Under your spell by Marianne

Chapter 1

She stormed towards the crypt. This time she would force him to leave. Which part of leave town – leave the planet didn't he understand? The last straw had been Dawn admitting that she'd been hanging out with Spike again, against Buffy's express wishes.

She grasped the stake more firmly, but knew that she wouldn't use it against the neutered vampire. Then she became aware of the sound of muffled screams emanating from Spike's home. She kicked the door open, ready now to plunge the stake into his undead heart to stop him torturing whoever, whatever... She slid to a halt at the sight before her. Spike, his back arched, was writhing on the floor, the screams coming from his throat. Towering over him was a huge demon, chanting and throwing some dust from an ornate box, over the agonised vampire.

Buffy launched herself at the demon, raining punches and kicks at its body taking it by surprise. They fought long and hard, but finally Buffy managed to overpower it and break its neck. Buffy ran over to the still writhing vampire, his screams now just husky groans, and laid her hand on his shoulder. At her touch, his body sagged and he stopped making that awful sound.

"Spike, Spike can you hear me?"

He tried to speak, but no sound came from his throat, he looked up at her trying to make her understand. Buffy immediately saw what the problem was,

"What've you got in your refrigerator apart from booze, I wonder?"

She ran over to it, and was not surprised to find it stuffed with bottles. Then she saw a pack of blood, picked it up, took it over to him, tore it open and poured it down his throat. He swallowed convulsively and started to choke. She lifted him up by his shoulders, leaned him against her knees, and began patting his back. He relaxed against her and opened his eyes.

"Can you speak to me? Who the hell was that Spike?"

"Dunno. Woke up. Pain." He croaked inarticulately.

"Come on, get up." She pulled him and he rose immediately.

Oh wow, she thought, how come I didn't notice he was naked before. Well you were a busy little slayer, fighting demons and consoling vampires, she told herself.

"I, uh, think we'd better get some clothes on you."

She went over and picked up his trademark black shirt and jeans and held them out to him, trying to ignore his nakedness. He made no move to take them, but his face was creased with, what? Embarrassment? No it was fear and panic.

"Come on Spike, get dressed!" She snapped at him. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, he snatched the clothes from her hands and pulled them on.

"What's going on?" She said. He made no reply, but looked at her pleadingly. "What's the matter with you, speak to me!"

A torrent of words fell from his lips, "I'd love to speak to you, but I can't seem to, until you tell me to. I can't move unless you tell me to, I don't know what the bleeding hell is going on, and I want it to stop!"

"Oh yeah," she said sceptically, this had to be one of his tricks, "if that was the case I'd be able to say to you – stand on one leg." Immediately he was balancing on one leg. "Then I could say to you – hop up and down." He began hopping, his expression of cold fury making her giggle. "Then I'd say – make like a dog." When he began barking, it wiped the grin off her face. "OK, this is now wigging me out – stop it!"

He stopped and glared at her. "So, if you're not doing this to piss me off, what's happening here?"

When he didn't answer, she said "Oh for goodness sake, speak to me!"

"Don't you get it you stupid bint, I've been mojoed!"

"Are you forgetting that you are in my power, fangface?" She smiled evilly at him and was gratified by the look of apprehension he shot her.

"Well, yeah, but I know you won't take advantage of me will you? Or perhaps that's what you want - me as your sex slave?" He waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively and smirked.

"Oh, shut up Spike." His mouth closed with an audible snap. "Mmmm, I think I'm going to enjoy this." He closed his eyes and swallowed hard, and she gave him an amused look. "Now, shall we stop calling Buffy nasty names and talk about who did this to you and why?" When he looked at her with an agonised expression, she realised that he really couldn't talk without her permission. "This is getting to be really annoying, talk to me Spike."

"I don't know who – I've never seen a demon like that before, and I can't think why. I've got a lot of enemies now I've been killing vamps and demons, but I don't know of any that have the kind of power to use magic like that."

"Oh, that's very helpful. I wonder if I just left, would you get back to normal – whatever normal is for you?"

He shrugged, "I don't know what the spell was, or what it's for – why don't you try it?"

Without another word, she marched out of the door. She had got about thirty feet away, when his screams rent the air again. When she dashed back in, he was writhing on the floor and didn't stop until she touched him. "Well, so much for that theory" Then it hit her. "Oh no! This means that I've got you hanging around me for the foreseeable future! What did I do to deserve this?

Buffy watched conflicting emotions flash over his face, and realised, that however much she hated and despised him, she felt sorry for him too. Hey, Buffy, you must be getting soft in your old age she thought wryly. Well you wouldn't like it if your positions were reversed would you, she asked herself. Oh no, don't even think it – Spike would really take advantage. And the sort of things he would make her do made her shudder.

"Come on," she said abruptly, "lets go to the Magic Box, we've got to get Willow on the case. She's the nearest we've got to an expert on magic and maybe Giles will know what the demon was. I don't want you hanging around me any longer than you have to."

"Uh, only Red eh?" he said pleadingly.

"Well no, I think we need Giles to look into the demon aspect. Come on." She knew that he wouldn't want Xander to know about his helplessness, and looked forward to the confrontation.

He silently followed her as she made her way to the store, and she, despite herself, missed the barbed remarks and innuendo that were always a part of being with him.

"Giles, crack open the books, we need research." She said brightly as she swung through the door, grinning at the Scoobies grouped round a table.

"Good evening to you too Buffy." Giles said wryly, and then caught sight of the vampire entering behind her. "What is HE doing here?" He marched up to Spike, drew him up by his lapels and shouted at him "I thought I made it quite plain last time you were here, that you are not welcome in my shop!"

"What last time? When was he here?"

Giles still holding Spike and glaring at him said "I didn't want to bother you with it, it was after, you know..."

"You mean when he chained me up and threatened to kill me?" She said sweetly, turning to add her glare to Giles'.

Spike had the deer caught in the headlights expression on his face.

Xander said, "Yeah Buff, why did you bring fangbreath here, are we going to have a stake spectacular? And why is he not saying anything, have you ripped out his tongue?"

"Xander!" Willow said rolling her eyes, "although I must admit this is the longest time he's kept quiet since I've known him."

Buffy couldn't keep it up any longer and collapsed into giggles. They all looked at her as if she was out of her mind. "Let him go Giles, he is completely defenceless." And proceeded to tell them the whole story.

When she finished, they all swung round to stare at the vampire and he glared back, desperately hoping for the ground to open and swallow him up. Stake me, please stake me, he begged her in his mind.

"Oh, wow Buff, will it work for me too? Let me try, let me try, pleeeeese." Xander had walked round the immobile vampire a couple of times. "Hop up and down." He commanded, and was disappointed when Spike remained still. "I wanted to do the Terminator II thing."

"Already done it." Buffy said, but when she saw the expression of anguish on the vampire's face she didn't elaborate. "Well come on people, let's get researching. Giles, can you look up the demon in your, uh, demony books? And Willow, what about the spell, do you know of any that work like this?"

"You said that the demon was throwing some dust at Spike from a box? Giles asked. "Do you have the box with you?"

Buffy slapped her forehead. "After all that happened, I didn't think of it."

"Well, I think it might be important, could you go back and get it?"

"Uh, I can't go more than thirty feet from him before the pain starts again – worst luck. Xander, maybe you and Anya can go and get it for me?"

They all knew that it was a ploy to get Xander away from Spike, but he grinned good-naturedly and said OK. Buffy wandered over to Willow, bent over her casually and murmured, "I didn't think I'd ever feel sorry for that evil, irritating, obnoxious vampire, but I do. Will, he can't do anything without my say-so, and then if I tell him to talk, he can't move & if I tell him to move, he can't talk. It's driving us both crazy!"

Willow frowned in thought, and then said, "Have you tried telling him to do both things in the same sentence?"

"Worth a try."

Buffy walked over to the still immobile vampire and said "Spike, saywhatyouwantanddowhatyouwant". His body relaxed and he slouched over to a chair and slumped down in it, putting his head in his hands.

"Have you any idea how humiliating and bloody demeaning this is?" he muttered looking up at her with fury in his eyes.

"Well, it hasn't been a walk in the park for me either". She said crossly.

