Past Glory Chapters 11

Chapter 11

Willow had books spread out all around her, but hadn't made much headway.

"I'm pretty sure there's magic involved here, but I can't find any kind of spell that'd do this. I mean we used that cloaking spell, but that was really more of a "you don't notice me spell" than an actual invisibility spell. And besides, it was area-wide not limited to single objects. Somehow whoever did this managed to focus the spell on individual objects instead of a focal point like our crystal." Willow pushed the books away from her in frustration. "Frankly, I'm stumped."

"Do you think that it'll eventually wear off like our cloaking spells did?" Xander asked. "'Cause if so then all Buffy has to do is wait it out and presto, The Return of Buffy, live and in color."

"I suppose so, Xander. I mean most spells of this nature have a limited shelf life. I just wish I could find out how it was done. I don't like things I can't explain."

"Well if it takes a while for Buffy to get visible again, we can always spray paint her like you did this cone," Xander joked. "At least we'd be able to see where she is." Reaching out, he grabbed the top of the black-painted cone. Everyone's eyes widened in horror as it dissolved in his hand.

***

Spike could feel the warmth of Buffy's body pressed up against him and hear her slow regular breaths as she slept. After they'd climaxed, he'd rolled off her and pulled her up against him. He'd expected her to pull back and move away from him, denying what they'd just shared. Instead she'd wiggled herself into a comfortable position, murmured, "I'm going to take a nap," and promptly fallen asleep. Spike smiled and brushed a kiss across the top of her head.

He'd never felt so content. He closed his eyes intending to take his own nap when he heard his door open upstairs and a voice calling, "Spike!"

Startled, he sat straight up, waking Buffy.

"What's wrong?" she asked, instantly awake.

"Xander's upstairs."

"Huh? Why's he here?"

"Don't know, love. Best I go find out though."

He rapidly pulled on his jeans as Xander's voice called out for him again.
"Spike, you here?"

Climbing rapidly up his ladder he paused a second to give a casual air as he exited to the upper room. "Yeah, yeah, I'm here. Why're you?"

"You just getting up?" At Spike's look, he shook his head as if irritated with himself. "I'm looking for Buffy."

"Haven't seen her," Spike answered truthfully. Walking over to his chair he picked up a pack of cigarettes lying on a table and lit one up.

"And you won't. She's invisible."

"Invisible?" he asked blowing out a stream of smoke. "How'd that happen?"

"Willow thinks magic of some kind. That's not important. What is important is her life may be in danger."

Spike froze with the cigarette halfway to his mouth. "What'd'ya mean?"

"The spell or whatever caused the invisibility hit a traffic cone too. Willow was using it to study and now it's starting to come apart, dissolve. Willow says that it's breaking down on a molecular level. We're afraid the same thing is going to happen to Buffy."

Spike looked at Xander in dawning horror. "Does Willow know how to stop it?"

Xander shook his head. "Not yet, but we really need to warn Buffy, get her back to Will so that she can at least try to stop whatever's happening from happening."

"Right. Look, you go on, keep looking for her. I'll scout around as best I can, try to sniff her out."

Xander made a slight face at the idea of Spike sniffing out Buffy, but he hoped that in this case the vampire was successful. Nodding, he left the crypt to continue his search. Spike turned to go back down to his bedchamber when Buffy, wrapped in a sheet, stepped into the room.

"You hear, love?" Spike asked going up to Buffy and pulling her into his arms.

He felt her head nod against his chest. "Yeah, I heard. I guess I'd better get back to The Magic Box." Pulling away from Spike she headed back towards the ladder. "I need to find my clothes."

"I'll help you."

Within minutes Buffy was dressed and ready to leave.

"Look," Spike said, "I'll give it a bit, say thirty minutes - make it look like I was hunting for you - then I'll come to the shop."

"Okay."

Buffy tried to hide it, but Spike could hear the fear in her voice. Without hesitation he went to her and pulled her back into his arms. Their commingled scents drew him like a beacon and he could have found her in a crowd of thousands.

"Don't worry, Buffy, Willow will figure it out. You know our Red, she's always our ace-in-the-hole."

Buffy allowed him to hold her for a few moments longer, then pulling back she slipped from his arms and left.

When Spike arrived at The Magic Box, Anya and Dawn were the only ones there. "Where's everyone else? Did Buffy show up yet?"

"Yes, she arrived about twenty minutes ago. Then Xander called and said that something weird was going on at the arcade. It looked like more invisible people, so Willow, Tara and Buffy went there."

Spike growled in impatience. The arcade was one of the few buildings in downtown Sunnydale that had no direct sewer access and it was still too sunny for him to go outside. He felt like cursing or breaking something, but one look at Dawn's frightened face and he brought himself back under control. No sense adding to the Bit's worries. Going over to where the girl sat at the counter, he took a seat beside her and said, "Don't worry, Niblet. Willow'll fix her."

Dawn gave him a watery smile and then leaned her head on his shoulder. Spike closed his eyes as he felt himself melt into a pile of goo. Damned Summers women.

A half-hour later the entire gang, including a now visible Buffy, trouped into The Magic Box. Dawn squealed in delight and jumping from her seat, ran to Buffy and gave her a huge hug.

"Are you okay now?"

"Yeah, Dawnie, everything's fine."

"Did you discover the spell that caused her invisibility, Willow?" Anya asked.

"It wasn't a spell, per se," Willow answered. "It was three goofy guys."

"You remember Jonathan Levinson from high school, Ahn?" Xander asked, walking over to give Anya a quick kiss.

"The little man from the prom with the toy umbrella for Buffy?"

"Yep. He and the guy that made the sexbot and Tucker Wells' brother made an invisibility ray. They claimed that they hit Buffy with it by accident. Oh, and get this, they were using the diamond that was stolen from the museum in their ray gun."

Spike hunkered in on himself when Xander mentioned the sexbot. He hoped no one brought up the Buffybot, but from the glare that Buffy threw at him he was aware that she had thought of it right away.

