Chapter 11

Spike patted down the last shovel full of earth with the back of it. The job had taken him nearly three hours to accomplish in its entirety. He'd first gathered up the majority of the dead birds to a corner of the yard, then dug a grave large enough and deep enough that Buffy and Dawn would never have to think about it again once grass had grown over it. After he'd filled the hole with the birds, he went around with a flashlight to be certain he got every last one. His vampire enhanced night vision was probably enough, but he wanted to make sure. Once the dirt covered the grave he pitched the shovel into the ground and stormed off. The work had been ugly, foul and had left him feeling too angry and repulsed to go back inside, lest he inflict his mood on either Dawn or Buffy.

Therefore he walked the streets in order to gather his thoughts. It felt wrong to leave the two of them alone, but after what he'd just spent the last three hours doing, not to mention the fear he was feeling himself, he needed to blow off steam before going back inside. He stalked down the streets of mid-evening Sunnydale, a freshly lit cigarette hanging from his lips to which he gave long inhales just to feel the intense prickle of the chemicals in his lungs. The urge to punch and beat on someone faded as left the neighborhood and entered his cemetery, something about the place made him feel normal again. He'd spent the majority of his time in this one place over the past few years. It felt familiar, safe, where definable, well known enemies like demons and vampires roamed, things he knew how to kill.

He had another purpose to his walk, Dawn had given him directions to where Tara had been laid to rest. The knowledge that the Wiccan was no longer in with them weighed as heavily upon his heart as the threat against Buffy did. He felt he'd had a kinship with the girl, they'd both come into the fold as outsiders, they were both beautifully strange and vice versa in their own ways. After Buffy had died, Tara had been the only one who would listen to his lamentations and grief and believed it to be genuine. Then after Buffy's resurrection Tara had been the only one to give him the time of day. He considered her a friend and he missed her terribly. As he walked between the tombstones he'd gathered the nicest flowers he could find, it wasn't much, but the sentiment behind it was real. He placed the bouquet on her grave and brushed a few leaves from the grave marker.

"Ever wonder what it's all about, love?" Spike asked as he stood before her,"Why some of us get to go on while others check out early. See, I figure that everything happens in this world for a reason, I know you did too. I died about a hundred and twenty something years ago, but I'm still here, I'm not the same person who died, but I'm still me. So, I figure you are too, you're still here, you're not the Tara we all knew just like I'm not the same William.....but you're still you. I know you loved us all, even I felt some of it and truth be know, pet, you helped me a whole lot to change. I think I'm good now, not sure, but I love Buffy and I love Dawn and I want them to trust me and be proud of me, so that means I don't hurt people, I protect them......and the wanting to do it is there now, doing it for myself as much as the rest of 'em. If I know you like I think I do, you're patting me on the back as we speak.

Now, if it's all the same to you, love, I'd like to take a moment to.....to....I guess just to say m'sorry I went away when I did, maybe I could have gotten it right this time n' saved you, stopped Willow from goin' off...but like I said, things happen for a reason. I know it's selfish to think this, but just maybe you're in a position now to help us n' that's why you had to die. Whatever you can do....please send us a sign, girl, anything...please help us 'cause we're at our wit's end......and I'm scared, I'm so scared.....I can't lose her again.....I beg...no, just....just be well, wherever you are.....loved you, sweet girl."

***

Spike walked back inside the Revello Drive home to complete silence. All of the lights upstairs were out upstairs and that first gave him cause for concern, but when he came through the front door he was immediately drawn to Buffy, who was waiting for him on the couch. He threw off his coat and came over to her, sitting down next her. Without a second thought they were kissing madly, tongues thrashing each other's like vipers. Buffy ran her hands down his back and under his belt into his jeans, giving his rear a squeeze and making him growl into her mouth. She pulled his shirt out from his pants and fought to pull it off him. They reluctantly broke off their kiss to get his shirt off but as Spike went for her mouth, but Buffy had other ideas. She pushed him over and dragged her tongue down his chest then sucked on his nipple while grabbing for the hardness at his crotch.

"Christ......Buffy......" She eased up on him and went to task at unbuckling his belt, but he stayed her hands hand held them above her head. He settled his weight down on her gently, letting the fervor die down,"Buffy....what's the matter?"

"Why would you think something's wrong? I want you..."

"I know something's wrong.....you can't hide, not from me..."

"Come on, Spike....I know you want me too....I can feel it...." She bucked her hips against him and tried to kiss him again, but he stopped her.

"You're running scared again....just like last time.....this is the old Buffy, the Buffy that was scared and hurt and not coping with getting yanked out of Heaven by her friends, the Buffy that used me for sex to dull her pain."

"But I love you..."

"I know you do and I love you...." He released her wrists but she made no effort to move, furthermore she couldn't avoid the tenderness and understanding in his eyes.

"I was sitting here alone, waiting for you to come home after Dawn went to sleep...and I, I was imagining all sorts of terrible things, like what he might do to me if he got another chance. Both times I didn't even know it was happening, what if he....what if he..."

"You don't have to say it..."

"When I was young, when I was going up against the Master I wasn't this scared...huh, then there was you of course, Big Bad...." They shared a knowing smile, Spike could feel the tension leaving her body already,"With Angelus it hurt like hell, but I was still strong, the Mayor, then Glory....but this time I'm so scared I can't even find hope or faith in myself to face it. Spike I feel like I'm just waiting here for him to take me and it's making me crazy. Then you can in here and touched me....just make me forget for a little while......I don't want to run and hide, but I can't help it."

"I wish I had the answers you need, sweetheart, but I don't. There's nothing out there about him, I checked with every contact I could think of. I hate to say it, 'cause I'm supposed to be strong for you....but I'm bloody terrified, this isn't something I can tear apart with m'bare hands and it makes me angry. But I can tell you that you're not alone, that I'm by your side or I'm dust....I want you to run and hide too and I can't help it either."

"I have a solution."

"What's that, pet?"

"We don't run....we don't hide...we fight him...."

"Sounds like a plan, Slayer....but what about the rest of tonight?"

"Tonight...we make love."

"Can I be the caveman?"

"As long as you don't konk me on the head with a club and drag me by my hair back to your cave!"

"Just the ravishment then? No problem."

"Thank you.....thank you for you."

"Right back at you."

