Chapter 3: Binded

"Giles I need to talk to you," Buffy greeted Giles, feeling nervous.

Giles looked concerned, "What about?"

"Spike," was Buffy's one word answer.

"Ah," Giles said understandingly and sat on the edge of the desk, "It is very likely he will come back. I very much doubt he plans on leaving."

"He did, last night," Buffy blurted out.

Giles stood up, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I was inside. Plus I don't think he was in a very killing mood, more like a drunk one," Buffy told him.

"Oh," Giles said, looking relieved.

"He just babbled on about how…" Buffy paused and glanced down at the floor, "how he couldn't stop thinking about me," she glanced up again at Giles who had a pensive look on his face.

"Well that's understandable, he's just had a taste of something incredibly powerful," Giles told her.

Buffy stared down back at floor, "Giles, the thing is…I can't…stop thinking about him either," Buffy mumbled the last few words, but Giles heard her.

Giles sat down again, "Oh."

Buffy quickly explained, "I get this headache that only goes away when he's near and he's constantly on my mind. It's driving me crazy and I do not like it."

Giles frowned, "Headache?"

Buffy nodded, "And based on Spike's drunken ramblings, he's having the same problems."

"It could be very well be mystical," Giles suggested and picked up a couple of books, "I suggest you round up everyone up and we research."

Buffy took a deep breathe, "There's something else too."

Giles turned and looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

"The bite didn't hurt."

Giles looked slightly relaxed, "Well you do have accelerated-"

"No," Buffy interrupted him, wringing her hands and biting her lip, "When he…bit me," she glanced up at him quickly then looked down, "It didn't hurt. It kinda felt…um…nice."

Buffy felt her face flush and she couldn't meet Giles's face.

There was an awkward pause and Giles's cleared his throat before speaking, "Well, vampires can make biting very, um, pleasurable, but Spike didn't even bite his last Slayer, it seems very strange for Spike to…." Giles trailed off, obviously thinking deeply.

"If you could hand me the chronicles…" Giles asked her. Yep he was clearly in research mode.

Buffy complied, "I just want this-whatever it is-to go away. My headache is worse today and I'm having a very strange dislike for the sun."

"Yes, precisely," Giles mumbled, flipping pages.

"Hey guys," Willow's chipper voice greeted them but she frowned when she saw their gloomy faces.

"Oh no, big bad?" she asked, concerned.

Giles's head snapped up to her voice and his eyes lit up.

"Willow, did you do that spell you asked me about?" He asked carefully.

Willow nodded forlornly, "Yeah that night with Spike. No such luck though, it went all kablooey."

"It was a binding spell right?" Giles asked urgently.

Willow nodded and then looked puzzled, "Why?"

"Because," Giles said with a sigh, "It worked."

Willow looked happy then frowned with a glance at Buffy, "No it didn't, I mean, Buffy got bit. It was supposed to hold him back."

Giles shook his head slowly, "No it worked. It just binded Buffy and Spike together."

Both Willow and Buffy looked at him, "What?" they shrieked in unison.

Giles rubbed his head, "Binded-connected them. Allowed them to feel and constantly think about each other, being a part is physically painful and there could possibly be other effects we don't know about."

Buffy's eyes went wide, "No! Fix it. I don't want to feel Spike!"

Giles sighed, "I know, it should take a simple reversal spell. Willow and I will look into it."

Buffy looked at Giles straight in the eye, "Find it. I really don't want to be stuck with my mortal enemy."

"Of course," Giles nodded, "Meanwhile, go out on patrol as usual."

Buffy nodded, "Will do."

Willow bit her lip, "Sorry Buffy, I was just trying to help."

Buffy gave her friend a smile, "I know."

"Um Buffy a word before you go," Giles called and pulled her aside, "Staying away from Spike-while a good thing-will prove challenging."

"I'm not going anywhere with the bleached bloodsucker," Buffy reassured him and crinkled her nose in distaste, "why would I do that anyway?"

"Spells gone wrong can be very unpredictable-it's crucial that you remain extremely cautious until we reverse it."

