CHAPTER FIVE: SOULED

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

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

“Mr Giles,” a voice puffed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“You’ve seen her?” Joyce asked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Giles stood up and looked spitefully at Wesley.

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

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

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

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

“You’re the new Watcher?”

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

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

“You killed my daughter.”

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

“Mrs Summers, I assure you-”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“But she can.”

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

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

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

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

~*~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“That it does,” he replied.

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

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

“Like what?” she asked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She looked at him sceptically. “We?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“A target? Why?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CHAPTER SIX: KITTENS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What happened?” Cordelia asked softly.

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

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

“Did they…”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yeah…why?” Xander asked.

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

Giles looked up and eyed the couple uneasily.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Except for Giles.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wesley nodded nervously and looked towards Buffy.

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

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

“We’ve come for the vampire.”

CHAPTER SEVEN: COUNCIL

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

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

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

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

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

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

Quentin stared at her for a moment before nodding.

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

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

“If I have your word,” she said.

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

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

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

Spike made his way forward and stood beside Buffy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Fine. I’ll play nicely.”

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

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

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

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

“Where are you taking her?” he asked.

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

Giles closed his eyes, fearing the worst.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~*~

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CHAPTER EIGHT: HERO

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

Now she was like him, cursed with a demon.

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

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

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

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

“Where are they taking her?”

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

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

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

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

“That’s them,” Spike said.

Giles nodded and grabbed his jacket from the table.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

~*~

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

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

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

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

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

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

“We stop it from taking off.”

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

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

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

“What now?” Angel asked.

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

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

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

“Oy, you Council wankers!” Spike yelled.

“What is he doing?” Angel hissed.

Giles could only grin, holding back a chuckle.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Wesley!” Quentin yelled.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Right…let’s start.”

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

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

“Now you Wes,” Spike growled.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Buffy smiled and hugged him tightly in return.

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

Xander pulled back and saw Buffy’s quiet grin.

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

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

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

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

Buffy just smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist.

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

CHAPTER NINE: TARGET

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Uh…now what?” Buffy asked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She smiled and nodded gratefully.

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

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

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

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

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

He pushed Angel away and raised his scarred eyebrow.

“You’re kidding me,” Spike said.

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

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

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

“What was that?” she asked.

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

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

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

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

“He just challenged me,” he said.

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

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

“You.”

Giles looked up, somewhat interested by the notion.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Buffy shivered at the thought. Eternity with Angelus.

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

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

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

She closed her eyes, leaning her head against his.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“But I am,” Spike said, trying to think of a way to make her understand. “He’s a right git and I hate him, but in the vamp world, he’s got a right to challenge me over…”

Buffy saw him pause and she looked at him curiously. “Over what?”

“A mate,” Spike finished.

Buffy pulled back, her eyes open wide.

“And I don’t have a say in this I take it,” she said angrily.

Spike hesitated and finally nodded. “There is one way to avoid it.”

“What’s that?” Buffy asked.

Spike looked away, for some reason not even wanting to consider the option.

“That you choose neither of them,” Giles said, fascinated by the goings on.

Buffy looked at Spike’s expression, not entirely certain about what she saw written there. She thought for a moment that she was reading him wrong, but she could see that he clearly wanted to be with her.

“Oh,” Buffy said quietly.

“Dunno if that would help mate,” Spike said. “Peaches isn’t exactly incompetent. He’s persistent as hell, I’ll give the bastard that. Even if she and I weren’t…”

Willow shuddered at the thought. She remembered only too well what Angelus had wanted to do to Buffy the last time he had been free.

Spike looked towards Giles, the librarian noticing that Spike’s eyes were oddly soft. “You know as well as I do what he wants to do to her.”

Giles’ eyes widened. No matter how hard he tried, he would never be able to erase the night of his torture at Angelus’ hands. It hadn’t been the chainsaws or the cigarette butts that had nearly broken him, it had been the taunts and barbs concerning his Slayer that had nearly done him.

“I’d make her scream for me Rupert. She’ll never go back from me. She’s tasted the darkness. She was so hot. And I’m gonna make you watch me while I do it. I’ll make you watch as she calls out for me. And after that…she won’t leave me. Ever. You’ll see.”

Giles shuddered, Buffy looked at him curiously.

“What?” she asked quietly.

