Part 8

Buffy and Willow stood in the arcade and stared at the trio of geeks, who, along with Buffy, had just been made visible. "So you three have, what, banded together to be pains in my ass?"

Warren edged away from her. Jonathan and Andrew followed him. "We're your arch-nemesises ... ses," he proclaimed. "You may have beaten us this time, Slayer, but next time ... um ... uh, next time..."

"Maybe not!" Jonathan shouted as he threw something at the floor. It exploded creating a smoke screen.

Buffy titled her head toward Willow and sighed. Her arch nemeses were stuck at the locked door. Willow took advantage of their confusion and slid the inviso-ray along the floor towards them. "Oh - no - Buffy, they're - getting - away - with - the - inviso-ray!"

They watched the boys looking at their hands, and at each other in confusion. "I *thought* you had it," Warren growled at Jonathan.

Buffy looked at Willow and rolled her eyes. "Hurry - Willow, grab the gun - at their *feet*, before they escape with it!"

Warren scrambled on the ground for a moment until he found the ray-gun. Just then, the others got the door open, and they tumbled out into the alley.

"For a minute there, I thought I was going to have to use a spell to open the door for them," Willow said, as she and Buffy turned and headed out the front.

"Ya, Will, see patience is it's own reward," Buffy replied.

"Hunh?" Willow queried.

"Dunno, just sounded good in my head."

Willow nodded, "Off to the Magic Box then. We can see if Giles got it."

They walked quietly for a few minutes, and Willow watched Buffy out of the corner of her eye. She looked preoccupied, off in another world, but for a change she looked happy and Willow was dying to talk to her best friend again. Things had been so strained since Buffy's return. "So, Buffy, what's new with you?"

"Hunh? What do you mean, Will? We live in the same house."

"It's just that the last week or so, you seem... I dunno, happy." Willow kicked a rock, and watched it skitter along the street before continuing. "You're more like your old self. It's nice."

"Thanks, Will. I guess knowing what's going to happen, and being able to do something about it... it makes things easier."

Willow thought for a moment. "But you seem happy, not just more relaxed. Although, come to think of it, you do seem awfully *relaxed*." Willow said nudging her, smiling her "guilty secret" smile.

"Will," she gasped, starting to blush.

"I just noticed that you and Spike seem to be getting along better, and then there's the happy Buffy, and the relaxed Buffy. And, we just sort of added the two and the other two together and came up with four." She said, grinning.

"I can't believe.,. I mean... And who is *We*," Buffy sputtered.

"Well, first I want to know if it's true, before I compromise my sources." Willow bounced on the balls of her feet.

"Oh, no! I'm not going to just spill some... possible... deep dark secret, just because you claim you know what it is. You first."

"You know how the laptops crashed, and after that I was trying to get them connected again. You know really *connected*. And you know how everything you view in the browser winds up in the cache? And there you were... you and Spike. You're..."

"Willow!" Buffy cut her off, blushing furiously now.

"You are! I knew it! You have to tell me everything!" Willow shrieked, grabbing her friend by the shoulders.

"First, you're going to tell me how you figured it out. I thought we were being discrete."

"Well, we can be pretty observy. There was the increased patrolling, just when we were seeing way less demon activity due to the prophecy info. And like I said before, you were all with the happy and not the stressed all the time." Willow's eyebrows shot up emphasizing the happy smile, and then scrunched together on stressed. "And of course there was Spike, not being moody and all, 'I love Buffy but she hates me,' anymore."

Buffy stared at her as Willow thought for a moment. "I think Tara and Anya noticed first, but we weren't going to say anything. You know, since Xander is still pretty anti-Spike and also being the king of denial, he would be hard to convince unless he saw you 'doing it' on the table in the Magic Box." Willow laughed at the thought of Xander's face.

Buffy laughed too, and then frowned. "Uh Will, Xander may not be as clue free as you think. Not after today."

"Why? What happened?"

"Well, I went to talk to Spike, while I was invisible, and Xander barged into the crypt without knocking."

Willow's face went blank for a moment as she remembered what Xander had told them about Spike, in his bed, 'exercising' as he put it. "Oh my god! You're Spike's imaginary friend!" She gasped, clamping her hands over her mouth.

Buffy raised her hand. "In the flesh... as soon as he connects those dots...."

"Boom!" Willow finished for her.

They walked on in silence for a while, each one thinking about the implications of Xander finding out what he had actually 'seen'.

"It doesn't matter." Willow pronounced.

"Hunh?"

"It doesn't matter. We outnumber him!" She started counting on her fingers. "There's me, you, Tara, Anya, Dawn, and I think Giles. He'll have to behave, or we'll... we'll... well, I don't know what we'll do exactly, but we'll do something." She said, showing her resolve face. "Oh! I could turn him into a rat. Amy needs a playmate." Willow grinned.

"Thanks, Will," Buffy said, hugging her best friend.

Part 9

The rest of the gang was already at work when they arrived at the shop. Dawn had finished helping Anya pour out and measure ingredients, and now they were both sitting behind the counter, out of the way.

"Is Giles back?" Buffy asked, as she and Willow walked through the door.

"The G-man came through! His misspent youth saves the day again." Xander yelled, from the back of the shop, just as Giles walked up from the basement. Spike followed him, carrying a heavy box.

"Their door had a simple lock. It was..." Then he saw whom Xander was talking to. "Buffy, you're back!" Giles exclaimed.

"Front too, all nice and visible and non-mushy," Buffy chirped. She smiled at Giles, and then looked past him to Spike. He had put down the box and was walking towards her, purposefully. She eyed him suspiciously as he walked all the way around her, and stopped again in front of her. "What are you doing?"

"Look solid enough," he said reaching out and touching her hair. "Feel solid," his hand slid down, along her cheek, to her chin. "Wonder if you are?"

She grabbed his lapels, yanking him forward into a savage, one-sided kiss. Spike was frozen, his hands suspended in mid air. "Does that feel solid enough?" When he didn't respond she pulled back and looked at him.

"Uh, Slay-er?" He said, drawing out her name as a question. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" His mind was still reeling. She'd just snogged him, in front of the gang, and he was still alive - mostly because Anya had intercepted Xander and was physically restraining him while they argued.

"Little late to worry about that," she said, looking over at Xander. Spike's face broke into a broad smile. She squeaked as he suddenly swept her up and began kissing her back passionately.

Giles cleared his throat, causing Spike and Buffy to end the kiss, reluctantly, their foreheads still touching. "In the middle of serious scientific inquiry here, Rupert," Spike said, still looking at Buffy.

"Yes, well, be that as it may, we need to finish this quickly."

At that, Xander tore his arms free from Anya and charged forward brandishing the only piece of wood he could immediately lay his hands on, a pencil. "Take your hands off her!" He screamed. "I swear to god, Spike, you're dust!"

Xander's next words were cut off abruptly when found himself flattened against the counter. He stared up into the face of one very brassed-off watcher. "Buffy is my responsibility, *not* yours," he growled in a low, dangerous tone. "If I feel that Spike, or anyone else, has harmed her... *I* will deal with them." He glared harder at Xander. "Your irrational jealousy of Angel caused her enough pain. If you hadn't withheld the information about Willow's spell, she might not have had to kill him. If I had known what you had done, while we were searching for her that summer, I would have killed you myself."

