            “That can be arranged.  Over and over,” he promised as he leaned down and sucked a nipple into his mouth.

            Buffy arched her back and felt her face shift.  “Only yours, Spike.  Only yours forever,” she moaned.

            Spike let his fangs descend into the flesh before him.  He felt her buck against his cock and couldn’t help the rush of male pride that came over him.  Her body responded to his every touch.  He’d made Dru scream a million times and yet he’d never had her so completely at his mercy like he did Buffy.  With that thought he entered her, claiming what was so very clearly his.  He let the nipple go and traded it for her mouth.  “Love you, Buffy,” he said between kisses as he moved in and out of her.

            Buffy had her head thrown back in ecstasy, the sweetest little grunts coming out of her mouth.  “Uh, uh, uh, love you, too.  Uh… fuck!  Spike!” she yelled.

            “That’s it, baby.  Yell for me.  Yell for me, Buffy.  Let the whole world know who you belong to you,” Spike growled.

            Buffy reached up and grabbed at his blonde hair, holding his head still while she used the strength in her legs to flip them.  “It goes both ways, vampire!” she growled as she sank her fangs in the side of his neck.  She drank his blood down greedily.  “Mine!” she hissed as she let loose his torn skin.

            Spike grinned.  He loved a challenge.  Still embedded inside of her, he flipped them again and bit into her neck.  Sweet Buffy blood.  The richest blood in the world.  His own personal elixir.  The one thing he would not let Angel have.  “Mine!” he yelled as he broke away, licking the wounds.

            “Yours.  Always,” she agreed.

            “You got me, too, baby.  You got me good,” he confessed, once again resting on her forehead, nose to nose, looking into her green eyes as he took them over the edge.

            From down in the living room there was one pouting female and one male in a great deal of discomfort.  Angel was trying to finish up the damn warning spell.  He just had the bell threaded and ready to go when he heard Buffy and Spike scream out their dual release.  His dick was so hard he was nearly sweating, which was a neat trick for a vamp.

            “Dru, when I am finished with this I am going to fuck you until you bleed,” he promised.  He tied off the thread.  “There!”  He turned to his dark childe who watched him out of blue/black eyes.  She got up as he advanced, moving steadily toward the staircase.  Her movements were precise.  She was going to make him beg for making her wait.  Angel nearly fell to his knees at the thought of the things she could do to him in a snit.  He was going to pay and he was going to like it.

            Drusilla wasn’t happy about being made to wait.  She also wasn’t terribly pleased at the way her daddy had responded to the smells and sounds of her childe making love to his mate.  This should be all about her.  He was going to have to have to give in to her.  He was going to have to give her everything.  There would be a blood price before she would acquiesce.  She led him up the stairs slowly, knowing he wouldn’t try to overcome her.  Knowing he knew how this was to be played. 

            She reached the door to the master bedroom and let herself in.  The place smelled of both Angel and Buffy but it did not put her off, there was no smell of intercourse, just nesting.  It was a natural thing for vampire families.  She stood at the end of the bed and waited.  She looked over her shoulder.  “You may enter the room and close the door, Angelus.”

            Angel did as she asked.  His hands were shaking.  He needed so badly to touch her.

            “Now, remove my clothes,” she ordered.

            Angel came up behind her and began to unbutton the tiny buttons that led up the back of her dress.  He did it slowly, not wanting to rush it and anger her.  When he had the last button free he pushed the dress gently off her ivory shoulders.  “May I kiss your skin?” he asked reverently.

            “You may,” Drusilla granted.

            Angel let his lips fall on the first vertebrae of her back.  He kissed it carefully.  Then he moved to the dip below her right shoulder.  Then her left.  When he had the dress pulled down low, just resting on her buttocks, he went down on his knees and kissed the dimpled hollows that rested there.  Then he pulled the dress into a puddle at her feet.  She daintily raised each boot in order for him to remove the dress entirely.  He then rose up and carried over it to the closet, dutifully hanging it up before returning to his task.  She had pristine white undergarments on that were sexy as hell.  They called out to him.

            He returned to her, working on her bra first.  He wondered idly where she’d gotten such a modern undergarment.  She’d never worn such things when he’d last been with her; when he’d hurt Spike by taking what was his at a time when he was hopeless to defend himself.  He shook off the bad memories and concentrated on his task.  When the bra was free, he took off her boots, and then he removed the panties and her thigh high stockings.  He took each piece off with deliberate slowness.  The occasional waft of arousal told him he was not leaving her unaffected.  When he was done, and he had kissed every inch of her backside, he gently turned her to face him.

            “Beautiful.  So beautiful, Drusilla.  My childe.  My princess,” he chanted, showering her with praise.  “Forgive me for making you wait, my darling.”  She just looked at him, waiting some more.  Angel realized she was waiting for him to take off his own clothes.  He did so as quickly as he could.  Then he stood in front of her, baring his all.

            Drusilla waived her hand in the air like a snake, and even though he knew it was coming, he was unable to avoid it, didn’t want to. 

            She slashed out at his chest with her claws, creating four long lines of blood.  Deep red wells of sire essence.  His intake of breath was like a hiss and it made her smile.  “Good, boy,” she told him as she leaned down and licked the dripping liquid.  She lapped at him hungrily.  “Very good boy,” she amended.

            “Good enough?” he asked.

            “Almost.”  She leaned up on her tip toes and pulled his bottom lip into her mouth.  She let it loose and looked into his eyes.  “I believe there was a promise to make me bleed?”

            Angel laughed, knowing all was forgiven.  He picked her up and twirled her in the air until her sweet laughter reached his ears.  Then he laid her down on the bed.  “You’re mine, Drusilla,” he reminded her.

