Double Trouble
  Double Trouble
Sandy

Email: sp23twop@yahoo.com
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Spike/Buffy
Setting: AU Season 4ish with elements of seasons 3 and 5 and a touch of 6 thrown in 'cause I am as a God and I could.
Disclaimer: Not mine, all Joss, all Fox, all ME but not me. If it appears that some of the situations and dialogue are familiar, that's probably because I "borrowed" from various episodes.
A/N: This is the third part of my story that began with To Kill The Girl and continued with You Have To Love Her If you haven't read those two stories, ya might wanna 'cause I constantly refer back to crap the happened in them and you'll be as lost as Xander taking a Mensa test.
A/N2: Many thanks to luba for her beta, wonderful suggestions and encouragement

Chapter 1

February 2000

Buffy and Willow watched the last of the trucks haul away the debris from the now demolished Lowell House. It had been almost two months since the events of Christmas Eve and things had happened quickly.

Riley had been gone for a couple weeks when Buffy received a phone call at her dorm asking her to meet him for coffee. It had been uncomfortable and awkward for her, but it was also something she knew she needed to do.

"I'm sorry that I used you like that, Riley," she told him after they had settled at a table, "but if I had to do it over again, I'd do the same thing." She looked into his sad eyes and then down into her coffee cup. "You must understand, I have a duty. It's my job to help keep this world safe from the forces of darkness. In this case, the forces turned out to be a crazy scientist and a bunch of Frankenstein demons."

Riley nodded. "I understand about duty, Buffy. I really do. It's just, well, I grew to care for you. A lot. It hurts to know that you never really cared about me." He hesitated a bit and then asked, "This guy, this vampire, you and he are together?"

Buffy nodded. "Yeah. It wasn't something I was expecting to happen. Especially with Spike." An ironic smile formed at her mouth. "Slayers in general aren't supposed to have any kind of personal life. And they certainly aren't supposed to fall in love with a vampire." She shrugged. "It just so happens that I've met two extraordinary vampires in my life."

Riley looked shocked. "Two?"

"Uh yeah. Long story." She decided to change the subject. "So did you get into a lot of trouble with your superiors?"

Now it was Riley's turn to shrug. "Enough. On the one hand, I stopped a cold-blooded murder. On the other, I helped destroy a long-term research project into which millions of dollars had been sunk." He took a deep breath. "So I was given a choice. I could leave the service with an O-T-H discharge..."

"O-T-H?" Buffy interrupted.

"Other Than Honorable," Riley answered.

"Oh. God, Riley, I'm sorry." Buffy exclaimed.

"It's okay, Buffy. The other choice was to take a reduction in rank and join another squad in South America. There's been an increase in demon activity down there, and they've dispatched a squad on a search and destroy mission. So I'm off to Belize later tonight. I just came back here to gather my stuff, tie up some loose ends." He looked at Buffy when he said the last.

"Oh." Buffy lowered her eyes to her mug again. "What's going to happen with that lab?" she asked after an uncomfortable silence.

"It's going to be announced that Lowell House has Radon and is being demolished. The land around it will be paved over to prevent any further gas escaping into the area. The men will all transfer to other colleges."

"And Professor Walsh?"

Riley shrugged. "I was assured that she would be "taken care of" whatever that means." Standing up Riley shrugged into his jacket. "Look, Buffy, I have to go now. You take care of yourself, okay?"

"You too, Riley. And again, thanks for everything you did for me. For us."

Riley nodded and left.

True to his words, the announcement that Lowell House would be demolished was made shortly thereafter. The men disappeared, but hardly anyone noticed. Now that the building was cleared, the paving would begin the next day.

"Do you think all this is actually over?" Willow asked. "Or do you think they just moved operations somewhere else?"

Buffy gave Willow a concerned look. "Good question, Will. I hope that we've seen the last of this, but who knows. Riley said the government had sunk millions of dollars into this project. Somehow I don't think they'll just forget about it."

Willow and Buffy had been rebuilding their relationship slowly but steadily. Mostly it had come about because of the changes Willow herself had been going through. After working with Jenny's coven, she decided that she'd like to find a coven of her own to work with and learn from. Unfortunately the Wiccans at Sunnydale University were a group dedicated more to bake sales and female empowerment than magic. However one girl, Tara Maclay, was a true witch. She and Willow had become friends and to Willow's shock, she found that she had stronger feelings for Tara than she had ever had for another
woman.

Buffy had been a little freaked when she learned about Willow's change in orientation and was voicing her misgivings to Spike one night when he put it all into perspective for her. Kissing her lightly on the shoulder he simply said, "We love who we love, pet." Since she was lying naked snuggled up with an equally naked vampire with whom she had just been making love for the past hour, she got what he was saying.

Her acceptance of Tara had been the beginning of her and Willow's reconciliation.

The reconciliation with Xander came about in an entirely different way. Spike had taken patrol alone one night when Buffy was working on a paper. During a sweep in the area around The Bronze, he heard the sounds of a fight and upon investigation found Xander Harris being attacked by three human muggers. He had been holding his own until one of the men hit him in the back of the head with a length of wood. Once down, the men started hitting and kicking the defenseless young man.
Spike leapt into the fray throwing the men away from Xander, frightening them off with his game face and then helped the injured boy to his feet. He had taken him to the hospital where Xander received several stitches and pain medication and then taken him home making sure he had everything he needed before leaving.

