Chapter 21

"Hold still...just this one last piece....there...." Spike said as the tweezers pulled out the last shard of glass from her heal,"All better..."

"Hardly."

"Yeah, well....I was about two seconds away from being able to fit in the vacuum cleaner, so by way of comparison...."

"By way of comparison we're both stark naked and covered in blood with half a trash can full of glass shards pulled out of our flesh, you're covered in blisters and burns, my nerves are shot and my sister's an all powerful creation.....thing."

"The bath's ready...we should wash out our wounds...." Spike offered her his hand and she took it. He winced at seeing all the slices and nicks over it, the entire hand was enflamed,"It'll hurt....the water......but you should start to fell better soon..." He helped her into the tub and she stifled yelps as the water seeped into the cuts, but eventually she settled, then it was Spike's turn to run the gauntlet,"Bloody hell......bloody hell...and another bloody hell......"

"You know it was always a fantasy of mine, to share a bath with you....."

"Was it now?"

"But it was more like there was a storm outside and the power was knocked out, so we had to light candles everywhere. The picture never included the water being tinged pink because of all the blood in it and someone having tried to kill you by turning my house and everything in it to glass." Spike playfully splashed a little water at her and settled in up to his neck.

"Still....it's kinda nice, love...we're warm...not in mortal danger." She sighed and leaned her head against the tiles. Under the water she reached out to touch his fingers.

"You scaen his feet hit the cushion and let his head fall back.

"Love, we're so pathetic..."

"Oh yeah....Slayer, vampire....we're two of the toughest bad asses on the Hell Mouth and now we're laid up on the couch like two 12 year olds with the flu...the only thing missing is a cup of..."

"Soup and blood!" Dawn announced emerging from the kitchen with two mugs.

"Yeah I was just gonna say that....what would moping around the house be without my tried and tested comforting cup of blood, just like mom used to make me." Spike laughed an accepted the mug from Dawn while Buffy took her tomato soup.

"Thanks, bit, this'll hit the spot." Dawn sat across from them in the chair that Spike usually occupied and examined the two of them.

"So....who wants to hear my plan for ripping the angel's wings off and shoving them up his heavenly white..."

"Dawn!" Buffy exclaimed.

"Oh please.....up his heavenly white ass! Now, after this morning I'm more than a little peeved, we can all admit this was the last straw?" Buffy and Spike nodded over the rims of their mugs."First things first...I don't think we should be separated for any length of time.....think you two can curb your raging libidos for a little while?" Dawn giggled at the dark scowls they both shot at her,"Now, since my vision quest thingie I've learned a few tricks.....like turning the house back to normal. I also think I'll be pretty good at sensing when he comes back around. While you guys were upstairs I came up with a plan." Spike and Buffy looked to each other, mildly horrified, eyes wide."Hey! I'm serious.....I created this universe and I can uncreate it if you two don't smarten up and give me some credit!"

Chapter 22

"No charts and graphs?" Spike teased as Dawn organized the papers on her lap, she rolled her eyes and curled her lip at him.

"You're walking on thin ice, fang face," was her reply, her interest returning to the schemes of her plan."Be right back....forgot a few things...." With that she sprang to her feet and darted from the room.

Buffy's head landed against Spike's shoulder with a long sigh. He took her hand and intertwined their fingers, giving her a half smile as she looked up at him with bright, vibrant eyes.

"Feeling better, love? Slayer healing workin' it's magic?"

"Doing pretty good....you?"

"Tip tops n' too rights...right asred?" He wanted to reassure her and make with the bravado that he usually adopted, but he couldn't force it.

"Yes....for you...."

"I'm scared for you...makes things even. I can't believe this is what angels are really like, vindictive and obsessive...or just plain evil like Lucifer....condescending and self-righteous like Uriel....my mom always told me angels would be watching over me, protecting me in the night...stop me from getting hit by cars when I crossed the street.....they're not supposed to want to rape you and kill your loved ones."

"C'mere." She moved across from her position at the opposite end of the tub over to him, it was a tight squeeze but they managed to fit together."I think your mom was right, there are angels like that...ones that are like Tara....I think the witch must've sent the Rabbi to us...without him we wouldn't have a bloody clue what we were dealing with....she gave us a fighting chance."

"You really believe that?"

"Absolutely."

"I hope she's watching over us....we need something." Spike agreed, signified by leaning in to kiss her, slipping his tongue inside her mouth and lulling her into the warm water. She felt like she was floating, soothed and loved, for all his demonic attributes he was the most romantic, caring man she'd ever known. When Spike loved you, nothing compared to it."Mmmm...Heaven's got nothing on you....."

"Good thing, love....'cause Heaven can't have you back....." The interlude in the bathtub lasted the length of a few more kisses, neither one fancied turning into proverbial prunes. Once toweled off each administered first aid to the other, bandaging their worst cuts, making sure to swathe them gobs of antiseptic ointment, anything to take the stings away. Walking was decidedly unpleasant for both of them, but not quite so as unbearable as when they were full of glass. Buffy pulled on an old pair of sweatpants and a tank top, forgoing a bra, any restraint on her body would be unbearably uncomfortable. Spike rummaged through his box in the closet, frowning at his severe lack of clothing and making a mental note to acquire more when this latest crisis was over. He eventually settled on a loose pair of gray slacks, the only thing that could be deemed comfortable. Fishing deeper he came across a black tank top he didn't know he had, given the fact that his arms were still raw he was quite pleased to have it.

