Vampire Slayer – Katters

Complete

Wesley is sent to Sunnydale as Buffy's Watcher after Giles is fired for having a 'father's love' for Buffy. Problems start to arise when Wesley's ignorance sends Buffy out on a mission to retrieve an amulet that a powerful demon is after.

Part One: Captured

Buffy walked into the library, not too sure of what to expect. She had been told that Giles wanted to see her and that he wasn’t looking especially happy. Buffy’s throat constricted with something she hated to call fear, but ever since she had seen the disappointment on his face after her keeping Angel’s return a secret, she had hated her Watcher having any kind of disappointment with her.

Her Watcher. She didn’t care what the Council had said. She didn’t care that Quentin Travers had come to town and fired him for loving her as a daughter. Giles was her Watcher, and nothing anyone could say would take that away.

She opened the door to the library and found Giles sitting uncharacteristically on the table, his legs dangling in the air. Buffy looked past him to see a younger man in a suit, taking books out of a box.

“Controlled circumstances. Hello Buffy,” Giles greeted her.

Buffy made a mental note to find out what Giles had been talking about before she had walked through the door.

“Well…hello,” the other man said. He looked young, late twenties. She could tell in an instant that he was British, and immediately she felt dislike for him.

“New Watcher?” she asked Giles.

“New Watcher,” he affirmed, not hiding his disdain for the younger man who was to replace him in his rightful role as Watcher.

“Wesley Whndam-Price,” he greeted, holding out his hand to the Slayer. She looked at him, giving him one of her famous ‘Tell me you’re joking’ looks. The young Watcher withdrew hid hand. “Very nice to meet you.”

Buffy moved to stand closer to Giles, showing him that she wasn’t going to betray him by getting along with his replacement. For Giles could never be replaced.

“Is he evil?” she asked seriously, speaking to her Watcher, but eyeing Wesley.

“Evil?” Wesley repeated, sounding a little flabbergasted.

“The last one was evil,” Buffy explained.

“Oh yes,” Wesley said. “Gwendolyn Post. We all heard. No, Mr Giles has checked my credentials. Rather thoroughly. Phoned the council. But I’m glad to see you’re on the ball as well.” He suddenly leant forward and spoke in a hushed voice. “A good Slayer is a cautious Slayer.”

Buffy looked to Giles again, noticing that her Watcher looked as though he wanted to put a stake through the younger man’s chest.

“Is he evil?” she repeated.

“Not in the strictest sense,” Giles said.

“Well, I’m glad that’s cleared up. As I’m sure none of us is anxious to spend any time on pleasantries,” Wesley said, making his way back to his pile of books.

Buffy sighed extremely softly and perched herself on the table, next to Giles, their shoulders touching, what little contact they had telling them both that neither of them was going to let go.

Wesley walked closer to them, holing a new note book. Giles recognised it instantly as a Watcher’s Diary.

“Why don’t you tell me everything about last nights patrol,” Wesley said eagerly, his pen at the ready.

“Vampires,” Buffy replied simply.

“Yes…”

“Killed ‘em.”

Wesley looked at her, expecting more. “Anything else you can…tell me?”

Buffy looked at her Watcher who nodded, telling her that it was alright for her to follow orders such as this. The fact that she had looked to him for approval made his heart leap. No matter how much he had hurt her with the archaic test of the Cruciamentum, there was no way that Buffy would let him be replaced in her life.

“One of them had swords. I don’t think he was with the other two.”

“Swords?” Wesley repeated with interest. He went back to his books, his security blanket, Giles had already noticed.

“One long, one short?” the young Watcher asked.

“Mmm, both pointy,” Buffy replied. She looked towards Giles. “With like…jewels and things.”

“Sounds familiar,” Giles said.

“It should,” Wesley replied smugly, handing Giles an ancient book.

“El Eliminati. Fif-”

“Fifteenth century duellist cult. Deadly in their day. Their numbers dwindled in later days due to an increase in anti-vampire activity. And a lot of pointless duelling. They eventually became the acolytes of a demon called Balthazar who brought them to the New World. Specifically here,” Wesley explained by rote.

“You seem to know a lot about them,” Giles commented.

“I didn’t get this job because of my looks,” Wesley said.

“I really, really believe that,” Buffy commented. Giles stifled a laugh.

“I’ve researched this town’s history…extensively,” Wesley said.

“So why have we not seen them before this?” Giles asked, hoping that this new Watcher would fall flat on his arse, and be out of town by sunset. An un-experienced Watcher could get Buffy killed.

“They were driven out a hundred years ago. Happily, Balthazar was killed, I don’t know by whom.”

“And they’re back cos…” Buffy asked.

“Balthazar had an amulet, purported to give him strength. When he was killed, It was taken by a wealthy landowner named-”

He stopped explaining as he saw the bored and fed up face of the young Slayer. Wesley couldn’t understand how she had managed to stay alive for three years when she obviously had no respect for authority.

“I don’t want to bore you with the details,” Wesley said.

“Little bit late.”

“Named Gleaves,” Wesley continued, telling himself he wouldn’t let the insolent girl get the better of him. He was a Watcher for goodness sake! “It was buried with him and I believe the few remaining Eliminati are probably looking for it. For sentimental value.”

“You don’t think that this amulet could pose as any threat?” Giles asked.

“On no, not at all,” Wesely replied confidently. “Nonetheless, we may as well keep it from them. Buffy, you will go to the Gleaves family crypt tonight and fetch the amulet,” Wesley ordered.

She looked at him doubtfully. “I will?” the challenge in her voice was evident.

“Are you not used to being given orders?” Wesley asked.

“Whenever Giles sends me on a mission, he always says please,” Buffy said, faking a whine that she knew would make Giles cringe ordinarily. She saw him begin to laugh a little. “And afterwards I get a cookie.”

Giles hid his smile, knowing that he would be shipped out of Sunnydale as soon as the Council could get him out if he was seen to be supporting the Slayer’s rebellion.

Wesley looked at her, a little taken aback by what she was saying to him.

“I don’t feel we’re getting off on quite the right foot.”

Buffy rolled her eyes and looked to Giles. She eyed him pleadingly, but he silently told her that she needed to listen to what the new Watcher was saying to her. It was only out of her fear of having Giles taken away from her that she would comply with Wesley’s commands.

“Alright I’ll go,” she conceded. Giles smiled thankfully and watched as his Slayer jumped off the table.

Buffy eyed Wesley and walked past him. “Don’t say anything incredibly interesting while I’m gone.”

Wesley watched in shock as she walked out of the library. Giles hid his smile as Wesley turned to look at him.

“She’ll get used to me,” Wesley said, his voice sounding confident, though Giles could read that his eyes were not so sure.

Reading about Slayers in past Watcher’s Diaries was easier than trying to train one and gain her respect. Considering that Giles had been fired and was still around, Buffy’s loyalty’s were staying firmly with her Watcher. Nothing the Council did could take her away from him.

~*~

Buffy clutched her torch in one hand, a stake in the other. She opened the door to the Gleaves family tomb, wishing that Giles had offered to come with her. If it weren’t for Wesley, he would have been by her side.

“‘Fetch the amulet’, he says,” Buffy said bitterly. “Why don’t you fetch it yourself?”

She sighed and opened the first of the crypts, finding only a decaying body. She wrinkled her nose in distaste and moved to the second crypt. She pushed the lid off the tomb and grinned as she saw the amulet lying on the corpses chest.

“Score one for Buffy.”

She quickly worked the clasp and pocketed the amulet, freezing suddenly as she heard footsteps and voices. Her vampire senses suddenly went on full, and she knew that she had to get out of there.

Without thinking to replace the amulet, she quickly jumped into the first crypt, pulling the lid over the top. She held her breath and tried to make as little noise as possible.

A group of seven vampires, dressed in Eliminati uniforms gathered around the two crypts.

“Someone’s been here already,” said a gruff voice. “They’ve taken the amulet.”

‘Please, just leave. Leave, leave,’ Buffy thought desperately.

There was a sudden quiet and Buffy calmed for a moment.

“I can smell them. They’re close,” came another voice.

Buffy swore to herself and felt her heart beginning to race faster. Where was Giles when you needed him.

She clutched her stake, fearing the worst.

She heard the lid of the crypt begin to move, and before the vamps had a chance to look inside, she jumped out of the crypt, quickly surveying what she was up against.

Seven to one. The odds didn’t look good.

“A Slayer,” said one vamp, the disdain in his voice obvious. The other six looked up at Buffy in surprise.

Not wanting to think about taking on seven vamps who were toting some serious weaponry, she turned and fled as fast as she could, only to be headed off by another group of three vampires.

She quickly dusted one and turned to the next two. She almost groaned as she saw the previous seven coming up behind them.

In one fluid movement, the nine vampires drew their swords, two each, one long, one short…both pointy.

A single vamp stepped forward and hit her quickly, wrestling her to the ground. Her stake was quickly taken from her and she felt a hand beginning to crush her throat.

“Where’s the amulet?” the vamp asked.

She didn’t answer, instead, she tried to kick him, but his grip tightened. He pushed her roughly against a tree.

“One more chance Slayer. Where’s the amulet?”

She hesitated, almost telling him to take it, knowing that whatever she did she was not going to get out of this without a complete miracle.

Her hands grasped at a small branch that was coming out of the trunk, and she snapped it off the tree, quickly turning in the vamps grip and swiftly dusting him.

The remaining eight looked at each other and advanced towards her. Vamps had never worked in packs before. They hunted together to make it easier for themselves, but she new that these vamps were organised and highly trained.

One vamp struck out at her with the long sword, clipping her arm as Angelus had done after freeing Acathla. She winced and her hand went to her wound instinctively.

Two vamps cornered her on either side, trapping her in. They grabbed her by the arms and held her tightly against a tree. She tried to kick but her feet were being held down by strong boots.

A third vampire took a step closer to her and held his sword at her throat, pressing in slightly, enough to make her uncomfortable and entirely fearful for her life.

The sword moved down from her neck and the vamp held it at chest level.

“I’ve heard that the blood of a Slayer is powerful. It’s got everything you could ever want in it. It regenerates more quickly, it heals, and…it’s rumoured to be a great aphrodisiac.”

Buffy pulled back, sucking her chest in, trying to get as much room as she could between herself and the sword. To her surprise, the sword dropped, and the vamp stepped forward, his fangs beared.

“It occurs to me that you probably have the amulet on you right now. But…seeing as you’re not really in a giving mood tonight, I’m thinking we should take you back to our master and see what he says. Cos honestly, I’m thinking that a Slayer would make the most brilliant pet. And I wanna see if I can make you bark.”

He grinned and pulled the Slayer forward and, quickly before Buffy could regain her footing, her threw her into a sharp corner of the crypt, knocking her out cold.

~*~

“These are all the diaries then, your included?” Wesley asked, flipping through pages upon pages of neatly written entries.

“That’s everything,” Giles confirmed. “Knock yourself out. Please.”

Wesley ignored the snide comment and opened to the front of Giles’ first diary. “Yesss, here’s your first entry,” Wesley said. “‘Slayer is wilful and insolent’,” he read. “That would be our girl wouldn’t it?”

Giles glared at him for having the impudence of calling Buffy ‘ours’. Buffy was not Wesley’s Slayer, nor was she the Council’s Slayer. She was his and his alone.

“You have to get to know her,’ Giles said, wishing he had never written the first entry, or allowed Wesley to read it.

“Mmm, ‘Her abuse of the English language is such that I understand only every other sentence,’” he continued. Giles had to wonder whether Wesley got off on torturing Giles to blatantly. “This is going to be fascinating reading.”

“She should be back by now,” Giles said, not only concerned for his Slayer’s well being, but wanting desperately to change the topic.

Wesley glanced down at his watch nonchalantly. “Not to fret. My mission scenario has her back in one minute. Shouldn’t be any trouble.”

Giles frowned, wishing that he could knock this young Watcher over the head, teach him that Buffy wasn’t just a Slayer. She was a person, a growing woman, and no matter what Wesley thought, Buffy belonged to Giles.

But all Giles could do for now was pace.

~*~

Buffy groaned and tried to sit up, wishing that the throbbing headache would go away. Before she could even open her eyes to gain her bearings, she felt a tight grip on her neck and she was pulled to her feet.

She glared at her attacker and went to strike out at him, only to find that her hands were bound to a wall, and she had no way of possibly winning in her position.

“Balthazar will be thrilled to have you as a prize. Now that he has his amulet, he will reign. And you, dear Slayer, will die.”

The vampires voice was deep, raspy, mocking her with no trace of compassion whatsoever. She looked up as she heard more footsteps in the room. Three other vamps in Eliminati uniforms entered the room and grabbed hold of her, untying the chains. She struggled against them, but stopped in shock as a hand slapped her face forcefully.

“You must face your destiny Slayer. For as it was written, one of power, so pure and true will join the ranks of El Eliminati, and they will be the one to bring Balthazar his power once more,” the vamp said.

She glared at him and spat quickly in his voice, recoiling away and preparing herself for another hit. It didn’t come. Instead the vampire laughed.

“You’ve got spunk, Slayer. I’m sure he’ll like it.”

She felt herself being lifted and dragged from the room, her hands still bound, her head still pounding. They took her through a small hallway, cobwebs and dust lurking in the corners. A door opened and she was thrown to the floor in front of a large well, a hugely obese demon sitting inside, his short arms flailing about him as he spoke.

“Ahhh, the Slayer,” he said, his voice quiet, but still commanding. “Not only do you bring me my amulet, but you bring me my salvation as well. Yance, you have served me well.”

The vamp who stood directly behind Buffy nodded, and stepped forward and Balthazar beckoned him to come closer.

“You will have the honour of teaching her. You will be her sire. And she will be…whatever you wish.”

The vampire, Yance, smiled and turned to look at Buffy, suddenly able to smell fear. He hadn’t smelt it upon her all night, but suddenly, at the thought of being turned, her entire being wreaked of it.

Yance yanked her to her feet and watched as, even in her fear, she glared at him defiantly.

He smirked and touched her neck, enjoying the flinch away from his touch, the fear in her eyes. Her heart was beating rapidly, her blood pumping furiously.

“I think I shall enjoy this,” he whispered for only the Slayer to hear. “A lot.”

She closed her eyes, hoping against hope that it would be quick, painless. When the Master had bitten her, it had been over in seconds, though he had not drained her, just weakened her defences, and her spirits.

Yance bit into her and sunk his teeth in deeply, drinking her and savouring the taste. Buffy tried to cry out, but couldn’t find her voice.

The vampires stared at the drinking vamp in jealousy, wanting to drain the blood of the Slayer as well. Balthazar could only smile as he saw the Slayer stop her struggle and let her knees begin to give.

Yance let her go and she fell to the floor, her eyes trying to open, trying to force herself to stay alive. She vaguely saw the vampire standing over her and watched as he withdrew his short sword. She winced as she saw him cut a line across his wrist and kneel beside her.

He held his wrist above her lips and watched as the blood poured around her mouth. Buffy refused to open her lips, refused to taste even a little of the vamps blood, her Slayer instincts telling her to die with dignity. Yance saw her resolve to not drink and his other hand darted towards her face, clamping her nose so she had no choice but to open her mouth.

As she did, she could feel the vampires cool blood drip onto her tongue, the bitter taste making her want to gag. She tried to struggle, but she had no strength left.

She swallowed a mouthful of the vamps blood, her body trying to stay alive but not letting her choke to death. As she swallowed Yance’s blood, the vampire could only give an evil grin, knowing that he had defeated the Slayer for good.

After another mouthful, Yance stood up and left the Slayer lying there, her skin beginning to go cold, her breathing becoming strained, and suddenly, he heard her heart stop beating.

Yance looked to Balthazar for approval. “Well done Yance. She is your responsibility. It is you she will look to.”

Yance grinned and nodded, fully accepting the responsibility. He took hold of the girl, gently picking her up. The other vamps could only watch as he left the room, the young girl in his arms.

Balthazar looked around the room in disgust at the other vampires. “Let Yance be an example to you all. He has turned a Slayer and you…you have done nothing. In a few hours, my power will be completely restored, and you will be nothing but my acolytes. Yance and the Slayer will be…everything you are not.”

~*~

Giles paced across the library, wishing that his Slayer would hurry up and call or rush into the library, holding the amulet in her hands.

He looked up as he heard the doors swing open and was disappointed when he saw Buffy’s demon lover walk through the doors, a concerned expression on his face.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Where is she?” Angel asked, not hiding his concern.

“What business is it of yours?” Wesley asked from behind the vampire.

Angel turned to stare at Wesley who took an involuntary step back.

“New Watcher?”

“New Watcher,” Giles replied.

“Does everybody know about Buffy?” Wesley asked.

“What did you want to tell us?” Giles asked to the vampire.

“Bathlazar’s back and he wants blood. Specifically Buffy’s. A couple of vamps said that he was destined to rise and come back at full force,” Angel said.

Giles looked at him, wondering why any other vampires would talk with a soulful vampire who helped the Slayer. It occurred to him that even Angel had it in him to torture another living creature.

“Destined, you say?” Wesley asked.

Giles looked towards Angel, panicked. He raced into his office in the library and pulled down an ancient book, flipping through the pages. He went back towards the main room and sat at the desks.

“The codex,” Angel said softly.

Wesley looked towards where Giles was reading the text carefully, Giles’ face ashen.

Giles looked up at Angel, trying to find his voice.

“We have to find her. Fast!”

Angel nodded, not questioning the librarian who looked as though he would tear off the head of anyone who got in his way. Giles quickly grabbed a crossbow and a medium sized battle axe, throwing the axe to Angel, who caught it deftly.

“Any idea where they are?” Giles asked, walking quickly out of the library.

“They’re at a factory on Henry St,” he replied, wondering what was written in the codex to make him this concerned for his Slayer.

“We have to hurry,” Giles said.

