Overview

=> A Vampire's Eye View
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Chapter 1

Giles was seated behind the Magic Box counter, doing inventory when the delivery men arrived, and filled the shop with the contents of 12 trolley loads of boxes.

When they left, the only space available to him was a thin aisle leading from the door to the counter. Realising that there was no way he could conduct any business with the shop in this state, he decided to close early for the day whilst he investigated the origin of these boxes.

He went to the door to flip the sign to ‘closed’ and lock-up when he was nearly bowled over by a running, blanket-enshrouded vampire who was pushing his way in to escape the fading sun.

“Oi, shift yerself, Watcher. I’m smokin’ ‘ere, and not in a good way!”
“Oh, really Spike, why are you inflicting yourself on me at this time of day. I thought the daylight hours would at least give me a reprieve from your annoying presence.”
“Hey, that’s not a nice way to treat a bloke who comes with information.”
“Well, come in then if you must, but be quick. I’m very busy as you can see.”
“Yeah, noticed that. Did they have a sale on at ‘Spells ‘r’ Us or somethin’.”
“What do you want Spike. You mentioned information.”
“Don’t I even get offered a bevy for comin’ all this way to ‘elp you lot out?”
“Do I look as if I have time for that. I’ve got to move all these boxes down to the basement and get them sorted before I can open up tomorrow and I’ll probably be here all night.”
“S’pose I could lend a hand if you were to make it worth my while.”
“Is that all you think about. It doesn’t occur to you to just help because it’s a nice thing to do.”
“Hey, demon here mate! Just ‘cause I’m chipped doesn’t make me all goody goody, ya know. A bloke has to eat!”
“Oh, very well. I have some blood in the back room. You go and get some whilst I find out what I’ve got here.”

Spike went off to heat up some blood and Giles pulled the envelope off the first box which had been left on the counter. Inside was a letter from the Watchers Council, telling him that these boxes, containing past Watcher’s diaries, had all been unearthed in their archives. They had been sent to him as he was the current active Watcher and they thought he might find them useful. More likely was that they were clearing space for new storage and thought they could dispose of their rubbish on him.

Well he happened to find the reminiscences of previous Watcher’s fascinating so he wasn’t bothered at all and would look forward to indulging himself.
Spike walked back in sipping from Giles’ ‘Kiss The Librarian’ mug, knowing how much that annoyed him. Giles satisfied himself with an irritated glare and then picked up the first of the boxes and headed down the basement stairs.

Spike finished his blood and left the mug on top of the till with a smirk. Then he picked up two of the boxes and carried them down, keen to prove his superior strength. Giles merely raised his eyebrow and carried on, making space for the boxes to be stacked against the far wall. It didn’t take them too long to get all the boxes piled up and Giles was soon opening the first box and taking out the uppermost diary inside. In the front cover were the names:

Pers Lofgren, Watcher
Sofie Talmo, Slayer
Active September 16 1726 – October 3 1728

Spike opened another box and his diary had the names:

Gottlieb Schreiber, Watcher
Sylvie Warrut, Slayer
Active January 22 1882 – August 12 1885

“Hey, I remember hearing about a slayer in Germany not long after Angelus sired me. I think it was the Karkadian clan who finished her off.”

Giles came over and took the book off him and turned to the end to see what was written. The final entry read:

‘My Slayer has discovered a nest under the Rathaus and we are going to kill them at dawn, when they will all have arrived back from their night’s hunt. We have been tracking this group for several weeks now and hope we may encounter some upper level vampires as there has been a rash of newly created fledges in the area.’

“Do you know who the Master of the Karkadian clan was Spike, or any of his ancestors.”
“The Master was a major enemy of Angelus’ at the time. His name was Markus and he sired a girl called Martina whom Angelus had been grooming to take as his own Childe. Markus snatched her from under Angelus’ nose and made him so mad that he wanted to take the torture out on someone else and he drove her completely insane – three guesses who that was.”
“This is fascinating Spike. Angel has never been very forthcoming about any of the details of Angelus’ life, even though I’ve tried to find out on several occasions.”
“Pfft. As if the Poof would tell you anything. He doesn’t like to think back over what happened in those days, he’s tortured enough as it is. Especially when he thinks about what he did to my Black Princess. The poncy git winces every time he sees her and she just happily jumps on him calling him ‘Daddy’.”

Giles glanced over at Spike and then looked down at the glasses he was now cleaning with his handkerchief. He put them back on and with an almost excited stutter said to Spike, “S..S..Spike. Would you be interested in helping me to catalogue these diaries and providing me with an opposing point of view on some of the more memorable moments in the history of Watchers and Slayers. Sort of a ‘vampire’s eye view’ as it were. I would, of course, be prepared to reimburse you for your troubles. Your help would be invaluable in furthering our knowledge of the period.”

