Title: Love, Hellmouth Style 29-30
Author: Gileswench
Contact: gileswench@yahoo.com
Feedback: Constructive criticism always welcome. Praise abjectly sought.
Disclaimer: It all belongs to Joss, Mutant Enemy, etc., etc., etc. I just let them have all the fun Joss won't. I own nothing except my twisted mind which you really don't want. Please don't sue.



The two vampires sat, uncomfortable in one another's presence. The last time they had been together Spike had had Angel tortured. Now the younger vampire knew he owed his sanity, if not his continued existence, to his Sire.

Spike hated to owe anyone for anything.

Owing Angel was almost worse than owing the Slayer and her Watcher.

And he did owe the Watcher yet again. Giles had not only allowed him in to spend the night, he'd quietly left out a tee shirt and a pair of jeans for the vampire to wear. Sure the clothes were too big, but they weren't as bad as the things Harm had dressed him in. And Giles couldn't help being both taller and broader than Spike. Of course, the fact that Giles preferred to wear his clothes loose didn't help matters.

Still, in the final analysis, it was better than chinos and a plaid dress shirt.

Now if he could just ditch the loafers and the glasses.

If only the Slayer wouldn't laugh at him.

That hurt more than he would ever admit.

As for Angel, he was lost in his personal Hell, as per usual.

He knew Buffy was beyond his reach. He'd known it before she had. He'd known it even before Joyce had pointed it out to him so vehemently.

Still, he hadn't ever been prepared for her to move on to someone else. Even when she'd been with Riley, he had known it was a short term thing. She was trying to move on, but the young commando wasn't enough for her. Even she knew that. He'd been able to see it in her eyes, hear it in her voice. There was no spark. When she'd said she loved Riley, she sounded like she was trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to convince him. He'd known he was safe; known Buffy was still his on some level.

Now he knew he'd lost her completely.

To Giles of all people.

The woman he'd loved and the man he'd once considered his best friend had both left him behind.

He'd tortured both mercilessly when he'd lost his soul.

They couldn't have come up with a more painful retribution if they'd tried.

What hurt the most was that neither had done it to hurt him.

They hadn't cared enough.

*****

"Rupert?"

"Yes, luv?"

"I love you."

He kissed her gently.

"I know, sweetheart."

She searched his eyes.

"You really do, don't you?"

"Absolutely. As surely as you know how I feel about you."

"That's pretty surely." She snuggled closer to him. "Of course, that doesn't mean I don't like to hear it sometimes."

She smiled as his chuckle vibrated through his chest and her cheek.

"I love you, too. Now go to sleep, luv. I'll sunproof down here before I go to the shop tomorrow."

Buffy raised her head.

"How did you know I was gonna ask you to do that?"

"You were alone for hours today. Knowing you I expected you'd want some company during the day; even if it is a pair of vampires."

"You're really something, Rupert."

"I love you, too, Buffy."

*****

"Don't even try it, Spike."

"What? What was I gonna do that was so terrible, Peaches?"

"You can't smoke in here. Buffy's pregnant. It's bad for the baby."

Spike tossed the pack of cigarettes aside in disgust.

"The niblet doesn't even have lungs yet, most like. Anyway thanks to Harm's bloody childe she'll probably lose it. Young wanker."

"If anything happens to Buffy..."

"You'll what? You'll stake him? You'll have to get past ol' Rups to do it. Might get a bit dusty for you, Mate. He's a little possessive of her these days."

"Not possessive. Protective. There's a difference."

"Whatever. Either way he won't take kindly to you trying to play Sir Lancelot now he's King Arthur."

"I might almost try to except for one thing."

"What's that, Peaches?"

"Buffy's no Guinivere."

*****

Cordelia padded out to the sofa and looked down at Wesley trying to pretend he was comfortable. He was failing miserably. Not only was the couch narrow, it was also several inches shorter than he was. As soon as he realized Cordelia was there, his face froze into a stubborn mask and he rolled over to face away from her.

The girl sighed and sat on an overstuffed chair near her lover's head.

"Okay, I give up. What'd I say?"

"I don't wish to discuss it further tonight."

"Is this some macho thing? Like where you're afraid nothing will work anymore if you shoot blanks?"

Wesley sat up.

"You truly don't understand, do you? Has it never occurred to you that I might feel differently about having children than you do?"

"Well it doesn't seem to have crossed your mind, either. I guess I just sort of assumed...I mean, you're older than me. A lot older. Not that you're old, old. I mean, you're not Giles or anything. But I guess I thought if you'd wanted to, you'd have had kids by now."

"And so you decided I didn't want children."

"Well, yeah. I guess. And anyway, it's not like we're getting married or anything."

