~

"Willow!" Buffy screamed. She cradled Spike’s head in her lap, brushing

back the stubborn hair that refused to stay put. Even though the vampire was

literally the walking dead, he seemed so pale and fragile, like she could

break him with a flick of her wrist. His cheekbones seemed gaunt and his

eyes were sunken deep, and he wasn’t moving at all. He had his hands twisted

in her jacket as if he felt the pain even unconscious.

"Hang on, Spike," she whispered, realizing that her screaming was going to

attract the attention of her already nosy neighbors, "Don’t you dare d-" She

broke off. She was not going to say that; she was not going to say that.

She swallowed deeply and looked over Spike’s body, really seeing the wound

for the first time. She felt nauseated at his stained shirt, and she knew if

she saw the real wound she probably would throw up. The stake had been so

close to his heart and she wondered worriedly if he really was dying, just

it took more time because it was further from his heart. She clung onto him

as if she was afraid he would he would become dust at any moment.

"Buffy!" The Slayer looked up at the sound of Willow’s voice. The witch was

flying down towards her from the second story window. Landing lightly,

Willow knelt by Spike’s side. "What happened?" she asked, her voice strained

with the horror of seeing the blonde fighter like this.

"We were attacked!" Buffy said, and then shook her head, "I can tell you

later! Right now you’ve got to save him, Willow! You’ve got to save him!"

The hysteria in her voice was reaching a dangerous point.

Willow looked at Buffy then up at Tara, who had come onto the porch from

behind the Slayer. Xander and Giles came onto the porch shortly after her,

sucking their breath in when they saw the gruesome sight before them. Xander

took Buffy’s hand and gently pulled her up and away from Spike so Willow

could work. Buffy struggled briefly before becoming quiescent in his grasp.

The witch put her hands over Spike’s wound and closed her eyes. The others

could hear her murmuring the words to a spell under her breath; power

gathered in her hands and spread out over the vampire. The girl’s brow

creased in concentration as she forced her power to repair the damage the

stake had done and restore order to his system again.

They watched Willow for a couple moments and Buffy flinched when she began

to moan raggedly, rocking back and forth on her heels. Sweat was working up

into her brow and she was swallowing constantly as if she were in a great

deal of pain. Immediately and without question, Tara dropped down on Spike’s

other side, placing her hands on his chest and adding her power to Willow’s.

The next few minutes were tense as Willow and Tara worked to repair the

wound. As the witches were busy with their spell, Buffy looked up at the

sound of hurried footsteps down the stairs.

"Dawn!" Anya’s familiar light voice called, "Dawn! Stop!"

The familiar brunette ran onto the porch and looked down. She gasped and

turned around, covering her hands over her mouth. "Oh my god…" Buffy could

hear her repeating the words over and over again behind her hands.

Dawn turned around again, and making sure not to look at the body of her

friend, she looked instead to Buffy, "Buffy! Who did this? What happened to

Spike? He’s gonna be okay right? Right?"

"Dawn…" Giles started.

"No! Is he going to be okay?" Tears were welling up in her eyes and she was

rambling on, "He’s all right, right? He’s not dead, right?"

"Dawn!" Giles said commandingly, "Willow and Tara are helping him. That’s

all we know. Now go upstairs! We don’t want the neighbors to find out what’s

going on!"

Dawn took one look at Buffy, and nodded quietly. She ran back into the

house, running up the stairs.

Xander was the next to speak, "We need to go find out where this happened.

Get clues; find weapons, ID, bodies, that kinda stuff. You know, the stuff

the Harvey boys would do."

Giles overheard him and nodded, "Good thinking, Xander. Anya should go with

you. If there's any trouble, leave. We don't need any more trouble tonight.

Buffy," he said, turning the Slayer away from the frozen tableau of Spike,

Willow and Tara. "These weren’t vampires, were they?"

She turned and looked at him with a blank expression, "What?"

"These creatures that attacked you, they weren’t vampires, were they? No

vampire could have done this."

Finally understanding what he was asking, she shook her head, "No, they

were vampires. But they had swords, lots of weapons. They weren’t just

bloodsuckers, they knew how to kill. They were trained professionals.

Spike…he said they were mercenaries. There were seven of them. They attacked

us on the southern path in the cemetery, it’s just a few blocks away."

Buffy jumped when Spike groaned. Willow slumped back on her heels as Buffy

hurried to kneel next to her, Giles went to Willow and helped her stand. She

leaned against him and closed her eyes.

Tara wiped the sweat from her brow, looked to the wounded vampire and then

to Buffy, "He should be all right now, but he’ll be weak for a while. The

wound was messy and he’s lost a lot of blood. The wound was dangerously

close to his heart. Any false move and he would have been dust. It’s a good

thing you got him here in time. He should rest." She looked up at Willow,

concern etching her face, who nodded.

