New beginnings

Chapter 7


Spike realised he should have expected it. Every spell that had mucked up his unlife in the past few years had originated with the young redhead. “That was you, Red?” He chided her, “You should have let the Slayer know you were gonna do that bleedin’ spell, you know. We could have drawn the fight out and stalled Angelus so he wouldn’t have been able to start the Acathla ritual. Then she wouldn’t have needed to send the Poof to Hell.” Ignoring Willow’s indignant expression and the fact she was trying to speak, he finally voiced the question that he had been waiting for months for the opportunity to ask, and angrily continued, “And what made you think the Slayer was in Hell anyway? The Warrior of the people, a Champion of Light sacrificed her life to save the world. What would give you idea she’d have gone anywhere but to her reward in Heaven?”

Willow flinched and shrugged guiltily. “Glory opened the portal to her own Hell dimension. Where else would I think she’d gone? When Angel went to Hell through Acathla he came…”

Spike shook his head impatiently and broke in, “Glory’s ritual opened the gates between all dimensions, you daft bint. Even I learned that much from Rupert’s lectures. The Slayer could have gone to any one of them if she’d physically passed through. But she didn’t, did she? She didn’t go through the portal the same way Angelus did, she dived into the bloody energy and her body crashed to the ground. We buried…” He choked up at the painful memory and couldn’t continue. Buffy forgot her own distress for a moment and drew Spike’s head onto her shoulder and stroked his hair to comfort him.

Before the speechless redhead could think of a response to either of her challengers Dawn jumped up and cried out in distress, “Oh stop it! Stop it now! This is supposed to be a party for Buffy and Spike’s Mating. It should be like a wedding reception. The last things we should be talking about is that creep Angel, and Buffy dying! Can’t we forget all that stuff for now?” She pointed to her tearful sister. “Look, now Buffy’s all upset when she’s supposed to be celebrating.” She looked around at all the gloomy faces, urging them, “Oh come on… I know we’ve all looked at our packages from LA, but Buffy and Spike haven’t, and I don’t know about you lot, but I’m ready for dinner.” She squealed excitedly and did a little jig as she sing-songed, “Then I get to open a portal!”

Buffy perked up immediately. “Packages?” She asked brightly, mopping up her tears with the front of Spike’s t-shirt. “For me?” She looked hopefully around and demanded, “Bring on the packages…”

There was a ripple of slightly forced laughter at her deliberate change of mood, and Spike noticed out of the corner of his eye that Xander appeared very uneasy for some reason. He wondered why the young man seemed to be glancing guiltily between Buffy and Willow and making a not very subtle effort to blend into the woodwork.

Then Giles took his glasses off, pinched the bridge of his nose, took a deep breath and spoke. “Yes, well… I think there are a few things that will certainly need to be looked into concerning tonight’s revelations…” He put his glasses on again and regarded Anya and Willow thoughtfully, “…but you’re quite right, Dawn. We should probably leave them for another time.”

There was a flurry of movement as Tara and Willow went into the kitchen to put the finishing touches to dinner while Dawn produced two large soft packages. When Buffy and Spike got up and opened them they turned out to be the dress clothes that had been ruined during the demon battle in LA. Angel had evidently seen to getting them cleaned. Then Giles brought forward a very long thin parcel and handed it to Spike.

Cautiously unwrapping the plain brown wrapping paper Spike revealed a sword scabbard covered in matt black leather trimmed with silver inlay. There was also a set of black leather straps with silver buckles. Stunned, Spike sorted through them, concluding that this was intended as a backhanger baldric for the portal sword.

Giles explained, “It seems Angel had already ordered the scabbard for himself before everything that happened when we were there. He would have been able to wear the emerald sword on a belt, but decided that considering its size you would prefer the convenience of wearing it on your back.” He quickly and efficiently assembled the baldric and helped Spike into it, adjusting the buckles so that the contraption fit him perfectly.

Buffy then slipped the emerald sword from its hiding place under the couch and Spike began practising drawing and sheathing the blade, managing to dig only one hole in the plaster of the ceiling in the process. Dawn brought Spike’s leather duster for him to put on and it was discovered that it left little evidence that Spike was armed, only the emerald studded pommel was visible over his shoulder. Seeing Buffy’s appreciative smile as he brandished the shiny weapon Spike grinned happily and commented, “Well… this is just… neat!”

A few minutes later Tara emerged from the kitchen to announce dinner was ready and he took his duster off and set the sword on one side for later. As everyone drifted towards the dining room Willow scurried in with a fat manila envelope addressed to ‘William Knight’ and handed it to Spike. It was marked ‘private and confidential’ and Spike’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. He’d forgotten all about the name he’d adopted for the telephone call to Quentin Travers.

Buffy hung back to see what the surprise package contained, but Spike patted her on the bottom and urged her forward with the others. Obviously trying to peer over his shoulder at the writing on the envelope she absently protested, “I’m not really hungry…”

Spike raised his scarred eyebrow and asked, “You expect me to feed from you tonight to close the portal, Slayer?”

Buffy blinked in bewilderment and said, “Of course!”

He tilted his head to one side and prompted, “So…?” Then he extended his arm to usher her towards the dining room, waiting for her to realise that if she was going to lose more blood she would need to eat, and eat well.

Finally acknowledging his unspoken logic she sniffed and pouted, then stalked off into the dining room complaining to her smirking sister, “I so hate it when he’s right.”

