CHAPTER SIX: KITTENS

Giles sat in the library, fear consuming him.  He hadn't heard from Buffy all day, and from the looks of things, neither had Xander or Willow. 

The group was sitting silently in the library, no one daring to say a word.  The sun had gone done not half an hour ago, and already the gang was beginning to wonder whether or not Buffy was a pile of dust lying somewhere in Sunnydale.

Joyce was sitting on the edge of a seat by the table, nervously biting her nails, her eyes trained on the door.  Willow, Xander and Oz had taken their seats on the stairs, watching Giles pace the room.

All eyes went upwards as the door swung open, and immediately every person was filled with disappointment as they saw Cordelia walk through the door. 

She saw the room full of anxious people and felt her heart give a jolt.  For all her pretending not to care for anyone in the Scooby Gang, she knew that if someone was dead or injured, she would feel something.

She scanned the room, wondering who was missing, when the truth hit her directly in the face.  Buffy.  She hadn't been in school that day, Miss Murray had noticed Buffy's absence, and, embarrassingly enough, asked Cordelia if she had known of Buffy's whereabouts.

Cordelia looked at Giles, a violent look stretched across his face, tinged with worry and concern.  He stopped pacing as he saw her come in and he tried to keep the disappointment from showing on his face.

"What happened?" Cordelia asked softly.

No one spoke, but eventually Oz looked up at the usually snobby girl.  "Vampires," he said simply.

Cordelia felt her eyes close and her knees begin to give.  She felt a pair of arms around her and was surprised to see Xander standing beside her, keeping her upright.  She gave him a weak smile as he helped her into a chair beside Joyce.

"Did they…"

Xander nodded.  "Yes on both accounts," he answered.

Cordelia whispered a curse and looked towards Joyce, tears in the woman's eyes.

"Oh god…she's not…I mean…she's not all evil, right?" Cordelia asked.

"No," Xander replied gently.  He knelt down in front of her, surprised that his ex-girlfriend was letting him be so close to her.

Cordelia breathed a sigh of relief and put her head in one hand as Xander took hold of the other.

"I'm so sorry," Cordelia whispered, so out of character that all heads in the room swivelled to stare at the young woman who had begun crying for the loss.

The group was so caught up in watching the young woman weeping that they didn't notice when an extra two people entered the room, one of the blondes swaggering confidently, the other blonde looking at the people in the room with trepidation.

Cordelia was the first to look up, a surprised stare coming over her face.

"Are you sure she's not all evil?" Cordelia asked.

"Yeah…why?" Xander asked.

Cordelia pointed over his shoulder.  He turned and jumped backwards, stumbling into the table, quickly grabbing a stake that was lying there, though no one had known why.

Giles looked up and eyed the couple uneasily.

"Buffy," he greeted, unsure of what to make of the two of them together.

Buffy stepped forward and stopped automatically as she saw Xander try and move further backwards, the table going with him.  She looked towards him, her eyes brimming with tears.

She felt a steady hand on the small of her back and felt herself calming down.

"So uh…how was school?" Buffy eventually asked.

Willow tried to give a small smile, but ended up achieving a worried look of concern which Oz was mimicking perfectly.

"Why is he here?" Xander asked, no longer able to contain his disdain for the peroxide blonde vampire, and no longer caring that the others were silently begging for him to be tactful.

Spike glared at the young man, giving a barely audible growl.

Buffy shot a look at him, silently telling him to calm down or she'd never get the gang to believe that he wasn't going to hurt anyone in the room.

"I'm here cos she ain't got no one else," Spike answered.

The group blanched at this, unsure of how to reply. 

Except for Giles. 

He was at the vampires throat within seconds, pushing him up against the book cage.  Buffy raced towards them, putting a strong hand on Giles' wrist, her eyes begging him to let go.

Giles gave Spike another hateful glare as he pushed him once more before letting the vampire go.

"It's the truth innit?" Spike said cockily.  "Sure, you're still her friends, her family, but…ain't none of you know what it's like.  None of you who have to face the reality of what she's going through."

"What about Angel?" Xander protested.  He suddenly caught himself and looked surprised.  "I can't believe I just suggested that."

"Xander does have a point," Giles agreed.  "Why Spike of all vampires?"

Buffy looked around her desperately hoping for someone to come to her defence.  Spike shrugged a little, unsure of the answer.

"I don't know, okay?  All I know is…he's protecting me better than Angel ever has," Buffy explained.  "He's teaching me and…I don't know why, but he's helping me.  Voluntarily."

Joyce looked up at her daughter, trying to cope with the fact that her daughter had no pulse, no heartbeat, no need to be breathing, no real explanation for her body to be moving, but…she was there, standing in front of them.

Joyce stood up and moved towards her daughter, tears trailing down her cheeks.  Buffy looked up and felt her unbeating heart give a lurch.  The two women were embracing before anyone in the room could say another word about Buffy and Spike.

"Mom," Buffy whispered, tears soaking into her mother's shoulder.

Joyce could only whisper her daughter's name again and again as tears fell between the two of them.  A silence descended upon everyone else in the room, and it was hard for the younger members of the Scooby Gang not to shed tears of their own.


There was a loud cough from the library doors and Buffy and Joyce reluctantly pulled apart.

"Wesley," Giles greeted, a coldness in his voice that hadn't been heard before last night.

Wesley nodded nervously and looked towards Buffy.

Giles followed his gaze and quickly began walking towards the young Watcher.  The library doors swung open once more and three men wielding crosses, stakes and holy water walked in.  Behind them was Quentin Travers.  Giles stopped where he was.

Buffy felt everything inside of her tense up, and without knowing she'd done it, she stepped back, Spike stepping in front of her.

"We've come for the vampire."

*grins* Heya ppl!  Thank you sooo much to everyone who's been reviewing and emailing me about this fic!  Lotsa goodness flowing into my inbox lately!  Thanks ever so! 

Toodles.

K.