Chapter 33
“Away with your fictions of flimsy romance,/Those tissues of falsehood which Folly has wove;/Give me the mild beam of the soul-breathing glance,/Or the rapture which dwells on the first kiss of love …Oh! cease to affirm that man, since his birth ,/ From Adam, till now, has with wretchedness strove;/Some portion of Paradise still is on earth,/And Eden revives, in the first kiss of love./When age chills the blood, when our pleasures are past—/For years fleet away with the wings of the dove—/The dearest remembrance will still be the last,/Our sweetest memorial, the first kiss of love.” ~George Gordon, Lord Byron, “The First Kiss of Love”
Hunting the demon took a lot longer than Spike wanted it to. By the time he’d left the Summers ‘ residence, Buffy had been asleep, but insensible. The thought that haunted him was of what might happen if the potion didn’t work.
He meant what he’d said, though. Spike would find a way to keep Buffy safe, even if it meant whisking her away.
The thing was , he didn’t want to leave Sunnydale. He would do it, but he didn’t want to.
Surprisingly Spike liked it here. He liked staying in one place for once in his unlife, enjoyed being able to drop in on Rupert or Joyce for a bit of conversation and a drink. Spike even liked knowing that Buffy’s friends would back him up.
And yet Buffy’s well-being was more important to him than anything. Spike wondered if she completely understood that.
It was dangerously close to dawn before Spike managed to find the demon. It was a tough bugger to kill, too, but he was a match for it. The vampire had quite a bit of aggression to work out on its flesh.
After the fight had taken them both around the park a few times, the demon managed to flip Spike over its back, sending him flying into a park bench. Spike rolled and came up under it, just as the demon was approaching him.
The knife slid up through flesh, catching on bone, and Spike stood quickly, catching its head and giving it a quick twist. The demon slumped, and Spike removed the heart with a few practiced slices, putting it in the jar that he’d brought for that purpose.
Not that he typically had to store demon hearts, but he had something that would do.
He had to make a mad dash for the Summers ‘ house since he’d had to hunt the demon on foot. The just-rising sun was making the back of his neck itch by the time he hit the front door, but Joyce had left it unlocked for him, so he had no trouble getting inside before he started smoking.
“Rupert! I’ve got it!”
Wesley emerged from the kitchen as Giles came down the stairs. “We’ve got the potion on the stove in the kitchen,” Wesley said.
Spike followed him back, watching as Wesley carefully added the glowing blue liquid to the beaker on the stove. After a few minutes of watching it, Wesley pulled it off the stove, pouring the liquid into a vial. “Careful. It’s rather warm.”
“Got it,” Spike replied, heading up the stairs. Joyce was standing by Buffy’s bedroom door, and she looked at him hopefully.
“Spike?”
“We’ll get her sorted, Joyce,” Spike promised, striding over to Buffy’s bedside. The Slayer was tossing and turning fitfully, obviously unaware of her surroundings. “Got something for you, luv.”
Buffy moaned, but was otherwise unresponsive as Spike pulled her into his arms. “Drink up, Buffy,” he murmured, putting the glass to her lips. She tried to fight him off, but was too weak to do much. Spike patiently held the glass to her lips, waiting for her to swallow. Once he was certain she had gotten a few swallows down, Spike laid her back down on the bed, smoothing Buffy’s hair back from her face.
For a moment, Spike thought that all was well. Then Buffy started to convulse. Spike grabbed her shoulders, forcing Buffy to lie still. “Rupert!”
Giles was in the bedroom in an instant, coming over to the other side of the bed, helping Spike to hold Buffy down even though the vampire had her well under control.
Her Watcher was tired of watching and waiting.
An eternity seemed to pass before Buffy went still and limp. Joyce was standing next to Giles, one hand on his shoulder to steady herself. “Is she— “
“Sleeping,” Spike murmured. “She’ll be alright.”
Joyce looked at Giles for confirmation, and he nodded. “I believe Spike is correct.”
“Would anyone like coffee?” Wesley asked quietly from the door, feeling like an intruder.
Joyce smiled at him warmly. “Please. Do you know where everything is?”
Wesley nodded. He had watched Joyce make seemingly-endless pots of coffee over the course of the night and was well-acquainted with her kitchen.
Once he’d gone, Spike raised an eyebrow. “Is it just me, or is Wesley a little less of a git these days?”
“He has his moments,” Giles responded. He reached up to take Joyce’s hand. “How are you?”
Joyce held on tightly. “Not looking forward to explaining what Buffy managed to overhear yesterday,” she replied, striving for a lighter note.
Giles managed a smile. “No, that’s not going to be fun.”
~~~~~
The first thing she noticed was the silence.
Blessed silence.
Buffy opened her eyes slowly to see Spike watching her, worry etched on his features. “Spike?”
“Right here, luv.”
