Always Wait For You – 10

Moving right along to Chapter Ten – Things get a little tenser with the latest proof that Angelus is alive and kicking.

 Chapter Ten

Buffy’s breathy “Hello” was followed by a crashing silence, not unlike the one that had followed news of Angel’s turning. In motion too fast for the merely human to follow, Faith and Spike were in the living room. The vampire gestured to Lucy to remain with his children, while Xander blinked at the speed with which Faith could move when she felt the need.

Buffy silently held the phone away from her ear, turning it so that Faith and Spike could hear the voice on the other end.

“Hello, lover,” it purred. “Have you missed me? I know you must be anxious to know when you can expect me – but that would spoil the surprise, wouldn’t it?”

“If you know what’s good for you, you will stay as far away from here as you can get,” Buffy said coldly, proud of the way her voice remained steady. “I’m not the sad little girl you faced the last time – I’ll send you to hell without even blinking.”

Spike felt a snarl building in his chest and almost snapped at Faith when he found her hand over his mouth. She was shaking her head vigorously and putting her other finger to her lips, trying to remind him that Angelus probably didn’t know that Spike wasn’t dust and wouldn’t be expecting to find him. He nodded his understanding, forcing the demon’s automatic response to a threat to his family back down.

“Oh come on now, Buff. You wouldn’t want me to leave without seeing my favorite ‘niece’ and ‘nephew’ one… last time, would you? I’ve told Dru all about them, and she wants to meet them too.”

“Over your dead body…and hers,” Buffy ground out.

She slammed the phone down, shattering both the base and the phone itself. They all stared at the pieces for second before Xander’s voice broke the silence.

“Well, I guess that puts an end to those pesky telemarketing vampire calls.”

Buffy’s eyes went to Spike’s – for just a second, they were two terrified parents sharing a moment of despair. Then, the Slayer took over and began snapping out orders.

“Lucy, you don’t leave their sides. I don’t care if it’s high noon on the beach. Understood?” The young slayer nodded, stepping closer to her charges. “I’m going to ask for another slayer so that neither one of them is alone, except in the bathroom.” She whirled on her son. “No public bathrooms – do you hear me? I don’t care how bad you have to go – you wait until you are at home or someplace else safe.”

She looked at Faith. “We’re going to need to hand off some of our patrolling and teaching. I’m going to be with my children every night – I don’t care if the Hellmouth opens up and demons are swarming the city.”

“What do you want me to do, B?”

“You’re the only other one who knows what Angelus is like. Maybe you can take a few girls and just comb the city every night. Who knows? You might get lucky and stumble across them.”

“And me?” Spike’s voice was quiet, but taut with the need to rend and tear something or somebody.

“You know how they think – if you can call what they do thinking. You can help Faith figure out where to look. Maybe think about some places Dru would like to hang out…”

“Anything else?”

“Be here? With me? Watch my back?”

“These are my children, too, Slayer,” he growled. “Not gonna stand by while you and Faith—”

“Faith was right to shush you. Angelus doesn’t know that you’re alive…”

“So to speak.” Xander put in.

“…and the longer we keep it that way, the more we have at least that little surprise on our side.”

When Spike’s rebellious answer was almost on his lips, Buffy surprised herself and everyone else by stepping toward him and raising a pleading hand to cup his face.

“Please?”

“B’s right, Billy-boy. If they don’t know you’re here, they won’t be watching out for you, and if they manage to distract her, they won’t be expecting to find a pissed off daddy vampire waiting for them.”

“Gotta go with the girls on this one,” Xander added, a sympathetic look in his eyes. “It just makes sense. You’re like…the secret weapon guy.”

“Alright,” Spike gave in with little grace, his face still warm from the touch of Buffy’s hand. “But if and when my family leaves this house after dark, I’m going along. If they see me, they see me. I’m not hidin’ in here while my kids are out where those lunatics can reach them.”

They all nodded in agreement. A small sound brought their heads around to see Joy and Will staring at them with round eyes. Behind them, Lucy looked less like a classmate of Joy’s and much more like the trained killer that she was. Her posture was relaxed, but ready and her eyes never stopped moving from window to window as though she expected to find Angelus peering in at them.

