*********************************

Why did doctors always do this? Every one Buffy had ever encountered in her lifetime seemed to use the same technique when talking to the incredibly worried family of a patient: ‘squeeze a mind numbing amount of medical jargon in between the information people actually want to hear’.

Buffy tried to focus hard on Dr. Greenberg. Her eyes concentrated on his lips but the sound of his voice barely made it to her ears.

She was tired…

She was cold…

And she was numb. Buffy could barely keep her eyes open, all feeling from her fingertips to her legs seemed to be completely gone. And a small part of her was jealous that she didn’t get the luxury of curling up on the waiting room couch and shutting out all of the bad like Dawn did.

No, she had to stand here and listen to a man talk about things she really didn’t understand. Damn the fact she was tired and cold, and scared half to death, she had to do this. She had to be strong for Dawn and dependable for her mother…

"We’re very lucky we were able to detect the tumor this early…your mother should make a full recovery…"

Buffy smiled faintly, finally what she had been waiting to hear all along had came out loud and clear.

The doctor offered her a smile of his own, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Would you and your sister like to stay the night? I could arrange to have some cots brought up to your mother’s room."

Buffy gently shook her head. "Oh, no—no thank you. I think Dawn and I should head home tonight…"

"I wanna stay." Dawn interjected, slightly startling Buffy. The young girl seemed to have come out of nowhere and Buffy pushed aside her guilt at not realizing her sister was no longer napping, but standing right by her side.

"Dawnie," she sighed, "not tonight, okay. It’s a school night."

Dawn folded her arms over her chest, giving her a derisive look. "A school night? They’re going to cut a hole in our mother’s head and you don’t want me to be here because I’ll miss P.E!"

"Dawn, please."

The teen opened her mouth to speak but quickly closed it, letting out a snort instead as she stormed off towards Joyce’s room. "I’m telling mom goodnight," she called back.

*********************************

As soon as Buffy opened the front door, Dawn rushed by her making a beeline for the stairs. She had thwarted all of Buffy’s pitiful attempts at small talk on the way home with the iciest, awkward silence she could muster, and Dawn wasn’t quite ready to drop her act yet.

Their mom was lying all-alone in a hospital bed, hooked up to all kinds of scary and horrible machines, and Dawn wanted nothing more than to be by her side. Mom always took care of them and now it was their turn to take care of her.

How could Buffy not want to stay?

"You hungry?" Buffy asked meekly, "I could make you something…"

"Don’t bother," was Dawn’s cold reply as she continued on towards her room. "I’m tired, I’ll just grab something in the morning."

The Slayer sighed loudly as she heard Dawn’s room door slam, admittedly she was relieved she didn’t have to deal with the girl for the rest of the night, but she couldn’t stand it when Dawn was angry with her.

Buffy could barely keep her eyes open, all she wanted to do was crawl into her bed and have herself a good cry until she finally passed out from exhaustion, but she knew she couldn’t.

Her night was never complete unless she stabbed something with a pointy, wooden object.

**********************************

Buffy easily dodged the vamp’s punch, quickly coming back up, plunging the stake into its heart. She brushed off the dusty particles from her jacket as she headed over to a monument, taking a seat. If you didn’t count the blistering silence that was the ride home with Dawn, this was the first real quiet she’d had in days.

No beeping of hospital machines, no Glory, no snake demons, and no Spike around to make her insane-o Buffy. She still couldn’t believe she had sniffed all of his shirts like a raving loony. Even when she was in love with Angel, she never broke into his place to smell every article of clothing he owned like some giant freak…

Well, there was that one time…

"Should’ve bloody known it was you," he drawled near her ear, effectively making her jump. Buffy spun around only to be met with a blast of cigarette smoke and a wide smirk. A scowl quickly formed on her face, she might’ve completely melted from the sound of his rich, baritone dipped voice near her ear, but her shiny, pink lungs were now a tar black thanks to him.

"A bloke can’t even get a good night’s sleep without the sounds of the ruddy Slayer killing his cousins outside of his home."

Buffy cocked an eyebrow, "Spike, you sleep in the day."