Spike sat on the couch, slit the envelope open and tipped it to let the contents slide out onto the coffee table. The first thing that drew his notice was a hand-written note on a sheet of thick cream notepaper. In a very familiar script it read:

“William, while you are helping Buffy you’ll no doubt occasionally need to pass as human. The contents of this envelope should make that easier. The documents will pass as genuine, because they are genuine. All the relevant official records have been adjusted accordingly.
Don’t make me regret going to such lengths. I have not done this for you, I have done it for Buffy and Dawn. If you fail them you will experience pain such as even you cannot imagine. Count on it.”

At the foot of the page there was a single elegantly scrawled capital A.

Spike snorted and muttered, “Pompous git.” Upon turning his attention back to the table the first document he picked up was a British passport. Inwardly regretting the passing of the familiar classy blue hardback booklet he immediately turned to the photograph page and took a moment to admire his handsome features. As usual the passport photo didn’t do him justice, but he had to admit it was a lot better than some he’d had taken over the years, and he wondered where his grandsire had got it. Then he read his assumed personal details and began to swear quietly.

All his original human Christian names were included, making him ‘William George Frederick Arthur Knight’, and the date of birth given was the First of April 1976. While this gave him the approximate age he was when he was turned, he couldn’t believe the trick Angel had played on him by giving him April Fool’s Day as his birthday! As he impatiently shuffled through the rest of the items on the table he continued quietly muttering an impressive assortment of profanities under his breath. He found a California driving license, registration papers and insurance documents for his precious DeSoto, a Social Security card and a Green Card, which he absently noted was no longer green. All displayed his unwieldy human name and the joke birthdate.

A gentle hand ruffling his hair broke his concentration. Buffy swallowed her mouthful and asked, “What’s upset you?”

He gestured at the documents scattered over the table and explained, “The Souled Wonder has made me a real boy. Couldn’t resist taking a poke at me though, he’s used all my real names…” Holding up the passport for her to see he indignantly added, “…and look at the soddin’ birthday he’s lumbered me with!”

Buffy sniggered and with false sympathy crooned, “Oh my poor baby… did his granddaddy play a mean trick on him then?” She leant over and kissed the tip of his nose and continued more seriously, “I though we agreed we weren’t going to let him spoil things for us? Ignore him, he’s being childish. He’s just jealous.”

Spike gazed adoringly up at her smiling face. He hadn’t thought of it like that. He grinned, slipped an arm around her waist and squeezed, gloating, “Yeah… for once I got the girl!”

Buffy gestured towards the dining room. “Are you gonna join us?”

Spike shook his head. “Nah, you go ahead sweetheart.” He thought of the huge blueberry cheesecake he’d seen on the counter and added, “I’ll have some dessert when it’s time though.” He relaxed back into the corner of the couch, kicked off his boots, threw one leg up along the seat, and with the comfortable sensation of his Mate enjoying a good meal soothing him through the Bond he was soon dozing.

The cheerful voices from the dining room drifted into his consciousness and he learned that Giles had checked the mansion the night before and seen Drusilla’s ecstatic welcome for Angel when he arrived to take her to LA. She had been sufficiently rational to recognise him instantly and to be jubilant that she was finally going to be with her precious ‘daddy’. The Watcher described how Angel had been downright suspicious of an extremely nervous Nathan as the young Aurelian helped pack up Drusilla’s belongings, and had dismissed Giles’ assertion that he was trying to reform. He had repeated the familiar old warning about both Nathan and Spike, that they were not to be trusted and could only be trying to insinuate themselves into their good graces to work towards their own selfish goals.

Spike ruefully acknowledged that the acceptance and approval Angel had shown him in LA was less than sincere. Consequently he was delighted to hear the disparaging tone in which the Watcher spoke of the self-important souled vampire when he related the way Angel had sulkily asked why Buffy couldn’t have just staked Drusilla, instead of involving him. He had made a big production about how disappointed he was that she was shirking her duty in order to pander to Spike’s feelings.

Buffy indignantly protested, “Oh how typical! If I’d dusted her he’d be complaining that she was his responsibility and I should have called him to come and deal with her!”

Giles wearily agreed, “Quite so.”

Xander pointed out, “Of course Deadboy didn’t stake her either did he? I thought he was supposed to be ‘all about the mission guy’ now. He’s supposed to be fighting evil, killing vampires and demons. Drusilla’s a vampire isn’t she? If he was so unhappy with Buffy’s suggestion why couldn’t he have just dusted her himself?” He muttered, “I would have done it. After what I saw her do it would have been my pleasure.”

Spike was positively gleeful when the Englishman went on to comment, “As a matter of fact, seeing how Angel, Drusilla and Nathan interacted made me come to a very uncomfortable conclusion. I had to acknowledge that we’ve been doing Spike a grave disservice. Since we’ve known him we’ve always been comparing his behaviour with Angel’s. To be fair to him, if a comparison was called for we ought to have been comparing him with Angelus.”

When there were disbelieving murmurs around the dining table Giles asked, “How do you think Angelus would have reacted if the Initiative had captured him and they’d implanted a behaviour modification chip in his head, and then he’d escaped? Can any of you honestly suggest that he would have done as Spike did and come to us for help and to share his inside knowledge of the Initiative with us, and then gone on to adapt to his new situation and start to help us in the fight against evil? I personally have no doubt that he would have rounded up an army of minions and gone on a bloody rampage such as we have never seen until he’d found a way to free himself.”

There was an uncomfortable silence around the table for a few moments until Willow quietly commented, “Angel himself said that Spike has always been different from other vampires, that he didn’t shed all his human qualities when he was turned.” She sounded confused when she went on to say, “But Giles, when Jesse was turned you told us that although the vampire has the appearance and the memories of the human, it isn’t him, it’s the thing that killed him. You said nothing remained of the human he’d been.”

