Chapter Ten

           The gentle pressure from his soft, cool lips was all it took for Buffy to realize how much she’d missed the non-stop kissing they’d done while under Willow’s spell.  With a small moan, she melted into him, allowing herself to be supported by the supernaturally powerful arms wrapped around her.  Spike slanted his head and deepened the kiss, sending his tongue out to trace around her lips and teeth.

           She sent her own out to meet it and they became lost in re-learning each other’s mouths.  Buffy sent her tongue tracing over his gums, teasing at the retracted fangs and making him groan in ecstasy.  When she cut herself on the incredibly sharp tip that Spike couldn’t prevent from protruding, the taste of her blood almost brought him to his knees.

         Rather than pull her injured tongue out of his mouth, she continued to push against his, letting him pull it in further as he sucked on it, desperate for more of the elixir that was her blood.   The feel of him pulling on her blood again made her legs give out, and she sank to the floor, pulling the vampire down with her.

         Their mouths never parted as the Slayer lowered her head to the floor and let the vampire cover her with his body.  She relaxed her thighs to allow him to settle between them, the hard ridge of his erection pressing against her heated core.  When that pressure wasn’t enough, she brought her legs up around his hips and pulled him into her harder than he would have thought possible.

         Buffy’s entire focus was on the intense pleasure being generated by the pressure of his hard length on her clit and the matching sensations taking place in her mouth.  She ground her pelvis against him, completely lost in the building orgasm she was gasping toward.  Spike thought his cock was going to catch fire from the heat and friction her grinding hips were creating. 

           Buffy’s muffled scream into his mouth and the accompanying arching up of her body was more than he could withstand and his hips jerked as he came against her quivering body.  He let down the barriers and the waves of sensation ran back and forth between them, prolonging the pleasure until they collapsed in mutual exhaustion.

           The vampire remained on top of her, taking his weight on his elbows, but allowing their hips to remain pressed together.  Buffy slid her legs down to wrap around his thighs lightly.  Her arms remained around his back, holding him to her while her heart rate slowed to normal.  Removing his mouth from hers so that she could take in the gasping breaths needed to recover, he licked at his marks on her neck, thrilling at the immediate response he got.

          Buffy reached up and ran her fingers through William’s soft curls, twirling them around her fingers as she did.  His glasses had somehow remained in place throughout all the activity and she pushed them gently back up on his nose.

           “Hey, William,” she said softly. 

          “Hey, yourself, love,” he answered with a smile, leaning down to plant a light kiss on her nose.

          “Somehow I don’t think that was very William-like behavior,” she said sternly.  “I’m sure he wouldn’t approve.”

          “The dry humpin’?  Maybe not, pet, but going off in his pants?  Very William-like. Trust me,” he said ruefully.

           “Ewww. TMI, Spike!” she said, shoving him away gently.

          He laughed and rolled off, being sure he kept one arm holding her to his side.

           “You brought it up, love.  I’da just as soon left William out of it.”

           “I LIKE William,” she said with a small pout.  “He’s sweet.”

           He nipped at her lower lip gently and said, “I’m not him, Buffy.  You know that, don’t you?”  He had a frightening thought and asked abruptly, “That’s not why you…why we…bloody hell, Slayer.  Is that what this is all about?”

           He dropped his arm and sat up suddenly, looking at her intently.  When she dropped her eyes and looked away, he felt his heart clench and he moved away from her, cursing at the wet, sticky pants he was now wearing. 

          Suddenly desperate to get away from her, he prowled the edges of the basement, listening carefully. In spite of the intensity of their recent experience, only a short period of time had actually elapsed since they leaped down the stairs to avoid the infra-red sensors wielded by the commandos, and as coherent thought came back, both Slayer and vampire remembered that there were potential enemies outside the house.

             When she started to say something, he held his hand up sharply and cocked his head.  Looking around the dim room, he spotted a dirty window and moved toward it as silently as only a vampire could.  Buffy sat on the floor where he’d left her, watching intently as he clearly tracked someone around the perimeter of the house. 

             When Spike got to the window, he cautiously raised his head to peer through a small clear spot in the glass.  In the gloom, Buffy could just barely see him shift into game face as he looked out into the dark yard.  He flinched and dropped just as dark figure crept by the window and hesitated for a second.  With his hearing strained to the limit, the vampire could just hear the whispered radio conversation.

           “I don’t think they’re back yet, Finn.  There’s no way her cousin could have moved that fast, no matter what she can do.  We beat them here.  What do you want to do?”

           Cursing silently that he could not hear the response, Spike listened intently as the man outside the window answered.

           “Got it. Cameras, sensors and recorders.  I’ll get the back yard.  Hey, there’s a window here to the basement.  Want me to see if I can get in?  I could put a sensor in there.  If they’re hiding a hostile, that’d be the place to do it.”

          (Be ready, Slayer.  He’s talking about comin’ in this window. Much as I might like to rip his throat out, I don’t think I shou--)

          Buffy’s voice in his head was practically screaming as she interrupted him.

         (They want to come in my HOUSE?  The place my mother lives? All you need to do is get out of my way when I--)

       (Down, Slayer,) Buffy felt the admiration he was not trying to hide. (Somebody musta said “no” to that idea.  He’s movin’ off to put stuff in the yard.)

        Buffy moved over to the window to look out, but her night vision was not good enough for her to make out the black shadows in the yard.

        “What are they doing?” she hissed.

        His cool breath stirred tendrils of hair as he whispered in her ear, “Puttin’ cameras and some kinda sensors and recorders around.”  He felt her heart accelerate when his lips brushed the shell of her ear.  He wanted nothing more than to pull the fleshy lobe into his mouth and suck on it, but he was still hurt at her obvious preference for a man he no longer was.

        They waited in silence, Spike using every one of his vampire senses to follow the progress of the men as they circled the house, hiding their high tech devices under bushes and in trees.  Finally, they were done and they moved back to their vehicles, pulling away from the house much more sedately and silently than they had arrived.

        Buffy and Spike waited impatiently to be sure they weren’t coming back, then crept back up stairs.  Before Buffy could reach for the light switch, Spike stayed her hand, his touch freezing them both before he made himself let go and said, “Gimme a few minutes to listen for heartbeats – just in case they left somebody behind.”

        She nodded, smothering the disappointment she’d felt when he stopped touching her.  She tried to ignore the obvious unfairness of her wanting Spike to be William, the man, while making use of the vampire’s gifts to help her when she needed it.

       (After all, I didn’t even know there was a William when I was engaged to Spike.  I was engaged to the vampire.  I didn’t mind the demon then.)

      (Was the demon that claimed you, love.  Not some poncey poet.)_

        Buffy blushed in the dark, but Spike could sense the rush of heated blood to her face and smiled.

         (I didn’t mean to think that out loud.  You shouldn’t have listened.)

       (Yeah, well, evil vampire, here, pet.  You don’t want me readin’ your thoughts, don’t put ‘em out there like that.)

       (I’m working on it.  I’m getting better, aren’t I?)

        (Prob’ly.  I’m trying to stay out of your head ‘less I need to tell you somethin’ important.  But when you’re thinkin’ right at me like that…)

         Buffy changed the subject abruptly, asking, “Do you hear anything?”

         “No,” he replied aloud, following her lead.  “Do you want to go smash the stuff now, or wait until daylight?”

           “If we do it now, they might come back to put new ones around.  Let’s just leave them till morning and I’ll tell Giles about it.  See what he thinks we should do.”

          “In the meantime, pet, they’re gonna be expecting to see us comin’ home pretty soon.”

          “Hmmm. How are we going to do that from in here?  They’ve got cameras focused on all the doors, I’m sure….oh, I know!  We’ll go out my bedroom window and come back in the front door.” 

           They went quietly through the dark house, up the stairs and into Buffy’s room.  Spike looked around, inhaling the overpowering scent of Buffy that permeated everything in the room.  He tried very hard to keep his gaze off the neatly made bed, but his eyes were continually drawn to it, visualizing Buffy sleeping there.   

          “Spike?  Spike?  Earth to Spike,” she whispered from the window.  “Come on.  What are you doing?”

         “Nothin’, love.  Jus’ indulgin’ in some wishful thinkin’.”  He moved to the window and watched as Buffy opened it and slipped out with the ease of long practice.

        “Done this before, have you?” he smirked as he followed her out onto the roof.

         “Until you showed up wanting a truce and I had to tell my mother the truth.  Every night, for almost two years.”

        “Sh”  He put a hand over her mouth, almost groaning aloud at the feeling of her warm, soft lips on his palm.

        (We don’t know how sensitive those recorders are.  Better not to talk till we’re on the ground.)

       (I knew that!)  Buffy was embarrassed that she hadn’t thought of being heard discussing her Slayer status or calling him Spike.

