Forever Again
by SpikesKat
A/N: Forever began Post AtS Destiny, although I manipulated that episode in my little Spuffy mind to where Spike never pulled that crap with Harmony. He recorporealized and then later left. Then Forever began and ended. Now, with Forever Again, I’m using my creative license and am manipulating the rest of the season of AtS. Basically, the series was put on hold while my story played out and the timeline is picking up with this story during Harm’s Way. I’ll be manipulating the rest of the S.5 episodes to suit my story, although chronologically, they’ll play out as normal. Now, if I haven’t confused you too much, here’s chapter two…
~*~*~*~*~
Chapter 2
The sire’s blood that
flooded her mouth and slipped down her throat was by far the best thing she’d
ever tasted. Buffy couldn’t get
enough of it, drove her fangs deeper into his neck as she took the sweet elixir
into her mouth, moaning in delight at the tangy flavor. Feeling the power of it
slake her thirst and causing her body to vibrate with the potency of his blood.
She growled, grinding her
body closer as she lay on top of Spike and continued to take long pulls from his
neck.
Spike was starting to feel
weak from blood loss as his childe continued to feed from him.
The soothing motion of his hands down her back stilled and he began to
growl a warning for her to stop. Again
she didn’t listen to him, and he used what remained of his strength to pry her
fangs out of his neck.
Her eyes opened and her
amber gaze took in the angry visage of her sire and realized she’d done it
again. She had to get away, and
now. She didn’t trust herself
around anyone at present.
Jumping off of Spike’s
body, she tore out of the training room – shame at what she’d almost done
nearly overwhelming her. Buffy ignored the sound of her name being shouted by
her sire, wanting only to get away, as far away from everyone as she could.
Her feet flew down the
stairs – her motions a mere blur for anyone that happened to see her.
Not that there was, however. She
was sure the young Slayers had heeded the male vampire’s warning and were
probably hiding from her right now. Tears fell from her eyes as she raced out of
the building, the sun having recently set and granting her an easy escape, no
clear destination in mind.
‘Get away.
Get far away,’ her
mind chanted.
And she did, her feet
continuing to eat up the ground beneath her, putting as much distance as
possible between herself and the others.
She ignored the pull of
her mate urging her to return to him.
To let him take care of her. Severing
the mental connection to him he exerted through the claim, she raced on,
unmindful of the tears that continued to fall from her amber-colored eyes.
Eventually she stopped,
her ears attuned to the night sounds all around her. She sniffed the air, her enhanced senses picking up nothing
or no one around her. Once
relatively secure of her safety, her legs buckled and she sank to the damp grass, sobs wracking her slender frame.
~*~*~*~*~
Spike pulled himself to a
sitting position after Buffy leapt off his prone body and raced from the room.
Weakened from the loss of blood she’d consumed from him, he could do
nothing more than shout her name, his hand raised as if to halt her flight.
When she didn’t stop,
his hand dropped to his side, defeated. He
could feel her anguish and guilt through their claim and he used it to get her
to come back. Telling her that
he’d take care of her, that they’d work through this together.
Then it was gone, the connection they shared was severed, like a candle
suddenly snuffed by a gust of wind. And,
that scared him more than her sudden reversion to the true vampire demon that
shared her body with the Slayer’s demon.
Panicked, he jumped to his
feet, using the last of his strength to rush downstairs to the study.
He needed to talk to somebody, let them know that the Slayer had had
another episode; he needed to know what to do.
He started with her
watcher, not quite ready to involve his grandsire just yet.
Besides, it had been Rupert that had been the one to find that prophecy
relating to the joint demons inhabiting the Slayer’s body, so he’d be the
likely one to help. Spike paced back and forth behind the desk as he waited for
the Englishman to answer his phone. There
was no answer to the watcher’s private office line, so he tried him at home.
When that produced similar results, he slammed the phone back in the
cradle, a growl erupting from his throat, the hopelessness of the situation
beginning to overcome him. With no answer from
either number, Spike was left with no choice but to call Angel.