Xander gulped and began turning red. Giles hauled him back up to his feet. "I believe we understand each other?" Xander nodded, as Giles straightened Xander's collar and brushed off his shirt. "Now, we have a job to do. I suggest we all let bygones be bygones and get back to work."

Xander massaged his throat and nodded again. He walked back over to Anya who hugged him and then smacked the back of his head. "I told you to leave it alone," she grumbled at Xander. "If you've gotten yourself damaged so we can't have sex, I'll kill you too."

He chuckled weakly. "Thanks, An."

Spike and Buffy exchanged a glance as he slowly eased back from her. "Think we'd better take our seats for the show," he offered. She nodded.

Giles straightened his glasses, opened the box, and handed out the items. Willow and Tara arranged them around a symbol they had painted on the floor earlier. Then everyone cleared out of the way as Giles, Willow, and Tara began lighting the candles and chanting.

A few minutes later, on the other side of town, Jonathan, Warren, and Andrew piled out of the van and into their lair. "We did it! They didn't follow us." Warren yelled. "We defeated the Slayer!"

"There's no limit to what we can do now," Jonathan quivered with excitement.

"Does this mean we're going to take over Sunnydale now?" Andrew asked.

Warren turned his head and sneered at him. "Duh! That's the whole point, now isn't it." The others nodded. "Now, give me a few minutes to make sure this is still working. In case we need it again." As he set the inviso-ray on the table, sirens started blaring.

"What is that?" Andrew asked, nervously, looking for the source of the sound.

"A siren, you idiot." Warren answered. "Jonathan, fetch your bone and get rid of them." He went back to examining the gun, as Jonathan went to get his magic bone.

There was loud pounding on the door. "This is the Sunnydale Police, open the door. We have a warrant to search the premises."

"Jonathan!" Warren yelled.

"I'm looking. I'm looking!" Jonathan whimpered.

They heard the sound of splintering wood as the police knocked the door down. One officer snatched the ray gun out of Warren's hands as he turned to use it. He glared at Jonathan, "Do something!"

"I'm trying, but I can't find my bone, and nothing is working!" Jonathan wailed as another officer slapped handcuffs on him. Andrew was already cuffed and leaning against the wall, sobbing

"Sergeant, over here, I've got it," the officer said, holding up their ray gun.

The sergeant took the gun and examined the huge diamond mounted in it. "Good work. The stone matches the description of the one from the museum break in. Read them their rights and load them into the cars." Turning to the three. "Well, boys, it looks like you have some explaining to do."

A few minutes earlier, back at the Magic Box, a large plume of smoke had gone up from the clay pot on the floor between Tara, Willow, and Giles. Tara peered into it. "Nothing but ash now."

"I thought there would have been more. It was a pretty large bone." Willow observed, as she tipped the bowl and carefully poured the ash into a small bottle.

"How long will it last?" Buffy wondered.

"As long as we keep it in a dry, contained place, it will last forever." Willow said.

"Or at least until someone breaks the binding spell." Tara added. "But, even if they figured it out, since three of us cast it together, that's not likely."

"And, I added a little extra something to the spell." Willow said. "You know all those surveillance tapes they had of you? Could have made for some very hard to answer questions." She said, very pleased with herself. Buffy nodded. "Well they're all magnetic, the video tapes and computer disks and all. Poof! All gone, and blank." Willow waved her arms to emphasize the 'poof'. "Tara helped too, kinda like my spotter, so I don't have any oopses." She grinned at Tara, and she nodded back.

"Good job, Will, Tara." This magic 'buddy system' they had worked out seemed to be working well for Willow. Buffy looked at the jar of dust again. "Hmmm. I think it would look nice as a paperweight for Giles. After all, he did the breaking and entering. Maybe we could get it put into resin. You know, like those little globes and baby shoes."

"That will have to wait until after the Monopoly tournament, Luv." Spike said as he helped Giles clear away the remaining magic paraphernalia. Dawn squealed with delight, and dashed off to help Tara and Willow clean the floor.

Buffy came up behind Spike and wrapped her arms around his waist, making it impossible for him to continue cleaning. "But I don't want to play monopoly." She breathed into his ear.

He closed his eyes and groaned. "Slayer," he growled, reaching around and dragging her in front of him. He took her face in his hands, bringing her close to him. "Nibblet has her heart set on a fun night with the gang."

She slid her hands inside his duster and began tracing the lines of his stomach muscles. "But I had my heart set on..."

He caught her hands before she could finish and pulled them out between them. "Buffy," he said sternly, catching her attention with her name. "You know she's been looking forward to this for days."

"Fine," she snapped, wrenching her hands free. There was a defiant twinkle in her eyes. "But don't expect me to go easy on you." She stalked out, calling over her shoulder, "Dawn, hurry up. We need to get snacks ready." She turned when she reached the door. "Spike, you've got the car keys. Move it!"

He chuckled and picked up the box, shaking his head. "What have I gotten myself into," he sighed - a broad, content grin plastered on his face. "Be there in a tick, Pet," he shouted up to the front of the store, before he dashed down to the basement with the box.

Giles leaned against one of the shelves and watched Spike dash out the door. He took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, as he considered the implications of what he had just witnessed. He was becoming more and more certain that Buffy would be safe, and more importantly, happy with Spike. He chuckled lightly. He was starting to worry a little about Spike's well being. Goodness knows, Giles hadn't been able to control her. It would be amusing to watch Spike try. He stood up, put his glasses on, and frowned thinking, 'How have I gotten talked into playing board games with them?'

Part 10

Dawn squealed with delight, "I get to be the horse!" she said grabbing the piece from the box sitting on the coffee table.

Dawn was sitting on a cushion on the floor with Spike and Buffy, also on cushions, to her right. Giles had pulled up a chair at the end of the coffee table, since Xander and Anya had claimed the couch. Tara and Willow were sitting at the other end of the table, opposite Giles.

"There aren't enough pieces to go around anymore, you'll have to share Dawn," Buffy reminded her.

"Fine! Spike and I will beat all of you," she latched onto his arm, sticking her tongue out at Buffy.

"Dawn!" Buffy whined. Then she threw her hands up in the air. "Fine! I'll just play with," she looked around the room at Tara and Willow with the dog, Xander and Anya with the wheelbarrow, and finally at Giles who was inspecting the car. "Guess it's you and me. You wanna handle the money or roll for us?"

"What?" Giles squinted down at her. "Um, why don't you decide?" He looked at the car again. "I'm quite sure I'll become comatose with equal rapidity in either case."

Buffy rose up on her cushion, so she could whisper to Giles, "The sooner we beat them, the sooner we can quit playing."

"Ah, I see your point. Very well," he set the piece on the board, picked up the rules, and began studying them.

Anya was counting out money for each team. "I used to think this game was a travesty of the work ethic, but now I see it's a useful tool for teaching children the value of a dollar. Of course they're not real dollars, and the prices are well below market value."

"You forgot the $500 in the center," Dawn observed, as Anya finished returning the extra money to the bank.

"I did not," Anya flipped her hair back. "That's not in the rules."

"But we always play it that way. $500 in the center, and all the fines and stuff goes in there too. Buffyyyyyyy!" She pleaded.

