Bewitched, Chapter 32/37
Feb. 20th, 2010 05:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thismazTitle: Bewitched, Chapter 32/37
Pairing: S/X
Rating: Overall NC-17
Summary: Valentine's Day arrived and Dru dipped her finger in the brew, giving it a stir. That was two years ago and the fall-out is still falling.
Word Count: 4,750
Betaed by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sparrow2000 and DJ, for which, many thanks. Thanks also to Sparrow for conflabbing on plot twists and forms.
Comments: Are greatly appreciated, loved and cherished.
Disclaimer: here.
The prologue is here, with a link to the other chapters, or you can find the whole thing, in reverse order, in tags, or in the correct order, in memories. There's a menu of links on the right hand side of my main journal page.
If you were reading this story before it went on hiatus, after chapter 27, there is a recap post here with a link to chapter 28 and all chapters following.
Many thanks tokatekat1010 for the original manip which you can find here.
Chapter 32
The evening after Buffy went out on her first proper training exercise with the Initiative, the Scoobies gathered at Giles' apartment. Apparently, Professor Walsh had been impressed by her performance. "She actually said the words," Buffy explained. "She's not big on praise, in class. And later, Riley told me that she couldn't stop talking about this move I made where I used one of the commandos as a shield to block a tazer blast." She was pacing excitedly, her hands flying as she demonstrated moves. Giles was sitting in his usual easy chair, a mug of tea held balanced on his knee and an expression of fond indulgence on his face.
According to Willow, Riley was also impressed and was awkwardly trying to make a move on Buffy. "Are you seeing a lot of Riley?" Xander asked, casually. "Outside of training, I mean." He was perched on the arm of the sofa where Willow was sitting with her feet tucked under her, so that he could keep an eye on Spike, sitting on the stairs behind her, while he listened to Buffy's story.
Buffy stopped in front of the fireplace. Turning to face him, she gave a small, awkward shrug. "What is this, an intervention?" she asked. Xander shrugged back and Buffy pulled a face. "Maybe a little," she admitted. "But he's useful. He tells me things."
Giles coughed. "Just so long as you're careful how much you tell him," he cautioned.
Looking up from his contemplation of his boots, Spike interjected. "Yeah, 'cause I'm not so keen on him finding out where I live."
Xander saw the dismissive retort hovering on Buffy's lips and got in first. "Actually, I'm not keen on that idea, either. If they find Spike, they might decide to take me too."
He'd meant it as a joke, a simple deflection, but Spike looked up sharply, an arrested expression in his eyes.
"I don't think that we need to be too concerned about that," Giles said. "But it is true that harbouring an HST would place us on dicey ground if they discovered him."
He was studying Spike speculatively and Xander felt the need to intervene again. "And it won't be a problem, as long as he stays out of their way." He turned to give Spike a stern glare and Spike nodded in reply, his eyes serious. When Xander turned back he saw that Giles was watching them both, that same speculative gleam still in his eye. Resting his arm on the back of the sofa, he forced his body to relax and tried to look innocent.
"I haven't said anything," Buffy assured them, returning them to the point under discussion in her mission-focussy way. She walked over to the footstool in front of Giles' chair and sat down on the edge of it. "Riley's a nice guy, and Professor Walsh is awesome, but I'm not giving away any Scooby secrets until I know more about what they're doing."
Taking a sip from his mug, Giles pursed his lips in a brief expression of distaste, either in response to Buffy's words or because his tea had gone cold as they listened to her debrief, Xander couldn't guess. Putting the mug down on the coffee table, he asked, "So what have you found out? Has Riley added anything useful during your conversations?"
"Oh, I was coming to that. I had the tour." Trust Buffy to wait until after she had described the fight, before coming out with the important news. "I actually went into the Initiative." Her voice became animated again. "I tell you, that place is huge. You'd never believe the size of it." She stood up and began to pace again, as if she needed the physical movement to properly communicate the scale of what she was describing. "They have the coolest gadgets. The entrance is an elevator that works on voice recognition. It's behind a mirror in the Frat House."
Giles sat up straight. "You mean the Initiative base is under the Frat House, under your school?"
"Yep! That's what I mean."
"My goodness!" Giles exclaimed, taking his glasses off but forgetting to polish them. "It must have taken some time to build. I wonder if it was also a part of the Mayor's long-term plans, or whether it was simply a piece of political expediency." He tapped the arm of his glasses against his chin until a cough from Buffy caused him to start and focus again. "Er, yes, so, what did you see there?" he asked.
"Not much. Just the main area, the armoury and a communications station." Buffy looked around, avoiding the corner where Spike was sprawled. "And a big area with demons strapped to tables. It looked like they were doing surgery on them." She looked a bit queasy at the memory and Xander could sympathise. Spike's face was blank. "I got a visitor's pass," she said, fishing a plastic tag out of her pocket, "and a pager." Lifting her sweater slightly, she showed them the small device attached to her belt. "I'm supposed to wear it at all times, so they can reach me in an emergency."
"Or track you," Xander suggested.
Willow looked alarmed. "Oh my god," she said. "Do you think they would?"
"I wouldn't be surprised," Giles said. "But since they already know where I live, I doubt we are giving anything away by you wearing it here. I am more concerned by the possibility that it might be bugged."
Willow's eyes got huge and she clapped her hand to her mouth.
"Right, that's it," Spike announced, jumping to his feet. "I'm out of here. What you just said, before you threw in that little bombshell? If they're listening, they already know everything they need." He marched across the room, grabbed his coat from the hook and flung it around his shoulders, somehow managing to get his arms in the sleeves as he did so. Xander took a moment to admire his flair, watching with admiration as he swept out of the apartment in a swirl of billowing coat tails, leaving them all frozen in place with their mouths hanging open.
With a shake of her head, Buffy was the first to pull herself together. "There's a guy, a doctor called Angleman," she said, her voice subdued, in contrast to her earlier enthusiasm. She looked over at the front door, which Spike had left open. "Professor Walsh said he was an expert on behaviour modification."