Dawn challenged this theory with a puzzled, “Then how do you explain Harmony? Apart from the whole drinking blood thing she’s exactly the same as a vampire as she always was.”

Tara ventured, “When we all lost our memories, Spike just accepted he was part of the group and helped us. With no memories shouldn’t he have been all ‘grr aargh’ and tried to kill us? He didn’t even know he was a vampire.”

Giles thoughtfully murmured, “I never thought of that. Without any human memories at all the demon should have taken control, and the instinctive bloodlust should have been all consuming.”

Buffy quietly put in, “Giles, remember when you were a fyarl demon? Even with the chip, if he’d wanted you dead Spike could have killed you instead of helping you… he didn’t.”

Xander reluctantly added, “I hate having to admit this, but when I was captured Drusilla intended Spike to kill me. He could have, nobody would have known it was him. Instead he chose to save my life.”

Buffy murmured, “Giles, remember what Spike told us about his mother? Why was he so upset? He must have expected her to be exactly the same or he wouldn’t have been so upset that he felt forced to do what he did. He didn’t fit the ‘it’s just the empty body inhabited by the demon’ theory way back then either.”

Spike felt uncomfortable at being discussed behind his back. He was accustomed to the Scoobies forgetting about vampire hearing, but surely both Giles and Buffy should have remembered? He supposed that Giles would assume he was asleep and wondered if Buffy could sense he was still awake enough to hear and understand everything that was being said. She gave no sign of it through the Bond however, and he mentally shrugged the question off. It wasn’t as if they weren’t discussing something he had always wondered about himself. He had always had at the back of his mind the thought that he seemed different from most other vampires. In the beginning he’d had to work hard at being evil enough to satisfy Angelus Darla and Drusilla. For over a century he’d been proud of the progress he’d made in suppressing his human impulses and the way he’d revelled in the inherently selfish sybaritic vampire lifestyle. Somehow the thought of that achievement now left him feeling slightly queasy.

He began to wonder how different his unlife would have been if he’d struggled instead to hang on to his human sensibilities. He rapidly came to the inevitable conclusion that any attempt to maintain his ‘William’ personality would have sentenced him to a dusty end at either Angelus’ or Darla’s hands within weeks of his turning. After a few moments consideration he decided that on the whole he wouldn’t have done anything differently. After all it had been the fact that he had wholeheartedly embraced his demonic nature that had ultimately led him to Sunnydale and his glorious golden Slayer.

Besides, eternal unlife as William wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun.

Nobody seemed to be able to come up with a solution to the conundrum that had been raised and there was another awkward pause in the conversation around the dinner table. It was eventually broken by Xander, who recounted a visit to Willy’s where he had learned that the Utariel demon Spike had had dealings with had turned up dead. He’d evidently been dead at least a week. Spike frowned drowsily at that revelation, and wondered how that affected the mystery surrounding the Initiative observation team, Riley Finn and the demon egg fiasco. He resolved to investigate further after the portal trial run.

In an obvious effort to lighten the mood and bring the conversation back to the original purpose for the gathering, Giles finally got around to asking Buffy if the Mating ritual had gone smoothly.

Spike grinned to himself as his Slayer was instantly transformed into BouncyBuffy as she began to babble excitedly. “Oh Giles, it was perfect… well except for the Angel visitage of course, ‘cos he came a day early and he was so not of the happy, and we gave him the key and told him to take Dru with him. Because of him we had to rush our Claim but even so it was really wonderful and there was this flash of golden light but we didn’t see it and there was this magic tingly thing that we didn’t get last time and the Bond just sort of snapped into place and it’s so much stronger now than it was before and when Spike vamps out my senses are enhanced too and how freaky is that? Oh and we met the hotel manager and he’s really sweet and he knew I’m the Slayer and he could tell that Spike is a vampire ‘cos of… you know… the no reflection thing and he knew we’d want a fight so he found us some demons to kill and he majorly cut our bill for getting rid of them ‘cos they’d been affecting business and we got to keep some really cool knives. Oh yes Giles you’re gonna wanna look the demons up ’cos they were sort of like giant toads crossed with porcupines and they had these nasty spines and they could shoot them out like spears and one went through Spike’s leg but it’s all healed now. They had lots of babies and they’d been eating humans and they lived in these gorgeous caves like a labrador in the dunes. Oh and you’re gonna be hearing from Old Perpalla, she’s a demon who works in the hotel kitchens, ‘cos she knows of other Slayers who got Mated to vampires and one of them lived to be a hundred and then her vampire turned her and she kept her soul which it seems all Slayers do when they’re turned and why didn’t you tell me that, Giles? And she said the Council supported the Slayer all through the Mating and the turning and why aren’t they so supportive now? ‘Cos that’s so not fair. And what did Old Perpalla mean when she talked about the ‘Slayer demon’? Is there something I should know about myself? Oh and Spike says he’s gonna teach me to ride a motorcycle.”

While everyone else was left spluttering and speechless by that torrent of information, Anya cheerily asked, “Did you have many wonderful orgasms, Buffy? I expect that after the ritual…” Spike’s smug grin faded and he tsked softly in sympathetic frustration as the former demon was interrupted by a horrified Xander who, as usual, tried to prevent his ex-fiancée from expressing herself.

Giving off a pulse of irritation at Xander’s patronising attitude, Buffy deliberately spoke up over his protests and gaily replied, “Oh yes, Anya. Thank you for asking. We both had many, many mind-blowing orgasms.” She playfully added, “I lost count at about nineteen. I got a bit confused with all the multiples. You were quite right the other night, you know. The Bond makes sex ten times better!”