While they’d been in LA,
the elder vampire had seen to it that Spike, Buffy, and Giles had the
numbers to his private office line and his cellular phone…as well as his pager number. With
the recent unresolved changes to Buffy, Angel wanted the others to be able to
reach him at any time – day or night.
“Angel,” he barked
into the phone, instantly worried since less than a handful of people had the
direct number to his office.
“Sire,” Spike began.
“It’s Buffy. She’s had another episode.”
~*~
Halfway across the world,
Angel leaned back in his plush office chair, his grandchilde relaying the
events that led up to Buffy losing control of her vampire demon.
His eyes closed and he could practically feel the anguish in the younger
vampire’s voice as it came across the line.
He should have kept them there with him in LA, was just about to voice
that when Spike’s next words came to him.
“She severed the
connection, Sire.”
“How???
She’s too young to be able to pull off something like that!” Angel
exclaimed, sitting up abruptly in his seat.
“I don’t know.
One minute, I’m feelin’ her anguish, an’ regret, an’ guilt…the
next…nothin’. Absolutely nothin’!”
Spike’s heartache tore
at the elder vampire. He’d like
to think that the two had mended a few bridges over the holidays spent in LA,
and he didn’t like to see a member of his family hurting.
That Buffy was involved just seemed to up the ante.
“I can leave now and be
there in fifteen hours,” Angel stated.
“I…”
“I should have made you
both stay, at least until Buffy had a better handle on this.
I don’t know what I was thinking…” he continued, talking over Spike
as if the younger vampire hadn’t said anything.
“Send the plane, Angel.
We’ll come to you. I
don’t trust her around ‘Bit and the others.
I’ll talk to Giles and make him come to Rome.
Between the two of us, we should be able to keep an eye on the
Slayer…see that she doesn’t…hurt anyone else.”
“Hold on a second.”
Angel placed Spike on
hold, and hit the intercom button to Harmony’s desk.
After the recent events that had transpired at the Wolfram & Hart law
offices, the blond-haired vampiress was doing her best to ingratiate herself
back into his good graces. Although,
he did agree that her situation had seemed dire, how she went about resolving
her problem needed some work. He
did not like to have his fellow friends and employees bonked over their
head.
“Harmony!” he barked.
“Yes, boss!”
“Call the pilot and have
him gas up the jet and on his way to Rome inside the hour.
He’s picking up Buffy and Spike.”
“Uh…ok, boss.
Right away.”
Angel glanced out his
office windows to see her disconnect the intercom and pick up the phone.
Satisfied his order was being carried out, he once more spoke with Spike.
“Plane’s on its way.
I’ll have the pilot call you when he lands at da Vinci.”
“Thanks, Sire.
I’ve gotta go. Need to get some blood and go look for Buffy.
Gotta find her before the sun comes up.”
“I’ll be waiting for
you. Call me from the plane when
you’re in the air.”
~*~*~*~*~
Spike replaced the handset
then left the study. His first stop
was the kitchen where he raided the refrigerator, pulling several bags from the
rack to heat and consume. One he
drank cold, his fangs elongating and puncturing the bag of “O” negative
blood. His nose twitched at the
cool liquid, but his demon gulped the restorative fluid.
By the time he finished the cool bag, the timer in the microwave had gone
off and he was gulping down its contents as a third bag replaced the second.
When he’d consumed five of the bags, he deposited the empties in the
trashcan and rinsed out his “Kiss the Vampire” mug, a gag gift from the
watcher.
He’d never tell anyone,
but secretly, he’d been touched that the Englishman had bought him something
that had vague references to the day that had started Spike on his current path
of loving the Slayer. Not that he
remembered fondly, sitting in the man’s bathtub, chained to the pipes as the
Slayer had held the “Kiss the Librarian” mug while he’d sucked blood
through a straw. It had been later,
having had a taste of the Slayer – even if it had been under false pretenses
– that Spike began to fantasize about her, then obsess, then later…love.
Shaking himself out of his
reverie, he went looking for ‘Bit and the others. He needed to tell them that both he and Buffy would be going
to LA for a while and that Uncle Giles would be temporarily relocating to Rome
to keep an eye on the girls. The
vampire wasn’t looking forward to the conversation with little sis.