The bleached vampire let out a dejected sigh, tossing the remains of his cigarette to the ground as he took a seat next to her.

"All of this helping out the good fight, I’ve been doing lately, must be affecting my lying skills," he quipped, giving her a meek smile, "truth be told, luv, I’m paralyzed with boredom. There’s only so many rounds of twenty questions one can play with Harmony."

"Harmony can count to twenty?" Buffy grinned.

Spike rolled his eyes, letting out a chuckle. "I heard you out here so, I figured I could get a little action before bedtime."

"What?!" Buffy squeaked, her cheeks turning a brilliant red. "Action?! What makes you think I’d give you any…"

"Thought maybe I could smack around a fledgling or two," he said giving her a look.

"Right, of course," she mumbled.

Several moments passed, and the two mortal enemies actually found themselves having a conversation. Buffy eagerly paid attention as Spike talked about his love for the Bronze chicken wings, and the difference between wimpy American beers and the real beers back home in the mother country. She knew it was his complete and utter boredom that kept him here, but she didn’t care. Spike was here, by her side and there hadn’t been one mention of ripping out her insides yet…

"So how’s your mum?" he suddenly asked, "Clean bill of health and all?"

Buffy pressed her lips together, solemnly shaking her head. "No, she uh…there’s a…brain tumor…"

"Oh..."

"I can’t help thinking that Glory has something to do with this, you know? I mean, maybe she’s decided to come after my family. Distract me long enough so that she and those crusty minions of hers can figure out the truth about Dawn. It has to be her, I mean these things don’t just pop up out of nowhere…not in Sunnydale…"

"Oh wake up, Slayer!" Spike huffed, removing his pack of cigarettes from his duster.

Buffy narrowed her eyes, "Excuse me…"

"Maybe it’s Glory that’s working mojo on your mum, or maybe it’s those damn cell phones that gave her the tumor. They emit all kinds of radioactive crap, you know, ooh, or maybe the Witch did another spell that went all wonky and Joyce got a nasty side affect," Spike paused lighting his cigarette. "Or maybe it’s just one of those horrible things that happen for unexplainable reasons and there’s nothing you can do but sit on your hands and wait for a happy ending."

"You can’t fight everything, luv," he sighed, expelling a wave of smoke. "People get sick, people die, and there’s nothing supernatural or evil behind it. It just happens. Joyce doesn’t need you out there looking for monsters to beat to a bloody pulp on her behalf she needs you right there by her side being her little girl. You won’t be a bit of good to her until you realize death and sickness are things you and your scoobies can’t research. Your Watcher can’t train you to battle it, and you can’t stop it."

Spike brought a hand to her cheek, brushing away a few of the tears that had fallen.

"All you can do is wait."

Buffy swallowed the large, painful lump that had formed in her throat. They were dangerously close and she was vulnerable, and therefore inclined to think that he cared and do something drastically stupid. Her tongue unconsciously darted out to wet her lips, and the reasonable part of her being that was screaming at her to hold back quickly to a backseat as she leaned in, gently brushing her lips against his.

Buffy let out a little squeak in surprise as she felt him kiss her back. Opening her mouth to him, she relished in the taste, a sweet mix of tobacco and blood…

She let out a soft moan in disappointment when his lips left hers and Buffy’s eyes slowly opened. The smile that was on her lips quickly faded when instead of Spike, she was met face to face with a snarling Kurock demon.

Great, she had fallen asleep.

Buffy sat up quickly, head butting the creature, sending it falling backwards off of the monument. She climbed to her feet, taking advantage of its weakened state she grabbed the demon’s head, giving it a sharp turn, snapping its neck.

Stupid dreams…

She let out a heavy sigh as she straightened out her rumpled clothing. She needed to make a quick stop at Super Food World on the way home, Dawn would be starving when she got up and Buffy seriously doubted they had anything that constitutes as a ‘breakfast food’ in the cabinets.

He rushed down the hospital corridors, checking his watch with nearly every step. Great, he had overslept and was late as can be. Well, he hoped that he still had a job to be ‘late as can be’ for. His feet skidded to a halt in front two doctors; one who took a brief second from scribbling on his clipboard to send a disapproving look before going back to work, and the other who simply crossed his arms meeting Ben with a scowl head on.

