Title: Bound, Pt Two: Old Ties Cut
By TrinityLast
E-mail: trinitylast@wambtac.com
Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah, Joss is god. Blah, blah, blah, I am nothing. Blah, blah, blah, please don’t sue.
Distribution: Want, take, have.
Rating: NC-17
Spoilers: AU. Most of Season four before “The I in Team” except “A New Man” which never happened. Also, Bound Part One: The Binding.
Feedback: If you make me beg, the chapters will come slower.
Note: Same as Part One. Once again, no beta. I write, I post.

// = thoughts

*******************

Chapter One

_______________

Willow crept into their dorm room at eight a.m. and glanced at Buffy’s bed before breathing a sigh of relief. She’d been afraid of interrupting something and so waited until the last possible second to come back from Giles’. She and Buffy had class at nine and Willow had hoped that, what with the sun, Angelus would have left, and therefore, all ‘activity’ would have stopped by now. She was relieved to see that she’d been right.

The only worry now was dealing with Walsh and Riley during class.

“Buffy!” The redhead shook her roommate a little then jumped back, being well aware of Buffy’s tendency to lash out when woken.

She didn’t disappoint. The Slayer was on her feet in a battle stance five seconds later. Looking around, she glared at the witch and relaxed her posture.

“Did you have to do that?”

Willow nodded and pointed at the bedside clock. “You have an hour to class.”

“And *hour*!? How did I sleep through the alarm?” Buffy whipped around to look a the clock and groaned. “God...” She dashed to her closet, grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of jeans and made for the bathroom across the hall. “Fifteen minutes! Don’t let me take longer!”

“Got it!” Willow watched the blond leave the room, then sat down on her own bed. She’d already showered and changed at Giles’, it being a Scooby habit to keep clothes there just in case. She reached over to check the messages, and noticed a small fold of paper addressed to Buffy stuck under the clock. It was folded as if to hold something.

Willow grinned. He’d left her a gift. That was so sweet! And they say vampires can’t feel...

She pocketed the paper to give to Buffy in class, figuring her roommates ‘fifteen minutes’ should work out to roughly forty.

Once again, she was right.

**

Willow waited until Prof. Walsh was lecturing before slipping the fold of paper onto Buffy’s desk with a note of her own. Buffy shot her an odd glance before reading the note.

“It was on your nightstand. I think it’s from him. Since you were in such a hurry, I picked it up for you. Open it already!”

Buffy stifled a smiled and quickly looked up to make sure she wasn’t being watched. Coast clear: Walsh was writing as she talked, and Riley was grading papers at the desk. The Slayer carefully unfolded the paper so whatever was inside wouldn’t fall.

It turned out to be a silver ring. Buffy smiled down at it before reading his note.

“It was exchanged by my people before I was turned. I wear one, and kept this one around my neck, but I want you to wear it. It’s a claddagh ring. The hands represent friendship, the crown represents loyalty and the heart represents love. Vampires aren’t supposed to love, but it’s always been said that bound vampires do. I never believed them. I do now. You wear it with the heart pointing towards you. It means you belong to someone. I turned mine around this morning before I left this.

Put it on. And keep in mind that you *do* belong to someone. Me. Twentieth century or not, Slayer or not, you are mine.

And I am yours.

Angelus (Angel)”

Buffy bit her lip and looked at the ring for a minute before slipping it on her left hand, heart in, and turning back to the lecture. Willow was subtly poking her, so she handed the letter over and let her hand sit out on the desk so the redhead could see the ring.

Buffy heard a small gasp and then found her hand being pulled into Willow’s so the witch could see the ring better. She had to stifle a giggle while her roommate cooed over her hand and kept her attention at the front of the room to avoid detection. When her hand was released, she felt a note folded up inside.

“I can’t believe I’m actually jealous of you, but I am. That is just so great. He’s carried that, what, 200 years, before giving it to someone? Yay you!”

Buffy grinned at the note and then at Willow before looking back up and finding herself under the intense scrutiny of her boyfriend.

//Boyfriend. Shit. Ok, that would be the next step.// Buffy sent a bright smile to Riley while dropping her hands into her lap and nervously fingering her ring. His face lightened and he smiled back.

**

Riley finished grading the tests from last class and looked up to where Buffy was sitting. His girlfriend was reading something and grinning. Riley checked to make sure Walsh hadn’t noticed his girl’s lack of attention, then turned back to Buffy just in time to catch her smiling brightly at Willow in the seat next to her. Then she looked up. Riley caught her eye and she smiled. Finally relaxing, he smiled back.

//Maybe it was just temporary. How long does a Vampire’s thrall last?//

He turned his attention to Walsh so he’d know where they were for when Buffy asked later, since she obviously had her mind elsewhere.

**

“Darla?” The door to the mansion the Master family had taken over slammed shut. Angelus slipped his jacket off and draped it over a chair in the front room, listening for an answer.

None came.

//That can be either good....or bad.// He looked down at his ring and cringed. He’d never worn it this way for Darla, and he’d never offered her it’s mate. She was going to notice both the absence of the smaller one from it’s chain, and the new position of his.

The simple solution would be to turn his back around and offhandedly remark that he’d lost the other.

But he couldn’t bring himself to turn the heart away from him.

Angelus sighed. A good kill would make him feel better, but, and he was *sure* this was the bond talking, he had a nagging feeling in the back of his head stopping him from just killing for the fun of it now.

He knew he was still evil. Just as much as before. The idea of eviscerating some young girl just for fun was as appealing as ever. But the idea of raping her was disgusting and not because of the rape.

Because it wasn’t Buffy.

Angelus dropped onto the couch in front of the fireplace and groaned. He couldn’t even say he didn’t like it. She filled an empty spot he hadn’t known he had.

A comparison to perfection would not be an exaggeration.

He stood up again and headed to his bedroom. First things first. Darla. She was the biggest problem. She was not likely to take her favorite Childe being bound to the Slayer who killed the Master, her Sire, well. She was more likely to torture first and stake later.

So, he’d have to stake her first.

**

“Yes, I’m bloody-well sure! She’s bound!” Pause. “*Yes!*”

Giles waited a minute, listening to someone at the other end of the line, and Xander, who was watching him make the call to the council, could have sworn that there was smoke coming out of the Englishman’s ears.

“B-O-U-N-D. Bound. To a Master. One of the Master’s own line, in fact.” Another pause. “Yes, I know. Yes. Well, what do you want me to do about it? Are you saying because it’s never happened, you won’t allow it? I’d like to see you *change* it! Exactly how does one *un-bind* a Slayer? He’s the Master’s own Grande Childe! I don’t think there’s much to be done.” Giles listened again for a minute, and then covered his eyes with his free hand. “Excuse me. I thought you’d be happy. I thought, as she’s the strongest Slayer to ever live, the fact that she is now bound and among the Immortal Slayers would be something you’d like. I am so sorry to disappoint.” Another pause. “No, I didn’t feel a ‘jolt’. What does that have to do....”

Giles sat and listened again silently, then rolled his eyes at Xander who did his best not to snicker. “I tested it already. Jolt or not, it did bounce. I’m invulnerable until she dies. Replacing me is not an option. Not unless she kills me, which isn’t bloody likely.”

At that point Xander lost all control and laughed. The idea of Buffy willingly giving up her ‘rock’, the one person she turned to when all else failed, was so ridiculous...

“What? No. Not that I’m aware of. Yes, I’ve checked the diaries, I know it’s never happened. Yes, both. Well, she’s broken every other rule, it seems fitting to me she should break the last two as well.”

The watcher stood and headed for his kitchen, cradling the phone on his shoulder as he listened. He continued to talk as he pulled out two bottles of soda and handed one to Xander when he came back to the couch.

“Well, if you insist, I can’t stop you.” Giles took a drink with the other person spoke.

“Quentin...”

Oh. It was Travers. Xander shuddered and took a long drink of his soda.

“If you’re coming here, I must warn you that I fully plan to use the Bouncing spell.”

Xander looked at Giles oddly. Giles was Immortal. The binding had bounced. What did he need the spell for?

The watcher answered his question a minute later.

“For the children, Quentin. They are as much a part of the team as I, and I don’t believe that Buffy can do this without them.”

Quentin said something and Giles sighed. “Yes, well, when you get here it will be too late. Goodbye, Mr. Travers.” He clicked off and dropped his head onto the back of the couch with a loud groan. “Remind me why I wanted to tell them?”

Xander just stared. “Oh, no. Back up. You want to bounce the binding onto us? Why?”

Giles shot him a puzzled look. “What do you mean, ‘why’? She needs you. If you don’t want to, of course, that’s something else, but I’d always assumed that if she was bound, you’d want to be as well.”

Xander frowned. “I always planned on staying, G-man, but no one ever mentioned eternity. I’ll have to think about it.”