Chapter 12

The next morning Buffy came downstairs a little later than she'd intended to, she wanted to see Dawn off to school, but when Spike had tried to rouse her she'd swatted his hand away and mumbled into the pillow about not wanting to do anything by sleep. She found him sitting in an arm chair with a mug of what no doubt pig's blood, puzzled that he'd somehow managed to find time to get some. She yawned and haphazardly roamed into the living room. She pushed the book aside that he held in his hand and flopped herself down on his lap,"Good morning to you Slayer, sleep well?" he asked casually, returning to the interest of the book and taking a sip from his mug.

"Where did the blood come from?"

"Clem, he obliged me by dropping some off earlier. Good chap that Clement." She flung her legs over the arm of the chair and relaxed her small body against his and sighing.

"I slept very well....best remedy for major wigguns attacks....hours of orgasms with undead lover."

"Tried, tested and true, my pet."

"What are you reading?"

"John Milton....felt like something light."

"Never read him...Dawn get off to school okay?"

"No worries....no corpses along the walk way if that's what you're thinking. She didn't want to go, but after yesterday I thought the change of atmosphere would do her some good, truth be know I think she wanted out of here."

"Can't say as I blame her, I think I've got a little cabin fever myself....but going out seems scarier...still the sun might feel nice, it's been a while since I've been out in it."

"Love to join you....but I don't think they make suntan lotion with an SPF of fifty billion. Incidentally, have you noted the confusion that is your outfit? You've got on a smashing pair of rather short cutoffs on, topped by a heavy woolen turtle neck."

"I don't want to see it....don't want to be reminded, I thought about trying to burn it off the the curling iron...." Spike put his book and mug down and forced her to look at him.

"Don't talk like that, I don't like it, scares the bloody hell out of me to hear you talk about hurting yourself...thought we worked this out last night?" She pulled off her sweater to the tank top underneath and pushed her hair behind her ears.

"We did, I'm sorry....does it look any different?"

"No, don't think so....can you feel it? Does it bother you?"

"Yeah, it bothers me, but no it doesn't twitch or anything...I think I'm warming to the SPIKE's tattoo idea." Spike chuckled and kissed her cheek,"What's on the agenda for today?"

"Mmm....thought we'd give the Watcher a call, get him off his arse n' have him research, see if he can get a better lead. Then of course lay down the factoid that we're lovers."

"Probably a good idea....the research part."

"Then of course.....more orgasms with the undead."

"Oh goody..." Spike and Buffy's both stared with lust at each other when a demanding knock came to the front door, turning the look to one of disbelief. Buffy got off of Spike's lap and they went together to answer it. An even more unexpected sight greeted them, there on the porch was what appeared to be, of all things, a Rabbi. He was on the late side of middle-aged, dressed in the traditional style, also with a leather sachet slung over his shoulder.

"Hello...is this the correct address for a Miss Willow Rosenberg?"

"Um....ye..yes....but she's....she's away at the moment," Buffy quickly explained, at a loss at coming up with a more detailed explanation."Can we help you?"

"It's a bit funny, actually, I really didn't have any intention of coming so far out of my way....but I knew how important the information I had for her was, so here I am....what can I say? I admire such studious young people."

"Would you like to come in? I can make coffee."

"Certainly....thank you, that would be delightful. I'm Rabbi Ezra Rubenstein. From New York City."

"Buffy Summers....and this is Spike..." The Rabbi tipped his hat to them and walked inside. As the Rabbi walked past them Buffy gave Spike a questioning look, wondering what this might lead to, but he merely shrugged his shoulders. As Buffy went into the kitchen to make the coffee she'd offered, Spike played host. They sat opposite each other in the living room, a bit of an uncomfortable silence hanging between them.

"So....Rubes...how's the Rabbi thing workin' out for yah?" said Spike with little tact. However, the Rabbi smiled at the vampire and eased into the conversation.

"You know, in college that's what they used to call me, either that or Ruby....as if Ezra wasn't a perfectly good name....but you can call me Rubes. The Rabbi thing is going well, er....Spike...guess you're one for nick names too?"

"Yeah....not too many kids out there called Spike I suppose..." Buffy joined them with a tray and sat next to Rabbi Rubenstein on the couch.

"Well, I'm disappoint I missed Willow, but to be fair she didn't know I was coming. She'd put in a request with our archives in New York City some weeks ago and it often takes as long to retrieve and copy....we're not digital yet. The information she requested is for a comparative thesis she was writing for a theology course next semester, she wanted to get a head start. It sounded very interesting from my point of view, I love it when the conceptual pot gets stirred. The Concept of Guardian Angels in Neo-Religions I seem to recall was the premise, she was going to focus on the older ways that have been reinterpreted in modern times...Wicca, Cabalism and the like, she promised to send me a copy."

"Guardian angels? I could certainly use one of those..." Buffy spoke under her breath. The rabbi dug into his satchel and brought out a file folder that was overflowing with pages, it had several elastic bands around it, trying to keep it together.

"Sorry for the mess, but she asked for so much information......unfortunately we could send her the original volume, it's too valuable you understand...but I managed to get permission to bring it along with me so she could see it...." He went into his bag once more and brought out an obviously ancient leather bound book. It was as large as a dictionary and just as thick, how he managed to stuff it into the leather suitcase was a wonder in and of itself."This is actually a medieval replica of a much much older book, the original is sealed in a vault in Jerusalem. A complete guide to all things angelic, more or less....it's amassed volumes of Essene and Cabalist writings, apocrypha, pseudepigrapha...even a few Islamic and also Christian volumes, Dionysian Hierarchy of Angels and such...." He passed the book to Buffy and she wasn't surprised that it practically weighed as much as an anvil.

Spike watched with only mild interest until he felt a change wash over Buffy, she was stone again, like she'd been in the alley."Buff? Buffy, love?" he asked, glancing for a second at teh rabbi who also seemed to have noticed.

"Spike.....look," she replied, holding the cover up for him to see. Imprinted into the leather across the top and bottom were a series of symbols, one of which was the same as the mark on Buffy's neck.

Chapter 13

"Is something the matter?" the Rabbi asked. Spike got up from his chair and sat close next to Buffy. He pulled her hair back and tilted her neck.

"Look at this, Rubes, what can you tell us?" Spike asked. The Rabbi leaned in and scrutinized the mark.

"Fascinating...."

"I don't care how bloody fascinating it is! What does it mean?"

"It's angelic script....thousands of years old....it's an angel's symbol. Lore dictates that when God creates an angel he tattoos it with it's own distinct mark....but how did it come to be on you?" Buffy covered the mark with her hand and cast her eyes down while Spike took the book from her and handed it to the Rabbi. He put his hand over Buffy's and kissed her temple.