"Sod off!" he snarled, leant back in his chair and closed his eyes.

She went back and sat next to Willow, going through the motions of studying a book.

The tension that had been slowly building in the room, was broken by the return of Xander and his ex-demon girlfriend. "Found it!" Xander was tossing a rather ornate carved wooden box in his hand. Anya smiled at everyone, "Sorry it took so long, but being in the evil vampire's den was a turn on and we had a ..."

Xander smiled nervously and said "Ahn, what've we said about telling private stuff to everyone?"

"Well, we didn't go the whole way, although I don't know why, it was quite cosy in that crypt."

"OK, OK, I think we should stop right there, I'll talk to you about this tonight."

Anya gave a squeal of delight and clapped her hands, "Ooh can we do the "I've-been-a-naughty-girl-and-must-be-punished-game?""

Xander rolled his eyes, but was saved from further embarrassment by Giles abruptly asking to see the box. The Watcher and Willow seemed fascinated by the hieroglyphics on its lid, and Buffy left them to it. She wandered over to Spike and said "I'm going to do some training; I guess you had better come in there with me."

He got to his feet without comment, and followed her into the training room, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. After a few moments, Buffy forgot he was there, and put her whole mind into what she was doing. Spike watched her, and grudgingly admitted to himself that she was a superb athlete. He had seen her fight and had fought her before of course, but this was more like a dance, almost like ballet, he couldn't take his eyes off her. The feelings that he had been sublimating all evening came to the fore – she was magnificent, he loved her with all his heart, and she was as far away as ever. Suddenly, he couldn't watch her any more, and he went to the sofa, lay down on it and closed his eyes.

"Spike, we need to go now, I must have a shower." Her face loomed over him and he had an almost overpowering urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her, but instead he sighed, got up and followed her back into the store.

"Guys, any progress?" Both Giles and Willow shook their heads.

"Buffy, can you remember any of the words of the spell?" Willow asked.

"He was being all noisy vamp, I couldn't hear anything over his screams." Buffy answered. "Can you remember any Spike?"

"I was a bit preoccupied myself at the time." He said sarcastically

"Well, he – whoever he was – must have wanted total control over you, and Buffy interrupted him at the crucial moment, that much is clear. We have to consider whether he was doing this for himself, or whether he was employed by someone else." Giles frowned. "Are you sure that you can't think of anyone that could be behind this? I know that there must be many people who hold a grudge, perhaps someone who has connections with witches or mages or..."

"Don't you think I've been wracking my brain trying to think of someone?" Spike shouted; his rage and terror almost overcoming him.

Buffy surprised them all, not least herself, when she leaned over towards him, patted his arm and said softly, "Come on, let's go home. Maybe when you've had more time you'll think of something."

He smiled at her gratefully. "Yeah, sorry, I'm a bit – you know."

"Wow", thought Willow, she didn't think she could stand too many more shocks –"that was Spike apologising!"

She watched them leave, Spike walking just behind Buffy's left shoulder, and turned to Giles with raised brows. He was looking back at her with the same expression of amazement.

"Buffy was nice to Spike! She had better not make a habit of it, he'll take advantage of her given any opportunity."

"Oh, I think she is more than a match for him, especially at the moment." With that they both went back to the research.

Chapter 2.

The tall figure in a long black cloak said in a deceptively soft voice, “Where is the vampire?”

Everyone in the room flinched and tried to look anywhere but in his eyes. The figure spoke again. “I asked a question.” He smiled, and they shrank back, shuddering.

One braver than the others said, in a quavering voice, “Egris failed my lord. He was interrupted at the end of the enchantment and someone else claimed the vampire.”

“Someone else?”

“Yes my lord Savos, a, a woman. She is believed to be the Slayer.”

The black-cloaked being hissed his fury. “You have a day to correct this matter.” With that, Savos swung round, his cloak flaring, and left the room.

The feeling of relief in the room was palpable.

When Buffy and Spike reached her home, she sailed straight in and was half way up the stairs, before she realised that he’d not followed her. She ran back down again, remembering the dis-invite spell and was just in time to see him continually crashing into the barrier and then collapsing to the floor.

“Oh, this is getting really old!” She grumped. “Come in Spike – dowhatyouwantandsaywhatyouwant!”

“Look slayer, I’m the injured party here, how about cutting me some sodding slack.” He looked at her with fury, as he regained his feet.

“Listen you – I’m this close to making you stake yourself. Shut up and sit down!” Buffy groaned, as he obeyed her immediately. “Oh, hell, this is gonna take some getting used to.” She was really going to have to watch every word she said to him, it would be so easy to say something casually like “go stake yourself” and he’d be dust before she could stop him. Evil as he was, annoying as he was, he didn’t deserve a death like that. She sighed, gave him the remote and putting on the TV, fled upstairs to have a nice long, hot shower. After she had dressed, she felt a whole lot better, until she remembered the demon downstairs.

“You any closer to thinking of who might’ve done this to you?” Buffy asked curiously, sitting next to him on the sofa. “’Cos, I, for one, would like to wring their neck! This is gonna put a real crimp in my style.” She continued, complaining under her breath about how she was going to explain being accompanied by a skinny, badly-dressed, bleached blonde vampire, to the people she met.

She glanced round at him and flinched when she saw the hatred in his eyes at his enforced silence. Again, that strange feeling of sympathy for him rose in her mind. “Yeah, okay, it’s probably a smidgeon worse for you, with the not being able to speak or move without my say-so thing.” He looked as if he was about to explode. “All right, just try not to piss me off all the time and I’ll do the saywhatyouwantanddowhatyouwantSpike thing.”

Spike gasped and obviously choked back a sarcastic remark, jumped to his feet and started to pace up and down. He swallowed hard and said in a trembling voice, “About bloody ti.....” He glanced at her and changed his mind. Grimacing and grinding his teeth he said carefully, “How about we go out and kill something – anything?”

She was about to remind him that she’d just showered, but one look at his pleading face, she nodded and, after writing a note for her mom, they headed out on patrol.

Spike fought with manic glee, taking out his frustration and rage on several unfortunate demons and when they’d encountered a large group of vampires, he had actually laughed as he’d massacred them. Buffy had kept back and only interfered when it looked as though he was in trouble, she knew that he needed this and didn’t begrudge him the distraction. A few hours later, they made their way back to Revello Drive. Weary, dishevelled and hungry, Buffy lead the way up the path to her door, grumbling softly under her breath. It had been hard, not talking to each other, but they had agreed that if she said nothing to him and he kept his sarcastic and suggestive remarks to himself, then the spell wouldn’t be invoked.

Neither of them noticed that they were being followed, so intent were they on their own thoughts, until it was too late. Out of nowhere, it seemed to them, a large group of demons attacked. They fought desperately and managed to take a lot of the demons out, but tired as they were, it was not enough. The last thing Buffy registered was Spike’s agonised scream, as he was pulled away from her.

Chapter 3.

Groaning, Buffy woke; finding herself sitting slumped over, her wrists held at shoulder level, chained to a wall. She was in a small chamber with grim, dank, stone walls, the small grille in the door opposite her the only source of light. She struggled and heaved on the chains, but they were too strong to break. Suddenly the memory of how she was captured made her look around – no sign of Spike. She remembered the screams she'd heard before the darkness had claimed her and she had to assume that he was now under the control of someone, or something, else.

Cold fury filled her and she again struggled fiercely to snap the chains, but after a few minutes had to admit defeat. Buffy leaned back against the wall and tried to remember the details of their capture. Who was the target of this kidnap? What did they (whoever they were) expect to gain from this? Despite herself, she was worried about the vampire. The control spell wasn't likely to be for his benefit, what would they make him do? If he was under the control of his enemy, there was no knowing what would happen to him. Buffy shook her head in despair and then stiffened as she heard sounds echoing down the passageway.

First there was yelling and then, strangely, wailing. A single, female voice.

Savos smiled as he looked upon the woman he loved. At least he assumed it was love, the feeling wasn't something he was accustomed to – his one life-long love affaire had been with himself. But he found that all he wanted to do was to please her, give her anything that she desired.