         It took them only a few minutes to drop gracefully to the ground from the tree limbs.  When Spike had looked around and spotted the camera, they carefully moved away until they reached the sidewalk.  Once they were sure they were out of range, they turned around and began walking toward the house.

         “I must say, Buffy.  Life in Sunnydale is certainly more exciting than it is in London.  I don’t believe we have creatures like that there.”

         “Actually, William, I’m sure you do.  You just aren’t as likely to see them as here.  It’s important to know how to avoid them if you are going to be out at night in Sunnydale.”

           They walked up to the front door, carefully maintaining their identities as cousins, although Buffy had obviously given up pretending she wasn’t a vampire fighter on some sort.

            Once they were safely inside, they stood awkwardly in the front hallway, neither one sure what to do next. 

          “Well, I guess I’d better try to get some sleep before tomorrow,” Buffy said carefully.  “College classes and all that.”

           (I’ll go see Giles first thing in the morning and see what he wants me to do about those surveillance devices.)

         “Yes.  Your education is quite important.  You should get your sleep while you can.”

          (Hey! Maybe he’ll tell us to bash them with hammers.  That could be fun.)

         (I’m thinking more like, let Willow take one apart and see what they do.  And, until we know that, we’ll just have to be very careful what we say to each other and Mom.)

         (You know if they have heat sensors on them, we’re buggered, right? I can look and talk like William, but I can’t make my heart beat or my body temperature go up. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea. My bein’ here.  Don’t want your mum havin’ to worry about those wankers too.)

         (I’m not letting them take you back.)

         (I’m not plannin’ to go back.  Jus’ saying, maybe I shouldn’t be here.)

        (Too late now.  You’re here and if they noticed anything when we walked up, then we’ll deal with that when we have to.  In the meantime, you can hide in the basement and sleep all day tomorrow while I have to pretend I wasn’t up all night.)

         Aloud, she said,  “Good night, William.  I’ll see you tomorrow. “

         “Good night, pet.  Sleep tight.”

          (Sweet dreams, Slayer)

        (There will be NO dreams, sweet or otherwise, if you know what’s good for you!  I need sleep, not…dreams…or whatever.)

      (Fine)  the disappointed sigh was impossible to hide. (But I can’t make any promises, love.  Knowing you’re just up the stairs… alone… in your bed.  Naked, maybe?) he added hopefully.

       (Spike…) there was no mistaking the visual she sent him of a large, wooden stake.

        (Hey, a bloke can hope, can’t he?  Good night, Slayer.) He leaned in and planted a chaste kiss on her lips, drawing back quickly before she could object or turn it into something else.

         “Good night, William,” she said softly.

Chapter Eleven

           Buffy was up early, in spite of only having a few hours of sleep.  Spike had been true to his word and the only dreams she had about him were her own, difficult-to-suppress, memories of how he felt pressed against her. She drifted off to sleep dreaming she was curled up next to his cool body and had to smother a pang of disappointment when she woke up alone.  She dressed and went downstairs quickly, taking her mother into the bathroom and running the water to \[pl;.,drown out their voices.

           To her immense surprise, there were no voices to drown out.  Neither she, nor her mother, was capable of making a sound.  After several frustrating minutes, she grabbed a tablet and wrote down what she needed to say.

           Joyce’s face darkened as Buffy gave her a capsule version of the night’s events and explained that everything they might say, if they could speak, was probably being recorded.

           “Of course, that doesn’t seem to be a issue just now,” she wrote with an angry slash.  She scribbled some more words and shoved the tablet at her mother.

             “It’s going to be okay, Mom.  As soon as I get Giles and Willow here, we’ll find them and take them down.  But you’re going to have to be careful how you talk to Spike until then.  I don’t want them to find out William is the vampire they’ve been looking for.”

Grabbing the table from Buffy, her mother wrote furiously, “All right, Buffy.  But please do not bring that soldier back here.  I don’t know that I am that good an actress – and right now I want to take a baseball bat to him.”

         “Whoa, Mom!  And Spike thinks I’m violent!”  Buffy laughed at her mother’s embarrassment and hugged her.

           As soon as Joyce had left for work, Buffy hastened to the other side of town and Giles’ apartment.  Just before she reached his door, she remembered why they’d had to go to her house last night and decided she really didn’t want to find her Watcher in bed with his guest.  She paced around the parking lot, frustrated with her choices.  On the one hand, she obviously couldn’t make a phone call, but on the other, knocking on the door seemed unnecessarily embarrassing for all of them.

           Her dilemma was solved when the door opened and her fully dressed Watcher peered out.  He saw Buffy and immediately gestured for her to come in.  Once inside the apartment, they frantically scribbled back and forth.  The morning news, which was done in closed captions, told about several people being found dead with their hearts ripped out.  Giles had already put Olivia to work doing research, and as Willow and Xander and Anya arrived, the full Scoobie machine was at work on identifying the problem.

         Looking over Willow’s shoulder, Buffy spotted a drawing of a figure that looked very much like the ugly man she and William had seen the night before.  She pointed at the picture, gesturing to her eyes until Willow finally said, “You’ve seen one of these?”

           Buffy nodded vigorously and scribbled, “Last night.”

           Another hour of research, and they had their answers as to both the missing hearts and the missing voices.  Buffy nodded her head when Giles wrote that she had to locate the box with the missing voices and open it before any more Sunnydale citizens lost their hearts. 

           Armed with the knowledge of what was needed to disrupt the Gentlemen’s quest for more hearts, she headed back to Revello Drive, the entire crew including Olivia following along.  She showed them the cameras, and sensors, pointing out the hiding places as they approached her front yard.

           While Anya and Xander took Olivia into the house, Giles and Willow bent down to look at one of the sensors.  After studying it for a minute, Willow plucked a wire from the back and picked it up triumphantly.  Buffy looked at the recording device and carefully stepped on the microphone pointed at her front door, crushing it beneath her feet.

          When Willow stared at her, indicating she could have disconnected it also, Buffy shrugged and wrote, “Low tech solution to high tech problem.”

          Giles shook his head and they entered the house, leaving the camera running until they could decide what to do about it.  Willow and Buffy went out to the back yard and dismantled the camera, recorder and sensors they found there.  A close inspection of the rest of the yard revealed one more camera, two more recorders, duly smashed by Buffy’s feet, and another sensor.

          They went back in the kitchen door to find William having a mug of warm pig’s blood for breakfast and looking much too rested to suit Buffy.  And much too cute.  He was wearing the new blue button-down shirt and jeans.  With his soft curls falling over his forehead and his startling blue eyes peering out from under them, he looked adorable. 

           She sincerely hoped she hadn’t been projecting when she had that thought, but William gave no sign that he’d heard her refer to him as adorable.  Instead, he tilted his head at her and asked, (What’s with the mass laryngitis, pet?)

        (I’ll fill you in later.  Let’s just say you and I are going hunting ugly people after all.)

        He raised his eyebrows, but didn’t pursue it when he noticed Willow giving them a funny look.  He gave her his best, most innocent “William” smile and she relaxed and went back to examining the sensors they’d brought in. 

         Spike took his mug of blood into the living room and sat down to watch the news with Olivia, leaving the Scoobies to watch Willow as she dismantled the sensor.  It occurred to him that Giles might very well have not told her he was a vampire, so he made sure to act as bewildered and confused as William would undoubtedly have been at all the weird happenings around him.

          By the time evening was approaching, Willow had managed to incapacitate the sensors so that they could not record Spike’s lack of body temperature, or accurately count the humans present in the house. They carefully replaced them where they’d found them.  The cameras were twisted just enough that they pointed to a wall of the house, rather than a door.  There was nothing to be done about the microphones Buffy had crushed, but with no one able to speak, they doubted the commandos would be listening anyway.

            With nightfall, Buffy and Spike went through the weapon’s chest, taking whatever easily concealed things they could find.  Without knowing what to expect from the Gentlemen, they tried to be prepared for anything.  As they worked at getting ready to go out, Willow studied them surreptitiously.  She was positive they were communicating in some fashion other than with gestures, but she couldn’t imagine what it was or how they would have come to be able to do it.

            Leaving the Scoobies at her house with her now home-again mother, Buffy left by the front door, conspicuously waving “good-bye” to William and Joyce.  As soon as she was safely away from the house, she stopped and waited while Spike caught up with her. 

         (What took you so long?)

         (Had a little trouble with the whelp wantin’ to follow me up to your room and keep me out.  The witch had to step in and show him the tree outside the window before he’d let me set foot in there.  The way he watched me, you’da thought I was gonna set fire to it or somethin’.)

          Buffy was intrigued by the underlying hurt she could feel as he told her about Xander’s unwillingness to let him near her room.  Afraid he would pick up on her thoughts, she pushed her curiously aside for the time being and concentrated on discussing their plan for the night.

