Here's the next one..

CLAIMING THE HEART

NC-17

AUTHOR-TaniTKD

Summary-Alternate ending to Becoming with a Spuffy twist, done my way! Spoilers through season 2, AU. Warning-bloodplay

Disclaimer- I do not own the characters of Buffy, and merely borrowing them.
a/n-for the purpose of this story, Willow did not wind up in the hospital, and they did not try the soul restoration spell. I think that is they only thing I am changing here. If you find any other inconsistencies, let's just blame it on artistic license and say I meant to do that.

Chapter 1

Spike pounded on the door of 1630 Revello drive, the events of the last 24 praying heavily on his mind and body. Secure in his strong arms, Buffy's petite form was still. He took note of the fact that she was still bleeding, and Spike knew he had to get her indoors quickly. The heady aroma of her luscious slayers blood acted like a homing device for vampires and demons alike, and he knew he wouldn't be able to protect her against a major threat.

The door was flung open, and Joyce stood there. A wounded cry sounded from deep within her when she saw who was in Spike's arms. The noise brought Giles running to the door, his eyes widened in alarm when he took in the sight before him.

Standing there before him was William the Bloody, slayer of two slayers. A vampire who had been trying to kill HIS slayer, a vampire known for his savage brutality, his ruthlessness and his unwillingness to quit before his goal was obtained. Giles let his eyes rake over the bleeding unconscious girl in the vampire's grip, and rage and fear like he'd never felt flooded him. His own battered face and body were living testament to the brutality that could be suffered at a vampire's hand. His gut clenched with the thought that his slayer may have suffered the same fate that he had, or worse.

"What the hell have you done, you right bastard?" Giles shouted, trying to pry Buffy away from Spike. "You kill her and brought her here to... what?? Flaunt that you bagged your third slayer? You will die for this!" If he had noticed the anguished look on the vampire's face, it had not registered in his mind.

Spike refused to let go of the girl, turning his body so he was between Giles and Buffy. He couldn't help when his demon visage took over his handsome face. He turned to pin his amber gaze on the man in front of him. "I didn't do a bloody thing, you wanker. You can thank Angelus for this "he growled. "She's alive, but she needs help."

Buffy's mother gasped at the change that took place over Spike. In her mind, she was aware he was a vampire, like Angel was. But to see his ridged forehead and long sharp teeth emerge right in front of her was startling. Joyce pushed past Giles, trying to get between the two men before something happened that they would all regret. "Stop it, both of you." she demanded

Spike's features shifted quickly back to his human guise. He cast his eyes downward. "Sorry Joyce" he said quietly. "I didn't didn't mean to scare you."

Giles just stared at the vampire. What the hell was going on? Did he just apologize? Nothing made any sense at all. What was Spike doing here? Why wasn't Buffy drained? He eyed the demon warily. He knew first hand just what Angelus was capable of, having been tortured for days by the demon. Giles reflected back on his coming out of consciousness to find his restraints untied. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he promptly made his escape. That had been the day before, and he had headed straight to this house on Revello drive to talk to his slayer, only to learn that she was missing. An uncomfortable thought was beginning to worm it's way into Gile's head, and he shook it away. Time for that later on.

Spike was still speaking quietly to Joyce, "She's hurt, I didn't know where else to bring her. I knew a hospital would just ask too many questions, and I know she doesn't like them. I didn't want her to have to wake up in one. I heard you tell her when we left, that if she walked out that door, not to come back. But I just didn't know what else to do, Joyce, where to go. I had hoped you hadn't really meant it and were just saying that in the heat of the moment. And that it would be all right to bring your daughter here.' Spike realized he was babbling, but he couldn't seem to stop.

The guilt sliced heavily through Buffy's mother, she was a horrible person, a terrible mother who didn't deserve this second chance. How could she have said that to her teenage daughter? The first wave of gratitude washed over her towards the demon in front of her. She saw Giles's give her a shocked look. There had been a lot for Buffy mother and her Watcher to discuss, a lot that Joyce had wanted to know about her daughter's secret life. They had talked a lot the past 24 hours, but Joyce could not bring herself to mention those horrible last parting words that she had flung at Buffy. She didn't want to admit to herself that she could have said something like that.

Spike was watching the varied emotions play across Joyce's face, and he knew he had made the right decision in bringing his slayer here. This mother's love was strong and eternal, nothing could change that. Buffy Summers was a lucky girl.

Satisfied with what he saw in Joyce's face, he walked past the Watcher, who flinched at the ease he was able to come across the doorway. "Buffy needs some medical attention, where should I put her?" he asked, looking around. "With her bleeding like this, she is capable of attracting some undesirable attention, and I don't know how much fight I have left in me right now."

"Can you carry her to her room?" Joyce asked him. Spike gave a short nod, and headed for the stairs. Giles noted that he knew exactly where her room was, and his anger and frustration returned. It barely registered that it most likely being placed on the wrong vampire.

"Just put her down on the bed and then leave, Spike," he coldly announced to the vampire.

Spike walked to Buffy's bed and laid her down gently, brushing a lock of hair off her forehead. It was a tender gesture, and was not lost on Joyce and Giles.

"I'm not going anywhere Watcher" he said, his tone indicating there would be no sense in arguing.

He went to the foot of the bed and started to take her boots off. Speaking to Joyce, he asked "Could you bring me some bandages and a bowl of water? I want to clean these cuts while she's out. She's been out of it for a few hours now, she got clocked on the head something good." He gestured to a big bump and cut on her forehead. The bleeding had stopped for the most part, but still oozed a bit.

Her face was covered in shallow cuts, and there was a blood soaking through her shirt and jacket from a stab wound in her abdomen. The sword had grazed her side, and the injury wasn't dangerous, but it needed to be taken care of. The worst of it though, were the small shallow cuts adorning every inch of skin Buffy had exposed. They looked like they had been made with a sharp knife.

Joyce left the room to collect the items that Spike had requested, and both men could hear her rummaging around the bathroom across the hall.