He gave her a hard stare.

"So you've decided that as well?"

"No! I mean, Wesley...I don't know. We haven't been together all that long. And anyway, it's not like you've asked me."

"No. I haven't, have I?"

"You haven't ever even said you love me."

"You've never said it either" he pointed out quietly.

Cordelia stood.

"Maybe I should just go back to bed."

She turned to go.

"I thought you were the one who wanted to talk."

"Is there anything left to say? I'll get another room in the morning."

Wesley got up and went to her.

"Are you saying it's over?"

"Since I'm the one who knows what they want, I think it's sorta my job, isn't it?"

She went into the bedroom and shut the door behind her. She sat on the edge of the bed. She screwed her eyes shut, and dug her nails into her palms until she drew a tiny trickle of blood.

Wesley would not hear her break down.

*****

"I can't believe he's gone. How did he get out? Where would he go?"

Harmony slumped on the edge of the bed, Disney films slipping from her fingers only to clatter to the ground.

"Who cares? We don't need him, anyway."

The girl slid into game face.

"He wasn't supposed to leave!" Her face morphed back into that of an attractive teenager. "Why do men always leave me? I'm pretty and I'm willing to do what it takes, but no boy will ever take me seriously. Why?"

Parker ran a cold finger along Harmony's shoulder.

"I take you very seriously."

His hands moved down her arms, and back up to cup her full breasts.

"Very seriously."

Harmony arched against him. She knew she should take the reins and either end this or make it her game, but it felt too good to be touched. She'd never wanted to dominate anything. She knew sex was usually used to keep Childer in line, but she wanted to be taken and loved, just like the girls in the books she used to read when she was alive. Perhaps then, Parker would love her if Spike wouldn't.

*****

"Xander?"

"Hmm?"

"Am I doing the right thing? Asking Giles personal questions?"

"We need the information. I think we should at least ask before we get all James Bondy and go sneaking for it."

"Do you think he'll hate me?"

"He won't hate you, An. Giles isn't like that."

"But I hurt Buffy and now I'm going to ask him things he won't want to answer."

"How many times do I have to tell you? You didn't hurt Buffy. Parker did that. It wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was. I wished that she would patrol instead of us. I wished it and it happened, and Buffy got hurt and nearly lost the baby. Xander, I wished it."

"Anya! You don't have that power anymore. Your power source got smashed. what you wish doesn't make any difference now. Besides, what exactly did you wish for?"

"That Buffy would patrol instead of us."

"Did you wish that she would get hurt?"

Anya wrinkled her brow in thought for a moment.

"No. But she wouldn't have gotten hurt if she hadn't been patrolling."

"Probably not, but it still isn't your fault."

Anya snuggled closer to her boyfriend and continued to disagree in private.

PART 30

Wesley walked into the hotel restaurant and requested a table for one. He tried to walk as normally as possible, despite the stiffness in his back. As he sat, he noticed Cordelia sitting by herself across the room. He could tell from the oddly intense way she was reading her menu that she had seen him first.

Fine. If that was how she wanted it, he could play that game too. He deliberately moved to sit with his back to her.

Cordelia slammed the menu shut. So Weasley Wesley didn't want to look at her? Well that was just great. She could ignore him too.

As soon as she was done with breakfast, she was going to find somewhere else to stay anyway.

She told herself it was only because it wasn't practical to spend the better part of a year living out of a hotel room.

*****

"Willow? May I have a word?"

"Um, sure, Professor."

"I keep telling you, my name is Leo. At least it is for my star pupil who is such good friends with my good friend."

Leo sat himself down beside the girl in the cafeteria.

"So what did you want to talk about?"

"Buffy. Specifically, why she's missed two sessions of class and you've missed one."

Willow's eyes went wide.

"Oh my gosh! You mean, you don't know? I mean, of course you don't know or you wouldn't have to ask, but more like you don't know? why? didn't anybody tell you, you don't know. Y'know?"

By the time she finished, Leo's head was spinning.

"Miss Rosenburg, I do believe the discovery of the mystery would be best served by you slowing down and taking a very deep breath. Now, once you've done that, compose your thoughts as you would an essay for class and tell me what you know."

She nodded and followed his advice.

"Buffy was hurt. She got...mugged, and she had to be in the hospital for a couple days. And now the doctor has ordered her to stay in bed so she hopefully won't lose the baby..."

"What? Baby? Why the hell didn't anyone tell me about this?"

"I - I sorta figured Giles..."

"That young idiot!"

"Buffy's not an idiot!"

"I was talking about Rupert."

Without another word, he rose and exited the cafeteria, leaving Willow to stare after him.

