Chapter 6

The next morning being Saturday, Xander picked the girls up and took them to their respective homes so that they could do their laundry. Joyce was already at work so Buffy had the house to herself. She had just come up from putting a load of wash in the dryer when the phone rang. Picking it up she heard Giles growl out, "Buffy, if you want him undusted, you'll come over and get him out of my house now."

Closing her eyes and leaning her forehead against the wall she assured Giles she would be there as soon as she could. Hanging up the receiver and picking it up again immediately, she called Xander.

"Hey, Xand. Buffy. Look Giles is threatening to stake Spike so could you ride me over there and then drive us back here?"

"If we do it now, Buffy; I gotta be at work in half an hour. Although I think you should just let Giles stake him."

"Yeah, I know. I'm beginning to think that too. But we still might need him so I guess we'd better keep him undusty a little while longer."

With a snort, Xander hung up and Buffy went out to wait for him.

***

Blanket smoking, Spike ran past Buffy as she held the door open for him. Waving her thanks at Xander, she closed the door and turned to watch Spike stamp out a couple small flames that had ignited on the blanket.

Without a word, Buffy walked away from him and headed for the basement. She was aware that he was following, but was determined to completely ignore him. She hoped he was still angry enough with her that he wouldn't talk to her. She had found out the hard way that his voice was every bit as dangerous to her as his hands were.

Opening the dryer, she began to pull the clothes out. She let out a small yelp and jumped back a bit when Spike's hand darted into the basket. Looking at him, she blushed when she saw that he had a pair of her thong panties held up to his face.

"Give me those," she snapped grabbing the undergarment from him. "What is wrong with you? Can't you stop acting like a jerk for just one second?!"

Spike merely smirked and sauntered away. Buffy watched him with clenched fists. Honestly, no wonder Giles had wanted to stake him. If he had been acting like such as ass all morning, she didn't blame him.

After Buffy finished folding her clothes, she carried the basket up the stairs. Spike was nowhere in sight. Going through to the living room she realized he wasn't there either. Closing her eyes in frustration, she slowly climbed the stairs to the second floor. Just as she feared, Spike was stretched out on her bed, duster and boots off, hands locked behind his head.

Buffy refused to react. "You want to take a nap?" she asked with forced calmness. "Fine." Turning she went to leave when his honeyed voice asked, "Want to join me, pet?"

Buffy stood frozen. Her heart had started pounding with his first word. God, why did he have this effect on her? She became aware that he had moved from the bed when his hands lightly traced down her arms. Pulling her gently back against him he murmured, "Come to me, Buffy. Let me love you. I'll make it so good for you, you know I will."

Buffy tried to fight it. It was wrong. She knew it was wrong. Turning in his arms she lifted her mouth in invitation and Spike held her tightly as he crushed his mouth onto hers. Lifting her up just the same as he had that first time, he carried Buffy to her bed and placed her down gently. Buffy knew that he wanted to take it slow. For someone who normally had no patience, when it came to making love he was entirely different. But this time, Buffy was in no mood for foreplay. Having succumbed at last to her desires, she wanted him fast and hard and now.

Pushing him back from her, she lifted herself up and pulled her top over her head. Reaching behind, she quickly unhooked her bra and shrugged it off. Spike reached up a hand to cup a firm mound, but Buffy slapped it away and leaned forward to tug at his t-shirt. Pushing it up, she soon had him stripped of it. Throwing it onto the floor, Buffy lay down on top of Spike and pressed her breasts to his bare chest.

They both gasped at the touch of skin on skin. Grabbing his hair, she smashed her mouth down on his in a searing kiss. Swinging one leg over him, she straddled him, grinding herself against his erection. Spike groaned and then with a shove, threw her onto her back and began to unfasten her jeans. In one sharp movement both jeans and panties were yanked off. Buffy had already toed off her shoes so now she lay before him naked and hot and willing.

Unable to help himself, he pushed her legs apart and set his mouth on her sweet wet cunt. Lifting her legs onto his shoulders, he began to lick and suck at her clit eliciting deep moans and whimpers from Buffy. Her hips bucked beneath him and he had to hold onto her tightly so that he wasn't dislodged. She was wild for him, tugging his hair nearly out by the roots. Moving one hand down, he inserted a finger into her sliding easily into place. Moving his finger in time with his tongue he nearly brought her off only to back down again. Buffy sobbed as she was denied release and starting crying out, "God, Spike, please. Please, I need you. Please, now."

It was the last please that was his undoing. Pulling away from her, he quickly ripped his jeans from his lean hips. Throwing them down to join the growing heap of clothing on the floor, he then pulled up Buffy's legs and thrust into her.

Their coupling was frantic and fast. He couldn't have slowed down if he tried. Buffy was lost to her need, nails scoring deeply into his back. She cried out to him demanding that he satisfy the burning ache he had built in her. She was vaguely aware that she was getting bruised from the hard pounding he was giving her but she didn't care. She cared only that the fire be doused. Her need became overwhelming; the release she craved elusive and just out of reach. Frantic with desire, she bit into his shoulder so hard that blood poured from the wound. With a great roar he released his demon and sank fangs into her. Buffy's scream echoed throughout the room. Arms and legs locking about him in a bone-crushing embrace, her climax tore through her, vaginal walls clenching so tightly that Spike was imprisoned within her. Lifting his head with a grimace of almost-pain on his face, his own cry ripped from his throat as he came in a seemingly unending ejaculation.

***

"You bit me," Buffy said sleepily. "How come you could bite me?"

"Don't know, pet. Maybe because I didn't even know I was doin' it. Maybe because it was sex play and not for feeding. I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Buffy blushed slightly. Not only had it not hurt, it was the most intense sensation she had ever felt, and she had felt some pretty fantastic things with him last year.

"No, you didn't hurt me. Felt good," she confessed.

Spike smiled and kissed her shoulder. "I'm glad, pet. Didn't mean to bite you. I kinda lost control there."

They were lying spoon fashion, hands intertwined. Buffy sighed softly and then turned to face him. "Spike, you know we can't keep doing this. It's wrong. I'm the Slayer. I can't have a vampire lover."

"Seems to me, pet, neither of us have much say in the matter. Do you really think that this would be my choice? To want the Slayer so much? We're mortal enemies, I know that. But when I'm with you, that's the last thing on my mind.

"We'll work through this, Buffy. Maybe after a bit, we'll get tired of each other. A passion this hot usually burns itself out pretty fast. Once we burn the passion out of us, it'll be as it should be."

Buffy looked at him hopefully. "Do you think so? Do you think that we can get over this thing between us?"

"Only time will tell, pet." Spike got a wicked twinkle in his eye. "But in the meantime, I think we should do our best to try burning it out, don't you?"

"Sounds like a plan," Buffy said, wrapping her arms around him once more and lifting her mouth for a kiss.


Chapter 7

They made love all through the long afternoon. Sometimes fast and hard, sometimes slow and gentle. And Spike talked to her, told her all the things he wanted to do to her, all the things he wanted her to do to him. He told her how much he loved the feel of her, the taste of her, the smell of her. Buffy listened and grew hot and spasmed around his fingers and his cock.

He taught her the things that pleasured him, and when Buffy took him into her mouth for the first time she was shy and awkward. But Spike guided her and soon she found that she loved the sounds that he made as she tended to him. The gasps, sighs, growls and groans made her happy in a way she didn't understand; wasn't sure she wanted to understand. She also found to her surprise that his taste was very pleasing to her.

When the shadows at last lengthened, Buffy and Spike rose from the bed, showered and dressed aware that Joyce would soon be home. Airing out the bedroom to remove the smell of sex, Buffy knew that she would never set foot in there again without remembering this magical afternoon with Spike.


***


When Joyce entered the house she gave a small scream when she saw Spike sitting on her couch. Buffy rushed in from the kitchen where she had been preparing supper.

"Mom, it's okay. I invited Spike here," Buffy assured her mother.

"But Buffy the last time he was here you said he was evil and to not let him in," Joyce said confusedly.

"I know, but things have changed. He's helping me again and well, he can't hurt anyone." Buffy then proceeded to tell her mom everything that had happened over the last few days. Well almost everything.

"And you don't know who these people are?" Joyce asked. By now they were all sitting around the dining room table eating. Buffy had prepared tacos and Spike had helped himself. Joyce had looked at him curiously when he had dipped up a generous portion of the spicy meat filling, but hadn't said anything. Spike was glad. The last thing he needed was another query as to why he ate but Angel didn't.

"Not yet. I'm going to patrol again tonight and see if I can't track some of these guys down. Then I'll follow them and see if they lead me back to their headquarters. Once we know for sure where they come and go from, we'll make our plans from there." Buffy took a bite of her taco.

"But, honey, don't you think that maybe they're on your side? I mean after all they seem to be concerned with demons just as you are, right?"

"Yeah, but I kill demons," Buffy answered nonchalantly apparently oblivious to the frown her lover sent her way. "These guys are doing some kind of freaky experimenting on them. I want to know why." Looking at her mom she added seriously, "This is the Hellmouth, mom. Anything weird happens here is usually not of the good. And spooky covert-ops type guys snatching vampires and demons and doing things to them? Makes my spidey-sense kick into overdrive."

Joyce accepted Buffy's statement. She had come to respect her daughter's judgment over the last year. If Buffy felt that something was wrong, then Joyce was willing to believe her. And although she was terribly confused by the on-again, off-again, on-again alliance with Spike, again she trusted Buffy's judgment in the matter. And if she were honest, she rather liked the cocky, good-looking vampire.

***

"I think I should go with you, Buffy," Spike kept insisting. "I don't like the idea of your lurking about spying on those soddin' GI types. What if they catch you out? What if they capture you? No one would know, would they? You just go missin' and nobody would even know what happened."

"Spike, I don't want you within 2 miles of those guys. You're in more danger from them than I am. You can't even defend yourself. If you go with me, I'll have to worry about keeping you safe. I need to concentrate on my job!"

Spike stiffened at her reminder of his powerlessness. Answering coldly he said, "'Course, Slayer, forgot myself. Last thing you need is a flippin' eunuch flutterin' about your coattails." With that, he turned away from her, walking in the direction of Giles' townhouse. Buffy ground her teeth together. God, she didn't have time for this. Wounded male ego was a big pain in the ass. She almost let him go off on his own, but then the thought of the commandos entered her mind and a chill of fear coursed through her. Running after him she caught up and just walked along side of him, saying nothing.

When they reached Giles' Spike entered and nearly slammed the door in her face. She managed to catch it before it hit her and thrusting it back rushed up to Spike and grabbed him, swinging him around.

"You almost hit me with that door!" she yelled.

"Yeah so what if I did? Can't hit you any other way now can I, being impotent and all."

"God, will you stop with the sexual analogies already? I told you why I don't want you coming with me. I don't want those guys getting you again. Is that so hard for you to understand?"

"You don't want me comin' with you because I'm useless to you, that's why you don't want me to come."

"Are you always this pigheaded, or is it just with me?" Buffy cried out in frustration.

"Look," Spike started but Giles cut into the argument. "If you children wish to argue, please take it somewhere else. I'm trying to do some research here and you're interrupting me."

Spike turned to look at Giles then stomped over to the chair he had been tied to for the last two nights. "Tie me up, Slayer, and then get the hell out."

"Don't you tell me to get out!" Buffy shrieked.

"BOTH OF YOU GET OUT!" Giles yelled at the top of his lungs.

They both jumped at the Watcher's bellow. Looking at him in surprise, they then looked at each other and suddenly burst into laughter. Giles put his head in his hands, then stood up and walked into the kitchen. Buffy heard the sound of glass on glass and knew that they had driven Giles to the Scotch bottle.

"Rupert!" Spike called out. "If you're parcelin' out drinks, I wouldn't say no." Spike could hear the Watcher's low growl, but a second clink gave evidence that another drink was being poured. Coming back into the room, Giles handed Spike a glass, sipped at his own and then said, "May I ask what all the yelling was about?"

"Well, Watcher, you seemed pissed off about something," Spike answered cheekily. Giles sighed and looked at Buffy.

"Spike wanted to come with me tonight when I look for the commandos, I told him it was too dangerous for him since he can't fight and he took all kinds of macho offense."

"For God's sake, Buffy, if he wants to go and get recaptured, let him. At least I won't have to share my drink with him anymore." With that comment, Giles returned to his books.

"You gonna be okay here now?" Buffy asked softly.

"Yeah, pet, you go ahead. But you be careful. Don't let those buggers see you."

Buffy smiled, glanced quickly over to see that Giles was paying them no mind and lightly caressed Spike's face. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, pet. Good night."

And just like that the fight was forgotten.


Chapter 8

It was pure happenstance that Buffy caught sight of the commandos. She had decided to make a quick patrol of the city's cemeteries before returning to campus. Spotting what looked like a vamp nest in one of the mausoleums, she had entered, dusted the occupant and was just leaving when a small noise alerted her. Ducking back out of sight, she saw a group of the black-clad men making a sweep through the cemetery.