The watcher nodded. “I understand, but please think quickly. Quentin Travers and his...his ‘clique’ will be here in three days. If we are going to do this, it will have to be before then.”

Xander nodded back and stood to go. “Ok. I’ll let you know by tomorrow morning. And I’ll talk to Willow and Anya, too.”

Giles smiled. “Thank you Xander.”

The door shut behind the boy and Giles sat there for a minute more before rising. He stretched, and then smiled at the phone before picking it up and dialing again.

“Father? You do remember telling me that I’d never make it as a watcher, don’t you?”

**

Angelus found Darla in their room, going through her closet. She didn’t turn around, but did start talking.

“Angel! Where were you? You left me here all alone, and Drusilla was babbling about broken ties and new chains. I swear, you really did a number on her mind. She dropped right to the floor at around eleven, crying that you were being *bound* of all things, and to the Slayer you came to kill!” Darla giggled. “It’s ridiculous. You’re of the Master’s line, and she’s in her fifth year!” The vampiress finally turned around, holding a blood red dress up in front of her. “What do you think? For dancing on the Slayer’s grave.” She smiled coyly at him, and then stopped, her smile turning into a confused frown.

“Angelus?”

He was standing in the doorway, tapping a stake against his leg and smiling cruelly at her.

“This is how I want to remember you, Dar. Evil, and smiling, and spiteful. You really are gorgeous, you know that?”

Darla’s face fell and her eyes found the ring on his hand.

“It’s true.” A whisper. A sob.

“Yes.” An assurance. A threat.

“She had a vision, but I didn’t want to believe it.” Darla didn’t move and wouldn’t meet his eyes, instead keeping her focus on his ring. The ring that was facing in, as it never had for her.

Childe or not, he’d never belonged to her.

//Yes, he did! He’s mine!// Her face contorted in anger and her demon emerged.

“Don’t bother, Darla.”

Her head snapped up. He hadn’t moved from the doorway, and it suddenly occurred to her that the only other way out of the room was the window.

It was day. And he was holding a stake.

Darla decided to play nice for a minute, since she didn’t really know what he would do. He was Angelus, and he wasn’t. No one really understands what happens to a bound vampire, what changes. She couldn’t be sure of anything now.

“You’re going to kill your Sire? That’s not nice. Why would you do that?” It was a stupid question, but how he answered it would tell her what had changed.

Angelus’ eyebrows rose. “That was a dumb question. Exactly where did you leave that brain of yours, Dar?”

She smiled. Still Angelus. *Her* Angelus.

He kept talking. “Though, I’m not sure I’m going to kill you.” At her confused look, Angelus laughed. “Well, what would be the point in that? It seems like it would be much more fun to just chain you in the basement. I won’t be torturing and killing just for the hell of it anymore...not humans anyway.” He smirked. “But you aren’t human. I can rub your nose in how you’ll *never* be her, have a plaything and get you out of the way, all in one move.” He raised an eyebrow. “Can’t think of a better idea.”

Darla nodded in understanding, and the next minute tried to get past him.

As he knocked her out, she recalled that she’d taught him that trick their first week together. Maybe she was getting slow in her old age....

*******************

*******************

Chapter Two

_______________

“Wakey, wakey.” Angelus waved the smelling salts under Darla’s nose close enough to sting. With her Vampiric sense of smell, she woke immediately.

“Angel?”

“Angelus to you now, lover.”

Darla’s vision cleared and she looked around. She was chained to one of the stone walls in the basement. She looked at her wrists and inwardly cringed. They were the magically enhanced chains used to keep Dru in line when she went nuts.

Darla looked up again, hoping to be able to talk her Childe out of this, but he was gone. She stared at the note lying on the floor at her feet.

“See, my Sire? I learned from the best.”

**

Riley slipped his arm around Buffy when she reached the main floor of the lecture hall and tweaked her nose. “You know, I don’t know why you bother coming to class. You never pay attention.”

Buffy bit her lip and stepped out of the commando’s embrace. “Riley, we need to talk.”

“Ahem.”

The couple looked over at Willow who was sending significant looks at Buffy. “I think there are better places for this?”

“Oh, right.” Buffy smiled weakly at Riley and started to play with her ring, already forming a nervous habit. Riley caught the movement and grabbed her hand.

“Where did you get this?” His voice was soft and affectionate, which caused a puzzled look to cross Buffy’s face.

“It was a gift. Why?”

Riley smiled. “My father’s Irish. This is a claddagh ring, and...” He lifted her hand and pointed at the ring. “You’re wearing it with the heart pointed in. It means you belong to someone.” He stepped in closer. “Now, who could that be?” He ran a hand down the side of her face, and Buffy suppressed a shudder.

For some reason, though she’d bet money it was the bond, the thought of Riley Finn touching her made the bile rise in the back of her throat.

She stepped back. “Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Riley nodded. “Ok, well, I really don’t have time right now for coffee or anything, so can we do this quickly?” He smiled sheepishly. “I have to get back to Lowell house, there’s a new HST coming in that they need my help with.”

Buffy bit her lip and tried to think fast. She wanted to find a way to do this tactfully. Then her eyes brightened.

“Riley, what do you know about Slayers?”

The commando shrugged. “Fast, strong. You kill the bad guys.”

The blond chuckled wryly. “There is just *so* much more to it than that...you have no idea.” She caught his eye and gave a small sad smile. “I think you should go into your containment area and ask some of the demons there what a ‘bound Slayer’ is.”

He squinted at her. “What?”

“Just do it Riley. Something tells me you’ll believe it better from them than me.”

She grabbed Willow’s arm and dragged her out the door, trying to escape the conversation as fast as she could. Riley just stared after her.

**

Penn pulled himself out of the sewer access in the basement and wandered over to the stairs, but stopped when he heard chains rattling.

//Sounds like Angelus has a new toy...//

The younger vampire turned around and headed towards the noise, but when he got there, his eyes widened. “Darla?”

“Penn.” She cocked her head and smiled sweetly up at him. “Feel like letting me go?”

Penn shrugged. “I suppose it depends on how angry Angelus will be if I do. Those *are* his chains. Doesn’t look like he wants you going anywhere.”

“Oh, come on. We were just playing.” She rattled the chains and kept her expression coy, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice. Yeah, vampire, but even vampires don’t like being caged.

“Sorry, Dar. Can’t do it.” He smiled down at her and ruffled her hair, making her growl.

“You’ll pay for this later.”

Penn shrugged again as he headed back for the stairs. “Better you than Angelus.”

**

“Hey Forrest!” Riley jogged to catch up with the soldier and fell into step beside him. “Do you know what a ‘bound Slayer’ is?”

Forrest looked at him strangely. “A Slayer all tied up?” Riley made a face. “Sorry, man. Until I met her, I thought the Slayer was a myth. Never spent a lot of time finding out about her. Why?”

“Buffy said to ask the HSTs about it.” The blond commando pushed his hair out of his face and frowned. “I just can’t figure out what she’s talking about.”

Forrest shrugged. “Ok, well...so go ask them.”

Riley nodded. “I guess I have to. I was just hoping you’d know.”

Forrest shook his head and jogged down the hall to catch up with a doctor. “Sorry!”

The blond frowned after his friend and turned around, heading for containment.

**

Riley looked around at the cages. He didn’t want to just ask them as a group, but didn’t know which demon would know what he needed to know.

//Damn. As a group it is.//

“Anyone here know what a ‘bound Slayer’ is?”

“What will you give us if we tell you?”

Riley walked over to the cage and looked inside. It was a vampire. Not a Master, but not a fledgling. Just a run-of-the-mill vamp. Riley shrugged. “I’ll let you go.”

The vamp glared at him. “Now, why don’t I believe you?”

The commando shrugged again. “You can tell me now, or wait for the interrogation. take your pick. I already know you know.”

The vamp sighed. “A bound Slayer is a Slayer bound to a Master Vampire. We call them Turncoats.” He made a face of disgust. “Though, it’s been said that you don’t have any control over it. You’re just drawn there...” He looked up to see Riley’s confused face and sighed again. “The Master Vampire is drawn to the Slayer, and tries to kill her, but instead of killing her, somehow they have sex. I’m not really clear on that part. Anyway, if the Slayer is a virgin, and it happens this specific way, the two become as one, bound. For eternity. He spends forever protecting and helping her, no longer killing for fun, and she becomes immortal. It’s supposed to bounce onto her Watcher and make him immortal too, but I’ve heard it doesn’t always if the Watcher and Slayer aren’t close.” The vamp made another face. “It’s sick. A Master and a Slayer...but it happens. I think there are something like twenty bound Slayers now. Though, there hasn’t been one for almost a century. I hear there’s only a small window of opportunity. Has to happen the Slayer’s first year after being Called.” The vamp cocked his head. “I don’t suppose you’ll let me out?”