Neither man ever talked about the incident, but Xander's entire attitude changed with regard to Spike. They weren't best buddies, but a wary friendship was beginning to develop.

The biggest surprise since Buffy told Spike she loved him was how her mother had reacted to the news. Gathering their courage, they sat Joyce down one evening and informed her of their relationship.

"Well I wondered if you two were ever going to tell me," she said calmly. At the surprised expressions on their faces, she merely shook her head and said, "Buffy, I realize I might not be the most observant of mothers, but even I could tell something was up between you two on Christmas Day."
Sighing she frowned slightly. "I'm not going to say I'm thrilled about this. Quite frankly, Buffy, I'm worried." Joyce looked directly into Spike's eyes and told him, "Spike, I like you personally, you know that. But you're a vampire. I just don't think it's a good idea for you and Buffy to be romantically involved. I want her to have the chance to have as normal a life as a girl in her position can have. Being with a vampire is not normal."

"I understand that, Joyce. Believe me, we two," he nodded in Buffy's direction, "are well aware that this is a very bad idea." He smiled a little before continuing. "Unfortunately, as much as we've tried to deny it, we can't. As much as we've hoped our feelings would go away, they haven't. But I promise you, Joyce, I'll do everything in my power to make Buffy happy. I'll do everything in my power to help her do her job and keep her safe. I love her with all my heart."

And so Joyce had reluctantly and with misgivings given them her blessing.

The only one that was still vehemently opposed to their relationship was Giles. No amount of discussion changed his mind. He tolerated Spike, barely. But there was never a minute when Buffy was with Giles that she wasn't aware of his censure. It was causing a schism between the two of them that tore at Buffy's heart. And she knew that the only way to fix things between them was for her to break up with Spike, preferably by staking him. That was never going to happen. On the day that Giles informed her that he was returning to England, she had simply gotten up and walked out of Giles' apartment without saying a word. She didn't come by Spike's crypt that night or the next. When he went to her dorm to find out what was wrong, no one was there. By now he was getting frantic with worry and called Xander.

"Giles is leaving and Buffy's closed down. She's not talking to me and Willow says she's not talking to her, but we didn't know she wasn't talking to you either. You'd better find her, man. She shouldn't be alone in this condition."

Spike searched all their patrol areas and finally found her fighting two demons in one of the cemeteries. She was unleashing all of her fury against the two so Spike just held back, available if she needed help but otherwise staying out of her way.

When she finally dispatched them, Spike came up to her, put his arms around her trembling body and held her despite her protests, curses and shoves. At last Buffy gave in and clutching at his shirt she sobbed into his chest like a lost little girl.

He took her back to his crypt and kissing her gently, he began to slowly undress her, offering her comfort in the way he knew best. At first Buffy just stood there unresponsive to his touch but as his hands caressed her tenderly, as his lips slid sensuously over her flesh, her breathing began to quicken and she began to lean into his touch. Spike unbuttoned and slid her blouse down her arms, placing kisses along her shoulders and across her chest to the top of her bra. Reaching behind her he unhooked and lowered the bra and then took one exposed nipple into his mouth. Buffy moaned softly as he tugged at the swelling flesh. His tongue swiped across the sensitive nerve endings causing Buffy to press closer to him.

Switching to the other breast, he sucked and teased while his hands swept over her back, hips and buttocks. Reaching in front of her, he undid the button on her slacks, lowered the zipper and pushing the waistband down slightly, slid his hand down her taut, flat belly. He slowly lowered himself to his knees kissing his way down her ribs, stopping at her belly button and inserting his tongue into the small indentation, then moving across her body to kiss her belly and hipbones. Pushing her slacks down a little more, he kissed right above the soft curls between her thighs slipping his tongue under the waistband of her panties to give her clit the tiniest of licks. By now, Buffy had her head thrown back and her hips pressed forward to his questing mouth. Spike pushed the pants down farther, following their progress with his mouth. First one thigh and then the other were lavished with lips and tongue and blunt human teeth. Buffy held onto his head as he lifted one foot removing the shoe and pushing the trouser leg off and then repeating with the other leg. Pushing her legs slightly apart, he worked his way back up kissing the tender flesh of her inner thighs. He could smell her arousal and his shaft rubbed painfully against the rough cloth of his jeans.

Pushing his face upward, he inhaled deeply of her scent at the crotch of her panties. Sticking out his tongue, he licked at the wet patch that appeared there. Buffy's grip on his hair was painful now, but Spike ignored it, too lost in her taste, scent and feel. Hooking his fingers in the waistband of her panties, he pulled them down, exposing the soft wet curls. He drew the tiny scrap of material all the way off and then eagerly pushed his face between her legs.

Buffy cried out when she felt his vigorously lapping tongue. The hard point flashed back and forth over her clit and in and out of her opening causing her to keen at the sensation. Sucking gently he drew the sensitive nub into his mouth brushing it with the flat of his tongue, then released it and thrust the pointed tip of his tongue deeply into her, then out, then in again. When he began sucking at her clit again, Buffy's legs trembled and she wasn't sure how much longer they would support her.
Sensing her weakness, Spike gave her one last twirling lick and shooting up to his feet, swept her up in his arms and laid her on his couch. Pulling back from her, he ripped his own clothes off and covering her completely with his body, he began kissing her deeply with ever-growing passion. Buffy spread her legs and tried to take him in, but he had other ideas. Once again he began to work his way down her body, stopping and exploring each erogenous zone on the way. He nuzzled her neck and then moved up to nibble on her earlobe and huff a gentle breath into her ear causing Buffy to shiver from the sensation. Lowering his head, he took a nipple into his mouth, sucking and nipping at it, pulling it into his mouth and then sliding his tongue across the engorged tip causing her to moan and push her breast further into his mouth. Moving further down her body, he kissed and licked his way down her ribs and across her stomach and then bypassing that sweet-smelling area between her legs, he lowered himself to her feet where he began sucking each toe, kissing the soles of her feet and gently rubbing them.