They padded down the stairs in bandaged bare feet, a pair of walking wounded, arm in arm."Couch...." Buffy ordered, though in a tone sounded very much like Joyce's when she was in comforting mom mode. The curtains were shut tight and there was still the giant stain in the middle of the carpet, but the place to be was the couch. The place where they could nurse their wounds and generally, specifically, vegetate. Buffy took two cushions and placed them on the coffee table while Spike readied to toss a blanket over her. She slumped down towards the center and put her feet up on the cushion, sighing heavily. The blanket fell upon her, then the vampire sat down next to her, hip to hip. He groaned wh rain...and other British slang terms...." She laughed a little at him, leaning up to his mouth for a light brush of her lips across his.

"When this is over I think we should make with the major funs...I want the three of us to do something, bigger and better than the Bronze, I think we deserve a shot of good karma, we've had enough penance to last twenty lifetimes."

"What did you have in mind, pet?"

"Maybe a trip? Go visit Giles in England....and at the same time bludgeon the Council until they agree to pay me, retroactively of course, with bonuses for the 6 or so apocalypses I've averted. We can go for nice long walks out on moors and stuff.....get lost in castles."

"I'd like to take you to Devonshire and Cornwall....into funny little places like Clovelly, an odd town that hasn't changed in probably 300 years...or Torquay where they've got these wild underground caves...then o'er to Tintagel and Uther Pendragon's Castle....that's King Arthur's father...the beach there is bloody amazing, the whole thing is made up of the small, perfectly oval, perfectly flat stones - Tara could've used them to make runes n' what not. To the far left is this big opening that leads into Merlin's cave, you can only get in when the tide is out - the ceiling's all like crystal, beautiful. Then I want us to go up to North Wales, to a place called Betwys-y-coed...it's magic, real magic, the whole place is just teeming with it, especially the forests. Dru wouldn't go within a hundred miles of the place it had such goodness to it, but I was never afraid. I'd been there as a lad, just before m'da died...loved it, think that's when I first knew there was something beyond every day mortal life, you know? We can make love under the stars....very romantic, near a stream in a field....where no one with trouble us....hours and hours with our bodies.....what? Why are you looking at me like I've grown a second head?"

"Watching you spin fantasies....you're eyes are so bright, so full of life and hope..."

"Makin' me out to be a bloody poofter..."

"You said it, not me! No, I'm teasing...it's just.....you have all this beauty inside you that I never took the time to look at before.....breaks my heart how beautiful you are."

"Are we having a moment, Slayer?" He nuzzled in very close, till their noses touched and he could nip at her lips with his teeth.

"Yes, we are...I love you, don't think I said that yet today."

"Love you too...love you always..."

"It was a nice fantasy wasn't it...but just a fantasy...we can't afford it."

"Never say nev...."

"I've lost the house...." Buffy's eyes darted away as the words escaped,"The day before you came back I got a letter from the bank, they're foreclosing on the mortgage, selling the house out from under us and we have to be out at the end of the month....I haven't told Dawn...I can't bear to...."

"Oh Buffy..." His arms found their way around her, pulling her against him.

"It's okay..." she said through tears and sniffles,"I saw it coming, I was pretty sure that that when my Doublemeat wages covered everything except the mortage it was gonna happen eventually. Plus, I've called in sick every day since you've been back....I'm probably fired, I forgot to call today. God, if I wasn't so happy I'd be miserable. You're the happy, by the way."

"Is there anything you can do to stop them....thanks for the happy bit there by the way."

"Well if you can magic up $200 000 in less than a month be my guest." Spike hugged her tighter, the gravity of the situation leaving him without a smart comeback.

"I could probably rustle up enough for the trip...but not enough to save your house, love....I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, not your fault..."

"Not your's either."

"Maybe not....but...."

"But you think you've let everyone down when all you've done has been above and beyond the call of duty."

"Stop being reasonably, I'm trying to have a self pity moment."

"I think, pet, I'd rather go back to spinning fantasies." He released her from the hug, but instead of pulling back, she relaxed further and lay her head in his lap and closed her eyes, pulling her feet up underneath her and snuggling under her blanket."Where were we?"

"Making love outside..."

"And the grass is wet and cold on our skin....but the air's warm, middle of summer....before long we're drenched, dew and sweat...."

"Among other things I bet..." Spike laughed to himself and let his hand slither under her blanket to caress her backside.

"Among other things....naughty Slayer...."

"Corrupted by a vampire, you mean."

"Oh yes, all my fault..."

"It is....I'm aching all over, I'm all cut up, I look and feel pretty much like the underside of your boots and you've still managed to turn me on....."

"Don't think the bit will appreciate us skipping out on her big presentation....so...best you have a nap my sweet and we'll make our way to North Wales another time."

Chapter 23

"Oh you guys!" Dawn whined when she came back into the living room. Spike's eyes shot open and he nudged Buffy until she came around, accompanied by a wide mouth yawn.

"Sorry, sweet bit...but you know we're a rather nocturnal pair," Spike explained, stretching out his lean body as Buffy did the same,"So do tell....what is your master plan for takin' out the blighter from the great beyond?" Dawn organized her thoughts and took a deep breath.

"Okay...I've been reading all these papers, learning about what all the religions and the history says about angels and stuff and I've come up with some ideas to go with the whole pulling out his heart thing that Uriel talked about. But first we have the problem of him turning Buffy into zombie girl and him being able to use his powers to throw Spike around like he was a wiffle ball."

"Hey!" he protested, Buffy simply patted his knee.

"Anyways....everybody's got symbols, right? Christians have crosses, Jewish people have the Star of David....everybody's got something. The angels all have their own marks... anyways, you know how Catholics make medals of certain saints to wear for protection? And Tara once told me she wore the Ing rune to give her the power of what that symbol meant and there you go!"

"There we go how?" Buffy asked.

"Seems how I'm the one with the power to go against Xuxael, I want to give you two a symbol from me to wear....get it tattooed on you someehere instead of a necklace. Something that really means me, embodies all the coolness that is Dawn."

