Love In Vein: Book Two - Chapter 23

Buffy shifted her bag on her shoulder as she strode purposefully across the college campus. The sun was getting lower in the sky and wherever she turned, it seemed to shine directly into her eyes.

She frowned at it.

Since when had the sun taken to being against her? It usually shone down on her in the gentlest of ways, smoothing out her worries and bathing her skin in warmth. Now it felt as though it was scorning her and she suddenly found herself wishing for the night. These days the deep blue sky and rich fields of stars were the ones who gave her most comfort and smoothed away her worries.

Or at least just gave her comfort. Her worries were smoothed away by the creature of the night that was always with her as she bathed in the moonlight.

Spike.

A smile twitched on her lips for the first time that day as she thought about him. She could still hear the poetic words that he’d spoken to her last night and they warmed her through.

Her smile became wider, a true reflection of the happiness she was feeling inside and she couldn’t stop it from bubbling to the surface for all to see.

“Now that’s a smile.”

Buffy looked up to see the boy she’d ran into at the Bronze watching her and she suddenly found herself trying to remember his name.

“Thinking about your fiancé?” Riley took a step towards her and did his best to look casual as she frowned at him.

“Fiancé?” Buffy was confused until it dawned on her who he meant. “Spike? Hah, no…he’s just my boyfriend…well, not just my boyfriend, but you know what I mean.”

“Interesting name. So, I didn’t see you in class Monday.” He noticed that she wasn’t smiling anymore and there was a hint of hurt in her eyes.

“Something came up…” Buffy said quietly and thought about how Willow had been when she’d gone to see her during lunch. Her friend still didn’t seem ready to face the world and Buffy could understand why. After everything that Willow and Oz had been through, she’d also believed that it was going to end with a happily ever after.

“With your boyfriend?”

“No, we had a little emergency closer to home this time. Willow, the girl I sit with in class…her boyfriend kinda…cheated on her.” As awkward as telling him that was, she felt better for attempting to get the conversation away from Spike. There was something about Riley’s seemingly innocent questions that were beginning to irk her. It was probably nothing other than testosterone driving him to ask questions about her boyfriend but she didn’t like it all the same.

“Say no more.” Riley held his hands up and gave her a smile. “So, does Spike go here, too? I’ve not seen him around.”

Buffy stared hard at him as she tried to figure out what was going on. Either Riley was trying to weigh up the situation between her and Spike so he could make a move or there were darker forces at work, the kind she dealt with on a nightly basis.

She brushed away her suspicion and continued talking, but this time with a little more caution. “No, he’s older than me…he works nights.”

“Older?” Riley asked casually and received another look that said she was trying to figure him out.

“Let’s just say it gives a whole new meaning to cradle robbing.” Buffy mumbled under her breath and then smiled wide at Riley. “Yeah, by a few years.”

A beat.

Buffy shifted uncomfortably in the silence and waited to see if Riley was going to continue his line of questioning or whether he was going to leave her alone.

She went to move.

“I see you’ve covered your scars.” He said quickly.

Buffy froze and turned slowly to look at him. She raised her hand to her neck and touched the marks where they were hidden beneath concealer. She hated hiding them from the world, but it had been deemed the best course of action if she was going to meet the Council and get information from them.

“I’m kinda sensitive about them. Spike said it was probably best to hide them…avoid questions.” She frowned and watched him moving anxiously on the spot.

Riley looked apologetic but Buffy didn’t give him time to say anything. She glanced directly ahead of her, then back at him.

“I really have to go. I’ve got to be somewhere. It’s been nice chatting though.” She started walking away from him and stopped herself from flinching as he called out to her in an almost desperate voice.

“See you around then, Buffy.”

Rolling her eyes, she marched quickly down the road towards the Magic Box. The last thing she had needed on today of all days was a run in with the man that Spike had now termed ‘Captain Cardboard’. After seeing Riley down the Bronze, she’d realised there was something off with him and something told her it wasn’t petty male jealousy of Spike.

