Quid Pro Quo

Big thanks to Megan_Peta for looking over this so many times.

Also, an incredibly big thanks to Jane, Rema, Kimber, Draconianrocks, ScreamingFlamingos, Stacy, FeistyPumpkin, and Amanda.

And like Amanda told me, Buffy does get a spine.


Chapter 8 – Welcome to the Hellmouth


Again there was a welcoming committee assembled when Spike, Angel, Nina, and Illyria arrived at the Tinkercreek Mansion the next day. Giles, Dawn, Xander, Buffy, Willow-- and even Andrew dared to show his face. The significant change was the warmth in the greeting that passed between the groups.

Dawn took the initiative and pounced on Spike. “Hi ho and huggie.”

“Sure bet, Bit.” Spike returned her hug.

Next up was Willow, who was much more self-assured since the get together the night before. She gave Spike a hug after Dawn finally let go. Then she turned to Angel. “I know you hate it, but you get a hug, too,” which she did and Angel only squirmed slightly. She then turned and greeted Nina and Illyria warmly.

“Come in, please come in.” Giles was trying to mend the broken fences. “It is good to see you again. I say that it is still rather strange to see Spike whole and hearty.”

Xander stepped up at the jolly welcome from Giles, still a little wigged about the situation. “You’re not kidding. Dead Boy Junior, let me say ‘freak out’. Super glue does wonders.” He spoke without venom. Spike had earned his respect those last days in Sunnydale, but the jabs were still mandatory.

“Nice to be seen, whelp.” Spike shook the hand that Xander offered.

As they entered the mansion the day before, Spike and Angel didn’t even spare Buffy a glance, and Buffy felt the sting again, but this time also came the anger. Those two asses could get off their high horses anytime now. However, she stood at the back, looking between Dawn and Willow.

Her arms ached to do as her sister and friend had done. Ached to hug Spike. Since he was ignoring her, she looked her fill. He looked…looked glorious. She couldn’t tear her eyes away. When he walked by, she started to reach out and touch him for just an instant, but she stayed her hand. She settled for the smell of his leather duster. But then the anger strengthened. How dare he ignore her? She wasn’t some wall ornament. They had come this day to enter the hellmouth. She should be helping lead the charge. There had to be a way to change the situation, but she was going to take Willow’s and Dawn’s advice and take it slow. Not push things, especially considering the present situation concerning the hellmouth.

Once everyone was in the mansion, Willow delivered the good and bad news. “On the bright side, we know from the tablet that you will be searching for a crystal today. However, the Hellmouth hasn’t opened up yet. We’re in a holding pattern.”

This, of course, left everyone in an uncomfortable silence, not sure what to do with themselves. Spike was first to fill the void. “A spot of violence sounds good while we’re waiting. Have a proper gymnasium in this place, do ya?”

‘That was certainly no surprise,’ Buffy thought as Xander led everyone to the slayers-in-training’s gym, talking the whole way. Once in there, she watched Spike walk around and size up the place. He appeared to be impressed.

He took his coat off and laid it on a bench, surprising Buffy greatly. It was rare that he took it off-- even to fight. He walked out to the center of the gym. “Blue, are you up for a little rough and tumble?” Spike started to bounce on the balls on his feet, warming up. “Or are you too good for this lowly half-breed vampire/human?”

Buffy watched Illyria join Spike in the center of the room and felt jealousy cut her deep. “Even though you are a lower life form, I will grant you a match. However, I am still not appreciative of the fact that my powers were lessened from my original strength.”

“Oh, balls, Angel and I are handicapped with morals, and we make it work. Shut your gob, and let’s have a go.”

And the match was on. Buffy watched the growing fight with her stomach starting to ache. Spike and Illyria were an impressive sight to see. Punches thrown, counter moves, attacks, retreats, then attack again. Their actions looked like a violent ballet with the moves carefully choreographed for optimum beauty. They obviously had done this many times before, and Buffy felt sick watching it. The way she and Spike used to fight each other was one of the few things that Buffy had thought could never be out done. Buffy and Spike’s well matched, natural grace could never be replaced—until now. Illyria was the name of her successor.