"Oh bloody hell....please don't tell me it's that dreadful insipid Hello Kitty you have on all your shirts? Rather give the girl over to the angel." Spike snarled. Buffy promptly whacked him hard in the stomach,"Steady on....just kiddin' love...tryin' to lighten the mood. If it means savin' you I'd get Britney and Justin 4 Ever inked on my back in big purple calligraphy..."

"Would you two stop it! I'm being serious....and it's not Hello Kitty, give me some credit would yah? I don't know what it'll be until it's already on you, just one of those instinct, subconscious magic Key type things...it won't hurt, promise....and I'll try and make it cool."

"Right then, how we gonna go 'bout it then."

"Take off your shirts." Spike and Buffy exchanged a look, half confused, half wishing they could follow Dawn's command to removed their shirts, alone."Hop to it!"

"Yes ma'am," Buffy replied in an amusing tone. Spike pulled off his tank top and ran his hand down his torso in an effort to entice the Slayer, which worked as he sensed her heartbeat quicken. Buffy pulled off her own shirt, but held it over her naked breasts. Without casting a second thorough to the action, Spike's hand was approaching the little scrap of fabric that covered her.

"Don't touch her," Dawn commanded,"You two can play later....hopefully when I'm far far away from the house...."

"Sorry...." they both mumbled, looking downwards.

"Okay, stand up and turn around." Buffy and Spike complied and seconds later each had a small, graceful hand placed between their shoulder blades. Warmth spread across their backs and then it seemed to come from the inside, as if they'd swallowed a hot drink too fast and it radiated quickly through their organs and their blood. Then as suddenly as it had come upon them, they were normal again, even cooling down. Goosepimples spread over Buffy's skin and she shivered, immediately Spike reached for a blanket and threw it around her,"I'm sorry about that....little bit too much anti...anti the thing I just did...."

"It's fine Dawn....I'm all warm again already," said Buffy, then her eyes were diverted to Spike's back and she gasped,"Oh wow....Dawn.....it's beautiful....." Buffy placed her hand on her boyfriend's back, running her fingers back and forth over the pattern that lay between his shoulder blades.

"What's it like?" Spike asked, trying to crane his neck to see it. Buffy moved the blanket down and turned for Spike to see,"Woah...so that means you huh nibblet?"

"I guess so...."

"What's the rest of your plan?"

"Pretty easy actually, but we have to wait until tonight, when Spike can go outside...until then I'll explain what I've got in mind....then I think maybe I'll go hang with Janice for a while now that the marks will protect you, I've got a chem test to study for, might as well get a head start. That'll leave you with hours to....you know......and don't pretend you're not just all fireworks on the inside...you two are worse than teenagers!"

Chapter 24

Despite Buffy's perfect ability to walk for herself, Spike had insisted and scooping her up in his very strong and masculine arms and carrying her up the stairs once Dawn had left for the afternoon. The gesture was a terribly romantic one, his mouth tickling behind her ears and over her face. Fact of the matter was, ever since Dawn had put the marks on their backs an overwhelming surge of confidence had found a way into them. The angel may have made his attacks upon them by day, but he never made an appearance in the flesh until night. They felt safe for now, secure in the belief Dawn's plan would work. They were confident even more so in the teenage girl that had been formed and sent to the Slayer as her sister. Dawn was miracle in and of herself, and she was theirs - her sister and best friend and in a way her parents as well, even though she happened to be more than just a magic Key. Dawn's new found powers in truth frightened Buffy, knowing how Willow had been corrupted and lost. But that was a bridge they'd cross.....after Xuxael was dead.

Now however was not a time to be morbid or nervous, now was a time to toss Buffy on her bed and ravage her....or in practice, gently lay her down. Buffy moaned as she sunk into the quilt and overly soft mattress, her pillows surrounding her, but it wasn't what she wanted, she was still cold and still somewhat achy from that morning's ordeal. Spike stood at the foot of the bed undressing, throwing his tank top in the general direction of the closet, then unbuttoning his pants, drawing down the zipper and letting them fall to the ground. He kicked them off his ankles and walked back towards her door, shutting it, then flipping off the lightswitch. The room was virtually in shadows, some afternoon light coming through the fabric of the curtains making his lithe form distinguishable in the dark.

"You want to know one of my favorite things about you?" she asked as he stood at the other side of the room.

"What's that, love?" he replied, approaching slowly.

"You're not so tall...." He laughed, coming to stand at the end of the bed again."I'm serious...the others....whom I won't name...were at least two heads taller, I didn't like that. I never made an issue of it at the time, but they made me feel child-like....you make me feel more like a woman." The self-gratified smirk that painted his face was evident even in the shadows.

"There's other ways.....that I.....can make you feel like a woman...." With those words he climbed on to the bed, gliding up the length of her body until his naked one covered her still clothed one. He kept the majority of his weight supported by his arms on either side of her. He came down slightly, teasing her with little vampire growls and tiny darts of his tongue to lick her lips. She shivered and Spike noticed that it wasn't from pleasure."You cold, my sweet?"

"Little bit...yeah...."

"Why didn't you say so? Last thing you need is the living ice man touching you." He backed off her and she sighed when he went to moving her off the bed so he could pull back the covers.

"You know, sometimes your too selfless for you own good?"

"Why's that?" Seconds later he found that he'd been pushed down to the bed and a suddenly naked Slayer was there with her body pressed up against him. She pulled the covers back over them up to their chins, pressing their foreheads together. Her hand moved up and down the outside of his ribcage while the other traced the features on his face.