Spike ran his fingers through his hair, sighing deeply. He didn't want to think about how worried he was about this girl he was. He had almost lost her. While a week ago, that news would have been the best bloody news he could have hoped for, things had changed dramatically since he had come to Buffy for help. He knew they would never be the same again. There was no going back from this, he could only embrace what the future held, a future he knew included Buffy in it.

He knelt by the bedside and gently took off her bloodied jacket. She would need to get out of these clothes, he knew, but that could wait a bit. Maybe Joyce could handle that, he figured he would meet the pointy end of stake if he tried to take care of that little chore. He figured he was lucky that hadn't so far.

Giles wanted to protest about Spike laying his hands on his slayer, even if was to offer her first aid. When Joyce had told him that Spike had been in her house the day before, with Buffy, his heart had almost leapt out of his chest. Joyce seemed oblivious to the grave danger she had been in, and he couldn't help but wonder what Buffy had been thinking. Why she would align herself with this evil vampire.

Joyce had been devastated, after just finding out her daughter was a slayer and it had taken a while for Giles to get the whole story out of her about just what had taken place that day, before the two blondes disappeared. They had disappeared so completely, that not even a locator spell was of any use.

The story he got was a bit confusing, and Giles honestly did not know what to make of it. If he understood Joyce correctly, Spike and Buffy had been walking together up her driveway as she pulled in. A vamp attacked right then, just as Buffy was trying to lie her way out her involvement with the dead slayer in the library. The two blondes dusted it and Buffy told her mother she was the slayer.

Joyce had seen the vampire get dusted right in front of her, it's not like it could have been explained by crazed kids on PCP. Buffy had to tell her mom the truth. Then it became more confusing, to Giles. According to her, Spike and Buffy had called a truce to take down Angelus and stop the end of the world. Then they walked out the front door, mortal enemies working together. It was not long after that Giles himself had stumbled onto Joyce's porch, desperately searching for Buffy. Joyce had attended to his wounds, setting his broken fingers and bandaging the worst of the cuts. Then they had talked, a lot. Obviously Joyce had said more to Buffy than she had let on to Giles, but he could well imagine how incredible and surreal the whole thing had been for the woman.

But the end of the world had not come, so obviously they had prevented that.. Giles pinned an icy look at Spike and demanded "What the hell happened, Spike?"

Joyce chose that moment to return to the room carrying a basin of water and a first aid kit. Spike took the items from her, giving her a distracted smile. He placed the items on bedside table, and turned back to the pale form on the bed. He knelt by her and gently started cleaning the wounds on her face.

Giles watched as the blonde vampire shrugged out of his black leather duster, and saw for the first time the extent of the injuries that were readily apparent under his torn black t-shirt. Spike grimaced as he threw the duster over the white wicker chair in the corner of Buffy's room.Giles took note of the same shallow cuts on the vampire's alabaster flesh that adorned Buffy's.

"Let me do that." Giles said to the vampire, reaching out to take the supplies away from Spike.

Spike turned to Giles, his eyes flashing yellow and growled a warning "I said I'll do it, Watcher."

Giles noted the possessiveness the vampire was displaying towards his slayer, but didn't want to dwell on the significance of it. In a less hostile voice, he repeated his earlier question. "What happened?"

Spike went still and closed his eyes briefly, flashing back on the last 24 hours. He just couldn't talk about it yet, it was still too fresh and raw in his mind. It was the worst day of his unlife, but surprisingly had also been the best. He needed time to sit and process all that happened. He knew Giles needed to know, but he was just too bloody tired to go into it with him.

He turned his head towards the Watcher, looking him in the eye and stated quietly "It was bad." He then turned back to his first aid on Buffy.

Giles could tell by his tone that he was not going to get any explanations anytime soon, so he just nodded, and looked back down at his charge laying on top of the thick comforter. His feelings were conflicted, he wanted to rage at the peroxide blonde at Buffy's bedside, but there was another part of him that knew that they had Spike to thank for at the very least bringing Buffy to the house after being wounded. After Spike had attempted to kill Buffy again and again, that was a little puzzling. He knew he would have to wait for his answers until Buffy woke up, and in the interim, keep his guard up around the vampire. He patted his back pocket to make sure the stake that he always kept around was still there, and was reassured by it's weight.

Finally Giles spoke, his voice filling the oppressive silence. "It was you, wasn't it?"

"Me what?"

"Who untied me, letting me escape." Giles replied.

"Don't go readin much into it, Rupert. I did it to get the slayer to trust me." Spike announced. Giles had the uncomfortable feeling sitting in his gut that these words were not entirely the truth.

Spike was finishing cleaning off her face, applying antiseptic and bandaging when needed. The scent of her blood perfumed the air, that sweet scent of slayers blood tantalizing his nose. Yet Spike had no problem keeping the demon at bay, he had years of practice at it. He controlled his demon, not the other way around. Not like with fucking Angelus. His demon ruled over all else, making him the truly sick sadistic son of a bitch he was.

The fact that Buffy hadn't woken up yet was troubling him, and he noticed his hands were a little unsteady as they methodically took care of her. His own body was on fire, but her comfort would come first. The stab wound in his abdomen made movement painful, but he welcomed the pain. It kept him from thinking, and that was one thing he wished to avoid right now.

Both adults in the room were silent, as they watched Spike go about his task. His movements were gentle, a contradiction to the cocky murderer they knew him to be.

Everyone in the room jumped when the front door slammed open, "Giles? Mrs. Summers? " they heard Willow call. "Is Buffy here?"

Joyce went to the bedroom door and called out "we're up here."

Footsteps were heard pounding up the steps and Willow and Xander rushed into the doorway.

"Is she here?" Willow asked, without looking in the room.

Xander stopped and stood shock still, his mouth gaping open at the sight before him. Spike ignored the newcomers, keeping his attention on Buffy.

"What is he doing to Buffy? Get away from her!!" Xander shouted, rushing into the room, intent on protecting his friend from the evil bloodsucking fiend.

Spike instinctively vamped out again and growled a warning at the boy, his body going still in anticipation. He blocked Xander's access to the bed, and stared at him with deep intent shining in his amber eyes. It was the same way he had behaved when Giles had tried to take Buffy away from him. Spike could smell the fear wash over Xander, as he stopped a few feet away from the bed.