It seemed everything was out in force today to irritate her, even the comfort of seeing Spike had been taken away. He was going to patrol tonight without her. At first, he’d been upset that he wasn’t going to be included in the meeting with the Council, but after Buffy had explained that the only people present were going to be her and Giles, he’d calmed down a little. He’d promised to stay away and told her clearly that he didn’t like not seeing her for the entire day, at which point Buffy had reminded him that he’d be sleeping for most of the time she was gone. Spike had told her he would do a quick patrol and then spend the night with Joyce since she was leaving for Los Angeles tomorrow to meet with some financial backers for the gallery.

Buffy smiled at that thought. She’d finally be able to sleep with Spike in comfort after what seemed like an eternity, and in her own bed of all places.


“Are they here yet?” Buffy said in a hurried tone that was loud enough to combat the welcoming tinkling of the bell above the door to the Magic Box.

“No.” Giles said flatly as he scurried about doing what Buffy could only assume was a quick tidy in honour of the Council.

It was reassuring to see that he was as nervous as she was about tonight’s meeting with them.

Letting her bag fall off her shoulder and land on the table, she took her hair down and brushed it so it hid her neck.

“Sorry I’m late, I ran into the great lunk head from my psych class and he was asking all kinds of questions about me, well…about Spike at least.” Buffy smoothed her hair and then her shirt as she tried to straighten herself out.

Giles looked up from where he was boiling the kettle for the tenth time that hour.

“Who?”

Buffy paused.

“Um…Riley…that’s his name. He’s the teacher’s assistant in my psych class. Spike and I ran into him the other day when we went down the Bronze. He seemed a little…off somehow…was asking all kinds of questions about my neck.” She hurriedly placed her bag down in the corner and sprayed herself with perfume.

“About your neck?” Giles looked concerned and Buffy countered it with her own concerned look.

“Yeah…and today he was at it again, asking about my scars…” Buffy froze as the bell above the door tinkled again. The hairs on the back of her neck rose and she felt a slight chilly breeze flow over her--it was either the Council or she was imagining things. She caught Giles’ wide-eyed expression and proceeded with caution. “…On my knees…from when I was little…”

Buffy turned with a false breezy smile plastered across her face and found Quentin Travers and his entourage standing before her.

“Mr. Travers, so very good of you to come.” She raced towards him with her hand extended and then looked awkward as he made it clear he wasn’t going to shake it. She smiled through her horrible thoughts about him and raised her eyebrows. “Tea?”

“That would be nice.” Quentin smiled graciously and breezed down the steps towards the round table where Giles was stood. He looked directly at the ex-Watcher and raised his head up slightly so he was looking down on him. “I see you’ve found a new profession as shop keeper. Really, Rupert, I thought you’d do better than that.”

Giles looked flustered for a moment and then caught sight of Buffy mimicking Quentin behind his back and stifled a chuckle.

“No, I’m perfectly happy here. The shop allows us to get the resources we need and it’s wonderful to be so busy.” Giles watched the rest of the Council members position themselves around the room, their eyes running over every single article the shelves held.

“Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get down to business.” Buffy stated in her best ‘I’m the one in control’ voice and ignored the nervous way her fingers toyed with her bracelet.

“Interesting little piece of jewellery you’ve got there, it looks old.” Quentin looked at it closely as he sat down at the table.

“It is…Sp…my boyfriend gave it to me. I think he got it from his family or somewhere like it.” Buffy moved her hands behind her back and looked over at Giles where he was pouring the tea.

“So. Miss Summers, you had something to say?” Quentin let his eyes run around the room at his colleagues before fixing them on her in a cold look.

“Yes.” Buffy sat down and tried to restrain herself as she pictured choking him to death. “As you probably know by now, we’ve had a slight encounter with the First Evil.”

“I hear it was more than slight.” He countered and Buffy kept her cool as she returned his stony stare.

She gave Giles a brief thankful smile as he placed a cup of tea down in front of her and then put one beside Quentin.