           (Okay, we’re going to search through the residential areas because that’s how they got the hearts last night – from people who were sleeping.  We’ll save the dorms till last, cause nobody goes to sleep early there.  We’re not going to get in the way unless we have to, to save a life.  We’ll follow them back to wherever they’re keeping the voices and try to open the box.)

           (I got it, pet.  The first three times.  What are you so nervous about?)

          (I’m not nervous.  I’m….concerned.)

          (About?)

         (I know the commandos will be out tonight looking for the same guys we are.  What if they see us/you?)

         (Well, I could try screaming again, but I guess that won’t work if I’m holding a sword…)

          (No.)  There was a tone of command in Buffy’s thought. (If we run into them, you leave, or hide, or something.  I don’t want them to see you. I don’t want them wondering why William is always with me when I’m out slaying.)

         (Not leavin’ you alone, pet)  Spike’s determination was palpable.

          (You are if I tell you to.)  Buffy’s determination was equally strong.

           Their inevitable stand-off was interrupted by the arrival of several of the Gentlemen’s helpers.  They fought all but one of them to a stand still, finding that the only way to kill them was to cut off their heads.  The remaining creature ran off with its awkward, loping gait, arms swinging wildly, and Buffy and Spike in hot pursuit.

           They followed him to a clock tower and watched as one of the Gentlemen floated past, carefully holding what appeared to be another heart.  Close behind him, was a squad of commandos, led by Riley Finn.  Shoving Spike behind a bush and ordering him to (stay here unless I call you), Buffy ran into the tower behind the Gentleman and ahead of Riley.

          Ignoring the soldier, except to keep an eye on how he was doing in the fight, Buffy battled her way into the tower and began searching frantically for the voice box.  Just as she located it, she was attacked by two of the long-armed creatures at once and pinned down.  As she frantically tried to kick them off of her before the advancing Gentleman could take his scalpel to her chest, she gestured toward the box, trying to get Riley to smash it.

          In her anxiety to get the box smashed quickly, she hadn’t realized she was projecting her frustration and thoughts until William burst through the door and brought his fist down on the box, releasing all the captured voices.  Immediately, Buffy began screaming, not stopping until she ran out of breath and all the Gentlemen had succumbed to exploding heads.

          For several seconds, no one moved or said anything.  Buffy was struggling to regain her breath, William was hovering over her anxiously, and Riley was looking back and forth between the two as he struggled back to his feet.

           “Buffy, we need to talk,” he said unnecessarily. 

           Spike gave a very un-William-like snort, and she shot him a warning look before turning to face the big commando.

             “I suppose we do,” she said tiredly.  “But not tonight.  I’m tired and I want to go home.  I’ll meet you in the coffee shop tomorrow.  Is that all right?”

             “I thought maybe you could come to Lowell House for coffee.  We could talk there with more privacy.”

              Buffy studied him for a full minute, trying to assess how much she could trust the man.  She could feel Spike behind her, willing her to say “no”, but ignored him as best she could.   When she nodded her head in agreement, and told Riley she’d meet him at Lowell House, the vampire stalked out of the tower and disappeared into the night.

              “William isn’t walking home on his own, is he?” Riley asked with a grin.

             “No, I’m sure he’ll wait for me.  I think he just needed to get out of here and away from all the blood and gore.”

              “He’s awfully delicate for the cousin of a Slayer, isn’t he?” Riley tried to appear casual as he used her title for the first time.

              “He’s a good man,” she said shortly, neither confirming nor denying his implication.  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Riley.”  She went down the stairs and out into the night, leaving the commando and his team staring after her small form as she walked down the street toward her waiting cousin.

Chapter Twelve

             The long walk to Revello drive was made in silence – mental and physical.   Spike made no attempt to disguise the anger burning within him, but he didn’t project any thoughts toward Buffy at all.  She knew he was furious that she’d agreed to enter the fraternity house by herself, but she was too tired to argue with him about it.  The only thoughts she allowed to enter her head were thoughts of a hot bath and her soft bed.

            They entered the house, still not speaking to each other, to find that everyone else had found their voice and there were at least three conversations going on at one time.
            
            Giles, Olivia and Joyce were trying to have a dignified, adult conversation about Sunnydale, Slayers and Watchers – all of which had been new to Olivia until that morning.  Xander wanted to complain to all and sundry about Spike’s taking up residence in the Summer’s house, and his obvious familiarity with Buffy’s bedroom.  Anya was anxious to get home and get some quality time with Xander before it got too late and he fell asleep.

           Buffy and Spike stood inside the door listening to the cacophony of noise and exchanged a look that clearly said, “Can we have the silence back again?”

          Finally, Willow noticed their presence and shouted, “They’re back!”

          “Good job, Buffster,” Xander spoke up first.  “Way to dust those guys and get us our voices back.”

          “Actually, William did that,” Buffy said, emphasizing “Wiliiam” as a reminder that their words might be heard.  She thought she had smashed all the microphones, but wasn’t sure they didn’t miss one somewhere.

            “Yes, well, good job, William,” Giles said, picking up on the vampire’s obvious anger, but at a loss as to what might be causing it.  “Any complications, Buffy?”

             With a snarl, Spike pushed past the humans in the room and went down to the basement. There was an uncomfortable silence following his departure and Joyce frowned slightly.  She made a motion as if to go after him, but Buffy’s voice stopped her.

          “Let him go, Mom.  He’s just pissed at me.”

           “Buffy!  Language!”

            Rolling her eyes, Buffy said tiredly,  “If it’s all right with everybody else, I’m going to take a hot bath and get some sleep.  I’ll fill you all in tomorrow night.  I’ll know more about the commandos then, too.”

            She turned and made her way upstairs, refusing to answer any of the questions being thrown at her about the commandos and how they figured in to the night’s actions.

          In the basement, a furious vampire was pacing from one side to the other, desperate for something on which to take out his anger at the Slayer.  Every time he picked up something to throw, he would recognize it as something Joyce probably valued, and he would set it down carefully, snarling the whole time.

          (Bloody, stupid bint!  Goin’ in there alone…and in the daytime, when I can’t go out.  If anything happens to her, I’ll rip that place apart…brick by brick, body by body.)

           He lifted his head as he heard a heavy step on the stairs and watched as Giles descended.  He didn’t offer a greeting, just threw himself on the cot and glared.

          “Would you like to let me in on what this little tantrum is about?” he inquired in a deceptively mild tone.

         “Not a tantrum,” the vampire said with a growl.  “If I was havin’ a tantrum, this place would be in shambles by now.”

          “Point well taken.  And I am sure Joyce thanks you for your restraint,” he answered wryly.  “But I still want to know what’s going on…and why I should leave an angry vampire in the same house with my Slayer and her mother?”

         “Wouldn’t hurt them,” he growled.

         “Isn’t that couldn’t hurt them?  I think we both know what you would do if you weren’t effectively neutered.”

          “Wouldn’t, couldn’t, same thing.”  He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall. “You know nothing, Watcher.”

           When Giles didn’t respond, but remained standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for an answer, Spike growled again and stood up.  He smiled to himself when the Watcher couldn’t hide a small flinch as he stalked toward him.  Giles recovered quickly, but Spike had seen the movement and felt the slight increase in heart rate.

          Considering that he was still dressed like William, complete with glasses, the vampire was quite pleased with himself to think he could still frighten an experienced Watcher.

           “Did she tell you what she’s gonna do?” he demanded as he invaded the watcher’s personal space.  “Did she tell you what she agreed to?”

          “The only thing she said was that she was tired and going to take a hot bath before going to bed.  Perhaps you could be a bit more forthcoming?”

           “She agreed to meet with that bloody piillock tomorrow – at his fraternity house.  By herself.”  He watched with satisfaction as Giles’ face paled, and added, “That would be the house that is full of soldiers pretending to be college boys, in case you’ve forgotten. The one that Red thinks is built over the lab where they use live demons for carving practice.”

           Giles flinched again at Spike’s description of the activities that went on in the research facility.  As a watcher, he, of course had no problems with groups that killed vampires and demons, but the idea of capturing them for the purposes of doing experiments on sentient creatures offended his British sense of fair play.

         “I will certainly discuss the foolhardiness of entering the lion’s den, so to speak.  However, as you have noticed, Buffy has a tendency to do as she pleases, not as she’s told.”

         “Stupid bint’s going to get herself killed.  Or worse.”  He stalked back over to the cot and threw himself down again.

         “I sincerely hope that will not be the case, Spike.  But, if it should be, I’m quite curious as to why a vampire that came here with the stated purpose of killing his third Slayer is at all concerned about it.”

           “She’s mine,” he answered shortly, looking away from the Watcher’s probing eyes.

            “To kill, you mean.  She’s yours to kill and you don’t want anyone else stealing your glory.”  The expression on Giles’ face was grim and his hand twitched as though holding a stake.

            Spike looked up at him and stared flatly until the Watcher looked away.

