Bound

Chapter 15







Faith dropped onto her bed after a quick patrol. She had come across and dusted two fledglings and it still left her wanting. The hungry and horny feeling she would get after a good slay was missing, and that made her cranky. Faith was debating going back out and reached the door to her motel room , she stopped, tilted her head to listen and then pulled the door open at speed.



"Are you trying to get yourself killed?"



"I was careful and I am armed" he held up a stake and crucifix " We need to talk"



"Come in"



"Did you manage to collect any information Faith"



"Not really, Buffy has surrounded herself with friends and allies that aid her , can't see what's the big. "



"Well we have it on good authority that the allies she has are vampires, and these creatures do not have their souls, unlike Angelus."



"That would be a crock , they all have their souls, do you think that she would align herself with them if they didn't?"



"Isn't she in a relationship with William The Bloody? And that vampire has no soul"



"Actually he does, he sought it out himself, and for her I might add. Makes him okay in my book"



Faith saw the look on the Watchers face and knew she had said too much and was now in the same danger as the Scoobies and the vampires



"Shit"



The Watcher moved towards Faith and reached into his pocket. Before he could take his hand out with the object he was after, Faith had him pinned against the wall, his cheek against the rough plaster and her knee against his spine.



"Now, I suggest you take a few seconds to think about what I'm about to say and make the right choice. You know I just got myself a case of freedom after killing a man in cold blood, something I wouldn't think twice about doing again, so, go back to the mother ship and tell them things are running smoothly, the rumours are just that, and that Buffy and I are working together and are good little slayers. Tell the pricks they aren't welcome here and we will stop at nothing if we catch any of you here again"



The Watcher waited and debated whether he should defy Faith and risk his life or save his own skin and run back to the Council with his tail between his legs but with his spine intact and act as messenger.He opted for the second one.



Faith held his arms against his sides and tossed him back onto the street, laughing as the stiff upper lip British guy landed on his ass, staring at her in disbelief. she waved , smiled sarcastically "Have a nice day" and slammed the door on him.



Spike and Angel bought the emotionally broken Buffy into the mansion and laid her on the couch. Darla swam around her like a mother hen , Spike paced the room running his hands over his hair and Angel sat on the fireplace watching the others care for Buffy.



"Maybe we should think about getting her evaluated" Angel looked at Spike as he stopped his methodical pacing



"Are you bloody jokin' mate, cos you know as well as I do, she would kill us for doin' that to her.You must remember her Mum an' Dad doin' that when she was first chosen. It would destroy her all over again, I won't let you do tha' to her"



Angel did remember but things were going down hill fast again . There was no easy and fast fix to this. Angel himself took most of the blame. If he hadn't been so hell bent on trying to keep them separated and gone along with Giles' plan, if he hadn't reverted to Angelus, the girl, Buffy, would be sane and not tettering on the abyss into la la land.



Buffy started to come round and Spike raced to be by her side. She clung to him like he was her lifeline and wouldn't let him go. Giles knew that they had to do something if they were going to stop the next world changing event that threatened them all.



"Spike, there is one thing that I think we should try, now it is a little unorthodox and I'll understand if you are not willing to do it"



"I'll do anything, jus' tell me what it is"



"Let her feed from you, as you know if a vampire feeds from a slayer and ingests slayer blood , it will cure virtually anything,my point is, it should work the other way around for her, she is mated to you after all"



"She won't go for it, you know tha' don' you?"



"I hardly think that Buffy is in the state of mind to do much of anything right now, but I could ask Angel, if you refuse, he is after all the next logical choice with their 'history'. "



Give Giles his due , he knew how to push Spikes buttons, so Spike agreed, reluctantly "If it goes tits up Watcher , it's on your bloody head not mine!"



Spike sat beside the slumbering Slayer and stroked at her hair , her breathing calmed and hitched in her throat at their contact. Spike smiled softly, even in this state she reacted to him. Maybe some of what Giles had said was right, maybe a taste of his blood would help her.



It took all of his will power to do this, everything about it seemed wrong, hadn't that arrogant prick Drac tried this on her?



