The Birthday Present

A/N Sorry to lose you alwaysand especially so close to the end. Hope maybe you get curious enough to read the last few chapters when it goes up as complete. :)


Anyhoo - for those still with me here's the next chapter.

The fic has won the Best Work In Progress at the Running With Scissors Awards!


~*~*~*~

Chapter Thirty-Five

Giles paced the floor of his bedroom. It took seven paces to get from side to side or ten to get from front to the back. He would have known the diagonal measurement if the bed hadn’t been in the way.


It had been two days since Angel’s announcement regarding Spike, and Giles was a worried man. Something just didn’t add up. Angel seemed cheerful, which in itself was cause for alarm. Even before the program, Angel hadn’t been known for his smiley face. Up until Spike’s arrival, Giles hadn’t thought that Angel could exist without his broody demeanour. Yet today he’d heard him whistling as he’d jogged down the staircase. Whistling! Giles’ stomach churned. Something was going on and he had to find out what.


Giles took a deep breath and opened his door quietly and held his breath as he closed it. He shook his head and smiled to himself. Why was he creeping about? Angel was out for the whole day collecting a rescue from out of town. He realised that he was stooping and stood up straight before he walked along the corridor and up the stairs to the top floor.


His hand trembled as he reached out for the handle on the door at the end of the corridor. What would he find? He turned the handle and pushed the door open. Whatever he expected it wasn’t to see Spike sitting on a large bed, reading a book. The only indication of his captivity was the shackle on his left ankle.


Spike turned his head. Had he heard the door? He was almost certain that its loud squeak had permeated through the hood. He shuddered in anticipation of Angel’s presence. He knew better than to tug against his restraints – he’d learnt that lesson the hard way – but it was almost impossible not to. Spike held his breath as he strained to hear more. Just when he thought that he’d been mistaken in hearing the door open, he started violently as the door slammed shut loud enough to easily penetrate the muffling effect of the hood.


Giles stepped over the threshold and let the door slam shut behind him, hoping to provoke a reaction from Spike who so far hadn’t so much as glanced at him.


“Spike!” he called out when the blond vampire still ignored his presence.


Giles! Oh, God, it’s Giles. Help me. Please help me! Spike tried to speak but the huge ball gag secured in his mouth meant all that came out was a quiet gurgling sound. He writhed on the bed as much as his restraints allowed.


Giles took a step towards the bed before Spike slowly put down the book and looked at him. “Does Angel know that you’re here?” he asked softly.


Giles shook his head. “Um…no. I was worried about you and thought that I’d come and see how you are.”


Spike cocked his head on one side. “’M okay.” He moved his left leg, making the chain rattle. “Not to be trusted yet though. Don’t know what came over me, but Angel’s getting my head straight.”


Giles was at a loss for words. He was sure that Angel was up to no good, but Spike seemed relaxed and was well dressed with jeans and a black t-shirt. Hell, even his hair was clean.


Spike picked up his book and inclined his head to the door. “Do you mind? I’ve just got to a good bit.”


“What? Oh…um…yes, certainly…er…I’ll be off then,” stuttered Giles.


As he turned, his attention was taken by something on the floor in the centre of the room. He squinted at it and walked hesitantly to it. He glanced at the bed before he bent down, but Spike seemed engrossed in his hardback. His fingers touched it; he scowled and picked some of the substance up. He straightened up rapidly and stared at the figure on the bed. Spike’s hair was still the same botched up style that it had been when he had arrived. Giles examined what he held. It was hair. More importantly it was Spike’s hair. Of that he was certain. What the hell was going on?


Whatever Angel was playing at he must have a very sophisticated glamour in place. Giles walked closer to the bed with his hand extended and eyes closed. He concentrated hard.


There it is!


Giles could feel it – a faint but discernable energy field. He was right. A glamour. He pulled his hand back. He dare not go any further. Angel could have booby trapped the room. He stepped back. He was sure that Spike was on the bed and equally sure that he wasn’t quietly reading a book.


“I’ll see you later then,” said Giles as he backed up to the door, curious at how the glamour would react. It merely nodded.


No! Don’t leave me!


