Chapter 7

Dishevelled, bruised and marked, Slayer and vampire exited the sewer system to find themselves back in the place they’d seen when they first woke.  The cemetery.  The sun had been down about half an hour and night sounds filled the air.  Spike had lost his demon face as they came out of the sewer and the full moon bathed the tombstones.  Buffy was smug with satisfaction, the smile on her face refusing to fade.  Her nerve endings were almost numb so sated was she.  She glanced down to their joined hands, Spike’s pale fingers, long and elegant with the incongruous black nail polish, wrapped around hers -  smaller, stubbier, more golden.  Just the sight of their entwined digits tugged a grin from her.  She closed her eyes with pleasure as her free fingers ghosted over the twin fang holes at her neck.  The flesh was sensitised and linked directly to her sex it seemed.  Buffy’s mouth opened in an ‘o’ of pleasure drawing Spike’s attention.

“Pet?”

“What did you do to me?”

“Huh?”

“The  bitey.  It feels…….good…when I touch my neck.  What’s going on?”

“What’r you asking me for?  How the hell would I know if you don’t?  No memory here, just instinct.”  Spike grinned.  “You like it though?”

Buffy tried to be stern and keep the answering grin from her face.  She failed.  “Yeah.  Feels wonderful.”

They walked on for a few steps, eyes fixed on each other and not on their destination.

“Buffy!”

Slayer and vampire stopped dead at the surprised shout.  Truth be told, they were both nervous, somehow the voice triggering recognition in both of them.  Slowly, and in synch, they swivelled their eyes away from each other and forwards.

A dark haired man, tall and broad shouldered with deep brown eyes, stood in front of them.  He didn’t look happy.  Buffy tightened her grip on Spike’s hand.

The voice dropped lower, the menace in it easily apparent.  “Buffy.  Where have you……Spike?”

A glance between the lovers then Spike spoke.

“You know us?”

The only answer was a roar of rage before Spike found himself pinned to the floor and deflecting a meaty fist from connecting with his face.  Instinct kicked in and he looked through golden eyes, shocked as he saw the eyes above him the same shade as his, the brow ridged and fangs bared in a snarl.  He was being attached by another vampire. 

“Get away from my boyfriend!”

Spike’s assailant went flying through the air as Buffy ripped him away from her downed lover.  Guess the Slayer gig meant she was stronger than the average girl……

Buffy knelt on the ground next to Spike who raised himself up on his elbows.  Both blonds were glaring at the crumpled heap across from them.

“Buffy? What the hell is going on here? What are you doing………and with him?”

She scooted nearer to Spike, unwilling to leave his side.  “I’m sorry……..do I know you? And where do you get off beating up on us?”

“Us?  There’s an us?”  The angry vampire got to his feet and stalked towards them.  Spike and Buffy jumped up, each battling with the other to push their lover behind them for protection. 

“Look, mate.  I don’t know who you are but you’ve bitten off more than you can chew, yeah?  Why don’t you just lose the gnashers and toddle off home, leave me and my girl in peace.”

“Your girl?”  The dark haired vampire threw himself across the gap that separated him from Spike, fists flying and teeth trying to rip chunks out of the smaller man.  Buffy was shoved to one side and landed awkwardly against a tombstone, her gasp of pain distracting Spike momentarily and allowing a heavy fist to connect hard with his nose.  He went down, stunned by the blow, nose streaming blood, his aggressor snarling and standing over him. 

“Spike!  Are you alright?”

“Peachy.  Just this pillock to off and I’ll be perfect.”

She limped to his side, holding her back where she’d taken a huge bruise.  The other vampire was standing and staring at them, fists clenched and mouth an ugly snarl.

“Get…away…from him.”

“What?  Who are you to tell me what to do?  Wait…….I think I have something for you….”  Buffy reached into the pocket of Spike’s duster and pulled out the stake she’d slipped in there earlier, stalking towards the soon-to-be-dust vampire.

“Buffy!  It’s me…..Angel.  What’s wrong with you?”

“Wrong with me?  You’re the one attacking couples in a graveyard.”  Angel backed off, the tip of the stake far too close to his heart for his liking.  What was going on?

“Buffy.  There’s something wrong here.  You must know me……..you…..love me.”

A blur of black leather and platinum blond hair shot past Buffy, and suddenly it was Angel on the receiving end of a flurry of fists and fangs.  Spike was growling and spitting at him as he punched him to the floor, Buffy able to make out a few of his angry words.

