The price is right (7) , by dutchbuffy2305
Rating: R
Timeline: Season 7, AU after Showtime, some spoilers of eps after that
Summary: All the girls have returned. Buffy plans to take Spike to Africa to win his soul back.
Disclaimer: All Joss's
Feedback: Yes please, to dutchbuffy2305@yahoo.co.uk
Spike followed as Buffy lugged her three suitcases down the stairs. He was still feeling oddly unbalanced, still trying to figure out who and what he was exactly. It was like a puzzle, he could see all the pieces, but he didn't know where they were supposed to go. He just pushed pieces together at random, and sometimes he got lucky and they fit.
One thing he knew for certain was the sense of wrongness he felt about her Africa plans. He knew he hadn't used the right arguments to convince her not to go, and he had to admit he hadn't really tried to find them. It just had felt so wonderful that she was ready to give everything up for him. He could see that it made her happy, too, happy that she could give something back to him.
Halfway down the stairs, the sound of many voices raised in heated discussion reached them. Buffy plunked the huge bags down in the hall and marched into the dining room.
"Silence!" she shouted. Several people tried to explain the situation to her, unfortunately all at once. He saw her grimace. Spike simply put on his game face and growled, and the sea of potentials parted to show them Giles, who was standing in a corner of the room, looking terrified and lost. His eyes were naked without their glasses, his scant hair stuck up in all directions; a diary clutched to his breast. Dawn and Anya were talking earnestly to him, touching him and trying to pull him away from the corner, but Giles didn't seem to understand their concern.
Buffy went up to him and put her hand gently on his sweater-clad arm. "Come on, Giles, I need you to snap out of it. You're the most mature person here, and I'm relying on you to keep everyone safe while I'm in Africa for a while."
Spike winced at the blatant insensitivity of her words, but all resistance flowed out of Giles and Buffy led him to the living room. He remained standing, a pole-axed expression on his face until she gently pushed him down on the couch.
"Africa?" he said weakly.
"Africa?" Willow and Dawn said simultaneously.
Why was everybody tagging along? Spike glared at Willow, but she didn't even blink. They should give Giles and Buffy a little privacy! Rage welled up in him. Bunch of clueless kids. With difficulty he shook it off. Not now.
Buffy blushed but stood her ground. "Yes. I'm taking Spike to Africa, because he needs to get his soul back. Without his soul he's too dangerous and we need him as a warrior." She glanced up to meet Spike's outraged look and her blush turned from carmine to alizarin crimson.
Spike crossed his arms and waited. He'd be damned if he let her get away with lying and denying again. Not on his watch.
"That's actually – a misrepresentation," Buffy went on in a strangled voice, crossing her arms in her turn. "I'm too dangerous if Spike doesn't have his soul. That's why we're going."
Christ, surely Buffy could see she couldn't just do this? They'd all talk her out of it and right they were. He walked over to Giles and saw him shrink back from him. He bit his lip to hide his pang of hurt at the rejection and realized he was wearing his game face still, without even noticing. That hadn't happened to him since he was a clueless fledgling and he'd have blushed if he could. Hastily he pushed the demonic visage away and turned to Willow and Dawn.
"Dawn," he said. "Why don't you get all the girlies settled and fed and cleaned up or whatever, and after we'll sit down and tell everything that's happened and decide what to do. Willow, you might go take a look at Xander? Buffy, I think Giles should tell his tale to you first, he's been badly hurt."
He was only slightly annoyed when Red and Dawn waited for a nod from Buffy before scuttling off to do their tasks. Stood to reason to check with the commander. Buffy herself regarded him with several emotions warring on her face.
"You think I've forgotten all my responsibilities?" she demanded. "We're needed here, I know that, but we have to be as strong as we can be! It's no use fighting this thing from a position of weakness."
"Doesn't that mean we need, at least, Giles restored as well?" Spike said.
Giles pricked up his ears like a dog at the mention of his name, and looked hopefully at Buffy. God, was he feeling sorry for the poor git! He actually thought old Giles was worse off than he himself was now. Buffy had stood by him, against all his expectations (and possibly everyone else's), which made the world a good place no matter what. How she must have feared he'd do and Angelus on her!
Buffy threw him a dark look, which he could withstand remarkably well, and sat reluctantly down next to Giles on the soft cushions. She took Giles' hand.
"Tell me what happened, Giles. Xander only gave me the gist."
Giles snorted again. "Silly young fool. What does he know?" He sputtered at Spike's look and pointed his finger at him. "That is *Spike*. I read in my diary that he is after you, trying to make you care for him! He's an evil creature and should be destroyed. You're my Slayer and I shall protect you against evil."
