They've been talking for hours and they're still no closer to figuring out how to beat Glory as they were when the Scoobie meeting started. And Xander takes every opportunity he can to make snide comments, things like 'I thought claiming each other was the secret to beating Glory, a lot of good it's doing us, huh Buff?' And 'Just send Dead Boy out there to fight her because apparently he's the secret to winning, isn't that what you said?' Buffy is beyond tired of it, not to mention that anytime she or Spike show each other any attention they get looks of destain from Giles, and god forbid they touch each other. If she has to hear one more condescending scoff she's going to pull her hair out and scream at the top of her lungs.
She knows she's made the right decision entering into a bonding claim with Spike, every fiber of her body is telling her that was the right thing to do. How can something that feels so right, that has made her feel closer and more in sync with anyone she has before, be wrong? It's not, she knows it's not. She's not going to let them make her feel bad about it anymore. Plus she knows Spike is at the end of his rope and she's pretty sure Dawn is running out of snark she's been using so much of it trying to cut the guys down off their high horse.
"So Buff, have you figured it out yet? How you getting groiny with a dead body again was the answer to saving the world?"
Buffy gasps at the vile words coming out of her best male friend's mouth. She inhales to slay him verbally but she doesn't have the chance. "Enough!"
"Ahn, wha—"
"No! You shut your mouth, Alexander Lavelle Harris. I'm done listening to you say such hateful, and frankly, idiotic things to your best friend. You're so off the mark it isn't even funny. How have you been working with a Slayer for so long and still don't know how important Slayer dreams and vision quests are? How seriously you have to heed them? Now I get it, you don't know the demony side of things, it's not surprising that you don't know that they wouldn't have been able to claim each other in the way they did if they weren't meant to be together if they didn't love each other. Or the immeasurable perks that can come from such a union, especially one so unique as there's is. She's the Slayer and he's a freaking master vampire, the only one she's gone against that's still alive. He's strong, and I have a feeling their bond is stronger. It's been what, a few hours since the claim?" She pauses to look at Buffy who is sitting there with her mouth hanging slightly open in surprise. She nods numbly. "Hours Xander! And she already has enhanced senses? It takes days, sometimes weeks for a claimed pair to start exhibiting each other's strengths. Do you get what that means? This is something we've never seen before, something great, something powerful, something we need, something that can actually give us a shot at winning. So stop your bitching because now you'll never be able to get into her pants, it was never going to happen anyway, and take this for the amazing boon that it is. And you!" She points to Giles and stomps over to him poking him in the chest with each word she says, "I expected better from you. I mean, seriously, you don't trust the council at all. At least, I thought you didn't, ever since they tried to get you involved in a conspiracy to kill your slayer, but here you are, spouting off their rhetoric like it's the demon god's honest truth. You should be ashamed of yourself. She's your Slayer, your job is to support her and keep her alive, you're not doing a great job at either right now. Be happy, Buffy has a much better chance at surviving this now, because let's be honest, there was a slim to none chance she would have made it out of this alive before, and our odds weren't much better."
By the time Anya finishes talking—yelling more like, Buffy isn't the only one with her mouth hanging open, they all are. Xander looks a mix between angry and embarrassed, and Giles looks like he's still trying to figure out how to react. It comes as a surprise to no one when he takes off his glasses to clean them. By now they all know he uses that as an excuse to have time to think through what he's going to say.
Giles clears his throat, his back is stiff in the way it normally is while he's in lecture mode. He opens his mouth and a long sigh comes out relaxing his posture as it does. "I-I think you are right, Anya. I have been blinded by what I've been taught and my own emotions about both Buffy and vampires. Though I'm not all too fond of Spike, I must admit, I think I was projecting my anger and worry from other vampires." Giles knows better than to say Angel's name in front of Buffy, it either gets her sad or defensive. He looks at Buffy "It's a big change that happened fast and without notice, dear girl, you must admit that. I'm sorry if I didn't react in a good or helpful way. Anya is quite right, it's my job to help keep you aliv— here with us and support you however you need. I must admit I've been doing a terrible job, haven't I? I will strive to do better. I've engrained in you how important Slayer dreams are, it was daft of me to ignore this one because it was telling me something I didn't want to hear. Please tell me you'll forgive me and let me help however you need."
