CHAPTER FIVE: SOULED
Giles sat at his desk in the library, his eyes staring blankly at the wall in front of him. His thoughts consisted of only two words. Buffy. Vampire.
He vaguely heard the swinging doors to the library open and a rush of feet coming towards the office, but he neither cared to look, nor made any attempt to look up.
"Mr Giles," a voice puffed.
He looked up, startled by the voice, not having expected to see Buffy's mother, panting, in the doorway. His heart dropped as he realised that Buffy's mother hadn't been informed of last nights events.
"Buffy didn't come home last night. She didn't call, she didn't leave a note, and I'm sorry to barge into your office like this, but…the only place I could think of her going was to you," Joyce rambled, sounding much like Willow.
"Joyce, I…I'm sorry I didn't call. I should have let you know as soon as I found out."
Joyce felt her heart sink and tears pricked at her eyes.
"Oh god," she whispered softly, fearing that something had finally taken her daughter. That her daughter was dead somewhere, lying in a ditch.
Giles shook his head and looked away from Buffy's mother. "I'm sorry Joyce."
A tear ran down Joyce's face, her mind suddenly going blank.
"How?" she whispered, her hands grabbing at the door, trying to keep herself steady. Giles quickly got up from his seat and offered it to Joyce who gratefully sat down, her hands shaking terribly.
"A vampire. He uh…it drained her, and…and he…"
Joyce closed her eyes, tears flowing freely. "She's not…she's not one of…of them is she?"
Giles nodded a little but realised that Joyce had her eyes closed, her breathing suddenly shallow. "She is. Joyce, I'm so sorry."
Joyce looked up at the librarian, a desperate panic in her eyes. "You have to stop her before she hurts anyone! She wouldn't…Buffy wouldn't want to hurt anyone! Giles, please…you can…I know you can restore her soul!"
Giles took Joyce by the hands, kneeling down in front of her, trying to calm the woman down.
"Joyce, Slayer's never turn properly, your daughter still has her soul."
"You've seen her?" Joyce asked.
"Last night, just after it happened. She came in, and…she was confused and…Joyce, I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to happen," Giles said, tears springing to his own eyes.
Joyce looked away, hating to see the tears in the eyes of the person that she blamed for her daughter's calling.
"Never meant for it to happen?" Joyce repeated bitterly. "You sent her out night after night to die."
"It was her destiny, I had no hand in her calling. I never wanted this for anyone, least of all your daughter," Giles said defensively.
Joyce went to say more but stopped as she heard another voice in the library.
She looked up to see a young man in a suit standing in the doorway, a pompous look on his face.
"Mr Giles, I've been meaning to tell you that…we need to inform the Council," he said.
Joyce glared at the young man, uncertain of who he was, but knowing that he was a part of what had killed her daughter.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Wesley said, seeing Joyce for the first time. "I didn't realise you had company."
Giles stood up and looked spitefully at Wesley.
"Joyce, this is Wesley Whyndam-Price. Wesley, this is Joyce Summers. Buffy's mother," Giles stated, emphasising the relationship.
Wesley looked at the woman, a little shocked. "The Council forbids the Slayer to have any contact with their family at all. Mr. Giles, did your Slayer follow any of the rules?"
"Suddenly she's my Slayer again? You were assigned to be her Watcher, you bloody well got her killed on your first day. And yes, she followed the rules. She patrolled, she did her duty. Who am I to forbid her to have a life, to have the care that she needs?" Giles said.
Joyce stood up and looked at the young, arrogant man.
"You're the new Watcher?"
Wesley looked at her and stood up straighter, proud of his position. "I am."
He hasn't prepared for the loud slap to the face that followed.
"You killed my daughter."
Wesley looked at her shocked. Giles looked on uncomfortably as Wesley faltered.
"Mrs Summers, I assure you-"
Giles stepped in front of Wesley before he had a chance to say anything more. The younger Watcher stared up at Giles, uncertain of what was going on.
"You have no place here Wesley. Now get out."
Wesley hesitated for a moment but, seeing the hatred in both Giles' and Mrs Summer's eyes, he nodded curtly and stepped away.
"And if you so much as pick up the phone to call the Council, I will kill you myself," Giles threatened before Wesley had walked out of the library.
Wesley glared at him, feeling considerably safer due to the distance between them.
"The Council must be informed Mr Giles," Wesley said firmly.
"The Council has done its duty and the next Slayer has been called. They need not know about what has happened to Buffy," Giles said.
Wesley walked back towards Giles, anger filling him. He suddenly didn't care that the older Watcher could beat him to death if he were provoked.
