Sfw memories part 5 Underneath/Time Bomb

[aufredpratt]

I was roused from my doze with the office becoming busy as morning came. Once again I was thankful for the magic glass as I felt a beam of sunlight fall over my face. That was one thing I was going miss was the warmth of the sun. I kept my eyes closed for a moment soaking it in as much as I could before I sat up.

"Must've dozed off." Spike murmured reaching up to stroke my cheek adoringly. I smiled softly at him taking in how good he looked in the sunlight.

"Good you two are awake." Angel was balancing three mugs again "Willow just called from the airport, they'll be here within the hour." he placed two of the mugs on a nearby table "I also made sure staff knows that there's another vampire to stock blood for. In the meantime, Fred, I think you should stay out of the lab until we have your soul back. I also have an errand to run later that I need some backup for I would like for you two to help." While it was phrased like an order but his tone if voice made it sound more like a question.

"'course I'm game, I wanna see what has boss-man worried enough that he needs backup." Spike smirked quirking an eyebrow.

Angel sighed "If you must know I need to talk to Lindsey and we need to go to the Hell dimension he's in."

I froze, I had gotten up to get my mug and bring Spike his own. At the mention of a Hell Dimension my stomach dropped and my vision narrowed again. Which reminded me of my new condition. I was stronger now, different, I could tear apart anyone who tried to keep me there, easily. At this my nerves vanished and my vision cleared. I took the other two mugs back and handed Spike his while settling into his lap. Taking a long drink, the first thing I tasted was the ocean and fish. We had only had butcher store quality blood at home, mostly cows and pigs. This was different, it had a more rustic taste almost wild.

"Fred, love you alright?" he squeezed my hand with his free one looking at me with a hint of worry in his eyes, "you had a 'grr' moment there, were you thinking of your past?"

I nodded "but I reminded myself that I could take down anyone there now." I smirked.

"That's my girl." he purred kissing me just long enough that I could taste the fact that we had got blood from the same creature.

I heard Angel sigh behind us and mutter "I'm going to have to get used to this aren't I?"

I giggled, just then the intercom on his phone beeped. "Willow and Kennedy are here." Harmony's voice came through.

He pushed the talk button "Thanks Harmony, go ahead and send them up."

There was a moment of silence but I could hear two pairs of foot steps climbing the stairs. I couldn't remember how i knew Willow but I remembered unleashing one of my rambles on her and she must have thought I was flirting with her. For the life of me I could not remember why she had come to LA to help, something to do with Angel's soul being gone? I shook my head wincing at the slight headache. The door opened and Willow entered looking, well I couldn't put my finger on what was different about her but she looked brighter? Maybe it was because she now spent her life doing her favorite kind of research with her favorite person in the world. Speaking of, I guessed the other girl with her was Kennedy. Willow greeted Angel with a one armed hug and then turned to where Spike an I were sitting. She gave Spike a small smile "So how are you guys?"

I nodded "doing well for having to regrow half my insides and now being undead." I laughed hollowly.

"Right, anyway Kennedy you already know Spike and you met Angel just now and this is Fred. She's Spike's..." Willow paused "I feel like girlfriend is too light now but Siree kind of misses the point."

"Life partner?" I tried flushing "partner is kind of your guy's thing though." I looked down at my hand still entwined with Spike's.

"I mean not really it's for everyone." She grinned "Besides Kennedy and I prefer the term Fiance."

It took me a minute to catch her meaning "oh! congratulations!"

She blushed slightly and Kennedy beamed "Yup we found a guy in Europe that would be willing to do a more traditional witch-y type thing."

Willow cuffed her on the shoulder playfully "It's traditionally pagan." she was still smiling.

My mood high I turned back to Spike and he looked slightly uncomfortable. My senses were immediately on high alert, "what's wrong?"

"if your wondering if you'll be invited of course you are, we wouldn't still be here if it weren't for you." Willow laughed softly.

"'s not that I just feel weird around wedding stuff ever since..."  He looked more embarrassed now.

