Come Back to Me

by Spikesdeb

Chapter 15

Drifting in blissful contentment, Buffy lay in Spike’s arms, gently stroking his skin.  The minutes ticked by and still they lay there.  The wounds on her neck ached, reminding her that this wasn’t the first time she’d been bitten – more like the fourth – but this bite had been so different.  This bite completed her where the others had diminished her.  Spike was pressed up hard against her back, murmuring softly into her hair.  There was only one thing wrong; they had to get up, leave the haven of this timeless moment and return to reality.   

She turned to face him, a soft smile on her lips.   “Spike, I’ve got to say – that was the most wonderful feeling ever.  Why didn’t you…you know, before…?”  

“The time was never right, love -- we were never right.  Not even sure it was time now – but I don’t know what’s to come and it did feel right to bite you, couldn’t stop myself to be honest.  You do know what happened…?”  

“I think so.  I’ve read some stuff – don’t laugh, I do read sometimes! – and Giles went through it all after Angel…”  

Soft growls rumbled from her vampire.   

“Jealous much?  I’m sorry – don’t be.  Giles had to be sure and Angel didn’t stick around to answer any questions.  I was almost dead.  I made him do it, made him bite me; but still – I was scared.  And it felt nothing like this.”  

“Bloody right, pet!  He didn’t try to claim you though, Rupes made sure?”  

“No.  Was purely medicinal. He had to have Slayer blood to heal.”  

“So.  I know why I wanted to claim you, been dreaming about it for long enough. But why did you?  Took me by surprise there.”  

“Kinda surprised myself too.” Buffy blushed.  “Oh, I don’t know.  I just knew …when you bit me, it felt so good, so natural.  I could feel you… it was like you were…part of me… not making much sense, am I?  I wanted you to have that too, I guess.  Can’t say drinking blood has ever been high on my list of things to do though, because yuk!”  

“Thanks ever so…”  

“But…as long as you promise not to tell anyone…I kinda liked it.  Tasted tangy, coppery, like sucking on a penny.  And I felt in charge, powerful…”  

“Yeah.  That’s it, love, powerful.  You got it in one.”  

“So…I claimed you too?  Didn’t know it was possible, isn’t it a vamp thing?”  

“Usually it is.  There are legends about humans mating with vampires but it’s rare.  And they’re submissive, not equals.  Claiming takes a strong person so that they’re not subdued by a more dominant personality.  Don’t suppose you fancy trying out the Claiming link?”  

“Erm…I might…if I knew what it was….”  

“Thought you said you read up on it?  What was that in -- ‘Janet and John Bite Each Other’?’  

“Huh?  Oh, Brit-speak – lovely.  Now I’m even more confused.”  

“Ok, the basic facts then.  I bite you…drink your blood.  As I’m biting, suckling, I’m sensing your thoughts, your emotions.  I’m also projecting mine so there’s a mixture of the two being swallowed up in the Claim.  So, after the bite and the two of us are no longer joined, you’re left with a mix of both our essences.  Strength of it varies, but a mutual Claiming like we did – that’s the strongest.  Two vamps would be able to communicate telepathically over short distances, definitely be able to sense the other’s feelings.  Not sure how that leaves us, love.  So…want to try it out?”  

“Will it hurt?”  

“Nah, not at all.  Might feel a little bit strange at first – like I’m in your head or such.  Bit like Red when she does that skull bellowing.   But stronger ‘cause as well as the thoughts, you get the emotions.  Makes us even closer, Buffy.  And I can’t say that thought makes me unhappy.”  

“Me neither.”  Buffy placed a soft kiss on his lips, the earnest look he wore on his face melting into one of blind adoration.  “So…what do I do?”  

A second later, Buffy gasped.  “Spike!  And here was me thinking we’d done it all!”  

“You got that, huh?  I sent you an image of what I wanted to do to you – did you actually see it or just sense it?”  

“I think I saw it…a flash…try it again.”  

Spike raised his eyebrow and smirked as he sent a detailed tableau of exactly how and where he wanted her.  He roared with laughter when not only did Buffy send the image back but also embellished it with a few flourishes of her own.  

“Cherries and whipped cream, love?”  

“Hell, I don’t know where that came from – must be a secret dark desire of mine because I had a sudden urge to create a luscious treat for myself and take my time licking it all up…and no…no…not happening.”  Buffy laughed and bucked away from the urgent presence pressing into her thigh. “At least not right now.  Send him a message because if he gets all excited he’ll have to see to himself.  I mean it.  I have to get back to Dawn.”  