Riley just narrowed his eyes and walked away, trying to digest the information.

When he’d been walking for twenty minutes and still couldn’t wrap his head around what Buffy was trying to tell him //...because she can’t mean that *she’s* bound. She’s been dating me, but she’s been a Slayer for five years. She *can’t* be bound.// he headed for Buffy’s Watcher.

And hopefully, answers.

**

Penn went upstairs and found his Sire reading in front of the fireplace in the curtained front room.

“Angelus?”

The dark vampire looked up and raised his eyebrows.

“Why is Darla chained in the basement?”

Angelus growled. “You didn’t let her go, did you?” He stood, and Penn backed up, suddenly feeling much better about his decision.

“No. No, I didn’t. I was just wondering.”

Angelus nodded and sat back down. “Not until Spike and Dru are here. I only want to have to say this once.”

Penn nodded and sat down across the couch from his Sire and picked up a magazine. With his vampiric hearing he could just make out Darla screaming in the basement, but it wasn’t overly distracting.

About fifteen minutes later, Spike and Drusilla came in, arm in arm. They entered from the basement.

“Did you let her go?”

Spike didn’t have to ask who Angelus meant. He shook his head. “Figured you had a reason, and also figured I’d rather have her mad at me than you.”

Angelus nodded. “Smart boy.” He stood up and waited until Drusilla was seated on Spike’s lap. Watching her, the older vampire smiled. “You know what I’m going to say, don’t you, Dru?”

Drusilla cocked her head and her eyes got dreamy. “The stars spoke. Pssst...she’s stronger than the others. Stronger than any of them.” She giggled.

Angelus smiled. “Yes, she is.” He turned to the other men in the room. “I’m bound.”

Penn’s eyes got wide and Spike nodded. “That’s what Dru said last night. Got Darla right pissed.” He gave a sly smile. “I imagine that’s why she’s all trussed up?”

His Grande Sire nodded. “I know I don’t have to say this to you, you all know the score, but I'm going to anyway. No one touches Buffy. You can either follow me into the binding, or you can get out of my house.” He glared. “And I wouldn’t suggest staying in town, either.”

Spike looked at Drusilla who smiled dreamily. “I’ll get a mummy!” She clapped and turned to face Spike. “You won’t make me leave my Daddy, will you?”

The blond vamp shook his head. “Of course not, Luv.” He looked at Angelus. “We stay.”

Angelus nodded and looked to Penn, who was snickering. The dark vamp raised an eyebrow and Penn smirked.

“I hate Darla, and you know it. This Buffy is supposed to be the strongest ever, and according to Drusilla now, the strongest of the bound.” He grinned. “You couldn’t pay me to leave.”

Angelus looked at his family and internally laughed. For some reason, he couldn’t wait to meet the bound couple that would be sent to, as Giles put it when he called earlier, ‘train’ them in the ways of the Immortals.

He was the only bound Vampire of the Master’s line, bound to the strongest Slayer who’d ever lived.

Hell, they’d be *running* the Immortal Ordem in no time.

*******************

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Chapter Three

_______________

“Mr. Giles!” Riley pounded on the door. “Mr. Giles!”

The door opened to show a grinning Giles holding a cordless phone to his ear. He motioned Riley in as he continued to speak to whoever it was on the other end.

“Yes. I know that, but I’ve always said she was exceptional.”

“Yes, well it appears you were wrong on that count.” Giles motioned Riley into a chair and gestured into the kitchen, silently asking if the boy wanted anything. Riley shook his head.

“She is.” Riley watched Giles pace between the couch and the desk, but he was still grinning. In fact, the Watcher looked like he’d just been handed the deed to the White House, no questions asked.

“Well, she is. She’s bound. No, I don’t know why it happened so late, but it did. No, he was drawn here by her power. Yes, it bounced. Yes.”

Riley turned pale. He vaguely heard Giles still talking in the background but the blood rushing past his ears drowned it out. The words ‘she’s bound’ echoed through his head and he needed to get out of there. He barely gave Giles a wave as he left, his thoughts running a mile a minute.

Giles looked at Riley’s retreating back oddly before closing the door, but was distracted by something said on the line and promptly dismissed the feeling.

**

“So, how do we follow you into the binding?”

Angelus considered the question for a minute before answering Penn. “I spoke to Buffy’s Watcher early this morning after I got back...” He smiled. “And after I chained up my darling Sire.”

Penn snickered again and Spike looked oddly bored. He didn’t like Darla and he didn’t hate her...and he didn’t care much one way or the other what Angelus did with her as long as she stayed out of his way.

“He said that there are a few ways Childer can follow into a binding. One is a simple oath compounded with a spell, and the second is a blood sharing.” The older vampire glared. “A sharing of *Buffy’s* blood. So that method is *not* an option, understood?” He was answered with two nods and a little girl’s smile from Drusilla.

“Dru?”

“It isn’t mine to take, the flowers would never bloom.”

“Good.” He smiled. “There is a third way, and I think we’re going with that method, because it will prove that you really mean to bind yourselves. I don’t want to have to worry about you sneaking up on her and draining her after she trusts you.” Angelus’ face darkened. “And you don’t want to worry about me thinking you might.”

The message was clear and the two lucid vampires nodded again, both with somber expressions. There was no turning back now.

“What’s the third option?”

Angelus smiled. “It’s simple really, a testing of loyalty. You save the life of someone she loves, and you do it because you want to.”

Spike and Penn exchanged a look, but both nodded. Then Spike raised his eyebrows and motioned to the vampiress on his lap. “What about Dru? She won’t understand what’s going on.”

Angelus shrugged. “Just tell her. I’m pretty sure she understands more than you think.”

At that second Drusilla leaned over and whispered conspiratorially in Penn’s ear, but loud enough for all their vampire hearing. “The moon is singing to me...the flowers protect the rose, and the wolves won’t eat them for the thorns.”

**

“Willow, wait!” Xander caught up with her and pulled her off the sidewalk. “What are you doing right now?”

Willow kept a blank expression and held up her books. “I’m on campus, carrying books, and heading for a college building. What do you think I’m doing now?”

Xander looked chastened, but didn’t let it stop him. “Can you skip it?” At the look on her face, “There’s no big bad! It’s not that.” She took on a relieved look. “But the Watchers council is coming, and there’s a decision we have to make before they get here.”

Willow’s face darkened at the mention of the council. “If they hurt her this time, I swear to the Gods! I’m stronger now, and I have some backup, and they will never leave this town, even if all I can manage is a damn floating pencil, a pencil is plenty lethal, buddy...”

Xander covered her mouth. “Stop. I don’t know what they’ll try to do, but Giles says that he doesn’t want to take any chances, and once this is done, they can’t undo it...we just have to decide whether we *want* to do it or not.”

Willow looked at him oddly. “Was that a sentence?”

He shrugged. “Probably not, but what difference does it make?” He grabbed her hand and started leading her to his car.

**

Riley stopped running when he tripped over a stone. He looked around and realized he was in the cemetery. Wandering a little further, he sat on a bench and let Giles words run through his head again.

‘..she’s bound.’

‘I don’t know why it happened so late...’

So, she hadn’t been ‘bound’ before. Riley thought back and tried to pinpoint when it happened, and he ruefully acknowledged that the vamp he’d seen with her must be the one. Which meant that there’d been no thrall when she’d been holding his hand when she stood at Giles door. She’d been with him by choice.

He shuddered and then refocused.

Riley didn’t recall ever seeing that vampire before, and he was sure he’d remember. So, it had to have happened that night...

“Oh, god...” That night. When he’d gone after her because she’d been...when she’d...been...oh god.

When she’d been...outside...so....long.

They’d been, been...god, they’d been doing it while he sat there in the club *waiting* for her!

He thought about what happened when they all went out after her. The two of them had been standing there, talking. They *had* been talking, so at least that wasn’t a lie, but obviously that wasn’t all they’d been doing. Riley cringed. Her hair had been mussed and her clothes all screwed up, but he hadn’t given it a second thought, figuring she’d been staking vampires. Well...staking had been done, he supposed. Just not by her.

Riley shuddered again.

And, he saw now, Buffy had told her friends while he’d been standing right there.

‘We were *bound* to lose track of time.’

And Willow had understood the hint. Of *course* they knew about binding. Only *he* didn’t know about it, being outside the group. But her friends...the ‘scoobies’ Xander called them...had been fighting with her since high school. So, of course *they’d* known.

‘...but, it’s too late!’

Willow had known. He’d been the only one out of the loop. Riley closed his eyes and thought back to Giles’ apartment again.

‘No, he was drawn here by her power.’

The vampire in the holding cell had said the vampire was drawn during the first year with an urge to kill the Slayer. Drawn for no other reason. So, apparently, this was different, on many levels, not just how long she’d been slaying.

It was different.

