Resolutions

Once more I must apologise for the delay in updating this story. I had thought my Muse had dozed off or maybe taken a vacation, but now I’m beginning to wonder whether he’s emigrated to Outer Mongolia. I think there are only a couple more chapters to go, but although I give you my word that I WILL complete this story (I hate it when a story I’m following is abandoned!) at the moment I can’t foresee when. As I’ve mentioned before, I always work with a completed chapter in hand, so just this once I’ve decided to upload chapter 15 in an attempt to get the Muse kick-started into working on chapter 16. Reviews might help too….

In this chapter I have taken shameless liberties with some dialogue from ‘Seeing Red’ written by Steven DeKnight.


Chapter 15


Xander was cursing impressively fluently about sneaky nerds and elusive vans and inaccurately depicted death stars, but Spike ignored him. His focus was wholly centred on the woman in his arms. With her face pressed against his chest, she’d taken a few somewhat shaky deep breaths and then an eerie calm had come over her. The fear and guilt and worry that had dominated the Bond all gradually faded into the background and were replaced by a steely determination. It helped Spike to quell his own negative emotions so he could focus more clearly on the urgent need to find Dawn.

The process fascinated him. Buffy was taking a break, the Slayer was now in the building.

“We’ll get her back.” His simple statement appeared to galvanise her.

Deliberately relaxing her tense shoulders she looked up into his eyes and gave a sharp decisive nod. “I know we will. Come on.” She turned on her heel and led the way into the dining room.

When Willow became aware of their approach she exclaimed. “Oh there you are, Buffy. This disc is full of data about all sorts of demon dimensions and lists of magical and precious artifacts that can be found in them. I’m sorry, but it doesn’t make much sense.”

Buffy stood at the end of the table with her arms folded across her chest. “On the contrary, Will. It makes all kinds of sense. The nerds have Dawn.” She ignored the horrified exclamations coming from Willow and Tara and demanded, “I need a location spell for Dawn now, please. I’m gonna get changed and then I’ll need to know where to go to get her back.”

She turned away to go upstairs but hesitated when Willow cried anxiously, “But Buffy! I can’t! Not without Althanea’s permission!”

The Slayer’s harsh response was to fling over her shoulder, “Then get permission. They’ve had her for two hours already, Will!”

While Willow frantically dialed Althanea’s number, Tara cleared the table to make way for a map of the town that Xander brought from its place in the drawer in the desk. Then as the two girls assembled the components for the spell, Spike donned his boots and tied the laces securely, tightened his belt a notch and retrieved the emerald sword from its place behind the coat rack.

Once he’d strapped himself into the baldrick he put on his duster and jumped up and down on the spot a couple of times to make sure everything was comfortably secure. After making a couple of practice draws of the shiny sword he went to sort through the contents of Buffy’s weapons chest, trying to decide what else to arm himself with. He hissed in annoyance when his hand came into painful contact with one of the many carved wooden crosses that Xander had fashioned for her.

Sensing Buffy’s presence behind him he gestured at the array of weaponry and asked, “What’s your pleasure, Slayer?”

He didn’t expect the hesitant response he received. “These guys… They’re human, Spike.”

In one fluid movement he stood and turned to face her. She had tied her hair back into a loose bun and changed out of her comfy sweats into her heavy duty leather jeans and jacket and chunky, steel toe-capped boots. “Chip’s not a problem any more, Slayer.” Seeing her expression his face fell and he added in frustration, “But that’s not what you meant, is it?”

From his place on the sofa, the ice-pack still clutched to his jaw, Xander couldn’t resist putting in, “Now see, that would have been my first thought… chipless Spike… going out to fight humans… not the most reassuring of scenarios.”

Spike clenched his jaw angrily and disregarding Xander’s sarcastic comment he addressed Buffy, “If you’re gonna tell me that just ‘cos they’re human, those wankers should be allowed to get away with whatever they’re doing to the Bit…”

Buffy waved her hand dismissively. “Oh no! That’s not what I meant at all! If they’ve harmed one hair on her head they deserve everything they’re gonna get.”

Spike was puzzled, “But then… If you’re not telling me…” Buffy stifled his question by pressing her fingertips against his lips.

“Spike, honey. In a couple days you’re going to be petitioning a Goddess. You’re going to be trying to convince Her that you’re worthy of Her Blessing. Something tells me that if you have fresh human kills on your record…”

Taking her point, Spike reluctantly conceded, “So, no killing then.”

“No biting either.” Buffy added warningly. “Animal blood only until after the rite, remember?”

By the time Giles arrived, Buffy and Spike were both fully armed, standing poised hand in hand in the foyer waiting impatiently for the result of the location spell, the front door standing open to enable their getaway to be as speedy as possible.

Already polishing his glasses as he entered, Giles flushed when he saw them. “Ah, Buffy. Anya told me… That is I understand you witnessed… Uh… I hadn’t intended… We had no idea…”

Out of the corner of his eye Spike noticed Xander scowling and slipping away into the kitchen as Buffy said, “Forget it, Giles.” Under her breath she added, “I only wish I could.” She gestured at the map on the table that currently had multi-coloured sparkles swirling over it as part of the spell. “We’ve got far more important things to worry about tonight.” Her voice went very hard as she explained, “The nerd trio have Dawn. As soon as we find out where they have her…”

That was when Giles slipped his glasses back on and took in the blonde couple’s battle readiness, including the hilt of Spike’s Emerald Sword protruding above his duster. He cleared his throat and hesitantly asked, “Do you think it’s wise to use the Emerald Sword against them, Spike? These boys may be a nuisance and also technically criminals, but they are human…”

“Watcher,” Spike began, “Nowadays there’s one driving force in my unlife. Protecting Dawn. This sword came to me specifically to use for that purpose, and that’s what it’s gonna be soddin’ used for, whatever or whoever I have to slice up to do my duty.” The: ‘So there, nyer’ was silent but clearly understood.

