by

In this universe, Xander is dating Anya and Willow is with Tara, although they are only in high school. Angel, Cordelia and such don't exist.

A big thanks to the site Death-Marked Love, which gave me the idea. I'd never have come up with this by myself.

"Okay girls, behave," Joyce said, with a meaningful glance at her oldest daughter.

Buffy sighed, and said, "Don't worry mom, we'll be acting if he was the prince of England."

"And no sarcastic remarks, thank you very much."

"Fine."

Dawn, Buffy's eleven-year-old sister, stood besides Buffy, and Joyce stroke her long beautiful brown hair. "Mom, when's he coming?" she asked, her voice excited.

"Soon, sweetie, soon. Your dad just called and said that they're on their way back from the airport."

Just then, they heard a car pull up outside the house. Dawn was almost jumping up and down in excitement; she'd been looking forward to having the exchange student come since her parents had broken the news that they'd have one. Buffy yawned; she had been against it all since the beginning. How in the world was she supposed to keep her Slayer duties a secret from a guy living in their house? Of course, she had managed to keep it from her parents for quite a while, but she really didn't want to go back to the old 'sneaking-out-the-window-routine'. She preferred it the way it was, with everything out in the open with her family.

The door opened.

"Come on in, William," she heard her father's voice. Hank came in the door carrying one big, heavy bag, and behind him came the exchange student. Buffy could hear Dawn gasp, and she knew that her sister would have a crush on the guy for the rest of the year.

William was quite tall, was the first thing he noticed. Lots of muscles were hinted under a leather jacket and tight black pants. Bleached hair that didn't get Buffy's liking, strong cheekbones and piercing blue eyes.

"Hello William," Joyce said, and stretched out her hand. "The flight went well, I hope?"

"Yeah, although the food was bloody awful," he responded, then shook the hand of a slightly shocked Joyce.

"Well... Um... I'm sorry to hear that." She turned around and decided to introduce her daughters. "These are my daughters, Dawn," she pointed at the littler one, "and Buffy."

"'Ello," Spike said, eyeing Buffy appreciatively from her toes and up, stopping at her eyes.

"Hi," Buffy said coolly. She already disliked this guy.

Dawn, on the other hand, she had a smile on her face that reached from ear to ear. "It's so nice to meet you, William," she said politely.

"Call me Spike. That's what everyone else does."

He grinned, and Hank asked him if he wanted to take his suitcases up to his room.

"Sure," Spike said. He grabbed them both, one in each hand, and Joyce led him up the stairs to his new room. Dawn stared after him, still smiling.

"Are we allowed to leave now? I need to go patrolling," Buffy said in an annoyed voice.

"Sure, you go," her dad answered.

Not wasting a second, Buffy was out of the door.

Buffy met up with the Scoobies in the graveyard. She was silent, but as a vampire came by and she hit him with more force than any of them had seen in a long time, Willow asked her, "Uh, Buffy? Is there something wrong?"

Buffy turned around and looked at her friend. "No."

"C'mon, Buff," Xander said, "Tell us."

Buffy hesitated, then she said, "Fine. The exchange student came to us today."

"Oh yeah, that's right," Willow said, "How is he?"

"Rude, stupid and bleached," Buffy said. "I saw him for two minutes and he's already getting on my nerves."

"Ooh, t-that can't be good," Willow said. "But why don't you like him?"

"Oh I don't know! The way he looked at me, though, it was scary. No, I take that back. He wasn't scary, just annoying."

"Give him a chance," Xander broke in. "He can't be that bad. I mean, he's not a vampire or anything. Right?"

"No, he's not. Oh, I guess you're right. I'll try and like him."

"That's the spirit," Willow cheered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

But as much as Buffy tried, Spike just kept getting on her nerves. A month went by, and he was everywhere, invading her house and school and life with every inch of his body. Nobody else though, seemed to have the same problem with him like Buffy did.

When her mother had come over the use of 'bloody hell' and 'sodden' in every other sentence, Joyce had come to the conclusion that she liked Spike, although she preferred to call him William. Of course, she saw Spike with a mother's eyes, and he saw her as a second mom, and not as if he was undressing her with his eyes as Buffy thought he did with her.

Dawn just adored Spike. She got this big, almost drooling smile whenever he was around, and more than once, Buffy had heard her giggle with her friends about him. But Dawn was still a child and Buffy knew that that was the way Spike saw her too, when she'd heard him refer to her as 'Nibblet'.