Illyria kicked. Spike countered by slapping her leg down and throwing a punch with his left hand to her abdomen. She was caught off guard and doubled over. “Come on, your highness. Sucking air, are you? Poor wittle demon.”

Illyria stood back up straight. “I used to step on you insignificant beings…”

“Yeah, yeah. You use to bat us across continents, kick us up to the clouds…got the Cliff notes. Now take this.”

As they started again, Buffy recognized the scene. This had been the first part of her slayer dream. He had been fighting someone she couldn’t see, but she knew it was sparring instead of fighting. She remembered that it had left her wanting, and that was exactly how she was feeling right then.

Nina leaned over to Angel. “Wow. I have seen Spike and Illyria spar before, but never this all out.”

Slipping his arm around her, Angel pointed out. “I taught him all he knows.”

That drew Spike’s attention, causing Illyria to get in a good blow. When he and Illyria were going again, Spike threw a round house punch, but Illyria ducked and then swept his legs out from under him. Spike landed flat on his back with a thud that for a second left him dazed. Angel’s snicker didn’t help. Illyria pounced. She jumped down and straddled him, raining down punches. And Spike, just for a moment saw Buffy in Illyria’s place, and even though he enjoyed sparring with Illyria, he had to admit that he wanted to fight Buffy instead.

Seeing his new predicament, Buffy took a step forward by reflex. Why? She didn’t know what was more strongly drawing her. To help him out of a tight spot or jealousy of Illyria, who was now sitting on Spike. To tell the truth, it was probably the jealousy. Seeing another woman so intimately sitting on his lap was like seeing Spike without a shirt sitting on his bed with Faith. That time she had seen red. But then Faith left, leaving her alone with Spike. However, this time, she couldn’t step in and interrupt. Or could she?

Spike and Illyria were back on their feet, temporarily relaxed. So Buffy took the break as an opportunity to make her move. After two steps, Buffy had Spike’s undivided attention. Without a word spoken, Illyria moved away and Buffy took her place. Good. Finally some contact between them, even if it was physical, but it was a start. She laughed to herself. Now he had to at least acknowledge her. Maybe she could maneuver a way to sit on top of him as the demon had. On the other hand, she could take some of her frustrations out on him for not contacting her, for ignoring her, for putting the blame solely on her side.

Spike watched Buffy walk up. He hadn’t let on, but he had known the moment she had moved a foot to come to him. He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t resist sparring with her. She had always been his favorite combatant. Going a step farther and giving in to his desire, Spike looked his fill--and she looked glorious. Golden hair, warm tan, and those hazel eyes focused on him. He wanted to step up and kiss her senseless. But down to business. He threw the first punch.

Buffy was pleased and relieved that Spike didn’t turn her away. But she did move away out of reach of his fist. She returned with a kick to his side, and the fight began in earnest. They were trading dominance for about fifteen minutes before Spike began to get the upper hand, ending up with a punch clipping her on the right side of her face, landing her on her ass, down for the count. Stunned, she looked up at him. They had always been so evenly matched. Neither able to get the upper hand for long, but now he looked down at her, a furious victor.

“It would be so easy to top this off. There’s a difference now, Slayer, I don’t think I really wanted you dead before. Now,” Spike shook his head. “I just don’t know. Maybe Dru would say that you aren’t swimming around me anymore. I’m no longer drowning in you. Slayer, today my one good day, will have to wait for another.”

Buffy’s leg shot out and swept Spike’s legs our from under him. “You wouldn’t win on another day either.”

Standing up and with no expression on his face, Spike turned on his heel and walked away. He wondered if she had seen through his bravado. No, it wouldn’t have been easy to finish her off. No way could he have. But the rest? He didn’t think he was still drowning in her since she had let the Immortal into her bed, but she was still swimming around him. His dreams every night reminded him of that. Bloody hell, how was he going to stand being around her without his insides being torn in two?

What in the world was that? Spike had just defeated her soundly, and the hostility in his words took her off guard. They made tears shine in her eyes. Was he really as over her as he said? But if he was over her, why would he be so mad? Buffy’s stare at Spike’s back was broken when a hand appeared in front of her face. Angel helped her up. “He’s not kidding. He could have killed you. I learned when he proved that to me while kicking my ass this past year. We were fighting for a chalice. He wanted it, wanted it bad and beat me. Don’t make the same mistake as I did, thinking he is what he used to be in the old days. Don’t underestimate him at all.”