Well that was water under the bridge. He certainly would never again need a Buffy simulacrum now that he finally had the real thing. As the conversation flowed around him, Spike looked his fill at Buffy. He liked the new highlights and couldn't wait to run his hands through her hair and watch the light play on it. He was having visions of rubbing his face in her hair when Dawn punched him on the arm.

"Hey, Earth to Spike."

"Ow! What the hell'd you punch me for, Niblet?

"Jeez, Spike, stop daydreaming and pay attention to the conversation. Buffy asked if you wanted to help her break into the museum and return the diamond tonight."

"Oh, yeah, sure, Slayer."

Everyone was staring at him except Buffy who wasn't looking at him at all. In an attempt to regain his aura of cool he stood up and started to walk towards the basement door. "You come by and pick me up when you're ready for your caper, Slayer." Opening the door he disappeared down the stairs stopping only long enough to swipe some burba weed.

Chapter 12

He changed the sheets on the bed wanting everything to be nice and fresh for later and took a shower. He wondered if Buffy would agree to a quick tumble before they went to the museum or if she'd insist that they wait until after patrol. Spike hoped she'd go for both the quick tumble and the after patrol take-your-time shag.

When she finally showed up, she simply stood in the doorway and said, "Come on." He watched, disappointed, as she walked away. She could at least have given him a bit of a snog. Catching up to her, he reached out to take her hand and pulled her to a halt.

"Wait up a minute, love. Don't I even get a kiss hello?"

Buffy's hand was lax in his and she sighed as she looked down at the ground. "Spike, let's not have this conversation, okay?

Spike stiffened at her words.

"What conversation?"

"The one where you think we're a couple and I tell you we're not."

He was silent for a minute. "So this afternoon was what? Another mistake?"

"A one-time thing."

"Is that right?"

"Yes." Turning to finally look at him she tried to make him understand. "Look, Spike, I admit we had all this unresolved sexual tension between us. Now we don't."

Spike could only stare at her in disbelief. "You think what happened between us this afternoon, what we shared, was a one-off?"

"Spike, please don't do this."

"So you're telling me you don't have feelings for me? That making love with me meant nothing? That you were just getting your itch scratched?"

Buffy frowned at his words. "If you must put it so crudely, we both got our itches scratched. Why do you have to keep pushing it, Spike? Can't we just go back to the way things were before?"

"When before, Buffy?" he asked with anger in his voice. "When we were trying to kill each other? Or how about when I would only help if you paid me? Or wait, I know, how about when I just followed at your heels like a good dog?" Spike made a mocking thoughtful face. "Yeah, that's the one. Let's go back to that."

"Damnit, Spike..."

He didn't give her a chance to finish her sentence. Stepping up to her he cupped her face in his hands. "We can't go back, Buffy, and you know it. Do you really want to?"

Buffy looked into his eyes gone incredibly soft, felt the gentleness of his hand touching her face and shivered as the heat rose in her. She'd spent the last couple hours convincing herself that having given into her raging need she was satisfied. After all, she'd been alone since Riley left and she'd been fine. But she could no longer deny that no matter how hard she'd fought against it, over the past several months her feelings about Spike had changed. She'd been miserable these last weeks apart from him and knew that what they'd shared that afternoon had been more intense, more satisfying, then she could ever have imagined. And despite her best intentions, she could feel desire for him growing again.

But in the end it all came down to one thing.

"Spike, I've told you we can't be together. It's wrong."

"Why, Buffy? How is our being together wrong? Who does it hurt?"

"Spike, please," she whispered.

Spike moved his hands around to the back of her head and pulled her forward until their foreheads touched. "Buffy, I want to make love to you again."
Drawing back, he brushed her hair from her face and looked deeply into her somber eyes. "I want to see the look on this beautiful face when I'm inside you making you feel everything you felt this afternoon. Don't push me away, love, please."

Buffy started trembling under the onslaught of his words and his gentle touches and when he lowered his mouth to hers, she didn't fight him. The kiss was sweet and wild and soon they were wrapped in each other's arms. When it ended they remained entwined together with Buffy's head on his shoulder, his head resting on top of hers.

"See, love? You want me too."

She pulled away and tried again to make him understand. "But don't you see, Spike? It doesn't matter how much I want you physically. I don't love you so being with you like this, using you just for sex, would be wrong."

Spike tried to ignore the white-hot flash of pain that raced though him at her words, but he wasn't going to give up yet. "Answer these questions, Buffy, and be honest. This past summer we spent patrolling together and being in each other's company, did you enjoy it at all? Did you ever have fun just being with me?"

"Sometimes," she muttered unwillingly.

"And when you brought your mum and little sis to me to protect from Glory and her minions and when you came to me for help getting Dawn out of Sunnydale and away from the hell bitch, did you trust me then?"

Buffy swallowed and silently, reluctantly, nodded, eyes fixed on the ground.

"You say you don't love me, and maybe you don't, but tell me the truth, Buffy. Do you care for me at all?"

Buffy thought about lying to him, denying any feelings for him, but she'd finally stopped lying to herself about it and just couldn't lie to him.

Raising her eyes to him she answered quietly, "You know I do."

"Then don't you see, love?" he insisted once again cupping her face gently, "you enjoy being with me, you trust me, and you do care about me. You wouldn't just be using me."

Buffy pulled away from him. "Damnit, Spike, even if all that's true, this can only lead to badness. You know that."

"I don't know that and neither do you, Buffy. Give it a chance, love. Let yourself be happy."

"And will I be? Will I be happy with you? You're a demon, Spike. You don't have a soul. What happens when your very nature makes you do something I can't let pass?"

"I know what I am, love. And I don't deny that there's a demon in me screamin' out for blood and carnage. But I swear to you, I'm more than that. You're my soul, Buffy. Guide me and I'll do whatever you want. Trust me and I promise I'll be the man you need, the man you deserve."

"But I don't want to be your soul, Spike," Buffy confessed shakily. "I don't want that responsibility. There are times I can barely guide myself. I make mistakes all the time. What if something bad happens because I make a mistake? Or because you don't know the difference between right and wrong, someone gets hurt or worse? And because I'm all wrapped up in being your girlfriend, I don't do my job as Slayer. I can't take that chance, Spike. I can't be your conscience."