"A couple of nights ago we were at a club, Buffy got out of my sight for a while n' I went lookin'. I found her outside, out of it and dazed and some crazy bloke was touchin' her....thought I scared him off, but he came at her again another night. The mark appeared after the first time...so, what I'm wonderin' here, mate, is if its an angel puttin' his mark on her what the bloody hell does it mean?"

"An angel?" Buffy questioned,"I though angels were supposed to be good...like Valentines and Christmas...not creepy and predatory..."

"I'm afraid angels are very misunderstood in these modern times, Buffy," Rubenstein began,"Even now in heaven there were angels carrying savage weapons. That's a quote from the Old Testament....have you ever noticed, in the Torah, or the Bible...whenever God needed to punish or kill someone he sent an angel? If you can...imagine what a creature like that must be like? Loving and serving your God, proclaiming prophecies and coming messiahs.....but always with one wing dipped in blood. Angels aren't chubby babies with small wings, or beautiful girls with halos and harps. They are warriors, guardians, they are the servants of God....they are men-like, with human qualities, but they should never be mistaken as humans, they're not, they do not have souls...they are pure, so to speak. The concept of souls is another tangent altogether, but consider this analogy...the body of an angel is like water...take the body of an angel and pour a soul into it become human and like milk......you can take the analogy further....mythological figures like vampire - it's like then pouring ink into the milk...."

"Not to snuff out your metaphor there, Rubes....but this blighter's after my girl and we need to stop it!" Spike interrupted.

"Stop it? I doubt that you could...I don't really know....this isn't something that most people would even believe..."

"Bloody hell...."

"I'm sorry, but I'm out of my league...I'm really just an historian..."

"Wouldn't the book tell you anything...it's got the bloody symbol on it....must be something in there." Rubenstein nodded and opened the heavy thing, thumbing through the pages. Spike watched over Buffy's shoulder for any sort of glimpse, but Buffy was reserved, too quiet for Spike's liking. But he knew she had at least not detached herself from the situation when her hand moved over his knee and gave him a reassuring squeeze."Ah......here we go....the angel is not named...but the symbol is one among many for common angels. There's a long adopted hierarchy in heaven Orders of Angels.....the highest and closest to God are Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels and lastly Angels....it's the last that are the closest to humans, they ministrate to us.....like the ones I talked about before...announcing prophecies, punishing, killing.....guardian angels too...."

"This one isn't a guardian angel, that's for damn sure....more like a bloody pervert tryin' to mack on my girlfriend!"

"Well......nice choice of words there.....that stands to reason, in the past angels have taken human women....begat children from them, called Nephilim....but, the stories, too gruesome for me to read more than once..."

"Gruesome?" Buffy asked, her voice breaking.

"The women would be driven insane by what they carried in their wombs, some tore themselves apart to get them out...the children, the Nephilim were incredible beings, the power of an angel, but the free will and soul of a human being. Some tales tell that they were giants and actually burst forth from their mothers....I rather not explain any further....I really should be going...." The Rabbi hurriedly gathered up his things, stashing away the book back in the satchel, then make a break for the door.

"Now wait one bloody minute!" Spike hollered, grabbing his arm and preventing him from leaving."You don't just lay the big doom on us then bolt outta here like some half hearted wanker...."

"What you're involved in...it can only mean terror and chaos....your world frightens me and I beg you not to make me a part of it!"

"Spike, let him go, there's nothing he can do..." Buffy advised and Spike released his hold. The Rabbi looked at both of them and spoke again.

"If the fallen one comes to you....send him on his way, don't make any deals...you'll lose in the end, lose your souls...."

Chapter 14

Rabbi Rubenstein rushed from the Summers home like it was one fire, probably praying from Noah to Moses and back again. Spike growled and slammed the front door,"Bloody coward! Stupid bloody half pricked git! I'll say one thing for Giles, he might be all bookish like Rubes there but he's not a yellow striped pillock!" He looked skyward, made his hands into claw and snarled like a tiger for fresh meat.

"Calm down...now isn't the time to go all psycho! What's next? Gonna start breaking up my furniture?" Buffy shouted back at him before she herself kicked over the coffee table as well as the tray with the coffee pot, sugar and milk, creating a terrible mess on the carpet,"Damn!"

"Love, I'm sorry....." he apologized, coming over to help her, but she pushed him away. He walked off, but returned quickly with towels from the kitchen to help soak up the liquid from the carpet,"I didn't mean to go off like that, love, didn't mean to upset you."

"It's okay," she whispered, sniffling as a few tears trickled down her cheeks,"At least you can find something to get angry at, all I can seem to do is just try to hang on." He set the table right, then put the mugs and such back on the tray. He took her by the hands and made her stand up, she looked at him for a moment, trying to judge his intent. Suddenly she found herself swept off her feet and spun around."Spike! What are you doing?!" He flew back and landed with a mighty foom and rush of wind into the arm chair he'd previously occupied. Buffy was laughing and hugging him without doing it consciously and didn't quite until she saw Spike looking at her.

"There she is." He beamed, his classic cheekbones high and sharp with a smile that put all others to shame.

"There's who?" She was overcome by him, whoever said he didn't have an inner light had never seen him stripped down to just when he was only a man in love.

"The fiery, beautiful girl that can smile one second and then less than a second later have a stake to my heart, same fire in her eyes, same beauty.....but twice as much strength. What it means to be a Slayer is that you will be cut down time and time again, but when your down to nothing 'cept blood n' bones you're still standing, you're never backing down. You might not think you're there right now, or when you're crying in my arms, but I promise you it never goes away - your strength, your inner fire....you never lost it....it's always there, I swear it. Do you remember our first fight?"

"The high school....parent/teacher night..."

"That's right...I won that fight."

"Did not!"

"Fine, your mum won that fight...love your mum, I do....anyways, I knew it even back then that you were different from them all, more like the bird I had a tousle with in Africa than any of the others...it's no wonder Heaven wants to get it's hooks back into you, no wonder hell keeps coming for you....but I know something neither one of 'em do."

"And what's that?"

"That you belong to none of them....."

"I belong to you."

"Nah....even I can't lay claim.....you belong to yourself....my point is, and I did have a point when I started on this rant, pet, is that Buffy Summers is gonna win."

"All that poetic St. Crispiny type speech to end with Buffy's gonna win?"

"Do you know you ge the exact same sparkle in your eyes when you punch me as when you climax?"

"Spike!"

"Gets me hard as a rock every bloody time...."