Spike saw Buffy's eyes fill with tears and she put her arm around Giles tenderly. "Giles. I can protect myself against evil, I'm a big girl now, and anyway Spike's not evil anymore. He hasn't been for a long time. He's a unique vampire, gaining a soul to be a better man for me! Don't you remember?"
Giles stared hard at Spike. "I remember my feelings for Spike very accurately, thank you. They haven't changed because of the soul, nor should they. Remember Angelus? I don't remember some of the details, but I'll never forget being tortured by him. Spike's lost it now, anyway, and will no doubt revert to his former ways. We are who we are."
"He also was a man before he was a vampire, Giles. I think there's a lot left of that man in Spike, with or without the soul!"
Spike almost drowned in the rush of feeling at Buffy's defense of him, and he started to pace to relieve the emotional tension.
"Anyway, Giles, what do you remember and what don't you? I'm confused."
This deftly put Giles back into his favorite position, the one explaining everything to less gifted pupils. Buffy still knew how to deal with her old mentor. Giles sat up a little straighter and touched the bridge of his nose absent-mindedly.
"The goddess Artemis forced us to make sacrifices in exchange for gifts. We had no way of knowing what she wanted and she took - she took – " Giles' voice wavered, and he started to slump down again. Buffy again placed her hand on his.
"Please go on, Giles, it's very important."
"As a little warning she took Xander's fillings, Spike's chip and ruined my glasses. Did nothing to Andrew, surprisingly enough."
"Where is Andrew, anyway?" Buffy asked idly. Spike started, a little trickle of guilt dribbling though his thoughts. God, it was so easy to forget completely about the boy.
"Do you remember everything that happened?"
"Yes, yes. Haven't lost my memory, just can't recall – reasons for doing things, or even my own words. I remember people very well, feelings, actions. But not – things. Things we fought or the books we found – stuff – in."
"Okay. Go on about Artemis."
"We did everything we could, Buffy, to find information on her, but there just was nothing there. The thing we did on the floor – the thing with sand didn't work. And then she took my knowledge way."
Giles' chin wobbled. Buffy looked away in embarrassment. Spike guessed she had no idea what to do, and with a jerk of his head, he indicated the kitchen.
"Watcher's throat's a little dry, Slayer. Go get him a glass of water," Spike said roughly. Slayer couldn't see that Rupert would hate crying in front of her. Never been empathy girl, if anyone knew that it was him. Spike ran his hand through his hair and started pacing again, figuring to draw Giles' attention. Sure enough, on his second circuit of the living room he felt Giles' glare directed at him, which was a relief. Good. Rage would keep Giles from blubbering on Buffy and making things even worse.
Buffy returned with the requested glass of water and sat down next to Giles again.
"Artemis took his soul, Buffy!" Giles said, throwing venomous looks at Spike. "Do you know what that means?"
"That depends, I guess," Buffy said patiently. "How about Xander? I'm not all that clear on what she took from him and why."
Giles pursed his lips, with another glance at Spike. Spike guessed he was still smart enough to see when he was being diverted, but went along with it.
"Artemis took about a quarter of Xander's substance to gussy up Andrew into her personal lover-simulacrum..."
Buffy said," What?"
Spike translated, "Artemis took Andrew as her lover, but she needed some Xander-meat to make him taller and prettier…"
"I understood Giles the first time. Still with the huh. Okay. So that's what happened to Andrew. I hadn't even realized he was gone instead of just not here. Huh. How is Xander? No essential parts missing? I thought he was looking better than he has in years."
Spike smiled ruefully. "He doesn't think so himself, love. He misses his mass a lot."
Buffy pinched a non-existent fat roll on her middle. "Maybe she could set up a fat-servicing outlet here in Sunnydale. We could eat all we want."
Giles and Spike shared a look of horror before they remembered not to.
Willow and Xander walked into the room, Willow looking tired and anxious, but standing close and supportive next to Xander, who was chomping on a mouthful of something. If he went on at that rate, he'd be back into his old shape in no time, Spike thought uncharitably.
Buffy smiled at him vaguely and turned back to Giles. "So. Spike and I should be going to the airport. We don't wanna waste any time. We need to be back before the apocalypse."
Spike threw a desperate look at Willow. "Um, love, we should discuss that first, you know? Might be other options?"
Xander swallowed convulsively to get rid of his food and squeaked,"What? You're going to do what? Are you deserting us, Buffy? Are you running off with Spike? You can't do that! We'll be undefended."
Buffy set her mouth in a thin, stubborn line. "I realize that. It's just that we'll be worse off with both Spike and me out of action."
"Buffy, I'm lost here?" Xander said, his voice low.
"Me too, Buffy, I'm not following. We've got the old Spike back, not great, but I guess we can live with it if you can. Why would you be out of action?" Willow said.