Buffy doesn't say anything, she doesn't think she can because her eyes are starting to get watery and if she opens her mouth, she's sure she'll cry. Instead, she gets up and runs over to Giles to hug him. He rests his cheek on the top of her head and hugs her back.
At first, they don't know where the sound is coming from, it's a rumble almost, a rumble Giles knows for a fact has never been in his house before. It isn't until it's louder that everyone looks over to Spike and sees his eyes yellow and his eyebrow starting to distend. Anya realizes what's happening first, she walks over to the two that are hugging, separates them, and shoves Buffy over to Spike. "Are you insane? The claim is hours old, you're lucky Spike has the control he does or that could have been really bad!"
"What do you mean?" Giles asks, looking like he might already be regretting telling Buffy he'd support her choice. He also looks worried that Buffy is near the creature that just looked as if he was going to attack. Though the growling is less vicious now and more soothing. His eyes are still yellow but he's no longer on the verge of vamping out.
"They're both going to be extremely possessive until the bond has time to settle and cement itself into their psyche. Do you know nothing of claims, Giles? What did they teach you in Watcher's school?"
"Of course, I've learned about claims, we focused a lot on controlling claims though, we only brushed over bonding ones, there never seemed a point because of how outlandish the idea of a slayer and vampire bonding was." He says as he eyes Buffy in a way that says 'You are insane to have done such a thing.'
"I don't think that's why you didn't focus on them, Giles. I think it's because the head watchers didn't want us to know about this possibility." She says snuggled in Spike's arms. But her eyes scrunch as she thinks and then she takes a step away from Spike, though he tries to hold onto her. "Spike, you can't act like that with these people, they're our family. It's nothing to be possessive over. I'd get it if it was an ex or even some rando on the street but not the Scoobie."
Spike opens his mouth to apologize but Anya rolls her eyes and steps right into Spike's arms where Buffy just left and stares at her. Buffy is shocked for a second before she shocks everyone else with an animalistic snarl that leaves her mouth as she pounces at Anya. Thankfully Anya knew vampire reaction time and calculated for it because Spike had enough time to twist around and cover Anya from Buffy. Once she is safe Spike lets go of Anya and turns around to grab up Buffy.
"Shh pet, it's okay. Breathe now. There you are, take a few more deep ones, that's my girl. A right dangerous feline you are pouncing like that, I don't think I can call you kitten anymore, more like a bobcat or panther, yeah?"
Buffy takes a minute to calm down and once she's back to herself she feels embarrassed. She turns around with a blush on her cheeks, Willow and Tara look surprised and maybe a little frightened, Giles looks frankly fascinated, Xander looks like he's trying to hide his disgust, Dawn looks like she's watching the most exciting movie ever, and Anya's face clearly says 'I told ya so.'
"I'm sorry, Anya. I couldn't help it, I would never hurt you, I hope you know that." She says earnestly.
"Yes, you would. But don't worry, I don't ever plan on getting into another position with Spike like that again, so I'll be safe. Just, now you know that family or not, it's going to take a little while until either of you can handle seeing each other touching other people like that."
"No, we can't stay like this. What about Dawn? Spike can't hug Dawn? Or what if he has to pick her up and run fast or has to save her? You know she gets into trouble like every Tuesday. It's not safe."
Xander opens his mouth and somehow Buffy knows it's to say something along the lines of 'I knew this was a terrible idea' but thankfully Anya speaks first.
Anya waves off the concern, "Dawn is different."
"What? How?"