Willow blanched "Well if it makes you feel any better it's going to be very woodsy and rustic. The exact opposite of...what that would have been."

That heightened my curiosity, "What would have been?"

He sighed "A few years ago Willow managed to cast a spell that made everything she said come true."

Willow coughed "Yup and I may have sarcastically made a quip about Spike and Buffy getting married so they turned into this lovey dovey engaged couple. Only for a few hours, nothing too bad happened they were right back to being enemies after." she frantically finished.

I processed this for a moment my vampire instincts struggling against my human brain finally the word spell hit me and I laughed softly "Oh that's funny actually."

She looked relieved "In retrospect I guess." Kennedy rubbed her shoulder sympathetically. "Anyway, The spell is actually really simple, it just needs some major power behind it." she nodded digging in her back for a large book "All you really need to give us is some blood from both sire and siree and we have the rest. We just have to wait until sundown and perform the spell in like a cemetery or where the turning was performed. The cemetery would technically be more powerful." She glanced up at the rest of us "The blood needs to be fresh so just meet us at the nearest cemetery after dark." She grinned.

Angel looked awkward for a moment "Right, we have a thing to do so we'll see you both then."

Spike, Angel and I headed out meeting up with Gunn As we exited. He had handcuffed and gagged the kid from earlier who was now glaring daggers in Spike's direction. Before I could ask what the kid was coming along for Gunn spoke up. "We're gonna do a little swap out with Lindsey." he explained and the vampire instinct in me rose enough that I smirked.

We made our way down to the car lot, I didn't really question why we were here. I was just focused on keeping calm, I didn't have a good track record with hell dimensions.

The group of us got into a car and it was surprisingly able to fit all five of us. Gunn was in the front and had the kid buckled tight into the passenger side. Angel was sure to give Spike and I some room in the back. Still I pressed myself very close to Spike, more out of trying to keep calm than anything. Gunn seemed to notice this and cleared his throat "Don't worry Fred it's nothing like Pylia, I wasn't able to get too much info on it but I know for sure it's not like that place."

I felt Spike stiffen at the name "You didn't tell me it was bloody Pylia, pet. No wonder, I'm impressed you even survived." He pulled me into him as much as he could.

I laughed gently "I mean I went insane there but yeah." he ran his fingers down my arms gently and I closed my eyes.

"I'm not gonna let anything like that happen to you ever again love." He murmured just loud enough for me to hear.

When I next opened my eyes I was confused, it looked like we were in a suburban neighborhood. I sat up and got a better look outside and instantly got a strange eerie feeling. All the houses were identical, not just urban identical but like copies of each-other. "This looks pretty hellish alright." I said nervously.

He squeezed my hand "it's pretty unnerving."

Gunn pulled up next to one of the houses "This is it apparently."

Angel sighed glancing at the door "So we just run for it?"

Spike nodded with a determined set to his jaw. However my brain was working through something. Angel had been fine in Pylia, before I could say anything Gunn had popped open the side door causing both of the other Vampires to flinch. I giggled "Guys, alternate dimension remember? We're fine."

Angel blinked "Right."

Gunn shook his head "I was just about to point that out."

Spike looked embarrassed "You continue to be the smartest of us all pet." he smiled and kissed me quickly.

As we exited the car Gunn undid the gag on the kid's mouth "This is just so we don't look insane in there, you say a word to Lindsey and you're dead."

Gunn was checking a few things in the car and Angel had gone up to look at the front of the house, The kid turned to me and before he could say anything I held up the hand that wasn't holding Spike's "Before you say anything nasty the turning was my idea. I wasn't going to give up on life like that."

The kid's eyes flashed "You disrespect a loyal servant, I was only trying to prepare the perfect vessel and you had to go and taint it because you cling to life too much. She will have her revenge Ily-." 

Before he could finish Spike had pinned him against the car, vampire face out in full "Don't you dare say that bloody name to her ever!" Spike growled "or I will let her eat you, no matter what Angel says."

