“Get away from her!” Angel stepped menacingly from the shadows, every muscle held taut with barely restrained rage as he watched his estranged grandchilde run a possessive hand down the Slayer’s arm.
 
“Angel. No.” Buffy stepped toward the glowering vampire before continuing, “Spike isn’t hurting me. It’s ok.”
 
“Ok? Do you have any idea who, what, he is?” Angel asked incredulously. Buffy was young and impulsive, he knew, and he was determined to save her from her own foolishness.
 
“Yes, Angel. I do.” Buffy spoke slowly, her eyes narrowing as she took in the continued aggression in Angel’s stance. “He’s a Master vampire who has killed two Slayers. He’s also my boyfriend.” She paused, capturing Angel’s eyes with hers and holding them as she amended clearly, “My lover.” Her chin tilted determinedly and, as the dark-haired vampire opened his mouth to protest her choice, she added, “And you will leave him alone. It’s my decision, Angel. Not yours.”
 
With a furious growl, Angel shoved past the Slayer and launched himself at his grandchilde, golden eyes flashing with murderous intent as he aimed a series of blows at the younger vampire. Spike dodged; bouncing lightly on his toes, he easily avoided the worst of the assault whilst managing to land a few punches of his own. The blonde’s strikes were designed more to infuriate than to harm as he danced lightly around his slower elder. Spike goaded Angel with light, stinging taps to the side of the face, spinning kicks aimed for Angel’s butt that bruised the elder vampire’s ego far more than his body, while Spike’s own agile grace allowed him to dance circles around his increasingly incensed Grandsire.
 
Eventually realising that he couldn’t beat Spike if he allowed things to continue in this manner, Angel forcibly calmed his rapidly rising ire and waited for his opportunity. After a quick succession of stinging blows from his opponent, he feinted to the right, leaving Spike an opening that he knew his grandchilde would be unable to resist; as Spike launched his attack, he turned quickly, grabbing the younger vampire’s arm and twisting it around behind Spike’s back, driving him froward and slamming the blonde face-first into a large tree.  “I told you to get away from her, boy,” he growled. “Seems I need to remind you what happens to you when you don’t do as you’re told.” He tightened his grip on the furiously thrashing and cursing blonde’s arm, spinning him around and pinning him hard against the tree. Grabbing a handful of platinum locks, he reefed Spike’s head to one side, his fangs descending towards the younger vampire’s throat.
 
“Get your hands off my boyfriend!” Buffy drove the stake into the vampire’s back, watching with disinterest as his dust drifted into the night. She stepped through the rapidly dispersing cloud and wrapped her arms around Spike’s waist, burrowing her head briefly into his chest before lifting her face to brush a soft, lingering kiss to his cool lips. “You ok?” she breathed. His brief nod and gentle smile quickly allayed her fears, and she turned around to continue the disrupted conversation with her watcher, only to be confronted by three stunned faces, jaws hanging widely and eyes bugging in disbelief.
 
“What? Oh, come on. He so deserved that!” She glanced quickly from one set of disbelieving eyes to the next. “Xander, you agree with me, don’t you?”
 
A deep rumbling laugh had her leaning deeper into her lover’s embrace as Spike’s arms tightened around her. He planted a soft kiss to the top of her head, gently nuzzling into her warm, fragrant hair.
 
“Remind me never to piss you off, love.”
 
Buffy tilted her head back to look at him, rolling her eyes even as she smiled affectionately at the smirking vampire. After giving him a gentle squeeze, she snuggled closer before turning her attention back to her Watcher once more. “So, Giles, just how did you manage to stop all the weirdness?”
 
Giles flushed, his eyes lowered as he stumbled over his response, not wanting to admit that the day had been saved not by his expertise as a Watcher nor by careful research or intricate and deftly cast enchantment, but rather, by the incessant babblings of a terrified boy. “Yes. Well, Buffy, that was, um… Yes, it’s all rather interesting. You see…..”
 
The end