Chapter Summary: Jenny Calendar is contacted by a very unhappy gypsy clan in the middle of the night. Spike realizes that his legs are paralyzed. Buffy talks Giles into letting Spike be carried into the house while she tries to figure out how to heal him. A disinvite spell is performed, and Giles is given enough information about what happened to appease the Watcher for now. Will Buffy find a way to heal Spike? Will Spike accept her gift, and what will she do if he refuses it?

A phone rang in the middle of the night at Jenny Calendar's apartment. A bleary eyed teacher wondered who would be calling her so late. She picked up the phone and answered with a groggy, "Hello?"

"Jana, you have failed us," A scratchy male voice did not even bother with the pleasantries. His anger was palpable, even through the phone lines.

"Uncle?" Jenny's eyes widened. Her uncle wouldn't be calling her unless it was a family or clan emergency. Since she was assigned to the task of watching Angel in California, they'd severed all contact to keep from arousing the suspicions of those around her.

"I speak for the entire clan, Jana," The elder of the gypsy's clan stood on formality and duty, not familial connection, as the reason for his call. "Angelus has returned, and it is time for you to come home for judgment. You have failed to fulfill your duty to the clan."

"But," The phone clicked and the dial tone blared into her ear before Jenny was able to utter another word. She replaced the receiver in its cradle and stared at it blankly. 'How the hell did that happen?' She shivered. Angelus' return meant death and destruction was about to be rained down on Sunnydale. She didn't know which was worse … the judgment she faced back in Romania, or the hell on Earth that was about to begin with Angelus on the loose once more. Neither groups were very forgiving in nature.

Once they'd realized that Spike was paralyzed, he was lifted off the ground, and the group headed towards Giles' door. It was even more imperative that they get off the streets. Buffy wouldn't be able to handle Angelus and Drusilla alone, and they needed to figure out just how bad Spike's injuries were.

Spike felt humiliated. He was supposed to be the strong one. His demon was incensed, and his human side was ashamed that Buffy had to carry him from the car to the Watcher's door.

Buffy bounced off the invisible barrier to Giles home. She blinked twice before she realized that she was holding Spike, and he hadn't been invited in yet. "Giles?" She called out to the man who was already inside.

"What?" Giles turned around. "I have to be insane for going along with this, Buffy." He shook his head back and forth. "Come in, Spike."

With a sigh of relief, Buffy stepped past the threshold and into the main area of Giles' home. "We already went over this, Giles. He can't hurt you while he's all broken."

Spike growled. "You make me sound like a toy, Slayer. I'm still what I've always been."

Giles instinctively pulled the stake from his jacket and poised himself for an attack.

"I know what you are, Spike," Buffy rolled her eyes at two of the most important men in her life, "But your spinal cord is broken somehow. It's the only explanation for your paralysis."

Spike grumbled under his breath too low for even the Slayer to hear. The last time he'd felt so weak and ashamed was over 100 years ago before he was turned. He hadn't ever expected to revisit that feeling again.

Giles relaxed a little bit. The stake slipped back into his pocket. He walked into his bathroom, and he returned to the living room with a first aid kit. "I don't know what he'll need, but I thought we could at least clean your wounds, Buffy."

"He's going to need blood, Giles, human blood." Buffy pushed Giles aside and laid Spike on her Watcher's couch. Her mind was already working on everything in her power that she could do to heal Spike. Her thoughts hadn't wandered far when Giles' voice interrupted her musings.

"Have you gone mad?" Giles exclaimed. "You are not bringing humans into my house to feed to your boyfriend! I won't allow it!"

Buffy stood up abruptly after her arms were free of Spike's body. "I'm not going to bring him humans!" She yelled back.

"How else do you expect him to get human blood? I'm certainly not volunteering to have my veins torn open by a monster."

Spike's demon growled in anger. No one should be allowed to talk to his intended that way, especially someone she obviously loved dearly. If he didn't already know how much Buffy cared for her Watcher, he would have found a way to throw something at the man to knock him out.