"Because, she's yours, both of yours. It's a vampire thing, Spike thinks of Dawn like a sister, or a daughter, as do you. The demon part of you knows that." Buffy looks dubious and Anya huffs. "If you don't believe me, try it. It's safe, you saw how he was able to protect me in time."
Buffy doesn't like that they're going to figure it out by testing it but she figures this is the safest way to do it, there are others here to help if they need to and Anya's right, Spike did protect her last time. "Dawnie, what do you think?"
Buffy looks at Dawn to find her with glassy eyes, she's afraid somehow they've hurt her or her feelings before she realizes Dawn is looking back and forth between her and Spike and she looks happy and almost hopeful. Dawn blinks her eyes twice before focusing fully on Buffy. "Yeah, let's do it."
Buffy walks to the other side of the apartment, she stops when her back is against the front door. She nods at Spike so he walks over to Dawn and wraps his arms around her. Everyone looks at Buffy, on guard in case she snaps again but she takes a big breath and then after a few moments, she shrugs. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief and so Spike lets go of Dawn but he realizes she holds on for another few seconds and then hugs him tighter before letting go. He speaks lowly only to Dawn although he knows Buffy can hear with her improved hearing. "You alright with all this, Niblet?"
She smiles at him, "Yeah, I think it's good. For more than just the Glory of it all, I think it's good for Buffy, and you… and me. I like feeling like a family again and even though this is all new, I think that's what we are."
Spike feels like a sap when he has the urge to cry, he'd never felt so welcomed before. He thinks Dawn is right so he puts his hand on her shoulder, squeezes once, and smiles at her before taking a step back. Giles can't hear what the two are saying to each other but he can't help but watch them in obvious fascination. He's having a hard time denying that vampires have emotion. He doesn't know if all vampires have the ability to feel or if Spike is special but he can't deny what's in front of him any longer.
Willow looks over to Xander and wants to shake her head, she doesn't know what's going on with her best friend. She doesn't want to believe Anya is right when she says he's only so upset because this means there's never a chance of him getting with Buffy now. If that's true then she feels terrible for him, but also angry and a little pitiful because it's clear to everyone else that there was never a chance for them to be together, in Buffy's eyes at least. And even though she feels bad for him, it's nothing compared to how terrible she feels for Anya, and that gets her mad because she never wants to feel bad for Anya, she barely tolerates her, and thinking things like that will make her seem more human but she can't imagine what it must feel like to be in love with someone and the whole time thinking he's pining for someone else. Now just anyone else but Buffy, the kindest best superhero best friend a person could ask for. Heck, it gave Willow a complex when she thought she was in love with Xander.
She looks at Xander and sees him staring at Buffy who's somehow wrapped in Spike's arms again while they both talk quietly to Dawnie. She decides she has to get him focused on something else. "Hey Xan, I'm starving, do you think you can order some pizza?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, sure, Wills. What toppings should I get?"
"Anchovies and pineapple!" Dawn yells, Willow thinks that Dawn's superpower strikes again, she has the uncanny ability to hear people talk about food no matter how far away or how quietly they're speaking.
"Gross Dawn, no! How many times do we have to talk about this, it's one or the other. You're the only weirdo who will eat both at the same time and you're not going to eat a whole pie to yourself." Buffy puts in. She honestly doesn't like either of those toppings, she's a pepperoni gal all the way but she's sure someone will eat pineapple.
They spend the rest of their day talking everything over again, eating pizza, and just spending the day with the people most important to them, though Glory is never far from anyone's mind. They still aren't any closer to an idea than they were before but Buffy doesn't let that discourage her. Plus, she still has something inside her telling her that claiming Spike was one of the most important things she's done in a long time and she thinks it's for more reasons than just Glory and wanting to be with Spike.
Buffy, Spike, and Dawn say goodnight when it's getting time for Dawn to get to sleep so she can be up in time for school. They all agree to meet back at the magic shop tomorrow even if they don't learn anything new, they're stronger and safer when they're together so that's what they're going to do.