That did the trick.  Reality: as good as a bucket of cold water.  

“Yeah, I know.”  

They were silent for a moment, each just drinking in the other’s features.  “I love you. You do know that, right?  I mean really know it; you believe me now?”  

“I still can’t believe it to be honest, but yeah – I do know it.”  Spike stroked Buffy’s hair away from her face, his hand coming to rest cupping her cheek.  “You are everything to me, Buffy.  Can you feel the strength of my love for you, through the claim?  Try to focus on an emotion – you’ve already got the picture thing beat.”  

She scrunched her face up in concentration and once again Spike marvelled at how he fell more deeply in love with this girl every single second.  Her eyes shot open and she struggled to speak through the lump in her throat.  

“I know, love…I know.  You don’t need to say it…I feel it too.  I’ll always be able to feel it now.  Feel you.  No matter if we’re away from each other, there’ll always be a part of you with me, and a part of me with you.”  

Buffy’s eyes glistened with unshed tears, her feelings so raw and tangled she found it difficult to breathe.  Spike’s beauty awed her, not just his physical beauty -- although that in itself was mesmerising -- his inner beauty, the strength of his soul, the way that when he loved he did so with every particle of his being.  She felt all of that.  She felt more loved than she’d ever thought possible.   

Gaining his soul and saving the world may not atone for his past, but more importantly he’d wanted to be a better man before that, and would always be trying.  And what else could anyone ask for?  He bore the guilt and yet still he tried.   

“I can’t lose you again, Spike.”  She hadn’t meant to voice it, because that would make it real.  It was only a whisper but it was there now between them.  What could he say?  He was no fool, knew that something bad was going down.  And he’d never ask her to choose between himself and Dawn; hell, he’d sacrifice himself every single night to save her that pain.  

‘Every night I save you…’  

Reluctantly Spike pulled away from her, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.  He didn’t look back at her as he dragged on his clothes.  It took every ounce of resolve to leave her embrace because he couldn’t help wondering if this could be the last time he’d have his heart’s desire.  He heard her sigh as he buckled his belt and turned to see her gathering up her clothes.  Her back was to him, her hair tumbling in disarray over her bare shoulders.  Hungry eyes devoured the image to store away in his memory; slowly Buffy turned her head, her clothes clutched at her chest.  Her eyes said everything.   

When she’d dressed they made their way hand-in-hand back to Dawn’s bedside to face whatever was to come - together.   

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  

“So we’re agreed.  We’ll head back to Doom Central and act normal so as not to alert Angel.  You and Wesley will carry on as if you’re still working on the scroll and I’ll join in to help you with the magical forces.”  

“That’s the plan.”  

“And Kennedy will slip off and bring Gunn, Fred and Lorne up to speed.”  

“Yes.”  

Willow hesitated before asking the next question, as she had the horrible suspicion that she already knew the answer.  

“So…as Ken said – who’s gonna tell Buffy?  Not to mention Spike!”  

The green motel carpet must have been remarkable because suddenly three sets of eyes were glued to it.  

“Oh come on, guys!  It’s Buffy – what’s she gonna do?”  No reply.  “Fine.  I’ll tell her – but I want you there for backup, Giles, just in case she goes Cave-Slayer on me.  And of course Spike’ll want to dive in head first, you know how he doesn’t exactly think things through.”  

“Agreed.  And Angel – we need him to believe we’re still on board with the prophecy until we’ve worked all this out.  Loath as I am to be in his company, it’s got to be done.  I’ll liaise with him as soon as we get back.”  

The two Watchers collected the scroll and books they’d brought with them and left, Willow saying she would follow in an hour.  Kennedy headed back with them, bearing a packet of charmed crystals that would deliver a recorded message telepathically when triggered by the recipient.  Since nobody was sure precisely what Angel could see and hear in the building, it seemed the safest way of alerting the troops.  Willow had deliberately left Xander out of the loop; he seemed broken and she couldn’t risk him in any intrigue.  She’d take care of him herself when the time was right.  And Andrew was…well Andrew.  He’d bumble along whatever happened.   

With a sigh, she closed her eyes to meditate for a short while and gather her strength for what she was sure would be a tiring and fraught chat with Buffy.  