Buffy's blush returned in full force, now bordering on puce.
"Just trust me," she said curtly. "I would be no good to you."
"But what about me, Buffy? I want my stuff back…I look like a sixteen-year old again!"
"You still have your skills, Xander, you memories and your soul. What's a little less fat mean? I'm thinking not a lot!"
"Right, if it happened to dumb old Xander it can't be serious, huh? You never take me seriously, Buffy!" Xander said, hurt oozing from every pore.
"That's right, because you've taken huge pains to disqualify yourself!"
Willow was wringing her hands, not knowing whom to support. "Buffy, do you really think it's the best thing right now, leaving for a soul-quest on the other side of the world? My feeling is the First should have priority."
Spike saw Buffy take deep breaths and clench her fists. "You guys just don't understand. It's me I'm worried about. I don't want to turn into psycho-Buffy again."
"When exactly were you psycho-Buffy before?" Xander asked. "Just checking? And what does it have to do with Spike?"
Spike moved to stand behind Buffy and put his hands on her shoulders. This couldn't be easy for her – but they were right to question a decision this peculiar.
"I – when Spike and I were dating before – " she looked back at him pleadingly and flashed bright red again " – I treated him real bad. I don't want to do that again. If Spike doesn't have a soul to set limits on what we – what we do – I'll be that girl again. You couldn't understand how hard it is for me not to let the darkness take me over, not to be cruel violent Slayer all the time. It's like I have a demon inside me, just like a vampire. I'm really afraid of that. That's why we have to go."
There was silence. They were all staring at Buffy with these eyes, compassion and fear combined.
"Buffy – I'm not completely clear on what you feel, but you can't leave. You can't leave Giles like this, not to mention Andrew," Willow said.
"Do whatever you have to do, B. I got your back."
The voice belonged to a dark-haired girl who was leaning nonchalantly against the doorjamb. Spike didn't know her, but he felt a thrill of emotion pass through all the others present in the room. Buffy was staring at her with her mouth in a little 'o' of shock.
"So, Faith, when exactly did you get out of prison?" Buffy said snippily, quickly regaining her composure.
The girl let go of the doorpost and sauntered up to Buffy, swinging her hips and thrusting her breasts out. Spike watched her with interest. There was something about the way she moved, the easy sexuality she exuded, that drew him. Belatedly, memory kicked in. Faith. The other slayer. Definitely the last girl on earth he should be looking over, if the rumors he'd heard were true. Remembering their one short encounter, with her in Buffy's body, he was inclined to believe every word of them.
"Never mind, B. Just here to help, you know. You go do what you need to do, and I'll be guarding that pesky Hellmouth for ya." Her voice was low and a little hoarse, sounding older than her looks made her seem. She smiled at all of them in turn. Raising her eyebrows slightly when she saw Spike and his position close to Buffy. Then Faith turned back to Buffy, who had folded her arms in that defensive stance again and was staring back hard at Faith. Spike could practically see the tension crackle in the air between them.
Willow moved between Faith and Buffy, breaking the circuit. "Let's all sit down, shall we?"
To Spike's amusement, both Slayers complied.
"Let's make a quick to-do-list." Willow started ticking off points on her fingers. "One: defeat the First. Two: restore Artemis' victims. Last: rehash the past. Agreed?"
Nods from the Slayers. Giles and Xander followed Willow's speech with open-mouthed interest. Spike stayed behind Buffy and kept his hands on her shoulders
"As to goal one: we haven't a clue where to start," Willow went on. "Correct? Goal two: find the demon bitch and make her give back what she took from you guys! I think that's a neater solution than gadding off to Africa for Spike's soul, and takes care of Giles and Andrew as well."
"And me!" Xander added quickly.
"And Xander," Willow said.
Spike pressed down on Buffy's tense shoulder muscles, trying to convey his message without being disloyal to her in public. Buffy was silent, her trapezoids like wood.
"And besides, Buffy, if we should fail, you have right here the only person in the world who has experience resouling vampires!" Willow said with a triumphant flourish.
"No way," Buffy said tersely, but he could feel her softening slightly. "Better no soul than that kind of flimsy unstable soul!"
God. There was certainly no way he could keep Buffy without being able to make love to her. He might wish it to be otherwise, but sex was still the cement in their relationship. He wouldn't accept a cursed soul, no matter what the Scoobies thought, but he did want his own hard-won soul back. Weight of guilt and all. All this thinking and assessing with just his brain and his demon was hard work.
Xander lifted his head. "So, Bufferino, just now you said you wanted to leave here, right in the middle of the fight with the First, because you needed Spike' soul back, but you decline Will's offer to ensoul him? Color me confused! You think an unsouled vampire you can boink, but who could kill anyone he liked, is a better option than a souled vampire you can't boink?"