“Mom? Daddy?” Joy’s voice brought their attention back to the focus of Anglelus’ threats.

“It’s going to be all right,” Buffy said automatically. “You just need to be more careful than usual. We’re going to be with you all the time. And Aunt Faith is going to be out looking for Angelus and Drusilla. They’ll be dust as soon as they set foot in Cleveland.”

“Assuming they aren’t already here,” Spike said so softly that only Buffy and Faith heard him. Their eyes flew to his.

“Something you need to tell us?” Faith demanded.

He shook his head. “No. I’m not sayin’ that I can feel them or anything like that. I doubt that those family ties survived my being human for ten years and the turnin’ by some other vamp. But it would be just like Angelus to be hanging around, watching and figuring out who he wants to take out first.”

“So, he could be watching us now?” In spite of herself, Buffy’s blood ran a bit cold at the thought of being stalked by Angelus.

Without a word, Lucy began to go around the house, pulling shades down and closing blinds. Wherever there were curtains, she pulled them shut. As soon as he saw what she was doing, Xander ran to help, running upstairs to shut out the darkening sky.

“I guess I’ll go shopping tomorrow, Buffy said with a sigh. “We need something for the slider in the dining room, heavier drapes for down here…” She hesitated, making a mental note to add heavy drapes for her bedroom to the list.

Faith snapped her fingers. “I think I’ll run by the school and pick up a posse. No harm in letting them know we’re out looking for them – if they are here already.”

Buffy nodded. “Sounds like a plan. He could have been calling from anywhere.”

“He could,” Spike agreed. “He might be hundreds of miles away and plannin’ to just call here every once in while to keep you stressed – or, he could be living in the next house and watching everything that goes on. Either way, his goal is going to be to rattle your cage as much as he can before he makes his move.”

“And that just makes me feel sooo much better!” She glared at Spike, who shrugged.

“It’s what he does, pet. You know that. He might also drop out of sight for months and hope you stop worrying about them – but I don’t see Angelus having that kind of patience. He likes to be where he can watch his victims squirm. And he likes to keep ‘em squirming. If you asked me to bet – I’d say he was somewhere close by.”

Spike’s words rang true with both slayers and before Faith could say anything, Buffy was asking, “Why don’t we take a tour of the neighborhood before you go get reinforcements? While Spike and Lucy are here to guard the house, maybe we can scare up a vamp or two. Find one that knows about some new arrivals?”

She knew it was a thin hope. The downside to having a Hellmouth under a big city was that the sheer size of the population meant that all the demons and vampires there didn’t necessarily know each other or even know the latest gossip.

Arming themselves with stakes, holy water and crossbows, the world’s two most senior slayers prepared to explore the surrounding area for any trace of the vampires. Spike’s face was a study in suppressed fury and impatience, even as he agreed that it would be better that he remain indoors as much as possible.

Faith rose on her toes to give Xander a quick kiss, promising to be back “before you know it”. There was an awkward moment as Buffy, after sending Lucy and the children upstairs to do homework, stood in front of Spike, chewing her lip.

He took the decision about what to do out of her hands, putting his own in his pockets and saying gruffly, “Be careful out there, yeah? You’re the only mum they’ve got.”

“I will,” she replied, not looking him in the eye. “We’re just going to make sure that the neighborhood is vamp-free. Present company excepted,” she added with a small smile.

With a wave, the two women walked out the door, letting it close behind them with a soft thud. Without speaking, they walked to the sidewalk and paused to allow their senses to get a feel for the night air, then set off at a brisk pace.

“So, what’s the what with you two?” Faith asked bluntly before they’d even got past the nearest neighbor’s driveway.

“We’re worried about our kids,” Buffy said shortly. “That’s all the ‘what’ there is right now.”

“So, all that rockin’ and rollin’ downstairs didn’t get the juices flowing?” Faith’s disbelief was obvious.

“None of your business,” Buffy mumbled, trying to ignore Faith’s laughter.

Suddenly both slayers froze, turning slowly with their backs to each other as they searched for the source of the hair-raising tingles they could both feel. When a small group of newly-turned vampires surrounded them, they almost sighed in relief.

“Look, B. A bunch of vamps too stupid to know when they’re in the Slayer’s neighborhood.”