“I hear from our sources that Angel was kidnapped under some pretence of drawing you and another out into the open.”

Buffy swallowed hard and found herself playing with the bracelet Spike had given her. She could practically feel the marks on her neck tingling as she thought about him.

“It wanted to draw me out, wanted to end all chances of someone stopping it, but it failed. Now, who knows what it’s going to try next but I’m sure it’s going to come after me, and it still wants Angel out of the picture. I need information about it in order to know what I’m dealing with. I can’t stop it without your help.” The words seemed to stick in her throat and she hated admitting that she needed the Council, but it was the only move available to her right now and people she loved were in danger.

Quentin sipped his tea and let silence fill the room. Buffy listened to her heart pounding hard against her ribs and was starting to wonder if she could telepathically contact Spike from this distance. Extending her senses, she smiled as she felt him on the perimeter of them, he felt content and she surmised that he was probably talking to her mother about something--either that or he was off killing things.

She wished she could be off killing things.

“You seem to be under the impression that we have information on the First.” Quentin replied, speaking slowly so he drew his sentence out.

Buffy frowned for a split second and began to wonder what he was up to.

“All I can say is that we’re flattered you think so highly of us, but we have our own agenda in this matter and we don’t hand out information to people outside our protection.”

The cold manner in which he’d spoken those words made Buffy’s heart sink, she couldn’t stop how crestfallen she felt from writing itself across her face and she knew by the satisfied look in his eyes that he’d seen it.

“Then why come here?” Buffy replied coolly and set her sights on him as he took another sip of his tea.

“Why, to tell you of course. You insisted that we came, so here we are, Miss Summers. You have nothing to offer us and therefore we have nothing to offer you.”

“You’re crazy.” Buffy snorted in his direction and then caught the angry expression in Giles’ eyes as she stared Quentin down. “You come all the way here to tell us that? I don’t believe you. You came here to see us hurt, you wanted to see the looks on our faces when you took away our only hope of getting information on the First’s abilities…when you succeeded in stopping us from being able to fight it.”

“Buffy…” Giles started but was cut off by an angry glare from her.

Buffy stood up sharply, no longer caring if she was going to do more damage than good by saying what was building up inside her. She had to get it out into the open, there was no way she could contain the anger she felt over what the Council were doing.

“You…the only reason you’re here is to see us beg…to see us fall…so you can be the smug bastards who get to help us up and tell us that you were right, we can’t do anything without you. Well I’m not going to give you the pleasure of seeing that happen. If we fall, there is no coming back this time, this isn’t some half-witted demon trying to destroy the world…this is the First Evil. If it beats us, then this whole world falls to its knees…and that means you fall too.” Buffy was breathing heavily as she finished her tirade and gave a quick glance to Giles to check that she hadn’t pushed things too far. He smiled briefly.

“I’m afraid what Buffy says is true, Quentin. If we fall, then there is nothing stopping the army of the First. Your agenda won’t have time to come to fruition, even with the death of Buffy you won’t have time to find the new Slayer and train her up to fight.” Giles placed his empty teacup down on the table and kept his expression cold and hard.

“We’re not going to get down on our knees and beg you. I’ll admit that I was wrong, I shouldn’t have believed I could quit but I couldn’t take that idiot you sent over to be my Watcher and I couldn’t take you interfering in business that was personal and not Council related.” Buffy spoke in a calm tone as her eyes remained locked with Quentin’s. “I know now what being the Slayer means, more than you could ever understand, and I really believed that you were big enough not to hold grudges against me…but I guess I was wrong.”

Quentin’s emotionless expression faltered as he listened to her speaking, her manner was so ‘resigned to her fate’ that he truly believed she’d seen the error in what she had done earlier in the year.