“Not your…” Punch. “…sodding...” Punch. “…girl.” Punch, punch.  “She bloody well….” Punch, kick. “loves me….” Head butt.  “…you poncey bastard..”

Buffy was stunned.  And secretly a little pleased.  She was, after all, still a teenager and two hotties were duking it out for her favours.  Kinda neat.  But then…….no, not now with Spike bleeding from a cut on his cheek, not neat at all. 

“Hey!  Hey!  Stop it……..NOW!”  She managed to get between them and shove them away from each other.  Definitely stronger than she should be, and that didn’t suck.  Both vampires stood panting and glaring at each other, hands curled into fists and bouncing on their toes.

“Buffy.  You can’t trust him.  He’s a killer.  Come to me now, I’ll protect you.”

“Do I look like I need protecting, and from him?  Why would I?  He’s my ….boyfriend.  I have no idea who you are and to be honest I couldn’t care less.  Now, for the last time…  leave us alone and I’ll let you go.  One time only deal.”

Angel didn’t move.  Spike growled from behind her.  “Ok, we’ll leave.  Don’t even think about following us, ‘cause I’m pretty handy with these things, trust me.”

Turning on her heel, she grabbed Spike’s hand and started off away from the brooding figure of Angel.  Spike was silent for a minute or two, but his grip was tight and his body tense.  “Got something you wanna tell me, pet?”

“What?  Angel?  Well I don’t know him, do I?  No more than you know Dru.  And I did nearly stake him.  I felt nothing for him, Spike.  I was terrified he was hurting you but him?  Would dust him in a heartbeat.”

Spike tugged on her hand, stopping and turning her into his embrace.  “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“He seemed pretty sure you loved him.”

“Well, I don’t.  I…..love you, you big dork.”  She dipped her eyes, blushing.  “It’s the one thing I do know.  And you!  Pretty sure of yourself weren’t you with the ‘she loves me’ thing.”

“Well…….yeah.  Told you pet.   Can feel you here.”

Buffy stood on tiptoes and kissed him softly, his features melting back into his human guise as her warmth flooded him.  “Me too,” she whispered, nibbling on his bottom lip before sliding her tongue past his blunt teeth to tangle with his.

And that was when the world imploded………………….

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

Giles was rubbing the bridge of his nose, glasses held loosely between thumb and forefinger.  These children would drive him into an early grave.

“Willow, it’s perfectly simple.  You have to reverse the spell because it’s keyed to your essence.  No matter how many times I read the words, it isn’t going to work.  Just trust me.  I won’t let anything go wrong.  I know I said not to go anywhere near magic again but just this once.  It’s necessary.  Now, please………sit inside the circle.”  Willow moved reluctantly to sit cross-legged inside the circle of salt Joyce had poured on the dining room floor, the table pushed to one side. 

“Xander?  The candle please. Careful! Don’t smudge the circle…….now, Willow, just concentrate on the photograph of Buffy and recite the words on the page.”

Willow cleared her throat.  She was desperately nervous and her voice shook as she started speaking the words of the spell.  Joyce anxiously hovered near the door, still shaken by the revelations of the last day – that the world was filled with vampires and slayers…no, slayer, singular – her daughter …….and now witches and magic spells.  It didn’t seem real; but here she was waiting for a schoolgirl to chant some hocus pocus and bring her daughter’s memories and therefore her daughter back to her.  And Mr Giles…. Rupert.  He quite plainly wasn’t just the school librarian and now she looked at him, barking orders and expecting them to be obeyed without question, he seemed a little menacing.  There was an underlying steel core to Rupert Giles, a dark past, she was sure of it.  And the rebellious girl still tucked away inside her wanted to meet him.  She shook her head, clearing it of her musings.  Buffy.  It was important to concentrate and bring Buffy back.

But she still kept Rupert in her line of vision…..

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

What the fuck???

“Slayer!!”

“Vampire!!”

Two sets of wide eyes – one blue, one hazel – widened even further at the realisation that their lips were not the only things joined.  Buffy guiltily dragged her hand from down the front of Spike’s pants, looking at it in absolute horror.  Spike, despite the loathing he had for the Slayer, couldn’t hide a smirk. He was the Big Bad after all – very big by the looks of the impressive bulge that Buffy’s eyes just couldn’t seem to leave.

“Oh my god……oh my god…….oh my god…..”