            She reached a hand up and ran it through his hair.  “I always have been.  I always will be,” she declared.

            At that moment, looking into her eyes, he could see what he had done.  He had claimed this sweet childe in the fiercest of ways and then abandoned her.  She’d had her own childe, but Spike hadn’t been the one to break her and so he couldn’t possibly reach her.  Only Angel could do that.  “I’m never going to leave you again.  This I promise,” he said as sank his shaft into her, filling her, making her whole again.

            “Angelus!” she screamed.

            Angel’s face morphed.  “Right here, baby,” he growled as he grabbed her hair and pounded into her for all that he was worth.  He knew how his princess liked it.  Nasty.  Just like he’d taught her.  “Who do you belong to, Dru?  Say it!”

            “Angelus!” she answered, not even sure where she was, only knowing she was with her daddy.  He was here.  Really here and not buried deep down inside.  She felt the tears come.  She didn’t try and stop them.  She had no shame.  Everything she had he’d given her and she wasn’t afraid of showing him anything.

            Angel felt the wetness underneath his chest.  He felt the nails tear into his back.  He felt the fangs sink into his breast.  He was home.  He was hers.  His childe.  His precious one.  His deeply disturbed beauty.  He felt himself go completely.  He knew the demon was out.  It was out and he wasn’t going to reign it back in.  He bent his head down at an angle so that he could reach that specials spot.  His original mark.  The one he knew she never let Spike touch.  He bit into her, ripping side to side, marking her all over again.  “Mine!”

            “Yours,” she agreed.

            He spilled his seed into her quivering walls, knowing for once that everything was like it should be.  His soul was still there.  He doubted it was planning on leaving anytime soon, but it wasn’t dominate.  Not anymore.  Daddy was back in control and intent on staying there.

            He lifted his head off the pillow and looked down at Drusilla.  “We have new family, don’t we, my princess?”

            Drusilla laughed.  “Yes, Daddy.  We have a new little sister.”

            “Spike’s going to have to pay for that one.  I wanted to turn her myself,” Angel declared.

            Dru looked at him her head to the side.  “Angelus?”

            “It’s me, Dru.  Got the soul, but it isn’t in the driver’s seat anymore.  Love me anyway?” he asked slyly.

            “Always,” she promised.

            “Good.  Now, let’s go find Spike and Buffy.  They need to be punished,” Angel declared, coming to a stand, fully comfortable in his nudity.

            Dru jumped and clapped her hands in glee.  “We’re going to have a party!”

Chapter 14

            Spike looked at his beautiful childe as she slept peacefully curled into his side.  He was happy.  Really, happy.  It was a new experience for him.  He’d heard Drusilla and Angel getting it on and figured there was a damn good chance he was about to receive a visit from his grand-sire at any moment.  Spike had lived many years as a vampire and knew vampire politics like the back of his hand.  He had a few things coming to him.  First was his betrayal during the Acathla incident.  Then there was his siring of a woman that Angel had declared as his own.  To make matters worse, the ultimate insult, was that he had blatantly told Angel yesterday that Buffy was his.  Mated.  You were supposed to get permission for things like that. 

            Sure enough, Spike heard the soft scrapping of the master bedroom door.  They were coming.  He had about thirty seconds to figure how to play this.  A lot of time had gone by since he’d been Angelus’ boy.  He was his own man now.  He wanted them to stay together as a family, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to go back under Angelus’ thumb, or any other parts of the git.  Not unless he was in the mood for it.  He tensed.  They were here.  He looked down to see Buffy’s bright green eyes staring up at him.  She knew.  He leaned down and gave her a kiss.  Damn, but it was nice to have someone by your side.  Truly by your side.  Trust.  Weird.

            The kissing couple casually broke apart and turned to look at the dark vampires invading their sanctuary.  “Come to play, have you?” Spike asked, not moving a muscle.

            “You’ve been a bad boy, William,” Angel said in glee.  He was really looking forward to this.  Fun was something that had been denied him for far too long.

            “Yeah, well what can I say.  I’ve always been bad,” Spike snarked as he leaned down and licked the side of Buffy’s face.

            Buffy giggled and leaned into her mate.  She looked up at Angel.  “Soul all gone?”

          “Not exactly,” Angel answered, watching the two on the bed.  They were so close.  Who would ever have imagined?  Certainly not him.  It was mind boggling.  They fit perfectly.  That’s when it dawned on him – he liked it.  He liked Spike having someone, and he liked that it was Buffy.  It made everything just sort of slip into place.  Didn’t mean the boy didn’t deserve a good beat down for his insubordination, however.

            “Not exactly?” Buffy echoed.  “What does that mean?”

            “It means, Buff.  Not exactly,” Angel growled in annoyance.

            Drusilla took pity on her little sister.  “That nasty soul is good in buried like all bones should be.  Now Daddy is a bad doggie again.  Everything in its place,” Drusilla explained.

            Angel realized Dru had read his mind, knew he was pleased with things.  He looked down at his dark beauty.  “It doesn’t mean we can’t have our fun though, princess,” he promised.

            Dru gave him a wicked smile and clapped her hands.  “Oh, goody,” she giggled.

            They didn’t give the blonde couple a chance.  They pounced.

            Spike and Buffy suddenly had a whole lot of elder vampire bearing down on them in full game face.  They tensed up, waiting for it.  Fangs and claws sliced into them.  They could fight.  Buffy couldn’t be killed and she’d passed on a lot of her slayer strength to Spike.  They could easily get the upper hand, but at the same time they knew this had to happen.  It was a matter of peace and family pride.  A small price to pay, and one they would no doubt have to pay again from time to time.