"Oh my god, he's going to kill of us! How'd he get into the house? We're all going to die!" Xander yelled, pulling a little cross from his back pocket and thrusting it towards the vampire's face. "Back! Get Back!"

Spike growled another warning, glaring at the boy with his demon eyes, and before anybody in the room could blink, he crossed to where Xander stood and knocked the cross out of his hand.

"Don't bloody well try that again, whelp" Spike growled, going back to Buffy's side. "Do you understand?"

Xander just stood there. He looked at Giles helplessly, not understanding what was going on.

"Just come over here Xander," Joyce said, motioning to the doorway where the others were. They walked into the hallway to talk.

Willow asked, worry evident in her voice,"What happened? Why is Spike here and what's with the ‘grrr?'?"

Giles sighed, taking off his glasses and polishing the lenses. "I don't know the whole story. Spike showed up here with Buffy a little bit ago, he was carrying her. Apparently she had been knocked unconscious."

"Wow, that only seems to happen to you G-man," Xander interrupted. At the glare he received from the watcher, he muttered "sorry, go on."

"I don't know much more than that, other than Angelus appears to be responsible. What Spike's role is in all of this, I am not sure." He finished, shaking his head, not liking the feeling of helplessness that was threatening to overcome him.

"He helped and protected her when she was unconcious. He brought her back here so she would be safe." Joyce stated quietly, looking at all of them. "And to me, that means something, it means I have my daughter alive." Having said that, she walked back into the room.

Spike had pushed up Buffy's shirt and bandaged the wound on her side, and was just finishing when Joyce came to his side. She put a hand on his shoulder, hesitantly, and when Spike did not respond violently to her touch, she said "Thank you Spike, thank you for taking care of her."

She didn't know why, but she trusted this man, this demon, even though she knew he had been trying to kill her daughter. It didn't made sense, but it was her gut instinct, and she decided to go with it. He had been nothing but respectful since she met him the day before.

He looked at her, surprised, and his blue eyes were sad. "I didn't do enough, she still got hurt "he murmured.

The others had come into the room again, and were watching Spike talking with Joyce. Giles couldn't understand it, this was going against everything he had been taught as a watcher. Not only was William the Bloody not trying to kill them, but he appeared to be showing...emotion? This was unheard of. This was a cold blooded killer without a soul, there was not supposed to be any humanity left in him. Or was there? He was showing Joyce respect, he was showing "something" for Buffy, something that Giles didn't even want to think about. It was truly unnerving. Perhaps there was something in one of his books that could explain this.

Giles watched as Spike sat down on the bed next to Buffy, leaning against the headboard and pulled her into his arms, with her head resting against his chest. Joyce sat down next to him and grabbed Buffy's hand, stroking it, willing her to wake up.

Spike buried his nose in Buffy's hair, inhaling deeply. The scent tantalized his nose, reaching deep into him with the pull that was all Buffy. "Wake up, luv" he whispered, "i need to see you again."

"Uh, Giles, should we be doing something about the huggy cuddly Spike?" Willow whispered, gesturing towards the trio on the bed. "Is it safe?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking this can't be of the good. Evil Spike ring any bells here?" Xander added.

Again, Giles sighed and took off his glasses for a good lens polishing. "I honestly don't know what to do. I don't think we can really do anything until Buffy wakes up and we find out what happened. As far as Spike, I think we're just going to have to wait and see. Anyway, her mom is sitting right there. Spike doesn't appear to be wanting to inflict any harm on anyone here, even with Buffy laying there helpless and bleeding. His bloodlust should be dominating all rational thought right now, but he appears to be in control of it," he whispered to the two teens.

"You know, I am a vampire, you nits, I can hear you. If you are going to talk about me, would you mind taking it someplace else?" Spike stated, finally raising his face from Buffy's hair, glaring at the trio by the door.

"Oh right, sorry then" Giles stuttered, a little unnerved.

It was at that moment that Buffy started to wake up. Spike could hear her heartbeat pick up a little faster, and knew she was coming around. Her eyes fluttered open, confused. Her mind was hazy, things were blurry. Spike smelled the sudden scent of fear as she began to take in her surroundings. Her eyes began to focus, and she saw Xander, Willow and Giles peering anxiously at her from the foot of the bed.

"Buffy, oh my gosh, are you ok?" willow gushed.

"What happened Buff?" Xander asked.

"Buffy, are you all right?" Giles questioned intently.

Buffy's mind went blank, she couldn't think, she tried to think of how she got to be here, but it was like her brain was in a fog. She stared at the group in front of her, her mind racing for....something.

She turned her head and saw her mom peering anxiously at her. Buffy squeezed her hand weakly, "hi mom."

"Oh honey," was all Joyce could manage, as tears spilled from her eyes. The slayerettes were curious to see what Buffy's reaction would be when she realized Spike was all cozied up with her on the bed, and waited for her to notice him.

Then Buffy's eyes went big, "Spike? Where's Spike?" she asked anxiously. As soon as those words left her mouth, she became aware of the strong cool arms around her. She turned her head and looked into the worried blue eyes peering down, and she realized she was laying in his arms, her head had been pillowed on his chest.

"Oh my god, Spike," she cried, as she turned into his embrace and buried her face against his chest, sobbing hysterically.

"Shhh, luv, it's all right. I've got you, you're safe. Nobody is going to hurt you again, the Big Bad is here. I'm so sorry " Spike murmured gently, stroking the back of her head, as he let Buffy cry. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he tried to blink them away. ‘God, I have gone soft' he thought to himself.

"Well, I guess that answers the question if Buffy was going to kick Spike's ass when she woke up, " Xander stated unnecessarily.

"Indeed,"was Giles distracted reply. A monumental change must have occurred in the last day for these two mortal enemies to take such obvious comfort in each other', he thought to himself. He was feeling a bit of a headache coming on

Buffy was still sobbing, and her mom looked on helplessly. "Buffy, what happened?"
she asked.

Buffy didn't even look up, she just shook her head without moving it from Spike's chest. It was too painful to even think about right now, besides the fact that she felt like she was right where she belonged and didn't want to move away. She felt safe.