He had been sired over three centuries before. He had been one of the privileged few, born into an enormously rich banking family in Venice. Even then, although people flinched away from his ugliness, they had still gathered around him like vultures, hoping for handouts. He had been pathetically grateful at the time for any attention. Niccolo, the vampire that had bitten him, had decided he would make a better vamp than meal, and he was lucky that Niccolo had taken the time to show him how to survive. He, of course, had killed his sire eventually, once Niccolo had shown him everything he could. Savos, over the years, used the family's wealth wisely and he was now probably the richest being on the planet. But also probably the loneliest. But now, he had found another person that he wanted to share his life with.

She was the only being he had encountered who was totally unafraid of him, which, at first, had filled him with rage. Then as she danced around smiling at his anger and he registered her beauty, he began to soften towards her, stopping his creatures from attacking and destroying her. He supposed that, at first, it was the novelty that attracted him towards her, but it was more than that now – she was like a drug – he couldn't get enough. She seemed not to see his ugliness, or if she did, it made no difference. Of course, he'd had women before, but they'd either been hard-faced bitches only interested in his money and power; or soft, stupid women, only interested in his money and power. This one was different, she obviously had no idea who or what he was and he had had to do all the running. When she had shown the ability for second sight, he was totally won over.

"I have a gift for you my love." He smiled again, as she clapped her hands together with excitement. "The cost was great, but I would give anything for your pleasure." He wondered whether she knew how fortunate she was – he had never given anything away before, that was after all, how he'd managed to accumulate his enormous wealth. But of course she didn't - she was oblivious – accepting his generosity as if it were her right.

"What is it? What is it?" She was charming in her enthusiasm.

He motioned to one of his servants, who in turn gestured to another beyond the open door.

She stared at the figure that entered. "Spike, it's my Spike!" Drusilla ran up to the vampire and pulled him into her arms. When he made no response, she cried, "What's wrong with him, there's something wrong with him – he's like a statue – he won't move!" She began to wail.

Chapter 4.

"Buffy didn't get home last night and she's still missing." Giles' voice was somber.

"I knew it! That bleached blood sucker has done something to her!" Xander leaped to his feet and began to pace across the magic shop floor. "It was all a trick to get her on her own."

"Xander, calm down. If it was just a ruse, don't you think he'd have attacked her earlier – before they got here yesterday?" Giles said impatiently. "I think it was probably the originator of the enchantment that has taken them, we just have to find out who that is."

"How do we do that?" asked Willow tearfully. "Oh! Oh! We gotta do a location spell." She started to search the shelves behind them for the ingredients.

"Yes, good idea." Giles said. "I was actually going to suggest that."

When the situation had been explained and the control passed to her, Drusilla was ecstatic. She had Spike follow her to her room and sit on the floor with her dollies. She found that he was "posable" and spent a long time arranging and re-arranging them all in a circle, giving them invisible tea to drink. She accidentally stabbed him with a teaspoon and Spike's glare just made her giggle. After a time though, she became bored with the game.

"I have a special room you can take him to." Suggested Savos, "I use it to help me relax. It has all sorts of implements; knives, whips, chains, I'm sure you'll find something to amuse you."

Drusilla eagerly agreed and lead Spike to the room. It was a novelty not having to use the chains, she could just order him to stand just so and he would. The only problem was that, after a while, he kept toppling over and she would have to wait for him to recover before she could play again. She used this time to carve beautiful patterns on his white skin, pulling back every now and again to admire her handiwork. She spent many happy hours, humming and giggling to herself. But, after a while, she became bored and tearful.

Savos, watching from his seat in the corner, saw her unhappiness. He rose and left the room, returning a few minutes later.

"Why won't he talk to me? He always used to call me his black princess and now he just glares at me."

"Drusilla, you have to tell him to talk to you."

Drusilla swung round when she heard the new voice to see that Savos had brought someone else into the room. "The Slayer! You brought me the Slayer – is it my birthday?" Her happy mood returned and she danced over to where the young woman in chains was being held by two burly vampires. "Ooooh, I know just what to do now!" She went over to a table filled with knives and other, stranger, objects and picked up a tazer.

Buffy was transfixed with horror at the sight of Spike sprawled in a pool of his own blood, his chest covered with knife cuts. He looked back at her with equal horror in his eyes. Something made her say to him, "Its okay Spike, we'll get through this somehow."

"We'll have no interference from you." Savos snarled, as he took a piece of cloth from his pocket and gagged her.

"Come along, you bad dog. Mummy's got a good game to play. We'll just get all the players ready." Drusilla thrust the tazer into Buffy's body and she convulsed into unconsciousness.

Buffy gradually woke, looked round, and recognized that she was in the lower part of Spike's crypt, tied to a pillar. Spike stood opposite her and Drusilla stood between them. Her heart gave a lurch, it was a re-creation of the incident a couple of weeks previously, when Spike vowed his undying love; only they were all shifted around.

"Now, my William, we're going to play my game, by my rules and that nasty Slayer won't confuse you anymore." She handed him a stake. "There, my black knight, you must kill the slayer for me."

Spike, a prisoner in his own flesh, watched his own traitorous hand grasp the stake, as he staggered towards Buffy, closely followed by his ex-paramour.

Buffy's eyes widened as she struggled with the knots that tied her to the column. She knew that she wouldn't be able to get free in time to stop him, but it didn't stop her trying.

Savos smiled as he shuffled nearer – he didn't want to miss a second of this. It was the best entertainment he'd had for years.

"That's it Spike, stab her through the heart for mummy!"

Spike drew back his arm and plunged the stake downwards – spinning as he did so – and thrust it into Drusilla's heart. She looked at him with astonishment and sadness for a second and then she was dust.

Savos gave an inarticulate cry and threw himself at Spike, knocking him to the floor. Buffy gave one last heave and managed to free one of her hands. She grabbed Savos and tossed him as hard as she could at the wall. He bounced off and collapsed in an unmoving heap. "Oh, sorry, was that too much interference for you?" Buffy snarled as she pulled off the gag.

As she struggled with the rest of her bonds, she looked worriedly at the blonde vampire. He was now on his knees, rocking backwards and forwards whispering, "Oh, love, I'm sorry – I'm so sorry." Over and over again.

There was a crash overhead as the crypt door was pushed open. "Oh great, its ugly mug's troops coming to find out what's happened to him." Buffy redoubled her efforts to untangle herself from the rope.

There was another crash, as someone fell through the opening.

"It's okay Buffy, Xan-man to the rescue. Where are all the big bads – let me at 'em! Ah, here's one." He strode over to Spike and yanked him to his feet. He pulled a stake from his pocket and snarled "This is overdue."

"No! Xander, he's not the one who did this!" Buffy freed herself at last and tugged the stake from the young man's hand. "He's the one who saved me."

Giles and Willow, who had followed Xander downstairs, actually using the ladder, gaped at her.

"He saved you?" Willow asked her voice filled with disbelief.

Buffy explained what had happened and their disbelief became more profound.

"But how did he do it?" Giles asked. "He shouldn't have been able to stop himself from obeying Drusilla's order."

"Well, I figured that you somehow managed to work out what the spell was, and broke it." Buffy looked at them. "You mean you didn't?"

"No, we just used a location spell and decided on a rescue mission. I just can't work out how he managed to do what he did." Giles said thoughtfully. They all looked towards Spike, who was back on his knees, rocking back and forth, tearing at his hair.

"Not just how he did it, but why he did it." Buffy whispered.

Chapter 5.

Giles stared at the blonde vampire with avid interest. Spike was looking sightlessly at the far wall, his face blank. He was still crouched near the small heap of dust which was all that was left of Drusilla, but he was now immobile, his hands lying lax in his lap. The Watcher noticed that the vampire had clumps of hair tangled in his fingers, which he had pulled out during his initial reaction to Dru’s demise. How had he been able to deviate from his instructions, whilst under the power of the spell? Was his reaction afterwards part of the Sire/Childe bond? Or perhaps it was the separation from his mate. If so, his killing of Drusilla was even more difficult to understand – this needed research. Perhaps after he had interrogated Spike, he could write a paper on it - the Council would be extremely interested in finding out more about these creatures. “Buffy, I don’t think we should leave him here.” He said casually, “If you like, I can put him up at my place and perhaps find out ....”