Giles shook his head, not even wanting to rethink about what Angelus has said in regards to his Slayer. There was no way he was going to tell it to her. She was better off not knowing.

Giles looked towards Spike. “Are you confident that you’ll win?”

Spike nodded. “There’s no way I’m letting that git anywhere near my Slayer,” he said vehemently.

Buffy bit back a smile at the claim he had made on her. My Slayer.

Willow whimpered a little fearfully. She had seen the look on Giles’ eyes as he had obviously remembered something painful about Angelus.

“And uh…if you lose?” Willow asked quietly.

Spike scowled at the young red head. “I won’t bloody lose. You can count on that.”

CHAPTER TEN: CHALLENGE

Buffy watched Spike pace the confines of the mansion, worry stretched across his face. Buffy had never seen him looking like that, and to say that it was freaking her out was an understatement. He kept casting glances to the front door, just waiting for his senses to realise that it was nearly sunset.

Buffy continued to watch him until her movements finally snapped something inside of her.

“Will you just sit down for a minute?” she cried.

He looked up at her, startled, almost having forgotten that she was there with him. An almost impossible task since she was what had been occupying his thoughts. He didn’t want to lose her and he wasn’t entirely sure of what that meant.

He sighed and sat beside her on the couch, his leg shaking. She put a hand onto his knee to calm him down and his eyes came to meet hers, fear shining through his bright blue eyes.

“You’re going to win Spike. You’re stronger than he is,” she assured him.

He sat back in the couch, wishing he could just take her up on the offer for them to skip town and never return. They could outrun Angelus if they needed to. But, Buffy was needed in Sunnydale. She needed Sunnydale, or at least the people in Sunnydale.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Spike said quietly.

Buffy took hold of his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Hey, I’ve fought both of you, and I know who’s stronger. With you, I always had to give it my all. You gave as good as you got, but Angel…I never had to fight him with everything.”

“But you almost lost once,” he reminded her.

She gave him a lopsided smile. “I was having a crappy day.”

He smirked, and raised his eyebrows in surprise when the Slayer nestled comfortably onto his lap, her head burrowing into his shoulder. He gently leant his chin onto her shoulder.

They sat there comfortably Buffy nearly falling asleep in the comfort of his arms. He sighed and pushed her to her feet when he realised that it was beginning to get dark.

“Time for me to go luv,” he said.

He shrugged his duster onto his shoulders and went to walk out the door.

“What do you mean, for you? I’m going too,” she said.

He shook his head and walked over to her, cupping her cheek in his hand. “I don’t want you anywhere near him pet. Stay here ‘right?”

She shook her head and went to speak but was stopped when his lips met hers. All thoughts disappeared except the knowledge of his lips dancing with hers. She sighed as he pulled away, her mind turned to complete mush.

“You stay here. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he whispered against her mouth.

Knowing that she wouldn’t be allowed to follow she nodded her head and watched as he stepped back and out the door into the early evening.

------------------------

Spike stepped into the darkness, his mind a complete whirl of emotions. He had only been back in Sunnydale for one night and already his world had turned upside down. He had come wanting to kill the Slayer and now, in some bizarre twist of fate, he was ready to claim her as his mate.

He was also about to go up against his Sire to protect that claim. Unlife could not get any weirder.

He walked out the gate of the mansion, not even noticing the presence of another vampire as he left and began wandering to the cemetery. They had once met there and fought when Angel had still had his soul in tact. Neither one could bring themselves to kill the other and it had ended in an uneasy truce. Or, more to the point, they had growled at each other and eventually Angel had sauntered away.

Spike let out a low growl and quickly jumped over a hedge to get into the cemetery, moving quickly to the place they had first met. He perched himself on top of a headstone and began to wait.

------------------------

Buffy paced around the mansion, wanting desperately to follow Spike and watch the challenge take place, but she knew that, when provoked, Spike could be a formidable fighter.

Her stomach growled lowly, and with a groan of resignation, she moved to Spike’s refrigerator and grabbed a packet of the blood he kept there for emergencies. She poured it into a mug and heated it, the smell of it making her stomach growl even louder. The microwave gave a shrill ping and she took the mug out.

She sighed and flopped onto the couch, staring up at the ceiling. A noise from the entrance caught her attention and she looked up at the doorway, but saw nothing. She listened carefully and heard a quiet footstep coming towards her.