"You're the best person I've ever known, Buffy," Spike insisted, "and I've changed just from being around you. You know I have. Being without a soul doesn't mean I don't know the difference between what's right and wrong. It just means I didn't care. Now I do because it's important to you. You already are my conscious, Buffy."

Buffy stared at him, wanting to deny his words. She walked a few feet away and stood quietly for a few minutes staring off into the distance, her arms wrapped tightly around her body. Spike watched her, hands clenched, anxious, as he awaited her next words.

Her common sense warred with her emotions. His slightest touch made her weak in the knees and awakened in her a longing for what she'd felt with him that afternoon. And he was right about one thing. It wasn't just a physical connection she'd felt. But did she dare reach out and take what he offered? His love? His body? Faith's philosophy of want, take, have, had never really worked out for Buffy and god knew how much she wanted this. Wanted him. That alone was enough to scare her off.

Did she dare take something she so desperately wanted?

Was it really such a cosmic sin to reach out and try to grasp a little bit of happiness? Did she dare open her heart to another vampire?

Was it already too late to even ask that question?

And most importantly, just how much did she, could she, trust him? Buffy reluctantly came to a decision. No matter how much she wanted him, no matter how much he wanted her, regardless of everything he had just said, regardless of what she felt for him, it all came down to the fact that in the end it would be wrong. She was a Slayer. She could not be with another vampire. Especially one without a soul.

Ignoring the wrenching pain in her heart, blinking back tears she refused to allow to fall, she turned to tell him. He stood with his body leaning slightly towards her, head slightly tilted to the left with a hopeful look on his face, his hands clenching and unclenching in nervous impatience.

She opened up her mouth to tell him no.

"All right, Spike, we can try." She blinked as she heard the words come out of her mouth. He grabbed her crushing her to him, kissing her deeply until her knees gave way once again. When he finally lifted his head she pushed back from him once again, trying to gain some distance so she could think coherently. It certainly wasn't what she had meant to say, but now that she'd said it she wasn't going to take it back. There was one thing, however.

"I-I don't want to tell anyone," she said breathlessly. "About us, I mean. At least not yet. Let's see how this works out, okay? I don't think I can handle all the disapproving stares and well-meant speeches right now."

Spike's hesitation was brief. The disappointment he felt that she wanted to keep their relationship a secret was outweighed by his elation that she was willing to be with him. "Yeah, all right," he agreed. "Probably just as well. I don't much feel like dodging all the well-meant stakes Xander would aim at me anyway."

Buffy smiled weakly at his jest. "Come on. Let's get this diamond back where it belongs."

***

Gentlemen, we have a situation. Because of your incompetence the Slayer now knows of our existence."

Warren Meers was sitting in his captain's chair glaring at his two companions. At least he was doing his best to glare. With two swollen black eyes and a split lip, courtesy of said Slayer, his glare was more a grimace of pain.

"Hey, it wasn't just our fault," Jonathan protested. He was sporting a slight bruise on his left cheek. "If you hadn't tried to grab the invisibility ray away from Andrew and me it wouldn't have gone off prematurely."

Andrew giggled at Jonathan's choice of words, which earned him more glares from his companions.

"Regardless, the Slayer is now aware of us and this interferes with our plans. She needs to be neutralized."

Jonathan frowned at Warren's statement. "Neutralized how?"

"Well ideally, she should be eliminated from the picture altogether." Seeing that Jonathan was going to protest, he quickly added, "But since that isn't an option at this time, we just need to make sure that she is too occupied with her duties to interfere with us. This is where Andrew comes in."

Looking at the younger man who was gazing at him adoringly through his own black eye, Warren continued. "Andrew, I want you to summon a series of demons that will wreak havoc in Sunnydale. She'll be so busy slaying demons she won't have time to hinder our operation."

"I can do that," Andrew agreed enthusiastically. Jumping up, he ran to his own console and pulled out a loose-leaf binder. Flipping through the pages, he muttered "No, no, that one's too easy, no, yes!" He looked up with a gleam of excitement in his eyes. "I never thought I'd summon this one, but it's way cool and it'll keep the Slayer so busy she won't even have time to pee."

"Excellent. Summon it. Once she's busy with the demon, we can begin the next phase of our plan." Raising a glass of Mountain Dew he offered a toast, "Gentlemen, I give you Phase II!"

Andrew and Jonathan raised their glasses.

"Phase II!"

***

Spike never took his eyes from Buffy's face as he thrust into her. Her head was thrown back, her eyes were closed and her lips were parted as gasps and tiny cries slipped out. It was the most breathtaking thing he'd ever seen.

Her eyelids slid open and she gazed at him with eyes luminescent with
passion. She was even more beautiful than he imagined. His hands were tangled in her hair and he lowered his head to take her mouth. He could tell she was on the verge of climax so he picked up the speed of his thrusts. His reward was the feel of her nails digging deeply into the flesh of his back and then the strangling clench of her pulsing muscles as she fell over the edge. His own deep groan and shudder swiftly followed.

After he moved off her, she lay with her head on his chest, their legs entwined together. Spike's hand made gentle passes up and down her arm and he pressed kisses to the top of her head. "I should get home," she murmured sleepily. She felt totally relaxed, boneless. She wasn't sure she had the energy to move, let alone get dressed and walk home.

"Don't leave yet, love, it's still early."

Buffy looked up at him. "Dawn..."

"Is safe with the two witches." Tipping her face up, he kissed her. Buffy's arm slid around his neck and Spike rolled back on top of her.

It was many hours later before Buffy left.

Chapter 13

Buffy was awakened the next morning by a frantic Dawn shaking her shoulder and calling her name.

"Buffy, wake up!"

"What? What is it?"

"There're some strange things flying around outside. One of them stung Tara."

"You woke me up because Tara got stung by a bee?"

"Not a bee, Buffy! Here, look!" She held out a crumpled paper towel. Opening it up she revealed a creature slightly larger than a bumblebee but humanoid in form. It had a chitinous body, gossamer, dragonfly-like wings, and a long segmented tail that ended in a barbed stinger. This specimen was also pretty gruesomely squished. "What the hell is that thing?" Buffy asked in disgust. "Is it an imp?"