"Spike, what are we going to do?" She'd come serious again, Spike sighed, his attempt at relieving her stress had worked, if only for a short time. She curled against him, her arms wrapping themselves around his shoulders, and her knees drew up against his chest. He caressed her bare legs, smooth as satin, her warmth tempering his slow, cool hand. She nestled her face against his neck and dropped little gossamer light kisses over his throat.

"I wish I knew, love. At least we've got a few answers, we're not pawing around in the dark - so now we look over the stuff he's left for Willow, see if we can learn anything, like how to kill the buggar or how to get out out of his thrall."

"We should have asked him about Dawn and why she can see him differently, why he was afraid her...."

"Don't think he would've known, pet, he might have a good brain for the religious stuff, but I'm in doubt he'd have a clue about our nibblet."

"I think I might have come back wrong after all....I don't inspire love, I inspire obsession. What kind of thing am I if I inspire an angel to to stalk me like I'm his prey? The things the Rabbi said.....about the Nephilim, makes my blood run cold."

"You're forgetting something, my sweet love, you also inspired a demon to go against he natural born ways...turn him into the light.....turn him from a killer to a good, kind man that does love you, that will fight for you...you're not wrong, a little quirky maybe......but not wrong."

"I don't know much about God....but I know one thing....if he sent you to me, I can never thank him enough...."

"Best no bring the Almighty into this...I'm a little peeved at him for not wrangling his herd proper....thank the Goddess, always like her better anyways....whilst your at it, thank Buddha too.....or Shiva, yeah, maybe Shiva's responsible....."

"You're incorrigible."

"And you....so....beautiful....."

"Orgasms with the undead time?"

"Bet your sweet ass it is....."

Chapter 15

"But Buffy...." Spike pouted, fluffing up the quilt of the bed, trying to lure her back into its comfort and warmth,"We've got at least an hour before she comes home. Sometimes I'm rather unfond of your steely Slayer resolve."

"Spike we were supposed to try and figure out the angel thing, go through the Rabbi's notes....instead we wasted the day away shagging like wild animals..."

"Wouldn't say wasted..."

"No...not wasted....but we don't have time to just....escape like that..." She located the shirt she wanted to wear and slipped it over her bra, straightening her outfit,"And now that we've made Orgasms with the Undead an Olympic sport I think we need to focus.....mind you every time I think about focus.....I'm really just thinking about that ninety-six thing...."

"Sixty-nine....pet....it's called....nevermind...you sure you want to go out alone? You're not nervous? I don't think he's like a vamp....aversion to sunlight, angels probably love it...you think you should be alone at a time like this? I can't come with."

"It's only a short walk to the school, I want to meet Dawn and walk home with her, and it's like you said...I belong to no one, except maybe you."

"But I don't own you and I don't control you...take a weapon, put my mind at ease."

"Don't angels usually carry flaming swords? Don't think I've got one of those in the weapons chest."

"Well, in a pinch a good set of lungs would do you good, draw attention to yourself. Hurry home, I'll worry if you're not back by 3:30. I'll sort through the notes from the Rabbi whilst you're gone." She came back over and next to him on the bed, she ran her hand over the bare muscles of his chest then leaned in to kiss him, one long, still kiss.

"I love you."

"Love you too, pet, hurry home."

***

"Buffy!" Dawn shouted as she spied her sister a few dozen yards away, then went running to her. The hugged briefly, then turned, arms linked, towards home,"Can I ask why you're here? Did you have a good day?"

"I had mostly great day..." Dawn snickered at the look of contentment on Buffy's face.

"I'll say.....you and Spike alone....the mind boggles."

"True, that is where great part of the day came from.....but we found something out, we know what we're up against...."

"It's an angel...isn't it?" Buffy's steps halted and she turned, eyes wide with shock to her sister.

"How did you.....Dawn? How did you know..."

"Because he just whispered it to me...."

"Who..." Buffy's voice hitched her her throat when she noticed that someone was watching them from across the street. It was a tall man, clothed in a dark suit, with flowing blond hair and a nose like an eagle. He started across traffic, the cars passing through him as if he wasn't even matter, but solely spirit."We have to get out of here!"

"No...Buffy wait....he's not here to hurt us....I can hear him in my head, he wants to talk about it...he's not like the other one..."

"What do you see when you look at me?" he asked aloud, standing a good ten paces back from them.

"You're like the other one....bathed in light, white....you look peaceful...but you don't look harmless." Dawn replied, taking hold of Buffy's hand."What do I look like?"

"Energy...he used something like you when he formed the world....you're very old and powerful and it because of this that I intercede, you deserve respect and an explanation."

"Are you going to tell me what's been stalking me?" Buffy asked, finding the courage Spike told her she had.

"His name is Xuxael, he is the Guardian of the Watchtower at the Gates of Ithelian. By this I mean that off all the brethren in Heaven he alone was set apart from the rest, commanded to oversee the flow of souls into Eternity. He had welcomed Slayers before, thousands over the eons, but when you passed he beheld someone that stirred a longing in him that had slept since the Creation. You, you alone above all others were prized and he left his post in pursuit of his precious," spoke the angel, with all the tomes and portents the word of Heaven could convey."I am named Uriel and I stand closest to the High, as the prisidor over the order of the Seraphim. I am the Chief Gatekeeper, the first to stand at the Gates of Eden and the one chosen to select the guardians who would stand at each Gate into Heaven. It is I alone who bare the shame of Xuxael, my once loved brother. His defiance and fall from grace is a blight on me sure as the slice of Michael's blade. But he is beyond my reach now, here on Earth I cannot touch him."

"So you're telling me I'm on my own?"

"Once an angel is fallen he can only be brought back unto the fold by the hand of the High himself. There is no more to tell you." Buffy huffed out a breath and rolled her eyes, her jaw tense and tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

"Fine. How do I kill him?"

"You would dare to challenge one of us?"

"I can and I will, if he comes near my sister, my boyfriend or me again I will kill him.....you at least tell me how, you owe me that." The angel's expression was as stoic as ever, not giving away a spec of emotion. The silence hung in the air like the last breath out of a dying man.

"Remove the heart."

"That's it? Just reach on in and rip it out and that's the end?"

"As one of Heaven's legion, I stood with my brothers and watched Lucifer fall. We bore witness to him being cast out, and then rise again with a power greater than what he had at the throne's side. Xuxael leapt of his own will, defied the one who made him, this is an imbalance and anamoly....Heaven does not know how to fix it.....there will never be an end."

Chapter 16

"What about the trance thingies Willow and Tara always used to do, you've done them before, you can help me set it up!" Dawn suggested as she and Buffy neared home,"It's gotta be worth a try...all the clues are falling into place and I'm the last one, I gotta be!"