And then there was her dad. Buffy didn't really know what he thought of Spike; he was seldom home and when he was, Spike wasn't the one he spent time with. So she couldn't tell if he liked Spike or not.

Her mother was calling her down for dinner. Sighing, Buffy put together the magazine she'd been trying to read and left her room. As she was walking down the stairs, another door opened, and the next moment, Spike was right behind her.

"Don't you have anywhere else to be?" she asked him angrily.

"Nope, I don't, since I do live here, at the moment at least," he answered her in a slightly amused tone.

"Why on earth did mom and dad decide that we were gonna host an exchange," Buffy muttered under her breath. But Spike heard.

"You mad at me, pet?"

Gritting her teeth, she responded, "Don't. Call. Me. Pet."

"Pet, pet, pet..."

"You are so full of it," she whispered. The two had stopped in the hallway downstairs, and were now glaring at each other.

"And that's why you love me," he whispered.

"I will never love you."

"Oh really?" he mocked her.

"Yeah. Really. You see, you are a dumb, five foot ten or so, gross, and badly bleached Englishman with out manners." She almost felt proud of herself for that outburst.

"As if you are so much better," he sneered. "You are an annoying sixteen-year-old little fashion victim with too much hormones."

Slap.

It was pure reaction, and it did what it had intended; it got him quiet. He looked shocked.

"Shut up," she threatened. "One more word and I will hurt you. Badly."

"I'd like to see you try."

"No," she whispered. "You wouldn't."

Suddenly, Joyce's face appeared in the doorway. "Are you to going to stand here all day, or are you coming?"

"I'm coming mom," Buffy responded, and added quietly, "But I hope he doesn't."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another couple of days passed, and Spike didn't seem to be bothering her as much. Maybe, she thought, maybe I really did scare him off with my words. That thought made her happy, as she wanted nothing to do with the stupid senior.

Suddenly, the door to her room opened, interrupting Buffy's thoughts.

"Hello Buffy," she heard his voice.

"Have you ever heard of knocking on the door?" Buffy asked icily.

"Why hello Spike too," he said, and proceeded into her room.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. Couldn't she even get to be alone in her own room?

"Just wanted to see how my little sis was doing."

"I am not your little sister," she said, continuing just as icily.

"Fine. Whatever." He looked at Buffy, and she got the same feeling as always; that he was undressing her with his eyes. She shuddered.

"Can you please get out?" Buffy asked, sounding anything but polite.

"Do I hear a hint of hostility?" Spike asked, not moving.

"Not just a hint. Get out before I throw you out the window."

"Buffy, Buffy, Buffy, you need to work on your people skills. But I'll do as my lady wishes," he said and walked over to the door, but he didn't leave until he'd done a taunting bow.

Buffy's inside was boiling, and she knew that the only ting that could do was to go out and slay some vampires. Quietly, she grabbed one stake, put another in the pocket of her jacket and headed outside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

She walked over the cemetery, the wet grass sounding beneath her. It had just started raining. Not heavily, just a light drizzle. Ahead of her though, vampires caught her attention. There were six of them, all making their way towards her, game faces on. They seemed new; dirt was still on their clothes.

"Oh hey, here we go," Buffy muttered. She made her way forward and before the vampires knew what had hit them, she was in the middle, kicking and staking furiously. The first one went, with a surprised look on his face. The second one she kicked, landing him on the ground, and she had put the stake through his heart before he had time to get on his feet again. Number three and four were running towards her, one from each side, and she held out one stake on each side, and they pinned themselves on the wooden points as they jumped on her. Two left. She right-handed one, sending the female vampire to the ground and then kicking the other one in his stomach. The female got up and kicked Buffy in the face. She dropped her stakes, and fell hard back into a tombstone. Momentarily, her world went black.

Then, groggily, she tried to sit up again, but a vampire held her down while the female sat over her, punching her in the face.

"Not on top of it anymore, Slayer?" the female said, bending down to bite Buffy.

Buffy squirmed and tried to get out of the vampire's grip, but its hands held her down like metal straps would have done. Tears of fear crept out along her cheeks; she was trembling with fear.