"Willow says she doesn't know what it is. But it stung Tara when she went out to get the paper and she's really in pain. Willow doesn't know what to do to ease it and she's starting to panic."

"Okay, let me get dressed. Has anyone called Anya to see if she knows what it is?"

"No, but I'll do it now." Placing the paper towel on Buffy's nightstand, she left the room. Buffy hurriedly began to dress. She thought about sending Dawn after Spike, but remembered that when she'd left last night, Spike had been passed out, lying flat on his stomach, spread-eagled and nude. Buffy smiled remembering that she'd totally exhausted her lover. She'd have to go get him herself as she didn't want to take the chance of Dawn getting an eyeful of Spike's naked butt. Even if it was an awfully pretty butt.

It took Dawn yelling up the stairs, "Buffy, Anya and Xander said they'll be here right away" to bring her out of her reverie and back to reality. After dressing and a quick trip to the bathroom, Buffy grabbed up the paper towel holding the creature and ran down the stairs to see Tara sitting on the couch holding an ice pack to her arm, pale and in obvious pain. Willow was fussing over her, but apparently accomplishing nothing. A variety of lotions and potions lay on the coffee table. Going over to her blonde friend, Buffy knelt down and asked, "Can I look at it, Tara?" Tara nodded and removed the ice pack from her arm. The area around the sting was swollen and an ugly mottled purple in color.

"Oh goddess, baby," Willow wailed, "the swelling's even worse."

Turning to her friend she took her by the shoulders and gave her a little shake. "Willow, I need you to get on the net and try to locate any information you can about this thing. Try that "Demons, Demons, Demons" web site. See if it has anything posted about treatment. Can you do that for me?"

Taking her tear-filled eyes from her girlfriend, Willow nodded and hurried to her computer. Buffy laid the tiny corpse next to the computer so Willow could use it for reference as she searched the database. Returning to Tara she asked gently, "Did you guys try all the remedies for bee sting? Meat tenderizer, baking soda, antiperspirant?"

Tara nodded. "Plus we tried a spell that works to neutralize almost all venom-based wounds, including snakebite. Nothing's worked so far."

Buffy heard the sound of car doors slamming and glancing out the window saw Anya and Xander making a dash towards the house waving their hands around wildly. Buffy rushed to the door and opened it to allow them immediate entry. She slammed it shut and heard the sound of three of the creatures hitting the door.

"What the hell are those things?" Xander gasped. "They were dive bombing us out there and I must have smashed a couple dozen of the little buggers with the car on the way here."

"We were hoping Anya could tell us."

"I need to get a better look than smashed guts and smeared windows," Anya proclaimed.

"We have one here," Dawn offered and led Anya to the table where Willow was working. Anya took one look at the body and frowned. "This isn't good."

"You know what it is?" Willow exclaimed. "Do you know how to counteract the poison? Tara's in a lot of pain."

Anya glanced into the living room where Tara lay back against the couch. The amount of pain she was in was obvious though she remained stoically quiet. Motioning everyone further away from the living room, Anya said softly, "There isn't any way to counteract the poison, at least not directly."

"What?" Willow cried out.

"Quiet, Willow, there's no need to upset her anymore than she already is," Anya snapped, her manner unusually brusque. "These creatures are called The Swarm. I've only seen them once before, during the Middle Ages. There was an outbreak in a small village in the Schwarzwald - the Black Forest. The villagers burned a woman at the stake claiming that she was a witch and ran her two young daughters out of the village to survive as best they could in the forest. An old crone who lived deep in the forest and actually was a witch rescued the two girls and brought them up. When the girls were old
enough they got their vengeance by summoning The Swarm to prey on the village."

"So what happened?" Dawn asked fascinated by the tale. "How did the villagers get rid of The Swarm?"

"A small group of villagers traveled to Rome despite all the pain they were in and pleaded for help saying they were beset by demons, which they were. The Pope sent a group of church knights who eventually found The Host and killed it. Once it was killed, The Swarm disappeared along with the pain. See the pain is tied mystically to The Host; it feeds off its victim's pain. And until it's dead, the pain never stops."

"Well then, I just find this Host, kill it and that's that. Where can I find this thing?"

"It hides in dark underground places. It took the knights over two years to finally locate it and it was just pure luck they did."

"Tara can't be in pain for two years," Willow exclaimed.

"And she won't be," Buffy said, a steel edge in her voice. "There must be a better way to locate this Host thingy than relying on luck."

Anya shrugged. "Willow could cast a location spell. All we need is to capture one of The Swarm alive, extract some of its venom, add a few herbs I have at the shop, drop the solution onto a map and follow the trail. If the stupid Church Knights hadn't been so anti-magic they could have found The Host two hours after arriving at the village."

"Fine, we go to The Magic Box. Once we get the location, I go kill The Host."

"I know you're the Slayer, Buffy, but I don't think you should go alone. The Host is big and strong and it's not going to be easy to kill."

"Fine. I'll stop by Spike's crypt and have him come with me."

"Spike may not be the best one to help you with this, Buffy."

"Why?"

"Well to keep you from getting stung several hundred times you can wear armor like the knights did or I can make a repellent."

"And I suppose the repellent smells repellent?"

"The main ingredient is garlic juice."

"Spike is so not going to like that," Dawn said, stating the obvious.

"He'll just have to suffer through. Garlic will make him nauseous but it won't hurt him. He can just not breathe for a while. Come on, everyone, let's go. The sooner I find and kill this thing, the better."

As they grabbed up blankets to protect them from The Swarm, Dawn asked Anya, "What happened to the two girls that summoned The Swarm?"

"Oh, D'Hoffryn offered them jobs. They're two of his top Vengeance Demons."

"Figures," Buffy muttered as they ran from the house and piled into Xander's car.

***

The three boys could hear Warren's mother weeping from the pain of her sting. She had gone out early that morning for her health walk and gotten stung by one of The Swarm.

"Shouldn't we being doing something to help your mom, Warren?" Jonathan asked. The sound of her crying was really bothering him. He hadn't expected anyone they knew to get hurt by the demon Andrew had summoned to occupy the Slayer.

