Disclaimer: See part 1, or 6.
PART 8
Spike looked up from the enormous tome on his lap when Willow sighed heavily. He wasn't actually reading the Latin words on the pages, he was too busy wondering if he should step up his seduction of her. He'd caught her little slip-up outside the store earlier. She'd said loved. Not love, or in love, the exact word she'd used was 'loved'. Which meant, not only was she no longer attached to the blonde witch, but she was also no longer in love with her. So he didn't have to worry about breaking them up, but would she be amenable to his sudden advances?
"No," Willow repeated for the third time, the phone cradled between head and shoulder as she flipped through a book similar to Spike's. "Um, Giles, I didn't look *that* closely. It was a severed head, lending itself to uckiness." She rolled her eyes and smiled as she listened. "That's ok. But, I think the-- yeah. Way more important."
Spike turned his attention back to the pages in front of him. She'd been on the phone for five minutes already, and because of Giles' chattiness, she was just getting to what he was supposed to be researching. The hallucinations. He hadn't any idea what he was looking for. A demon, a spell, both?
"No, Giles. No, he's-- yeah. If you could call it behaving," Willow laughed, smirking at Spike.
Spike glared at her, offended. "I never 'behave', love. I'm a rebel." She waved her hand, trying to silence him. He went back to his book with a smirk.
"Okay, Giles. Tomorrow. Yep. Bye. Oh, tell Buffy and the others hi for me. Uh-huh. Okay, bye." She hung up the phone and carried her huge tome over to the couch, dropping down with a sigh. "Giles is very happy to know that you're not--"
"Running around biting every human within reach?" he asked in exasperation.
She nodded as she flipped through pages. "Pretty much." After a few minutes of silence aside from the flicking of pages, she stood up, tossing her book down on the seat she'd just vacated. "Maybe I should go to the Magic Box," she told him.
He didn't glance up at her, though he wanted to. He could hear it in her voice, she was nervous and biting her lip. He'd like to bite that lip, which is why he kept his eyes firmly on the words in front of him "Why? We have books here."
"But Giles has better books," she reasoned. "And my laptop, which I left there the other day."
Now he did look at her, a niggling suspicion worming its way into his thoughts. He narrowed his eyes at her. "If you're that anxious to get away from me, then go." He was rather proud of himself for not letting her hear the anger in his voice.
Her eyes widened as if the thought had never even entered her mind. "Oh. No, it's not that. At all," she assured him. "It's just that... well, Xander's there, and he's mucho liable to spill the beans to Buffy, and I want to be the one to spill the beans to Buffy 'cause of how he's biased and all. Plus, I wanted to talk to him about the dangers of staking you."
He wasn't at all happy with the thought of having Buffy in on their secret. It was a sure bet that she'd be around all the time if she knew, to protect poor little Willow from the big bad vampire. How could he seduce Willow and avoid Buffy if she was constantly underfoot? Returning his attention to the book on his lap, he casually said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
"You w-- but why? You think she'll take it badly?" She must've realized how dumb a question that was, because she snorted and answered herself. "Well, duh. Of course she'll take it badly."
"What's the sudden rush? I doubt the moron will say anything, not with Rupert around." He shrugged, unconcerned.
"Yeah, because Xander's always been one for not saying something when he shouldn't," she laughed.
The doorbell rang, halting anything he'd been about to say. Willow looked around in a panic, her eyes widening to comic degrees. She yanked the book from his hands and tossed it on the couch.
"You've gotta go. Upstairs somewhere," she said distractedly, pulling him to his feet. "I think that's Buffy. And I'd kinda like to tell her before she has a chance to stake you."
Spike didn't immediately let go of her hand, though she tried to walk away, and was now pulling at it a little wildly. He stepped around the coffee table, drawing her closer to him, his fingers holding tight to hers to keep her there. "Worried about me?" he asked softly, leaning down to kiss her. Instead of touching his lips to hers, he let them hover above hers for a few seconds.
She frowned in confusion, her mind completely on whoever their unwanted guest was. "Huh?"
"Nothing," he chuckled, pressing his lips to hers before straightening up and leaving the room.
Willow stared after Spike for a minute, touching her tingling lips with her fingertips for a moment. She tried to calm her breathing and pounding heart, thankful that this time, he wasn't the sole reason for her heightened heart rate. The person at the door was the main cause. Ack, speaking of which. She ran to the hall, yanking the door open just as Buffy was about to knock. Luckily Buffy saw her in time, halting the hand about to crack open Willow's forehead.
"Hi!" Willow greeted her, giving her a big strained smile. "What are you doing here?" Realizing how rude that sounded, she rushed to assure her, "Not that that's a bad thing... you being here. Just that, I thought you weren't going to be. Here."
Buffy shrugged, slipping past her into the hallway. "I thought you might want some company. After the way we all treated you after Oz left... well, I thought maybe you were just saying you didn't want company." She turned to face Willow, looking all cheerful and upbeat. "So what do you say? Wanna spend some girlie time together? You, me, a dark cemetery and not a lot of vamps hopefully?"
Hearing a familiar creak in the floorboards nearby, Willow grabbed Buffy's arm, pulling her out the door and slamming it firmly behind them. "Buffy, are you coming on to me?" she teased, casting a cautious look over her shoulder at her bedroom window. Empty. Good.
Buffy tripped over thin air, but caught herself before she dragged both of them down on their faces, turning around to glare at the offending air. "What? I-- no. I was just... I meant--"
Willow rolled her eyes at Buffy, giving her a pointed look.
Buffy grinned shamefacedly. "I'm doing it again, aren't I?" She sighed as they reached the sidewalk along the street. "I'm not freaked, I'm really not. It's just different is all."
"Not so different," Willow countered. "Love is love, no matter what gender the person is." Or species, she added silently. Tossing another surreptitious look over her shoulder at her house, she hoped Spike had the good sense to just stay away from Xander. He should be okay if he avoided... well, actually everyone.
"Do you miss it?" Buffy asked, startling Willow. Buffy tossed her a sideways look. "Being with a man, I mean. Is it... well, I know there are things that you can-- and probably, for all I know, actually do... with Tara. But that's not my business, and I'm going to just pretend I didn't ask that, and move on. So, nice weather we've been having, huh?"