            Spike felt Buffy’s understanding come through the claim.  As long as she was okay with this he could relax into the sport.  There was a lot of pleasure to be had out of pain, and Angelus was a master of pain.  He could be a truly magnificent sire when he wanted to be.  When he wasn’t half crazy from years of being ensouled.  Spike felt the other man’s lips on his neck and he arched to the side, granting access.  He felt Angel’s fangs enter him, and he couldn’t help the way his body reacted.  He felt Angel rubbing against him.  It seemed years in hell had done him a lot of good.  This was the like the master vamp he had known.  Fierce and loving.

            Buffy was making sure that she kept herself open to Spike’s emotions.  She was fully prepared to follow him in every way.  When she felt the rush of lust come through him in response to Angel’s bite she knew they were alright.  She relaxed and gave herself over to Drusilla’s ministrations.  That woman was a wiz with her tongue.  “Dru!” Buffy screamed as she dug her nails into the mattress, knowing better to than to draw blood during this session.  She was playing the submissive.

            Suddenly the dark vampires switched.  Buffy found herself with a fully erect Angel between her legs.  For one moment she thought about throwing him off, but then she felt Spike’s hand give hers a reassuring squeeze, granting permission and reminding her that they were doing this together.  She wrapped her legs around Angel and let him push his way all the way in.  Dru had gotten her nice and ready.  Buffy gave herself over to the pleasure.  Everything was fine until Angel did one move too many. 

            Spike saw Angel go in for the bite and threw Drusilla off and tackled Angel full force, knocking the other vampire onto the ground.  “No biting!” Spike growled.

            “Why, William?  You let me bite you?” Angel asked, loving the feel of his enraged grand-childe on top of him.  Spike was sexy as hell when he got all bent out of shape.  Many times over the years he’s goaded the younger vamp just to have moments like this.

            “That’s different and you know it.  Buffy’s mine.  Family sex is one thing, but you will not bite her,” Spike stated, holding the other man down and trying not to get distracted by the way Angel was grinding against him.

            Angel stopped moving.  He looked at Spike.  “So no biting the other’s mate.  Right, Spike?” Angel asked with deadly seriousness.

            Spike realized Angel was making it official.  “She’s always been yours, Angelus.  She only played at me and you know it.”

            “Say it, Will,” Angel asked.

            “Drusilla is yours,” Spike admitted.

            “Buffy is yours,” Angel stated.

            Spike broke into a grin and then leaned down to give the big vamp a deep kiss.  Things were okay between them.  They’d reached an understanding.

            The two women watched avidly from the bed, each prepared to jump in if necessary and defend their mate.  It was with much joy that they realized things had been worked out.  Very worked out from the look of it.  Buffy gripped Dru’s hand tightly.  She never realized just how incredibly erotic it would be to watch her lover with another.  Both men were a study in beauty.  One word came to Buffy.  It was a word her mother used.  Chiaroscuro. 

            “Dru,” Buffy grasped as she felt the other woman’s fingers enter her.  Feeling bold, Buffy repeated the action.  They worked frantically on each other all the while keeping their eyes on the men on the floor.  Soon all four vampires were throwing their heads back in full vamp face, crying out their release in a series of growls.  In the background there sounded the faint tinkling of a bell.

            Angel collapsed against Spike, exhausted, chest heaving unnecessarily.  “Does anyone else hear the tinkling of bells, or have I gone soft?” Angel asked, lifting his head to eye the women.  A big grin broke across his face.  “The two of you are the most fucking gorgeous women on the planet,” he declared.

            The faint sound of the bell rang again before the women could respond.  “Ah, hell.  It’s the bell.  There’s chanting going on over the Hellmouth.”

            “We gonna stop it?” Spike asked halfheartedly.

            “No, Will.  Buffy and I are.  I don’t want those kids or that watcher knowing you and Dru are here.  I don’t want them coming after us.  I want to be able to leave with my family and not look over our shoulders every damn minute like I had to do with that Holtz asshole,” Angel declared as he got up.

            “Get dressed, blondie,” he called to Buffy as he left the room.  “We’re going to kick some demon but and play nice with the locals.”

            Buffy huffed in disappointment.  “But I don’t want to play nice!”

Chapter 15

            Buffy wasn’t pleased about leaving a nice warm Spike.  At least there would be violence.  She could definitely stand to hit a thing or two.  They arrived at the library at the same time Giles’ car pulled into the parking lot.  The watcher jumped out of the ageing automobile and gave them a raised hand in silent greeting. 

            Buffy and Angel headed straight into the school, knowing the librarian would follow them once he retrieved his weapons.  They could hear the chanting as they entered the hallway.  Angel looked at Buffy and gave her a wicked smile.  As one they moved into the swinging doors, throwing them open to reveal the surprised faces of nine grey-robed figures.

            “Is this a private party or can anyone join?” Angel asked, slipping into vamp face.

            “This is of no concern to you, vampire,” the smallest of the robed figures uttered.  “We are simply making way for our new leader.  Now if you’ll pardon us…”

            “Pardon?” Angel looked at Buffy. 

            “They must think we’re priests,” Buffy said.  “Well, you’d be the priest.  I’d be the naughty nun.”

            Angel hardened immediately.  “We’ll have to try that one later.  Drusilla used to have a habit.  She was going to be a nun, you know…”  Angel was interrupted as the chanting began again.  He looked at Buffy and rolled his eyes.  Then the two whipped out their blades and opened a space in the circle of chanters by removing two of their heads.

            “Oops,” Buffy cried.  “We ruined your harmony!”

            Angel giggled.  He couldn’t believe how little he had appreciated her humor before.  He had only a moment to reflect upon this before the little leader thing ordered his lackey’s to fight back while he kept up the chanting.  Angel could feel the barrier over the Hellmouth thinning out.  Not good. 