"You might be cool to the touch, but you make me very very hot you know....you can make this body warm in no time. Things have been very strange and very scary since you came back....but I also know that if you hadn't come back I'd be in the worst hell I could ever imagine...so the way I see things, every minute spent like this, no matter how cold the temperature might be is the happiest, most complete I ever feel. Got that?"

"Yes dear." He said in such a way that it earned him a swat on his rear end.

"Will you come and live with us?"

"Thought I was, pet...the crypt's pretty uninviting now that I've had a few days nestled in the warm bosom of the Summers household."

"I meant in wherever we move...move to...I don't know how big of an apartment we'll be able to afford, but I know it wouldn't be home unless you were with us."

"'Course I'll come...fact that you want me to is a bloody blessing. Must say though, can't picture you two livin' anywhere but here...Joyce's presence n' all...I'd miss it."

"But there's nothing we can do about that.....I just know that as long as the three of us are a family it doesn't matter where we live...just as long as we're together."

"I'll second that...."

"Stolen moments like this don't feel like enough somehow...we've got a couple of hours to ourselves, then the outside world's gonna knock on the door and drag us back out....I wish I could freeze time."

"Speakin' of freeze....you're not cold anymore....guess I warmed you up after all."

"Told you...and you're all nice and warm...." Her hand moved from where she'd been kneading his backside, around to the hardened length that had come to attention between them,"And nice and hard for me too....."

"Always for you, baby....what say we freeze time for a few hours...."

Chapter 25

Spike tightened his grip around the railing of Buffy's wireframe headboard, he forced out a grunt of almost release, but it turned into a heated, desperate moan. Buffy was hidden under the covers, doing all sorts of devious things to him. She pumped him furiously with her hands, while her tongue did a veritable tour de force of acrobatics. Just then the sound of the front door shutting hard could be heard downstairs.

"Buffy! Spike! I'm home!!" Dawn shouted from below.

"Coming!!" Spike replied loudly, perfectly aware of the double meaning. Buffy couldn't help but giggle and laugh, even in the middle of what she was doing,"Ow! Slayer watch it with the teeth....Slay...sssssssllaaaaayerrrrr........" She gave his length one long, luxurious suck and it was more than enough to finish him. She reappeared from under the the quilt, licking her lips, still laughing, hair messed and looking too satisfied with herself for her own good. She lay herself on him and kissed him fully, sensually, meanwhile prying his white knuckled fingers from her bed frame.

"When I think back...to when I first met you....never in my wildest, most outrageous fantasies did I ever, ever think that that would be one of my most favorite pastimes." She kissed him again, then removed herself from the bed and went about dressing herself for the night's confrontation. She chose more combat styled outfits that she was inclined to lately, opting black leather pants, knee-high black leather boots and a fitted shirt with a high neck and long sleeves, also in black. Spike watched her cover herself and then affix her hair tight against her head in a small bun. Spike remained laying comfortably on the bed, rather cozy in fact under the quilt, the scent of sex still making his head swim.

"Love?"

"Mmm hmmm?"

"Are you saying that you had fantasies about me way back then? Hmmm?" She retrieved a pair of black jeans and a black t-shirt for him, as well as his belt. She brought them over to him, sitting on the edge of the bed and trying not to smile."Buffy? You were supposed to be hopelessly in love with the great poof and I was invading that virginal little mind of yours? Tell me, sweets, did our fisticuffs in the school hallways get you moist?"

"You're such a pig."

"Answer the question...."

"I hated you....immensely."

"That's not answering the question."

"Maybe."

"Maybe? You're lying."

"Well.....there was that first time when you came out of the shadows after I dusted your decoy, looking all smug and applauding me.....then it was the whole I'll kill you on Saturday. But for a second there I was all wow on the inside. As for our fights....like you said.....we dance...." Spike huffed and wormed his way out from under the covers, pulling on his jeans and feeding the belt through the loops.

"You are such a terrible liar, Slayer."

"It's not a total lie, you are devastatingly handsome, fiendishly so....and you always had this dead sexy way about you...so it took me a while to come around to your charms....but now...." She advanced on him and put her arms around his neck, looking into his brilliant blue eyes,"I'm completely under your spell. There's something, I think, missing from my little ensemble..." By now his arms were locked around her waist.

"What's that, pet?" She stretched her neck to one side.

"When we see him tonight....I want him to see your mark on my neck, I want every one to know that the Slayer is the lover of a vampire....I want them to hear it from here to LA, to London...." He bent down and kissed the spot, but his teeth did not pierce the skin. He pulled back the neckline of her shirt to look at the marks from the night before, closed with bruising around the punctures.

"Last night, in the throws of passion are one thing, love, but starting to use you as my own personal source..."

"I'm not a Happy Meal on legs Spike....it's not like that, this about our bond....this is also about sticking to Xuxael. He thinks he's better than us, thinks he can keep us under his thumb.....thinks he can take me and use me for whatever sick, obsessive, twisted idea of love he's made up. Angels don't understand what real love is....it's selfless, nurturing, passionate..."

"You used to think that my love was sick, obsessive and twisted..." She caught a brief flash of pain on his face and she saw him nervously gnaw on his lower lip.

"And that was because I didn't understand yet....the things you found out in Africa....Slayers and vampires are cut from the same cloth...we're symbiotic in this world. As for you, what you did for Dawn and me, laying your life on the line when Glory came for her, I had an epiphany back then. You were more than just a vampire and you loved us and it was real, even if I didn't want it. When I first came back and was still all confused.....when I saw you at the bottom of the stairs, the look you had in your eyes, I almost couldn't face it...there was so much love there, just for me.....I was so amazed you were still here and after that I couldn't deny you, in my heart at least....of course you know, stuff happened."

"Stuff always happens, Slayer. Thank you for telling me these things....I didn't know...."

