Never Come Back

Chapter Nine

Maggie wasn't sure where to start . All eyes were on her and she loathed to admit that she was actually quite intimidated. Her voice cracked as she started with Adam and how she came up with the idea.

"I was given orders to locate demons and to catalogue the different 'breeds' that live and migrate to the hellmouth.As you may be aware, the Initiative has a lot of technological and surgical means of disabling hostiles. When our holding cells became full we started to cull the hostiles. I reported this back to my superiors and they suggested that I perform autopsies and report my findings.One of the surgeons suggested that we conduct experiments to find out if demons can regenerate body parts and if demons of different breeds could accept each others body parts.I don't need to tell you how we moved from that area of the tests , to how we ended up with Adam, do I?"

Everyone shook their heads, shocked and dismayed by Maggie's honesty and the macabre acts she had performed.Spike sat up and drew Buffy towards him ,so that she was now sat on the floor between his legs.He absently played with her hair while she rested her head on his thigh.Giles baulked at their closeness, but as she had said already, now wasn't the time for them to focus on her , it was about taking down the Initiative and Adam. Giles would just have to ignore their behaviour as best he could until this crisis was averted.

Xander scowled at the vampire that obviously had his best friend in some kind of thrall.No way would 'his Buffy' be sat there like that with 'him'. Willow kept peeking at them over the top of her laptop and smiled when Spike caught her.He smiled wickedly and winked at her, causing Willow to duck down fast and blush like fury.

Spike thought it was all a load of bull. Who cared how she created the big ugly demon , all he wanted to know how the hell can he could kill it. Wanting nothing more than to kill Adam, kill her for what she did to his slayer and then blow the shit out of the base, so that he could sort out whatever it is that he had with the slayer. Spike had no visions of a happy ever after with her, he wasn't an idiot.He knew that her watcher and friends would never accept him being in her life.Once Buffy adjusted and she had the support she needed from them ,she wouldn't need him anymore. He'd be her sire and they would always have a bond, but she'd survive without him.

Maggie sat waiting for the next barrage of questions,she knew that they would ask how he could be killed .She closed her eyes and held back the emotions that swelled within her. She really did think of Adam as her son. She had created him and she had given him life. Giles' voice snapped her back to reality and she stared at him.

"Ms Walsh... How do we kill or disable him?"
There it was.. the one she dreaded. Hiding the emotions and forcing herself to keep her face from showing them, she looked up at Giles to answer him.

"You can't kill him and disabling him is not easy.We, I built him to be self sufficient, to have his own power source and to have a mind of his own.He has parts from many demons, most are lethal weapons, he also has some military weapons built in to his arms.He has superior senses, most demon in origin, but some military upgrades as well, making him the ultimate fighting machine."

The group fell silent as the weight of the situation fell heavy on them. They knew that Adam would be a challenge, but the word 'unkillible' never entered their thoughts...... until now.

"How can we kill him, I won't ask again... How is he powered?"

Maggie sighed "He has a uranium core in his chest."

"Oh that's just bloody fantastic... "

Giles rubbed his forehead, sure that he had a migraine coming. He turned to Willow .

"Can you find out how we to dispose of uranuim safely, and also check to see if there has been any sightings "

"On it"

Willow returned her focus to her laptop , the only noise coming from her fingers tapping at the keys.

Giles became aware that throughout the meeting Buffy had remained quiet, not asking anything or offering any input.Unusual for her, he knew that they would have to talk to her regarding her new status and get her back in the slayer sadle, so to speak. He could tell that she was deep in thought, he just hoped that she wasn't thinking that they would cast her out now .It was also obvious to him that her confidence had gone, maybe due to the fact that she no longer knew who she was, or what she was. True, she couldn't be called a slayer, but she was hardly a vampire.

Spike astounded him. He showed the emotions that Giles had often dismissed when it came to vampires. He cared for Buffy, that much was clear and it wasn't just that he considered her his childe.With a deep sigh, Giles knew that he would have to accept that Spike was now in Buffy's life, and she needed him there.Giles would be having a conversation with Spike alone and soon.

Whilst he had been deep in contemplation, the others had been going over the data that Willow had been able to find. Uranium was almost impossible to dispose of unless you were in the military. All eyes fell on Maggie.

"I don't know how or where to dispose of it. I had a hard enough time finding it"

The stubborness and attitude that she exuded did nothing but agrivate the watcher and vampire that were glaring at her. Willow stood up, pulling the attention from Maggie.

"I read the books and I had an idea , it's a little radical and I'll need to use a lot of magicks ,but, with your help Giles, I should be able to pull it off."