Willow burst out laughing as Buffy's face went from a warm golden shade to a sickly pale one, and then moved on to bright red. "Actually, no, I don't miss it, but not because of the me and Tara doing... things reason. Or because I miss men. There's a whole other reason." She ended up mumbling the last bit, but Buffy caught it and stopped her with a hand on her arm.
"There's someone else!" she accused, her eyes widening, then narrowing. "Is that why Tara broke up with you?"
Panic assailed Willow, and she had to stop herself from hyperventilating. "No, that's not why-- well, yes. But not because... oh, boy."
"Spill," Buffy ordered with relish. "I need vicarious thrills now. I'm thrill-less lately." She looked away sadly, but her grin returned quickly. "Come on," she motioned to the Shady Pines Cemetery across the street and started that way.
Willow stared after her for a few good long seconds. She debated running in the opposite direction, but discarded that idea. Buffy had slayer speed, she'd catch her in no time. And the only other option was to kill Buffy. Sighing, she crossed the street, joining Buffy in the cemetery. Just as she passed through the gates, she felt a hand wrap around her throat and yank her backward.
"Spike?" she whispered, turning to look behind her. Definitely not Spike. Big muscles, stringy black hair, and lots of make-up. "Oh, hi... um, s-- sir. You're supposed to be Cher, right?"
"Shut up," the vampire hissed angrily, tightening his hand around her neck. "Hey, Slayer, I've got your girlfriend here!"
Buffy, having felt the vampire, or heard their exchange, was already aware of the situation. She stood a few feet away watching them. "I can see that," she agreed, pulling a stake from her jacket pocket. Her eyes shifted to Willow as she circled around them. "You okay?"
Willow nodded jerkily and smiled. "Uh-huh. Look, Buffy, he's Cher," she said encouragingly, trying to placate the vampire. A cough escaped her when the hand once again tightened on her throat. "Sorry," she whispered, fighting to breathe. It was a little difficult now, since he seemed intent on crushing her windpipe.
Buffy casually tapped the stake against her left hand, strolling around them. Cher-wannabe turned Willow with him as he kept Buffy in sight.
"Cross-dressing," Buffy mused, smirking at the vampire. "Your idea, or the human's?" She shook her head at herself. "Doesn't matter. Either way you die."
The vampire, mostly silent until now, sighed heavily, his whole chest expanding with the force of drawing in air. Willow felt like she was on an inflatable mattress. "Look, Slayer, and... Slayer's girlfriend, I just want a meal. No fighting." He tipped Willow's head to the side, peering down at it. "Come on, just let me have her. She's used goods anyway."
Willow's eyes widened. Crap, Spike's bitemark was there. Oh, and the hickey. Big hickey. Now in plain sight for Buffy to see. And, noticing Buffy's eyes narrow, she did see. "Funny story," Willow said with a weak laugh. "And, I'll tell you it just as soon as I think of one," she muttered miserably.
"Who bit you?" Buffy asked harshly, the vampire holding Willow practically forgotten in their discussion.
"Um," Willow squeaked out through her pained throat, "remember that whole other reason why I don't miss guys?" She was trying for flippant, hoping Buffy would see the humor in the extremely non-humorous situation, but all she succeeded in doing was making Buffy even more angry.
"A vampire?" Buffy said in disbelief, her eyes solely on Willow. "The 'whole other reason' guy is a vampire?"
"Hey," the vampire holding her said, sounding a little neglected. "You give it up for other vampires, we get that. Great. Donate to me." He pushed her away from him for a split second, turning her as he did so, then his fist shot out, connecting with the whole left side of her face.
She went flying backward, landing hard on the ground. Through a haze of pained tears and dirt in her eyes, she was able to make out Buffy and the vampire fighting. Grunts and groans sounded all around her as she struggled to sit up. She pushed her arms under her, trying to move into a sitting position, but her elbows wouldn't lock, and she ended up hitting her head on the cold, hard ground again as she fell backward.
She thought maybe she passed out for a few seconds, because the next thing she knew, a hand was yanking her up, shoving her neck roughly to the side. It was the same guy, she realized, squinting through her one good eye to see Cher-hair hanging in front of her. Teeth ripped into her neck, and she started to struggle, wondering where Buffy was.
"Ah-ah," Buffy's voice said from behind them, "you didn't say please."
The vampire let her go, shoving her away from him.
Willow opened her eyes and forced her feet under her. Her knees quit trying to turn to rubber, and strength and reason was returning to her. Buffy was fighting the vampire a few feet away, and it didn't look like she had the upper hand. Spying a tree a couple of yards from the fighting couple, Willow headed that way, intending to break off a branch and help her friend.
Just as she got to the tree and reached over her head to grab the closest branch, she felt a hand wrap around her neck. Again. Tired of being manhandled by this vampire, she swung around, biting back the nausea threatening to overwhelm her, and shoved him away from her. Surprise was the only reason she was able to get him away from her.
"Willow," Buffy shouted to her left. "Get out of here!" Following her words was a blur of movement in the night. Buffy landed on the vampire's chest, knocking them both to the ground with a grunt.
Instead of running, Willow once again grabbed the branch and this time snapped it off. She snuck up behind the vampire currently on top of Buffy, and shoved the branch into his back, dropping to the ground in exhaustion.
"Ah, heck," the vampire muttered, looking down at his chest.
Willow dropped to the ground as the vampire exploded into dust, rolling as she fell, so she wouldn't land on her face. Mostly it worked. She rolled the wrong way and ended up hitting only the left side of her face. "Ow," she groaned, laying there, unmoving, staring at the blades of grass immediately in front of her eyes. They alternately moved toward and away from her as she breathed.
Buffy crawled over, checking her over to make sure she was all right.
Willow smiled. "I'm okay," she whispered, wondering why her voice wasn't as loud as it should be. Her throat hurt a lot, but certainly not so much that it should barely let her talk. Clearing it, she tried again, but had the same result. Raspy and low. "I'm good."
Buffy tossed her a disbelieving look. "You're so *not* good, Willow." She frowned in concern, and knelt before Willow, helping her up with a groan. She wrapped her arm around Willow's waist and started them off in the direction of the Magic Box. Her concerned glance quickly turned into a strained smile, meant to be reassuring. "And don't think I'm coming on to you," she chuckled, tightening her arm around Willow's waist, "'Cause, I don't care what you say, I'm not putting out."