Giles hesitantly commented, “I’m surprised. I would have thought Buffy would be your first priority.”

“No. I want to make my Slayer happy and to do that I’ve promised to make protecting Dawn my main focus. That’s the way Buffy wants it, she’s made that crystal clear.” He smiled down at her when Buffy raised their joined hands and dropped a quick appreciative kiss on the back of his hand. “Buffy cares more about Dawn’s life and happiness than her own, and the Bit’s practically helpless. My Slayer’s more than capable of looking after herself… most of the time.”

Buffy gave a tight smile and nodded, “He knows me so well.”

Giles protested again, “You know you can’t kill them, Spike. They’re human and the Slayer doesn’t...”

Buffy broke in harshly. “So were the Knights of Hack’n’slash. You didn’t have any problem with me killing them when they were trying to go through us to kill Dawn.”

Giles sighed sadly as he recognised the uncomfortable truth.

Spike rolled his eyes and explained, “Don’t fret, Watcher. I promised the Slayer I wouldn’t kill the wankers.” He raised he free hand to caress the hilt of his sword fondly, pulled his expressive mouth into an evil toothy smile and added in a cold menacing tone, “’Course that doesn’t mean I can’t make them hurt so much they’d wish I would…”

Just then a feminine cry rang out from the dining room. “Buffy! We’ve got her!”

Hurriedly stepping forward, vampire and Slayer examined the map which now had a single pink shining spot denoting Dawn’s current position.

As the blonde couple dashed out to mount their motorbikes, Xander called from the doorway, “Be careful, Buffy. Warren's gone all Mighty Mouse. Emphasis on the might!”

As the bikes wheeled onto the street and accelerated away, Spike was the only person who heard the Slayer mutter darkly in response, “Good. Then I won't have to hold back.”

As they turned onto the block marked by the spell, Spike signalled Buffy to throttle back as his piercing gaze swept the street. It was an anonymous suburban street among many others just like it. Nothing appeared obviously out of place.

It wasn’t until they passed a house with a high hedge at one side that they spotted the shiny black van that had been at the root of so many of Buffy’s troubles earlier in the year. It was parked on a driveway at the far end of the block.

Spike automatically released the throttle to coast up to the vehicle, hoping to make a stealthy approach and take their prey by surprise. That was when it was brought noisily home to him that Buffy had other plans. The roar of her engine echoed around the street as she accelerated. Shaking his head in amusement at her impulsiveness, Spike sped up and followed.

They hadn’t got half way along the block when the van began to rock wildly and after a few seconds it’s engine revved and it screeched in a wide curve across the neat lawn of the front yard, ploughed through a flowerbed, narrowly missed a lamp post as it bounced down the kerb onto the road and accelerated away from them.

Howling in glee as he took up the chase, Spike soon drew level with Buffy and glanced aside to see if he could judge what she was planning.

It became immediately obvious that she wasn’t prepared to settle in for a protracted pursuit when she released the left handlebar, sat up slightly, swung the crossbow that was slung over her shoulder around from her back and took aim.

Spike now gave thanks for the ‘bike patrols’ they’d taken which had forced the Slayer to learn to throw stakes and fire her crossbow left-handed. The first few attempts she’d made to fight from the saddle had been hilarious (from his point of view) and frustrating and humiliating (from hers) when she’d persisted in trying to use her right hand as usual, only to find her bike sputtering to a halt when she released the throttle to grasp her weapon.

Two days of intensive training at the warehouse in wielding weapons left-handed had fixed the worst of that little problem. After all as he’d reasoned; she never knew when her right arm might be incapacitated so being ambidextrous with weapons could be regarded as an essential combat skill.

In the next second a crossbow bolt pierced the offside rear tyre of the van which caused it to swerve from side to side for a few yards before the driver was able to compensate for the punctured tyre and drive on, albeit at a considerably less reckless speed.

Grinning, Spike followed her example, readied his own weapon and took aim at the nearside tyre. Seconds later the van was slewed aslant the street as it skidded to a halt.

The two blondes brought their bikes to a standstill on opposite sides of the road, flipped them onto their stands and approached the immobilised van. Buffy headed for the driver’s door and Spike for the rear doors.

Before Spike had a chance to tear the doors off, they were flung open from inside and he was presented with a comic sight. Warren’s two confederates appeared to be wrestling over a piece of bone. When the smaller one whom he recognised as Jonathan, the idiot who had done the spell a couple of years before to make everyone think he was important, referred to it as his ‘magic bone’, Spike rolled his eyes impatiently, reached into the van, snatched it from him, dropped it to the road and stomped on it.

“Noooooo!” The young man wailed when a wash of blue light flashed from the broken bone as the magic dissipated, sending tingles down Spike’s spine.

Totally ignoring the vampire, the two idiots resumed their squabble, this time each attempting to blame the other for the bone’s destruction as they batted feebly at each other.

When they resorted to face slapping and hair pulling, Spike lost patience altogether and cleared his throat loudly. “While I’m reluctant to interrupt you girls when you’re having so much fun…” He lowered his voice to a threatening growl, “…Tell me what you’ve done with Dawn Summers.”

Abruptly they went very still and two very pale faces turned to regard him wide-eyed as they recalled his presence. As one they mutely leaned back, each to his own side of the van, allowing Spike to see between them to where Dawn lay on her side on the floor of the vehicle, her hands and feet bound with duct tape.

“You all right Bit? These clowns haven’t hurt you, have they?”