            Giles came into the room just in time to see Buffy and Angel being outnumbered by a bunch of robed creatures with spiked clubs.  He had his cross bow loaded so that he could fight at a distance.  He aimed at the figure about to club Buffy and fired.  The bolt entered the creatures back right where its heart should be.  The thing screamed and turned red, glowing eyes on the watcher.  Uh-oh.  Heart not there apparently.  Giles reloaded and aimed at the thing’s head.  The bolt stuck it right between the eyes.  Down it went with a choked yell.  That worked.  He reloaded and aimed.

            Buffy was having a great time.  The spikes hurt like hell, but they weren’t wood so she didn’t worry too much about Angel.  She realized Giles had joined the fight and had saved her from a club to the head.  She took down her current attacker and spared a look around.  Shit!  Something big coming out of the Hellmouth.  She had to get to the leader and shut him up.  She slashed her way through, receiving bone crunching blows, until she reached the little big-mouth.  She happily shoved her sword in his gut, lifting him high up in the air and throwing him across the room.  He chanted all the way despite the gurgling sound coming out of his throat.  That is until his head hit the back of the library wall.  It made a nice satisfying ‘crunch’.

            Angel had three figures on him at once.  The watcher had been helping, but Angel wasn’t entirely too pleased with his choice of pointed wooden weapons.  He had one bolt sticking out of his left shoulder.  A little close to say the least.  He heard the chanting stop and realized Buffy must have gotten to the leader.  He killed the last of the robed figures and looked around.  There, over the Hellmouth was half of what looked like a really big slug.  It was wriggling around in the throws of what Angel surely hoped was death.

            Giles came to stand by the large vampire.  He looked at the bolt.  “Sorry about that.”

            “No problem.  Thanks for the backup,” Angel answered.  He realized he didn’t feel the slightest need to harm this man and figured it had to do with the soul still nestled deeply inside of him.

            Buffy was staring at the wriggling thing.  It was way gross.  She wondered what the other half had looked like.  Was this even the head?  She couldn’t see any eyes.  Her own eyes darted to Angel, ready to ask him what it was, when she saw red.  She flew across the room using all of her supernatural speed and had the watcher instantly pinned to the floor.

            Angel only had a second to react.  One minute Buffy was on one side of the room, the next she was beside him tackling the watcher.  He reached down and pulled the girl off just before she vamped.  He pushed her face into his chest.  “Shh, it’s okay, Buff.  I’m fine.  It was an accident.  Let it go.”

            “Let it go!” she yelled a muffled cry into his chest.  “He nearly dusted you, Angel!”

            “I know.  He was trying to help,” Angel reminded her.  He looked down at Giles who was coming to his feet with a shocked expression on his face.

            “Why the hell would he even bring a crossbow into this unless he meant to kill you?  Like there aren’t about a dozen more far-range choices!” she growled.

            “Did she just growl?” Giles asked.  He was getting a bad feeling about this.

            “That was me,” Angel lied.  “I was trying to calm her.”  He growled for real this time, using his sire voice, forcing her into obedience.  She calmed and let him hold her.  But she was still shaking from the rage.

            “You might want to back away, though,” Angel cautioned the watcher.  When Giles did as he said, Angel pulled Buffy away from him, making sure she was in her human guise before letting her face the man.

            “Sorry, Giles.  But I would like to know why you grabbed that?” Buffy asked, pointing to the weapon still clutched in his hand.

            “I wasn’t thinking.  I just grabbed it and ran in, Buffy.  I’m sorry,” Giles apologized.  She was so different.  So much more protective of the vampire than she had been.  So much more… fierce.

            Buffy nodded her head and then turned to Angel.  “We’d best get that cleaned up before we go home.”  If she was pissed, she could just imagine Drusilla’s reaction.

            Angel nodded his head and took off his shirt while Giles went into his office to retrieve a first aide kit.  Buffy reached up and pulled the bolt out of Angel’s skin.  Blood poured out, running in tiny rivulets down his flesh.  Giles came up behind them to hand her a towel when he gasped.

            Buffy turned suspicious eyes to him.  “What?”

            Giles swallowed.  Angel was covered in nail scratches and a few bites.  “Nothing.  Here’s a towel and some bandages.”

            Buffy took the proffered items and returned to her task.  That’s when she noticed the as of yet unhealed love marks on Angel’s chest and realized what the human had reacted to.  She didn’t say anything, just continued to care for her elder.  When she was done she put the supplies on the table and handed Angel his shirt to put on.  Then she looked at the librarian.  Her former watcher.  His eyes were on the ground, but she could see the wheels turning in his head.

            “Giles?” Buffy said softly.  “Would you like to ask me something?”

            Angel came to a stand protectively behind her.  He may not feel compelled to kill the watcher, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to let the man hurt Buffy.

            “The marks?  You know the two of you cannot have relations, Buffy.  And the bite marks.  Are they yours?  Have you been turned?”

            Buffy reached out and grabbed the man’s hand.  He flinched as she did so and it sent a bolt of satisfaction deep down inside of her.  Fear was always a treat.  She put his hand over her heart.  “Does that answer one of your questions?” she asked.

            Giles felt his whole body sigh with relief.  “Yes.  Yes, it does.  The other?”

            “That’s none of your business,” Angel warned.  “My sex life is just that ‘mine’.  I’m in no danger of losing my soul, Giles, and that’s all you need to know.”

            “So you and Buffy are having relations then?  No moment of pure happiness.  I assume knowing about the curse acts as some sort of barrier to achieving bliss,” Giles speculated, ignoring the vampire’s warning in his haste for knowledge.

            Angel gave an entirely Angelus laugh.  No bliss.  He’d achieved bliss and beyond this evening.  It beat the hell out of him why the soul was still there.  Buffy recognized the laugh for what it was and couldn’t help joining in.