“They’re not making them any smarter, that’s for sure,” Buffy agreed cheerfully, pulling a stake from her pocket.

Puzzled frowns, which made the vampire faces look even uglier, creased the already wrinkled brows.

“What’s a slayer?” a tall, red-haired vamp asked the one next to him.

“Oh, some kind of bogeyman. I heard somebody talking about them last night, but I wasn’t really paying attention. Bunch of little girls with pointed sticks or something.”

Faith and Buffy exchanged smirks.

“Little girls?”

“Check!”

“Pointed sticks?”

“Check and check!”

“Hey, we must be slayers!”

Without another word they spun into action, staking three of the vampires before the others even realized that the anticipated evening’s meal didn’t seem to be cooperating. When they were down to one very frightened opponent, Buffy tackled him to the ground and held him while Faith pressed the stake to his chest.

“What can you tell us about the other vamps around here?” Buffy demanded. “Where did you come from? What the hell are you doing walking down my street? Who turned you?”

Blinking in bewilderment, the vampire’s eyes went back and forth between the two women who clearly held his life in their extremely lethal hands.

“I don’t know anything!” he protested. “Some woman distracted me in a bar a couple of nights ago and when I followed her outside, some big dude did for me. I woke up in an alley and just happened to find these guys. One of them had been told to come to this street for an easy meal.”

“The woman who ‘distracted’ you,” Buffy growled. “What did she look like? What did she sound like?”

“Uh…dark hair, kinda scary eyes, but she was hot to trot and I…”

“And he followed his dick right out the door and into Angelus,” Faith laughed.

“We don’t know that yet.” Buffy shook him, accidentally drawing blood from where Faith’s stake was still pressed to his chest. “What did she talk like?”

“Like one of those broads on BBC,” he grunted. “And ouch!”

“Shut up,” Buffy said absently, letting go just before his arms crumbled to dust.

They stood up and dusted themselves off, exchanging similar feral smiles.

“They’re here,” Buffy said. “Now that we know, all we have to do is find them”

“Yeah. I’m on it.” Faith turned to leave for the slayer school and reinforcements.

“Did he say that one of them was sent here? To my street?”

“Yeah. I guess old Angelus was trying to draw you out…”

The same thought having occurred to both slayers, and they bolted down the street as fast as slayer legs could take them. They burst into the house to find Spike in a fury – his desire to hunt down his former sire almost overwhelming his need to remain in the house and protect his children.

“What’s going on?”

“Lucy heard somethin’ outside Will’s window. She went out to see what it was and hasn’t come back yet.”

Without a word, the two slayers were back outside, carefully extending their senses as they circled the house searching for any sign of the young slayer. When a search of the immediate area beside the house yielded nothing, they widened their search to include the backyard and the backyards of the nearest neighbors.

The closest they came to finding Lucy was a smear of blood on the sidewalk in front of an empty house two doors down the street. There was no sign of where or who the blood came from. Leaving Faith to continue to scour the area, Buffy ran back to the house to get Spike.

“You need to come with me and tell me if this is Lucy’s blood,” she gasped, the speed with which she’d been running back and forth taxing even her slayer stamina.

He looked around the living room, where an anxious Joy and Will were standing near Xander, his reluctance to leave evident.

“I’ll stay,” Buffy urged. “Just look for Faith, she’s about half-way down the block.”

“Be right back,” he said, disappearing so quickly that his children were staring at the empty spot with awe.

“Dad can move that fast?” Will’s voice was more amazed than frightened and Buffy cringed at the look on his face.

“Yes,” she said tightly. “He can. And so can Angelus and Dru. Please remember that.”

Buffy was just beginning to worry when Faith and Spike came back inside. He shook his head. “Was her blood alright; but not enough to cause her any harm. More like somebody wanted to be sure that you knew she was bleeding…”

“Anything else?”

He nodded reluctantly. “Dru was there. Caught her scent but I couldn’t follow it. I’m thinking they were in a car.”

“They have Lucy?” Joy’s eyes filled as she grasped what had happened to her new friend and protector.

“It looks that way, princess,” Spike said, putting his arms around her. “But we’re gonna try to get her back – your mum and I.”

