Title: Problems and Solutions

Word Puzzler (The one who actually WROTE the stuff): DSDragon

Idea Girl (The one with the plot): Blonde Moment #5,168 (DSDragon's Sister)

Pairing: Spike/Buffy (And, most likely, others as well)

Rating: Watch BtVS? You can read this.

Disclaimer: Joss is the creative super-genius, not me.

Summary: Response to a challenge posted by Nocte on the Crumbling Walls forum. WARNING! Due to the nature of the challenge, there IS character death! But don't worry! They get better. :)

Spoilers: Set after "Normal Again."

Distribution: Just let me know where it goes.

Feedback: Hate it in music, love it in writing. Darcy@ComputerProfiles.com , or just review on this site.

Special Thanks: To all of you who have read and reviewed my other fics. I appreciate the feedback. To my sister, Blonde Moment #5,168, for showing me how cool Buffy really is in the first place (Corny, aren't I?), and for helping me get over my writer's block.

Author's Note: This fic may not turn out COMPLETELY serious. It will probably be more semi-serious, like my B/A X-Over fic "Huh?" I have LOTS of trouble writing TOO seriously.

Chapter I

The trio ran. They had given it their all; Warren with his gadgets and gismos, Johnathan with his spells, and Andrew with his demons. Yet, for all the trio's preparation and skill, the Slayer and her little band of super-and not-so-super-sidekicks was still victorious.

"That's it!" Warren was clearly angry at the turnout of the battle. "I'm sick of losing just because we lack the magical strength and physical muscle! We need support . . . Johnathan, we need a stronger magical ally. FIND ONE!"

"Well . . ." Johnathan was reluctant to help any evil scheme these days; especially after the incident with Katrina.

"NOW, Johnathan!" Patience was not one of Warren's strong suits.

"Al-Alright . . . There's s-s-someone I know . . . A really pow-powerful warlock . . . Has a sort of grudge against the Slayer or something." Johnathan reluctantly stuttered, leading the other two down the road.

After a few minutes, the Troika stood in the middle of a dark alley.

"I thought you were going to take us to this guy, Johnathan. This is just an alley." Warren was getting even more impatient than before.

"This is where he lives . . . for tonight, anyway. F-f-follow me." Johnathan replied, stepping forward, and promptly disappearing.

The other two followed warily. Their partner in crime had been a bit skittish lately, and they didn't know whether or not to trust the guy.

As they stepped to where he had disappeared, Andrew and Warren were awed to find what looked like a waiting room, instead of a dark, smelly alley.

There were couches and chairs to sit on, as well as a couple end tables. One couch had a yellow knit afghan draped across the back, as though a customer had forgotten it in the throes of addiction. On one end table, sat a glass of V-8 Juice, also forgotten. At the far end of the room, there was a door.

No one else was in the room, apparently, it was a slow night for the warlock who kept this waiting room.

The door opened, admitting a somewhat bulky man with long, dark hair and dark, spooky eyes.

He spoke, "Ah, Johnathan, what brings you here?"

Johnathan, remembering his last encounter with Rack a few months before, was not feeling very talkative. The warlock had treated the young adult much worse than Warren ever had.

Warren spoke up, seeing that Johnathan was a bit intimidated. "We hear you have a grudge against the Slayer. We need help getting rid of her. We'd like to propose an alliance of sorts."

"The Slayer? I have no quarrel with her. It is her witch friend I wish to see subjugated. But, no matter. This alliance could work for both parties. I will help you in your alliance." Rack was quick to agree.

The Troika and the Magic Dealer quickly got to planning, all the while watching out for intruders.

*****

The next morning, Willow found something disturbing.

"Buffy?" she called from her laptop, which was perched on the dining room table. "I think you should see this."

"What is it, Willow?" the Slayer asked, coming in from the kitchen.

"I've hacked into Warren's computer . . . strange, you'd think he'd protect it better, being a genius and all . . . but, anyway, I've found his logs for after our battle last night . . . not so much with the good as we thought. Listen to this: Defeated again. New ally promising. With more magical oomf, Slayer may be defeated yet." she read from the screen.

