His Childe

Chapter 13 - Fights & Fangs

As the sun set on Sunnydale, a couple of vampires made their way to the Magic Box. Giles had called Buffy earlier to request her presence. Angel naturally followed.

Anya watched over Buffy’s shoulder as she signed a pile of legal documents that made her the co-owner of the shop in Giles’ place. The Slayer was patient, and repeated as often as necessary that no, she wouldn’t even try to do anything unless Anya asked, and yes, Anya could do whatever she pleased with the shop, as she had so far. After a while, the ex-demon seemed satisfied and returned to last minute seating modifications with an increasingly fidgeting Xander. Amused, Buffy wondered whether he was nervous because of the two vampires sitting just a few steps away from him, or because of his approaching wedding day. She would have bet her half of the shop that it was the latter. He had been slightly warmer toward her than he had been right after her return. The shock was fading, probably.

When all the documents were signed, Giles gave Buffy a bright smile, as if she had done him a huge favor and not the other way around. She had thought it would be harder than this to accept such a gift. Yet, now that it was done, she felt a bit better. No, a lot better. She didn’t have to worry about money any more. Well, she certainly wouldn’t be spending the summer visiting Paris by night, but at least the threat of losing the home – her mom’s home – was gone. The fridge would be full, the phone and cable would keep working, water wouldn’t be rationed, and she would only use candles for light if she wanted to. Vaguely, she was already thinking of getting some kind of job she could do from home. With a teen in the house, there was no such thing as too much money. But now she had time to search and find.

Giles being himself, he insisted for Buffy to do some training, which she grudgingly accepted. She didn’t feel like she needed to train at all, and she could think of more pleasant ways to spend her evening…

However, after destroying the punching bag in five punches, she got a sense that something was going on. She coaxed Angel into sparring with her, and amazed Giles, the brunette and herself by her rapidity and force. Of course, she had been anything but a weakling before, but her new abilities were stunning.

“Even knowing that it would happen,” she heard Giles mutter, “It’s still incredible.”

“How did you know?” she asked curiously.

“You are not the first Slayer to be turned,” he answered absently. “Not much has been recorded about the others, except that their Slayer powers only increased after the change.”

“What happened to them?” Angel inquired.

Giles hand rose to his glasses. Pure reflex, Buffy knew. He didn’t want to see them as he answered.

“The Council hunted them down.”

Buffy came to her Watcher, touching his arm gently. “Are they going to try and dust me?”

His hand covered hers, trying to reassure despite his words. “I don’t know. The fact that you have your soul will probably stop them. We just need to make sure they understand…”

His voice hesitated, and she nodded. “Tell them. When you return to England, tell them all they need to know.”

He patted her hand soothingly. “Don’t worry too much about them. I’ll make sure they know that coming after you would be a very bad idea.”

For just a second, a hint of Ripper pierced through his voice and gaze, and Buffy had the absolute certainty that the Council wouldn’t threaten her.

Eventually, Giles gave in to his Watcher’s instincts, and sent her out to do her Slayer’s duty. She didn’t mind at all. She felt weirdly elated by her newfound abilities. She only wished she knew exactly how strong she was. She was sure Angel had not given his maximum during their sparring. A persisting thought danced in her mind. Find Spike and provoke him. Make him angry enough that he would do his best to… bring the walls down again. Not exactly a good idea, she told herself after a while.

They patrolled and chatted idly, avoiding any reference to their earlier heated discussion. To Buffy’s delight, they accidentally discovered a nest. From what they could estimate, about twenty vamps were in an old building in the factory neighborhood. Angel suggested caution. Buffy wanted to test herself. In the end, she settled the matter by simply walking into the building, leaving to Angel the choice to either follow or let her fight alone.

Spike’s demon came forward when he saw his Childe rush into the building, which he knew was a nest. She was crazy. Or suicidal. In either case, he had to do something.

Without a thought, he ran after her and the poof. For a couple of seconds after he entered the edifice, he just watched her dance. The way she fought had always fascinated him. Grace and danger united in one perfect body. She was simply beautiful.

She was fighting five vamps at once, and was holding her own pretty well. On the opposite side of the room, Angel was dealing with three, with not much more trouble. However, more vampires were coming down from the second level of the building. More than she would be able to handle, whatever new strength he had heard her say she now possessed. Scowling at her recklessness, Spike strode to her and joined her deadly dance, instinctively taking position to guard her back,  aware of all her movements. No need to think. They had done this before, and they were good at it. Still, they had never been *that* good. They were bloody amazing.

Between blows and amidst the ashes, her eyes found his and she gave him a brief smile. He returned it unconsciously, then realized that she was wearing the demon mask. His anger reached new heights.

“Shift back to human,” he heard himself growl. “NOW!”

He was caught up in the fight again, but watched her from the corner of his eye, making sure she stayed out of game face. If he had had the time to think about it, he would have realized he had used a Sire's command on her, and she could do nothing but obey.

He quickly lost track of how many vampires he was dusting. Too bad there were no bodies, he thought absently. He would have liked knowing just how many kills he and his beautiful Childe had accumulated.

After what seemed like an eternity, only three vampires were left in the building. He found himself standing in front of the Slayer, his hand gently tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. In return, she reached up and ran a finger against his eyebrow were blood was seeping from a shallow cut. He watched, mesmerized, as she brought the blood stained finger to her lips.

He was abruptly reminded that they were not alone as Angel shoved him brutally away from her. He had a stake in his hand, and a deadly light in his golden eyes. Spike stared back at him unblinkingly.

“Give me just one reason not to make you ashes,” he barked.

“I asked you not to. That’s reason enough.”

Buffy’s words had been very quiet, but both Spike and Angel heard, both sets of eyes shifting to her. Surprise in one. Contained anger in the other. Angel took a step back, though he lost nothing of his menacing demeanor. Buffy pointed a finger at Spike, the same one that had been covered in his blood just a few seconds ago, he noted absently. Now perfectly clean. Why in hell had she done that?

“You were following us." she accused. "Why?”

“I was most certainly not following you!” Spike lied with a laugh. “Just heard there was a nest…”

He stopped hastily. Letting her know he was patrolling wasn’t much better than admitting he was stalking her. And neither was part of his plan.

“You’re actually patrolling?” she asked in an incredulous tone.

“Of course not!” he said as indignantly as he could. “Just getting my bit of violence where I can.”

She seemed to believe him. Not wanting to let her time to think about that, he counter attacked.

“What was that foolish move, Slayer? There were at least thirty vamps in here and you rushed in…”

He hesitated a half second. He had been about to say ‘like you wanted to die’.

“…With full game mask on!” he continued smoothly. “You might as well put a sign on your forehead that lists the easiest ways to kill you. Once the word gets out in the demon world, do you think they will hesitate to come at you with holy water, crosses, fire, or during the day?”

He had become animated during his tirade, angry once more at the thought that she could have been hurt. He was now right in front of her, scowling, barely aware that his back was exposed to Angel. He realized he was still wearing the demon face, and wiped it away thoughtlessly.

“I didn’t think about that,” she finally muttered, seemingly mortified.

“Obviously!” he spat, unable to contain his ire. “Just like you were not thinking when you fed off the poof!”

Said poof had apparently heard enough. Again, he pushed Spike away from the Slayer, a growl escaping his lips.

“Do not talk to her like that! Do not talk to her AT ALL!”

“Or what?” Spike snarled back. “You’re gonna beat me up? Or dust me? Be my guest and just try!”