Chapter Summary: Spike and Buffy made it out of the mansion to meet Giles in an abandoned house. At first Giles was more skeptical of Buffy, but the longer he talked to her the more he saw the spark of his young charge in the new being before him. A cross in Giles' pocket intrigued Buffy, and she picked it up. She isn't burning from it. What other differences are there? Will Giles and Spike be able to collaborate their respective knowledge's, or will Giles get a superiority complex? How are they going to keep Buffy off of Angelus' radar? Will Joyce track down Giles to get information from him?

Author's Note: As with the history of Charmand and Antoinette, the mythology here for the Slayer demon is based on various lores (some from vague references in BtVS) and my own original ideas.

Buffy tossed the cross in the air and caught it again. She was unaware of the perplexed looks on the faces of her Watcher and her Mate.

'Uh, pet?' Spike stepped up behind Buffy. He held her arm still. 'Give the Watcher his cross.' He turned her around to face him. He forced himself not to shrink away from the cross in her hand. 'You're making me nervous, pet.'

Buffy sighed. "All right, Spike." She answered out loud without even realizing that she was the only one who heard him speak. "Taking away all my fun." She handed the cross back to Giles. She crossed her arms in front of Spike. Her lower lip pushed out in a pout.

Spike groaned. 'You really don't fight fair, luv.' With the tip of his finger, Spike pushed Buffy's lip back up and together. "Can't resist it when you pout."

Giles tucked the cross back into his pocket. For each question answered another one formed on the tip of his tongue. His gaze faltered between Buffy and Spike. He cleared his throat to get their attention. "Spike never spoke, but you seemed to know what he wanted you to do?"

"Oops. We did it again, didn't we?" From the perplexed look on Giles' face she realized she reacted to Spike's thoughts and not his physical voice. 'This is going to take some getting used to. I don't even think about whether you are speaking out loud or not.'

"Yes, we did luv." Spike nodded to Buffy and answered her thoughts with his own. 'It will be very helpful and quicker for us to communicate privately at times. We'll have to actively try to keep ourselves talking in other's company when relevant.' The cross tucked away, Spike felt free to curl his arms around Buffy again.

"Is telepathy a common result of the Sire/Childe bond?" Giles asked in genuine curiosity. Nothing in his previous research indicated telepathy as a common vampiric trait. Were his books missing this information as well?

"It's deeper than that, Watcher. Nothing common about it." Spike responded in annoyance. He felt insulted that Giles would think something so extraordinary was a common occurrence.

Buffy twisted the fingers of her hand with one of Spike's. "It is a result of our mutual claim." Both of these men were dominant and strong in their individual beliefs. She was quickly learning that Spike's failure to kill her before wasn't due to him being ignorant. Something stronger had always been at work between them that wouldn't allow one to kill the other. He might be impatient, but he was smart.

"Even then it is rare for the bond to be strong enough to form the telepathic connection. Especially in a claim so recently established." Spike added. He needed to impart the knowledge to Giles that the bond was a stronger, more unbreakable, bond than even normal claims. He hoped the Watcher would get the hint that nothing Giles did would break their claim.

"Fascinating." Giles adjusted his glasses on his face. 'Is he actually threatening me?' He eyed the Master Vampire carefully. Everything about Spike's stance echoed the power flowing under the surface.

"I hope you think so after we lay it all out for you." Spike chirped. "Buffy says you love to research. We've got plenty to look up." He picked at his flaking black nail polish on one hand. "Buffy and I have already experienced a lot that I didn't know would happen either as her Sire or her Mate."

"I'm afraid that the Council doesn't have many articles on vampire claims." Giles sighed. Where would he get the information he needed? "I can't stop the Council from finding out about Buffy's death either." This was a part he hated. The Council would more than likely hunt Buffy down if they found out she was turned. "When the new Slayer is activated they will know. We will simply have to keep Buffy's existence a secret."

"I don't think we have to worry about the wankers knowing she died." Spike pressed his lips against the back of Buffy's head in a kiss. "She isn't on the Slayer radar anymore."

"Of course she's not." Giles replied. He seemed flustered with what he assumed was Spike's lack of care in his attitude towards the Council. "Which is why we have a problem. Her physical death will not go unnoticed by them." His jaw clenched in a growing bout of anger. "I know you don't respect their establishment, but you can't blindly disregard them as completely impotent."