Riley sat up a bit straighter.

If this binding was different, that meant it might be broken. If it could be broken, he could get Buffy back.

For the first time since his talk with Buffy, Riley Finn smiled.

*******************

*******************

Chapter Four

_______________

“Ok. So, what, we put them in danger, and then save them?”

Angelus glared at his Grande Childe. “No, Spike, somehow I think that defeats the purpose.”

“Then...?”

The dark vampire sighed and sat down. “These people fight with her every night, from what I gather. They don’t just sit home. They go with her on patrols, they help her fight the bigger demons, they generally back her up. If you each pick someone and follow them, I’m sure you’ll get a chance to save a life at some point.”

Penn raised an eyebrow. “Ok, so who are our choices?”

“There are three, actually, not counting Ripper. First, there’s...”

“Wait.” Penn held up his hand, cutting Angelus off. “Ripper?”

“Buffy’s Watcher.”

“You mean he actually got a Slayer?” Penn smiled. “Oh, I’d love to see that.”

Spike shook his head. “No, you wouldn’t.” Penn glanced at him oddly.

“Well, you will. Lots of it, since this is a forever kind of deal.” Angelus leaned back and crossed his legs. “Now, as I was saying. There’s Willow. She’s a little redhead, and from the vibes coming off her, I’d say she’s a witch.” He turned to Penn and snickered at the other vampires look. “Yeah, she’s cute, but she’s also dating a guy named Oz who smelled suspiciously like a werewolf.”

Penn’s face dropped and he shook his head. “I don’t want her, or the wolf. I’ll take the other one.”

“That’s Xander. He’s...I actually like him.” Angelus thought for a minute. “Actually, I like all of them. Willow is just cute, though a little bubbly. Oz is completely quiet. You know there’s one hell of a brain at work there...but really, I like Xander. He’s a smart ass.” The vampire chuckled. “And he made a few jokes I really liked.”

Penn nodded. “Ok, I got him.”

“So, I guess I’ll take the witch, and Dru’ll take care of the werewolf. I kind of owe Red one anyway.”

Angelus shot Spike a look which he ignored and then nodded one last time before standing back up and heading for the basement. “Ok. Go get some sleep. I expect you all to be bound by the end of the week.” He stopped in the doorway. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I want to hear some screams, and I seem to recall a ready supply in the basement.”

Penn stood up and raised a hand, mimicking a child in school. “Can I watch?”

Angelus cocked his head. “Maybe next time.” He disappeared downstairs and Penn sat back down in a huff, looking decidedly disappointed.

Drusilla, who’d been unusually quiet seemed to come back from lala land and slid a hand up Spike’s chest. “So, Daddy’s bound.” She snickered. “And now Grandma can’t stop my play.”

**

Buffy bolted from her last class and ran for her dorm room. She had no idea why...she knew he wouldn’t be there, but for some reason, she was hoping.

Which explained the disappointment she felt when she opened the door only to find Willow....

...And Xander and Anya.

“Hey guys. What’s up?”

“We...well, Xander was with Giles when he called the Council.” Willow looked decidedly nervous, and kept twisting her hands in her lap.

Buffy nodded. “Ok.” She sat down on her bed and faced them. “Talk.”

Xander nodded. “Ok, well, basically, he wants to bounce the binding onto us before the Council gets here. We’ve all discussed it, and we know that we want to do this...but we felt that we should ask you first.”

“Except me.” Anya ignore the glares from the other two. “I want to be immortal again, and this is the best way, so I’m doing it whether you like it or not.”

Buffy stifled a laugh. “And you all thought I would turn you down?” She frowned. “You do understand that we’re talking about forever, right? Eternity? Never dying? That’s a big commitment.”

Willow nodded. “We know. We want it anyway. But...” The witch glanced at her friends. “We thought...” She took a deep breath. “We want to call Cordy and Wesley. They’re hunting demons in LA, and we want to include them...I mean, they were part of the group, and Wesley...well, he...”

Buffy smiled and cut her off. “He’s part of the family. It’s just that...” the Slayer bit her lip. “We’re missing a family member. How soon until the council guys get here?”

Xander held up three fingers. “Three days. Three.”

Buffy bit her lip and turned to Willow with a guilty look on her face. “Uhh...can you hack into the Israeli airlines and get a ticket for someone to arrive tomorrow night?”

Willow looked confused but nodded. “Who?”

“Oz.”

**

Fifteen minutes later, Willow still hadn’t moved. Buffy reluctantly got up and waved a hand in front of her friend. The look the redhead gave her was *not* comforting.

“You *knew*?! You knew where he was and didn’t say?”

Buffy looked down at her hands. “I couldn’t. And I didn’t know at first. But he emailed me to check up on you.” She caught her friends eye. “He was worried. Just wanted to make sure that if something happened, we could reach him.”

Willow’s eyes filled with tears and she nodded and stood up. She started pacing but didn’t make two circuits before she sat down next to Buffy.

She gave the Slayer a watery smile, and then to the blonde’s shock, swept her into a hug.

“Thank you.”

“For what?” Buffy ran her hand along her friends back.

“For not telling me before, and for telling me now.” She squeezed, and then let go. Standing again, the hacker wandered over to her desk and leaned against it, looking down at her hands again.

“And now I have to tell all of you something.” She bit her lip. “If the binding bounces onto me, it’ll probably bounce onto my partner.”

“What?” Xander frowned. “Partner?”

Anya rolled her eyes. “Magical partner. Two witches working together tend to create the same type of bond that bound Slayers and their vamps have, though not always with the whole sex thing. But they belong to each other. Willow’s swaying that she has a magical partner.” She looked at Willow. “Are you two having sex?”

“No!” Willow blushed. “No. Tara and I are...well, we almost, but no. Oz...and she’s...and, complicated. And...so no.”

Xander’s mouth fell open and Buffy tried not to laugh. Anya looked bored.

“Ok, so, we should meet her first.” Buffy looked at her watch and then glanced outside, catching the last of the sunset. “Will, why don’t you get Oz that ticket? His email address, and I think his current phone number, is on the computer. Tell him what’s going on. Then call your friend and invite her over to Giles for a Scooby tomorrow afternoon. We can all get together and set up, meet her, and then when Oz gets here, we can do the spell.”

Willow nodded and Xander, recovered from his stupor, grinned at Buffy. “And you? What will you be doing? Perhaps going to see a certain vampire?”

Buffy grinned. “You really like him, don’t you?”

Xander shrugged. “He seemed cool. And anything’s better than Corporal Cornhead.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Where do you *get* this stuff?”

The boy grinned smugly. “I’m just good.”

**

“Giles?” Buffy pushed the door open, and peaked into the apartment. “Giles?”

“Buffy.” He came around from the kitchen holding a cup of tea.

“Hey.” She smiled and flopped onto the couch. Her Watcher joined her and they sat in silence for a minute.

“So...” Her voice trailed off, but a minute later she continued her thought.

“So...I talked to the guys. They wanna be bound. Oz and Will talked, and he’s coming back. I talked to Wesley, and he didn’t stutter once.” Buffy smiled proudly. “I knew it was the council that did it! He’s quite the demon hunter in LA. He and Cordy will be here tonight, Oz by tomorrow night. He’s on a plane as we speak.”

Giles simply nodded.

“There is someone we don’t know, though.”

Giles nodded again. “Yes, Willow called. Her magical partner.” He set his tea on the table, took off his glasses and began to clean them. “If Willow trusted this girl enough to join her in the magicks, I really feel she will only help.”

This time Buffy nodded. Giles kept talking.

“I spoke to your mate today.”

Buffy smiled. //My mate.//

“He inquired about binding Childer.”

“Huh?” The Slayer frowned. “What does that mean?”

“When a Master Vampire has Childer, favorite Sired, he usually brings them into a binding. They tend to follow their Sires, and it only helps in the protection of the Slayer to whom they are bound.”

Buffy’s face cleared. “Oh.” She smiled. “Ok.”

“There is one other thing, Buffy.”

“Yes?”

“The council...they control the Immortal Ordem. Give the orders. As most Slayers are never close enough to their Watchers for the binding to bounce, and all are raised inside the council’s sphere with very few exceptions, the council’s authority is not usually questioned.”

Buffy arched an eyebrow. “But you think we’re going to change that.”

He nodded. “We are bouncing non-council people, all of whom, with the exception of Xander, have supernatural abilities. You were not bound until your fifth year as a Slayer, and were bound to a direct descendent of the Master. We will, in essence, be stronger as a group than the entire Ordem combined. When you add in my magicks and Xander’s military knowledge, the council is going to be very...apprehensive about letting us in.”

Buffy turned to look at him, her brow furrowed. “Do they have a choice? I’m bound.”

Giles cocked his head. “No, not as such, but they can go out of their way to make sure we are...shunned. Turned into black sheep, and kept out of the inner circle.”