Buffy spread herself even wider, offering herself to him, needing him, begging for his attention. Spike ran his hands up her inner thighs and back down again in an erotic massage flicking one finger across her clit with each upstroke. Buffy's hips were thrusting up and down now and she was crying his name over and over, begging him to enter her. She was so wet her thighs glistened. Spike's own need had become increasingly painful. He had not allowed Buffy to touch him and his flesh craved contact. Once again moving up her body, he fitted himself to her and slowly entered, shuddering in pleasure as her heat scalded him. Buffy's arms and legs wrapped around him immediately, holding him to her, locking him in place. He began to move in a slow, steady rhythm all the while kissing her mouth and her neck, murmuring his love for her into her ear. As the pressure built and their climaxes neared Buffy clasped him tighter to her moaning, "Oh god, Spike, I'm gonna, I'm gonna..." Spike thrust harder in response, whispering to her, begging her to come for him. Buffy turned her head to the side and Spike responded to her invitation. Slipping into game face he sank his fangs gently into her neck. It had been weeks since he last bit her and her reaction was instantaneous. A mortal man would have been crushed in her embrace, but Spike reveled in it. His pace increased as her blood filled his mouth, his thrusting coming ever harder, faster and more demanding. Buffy grabbed his head keeping his mouth in place on her neck and answering him thrust for thrust came with a howling scream. The clenching of her inner walls encased Spike, pulled him in and he followed her into an explosive climax.

Buffy fell asleep wrapped in Spike's arms. He held her close to him, watching as she slept and imagining a dozen scenarios for the slow painful death of one Rupert Giles.


Chapter 2

The next day, despite a clear, sunny sky, Spike made his way to Giles' apartment. Huddling in the shade hiding under his blanket, he knocked on the door and waited impatiently for the Watcher to answer. Opening the door, Giles glared when he saw who was there.

"Let me in, Giles, before I burst into flames." Giles had worked an uninvite spell on his home the night after Christmas and Spike had not been allowed in since.

"Should you burst into flames, I shall rejoice in your demise," Giles told him coldly.

Spike tilted his head to one side and said, "You know, I'm supposed to be the evil one here, but you're the one destroying your Slayer."

Giles' eyes flashed in fury. "How dare you!"

Spike said as calmly as he could while trying to evade the encroaching rays of sun, "I dare because I'm right and you know it. She loves you, Giles. You're the closest thing she has to a father since that pillock Joyce was married to scarpered off. And now you're going to abandon her too? Ow! Son of a bitch." This last was said as the sunlight hit his hand.

Giles watched in satisfaction as the vampire swiped at his smoking flesh and then with a sigh of resignation stepped back and said, "Come in, you sod."

Spike entered speedily and heaved a sigh of relief as the door was closed against his certain, painful death. Giles walked past him without saying a word, went into the kitchen, poured a couple drinks and returned, handing one to Spike. Spike looked at the drink in surprise, but took it and nodded his thanks.

"I'm not leaving to hurt Buffy or punish her, Spike," Giles told him. "I'm leaving because I'm of no use to her anymore. She relies on you, not me."

"Bollocks, Giles. The girl needs you. Hell, we all need you. You're the one with all the knowledge. Yeah, I know some stuff, but you have the research material and you have the training. Plus," Spike added staring somberly at Giles, "the girl loves you."

"She loves you too, Spike, and that I cannot tolerate. It was bad enough with Angel, but he at least had a soul. What do you have?"

"A heart full of love for her," the vampire told him seriously. Ignoring Giles' grimace of distaste, he stood up and started to pace. "I know that you don't think I can love her without that precious soul you're always nattering on about, but consider this. You never have to worry about me waking up one night and turning evil. I'm already evil, so no surprises there. You don't have to worry about me trying to kill you all in your beds, because the chip prevents that. And you don't have to worry about me suddenly falling out of love with her and hurting her. After all," Spike grinned, "the last relationship I was in lasted over 100 years and I didn't feel a fraction for Dru that I feel for Buffy."

Spike stopped pacing and dropping the grin told the Watcher. "Stay, Giles, she needs you."

Giles looked into the face of the vampire and wavered. It had never been his intention to hurt Buffy. Had he been too pig-headed? The relationship was wrong, but he knew that she was happy. Spike was a strong fighter and fiercely loyal to her. Willow and Xander had even started to accept him.

"I'll think about it some more, Spike, that's all I can promise."

Spike nodded his acceptance. Getting up, he picked up his blanket and prepared to return to his crypt. It was a start. He knew Giles would never truly accept him, but as long as the Watcher remained in Buffy's life, he would put up with the man's dislike. He didn't care about that one way or the other.
He cared only about Buffy.

Giles watched the vampire run from shadow to shadow until he disappeared into the sewers. He wasn't sure what the future held, but he knew he needed to find a new place for himself. The truth was he was bored stiff sitting around all day in his apartment. Perhaps it was time to look for another job. Picking up the morning paper, he opened it to the classified section.

