Willow sat on her bed moping, something to which she was growing quite accustomed. She had dutifully allowed Buffy to drag her to a party, but she just couldn't enjoy herself, so, after giving Riley his instructions, she'd left.

And, now she was moping again.

Forcing her thoughts away from Oz and his betrayal and how much she missed him, she focused on Riley. He was a good guy, a nice guy, the kind of guy Buffy deserved. He wasn't a vampire, a big plus in Willow's books. She still remembered vividly that horrible morning she'd awakened to Buffy and Spike doing...it.

Shuddering, Willow closed her eyes, but the images pasted themselves in her mind and wouldn't go away.

~~~~~

Huddled under an afghan on one of the sofas in the tv lounge, Willow watched from beneath hooded eyes as Spike stomped past her, not even glancing her way. He'd stayed in their room a good fifteen minutes more. She didn't want to even think about what they might have been doing.

As he tromped down the stairs, she slipped from the couch and bolted for her room. Slipping inside, she found Buffy sitting on her bed, wrapped in her blankets, only her naked shoulders and head showing.

The Slayer reddened as her roommate entered the room so soon after Spike's departure. "I'm sorry, Will," she mumbled.

"I..." Willow was at a total loss for words and sank down onto her own bed, clenching her fingers into the blanket. "Have you been with him the whole time?" she finally whispered.

Buffy nodded slowly. "I think so. Everyone before last night is kind of fuzzy."

"Did he...are you..." Willow squeaked out her worst fear, "Are you a vampire?"

"Oh God, no Will, no. He didn't bite me. He just..." Buffy blushed even more and dropped her eyes. "He says I jumped him."

"Huh?"

"In my um caveman state. Was I really a caveperson?"

"Yeah. There was a spell on the beer."

"Of course." Buffy sighed and rolled her eyes. "I can't even get blitzed without it backfiring on me." As she pushed herself back against the headboard, she felt deep twinges in the muscles of her inner thighs and winced. "In all kinds of ways."

"So...are you two now...you know...together?"

Buffy gave her best friend a horrified look, shaking her head wildly. "No, oh no. It was just...we were just out of control. I remember bits and pieces and...I think I did jump him first, but he didn't mind too long. No, we knew it was a one time thing last night when I realized what was up."

"But, if you turned normal again last night, why was he still here this morning?"

Turning beet red, Buffy gulped audibly, then shot Willow a sheepish look. "I was horny?" she finally replied pathetically.

"I don't think we should tell Giles where you were, but I do need to call him and call off the search."

"I'm sorry I worried you guys. I don't know what drove me out of here."

"Believe me, I'm getting to know horny intimately." Willow flushed and gave a mirthless laugh. "Sorry."

"Me, too."

Willow rose, stretching slightly. "Why don't you go take a shower and I'll call Giles and we'll just forget all about this."

Agreeing, Buffy rose, grabbing her robe, and, as Willow picked up the phone, she slipped out of the room, heading towards the bathroom...

...wondering if she *would* be able to forget...

~~~~~

Willow shook the memories away. She and Buffy hadn't spoken of the incident since that morning nearly three weeks before, and Willow could only hope that Spike was out of their lives and out of Sunnydale for good.

A knock sounded on the door and she said an off hand 'come in'. The door opened and Spike stepped inside, quickly shutting it behind him.

"Oh goddess, I just jinxed myself," Willow cried, jumping to her feet and looking around for an escape route.

Spike put up his hands and leaned back against the door. "I'm not going to hurt you. I need to talk to the Slayer."

"She's not here. Go away please, and don't come back," Willow answered, fumbling behind her for the drawer handle of her night stand in which there were crosses and stakes.

"I can't go away, not until I see her."

"Look, she doesn't want to have anything to do with you."

"I don't want to have anything to do with her either, you silly twit. I need to talk to her. Something really bad is going on."

"Something really bad is always going on." She crowed as she yanked a cross out of the drawer and held it in his direction.

Spike just sighed and fumbled in his pockets. "Damn pricks took my fags," he muttered, then snagged a desk chair and sat down. "So, when will she be back?"

Deflated somewhat, Willow sank onto the bed, still holding the cross. "She's at a party...with a boy," she added a bit snidely.

He grinned evilly. "Like that wanker who dumped her after one go?"

"No," she gasped. "Riley's nice and considerate and sweet..."