Spike looked over at the anticipatory gleam in Giles’s eyes and thought that he looked as if he was barely restraining himself from clapping his hands together in glee. He had never seen staid, old Giles looking quite like that before, it made him appear so much younger that Spike could picture him as he must have been in his Ripper days. He found that he liked that image - a lot. This was something that would be interesting to pursue. It might be nice to have Giles in his debt. Just think of the fun he could get out of that. But he didn’t want to appear too keen. It would be much better if Giles had to work hard to convince him, as he would appreciate it that much more and feel he owed Spike more than he really did.

“What would I want to look over a bunch of dusty old books for? What’s in it for me?”
“Well I said I would reimburse you. I’m sure I could keep a supply of blood here for you.”
“It would have to be the ‘good stuff’ – grade A, human blood. I’m sick of surviving on pig’s blood. It may be good enough for the Poof but I’m the Big Bad – I don’t drink pigs!”
“We could probably come to some agreement over that.”
“And I’m sick of sleeping on that hard coffin, I want a nice place to sleep.” Spike smiled to himself, wondering how far he could push this.
“Fine, I’ll get you a new bed.”
“That wasn’t what I meant Watcher. I want a nice ‘place’ to live not just a bed to sleep in. I notice you’ve got an extra room upstairs.”
“Out of the question. You are not living in my house.”
“Fair enough. Have fun with your books then. I’ll se ya around mate.”

Spike got up, grabbed his duster, which he had removed earlier whilst lugging boxes, and headed for the stairs. Giles looked round at all the boxes in front of him. He really wanted to do this project. Just think of the information and insight into a vampire’s life he could get. He turned to look at Spike who had almost reached the door at the top.

“Wait Spike.”

Spike stopped where he was with his back to the Watcher and a wide grin spread over his face.

“I suppose if this is the only way then I’ll have to agree. But you must keep the place tidy and keep out of my way.”
“I’ll be as quiet as a mouse, luv. You won’t even know I’m here.” Spike said as he wiped the smirk off his face and turned back to face Giles.
“And I’m not your ‘luv’.”
“But, I’m sure you’d like to be, right!”
“Spiiiiiike!”
“Don’t worry, Watcher. This will work like a dream.”
That was just it, thought Giles. It was like a dream. He just couldn’t decide whether it was a bad dream or a good one.

Chapter 2

After the deal was struck, Spike left to go back to his crypt and collect his belongings. Giles went upstairs to make up the bed in the spare room for Spike.

There was no Scooby meeting that night because the gang had all met up earlier in the day for a discussion on the ‘Baddie Of The Week’. It had been decided that until they had more information, Buffy would just do a normal patrol and keep her eyes open for any sign of the Nerekra demon whilst she was out.

Giles was quite pleased there was no meeting. He would rather they not be there to witness Spike moving in to his house. He still wasn’t sure how he felt about it, and he wanted to keep it secret, for a while at least. He would have to speak to Spike about that too.

After making the bed and putting additional towels in his bathroom – the bathroom he would now be sharing with Spike – he went back downstairs to his living room and made a call to Willy’s Bar.

Loath as Giles was to make a deal with Willy the Snitch, he knew it was the best way to get hold of human blood. Willy had his own supply station set up and would pay homeless people to give a pint a couple of times a month.

Giles fixed up for a regular delivery, starting with six pints immediately, as a boost for the vampire who had been surviving on pig’s blood for too long now. Giles had felt bad about that because he knew that a permanent lack of human blood could dampen a vampire’s edge, only slightly it was true, but enough to make a difference.

Giles didn’t think that Spike had realised that it was the pig’s blood that was having this effect on him. He’d just assumed that it was another side effect of his infernal chip and had adapted his fighting style accordingly.

So in a way, Giles was pleased that he would be able to provide Spike with the means to getting back into top form. Though he’d never admitted it to anyone, he loved to watch Spike in battle. He moved with a fluid grace and minimum of motion that was beautiful to see and there was almost a thrill of excitement that settled over him as he moved in for the kill. His eyes would light up and sparkle and that self-satisfied victory smirk would settle over those sensuous lips – wait a minute, sensuous lips, what was he thinking!

Giles shook the thought out of his head and decided to go back down to the basement until either the delivery of blood or the return of Spike would disturb him again from his task.

Spike, meanwhile, had arrived at his crypt and had filled his duffel bag with his few possessions. He didn’t really have many material things as he had got used to travelling light and being able to leave a place in a hurry, unencumbered by too much baggage.