***

Buffy listened to the message on her answering machine with growing trepidation. "Buffy, this is Giles. Please call me as soon as you receive this message."

What more was there to say? Had he already bought his airplane ticket? Didn't he need time to dispose of his belongings first or was he just going to give it all away? Buffy stared at the phone for a long time before, drawing in a deep breath, she picked it up and placed the call.

"Giles, it's Buffy. You wanted me to call you?"

Giles noticed right away the flat, restrained tenor of Buffy's voice. Spike had been right about one thing; he had hurt his Slayer deeply.

"Ah yes, Buffy. I wanted to let you know that it appears I won't be returning to England after all. I've bought The Magic Box and intend to become a shopkeeper."

Silence.

"Buffy, did you hear me? I'm not leaving."

Buffy quietly hung up the phone, sat down on her bed, placed her head in her hands and began to weep. It was this scene that Willow walked in on when she returned to the room after class. Hurrying to Buffy she asked anxiously, "Buffy, what's wrong? Did something happen to Spike? Or, or is it your mother? Please, Buffy, tell me what's wrong."

Hiccuping and sniffing Buffy told her friend, "I just t-talked to Giles and he said he's not leaving." Buffy looked into her friend's joy-filled face and they fell into each other's arms hugging and laughing. Wiping the tears from her face Buffy exclaimed, "God, I haven't cried this much in, well, forever."

"Oh," Willow cried, "we'll have to tell Xander. I know he didn't say much but he was really upset too."

Buffy nodded and then getting up she said, "I'm going to go over to see Giles. You want to come with?"
Willow eagerly agreed and the two girls hurried out of their dorm room

***

Giles was depressed. He didn't know what he had expected when he called Buffy today, but it certainly hadn't been being hung up on. Maybe it had been a mistake to listen to that ridiculous vampire. Buffy had resigned herself to his leaving and now she didn't even care if he stayed or not. As he sat there wallowing in self-pity, the door burst open and two laughing, happy girls entered. Looking up in surprise, he realized what a fool he had been.

The three looked at each other for a long second and then Giles' arms were filled with his surrogate daughters. "I knew you wouldn't leave us, Giles, I just knew it," Willow babbled happily.

The three sat down and Giles explained his business plan. "I looked over the books and was amazed at the profit margin for that place. The location is excellent, I can build up the inventory and there's even a large room in the back that we can make into a training room for you, Buffy. And, although I hate to say this, there's even access to the sewers so that that idiot boyfriend of yours and come and go in relative safety."

Buffy looked at Giles in surprise. "You're going to allow Spike to come to the shop?"

Giles gave Buffy a look of resignation. "I don't approve, Buffy. I will never approve. However, it appears that you've made up that stubborn mind of yours in this matter so I'll have to accept it. Unwillingly, mind you, but I'll accept it." When Buffy's face began to blossom into a smile, Giles leaned forward and said very seriously, "Understand this though, Buffy. If I learn he's feeding from humans, if I learn he's doing anything that will put you or any of us in harm's way, I will take it upon myself to stake him.

"The chip," Buffy began, her smile fading.

"We've discussed this before," Giles stated firmly. "The chip stops him from killing. It does not stop him from feeding or committing any number of other horrors, physical violence being the least of them. I do not place great trust in the chip's ability to hold him in check, nor do I trust his good intentions. You may believe him capable of reason, Buffy, I do not."

Buffy looked directly into her watcher's eye and said just as firmly, "And you understand this, Giles. If I feel you're trying to harm Spike without absolutely solid-gold proof of wrong-doing, I'll stop you by any means necessary."

Watcher and Slayer looked into each other's deadly serious face and nodded understanding of each other's position.

"So, Giles," Willow chirped in trying to break the tension, "tell us more about the business. When are you planning on opening it up? Because we really need to get that store open soon. Tara and I are having a terrible time practicing some of our spells because we can't get the right ingredients around here."

Giles and Buffy relaxed having made their points and entered into the conversation regarding The Magic Box.

"Well I want to do some remodeling before I open as well as order inventory. You could be helpful there, Willow, by letting me know what things you and Tara need. I thought of hiring Xander to help me with the building of shelving and storage cases. He's become quite capable with a hammer since he started working construction."

"Maybe you could hire Spike to help too," Buffy chimed in. At Giles' look of disbelief she added, "Look, Giles, he's super strong so that'd be a help with lifting and stuff, plus Magic Box shopkeepers seem to have a limited shelf-life. He could be like your bodyguard or something. And it would be a legitimate way for him to earn some money."

"It would also mean I would have to be around him all the time. If you remember correctly, Buffy, that was not something I enjoyed tremendously when he was staying here."

Buffy grinned, "Yeah, but you'd be his boss and could order him around and he'd have to do as you say."

Giles did not look convinced, but promised that he'd consider it. Good grief, Spike as an employee. The mind boggled.


Chapter 3

Opening day at The Magic Box was chaotic. It started out quietly, but soon escalated into full-out pandemonium. By the time closing time arrived everyone, including a reluctantly employed vampire, was exhausted. "My God," Giles groaned, "I think I'd rather face an apocalypse than another day like this. I had no idea that business would be so brisk opening day."

Willow lifted her head wearily from the table around which they sat. "I told you, Giles, this place was closed too long. Everyone was out of everything unless they wanted to drive all the way to LA."