"Sounds like a pansy," he interrupted.

Willow shot him a nasty glare...

...and the lights went out.

*****

The next five minutes were too chaotic for Willow to get a clear picture of what was going on. Armed men had broken down the door and tried to grab both she and Spike. Spike had fought back, and had screamed in pain. She had tried to escape, only to be nearly butted in the head with a gun. Then flashing lights and smoke and...

When it all cleared and the lights came on, she was kneeling in the hallway, the soldiers and Spike were gone, and Buffy was bending over her.

*****

"He said he needed to talk to me about something strange?" Buffy asked as she handed Willow a cup of hot chamomile tea.

"Yeah. He didn't try to hurt me or anything, just wouldn't leave." Willow was still shaking, but she drank the tea gratefully. "Do you think those soldiers were what he was talking about?"

Buffy shrugged. "Who knows with Spike." She desperately tried to ignore the tingle of pleasure that was coursing through her. He'd been in her room. Even if it was just to talk, he was still in Sunnydale. Buffy suddenly frowned. Unless he'd been caught by the soldiers. She asked Willow.

"I think I saw him go out the window, but it was all so smoky, and the soldiers could have gotten him after that."

"Well, if he's free and it was important, I'm sure he'll be back." Her careless tone of voice was belied by the deep frown of concern on her face.

*****

Thanksgiving Day was yet another crisis in Sunnydale. God or goddess forbid that they be allowed to celebrate a holiday in a normal fashion. Stirring pumpkin pie filling at a furious rate, Buffy watched Giles and Willow bicker, Xander suffer, and Anya try to soothe by pointing out pictures of the stages of the various diseases from which her boyfriend was suffering. Plus, a Native American ghost was killing people.

A knock on the door sent her stomping over to it. Setting down the bowl, she pulled the door open, and gasped in shock.

Covered by a holey blanket, Spike stood as close to the barrier as he could get, wisps of smoke rising around him. His eyes were full of desperation...and need.

"Spike," Giles cried from behind Buffy, quickly shoving a stake into his Slayer's hand.

"Please, let me in. I need to talk to you and I'm about to burn to death out here." Spike peeked up towards the sun and nearly howled at the pain that filled him.

"You look horrible," was all Buffy could think to say. He was thin. She didn't know a vampire could get thin. And even paler than normal.

"Please," he begged.

"Come in," she whispered, taking his arm and pulling him into the apartment. He stumbled forward against her, nearly collapsing, and Buffy kicked the door shut behind him.

"Are you insane?" Giles hissed.

"Yeah, probably." Buffy helped Spike over to a chair out of the sun, as Willow pulled the curtains closed. Spike kept the blanket wrapped around himself as if it was a lifeline. As she got him settled, Buffy looked up to see Giles holding an armed crossbow on him, and tried to smile reassuringly. "It's okay, Giles. I can handle it."

"I can't hurt you, mate," Spike bit out bitterly. "I can't hurt anyone."

"And that would be why?" Giles asked through clenched teeth.

"Those soldier boys and their scientists, they did something to me. They neutered me," Spike forced out, his jaw tight, his nostrils flared as anger filled him. "I've been wandering for nearly a week, trying to avoid them, no where to go. I can't kill. I can't bloody eat!"

"What happens when you try?" Willow asked, curious.

"This blinding pain in my skull. Even when I think about hurting someone." He raised his fist to try to hit Buffy, then yelled and clamped his hand over his forehead, as his whole body shook from the pain. "See?" he finally gasped out.

Giles lowered the crossbow, but didn't put it down as he pulled up a chair. "Why don't you start at the beginning."

*****

Hours later, the Native American situation put to rest, a pretty decent meal devoured, Xander on the mend, everyone happy and sleepy, Buffy sat on the couch in Giles' den, watching Spike who was tied to a chair across from her. After drinking a couple pints of blood from Willie's, he looked better, but he was also quiet since the action had stopped and the meal was over.

"You came to me that night,..for help?"

He nodded, finally looking up at her. "I thought about going back to my lair, but...I didn't want to face Harm. I hadn't seen her since..." He knew she understood to what he was referring, and continued, "I thought you should know that there was something sinister going on."

"Sinister to demons, Spike. But, they may very well be on my side."

"They were going to take the witch. Believe me, Slayer, she wouldn't have enjoyed their hospitality."

