By PassionFish
A/N: Thanks to Marsters’ Girl for beta’ing this fiction – makes all the difference in the world, babe!
Also, thanks to everyone
who reviewed this fiction – like I said, it was my first fiction and I have
tonnes of it – just needed the motivation to get off my lazy butt and write
more of it up!
Chapter Three
Spike walked towards Giles'
apartment, his own emotions tumultuous.
The slayer's desire filled face was burned into his mind. She'd never looked at him like that. Sure she'd tried to cover it up, but he'd
seen the longing and want that caressed her features. Not that he'd been any better…
Looking up, he realized
that he'd reached his intended destination.
He knocked on the front door, then opened it and walked in to find David
and Giles surrounded by various aged texts and scripts.
"Ah, hello Spike, what
brings you here?" Giles asked politely,
raising his head to address the vampire.
Spike had been working with
the Scooby Gang for almost a year.
After leaving Sunnydale with the intention of torturing Dru back into
loving him, he made a little detour to LA, stopping off to brutally tear off
the antlers of a certain chaos demon.
Sadly, that particular chaos demon had some pretty high connections of
The Powers That Be. So as penance, the
PTB's made it so that Spike had to help the slayer in her calling. As an extra punishment he could experience
intense pain but never actually be killed, relieving him of the easy option of
staking himself, thus prolonging his torture.
Over the year the gang had moved from hating his presence to accepting him
as a some-what reluctant member of the Scooby Gang. Even Xander was slowly moving from the point of loathsome
tolerance to wavering acceptance. The two had bonded over their mutual hatred
of Angel, though he'd never admit it.
Spike had a promising friendship with David, and he and Giles were on
amicable terms - well, as amicable as a vampire and a watcher could be. As for him and the slayer, as far as Giles
was concerned, that was anybody’s best guess.
Sensing the vampire's
distress, David spoke, "Are you okay, mate? You look paler than usual - if that’s possible."
When Spike didn't respond,
Giles prompted, "Spike?"
"What?" Spike broke out of his thoughts to face two
expectant faces. "Right....um, I
was at the Slayer’s and she just fainted....for no reason." He blurted, unable to keep his concerns to
himself.
"What? Tell me what transpired exactly?" Giles questioned, immediately concerned for
his ward.
"Well, I was talking
to Joyce, saw the Slayer outside the window, but she mouthed not to say
anything. So when I was finished I went
up to ask what time she wanted me to collect her tomorrow, and she just went
all quiet and fainted." Spike
dragged in a deep, unneeded breath.
"When she woke up she bitched at me, sayin' she was fine, so I
left." Spike finished his
explanation, omitting the part where he'd seen her about half-naked.
"I'll give her a quick
ring..." Giles mumbled, moving to the phone, already concerned for his
charge.
David followed the
Watcher's movements with his eyes, then turned back to Spike, "She'll be
fine, mate. She’s probably just tired;
you two have been patrolling late the past couple of weeks." The dark-haired man offered, in an attempt
to soothe the clearly frazzled vampire.
"Yeah...” Spike
replied guiltily. He'd forgotten that
humans needed more than a few hours sleep to live. He had never slept all that much anyway; he just figured she was
the same. Thinking back to the previous
few weeks, Spike realized that David was right - he and the slayer had been
patrolling later and later recently. They
pretty much bickered 24/7; the usual inspired insults flying back and forth
between the two in a happy bantering patter.
However, as of late, they were more and more often veering off into innuendo...
Giles’ voice broke into
Spike's self-reflection: "She says she simply hasn't been getting enough
rest - nothing to be alarmed about."
The watcher spoke with such false cheer that it obvious to
everyone. He had spoken carefully to
his ward, and though she had insisted she was fine, he had lectured her on the
finer points of the importance of healthy eating and plenty of sleep. Buffy had then pointed out that 'Being a
slayer doesn't help in getting those ten hours, Giles’ - a statement to which
he could hardly fault her.
"I must, however, ask
you, Spike, to not keep Buffy out so late." Giles continued, sending the vampire a stern look.
Spike scoffed in response,
"Bloody Hell! We're not dating,
Rupert! We're out there killing my
brethren; not having a bloody late-night tea party!"
"I am well aware of that
Spike." The Watcher continued, in
just as stern a tone as before; the vampire's outburst not affecting him in the
slightest. "But whenever the two of you get together time and reason fly
out the window, and all you do is squabble like children."
"Hey!" The vampire looked insulted.
"He's right,
man." David interjected.
"Fine!" Spike rolled his eyes dramatically. "Don't fret, Watcher, I'll make sure
the Slayer is all tucked in and off to beddy-bies by midnight, in the
future!" The vampire said sarcastically,
crossing to the door.