Spike had Buffy's feet in his lap and was rubbing them gently. "I'll tell you right now, Rupert, if this keeps up you'd better hire a shop assistant because I'm not waiting on that lot. You have no idea how many times I wanted to bite those pillocks today."

Giles glared at him and then looked at Buffy and said with exasperation, "This is exactly why I didn't want to hire him. Now he's threatening to eat my customers."

"He's not going to eat your customers, Giles, but he has a point. I think you need to hire an assistant. You can't be here all the time, and Spike really isn't salesclerk material. Put an ad in the paper. Surely there's someone capable of working in a magic shop in this town."

***

The ad was duly placed and the very morning it appeared an attractive young woman with dark-blonde hair entered the shop. Looking up, Giles frowned slightly trying to place the girl as she marched up to him, laid the newspaper down on the counter with the ad circled and stated, "You should hire me. I would be an excellent employee. I'm honest, intelligent, good with money, punctual and have a pleasing personality."

"Do I know you?" Giles asked.

The young woman stared at him for a minute and said, "Yes. I graduated from Sunnydale High School where you were the librarian before you blew it up."

Giles blinked at the girl's forthrightness. Searching his memory he finally dredged up a name. "Of course, it's Anya isn't it?"

"Yes, Anya Christina Emanuella Jenkins. Now, do I get the job?"

"Uh, well you see, uh, Anya," Giles began.

"Oi, Rupert, where you want this lot?" Spike entered the shop carrying a large box of scented beeswax candles. Noticing the girl, he stopped. "Oh, didn't know you had a customer." He started to turn back when the girl stated bluntly, "Did you know that that man is a vampire, Mr. Giles?"

Both men stared at her in surprise. "You could tell Spike is a vampire just by looking at him?" Giles asked in astonishment.

"Of course, can't everyone?" the girl asked. "I mean just look at him. No one has a complexion that pale unless they're dead, and since he's walking around that means he's either a zombie or a vampire. He's not shuffling and he can talk intelligently, so that means he's not a zombie. Of course he could be a Revenant, but Revenants are very rare. Therefore, he's a vampire."

Giles was staring at the girl in amazement. She had stated her observation as if it were the most natural thing in the world. And since it was not the most natural thing in the world, the world being determinedly blind when it came to the supernatural, it meant that there was more to Miss Jenkins than met the eye.

Spike was looking at the girl with his eyes narrowed. He too had come to the conclusion that there was something not quite right here, but all of his senses told him that she was fully human.

"As you can see, I'm also observant. You should hire me. I can start right away."

"Um yes, well if you'll complete this application I'll certainly give you all due consideration. However, as this is the first day the ad's been in the paper, I believe I should allow others to also apply."

Shrugging, Anya took the application Giles handed her, went to one of the tables and began filling it out, completely ignoring the two staring men. When she had finished, she brought it back to Giles stating, "I'll be waiting for your call. You won't find anyone nearly as excellent as I to fill this position." And with that she strode from the shop.

"Odd bird," Spike noted. Giles agreed and then coming around the counter proceeded to show Spike where to set up the candles.

Over the next three days, an assortment of people came into The Magic Box to apply for the clerking position, and Giles made an interesting discovery. When one owned a magic shop it appeared that only odd people applied to work there. For the most part, they were young, female, black of hair and black of clothing, with bits of metal attached to various parts of their anatomies. Occasionally the female would be older and looked to be a member of the Stevie Nicks fan club. One applicant, a young man with wild eyes, claimed to be the reincarnation of Aleister Crowley. Giles tore his application up
as soon as he left the shop. None was in the least bit suitable. On the evening of the third day of taking applications, Giles gave in and called Anya Jenkins. She started work the next morning.

And true to her word she was an excellent employee, well versed in the arcane merchandise handled by the shop, able to answer numerous questions without hesitation and eager to ensure that anyone who entered the shop made a purchase. "I'm afraid I can only pay you minimum wage to start, Anya," Giles had informed his new employee. "However, you will receive a commission on each sale you make." At the end of the first week her commissions nearly equaled her salary.

There had been a little friction between Buffy and Anya at first. Buffy picked up on the fact right away that Anya found Spike attractive and was putting out semaphore-sized signals that she was interested. Buffy let it quickly be known that Spike was in no way available and if Anya valued her hide she'd stay well away from Buffy's vampire.

Spike found it all very amusing. Buffy found it necessary to increase her training time and was at the shop whenever her school schedule permitted it. Spike kept finding places for them to sneak off to. Giles gritted his teeth and threatened staking, beheading and death by flame-thrower if the trysting vampire didn't quit using the store as his own personal love nest. Spike found even more places to drag Buffy off to.

***

The Magic Box became Scooby central with all manner of research taking place there. At first Anya wasn't a part of the group, but little by little she added insight and advice that proved surprisingly helpful. Her knowledge of demons was truly impressive. Willow and Xander felt uncomfortable around the girl, however. She had come to Sunnydale High shortly after the disastrous Spring Fling and had hung out with Cordelia for a short while.

It was at the Spring Fling that Cordelia and Oz had caught Willow and Xander acting upon a sudden and unexpected attraction. While searching for their significant others, they had found the two friends locked in an embrace, kissing passionately. Cordelia had been deeply hurt and humiliated, as had Oz, but Willow and Oz had been able to work through it. Cordelia had never forgiven Xander and had moved to Los Angeles shortly after graduation.