Nodding absently, Buffy leaned over Spike, "Spike?" she called quietly.

He opened his eyes slowly and looked upwards. Tara moved to Willow’s side

and held her, giving Buffy and Spike room.

For a moment, he truly thought he was dead. He had been in this dark void,

where pain and heat had seared ever fiber of his being. And then there had

been this cool blanket, slowly rolling over him and he had heard a soft

voice call his name. And when he opened his eyes, he swore he saw an angel.

And he was right. His golden angel was calling to him. But soon, the pain

came back and reality snapped back into him.

Spike looked up at the people surrounding him, his brow furrowed in

confusion, "Buffy? Where did you come from? What’s with everyone? I must

have some bloody bad hangover…" He gasped and held unnecessary breath

against some residual pain.

"We’re at my house, Spike. You were hurt," Buffy said, trying desperately

not to shed tears of relief. He’d never let her get away with that. "I

brought you here. Willow and Tara healed you."

Spike’s teeth were clenched against the pain of his healing wound. Spike

looked up at her with a strange desperation she had never encountered

before. Buffy had never seen him in such pain before. She gently took his

hand and squeezed it in comfort. Spike smiled in silence for the first time

since he had woken up, and the others looked uncomfortably skyward.

Spike tightened his hold on her hand, as if to make sure she was really

there, and reached out with his other one. Giles took it and helped the

blonde man sit up. The peroxide blonde swayed a bit and said to no one in

particular, "Bloody hell." He leaned forward, resting his head on his drawn

up kneels, "Hurts…"

"You’ve lost a lot of blood," Willow said, "You’ll feel kinda woozy for the

next few days. And you’ll have a bit of a headache for the next day or so.

Can you stay at your crypt?"

"He won’t be safe there," Buffy said, looking up at the Wicca, "As soon as

any other demon finds out Spike is wounded they’ll be after him. He’ll stay

here with me. We can set up an extra mattress in my room."

Willow looked unsurely at Buffy, "Are you sure you want to do that?"

"Unless you want him to sleep in your room-"

"Yeah, but-"

"We need to get Spike in the house. The neighbors are getting suspicious."

Willow nodded after a while. Giles cleared his throat, after cleaning his

glasses, and tapped Willow’s shoulder. She moved out of the way so Spike

could take Giles’ arm. Slinging it over his shoulder, he helped the vampires

stand. The shorter man took a step, stumbled and slid to his knees. Giles

lifted him again, and this time he managed to get Spike onto his feet and

walking into the house. Or rather, the ex-Watcher walked; Spike managed to

stagger with his help.

Willow was about to follow but found Buffy standing there, staring after

Giles and Spike, a strange look on her face. Xander, Anya and Tara were

there also, waiting to see what the Slayer would do. With a nod in Xander’s

direction, Willow dismissed him, silently telling him to continue on to the

graveyard. Anya followed, whispering to her fiancée all the while.

Tara gently put her hand on Buffy’s shoulder. She started out from whatever

thoughts she had been thinking and at the kind looking, young woman. She

remembered how she had valiantly helped with the fight against Glory, the

horrible memories of her temporary insanity at the hands of the hell goddess

and the fact that she had stayed even after it was all over, helping the

others cope.

"He’s strong, you know." Tara said softly to her, "He’ll recover quickly,

being a vampire and all, and then he’ll be up fighting evil in no time."

Looking from her to Willow, Buffy whispered, "But he could have died…"

Willow looked worriedly to her lover, exchanging an unspoken message that

they would have to talk with the Slayer about Spike later. Spike’s injury

had done an apparent amount of damage on the poor girl and they were

confused why.

"But he didn’t die, remember?" Willow said, taking her best friend’s arm

and leading her into the house, "You know, the whole ‘I’m immortal and can’t

die’ thing?"

Willow led her friend into the living room, "You look a bit woozy. You

should sit down. Sitting down is good for these kind of things."

Numbly, Buffy nodded and slumped down into the couch.

~

Giles sat Spike down on Buffy’s bed. It had been the only one available and

it was far from Dawn’s bedroom, where he could hear her muffled weeping. He

would have to come and talk to her after he was finished with the vampire.

Spike’s head lolled forward and though he was able to sit up, he wasn’t

able to do much more. He mumbled something incoherent and reached for his

boots, but his hands missed and he slumped forward.

"Oh bloody hell," Giles moaned as he caught the vampire and sat him back

up. Sighing, he knelt down and tugged on the other man’s boots, "I guess I’m

going to have to do take these off for you."