Warren shrugged disinterestedly. "Andrew said the pain won't kill her. If it gets too much for her she can go to the hospital."

"You're willing to just let your mother suffer like that?"

"Don't worry about it, shortstack. Let's just concentrate on getting the cerebral dampener operational. Once it's ready, gentlemen, the women of Sunnydale will belong to us."

Andrew and Jonathan looked at each other and giggled.

***

"Spike, wake up!"

Spike stirred in his bed. Taking in a breath to speak, he gagged and rolled off the far side of the bed. Backing up until he hit the wall he looked in horror at Buffy who stood several feet away.

"God, Slayer, what're trying to do, kill me?"

"Don't be such a baby, Spike. It won't kill you. It's just a repellent."

Spike stilled and stared at her, hurt showing in his eyes. "You're wearing a repellent against me?"

Buffy blinked and then cursed her stupidity. Shaking her head vigorously she started to walk towards him but stopped when he tried to press even further against the wall. "No, Spike, no. This isn't about you. It's a repellent to keep The Swarm away."

"The Swarm? What the bloody hell's The Swarm?"

Backing as far away from him as she could she explained the situation. As he listened, Spike looked around until he located the clothes he'd discarded the night before. Being careful not to breathe, he dressed himself. Taking a quick breath, he asked, "And garlic was the only thing Anya could come up with to keep the nasties away?"

"Afraid so. I know it's hard on you, Spike, but I really need your help to kill this thing. If you don't breathe you'll be okay, won't you?"

"Don't breathe, I can't talk."

"I know. If you don't want to help me..."

"Didn't say that. Just won't be able to carry on a conversation. And I won't wear any of that juice myself. I'd rather put up with the pain of the stings."

Buffy frowned. "If Tara's any indication, they're really, really painful, Spike."

"I can handle a lot more pain than the little witch," he answered. "Show me where we're going."

Buffy pointed out the glowing spot on the map. Indicating he wanted her to wait, Spike went to his upper level to retrieve weapons and was soon ready to go. Silently, they headed for the tunnels.

The Host, which turned out to be a cross between Jabba the Hutt and a lime-green Jello mold, was as big and mean and tough to kill as Anya had indicated. It didn't help that The Swarm attacked them ferociously; not even the repellent kept them from stinging Buffy. By the time they had finally hacked The Host to death, Buffy and Spike were covered in agonizing stings. The relief they felt when the thing finally died left them giddy. They slumped to the ground to rest and regain their strength.

Sitting as far away from Buffy as he could get, Spike lit up a smoke and then said, "You realize I'm not taking you to bed again until that juice is out of your pores, don't you?"

Buffy made a little pouty face. "I thought you loved me no matter what."

"Yeah, I do. But I'm still staying away from you until you stop stinking."

Buffy grinned mischievously. "Too bad I didn't know about this when you were trying to kill me."

"Oh, I'd have still tried to kill you, Slayer. It just wouldn't have been as much fun," Spike smirked.

Buffy stuck her tongue out at him.

He laughed.

***

When Warren's mother suddenly stopped crying, Jonathan went up to check, concerned that something bad had happened to her. Coming back down the stairs he announced, "She says the pain stopped. The swelling's almost all gone too."

Warren glared at Andrew. "I thought you said it would take the Slayer weeks to locate that demon and kill it."

"Well it took the Church Knights two years. I figured it would take the Slayer at least a couple weeks," Andrew whined.

"Well find another demon to summon, numbnuts," Warren ordered. "And this time don't make it one so easy for her to get rid of. The cerebral dampener will be ready soon. And unless you want to die a virgin, she must not be allowed to interfere with our plans." Swallowing nervously, Andrew retrieved his handbook of demons.

Chapter 14

Over the next week there was a rash of demon activity that kept Buffy hopping. She was falling behind in her studies due to the increased demonic activity and she and Spike hadn't been able to be together since the night before The Swarm hit town. It'd taken several days for the garlic juice repellent to completely dissipate from Buffy's pores and then her time had been taken up by demon slaying and studying.

Now at last it was Friday night. Hoping to carve out some time for themselves, Buffy and Spike had decided to split up patrol. With each covering half of town, they figured they'd be able to have an hour or so to be together. Buffy hoped so. She'd gone a year without sex after Riley left, but she was ready to climb the walls after just one week of being denied Spike.

Walking past the Espresso Pump, she glanced in and stopped dead in her tracks. Entering the cafe, she approached a table and asked sternly, "What are you doing here?"

Dawn jumped and looked at her sister guiltily. "Just having a cup of hot chocolate with Janice."

Buffy looked coldly at the two boys who were also at the table. Looking back at her sister she said, "Let's go, Dawn."

Dawn started to protest but one look at her sister's angry face and she gathered up her jacket and hurriedly said goodnight.

"Well, that certainly ruined my social life," she hissed furiously. "It'll be all over school Monday that little Dawnie Summers' big sister fetched her out of a coffee shop cause she was sitting with boys."

"That isn't why and you know it," Buffy snapped. "The demons in this town are running wild and you're not supposed to be out after dark. Are you trying to get hurt or killed?"

"No," Dawn pouted. "I just wanted to have a little fun. You remember fun, don't you, Buffy?"

"Barely," her sister answered dryly.

"Where's Spike?" Dawn asked suddenly. "I thought he always patrolled with you."

"We split up tonight hoping to finish patrol faster so we cou... I mean, so I could go to bed early tonight."

"Oh. I guess it has been a rough week for you. You must really be ready to hit the mattress."

"You have no idea."

As they walked up the street, Buffy slowed down as she saw someone entering a restaurant halfway up the block.

"What is it?" Dawn inquired.

"You wait here, Dawn. That was that Warren creep. I'm just going to check out what he's up to."

"Oh, come on, Buffy. He was probably just going to dinner. Let's go home, okay?"