For some reason Willow felt that there was more to their discomfort around Anya than the fact that the girl had been a friend of Cordelia's for a few short weeks. Even Tara felt that there was something different about Giles' new employee. "She's human of course, there's no doubt there," Tara had said one night while the two girls cuddled in bed. "But her aura is strange."

"Strange how, baby?" Willow had asked.

"It's old, Willow. Really old. Older than Spike's even."

"Spike has an aura?" Willow had asked surprised. "I thought only humans or, you know, living things had auras."

"Well Spike is living, in a way," Tara had answered. "He's animate and sentient and vibrant. Spike definitely has an aura and a strong one at that. His is strange too. Most vampire's have auras that are all black, and Spike's is too when he's fighting or angry, but most of the time there's a lot of blue and red in his."

"From the chip?"

"Maybe, but I wouldn't think the chip could change his aura." Tara shrugged, "But since it's a behavior modification device, maybe is does have an affect. But to get back to Anya, her aura feels many times older than Spike's, as much as 10 times older, which makes no sense. That would mean that she's over 1000 years old."

"Weird," was all that Willow could add to the conversation.


Chapter 4

The vampire attacked and Buffy was thrown against the wall with enough force to drive her breath from her body. Rolling quickly, she narrowly evaded a kick to her head. Flipping to her feet, she swung around, kicking out, but the vampire ducked and came back with a strong right cross.

Buffy blocked the punch and returned one of her own that connected, knocking her opponent back several feet. A series of punches, kicks, flips and rolls followed. An opening presented itself and Buffy jabbed a stake at the demon's heart. It was quickly deflected and the stake was knocked out of her hand. Grabbing and throwing her with all its might, the creature sent Buffy hurtling back into the wall once again. Her head hit hard enough to daze her and the vampire was on her instantly, grabbing her hair and yanking her head to the side exposing her neck. Sharp fangs descended eager to pierce the flesh and allow her enemy to drink the precious Slayer blood. Thrusting her arm up, she flat-handed the creature in the mouth as hard as she could, dislodging it enough that she was able to knock it off and away from her. The vampire landed in a heap, its hand going to its bloodied mouth.

"Ow! Fuck, Slayer, I think you broke my fang," came the plaintive wail.

Buffy went over and kneeling down said, "Here, let me look." Pulling back his lips, she carefully examined the damage. "It's not broken, you big baby. Your lip's pretty torn up though."

Spike looked at the blood on his hand and began licking it clean.

"Oh for God's sake, Spike, must you do that? It's disgusting."

"Yeah, well, Watcher, in case you missed the memo, I'm a vampire," came the sardonic reply as Buffy helped Spike to his feet.

That remark earned him a blistering glare. "All right, Buffy, let's critique today's training session, shall we?" Giles asked ignoring Spike completely. Spike merely snickered as he went into the restroom to wash the blood from his face. When he returned, Buffy had pulled on sweats and was preparing to leave.

"Spike, you have to take patrol alone tonight, okay?" she informed him. "I have a study group session, and last time we didn't finish until after midnight."

"All right, luv. Coming to the crypt after?" he asked, pulling her into his arms and nuzzling at the spot he had just recently tried to bite.

Buffy wrapped her arms around him, enjoying the feel of his lips and teeth on her sensitive skin. "Not tonight, honey," she answered somewhat breathlessly. "Early class tomorrow." Pulling back she kissed him gently on the side of his mouth that wasn't bruised and swollen. "Make it up tomorrow night.
Promise."

"Oh you will, my girl, you will," Spike growled giving her a heated look.

Pulling back, she kissed him lightly once more, called goodbye to her Watcher and left by the back door. Sighing, Spike returned to the stock room to finish unpacking the latest shipment of charms and amulets.

When closing time came, Giles completed the bank deposit and prepared to leave. Spike had already left and only Willow and Anya remained in the shop.

"Uh, Willow, were you planning on remaining?" Giles asked.

"If you don't mind, Giles. Tara and I are working on this new spell. We're hoping we can conjure a ball of sunshine. Figure it would be useful if we ever face a large number of vamps." Frowning at the texts surrounding her she continued, "So far though it's been really unstable. We don't want to take a chance on it going out of control when Spike's around." Looking up at the Watcher she added with a twinkle in her eye, "And don't say that that would be fine with you, 'cause you'd be lying."

Her only answer was a "Harrumph!" as Giles headed for the door. "Well, just don't forget to lock up when you leave."

"I'll stay with her, Mr. Giles," Anya offered perkily as Giles closed the shop door.

"You don't need to, Anya," Willow muttered, less than happy at having the shop assistant stay.

"I don't mind. In fact, I've been wanting to ask you for your help with something."

At this Willow looked up curiously. "Oh, what's that?"

Fluttering nervously, Anya sat down across from Willow and explained, "Well, you see, I, uh, had this necklace. Well actually it was my Great-Grandmother's necklace. And it was, uh, stolen from my apartment. And I really want to get it back. So I thought that maybe you could help me perform a spell that would transport it back to me.

"A teleportation spell?" Willow asked eagerly, eyes lighting up.

Anya immediately relaxed. This was going to be easier than she had thought.

"More like a temporal fold; brings it forth from the time and place it was lost. I have the spell and the ingredients--paid for, of course--but I needed someone else to help me perform the spell. You're a much more powerful Wicca than Tara, so naturally I thought of you."

Willow couldn't help but be a little flattered by the compliment and she was always eager to try new and powerful spells. Without a second's hesitation, she agreed.