Willow laughed tiredly, forcing one foot in front of the other. She was close to losing consciousness, she knew, and she tried desperately to hang on, fighting off the blackness that was creeping around the edges of her vision. "That's okay," she told Buffy, "I don't think Spike likes to share anyway." She had to stay awake to protect Spike. If she didn't, it was possible she'd wake up to a deader than usual Spike. Or not wake up at all.
Buffy snorted with laughter and scorn. "Oh, please. Spike doesn't have any say in who or what I do."
Willow nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly. "So, remember that funny story I was going to tell you about the vampire that bit me and the whole other reason guy?" she asked.
Buffy came to a complete standstill, causing Willow to run straight into her. "Not Spike?" she inquired, almost fearfully, looking extremely grossed out. At Willow's nod, she stomped her foot angrily, repeating loudly and more forcefully. "Not Spike!"
"Jealous?" Willow chuckled before falling to the ground unconscious.
Buffy carried Willow into the Magic Box, causing the two customers in the shop to gasp and run out. Giles, hardly sparing the couple a glance, rushed to take Willow from her. She gratefully relinquished her burden, sighing in relief. She was strong, had her Slayer strength, and had extra stamina due to her concern for Willow, but after two miles of carrying her, Buffy had started to tire. A third mile had nearly killed her.
Giles, not as strong as Buffy, sagged with the sudden burden of carrying a human body. He barely managed to keep his footing as he made his way to the training room, laying her on the couch in there. "Vampire?" he asked Buffy, climbing to his feet to get the first aid kit from the bathroom.
"Uh-huh." She knelt beside Willow, using her shirt to wipe away some of the blood from her neck. Her jaw clenched in anger when she saw the bitemark under Cher-wannabe's bite, not to mention the hickey surrounding it. "Spike bit her," she told Giles when he returned. The fury in her voice didn't escape her Watcher.
"I know-- wait, he bit her?" His startled gaze flew from Buffy, who was suddenly gaping at him, to Willow, who wasn't moving at all. "That bloody bastard," he ground out.
"You know?" she repeated, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him, wondering when the hell everyone had gone insane. "Care to share?" She laughed shortly, tossing a look at Willow. "Don't think I'll get anything out of Spike, because, according to Willow, he doesn't like to share."
Giles popped the clasp on the blue metal box, and set it on the floor by the couch, kneeling down next to it. "The Litchock demon that hit them with magick bound them together. It's not Willow's fault, and I suppose it's not even Spike's fault, but if he did this to her, I'm taking back my promise not to kill him."
"She's been bound to Spike for... what? Three days now, and no one cared enough to inform me?" The thought hurt. That her friends didn't think she could handle the truth. Okay, it's possible she would've tried to stake Spike to save Willow, maybe even without getting all the information first, but that they hadn't trusted her enough to even try. It hurt.
In the middle of cleaning up the blood with an alcohol pad, Giles turned to her briefly before going back to his task. More out of discomfort, she thought, than an urgent need to clean the dried blood off of Willow's neck.
"Since you died, you've been... distant," he informed her, confirming her previous thoughts.
Instead of denying it, she nodded, sitting at the end of the couch by Willow's head. She lifted Willow's shoulders and scooted under her, smoothing her red hair from her bruised and bloodied face. "So, what's involved with this bond?"
Giles sighed as he cut a square of gauze and four pieces of tape. "It doesn't matter. If Spike did this, the bond will be gone very soon." He pressed the gauze to Willow's neck, smoothing a piece of tape across the bottom of it. "Just as soon as I get a stake to dust him with."
Buffy frowned, not really wanting to defend Spike, but she couldn't in good conscience let Giles kill him. "He didn't hurt her. We were on patrol, sort of. Actually, it was just a walk to spend time together, but I decided to patrol a little more while we talked." She dropped her head on the back of the couch, shifting a little so her hair wasn't caught behind it. "I shouldn't have--"
"Lament later," Giles told her, getting to his feet. "What happened?"
"A cross-dressing vampire that wanted to be Cher hit her, full force. He also bit her, but didn't get a lot." Smoothing the hair from the stark white gauze on Willow's neck, she stared at it, as if she could see right through the thin material. "There was another bitemark under there. I'm pretty sure it's Spike's." Raising tired eyes to Giles, she asked her question again. "What's involved with this bond, and how long will it last?"
Before he could answer, the door to the training room slammed open. Buffy's head shot up to see Spike standing there, panting like a human, looking around wildly before his eyes settled on her lap. No, not on her lap. On Willow.
His entire posture relaxed and his face went blank. He tried for casual and annoyed, but none of them bought it. "Don't you people answer phones around here?"
Buffy scooted gently out from under Willow's head and stood up. She stayed away from Spike, not sure she could keep a handle on her fury at the moment, and judging by the way his eyes had narrowed, and his fists were clenching as tightly as his jaw, she didn't think he could either.
"You bit her," was all she said. There wasn't a ton of accusation in there, but some had leaked through.
His eyes flew to hers, narrowing even further. "Did not," he tossed back. "What, uh, what happened to her?"
His voice was oh-so casual, like he didn't care at all, but considering his eyes had barely left Willow since he'd barged in, Buffy knew better. And she marveled at the news.
Giles set the first aid kit on the pommel horse, and turned to Spike with a feral look. "Buffy knows about the bond. And I know you bit Willow."
Spike looked caught. He patted down his pockets for his cigarettes and finally shoved his hand deep into his duster pocket, coming up with a crumpled pack. He shook one out, planting it between his lips and lighting it. Looking up through the smoke, he shrugged. "It was an accident."
Buffy laughed derisively. "What, you slipped and your fangs accidentally landed on Willow's neck? 'Oops, my bad'," she mocked, doing a really bad imitation of his accent, "'didn't mean to bite ya, love.'"
She saw Giles' lips twitch along with Spike's, and turned a glare his way.
Willow moaned behind them, shifting on the couch. She was still asleep, but if Buffy had to bet, she'd say only for another few minutes.