Her entire body tensed, and she grabbed her jacket that still held one of her stakes. She jumped into a defensive position, stake raised, the mug of blood place on the floor next to her foot.

She watched the doorway, never letting her eyes leave the small space. She didn’t want to be surprised by anything.

She heard a low chuckle coming from behind her, and before she even had the chance to turn, she felt something heavy and sharp hit her head. Her stake clattered to the floor, her limp body following it, landing in a heap.

“Sorry Buff,” a whispered voice said quietly. Through hazy eyes, she saw Angel leaning over her body, a concrete statue in his hands. “Nothing personal.”

With that, she blacked out.

~*~

Spike leapt off the headstone, beginning to pace to and fro, between one headstone and the next. He looked up at the sky, now completely black. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, not even caring if it messed up his perfectly slicked back hair.

“Where are you, you stupid git?” he whispered softly.

He was becoming impatient, his demon ready to fight over something that was his. He hadn’t claimed her yet, seeing as everything had happened so quickly between them, but it was definitely on his ‘to do’ list.

A twig snapped behind him and he whirled around only to find a fledgling vampire beginning to crawl out of its grave. Sighing, and not even sure why he cared, he walked towards it and swiftly put a stake through its heart before the wretched creature even had a chance to completely vacate its patch of earth.

He continued to pace and suddenly something in him snapped up suddenly.

He would have almost laughed except that he was distracted by the innate fear that gripped at his heart and he took off in a hurried run towards the mansion.

He couldn’t believe he had fallen for Angelus’ tricks. It wasn’t the first time Angelus had posed a divisionary threat to get someone away from something. Angelus had taken Buffy away from her Watcher to ensure that Drusilla could capture him.

Within minutes, he was back in the mansion, loudly calling Buffy’s name, though part of him knew it was hopeless. He could smell her blood in the air, could smell fear in the walls of the house.

He stopped short when he saw the fallen stake on the ground, a broken mug with dried blood on the floor, and another smaller patch of blood about two feet away from that.

He clutched at the back of his head, tempted to scream at the ceiling, to curse the fates. He shouldn’t even care this much. Had it been anyone but the Slayer he would have shrugged his shoulders and told his Sire that he could have the girl, but Buffy was completely different.

He grabbed the stake from the floor and ran back into the darkness, heading towards the Watcher’s for the second time in two days.

------------------------

Giles opened the door to see a distraught looking blonde vampire on the doorstep. Giles heart clenched in fear, knowing that the vampire could only be there for one reason. Buffy.

“He took her,” Spike managed to get out before Giles could even ask him to confirm his suspicions.

“He who?” Giles asked.

“Who do you think?” Spike asked angrily. His demon nearly came to the surface at the thought of Angelus having his hands anywhere near his Slayer. “The bloody poof. I went to meet his challenge and he didn’t show up. He took her!”

“Good lord,” Giles said softly.

Spike nodded quickly, his hands fidgeting nervously.

“I don’t know where he would’ve taken her,” he said desperately. “I woulda said the mansion, but they weren’t there, I would’ve smelt ‘em for sure. And the old factories useless, falling in and all that. I checked out his apartment and he wasn’t there either. I don’t know where else to go.”

Giles thought for a moment, unsure as to how Angelus’ mind worked. All Giles knew was that the demon would take great joy in breaking the girl. He shuddered at the thought. He tried to clear his mind, attempting to think of a place where Angelus would take Buffy. He couldn’t even imagine a place where Angelus would feel he wouldn’t be found.

“You’ve known him longer than I,” Giles said. “Did he…did he have any favourite places in the past? Anywhere that he would have felt…safe?”

Spike rolled his eyes at the word ‘safe’ though he knew what Giles meant. Somewhere where he wouldn’t be interrupted.

“He’s smart but impatient as hell. You’ve seem him when he doesn’t get what he wants. Spoiled brat is all he is, bloody git. He won’t be anywhere obvious, won’t be somewhere that we think to look,” Spike said.

Giles nodded and grabbed his jacket from the coat rack. He stepped out the door, locking it behind him.

“Where are we going?” Spike asked.

“To get Willow and Xander. They have the right to know about this, and…perhaps they would be able to think of something that we can’t,” Giles explained.