Xander stood up. "I'd better go and see if I can find him," he said. "If we're still around tomorrow, I'm betting they haven't gotten around to bleeper bugging." He took his jacket off the hook by the door and shrugged it on. "I'll see you guys tomorrow," he said, adding ghoulishly, "With any luck."
Spike was easily found. He was hanging out in the bushes near Giles' front steps. Xander approached him cautiously. "You okay?" he asked.
"Sure, just peachy," Spike replied. "Stupid bloody Watcher! Crazy, thoughtless bint! If I could, I'd-"
"No you wouldn't," Xander said, stepping right into the shadows of the shrubbery.
"How d'you figure that? You know nothing."
"Because I'd ask you not to?"
"And you think that matters to me?"
"Yes, Spike. I think that does matter to you." He stepped close, into Spike's space, and cupped his face in his hands. "And I'm grateful," he said, pressing a small kiss to Spike's lips. Stepping back before Spike could pull him in, or push him away, he looked around the street. "How about we go and pitch camp on top of that apartment building," he said, pointing at the complex directly opposite Giles', "and keep watch? I have my cell and if the commandos arrive, I'll phone Giles to warn them."
Spike studied his face intently, as if searching for something. "Bloody sure of yourself, aren't you?" he grumbled.
Xander laughed. "What can I say? The power of the Xan-man is legendary. One night with me and my 'fucking huge, manly shaft' and you're all putty in my hands."
Spike gave a snort of reluctant laughter. "Git!" he said, turning and leading the way across the street and around the back of the apartment complex to the fire escape.
Lying on his stomach on the flat roof overlooking Giles' front door, Xander wished only for a pair of binoculars to make the whole stakeout scene complete. Half an hour after they got there, they watched Buffy leave and Xander took the opportunity to call Giles and tell him they were okay.
"I've checked this phone," Giles said. "It's not bugged. And we've looked in the more obvious places around the house. I don't think they can have had a chance to plant anything here, yet. If they were going to. However, I'm grateful to you for your thoughtfulness. I'll keep you informed if I find anything. Buffy was called away by her bleeper thing. She said she'll check in when she gets home, so I don't think I'll be going to bed soon. Willow is about to leave and-" Giles broke off and Xander could hear muffled conversation in the background before he returned, speaking clearly again. "She'll call me when she gets home."
A few minutes later they watched Willow emerge into the street. She glanced up at their building and gave a small wave, before turning towards Main Street and the bus stop where she could catch the late bus back up to the campus.
In spite of Giles' confidence, they kept watch through the night. Xander didn't think he would feel happy until at least twelve hours had passed.
Once he was assured that Willow had got home safely it was surprisingly comfortable, doing a stakeout with Spike. They talked about movies and TV, arguing about which were the real classics. At one point Xander got up, climbed down to ground level and found a quiet corner behind some bushes. When he came back, if he happened to settle slightly closer to Spike, so their shoulders pressed together, that was purely accidental. Spike didn't pull away.
No soldiers arrived before dawn and by then Xander was ready to believe that they probably weren't coming, but the incident had been a warning and he went to work both tired and thoughtful.
Then it all went belly up, as Spike would say. They were once again gathered in Giles' living room. Buffy had called Giles the previous night, to report how she and the Initiative team had captured a Polgara demon, whatever that was, but her current news was of a far more worrying flavour. It appeared that the professor didn't like Buffy asking questions.
"She said it was nothing. Routine reconnaissance, probably raccoons," Buffy explained, her voice positively vibrating with anger. "Ha! It was a one-way recon. She so wanted me dead."
Frowning thoughtfully and rubbing his fingertips against his temples, Giles asked, "Is there any possibility that you are mistaken?"
Buffy shook her head. "Those things that attacked me? I saw them in the lab at the Initiative."
"You're certain they were the same ones?"
"You're defending her now? No, I'm not certain. I didn't stop to chat, Giles. But they were the same species and there were two of them and the blasto-gun she gave me went phitt!" She paused in her pacing, suddenly deflated and looked at Giles. "I threw it in a puddle of water and electrocuted them."
Giles smiled faintly. "Well done," he said.
Buffy almost growled, "But if she thinks that's enough to kill me, she really doesn't know what a Slayer is."
"A fact for which we can be grateful."
"Yeah, and I told her so. On her microphone, heart rate monitor thing."
"Ah." Giles shrugged. "Never mind, but it may have been better for her to believe you were dead."
That made Buffy pause, but before she could say anything Willow broke into the discussion. "Did, did Riley know?" she asked. She sounded scared.
Not for the first time Xander wondered if she'd been match-making. She could have been, but if she was, he didn't give her much chance of success. Buffy was still carrying the big yen for Angel and Xander couldn't see Riley as anything but re-bound guy. After this latest development, he'd cut the odds to zilch.
Throwing her hands up in the air, Buffy started to pace again. "I don't know," she said. "He wasn't there. Maggie, Professor Walsh, said they were out on patrol. She's in charge of that. So no, I don't think so." She stopped and turned towards them. With her hands on her hips she was staring at Giles, but Xander didn't think she was seeing him. Her voice was disgusted when she said, "She calls them 'her boys'! What's with that?"
From his seat, on the third stair, Spike said, "You stupid bint! It's 'cause she owns them."
Xander was sitting next to Willow on the sofa so he had to twist around to look at Spike. "That's demon logic," he objected. "It's not how humans think."
"Says who?" Spike retorted.
Ignoring their interchange, Buffy looked at Giles, Willow and then Xander. "You guys think Riley was in on this?" she asked.
Xander turned back to her, but had no answer to her question. Willow just looked miserable. Giles shrugged. "Probably not," he said hesitantly, "but, uh... it's an option we need to consider."
Buffy nodded sadly. "Yeah, I guess."
She took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. "We're not safe," she said, her voice tight and angry again. "If they can come after me like that, they could come after any of us."