Angel could only nod and look over his shoulder as he saw Wesley sit at the table, his eyes glancing through the codex. Angel saw the look on Wesley’s face become panicked and could tell that if this new Watcher was concerned, then Angel should be as well.

“Giles?” Angel said, as they raced out the school building towards Giles’ car.

Giles quickly jumped into the car and started it, waiting only a moment for Angel to get in as well.

“What did the codex say?”

Giles stared straight ahead as they raced towards Henry Street, ignoring a red light and nearly running into another car.

Giles ignored Angel’s question, the answer too painful for him to speak aloud. He quickly pulled into a parking spot outside the factory and knew that he would kill every creature in sight to save his Slayer.

He stopped just outside the door, listening what was going on inside.

“I have my amulet,” he heard someone say. Balthazar. “My restoration will soon be complete!”

Angel looked towards Giles. “What now?”

“We have to get the amulet off him,” Giles said.

“And Buffy?”

Giles didn’t speak, instead he opened the door quietly, hoping that they would be able to use an element of surprise against the vampires.

Angel followed silently and watched as Giles quickly took out two vamps with the crossbow, leaving eight other vampires staring at them in anger.

“Kill them!” cried Balthazar, angry that he didn’t have the power to move from his pool of water.

The vamps advanced in a circle, weapons drawn. Angel quickly attacked two vamps at once, using his battle axe to decapitate their heads. Four down, six to go.

Angel had his back to Giles, but heard two more ‘whumps’ as two more vamps were dusted by the crossbow that the Watcher was carrying.

Four more. Angel smiled, thankful that the odds had been brought down in their favour. He vamped out and attacked two more vampires, hitting on in the chest with a stake and striking the other with the battle axe at his neck.

Angel turned to see Giles take out another vampire with the crossbow and watched as he threw the crossbow to the ground and faced off with the last remaining vampire, a sword from one of the dusted Eliminati in his hands.

Giles was quick with the sword, attacking and defending himself with skill that even Giles hadn’t known he had possessed. Angel watched as Giles struck the vampire with a sword to the gut, and while the vamp was doubled over in pain, Giles pushed a stake through the vamps back, directly into his heart.

Giles turned, his eyes flashing with anger as he faced the demon who was sitting in the pool of water, angry and flailing about, unable to move properly.

“Where is she?” Giles asked, his voice low and menacing.

“She ran. Coward that she is,” Balthazar answered. “The amulet is ours, and she ran for her life.”

Giles glared at the obese demon and quickly ran his sword through the demon’s gut. Balthazar just laughed and held the sword in as Giles tried to pull it out.

“You’ll need a little more than that, Watcher.”

It was Angel who swung quickly towards a rope that was holding up an electric light. He cut the rope and let the light fall into the water, electrocuting the demon.

Giles sighed in relief and watched as Angel de-vamped.

“We still have to find her,” Angel whispered, tempted to put a comforting hand on the Watcher’s shoulder, but knowing that any such contact from him would lead to Giles probably killing Angel without thinking.

“And we will.”

Giles began walking out, stooping down to pick up his crossbow. He stopped as he saw a shiny necklace lying on the ground. He picked it up and felt his heart begin to race.

“She was here,” Giles said.

“How do you know?” Angel asked.

Giles showed Angel the cross, one that was familiar to him. He had given it to Buffy after their first meeting three years ago.

“There’s blood on it,” Angel said.

“Her’s?”

Angel nodded, knowing Buffy’s scent better than anyone.

“We have to hurry then.”

As they raced towards the door to begin their search for the Slayer, neither one noticed the last remaining Eliminati standing in the shadows, watching as they left to search for a girl who was already dead.

~*~

Wesley looked up at the doors as he saw Giles come in with the young man who had entered the library before, claiming that Balthazar was back.

Giles glared at Wesley, hoping against hope that Buffy had come back to the library.

“Is she back yet?” Angel asked.

Wesley looked between the two of them, slightly surprised. He had assumed that Giles had found the Slayer and sent her home.

“She’s not with you?” Wesley asked.

“We couldn’t find her,” Giles admitted, sitting down tiredly in a seat.

Angel paced nervously behind Giles. Giles had never seen the vampire look so worried in his life.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Wesley said.

Giles could only glare and pray to whatever higher power there was that his Slayer would come back to him.

Giles went to tell Angel to go home, there was nothing more to be done, but he was cut off by the phone ringing in his office.

Giles was on his feet, racing towards the phone.

“Buffy?!”

“Rupert, Travers here. Is Wesley with you?”

Giles groaned. Quentin Travers. His night couldn’t get any worse.

“He arrived this morning,” Giles said, not hiding his disdain for both Wesley and Travers.

“Get him for me, Rupert. I need to speak to him,” Travers said.

The tone in his voice made Giles’ heart stop.

“He’s not here. I’ll pass on a message,” Giles lied.

“I can tell you’re lying Rupert. No matter. You have to be told anyway,” Travers said.

Giles swallowed hard, waiting for the words that would shatter his soul.

“A new Slayer’s been called.”

Giles felt his world begin to crumble. He moved the receiver away from his ear and felt the room beginning to spin. He didn’t even hear Travers calling out his name.

Without even thinking, Giles threw the phone at the wall violently and fell to his knees.

Angel raced into the room and saw Giles on his knees, his eyes staring, unfocused at the wall in front of him.

“Giles?” Angel asked softly.

Giles looked up, startled by someone else’s presence.

“A new Slayer’s been called.”

Part Two: Killed

It was at that exact moment that Willow and Xander walked through the library doors.

They saw a younger man standing in the doorway to Giles office, standing near Angel.

“Angel?” Willow called out tentatively.

Angel turned to the young girl, anger in his eyes. Willow almost took a step back, recognising the look in his eyes. The look that only Angelus got.

His eyes immediately softened as he saw the young girls fear.

“What’s going on?” Xander asked, oblivious to Willow’s fear. “Who’s he?”

Wesley looked at the two youths, obviously students from the school.

“Wesley Wyndam-Price,” Wesley said. “I’m…Mr Giles assistant.”

Xander looked at Angel. “New Watcher?”

Angel nodded and Wesley looed at the two youths.

“You know about…vampires?” Wesley asked.

Willow shrugged and stepped closer to Giles office, wondering where he was, why he hadn’t greeted them.

She gasped as she saw Giles kneeling on the floor, his head in his hands, his body wracking with sobs.

She raced to him, shoving Angel and Wesley out of the way, kneeling beside him and putting her arms around him.

“Giles, what happened?” she asked desperately.

She got no answer from the distraught man. She looked towards Angel who she saw had tears in his eyes. Suddenly, she felt her heart beginning to race, fear building in her throat.

“Angel, what happened?”

“The Watcher’s Council just called,” Angel said softly. “They’ve called a new Slayer.”

Xander shrugged from behind them. “Help for the Buffster. S’bout time. What’s so bad about that?”

Wesley looked towards the young man who had spoken so glibly.

“Slayer’s are only called when the old Slayer dies,” Wesley said, unsure of why had had broken the news gently to this boy in front of him.

Angel saw Xander falter, heard Xander’s breathing become short gasps of shocked breath. Angel raced to the boy’s side and helped him into a seat. Xander could only stare blankly in the direction of the new Watcher.

Xander’s eyes closed, the pain of her death sinking in, gradually becoming more and more.

It was only Angel who heard the teenager whisper her name softly before standing up and running out of the library.

~*~

It was dark as she opened her eyes, but gradually, everything became clearer. Her mind was fuzzy, images coming to her in flashes.

She could see people in uniforms, their faces deformed. Vampires, her foggy mind whispered to her.

She felt a cool hand touch her back and she turned, seeing someone’s silhouette in the darkness.

“Hungry?” the voice asked.

With that one word, everything came flooding back to her. Her mission from Wesley, the new Watcher with the British flag lodged firmly up his backside. Giles telling her to follow Wesley’s orders, though he was reluctant to let her go. The El Eliminati and Balthazar. The amulet. The amulet which she had died for.

It was then that the truth hit her like a sleight train. She had been turned.

She cautiously ran her tongue over her teeth and felt the blood that had been spilt from the small cut that had just come to her tongue.

She looked towards the vampire, her sire, and nodded almost reluctantly. She couldn’t understand. She wanted, needed blood, but…the thought of killing anyone…of killing Willow, or Xander or…Giles! She couldn’t do it!

Could vampires keep their souls, she wondered. Angel had been cursed with his human soul, but…that was a special circumstance.

But she was the Slayer. Special circumstances abounded with her.

“We’ll find you someone to eat then,” the vampire said to her.

She was surprised that his voice wasn’t more rough, more threatening. It was nothing like the voice that had taunted her when she had been beaten. His voice was soothing, comforting to her. Almost as though he were speaking to his own child.

‘Or childe,’ her inner-voice whispered.

He helped her to her feet and softly put his lips to her neck, licking the place where he had bitten her before. Buffy couldn’t help but give a small murmur of pleasure as he suckled as a sensitive spot on her now cool body.

“First, a small game,” he whispered against her neck.

She felt her head roll backwards, letting him have better access to her neck.

“Your first meal should be memorable,” he whispered, gently biting into her neck. She whimpered, feeling none of the pain that had coursed through her body when he had bitten her before.

“Your Watcher,” he whispered, bringing his lips to hers, letting her taste her own blood. She felt a jolt go through her body and found herself clinging to him, her hands running down the other vampires body.

“Not yet,” she whispered back, openly defying her sire, even though her demon was screaming not to. But why would she follow the rules now when she hadn’t as a Slayer?

“You have others plans?” he whispered, grinning as he felt the vamped Slayer disrobing him.

“Much better plans,” she whispered seductively.

She brought her lips to his neck and bit down, not bothering to be gentle, only wanting to curb the bloodlust that was coursing through her body. Was this what Angel had felt like every time he was near her? To take as much as he possibly could, regardless of the consequences?

Buffy looked around behind her and saw a broken chair that looked as though it had been splintered in a fight. She pushed the vampire – she realised she didn’t even know her sires name – down onto the ground, straddling him. She leant across him, allowing him to gaze openly at her chest.

She stretched and reached a broken leg of the chair, moaning loudly to hide the sound as she yanked it away from the rest of the splinters.

She leant down and bit the other side of the vampire’s neck, taking another mouthful before pulling back.

The vampire looked up at her, eyes wide with lust. She grinned and winked at him. Before he knew what was happening, he felt the broken chair leg enter his chest. Buffy fell to the ground as her sire’s body crumpled to dust beneath her.

She held back a sob but felt tears course down her cheeks. Not for what she had become, but for what she had just destroyed only seconds ago. Her sire. Her maker.

Angel had said that there was always a bond between sire and childe, but never had he said it was so painful. Angel had killed his own sire two years ago, but only now did Buffy realise how painful it must have been for him to plunge the stake through her heart.

“I’m sorry Yance,” she whispered, finally remembering her sire’s name. She stood up and brushed the dust off her pants.

She looked around her her only thought of what to do next was to see Giles.

She tried to stop her legs from walking there, knowing that only badness could come from seeing her Watcher. Bt she had cured her bloodlust by feeding off her sire, his blood tasting sweet and bitter at the same time. It hadn’t been warm, but it had quenched the hunger that had threatened to overtake her body.

She closed her eyes and counted to ten slowly, trying to control everything within herself. Again, she ran her tongue over her teeth, and smiled happily when she saw that her fangs had resided.

Vampire or Slayer, she had to see her Watcher. Her bond to him was far stronger than her bond to her sire.

~*~

There was an unnerving silence in the library.

Xander had re-entered a few minutes after running out, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. Willow could only guess that Xander had emptied the entire contents of his stomach, an idea which didn't seem to be so bad to Willlow at the moment.

Willow and Xander sat on the carpeted stairs, identical looks on their faces. Shocked, but tearless. Neither one wanted to believe that Buffy was gone. If the Slayer couldn’t survive, then what chance did they have?

Giles had ensconced himself in his office, wishing that the hellmouth would open and swallow him whole. His Slayer was dead. His better half. The one person he had spent twenty five years training to protect and the day he had handed her over to another Watcher, she had been killed.

And he had yet to see her body.

His thoughts focused on her. Had she been frightened? Had she died fighting? Had she been trying to protect that bloody amulet that Wesley had wanted her to get? Had she been drained? Or had her neck been snapped, like Jenny’s?

His thoughts of her death haunted him and he knew he wouldn’t get any rest until her knew exactly what had happened. He hadn’t believed a word of what Balthazar had said about her running from the El Eliminati. It wasn’t in her nature to run.

Was it Balthazar that had killed her? Or had it been one of the minions? Was it fast? Slow?

His thoughts never even allowed him to think that she may have been turned.

Outside, Wesley was pacing, his head pounding incessantly. He had spoken to the girl once and sent her to her death. The only thing that he could think was that the Council had planned it to be exactly like that. They knew that Wesley hadn’t completed his training. When Wesley had been told that he would be the Slayer’s new Watcher, he had been ecstatic, but then the shock had set it.

Why hadn’t they sent someone who knew more about the occult, more about the hellmouth? More about anything and everything? Wesley knew that Travers had it in for both Buffy and Giles, and even though he could see why Travers had a dislike for the girl, she hadn’t deserved to die for it. It was only her loyalty to Giles that made her obstinately stubborn.

Angel could only pace the room, wondering he same things that Giles was wondering. But his mind was letting him think that Buffy had been turned. Some sick part of him, the demon Angelus, was wishing that she had been turned. And eternity with her, and no worrying about her not growing old.

Of course, there was still the happiness clause to his curse that had to be worked around.

Angel suddenly screamed loudly and tossed a vase across the room, startling everyone.

Wesley jumped at the sight of Angel’s fangs.

“You…you’re…how…”

Angel glared at the young Watcher, his soul not caring if he dispatched of the man who he knew had sent Buffy to her death.

Angel turned away. Willow hid hear face in Xander’s shirt and let her tears finally come out. Angel’s outburst had finally made it real. The normally composed vampire had confirmed everything for her.

Xander closed his eyes and let his friend sob into his shirt. Somehow, he knew that nothing could have been worse than this day.

~*~

Oz parked the van and hopped out, pushing his keys into his pocket. He went to walk into the back entrance of the library but stopped as he saw the blonde Slayer walking towards him.

“Hey Oz,” she said brightly.

“Buffy,” he greeted.

He held the door open to her and felt something different about her as she walked past him. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Though, he had always felt a little different around her. Something in the wolf recognising the Slayer.

It had never been that strong a reaction though. He shrugged, thinking that it was only because he had never really been physically close to her before.

They walked through the stacks, making their way to the main area of the library.

Suddenly, a sob broke out in the silence, and Oz leapt forward, pushing Buffy slightly and racing towards the sound of his girlfriend’s cries.

“Willow!” he cried. Buffy stood back a little and watched through slats in the bookshelf as Oz cradled her in his arms. She stayed hidden, not wanting to intrude on a moment like that.

“What happened?” Oz asked softly.

Buffy frowned as she realised that normally she couldn’t have heard such a soft question. Vampire hearing.

“They…called…a…new…Slayer,” Willow said, sobs wracking her body as she clung to Oz.

Oz looked at her, questioning why that was so important.

Wesley stepped forward, seeing that no one else in the room would be able to explain. “They only call a new Slayer when the old one dies,” he explained.

Oz turned to look at the British man, feeling a wave of hatred come over him, something he hadn’t felt without a full moon before.

He gently pushed Willow away from him, kissing her forehead softly before standing up. He stalked over to the new Watcher, his emotions showing very clearly.

“You asshole!” Oz yelled.

Willow and Xander stared at Oz, unsure of what to make of the usually stoic and silent boy who was now looking as though he wanted to kill Wesley.

“Is this some sort of a sick joke to you?” Oz yelled.

Willow stood up, going to him, putting a gentle hand on his arm.

“Oz,” she whispered.

He turned to her, his eyes becoming gentle in an instant.

“I’m sorry Will, but…he’s lying to you!”

Willow looked at him, unable to think, unable to speak.

The door to the library office opened and Giles finally emerged, taking in the emotion that ran through the room.

“What’s going on?” he asked, his voice raw, his eyes red from crying.

No one spoke for a long time until Wesley cleared his throat. “This…young chap seems to think I’m a liar.”

“He is!” Oz yelled. Giles looed towards him, surprised by the youth’s emotional outburst. “I saw Buffy as I came in!”

Giles looked up sharply, as did Angel.

The Watcher felt his heart begin to sink as the thoughts he had forbidden himself to think suddenly became very real. “Dear god,” he whispered.

Giles eyes shut and he felt himself beginning to sway. Xander was on his feet in a heartbeat, going to help Giles stay standing.

Giles shook off the boy and reached into his coat pocket, retrieving a wooden cross from his inside pocket.

He opened his eyes and slowly made his way up the stairs, past where Willow was sitting, still shocked by everything that had happened in the last few minutes.

Giles only had to make one turn before he saw his sweet Slayer standing there, looking a little lost.

He felt his breath catch in his throat. She was the same. She didn’t have her fangs beared. She looked just as she had when she had walked into the library for the first time two and a half years ago.

“Buffy,” he whispered.

She took a step towards him and stopped when Giles held the cross in front of him, his hands shaking terribly.

Angel came up behind him, and felt his soul aching as he thought that his Buffy had been turned into the creature that she had protected so many others from.

“Go away,” he heard her whisper.

“Not going to happen,” Giles said forcefully.

“I didn’t mean you,” she said softly.

Angel looked at her pained but saw that that Buffy wouldn’t meet his eyes. He hesitated, but nodded, leaving her and the Watcher alone.

She closed her eyes and put her hands out, waiting for Giles to stake her. Silently begging him to do it.

She didn’t understand what was happening, had no idea what was happening to her body. She felt so in control, so like her old self. But she could feel something inside her as well. Something that didn’t belong to her. Something that she couldn’t get rid of.