After they had passed, she cautiously followed them. Hiding behind trees, crypts, and monuments, she was able to remain unobserved as she kept them in sight. She wasn't surprised to see them finally head towards the UC Sunnydale campus. What did surprise her was their ultimate destination. Using a well-hidden back door, the squad entered Lowell House.

***

The next afternoon Buffy filled the gang in on her discovery.

"Lowell House?" Xander was saying. "That's where the party was the night we got stuck with the Evil Undead here isn't it?"

"Yeah," Willow answered. "Riley lives there. You don't think he's involved with these guys do you?"

"Who's Riley," Spike wanted to know, a scowl darkening his handsome face.

"He's our Psych TA," Willow answered helpfully. "I think he has a crush on Buffy."

Buffy had been deep in thought throughout this conversation, but now she looked up and said, "Yeah, he asked me out for coffee the other day, but I blew him off. I think I'll take him up on the offer now. I suddenly find myself with the burning desire to get to know Mr. Riley Finn much better."

"Gonna Mata Hari him, Buff?" Xander asked excitedly.

"Yeah, well Mata Hari ended up shot, you twit, so I think it's a rotten idea," Spike snapped.

Giles glanced at the sullen vampire, unease once again settling over him. But in this case he again had to agree with Spike. "Buffy, as much as I hate to admit it, Spike is correct. Trying to gain information by dating a possible member of this organization could be extremely dangerous. If he discovers what you are up to, it could very well lead to your own capture and incarceration. I advise that we try to come up with some other means to get further information."

"I'm not saying that this is the only way we try to get information Giles, but if I can get free access to Lowell House by dating Riley, then I can snoop around, see if I can spot anything regarding this group. Meanwhile, Willow can try to find out what she can about the origins of Lowell House."

"What are you planning on doing, Slayer? Sneak around during the dead of night after you've shagged your little college boy unconscious?" Spike asked bitterly.

Buffy frowned at Spike. "Don't be disgusting, Spike. I'm not going to bed with Riley. But it's not unusual for girls to hang out at the frat houses their boyfriends live at."

Spike wasn't mollified, but he held his tongue. The thought of Buffy being with another man, even if it was only a means to gather information, made him burn with frustration. And worry. This was a regular guy, one that could give her all the things he couldn't. He wasn't anywhere near ready to give her up yet. What would he do if she grew tired of him first?

***

Sometimes the fates seemed to shine on Buffy. The cafeteria was crowded the next afternoon, but Riley was seated at a table by himself, a textbook open before him as he ate his lunch.

Buffy approached his table with her tray. "Hi," she said smilingly. "Mind if I join you? All the tables seem to be occupied."

Riley looked up and then broke into a pleased smile. "Sure," he said moving his book out of the way. Buffy placed her dishes on the table and Riley gallantly removed the empty tray for her. When he returned to the table, Buffy nodded to the textbook and remarked, "Quantum Physics, huh? Wow. I thought you were a Psych major."

Riley smiled shyly and said, "Yeah, but I like to know what makes things tick; people, the universe. Actually it was a toss-up as to what my major was going to be."

"Really?" Buffy said surprised. "Funny, you don't look that..." Realizing that her remark bordered on the insulting she stopped speaking.

Riley merely grinned good-naturedly and said, "I don't look that smart, right?" Winking at her he continued, "I know, but you see that gives me an advantage. People think I'm just some big dumb hayseed and open up to me. I can learn all kinds of things with hardly any effort at all. Should prove useful in my chosen profession."

Buffy smiled nervously at Riley. She was well aware of the advantages of being more that you seemed. But then she brightened up immediately. He had just spilled some important information about himself to her. She was now on the alert and knew to be extra cautious in her dealings with him.

Their conversation was pleasant. The kind that two people who barely know each other have. Where they were from, how they ended up in Sunnydale, what their future plans were. Buffy's autobiography was severely edited of course, and she suspected that Riley's was as well. This would be another thing she could hand over to Willow - try and discover as much as she could about the antecedents of Riley and the rest of the young men at Lowell House.

They finished eating and stood up to leave; they both had classes to attend. Agreeing to meet the next day for lunch, they parted company. Buffy hurried back to her dorm room to gather her books and papers for her next class but found her thoughts turning to Spike. She wondered what he was doing right now. Watching television? Staring off into space tied to the chair? She hadn't tied him up the last couple of nights and Giles had not objected, so he was probably free doing whatever he could to irritate Giles. Buffy smiled to herself. Whatever else you had to say about Spike, he was a champion irritator.

***

Buffy went over to Giles' after she and Willow had eaten an early dinner. Willow was going to spend some time in the library working on a report for one of her classes so Buffy decided to fill Giles in on what she had learned about Riley. Plus she wanted to see Spike.

Entering the townhouse, she was surprised to see both men seated at the table pouring over books. Spike immediately closed the book he was reading and jumped up. "Slayer, glad you're finally here. Watcher threatened to stake me unless I helped him with his boring research. Man's a worse torturer than Angelus."

Giles glared at the vampire but chose to ignore him. "I hope you plan on taking him with you tonight, Buffy. A few hours away from his company would be most welcome."

Buffy grinned at her Watcher but took pity on him. "Okay, Giles. Since I don't need to worry about following the commandos anymore, we can just dodge them if we see them. Spike can watch me fight demons and shout out useless commentary. That should keep him entertained."

Spike smirked at her and went to the door. "Well come on, let's go then," he said eagerly.

"Uh, Spike? Not dark yet so unless you want to burst into flame, I suggest we wait a little while longer before we go out on patrol."

Looking disappointed, Spike moved back into the room and sank bonelessly onto the couch.

"Well, I made first contact with the subject," Buffy told Giles. At his confused look, she added, "You know, Riley. Thought I'd try some secret agent speak," she grinned.

"Buffy, you don't seem to be taking this seriously," Giles commented. "I hope I don't need to remind you that this is not a game. These people could be extremely dangerous. Please use caution."

Buffy sighed and sat down in the chair Spike had vacated. "Giles, I know how serious this is. In fact, I found out today that Mr. Finn seems to have very deep waters. On the plus side, I'm pretty sure that he thinks I'm just a regular dumb-blonde coed. So, advantage me."

Spike took this conversation in without comment, but he was not happy. No matter what Buffy said, he knew how tricky bad guys could be. He was a bad guy. He just hoped that Buffy took Giles' advice and kept her wits about her.


Chapter 9

An hour later, Buffy and Spike left for patrol. Spike was uncharacteristically quiet as they headed for the nearest cemetery. Buffy glanced at him from the corner of her eye and then decided to take the bull by the horns. "Okay, Spike, spill it," she demanded.

"Don't know what you're talking about, Slayer," Spike insisted.

"Bullshit," she snorted. "You're practically turning inside out trying to keep your mouth shut. Just say whatever it is that's bugging you."

"Okay, I'll tell you," he said. Stopping her he took her gently by the arms and turned her to face him. "I'm scared for you, Buffy. What if you make a mistake while you're sneaking about there? If they find out you're trying to sniff out information about them, they could hurt you. And I know you, Buffy. They're human so you'll pull your punches. I don't give them the same credit. I saw how they treated Willow."

Closing his eyes, he enfolded her in his arms. "I just don't want anything happening to you, Buffy."

Buffy wrapped her arms around him, returning his embrace. "Spike, I promise I'll be very careful." Pulling back, she added, "And I promise I won't sleep with Riley Finn."

Lowering his head to hers and giving her a passionate kiss, he growled, "Better not, Slayer. Because no matter how much it hurts, I'll drain him dry if you do."

***

The three Noitami demons appeared from out of nowhere and attacked all at once. Buffy was hard pressed. Noitame weren't particularly fast, but they were large and strong. Spike did his best to stay out of Buffy's way and to try and distract the demons. His frustration mounted as he saw Buffy being beaten back again and again. When one of the demons grabbed Buffy in a tight clinch, holding her immobile, Spike reached up, took hold of its head and gave a strong twist. The demon's neck broke with a resounding snap and Spike grabbed his head in anticipation of pain.

There was none.

Standing upright again, he realized that whatever had been done to him did not extend to demons. Voicing a great victory growl, he vamped out and joined Buffy in the battle.

Side by side the two fought. Buffy was surprised and then pleased to see Spike joining her. Now that her life was no longer in danger she eased off, enjoying the fight. As if thinking with one brain, vampire and slayer terminated their opponents at the same time.

Standing back and looking at the slowly dissolving corpses, Buffy grinned. Eyes shining, she turned to Spike and looked at him. Spike returned her heated gaze with one of his own. Once again moving in concert, they fell into each other's arms, kissing, groping, grinding together.

Pushing Spike back, Buffy gasped, "Not here, not out in the open, someplace else, someplace private."

Looking around, Spike spotted a crypt nearby. Grabbing Buffy's hand he dragged her towards it. Without breaking stride, Spike lifted his foot and kicked in the door. Pulling Buffy in after him, he pushed the door closed with his back and drew her up against him.

Buffy was aflame. Hands on either side of his head, she kissed him wildly, wrapping her tongue around his sucking it into her mouth, grinding her hips against him. Spike groaned, grabbing Buffy's ass and pulling her hard against him.

"In you now. Must get in you now, Buffy, please," he gasped out. Buffy's shaking hands reached down to his belt buckle undoing it and then unfastening the button on his jeans. The zip went down and Buffy's head followed. Taking him into her mouth, she sucked and licked, twisting her tongue around the head and dipping its tip into the slit at the top of his penis tasting the salty droplet there. Spike moaned out his pleasure, hands wrapped in her hair. His hips began thrusting as she once again fully engulfed him and then moved her mouth lower to suck his balls, her small hand wrapping around him and pumping slowly. He knew he was getting close, but he wanted to come inside her passage, not her mouth. Reaching down, he hauled her up. He had spotted a sarcophagus when they first entered. Pushing her over to it he lifted her up on top of the lid, pulled down her pants, spread her legs and mounted her. Their coupling was intense and wild. He thrust into her harder and harder while she bucked under him in answering rhythm. Screaming in unison, they came at the same time, Spike filling her with his come as her walls clenched tightly around him.

Lying wrapped in each other's arms they relaxed for a bit and then began kissing again, rebuilding the passion they had just cooled. When Spike began moving in her again, Buffy nearly cried in pleasure. They climaxed again, and then a third time and then a fourth. At last, totally spent, they rested.

***

After cleaning up in a public restroom, they returned to Giles' place. Buffy was eager to inform her Watcher about their discovery that Spike could fight demons. Giles however was concerned. "Are you sure it's just demons he can attack now Buffy? Perhaps whatever was done to him has reversed itself and he can now attack anything he likes."

Buffy and Spike had not even considered this. They had assumed when he bit her that he had been able to because it was a love bite and not an attack. Looking at each other in concern, they knew what they had to do. Bracing herself slightly, Buffy nodded to Spike. Pulling back his arm, he lashed forward with a quick punch. Buffy yelped in pain, but Spike screamed in agony. Buffy had no doubt; he was still unable to hurt humans.

***

The next afternoon, Buffy kept her lunch date with Riley. In a way, she felt bad for leading what appeared to be a nice, regular young man on. But if he really were part of the organization that had operated on Spike, then she needed to know. Specifically, she wanted to know exactly what had been done to Spike and what its long-term effects would be.

Buffy hadn't said anything to him, but she was as worried about Spike as he was about her. What if he had a ticking time bomb in his head? What, if anything, could they do about it? All she knew for sure was that she didn't want anything to happen to Spike.

Their conversation was as mundane today as it had been yesterday. In a way Buffy found it frustrating, but she knew that she had to play it cool, come over all innocent and wide-eyed. Acting as if she were completely enthralled that a grad student would deign to even notice her, Buffy gradually spun her web around him. By the end of the meal, she had a standing lunch date with him and the promise of a movie for Friday night.

***

Willow had been busy over the last couple of days herself. Using hacking skills that could easily get her arrested, she was able to find out just about everything of importance about Riley Finn... except where he had been for the two year period prior to his appearance in Sunnydale.

According to the records she had dug up, he had been born on March 25, 1975 in Ottumwa, Iowa (home of Radar O'Reilly), graduated from Ottumwa High School (home of the Bulldogs) in 1993 and attended the
University of Iowa (go Hawkeyes) where he had graduated summa cum laude with a degree in psychology in 1997. After his college matriculation however, Willow lost track of him. Nothing appeared about him anywhere. After 22 years of a very accessible life, he disappeared. Then in the fall of 1999, he resurfaced as a grad student at UC Sunnydale, moved into Lowell House and became Mama Walsh's very favorite boy.

Lowell House had presented another compelling mystery. Built in 1995, the site upon which it stood had originally been excavated for the new computer lab. However, for some reason which Willow could never really get the gist of, once the foundation had been dug, the computer lab site was moved to its present location across campus from Lowell House. The original foundation had been huge, much larger than the area now occupied by the fraternity house. It certainly made one wonder.