"Could have told you that yesterday," Spike observed. "In fact, I think Xander did tell you that yesterday."
It was as if hearing Buffy state the possibility so blatantly, made it suddenly real. The idea that a branch of his own government might want him dead caused a cold, hollow feeling to form in the pit of Xander's stomach. His concerns of the night before had been for arrest and questioning, not murder.
Spike's voice twisted into something nasty and gloating. "If you hadn't been so damned certain your Maggie was so bleedin' awesome and your toy soldier was a nice guy. Don't know where you get off, putting all your mates lives in danger like you do."
The hollow feeling wound itself up into a tight ball of anger and Xander stood up. "Spike!" he snapped. Spike glared up at him defiantly and after a moment it was Xander who turned away. Striving for calm, he looked at the others. "We've been doing this a long time," he said, "and no one ever promised it was safe, so this is no different." Backing up until he was leaning against Giles' desk, from where he could see the whole room, he added, "It's, it's just a different sort of threat and we just need to decide what we're going to do about it."
With her hands clasped together in her lap and her shoulders hunched, Willow looked very small and young, but her voice was full of steely determination when she spoke. "Well, I'm not letting a bunch of military fascists run me out of town."
"Me neither," Xander agreed, although the feeling in his gut made his defiance sound false to his own ears.
"Certainly not," Giles said and Xander was grateful for the calm certainty in his voice.
Buffy was biting her bottom lip. "No offence, Wil, but I don't think that was ever an option."
"And I'm not going anywhere. Not until those bastards undo whatever they did to me," Spike declared. Xander closed his eyes, wishing that Spike would just keep his mouth shut. The way Buffy was acting, she was not going to cut him any slack.
Giles removed his glasses. "About that..." he said. "Spike - lord knows why I'm asking you this but, thinking about your discovery that you can fight only demons, has it occurred to you that there may be a higher purpose..?" He trailed off in the face of Spike's outraged expression.
That seemed to have come out of nowhere. Xander hoped it was an attempt to create a diversion, to allow the tension in the room to fade. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"I am merely theorising," Giles explained. "The fact that Spike came to us when he found himself... er... incapacitated. I was wondering if the impact of such a, uh, a rein on his natural instincts, might allow-"
If it had been an attempt to restore calm through speculative debate, it failed spectacularly. Spike interrupted him. "I hear what you're theorising, Watcher, and I'm not having it! I don't care what theories you want to cook up, but the idea of the Initiative as agents for The Powers That Be, is sheer bloody tripe."
"The Powers That Be?" Willow asked. "What are they? You said that like they're something real."
"They are real," Spike said. "But anyone who thinks they'd intervene to steer a vampire towards some so-called higher purpose, is stark raving crazy." He gave a snarl of annoyance. "And even if they did, I don't bloody care," he said. "More interested in what's on our doorstep than some fucking airy-fairy bastard on a fucking cloud somewhere. More interested in the idea the soldiers might do me a favour and succeed in taking you out next time, Slayer."
Xander tried to catch his eye again and failed. He didn't understand what was going on between Giles and Spike, but he had a bad feeling about it.
"You've got god-awful taste in men," Spike said, redirecting the discussion back to Riley. "Bit of a step down from Angelus, though. He could teach your soldier a thing or two about real torture."
Buffy winced and Giles snapped, "That's enough, Spike!"
"Riley's not my boyfriend," Buffy protested, "and you know nothing about Angel."
"I know a hell of a lot more about your Angel than you do," Spike said. "And I know how you felt about him. I've read your diary, Slayer." Raising his voice at least an octave, he whined, "Angel's such a hunk. Angel's eyes are so penetrating. Eek! Angel's a vampire!" then in his normal voice, "And your spelling's atrocious."
This time Giles stood up. "Shut up Spike," he said, "or I swear to God..."
Xander took a half step forwards. He had no idea if Giles had been trying to irritate Spike but the outcome was the same, regardless.
Spike grinned up at Giles. "What?" he asked. "You'll stake me? Like to see you try, Watcher."
Buffy entered the lists. She stepped up to Giles' side. "Would you like to see me try?" she asked.
Using the banister rail to pull himself up, Spike stepped down from the stairs and settled himself solidly on both feet. He cocked his head on one side. "Well..." he said, his voice mocking. "It would hardly be a fair fight, when I can't hit you, now would it? But you couldn't stop me if I wanted to take you down. It took all the resources of the US military to even slow me."
The atmosphere in the room was hard and brittle with Spike's pent-up frustration, Buffy's anger and the sense of foreboding that had slowly gathered around them all since Buffy's revelation. Xander's own anxiety cranked up another notch in the face of his own helplessness.
Giles' intervention came as a complete shock. "Quiet!" he shouted. Everybody turned to stare at him in amazement, even Spike. With a small nod, he continued more calmly. "I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have allowed myself to be diverted. We have larger things to worry about, right now."
It was not in Spike's nature, though, to allow himself to be intimidated by a watcher. Ignoring Giles, he spoke to Buffy. "I get this chip out," he snarled, "and I'll take you up on that offer, Slayer, and we can have a proper dance." He glanced around the room and finally Xander managed to catch his eye, frowning and begging him to behave. Spike looked back at him, his lips tight, and Xander raised his eyebrows and tried to smile. It was a weak effort, but it seemed to work. Spike raised his chin, his lips twisted into a slight smile of his own and his face smoothing into an innocent expression. Turning back to Giles he said, more mildly, although still with a touch of venom in his voice, "But right now, I'm just here to help." Xander breathed a premature sigh of relief, which hitched when Spike added, "Since you can't do the job alone."
Dragging his glasses off, Giles glared at Spike. Between gritted teeth, he ground out, "If you want to be useful, Spike, perhaps you would like to go and ask the Initiative what it is they're doing? That would be of real assistance, with the added advantage of maybe getting you killed."