This pronouncement was greeted with feminine giggles, the last in a constant series of quiet “Oh dear Lord’s” from Giles, Xander’s wryly mocking voice murmuring, “No wonder the bleached wonder’s fallen asleep!” and Dawn’s shrill cry of mock horror, “TMI! TMI! Impressionable teenage ears here!”

Spike sent a sleepy wave of amused admiration through the Bond for Buffy’s generous acceptance of the ex-demon and her quirks, and her mischievous quashing of Xander’s customary attempt at controlling her. He just wished he was in a position to see everyone’s expressions and wondered if Giles had finally fainted from embarrassment.

When the following chat devolved into general smalltalk Spike stopped listening and allowed himself to sink down into sleep. He only stirred when Buffy came to settle beside him.

Not quite awake and with his eyes still closed he wrapped his arms around her waist and tugged her into his lap, snuffling into her hair. Catching the scent of sweet cheesecake and tangy fruit over her own heady musk he automatically opened his mouth to receive the forkful of dessert she helped him to. As the flavours mingled and teased his newly awakened taste buds he hummed with pleasure. After the third mouthful, forgetting they weren’t alone, he wriggled slightly to settle her more comfortably against his erection. Then as he accepted the next mouthful he absently slipped a hand up under her shirt to caress the silky smooth warm skin of her stomach, and a deep rumbling purr of pure contentment filled the room. Buffy chuckled softly, ran her fingers through his hair and kissed his forehead murmuring, “There’s my beautiful ferocious kitty.”

His peaceful reverie was broken when he heard a snort of laughter from Xander and Tara’s whispered, “Aww, that’s so cute!”

His eyes shot open and he discovered he was the focus of amused attention of the entire Scooby gang, including Giles. Compulsively clearing his throat in embarrassment he struggled into an upright sitting position and glared around, self-consciously muttering, “Bloody Hell! Stop gawking will you? Not a soddin’ sideshow freak you know!”

He noticed that Buffy was biting her lip in an attempt not to laugh and he was reluctantly forced to admit that if the situation had been reversed he would have been the first to poke fun. With a resigned smile he relaxed again, keeping her cuddled close.

Twinkling eyes were turned away and more or less insincere apologies were murmured, but he knew that yet another factor that had made him the Big Bad had just melted away. He doubted if these people would ever truly fear him again. While in one respect the thought was deeply satisfying, in another it was truly disturbing. When did he turn into such a miserable excuse for a vampire that the acceptance of a bunch of humans had become so important to him? Had there been one specific moment when a single decision had sent him off at a tangent from his destined course and landed him up here? Or was it a random sequence of events that had accumulated and finally blown up in his face?

He remembered some words of Buffy’s… “Can't be a human, can't be a vampire. Where the hell do you fit in?” Yes, that was him all right, stuck in no-man’s land, belonging nowhere. Except that now he did. He belonged with his Slayer and his Li’l Bit. Was that really enough though? Was he just the Slayer’s tame housevamp or did his existence have a real purpose? He supposed he’d find out sooner or later.

The next hour or so passed with Giles carefully going over the plan for the portal test. He made sure that everyone knew exactly what they were supposed to be doing and when, and rehearsed Dawn over and over again with the blood-letting ritual intended to open a small portal into an innocuous dimension that Anya had suggested as a perfect destination for Spike’s first jump. There was supposedly a clear atmosphere, sufficient vegetation to support suitable wildlife in case he needed to stay long enough to hunt wild animals to feed from, and as far as she knew it wasn’t inhabited by any dangerous demons.

Finally Giles produced two backpacks he had prepared. He handed one to Spike, explaining that it contained a few bloodbags in case he had to spend any length of time in the other dimension and was unable to hunt, a bottle of water and a first aid kit in case he needed to tend injuries, and a small flask of Tara’s healing potion for emergencies.

Taken by surprise, Spike gazed at him in awe as he took the bag. He hesitantly asked, “You did this for me?”

Giles absently said, “Yes, of course.” Then he looked up from the other bag and took in Spike’s expression. He patiently explained, “You’re part of the team now, Spike. We look after each other.”

Unaccustomed to such consideration Spike gaped at him for a few moments then cleared his throat, took a deep steadying breath and gruffly commented, “Think it’s gonna take a while to get used to that.”

Giles smiled indulgently and turned to hand the second bag to Buffy. He told her it contained food and drink, as she might have just eaten but she would still need to refuel immediately after Spike had fed from her to close the portal.

As last minute preparations were made and weapons sorted out, Willow tried to persuade Giles she should be allowed to accompany them as an observer. She plaintively cried, “Why can’t I come with you? I just want to help! I know I can control the magic, why won’t you let me help?”

He shook his head in disapproval and firmly told her, “No Willow. You know what happened in LA when you tried on the bracelet. Very strong forces are going to be at work tonight, we can’t risk your presence inadvertently destabilising the process. I’m afraid you are going to have to stay well away.” He regarded her thoughtfully and added, “As a matter of fact I’ve been considering asking someone with experience of strong magics if they could help you with your control issues. Don’t you realise that just refraining from using spells isn’t going to be a permanent solution to your problem? The power is part of you, it’s never going to go away. The temptation to use it is always going to be there.” He patted her reassuringly on the shoulder. “We’ll discuss it later, my dear. Please think about it, nobody will be able to help you unless you are willing to be helped.”

The redhead flopped sulkily onto the couch. Anya approached her and suggested, “I’m not going with them either, Willow. I’ve got more sense than to get that close to a portal unless I have to, they’re dangerous. Shall we stay here and worry together?” She brightly suggested, “We could watch movies and eat ice-cream.”