But just then, as Buffy though her life would end, the female was kicked of her. A stake was thrown at her, and she staked the male vampire behind her before he understood what was going on. Surprised of the turn of events, Buffy stood up - still groggy from hitting her head on the tombstone - and was more than surprised to see Spike of all people, fighting the female vampire. He held a stake in one hand, but he was loosing to the vampire.

Quickly, Buffy ran over there, and with two kicks, a punch and a stake through her heart, the vampire was gone.

Panting, Buffy turned to her savior.

"Spike! What the hell are you doing here?" she asked, rubbing her throbbing her head.

"Are you okay?" Spike asked, ignoring her question.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Buffy lied. Her head hurt badly. "What are you doing here?"

"Well... You've been disappearing almost every night, and I wanted to know where you were going."

Buffy looked at him, disbelieving. "Right," she said. "You were gonna see if I was being bad, doing drugs or something."

Spike looked indifferent. "Yeah, well, that wouldn't be too hard to think, now would it, pet?"

"Well, I'm not doing drugs," Buffy retorted, holding both hands up to her head. It hurt, and her world was swaying before her eyes. She reached on hand out to hold onto something to be able to regain her balance, and Spike took it.

"You're not okay," he said. "C'mon, let's go home."

She nodded, still clutching Spike's arm. If she didn't, she was going to fall. She felt ridicules, but at that very moment, she didn't care. They walked slowly over the cemetery, but by the time they reached the outside of it and still had another fifteen minutes of walk to go, Spike said, "This is not working."

"What?" Buffy asked and looked up at him.

"You won't be able to walk all the way home," he said, looking concerned. This surprised Buffy.

"What d'you suggest we do?" she asked in a small voice, as it hurt to talk.

"This." Quickly, he put one arm under her knees and one under her shoulders and lifted her.

"What 're you doing?" Buffy asked, a little annoyed.

"Just relax. I don't bite," he answered, and to her own surprise, she did. She lowered her head to his shoulder, held her arms around his neck and let him carry her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

He was surprised at how light she was. Even more surprised was he at the fact that she actually let herself be carried. But, she really didn't look well. Her face was pale and her eyes had been groggy, and she'd hardly been able to walk. He wondered where she'd gotten the power to stake that last vampire.

At last, they reached her house. Quietly, Spike opened the front door, and walked inside. It was quiet and dark. It was one o'clock, so that was understandable; everyone else was in bed.

He sneaked up the stairs, still with Buffy in his arms. She seemed to have fallen asleep, and he put her in her room on the bed. She woke up as he was pulling her boots off. She sat up and looked slightly disoriented.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Putting you to bed, pet," he answered. "Lay back and sleep."

She obeyed, and was back asleep before he was done with her shoes. Spike pulled her covers up over her, and then he left the room, smiling slightly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy woke up, her head still aching slightly but not like the night before. The Slayer healing had kicked in. She remembered the night before. Oh God, she remembered. Spike. He had carried her. Why in the world had she let him do that? She hated him! But what had he really been doing there at the cemetery in the first place?

Hastily she got dressed and went downstairs. It smelled of pancakes and she found her mom in the kitchen.

"Good morning, sweetie," Joyce said. "Want some pancakes?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," Buffy said smiling slightly. She sat down by the table. "Where's everyone?" she asked.

"Oh, your father is at work," Joyce started, and Buffy interrupted.

"On a Sunday?" she asked, staring at her mom in disbelief.

"Yes, he had something he needed to do. Anyway," Joyce said, sounding like she didn't want to talk about it. "Dawn is still sleeping I believe, and William left a while ago. I think he went to the library."

"Oh." Spike at the library? she thought. Now that's odd.

Her mother put a plate in front of her and Buffy got syrup. Joyce sat down on the other side of the table. Buffy thought she looked tired.

"What's up mom?" she asked, concerned.

"Oh, it's nothing," Joyce said, attempting a smile.

They both fell quiet and ate under silence. A couple of minutes later, Dawn came down the stairs.

"Morning," she said, teenage tired as always.

"There are some pancakes on the stove for you too, honey," Joyce said.

Dawn went ahead and took some pancakes and then sat down at the quiet table.

"O-kay," she said, "Why are we having this year's Gloom-party here?"

Buffy shot her a look, and her mother answered, "We just have a lot to think about, Dawn."