“Take him home! No, no, I vote with the leaving him here.” Xander interrupted. “He’ll be okay – he’s a vampire with all that self-healy thing.”

“Xander! We can’t just leave him here, look at him, he’s all hurt and upset.”

“Willow, you’re too soft-hearted. Remember what he was like the last time he was a house-guest.” Xander shuddered theatrically. “I don’t want to go through that again.”

Buffy heard them arguing in the background, but all her attention was on Spike. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. The way he acted after he had dusted Drusilla, she found she wanted – no, needed - to help the vampire. He had, after all, sacrificed everything for her. She’d been down that road herself, having to kill her lover to save the world. Spike had killed his love to save her – but why? It was beyond her understanding.

Making a snap decision, she said in an uncompromising voice. “He’s coming home with me.” And when they all chimed in with objections she glared at them, accepting no arguments. “First though, I have some unfinished business.”

She motioned to Xander to throw her his stake, marched over to the unconscious Savos, still lying where she had thrown him, and plunged it into his heart. “There, how’s that for interference!”

Moving over to where Spike knelt, she gently lifted him to his feet, but then had to catch him as he stumbled and almost fell.

They managed to half drag, half lift Spike to the upper level of the crypt and Buffy sent Xander to bring his car as near to the entrance as possible.

Trying not to jostle him too much, the Scoobies loaded Spike into Xander’s car and Buffy made sure he drove slowly and carefully to Revello Drive.

“You sure it’ll be acceptable to your mother and Dawn to take him into your home?” Giles asked anxiously. “I could still take him to my apartment – I promise I won’t chain him up in the bath this time.”

“We’ll be okay Giles, but I’d appreciate some help in patching him up.”

“Buffy! Oh, my baby. You’re all right.” Joyce opened the door and hugged her daughter tightly. “I was so worried when you didn’t get home last night.”

“Yeah, mom, I’m okay – but Spike’s not. He got injured helping to protect me.” As she hoped, her mother’s maternal instincts were deflected to the blonde vampire. Joyce took charge, commanding the two men take Spike up to the bathroom and clean him up, while she searched out some bandages.

Giles shivered when he saw the extent of the vampire’s injuries. There didn’t seem to be a square inch of his body that wasn’t burned, bruised or cut. Some of the wounds were disturbingly deep – he certainly wouldn’t have survived had he been human. Even Xander was silenced; as he helped the Watcher peel off what was left of Spike’s clothes. They decided to clean his wounds in the bathtub; his flesh was slick with blood. The water immediately became pink when they lowered his body into it.

“What’s wrong with him? Is he still under the spell? I’ve never seen him so quiet.” Xander said uneasily. “He’s giving me the wiggins.”

Giles shrugged. “I don’t know – the spell should have been broken once he, um, did what he did.” The watcher avoided saying Drusilla’s name; he was uncertain what effect it would have on Spike. “I’m sure he’ll perk up when we get some blood into him.”

Xander winced when he saw two of Spike’s fingers were bent at an unnatural angle. “No wonder he gave her a one way ticket to stakesville” he said, trying to fight off an overwhelming feeling of sympathy, which he knew the vampire would hate if he were in his right mind.

Later, his chest and hand bandaged, Spike was supported back downstairs. It had been decided that it would be best if he stayed in the basement and Buffy got an old camp bed set up for him. After he was settled, Giles took Buffy to one side.

“I think it would be best if you restrained him until we know how he is going to react, when he recovers.”

“Giles, he’s as weak as a day old kitten!” Buffy smiled at her Watcher’s caution. “I could stop him in my sleep.”

“It’s not you I’m worried about; it’s Dawn and your mother. We don’t know what effect the spell has had on him and until we do, I think it’s better to err on the side of caution.”

Buffy reluctantly agreed, so Willow and Xander made a return journey to collect some blood and chains from Spike’s crypt.

The vampire had shown no reaction when the manacles were fastened on his wrists and still less reaction when a mug full of blood was put to his lips. He just lay silent and still, staring sightlessly at the ceiling.

“Come on Spike, drink up.” Buffy tipped the mug until the liquid inside touched his mouth. “Yum, yum, it’ll help you heal up.” His mouth stayed stubbornly closed and the blood ran down the sides of his face and on to the pillow. “Oh yuk! Now look at the mess you’ve made.”

She might as well have talked to herself. Grumbling under her breath, Buffy cleaned him up as well as she could and then stormed up the stairs to throw the blood down the sink.

“Let me try, I’ll bet I can make him drink.” Dawn had returned from her school trip and was furious that she’d missed all the excitement.

“No! Dawn, I don’t want you anywhere near the basement.” Buffy exclaimed.

“He wouldn’t hurt me – I’m his friend.”

“What have I told you – vampires don’t have friends. He’s a vicious, bloodthirsty killer. The only thing that stopped him attacking you was the chip. You are not to go see him.” Buffy’s eyes flashed dangerously and Dawn knew when to concede defeat.

“It’s not fair.” She muttered, tossing her hair back. “Anyway, how’s he going to heal if he doesn’t feed? Someone will have to persuade him – or we’ll have a pile of dust to clean up.” With that, she flounced off up the stairs to her room

Buffy had been thinking the same thing, how were they going to deal with this? She had always been in the business of stopping vampires eating, not encouraging them to feed. She was sure there was nothing in any of the books they had, about the subject. She sighed, “I bet no other Slayer has had this problem.”

Later, Buffy lay in bed trying to sleep. She was still wired from the events of the day and she tossed and turned for a long time. At last, just as she was dropping off, she heard shouting and then an eerie keening sound. Jumping up, she was just reaching for her wrap, when Dawn came running in.

“What’s that noise? Buffy, what’s that noise?”

“I don’t know, Dawn, I’ll go and investigate. Go back to bed, I’ll deal with it.” She hugged her trembling sister and went down the stairs.

The sound was coming from the basement, but just as she reached the door, it ceased. She opened the door and crept down the stairs. There was a sound like muffled sobbing, but as she reached the bottom, it stopped. She moved over to the bed, where the vampire lay as still and quiet as before. The only difference she could see was that his eyes were closed and there were wet streaks on his face. Had he been weeping? It was the only explanation. Who knew that vampires could cry?

“Spike?” She said uncertainly, “Um, is there anything I can do to help? Would you like some food now?” He made no sign that he’d heard her. Was he asleep? Unconscious? What with the no breathing and no heartbeat, it was impossible to tell. She stood shifting from foot to foot, undecided. “Well, if you need anything, just call for me. The shouting and screaming was wigging Dawn out.” He still lay as unmoving as a statue. “Okay, I’m going back to bed now.” She sounded weak and stupid to her own ears – way to go Buffy – very slayerlike.

She fled upstairs her mind a whirl of thoughts, questions and emotions.

TBC

Chapter 6.

"Don't you think it's time to put Spike out of his misery?" Giles asked quietly. They had just finished another training session in the back room of the Magic Box.

"No! We can't just treat him as if he's a dog at the end of his useful life." Buffy felt revulsion at the very idea. "He may not be human, but he's not an animal either."

"Then what do you suggest?" Giles said with asperity. "Willow has ascertained that he is no longer under the control of any spell; he seems to have decided to starve himself to death, would helping him be so wrong?"

Buffy sighed. "Sorry, I can't talk about this now."

It was all she could think about though. In the last three days, the vampire had visibly weakened, his skin was now almost translucent and his wounds weren't healing. He hadn't moved or spoken in all that time. He didn't look as though he would last another day.

Wearily she pushed open her front door and made her way to the kitchen. Ice cream that's what she needed, maybe its sugary goodness would help raise her spirits.

She stopped when she heard the sound of voices. No, it was one voice, Dawn's voice and it was coming from the basement. Buffy opened the door and crept down the stairs.

"............and then Janice said that Mason, you know the boy from the school football team that she's been flirting with? She said that Mason ......."

"Dawn! What are you doing here?"

The young girl yelped and leaped to her feet. "Oh Buffy, you scared me to death!"

"I told you not to go near the basement – and yet here you are." Buffy said angrily. "Why are you talking to an unconscious vampire?"