"Buffy, we really need to know what happened, it's very important. I understand that you are a little upset right now, but I'm afraid I really must insist." Giles explained..

Spike looked up sharply at the watcher, and narrowed his eyes. "We stopped Angelus from opening Acathla, that is all you need to know right now, Watcher."

"A-aand Angel?" Willow hesitantly asked

"ANGELUS. It was Angelus, not Angel." Spike corrected.

Buffy finally looked up from the haven of Spike's arms and said softly "He's gone." She looked up at Spike and they shared a look. One that spoke of tenderness and understanding. Of pain and suffering. He brushed the hair back from her face, wiping at the tears staining her face with his hand, kissing her forehead.

'So what happened, Buffy?" Giles persisted.

Buffy shook her head slowly, her eyes glazing over as pain washed through their green depths. "Giles, I can't. I can't talk about it right now. I'm sorry."

Spike could feel the anguish that was threatening to pull her down into it's unchartered depths, and tightened his arms around her. Ignoring the audience in the room, he nuzzled at her neck, knowing instinctively it would help lessen the pain.. Spike felt like he would doing anything to spare this girl pain, physical or mental. He felt Buffy's body relax slightly, as she leaned into him, closing her eyes and she let herself succumb to the power he now held over her. She tilted her head slightly, allowing him to have better access.

"HELLO, vampire at Buffy's neck is BAD," Xander announced, stating the seemingly obvious.

Willow and Giles both gave a small gasp, and Giles heart pounded erratically in his chest. ~Oh good lord, this is not good.~

"Did, uh, did Angelus bite you Buffy?" Willow inquired.

Buffy felt her anxiety return, even with Spike pressing against his mark. "No, it wasn't him." She admitted quietly. Buffy was afraid to look at her mother, didn't want to see the disgust and disappoint she knew would be evident on her face.

She peeked a look at Giles. He knew, oh god, he knew.

"Did you claim her, Spike?" Giles posed the question, holding his breath for the answer.

"I did." Spike answered in a defiant tone. He was not going to justify himself to these people.

"I see...." he muttered, his mind racing at all of these implication tossing around inside of his head. His slayer had been claimed. And not just by any vampire. This was William the Bloody. Slayer of Slayers, evil undead. A notorious legendary Master Vampire. This was just too much to take in.

"I don't get it," Xander stated.

Giles took of his glasses and polished the lenses again. "It means, that Buffy belongs to William the Bloody."

"Merciful Zeus, say it isn't so," he looked pleadingly at Buffy.

"It's true. He claimed me, " Buffy announced. She turned to look at the handsome vampire she was laying against. "And I claimed him back."

This was met with silence so profound, a pin could be heard dropping.

Spike broke the tension by telling Buffy she needed to get out of her torn clothes. Her mother agreed to help her, and Spike took his leave to the bathroom to clean up his own wounds.

Once he locked the bathdoor behind him, he leaned back against the door. Sheer exhaustion pressed in on him, threatening to overwhelm his consciousness. Spike shook it off, as he stripped off his ruined clothing. He turned the shower on and stepped into the spray, hardly registering as the water hit his cuts. Despite the pain, the shower felt exhilirating, and he watched as his blood mixed with the water as it swirled down the drain.

He stayed under the water for a good while, finally shutting the water off and grabbing a towel to wrap around himself. He grimaced with distaste at his pile of clothing on the floor, what he wouldn't give for something clean to put on.

His wish was answered as Joyce knocked on the bathroom door and informed him that she had left some clean clothes outside the door, that used to belong to Buffy's Dad. He heard her footsteps take her back to Buffy's room. He opened the door and brought the clothes inside. Not his usual choice of attire, a pair of grey sweat pants and a plain white t-shirt. But they were clean, and that was all that mattered at this point. He slipped them on, and scooped his dirty clothes off the floor, throwing them in the trash. Spike rubbed the towel over his wet hair, then padded barefoot back to Buffy's room.

TBC...

Chapter 2

Spike could feel Buffy's anxiety even before he pushed her bedroom door open. Her mother was the only one in there with her, the rest of the Scoobies he knew were downstairs. He could hear them all talking about him, they seemed to forget about his acute vampiric hearing. That didn't much concern him, the girl on the bed did.

Joyce looked at him with a sigh of relief, when he came through the door. She hadn't been doing a very good job of comforting her daughter, who had been openly sobbing since shortly after Spike had left the room.. Joyce took note of the fact how much different Spike looked, with his hair in it's natural curly state and sporting clothes that weren't in the color black. He sure didn't look like a dangerous vampire right now, he looked like a Gap model. She retreated to the chair in the corner of her room to give Spike space.

Spike wasted no time joining Buffy on the bed, drawing her back into his powerful embrace. He pressed his lips against the bite mark on her neck, sucking, licking marking. He hope that it would be enough contact between the two of them to calm her down. Spike's conscience didn't really bother him too much, but he knew what Buffy had been forced to witness tonight was going to torment her mind for a long time to come. Angelus always had been the master of mental torture and anguish, and he had more than outdone himself tonight.

Buffy turned in his arms, pressing her face into his chest again. She felt safer now. When Spike had left the room, the mindless panic that had flooded her mind terrified her. It was all she could do to let her mother help her change her clothes, trying to fight the urge to flee into the bathroom and fling herself into Spike's arms, and never let go.

"Shhh, I got you now, luv. I'm sorry you had to go through that," he whispered to her, caressing her back, hoping the soothing touch would help ease the pain.

"God Spike, it hurts. It hurts so god damn much," she sobbed.

Joyce felt her heart breaking for her daughter. She felt so helpless, there didn't seem to be anything she could do to help ease the hurt Buffy was experiencing. Only Spike seemed able to reach her. A flicker of resentment shot through Joyce at the knowledge that her job of comforting her child was being taken from her. But it was quickly replaced by gratitude that whatever Buffy had faced, she hadn't had to go through it alone.

The feelings of sorrow and pain increased it's crazed onslaught on Buffy, he could feel it coming through the claim like a tidal wave. He knew he had to do something else for her, but he was hesitant with her mother in the room. Spike looked up from Buffy to gaze at Joyce. She returned his look, her eyes were dark with pain and worry for her daughter.