Buffy’s face took on an interesting look. “I guess we’ll just have to make sure that doesn’t happen.” She smiled sweetly. A little too sweetly for Giles’ taste, but he let it slide. A moment later the smile faded and she bit her lip.

“You spoke to Angel?”

“Angel? Oh. Angelus. Yes.”

“Did you happen to get an address?”

*******************

*******************

Chapter Five

_______________

Buffy slipped into the mansion and looked around, smiling. Art on the walls, a few statues, comfortable furniture.

All saying “we have money, but so what?”

Very nice.

She strolled into the main hall and stopped, frowning. There were three vampires sitting on the couch talking. Carefully Buffy slipped a stake into her hand and casually put her hand in her pocket as she walked up behind them.

The darker haired one turned around and his jaw dropped.

“Wow.” His eyes raked over her and when he got back to her face he might as well have been drooling. “And you are?”

Buffy raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know a Slayer when you meet one?”

The bleached blond turned around and smiled. “Hey Slayer. So, I was wondering...what happened to that other girl I heard about? The one called after Dru killed...oh, what was her name...”

She cocked her head and eyed him. “Kendra. And Faith is in a coma, thank you.” She smiled and Spike shuddered, correctly assuming how ‘Faith’ was knocked out. “Spike. And Drusilla. Gee...and here I was hoping to never see you again.”

The dark haired girl giggled. “It’s my new mummy! Daddy’s playing with grandmum, but he’d stop for you.”

Buffy raised both eyebrows this time and turned to the Spike. “Translation, please?”

He smiled wryly. “She says Angelus is in the basement torturing Darla, but if you let him know you’re here, he’ll come back upstairs. This is Penn, by the way.”

Buffy nodded at the other vamp and then turned back to Spike and Dru. “Spike, you said if I stopped Dru from sucking the world into Hell, you’d leave and not come back. Here you are, in direct violation of that agreement. *Again*.” She pulled her hand out of her pocket and wiggled the stake. His eyes widened.

“Now, Slayer, no need for that. Angelus is my Sire. We’re going to follow you into the bind. You can just...uhh...put that away now.” He stood, taking Dru with him, and back up a few steps. Penn watched in fascination.

“Now, Spike, why would I do that? I mean, because we’re just *such* good friends?” She took a step closer and Spike took another step back. Penn’s mouth was hanging open. He’d known that Spike had had some dealings with a Slayer here, but for some reason he hadn’t connected it with Angelus being bound. It hadn’t occurred to him that the Slayer his Sire was bound to was the same that had Spike running back to the fold two years ago, minus Dru. He remembered he’d come home a second time after getting Dru back, swearing about magic and slayers.

Penn looked the small blonde girl up and down.

//There has to be a *lot* of power there to send Spike cowering against the wall....//

Then they all heard an especially pronounced bang from the basement. Buffy cocked her head and halted her advance, and Penn could swear he saw Spike breath a sigh of relief.

“Basement, huh?” The blonde vamp nodded.

Buffy look Spike in the eye. “I guess we’ll just finish this later.” She smiled very sweetly and turned around, heading for the noise.

The minute she was out of sight, Spike collapsed into a chair, and Drusilla started dancing around the room.

“The moon speaks. Pssst, pssst. The Slayer’s power is grown.”

Spike moaned and covered his eyes. Penn started laughing.

**

“Darla, Darla, Darla. Stop with the begging. It’s getting old.”

Buffy paused on the second to last step and leaned around the corner, peeking into the room. She had to stifle a gasp. //Ok, not what I was expecting...//

Chained to the wall was...a female vampire. She was blonde, and probably very pretty when not in game face, but other than that, Buffy couldn’t tell, though she looked kind of familiar. She was wearing what had to have been, when it started, a very stylish shirt and skirt. Now, they were just rags. Angelus stood over her, smoking a cigarette, wiping his bloody hands on a towel. Buffy tried to remember where she’d seen the female before.

“Angelus, this has been...interesting. But don’t you think you should let me go now?” The vampiress rattled the chains and looked at Angelus...//Bitch.// ...suggestively. “We could have so much more fun if I could move...”

The voice hit Buffy and she closed her eyes, remembering. //She was with the Master before I killed him...//

Buffy opened her eyes in time to watch her mate shake his head. “Nope. Sorry, dear Sire, but that won’t be happening anymore.” He held up his hand, claddagh gleaming, heart pointing in. Buffy looked down and smiled, fingering her own ring. “See, I belong to someone now.” He crouched in front of her. “Now, we were together, what? Two hundred years? And I never wore it this way for you. Shouldn’t that tell you something?”

Darla growled.

“Now, that isn’t a nice sound for a lady to make.”

Buffy smiled and decided she’d hid long enough. She descended the last two steps and cleared her throat. Angelus’ head whipped up.

“Am I interrupting?”

Angelus raised an eyebrow but shook his head. “I was just about done for the day.” He dropped the towel and walked over. Resting his hand on her shoulder he gently steered Buffy back towards the stairs. “Why don’t you go back upstairs? I’ll be right behind you.”

Buffy looked back at him and raised an eyebrow. “I *was* interrupting.”

He shook his head again. “No, I just don’t think you need to see this.” He leaned down, kissed her cheek and whispered into her ear. “It isn’t right. You’re too pure for this.”

Buffy smiled and kissed his cheek back. “Hurry up then. I don’t want to be stuck with Spike any longer than I have to.”

Angelus frowned. “Why? What did he do?”

“Today? Nothing. The last two years? You really don’t want me to go there.”

Angelus’ eyes widened for a second and he nodded. “You’re the Slayer he couldn’t kill.” He grinned down at her. “That’s my girl.”

Buffy grinned impishly and glanced behind him. “Tell Darla Buffy says hi.” She giggled and darted up the stairs.

**

Angelus watched his Slayer’s ass as she ran up the stairs and resolved to finish up down here quickly, and not just because he didn’t want Spike turned into a little pile of dust.

Turning around he re-approached his Sire. “Buffy said to say hi.”

Darla’s head snapped up and she growled again. “You’re bound to *her*?! I just...when you said you were bound, I remembered...I thought you were bound to the other one, the dark haired one!”

Angelus shook his head. “No, Buffy. See now why I needed to chain you up?” He patted her head and turned back to the stairs, ignoring her shouts. When he got to the top, he locked the basement doors firmly behind him. Buffy didn’t need to see that. It wasn’t that he thought she couldn’t handle it. Now more than ever, having learned about Spike, he knew that not only had she seen worse, she’d *done* it. No, he just didn’t want her to have to live with it in her own home. //Her home...I wonder how long it’ll take before I can convince her to move in.// She was pure good and he was evil and he was going to shield her from that side of him as much as possible.

**

Angelus went back into the main room to find Buffy listening to Drusilla sing about the stars. The Slayer had one eyebrow raised and was watching with an interesting combination of amusement and disdain on her face. Spike was next to her in what Angelus could only guess to be some kind of unspoken truce. When Buffy looked up and saw her mate watching her, she smiled.

“See, I always knew she was nuts, but now that I know who her Sire was, the whole thing makes so much more sense.”

Angelus chuckled and leaned on the back of the couch, smiling. “Why are you here?”

Buffy frowned. “I need a reason to see you? It’s only been a day, but I was under the impression that...”

“No.” Angelus came over and took her hand, kissing it. “I didn’t mean that. It’s just early, and I was wondering.”

She smiled impishly. “I was thinking we could spend some quality time before I go on patrol. Besides, you said you wanted to patrol with me, didn’t you?”

He growled. “That’s only because of the methods you use to attract vampires.”

Spike snickered and Angelus glared.

“What? You have to admit, it’s worked for her so far.” He shrugged. “It’s how *I* found her the first time.”

Angelus’ growl got louder and he advanced on his Grande Childe. “What. Did. You. Say.?”

Spike held up his hands in surrender. “I just wanted to kill her, remember? And I didn’t even manage that.”

Getting himself under control, Angelus glared once more and took Buffy’s arm, leading her towards his bedroom.

“I think we need to talk.”

Buffy frowned. “I’m not just going to stop...”

Angelus stopped walking and turned to face her. “I don’t expect you to. But if this is going to work, and we don’t really get a choice in that, we’re both going to have to meet halfway.”

Buffy thought for a minute, then nodded. “Ok, lets go talk.”

*******************

*******************

Chapter Six

_______________

Once they were in the door to the bedroom, Angelus caught Buffy’s arm and swung her back around to face him. He cradled her head with one hand and captured her lips in a bruising kiss, his other hand unbuttoning her jeans.

Buffy moaned and spoke between kisses. “I” kiss, “thought” nibble, “you” suck, kiss, “wanted to” kiss “talk.” With her last word Angelus swept his tongue into her mouth, claiming it and making Buffy whimper.