Buffy considered Dawn's idea, but her mind kept hearkening back to moments before when they'd stood in the presence of an angel. Uriel, he'd said his name was, Uriel who was still a messenger and servant of Heaven, unlike the one who was after her. An angel had leapt from Heaven, given up the love of his creator and all for her. The sick and obsessive tone of his sacrifice made Buffy feel ill herself, as did the thought of pulling his heart from his chest. This wasn't like facing her usual fare of evil creatures, this one possessed a power different and older than even Glory's. Of course the best antidote to all of her tangled emotions would be the embrace of her lover, her vampire. But it wouldn't matter how many hours he made love to her, the angel would still have to be dealt with. Problem being of course that it seemed to be able to toss Spike clear across a room with barely a flick of the wrist, it also was able to render Buffy helpless and catatonic, and she was more than hesitant to have Dawn be put in harm's way simply because she seemed to have a connection to the angels.

"Buffy, are you listening to me?"

"Huh? What? Oh....yes....Dawn, you can do the trance, I don't doubt....but it doesn't change the fact that I'm not putting you on the front line......have we forgotten about Glory?"

"Glory was different and you know it! Come on, I'm 16 here.....you were already full on Slayer by this age, and it's not like I'm a newbie to all the danger stuff....can I at least do the trance....see if I can find anything out? Tara's taught me all sorts of stuff, I already know what to do....protective shields and everything. OOOoooo.......Spike looks pissed!!" Buffy followed her sister's gaze over to the vampire that leaned in the doorframe of the open front door to the house. He was staring at them with a most heinous scowl on his face, sucking on a cigarette. He had his duster on and a blanket at his feet, obviously contemplating whether or not to chance combustion to go look for them. Before they'd reached the front door he'd kicked the blanket back inside and left his coat on the floor, stalking back inside."I'm gonna go upstairs.....get together what I need..."

"K'....call me when you're ready...." Buffy watched her sister go up the stairs before crouching down and picking up Spike's coat. She never took stock before of how heavy all that leather really was. She hung it on the coat rack and stepped down into the living room. The place was in absolute disarray. The pages from the folder were scattered everywhere, pages of his own notes on top of them, it looked as if even a mug of blood had been accidentally knocked over and spilled on the carpet where the coffee had been."Guess we should think about an area rug, huh?"

"Don't make light of it...." he spoke seriously, quietly.

"What? The stains on the rug? Honey, I don't think we're gonna get blood and coffee out...."

"It's damn near four o'clock Buffy!" he shouted. Buffy stepped around the masses of paper until she stood close enough to cup the side of his face with her hand. He leaned into her palm like a cat looking for a fierce caress."It's almost four o'clock...." he whispered. She moved her hand behind his head and pulled him down for a kiss, albeit a brief one,"I was about to go looking....."

"You shouldn't even think about going outside during the day, I'm seriously gonna have to curb you of that impulse."

"I thought something had happened to you."

"Something did....is there anything in the mess about and angel named Uriel?"

"Why? Did.....oh my god.....did...."

"He's what delayed us....long enough to say, sorry 'bout that whole angel stalking you thing, our bad, but shucks honey, you're on your own.'"

"That's it? Just dropped down from on high to quip sorry we're fucking you over?"

"He told me the angel's name was Xuxael and that he was the angel that stood at the gates of Heaven to welcome in the new souls. I figure when I was in Heaven I was safe and he could admire me from afar.....then when Willow brought me back....I was out of his reach...so he fell to Earth to come after me....and now he's here."

"Xuxael? Sounds like a git, don't suppose Uriel though to lend you his flamin' sword eh?"

"'Fraid not.....but he did share one thing....if we want to kill him we have to take out his heart."

"Probably easier said than done right....so far, love, both you n' I have proved to be pretty piss poor at getting to him."

"But Dawn hasn't....that worries me, what if she's the only one who stands a chance, I can't put her in danger like that! On the other hand, what else can we do? She wants to try out some of the trances Tara taught her, trying and figure out how her being the Key makes these guys all respectful and fearful...."

"I don't like it either, love, but what else can we do?

"Buffy? Spike? Come upstairs! Let's get this show on the road!" Dawn hollered.

Chapter 17

It had taken Dawn a few hours in actuality to finally induce herself to a meditative state, at which point a shield of impenetrable protection sealed her in her place and state until the time would come for her to receive the answers to her questions. This left Buffy and Spike for once on the outside of the fray. They'd been unable to find anything particularly useful on the subject of Uriel and at length found themselves sitting across from each other over the pile of papers in the unkempt living room in an uncomfortable silence. Buffy sighed and looked over the mess, then focused for a moment on Spike's hands resting on his stomach, fingers drumming on the toned muscles. She gnawed on her thumbnail casually, unaware she was even doing it.

He was staring at the ceiling, remembering and laughing on the inside at Drusilla naming all the stars one time whilst doing the very same thing. He too sighed and shifted in the arm chair, crossing his legs then letting his eyes wander to the coy young thing on the other side of the room. The caught each other's stare unexpectantly, flickers of understanding passing between them then simultaneous they leapt to their feet and ran for the stairs. They crashed through Buffy's bedroom door and tripped over each other, Spike landing underneath and Buffy ending up with her breasts mashed to his face. Just as Spike began to work his mouth over the still clothed mounds of supple flesh, she was off him, leaving one very put out vampire.

"Sllllayyyyyyer...." he growled in a hoarse whisper.

"Lose the seduction....get undressed!" she ordered, stripping clumsily out of her own clothes as fast as her lust fevered person could manage. She let out a cry of frustration when she couldn't manage to unclasp her bra and stomped her feet as she fought with it. Spike crawled over to her and kneeled at her feet, reaching up to take her hands in his, pushing them aside, then helping her off with the garment.

"I think I'd like us to take it slow, pet....nice and slow...."

"But...."

"Ah ah....let Spike take care of his sweet Slayer..." Drunk with desire Spike cupped her breasts with his hands and raised his hungry mouth to the soft tips, making them strained and erect with the swirling of his tongue around them along with a few nips with his teeth and the occasional drawn out suck. Buffy let her head fall haplessly back as she began to gasp and moan at the attention he as giving her heat engorged breasts. She held his shoulders as he continued to please her until he began to trail down her torso with his slick lips. He unzipped the front of her pants and pulled the fabric down over her hips. He then hooked his little fingers under the straps of her tiny panties before pulling them too to her ankles. She stepped out of her discarded clothes and he pushed them away."Move your legs apart a little." She did as he asked, feeling like her spine had been taken out, anticipating what she hoped was coming next. He placed his own hands on her hips and guided her pelvis to his eager mouth.

