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Chapter 8
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Rounding up the cast of "I Was A Teenage Hyena" proved to be almost too easy. They were sleeping the sleep of the overfed and woke to the feel of a large, weighted net wielded by Spike. He puffed with pride presenting his capture to the sputtering Watcher right in front of the clearly impressed Slayer.

Harris was still lunging at Buffy from behind the metal mesh of the book cage. Spike wondered idly just why a high school required a cage of any sort but was perfectly pleased that this one did. The whole pack was soon locked in the makeshift zoo awaiting Giles’ research on how best to take the animal spirit out of the five teens and return them to the normal beastly behavior of the average high school bully. Finally, in the desire for a modicum of peace, Giles shot a healthy amount of tranquilizer into each teen and quiet enfolded the group.

Spike found his thoughts drifting in the peaceful atmosphere that held only the sound of pages turning in the many reference books. Clearly the little prick had the hots for his Slayer friend and the hyena aspect had brought that to the forefront. Spike began to review his interactions with the boy in this different light. There was more to it than just unfulfilled lust, to be sure, but it appeared that part of what caused the Whelp to be a major pain in Spike’s arse was this desire for the Slayer.

At this point in time the boy was as much a virgin as Buffy and most likely the tweedy Watcher, if the old git’s uptight attitude could be used as an indicator. Sure, there was going to be that smart-mouthed cheerleader in Harris’ future and the oversexed ex-demon the boy was joined at the hip to, but that was still in Xander’s future. For now, sex seemed to be the boy’s right hand and fantasies of Buffy… until the zoo trip made the fantasy a possibility.

Spike felt a surge of anger at the memory of Harris’ hand cupping Buffy’s breast, cock nearly bursting from his pants as he ground against her. The bastard was supposed to care about the girl! Her pleas for Xander to stop had fallen on deaf ears, deliberately deaf ears. Spike indulged in a fantasy of his own: ripping the boy’s head off--either of them…or better yet, both!

Spike was surprised to discover just how angry he was. Somehow the thought of Buffy being betrayed in that most elemental way offended Spike and made him wish to protect the girl from anyone ever trying to hurt her that way again.

It was perfectly okay to accept Buffy going out night after night and battling both the big and little bads. That was part of who she was and she was more than a match for most of them. Sexual assault, especially from someone she trusted and cared about, was just not in the job description for a Slayer, in Spike’s mind. He’d pull out the entrails of anyone who dared try it in the future.

So lost in his own musings was Spike that he hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation going on around him. Giles had found the necessary information and plans were being made to transfer the affected teens back to the zoo for a reversal. The zookeeper was being suggested as a logical assistant. Spike broke from his reverie as he realized he might have some vital information.

"Might want to rethink gettin’ THAT bloke involved. Think he may know a far sight more than he’s tellin’. Remember hearing him tellin’ Buffy about the Masai and their dealin’s with hyenas. Seems to me this didn’t just happen out of the blue. Folks go to zoos all the time and don’t wake up lickin’ their body hair and eatin’ their food live. Could be this keeper had some plans for the beasties himself and this lot got in the way."

No one said a word for a while as they thought about what Spike had said. The more they thought, the more sense it made. Giles narrowed his eyes and peered closely at this new male upstart in his Slayer’s life. There was something about this punk-looking, so-called demon hunter that Giles wanted desperately to put his finger on.

If Giles hadn’t already been told the swaggering sod had met both girls in broad daylight, he would have suspected Spike might be a creature of the night. He had so many other traits that screamed ‘vampire’, but Giles knew of no vampire able to wander about under the sun without going up like a Guy Fawkes Day bonfire. As soon as the children were put to rights, he promised himself, he’d do some serious research on this Spike person.

"Well, then," Giles broke the silence, "I suppose there is merit to what you suggest. Perhaps an undercover trip to the zoo to examine the hyena house would be in order." Giles stood and began to gather some small, easily concealed weapons as he continued to reveal his plan. "Willow, continue to read the spell necessary to undo this travesty while I gather the information from the zoo. Buffy, make certain none of these … individuals … manage to escape the cage. There is more tranquilizing agent in my office. Don’t hesitate to dose them again."

"Suppose you’ll be wantin’ me to be your back-up, yeah?" Spike rose to accompany the Watcher.

"I don’t know you well enough to trust you in such a position." Giles stared down the newcomer even as Buffy sighed and began to speak up in her new boyfriend’s defense.

"’S’all right, love. Watcher has a point. Just met and all." Spike never once broke eye contact with Giles. Spike had years of experience observing the Watcher that told him that to push for a relationship at this point would be counterproductive to his plans.

After Giles left, the tension seemed to leave the room as well. Red and Buffy were clearly in Spike’s corner and the atmosphere was suspicion-free for the first time since Spike had entered the library earlier.