The drive home is quick and nowhere near as exciting as the ride to Giles' was because the sun is no longer up but thankfully it was uneventful. Spike pulls into the driveway and puts the car in park. The girls start to get out but Buffy stops when she realizes Spike isn't turning the car off or getting out of the car. "Spike?"
"Yeah, pet?"
"What are you doing?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean why aren't you turning off the car?"
"Oh, I was just figuring I should head back to the crypt since I'm all healed up now."
"You're not going to— you don't want to— oh okay, I just thought, never mind." She goes to get out of the car but Spike grabs her arm.
"Buffy, luv, I'm not just going to invite myself to stay over, if you want me here, or if I'm welcomed even, you have to let me know. You gotta know I wanna be with you, always."
"Turn off the car and come inside, Spike." She says with a soft smile. Spike doesn't need any more encouragement than that, and so he follows his girls into the house.
The next morning Buffy is surprised and a little confused to have a missed call from the hospital. The call basically states that some signatures are needed for insurance purposes so that they'll be able to close her mother's case.
Buffy sighs deeply before pressing redial on the phone. "Hello… Hi, yes, I had a message on my phone from you when I woke up this morning… Yeah, it said I needed to come down to sign something…" Buffy feels her posture loosen when an arm wraps around her waist, she doesn't have to look to know Spike woke up and came down to find her. "Joyce Summers… Okay, we'll be there in a little bit… me, my sister, and my— fiance… Okay, see you soon." She says as she's in the process of hanging up her phone.
"Fiance, eh?"
"Uh yeah, I figured we are already more than married but I am only 20, so I thought fiance was as good an explanation as any to describe who you are."
"I like it, at least until we get married in the eyes of the humans."
They both stiffen at his words, Buffy can tell that he didn't mean to say them and he regrets them. She just doesn't know if he regrets them because he doesn't want to ever get married or because he doesn't know how she'd react to them, which she can admit is fair. Before the vision quest, she hadn't exactly been open to the thought of them being more than reluctant allies. She doesn't want this to be awkward though, so she replies as diplomatically as possible. "It's going to be a very long engagement though, I want to graduate first."
She inturnally breathes a sigh of relief when his stiff posture loosens, "That's fine with me luv, whatever my lady wants." He says before placing a few kisses on the nape of her neck and then working his way up it. He pulls away after a few seconds though, "But you lied to whoever was on the other side of the line, Dawn's at school, I seen her off myself, unless you're planning on waiting till she gets home."
"No, let's get it over with now. Plus, I want to use any excuse I can to get you out in the sun." She says with a cheeky grin.
"Right you are, pet. I wanna fight you in the sun again too, just hoping for a different ending this time." He says with lust clear in his voice.
She plants her hand on his chest and pushes him away. "That's going to have to wait till later, Spikey. We have some real-life adult stuff to deal with first."
"Suppose I can hold off till after the errands are done if it gets me a reward for my patience."
"Oh yeah? And what kind of reward are we talking about?"
"Don't know, do I? Suspect that's on you to figure out, I'm just the good boy hoping to get his belly rubbed," he says, thrusting his hard cock into her side, making it clear exactly what part of him he wants rubbed.
She has to work hard not to give in and take him right there, especially because he now knows that they're alone in the house. Instead, she rolls her eyes pretending what he says doesn't affect her, and makes her way to the front door. "What are you waiting for? Let's hit the road. The sooner we go, the sooner the rubbing can start."
Spike doesn't need to be told twice. He grabs the keys to the jeep on the way out and follows Buffy out of the door. He can't help but to take a few seconds once he's outside to bask in the sun since he's not burning. The whole time he hopes he never gets to the point that this feeling isn't special to him anymore. They get into the car and make their way to the hospital in comfortable silence while holding hands over the center console.
Spike can tell Buffy isn't excited about this errand, in fact, she seems downright nervous about it, "What's wrong, pet?"