"He hasn't been feeding on humans anyways." Buffy crossed her arms in front of her to keep herself from slapping Giles. "Or don't you remember what I told you earlier about Dalton and the hospital."

Spike's ears perked up at Buffy's words. 'Bloody Hell. How does she know about the hospital?' Dalton hadn't told him anything about Buffy seeing him. "Buffy? Pet?"

Buffy turned to face Spike. The anger in her eyes melted into concern at the look on Spike's face. "I'm sorry Spike, I wasn't trying to snoop." She sat down next to Spike's legs at the end of the couch and glared up at Giles.

Giles, who now realized exactly what Buffy's story meant and who it was about, pulled off his glasses and rubbed the lenses furiously with a cotton cloth. "I need a drink." He turned on his heel and headed for the kitchen cupboards for a tumbler.

"Might be nice if you showed off that British hospitality and brought a suffering fellow countryman a double too," Spike called out. He then muttered under his breath, "Pillock." Although his pain tolerance was a lot higher than most vampires, it was getting harder to concentrate with how his body felt. The overall pain he felt was one reason why he hadn't noticed the specific pain in his lower back. His whole body felt like it was thrown through the ringer.

Giles shouted, "Wanker," from the kitchen, but he grabbed a second glass before he went in search of his Scotch.

Spike looked back over at Buffy. "Care to explain how you came about that little tidbit of information, pet?"

"I had to bring a girl to the hospital a little bit ago after she was attacked by some vampires." Buffy hoped that Spike wouldn't get mad at her. She hadn't been trying to get into his business. "On my way home I felt a vampire by the back delivery entrance. I thought it was another group trying to steal the blood bank delivery." She paused.

Spike nodded his head for Buffy to continue. He'd kept the means of his feeding a secret for many reasons. At the top of the list was the fact that the demon world would look at him as if he'd gone soft. He may have the Master's power of their line coursing through him, but he wasn't fool enough to think that others wouldn't look at him as weak and try to take advantage of the situation.

"Before I could jump in, I saw a woman come out and call Dalton by name. I thought that was unusual. So, I listened to their conversation." Buffy was proud of him. She didn't look down on him. She thought that what he had been doing was a huge leap in a direction that she never thought an unsouled vampire could do.

"Yes, she was so sweet." Buffy smiled. "Her and Dalton looked so …" Her smile turned into a pained frown. "Dalton! Oh God Dalton. He killed him!"

Spike opened his arms and drew Buffy in closer to him. He may not be able to move his legs, and the pain thrumming through his body was extreme, but that was not going to stop him from comforting the woman he loved. "Shhh, I know, pet." He held the weeping young woman tightly to his chest and maneuvered her to lie on top of him while he held her.

Giles walked back into the living room, and he nearly dropped the two tumblers of ice and bottle of Scotch. "Dear Lord. Must you do that on my couch?"

"Sod off, Watcher," Spike growled. He tightened his grip on Buffy because her crying grew more intense. "Angelus staked a friend of ours, and she's just coming to terms with it."

"Oh," Giles felt ashamed of himself over jumping to the wrong conclusions. "My apologies, Buffy … and to you Spike." He set a half full tumbler of Scotch on the table next to the couch. He then downed his own glass in one deep gulp. He refilled it and sat down on a nearby lounge chair.

"I don't understand why you're being so finicky. Buffy waved her cut wrist under the Spike's nose even as he moved his mouth away from her wrist. "Aren't you the one who said my blood had power? You've never refused before."

"I'm a bit brassed off right now, Slayer ... paralyzed and all." Spike grabbed Buffy's arm tightly. He pushed it away from his, but the call of her blood still dang to his hunger. "I won't take a chance on hurting you in desperation."

Buffy snarled at Spike. "I'm not a fragile doll!" Her Slayer side was outraged that her partner refused her precious gift. Buffy the girl was hurt that Spike pushed her away. The sting of rejection was heavy on both parts of Buffy's psyche.