Spike's eyes moved away from Willow for a second, settling on her, and she was surprised to see none of the creepiness she'd gotten used to seeing on his face. She could've jumped for joy, but she was afraid the stalker routine had only been switched to Willow. And that was unacceptable. Willow's swelling eye and purpling skin attested to the fact that she couldn't defend herself against Spike if he tried to hurt her. And he would, he was a vampire after all--
"How did you bite her?" she asked suddenly, realizing the implant wasn't working on him anymore.
"She gets the pain," he mumbled gesturing to Willow with his cigarette. "But before you go trying to stake me," he hurried to add, "you might want to know that she could die as well. Tell her, Rupert."
Giles rubbed the back of his neck tiredly. "It's true."
Buffy nodded, considering Spike's words. "Are we taking his word for it, or do we have proof of that?"
"Look at her stomach," Spike told her.
Buffy frowned, glancing down at Willow. Her shirt was big, oversized. Pain filled reasons? Buffy wondered. She'd certainly done that enough herself. Leaning down, she lifted the hem of Willow's shirt and gasped. "What happened?" Her entire abdomen was covered in mottled bruising. Faded, but still rather recent. "Giles?" she said louder, demanding an answer. "What happened?"
Spike answered for her. "I got staked by--"
Giles sighed, turning a glare briefly toward Spike before facing Buffy fully. "Go get the Compendium of Magicks by Rafael, it's under the counter."
"No--" she began, only to be cut off by a very angry Giles.
"Get the damn book, Buffy." He motioned toward the front of the store. "The answers are in there. It can tell you more than I can."
She nodded, fighting the urge to yell back. That wouldn't solve anything. And, hey, look at her, thinking before hitting. She left the room behind, searching under the counter for the book. And, naturally, there were a ton of books on the shelves. Large, leather bound tomes. Ancient looking. Sighing, she knelt down, beginning her search for the Compendium of Magicks by Rafael.
Luck was with her, because it was only the fifth book she checked. Hefting the huge brown thing in her hands, she stood up and headed back to the training room. Giles' voice had her pausing in the doorway to listen.
"...bite her again, I'll--"
"Yeah, yeah," Spike sighed, sounding extremely bored. "Heard it all before, Rupert. Haven't hurt her yet, have I?" He paused only long enough to answer his own question before continuing. "No, I haven't. Won't be either."
Buffy moved into the room, joining them by the couch. Spike was sitting in the spot she'd vacated when he showed up, the cigarette no longer dangling from his lips or his fingers. Dropping the book into Giles' hands, she glared at Spike. "Hands," she warned him.
Spike looked up from his perusal of Willow's bruises to toss her an exasperated glare. His hand, the one threading through Willow's hair, left her to rest on the back of the couch. "Jealous?" he smirked, though there was no real conviction behind the words.
Giles handed her the open book, pointing at the right page. "It's one of these, though I've no idea which one. I haven't had a chance to look through them since Willow rang earlier. The shop's been busy, and with Anya off tonight--"
"Proximity Bond," Spike supplied, rolling his eyes at Giles.
Buffy looked at him in time to see him move his arm back to the top of the couch. Her eyes narrowed at him, threatening him with bodily harm if he didn't stop touching Willow, but they both knew it was an empty threat. She wouldn't hurt Willow through Spike just to prove a point. Or drive a point home. A nice, sharp pointy point.
"Proximity Bond," she muttered, sitting on the pad on the floor and getting comfortable. The book was heavy, and her arms were still recovering from carrying Willow three miles to the Magic Box. Tracing her finger down the page, she quickly skimmed through the worst of the bond's restrictions. Flipping to the next page, she hoped that was all there was, nothing major, just a little space limitation, and yuck, touching. But a brief, supervised touch could be arranged every week. No big deal.
But then she read what was on the next page, and remembered Willow's words earlier. "Giles," she said tightly, "how did their bond become permanent?" She didn't know exactly why she was asking, since she was pretty positive she already knew the answer.
There was no way Willow would do any of the things listed here, except maybe one.
"I have no idea," Giles answered. He looked over at her, frowning in concern. "Why?"
Buffy stood up and dove at Spike, wrapping her hand around his neck. "Tell me it was consensual," she demanded, though it was more a plea than an order.
"It bloody well was consensual," he yelled, offended. His hand tightened around hers, trying to remove it from his neck, but he wasn't trying very hard. His eyes darted to Willow. "You're hurting her." He shoved Buffy away from him.
Giles was now beside her, glaring down at Spike as well. "So Xander did have reason to stake you." His tone was cold, his eyes hard.
"Wait a minute," Buffy interrupted, "Xander staked Spike? He knows too? Am I the only one who doesn't know about the damn bond?"
"Yes," Spike answered spitefully. Looking up from his examination of Willow's neck, and the faint bruising there from the vampire earlier, he turned to glare at Giles. "Xander did not have cause to stake me. If sex is a crime, better kill everyone in this room."
"Hear hear," Willow mumbled, opening her eyes to look up at them. The left one was swollen shut, the right one was dimmed with pain and weariness. Her whole face looked like a giant bruise. She pushed herself slowly into a sitting position, sighing and hanging her head once she got there. "Could 'ow' possibly be more of an understatement?"
Buffy watched Willow with a frown, and opened her mouth to speak before she could stop herself. "You slept with Spike."
Giles tore his glasses off, wiping at his eyes as if he could erase the sight of the two of them sitting there all comfortable next to each other. At least they were keeping their hands to themselves.
Willow lifted her head, her good eye fixing on Buffy. "It was an accident."
Spike snorted with laughter, while Buffy rolled her eyes at her. "You two are just hazards waiting to happen, aren't you? He accidentally bit you, you accidentally slept with him." She shook her head. "What next? Is he accidentally going to kill you?"
"No, I'm not going to--" Spike began angrily, jumping to his feet. "I can bloody well control myself. Been doing it for a few years thanks to this thing," he tapped his temple, "and I'll continue doing it."
Willow groaned at all the yelling, and gestured to the first aid kit. "Does that have aspirin in it?" she asked Giles.
"Oh, uh, yes." He opened it and handed her the bottle. She got unsteadily to her feet and attempted to go to the bathroom for some water, but Buffy pushed her gently back down on the couch. "I'll get it, you rest."
Just before she reached the door, it once again slammed open. Xander stood there, leaning over to catch his breath, pointing behind him. "Guys, I just saw-- Willow!"