Dawn shrugged, grabbed a comic magazine and ignored her mother and sister.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy met up with the Scoobies a little later in the day. They sat around the table at the Magic Box and talked. Willow and Tara were engaged in a discussion involving unicorns - whether they existed or not -, Xander and Anya were sitting together, he trying to read a book and she kissing him on the side of his face. He didn't seem annoyed. Giles was talking to her, about her training.

"You need to start training more, Buffy," Giles said. "You need to start taking your duty more seriously."

Buffy nodded, but she wasn't really listening to what he said. She was thinking of Spike, and his - and her - behavior the night before. Why in the world had he followed her to the cemetery? How did he know that he needed a stake to kill the vampires? Why wasn't he freaked out about seeing vampires? The whole thing was a mystery.

"Buffy! Listen to what I have to say!" Giles interrupted her thoughts.

"Uh, what?" she asked a highly annoyed Watcher.

Giles looked at her, but at that point Anya turned around to them.

"Oh yeah," Anya asked. "I was wondering, Buffy. When will we get to meet you exchange student guy?"

Buffy stared at Anya. Could the ex-demon read her thoughts?

"Uh, soon, I guess," she answered, not wanting to talk about it.

"But he's been here for a month, and we still haven't met him," Anya complained.

So far, Willow was the only one who'd met Spike, and even that meeting had been brief. Willow had come by her house to pick her up to go to the Bronze one night, and Spike had been there too.

"You-you must be Spike," Willow had said.

"Yeah, that'd be me," he'd responded. "And you are...?"

"Oh. I'm Willow. B-Buffy's friend."

He'd nodded, said, "Nice to meet you, Willow," and left.

Returning to present, Buffy answered, "Well, he's not much to see. He's big, bleached and annoying."

"Crushed to hear you say that, pet," a voice said and Buffy whirled around. Spike was standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Your mum wants you to come home, your cousin and aunt have come."

Oh shoot, she'd forgotten about that. Her Aunt Michelle and her bratty, fourteen-year-old cousin Sarah had come to spend a week with them. She didn't know why, but her mother had told her they wanted a vacation, and they thought Sunnydale would be the perfect place, since they normally lived in dull Oklahoma.

Buffy muttered a curse under her breath, and then said, "Fine, I'm coming. You go ahead."

"Oh, I wouldn't leave without you pet."

"You are so extremely annoying."

"And proud of it, love. By the way, aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?"

Buffy turned around to find all of them, even Giles, staring at her and Spike.

"Fine. This is Spike," she said to the Scoobies, then she turned to get her stuff from the training room.

"'Lo all," Spike said with a crooked grin.

Willow smiled at him in recognition, while the other ones just stared. Anya smiled and said, "Hi, I'm Anya. This is Xander," she pointed at her boyfriend, "Willow and Tara," she continued nodding at the Wiccas. "And Giles of course," she said with a look at the older man. "He owns the store. I work here."

Spike nodded. He didn't say anything, and the next second, Buffy was back with a bag on her back and an irritated statement.

"See you later," she said to the Scoobies and left the store with Spike in tow.

She walked fast, attempting to get ahead of Spike but not succeeding. He seemed to have no trouble keeping up with her. Suddenly she stopped and looked at him accusingly.

"Are you going to tell me anytime soon what you were doing at the cemetery last night? Or will I have to guess?"

"Why do you care, pet?"

"Why I care?! Because there aren't supposed to be people out at a cemetery at twelve o'clock at night!"

"Then what were you doing there, huh? Besides, shouldn't you be bloody thanking me?"

"Why would I?"

"Because I saved your sodden life!" They had started walking again.

"You did not; I had everything under control!"

"Yeah, even when you were thrown into a tombstone, knocked unconscious for a second and almost bitten. Oh yeah, you were in control," Spike said sarcastically.

"I have come this far, I don't need your help!" she said, walking so fast she was almost running. He had stopped a little further back, and the rest of the way they walked one and one, neither saying another word.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night, Buffy lay in her bed. The day had continued in the same way it had begun: badly.

Her cousin Sarah was just as horrible as ever, although she was nice to Spike. Buffy guessed that Sarah, just like Dawn, had developed a hasty crush on the peroxide blonde Englishman. He hadn't been nice to her though; he'd been all sarcastic and evil, as he always was when Joyce wasn't around. It seemed that Joyce was the only one he really respected.