"You're not understanding me, Watcher." Spike ground the title out through clenching teeth like a curse. "She was dead to them a long time ago."

"Make some sense, Spike." Old habits died hard. Giles was ready to defend the Council and his own standing in the demon intelligence community. He knew what he was talking about. Spike couldn't possibly hold such knowledge. "Talking to you is like reading a sodding prophecy, Spike."

"I hate prophecies." Buffy shivered. "Buffy and prophecies are two very un-mixy things." She sighed. "The last time I …" Her head snapped up and her gaze met Spike's in understanding.

"Died." Spike finished Buffy's sentence for her. "The Master drank from you last year, and you drowned in his lair."

"Yes, but Xander revived me." It unnerved Buffy that Spike knew so much about her past. She hardly knew anything about his except what the Council put into their books.

"Get any strange jingles on the phone from the Council then, Watcher?" Although Spike spoke to Giles, his eyes never left Buffy's.

"Not really." Giles thought back to what happened the year before. Usually his mind could snatch up the smallest of details into his active memory. So much transpired between this year and the last. It made it hard to sort it all into a mental timeline he could remember.

"Are you saying that the Slayer died, and the Council didn't know about it?" Spike raised an intrigued brow.

"Wait." Giles brought his index finger up to his lip. "Quentin Travers did call me late that night after the Master was killed." He forced himself to remember the conversation as best as possible. "He asked me how things were going, and if Buffy was all right."

Spike nodded. He could practically see a growing light bulb trying to force itself on over the Watcher's head.

"I told him about the Master's death, but I didn't say anything about Buffy's brief death." Giles continued. "I felt it unnecessary to tell him since she was alive again. He didn't question me further after that."

"So, it would seem that the Council knew Buffy died that night." Spike countered.

"It would seem so. That would also mean that they knew about Kendra being called." Giles' frowned. "They didn't tell me about her until Kendra showed up in Sunnydale."

"That's right, Giles." Buffy leaned back against Spike's chest. "Kendra didn't seem to know about me either. She believed she was the only Slayer."

"Strange." Giles tapped his index finger against his jaw. "It was foolish to keep that information from us. We could have found comfort in knowing that we had another strong ally at our disposal."

"Unless the Council didn't want you to know about the other Slayer for a reason." Spike interrupted.

"I think they thought the Chosen line had moved on to the new Slayer. So, they watched Sunnydale, Buffy, and you to see what would happen. When it seemed that all was still well, they left Kendra where she was to train more in case Buffy stopped being "useful" because the Chosen line no longer flowed through her veins even though the Slayer was still present." Spike started his hypothesis softly. "They had the bonus of a more dispensable Slayer here on the Hellmouth when Buffy lived. I'll bet they even made you send in your reports more frequently."

"It makes sense if you realize that they needed those reports because she wasn't on their "radar" anymore." Spike kept his tone even. "Without your reports and whatever person they sent here to watch you both, they wouldn't know anything about Buffy anymore."

"What makes you think you know so much about this? You haven't dedicated years of your life studying under the most knowledgeable people in this field." Giles was furious at the thought that the Council would be watching him and his charge. The whole idea was preposterous, and he was tired of Spike's know-it-all attitude.

"Guys, this is hardly the time for a display of mine's bigger than yours." Buffy straightened up. She was sure that Spike wanted to start pummeling Giles, and she couldn't allow that. "I'm a bit curious to hear what he has to say."

"Of course you would." Giles snorted. "You're now his little puppet. He can control everything about his Childe." In his anger he used the word with disgust and loathing. He lashed out at the most tender spot in the vampire's armor.

"You bastard!" Spike cursed Giles. "What I can do, and what I will do are two different things."

"Who is to say that you aren't controlling her? You can't prove it." Giles advanced a step closer to Spike and Buffy. "She could be your little yes man now."

'Uh oh.' Buffy held up one hand against Giles' chest and the other against Spike's. This situation was getting uglier by the moment. Who needed Angelus to come after them? They were going to kill each other instead.

"You're right, Mate." Spike wanted to wipe the satisfied smirk away from Giles' face with his fist. He chose instead to wipe it away with something much stronger … the truth. "But you, Sir, are a rude man. Not all vampires are vagrants and imbeciles. Some can be very nice chaps like Dalton."