Willow didn't exactly help, her and her bloody thirst for knowledge, she'd only asked if it would turn her? Stupid chit, after all this time you'd think the bint would know better!



Spike swallowed the lump in his throat and took Buffy into their room and laid her on the bed, the only reaction he got was a deep sigh. Once he was settled next to her he leaned in and kissed her gently.



"Sorry, I got to do this pet, gotta do anything tha' might work, can't stand seein' you like this, it's breaking my heart. I find myself wishing you never met me n then maybe you'd be happy. It's m'fault , I know it is an' I'll go once your back an' all fixed up again. I wan' you to do this one little thing for me Buffy, just drink , for me , please pet"



Spike let his fangs descend and he bit into his wrist. He held it, shakily, to Buffys lips and waited. Buffy licked at the bite and then closed her lips over his wrist, sucking gently and groaning with every swallow. Buffy had a brief flash of memory, her lips on Dracula's wrist and the visions that it brought on. Yet drinking from Spike just made her flushed and extremely turned on. She could hear his gasps and moans of pleasure and the wave of pure love and adoration coming from him.



How could she have wanted to end her own life, not once but twice?



How could she leave the one person that makes this world worth living in and worth saving?



Buffy felt Spike try to pull his arm from her grasp and she held on , not wanting to give up the feelings it evoked within her, she didn't want to loose the connection she was feeling. Spike growled at her and she dropped his wrist and curled into a ball, sobbing.



"S'OK pet, I'm ' ere, Spikes not goin' anywhere. C'mere " he held his arm out for her to curl into his side.



Buffy crawled across the bed and onto his lap, tucking her head under his chin. Spike stroked her thigh and waited til she dropped off to sleep. Once she was asleep he placed her in bed , covered her up and left the room.



Faith arrived at the mansion to see everyone sat around ,deep in thought, Buffy wasn't present and Faith really needed to tell her about the Watchers Council and their threat. Giles pulled his crossbow up and aimed it at the Slayer .



"What are you doing here?"



"The Council, they're after you all, just had a visit myself and I managed to get away"



"Just bloody great! I'll say one thing for them, they have impeccable timing!"



Faith was still panting from the run across town and frowned at Giles



"No, really I'm five by five, not harm no foul, thanks for your worry!"



"Sorry, are you injured ?"



Spike's nostrils flared "She's not injured, but I smell someone's blood on her"



Faith grimaced "That would be the Watchers, he's alive so don't look at me like that , I broke his nose "



Giles continued to ignore her and Wesley nodded towards Lawson.



Lawson got up and took Faith to a bathroom to clean up.



Whilst Faith was out of the way the conversation was strained.



"Yet another Slayer, how do we know this one won't try and kill us while we sleep?" Penn asked



"We don't, but she is better off here where we can keep an eye on her, rather than send her back out there alone, and wait for her to pick the side of the Council or possibly our enemies , trust me, Buffy may be the better Slayer, but that girl is very dangerous and she has a very strong survival instinct. We could use that to our advantage" Wesley added



Darla sighed, "This is getting to be far too complicated. This Warlock and now Watchers, the Warlock we can kill but what about the Watchers Council?"



Giles looked at Darla and sat , taking his glasses off and giving them a good polishing. "I have no idea, when it comes to the safety of Buffy and Faith, I guess we do what we must. I don't like the thought of killing any of them but it may come to that. Buffy herself can't be allowed to take a life , I assume you know that"



Darla nodded "You know that Buffy has become a part of the clan, any one of us would defend her life with ours. It is unheard of, to think that before this I could not understand why Angel and even Spike were so enamered with the girl. I understand it now. She really is something special. No other Slayer has ever had what she has, and I can't put my finger on it"



"I know what you mean" Giles said smiling.



Spike entered the bedroom and looked at Buffy as she slept. She was a vision. Her head tucked to her chest and her hair flowed out behind her. This was hard. He had said that he would leave her after this threat was over , but could he do it? If his head was to win, then yes he could. He would take the others and go. He shook his head, he could understand why Angel had left her now. His heart felt like a lead weight in his chest and the pain that he felt there was overwhelming. If he took notice of his heart then he would never leave her. His tears fell silently.