"Wait here." Hurrying up the street, Buffy entered the restaurant. Telling the hostess that she was meeting someone, she slipped past her and quickly spotted Warren. He was talking to a girl at the bar, a girl who did not seem happy to see him. When the girl turned her head slightly, Buffy realized that it was Warren's ex-girlfriend, Katrina. As Buffy approached, Katrina gathered up her purse talking as she stood up. "...looking at you makes me want to vomit."

"You sure about that?" Warren asked, slipping on a pair of red sunglasses.

"I don't know, Warren, but I'd think the vomit line was a clue that she's way sure, wouldn't you?" Buffy asked mockingly.

Warren jumped up and glared, "You!"

"Me."

"I know you, don't I?" Katrina asked.

"Yeah, we met at Warren's last Spring when his sexbot tried to kill you."

"Oh, yeah. You aren't dating him now, are you?"

"Me? Go,d no. Except for punching his face in, I wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole."

"Smart girl." Turning back to Warren, Katrina added, "Just stay away from me, Warren, or I'm taking out a restraining order." With that she sailed out of the bar.

"You bitch," Warren growled. "You think you've stopped me, but you can just take Katrina's place." Opening his hand, he revealed a small silver orb that flashed with red and gold sparkles. Within seconds, Buffy was entranced. Putting the device back in his pocket, Warren removed his sunglasses. "Follow me, slave," he ordered.

"Yes, master."

***

Spike walked into his crypt. He'd managed to finish patrol even sooner than he'd hoped and now had time to prepare the bedchamber for Buffy's arrival. Lighting candles and pouring a glass of wine, he removed his tee shirt and donned a red silk button down that he left hanging open. The bed was turned down and soft music was playing from his CD player. Spike reached down and rubbed at his already turgid shaft. He hoped she arrived soon or he'd have to take the edge off.

***

Dawn watched in confusion as Buffy followed Warren into a black van. There was something strange about the way her sister had been walking and when the van pulled away with a squeal of tires, Dawn knew her sister was in trouble. Running to the restaurant, she pulled some coins from her pocket and made a quick call. She was waiting anxiously outside the restaurant when a vehicle pulled up at the curb. As Xander exited the vehicle, Dawn ran up to him. "We have to find her, Xander. He did something to her. She'd never have just left me here like this and gone off with him."

"Okay, Dawn," Xander soothed, "it's okay. We'll find her. Do you know where Willow is? I tried calling the house but just got the answering machine. I left a message."

"She and Tara were going to some girl's house for a wicca meeting or something. I don't know where though."

"Okay, that makes it more difficult. We needed Willow to do a location spell for us."

Dawn looked at Xander in concern as he furrowed his brow in thought. Snapping his fingers he said, "Spike!"

"Spike?"

"When Buffy was invisible, he said he'd try to sniff her out. Maybe he can follow her trail."

"He's out patrolling. Buffy said they split up so she could have an early night."

"Well, we'll just have to try his crypt anyway. Maybe he's home now. I sure hope so."

Getting into the car, they sped off towards Spike's cemetery.

***

"This is a bad idea, Warren," Jonathan was saying in near panic. "Buffy's the Slayer. She's going to kill us."

"She's our slave now, Frodo," Warren sneered. "The bitch isn't going to do anything but serve our needs." Buffy was dressed in a French Maid's outfit and stood stiffly in front of the three men holding a bottle of champagne. Walking up to her, Warren ordered, "Serve us the champagne, slave."

"Yes, master," Buffy said and obediently poured the wine. Jonathan nervously sipped at his drink. He hoped when Buffy came to she didn't punch him too hard.

***

Spike jumped when his front door burst open. Looking up in surprise from his chair, he raised his eyebrows when Xander and Dawn rushed into his crypt.

"What's wrong?"

"Spike, Buffy's in trouble. You have to find her before he does something to her."

"What? Who, Niblet? Who's going to do something to Buffy?"

"Warren has Buffy," Xander explained, filling Spike in on the story.

"Wait here," Spike told them. Jumping down to the lower level, he changed back into his tee shirt and picked up his duster. Rejoining the others, he headed for the door. When Dawn started to follow, Spike turned to her. "You stay here, Bit. Bar the door and don't let anyone in unless it's one of us. There're weapons in that chest, so protect yourself if you have to."

"We can't leave her here alone," Xander protested.

"And I'm not taking her anywhere near that bastard Warren. If he can do something to Buffy to make her go with him, he can do something to Dawn. We're not taking that chance. She'll be safer here."

Xander didn't like it but he reluctantly acquiesced.

When they reached Xander's car, Spike said, "I have an idea where he might have taken her. If I'm right, we'll save a lot of time tracking her."

"And if you're wrong?"

"Then I try to track her from the restaurant."

"And we've wasted precious time."

"Yeah, like we're going right now while you argue with me."

Xander scowled but started the car. "Where to?"

***

When Warren had finished his glass of champagne, he said, "Now the fun begins. Come with me, slave."

"Wait a minute," Jonathan said nervously. "Where are you going with her?"

"I told you," Warren sneered. "This bitch is going to serve us. And right now she's going to service me."

"You can't do that," Jonathan protested.

"You going to try and stop me?" Warren asked, a dangerous edge to his voice.
Jonathan swallowed and backed down. He hated himself for his cowardice, but Warren was really scaring him. Andrew had watched the whole exchange in wide-eyed silence. As Warren led Buffy into the back room and closed the door, Jonathan felt like he was going to throw up.

***

Spike and Xander arrived at Warren's house to find a black van parked in the driveway. "She's here," Spike growled.

***

Warren stood with his back braced against a wall and looked down with contempt at a kneeling Buffy. "You know what I want you to do, bitch. Now get to it."

"Yes, Warren."

"What? What did you say?"

Buffy sat back on her heels, a confused look crossing her face.

***

Getting out of the vehicle, Xander had to race after the rapidly moving vampire. "Hey, Spike. This is a house. You can't go in without an invitation, remember?"