Giles smirk disappeared immediately when Spike's normal accent shifted into a much more cultured and upper class one. He stared at the vampire as if he'd grown two horns.

'Love the accent, Spike.' Buffy purred. There was something raw about the coarseness of his usual accent. The refined one caressed over her in a sultry manner too, more romantic then feral. She loved them both for different reasons. 'You'll have to tell me the story behind where you got that one from.'

Spike winked at Buffy. "I've spent almost a century in the pursuit and study of Slayers. I used that information to kill two of them. Now I'm using that information to save the one that is mine." He adjusted imaginary spectacles. "I can speak several languages including: Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, Fyarl, Russian, and Aramaic. I can read more languages, among them several demonic and ancient texts."

"But … But …" Giles was reduced to stutters of disbelief. The accent seemed natural to Spike, and it spoke of a refinement and education that he never attributed to the vampire. The Council wrote that William the Bloody was an uneducated ruffian from the dregs of society even before being turned.

Spike switched back to his deep and rough lower class street accent. "We don't all forget where we came from or what we knew. Some of us still learn even after we're turned, Watcher."

Giles was well past the lens cleaning stage. It wasn't until now that he removed his glasses to clean them though. He had been frozen in place while the change came over Spike. "I expect you picked that up over the decades by spending time in London." He accused. "You can't expect me to believe you had any culture in your life before you were turned. You were no more than a street thug."

Spike growled, brushed past Buffy and slammed Giles into a wall. "Pay attention Watcher because I won't do or say this again." He ripped Giles' glasses from his hands. "If you aren't a help to us, you won't exist any more. So listen up."

Giles' heart raced. He gasped for breath, but he remained firm in his spot. He may not believe Spike, but he wasn't in a position to upset the vampire further. If crosses didn't hurt Buffy, it was possible that Holy Water would be useless as well. Spike could just have Buffy finish him off if he pushed it any further.

Buffy felt torn between protecting Giles and kicking him. She felt the anger and frustration coming off her Mate in waves. It radiated through her entire being. She wanted to comfort Spike, or argue with Giles, but she sensed that this was something Spike needed to handle on his own.

Spike stepped back from Giles. He stood next to Buffy again. Taking in a deep breath he didn't need, he slipped the glasses on his face. "Allow me to introduce you to the man your Council thinks it knows." He mussed up his slicked back hair into a mass of fairly unruly waves and curls. He pulled the glasses a bit lower on his nose before looking first down at Buffy and then back up to Giles.

Buffy's knees went weak at the penetrating gaze Spike gave her before he looked back at Giles. 'Damn, but that's not fair.' She clutched the back of a chair to keep her balance. 'Your hair is so much sexier like that. I never thought those glasses looked sexy on Giles, but damn you are a hottie.'

'You better not think anything on Giles is sexy, or he is going to be missing it right quick, pet.' Spike suppressed his usual smirk. He didn't want to ruin the effect he needed to portray. "Allow me to introduce myself to you." His accent easily slipped back into the upper crust one from earlier. He bowed at the waist gallantly. "My name is William Andrew Henry Jamison. I was born on October 29th in the year of our Lord and Queen eighteen hundred and fifty-two to Andrew William Charles Jamison and Anne Elizabeth Winters Jamison, Lord and Lady Chesterfield."

"William" shifted nervously from one foot to another, seemingly shy. "My father and sister, Victoria, perished in a plague shortly after I graduated from Oxford in 1876 with my degree. I was forced to resign further literary and philosophical pursuits due to my mother becoming quite ill. I now know that she had TB, but at the time there was no cure or successful treatment. All of our money, what little there was left of it, went to her continued treatment."

Giles itched to start writing in his notebook. He flipped open to an empty page. He looked up at "William" to make sure he wasn't going to get bitten for writing things down, and then started scratching in as much of the details as he could. Something was very familiar to him about that name. He would research it more later.

"The gentry and nobility were being phased out with each passing year. Titles were mainly mere words on paper, but the Jamison name still afforded me invitations to various social gatherings." He clenched his hands into tight fists. This was like reliving all of the anguish and humiliation that he tried to put behind him. "At a particular gathering I allowed my foolish romantic idiocies to overtake good judgment."