Angel knew the turmoil that Spike was going through. He had been there himself. This time though he knew that Spike leaving her would be a mistake. She needed him to be there. If he left she would die, either the next apocalypse would take her from this world or she would finally succeed in taking her own life. Would he be able to live with that knowledge, would Spike? He highly doubted it. Angel would have to take Spike to one side and tell him that no matter what, he was to stay by her side and take care of her.



Darla sat watching the clan. After the past few weeks, everyone had settled in and was now functioning like a family. Something that Darla hadn't had since the days of the Master. She remembered taking Angelus back to meet the Master and how arrogant the boy had been. She had been the Masters favoured childe and yet she had chosen Angelus over the Master.



Dawn had come downstairs and sat next to Darla, curling up in her arms and started crying.Darla pulled her into her embrace and stroked Dawns hair.



"What's wrong baby?"



"Buffy, will she die? I know it's all my fault"



"Hey now. It's not your fault, if anyone's to blame it's Angelus. We'll get her better and then everything will be back to normal, you'll see little one."



Dawn wiped her tears and nodded. "Thank you"



"Your just the cutest " Darla poked her nose and took her hand "Come, lets see if she's awake and up for a visit"



They knocked on the bedroom door and waited til they heard Spike yawn and open the door.



"Bit, Darla, come in"



Dawn walked over and looked at Buffy, who smiled and sat up then patted the bed "Things are going to be okay, better than okay in fact and back to normal."



"You mean that? No more trying to hurt yourself ? Will we all be staying here?"



"Yes, we'll stay here, if you want to that is and no , I won't hurt myself any more. I think I see now that I got more to live for, and there's no way I'm letting Angelus get the better of me"



Darla watched the younger girl smile , she had her sister back at last. She looked over to Spike, who watched the girls establish their bond again. He smirked at them as their sisterly banter became playful.



How could he have even considered leaving the girls. Buffy had just said that she wouldn't be leaving the clan, and he couldn't see himself leaving the family again. He had been abandoned by Darla and Angel had been kicked out once he had the soul. He and Dru did not a clan make. Now that he was back in the fold, he couldn't stand the thought of being without them. Darla could see his inner turmoil and knew that Angel would be encouraging him to stay, hopefully that would be enough . Buffy needed everyone and he was the most important thing in her life bar Dawn. If he left her she wouldn't make it.



Spike sat on the bed next to his Niblet. He took their hands and wiped away his tears.



"Can you forgive me for being weak and for everything that I let happen to you?"



"It wasn't you Spike, it was me, I was the weak one, I let Angelus get to me"



"Buffy, I'll do better, I won' let anyone hurt you again and I will be there with you no matter what"



"That's all I ever wanted "



Things within the everyday life at the mansion improved. Buffy smiled, laughed and trained as she had before the whole mess had begun. Darla acted very much like the Mum and seemed to love it. Dawn would often be found with Darla, listening to her tales of her life in the awful fifteen hundreds and from later years. Tactfully, Darla left out all the gruesome parts and even romantisized parts. Buffy would catch them and snigger when she heard stories that Angel had already told her.



Angel started to come out of himself more, feeling comforted by the constant company he had. He even got drunk and sung Barry Manilow one night, a night everyone wished to forget . Buffy doubted her hearing would ever recover from that . It took Dawn a few days to look at the ' hulk', which is what she niknamed him, again with a straight face.



Patrols were done in teams, Faith took Xander, Angel and Lawson, Buffy and Spike went out with Darla and Willow . Giles would stay with Dawn , Penn stood guard.



Once they came home from patrols everyone would swap stories and go over any real threats. Buffy had read all she could on this Raithe character, it seemed he was a force to be reckoned with in his day. Well, now Buffy was a force to be reckoned with. She had the family of vamps on her side and one wicked wicca. It was time she sort out Raithe and took the fight to him, and she wasn't going to die!