"Already been invited." Following Buffy's scent he headed around to the rear of the house. Lifting a foot, he smashed open the basement door. Andrew and Jonathan jumped and watched as a vampire in full game face and a pissed-off carpenter raced down the stairs. Without even looking at them, Spike headed directly to a closed door at the back of the room with Xander following closely on his heels. Spike kicked in that door also and the two men entered. Jonathan and Andrew stood frozen as they heard a horrible growl from the vampire, a cry of fright and pain from Warren, a scream of anguish from Spike and then the sounds of fists meeting flesh and more cries of pain. When at last things quieted down, they eased over to look inside the room. Spike was kneeling on the floor hunched over, holding his head as if in terrific pain. Buffy was kneeling beside him, holding his shoulders and talking softly to him. Xander was standing over a thoroughly thrashed Warren occasionally kicking him in the ribs as he watched Buffy and Spike.

Finally Spike rose to his feet with Buffy's help. With her arm around his waist in support, he stood looking over at Warren's crumpled form. "I'm not sorry I tried to kill him."

"I know, Spike," she said softly. "Let's go."

As the three headed towards the door, Buffy suddenly halted and then went to where Warren lay. Searching through his pockets she pulled out the orb, laid it on the floor and stabbed the heel of her shoe into it smashing it to pieces. Returning to Spike's side they exited the room. The two boys stood together in fear awaiting the Slayer's retribution.

"Where are my clothes?" she asked grimly.

They heard another growl issuing from Spike's throat and hurriedly retrieved Buffy's garments. Buffy looked around at all the computers, texts, equipment and computer disks and printouts. "You boys look like you've been busy. I think it's time you found something else to do with your time. Xander, Spike, gather up the books, disks and printouts. Then help me." As the two men did as she'd ordered, Buffy began to systematically smash every piece of equipment she saw. Andrew cried out in protest when she picked up his didgeridoo-like device.

"This important to you?"

Andrew nodded nervously.

Buffy looked at the instrument in her hand and then used it as a club to smash all of Jonathan's vials and jars. When she had finished, she broke it over her knee, threw the pieces on the ground and dusted off her hands.

"Now it's not," she said calmly.

Warren stood leaning in the doorway of the back room holding his hand against his ribs. His face was a bloody mess and there was a wound in his neck from an obvious vampire bite. He glared his hatred at the Slayer as she and her two friends destroyed all his hard work. When they'd finished, Buffy turned to look coldly at him. "Leave town, Warren."

"Fuck you, Slayer."

Spike growled and lunged at him, but Buffy stopped him. "Don't, Spike, he's not worth the pain."

"Buffy's right, Spike," Xander said calmly. Walking up to Warren, he punched him in the face again sending him to the floor. "Fortunately, it doesn't hurt me."

Picking up the boxes of items they'd confiscated, the three walked out.

Chapter 15

They stopped by Spike's crypt to pick up Dawn. Spike opted to stay behind rather than go with them to Buffy's house. He'd been unusually quiet since they left Warren's hideout. Buffy was concerned but had no option but to return to the house with Dawn and Xander. Willow and Tara were just getting home as they drove up. They looked at Buffy's outfit with shock and then listened wide-eyed as they were filled in on the evening's happenings.

"But you're okay, Buffy?" Willow asked with concern.

Buffy nodded. She had changed out of the maid's outfit and back into her own clothes. "I was just starting to come out of the trance or whatever it was when Spike and Xander broke in. He hadn't managed to get me to do anything yet, but it was close." Buffy shuddered. It's a good thing you guys showed up when you did, Xan," Buffy added. "I don't know what Warren would have done once he realized I was coming to. I don't think he would have wanted me to regain control over myself."

"All in a day's work, Buff," Xander smiled.

Buffy smiled back at him. They were sorting through the material they'd taken from Warren's house. Buffy looked at the mess and then stood up. "Look, guys, I hate to leave you with this, but I really need to go talk to Spike."

"Buffy," Xander said haltingly, "I know he bit Warren and all, but it was extenuating circumstances. Go easy on the guy, okay?"

"Yeah, I will, Xander," Buffy smiled gently. "Don't wait up, okay, Dawn? This talk may take awhile."

"Buffy," Dawn said worriedly.

"It'll be okay, Dawnie, I promise."

She walked into Spike's crypt to find him slumped in his chair staring straight ahead at nothing, a bottle of whiskey hanging loosely from his fingers.

"Come to stake me, Slayer?"

Buffy walked up to him and removed the bottle from his hand, setting it on the floor. "I don't usually stake my heroes, Spike."

Spike gave a mirthless laugh. "Some hero. I promise you I'll act like a man and at the very first trial, I go for the jugular."

Buffy straddled his lap. Putting her hands of either side of his face, she titled his head up until he was looking into her eyes. "You want to know a secret, Spike? If the roles had been reversed, I'd have gone for the jugular too."

Spike looked at her in surprise. Buffy looked back at him tenderly. "I'm not saying it's okay for you to attack like that every time I'm in danger from a human," she said with a small smile, "but coming into that room, seeing what you saw, well I'll give you a little leeway for being a bit upset."

Spike traced the side of her face. "Did he hurt you, Buffy? Did he..."

Buffy shook her head. "No, you and Xander got there in time, Spike. Nothing happened except he made me put on that stupid maid's outfit."

Spike wrapped his arms around her and crushed her to him. "Thank God." Burying his head in her neck, he groaned out, "I wanted to kill him, Buffy. I still want to kill him."

"I know, Spike." She held him tightly for a long while until she felt him begin to relax. "Do you know what I want, Spike?"

"What, love?"

"I want you to take me downstairs and make me forget about everything but you and me."

Spike pulled her to him for an urgent kiss. Wiggling off his lap, she took his hand and led him to the ladder to the lower level. They rapidly made the descent and then there was only kissing and touching and the hurried removal of clothing. They tumbled onto the bed together, neither one willing to let loose of the other. Buffy needed him inside her, needed to join with him, needed to breathe him in to wash away the stench of Warren Meers from her nostrils. Opening to him, she reached down and guided him to her. Spike slid home and then went still. They held each other tightly, unmoving, feeling only the joining of their bodies. When Spike at last began to move, Buffy titled her head back to give him access to her neck. Spike found her pulse and ran his lips along the sensitive skin. They moved together slowly at first, mouths meeting, hands sliding over skin until the forces began to build. When they came, Buffy felt cleansed.