"It's like he's in a coma. They say that coma victims can still hear what's said to them. So I thought I'd tell Spike all about my day." Dawn said defiantly.

"You think he's interested in what you do? Dawn, he's a vampire – why would he be?"

"I told you before – he's my friend and he always used to listen to me."

"When did you talk to him? Have you been hanging out with him again?" Buffy said furiously. "Look Dawn, I don't know why he pretended to be interested in you, but he's not your friend."

"He is too! He helped me break into the Magic Shop – it was so cool, he picked the lock and everything!" She suddenly realised what she'd said and covered her mouth guiltily.

Buffy spoke deceptively quietly, "When did he do that?"

"It was when you were all secret having about me being the key and nobody took any notice of what I was feeling. Spike said that he'd protect me – and I wasn't to tell you....." Her voice faltered.

Buffy's face softened. "I'm sorry Dawn; I was trying to protect you too. Maybe I should have told you, but I didn't know how. Please come to me if you have questions - don't involve Spike. I think I might have told you this before – he's a vampire." She smiled sadly. "I know that you think it's cool to hang with him, but it's too dangerous." She held her hand up when Dawn looked as though she was about to argue. Listen, you know vampires don't feel pain in the same way as humans? Well, they don't feel love or affection in the same way either."

They were both so deep in their conversation, that neither of them noticed the vampire's eyes snap open.

Spike was caught in a nightmarish loop. He kept reliving the moment he killed Drusilla. He saw his hand holding the stake plunge towards her breast, and then the expression on her face as she dusted. Over and over and over again. It was the same expression he'd seen on his mother's face, when he'd had to stake her. He'd never been able to come to terms with that – he'd always blocked it out of his mind. Now it was as if a wall had been torn down, and all he could think of was his mother's and his lover's last seconds of unlife. He had murdered his dark princess, but the alternative was unthinkable. His mind sheared away from what he'd seen in the Slayers face. He thought that maybe he'd been dusted too and this was hell, the pain of his wounds was nothing compared to the pain of his thoughts.

After the terrible event at his crypt, he had felt his body being moved as if it belonged to someone else. He had a vague recollection of voices, but nothing could penetrate the anguish in his mind – until he'd heard someone yammering on non-stop, for what seemed like hours. At first it didn't register, but after a while he took comfort in the sound, and the words started to have meaning for him. It was the Bit, his little Bit. Wait – since when had she become "his" Bit, he thought in dismay. He found that in his mind she was now more to him than Buffy's-sister and he realised at the same moment that Joyce was more than Buffy's-mum. When had this happened? Humans should be prey, not in his heart and part of his family. His thoughts were interrupted by a new voice, an angry and upset voice – Buffy. He was almost plunged back into the endless vortex of despair at the sound. But then she started talking about him.

He opened his eyes and stared at her. She hadn't noticed, she was too deep in her explanation of how he couldn't love, couldn't care about people. The thing was, she was right, or she should be. But he seemed to be wired differently from other vamps – he'd certainly never met another who could, and did, love like him. For him love was all. He'd been in love with Dru for over a century. He'd known that she didn't love him in the same way, but it hadn't mattered. Loving someone meant that he belonged, that he had a place somewhere and someone to look after and treasure. Now that person was Buffy. He couldn't help it, the feeling had taken him totally by surprise – suddenly there it was – a bleeding master vampire in love with his mortal enemy.

He must have made a sound, because both females swung round and goggled at him. The youngest, recovering first, gave a squeal and launched herself at him. Spike grunted in pain as she hugged his broken ribs.

"Oh, sorry, sorry!" Dawn pulled back quickly. "It's just so good to see you awake!"

He looked beyond her to where the Slayer was standing, her arms wrapped round herself. She was looking at him with an expression he couldn't read

TBC

A/N Thanks again for the feedback

Chapter 7.

Buffy stared at Spike and he stared back, as her sister babbled on about how pleased she was that he was awake. Not able to tear her eyes away, Buffy said,

"Dawn, why don't you go and get him some blood."

Dawn sprang up happily and clattered noisily up the stairs. "Won't be long!"

Buffy was astonished that Dawn hadn't seen what she'd seen. Spike's appearance was totally different - not just the awful bruises and cuts. It was if he had been pared down, his superficial shell gone and all that was left, was what he'd been protecting, hiding from everyone. He looked frightened, shy and uncertain – as if one wrong word from her would be enough to shatter him into tiny pieces. That couldn't be! This was Spike, the nasty, evil, untrustworthy vampire that she loathed. She found herself looking at him, as if she had never seen him before. Almost, she thought to herself, as if he were a man.

Swallowing hard, she moved towards the vampire, noting the tiny flinch that he couldn't disguise. He's scared of me, she suddenly thought with amazement – why would that be? It's not as if she was the one who'd tortured him. The questions that had tormented her for the last three days seemed to be lodged in her throat. Instead a banal phrase came to her lips. "You feeling better?"

His eyes widened and he tried to raise his bandaged hand. When he was brought short by the chain, he at last looked away from her and down to his wrist, with a frown.

"Um, I – er, we didn't know what you'd be like when you woke up."

She saw his face harden, but he nodded as if he accepted their caution. His continuing silence unnerved her – this was the being who loved the sound of his own voice. The silence stretched unbearably.

She heard the sound of the door opening, and her sister's voice, with relief.

"Sorry it took me so long, but I phoned mom and gave her the good news. She's been really worried about you." She approached the vampire and grinned down at him. Buffy saw his face soften again, as he looked at Dawn.

"Here, I warmed it in the microwave; I hope it's all right." She made to give it to him. When she saw that he couldn't raise his hand, Dawn rounded on her sister and demanded that the chains be removed. "Come on Buffy, he won't hurt me."

Torn, Buffy battled inwardly against her Slayer senses that needed the vampire immobilized and made safe. She slowly put her hand in her pocket, withdrew the key and handed it to Dawn.

Even with his hands free, they found that he wasn't strong enough to hold the mug. Buffy gently eased him up to a semi-sitting position and Dawn held the mug to his lips. He just sipped, where Buffy was expecting him to gulp, as if he were drinking just to please them. She saw a muscle in his jaw twitch as he grit his teeth with the effort of swallowing. He stopped before the mug was half empty and turned his head away.

"Oh, that's okay. Mom says eat "little and often" when we've been sick." Dawn said brightly. "I'll get some more for you in a couple more hours."

"Thanks Bit." His voice was soft and ragged, and it looked as if it caused him enormous effort just to breathe in enough to speak. Of course, Buffy thought, his ribs are broken; it's much easier for him not to breathe.

"Come on Dawn, he needs more rest now." Buffy said as she slowly lowered him back down. "We'll check up on him later."

Spike watched them as they went up the stairs and relaxed for the first time since he had come back to awareness. The first thing he had seen was his golden slayer, standing looking at him and his chest seemed to tighten unbearably. But then when Buffy had asked if he felt okay, he was sure it was a feverish dream. When he'd tried to reach out to her, the chain preventing the movement brought him back to reality. Of course she didn't really care about how he felt, she'd spent enough time showing and telling him of her disgust and revulsion countless times before. The vampire had been relieved when Dawn had broken the uneasy silence.

Then the Slayer had confused him anew when she'd handled him so gently, lifting him up so that he could feed. He'd taken a few sips of the revolting muck to keep Dawn happy, and it had taken all his self control not to throw it back up.

Something else occurred to Spike. Dawn said that Joyce was worried about him; the vampire felt a warm glow suffuse him at the thought. Summers women – yeah, gotta love 'em.

Feeling better, he tried to make himself comfortable enough for sleep.

A couple of hours later, Joyce came home to find Dawn happily chatting on the phone and Buffy flicking through the TV programs without even looking at the screen.

She smiled at them as she hung up her coat. "So Spike woke up."

"It was me you know." Dawn said proudly, putting down the receiver. "I figured out that he was, like, in a coma – so I talked to him and he woke up!"

"Yeah, he probably came to – just to shut you up." Buffy smirked.

Dawn poked her tongue out. "Huh! Left to you he'd probably 've starved to death."

