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Blood and Fire	By : addielogan Category: -Buffy the Vampire Slayer > Het - Male/Female > Buffy/Spike(William) > Buffy/Spike(William) Views: 8173 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Spike woke alone the next morning, and he
could tell from how cool the bed was that he'd been that way for a while. He
wondered where Buffy could have gotten off to, until he heard the sweet sound
of her laughter overhead, coming from the kitchen. It was soon followed by a
laugh he recognized as Willow's, and Spike smiled to himself. He was glad he'd
never managed to kill the Slayer's little friend�or ex-friend, Spike
would wager now�since Buffy seemed to have taken such a liking to the girl.
He got up from the cot and put his clothes
on before going upstairs, another smile blooming on his face as he caught sight
of Buffy. She and the little witch were bustling around the kitchen, and Spike
wasn't sure he could remember a time when his mate looked more adorable.
Her hair was pulled high up on her head in a messy ponytail and there was a bit
of flour smeared on her cheek, but she was still so cute that he had to fight
to keep from grabbing her, pressing her against the counter, and doing something
to her that he knew would embarrass Red to no end, seeing as she was standing
right there and all.
"Good morning, honey," Buffy said
chipperly, letting Spike know she had indeed noticed him come into the kitchen.
"We're making pancakes. You want some?"
"Sure," Spike replied with a
shrug. He wasn't sure what Buffy's culinary skills amounted to, but he'd be
willing to risk it at least.
"He eats pancakes?" Willow asked,
glancing between Buffy and Spike.
"Yup," Buffy replied, pouring the
batter for the first one into the frying pan. "I was surprised, too, but
apparently he does eat normal food."
"Angel never did," Willow said.
"Angel's a pathetic git," Spike
replied with a snort. "But yes, I do like pancakes. They're good with
blood instead of syrup, too."
Both girls looked at him then, staring for a
moment as they turned identical shades of green. "Baby, if you do that
today, I'm so going to have to hurt you, 'cause I'll never be able to eat
another pancake again as long as I live," Buffy warned him.
Spike chuckled, then
came up to Buffy, wrapping his arms around her from behind as she flipped over
the pancake. "Fine. I'll leave off the blood this morning�as long as you
make it up to me later." He kissed her neck, then licked it, his tongue
tracing the side of her jugular. Buffy moaned softly, forgetting where they
were for a moment, and pressed up against her lover.
Behind them, Willow coughed softly, and
Buffy jerked, shaking her head as she went back to her pancakes. Spike turned
towards Willow and noticed the deep red stain on her face, realizing that his
small display with Buffy had had an effect on Willow as well. He smirked and
figured they probably did look pretty damn hot together.
Reluctantly, Spike pulled away from Buffy,
knowing he'd have an easier time reining in his desire for her until they could
be alone if he wasn't pressed against her. He kissed the top of her head then
went over to the kitchen island and sat down.
"Do you want me to heat you up some
blood again?" Willow asked, recovering from her reaction to Buffy and
Spike's little display. "Not to pour all over your pancakes, 'cause I'm
going to go with Buffy and the never eating pancakes again thing, but to drink
from a nice, inconspicuous mug."
Spike raised his eyebrow. "Red, are you
trying to keep me full so I don't get hungry and bite you?"
"No!" Willow blushed under his
unwavering gaze. "Okay, fine�maybe a little."
To Willow's relief, Spike laughed. "I'm
not going to bite you. I meant what I said last night�you're under my
protection now. You and the Watcher. It's part of what it means to claim a
mate."
"What does that mean exactly?"
Buffy asked, glancing away from the stove for a moment. "I wondered last
night when you said it, and I was going to ask you when you got home, but then
when you did I got all, um�distracted."
Spike's brow furrowed as he took a moment to
decide how to answer Buffy's question. His knowledge of claims, while greater
than hers, was still limited, and some of the things he knew about it were from
instinct filling in the blanks. "Initiating a claim�especially a mating
claim�it's like making a promise. By claiming you as my mate, I'm promising I
can protect you, the way a mate should, and that extends to people you care
about as well."
"It's believed to date back to when
vampires were more social creatures, and a nest was not merely a hunting party.
If a vampire were to take a mate, then that vampire would have to have the
assurance that her mate would not bring harm upon her nest." Giles cleared
his throat and stepped further into the kitchen. "Willow, be a dear and
get me a glass of water so I can take these aspirin, please." He shook the
small pills in his hand.
"Sure thing, Giles," Willow
replied, moving to comply with his request. After she brought him his water,
she went to the freezer to start working on heating Spike's blood.
"You know much about claims,
Watcher?" Spike asked once the other man had swallowed his aspirin.
