Chapter 30

Hyperion Hotel; 6:35 p.m.

"Fred can you pass me the seasoning?" Liz pointed at the jar of season salt in the cupboard above Fred's head.

"Sure." Reaching above her she grabbed the seasoning and handed it to Liz. Fred then went to the freezer and pulled out four bags of frozen French fries.

They were having burgers, fries, and Fred was also making a salad for those who didn't want burgers and fries. Liz started mixing the hamburger meat and the seasonings together.

After waking from her nap with Spike, he and Angel went out to the blood bank and butcher shops still open in the city to gather up a few weeks worth of blood. They would return soon and then Angel said he'd grill the hamburgers. Which immediately made her giggle thinking of Angel grilling up the food, he's a vampire what would he know of grilling…except maybe people. That made her stomach roll a bit but it went away quickly.

"Do you think we should make anything else?" Liz asked Fred.

Fred thought it over a bit. "Tacos?" She said semi-jokingly. Fred loved tacos, still does as a matter of fact but she had told Liz how when she got back from Pylea that all she wanted was tacos. And that's pretty much all she ate for weeks.

"I'm pretty sure we don't have taco shells."

"Too bad. What do we have?" Fred read the back of the fry bags and set the oven to the correct temperature and turned it on.

Liz opened the walk in freezer and searched inside, "About twenty frozen pizzas, another thirty frozen dinners, some tubs of ice cream that I don't even want to know how old they are, and—oo hot dogs and bratwursts." She pulled out the dogs, brats, and hot dog buns. "How bout the fridge?"

Fred opened the walk in fridge next to the freezer and did a similar inventory search. "A lot of fruit, yogurt, condiments, cheese, three day old apple pie, and some left over pizza."

"Yum. I'll cut up some of the fruit while you make the salad." Liz delegated.

"Sounds like a plan." Fred agreed.

A few minutes later the dinner was prepped and ready to cook. All they needed now was Angel to cook it.

7:10 p.m.

Kennedy paced alone in her and Willow's bedroom. Even though four other girls were also bunking with them, she already considered it just hers and Willow's.

As she walked back and forth across the room she recounted the last few days. Since Buffy had returned to Sunnydale with the evil vampire Angelus in tow she'd been biding her time. Kennedy knew Buffy wasn't equipped to be the Slayer; after all she let vampires into her home. She has been sleeping with one of the most evil vampires that ever lived and she expected everyone to follow her when that was the judgment she'd shown? Plus that didn't take into account all the innocent lives that have been lost since she took the potentials in.

Now to make matters worse it seemed Liz, another potential, was getting pretty cozy to another evil vampire. Just because Spike and Angel were on the side of good now, or appeared to be, didn't mean they were good. Both Buffy and Liz were giving Slayers a bad name. Even Faith, God rest her soul, had a pretty hefty shadow on her resume, killing people and working for the bad guy is not a good idea when you're supposed to be the good guy.

She had to show those two up somehow. Not just once or twice but a lot so the other potentials would see that she, Kennedy, was the ideal Slayer and should be the one leading and calling the shots. Now all she had to do was figure out what she'd do and then do it.

Straightening her back she pulled every ounce of confidence into her face and body. Time to go to work.

9:10 p.m.

Two hours later everyone had eaten dinner. It had been a relatively quiet affair, since everyone was still tired and a bit in shock from their recent battle. But small talk and chewing their food filled the silences just enough where it wasn't awkward.

It was thirty minutes after everyone had finished dinner; the dishes were being done by Wesley, Lorne, and about five potentials. Cordy was resting after getting a vision of a demon attack while she was eating desert and Angel, Buffy, Gunn, and the rest of the potentials that weren't too injured were out dealing with what Cordelia saw.

Meanwhile downstairs Spike and Liz were lightly training. Spike had been showing Liz some moves that he wanted her to learn. Training had been plugging along at a fairly good pace but now she and Spike were at a stand still. She didn't want to do what he was asking her too. The last thing Liz wanted to do was hurt Spike and doing what he asked, would hurt him.

"Ok pet, when I come at you I want you to give me a good solid punch right in the nose." He said for what felt like the millionth time.

"But Spike…" She'd been trying to tell him ever since they started the next round of training that she didn't think she'd be able to hit him. Spike didn't believe her and told her that instinct would take over when a vampire came toward her in a threatening manner.

"Just punch me in the nose." Spike stated again.

Liz didn't bother to repeat her previous denials; Spike wouldn't listen to them anyway. He'd only tell her again that Slayer instinct would negate all her worries and refusals to hit him. So she'd let Spike see for himself that she couldn't hit him.