PART 8
Spike looked up from the enormous tome on his lap when Willow sighed heavily. He wasn't actually reading the Latin words on the pages, he was too busy wondering if he should step up his seduction of her. He'd caught her little slip-up outside the store earlier. She'd said loved. Not love, or in love, the exact word she'd used was 'loved'. Which meant, not only was she no longer attached to the blonde witch, but she was also no longer in love with her. So he didn't have to worry about breaking them up, but would she be amenable to his sudden advances?
"No," Willow repeated for the third time, the phone cradled between head and shoulder as she flipped through a book similar to Spike's. "Um, Giles, I didn't look *that* closely. It was a severed head, lending itself to uckiness." She rolled her eyes and smiled as she listened. "That's ok. But, I think the-- yeah. Way more important."
Spike turned his attention back to the pages in front of him. She'd been on the phone for five minutes already, and because of Giles' chattiness, she was just getting to what he was supposed to be researching. The hallucinations. He hadn't any idea what he was looking for. A demon, a spell, both?
"No, Giles. No, he's-- yeah. If you could call it behaving," Willow laughed, smirking at Spike.
Spike glared at her, offended. "I never 'behave', love. I'm a rebel." She waved her hand, trying to silence him. He went back to his book with a smirk.
"Okay, Giles. Tomorrow. Yep. Bye. Oh, tell Buffy and the others hi for me. Uh-huh. Okay, bye." She hung up the phone and carried her huge tome over to the couch, dropping down with a sigh. "Giles is very happy to know that you're not--"
"Running around biting every human within reach?" he asked in exasperation.
She nodded as she flipped through pages. "Pretty much." After a few minutes of silence aside from the flicking of pages, she stood up, tossing her book down on the seat she'd just vacated. "Maybe I should go to the Magic Box," she told him.
He didn't glance up at her, though he wanted to. He could hear it in her voice, she was nervous and biting her lip. He'd like to bite that lip, which is why he kept his eyes firmly on the words in front of him "Why? We have books here."
"But Giles has better books," she reasoned. "And my laptop, which I left there the other day."
Now he did look at her, a niggling suspicion worming its way into his thoughts. He narrowed his eyes at her. "If you're that anxious to get away from me, then go." He was rather proud of himself for not letting her hear the anger in his voice.
Her eyes widened as if the thought had never even entered her mind. "Oh. No, it's not that. At all," she assured him. "It's just that... well, Xander's there, and he's mucho liable to spill the beans to Buffy, and I want to be the one to spill the beans to Buffy 'cause of how he's biased and all. Plus, I wanted to talk to him about the dangers of staking you."
He wasn't at all happy with the thought of having Buffy in on their secret. It was a sure bet that she'd be around all the time if she knew, to protect poor little Willow from the big bad vampire. How could he seduce Willow and avoid Buffy if she was constantly underfoot? Returning his attention to the book on his lap, he casually said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
"You w-- but why? You think she'll take it badly?" She must've realized how dumb a question that was, because she snorted and answered herself. "Well, duh. Of course she'll take it badly."
"What's the sudden rush? I doubt the moron will say anything, not with Rupert around." He shrugged, unconcerned.
"Yeah, because Xander's always been one for not saying something when he shouldn't," she laughed.
The doorbell rang, halting anything he'd been about to say. Willow looked around in a panic, her eyes widening to comic degrees. She yanked the book from his hands and tossed it on the couch.
"You've gotta go. Upstairs somewhere," she said distractedly, pulling him to his feet. "I think that's Buffy. And I'd kinda like to tell her before she has a chance to stake you."
Spike didn't immediately let go of her hand, though she tried to walk away, and was now pulling at it a little wildly. He stepped around the coffee table, drawing her closer to him, his fingers holding tight to hers to keep her there. "Worried about me?" he asked softly, leaning down to kiss her. Instead of touching his lips to hers, he let them hover above hers for a few seconds.
She frowned in confusion, her mind completely on whoever their unwanted guest was. "Huh?"
"Nothing," he chuckled, pressing his lips to hers before straightening up and leaving the room.
Willow stared after Spike for a minute, touching her tingling lips with her fingertips for a moment. She tried to calm her breathing and pounding heart, thankful that this time, he wasn't the sole reason for her heightened heart rate. The person at the door was the main cause. Ack, speaking of which. She ran to the hall, yanking the door open just as Buffy was about to knock. Luckily Buffy saw her in time, halting the hand about to crack open Willow's forehead.
"Hi!" Willow greeted her, giving her a big strained smile. "What are you doing here?" Realizing how rude that sounded, she rushed to assure her, "Not that that's a bad thing... you being here. Just that, I thought you weren't going to be. Here."
Buffy shrugged, slipping past her into the hallway. "I thought you might want some company. After the way we all treated you after Oz left... well, I thought maybe you were just saying you didn't want company." She turned to face Willow, looking all cheerful and upbeat. "So what do you say? Wanna spend some girlie time together? You, me, a dark cemetery and not a lot of vamps hopefully?"
Hearing a familiar creak in the floorboards nearby, Willow grabbed Buffy's arm, pulling her out the door and slamming it firmly behind them. "Buffy, are you coming on to me?" she teased, casting a cautious look over her shoulder at her bedroom window. Empty. Good.
Buffy tripped over thin air, but caught herself before she dragged both of them down on their faces, turning around to glare at the offending air. "What? I-- no. I was just... I meant--"
Willow rolled her eyes at Buffy, giving her a pointed look.
Buffy grinned shamefacedly. "I'm doing it again, aren't I?" She sighed as they reached the sidewalk along the street. "I'm not freaked, I'm really not. It's just different is all."
"Not so different," Willow countered. "Love is love, no matter what gender the person is." Or species, she added silently. Tossing another surreptitious look over her shoulder at her house, she hoped Spike had the good sense to just stay away from Xander. He should be okay if he avoided... well, actually everyone.
"Do you miss it?" Buffy asked, startling Willow. Buffy tossed her a sideways look. "Being with a man, I mean. Is it... well, I know there are things that you can-- and probably, for all I know, actually do... with Tara. But that's not my business, and I'm going to just pretend I didn't ask that, and move on. So, nice weather we've been having, huh?"