Spike mumbled something and Giles look up from untying his shoelaces and

asked, "Pardon? Did you say something?"

"Buffy…" Spike said, "Is Buffy…all right…?"

"Yes, she’s fine, Spike," Giles said uncomfortably, resisting the sudden

urge to clean his glasses, "You don’t need to worry about her."

Giles was just putting the vampire’s boots away when Willow led Buffy into

the room. Before either of them could say a word, Buffy rushed to Spike’s

side and embraced him, much to the mutual surprise of Giles and Willow.

Spike was shocked at the strength of her embrace, but stood the pain. As

long as she was okay and with him, he would go through any pain. He tried

weakly to wrap his arms around her but they fell limply at his sides. Spike

was even more surprised to feel her petite body trembling. He closed his

eyes and let her hold him.

She knew she was shaking, but she couldn’t help it. And she knew Spike

would be making fun of her for this, but Spike almost was dust that night.

The only real connection to who she was and what she would be would have

been a big pile on the floor. And he had always been there, listening to her

and looking at her with a forceful yet tender gaze, never asking for

anything in return. It was still odd that she was thinking of him as an

ally, even as a friend. But it was now that she realized just how much she

had taken for granted.

Giles and Willow stood there, shocked. And when they thought they couldn’t

be more freaked, Buffy tilted her head upwards and gently kissed the

blonde’s forehead. This time Spike’s arms managed to encircle her waist and

stay there.

"Buffy?" Willow asked, wondering fearfully just what was going on between

the two.

Buffy didn’t seem to hear. Spike was weak, more helpless than she had ever

seen him before. He couldn’t seem to hold himself up and she let his weight

fall on her chest.

"Buffy!" Giles almost shouted, casting Buffy out of her reverie.

Buffy looked over her shoulder at her oldest friends, "Can I have a few

minutes with Spike, guys?"

Giles started to protest but thought better of it and gave a shaky nod, "We

should go talk to Dawn and tell her everything’s all right."

Willow was about to say something, but Giles took her firmly by the arm and

led her out of the room.

Buffy turned back to the barely conscious Spike and let him lay against

her, cradling his head against her chest. She absently stroked her hands

through his hair. It was hard to believe that she had almost lost him. For

the last two years, it always seemed like he would be there for always. That

he would never leave no matter what she did or said. She had never really

realized it before, but he had always been her guardian, being there when

she was miserable and alone. Even when he was trying to kill her. A few

tears fought their way out behind her fair eyes and dripped down her cheeks

in tiny rivulets.

Spike just let himself be held and listened to the rhythmic pounding of her

heart. A heart that had been broken too many times. By Angel, Riley, Parker,

her father…A heart that was stronger than any he had ever encountered

before. One that refused to stop beating even after all she was through.

Even in death her heart beat. Sometimes, he remembered when he was trying to

sleep, he could hear a sound in the inner recesses of his mourning mind. He

had never really recognized it until that moment. It was Buffy’s heart.

Beating for him, he had thought.

His deep thoughts were broken by the gentle drop of something wet, falling

on his face. It ran quickly down his hollow cheeks and landed on his lips.

He let his tongue run over it and he recognized it the salty taste of tears

and woke from his stupor.

"Slayer?" he asked in a whisper, pulling away and looking at her beautiful

tear-stained face, "Why are you crying?"

Buffy’s tears flowed silently and Spike dared himself to touch her. Ever so

gently, he brushed her cheek with a cool hand and with his thumb he wiped

away the tears.

"Because I almost lost my best friend tonight." She said, still clinging to

him.

Spike hid his surprise at her kind words and gave her that special smile he

always gave her and shook his head, "No, love. Just a scratch. Too immortal

to die, remember?"

Try as Buffy might, she could not smile for him and the joke fell on deaf

ears, "Not from stakes, or the sun, or holy water-"

"All right, then," he interrupted with a nod, "But I’m not dust, so quit

blubbering, or I’ll…" He tried to think of something sufficient to threaten

her with. He couldn’t, so instead he took a deep unnecessary breath, "You’re

not supposed to be crying. You’re supposed to stake me for scaring you.

That’s what my Slayer would do."

She had to laugh in spite of herself. Wiping away her tears, she gave him a

shy smile, "Maybe when you’re feeling better, than I can stake you."

"That’s better, love," Spike said, attempting to sit all the way up, but a

dizzy spell overtook him and he fell against her.

"You better not be enjoying this as much as I think you are." Buffy

snickered.

"Of course not," Spike lied then winced and held his head in his hands,

"Bloody hell…"

"Here," Buffy said, readjusting herself so he would lean up against the

bedpost, "Willow told me you would need rest." She looked over him and

wrinkled her nose in disgust, "We better get these bloody clothes off you."