Spike turned away from her and walked across the room. If she had to guess she figured he had to fight his mate instinct as well. He didn't want to come at her in a violent manner but he was determined to teach her proper fighting and punching and listening to her instincts.

A few moments later Spike rapidly turned around, his face was transformed into a feral, angry, 'I'm going to kill you' expression. Spike ran toward her snarling fiercely.

Spike was right, instinct was telling her to punch and fight the vampire coming toward her. It even itched to reach for one of the stakes hanging on the wall. However her mate bond and her desire to not hurt him was stronger. Instead of injuring Spike with a pop to the nose, she stepped aside quickly and pushed Spike a little bit away from her.

Spike sighed and turned, his face still vamped but he wasn't snarling or looking angry anymore. "That was not a punch luv." He looked at her with warmth in his yellow eyes.

"I know." Liz stated. "I didn't want to hit you."

Chuckling softly Spike made his way back over to her. Bringing his hands to rest on her hips he kissed her forehead. "Did you at least feel the instinct?"

"Yes. I felt that but my desire to not hurt you was louder." She put her hands flat against Spike black t-shirt. "Just like I told you it would be." Liz rested her chin on his chest and stared up at him with a mischievous smirk.

While the couple was talking and holding each other neither noticed the silent approach of Kennedy and three other potentials back from fighting what was in Cordy's vision. Kennedy had heard the last part of their conversation and how Liz, a potential with Slayer powers, couldn't hurt Spike, a blood sucking fiend. She'd just have to show the little girl how it was done.

Without warning Kennedy pulled Spike away from Liz. With two solid punches to his solar plexus and a hard kick to his face Spike went flying into the wall behind him, knocking down stakes and swords with his flying body.

"Hey!" Liz shouted and went to seek justice for Spike.

With moves that Spike taught her she got Kennedy in a head lock and kicked her back leg up smacking her in the nose and then she did it again for good measure. As the momentum of her kick knocked Kennedy up right she blocked Kennedy's punch, and then entangled their hands and arms so she couldn't use them, and rammed Kennedy's face into the closest hard surface, which happened to be the metal railing of the basement stairs.

At that Kennedy snapped her head back catching Liz on the chin but Liz didn't let go until saw what her next move was going to be. Always mindful of her pregnant belly Liz pushed Kennedy away just before she kneed her stomach in an attempt to get away from Liz.

Kennedy rolled on the concrete and landed up on her feet. She was about to charge her and continue their fight when Spike, having recovered, got between them and started teaching the little bitch some manners.

Two of the three potentials jumped up and ran to go get someone, to break up the fight or to get help for Kennedy, Liz wasn't sure. The other potential started toward Spike and Kennedy. Liz put a hand on her arm. "You don't want to get involved in this."

"But he's a vampire and he's going to really hurt her." She exclaimed.

"Right now Kennedy has the abilities of a Slayer, she can hold her own. Besides she shouldn't have attacked him." Liz sneered.

Spike snarled at Kennedy. Normally he'd be bantering with his opponent but this was different than any other fights he's been in with Slayers, or anybody for that matter. He wasn't interested in playing verbal volleyball with this potential Slayer and for him to not want to verbally spare was an insult to his opponent.

Pounding footsteps could be heard from the basement as the available people came rushing down to see and possibly stop the fight between vampire and potential. Wesley pushed forward and was about to call a halt to the battle when Spike bent Kennedy backward and kicked her hard in the back sending her flying to the foot of the basement stairs at Wesley's feet.

"What in the world is going on here?" Wesley questioned, glaring at the girl at his feet and Spike who had gathered Liz into his arms and was running his cool hands over her body, ensuring that she didn't receive any injuries in her brief fight with Kennedy.

Since it didn't look like Spike was able to tell Wesley what happened, Liz did. "Spike and I were down here, he's been teaching me some moves. We were taking a break and talking when Wonder Girl over there pulled Spike away and attacked him."

Kennedy rolled onto her back and was helped up by a couple other girls. She wiped at the blood trickling from her mouth.

"Then I jumped in, fought her for a few seconds, Spike recovered and started fighting her. And," Liz pointed to the injured girl, "that's the result."

"Why in the world would you attack someone unprovoked?" Wesley stood facing Kennedy.

Kennedy swallowed some of the blood that had collected in her mouth and started talking. "I came down and heard her tell him that she couldn't hit him. I pulled him away to show her how it was done."

"You fucking stupid bint. Did you ever think to ask yourself why she couldn't hit me?" Spike growled out, his face still vamped.

"Because she's not a Slayer, sure she's got the powers right now but she doesn't have the instinct." She shot back.

Spike was about to tell her the truth of the matter but Liz gently tightened her hand on the back of Spike's shirt. Why didn't she want people to know about their mated status?

