Darkness And Light

Disclaimer: Don't own any of em, gonna SEE some of em in just a couple of days! WOOHOO!

Summary: Giles asks a favor and Faith rescues Spike.

Reviews: Yes, please. Love reviews and adore reviewers. Readers Rock but Reviewers Rule!

A/N: This might be the last chapter for a while as I'll be in Sacramento until the eleventh and I don't know if I'll have time to write even though I'll have my trusty little laptop with me, keeping it safe from destructive trolls.

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Summers house…

Willow watched as Tara rolled over and curled into a tight bundle of anger. She sighed and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth, with any luck Tara would be asleep when she got back. The redheaded witch took her time as she mentally reviewed the latest argument with her love. It had been bitter, loud and Willow wasn't sure she remembered exactly what had started it. She shrugged. 'Oh well, nothing a little spell won't fix.' She thought.

In her room, Dawn heaved a sigh of relief when the quarrel ended. She heard the water start in the bathroom and rolled over and closed her eyes.

Willow clicked off the light in the adjoining bathroom and gazed for a moment at her lover lying silent and stiff on her side of the bed. She sat on the stool in front of the vanity and picked up a small flower. She muttered an incantation and watched in satisfaction as the flower glowed briefly. She tucked the enchanted bloom under a book, picked up her hair brush and began running it through her long locks.

"Wills? Aren't you ready for bed yet?" The sultry question brought a smug little smirk to the redhead's face. She gave her hair a last stroke with the brush and turned around with a loving smile place.

"I'm ready and willing." She purred as she crawled up the bed into the oblivious arms of her lover.

Angel's mansion…

Faith tore down the two flights of stairs in record time. She headed straight for the phone. She dialed Angel's number with trembling fingers and hopped in place waiting for it to ring the other end.

"Hello?" Angel answered after only one ring.

"Angel. I found him. He's in your house. He's in bad shape. I need blood and I need it now. He won't feed from me. He's gonna dust if I don't do something quick." Faith's panic transmitted over the line in breathless statements.

She heard the dark vampire take an unneeded breath. "Ok. In the basement there's freezer. It's locked but the key is in a small envelope taped to the back. It's full. I keep it for emergencies. But first check the bottom. There should be a block of ice on the bottom shelf, if it's not a block but has been melted then the electricity may have been off and the blood might be tainted. If it is, don't use it. I'll call Willy and have him deliver some fresh. What happened to him?"

Faith thought for a second. "I'm not sure. Are vampires affected by allergies?"

"Only if they haven't been feeding well enough for normal healing. Why?" Angel was pretty sure what she was going to say next.

"I found bee stingers in his arm and it's badly swollen." Faith told him disbelievingly.

"Will was allergic to bees as a human. Has he been feeding?" Angel sighed.

"I asked him when he last ate and he couldn't remember." Faith heaved her own sigh.

In LA, Angel rubbed his forehead as exasperation flooded his large frame. "Stupid vampire." He muttered.

Faith snickered despite her worry. "Yeah, pretty much my reaction."

"Okay, here's the thing, vampires can suffer from the same allergies they had as humans if they let themselves become undernourished. Will was deathly allergic to bees. He almost died as a child. I only know this because he got stung once as a fledge and he panicked. It irritated him but his vampire healing took care of it too fast for him to even swell up. He should have been more careful. It won't kill him. The not feeding will do him more damage. There's a microwave in the kitchen. Listen carefully and I'll tell you what you need to do." Angel explained.

As soon as he was finished instructing her on how to defrost and heat the blood, he told her how much Spike needed. She nodded before remembering he couldn't see her. "Got it. Thanks, I owe you." She said gratefully.

"No, you don't and you're welcome." Angel told her gently. "Now go take care of the bleached pain in the ass." He hung up and immediately placed a call back to Sunnydale. It didn't take long to intimidate Willy into arranging a large delivery of fresh blood to the Crawford Street address. That done, he checked his rolodex and made another call, letting Clem know that Spike had been found and was safe.