Except for yesterday, a little voice in the back of her head said. She'd seen something different the night before. Spike had been a gentle young man who'd saved her and then taken care of her. Who was that kind and caring man and where was he now? Why was Spike being so rude all the time? Was it all an act?

Thoughts still whirling in her head, she fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The week when Aunt Michelle and cousin Sarah stayed at their house went by slowly, and more than once Buffy felt like she wanted to just break Sarah's neck or something. Hurt her. Really badly. Because not even Dawn was as bratty as Sarah was, believe it or not. Buffy noticed this when Joyce ordered Buffy to take Sarah and Aunt Michelle shopping at the mall; Sarah got everything she pointed at.

On Thursday, it was October 31st, and every child and teen in all of Sunnydale dressed up for Halloween. Sarah and Dawn had had fun at the mall, picking out a costume each for them. Dawn was dressed up as a Tinkerbell, in a very short, green dress and her hair up in a bun on the back of her head. On her feet, she had little green shoes.

"You know, that could become really cold since it's chilly outside," Buffy told her.

"I know, Buffy," an annoyed Dawn answered, "But it's my choice."

"Fine," Buffy shrugged and helped her baby sister with the zipper in the back.

Nancy had come out a little later, dressed like a princess. It was funny, Buffy thought, to see her not-very-skinny cousin dressed up in a tight, poofy pink dress with layer upon layer of frills and her hair pinned up with clips formed as butterflies, making her appearance resemble more to a wedding cake than a princess. On the whole, Sarah looked ridicules.

The two set out to go trick or treating, while Buffy put on shoes and collected her stake to go out and patrol. As she was getting ready, the door opened, and someone came in. In the dim light of her room, Buffy couldn't really make out who it was, but it looked a lot like a - vampire.

Instantly, she grabbed her stake, and she was just inches from putting it through the vampire's heart, when she realized that it wasn't a vampire. It was Spike, dressed up as one.

"Hello, love, you not happy to see me?"

"Spike! Get out of my room!" she said, angrily.

"Oh you're in a mood today, pet. That time of month again?"

"Get out Spike," Buffy repeated, this time in a lower, more threatening voice.

"Where's your sense of fun, pet?" he asked her mockingly.

"Where it's always been - far away from you." She leaned forward to him, stake in one hand, the other one ready to hit.

"Aww, that's so funny," Spike said in a low voice. He too leaned closer. They were mere inches away; she could feel his warm breath on her face, making her heart beat faster. Stop it, she told herself. Just get him out of here.

And that was what she did. In one quick motion, she had shoved him out of her room and closed the door right in his startled face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the end of the week, Buffy was more than happy to see her cousin and aunt go. When her relatives left, the house suddenly felt so peaceful - even thought Spike was still there - and Buffy sat down to do some schoolwork. She had a test in geometry the next day, and she didn't know half of it, it felt like.

There was a knock on the door.

"What?" Buffy asked, tiredly.

She heard Spike's voice; "Can I come in?"

Buffy didn't answer; she went over to the door and opened it. "What is it?"

"See: I knock," he said, grinning. When he noticed she wasn't smiling back, he stopped, though.

"What do you want now?"

"Well, we haven't really talked all week, so I though..."

Buffy interrupted. "Spike, we didn't talk before that either."

"I know that! So? I want to start. I've been her for almost two bloody months, and I still haven't said more than twenty words to you."

Buffy sat at her desk, just looking at him, trying to figure out where this was going.

"And that's a problem because...?" she asked him.

He sighed, and muttered, "Whatever."

He was walking out of the room when Buffy asked him, "Why weren't you scared of the vampires?"

He turned around and looked at her, looking as if he was trying to decide whether to tell her or not. Finally, he said, "My great grandfather was a Watcher. He told me all about them when I was little."

Buffy was surprised at the explanation. She didn't know what she'd been expecting, but it hadn't been that.

"When I came here, I didn't know you were the Slayer. But I was wondering what you were sneaking out every bloody night for. So, I decided to follow you, pet, and that's how I ended up in the cemetery."

Buffy's mouth formed a perfect 'o'.

"The next day, I went to the library, and found some ol' books, and they said you were the Slayer. It's not all that complicated, pet. Anything else you want to know?"

First, Buffy sat still. Then she shook her head, and then, as he was leaving for the second time, she said, "I want to know if you can help me with this; it's geometry."