I put my hand on Spike's shoulder and he lowered the kid down face returning to normal. Gunn stood up "What-" just as Angel strode over

"I leave you alone for 5 minuets."

Spike winced "Sorry mate, I just can't stand this ponce anymore. Especially when he's bugging Fred." he glared at the kid one last time before taking my hand again.

The group of us approached the house. Gunn holding the Kid by the arm in the back, Spike and I ahead of them and Angel leading. Angel knocked on the door and revealed an ordinary looking woman who greeted us kindly. Lindsey was sitting at a table with a child and stood up when he saw us. There was no recognition in his eyes. Anything Angel asked him seemed to go over his head, while they talked I noticed a pendant around Lindsey's neck that hadn't been there before. I pointed it out quietly to Gunn since he had the traitor kid by the arm. Then the woman asked Lindsey to go into the basement to get a light-bulb. Panic seemed to grip his face as he tried to reason with her but she was insistent. Gunn asked if we could help Lindsey out and she looked stunned for a moment then stumbled over a "sure, just don't get in the way."

We followed Lindsey into the basement and immediately the facade of this world was dispelled. Beyond the staircase there was a table surrounded by an unknown amount of torture and mutilation equipment. More than I had ever seen in my life, some I didn't even recognize. On the far end there was a giant roaring fireplace. Suddenly, Angel grabbed Lindsey's pendant and pulled it off. Turning to Gunn and the Traitor kid he quickly tied it tight to the kid's neck whose eyes quickly got that same glazed-over look that Lindsey's had. Gunn un-cuffed him and strode over to Lindsey who was still recovering. Quickly, he handcuffed Lindsey who barely had time to register what was happening. Spike and I barely had time to react as well. We heard the woman call down, but this time calling out to see if a "Knox" was finished with his friends. The kid put on a cheery smile and said we'd be right up. We took that as our cue to leave. I found it ironic that the last time I saw the kid was when I registered his name. Quickly I shrugged this thought off as we exited without incident.

As we were walking back down to the car Spike spoke up "What the hell was the point in us coming again? You looked like you had it handled."

Angel sighed "Can never be too careful here. If it helps I wont be needing you for the questioning aspect, we have more than enough of the means to hold prisoners."

Spike shrugged as we got back into the car and Gunn started it back up.

Turning back around we drove through a short span of the neighborhood before we were suddenly back in the garage of W&H. Gunn took Lindsey down to the cells below the offices, Angel went to follow them then paused and dug in his pockets "Here, the cars here have sun-proof windows. Make sure it comes back in one piece," He glared in warning at Spike.

Meanwhile, I beamed at Angel "You really are the best boss ever!"

He laughed at that "I try, I'll see you two at sundown."

Spike smirked "Thanks mate." his tone was genuine which took Angel by surprise. He gave us one last wave.

We got into the car and headed out the proper exit. I was momentarily surprised that Spike could drive but I decided it made sense since Angel could drive too. As soon as we got back to my place, it was a very short drive, I braced myself. I didn't know what burning in the sun was like. Spike looked over and took my hand smiling gently, "It's too short to do any real damage, Just run and it will be alright."

I took a breath and nodded opening the car door. It was almost instant, it felt like the worst sunburn I had ever had. Wincing as I left the car I ran for the awning that covered the entrance to my building. He was shortly behind me and almost instantly collapsed into his arms when he joined me. I was shaking with stress alone. Wordlessly he supported me as we made our way inside and into the elevator. During the ride up I glanced down and noticed that my arms and hands were already healing. My shaking stopped and I could stand on my own. "You alright now love?" he asked softly.

I nodded "yeah, it wasn't that bad like you said, It was just new."