This was too near what Buffy had been thinking herself. She had to admit to being worried that he would never wake up and she'd never know the answer to her questions. How had he fought the spell and why? Trying to take her mind off it, she stalked into the kitchen and rooted around in the refrigerator. "It's about time he had another feed, I suppose." Buffy said evenly. "The sooner he's well, the sooner he can move out."

Joyce and Dawn exchanged a look. "Why don't I take it down, Buffy? You can start peeling the potatoes." Joyce took the container of blood from her daughter's hands and, ignoring Buffy's objections, poured some into a mug and warmed it in the microwave.

"Uh, mom. I think I'd better go with you – for protection. Dawn can start on the dinner." Buffy grinned at her sister's open-mouthed expression.

"You left us with him when Glory was on the prowl, how come we need protecting now?" Dawn protested.

"Dawn honey, you did a real good job getting Spike to wake up. I promise you can take him some, um, food, before you go to bed." Joyce smiled, while behind her mom's back, Buffy rolled her eyes. They were competing now over who would feed the vampire – what the hell was happening here?

Buffy shook Spike until he opened his eyes. "Come on, here's some more food for you." She raised him as she had before and Joyce put the mug to his lips. He seemed bewildered for a moment and then sipped at the blood. He drank more this time, but still turned his head away before the cup was empty.

Looking up at the older woman he frowned. "You not well again Joyce?" His voice was not much more than a whisper.

Buffy gazed at him in surprise. "You know mom's been ill. She's better now."

"Have you seen the doc lately?" He ignored the slayer and spoke directly to Joyce.

"No Spike, not for a few weeks."

"Go and see 'im – get yourself checked out."

Holding up her hand to stop Buffy's impatient reply, Joyce looked him in the eye and could only see sincerity in his gaze. "What do you see?" She asked quietly.

"Not so much see, as sense." Spike paused to swallow the lump that seemed to be permanently present in his throat. "Vampire here, I know what a normal blood flow is like Joyce. Yours is blocked somewhere." He gestured towards her head and then flopped back exhausted.

Mother and daughter stared at each other.

Chapter 8

Spike watched helplessly, as Joyce and Buffy exchanged a look of slowly dawning horror. Buffy took a deep breath and went into Slayer-mode. Escorting her mom upstairs, she asked her to pack an overnight bag and then took on the dreaded job of telling her sister the news. All three hugged one another until the cab came to take them to the hospital. At the last minute, Buffy remembered Spike, and called Willow. Her friend was on a field trip and couldn't be reached, so in desperation the Slayer called Xander.

"Make sure he's fed Xander, please. We don't know when we'll be back."

Xander promised to call round after work, apologising that he couldn't come to support them as he had a very important project that must be finished that day.

When they got to the hospital, the time went by in a heart-churning blur. It took ages to convince the doctors to take Joyce seriously - she couldn't say that a vampire had told her there was something wrong. In the end, desperate to get someone to believe her, Joyce fabricated symptoms and they reluctantly gave her some tests.

After a seemingly endless wait, Dr Isaacs came bustling back and immediately admitted Joyce to the hospital. They learned that if she hadn't approached them, she would have been dead in a matter of days, if not hours. Put on drugs immediately, she was told that she'd have to stay in hospital for rest and observation for a couple of days, but she should make a complete recovery.

Tired though they were, Buffy and Dawn were exultant, hugging and kissing each other and their mother. Then they noticed that Joyce looked exhausted

"Mom, why don't you get some rest? Dawn and I will be just outside." Buffy smiled at their mother.

"Buffy, I think you and Dawn ought to go home. I'll be fine here – I'm so tired, I think I'll go straight off to sleep now, so I'll be more awake for your visit tomorrow." Joyce spoke softly but firmly.

Secretly, both girls were relieved not to have to spend any more time in the hospital than necessary, they promised to be back in the morning.

"Oh, hi – how's your mom?" Xander greeted them sleepily at their front door. He'd decided to wait for their return from the hospital and had fallen asleep on the couch.

"She's gonna be fine." Buffy grinned at him. Which lead to another round of hugs. "How's Spike?"

"Oh, he's gone." Xander said casually.

"Gone? Gone where?"

"I knew you wouldn't want him hanging around. He's been mooching off you for too long now, so when I took him some food I told him to clear out before you got back."

"You said what?" Buffy asked faintly.

Fuelled by his rage, Spike made it half way to his crypt, the rest of the way he had to use his sheer obstinacy and bloody mindedness. He staggered through the door, fell down the steps and sprawled in a heap on the floor. He curled up; wrapping his arms round his chest and pulling his knees up under his chin. Never, in an unlife that spanned over a hundred and twenty years, had he felt so wretched. He longed for oblivion and strived to fall into the fugue state he'd achieved after he'd dusted Dru. It wasn't to be – unconsciousness eluded him. Okay then, there was another way. Crawling on his hands and knees, he made his way to where he had hidden his stash of booze.

He'd managed to "liberate" three bottles of whiskey a few days before and, grimly, he opened the first one and gulped down most of its contents. Getting up, he lurched over to his arm chair to finish it off.

He took his time over the second, as the events of the last couple of days replayed themselves over again. What could he have done differently? He'd made his choice and now he'd have to unlive with it. The Crypt was the last place he wanted to be – the scene of the worst events of his existence – but where else was there? As soon as he was feeling stronger, he'd look for a new place. Or not. Perhaps this was as good a time as any to take a walk in the sun. He knew that he'd never be able to go down into the lower floor, he couldn't even think about it without a surge of pain lancing through him. He groaned in despair, Dru oh Dru, my dark princess.

Bloody Buffy Summers! She'd somehow got into his system like a sodding virus – no make that a plague! Couldn't even throw him out herself, she got Harris to do it. Harris of all people! Oh, how the bloody carpenter had enjoyed the job too. Mind you, it was as well that it hadn't been Buffy that had evicted him; he probably would've made a right prat of himself; pleading and such like. As it was, he was crying like a sodding poofter, he could feel the scalding tears flowing down his cheeks.

Spike stared at the bottle. Somehow it was empty, so he tossed it to one side, not even noticing the crash as it smashed into the wall. He groped around and found the third bottle. He wondered if it would be enough.

Buffy approached the crypt reluctantly, thinking that the last time she was there; it was as a prisoner facing death by stake. She knocked on the door and, hearing no response, she opened it cautiously. The room was dark, lit only by the flickering blue light of Spike's ancient TV. He was sprawled in his ratty armchair, swigging from a bottle. Buffy stalked over until she was standing between the vampire and his television.

"Oooooh it's the Slayer - I'm all overcome with terror!" He struggled to his feet and lurched towards her. "What're you doing here – sod off!"

"You're drunk." Buffy said in disgust.

"Yeah, and you're stupid. But at least I'll be sober in the morning." He giggled hysterically at his own feeble joke.

"Spike, sit down." Buffy tried to keep calm in the face of his antagonism.

"Make me!" He leered at her, curling his tongue behind his teeth.

Buffy plucked the bottle from his hand, grabbed hold of the front of his shirt, and pushed him down into the chair. She was appalled by his appearance – how had he managed to get all the way to his crypt in this state?

"Hey!" The vampire made to get up again, but gave up as a bad job. "You gotta nerve, ordering me about in my own..."

"I came here to thank you." Buffy interrupted.

"Wha'?" Spike stared at her in astonishment, his eyes wide.

"I came here to say thank you – and sorry."

"Bloody hell!"

"Mom's going to be okay – thanks to you."

He paused as he took this in, then his still bruised and swollen face broke into a grin. "Joyce's going to be all right? Yesss!" He clambered to his feet, reaching for the whiskey bottle.

"No, Spike, I think you've had enough. You won't be able to make the walk back."

"Mind your own bloody business, it's mine and I'll........ what do you mean walk back?" His head tilted to one side as he stood swaying, his hand still outstretched.

"You're coming home with me."

"Oh yeah? What makes you think I want to go there again? You can stuff that idea. Your pity's worse than your contempt."

She tried to reason with him. "I'd pity anyone with the same injuries. You need looking after."

"Who's gonna do that – you? 'Cos you did such a good job before." He sneered.

"Spike, don't be so pig-headed. You can't stay here and where else would you go?"

He opened his mouth to make another sarcastic remark, but the room started to spin and he staggered and would have fallen, but two small, strong hands caught him.