"Now you do....so.....as I was saying....my neck is looking far too pristine...." He closed in on her, the demon rising to the surface and his face changing, fangs descending. Buffy lay her hands on his chest and let out a cool sigh of utter abandon, closing her eyes and bearing her neck again. He kissed the spot once more, then widened his mouth, sinking his fangs in deep. She cried out, but faintly before it turned into a soft moan. As the night before the hot liquid of her blood began to pool in his mouth, Spike felt himself lulling into a strange, beautiful place. The gift she was giving him was beyond the most thrilling dreams of any vampire, but moreover the very taste of her was teeming with love for him. Even if she never said the words aloud again, he would feel always it as surely as he could taste her now. After only a few earnest draws from her veins he retracted and held his mouth over the wounds as the flow ceased. His lips left her and he licked the wounds clean, leaving nothing but two perfect red circles.

His arms stayed around her waist, making sure she wasn't faint or dazed. Shaking off the vampire face he looked into her eyes again, they were bright and gleaming and still so full of love he was the one who felt weak on his feet."You alright, Buffy?"

"I'm just...a little.....wow...that was amazing...." A knock was at their door seconds before Dawn came in. She looked over the scene and smiled slightly, but then couldn't' resist the chance to tease.

"Geez, Spike...she's not a meal wagon......"

Chapter 26

Buffy needlessly straightened the collar on Spike's coat while he complacently let her do it. It certainly wasn't necessary, after all he had been wearing the coat for twenty five years as it was, the thing was shaped to fit him, the collar never needed straightening. Somehow the action seemed to do something for Buffy, so he stood there in the front hall and let her. She patted his shoulders down and continued looking at his chest, but soon found herself looking in his eyes when he took her chin with his hand and raised her head."You sure 'bout this, Slayer? Would it be wrong of me to remind you that this was the same plan as Lucifer's?"

"Using me as bait? Dawn's convinced it'll work....and I trust her, but still....."

"We'll both be there, lurkin'...I'll have your back."

"You always do." Suddenly she hugged him, her strong arms circling his shoulders and squeezing with all her might."And we have Dawn..."

"She's might belong in the universal toolbox, as she put it, but she's your sister first."

"I'm still worried....I know you are too."

"Yeah....but the nibblet's made of tough stuff....she's made from you, if you recall....I don't even think she's realized her full potential. I don't think Xuxael stands a chance against her if she really wanted to let him have it. With that said, I know what you're thinking....absolute power corrupts absolutely? Let me just say this about that...I'd say Willow's already learned that lesson for her, how altering the course of events to suit your own selfish needs backfires. Besides, she'd got us...we'll steer her down the right path."

"You're the one who taught her how to pick locks and shop lift." Of course, he smirked, he was obviously proud that he had influence over the younger Summers."But you also taught her how to protect herself, how be loyal and how to love selflessly."

"Nah.....you did that.....you showed her that when you jumped off that tower..."

"And you picked up the pieces and kept her going....I think we both deserve credit for what an amazing girl she's turned out to be."

"Guess it's the closest we'll ever come to being parents huh? It's funny sometimes that I find myself thinking like that...there was a time I would have thought of Dawn as a nice lil' snackable." Buffy let a soft laugh roll off her tongue before they fell into a slow, languid kiss. Meanwhile, Dawn had been standing at the top of the stairs listening to their discourse with hints of tears in her eyes. Three supernatural beings who had formed themselves a natural family. The realization came upon the teenager then, that for all her new found powers, broader understanding of the universe, its creation and its deities, it was nothing to compared to the happiness she gleaned from something so simple as watching Spike and Buffy share a tender moment.

Composing herself she gradually made her way down the stairs, making just enough noise to distract her sister and her vampire from each other,"Ready to roll sweet bit?" Spike asked after he'd pulled away from Buffy.

"I'm good to go...what about you two?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Buffy breathed out while her fingers tightened around the leather on Spike's arm. Spike moved away from her and into the living room, diving into the weapons chest and coming back with stakes for each of them and blades for he and Buffy.

"Never can be too careful, my sweets....still plenty of common all garden vamps out there. As for you n' me Slayer, couple a sharp ones for diggin' out angel hearts." They secured the weapons to their bodies and then stood silent as the sun set outside. Once darkness had fallen Spike lead Buffy to the front door, pausing to place a kiss on her cheek before opening the front door,"We'll be right behind you, love.....no worries, okay?" She nodded her head and sucked in a deep breath.

"I love you. I love both of you...."

"We know....go on, sooner we get this done...." He ran his hand over her back, where the tattoo that matched his own was imprinted,"You can feel it, can't you? We're all connected....the three of us...you know everything's gonna work out fine right?" She kissed him once more and then stepped out into the twilight, heading out alone to hopefully lure her stalker straight to her.

"You okay Spike? You look really nervous." Dawn observed. Spike shrugged his shoulders and looked away from the vacant path that Buffy had just walked down.

"Yeah....just have that feeling....you know? Same one I felt after Doc stuck me n' tossed me off the tower...that ugly ache deep inside...I'm falling and when I hit the ground I'll know I've failed and I'll have lost her again." He felt a small comforting hand coming to rest on his forearm.

"It's different now." Spike shook off his feeling of foreboding and headed towards the door.

"Come on, nibblet...got myself a yen for clippin' some angels of their wings."

"Now your talking!"

Chapter 27

Buffy knew that Spike and Dawn were only a couple of minutes behind her, but still she knew this was a dangerous venture. It wasn't that she didn't have every confidence in Dawn's powers of protection that she'd been infused with by virtue of the mark, it was herself that she had doubts about. This time felt eerily similar to when Angelus had been haunting her, taunting and torturing her friends and family. By the same token during that time she also had Spike helping her, just as she did now. This time however was vastly different, this time he wasn't just helping her, he was deeply in love with her and she with him. She was keenly aware that so much more was at stake now that she was no longer a teenager.