Spike wrenched his arms hard enough to bring tears to his eyes. It was hopeless. He’d never get away. He flopped back down. A step closer to mental collapse. The only thing that he’d been able to hold onto was the hope that the Watcher might find him.


Why didn’t he untie me? Why doesn’t he care? Is Angel right? Am I worthless?


Spike turned his head to the side and tried to hold back the tears. The leather hood felt even more uncomfortable when it got wet.


*~*~*~*


Giles almost fell down the stairs as he fled the Spike’s room. He needed to get to his books and find out how to deactivate the glamour before Angel got back.


Angel!


He needed magical help if he was going to be able to restrain Angel and find out what was going on with him. Was it just some twisted sire/child vampire thing that a human could never understand? Or was the vampire, that he had come to think of as a friend, as dangerous to others as he had implied that Spike was? His chip still worked, didn’t it? It must ... Surely.


Giles swallowed hard. This whole thing could be tricky. He’d never encountered a glamour that was interactive. Though, the more that he thought about it, the questions that he’d asked were predictable; the answers easily programmable.


He got to his destination – the study that he had created in a room on the first floor. He cast his eyes around the groaning shelves of books. Where were the volumes that he needed? He walked unerringly to the right spot and pulled out two heavy, leather bound books. Giles put them on the table before walking to a different shelf and selecting another tome from there. Satisfied that he had all that he needed, he sat at the table and went to work.


*~*~*~*


It was three hours before Giles stepped out of his study and once more made his way to the room on the top floor. His heart was racing. He needed to get the glamour down and hide Spike away somewhere. Before putting it all in place so that he could trap Angel within the room when he returned. Giles’ mouth was dry as he thought of the fact that Spike was chip free and very likely extremely angry at being held captive.


“Life was much simpler when I just helped the Slayer to kill vampires rather than rescue the bloody things,” muttered Giles as he got to the door.


He opened it and walked boldly inside. Once again he marvelled at the clarity of the glamour. He smiled when he saw that this Spike was still reading the novel. Giles was sure that the blond vampire should have finished it by now.


“Spike,” he said.


The figure on the bed put down the book and looked at him. “Does Angel know that you’re here?” he asked softly.


“Yes,” said Giles, wondering if the response would be different.


“’M okay,” said the glamour of Spike. He moved his left leg, making the chain rattle. “Not to be trusted yet though. Don’t know what came over me, but Angel’s getting my head straight.”


As Giles suspected, the reply was the same. He ignored it and went to work with the incantations to disarm the glamour and any magical traps laid waiting for him.


The real Spike was drifting in and out of sleep. He was so hungry. He hadn’t been fed since Angel had tied him to the bed. How long ago was that? He was dimly aware of someone talking but the words weren’t discernable and after his earlier disappointment, he preferred to ignore it altogether.


Giles stumbled over his words as the relaxed, book reading Spike disappeared and revealed a rather different version. Giles took a deep breath and managed to complete the ritual before staring in shock at Spike once more.


The vampire was naked and bound with his legs held wide open. The stains on the bed sheets made it very clear what had been happening here. Spike’s arms were shackled together and held above his head. Giles couldn’t suppress a shudder as he saw the black leather hood strapped tightly around the vampires’ face. So tightly that his high cheek bones were clearly defined through it. His body was covered with bruises and Giles didn’t want to think about what else had been thrust into Spike’s mouth apart from the ball gag to make his lips look so swollen and sore.


Spike groaned around the gag as he felt the bed dip as his visitor knelt on it. The only smell he could detect was that of the leather of the hood and the dried blood and snot that covered his nose. He tried to shift away. Whimpering as a hand touched his shoulder. He was so distressed that he didn’t register the fact that it was warm.


Giles paused when Spike recoiled. If he was so afraid, would he attack him as he freed him? He decided that it was a risk that he had to take but took the stake out of the concealed pocket in his jacket before he touched Spike again. He bent low to the vampire’s head and spoke clearly into his ear.


“It’s me, Giles. You’re safe, Spike. You’re safe.”


He was encouraged by the fact that Spike remained still. “I’m going to remove the gag, okay?”


Spike moved his head in what Giles took to be a nod and then he turned away from the Watcher to give him access to the straps.