"Joyce, I need to do something for Buffy, something that will help her. But it's not something you will probably want to see. You might want to leave the room. I will give you my word that I will not hurt her." He explained to her.

Joyce shook her head. "I'd rather not leave. If it makes her feel better, do whatever you have to. I won't interfere."

Spike had his doubts, but he respected her wishes. He laid himself out on the bed, pulling Buffy against him so that she lay sprawled on top of him, his face buried in the curve of her neck. She was so lost in her sorrow, the movement hardly registered. Her tears were gaining in intensity, if anything. Joyce was amazed when she heard what sounding like purring emanating from the vampire's chest. It appeared to have a slightly soothing affect on Buffy. However, what Spike did next ,shocked Joyce.

In the blink of an eye, she saw his forehead ridges emerge, and he gently bit down into Buffy's neck with his razor sharp canines. Joyce gasped, all muscles tensed to jump to Buffy's rescue.

Buffy must have sensed her mother's reaction, because she turned her tear stricken eyes towards her and managed to say, "It's ok mom. He's not hurting me." She then closed her eyes and embraced the power of the claim.

This was all too much to take in for Joyce. It was just the previous day she had even learned of the existence of vampires, and now here she was. Sitting here, watching a vampire sink his fangs in her daughter's throat. And the worst part of it was, having the vampire's fangs in her throat was calming her daughter down more than anything else could have. Joyce could see her visibly relax, her mournful tears coming to an end, as she laid in the protective embrace of this vampire. His purring could still be heard, and Joyce saw the tension, anxiety and sorrow leave her daughter's face. She didn't understand this at all. God, no wonder Spike had tried to get her to leave the room, she should have done as he told her.

Spike felt himself absorbing the brunt of Buffy's pain, and it was mindboggling. It had been a long time since he had felt emotions like this. His demon and his lack of conscience prevented that. He still felt a good deal of emotion, but guilt was no longer one of them. He could feel Buffy growing calmer, her tears were stopping and she was relaxing against him. He sent feelings of strength through the claim, and knew when Buffy was affected.

Spike slipped his fangs out of his mark, and licked the wounds closed. Buffy lifted her head up to look down at his handsome face, now returned to it's human form. "That was amazing. Thank you."

He smiled up at her, and scooted himself up so he was once again propped up against Buffy's pillows, keeping her in his arms. She sighed contentedly. Compared to how she had been feeling a little bit ago, she felt like a new person. She still hurt, but it felt like it was buffered by something so she didn't get the full affect.

"What the hell was that?" Joyce asked.

Spike and Buffy looked at each other. "It was part of the claim, Joyce." Spike tried to explain.

"I figured that part out. But what did you do to her? Besides obviously biting her?" Joyce demanded. Her fear of this unknown thing were making her words sharp.

"He bit me so he could take the feelings that were hurting me, into himself." Buffy explained softly.

Even though Joyce had an inkling that something like that was taking place before her eyes, to hear Buffy say it was too much for Joyce. Her feelings were so conflicted right now, and she needed some time to think these things through.

Managing a smile for her daughter, she asked, "Did it work?"

Buffy smiled back. "Yeah, it worked, big time. I feel a lot better now."

Joyce nodded. "Good. I'm uh, going to go see how Mr. Giles is doing." She stuttered, getting up and quickly leaving the room.

"I think my mom's a little wigged right now," Buffy announced, leaning her head back against Spike.

"Yeah, I think you're right, luv. She's had a lot to deal with in a short time though, hasn't she?" Spike said. "I'm just feeling lucky she hasn't staked me by now."

"She wouldn't do that. I think she likes you. It's not every guy she'll leave alone with her jailbait daughter, you know."

Spike growled. "Better not be any other guys."

"Geez, possessive much?"

"Get used to it, you're mine," came the reply.

"I do like the sound of that." Buffy told him. Her eyes were feeling heavy, and her body felt like cement. "Sleepy." She muttered to him, as she drifted off to sleep.

Once Spike knew Buffy was taken care of, he finally allowed himself to succumb to the exhaustion that had been overwhelming him. It was only a matter of minutes that he found himself joining her in slumber, with her wrapped possessively in his arms.

Joyce made her way downstairs, her mind in a state of confusion. Giles saw her descent, and came to stand beside her.

"Is she ok?" he asked, concern heavy in his voice.

Joyce gave a short laugh. "Oh, she's fine now."

Sensing that Joyce needed to talk, he asked her "Did something happen?"

She looked at him, and nodded, and Giles could read the confusion and worry evident in her face. "Let's go into the kitchen, I'll make some tea." he directed, taking her arm and leading her to the kitchen so they could talk in private.

She remained silent while Giles made tea, and when he was seated across from her at the table, he asked, "Is Buffy truly all right?"

This seemed to be the opening that Joyce needed. "Oh Rupert, I just don't know WHAT to think. This day has been so bizarre."

"What happened? Did Spike do something? We could hear Buffy crying from down here, I wish I knew what happened. I've never seen her so distraught."

"Spike did do something, he said he had to do something to help her, he even warned me to leave the room, said I wasn't going to like it. But Buffy was so upset, and I didn't want to leave her like that, even though I knew there was nothing I could do to calm her down. She was beyond comfort." Joyce started to explain, her voice slightly hysteria tinged.

"What did he do, Joyce?"

"He let her lay on him, then he started purring," she said.

"I'm sure that was soothing for her." Giles said.

"But then he bit her, right there in front of me, he bit her." Joyce ranted.

Giles was quiet, he was familiar with claiming rituals. "What was Buffy's reaction in regard to this?"

"She told me it was ok, that he wasn't hurting her, and then she calmed down. Completely. Stopped crying and everything. Then she thanked him, and told me he had taken the pain into himself." Joyce said. "Do you know what that meant?

Giles head jerked at this information. This was almost unheard of. Through his years of research, he had know such a thing was possible, but to hear that Spike had done it for Buffy was well, startling.