Buffy hoisted him up, put his arm over her shoulder and said evenly. "I rest my case."

Chapter 9

Xander huffed impatiently and began tapping his fingers on the steering wheel in front of him. He had been astounded at Buffy’s reaction to his statement that he’d told the vampire to get out of her house. Then Buffy had stalked out, leaving him in the clutches of her younger sister, who had wasted no time in telling him what she thought of him. Dawn regaled him with the story that Spike had saved their mother’s life. What crap! As if a soulless, evil vampire would care if a human lived or died. He’d just got lucky, that was all.

She seemed completely won over by Spike’s actions. So, the vampire had dusted his skanky ho – so what? Said skanky ho had been torturing him for hours, anybody would have done the same. The fact that he’d saved Buffy was just a by-product, surely.

Xander admitted to himself that he’d been shocked by the injuries that the vampire had sustained – but he’d got that vampire healy thing going, hadn’t he? It had to be said that Spike hadn’t looked any better when Xander given him his meal tonight, but that was probably part of some plan to get the Slayer to keep him around.

The look that Buffy had given him, just before she left, jolted him. That and the constant nagging from her sister.

“Xander, Buffy can’t manage to get him back here before sunrise without help. We have to go pick them up.”

He’d reluctantly loaded Dawn into his car and driven to the cemetery. He glared at the crypt’s door again, why was Buffy taking so long? Surely all she had to do was to grab him and haul him out of there?

When they finally appeared, Spike looked so out of it, Xander felt a stab of pity for him, which lasted as long as it took to load the vampire into the car.

“Evil dead taken to bathing in alcohol?” Xander grimaced and made a show of flapping his hand in front of his face.

“No, I think most of it ended up inside of him.” Buffy said resignedly. “Come on, let’s get him home – he can sleep it off there.”

Bugger! It must have been some bender, Spike thought, when the vice-like pain in his head registered. Hold on, though, his body seemed to be beat up too. A bit of rough and tumble followed by an extreme consumption of alcohol – sounded a perfect night. The vampire groaned and attempted to open his eyes. When the spinning and the bleariness had more or less cleared, he stared in confusion. What the hell? All he could see was the top of the Slayer’s head. She was half sitting on a chair and half lying on the bed next to him, her breathing slightly snuffly. He grinned, and then suddenly the events of the last couple of nights came slamming into his memory, like bullets from a machine gun.

Bloody hell! He’d dusted Dru. Would he ever be able to come to terms with it? He groaned again, louder this time, and the Slayer sat up suddenly, looking confused and extremely embarrassed.

“Spike!” she yelped.

“Yeah, I know. Been Spike for a long time now.”

She shot him an annoyed look, but was secretly relieved that he’d gone for sarcasm and not innuendo.

“I, uh, fell asleep.” She said weakly. Then, before he could reply, she ran up the stairs. “I’ll go get you something to eat.”

He watched her in amazement. The last conversation he’d had with her was a bit hazy, but he was sure it hadn’t been friendly. What had happened to the ol’ “kick the Spike” attitude that he was used to, and knew how to deal with? He shook his head in bafflement; he never knew what she’d do next. Mind you, that was all part of her charm.

Buffy seemed all business when she came back, she handed him his blood and retreated to the other side of the room while he drank. He watched her over the rim of the cup, trying to gauge her mood.

The night before, Buffy had managed to get Spike down the stairs and into his bed without too much trouble. She had even managed to force some blood down him. But then she found that she couldn’t just leave him there, something made her pull up a chair and watch over him.

Buffy’s mind was conflicted. The “slayer” part of her wanted to shove Mr Pointy into this monster’s chest. Evil, soulless vampire! her mind was shrilling. She was after all, his only natural enemy and it was what she was made for. The other “human” side wanted to get to know him better, find out why and how he had done what he had done. The result was inner turmoil.

She sighed and leaned back, studying him – really looking at him – for the first time. Oh, she’d seen him loads of times before, of course, but now she registered him in a completely new way. He was hot! How had she not noticed that before? Perhaps it was because when he slept, the hard faced killer look dropped away and left this vulnerable, good-looking man in its stead. If an ordinary guy had done what he had done, Buffy thought, she would be on her knees thanking him

Meaning to only stay for a short while, she must have dropped off to sleep. It had been a shock to see him looking at her from only a few inches away, and she’d retreated as fast as she could.

By the time she’d warmed the blood and taken it back down to him, she was a little calmer. But she thought that staying on the other side of the room was the better option – maybe he wouldn’t hear her wild heart beat from over there.

There was an awkward pause.

“I’m going to visit mom this morning.” Buffy blurted, just to fill the void.

“Give her my best.” Spike smiled at her.

“Um, we – Dawn and me – will visit her again tonight. Want to come?”

The expression on his face was almost comical in its astonishment. “You want me to come?”

“I’m sure mom would like to thank you and I know Dawn wants you to come with.” Buffy said casually, leaving out what she wanted.

Without waiting for his reply, she took the cup and left the room rapidly. Spike gazed after her, shaking his head in bemusement.

The Summers girls hugged and kissed their mother, while the vampire stood uncertainly outside the door.

“I didn’t think you needed an invite, in a public place like this.” Joyce smiled over at him.

He looked down and shuffled his feet. “Uh, no, invite not needed.....”

Joyce’s smile broadened and she raised her hand to beckon him over, “well then, what’re you waiting for?”

Spike grinned and, stepping into the room, caught her hand in his and brought it to his lips. “Looking a whole lot better, luv.”

“Thanks to you.” Joyce said softly.

He ducked his head again, “ah, ‘s nothing.”

“You’re looking better, too.” Joyce scanned his still bruised, but less battered face.

“Yeah, your two girls are looking after me good.” He said awkwardly, not used to this family-style interaction.

Taking pity on him, Buffy changed the subject and soon Spike was talking Joyce and Dawn about the antics of some characters in a soap they enjoyed.

Buffy watched them from her vantage point at the end of her mother’s bed. Her sister, mom and this strange vampire. She was having to keep reminding herself that he was a vampire. It was so much easier to think of him as a man. A man who had done so much for them in the past few days.

She looked at him more closely, he seemed different somehow. Then she realised what it was. He was (well for Spike anyway) subdued and sad looking. He must be missing Dru so much and the knowledge of what he had done must be eating into him. She knew what that was like – she’d killed Angel. She remembered her reaction; she had run away and tried to live another life. Her thoughts were interrupted by Dr Isaacs who put his head round the door.

“Mrs Summers, you’ve progressed really well, and if you keep up the meds, you should be okay to go home in the morning.” He smiled as Dawn squealed, jumped up and hugged her mom, closely followed by Buffy, who was grinning hugely.

Spike watched enviously. Well, all good things must come to an end – he was sure that they wouldn’t want him there when Joyce came home.

“Right then, I’ll start looking for a new place tonight.” He muttered and then quailed as three pairs of female eyes swung to look at him.

Joyce and Dawn spoke together,

“Oh, no Spike you can’t leave.....”

“I won’t hear of it.....”

But it was Buffy’s voice he heard.

“Do you want to go? We could fix the basement up, you know, get you a TV and things.”

He felt a warm glow fill his chest and he swallowed a large lump that appeared to be blocking his throat.

A/N Aww! I wanted to give Spike a break (not too mushy was it?)

Chapter 10

The next few days were a time of major upheaval and adjustment for Spike. True to their words, the Summers women helped him move his stuff into their basement. It already held an old, but working TV and he insisted on having the armchair from his crypt. He helped them move all their stored items over to one corner and then board up the small windows.

“Sorry, we’ll have to still come down here to do laundry.” Joyce said worriedly.

Spike shrugged, “Won’t worry me luv. I’ll just have to make sure I’m decent.” He gave her a token smirk, but patted her arm reassuringly at the same time.

He also had to adjust to family life – which for a former blood-sucking, evil being was not easy. At first, when Dawn hugged him, he froze and had no idea how to react. The last time he had been that close to a young, human female, was when he’d pursued and eaten her. The pulse of her blood and the scent of her body was torture at such a close range. After the chip, he had made sure not to get that close to humans. So, he taught himself to identify all these females as “family” and then it became easier. After a while, he either patted her back awkwardly or returned the hug briefly.