The teenager rolled her eyes, the silent ‘duh’ obvious as the length of tape stuck over her mouth prevented her from responding.

Spike had been aware of the customary ‘name calling and trading of insults’ opening stage of the fight between Buffy and Warren at the front of the van which quickly devolved into the initial trading of blows, but what he hadn’t anticipated was for the Slayer almost immediately to go flying past the end of the vehicle to land sprawled in a small ornamental hedge by the roadside.

While his attention was diverted by the sight, the two boys scrambled out of the van and scuttled away from him.

As soon as he saw Buffy safely flipping back to her feet he glanced at the boys and judged them to be no great threat. Taking a moment to slip a knife with a long slender blade from his boot, he leaned into the van and neatly slit the tape binding Dawn’s wrists behind her back.

Dropping the weapon beside her he whispered “Free yourself and stay in the van, okay, Bit?” He glanced around the interior of the vehicle which was packed with electronics and gesturing at the banks of controls and screens he slyly suggested, “Why not have a smashing time while you’re waiting for us to deal with these pillocks?”

He immediately turned back to check on his Slayer’s condition and was distressed to see her being given a thorough drubbing by the broad-shouldered geek. Off to one side the two lackeys watched the one-sided fight from their new position, crouched beside a car parked in the carport of the house they’d stopped beside.

“Kill her! Kill her!” The one who wasn’t Jonathan urged eagerly as he bounced up and down excitedly.

Buffy traded a few more blows with her opponent, but Spike could sense her tiring fast and decided to help.

He stalked forward as he drew his sword, making sure it made a suitably dramatic swishing sound as it emerged from its scabbard. “Need a hand, Slayer?” he asked casually.

Warren snorted disdainfully. “I’m not afraid of you, Spike. I analysed my readings and figured out what that chip of yours does. You can’t hurt me...”

“Sure about that, are you?” Spike challenged with a smirk.

Buffy glanced over at Spike and shrugged, “I’m doing fine, honey.” She wiped a smear of soil from her chin with the back of her hand. “Perhaps you could take care of those pathetic worms over there while I deal with this sad little boy.”

“As you wish, Slayer dearest.” He turned and swaggered towards the cowering pair while Warren reacted to Buffy’s taunt.

Enraged, he screamed, “You know who I am?”

Buffy shrugged carelessly. “You're a thief, a pervert, a kidnapper and a murderer. Where you went wrong was in kidnapping my sister. Nobody messes with my family and gets away wi…”

“That too. But more to the point…” He attacked with a volley of powerful blows, forcing her to stumble backwards several steps. “I'm the guy that beat you. And it's not the muscles, baby. It's the brains.”

As he monitored Buffy’s fight, Spike stood looming over the two smaller boys and wondered what he was supposed to do with them if he couldn’t kill them. Seeing the skinny blond one all but drooling as he craned his neck to look past Spike to watch his leader fighting the Slayer, he had an idea.

He lowered the point of his sword, tucked it under the boy’s chin and using just enough pressure to pierce the skin and cause a thin red line to mark his throat, tipped his head up until he was forced to meet his eyes. The boy reeked of fear, excitement and arousal in equal measures, which Spike used to find thrilling but now just made him feel slightly queasy.

Speaking in a low toneless voice, Spike maintained eye contact as he suggested, “This isn’t your fight, is it lad? You know the Slayer’s going to kick his arse and then come after you. Why don’t you just back off… back off… back off. This isn’t your fight… back off… back off…”

He couldn’t have been more surprised when his unpractised attempt at thrall worked immediately. Moving slowly as if in a trance his target stood up and shrugged out of his jacket. He fiddled with something at his belt and murmured dreamily, “This isn’t my fight, I’m just gonna back off…” and then with a great whoosh of hot gases he went shooting up into the air.

Of course he didn’t shoot very far up into the air as in the next second his head met the underside of the carport roof and he crashed to the ground unconscious, the jet-pack spitting and popping for a few moments as it died.

When he’d stopped gaping in shock at the astonishing sight, Spike noticed that Jonathan was gone. He spun around in time to witness the tiny boy screaming like a banshee and clinging to the Slayer’s back like a child having a piggy-back ride.

After a few moments Buffy shrugged him off to lie in a crumpled ball in the gutter but the distraction was sufficient to allow Warren to get close to her again and start raining heavy blows down on her head and shoulders.

Deciding to intervene whether Buffy liked it or not, Spike darted forward and swung his sword at the nerd’s neck, finding himself moving at the enhanced speed the sword gifted him with in combat.

At the last moment he remembered Buffy’s admonition, changed his mind and didn’t lop the psycho’s head off as was his initial impulse. Instead, flexing his wrists and using the very tip of the blade, he left twin slashes diagonally across his cheeks and then to add a touch of artistry neatly removed his earlobes.

As Spike stood back, time returned to normal and the street filled with the anguished screams of the astonished man as blood streamed down his face and neck.

The vampire’s mouth began to water at the enticing scent and he had to take a moment to concentrate upon controlling his hunger, forcing himself to take a step back to prevent himself from rushing forward to start feeding. The fresh hot rich crimson fluid flowing from the wounds he’d inflicted smelt irresistible when compared with the re-warmed dead animal blood he’d been subsisting on for the past week or more.

Buffy stood gaping at her vampire for a second then recovered and took advantage of the situation by neatly kicking Warren in the groin, which did nothing but cause the human to stop screaming and chuckle wildly as he mopped his face with his sleeve, “I don’t know what just happened here, but I’ve had just about enough of you…” He pulled his fist back to throw a roundhouse punch and sneered, “Say goodnight, bitch.”