             “Yeah, that’s right, Watcher. Wanna keep her alive until I can kill her myself.”  He snorted with derisive laughter.  “You know, for a Watcher, you sure don’t see much, do you?”

            Giles took off his glasses and polished them vigorously.  He’d been aware of a developing relationship between his charge and the neutered vampire, but to hear it confirmed by William the Bloody himself was to make it real.

             “I’ve seen enough to know I do not want Buffy involved with another vampire.  I believe one experience like that has caused her more than her share of grief.”

            “I’m not him, Rupert,” the suddenly quiet William said, closing his eyes wearily.  “Got no soul to lose, now, do I?”

           Giles had no answer to that, and he turned to go up the stairs.  He paused and looked back at the immobile man on the cot, but William’s eyes remained closed and did not look up again.

           ***********************

            Giles offered Willow and Xander rides and they gladly accepted, joining him and Olivia in his old Citroen.  He dropped them off and headed for his apartment and a few hours of, he hoped, quality time with his guest.  Instead, he got a tearful discussion of how frightening it was to be visiting somewhere with vampires, demons, creepy, mystical gentlemen that took living hearts and armed soldiers that crept around in the dark.

            Sighing for his non-existent social life, Giles agreed to drive her to the nearest airport in the morning so that she could go home to safe, un hell-mouthy, England.  As a result, he did not have an opportunity to talk to Buffy before she got up and went off to meet with Riley.

              ******************

         Buffy had done exactly what she’d said she was going to.  She went upstairs, ran a tub full of hot water and bath oil, and soaked in it until it got uncomfortably cool.  Then she got out, dried off, and fell into her bed without even putting a nightie or pajamas.  Spike’s comment about her sleeping naked briefly crossed her mind, but a tentative attempt to see if he was open to her resulted in nothing but cold silence and she gave it up for a deep dreamless sleep.

            She awoke in the morning, glanced at the clock, and rushed to get dressed and meet Riley at the appointed time.  She didn’t stop to have breakfast, so didn’t hear or see the basement door crack open as she ran out of the house.

           As she walked up to the door of Lowell House, she suddenly felt very alone and found herself wishing for even a snarky remark from the vampire that had been her on and off companion for over a week.

          (911, my ass!  Stupid vampire.  I could be kidnapped right now and he’d never know or care.)

         (Yes, I would, Slayer.) 

            The feelings of relief and joy that flooded her at the familiar voice in her head caused Buffy to stop in mid-stride.  She stumbled and almost fell before she could recover from the unexpected answer.

          (So you’ve decided to speak to me again, huh?)

           She tried to smother the happiness it generated, but she could feel his smile and knew he’d sensed it.

         (If you’re gonna be all stupid and careless, Slayer, somebody’s got to be watchin’ your back.)

        (I’m not being careless.  I’ll be very careful.  I’m all about the carefulness.  And the only thing stupid I’ve done lately is go to sleep naked last night –by myself.)

           She giggled uncontrollably when she felt the bolt of pure lust go through him and when Riley opened the door to invite her in, she was still smiling widely.  Too late, she realized he thought the smile was for him, and she tried to back pedal quickly when he took it as an excuse to hug her.  Squirming her way out of his smothering embrace, she backed up and looked up at him.

          “I thought we were going to talk?”

          “We are.  I just thought…you looked so happy and…normal. Human.”

          Buffy quirked her eyebrows at him in an unintentional imitation of a blond vampire.

         “Okay, normal, I get. But, human?  What do I look like, a chimpanzee?”

         Riley laughed uncomfortably.  “No, no, of course not.  I just meant –we’re not really sure what a Slayer is…and…”

           “We?”  Buffy stiffened when she was suddenly surrounded by several clean-cut young men.  She recognized two of them from the Bronze and gave them cold looks before turning back to Riley.

          “This is how we’re going to talk?”  She stared at him suspiciously and began edging toward the door.

          “There’s no need for panic, Ms. Summers,” came a woman’s voice from the hallway.  “We just thought we’d all have a nice chat and you wouldn’t have to repeat yourself over and over.”

          “Why would I be repeating myself?  I’m going to talk to Riley, and that’s it.”

         “Well, the thing is,” Maggie Walsh said, entering the room to stand just out of reach, “Agent Finn and his men work for me.  You are here at my request. I wish to study you.”

         “STUDY me?”  No one missed the steely tone in the Slayer’s voice, and the men who had already tangled with her backed up a step.  Maggie Walsh, however, didn’t flinch.  Instead, she relaxed her posture and put on her most charming smile.

          “I’m sorry, Buffy – May I call you Buffy? – I’ve not made myself understood.  Until recently, we thought that the Slayer was a myth, something to be evoked to frighten young demons.  We are delighted to find that not only is she real, but that she lives right here in Sunnydale.

          “I simply wish to sit down with you and learn more about who you are and what your life is like.  How did you become the Slayer?  When? How long do you plan to continue it?  Things like that.”

          She smiled at Buffy with what appeared to be genuine warmth.

          “I’m sorry we’ve gotten off to such a rocky start.  Why don’t we all come into the game room and sit down and relax.  You will tell us about yourself, and we will tell you what we can about our…operation.  Agent Finn, please get Buffy some refreshments.  What would you like, dear?”

          Buffy reluctantly followed the older woman into the large adjoining room and perched nervously on the edge of a chair.  She gave Riley a tentative smile of thanks when he handed her an opened can and said, “Diet Coke, right?”

           (What’s happenin’, Slayer?  Where’d you go? Why’d you’d get so nervous?)

          (It’s OK, Spike. I just misunderstood or something.  She said they wanted to study me and I--)

         (NO!  No, Buffy!   Don’t let them take you to the lab.)

         (Relax, she didn’t mean it that way.  We’re just sitting down in the frat house to talk.  I’m have a Diet Coke and I’ll tell them about me and they’ll tell me about them, and then I’ll be on my way home.)

       (Don’t trust them, love.  Please.  Listen to me.  And who is “she”?)

       (Professor Walsh, my psychology teacher.  Turns out she’s in charge.)

      (Cold, nasty piece of work?  Looks like a man?)

       (Well, that’s kinda rude, but, yeah, I guess you could say that.  How did you know?)

      (That’s the bitch that put this thing in my head!  She runs that bloody charnel house.  Get away from her, Buffy.  Now!)

        (What am I going to say?  The vampire who talks to me in my head says I have to go now?  You’re over-reacting.  I’m a human.  They’re not going to hurt me.  She just wants to know about me.)

       (Slayer, Buffy, please…love.  Just get out of there.  Tell them you’ll talk to them later.  Tell them your house is on fire.  Tell them the bloody world is endin’! I don’t care.  Just do what you’re told for once in your soddin’ life!)

          (You do NOT tell me what to do!  Get that idea through your thick head.  Now leave me alone so I can concentrate on my conversation!)

        (Fine, you stupid, stubborn, bitch!  Find out the hard way.) 

         Buffy almost cringed at the anger pouring out from the vampire, then shuddered as the link closed down completely.  She told herself she was glad he was out of her head, but she suddenly felt very alone.

       (This is not a problem.  I’ve been doing things alone ever since I was called.  I don’t need some paranoid vampire with a grudge against these people telling me how to do my job.  The Slayer works alone.  That’s how it is.)

        As Buffy finished her mental pep talk, she realized that Professor Walsh had asked her something, and she had to think quickly.  Unfortunately, the first thing she came up with was, “huh?”

        “I’m sorry, Buffy,”  Maggie was at her most patient and charming, “I guess I didn’t make myself clear.  I was asking if you would mind working out a little with one of my men.  Just so we can study your techniques and speed.”

        Even though the whole idea of being “studied” was giving Buffy the wiggins, she couldn’t think of a good way to refuse and found herself trailing after Riley and his friends into a well-furnished gym just off the game room.

        “Uh, Buffy,” Riley said as he pointed to a man taking off his shoes.  “This is Graham, I think you met—“

         “We met at the Bronze,” Buffy said coldly.  “You were threatening my…cousin”

          Graham shuffled his feet uncomfortably.  “Actually, we met once before that – you threw me into a bush”

          “Oh yeah, I remember.  You told Riley not to back off because I was ‘just a little girl’.”   Buffy gave him her best cheerleader smile.  “Kinda pissed me off.”

         “Yeah, I got that.  I thought we might spar a little and I’d try to get some of my own back.  If that’s all right with you,” he added hastily as Riley frowned.  “I’ll be careful.  I won’t hurt you.  I promise.”

          “Oh, I know you won’t.”  Buffy smiled sweetly and took off her own shoes.

          She stepped onto the mats and began stretching and warming up as the young men watched in admiration.  When she was comfortable that her body was awake and ready, she turned to Graham and said, “I’m ready when you are.”

         For several minutes they just circled each other cautiously, until Buffy was sure she was going to scream from boredom.  When she stopped circling and put her hands on her hips impatiently, the commando rushed her with a grin on his face.  Only to find himself flying across the room and slamming into the padded wall.