"Benjamin. This is a pleasant surprise…"

"I’m sorry I’m late, I…"

The doctor scoffed, unfolding his arms,

"Late? I’ve been trying to contact you for two weeks now. Where the hell have you been?"

"Two weeks?!"

Off of his look, Ben quickly cleared his throat trying to cover up his surprise at the revelation. Of course he hadn’t been to work for two whole weeks, he should’ve known…

He ran a hand through his hair as he let out a small sigh, "I haven’t been here in two weeks…I can explain this, there is a reasonable explanation Dr. Hatcher."

Dr. Hatcher snickered, "What, Ben? You gonna tell me that eating Twinkies made you do it, or maybe you just set your alarm clock wrong. Oh, here’s one, maybe there’s a demonic creature living inside of you that takes control and forces you to do its bidding…"

"Family troubles, sir. Sibling troubles to be more exact. My sister’s got a lot of…problems," Ben sighed, "I’m like her rock."

Hatcher’s arms folded once more, his petulant scowl in place,

"Ms. Summers in room 14B needs to be prepped for surgery," he turned, adding coolly as he walked away, "And Ben, tell your sister to get a new rock."

*******************************

"It was like we were the ‘International House of Something’."

Joyce chuckled softly as she watched the looks exchanged between her two daughters. It was good to know that despite everything, they could still get on each other’s nerves.

"I wanted you to have a good breakfast," Buffy rolled her eyes.

Dawn grinned, " She was cooking for an army, mom. And the pancakes had a very nice char-grilled taste to them…"

"My blackened pancakes are still light years better than your peanut-butter and cheese omelet."

"Hey! Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it."

The older woman retched, the combination of the medication in her system and the image of an omelet with peanut butter, had sent a sudden wave of nausea over her. Eggs, peanut butter and cheese? Well, Joyce should have known Dawn would grow up with strange food tastes, after all Play-Doh and Elmer’s Glue had been her favorites growing up.

"Ms. Summers…" Ben began as he slowly entered the room. The sight of the woman surrounded by her daughters, her eldest especially had caused his mind to draw a blank. God she was beautiful, what was he here to do again? Christ, he couldn’t remember…this was so unprofessional, man that confused look on her face was cute…

"Am I due for another round of ‘human pincushion’?"

Joyce’s smile was enough to break the young nurse out of his nagging thoughts, and he shook his head chuckling, "No, I’m here to shave you."

Dawn giggled as Buffy raised her eyebrows at the flustered man, trying hard not to laugh herself.

"I mean," Ben blushed, "prep you…for surgery. Wow, I said that in the most creepy and unprofessional way as possible, huh?"

Joyce smiled, "That’s okay."

"I’m Ben by the way," he said, giving Joyce a warm smile, before glancing at Buffy. "But most people around here just call me ‘Man-Nurse’."

***********************************

"Most people call me ‘Man-Nurse’," Dawn grinned, nudging Buffy with her elbow. "He so wants you."

"What?!"

"Oh come on, Buffy," she rolled her eyes, "it was obvious."

"What was obvious?"

Willow smiled as her best friend threw her arms around her, in a tight hug. She couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt rear up as she caught the look of relief on Buffy’s face. She should have been here sooner, she would have been here sooner, damn university traffic…

Dawn grinned again, giving Willow a brief hug,

"That Ben, the man-nurse wants Buffy."

The redhead raised an eyebrow, "Man-nurse?"

"Dawn’s delusional, ignore her."

Willow chuckled briefly, her expression suddenly becoming solemn as if she remembered it was supposed to be that way all along. It looked, as if Buffy and Dawn were doing okay after all they seemed to be in good spirits, teasing each other despite the fact Joyce’s surgery was today. She shouldn’t kill this fairly light mood they were in by bringing up all of the bad stuff, then again, she’d be heartless if she didn’t at least ask how things were going.

"How’s your mom?"

"Surprisingly, really, really good," Buffy smiled softly, "Everything’s gonna be fine."