So this is how Angel felt, she mused. Constantly fighting to keep the demon under control.

Buffy opened her eyes to see Giles still standing there, a stake in his hands now as well.

He stepped forward, the cross still between them, but Buffy didn’t even flinch. Giles took another step forward but found that the cross did nothing to her.

“Buffy!” he yelled, throwing the cross to her, just as he’d throw a ball to a small child.

Out of pure reflex she caught the cross with her right hand and looked at him surprised. He was staring down at her hand that was still holding the cross.

He looked up at her, unsure of what to think.

“You are-”

He couldn’t finish his sentence. Couldn’t even think of the words that he wanted to use to complete the rest of his sentence. There was so much to say, but those two words conveyed everything that had to be said.

She nodded, unable to form words. She held the cross out to him, her hand not even tingling.

“I don’t understand,” she whispered.

Giles swallowed nervously. He clenched his hand in a fist and backhanded her across the face. Her demon appeared and subsided in a heartbeat. Or one of Giles’ heartbeats. It was in that second that the cross burned her, but immediately stopped.

Buffy closed her eyes, tears stinging her eyes. He had hit her. Giles had hit her.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“No,” he said sharply, not hesitating as he pulled her towards him, his arms going around her to hug her to him tightly.

Her eyes went to his neck and she felt a pull towards it. She jumped away from him suddenly and turned her face, not wanting to admit her weakness to her Watcher.

He went to touch her but stopped, knowing that she was struggling with everything inside of her not to turn around and kill him.

“Bloody vampire,” Giles said softly.

Buffy turned to him, hurt, thinking he had meant her.

“Not you,” he amended. He looked at her lovingly, wishing he had been there to help her. Wishing that the vampire who had done this to her had just killed her instead of adding extra torture to her already pain-riddled life.

“Whoever did this to you should have known not to turn a Slayer,” he said softly.

She looked at him searchingly.

“Has anyone ever turned a Slayer before?” she asked.

He nodded softly. “Only once. She killed herself once she realised what had happened. No vampire has ever tried it since then.”

She nodded, understanding the feeling of wanting to kill herself. How easy would it be to sit in the sun and just let herself burn away to nothing but a pile of dust.

“No one’s entirely sure what happens when a Slayer’s turned,” Giles said. His curious nature was wondering what his Slayer was going through, but his protective side of him wanted to stop every hurtful thing that was going through her right now.

She looked up at him, tears in her eyes.

“You wanna know?” she asked.

He nodded softly, unsure of what he would hear. Uncertain that he even wanted to know anymore.

“It’s like having everything you’ve ever been taught pulled away from you. Like you’re very being is trying to contend with something inside of you. It’s like I’m being pulled away from where I’m trying to go. It’s like the only thing I can hear in my mind is this little voice telling me to drink, to take what I want, what I need. That’s why I pushed you away,” she admitted.

He nodded, already knowing her reasons for breaking their earlier embrace.

“Part of me is screaming to get rid of this thing inside me. To just rip that stake out of your hand and do it myself. And the other part of me is telling me to just go with it. Just stop resiting and stop the hurt that it’s causing and take it. It wants to kill you,” she said tearfully.

She stepped back, not wanting him to come any closer. She could smell him, hear his heart pumping the blood. She could see the veins in his neck pulsing. She closed her eyes and tried to drown out the sound.

Giles watched as she went through painful internal conflictions, the demon fighting for dominance, but the Slayer beating it back into submission. After what seemed like minutes, she fell to her knees, the Slayer having won the battle, but neither Buffy nor Giles knew how long it would be before the demon would win.

“Please help me,” she whispered, her hands covering her tear streaked face.

Giles could only kneel down beside her and gently touch her shoulder.

“We’ll get through this. I swear to you.”

~*~

Giles walked around from the stacks, leaving his Slayer only for a moment. He had explained that he was sending the others home.

He looked at the silent group who had no idea what was going on.

“It’d be best if you all went home,” he said quietly.

Willow stood up, her eyes searching his, wanting answers. She couldn’t speak the words she wanted to say though. All that she knew for sure was that Buffy was standing in the library, but that she had died only hours earlier. Meaning that the Slayer had become the very thing she hated.

The thing that Buffy had nightmares about.

Wesley looked at Giles defiantly, his eyes accusing the tired man who wanted nothing more than for this horrid nightmare to come to an end. He would have much preferred to have shot up in bed in a horrible sweat than to have to try and get his Slayer through the worst thing that could possibly happen to her.

“I’m not leaving you in here alone with that…that…creature!” Wesley said.

Giles was at the younger mans’ throat in seconds. “You will watch what you say about her!”

Wesley looked taken aback at Giles defending a vampire. It had shocked him that Angel was a vampire, but to have the Slayer one as well. And to have a Watcher defending a turned Slayer was something that was unheard of.

“I know you were attached to the girl, but she’s dead!” Wesley hissed, his Watcher training coming through.

“She is not dead! She is still in there!” Giles said, challenging Wesley to prove him otherwise.

“You know that’s not true,” Wesley said.

“It is! I threw a cross to her and she caught it. Nothing happened. Nothing. No pain,” Giles said.

“She was a Slayer, of course she’s got a high tolerance of pain,” Wesley said.

“No burning. I hit her, and the demon came out. It hissed and went back inside. Nothing,” Giles said.

“Mr. Giles, listen to yourself! She’s got a demon inside of her!” Wesley said.

Angel stepped forward and placed himself between the two Watchers. He turned to Wesley and glared at him hard.

“Just because she’s got a demon doesn’t mean that she’s evil. She was a Slayer, and all vampires know that Slayers don’t ever turn properly. That’s why no one turns Slayers unless they’re absolutely insane,” Angel said, defending the small blonde vampire who was probably listening to every word, half afraid that they would kill her, half wishing that they would.

“She’s fighting it, Wesley! She was turned not three hours ago, and already she has control of it! She doesn’t want to hurt us,” Giles explained.

Willow stood up and made her way to where the three highly strung men were standing.

“Giles,” she started softly. The Watcher turned to look at her, fear in the young girls eyes. “Giles, do you really…I mean…you’ve said yourself that vampires have characteristics of the person. That they still have the memories. The demon…it could…what if it’s playing on your attachment to her?”

Giles glared at her, appalled that she could even suggest such a thing.

“Do you really think that Buffy would have wanted to live like this? As a demon?” Wesley asked, his voice suddenly considerably calmer.

Giles breathed deeply, trying to keep the urge to hit his replacement Watcher.

“You don’t know her. You didn’t see her. She wanted to die tonight. Not before she was turned, no, no. Just now. I was holding a stake out, ready to do it. Ready to set her free. She wanted it. She held her arms out and closed her eyes, waiting for the stake to hit her,” Giles said. “Do you honestly think that any demon would just let me stake it? She’s still Buffy!”

Xander stepped forward timidly, hating to agree with the new Watcher and betray Giles, but knowing that when Buffy was concerned, Giles didn’t think straight. “Giles…if she was wanting you to kill her…don’t you think that that’s saying that she doesn’t want this?”

“She wants our help, Xander,” Giles snapped. “She asked me to help her!”

Giles stared at the group desperately, wishing he knew what to do. How could they ask him to put a stake through his Slayer’s heart? How could they ask him to destroy the thing that he had given up his entire life for?

Giles just shook his head and started walking back up towards the stacks.

“I suggest you just go home. Go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning,” he said sadly.

The group could only stare as he walked around the corner and heard a quiet whispering of comforting words coming from the Watcher.

Willow closed her eyes and felt her legs beginning to give way. She grabbed hold of Oz who quickly caught her.

“We should go,” Xander said quietly.

Oz gave a single nod and led Willow away from the library, tears streaming down Willow’s cheeks.

Wesley looked between the stacks and the door. Angel was also torn between staying and leaving.

Wesley eyed the vampire, suddenly uncomfortable in his presence.

“Is it true?” Wesley finally asked, having to know. “What you said about Slayers never being turned properly?”

Angel nodded and stared at the bookcase where Giles and Buffy had hidden themselves behind.

“Only one other Slayer has ever been turned, and…she couldn’t live with what she had become. The night after her funeral she just sat on her headstone, her Watcher standing beside her. She waited for the sun, and…she killed herself,” Angel said.

Wesley eyed him suspiciously. “How do you know do much about it?”

Angel sighed softly, knowing that that question would come eventually.

“She was sired by a childe of mine. An insane vampire by the name Drusilla.”

Wesley gasped a little and looked at Angel. “You’re Angelus?”

“Not anymore,” Angel said. “I have a soul. It seems that Slayers keep their souls after being turned as well.”

“So, she has no desire to kill?” Wesley asked.

Angel looked at the Watcher, despising the ignorance and arrogance of the man. “I never said that.”

Part Three: Turned

The black Desoto sped onto the main street of Sunnydale, the peroxide blonde vampire grinning as he knocked down the ‘Welcome to Sunnydale’ sign for the third time.

Sunnyhell more like it, he thought.

He grinned as he thought about how brilliant it would be to take out some more of his frustration on the Slayer and her little band of Slayerettes. This time, though, he’d be concentrating more on killing the Slayer. Her friends, while they did look tasty, just wasn’t what he was after.

He wanted Slayer’s blood. It had been so long since his last taste of it, and his body was craving it desperately.

Of the two Slayer’s he had killed, her had only drained one. He regretted wasting such powerful blood the second time, but the crack of the Slayer’s neck as he had broken her for a final time had been just what he needed to hear.

It was funny, he had killed those other two Slayer’s the first time he had met them. They hadn’t known him, and he hadn’t known them. But he knew Buffy. Knew her name, knew her weaknesses. Knew everything about her and had seen her at her worst points in life. And still he couldn’t defeat her.

But it was gonna be different this time, he vowed.

He wouldn’t rest until she was dead.

________________________

Giles stroked the young girl’s hair, whispering soothing words to her, though he couldn’t recall what he had been saying for the last few hours.

It hadn’t mattered though. His Slayer had calmed herself down, had dried her tears and had looked up at him.

It was almost easy to forget that only a few hours ago, he had been delivered the horrible news by the Council. Since then, his world had crashed around him and had only just begun to pickup. Though how he could get her through being turned was going to be a difficult process. One that he wasn’t entirely convinced he could succeed with.

Giles stifled a yawn and Buffy looked at him guiltily.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. She began standing up and offered him her hand to get up with. He took it, not wishing to offend her by suggesting that he didn’t trust her.

“You should go home,” she told him.

He went to protest but Buffy covered his mouth with her hand.

“None of that. Go home. Sleep. I’ll be fine,” she said.

“Where will you go?” he asked.

“Home maybe,” she said.

He went to say something but paused, wishing that he didn’t have to tell her that she wouldn’t be welcome in her own home.

“Buffy-” he stopped.

She understood him without him saying another word.

“Oh…right. Yeah, of course. That was…wow, that was really silly of me,” she said softly.

“Stay with me,” he said simply, not offering her a bed, but telling her that she would be welcome at his place.

“No, Giles. I can’t. I shouldn’t be around you. Or anyone. I can’t…I can’t control this thing and…I don’t want to hurt you,” she said.

“I’m not leaving you alone,” he said, fearful that she would kill herself. Stake through the heart, sunlight. A combination of both maybe. It was easy for her now. Quick, effortless. Very little fuss for anyone. Only a lot of pain.

“I can look after myself,” she said.

He hesitated but saw that she wasn’t going to agree to staying with him.

“Promise me that you’ll find some shelter before dawn. If anything were to happen…if I were to lose you again…Buffy, I almost lost it tonight,” he admitted.

She nodded and took hold of his hand.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m not even getting any older,” she whispered, trying to keep things light, but she saw that the tears in her Watcher’s eyes were threatening to fall.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there.”

She shook her head and threw herself towards him, clinging to her Watcher with a desire to comfort him that she hadn’t possessed before. “It wasn’t your fault. I don’t blame you.”

“Wesley did this to you,” he whispered, his hands finding her face, touching her forehead, wondering how anyone who looked so pure could suddenly change into a creature that had nothing there but a desire to kill.

“If ever I let the demon take over, he’ll be the first to go,” Buffy said, a smile playing about her lips.

Giles just shook his head trying not to laugh. He couldn’t help it though, and through his tears and his laughter, the only thing he could think was that he hadn’t lost her after all.

~*~

Buffy wandered the streets, trying to think everything through. Her logical mind told her that she should just stay outside, not even bother finding shelter at all. The world would be better off with one less vampire in it.

She couldn’t understand what had happened to her, and part of her didn’t want to understand. She wanted to feed…needed the blood more than anything. The demon was chanting to her, feed, kill, take, but she didn’t want to hurt anyone. She didn’t want anyone to suffer at her own hands.

She turned as she heard a struggle coming from behind a bush. She quickly leapt over it, finding her new speed to be something positive. She saw a vampire standing over a fallen body, blood at the victim’s throat.

Buffy struggled to keep her demon down, and as she saw the other vampire turn, the demon subsided immediately. She was nothing like the creature who had taken the young girls life.

The vampire looked up and grinned cockily at her.

“Slayer,” he said.

“Spike,” she replied, wondering if this night could possibly get any worse.

First she’d been captured, then killed, then turned. Now she had to contend with Spike!

“Dru dump you again?” she asked, trying to keep her eyes away from the blood on the poor girls neck.

“Maybe I dumped her!” Spike yelled, his eyes flashing violently.

She grinned, finally feeling as though she could concentrate her energies onto beating Spike and turning him to dust.

“Another Chaos demon?” she asked.

Spike smirked and, without any further hesitation, jumped towards her, knocking her off balance.

She kicked him away from her, sending him tumbling backwards a little.

“Crikey, when’d you get so bloody strong?” he asked.

She shrugged and kicked him again, sending him sprawling to the ground. He got up quickly enough and turned to face her, trying to work out what difference there was to the Slayer in front of him.

He lunged towards her and pinned her hands together, holding them tightly with one hand. Suddenly, as though he’d been burned, he stepped back, releasing her from his grip.

“Who did this to you?” he asked angrily.

She looked at him in confusion, not understanding his question or why he seemed so angry.

“Did what?”

Spike looked at her, one scarred eyebrow raised.

“You do know you’re a vampire, right ducks?” he asked.

“Oh…that,” she replied.

“Yeah…that. And if you’re a bloody vampire, who come you’re fighting me?” he asked.

“Cos you’re annoying,” she replied.

Spike stepped forward and grabbed her by the throat. He pushed her against a tree and held her there, looking into her eyes. He found only defiance instead of the fear that would have usually been there.

He brought his mouth to her neck and traced the bites that were still on her neck with his tongue. She whimpered involuntarily and Spike grinned against her neck.

“Like that, do you pet?” he asked.

She tried to push him off her, trying to deny what was inside of her, but he held her against the tree.

“It’s alright luv. You’re allowed to like it,” he said, sucking at her neck. She let her head fall backwards, enjoying the feel of his tongue against her cold neck.

He bit into her gently and growled softly as he heard her give a small murmur of pleasure.

Her blood was still intoxicating, still full of power. It was warmer than usual vampires blood, not entirely at the preferred 98.6, but no where near room temperature.

He traced his finger across her neck and smiled as she shivered against his touch. He trailed his fingers in her blood and brought them to his mouth, sucking them slowly. He saw the Slayer-vamp lick her lips, hunger and desire clouding her eyes.

“You want some?” he asked, his voice soft, the voice he usually save for Dru.

She nodded and he brought his fingers to her mouth, letting her suck the blood from his fingertips. She looked him directly in the eye as her tongue darted out and curled around the tips of his fingers.

He withdrew his fingers, earning him a pout from the Slayer.

“Have you fed, pet?” he asked.

She looked at him, confused, unsure of how to answer.

“Didn’t you’re sire give you anything to eat?”

She shrugged and pushed him away from her, but he was still holding her by the waist.

“I ate him. Does that count?”

He shook his head, grinning a little. “That before or after you killed him?”

“Before,” she replied, grinning a little.

He grinned at her and pulled her lips to his, surprised that she let him kiss her, and shocked that she was reciprocating.

“Feisty,” he whispered as Buffy let her lips go down to Spike’s neck.

She suckled at it, not breaking the skin, her blunt teeth nipping at him softly. “Can I?”

He gave a small nod, amazed that she was being subservient to him. Where was the defiant creature he had met in the alley outside the Bronze so many years ago.

He felt her teeth dig into his neck and a rush of blood went directly to his groin. He groaned and brought her closer to him, his fingers tangling in her hair to bring her mouth closer to his skin.

She drank deeply but pulled herself away, pushing Spike away from her. He was startled by her sudden movements and stumbled backwards.

She looked at him, fearing what she had done, hating that she had been drinking his blood and enjoying it.

Understanding suddenly dawned on the peroxided blonde vampire. “You’ve got your soul.”

Buffy nodded, looking away. The demon inside her was ashamed of the soul, hated it, wanted to overtake her body and cast the soul out, but the Slayer inside was kicking the demon into submission.

“If you ‘adn’t killed your sire, I woulda done it m’self,” Spike said softly. “You don’t turn Slayers. You kill ‘em, sure, but…don’t turn ‘em.”

He stopped forward and touched her arm softly. She went to back away but found herself transfixed by the vampire in front of her.

“You got a place to stay?” he asked.

She hesitated and finally shook her head. He nodded and kissed her forehead gently, surprising both the Slayer and himself. Why he was being like this to an enemy was beyond him, but…he couldn’t leave her out here alone.

“Come with me,” he said, half asking, half commanding.

Neither of them expected her to nod her acceptance and let him take her by the hand.

Part Four: Spike

Spike led her towards the old mansion on Crawford St, the place where Angelus had nearly killed her, the place where she had been forced to kill Angel.

She hesitated a moment and Spike stopped beside her. Understanding suddenly dawned on him.

“We can find somewhere else,” he said softly.

