Title:                 A Demon's Deal - 5

Summary:         Spike comes back wrong, told from Buffy's POV.  Spike received an evil soul from the demon, which has taken control.  In the last chapter he attempted to kidnap Dawn, he and Buffy fought, he taunted her with her feelings for him, and Drusilla showed up at Buffy's door.

Disclaimer:        The characters are the property of Mutant Enemy and Joss Whedon

The Restoration

"Be a dearie and invite me in," Drusilla crooned. 

I saw Spike coming around the corner of the house.  Drusilla saw him, too.  

"Hurry, dearie." She entreated.

"Drusilla, you and you alone are invited in."

God, I couldn't believe that I had actually said that.  That I'd just let her into my home.  We were definitely doing another Uninvite Spell when this was all over.  As she entered with a swirl of her skirts, we looked back at Spike, frustrated at losing his quarry.  With a resounding bang I closed the door, shutting him out. 

Drusilla and I eyed each other.  I'd always been curious about her.  She'd been with Angel and then Spike, just as I had.  We obviously had the same taste in men.  I wondered if it would be wrong of me to recommend Parker to her. 

Spike and I had fought many times when he first arrived in Sunnydale.  We had gotten to know each other as we traded blows and barbed comments.  Long before our truce, I felt as if I knew him.  Drusilla?  Not so much.  She'd killed Kendra, so she was dangerous.  I also knew she was crazy. The only time we had spent in each other's company, however, was when Spike tied us up and threatened to sic one on the other.  It wasn't a good situation for forming sisterly bonds.  I looked at her closely.  What did they see in her?  I mean take away the slender form, the long legs, the full breasts, luxuriant hair, incredible eyes and the whole Princess of Darkness stuff and what was left? 

I soon found out.  She was entertaining as hell.

The next few hours were spent watching the Drusilla and Miss Edith Variety Show.  As we all sat around the living room and stared at her, she would hum a tune that would cause shivers to go up and down our spines, then start swaying to music only she could hear.  Creepy.   

We had a problem when she wanted crumpets for Miss Edith's party and we didn't have any.  Her pitiful whines even caused me to go looking through the pantry shelves, searching for something I knew with absolute certainty had never been purchased by any occupant of the house.  Finally Dawn solved the problem by giving Dru a pack of Poptarts, telling her that they were a new type of American crumpet.  This pleased her.  By the end of it, I swear we were all sitting on the edge of our seats, waiting to see if Miss Edith would actually eat the darn things. 

I decided to feed Drusilla as well, because I didn't like the way she kept hungrily eyeing Xander.  Twice, Xander started moving towards her in a daze only to be brought short each time by a sharp poke in the ribs from Anya.  But when I served Drusilla a mug of pig's blood with a straw, she looked at it, not quite sure what she was supposed to do with it.  We had to explain to her that it was for her to drink, that she was to sip the blood through the straw.  After her first taste, she got a funny look on her face and asked whom she was drinking.  Xander, Clem, Dawn and Anya all stared at me.  I told Drusilla it was Mr. Gordo.  It was all I could think of.  Dawn sniggered the entire rest of the time while Drusilla ate.        

And how she controlled the boys.  I wondered how much of her looniness was real and how much was just a way to manipulate them.  First she complained that she was cold, looking at Xander under dark eyelashes.  In a flash, he ran upstairs to the linen closet, retrieved a blanket and was back, gently placing it around her shoulders.  Then she wanted a "spot of tea".  Clem gave me a dirty look I didn't even know he was capable of when I asked "Just a spot?" and left for the kitchen to brew some.  If she could get them to do what she wanted after a short, edgy acquaintance, what could she get a man to do after a one-hundred year love affair? 

It got late so the others went off to bed.  We had decided that Anya would sleep in the master bedroom with Xander instead of in my room with me.  It was interesting to see how the two of them looked everywhere but at each other, made outrageously feeble protests, and glowed with anticipation.  Drusilla would join me in my bed and no, not like that so get your mind out of the gutter.  We would chain her to the headboard then handcuff our wrists together so she wouldn't be able to get up and eat a snack while we were asleep. 