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  

In a room tucked away in the medical wing of Wolfram and Hart a brunette lay in a deep coma.  Suddenly the figure drew in a shuddering breath and screamed.  Her mind filled with images as she recalled her last waking moments – blood, pain, blinding white light.  The sense of something wonderful being ripped from her… but something riddled with corruption within the sugarcoated shell.  Her baby.  A monster.  

Alarms were echoing off the walls but when she tried to bring her hands up to cover her ears, she found that she couldn’t move them from the bed.  She was strapped in.  Where the hell was she?  

Where was Angel?  

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  

Dawn was still and silent in her bed when Spike and Buffy entered the room.   It was as if she’d never woken up, her hair lying straight and combed on the pillow where the medical staff had seen to her.  Buffy shuffled guiltily when the nurse came in to check her patient.  She’d abandoned her sister in this place for god knows how long.  How could she have done that?  She looked up at Spike’s concerned face, his love for Dawn all too clear in his eyes.  How could she have not?  Her grip tightened on Spike’s hand and she smiled at him, urging him to believe in her.  She loved him.  Entirely.  Eventually she’d convince him.  

Settling back into the chair, Spike pulled Buffy down onto his lap again.  He was determined not to leave her side if he could help it.  Not until the elastic-fantastic yanked him back to the Big Nothing.  They didn’t speak; no words could make a difference to the situation they were in, so they just sat and drew comfort from their closeness.   

+++  

Angel watched the monitors.  Ah – the vigil was back on.  And if anything Spike seemed more solid now.  Somebody in Demonology was gonna pay for this farce.  “Get rid of one, I said,” he muttered to himself, “And what do I see?  A fucking walking talking vampire.  It was going to be sooo easy, Mr Angel sir…promises, promises.  Well let’s see how easy it is when I’ve flayed the skin off the stupid bastard.”  

He snatched the telephone, barking out orders when the terrified voice of the Head of Demonology answered.  This would end tonight.  It burned that he was still on the outside of Buffy’s life; he’d left Sunnydale for her own good, she owed him.  Oh sure, she’d tossed him the crumb of ‘I do think about us sometimes’ but instead of rushing to his side after the apocalypse, she’d turned up all red-eyed with grief over the perpetual pain in his ass that was supposed to be Dru’s devoted nursemaid.  And what pissed him off even more was that there was still a tiny part of him that was happy Spike hadn’t dusted.   Because he was family.  And you didn’t abandon your family.  

Until now.  He set his mouth in a hard line.  Enough.  He continued to watch the two figures on the monitor until his pet mystics sidled anxiously into the room.  

+++  

Wesley, Kennedy and Giles strolled back into the jaws of the beast with racing heartbeats and faux smiles.  They chatted about inane things until they’d made it through the overbearing reception area and were safely behind the closed elevator doors.  The two men slumped back against the wall while Kennedy, with the resilience of youth and the brashness of her character, bounced on her toes to try and rein in her anxiety.   

“So Wesley, you’ll go straight to the library and see if you can discover anything else about the situation.  I’ll meet with Angel immediately and sow the seeds of our ‘research’.  Kennedy – you know what to do?”  

“Uh huh.”  

“And…?”  

“Look, it’s not like it’s complicated.  I’m to find the others and give them one of these stones each.  I’m a Slayer, man!  I should be kicking Angel’s ass, not delivering jewellery.  I’m only doing it because Willow asked me, so back the hell off!”  

Wes and Giles shared a look of distaste and relief – at least now they would never have to endure becoming this little smartarse’s Watcher.   The apocalypse hadn’t been all bad…  

“Quite.  Well, we’re here.  Let’s get to it.”  

The trio split up once outside the elevator, Kennedy heading to see Fred to get a handle on the others’ whereabouts.  And besides – she was cute.  

Wesley considered his options as he reached the library.  He had no way of knowing exactly how closely Angel was monitoring them; he had no doubt the vampire would eventually find out which volumes he’d summoned, but it was a risk he would have to take or they were at an impasse.  Angel’s megalomania had reached the stage where he’d be unlikely to see past Giles’s scholarly meanderings.  He could be very convincing when he chose and that should buy them some time.  Hoping for the best, Wesley took a deep breath and opened a blank volume to summon his first text.  

+++  

Kennedy found Fred in the lab.  It took a few tries before the scientist even realised there was anybody in the room, so engrossed was she in the experiment she was running.  Even when she turned to Kennedy, acknowledging her with a smile, it was obvious that her mind was elsewhere.   