Buffy slipped her hands around one of Spike's fists. She rested her head on her arm. She rubbed his clenched hand to work on relaxing him. She could sense the pain each word was causing Spike. She had a feeling that Spike was doing this for her benefit.

Spike knew that they needed Giles' help, and he was willing to suffer his own humiliation to help Buffy. They needed some of the Ripper's past forays into magic to protect them. "After being completely insulted and humiliated in front of a group of my peers, I ran from the party. In a barn I was approached by one of the darkest but most beautiful women I had ever met. She cajoled and catered to my weaknesses. In my acceptance of what seemed a precious gift of a better life, I allowed her to bite me. She drained my life force into her body, and then brought a strange man to my place on the barn floor to bring "life" back into my body."

"William" moved away from Buffy slowly. He stood directly in front of Giles. "I awoke different, that is for sure. Yet, I was still the same." He paused for his words to take more of an effect on Giles. "Whether it was the fact that my emotions were so full and heightened at the time of my turning, or that somewhere someone thought I was a better man than I was, I retained much of who I was."

Spike removed the borrowed glasses. He slipped them onto Giles' face. "This wasn't acceptable to my Sire, and unless I'd buried that part of myself I would be dead much like Louis explained in his journal of other vampires. So I've let the demon reign, forced the guilt as far back as I could until it was fairly non-existent and became what Angelus desired."

Spike extended his arm out to Buffy. He curled it around her waist. He rested his forehead against the side of her head. "I didn't fit in as a human, but I swore that I would fit in as a vampire." His accent deepened with no evidence of the refinery from moments before. "I succeeded, and my goal was to destroy all that was good and embrace evil. I've never been quite the heartless bastard that Angelus is, but I have earned my place in Hell. No doubt of that."

Buffy gasped. She turned to look at Spike. She cupped his face with her hands. "You don't have to be that vampire anymore, Spike. There is so much more to you than just him." She forced back the tears that threatened to spill. "They Slayer wouldn't have chosen you if she thought you were nothing more than a killer."

"Shhh." Spike placed two fingers over Buffy's lips. "You are all that matters to me now, other than seeing Angelus dead."

Giles closed the notebook and collapsed against the wall. "Good heavens. I had no idea."

Spike kissed Buffy's forehead again then looked at Giles. "It is possible, Watcher. Charmand proved that." He pulled Buffy against his chest, separating her long tresses with his fingers. "I'm evil, but 'm not all evil."

"Not likely, Watcher." Spike scoffed. He noticed the fearful expression on Giles' face. "I never knew the joy in my 28 mortal years that I've shared with Buffy the last two days. Without being turned, I never would have met her." He hugged Buffy tighter, rocking them by twisting from one side to the other.

There were many unanswered questions that hung in the air between the trio. Buffy looked up at Spike as she realized some almost disturbing things. "Let me get this straight. As a human you were 28 years old when you died?"

"Why you dirty old man." Buffy teased. She was only 17 and she would look that way for the rest of her "life". If being a Slayer hadn't already matured her faster, it would seem even worse.

"Oh yes, Childe." Spike playfully taunted Buffy with the term in more ways than one. "Quite pervy actually."

Buffy stuck her tongue out at Spike. With a laughing growl, Spike pushed Buffy against the wall next to Giles. He heaped kisses on Buffy's face, then up and down her neck. "I wouldn't change a thing, you little minx. Young or old, you're what I want." He nipped her collarbone.

Buffy sagged against his body and the wall. She twisted her fingers in Spike's loosened curls. With a jerk she ripped his head from her neck to devour his lips with her own.

Giles shifted around more nervously the further the intimate display progressed. He slid away from the wall and across the room. He couldn't resist penciling in details of the encounter into his notebook for further reflection. He still felt like a "peeping Tom".

Mid-kiss Spike jerked his head away from Buffy's. "Bloody Hell!" He dug into the pockets of his duster frantically.

Buffy dropped down the wall. She watched Spike move in a furious flurry. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Angelus." Spike managed to retrieve a velvet herbal pouch bag. He separated the ties and dumped the pouch's contents on an end table. "We have to hurry." He motioned Giles near.

"We should be running from here." Giles interjected. He briefly scanned the contents on the table.

