Breaking a Slayer

Breaking a Slayer: Chapter 32

Disclaimer: I don't own them.

Spoilers/Ships: This is AU. Buffy/Spike/Angel.

Distribution: Sure, just let me know.

Feedback: Is always nice.

Rating: NC-17.

Author's Note: Quotes are taken from BtVS ep "Graduation Day Part II."

*

Spike had had enough. He wasn't going to bloody stand here and listen to the Slayer cry herself sick. It was going to be dawn soon, for fuck's sake. He was going in there and putting a stop to this bloomin' nonsense. Now. She was his, in whatever way he could claim her, and no baggy-pants'd, waste-of-space, teenaged loser was gonna hurt her. Not if he could help it. He kicked the door in with one sharp strike and was inside before Buffy even looked up.

The Slayer looked like hell. "Gods, Pet, you look like hell!" he blurted out, before he could stop himself. Buffy looked up at him with bleary eyes. Her face was a pale, blotchy mess. "Have you eaten anything today, Buffy?" he asked with concern.

The Slayer'd been fattening up a bit with Angel cooing over her like a broody hen, but she'd not yet replaced the weight that she'd lost at the beginning of the summer. Spike didn't like the way her collarbones stuck out. *Looks like she could saw through a board with those things, she does,* he thought. *Don't want to deal with another emotion storm ala Slayer. We'll just focus on something else.*

"No," she sniffed. "That hospital food is awful. I can't stand it."

"Well, Ducks, we're home now. And you've been soaking in there long enough to turn into a bloomin' prune. Whatta ya say we go see if we can scare up some food for you downstairs?"

"Ok.

Spike helped her out of the tub, trying not to leer at her naked, dripping body and doing a piss poor job of it. Luckily, it seemed to lift her spirits a bit, as she punched him in the arm and grabbed the bath sheet from him. "Get out, Spike. I want to get dressed and you're no help looking at me like that."

"Oi, it's a perk, Pet. I have to put up with you and poncy Angel all soulful and sweet, least you can do is flash some tits my way every once in a while. Is that really so much to ask?"

Buffy actually giggled a bit at that, shooing him away with a half-smile. She dressed quickly in faded jeans and a t-shirt, not bothering with a bra or socks. She ran quick fingers through her hair and shook it, then opened the door and walked down to the kitchen, where muffled swearing of a particularly coarse nature could be heard.

*

Giles was enjoying a cup of tea when a peremptory knock sounded at his door. He opened it to find Angel looming there before him. "Angel, do come in. How is Buffy? Do they know when she's to be released from hospital?" he queried.

Angel stalked silently into the room looking broody and awkward. "She's out already. Signed out AMA. Spike took her home."

"Ah, well, she hates hospitals," Giles noted absently, moving to sit on his couch.

"I remember," Angel said, and Giles thought of the last time Angel had been in hospital with Buffy.

*

Giles strode in with Xander, Willow and Oz. "How is she?" he asked.

Angel looked at him broodingly. "She's fine. She's asleep."

Oz glanced at the vampire with a puzzled frown, "Well, you seem all right, too."

Angel looked down in shame and wrapped his arms around himself. "Yeah," he replied.

Xander knew something was up. He looked Angel up and down. "What happened?"

Willow added worriedly, "When we left her she was fine. Did Faith…"

Angel interrupted her, still not looking at any of them. "Faith's out of the picture. Buffy put her into a coma."

Xander took a deep breath and stared at Angel, already knowing what happened. "And?" he asked.

Angel was shaken and still unable to meet their eyes. "Buffy cured me…made me…" his voice trailed off in shame.

Giles said accusingly, "You fed off her." Every instinct within him demanded that he stake the undead creature in front of him for daring to harm his Slayer. Bad enough that she loved him and he hurt her so. Even worse that he continued to plague her very existence with his unnatural presence.

Angel looked up at him, took a deep, unnecessary breath, and nodded his head. "Yes." Inwardly he cringed from their contemptuous stares, unable to defend himself.