Buffy took in a deep un-needed breath and shook her head. “No, it’s fine.”

Spike grinned and gave her hand a squeeze.

He looked up at the sky and saw that it was beginning to become extremely light.

“We should hurry,” he said, speeding up their walking pace.

As he entered the mansion and closed the heavy front door behind them, the first rays of sun made their way onto the doorstep of the mansion.

Spike looked at her, suddenly a little un-nerved by everything that had happened.

How, he wondered, had he gone from wanting to kill the Slayer to trying to protect her?

Of course, he hadn’t counted on her being a vampire. Let alone a vampire with a soul.

He stepped forward and bent his mouth to her neck.

“Hungry?” he asked.

Buffy shivered involuntarily as his lips graved her neck. She whimpered her answer, surprised by how much of an effect that a vampire had over her when his mouth was so close to her. There was no more fear there, only longing.

“I have some blood in the fridge downstairs,” he said.

She hesitated but nodded, following him down the stairs into the area that Acathla had been stored. In a corner, she saw a small bar fridge that looked old and worn out.

Spike led her to it and opened it. Buffy’s demon emerged and disappeared in a matter of seconds as she saw the supply of blood in the fridge. Spike looked at her, confused.

“How long have you been like this?” he asked.

“A few hours,” she replied.

“And you’ve had only your sire’s blood?”

She nodded. “And some of mine.”

Spike nodded thoughtfully and bent down, taking a small package of blood from the fridge. Buffy eyed it, torn between starvation and disgust at her hunger.

“I’ll heat it up, then we eat, kay?”

She nodded and sat herself on a dusty sofa. She leant her head against her arm and closed her eyes momentarily.

Before she knew it Spike was leaning down in front of her, holding a mug of the red blood in front of her. He handed it to her and she took it gratefully.

He smiled and sat next to her as she drank deeply. She forced herself to stop and offered him the remaining half of the cup.

“Already eaten,” he replied simply.

She nodded and finished the mug before it went cold.

She regarded him thoughtfully, wondering why she had never realised how incredibly attractive he was.

He looked at her and gave a small grin. “What are you staring at?”

“Why are you helping me?” she asked.

He shrugged, honestly unable to answer her question.

“I’ve been asking myself the same question pet,” he replied.

Buffy bit on her lip and looked away from the blonde vampire. She wished that he would just go away, let her wallow in her own self-pity, but he wasn’t one to just let things be.

“So what’s Peaches up to?” Spike eventually asked.

Buffy glared at him, wishing that the hellmouth would suck either herself or Spike into it.

“How should I know?”

Spike raised his eyebrow at her and shrugged. “Trouble in paradise?” he asked sarcastically. “And we all know how much I wanted you two to work out.”

“What’s it to you anyway?” she asked.

He grinned at her and took the empty mug from her hands. He dipped his finger into the cup and scrapped the remaining blood from the sides, sucking it purposefully slowly.

“Just like teasing.”

Buffy bit back a reply and tried to tear her eyes away from him. There was something to him, some incredible attraction that she was having towards him.

Probably her demon just trying to get a hold of her and force her to do something she didn’t want to do.

‘Keep telling yourself that honey,’ a little voice whispered.

Spike stood up and placed himself in front of her chair.

“Sun’s up, and…now you can’t go and play with all the other kittens anymore, you’re stuck here. With me. All day,” he said. He grinned lasciviously and licked his bottom lip, loving the fact that the Slayer couldn’t take her eyes off his mouth.

He deliberately leant down to her, his hands gently grabbing her tiny waist.

“Wanna play kitten?” he asked, his lips dancing close to her neck.

She could only nod, her Slayer yelling out no while the demon yelled an almighty YES at the top of its lungs.

She let herself be pulled up, an animal instinct making her rush at Spike, her legs going around his waist, her lips attacking his mouth, meeting the force that his lips were dancing at.

Spike was somewhat surprised by the Slayer’s movements and stumbled a little, taking them both to the ground, his back taking the brunt of the fall. Not a single part of him minded the slight weight of the Slayer on his body.

Buffy moved against him, her hips dancing to a rhythm that wasn’t beating. Spike grinned and grabbed the back of her neck, forcing her mouth down to his. His demon appeared for a fraction of a second, blood spilling into their mouths and running deliciously over their duelling tongues.

Buffy pulled back a little, somewhat shocked by the sensations that the peroxide vampire was causing her.

“Hurt did it?” he whispered.

She nodded and grinned a little, somewhat disturbed by how turned on she was by the pain that he was causing her.

“Take your pain Slayer,” he growled, his fangs digging into her neck again, enjoying the gasp of desire that escaped from his lovers throat. “Take it, use it, and bloody well enjoy it.”

She tilted her neck so that she could reach Spike’s own. Her fangs sank into his neck and drank deeply for the second time in under an hour. Blood poured out of her neck into Spike’s mouth, Spike’s blood pouring down her throat. She pulled away and yanked Spike’s mouth away from her neck, her mouth crushing his, forcing him to taste himself while she tasted her own blood on his lips.

She felt a rush of lust run through her body and groaned a little as Spike flipped them over, her small body on the concrete as Spike hovered over her before letting his weight fall on her completely.

“A Slayer’s blood is a powerful aphrodisiac luv,” he whispered.

She swallowed and nodded, unable to form thoughts as Spike quickly removed his red over-shirt and the plain black t-shirt from his body. He grinned and yanked off Buffy’s tank-top, admiring her body for a moment before his hands moved to claim her body as his.

Buffy’s hands moved down his chest, her nails raking small lines across his chest. One nail drew blood and Buffy leant forward to lick it off him, enjoying the small moan that escaped Spike’s mouth. Her hands travelled down further and fumbled in an attempt to remove the vampire’s jeans.

Frustrated, Spike rolled off the Slayer and removed his jeans and turned to take the Slayer’s black stretch pants from her. He grinned as he realised that she was as turned on as he was.

“Tell me what you want Slayer,” he whispered against her lips.

She kissed him roughly and pulled him back on top of her, wanting their skin to touch, desperately craving the warmth that his body was making her feel, even though his body was cold.

“You. Inside.”

He grinned, thankful that she had answered him. “I like the sound of that.”

He grabbed her wrists forcefully and pushed them above her head, entering her roughly. She cried out and found his lips crushed on hers within an instant.

“Spike!”

He groaned, moving inside of her, his grip on her wrists was strong and painful, making him completely dominant over the Slayer. She hated having no control over what was happening, but her body was too caught up in feeling that her mind completely shut down and just let him take her.

Her thrust into her, harder and harder, not caring that there would be bruises on the girls body in the morning. The thought that Slayer and vampire healing would make it better flashed through his mind, only making him thrust into her harder.

He let go of her wrists and brought his arms around her back, making her sit up against him, holding her close to him. Buffy couldn’t think and for a moment forgot that she didn’t need to breath any longer.

Their lips battled, dancing, duelling, fighting viciously with each other. Buffy found her hand at the back of Spike’s head, pulling him closer to her, needing for there to be as little room between them as possible.

She couldn’t understand it, couldn’t explain it, but all she wanted was to be as physically close as it was possible to this vampire that was inside of her, making her hot, making her body tremble, making her mind go completely blank.

She felt his hand move between them, his fingers touching her softly, urging her to come to him. Suddenly, his lips were torn from hers, and she felt him biting into her breast, blood flowing from her, as he made her come. She felt Spike climax into her, and slowly withdraw his fangs from her, gently lapping at the tender wound.

He gently let her go, sliding them both back to the cold concrete, sliding out of her, but laying next to her.

Neither knew what to say, but the soft panting that came from both, though neither needed the breath, said all that needed to be said.

Part Five: Souled

Giles sat at his desk in the library, his eyes staring blankly at the wall in front of him. His thoughts consisted of only two words. Buffy. Vampire.

He vaguely heard the swinging doors to the library open and a rush of feet coming towards the office, but he neither cared to look, nor made any attempt to look up.

“Mr Giles,” a voice puffed.

He looked up, startled by the voice, not having expected to see Buffy’s mother, panting, in the doorway. His heart dropped as he realised that Buffy’s mother hadn’t been informed of last nights events.

“Buffy didn’t come home last night. She didn’t call, she didn’t leave a note, and I’m sorry to barge into your office like this, but…the only place I could think of her going was to you,” Joyce rambled, sounding much like Willow.

“Joyce, I…I’m sorry I didn’t call. I should have let you know as soon as I found out.”

Joyce felt her heart sink and tears pricked at her eyes.

“Oh god,” she whispered softly, fearing that something had finally taken her daughter. That her daughter was dead somewhere, lying in a ditch.

Giles shook his head and looked away from Buffy’s mother. “I’m sorry Joyce.”

A tear ran down Joyce’s face, her mind suddenly going blank.

“How?” she whispered, her hands grabbing at the door, trying to keep herself steady. Giles quickly got up from his seat and offered it to Joyce who gratefully sat down, her hands shaking terribly.

“A vampire. He uh…it drained her, and…and he…”

Joyce closed her eyes, tears flowing freely. “She’s not…she’s not one of…of them is she?”

Giles nodded a little but realised that Joyce had her eyes closed, her breathing suddenly shallow. “She is. Joyce, I’m so sorry.”

Joyce looked up at the librarian, a desperate panic in her eyes. “You have to stop her before she hurts anyone! She wouldn’t…Buffy wouldn’t want to hurt anyone! Giles, please…you can…I know you can restore her soul!”

Giles took Joyce by the hands, kneeling down in front of her, trying to calm the woman down.

“Joyce, Slayer’s never turn properly, your daughter still has her soul.”

“You’ve seen her?” Joyce asked.

“Last night, just after it happened. She came in, and…she was confused and…Joyce, I’m so sorry. I never meant for this to happen,” Giles said, tears springing to his own eyes.

Joyce looked away, hating to see the tears in the eyes of the person that she blamed for her daughter’s calling.

“Never meant for it to happen?” Joyce repeated bitterly. “You sent her out night after night to die.”

“It was her destiny, I had no hand in her calling. I never wanted this for anyone, least of all your daughter,” Giles said defensively.

Joyce went to say more but stopped as she heard another voice in the library.

She looked up to see a young man in a suit standing in the doorway, a pompous look on his face.

“Mr Giles, I’ve been meaning to tell you that…we need to inform the Council,” he said.

Joyce glared at the young man, uncertain of who he was, but knowing that he was a part of what had killed her daughter.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Wesley said, seeing Joyce for the first time. “I didn’t realise you had company.”

Giles stood up and looked spitefully at Wesley.

“Joyce, this is Wesley Whyndam-Price. Wesley, this is Joyce Summers. Buffy’s mother,” Giles stated, emphasising the relationship.

Wesley looked at the woman, a little shocked. “The Council forbids the Slayer to have any contact with their family at all. Mr. Giles, did your Slayer follow any of the rules?”

“Suddenly she’s my Slayer again? You were assigned to be her Watcher, you bloody well got her killed on your first day. And yes, she followed the rules. She patrolled, she did her duty. Who am I to forbid her to have a life, to have the care that she needs?” Giles said.

Joyce stood up and looked at the young, arrogant man.

“You’re the new Watcher?”

Wesley looked at her and stood up straighter, proud of his position. “I am.”

He hasn’t prepared for the loud slap to the face that followed.

“You killed my daughter.”

Wesley looked at her shocked. Giles looked on uncomfortably as Wesley faltered.

“Mrs Summers, I assure you-”

Giles stepped in front of Wesley before he had a chance to saw anything more. The younger Watcher stared up at Giles, uncertain of what was going on.

“You have no place here Wesley. Now get out.”

Wesley hesitated for a moment but, seeing the hatred in both Giles’ and Mrs Summer’s eyes, he nodded curtly and stepped away.

“And if you so much as pick up the phone to call the Council, I will kill you myself,” Giles threatened before Wesley had walked out of the library.

Wesley glared at him, feeling considerably safer due to the distance between them.

“The Council must be informed Mr Giles,” Wesley said firmly.

“The Council has done its duty and the next Slayer has been called. They need not know about what has happened to Buffy,” Giles said.

Wesley walked back towards Giles, anger filling him. He suddenly didn’t care that the older Watcher could beat him to death if he were provoked.

“The Council has a right to know that she was turned. She was powerful as a Slayer, but with more strength than before…she’ll be virtually unstoppable,” Wesley said, trying to keep his voice calm.

“She’s got her soul Wesley, she’s not about to go around killing everyone in sight,” Giles said tiredly.

“But she can.”

“She could before this as well,” Giles retorted. “Don’t you see? She’s exactly the same now as she was before. And if you dare lay a finger on her, if you dare call the Council, I will make sure her first kill is you.”

Joyce looked between the two Watchers, the tension between them hanging in the air was almost tangible.

“You can’t sop them from finding out. You know as well as I do that they keep tight tabs on everyone,” Wesley said.

Giles gave a small smile and raised his eyebrows. “Not on a dead Slayer they won’t.”

~*~

Spike sat up a little, leaning on one elbow as he looked down at the sleeping Slayer. He touched her face softly, giving a small grin as he saw her respond to his touch even in sleep.

It was a shock to him, finding the Slayer had been turned. What shocked him more was that she had accepted his offer of help, though why he had even offered was beyond him.

She looked peaceful, he thought, though his mind was whispering that she was dead. He couldn’t understand what was happening to the young girl laying next to him.

One minute, she was in complete control of her demon, the next…well, this morning’s activities certainly hadn’t been initiated by the Buffy he had known.

Buffy stirred a little and opened her eyes to stare up at Spike. She gave a little jolt of fright but relaxed again when everything came crashing back to her. She grinned at him a little and shifted to be closer to him, unsure of why she was suddenly feeling so bold.

“It’s nearly sunset luv,” he whispered, his arm going around her bare stomach.

She nodded and closed her eyes again. Her internal body clock seemed to have adjusted instantaneously to nocturnal hours.

“I have to go and see Giles. He made me promise to find somewhere safe to stay,” she said softly.

Spike grinned a little and kissed her shoulder, gently nipping at the skin enough to make her bleed.

“I don’t think ‘e quite meant with me pet,” he teased.

She laughed a little and nuzzled closer to him. “Kinda gives new meaning to the whole, sleeping with the enemy thing, doesn’t it?”

“That it does,” he replied.

“I don’t know how I’m gonna explain this to him though,” she whispered.

Spike turned her so that he was still in his arms, but was facing him. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of kitten. Things change when you become a vampire. Just cos you’ve got your soul, it doesn’t mean you aren’t gonna get all the other vampire aspects.”

“Like what?” she asked.

“Like…well, better hearing. You still need to feed. You’ve got better eye sight at night. And…you feel things a lot more than humans do. Your emotions run a little more wildly,” he explained.

“Doesn’t sound so horrible. Except for the feeding,” Buffy said. “And the whole part with me getting frisky with you.”

Spike grinned and kissed her roughly. “I’m not that horrible.”

She kissed him back, their kiss was passionate, desperate and seemed to never stop.

“Another advantage,” Buffy whispered, puling away from him. “Don’t need to breath.”

He grinned against her mouth and let theirs tongues continue their dancing.

After a few more minutes, he pulled away, grinning at the disappointment that was written across her face.

“Sun’s gone down. We should go visit your Watcher,” he said.

She looked at him sceptically. “We?”

He shrugged and pulled away from her, grabbing a pile of their clothing and pulling it towards them.

“I’m not gonna miss the expression on ole Rupert’s face when you tell ‘im you’re bunking with me,” Spike said.

She glared at him, and pulled her clothes from his hands, slipping into her black pants.

“You’re not gonna hurt them?” she asked.

He rolled his eyes and looked at her with mock indignation. “What do you take me for, some kind of soulless killer?”

She stood up, not even bothering to comment on his attempt of a joke.

“Look, I just wanna watch your back…among other things,” he said, pulling her against him, a gentle hand caressing her face. “If word gets out that you were turned, then…you’ll be a target.”

“A target? Why?”

Spike withdrew his hand and pulled away from her, slipping his t-shirt over his head and pulling on the red over-shirt that he was so attached to.

“It just wouldn’t be pretty, that’s all,” he said nonchalantly.

She smiled and put her arms around his waist from behind him. She gently kissed his neck.

“What d’you know. You’re a big softie after all.”

He turned quickly and grabbed her wrist with no gentleness. She grinned and met his eyes defiantly. He could only look at her with anger for a moment before his anger melted into a lustful glance.

He kissed her, not gentle, though not rough, just enough to let her know that even though he cared, he wouldn’t let her get away with taunting him about it.

“Let’s go play with all the other kittens,” he whispered.

She grinned and took his outstretched hand, walking out into the darkness with the vampire who was suddenly being her protector rather than being her attacker.

Part Six: Kittens

Giles sat in the library, fear consuming him. He hadn’t heard from Buffy all day, and from the looks of things, neither had Xander or Willow.

The group was sitting silently in the library, no one daring to say a word. The sun had gone done not half an hour ago, and already the gang was beginning to wonder whether or not Buffy was a pile of dust lying somewhere in Sunnydale.

Joyce was sitting on the edge of a seat by the table, nervously biting her nails, her eyes trained on the door. Willow, Xander and Oz had taken their seats on the stairs, watching Giles pace the room.

All eyes went upwards as the door swung open, and immediately every person was filled with disappointment as they saw Cordelia walk through the door.

She saw the room full of anxious people and felt her heart give a jolt. For all her pretending not to care for anyone in the Scooby Gang, she knew that if someone was dead or injured, she would feel something.

She scanned the room, wondering who was missing, when the truth hit her directly in the face. Buffy. She hadn’t been in school that day, Miss Murray had noticed Buffy’s absence, and, embarrassingly enough, asked Cordelia if she had known of Buffy’s whereabouts.

Cordelia looked at Giles, a violent look stretched across his face, tinged with worry and concern. He stopped pacing as he saw her come in and he tried to keep the disappointment from showing on his face.