“The Watcher we sent to guide you has been fired, Miss Summers. His actions were inappropriate and his inability to work with you led to you becoming a rogue Slayer. In time, we may be able to rebuild the relationship the Council once had with you, but this isn’t our fight. You see the First is incorporeal--it cannot hurt this world, it can only send its army of Bringers after you and they aren’t likely to bring about the end of the world. It uses minions and words to fight, turns people against others by appearing in the guise of the dead. It could even look like you.”

“Angel said I was a ghost when he saw me. That’s what he meant. He’d seen the First pretending to be me.” Buffy felt like a weight had just been dropped into the pit of her stomach. Angel had been tortured by the First in the guise of her and then she’d brought fresh torture into his life by being with Spike.

She frowned as she went over what Quentin had said.

“So, the First can’t physically touch anything? I mean, it can’t pick up arms and come after us itself. It doesn’t have magical powers or something like that?” Her attempt to draw information out of Quentin was answered with a short nod in the affirmative. “Oh.”

She didn’t know whether the First being incorporeal was a good or a bad thing. It certainly went some way to reassuring her that she wouldn’t be facing it itself, she would be facing the Bringers, and those she could deal with.

But it didn’t explain why the First wanted Spike and Angel eliminated so neither of them could fulfil this Shanshu prophecy. Casting a glance over at Quentin, she got the feeling he wasn’t going to take anymore questions.

“Will you be in town long?” Buffy asked casually as Quentin stood.

“We plan to stay here for a while.” Quentin looked over at a blonde haired woman with glasses as she moved towards him. “Lydia here will give you the address of the hotel we’ll be staying in and a number in case you wish to contact us. We will remain in Sunnydale for another two weeks, to see if anything occurs that could prove informative. We have a team scouting Los Angeles and they will join us here before we leave.”

“Right.” Buffy watched as the blonde Quentin had referred to as Lydia wrote down the information on a piece of paper. She had to wonder why he was offering her a way of contacting them and suspicion set in that this was only going to be their first meeting and that’s why he’d been so resolved about not helping her. He was going to wait for her to ask him again for help before he really considered it.

Taking the piece of paper off the woman, Buffy smiled as warmly as she could manage and watched them file out of the store. As they disappeared, she slumped down against the table and made a long whining noise.

Giles sat down and cradled his head.

“They’re going to make us hoop jump aren’t they?” Buffy looked across at him and pouted.

“I’m afraid it appears that way. We’ll give them a day or two to get acclimatised to Sunnydale and then we’ll arrange another meeting.”

“I’m pooped…” Buffy groused as she let her eyes focus on the little bracelet encircling her wrist. “…It really is pretty.”

“Hmm?” Giles looked like he’d been roused from a dream as he looked over at her. “Oh…yes…very pretty. Did Spike give it to you?”

“Yeah…said he thought it was beautiful like me, then he said all this really poetic stuff.” Buffy smiled goofily as her insides warmed through from thinking about what he’d said to her. “It was nice.”

Giles noticed her expression turning pensive.

“I’m sorry about the other day…it was just, bad memories and a little vampire jealously make Spike a cranky boy.” She gave him an apologetic smile.

“It’s fine, Buffy. I should have known better than to interfere. When I moved to protect you, it only made matters worse. I can’t imagine what he felt on seeing another male trying to defend his own mate.” Giles stifled his desire to shudder as he remembered how he’d moved mindlessly to defend Buffy without thinking about what he was coming face to face with, or the danger he put himself in by blocking Spike’s path.

“Speaking of Spike…” Buffy seamlessly moved off the topic and stood up slowly. “Best go see what him and mom have been getting up to. Last thing I need is a hot chocolate induced hyperactive vampire on my hands. This Slayer needs her sleep, another long day of college tomorrow.”

Buffy allowed herself a small smile as she thought about having a long bath in the evening and just relaxing with Spike.

“About tomorrow.” Giles started and saw the smile drop off her face. “I think we should have a meeting about this new information.”

Buffy sighed.

There went her bath.

There went her relaxing evening.

She smiled slightly as she picked her up bag to leave.

But there was still Spike.

And that was all she needed.

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