"I don't like the sound of that. We've been trying to get rid of these guys for months, and they're still not giving up. And now, they have another magically inclined person on the team. We might need more firepower for the next time they decide to take us on. I'm calling Giles."

Buffy was clearly worried . . . she wouldn't consider calling her Watcher otherwise. He deserved a nice quiet life in his home country, but Buffy just didn't know what to do.

The Slayer picked up the phone, dialing the operator. After going through the necessary transfers to the British phone lines, Buffy finally dialed Giles' home near Bath.

After several rings, the eldest Summers heard a faint click, and a recorded voice began to recite its pre-ordained lines.

"Hello. You have reached Rupert Giles. I am currently not at home. If you would, please leave your name and number and I will get back to you as soon as possible. If it is an emergency, Buffy, I'll be there as soon as I can after I get your message."

Clearly, the only emergencies worth being called so by the Watcher involved the woman he loved like a daughter. Buffy smiled at this. Every day, she found new evidence that, not only was life worth living, but also that she was loved by her entire circle of friends and family, no matter how far apart they might be. She left her message.

"Giles, it's me, Buffy. It's not really an emergency, but it could be soon. Warren, Johnathan, and Andrew, three guys from high school, have been trying to take over Sunnydale, and I've been able to stop them so far, but Willow's found evidence that they might be getting more magical help. Willow's staying off the magic since she got addicted, so we-I-need your help. We all miss you Giles. Please come soon. But don't worry too much just yet. We're okay for now, we just want to be prepared. 'Bye Giles. I'm sorry I was so angry before. I love you."

The Slayer described the situation as briefly as she could over the answering machine. Putting the telephone back in its cradle, Buffy sniffled back a few tears that had escaped her notice while she was speaking to the gadget on the other end. She really had missed Giles. It would be good to have him back for a little while. She only wished they hadn't parted on such bad terms.

Willow, noticing that the blonde had finished her phone call, and that her best friend looked as though she might cry, got up from her seat at the table to give her a hug.

"It's ok, Buffy. Giles understands. It's what he does. Everything will be ok." The witch comforted the Slayer before quickly changing the subject. Willow knew that Buffy didn't like to have to rely on others to be strong, so she tried to keep the comforting to a minimum.

"So, anything interesting in Buffyland? New shoes, new clothes, new boyfriend?" Buffy blinked revealingly, causing Willow to get excited.

"C'mon, dish. You've got a new boyfriend, don't you? You've been less out of it since the Glargle Gashminik incident, and I thinking maybe something like that would have helped you bring you more out of your shell."

Now or never, Buffy. Either you tell her now, or Spike tells her later. The Slayer really did not want to do this, but she couldn't let her best friend hear the news from the vampire. That would be like betrayal.

"Well . . . there was . . . a guy." She conceded.

"Was? As in past tense?" The witch needled.

"Yeah. I broke it off. I couldn't feel the way he wanted me to, so I used him, and it was killing me." Ok, stall for time, Buff . . .

"Oooh . . . doesn't sound very good. So, who was the whipping-boy?"

"Errr . . ."

"C'mon, Buffy. What's wrong? Is it someone I know?" Willow was getting curiouser by the second.

"It was Spike." The Slayer finally managed to say.

"Spike? But I thought you two were friends? I mean, you talk to him a lot, and when you said that whole thing about asking about stuff before the mental loopiness was so obviously not true. I know you like him, Buffy. What was the problem? Why couldn't you love him? And I know that's what you meant by feeling the way he wanted you to, so don't try and deny it." Willow was the perfect voice of reason.

Buffy, however, was not.

"Uhm . . . you know, he vampire, me Slayer? He evil, me not . . . Get it?"

"Buffy. You know Spike hasn't been evil for a while now, and he totally loves you. I saw that while you were gone. He was so broken up that he didn't even want to see the 'bot, much less hear its incessant commentary about his great bod . . . It's OKAY to love Spike, Buffy. If you do, I say go for it." Willow was really enthusiastic about Buffy's revelation.