"If I understand what you are saying correctly, it meant that he took Buffy's grief and pain into himself, so Buffy would be spared having to feel the worst of it." Giles tried to explain. "I've heard of it, obviously. But usually vampires don't have enough emotion in them to practice this aspect of the claim that often. And when it's done, it's usually in regard to physical pain, a vampire taking that pain into himself to spare his mate. There haven't been very many documented cases of vampires with human mates, especially not a slayer. I am quite frankly, stunned that Spike did that for Buffy."

"So what are you saying?" Joyce asked.

"I'm saying that Spike gave Buffy a special gift. Since we don't know what happened since yesterday, we don't know yet exactly how special it was. But I can tell you this, well, you'd probably rather not know. But Buffy has faced some very serious and scary stuff over the last few years, and I have never seen her react like this. We know whatever she faced resulted in Angelus dying, but I believe it may be more serious than that. Buffy was quite prepared for Angelus's demise, it took her a while to get to that point, but she was more than ready to kill Angelus."

"This is just all.. too much." Joyce stated. "Angel-Angelus. My daughter's only 17, how old are these vampires? Or do I really not want to know?"

"Probably not. Angelus was over 200. I believe Spike is 128." Came the reply.

"How should I feel about this, Rupert? I'm very confused right now." Joyce admitted.

"Well, not having the whole story, this is all I can say. Spike appears to care for Buffy, and he did do a good thing for her, using the claim to absorb her pain. I admit to being more than a little confused myself, if you must know the truth. I researched William the Bloody quite extensively when he first came to town to kill Buffy." he mentally slapped himself when he saw Joyce cringe. "I don't know the circumstances that led to the claiming, but right now, it will protect her. Other vampires will know she belongs to him, and he does have a fierce reputation that I don't think many will want to mess with."

Joyce seemed to accept this news. "he did save her. It just really threw me when I saw him bite her. Although he did warn me that I should leave the room."

"Joyce, the important thing here is that Buffy is all right. She is safe. And as weird as this sounds, I think she's safer having Spike watching over. He appears to be very protective of her, and that could work to her advantage." Giles explained.

"thank you, this did help me. I think I'm going to go see if I can get them anything," Joyce said, leaving the kitchen and walking up the stairs. Giles followed her, and when they got to Buffy's room, they were greeted by the sight of two sleeping forms on the bed. Spike lay on his side, with Buffy spooned up into him, he had his arms around her possessively and he was purring as he slept.

They heard Willow and Xander come up behind them, and Joyce put her finger to her lip, signaling them to be quiet. She backed them out of the room, and shut the door.

"Well, that's going to take some getting used to," Xander stated.

"You betcha." Willow replied. "Was Spike purring?"

"Yes, I believe he was," Giles answered. "Why don't you two go on home, there's nothing for you to do here. We're just going to have to wait until they wake up to get any answers."

The two teens agreed, and the front door was heard closing. "More tea?" Giles suggested.

TBC..

Chapter 3

Joyce and Giles had consumed quite a few cups of tea waiting for the couple upstairs to awaken. They finally admitted defeat, and allowed themselves to fall asleep on the couches in the living room. Giles tried to persuade Joyce to go sleep in her own bed, but she insisted on wanting to be there when Buffy finally came down.

Just before dawn, Joyce heard the sound of rummaging in the kitchen, and knew that someone was finally awake. She got up and went to investigate the source of the noise. She found Buffy peering into the refrigerator, just staring into it but not appearing to be seeing anything.

"Buffy." Her mom called softly.

Buffy jerked, and spun around. "Oh mom. You scared me. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's all right. I've been waiting for you to wake up, anyway. Are you hungry?" she asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable with her daughter and not liking the feeling very much.

"A little. But nothing sounds good." She replied, staring at the ground.

Joyce's heart broke just a little more. Tears started filling her eyes, "Buffy, I am so sorry for the horrible things I said to you when you left the house before. I didn't mean it."

Buffy looked at her with sad eyes. "I know you didn't Mom. I am sorry that you're having to deal with all of this, I know it's giving you the wiggins."

Joyce gave a little laugh, "Yeah, and here I was worried about keeping you protected from drugs and teenage pregnancy. Little did I know I would have to add vampires and demons into the mix."

"And let's not forget apocalypses and prophecies either," Buffy said.

"No, mustn't do that." She tried to joke. She couldn't keep up the light tone however, and found herself asking," Buffy, are you ok?" Her concern made her voice thick.

Buffy felt herself tear up, and went to hug her mom. "Not yet, mom" she admitted, allowing her mother to comfort her. "But I'm getting there. I will tell you what happened, but I only want to tell it once. I'd rather wait until Spike and Giles were here for it."

"Spike cares about you a lot, doesn't he?" she asked. At Buffy's nod, she plunged ahead, "Ok, I'm going to go into Mom Mode here, so be warned. Do you care about him.?"

Buffy nodded intensely, "I do.."

"I thought so, I just wanted to be sure. He was so concerned about you when he
brought you here. I have to tell you though, it does concern me a little. You understand that, right?"

Buffy nodded again. "What, just because I'm involved with another vampire? Why should that be of concern to you, right mom?" Buffy tried for a flippant tone.

"It's not so much the vampire part as the age part. You're only 17. Well ok, so it's
vampire part too, caught me there. It just threw me when I saw him bite you. I know why he did it, but it was still a shock."

"I know, mom." She answered.

"Buffy, I just want you to be safe. You being the slayer scares me. I am so sorry I gave you such a hard time for so long. if I'd only known. Well, I should have known. I'm angry at myself for not seeing the signs sooner. And I had no right telling you not to come back, adding to the already horrendous pressure you were having to face. That was so selfish of me. To think I almost didn't get the chance to tell you this..." Joyce began to sob lightly at this point.

Her daughter hugged her again. "Mom, it's ok. I know it was a shock, finding out
vampires are real and all that."

As Buffy uttered that last statement, she could feel Spike coming closer. Seconds later, he popped his head in through the kitchen door. "So this is where you're hiding."
He smiled at Buffy's mother, and greeted her. "Mornin' Joyce."

"Good morning Spike," she replied. If she thought she felt uncomfortable around
her daughter, it didn't even begin to describe how she felt around Spike now, in the harsh reality of the day.

