Service Unit
Chapter Fifteen – Betrayal
Buffy could feel his eyes on her as she left the room. She stopped by her guest bedroom long enough to tell the demon inside it that he could unplug his ears and get some sleep and that he wasn't to leave the room until she came to get him. He nodded acquiescence and lay down somewhat stiffly on the twin bed.
She continued to the kitchen and pulled her two largest mugs from the cupboard then filled them half full with the donated human blood she'd secured from a local demon bar featuring Rome's version of Willy the Snitch. She popped them into the microwave to warm then pulled them out and set them on the counter before pulling a sharp knife out of the block and a roll of gauze out of the first aid kit. She pulled up the sleeve of her pajama top and sliced a line across her left forearm then held her arm over each mug in turn, letting her blood drip into them until they were filled to the brim. She wiped the blood off her arm then wrapped a strip of gauze around it and pulled her sleeve back down. A quick stir with a spoon to mix in her blood and Spike's dinner was ready.
She stood staring at the mugs for a few minutes, wondering what had possessed her to add her blood to them. She'd never even considered giving Spike her blood before, not that her Slayer side would have let her, considering that Angel had nearly drained her when she'd given it to him. And Spike had never asked her to, never even hinted at it, even though it could have healed him a lot faster when he'd been tortured by Glory and The First, when his chip had started to malfunction, when Robin had nearly killed him… and every time she'd left him battered and bruised after one of their… well, she couldn't really call them 'lovemaking' sessions, so, to use a Spikeism… 'shagging' sessions. She blinked slowly at the mugs filled with Slayery goodness. Why did the idea of giving Spike her blood suddenly seem like the most logical thing in the world? So much so that she'd opened a vein pretty much on autopilot… like she'd been doing this kind of thing every day for months.
She suddenly grinned and nodded to herself because she'd figured it out. Her Slayer side had stepped back so she could be all 'nurturing Buffy' for the moment, but it was apparently fully invested in project, 'Get Spike's demon back' and had decided that Slayer blood was just the ticket. She picked up the mugs and headed for the bedroom. "Bon appétit, vampire-boy. Here's hoping this works."
Buffy stepped up next to the bed and set a mug down on the nightstand next to the small one from earlier that had gone cold and gummy. She pushed that mug back a little then sat down next to Spike's knee, holding the second mug out to him. "Here you go. I hope I got it warm enough."
Spike looked hopefully at the mug and the very tip of his tongue slipped out to lick at his lip before disappearing, but he made no move to take it from her. She reached out and took his left hand, bringing it up to wrap around the mug, then she guided it to his mouth and helped him tip it. "I know you haven't fed yourself in a really long time, but I'm sure it's like riding a bike, and you'll get the hang of it again."
She let go of his hand, keeping hers nearby just in case he had difficulty, but once the blood touched his tongue, he tipped the mug up and gulped it down like a man starved… which he very well might be, considering that she didn't know what kind of crap he'd been existing on the last twenty three years. Who knew what was actually in that 'specialized sustaining fluid' that was sitting in her living room. And that reminded her… she needed to feed some crap to the incinerator, and she wanted to do that before Spike went out to the living room in the morning. She wanted to remove all the reminders of his slavery, so it was a case of 'everything must go.' The demon trainer she really couldn't do anything about at the moment; she needed to keep him around in case she needed his help, but she could make sure he stayed out of sight most of the time.
Buffy took the empty mug and replaced it with the full one then stood up. "I've got to do something before we go to sleep that hopefully shouldn't take very long. Do you want me to bring you more blood when I come back?"
Spike had already gulped down the second mug and she took it from him, holding the two empty mugs in one hand while she picked up the mug full of cold blood from the nightstand. He lowered his hand to rest on his thigh again with his eyes locked on the mugs in her hands. He looked from one hand to the other then raised his eyes to her face and gave a small nod. Buffy smiled. "All right. Just hang on for a little while and you'll have some more. I have lots in the fridge, so you can eat as much as you want. Oh, you're going to hear some loud noises and probably some yelling and cursing, but I don't want you to worry about it, okay? I'm just going to clean some stuff up." His brow furrowed for a few seconds then he nodded again, somewhat tentatively.