Willow heaved a resigned sigh and gave the blonde a wobbly smile. “Thanks Anya, that would be good.” She looked up anxiously when Tara came into the room with her coat on. The blonde witch was juggling a notebook and a sheaf of papers and pencils, stowing them away in her pockets to make it easier to attach to her belt the sheathed kukri Xander had just handed her.

Spike left the room as Willow was urging her lover to take special care not to get caught up in the green portal energy, and trotted upstairs to change into older black jeans and t-shirt in preparation for a potential fight. He slipped his new blood red button down shirt back on over the top then checked he had a packet of mints and his faithful old lighter in his jeans pocket. He considered his meagre selection of Goth jewellery for a few moments. He hadn’t been wearing much for the past few weeks, but now he decided to compliment his new ring with a silver neck chain and a couple more rings. He smirked as he slipped a chunky thumb ring on, he knew Buffy appreciated the stimulating effect it could have upon her. Grabbing a little gift-wrapped package from the drawer in his nightstand he headed for the stairs again.

When he reached the dining room he found that the table had been cleared from dinner, and now Buffy’s portal necklace and Dawn’s bracelet were laid out ready for use. Dawn was sitting hunched by her bracelet, repeatedly prodding it gently with one slightly shaky forefinger as she nervously chewed her bottom lip.

He perched on the chair beside her and placed the little package on the table in front of her, quietly saying, “Hey Li’l Bit, here’s just a little something to mark the occasion.”

Dawn squealed, “Ooh, prezzie!” and pounced. As she tore the paper off she complained, “You know, I’m not such a little bit any more, Spike. I’m taller than Buffy now!”

Chuckling, Spike stroked her hair and assured her, “You’ll always be my Li’l Bit, pet, even when you’re a grey haired old granny and we scandalise the neighbours when I come to visit ‘cos they think I’m your sexy young toyboy!”

Dawn sniggered and batted at his arm, murmuring affectionately, “Idiot vampire!” She tossed the last piece of shiny wrapping paper over her shoulder to reveal a jeweller’s box, and opened it. Her mouth dropped open and then she squealed again, only louder.

Spike hunched his shoulders slightly and winced in pain, then shook his head to clear the ringing in his ears. Playfully he complained, “Oy! Easy with the ultrasonic shrieking there, Niblet! Sensitive vampire ears here, you know!”

Dawn wasn’t listening. She carefully took out the intricate little golden key pendant dangling from a fine gold chain and turned her back to her friend, holding out the ends of the chain and ordering him to, “Put it on me!” When Spike took it from her she held up her hair so he could fasten the clasp, allowing the key to drop down and hang just below her collarbone. She turned back, gave Spike a quick hug and kissed him on the cheek and breathed, “Thank you! It’s beautiful!” Then she jumped up muttering, “Mirror, gotta find a mirror…”

When Dawn got to the foot of the stairs she bumped into Buffy who had been watching them from the hall. Dawn let out another shrill squeak and cried, “Look Buffy! Look what Spike just gave me! Isn’t it just perfect!”

Buffy dutifully admired the necklace, sharing an understanding nod and smile with Spike over Dawn’s shoulder. The teenager had completely forgotten her nerves in her excitement over the gift. She said, “It’s lovely Dawnie.” She grabbed her sister’s arm as she was about to dash upstairs and brought her back to a standstill. “Um…” She held up a lumpy gift-wrapped object. “Great minds?”

Dawn squealed yet again, causing Spike and Buffy to exchange amused winces. The wrapping paper was rapidly shredded to show some very fancy leatherwork. It was a narrow belt of plaited black leather interwoven with complex Native American turquoise beadwork. It had an elegant silver buckle, and suspended from it was a matching sheath containing a small knife with a plain black handle. As a delighted Dawn threaded the belt through the loops on her jeans Buffy explained, “The knife’s for you to use for the portal ritual, Dawnie. It’s razor sharp so be very careful when you handle it. Tara has put a blessing on the blade to help prevent infection. Even so, you must remember to wash it carefully every time you use it, and never use it for anything else. Okay?”

Dawn hugged Buffy and thanked her, then repeating her need for a mirror she charged up the stairs, yelling cheerfully that she’d have to change her shirt as the one she was wearing clashed horribly with the beadwork.

Buffy slipped into the chair next to Spike and leaned her head on his shoulder as he reached his arm around her waist. She asked, “I never really thought about it before, but why is Dawn your ‘Little Bit?’ Little bit of what?”

Spike chuckled, “She’s a li’l bit of Buffy, of course. Made from you in’t she?”

Buffy raised her smiling face to Spike’s, breathing a quiet, “Oh, of course!” Then their lips met in a gentle kiss. The kiss continued for several minutes, gradually becoming more passionate until the sound of Giles deliberately clearing his throat brought them back to earth. Buffy turned to her Watcher with a sheepish smile and an apologetic shrug.

Giles raised an eyebrow and with a certain amused irony said, “If you’re quite ready? I’d like to get this done as soon as we can, we have so many other things that we need to look into once we know this ritual is going to work correctly.”

Spike nodded and said, “Right then,” briefly kissed Buffy once more then got up and went back into the living room, leaving her to figure out how to put her silver necklace on over the plain black tank top she was wearing. She had laid a cream chunky roll neck sweater and knitted coat over the bottom of the stairs ready to put on top against the night’s chill.