Going into Buffy's training room, Anya showed Willow how to place the items in preparation for the spellcasting. When they were ready, Anya lit the candles, and clasping hands with Willow and closing her eyes she began chanting, making supplication. Everything seemed to be going well until a pillar of energy appeared over a plate containing a painted image of the lost necklace. Willow snapped open her eyes, startled by the dark energies pouring forth. Strange visions played before her eyes and just as Anya started to pour sacred sand over the dish, Willow started back, a cry escaping from her lips. She had seen an image of The Master and a battle raging between her old school friends and dozens of vampires. Jerking her hand, she inadvertently placed it under the pouring sand seeing even more images including one of herself, or someone who looked just like her, being pushed back by Oz and Larry. As she watched, her doppelganger disappeared.

Breaking contact with Anya, she skittered back away from the circle. Gasping for breath she cried, "What was that? What was I seeing?"

"Look what you've done!" Anya cried in distress. "You've broken the circle and destroyed the spell. We have to do it over again."

"No way, lady. I don't know what kind of spell you were doing there but there's no way I'm helping to do it again." Getting up and brushing the clinging sand from her hands, she rushed from the training room. Anya looked down at the empty dish and in a fit pique, smashed it.

***

In an old abandoned factory on the outskirts of Sunnydale, a Goth-clad Willow appeared from nowhere.
"This is weird," she said.

***

It was several hours after leaving the shop before Giles returned home. Just as he inserted the key into the lock, he heard the telephone ringing. Entering his apartment, he set his groceries down on the sofa table and picked up the receiver.

"Rupert Giles here."

As Giles listened to the voice on the other end of the wire, his face paled visibly. Hanging up, he immediately placed a call. She wasn't there, of course, so after leaving a message on her answering machine, he hung up and went to pour himself a Scotch. His hands shook slightly as he lifted the glass to his lips.

***

Buffy was relieved when the study group broke up early. Returning to her dorm room, she noticed the blinking light on the answering machine. After listening to the message, she hurriedly placed a return call to Giles.

***

Joyce Summers finished her nightly ritual of locking up before heading off to bed. Just as she turned
to climb the stairs, a knock sounded at her door. Approaching it, she called out, "Who's there?" The force of the door being kicked open knocked her down. Shocked, she looked up into a frighteningly familiar face.

"Hi, Joyce. Long time no see," Faith smirked.


Chapter 5

Buffy was pacing up and down Giles' living room. "How come it took them twenty-four hours before they let us know she came out of the coma?" she demanded.

"Apparently it took that long for the paperwork to get to the right desk," Giles explained. "You must go out looking for her, Buffy. I can only assume that she will attempt some sort of revenge tactic once she learns that we managed to destroy the Mayor."

Buffy froze, her eyes wide as a horrible thought came to her. "Mom," was all she said. Without another word, she raced from Giles' apartment.

***

Joyce's hands were tied in front of her and she was seated on her bed. Faith was taunting her that Buffy never came by; that she had forgotten all about her now that she was in college. Joyce remained calm.

"You know nothing about Buffy, Faith," she said. "We're closer now than we've ever been, and she's going to kick your ass when she gets here."

"Is that right, Joyce? And when's that going to be, huh?"

In answer to her question, Buffy crashed through the bedroom window, knocking Faith across the room. "Hi, Mom!" she quipped cheerfully.

"Hi, honey. Good timing."

The fight between the two Slayers was furious, ending up with them rolling down the stairs and into the dining room. Buffy stood up facing Faith. "You are so going back into a coma."

"Don't think so, B. I got other plans." Lashing out, she grabbed Buffy by the hand. An energy discharge flashed around them just as the distant sound of sirens reached the house. The two Slayers looked at each other in shock and then Buffy punched Faith as hard as she could, knocking her out.
Joyce came down the stairs and told her daughter, "I've called the police. That must be them now." Searching her daughter with anxious eyes, she asked, "You all right?"

"Yeah, all thing considered," Buffy answered looking down at a strange device in her hand.

"What's that?" Joyce asked.

"Some kind of weapon," Buffy answered. Dropping it to the floor, she smashed it with her foot. "Doesn't matter now. It didn't work."

***

Mother and daughter watched as the disoriented rogue Slayer was cuffed and placed into a squad car. "She'll be taken to jail and held for the murders of Deputy Mayor Finch and Professor Wirth," the police detective was telling them. "You won't have to worry about her bothering you for a long, long time."

As the cruiser pulled away, Joyce turned to Buffy and said, "Honey, I think you should call Giles and tell him what happened. He should know about Faith."

"Yeah. I'll stop by his place on my way back to the dorm. See you later, okay?"

And without another glance back at her mother, Buffy walked off into the night.

***

Willow and Tara were at The Bronze and Willow was telling Tara what had happened with Anya. "It was really creepy, Tara. You never saw The Master, but we're talking scary with a capital scare. And then to see me, or someone who looked like me, all skanky and Goth-looking, it was really bizarre."

"Well, sweetie," Tara scolded gently, "You shouldn't have tried to do a spell you weren't sure you could handle. I keep telling you, you're going too fast, trying too much too quickly."

Willow felt a faint rush of resentment at the chastisement. The fact that it was deserved didn't help matters. Before she could say anything she would later regret she heard Tara exclaim, "Buffy! I thought she was going to be with her study group tonight."

Willow looked to where Tara was pointing and standing up, waved until she got her friend's attention. She thought she saw a faint flash of irritation cross her friend's face, but when Buffy joined them, she seemed normal, if not enthused.