As he started his swing, Buffy dived forward, tore something from his belt and rolled away, ramming it into the tarmac. He staggered back with a howl of pain as a flash of red light briefly illuminated his eyes and simultaneously shot out from the broken thing on the ground. Buffy got to her feet and faced him, panting heavily.

She glared at him for a moment then took a step back and aimed a spin kick at his chest as she sneered, “Goodnight, bitch.”

Warren flew back and hit the side of his van with a crash making a large dent in the exact centre of the Death Star, and slid to the road.

Seeing the young man was still conscious, Spike rested his sword blade on his shoulder, sauntered forwards and used his free hand to grasp the front of his jacket and lift him to his feet.

He vamped out and casually called over his shoulder, “Can I eat him now, Slayer?” He made a show of lapping at the blood that was still seeping from the cowering man’s ears, all the time struggling against his instinct to feed as he took care not to come into contact with it.

“Eeeew! Why would you want to eat him, Spike, honey? I’m sure he’d be all rancid. You’d be certain to get food poisoning.” Buffy limped up to them and wrapped her arm around Spike’s waist, cleverly disguising the fact that she was leaning on him quite heavily. She stretched up and whispered into his ear, “That day in the Bronze with the troll. You really did expect points for not feeding on bleeding disaster victims, didn’t you?”

He bent his head and whispered back, “Well… yeah. I’d like to see how you’d react when someone lays out a ten course banquet right in front of you and you realise that for the first time for over a year you can eat your fill with no pain.”

“I’m so sorry… I really had no idea… To make up for it…” She grinned wickedly up at her vampire with a mischievous twinkle in her eye and suggested out loud, “…why don’t you just hurt this idiot a little bit… more.”

Spike shrugged. “Okay, sweetheart, if that’s what you want.”

He released Warren’s jacket and balled his fist, aiming a solid uppercut at the man’s big angular nose.

Even as his head rocked back to make painful contact with the side of the van and his hands came up to cradle his broken nose, Warren’s eyes went wide. “But… but the chip…?”

Spike made a show of licking around his fangs. “The chip that stops me from hurting humans? You mean that chip?”

Warren gave a puzzled little nod.

Spike grinned and leaned forward to whisper menacingly directly in his ear, “Long gone.”

When the dark young man’s eyes widened in terror and he started edging away from him, Spike gently detached himself from Buffy’s arm and stalked forwards. He kept within Warren’s personal space, sucking on his fangs as he taunted menacingly, “Look, Slayer. I think he’s gonna run. Oh please run… I really love it when they run.”

When a warm acrid smell let Spike know that Warren’s bladder had let go, he stopped advancing, grimaced in distaste and exclaimed, “Well now, that’s just… disgusting. Quite spoiled my appetite.”

As he ripped his jacket off, the nerd cried out, “Get away from me!” Fumbling with something at his waist he turned to Buffy and in a menacing tone promised her, “I swear to God I'm gonna take you down. You piece of…” The rest of his threat was lost in the roar of his jet-pack as he flew off into the night.

Buffy gaped up after him, groaning in disbelief, “Oh, come on…”

As the noise of the nerd’s escape faded into the night, the wail of police sirens could be heard faintly in the distance.

From the side of the road where Jonathan had been watching came a plaintive cry, “Why didn’t I get one of those?”

From the carport where the other one was slumped wearily against the wheel of a car rubbing his sore head, came a desolate sob, “He left me. He flew away…”

“Is it safe to get out of this stinking van now?” Spike wheeled round and saw Dawn’s cheeky grin peeking around the rear door of the nerds’ vehicle, his face melting back into his human features at the welcome sight.

“Dawn…” The Slayer breathed and charged over to help Dawn out of the van. Ignoring her sister’s amused protests and batting hands, she frantically ran her hands over the teenager’s body checking for injuries. “Are you all right, Dawn? Did they hurt you? I’m so sorry it took us so long to rescue you….”

When she’d ascertained to her satisfaction that her sister was physically unharmed, the Slayer stepped back, her arms folded across her chest and one foot tapping impatiently as she demanded, “What on earth possessed you to get in a van with those pathetic idiots, Dawnie? Talk about getting into cars with strange men…”

Dawn mirrored Buffy’s stance and just as crossly declared, “I so didn’t. I got in the van with you!” She grimaced sheepishly as she added, “Of course it wasn’t until I was already inside and they’d grabbed me and tied my wrists that Jonathan’s glamour was broken and I figured out what was going on.” She sniggered, “You should have seen him in girls’ clothes… he looked so cute…”

She looked down at her shuffling feet and continued, “It wasn’t quite so funny when they got me into that house and Warren started telling me to make a portal. He knew which dimension he wanted me to take him to and even had these freaky orb thingies to give him superstrength in case he had to fight the demons he wanted to steal stuff from. When I said it didn’t work like that, that I could open portals but I wasn’t the one who closed them again, he got really mad. The three of them got into a nasty fight about what to do next and then they bundled me up again and got me back in the van. They were going to take me somewhere else where Andrew said it wouldn’t matter if the portal stayed open until they could figure out another way to close it.”

As they’d been talking the sound of police sirens had been getting steadily louder and at last the first flashing light came into view at the far end of the street. “Slayer….” Spike pointed out the impending interruption. “Need to get out of here….”

Dawn held out her hand to delay them as she reached behind her into the van for her backpack, which appeared fuller and much heavier than usual. “I’ve grabbed everything I could find about the dimensions they were looking at to show Giles and some gadgets I thought Willow might be interested in, but there’s evidence of loads of stuff they’ve done in there. They’ve kept notes on everything! The freezing thingy, the diamond robbery, the mind control gizmo, the bank robbery and all sorts of stuff I didn’t have time to get to…”

Buffy gestured decisively. “Spike, get Dawnie out of here. I’ll stay and talk to the cops and make sure those two…” She gestured imperiously to Jonathan and the other one who were warily keeping an eye on them as they cautiously sidled away down the street, but who stopped and meekly sat down on the kerb the moment Buffy pointed to them, “…are picked up for questioning.”