Faith hung up the receiver and ran down the hall to the back of the house where Angel had told her the kitchen was located. She found the door leading to the basement and nearly wrenched it off its hinges. Locating the key, she pulled the freezer door open. A shuddering sigh of relief escaped as she saw the solid block of ice sitting intact on the bottom shelf. She grabbed an armful of bags, paying little heed to the red crosses on the labels. She raced back up to the kitchen and began microwaving the necessary amount to bring Spike back from the brink. She found a tray and several towels to wrap around the warmed bags and a large mug to pour the blood into. It took longer than she'd hoped but soon she was headed back up the stairs to the small room on the third floor.

She carefully placed the tray on the end of the bed before moving Spike's duster off the chair so she could sit next to her vampire.

Spike felt his slayer return to the room and struggled to open his eyes. He needed to see her again. He felt something heavy depress the foot of the mattress. The rich coppery smell of warm blood tickled his nose. With considerable effort he forced his eyelids open. He inhaled and licked his lips.

"Faith?" A bare whisper of breath carried her name to her ears.

"Yeah, Spike. It's me. I've got blood for you. Did you know Angel keeps some down in the kitchen?" She babbled a little as she plotted the best way to feed the weakened vampire.

A slight smile crossed his handsome face. Faith's heart gave an unexpected little leap to see that tiny smirk. Finally, she decided the best option was to put the tray on the chair and sit behind him to hold him up while she fed him. She put the mug and a second bag on the nightstand and eased Spike into a sitting position. She slid up onto the bed behind him and laid him back against her with his head on her shoulder. One arm slid around his chest and her free hand held the mug. The next helping was within easy reach so she could continue feeding him without too much movement.

"Hey, Pet." His low voice shivered along her skin.

"Hey, Babe. Here, drink this. You're looking mighty bad right now and I want you to drink every single bag I heated." She kissed his temple and held the mug up to his mouth, tilting it so he could sip the warm fluid.

He frowned and pulled his head back further into her shoulder, flinching away from the cup. "That's human. Where did you say you got it?"

Faith tightened her arm around his chest and told him a small lie. "Angel keeps a supply in the freezer part of his refrigerator. Haven't you ever looked?"

He shook his head, brushing her cheek with his soft hair. "Figured the poof would be too soulful to keep the good stuff. I thought it was animal."

"If you can't get over the fact that it is the good stuff enough to drink it, I might think maybe you're the one with the soul." Faith teased as she brought the cup back up to his mouth.

Spike shot her a reproachful look from under his dark lashes as he obediently went back to drinking the warm blood. He felt his strength returning as the borrowed blood began to revive his body. He closed his eyes and leaned back against her when the cup was empty. He felt her movements as she refilled the mug.

Faith glanced down at the bright head resting on her shoulder. A wave of tenderness unlike anything she'd ever felt before swept through her. She rubbed her face against the tousled curls and smiled.

"Hey, drink up." She held the newly filled cup up to his face.

With a visible effort, Spike lifted his head again and resumed sipping the life-giving liquid. It took longer to finish the second cup. Finally it was empty again and he snuggled his head back against her shoulder with a sigh. "My hero." He murmured.

He felt her shift, preparing to get off the bed. He groaned in protest. "Don't leave me."

"I'm not leaving. I have to get some more blood. You've got at least five more bags to drink." Faith settled back to cuddle him reassuringly.

He shook his head. "I'm full." He sounded for all the world like a fussy toddler. "Sleepy."

"You haven't had nearly enough." Faith told him.

"Not used to eating much at a time. Eat too much now, might get sick. Don't want that, hurts." He turned his face into her neck and nuzzled sleepily.

She pulled back and gazed down at his face. The hollows beneath his bright blue eyes weren't as deep and dark as they had been. The parched appearance of his lips had eased but he still looked a little on the starved side.