Giles raised an eye brow and looked over at Willow . She fumbled with some print out sheets that she had organized whilst he was dealing with Maggie. She bought them over and proceeded to go over her idea with him, out of earshot of Maggie and the rest.Willow shyly accepted the praise that Giles now gave her and he turned to Buffy and Spike.The look he gave them had Spike worried.

"Spit it out watcher"

"Yes, Um.... Willow has indeed come up with a plan that I consider more viable than Buffy just going in and trying to rip Adams power source from his chest and possibly ending up getting herself severely hurt or killed doing it. She has found a spell that will combine our elemental powers and essences, enabling Buffy to not only have a boost in power, but to be able to use magicks. "

Spike looked down at his slayer and watched her as she looked up at her watcher. Her trust in Giles and her friends showed and as if someone had flicked a switch, she gained a little of her old self back. Her confidence seemed to flow back and Buffy finally stood , ready to hear the idea Willow had come up with, and how they were going to take down the monster Maggie had constructed.

Spike knew then that his time with the slayer was coming to a close and she wouldn't need him any more. She walked over to the table and sat, going over the plan with her 'scoobies', oblivious of him there. He bounced his leg in irritation .

"Bugger this, I'm not staying where I'm not bloody welcome." he said in a low voice. Spike thrust himself out of the chair and stormed out of the watchers apartment. The door slammed and he paused on the other side long enough to light up a smoke. He felt the pull from Buffy , making him want to turn and go back inside but he had to be strong enough to do this. Had he have looked at her face as he walked out, he would have seen her sadden at the loss of his presence.He could still feel that she was distressed when he finally made it to Willys.

"Put a bottle of J.D up for me "

Willy watched as Spike ignored the glass and sunk most of the bottle from the neck. Spike wiped his mouth across the back of his hand and snarled at the weasel like bar tender.Willy flinched at the threatening growls coming from Spike and backed away, taking up the cloth in the pretense of cleaning the bar.Unfortunately , Willy never knew when to back off and keep his mouth shut.

"What's got the slayer of slayers all bent out of shape?"

Spike just stared at the small man and chose to ignore him.Willy wasn't one to take the hint, even from what was essentially a vicious killer.

"Heard that there's a new demon in town looking to take over, heard some vamps last night say he was gonna tear the slayer a new one if she tried to stop him and there's another rumour going round that says that the slayers been turned.Some demon managed to escape from the commando's and said he saw it with his own eyes and that she was the one that helped him get out"

Okay , so now Spike was listening and taking notice of that idiots insescent rambling. Wishing that Willy would have information that he could use, Spike stayed calm.It wouldn't do any good to grill the guy in a room full of demons and give away the fact that he was working with the slayer. He shook his head subconsciously, no, not working with the slayer, bollocks to that. I'm my own man and I'm just keeping my ears to the ground . Oh who am I bloody kidding? Spike knew why he was doing it, for her, it's always the same.
Bloody women!

Willy told him that some demons had been tossed out or rather, killed , in the woods close to UC Sunnydale. Rumours were that some huge demon and a human dressed like a soldier had taken refuge in a cave there.

The area seemed to fit with the base, it was close to the Initiative, but in an area that nobody seemed to go much, unless they wanted to make out or get lucky.Perfect place to set up a demonic robot lair and to create more Frankensteins just like him.

Spike took another deep pull from the bottle and threw a twenty onto the bar. He picked up his bottle and headed back to the watchers, hoping to catch Buffy before she left.

He approached the apartment and breathed in the scents that filtered through an open window.She'd gone.

"Bollocks"

He turned on his heals and tried to follow the faint trace of her that hung in the still night air. He came to the front of her house and saw the lights out, only her bedroom window was illuminated.He climbed the tree and rapped his knuckles quietly on the glass of her window.

Inside Buffy looked towards the window and stalked quietly towards it, sliding it open and pulling Spike in with little effort. He yelped as the shock of being dragged took him by surprise.

"What the hell..."

"What are you doing here Spike?"
She let him fall to the floor and then she backed away from him. He looked up at her from the floor and pulled his duster around him as he stood up.

"Thought I'd do you and your band of happy chaps a favor tonight and see if there was any word on the street about your new nemesis. Though , don't rightly know why I bothered"

"Don't act so put out Spike, you never do anything unless there's something for you in it"
Spike baulked ,Buffy noticed the hurt look that briefly crossed his face.Buffy chose to ignore it.

After he had left Giles' earlier, the watcher had caught Buffy and asked if he could talk to her privately. They walked into his kitchen and spoke softly.......

"You seem close to Spike, Buffy. Are you sure that it is a wise decision to allow him to become so familiar, knowing what and who he is?"