"Yes. And it's none of your business, anyway."
"Isn't it?" Xander jumped up and towered over Buffy. "Why not? It's us he'd kill. Or people we love, or people period. Remember what he could be tricked into only a couple of months ago?"
"I trust Spike," was the only thing Buffy would say. She stared hard at Xander until he dropped his eyes and lifted his hands in a gesture of surrender. Buffy turned and left the kitchen. Spike could hear her lug her suitcases back upstairs. Well. Round one was won. Willow went to pick up books and the rest of Giles' diaries, and Xander went along to help her carry. When Buffy returned she was very subdued.
Spike turned around as he felt Faith's gaze on him. "Well, well," she said. "Buffy's boinking the undead again, huh? And William the Bloody, too? How's that chip thing working out for ya?"
She was standing very close. He could smell her hot exciting girl scent, overlaid with indefinable Slayerness and the smell of healing wounds. He swallowed. Buffy walked up and stood next to him, enveloping him and protecting him with her own aura of scent. Claiming him as her man, he liked that. He snaked an arm around her and gave her a quick, encouraging squeeze.
Faith smiled. "Hot little studmuffin, Buff. Can't blame ya. Playing with fire, though. Thought you were above all that."
"Things change, Faith," Buffy said evenly. "People change."
Did Faith know Buffy was really, really pissed off? Probably. The seemed to know each other pretty well.
"Fair enough, B. You've changed? Well, so have I."
Faith did a step back and tilted her head, regarding them both with a wicked little smile. Still, Spike smelled fear and uncertainty under all the cockiness. Made him like her more. He thought he'd better keep far, far away from her. She threw herself in a chair and hooked one leg over the armrest and one arm over the top of the chair.
"You call the shots, B. Tell me what to do and I'll do it."
Willow and Xander returned, laden with books. They plunked down the stacks on the dining room table. Spike eyed them with misgiving. Presumably these were the same books Giles and Andrew had gone through and where they'd found absolutely nothing.
"Giles?" Willow asked. "Can you remember what stuff you found out about Artemis?"
"I'm afraid not. I do know it was next to nothing, and mostly things I already knew. She wasn't listed as a demon. You could check my diary, though. I can't understand most of it."
Willow found the diary and started leafing through it. Suddenly she lifted her head. "Locator spell. We could do a locator spell on her!" There was a subdued excitement about her, mixed with fear.
"And if we found her?" Spike asked. "Don't think we're ready to meet her yet. There was nothing we could do against her. Magic didn't work, for one thing!"
Willow gave him a condescending smile. "Yeah, I read what you tried. I wouldn't exactly call that magic. I'm sure I can come up with something a little more powerful."
Spike's eyebrows rose. She was getting confident, all right. She was enjoying her moment as most powerful, most likely to succeed girl. He'd still bet on his Slayer, though. And the other one.
"You're not wrong, though," Willow continued. "We'd need to be prepared for her first." She yawned, and her eyes flicked over to Buffy almost guiltily. "I know we did nothing but sleep inside that cave, but I'm kinda falling over here. Whaddya say we do this tomorrow?"
"Yeah, tomorrow's good," Buffy said.
She seemed distracted.
"We could do a locator spell on Andrew?" Xander suggested. "Andrew's the guy we need, never mind vengeance."
"Tomorrow, okay? Not as if we could jumpstart into action right now."
Spike gave Buffy's waist another squeeze, left the kitchen and walked up the stairs. He wasn't going to wait for Buffy's permission to get into her bedroom, he'd decided. Bashful reserved Spike was someone nobody had seemed to like much, including himself, and was best left buried deep. Now that he had experience with resouling, so to speak, he thought the next time it might be a very different story altogether.
After he'd taken a lukewarm shower, on account of the hordes of teenagers having used up the hot water, he kicked his clothes aside and stood staring at the collection of tooth brushes on the shelf below the bathroom mirror. Which one was Buffy's? Buffy came in and patted him absently on his bum. He heard her rustling in a cabinet and then she held out a toothbrush to him, still in its shiny plastic wrapper.
"Here's a toothbrush for you," she said shyly. "I haven't got a black one, sorry."
He smiled back at her. "I'm not particular about the color of my toothbrush," he answered gravely. "Should I be?"
She shook her head, and put her hand on his arm tentatively. He saw her swallow and felt a moment of fear. Buffy was going to say something that was important to her, and in the past that had never boded well for him.
"It's nice, don't you think? Nice and normal, us brushing teeth together?"
"Yeah." Funny how his voice was hoarse all of a sudden. "Nice." Soul in, soul out, what did it matter? Same sentimental sod he'd always been.
TBC