"You know, that's what Tara said . . ." Buffy let slip.

"Tara knew?"

"Yeah . . . uhm . . . Don't be mad. I had to ask her a question about the spell that brought me back, since you aren't doing magic anymore, and when I got the answer, I was pretty upset about it." Buffy half-explained the situation.

"What happened? What did you need to know about the spell?" Willow was getting worried.

"Don't worry. I know now. Turns out that the spell just barely altered my body on a deep molecular level, and Spike's chip gets confused, so now he can hit me without pain to himself . . . Oh! But don't worry! I know he won't try and kill me . . . I kinda figured that out when we had that huge fight, brought the building down, and ended up sleeping together." Buffy quickly reassured her friend that the vampire would not harm her.

A light went on in Willow's head.

"Brought the building down? That old condemned building near the museum that was reported destroyed by unknown causes? That was you and Spike in a knock-down-drag-out pummel-fest? Wow! And I guess the UST between you two is now resolved-"

"-Many times over." The Slayer interrupted. Willow's eyes went wide.

"Ok, I may be gay, but I have to ask. How is he in bed?" The witch giggled the way she used to when dishing in high school.

"Totally amazing . . . ohmygod . . . You have no idea how amazing!" Buffy's eyes glazed over, and the two women heard the door close.

"What's amazing?" Xander asked.

"Uhm . . . uh . . . nothing." Willow tried to cover.

"Willow, don't worry. I was gonna tell Xander anyway, eventually." Turning to her other best friend, Buffy took a deep breath and let it out in one sentence. "I've been sleeping with Spike, but I broke it off a week before your wedding. Don't hate me." Her last sentence was a plea, an entreaty to not judge.

At first, Xander was blown away.

"How? . . . What? . . . How? . . . Hold on, Déjà dit . . . When did I say that before? Oh yeah, I remember . . . the engagement spell. Please tell me it's another spell . . ."

"Nope. No spell, Xand. In fact, I think you saw us together once." Buffy coyly remarked.

"Saw you tog- . . . OH...MY...GOD!" Realization hit. "In the crypt . . . Spike acting weird . . . his earlobe was moving . . . He seemed a little distracted . . . OHMYGOD!" Xander started hitting the sides of his head, as though trying to knock something out through his ears.

Willow was clueless. "Huh?"

Buffy just stood smirking, trying not to laugh at her friend's discomfort.

"Bad image . . . bad non-image too . . . Invisi-Buffy boinking Nekkid Spike! Gah! I can't believe I didn't see it! Well, actually I can, but I can't believe I didn't know that's what it was!" Xander was a mite disturbed.

"Xander?" Buffy was starting to become a little self-concious.

"It's ok, Buff. I don't hate you. Heck, don't tell Spike this, but I don't hate him either. It's just fun to egg him on. Anyway, why'd you break up? It's so obvious to me now that you care about him . . . although, how I couldn't see it before is kinda beyond my comprehension." Xander's reply made a very happy Slayer.

"Well, you know what they say, hindsight is 20/20 while regular sight is far from it." Willow interjected.

Chapter II

"-evidence that they might be getting more magical help. Willow's staying off the magic since she got addicted . . ."

Dear God! Giles thought to himself as he listened to his Slayer's voice come over the machine. How could I have missed this? I should have taught Willow myself, encouraging her to use more discretion, rather than let her learn on her own! How stupid could I be?

As the Watcher berated himself, Buffy kept speaking.

"We all miss you, Giles. Please come soon. But don't worry too much yet. We're okay for now, we just want to be prepared. 'Bye, Giles. I'm sorry I was so angry before. I love you."

As he heard the Slayer hang up, Giles wanted to grab the phone and speak to her. But he wanted to do it in person; it would be better that way, he believed.

Time to sober up. The Watcher thought to himself.

He hadn't really been out. In fact, he hadn't been out much since he had returned to England. Giles was so distraught over Buffy's reaction to his departure that, when he finally got to his apartment, all he did before pouring a glass of scotch, was change the answering machine message. He hadn't done much more than drink and research since. He hadn't left the apartment at all; he had his groceries delivered from the market by a neighbor's teenaged son.