Before Drusilla and I went upstairs I wanted to strategize a bit.  This consisted of me talking and Dru interrupting her humming to make weird little comments.  First, I tried to find out why she was here in Sunnydale.  I heard a lot about knights, buzzing, and the moon so I gave up on that one.  I did manage to figure out that she had sensed Spike was trapped and suffering.  She had come riding to the rescue, a demented Lone Ranger with Miss Edith as Tonto.  I decided to focus on the problem. 

"Spike got a soul from a demon after completing a series of tests," I told her.

 "The fishies whispered that in my ear."

I guessed the fishies hadn't mentioned that souled Spike seemed tailor-made for her.  I could be wrong, though.  It was the old Spike who had loved Drusilla.  This new version might make what Angelus did to her seem like child's play. 

"I talked to Giles on the phone.  Giles is my Watcher.  He thinks that the demon reached into hell for Spike's new soul."

She got a wistful look on her face. 

"He's such a lovely kisser."

"Who? The demon?" 

She's kissed the demon?  A little weirded out here.

"No.  Your Watcher." 

Her smile spread and you could tell that she was reliving the moment.  She's kissed Giles?  Now a lot weirded out.  Giles never told me about that.  File it under things to bring up when Giles gets on my case about having relationships with vampires. So far this strategy session was not going too well.  I decided to get right to the heart of the matter.

"Listen carefully." 

I spoke as slowly and as clearly as I could, hoping it could penetrate the fog that seemed to surround Drusilla. 

"Giles thinks that Spike will return to being the usual soulless not-really-evil-at-all-fiend we all know and kinda love if we could get him to lose his soul.  Right now Giles and my friend Willow are researching ways to make that happen."

Drusilla laughed and clapped her hands with glee. 

"We'll get my Spike back soon then."

"My Spike," I replied.  "And how do you figure that?"

She stood and looked down at me, regally.  Funny how wearing an elaborate nightgown can make a girl look regal.  

"I'll just do what I did before.  I'll bite him and make that soul of his float away" 

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The next morning, after undoing the handcuffs while she slept like the dead that she was, I looked at her.  The girl was entirely too comfortable chained up.  Shrugging, I left the room to shower and dress.  By the time I got downstairs the others had gathered in the living room.  Xander and Anya were sitting on the couch holding hands.  When I looked at her, color seeped into Anya's face.  She was blushing!  I stared.  I hadn't known that Anya could blush; I'd never seen it before.  Clem asked anxiously about Drusilla, which seemed to amuse Dawn.  I assured him that she was sleeping quite well. 

I told the gang what she'd told me, that she thought she could bite Spike and do the whole ritual thing, drinking all of his blood and having him feed from her.  It should destroy his soul.  Last night I'd made another expensive transatlantic call to Giles, and he had confirmed that this would probably work. 

"Okay.  Tell me again why we're not just staking this guy?" Xander asked.

I looked at my friends.  I could lie.  I had gotten quite good at lying, especially to myself.  But these people trusted me with their lives so I felt that I should trust them with the truth.

"We're not staking him because I don't want to kill Spike."

I knew what I was about to say would start a fight with Xander, trigger protests from Dawn, and start me down a path I'd never planned on traveling.  Taking a deep breath I continued, feeling more exposed than if I were naked.

"I love him."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

By the time the sun went down I was waiting for Spike outside his crypt.   I had set the stage for a nice romantic evening, Spike-style.   Inside, his favorite music was playing, a bottle of cheap booze was on the table, and a set of chains had been prepared.  There wasn't another living thing in sight.  There weren't any dead things in sight either.  I had doused myself in my favorite perfume so that he wouldn't have any trouble tracking me down and the scent was so strong, I thought it might frighten small animals.  I'd lost all sense of smell myself. 