Spike put his boots on, buckled himself into the baldric and shrugged his duster on top. He deliberately took the half-empty packet of cigarettes out of his coat pocket and tucked it into the drawer of the hall table to keep safe until the week of the forfeit was over, then accepted Tara’s assistance to get his personal backpack settled over the top. He hefted his favourite double headed battleaxe and contemplated taking it with him, but reconsidered and put it back down when he realised he’d need both hands to wield the sword. Instead he selected several of the hotel’s knives and stowed them away in his boots and inner pockets of his duster. He knew you could never have too many weapons when you didn’t know what you might end up having to fight.

Dawn came thundering back down the stairs to put her bracelet on, and then they were ready to go. When Buffy bent to pick up the axe Spike had rejected, he realised she was wearing a very familiar skirt. A long brown leather skirt that had some very erotic memories attached to it. When she noticed him staring at it she grinned and twitched her eyebrows teasingly, stroking very suggestively over the soft leather covering her thigh and flashing bright emerald green eyes at him. Spike sensed a wave of pure lust through the Bond as he noticed the change in colour of her eyes, realising that now she was wearing the portal necklace it was having the same effect on her as holding his sword did on him.

Spike automatically moved towards her, the stimulus causing his own ever-present desire for her to swell, but before he could reach her Dawn impatiently caught him by the hand and dragged him towards the open front door. Looking closely at her face Spike was fascinated to notice that now she was wearing her portal bracelet on her left hand the teenager’s eyes had lost their usual clear blue colour and were also brilliant green.

A few minutes later Spike gave up trying to get into the Summers SUV with the others. With the sword strapped to his back there was no way it was going to work. He stood back with his arms folded as he thought for a few seconds, then his expression cleared, he mimed ‘riding a motorcycle’ to Giles who nodded in agreement, and turned towards the garage.

When he reappeared wheeling his old motorbike he saw Anya standing by the SUV in the drive. She was resting her hand on Giles’ arm as he sat in the driving seat with the door open. She gazed anxiously up into his face earnestly instructing him to be careful. Giles smiled as he patted her hand murmuring fond reassurances. Glancing around, Spike realised that as the rest of the Scoobies were all chatting away inside the vehicle with Willow standing at the nearside rear passenger door holding Tara’s hand, he was the only person to witness the tender moment. After a second’s thought he considered that was probably just as well. He decided not to mention his suspicions to anyone. If things were going the way he suspected he could foresee another emotional explosion on the horizon, and he didn’t want to get caught in the middle. And why was Willow glaring at Xander and why was he studiously avoiding meeting her eyes? There just had to be a secret waiting to come out there too.

Eventually Anya and Willow retreated back up onto the porch and waved as the SUV rolled down the drive. Spike gracefully mounted the bike, the long sword slanting easily down beside the seat, and started the engine. Thankful that it had at last stopped raining, he set off to follow the other vehicle to the designated spot at the edge of Miller’s Woods on the other side of town.


******


When Spike drove off the road onto the rough grass beside the parked SUV he could see Giles and Buffy in quiet but animated conversation off to one side, while Xander, Tara and Dawn waited impatiently. He listened carefully and heard Buffy’s hesitant voice, “…take a few minutes… side effects… privacy…” He smirked as he realised what Buffy was trying tactfully to put across to her Watcher and walked up to them.

Giles looked up and saw him approaching. Clearly still not grasping Buffy’s point, in a very frustrated tone he asked, “Perhaps you can explain Buffy’s reservations about you feeding from her to close the portal, Spike. She really isn’t making much sense.”

Taking note of Buffy’s embarrassed flush and warning glare Spike chuckled wickedly. He beckoned Giles a few paces away from her and placed his arm around the Watcher’s shoulders. Putting his mouth right next to the other Englishman’s ear he whispered, “The side effects the Slayer mentioned? There are two types of vampire bite. When we’re hunting we don’t care what a victim feels, so the bite causes pain. In special circumstances however, we can take care to bite in a way that gives intense pleasure instead. Naturally I don’t want to cause Buffy pain... I’m sure you get my drift? Not only that, but what with Slayer blood being an aphrodisiac for vampires… well... the process is likely to get a bit... er… triple X rated.”

Giles gaped at Spike in astonishment. He rapidly removed his glasses and fumbled for his handkerchief mumbling, “Oh dear Lord… I’d heard rumours of… Oh dear…” as he frantically polished the perfectly clean lenses. Putting his glasses back on he took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders, turning back to face Buffy. Blushing furiously and unable to meet her eyes he stammered, “Um… well…Buffy…” He took another deep breath. “In light of this new… uh… information, perhaps you and Spike could go off…” He gestured towards the woods, “…and get the blood drinking out of the way while the rest of us make last minute preparations?” He cleared his throat self-consciously. “Please just try to be as uh… quick as you can…”

Spike winked at him, curling his tongue up behind his top teeth and let out an evil chortle. “Never managed quick yet, Rupert, but we’ll surely try…”

Buffy gasped in horror and grabbed him by the sleeve of his duster. She dragged him with her towards the trees and gabbled back over her shoulder, “Sorry Giles, um… we’ll see you in a few minutes, yeah?” Lowering her voice to a hoarse whisper she demanded, “What did you tell him, you evil vampire? I’ve never seen him so embarrassed!”

Spike grinned and shrugged as he ran beside her. “Told the man the truth, Slayer.”

Buffy glared at him for a few seconds, trying to think of a suitable retort, then the situation suddenly struck her as hilarious and she spluttered into laughter. Between helpless giggles she gasped, “Oh dear, poor Giles. I wonder if he ever wishes he had a textbook Slayer instead of me? I always end up breaking all the rules. I never even got a Slayer Handbook!”