Giles was as gentle as he could be but felt Spike wince as he had to pull the gag a little tighter before he could free the buckle. Bloodstained drool clung to the rubber ball as he pulled it free. Spike sucked in a deep breath that Giles knew he didn’t really need and then gingerly tried to lick his chapped lips, working his jaw to try to get rid of the cramps.


“I’m going to take the hood off now,” said Giles.


Spike shook as he felt Giles’ hands on the laces of the mask. The leather had moulded to his features and it didn’t move even when the laces were undone. Giles pulled it apart slowly. He could see Spike’s shaven scalp as he gently pushed the leather forwards. It stuck in places and Spike moaned quietly until, finally, it was off the vampire completely. Spike kept his eyes shut as he turned back towards Giles. The lashes were caked with matter and Giles wasn’t sure that they could open without being bathed first. There were abrasions on his cheek bones and a red mark surrounded his mouth where the ball gag had caused the opening for his mouth to press into Spike’s flesh.


“Don’t try to open your eyes, just yet,” said Giles. “I need to get some water.”


He was aware that the vampire’s head followed his movement even though the eyes remained closed. He found a sponge on the basin and he soaked it with warm water and carried it, dripping, back to the bed.


Spike’s mouth was moving when Giles sat down next to him but he wasn’t making any sound.


“Take it easy. Don’t try to speak.”


Spike licked his lips and tried again. “Thank you,” he managed to whisper.


Giles swallowed hard. How had he ever thought that this creature had been guilty of the violence that Angel had spoken of? He’d only ever seemed cowed since his arrival at the Hyperion. He sat on the left side of the bed and began to gently wipe the encrusted matter from the vampire’s eyes. He marvelled at Spike’s delicate features. Strange to think how strong this creature was despite its slight, almost feminine build.


He should have spoken to Buffy about Spike but Angel had been the one to call her about Spike’s arrival. Giles preferred not to speak to Buffy too often. He missed his Slayer so much that he felt awkward when they spoke. She seemed totally at ease with her transference from Slayer to Rescuer but Giles, although he deplored what the program did, longed for the old days. The program had put all demons on the back foot as it were and since the capture teams began their work, there hadn’t been even a minor apocalypse to avert.


Shaking his head, Giles returned his attention to Spike. Another couple of wipes and the eyes were clear.


“They should be all right to open now,” said Giles.


The eyelids fluttered and a pair of tortured bloodshot blue eyes met his. “You’re safe,” said Giles. He pushed the stake from the bed when Spike’s eyes fell on it and he began to shake.


“No. Don’t,” croaked Spike, watching the piece of wood fall out of sight.


“I’m sorry about that. It was just a precaution.”


“Use it.”


“What?” asked Giles incredulously.


Spike twisted his torso towards Giles. “Kill me. I-I can’t take any more. It’s too much.” The vampire’s voice broke and he began to sob in earnest.


Giles sat up straight and dithered over what to do. “Um.”


He dropped the sponge and moved to the shackles that held Spike’s wrists. Angel had been so confident that his glamour wouldn’t be seen through that Spike’s restraints weren’t padlocked. Breathing a sigh of relief, Giles freed Spike’s hands and suddenly found that he had a lapful of vampire.


“There, there,” he soothed, wincing at the cliché and stroked Spike’s thin back.


He tried to move so that he could remove the chains on Spike’s ankles but the vampire moaned and clung to him even tighter. Giles pushed against Spike’s arms. “Look, I need to get you free.”


Although his tone was merely firm and not harsh, Spike immediately cowered back away from him. “Sorry, bad. Bad of me.” His eyes were downcast and he shuffled as far away as he could.


Giles glanced at the stake on the floor. Should he use it? Would it be kinder?


“You weren’t bad, Spike. I just need to get you free and moved out of here.”


The vampire dared to look up at him. “Free,” he whispered.


Giles nodded. “Free.” He stood up and went to each of Spike’s ankles in turn and unlocked them.


Spike immediately drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. He rocked softly making the bed squeak. Giles cast an eye around the room but could see no clothes and so he pulled the bedcover around the vampire and encouraged him to get off the bed.


“Do you think that you can stand?” he asked.