****************************

"I’m telling you, Spikey, she was sniffing your clothes!"

He sighed loudly, bringing his hands to his head. All he wanted to do was concentrate on Passions and Harmony was making that nearly impossible.

"What are you blathering about now?" he growled. "Can’t you see I’m busy?!"

"The Slayer! In our home, sniffing your shirts like some big freak!" Harmony flopped down on the couch dramatically, giving her boyfriend a look. "She wants you. Buffy’s totally in love with you and do you know what that’ll do for my reputation?! It’s already bad enough that you kill our kind…"

Spike froze. For the first time he had actually let half of what came out of Harm’s mouth sink in…

"Harm, what did you just say?"

"That you should really stop killing our kind because it’s making me look bad."

"No, you silly bint," he sighed impatiently, narrowing his eyes. "Before that…"

"Oh," she chuckled, "Buffy’s totally in love with you. Like I said before, that’s only gonna make things worse for us with the other demons…"

Spike could see Harmony’s lips moving but the sound never quite made it to his ears. And he slowly felt a thick bile creep up his throat, looking to settle directly in his mouth…

Oh God, please no…

It seemed like the majority of his business lately was coming in the form of jilted lovers looking to put boils or various festering scabs on the person who’d done them wrong. The young lady before him now was no exception. Giles pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and his forefinger, sighing deeply.

"I’m not really sure it’s uh possible to turn him into a badger."

The girl frowned, tightly clutching the book in her right hand. "Well, how about a chipmunk?"

"Magic is not a play thing," Giles said, carefully removing the book from her hand. "It’s deadly serious and does not bode well for vengeance."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes, walking away.

"What ever happened to crank calling," he shook his head, setting the book down on the countertop.

"People have no patience for the simple things any more."

Giles froze; slowly turning towards the direction the familiar voice came from. He watched in silent horror as they moved about his store like a pack of wolves. Pawing over his books, touching the various knickknacks and trinkets on his shelves, studying, inspecting, and in short being highly annoying.

He smiled forcefully, "Quinton, I didn’t realize you were here."

"Well, evidently," Quinton Travers gave his former colleague a condescending smile.

"Been a while. I see you’ve, uh, brought some of our…colleagues with you," Giles removed his glasses, rubbing hard at the lenses. "Would you care to introduce us?"

"I thought we might catch up first."

"Well, certainly, certainly," Giles nodded. "Uh, well, um, this is the shop, obviously. Uh, it-it’s been a very interesting transition into the world of retail. But, I think it’s gone rather well. I’ll give you the grand tour if you like."

"No," Travers shook his head, giving Giles another patronizing smile. "That’s all right, I think I can see what you’ve been up to."

"Giles, we’re all out of motherwart!" Anya stormed out of the basement, stopping cold at the sight of the Watchers. Who were these people, roaming about her store, tampering with the merchandise and more importantly putting everything back and not bringing it up to the counter for purchase?! She threw another look in Giles’ direction before snatching a vial from a man in a tweed suit. "Can I help you?"

"I’ll take care of that later, Anya!" Giles called frustration clearly evident his tone as he turned back to Quinton. "Buffy and I have been training a great deal these days. Uh, there’s a, a back…"

The older man nodded calmly, taking a seat in a nearby chair. "Oh yes, I thought perhaps you were keeping that space for the really dangerous items that should be kept out of the public’s hand," he frowned, "or maybe you don’t worry about that."

"I’m very careful."

"There are some very potent elements here…focusing crystals, runic stones, an amulet of Cauldis…" The female Watcher called out as she studiously eyed one of the shelves. "Also, this statue. Its removal in Burma is a criminal offense," she prattled on, carrying said statue over to Travers. "And when triggered, it has the power to melt human eyeballs."

"In that case, I severely underpriced it," Giles said sardonically. "Quinton, what’s the meaning of this?"

"I’m going to need this shop closed for the duration of the Council’s review."

"Review? What review?!"

"Excuse me, Miss," Travers ignored Giles’ question, stopping Anya in her tracks. "Do you work here?"