After all this year's tragedies she'd finally awakened to what she wanted for her life. Precisely what she wanted was what she already had; her sister and her lover. She imagined Dawn's graduation from High School, her going on to University, maybe falling in love and getting married and even perhaps being so lucky as to have children of her own. All these may have only been fantasies given the emergence of power in her sister, but a future as Buffy had conjured was not out of the question.

For herself, as she walked towards the largest cemetery in Sunnydale, Buffy still held on to romanticized visions of her own future. Ambitions for a real career had been let go not too long after submitting to working for the Doublemeat Palace. Her calling was to be the Slayer and that would always be first and foremost in guiding her destiny, but it would never guide her heart. Because of Spike everything she ever imagined about who she would spend the rest of her life with had been thrown out the proverbial window. He defied all categories and never ceased to challenge her concepts and notions about love. She dreamed of cliché romance novel scenes of candle lit baths, roses and red wine; but also she delighted in the lascivious desires for him to take her amongst the grave stones of any given cemetery. Moreover she found happiness in thoughts of strange but mundane activities such as warming a cup of blood or bleaching his hair for him. She loved their talks, how they laughed and teased and how he said words that shook her to her foundations and made her eternally grateful she had such a devoted, beautiful man to love.

Spike had had changed his ways in order to be worthy of her love and somewhere along the way he'd embraced that change for his own edification. She was immensely proud of him, but the heart of the matter when it came to him was how vital his existence had come to mean to her's. Him leaving had been a painful wake up call, but a necessary one because his return had been the most amazing moment of her life. A life that found itself alone in a cemetery waiting for a fallen angel to come and try to take it from her.

Buffy nearly jumped out of her skin when a crow cawed loudly as it swooped past her. It's body was almost formless against the black of the sky. She wondered why it hadn't gone to it's nest for the night, most birds did before the nighttime creatures came out. Perhaps it was looking for a last bit of carrion or even fresh prey, out for a last hunt. Never before on regular patrols had Buffy felt so frightened; it wasn't the outright terror that had one cowering or screaming, just the pangs in the cells that put one on edge."This is me...all confident and ready for action," she spoke to herself, gripping her stake more firmly.

"Creatures kissing in the rain, shapeless in the dark again. In the Garden, please don't speak, in the Garden no one sleeps...." The words came to her ears, carried on the wind in a soft genderless voice. Buffy stopped walking and shut her eyes tight as if trying to force herself out of one reality into another,"In the heat of the night, the animals scream. In the heat of the night walking into a dream..."

"Who's there? Spike? Dawn?"

"The tides of sin draw tighter and brighter, my sweet.....this is when the night comes down, a hammer on an anvil and you are lost....but we'll always find you."

"Show yourself! Coward!!"

"No coward, pretty thing....cannot be a coward if you serve Heaven's league, must be as brave as a Templar..." Buffy fell back as he was suddenly at her shoulder. It wasn't Xuxael at all, but instead a much more sinister creature. He was incredibly tall, well over 6 ft, possibly seven. His entire being was black and seemingly as liquid as ink. His skin, his eyes, and even his teeth were all nearly as imperceptible as the crow had been. If it weren't for the moon reflecting in his eyes she wouldn't have know he was there. She quickly stumbled to her feet and drew out the knife Spike had given her.

"Who are you?" Her voice was by all appearance confidant and stoic, but all the while on the inside she was screaming for Spike and Dawn to hurry and catch up.

"I have said, I serve him, the angel."

"Where is he?"

"Oh, he's about...should be here any moment, have you come to kill him? That's a dear price to pay, the blood of an angel on your hands. Their blood never washes clean."

"I'm willing to take my chances, what are you here for? To do his dirty work?"

"Hmm? No, not really, I'm just supposed to keep you from leaving."

"Easier said that done....I think I can take yah."

"Maybe, but all of us?"

"Huh?" Then she saw them, their eyes becoming as numerous as the stars, vampires, demons, night breeds of all measure. There were dozens, if not a hundred, emerging from the shadows and surrounding her."Oh no...."

"Oh yes......"

Chapter 28

At the same time as trying to strategize how to fight her way through so many monsters, Buffy began to back away from the blackened man. He made no motioned to follow but gave a chuckle that sounded like matches striking. A ring of vampires advanced and Buffy raised her stake, battle ready and slipping into her other self, the Slayer. Dammit, Spike...where are you? she thought. One vampire broke from the pack and lunged at her, she caught its head with an inside crescent kick and put it to its knees. She plunged her stake into its back through the heart and it immediately exploded into dust. Two more vampires came at her and managed to disarm her of the knife, sending it far out of her reach. She still however had her stake and between more kicks and punches staked them both. Buffy could manage to fend off the vampires with relative ease, but suddenly she found that other less easy to kill demons were joining the fray. After wrestling a Fyarl to the ground and snapping its neck and powerful anvil of a fist connected to a mighty Charrago side swiped her face and she was sent reeling.

Spike and Dawn came into the cemetery, by all accounts it was as calm and lifeless as ever. There was something about the place that always made him feel like he was never walking alone. Sometimes he liked that, as if he had night kin all about; while other times there was a strange prickling on his skin as if he were being stalked or molested. He reasoned that Buffy probably felt the latter ten times over with Xuxael trying to get his hooks in her. As her lover and her life mate the least he could do was rip it's heart out, but what he really had rolling around in his mind was tying the thing up, and if it had wings, plucking it's feathers one by one with rusty pliers before reaching down it's throat for the organ.

He felt Dawn's hand slip under his arm and grasp on to his bicep. He reached across and gave it a reassuring squeeze,"Penny for your thoughts, bit?"