         Buffy turned around and faced him, hands back on hips and head cocked to one side.  With a furious glare, he charged again, carrying her to the mat with his weight.  Before he had time to savor his victory, Buffy had put her hands under his chest and lifted him off her body far enough that she could get her feet between them and kick him over her head.  She immediately whirled and landed on his back, pressing his face into the mat and painfully pinning one arm behind him.

         She was immediately picked up off the downed soldier and tossed across the mat.  She looked up to find herself facing a furious Forrest who was standing over Graham and glaring at her. 

          “Normal human girls can’t move like that.  And they aren’t that strong.  I don’t know what you are, but it isn’t human.”

           Buffy stared at him in astonishment.  “Exactly which part of I’m the Slayer didn’t you get?  Along with my “Chosen” career choice which requires me to spend my life in dark, stinky places fighting with disgusting, dead things that want to kill me, I was given some assets to help me do my job.  I’m just as human as you are, just stronger and faster.”

           She put her hands back on her hips and glared back at him. 

         “And, incidentally, I spend enough time fighting supernaturally strong creatures to know that you guys are faster and stronger than normal humans too.  So what does that make you, huh?”

           Before the angry man could reply, Maggie stepped in and said smoothly, “I’ve chosen only the cream of the crop for my operation.  They all came here in perfect physical condition and I have only enhanced their natural abilities.  You see, just like you, Buffy, they must fight beings that are stronger and faster than they are; so we give them all the advantages we can.  The finest in technology and the newest scientific and medical advancements.

          “But, I believe I speak for everyone, when tell you that we don’t quite understand what sorts of enhancements you have, or how you got them.  Can you enlighten us?”

           Buffy looked back and forth between her professor and the men in the room and shook her head.

          “I think you ought to talk to Giles.  He knows all that stuff.  I wasn’t really paying attention when Merrick explained it to me.”

          “Giles?  You mean your uncle?  And who is Merrick?”

          “Merrick was my first watcher.  He was the one who told me I’d been called.”

          “Ah.  The more we learn, the more questions I have.  What is a Watcher? Why do you have one?  What is Mr. Giles connection to all of this?”  Maggie smiled at Buffy.  “You can see why we are reluctant to let you go until we’ve had time to thoroughly debrief you.”

          “To de-what me?”  Buffy wasn’t sure, but thought they might be planning to take her underwear.  She stood up very straight and said sternly, “There will be no de-briefing of this girl.  Oh no.  You can talk to Giles and let him explain stuff to you.  I’m done here.”  She turned and started toward the door.

          “I’m afraid not, dear,” Maggie said calmly as she gestured to Riley.

           With a quick, “I’m sorry, Buffy,” he plunged a needle into her neck and forced out the liquid in the syringe.

            Buffy had time to think  (Damn that vampire.  I hate it when he’s right!) before the sedative took effect and she lost consciousness.

Chapter Thirteen

           Spike spent the afternoon sulking, refusing to send so much as an “up yours, Slayer,” in Buffy’s direction.   When Giles got back from taking Olivia to the airport he immediately tried to call Buffy in her dorm room, but only got a surprised Willow who assured him she hadn’t seen Buffy since the previous night.

        “She said she was really tired, Giles.  Maybe she just stayed at her mom’s and slept all day.”

        “That’s probably it, Willow. Thank you. I’ll call her there.”  The Watcher hung up the phone with a frown, remembering Spike’s angry insistence that Buffy had decided to go the fraternity house and meet with Riley alone.  He felt a twinge of fear at the idea of her not having at least checked in with Willow, or gone to class all day.

         When the phone began to ring, Spike stared at it with indecision before finally grabbing it and growling,  “What?”  Followed immediately, by a much more William-like, “Good afternoon, Summers’ residence. William speaking.”

         “William?  It’s Uncle Rupert.  May I speak with Buffy, please?”

“She’s not here.  I haven’t seen her since she left this morning for her visit with the toy soldier.”  Spike made no attempt to keep his disdain for Riley out of his voice.  “She’s probably in class or back in the dorm.”

          “No,” Giles said carefully, not sure who might be listening,” She’s not. No one has seen her since last night.”

           There was a short silence, followed rapidly by a lengthy string of British profanity.   When he ran out of obscenities, Spike paused and Giles took the opportunity to put in, “Quite right you are, but that is not helping us locate her.  I will call Willow and bring her over to try a locator spell.”

           “Wait a minute,” Spike said shortly, opening up his mind and extending it out frantically searching for Buffy.

         (Come on, love.  Just tell me where you are.  Talk to me.  Tell me you’re all right and I’ll go right away again.  Buffy?  Please, Slayer, just say something. Tell me you hate me. Threaten to stake me for interrupting your good time.  Anything.)

        There was no answer, and he couldn’t sense Buffy at all.  His stomach clenched at the implications, but common sense told him there was no way she could have died without his feeling it.
       
         (Right then, unconscious.  I’m goin’ to hang that bloody soldier with his own entrails.)

         “Watcher,” Spike’s voice was nothing like William, and Giles felt a chill go up his spine at the tone, “I think we’ve got a situation.  Tell the witch to come to your place.  It’s closer.”

          “What do you know?” Giles surprised himself by not questioning the vampire’s instructions.

         “I know she’s not dead; but she’s not conscious either.  I’ll be there in ten,” he added, hanging up before the Watcher could question how he knew those things.

     ***********

         Buffy came back to consciousness slowly, and kept her eyes shut as she tried to remember where she was and what had happened.

         (Oh yeah, they wanted to take my underwear, and then the lights went out. All useful information, I’m sure.)

         She did a quick check of her body and discovered that not only was she missing her underwear, she was missing her entire wardrobe.

         (Naked. Naked is never good.  And…tied up.  Even more not goodness.  Tied, though, with rope. Not chained. Stupid amateurs still don’t get it.  Okay, tied up and hanging by my arms. Feet are not tied.  Room is…warm?  No, the room is hot. And getting hotter by the second.  Are they planning to cook and eat me?  What the hell?)

            Unable to figure out anything else about her situation, Buffy opened her eyes and stared around.  She found herself hanging from a pole, her feet just inches off the ground.  The room she was in was obviously one of the lab’s experimental rooms that Spike had alluded to.  She cursed herself for not making him tell her exactly what happened to him when he was in there so that she would have some idea what to expect.

            Sweat began to pour off her body as the room continued to get hotter and hotter and she squirmed against the ropes in an effort to loosen them.

            “Ah, I see that you are awake again Buffy,” came the voice of a woman the Slayer was really beginning to dislike.  “We’ve begun our testing program.  Would you please let us know what you are feeling just now?”

            Buffy was dumbfounded at the calm, pleasant tone of Professor Walsh’s voice as she asked the sweating, naked girl how she felt.

            “I’m hanging by my arms, which are getting tired, by the way; some pervert has taken all my clothes, and I think I’m inside a giant oven.  How the hell do you think I feel, you arrogant bitch?”

            “There’s no need to be abusive,” Maggie answered in a tone that undoubtedly cowed the young men under her command.  “We are simply running you through some of the same tests we use on the vampires we capture.”

            Changing the subject, she asked, “So, you do feel the heat then?  That’s interesting.  It didn’t seem to bother the vampires that much.”

            “Because they’re DEAD!”  Buffy shouted.  “Are you stupid?”

            There was no reply, but the temperature in the room began to go down noticeably.  And down, and down.

        ********************************

           In Giles’ apartment, the Watcher, the red-headed witch and the vampire stared at each other.

           “What makes you think Buffy is unconscious?” the older man was asking.  “And how can you be sure she’s not dead?”

           “I’d know if she was dead,” he mumbled, not really wanting to tell the watcher how he knew, but desperate to make him believe him.

            Willow stared hard at the squirming vampire and said quietly, “He knows she’s unconscious because he can’t hear her right now.  Isn’t that right, Spike?”

            “Wha-?  No! Don’t be ridiculous, Red.  How would I be able to hear her? Vamp hearing is good, but it’s not—“

             Giles looked back and forth between them.  “What do you mean, he can’t hear her?  We have to assume she has been taken to the facility under Lowell House.  He’s quite right. Even vamp hearing can’t extend that far.”

           “That’s not what he’s using.  Is it, Spike?”  Willow put on her “resolve” face and made the vampire look her in the eye.

           “Don’t know what you’re on about, witch,” he growled, trying to look away.

           “You know, for somebody who’s all about the evilness, you don’t lie very well,” she responded.

             Before Spike could respond, he felt the first confused stirring of consciousness in Buffy and he held up his hand for silence.  Cocking his head, he listened as she collected her thoughts and sorted out her surroundings. He snarled when she realized she was naked, and groaned in recognition when she noticed how hot the room was getting.

