Love In Vein: Book Two - Chapter 13

Buffy paced the well worn rug in Giles' living room, a book held firmly in her hands as she heaved a long sigh. They had been researching for almost four hours and the only mention of the First was in a text that had Willow, Giles and Spike completely flummoxed as to what language it was written in--they could just make out the words 'primal evil'.

Spike growled as he slammed the book shut.

Willow squeaked as she barely managed to get her fingers free of it before the heavy cover came smashing down.

"Do try to treat the books with a little more respect…some of them are older than you." Giles said in a resigned tone that clearly indicated that even he was weary of research.

"It's not my fault the sodding book is written in a bloody language that no one on earth speaks." Spike growled at him and then stood mute as Buffy moved between them, her focus wholly on the tome resting on the table.

The whole room watched as she ran her fingers over the cover, a look of quiet fascination on her face. She slipped her fingers in and opened the book on the page the others had been looking at.

Spike frowned as her index finger glided along the page, her lips moving soundlessly as she mouthed each word that presented itself to her.

"Buffy?" Giles moved towards her and frowned. Her trance like state was setting his nerves on edge.

"Shh…" Willow frowned at Giles as Buffy's movements stopped.

Spike arched a brow as she began her reading again, when silence descended in the room. He lowered his head and looked up into her face, watching her lips moving as her focus remained on the book. He waved his hand in front of her face and frowned as she acted as though he hadn't even done it.

"I don't like this." Spike looked at Willow and he could see she was worried about her friend too. Grasping hold of Buffy's shoulders he shook her hard and growled as she continued to read.

As Buffy trailed her finger off the last word, she felt a shiver run through her body and the whispering voices in her head disappeared. She shook her head as she snapped out of the trance she had been in and looked around the room at the worried faces of her friends.

"What happened?" Giles was first to break the silence.

Buffy turned around and wobbled on her feet slightly. She gave Spike a thankful look as he caught hold of her arm and steadied her.

"Had us a little scared there, love…" He spoke into her head and let his thumb brush against the soft skin of her arm.

"Sorry." Buffy looked apologetic and Giles wondered why she was apologising. "I can understand it…I couldn't interpret it to save my life but when I read the words something in my head translated them for me…something in my heart knew that language…a long time ago."

Spike caught the worried look in her eyes and knew instantly what she was trying to say. He noticed as her free hand began to subconsciously stroke her chest.

"The others…the first…she knew this language?" He watched as she nodded at him.

"I guess I really do hold all the past Slayers inside me…even her…which means…" Buffy trailed off as Spike shook his head in the negative. "No…you're right. It's just knowledge passed down to me…I'm not her…my heart isn't…I'm human."

Spike shot Giles a warning look that told him to keep quiet.

"See, love…it's just her memories and knowledge you have and that's all. The origin of your line may have been…not entirely human…but you're nothing like her. Your power comes from evolution through the line, adaptation of the demon abilities into your own. You're nothing like her…nothing like me."

Buffy raised her eyes to meet his as he spoke the last sentence; she searched his eyes and frowned at the weight of pain she could read in them. She wasn't sure whether the pain was caused by seeing her hurting or whether it had something to do with what he'd said--that he was a demon. Placing her hand over his where it held her arm, she let her fingers stroke the back of it as she tried to show him that she was all right now and that whatever was bothering him didn't matter.

"You're more than the demon inside, Spike…you're a man, too. Like I'm the Slayer and the girl." She kept her eyes locked on his while she communicated with him.

Spike flashed her a brief smile and then looked down at the book.

"So…what'd it say?"

"Nothing really. Just that the birth of the First transcends the language of man and demon. It was born in the fires of creation and is therefore indestructible. So long as evil exists in something living in this universe, so the First will survive."

"All the heebie-jeebies stuff for that?" Willow looked disappointed.

"Well…I couldn't make out what some of the voices were saying, it was kinda like having a room full of people shouting at you and trying to pick out one single thread of conversation to latch onto." Buffy gave her an apologetic shrug of the shoulders and then smiled slightly. "Maybe I'll remember more later…right now, I think I need something sugary…"

Spike watched Buffy closely as she walked around into the kitchen and put the kettle on. Leaning against the counter, he waited for her to turn around and gave her a serious look.

"Maybe it's time."

"I think you're right." Buffy replied with a sigh and then looked at Giles as he walked into the kitchen area.

"Time for what?" He pulled down some cups and gave her a questioning look.

"We need to contact the Council." She started and saw his look turn pensive. "I know this won't be easy after what happened earlier this year, but we need information. We've exhausted the resources we have and turned up nothing."

"There's a lot of information at their disposal. In the London office alone, I've seen mountains of books locked away in that place, some of them have to contain passages on this prophecy or the First. Just tell them to open the damn things up and hand over the goods." Spike stopped as he noticed the sheepish looks on both Buffy's and Giles' face and realised that there was something he wasn't being told. "What?"

"Um…Giles isn't…he…isn't a Watcher…anymore." Buffy gave Spike an awkward smile and then waited for him to grin as the new information registered.

Spike smiled mischievously. "Not a Watcher…an ex-Watcher…Rupert…leaving the profession behind…yet strangely still hanging around with the Slayer."

Buffy coughed nervously.

"There's more?" Spike looked incredulous.

"I may have…um…quit…" She stared at her hands as they toyed with a tea towel.

"Quit?" Spike raised his brows and then laughed as he thought about it. He was working with a rogue Slayer and an ex-Watcher, a little wicca girl, a completely useless boy and his ex-demon girlfriend.

It was a wonder they had ever foiled his plans.