He went over to Buffy and embraced her, allowing her head to rest against his chest. "How are you doin' this mornin', luv?"

Buffy smiled up at him. "Better, thanks to you. The sleep did a lot also."

Spike returned the smile. "I was a bit knackered myself. Your cuts look a lot better today, pet." He informed her, pulling back and scanning her form for injuries.

It was then Joyce noticed that most of the cuts that had mottled Buffy's skin were almost completely healed, as was the laceration above her eye. When Buffy caught her mom's puzzled look, she explained "Compliments of Slayer healing. Vampires heal fast also. Look, Spike's almost healed up too."

Joyce looked at Spike's muscular arms that were wrapped around her daughter. She saw just the faintest hints of red tinged skin, all that was left of multiple knife wounds that had been marring his flesh the night before.

"Did you get somethin' to eat, luv?" He frowned when she shook her head. "You need to eat somethin' , Pet. Don't want you gettin' sick."

Again, Joyce was taken aback at the obvious concern this vampire was displaying towards her daughter. She suddenly came to the decision that it was good that Buffy had someone looking out for her like Spike seemed to. Joyce had made the mistake of asking Rupert how long the average slayer lived, and her heart had taken a dive at his reluctant reply. If Spike helped Buffy defy those odds, well... she would do what she could to make things as easy for these two as she could. That decided, Joyce felt a huge weight lift off her shoulders.

Smiling at Buffy, "How about I make some breakfast? Spike, would you like some also? Do you eat regular food?" At his nod, she continued. "Ok, I'll get something going here. Buffy, why don't you go take a shower. I'm sure that will make you feel a lot better. When you're finished, breakfast should be ready."

Buffy gave a glance towards Spike, and he gave her an encouraging nod. She gave her mom a quick hug and left the room to go wash the residual blood and grime off of her body.

"Need any help, Joyce?" Spike offered.

She smiled at him, and gave him the task of making coffee. Joyce went to the refrigerator and started collecting the breakfast items she would need, and carried them to the counter. She retrieved a skillet from underneath one of the counters and placed it on the stove. She grabbed the eggs and started cracking them into the skillet.

Sensing that Joyce wished to speak to him, Spike leaned against one of the counters, drinking a cup of coffee. He'd rather it be blood, but that wasn't an option he wished to explore at this given time. He waited for Joyce to begin, and he didn't have to wait long.

"Spike, I would like to thank you for taking care of Buffy last night." She announced.

"You don't' need to thank me, Joyce." he replied.

"Yes, I do. I'm fairly certain that my daughter would not be alive right now if it weren't for you." Joyce commented, a questioning tone in her voice.

Silence was her only reply, as Spike directed his gaze into his coffee mug. She continued. "I know you care for her," she said, with the same questioning tone.

Spike directed his glance up to look her in the eye and replied, "You're right. I do."

Wondering how much she was going to be allowed to say, she hastily continued, "Then I feel I should tell you that I am concerned about this. Spike, Buffy is only 17 years old, she's still a teenager. Rupert tells me you're over 100?" He nodded. "I feel like Buffy still has so much growing up to do, and I'm worried about her."

Spike took a sip of coffee as he pondered the right words to say to Buffy's mother. It didn't even register WHY he should care that he said the right words, he only knew that he wanted to. "Joyce, when I first met Buffy, I wasn't meeting the teenage girl you're talking about. I met the Slayer. And that slayer had been forced to mature beyond her years by her calling. And then by Angelus. And it bothers me now that she lost those years. I plan on seeing to it that she gets them back." Spike looked at her then, intensity shining brightly in his eyes. "But don't ask me to give her up, to give her time to finish growing up. Because I won't do it. I can't."

Joyce just smiled at him. "Well, then, it's a good thing I had already accepted the fact that you were going to be hanging around her, now isn't it?"

Spike grinned back, "So what was this all about then? Testing me?"

"Can't blame a mom for trying, can you?" Joyce joked.

Spike gave a short laugh, and shook his head. "Nah, I guess not."

"Just don't hurt her, Spike. No biting of the real kind, other than the kind I saw last night. Or I'll stake you myself." She threatened.

"Joyce, if I hurt Buffy, I'll hand you the stake personally." he replied in a serious tone, glad she had mentioned the bite, and didn't seem ready to stake him over it. Then he smiled at her again. "Sure there's nothing I can do to help?"

Joyce shook her head. "Just drink your coffee, almost finished up here. Maybe you can wake Rupert up."

At Spike's devious smirk, she said "Just wake him. Don't go picking on him."

Spike threw up his hands in mock innocence, and left the room to attend to the task given to him. Joyce watched him leave, his hair all rumpled and curly and she admitted to herself that he really was good looking. When he smiled, his eyes seemed to dance with mischief, and his teeth shone white against full red lips. ~Yes, your daughter's new boyfriend was quite a cutie. Wait, was he a boyfriend? Is that what you would someone who was mated to your daughter? Oh forget it, just get breakfast ready, Joyce~ she chastised herself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spike found Giles slumbering on the couch in the living room, and his smirk intensified. Oh, too tempting.

He crept right up next to Giles head and leaned down to shout "WATCHER! GET YOUR BLEEDIN' ASS UP!!"

It had the desired effect. Giles shot straight up, eyes looking around wildly, stuttering "Huh? wa..what??"

He focused on the amused face of the blonde vampire. "Very funny, wanker." he muttered, giving Spike a dirty look. He looked around the table for something. Spike held up his glasses. "Lookin' for these, mate?" he asked, handing them over.

Earning another glare from Giles, Spike just smirked. He heard Joyce shout at him from the kitchen and knew he was busted. "These humans have no bleedin' sense of humor." he muttered to himself, taking himself back to the kitchen.

Joyce gave him a pained look when he entered, and he adopted an innocent air. "Giles is up." He told her unnecessarily. Joyce had heard his wake up call clear as day, from her position in the kitchen.

"Thanks, Spike." She said sarcastically.

~Oh right then. That's where Buffy gets it from. Inherited sarcasm~ Spike thought to himself.

"I'm going to go check on Buffy." He told her and left the kitchen. He passed Giles in the doorway and gave him another smirk.