"Tomorrow
then." Giles called out to the
vampire's retreating back. The blonde
simply raised a hand, not bothering to turn, and closed the front door behind
him.
Giles’ brow furrowed at the
vampire's actions. When Spike had first
entered, he would have sworn he was terrified; but as he left he did so with an
air of indifference.
"He was just
worried." David explained; the
grounded one, as usual.
"Oh." Was Giles' only response, as he busied
himself with his reading; his mind reeling over David's soft statement.
David just sighed and, he
too, returned to his books.
--
Spike returned to his apartment,
thoughts of the Slayer filling his head.
He felt guilty about her fatigue - had it really been his fault? No.
Like he said to the Watcher, Slayer's a big girl - she can take care of
herself.
As much as he tried to
convince himself that it wasn't his fault, his head was still rimmed with guilt
as he climbed into bed, once the sun began to crest the horizon.
--
Buffy awoke at ten then
next morning, feeling completely refreshed after her ten hour marathon
sleep...and also kinda silly. How could
she, slayer of all things-that-go-bump-in-the-night, have fainted? And in front of Spike, William the Bloody, no
less?!
She sighed in agitation and
got up, quickly dressing. The day was
quite warm so she was attired in her usual flowly pants and halter-neck
combo. Tying her hair up, she grabbed a
pair of sunglasses off her dresser.
Walking downstairs, she found her mother in the kitchen drinking her
morning coffee and reading the paper.
"Hi sweetie,"
Joyce greeted, handing her daughter an orange/grapefruit mix. "You're up
late."
Buffy took the glass,
taking a sip before responding, "Yeah, I just needed some sleep, I guess."
"That’s what I'm
always telling you." Joyce smiled,
then turned serious. "Mr. Giles
rang this morning about the slaying trip.
Do you have everything you need?"
Buffy smiled at her
mother's tone, "Yep, all packed.
Clothes, toothbrush, weapons of mass destruction...” She trailed of with
a smile at her mother's look.
"We're leaving tonight.
Ugh, a whole week. I'm figuring
that while I'm not slayin' I can be playin'!"
"I think it'll be good
for you, honey. Even if it is to
slay...is that how you say it?"
"Yeah, mom." Buffy finished her juice then placed her
glass in the sink. "See you
later..." She moved to grab the heavy bag she'd brought down with her.
"Have a nice day...oh,
do you want me to take that over to Mr. Giles' on my way to the gallery?"
Buffy sighed in relief -
just because she had slayer strength didn't mean it wasn't uncomfortable to lug
a big suitcase around. "Thanks!
Later!" She dashed out the
door, quickly leaving to meet Xander before her mother could change her mind.
--
Five hours later Spike was
rudely awoken by a sharp ringing sound.
Growling in frustration, he clambered out of bed and wandered, naked,
into the kitchen, hoping that was where he'd left the cordless phone.
"What d'ya
want?" He growled into the receiver.
"Hello? Spike?"
Spike frowned, trying to
get his fuzzy brain to understand that Buffy was on the phone, talking to him -
it was usually David or Giles who phoned - he didn't even think she had his
number.
"Yeah, Slayer." He tried to put on the most bored tone
possible.
"Sorry if I woke you,
well, actually I'm not..." Spike rolled his eyes, but let the comment
pass. "...I rang 'cause Giles says to meet at his place at eight, and then
we leave straight for the other place, so we can get there before sunrise,
because it's early tomorrow or something." She took a deep breath before continuing. "So, no patrolling; I'll let you get
that much-needed beauty sleep." She ended with an unseen smile.
"Thanks so much,
pet." Spike replied,
sarcastically. "Tell the Watcher
I'll be there at eight, is the monkey boy coming with us?" He asked casually, wanting to know if they'd
be alone.
"They do have names,
Spike." Buffy chided. "And, no, but Gunn will meet us there a
bit later."
"Whatever, see you
later, love."
"Bye." Buffy hung up the phone and turned to face
the room of expectant faces. "He
says he'll be here at eight."
"Excellent." Giles said.
"I want us to have some time to survey the area before sunup."
"Sure,
Giles." Buffy replied absently, sinking
back into her seat, and grabbing her magazine.
Seeing his Slayer out of
sorts was disconcerting to say the least.
He walked over and sat down.
"Buffy, are you sure you're quite alright?" He asked, quietly.
The Slayer smiled into the
gentle face of her 'father' and replied, "I'm fine...just needed a bit of
sleep - I feel a hundred and ten percent now!"
"You just
seem...distracted." He said
carefully.
"Just thinking."
"Oh, no! Anything but that!" He joked quietly, getting a good-natured
giggle from the Slayer. Giles sat back,
watching as his ward, Xander, and David all got caught up in a mundane
conversation, and smiled.
Things were going to be
okay.
To Be Continued....
Want
more? You know the drill!