“What happened?” Cordelia asked softly.

No one spoke, but eventually Oz looked up at the usually snobby girl. “Vampires,” he said simply.

Cordelia felt her eyes close and her knees begin to give. She felt a pair of arms around her and was surprised to see Xander standing beside her, keeping her upright. She gave him a weak smile as he helped her into a chair beside Joyce.

“Did they…”

Xander nodded. “Yes on both accounts,” he answered.

Cordelia whispered a curse and looked towards Joyce, tears in the woman’s eyes.

“Oh god…she’s not…I mean…she’s not all evil, right?” Cordelia asked.

“No,” Xander replied gently. He knelt down in front of her, surprised that his ex-girlfriend was letting him be so close to her.

Cordelia breathed a sigh of relief and put her head in one hand as Xander took hold of the other.

“I’m so sorry,” Cordelia whispered, so out of character that all heads in the room swivelled to stare at the young woman who had begun crying for the loss.

The group was so caught up in watching the young woman weeping that they didn’t notice when an extra two people entered the room, one of the blondes swaggering confidently, the other blonde looking at the people in the room with trepidation.

Cordelia was the first to look up, a surprised stare coming over her face.

“Are you sure she’s not all evil?” Cordelia asked.

“Yeah…why?” Xander asked.

Cordelia pointed over his shoulder. He turned and jumped backwards, stumbling into the table, quickly grabbing a stake that was lying there, though no one had known why.

Giles looked up and eyed the couple uneasily.

“Buffy,” he greeted, unsure of what to make of the two of them together.

Buffy stepped forward and stopped automatically as she saw Xander try and move further backwards, the table going with him. She looked towards him, her eyes brimming with tears.

She felt a steady hand on the small of her back and felt herself calming down.

“So uh…how was school?” Buffy eventually asked.

Willow tried to give a small smile, but ended up achieving a worried look of concern which Oz was mimicking perfectly.

“Why is he here?” Xander asked, no longer able to contain his disdain for the peroxide blonde vampire, and no longer caring that the others were silently begging for him to be tactful.

Spike glared at the young man, giving a barely audible growl.

Buffy shot a look at him, silently telling him to calm down or she’d never get the gang to believe that he wasn’t going to hurt anyone in the room.

“I’m here cos she don’t got no one else,” Spike answered.

The group blanched at this, unsure of how to reply.

Except for Giles.

He was at the vampires throat within seconds, pushing him up against the book cage. Buffy raced towards them, putting a strong hand on Giles’ wrist, her eyes begging him to let go.

Giles gave Spike another hateful glare as he pushed him once more before letting the vampire go.

“It’s the truth innit?” Spike said cockily. “Sure, you’re still her friends, her family, but…ain’t none of you know what it’s like. None of you who have to face the reality of what she’s going through.”

“What about Angel?” Xander protested. He suddenly caught himself and looked surprised. “I can’t believe I just suggested that.”

“Xander does have a point,” Giles agreed. “Why Spike of all vampires?”

Buffy looked around her desperately hoping for someone to come to her defence. Spike shrugged a little, unsure of the answer.

“I don’t know, okay? All I know is…he’s protecting me better than Angel ever has,” Buffy explained. “He’s teaching me and…I don’t know why, but he’s helping me. Voluntarily.”

Joyce looked up at her daughter, trying to cope with the fact that her daughter had no pulse, no heartbeat, no need to be breathing, no real explanation for her body to be moving, but…she was there, standing in front of them.

Joyce stood up and moved towards her daughter, tears trailing down her cheeks. Buffy looked up and felt her unbeating heart give a lurch. The two women were embracing before anyone in the room could say another word about Buffy and Spike.

“Mom,” Buffy whispered, tears soaking into her mother’s shoulder.

Joyce could only whisper her daughter’s name again and again as tears fell between the two of them. A silence descended upon everyone else in the room, and it was hard for the younger members of the Scooby Gang not to shed tears of their own.

There was a loud cough from the library doors and Buffy and Joyce reluctantly pulled apart.

“Wesley,” Giles greeted, a coldness in his voice that hadn’t been heard before last night.

Wesley nodded nervously and looked towards Buffy.

Giles followed his gaze and quickly began walking towards the young Watcher. The library doors swung open once more and three men wielding crosses, stakes and holy water walked in. Behind them was Quentin Travers. Giles stopped where he was.

Buffy felt everything inside of her tense up, and without knowing she’d done it, she stepped back, Spike stepping in front of her.

“We’ve come for the vampire.”

Part Seven: Council

Giles glared at Quentin, hating him more in that moment than he had when Quentin had fired him.

“Good luck to you,” Giles said, his voice softly menacing.

Quentin Travers glared at Giles and looked past him towards where Buffy stood behind Spike.

“Get the vampire and the ex-Watcher,” Quentin ordered.

Buffy looked horrified by the suggestion and stepped forward, pushing past Spike who tried to keep her back.

“You’re fights with me, not him,” Buffy protested.

Quentin stared at her for a moment before nodding.

“You’ll come quietly if we agree to leave your former Watcher here?” he asked.

Buffy glared at him, wondering whether or not she’d be able to take out the five men who were trying to take her away from everyone she loved best.

“If I have your word,” she said.

Giles pulled her backwards, positioning himself between the group from the Watcher’s Council and his vamped Slayer.

“Buffy no. I won’t let them do this to you,” he hissed.

Buffy shook her head and pushed him out of the way. “I am not letting you get hurt because of me.”

Spike made his way forward and stood beside Buffy.

“I know you’re thinking it pet…we have a good chance of taking ‘em out.”

Giles looked towards the peroxided vampire and glared. “You actually care what happens to her?”

Spike glared back. “Look mate, we don’t got a lot of time here, so if you wanna play twenty questions, be my guest, but if you want yer Slayer to walk outta here alive…or undead or whatever, then you’re gonna hafta trust me.”

Giles hesitated a moment longer before finally nodding. “Fine.”

“Giles, no. I won’t let you do this,” she whispered.

Giles gave her a small smile. “Buffy, I’ve been wanting to fight the Council for years.”

Buffy paused and eventually nodded. Giles took a step back as if to accept that Buffy was letting herself be taken without a fight.

The three men from the Special Operations unit stepped forward, crosses in hands. Buffy didn’t even flinch whereas Spike took an unnoticeable step back.

As soon as one of the men had their hands on Buffy, Giles and Spike moved completely in unison. Giles grabbed the cross and stake out of one of the men’s hands, tossing them across the room. Xander deftly caught the cross and threw it out the window so it couldn’t be used.

Buffy grabbed the hands of the man trying to attack her. She gave a small laugh as he held the cross out in front of him to protect himself. She took it from him, loving the look of complete surprise on his face as she held onto the cross.

“Nice bit of wood you got here,” she commented, throwing the cross to Xander who threw it out the window to join the other.

Buffy grabbed the man by the collar and threw him towards the man that Giles was fighting, sending the two men from the Watcher’s Council sprawling to the ground.

The third who was holding Spike back with a cross didn’t even see that his two colleagues were face down on the ground. He did, however, feel the slight weight on his back, pulling at him. He looked around him and saw the small Slayer grabbing the cross from his hands and throwing the third and final cross towards Xander.

The man looked around him and saw he was pretty much defeated. Spike glared at him, though his demon still had yet to show.

“You expect to take a Slayer like ‘er so easily?” Spike asked Quentin incredulously. “Good bloody luck.”

Buffy turned to Spike, a little surprised by his almost compliment. He grinned and shrugged, not too certain where all of this was coming from.

“Well, if you’re not going to come without a fight, then, I suppose a fights the only way to do this,” Quentin stated calmly.

Buffy could only watch in fear as the door swung open to revel another six men in the doorway, decked out with crosses and stakes as well. The two men who were sprawled on the ground were slowly coming to and Buffy knew that neither she nor anyone else in this room (excepting Spike) would be able to take human life.

And the risk to her friends, to her mom, to her Watcher was far too much.

Buffy stepped forward, pushing both Giles and Spike backwards. She looked towards them, telling them that this was her decision, not theirs.

“Fine. I’ll play nicely.”

Quentin smiled and nodded. She stood completely still as three of the men from the Special Ops division came towards her, binding her arms behind her back.

“You’ll understand the necessity for this, I assume,” Quentin said, holding up a small hypodermic needle.

Buffy winced visibly and tried to keep herself from struggling. She bit back a yelp of pain as he injected her with the substance that would take all of her strength away from her.

Giles stepped forward but Buffy looked at him, pleading for him to keep himself safe.

“Where are you taking her?” he asked.

Quentin just smiled a little before turning and walking out of the library, Buffy being escorted by the entire group of nine Special Ops trained men.

Giles closed his eyes, fearing the worst.

“Alright, here’s the plan,” Spike said.

“Woah, hold up there buddy,” Xander said, coming forward.

“Look, I know you don’t like me, I really don’t care, but if you want her back then I suggest you bloody well do what I say,” Spike said.

Xander took another step back and perched himself on the table, hating that he was being told what to do by yet another vampire.

“As I was saying,” Spike started again. “We need to get as many of the good guys as we can in on this. Get the great poof, I don’t care, but we need to find out where that wanky Council lot would take her.”

Giles nodded his agreement and looked at the group who were sitting in a stunned silence. Joyce looked as though she had just lost her daughter for a second time, which, in reality, she had.

“We’ll get her back, Joyce,” Spike said softly.

Joyce looked up at the vampire and smiled. “I trust you.”

Giles looked up at the vampire and breathed in, not certain how he knew, but he was certain that Spike could be trusted.

“I think they’re taking her to England.”

~*~

Buffy tried not to put up too much of a struggle as she was loaded into a van and chained to the seat. She glared at Wesley who had the decency to look away, embarrassed.

Two men from the Special Ops division sat on either side of her, each with a stake and a dart gun. They obviously didn’t want her dead, just disabled.

“So, where are we headed?” Buffy asked casually, surprised that she had managed so sound so calm about everything.

The two men with the stakes didn’t reply, so her stare at Wesley became a lot harder. “Wes…where are we going?” she asked again, her words a little slower this time.

“They’re taking you to the Council headquarters,” he said softly.

She looked at him, surprised. “In England?”

He nodded and began fidgeting with a button on his coat.

“You can’t just kill me here?” she asked. “Oh wait, you already did that.”

Wesley looked up sharply and tried not to let his emotions show.

“The Council doesn’t want you dead,” Wesley admitted.

The two men from Special Ops coughed simultaneously, telling Wesley to keep his mouth shut.

“Ahhh, so…now I’m some sort of a lab-rat vamped Vampire Slayer,” she said, her voice low and soft.

Wesley closed his eyes, hating that this was so complicated. He didn’t fully understand what was happening. Even with the compound that Quentin had injected into Buffy, she still would have been able to kill them had she wanted to. Angel’s words from the evening before rang in his mind.

“She was a Slayer, and all vampires know that Slayers don’t ever turn properly.”

Having contact with a turned Slayer was unprecedented, and he could understand the Council wishing to know exactly what happened, but…to perform such tests on someone who still had all the characteristics of a person seemed…incredibly wrong.

It didn’t help that her demon hadn’t even showed itself, not during the fight and not anytime after that. She had been able to touch the crosses, much as Giles had said the other night. She didn’t have burnt hands or even the slightest trace of a burn.

The van came to an abrupt halt and Buffy looked up. The doors swung open and she was unchained from the seat, though her hands were still bound. She was lifted from the van and she tried to take in her surroundings.

The Sunnydale airstrip. It was only used for private planes and emergency landings, but Buffy recognised it immediately.

There was a small aircraft on the runway, the initials WC on the tail. She swallowed hard and looked towards it, fear in her eyes.

She let herself be dragged towards it and reluctantly walked up the stairs herself.

When she walked inside she was greeted with Quentin standing in front of a large cage. She eyed both the cage and the Watcher warily.

“I’m not about to kill everyone on board,” Buffy said tiredly.

Quentin just shrugged and moved aside, allowing her two escorts to push her inside the cage which allowed her to stand, but only just. Had she been an inch taller, she would have been even more uncomfortable.

“Fine, I’ll bite,” she said. She immediately regretted her choice of phrase. “Though, not literally,” she said, trying her lame attempt to cover it up.

“That just killed all hope of getting untied, didn’t it?” Buffy asked.

“That it did. We’re just doing this as a precaution,” Quentin explained.

Buffy sighed and sat down on the seat inside her confines.

“Fine. But you should know that if I don’t get fed soonish I’m gonna get testy.”

Part Eight: Hero

Spike paced the floor, hating that he was worried about the Slayer, but…ever since he had found her vamped the night before, he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind. He had always liked the feisty Slayer, had liked her spirit and her passion, but he had still wanted to kill her.

Now she was like him, cursed with a demon.

Spike looked up as he heard the library doors swing open, letting Angel enter the room. Angel took one look at the blonde vampire and almost stopped in his tracks. He let out a low, threatening growl.

“You’ve got about three seconds to explain yourself before I tear you to shreds,” Angel warned.

Spike glared at the other vampire and stopped his pacing. “The bloody Council took the Slayer. We’re trying to think of a way to get her back.”

Angel immediately calmed his rage towards the blonde vampire and started directing it towards the Watcher’s Council.

“Where are they taking her?”

“Back to England,” Giles replied. “Or, we think that’s where they’ll take her.”

Angel began pacing the room. In any other circumstance, Xander would have cracked a joke about pacing vamps, but he held his tongue.

“What’s the fastest way they could get there?” Angel asked.

“Plane,” Xander supplied. “There’s an airstrip about ten minutes from here. No one really uses it that much. Come to think of it, I saw a plane land there this afternoon. I didn’t think much of it.”

“That’s them,” Spike said.

Giles nodded and grabbed his jacket from the table.

“We need to leave. Now. They’ve got a good ten minutes on us.”

Angel and Spike walked quickly behind the Watcher, leaving the rest of the group staring at the retreating figures.

“Have they even got a plan?” Xander asked.

Willow shook her head, still a little confused by what was happening.

“Should we follow them?” Joyce asked, her voice shaking.

Xander paused for a moment before shaking his head. “We’re better off leaving them to it. We’d get in the way and…if they have to leave for England, they’ll want to travel as lightly as possible.”

Joyce could only nod and sigh softly, her head in her hands. She felt Willow’s comforting hand on her shoulders. “They’ll bring her back. I know they will.”

Joyce could only try and smile, failing miserably. This day couldn’t possibly get any worse.

~*~

“Take a left up here,” Spike directed, leaning forward in his seat.

Giles nodded silently and sis as he was instructed, turning the car into a driveway.

“There she blows,” Spike whispered, spotting the sparkling white plane.

Giles drew in a sharp breath and hurriedly got out of the car. He grabbed a black bag from the back seat and hefted it over his shoulder.

Neither of the vampires said a word as they followed him onto the runway towards the stationary aircraft.

“What’s the plan?” Spike finally whispered as they came within striking distance.

“We stop it from taking off.”

Angel looked at Giles sceptically, but Spike nodded, quickly taking off towards the small jet craft, staying low to the ground so he couldn’t be seen. Giles watched as Spike moved under the plane, jumped up to a panel and ripped several of the wires from their sockets.

Giles watched in satisfaction as he heard the engine try to begin, but failing completely.

What looked to be a technician pushed open the door and quickly went down the stairs towards the engine, obviously not expecting to be met by a vampire that was completely pissed off.

“What now?” Angel asked.

Giles tried to think, but found that he didn’t need to. Quentin Travers stepped off the plane and scanned the area, both Angel and Giles ducking behind a luggage truck that was conveniently parked near enough to the plane.

“As much as I would love to kill him, I can’t,” Giles whispered.

Angel nodded, wondering whether or not he would feel guilty about taking Travers life. The decision was quickly made for him as Angel watched Spike jump on top of the head of the Council, holding him around the throat.

“Oy, you Council wankers!” Spike yelled.

“What is he doing?” Angel hissed.

Giles could only grin, holding back a chuckle.

Wesley stepped into the doorway and gasped as he saw Spike holding Quentin in a strangle hold.

“You the ponce of a new Watcher they sent for the Slayer?” Spike asked, his fangs becoming alarming close to Travers neck.

Wesley nodded and stepped forward holding a cross as protection. Spike just grinned and rolled his eyes in disgust.

“Tell you what, I’ll make you a trade, wanking Watcher boy. You’re head honcho for my Slayer,” Spike said.

Wesley looked at the vampire, wondering why exactly he wanted the Slayer. He didn’t want to hand Buffy over from one death to another.

“What do you want with the Slayer?” Wesley asked, his voice sounding considerably more courageous than he felt.

“Don’t you get it, you stupid git! I’m gonna kill you’re boss if you don’t give me the Slayer!” Spike cried. He bit into Quentin without beginning to drink, though it took a great deal of self control to not just drain him dry.

“Wesley!” Quentin yelled.

Wesley just nodded and looked back up the stairs. “Bring her out here,” he called.

Giles breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Buffy brought to the top of the stairs, her hands still bound, her body held up by two men from the Special Ops division.

“Now, nice and slow, we’re gonna trade. Then, you’re gonna turn around, get on your fancy jet and fly the hell outta here. And if I see you here, then I sure as hell won’t be restraining myself,” Spike warned.

Buffy was brought down the stairs, the two men holding her never loosening their grip. She looked at Spike, still afraid that this plan of his was going to backfire. He looked to be very much alone and she wasn’t anywhere near strong enough to fight.

“Here’s how this is gonna work,” Spike said, his voice still low and extremely threatening. “You’re gonna let the Slayer go, she’s gonna walk behind me, and Wanky Wesley is gonna walk up the stairs with the two gorillas, leaving me and Quentin down here. Then, I’m gonna let him go, he’s gonna rub his sore little neck, and then he’s gonna walk towards that jet. Then, I’m gonna get me and my Slayer the hell away from the airstrip, and you guys are gonna fly back to England. You got that?”