"Please tell me you told him to stay the hell away from your daughter, like you did the first time you saw him," Giles greeted her with, looking a bit rumpled himself.

Joyce handed him a cup of coffee, apologizing for the lack of tea. "Sorry, Rupert. I think I just kind of gave him my blessing." She admitted.

"Hmmphf." was her reply, as Giles drank the bitter brew down. What he wouldn't give for a good cup of tea. He'd have to brew some after he woke up a little.

"Did you see Buffy this morning?" He asked.

"Yes. We talked a little. She's doing better, I think. She seems to be almost all healed. You didn't tell me about her rapid healing, Rupert." She admonished. "Maybe she'll be up to talking after we eat breakfast."

"Let's hope. It's important to get the details while they are still fresh." He replied.

Footsteps were heard, and Spike and Buffy came through the door. Buffy looked better, but she had dark circles under her eyes and appeared tired.

Joyce had just finished laying out breakfast on the table, and the two blondes took their places. Giles was already seated and Joyce pulled her chair out and sat down. There was silence as they dished eggs and bacon up. Nobody commented when Spike spooned healthy portions onto Buffy's plate and told her to eat it all. Buffy gave him a dirty look and started to do as he had ordered.

"So, what can you tell us?" Giles finally asked.

Buffy looked at Spike and asked him "Do you want to tell them, or do you want me to?"

"Why don't you start, luv. If it gets too difficult, I'll take over." He replied, grabbing her hand in support.

"Ok." She told him. She turned to her mom and Giles, and took a deep breathe. "I'll start after we walked out of here,after talking to mom." And she began the tale.

````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
two days earlier-

Spike and Buffy walked away from 1630 Revello Drive in silence. Spike could feel the emotions bouncing off Buffy, and for some reason felt himself compelled to try to make her feel better. Oh yeah, he needed her thoughts on the upcoming fight with Angelus, not with thoughts of her home life. That was it, that was why it was bothering him.

"You know your mum didn't mean the things she said when you left, right?" he told her.

Buffy threw him a dirty look. "Why the hell do you care? You probably think this is funnier than hell."

"Well, yeah, now that you mention it. But it's bothering you, and I don't want you moping about your mommy when we face Angelus." And Dru, he added to himself.

"You know, you really are an asshole," Buffy muttered. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Fine." He replied, teeth clenched. God she really could be a bleedin bitch sometimes. They reached the clearing where he had his car parked. He had left it there earlier when he saw Buffy being stopped by that cop, and stopped to lend her a hand.

Out of habit, he opened the passenger door for her. At the incredulous look she gave him, he stomped around to his side and threw the door open, slamming it after him. She was still standing outside the car, looking at the door like it was going to bite her so he yelled "Are you going to get your ungrateful ass in the car anytime tonight, slayer?"

She threw herself into the passenger seat, and looked at him. What the hell was the bint waiting for?

"What, you're not going to come around and close it?" she asked, her eyes wide in mock innocence.

He roared in anger, shooting her a look filled with daggers. She turned to the car door, unaffected and closed it gently. "Ok, ok, I was just asking. Don't get so huffy."

"You know what, slayer? You really are a bitch." He growled, thrusting his keys into the ignition and slammed the car into gear. He had Buffy grappling for her seatbelt in seconds. That should shut the bint up, he thought.

He should have been so lucky. A minute later, she asked, "Where are we going?"

"What, don't you trust me, pet?" came the reply.

"Hardly. Now, I'll repeat the question.."

"Please don't. You're yammerin is givin' me a bleedin headache. We have some time to kill, before we can go to Angelus. I don't fancy being spotted with you before then, so we're going to a place I found where nobody should be able to find us." He answered.

"My god, do you really think I'm that stupid?" Buffy asked him.

"You really want me to go answerin' that, luv?" he replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. At her thunderous look, he added, "Look, we have a truce, right? I'm not messin around with you, I give you my word."

At her raised eyebrows, he spit in his palm and held it out to her. "Shake on it?"
He dared her, a smirk on his face.

Buffy stared him, then spit in her hand and grasped Spike's cool hand in hers. A bolt of electricity shot through her at the contact, and she couldn't stop the gasp that emerged from her mouth. She quickly withdrew her hand from Spike's larger one, and hastily looked out her window. She missed the look of confused shock on the vampire's face.

As usual, Spike couldn't keep his mouth shut. "Dinnit think you had it in ya, Slayer. A spit shake. Proud of you, there's hope for you yet," he teased.

"Shut up, Spike," was all she could say, not wanting to look over at him. The feeling that she had experienced at Spike's touch had her confused, and she didn't need to be looking at his handsome face to add to that confusion.

They drove for what seemed like forever to Buffy, but finally Spike pulled off a dirt
road and navigated his way through a densely wooded area. When they couldn't drive anymore, Spike stopped the car and informed her that it wasn't much further, and took off on foot.

Buffy found herself following, telling herself she was crazy, then she stopped. She was putting herself in a position where she could be at the mercy of a vampire who, up until a few hours ago, had tried repeatedly to kill her.

As if sensing her thoughts, Spike yelled back to her, "Come on, move your ass Slayer! Spit shake, remember?"

Buffy gritted her teeth, and found her feet moving again, in his direction. This sucks, she thought to herself. I'm probably going to die out here, and nobody will even know where to look for my body.

Spike heard her stomping along behind him, making enough noise to alert an entire nest of vamps. "You really are a stealthy one, aren't you slayer?" he taunted. Spike was rewarded by her continued muttering, every now and then he'd hear "damn vampire" or "god damn son of a bitch" in the tirade. He found himself smiling as he walked. She was kinda cute.

They finally arrived at a partially hidden cave entrance, and Spike had obviously had taken the Boy Scout motto to heart. He had a torch waiting there, and wasted no time getting it lit with his zippo lighter. He turned his damn grinning face to Buffy, and said, "Coming, pet?" holding out a hand to her.

With a deep breath, Buffy grabbed his hand and let herself be led into the interior of the cave, and wondered what the hell she was getting herself into. This sucks, she repeated to herself. This sucks so bad I can't even believe it. What the hell am I doing?

TBC...

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