Buffy rolled her eyes, and she saw Giles was about to say something, but she pre-empted him, "Anya, we do usually play that way. It's fun, and it makes the game go faster," she looked directly at Giles.

He stared at her for a second, and then blinked. "Oh, yes, right..." He flipped the rules over and pointed to a paragraph. "It clearly says you can add your own rules if they are agreed upon at the start," he said, handing the rules to Anya, and exchanging a nod with Buffy.

"I don't see the point..." Anya started to argue.

Xander jumped in. "Anya honey, if you land on Free Parking, you get all that money in the center."

"Oh, I see," she smiled greedily, "In that case, let's go ahead." She tossed a $500 in the center and leaned across the board to pinch Dawn's cheek. "You're just so cute and clever."

Dawn frowned at her, and batted her hand away. "I'm not a baby, Anya."

"Of course you're not," Anya gushed.

"Whatever," Dawn replied, going back to setting up her money.

They rolled the dice to see who would go first, and Dawn won. Dawn rolled again, and Spike picked up the horse and began moving it around the board. Tara and Willow were next, then Xander and Anya, with Buffy and Giles going last. The dice were passed around from one team to the next as everyone started to get into the spirit of the game.

In spite of himself, Giles found he was fascinated by the challenge of formulating a strategy to overcome the random throw of the dice. He was at odds with Buffy on this. He wanted to buy everything they landed on, while she wanted to save and accumulate cash. By the time all the property was sold, they had only one color group, the reds, and one railroad to show for their efforts.

However, Giles and Buffy's situation weren't getting the worst of it. Tara and Willow had acquired the least valuable property on the board, owning the dark purple pair and the utilities. Anya smiled as she took them out a few rounds later, when they landed on her first hotel.

Dawn was having a great time. She and Spike were doing very well. A short while later, it was down to them against Anya and Xander. There was a lull in the game while Giles turned over the last of his pieces to Dawn.

Buffy yawned and scooted over closer to Spike. He absentmindedly stroked her back as they watched Dawn gleefully count out the last of Giles and Buffy's money. Dawn swept the houses and hotels off her new properties and neatly stacked their real estate cards in among her own.

About that time the phone rang. Buffy looked at her watch. The only people who would be calling her at this hour were there. Giles got up, "That must be Wesley. When I left the message, I said I would likely be here."

"Good luck," Buffy said, not moving from her spot, leaning against Spike. Giles nodded as he walked over to the kitchen to answer the phone.

The game raged on with Dawn and Anya fairly evenly matched. Spike and Xander did their bit, rolling the dice and moving their pieces around the board. Xander in particular was unusually calm and compliant, not at all like he had been earlier that day in the Magic Box. He leaned back on the couch, with one arm around Anya, and the other hand cradling the cup of tea Willow had made for him.

Xander reached for the dice, but Dawn snatched them up. "Ooh, wait, Xander, my turn's not over! I need to put houses on my new color groups." She turned and looked at her partner. "What do you think, Spike?" She was bouncing on her knees and breathless.

He glanced across the board at Xander and Anya. "I fancy the red ones, Nibblet." He raised his eyebrow and grinned back at Dawn. "Xander yells louder when he lands on those."

She squeaked with glee. "Ohh, I want a hotel on each then," Dawn said counting out the money for Anya. She took the pieces Anya handed her and carefully arranged them on the properties. When she finished she rolled and moved the horse. "Free Parking!" Xander groaned as she scooped the wad of money out of the center.

As Xander reached for the dice, Dawn counted out the squares from the wheelbarrow to her next properties. "You need a 2, 7, or 10 to miss us." She clapped her hands. "You'll never make it."

Xander scowled at the sea of red hotels he was facing. Reaching toward Tara with the dice, "You never know. Maybe Tara would blow on the dice for us, for luck."

Tara chuckled and shook her head, "You two are on your own. We promised no influencing the dice."

"Oh well," Xander brought his hand over to Anya. "How about it, An?"

"You know I don't have my powers, Xander. And even if I did, I couldn't use them for my own wishes," she explained.

Xander held his other hand up, "It's just a game, An."

"Oh, very well," she leaned forward slightly and blew on the dice.

Xander tossed them onto the board. "10, the hard way!" He shouted. "Yes!" He took the wheelbarrow and danced it along the board past Dawn's hotels. "Not stopping here, or here, or there," he chanted as he went. "What do you think of that, Dawnster?" He smirked, placing the dice in front of her, very pleased with himself.

Dawn exchanged a wicked grin with Spike. "I think you rolled doubles and you get to go again," she snickered, tossing the dice back at him.

Xander's face fell as Dawn went back to counting out which rolls would bankrupt him.

Spike ruffled her hair and smiled broadly, "That's my girl. Show no mercy." Dawn laughed as she smoothed her hair back into place. Grabbing a large handful of popcorn she watched Xander.

On Spike's other side, Buffy had sunk down and was using his thigh as a pillow. She had been watching the game, but after a few minutes, he could feel her pulse and breathing slow.

Giles returned from the phone call and sat back down. Spike looked up at him expectantly. "Wesley was just calling back to say he's agreed to 'take care of' Holtz. After he had some time to think about it, he realized we were right about Angel being unwilling to kill him himself. What with his guilt over Holtz's family."

"He understood about the false prophecy and Conner being kidnapped, and you didn't mention me, right?" Spike asked. Giles nodded. "That's good then."

"Spike, I can understand why you wanted me to call Wesley instead of you, but I still don't understand why you wanted to help Angel in the first place." Giles asked. "As far as I can tell, you two have never gotten along."

"Can't have my 'uncle' getting sucked into some demon dimension," Spike remarked, trying to look relaxed and cocky. Then, looking down at Buffy as she slept, he said, "Here, Giles, would you pass me that blanket?"

Giles handed him the blanket and watched as Spike unfolded it and tucked it around Buffy, lifting her hair up over the blanket and tucking it around her chin. He smoothed the blanket over her and rested his hand on her back. He looked up and saw Giles watching him curiously. "I think she's a bit knackered from her run in with the nerds. Being all invisible and then visible again has to take a toll." Giles nodded, as Spike went back to caressing her back.

Looking back up at Giles, Spike said, "Seemed like it was time to try to mend fences is all."

The rest of the pieces began to fit together for Giles and he looked thoughtful. "But if he doesn't know where the information came from..."

Spike shrugged. He was about to say something else when everyone shouted.

Xander had landed on Dawn's Boardwalk hotel. Xander groaned as Anya tallied up their net worth. "Xander, you bankrupted us! You and your frivolous dice rolls."

"It's just a game, Anya!" He started to raise his voice.

Dawn shrieked and gave Spike a huge hug, nearly knocking him over. "We won! Look, we won!"

He hugged her back, "We didn't just win, Nibblet. We crushed 'em!" He laughed with her. After a moment he looked at Dawn. Raising his eyebrows, he nodded towards Xander.

Dawn got the hint. Letting go of Spike, she leaned over the table, extending her hand to Xander and then Anya. "Great game, guys," she said, shaking their hands and attempting to play the gracious victor.

Anya smiled unconvincingly and elbowed Xander. He growled back at her and then glared at Spike.