“Right there with ya, pet.  Gonna have to scrub ‘til I bleed to get the feel of your moist paws of me bollocks.  And Dru will probably have me bathed in acid ‘fore she’ll come anywhere near me.  Now, I’ll give you a head start before I kill you.  And you’d better hope you get to the witch before I do.”

And still Buffy didn’t move.

“You remember?  The spell……Willow…us…..and……OH MY GOD!  ANGEL!!  He knew both of us, Spike.  I’ve got all my memories back now and nowhere do you fit into the jigsaw.  What’s the sitch?”

“Yep, my sorry grandsire was mightily pissed off.  Not sure he’ll be locking lips with you anytime soon either.  Not that you’ll get better than me, pet.  You’ll die with my name on your stupid pouting mouth, aching for my touch.  Not sure I want the old man’s leavings, mind.  Didn’t think I’d bump into him in Sunnyhell, but with your dimpled knees to prise apart who could blame him.”

Now wasn’t that strange?  He was doing the snark, taunting her to start the dance to her death…….but he didn’t feel it.  In fact, he felt a loss, a pang – that her heat wasn’t his to share.  Sod that.

“Grandpa?  What do you mean?  Spike, you tell me now what’s going on with you and Angel.”

“Sorry, pet.  Can’t stand about all night.   Got innocents to deflower, dinner to catch and kill.  Tell you what, in grateful thanks for the seeing to you gave me…and gave me good, can’t tell a lie….I’ll give you a free pass this time.  Toddle off and see if you can convince grandpa he’s the vamp of your dreams.”

Buffy’s bottom lip was trembling with the effort not to cry.  She held a stake gripped tight in her hand ready to dust him…..but couldn’t.  She remembered it all – waking up entangled, him holding her, his kisses…….his touch.  The rush of pleasure when they….. and now this emptiness that filled her knowing it was all false.  She’d felt so right in his arms.  It had been so wrong.

“You’re a pig, Spike.  I will kill you.”

“But not tonight, pet.  Not tonight.”  Duster flaring, he ran into the darkness leaving behind his scent of worn leather, cigarettes and raw sensuality.

When he’d gone she slumped against a mausoleum wall, sliding down to crumple to the floor.  She let the tears come then, not really sure what she was crying for.  Was it because they’d been intimate, or because they wouldn’t be again?  Was the pain because she couldn’t forget the ecstasy she’d experienced in their time together, or because she didn’t think she’d ever find it anywhere else?  And Angel…….Angel.  What was she going to do about Angel?

As if summoned by her thoughts, a shadow stood over her.  He didn’t speak………that made it worse.  If he’d at least rant a little, call her out about her little tantrum earlier.  But he was in full brood mode, brown eyes soulful and looking all kicked puppy.  Those same eyes usually melted her to a ball of soppy happiness but right now it turned her stomach. 

“Angel.  Please, I…..I know we have to talk but right now I need to go tell my mom I’m okay.  I’m tired, confused.  You understand, don’t you?”

He nodded, his soul no doubt shiny with doing another good deed.  He’d even offer to walk her home….

“I’ll see you home, Buffy.  I don’t know what’s been going on, but I trust you, there’ll be a good reason. We can talk tomorrow, or not.  When you’re ready.  Whatever you want.”

That was the question really; what did she want?  In silence, they made their way over to Revello Drive to face the Scoobies and her suddenly empty life.

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

The group hug smothered her, skin too hot to her touch.  They were all chattering at once, pecking at her like chicks at grain, all wanting a piece.  She had none to give.   Angel had thankfully left her at the door and for once the slinking off into the night thing he did pleased her rather than left her screaming with rage.  She just wished everybody else would melt away.

Joyce Summers watched her daughter’s face as she was swallowed by the forest of arms hugging her.  Her eyes were haunted, panicked.  The smile and the brittle words she spoke were sufficient to fool the others, but not her.  Her baby was hurting.

“Hey now, can I get some hug?  I think this young lady needs rest.  The inquisition can wait until tomorrow.  She’ll see you at school.” 

There was no arguing with that voice, they all recalled the iron streak they’d seen earlier.  Maybe tomorrow would do.

One by one they sidled out, Willow’s departing gaze full of guilt.  Buffy didn’t even look at them, but down at her clasped hands.  She relaxed her shoulders as she heard the front door latch click home.