Chapter 10

Willow presented her information that evening at the Scooby meeting held at Giles'. Xander had brought pizza as his contribution and had scowled at Spike when the vampire had helped himself to a large slice. However, by now the gang was used to Spike's unusual eating habits and no comment was made.

Giles looked with interest at the documentation Willow had supplied. Removing his glasses, he looked at the young witch. "Excellent work, Willow," he praised. Willow glowed at his approval.

"So what are you thinking, Rupert?" Spike asked. "The head of the snake under that frat house?"

"Yes, I think that a very apt way to put it, Spike," Giles agreed reluctantly. For some reason, it always surprised and unnerved him when Spike made an astute observation. He had to keep reminding himself that Spike hid a sharp intelligence behind a façade of rough talk and punk looks.

"So," Buffy was saying, "I'm not just looking for info when I finally get invited back to Lowell House, I'm also looking for a way into the main facility. Is that right?"

Spike and Giles traded concerned looks. "Buffy, I do wish you would let this go," Giles said. "I'm sure we can come up with the information we need through Willow's research. You don't need to put yourself into the lion's den in this manner."

"Giles, I appreciate your concern for me," Buffy answered,"but do you really think that Willow is going to find out about a secret government research facility on the 'net? She couldn't even find out why the location of the computer lab was moved."

Standing up and pacing she continued, "I'm not sure why, but I keep getting the feeling that we're running out of time. Sometimes it feels like all the hairs on my arms are standing straight up like I'm surrounded by static electricity. I need to know what's going on and I need to know soon."

Giles opened his mouth to protest once again, but then shut it without saying a word. He had voiced his concern over and over. Buffy was well aware of the risks. Just as she was aware of the risks every time she went out on patrol or faced another apocalypse. She was The Slayer. He would allow her to do her job.

***

Buffy and Spike left for patrol, but on their way they stopped at the local discount store and bought some supplies. Returning to the cemetery they had been in last night, they headed straight for the crypt where they had made love. The grounds department had already fixed the broken door, but Spike simply picked the lock and opened the door. Setting down their packages, they first dug out candles and oil lamps. Placing these around the crypt they soon had enough light to make out the interior. It was surprisingly spacious. While Spike dusted and wiped things down, Buffy swept and filled a garbage bag full of the detritus lying about on the floor. After carefully cleaning the top of the sarcophagus, Spike removed sheets, blankets and a pillow and made up a bed.

Completing his task he began to explore more closely and Buffy heard him grunt. Turning, she couldn't see him at first but after walking around to the other side of the sarcophagus, she saw him peering down into a hole revealed by a now opened trapdoor.

"What'd ya find?" she asked curiously. Spike glanced up at her with a pleased smile on his face.

"God, you just gotta love Sunnydale, y'know? Looks like an underground passage here. I'm going down to check it out. Hand me the torch, will you, pet?"

Jumping down, Spike turned on the flashlight and looked around. Buffy watched from the top floor as he disappeared further into the lower area. After about 5 minutes she began to worry and was just ready to call out when she saw his light returning. With a quick "Heads up, pet," Spike tossed the flashlight back up to Buffy and then followed with a cat-like leap. Brushing dirt and cobwebs from his clothing he told her, "Y'know, pet. I think this will be a good place for me to move into when I leave Giles'. There's water pipes and electrical conduits passin' through a tunnel down there. I can tap into that. Make this place right cozy. Get one of them little fridge's like you and Red have, a TV, make a nice little shower. Yeah, this'll make me a fine home."

Buffy was less enthusiastic. As a temporary trysting place, the crypt had its, well, lack of charm. As Spike's home? Buffy wasn't thrilled. But really, where else could he live? With her and Joyce on Revello Drive? A world of no on that. Buffy was still hoping that this - thing - between them would burn out soon. Trouble was, so far there was no sign of it. Every time she saw him after being away from him, she had to keep tight control so that she didn't fly into his arms.

For his part, Spike was awash in a sea of plans. Put the TV there, fridge there, maybe a couch or a couple of chairs...no, a couch so that he and Buffy could have a cuddle while they watched TV together. Maybe once he got that lower area cleaned up and a ladder put in he could fix that up like a proper bedroom. Better for Buffy than shaggin' on a hard sarcophagus.

He was so lost in his own thoughts that Buffy finally had to punch him on the arm to get his attention. "Hey, Earth to Spike!"

"Ow, what the bloody hell was that for, Slayer?" the offended vampire asked.

"I've asked you five times now if you're ready to go on patrol," Buffy exclaimed.

"Yeah, I guess," Spike replied slowly. Then, "Don't you want to break in our new bed?"

Buffy looked down at herself. She was covered in dirt, she was sweaty and she was definitely not feeling sexy.

"You look beautiful to me, Slayer," came Spike's deep caramel voice correctly reading her thoughts. Chills went right down her stomach and into her crotch. How the hell did he do that?!

Turning before she changed her mind, Buffy left the crypt.

***

The next two days proved extremely frustrating for Spike. Buffy met him for patrol, but that was it. She had a big exam coming up that Friday and she insisted that she needed time to study. So the freshly cleaned crypt was left temporarily abandoned.

On Friday night, Buffy and Riley had their first date. Dinner and a movie. Spike was in an agony of jealousy and fear. What if she really liked this git? She hadn't wanted to sleep with him for the past three nights. What if she did go to bed with this Riley Finn? Spike would kill him. And then her. And then him again.

Giles had already gone to bed and Spike was morosely watching TV when a quiet knock sounded on the door. Getting up to answer it, Spike realized who it was halfway to the door. Quickening his pace to almost a run, he pulled the door open to see Buffy standing there looking beautiful in a pale blue si lk blouse and dark blue skirt. Sandals on her feet showed off her pretty toes and slender ankles. Spike was immediately hard.

"Let's go," was all Buffy said. He closed the door behind him and followed her down the street and towards the cemetery. He reached out and took her hand halfway there and Buffy turned and smashed her mouth to his. After that they practically ran to their crypt. Spike's hands were shaking while he worked the lock pick and it took longer than it should have to get it open. He was tempted to just break the bloody door down again, but he didn't want the groundskeepers to find their little nest. At last it was opened, and they entered and pushed the door shut with a resounding slam.

When Spike turned to take her into his arms, she leaped upon him, wrapping her legs around his waist and kissing him passionately. "God I want you, Spike. Hurry please." Buffy was gasping.

Spike didn't have to be asked twice. Carrying her over to their makeshift bed, he laid her on it and then crawled between her thighs. Kissing her, he moved his hand down and pushed up her skirt. Trailing his fingers up her thigh, he found the end of her thong and pushed a finger inside. She was already swollen and wet for him. Thrusting into her, she bucked against him, making the little sounds in her throat that drove him wild. Pulling away from her, he released his cock, pushed her panty aside again, and entered her. Buffy wrapped her legs tightly around Spike and met his thrusts. Reaching down her hand, she played with his balls as they beat against her. Spike screamed and came.

He collapsed on top of her, vaguely aware that he hadn't yet satisfied her, but too drained to move. But he was a vampire and vampires recovered quickly. As Buffy petted him and told him how wonderful he was, he began to move in her once again. This time, Buffy came first.
 

Chapter 11
As it turned out, Buffy's date had been pleasant but uneventful. She hadn't learned anything really new about Riley and hadn't gotten asked back to Lowell House that evening. Buffy hoped that it wasn't because she was a little distracted. It had been three days since she and Spike had last been together and all Buffy could think about was Spike and their nest.

Next time she had a date with Riley, Buffy told Spike, she thought it might be wise if they made love first so that she could think of something else besides how horny she was for Spike.

Spike had laughed and said that if they made love before she went on a date with Riley, then all she would think about was how good it had been. Buffy had smiled, kissed him and told him he was probably right. Spike felt just fine.

***

Time passed as time will. Willow researched, Buffy dated Riley but found out no useful information from him, and she and Spike patrolled and made love.

On the nights that Buffy had a date with Riley, Spike would do a quick patrol on his own, always being on guard for the commandos, and then worked on fixing up the crypt. He spliced into the conduit and ran electrical cords to the upstairs of the crypt. One night Buffy arrived to find a small TV and refrigerator in place. She didn't ask where they came from. Spike seemed to have adapted to not being able to hunt and she was so happy she could keep him around that she tried to not let a little petty theft bother her. Plus she knew that a lot of the stuff now decorating the crypt had been scavenged and repaired. She was rather proud of him. The place was really starting to look...well, cozy.

***

Buffy never realized that as she was observing Riley and trying to gain information about the goings on at Lowell House, she in turn was being observed. And those observing her had much better luck than she had been having.

When Maggie Walsh was given the report, she found herself fascinated. Complete medical reports from infancy until the present time were included. To all intents and purposes, Buffy Summers was a completely normal girl. Her latest physical exam showed everything to fall within normal ranges. None of her blood work showed anything out of the ordinary. Heart, lungs and blood pressure were all listed as strong, clear and normal. Even her gynecological exams came back normal.

But Buffy Summers was most definitely *not* normal. Maggie picked up the remote control once again and watched the videotape of Ms. Summers and Hostile 17 in action. They worked in concert, both preternaturally fast and strong. Miss Summers was shown staking vampires and fighting demons, sometimes slicing off their heads with a sword; sometimes using her bare hands to break their necks. And almost every night she and her vampire lover retreated to a crypt where they engaged in the vilest of illicit relations. This disgusted Maggie Walsh who was a purest. She would have ordered that Riley stay away from the contamination that was this girl, but it allowed her to study Buffy even closer so she permitted the relationship. Fortunately, the little slut did not seem interested in pursuing a sexual relationship with Riley. This Maggie would never have allowed.

***

Sometimes when Buffy was out with Riley, Spike would map out the miles and miles of tunnels that led from the crypt. He found to his delight that they extended out to almost every part of Sunnydale. From underground he could reach Giles', Xander's, almost any downtown store (from which he occasionally liberated items) and most
importantly Buffy's home on Revello Drive.

One night a little more than a week before Thanksgiving, Spike made a discovery. One of the tunnels ran near Lowell House, and more importantly, there was a passage that didn't seem to lead anywhere. After more closely examining the walls, he found a small panel. Opening it up, he discovered a touchpad. He was pretty sure that he
had finally discovered a way back into the facility.

***

It was 2 am, and Spike, Buffy, Willow and Xander stood before the mysterious panel. Willow carefully removed the cover and looked at the wires and modules. Taking a cable out of her bag, she hooked it up to the panel, turned on her computer, whispered an incantation and started to process information. Fifteen minutes later, a small door in the wall popped open.

Taking a deep breath, Buffy cautiously opened the door and peered in. It appeared to open into a maintenance crawlspace. Silently she crawled forward, followed by Willow and Xander. Spike brought up the rear. As she carefully made her way, she stopped periodically to peer through grates that opened off the tunnel. For the most part, they seemed to be offices and storage rooms, but after what seemed like miles, she stopped with a quickly suppressed gasp. Willow and Xander pushed forward to see what it was. Buffy moved out of the way and caught Spike's eye. Whatever it was, he knew it had unnerved his Slayer.

Giving Xander a bit of a shove, he finally forced his way forward enough to look out. A room of immense proportions filled the area. Soldiers and men in lab coats moved purposefully about, even at this late hour.

Buffy continued to crawl down the tunnel, but Spike could feel the tension radiating from her. If his bearings were right, they would soon be near where he had escaped. Sure enough, Buffy again halted suddenly, gazing down with a dark frown. This time, Willow and Xander quickly moved out of Spike's way.

And there it was. The facility from which he had escaped. The walls were lined with bright white rooms occupied by almost every species of demon known to Sunnydale. Some paced and roared, some sat and stared, some lay curled in upon themselves as if they had lost all hope.

Buffy wasn't sure why the sight disturbed her so. Maybe it was because of what she had told Joyce so many weeks ago. She killed demons, but capturing them, caging them, experimenting on them? This bothered her.

So far, they had not come upon any more doorways. Nothing except the ventilation grates led into the rooms below. This wouldn't really be a problem though. They could simply enter one of the unoccupied offices; that is once they were certain that they wouldn't set off a security system.

Motioning everyone to retreat the way they had come, Buffy and the others left it for that night.

***

They woke Giles up out of a sound sleep to inform him of their findings.

"We can probably get into that place pretty easily from that crawlspace," Buffy was informing Giles. "The only problem is, a place like that is probably wired up with a high-tech security system."

"Yes," Giles said. "We need to find a way to neutralize it."

Willow had been quiet for most of the discussion, but she suddenly exclaimed, "Miss Calendar!"

Giles paled slightly and said, "Wha..what? What about Jenny?"

Willow immediately looked contrite saying, "I'm sorry, Giles. What I meant was, Miss Calendar was a techo-pagen. I think I still have the names and e-mail addresses of her coven at home. If I can contact some of them, they may be able to provide me with a techno- incantation that we can use on the security system. It's worth a try anyway."