"Um, have some more tea, Xander," Willow suggested, moving into his line of sight, and handing him yet another fresh cup.

He looked back and forth between Willow and Anya for a moment, and then sighed and took a swallow from the cup Willow had given him. "Gee, Willow, this is great tea. What kind is it?"

"It's just some herbal tea that Tara and I made. No caffeine - won't make you jittery or keep you up." Willow said.

"And the valerian doesn't hurt either," Tara whispered, and the two giggled. They had made it up special for Xander after today's events. It was harmless and had kept him from ruining the party by trying to kill Spike.

"What's going on?" Xander asked, not sure if they were giggling at him.

"Oh, we were just, um, thinking you were going to have to make it up to Anya for that last roll," Willow answered, hoping her excuse wasn't too lame and he wouldn't pursue it.

Xander shrugged and drank some more of his tea while Willow and Tara cleared away the rest of the dishes and debris from the party, and said good night to everyone. Anya collected all the game pieces and put the monopoly board back into the box.

"Thank you for the game, Dawn, and congratulations" Giles said, as he stood preparing to leave.

"We'll have to do this again," she gushed.

Giles smiled at her gently. "Yes, actually I had a good time in spite of my earlier apprehensions. It would be pleasant to get together just for fun on occasion." Dawn beamed at Giles.

Xander and Anya hugged Dawn on their way out. Giles lingered for a moment, looking back at Buffy, still asleep, curled up against Spike. It wasn't often that he saw her so peaceful and happy.

"Don't worry," Dawn assured Giles. "He'll carry her upstairs, now that Xander is gone."

Giles actually blushed slightly. "Quite," he murmured. Then he looked back at Dawn. "It was a lovely evening. See you tomorrow." He walked out and Dawn closed the door behind him. She still had a huge grin on her face.

"Had a good time then, did you, Nibblet?" Spike asked. He carefully lifted Buffy and walked to the bottom of the stairs where Dawn was standing.

"Oh, I had a great time. Usually the only time we get together is when something awful is happening. This was so neat."

"Glad to hear it, Luv." He smiled affectionately at her. "Now, I've got to get Big Sis upstairs. She's had a long day. See you in the morning."

"Goodnight," she replied, as Spike carried Buffy up the stairs and into her room, shutting the door. Dawn turned and floated off to her room.

Part 11

It had been a peaceful couple of weeks after the nerds had been arrested. There were the usual vampires and assorted mix of other demons to slay. There was that demon at the Double Meat Palace, but Spike and Buffy had dispatched her with very little trouble. The monster relied on her paralyzing venom, and with victims who were wise to it, she quickly found herself on the wrong end of Buffy's axe.

Between Buffy, Spike, Tara, Willow, and Giles, they were managing to keep the bills paid while Buffy attended to the slaying. She was still looking for a part time, day job, but she hadn't found anything yet. Spike seemed unconcerned. When pressed, he said he had a plan, and she shouldn't worry. She found that to be a source of comfort and concern.

Buffy could hardly believe it when Spike told her that her 'career' in a number of the prophecies involved assembling Double Meat Medleys. At least she hadn't been wearing one of those awful orange hats when Riley hit town and asked for her help. She couldn't imagine anything more embarrassing.

The door to the crypt flew open with a bang. Spike lifted his head slightly and saw Riley standing holding his weapon out in front of him, aiming right at Spike's chest. "You should be careful where you point that, mate." Spike said calmly, trying to ease Buffy off his chest and putting himself between her and Riley.

"Stop wiggling," Buffy murmured, trying to pull him back down, and burrow her face back into his chest. In doing so, she pulled the blanket away, uncovering her face.

"Buffy?" Riley exclaimed.

Buffy groaned, still not fully awake. Spike reached over and ruffled her hair. "Company's here, Luv. Rise and shine."

"I killed the last one," she muttered, "your turn."

"Pet, it's Soldier-boy, come to pay his respects," Spike said, jostling her again.

"Oh god," she grimaced. "I need to get dressed. At least I was invisible when Xander broke in."

"Sorry to have to say it, but your friends have no manners," he chuckled.

"Oh right, unlike your polite demon friends," she muttered while fishing around for her clothes.

"Clem's very polite."

"Hello," Riley interrupted. "This is all very nice, but that's not why I'm here ... Doctor."

"Who?" Spike asked.

"Where are they ... Doctor?" Riley repeated.

"Where are what, and why do you keep calling me that?" Spike retorted.

Buffy looked at Spike, "Why don't you boys get reacquainted," looking back and forth at them, seeing they weren't moving, "Hello! Turn around so I can get dressed, Riley."

"Yup, what would the missus think?" Spike quipped.

Riley rolled his eyes, "Fine, but first, you come over here where I can keep an eye on you." He said, motioning to Spike.

Spike clutched the blanket to his chest in mock horror, "Buffy, help me, he wants to see me naked," he squeaked.

Riley sighed, reached over grabbed Spike's jeans off of the chair, and threw them at him. Spike caught them with one hand. "Thanks mate," he said, slipping them on and sliding off the crypt. He collected his shirts as he walked over to Riley. "Now, now, eyes this way. Not yours anymore." He said, jerking his head away from Buffy.

Riley ignored the taunt and smiled at Spike through gritted teeth. "Glad to be back in Sunnydale. The locals all speak English, and I know who to beat for information. It's all brought me here. Where are the eggs, Doctor?"

"Eggs?" Buffy asked, popping around Riley and standing by Spike. "You made breakfast?" She chirped to Spike. He grinned back at her.

"Demon eggs, from the Suvolte," said Riley, exasperation replacing his shock over seeing Buffy and Spike in bed together. "I know they're here, and I'm taking this place apart until I find that nest." Riley walked to the ladder and started climbing down.

"Mind the furniture," Spike called after him. "I have everything just so."

Buffy rolled her eyes at him. They both followed Riley down into the basement.

"You screwed up. You didn't keep 'em frozen, did you ... Spike?" Riley yelled.

Buffy stared at the eggs, for a moment with her mouth open. She turned and punched Spike in the arm.

"I told you, you were forgetting something," Buffy said, walking over and tapping one of the eggs.

Spike looked over at her and smirked. He loved it when she was being playful. "Not my fault, Luv. Rupert said we only had to freeze the live ones."

"Hunh?" Riley grunted, confused.

Spike was chuckling now. "Yeh, the witches did a little spell, sort of hard boiled this lot. But, not to worry, we saved two just for you commando types. They're in the freezer back at the Magic Box." He slid over to Buffy and put his arm around her.

"Buffy!" Riley was glaring at her now. "When were you going to tell me about this?"

She straightened up and met his glare with her own. "When were you going to tell me about Sam?" She cocked her head, "Can you say, awkward moment?"

Riley sighed, and relaxed his posture, dropping his eyes. "All right, fair enough. I guess I could have handled that a lot better." He looked back up at her. "I'm sorry. I just didn't know what to say, 'Hi Buffy! My wife, who you haven't met, and I, need you to help us hunt a demon.'"

She walked forward and slapped him lightly on the arm, "Would that have been so difficult?"

"Yes, actually," Riley answered, shuffling his feet as he shouldered his weapon. Spike chuckled, causing Riley to step around Buffy and advance on him suddenly, jabbing a finger into Spike's chest. "And you, if you ever hurt her..."