Buffy understood him completely. It looked like she had to learn about a whole new Spike. But on the bright side, Angel was talking to her. That was a great relief, and she thought it boded well for Spike eventually talking to her. Maybe Angel would even help her out a little.

After picking up a large machete that was hanging on the wall, Spike walked towards Andrew who had made the unfortunate mistake of following everyone to the gym. “So, Andrew, we didn’t really get to talk before. How is the wacko slayer? Wonder if she was satisfied just cutting off my hands.”

Buffy’s eyes were immediately drawn to Spike’s hands, those hands that dealt out to her pain, pleasure, and comfort. Dana had cut off his hands? No one had bothered to tell her that. Well, of course, since it would have been Andrew, and slime ball had been keeping secrets. It made her nauseous to think of the pain Spike must have gone through.

Spike noticed Buffy staring at his hands but couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Too many emotions were flitting across her features. But the easiest to read was surprise. He could also make out compassion, which softened his heart towards her. Nonetheless, he continued to take his anger out on Andrew.

“I’m sure Miss Mutilator would be happy to know that those evil doctors at Wolfram and Hart reattached my hands just fine. Maybe I could…No, now that I think about it, I did better trying to kill slayers than showing compassion to them.”

Buffy looked up and met Spike’s gaze. Looking into his eyes, she had no doubt he was talking about their tumultuous past, more than his encounter with the mentally unhinged slayer. On a scale of errors, the lighter side was definitely in Spike’s favor in the matters of the heart between them. Hell, other than the Immortal, she had even gone out on a date with Woods right under his nose. She had a heavy load to overcome.

Nina stepped next to Buffy as everyone left the gym. “He’s bitter.”

Surprised that Angel’s girlfriend was talking to her, Buffy said the first thing that came to mind. “Looks like.”

Nina shook her head. “First was when you sent the slayers and Andrew to retrieve the insane one because you didn’t trust Angel or any of his people-- which included Spike.”

Throwing her hands up, Buffy was frustrated. “But I didn’t even know that Spike was back.”

“I think his anger bled over onto you, especially because he had lost his hands.” Nina moved on. “Second, Giles refused to help Fred.”

Now this one wasn’t fair. “That was Giles, not me.”

Nina just shrugged before going on. “Lastly, the Immortal. Angel and Spike have some kind of animosity that extends back before Angel gained his soul.”

“Oh, God…”

“He tried to have Spike and Angel killed while he was screwing Darla and Drusilla. He did the same thing in Rome.” Nina’s voice turned as cold as ice. “The bastard tried to blow them up to keep them away from you.”

“I didn’t know any of that.” Buffy’s eyes swam in tears, especially because of their history with the Immortal. The Immortal had used her to hurt Spike and Angel; almost killed theml.

“Now, Angel still has a soft spot for you and will get over his anger pretty quick. Spike is being an ass.” She paused and tried to think of the best way to say what she wanted to say. “He is so sensitive, even if he doesn’t want anyone to know. You should know that. He’s gonna need time to work through his anger, but he will.”

Putting a hand on Nina’s arm, Buffy asked, “Why are you telling me all of this?”

“Your love for Spike is obvious on you face, and I have been watching the looks he has been giving you when you are not looking. So don’t give up.” Nina patted her hand before walking off.

&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&

When the Hellmouth opened, the search was on. The target? A green colored crystal that the tablet told was necessary to find the Vessel of Catah. “Crystal, crystal,” Spike spun around, arms wide, coat flaring out as he walked down a tunnel, “where is the crystal?”

Lowering her chin, Illyria gave him one of her stares, intense and steady. “You fool. It is not going to answer you.”

“You don’t know that, Blue. It might want to chat over a cup of tea.” Spike laughed at the umph noise she made at his teasing.

Spike and Illyria marked their way as they went. Then suddenly the tunnel turned and opened up into a large, rectangular room. They took a moment to stop and look around before crossing the threshold. On the far wall, they could see a small niche that contained what they thought was a small, emerald green object. “Blue Meanie, I spy with my little eye… a green crystal.” Spike entered first while Illyria hung back, watching the rear. He made it across the room, pocketed the crystal in his duster, and turned to strut back. Maybe he would have that cup of tea after all. Before he could put the kettle on, the ground fell out from under Illyria’s right foot, and simultaneously, a mouth with sharp, pointed teeth came up to claim her foot. The creature was fast, but Illyria was faster.