It wasn’t like when he’d been with Dru and she had to have her dolls and dresses with her. The number of places he’d had to lug that damn Miss Edith round didn’t bear thinking about. Well at least he was free of all that hassle now thankfully. That Chaos Demon she had run-off with had been the last straw. She really was out of his system now.

He gathered up his duffel and just left enough lying about so that if the slayer was to charge in, she would still think him in residence. He had the feeling that Giles would not be keen to spread word of his new living arrangements just yet. That was probably something else Spike could use to his advantage.

He headed back to the Magic Box and arrived just as Giles was taking in a cool box from a delivery man Spike recognised as working at Willy’s Bar. The Watcher wasn’t wasting any time in sticking to his side of the bargain he realised and somehow he was chuffed about that.

Spike found he was actually looking forward to living with the Watcher for his companionship as much as anything else. He had always been quite a sociable creature and hadn’t liked living in the crypt on his own for so long. That was probably why he’d stuck with Dru for longer than he should, and also why he hung out with the Scoobies.

As the delivery guy left, Giles stood back to allow Spike to enter, and the pair of them made their way upstairs to the living room. Giles went around the breakfast bar and deposited two of the blood bags in the freezer, he put two on the counter and poured the other two into a large mug he had unearthed from the back of the cupboard.

It was a mug that Xander had bought him for Christmas last year and it had a picture of tea and crumpets on the front and on the back it said English ‘Stud’ Muffin. Xander had found it highly amusing at the time and Giles thought it apt now for another Englishman to be using it. He wasn’t so sure about the ‘Stud’ Muffin reference with regard to himself but even he couldn’t deny that about Spike – those sculptured cheek bones were perfection and taken in conjunction with those lips… Wait a moment, there he was thinking about Spike’s lips again.

Anyone would think he was obsessed by them but, of course, he wasn’t he told himself. He hardly ever looked at them… well, except for when Spike was fighting, and when he was helping with research and concentrating on something and his tongue would poke out between his lips. And of course, who wouldn’t look when Spike was eating a doughnut and his tongue would lick those sexy lips clean.

Oh no! – he *was* obsessed! He didn’t watch any of the others eating their doughnuts, so why Spike. He wasn’t gay or anything, was he. Well apart from that brief interlude with Ethan but that was in his younger Ripper days and he’d put that down to all the demons and drugs they’d been experimenting with. He was too long in the tooth for those sort of feelings now. Since then it had been all girls, like Jenny and Olivia, and he’d even thought he’d had a bit of a thing for Buffy at one stage, but that had soon turned into a fatherly affection. He had responsibilities, being a father figure to the Scoobies and all, he wasn’t a ‘nancy boy’ as his father had once put it. So how could this be, he wondered.

He was jolted from his musing by Spike himself.
“Oi Watcher, if you nuke that any more, it’ll explode and I sure ain’t cleaning up the mess.”
“Oh sorry. I was just thinking.”
“Could see that mate. Now how about sending that good stuff this way.”
“Of course. I hope it’s not too hot.”
“English ‘Stud’ Muffin? Are you trying to tell me somethin’ luv.”
“W.w.what? Oh, oh no, it was just the biggest one I had.”
“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that. You don’t want to be going round boasting out of turn.”
“Spiiiike! Really! That wasn’t what I meant at all.”
“Alright pet, don’t get yer knickers in a twist. I was only playing with you.” – And right now I wish I was – he added to himself.

Spike decided to let the deeply blushing Giles off the hook for the moment and started drinking his blood. Though he’d make sure to indulge in some more teasing later. He loved the way Giles blushed and stuttered and cleaned his glasses whenever he was embarrassed.

Wow, he thought, this blood was good! It was so long since he’d had human and this was fresh and warm and delicious. Giles took the mug and refilled it with the other two pints of blood he had left out. He microwaved them and handed the mug to the eagerly awaiting vampire, who almost snatched it away, and guzzled it down like there was no tomorrow.

Spike was buzzing and raring to go now. He felt like he could do anything, a feeling he had not had in a long time. He wanted to go out and kill something, he wanted to crush bone with his bare hands and tear something limb from limb. Just your average maim and destroy session.

Giles looked across and could see the thoughts chasing round in Spike’s head and was thrilled that he had been the one to give Spike these feelings back.