Spike batted Riley's hand away, interrupting him. "Give it a rest, I know this part. And you'll have to take your turn behind Giles, Xander, the witch, and dear old Grandsire."

"Hunh, who?" Riley asked, shaking his head.

"Tall, brooding, too much hair gel and totally smitten with ..."

"Angel? He doesn't know about... this... you?" Riley interrupted, amazed.

"Nope, was saving that one for a rainy day." Spike's mouth quirked up in a grin as his eyes danced.

Riley chuckled in spite of himself, "Ya, I'd pay to see that."

Spike looked thoughtful for a moment, "Suppose I could put the money toward Nibblet's college fund. While we're at it, I could also sell you a slot higher up on the list of people who get to stake me."

"What?" Riley was jarred out of visions of Angel's reaction by Spike's babbling.

"Oof!" Spike exhaled as Buffy jabbed him in the ribs.

"This is such fun, but we need to get going. Now!" She ordered, shooing Riley toward the ladder.

He climbed up and waited for Buffy. "Are you coming?"

"I'm taking the tunnels back to the shop with Spike. Meet you there," she answered. He nodded back.

"Hello! Who's going to clean up this mess. Those eggs stink!" Spike called after him.

Buffy grabbed him and kissed him before he could say anything else. "You're really enjoying this, aren't you."

"I always enjoy this," he said starting to pull on the hem of her shirt.

"I meant taunting Riley." She slapped at his hands, and started walking down the tunnel.

"Oh ya! It almost makes up for that novelty stake gag." He said, jogging to catch up with her. "And I noticed you didn't exactly jump to his defense." He grinned, catching her arm and slowing to walk with her.

"I was too stunned by the sight of all that male bonding over your dislike of Angel."

"Naw, you've got us all wrong, Luv." He saw her look up at him, raising an eyebrow. "We hate that bloody wanker," he finished with a smirk.

Buffy chuckled, and pulled him closer as they walked. "But there will be no telling of Angel." She said sternly. "I will tell him." He looked at her. "When the time is right... and I'm ready... and I can't possibly avoid it any longer...," she trailed off.

"Now see, this is the problem, Pet. You don't want to tell him, and I do, could save you a big headache." His laughter trailed off. "Or is there something else?" He asked quietly.

Buffy stepped in front of Spike, abruptly halting him. All the laughter gone from her face, replaced with grim determination and a touch of something else... fear possibly. "I will tell him. And yes there's something else - You - dusted. I won't go through that again." She searched his eyes. "Promise me I won't have to go through that again." Her lip quivered as she stared up at him.

He stroked her face gently, "Shhhhh," he murmured as he pulled her into his chest. "What's all this then?" He was trying to figure out what she was talking about. "Did you have another of your Slayer dreams? Was I... did I get staked or something?"

"No," she moaned. He pulled her chin up to look at her face. She tried to pull away for a second and then gave up. "Like Angel." He pressed his lips together in a tight grimace, as she said that, not sure at all where she was headed with this, and fearing the worst. She saw it and shook her head. "No, you don't understand. I can't watch you die... and... I can't kill the man I love again." She slapped at his chest, "Don't ever do anything that makes me have to kill you."

Relief and joy flooded over his face. Spike stood motionless, absorbing what she had said. He was brought back to earth when she tightened her grip on him. He said, leaning in to kiss her softly. "Not sure I heard you properly, can you say that again?"

"If you didn't hear me, I'm not saying it again," she wrinkled her nose at him.

"I love you too." He said with a sigh. "I promise, you'll never go through that again," he said as he began kissing along her jaw line and down her neck.

...And they were very late getting back to the Magic Box.

Part 12

"Ok, what do we know?" Buffy asked. It was a couple hours after dawn, and the curtains were drawn in her room to keep the sun out. She was lying sideways across her bed, on her stomach, with the sheet pulled around her, going over their mental list one last time.

"Nibblet hasn't made any wishes," Spike leaned forward, nudging the sheet down a little with his finger as he drew an imaginary checkmark on her back.

"No wishes, check," Buffy noted, "and we haven't been ignoring her."

"Right." Spike nodded, moving the sheet and making another check a little lower, just below her shoulder blade. "I helped her return the jewelry to the Magic Box."

"I still think you should have gone during the day," Buffy shook her head.

"Didn't want Anya to catch us, and was more fun that way, sort of like old times," he smiled, remembering past adventures.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Ok, it's past my actual birthday, I'm not inviting anyone from work, Xander's not inviting anyone from work, un-birthday and no civilians!" Buffy ticked off the items on her fingers.

Spike made two more checks, enjoying how her muscles twitched under her skin where he touched her. "How 'bout Clem? He's hardly a civilian, and he'd definitely be a help if anything goes wrong."

Buffy knew the big, floppy eared, loose skinned demon was just about Spike's only friend. "Sure, bring him along, but no kittens, and... nothing is going to go wrong." She sighed as he swept her hair out of the way and started massaging her back.

"No kittens, got it. Speaking of things not to drag home, what did you do with the broken sword from that big demon last week?"

"Gave it to Giles. Figured he could make sure the demon wasn't coming back." She groaned. "A little lower, I think I strained something last night."

Spike chuckled, "How do you suppose that happened, Luv?"

She flailed ineffectually at him, unable to reach him from her stomach. Giving up she fluffed the pillow under her chest and rested the side of her head on it, looking at him.

Spike laughed again. "You're undoing my work here, hold still."

"Do you think this will work?" She wondered.

He shrugged. "We're ready as we'll ever be." Spike said, massaging the knot in her lower back.

"Yep, we've though of everything." She moaned.

"Everything... Hey, where is everybody today?" Spike asked.

"I told them I needed the day to work on things for my birthday. Getting the house ready for the party. They'll be here by 7:00."

"Thought Red and Tara were handling all that?" Spike asked, rolling her over onto her back, and looming over her, an arm resting on each side of her head.

"They are," she chuckled. "Nothing can go wrong now."

Later, the alarm rang. Buffy rolled over hit it again. It was no use; the clock said 6:30pm. Tara and Willow were probably already getting things set up. She had 30 minutes to get up and dressed before the rest of the Scoobies arrived for her un-birthday party. Groaning she sat up and stretched. Then she reached over and jostled Spike. "Come on, time to face another Buffy birthday."

"Is it that late?" He asked, a little disoriented.

"It's 6:30," she replied, pulling the covers back and starting to get up.

"Where did the time go," he smirked. She turned to look at him, and dodged his arm streaking out to grab her.

"No, no, no!" She said, grasping the sheet firmly, shaking her finger at him, and backing away. "There are still a couple of my friends who haven't walked in on us, and I intend to keep it that way. Get up and put some clothes on."

He sighed, but got up anyway. Leaving the blanket behind, he followed her around the room, 'looking for his clothes'.

"What are you doing?" She gasped as he slid up behind her and wound his arms around her body. She caught one of his hands as it started roaming over her skin and down under the sheet she had wrapped herself in.

He nuzzled her neck. "I'm looking for my clothes, as ordered. Last time I saw them, you had them."

Giggling, in spite of herself, she shoved him away. "I'm going to go dress in the bathroom if you keep that up." She warned him.