Xander opened his mouth to protest, at the same time as Spike snapped, "Fine!" Glaring right back at Giles, he said, "I've had enough of this. You talk and talk and talk, but you never do anything useful. Bunch of worthless wankers!" and swept out.
Xander pulled an apologetic face, mumbled, "I'd better..." and turned to run after him. When he reached the door he called out, "Hey," to Spike's retreating back.
Spike paused half way up the steps to the street, but didn't turn around until Xander climbed right up behind him.
He didn't look angry. If Xander had to guess, he'd have said he looked tired. "Don't fret, love," he said. "I wouldn't kill her." He reached out and absently tucked a stray lock of hair behind Xander's ear. "She's winding me up, that's all. And the Watcher on top of that. I need to clear my head. I'm just going for a walk, okay? You go back to your friends, I'll come home later."
Studying him dubiously, Xander nodded. "You won't do anything crazy because Giles lost his temper?" Spike shook his head. "Okay," he agreed.
Spike kissed him. "Don't you do anything stupid, either," he said and off Xander's look, added, "I wouldn't want to miss it."
When Xander re-entered the room, feeling immeasurably calmer, it was to find Buffy on the sofa next to Willow, both of them perched on the very edge of the cushions. Giles was sitting in his chair again. "...you're quite right," he was saying. He looked slightly embarrassed. Glancing up when Xander closed the front door behind him, he asked, "Is he gone?"
Xander shrugged. "For now." He took a seat on the arm of the sofa.
Willow glanced up at him with a tight smile. The collective mood was subdued, as if Spike had taken all the life out of the room with him, which was just stupid. Giles half stood, asking, "Tea?" but subsided back into his chair when Xander and Willow mutely shook their heads.
Bracing herself, Buffy slapped her hands down on her knees and straightened her back. "So, can we discuss this calmly now the disruptive element has gone storming off, again?" she asked.
Knowing that it would serve no good purpose to point out that the spark for the disruption had come from Giles, Xander kept his mouth shut. Giles seemed glad to focus back on their original problem. "Yes," he agreed. "We do need to consider our next action." Turning to Buffy he asked, "Have you got any idea what could have happened to make Professor Walsh want to kill you?"
"Maybe you were getting too close to something," Willow suggested.
"It doesn't matter what, or why, right now," Buffy said. "We need to relocate some place where we can stay together. Then we can think about what." She looked up at Xander. "Can we stay with you?" she asked. "You have a spare room and Riley's never been there."
"It wouldn't take much for him to find me," he objected. "I'm probably already in the phone book."
"Maybe," she agreed, "but it's the best we've got. Do you mind?"
Xander shook his head, wondering what he was going to do about Spike if they all came to stay.
Giles gathered together a change of clothes and drove the girls up to the campus so they could each pack a small bag while Xander went home, in the hope that Spike would be there before him. He wasn't, but by the time the others arrived he had worked out a plan and had even figured out how to browbeat Spike into backing up the story that went with it. As he explained to them, the girls could have the spare room, while Spike would sleep in Xander's room. He offered Giles the choice of joining them or taking the sofa in the living room. He wasn't surprised when Giles opted for the sofa.
Spike still wasn't home when they all went to bed, but Xander being the good host saw everyone settled, then struck a note on the outside of the front door, to warn Spike to be quiet.
He was roused from sleep when a cool body slipped into bed behind him and an arm wrapped itself around his waist.
The thing they had was still so new, that Xander's body was already reacting before his mind had caught up with the idea that he should wake up and enjoy it. Spike's hand began to move against his chest: gentle, tickling strokes of his finger tips, rising to circle his nipple before moving away to idly follow the lines of his ribs. Xander rolled over and Spike's hand slid around to his ass and further, into the crack between his cheeks, brushing the sensitive skin there. Xander sighed softly and grabbed the wandering hand, pulling it back between them. "Giles is in the living room," he whispered. "If we do that, there's no way I'll not wake him."
"Thought you said these walls were thick," Spike said.
Xander snorted. "I lied?" he replied. He ghosted his fingertips over Spike's cheek and across his lips. "Can we save that?" he asked. "Let me..." Skimming his hand down Spike's neck and chest, he curled his hand around Spike's prick.
Spike didn't push to issue. He wrapped his own hand around Xander's cock and began to stroke.
Lying face to face, they didn't kiss; the moment seemed almost too charged for that. Xander watched the yellow light flickering in Spike's eyes in the dark room. He imagined that Spike could see his face more clearly than he could see Spike's and he felt his lips curve into a smile of contentment. Their hands moved in counterpoint, wrists occasionally rubbing together, and after the tensions of the evening, Xander allowed himself to float on the physical sensation.
When Spike's movements speeded up, Xander matched his pace. The pressure was building, but there was still no urgency to it, he felt a laugh begin to build in his throat and opened his mouth to keep it back. Spike shifted towards him and the kiss was such a natural move that he gasped and came, almost at once. Spike gave two more gentle strokes than pulled his hand away, giving Xander more room to work and running his palm down Xander's flank, without breaking the kiss. A moment later, he groaned and Xander felt the small kick of the flesh in his hand, then wetness spreading over his fingers.
Spike groaned again and rolled himself on top of Xander bringing his hands up to cup Xander's head. He tilted his own head to change the kiss into something deeper, his fingers massaging Xander's scalp. Xander ran his hands up Spike's sides and down his back, to mirror the gentle clenching movement on the round flesh of his ass.
Spike pulled his head back and Xander couldn't see his expression, but he could hear the smirk in his voice when he whispered, "That works, too."
"Yeah," Xander breathed, rolling over, so Spike fell off him. "You get the wet spot," he said.
Spike grumbled something Xander couldn't hear and reached over the side of the bed to find the towel that lived there. He wiped them both off, and the mattress, then settled down, his back curving naturally into Xander's front, and pulled Xander's arm around his waist, holding Xander's hand to his chest.