A smile played on his face as he walked over to her, and sat down next to her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

She got the highest scores she'd ever gotten on a math quiz that next day, and she decided that Spike was going to get to help her again.

She had a busy life; School, training and slaying took up almost all her time, and she was overly thankful to her friends who helped her with both schoolwork and the staking of vampires. Even Spike helped every now and then. He didn't have the powers that she did, and he didn't have the magic knowledge that the Wiccas had, but in his own way he helped them. He was like a second, stronger version of Xander.

When Buffy had first told Giles and the Scoobies that Spike knew she was the Slayer, they had been surprised and Xander had seemed a little worried.

"Was it really a good idea tell him?" he had asked.

"I didn't tell him," Buffy had responded. "He followed me one night, and - well, he saved my life. We didn't talk about it, though, until last night, and he told me that he knew about vampires and all that. His great grandfather was a Watcher. Giles, have you heard of William Johannes Walthrop?"

Giles had looked up, surprised, and said, "Yes. He was the Watcher of Linda the Vampire Slayer in the - I don't know, sometime around the fifties, I believe. Linda was a very successful Slayer, and she saved the world quite a few times, I believe, making her Watcher a well-known name among the Council."

Buffy had nodded, taking in the information. So Spike hadn't lied to her. She hadn't really thought that he was, but it was good having someone confirm that he was telling the truth.

"So, w-what is he going to d-do now?" Tara had asked, shyly. "S-Spike, I mean."

"He wants to go with us and patrol," Buffy had responded, thinking back to their conversation the evening before. "He is a good fighter, I saw that just in the short time when he - rescued me. I'm sure he'll do good."

The Scoobies nodded, as Willow said, "Yeah, we can never get too much help."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

One night, they were all out patrolling; Buffy walking first, Spike after her, then Willow and Tara and last Xander and Anya who held hands and looked cute. It didn't take them long to find some vampires, and soon they were all fighting. There were more vampires than there were Scoobies, but the Scoobies had the top hold anyway. Vampire after vampire was turned into dust, and finally, they were alone in the graveyard again.

"Well, that wasn't too hard," Xander said, brushing dust off his pants.

"I don't see anymore," Buffy said, looking around. "I say we call it a night."

The others nodded and they scattered after getting out of the cemetery.

"You coming?" Buffy asked Spike as they were leaving.

But he was standing there, listening intently. He pointed at the bushes and held up four fingers. Buffy nodded understandingly and they walked over there, but stopped as they heard voices.

"The lady will be very pleased," one of the people behind the bush said.

"Kill the Slayer and she can rule," another one said.

"She has the crystal, now all she needs is the Slayer's blood," a third one chimed in.

"We do best in going back to her," the fourth one whispered.

Buffy could see that they were minions, and gestured to Spike to come back to her, as she stood a little further away from them. Spike crept over quietly and they left together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What do you think that lot meant?" Spike asked her as they hurried home.

"I don't know but I'm gonna find out," Buffy said, rounding the corner of Revello Drive. "Giles will have to look at it, tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Slayer, you could be in danger!" Spike protested.

"Spike, listen to me," Buffy said as they reached her house. "Get two things straight. One: Never ever call me Slayer. Buffy is my name, that's what you call me. Two: I am the Slayer, therefor I am usually in danger. On the other hand, I also have powers and am quite equipped to take care of myself. It won't matter if Giles looks at it tonight and falls asleep over it, or tomorrow when he's actually awake. Got it?"

"Got it Sla-Buffy."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Problem was that Giles was on Spike's side; He was saying that she should have come there the day before. Buffy argued the same points to him as he'd done to Spike, but it was only when Willow reminded the two that they had more important things to do than argue, that the two stopped.

"Yee-ha, research-party!" Xander said sarcastically, as they settled down in the Magic Box, each with two books in front of them.

But when darkness fell outside the little store, none of them had found anything to go on. There wasn't a word in any of the books about anything Spike and Buffy had heard.

"May-maybe they just did it to confuse us," Willow said, half-jokingly.

"I don't think so, Will," Buffy said, seriously. "They talked about a lady; if we only knew who that was."

"Probably a demon of some kind," Giles said. "What interests me is that they need your blood, Buffy, to be able to use the crystal."

"So basically," Xander said, "As long as you don't let them catch you, we're safe."