Angelus raised his head to lift her shirt over her head. “We are talking.” The red tank-top pooled on the floor and Angelus’ cool hands found her breasts as his mouth found hers again. He started slowly walking her backwards towards the bed, tweaking her nipples between his forefingers and thumbs.

Buffy broke the kiss so she could see to undo his shirt buttons and he started placing openmouthed kisses on her neck while she stepped out of her heeled sandals.

“While...yes, right there! While this can be...god...can be considered a form...oh!...a form of communication, it is not...god, yes, harder....not generally considered *talking*.”

Angelus sucked harder on her scar, per her last request, and managed to get her jeans and panties pushed off her hips while she pushed his shirt off his shoulders and down his arms. The clothing landed on the floor, and when he took another step forward, forcing her back, Buffy felt the bed against the back of her knees.

“Are you talking? Yes. Am I talking? Yes. We’re talking.” He lifted the deceptively small Slayer by her waist and threw her backwards onto the bed. She bounced a little and he watched her prop herself on her elbows and run her right foot up her left calf.

“Ok...so if this is talking, what did you mean about meeting halfway?”

Angelus moved to the foot of the bed and grinned. “You’ll see in a second.” His pants were unbuttoned but not unzipped and he kept them on as he slowly crawled up the bed the same as he had the night before. And just as before, Buffy felt a pooling of heat at the picture he made, almost stalking her as prey.

“Halfway...” He gave a sucking kiss to her calf, “...would be...” another to her upper thigh, “right about...” one more at her hip, “here.” He placed a soft, feather-like kiss to her mound, nuzzling her dark curls.

“Ohhhh.” Buffy fell back against the bed and closed her eyes. “Ok, I’m definitely willing to meet halfway.”

Angelus chuckled and placed a kiss on her inner thigh. “I thought you might be.” He slipped his hands under her knees and threw her legs over his shoulders. Placing another soft kiss into her curls he whispered against her.

“Tell me what you want, baby.” His cool breath brushed her skin and Buffy bucked her hips, but Angelus wrapped his arms around her legs and pinned her. “No. Talk to me.”

Buffy concentrated on her breathing and kept her eyes shut. She was determined not to give in so soon, though she knew she would eventually. She felt his breath on her again and bit back a moan.

“Come on, baby. I want to taste you. Just give in. Tell me what you need.”

He kissed her again, this time pulling on some of the damp curls and she gasped.

“Talk to me.”

Buffy moaned and shook her head, though her hips were still trying to get closer.

“Buffy.”

The husky way he said her name did her in.

“Please.”

Angelus smiled and blew into her curls again. “Please what?”

“Please...oh god!” Her hips bucked as he ran the tip of his tongue just above her clit. “Please, please eat me.”

“Good girl.” His tongue moved lower and flicked the end of her swollen clit and Buffy’s hips bucked again. Angelus held her still and slowly licked a line from her ass to her clit, lingering on the aching bud.

Buffy started to pant. “In me. Please. Inside.”

Angelus smiled. //What was that commercial? Once you pop, you never stop.// He moved his tongue down and wriggled it around the opening, flicking it in and out but never going deep enough. She moaned and tried to get closer, and he gave her a long, slow lick before placing a light kiss on her opening and pulling back just a bit.

“Beg.” He blew a puff of cool air on her opening. “Beg me.”

“Please, please, Angelus. I need to feel it...please...”

He ran his tongue around her outer lips again before speaking. “You need to feel what, baby? What do you need?”

“Your tongue. Something. Please, god, please. In. Me.” She was panting, her whole body writhing. Angelus was sure that in his two-hundred-plus years, he’d never seen anything so erotic.

“Shh...it’s ok. I’m here. I have what you need.”

He released one hip and slid his hand around, pushing two fingers into her heat. She gasped and arched, the words he’d whispered doing more to turn her on than she’d have been willing to admit, the fingers brining her that much closer.

“You like that, my beautiful little Slayer? Hmm? Do you want more? I can give you more...”

Buffy’s back arched as Angelus’ fingers slowly slid in and out and his thumb massaged her clit. His other hand still held her hips down, but she was the Slayer, and with only one hand holding her, she was able to move against the his fingers a bit.

“Yuhuh. Yes, more. Please, yes. God, harder. Please...”

Angelus smiled and finally gave in, having heard the pleading quality to her voice he’d learned to listen for. Adding a third and fourth finger, he pumped her hard, bending and sucking her clit into his mouth and rolling it on his tongue. Buffy started to spasm around his hand, and he sucked harder.

“God, yes! Yes! Angelus!!!” She screamed out her orgasm, riding the waves of pleasure for almost a minute while Angelus slowly worked her down, her entire body writhing on his silk sheets.

//No. Our silk sheets, even if she doesn’t know it yet.//

After she’d calmed, her mate crawled up the bed and settled beside her and pulled her into his arms. Buffy rested her head on his chest and then looked up at him.

“What about...”

Angelus shook his head. “I’d bite you, and I don’t want to do that while there are minions in the house. They’d smell the blood and come running.” He kissed the top of her head and smiled down at her. “Don’t worry about it. Just go to sleep.”

“But...”

“Sleep, Buffy.”

She searched his eyes a minute before nodding and letting her eyes fall closed. Angelus waited until she was asleep before reaching his other hand down and unzipping his pants. Taking himself in hand, he noted to himself ruefully that he was indeed jacking off while a perfectly beautiful and willing woman was lying in his arms, for no reason other than to protect her from prying eyes.

//Good thing the Master’s dead. I’d never live through him hearing about this.//

**

Buffy burst into Giles’ apartment the next day with more energy than she could ever remember having. She had no doubt that it was because of one of the vampires currently moving through the sewers towards Giles’ apartment. They were all to meet here at two, vamps and scoobies alike, but Buffy had wanted to talk to Willow, so the two girls had come early.

“Wow. You look insanely happy.” Buffy stood staring at the bubbly redhead bouncing around the living room couch.

“He’ll be here tonight! Tonight!! And, and Tara is all on board with the binding, and I get to see Oz! And he’s staying this time! And my best friend’s married, and I’m never gonna die of old age, though I might die of a vamp or demon, but no wrinkles, and I don’t have to worry about turning into my mom, because, immortal! And, oh, oh! Did I mention Oz?” Willow hadn’t stopped moving through the whole speech and Buffy found herself getting dizzy so she sat down. Hearing a sound in the kitchen she called out to Giles.

“Did you let her have coffee?”

The Watcher came around the corner holding a tray of assorted drinks, including, Buffy noted, some stolen plasma for the non-breathing folks, and set it down on the coffee table.

“No, not since she’s been here, but she was like this when she arrived.” He scooted out of the way as the witch circled the couch again and sat in the chair opposite Buffy. She smiled at him and then sent a mock glare at Willow.

“Wills, did you have coffee?”

Willow shook her head, even as she bounced. “Nope, but I did have three sodas to keep me awake during class. I was up all night with Oz, he was on the phone from the plane.”

Buffy groaned. Willow on a caffeine high that bad would take at least another hour to come down, judging by the end of her class and the energy she still seemed to have.

“Will, can you sit?”

Willow nodded and sat down on the hearth, still bouncing a bit. “Have I mentioned Oz?”

Buffy couldn’t help but smile at her friend’s good mood. “Yeah, you did. And I’m very, very happy for you.” She rolled her shoulders and grinned. “And, I’m very, very happy for me.”

Willow giggled. “You never came back last night. Were you, perhaps, with a certain Vampire we all know...and not love, but will! Soon! And you do, right?” Willow actually stopped bouncing and focused on her roommate. “You *do* love him, right?”

Buffy’s eyes twinkled as she nodded. “I do. I actually do, and I just met him! Of course, we...and we hadn’t even known each other for five minutes, but...”

Giles interrupted them. “That’s normal. I’m surprised there was as much actual fighting as you say there was, but then, nothing about this binding has been normal, so who’s to say?”

“Giles?” He turned to face the hacker. “How are new Slayers called when one is bound? I mean, with Buffy, there's Faith, and she’ll...I mean, at some point...” Willow bit her lip. “But before Buffy did the whole ‘I’m not really dead’ thing, how was a new Slayer called?”

Giles took his glasses off and started to clean them. “Bound Slayers are, in actual fact, very rare. As I think I may have said, there are only about twenty right now, though there have been more. Unfortunately, while the Slayer will not age, and is protected by her mate, she can still be killed just as any normal person...o-or slayer. However, when a slayer *is* bound, it usually triggers the next slayer in that instant. If a new slayer isn’t called, there is a ritual that can be performed to call her.”

Willow nodded. “I was just wondering.” She was quiet for a minute, then cocked her head. “Wait, doesn’t that mean a new slayer was called the other night?”

Giles nodded. “Yes. Her name is Lillian, and she is a normal slayer. That is to say, she was brought up under council control.”