Giles had recovered from unexpectedly hearing Jenny's name and nodded his head saying, "Yes, good thinking Willow. They very well may have a solution to this problem. You also might see if they have any ideas how one could, ah, hack into this organization's computer system. We would certainly find out more information that way than skulking around down there."

Spike had looked questioning at Buffy upon noting Giles' reaction to Jenny Calendar's name, but Buffy had just shaken her head. She would fill him in later in private. Now she said, "Okay, that sounds like a good plan Willow. See if you can get any help from them right away. Thanksgiving is next Thursday and Riley told me that most of
the guys at Lowell House will be heading home for the holiday. If what we suspect is true and they're all affiliated with the commandos, then that means that many less soldiers we have to worry about."

Since nothing else could be done that night, the group broke up with
Xander driving the girls back to their dorm and Giles heading back to bed.

Spike wouldn't let Buffy know for the world, but the idea of going back into that place terrified him. But there was no way on earth he was going to allow her to go in there without him. He could still help her even if he couldn't fight humans.


Chapter 12

Of course his insistence in accompanying them brought about another argument. "No! What if we get caught? We may get into trouble, but they'd put you back in one of those cages. It's too dangerous!"

Buffy was standing in the middle of Giles' living room. Her friends were watching the argument with wide eyes. Giles with concern.

"Damn it, Slayer, I may not be able to fight humans, but that place has demons in it. What if they've made some of them into their little pet guard dogs? I can fight them. And I have better senses than you do. I could listen for and smell out danger. You need me on this mission!"

Buffy was terrified. She couldn't lose him. Not yet. She wasn't ready. But she knew he was right; he could be helpful to them. And the knowledge that he was right made her furious.

"Fine!" she yelled. "You want to come along? Get dusted? Well that's okay by me. Just means one less vampire I have to stake!"

Spike knew she was worried, but her words hurt him nonetheless. Did she still sometimes think about staking him? Face set in a cold mask he nodded. "Right then."

Swallowing nervously Willow informed them, "I got in contact with Jenny's coven okay. Jasper gave me several spells that should work on the security system and the computer hacking. I just need to get some supplies tomorrow and do a little preparation. I'll be all ready by Thanksgiving."

"Good," Buffy said. Then grabbing up her jacket she said, "I'm going out on patrol. I'll see you back at the dorm Will." Without a glance or a word to Spike she left.

He made no effort to follow her.

***

"So what do you think, Will? He want to go with us so that he can find a way to get his noggin fixed? Must be hard on him not being able to kill us all." Xander was driving Willow back to the dorm after Buffy had left for patrol. Spike had retreated into silence, an unusual enough state for the loquacious vampire that it made everybody uncomfortable.

"I don't think so, Xander. I mean, I don't think he'd turn down getting fixed, but I really think he wants to help Buffy." Hesitating she finally continued. "Do you think that maybe there's something going on between him and Buffy?"

Xander almost hit a parked car in reaction to her words. "What?! No! There is nothing between those two, except hate. Good old-fashioned Vampire Slayer, Evil Undead hate. That's it!"

Willow remained silent.

Xander had stopped at a traffic light and was now beating his head against the steering wheel. "Oh God, oh God, oh God," he repeated with each thump. "She's doing it again, isn't she? Falling for another vamp. And this one doesn't even have a soul...although that didn't work out too well anyway." Turning to Willow he added, "Jesus, Will, what the hell is she thinking?"

Willow sighed. "Maybe she's thinking that she'll never have a normal life and she may not live long so why not take what pleasure she can."

"Spike and pleasure?" Xander shuddered. "Thanks for the visual, Willow."

***

The next evening when it became evident that Buffy wasn't going to come by Giles' or call, Spike got up and walked out without saying a word. Giles looked at the closed door and knew he could no longer deny what he had long suspected. Spike and Buffy were involved. Getting up he went into the kitchen and poured a large Scotch.

***

Spike headed for the crypt. He had thought of going to The Bronze and getting drunk, but found himself headed to the cemetery instead. Entering, he walked to the couch he and Xander had carried in a few days ago. Xander had been jealous. "Man, this thing is better than the one I have. How'd you get so lucky?"

"Saw it out on the curb, asked the people if I could have it, they said yes," was the vampire's answer. It really was a nice couch. A little stained, a little worn, but it good shape.

Now Spike sat on it in the dark, thinking about how he had planned on getting a slipcover so that Buffy wouldn't have to sit on stained upholstery. Might as well not bother now.

Wallowing in self-pity he didn't even notice she was there until the door creaked open. Looking over, he saw her silhouette in the doorway and saw her tense as she looked around the crypt. "Spike?" came a soft query.

"Yeah, I'm here, Slayer," he answered.

"How come you're sitting in the dark?"

"Don't need light."

"Oh."

Closing the door, she made her way carefully through the darkened space until she came up to the couch. Feeling her way around, she sat down facing towards him. Neither of them spoke.

Buffy moved her hand towards him just as he moved his hand towards her. When they met, Spike grabbed it and held on as if for dear life. Buffy moved over closer to him, breath speeding up the nearer she came. Finally as she reached his side, she twisted her body and straddled his lap. Laying her head on his shoulder she whispered, "I don't want to lose you Spike."

Spike wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. Turning his head, he kissed the side of her neck. Buffy lifted her head seeking his mouth. Mouths open, tongues entwining, they kissed with the desperation of two people frightened for each other. Spike kissed her mouth, her cheeks, her chin, eyes, forehead. Back to her mouth, he began to move his hips, rubbing against her. Buffy pushed back and got off him. He started to reach out for her again when he heard the rustle of clothing being removed. Then her hands were on him and she was undoing his button, pulling down his zipper and freeing him. Her warm hands stroked him and he moaned and raised his hips bucking as she gently pumped him. Then she was back on his lap, straddling him once again and when he reached up for her, he found she was nude. Groaning, he moved his hands around to caress her breasts, pulled her up until her chest was level with his face and took a nipple into his mouth. Sucking it, he lowered his hand and slid it between her legs rubbing the heel of his hand against her clit while thrusting his fingers into her. When she started to whimper he placed his hands on her hips and guided her over him. She settled onto him, sliding down and taking his length into her. Releasing her nipple with one last pull, he kissed her mouth once again as he raised and lowered his hips in time with her movements. The action became more frantic as they neared their release and Spike was totally lost in the feel of Buffy. Loving her was all he knew. Being with her was all he wanted. And as they thrust harder and faster he spilled the words he had kept hidden for so long, "Love you, Buffy. Love you, love you, love you." And Buffy came.

***

They rested together. Spike wondered if he had made a mistake telling her how he felt. The realization that he loved her had come as a shock to him and he had denied it as long as he could, but he could no longer hide it. If he did die or get recaptured, he wanted her to know that she was more to him than just a shag. He wasn't sure how she felt about him. He knew that she still hoped that their affair would cool down, but he hoped that she felt more for him than just physical desire.

For her part, Buffy didn't know what to say. She should have been shocked and distressed to hear Spike's words, but in truth they had filled her with undeniable joy. Did that mean she loved him too? But she couldn't. He was a vampire. A soulless vampire. It was wrong.

And so in the end nothing was said. But nothing was forgotten.

***

When Spike finally returned to the townhouse, he was surprised to find Giles still awake seated at his table, a glass of Scotch before him.

"Shouldn't you be in your chaste little bed by now, Watcher?" Spike snarked at him. In response Giles looked coldly at the vampire and asked, "Where have you been, Spike?"

Spike raised one eyebrow and simply said, "Out."

"Answer me!"

Spike looked in surprise at Giles. For the first time since the factory, he saw a glimpse of Ripper. A warning tickle ran down his spine. Shrugging he answered casually, "Was at the crypt I'm fixin' up for the time I can finally move out of here."

"Was Buffy there with you?"

The warning tickle was stronger now. "Well, she stopped in after she finished her patrol. Why?"

Giles reached down and then laid a stake on the table in front of him. "If you value your life, Spike, I suggest that you end whatever personal association you and Buffy are having."

Spike stared first at the stake and then at Giles. "And if I don't? You stake me and tell Buffy what? You didn't approve of her choice of lovers so you killed him?"

"No, I tell Buffy that you left my house tonight and never returned."

Meeting Giles' eyes, Spike said quietly, "It's not your job to approve or disapprove of who Buffy's with. She's a woman now Rupert, not your little girl."

Giles eyes flashed again. "It's my job to help her destroy creatures such as yourself."

"Then you better get on with it, Giles, because I love the girl and I won't give her up. Not on your say-so anyway."

"You don't know the meaning of love," Giles spat.

"You'd be surprised just how wrong you are, Watcher," Spike answered calmly. Pointing towards the stake he added, "You can kill me; I can't stop you. But just remember, Buffy's preparing to face an unknown enemy. Do you really think my sudden disappearance wouldn't throw her off her game? She may not love me, Rupert, but she does care for me. She doesn't need worry for me interferin' with her concentration."

Giles glared at Spike and then said in a low threatening growl, "I swear by everything that's holy, Spike, you hurt her, you betray her, I'll kill you."

"Fair enough," was Spike's only reply.


Chapter 13

Thanksgiving Day dawned clear and bright. A cool breeze blew in off the ocean bringing with it the scent of the sea and bright blue skies.

Buffy and Joyce were busy in the kitchen with preparations for dinner. As usual Willow, Xander and Giles would be joining them along with the addition of one unconventional vampire.

"Buffy, do you think Spike prefers his sweet potatoes candied or baked?" Joyce asked her daughter.

Buffy grinned at her mother. Joyce had become used to Spike's unusual eating habits. Every Saturday morning when Xander drove the girls home he stopped by Giles' as well and picked up Spike so that he could go to Buffy's house. The story was that it gave Giles a reprieve from Spike's company. The fact that Spike and Buffy spent most of the day in Buffy's bed was, of course, never brought up. By the time Joyce came home from work they were up, dressed and usually cooking something for dinner. Afterwards the three of them would talk, watch TV or sometimes even play cards until it was time for patrol. Of course Spike cheated whenever they played cards and it had become a part of the game for Buffy and Joyce to catch him out. Buffy was well aware that most of the times Joyce caught him it was because Spike had allowed her to. He seemed to enjoy her catching him as much as she enjoyed doing the catching.

Sometimes it worried Buffy that maybe things had gotten a little too cozy.

While mother and daughter were debating the merits of baked vs. candied sweet potatoes the back door opened and Willow and Xander entered. Greetings and smiles and hugs were exchanged, and Joyce began giving her two new helpers orders when the front door opened and the sound of Giles and Spike arguing filled the house.

"You stupid git! I told you to wait until I had the door open before leaping out of the car. Why can't you ever do as you're told?!"

"Because you parked with the sun pouring into the back window you soddin' burk! I didn't feel like spendin' Thanksgiving as a big pile of ashes in your backseat!"

Exchanging eye rolls with her mother, Buffy headed to the front of the house to referee the fight. "Hi, guys. Glad you made it. Giles, I think my mom needs your help. Why don't you go on out into the kitchen and see what she wants, okay?"

Nodding his head at Buffy, Giles shot Spike a sharp glare and stomped towards the kitchen. Buffy watched with amusement and then turned to look at Spike. After a close examination revealed no sun damage she carefully looked around and then stepped up to her vampire giving him a quick hug and kiss. "Happy Thanksgiving, Spike."

"Happy Thanksgiving, luv," Spike answered softly caressing her face. Buffy was about to go in for another kiss when the sound of laughter in the kitchen reminded her they weren't alone. Smiling she said, "Come on. Everyone works today. Lets go see what jobs General Joyce has for us."

Spike had thought about whether or not to tell Buffy that Giles knew about their relationship, but decided that it could wait until after their foray. He didn't want anything distracting her from the job tonight. Once they got out of the facility, then he would let her know. Truth was he was afraid once she knew that it was no longer a secret from her Watcher, she would end the affair. He wasn't sure how he was going to handle it. Not well, he'd wager.

***

Xander leaned back in his chair rubbing his protruding belly. "Another five star holiday meal at Casa Summers," he complimented.

"Yes, Joyce," Giles agreed. "It gets better every year."

Joyce blushed prettily at the compliments and then added, "Well, I hope everyone left room for pie. We have Pumpkin, Apple, Mince and Cherry."

Groans of protest were her answer, even from Spike. "Just give me half an hour, okay?" Xander moaned. "I'm sure I'll have room by then."

Smiling, Joyce began gathering up plates and soon everyone was busy busing the table and putting away the leftovers. Once the dining room was cleared, Willow and Buffy chased Joyce out of the kitchen with the statement that the cook shouldn't have to wash the dishes. Spike tried to stay, not particularly wanting to go into the living room with Giles, but Willow chased him out saying that this was "wimmin's work".

Buffy looked curiously at her friend. "Since when do we turn down male dishwashing help?"

"Since I kinda wanted to talk to you privately," Willow answered uncomfortably.

"What's up Will? Did you hear from Oz?"

"What?" Willow asked startled. "No, no I haven't heard from Oz."