“We can’t leave them here!”

“We can take them to the school. Even Dru isn’t daft enough to go into a building full of slayers and witches. They’ll be safe there.”

Faith’s eagerness to get after the vampires was obvious. “Xander can take them – we’ll follow and make sure that they get inside safely and then…”

“And then what?” Buffy asked dully. “Spike sniffs his way around the city of Cleveland, looking for three people?”

“I think we should start with this neighborhood,” Faith said stubbornly. “They had to be where they could see us go out looking for them. Think, Buffy, where could they hide during the day?”

“It’s not like Sunnydale,” she grumbled. “With a cemetery on every corner. And Angel – Angelus never stayed in cemeteries anyway, did he, Spike?”

“No, the big poofter likes his comforts – and his master trappings. We need to look for old mansions, uninhabited houses, places like that.”

“There aren’t a lot of mansions in this neighborhood,” Buffy said thoughtfully. “But, there are a few houses on the market. At least one of them isn’t being lived in right now.”

“Right, then. We start there – soon’s we get these two safely tucked away in the middle of a passel of bloodthirsty little girls.”

They ended up with Faith and Xander leaving first to warn the school staff what was going on, leaving Spike and Buffy to hurry Joy and Will into packing a few things and getting into the car. This time, when she silently handed Spike the keys, he took them, holding the doors until the children and Buffy were inside before sliding into the driver’s seat.

“I married a midget,” he groused as he slid the seat back until he could fit comfortably into the driver’s seat.

She threw him a startled look. It was the first time he had referred to their marriage in front of the children and she waited to see how they would respond. Nervous giggles from the back seat indicated that they, too, had picked up on his casual reference to being her husband.

“You married the only woman who would have you,” she tossed back, relieved when he grinned through his growl.

“Hah! You wish, Slayer. Could’ve had my pick…” He broke off at her snort and continued softly, “Married the one I wanted, didn’t I?”

Buffy had no reply to that, but settled for sending him a small smile of encouragement as she settled back against the door.

I guess now’s not the time for that kind of conversation. But as soon as I turn Angelus and his skanky ex into dust piles…

As though he’d read her mind, he added quietly, “Later, pet.”

“Later,” she echoed, content for the moment that he was anticipating a later for them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

They arrived at the school in a few minutes, hustling the two targets into the building to be greeted by Willow. She hugged Buffy briefly, then issued instructions to the curious girls gathered around.

“Karin, Joy can stay with you – I want two slayers outside her door at all times.” She fixed her surrogate niece with a hard eye. “And no spells, young lady. Understand me?”

“Spells?” Buffy’s eyes flew to Joy, who was blushing hard and trying to look innocent at the same time. Her glare promised a long conversation when the current crisis was over, and Joy meekly followed her friend out of the room and away from her mother’s wrathful face.

“It’s no big, Buffy,” Willow said quickly. “The girl’s got some talent – I just don’t want her experimenting without supervision.”

“Joy? My Joyce is a witch?” Spike’s incredulous voice was added to Buffy’s.

“Not yet, she isn’t. But I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” she glanced at Buffy, “about it. I just got sidetracked – what with Spike coming back and Angel being all evil again…”

Will interrupted them to raise his hand. “Am I staying in Karin’s room, too?” he inquired hopefully. Spike smothered a laugh at the expression on Buffy’s face.

“Don’t tell me you’re a witch, too?”

“Huh? No! No, that’s Joy’s thing – not that I know anything about it,” he added hastily when Buffy’s eyes narrowed. “I was just wondering where I’m going to stay, is all.”

Willow rescued him by pointing to one of the younger slayers – a rather plain girl who Willow was pretty sure was going to turn out to be gay.

“You’re going to stay in Mary’s room. She has two beds and no roommate right now. And, it’s right across the hall from Karin’s room; so it will be easy to keep you two safe without spreading our slayers too thin.”

Deciding that was as close to being where he wanted to be as he was likely to get, Will told his parents to “go kick vampire ass” and ran off after Mary before Buffy could scold him for his language. She glared at Spike, who was still chuckling, then broke into a reluctant grin.

“Like father, like son, I guess.”

 

Originally posted at http://seasonal-spuffy.livejournal.com/223061.html