"Check-extreme caution-I'm off to patrol," Buffy told him and grabbed her bag and left.

Buffy made her way to the graveyard closest to the school, stake in hand.

"Shlayer,"

Buffy winced and turned to see Spike, "Great. What I need to make my night complete."

"I shaid I'd come back," Spike slurred, stumbling towards her.

Buffy shuddered, "Are you drunk again?"

Spike didn't answer that but flicked his middle finger at her with a "You fucking bitch."

Buffy straightened and glared at him, "Are you looking to get staked?"

"She left me," Spike snarled and pointed a finger at her," Because of you."

"Who?" Buffy asked confused.

"Drusilla you stupid bint!" Spike snapped and lunged at her.

Buffy easily sidestepped his attack and Spike fell to the ground. Buffy took advantage of his position and straddled his legs and pointed the stake at his heart, "Give me one good reason you're not floating in the wind," she hissed. Spike didn't say anything but stare up at her and she rolled her eyes.

"Look, Giles is fixing whatever this is and soon we'll back to killing each other."

Spike still didn't say anything and just stared up at the golden beauty. How come he'd never noticed how fucking beautiful she was? All golden and sunshine. He had the most bizarre desire to reach up and kiss her. Bloody hell.

Buffy stared down at Spike and into his intense blue eyes. Pretty blue, she thought dreamily.

Something pulled her down so their lips were nearly touching. Nice lips. Time seemed to slow and Buffy found herself drifting closer to Spike's very nice lips.

Suddenly Buffy felt something hard poke her stomach and reality came crashing back. Oh god. She jumped off him and ran as fast as she could. Anything to get away from that big bubble of very, very bad things.

Spike watched as Buffy ran, still dazed. Bloody fucking Slayer.

Buffy climbed through the window and flopped onto her bed exhausted. There'd been at least five nice sized vampires out there and she still had that band of sledgehammers in her brain. Her thoughts for the hundredth time that night drifted back to Spike. Ugh! She slammed her face into her pillow and let out a muffled scream. It was a weird fluke thing from the bond-thing she told herself and sighed. Just then the telephone rang and Buffy jumped to it, "Hello?"

"Hey it's me, we found out more information," Willow's voice greeted sound unusually somber.

"Uh-oh, that doesn't sound good," Buffy muttered.

"Not so much," Willow said sympathetically, "Turns out that a bond between the Slayer and a vampire-not such a good thing."

"Tell me something I don't know," Buffy sighed.

"Okay, every demon gonna be gunning for you and Spike. Apparently they have big issues with a Slayer having easy access to the demon world."

Buffy frowned then cheered up, "Ooh! Let's trap Spike with the demons and have them kill him-presto no problem."

Willow winced, "That's the other problem."

"Of course, nothing's ever that easy," Buffy grumbled.

"If one of you is killed, well let's just say it's not good for the other half of the bond," Willow told her.

"What do you mean? I'll die too?" Buffy exclaimed.

"No! Well, we're really not sure," Willow said quietly.

Buffy desperately wanted to hit something right then, "So what do I do? Follow Spike and protect him?"

"Well," Willow hesitated, "Giles thought maybe, since your mom is out till Sunday, Spike could stay with you," Willow finished in a rush.

Buffy's jaw dropped, "You want my mortal enemy to stay with me?"

"Only until we reverse the spell. That way neither of you dies." Willow explained.

"Wills- I can't!" Buffy whined, "Giles really said that?"

"He's convinced for the time being Spike can't hurt you," Willow told her.

"Yeah, well tell that to my face," Buffy grumbled, "Wills, he hates me as much as much as I hate him. Why would he stay with me?"

"Uh…safety?" Willow suggested, "I don't know Buffy, but we don't want you to die."

"Yeah me neither," Buffy sighed.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow," Willow said.

"Night," Buffy responded and hung up the phone.

She changed into a pair of pajamas and snuggled under her bed.

Could her life get any weirder?

Buffy woke to the shrill of her alarm clock and winced. School, so not the place she wanted to be right now. She quickly dressed and pulled her hair back in a low ponytail, no time for a shower today. Buffy rushed downstairs into the kitchen and grabbed a banana.