Wesley hesitated, but nodded his agreement, keeping his eyes on Quentin the entire time.

“Right…let’s start.”

The two men let go of Buffy, almost pushing her to the ground. She shot them a glare, but the unchained her wrists and she ran behind Spike.

“Go behind the luggage truck pet,” he told her quickly, turning his attention back to the two men who had started getting back on the plane.

“Now you Wes,” Spike growled.

Wesley paused, hating that he was following orders from a vampire, but the fear in Quentin’s eyes told him not to think about it. He quickly retreated up the stairs and back into the jet, peering out one of the small windows.

“As for you Quentin, I’m tellin’ you this once and once only. You stay the hell away from Sunnydale, and you stay the hell away from the Slayer, you got that?”

Quentin could only nod once as he felt Spike’s fangs digging into his neck once more. Spike took a quick sip and then pushed Quentin to the ground, giving Spike a chance to run towards the truck before Quentin had a chance to recover and grab hold of him.

Giles looked at him, giving him a thankful glance before Spike grabbed Buffy’s hand and began pulling them towards their parked car. The four figures got in quickly and raced away from the airstrip, hoping desperately that the men from the Watcher’s Council had taken Spike seriously.

Giles grinned as he saw a small jet fly away from Sunnydale. He could only hope that everyone of the men who had threatened his Slayer had been on it, though he doubted that any of them would have been willing to risk being killed by Spike.

Buffy settled comfortably against Spike in the back seat of the car, wishing that this day would just come to an end.

Spike stroked Buffy’s hair gently and gave her a soft kiss on the top of her head. “You’re home pet.”

Buffy smiled as she saw the car had pulled up outside of the library. She glanced towards Giles who had opened up her door for her.

She hopped out and followed her Watcher and the two other vampires inside, smiling as she saw the Scooby Gang grin as she walked through the door.

Willow ran to her, engulfing her in a hug, Xander quickly following suit.

“Thank god you’re back,” Xander whispered.

Buffy smiled and hugged him tightly in return.

“Actually, you should be thanking Spike,” Giles said.

Xander pulled back and saw Buffy’s quiet grin.

Joyce stepped towards Spike and gave the vampire a quick peck on the cheek. Had it been possible, Spike would have been blushing furiously.

“I knew you’d bring her home,” she whispered.

Spike just smiled, wondering how he could feel this proud about doing something to help people. He shook away his thoughts and tried to think about taking out the entire room. His thoughts wouldn’t even allow such a notion. He smiled ruefully at Buffy who had walked over to him.

“Spike saves the bloody day. Dunno how that happened,” he commented.

Buffy just smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“Doesn’t matter how it happened. As long as it did.”

Part Nine: Target

Angel paced outside the library, trying to collect his thoughts. Buffy and Spike?! He couldn’t even begin to fathom how that had happened. He needed to talk to Buffy though, but he didn’t know exactly how to approach the topic.

Ever since he had come back from hell, things between the two of them hadn’t been very clear. They were lovers trying to be friends, and failing miserably. Even now, without having to worry about Buffy growing older with him staying ever youthful, he still had the curse.

He knew it was selfish of him to even think about asking her to stay with him. He had been thinking about leaving so that she could be with someone normal, but now that she was…undead, it seemed that she never could have that normality.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He had been outside the library for the last hour, trying to give her space. He had been peeking through the window ever few moments to see what exactly she and Spike were up to, but Spike seemed to be maintaining a slight distance between them.

Inside, the Scooby gang seemed to be slipping back into their normal routine. Buffy was sitting with her mother, Joyce’s hand running absently through Buffy’s hair. Joyce was quietly talking about normal things, things that she could handle. Having her daughter turned was something she didn’t even want to think about, but she had accepted it. Buffy smiled when she heard her mom was going to be at an art exhibit for the rest of the week, starting in the morning. The distance would probably do them some good.

Giles seemed to just be staring at his Slayer every now and then, almost amazed that she was sitting there with them. The fact that she was a vampire was just beyond him in every measure. He had seen her ‘game face’ for only a split second after he had hit her, and had yet to see it emerge again.

Xander, Willow, Oz and Cordelia had slipped back into the casual banter. Somehow the kidnapping by the Council had made things easier. It made them realise that, no matter what, they would always love Buffy, vampire or not.

Angel sighed again and hesitated before heading back inside. Xander shot him a disdainful look, hating that Angel was still there. For some bizarre reason, Xander actually preferred Spike over Angel. It seemed as though Spike had come through in the end. He had brought Buffy back, and for that, Spike would always have Xander’s respect.

Beside him, Willow yawned and rubbed her eyes tiredly. Her movements caught Giles’ eye, and he looked towards the clock on the wall.

“Good lord. It’s nearly three o’clock,” he commented.

Xander looked up and grinned a little. “Well, time sure does fly when you’re not having fun,” he quipped.

Buffy gave him a slight smile and stood up. She looked at her mom and helped her to her feet.

“Uh…now what?” Buffy asked.

Giles saw the confusion in her eyes, could hear it in her voice and see it in her stance.

“Well…I would say that he uh…the Council won’t have anything planned, at…at least not for a while. You uh…you should be relatively safe,” Giles said.

Buffy nodded and stared at her Watcher, trying to tell him that she meant so much more than that. He caught on fairly quickly.

“As…as for school…it uh…it would be best to…to inform Principal Snyder that you have…for lack of a better word, passed on,” Giles said, trying to consider his words carefully.

Buffy sighed sadly. “So, school’s a no go. What about everything else? I mean…do I still patrol, or what?”

“Well…that’s entirely up to you I suppose,” Giles said.

Buffy nodded and closed her eyes. “Then I still patrol.”

Giles smiled thankfully. Not for the first time that evening, he knew he hadn’t lost her entirely.

“And uh…where exactly am I staying?” Buffy asked.

Spike looked up quickly before anyone else could answer. “You’ve got a place with me if you want it,” he offered.

The room went silent. Buffy could remember quite well the activities that had happened earlier that day. They seemed like a life time ago, but she knew they had happened. And, even though she hated to admit it, he had taken good care of her. Not to mention the other parts of the activities.

She smiled and nodded gratefully.

“You are always welcome at home Buffy,” Joyce said quietly.

Buffy looked at her mother and smiled, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. “Thank you.”

Spike put a gentle hand on the small of Buffy’s back, and that small movement made Angel completely snap.

He rushed towards his childe, grabbing his neck and yanking him painfully away from Buffy who was too startled to even say anything.

Vamping out, Angel gave a low growl at Spike. Spike paused and began laughing until Angel shoved him against a wall, beginning to crush his throat. It wasn’t as though Spike needed to breath, it was more the fact that he had seen Angel pull heads off minions when he had been Angelus that made Spike’s smile fade.

He pushed Angel away and raised his scarred eyebrow.

“You’re kidding me,” Spike said.

Angel de-vamped and gave an evil smile. “No joke. Tomorrow. Sunset. You know the place.”

With that, he stalked out of the room, ignoring the incredulous stares that everyone was giving him.

Spike tried to pull himself together, adjusting his leather duster and trying to remain calm. Buffy looked at him quizzically and walked towards him.

“What was that?” she asked.

Spike looked at her and pulled her into a hug, wondering if after tomorrow night he would ever be able to do that again. He held her in a grip that would have been painful for anyone else in the room.

She pulled away, but let his arms stay around her waist.

“Spike, what was that?” she asked. Her voice was small, afraid. She didn’t understand what was happening to him or to her, and he knew that the entire turning had upset her more than she was letting on.

Spike sighed and ducked his head into her neck, nuzzling her gently. He lifted his mouth to her ear, giving the lobe a tiny kiss.

“He just challenged me,” he said.

“Challenged? What does that mean? Challenged you for what?” she asked, fearing the answer.

He looked at her, pain reflected in both of their eyes.

“You.”

Giles looked up, somewhat interested by the notion.

“He challenged you? I wasn’t aware that that was still done,” he said curiously.

“Not very common anymore,” Spike said, his eyes meeting the Watchers. “S’only done for something real valuable.”

Giles regarded his Slayer, seeing the small smile that came to her face as she realised that Spike was calling her valuable.

“And I suppose as the head of your bloodline, he feels entitled to her,” Giles said thoughtfully.

Buffy pulled away from Spike and stared at her Watcher. “Uh, hello? Standing right here. I’m not property to be challenged over.”

Spike put a hand to her shoulder attempting to get her to calm down.

“You remember what I said earlier? Bout you being a prized commodity?” he asked.

She nodded, remembering his words. You’ll be a target. It didn’t sound particularly comforting at all.

“A uh…a vamped Slayer is something that no vampire…well, no sane vampire at least, has ever tried to do. It would uh…many vampires would see it as a uh…a novelty as it were to have a Slayer be…be dependant upon them,” Giles explained.

“And once again, standing right here. I can take care of myself you know,” she said.

“They’d try and break you luv, and…you could last for a while, but…they could do it if they wanted to,” Spike said quietly, the very thought of his feisty firecracker of a Slayer being docile and subservient sickening him to the core.

Buffy paused at that, not even wanting to think about it.

“But…why Angel? Why would he challenge you?” Buffy asked.

“He’s in love with you,” Spike replied. “And…seeing you with me is making his demon come to play.”

The entire room went silent with the implications of that simple sentence. Angelus.

Buffy shook her head, fear in her eyes. “No. No, no, no. I am not going to let you two fight over me. I don’t have to be with him if I don’t want to. He should be challenging me, not you.”

Spike grabbed her wrist gently and pulled her towards him. “Your Sire’s dead luv. He just thinks you’re vulnerable and…he thinks that you and he should be together. For eternity.”

Buffy shivered at the thought. Eternity with Angelus.

“We could leave. You and me. You wouldn’t have to fight, I’d still be with you, it’s as simple as that,” she said, rambling a little.

Spike shook his head and gently kissed her forehead, smiling not only because she was trying to protect him, but because she had chosen him without a doubt.

“I won’t back down from a challenge luv,” he said quietly.

She closed her eyes, leaning her head against his.

“Uh…what exactly is a challenge?” Willow asked quietly.

Spike looked up at the young witch and gave a small shrug. “Fight to the death. Fist and fangs only.”

Buffy’s eyes suddenly went wide and she gripped Spike tightly.

“You are so not going to fight with him over me,” she said.

“I have to,” he said. “He’s my Sire and…technically he has first rights.”

“But I’m not even from your bloodline,” she reminded him, desperately trying to think of some loophole to stop Spike and Angel from fighting.

“But I am,” Spike said, trying to think of a way to make her understand. “He’s a right git and I hate him, but in the vamp world, he’s got a right to challenge me over…”

Buffy saw him pause and she looked at him curiously. “Over what?”

“A mate,” Spike finished.

Buffy pulled back, her eyes open wide.

“And I don’t have a say in this I take it,” she said angrily.

Spike hesitated and finally nodded. “There is one way to avoid it.”

“What’s that?” Buffy asked.

Spike looked away, for some reason not even wanting to consider the option.

“That you choose neither of them,” Giles said, fascinated by the goings on.

Buffy looked at Spike’s expression, not entirely certain about what she saw written there. She thought for a moment that she was reading him wrong, but she could see that he clearly wanted to be with her.

“Oh,” Buffy said quietly.

“Dunno if that would help mate,” Spike said. “Peaches isn’t exactly incompetent. He’s persistent as hell, I’ll give the bastard that. Even if she and I weren’t…”

Willow shuddered at the thought. She remembered only too well what Angelus had wanted to do to Buffy the last time he had been free.

Spike looked towards Giles, the librarian noticing that Spike’s eyes were oddly soft. “You know as well as I do what he wants to do to her.”

Giles’ eyes widened. No matter how hard he tried, he would never be able to erase the night of his torture at Angelus’ hands. It hadn’t been the chainsaws or the cigarette butts that had nearly broken him, it had been the taunts and barbs concerning his Slayer that had nearly done him.

“I’d make her scream for me Rupert. She’ll never go back from me. She’s tasted the darkness. She was so hot. And I’m gonna make you watch me while I do it. I’ll make you watch as she calls out for me. And after that…she won’t leave me. Ever. You’ll see.”

Giles shuddered, Buffy looked at him curiously.

“What?” she asked quietly.

Giles shook his head, not even wanting to rethink about what Angelus has said in regards to his Slayer. There was no way he was going to tell it to her. She was better off not knowing.

Giles looked towards Spike. “Are you confident that you’ll win?”

Spike nodded. “There’s no way I’m letting that git anywhere near my Slayer,” he said vehemently.

Buffy bit back a smile at the claim he had made on her. My Slayer.

Willow whimpered a little fearfully. She had seen the look on Giles’ eyes as he had obviously remembered something painful about Angelus.

“And uh…if you lose?” Willow asked quietly.

Spike scowled at the young red head. “I won’t bloody lose. You can count on that.”

Part Ten: Challenge

Buffy watched Spike pace the confines of the mansion, worry stretched across his face. Buffy had never seen him looking like that, and to say that it was freaking her out was an understatement. He kept casting glances to the front door, just waiting for his senses to realise that it was nearly sunset.

Buffy continued to watch him until her movements finally snapped something inside of her.

“Will you just sit down for a minute?” she cried.

He looked up at her, startled, almost having forgotten that she was there with him. An almost impossible task since she was what had been occupying his thoughts. He didn’t want to lose her and he wasn’t entirely sure of what that meant.

He sighed and sat beside her on the couch, his leg shaking. She put a hand onto his knee to calm him down and his eyes came to meet hers, fear shining through his bright blue eyes.

“You’re going to win Spike. You’re stronger than he is,” she assured him.

He sat back in the couch, wishing he could just take her up on the offer for them to skip town and never return. They could outrun Angelus if they needed to. But, Buffy was needed in Sunnydale. She needed Sunnydale, or at least the people in Sunnydale.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Spike said quietly.

Buffy took hold of his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Hey, I’ve fought both of you, and I know who’s stronger. With you, I always had to give it my all. You gave as good as you got, but Angel…I never had to fight him with everything.”

“But you almost lost once,” he reminded her.

She gave him a lopsided smile. “I was having a crappy day.”

He smirked, and raised his eyebrows in surprise when the Slayer nestled comfortably onto his lap, her head burrowing into his shoulder. He gently leant his chin onto her shoulder.

They sat there comfortably Buffy nearly falling asleep in the comfort of his arms. He sighed and pushed her to her feet when he realised that it was beginning to get dark.

“Time for me to go luv,” he said.

He shrugged his duster onto his shoulders and went to walk out the door.

“What do you mean, for you? I’m going too,” she said.

He shook his head and walked over to her, cupping her cheek in his hand. “I don’t want you anywhere near him pet. Stay here ‘right?”

She shook her head and went to speak but was stopped when his lips met hers. All thoughts disappeared except the knowledge of his lips dancing with hers. She sighed as he pulled away, her mind turned to complete mush.

“You stay here. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he whispered against her mouth.

Knowing that she wouldn’t be allowed to follow she nodded her head and watched as he stepped back and out the door into the early evening.

------------------------

Spike stepped into the darkness, his mind a complete whirl of emotions. He had only been back in Sunnydale for one night and already his world had turned upside down. He had come wanting to kill the Slayer and now, in some bizarre twist of fate, he was ready to claim her as his mate.

He was also about to go up against his Sire to protect that claim. Unlife could not get any weirder.

He walked out the gate of the mansion, not even noticing the presence of another vampire as he left and began wandering to the cemetery. They had once met there and fought when Angel had still had his soul in tact. Neither one could bring themselves to kill the other and it had ended in an uneasy truce. Or, more to the point, they had growled at each other and eventually Angel had sauntered away.

Spike let out a low growl and quickly jumped over a hedge to get into the cemetery, moving quickly to the place they had first met. He perched himself on top of a headstone and began to wait.

------------------------

Buffy paced around the mansion, wanting desperately to follow Spike and watch the challenge take place, but she knew that, when provoked, Spike could be a formidable fighter.

Her stomach growled lowly, and with a groan of resignation, she moved to Spike’s refrigerator and grabbed a packet of the blood he kept there for emergencies. She poured it into a mug and heated it, the smell of it making her stomach growl even louder. The microwave gave a shrill ping and she took the mug out.

She sighed and flopped onto the couch, staring up at the ceiling. A noise from the entrance caught her attention and she looked up at the doorway, but saw nothing. She listened carefully and heard a quiet footstep coming towards her.

Her entire body tensed, and she grabbed her jacket that still held one of her stakes. She jumped into a defensive position, stake raised, the mug of blood place on the floor next to her foot.

She watched the doorway, never letting her eyes leave the small space. She didn’t want to be surprised by anything.

She heard a low chuckle coming from behind her, and before she even had the chance to turn, she felt something heavy and sharp hit her head. Her stake clattered to the floor, her limp body following it, landing in a heap.

“Sorry Buff,” a whispered voice said quietly. Through hazy eyes, she saw Angel leaning over her body, a concrete statue in his hands. “Nothing personal.”

With that, she blacked out.

~*~

Spike leapt off the headstone, beginning to pace to and fro, between one headstone and the next. He looked up at the sky, now completely black. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, not even caring if it messed up his perfectly slicked back hair.

“Where are you, you stupid git?” he whispered softly.

He was becoming impatient, his demon ready to fight over something that was his. He hadn’t claimed her yet, seeing as everything had happened so quickly between them, but it was definitely on his ‘to do’ list.

A twig snapped behind him and he whirled around only to find a fledgling vampire beginning to crawl out of its grave. Sighing, and not even sure why he cared, he walked towards it and swiftly put a stake through its heart before the wretched creature even had a chance to completely vacate its patch of earth.

He continued to pace and suddenly something in him snapped up suddenly.

He would have almost laughed except that he was distracted by the innate fear that gripped at his heart and he took off in a hurried run towards the mansion.