"Willow, I want you to get the Covern on the phone, I need to talk to them and see if you and the Covern can join with me and the vampires, bit like the Adam spell"



"Ooo good idea Buffy, did Giles think of that?"



"Um no, that was all me" Buffy smiled and turned with a spring in her step.



Spike came in and saw the smile on Buffys face. He swaggered to her side and swung her into his arms.



"You look better pet, well enough to keep an old vamp happy?" he winked and ran his tongue over his teeth



"Not right now, I'm formulating my plan to take down Raithe , but once that's done ,I'll meet you in our room"



Spike looked disappointed but kissed Buffy and slapped her ass playfully. "See you in a bit then" , he ran up the stairs two at a time and went into their room.



Penn woke up and wandered into the kitchen. He could hear the Slayer talking to Willow and listened .



"So Agthena said that they could do that, infuse you with the power of everyone. She said that there is a weapon of some description that you need to find, the Coverns seer saw it and she'll email us a sketch they got her to draw."



"Cool, nothing says it like weapons!"



Willow opened the email and downloaded the picture. It was of a scythe. It had a stake at one end and the blade at the other. It was magnificent.



"Does it say where I can find it?"



"It's here in Sunnydale, in a crypt, Agthena has a list of markings that will be above the crypts entrance" Willow hit the print button and waited while the illustrations printed off.



Buffy tapped her fingers on the kitchen surface, wanting to get upstairs and into the arms of her vampire. Willow watched as her fingers drummed the counter . Finally the printer rolled out the first page and Willow handed it to Buffy.



"That looks cool, could do some serious damage with it."



"I could try and do a location spell, see if that helps?"



"Good idea, I'll go and round up a few of the troops, let them know what's going on and take them with, be right back"



Buffy ran upstairs and knocked on Darla's door, she entered and saw Dawn playing chess with her. Buffy raised her brows and then addressed Darla. Darla agreed to stay and keep the family safe whilst she took Spike, Penn and Angel out to collect the scythe.



Willow had performed the spell and it had hi-lighted the tomb as being in the Restful Haven cemetery. That narrowed it down considerably , that graveyard was the smallest and oldest in Sunnydale. Come dusk, they would head out and get Buffy a shiny new toy.



Remembering her promise to Spike, Buffy made her excuses and went back to their room.



"You think they'll you know, reconnect?" Layton said to the room



Faith fell back on the couch with her pint of ice cream, taking a mouthful she nodded "If that's your polite way of saying is their gonna bump and grind themselves senseless then yeah you bet ya ass they are"



"Must you be so crude?" Giles muttered



Faith just shrugged "Just telling it the way it is "



Buffy opened the door and peered round it before entering. Spike sat up in bed reading a dusty old book, his face was full of concentration and she smiled, he glanced up from the book and put it down on the nightstand as she walked over to the bed. Buffy sat on top of the covers and looked at the book.



Spike pulled her into his embrace and nuzzled into her neck. His love for the girl shone in his eyes and Buffy felt her heart almost stop. Before they got into anything that would distract her from her new mission, Buffy moved back to the door, Spike leered at her throat before she spoke.



"We have a job to do, shouldn't take long. I need you with though, just in case"



Looking slightly let down but curious, Spike edged his way to the end of the bed, bringing the sheets with him .



"What's so important we have to go now ?"



"We've found a weapon that was meant for me and could possibly help fight Raithe"



Buffy rubbed at her tired eyes



"Shouldn't take too long to get, it's in a tomb in Restful,just got to find it though"



"Right, just give me a few ,yeah? Meet you downstairs "



Buffy smiled before turning and heading back down to the other team members.As the door shut ,Spike let out a groan and stood up, allowing the sheets to fall away . He made his way into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. Sexually charged and frustrated, he looked at his non existent reflection, wishing this would soon be over so that he and Buffy could get to some point of normality in their relationship.



Groaning again , he kicked himself mentally. What was normal about them. Looking back into the vacant mirror just proved his point. He splashed cool water onto his face and reached for the face towel before walking back into the bedroom. He threw the towel onto the bed and pulled his tee over his head. Once he had his jeans on he thought about the information they had collected already.