"And it couldn't be because he's never done anything to hurt me, so I in turn wouldn't want to do anything to hurt him?" Liz mumbled quietly, though the majority of the room heard it.

"You've only know him for a few days. Maybe he's just buttering you up to put you in a false sense of security and then when you least expect it he'll pounce." Kennedy took a threatening step toward the couple. "Any Slayer worth her salt would have staked him by now."

Spike stepped in front of Liz blocking her from the advancing girl. "You don't know shit." He simply stated.

"Maybe you're the one being played Spike-y boy. Did you ever think of that? Maybe she's playing the sweet, weak victim so she'll have some strong man to protect her." She argued.

At that Liz laughed joyfully. "Oh sweetie, I'm not you. I don't need to butter people up so they like me or protect me."

Wesley pressed his fingers together on the bridge of his nose. He really hated these potential slayers, not Liz or a couple of the other girls but the majority of them gave him a pounding headache. How had Giles and Buffy done it all these months?

"All right. That's enough everyone. Liz, Spike why don't you both go cool off somewhere and relax. Kennedy I am only going to say this to you once. Don't ever attack any of my people again. If you do you're out on your ass and if you get beaten to a pulp before hand that's just too damn bad. I will not have you causing strife in this hotel, do you understand me?"

Reluctantly Kennedy nodded. Spike and Liz made their way through the crowd on the steps and pointedly ignored Kennedy's glare as they moved passed.

Once in Liz's room, away from prying eyes, Spike turned and faced Liz. "Why don't you want people to know that we're mated?"

Liz, confused by his statement, halted to a stop and stared quizzically at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Downstairs, when I was set to tell the annoying bint about our bond you tightened your hand on my shirt, giving me the distinct impression that you didn't want that known. Why?" Spike silently begged Liz to not break his heart. He'd had enough of that to last ten lifetimes.

Liz relaxed. "No, Spike. It's not that I don't want [i]people[/i] to know. It's that I don't want [i]Kennedy[/i] to know."

Spike straightened. "What does it matter?"

Liz took Spike's hand and guided him over to the bed, the sat and she explained her reasoning. "Right now she thinks I'm weak. She thinks she has an advantage on me. If she thinks that she's stronger than me and can beat me easily if we ever do get into another fight, it'll be a big mistake. Sometimes it's better to have someone think you're weaker than you are, makes them not try as hard to kick your ass."

Slowly Spike nodded his agreement. "That makes sense." He looked down at there clasped hands. "So you're not embarrassed to be with me?" It was a question he didn't want to ask but he had to know. Over a century worth of insecurities reared their ugly head. When he was William and known for his god awful poetry, no woman ever looked passed his curly hair, soft voice, and nervous manner, no woman that he could get the attention of, except Mum, were proud to be seen with him. Then when he was an evil murdering monster Drusilla would always compare him to her 'Daddy' and he never measured up, even after killing two Slayers he still hadn't been bad enough for her.

"Oh Spike." Liz rose from her spot on the bed and got on top of his lap, straddling him so she could face him. She cupped her hand at his nape and another caressed his sharp cheekbones. "Who could ever be embarrassed to be with you?" She kissed him deeply putting all her love and happiness at being with him into that kiss.

"You're so protective. Downstairs when you fighting Kennedy you kept your body between us, the whole time, not once allowing her to get near me. You're so loving, so strong, you make me laugh" She kissed his jaw gently, "and let's be honest, you are incredibly hot. And every time you speak in that sexy English accent I get a lot of down low tickles."

"Is that right." Spike licked and bit at his lower lip as he stared up at her with lusty bedroom eyes. "Let's see if I can give you some more of those down low tickles." Spike chuckling low in his throat began showing her exactly what he was capable of.

RosBTVSRosBTVSRosBTVSRosBTVS

A half an hour later Wesley sat at his desk, reading through one of his vampire books, when Giles knocked on the doorframe of his office.

"Mr. Giles." Wesley greeted. "Did you need something?" There was clearly something troubling him.

"I heard about what occurred with Kennedy, Liz, and Spike. Some of the girls are saying Spike attacked, others are saying Kennedy started it; a couple are saying Liz started it. I trust that you'll give me the accurate play-by-play."

Wesley gestured toward the chair in front of his desk, inviting Giles to sit. "Spike and Liz were downstairs. Since it was decided it wasn't safe for Liz to patrol she asked Spike to teach her some maneuvers to get out of certain holds. What I tell you next cannot be repeated, not yet anyway."

Giles nodded, "Of course." He continued to listen.

"Fred mentioned a development in Spike and Liz's relationship. I've been doing some research on what she told me." Wesley handed Giles the book and pointed out the passage he wanted his former colleague to read.