Buffy closed her eyes and laid her head on her arms that rested on the table. Spike walked behind her and began to massage her shoulders gently. "You all right, pet?" He knew that the tiredness she was experiencing had more of its source in stress and emotional upset than physical challenge. "Bad memory to be hit with, but your friend will be back to his normally annoying self in no time and you’ll get past this." Spike felt confident in that promise since he had never seen anything that indicated bad feelings between Slayer and Whelp in his own time.

Buffy turned her head and looked up at Spike. "I just wish it hadn’t been Xander! He’s one of the first friends I made here and I really love him." At Spike’s frown, she hurriedly added, "Like a brother, you know?" She sighed and looked at the drugged boy in the cage. "I hope you’re right, Spike."

"I am. You can trust me on this." Spike smiled at her and picked up her left hand, pretending to read her palm. "In fact, I predict the boy will be a permanent part of your life for at least the next few years. Even prove useful a time or two. Why don’t you get some sleep for a while. I’ll keep watch on the sleeping beauties for a bit."

Buffy smiled at him in gratitude and laid her head back down. "I think I’ll take you up on that offer." She sighed in contentment as Spike took off his duster and tenderly covered her with it.

Willow watched the exchange and felt pleased that her friend seemed to have finally found someone special of her own, someone with an obvious tender heart and apparently with fighting skills to match Buffy’s own. Maybe Spike was exactly what Buffy had needed all along!

~~~

The aftermath was almost anticlimactic in its simplicity. The zookeeper was indeed a bad guy and tried to disrupt the reversal spell to assume the hyena powers he had coveted for himself all along.

The pack of possessed teens returned to their normal behavior and the unfortunate events regarding the late principal were explained away with a tale of derailed trains and escaped circus animals. No one questioned the unlikelihood of the official story.

Spike happened to be meeting Buffy for lunch the next afternoon when the now normal Xander was being told of his actions while possessed. None of the group had seen him, so he was able to observe each of them. Buffy seemed to have managed to put the attempted rape behind her. She was clearly assigning the blame to the demonic influence and absolving her human friend from all responsibility.

Xander seemed to have no memory of anything that had happened. When the group split up, leaving only Xander and Giles on the walkway, Spike was able to see that the two had entered into an unspoken oath of silence about the truth. The Watcher made it clear that memory loss was no part of the possession and, with a shared smile, the door was closed on the entire incident.

Spike raged at the thought that Buffy’s Watcher was willing to allow the boy to get away with his attack on the Slayer with no repercussions whatsoever. Forgiveness was one thing, but it should be Buffy’s choice! The idea that the Watcher had entered into a conspiracy of silence that protected the boy from any fallout from his actions enraged the vampire.

To excuse the attempted rape as being all the "fault" of the demon that had possessed the boy was to deny any culpability for the human whose lust had been the seed of the attack. The other pack members had not tried to rape the Slayer, only the one who had harbored those sorts of desires in his unpossessed state.

Spike had always taken responsibility for his actions as a vampire. He knew full well why he had chosen some of his first victims and why he had used the method he had to kill them. The seed of hurt and hatred was in William, but the action was his choice. It was vaguely obscene that Buffy’s own Watcher and her attacker were sharing sly smiles and covering up Xander’s responsibility.

Spike toyed with the idea of cluing in Buffy so she could decide for herself just how much she wanted to forgive and forget and how close she might want the boy in the future. Then again, Spike admitted to himself, how much of the desire to tell came from his own temptation to drive a wedge between the Slayer and the Whelp?

He’d have to think about it before he made that big a change in ‘history’. Best to simply have his arranged picnic with Buffy and enjoy the afternoon for now. He could always reveal the deception later if he chose to.

Harris wasn’t half as big a prick at this point anyway. Maybe subtle changes might be safer than radical ones, safer for everyone. Wouldn’t do to get the Slayer killed by some random beastie just because the Whelp wasn’t there to help this time. Buffy’s life was in Spike’s hands at last and he wasn’t going to let his anger, his dislike and his impatience ruin everything.

The recent events and Spike’s surprising reactions to them and to the girl herself needed some serious thinking actually. Things weren’t going to plan at all. Spike wasn’t even really sure the plan itself was still in play. His desire had seemed to shift from killing the Slayer to kissing Buffy.

This version of the girl was warm and open and accepting of him and his attentions. Spike had to wonder just how it might be to see the promise of Buffy’s love he tasted under Red’s spell actually have a chance at fulfillment. Dru might be crazy, but she wasn’t necessarily wrong, much as he may hate to admit it. The bint really WAS all around him and, more importantly, Spike feared she was also in his heart.