            Giles looked at the mirthful couple.  “I believe you know what I meant by bliss, Angel.  Now the bites.  Did you get in a tussle with another vampire?”

            Buffy and Angel couldn’t help it.  Tussle.  They burst into great guffaws of laughter just in time for the library doors to swing open and the rest of the slayerettes to arrive.

            “Eww!” Cordelia cried.  “How could anyone laugh amongst this uck!”

            “Holy moly!” Xander exclaimed looking at the flesh, goo, and dead bodies littering the floor.

            “Oh, good,” Giles said, still flustered by Buffy’s and Angel’s behavior. “You’re just in time for clean up.”

            Cordelia gave him a look of utter disbelief before turning on her heel and exiting the room.

            Willow watched the other woman’s leaving with longing.  Oz squeezed her hand in support.  “It could be worse,” he said.

            “How’s that?” Xander asked.

            “It could be raining,” the red haired man declared.  “Nothin’ worse than carrying demon remains in the rain.”

            Xander looked at the smaller boy, wondering if he was serious.

            Oz shrugged.  “I’m just saying.”

            “Okay,” Xander replied.  Even for a werewolf, Oz was an odd, odd duck.

            Giles handed everyone a black trash bag. 

            “They’ll fall right through those things, Watcher.  These guys are solid.  The slug thingy, though.  If we chop it up, it’ll fit in the bags,” Buffy told him.

            Giles grimaced.  “The bags are not to hold the demons, Buffy.  They are to put over our heads to protect our clothing,” he explained as he ripped a head sized hole in the top of his bag and put it on like a poncho, his arms coming out holes he made in the sides.

            “Oh, cool,” Buffy hopped up and put one over her head.  Then she ripped a hole and put it over Angel’s head.  She kissed him hard on the mouth.  “Fighting makes me horny,” she whispered so only he could hear.

            Angel felt his erection from earlier return and was glad for the big, black trash bag.  “No, shit,” he whispered back.  Then they stepped in to help the humans clean up.  Buffy and Angel carried a dead demon over each shoulder and out to the parking lot where they found someone’s pick-up truck parked.  They put the demons in the back and headed in for more. 

            “You guys are doing a great job,” Buffy chirped as they came back in.  The others were working away at the giant slug-thing, cutting it into small enough chunks so that it would fit into the black trash bags.

            “Thanks,” Willow replied.  “You’re back fast.  What did you do with the bodies?”

            “Oh, we put them in a truck.  Imagine the surprise of the guy who owns it when he comes to school tomorrow!” Buffy laughed.

            Four horrified, goo-speckled faces turned to look at her, but she could hear Angel give a low chuckle as he hefted two more bodies over his shoulders.  “Please!  I’m joking people.  Angel and I’ll take the bodies away and bring the truck back,” Buffy explained.  “Where’s Faith by the way?”

            “Right here,” the Slayer announced, coming into the room.

            “Huh,” Buffy said perplexed as she looked over her shoulder.  “I didn’t smell you.  Must be all the demon remains.”

            “You can smell me?” Faith asked.  “How come I can’t smell stuff like that?”

            Buffy just gave the other girl a sly smile as she threw a demon body at her and then bent down to pick up the last two for herself.  “I’m older than you, that’s why,” Buffy teased.

            Giles watched the girls leave the library to follow Angel out to the truck.  Smell.  Slayer’s didn’t have increased senses of smell.  Their powers didn’t get stronger with age, only as their experience increased.  He felt the shiver of unease return ; the one that seemed to be a constant visitor in the presence of the blonde slayer since she had come back. 

Chapter 16

            Two days and a lot of avoiding later, Spike, Buffy, Drusilla and Angel were loading up the Desoto in preparation for a trip anywhere far away from the Hellmouth.  Angel had asked Buffy several times over if she didn’t want to talk to her mother before they left.  She assured him that she had nothing to say.

            “I’m just going to run by there.  Let her know you’ll be okay.  That I’ll take care of you,” Angel told her as they all sank into the living room couches.

            A low growl sounded from Spike.  “It’s my business to take care of her, peaches.”

            Angel’s face shifted.  “Semantics, Spike.  Look into it.  I take care of all of you.  I’m the head of this family.  I’m not challenging you for Buffy.  She’s yours.  But don’t ever forget that you’re all mine.”

            Spike didn’t argue.  He liked belonging to Angel.  He liked being a part of a family.  He was fine with it so long as Buffy remained his mate.

            Buffy climbed on Spike’s lap and curled into a ball, nuzzling his neck with her lips.  “Love you, Spike,” she purred.

            “Love you too, Buffy,” answered the blonde vampire.

            “So, can I go?  Talk to your mom, I mean?” Angel asked again, ignoring the couple as they ground all over one another.

            “Sure, mate.  Have at it.  You don’t mind if we keep Drusilla occupied while you’re gone, do you?” Spike asked, never taking his eyes off of the woman in his lap.

            Angel laughed.  “Go right ahead, just don’t let her cum.”

            Drusilla’s incensed shriek sounded throughout the room.

            “I’ll take care of that when I get back,” Angel promised.

            “Hurry,” Drusilla growled as she got up to play with Buffy and Spike.

            Angel spared them all a glance as he let himself out the front door.  His cock hardened painfully.  They were so fucking beautiful.  Deadly and beautiful.  He really would have to hurry.  With that in mind he flew out the door and down the street, making his way over to Revello Drive in less than seven minutes.