So, when Buffy called asking for help, Giles rejoiced at the reason to return home-for that's what Sunnydale was to him now. Home.

*****

Meanwhile, in Sunnydale, life went on as usual. Well, as usual as the usual that is not.

Xander was still sensitive about the Anya subject, Willow was still a recovering magic addict-although, she had gotten back some of the self-confidence the others had discovered in her in high school.

Buffy was giddy-yet terrified-about everything that had, was, or would happen that year. She was giddy because, well, her two best friends too the news of her latest . . . indiscretions . . . rather well, considering their history of maxi-wigs over Buffy's love life and life-altering choices.

Dawn was happy to have everyone-well, almost everyone-together and on speaking terms.

Anya was still nowhere to be found, although not for lack of trying on anyone's part. The gang had put out a search party shortly after Buffy's experiences with the mental hospital in her head, and had not turned up anything. Clearly, if Anya wanted to be found, she'd have been found by now.

Tara was beginning to warm up to Willow again, and, for them, all seemed right with the world at present.

And Spike? Well, no one had told him anything yet, so Spike was worried about what had transpired after their last battle with the Troika.

It was in this state that Buffy found the Peroxided King of Harsh Truths.

"Spike, what's wrong?" was her opening line.

"Same old song, Slayer." Spike paced nervously, obviously worried about the worst. "No News. I haven't heard a word of anything since the Dweebs of Doom got up to their little tricks again!"

Buffy was getting agitated-and a little dizzy-from all of Spike's pacing.

"Will you please sit down?!? You're making me feel all washing-machine spin cycle-y here."

"Oh. Sorry." He plopped down into his ratty old armchair, waiting for the Slayer to continue.

"Warren is up to something. Willow hacked into his computer and found his logs."

"But isn't-" he was about to say "But isn't he always up to something?"

"-Don't interrupt." When the vampire looked appropriately cowed, the Slayer continued.

"They've got a new ally or something. The log said something about 'More magical oomf,' so we know there's gonna be trouble since Willow isn't all with the spell casting anymore, and Tara can hold her own, but not against anything even nearly hell-god-ishly powerful.

So, I called Giles, and, knowing him, whether I said not to worry or not, he'll be on the next plane to LA after he gets my message." Finished with her planned speech, Buffy took a breath, waiting for the vampire's reply.

"And?" was the only thing Spike had to say.

"What?" The Slayer seemed to be purposely obtuse.

"Oh, come on, Buffy! You know that's not all the stuff I want to hear about!" Spike would not play her games any longer.

Buffy seemed to think for a minute, scrunching up her nose coquettishly.

"Hmmm . . . You want to hear me say I need your help?" Then, teasingly, "Or maybe you want to hear me say that I want your bod?"

A beat.

"Or how 'bout I tell you what my friends said when I told them about us?"

The vampire's expression brightened. Jackpot. He got up and stalked over toward the Slayer. Like a great jungle cat, he stalked her. Slowly, ever so slowly, he closed the gap between them.

"Just tell me one thing." He whispered sensuously into the shell of her hear, kissing the tender spot behind it lightly, then trailing his lips over the column of her neck.

"Anything." Buffy panted, her heartbeat speeding up. God, he's good.

"In five words or less, were they OK with it?" He teased, stopping his lips.

"Even better than I expected." was the whimpered answer as the Slayer gave into the vampire's ministrations, thinking aloud, "God, I missed this."

"You have no idea." Spike returned, thinking the same thing.

*****

Later that evening, Giles stepped onto the pavement near the Magic Box. Confused, the Watcher noticed that the store was closed and no one was inside researching.

That's funny. I would have though they'd be researching ways to beat the most recent crisis . . . Where is everyone?

Puzzled, Rupert Giles paid the cabby and walked toward the Summers' house.

*****

"I'll get it!" Dawn yelled from the stairway as there was a knock at the door. Quickly, she bounded down the last few steps and ran to the door, opening it to a familiar face.