"Tell you what. Have one more and then I'll let you sleep. We'll both sleep." She bargained. She grinned when his lower lip came out in a pout.

"Okay." He let her lean over to snag another bag from the towel-covered pile on the tray. The third bag consumed, they snuggled down under the blanket with Spike held protectively in his slayer's arms. He'd wrapped his arm around her slender waist while she curved her arm around his back with her hand lying lightly on his shoulder blade. His head rested on her shoulder, her cheek lying against the top of his head. With her dark hair mixed with his short platinum curls they were a study in contrast, darkness and light.

The rest of the night passed quietly as they woke every couple of hours for Spike to drink one or two more bags of the restoring blood. Neither of them heard Willy let himself in the back door, fill up the refrigerator and leave just as quietly as he'd arrived. The bartender didn't know why Angel wanted all that blood delivered and he wasn't about to investigate to find out. The very last people he wanted mad at him were Angelus and Spike so he did what he was told and went home.

The next morning, Magic Box…

Giles listened to Anya chatter at a (for once) paying customer, hoping the ex-demon wouldn't offend the poor woman and keep her from returning. He checked the class schedule he'd insisted the girls give him and sighed with relief when he saw that Willow had the early class today and Tara would still be home. He picked up the phone and dialed the number to Buffy's house.

"Hello?" A female voice answered the electronic summons.

"Buffy. How are you this morning?" Rupert mentally cursed himself for not checking his slayer's class schedule.

"Fine, Giles. Are you okay? Did you need something?" Buffy was puzzled about why her Watcher was calling so early on a weekday.

"No, no, I'm fine. I was just wondering if I could speak to Tara for a moment." Giles decided to just go for it; he didn't know when he'd have another chance and this really needed to get done.

"Sure. Hold on." The blonde slayer put the phone down without further question and called Tara.

"This is Tara." The shy witch picked up the call.

"Ah, Tara. I need a favor. You mustn't tell anyone but it's very important that you do this." Giles began.

"Um, sure. Whatever you need, you know that." Tara was puzzled.

Giles sighed and glanced toward the main portion of the shop to make sure Anya couldn't overhear. "Please don't ask any questions on the phone, I'll tell you everything later but I really need you to investigate the spell that was used to bring Buffy back."

"S-sure. I can do that but why…" Tara was startled when he interrupted her.

"Please, no questions now. Wait until we can speak privately. Can you do it?" He asked. "And I need this kept between the two of us, all right?"

"Yes, all right." Tara told him.

They finished the conversation quickly and hung up. Giles removed his glasses to clean them. He wished he knew whether or not Faith had found Spike. He hoped she had and wondered where the blond menace had been hiding. He was impatient to see the vampire's reaction to the packet the detective had brought from England. And he wanted to see Mr. Whitestone's reaction to meeting an honest-to-God vampire. A chuckle broke out at the thought. It was going to be a very interesting meeting; he just hoped it would be soon.

Summers house…

Tara hung up the phone thoughtfully. She turned as Dawn came into the kitchen with her backpack, ready for school. Xander would be arriving in just a couple of minutes to take her.

Dawn slung her bag onto a chair and gave Tara a hug, surprising the blonde witch. "Morning. How are you? That argument last night sounded vicious." The teenager commented as she moved over to the refrigerator looking for something to eat, pulled the milk out then shifted her attention to the cupboard.

Tara tilted her head in confusion. "Dawnie? What argument?"

Dawn paused in her search for cereal in the cupboard. Her wide blue eyes flew up to meet Tara's confused gaze. "Um, the one between you and Willow?"

Xander knocked once on the back door and stuck his head in. "Dawn-miester, you ready?"

The brunette nodded and picked up her bag. "Maybe I was having a bad dream. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

Tara waved her hand distractedly. "No, Sweetie, I'm not upset. Have a good day." After they left, Tara sank down into a chair, leaned on her elbows and rubbed her temples as a headache began to build. Was Willow playing her?