Anya crossed her arms over her chest. "Not for long, with these types stopping the flow of commerce. Come on people buy something! This is not a museum!"

Travers smiled, "Could you please tell your customers to clear out."

"Now, see here, Quinton…!"

"We’ve discovered information about this creature, your Glory," Travers began, moving calmly over towards a table. "Some of it clearly vital, the rest merely extremely disturbing. And it won’t be handed over until we’re convinced that you and your Slayer are prepared for it. Thus, another review. Just a check of her methods, we need to know that this information is safe."

Giles glared, "You can trust her. Buffy’s come very far recently, she’s acquired remarkable focus."

***********************

Buffy yawned widely and grimaced as she felt the wet smack against the side of her face. Her hazel eyes fluttered open and were met with a giggling Dawn, suspiciously hiding a plastic spoon by her side. Buffy scowled, wiping the green Jell-O off the side of her face.

Dawn shrugged grinning, "Hey, that’s what happens when you’re not on the look out."

Joyce chuckled, sliding the Jell-O cup on her food tray away from her youngest. "I was planning on eating that today…"

Dawn shuddered, "I can’t touch the stuff, well…only for annoying big-sister purposes," she smirked. "When I was in fifth grade, Melissa Davis told me that Jell-O was made up of ground up monkey feet, and that there’s monkey’s limping all over Africa because you’re eating their feet."

Joyce and Buffy exchanged looks.

"You’re the one who insisted on teaching her how to talk," Buffy snickered, moving from her chair, taking a seat on the bed next to her mother.

"I’m sure there’s something else you girls would rather be doing than hanging out in a hospital room all day."

Dawn shook her head. "I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be, can you Buffy?"

"Nope," she smiled. "This is a sweet setup you’ve got here, mom. People serving you, your food in bed…"

"Lots and lots of mindless soaps to catch up on…"

"Magazines to read," Buffy stretched lazily, yawning a bit. "Why wouldn’t we want to be here?"

Buffy settled in on her mother’s side, letting her eyes drift close as she rested her head on Joyce’s shoulder. Things hadn’t exactly been quiet since she’d come out of surgery. There was always talking, the doctors and nurses, her friends, various distant family members who’d heard the news and had taken the time to call, Dawn…it seemed like nothing was ever quiet in her life any more.

But here in this moment, Buffy felt a wave of peace, of quiet. Her mom was on her way to getting better and everything was going to be fine…

Perfect.

"Bastard! You know it isn’t time yet!"

She was startled awake by Joyce’s sudden outburst, exchanging a worried glance with Dawn; she eased off of the bed.

"Mom, are you okay?"

Languidly, Joyce opened her eyes. "Rest, I need to…"

"Come on," Buffy said softly, gently easing her sister out of the room.

Dawn looked back at the door to her mother’s room as they walked down the corridor, concern marring her features.

"Buffy, what was that?"

"The uh, doctor told me there could be moments like that, where she doesn’t know what she’s saying," Buffy sighed. "It’s a-a normal, I think. Nothing to worry about, Dawnie."

"You think?!"

Buffy gave her a stern look of reassurance. "It’s normal. I’m going to go check in with Giles, stay here until I get back."

Dawn rolled her eyes and flopped down on the waiting room couch, grabbing a magazine. "Got it. I’ll be here."

****************************

Mmm…doughnut day, god how he loved doughnut day…

Ben stuffed the rest of the glazed pastry into his mouth, getting up from his seat in the cafeteria, a look almost akin to orgasmic joy on his face.

"God, that was almost better than sex," he said aloud, and quickly shook his head. "It’s been way too long since you’ve had a date, buddy," he mumbled.

A warm smile quickly formed on his lips as he made his way into the waiting room. A part of him knew he shouldn’t get so attached to any of the people that came through here, but he couldn’t help it. There was something about the Summers women that drew him in…

"How’s it hanging, kid?" Ben took a seat next to Dawn, propping his feet up on the coffee table.

"Not a kid," she smirked, playfully pushing his feet down. "Are you ever professional?"

He shrugged. "I’ve got my own style. So…" he began, eyeing the magazine in her hand. "Highlights, issue number 147…that’s a good one," Ben laughed, "Nope, you’re not a kid."