"Can't have that," he groaned. Leaving her alone for the moment he collected his clothes and sat on the end of the bed. From there he watched her as he pulled his own clothes back on. She was pulling things out of the closet and holding them up to herself. "Could save you a lot of trouble if we just stayed up here for the party."

She didn't look at him. She knew the expression he would have on his face, and if she saw it she didn't think she'd be able to finish dressing. "Why don't you go downstairs and see if Willow and Tara need any help."

"I like the view better up here," he said.

"I have to get ready," she groaned. Grabbing his arm she pushed him out the door, and closed it behind him.

"Hey, what about my boots?" He said, banging on the door.

"You can get them later. Now go downstairs and leave me alone." She heard him laughing as his voice trailed off down the stairs.

As he arrived in the kitchen, Spike said, "I've been sent to help you two with any last minute details."

Willow and Dawn looked down at the tray of snacks they were arranging, trying to hide their faces. Tara was also blushing, but she had a mischievous look on her face. "She finally tossed you out?" Tara giggled.

Spike smirked back at her, but bit his tongue as he noticed Dawn. "None of that. Just tell me what you need help with."

"You could take the punch bowl and the cups out there and set them up," Willow suggested.

Spike nodded and started carrying the cups out to the table.

A few minutes before 7:00, Buffy came downstairs and looked around. Willow and Tara looked at her expectantly. She dashed over and hugged both of them, and then Dawn. "You did such a nice job decorating the house. And the food smells great. Thanks!"

"Oh, it was nothing," Willow said, grinning. "Happy Birthday, Buffy." She loved having happy Buffy back again.

There was a knock at the door and Buffy went to let Xander and Anya in. While they were wishing her happy birthday Giles arrived. "Happy Birthday," Giles said, giving her a hug and a kiss on the forehead. "I brought you a little something." He handed her a small package with a garish bow.

"Thanks, Giles," Buffy said and the walked over and put the present on the table with the others.

Spike walked out from the kitchen followed by Clem. "Nice to meet all of you," Clem said, waving and catching their attention.

Giles blinked and then squared his shoulders, walked over to Clem, and extended his hand. "Nice to meet you, Clem. I'm Giles." He shook Clem's hand and raised an eyebrow at Spike. "You're a friend of Buffy's?" He asked Clem.

"Well, we played poker one time, but mostly I'm a friend of Spike's. We hang out together, play poker, watch TV, that sort of thing." He explained, trying to sound as harmless as possible to the humans.

"Ah, I see," Giles nodded.

They milled around, ate, drank, talked about the upcoming wedding, and exchanged stories of past Buffy birthdays. By 8:30 they had settled into the living room and Buffy was starting to open her presents.

She closed her eyes as Anya and Xander went to go get something. Opening them, she saw Xander had made her an oak chest for her weapons. "It's lovely, Xander. Thank you," she said, giving him a quick hug.

"I'm not threatened by that," Anya told Dawn. "Xander and I are getting married this weekend, and it's ok if his friends hug him."

Dawn nodded and smiled back at Anya. When Anya looked away, Dawn rolled her eyes.

Tara and Willow had cast a protection spell for Buffy and Dawn, and they cast another to cover Spike. "It won't make you invincible or anything," Willow explained. "But it will take the edge off the baddies." Buffy was touched that they had thought of Spike.

When she unwrapped Giles present she found a copy of the Slayer's Handbook. "I thought you said there was no point?" She said, looking at it with amazement.

Giles nodded, "Better late than never. You can at least get a few good laughs. I believe you've rewritten most of the book." He smiled at her fondly.

"Open mine now," Dawn said, sliding a large flat box onto her lap.

Buffy opened it and inside was a lovely leather coat. "It's beautiful Dawn. Thank you." She said, as she smoothed the leather with her hands.

"I hope you don't mind. I used some of the 'egg' money," Dawn said.

"Oh, Dawn, I thought you were going to get something for yourself." Buffy replied.

"I wanted to get you something. You're clothes are always getting trashed. And you need a new coat." Dawn smiled as Buffy reached over and hugged her.

"Hey, Spike, where's your present?" Xander asked.

"I've already unwrapped my present from Spike," Buffy answered, grinning at Spike.

He smiled back at her. "Actually, I did have something else." He got up and went upstairs to get it.

"Thanks everyone. This is my best birthday ever," Buffy said.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Buffy got up to go answer it.

Part 13

They had left LA a little before sunset. Angel had taken over the wheel from Wesley once the sun was down. He, Wes, and Lorne were packed into the front, while Cordelia and Groo sat in the back on either side of Conner's car seat. Fred and Gunn followed in his truck.

All the way up the freeway, Wesley and Cordelia were arguing about their plans when they reached Sunnydale. Their bickering was driving Angel nuts. 'Maybe it was time to give up the sporty midlife-crisis wheels and settle down with a nice mini-van with bucket seats,' he wondered.

Angel tried to remember why he'd thought this road trip was a good idea. No wedding could be worth this torture. However, after Wesley and Groo had taken out Holtz and his "army," things had heated up in LA. Wolfram and Hart called out their own army and were doing their best to make life difficult for Angel and company. The invitation to the wedding couldn't have come at a better time. They would arrive a little early - several days early actually. But he was sure they could find something useful to do on the Hellmouth.

Where to stay was another matter, they hadn't had time to make any arrangements before leaving town. Hopefully Wes and Cordy would get it sorted out before they drove him insane.

The visit to Sunnydale would also give him a chance to introduce Conner to Buffy and the others. He was worried and excited at the same time. He knew Buffy had heard about Conner via Wesley and Giles, but he had no idea what her reaction had been. His team had all been too busy trying to keep Conner safe. At least now he and Buffy would have a chance for a quiet chat.

The small caravan arrived at 1630 Revello Drive, at about 9:00 pm. Angel turned off the engine. "Everybody, out!"

They piled out of the car. Groo handed the car seat, with Conner in it, to Cordelia. He walked with her as she followed Angel up the steps. Fred and Gunn climbed out of the truck, tagging along with Wes and Lorne bringing up the rear.

"We should have called first." Cordelia nudged Angel. "Or at least used the cell phone. If you knew how. When are you going to join the rest of us in this century?" She snorted.

"It's a little late for that now," Angel said, turning to look at her. "And we did sort of leave in a hurry."

Cordelia sighed and shook her head as Angel knocked on the door.

A few moments later, Buffy peeked out through the window and opened the door. "What are you guys doing here?" She gaped at them.

"Can we can explain inside?" Cordelia said, pushing past Buffy with the car seat.

Dawn saw the car seat come in and jumped up from the couch. "Ooh! A baby. Can I hold him?" Dawn asked, as she played with Conner's little fingers.

The others crowded in through the door, pushing Angel aside. "Fine," Angel said. "I'll just wait over here." After the stampede into the house, Angel followed them. His face smashed into the invisible barrier. Stunned for a moment, he paused. His face was a mask of confusion, as he reached out and tested the doorway again. He couldn't believe he'd been uninvited.

"Buffy, do you mind?" He growled, waving at the door.

"Um, actually, I need to talk to you first. Hang on." Buffy closed the door and disappeared for a minute. When the door opened again, she stepped outside instead of inviting him in. The instant she crossed the threshold Angel's head jerked up and he growled, his eyes flashing yellow as his face morphed.