She checked around and hastily kicked out to break off the end of the crossbow bolt protruding from the flat tyre beside her, picked it up and put it in her pocket then unslung her crossbow, expertly dismantled it and went to tuck it into a pannier on her bike.

When both Spike and Dawn followed her and started to protest her instructions, she stamped her foot. “Go! Now! Quick, before the cops want to question you too! I think I can control this if I only have to think up a story to explain myself! I’ll see you at home in a little while.” When they still hesitated she pushed Spike towards his bike and practically growled in frustration, “Ooooh! Go!”

Spike and Dawn exchanged resigned shrugs and gave in. A few moments later Dawn was clinging to Spike’s waist as they roared off onto a side street just as three squad cars went racing past the intersection behind them to screech to a halt bracketing the black van.


****


They were ‘christening’ the new chesterfields with a full Scooby meeting. With pizza.

Spike’s eyes were jealously following every bite consumed and occasionally he licked his lips hungrily as the rich spicy smell of the pizza wafted his way and made his mouth water. Until the last week he hadn’t registered just how much human food he’d been consuming since the Claim had improved his sense of taste, and now he’d had to revert to a boring animal blood diet he really missed the wonderful variety of flavours and textures he’d become accustomed to.

“So you think the cops bought your story?”

“I guess they must have, Xander. ‘Cos Jonathan and Tucker’s brother are clinked and me…?” Buffy spread her arms to demonstrate her obvious presence. “Not so much.”

“It’s just a crying shame Warren isn’t in there with them.” Put in Dawn with a furious scowl, absently rubbing her wrist where the duct tape had chafed and left a red mark.

“It’s only a matter of time,” Xander suggested optimistically. “You'll find him, Buff. He won't be much good without his friends.”

“No, you’re right. He won’t. The trouble is, he knows Dawn’s the Key. She won’t be safe until he’s put away.”

Willow nodded knowingly. “And after last night he’ll be royally pissed off at you…”

“Yeah…”

Making an effort to change the subject to something less worrying, Xander asked, “So what’s on the Scooby agenda for this evening, Buffy?”

“Althanea’s going to be here shortly to give us the final lowdown for the Blessing. Spike’s got to go off on his meditation retreat thingy later tonight, haven’t you, honey?”

“Yeah. What fun.” Spike was feeling distinctly less than thrilled at the prospect of spending forty-eight hours in seclusion with no blood, no cigarettes, no booze, no TV, no music, no books and no Buffy. He was expecting to be climbing the walls from boredom within an hour, hence his flat ironic tone.

“She thought it would be easier to lay out the whole procedure for us all tonight so she’d only have to do it once.”

Xander shifted uneasily in his seat. “Are Giles and Anya going to be here?”

Buffy regarded him sympathetically. “Yeah. They’ll be here in a minute. I know it’s gonna be hard, Xan, but we’re gonna need you to put your feelings aside, at least until after the Blessing… that’s if you still want to be part of…”

The young man heaved a resigned sigh. “Yeah, I’m not gonna back out now…” He gestured at Spike and chuckled ruefully, “Gotta be there to support my only pool-playing drinking buddy.”

Spike blinked. Buddy? His astonishment faded into a tentative hope as he registered the young man’s apparent sincerity in what looked remarkably like the offer of a genuine olive branch. He’d need to be cautious, but perhaps it would be worth giving the pillock one last chance. At the least he might serve as a convenient sounding board when the monstrous regiment of women that swarmed through his life were being more than usually baffling.

Xander smirked briefly at Spike’s reaction then remembered the impending awkwardness and added to Buffy, “As long as you don’t expect me to speak to either of them…”

Trying not to smile, Buffy gently reassured him, “That’s okay, Xan. If you need to say something to one of them, one of us will pass on the message for you.”

When a few minutes later Buffy eased herself out of her seat and moved to answer a knock on the door, she found both Althanea and Giles waiting to come in.

Any potential embarrassment that might have cropped up at Giles’ arrival was smothered by the English Wiccan’s effusive enthusiasm for the unique rite she had devised and her instant domination of the room as she took control of the proceedings. She cheerfully started handing out the linen clothing that had been waiting in a neat pile on the side table in the dining room, each outfit neatly bagged and labelled with the intended wearer’s name.

That is, until Giles returned to the still open front door and started beckoning to someone outside. “Come on, Anya. We’re the last to arrive and as soon as we get settled Althanea can begin her explanation of what we’ll need to do for the Blessing.”

The vengeance demon’s subdued response was inaudible to anyone other than Giles who had gone back outside, and to Spike and Buffy’s enhanced hearing.

“I… I don’t know if I can go in there with them, Rupert. It’s strange, I feel very anxious suddenly and I don’t like it. We both know we weren’t doing anything wrong. It was none of their business that we were ready to start having sex, but even I can see that it would have been disconcerting to find out the way they did.”

“You know they can’t blame us for that, Anya my dear. We didn’t even realise that was what we wanted ourselves, until last night.”

“Yes I know, but now they know, Buffy’s going to be upset because she thinks you belong to her and Xander’s going to be upset because he still thinks I belong to him and Willow’s going to be upset because Xander’s upset and Tara’s going to be upset because Willow’s upset…” She concluded plaintively, “They’ll forgive you, you’re their father figure, but are you sure they don’t hate me? I’m a demon now and you know how they feel…”

Before the increasingly distraught demon had a chance to finish her speech, Buffy was on her way outside.