Those that weren't wigged out by that were probably being frightened off by the pounding rhythms of "The Ramones" I had blasting through the crypt.  If loud noises really could wake the dead, then I was going to have a lot of company soon. 

I sensed him before I saw him and closed my eyes, so that I could concentrate on his presence.    He was close by, and when I opened my eyes again he was standing just a few yards away, gazing at me. 

"What's all this?"

Smiling at him I replied. 

"I was thinking about what you said.  About making you lose that soul of yours?  I was thinking about how Angel lost his."

I definitely had his attention.  I continued, purring at him. 

"So, ready to experience a moment of perfect happiness?"

Room temperature vampires are not supposed to emit heat, but as he moved closer I got warmer.   When he was a few feet away he stopped, considering the situation for a moment.

"How do I know you don't have a bunch of stakes hidden on you?"

I was wearing his duster and, holding my arms out wide so that it gaped open, I revealed that I was wearing very little underneath. 

"I have a lot of stakes hidden.  Why don't you search me for them?" 

He moved so quickly that almost before I knew it, he had me pinned against the crypt wall, grinding into me.  His hands roamed over my body, while his mouth moved up and down my neck.  It felt so good, and for a moment sensations overwhelmed me. The only thing that mattered was his body against mine.  When he moved to lift my legs around his waist, my sanity returned and I pushed him back.  Stunned, he stared at me. 

"Up against a crypt wall is really good, but not perfect.  Let's go inside." 

I turned and entered his crypt, and he followed me as if we were tied together by some invisible link.    He saw the booze, which he dismissed, but then his eyes settled on the chains.  With a great deal of effort, I had driven the end of the chains into the ground on each side of the sarcophagus.  The manacles rested on top.  When I stood next to it, he arched an eyebrow at me.  I shrugged my shoulders. 

"After all those months, you think I don't know what you like?"

With a low growl he strode towards me and I waited, ready for him in every way.  As he reached me, I grabbed him and threw him on top of the sarcophagus, then joined him there.  Straddling him.  His eyes widened at that, but I just smiled. 

"Remember?  Perfect happiness?"  

Slowly, I lowered myself down on him until I could feel the rough fabric of his jeans against the sensitive flesh of my inner thighs.  The leather of his duster pooled around us.  Then with agonizingly leisurely movements I began to rub against him.  He closed his eyes and groaned.  I carried on, until we were both moaning with pleasure.  Opening his eyes he looked at me.

"As delicious as this feels, Summers, don't think it will work if we don't get these clothes off soon."

Stilling my motion I grinned at him. 

"Oh, don't worry, the clothes are coming off."  

I ran my hands up the skin underneath his shirt, after tugging it from the waistband of his jeans. 

"Let's start with this first."

My hands spread, and smoothed across the flesh of his abdomen, then moved higher, over his chest, shoving the shirt up as I went.  When I was almost to his shoulders, he leaned forward, allowing the shirt to be pulled over his head.  With his hands above his head, I raised my hips and tilted my body over him; my breasts hovered over his mouth as I pushed the clothing further along the muscular length of his arms. 

When I had the shirt around his wrists, I gave it a violent twist and pinned his hands together.   It wasn't until Xander and Clem leapt out of the shadows and slipped the manacles over his arms, that comprehension sank in.  With a howl of fury, he bucked and yanked.  The shirt tore in two, but the chains held.  Unfortunately they had a bit of play in them, and in his initial burst of rage he managed to backhand Xander and send him sprawling to the floor. 

The loud music had managed to mask their heartbeats, and the perfume we all wore had covered their individual odors.  We all stunk to high heaven, and our ears hurt, but it was worth it.   He was trapped.

Still straddling Spike I tried to keep him still.  Xander was back off the floor now, and trying to hold Spike's left arm down while Clem was working on the right.  Anya and Dawn were behind me holding onto his legs, when Drusilla finally appeared.  He saw her and his struggles intensified. 