Willow burst out laughing as Buffy's face went from a warm golden shade to a sickly pale one, and then moved on to bright red. "Actually, no, I don't miss it, but not because of the me and Tara doing... things reason. Or because I miss men. There's a whole other reason." She ended up mumbling the last bit, but Buffy caught it and stopped her with a hand on her arm.
"There's someone else!" she accused, her eyes widening, then narrowing. "Is that why Tara broke up with you?"
Panic assailed Willow, and she had to stop herself from hyperventilating. "No, that's not why-- well, yes. But not because... oh, boy."
"Spill," Buffy ordered with relish. "I need vicarious thrills now. I'm thrill-less lately." She looked away sadly, but her grin returned quickly. "Come on," she motioned to the Shady Pines Cemetery across the street and started that way.
Willow stared after her for a few good long seconds. She debated running in the opposite direction, but discarded that idea. Buffy had slayer speed, she'd catch her in no time. And the only other option was to kill Buffy. Sighing, she crossed the street, joining Buffy in the cemetery. Just as she passed through the gates, she felt a hand wrap around her throat and yank her backward.
"Spike?" she whispered, turning to look behind her. Definitely not Spike. Big muscles, stringy black hair, and lots of make-up. "Oh, hi... um, s-- sir. You're supposed to be Cher, right?"
"Shut up," the vampire hissed angrily, tightening his hand around her neck. "Hey, Slayer, I've got your girlfriend here!"
Buffy, having felt the vampire, or heard their exchange, was already aware of the situation. She stood a few feet away watching them. "I can see that," she agreed, pulling a stake from her jacket pocket. Her eyes shifted to Willow as she circled around them. "You okay?"
Willow nodded jerkily and smiled. "Uh-huh. Look, Buffy, he's Cher," she said encouragingly, trying to placate the vampire. A cough escaped her when the hand once again tightened on her throat. "Sorry," she whispered, fighting to breathe. It was a little difficult now, since he seemed intent on crushing her windpipe.
Buffy casually tapped the stake against her left hand, strolling around them. Cher-wannabe turned Willow with him as he kept Buffy in sight.
"Cross-dressing," Buffy mused, smirking at the vampire. "Your idea, or the human's?" She shook her head at herself. "Doesn't matter. Either way you die."
The vampire, mostly silent until now, sighed heavily, his whole chest expanding with the force of drawing in air. Willow felt like she was on an inflatable mattress. "Look, Slayer, and... Slayer's girlfriend, I just want a meal. No fighting." He tipped Willow's head to the side, peering down at it. "Come on, just let me have her. She's used goods anyway."
Willow's eyes widened. Crap, Spike's bitemark was there. Oh, and the hickey. Big hickey. Now in plain sight for Buffy to see. And, noticing Buffy's eyes narrow, she did see. "Funny story," Willow said with a weak laugh. "And, I'll tell you it just as soon as I think of one," she muttered miserably.
"Who bit you?" Buffy asked harshly, the vampire holding Willow practically forgotten in their discussion.
"Um," Willow squeaked out through her pained throat, "remember that whole other reason why I don't miss guys?" She was trying for flippant, hoping Buffy would see the humor in the extremely non-humorous situation, but all she succeeded in doing was making Buffy even more angry.
"A vampire?" Buffy said in disbelief, her eyes solely on Willow. "The 'whole other reason' guy is a vampire?"
"Hey," the vampire holding her said, sounding a little neglected. "You give it up for other vampires, we get that. Great. Donate to me." He pushed her away from him for a split second, turning her as he did so, then his fist shot out, connecting with the whole left side of her face.
She went flying backward, landing hard on the ground. Through a haze of pained tears and dirt in her eyes, she was able to make out Buffy and the vampire fighting. Grunts and groans sounded all around her as she struggled to sit up. She pushed her arms under her, trying to move into a sitting position, but her elbows wouldn't lock, and she ended up hitting her head on the cold, hard ground again as she fell backward.
She thought maybe she passed out for a few seconds, because the next thing she knew, a hand was yanking her up, shoving her neck roughly to the side. It was the same guy, she realized, squinting through her one good eye to see Cher-hair hanging in front of her. Teeth ripped into her neck, and she started to struggle, wondering where Buffy was.
"Ah-ah," Buffy's voice said from behind them, "you didn't say please."
The vampire let her go, shoving her away from him.
Willow opened her eyes and forced her feet under her. Her knees quit trying to turn to rubber, and strength and reason was returning to her. Buffy was fighting the vampire a few feet away, and it didn't look like she had the upper hand. Spying a tree a couple of yards from the fighting couple, Willow headed that way, intending to break off a branch and help her friend.
Just as she got to the tree and reached over her head to grab the closest branch, she felt a hand wrap around her neck. Again. Tired of being manhandled by this vampire, she swung around, biting back the nausea threatening to overwhelm her, and shoved him away from her. Surprise was the only reason she was able to get him away from her.
"Willow," Buffy shouted to her left. "Get out of here!" Following her words was a blur of movement in the night. Buffy landed on the vampire's chest, knocking them both to the ground with a grunt.
Instead of running, Willow once again grabbed the branch and this time snapped it off. She snuck up behind the vampire currently on top of Buffy, and shoved the branch into his back, dropping to the ground in exhaustion.
"Ah, heck," the vampire muttered, looking down at his chest.
Willow dropped to the ground as the vampire exploded into dust, rolling as she fell, so she wouldn't land on her face. Mostly it worked. She rolled the wrong way and ended up hitting only the left side of her face. "Ow," she groaned, laying there, unmoving, staring at the blades of grass immediately in front of her eyes. They alternately moved toward and away from her as she breathed.
Buffy crawled over, checking her over to make sure she was all right.
Willow smiled. "I'm okay," she whispered, wondering why her voice wasn't as loud as it should be. Her throat hurt a lot, but certainly not so much that it should barely let her talk. Clearing it, she tried again, but had the same result. Raspy and low. "I'm good."
Buffy tossed her a disbelieving look. "You're so *not* good, Willow." She frowned in concern, and knelt before Willow, helping her up with a groan. She wrapped her arm around Willow's waist and started them off in the direction of the Magic Box. Her concerned glance quickly turned into a strained smile, meant to be reassuring. "And don't think I'm coming on to you," she chuckled, tightening her arm around Willow's waist, "'Cause, I don't care what you say, I'm not putting out."