“Dunno,” mumbled Spike but he swung his legs off the bed.


For a moment Spike seemed fascinated by his exposed genitals. He met the Watcher’s eye and stared balefully at him. Does he want to use me too? Should I offer?


Giles lurched towards Spike guessing the vampire’s thoughts. “Um…wrap the quilt around you. I’ll get you some clothes once you’re out of this room.”


Spike sniffed a couple of times and blinked back tears of relief. No need to offer. He pulled the quilt around his shoulders and got shakily to his feet. He was grateful for Giles’ arm supporting him as he walked unsteadily to the door. He felt dizzy from hunger and the fact that he’d been held on the bed for so long.


The pair slowly made their way along the corridor. Giles stopped them at the elevator. It was rarely used as although it worked it was so slow you could get to the floor that you required quicker if you took the stairs. He pulled open the metal gates and helped Spike inside. The vampire leant heavily against the wall and closed his eyes, only opening them again when the elevator jolted to a stop.


Giles supported Spike as they stepped out of the elevator. When Spike saw where he was he shook his head. “No, no more.” He turned to stare at Giles. “You said ‘free’.”


“Shh, now. It’s all right. I just need you to be safe from Angel. If I left you in one of the bedrooms he’d surely smell you as soon as he passed it.” As he looked around the old storeroom Giles could understand Spike’s fear. It did look rather like a cell. “You won’t be locked in.”


He felt the tension ease from Spike and they resumed their walk. He found Spike a place to sit on some old boxes and to his relief, a quick rummage in some more revealed some pants and a shirt that Spike could use for now. Giles noticed how Spike avoided eye contact as he took the offered clothing. He reminded Giles of a beaten dog.


“I’m going to bring you some blood. It doesn’t look like you’ve been fed in a while.”


A ghost of a smile played around Spike’s lips in response to Giles’ words. Giles walked swiftly to the elevator. He didn’t have to look back to know that the vampire’s eyes watched his every step. By the time that he’d gotten to the elevator, Spike was huddled up and rocking gently to and fro.


“I won’t be long,” said Giles before the elevator closed and took him out of sight.


True to his word, Giles was back within minutes accompanied by the smell of warm blood. Spike’s stomach growled and he vamped up without even realising it. He snatched the mug when Giles held it out and gulped the blood down with a few huge swallows.


“Don’t drink this one so quickly,” cautioned Giles passing Spike another mug.


“Sorry,” muttered Spike and did as he was told. Taking time to savour the warm blood.


Giles bent down so that his face was level with Spike’s. “I’ve brought more blood but it’s cold. I have to leave you for a while and see what can be done about Angel.”


Spike’s head snapped up. “Angel?” He glanced around the storeroom as if expecting to see the dark vampire. “Think he’s Angelus now.”


Spike’s last sentence was so quiet that Giles only barely heard it. “But he has a soul, he can’t be Angelus,” said Giles.


Spike’s blue eyes met his own and Giles felt that Spike could see his soul, his stare was so intense.


“Having a soul doesn’t mean that you can’t be evil,” whispered Spike.


Giles had to admit that what he said was undoubtedly true. Humans with souls were capable of extremely evil acts.


“They broke him, like they broke me – only different, I think.” Spike dropped his eyes to the mug that he still held. “But I’m evil too. Killed, I have.”


“That’s true of every vampire, Spike,” said Giles. “I don’t think that you’re a killer any more. You seem…er…a little too submissive.”


Giles was proud of the fact that he didn’t step back as Spike’s face reared up to his again, the yellow demon eyes showing a fire that Giles had thought extinguished.


“Killed McDonald before Angel found me,” snarled Spike. “Went after Warren too – the one who took my memories away.”


Giles maintained eye contact but swallowed hard. “Did-did you kill him?”


Spike gave a half smile – still too toothy for Giles’ liking. “Sort of. I sired him and then contacted The Initiative to have him captured. Figured it served him right.”


“What about me? Do you want to kill me? Why didn’t you kill Buffy when you escaped from there?”


The smile faded, to be replaced by as scowl as his features reverted to human. “No reason to. Not done anything bad to me, have you?” Why don’t I want to drain them dry? “I just want to be left alone. Not to hurt. Not to be afraid.”