Taking a few minutes to run hot water into the sink and to gather her courage, she finally drew in a deep breath and plunged in. "Buffy, is there something going on between you and Spike?"

Buffy felt her heart start to pound and she mentally flailed around for a non-committal answer. "Huh?"

Okay, not too bright there, Buffy, she chided herself. Distract her, make her think of something else, anything else.
Unfortunately, Buffy's mind seemed to have dozed off from too much turkey. She could only stare at her best friend.

"Look, Buffy, I know it's your business, but if there is something going on between you two, well," Willow hesitated. "Well, I just want you to know I'm here for you."

"You're here for me?" Buffy asked in a voice almost totally devoid of volume. What the hell did that mean?

As if reading her mind, Willow said, "I mean even though I don't condone it, in fact I think it's like the biggest mistake in Mistakesville, I'm not going to condemn you for it. Me or Xander either one."

"You or Xander? Xander knows?"

"Yeah. Well I had to point it out to him, but as soon as I did he saw it too. But we both wanted you to know that we love you and we'll be here for you when this all goes, you know, kablooey."

"Kablooey."

"Well, you know, after everything that happened with Angel," Willow's voice trailed off. She had been vigorously washing dishes the whole time she had talked, not looking at Buffy. Now she looked over at her friend and was surprised at the look of cold anger on her face.

"Buffy?"

"This is nothing like with Angel," Buffy said stiffly. "I appreciate your and Xander's concern, but there's no need. Spike and I are having sex, yes. But it's not anything to get worried over. He doesn't have a happiness clause, he's been fixed so he can't hurt anyone, and we have an understanding. Period."

Grabbing a dishtowel Buffy began wiping down the draining dishes with a vengeance. Willow looked at her friend and wondered why Buffy was so angry. She had expected embarrassment, tears, even denial. She had not expected anger.

Licking her lips, Willow decided to back down. She had let Buffy know that her friends would be here for her when the worst happened; that was all she could do. And Willow had no doubts that only the worst could happen.

***

Spike sensed the tension as soon as the two girls joined the others in the living room. He was surprised when Buffy came and deliberately sat close to him. Glancing at Willow, he saw the look of discomfort on her face and tumbled to the implications of it immediately. Bugger! Apparently the witch had figured out something was up with them too and she didn't have the good sense to keep her mouth closed until after tonight. Now Buffy was upset, her concentration would be off, and it was all his fault. God, he could fuck up a one-car funeral. He should have stayed away from Sunnydale, stayed away from Buffy. He hadn't wanted to do anything to hurt her. Not really. Not for a long time. He had just wanted her.

Looking at Buffy he saw that she was staring at Xander who was sound asleep and snoring. Christ, don't tell him that pup knew about it too. Why hadn't Xander come in here stakes blazing? Spike desperately wanted to get Buffy alone to find out what exactly had been said, but it was a long while before the opportunity presented itself

***

Giles, Willow and Xander left shortly after dark to prepare for the mission later that night. Buffy decided that midnight would probably be as good a time as any. Xander would pick up Willow at her house and then meet Spike and Buffy at the crypt. Giles had tried to insist that Spike return to the townhouse with him, but Buffy had stated that she still needed to go over some things about tonight. Giles had reluctantly left alone.

Joyce had gone to bed not knowing that her daughter and friends were going on a dangerous mission. She assumed that Spike had stayed to patrol with Buffy. After she had gone upstairs, Spike turned to his Slayer and said, "Your Scoobies know about us don't they, love?"

Buffy nodded her head. "Yes, they do. Of course they don't approve, but at least they didn't threaten to stake you, so I guess we can take some comfort in that."

Spike looked down at the floor and then looking up at Buffy he stated, "I wish they had waited until after tonight to tell you. I don't want you all upset going into this tonight."

"I'm fine, Spike. I was a little angry earlier, but I'm pretty much over that now. At least Giles doesn't know."

Spike wasn't able to hide the expression on his face quickly enough. "Oh, God," Buffy moaned, "He knows too? Did Willow tell him?"

Spike shook his head, "No, he figured it out on his own. We had a bit of a chat, and he suggested that I leave you alone. I told him to get bent."

"There's more to it than that, Spike. Why aren't you dust?"

Spike shrugged as nonchalantly as he could, trying not to show how much his next words were going to hurt him. "I lied to him. Told him that you cared enough about me that my disappearance would throw you off your game tonight. He believe me enough to leave me unstaked; temporarily at least."

Buffy moved up close to Spike, took his face in her two hands, drew his head down and kissed him gently. "You didn't lie, Spike."


Chapter 14

It was shortly before midnight when Willow and Xander arrived at the crypt. Spike was casually perched on the sarcophagus smoking a cigarette while Buffy checked over her supplies and weapons. They had arrived at the crypt well over an hour earlier after Buffy had changed into appropriate 'skulking attire' as she called it. He had hoped that they might make love before the others arrived, but Buffy had been too tense. Spike hadn't tried to force the issue. He just hoped it wasn't a foreshadowing of things to come.

Once Buffy was sure that they had everything they needed she nodded to Spike to lead the way into the tunnels. Bringing up the rear, she deliberately put everything but the mission out of her mind. She would think about Spike and her friends and her Watcher later. And, dear God, her mother would have to be told, and how that> revelation was going to fly she just didn't want to even think about. She knew that if she just broke up with Spike, she could leave off the whole 'mom has to be told' bit, but she didn't think that was an option yet.

It didn't take long to reach the passageway and once again Willow opened the door into the crawlspace using the command from her laptop. And as before, Buffy led the way. They had decided that they would enter from a storage or office area past the prison compound. They wanted to be as far away from the control center as possible even though it also meant that they would be farther away from the door to the tunnels. It also made sense to investigate as much as they could from the crawlspace before they committed themselves to entering.

The main room did indeed seem less crowded with soldiers and personnel than it had the previous week. Disturbingly, although Buffy couldn't say why it disturbed her, the demon's prison compound was also less crowded.

At last, they came to what seemed a well maintained office, perhaps one used by whoever was in charge or a second in command. Willow came forward at that point, laid out a few stones and pieces of colored glass and poured some sand in a sacred circle. Taking a small wire from her bag she waved it over the spell ingredients and started chanting. Spike's vampire senses could pick up the sharp smell of ozone and an odd buzzing filtered through his brain followed by a sharp pain. Gasping quietly, he grabbed his head wincing as the pain stabbed through his skull.

Buffy looked at him sharply, worried that something was wrong with him, but he looked up after a second and nodded to her that he was all right. For some reason, the witch's spell had apparently set off whatever it was they had put in his cranium but it was okay now. With a final flourish and a soft pop, the spell was completed.

"It should be okay now Buffy," Willow whispered. "The security system will appear to be still online, but it won't register us. We have about three hours until the spell wears off."

"Good, let's go then." Buffy nodded to Xander and he took his place at the grating and began to unfasten it. One screw didn't want to give, but Spike reached forward and with a quick twist loosened it. Xander bobbed his head in thanks and then quickly removed the rest of the screws. Buffy reached forward and quietly removed the grating from the wall. Handing a rope to Spike, she threw the end down the wall and slid down it quickly as Spike acted as anchor. Xander followed and then Willow. Spike jumped down with the stealth of a cat, landing silently beside the others. Despite themselves, Xander and Willow were impressed. Spike just winked at them.

Willow went over to the office's computer, booted it up and once again took spell ingredients from her bag. She positioned them on the shelf in front of the computer's tower and then taking a cable attached to her laptop, she linked the two computers. Once everything was in readiness, she began her spell. Data streamed over the desktop's monitor and Willow's laptop downloaded the information. Willow sat back and watched the computers' activities carefully explaining what was happening. "I set the spell's perimeters to what we discussed in our planning sessions. With luck we'll get most of what we need and not too much unnecessary info. I put a new hard drive in my computer with only the barest programming needed to make it operate so that there was plenty of room to download this information." Frowning at the data stream she continued, "This is all encrypted of course so it may take me awhile to break the code and be able to read what we've gathered, but Jasper also gave me a spell I can adapt to help with that." Willow flashed a smile at Buffy. "Those guys are pretty neat. I think they wanted to come to Sunnydale and help, but I told them we had to keep our strike force small."

Buffy forced a smile, but she was starting to get itchy. Her spidey-sense was screaming at her that they needed to get out of there as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the data download was going to take time even with the magic enhancement.

Spike was picking up on Buffy's tension which made him tense too. His natural restlessness was causing him to want to pace, but he was aware of the need to remain as calm and quiet as possible. This was so against his nature that he was having difficulty keeping his demon suppressed.

After what seemed an eternity, Willow finally shut off her laptop, disconnected the cable, removed her spell ingredients and put everything back the way it had been. When they were sure everything was property restored, Spike leaped up to the grate opening and pulled himself back into the crawlspace.

Lowering the rope he pulled Willow up and then Xander. Buffy climbed the rope monkey-like and quickly joined her friends. Resetting the grate in place, Xander replaced the screws and the four headed back towards the tunnels as rapidly as the need for stealth allowed them. They all heaved a sigh of relief once they had exited the crawlspace and resealed the door. As an added precaution, Willow added a spell which made the door impossible to open from the inside.

***

Willow spent the next week working on the data they had pirated and finally broke part of the code with exciting results. She was able to ascertain that the organization in charge of the commandos was called "The Initiative". The information was still sketchy at best, but there was no doubt that experiments and research were being conducted on "Hostile Sub-Terrestrials" or "HSTs". What the experiments consisted of and what was the goal was unfortunately still part of the encrypted data. However, it did mention that the main laboratory where the most serious experiments were conducted was listed as "Room 314".

As well as the information regarding "The Initiative" Willow was also able to break the code that contained a schematic of the facility's floorplan. And Buffy noticed that part of the blueprint behind the section marked "314" appeared to be missing. Now that was interesting.

***

Once again nervous subordinates brought bad news to Maggie Walsh. Looking coldly at the technicians she inquired, "You're sure there was a security breach in the computer?"

"Yes ma'am. It was quite expertly done. It was only by accident that Robinson noticed a small glitch in the data stream. We think that a computer terminal in one of the offices was accessed. We still don't know exactly how it was done."

Robinson quickly added, "We're doing a complete diagnostic on the security system for the past two months, but so far we've found nothing to indicate that any unauthorized personnel have gained entry into the compound."

"Keep checking gentlemen and let me know immediately when you find out what happened." With a deadly glare Maggie added, "And you will find out what happened."

Nodding in nervous agreement the two computer technicians rapidly returned to the safety of their terminals. To be honest, Maggie Walsh scared them more than all of the HSTs combined.

Maggie sat back in her chair thinking about what she had just been told. She had a definite idea as to who was behind the break in. Miss Buffy Summers and her vampire lover were no doubt the culprits. Maggie wasn't sure how they had evaded security, but she would find out, take countermeasures and then lead Miss Summers into the end game. She had plans for Buffy. Big plans.


Chapter 15

Following Thanksgiving, Joyce Summers kicked fully into Christmas overdrive. This included shopping, baking, cleaning, wrapping presents and driving Buffy absolutely nuts. On top of the hectic holiday planning, Buffy still had to patrol and study for finals. And there was Spike.

Buffy had talked to Giles regarding her relationship with Spike. He had let her know in no uncertain terms that he disapproved, that she was foolish and thoughtless to take yet another vampire into her bed, and that he thought that Spike should be put down.

Buffy had never come closer to hitting her Watcher in real anger.

Taking a deep breath, Buffy tried to explain her feelings to Giles. "It's not as if I'm in love with him, Giles. This thing, whatever it is, it'll go away soon, you'll see. But for now, it's there and you'll just have to deal with it."

Continuing on, she tried to put it into perspective, "We have a much bigger problem to deal with than my love life. We need to concentrate on this Initiative organization."

"Yes, Buffy, we do," Giles agreed. "And this thing as you put it that you have with Spike is interfering in the performance of your duties."

"No, Giles, you're wrong," Buffy insisted. "Spike has done nothing but help me since he came back to Sunnydale. He's helped with tracking down information on The Initiative and he's helped me on patrol. Yes, we may take some private time for ourselves, but it is not interfering with my duties as Slayer."

Running her hands through her hair, she looked seriously at her Watcher. "Giles, you just have to trust me on this. Spike doesn't have me under a thrall or anything like that. We're just together. Temporarily. We figure we'll tire of each other soon and then, well, we'll see what happens. Most likely he'll just live in his crypt and do whatever vampires who can't hurt people do, and I'll go back to being The Slayer with no life but killing things. Okay?"

Buffy knew she wasn't being completely honest with Giles. Spike had said he was in love with her, although he hadn't repeated it. Maybe it was just something men said in the heat of passion and not to be taken seriously. Buffy wasn't sure how she felt about that. It would be easier to believe that it was still just about sex. Trouble was, Buffy wasn't so sure it was.

Sometimes life was just too damned complicated.