It had taken a couple hours to convince Giles that it was safe for him to go to sleep. Buffy knew that Giles would never understand her need to offer her healing blood to Spike. They'd agreed that Buffy would contact Marie in the morning at the hospital. The disinvite spell was located and performed before Giles went to sleep.

Now, Buffy was finally alone with Spike, and he was the one causing a stir over her offer. She never expected him to react this way. They'd shared blood many times since Halloween, and each time more blood was exchanged. She'd briefly worried that she would turn into a vampire, but somehow the Slayer inside of her wasn't worried about it. "You are mine! Mine to heal."

Spike nearly jumped at the angry flare in Buffy's eyes. When her eyes flashed silver, he knew he was in trouble. He tried to scoot himself up the couch more to sit up, but Buffy stilled his movements with a commanding snarl.

Buffy grabbed Spike's chin and kept his head from moving. She locked silver eyes with flickering gold ones. The Slayer was calling to the vampire's demon, and the older demon wanted to be sure that it had the vampire's full attention. The Slayer's demon, the older of the two demons, was tired of all the time that had passed. She was tired of being kept away from her intended mate, and his refusal to allow her to heal him threw her over the edge into rage.

A low rumbling growl accented every word she said, "Your joy … My joy …" Her lips caressed Spike's ear to mimic a feeling of joy she could give him. "Your pain … my pain …" She yanked Spike's head to the side and sank her teeth into his neck hard enough to draw blood. Her teeth transformed into smaller fangs just before they entered his skin.

Spike wasn't able to stop himself from vamping out and burying his fangs in Buffy's neck. His demon rejoiced at the heavenly taste, and Spike purred in contentment while he drank. Nothing was more perfect and more right than feeling Buffy's blood mingle and flow with his own.

Words that had not been spoken since Halloween echoed around the pair now engulfed in a twisted double helix of gold and silver light. It lifted them off the couch to hover just above it. Ancient magics older than demons and humans passed from Slayer to vampire and from vampire to Slayer. The power of the Master added its intensity to the binding of the pair. The strengths of one passed on to the other, enfusing both beings with a stronger connection than before and abilities that both had yet to discover.

"One body," Buffy's voice sounded in the room even though her mouth was still latched onto Spike's neck.

"One soul," Spike's voice joined Buffy's, and his fangs dug deeper into Buffy's throat.

"United," Buffy ripped her smaller fangs from Spike's skin. Her silver eyes sparkled with the green flecks of her natural color as they bore into Spike's golden eyes flecked with blue. Her hips ground herself against Spike's erection. It seemed that even if his legs weren't working, something else was still ready and at attention for her. She felt a need to be as close to him as possible, but their clothing prevented the complete joining of their bodies.

"Whole," Spike's scream of release was joined by Buffy's as they both flew over the edge into orgasm. Both of them clutched tightly to each other as their bodies shook from the power of their orgasm and the magics flowing through them.

The two supernatural beings, drained of energy from their experience, fell into unconsciousness. As the brighter light started to fade away, their bodies were lowered back to the couch. A thin mingled nimbus of gold and silver outlined their bodies for a while longer before it faded as well.

A gobsmacked Watcher clutched the railing of his stairs to the upper floor. He was rooted to the spot, unable to move to or away from what he'd just witnessed. Such an event had never been recorded before, but he knew that he'd just witnessed a pure Slayer in action.

The change in Buffy's eyes and face did not match that of a vampire's. So, he could only assume that some of the rumors he'd heard as a young Watcher were true … the Slayer did get her power from a demon. He didn't know how, but Buffy had found a way to access the Slayer's true form.

Giles would have been afraid for Buffy, but he'd seen the way that she zeroed in on Spike and called out the vampire's demon. The Slayer wanted his demon. The magics surrounding them supported that belief.

Giles waited several minutes before he approached the pair on the couch. Both were back in full human faces, and both seemed to be out cold. He shook his head, draped a throw blanket over the two of them and walked back upstairs, unsure why he even went downstairs in the first place for.

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