"Giles!" the Key exclaimed, giving the older man an enthusiastic teen-aged hug and inviting him in.

"Hello, Dawn. Where is everybody? And why is the Magic Box closed?" Giles asked as he sat down, smiling at the girl's warm welcome.

"Uhm . . . Well, Xander and Willow are here talking about the latest oogly-booglies, Tara's got a class right now, and Buffy's at Spike's. As for the Magic Box . . . Xander better tell you about that. I really don't want to talk about it. He probably won't either, but he might tell you, seeing as it's your store and all." Dawn answered, yelling for the others.

"Xander! Willow! Giles is here!"

"Giles!" The witch gave the Watcher a hug as she came into the room, Xander on her heels.

"Hello, Giles." Xander said.

Giles was worried. Usually, Xander had something a bit more . . . irritating to say while greeting him. Noticing the pained expression on the young man's face, Giles resolved to have a talk with Xander later.

"Hello, Willow, Xander. How have you been?"

"Pretty good. Been four months without magic and still going!" Willow was as perky as she had been in high school. Giles had missed her perkiness the last year or so. That was another thing he should have noticed when it was right in front of his face. He resolved to talk to Willow as soon as this crisis was over as well.

"That's wonderful, Willow. I'm proud of you." was all he said at the moment. Willow beamed.

"And you, Xander? How are things going with you and Anya?"

Xander winced.

"I don't think now would be a good time to talk about that, Giles." Willow broke in, seeing her friend's discomfort.

"Ah yes, I see. Certainly." Giles also was sensitive to the younger man's change in demeanor.

"Down to business then. But before we do anything, someone should go get Buffy, I think."

Xander squirmed. Dawn looked around the room at anything, or anyone but Giles. Willow bounced on the balls of her feet, looking at the ceiling.

Giles was confused.

"What's going on then?" he asked.

The other three looked at each other, trying to pass the buck. Finally, the test of wills won, the weakest spoke.

"Giles, there's something you should know . . . about Buffy." Xander started.

Chapter III

"Oh, dear Lord." Giles mused as he listened to the three young people tell their tale.

"I know exactly what you mean, G-man." Xander answered, shaking his head.

"How many times have I told you never to call me that, Xander?" The Watcher groaned, taking his glasses off and wiping them with a handkerchief he pulled out of his pocket.

The girls giggled in the background at the familiar exchange.

"Aw, come on you guys, it's really not that bad that Buffy's been sleeping with Spike." Willow began, only to cut herself off when she noticed the men's glares.

"And you know," Dawn cut in, "he really does love her. If anyone can make Buffy happy, it's Spike."

Grudgingly, the Watcher nodded his head. "Yes, I do know that. I just wish I had more time to brood over it, but right now, we've got a semi-crisis on our hands, and someone really needs to get Buffy."

Thinking a bit, the older man added, "And Spike as well." He sighed, noticing the looks on the girls' faces.

"I'll go!" Dawn was quick to volunteer.

"No!" Xander, Willow, and Giles said in unison. One never knew what one would walk in on when going to fetch two people of opposite genders from the same place.

Dawn pouted. "Why not?" Oddly enough, she didn't get it.

"Uhm, Dawnie . . ." Willow started, raising her eyebrows.

"What?" The teenager sulked, looking down at the silver medallion she wore around her neck and playing with the chain.

"Are you sure you want to go, after what we've all just finished discussing?" One thing could be said for the magic addict-she had tact in spades.

A lightbulb went on in Dawn's head. Her eyes widened while her cheeks began to redden.

"Ohhhh!" She replied simply. "I definitely wouldn't want to walk in on that! I mean, it's romantic and everything that they're finally together, but I don't think I need to see it." Finally, the "hormonal time bomb" got the picture.

"Which brings us to the question of, who will be going?" Xander broke in.

The two women, and Giles, stared at Xander expectantly.

"What?" The Zeppo asked, clueless, as usual.

*****

The plan was almost finished, Warren mused, walking back to the trio's hideout.

As he walked in the door, Andrew and Johnathan looked up hungrily.

"It's about time!" Andrew said. "Give it here!"