He began slowly by placing slight kisses over her thighs and brushing her soft curls with his nose. Buffy couldn't help but cry out at the first sensation of his tongue contacting with her increasingly wet center. With long deep stroke Spike brought her ever closer to climax. Just as he felt her quiver with the beginnings of an orgasm he broke himself away from the divine taste of her and got to his feet. She whimpered when he stopped, denying her when she was so close. He took her chin in between his thumb and forefinger and locked his gaze with her delirious eyes."Spike....spike....spike..."

"Love it when you say my name like that.....all lusty and hot....like you're about to explode in technicolor screams...."

"Spike....."

"Heh.....made you forget the English language did I? Damn I'm good.....ooooohh.....aaah!" Buffy had had enough of his posturing and had grasped the bulge in his pants and given it a twist. She relented when he dug his fingers into her shoulders.

"You want to play games, William?"

"Hey now, love, no need to use the formal name....we'll both get our cookies frosted.....can't do that unless you release the Spike......gentle like, mustn't bruise the Spike, those hands can crush more than a man's heart, love...." She smirked at him, bit her lip and shook her head in amusement at him. Her hands moved to the waist of his pants, popping the first button, then sliding the zipper down slowly. She reached delicately inside with her hands, certain not to crush or bruise and took hold of his hardening length. She kissed his neck, mimicking the sucking of a vamptress while her warm hands worked him back and forth with skillful strokes. When she was sufficiently satisfied he was ready for her, she released him and helped him out of his clothes, whipping off his shirt, pushing down his pants. They backed towards the bed, Spike falling on his back and Buffy slinking up his body like a cat stalking her prey in the jungle. Her tongue lashed over the engorged tip of his erection, then she ran it between her breasts and down her torso until she was poised over him.

Watching her descend slowly upon him, taking inch by inch inside her, Spike shuddered and groaned with a million sensations surging through him from their joined centers to the rest of his body. When she'd gone as low as he thought she could go, her legs went wide on either side of him and both were jolted with electric shocks of ecstasy as she took just a little bit more of him. He bent himself back up to her, holding on to her upper arms and crooking his head just so, watching her watch him, their eyes unwavering. Any shift or movement between them elicited a tiny gasp from Buffy, and a groan from Spike. She ran her hands over her his smooth pecs, but they were marked with scars and lines, the remnants of their previous couplings. She held on to his shoulders and began to slowly move on top of him, just enough to create a rising friction, but determined not to lose any of the fullness she coveted when he was inside her.

"A thousand years will never be enough time with you....my beautiful Slayer...." he whispered.

"Let me see your other face...." she said back, the request taking him very much by surprise,"Do this for me...." He complied, the demon gold chasing away the lucid blue, his teeth becoming gnarled and sharp with fangs, and his brow was contorted and fierce like the animal he sometimes could be. She ran her fingers delicately over the ridges on his face, her tongue across the fangs, then looked him in the eyes again.

"Buffy?"

"I love my vampire...I love you like this as much as the other...I wanted you to know that....I want you to believe that I love everything that is you...." She closed her eyes and bared her neck to him, he understood what she meant by the action, but not until she guided him down to her neck did he truly believe it. He kissed at the artery, the beat of her heart pumping the intoxicating elixir straight to his chalice. He made certain to avoid the angel's mark, the sight of it making him ache somewhere deep inside."Spike.....do it...."

"Shhhhh.....not yet, my pet....all in good time...when you come....then......" he spoke softly in her ear, then slid his hand down between their conjoined bodies. Slipping between them, he explored and found the protrusion that was her clit, it was hard and soaked and begging for his touch. She cried out when his thumb struck it, then she moaned over and over with his apt stroking of it. He whispered naughty little words behind her ear, as he nipped and licked the lobe.

Buffy heard a feral growl come from deep in his throat and took it as merely one of passion, unaware that in actuality it was a predatory one. She lost herself in the rapture of him, but Spike's attentions were elsewhere. He knew they were being watched the second the angel appeared outside her window, perched in the tree like a crow watching its would be carrion in death throws. Xuxael and Spike had locked eyes, demon versus angel. Spike didn't know or care why his enemy only sat and watched, obviously in morbid fascination at he and Buffy going at it. It served only to heighten Spike's arousal, the ambition to once and for all claim Buffy as his.

He flipped Buffy on to her back, falling on top of her and taking her with long, urgent strokes as she writhed and thrashed beneath him. Spike grabbed her at her knees and push her thighs as far apart as she could bear, allowing for a deeper penetration, but also to be sure and give the angel a full view of what Spike had and he never would. Buffy was little more than a conductor of pure sexual energy , her body screaming for release and her soul lost in the passion of the beautiful beast on top of her. However Buffy wasn't one to simply take it, as Spike seemed to have forgotten. Being marginally stronger than him, Buffy grabbed his ass and held him to her. Spike's attention was returned to Buffy when she flexed her inner muscles around him over and over. She had a wicked smile painted on her face and every pulse she made was a shot of adrenaline into her lover. Spike moved slowly now, curving his shaft against the sweet spot inside her, then lay his weight down on her and brushed his fangs over the skin of her throat as a precursor to their orgasms.

Almost simultaneously their breaking points came, Buffy climaxing first which compelled Spike to release a mighty wash of cool liquid. At that moment he roared and sunk his fangs into her neck. As he breached her skin and began supping on her blood, both their orgasms were compounded and expanded, unlikely to cease for a long time to come. Xuxael was gone.

Chapter 18

Buffy had laid awake long after Spike had collapsed into slumber. She watched him sleep for the longest time, he looked sublime to her, especially considering that he'd drunk from her. She hadn't ever guessed it would be such an enlightening experience to have his fangs in her throat at the same time as his other instrument of penetration was deep inside her. It had been an enthralling rush she couldn't believe she denied herself of all this time. She'd given up the last of her fears over loving a vampire in that thrilling moment, and now felt stronger as the Slayer because of it. As he drank from her he'd somehow passed on some of his knowledge from the pilgrimage to Africa, the eternal connection between Slayers and vampires.

Buffy carefully left his side, pulling a house coat around her nude body for warmth as she padded across the hall and into the bathroom. She wanted to see what the marks his fangs had left looked like. Flipping on the light she craned her neck and tossed her hair behind her. Sure enough two red wounds, freshly closed, stood proud upon her. She examined them, fascinated and hypnotized by the stirrings the sight caused inside her. As she ran her fingers over them she gasped and saw how Xuxael's mark was gone, replaced by Spike's. If it was possible, her love for the vampire increased, it seemed that in this small way they'd suddenly gained the upper hand.