“C’mon Watcher, let’s go out and patrol.”
“Buffy’s doing patrol tonight and keeping an eye out for the Nerekra demon, so there’s no need for us to go out too.”
“Oh, that’s what I came to tell you earlier. I know where the Nerekra is holed up. We can go and get him now before he comes out to hunt and save the bint the trouble.”
“I’m sure if we locate *Buffy* we can pass along the information.”
“No way! I’m not letting her have all the fun. This demon is mine. Now are you coming with me or not, cos I’m off.”
“Alright. I’ll come, just to keep you out of mischief if for nothing else.”

Giles was kidding himself. He knew there was no way he was going to miss seeing Spike fight. He knew that as hyped up as Spike was just standing here, when that energy was unleashed on an unsuspecting foe, it would be spectacular to say the least and a sight not to be missed.

Chapter 3

Spike was almost dancing on the spot as he waited for Giles to grab his jacket. But soon enough, the pair were off, and much to Spike’s chagrin, they took Giles’ car.

“You have to get a new set of wheels, man. This is embarrassing to be seen in and so slow.”
“Well, it’s a whole lot cleaner than that heap you drive.”
“Hey, watch it mate. Don’t insult the De Soto, she’s my baby. We’ve been a lot of places together and sun-proofing isn’t easy to achieve any other way.”
“I suppose you’re right but we’ll stick with mine for now, thank you very much. Now is it this track you want me to follow?”
“Yeah, this is the one. Just drive between those trees and then we’ll get out and walk.”

Giles parked under the trees and they both got out and headed in to the deeper part of the woods. As they walked in, Giles looked over at Spike and saw him enter ‘hunt’ mode. He wasn’t disappointed. The sparkle in Spike’s eyes was bright and they were shining a vivid blue and if it would have been possible, he would have sworn he saw Spike’s ears twitch as he attuned his senses to the woods around him and honed in on where the Nerekra was hiding.

Spike crept forward stealthily, making no noise and not disturbing a single leaf in his progression. Giles followed, using his Watcher skills to keep to the shadows and move as quietly as he could, but still not up to Spike’s standard, of course. They moved on until they saw a cave ahead of them. Spike gestured for Giles to circle round to the left and wait, whilst Spike himself would go to the right and draw the Nerekra out.

Giles was quite happy to allow Spike the main role because then he would be better placed to watch the vampire in action.

Spike edged forward slowly until he reached the rim of the clearing in front of the cave. He crouched down and threw a stone carefully so that it hit the back wall of the cave to make the demon think there was someone in there and to lure it out.

They heard a squeal like a rutting pig, which was, in fact, what the Nerekra resembled. It was like a shaggy boar walking on two legs but its tusks were more like an elephant’s. They stuck out at least a foot from the corners of its bottom jaw and were lethally sharp.

They could hear it rustling around inside the cave, and then, when it could obviously not find any trace of a creature inside, it came charging out, its piggy eyes swivelling rapidly to take in the surrounding forest. When it turned in Giles’ direction and started making towards where he was hidden, Spike jumped out behind it and grabbed it around the neck, being careful to keep his arms low to avoid the nearby tusks.

The Nerekra spun round, taking Spike with it and tried tossing its head in an attempt to shake Spike off. Spike merely held on and with one hand yanked at the nearest tusk trying to snap it off to lessen the beast’s potential danger. The Nerekra snorted and squealed and shook Spike about even harder, trying to get free.

Giles wasn’t watching the Nerekra’s struggles, however, he was concentrating on Spike. The vampire was positively glowing with energy and vitality, with a gloriously excited expression of glee in his yellow eyes. His fangs caused his grin to appear even more wicked than normal with his sexy lips pulled back taut against them and his tongue held between his teeth.

By now, Spike was leaning around to one side and by using his whole body weight, he managed to crack the tusk and as it snapped off in his hand, the Nerekra howled and it swirled violently, dislodging Spike who fell, banging his head against a tree.

Spike lay there, stunned for a moment and Giles saw the Nerekra bend its head, ready to charge. So he leapt out from his hiding place and shouted and waved his arms to distract the demon and give Spike a chance to recover.

The Nerekra saw Giles and redirected its charge towards him. He waited until the beast was almost upon him and then sprang away to the side furthest from the remaining tusk. He executed a neatly performed tuck and roll and came up behind the Nerekra and sliced deeply into the back of the demon’s calf with his outstretched sword. The demon’s leg bowed and it was now emitting an almost continuous squeal.

Spike was up again, and after shaking his head to clear it, had stood back a moment to watch Giles and had seen the acrobatic attack, impressed despite himself, at the grace and agility that Giles displayed.

Spike didn’t stand back for long, however, the blood enhanced energy flowing through him was just begging for release and he dived back into the action, landing again on the back of his wounded prey. They both rolled around on the forest floor for a while, kicking and punching as they went, with first one on top and then the other.