"Oh yeah, as if I would be planning on letting them catch me," Buffy said sarcastically. "Sorry," she continued when she saw the look on Xander's face. "Didn't mean to be rude."

"It's okay, Buff," Xander smiled a little.

"I wish that we knew what the crystal's name was; It would make searching for information about it just a little easier," Giles sighed.

"They just called it 'the crystal', so I don't know," Buffy answered. "I wish we would have taken one of them, you know, captured on, and then we could ask."

"I'm not sure that would help though," Willow said, "Since minions can be very loyal to their masters."

"Can be, being the key words here," Buffy muttered.

"Buffy, I think we need to get going," Spike said suddenly and pointed at his watch. "Your mum wanted you home for dinner."

"Oh yeah," Buffy said, surprised at Spike for remembering such a thing. "Let me just go and get my stuff."

She came back a minute later and said to the Scoobies, "I'm sorry I have to leave, but mom and dad wanted us home early for some reason today."

"It's okay, Buff," Xander said and Anya nodded beside him. "You've done your share; we'll just continue having fun here among dusty books."

"Thanks you guys," Buffy smiled, and then left the store with Spike. "Do you have a clue of why my parents wanted us home tonight?" she asked him.

"I don't know, pet, but it is for yours and Dawn's ears only, because your mum asked me if I could go out and eat or so tonight."

This worried and surprised Buffy. Since the day Spike had come to their house, he'd been part of the family and done everything with them. She wondered what could be for only the 'real' family's ears. Was there something wrong?

Unconsciously, she sped up, wanting to get to her house fast. The cool November air suddenly seemed even chillier, like it went right through her thin jacket, straight into her bones. When the reached Revello Drive, Spike told her that he was going to the Bronze.

"I'll be back later," he said. "Give you all lots of time."

"Thank you, Spike," Buffy said suddenly.

"For what, pet?"

"I dunno," she said. "For letting us do family business without getting mad, I guess."

Spike just shrugged. "See you lot later," he said and turned around.

Buffy stayed put for a second before running towards her house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first thing she noticed when she came in was that she didn't smell any food. Her mother hadn't made dinner. But she found them all, her mother, her father and Dawn in the dining room, sitting around the table. Her parents both looked very serious, and in Dawn's face Buffy could read the same emotions she was feeling: Fear and worry.

"Hi Buffy," Joyce said, and pointed at a chair, "Sit down, please."

"What's going on?" Buffy asked even before she had had time to sit down.

"Yeah, I'd like to know too," Dawn said.

"Well," their mother started, suddenly looking angrier than Buffy had ever seen her. "As you may have noticed, your dad has spent a lot of time at the office these last months." Her voice was ice cold; it scared Buffy. "And a couple of days ago, I found out why. Your dad has been having an - an affair."

Buffy and Dawn both seemed to have lost their abilities to talk. Buffy's stomach twisted itself into a knot, she felt tears burn behind her eyelids, and suddenly she knew what was coming.

"You-you," she started. "You're getting a di-divorce."

Dawn gasped. She had tears falling down her cheeks.

"Yes," their father said. He seemed very calm, and all of a sudden, Buffy couldn't recognize her own dad. This was not the man who'd stayed up and told her and Dawn stories, he was not the one who'd bought her mother flowers, he was not the one who she'd known. This man she didn't know.

"I'm sorry," he said, and stretched a hand out to touch Buffy's hand.

"Get away from me!" Buffy yelled, pulling her arm away from him. "Get away!"

"Buffy," her father said, but he didn't sound sorry.

"Get away from me," Buffy whispered again. "I'm leaving now, and when I get back, I don't want you to be here."

"Buffy!" Joyce yelled after her, but Buffy didn't stop. She reached for her jacket and she left the house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tears were streaming down her cheeks. She didn't know where she was going, just that it was far away from her home.

Home.

At the moment, she just couldn't think of it as home. It held people she didn't know. She wished that it was two hours ago, back then she was still happily unknowing of her father's betrayal. She didn't know how she would ever be able to talk to him again. The whole scenario made her want to throw up. He dad with another woman...

And her mother. She had looked so mad and so hurt. But at the moment, she didn't want to think of her either, her own feelings being more than enough to try to deal with.

She found herself in the cemetery.

In the shadows, she saw vampires come walking. It was a big group, at least ten ugly creatures, walking another twenty feet away from her.