"I'm starving!" Johnathan quipped from behind the over-enthusiastic Andrew.

"Yeah, yeah." Warren said, handing over the pizza. Sometimes, they seemed like fledgling vampires, how hungry they could get! Teenagers! Warren thought to himself.

"What's the deal with the plan now?" He asked, biting into a slice of hand-tossed hawaiian.

"R-R-Rack was here earlier." Johnathan began, stuttering nervously around his plain cheese slice. "Everything is in place. We'll be all ready tomorrow night."

Andrew had the decency to swallow his slice, which was covered with mushroom and olives.

"The Slayer's going down." He said.

*****

"Oh, no you don't, Slayer!" Spike backed away from Buffy, keeping his hands as far away from the petite blonde as he could.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, Spike. C'mon, it's the Golden Rule. It's even in the Bible!" The Slayer whined, holding the handcuffs in front of her.

"And since when have I followed anything written in the Bible?" The vampire teased.

Darn. He had her there.

"Good point." The Slayer came up with a plan. "I guess I'll just have to torture you then."

"Really?" Spike looked a little too hopeful.

"Yeah." The Slayer had a wicked grin on her face that the vampire didn't like too much. "Really."

"Uh oh. What kind of torture would that be, pet?" Spike gulped.

Buffy quickly closed the gap between she and Spike. "Tickle torture!" She giggled, tickling the bleached vampire mercilessly.

Spike laughed, almost painfully. "Stop! Oh, stop!" He managed to get out between laughs, holding his hands up to try and ward her off.

"Gotcha!" Buffy declared triumphantly, snapping the cuffs on her lover's wrists.

"Now that's just evil." Came a voice from the doorway.

"Xander!" Buffy yelped, jumping in startlement. "Don't do that!"

Xander looked at the two blondes a moment, puzzled.

"Somehow, I thought there'd be less clothes when I got here." He mused.

"Yeah well, we didn't really get that far . . . Buffy wanted payback." Spike gestured, indicating his cuffed wrists.

"I can see that." Xander said. "But right now, Buffy, would you please un-cuff Spike? Giles is waiting at your house."

"Oh! Really? That soon? I told him not to worry!" Buffy was a little . . . frustrated . . . with the interruption.

"Yes, really. C'mon Buff. You can play with your toy vampire later." The brunette smirked, as said vampire glared at him.

"Hey now! Still in the bloody room!" Spike protested indignantly.

Buffy chastely kissed him on the lips. "Don't worry, Spike, at least you're my toy vampire." She said, softening the blow with a smile.

"That's the best part." Was the answer.

"Uhm, guys? Could you maybe not do this now? I think I'm gonna be hurling any second if you don't stop." Xander interrupted.

Buffy sighed, Spike growled softly.

"Oh alright. Spike, where are the handcuff keys?" Buffy relented.

"In the wooden chest, taped to the inside of the lid."

The Slayer quickly found the keys, freeing the vampire.

"Well, let's go." She said, once the cuffs were safely put away.

The Slayer and her lover followed Xander out the door.

"Wait." Buffy said as they exited the crypt.

"What now?" Xander said, sighing.

"Did you just call me evil?"

*****

"What could be taking them so long?" Willow paced the living room of the Summers' house, getting more antsy by the minute. Xander had left half an hour ago, and everyone knew it was only a two-minute walk to Spike's crypt . . . goodness knew they had all been there before.

"Well, maybe they had to get, uhm, you know . . . dressed." Dawn replied.

Giles and Willow looked at the girl, astonished that she would say something like that aloud. They all knew what the vampire and the Slayer were probably doing, but neither had mentioned anything that might need doing in order for them to get to the house.

"What?" Dawn replied to their silent looks. "You know what they were probably doing, and so do I. It's not like it's not obvious they'd need to get everything back together if they were interrupted." Curiously, the teenager was the voice of reason in this situation . . . the virgin teenager, to be exact.

The two adults in the room were spared a reply as Xander walked in, Buffy and Spike in tow.

"So, what's the what?" Buffy began, walking to her watcher and giving him a heart-felt hug.