His eyes followed her as she left the room again and she hurried to the kitchen. She poured out the cold blood then rinsed all three mugs and put them in the dishwasher. She stood leaning against the counter for a few minutes feeling quite a bit of disappointment that drinking her blood hadn't prodded Spike's demon out of hiding. Slayer blood was supposed to be the Holy Grail for vampires. It healed them quicker, made them stronger, and was rumored to be a very strong aphrodisiac, but Spike hadn't shown any signs at all that there was a demon residing inside him. Even a flash of amber in his eyes would have been something, but her blood hadn't had any more effect on his demon than a cup of chicken broth. She heaved a sigh then stepped across the room and dug through her junk drawer until she'd located her claw hammer. She gripped it tightly and stalked out to the living room.
Dismantling the crate allowed her to vent a small portion of the rage she was feeling, but she made sure to save most of it back for when Angel showed up… and she knew he would. That's what the phone call had been about, after all. Get him pissed off enough to haul his ass overseas to find out why the hell his plan had failed. And when he showed up, she was going to put her own plan into action. Yeah, she could've just asked him to come over and he probably would have, but after what he'd done to Spike, she was done asking him anything. She was going to tell him, and if he didn't do what he was told, well… even if he did… Yeah, the Powers That Be were about to find themselves in the market for a new Champion. Angel was fresh out of second chances. He'd screwed with her life one too many times and now he was going to pay the freaking piper… with interest.
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He could smell the blood before she'd even stepped into the room and his mouth started watering. She was carrying two mugs of the rich red liquid and she set one down on the table then sat down and held the other out to him. He could nearly taste it and his tongue started to slip out, but he arrested the motion and pulled it back in. She reached for his hand and lifted it to the mug, wrapping his fingers around its warmth, then she guided it toward his mouth and tipped a little of the blood into it.
The taste exploded on his tongue and he didn't even notice when she let go of his hand. He tipped the mug all the way up; the blood pouring into his mouth, then swallowed it down just as fast as he could. He'd never tasted anything so good. It tasted of power and life and love… and then the mug was empty.
She took it from him and gave him the other one and he drank that one down even faster than he had the first. She took that one from him as well then picked up the one from earlier that he hadn't been allowed to drink. It didn't smell as good as the blood he'd just had, and he wondered what was different about it. He didn't get the chance to ponder that question, though, because she'd asked him if he wanted more blood and was standing there waiting for him to answer. Would she really bring him more if he wanted it? He tore his eyes away from the mugs he'd been staring at and brought them up to hers, chancing a nod.
She smiled and told him she'd bring him more and his stomach gurgled, obviously happy with that news. Then she told him he'd hear loud noises and yelling, and that he wasn't to worry about it. He didn't really understand what loud noises and yelling had to do with him, being that she wasn't taking him with her to wherever the loud noises and yelling was going to take place. It was her home, so she could yell and make as much noise as she wanted to, regardless if it upset him or not. His feelings on the matter were of no relevance, and his nod was almost an afterthought as he was once again awed that she cared enough about him to worry that he'd be worried.
He watched her leave then listened to her move around in the other rooms. He heard water running then several loud cracking and banging noises that made him jump. Intermingled with the cracking and banging were a few shouted curse words that were usually accompanied by the word 'Angel.' She was using it like a name and it was familiar to him somehow, and though he couldn't figure out why, it made his chest tighten with an emotion he couldn't readily identify. She shouted it again, accompanied by another curse word, and a picture appeared in his head of a dark figure looming over him. He also felt the ghost of pressure on one shoulder, like a hand had been laid there. A word to go with the picture suddenly burned through him and his hands clenched into fists.
Betrayal.