The Nerekra, however, was starting to slow down from all the blood it was losing from its deep leg wound. Its response times to Spike’s attacks had slowed and its kicks weren’t quite so forceful.

Spike could feel the beast weakening and moved in for the kill. He straddled the Nerekra, and avoiding the tusk that was aiming in his direction, he grabbed it at the base and used it’s momentum to help him turn the beast’s head and with a sharp twist, he snapped the Nerekra demon’s neck and its arms collapsed to its sides as it died on the spot.

Spike leapt up and almost howled out his victory he was so hyped. His eyes were glowing, a deep gold and his lips curled in a triumphant smirk, as he looked towards Giles, who had been revelling along with the vampire, thrilled to see him so euphoric.

“Did you see that, Watcher? Wow, what a rush. Did you see how I cracked its neck, just twisted it and it snapped. Used his own tusk against him, I did.”

“Yes, I saw. It was indeed an exhilarating fight.”
“And you were pretty nifty too mate. That roll and slash move was very tasty. You kept him off me right proper.”
“Well, I have to keep my skills honed for when I’m training with Buffy. I like to think I’m not in too bad condition for my age.”
“There’s nothing wrong with yer age luv, you’re still a youngster to me.”

Giles was a little taken aback at that. He had always assumed that Spike considered him a bit staid and long in the tooth as the rest of the Scoobies did. It was nice to think that Spike didn’t think of him that way and it gave his ego a heartening boost.

Giles walked over towards the vampire, his eyes on Spike’s face, which was still alight with triumph, and as he stepped over the leg of the dead Nerekra, he didn’t see the half hidden tree root protruding out. He caught the toe of his boot under the root and twisted his ankle at an awkward angle and let out a harsh groan as he started falling towards the ground at a great rate of knots. From out of nowhere, a muscled arm reached out, halted his forward momentum, and grabbed his shoulders, lowering him gently to the ground.

“Are you alright, pet?”
“No, not really. I appear to be unable to move my foot. I think I might have foolishly sprained my ankle.”
“You’re jokin’ mate!”
“I fear not.” Giles tried to bend his ankle and move his foot but stopped instantly when pain shot up his leg and he winced and groaned deeply. “It’s painful to even move, I don’t think I can weight bear on it.”
“Never fret, luv. The big bad can help you. Give us yer arm.”
“Yes, perhaps if I leant against you, I could hop back to the car.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll be the white knight and you can be the damsel in distress!” *Wait a minute, what am I saying – white knight? I’m not the whelp! Brooding, menacing black knight, that’s me! – well, not too broody, wouldn’t want to be mistaken for the Poof either!*

“What are you suggesting, Spike?” Giles looked towards the vampire, not liking the evil gleam which had leapt into Spike’s eyes when he had said ‘damsel in distress’ – which, of course, he was nothing like. Mind you he was blushing madly, looking up at Spike and feeling helpless with his leg in such pain. But he still wasn’t a damsel he stressed to himself.

“Just this, luv.” And with that, Spike put Giles’ arm around his own shoulders and effortlessly lifted the Watcher off the ground to nestle snugly in his arms. Giles gasped and flailed his arm a little, not feeling comfortable with his arm around Spike, and being held way up in the air.

“Well, Spike, really. Isn’t there another way. I’m sure I could manage if you just…”
“You’re never gonna make it through this forest on one leg. Just relax, ol’ Spike has got you. I won’t let you fall, luv.”

Giles spluttered a bit more but Spike just ignored him and started back towards the car, carrying Giles almost like a bridegroom carrying his bride over the threshold of their new home. *Now, where on earth did that thought come from!*

 

Chapter 4

Giles found that being in Spike’s arms was quite a comfy place to be. He felt safe and protected, and in an odd way warmed. He also felt uncomfortable thinking like that. He shouldn’t be feeling safe in the arms of a killer but, he admitted to himself, he was finding it harder and harder to think of Spike in that way.

Spike had him cradled tightly against his chest and Giles could feel Spike’s muscles rippling as he walked. He almost felt the urge to lean his head against Spike’s shoulder but restrained himself, telling himself not to be so silly. He didn’t do things like that and he could just imagine Spike laughing his head off if he tried.

He wasn’t to know that Spike was just wishing the same thing. He liked the feel of Giles in his arms. Even though the vampire was slightly smaller in stature, his arms were powerful enough to carry Giles with ease and he liked the way Giles’ arm moved along his shoulder as his own muscles bunched and relaxed as he stepped carefully over stumps and around tree limbs

When Spike saw a particularly low branch ahead which he would have to bend to get under, he decided to have a little fun with Giles. He knew how flustered the watcher got when he was embarrassed and Spike was in the mood to see nervous Giles in action.

