The Covenant

by jamies_lady

Summary: After the fight with the senior partners the scoobies gather in rome for a well earned break but an unexpected meeting leads to adventure

Chapter 11

Buffy didn’t need vampiric hearing to hear the shouting in the hall. Angel was demanding to be let into the house.

‘I’m here to rescue my poor Buffy.’

Buffy and Spike looked at one another and burst out laughing, ‘where does he get the balls for that one, I am so going to hit him one day!’

‘I think I would hold your coat, my dear,’ added Giles. All those who knew Angel were grimacing and pulling faces. Giles had never really forgiven the Brunette vampire for torturing him when he’d lost his soul.

‘I suppose I better go and invite him in before he disturbs the whole neighbourhood.’ Buffy got up from her comfortable seat on her man’s lap and followed the sound of shouting.

‘Come in, Angel.’ Her words brought down the invisible barrier at the door. Buffy then walked past her first, and long forgotten, love, and greeted Nina warmly. ‘It’s lovely to see you again, Nina, how are you?’

‘Tired, he’s been ranting all the way from LA that you’re under a spell and he needs to save you. I’ve officially finished with him, but the watcher there thought he needed an escort; but I am so fed up of playing second to his very false memories of you.’

‘That’s OK, I quite understand. We’ll get you separate rooms and again, I really understand. How are you coping other than that? Full moon still a problem? If so, there is a good solid cage in the basement for full moons, we use it when Oz visits. Not so much for him but a couple of his pack still need protection sometimes.’

‘The perfect hostess, no frets over unexpected guests, and all their foibles are catered for!’ Nina laughed.

Angel grabbed hold of Buffy only to hear a warning growl from Spike, ‘you don’t get to touch her peaches…’

‘I’m here to save you, Buffy. These people you’ve been talking to are very dangerous, Master vampires, they are just setting you up. They need something from you and won’t stop till they get it.’

Buffy looked down at where Angel still had a hold of her arm.

‘Let go Angel, if you want to keep your arm, that is. What you seemed to have forgotten again, Angel, is that I’m an adult, and well capable of caring for myself. And I will make any decisions about my future. Now are you going to actually come in and be sociable, or have you come all this way to stand in a hall and yell at me?’

Her voice was as cold as ice, and there was no warmth in her eyes as she stared right at the Elder Vampire.

Angel looked round and realised that they had an audience. Slayerettes had come out of the door from the training school just to see what all the noise was about. Their ‘spider sense’ tingling at the presence of a Master Vampire.

‘We have to discuss this in private, you have no idea who you’re dealing with; the Immortal and his kind are demons.’

‘The Immortal?’ Spike joined in, ‘what does that wanker have to do with all this?’

‘He’s a friend of Charles Richards and his circle, met up with them in the 1930’s in Paris, while I was keeping away from Darla and Dru.’

‘Nina,’ Buffy diverted the conversation, ‘shall we go into the sitting room, I’m sure you could do with a drink after your journey.’

‘Thank you, I for one could do with a coffee.’

Buffy and Nina led the way back into the sitting room where the rest of the Scoobies were talking.

‘Oh look who it is: Dead Boy Senior,’ growled Xander. Willow reached over and stroked her lover’s arm, and pointed towards Buffy. ‘She’s having a hard enough time. Looks like she wants to kill someone at the moment.’

Buffy scowled at Xander; she was having a hard enough time keeping her temper.

‘Thanks Sugar, you’ve saved me from being slayered; have I told you today what a great girlfriend you make?’ Xander whispered. He knew Buffy wasn’t actually mad at him, but only at the loud mouthed idiot who was causing a scene.

Willow giggled. It was obvious that the brooding vampire no longer intimidated anyone in the room, in fact most people seemed almost bored with his ranting, raving and dictating.

‘Angel, would you please do us all a favour and sit down before my slayer gets stake happy? She does not now, nor has she ever needed your advice, so I suggest, strongly, that you sit down and shut up.’ Giles spoke harshly. He had never forgiven the vampire for killing Jenny either when he’d turned into Angelus. Long association with Spike had finally taught him that the soul had little control over the kindness of the man, just over his motives, and Angel or Angelus just liked to cause trouble.


‘I heard about your run- in with Richards and wanted to make sure you were all right, you never know with his sort.’ Buffy couldn’t believe how petulant Angel sounded, it was though he were five and not over two hundred.

‘Angel, that was kind, but I live with a Master Vampire and a very powerful witch in a house full of slayers and watchers, what exactly did you think might happen? I might chip a nail? I’m not some stupid child who runs off without a thought of the consequences,’ Buffy continued. ‘That’s more your custom.’

Nina giggled, Buffy obviously wasn’t falling for the puppy eyes routine. Angel grabbed hold of The Slayer again. ‘You’re mine and you always will be…’

‘No, Angel, I’m not, I’m mine and I suggest you let go of me. Whatever I felt when I was sixteen wasn’t true love, you tried to control me too much for it to have been. It was adoration and infatuation, but not love. I know what love feels like now, no mistakes, I carry the marks of only one vampire, he put a familial claim on me, so if anyone owns me it’s him.’ Buffy pulled down her shirt collar to show off the mark. She then looked towards Spike with such tenderness in her eyes the Blond Vampire felt like crying. Angel, on the other hand felt like murdering someone.

‘You never did leave my things alone, did you, boy?’ and lunged for the younger vampire.

Xander pulled Willow and Giles out the way, whilst Buffy pushed Nina into another corner. Buffy just watched the two vampires in game face start circling one another for the fight, picked up a vase of flowers and threw the water all over the posturing males.