"Where is he?" Angel demanded, grabbing Buffy's arms.

"Let go of me," she protested, knocking his hands away. "What's gotten into you?"

"I can smell him. Spike's here, or he was recently. And you...," he sniffed her again. "You reek of him." Angel growled out. "What's going on?"

By now the others had heard Angel's outburst and had come to the door to see what the problem was. Buffy backed through the open door, and bumped into Cordelia and Wesley. "Would you guys give us some space here?" Buffy asked, waving them all back into the living room.

Buffy looked back through the doorway at Angel as he seethed, waiting for her to invite him in. She took a deep breath. "Spike is here, in the house," she explained. Buffy flinched as Angel roared and threw himself at the invisible barrier. "We can talk on the back porch. I'll meet you there in a few minutes." She said firmly, closing the door against his pleas to come in.

"Buffy, you're shaking. Is everything all right?" Giles asked, noting with concern how the encounter with Angel had affected her.

She looked at Giles and gave him a weak smile. "It will be." She shook her head, "One way or another, it will be." Giles nodded. "He knows about Spike."

"How?" Giles asked.

Buffy tapped her nose. "Oh," Giles said, and then his eyes opened wide, "Ohhh!" He exclaimed, pulling his glasses off and fiddling with them.

"Ya, Oh," Buffy sighed. "Please just make sure nobody invites him in."

"If that's what you want, I'll see to it." Giles said. "And Buffy, do be careful."

"I will," she said, and then dashed upstairs.

Giles watched her go and turned to back to the living room. Some of the 'guests' were sitting, others were milling around nervously. When he walked back in they peppered him with questions.

"Giles, is Buffy ok?" Willow asked.

"What about Angel, she's not letting him in is she?" Dawn looked at him fearfully.

"Why shouldn't she let him in?" Cordelia demanded. "I don't understand any of this."

"He sounded pretty evil there, Cordelia, and my, what big teeth grandma had. Are you sure he didn't lose his soul when he was..." Xander waved his arm at Connor, "With Darla?"

"He's not evil!" Cordelia snapped. "I don't know why he's acting this way."

The Sunnydale contingent didn't answer her. Some shuffled their feet, or fidgeted, none of them would meet Cordelia's eyes.

"Ok, what's going on," Gunn asked. He was standing with his arm around Fred.

"It's rather complicated, Mr.?... I don't believe I caught your name?" Giles inquired.

"Charles Gunn," he walked forward taking Giles' hand and shaking it. "I work for Angel Investigations, along with Fred, and Cordy, and Wes."

"Fred?" Giles looked over at Groo.

"No," the woman beside Gunn said, extending her hand. "Winifred Burklen, pleased to meet you Mr. Giles. I've heard so much about you from Wesley and the others," she gushed with nervous excitement.

"I see," Giles said. "And the other 'gentlemen' with you?" Giles turned towards Groo and Lorne.

"They're from Pylea, where I lived for five years after getting sucked through a dimensional portal. Angel came and rescued me," she beamed. "Well, actually, he and the others came to rescue Cordy, she got sucked in also, but while they were there they rescued me too."

"So, you're *not* human?" Giles asked, removing his glasses and cleaning them.

Groo carefully helped Cordelia off his lap, and stood. "No, I am the Groosalugg," he strode forward, clasping Giles hand firmly. "I followed my beloved princess here to your dimension to serve her," he said, as if it needed no further explanation.

"You followed... Winifred?" Giles asked, confused, looking at Fred who was clearly connected in some way to Gunn, and back to Cordelia who was standing by the chair she and Groo had been sharing.

"No," Groo shook his head slowly, "I followed my princess, the beautiful Cordelia." He walked back over to her and wrapped an arm around her.

"Willow, does Buffy still have that bottle of scotch I left here?" Giles asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"I'll go find it." Willow hustled off.

"Now Wesley, perhaps you could start at the beginning and explain all of this." Giles sighed.

Buffy arrived upstairs to find a very worried Spike pacing around her room. As she walked through the door, he grabbed her, hugging her tightly. After a moment he looked down at her, "Are you ok?"

"I assume you heard all that?" She asked. He nodded. "I guess the Buffy birthday curse is still alive and well," she moped.

"He had to find out sometime, Luv," he said, pulling her over to the bed and sitting with her in his arms.

"I know... I just wish he could accept it. What am I going to do if he won't leave us alone? Do I stake him? Do I let him stake you? Then I could stake him, for staking you, and live by myself with a dozen cats maybe." She babbled miserably.

"I think Clem could help you out with the kitten end of things. He owes me a couple favors," Spike joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"I'm serious, Spike," she said.

"I know you are. For now, he's outside and I'm inside. If necessary we can just wait him out." He smoothed her hair and rubbed gentle circles on her back.

"Ok," she said standing up. "I have to go back out there and talk to him, but first I need to change." She grabbed some clean clothes and headed to the bathroom, with Spike following.

She turned on the water and started to peel out of her clothes. "What are you doing?" Spike Wondered.

"I'm just trying to not antagonize him any further," she said stepping into the water and quickly soaping herself.

"He's still going to be able to smell me," Spike said quietly, and a little sadly. "I'm inside you, and he knows that."

Buffy rinsed and then pulled the curtain back to look at him. "I told him that, Spike. I'm not hiding anything from him. I just... I just don't want to throw it in his face. That's all," she said, stepping out of the shower into the towel he was holding.

He dried her gently and then held her for a moment. "I love you. Be careful."

"I will," she said, pulling her clothes on quickly. "I love you," she kissed him, and then pulled back to look at him. He was grinning like an idiot. He still hadn't gotten used to her saying it. "Ready?"

"For what?" Spike asked.

"I'm going to introduce my new boyfriend to Cordy, my ex-watcher, and their friends. It would help if the you were there for it." She smiled at his confused look.

The confusion was quickly replaced by the same silly grin he'd been wearing. "Boyfriend?"

She smiled indulgently at him. "Well, what else to you call the man I'm sleeping with..." she kissed him again, "who practically lives here."

"That's true enough. Ok, let's go then," he said, sounding confident, but she could see it was just a facade. She squeezed his hand and they started down the stairs.

Part 14

Wesley was just finishing his exposition on the various members and 'friends' of Angel Investigations when he looked up to see Buffy coming down the stairs. He froze with his mouth open. When he found his voice he merely said, "Oh my god!"

The rest of them turned, and some stood, as they watched Buffy slowly descending the stairs. Her left arm was behind her as she led Spike down the stairs. The paused at the bottom for a moment, Buffy's eyes darted around the room, eventually landing on Wesley. Spike was also surveying the group, taking in the tight jaws and slowly flexing and loosening fists on several people.

"Everyone stay calm. Nobody make any sudden moves," Wesley said.

"Who is that?" Fred asked.

"It's Spike," Cordelia spit the words out. "Drusilla's boy toy."

"As in, Angel, Darla, and Drusilla?" Fred asked, her voice quavering. Cordy nodded to Fred. "Oh," Fred gasped.

"He's not with Drusilla anymore," Dawn blurted out. "Hasn't been for years." Suddenly she was very frightened for Spike. These people would stake him before he had a chance to explain. Impulsively, she dashed forward and stood in front of Spike. "He's our friend. All of you back off!"