Spike’s grin widened and he raised his eyebrow, "Picking up my mannerisms,

pet?"

"No, they actually are bloody. Now, let me help you with this."

As Buffy helped him take off his red button up shirt, he snickered despite

himself, "So, here I am, in your bed, all bloody, battered and helpless and

the evil Slayer has come to take advantage of me."

"In your dreams."

"All the time."

"Uck…you’re gross. Of course, I should have expected that."

"Ow! You did that on purpose!" Spike growled, holding his arms where she

had forcefully brought the red sleeve down.

"What?"

"Ow! That!"

"Oh, come on, Spikey. Be a brave little demon for me…"

Buffy laughed as Spike nursed his small wound and she threw the red shirt

into her hamper across the room. She turned back to him and sighed.

"Okay, here’s your favorite part. Just don’t let it go to your head."

"I wouldn’t dream of it, love."

"This might hurt."

"I was born for pain."

"Tough words, little vamp."

"Little! I happen to be a Master Vampire!"

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Now help me with this. I can’t do it be myself."

"Oh yeah. I should shut up so you can concentrate on my washboard abs."

Buffy couldn’t help but blush, "I said it once and I’ll say it again,

Spike. You are a pig."

Buffy helped him take off his shirt, and he winced when he lifted his arms

and let her lift them off. She winced at the wounds all over his chest.

Though the major one was closed, blood still caked around it.

"I didn’t think I looked that bad…" Spike mumbled at the sight of the

disgusted look on your face.

"No, it’s not that. You just…you’re bloody and icky and-"

"Sexy?"

Buffy couldn’t help it but laugh. In fact, she started laughing pretty

hard. Spike raised an eyebrow and smiled. She had never been this…giddy

before. Even when she was drunk.

"You okay, pet?"

"F-f-haha-ine!"

"Oh…all right then…"

Buffy eventually stopped her laughter and wiped the tears away from the

corner of her eyes. Spike had never seen her more beautiful.

"Oh, yeah. Spike. Heal. Wounds. Forgot."

Buffy walked into the bathroom and started the sink. She smiled to herself

in the mirror. She felt relieved and revived and…happy. It was kind of odd

how she could shed her emotions around him and just let herself be. It was

refreshing.

She grabbed a plastic bowl and filled it up with warm water and took a

washcloth and went back into her bedroom. Spike was still sitting there and

she placed the dish on the bedside table and dunked the cloth in, wringing

the rag.

She gently stroked the cloth across his wound, cleaning up the caked blood.

Spike had never been treated so gently before, even when he was a babe in

the crib. He closed his eyes and let her kind touch relax him.

Buffy smiled. He seemed so innocent and content when he closed his eyes.

She took the moment to really study his face. Strong cheekbones, hollow

cheeks, pale full lips, sloping forehead. He had never seemed so beautiful

to her like this. Sure, she had always thought he was kind of hot, but

still…STOP!

‘What are you thinking, here, Buffy," the responsible logical part of her

brain asked as she repeatedly hit her in the brain stem, ‘Spike. Bad. Big

Bad. Bad to Like. Bad to think Beautiful. Get it straight, honey!’

‘Hey! It was only a thought. Don’t get mad to me over little thoughts.’

‘Still, thinking leads to action. And action with Spike means…. action with

Spike.’

‘Hey, I just thought he was a little cute that’s all. Don’t you think he’s

cute?’

‘Well, yeah. I mean, those eyes. They’re so blue and deep and…Stop it!’

‘What?"

‘This is your conscience. Do what your conscience tells you. Nothing must

come from this, k?’

‘Of course!’

‘Slayers’ honor?’

‘Sure. Whatever.’

Buffy was woken out of her reverie to the sound of gentle snores. She

smiled. Spike snored. That’s kinda weird since he didn’t need to breathe.

She didn’t want to move him, he was so peaceful. She gently tucked the

sheets over his chest. She kissed him on the forehead and left the room.

In the living room, she found Giles drinking his tea, in a desperate

attempt to calm himself down. He looked up expectantly as she walked into

the room.

"Umm…Willow and Tara are still with Dawn."

"How is she taking it?"

"She’s just recovering. She was quite frightened, actually. Over the

summer, Spike was her guardian. They were practically like brother and

sister. But she’ll be fine."

The Slayer nodded dumbly and sat down. Immediately, she stood up again.

"Ugh…maybe I shouldn’t sit down." She was covered in blood and was

desperately feeling the need for a shower.

"I need to go clean myself up," Buffy said, going back up the stairs, "Be

back in a flash."

Taking a deep breath and hoping his patience would hold out, Giles leaned

forward and poured himself another cup of tea.

TBC.......