***

Spike had moved into the crypt shortly after their raid on The Initiative facility. It seemed to ease the pressure on Buffy somewhat if Giles didn't have to see them together all the time. Of course that meant that Spike wasn't there to attend the Scooby meetings, but from what Buffy told him, things were left pending until Willow had completed breaking the encryption. And since she had finals to study for too, it was taking a little longer than hoped.

Buffy had decided against telling her mom about their relationship and in this instance Spike was glad. He really liked Joyce and enjoyed her company, but he was wise enough to know that she would never approve of him screwing her daughter. So as far as Joyce was concerned, Spike and Buffy just had a working relationship and casual, if unusual, friendship.

***

Buffy continued to date Riley even though she felt it was now a waste of time, time she could be spending with Spike. But there was always the chance that she could find out something important so she kept up the ruse of interest in him. And so it was that she learned that once again the holidays would allow them an opportunity to infiltrate the facility when most of the men were gone. "Riley said that most of the guys from Lowell House would be gone from Thursday the 23rd until Monday the 27th. I think that probably Christmas Eve will be the best time to make another foray into the facility to see if we can discover exactly what they're doing there. So far, Willow hasn't had much luck with the decryption, and I don't know how many more opportunities we'll have for infiltration."

She had brought Spike with her to Giles' that night. This was too important a meeting for him not to be there. Although she still wasn't happy with him coming with her into the compound, the fact was that his preternatural abilities could help them duck whatever personnel remained.

In the end, it was decided that Willow would work the spell that would hide them from the security system and then accompany Buffy and Spike into the facility. In all likelihood they would need her magically enhanced hacking abilities to get them into secure areas. Xander and Giles would stay behind. Xander wasn't happy to say the least but finally accepted Buffy's mandate. A few more details were discussed and then Buffy and Spike left for patrol.

***

One of Buffy's legs was hooked over the back of Spike's couch while the other was hooked over one of his shoulders. His head was buried between her thighs and Buffy moaned and writhed as he licked and sucked at her clit. They had returned to his crypt after finishing patrol ostensibly to watch "A Charlie Brown Christmas" on television. But as usually happened when they were alone together in a private place, handholding had led to nuzzling which led to kissing which led to petting which led to what they were doing now.

As the pressure built and Buffy's hips moved faster and faster, Spike lifted his head and crawled up her body. Kissing him deeply, Buffy tasted herself on his mouth, and then he raised his head as he slid into her. Buffy was lost in the look of pure pleasure Spike had on his face as he moved within her. Her breath caught in her throat as he angled his hips in such a way as to hit an entirely new spot deep within her. Arching her back, she threw back her head which exposed the slim white column of her throat to him. Spike immediately took advantage of her vulnerability to lower his head and sink his fangs into her flesh.

Buffy cried out and dug her nails into his back, leaving scratches and half moon marks. Increasing the pace of his thrusts, Spike began to suckle at the flow of blood trickling from his bite. They had learned just how deeply he could bite her so that the wound was healed before she left him. They both knew that if anyone guessed that Spike could bite her while they made love, his life would be in even more danger from her well-meaning friends.

Buffy tensed under him as her climax neared. God, she loved the feel of him. The strength of his arms, the length of his cock as it stroked deeply within her, the sharp pain/pleasure of his bite. Someday this would all be over. Someday they would grow tired of each other. Someday the passion would burn to ashes.

But not today.

***

Buffy looked at the Christmas tree and all the decorations. She was dressed in a pretty holiday frock, her hair piled on top of her head with tiny bells tinkling in her earlobes. Joyce entered the room with a tray full of cookies and placed it on the coffee table. Sighing in contented pleasure she observed her lovely home and her lovely daughter and felt true joy. The doorbell rang and Buffy hurried over to greet her friends as they came for the annual Christmas Eve get together.

They were seated around the living room with drinks and snacks when the doorbell rang a second time. As Buffy went to answer it, Giles, Willow and Xander exchanged disapproving glances, but Joyce only smiled in pleasure as her vampire guest entered the room. Handing her a bottle of wine complete with bow, Spike leaned forward and kissed the woman on the cheek saying "Happy Christmas, Joyce".

"Merry Christmas, Spike, and thank you. You didn't have to bring anything you know."

Spike just shrugged in shy embarrassment and then nodded a greeting to the others. They coldly returned the greeting and then turned their heads from him. Spike heard Buffy's sigh and looked at her. She merely gave an apologetic shrug and then motioned him to have a seat. Going to the sideboard, she fixed him a drink and then sat on the hassock not far from his chair.

Christmas music played softly in the background and after an initial uncomfortable silence, Joyce was able to get the conversational ball rolling again. Presents were passed out and toasts to the season given. Buffy gave Spike a carton of cigarettes. He gave her a stake he had carved. But these were just presents that they were giving each other in public. She had something much more personal to give him later stashed up in her bedroom.

At last the evening came to an end and the guests left. Buffy had explained to Joyce that even though it was Christmas Eve she would still have to patrol, but it wouldn't be until later so she helped her mother clean up and then bid Joyce good night. Retreating to her bedroom she changed clothes and grabbed the present she had hidden in her closet. Leaving by the front door, she hurried to Spike's crypt. She wanted time before they picked up Willow to give Spike his real Christmas present.

Entering Spike's crypt Buffy caught her breath. Candle's burned all around and he had strung fairy lights along the walls. A tiny Christmas tree complete with decorations and twinkling lights sat on top of the television. Tearing her eyes from the sight she looked at Spike who was standing nervously to one side watching her. Breaking into a pleased smile she ran up to him and hugged him. "Spike, it's beautiful," she assured him.

"Hoped you'd like it Buffy. I did it for you."

Buffy showed how much she liked it by giving him a deep kiss and then holding him in her arms. The package she had in her hand bumped against his back as she embraced him and Spike asked, "Here, what's that then?"

Suddenly shy, Buffy handed it to him. "It's your real Christmas present. I hope you like it."

Taking her hand Spike led her over to the couch where they both sat down. For the longest time, he merely sat and looked at the present sitting on his lap. "Aren't you going to open it, Spike?" Buffy asked. Nodding his head, Spike swallowed and with slightly shaking hands began to undo the wrapping. He hadn't received a real present from anyone since he had been human. And never one from a woman he loved.

As the paper was removed, Spike realized that it was a picture in a frame. Turning it over, he gasped in amazement.

During the previous weeks, he and Buffy had spent some time at the mall doing her Christmas shopping. The mall management had set up one of those photo booths where people could have a string of pictures taken for a couple bucks. On a lark, Buffy and Spike entered one and had proceeded to make silly faces for the camera. However one picture hadn't been silly. They had pressed their heads together and gazed smilingly into the lens. The picture showed two people who seemed to be happy and in love.

Buffy had taken that picture and had one of the art students at the university render it into small painting and then had it framed. It was this he was now looking at.

Spike swallowed again, totally rendered speechless. Turning his head, he looked over at Buffy tears in his eyes. "Buffy love, it's..." Looking back down at it, Buffy watched as one tear slowly made it way down his cheek. Buffy felt her own tears fall.

And the final scale fell from her eyes.

Chapter 16

They walked over to Willow's house hand-in-hand, stopping occasionally to kiss. As it turned out Spike had a present for Buffy too and she was wearing it now; a delicate gold chain bearing a small filigreed heart. It was the most beautiful necklace Buffy had ever seen.

"I didn't steal it," Spike hastened to assure her as she gazed at it in wonder. At her questioning look he continued, "You know all that stuff that I scavenged and fixed up? Well I sold most of it and made enough money to buy that." Buffy smiled at him in pleased surprised.

"Knew you wouldn't want anything stolen. Besides, wouldn't be right would it?"

Buffy leaned forward and pressed a soft, tender kiss to his mouth. Then turning around she asked, "Would you fasten it for me?" Spike took the necklace from her fingers, draped it around her neck and then dropped a kiss on her shoulder. "I give you my heart, Buffy," he murmured into her hair.

Never had Buffy resented her duties as Slayer as much as she did tonight. She wanted nothing more than to join with this man in slow languorous lovemaking all night long. But she did have duties and so after exchanging another kiss, they rose from the couch and went to fetch Willow.

She was waiting for them on her darkened front porch and saw their entwined hands as they walked down the street towards her. Willow's worry for her friend increased as she sensed an even closer bond from just a few hours ago. She wasn't sure what had happened, but it was clear that Buffy's emotions were even more firmly entrenched than ever.

Nervously stepping forward, she joined them. She looked pointedly at their clasped hands, but they ignored her. Turning around they walked back to Spike's crypt, going over the night's plans in low voices. All the time, Spike and Buffy remained handfast.

***

They had studied the diagram of the facility's layout and knew that the area of Room 314 was beyond the room where they had entered previously. They would enter a room as close to the area as they could and then make their way to the laboratory since there didn't seem to be any direct route from the crawlspace.

Finding an office that they figured was as close as they could get, Willow performed her silencing spell. Pain shot through Spike's head again as the spell took hold, and as before it was quickly gone. He'd really like to know what the hell it was about that spell that was setting the pain off.

Exactly as before they entered the room, but this time instead of staying where they were they moved out into the facility. Spike led the way, vampire senses extended to their fullest.

Following the blueprint Willow had provided, they moved cautiously through the halls of the facility, ducking back out of sight whenever Spike detected approaching footsteps. Buffy thanked The Powers That Be any number of times for enhanced vampire hearing as they evaded the few doctors, technicians, and soldiers that remained on duty.
Even with a skeleton staff, there were enough people around that the going was nerve-racking.

After what seemed an eternity, they finally found the room for which they searched, Room 314. Willow took over now. Using a dummy keycard attached to her laptop she chanted an incantation, typed a few symbols on her keyboard and grinned in triumph as the door slid open. With a small sigh of relief vampire and slayer entered the room followed closely by the witch.

They had no sooner entered than the door slid shut behind them followed by an ominous click. The room which had been totally dark lit up with bright overhead lights and the door on the opposite wall opened. Maggie Walsh, wearing a long white lab coat, stood there accompanied by a squad of soldiers that immediately surrounded them.

***

"Welcome, Miss Summers. I'm glad you accepted the invitation I extended to you by way of Agent Finn. I hope you found your way here without too much difficulty," the Psychology Professor commented. "I did everything in my power to facilitate your entry."

Buffy felt a rush of anger such as she had never known burn through her. A set-up! She and Spike, all of them, had been set up. She could only be grateful that she had insisted that Giles and Xander not accompany them tonight. However her relief was short-lived as the door behind her whooshed open again and a second squad of soldiers entered.

And right in the middle of them where Giles and Xander.

They looked as if they had been manhandled, the worst being Xander who sported a rapidly swelling black eye. Buffy was furious, and even more so when she saw who entered last.

"You bastard!" Buffy hissed.

Riley Finn looked momentarily uncomfortable, but then put on his good soldier's face. He was doing his duty, nothing more. He was sorry these civilians had interfered in something they didn't understand. And now they would suffer the consequences.

"Ah good, everyone's here now," Maggie said. Moving back a bit, she made a welcoming gesture with her hand. "Please Miss Summers, all of you; you wanted to see what we did here. Allow me to give you the Grand Tour." Gun barrels prodding them in the back, the group moved forward and into the next room.

What Buffy saw there made her sick.

Large cylindrical devices lined the walls of a huge room, 30 at least. Inside them, preserved in some kind of fluid, were...things. Demons, but not as God or whatever had made them. Heads were attached to bodies not their own, mismatched arms and legs, hand and feet. Buffy felt as if she were on the set of every bad horror movie ever made.

Professor Walsh saw the looks of sick revulsion on their faces, even, she noted with interest, the vampire, and smiled. "You are seeing here ladies and gentlemen...and thing," she addressed the last to Spike, "the beginnings of the army of the future. Soon we will have no need to send young men such as you see here into battle to spill their blood needlessly. We will send these creatures to wage our wars."

She stopped in front of a door at the end of the room. Placing a hand on it in an almost loving touch, she turned back to her audience. "Inside this room is Adam. In him we have merged the strongest attributes of various demons into one great being. A virtually unstoppable soldier. He is almost ready to be born.

"With an army of such as you see here we will no longer have to fear invasion or terrorist activities."

Buffy looked at Maggie Walsh with a look of contempt. "So this is all altruistic, huh? No plans for conquest or anything. National defense only, right?"

"I'm only making the soldiers, not dispatching them. That is up to the military. What they do with them doesn't concern me; I'm a scientist. Once I have achieved this goal, I am guaranteed unlimited funding to continue my experiments. This research facility will be the first of many."

"This isn't a research facility," Buffy snapped. "It's Frankenstein's Castle without the rustic charm. God, you're not even a Mad Scientist. You're a caricature of a Mad Scientist, and this is a travesty."

Professor Walsh glared at Buffy. "I should have known that you wouldn't see the beauty in my children. Few do. Luckily for me, your approval isn't necessary. And you, my dear, will make an interesting addition to my research; to all appearances a normal girl but with superhuman abilities of strength, speed and healing. It will be interesting to see just how extensive your healing abilities are."