Some bits of dialogue borrowed and adapted from episodes 4.13 and 4.14 The I in Team and Goodbye Iowa
Chapter 33
Pairing: S/X
Rating: Overall NC-17
Summary: Valentine's Day arrived and Dru dipped her finger in the brew, giving it a stir. That was two years ago and the fall-out is still falling.
Word Count: 4,750
Betaed by
sparrow2000 and DJ, for which, many thanks. Thanks also to Sparrow for conflabbing on plot twists and forms.Comments: Are greatly appreciated, loved and cherished.
Disclaimer: here.
The prologue is here, with a link to the other chapters, or you can find the whole thing, in reverse order, in tags, or in the correct order, in memories. There's a menu of links on the right hand side of my main journal page.
If you were reading this story before it went on hiatus, after chapter 27, there is a recap post here with a link to chapter 28 and all chapters following.
Many thanks to
katekat1010 for the original manip which you can find here.Chapter 32
The evening after Buffy went out on her first proper training exercise with the Initiative, the Scoobies gathered at Giles' apartment. Apparently, Professor Walsh had been impressed by her performance. "She actually said the words," Buffy explained. "She's not big on praise, in class. And later, Riley told me that she couldn't stop talking about this move I made where I used one of the commandos as a shield to block a tazer blast." She was pacing excitedly, her hands flying as she demonstrated moves. Giles was sitting in his usual easy chair, a mug of tea held balanced on his knee and an expression of fond indulgence on his face.
According to Willow, Riley was also impressed and was awkwardly trying to make a move on Buffy. "Are you seeing a lot of Riley?" Xander asked, casually. "Outside of training, I mean." He was perched on the arm of the sofa where Willow was sitting with her feet tucked under her, so that he could keep an eye on Spike, sitting on the stairs behind her, while he listened to Buffy's story.
Buffy stopped in front of the fireplace. Turning to face him, she gave a small, awkward shrug. "What is this, an intervention?" she asked. Xander shrugged back and Buffy pulled a face. "Maybe a little," she admitted. "But he's useful. He tells me things."
Giles coughed. "Just so long as you're careful how much you tell him," he cautioned.
Looking up from his contemplation of his boots, Spike interjected. "Yeah, 'cause I'm not so keen on him finding out where I live."
Xander saw the dismissive retort hovering on Buffy's lips and got in first. "Actually, I'm not keen on that idea, either. If they find Spike, they might decide to take me too."
He'd meant it as a joke, a simple deflection, but Spike looked up sharply, an arrested expression in his eyes.
"I don't think that we need to be too concerned about that," Giles said. "But it is true that harbouring an HST would place us on dicey ground if they discovered him."
He was studying Spike speculatively and Xander felt the need to intervene again. "And it won't be a problem, as long as he stays out of their way." He turned to give Spike a stern glare and Spike nodded in reply, his eyes serious. When Xander turned back he saw that Giles was watching them both, that same speculative gleam still in his eye. Resting his arm on the back of the sofa, he forced his body to relax and tried to look innocent.
"I haven't said anything," Buffy assured them, returning them to the point under discussion in her mission-focussy way. She walked over to the footstool in front of Giles' chair and sat down on the edge of it. "Riley's a nice guy, and Professor Walsh is awesome, but I'm not giving away any Scooby secrets until I know more about what they're doing."
Taking a sip from his mug, Giles pursed his lips in a brief expression of distaste, either in response to Buffy's words or because his tea had gone cold as they listened to her debrief, Xander couldn't guess. Putting the mug down on the coffee table, he asked, "So what have you found out? Has Riley added anything useful during your conversations?"
"Oh, I was coming to that. I had the tour." Trust Buffy to wait until after she had described the fight, before coming out with the important news. "I actually went into the Initiative." Her voice became animated again. "I tell you, that place is huge. You'd never believe the size of it." She stood up and began to pace again, as if she needed the physical movement to properly communicate the scale of what she was describing. "They have the coolest gadgets. The entrance is an elevator that works on voice recognition. It's behind a mirror in the Frat House."
Giles sat up straight. "You mean the Initiative base is under the Frat House, under your school?"
"Yep! That's what I mean."
"My goodness!" Giles exclaimed, taking his glasses off but forgetting to polish them. "It must have taken some time to build. I wonder if it was also a part of the Mayor's long-term plans, or whether it was simply a piece of political expediency." He tapped the arm of his glasses against his chin until a cough from Buffy caused him to start and focus again. "Er, yes, so, what did you see there?" he asked.
"Not much. Just the main area, the armoury and a communications station." Buffy looked around, avoiding the corner where Spike was sprawled. "And a big area with demons strapped to tables. It looked like they were doing surgery on them." She looked a bit queasy at the memory and Xander could sympathise. Spike's face was blank. "I got a visitor's pass," she said, fishing a plastic tag out of her pocket, "and a pager." Lifting her sweater slightly, she showed them the small device attached to her belt. "I'm supposed to wear it at all times, so they can reach me in an emergency."
"Or track you," Xander suggested.
Willow looked alarmed. "Oh my god," she said. "Do you think they would?"
"I wouldn't be surprised," Giles said. "But since they already know where I live, I doubt we are giving anything away by you wearing it here. I am more concerned by the possibility that it might be bugged."
Willow's eyes got huge and she clapped her hand to her mouth.
"Right, that's it," Spike announced, jumping to his feet. "I'm out of here. What you just said, before you threw in that little bombshell? If they're listening, they already know everything they need." He marched across the room, grabbed his coat from the hook and flung it around his shoulders, somehow managing to get his arms in the sleeves as he did so. Xander took a moment to admire his flair, watching with admiration as he swept out of the apartment in a swirl of billowing coat tails, leaving them all frozen in place with their mouths hanging open.
With a shake of her head, Buffy was the first to pull herself together. "There's a guy, a doctor called Angleman," she said, her voice subdued, in contrast to her earlier enthusiasm. She looked over at the front door, which Spike had left open. "Professor Walsh said he was an expert on behaviour modification."