Giles stern asked, "How much?" Ripper rose in the back of his mind, demanding to be let out to punish this demon. Yes. Punish him for Jenny's death, punish him for daring to touch the girl who was his daughter in every way but flesh. Hurt him, break him, disperse him into dust for the pain and suffering that dogged his footsteps like an unholy shadow.

Xander swallowed hard and looked away. He wanted more than anything to scream, "You see, I told you so. I told you all but no, he's good, he's our friend." *He'll never be our friend!*

Angel was so ashamed he could barely speak. "She's gonna be fine."

Willow asked worriedly, "She won't be a vampire?"

Angel looked down at the floor again. "No…she didn't feed off me."

Xander shook his head. "Well, it's just good to know that when the chips are down and things look grim you'll feed off the girl who *loves* you to save your own *ass*!" he said hatefully. His voice, his face, his entire being screamed malice at the vampire standing before them.

Angel said nothing to defend himself. Willow and Oz just looked at him.

Giles spoke curtly. "You better go, Angel. We'll watch over her." He couldn't stand to look at the vampire for another moment.

Angel shook his head in negation. He had to wait for her, had to be sure she was all right. He still couldn't believe that she'd made such a sacrifice. That the Slayer had forced him to drink her own blood. He had to hold her, to thank her. He couldn't leave! "I don't want to…"

Giles interrupted him in a hard voice that brooked no opposition. "The sun will be up soon."

Angel hesitated, reluctant to leave, and glanced up at Giles. He searched his face for an ounce of compassion, of understanding and found none. He swallowed hard against the emotions storming within him and nodded, casting his eyes down. He half looked towards Buffy's room, then slowly walked away. He could hear them clearly as he walked down the hall. Hear the hatred in their voices for him and all that he had ever been to Buffy.

Xander shook his head. "Gosh, I'm really going to miss him when he leaves town."

Giles, in full agreement, decided not to voice it. "Let's go find out how Buffy's doing."

*

Giles looked at Angel searchingly. "You know, Angel, I understand now that when you fed on Buffy it wasn't your choice. She told me how you crawled away from her…how she had to strike you over and over to get the demon to feed. I…I don't blame you for that occurrence."

Angel glanced up at the Watcher, surprised at even that much empathy from the man he'd wronged so terribly in the past.

"The fact remains, though, that you allowed your childe to feed off of the woman you claim to love. Feed enough to threaten her life…again. What were you thinking, Angel? What possible reason could there be to risk Buffy's life in order to save an evil, soulless monster such as Spike? Can you give me one good reason, one argument to help me understand how you could allow this to happen?" Giles was so angry he couldn't contain himself and jumped to his feet, pacing in agitation around his living room.

Angel met his eyes. "Nothing I can say could possibly justify allowing Spike to drink Buffy and Mark her," he admitted.

"Mark her? God, no, you let that thing MARK MY SLAYER?!" Giles pulled to a stop in front of the dark vampire and glared down at him. "You unmitigated bastard. You worthless piece of refuse! I should stake you where you sit and then destroy that abomination that you call your childe!

"Perhaps that would be for the best," Angel admitted. "But what about Buffy?"

"You've tied an eighteen year old girl to you for the rest of her life and now she's been suborned by your unholy offspring as well, Angel. God, you should both burn alive for this. How can it be? Has anyone ever been Marked by two vampires at the same time? It's not in any of my books or references!" Giles began pacing agitatedly once more.

"I don't understand it myself, Rupert, but the fact remains, she's carrying both of our Marks now. I can fehem hem in her, and she can feel us. You saw…in the hospital room…we're linked together."

"Bloody marvelous. Some godforsaken triangle between the sire/childe bond and the bond between marked mates has entangled my Slayer. Has she…gods I don't even want to ask this…has she marked the two of you in return?"

"No. She's never tasted us, Rupert. I wouldn't allow that to happen. The results are too unpredictable with her being the Slayer."

"I bloody well hope so! Marking another vampire ate ate links your unlives together, correct?" Giles asked.

