Title: Smell of Home Part 7

Email: tirel@pcnuthut.com

Homepage: https://www.angelfire.com/tv2/firebird_ascending/

Author: Velvet Crypt

Disclaimer: Joss is God. I own nothing.

Spoilers: Around season 4 or 5

Summary: The pain.

Dedication: For everyone who waited.

Xander could feel the cold floor under his bare feet. He could feel the air brushing across his naked chest. He could feel the ropes digging into his wrists and ankles and the pull of muscles as he hung spread-eagled like a sacrifice to the right side of B’Thaaug’s chair. What he couldn’t feel was anything from the neck up. It was all one huge mass of pain, one cut indistinguishable from the next.

And every time the Ghrestian touched him, he wished his entire body felt that way. He shuddered and flinched every time a clawed nail ran down his chest, every time a pointed tongue flickered over a nipple or down his waistband. He huddled in on himself, not wanting to thrust forward even to escape as B’Thaaug grasped his ass and slid violating fingers down his thighs and between his legs.

He had no idea how long he’d been hanging here. He woke up here, his arms already numb from lack of circulation. He heard voices from all around him, but as none of the words made any sense, knew he was in the serpent’s den. He wanted to cry, but had already discovered that the salt hurt his right eye, and the tear duct seemed to have been cut out or damaged in his left one.

“Vrahan B’Thaaug!” a voice echoed, nearly in his ear.

“No!” B’Thaaug bellowed. “In the human’s tongue.”

“Yes, Master,” came the sniveling reply. “Our spy has informed us that the Slayer has been alerted. She has been ordered to come with explosives and weapons. William the Bloody has plans to burn the building down in revenge for his mate’s capture.”

Xander felt a tiny thrill in his stomach. Spike wanted revenge. Revenge for the hurts B’Thaaug caused to Xander. Oh, and Buffy was coming. He fought through his pain enough to mentally chuckle at the bass-akwards method of thinking he’d come to be having in these last few days. Vicious killer, planning on executing everyone that moves and destroying an entire building to repay someone for hurting me. Oh, and by the way, the savior of mankind is coming to help me, pass the coffee?

“Well, isn’t that just interesting?” B’Thaaug chuckled. Xander heard his great bulk creak out of the chair and he held his breath. Sure enough, the invading hand found his bared skin again. B’Thaaug circled the boy, running a claw around his torso like a knife. Xander didn’t even feel the pain anymore. “So, little toy. What do you think William the Bloody will do if he shows up to rescue his ‘mate’ and finds that his ‘mate’ is mated to someone else?”

Xander tried not to swallow his tongue. “What the hell will he care? We fought. We split up, remember?” he tried one last time. And it would be the last time. He didn’t think his fragile neck could take another bout of whiplash as B’Thaaug backhanded him. He flew against his bindings, feeling them cut into his flesh, and prodded at a loosened tooth.

“Obviously, little toy, your Spike cares just the smallest bit if he’s willing to destroy a hallowed demon meeting place and murder several dozen of his own kind in retaliation for a couple of eyes.” He traced a claw back down Xander’s chest, feeling the boy quiver in fear.

Catcalls came from around the room and B’Thaaug grinned, playing into the voyeurism by slipping a hand down Xander’s pants. Xander shrieked and jerked away frantically. “Fine!” he screamed hysterically. “Okay, you win! He will come for me! He’ll come for me and make you wish you’d never been spawned. He’ll cut you to ribbons; he’ll eat your heart! He’ll…he’ll…” Xander’s voice died down into a whimper and he sagged. “He’ll save me. He’ll come for me. He will. He’ll take me home.”

B’Thaaug rocked his head again with another slap. “You are home, boy. The only home you’ll know for the rest of your short life,” the Ghrestian snarled. He schooled his ridged features and stepped away from Xander’s swinging body. “Now, I want to play with our William. I want him to hurt. I want him to bleed. I want his heart to break. I want him to know that…though he may kill me, his little ‘mate’ will go insane without me. That his ‘mate’ will blame him for my loss.”

He gestured and demons moved forth. Xander could hear the clanking of glass and metal. One by one, the demons laid jars and talismans at B’Thaaug’s feet. “So, my little toy,” the Ghrestian sneered at the bloody form. “I will claim you now. I will make you mine in every sense of the word. You’d best take some time to prepare yourself, sweet one. I guarantee it will hurt.”

_________________________________

K’eivan waited at the gate, his eyes wide open for anything watching him watch for the Slayer. He’d been steadily getting more and more nervous when he heard the whispered voices of two humans.

“He said he’d have someone waiting for us,” said one.

“Yeah, well, he’s evil in case you’d forgotten, Giles,” came the lofty reply.

“Buffy—“

That was all K’eivan needed to hear. He leaped out of the bushes with a grin, which dropped quickly off his face as he found himself face to point with a nasty looking crossbow. “Er, hi?” he tried.