Buffy felt a chill go all through her and was vaguely aware of loud protests being shouted by Giles, Xander and Willow. A low growl emitted from Spike's chest. She missed entirely the look of shock on Riley's face.

"You're friends however are of no interest to me," Maggie continued. "They, unfortunately, will have a tragic car accident in which all are killed. I, of course, will attend Ms. Rosenberg's funeral and extend condolences on behalf of the entire faculty of the University.

"And as for your lover," Maggie moved over to stand before Spike, "well he'll be taken to one of our labs where the chip we implanted in him will receive its final programming. He escaped before we had the chance to complete it, you see."

Buffy took a step towards Maggie, but stopped as several guns pointed at her. "A chip?" she asked. "Is that what you did to him? Put a computer chip in his head?"

"Yes, Miss Summers. Quite an interesting piece of technology. Dr. Morrison's project actually," she added, indicating the timid little man who had originally had the misfortune to inform Dr. Walsh of Spike's escape. "Once we have completed the programming, his training will commence. Once that's concluded, he will be turned over to an agency with which we have close working ties. Vampires make excellent assassins you see."

Spike merely looked at the woman with disdain in his eyes. "Bugger off, bitch. I won't be one of your trained puppies."

"You think not?" was Maggie's amused reply. "But you don't understand the beauty of how the chip works. You see, it works on the pleasure/pain principle. If you disobey us, you receive pain...a great deal of pain. However, if you obey us, you receive pleasure as your reward. And from the number of times you've been between Miss Summers' thighs, I think we can safely assume that you are very fond of pleasure."

Buffy heard a gasp from Riley. She blushed slightly but then ignored him. She didn't care if he now knew that she had just been using him. She was more concerned with what Walsh was saying about Spike. "He can't hurt anyone," Buffy insisted. "Don't you know how your own chip works?"

"His chip right now is in default mode. It processes human DNA received through touch and smell and fires whenever he tries to harm any human being. The final level of programming we give the chip allows us to override the programming for a particular DNA sequence that we download into it.

"It's quite an ingenious program. Dr. Morrison should receive a Nobel Prize for it. Unfortunately our research is classified.

"But to continue, once the vampire assassin has received its programming, it is sent to eliminate the target. If it succeeds, it is rewarded. If it fails, it is terminated. And since vampires turn to dust upon termination, there are no bodies left behind. A win/win proposition.

"So you see Ms. Summers, what you have been interfering with is a government sanctioned research facility. And now you and your lover will be used to aid our work."

Turning to Riley, Maggie ordered, "Take these three away and arrange their "accident". Then return here. We have work to do." Without further comment, she left the room.


Chapter 17

Buffy watched helplessly as her friends were led away. Blinking back tears she glared her hatred at Riley. Never had she felt so impotent. The remaining squad of soldiers motioned for Buffy and Spike to leave. Exchanging last looks, they were separated; Spike being led down one corridor and Buffy another.

She was placed in one of the cells that Spike had described. Three white walls and a large glass "door". As soon as it was lowered and the solders left she threw herself against it in the hopes of breaking out. But again, Spike's report had been accurate. Electrical current flowed through her body knocking her back. Buffy slid down the back wall, legs drawn up and head resting on knees. She had lost. She had faced how many apocalypses and won? But now, faced with the power of an insane scientist, she had failed.

She wasn't sure how long she was left in her cell, but at last she heard the glass being raised. Lifting her head she saw Riley Finn standing there, weapon pointed at her, cold look on his face.

"You're to come with me," he said without inflection.

Buffy raised herself to her feet and said, "What have you done with Willow and the others? Where are they? I swear Riley, if you've hurt them..."

Riley just stood stone-faced saying nothing.

"Riley," Buffy pleaded, "this is wrong. You know it is. You're a better man than this."

"I'm a soldier," he answered. "I obey orders. Now come on, there's no time to waste."

Motioning with his rifle, he stepped back to allow her to precede him. Buffy thought of rushing him until she stepped out and realized that there were several more soldiers there. Even if she overpowered Riley, they would shoot her with one of their taser rifles before she could reach them and she would then be defenseless. No, wiser to wait for a better opportunity.

Surrounded by the soldiers, Buffy was led down still another corridor. The lead soldier inserted a keycard in a door and then stood aside allowing Buffy and Riley to enter.

"Wait here," Riley told the soldiers.

"But sir," one of them began.

"Wait here, soldier," Riley barked.

Snapping a salute, the soldier backed up and out of the way. Buffy felt a slight push on her back and moved forward, only to come to a surprised halt. There were her friends, alive and well.

As the door whooshed closed behind them Buffy turned to Riley, a question on her lips. Before she could even voice it however he answered, "I'm a soldier, Buffy, not a murderer. I'll help all of you escape and then try and contact someone I know at The Pentagon about Professor Walsh."

Buffy looked around and saw that the other soldiers in Riley's squad were bound and gagged. Turning back to Riley, Buffy asked, "Where's Spike?"

Riley's face darkened briefly. "I'm not risking my life to rescue a vampire. You and your friends leave now. I'll do whatever I can to keep you safe, but the vampire's lost." Riley started to turn away, but Buffy placed a hand on his arm stopping him. "I'm not leaving without Spike. Just tell me where he is and I'll get him myself. You needn't put yourself at any more risk."

Riley looked her directly in the eyes and asked, "He means that much to you?" Buffy could only nod her head. How could she explain to this decent man what Spike meant to her? She had only just realized it herself that night, and there was no way she was leaving without him. She had to save him. She had no choice in the matter.

Looking at Xander, Riley said, "Take the others and get out. There's an exit you can use down the corridor outside this door. We'll join you as quickly as we can." Gazing down at Buffy, he asked, "Is what Prof. Walsh said true? Are you some kind of supergirl?"

"I'm The Slayer, Riley," Buffy answered. At his blank look she said, "Long story. Let's just say, yes what she said is true."

Nodding, Riley motioned towards the door. "We'll have to take those guys out before anyone can leave, but I don't want anyone killed, okay?"

"I don't kill humans, Riley," was Buffy's answer.

Going over to where the squad's weapons were stacked, Riley handed taser rifles to Xander and Giles. Willow refused one and so did Buffy. "Look, I wouldn't know the first thing about using that," Buffy told him. "I just need my hands and feet."

Riley didn't look convinced, but put the weapon back down and headed towards the door. "I'll fire my taser. That should knock most of them out. Whoever it misses, you take out. We gotta be quick before they sound an alarm, okay?"

Nodding her understanding, Riley pushed the button that opened the door, fired his weapon and rushed out. Buffy followed, and after a quick skirmish the men were lying unconscious on the floor. Xander, Giles and Willow helped drag the men into the room and bind and gag them.

Riley led them out into the hallway. "You said that there should still be about an hour left to the spell that cloaks you from the security system?" he asked Willow.

Willow quickly checked her watch and then nodded agreement. "Okay, then follow this corridor to where I showed you on your map. You'll find an air vent down a small dead-end hallway. You'll have to climb it, but you should be able to get out that way. We'll join you as quickly as we can." Turning he led Buffy down the corridor in the opposite direction to track down the missing vampire.

***

After traveling a circuitous route turning right and left so many times that Buffy was completely lost, Riley stopped outside a laboratory door. Using his keycard and code, he opened the door and rushed in. Two soldiers stood guard inside, but he and Buffy quickly overpowered them. Spike was strapped down on an examining table, his head tightly clamped in place, a wire running from his head to a computer terminal. Dr. Morrison had been sitting at the computer but jumped up when Riley and Buffy burst in. Buffy quickly jumped over the desk blocking her way, grabbed Morrison by the throat, shoved him against the wall and growled, "Whatever it is you're doing to Spike, you're going to undo right now. Do you understand?" To emphasize her threat she gave him a little shake.

Morrison's eyes almost bugged out of his head and he gave a little nod to indicate that he would obey. Releasing her hand from his throat Buffy let him go. Slumping against the wall and rubbing his injured neck, Morrison croaked out, "I haven't hurt him, honestly. I've just downloaded the second layer of programming."

"And what does it do?" Buffy wanted to know. "Is this the programming that makes him an assassin?"

Morrison shook his head. "None of my programming makes him an assassin," he answered. "It only allows or denies him the ability to inflict harm. This second level of programming installs the overrides for inflicting pain on humans. The third level installs the overrides for lethal force. The forth level then ties the two together to work with the specific DNA sequencing for the target victim."

Buffy took this all in and then asked, "Are you saying that Spike can hurt humans right now, but he can't kill them?"

Morrison nodded. "Yes. Until we download the fourth protocol the overrides are universal. If you want me to reset his chip to the default setting it will take approximately 53 minutes to download."

Riley spoke up at that point, "Buffy, we don't have time for that." Buffy nodded her head and then told Morrison, "Get that wire out of his head, patch him up and release him. Do it in five minutes, or I swear I'll make you very, very sorry."

Morrison took one look at The Slayer's face and didn't doubt it. Moving with alacrity he quickly did as she requested. Buffy was at Spike's side the instant he was released, giving him support as he wobbled slightly. But he recovered quickly and simply said, "Let's go, Slayer."

After tying up and gagging Morrison and the two soldiers, they left the laboratory heading back down the way Buffy and Riley had just come. As Riley turned to lead them towards the direction he had pointed out to the others, Buffy stopped and looked in the direction of Room 314. Turning to Riley she said, "I have to destroy them."

"What?" Riley asked confused.

"Those things, the one she called Adam and those things in the cylinders. I have to destroy them. I can't let something like that continue to exist."

Riley looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "Are you crazy?" he asked incredulously. "We have to get out of here, Buffy. Every second we're here we're liable to get caught. Now come on."

Buffy only shook her head, a stubborn expression on her face. Spike had to smile; he knew that look quite well. "Just give it up, mate. We're going to have to destroy those things or the Slayer will never leave here."

A look of panic started to come over Riley's face. Jesus, all he had wanted to do was save this girl he had fallen in love with and her friends and now look where he was. A mutineer who had aided in the escape of prisoners and an HST and now she was expecting him to destroy the end product of years of research. Looking between Buffy's set face and Spike's amused one, he thought about sounding an alarm, falling on Maggie Walsh's mercy and forgetting he ever heard of Buffy Summers. But he was a good man, a decent man, who had been having qualms ever since he had heard Maggie Walsh plan murder and torture in Room 314. At last nodding his head in acquiescence, he started leading them in an entirely new direction.

"Where," Buffy began.

"We'll need explosives to destroy the lab. I'm taking you to one of the armories. We should be able to get what we need there."

Dodging personnel with the aid of Spike's vampire senses, they quickly made their way to the armory. Once again using his keycard and code, Riley opened the door. The room was filled with ordnance and weapons. Riley pointed out the things they would need. He was amazed at the weight both Buffy and Spike were able to carry. Silently moving back to Room 314, the three arrived in short order. Riley entered first and then motioned the others in. The room was empty of people; no one had remained behind. Maggie Walsh was in her office and what personnel remained on duty had other tasks to perform.

Entering the cylinder room, Riley showed Buffy and Spike where and how to set up the explosives and the triggering devices. Working as quickly as possible they at last made their way to the end of the room and the doorway that led to Adam. Here they were stalled.

"My keycard doesn't work here," Riley said. "We'll have to leave this one."

"No," Buffy insisted. "Walsh said this one was almost ready to be "born". I want it dead."

"Buffy, I can't get into that room," Riley insisted.

"Then we'll blow the door off."

Riley drew breath to continue arguing when a female voice snapped, "Get away from that door!"


Chapter 18

Whipping around, they saw Maggie Walsh, Morrison and another squad of soldiers bearing down on them. "Get away from that door I told you!"

Stepping back slowly, Buffy kept an eye on the approaching group. Good, only eight soldiers. Easy pickings. Catching Spike's eye she flicked her eyes towards the soldiers. He answered her with a barely perceptible nod and they readied their attack.

The soldiers had faced vampires before, they had faced demons before, but they had never faced a Vampire Slayer/Vampire tag team. Buffy and Spike leapt into the squad disarming two soldiers before they were even aware they were under attack. Using the soldiers as shields, they blocked the taser shots and then threw the now unconscious men into their comrades. Spike grabbed the weapon from the soldier nearest him, twisted the butt of the rifle up to catch the solder in the head and then swung around to jab it into the stomach of another solder. Swinging it up again he clipped the soldier in the jaw and then turned to sweep his leg out to knock a fourth soldier to the ground. Falling on him, he punched him in the face knocking him out.

Meanwhile Buffy had sent a flying kick into the body of a soldier near her sending him flying into one of his comrades. Swinging around she backhanded the fourth soldier and then threw him into his two companions. Grabbing two of them by the head, she slammed their heads together knocking them out, and then lashed out with another kick to the side of the head and her fourth soldier went down.

In just under thirty seconds, Buffy and Spike had rendered the eight men hors de combat.

Maggie Walsh was almost hysterical in her rage. Grabbing one of the soldier's sidearms, she attempted to shoot Buffy in the back only to find herself being held up in the air by the throat by one very brassed-off vampire causing her to drop her weapon. "I wouldn't do that if I were you bitch," came the ice-cold comment.