As he bent to avoid the approaching branch, he had to alter the position of his arms around Giles so as to make sure he didn’t drop him and he made the most of this opportunity by sliding his hand slightly between Giles’ legs and gently stroking along the length of Giles’ inner thigh. When he straightened again, he moved his arms back to their former positions as if nothing had happened and took great enjoyment from the hot redness emanating from Giles’ cheeks as he tried to decide if he had really felt what he thought he had just felt.

Luckily for himself, Giles thought, they were fast approaching the car and then Spike would have to put him down and he would be able to stop analysing and re-analysing his feelings constantly. As they reached the vehicle, Spike set Giles down on the hood of the car, to enable him to unlock the doors and ease Giles into the passenger seat. As Spike withdrew his arms from around Giles, his one arm slid along the crease of Giles’ knee and his other traversed the length of Giles’ spine and across the back of his neck, leaving him tingling and certain this time, that both caresses had been intentional.

Spike got into the driver’s seat, whilst Giles was still deciding how he felt about being caressed by Spike, and whether he should comment and ask why Spike had touched him like that.

Spike was nonchalantly starting the car and hid a smile as he caught sight of Giles’ puzzled face when he turned to look behind him as he reversed out. Once the car was straight, Spike slammed his foot down and the car shot forward, shaking Giles from his reverie. He was pushed back into his seat and his foot banged down against the floor causing him to let out a shout and a groan.

“Bloody hell, Spike. Watch what you’re doing please.”
“Sorry luv. I didn’t mean to hurt you, I was just seeing if this old thing had any oomph in it.”
“Well, it has quite enough oomph for me, thank you. Do you think you might be able to take it a bit more slowly for the rest of the journey? I don’t know whether my foot will stand up to your experimentations.”
“Sure pet, I’ll pretend I’m you and we’ll crawl along, shall we.”
“I don’t crawl along, I merely drive sensibly.”
“You just keep telling yourself that.”

Giles contented himself with a quelling look and they continued with their journey back to the shop. When they arrived, Giles forestalled Spike’s chance to lift him out by sidling out of his own seat and leaning against the side of the car to get his balance. Spike took no notice, however, and once he had locked the car he just grabbed Giles around the waist and picked him up again and started in through the back door of the Magic Box and upstairs to the living quarters. He placed Giles down on the sofa, this time refraining from touching him any more than was necessary, feeling that he had teased Giles enough for one evening.

He went and fetched the first aid kit from the bathroom, knowing where everything was kept from the many times the Scoobies had needed bandaging after helping Buffy patrol. He very gently wrapped a pressure bandage around Giles’ ankle and then filled an ice pack from the freezer. He propped Giles’ foot up on a cushion on the coffee table and packed the ice around it to reduce the swelling.

Giles was amazed at how caring and gentle Spike was being, and all without complaint too. When Giles was settled on the sofa, Spike went into the kitchen and started making a pot of tea, and what was more, he was making it correctly, warming the pot and steeping the tea leaves and setting out the china in the exact way that Giles liked. When it was ready he passed Giles his cup and took one for himself too.

“Gosh, Spike. I wasn’t aware that you knew how to do that.”
“Hey, I *am* British you know mate.”
“I know that, I just didn’t take you for a tea aficionado.”
“I’ve supped the cha on occasion, back in the day. It was quite a proper household I was brought up in, don’t ya know! Afternoon tea, with a napkin on one’s knee and raising one’s little finger whilst drinking. Just because I don’t do it often, doesn’t mean I’ve never done it all.”
“Well, quite. Thank you Spike, this is delicious.”

Giles and Spike drank their perfectly brewed tea in a comfortable silence, just enjoying the moment. When they had finished, Spike cleared everything away and then offered to carry Giles upstairs to bed.

“Need a lift then, pet?”
Giles, seeing no other option and knowing there was no way he could get up the stairs alone, had to agree.
“Well, under the circumstances, I see no other choice.”
“If it’s too much trouble for ya, luv, then I won’t bother. Wouldn’t want to put you out or anything.”
“Oh, I am sorry Spike. I don’t mean to appear ungrateful, I just don’t like to be helpless like this. I would be most gratified with your assistance please, and thank you for the aid you have given me thus far.”

Spike hid a real smile from being thanked so sincerely for a change instead of being taken for granted by everyone as was usual. He carefully picked Giles up and carried him upstairs, stopping first at the bathroom, where he propped him by the sink and left him to see to his own ablutions. When Giles opened the door to tell Spike he had finished, he was there ready and waiting and he carried him through to the bedroom.