Spike shuffled further back on the boxes, put the mug down and pulled his knees up to his chest. He dipped his head and closed his eyes.


“I want peace,” he whispered.


Giles said nothing. He could never admit it but could understand why Spike had sought revenge on his two principal tormentors. He wasn’t sure that he wouldn’t have felt the need to do the same.


“I have to go now, Spike,” he said. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Promise that you’ll stay here until I come for you.”


Spike didn’t look up but nodded his head slightly. Giles picked up one of the mugs.


“I’ll leave the other for you to use with the rest of the blood.”


He then walked up and began to concentrate on how to handle Angel when he returned.


*~*~*~*


“Hey, Giles! We’re back!” Angel’s voice rang out loud in the foyer of the Hyperion as he walked in with a skinny vampire who could have been no more than seventeen when he was turned.


Giles had been waiting in Angel’s office for several hours and his heart nearly leapt out of his chest when he heard him. He forced himself to walk casually out to greet them.


“I take it that everything went well?”


“Yeah, no problem at all. This is Sam, he was only a fledge when they caught him. Grade Three though, luckily.”


Sam looked at him anxiously, not understanding why being one of the lower grades was good. His speech had yet to be restored so he couldn’t ask why. He didn’t need to. Angel grinned when he saw Sam’s face and knew what the vamp was thinking. He slapped him on the back and said, “Grade Four would have meant that you were castrated – we stake Grade Fours now. Doesn’t seem fair to let them exist without their balls.”


Sam gaped at him and took a step back.


“Angel! Was that necessary?” snapped Giles. “It’s not like you to be so cruel.”


Angel’s eyes narrowed and Giles worried that he’d said too much, then the vampire shrugged. “Just telling it like it is.”

“Well, it was a little blunt,” said Giles, keeping his voice steady. “Shall we get him to the cage?”


With more space than Buffy, the Hyperion boasted three cages for newly rescued vampires to reside in whilst being assessed and having their speech and use of their hands returned.


“This way, Sam,” said Angel, resting a hand on the arm of the young vampire.


Giles followed them and went over the incantation in his head making sure that he had it word perfect. It wouldn’t give him long, but he hoped that it would be long enough.


Giles waited whilst Angel put Sam into one of the cages. They were watched curiously by the second cage’s occupant. A swarthy looking vampire of over two hundred years – he was going to be a failure. The creature just couldn’t help attacking any human that got close, despite maximum strength pain from the chip. Giles had been avoiding putting him down for days.


As Angel bolted the cage door behind Sam, Giles quickly recited the incantation. Angel roared and vamped up when he heard it but fell unconscious to the floor before he could get close to Giles.


“Thank God,” said Giles with a sigh.


He grabbed Angel’s arms and hauled him along the floor to the last cage. Walter, true to form, threw himself at the bars as Giles passed him and collapsed screaming as the chip fired. Giles was panting by the time he’d dragged the huge vampire in and securely locked the door. He added a little magic to the lock as an extra precaution.


Giles glanced at Walter, who was still writhing on the floor. He repeated the incantation that he’d used on Angel and when the vampire was still, he opened the door, pulled out his stake and dusted Walter. Giles coughed as the dust showered the area around him.


“Sorry that we couldn’t help you, Walter,” he said.


He stood up straight and stroked the dust from his clothes. A movement caught his eye and he cursed under his breath as he remembered the new inmate.


“It’s all right, Sam. You’ll be fine. Um…Walter wasn’t like you,” Giles tried to reassure the terrified fledge.


He followed Sam’s gaze to where Angel lay.


“Well…that’s different too. He’s…” Giles gave up. His words weren’t helping and he had no clue as to what to say about Angel.


“I’ll be back later.”


Giles rushed out of the room and went back down to Spike. He used the elevator as he didn’t want to startle him by arriving from a different direction. He walked out of the it and looked towards the crates that Spike had been sitting on. He wasn’t there.


“Spike?”


Giles raced to the boxes and stared about the storeroom.


“Spike!”


He spotted something on the wall. Words. Written in blood.


CAN’T STAY. SORRY.


Spike had gone.