"I don't know. I thought this part of my life was over, and it's like it's being opened right back up just to get some signatures from me saying it's okay to close it again. It's sad and it hurts. I wish they never called me. The last time I was in that hospital they gave my mother a bill of clean health and a week later we found out it was a lie because she died. I don't want to go back in there just because they need some signatures to save their asses legally."
He parks the car in the parking lot of the hospital and looks at her. He doesn't know how to help and make her feel better. The only thing he can think to do is lean in and kiss her. He accepts it and joins in but he can tell that her heart isn't in it so he pulls back softly. "I know that'll be hard, and I wish that I could take this off of you, or at least help you with it but I can't. I'll be right there with you though."
"That does help me, Spike, a lot." She says with a small smile and Spike nods at her before letting go of her hand and opening the driver's side door.
They make their way inside and Spike follows Buffy's lead because he has no idea where to go. It isn't long before Buffy comes to a counter where a few nurses are doing their paperwork along with what looks like scheduling of some sort. "Uh hi, excuse me."
The nurse closest to them stops and looks at them with a small kind smile on her face, "How can I help you?"
"Uh yeah, I talked to someone earlier today, I'm sorry, I can't remember their name. I'm expected here though, I have paperwork to fill out."
"Ohh yeah, no worries sweetie, it's Buffy, right?" The woman asks after quickly searching through some papers.
"Yup, that's right." Buffy smiles softly at her and takes the large stack of papers that are handed to her.
"I went ahead and noted the places you have to sign, you see those stickers there?" After Buffy absently nods while looking through the papers she continues, "Okay good. Do you need a pen?" Buffy shakes her head negatively, "Okay hun, don't be afraid to let me know if you have any questions." Buffy has to hold back tears at this woman's kindness.
"Okay, thank you," Buffy says and heads to the group of chairs that constitutes a waiting room of this wing, Spike follows behind.
Even though it's a huge stack of papers, Buffy's signature was only needed on every few sheets so it doesn't take long before she's finished. She smiles at Spike in thanks because he's been there with her the whole time with his hand on her knee. At the moment she feels like that hand is the only thing holding her to the earth. She rests her hand on top of his and squeezes once before standing up and making her way back to the desk. Buffy says a few more words to the nurse there and then walks back to Spike. "I'm ready to go, you coming?"
"'Course, luv," Spike says as he gets up and follows Buffy.
As they're walking to the elevator someone calls Buffy's name and though she doesn't hear it, Spike does. He thinks about ignoring it and trying to rush her out of there since he already knows who it is, the nurse that she was talking to at that party after he told her he loved her the first time, he knows that it's useless, the boy would just call her name louder and if she found out Spike was trying to keep her away from people, she'd just work harder to go against Spike and spend all her free time with people that would get him upset, maybe even the big ponce himself.
"Buffy, luv." She stops to look at him and he just points back to the bloke who's walking as fast as he can while trying not to cause too much attention to himself. When she sees him her small smile brightens to a bealing one.
"Ben, hi!"
"Buffy, hi. I haven't seen you around here lately.—Which of course is a good thing, a great thing even. Sorry, I didn't want to make it seem like it wasn't. It's just, I think I missed you is all."
"Aww, Ben, that's sweet. I missed you too. I'll make sure to come around more often. Oh…" She says as she holds her arm out toward Spike and uses her fingers in a 'come here' type motion; Spike obediently listens and walks next to her. "This is my boyfriend, Spike. We've been busy taking care of everything for Mom and making sure Dawn was settling in okay."
"I think you mean fiance, kitten." Spike chimes in with the most innocent look he can muster, ignoring that Buffy is giving him the evil eye.
"Fiance, right, yeah, it's such a new change, it takes some getting used to."
"Fi-fiance? I didn't even know you were seeing someone."
"Yeah, well I'm sorry, Ben. I didn't mean to lead you on, that might have been my fault."