As she came closer, he managed to break his arm away from Clem's grip and strike at her.  The blow glanced off of her shoulder, sending her reeling back and she would've fallen if Clem hadn't managed to catch her.  He held Drusilla carefully, as if she was made of glass and, as she shyly smiled her gratitude, he gazed at her in adoration.  Aw, demon love.  It would almost have been sweet, if I hadn't been trying to keep a powerful, enraged vampire still.

"A little help here!" 

I shouted at the lovebirds and, bashfully, Clem resumed his post next to Spike.  Dru looked down at her former love, and her fangs and yellow eyes emerged.  In moments she was at his neck, swallowing.

This was a really strange experience for me.  Since being called, I'd devoted my life to preventing vampires from sucking out souls.  Now I was helping one to do it.  Spike wasn't going quietly, either.  Though he was weakened, he continued to pull at the chains and the grip on his limbs.  Near the end, as a last ditch effort, he went into game face and for a second I saw the surprise on his face as my Spike emerged, then the yellow eyes flickered and the soul was gone.  Quickly, Drusilla slit her wrist with a fingernail and forced her blood into Spike's mouth.  He drank convulsively, then was still. 

Though I trembled, near to exhaustion from the effort I had expended, I lifted myself off his body and onto the floor.  Dawn hugged me while I smiled my thanks to the others.  Then turning, I looked at Spike's still form. 

"Don't worry, precious," Drusilla cooed.  "Temperance will be achieved". 

I didn't know what the hell she was talking about, so I just nodded.  Then it hit me.  Once, in an effort to improve my driving skills Willow had tried to explain to me the physics involved when driving a car.  Since my knowledge consisted of 'turn key, press gas', I spent most of the time smiling and nodding my head.  Maybe, it occurred to me, Drusilla isn't insane.  Maybe her intellect resides on an entirely different plane than ours.  At that moment Clem, having retrieved Miss Edith from her place of safety, handed her to Dru who shrieked with delight.

"Miss Edith, if you're good, next time you can join us." 

Or maybe not.   

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Drusilla was quite put out when I wouldn't let her bury him.  She said it was tradition for vampires to dig themselves out of a grave.  But my memories of my own experience were still a little too vivid, and I wasn't about to do that to Spike.  Instead I laid him on my bed, and waited. 

Clem came in and said good-bye.  He knew of a ship leaving the docks for Asia and he and Drusilla were going there together.  I stood and gave him a gentle kiss on that sweet, saggy cheek of his. 

"Take care.  And don't take any crap from Miss Edith." 

He smiled and left the room.  Later I heard the front door close, as two of the most interesting beings I had ever met left my home.  I wondered if I would see either of them again.

Occasionally Dawn would wander in, impatient that Spike still wasn't awake.  Each time she appeared, I thought of things for her to do.  She could reheat the mug of blood I had waiting for him, she could clean his duster, that sort of thing.  It worked.  Soon she quit coming in and bugging me.  When Xander came in, he didn't say anything for a long while.  He just watched me, watching Spike.  Finally he gave me a quick hug, and dropped a kiss on the top of my head. 

"I love you," he whispered into my hair, then left. 

As the sun went down and the room darkened, I lit a couple of candles on my dresser.  I didn't want him to wake up in total darkness.  Then I lay down next to him, resting my head on his shoulder.  Time passed.

I felt a soft movement, a tremor in the body next to mine and I looked up.  His eyes were open and he was staring at me.

"Buffy?"

I grinned at his confusion.  I would explain everything to him later.  We had a lot of things to work through, but we had plenty of time for that.  For right now, all that mattered was that he was here with me.  I smiled, letting my love for him shine through me. 

"Welcome back, Spike," I said.

I hope you enjoyed this story.  Thank you again to my wonderful beta readers, treacle antlers and Theresa V.  Also, thank you for all of the reviews and e-mails.  I really appreciate them.