"So…the reason you've both been reluctant to contact the Council of Wankers wasn't because you just don't like them…it was because they don't like you either. You really should think about the consequences before you act, sweetheart, you're hardly going to get the information out of them now, are you?" Spike chuckled again and ignored the affronted looks he was getting from everyone in the room. He was too amused by the fact that Buffy had actually believed at one time that she could quit her calling and had done so.

"It's not just that, dummy." Buffy poked his shoulder and he stopped laughing so he could give her an angry look. "The claim?"

"What about it?" Spike looked as though he didn't think it was a problem.

"How the hell do you think they're going to react if they see these?" She pointed at her neck and the marks that littered it. "How would they react to knowing I've claimed a vampire…that I'm with a vampire…again…a soulless one no less?. It was bad enough with Angel."

Spike growled. "Don't you ever compare me to him!"

Buffy placed a reassuring hand over his and heaved a sigh. "I didn't mean to. Just, this isn't going to be a walk in the park, even without the claim…but I guess it has to be done and I have to be the one to do it."

She looked over at Giles and he nodded as he picked the phone up and dialled the number for her. "Someone should answer. Ask for Quentin."

Buffy took the phone off him and took a deep breath to steady herself.


As the phone rang at the other end of the line, Buffy tried to think of what she was going to say. She was sure that the Council would know about the uprising of the First and what it had done in Los Angeles. They had people placed all over the world so they would be the first to know what something had happened.

"Good evening, how may I direct your call?" A clear female voice appeared on the line and Buffy struggled to remember what she was supposed to say.

"I'd…um…like to speak with Mr. Travers if that's possible. Quentin Travers?" Buffy cursed herself for tripping over her words and silently hoped the number Giles had dialled was correct. She didn't know what she had expected the person to say when they answered the phone but part of her was surprised that they hadn't announced that she had reached the Council of Watchers.

She almost laughed at herself for that.

A secret organisation answering the phone in a way that would give away their name to whoever was calling, what was she thinking?

"One moment, dear, I'll see if he's available." The woman spoke and then Buffy found herself with an ear full of classical music as she was put on hold.

Her finger subconsciously wound the phone cord around itself as she waited to see if Quentin was going to pick up. She hadn't told the woman who she was so the chances were good. If she had mentioned that she was the Slayer she knew the call would've been cut off by now.

"Good evening?" A sharp male British voice came down the line and Buffy felt her heart leap into her throat.

"Mr. Travers?" Buffy started and swallowed hard to clear the lump from her throat so she could speak more clearly.

"Yes, who is this?"

"Buffy, Buffy Summers…remember me?" She squeaked and grit her teeth as she berated herself for sounded so childish.

"Miss Summers, how could I forget? The report Wesley filed on you was most interesting, it was a shame we had to fire him for it." The voice was steady and unemotional.

Buffy eyes widened in horror. "You fired him because of me? Why? No…don't answer that…that isn't why I'm calling."

"Why are you calling, I thought you no longer wished to hear from us."

She looked up at the ceiling as she tried to gather herself and ignore the way Quentin's voice made her want to crush the phone.

"We have a situation…and we need information which we believe you have." Buffy tried to sound as businesslike as possible as she stared at the column in front of her.

"A situation…what kind…"

"Don't give me that…you know what happened in Los Angeles, you know the First has made an appearance and tried to destroy two vampires in order to stop a prophecy. You damn well know it's up to something." Buffy breathed heavily as she struggled to regain control of her emotions and looked around the column at Spike.

He arched a brow at her.

Buffy smiled sheepishly.

"All I'm asking is that you meet with us…listen to what we have to say and then make a decision about whether or not you want to help us stop the First from destroying the world and you with it." She listened intently as the other end of the line went dead quiet.

Buffy listened to her heart beating hard against her ribs and bit her lip.

Maybe she'd blown it.

She shouldn't have shouted at him.

She should've kept hold of her temper.

"We'll be in Sunnydale in three days, Miss Summers. Be ready to state your case." Quentin stated flatly in a way that made Buffy feel like this was all a game to him and there weren't lives at stake.

She lost her temper again.


Spike picked his nails as he listened to Buffy shouting at the man on the other end of the phone.

He gathered things were not going well.

"They always like this?" Spike looked over at Giles where he was sitting in his armchair sipping tea.

"I'd love to say no…but…yes." He replied and watched Spike smirk. He could see from the vampire's expression that he wasn't done yet.

"So…" Spike sat up and leaned forwards so he was closer to Giles. "What is it you do now that you're not a Watcher and you're not a librarian?"

Giles swallowed noisily and put his book down but retain his firm grasp on his teacup. He needed something to focus on and steady his nerves, if he looked at Spike he knew he'd only end up feeling worse about what he was going to say.

"I am currently…in between…projects." He said with as much confidence as he could muster and tried not to flinch as the room was filled with Spike's raucous laughter.

"In between projects?" Spike grinned at him. "Let me translate that…you're sitting in this apartment…reading books…hanging around with teenagers…for what? Nothing. Where's your sense of purpose? Where's your direction? Career's gone down the tube and you're not even fighting back…you're letting them win."

Giles stared at his tea as a niggling suspicion that Spike was right settled inside his mind. He was doing nothing. He was sitting in his apartment day after day hoping that Buffy would need him to research something or guide her on her mission.

But she never did.

Buffy slammed the phone down with a growl and stormed out of the door.

Spike's eyes followed her progress and he stood with a smile.

"That's my cue."

Giles watched him walk out the door after Buffy and it compounded the lost feeling that was rapidly growing inside him. She didn't need him anymore and even if she had, she would go to Spike first for help now.

He glanced at a small stack of folders on the small side table and sighed.

Maybe it was time to make a decision about it after all.

Maybe it was time to take the leap and do what he'd been thinking about.

Maybe it was time.

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