Dawn blanched, "What? There’s a very limited reading selection here. Besides, I’m just waiting around until…"

"Oh, hi, Buffy!" He scrambled to his feet, laughing nervously. Great, somehow his inner loser always found its way out whenever she came around. He cleared his throat, ridding it of that high pitch and offered her a smile. "I was just keeping Dawn company, so how’s your mom doing? Everything fine?"

"She’s good," Buffy said absently, turning to Dawn. "Something’s come up. I’ve gotta go to the Magic Box, Willow and Tara are on their way to pick you up…"

"What?! But, I wanna stay here with mom…"

"Dawn, I don’t have time for arguments," Buffy sighed. "Mom needs to rest."

"Um, I could keep her company," Ben piped up. "I’m not exactly busy at the moment, so I don’t mind hanging out with Dawn until your mom feels more like being awake."

"Oh no, Ben I couldn’t ask you…"

"It’s no trouble, really," he smiled, "I don’t mind."

"He doesn’t mind," Dawn said, looking at her sister with wide, hopeful eyes. Buffy sighed once more, nodding her head. The big Dawn eyes were always her downfall…

"Fine, but stay with Ben. I’ll be back late."

Dawn squealed, pulling her into a tight hug. "Oh, yay! I promise, I’ll stay with Ben and I won’t go anywhere near drugs or get myself into any kind of life-threatening situations."

Buffy chuckled, mumbling as she walked away. "That would be a first."

"So, kid," Ben smiled, "how good are you at Go Fish?"

"Are you kidding," Dawn quirked a brow, "I’m like the Go Fish champion. You don’t stand a chance…"

******************************

"A review?!" Buffy looked at Giles in disbelief. "Review as in test? Giles, you do remember what the Council’s idea of a test is, right? Find new and interesting ways to kill Buffy…"

Giles mercilessly paced back in forth, rubbing his hands together. He knew it was a bad idea to involve that weasel, Travers and the rest of the Council in this matter with Glory. They were the ones out there risking their lives and the Council was wielding power over their heads like a bunch of arrogant bastards…

"It’s a power play, that’s what it is," Giles said absently. "It’s about who has the power."

Buffy sighed dejectedly, "I’m guessing they do. Big power outage in Buffy country…"

"You know, I should’ve let you loose on them, that’s what I should’ve done."

"Giles, that Travers guy is like sixty. I can’t hit him," she said, pausing briefly before looking up at Giles with hopeful eyes. "Can I?"

"I can’t believe they’re holding this information over our heads, trying to make you jump through hoops…poncy sods."

"Am I gonna be able to get through this review?" Buffy asked softly, "I mean, they’re gonna be examining decisions I’ve made, questioning my every move. Twice I’ve been within slaying distance of Glory and twice she’s kicked my ass without even batting an eye, and I haven’t been able to figure out what she is, or anything about her except that she wants the key…"

Giles took a seat next to his charge, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Buffy, no one could do this better than you."

"You sure about that?" she smiled half-heartedly. "I guess I should be getting ready. What do you think it’ll be like, I mean, how do you think they’ll even start?"

*******************************

"Anya Christina Emanuella Jenkins, twenty years old. Born on the forth of July, and don’t think there weren’t jokes about that my whole life mister, cause there were," Anya laughed nervously, keeping her lips pulled tight in an almost painful smile. " ‘Who’s our little patriot’ they’d say when I was younger and therefore smaller and shorter than I am now."

The Watcher calmly jotted down more notes on his pad, pausing briefly to look up at her. "So you spell it, A-N-Y-A, yes?"

Xander shook his head, then turned to his girlfriend, raising an eyebrow. "Emanuella?"

********************************

"I need to know a little bit more about the Slayer and about you two. Your relationship, whatever you can tell me."

"O-o-our relationship?" Tara asked, exchanging a look with Willow.

"We’re friends," Willow smiled nervously.

"Good friends," Tara added.