He couldn’t believe he had fallen for Angelus’ tricks. It wasn’t the first time Angelus had posed a divisionary threat to get someone away from something. Angelus had taken Buffy away from her Watcher to ensure that Drusilla could capture him.

Within minutes, he was back in the mansion, loudly calling Buffy’s name, though part of him knew it was hopeless. He could smell her blood in the air, could smell fear in the walls of the house.

He stopped short when he saw the fallen stake on the ground, a broken mug with dried blood on the floor, and another smaller patch of blood about two feet away from that.

He clutched at the back of his head, tempted to scream at the ceiling, to curse the fates. He shouldn’t even care this much. Had it been anyone but the Slayer he would have shrugged his shoulders and told his Sire that he could have the girl, but Buffy was completely different.

He grabbed the stake from the floor and ran back into the darkness, heading towards the Watcher’s for the second time in two days.

------------------------

Giles opened the door to see a distraught looking blonde vampire on the doorstep. Giles heart clenched in fear, knowing that the vampire could only be there for one reason. Buffy.

“He took her,” Spike managed to get out before Giles could even ask him to confirm his suspicions.

“He who?” Giles asked.

“Who do you think?” Spike asked angrily. His demon nearly came to the surface at the thought of Angelus having his hands anywhere near his Slayer. “The bloody poof. I went to meet his challenge and he didn’t show up. He took her!”

“Good lord,” Giles said softly.

Spike nodded quickly, his hands fidgeting nervously.

“I don’t know where he would’ve taken her,” he said desperately. “I woulda said the mansion, but they weren’t there, I would’ve smelt ‘em for sure. And the old factories useless, falling in and all that. I checked out his apartment and he wasn’t there either. I don’t know where else to go.”

Giles thought for a moment, unsure as to how Angelus’ mind worked. All Giles knew was that the demon would take great joy in breaking the girl. He shuddered at the thought. He tried to clear his mind, attempting to think of a place where Angelus would take Buffy. He couldn’t even imagine a place where Angelus would feel he wouldn’t be found.

“You’ve known him longer than I,” Giles said. “Did he…did he have any favourite places in the past? Anywhere that he would have felt…safe?”

Spike rolled his eyes at the word ‘safe’ though he knew what Giles meant. Somewhere where he wouldn’t be interrupted.

“He’s smart but impatient as hell. You’ve seem him when he doesn’t get what he wants. Spoiled brat is all he is, bloody git. He won’t be anywhere obvious, won’t be somewhere that we think to look,” Spike said.

Giles nodded and grabbed his jacket from the coat rack. He stepped out the door, locking it behind him.

“Where are we going?” Spike asked.

“To get Willow and Xander. They have the right to know about this, and…perhaps they would be able to think of something that we can’t,” Giles explained.

Part Eleven: Tortured

Everything was quiet, though she could hear a metallic clinking if she listened hard enough. There was also repetitive dripping coming from behind her. He head felt heavy…her whole body felt heavy come to think of it. Her eyes were shut, she didn’t even think she had the energy to open them if she wanted to.

She could feel another presence in the darkness with her. Even without opening her eyes, she could tell it would be pitch black if she were to open them. She didn’t know who was with her, though she knew it was a vampire.

Her mind tried to sort everything out, but some part of her also didn’t want to wake up to reality. She could tell that such an awakening would be far too painful.

A cold hand suddenly touched her stomach making her jump, startled. Her eyes opened and she tried to move defensively, but she finally realised that her hands were tied above her head, her back against a wall. She could also feel the cold bricks digging into her bare skin and she could tell that the vampire she hated more than any other had taken her clothing.

Her eyes automatically adjusted to the light and she could make out Angelus’ features in the darkness. Holding in a groan she tried to stand up properly instead of letting her weight rest on her shackled wrists.

“You’re awake,” he said quietly. The voice made her shiver with remembrance. It was the mocking tones of Angelus trying to mimic the gentleness of Angel. She had heard it so many times when he had lost his soul.

“You’re an asshole,” she replied.

Her head flew to the side, his flat palm hitting her cheek with a resounding thwack. She tasted blood in her mouth and quickly spat it out, remembering the last time she had swallowed her own blood.

“A Slayer’s blood is a powerful aphrodisiac luv.”

Angelus grinned at her and gripped her chin tightly with one hand, making her eyes meet his in a hateful glare.

“You could have spared yourself the trouble Buff,” he said tauntingly. “It didn’t have to be this way.”

“What way?” she asked, trying to move her jaw out of his painful grip.

He pressed a bruising kiss on her lips, his hand still holding her head in place, making it impossible for her to jerk away from him. She didn’t respond to him in anyway and he eventually pulled back, her blood on his mouth. She could feel the cut on her swollen lips, but was in no position to do anything about the blood dripping down her chin.

“We could’ve been together Buff. You and me, forever. Just the way it was meant to be,” he said. He brought his mouth down to the juncture between her neck and her shoulder, kissing it sensually. His hands ran gently across her stomach, moving up to her breasts.

She closed her eyes, repeating a short mantra over in her head. “Don’t let it get to you, don’t let it get to you, don’t let it get to you.”

He chuckled suddenly as though he could hear her silent motto.

“You remember that night don’t you Buff?” he whispered, his mouth coming up to suck gently at her earlobe, tugging gently.

She breathed in sharply even though she didn’t need to.

“I remember,” she whispered.

She tried to make her voice sound as though she was enjoying the movements of his mouth on her ear.

“You were a terrible lover,” she said, her eyes dancing as she mocked him.

He growled and suddenly sank his teeth into the lobe of her ear, violently pulling out one of her earrings with his fangs. She cried out in pain and glared hatefully at him as he spat the small silver sleeper onto the ground.

“Say that again,” he dared her, his teeth bared.

She moved to say it again but his hands come up to her ear, flicking the lobe. She cried out again, trying to get away from the hand that began squeezing the wound viciously.

He stopped suddenly when he saw tears fill her eyes. He brought his hand away from her ear and up to her face, smearing it with her own blood. He caressed her gently as he had done so many times before, though she had never flinched away from his touch before.

“Don’t cry luv,” he said. At that moment, he sounded so much like Spike that she gave a soft whimper and leant into the comfort of his hand.

He gave a feral grin and brought his lips to her neck, gently kissing the mark that Spike had made. He could tell it was a fresh wound, meaning that his childe had fed off the Slayer sometime that day. The very thought made his blood boil, and once again, something inside of him snapped.

Quickly, his teeth sunk into her skin, the chained girl giving a sharp yelp of pain as he began drinking. He could taste Spike in her blood, could taste the power of Slayer’s blood coursing through her and into his mouth. He swallowed greedily, like a young child suckling from its mother.

He stopped when he felt her pass out from blood loss. With a final glare at the unconscious Slayer, he settled back into the old sofa that resided in the Summers’ basement. He smiled, knowing he had picked the perfect location. No one would ever think to look for her in her own home, especially with Joyce gone away for the week.

~*~

Willow was frantic, moving across the floor of Giles’ apartment like a caged animal. She was wracking her brain, trying to think of places where Angelus would have taken Buffy that no one would think about.

“What about the library? He knows we wouldn’t even think to look there,” she said, looking up hopefully.

Spike shook his head sadly. “It’s too obvious, even for him.”

Xander just sat at the table, his head in his hands. Fear struck through him and he looked up at Giles with tear filled eyes.

“Have you spoken to her mom?” he asked.

Giles shook his head. “She said she was going to be away for the week at an art exhibit. She offered to stay, but Buffy felt it was best if she went ahead as planned. Probably safer for her to be away at the moment.”

Spike nodded his agreement and continued to try and work out where Angelus would have taken his Slayer. He sighed loudly and stood up from the couch.

“We’re no good to her just sitting around here. We need to look for her,” he said.

Giles nodded his agreement. “Quite right. Willow, Xander, I want you two to stick together. No heroics. Especially not against Angelus,” he warned.

He handed them each a cross and stake and opened up the door to his apartment.

“Check the school, just in case. I’ll be at one of the cemeteries if you need me. Make sure you stay together at all times,” he repeated.

The two nodded and walked out, wishing the two Brits ‘good luck’ before closing the door behind them.

Giles opened up a chest at the bottom of the stairs and threw Spike a sword and a stake. He picked up a small battle axe for himself and went to the door.

“I’ll look through the cemeteries, search through the crypts and the like,” Giles said.

Spike nodded and followed the Watcher out the door. “I’ll take the usual demon haunts, beat up Willy, see if he’s heard anything. News spreads fast in Sunnydale.”

Giles nodded and the two went their separate ways, fear gripping each of them. They had both been subjected to Angelus’ cruelty, and neither men wanted the Slayer to have first hand experience of what her first lover was truly capable of.

~*~

She awoke, an acute sense of hunger gripping her stomach. Her head felt light compared to the rest of her body, and she knew that if she wasn’t fed soon, she wouldn’t be awake for much longer.

She could smell blood in the air, her own, her mind whispered quietly to her. The smell was driving her crazy with hunger, and the vampire on the other side of the room knew it.

Angelus chuckled slightly and stood up, enjoying the sight of the Slayer, bound and helpless. He moved towards her and put his hands on her tiny waist. She struggled against him, but his grip just became tighter until she eventually stopped, knowing that he wouldn’t give.

“Hungry?” he asked.

A dim memory came to her. Her Sire had woken her up with the same words only a few days ago. It felt like a life-time had passed since then.

She looked up at him, hatred written clearly in her eyes. He grinned at her, enjoying the look on her face. He pushed his face forward so that their noses bumped against one another. She tried to pull back, but the back of her head found a brick wall stopping her.

“Yes or no Buff. It’s a one time deal, today only,” he said.

Somehow, she knew he wasn’t kidding.

Her eyes closed, knowing that she was defeated. He would break her by using her weaknesses, ones that couldn’t be helped. Her need for blood was one of them.

“Tick tock, tick tock,” he said, looking down at his wrist, even though he wore no watch.

“Yes,” she managed to strangle out. Her mouth was unbearably dry, her throat hurting terribly, both inside and out. She could feel the dry blood on her throat, the two deep puncture wounds on her neck opening if she made any sharp movements.

Angelus grinned at her admission. His hands slid up her back, pushing her body off the wall. He pulled her onto him, grinding his body against hers. She tried to pull away, but he had the advantage of two free hands and of not being weakened by blood loss.

“You didn’t say please,” he whispered cruelly.

She closed her eyes, wondering when this never-ending nightmare would stop. In the forty-eight hours that she had been a vampire, she had been kidnapped twice and drained of her strength, energy and blood.

She didn’t say a word, not wanting to let him win this sadistic game he was trying to make her play. She knew that the second she gave in, he would win the entire battle, and that was something she did not want to happen.

“Come on Buff,” he whispered. His hands ran up her arms, squeezing her wrists. She didn’t even want to know how she had pins and needles seeing as she didn’t technically have circulation, but her arms felt numb under his hands. “Beg me for it.”

She looked up at him, knowing she would regret not asking him for food, knowing her body wouldn’t last very long without it, but also knowing that she would lose the second she said ‘please’.

“You should know I’m not the begging type,” she said.

He growled loudly and stepped away from her. He leered at her and leant his head forward to her ear again, his tongue dancing over the lobe that he had maimed the evening before, reminding her that she couldn’t defend herself against any of his attacks.

“You’ll be begging me before long Buff. I promise you that.”

He stepped back and went to walk up the stairs. He chuckled to himself as he heard her reply.

“You’ll have to stake me before I beg you for anything, you overgrown mosquito.”

He stopped short on the stairs and looked back at her. “When I’m through with you, you’ll beg me to stake you.”

The door slammed shut behind him, leaving her alone in the darkness, frightened and starving. She closed her eyes, not willing to admit defeat even though she knew that she was completely and utterly screwed.

Part Twelve: Begging

Willow and Xander walked through Sunnydale, having thoroughly checked Sunnydale High School. They had even checked the bell tower at the top of the school, only to find absolutely nothing. Xander kicked an empty coke can across the street.

Somehow, they had managed to walk to Buffy’s house without even knowing that they were headed there. Xander stopped suddenly and looked up at Willow. She glanced at him curiously.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

He grinned and shook his head in disbelief.

“What’s the one place that we wouldn’t think to look for Buffy?” he asked.

She shook her head, unable to decipher what he was trying to tell her. He turned her around and pointed to the house across the street. The Summers’ residence.

Willow’s eyes went wide. “Oh god, Xander!” she cried. She turned around and hugged him joyfully, not even stopping to think about her actions. He hugged her back quickly and the two of them stepped away from each other and towards the darkened house.

Xander stopped in the driveway and moved a large rock from its place, revealing a key buried beneath some dirt. He turned to Willow suddenly.

“I want you to stay here,” he whispered. “If I don’t come out, you need to find Giles.”

“Xander, he said to stick together,” she said, really not wanting to be left alone in the dark.

“I know,” he told her quickly, “but if something happens in there, it’s no use for both of us to be trapped. If I’m not out in fifteen minutes, then something’s gone wrong okay?”

She hesitated, extremely fearful about letting Xander go into the house alone. Eventually, she nodded her agreement. He put a hand on her arm and gave a brave but petrified smile.

“Good luck,” she whispered as he unlocked the door and quietly went inside.

------------------------

Angelus listened from the kitchen as the front door opened quietly. He grimaced, wondering how his brilliant hiding place had so easily been discovered. He had barely even started breaking Buffy properly.

It had only been two and a half hours since he had taken the girl. He smiled, thinking that he had managed to nearly break her so easily. He should have known that under the tough Slayer exterior, she was nothing more than a weak and pathetic child.

Lurking in the shadows, he watched as Xander went quietly up the stairs, stake and cross in his hands. Angelus quickly moved to the staircase, grabbing Xander’s ankle through the wooden bars and yanking him down the stairs.

Xander fell in a heap, surprised by the sudden grip on his foot. He tried to stand but found himself being punched in the jaw. He looked up to see Angelus standing above him.

“I’ve wanted to do this for months,” the demon said, a feral grin on his face. With that, Angelus punched him again and Xander fell into a world of blackness.

------------------------

She had never felt hunger like this. The very feeling of it was enough to make her go crazy. She knew that if pushed, she would do just about anything to get fed. Possibly even beg for it.

She heard the door open again, and she tried to steel herself against whatever attack he had for her next.

The sudden smell of blood in the air made her demon spring forth eagerly, the chains rattling as she tried to break free to get to the source of the smell. She couldn’t see very well in the darkness, her demon too weak with thirst to try and even distinguish shape, form or colour.

Angelus stepped in front of her, holding up a warm wrist to her mouth. She could hear the blood pumping in the veins, hear it crying out to her. She could almost taste the power it would give her, the strength it would regenerate.

Her lips moved forward unconsciously, but suddenly her meal was taken away from her. She growled angrily, her eyes glowing yellow as she glared up at the demon who was taunting her.

“Not for you,” he whispered, his lips coming to her cheek. “Not unless you beg me for it.”

She snarled and pouted, if it is possible for a vampire to pout. He just smirked and waved Xander’s wrist in front of her, the proverbial dangling carrot.

She hesitated for a moment, but her demon refused to starve.

“Please,” she whispered, unwilling to offer anything more.

Angelus, however, wasn’t satisfied.

“Angelus please,” she said, her voice soft. She could hardly think straight, the smell of the blood and the sound of the heart pumping was sending her to the brink of insanity.

“Tell me what you need,” he whispered, nipping gently at her neck, making her bleed once more, the added smell sending her senses haywire.

“Blood,” she whispered, desperately craving it. “Please.”

He shook his head, still not satisfied with her begging skills. She closed her eyes, wondering how much more he wanted before he would satisfy her craving. Somehow she knew she would have to say the word ‘beg’ before any amount of blood passed her lips.

“Angelus, please. I need it.”

“Need blood, or need me?” he asked.

“Both,” she admitted quietly.

“What will you do for me if I give you some?” he asked.

She almost groaned, but she just kept her eyes closed, trying to stay unattached to herself. It wasn’t easy when her demon was fighting for dominance when she didn’t have the strength to fight back. The demon won.

“Anything,” she replied.

He growled his approval and threw the wrist in front of her lips, pushing it onto her fangs.

Without thought or hesitation, she bit down into the soft flesh and drank deeply.

~*~

Willow bounced uncomfortably in the spot she was crouching in beside the tree. It had been twenty minutes, but she wanted to give Xander the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was doing a thorough search.

She heard a voice calling her name quietly from behind her. She spun quickly, hoping to see Xander. When she saw Giles, she was both relieved and disappointed.

“Where’s Xander?” the Watcher asked.

She pointed to the house and saw Giles’ face drop.

“Do you know if Buffy’s in there?” he asked.

Willow shrugged. “He told me to go and find you if he didn’t come out in fifteen minutes,” she said.

“I see,” Giles replied, maintaining his exterior look of calm. “How long ago was that?”

“Twenty minutes ago,” she replied.

Giles grimaced and began walking towards the house.

“Be careful,” Willow called.

He nodded and continued on.

------------------------

Angelus grinned as the tiny blonde vampire drank at the wrist he held at her mouth. Her eyes were closed as she fed, and he could tell that he was now in a position to make the claim before Spike had a chance. He tore the wrist away from her, a cry coming from Buffy’s mouth as her dinner was cast to the floor in a heap.

He stepped forward and looked down at her, bending his mouth down to hers, licking the blood off from around her mouth. She hadn’t even drank enough to be at a quarter strength, just enough to keep her awake for the next hour or so. She was too weak to fight back or even flinch away at his touch.

“More?” he asked gently, wondering if the girl even knew who she had been biting.

She nodded meekly and he brought his own wrist to her mouth. The claiming bite needed an exchange of their blood, as well as a small ritual. He had yet to work out how he was going to get her to repeat the words, but he would come to that in a minute.