Riley looked around at the carnage with wild eyes and then seeing Professor Walsh being manhandled by the vampire held up his own weapon and pointed it at Spike. "Let her go!" he ordered.

Spike just looked coldly at the young soldier and said, "Shoot me with that thing mate and I just might accidentally twist her head off."

"Let her down, Spike," Buffy said, "but keep hold of her. Riley, lower your weapon."

Both men obeyed her orders. Buffy searched for and found Morrison. He had ducked out of harm's way as soon as the fighting had started. Pulling him to her she asked, "You have access to that room?"

Morrison nodded weakly and when Walsh started to protest, Spike tightened his grip on her throat until only a gurgle was heard. Pushing Morrison towards the door Buffy ordered, "Open it."

Spike tightened his grip once more when Walsh began another protest, and again she had no choice but to shut up. Morrison immediately opened the door and the five people entered.

Buffy had been sickened and disgusted by what was in the outer room, but this sent a shockwave through her. "It's human," she whispered. "It's part human."

The creature had a man's body and legs; one arm and half its face was also human. But it also had demon and what looked liked mechanical parts too. Buffy looked at Maggie Walsh in astonishment. "My God, you used a man for this thing?"

"Of course, you stupid girl," Maggie snapped. "Those creatures out there are the foot soldiers. This is my general." The pride in her voice sent a shudder through Buffy.

Backing away, Buffy told Riley, "Place the explosives. Lots of explosives. I don't want an inch of this thing to survive."

"No!" Maggie screeched, but a gagging noise proved that Spike was still on the job.

When everything was set, Riley and Buffy with Morrison's reluctant assistance dragged the still unconscious soldiers from the room. Once the door to the laboratory was shut, Buffy punched out the locking panel permanently sealing the room. Making sure that everyone was a safe enough distance away, Buffy nodded to Riley.

The explosion was horrific. The door to the laboratory flew off and flame burst out into the hallway. Sirens and alarms sounded and water sprinklers went off. Personnel began running wildly about as equipment began to short from the water damage.

Walsh was screaming in anger and frustration, yelling threats to Buffy, Riley, Spike and even poor timid Morrison. The water started to revive some of the soldiers and Riley tugged at Buffy's arm insisting that they really needed to leave now. Before turning to leave, Buffy took the time to punch Walsh in the face, silencing her. It was surprisingly satisfying.

They finally reached the corridor that led to the airshaft. Buffy tried to get Riley and Spike to go first, but neither man would. Finally muttering about male egos, she scurried up the shaft to the outside where a very relieved trio greeted her. Riley soon appeared and then Buffy heard what could only have been a shot followed by a cry of pain.

"Spike!" Buffy ran back to the opening and was just about to dive back in when she knocked heads with a violently cursing vampire.

"Ouch, watch it, Slayer. You trying to get me killed? Willow! Get the fuck over here and seal this damned thing up." Willow hurried over to perform the same spell that had sealed the door to the tunnels.

"Spike, what happened? I heard a shot," Buffy exclaimed. Pulling Spike the rest of the way out of the shaft, she smelled the scent of blood.

"Soddin' bastards shot me," Spike groused.

"Where?" Buffy cried attempting to pull his duster off him. Spike jerked away from her saying, "Leave off, Slayer; I'll be alright. Just need someone to dig the bullet out is all."

"Giles!" Buffy called. Giles came over just in time to hear Spike say, "No! You can do it, Slayer, or I can go to a demon doctor." Buffy looked at him in amazement and said, "Spike, Giles knows how to do this kind of stuff. Just tell him where the bullet is and he'll dig it out."

"And I said I'll get a demon doctor to do it," Spike insisted.

All this time, Buffy had been trying to see where he had been shot but Spike kept backing away from her. Finally in frustration she shouted, "Damn it, Spike, where did you get shot?!"

"In the ass, okay? I got shot in the ass! Now are you happy that everybody knows?"

Buffy looked at him in surprise and then collapsed in laughter, releasing some of the tension she had been under for the last few hours. Spike just gave her an offended look and limped away. Giles sighed and told Buffy, "I'll dig it out at my house, which I suggest we go to right away. The sooner we're away from here the better, Buffy."

Buffy finally composed herself and nodded agreement and then turned to Riley. "Riley, thank you. I owe you our lives; I won't forget it."

"It's like I said, Buffy, I'm a soldier not a murderer." Taking a deep breath he continued, "I don't know what's going to happen now Buffy. I'm going to call the person at The Pentagon who recruited me for this duty. I don't think it was ever his intention that civilians be put in jeopardy. I'm sure he didn't know about that Adam thing."

Looking intently at Buffy he added, "We need to have a pretty serious talk later, Buffy. About everything." With that he looked over to where Spike was standing.

"Yeah," Buffy agreed. "I owe you an explanation. About everything." Buffy walked away from him to join her friends. "Everyone okay here? Xander, how's your eye?"

"Feels like I've gone a couple rounds with Iron Mike, but I'll live. See you managed to save Fang Boy. He all assassiny now?"

"No, we got to him before they could finish," Buffy hedged. She wasn't in the mood for the discussion she knew would come once they found out about the chip's reprogramming. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to go."

Nodding in agreement the four humans and one limping vampire wearily wended their way home.


Chapter 19

Joyce was surprised when she came downstairs Christmas morning to see a vampire asleep on her living room sofa. Going back upstairs, she knocked on Buffy's door and entered when she heard the sleepy, "Come in."

"Buffy,why is Spike asleep on the couch?" Joyce asked her tousled daughter. Buffy had known her mother would want to know why she had brought Spike home; she had just hoped she would let her sleep in first. Yawning deeply, Buffy moved over, patted the bed and proceeded to tell Joyce an edited version of what had happened last night.

"And so since he was hurt, I just felt better with having him here than in the crypt by himself," Buffy finished.

Joyce stared at her daughter taking in everything she had been told. "I have a feeling that you haven't told me everything, Buffy," Joyce stated. But then giving her daughter a gentle pat she added, "And I have the feeling I don't really want to know." Buffy just grinned in agreement.

"Well, get some more sleep. We can have Christmas breakfast when you get up." Buffy thanked her mother and then dropping back into her pillow immediately fell fast asleep.

***

Christmas Day 1999 was one of the best Buffy ever remembered. They had all eaten a late brunch (Joyce had taken to keeping a supply of fresh pig's blood on hand) and then proceeded to watch a never-ending marathon of Christmas movies. Spike had never seen "A Christmas Story" and laughed uproariously at the little boy's antics. He
especially liked the part where Ralphie beat the snot out of Scut Farcus.

Joyce went out for a while to visit with some friends leaving vampire and Slayer alone, but for once the two behaved themselves only cuddling up on the couch together as they watched the movie. Spike's head and backside still hurt a bit, but he was improving as the day went on and figured he would be completely recovered by that evening.

The next day Buffy and Joyce joined the mob at the after-Christmas sales. When Spike learned what they had planned, he was glad he had the whole sun-allergy thing to fall back on. He would rather face a room full of crosses than Sunnydale Mall the day after Christmas. He knew his limitations.

Monday morning Joyce returned to work and Buffy headed over to Giles'. He had been extremely patient allowing Buffy both Saturday and Sunday before insisting that she fill them in on the Spike situation.

"Look, Giles, it's just like I told Xander," Buffy said forcefully. "Spike is not a programmed killerbot for the CIA. Riley and I got to him before that crazy doctor was able to finish with the programming."

"So you're saying that Spike is still unable to hurt human beings, Buffy?" Giles asked.

Taking a deep breath, Buffy said the words she had been dreading. But she knew that Giles and the others needed to know the truth. "Well yes and no."

"And that means?" Xander asked.

"It means that Spike can hurt humans, but he can't kill them."

"So you're saying that Spike can feed on humans again just as long as he doesn't kill them?" Giles exclaimed.

"No! I mean no, he wouldn't do that," Buffy insisted. "He knows I wouldn't allow him to feed on anyone, Giles. He won't do that."

Giles began to pace. "Buffy, your belief in his ability to be good is misplaced at best. For God's sake, how many times does he have to try to kill you before you realize that he's a vicious, murderous monster?!"

"Giles, he hasn't tried to kill me in two years! In fact he's saved my life more than once. Did you forget about the Gr'Racka demon he rescued me from? I'd have been tortured to death if it hadn't been for Spike!"

"Yes, Buffy, I remember that. I also remember that the next time you two met he almost drained all the blood from your body. Have you forgotten that?"

"He didn't almost... Damn it, Giles, you don't understand. That was a lesson he was teaching me about being overconfident and careless. Do you think for one minute that if he had really wanted me dead he wouldn't have finished the job? He had plenty of opportunities last year, but that wasn't what he wanted from me." Oops. Buffy's hand clamped over her mouth as the words escaped.

Giles stiffened, his eyes narrowed and he said in a deadly calm voice, "And just what exactly did he want from you Buffy?"

Willow and Xander had been following the argument as if they were at a tennis match, heads turning from one to the other, but now they too stiffened as the implication of Buffy's words sunk in.

"Oh. My. God." Xander moaned. "Cordelia was right, wasn't she? He wanted to get in your pants last year too, didn't he, Buff? Did he succeed?"

Buffy was aware of the disgust in Xander's voice, in her Watcher's face, the disappointment and worry in Willow's eyes. It was suddenly all too much for her. The past two days had been wonderful. She had spent Christmas with her boyfriend and mother and the day after shopping and laughing with her mother at the Sunnydale Mall and then laughing and loving with her boyfriend at his place. She had felt free and happy and relaxed, even when she had gone patrolling and fulfilled her duties as The Slayer.

And now her friends and her Watcher were looking at her as if she was some kind of slimy bug that had slithered into the house. She loved them and knew they were concerned for her and only wanted what they considered best for her, but Buffy finally realized that only she could decide what was best for her.

Standing up she said calmly, "What happened between me and Spike last year, what is happening between us now, is my business. I appreciate your concern, but I'd appreciate it more if you'd stop this interrogation now. Spike and I are together and you all will just have to deal with it. I don't know if this is the 'last till the end of time' kind of love, but for now he makes me happy.

"I'll talk to Spike about what the new programming to his chip means. I promise you that Spike will not feed from humans."

Picking up her jacket, she headed for the door. Stopping with her hand on the doorknob and turning her head slightly in their direction she added, "I suggest, by the way, that none of you try to take care of Spike yourselves. He can defend himself now." With that, she left with a quiet but firm closing of the door, her words echoing in
the ears of her friends.

"Love?" Willow said weakly.

***

Spike was aware that Buffy was upset the minute she opened the door to his crypt. Putting down the glass of blood he had just filled, he went over to her, pulled her into his arms and gently rubbed his hand up and down her back in a soothing motion.

"What's wrong, pet? What's happened?"

Buffy clung to him for a minute, taking comfort from him. At last she pulled back, looked up at Spike and said, "I had to tell Giles about your chip."

"And?" Spike asked. By the look on his face he clearly didn't understand what the problem was.

"I had to tell him you could hurt people now. I told him you couldn't kill anyone, but you could hurt them."

"And what?" Spike laughed. "Did that great ponce think I was going to come over to his house and punch him in the nose or something? Wouldn't do that even if I do think he sometimes deserves it."

Buffy realized that Spike didn't comprehend what Giles had immediately deduced. "Spike," Buffy said, "Giles is afraid that you'll start feeding on people again. You'll feed without killing them, but still you'll feed."

Spike looked at her in surprise and then scrunched his forehead up thoughtfully. "Huh," he said. "Hadn't considered that. Guess I could if I wanted to. Be a nice change from the pig's blood." Then looking down into Buffy's worried face, he smiled and traced one finger down the side of her face. "'Course my girl would be pretty pissed off at me if I went around biting anonymous people," he said, "so guess I'll just have to stick to the pig's blood and an occasional Buffy bite."

Spike watched as the joy appeared on Buffy's face. Throwing her arms around him, Buffy pulled his head down and kissed him. Touching her forehead to his she whispered, "Have I told you yet that I love you?"

Spike swallowed and shook his head. Buffy smiled, kissed him again and then looked at him with all the love she felt shining from her eyes. "I do you know," she said softly.

Spike felt a joy such as he had never known at her words. All he had wanted his entire existence was to love and be loved. He had thought that he had found it with Drusilla, but he knew now that what they had shared had been a shadow of love. Now here with this tiny human girl, this girl whose entire mission in life was to destroy the likes of him, he had found that for which he had longed.

He knew that Buffy was destined for a short, violent life. He knew that even if she lived as long as a normal human, chances were that he would outlive her. But for today and maybe tomorrow and maybe the tomorrow after that, they had each other. Gathering her close into his arms once again he held her, silently promising his strength, his life, his loyalty, his love.

They would stand side-by-side facing all the monsters that the world could throw at them.

And he would never leave her.

The End
Sequel Double Trouble

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