Joyce made sure that he was included in conversation, which he found hard at first. It was so easy just to give flip or sarcastic replies, but he hated the hastily covered hurt or surprise in their expressions. He found that he had to listen hard and think hard about his responses, not easy when the last normal family exchanges he’d had, were over 120 years before. But over the next couple of days, he found it easier and easier.

The only one who kept her distance, both literally and figuratively, was Buffy. Wherever he was – she wasn’t. During the day, when both girls were at school and Joyce was at work, it wasn’t so obvious. But Buffy missed quite a few dinners, because she had to “train” or she said there was a Scooby meeting at the Magic Box.

On the forth consecutive evening, when Buffy said that she’d pick up something to eat on her way to the store, Spike watched her retreating back miserably. He’d killed his previous love for this woman, who would never love him back. The irony of the situation weighed heavily.

“Hey, penny for ‘em.” Dawn grinned at him. “Wanna help me with my homework?”

He knew it was a rhetorical question. He’d tried to politely refuse, and then not so politely refuse before, but she’d got skin like a soddin' rhinoceros and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Sighing, he made his way to the dining room and sat next to her.

“What is it tonight, Bit? English, history, geography?” He saw the expression on her face. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh no! I’ve left my textbook at school. I can’t do my homework without.” Her face crumpled. “Mr Morgan’s got it in for me, if I don’t get the essay to him tomorrow, he’ll send me to detention. I’ve gotta go and get it.”

She sprang to her feet.

“Hey! Not so fast Nibblet. You can’t go trolling off to school – you don’t know what sort of nasties you might find.” Spike said firmly.

“Then you’ll have to come with.”

Still muttering under his breath about sodding, headstrong, manipulative teenagers, Spike stood over Dawn as she rummaged through her locker. She’d even managed to persuade him to loan his beloved duster, when she’d felt the cold. He was going soft – soft in the head.

“Ah, there it is.” As her beaming face emerged, they both heard a noise behind them.

Swinging round, Spike saw a group of demons approaching. “Run!” he yelled at Dawn as he sped to intercept them. The next few minutes he fought furiously, but there were too many and he kept getting distracted when one or two of them tried to approach Dawn, who was trying to escape. At last, he went down, dizzy from the blows. When they hauled him to his feet, they twisted his arms behind his back and tied them roughly.

One of the demons said, “Careful with him, Glory will want the Key intact.”

Spike struggled uselessly, “Key? Who’s a Key? I’m not a Key.”

“Then it must be the girl.” The demon moved towards Dawn who was struggling and trying to twist away from the hands that were holding her.

“No! You’re right – it’s me.” Spike desperately contradicted himself, when he was blinded by a sudden extreme white and green flash of light. Then Spike heard screams and smelled burning, before he too, was screaming as his upper arms were burned almost to the bone where the demons were holding him. A blast of energy threw him into a wall and he thankfully lost consciousness.

Buffy sighed as she let herself in the front door. She was home earlier tonight, because she couldn’t stand the constant sniping from Xander, Explain to me again why exactly you have got blood-breath staying at your house. He was worried about her; she knew that and her own conflicted feelings towards the vampire, made explanations so much harder. Then there was Giles, with his disapproving – no disappointed - looks. The last straw had been Willow, who was trying so hard to understand, that it grated on Buffy’s nerves. She’d told them that she’d got a headache and fled. She thought about the strange vampire that was now living in the same house as her. That he felt something for Dawn and her mom, was obvious. That meant that what he felt for her might be real too - it was all too much.

Joyce had gone to visit one of her cousins in San Diego for a few days rest, and in her absence, the girls had been eating take-aways. Buffy wandered into the kitchen, to see if Dawn had left her any pizza. She saw a note pinned to the fridge door. SPIKE AND ME GONE BACK TO SCHOOL TO PICK UP A BOOK – BACK SOON – DAWN.

A jolt ran through her. How long ago had they left? It must have been at least an hour ago. Damn that vampire, didn’t he know any better than to let Dawn wander about in the dark, when Glory was still a threat? When she found them she vowed she’d kill him – deader!

Buffy set off towards the school at a dead run. When she arrived she smelled burning that led her straight to the corridor that held the school lockers. She skidded to a halt and gaped in amazement. It looked as if someone had held a small war there – the floor was covered in heaps of smoking ashes. She spotted her sister and ran over to her.

“Dawn! Oh my god, Dawn!” She lifted Dawn’s head gently and her sister gave a small moan.

“What happened?”

“I was hoping you’d tell me that.” Buffy said softly.

Then Dawn’s eyes widened, “Spike! Where’s Spike – they were taking him!”

“What? Who were taking, huh?” Buffy said incoherently.

A low groan came from behind them and Buffy swung round defensively. She saw the vampire on the floor, surrounded by small piles of ashes. Spike groaned again and tried to sit up. The Slayer moved quickly to his side, crouched down and leaned his body against her. He looked around dazedly, and then his face creased with concern,

“Dawn. Bit, you okay?”

“She seems to be fine. What happened here?”

Buffy grasped Spike’s upper arm, intending to untie his bonds and was unprepared for his yell of pain. She looked down and saw that his arm was charred, black and raw.

“Tell me, what the hell happened?” In her fright, she spoke more harshly than she’d intended.

“Dunno, Slayer – there were nasty, scabby demons trying to take us to that Glory bint. Then zap! Blinding light – got thrown against the wall and I guess I hit my noggin. Bleedin’ feels like it.” He groaned again as she wrestled with the knots binding his hands behind his back.

“Blinding light? And then?” Buffy at last managed to loose his bonds and he moaned as he moved his arms forward.

“Emphasis on blinding, Slayer. Can’t see a buggering thing.” He moved carefully, trying not to jar the burns on his arms and put his hands to his eyes.

Dawn crouched down at his side, scared to touch him, not wanting to add to his hurt. “Spike, I’m so sorry!”

He removed his hands and looked puzzled. “Sorry? What for Bit?”

“If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have got hurt like this.”

“Pfft! This is nothing luv, been a lot worse than this. Anyway – not your fault.”

“Come on, we need to get out of here, in case there are more of these demons about. Spike can you walk?” Buffy touched his arm gently.

“Yeah, luv, I’ll be okay. You’ll have to lead the way though.”

With Buffy and Dawn on either side of him, he managed to make his way back to the house without too much difficulty. They sat him on the sofa, while Buffy got the first aid box and Dawn heated him some blood.

When he was bandaged and fed, Dawn cuddled up to him and he tentatively put his arm round her.

“I’ll be okay Platelet – vampire healing an’ all. You need to get your rest; maybe Buffy’ll write you a note for tomorrow. You know, demons set fire to your homework, or something.” He gave a grin in her direction.

“Yeah, all right. See you tomorrow.” Suddenly feeling exhausted, Dawn bent, kissed his forehead and went upstairs.

When he heard her bedroom door close, he slumped forward and put his head in his hands. “Bloody hell - we need to get her out of here. It’s not gonna take long for that Glory bint to work out who is the key – and if tonight is anything to go by, I’m bloody useless to protect her.”

Buffy felt her throat tighten, as she heard the bitterness in his voice. “She got through it okay.”

“Yeah, no thanks to me.” He laughed humourlessly, “can’t hunt, can’t bite and now can’t bloody see.”

“Have you quite finished?” Buffy said harshly. “Or do you have any more self pity you want to share?”

She flinched back as he surged to his feet, snarling. “I’ll go take my self pity somewhere else shall I?”

“Oh, shut up Spike – we need planning, not dramatics. Tell me what you did see; maybe we can work out what happened.”

He sighed, knowing that he wouldn’t have made more than a hundred yards from the house in his state. He fumbled around until he found the sofa, sank back down, and started to recount all he could remember of the events.

“So, you think whatever caused this bright light, also caused the demons to go pouf?”

“It must have been. The two holding my arms must have gone up in flames and that’s why I got burned.” He sighed again. “Doesn’t get us very far, does it?”

“It could be a whole new big bad. We need to call a Scoobie meeting – right now.” Buffy said grimly.

TBC