Spike chuckled, “Well they can’t blame you for breaking the rules if they don’t give you the soddin’ rulebook! ‘Sides, I expect that’s how you’ve lasted so long, you make up your own rules, do the unexpected, and confuse the lot of us into making fatal mistakes!”

She gazed at him in wonder, then grinned happily. “I never thought of that! Yay me!”

Stopping just past a clump of thick undergrowth in a small clearing beside a mature tree Buffy looked around and nodded to herself. She asked, “You think we’re far enough away?”

Spike listened carefully and could only just hear the Scoobies’ voices in the distance. He smirked suggestively and said, “Yeah, as long as you don’t start screaming.”

Suddenly businesslike despite the raging desire Spike could sense flooding from her, Buffy shrugged off her backpack and dumped it on the ground, then slipped out of her knitted coat and tugged her sweater over her head, draping them carefully over a thick bush. She backed up to lean against the tree, flipped her hair away from the side of her neck bearing his mark and beckoned him towards her. Huskily she told him, “I’m gonna try not to bite you this time, then perhaps it won’t get quite so… frantic. It was… wonderful… but we don’t really have time for that now.”

Stalking purposefully towards her as he dropped his own backpack, Spike asked, “You wear that skirt for me, darlin’? You know what it makes me think of…” He kissed her gently, then leaned his whole body against her, pressing her against the rough bark of the tree. Bracing himself with his right hand against the trunk above her head he stroked her leather-covered leg with his left hand, all the while nuzzling and nipping at her neck.

Already gasping, Buffy breathed, “Yeah. It all went wrong that night, I wanted to try to put it right…” Her hands went to his belt, expertly unbuckling him and popping the buttons of his fly open.

Between licks and nips Spike admitted, “That morning after we woke up, everything I said came out wrong. When I said ‘The only thing better than killing a Slayer’…”

Taking his erection into her warm hands and firmly stroking it Buffy gasped, “Don’t…”

He shook his head in denial, “No let me…” He slipped his left hand up under her skirt and grinned into her neck when he found no obstruction to his explorations into her soaking centre. He growled, “Mmm… knickerless Slayer… perfect!” Taking a moment to remember what he had been saying he continued, “Remember last year in the Bronze when I told you about the best night of my life?”

Buffy grunted as she rocked her hips into Spike’s ringed fingers, desperate for friction. “Your first Slayer…”

“Yeah… and when I said being with you was better…”

Buffy gasped in realisation and interrupted, “Oh! You meant that being with me was the new best night of your life!”

“’Til that night in LA when we killed those demons it was, yeah… but now… last night…”

Buffy breathed into his neck, “Last night was mine too…” Then as she wrapped one leg around his hip and guided him into place his fangs sliced into his mark and they both moaned with pleasure.

Spike didn’t immediately begin to drink. For a few moments he just savoured the double connection and tried to control his demon who wanted to fling his Mate down on the ground and rip the rest of her clothes off, before spending the next several hours pounding her into the ground.

Eventually he took a deep breath then drew the first long pull of blood, causing Buffy to moan again. He rolled his hips in time with the deep satisfying swallows, trying to keep his movements slow and measured and controlled. He could feel the power of his Slayer’s blood flooding into him, warming him and filling out his muscles, making him faster, stronger and in a strange way he was only now beginning to sense, somehow cleaner.

Buffy held on tight, grunting and gasping as delightful sensations flooded her being. Feeling an overpowering need to sink her teeth into her mark on Spike’s neck she tried to think of something to distract herself, and finally struck on something she felt she needed to say. “Spike… darling…” She gasped as a mini orgasm made her supporting leg wobble. “You’re not convenient…” Spike stiffened slightly in her arms and feeling his hesitation she snorted against his neck and scraped her blunt teeth across her mark, making him shiver with pleasure, but just managed to resist biting. “You’re very inconvenient… and… and we aren’t a freak show… but you were right… you always did get me hot… and... and…” Her voice rose into a wail as she threw her head back in ecstasy, braced her back against the tree and kicked her other leg up around Spike’s waist, “I never had it as good as yooou!”

Spike closed his eyes and groaned as he rode through an intense climax with her, then relaxed again trying not to laugh in triumph into Buffy’s neck at her admission and drank deep, keeping half his concentration focussed on her heartbeat, the rest on loving her. Just as he was beginning to feel uncomfortably full he heard the first slight faltering in her chest and immediately stopped drinking. He retracted his fangs, lapped tenderly at his mark and turned his human face up towards her for a kiss as he gradually speeded up his thrusts, turning his entire attention to pursuing their mutual satisfaction once more.

With one hand supporting her bottom while the other grasped her by the nape, Spike stepped away from the tree, stumbling slightly when he was forcibly reminded that his jeans were stuck at thigh level. He turned and knelt down, then allowed himself to fall forward, landing in the perfect position, sunk deep inside Buffy’s body with her legs wrapped tightly around his waist.

Before he had a chance to get comfortable Buffy rolled them over and sat up. Her eyes smouldered down at him as she slipped her hands up under his t-shirt and rested them flush against his abdomen as she began bouncing enthusiastically up and down, the portal necklace swinging wildly as she moved.

They both froze in place when they heard Giles’ voice calling, “Buffy! Spike! Are you all right? How much longer will you be? We’re all ready for you!”

Buffy snorted with laughter, then slightly shakily called back, “We’re fine, Giles! We’ll be there in a couple of minutes!” She slid Spike’s t-shirt right up his chest and teased his nipples while rotating her hips in tight circles and sending her internal muscles rippling up and down his straining erection.