"The lady must have the Slayer," she heard on say. "Then she can rule."

The others laughed; it was a rotten laugh.

"Oh great, just what I needed," Buffy muttered and quickly wiped away her tears.

The vampires had heard her, and within seconds, they were all over her. Buffy fought for all that she was worth, but she wasn't concentrated and the vampires got in many good blows on her. She staked four, before another one hit her over the head with something hard.

Everything went black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Buffy?"

Joyce stood outside Buffy's room, knocking on her daughter's door. When no one answered, she opened the door.

"Oh god," she whispered when she noticed that Buffy wasn't there. She did a quick search, then walked downstairs to the kitchen, where Spike and Dawn both were sitting.

"Have any of you seen Buffy?" she asked.

"No," the two answered in unison.

"She's not in her room," Joyce said, sounding slightly worried. "I'm going to call her friends."

She disappeared quickly with the phone. Spike and Dawn didn't move from their seats. Dawn kept eating, but Spike couldn't. A terrible feeling had settled in the pit of his stomach, saying that Buffy was in trouble. He stood up to go and talk to Joyce. Dawn looked at him.

"Aren't you gonna finish?" she asked.

"No, Nibblet, I need to go talk to your mum," he said and walked out to the living room where Joyce was saying, "So you haven't seen her? Well, thanks anyway."

She turned around and saw Spike. "She's not at Willow and Tara's, and Giles hasn't seen her. I'm going to try Xander."

Spike nodded and kept quiet as Joyce called, but Buffy hadn't been there either.

"Where could she be?" Joyce asked Spike, now very worried.

"I don't know, Joyce. Did she say where she was going last night?" Spike didn't know everything that had happened the day before, but he knew some and could read from the tension in the house, that it was serious.

"No... No, she just left," Joyce said. "Why didn't I stop her? She was so upset, and when she's upset, she does stupid things..." Her eyes were blank from tears, "She's the Slayer, and she thinks that makes her invincible."

Joyce sat down on the sofa, her legs not holding her up anymore. Spike sat down next to her and said, "Don't worry, we'll get her back." He wished that he felt as sure as he tried to sound. "She's made it so far, hasn't she?"

"Yeah, but..."

"No buts. I'm going to the Magic Box, and her mates will find her. Don't worry."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Scooby Gang met at the Box less than half an hour later. Willow and Tara, hand in hand, both looked worried. Xander came in with Anya in tow just a little after Spike arrived. Giles was taking to a customer as the gang started discussing.

"Wiccas, could you do a locator spell, you think?" Spike asked.

"Sure, that's easy," Willow answered.

"D-Do you have a map? That's t-the easiest way," Tara wondered.

Giles got her a map and the Wiccas started doing the spell.

"I hope that she hasn't just taken into a hotel now," Anya said. "Me and Xander had to stop..."

Xander put a hand over her mouth. "It's really not necessary to tell them, An," he said.

"Xander, can you collect some bloody weapons, instead of talking of sex with your girlfriend?" Spike asked in a low voice. "Buffy could be in danger; we need to find her."

"Since when did you start caring so much about Buff, Spike?" Xander wondered, amused at the Englishman's distressed statement.

"I don't, but I assume you do, mate, so start digging weapons," Spike threatened, not really wanting to show how worried he was.

They all got to work. Spike mostly paced, walking back and forth thinking of Buffy and who had taken her.

Buffy.

She was the most stubborn, annoying, childish... bravest, gorgeous... He didn't know when it had happened, but he had gotten feelings for her. He had strong feelings. For the Slayer. Well, weirder things had happened.

"We've got it!" Tara suddenly burst out, pointing to a spot on the Sunnydale map.

"That place," Giles said, "It is known as an holdout for various creatures, all non human. It is a very dangerous place."

"Yeah, it must be, for them to be able to hold Buff," Xander said. "She doesn't go without a fight."

"Well, what are we bloody waiting for?" Spike asked. "The longer we wait, the more chance they have to hurt her."

"And you're absolutely not worried," Xander mocked him.

"And you fellas not?" he asked. Xander shrugged. "Get off my case then, mate," Spike continued.

They got weapons: Crossbows, stakes, axes and various other items. Giles was the only one who stayed, to keep the shop running. He had given them detailed instructions on what to do, though.

~~~~~~~~~~~~