“And you are?” Giles asked politely, trying to ignore Buffy’s patented response of kill it and hope they didn’t need it later for information.

“I’m er…I’m K’eivan? Spike sent me? Can you not poke me with that bolt, please?” he asked nicely. Buffy quirked an eyebrow and he looked pleadingly at Giles. “Please?” Giles nodded and Buffy sighed, lowering her crossbow.

“Fine. K’eivan is it?” he nodded. “So, take us to Spike then.” He nodded then a bright smile came over his face.

“Wow,” he nearly bounced. “This is…well, this is great! I’m actually meeting the Slayer! Great reflexes by the way,”

Buffy frowned, eyeing K’eivan and then looking uncertainly at Giles. “Um, thanks.”

“And you!” K’eivan stepped forward to grasp Giles’ hands. He shook them rapidly, smiling all the while. “I’m so pleased to meet you. Rupert Giles. The Watcher. I’ve followed your career, sir, and let me say that this is just the biggest honor!”

Giles freed his hand, smiled graciously and promptly pulled a handkerchief out and began polishing his glasses. “Yes, well…it’s nice to meet you as well, K’eivan. Can you tell us what is going on? Spike wasn’t very forthcoming in his descriptions.”

The Brachen nodded, smiling wryly. “Yeah, well, he’s pretty much been on the rampage since B’Thaaug took Xander. He isn’t really capable of doing much besides trashing the room and taking it out on everyone else, so far. And Willow and Tara are trying to come up with a plan with the help of some of the more rational demons. Unfortunately, those are few and far between. Most everyone else is just chomping at the bit. I’d suggest letting them loose to kill something, quickly.”

He pulled out a small orb from his jacket pocket and held it in his hand. “Willow made this for you. She says it’s a power signature cover-up, whatever that means,” he shrugged good-naturedly. “She said to activate it before coming up.”

Giles nodded and took the small orb, chanting over it for a moment. A wave of power flushed over the group and he handed the orb back to K’eivan. The Brachen took it in awe. “That was the coolest thing,” he breathed.

Giles smiled self-consciously and ducked his head. “Yes, well…just a bit of powerful magics.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Okay, mutual appreciation society over. Let’s get this show on the road.”

Giles flushed and shouldered a bag, handing another to the Brachen, who just headed off silently into the hotel, leaving the others to follow him.

He knocked on the door to the room and stood carefully in the center, where he could be seen in the eyehole. After a moment, the door swung open and they stepped inside. Growls issued from different corners of the room and Buffy tightened her grip on her sword. Her eyes sought out Willow, Tara and Spike.

Willow looked as though she’d been crying for hours. Tara didn’t look much better. What surprised her though, was Spike. He looked worse than the time Drusilla left him. He just lay on the bed, lifeless. He barely nodded at her before sinking back into the pillow.

“Um, hi everyone,” she said carefully. “Someone want to explain what the sitch is with Xander so we can come up with a plan?” She wasn’t prepared for the reaction. Willow burst into tears again and Spike came up off of the bed. He glared at her as he took the tiny redheaded witch into his arms. Tara sighed and pointed to a small box on the desk before joining Spike and Willow in a group hug.

Frowning, Buffy picked up the box. Giles stood by her shoulder as she opened the lid.

“Oh, God,” she breathed, transfixed in horror.

“Is that…?” Giles began, and then stopped himself. “Well,” he said, ice creeping into his voice.

“Well,” Buffy repeated, closing the lid.

“Now?” Giles bit out.

Buffy nodded. “Yup.”

She placed the box back on the desk and began passing out weapons to anything with arms. Willow came up for air. “Aren’t we going to have something ready? We really need to work together. We need a plan.”

Buffy passed out a mace to the Drokken. “No plan. They lost their chance for a nice, lets-only-kill-the-big-bad plan the second I opened that box.” She tossed an axe to Spike. “Come on, blondie. Let’s go save your boyfriend.”

____________________________________

He could hear the words of the ritual being spoken. He could feel his blood being spilled. He knew that B’Thaaug was taking extended privileges with the touching required. But he couldn’t stop him. He couldn’t fight. His will was slowly evaporating as his strength seeped away…one blood droplet at a time. Finally, he stopped trying. He focused every bit of his remaining energy into a single phrase. Repeating it over and over as though the words themselves would rise up and smite the demon threatening to take away Xander’s sanity.

“I belong to Spike, you can’t have me. I belong to Spike, you can’t have me. I belong to Spike you can’t have me. I belong to Spike you can’t have me. I belong to spike you cant have me. I belong to spike you cant haveme. I belong to spike you canthaveme. I belong to spike youcanthaveme. I belong to spikeyoucanthaveme. I belong tospikeyoucanthaveme. I belongtospikeyoucanthaveme. Ibelongtospikeyoucanthaveme. ibelongtospikeyoucanthaveme. ibelongtospikeyoucanthaveme ibelongtospikeyoucanthavemeibelongtospikeyoucanthavemeibelongtospikeyoucanthavemeibelongtospikeyoucanthaveme—“

“Enough!” A fist to the gut silenced Xander, effectively shoving all the air out of his stomach. It was followed by a punch to the side of his head that left his ears ringing. “I will not listen to your pathetic moanings whilst trying to complete my ritual! I will remove your tongue if I hear one more word!”