"It's okay, don't worry about it. I—I have to go. I'll talk to you later Buffy…Spike" He added the last word belatedly and then left the hall into the room right next to them, it looks like a changing room, maybe a room for the nurses or doctors to put their stuff, Buffy still isn't sure what he does here. They both look at him while he's messing with his cubby, Buffy with regret because she feels bad for leading him on and Spike is looking at him gleefully because he won the girl and Buffy told someone else that she was his fiance. And although Spike might not be the most observant bloke in the world he realized Buffy feels bad for whatever reason so he wraps his arm around her and pulls her close.
"It'll be okay, kitten. Yeah, the bloke will never get over you, most like, but he looks fetching enough and he's working a good enough job, he'll bounce back eventually and one day only look at you as the one that got away." Spike says seriously.
She looks at Ben for a few more moments before turning her attention to Spike, "I don't want him to think of me as the one that got away, I want him to find someone that he will love and be happy, never looking back. And hey, wait, I thought you said you can't call me kitten anymore." She says with a pout and it takes all Spike's willpower not to kiss that pout right off her face.
"Got that right, bobcat. You're no kitten, you're much more vicious than that." He says as he looks at her. He's about to lean in for a kiss but then out of the corner of his eye he sees something strange, so he turns his head back to the bloke. "Christ, what the buggerin' fuck is happening to him?"
Buffy turns to see what Spike is talking about and sees Ben shaking badly. At first, she thinks it's something like a secure but she realizes soon he's moving too fast and it's more like his whole body is vibrating. It's not long before it seems like his body is shrinking and Buffy knows something supernatural is afoot. The next thing she knows is Ben is gone and somehow Glory is standing in his place. First Buffy sees Glory look down at her clothes and shiver in disgust then somehow, call it slayer senses or whatever, Buffy knew she was about to look their way so she put her hand on Spike and pushed down with all her might so that Spike had to get away from the window, Buffy went down with her.
"Go, go, we have to get out of here!" She says anxiously.
Spike just nods, looks around, finds the nearest stairwell, and makes a run for it while holding onto Buffy. They both feel like it's a life-or-death moment even though they know Glory hasn't seen them. They don't say a word until they are back in the car and on their way back to the house.
"What the bloody fuck was that?"
"I—I don't know," Buffy says but it comes out as more of a question.
"Seems to me like that hell bitch that spends her free time turning vamps into voodoo dolls is somehow the same bloke you were flirting with making your next boy toy."
"But but that doesn't make any sense. Did she choose to possess Ben? And if so, why? And if not, does that mean they've been the same person from the beginning? I—I thought he liked me… but was he just trying to get close to me so his other half could get information?" She asks in a small voice.
It is hard for Spike not to let his anger get away from him because his girl is feeling heartbroken over another bloke but he manages it. Instead, he puts his hand on top of hers which is resting on her leg. "No bobcat, I don't think that's what happened. I doubt he has much choice in what happens to him when she's in control, and I don't think they have much contact with each other, that's not how possession works. You can still think of them as two separate beings, they just so happen to share a body."
That actually makes Buffy feel better so she smiles at him. After a few seconds, she speaks again, "Go to Giles' we have to tell him this, maybe they can figure out a way to separate them and banish her or something."
He doesn't want to be the one to crush her hopes but in all likelihood, separating them would make her even stronger. "Whatever you want, luv."
The ride to Giles' flat is quiet as they're both thinking but it's a comfortable quiet. One where they're holding hands that he only lets go of when he needs both hands to turn but he quickly grabs her hand back up as soon as he's done.
As always, Biffy walks into the apartment without knocking, at this point, Giles can't even faign surprised he's so used to it. "Buffy, it's lovely to see you, though I have to ask, what are you doing here?" He asks, completely ignoring Spike. Though he promised to be supportive of Buffy, and he knows that includes being kind to Spike, he can't yet bring himself to go out of his way to speak to him or make him feel welcome.
"I need you to call the gang. I know where Glory is hiding." Although it's clear he wants more information, he can tell by her face that she isn't going to give it until everyone is here so he sighs and makes his way over to the phone.