‘When you have quite finished with the testosterone poisoning, sit or I will put you both in the hospital!’ She glared at Angel who slunk into a chair, tulips falling from his head and his silk shirt wet through. Turning to Spike she glared at him for a second before smiling her best and most beaming smile at him as he sat in a chair away from the brooding bulk of the older vampire.

‘There will be no fighting in this house. We keep it for outside or in the training room. If you two want to go three rounds with one another, fine, buts it’s not in my sitting room, do I make myself clear?’

‘Yes Buffy.’

‘He started it,’ said the blond.

‘Oh, and you’re what? Five?’

‘Nina’ she continued, ‘you are more than welcome to stay as long as you want, but I’ll brook no interference; we have a job to do and you don’t know all the facts.’ Buffy aimed that straight at Angel who was still dripping in his chair. Somehow he had received the brunt of the water, Spike was only mildly damp. Buffy’s aim was good no matter what the weapon.

‘Now what do you know about Charles Richards and his crew?’ asked the Watcher of the wet vampire.

‘Had a woman with him that wasn’t a vampire or demon, no one was quite sure what she was. Turned up with children sometimes, claimed they were his own, but we all know what a lie that is.’

‘Says the man with a son,’ interrupted Spike. Angel had the good grace to look abashed.

Giles cleared his throat. ‘If you’ve all done, can we please get back to business?

‘We are due to meet up with The Covanant tonight and give them an answer. And we’re all agreed, next week we go after Travers. Then it’s up to Buffy and Spike what they do next, but I for one, would welcome their input into the council, and we still need to find the mole in the new council.’

‘Willow will use the maps we’ve been given to do a location spell on him, Rachael will lead the second group of slayers with Dawn on standby to open the portal. Spike and I will go in with Charles and his crew.’ For some reason Buffy didn’t name the second vampire they’d met.

‘Xander, I want you with Spike and Buffy at the house. Keep your eyes peeled and use that sense of yours to keep an eye on everything.’

Angel spoke up. ‘You expect the whelp to be able to help? You’re mad. He’s mortal and stupid, a clown.’

Xander started to feel insecure, his younger self was making its way to the surface. But of all the beings in the room it was Spike that spoke up first.

‘That Clown, as you call him, faced down the First and the Torukan, he has fought and destroyed more vampires than any other human, he has faced demons and won and his heart and bravery saved this planet on more than one occasion. You don’t speak so disrespectfully about my friend unless you want to meet William the Bloody. And unlike you, I have kept fit.’ Spike looked straight at the older Vampire’s portly shape.

Rachael came into the room, with two mugs of blood, tea and coffee. She handed Spike the ‘bite the librarian’ mug that Giles had given him for Christmas the year before.

Angel started growling. He could smell that blood and it wasn’t animal. It was human, and slayer blood at that.

‘What are you doing, Willie, that’s not animal.’

‘No, it’s a gift from my girls, they wanted me on full lead, super before the big fight.’

‘We all donated, so back off,’ Rachael added.

Angel looked at the young girl in front of him, then realised that she, like most of the others here, was a slayer. He went back into his chair, complaining under his breath. His blood was pig and nothing else, not even a trace of otter or bear.

‘Would you like me to show your to your rooms? I’m sure you must be tired after your long flight.’ Rachael offered. She wanted the brooding Vampire away from both Willow and Xander.

Nina stood up. ‘That would be lovely, many thanks, I could do with a lie down and a shower.’ Rachael led the way out of the room and up the stairs.

The conversation started to slip into everyday things and the group soon relaxed.

‘You alright, seeing the poofter again pet?’ asked Spike, worried that Angel’s appearance may have affected Buffy. The insecure William showed his face again.

‘Yes, oh, yes, just wondering about my dreadful taste when I was sixteen.’

‘Well at least your taste in vampires got better,’ and he started to nuzzle into her neck.

‘I would suggest one thing, If you want to add to the protection of the people in this room’ said Spike quietly. ‘If I do a claiming bite, just for protection, on you it will prevent any other vamp taking a bite. It would mark whoever I bit as my property; wouldn’t do it unless you asked though.’ He looked straight at Giles. ‘Wouldn’t dare around here.’

‘I knew it, 10 years and he still wants to eat me,’ Xander started to joke; but went over to Spike and bared his neck.

‘Good idea fang face, if only to keep the great broody one from getting ideas.’

He knew that Spike wouldn’t have offered unless it was important.

‘You sure about this Xander, you realise I actually have to bite you.’

‘I always knew I was going to be Vamp food. No tickling. No kissing, just bite,’ added Xander, mumbling to himself.

Spike slid gently into game face, and because he was still the ‘Big Bad’ and had to have fun, he nuzzled and gently licked Xander’s neck, producing results that were beginning to embarrass the man. At just the right point he slid his fangs into Xander’s neck. ‘Mine, my property,’ he whispered. Xander felt weak kneed and not from loss of blood. ‘If that’s what being bitten feels like why didn’t I let it happen before?’

Spike just grinned.

‘You all right, sweetie?’ Willow was worried about the effect the bite seemed to have had.

‘Uh huh, I just feel a little wired you could say, that was some experience. Can see why some humans keep looking for it now, never could before.’ Xander chattered on. The marks tingled and he could feel where Spike was in the room.

‘Never thought any of you would trust me enough for that.’ Spike had tears in his eyes and rushed out of the room.

Buffy followed him out to find Spike sitting in the library. ‘ I haven’t felt that much acceptance since I was a kid, to have Xander, of all people, trust me, it was too much for the ponce in me. I couldn’t let ‘em see me cry, sorry love, I’ll be OK, just a bit much, that much trust.’

Buffy just held him and nuzzled into his neck.

There they stayed for a while, revelling in the peace and each other’s company.