Eyes wide, Spike froze where he was. “What the bloody hell was that?”

The demon glared down where the teeth had been five seconds before. “A creature dared to try to bite my foot.”

“Of all the balls, your highness.” Spike commented sarcastically. “I think I sussed that part out.”

Illyria took a tentative step, and a creature came up from the new spot. Since she was only about four feet from the tunnel entrance, she just gracefully jumped out. Spike didn’t have that luxury. Somehow, he had made it a good forty feet into the room without triggering a creature, if there were more. Maybe they had let him, their next meal, in. Nonetheless, he had to get out. He looked down and saw sand. “Here, throw me some rocks.” Stones peppered him. “Ha, ha, ha, you didn’t have to throw them that bloody hard, did you?”

Her expression was blank as usual. “Yes, I did, so that most will make it to you.”

“Then how about you throw them to me instead at me this time?” Spike was ready to start throwing rocks back at her.

Once armed, Spike threw a rock in front of him, and as he had expected, the floor opened up, exposing two crescent shaped sets of sharp, pointed teeth that’s only reward was a rock that time. The next rock met with no reaction. Spike made a successful step.

The progress was slow going, but going. Throw a rock, no reaction, take a step. Then the creatures demonstrated their capacity to learn. Spike threw a rock. No reaction. Step. Definite action. Spike felt the rock ground give way as he stepped on it and watched in horror as the teeth came up for him. He pulled his leg up fast, but not fast enough. He was skinned from below the knee down to his foot. All the creature was able to keep was Spike’s boot.

Blood must have done the trick because now the creatures were appearing all over, making it easy for Illyria to go in and help Spike out. Once clear of the room, they inspected his wound. When they moved the pieces of his jeans out of the way, they found some deep and some shallow slashes down his calf and his foot.

The problem was the bleeding. “Blue, I don’t think that anyone will be offering a pint of O negative out there, so we need to stop the bleeding.”

“Take off your shirt.”

Even though Spike was still grimacing, he managed to wiggle his eyebrows. “Now, I don’t think we have time for…”

“Another attempt at humor. Pathetic. Now give me your shirt.”

Illyria used it to tie above his knee to stem the flow of blood until his fast, vampire healing could get a chance to take effect.

When Illyria and Spike came into view down below, at first all Buffy saw was Spike’s naked torso and him leaning on Illyria, and Buffy immediately jumped to the conclusion that the pair had been fooling around in the caves. Jealousy burned until she looked down and saw his injury.

After she kicked herself for being such a fool in jumping to such a conclusion, she realized that another part of her slayer dream had come true.

Lots of blood. All she could see was Spike laying on a rock ground with his pants leg in tatters and bleeding from his wound. She could see a couple of people with him, but she couldn’t make them out. It made her sick to her stomach to see Spike in that condition. She wanted to go to him, but she felt that for some reason that she couldn’t. All she could do was watch him bleed.

Now she knew exactly what was barring her, her past behavior and that he already had others to help him. Still, it had her on her feet and heading for the ladder. “What happened…?” He needed help, and she immediately felt drawn to offer it, to make sure that he was going to be fine. But the blood. Lots of blood. He was part human now, and couldn’t afford to lose too much blood.

She was half way down the ladder where she was met by Nina scrabbling up to get out of the way. Buffy was forced to climb back up and watch Illyria come up after Nina. Next was Spike, who was only climbing with his arms and one leg. Angel was coming up from behind just in case Spike faltered. Buffy didn’t care who was helping him. When he cleared the hole she was at his side, helping him lay down on the ground. He looked up into her eyes with a silent thank you, and Buffy gave him a small smile before more people were kneeling next to him to give first aid. She stepped back but kept her eyes on him.

When Angel made it up, he looked down at Nina, who was caring for Spike. “The Hellgod must be fighting back.”