            He felt a nervous pressure build inside of him as he reached a hand out to the doorbell.  Something was wrong here.  He looked out to the curb.  Giles’ car was parked along the street.  Maybe that was it.  Maybe he was just sensing the presence of the Watcher.  He pushed in the bell when it hit him.  No watcher.  No Joyce.  There were no humans inside the house, but there was something.  He looked on the drive.  Joyce’s car was parked there.  He walked around to the back of the house.  There he found the kitchen door wide open, torn partially off its hinges.  He tried running in the house only to be pushed back by the barrier.  Damn.  The uninvite spell.  He vamped and lifted his face in the air to try and get what he could coming out of the open door.

            Humans had been in there recently.  A lot of them.  And a slayer.  Faith.  He could sense Faith strongly.  She was still in the house; hers was the presence he had felt from the front.  “Faith!” Angel yelled.  No answer.  He yelled again and pounded against the barrier.  “Faith!”  This time he received a groan for his troubles.

            “Faith, it’s Angel.  I can’t come in because of the barrier.  You’re going to have to come to me, sweetheart.  Can you move?”

            Another groan.  “Angel?  I’m hurt.  Inside.”

            “I’ll go call 911,” he said.

            “No!  Don’t go.  I’m going to try and come to you.  Don’t leave me!” she cried.

            Several agonizing minutes later, Angel watched as Faith drug herself into the kitchen and towards the open door.  He had never felt so frustrated.  She was so near and yet he was completely helpless.  Eventually she was close enough to reach her hand over the threshold.  Angel grasped it and pulled her out and into his arms.  He sniffed her.  She was definitely bleeding internally.  Not good.  He got up and started running, knowing he was jostling her insides as he did it.

            “Tell me what happened.  I’m taking you to the hospital,” he told her, holding her close.

            “Bunch of demons in robes came rushing through the door.  We were having a little get together,” she rasped out weakly.  “Giles was worried that there was something wrong with Buffy.  He was going on about Slayer senses and stuff.  I was getting annoyed and bored when they came through the back door.  I fought them the best I could.  I swear!  There were too many of them, though.  I got knocked out.  I came to when I heard you yelling.  I think they took the others.  I’m gonna pass out again,” she warned just before she went limp in Angel’s arms.

            Angel pushed the emergency room doors open and screamed for help.  He followed a woman into a small room and placed Faith on top of the waiting bed.

            “What happened?”

            “She was attacked.  I think there’s internal bleeding,” he told the nurse.

            “Why didn’t you call 911?” the nurse asked as she started to look Faith over.

            “We were close by,” Angel lied, not wanting to tell her he was faster than any emergency response team, and that she’d drug herself across the floor so he didn’t think he could really damage her that much more.  “I didn’t see it happen.  I just heard her groaning from an alley.  I picked her up and ran here.”

            “Okay.  Did she say anything?” the nurse asked.

            “No.  Nothing.  Can you help her?  There’s internal bleeding I know it,” Angel said worriedly.

            The nurse looked at him funny.  Then she looked up at security mirror on the ceiling.  “Vampire?”

            “Yes.”

            “We get that a lot in here.  Usually they’re looking for blood.  Never had one bring anyone in before,” the nurse admitted, glad she had checked the girl’s vitals as she didn’t want to be the victim of some vamp con.

            “I’m a friend.  Look, you know what I am.  I have to go before the police arrive.  Just help her!” he pleaded.

            “I’ll do whatever I can,” she promised.

            Angel vamped and gave the woman a vicious growl.  “You’d better.”  Then he turned around in a billow of black coat and left.

            Drusilla was in pained ecstasy.  Spike and Buffy were brilliant lovers, bringing her to the brink of orgasm over and over and never letting her cross the line.  It was excruciating and yet she wouldn’t have it any other way.  When her daddy got here it would be incredible.  She could feel it.  Then suddenly she felt something else.  She sat straight up and pushed Spike and Buffy both to the side.

            “Shower!  Quickly.  There’s trouble,” she said as she left the bed.  She ran into the bathroom and stepped into a cold shower, cursing the stupid humans who were delaying her pleasure. 

           Spike and Buffy slipped in the shower behind Dru.  Normally this would be a long event with lots of soapy goodness, but not now.  Now they cleaned one another as quickly as possible.  They trusted Dru’s instincts on things like this.  They got out, dried off, dressed, armed themselves, had some blood, and were standing at the ready when Angel came bursting through the front door.

            He did a double take as he looked at them.  Then he glanced down at his dark haired mate.  “You get a vision?”

            She shook her head.  “No, my love.  Just the feeling that the humans were in trouble and that you were coming for us.”

            “What is it?” Buffy asked, hands shaking.  She hated to admit it, but she was actually worried about her mother.

            Angel looked at the girl.  “Your mother, Giles, Willow, Cordelia, Oz, and Xander were all abducted by more of those demons that we killed over the Hellmouth the other night.”

            “How do you know?” Buffy asked.

            “Because Faith was there, too.  She tried to fight them off, but they overpowered her.  She’s in the hospital, fighting for her life.  She was unconscious when I found her at your mother’s.  It was horrible.  The barrier.  I couldn’t get to her, and I had to watch her inch herself across the room to come to me,” he told them.

            Drusilla wrapped her arms around her lover.  “Shhh, it’s okay.  We’ll make it all better.  Take me to the mother’s house.”

            Buffy looked in question at Spike.  “Dru can sometimes pick up on things,” Spike explained.

            “Okay,” Buffy said.  “Let’s go.”

            The four jumped into the Desoto and raced back to the house.  They were relieved to discover that Buffy not only did not need an invite, but that she could invite the rest of them in as well.  They scoured the house for clues, handing Drusilla several things to touch.  Finally, an object was placed in her hands that sent the woman to her knees.