"Hey, Buff."

"Willow." She looked at Tara without a trace of recognition in her face.

"Hi, Buffy," Tara said, looking at her intently. "I thought you were with your study group tonight."

"Yeah, well I decided to go out instead. Look, I'm going to go get something to drink and see if I can't get some of these cuties to dance. See you guys later." With that she casually walked away.

"Now that was strange," Willow exclaimed. "Buffy's going to ask some strange guys to dance?" Turning to Tara with wide eyes she asked, "Do you think she and Spike had a fight or something?"

Tara swallowed nervously and said, "It-it's worst than that, Willow. That wasn't Buffy."

***

Spike carefully tucked his winnings into his jeans pocket. He'd completed a quick sweep of the cemeteries and then come to indulge in the one vice that he still hid from Buffy. Kitten Poker. He was well aware that his Slayer would not approve of this. It wasn't as if he ate the kittens, he mused as he started for the back door to finish patrol. But he did sell his winnings to demons he knew did eat them. Well, he wasn't responsible for what happened to them once they left his custody, and he'd be damned if he was going to feel guilty about it. He was still EVIL, damnit. And besides, just how bad was it? It wasn't as if he was mugging old-age pensioners, or engaging in illegal arms sales, or chatting up birds in a bar somewhere. And that last, he thought with a chuckle, would really get him into trouble. Not one for sharing was his Slayer.

Walking out the back door, his thoughts filled with Buffy, he jumped when he almost ran directly into her.

"Buffy? What are you doin' here, sweetheart? I though you had to study tonight."

Faith looked at the gorgeous Englishman standing in front of her and a rush of lust swept through her body.

"Something came up," she answered the platinum-blond hottie. Looking him up and down, she added, "So what happened to your mouth? Did someone clock you in there?"

"Uh, you did this to me today while we were sparring, remember?" Spike looked at her and cocked his head a little to the side. Something about her bothered him. Her body language was different, her vocal cadence off. "You all right, luv?" he asked in concern. "You don't seem yourself."

Faith's eyes narrowed slightly, but she answered casually, "Yep, everything's five-by-five. So, what's up with you? Why're you here?"

Spike tried not to look guilty. "Oh, you know. Patrollin' through Willy's, making sure the monsters are behavin' themselves." In an effort to change the subject, he moved closer to Buffy and said in his deepest, sexiest voice, "So, Slayer, you want to come home with me tonight after all?"

Faith smiled a predatory smile, licked her lips and coming close to him said, "Yeah, I think that can be arranged." Pressing her body into his and claiming his mouth with a demanding kiss, she became instantly aware of two things--Buffy's latest lover was another vampire, and he was hotter than a two-dollar pistol.

Spike pulled Buffy close to him, his mouth opening under her lips, tongue entwining with hers. And three seconds later he pulled back and pushed her away, eyes narrowing as he examined her. "Somethin's not right here," he growled. "What's wrong with you, Slayer? You feel different."

"Nothing's wrong, baby," Faith insisted. It'd been too long since she'd had a man, being in a coma and all, and this man...well vampire...was not only hotter than hell, he belonged to Buffy, so bonus. Pressing her body into his again, she wrapped one strong hand around the back of his neck and pulled him into another kiss.

Spike hardened when the scent of her arousal reached him. Growling deeply in his chest, he pulled her up tight against him, grabbing her ass and pushing his erection against her belly. She opened an eager mouth to him, twirling her tongue around his and sucking it into her mouth, all the while grinding herself up against him, grabbing, groping, pulling, hurting. Spike felt a haze of passion envelope him, but also a sense of unease. He'd made love to Buffy too many times in too many ways and in too many places to not notice that she was responding differently, more wantonly, all need and no love.
Even at the beginning when they'd been burning uncontrollably for each other she'd never acted like this. Her responses bothered him and he couldn't figure out why.

Pushing her back again, he gasped out, "Buffy, what's going on? There's something wrong with you. I can feel it."

"There's nothing wrong I tell you!" she insisted. Slamming him back against the door she forced herself on him again, almost wild and out of control.

Spike felt a sense of panic begin deep inside. Pushing her back once again, he snarled, "Buffy, knock it off. I don't know what's up with you tonight, but I'm damn well going to find out."

"Yeah? You think so? It's really too bad you noticed a difference. I think we could have had a good time tonight." With that, she pulled a stake out of her waistband and lunged at Spike.

Two things saved Spike from an instant dusting. He was an elder vampire in his prime who happened to train almost every day with one of the most formidable fighters he had ever come up against, so his reflexes were blazingly fast. The second thing was that Faith was unused to Buffy's body and her coordination was slightly off. As it was, she did manage to stab Spike in the chest just to the right of his heart.

Crying out in pain, Spike managed to kick her legs out from under her and toss her across the alley. Sprinting as fast as he could with the wound, he escaped from her. A sewer entrance was close by and he made for it. Ducking in, he ran a zigzag path, taking tunnels he knew like the back of his hand. After he had run several miles, he realized that the false Buffy was no longer pursuing him. Collapsing to the floor, he drew in great gulps of air in an attempt to control the pain that was radiating through him. He was badly wounded and had bled profusely which seriously weakened him.
When he finally had the pain somewhat under control, he pushed himself upright and made his way slowly down the tunnel in the direction that would take him to Rupert Giles. The Watcher would know what to do.