Joyce saw the relief wash over her little girl and decided to leave her be for tonight.  A cup of hot cocoa and marshmallows would be far better for her than twenty questions right now.  Smiling to herself that the parenting books must be paying off at last, she sidestepped the lounge and headed to the kitchen.  While the milk was heating Joyce busied herself rearranging the cupboard where she kept the condiments and seriously avoiding thinking about the last 24 hours.  She heard the stairs creak as Buffy headed upstairs and really didn’t expect to then hear the soft pitter pat of bare feet as Buffy slipped into the kitchen and onto a stool.  When she turned, Buffy was all freshly scrubbed and dressed in fluffy pyjamas that made her seem even younger than she was.

“Hot chocolate, honey?  Help you sleep?”

Buffy nodded, eyes wide and on the verge of tears.  Joyce wisely decided against allowing the questions burning her throat to come out, simply filling a mug and pushing it towards Buffy’s hands that were nervously tapping on the surface.  The hands wrapped around the mug, hugging it close.  Joyce took a seat on the stool opposite and they sipped their drinks in silence.   Buffy would tell her what was causing her so much pain in her own time, the books were very clear on that.

“Mom…..I….I know you’re probably freaked by what’s been going on.  I’m sorry you had to find out this way about the Slayer thing and vampires.  Although I did tell you vampires were real before….”

“I know, honey.  I’m sorry I didn’t believe you.  Maybe you should have brought a handsome and naked vampire home earlier…”

“Mom!”

Joyce smiled.  The relief she felt at actually having Buffy sitting in their kitchen and chatting outweighed any other emotion.  Yes, it had been a shock to realise her little girl had been doing big girl stuff, and with a creature of the night no less, but on the other hand it was eclipsed by the other revelations of the day.  The news that vampires were real, and so were witches, and that they lived on a mystical Hellmouth?  Hard to take in.  But faced with the evidence……  Oh, and the broken branches on the tree outside her window, the blood on Buffy’s clothes that she always told herself was pizza and the array of crucifixes and whittled wood in Buffy’s drawers all completed the puzzle.  Her daughter was a vampire slayer.  She’d deal with it.  Would Buffy?

Buffy took a deep breath.  “About Spike……I really loved him.  Now, sitting here, it all seems stupid, but last night, today….I really loved him. Then all of a sudden…..I should hate him mom.  He’s a vampire.  I’m the Slayer.  I should have staked him.  But all I feel is ….lost, empty.  What’s the matter with me?”

Joyce reached out a hand, patting her daughter’s where they were hugging the mug.  “Nothing, darling.  You’ve been through a harrowing time.  Give it a few days, get back to normal.”

Buffy snorted.  “Normal!  Do I even know normal?  And there’s more to tell you.  You remember Angel?  The older guy?”

“The history major?”

“Well………kinda.  We’re sort of ….seeing each other.  And he’s a vampire too.”

Joyce couldn’t hide the shock, although she made a good attempt.  “Oh.  Well……thanks for telling me, Buffy.  Eventually.”  Pointed look.  “Are you….intimate?”

“MOM!”

“Look, there’s no point being coy.  I found a naked man…vampire…in your bedroom.  I think we can be grown up about it and admit that you’ve had sex.”

Buffy blushed.  All right, she’d expected ‘the talk’ when the memories of Spike being discovered by her mom flooded back to her.  She just hadn’t expected it to be so forthright.

Her little voice could just be heard. “No.”

“Well, that’s a relief.  Nice to see you’ve got some taste!  Spike…did you say that was his real name?”  Buffy nodded.  “Well, Spike is definitely the vampire I’d be swapping spit with.  Angel’s too……..bulky.”

“MOM!!”  Every time Buffy said the word it grew in both decibels and pitch.

Joyce giggled.  “Sorry.  It’s been a strange day, and I must confess that my hot chocolate has more than a sprinkling of brandy added to it.”

Buffy sniffed at her drink suspiciously.

“Don’t worry, your chocolate is entirely virgin.”  A beat.  “Unlike…”

“Right.  That’s it… I’m off to bed.”  Buffy shot out of the kitchen and up to her room, gratefully leaning against her closed bedroom door.  It was just too freaky her mom making eyes at her boyfriend.  Buffy blinked.  Not her boyfriend, because her boyfriend was dark haired and Angel shaped.   Her mistaken boyfriend then.  The one who’d recently occupied her bed and her whole world. 

Heart heavy, Buffy spied the rumpled sheets of her bed.  Maybe they still held his scent?  And the t-shirt she should have shredded but instead had placed on the pillow…..Mentally slapping herself she headed to the bathroom to clean her teeth and hopefully clean the thoughts from her head at the same time.

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