            “Down at the docks.  In a warehouse.  The humans are being held in wait for a sacrifice and as revenge.  The creature that was sliced.  It was their god.  They are very angry and they want to try and offer the humans as a resurrection sacrifice.  They are only about fifty in number.”  Dru opened her eyes and looked at her family.  “This should be easy,” she said gleefully as she pocketed the slightly bent wire-framed glasses that had unfolded so many secrets.

            “To the docks we go,” Spike said.

Chapter 17

            “We’re gonna die,” Xander muttered for the thousandth time.

            “Quite possibly, yes,” Giles answered, tired of trying to soothe the boy’s very real fears.  The Watcher hadn’t given up all hope, however.  He was fairly certain that he had been tracked to Joyce’s from the library, and that the demons that were holding them were unaware of the involvement of Angel and Buffy in stopping the ritual.  Therefore there was still a slight chance that Angel and Buffy could discover them missing and come to the rescue.  Then again, considering how very little Buffy seemed to care for any of their well beings, it was entirely possible they would soon be nothing more than demons scraps.

            “I still have so much left to do,” the young man cried.

            “As do we all,” Giles reminded him.  Sometimes the selfishness of Xander Harris was astounding.  The boy hadn’t once seemed worried over the fate of the girl who had tried desperately to save their lives.  The girl they had last seen lying unconscious on Joyce’s living room floor.

            “Rupert?” Joyce’s softly resigned voice floated over to him. She was chained on the other side of Xander.  They were all in a line against a wall.  The chains had been placed by one of the robed demon’s who appeared to be a sorcerer.

            “Yes, Joyce?” Giles responded.

            “Why are they keeping us alive?” she asked.

            Giles closed his eyes. “For a ritual.  The creature they worship – a being of hell – was sliced in two when the previous ritual was interrupted.  They are hoping that if they sacrifice us as an offering – to whom I have no idea – that the slug thing will be returned to them.  I seriously doubt it will work and so do they, but at the very least they get revenge.  So it is somewhat of a win/win situation for them.”

            “We are so pleased that you can see our position on things, Mr. Giles,” the one they had deemed ‘the sorcerer’ said.  “It is time now for the six of you to die.  We will chop you to pieces and place your body parts inside a large vat of oil.  You will be cooked at a high heat for days until…”  A sudden commotion had him stopping.  They all turned their heads as much as possible to the doors of the warehouse.

            Gray robed figures flew backwards as four black clad figures pushed their way into the building.  Swords were drawn, chants were begun, but for some reason the sorcerer’s lips froze right on up mid-chant.  He seemed mesmerized.  The eyes of the captives tried desperately to identify the source of the clamor.  To see what had stopped the magic user in mid chant.  They were too far away and at too much of flattened angle to be able to focus in on them, however.  Plus, whoever it was appeared to be in game face.  Definitely vampires.

            “Great, instead of slug-food, we’re gonna be vamp food.  Why exactly do we live on a Hellmouth?” Xander cried.

            “Oh, shut up,” Joyce snapped back.  All the boy had succeeded in doing was making the pretty brunette next to her to sob more.  Joyce had to admire the girl’s pluck, however, she hadn’t started crying until the man had mentioned putting their body parts in hot oil.  All of these kids had been amazing.  Especially the quiet red heads.  Joyce hoped they all made it out alive.  She realized she wanted to get to know them better, to try and understand what it is her daughter and the other Slayer did each night.

            Giles had a slightly better view than the others as he was the last one on the row and in somewhat of a curve in the warehouse wall.  He was having trouble believing his eyes, however, and the loss of his spectacles only increased this.  It looked, though, almost as if the Scourge of Europe had been reassembled.  Two brunettes:  Angelus and Drusilla.  Two blondes:  Darla and William the Bloody.  He knew Darla to be dead.  Which meant the other blonde must be… no, he wouldn’t have.  Giles thought back to how physically close the two of them seemed to be.  He must have.  They must have.  Obviously, Buffy and Angel had managed to release Angelus.  The demon must have realized his former mistake and turned her quickly this time.  They were doomed.  Giles hung his head and gave a bitter laugh.  He’d feared this would happen.

            Joyce turned her head sharply to the side.  “What’s wrong, Rupert?”

            “The question is more likely what could possibly be right,” he said vaguely.

            The fighting stopped, but the sorcerer kept still, alive and staring.  A beauty in black leather made her way over to the chained up food and the last gray cloaked man.  She looked into his eyes, having held him in thrall from the time she walked in the door.  She lifted out a hand and moved it slowly towards him, then she slashed it across his neck, watching in fascination as blood welled in a deep gash.  Then the man fell dead at her feet.  Drusilla clapped her hands and gave a little laugh.  “I love being me!” she squealed.

            Angel came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.  “You did good, my princess.  You shall have a reward when we get home,” he promised.

            The chained figures on the wall saw their fate sealed as they recognized the vampires before them.  Their hopes from what they thought had been the sound of rescue utterly dashed.  Xander was the first to speak.  “So, I see Buffy couldn’t keep her legs closed again,” he gritted out and then grunted as Angel’s fist landed in his abdomen.

            “Shut your mouth, boy, or I’ll let Dru eat you,” Angel warned, a hint of his Irish accent breaking through.

            “That would be a poor reward, daddy,” Dru said rubbing her tummy.  “It would make my insides all cross.”

            Angel laughed and kissed the girl’s neck.  “Do you think it would be possible to magic their chains away?” he asked her.

            “Do I have to?” she asked, sincerely not wanting to let the group go.  She didn’t like them.  They had pinched faces.  She hated pinched faces.

            Spike had heard the comment about Buffy.  He would see the boy bleed.  He and his mate had held back, wanting Angel and Drusilla to prepare the bunch a moment before Buffy appeared.  Spike pushed Buffy behind him and walked into their line of sight.  “Yes, Drusilla, I’m afraid you do have to.  We need to get this lot back where they belong so we can get the hell out of here and never come back!” he hissed.