“Do you hear thoughts?” Joyce asked.
Buffy turned her head to see her mom and Giles on the other side of her bed. If the very idea of her mom and Giles sleeping together hadn’t completely grossed her out, it would have been kind of cool. After all, Giles was more of a father to her than her own was at the moment.
“All is quiet.” She glared at both of them, though. “We’re going to have to have a long talk later.” Both of them had the grace to look a little embarrassed. “Have you guys found the killer yet?”
Giles shook his head. ” Willow is leading the effort, but so far there haven’t been any results, I’m afraid.”
“I need to go.”
“Maybe you should rest,” Joyce suggested.
Buffy shook her head stubbornly. “I’m rested up, and I need to find that kid.” She pushed herself up off the bed. “I need to get cleaned up first, though. I probably look horrible.”
“You’re gorgeous,” Spike said softly, his eyes meeting hers.
Buffy smiled. “Sweet-talker.”
“Only for you.”
“Let’s let Buffy get dressed,” Joyce said, shooing both men out of the room.
Buffy watched them go, wondering what she was going to say to her mom and Giles. It was weird, and she was pissed as hell they’d been hiding it for months—but she wasn’t totally unhappy about it.
If only she hadn’t picked up on the sex part.
Unfortunately, there was no time for a shower, so Buffy had to make do with a freshly washed face, ponytail, and clean clothing. Her mirror told her that she didn’t look like a complete hag, though, and Spike didn’t seem to mind.
Spike knew when to lie, actually, which was a talent every boyfriend should possess.
When she came out of the bathroom, Spike was waiting in the hall for her. “Be careful.”
“Always,” Buffy replied. ” You staying here today?”
“Your mom offered me the spare room.” Spike shrugged. “I could definitely use the kip.”
“Thank you.”
He didn’t need to ask what she was thanking him for. “Any time, luv.”
~~~~~
“You guys really did a lot,” Buffy commented, looking through the stack of interviews. “What are you going to do with all of this information?”
Willow ‘s brow creased. “I thought maybe I’d turn them into the yearbook. They make for interesting reading, and that’s what everybody thought it was for anyway.” She hesitated. “So, uh, you know about…”
“Mom and Giles?” Buffy asked with a sigh. “It’s so Disney-movie, it’s not even funny.” A pout formed. “Spike has known forever.”
“Really?” Willow squeaked. “I guess that answers the question of whether or not he can keep a secret.”
“Oh, he so can.” Buffy relented slightly. “To be perfectly fair, Spike said he just suspected, but I’ll bet he was pretty sure. He certainly wasn’t surprised at all.”
Not that Willow was going to say anything out loud, but she wasn’t all that surprised now that she thought about it. Giles and Mrs. Summers had plenty in common—like Buffy—and Buffy’s mom could be sure that Giles wasn’t an evil robot or anything like that.
Although Willow would never admit it out loud, she had once harbored a small—teeny—crush on the librarian. With the accent, and the books, and really not bad looking… Well, who could blame her?
Not that she would ever, ever admit to that out loud.
“Isn’t it weird that it was the cafeteria lady?” Willow asked. “I mean, I know Xander joked about it, but that was just Xander.”
It had been an exciting afternoon. They had been out of suspects by the time Buffy got to the school. She had seen Jonathan in the bell tower and had managed to talk him down. Xander had been the hero of the hour, though, discovering the cafeteria lady in the act of pouring rat poison into the food.
That had been a close call.
“Very weird,” Buffy agreed. “I wonder what will happen to Jonathan.”
Willow grimaced. “I don’t know. I mean, life can really suck sometimes, but…” She still couldn’t quite understand why someone would want to end their life.
Buffy, who had sometimes wished for her life to end, had a better understanding. The only difference was that she didn’t want to end it herself. There was a better than even chance that something else would end it for her.
She pushed herself back from the library table, knowing that she had put the conversation with Giles and her mom off for as long as she could. “I’d better get home.”
Willow gave her a sympathetic look. “Don’t be too hard on them, Buffy. They’re only human.”
Buffy gave her a sour look. “Very funny.”
~~~~~
Giles was kind enough to give her a ride home. Buffy hadn’t said much to him other than what was absolutely necessary.
He stopped her before she could get out of the car. “Buffy—”
“Let’s talk when we get inside.”
He sighed. “We didn’t want to hurt you.”
“You didn’t.” Buffy shook her head. “Let’s talk inside, okay?”
Spike was still at the house, and he greeted her with a kiss, needing to check her well-being, and then he diplomatically took himself out to the back porch for a smoke.
Silence reigned over the living room. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Buffy,” Joyce finally said. “I wasn’t sure how you would take it.”
“I probably would have taken it better if I hadn’t picked it up by listening to you thinking about having sex with my Watcher,” Buffy muttered rebelliously.
Giles turned bright red. “Yes, well…”
Buffy looked at her mom. “There are things I don’t want to know either.”