           Willow and Giles watched in slow understanding as they saw the emotions play across the vampire’s expressive face.  Relief, followed quickly by outrage, and fear that they knew instinctively wasn’t for himself.

             ( Buffy? I’m here, love. We’re comin’ to get you.  Can you tell me where you are?)

           (Spike?  I’m where you were.  She said they’re running the same tests on me that they run on the all vampires they catch.)

            He couldn’t disguise the stab of fear that went through him at her words, and she asked anxiously, ( What else are they going to do to me? They took my clothes, and it looks like they took blood out of my arm…oh, and they just tried to cook me, but it’s getting better now.)

            (It’s going to go from hot to cold, pet.  They tried to see how hot or cold they could make us before we couldn’t function anymore.)

          (Terrific. I’m gonna go from baked Buffy to a Slayer-sicle).

          “What’s going on?”  The Watcher put aside his questions about how Spike was communicating with Buffy for the time being and demanded to know what was going on.

             “They’ve got her in the lab and they’ve started their regular vampire tests on her.”  Spike’s voice was even and cold. 

              “Buffy’s not a vampire, for the love of god! What are they thinking?”

            “They’re thinkin’ they’ve got somethin’ they don’t understand, and they’re gonna take it apart and see what makes it tick. “

            “Giles! We’ve got to get in there.  We’ve got to find Buffy before they really hurt her.”  Willow’s eyes were wide with worry.

             “Yes, we do, obviously.  However, we know nothing about that place or where she is inside it.  Spike,” he turned to the vampire, “write down everything you remember about the facility and how you got out of there.  Willow,” he pushed the anxious red head toward the table, “search on the web for whatever you can find out about what may have been built under there.  There is no point in our charging in without a plan and some idea where we’re going.”

              *************************

              Buffy was still hanging in the room that was rapidly becoming colder and colder.  Goosebumps burst out on her arms and legs, followed quickly by uncontrollable shivering. 

              (Hang in, love.  We’re working on this.  Need to figure out where you are exactly and how to get there.)

            (I’m cold, Spike.  They know I’m not a vampire. Why are they doing this?)

           The discomfort and just a trace of fear that he felt in her voice, had the vampire growling aloud even as he tried to soothe her with the reassurances he was sending.

           (You need to think about warm things, pet.  Like my tight, little body and how hot it makes you.  Think about my hands on your breasts, my tongue teasing your needy little...)


         He felt a weak trace of amusement from the Slayer, even as her thoughts became disjointed and confused.

           (Cold, sleepy,  think of warm things…so cold…William makes me warm…Spike…Spike is warm…no…Spike is a vampire…not warm…why does he make me warm?…warm…sleepy…too cold…doesn’t hurt anymore….)

            (Buffy?  Slayer?  Come on, pet. Stay with me.  Don’t go out on me again, love.  Buffy?  Buffy?)

         One look at the anguish on the vampire’s face and Giles knew things weren’t going well for his Slayer.

          “What happened?  What’s going on, Spike?”

         “She’s passed out from the cold.  Let’s hope the wankers are smart enough to figure out she could die from cold like any other human and don’t just leave her there like they do the vamps.”

           “What happens to them?” Willow couldn’t keep the trace of scientific curiosity from her voice and he gave her a glare before reluctantly answering.

           “The first few, they jus’ left there to freeze solid.  Then they whacked them apart with hammers and laughed when they shattered.  By the time they got to me, they were trying to figure out exactly how long it took to get a vamp so cold it couldn’t move, so they took me out when I stopped movin’.”

           “Well, they’ll know that Buffy can’t freeze and live, won’t they?”

          “I’m sure they will, Willow.”  Giles’ voice was as reassuring as he could make it while he was pondering how many explosives it would take to blow up Lowell House if his Slayer didn’t leave it alive.

          ***********************

           Buffy woke up to find that someone had put her clothes back on her, and wrapped her in a blanket.  She was also strapped down to a table with an IV drip in her arm.

            “Ah, Buffy,” came the hated voice, “I’m glad to see you are awake.  That was quite informative.  It appears that you can withstand temperatures much higher and lower than the average human, and yet, had we left you there, you would have died.  Very interesting.”

              “You could have asked me, you know,” she gritted out through teeth that still wanted to chatter.

             “Oh, we are planning to,” Maggie’s voice was cheerful and she nodded to the technician standing beside the examining table.  He twisted a knob on the tubes leading to the IV and Buffy immediately felt herself getting woozy again.

              “This is one of our better discoveries here.  It is designed to elicit truthful responses from subjects – whether demon or human.  Far superior to old fashioned ‘truth serums’.”

                “Not telling you anything,” Buffy growled, sounded a great deal like a certain blond vampire.

              “You sometimes sound surprisingly like Hostile 17, as I recall him,” Maggie said, speculatively.  “Perhaps it’s an attitude thing you have picked up from spending so much time around vampires.”

               “I don’t tend to spend much time with them.  Only as long as it takes to make them dust.”

                “And yet, you prevented my men from recapturing Hostile 17. Why is that, Buffy?”

                 Buffy fought the urge to tell the woman everything about Spike and their history, although she couldn’t prevent herself from growling, “He’s mine.”

                “Yours?  Interesting.  We will have to go into this further.  But right now I have some questions about your uncle and your friends.  Tell me about Rupert Giles.”

               “No,” Buffy said flatly.

             Maggie gave an exasperated sigh.  “Very well, we’ll do this the hard way.  Is your uncle in any way connected to your Slaying duties?”

             Buffy thought about her mother’s brother in Ohio and grinned to herself. “No, he’s not,” she said truthfully.

            The older woman glared at her, then turned to the technician.  “Turn it up,” she ordered.  He looked at her as though he wanted to argue, then shrugged and twisted the knob again.  Buffy felt more warmth as the increased drug flowed into her veins.

            “Now, lets try again.  Is Mr. Giles aware of your activities?”

            “Yes.” Buffy responded immediately.  “But shouldn’t you already know this stuff from your cameras and recorders?”

            Before she could stop herself, Maggie replied, “They don’t seem to be working very we--   Oh, very clever, Buffy.  You’re not a dumb as you look, are you?”

            “Nope!” Buffy replied cheerfully and truthfully.

              Gritting her teeth and vowing that the impudent young woman tied to the table in front of her was not going to rattle her, Maggie Walsh turned and called Riley into the room.

             “Agent Finn, I want you to bring in Ms. Summers’ uncle, cousin, mother, and those other young people who seem to be part of her circle.  We’ll see how they respond to my serum.”

            Buffy pulled furiously at the restraints holding her down, glaring at the smiling woman.

             “You leave my friends and family out of this!”

             “I don’t think so.  I think we’re going to find that they are in this up to their ears.  Aren’t we, Miss Summers?”

             “Yes,” Buffy almost sobbed as she was unable to prevent the word from leaving her mouth.  “But my mother isn’t.  She doesn’t have anything to do with it.”

             “She gave birth to you.  I’m sure there is something we can learn from her.”

              The professor turned to leave the room.

              “I’ll be back when we have more subjects to study.  Until then, enjoy your stay.  Perhaps Graham and Forrest might want to keep you company…”

               “Hurt my friends and family and I WILL kill you.”  There was no trace of the young coed Maggie knew from class in her voice.  The sound of an angry Slayer made the woman hesitate for a minute as a chill went up her spine.

           “I don’t think so,” she managed to say without her voice quivering. “Such braggadocio is admirable, but hardly believable from someone in your situation.”

           “Truth serum,” Buffy said coldly and smiled to herself when she saw the meaning of the two words hit the other woman.

            Lab coat fluttering, Maggie quickly left the room without saying anything else, vowing to humble the irritating girl before she was done with her.

     *************************************

           Willow put the spells she’d found that she thought might be helpful into her pocket along with the layout of the duct work in the facility.  While the actual facility itself was apparently a secret, it hadn’t seemed to occur to anyone that the schematics for blocking out the duct work and electrical wires gave anyone who cared to look at them a very good idea of what the layout was. Willow had no trouble hacking into the systems of the companies that did the work and printing out their plans.

           Giles and Spike, who was still dressed in William’s new blue shirt and jeans, were digging through the weapon’s chest for easily hidden, but lethal objects to take in with them. They each slipped sharp knives into ankle holsters, as well as garrotes in their pockets. Although he didn’t change out of William’s clothes, Spike did get his Doc Martin’s and exchange William’s loafers for his own boots.  He raised his eyebrows curiously when the Watcher went to the hall closet and pulled out a metal box. 

           When Giles pulled out an automatic pistol and loaded it, Willow’s eyes bugged out. 

           “I never knew you had a gun, Giles!” she said wonderingly.

           “There is a great deal you don’t know about me, Willow,” he replied evenly, causing the vampire to give him a hard look, even as he admired the comfortable way the other man handled the gun.