“Of course we don’t hate you, Anya.” The Slayer reassured her friend. “I know just how you’re feeling, ‘cos it was how I felt when you all found out about me and Spike. I was certain nobody would understand and that everyone would turn against me, that’s why I’d kept it a secret for so long. But look, once you all got used to the idea…”

“I really don’t think Xander’s used to you being with Spike yet, Buffy.”

“I think you might be surprised. I think he’s getting there at last.”

Anya commented perceptively, “Xander hates changes in the relationships around him. They make him feel very insecure.”

“So… you’ll understand that he’s feeling upset after seeing you and Giles… uh… together… the other night and he’ll take a while to get over the shock and adjust. The rest of us… we’re more surprised than upset so we won’t have to take such a leap to think of you and Giles as being a couple. You are, right? I mean that’s what this is? You’re a couple now?”

There was a short pause in the conversation Spike was overhearing then the voices of Anya and the Watcher joined together to confirm their new status.

“We’d really like it if you’d come in, Anya. We’re about to have the last big run-through of the preparations for Saturday night. I’ll just tell you what I told Xander. We’ll need you to put any awkwardness aside until after the Blessing so it runs smoothly… that is if you still want to take part…?”

“Of course I still want to take part!” The vengeance demon declared firmly as with Buffy and Giles she approached the front door. “Spike has helped me. He’s become my friend. This is what friends do for each other, isn’t it? They’re there for each other for important occasions such as this.”

As Buffy closed the front door behind them, Giles and Anya appeared in the living room doorway hand in hand. Everyone looked up curiously but before anyone could make a comment Buffy came up beside them and announced, “Okay, so just in case you hadn’t already got the memo, Giles and Anya are together… but now’s not the time to get into that. We should respect what’s left of their privacy and concentrate on the real reason we’re all here…” She gestured to Althanea to proceed and went to sit on the arm of the sofa next to where Spike was sitting scowling in disgust at the bag of clothing he was holding away from himself between thumb and forefinger as if it smelled particularly nasty. He had very rarely worn anything but basic black for two decades and the thought of having to don these pale hippyfied garments was truly repugnant to his sense of personal style.

Giles and Anya quickly found places to sit, taking care not to position themselves too close to Xander who was making a deliberate point of ignoring them, and were immediately presented with their own bags of clothes.

Finally Buffy received hers. She immediately opened it and investigated the single garment it contained. She stood up and held the long, sleeveless dress up in front of her, smoothed it against her body and peered down at herself dubiously. “Uh… Althanea… is this it? It looks kinda… unfinished.” She looked up hopefully at the English wiccan. “Shouldn’t there be some tucks or darts or something to add a bit of shape to its… shapelessness?”

“The sash is in the bag, Buffy.” At the Slayer’s incredulous look Althanea added, “I did warn you they would be simple garments…”

“But… but it’s a tube…” Buffy still couldn’t grasp the reality of what she was expected to wear. “If I didn’t know it was supposed to be a dress I’d have to go with… sack.”

Trying not to show her amusement at the fashion conscious Slayer’s horrified reaction, Althanea stepped forward and indicated, “We’ve cut it with a generous scoop neck… that’s so you won’t have any trouble slipping it on over your head… and look… there’s a couple of slits up the side seams to make it easier to walk… and the sash will bring it in at the waist.”

“But still… sack!” Buffy’s bottom lip was beginning to protrude childishly as she desperately pleaded, “Are you sure there isn’t another possible option? I’d consider any alternative at this point.”

Tara had a mischievous twinkle in her eye as she cheerfully told her friend, “Well, there is an alternative, Buffy…”

Glancing at Tara in momentary surprise, Althanea picked up on her protégé’s intension and continued quite seriously, “Oh yes. In fact it’s what my Goddess would prefer. We did seriously consider it but after much discussion we dismissed the option because…”

She didn’t get a chance to finish as Buffy hastily rolled up the despised linen shift, shoved it back in its bag and eagerly assured her, “Oh yes! The alternative! I’ll take the alternative!”

“But Buffy…!”

Willow’s anxious protest was quelled by a glance from her mentor who serenely took her place on a chair placed conveniently beside the desk where her notes were laid out. “In that case, Buffy…” She picked up her notebook and a pen. “…I’ll just make a note that you requested we should complete the ceremony skyclad.”

Buffy enthusiastically agreed, “Oh yes, that’s better. I like the sound of that, it sounds very romantic.”

When there were immediately knowing chuckles coming from everyone in the room except Xander who was looking just as puzzled as she was, Buffy nervously asked, “Giles, what’s skyclad?”

Not waiting for the flustered Watcher to finish polishing his glasses and collect himself sufficiently to reply, Dawn rolled her eyes and impatiently explained, “Buffeeeee! You just decided we should all stand around naked for the blessing. I don’t know about you, but I for one am not ready to…”

“Oh my God!” Buffy clapped her hands over her flaming cheeks, then turned and pointed accusingly to Tara. “You knew! When you said there was an alternative, you knew I’d jump at it!”

Tara grinned her lopsided grin and nodded. “I couldn’t resist. I just had to see the look on your face…”

After sending a mock glare at her unrepentant friend Buffy bent and retrieved the discarded dress commenting with assumed nonchalance, “Perhaps this won’t look too bad after all… maybe I can do something creative with the sash…”

With an amused twinkle lingering in his eye, Giles asked, “I was wondering why you asked us to meet here instead of the Magic Box as usual, Buffy?”

The Slayer scrunched up her nose. “Well... there were ick issues, Giles. I couldn’t face sitting at that table after seeing… that is… we eat off that table…”

Anya cheerfully reassured her, “Oh, it’s all right, Buffy. I cleaned the table thoroughly after Rupert and I had sex on it, the same way as I always did after Xander and I…”

“Aahn!” Xander groaned.