"It's nothing, really, but ever since I did my trance all these images, sounds and sensations have been coming back to me, memories I guess."

"Givin' you the wigguns are they?"

"Yeah, big time."

"Wanna share?"

"The universe wasn't created in seven days you know, that's just a metaphor - there were seven stages to it. And, and...uh, there's like an infinite number of parallel universes out there where every possibility is played out...including the world without shrimp."

"You don't say."

"Yeah...but there's a world out there where you and Buffy are accountants living in Wyoming with a whole bunch of little rugrats and a golden retriever." Spike couldn't help but laugh at the absurd imagery.

"I don't think it matters what reality we're in, just as long as I get to love you girls.....but whilst I've got your ear...can you tap into the universal forces and catch next week's lotto numbers?"

"Why?"

"I'll be staked good n' proper if I tell you, but I think maybe you should prepare yourself for some tough times, lil' bit."

"I read the letter from the bank, Buffy hid it...I didn't mean to, but I just kinda found it. I know what's gonna happen."

"Big sis is tearing herself up inside o'er it....so when the time comes n' she sits you down....be brave for her, k'? Can you promise?"

"I promise, but I think it'll be okay. Listen, I know I kinda make fun of you guys for being all over each other, and even for those looks that are like are torn from the pages of romance novels, but you're the best thing to ever happen to our family and we're lucky to have you. Don't cry."

"I'm not..."

"Yes you are." He ran his thumbs under his eyes, stopping any flow of tears."And you're not a poof, or a wanker or any other one of those colorful words you like to throw out there. I love you Spike, sorry had to be said."

"Love you too, sweet bit...more than you'll ever know."

"I've got a good idea.Cut, end of mushy sentimental moment."

"Agreed."

"So where do you suppose Buffy is? Shouldn't we have seen her by now?"

"It's a huge cemetery, just need to keep our eyes n' ears open....." Suddenly Dawn stopped dead in her tracks, the hand she had on Spike's arm halted him aswell,"Dawn?" She cast her eyes upwards and gasped, clutching fiercely to Spike's coat.

"Spike look...he's coming." Sure enough, as he followed her gaze, obscuring their view of the moon was the silhouette of outstretched wings twenty feet across gliding on the wind."We have to find Buffy....."

Chapter 29

Buffy could taste the blood in her mouth from when she'd accidentally bit the inside of her mouth when taking a left hook from one particularly stealth vampire. Her strength and endurance both were waning and her eyes stung from the sweat and vampire dust collected in them. She was sure she'd only been fighting a few minutes, but the weight of her arms made it feel like she'd done a thousand rounds with a heavyweight boxer. At length she was taking as many blows as she was landing, if Spike didn't come soon she might really be done for. More demons and vampires were arriving every second, as if someone had summoned them to converge on this place. Another much larger and imposing vampire stormed the Slayer, faking her out then pounding his fist into her guts. Buffy fought the urge to wretch, falling her her knees and crying out. She felt massive hands close around her throat, but as soon as they were there they were suddenly gone.

She was left gasping and crying as Spike tore her attacker away and staked him. "SLAYER?!" Spike roared back to her as he started taking all demonic comers jumping into attack."Buffy!! Get up Buffy!"

"Spike....." she acknowledge, clamoring to her feet just in the nick of time as another Charrago came for her."It's the angel, Spike....he's called them all here...." Spike kicked away his own opponents and raced after the Charrago, stabbing it through the back with his knife. He put his back to Buffy's as the demons closed their circle around them.

"We have to get outta here, love...."

"Where's Dawn?"

"She told me to get you n' burn rubber....something she had to take care of..."

***

The blackened man spun around and was instantly on guard when he felt the light behind him. Dawn walked towards him with a well matched aire, bathed in power and a green preternatural light. Her eyes had lost all pigment but a whirlwind of magic under the glassy surface. The teenager had awakened the source that dwelled somewhere in the seat of her soul. Her skin was a glow as if she'd been coated with phosphorous.

"Remember me?" she asked, coming within ten feet of him.

"I do......you were the one used to give life, when the High was making cells and aligning molecules, it was you who gave them their spark," he replied.

"And it was you that made it so everything to which I gave life could die. Now it's your turn!"

"Only if you win and that shell you've been funneled into is not unbreakable."

" But if the body's broken, then I cannot be contained and my power will increase beyond even this world."

"It's the body that makes it so you can love them. If we become solely energy we revert to our original purpose and can be manipulated, used like the tools we're meant to be....are you prepared to give up the freedom?"

"For Spike and Buffy? I'll give anything....they already did it for me."

"Prepare yourself then....."

"Already there...." A dense depression of energy and sound contracted around Dawn and then spread out in a luminous sphere. It thrummed in the atmosphere like a heart pumped full of blood. She continued her advance on the other of God's instruments but he was prepared. He called forth his own power and beat it against her's life a whip in a pit of lions. The two forces of nature pushed and pulled against each other when once they'd worked side by side. Infinite years had passed since they'd last been in each other's company, no longer the hands of the God, one now a wicked angel's minion and the other the sister of the Slayer.

Chapter 30

Buffy and Spike finally managed to break away from the the throngs of demons they'd been fighting and where running hard, searching for Dawn and an escape."Spike we have to find her!!" Buffy shouted as they made a wide circle to go back for Dawn but at the same time avoiding the masses of demons who were in pursuit. Suddenly a massive figure swooped past them and while Buffy was thrown off her feet, Spike was lifted from the ground. Buffy watched in abject horror as Xuxael flew up high with a precarious hold on Spike's shoulders, the vampire fighting and flailing against the angel. The appearance of wings on the angel made Buffy cower, Xuxael was even more of monster to her because of them. With an expanse that seemed to block out the stars and moon, he came around and past her, then promptly dropped Spike in the thick of the minions he'd called to the cemetery.