~*~*~*~*~
Spike breathed a sigh of
relief that Niblet had taken their impending departure in stride.
He’d had all sorts of excuses lined up as to why she couldn’t come
along, but she’d surprised him. Exhibited maturity beyond her years when she did nothing more
than hug him and wish him luck, exerting his promise to call often.
She was growing up into a fine young woman, his ‘Bit.
He left her to her
studying and went back downstairs to once more try to reach the watcher.
Success was had the second time around.
Giles picked up the phone in his office, a terse “hello” issuing from
his mouth.
“Giles, it’s me.”
Spike quickly relayed the
events to the watcher then rung off…his need to race off into the night and
look for his childe, his mate, nearly overwhelming him.
He had to make sure that she was ok.
He couldn’t understand how she’d been able to block him, sever their
connection as if she were a master vampire in her own right.
It scared him as much as it awed him that she seemed to have that kind of
power.
With Rupert’s promise to
be on the next flight out of London ringing in his ears, Spike tore out of the
house, his only thought to locate his girl.
He stretched his senses and finally picked up the faint trace of her
scent as he raced through the city. The
only thing aiding him was the fact that she’d not bothered to try and cover
her scent, figuring that blocking him from feeling her would be enough to keep
him at bay. Well, she had a lot to
learn about him if she thought that was going to stop him.
His sensitive ears picked
up the sounds of her crying before he actually saw her.
He paused momentarily, her grief washing over him, her tears doing more
to unnerve him than he thought possible. His
girl needed him, whether she realized it or not.
Wanted it or not. It’s
what he did. He was her sire now, he was meant to take care of her…help
her deal with things.
~*~*~*~*~
Buffy was too caught up in
her sobbing to notice that Spike was near.
It wasn’t until he’d knelt behind her and slipped his arms around her
middle that she felt his presence. She
turned towards him then, throwing her arms about him, her crying increasing to
inconsolable proportions – grateful that he’d come after her.
That he wasn’t upset with her for nearly draining him dry.
“Sorry…so sorry,”
she mumbled over and over in between her tears, his black shirt quickly soaked
to his skin where she hid her face from him.
Spike just held her close,
running his arms down her hair and back, a soothing rumble emanating from his
chest. He wasn’t sure how long
they stayed there like that, both of them kneeling in the wet grass, oblivious
to anyone who might happen past. Eventually
he felt her shudders slow and then stop altogether, yet the death grip she had
on his back did not subside. It was as if she were trying to sink into his skin and become
a part of him. Not that he minded
in the least…
Yet, he needed her to look
at him. He had to tell her that
they were going back to LA, that he and Angel would help her get through this,
while at the same time, preventing her from harming anyone else.
Placing one hand beneath her chin, he gently lifted her head.
His thumb traced the ridges on her brow; her eyelids fluttered closed,
shielding her amber eyes from his penetrating gaze.
He lowered his head, flicking his tongue over her distended fangs.
Buffy didn’t even
realize that she was still in game face.
Spike continued to soothe
her, allowing her to gain control over her erratic emotions and get the demon to
retreat behind her human mask. Only
then did he tell her of his plans, about her watcher’s imminent arrival, and
Dawn’s agreement to stay behind in Rome.
Buffy’s eyes opened, her
hazel gaze resigned as she stared up at him.
Then she nodded, and for the life of her, she wished she wasn’t going
back to LA yet. The green demon’s
prophetic words that he’d spoken to her over the holidays seemed to mock her.
As if she could
escape what was going to happen. Not
a chance of that happening now. Spike
had unwittingly set the ball in motion with his announcement of their return
trip to LA.
Buffy just prayed she had
the strength that Lorne claimed she was going to need to see herself through
this next catastrophe. Her
friends’ fate was in her hands now.
She felt herself pulled to her feet then the ground gave way as she was lifted and cradled against Spike’s body and he began his return trip home. Buffy laid her head against his shoulder while he walked, too exhausted and emotionally drained to do anything else.