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She smiled to herself as she fed the last of the crate into the chute. The sustaining fluid had been the first thing to go down, and the small explosion that had heralded it's arrival in the incinerator made her worry about what that stuff had been doing to Spike all those years he'd been having it forced into him. She shook her head and squared her shoulders. What she had planned should fix whatever damage had been done to his body and hopefully repair the damage done to his demon… and his mind. It had worked for Drusilla when Spike had done it… well, her mind hadn't been repaired, but then again, she'd been a complete nutbag before she'd been turned, but the ritual had restored her to full strength and hopefully it would do the same for Spike. And if it didn't, then she would fall back to plan B – stuffing Spike full of Slayer blood while having the trainer help her to un-train him. Either way, she'd get Spike back.
She closed the cover on the incinerator chute and started back down the hall to her apartment, smiling again when she turned the corner and her door came into view. There was a large box sitting on her welcome mat. Her little sister had come through.
She picked up the box, grunting a little under its weight – Dawnie must have used some kind of cart to get it here – and went back into the apartment. The box was deposited on the couch next to the binder, which was picked up and carried into the kitchen. She stuffed it into the back of her junk cupboard, making sure that it couldn't be seen when the door was open, then she went back out to the living room and locked up, shoving the chair back under the knob.
Dawn had left a note taped to the top of the box that Buffy read with a warm smile on her face. "Buffy, I got everything you asked for and I got in touch with the church closest to your apartment. You've got it the night of the full moon from ten pm until six am, but that happens in four days, so hopefully the asshat shows up before then, otherwise we'll have to wait a month. I printed out the ritual from the database and I'll get the stuff we need and practice saying it – my Latin is a lot better than yours, so yeah, I'll be the one doing it – and no, I won't tell Giles or anybody what you're planning. Call me when you're ready to go and tell Spike that I love him and I'll see him soon. Love you, too, Buffy. See you in a few days… I hope. Dawn."
Buffy opened the box and lifted out two pairs of sweat pants – black, of course – two 3-packs of black t-shirts, a package of black socks, a black leather belt, a pair of motorcycle boots, two pairs of black button-fly jeans, and another note. It said, "These should all fit unless he's lost a lot of weight. They're the same sizes he wore back when you were dead and I was doing his laundry for him, but if they don't, just let me know and I'll get something smaller."
Buffy smiled a little sadly as she put the note down and clutched the jeans to her chest. Spike had never really embraced modesty, preferring to be naked whenever he got the chance while they'd been involved in… well, not a relationship, exactly, but whatever it had been… and she was kind of worried about getting him to wear clothes again. He was obviously very comfortable being without a stitch and she didn't know if putting clothes on him would wig him out or not. She sighed and set the jeans on top of the sweats. She'd burn that bridge in the morning.
A small box had fallen out of the pocket of the top pair of jeans and Buffy picked it up. It was the type of box jewelry came in and she lifted off the lid, smiling as she saw what the box contained. She set the lid down then reached into the box and picked up the necklace. It was a silver chain with thick links separated every third link by a black stone wrapped in silver wire. It wasn't long, more of a choker than a necklace, and Buffy decided it would work perfectly as a 'collar' for Spike until he didn't need one anymore. She carefully coiled it back into the box and replaced the lid then set the box on top of the pile of clothes. She'd handle that tomorrow, too.
She turned her attention back to the large box and smiled widely then lifted out two different lengths of heavy chain with magically reinforced clips on each end. She carried them into the hallway and coiled them separately onto the floor of her coat closet. She went back to the box and took out two sets of heavy steel manacles and a pink rubber ball gag with a glittery pink leather harness. Buffy looked over the ball gag, chuckling to herself as she walked back over to the closet. "I bet sweet little Dawnie got quite a few strange looks when she went to the sex shop to buy this thing. And pink? She must be just as pissed at Angel as I am." She set the manacles and the gag on the floor next to the chains then closed the door with a satisfied smile. "You're gonna fix him, Angel, even if you have to die in the process."