All hell broke lose - shouting and yelling, some trying to dash forward to intervene, and others holding them back. It was then that Dawn realized she was still holding Conner.

"Everyone! Calm down!" Buffy yelled, stepping forward. Cordelia nearly had a stroke when she saw Dawn and Conner, now standing between Buffy and Spike.

Spike reached out and stroked Dawn's head. "Uh, Nibblet, thanks, but let Big Sis handle this. If you don't get Conner back over to the cheerleader, I think she's gonna have a fit."

"But they might hurt you," Dawn pleaded.

Spike smiled reassuringly at her. "Go on now. I'll be fine." He pushed her gently back towards the others.

Cordelia held her breath as Dawn reluctantly walked back over to her. Cordy snatched Conner away from Dawn and backed up to stand next to Groo. She looked him over carefully. Spike hadn't touched him, but it reassured her anyway. 'Spike hadn't touched him,' she thought about that for a moment. Something was off.

"Ok, now that everyone's had a moment, let's all just calmly go back to the living room." Buffy made shooing motions at them, as they slowly moved back. Spike followed her, a couple paces back, still nervously eyeing the others. Between the chip, and trying to be on his best behavior for Buffy, he was out of his element.

Buffy came to a stop, leaning against the wall, by the front door, at the entrance to the living room. "Giles, maybe you could explain."

"Buffy, I really think you should..." He started to say.

"Giles, do you really think they're going to listen to me, or to Spike?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Excellent point," Giles muttered. "Willow, would you please get another glass for Wesley?"

"I don't really need a drink, Giles," Wesley said.

Buffy reached behind her and pulled Spike forward, wrapping his arms around her waist, and leaning back against his chest. Spike looked stunned for a moment, his eyes darting around the room, then he relaxed a bit and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"On second thought, perhaps Willow could bring me a large glass," he said, reaching behind him for a chair and sagging into it.

Willow handed him a glass, and Wesley held it out as Giles poured a generous amount of scotch into it. He took a large gulp and grimaced. He took a second gulp and then looked from Buffy back to Giles. "Perhaps it would be good if you did explain, Giles."

"And perhaps you all could pass some of that my way," Gunn said taking a glass from Willow. Anticipating this, she had brought out a tray and was passing glasses around. Giles handed her the scotch bottle, as he prepared to speak.

"Giles, if you can handle this, I have that other situation to take care of." She glanced toward the back door.

"I'm sure everything will be ok in here. Good luck."

"Thanks Giles," she said, letting go of Spike and starting to move away.

"Oi, don't leave me here alone!" Spike said, suddenly very nervous, more for Buffy's sake than his own.

"You want to come out there, with me?" Buffy asked.

Spike considered it for a moment, but realized she stood a better chance of succeeding without him. He sighed, "Be careful. He gets crazy when he's angry, even more so when he's jealous. He may not be Angelus, but from what I've heard, he's not the Angel you knew either."

Buffy nodded, and kissed him, much to the shock and horror of the LA group. "I think I can handle him, but I'll yell if I have any trouble." She was lying, he knew it, but it made them both feel better.

As Buffy walked over to the kitchen and out the back door, Dawn scurried over to Spike and stood in front of him. "I won't let them do anything," she said with a very stern look on her face.

It was all Spike could to do avoid laughing - the Big Bad, being protected by the Slayer's little sister. He patted her on the shoulder. "Thanks Nibblet, good to have a friend."

Giles had collected himself and began to speak. "It all started when a government agency called the Initiative came to town," Giles began.

Spike interrupted. "Not to disrupt your flow there Rupert, but I think it started when I made that alliance with the Slayer, and helped her stop Angelus from sucking this world into hell. Stopped him from torturing you as well, if you'll remember."

Giles paused for a moment, "Yes, I suppose it may have started as far back as that." He hadn't really considered that before. Once again he was forced to reevaluate Spike. "All right then, about four years ago Spike approached Buffy and requested a truce..."

Buffy opened the back door cautiously. Angel was sitting quietly on the bench. She wasn't sure whether to be relieved or alarmed.

She stepped outside, gauging his reaction as she went. He hadn't moved. He just sat there, with his hands on his knees and his head bowed forward, looking at the ground. "I can still smell him," Angel said, without looking up.

"I know," Buffy said. "But I just thought..."

"I heard." Looking away again he said, "thanks."

Slowly, she moved to the bench opposite him. "So, now what? You know I won't let you kill him."

"Because you think you're in love with him?" Angel shook his head.

"No, because I am in love with him, and I need him." Buffy answered.

"You don't know what you're saying, Buffy. Spike's not who you think he is." Angel stood suddenly and started pacing, his voice rising. Buffy unconsciously leaned away from him. "I don't know how he's convinced you to let him... get this close to you, but he's up to something."

"For two years?" Buffy interrupted him. "Four, if you count the time he helped me defeat you!"

He looked up at her in shock. "That wasn't me, Buffy. You know that."

"Looked like you," she snapped back.

He grimaced and looked away. "Do you really think he'll be any different?"

"Yes, he's already different." She said, her voice softer now. "He doesn't have a soul to lose." She went on to explain about the Initiative and Spike's chip.

"That's very nice. But what about when the chip stops working? What then?" Angel argued.

"You mean like since I've been back?" She countered. "The chip hasn't worked on me since I died. Apparently Willow's spell altered me just enough to make it not recognize me."

"What?" Angel furrowed his brow.

"You heard me. Spike could have killed me any time he wanted, but he hasn't. Ask yourself why."

"He always was the romantic one in the family." Angel said. "The way he doted on Dru. Made me and Darla sick sometimes." He lifted his head, looking at her again. "What about Dru? Have you considered what will happen when she comes back?"

"Been there, done that." Buffy quipped. "She came to Sunnydale not long after you failed to kill her and Darla. Speaking of Darla..."

"Speaking of jealousy," Angel interrupted, "Do you think this is about anything other than Spike getting back at me for Angelus taking Dru away from him?" Angel stepped forward and caught her arms, forcing her to look at him. "Think about it. Why else would he be doing this?"

Buffy wrenched her arms free, snapping Angel's head back with an angry punch to the face. He staggered back from the blow and it was all Buffy could do to keep from hitting him again.

"I'm tired of explaining myself to people who don't want to listen!" She yelled.

Buffy reached into a flowerpot and pulled out one of the stakes she kept there for emergencies. Spinning it lightly with her fingertips, she looked at Angel. "Let me simplify this for you. What did I do to Spike when he tried to kill you?"

"You dropped an pipe organ on him and broke his back. It put him in a wheel chair for months," Angel recounted.

"Right, and he didn't kill you, did he?" Buffy's glare bored into him. Angel shrugged uncomfortably. "Angel, if you harm Spike, I will kill you." She said menacingly, then her voice dropped to a whisper. "And I will hate you for making me do it."

Angel stepped forward, but Buffy put out a hand to stop him. "Just promise me you won't try to hurt him." She pleaded.

Angel bowed his head and his shoulders slumped along with it, "I can't do that."

"Fine, then we have nothing more to talk about." She said quietly, spun around, and dashed back into the house.

{Next}