Buffy nodded slowly, accepting his sharply spoken rebuke. "So, I need to know more about them. Where they are, what they are, what they're doing. Are you willing to help me?"

Their eyes met and held for a long moment, before Spike looked away, nodding, and answering sadly, "I can't hurt anything. If I try to return to my clan, they'll rip me apart like a pack of dogs. I don't have anywhere else to go."

Rising to her feet, Buffy walked over to him and untied the knot at his back. Pulling the rope from him, she helped him up and found herself pressed against him. Their eyes met again, and this time, the sadness and bitterness in his were tamed by the heat of desire. One of his hands cupped her chin, his thumb caressing her lower lip.

"I tried to leave town, Slayer," he murmured. "But, I couldn't stop thinking about you."

"I tried to put you out of my mind, too," she whispered back, "but I couldn't. But, it's still wrong, Spike. We're still enemies, even if we have a temporary truce."

"Are we?" His thumb slipped past her lips and he felt her tongue lick it as she whimpered slightly, sinking against him. "I can't hurt anyone, maybe never again."

Swallowing hard, Buffy pulled back from his hand, but his other arm was around her waist, pinning her to him. "You're still a demon."

"I think you like my demon, pet." He smiled at her delicate blush. "I'm halfway tamed against my will. I might as well make the best of it."

"And, what would the best of it be?" she finally whispered, her eyes wide and full of longing.

"You in my bed, at my side. We can make a formidable team, Slayer, even if I can't fight. My brains, your muscles..." He grinned and caught the nape of her neck, pulling her face towards his. "We're fucking great together, Buffy," he whispered seductively, before covering her lips with his in a deep, passionate kiss.

Surrendering, Buffy moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck, deeply buried lust springing to life inside her. As they kissed, they pulled at each other's clothes, until, naked, they sank to the floor. Spike turned her onto her back and came over her, lowering his mouth to her breasts. As he sucked and licked her nipples into hard pebbles, and her moans filled his ears, he took a chance and nipped her.

She squealed in pleasure, and he grinned in delight as no pain shot through him.

Buffy's hands moved over his back and shoulders, kneading his tight flesh as his mouth drove her insane. Her knees rose to press against his hips, and she rocked against him, driving his hard cock along her quickly moistening channel. One of his hands slipped between them, and, as his fingers flicked across her clit, she moaned his name and arched her back.

"Now, please," she babbled, not caring that he had barely begun to kiss and caress her. It had been too long and her young body was aflame with need.

Feeling her readiness beneath his fingers, Spike raised up slightly, then, with a groan of pure pleasure, sank into her. Her legs wrapped around his, her toes running up and down his calves as her hands clutched at his shoulders. He buried his mouth in her neck, sucking at her tender flesh, feeling the blood pulsing beneath the skin, as he began to thrust at a quick, desperate pace.

He, too, was full of white hot need.

Their mutual pleasure built quicky, driving their bodies together for endless minutes, until they were gasping, and Buffy was flushed and perspiring.

Eyes closed, head rolling on the thinly carpeted floor, she met each thrust, her hips slamming up to meet him before he drove her back into the floor. She ignored the bruises forming, just let the hot pleasure flood her. Lightning formed behind her eyes and she hissed his name, digging her fingers into his hair and pressing his mouth to her throat.

Feeling her quivering beneath him, her inner muscles tightening around his cock, Spike captured her mouth again, driving his tongue in to meet hers. Her climax hit suddenly, leaving her breathless and mewling as her body arched uncontrollably against his. Lifting his head, Spike watched the bliss suffuse her face, and as her eyes fluttered open, he whipped his head back and spilled himself into her depths, crying her name.

Shuddering, he collapsed halfway on top of her, his mouth between her breasts, lazily kissing her flushed, heaving mounds. Buffy raised a trembling hand and brushed her fingers across his forehead, a sleepy, happy smile on her face.

Neither replete lover noticed the door silently close, nor had they noticed Willow peeking into the room just as their climaxes had hit.

"Oh boy," the witch muttered, red faced and trembling, and trying to think of what to say to Giles to keep him out of the den for a while. As her mind rapidly ran through options, a tiny part focused on the new vibrator waiting for her back at the dorm room. "Oz, you'd better come home soon," she hissed under breath, as she stalked towards the kitchen, ready to lie to protect her best friend and the vampire who so obviously was her lover. "And, Buffy, we are so going to talk."