"No time." Spike moved different pieces, powders and leaves into a specific pattern on the table. "He is going to sense us soon, if he hasn't already." He handed a piece of paper to Giles. "Read this!"

Giles looked over the Latin lines on the page. He raised his brow. "Do you know what this is?"

"Yes. It's our only protection." Spike flicked his lighter until a small flame glowed. "If he finds out she's alive or I can walk, we are done for. We're not ready to face him yet."

Buffy was lost and confused, but if Spike was this scared, she didn't care what he wanted to be done. "Just do it Giles. If he says that it will protect us, I trust him."

"I don't think this is wise." Giles shook his head, but he held the page closer to the lantern. Neither Buffy nor Spike seemed willing to fight Angelus yet. "But I'll do it." He started chanting the Latin phrases.

One stack at a time Spike lit or mixed one set of herbs into another. The stash on the table smoked then a puff of smoke and flame jumped into the air. With the flame still burning, Spike reached in to smear the soot on his hand. He hastily rubbed a wide line across Buffy's forehead, his own and then Giles'. The last of the chant fell from Giles' lips, and all three felt the magic rush through them and then out.

Angelus strolled through the night along various Sunnydale streets after he found Joyce crying on Buffy's bed. This town was completely his now, and he wanted to explore it further. His travels turned him towards a series of abandoned houses. He scouted out each one for a possible stronghold or additional base of operations. He was tired of all the minions scurrying around the mansion. Some of them needed to find somewhere else to live.

Angelus' head jerked up quickly. "Spike?" He said in confusion. The sense of his Childe's presence was weak, but it still felt like him. There was something else present that he couldn't put his finger on. He was drawn towards one of the abandoned houses on the block. With each step nearer, the sensation became stronger.

One moment Angelus would swear that he heard a heartbeat and smelled the flow of human blood along with his Childe's presence. The next moment it seemed that everything was gone. He leaned up against the house. 'Strange, there is a lit lantern in there. Better check it out.'

The door to the abandoned house where Giles, Buffy and Spike were standing in rattled. It opened into the entryway, and a dark figure stepped from the moonlight into the shadows.

Buffy, Giles and Spike watched the figure prowl for what was in the house. When the figure emerged into the open area the lantern lit his pale features. Buffy gasped. 'Angelus!'

Spike quickly covered Buffy's mouth with his hand. He wasn't sure just how complete the spell would be. 'Hush pet.' He watched Angelus move scope out the room.

Giles looked down at the table. If Angelus came close enough to them wouldn't he see the evidence of the spell? He was surprised to see an immaculate and unblemished table. He looked over at Spike in question.

Spike took the page from Giles and his pencil. He wrote down, "Cloaking Spell; our own little safety net. Ingredients disappear once the spell is cast."

Giles nodded. He waited for Angelus to discover them. There were too many variables present to mask with a simple cloaking spell. If he had been too hasty in its execution they could be revealed.

Angelus walked towards the table. He almost ran into Buffy, but she slowly turned away before he could touch her. 'Spike, if he finds us.' She shook in Spike's arms. Before seeing him again, Buffy thought she was ready to face Angelus. She was positive she wasn't ready now.

'Just stay calm, pet. The less the spell has to cover, the more effective and longer it will last.' Spike's calming words in Buffy's head were for his own benefit as well as hers. He was able to walk again, but he wasn't in full fighting capacity yet. If Angelus found out Buffy was turned, he would torture her for years until he tired of her. He shuddered to think of the things Angelus would put Buffy through.

Spike shook his head at Buffy. 'Not happening, luv. I will stake us both before he could do that.'

Buffy nodded, but her fear and worry increased exponentially with each passing minute.

Angelus lapped the living room for the third time. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary other than the lit lamp. He headed back to the entryway. He opened the door to leave finally.

Angelus closed the door and shrugged. "Angelus my boy, you've been spending too much time with Dru." He laughed at himself. "You're starting to feel things that aren't there too. The lantern was probably left by some homeless human." He practically bounced down the steps to begin his exploration of the area again.

"Oh God, that was close." Buffy clutched her chest. She spoke softly, still afraid that Angelus might hear them.

Spike snorted. "How gracious of you, Watcher." He then muttered under his breath, "Pillock."

Review Me Please!
Previous Chapter	Revenge Index	Next Chapter