"Morning honey," Her mother greeted her with a smile.

Buffy groaned, "Too early to be cheerful."

Joyce chuckled, "I guess so," then she cleared her throat and looked serious, "You know that I'm leaving for LA today and I'll be gone for three days. That means: no parties, no boys and going to school."

"In other words, no fun," Buffy summed up and earned herself a look.

"I promise I'll be good-better-I'll be perfect." Buffy reassured her mom.

That seemed to help, "I know."

"Okay-I gotta go," Buffy said with a glance as the clock. She kissed her mother on the cheek, "Love ya, have fun in LA."

"Be careful! I'll call later," Joyce called out after Buffy who gave her a wave.

As Buffy walked to school she felt a twinge of guilt about breaking her mother's rules.

"Spike isn't a boy," Buffy consoled herself.

He's a man, her very evil devil-voice sing-songed, but she ignored it.

"He's not even human."

The day passed excruciatingly slow and Spike was constantly on her mind and her head pounded and her eyes hurt. This was insane! She could feel Spike sleeping, spread out on his nice silk sheets wearing... nothing. She gulped and felt her face flush.

"Miss Summers!" An angry voice broke through her naughty, shouldn't-be-having-them thoughts.

"Uh yeah?" Buffy said meekly, trying to figure out what the teacher had been talking about.

"Is there something interesting that's keeping you from listening? I'm sure the class wouldn't mind to hear," the teacher said in a sickly-sweet tone of voice.

"Uh…" Buffy willed her face to cool down, "That's okay. I'm ready to listen now."
"Good."

Buffy burst into the library after school and found Giles hovered over a stack of books.

"Please tell me you found a reversal spell that's affective immediately."

"Er, um, perhaps you better sit down for this," Giles began nervously.

"Giles, spit it out," She told him and he gave her a look.

"Very well. We did find a reversal spell-"

'Uh oh," Buffy cut him off, "You have but-face."

Giles looked at her in surprise, "pardon?"

"You look like you're gonna say 'but,'" she explained.

"Yes. However the spell can only be preformed on the second night of the full moon," Giles paused, "Which isn't until another week."

"What?" Buffy shrieked.

"I'm terribly sorry, I'll look into another spell, but I'm fairly certain this is the only one."

"Giles," Buffy whined, "I can't do this! He's on my mind non-stop. It's annoying and not the way I want to think of my enemy,"

Giles looked at her, "what do you mean?"

Buffy blushed, remembering her earlier thoughts and last night's almost kiss.

"Nothing," she said quickly, "It really just bugs."

Giles nodded, not quite believing her, "Well, I promise we'll fix it as soon as we can."

Buffy nodded, calming down, "Okay."

"Meanwhile, I can't believe I'm saying this, keep Spike at your house at least until your mother comes back. Hopefully, we'll have a better idea of the situation by then." Giles told her.

"I'll find Spike and fill him in," she agreed reluctantly.

"Good." Giles replied and busied himself once more with the books.

Buffy went to change into more fight-y clothes, mind as well start looking for the bleached bloodsucker.

She had strolled through two cemeteries with no luck. Spike was no where to be found and Buffy had a sneaking suspicion that it would remain that way until he wanted to be found. Damn him. Then she felt a tingle at her neck and turned to the shadows as Angel stepped out of them.

Angel. She felt a pang of guilt, she'd forgotten all about him in the last couple of days.

"Hey," Angel said approaching her.

"Hey," She said back

"I was worried about you. How's your neck?" Angel questioned his voice full of concern that made her melt.

She briefly touched her neck and gave him a smile, "Good as new."

Angel gave her a small upward turn of his lips before stepping even closer. As he bent down to her head to kiss her, she realized that for first time since she had met him, she didn't want him to kiss her.

"Spike!" She blurted out when his lips were a mere inch from hers.

Angel stopped, "What?"

"Have you seen him? I need to talk to him," Buffy asked thankful for quick thinking.

"I was wondering when you'd get to that," Angel said.

"Get to what?" Buffy asked with a puzzled frown.

"Staking him for," Angel motioned to her neck, "Once and for all."