He winced in pleasure filled pain as her fangs ripped into his wrist. He felt her suck deeply and he in turn bent his fangs down to her neck.

“I claim thee as mine,” he whispered against her neck. “Mine for eternity.”

She didn’t even hear the words that he spoke, could only feel her stomach beginning to fill properly. Of course, she was losing blood as quickly as she was gaining it, though her body was having trouble understanding that.

She felt him pull away, gently taking his wrist away from her. She blinked in confusion, trying to get her head to stay in the one spot.

“I need you to say something for me Buff,” he whispered gently. He knew that harsh words wouldn’t get him anywhere while he tried to get her to reciprocate the claim and accept it.

She looked up and nodded, all rational Slayer thoughts completely departed from her mind. She had a taste for blood, and her hunger was making her agreeable to even the worst of acts. Submission to Angelus.

“Thy claim I accept,” he whispered. “Repeat it.”

She went to repeat it, knowing that as soon as she was done, she would be fed. Something kicked inside of her, the words finally registering in her mind. She looked up, her eyes finally focusing. And Angelus knew she was back,

“I’d really rather not,” she said, glaring at him.

Angelus gave a small smirk and before she even knew what was happening, she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. She looked down to see a small dagger in Angelus’ hands, now covered in her blood. She swallowed in pain, not allowing herself to cry out.

She breathed in sharply, trying to get away from the blade as Angelus made a trail from her navel up to her neck with the tip of the knife. He was slow in his actions, but he was pressing hard enough to leave a broken line of blood on her front.

She bit back a sob, holding in her tears.

“You’re mine Buff,” he said, caressing her skin with the cold metal. “You promised to do anything for me. All you need to do is say a few words for me.”

“I’m never gonna accept your claim,” she told him clearly.

He grinned cruelly and dug his dagger in, making a deep slit on her shoulder. He tore it out and made another and another. The shape of an ‘A’. She gasped at the pain, her body feeling as though it were on fire. She knew that she was close to losing consciousness, something she desperately did not want to lose.

She had pissed him off badly, and that was never a good thing where he was concerned. She didn’t really want to wake up and find his entire name engraved into her.

She heard movement behind him, could see something in the shadows, but the demon in front of her was far too caught up in trying to make her cry out. She whimpered to keep his attention on her, making him grin even more.

He was about to begin to carve ‘n’ next to the ‘A’ but without even sensing anyone else in the room, he felt something sharp enter the centre of his back, piercing his chest. Buffy smiled when she saw the surprised expression on his face, and the subsequent turning to dust. Her body finally relaxed and once more she fell into unconsciousness.

Part Thirteen: Staying

Giles quickly unshackled her hands, catching her and gently placing her onto the couch, swiftly removing his jacket and putting it over the girls shoulders. He raced to Xander’s side, checking for the boys pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt it going steadily.

Giles tapped Xander’s face gently, slowly taking him from the darkness. Xander looked up groggily and gave a small smile.

“So much for no heroics,” Giles said gently.

Xander looked a little sheepish and began to unconsciously scratch at his wrist. Giles caught the movement and stopped him from touching it. He gently took Xander’s wrist in his hand, expecting the bite marks. Xander gasped in surprise when he saw the two little dots of blood on his wrist.

“Did Angelus do this?” Giles asked.

Xander tried to think, but really couldn’t tell Giles anything. “I was kinda…unconscious,” he replied. “But…if it was him, I wouldn’t still be alive.”

He looked sadly towards Buffy’s prone form. He breathed in sharply when he saw how still she was. She wasn’t breathing or moving or doing anything to show that she was alive.

“Is she…I mean…she’s not…”

“She’ll be fine,” Giles said, adding a silent ‘I hope’. “I just imagine she’s rather…hungry.”

Xander stood up shakily, leaning on Giles for support. “You want me to go get something from the butcher?”

Giles nodded and Xander quickly went up the stairs, leaving Giles alone with his Slayer.

Giles sat on the couch, lifting her gently and placing her head in his lap. He took Angelus’ dagger and cut a small line on his wrist, not deep enough to cut any of his veins, but enough to make him bleed.

He put his wrist to the girls mouth, the smell bringing her back to reality. She latched onto his wrist gently, her blunt teeth not even vamping into fangs. She suckled at him, not even realising where she was or who was feeding her.

She could feel someone gently stroking her hair, whispering sweet nothings to her. A British voice, her mind told her. But the blood was too warm to be Spike’s. She opened her eyes and focused on the figure above her. She saw Giles and immediately panicked, pushing his wrist away from her mouth.

He held her tightly even as she tried to push him away.

“You’re weak Buffy. You need to eat something,” he said coaxingly.

She shook her head, not even wanting to think about the possibility of hurting her Watcher. “No. Not from you.”

“Yes Buffy, come on. You need your strength,” he whispered.

She shook her head, closing her eyes, trying to ignore the tantalising smell of what he was freely offering her.

“No,” she managed to choke out.

She looked up suddenly as the bottom stair creaked, fearful that somehow Angelus was back to finish what he had started. All she saw, however, was Willow who looked completely shocked to find a naked Buffy laying on Giles lap with Giles’ bleeding wrist near her mouth.

“Giles,” Willow said, panicking at the sight of it.

“Willow, it’s fine. I need you to run upstairs and get some of Buffy’s clothes for her,” he said.

Willow hesitated, wondering if Giles had been turned, but she couldn’t see Angelus anywhere in sight. She turned and went back up the stairs, heading towards Buffy’s room to retrieve her clothes.

Xander had run out of the house like there was something chasing him, a thought that Willow didn’t particularly want to consider. She had only entered the house out of sheer curiousity.

She grabbed a pair of sweats and a tank top for Buffy, not even bothering with underwear. She figured that Buffy would go up and get it when she was strong enough.

Racing back down to the basement, she handed the clothing to Giles who promptly turned an interesting shade of red.

“Uh…perhaps you could uh…assist her with…” he trailed off.

Willow looked at him blankly and finally got the message. Giles gently helped Buffy to sit up, her head beginning to spin. She touched her stomach in an attempt to ease her nausea, but only winced when her hand came in contact with the cuts Angelus had made.

Giles stood up, his own legs a little wobbly. He went to the stairs, looking away from Buffy as Willow quickly helped her to get changed.

The red-head paled considerably when she saw the extent of the cuts and bruises that adorned her friends body. She gave a small gasp at the ‘A’ on Buffy’s shoulder blade.

“Giles, I think we’ll need some antiseptic over here,” Willow called.

Giles nodded, but didn’t dare look over. Not only did he feel it was completely inappropriate, but he didn’t want to see the damage that had been done to his young charge. He didn’t even want to think about the things that Angelus could have done while he had her in his clutches.

“I’d make her scream for me Rupert.”

He headed up the stairs, and quickly grabbed the first aid kit that Mrs Summers kept in the kitchen. Ever since finding out that Buffy was the Slayer, she had kept a good supply of first aid materials. Buffy, however, had only once let her mom see how badly hurt she sometimes was after patrolling.

Joyce had taken to staying up until she knew Buffy was back in the house, unable to sleep while her daughter may be in danger. Buffy had only once come home, still sporting cuts and bruises and Joyce had nearly had a heart attack at the sight of it. Since then, Buffy was in the habit of first going to Giles’ to get cleaned up and then hurrying home.

He went back down the stairs, thankful that Buffy was fully covered once more. He could see that she was shaking, though he wasn’t sure if it was from fear, blood-loss or the cold.

He leant down in front of her, gently reaching his hand up to touch her cheek. She flinched away from him, trying to turn her head. He didn’t force it, knowing she was still confused.

“Uh…maybe we should get her out of here,” Willow suggested.

Giles hesitated but agreed knowing that Willow’s idea was probably for the best.

In one swift movement, she was in his arms and he carried her up to the living room, placing her gently on the couch.

------------------------

Spike saw the whelp running down the main street towards him, something that would have usually have made Spike burst into laughter. He grabbed Xander’s arm, stopping him abruptly.

“Did you find her?” he asked desperately.

Xander nodded, clutching at his chest, trying to regulate his breathing.

“Where?”

“At Buff’s house. Down in the basement,” he said.

“Why are you running?” Spike asked.

“She’s weak. Giles sent me to get blood,” Xander explained.

Spike nodded and the two men took off in opposite directions.

------------------------

Spike raced through the door, somewhat surprised that there was no barrier keeping him out. He looked into the living room and felt his heart clench with fear as he saw Buffy lying motionless on the couch. He ran to her, kneeling beside her.

He looked up at her Watcher, fear and panic in his eyes.

“Is she…she’s orright, yeah?” Spike asked, trying to maintain a calm exterior.

Giles nodded and motioned for the blonde vampire to be quiet. He was somewhat startled by how panicked Spike seemed to be over the Slayer’s condition, but, then again, he had been somewhat startled to see Spike taking charge when the Council had tried to take her away.

“She should be fine. I sent Xander to get some blood from the butchers,” Giles explained.

“Yeah, ran into him on the way,” Spike said.

He lifted Buffy up by the shoulders, gently tapping her cheek to make her wake up. She looked at him through sleepy eyes, and managed a small smile. He sat beside her and let her rest her head on his shoulder as he positioned her to sit on his lap.

He gently pulled her mouth close to his neck.

“You need to drink Buffy,” he whispered.

Willow looked on in shock, amazed by how gentle Spike was being with her best friend. She hadn’t really had too much interaction with Spike, but seeing a vampire without a soul being caring and considerate was something that was highly curious.

Buffy mumbled something against Spike’s neck, too tired and too weak to manage any real words.

Spike looked up at Giles frantically.

“Has she been like this the whole time?” he asked.

Giles nodded as he removed his glasses and habitually began cleaning them.

“She uh…I let her uh…I let her have some of my blood but, she…she refused to drink when she was strong enough to see who it was,” he said.

Spike looked at him in awe, shocked that the Watcher had opened up his veins for the vampire that sat in his lap.

“Do you have a knife or something Rupert?” Spike asked. “She’s not with it enough to vamp out.”

Giles handed Angelus’ dagger to Spike who took it without a word. He made a small hole in his neck, wincing at the pain, and gently brought the girls mouth to the bleeding wound.

Without a thought, Buffy latched onto Spike’s neck, sucking at his blood. Giles turned away, not wishing to see his Slayer drinking even though he had watched her drink from him earlier. It somehow made everything seem more real to see her taking blood from Spike.

Willow too looked away, the sight of her best friend feeding from another vampire being far too distasteful to stomach.

Spike fiddled with the dagger in his hands and suddenly stopped twirling it. He looked at it carefully and shot a glance towards Giles.

“Where’s Angelus?” he asked.

“Dust,” Giles replied. He had trouble keeping a note of satisfaction out of his voice, something that Spike didn’t miss.

He nodded, thankful that his Sire had finally been taken out.

“Did he…I mean, do you know if he…” Spike trailed off, not even wanting to think of the word ‘rape’ in regards to Angelus and the Slayer.

Giles shook his head. “I don’t think so. He was attempting to claim her, but…from what I saw, she wouldn’t reciprocate the claim.”

Spike breathed a sigh of relief and gently pushed Buffy away from him, laying her down on the couch and watching as she fell asleep in his lap.

“Is she…” Giles trailed off, not entirely sure for how to word his concern.

“She’ll be fine. She’s hungry as anything though. How much blood did she lose?” Spike asked.

Giles stood up and bent down beside his Slayer, moving the edge of her crop top away to let Spike see the letter Angelus had carved into the girls skin. He backed away when he heard Spike growl.

The vampire cradled Buffy’s head gently, tilting it to the side. He felt tears prick his eyes as he took in the angry bite marks on her neck and the still bleeding earlobe that was missing an earring.

Spike looked up at Giles who now sat on the single sofa on the opposite side of the room, Willow standing behind the Watcher, as though he would be able to offer protection if Spike suddenly turned on them.

“The girl’s been a vamp for a day and she’s already been nicked by the Council, and taken by Angelus. Makes you wonder what’s gonna happen next,” Spike said softly.

“I don’t particularly wish to ask this,” Giles began nervously, “but…do you plan on staying with her?”

Spike glared at the Watcher, but his eyes softened as he realised that Giles wasn’t making an accusation, rather he was making sure that his Slayer was going to be well looked after.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Spike assured Giles. “Not without her. She makes life interesting, I’ll give you that.”

He gently stroked the girls hair, hating that he was so worried about her, but knowing he wouldn’t change it for anything in his unlife.

“So, you’ll stay in Sunnydale then?” Giles asked.

Spike placed a gentle kiss on Buffy’s forehead and stared at her even as he answered the Watcher’s question.

“’Til the end of the world.”

EPILOGUE: MATED

Spike leant against the headstone, his arms crossed over his chest, an expression of indifference on his face. If you looked at him closely enough though, you could tell that he was a little anxious. He flinched and forced himself to stay calm.

The blonde female vampire that he was watching cried out in pain as a stake was thrust into her heart and she scattered into ashes. The other female blonde that had done the staking looked towards her lover and mate with a satisfied grin.

“That makes nine, right?” she asked.

“Ten,” he replied easily, bending down to kiss her. He was torn between loving and hating watching his Slayer fight. He loved watching on the one hand because it meant that he was ready to shag her minutes later, and hated it for the very same reason. There had been at least fourteen different occasions when they hadn’t even made it out of the cemetery before they’d strewn clothes across the ground.

“Yay me!” she cheered. “You hungry?”

He laughed and swung an arm around her shoulder as they made their way out onto the street.

“For you luv, always,” he replied, winking at her.

She hit him across the chest, but didn’t tell him that she wasn’t thinking exactly the same thing. Spike smirked, wondering whether it was his bad influence on her or because of the demon that now resided within the tiny blonde girl.

“We should check in with Giles before we head home,” she said. “He’ll start worrying soon.”

She checked her new pager that her Watcher had bought for her so that she could tell him she was home safely in case she was caught unawares by the sunrise and saw that Giles hadn’t paged her all evening.

“He worries too bloody much,” Spike grumbled.

“Well at least if we check in, mom’ll make your hot chocolate,” she said.

Spike immediately acquiesced, making Buffy laugh long and loud.

“How’s the nibblet doin’?” Spike asked.

“Spike, we saw her yesterday!” Buffy said. “She’ll still be fine.”

“But still…she’s a little cutie,” Spike said. “All blonde hair and green eyes like her da.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. She couldn’t believe that Spike of all people…well, of all vampires anyway, was being clucky of Buffy’s new little sister.

Buffy unlocked the house on Revello Drive and opened the door, she and Spike entering quietly so as not to wake the six-month-old Dawn Summers-Giles.

They checked the kitchen first, unsurprised to find both Giles and Joyce sitting at the counter drinking tea.

“Hey people,” Buffy greeted.

Joyce smiled and pulled out two seats for them, Buffy and Spike taking their regular spots at the island counter.

“How did patrol go?” Giles asked.

“Same as always,” Buffy replied. “Fought some vamps, dusted some vamps, came home for hot chocolate. How’s Dawnie?”

Giles smiled brilliantly at the mention of his daughter. He still had trouble believing that he was a father. It had taken he and Joyce nearly two years to overcome the awkwardness over the ‘band candy’ incident, and after that, they had become friends, then lovers, then husband and wife. When they had discovered that she was pregnant with Giles’ child, neither of them could have been more thrilled.

“She’s doing brilliantly,” Giles gushed. “She’s over that dreaded cold that Xander gave her, so she’s far happier today.”

“Good to hear,” Buffy said.

“Oh and your father called,” Joyce added. “He asked why he’d only got an invitation instead of a phone call asking him to give you away.”

Buffy grinned. “Did you tell him it was cos I already have a proper dad?”

Giles smiled fondly at his step-daughter.

“Not exactly,” Joyce said. “Rupert was the one who told him that.”

Spike laughed, wishing he had been there to see that particular confrontation.

“I hope you at least told him that it wasn’t an official service or anything. Just an unofficial spiritual ritual thingy to mate us properly,” Buffy said.

“We explained that you didn’t want to have it in a church,” Giles said. “We thought it best not to tell him that the only reason he was even invited was because we needed seventh person in the circle.”

The other six were Giles, Joyce, Willow, Xander, Oz and Cordy. Hank Summers made seven.

“So he’s coming right?” Buffy asked. “I dunno if I can really just get a stranger to step in for us. It has to be people who at least partially like us.”

Spike stood up and stood behind Buffy placing his arms around her waist, his chin resting on her shoulder lightly.

“He loves you, luv,” Spike assured her, beating both Joyce and Giles to saying the same thing.

“We’ll see how observant he is at least,” Giles added. “See if he realises that you don’t look a day over eighteen even though you’re nearly twenty-one.”

“That’s pretty good for a Slayer, huh Giles?” Buffy said. “Although I guess it’s kinda nullified seeing as I’m kinda…”

“Vampy?” Joyce finished.

“As for example.”

“I think in the eyes of all you hold dear, you are still very much the same girl we knew,” Giles said. “And twenty-one is impressive no matter how you look at it.”

The clock struck midnight and Buffy reluctantly stood up, leaning back in Spike’s embrace.

“So, midnight tomorrow, right?” Buffy asked.

Giles nodded.

“Good. Cos I have been waiting for two years for this alignment, so…make sure you’re not late,” Buffy implored.

Giles nodded and looked at the two blonde vampires. “Just make certain you don’t feed at all in the next twenty-four hours. Not even from each other.”

Giles and Joyce both turned blind eyes to the disappointed looks that both Buffy and Spike momentarily allowed to pass over their faces. They walked Buffy and Spike to the door, waving goodbye and turned to walk inside.

“We never did work out what changed him, did we?” Joyce asked.

Giles shook his head.

“Perhaps it was just her. Or fate. Or just because we live on a hellmouth.”

“Maybe he’s always been in love with her,” Joyce said smiling, the romantic within stepping out.

“Perhaps. As long as she is happy, then…it really doesn’t matter, does it?”

END