&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&~&

“Enough.” Spike batted at Nina’s and Dawn’s hands that were still hovering around his bandages. He couldn’t help but glance over at Buffy to find her face a mask of worry. He hated how much that meant to him, but it did. Time to change the direction of his thoughts. “Ok, let’s get down to brass tacks. We’ve found the crystal, minus a tad a flesh. Rupes, did you get the pearls of wisdom from that hunk of rock?”

Spike’s words caught Giles’ attention from another watcher. “Let me get my notes…uh, the language turns out to be a form of Mayan, which posed a problem because the Mayan carvings are still not completely translated by the scientific community that specializes in those particular natives. However, I think we have been successful for the most part.” The watcher was anxious to be an active part in this dilemma, whether Spike and Angel wanted him to be or not.

Buffy wasn’t sure where Giles was headed, but she could tell it would be ages if he kept going the way he was going. “Giles…,” she warned.

“Yes…There are two parts. The first described what we will need to retrieve to handle our present situation. I think it is called the Vessel of Catah. It will not kill the hellgod, but block him from coming through the Hellmouth.” Giles’ head of steam started to cool. “It is not very clear at all about what the vessel does, but we are hoping that it will be written on the vessel itself.”

With a smile, Xander watched Giles’ eyes glaze over. “Hey, G-Man, the second…?”

Surprised, Giles brought his thoughts back to the group. “Oh…yes…The second is a map to the vessel.”

Trying to sit up straighter in the wooden chair he was in, Spike rolled his eyes. What he wanted was to be standing up and pacing. “Which Illyria already told us about. So where are we bopping off to this time?”

“The Yucatan Peninsula.” That caught everyone off guard. “The places on the map were described during the Mayan era, which is a thousand years in the past. However, the crystal you brought up can be used to divine the location, which we will be doing shortly with Willow’s help.”

Finally, Angel thought, we have something to go on. “Fine. I will arrange a plane, and we will start packing.”

Giles stopped him. “There is one more detail, but we have covered this before. You, Spike, Nina will be making the trip. The monarch of demons, Illyria, and the witch, Willow, are directed to guard the hellmouth while you retrieve the vessel.

“Got that, Blue? We go, you stay.” Spike started to stand up. “We’ll bring back some pictures and a t-shirt.”

Giles had no idea how this next bit of information would be taken. “The problem is, the text says that four supernaturals are needed to go, not three. It just doesn’t specify what kind the fourth is to be. So…who will it be?”

Spike and Angel shared a look that ended with both giving almost imperceptible nods. Angel turned back to the room. “We’ll make the leap of trust. Buffy will make up the fourth.” Actually what they didn’t want to say was that neither Angel nor Spike thought it was any type of a leap of faith to trust Buffy. No matter what had happened over the last year, they both trusted her without question. They just didn’t want to be asked and have to admit it.

Buffy blew out a breath that she hadn’t even known that she had been holding. If she really thought about it, she would have realized that she had started holding her breath when Giles said that Spike would be headed to the Yucatan Peninsula. As in Yucatan Peninsula without her. Biiiiggg breath. How was she going to get on Angel’s and Spike’s good sides with them out of the country? Another big breath.

But then relief came in the form of Giles’s prodding of Angel. ‘Buffy will make up the fourth.’ Incredibly essential six words. Life was good again, or as good as it would get with the more time she could spend with Spike, trying to mend the fence between them. Hell, knock the frigging fence down. But what hurt was that they hadn’t just trusted her. They had to make a ‘leap of faith.’. Buffy had to turn her back on everyone and swipe away tears rolling down her face. She waited for the room to empty before turning back to leave. She was horrified when she saw Nina dragging Angel over to her.

They stopped in front of her, and Nina jabbed an elbow in Angel’s side. Angel actually looked nervous when he started talking. “Buffy, uhm, the whole leap of faith thing wasn’t quite right. I…we trust you. There wasn’t a leap of faith. We already trusted you.” Then he looked down at Nina. “Okay?”

“Yes.”

Angel turned to leave. Nina reached out and squeezed Buffy’s hand and winked. Buffy smiled the first big, genuine smile since seeing Spike and Angel again. The future was looking much more promising. She ran out of the room to pack.

*****

TBC

Please, please, please review. Your opinions and insights help me greatly and are helping to shape the story.

Thanks so much
Dana