Xander chose silence. Besides, it wasn’t as if he had to say the words out loud anyway. They were just as distracting spoken inside his head. Soon, the words ceased to be words. Somewhere in the recesses of Xander’s mind, he remembered doing this when he was small: saying a word over and over until it stopped making sense. But, the more he offered himself to Spike, the more sense it made.

Oh, the words were just a litany of sounds that ran in circles through his head, but the meaning? The meaning had become his sole thought, his sole reason for continuing to take that next breath. To try to breathe even as the demon carved the next symbol deep enough to nick a lung. He just kept repeating. Repeating, breathing, living…repeating, waiting, knowing. Spike would be here soon. Spike would come for him.

~I belong to Spike, you can’t have me. ~

He felt a tingle begin in his gut. A tiny warm spot that fizzed like effervescence. It was bright. It was good. It spread through his stomach, to his chest. It moved down his arms, his legs, tingling into his fingers and toes. His nerve endings were set on fire. When the warmth had spread through his entire body, he felt the original ball, still sitting in the pit of his stomach, coalesce and shoot from his body.

He could feel it anchored to him, knew it was still a part of him. And he knew it was seeking something…looking to make itself whole. To find a home.

_________________________________

Spike stopped dead in the hallway. His axe fell from frozen fingers and he closed his eyes against the assault of dizziness that washed over him. Buffy ran right into him, nearly knocking herself over. “Spike! What the hell! Move your dead ass,” she snapped, shoving him forward.

The Vahrall grasped her arm and tugged her away, narrowly missing getting a sword through the gut. “Stop,” it ordered in a guttural voice. “You must not touch him. It smells…strange.”

“What?” Buffy demanded, snatching her arm away from the demon. “What the hell are you talking about? It smells like what?”

“Home,” Spike whispered, a silly smile on his lips.

Home? Buffy mouthed, looking at the others. Giles pushed forward to stand next to the Vahrall, who was still eyeing Spike carefully. Spike held out his arms as if to embrace someone, throwing his head back.

“Um, what is going on?” Buffy whispered, gripping her weapon tighter.

The Vahrall muttered something deep in its throat and Giles’ gaze shot to its face. “Dear Lord,” he muttered in amazement. “Are you sure?” The demon nodded.

Buffy’s temper flared. “Sure of what? Sure that I’m going to start kicking some ass here if someone doesn’t tell me what’s going on?”

Giles moved around Spike slowly, careful not to touch him, a delighted expression on his face. “They’re performing the claim,” he whispered.

Willow frowned. “Spike said they couldn’t do that without a ritual and blood exchange and stuff.”

Giles nodded. “That’s why it’s so amazing. One isn’t supposed to be able to lay claim to someone without the proper rituals. And even then, it tends to be the demon who claims the human.”

Buffy’s jaw dropped. “Xander is laying claim to Spike?”

Giles nodded, the excitement in him a palpable thing. “Yes! Our totally human, ritually inept Xander is claiming a Master Vampire.”

“Yes,” Spike whispered, joy in every line of his body. “You belong to me. And I belong to you. Go ahead, love,” he encouraged. “Take it. Take it with you and be strong. We’re coming, Xander. I’m coming for you.” Spike jerked suddenly and then dropped to his knees as though physically unable to support himself any longer. Buffy jumped forward, shoving the other demons aside.

She grabbed his arm. “Spike? Are you okay?” she asked anxiously. “What happened? Can you stand?”

Spike looked up at her with shining eyes. “He’s mine, Buffy,” he whispered, clutching her tightly. “He’s mine.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Okay, great. He’s yours. I’ll wig out about that later. For now, can you stand?” Spike nodded. He tried to stand, then shook his head.

“Sorry, luv. I gave it all to him,” he apologized.

“Gave what?” she asked, hauling him up.

Giles answered, hovering around the vamp like he wanted to take notes. “He gave his strength, his energy if you will, to Xander…to sustain him until we could reach him. He should get better the closer we get to Xander.”

“But if Xander needs the strength, won’t there be nothing left for Spike?” Willow asked worriedly.

Giles shook his head. “It doesn’t work like that. A pair of bonded…they generate their own energy. The bond itself will feed them to full capacity provided we can get them to each other fast enough.”

“Well what the hell are we waiting for?” Buffy demanded, throwing Spike’s arm over her shoulder. K’eivan stepped up and dropped his shoulder under Spike’s other arm. Together, they manhandled Spike down the hallway.