***

Buffy spent the next day dividing her time between schoolwork and shifting through the things taken from Warren's the night before. Most of it consisting of diagrams and schematics and what appeared to be blueprints made no sense to her so she just tried to put it into piles for Willow to look over later. Late in the afternoon, she finished an assignment she'd been working on for school and stood up with a stretch. Wandering into the living room where Tara and Willow were reading through some of the confiscated material she said, "I think I'm going to go over to Warren's house, see if he took my advice and left town. Then I'm going to do an early patrol. All this demon activity..."

"I don't think you'll have that problem anymore, Buffy," Willow interrupted. "Look at this." She handed Buffy a loose-leaf binder.

Buffy flipped through a few of the pages and then looked at Willow in surprise.

"This is a catalog of demons."

"Yep. And since Tucker Wells was a demon summoner, I'm thinking the talent runs in the family."

Buffy stared at her friend. "You mean you think that the geeky little kid in Warren's gang was summoning all the demons that have been running me ragged this past week?"

"Positive. Look, Buffy, here's an entry for The Swarm."

Buffy glanced down to where Willow was pointing and her eyes turned frosty. "He called that thing? Called something that would put everyone in such pain?" Buffy stood stiffly and her fists clenched. "I had to wear garlic juice! Spike couldn't stand to be around me for days." At the confused looks from her friends, she stammered out, "Y-you know how much Spike bitches and complains. It was really hard to patrol with him like that."

The girls laughed then, accepting Buffy's explanation for her rather odd statement. Deciding that she'd best leave the house before she said anything else incriminating, Buffy gathered a few weapons and left.

When she reached Warren's house, the first thing she noticed was that the van was gone. Walking around to the rear of the house, she saw that the broken door had been propped shut. Peering in through a small window, she could see nothing in the darkened cellar.

"Can I help you?"

Buffy swung around to face a woman whose looks left no doubt she was Warren's mother. "Uh, hi. I was just looking for Warren."

"He's moved out," the woman said. "I came home from bingo last night and he and his friends were loading their things into Warren's van." Making a face she added, "And I must say those boys left me quite a mess to clean up in that basement." She shook her head, a look of long-suffering on her face. "I don't know why my son is so inconsiderate. It isn't the way his father and I raised him."

Buffy felt guilty since she was the one who'd made the mess. "Uh, do you know where Warren and the others went?"

"No, I'm sorry. I'm sure he'll call me once he gets settled though."

"Okay, thanks. It was nice meeting you."

"If I hear from Warren, do you want me to let him know you were here to see him?"

"Sure. Tell him Buffy was checking up on him."

As she walked back down the street, Buffy realized that she really didn't have any pressing business to take care of. A smile graced her face as she turned towards a particular cemetery and a particular vampire.

***

"So, Anya," Xander said to his girlfriend. "I've been thinking about what you said about Buffy."

Anya looked up from the order form she was completing. "What did I say about Buffy?"

"That she was lonely."

"I never said she was lonely."

"Well, you said she needed a boyfriend."

Anya sighed. "No, Xander, what I actually said is that she needed to have sex. Must you put everything so delicately?"

"It's just my way, Ahn," he said dryly. "Anyway, what I was getting at is there's a guy on my crew, name of Richard. Seems nice and I think he and Buffy would hit it off, so I invited him to Buffy's birthday party next Saturday."

"Is he an overly large man?"

"No, kind of medium."

Anya frowned. "I'm not sure she'll like him then. You know she prefers men who are large and hulking."

"She dated Scott Hope in high school. He wasn't large and hulking."

"True," Anya said with a shrug. "I guess it won't hurt. I just hope he is a man who can fulfill her sexually. Slayers are different from regular women. He will need to have great stamina and athletic abilities."

"Okay, I think this conversation has just wandered into an area I'd rather not go."

"You're such a child, Xander," Anya muttered as she returned to her order form.

***

Buffy opened the door and entered to find Spike sitting in his chair, reading a book. As he'd done once before, as soon as he saw the Slayer, he hid the book under the cushion of his chair. This time, Buffy wasn't going to let it pass.

"What were you reading?"

"Nothing."

"It wasn't nothing, Spike. You were reading a book and you hid it as soon as I came in. Now what was it?" She was next to him by now and reached down to grab the book.

"Hey, leave off. It's none of your business, Slayer." He grabbed at her hand, but couldn't really do much. The chip started giving him a twinge as soon as he tried to push her hand away. Grasping the book, she pulled it out and looked at the title. Opening the book, she slowly turned the pages, stopping to read a little now and then.

"It's poetry."

"Yeah."

"You read poetry?"

"Yeah. Now give it over."

She kept hold of the book, but sat down on the arm of his chair and leaned into him. His arm automatically slipped around her back. Still leafing through the book she said softly, "I like poetry too."

"You do?"

"Uh huh. It's one of my favorite courses at school."

"I didn't know that."

Buffy handed the book back to him and said, "Read to me."

Spike took the book and placed it on the floor and then pulled Buffy onto his lap. She immediately curled into him, leaning her head on his shoulder. Wrapping his arms around her, he began to recite:

Stars, you are unfortunate, I pity you,
Beautiful as you are, shining in your glory,
Who guide seafaring men through stress and peril
And have no recompense from gods or mortals,
Love you do not, nor do you know what love is.
Hours that are aeons urgently conducting
Your figures in a dance through the vast heaven,
What journey have you ended in this moment,
Since lingering in the arms of my beloved
I lost all memory of you and midnight.

She was looking at him with soft eyes. Tracing her fingers down the side of her face, she said, "More."

Looking deeply into her eyes, his voice rich with meaning, he quoted:

In that book which is
My memory . . .
On the first page
That is the chapter when
I first met you
Appear the words . . .
Here begins a new life

He lowered his head then and took her lips. She responded with all the emotion she felt but could not express in words. When the kiss ended, Spike held her close and recited verse after verse of beautiful poetry. And when they made love, Buffy felt as if her heart would burst from the tenderness she felt for this monster, this man.

A/N: The first poem Spike recited was Night Thoughts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The second was La Vita Nuova by Dante Alighieri