            “That wouldn’t help you much against vamps, Watcher,” Spike drawled as Giles shoved the gun into the waistband of his pants.

          “Not everything evil we meet is bullet-proof, or non-human,” Giles answered with more than a trace of Ripper in his voice.

         “True enough, Watcher. True enough.”

          The three would-be rescuers stood in the middle of the living room, double checking their weapons and going over their plan.

           “I’m sure Buffy appreciates your willingness to assist us, Sp-William, but I can’t see what help you think you can be when you will rendered immobile the first time you hurt a human.”

            “You let me worry about that Watcher.  If they don’t know about my…disability…, just  flashing m’ fangs might be all it takes to back somebody off.  And if they do, I’ll jus’ have to pick my one human really carefully.”

            He looked at the dubious man and said firmly, “’M not leaving her in that place, and ‘m not gonna sit here and worry until you get back.”

           “Fine. I suppose you are old enough to make your own decisions about something like this.” 

             Willow and Spike both smiled at Giles’ words and the vampire snarked, “That I am, Uncle Rupert.  But I do ‘preciate the thought.”

            “Then I guess we should get going.  We’ll need to figure out how we’re going to get into the--“ When Spike’s head flew up and they realized he was  listening to Buffy, Giles stopped talking and waited. 

              (Spike?  Can you hear me?)

              (Yeah, I hear you, pet.  What’s goin’ on? Had me a little worried there, Slayer.  What with turnin’ into an ice cube an all.)

               (I’m okay.  But I’m tied down to a table and they gave me truth serum to make me tell her about Slayer stuff.)

               ( What do they know?)

             (Not much.  I made her mad and she left until –Spike! You’ve got to get away somewhere!  They’re coming to get Giles and Willow and mom, and William.  You need to hide!)

         (Not happenin’, pet.  We’re just leaving the Watcher’s to come get you.)

       (I don’t want them to get their hands on you again.)

       (It’ll be alright, pet. You concentrate on getting’ loose and quit worryin’ about me.  ‘M jus’ another vampire, love, nothing for the Slayer to be concerned about.)

        (Dammit, you stupid vampire!  I don’t want anything to happen to you – I don’t want to lose you!)

       Spike couldn’t respond for a few seconds.  He swore his unbeating heart skipped a beat as he felt her embarrassment at the unintended admission.

            (That the truth serum talkin’, love?) He didn’t try to hide the effect her words had on him.

            Buffy didn’t answer him directly.  She just said, (Please, Spike – just don’t be there when they come…Giles can tell them William went back to England or something.)

         (Too late, pet,)  he said as the door burst open and Riley came in, rifle held in front of him and followed by two more commandos.  (See you in a bit.)

         “We should have no problem finding Buffy, Uncle Rupert. It seems as though we’re getting an escort.”

Chapter Fourteen

          William stepped back behind the Watcher, trying to shield Willow, but Riley gestured with his gun for all of them to move ahead of him.

           “Let’s go.  Professor Walsh wants to meet all of you.  You too, William,” he said as Spike tried to slip toward the kitchen.  “She said ALL of Buffy’s friends and relatives.  That includes cousins from other countries.”

           “My goodness,” William said, eyeing the rifles apprehensively.  “If this woman wants to meet us, why didn’t she just invite us to tea?”

           “Consider this your invitation,” one of the other men said with a grin as he nudged the cowering man with his rifle.

             “Oh dear, oh dear,” William kept repeating as they moved toward the door, managing to keep himself between the guns and Willow.  Just before they reached the door, Riley stopped them and looked at the surprisingly calm older Brit speculatively.

             “Let’s see what you’ve got in those pockets, ‘Uncle Giles’, he said, gesturing for him to come closer.  For a second, Giles looked like he was planning to resist, then he shrugged and stepped forward.

              Riley set down his rifle, indicating to the other men that they should keep all three of the nervous people covered, and began to pat down Giles’ pockets.  When his hand bumped against the gun, he grinned in satisfaction and pulled it out.

             “Look at this, boys.  Our tweedy librarian seems to have some unusual accessories.”

              The soldier was so smug and proud of himself, he didn’t bother to search Giles thoroughly or even to order him to empty out his pockets.  Thinking he’d found the only weapon the other man was trying to smuggle in, he tossed it onto the sofa with a laugh and said, “NOW, we’re ready to bring these people in.  Although,” he added, turning to look at a nervous William and frightened-looking Willow, “I can’t imagine why Maggie wants to see you two.”

           “M—me neither,” Willow said moving closer to William.  “Why don’t I just stay here and—“

           “Sorry, Willow” Riley said with a disinterested shrug,  “Maggie wants all of you, and your other friends too, as soon as we can find them.  Let’s go.” 

            He gestured for Willow to go first and gave William an unnecessary shove as he went by.

            “You can be quite sure, Mr. Finn, that the British consulate in Los Angeles is going to hear about this outrage.  I am a loyal citizen of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth and as such, not to be trifled with.”  He stuck his chin up in the air and shoved his glasses back up his nose as he bravely met Riley’s amused look.

             “Do be quiet, William,” Giles said, hiding his smile.  “I am sure Agent Finn is not interested in hearing your intention to bring diplomatic pressure upon his organization.”

             “Well, he should be,” William blustered.  “This is an outrage, that they think they can treat British citizens like…like…animals!”

             When Riley raised his rifle as though to bash William in the face, he cringed back immediately and whimpered in fear.  The commandos all laughed, missing the amber flashes in his eyes as he ducked his head.

              They were put into the back of the SUV, by themselves, but with one soldier facing them at all times.    He was instructed to keep his eyes primarily on Giles. Even though the Watcher’s demeanor was that of a middle-aged man caught doing something quite out of character, Riley was suspicious. The fact that the man even had a gun, let alone that he was planning to bring it with him when looking for his niece, told Riley there was more there than what seemed obvious.

            Willow and William he dismissed as weak and cowardly, and he paid little or no attention to them until the driver commented, “Hey, Finn, do you think we’ll get to see this one’s goodies like we did the blond?”  He jerked his head at Willow who had gasped, then leaped to put her hand over William’s mouth just in time to muffle the snarl.  She could feel his fangs just edging out of his gums, and saw his eyes flashing amber as he tried to suppress the demon that wanted to rip the driver’s head off.

            “Serenity!” she hissed, projecting as much magic as she could summon without a spell.  To the surprise of all three, Spike immediately calmed down and slumped in the seat, looking relaxed and calm.

             “Whoa!” Willow whispered.  “I should have done that a long time ago!”

              “Quite a trick there, Red,” he whispered back.  “It’s not easy to push down an angry demon.”

               “That was quite impressive, Willow.  I must say.”

              “What was quite impressive?”  the soldier guarding them looked at her suspiciously.

              “Nothing!” they chorused together.

               He frowned, but could see nothing wrong.  All three were still sitting quietly on the back seat, their hands in plain view.

                (Buffy?  You there, pet?)

               (Where the hell else would I be?)  she grumbled at him. (Still tied to a table here – I think I might have loosened one of the restraints, though.  I think I’m on a table meant for ordinary humans, not Slayers.  Did you know leather stretches when you pull on it?)

              (They’re bringin’ us to you, Slayer.  Do what you can, but don’t let ‘m know you’re loose until we get there.)

                Into the silence he said, (You hear me, Slayer? You wait till the cavalry gets there.)

                Her sigh was almost audible and he had to smile, (Well, you’d better hurry.  I’m getting bored and….oh, peachy, here comes the goon squad again…later.)

              Spike couldn’t get her to talk to him again, but he was able to visualize what was happening through her disjointed thoughts and emotional reactions.  He whispered to Willow that she’d better have her calming spell handy as he picked up on what was going on in the room.

              The two soldiers approached Buffy, laughing at the way she glared apprehensively at them.

               “Not quite so brave, now that you can’t move, are you, ‘Slayer’?”  Forrest said “slayer” like it was a dirty word.

              “Maybe she’s not comfortable,” Graham put in.  “Didn’t she look more relaxed when she was naked?”

            “Yeah, now that you mention it, she did.  I’ll bet she’d like to be naked again; that right, Buffy?”

             While the men were amusing themselves trying to intimidate her, Buffy was flexing her muscles and stretching the leather restraints to the point that she could slip her arms out.  She kept her hands under the table so that they would not notice that her upper body was free. 

           (If they touch you, they’re lunch.  You know that, don’t you, Slayer?)

         (I appreciate the sentiment, Spike, but – news flash – if they touch me they’re little piles of broken bones long before you get here.)

          “Let’s just get her out of those uncomfortable jeans, huh?  I don’t know why Maggie made us dress her again.  Naked was working for me.”  With a nasty chuckle, Forrest reached for the zipper on Buffy’s jeans only to realize that with her legs tied down, he would not be able to remove them or slide them very far down her legs.