Buffy wrinkled her brow. “Wait. So...now there are three of us?”

Giles shook his head. “No, the council had released Faith’s power. When she dies, she will not trigger another slayer, and if o-or, when, she wakes, she will be just a normal human being.”

Buffy chewed on her bottom lip for a minute before nodding. “So, do we have to meet the new slayer?”

“No, I rather think the council wants to keep us as far away from her as possible. And they are sending six immortal slayers to Sunnydale with Quentin to train you and Angelus in the ways of the Ordem, which is three more than they have ever sent before.”

The Slayer’s eyebrows lifted. “They’re hoping to be able to overpower me.”

“I do believe that is the reason, yes.”

Willow frowned. “But, by the time they get here, she’ll be bound, not just to a Master vamp of *the* Master’s line, but two Witches, a military genius, a vision girl and a thousand year old ex-demon. Not to mention you, Giles. And Wesley.”

“Quite. They have no idea, though. All the council knows is that Buffy has a few friends that know who she is. They don’t know any more than that.”

Buffy raised her hand. “Excuse me, back it up a bit.” She turned to Willow. “A ‘vision girl’?”

Willow nodded. “There was a half demon working with Cordy and Wes, but he died to save a group of other harmless half demons. Doyle, I think. Anyway, he got these visions from the Powers that Be, telling Cordy and Wes where the evil was. When he died, Cordy started getting the visions. So, vision girl.”

Buffy nodded, still working it through in her head.

“Ok. I think I get that.” She smiled. “Or I will after an all night dish session with her.”

Willow smiled and started to talk but the door opening cut her off.

Xander walked in, his arm draped around Anya’s shoulders.

“Ahh, look, Ahn! It is our friends, and I see nowhere any traces of the Midwestern Mistake.”

Willow giggled, Buffy rolled her eyes and Giles groaned.

*******************

*******************

Chapter Seven

_______________

“So.” Xander flopped onto the couch next to Buffy and Anya settled on his lap. “Where are the dead folk?”

“Ha ha.” Buffy rolled her eyes. “Don’t do that when they’re here, ok? I’d rather you didn’t alienate them, since we’re all gonna spend eternity together. Hopefully. If no one dies.” She bit her lip and looked at Giles. “Eternity? That’s just...a really long time.”

Giles frowned. “Well, technically speaking, it is rather unlikely we’ll spend eternity. Immortal is not literal. We can be killed, and would be very egotistical to think that we’ll never meet someone stronger. Most likely, we will, eventually, meet our match.”

“Oh.” The Slayer frowned for a minute. “Is it wrong that I’m comforted by that?”

Her Watcher chuckled. “Hardly. I am as well.”

Willow raised her hand. “Ditto.”

Anya opened her mouth to say something, but thankfully there was a knock at the door and Buffy jumped up to get it.

“Wes! Cordy!”

“Buffy!” Cordelia jumped Buffy, hugging her fiercely, and, though surprised, Buffy returned it just as strong. Wesley was next and when Buffy stepped back she whistled appreciatively.

“Wes. The leather and unshaven look really works for you! And there is no sarcasm there.”

Wesley smiled. “Thank you. I dressed like this in high school and college, but when I was sent to the Council school...” He sent a significant look towards Giles who nodded.

“What?” Buffy’s eye flickered between the two men.

“The Council has a rather strict dress code. You may have noticed that I wore full tweed suits only until I was fired....after that, I started to dress slightly more casually, though not much until this summer. It would make sense that Wesley would have had to give up his wardrobe when he began attending the Council training school.”

Willow harrumphed. “Well, that’s dumb. He looks much more intimidating this way.” She smiled at the young Watcher who sat down on the hearth next to her. “And very rugged.” He smiled back.

“Thank you.”

Cordy settled at Wesley’s feet and hit Willow’s leg playfully. “Hands off. Mine.”

Buffy’s eyes widened. “When did that happen?” She looked to Cordy for answers who mouthed the word ‘later’. Buffy nodded. She started to say something else when someone else knocked at the door. Buffy grunted in frustration as she got up to answer it.

“Ok, that’s, like, the third time!” She pulled the door opened and frowned for a minute, then her face cleared. “Tara?”

The blonde girl at the door gave her a shy smile and nodded.

“Come on in.” Buffy stepped back and Tara came in, looking around at everyone. Willow jumped up and hugged her.

“You came!”

Tara hugged her back and smiled. “I said I would, didn’t I?”

Willow beamed and led her back to the hearth where they sat down together.

A bump was heard from the basement. Giles cleared his throat and looked at Buffy who was focused on the basement steps and trying not to jump out of her seat and fly down them. Giles decided to take pity on her. “Buffy, I believe that is your mate and his family. Why don’t you go down and meet them, and I can do the introductions.”

Buffy gave her Watcher a grateful look and bounced out of her seat. Willow watched her go and giggled. Cordelia raised her eyebrows.

“She’s really got it bad.”

Giles started to clean his glasses and took on a thoughtful look. “Well, being bound so late, I’d say her body is reacting to the nearness she’s been denied for four years. Really, this whole thing is quite unusual.”

Wesley leaned in eagerly. “Please, I haven’t been here. Tell me.”

Giles nodded and began to explain.

**

Buffy got to the bottom of the steps and stopped, shaking her head at what she saw.

Spike and Penn were arguing, neither making any move to go upstairs, Drusilla was dancing around the basement, though avoiding the boxes of Holy Water, and Angelus was watching his Childe and Grande Childe with a look of amused boredom on his face.

Buffy walked over and snaked an arm around her mate’s waist and smiled up at him. He grinned and leaned down, planting a kiss on the top of her head and draping an arm around her shoulder.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” He looked back up and rolled his eyes at the younger vamps. “If you two are finished, some of us are going upstairs.”

Penn growled one last time at Spike and headed up, followed by a giggling Buffy and a chuckling Angelus. Spike had to collect Drusilla and followed several steps behind them.

At the door to the living room, Buffy’s hearing caught the end of Wesley’s sentence.

“...really interesting. I don’t believe there is any record of...” He looked up and his voice trailed off. “Angelus?”

The dark vampire nodded, but made no move to release Buffy, instead settled onto a chair, pulling the Slayer into his lap.

Spike nodded to everyone and flopped onto the couch opposite Xander and Anya with Drusilla in his lap. Penn just stood glaring at him.

“Spike. Now there’s a face I didn’t want to see.” Xander glared at Buffy. “Warning would have been good, and a stake would have been better. What’s he doing here?”

Buffy made a face. “Turns out the Sire that drove Dru crazy is Angel. She made Spike.”

Giles eyes widened. “These are the Childer who wish to follow into the binding?”

Angelus nodded.

“Well, I don’t know that I want to be bound to someone who once kidnapped me just to get his girl back.” Willow glared at Spike. “And if you didn’t need me to cast a spell for it, why *did* you grab me? Huh?”

Spike looked at his Dark Princess and shrugged. “I didn’t know I wouldn’t need magic.” Turning back to the witch he gave a lopsided grin. “And, I only get to follow into the bind if I save your life, Red. So, really, shouldn’t that make us even?”

Willow shook her head. “You’ve tried to kill me way too many times.”

The blonde vamp sighed. “Well...I’m trying here. Don’t that count?”

Xander was still glaring. “I’ll give him *one* chance. If he screws up, I stake him.” A stake appeared in his hand from nowhere and he waved it in Spike’s face who backed off a bit.

Angelus raised his eyebrows. Obviously, working with the Slayer rubs off on people. The kid knew his stuff.

“Ok, I can live with that.”

Spike shot a disbelieving look at his Grade Sire. “What? You’re fine with him staking me?”

Angelus shrugged. “If you screw up, you’re staked. I’d do it, but if Xander wants the job, he’s welcome to it. You’ve obviously screwed him over in the past.”

Spike scowled, and Willow giggled. “Now who’s the ‘Big Bad’?”

“Ok, could we please?” To Angelus’ displeasure, Buffy got off his lap and started pacing. “We need to get to know each other, those who don’t, and we need a plan.”

Penn leaned against the desk behind the couch and frowned. “A plan?”

“Yes.” Giles looked up and motioned for Buffy to sit back down, and she did...at Willow’s feet. Angelus bit back a growl. //She’s too far away.//

“The council seems to think we’re going to be a problem...”

Cordy cut him off. “Gee, I wonder where they got *that* idea?” She was smiling.

Giles smiled back. “Quite. However, they are sending twice the usual number of Immortals to ‘train’ us, plus Quentin Travers and his clique. It would be beneficial to all of us if we were...together, as it were.” He sent a pointed look to Willow, Xander and Spike. “This means putting old grievances aside. We do, at least, have three things in common, all of us. We all hate rules.” Everyone nodded. “None of us has any desire to take orders from the council.” Again, all were in agreement. “And we all, if not like her, do at least respect Buffy.” All heads nodded again, including Penn’s. Spike raised his hand.

