The Viking Hunter

Part 5

Buffy watched Spike from the corner of her eye. He seemed to be waiting for something, edgy almost. It suddenly occurred to her that he probably expected her to throw him out before he put the rest of them in danger. Not too long ago she would have too. Things change, she had changed. Life was short, no matter how many times you get resurrected, and good friends and allies are hard to come by. Spike was a Scooby now, mind you he would never admit it, but he was. She wouldn't let him go off on his own to be hunted down like some animal. He had proven his worth too many times in the past couple of years.

"Spike?"

"Yeah slayer?"

"Just wanted to let you know that I'm not going to throw your ass out or anything. Willow and Tara have offered their help with the magic, and I'm offering my help as well. If this Thor thinks he come to my town and mess with my friends, he's got another thing coming."

"So, you consider me a friend then do ya?"

"Um...well, oh hell! Yes Spike. I consider you a friend. But if you tell anyone I'll tie you up and torture you."

"Ooh, sounds like fun, I might have to take you up on that one. After we deal with this Thor wanker."

Just then there was a knock at the door of the shop. Buffy grabbed a stake and headed to answer it. She pulled the shade down a bit to peak out side.

"Willy? Why are you here?"

"Look, can you open the door? It's bad enough that I have to be here, I don't want anyone to see me. It's bad for business to be seen socializing with the slayer and friends."

"Fine, come in. Now why are you here?"

"Spike. I am here because of Spike. Here, take this so I can go already."

"Er, what is it mate? I ain't touching it until I know what it is."

"Oh for Gods sake. Didn't Angel call you? Why the hell am I even doing this if you didn't know?"

"Angel? What the hell does that wanker have to do with this?"

"Oh you mean besides calling and threatening me? Look, he told me I get to live with all four limbs attached if I provide you a steady supply of human blood from a reputable source. So, here it is. Can I go now?"

"Steady supply huh? So when can I expect you again?"

"Every other day. Here. preferably just after sunset."

"Ta mate. I'll be sure to let Angel know if you don't come through."

"Yeah, whatever. Slayer, a pleasure as always."

Willy hurried past Buffy and out the door. Spike picked up the Styrofoam cooler off the counter where it had been set. Inside were about 20 bags of human blood. He wondered when the watcher had called Angel, and what he had told him. The poof must have heard of this Thor bugger if he was suddenly concerned enough to make sure he was fed well enough to gain back his strength.

"Giles, did you call Angel?"

"Yes Buffy, while you and Spike were on patrol. I had a suspicion that it was Thor we were dealing with, Angel confirmed it."

"So that's why he's sending Spike 'Blood-O-Grams' hand delivered by our resident snitch?"

"It would appear so."

"Okay. Just wanted to know."

Willow had been searching the internet for any clues on this Thor guy, so far she hadn't found anything that had to do with vampires. She did find several sites having to do with gay porn, a costume store, and a history of the Norse culture. Deciding that she might find something there she book marked it to come back to and continued her search.

Giles and Dawn had no luck what so ever with the watcher diaries. There was very little mention of Thor in them at all. Apparently because he rarely killed his victim, and spent most of his free time hunting other vampires, the slayers and watchers left him alone.

Tara had given up the search through the diaries when Willow had offered magical help to Spike. She currently sat with several spell texts piled in front of her making notes on which ones she thought would be the most useful. She wondered where Xander and Anya were, they should have come by now. Then of course she realized that they were probably having sex and that was why they were late. She blushed at her thoughts and concentrated on the book in front of her.

Xander was trying to figure out the best way to get a message to the Scooby's. He needed to let them know he was alright. But was he alright? Now that he thought about it he wasn't so sure. He had managed to get Thor to call off his boys by whispering to him that he wanted to go home and be taken to bed. After a very rigorous session with his Sire, he was now relaxing in the very large tub in his private bathroom. How Spike could live in a crypt with no access to water, especially hot water, he'd never understand. If he had learned one thing about being undead, it was that a hot bath was almost equal to great sex.

Great sex, that was another thing that had surprised him. As a mortal he had never considered sex with a man. The whole idea squicked him. He wasn't opposed to homosexuality, it just wasn't for him. Now, it didn't bother him. Sure the first time he was nervous, scared even, but he wasn't disgusted. He assumed it was because Thor was his Sire and because of that he was bound to him. But that didn't explain the erotic dream he had about Spike. Nor did it explain the fact that while he was having sex with Thor a little while ago he was picturing Spike behind closed eyelids.

He really wanted to know why for all intents and purposes he was a soul-having freak of a vampire. Obviously it was not Thors doing or he would have mentioned it. Also he would not have worried about Xander possibly killing that servant girl. So how did this happen? It couldn't have been the Scooby's, they didn't even know he was missing. Besides, the sex would have broken the curse. So what the hell happened?

Frustrated, Xander climbed out of the bath and dried off. He slipped into a pair of chocolate brown silk pajamas and lounged on the sofa in front of the fire. He didn't want to be here, he wanted to see his friends, and he wanted to make sure that Spike was okay. He wanted to know if anyone had found Anya's body, if there was even a body to be found. In Sunnydale there was always something that would take care of a body no questions asked. He wanted to go home and surround himself with her things and cry. He couldn't do that here, he couldn't even let himself think about Anya for more than a minute, otherwise he would fall apart and he would never get away.

Back in the magic shop Willow had given up on her computer search. Even the Norse history had provided very little information. Thor was believed to be a Norse God, the fact that he was a vampire was no big surprise to her, many ancient cultures had worshiped demons and vampires as false Gods. She learned nothing more than the usual Viking God stuff. None of which pointed to him being a vampire. For all she knew they weren't even the same person. Maybe this Viking vampire just wanted a cool name, or maybe he was making a point by naming himself after a God. She closed her laptop and picked up a spell book. Maybe she would have more luck helping Tara find spells.

Buffy decided it was time to take Dawn home, she did after all have school the next day. So after saying goodbye and having a quick conversation with Giles she left. The witches decided to call it a night as well but promised to continue to search for spells to help Spike. Spike grabbed his coat and the cooler and was headed for the door when Giles stopped him.

"Spike?"

"Yeah mate?"

"Er, where are you staying tonight?"

"My crypt. Where else."

"Oh, uh do you think that's safe?"

"Probably not, but s'where I live innit?"

"Yes well, I was thinking that perhaps, just until we deal with this problem, that you might consider staying at my place again."

"Really? I suppose that would be safer wouldn't it?"

"Yes quite. Buffy would have offered but she is concerned about Dawn being too close to this."

"Alright then, grab yer stuff and let's go then. You look like you could use some sleep."

Spike and Giles left the shop and climbed into the watchers car. They didn't notice the vampire that was watching them. As they pulled away and headed back to the apartment complex they were followed by the same vampire, he took notice of where Giles lived and the fact that Spike had entered without an invitation and headed back to his master to report in.