Not what you could call a deep thinker , yet something wasn't right. Hadn't they said that only the conjoined forces of the convern and Red would be enough to put Raithe down? If that was true, then what was all that crap about a weapon? Even more curious, Spike headed downstairs.



Just as expected, everyone was sat in the main room. Angel yawned and ran his hands through his already disheveled hair. Faith stood at his side , the others stood or sat about . Buffy smiled at him and then took his hand in hers. He smiled back down at her, but she missed it as she was already facing away from him and addressing everyone else.



"So, we'll go to the tomb and get the Scythe ,Penn and Angel, you stand guard while Spike and I go in and get it"



Angel and Penn nodded their agreement and all four made for the doors.Outside , they all walked towards Angels car. Once in, Angel put it in gear and they made their way to the cemetery that was on the other side of Sunnydale.



Arriving at the old cemetery, Angel and Penn scanned the area, sniffing at the air and happy to find no scent of any kind. Spike shook his head to clear the fuzziness that assaulted him. His stomach rebelled and he found himself retching up the blood that he had eaten earlier that evening.



Concern was pushed away with his 'I'll be okay, must have been a dodgy batch of blood'. Buffy frowned and Angel shrugged as their eyes met. Feeling a little better, Spike pulled Buffy into the cemetery and Penn followed him in, Angel coming in after him.



Buffy held out the sheet of paper with the markings on .



"This is the markings from the tomb, so see them, we got our target. "



The vamps nodded as they memorized the glyphs and continued the walk through, lead by the slayer. Spike walked slowly, head bent down, trying to concentrate on something other than the task at hand. The others unaware that something was wrong.



Inside his mind, Spike cowered from voices, so many voices, all calling out to him, all bleeding into one . He couldn't determine what they said, just that it hurt, god it hurt so bad. His hands came up to cover his ears in a bid to protect them from the din. One voice stood out though.



"Kill her! Kill her now! Bath in her blood, drink. "



"Are you alright Spike?"



A gentle hand squeezed his and drew him from the madness. His confusion shaken from him now, he looked up and put Buffy at ease , stating that he just needed to get this over with and get a good nights rest. He was happy when it wasn't long after that that they came across the tomb.



Angel and Penn both shouldered the strong door and once it gave way, fell in a heap on the floor. They stood and brushed off the dust and cobwebs that clung to their clothing and then looked around. They were expected which threw them, torches were lit adorning the walls that led down a narrow corridor. Grabbing one of the torches, Buffy looked at her three companions and then headed down into the depths. Penn and Angel stayed at the entrance as agreed, Spike followed his slayer into the tomb.



It took a while but they finally reached another door. Buffy looked back up the corridor and couldn't see the entrance . She glanced at Spike who just shrugged.



"Door number one it is then" Buffy shoulder barged the door and found it opened with ease. It opened into another chamber. There before her was a huge rock, jutting out of said rock , was the Scythe. Buffy handed the torch to Spike and made her way to the Scythe. It hummed, call to her, like it was hers, a part of her that she felt had been missing until now.



Behind her, Spike raised his hand to his temple and rubbed hard, fighting off the constant noise in his head. Buffy snatched the Scythe from the rock and turned to him.



"Look at what I just King Arthur'ed"



Spike smiled at his girl "Very nice Pet, can we get gone, this place gives me the creeps"



"You mean crypts and cemeteries give you a bad case of the wiggins? Pfftt yeah okay and I believe that?"



Frowning at the way Spike was itching to get out of there, Buffy lead the way back to Angel and Penn. Spike grinned inwardly, the voices dying away til just one was heard, the masculine voice of a Warlock.



Across town,Raithe knelt in front of a shrine, bones and blood ,feathers and hair entwined upon a photograph of his focus, Spike.



"That's it, listen to me and find release in her. Be all that you were, take her, feed on her, kill her"







A/N Sorry that I haven't updated in a while, please review and I'll get typing and get another chapter ready for you all ! =)