*****

Giles turned yet again to find Anya alarmingly close and staring at him with large eyes. He took an involuntary step backwards, fighting to keep the annoyed expression from forming on his face.

"Was there something you wanted?"

"I want to talk to you. I want to have an intimate conversation with you."

Giles' eyebrows shot up toward his hairline and he blinked several times, rapidly, as he processed from Anya to English.

"A - an intimate conversation...?"

The translation had been lost.

"About why you hate your father. What did he do?"

Giles turned as his lips narrowed into a stubborn line.

"I hardly think my relationship with my father is any of your concern."

"But Xander said you hate him...well, I said that. He said you were mean to him, though. And you're not mean. You're stuffy and grumpy and sarcastic, but you're not mean. Sometimes, you're even nice."

"Thank you for the glowing compliment, Anya. There's someone at the register."

He gestured with his head and turned again to signal the end of the conversation.

Anya sighed deeply and went to take the customer's money. When she finished, she went back to where Giles stood straightening a display. After several seconds of feeling her eyes boring into his back, Giles turned to face her again.

"What?"

He instantly regretted his sharp tone as Anya's chin wobbled slightly.

"Why won't you talk to me? Why won't you tell me what your father did to you? Do you not trust me?"

"It isn't a matter of trust, Anya...look, I'm sorry I snapped at you just now. But please, I don't care to discuss the matter, particularly in public. It really isn't your concern..."

"Yes it is. You're my boss, and you're a friend of Xander's. I should know about you."

"But what you are asking is none of your business."

"Then whose business is it?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Whose business is it? We need to know this, Giles. We think it might be putting Buffy in danger."

"I am perfectly capable of taking care of my wife. My father is just a bitter, miserable old man. He can't harm Buffy. Now go back to the register. This conversation is over."

He turned and headed for the back room without giving her a chance to respond. Anya watched him until the door shut behind him, then took her usual post behind the counter.

*****

"So, there he was, and his guts are just falling out..."

Buffy held up her hand.

"Spike! Not that I don't appreciate your attempts to entertain me, but do you know even one story that isn't about death and guts falling out?"

"He doesn't die, pet."

"Because he's a vampire and he's already dead."

"Look, you're the one who wanted a story. If you don't like the ones I have to tell, you can switch on the telly."

"It's time for Passions, isn't it?"

The vampire snorted.

"I wouldn't know. Don't watch that bilge anymore. D'you want to see?"

"No thanks. I've got enough supernatural soap opera material in my life. I don't need to watch it on TV."

Angel walked out of the bathroom. He was freshly showered and he'd reapplied his hair gel.

"Hey, isn't it time for Passions?"

Buffy shot him a dirty look.

"Not you too."

Angel looked to Spike.

"What's her problem?"

"Dunno. Must be hormones."

Before she could come up with an appropriate retort, there came a knock at the door. Buffy looked from one vampire to the other.

"Y'know, tomorrow I'm gonna see if I can spend the day with someone who won't burst into flames answering the door."

She stood and padded slowly across the room. Upon opening the door, she was almost knocked down by Cordelia.

"Can I stay here tonight? I'm so not going back to Weasley Wesley and I can't find an apartment on this short of notice."

Without waiting for an answer, she dumped her bags in the middle of the room.

"And what are you doing out of bed? Where's Giles?"

"Hold it, Cordy. What are you doing here? Did you and Wes have a fight?"

"Duh! That's why I'm here of all places. So where do I sleep? And what are you doing here?"

She whirled around to face Angel.

"I've been here since last night. It got too late to leave, and we didn't know where to take Spike."

"Spike? Spike is here? Mr. Grrr and Torture You, Spike?"

"Hello, Ducks."

Cordelia surveyed the damage.

"Okay, I know the Billy Idol look is way past dead, but Drew Carey does not look good on you."

"I'm touched by your concern, pet, really I am."

"Would everyone please shut up a minute!"

All eyes turned to Buffy.

"Thank you. I don't care who goes where or what you all do when you get there, but I'm supposed to be in bed resting, which I can't do with all of you in the room. Sit down and shut up or go upstairs and keep quiet there. I'm going back to bed, and I'm not getting up again until Rupert gets home. Got that?"

The vampires rolled their eyes at one another and went upstairs. Cordelia remained where she was and looked at Buffy critically.

"When was the last time you ate?"

"Breakfast, I guess. Why?"

"Buffy! You need to eat. Lie down and I'll make you something."

"I'm not hungry, Cordy. I'm nauseous, but I'm not hungry."

"You may not want food, but the baby does. And I bet those two never asked if you wanted anything."

"They're not used to eating anymore."

"Yeah, well, that's sorta something you need to keep doing. Have you got any frozen stuff? And how do I work your microwave?"


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