She wanted to rush back into the bedroom and shake him awake so he could see too, but she'd let him sleep, he'd earned the rest. Buffy, suddenly feeling quite euphoric and went downstairs in search of a drink, or perhaps something decadent in the form of fudge ripple ice cream. Searching through the fridge, nothing was jumping out at her as being particularly appetizing and she huffed in disappointment. It didn't register at first that there was someone outside on the back porch until he perched himself upon the wooden railing like a mad crow on a telephone wire. She was inexplicably compelled to open the door.

"Oh my god..." she whispered.

"God? God is love....I don't love you," the angel replied, the angel the Rabbi had warned her may come.

"Lucifer?"

"Indeed...I am the first angel, loved once above all others, a perfect love....but like all love, one day it withered on the vine. So, while you were taking a dirt nap Xuxael decided to get a little fresh with your soul? Yes? Hmmm? Then your friends knocked on the Pearly Gates and when someone wasn't watching their post they snatched you back into wormy earth for you to claw your way out of. Now he's acting like a stray dog come sniffing around your corners and you can't get rid of him."

"What do you want?"

"Nothing much....a nice home in the country, white picked fence, golden retriever....and your spinal nerves strung out like a tightrope for me to dance upon. Xuxael is defiant, Xuxael is arrogant.....that is evil and that makes it mine. Uriel and all his good intentions are worthless, yes? He'll do nothing for you......but I will....I want what's mine and I will take it happily."

"But you need my help? Is that it?"

"I need bait, and you with your succulent breasts and fragrant little quim are as ripe as roe in the sun..."

"Buffy! Get away from the door!" Spike snarled, running up behind her and grabbing her by the shoulders, dragging her almost to the other side of the room. Lucifer jumped down from his perch and leaned casually just outside, against the threshold.

"We we're just getting to know each other better....they don't make vampires like they used to, you're practically radiating with love and compassion, eats me up inside to see an apple roll so far down the hill when once it was red and juicy on the branch. Come home with me, I'll love you better than she ever will...."

"You're not wanted here, sod off!!"

"But I'm needed, aren't I Buffy? There's room in this universe for only one fallen angel, only one....and I know my place, if Xuxael isn't taken down and by down, I mean into my basement......he might make himself a life....take this strawberry for a wife and have her insides laid out by the fruit of his poisonous seed, maybe make himself another hell and that's one hell too many. You need me."

"What is that scares you so much about us that you need to prostrate yourself on a bloody alter with some bloody ruse? To help us? It's because you need us....you can't get him to come out of hiding without the Slayer. Well, mate, we don't want you....leave now." Lucifer laughed and clapped his hands at Spike.

"Very good. Very good indeed. You had me from start to finish. You can't make me leave...."

"But I can," Dawn's voice spoke as she appeared at her sister's side.

"Hey....I know you....you were at the party on the first Sunday...you wore green, am I right?" Dawn rolled her eyes and stalked towards the angel. As if he were little more than a door to door salesman she gave him shove and slammed the door shut.

"Geez....what a jerk."

Chapter 19

"Dawn!" Spike and Buffy exclaimed in unison at the teenager's audacity. She had a wide bright smile on her face and gave the couple an amused look as she clued in to what they'd obviously been doing whilst she was in her trance.

"Nice sheet Spike," Dawn flirted, making the vampire clutch the gathered material around his waist more firmly as well as making him self-conscious in front of her."And nice puncture wounds there Buffy.....gee I wonder what you two've been up to...."

"Dawn.....do realize who that was?" Buffy asked.

"Prince of Darkness, Satan, Beelzebub, the Devil, yadda, yadda, yadda....Lucifer, I know....not big."

"No big?! Dawn are you crackers?!"

"No, I'm a hammer....or a screwdriver, possibly a wrench, I'm not really sure....but I do belong in the cosmic toolbox."

"Hi...yeah, Dawn, sister dearest, I believe we're missing a large piece of the puzzle here, one that would help us comprehend the toolbox metaphor." Dawn giggled.

"Well, being as we're all up....I'm hungry, who wants to make me chocolate chip pancakes?"

"Dawn, it's 1am....."

"And the bit's hungry.....I'll make 'em, start talking, bite size."

"Spike...you might want to invest in some pants first...." Buffy suggested,"Not that the image of you being naked and domestic doesn't thrill me....but...."

"But she's afraid you might lose the sheet and shock me....please, I created the universe, I think I can handle the sight of your...." Dawn explained.

"Do not finish that sentence...," Buffy cut Dawn off,"I'll start the pancakes...Spike, can't believe I'm actually saying this....go put on some pants....." Spike sighed and went on upstairs, but not without giving Buffy another kiss."You....uh, didn't hear us did you? When we were....um..."

"No, I didn't...I mean, I probably would have if I wasn't in my trance thingie, but you guys don't have to worry, I'm a very well adjusted person....and I'm happy you're happy. The angel's mark is gone, I'm glad, it never should have been put on there in the first place....I like your new marks....very, uh.....primal? Is that the right word?"

"Not sure how things work with vampires....and....guess you could say mates....I think I've been claimed or something like that..."

"It's romantic, in it's own way....I think you're both really lucky...."

"Yeah, we are....Dawn??....."

"What?"

"I created the universe, I think I can handle the sight of your naked....???"

"I was gonna saw ass, but I could tolerate seeing his..."

"No, I meant the I created the universe part!"

"Who created the universe?" Spike asked, coming back from upstairs clad in his jeans, of which he neglected to do the top button up, instead letting them ride low on his hips. Buffy had herself a minute pleasure moment at the sight of his naked upper body, but then he took the pancake batter she'd been mixing from her and snapped her back to reality.

"I did," Dawn replied,"Well, not all by myself, like I was saying, toolbox....I was one of the tools used....Dawn Summers, My Life as an Instrument in the Creation of the Universe.....foreward by Oprah Winfrey...."

"I think you're going to have to suss this concept out for us a tad more there, lil' bit."

"Okay.....you guys know like the Big Bang theory? The universe exploded from a finitely minute point and out to the infinitely large thing it is now? Well, what did the universe explode into....there can't be nothing, right? Well that's where I'm from, the other side of the universe...I, green and glowing Key girl, or the concentrated energy that I was got harnessed and focussed along with a whole bunch of others and we kinda made the universe.....and now I'm 15 and hormonal, having chocolate chip pancakes with my sister and her undead boyfriend at 1am.....nothing personal, but that's a huge step down...."