Giles sat on the bed, not knowing what to do now. He didn’t feel comfortable undressing with Spike in the room, but Spike didn’t seem eager to leave, having plonked himself down in the bedside chair.

“Do ya need a hand getting changed, pet?”
“Er, no thank you, I’m sure I can manage from here. Thank you for all your help.”
“Well you just holler if you need anything. I’m only next door.”
“Thank you again, Spike. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Sure, luv. ‘Night.”

Spike got up then, but he didn’t close the door fully as he left and he paused just beyond the doorway and looked back at the three-quarter length mirror, in which he could see a reflection of Giles undressing. Giles was sitting on the bed, so as to put no pressure on his ankle and he crossed his arms over at the waist of his long sleeved sweater and pulled it up and over his head.

Spike just stood there transfixed by what he saw. Giles’ body was gorgeous. He had a thin downy layer of hair on his chest and his muscles were all finely honed and still as toned as those of a much younger man would be. Spike knew that Giles was not heavy as he had discovered upon carrying Giles around before, but he hadn’t realised just how fit Giles was. Those tweedy clothes and sweaters did a good job of disguising the magnificent specimen hidden within them. Spike watched the muscles in Giles’ arms flex as they were each withdrawn from their sleeve and then, as Giles moved on to his trousers, Spike revelled in all that was being revealed further down.

Giles’ legs were firm and toned but quite pale – of course, nothing compared to Spike’s own untanned skin, but still pale for someone who now lived in California. Not that Giles saw a whole lot more sun than Spike did himself, what with working in the Magic Box and training and patrolling with Buffy. He was a regular night owl, just as Spike was, although Spike’s was out of necessity not choice, of course.

Unfortunately, to Spike’s way of thinking, Giles chose to keep his underwear on as he got under the covers. Spike was interested to see that Giles wore trunks, a tighter, body-hugging version of boxer shorts and he was pleased to note that they left little to the imagination – and God said ‘Let there be imagination’, and there was, and it was good!

Chapter 5

Giles bit down hard on his lower lip to stop himself from moaning aloud, as his nipple was surrounded by cool lips, sucked and nibbled upon until it stood erect from his body. Those cool lips blew air gently across the area they had just laved and Giles felt jolts shoot through his body, arrowing to his groin where his cock lay twitching and hardening more with each puff.

He raised his hand to ruffle the short blond hair in front of him, pressing the head down as it moved its attention to his other nipple. Strong fingers came up to take over in the place of the now absent lips on the first nipple, rolling the damp nub between finger and thumb, tweaking and pulling it until it was like a hot bullet throbbing on Giles’ chest.

The cool lips made their way slowly down his chest, kissing and sucking as they went. A long tongue poked out and delved deep into Giles’ belly button. This time he was unable to keep the noise in - a long groan sounded from deep in his throat.

After exploring the belly button thoroughly, the lips continued on downwards following the guiding line of hair and nibbling their way along the crease where his hip met his torso and on to his inner thigh, where he felt a tiny scratch, like teeth dragging across his sensitive skin.

The sensation caused his solid shaft to bounce strongly and his hands fell to his sides and grabbed on tightly to the silk sheets. His whole body tensed and bucked as he felt one of his balls being sucked inside the cool mouth. It was rolled around on the tongue and pulled taut, then the lips moved on to the other side and, that hand again came up to play with the laved ball, massaging it in time with the motion of the active tongue.

Giles was uttering steady moans and he was panting now, his hands having moved up beside his head and grabbed on to the bars of his iron bedstead. The muscles of his abdomen, shoulders and thighs were flexing and tensing almost constantly as his body revelled in the sensations it was feeling.

Just as he thought he might pass out from the pleasure he was receiving, it was taken up a further notch, as the tongue left the balls it had been lavishing its attention on and took one huge swipe, all the way from the base to the throbbing head of Giles’ cock, where it sucked in the pre-cum dripping from the tip. Then the tongue plunged into the oozing slit whilst the lips closed over the head and started sucking as Giles came harder than he could remember, and he let out a mighty yell as he woke himself up…….!

****

Giles sat up in bed, unable to believe what had just happened. He had just had a wet dream, something that hadn’t happened to him since puberty had hit!

He looked down at the covers and saw a wet patch spreading across them, and at the same moment he heard running feet coming towards him from the direction of Spike’s room. He quickly grabbed his pillow and pulled it down over the dishevelled sheets to cover his lap.

“What? What is it? Is someone here?”

Spike came in to the room at a run and stood near the doorway with his fists cocked ready to fight, eyes searching for the enemy that had made Giles shout out.