            “Spike,” Willow eeped.  She didn’t know why she ‘eeped’.  He always seemed to set her on edge.  He wore danger in that bad boy mode that screamed out ‘unpredictable and liking it’.  It made her geekself recoil ever so slightly.

            Spike looked at the redhead.  He liked her actually.  She had inner spunk, if she could just get past the die-cut image she had of herself.  “Nice to see you, too, Red,” he drawled.

            “Are you really going to let us go?” Giles asked Angel.

            “We really are.  All we ask in return is that you leave us alone.  I took Faith to the hospital.  She’s literally fighting for her life at the moment.  She’s going to need people around her.  People she can trust to take care of her.  I expect you to be those people, understand?” Angel asked them.

            Several heads nodded.  Some looked blankly back at him.  “Now, we’re going to let all of you go, but first we need a promise, an oath, from each and every one of you that you will not try to track us, harm us, bespell us, inform the Council of our actions, or get anyone else to do these things for you.  Giles, we’ll start with you,” Angel said.

            “I promise to abide by everything you have asked,” Giles said.

            “Joyce,” Angel prompted.

            “I promise.”

            “Xander?”

            Xander gritted his teeth.  “I can’t believe Buffy let you out.  Look what it got her,” Xander said harshly as Buffy came into view, game face purposefully blazing.  “You’re nothing but a monster,” Xander spat at his one time friend.

            “You are a fool, Xander Harris,” Buffy told the boy.  “I didn’t let Angelus out, and he sure as hell isn’t my sire.”

            Spike wrapped his arms around his mate and kissed the neck she so lovingly tilted for him.  “I am,” Spike said proudly.

            “So a guy’s gotta be dead for you to…” Xander didn’t get to finish his statement.  Spike’s fist had hit where Angel’s should have.  The boy slipped into unconsciousness, swallowing three of his teeth in the process, two others crumbled uselessly out of his mouth.

            “Thank you, honey.  That’s much better,” Buffy said, slipping back to her human face and giving her guy a kiss.

            “I thought so,” Spike agreed.

            “No argument here,” Oz said evenly from beside Willow.  “I promise, by the way.”  He didn’t have a problem with the vamps.  Plus, he could hear Buffy’s heart beat.  Whatever had happened to her, she was still a member of the living.  Oz wasn’t going to tell, though.  Her secrets were safe with him.

            “I promise,” both Willow and Cordelia echoed.

            Drusilla said the appropriate words, the one’s she had torn out of the head of chanting man, and the chains disappeared.  The humans pulled their hands down, rubbing their wrists vigorously to get the flow of blood back in them.  Dru loved when they did that, it was so considerate.  She pulled the glasses out of her pocket and handed them to the handsome man who was pinching the bridge of his nose with his finger and thumb.

            “Thank you,” Giles told the strange vampire as he accepted the spectacles from her.

            Drusilla just nodded.

            The four vampires turned to leave.  Their job done. 

            “Buffy,” Joyce called out.

            Buffy turned to look at her mother.  “Yes?”

            “I’m sorry.  I am really and truly sorry,” the woman sobbed.

            Buffy slipped her arms around Spike and looked up into his blue eyes.  “I’m not.  This is the best thing that has ever happened to me.  Spike is the most amazing lover.  He has healed my heart and given me back my hopes and desires.  I’m happy, mom.”  She said nothing more, just simply turned back around and left the warehouse hand in hand with her mate.

            “I did not see that coming,” Cordelia whispered in shock.

            “That’s an understatement,” Giles muttered, looking down at the ruined face of Xander Harris.  “Do we have to carry him home?”

            Cordelia reached to her waist and pulled out a cell phone.  She flipped it open and dialed 911.  “Hello?  We need an ambulance down at the warehouse district.  No.  The one by the docks.  We’re in that old fish cannery thingy.  It smells totally gross and this guy I’m sort of seeing’s been hurt.  Also you want to send a clean-up crew.  Oh, come on you so have one.  Who else disposes of all the demon remains?”  She flipped the phone closed before the voice on the other end could ask anymore annoying questions.  “There.  Now we don’t have to carry him home.”

            Everyone just looked at her.  “What?  I’m nothing if not practical.  You people don’t know me nearly as well as you think you do.”

            They all slumped along the wall and waited for the sound of sirens.  Each lost in thought, wondering what happened to their friend, their Slayer, their child.  Finally, after awhile, it was Willow who spoke, “She’s the fallout.”

            Giles looked at the young girl strangely.  “Excuse me?”

            “Buffy,” Willow clarified.  “She’s the fallout.  A horrible thing happened.  Sometimes things have a weight to them.  Sacrificing the man you love to damnation is one of those things.  It has weight.  Consequences.  Buffy’s the fallout.”

Epilogue

              The couple in the back were asleep, the fire blanket covering them from any stray rays of sunlight.  In the front, in the driver’s seat, sat a man complete.  His girl was laying there with her head in his lap, her bare feet resting against the closed passenger door.  She’d just finished making sure his driving time would be relaxed and pleasurable.  He gave a little chuckle at the thought of it all.  William the Bloody mated to and claimed by a slip of a girl.  Prom queen type.  Cheerleader type.  Quarterback type.  Not for him, and yet here she was with her arms wrapped around his legs, face nestled next to an item she deemed entirely hers.  Unlife was unbelievable.  He had everything he could ever want and more.  He was driving them to New Orleans.  Buffy had never been there before.  He figured they could scare up some good times showing all those Ricean Drama Queens what real vamps were like.  He popped in a CD.  A little PJ Harvey to sing them to their destiny. 

The End.