“Hi there!  Kennedy…isn’t it?  Willow’s not here…”  

“Yeah, it is and yeah, I know. Came to see you actually.  Whatcha doing?”  

“What?  Oh, this…well I’m investigating Spike’s intermittent corporeality, but so far the only certainties are that he’s male, over a century old and doesn’t like strawberries. And I don’t even know if that’s right.  Has he ever eaten strawberries in front of you?  I mean, there must have been lots of them about in Sunnydale – with the climate and all; or maybe it was too hot?  I don’t really know…or maybe it just means soft fruit in general.  Could be a glitch…Does he eat fruit?  No…probably not unless…could he have dipped them in blood?”  

Kennedy was mesmerised by the rapid flitting from one idea to another.  This chick was ditzy!  But Willow said she had a huge brain so who was she to argue?  She held out her hand, the amethyst crystal keyed for Fred on her palm.  

Fred looked at her quizzically.  “Is that for me, honey?”  

Kennedy nodded.   “Willow sent it, a token of her appreciation.”  

“Oh that’s so sweet!  It’s real pretty!”  

Fred reached for the trinket and the instant her fingers gripped it, she froze.  It passed in seconds, but Kennedy knew from her expression that the psychic message had been delivered.  She shook her head imperceptibly as Fred opened her mouth to speak.  Fred got the point immediately and played along.  

“Say, I’m due a break, let’s go show Lorne this pretty bauble.  He just loves something bright and sparkly.  You wanna come with?”  

Hell, Willow may have been right about her.  Ditzy she may be but she was quick!  

“Sure.  Lead the way.”  

The two girls headed off, chattering about nothing in particular and linking arms as they made their way to the Hollywood Division of Wolfram & Hart.   

+++

Angel snarled when a knock at the boardroom door interrupted the preparations for the rite.  The nervous mystic was so rattled by the sudden noise he dropped his bowl of sand, destroying the intricately traced runes.  They’d have to start all over again; but first he had to get rid of the unwelcome visitor.  Thankfully, he’d had the foresight to lock the door so the assembled sorcerers would have time to slip out of the other door if necessary.  

“Yes?”  

“Angel?  It’s Giles.  Can I have a word?”  

Angel gestured to the mystics to leave, growling to the department head to be ready to repeat the ritual.  He walked to the door to admit his caller.  

“Giles.  What can I do for you?  Is there a problem?”  

Angel tried out ‘Really Concerned Face #9’ as he ushered the former watcher into the room.  

“No, no problem at all.  I just thought you’d be interested to know the progress we’re making with the scroll.”  

“Oh. Oh yes…good.  Do sit down.”  Angel took his place behind his desk, Giles forced to take the lower seat in front of the oak monstrosity in the time-honoured fashion of subordinates everywhere.  “So what have you got?”  

Giles wanted to smack the insincerity displayed on the vampire’s face.  But that wouldn’t help matters in the slightest. There’d be time enough to take him down.  “Well, I’m delighted to say Wesley and I have made rather good headway.  We believe we have the correct dialect now and it’s only a matter of time before we crack the code.  Have to say, it’s devilishly difficult – a real challenge.”  

Angel preened; he’d devised the code himself.  

“Wesley is concentrating on the Plutarchan Dynasty for his translation, although something makes me wonder…it may lie in the realms of Z’artonkl.  I know it’s obscure but still…”  

The arrogant bastard!  Look at him!  He actually believes that he’s so bloody clever!  Can’t even fake a believable prophecy!  Wanker.  

“Do you have any idea when you’ll complete the translation?  I need results on this; Buffy’s fragile and I hate to see her suffering.”  

It was all Giles could do not to stake Angel there and then.  He got to his feet, reluctant to spend one more second in the vampire’s company.  

“Well, no.   Not yet. So I’d best get back and help Wesley…two heads better than one and all that.”  

“Yes.  And Giles…thank you. Buffy’s happiness is all that matters to me.  I won’t forget this.”  

Giles managed a smile before he almost ran from the room.  

The ringing of the internal telephone jolted Angel out of his smug reverie.   

“Angel.  What is it?”  A pause.  “When?  I’ll be right there.”  

For the first time in what seemed like forever, the concern in his eyes was real.  

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Willow drew in a deep breath before opening the door to Dawn’s room.  She kept her eyes downcast as she made her way over to the bed.   

“Buffy I…Spike!  You’re really here here…with the actual body-having!  Wow!  When did you…and how?”  

“Well, Red…isn’t that the billion dollar question?”

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