"Some, yes," Giles replied.
"To be honest, I always had a sort of fascination with them. They seemed
to go so against the grain of what everything else has to say about vampires,
and I often wondered if they were even based in fact. I had never seen a mated
pair before until the two of you got here the night before last."
Spike wondered if Giles could possibly help
him clear up some of the areas where he'd been fuzzy on since he'd claimed
Buffy, but at the same time, he wasn't sure he was ready to ask. He'd have to
open up to Giles about some very personal things in his life in order to do so,
and Spike didn't think either he or the Watcher were quite ready for that.
"I haven't seen many mated vamps
myself," Spike said. "Angelus told me it used to be common at one
point, but it had always fallen off by the time he was sired. Said modern
vampires don't care for the responsibilities taking a mate entails."
"I have also read that it's something
taken very seriously, something that usually comes about from a very deep
connection already formed between two vampires," Giles added, his gaze
unwavering as he directed it towards Spike. "I find it a bit odd, given
the circumstances surrounding your relationship with Buffy, that
you could have already evolved to a mated pair. It makes me wonder if you have
somehow used this to manipulate Buffy since she couldn't possibly have known
what you were doing to her at the time."
"Giles!" Buffy exclaimed with
shock and more than a little bit of anger.
"No, pet, it's a valid question,"
Spike said, silencing Buffy before she could say anything else. He turned back
to Giles. "Most of what has occurred as far as the actual claiming goes is
between Buffy and me alone�it's personal. But as far as my intentions when I
made the claim go, no, I didn't do it to manipulate her. I do realize that as
far as the timing goes, it was a rather unorthodox move, but I acted on
instinct, and I can't say that I regret it. I love Buffy, she knows it, and
none of this is about controlling her." Spike raised an eyebrow. "You
think if it was I'd be back here in Sunnyhell? Not bloody likely."
Giles didn't seem to have a response, and
Spike knew he'd surprised the Watcher by coming out and admitting he was in
love with Buffy. Spike didn't care what Giles thought, or even if the other man
believed him. It was the truth, and he didn't see any point in denying it.
The microwave dinged and Willow retrieved
Spike's mug of blood, bringing it to him quickly so as not to have to hold on
to the heated ceramic handle too long. "Thanks, Red," Spike told her
with a smile as she put it down in front of him, and Willow grinned. She felt
helpful, and Willow liked feeling helpful. With Nancy, she'd felt more in the
way than anything else. Even re-ensouling Angel hadn't seemed to help there.
Giles raised an eyebrow at the sight of
Willow bringing Spike his blood, but didn't comment. He still wasn't sure if he
believed Spike completely about either his affection for Buffy or his
obligation to protect the people she cared about, but for the time being he was
willing to take the chance. One thing that none of the texts he'd read had
disputed was that a vampiric claim was permanent and that any attempt to undo
one�especially after the initial stages�could very well lead to the death of
the mated pair. So for the sake of the daughter of the woman he had loved and
lost, Giles was forced to trust a vampire again. He could only hope it did not
have the same disastrous effects as last time. The image of Jenny Calendar,
lifeless in his bed, was one he would never find a way to purge from his mind.
Buffy finished cooking her pancakes and
brought them over to the table. She offered some to Giles as well, but he
declined, the effects from the amount of alcohol he'd had the night before
still too apparent for him to eat. He did, however, watch the other three as
they did, with more than a little surprise to see Spike join them as if his
real breakfast was not in the mug Willow had brought him.
Spike was a strange vampire for sure. Giles
had been aware of that from almost the beginning, his habits and actions as he
hunted Nancy completely unlike any vampire Giles had ever heard of in all his
days as a Watcher. And now, well, he appeared almost human�if one could
imagine that his mug was indeed full of coffee, that was. He seemed younger
than his true years in the company of the two girls, and his behavior with
Buffy was very much that of a young couple just starting out. They seemed to be
always touching, brushing against each other as if they needed the constant
contact. Whenever Buffy was engaged in discussion with Willow, Spike would
watch her attentively, a small smile on his lips and a glimmer in his eye.
That look confirmed things for Giles. Spike
clearly adored Buffy. It was a look that couldn't be fabricated, even by
the most experienced of con artists, and if Giles had learned anything from the
time Spike had spent as the mortal enemy of his Slayer it was that the vampire
was not one for falsehoods. It was a strange trait for an evil being, but Spike
had appeared to almost always say and do what he meant. Granted, that usually
applied to declarations of his intentions to murder the Slayer in horribly
gruesome ways, but he was very upfront about it. It had been somewhat
refreshing in light of the mind games Angelus played to always keep them
guessing.