"I ... I don't know.He helped me to get out and he bought me here. He didn't have to Giles, he could have run with the other demons and left me to my own fate"

"Nonsense, he is your sire, whether through choice or not but vampires as a whole, honour that bond. There was something that I wish to say of a delicate nature and you will have to bare with me."

He paused to remove his glasses and proceeded to clean them with his shirt .

"How long have you and Spike been involved sexually?"

Buffy frowned . Could he think that they had been 'involved' before her capture?

"What made you ask that? Okay , so Spike and I have had sex a few times since I was turned or whatever the hell was done to me, but I am not in a relationship with the bleached moron.I was just seeking comfort and he was there for me Giles. And yes, I get that it is part of feeding or something ,but that is as far as it goes for us."

"Good, please see that it stays that way.Spike is highly dangerous and I am under no illusions. He will seek out a way to remove his chip and he will return to killing and may even attempt to kill us to get to you.Vampires are notoriously famous for killing all the family members tied to themselves and to the childer they sire."

"Keep my distance from Spike. Got it"

"Are you sure you do? I'm not being judgmental here Buffy , but you both seemed to have a strong bond. If he called to you and you feel it, would you be able to stop yourself from going to him, would he ignore yours if he felt your distress?"

Buffy thought about what Giles had said . Looking back up at her watcher ,Buffy answered him honestly.

"I don't know, this is so new to me still. I feel the connection to him, I do , and it's strong, but I have gotten over stuff like this or worse than this before"

Giles smiled

"I suggest that you go home and try and limit your time with Spike from now on, hopefully as time passes ,the bond should weaken"

Tears welled in her eyes at the thought and her demon was not happy , the thought of losing it's sires bond made it furious.Buffy felt her own anger swell inside her breast and knew that she had to get away from the man that the demon was blaming for it's pain.

"I'm sorry Giles but I'm so tired, I think I'll head off and try and get some sleep. I'll come by tomorrow night and finish our heart to unbeating heart"

"Alright Buffy , as you wish, just take care of yourself , please and we'll all gather here tomorrow."

Buffy nodded .She was almost at the door , she spun and asked Giles "What will you do with Maggie?"

"I have some incredibly strong and uncomfortable chains, I thought that our 'guest' could be acquainted with them and my bath tub"

Buffy smiled and after waving goodbye to her friends, she headed home............

Buffy's eyes became teary and she looked up at Spike as he stood before her in her bedroom. He saw the distant look in her eyes and knew that she was thinking deeply about something. By the way she was acting, he knew it had something to do with her watcher.He could feel her distress and wanted nothing more than to wrap her up in his arms and to soothe her. Buffy had obviously been told to sever their newly formed bond and to keep her distance from him. His demon roared at the potential loss of it's childe. Spike made a lunge at her and held her shoulders firmly, his demon visage to the fore.

"Don't shut me out Buffy,don't care what your watcher told you but I'm not going to just leave you pet. Your a part of me now, your in my blood and unlike that git Angel, I can't walk away"

Buffy looked up at him , tears stung her eyes and she closed her eyes and buried her head into his chest. Spike wrapped his arms around her and they stood there for a while, just happy to hold each other and take in the others scent.

Spike kissed the top of her head and broke from the hug first, he held the tops of her arms and steered her over to her bed.Buffy sat on the edge and watched her hands play in her lap.

"I know I'm probably the last person that you need hanging around and if you tell me to go I will, But I meant what I said Buffy.Do you want me to go?"

Spike knelt before her, his eyes strained to hold back his emotions as he waited for her to answer him.

"No, I'm not ready for you to not be here.Giles wants me to distance myself from you , but I tried and I can't.I can feel you , it's like your inside me here" she pointed to her head "And here " she then pointed to her heart. "It's all so hard, why does it have to be hard? Can't they accept the fact that your a part of me too?"

"Funny thing pet, humans don't understand how it feels to be a vamp, what drives us, apart from the blood lust , but you don't have that, they don't accept the fact that we can love and have feelings because we have no soul. They think we're just vicious demons that like to kill and maim"

"But we're not, your not like that.All these years that I fought you with only the knowledge that Giles fed me about vamps and now I am one, sort of, I know he was wrong"

"I know love, now you get some rest and we'll go back to your watcher tomorrow and figure out how to get rid of the soldier boys and sort this mess out once and for all."

He kissed Buffy tenderly and went to the window. As he put a leg through he heard her tiny voice.

"Don't go, stay, I don't think I can sleep alone.Will you just hold me?"

Spike came back in from the ledge and smiled as he shrugged off his duster.

"Of course I will, "

He stripped off his top and boots and climbed in beside her. Buffy moved into his arms and fell asleep in the arms of her sire. Spike kissed her forehead.

"Night Buffy, love you "