"Be nice, bit, or I'll put blood in the batter. So, hand of God n' all that....way to be."

"It's not bad...I've got all kinds of influence and powers.....limited by the skin suit of course....you know, we could've avoided that whole Glory thing if I'd done the trance sooner."

"Now she tells me..." Buffy groaned, only half serious, before beginning to set three places at the island for their impromptu breakfast.

"So, what 'bout the big man upstairs then? Look like Laurence Olivier does he? White beard n' robes?" Spike asked, dropping batter into the frying pan."

"Olive who? God? Um....well....it's not exactly a he....or a she....just is....and it's not like I got the whole thing in technicolor. It's just an omnipresent sort of conscious....can't really be explained or defined. If it makes any sense, all religions are both right and wrong...but the angel thing's another deal altogether. Angels are just the same as demons....for every Glory there'a Uriel....there's all these dimensions and they all work together in the great big cog....it's kinda complicated. But the point is, we can take care of Xuxael the same way we take care of every other bad we've come up against...I think we'll be okay."

"Just like that?" Buffy asked.

"Yep......oh one more thing, I saw mom....she's really happy you two finally worked things out and it certainly took you long enough!"

***

"Your skin's so nice and cool...you're going to be extremely coveted this summer..." Buffy mused as she lay herself against Spike's body, back in bed for the remainder of the night and probably most of the morning.

"Tell you what, love, I'll stand in front of the open freezer before coming to bed..." he replied in a hazy whisper, chocolate chip pancakes sitting heavy in his stomach and exhaustion from their earlier activities reasserting itself. Buffy dotted kisses over his stomach and chest before settling her cheek against his breast and wrapping her arm around his torso.

"And in the winter I can make you warm...." Sleep crept over her too, she hadn't even been hungry and herself had consumed as much food as Dawn. Spike's hand ran over her back to rest low down, hugging her closer to him. As they wandered into each other's dreams a stillness and peace blanketed them. Their enemy may still lurk outside, but for the time being they were content and they were together.

Chapter 20

Red sky at night, sailor's delight; Red sky at dawn, sailors take warn, as the old adage went. When morning came to Sunnydale, the sky came alive in an angry, fiery red. Streaks of pinks and orange running through the reddened misty clouds like veins. The sun breached the cusp of the horizon and day had come. Two hours after sunrise, the rays crept over the front lawn of the Revello Drive home and surpassed the leaves of the tall oak that stood by Buffy's bedroom window. His skin smoked lightly, smoldering more like the embers of a dying fire than one that was just being ignited. Spike shook involuntarily in his sleep, unaware that portions of him were in direct sunlight.

His face was pressed next to Buffy's, their cheeks, lips, eyes within parallel to the other's, limbs possessively tangled with each other. When flames burst from his ankles he awoke with a shout, but found himself trapped as if the bed and blankets had turned to stone. His cry, right against her skin, awoke Buffy too and her eyes widened in horror, but she had not the voice to scream though her mind and heart commanded her body to do so. The fire began to spread and they were fixed together in their prison of glass. The quilt, the sheets, the pillows, the entire bed.....the entire room, everything....the entire house had been turned to perfectly clear glass.

Reacting purely by instinct Buffy used her strength to shatter the blankets that bound them. Shards flew everywhere, but they were free. Spike flung himself back in hopes of finding his duster or even a corner of refuge, but the coat too was glass and the transparent corners of the room cast no shadows. Buffy rushed to him and tried to pat out the fires on his body but it was no use, it only served to burn her own flesh. Casting aside absolutely all concern for herself she punched through the floor, cutting her fists to ribbons, but giving Spike passage down one level. He jumped and went through the dining room table and the floor below until he landed in a bed of glass in the basement. He crashed through shelves and other things in the basement until he found the east corner of the foundation, under the earth and casting a merciful shadow. He flattened his body against the dirt with only moments to spare before he'd combusted.

The heat in his body faded, the fires went out and he was saved, but the screams and perceivable bleeding body of Buffy two stories above him cut him worse than all the glass had. He wished he could go to her, but any distancing of himself from the shadows would kill him, so he closed his eyes, sunk to his side on the ground and wept and bled.

Understanding of everything that was transpiring came upon Dawn the second Buffy's screams woke her. The teenager forced herself to relax and concentrate, she felt the energy that had been awakened the previous night well up inside her, then flow from her body and set things back as they should be. When Dawn felt the magic die away and with it her sister's cries. She tossed off her restored covers and went to run across the hall, but stopped short when Buffy exploded from her room, cuts all over her naked body, but caring not about her own state and only concerned with finding Spike.

"Buffy!!!" Dawn called out, following her sister, equally as scared that she'd been too late to save him. Buffy pounded down the stairs, shards of glass embedded in her feet and hands, but she didn't notice. She turned sharp at the bottom and nearly fell over, but kept running, crashing through the basement door and descending the stairs. In the dark of the basement she couldn't see him at first and began to cry and scream again.

"Buffy...." he called out weakly from the corner,"Buff....." He tried to move to her, but he was diminished and badly injured by both the sunlight and the glass. Buffy fell at his crumpled body and grabbed for him, pulling him into her arms for a fierce embrace. She was wracked with sobs of utter relief, and Spike could only accept her touch, but was prevented from comforting her by his own weakness.

Even though Buffy was the one in emotional upheaval, she rocked him and whispered cajoling words in his ear while she cradled his head at her breasts."Is he okay?" Dawn asked as she stepped off the last step down into the basement, holding blankets from the living room in her hands.

"M' not dust..." Spike choked out with a half laugh,"You alright, Slayer?" She shook her head and squeezed him tighter.

"You're both all cut up.....sorry I couldn't fix the house faster...first time I ever had to use my...my powers....Xuxael turned the house into glass, to try and kill Spike....but I helped in time....didn't I?"

"Yes, you did, lil' bit...you saved me...." Dawn advanced slowly on them and passed the blankets to Buffy, who let go of Spike to throw one over him.

"Can you move?" Buffy whispered, securing the wrap around herself.

"Maybe....might have to crawl up the bloody stairs.....but like I said, m'not dust..."

"Don't make jokes.....please....."

"M'sorry..."

"Dawn, can you go upstairs and get out the first aid kit from under the bathroom counter? We'll be up in a few minutes...."

"O...okay....Buffy?"

"Yes?

"It's a good thing it's Saturday....'cause there's no way I'd be going to school.""