As impossible as it seemed to Giles to be
able to take all of this at face value, he couldn't find any signs of Spike toying
with them. The journals Buffy had presented him with certainly appeared to be
genuine, and Giles knew as painful as it was to face, the idea of the Council having
Joyce killed was certainly a plausible one. Furthermore, if Spike had wanted to
kill them, he could've done it several times over by now. He had an invitation
in the house, and Giles certainly hadn't been in any position to defend himself
the night before.
The sound of the front door opening and
closing brought Giles out of his thoughts, and soon, Nancy was walking into the
kitchen, bringing with her an uncomfortable silence. The three people seated at
the table stopped eating and turned towards her, making Nancy uncomfortable
enough to squirm a little.
Giles regarded her coolly. "Nancy. I
didn't expect you back this morning."
Nancy lowered her eyes. "I know. Giles,
I'm really sorry about last night. I shouldn't have said what I said, and I
know that now. I was being a brat, and I'm really sorry. I guess I was a little
jealous of Buffy since you two seemed to be getting along so well." She
looked over at Buffy. "And I'm sorry to you, too. That was horrible what I
said about your mom, and I feel like such a bitch for saying it."
Spike sat up a little straighter and looked
at Nancy. Something was�not right. He couldn't put his finger on it
exactly, but there was something very unapologetic about her apology.
And then he saw it. Just a flash, but it was there, in her eyes. Hatred.
Directed right at Buffy. Seeing someone look at his
mate in such a way made Spike's skin crawl, and he reached down to grip Buffy's
hand. She gave him a quick, puzzled glance, but Spike just squeezed her hand,
letting her know this was something they'd have to address later.
"And I'm sorry to you, too,
Willow," Nancy said, not waiting for either of the other two people she previously
addressed to accept her apology. "You're my best friend, and I shouldn't
have treated you like I did. If you want to be friends with Buffy, too, then
that's perfectly fine with me. Honestly, I'd like a chance to start things over
with Buffy, maybe be her friend, too. Would you be willing to give that a try,
Buffy?"
Buffy smiled brightly, yet completely
insincerely. "Nancy, I can tell you now that I want to be friends with you
just as much as you want to be friends with me."
Spike smirked at Buffy's response. She
really was all fire, his girl�and smart, too. She obviously wasn't falling for
whatever game Nancy was playing, and Spike was glad to see it.
Buffy's response threw Nancy, her brow
wrinkling with confusion as she tried to decide how to respond.
"Um�thanks," she said after a moment. Then, Nancy looked back at her
Watcher. "I'll understand if you still don't want me here, Giles."
"No, it's your home, too," Giles
said after a moment, with some reluctance it seemed. "However, I will not
stand for anymore talk of that nature regarding Joyce Summers�or Buffy for that
matter. Are we completely clear?"
"Yes, Giles. And really, I am
sorry."
Giles didn't respond to her apology,
something Nancy obviously didn't miss, and a flash of hurt went across her
face. "I'm just going to go back up to my room," Nancy said. "I
didn't get a lot of sleep last night."
She left the kitchen again, and soon after,
Giles cleared his throat and announced, "I'll going back to my study to go
over Howard's journals again, see if there's anything I missed that might be of
help to us. Don't hesitate to disturb me if you need anything."
As soon as Giles as out of earshot, Buffy
leaned further in, closer to Willow and Spike, and whispered, "Anyone else
getting a no-good vibe from Nancy?"
"Loud and clear," Willow whispered
back. "Nancy never apologizes unless she thinks she'll get
something out of it."
Spike gestured with his head towards the
basement door. "Let's go and suss this out where we can have a bit more
privacy, yeah?"
The two girls nodded in response as they got
up, leaving their unfinished breakfasts on the table as they walked down into
the basement.

***
*** ***
Contrary to some of the reviews I've
received, I am not pushing Spike and Buffy to the side in this story to focus
on Nancy. For one thing, why would I? It's a Spuffy story�what sense does it
make to suddenly make it all about someone who's, for all intents and purposes,
an OC? Also, that last chapter was almost completely about Spike and Buffy's
relationship. Only the last scene had anything to do with Nancy and that was to
move the plot along. Previously, I kept getting people complaining about a lack
of actual plot and too much concentration on the couple. Now, it's the
opposite, and I have to say, that's frustrating. I'd appreciate it if people
would give me the benefit of the doubt through to the end of the story. I know
where I'm going, and I know why I'm doing what I'm doing. I haven't just
randomly decided to turn this into a Nancy bashing fic. If at the end you still
don't like what I've chosen to do with the fic, fine, but until then, just relax
and let me tell my story instead of trying to read my mind and make assumptions
about where I'm going. Thank you.
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