Xander stood up. "I'd better go and see if I can find him," he said. "If we're still around tomorrow, I'm betting they haven't gotten around to bleeper bugging." He took his jacket off the hook by the door and shrugged it on. "I'll see you guys tomorrow," he said, adding ghoulishly, "With any luck."
Spike was easily found. He was hanging out in the bushes near Giles' front steps. Xander approached him cautiously. "You okay?" he asked.
"Sure, just peachy," Spike replied. "Stupid bloody Watcher! Crazy, thoughtless bint! If I could, I'd-"
"No you wouldn't," Xander said, stepping right into the shadows of the shrubbery.
"How d'you figure that? You know nothing."
"Because I'd ask you not to?"
"And you think that matters to me?"
"Yes, Spike. I think that does matter to you." He stepped close, into Spike's space, and cupped his face in his hands. "And I'm grateful," he said, pressing a small kiss to Spike's lips. Stepping back before Spike could pull him in, or push him away, he looked around the street. "How about we go and pitch camp on top of that apartment building," he said, pointing at the complex directly opposite Giles', "and keep watch? I have my cell and if the commandos arrive, I'll phone Giles to warn them."
Spike studied his face intently, as if searching for something. "Bloody sure of yourself, aren't you?" he grumbled.
Xander laughed. "What can I say? The power of the Xan-man is legendary. One night with me and my 'fucking huge, manly shaft' and you're all putty in my hands."
Spike gave a snort of reluctant laughter. "Git!" he said, turning and leading the way across the street and around the back of the apartment complex to the fire escape.
Lying on his stomach on the flat roof overlooking Giles' front door, Xander wished only for a pair of binoculars to make the whole stakeout scene complete. Half an hour after they got there, they watched Buffy leave and Xander took the opportunity to call Giles and tell him they were okay.
"I've checked this phone," Giles said. "It's not bugged. And we've looked in the more obvious places around the house. I don't think they can have had a chance to plant anything here, yet. If they were going to. However, I'm grateful to you for your thoughtfulness. I'll keep you informed if I find anything. Buffy was called away by her bleeper thing. She said she'll check in when she gets home, so I don't think I'll be going to bed soon. Willow is about to leave and-" Giles broke off and Xander could hear muffled conversation in the background before he returned, speaking clearly again. "She'll call me when she gets home."
A few minutes later they watched Willow emerge into the street. She glanced up at their building and gave a small wave, before turning towards Main Street and the bus stop where she could catch the late bus back up to the campus.
In spite of Giles' confidence, they kept watch through the night. Xander didn't think he would feel happy until at least twelve hours had passed.
Once he was assured that Willow had got home safely it was surprisingly comfortable, doing a stakeout with Spike. They talked about movies and TV, arguing about which were the real classics. At one point Xander got up, climbed down to ground level and found a quiet corner behind some bushes. When he came back, if he happened to settle slightly closer to Spike, so their shoulders pressed together, that was purely accidental. Spike didn't pull away.
No soldiers arrived before dawn and by then Xander was ready to believe that they probably weren't coming, but the incident had been a warning and he went to work both tired and thoughtful.
Then it all went belly up, as Spike would say. They were once again gathered in Giles' living room. Buffy had called Giles the previous night, to report how she and the Initiative team had captured a Polgara demon, whatever that was, but her current news was of a far more worrying flavour. It appeared that the professor didn't like Buffy asking questions.
"She said it was nothing. Routine reconnaissance, probably raccoons," Buffy explained, her voice positively vibrating with anger. "Ha! It was a one-way recon. She so wanted me dead."
Frowning thoughtfully and rubbing his fingertips against his temples, Giles asked, "Is there any possibility that you are mistaken?"
Buffy shook her head. "Those things that attacked me? I saw them in the lab at the Initiative."
"You're certain they were the same ones?"
"You're defending her now? No, I'm not certain. I didn't stop to chat, Giles. But they were the same species and there were two of them and the blasto-gun she gave me went phitt!" She paused in her pacing, suddenly deflated and looked at Giles. "I threw it in a puddle of water and electrocuted them."
Giles smiled faintly. "Well done," he said.
Buffy almost growled, "But if she thinks that's enough to kill me, she really doesn't know what a Slayer is."
"A fact for which we can be grateful."
"Yeah, and I told her so. On her microphone, heart rate monitor thing."
"Ah." Giles shrugged. "Never mind, but it may have been better for her to believe you were dead."
That made Buffy pause, but before she could say anything Willow broke into the discussion. "Did, did Riley know?" she asked. She sounded scared.
Not for the first time Xander wondered if she'd been match-making. She could have been, but if she was, he didn't give her much chance of success. Buffy was still carrying the big yen for Angel and Xander couldn't see Riley as anything but re-bound guy. After this latest development, he'd cut the odds to zilch.
Throwing her hands up in the air, Buffy started to pace again. "I don't know," she said. "He wasn't there. Maggie, Professor Walsh, said they were out on patrol. She's in charge of that. So no, I don't think so." She stopped and turned towards them. With her hands on her hips she was staring at Giles, but Xander didn't think she was seeing him. Her voice was disgusted when she said, "She calls them 'her boys'! What's with that?"
From his seat, on the third stair, Spike said, "You stupid bint! It's 'cause she owns them."
Xander was sitting next to Willow on the sofa so he had to twist around to look at Spike. "That's demon logic," he objected. "It's not how humans think."
"Says who?" Spike retorted.
Ignoring their interchange, Buffy looked at Giles, Willow and then Xander. "You guys think Riley was in on this?" she asked.
Xander turned back to her, but had no answer to her question. Willow just looked miserable. Giles shrugged. "Probably not," he said hesitantly, "but, uh... it's an option we need to consider."
Buffy nodded sadly. "Yeah, I guess."
She took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. "We're not safe," she said, her voice tight and angry again. "If they can come after me like that, they could come after any of us."
"Could have told you that yesterday," Spike observed. "In fact, I think Xander did tell you that yesterday."