Their eyes met and held, and Joyce finally nodded. “Fair enough.”
“I’m going to go keep Spike company ,” Buffy announced.
After she’d left the room, Giles turned to Joyce. “Well, that went better than I was expecting.”
“We have an understanding,” Joyce said. Her expression turned rueful. “Of course, what this means is that I’ve used up all my mom-points for a while. I won’t be able to get away with much more than a disapproving look the first time she comes in from being out all night.”
“I see,” Giles said , his eyes widening as her words struck home. “I see.” He made a face. “I suppose there really are things it’s better to remain ignorant about.”
“Oh, that’s been my motto for years,” Joyce said.
~~~~~
Buffy sat down next to Spike on the porch just as he was flicking his butt out into the yard. “Mom’s going to make you pick that up, you know.”
Spike winced. “Forgot. Sorry.”
“Not a big deal. As long as you get it before you leave.”
“How are you?”
“Okay. Weirded out, but okay.” Buffy stared off into the darkness. “It’s just—the things I thought were never going to change are changing, and things I wanted to change aren’t going to.”
“Your mum and Giles?” Spike hazarded.
“For one.” Buffy was quiet. “I haven’t told Mom yet, but I got the acceptance letter from Northwestern. UC Sunnydale too, but—she’s going to flip about Northwestern.”
The name of the school meant nothing to Spike, but he assumed that it was a good one, and that it was quite a distance away. “You could still go.”
Buffy stared at him. “Are you kidding? With the Hellmouth being here? Maybe if Faith hadn’t gone psycho, I could have left, but I’m the Slayer, Spike. I don’t get a ‘get out of jail free’ card.”
“What if I stayed?”
She stared at him. “What?”
“What if I stayed? You could go off, have a normal life, go to that school.”
Buffy was rarely speechless, but she was in that moment. “You would do that for me?”
“If it would make you happy.”
“Do you think I should leave?” Buffy asked. “Do you want me to leave?”
“Bloody hell, no!” Spike said quickly. “Don’t want you to go anywhere, but that would be up to you. I’m just saying that the option is there.”
Buffy shook her head. “Thank you, Spike, but… I don’t think it is. You can’t outrun destiny.”
“Suit yourself ,” he replied, but he sounded pleased.
“It’s not so bad,” Buffy said, trying to look on the bright side. “I know the town, and I can bring laundry home for Mom to do.”
“That’s right,” Spike said, trying not to be hurt about the fact that she’d said nothing about him being there.
“And you’re here.”
Spike glanced over at her, realizing that she’d been teasing him by deliberately leaving him out of her list the first time around. “Thanks for mentioning that.”
“How could I forget with you sticking to me like glue?”
~~~~~
Faith took the box, trying to hide her excitement and her suspicion. In her experience, presents were just a way to get under your guard so that the giver could get you to do something for them later. “What’s the occasion?”
The Mayor smiled at her indulgently. He understood the girl better than she’d ever know. Just give her a little affection, a few words of praise, and give her something to work out her aggression on and she was completely loyal.
Over the last century, Mayor Wilkins had learned that it didn’t always take money to buy a person’s loyalty.
“As if I need an occasion to show my affection,” the Mayor replied. “Or my appreciation for running a small errand out at the airport.”
Her pleasure turned sour. It was as Faith had suspected; the Mayor was just trying to butter her up so he could ask for something big. “You want me to help your friend move a sofa next?” she asked, unable to hide her bitterness.
The Mayor reached for the box. “This isn’t a free ride, young lady. You know, I’m beginning to think someone’s getting a little spoiled. Maybe I should take this back.”
Faith clutched at the present. Even if he was using it to make her indebted, it wasn’t as if she wasn’t already. After all, she had a nice place to stay, and nice things in that place. The Mayor had given her a place at his side, a job to do—a job she was good at. “No, sir.”
“Good girl,” the Mayor said approvingly. He pushed the plate of cookies on his desk towards her. “Have a cookie.”
Faith obediently took a cookie and started munching on it as the Mayor explained what he wanted her to do for him. “Now there’s a package arriving tomorrow night from Central America . I can’t stress this enough—it is critically important for my Ascension. I want you to meet the transporter at the airport and pick it up. It’s vital that no one else, say Buffy or her friends, get their hands on it.” He giggled. “Now, open your present.”
Faith opened the box eagerly. Now that she knew what her errand was supposed to be, it really wasn’t too bad. There was definitely the prospect of a fight ahead, and Faith did love a good fight. Her eyes widened as she saw the knife. “This is a thing of beauty, Boss!”
The Mayor smiled. “I thought you might like it. It cost a pretty penny, so I’d suggest you take good care of it.” The smile grew cruel. “And you’ll want to be careful not to put someone’s eye out with that thing. At least not until I ask you to.”
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