"Hey Giles. I missed you so much." She whispered into his ear.

"I missed you too, Buffy. And I love you too." He replied, just as softly.

Buffy pulled back, a small smile on her lips.

"Let's get down to business, shall we? So, what's the plan?" Began the Slayer, rubbing her hands together enthusiastically.

*****

After Tara arrived, the Scoobies got down to business.

"Alright, we don't know what the trio have been planning, but we do know that it will be big." Began the Watcher, a rough plan forming in his mind.

"We need to be prepared for everything. Tara, you and I will handle the magic end of the deal, while Buffy and Spike do most of the hand-to-hand combat. Willow and Xander, you help Spike and Buffy in the combat department. Dawn-"

"I know, I know . . . stay here, and don't invite any dead people in." The teenager declared dejectedly.

"Well, yes . . . quite right." The Watcher replied, aware that the teenager was a bit disappointed.

"Hmmm . . ." Buffy thought to herself. "Do you really want to help, Dawnie?"

The girl nodded her brunette head, hair swinging about her face.

"We could use a lookout. Maybe you could find a high place and yell at us if something happens." The Slayer thought carefully.

"Really?" Her sister asked, hopefully. "You don't think it's too dangerous?"

"Sure, it is." Buffy answered.

"But, eventually, you're just gonna help whether I tell you not to or not, so I figure I might as well approve of something. But you stay away from the main battle, you hear? I won't have you endangering yourself more than you will as lookout this time. Maybe later, Spike and I can teach you some self-defense, but we don't have time before this thing blows up in our faces. And, I can't spare anyone to stay here with you while we go out and fight, so I think it's kind of pointless to leave my little sister unprotected." The Slayer hugged her younger sister, wishing she didn't have to bring her along, but knowing that the Key would be careful once she saw the battle itself.

Everyone else was surprised that Buffy was letting her sister have a part in the battle.

"Are you sure you want to let her come, Buffy?" Giles asked, concerned.

"No, I'm not. But if I leave her unguarded, who's to say that Warren, Andrew, or Johnathan won't get to her before we get to them? And we do need someone to watch from above, just in case there's an opening, or a danger we can't see from the ground." Buffy answered. "And besides, she's fifteen now. I think she's old enough to learn to defend herself. I mean, I was Slaying at fifteen-not that I enjoyed it-and I know she'll be careful." Buffy pointedly glared at her sister at the word "careful."

The human Key nodded enthusiastically. "Definitely careful. I won't do anything that stupid or reckless . . ." The young girl bowed her head, remembering the last battle she had seen up close and personal.

". . . Not after Glory."

Chapter IV

The scoobies had been patrolling together every night for the past week, and still there was no sign of Warren, Andrew, or Johnathan.

"It's a good thing this is Spring Break at school." Dawn quipped on the seventh night. "Or else the principal, and not to mention Mrs. Kroger, would be really not happy with the amount I've been sleeping late lately.

"Oh yeah. An' I bet they'd be real happy with you riskin' your neck, too." Spike replied.

Xander broke in, peeking around the corner.

"Don't look now, guys, but I think we just hit Battlestations."

Buffy quickly whispered orders to her friends.

"Dawn, hurry, climb to that roof and when you get there, do that protection spell Tara gave you.

Giles, Tara, find somewhere safe and start with those spells.

Xand, Willow, Spike, get ready."

As Dawn went to leave, Spike stopped her, holding out his duster.

"Here Niblet. Don't want you to catch a chill standing out in the night air up high like that."

The Key beamed. Spike had never let her wear his duster before. She was happy to have the priviledge as she quickly climbed the fire escape of the building Buffy had indicated.

Giles and Tara snuck around behind another building within eyesight of the small army they were to fight.

After taking a look around the corner herself, the Slayer summed up the situation to the other three fighters.

"Okay, other than 'los tres nerdos,' there's about thirty vamps. Those are the easy ones, since they seem to be all fledglings.

There are also three Fioral demons, a few Polgara, and this one weird-looking guy with long, dark hair."