Angel nodded.

"What effect does the mark have upon a human?"

"Generally greater speed, stamina, strength, all the things that Buffy has naturally already as the Slayer. If the marks are reciprocal, longevity is increased by ten-fold."

"What?" Giles asked in surprise.

"It's true, it just rarely happens because most vampires are too rapacious to stop with a mark. They'd rather just turn their lovers. But if the marks are reciprocal but not fatal, the human lives at least ten times the normal life span of a mortal, sometimes even longer. There was one account of a priestess from Ireland, a Celt, who loved a druid who was turned. She wouldn't let him turn her, so they marked each other. She was still alive over a thousand years later."

"So if Buffy were to reciprocate with you and Spike…she would become virtually immortal herself?" Giles asked.

"The way I understand it, that's what would happen. But I don't know how the second mark would affect her. There's no way to tell. Since I wasn't conscious when her first Mark was given, I had no time to prepare her or even ask if she wanted it. She…" his voice trailed off.

"She forced it on you. I know," Giles sighed ruefully, contemplating the force of nature that was his Slayer. "Angel, I'm deeply concerned about Buffy. You've taken care of her whilst we've been gone, and for that I'm truly grateful. But even you must see that the life she's leading with you isn't one. She lives in the dark, she's developing a strong phobia about humans. There's no doubt that this isn’t good for her. Marking aside, this has to stop. At the very least, you need to give her space to reintegrate herself into her friend's lives once they get back."

Angel looked at the Watcher in concern. "You want me to leave her? Again? But she needs us…needs me…"

Giles cut him off. "Not forever, Angel. But you need to leave for long enough that she doesn't use you as a crutch to keep from having to deal with the real world. She's too fragile to survive this way. She must come back to the human life that she is meant to lead. I must insist upon it."

"Now, Willow and Tara have returned from abroad and I expect Xander any day now."

Angel interrupted Giles this time. "Xander is back."

"Oh?" Giles asked. I was unaware that he had returned. Wait, he hasn't been to hospital to see Buffy, nor here to speak to me. Where did you see him?"

"We, um, had a run-in with him at the cemetery early this morning. He…um…he found us in a somewhat…ah…compromising position," Angel choked out. If he could, he'd be blushing right now, he knew.

"You and Buffy? Well, that's awkward but hardly all that unexpected. He'd patrolled with you two before" Giles said.

"No. Not Buffy and me. Buffy and Spike…and me…." Angel's hooded eyes looked anywhere but at the Watcher.

"The *three* of you were cavorting in a cemetery? The very night that Buffy got out of hospital? Really Angel, do you have the sense God gave a stoat? Buffy is a teenager and as such I expect her to be ruled by her hormones at times, but you're over two centuries old, can't you keep the bloody thing in your pants until you reach the privacy of your own home?" Giles sputtered.

"This simply confirms what I've been saying, Angel. You need to give Buffy some space. This is unhealthy for her and it must stop. Surely, you can see that?" Giles appealed to the vampire's love for the Slayer. "If you truly lovffy ffy as you say you do, then you will give her time to heal and encourage her to do it in the presence of her human friends. I'm not saying you should walk out of her life forever, but you must be less present for a time."

Angel nodded reluctantly. "I've got to go back to LA anyway to prepare for the next part of the ritual to fix my soul," he admitted. "I can't feed for a fortnight beforehand and I didn't want to be around Buffy during that time's t's too tempting to smell her, feel her heartbeat and not be able to taste her."

"Good, then it's decided," Giles said. "You and Spike will go to LA and Buffy will move in here. It's the best thing for all concerned. He winced at the thought of Buffy invading his small flat, but it was the best for her, and that was all that truly mattered.

"I have to get home before dawn comes," Angel said, looking at the false dawn glimmering in the sky.

"I need to speak with Buffy and determine what she wishes to tell Willow and Xander about the summer. Shall I come at, say 6 o'clock tonight?" Giles asked.

"Six is fine," Angel said. "We'll expect you."

To be continued.