Will, placed a loving hand on her knee. "Girlfriends, actually. We’re in love…we’re lovers…um, lesbian-gay type lovers. And we’re proud of it. This is the twenty first century, people are allowed to love whomever they want and not feel ashamed…"

Nigel pursed his lips, glancing at his notepad. "I meant your relationship with the Slayer."

"Oh," Willow blushed. "We’re good friends, but, uh…not in a gay way."

********************************

"Best friends," Xander smiled, "Willow and me, and Buffy. The three of us have been together from the beginning. We’ve always gone out on patrols, and uh, done demon research with her and everything."

"Have you mastered any of the fighting disciplines over the years?" Philip asked, jotting down more notes.

"Fighting disciplines? There’s disciplines?"

"So you have no special skills, or powers, or knowledge that you bring to the mix? Neither of you?"

"Just enthusiasm for killing demons," Anya said brightly. "Go deadness for the demons!"

"I don’t have any powers, but I do help. Uh, last year, Willow, Giles and I combined our essences with Buffy, which isn’t as weird as it sounds," he laughed nervously. "We merged, and I was the heart part of a super-Buffy…"

"I’m told it was very professional," Anya interjected.

*********************************

"Who could she possibly know here?" The female Watcher whispered to one of her colleagues as they reluctantly followed Buffy through the maze of headstones. Buffy stopped in front of crypt, turning around to face the group of Watchers behind her.

"Could you guys just wait here for a second?"

"Um, Ms. Summers, if you don’t mind me asking, who lives here?"

"Oh, it’s just Spike," she shrugged.

"A man living in a crypt?" One of the Watchers asked, giving her a strange look.

"Man? No, Spike’s a vampire…"

"You’re friends with a vampire?"

"Something like that," Buffy chuckled nervously. "Could you give me a second, please?" She sighed and brought up a hand, pounding hard on the crypt door. Buffy stood back a little as it flew open, suppressing the fluttery feeling in her stomach when Spike poked his head out. Now is so not the time…

He stared at her, mouth hanging open slightly. "Slayer, what do you…" Spike paused knitting his brow, "since when do you knock?"

Buffy rolled her eyes, "Spike, I…"

"And who the bloody hell are they?"

She sighed once again and put her hands on his chest, pushing him back inside, and kicked the heavy door closed with her foot.

"They are Watchers…"

Spike’s eyes widened as he glanced downwards. Buffy’s hands were still on his chest, still touching him…what’s with the touching?! He quickly removed her hands, taking a step back, and feverishly rummaged through his shirt pocket for a cigarette…

"Yeah and…" he said, bringing a cigarette to his lips with fairly shaky fingers. Damn Harmony and her damn silly notions. They’ve got him all paranoid and acting like a stupid git...

"And they’re here to be pains in my ass. They’re holding information about Glory and I don’t get that information unless I pass their stupid review…"

"What’s this got to do with me, Slayer?"

"They’re interviewing everyone I’m in contact with, all of my friends…"

"We’re not friends…" Spike paused adding, "or anything thing else…friendly like."

"Just play along," she sighed, "and tell them nothing about Dawn being the key, or else…"

"Or else I end up in a handy-dandy dust buster," he rolled his eyes. "You really need to start singing a new tune, lu-er, Slayer."

Buffy cocked her head to the side, giving him a look. "Are you feeling okay?"

***********************************

"So you help out the Slayer? I would think you would be more into killing her…"

"Oh, I am very much," Spike nodded, taking a drag off of his cigarette. "But, I’ve got this buggering chip. I only pitch in when she pays me."

The Watcher shot a disapproving glance in Buffy’s direction. "You pay him?"

"Pay is really the wrong word," Buffy laughed nervously. "Really, it’s more like giving. Generously giving."

"So, your relationship with the Slayer…"

"Relationship?! There’s no relationship!" Spike shouted, cutting off the Watcher. "I hate her, she hates me…there’s not-nothing but hate there. And I don’t mean just your general dislike, real, strong hate! The grr…I want her dead type thing, nothing more, mate!"

"Is strictly as a paid informant?" The Watcher finished.

"Oh, right," Spike nodded, smiling a little. "Yeah, that’s right."

Damn Harmony…