"The Council has a right to know that she was turned. She was powerful as a Slayer, but with more strength than before…she'll be virtually unstoppable," Wesley said, trying to keep his voice calm.
"She's got her soul Wesley, she's not about to go around killing everyone in sight," Giles said tiredly.
"But she can."
"She could before this as well," Giles retorted. "Don't you see? She's exactly the same now as she was before. And if you dare lay a finger on her, if you dare call the Council, I will make sure her first kill is you."
Joyce looked between the two Watchers, the tension between them hanging in the air was almost tangible.
"You can't stop them from finding out. You know as well as I do that they keep tight tabs on everyone," Wesley said.
Giles gave a small smile and raised his eyebrows. "Not on a dead Slayer they won't."
~*~
Spike sat up a little, leaning on one elbow as he looked down at the sleeping Slayer. He touched her face softly, giving a small grin as he saw her respond to his touch even in sleep.
It was a shock to him, finding the Slayer had been turned. What shocked him more was that she had accepted his offer of help, though why he had even offered was beyond him.
She looked peaceful, he thought, though his mind was whispering that she was dead. He couldn't understand what was happening to the young girl laying next to him.
One minute, she was in complete control of her demon, the next…well, this morning's activities certainly hadn't been initiated by the Buffy he had known.
Buffy stirred a little and opened her eyes to stare up at Spike. She gave a little jolt of fright but relaxed again when everything came crashing back to her. She grinned at him a little and shifted to be closer to him, unsure of why she was suddenly feeling so bold.
"It's nearly sunset luv," he whispered, his arm going around her bare stomach.
She nodded and closed her eyes again. Her internal body clock seemed to have adjusted instantaneously to nocturnal hours.
"I have to go and see Giles. He made me promise to find somewhere safe to stay," she said softly.
Spike grinned a little and kissed her shoulder, gently nipping at the skin enough to make her bleed.
"I don't think 'e quite meant with me pet," he teased.
She laughed a little and nuzzled closer to him. "Kinda gives new meaning to the whole, sleeping with the enemy thing, doesn't it?"
"That it does," he replied.
"I don't know how I'm gonna explain this to him though," she whispered.
Spike turned her so that he was still in his arms, but was facing him. "There's nothing to be ashamed of kitten. Things change when you become a vampire. Just cos you've got your soul, it doesn't mean you aren't gonna get all the other vampire aspects."
"Like what?" she asked.
"Like…well, better hearing. You still need to feed. You've got better eye sight at night. And…you feel things a lot more than humans do. Your emotions run a little more wildly," he explained.
"Doesn't sound so horrible. Except for the feeding," Buffy said. "And the whole part with me getting frisky with you."
Spike grinned and kissed her roughly. "I'm not that horrible."
She kissed him back, their kiss was passionate, desperate and seemed to never stop.
"Another advantage," Buffy whispered, puling away from him. "Don't need to breath."
He grinned against her mouth and let theirs tongues continue their dancing.
After a few more minutes, he pulled away, grinning at the disappointment that was written across her face.
"Sun's gone down. We should go visit your Watcher," he said.
She looked at him sceptically. "We?"
He shrugged and pulled away from her, grabbing a pile of their clothing and pulling it towards them.
"I'm not gonna miss the expression on ole Rupert's face when you tell 'im you're bunking with me," Spike said.
She glared at him, and pulled her clothes from his hands, slipping into her black pants.
"You're not gonna hurt them?" she asked.
He rolled his eyes and looked at her with mock indignation. "What do you take me for, some kind of soulless killer?"
She stood up, not even bothering to comment on his attempt of a joke.
"Look, I just wanna watch your back…among other things," he said, pulling her against him, a gentle hand caressing her face. "If word gets out that you were turned, then…you'll be a target."
"A target? Why?"
Spike withdrew his hand and pulled away from her, slipping his t-shirt over his head and pulling on the red over-shirt that he was so attached to.
"It just wouldn't be pretty, that's all," he said nonchalantly.
She smiled and put her arms around his waist from behind him. She gently kissed his neck.
"What d'you know. You're a big softie after all."
He turned quickly and grabbed her wrist with no gentleness. She grinned and met his eyes defiantly. He could only look at her with anger for a moment before his anger melted into a lustful glance.
He kissed her, not gentle, though not rough, just enough to let her know that even though he cared, he wouldn't let her get away with taunting him about it.
"Let's go play with all the other kittens," he whispered.
She grinned and took his outstretched hand, walking out into the darkness with the vampire who was suddenly being her protector rather than being her attacker.
Thank you to everyone for your wonderful reviews! Sooooo sorry for the mix-up with the link…sheesh…stupid me…
Toodles.
K.