Spike lay still with his hands flopped beside his head, gasping for unneeded breath, watching his lover play him with expert talent. He was powerless to move as he hovered on the brink of ecstasy… and then she leant forward and sank her teeth into his nipple and tightened her vice-like inner grip. Grabbing her hips and crushing her down onto him he bucked and let out an involuntary roar as he exploded into her molten core while she bit her bottom lip and collapsed onto his chest with a muted wail.

They lay still for a minute while Buffy recovered her breath, then she lifted her head and kissed him deeply. With a resigned sigh she went to get up but Spike pouted and whimpered petulantly, holding onto her and rocking his hips up hopefully. Buffy smiled and stroked his cheek whispering, “I know... it wasn’t enough. But they’re waiting for us… and now they’ve heard ‘I’m Spikey hear me roar’, they’ll be expecting us back!” She grinned as he reluctantly let her go and she got up, reaching for the wad of tissues she had stuffed into the pocket of her coat. “We’ll just have to do a late patrol when we’ve done the portal thing and find a nice deserted spot to continue…”

Sulkily, Spike muttered, “I’ll hold you to that darlin’,” as he stood up and struggled to tuck his painfully hard erection into his jeans and do himself up. As Buffy put her sweater and coat back on Spike opened the top of her backpack and pulled out a chicken salad sandwich and a litre bottle of juice and handed them to her. He quietly reminded her, “Eat up Slayer…” He leered at her and waggled his eyebrows, “…need to keep your strength up for later…”

They emerged from the trees walking side by side, so close that their hips bumped with every step, while Spike’s arm was draped around Buffy’s shoulders guiding her as she alternately munched on her sandwich and took gulps from her juice.

Dawn was standing fiddling with her little knife, her crossbow hung over her shoulder on a leather strap while Tara and Xander stood close by. Giles leaned against the hood of the SUV checking his notes by the light of the headlights. All their faces bore wide grins when they noticed the blonde couple approaching and Giles commented with relief, “Ah there you are!” He turned to Dawn, “Ready to go, Dawn my dear?”

Buffy grabbed her axe from Xander and Spike drew his emerald sword and they both took their places beside Dawn who whispered nervously, “I so hope I don’t screw this up!”

Xander attempted to reassure Dawn with a cheerful, “Don’t worry, Dawnster, you’ve gone over it and over it until you’ve got it down pat. What could possibly go wrong?”

The young man took a sharp intake of breath and stepped back apprehensively when every single person in the field glared at him accusingly.

Dawn muttered sarcastically, “Oh that’s just great. Way to go with the jinxing of us, Xander!”

Spike gave her a one armed hug around her shoulders and brightly assured her, “You’ll do just fine my brave clever Li’l Bit. Let’s get this soddin’ show on the road!” Wearing a manic grin he flailed the sword around in tight figures of eight rolled his shoulders and bounced on his toes.

Tara plucked a dry leaf out of Buffy’s hair and giving a lopsided grin nudged her and gestured at Spike. She quietly asked, “Is he all right Buffy? He seems a bit… er…”

“Hyper?” Buffy suggested dryly. “Yeah, witness the vamp equivalent of a sugar high. What you are seeing is a Slayer blood high.” She shook her head and chuckled indulgently as she watched her Mate dancing about. “He really needs something to kill about now!”

Spike was feeling wonderful. He was fizzing with energy and raring to go, so while Dawn carefully sliced into the pad at the base of her left thumb beside one of the fine silver chains crossing her palm and began chanting softly, he gave Xander a friendly thump on the arm and asked, “See any beasties coming, Harris? Wanna try out my magic sword!”

Xander flinched away from him and rubbed his arm with a cry of “Hey!” and after a moment’s thought he solemnly added, “And may I say ow?” He looked around warily, then with great relief he added, “No, no beasties. You’ll just have to hope you find some through the portal, bleachboy.”

Slowly a swirl of bright green light began to form beside Dawn. She frowned in concentration as she chanted, the tiny drops of blood from her hand continuing to drip slowly downwards before vanishing in thin air about a foot from the ground.

When the vertical disc of light seemed to stick at about eighteen inches across Giles called over, “Try the incantation a bit louder, Dawn, and perhaps a bit more blood?” Then he wrote quickly in his notebook.

Luminous green eyes flashing, Dawn nodded in acknowledgement and winced as she deepened the cut on her hand causing a small spurt of blood to fall, and raised her voice slightly. She jumped back with a high pitched squeak when the power vortex quickly grew to a rapidly rotating disc about six feet across.

Giles happily cried, “Oh well done, my dear!” and gingerly stepped forward to toss something small into the portal. He quickly dashed around to the other side, giving the vortex a wide berth, and seeing nothing emerge he commented in a very satisfied tone, “Wonderful! That seems to have worked perfectly!” He strolled back over to the SUV to continue writing in his notebook, absently suggesting over his shoulder, “Tend to your cut now please Dawn. And Spike? It’s time for you to do your part please.”

Tara had pulled a bandage from her pocket ready to help Dawn, but before she could take the teenager’s hand Spike dodged in, lifted it to his mouth and tenderly licked the cut clean. At her astonished expression he grinned merrily, saying, “There you are Niblet, that’ll heal in no time with the ‘Spike’s Special’ treatment!”

He swaggered towards the portal and paused, looking back at Buffy. Twitching his scarred eyebrow and giving her a cheeky wink he promised, “See you in a bit, Slayer. Don’t forget we’ve got unfinished business to take care of!” Then taking a deep breath he raised the sword above his head, yelled, “Geronimoooo!” and dived in.


TBC