It was as if hearing Buffy state the possibility so blatantly, made it suddenly real. The idea that a branch of his own government might want him dead caused a cold, hollow feeling to form in the pit of Xander's stomach. His concerns of the night before had been for arrest and questioning, not murder.
Spike's voice twisted into something nasty and gloating. "If you hadn't been so damned certain your Maggie was so bleedin' awesome and your toy soldier was a nice guy. Don't know where you get off, putting all your mates lives in danger like you do."
The hollow feeling wound itself up into a tight ball of anger and Xander stood up. "Spike!" he snapped. Spike glared up at him defiantly and after a moment it was Xander who turned away. Striving for calm, he looked at the others. "We've been doing this a long time," he said, "and no one ever promised it was safe, so this is no different." Backing up until he was leaning against Giles' desk, from where he could see the whole room, he added, "It's, it's just a different sort of threat and we just need to decide what we're going to do about it."
With her hands clasped together in her lap and her shoulders hunched, Willow looked very small and young, but her voice was full of steely determination when she spoke. "Well, I'm not letting a bunch of military fascists run me out of town."
"Me neither," Xander agreed, although the feeling in his gut made his defiance sound false to his own ears.
"Certainly not," Giles said and Xander was grateful for the calm certainty in his voice.
Buffy was biting her bottom lip. "No offence, Wil, but I don't think that was ever an option."
"And I'm not going anywhere. Not until those bastards undo whatever they did to me," Spike declared. Xander closed his eyes, wishing that Spike would just keep his mouth shut. The way Buffy was acting, she was not going to cut him any slack.
Giles removed his glasses. "About that..." he said. "Spike - lord knows why I'm asking you this but, thinking about your discovery that you can fight only demons, has it occurred to you that there may be a higher purpose..?" He trailed off in the face of Spike's outraged expression.
That seemed to have come out of nowhere. Xander hoped it was an attempt to create a diversion, to allow the tension in the room to fade. "What do you mean?" he asked.
"I am merely theorising," Giles explained. "The fact that Spike came to us when he found himself... er... incapacitated. I was wondering if the impact of such a, uh, a rein on his natural instincts, might allow-"
If it had been an attempt to restore calm through speculative debate, it failed spectacularly. Spike interrupted him. "I hear what you're theorising, Watcher, and I'm not having it! I don't care what theories you want to cook up, but the idea of the Initiative as agents for The Powers That Be, is sheer bloody tripe."
"The Powers That Be?" Willow asked. "What are they? You said that like they're something real."
"They are real," Spike said. "But anyone who thinks they'd intervene to steer a vampire towards some so-called higher purpose, is stark raving crazy." He gave a snarl of annoyance. "And even if they did, I don't bloody care," he said. "More interested in what's on our doorstep than some fucking airy-fairy bastard on a fucking cloud somewhere. More interested in the idea the soldiers might do me a favour and succeed in taking you out next time, Slayer."
Xander tried to catch his eye again and failed. He didn't understand what was going on between Giles and Spike, but he had a bad feeling about it.
"You've got god-awful taste in men," Spike said, redirecting the discussion back to Riley. "Bit of a step down from Angelus, though. He could teach your soldier a thing or two about real torture."
Buffy winced and Giles snapped, "That's enough, Spike!"
"Riley's not my boyfriend," Buffy protested, "and you know nothing about Angel."
"I know a hell of a lot more about your Angel than you do," Spike said. "And I know how you felt about him. I've read your diary, Slayer." Raising his voice at least an octave, he whined, "Angel's such a hunk. Angel's eyes are so penetrating. Eek! Angel's a vampire!" then in his normal voice, "And your spelling's atrocious."
This time Giles stood up. "Shut up Spike," he said, "or I swear to God..."
Xander took a half step forwards. He had no idea if Giles had been trying to irritate Spike but the outcome was the same, regardless.
Spike grinned up at Giles. "What?" he asked. "You'll stake me? Like to see you try, Watcher."
Buffy entered the lists. She stepped up to Giles' side. "Would you like to see me try?" she asked.
Using the banister rail to pull himself up, Spike stepped down from the stairs and settled himself solidly on both feet. He cocked his head on one side. "Well..." he said, his voice mocking. "It would hardly be a fair fight, when I can't hit you, now would it? But you couldn't stop me if I wanted to take you down. It took all the resources of the US military to even slow me."
The atmosphere in the room was hard and brittle with Spike's pent-up frustration, Buffy's anger and the sense of foreboding that had slowly gathered around them all since Buffy's revelation. Xander's own anxiety cranked up another notch in the face of his own helplessness.
Giles' intervention came as a complete shock. "Quiet!" he shouted. Everybody turned to stare at him in amazement, even Spike. With a small nod, he continued more calmly. "I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have allowed myself to be diverted. We have larger things to worry about, right now."
It was not in Spike's nature, though, to allow himself to be intimidated by a watcher. Ignoring Giles, he spoke to Buffy. "I get this chip out," he snarled, "and I'll take you up on that offer, Slayer, and we can have a proper dance." He glanced around the room and finally Xander managed to catch his eye, frowning and begging him to behave. Spike looked back at him, his lips tight, and Xander raised his eyebrows and tried to smile. It was a weak effort, but it seemed to work. Spike raised his chin, his lips twisted into a slight smile of his own and his face smoothing into an innocent expression. Turning back to Giles he said, more mildly, although still with a touch of venom in his voice, "But right now, I'm just here to help." Xander breathed a premature sigh of relief, which hitched when Spike added, "Since you can't do the job alone."
Dragging his glasses off, Giles glared at Spike. Between gritted teeth, he ground out, "If you want to be useful, Spike, perhaps you would like to go and ask the Initiative what it is they're doing? That would be of real assistance, with the added advantage of maybe getting you killed."
Xander opened his mouth to protest, at the same time as Spike snapped, "Fine!" Glaring right back at Giles, he said, "I've had enough of this. You talk and talk and talk, but you never do anything useful. Bunch of worthless wankers!" and swept out.