Lifting her nose in the air disdainfully, Anya ignored her former fiancé’s habitual protest and continued undaunted, “I am fully aware of the hygiene issues involved with spilled bodily fluids now that I’ve been human again, Buffy. I’ve always cleaned the places we had sex, the research table, behind the counter, the basement store room, the training room…”


Giles flushed, “Anya, my dear. I don’t really wish to be reminded…”


The demoness turned and grasped Giles’ arm and gently apologised, “I’m sorry, Rupert. You should tell me when I’m being inappropriate the way Xander always did. Except I didn’t like the way he did it.”


“You weren’t being inappropriate, my dear. I merely prefer not to be reminded that you were…”


Anya grinned delightedly. “Oh! You were jealous! That’s all right then.” She preened proudly and the satisfied smile remained upon her face and her fingers entwined possessively with Giles’ as Althanea began her explanation of the Blessing ritual.


*****


When they left the house for a quick patrol before making their way to the Buena Vista, Buffy paused half way down the front path, rolled her tense shoulders, took a deep breath and let it out slowly then in an ironic tone said, “Well… that wasn’t awkward at all, was it?”

Spike shrugged. “Can’t be helped, Slayer. Relationships can be difficult.”

“Oh I know! Believe me, that’s one lesson I’ve learned over and over. It’s just… poor Xander…”

“He’ll be okay, love. Won’t be long before he finds himself a new bird…” He sniggered, “Probably another demon, knowing him… and everything will settle down and go back to normal.”

Sliding her hand into his she led them off towards Shady Rest. “I know… but seeing them together every day… that’s gotta be hard.” After walking for a few minutes in a contemplative silence she nudged him with her shoulder and asked idly, “What’s in the bag?”

“Well see… while you were off in a huddle with the junior witches, The Lady cornered me and explained about this meditation I gotta do. Told me it had to be structured in three distinct parts, each centred on a separate part of my life… that is, my unlife… so I would need three objects to focus on in sequence as kinda reminders. The first object should represent my past for me to remember how it was when I was travelling with Angelus, Darla and Dru, and later with just Dru. I have to recognise how evil I was, accept it and consciously put it all behind me.”

Buffy nodded her understanding of the concept, then gestured for Spike to continue.

“The second third of the time I’ll be concentrating upon the ‘present’ and the way I’ve changed since my first encounter with a certain tiny blonde Slayer, her axe-wielding mum and her bratty little sister.” He smirked down at her and squeezed her hand fondly as he paused and pondered yet again the profound changes this extraordinary young woman had wrought in him.

“And the third part?”

“Yeah. That’s the future. That is, the Blessing and what effects having the soul stuffed up me will have and what I’m gonna do afterwards.” He assured her emphatically, “‘Cos I’m not about to start brooding and going around grovelling in gutters and eating rats.”

Buffy placed a hand over her heart and declared in mock horror, “Heaven forfend!” After a few moments she remembered her original question and prompted, “So that’s what’s in the bag then? Your three things?”

“Well, no. Just the one. See… I figured the best thing to represent the past would be the duster. I told you where I got it didn’t I? Couldn’t think of anything better to represent the evil life of ‘William the Bloody, slayer of Slayers’ than a trophy taken from the body of a Slayer.” He absently stroked the soft leather that had become his armour against the world.

Buffy shuddered and nodded, breathing a sad, “Yeah, Right.”

Sensing her unease Spike hurried on in an attempt to distract her. “Then to represent the present, I picked these photos…”

Buffy’s interest was piqued. “Photos? What photos?”

“Your mum let me have them shortly before…” He came to a halt under a street light and began rummaging through the inside pockets of his duster, eventually producing a tatty leather wallet. “Here, look. She was playing with her new digital camera one day and then she was kind enough to print a couple out for me seeing as I hadn’t got any recent shots of myself.” He slipped a couple of rather crumpled and dog-eared photographs out of the wallet and passed them to her.

“Oh! I remember this! Mom was trying to figure out how the timer delay thingy worked and got Dawn and me to pose for her. She kept running back and forth trying to get into the shot with us before the flash went off.” She looked up at him in puzzlement. “I don’t remember you being there that day though…”

He chuckled. “Was there a lot more often than you ever knew, love.” He pointed to the image of himself leaning casually in the kitchen doorway in the background behind a happily grinning Joyce, her arms around her two giggling daughters, his smug ‘I’m getting away with it’ smirk firmly in place. “I’d been in the kitchen having my usual hot chocolate when you came in, see. She had you set up facing front so you couldn’t see me.” He mused, “Dunno why you didn’t sense me though. What with me being a vampire and all.”

Smiling fondly up at him the Slayer murmured, “Oh, but I could. The thing is you were around so much I got used to feeling you all the time. It was kinda reassuring; all was right with the world and Spike was in his usual place, lurking under his tree. The only times I really took any notice was when I couldn’t feel you nearby.” She looked back at the photos. “So… you associate the changes you’ve gone through with us, huh?”

He grinned shyly. “Yeah. Seems I got me a soft spot for Summers women.”

Buffy chuckled as she handed the pictures back. “So what did you pick for the future?”

Tucking his precious mementos away, Spike earnestly insisted, “Don’t want you laughing…”

“Why would I laugh?”

Heaving a resigned sigh, he pulled a white object from the bag slung over his shoulder and thrust it at her. “It’s daft, but it’s kinda symbolic, yeah?”

Buffy turned the object around in her hands and bit her lip, struggling not to laugh. “When you’ve got your soul you’re going to run away and become a cowboy?”

“Oh ha bloody ha, Summers. Very witty.”