He chuckled and took my now entirely healed hand.  
~~~
(one sex scene later)

Taking a few moments to recover he helped me get dressed before putting his own clothes back on. Kissing me deeply yet quickly before taking my hand. We made our way back down and I was relived to see the area between the door and the car was in entire darkness. The plan was that we were going to drive the car down to the cemetery but Angel would take it back to W&H. It was a bit of a longer way there since the cemetery was on the edge of the city. Thankfully, traffic was much better at night.

Spike and I were there first and he glanced around the cemetery as we waited. "what are you looking for?" I asked trying to follow his gaze.

"A crypt or somethin' for us, I'd like to move back into one if we can." he smiled gently at me.

I returned his smile "I'd like that a lot, I can start making a list of stuff we would need."

We were distracted from the search by Willow and Kennedy's arrival. Willow had a much bigger bag with her this time. "We're just waiting on Angel right?"

I nodded "yeah he has to take the car we borrowed from him back."

Willow nodded "Well I also have a short spell I wanted to give him. It's actually really simple. It binds a soul to whatever it's currently inhabiting. Mostly used to trap demons and such to a much weaker body but I thought it would work."

"It might, that sounds really useful." it was all I could do not to ramble on about it's potential applications.

Thankfully, I didn't have to hold off for long since Angel approached us. Spike returned the keys to him. Willow made him wait outside the cemetery gate as the rest of us went inside. She said it would interrupt the flow of energy.

She wandered around for a bit then set her stuff down in a patch of grass and gestured for the other three of us to sit. We did so and she placed a few items in front of her: a knife in a sheath, a bundle of herbs and some white candles. "Alright, so a few things to go over. Firstly, I just need verbal consent that this is what you two want."

Spike and I both gave affirmation, feeling a bit awkward.

"Next," Willow opened her book and flipped to a certain page "I'll briefly explain what is about to happen. What I'm doing is using the connection to Spike as an anchor to bring your soul back. This spell is super specific to literally your situation. A souled vampire turns someone, not out of malice but to save their life. The two already have to have at least a little bit of a positive connection." she laughed to herself "I think the Romani* writing this spell wanted to think of the most absurd thing."

Kennedy nodded and I reached over to take Spike's hand.

"Don't worry this isn't going to ruin the bond, if anything it will make it stronger."

I heard Angel groan with annoyance somewhere behind us and I giggled gently.

"And finally, this is going to sound a little strange, but Fred you are going to have to take Spike's last name." Willow said, glancing up at us "Names are very powerful things. It doesn't have to be a legally just as long as it's used by at least you two."

"I'm alright with that." I said blushing now.

"Me too." he murmured smiling at me.

Willow then made us hold both hands then she lit the candles, setting them around us. She paused and looked at the open book "Chosen gods..." she murmured "What do you think Ken?"

Kennedy leaned in and whispered something in Willow's ear who smiled and nodded.

Willow stood up and took the herbs, crushing them in both hands she said something in a language I didn't know, though it was definitely western given some of the words sounding similar to ones in English. Suddenly, I could feel as if my blood were heating up. Finally she held out the knife to us "You are going to need to to cut each-other so that your blood mixes, I'll let you figure out how to do that."

I looked at him "this sounds kind of cheesy but maybe on the palms so it's kind of like when I brought you back." I murmured, my blush increasing.

 He chuckled "I like how you think love."

Taking the knife I took Spike's hand and shakily made a cut. I handed the knife over and winced as he cut my palm. Quickly, I reached for his hand. As soon as our open palms made contact I gasped as something deep inside me burned with a pleasant yet intense warmth. Shutting my eyes at the intensity of it, I saw a white light even so. I opened my eyes and noticed that the world seemed warmer. I instantly felt even more guilty over my reaction to Harmony earlier. The vampire instinct telling me not to be guilty was still there but I was able to quiet it easier. I blinked "That did it." I grinned.

When he smiled back at me my heart warmed. He stood up and helped me up as well, maybe it was still left over energy from the spell but every touch from him left my skin tingling. We thanked Willow and Kennedy and met up with Angel. Willow handed over the spell she had found to bind his soul to him. Spike and I bid the others a good night and we made the long walk home.  

*AN: She used the G term at the time, I'm just uncomfortable writing it now.