Xander pulled an apologetic face, mumbled, "I'd better..." and turned to run after him. When he reached the door he called out, "Hey," to Spike's retreating back.
Spike paused half way up the steps to the street, but didn't turn around until Xander climbed right up behind him.
He didn't look angry. If Xander had to guess, he'd have said he looked tired. "Don't fret, love," he said. "I wouldn't kill her." He reached out and absently tucked a stray lock of hair behind Xander's ear. "She's winding me up, that's all. And the Watcher on top of that. I need to clear my head. I'm just going for a walk, okay? You go back to your friends, I'll come home later."
Studying him dubiously, Xander nodded. "You won't do anything crazy because Giles lost his temper?" Spike shook his head. "Okay," he agreed.
Spike kissed him. "Don't you do anything stupid, either," he said and off Xander's look, added, "I wouldn't want to miss it."
When Xander re-entered the room, feeling immeasurably calmer, it was to find Buffy on the sofa next to Willow, both of them perched on the very edge of the cushions. Giles was sitting in his chair again. "...you're quite right," he was saying. He looked slightly embarrassed. Glancing up when Xander closed the front door behind him, he asked, "Is he gone?"
Xander shrugged. "For now." He took a seat on the arm of the sofa.
Willow glanced up at him with a tight smile. The collective mood was subdued, as if Spike had taken all the life out of the room with him, which was just stupid. Giles half stood, asking, "Tea?" but subsided back into his chair when Xander and Willow mutely shook their heads.
Bracing herself, Buffy slapped her hands down on her knees and straightened her back. "So, can we discuss this calmly now the disruptive element has gone storming off, again?" she asked.
Knowing that it would serve no good purpose to point out that the spark for the disruption had come from Giles, Xander kept his mouth shut. Giles seemed glad to focus back on their original problem. "Yes," he agreed. "We do need to consider our next action." Turning to Buffy he asked, "Have you got any idea what could have happened to make Professor Walsh want to kill you?"
"Maybe you were getting too close to something," Willow suggested.
"It doesn't matter what, or why, right now," Buffy said. "We need to relocate some place where we can stay together. Then we can think about what." She looked up at Xander. "Can we stay with you?" she asked. "You have a spare room and Riley's never been there."
"It wouldn't take much for him to find me," he objected. "I'm probably already in the phone book."
"Maybe," she agreed, "but it's the best we've got. Do you mind?"
Xander shook his head, wondering what he was going to do about Spike if they all came to stay.
Giles gathered together a change of clothes and drove the girls up to the campus so they could each pack a small bag while Xander went home, in the hope that Spike would be there before him. He wasn't, but by the time the others arrived he had worked out a plan and had even figured out how to browbeat Spike into backing up the story that went with it. As he explained to them, the girls could have the spare room, while Spike would sleep in Xander's room. He offered Giles the choice of joining them or taking the sofa in the living room. He wasn't surprised when Giles opted for the sofa.
Spike still wasn't home when they all went to bed, but Xander being the good host saw everyone settled, then struck a note on the outside of the front door, to warn Spike to be quiet.
He was roused from sleep when a cool body slipped into bed behind him and an arm wrapped itself around his waist.
The thing they had was still so new, that Xander's body was already reacting before his mind had caught up with the idea that he should wake up and enjoy it. Spike's hand began to move against his chest: gentle, tickling strokes of his finger tips, rising to circle his nipple before moving away to idly follow the lines of his ribs. Xander rolled over and Spike's hand slid around to his ass and further, into the crack between his cheeks, brushing the sensitive skin there. Xander sighed softly and grabbed the wandering hand, pulling it back between them. "Giles is in the living room," he whispered. "If we do that, there's no way I'll not wake him."
"Thought you said these walls were thick," Spike said.
Xander snorted. "I lied?" he replied. He ghosted his fingertips over Spike's cheek and across his lips. "Can we save that?" he asked. "Let me..." Skimming his hand down Spike's neck and chest, he curled his hand around Spike's prick.
Spike didn't push to issue. He wrapped his own hand around Xander's cock and began to stroke.
Lying face to face, they didn't kiss; the moment seemed almost too charged for that. Xander watched the yellow light flickering in Spike's eyes in the dark room. He imagined that Spike could see his face more clearly than he could see Spike's and he felt his lips curve into a smile of contentment. Their hands moved in counterpoint, wrists occasionally rubbing together, and after the tensions of the evening, Xander allowed himself to float on the physical sensation.
When Spike's movements speeded up, Xander matched his pace. The pressure was building, but there was still no urgency to it, he felt a laugh begin to build in his throat and opened his mouth to keep it back. Spike shifted towards him and the kiss was such a natural move that he gasped and came, almost at once. Spike gave two more gentle strokes than pulled his hand away, giving Xander more room to work and running his palm down Xander's flank, without breaking the kiss. A moment later, he groaned and Xander felt the small kick of the flesh in his hand, then wetness spreading over his fingers.
Spike groaned again and rolled himself on top of Xander bringing his hands up to cup Xander's head. He tilted his own head to change the kiss into something deeper, his fingers massaging Xander's scalp. Xander ran his hands up Spike's sides and down his back, to mirror the gentle clenching movement on the round flesh of his ass.
Spike pulled his head back and Xander couldn't see his expression, but he could hear the smirk in his voice when he whispered, "That works, too."
"Yeah," Xander breathed, rolling over, so Spike fell off him. "You get the wet spot," he said.
Spike grumbled something Xander couldn't hear and reached over the side of the bed to find the towel that lived there. He wiped them both off, and the mattress, then settled down, his back curving naturally into Xander's front, and pulled Xander's arm around his waist, holding Xander's hand to his chest.
Some bits of dialogue borrowed and adapted from episodes 4.13 and 4.14 The I in Team and Goodbye Iowa
Chapter 33
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Date: 2010-02-21 06:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-22 06:18 am (UTC)