Relenting, she assured him, “I get it, Spike. I really do. I do remember you saying you’d turn your back on the whole evil thing for me and at the time I completely dismissed it. Now look at you. Your seriously gonna be switching teams and playing for the White Hats.” She smiled up at him, “I’m so proud of you.”

Not-so-secretly delighted, Spike cleared his throat self-consciously as he stuffed the ridiculous cowboy hat Xander had presented him with on his birthday back in his bag and gruffly muttered, “And so you bloody should be. ‘S’not every day a demon chooses to switch sides, I’ll have you know missy.”

As they resumed their walk Spike asked, “So what was your powwow with the lover-wiccas all about then?”

“Uh… They wanted to tell me they’re thinking of getting back together again. Tara said the magic is still there.” She rolled her eyes at the pun. “Now Willow’s facing her ‘issues’, controlling her impulses to use magic for everything and is learning to impose limitations upon herself, they’re gonna try again while they’re at the coven in England over the summer.”

Spike nodded knowingly. “Thought they would.”

“Really? I had hoped, but with the way Willow abused Tara’s trust… I think she’s far more forgiving than I would be.”

“Pickle’s a noble soul, sweetheart. A truly good person. A rare and precious thing in this day and age.”

“Yeah… Then Tara said she’d been feeling uncomfortable taking up the master bedroom on her own while we were squeezed into my old room, she thought you and I should have it. She suggested that when they came back, if they’ve managed to work things out and they’re still together they should get a place of their own, and if not that she would find a room in the dorms.”

“I hope you told her that if she was on her own she should come home to us?”

Buffy heaved a relieved sigh. “Oh I hoped you’d say that! I so totally didn’t want her moving out on her own!”

Spike shrugged. “She’s family. Family sticks together.” He smirked as he added, “’Sides, you wouldn’t want to lose the little homemaker who knows how to do all the domestic stuff you don’t, would you, Slayer?”

She batted him on the arm. “It’s not like that!...” At his disbelieving look she sheepishly admitted, “Well… perhaps it’s a little bit like that.” She anxiously added, “Since Willow moved out I’ve really got to know Tara. Before, she was more Willow’s girlfriend than my friend, ya know? I never really had much to do with her without Will being there too. But now…”

“Now you’ve recognised what a lovely person she is in her own right and you’ve come to value her friendship.”

“Yeah…”

“So… we gonna move into the master bedroom then?”

“Maybe. Perhaps we’ll see what happens over the summer while Tara’s gone. There’s no rush, we’ve got plenty of time to think about it.”

They walked on in silence for a few more minutes until they slowed to a gradual halt with sand crunching underfoot, the sound of the surf carrying to them on the cool breeze.

Buffy clutched at his arm and pressed herself into his side. She looked up warily. “There’s the hotel.”

“Is that what it is, Slayer? I wondered why it looked so… hotel-like.”

“Stop it! I’m being serious! In a few minutes our Bond is going to be blocked and we’re going to have forty-eight hours apart and then you’re going to be undergoing a ritual in front of a Goddess to win your soul! Excuse me for being a bit apprehensive!”

Spike wrapped his arms around her and she clutched at him, tucking her face into the curve of his neck. “Not gonna pretend I’m not a bit anxious about the process myself, Buffy. Thing is, the way I see it it’s just two days of the pain of being separated from you while I do the meditation thing followed by that ritual The Lady was good enough to work out specially for me. Then if all goes to plan I’ll be the Champion you and Dawn need and we can start on the rest of our lives together as we’re meant to be. Figure it’s worth it. Don’t you?”

The blonde head under his cheek nodded slightly. Buffy’s sulky pout was evident in her voice as she protested weakly, “Well, if you’re going to be all logical about it…”

After a few moments she lifted her face and asked, “So… you know how to meditate?”

He shrugged. “Yeah. Spent some time in India when the Beatles were into Transcendental Meditation with the Maharishi in the late sixties. It was fun. All those free spirited young things… nobody turning a hair when one or two would go missing.” He chuckled at the memory. “I could take my pick from the various highs on offer. Pot… LSD… or just clean living vegetarians with the purest cleanest blood…”

Scrunching up her nose in distaste at yet another reminder of Spike’s evil past, Buffy deliberately refrained from referring to it and asked, “What did Drusilla think of that? I can just imagine her complaining that all the people tasted of curry…”

“Dru didn’t come with me. She didn’t fancy India so she went off to find Darla and pay court to The Master.”

After a short silence rendered uncomfortable by the mention of Spike’s former love, Buffy hesitantly asked, “What’s it going to be like when you have your soul? How can we be sure you’ll still feel…”

“You think a soul is gonna stop me loving you, Buffy? Never happen. Poor old William would never have hoped to be able to win a woman like you so he’s bound to be just as besotted as me.”

“Should I call you William afterwards then?”

“Dunno, love. Let’s wait and see how I feel, yeah?” He ducked his head nervously as he commented, “Dunno if you’re gonna feel the same way about me. William was such an ineffectual little milksop… I dunno how much having him back is gonna affect me.”

She reached up and cupped his cheek fondly. “Whatever happens, we’ll work it out.” She gave a resigned little shrug. “We’re going to have a very long time to get used to it…”

Spike clasped her close, his mouth capturing hers in a passionate, slightly desperate kiss.

When they eventually broke apart so that Buffy could breathe, they stood quietly for a minute, foreheads touching as they gathered their courage for what was to come.

At last Buffy pulled away slightly, straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath. Smiling bravely she asked, "Ready, Randy?"

Appreciating her ploy to lighten the mood, Spike grinned and responded, "Ready Joan," and hand in hand they turned towards the hotel and the beach cottage where Althanea, Willow and Tara would be waiting for them.


TBC...