“I don’t know about the idiot behind me...” Penn growled and Spike ignored him. “But I *do* happen to like Buffy.” He shrugged. “Strange I know, but she’s got...spunk.”

Buffy made a face and leaned back against Willow’s legs. “Spunk? Who am I, Mary Tyler Moore?”

“Sorry, pet. That was the best I could come up with.”

Wesley jumped in. “Well, seeing as how we are all going to spend the rest of our very long lives together, I believe a plan of action regarding the council would be good.”

“What about Oz?”

Everyone turned to face Anya in shock. “What? I have feelings! I can remember someone who isn’t here.”

Buffy giggled from the floor. “We’ll fill him in when he gets here.” Anya settled down and Buffy turned to smile at her mate, but frowned when she saw that he was glaring at her. She cocked her head in question and he held out a hand for her. Buffy’s eyes widened and she looked down at where she was sitting and then back at him. She bit her lip and he raised his eyebrows at her, extending his hand a bit more. Buffy finally smiled and took his hand, letting him pull her into his lap. Everyone else was focused on Giles who was now standing and pacing the area between the couch and desk, so no one saw the exchange.

“So, I believe we should start forming a battle plan as it were...”

Everyone started talking on top of each other, and Buffy settled back into Angelus’ arms, speaking up when she had something to say, and otherwise just reveling in the feel of being held.

//I don’t think I’ve felt this safe since I was called...//

**

Riley stood nervously outside the Giles’ door, twisting his hands. He could hear the voices inside and knew that most, if not all, of Buffy’s friends were here. He also knew that if he didn’t start work on Buffy *now*, he’d lose all chances at breaking this ‘unusual’ binding.

So he took a deep breath and knocked.

After a minute the door swung open, and Riley smiled at a glaring Xander.

“What do you want, Sergeant Fishhead?”

Riley ignored the insult and tilted his head, trying to see past the boy blocking the door. “Is Buffy here?”

“Yes.” Xander casually leaned against the door frame, making no move to let Riley past. “Why?”

“I’d like to talk to her.”

“Huh. Ok, hang on.” Xander turned around, careful to keep the door blocked and addressed the room. “Captain America is here and wants to talk to Buffy.”

Buffy screwed up her face and buried it in Angelus’ shoulder. He chuckled down at her and then looked towards the door, his face darkening. “Xander?”

“Yeah?”

“Is it dark out there yet?”

Xander made a show of turning around and checking the sky. Turning back, he shook his head. “Not for another hour, why?”

Angelus shrugged. “I’m just thinking that if I can find Riley in an hour when the sun’s set, he isn’t far enough away from my mate, and I think I’ll probably want to do something about that.”

Xander nodded and turned around to face Riley again, who’s face had gone pale.

“Buffy’s husband says that if you aren’t out of reach in an hour, he’s gonna kill you.”

Riley took one look past Xander at the vampire, who was now in game face, and his ex-girlfriend who was now snuggled into the vamps shoulder. He frowned but nodded. “I’m gone.”

He turned and left the courtyard. Xander watched him go and closed the door when he lost sight of the commando, shaking his head as he came back to the couch. “Angelus, you know that he isn’t going to leave.”

Angelus winked. “I know. That’s half the fun.” He grinned at the boy. “And for anyone in this room, it’s Angel.”

Xander nodded again and again, someone knocked on the door.

“Oh, for god’s sake!” Giles stood to get the door, speaking over his shoulder. “From now on, anyone in this group, just walk in! This is ridiculous!” He yanked open the door and his face immediately softened. “Oz.”

Willow squealed and jumped up, racing to the door to hug her boyfriend. Behind her everyone was smiling, including the vampires.

*******************

*******************

Chapter Eight

_______________

Willow staggered to her feet and Oz attempted to catch her as she stumbled to the couch. “Anyone else a little woozy from that?”

Buffy shook her head as Angelus helped her off the floor. “I don’t know, Will. It might not be the binding. It might be the caffeine high you’re finally coming down from.”

Xander shook his head as he stood, grabbing Anya for balance. “No. It’s the spell.” He then caught his girl as she stood and faltered and they held on to each other as the room stopped spinning. “Definitely the spell.”

Tara didn’t stand yet, instead laying back on the floor and closing her eyes, willing the dizziness away. “I don’t think I’m getting up.”

Wesley looked at the blonde witch and then at the rest of the gang, standing on wobbly legs and nodded at Tara. “I believe you have the right idea.”

Spike was scratching the back of his neck, as was Penn. Drusilla was just out of it.

“Well, that was some powerful magic, I can tell you. It’s itching like crazy.”

Angelus raised an eyebrow. “Really? I don’t feel a thing.”

Wesley looked up from his spot on the floor between Tara and Cordelia. “You weren’t technically *in* the spell, and it appears that Buffy is unaffected as well.”

“As am I.” Giles helped Anya and Xander to the couch and steadied them as they sat. “I don’t feel anything different.”

“It must be those of us who were already bound.” Buffy leaned against Angelus who wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “We weren’t affected by the spell, so we aren’t dizzy now.”

“It’s starting to wear off though.” Willow smiled and nodded to emphasize her own point and faltered. “Ok, but no moving the head for a while.”

Angelus chuckled, then leaned down to kiss his wife on the nose. “I have to go get Riley. He’ll be somewhere on campus, and the sun set two hours ago...that’s two hours extra freedom. He’s probably getting cocky.”

“What are you going to do?” Buffy bit her lip then shook her head. “Never mind. Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”

Giles cleared his throat. “You understand that he is an innocent? Killing him is not...”

Angelus cut him off. “I’m not going to kill him. He wouldn’t learn that way anyway.” He smiled and grabbed his coat.

“Hey!” Buffy caught up with him at the door. “*That’s* my goodbye kiss? A peck on the damn *nose*?”

The vampire chuckled again and leaned down to kiss her very, very thoroughly. After about a minute he pulled back and rested his forehead against hers. “Better?”

Buffy nodded. “Much.”

“Hey, Angel?”

He looked up at Xander and raised his eyebrows. “Yeah?”

“Say hi to the Soldier Toy for me.”

Angelus smiled. “Will do.”

**

Riley scowled as he headed back up from the Initiative complex. No one but Forrest and Graham were willing to help him. Soldiers of the Initiative were not willing to stick their necks out over a the loss of the Slayer from their ranks. She’d been ‘annoying’ and ‘nosy’ and they were glad to have her gone. He could ‘do better’.

Riley *knew* that if it had been anyone but Buffy, the others would have been up in arms over the wrong done a fellow officer. They just didn’t like the Slayer. Forrest and Graham were only helping because they were close to Riley. Forrest had made quite a fuss over it, in fact. They both had.

Until he’d told them about this ‘binding’ thing.

Forrest had been livid. Graham hadn’t been far behind.

*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~

Forrest bolted out of his chair in shock. “You mean a *vampire* comes along, and suddenly, you’re just gone?”

Riley nodded.

“Shit, man. We can’t let it happen.” Graham sat forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “I mean, ok, I don’t like her, but...this ain’t right.” He looked at Forrest who was nodding emphatically.

“No way.” He turned back to Riley. “We’re with you. Whatever you need, man.”

Riley smiled.

*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~

He wasn’t smiling now. Twenty-five soldiers. Twenty-five men who all claimed to be loyal to him, and still said they’d stand behind him. They just didn’t like Buffy.

So, they were ‘so sorry’, but none of them was gonna lift a *damn finger* to help.

Riley slammed out of the frat house, the door banging behind him. He kicked at a bush next to the door, trying to vent.

“Fuck!”

“No thanks, Ninja Nancy. You aren’t really my type.”

The commando froze.

“Now, here you are, not only still in town, but in front of your own damn fraternity.” Angelus strode around the boy and glared at him. “Which is *definitely* too close to my wife’s dorm for my piece of mind.”

Riley crossed his arms. “And what are you going to do about it? You know that if you kill me, Buffy won’t just be *ok* with that.”

The vampire nodded. “I know.” He smiled. “But there are just so many other fun options.” Before Riley could react, Angelus clocked him, knocking him down and out. He smiled down at the unconscious child.

“And, you are the last of the old ties. They have to be cut before we can move on.”

The Master Vampire lifted Riley onto his shoulder and headed for the mansion, whistling and thinking that, really, this was very nice of him.

Now Darla would have someone to play with.

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

“Ninja Nancy” is a variation on “ninja nancies” from Indie’s “Busted”, Part Two. I lifted it, I admit it. But it was so great! And since Spike said it in her story, I figured it might be the kind of thing Angelus would say, as opposed to Xander.

So, thanks to Indie! :)

:: Part Three ::

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