Willow laughed tiredly, forcing one foot in front of the other. She was close to losing consciousness, she knew, and she tried desperately to hang on, fighting off the blackness that was creeping around the edges of her vision. "That's okay," she told Buffy, "I don't think Spike likes to share anyway." She had to stay awake to protect Spike. If she didn't, it was possible she'd wake up to a deader than usual Spike. Or not wake up at all.
Buffy snorted with laughter and scorn. "Oh, please. Spike doesn't have any say in who or what I do."
Willow nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly. "So, remember that funny story I was going to tell you about the vampire that bit me and the whole other reason guy?" she asked.
Buffy came to a complete standstill, causing Willow to run straight into her. "Not Spike?" she inquired, almost fearfully, looking extremely grossed out. At Willow's nod, she stomped her foot angrily, repeating loudly and more forcefully. "Not Spike!"
"Jealous?" Willow chuckled before falling to the ground unconscious.
Buffy carried Willow into the Magic Box, causing the two customers in the shop to gasp and run out. Giles, hardly sparing the couple a glance, rushed to take Willow from her. She gratefully relinquished her burden, sighing in relief. She was strong, had her Slayer strength, and had extra stamina due to her concern for Willow, but after two miles of carrying her, Buffy had started to tire. A third mile had nearly killed her.
Giles, not as strong as Buffy, sagged with the sudden burden of carrying a human body. He barely managed to keep his footing as he made his way to the training room, laying her on the couch in there. "Vampire?" he asked Buffy, climbing to his feet to get the first aid kit from the bathroom.
"Uh-huh." She knelt beside Willow, using her shirt to wipe away some of the blood from her neck. Her jaw clenched in anger when she saw the bitemark under Cher-wannabe's bite, not to mention the hickey surrounding it. "Spike bit her," she told Giles when he returned. The fury in her voice didn't escape her Watcher.
"I know-- wait, he bit her?" His startled gaze flew from Buffy, who was suddenly gaping at him, to Willow, who wasn't moving at all. "That bloody bastard," he ground out.
"You know?" she repeated, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him, wondering when the hell everyone had gone insane. "Care to share?" She laughed shortly, tossing a look at Willow. "Don't think I'll get anything out of Spike, because, according to Willow, he doesn't like to share."
Giles popped the clasp on the blue metal box, and set it on the floor by the couch, kneeling down next to it. "The Litchock demon that hit them with magick bound them together. It's not Willow's fault, and I suppose it's not even Spike's fault, but if he did this to her, I'm taking back my promise not to kill him."
"She's been bound to Spike for... what? Three days now, and no one cared enough to inform me?" The thought hurt. That her friends didn't think she could handle the truth. Okay, it's possible she would've tried to stake Spike to save Willow, maybe even without getting all the information first, but that they hadn't trusted her enough to even try. It hurt.
In the middle of cleaning up the blood with an alcohol pad, Giles turned to her briefly before going back to his task. More out of discomfort, she thought, than an urgent need to clean the dried blood off of Willow's neck.
"Since you died, you've been... distant," he informed her, confirming her previous thoughts.
Instead of denying it, she nodded, sitting at the end of the couch by Willow's head. She lifted Willow's shoulders and scooted under her, smoothing her red hair from her bruised and bloodied face. "So, what's involved with this bond?"
Giles sighed as he cut a square of gauze and four pieces of tape. "It doesn't matter. If Spike did this, the bond will be gone very soon." He pressed the gauze to Willow's neck, smoothing a piece of tape across the bottom of it. "Just as soon as I get a stake to dust him with."
Buffy frowned, not really wanting to defend Spike, but she couldn't in good conscience let Giles kill him. "He didn't hurt her. We were on patrol, sort of. Actually, it was just a walk to spend time together, but I decided to patrol a little more while we talked." She dropped her head on the back of the couch, shifting a little so her hair wasn't caught behind it. "I shouldn't have--"
"Lament later," Giles told her, getting to his feet. "What happened?"
"A cross-dressing vampire that wanted to be Cher hit her, full force. He also bit her, but didn't get a lot." Smoothing the hair from the stark white gauze on Willow's neck, she stared at it, as if she could see right through the thin material. "There was another bitemark under there. I'm pretty sure it's Spike's." Raising tired eyes to Giles, she asked her question again. "What's involved with this bond, and how long will it last?"
Before he could answer, the door to the training room slammed open. Buffy's head shot up to see Spike standing there, panting like a human, looking around wildly before his eyes settled on her lap. No, not on her lap. On Willow.
His entire posture relaxed and his face went blank. He tried for casual and annoyed, but none of them bought it. "Don't you people answer phones around here?"
Buffy scooted gently out from under Willow's head and stood up. She stayed away from Spike, not sure she could keep a handle on her fury at the moment, and judging by the way his eyes had narrowed, and his fists were clenching as tightly as his jaw, she didn't think he could either.
"You bit her," was all she said. There wasn't a ton of accusation in there, but some had leaked through.
His eyes flew to hers, narrowing even further. "Did not," he tossed back. "What, uh, what happened to her?"
His voice was oh-so casual, like he didn't care at all, but considering his eyes had barely left Willow since he'd barged in, Buffy knew better. And she marveled at the news.
Giles set the first aid kit on the pommel horse, and turned to Spike with a feral look. "Buffy knows about the bond. And I know you bit Willow."
Spike looked caught. He patted down his pockets for his cigarettes and finally shoved his hand deep into his duster pocket, coming up with a crumpled pack. He shook one out, planting it between his lips and lighting it. Looking up through the smoke, he shrugged. "It was an accident."
Buffy laughed derisively. "What, you slipped and your fangs accidentally landed on Willow's neck? 'Oops, my bad'," she mocked, doing a really bad imitation of his accent, "'didn't mean to bite ya, love.'"
She saw Giles' lips twitch along with Spike's, and turned a glare his way.
Willow moaned behind them, shifting on the couch. She was still asleep, but if Buffy had to bet, she'd say only for another few minutes.