Giles just sat there, staring in awe at the sight in front of him. Spike was standing there, ready to protect him against anything - and he was totally and absolutely butt naked.

****

Spike looked over at the awed expression on Giles’ face, realising that Giles’ eyes were not looking towards any supposed enemy but were glued to Spike’s own groin area. He let his fists drop down and released himself from his battle-ready mode and as he opened himself up, his vampiric senses were hit by wave upon wave of pheromones coming from Giles. The watcher was highly aroused and Spike could smell his cum in the air.

Giles blinked, coughed and shook himself to try and clear the image of naked Spike from his head. Very naked Spike. Very toned and muscled Spike, with washboard abs and a thin line of short blond hair leading the eye down towards the most wonderful specimen of manhood he had every seen. It was something, which in his college days he would have referred to, as being ‘hung like a donkey’! Not that he had any experience of the size of donkeys, of course, but he was sure they would all be put to shame by what he saw before him.

He lowered his head quickly, hoping Spike hadn’t noticed him staring, though he was sure there was little chance of anything escaping Spike’s eagle eyes.

“I’m sorry to have disturbed you, Spike. I just had a.. er…, bad dream and woke myself up by shouting, and obviously woke you too.”

“It’s alright luv, I don’t mind rushing to your aid, I’d rather be safe than sorry. Why don’t you go and splash some cold water on your face, you look quite flushed.”

Giles glanced down at the pillow in his lap and blushed even more deeply. There was no way he could get up whilst Spike was standing there. Spike would be able to see everything as soon as Giles pulled the covers back and Giles needed every scrap of dignity he had left.

“Erm, yes I will in a moment. You can go back to bed now Spike. I wouldn’t want to disrupt your night even further.”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind a bit. I can help you up if you like, you look a little shaken up. Was it a very bad dream, some nasty beasty catching you unawares or something”, Spike smirked at him.

“Ah, no. I can manage fine on my own, thank you”, Giles said, raising his arms to keep Spike at bay. “I can’t even remember the dream now, it couldn’t have been of any great significance.”

Giles reddened again when Spike looked at him in askance, with one eyebrow sexily raised (stop that, he told himself, there’s nothing sexy about it). Then he looked down again at his pillow-covered groin - except now the pillow was no longer in place. It had slipped down when he raised his hands up to Spike.

He leapt up in horror, trying to draw Spike’s eyes away from the sheets until he realised that he was only making matters worse, as Spike could now see an even more revealing wet patch on Giles’ underwear.

He grabbed the nearest thing to him, a book from his night stand, and held it up in front of his groin, edging himself towards the bathroom.

Spike looked down at the cover of the book and then back up, catching Giles’ eye and with a big smile on his face, said: “’The Rise And Fall Of The Roman Empire’? How appropriate luv.”

Giles stood there for a moment, his cheeks first paling and then burning hotly, then he gave up any pretence, turned tail and ran for the bathroom.

Spike watched Giles’ rapidly retreating arse and the subsequent slamming of the bathroom door with an amused glint in his eye, after which he sauntered off back to his own room, chuckling softly to himself.

****

Giles just stood with his back to the bathroom door, his head leant backwards against the wood. ‘Please tell me I didn’t just stand in front of Spike with a cum stain all over my boxers, acting like a 13 year old boy’, he said to himself. He knew that, whatever, he may wish otherwise, he had indeed made a right fool of himself. He still couldn’t believe that it had happened, what was worse, he couldn’t believe Spike, of all people, had witnessed it. He would never live this down. Spike was bound to tease him at every opportunity.

He stripped off the offending boxers, put them in the laundry basket and stepped into the shower. As the warm water sluiced over his still tensed body, he thought back over what had happened. What was the deal with that dream. He had never cum so fast before. His cock had barely been touched. It had only taken one lick, one suck and he had exploded. He couldn’t understand it.

And who was the mysterious phantom lover that had thrilled him so powerfully. His first thought was that it was Buffy, but no, that couldn’t be right. When he had ruffled the blond hair it hadn’t been long and flowing like hers, it had been short and gelled.

That nip on his thigh surely couldn’t have been caused by normal human teeth, it had felt too sharp for that. He thought about how hot it had been when those lips had covered his body in sensuous kisses. But wait, it was only the feelings that were created which had been hot, the lips themselves had been cool and strong he now remembered.

What could this mean? Who could it be? He reviewed all the facts. Short, gelled, blond hair. Teeth, sharper than was normal. Cool, powerful lips.

Oh God, oh no! Please don’t let it be so. It couldn’t possibly have been….
Spike!