"Are you telling me that Spike has identified Liz as his mate?" Giles asked after reading the selected passage.

"That's precisely what I'm saying. When I came downstairs Spike and Kennedy were in a violent fight. From what I gathered from all three parties involved was that Liz told Spike she couldn't hit him; Kennedy decided to, quote 'show her how it was done' unquote, and proceeded to hit and kick Spike." Wesley tented his fingers. "Liz jumped in momentarily while Spike was taken out; once Spike recovered he attacked Kennedy and kept her away from Liz. I was surprised when Spike stopped to be perfectly honest with you."

Giles put the book back on the desk; he remained quiet for a few moments gathering his thoughts. Setting the Spike, Kennedy fight aside for a moment, "Why in the world is this happening now?" At Wesley's confused expression Giles explained. "In all of the Watcher's Diaries I've read I've only read about three similar cases of vampires choosing the Slayer as their mate. Now there are two in a short amount of time. Buffy and Angel, we both saw what Angelus was like in Sunnydale, if Buffy hadn't stopped him a few times he would have ripped out the throats of a few of the potentials. And he went berserk on a Turok-Han that went after her. Now this whole thing with Spike and Liz…" He trailed off.

"I think it's happened a lot more than the Watcher's Diaries have said." Wesley suggested.

At that Giles's gaze met Wesley's again, instantly putting together what the other man thought. "Of course." He stood up quickly. "The Watcher's Council gets those diaries when the Slayer dies, to save their Slayer's reputation they would have omitted that information. There's nothing more disgusting to the council than to have the Slayer fall in love with a vampire or demon, let alone become their mate. Then there would be the obvious execution of the former watcher."

"Exactly. I'd be will to wager a lot more Slayers have had vampire or other supernatural mates. Humans aren't strong enough for them, physically speaking. Who better to be attached to than a creature of similar strengths, one who knows what they face every night, one who could navigate the underworld with little problem, it makes perfect sense. I've looked into those three other cases; each of those watchers were either fired, or killed." Wesley revealed.

"The one that was fired couldn't be killed. His father was an influential member, in a position of power, plus a large benefactor of the council. They wouldn't have risked his death." He'd read the stories too shortly after Buffy and Angel had originally gotten together.

Giles took off his glasses and scrubbed them clean. An old habit that he used quite often. Turning his thoughts back to the fight in the basement he thought on what he could do. The infighting among the new temporary Slayers while expected was also heartbreaking. He'd hoped they could learn to work together but he should have known it would have been near impossible. It was why Kendra and Buffy, then Faith and Buffy had problems. There was only supposed to be one. The Slayer's instinct would be to take out the other alpha female and fight for dominance.

"I was hoping to be able to give the girls some kind of break before moving forward with my idea but it appears it would not be wise." Giles stated aloud.

"What idea?"

"We need to start a battery of tests on the girls. Their Slayer abilities will begin to get weaker as the days go on. Willow's spell is only intended to work for a short time. Once we figure out who is getting weaker we'll be able to figure out who the real next Slayer is." Giles leaned against the wall across the room.

"Less Slayers, less infighting?"

"In theory. Although if what happened in the basement is any indication I have a feeling that some of the girls will take not being the Slayer harder than others. We need to be prepared for that."

Wesley nodded. "Yes, you're quite right. We might want to also get the girls talking, together and individually. It might be beneficial and helpful in the long run."

"Now what about this constant night going on here? Do you have any idea what's causing it or how to undo it?" Giles questioned.

"We have some theories, none that have panned yet. There is the Beast, which according to Fred hasn't made an appearance since its last visit but I don't see that remaining the case for much longer. It doesn't appear to be an intelligent creature, so Angel thinks there is someone behind the scenes controlling it." Wesley scrubbed at his face and then pushed his hands through his hair.

"How about I help you with it tomorrow after we all get more rest?" Giles suggested.

Wesley agreed. "Yes, that would be very helpful and much appreciated." The two watchers say goodnight and head to their rooms. He went to the room he shared with Fred and looked forward to unwinding with her.

Giles went to his room where he was bunking with Xander and Andrew. As he made his way down the hall he gave serious thought to sleeping on that big red round sofa in the lobby. Although it looked inviting he promised he wouldn't leave Xander alone with Andrew for too long.

Giles figured that at least part of that was so Andrew wouldn't talk his ear off about Anya. Her death wouldn't be easy to put behind him. Plus Xander knew if Andrew didn't be quiet, Giles could get him to be silent, for a little while at least. These last few days had been a rollercoaster of emotions and events; he wondered what tomorrow would bring.

TBC