"Huh-oh!" Buffy winced when she it hit her that Angel had no idea what was going on. And she kinda wanted to keep it that way for now.

"Um…something like that," Buffy said hesitantly, "I just really need to find him."

Angel pulled back, "Right. I'll just get out of your way."

She was half tempted to tell him not to go but she had to find Spike, alone.

"I'll see you soon," she said with a nod.

Angel nodded back and without another word, disappeared into the shadows again.

Was she ever going to get anywhere with him?

Buffy stomped around the graveyard, furious at herself and at Spike for being Mr. Invisible Man.

"Looking for me?" A deep voice drawled sending shivers up and down her spine.

Speak of the devil, Buffy thought as Spike appeared.

"Yes I was," She said and crossed her arms over her chest to look more intimidating.

Spike sauntered over to her, "Gonna tell me why?"

"You're sober," Buffy noted, seeing how he could walk in a straight line and not slur his words. Spike chucked his cigarette on the ground, "Unfortunately."

Buffy made a face, "We need to talk."

"Slayer, are you breaking up with me?" He asked in a hurt tone; however the illusion was shattered when he broke out into a lavish grin.

"Shut up. Do you remember last night?" Buffy asked, all business. Nope she wasn't interested if he remembered their almost-kiss.

Spike shrugged, "Bits and pieces, I was pretty pissed."

"Pissed?" Buffy asked with distaste.

"Drunk," Spike said slowly as if he were speaking to a five year old.

"Oh," Buffy said lamely.

"What's this about last night? And say it quick alright-Don't fancy getting a rep for talking with the Slayer."

Buffy sighed, "Fine. Apparently there's a binding spell-"

"What? Magics?" Spike interrupted, "Bloody hell, can't the Witch keep her spells straight?"

Buffy glared at him, "It wasn't her fault, it's yours-you bit me!"

"Yeah, vampire here," Spike said in a 'duh' tone of voice.

Buffy struggled not to lose her patience, "Well when you bit me, Willow cast the spell and it binded us together. That's why we have the whole feeling each other thing and the headaches."

"Fuck! Your Watcher is working on a reversal spell right, readin' all the books?" Spike asked.

"They found it," Buffy began but Spike interrupted her once again.

"Bloody hell! Use it!" Spike exclaimed.

"Well if you'd stop interrupting me you'd know that we have to wait a week!" Buffy snapped.

Spike froze, "A week?"

"Yeah."

Spike growled and let out a stream of curses.

"Shut up Spike."

"Fuck you Slayer; I'm fucking attached to the bloody bint who I'm trying to buggering kill!" Spike roared.

Buffy snapped and whipped out a stake, "Listen, Giles may have said not to kill you but he didn't say I couldn't hurt you. I'm guessing a few misplaced stakings gotta be big with the ouch."

Spike closed his mouth and cocked his head, "Why can't you kill me?"

Buffy saw the wheels turning in his head, "Don't even think it. It works both ways. One of us dies; the other is in a world of pain or possible death."

"Bloody fuck," Spike swore, "So now what Slayer, we stay joined at the hip?" he said sarcastically.

"No," Buffy paused, "You stay at my house, locked in the basement."

Spike's eyes snapped up to meet hers, blazing, "Bloody hell no!"

"Believe me I want this as much as you do, but I'm not risking me or my friends because of this."

Spike opened his mouth to protest some more when a huge, mammoth demon jumped out at them.

It charged straight at Spike who barely managed to escape its horns.

"The Slayer's Vampire must die!" It roared and attempted to pound Spike into nothing.

The demon landed a few good hits before Buffy jumped on its back and stabbed her stake in its throat. The demon made gurgling noise before pitching over.

Spike winced when he realized his newly mended ribs had been broken again. His face felt swollen and he looked up at the Slayer through his one good eye.

Buffy stood there with her hands on her hips, "See what I mean?"

"Why'd you kill it?" Spike asked and silently added, and save me?

Buffy could feel his confusion through the pesky bond and rolled her eyes.

"If saving my ass means saving yours, I'll deal. For now."