Spike's eyes moved away from Willow for a second, settling on her, and she was surprised to see none of the creepiness she'd gotten used to seeing on his face. She could've jumped for joy, but she was afraid the stalker routine had only been switched to Willow. And that was unacceptable. Willow's swelling eye and purpling skin attested to the fact that she couldn't defend herself against Spike if he tried to hurt her. And he would, he was a vampire after all--
"How did you bite her?" she asked suddenly, realizing the implant wasn't working on him anymore.
"She gets the pain," he mumbled gesturing to Willow with his cigarette. "But before you go trying to stake me," he hurried to add, "you might want to know that she could die as well. Tell her, Rupert."
Giles rubbed the back of his neck tiredly. "It's true."
Buffy nodded, considering Spike's words. "Are we taking his word for it, or do we have proof of that?"
"Look at her stomach," Spike told her.
Buffy frowned, glancing down at Willow. Her shirt was big, oversized. Pain filled reasons? Buffy wondered. She'd certainly done that enough herself. Leaning down, she lifted the hem of Willow's shirt and gasped. "What happened?" Her entire abdomen was covered in mottled bruising. Faded, but still rather recent. "Giles?" she said louder, demanding an answer. "What happened?"
Spike answered for her. "I got staked by--"
Giles sighed, turning a glare briefly toward Spike before facing Buffy fully. "Go get the Compendium of Magicks by Rafael, it's under the counter."
"No--" she began, only to be cut off by a very angry Giles.
"Get the damn book, Buffy." He motioned toward the front of the store. "The answers are in there. It can tell you more than I can."
She nodded, fighting the urge to yell back. That wouldn't solve anything. And, hey, look at her, thinking before hitting. She left the room behind, searching under the counter for the book. And, naturally, there were a ton of books on the shelves. Large, leather bound tomes. Ancient looking. Sighing, she knelt down, beginning her search for the Compendium of Magicks by Rafael.
Luck was with her, because it was only the fifth book she checked. Hefting the huge brown thing in her hands, she stood up and headed back to the training room. Giles' voice had her pausing in the doorway to listen.
"...bite her again, I'll--"
"Yeah, yeah," Spike sighed, sounding extremely bored. "Heard it all before, Rupert. Haven't hurt her yet, have I?" He paused only long enough to answer his own question before continuing. "No, I haven't. Won't be either."
Buffy moved into the room, joining them by the couch. Spike was sitting in the spot she'd vacated when he showed up, the cigarette no longer dangling from his lips or his fingers. Dropping the book into Giles' hands, she glared at Spike. "Hands," she warned him.
Spike looked up from his perusal of Willow's bruises to toss her an exasperated glare. His hand, the one threading through Willow's hair, left her to rest on the back of the couch. "Jealous?" he smirked, though there was no real conviction behind the words.
Giles handed her the open book, pointing at the right page. "It's one of these, though I've no idea which one. I haven't had a chance to look through them since Willow rang earlier. The shop's been busy, and with Anya off tonight--"
"Proximity Bond," Spike supplied, rolling his eyes at Giles.
Buffy looked at him in time to see him move his arm back to the top of the couch. Her eyes narrowed at him, threatening him with bodily harm if he didn't stop touching Willow, but they both knew it was an empty threat. She wouldn't hurt Willow through Spike just to prove a point. Or drive a point home. A nice, sharp pointy point.
"Proximity Bond," she muttered, sitting on the pad on the floor and getting comfortable. The book was heavy, and her arms were still recovering from carrying Willow three miles to the Magic Box. Tracing her finger down the page, she quickly skimmed through the worst of the bond's restrictions. Flipping to the next page, she hoped that was all there was, nothing major, just a little space limitation, and yuck, touching. But a brief, supervised touch could be arranged every week. No big deal.
But then she read what was on the next page, and remembered Willow's words earlier. "Giles," she said tightly, "how did their bond become permanent?" She didn't know exactly why she was asking, since she was pretty positive she already knew the answer.
There was no way Willow would do any of the things listed here, except maybe one.
"I have no idea," Giles answered. He looked over at her, frowning in concern. "Why?"
Buffy stood up and dove at Spike, wrapping her hand around his neck. "Tell me it was consensual," she demanded, though it was more a plea than an order.
"It bloody well was consensual," he yelled, offended. His hand tightened around hers, trying to remove it from his neck, but he wasn't trying very hard. His eyes darted to Willow. "You're hurting her." He shoved Buffy away from him.
Giles was now beside her, glaring down at Spike as well. "So Xander did have reason to stake you." His tone was cold, his eyes hard.
"Wait a minute," Buffy interrupted, "Xander staked Spike? He knows too? Am I the only one who doesn't know about the damn bond?"
"Yes," Spike answered spitefully. Looking up from his examination of Willow's neck, and the faint bruising there from the vampire earlier, he turned to glare at Giles. "Xander did not have cause to stake me. If sex is a crime, better kill everyone in this room."
"Hear hear," Willow mumbled, opening her eyes to look up at them. The left one was swollen shut, the right one was dimmed with pain and weariness. Her whole face looked like a giant bruise. She pushed herself slowly into a sitting position, sighing and hanging her head once she got there. "Could 'ow' possibly be more of an understatement?"
Buffy watched Willow with a frown, and opened her mouth to speak before she could stop herself. "You slept with Spike."
Giles tore his glasses off, wiping at his eyes as if he could erase the sight of the two of them sitting there all comfortable next to each other. At least they were keeping their hands to themselves.
Willow lifted her head, her good eye fixing on Buffy. "It was an accident."
Spike snorted with laughter, while Buffy rolled her eyes at her. "You two are just hazards waiting to happen, aren't you? He accidentally bit you, you accidentally slept with him." She shook her head. "What next? Is he accidentally going to kill you?"
"No, I'm not going to--" Spike began angrily, jumping to his feet. "I can bloody well control myself. Been doing it for a few years thanks to this thing," he tapped his temple, "and I'll continue doing it."
Willow groaned at all the yelling, and gestured to the first aid kit. "Does that have aspirin in it?" she asked Giles.
"Oh, uh, yes." He opened it and handed her the bottle. She got unsteadily to her feet and attempted to go to the bathroom for some water, but Buffy pushed her gently back down on the couch. "I'll get it, you rest."
Just before she reached the door, it once again slammed open. Xander stood there, leaning over to catch his breath, pointing behind him. "Guys, I just saw-- Willow!"