            “What the hell are you doing?” Graham almost yelped as the other man reached for the restraints holding Buffy’s feet and legs.  “You know you can’t let her loose.”

             “Relax, I’m not going to.  I’m just going to undo one leg at a time so we can get those pants off her.  What can she do with only one leg free?”

               As soon as Buffy’s left leg was freed, she brought it up to sweep Forrest’s head down onto the table with a painful thump.  At the same time, she sat up and grabbed Graham before he could reach for his rifle, slamming his head down against the edge of the table.

              While both men were stunned, she quickly undid the remaining restraint and jumped to her feet.  Before Graham could rise, she slammed both hands into his back and forced him down across the table, using it to hold him up while she punched his kidneys until he sank to the floor moaning.

             Forrest  raised his head and saw with bleary eyes what was happening to his friend.  He moved toward the weapons they’d left by the door, but immediately found a small, barefoot, and very angry blond standing between him and his gun.  Completely ignoring how fast she’d just shown she could move, he charged toward her, only to find himself propelled through space and slamming into the door with his shoulder.

            A credit to his training, he did not back off as the tiny predator stalked toward him, but held up his one good arm in a defensive posture and fell into a fighting stance.  A stance which did him no good as, with a flurry of punches and kicks, Buffy reduced him to the pile of broken bones she’d promised Spike she would.

            While she stood, panting, over his broken body, she cringed slightly as she looked at what she’d done.  The whole time she’d been beating on the man, she’d been aware of Spike’s presence in her head, urging her on with his own rage.  She paled as the implications hit her.

          (Oh my god.  My behavior is being influenced by one of the most notorious and deadly master vampires in the world.  I was out of control.  I almost killed these guys.)

         Spike had followed the whole thing – trying to maintain his contact with Buffy while getting out of the car and entering the lower level of the facility.  Willow’s calming grip on his arm was the only thing that kept him from vamping out as soon as the commandos starting talking about Buffy, but nothing could prevent the surge of rage that went through him when they actually tried to take her clothes off.

          He knew the rage was flowing through the claim, but he didn’t try to stop it. He rejoiced in every punch and kick, his demon cheering at the sight of the man lying unconscious on the floor.  When Buffy turned her attention back to Graham, he was ready to offer more suggestions when her regret and shame flowed back to him and he realized what he was doing to her.

          He immediately tried to push his demon down, smothering the possessive feelings toward his mate that had inspired the demand for violence.  Buffy relaxed slightly as the urge to kill both men faded and she was able to assess the damage she’d done.  Graham appeared to be in one piece, with the exception of a large, swelling over his eye where his head had hit the table and the obvious pain he was in from her blows to his lower back.

         She tried to feel bad about the way he flinched in fear when she approached him, but decided that both Buffy and the Slayer were just fine with what she’d done to him.  Forrest, on the other hand, she couldn’t look at without guilt.  Yes, the man definitely deserved to be punished for what he’d been trying to do to her, but she knew that without Spike’s influence she would never have continued to beat him after he was no longer a threat.

           She knew Spike was controlling the demon and she sent him grateful acknowledgement, even as she tried to hide the fear and disgust she was feeling at her behavior.  Her first terrified thought about being controlled by William the Bloody had come through loud and clear, though and Spike had felt his heart clench in fear at the way she’d reacted.

          (We’re here, love. We’re in the building.  Let’s work  this out later, alright?  Know you’re upset, but now’s not the time.  Soon’s you’re safely out of here, we’ll talk it out, yeah?  We’ll suss out what we can do about it.  I promise, love.  Jus’ don’t shut me out yet.)

          Riley delivered his captives to Maggie Walsh’s office, waiting quietly by the door as she looked them over.  The Watcher, who’d already met her once and decided he hated her when he just thought she was an arrogant college professor, stared at her with a cold expression on his face.  Maggie was somewhat taken back at the change in demeanor from the self-conscious, stammering man she’d dismissed from her office and the one standing before her.  This one was clearly not someone to be taken lightly and she reminded herself that Buffy had admitted he had something to do with her Slaying duties.

         She indicated with her eyes that Riley was to stay close to the man, then turned her attention to the nervous-looking redhead and the young man beside her.  William was trembling just slightly, but the psychologist in Maggie picked up on it and she smiled at the fear she thought was being evidenced.  Willow could have told her that the trembling was from Spike’s struggle to control the demon trying to get across the desk to the white-coated woman, but she kept silent and concentrated on sending soothing magics toward the angry vampire.

             “Well, Miss Rosenberg, I must tell you I am quite surprised in your choice of companions. I’ve been quite taken with your intelligence and talents and had actually given some thought to recruiting you.  It is quite disappointing to find that you are already involved in demon hunting in some mystical fashion.”

              Willow just stared back at her in amazement.  She was so shocked at the thought of being recruited by anyone, that she couldn’t even indulge in her usual babbling.  Then she remembered that this woman had kidnapped her best friend and, based on what little Spike had shared with them, been torturing her and she drew herself up and did her best to give an icy glare

             “You kidnapped my friend,” she said with more confidence than she felt.  “Why would I want to work for you?”

              Maggie waved her hand dismissively and looked at Willow with open speculation.  “I wonder what your place is in this little gang of demon-hunters?  I wonder what we don’t know about you that we can discover in our labs?”

             Calling on reserves of courage she didn’t know she had, Willow stared back at her teacher and said calmly, “You might find out more than you care to, Professor Walsh.”

             Maggie blinked in surprise; then, tired of being threatened by what she insisted on thinking of as little girls, she turned toward the young man who appeared so meek and yet according to Riley was so strong.

             “And you, William, is it?  How do you fit in here?  Are you really just a  visitor from out of the country?  If you are truly related to the Slayer, I wonder if we will find that her strength is inherited?  I’m curious as to how such a slender man could have such a strong grip.  Perhaps we will have a chance to find out how strong you actually are also.”

            “Oh, I think you can pretty much count on it,” Spike answered, making no attempt to sound like William. 

            When Riley whipped his head around in surprise, Giles leaped for him and twisted the rifle away, bringing the stock up and hitting the man in the chin.  He whirled and held the gun on the woman who was reaching for her phone saying coldly, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

              She froze, her hand just inches away from the intercom on her desk.

             “You’ll never get out of here alive, you know,” she said, relaxing back into her chair.

            “We’ll see,” was the only answer.  “Now, where’s my Slayer?”

            Maggie smiled.  “She’s under control, and entertaining some of my men.  Men who are not terribly fond of her, I might add.  Perhaps if you answer some of my questions first, I will see that she is brought here.  Or, better yet, I will take you to her.”

             Giles looked at Spike and the vampire made a face and shook his head.

             “Hate to spoil your plan there, you ugly bint, but the Slayer is not under control, the men who were with her will be needing medical assistance, and she is on her way to this office.   She’s quite brassed off, by the way,” he added, as Maggie paled.

            “There is no way you could know that,” she growled.  She saw Riley edging toward Giles and as the big man reached for his rifle, she tried to hit the intercom.  Only to be stopped by a very fast, cool, and strong hand on her wrist.

           “Wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” William drawled.  “The Slayer didn’t leave much for me of those wankers that were trying to rape her, but I can have you dead and drained before she gets through that door.”

            He took off his glasses and vamped out at her, smiling when she cringed back in her chair with a small cry.  Recovering herself, she glared back at him and said,  “Hostile 17, I should have known.  You won’t be killing anyone.  The harder you try, the more that chip in your head will fire.  You’re more helpless than Ms. Rosenberg.”

           “Well, since Red here is turnin’ into a right powerful little witch, I don’t believe that should be givin’ you a lot of hope.”  As he spoke, he was squeezing her wrist, smiling as her eyes widened in pain.

            “Your chip…I put that in myself…” she tried to speak through the pain in her hand.  She stared in fascination as the vampire seemed to be listening to something, then watched as he reluctantly eased his grip on her hand.

            “Keep it off that intercom, or I’ll break it off,” he snarled as he let go.

            (If you made me let go of that bitch jus’ so you could have a go at her, I’m goin’ be really brassed off at you, Slayer.)

            Riley and Giles were wrestling for the gun, but as the larger man gained the advantage, the door burst open and Buffy stormed into the room.  Riley had been so involved in his struggle with Giles that he had not seen the byplay between Spike and Maggie.  He assumed he was still holding two helpless people and an older man hostage.   He turned the rifle he’d finally regained possession of toward Buffy and said, “I’m pretty sure you aren’t bulletproof, Buffy. So, just go stand over there near your friends while I figure out what to do here.”

           Looks were exchanged quickly and Giles nodded toward Maggie as he and Willow moved as inconspicuously as possible to be close to her chair.  As they did, William shoved Buffy behind him.  When Giles grabbed Maggie in a choke hold, holding her in front of him like a shield, Riley fired at William.  He smiled in satisfaction as he saw the Englishman’s body jerk and blood appear on his blue shirt.
 

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