Spike knew exactly what was going to come next, "Fine Slayer, I'll stay at your bloody house till this mess gets sorted. But I'm not getting chained up in the basement."

The idea of Spike and chains imprinted itself in her mind at it took all her willpower not to blush, "Who said anything about chains? I said I was locking you in the basement."

Spike drew himself up on his feet and managed not to fall down, "No bloody locking me up. Sides you've pretty much proved I have every demon on my tail since I got fucking bonded to you, don't see the point of leaving."

"Spike I hate this too but Giles seems to think it's a good idea but I'm not letting a killer walk free in my house. You'd try and kill me in my sleep." Buffy informed him and started walking, keeping her stake ready.

Spikes scoffed, "And endure the torture and possible death? Sorry luv, I like my immortal self too much."

"I'm not your luv," Buffy responded automatically.

Spike ignored her as they stood on her porch and Buffy opened the door and walked inside. When she noticed that Spike hadn't followed she rolled her eyes, "I invite you in,"

Spike stepped pass the threshold and Buffy muttered, "Asshole."

Spike glared at her, "Bitch."

"Fuck you." Buffy snarled

"Right back at you Slayer," Spike shot back.

They stood there glaring at each other, waiting for someone to make the first hit.

Finally Buffy managed to relax herself enough to speak, "Sleep on the couch. I'm going upstairs. Do anything stupid and I stake you, pain or no pain." She turned on her heel and went up the stairs and he heard her door slam shut.

Spike wondered into what looked like the living room and spotted a couch and TV.

"Guess this is where I'm sleeping." He muttered and turned on the TV.

He was immersed in the TV when he heard the shower go on. Slayer was taking a shower after all that talk about not trusting him she was taking a bloody shower. Getting out of those tight pants and little top, all golden and smooth….Spike's eyes glazed over at the thought of the Slayer's tight little body.

What the bleedin' hell?
He had not just thought of the Slayer as fuckable had he? Then the memory of their almost-kiss popped into his head, her hot legs pressed against him, her breath on his lips, her arousal in the air.

He felt him self hardening. Bugger, he unzipped his pants and went to work, no need for the Slayer to find him like this.

Buffy stepped out of the shower and put on her towel. That had to have been the quickest shower she'd ever taken. She really didn't want to leave Spike alone with her house.

He'd probably end up setting her house on fire.

All the sudden she felt a wave of desire crash through her and the need to relive herself was unbearable. Oh my god, her fingers drifted down to her sex. Was she really going to do this with Spike right below her? Her fingers answered her question. Yes. She started breathing harder, her skin flushed when everything inside her burst. She couldn't hold back the moan as she came.

After a moment she composed herself and slipped on her pajamas. What the hell was that? She hadn't even been ready when the orgasm hit her. She'd never been a big doer of self-pleasure, maybe here or there but that…that hadn't been her.

The words stuck in her brain-hadn't been her. Then it clicked, Spike! Her face flushed when she realized that she'd been aroused because he had and came when he did. That made her face grow even redder. He had been jacking off downstairs? Instead of grossing her out, like it should have, it made her wet. This bond-thing was growing way out of control. Buffy slipped on her robe and clomped down the stairs, trying to be as loud as she could to alert her presence.

Spike heard the Slayer even before she stomped down the stairs, obviously warning him. He had wiped himself clean and hid the Kleenex out of sight. He figured he'd throw it out when she went to bed.

"Spike," her voice was demanding and he tore his eyes off the TV to meet her gaze. And if looks could stake…

"What?" Spike asked his voice hinted with annoyance hoping she hadn't figured out what he'd been doing a minute ago.

He didn't know that he made me come with him, Buffy realized and she wasn't about to tell him.

"Nothing. Just close the blinds so you don't fry." She muttered and dashed back up the stairs.

Spike watched the Slayer scamper off and let out a sigh of relief that she hadn't heard him. He went to close the blinds and when he got to the one closest to the stairs, a faint whiff of arousal and come assaulted him.

Bloody hell! The Slayer had been doing herself upstairs. The thought of it made him grow hard again.

Fuck he was never gonna get to sleep.