When Xuxael came and landed in front of her, Buffy could feel him trying to possess her again, but she could also feel the warmth of the mark on her back working against it. She hadn't seen him before, not really, not standing before her stark from the waist up with a powerful chest and muscular arms, his skin rich and bronze. Around his waist he wore a diaphanous wrap of white fabric, while the thick black curls of his hair were unencumbered around his face. He was classically handsome, like he's stepped down from the canvas of a Renaissance painting. He'd tucked his wings against his back, making them small and not so domineering of his body, then he crouched down at her and opened his lips to draw in a breath, about to speak his first words to her. She couldn't imagine what those words could be and she didn't want to know, instead Buffy smiled wickedly, pulled her leg back and kicked him as hard as she could across the face.

The angel was caught completely off guard and stumbled back, losing whatever grace Heaven had once afforded him. Buffy spun herself around and back to her feet, poised and ready for the fight. The angel's entire demeanor changed and Buffy knew that if she didn't defeat him, her fate would be one worse than death. Her mind flickered for a moment to both Dawn and Spike, but time could not be spared for their welfare as Xuxael started to come for her. He was enraged, his statuesque face contorted with malice and it was all for her. He set his jaw and pounced at her to which Buffy quickly dodged, only to have him spin around and punch her in the back. She lost the air in her lungs and heaved and gulped to get it back enough to be able to continue fighting. Another blow came to the back of her head and she was dazed, nearly losing consciousness. She swung her fist and hit some part of him, only to stumble when her eyes lost focus and pain flooded her brain.

On her hands and knees, Xuxael stood over her, a deadly smirk spreading across his face. He kicked her stomach and she fell helplessly on to her back. The angel was every bit as strong Glory had been, if not moreso and Buffy had lost all her weapons. She tried to look for Spike, but saw only the angel. She breathed out the vampire's name, hoping for a scream but giving only a whisper.

Somehow, either on the wind, in his head or more likely in his heart Spike heard Buffy's voice calling his name. He felt the urgency of her fear in his blood. He'd been fighting off demons and vampires with success but no so much that he could go and help the Slayer. In the distance he could see the angel come over her, but the line of sigh to Buffy's actions was obscured by the wings. In a motion of masterful stealth, Spike vaulted himself out from the center of the hoard and on a path straight to Buffy.

He never knew he could move so fast, whatever the vampire equivalent was for adrenaline he was experiencing a megalithic surge of it. Buffy was pinned and struggling underneath Xuxael, trying to save herself from strangulation or a broken neck, as the angel had her about the throat and she held him at bay with white knuckles around his wrists."BUFFY! Hold on Slayer! I'm coming!" Spike roared as he came closer and closer. Spike heard the hell beasts hot on his heels, but also the forced out cry with her last breath. Spike moved faster still to reach her before it was too late. He had his knife drawn and ready to plunge into Xuxael's heart when suddenly another's clawed hand had smashed through the flesh and bones of the angel.

Buffy saw the mirror of Xuxael's face crack when his heart was ripped form his chest cavity. He'd let go of her neck and had begun to flail and shake above her. Buffy's scream caught in her throat as his eyes caved in on themselves and a black ooze ran down his chin, but she miraculously found herself being dragged out from underneath the drama. Xuxael teetered for a moment, like a lunatic on stilts before falling forward, dead.

Spike help Buffy securely against him, shielding her from the ugliness and giving her times to compose herself. At length she turned back to face Xuxael's killer, Lucifer - who was lobbing and tossing the heart about as if it were a baseball. The fallen angel was laughing to himself and dancing about in an odd celebration, then suddenly stopping and turning back to face the couple,"Look, you might not believe it, children, but you really, really didn't want to have killed an angel on your resume, you wouldn't believe the problems it'll create for you later....especially if you want a nice afterlife, like getting into Heaven n' such."

"'Not going to Heaven, mate, this is my afterlife...." Spike explained.

"Oh please.....you, Mister Redemption personified? They've probably got a cloud and harp already picked out for you with a nice lil' card reading RESERVED for Mister the Bloody, The Noble Vampire. And we all know she gets to pass go and collect her $200 - especially considering her sister..."

"And I should take your word for it? I don't fancy you've got the inside track on who gets into the big house...."

"No need to get snippy, let's put it another way, you're not on my list for future eternity, so where else you gonna go? No one lives forever...."

"Don't be so sure about that one," Dawn said as she appeared behind Lucifer, back to normal, she too was playing with something in her hands, a black sphere about the size of a golf ball. Lucifer suddenly grew angry and threw the heart to the ground in disgust, the organ making a large squishing sound as it hit.

"No fair! He was damn good employee! Why'd you have to go and do that!? Sure he jumped over to Xuxael's side.....but still...."

"Would you get lost already?" Lucifer rolled his eyes and tossed up his hands in surrender, but before leaving he turned back to Buffy.

"Leave a light on for me Slayer..." A low growl vibrated in Spike's throat and Lucifer gave a mock shiver,"Isn't he just dreamy when he's fierce?" Dawn cleared her throat,"Okay, okay.....I'm going......geez....." They watched until he folded back into the shadows, the other demons and vampires following suit, before the remaining three started towards home.

"You sure you're alright, Dawnie?" Buffy asked, putting her arm around her sister's shoulders and pulling her close.

"I'm fine....feeling pretty good actually, you know, post-traumatic euphoria." She continued to play with the sphere, tossing it up into the air, which was then snatched by Spike to examined.

"You gonna tell us what this is, lil' bit?" he asked.

"It's the Key to Immortality."