"Weird looking? How so?" Willow asked, suspicious.

"Well, it looks like his face is made of old leather, and his eyes look really funny." Buffy quickly whispered back.

"Let me see." Was the redhead's reply.

Quickly, she peeked around the corner, looking for the man her best friend had described.

. . . And immediately jumped back, her fears realized.

"It's Rack. He's their new ally." She managed to gasp, causing the other three to stare at her incredulously.

"Ok, you all know what to do. Just treat it like one massive patrol . . . with one exception. Stay as FAR AWAY from Rack as possible. I'm sure you all know enough about him for that to make sense."

Not the best pre-battle pep-talk, but it got the job done.

Spike couldn't help but think about the last speech Buffy had given.

"Not exactly the St. Crispin's Day speech, now is it?"

"We few, we happy few."

"We band of buggered." The vampire muttered to himself, picking up his favorite battle axe and following the Slayer and her friends to take advantage of what little surprising elements they had.

*****

From her vantage point atop an abandoned apartment building, Dawn watched the battle preparations.

What's taking them so long? She wondered to herself.

She had forgotten how long it took for another battle this large to start, and was getting impatient.

After many minutes, she saw the streetlights shining off of her best friend's bleached head as he and three others moved rapidly into the open, weapons swinging, flying, or just plain poking.

Hugging Spike's coat around her a little tighter, the Key watched over her loved ones like a hawk.

*****

The battle had been going on for some time, and Dawn was still watching as it unfolded, second-by-second.

She wasn't bored. A battle, no matter who is watching, can definitely NOT be described as boring; there was simply too much going on for it to be described as boring.

No, Dawn wasn't bored, but what she was feeling had a lot of boredom's traits.

Dawn watched events happen before her eyes, knowing nothing about strategy or fighting. She watched, hoping to be able to keep her loved ones safe through to the end of the battle.

Focusing, she trained her eyes on Xander, making sure he was okay.

*****

Down below, Xander, unaware that he was Dawn's focal point that second, had thrown down the crossbow he had started with at the beginning of the battle. He instead held a super-soaker filled with Holy Water cradled in one arm, with a cross in the other hand. With deadly efficiency, Xander shot the Holy Water in the eyes of any fledglings in his vicinity. If one came too close, Xander shoved the crucifix in its face, so it would back off enough for the super-soaker to be effective.

Xander could handle himself just fine.

Dawn turned her attention to Willow.

*****

Willow, having been out of the hand-to-hand practice for a while, was a little awkward with the stake she used.

Almost as if she were mentally apologising for just being there to ruin their night, Willow clumsily dusted the fledglings Xander had injured before they could recover their sight.

She's a little awkward, but she'll be fine. Was Dawn's verdict as she looked over the battle-strewn asphalt.

*****

Noticing everything on the ground below her, Dawn summed up the enemy's losses so far.

Buffy and Spike had managed to kill the Polgara demons and were making short work of the last two Fiorals. About half of the vampires remained, soon to be cut down to a third.

The Trio of Geeks had long since run away, she remembered, but their magically powerful ally was still there. Although he didn't seem to be doing anything. In fact, Dawn noticed that it looked as though he had done the same type of protection spell on himself that Dawn had done.

She wondered why he wasn't doing anything, but decided to be thankful for small favors.

Without magic to fight, Giles and Tara had taken up weapons and were helping in the physical combat department.

Giles, sword in hand, kicked the nearest fledgling, sending it away so that he could deal with another, easily lopping its head off. He wasn't every strong, but what he lacked in muscle, Giles sure made up for in skill, Dawn noticed. She watched as the watcher parried attacks from the few fledglings he fought, using his free hand and his feet for offensive attacks.

Dawn mused that, not only would she love for her sister and Spike to teach her hand-to-hand defensive moves, but that she would also like for Giles to teach her to at least handle some basic weaponry.

Snapping back into focus, Dawn noticed that Tara had joined Willow in the staking, using a tree branch as a makeshift stake, since she had apparently lost the one she always carried with her.

Noticing that all the demons were now dead, Dawn watched as Buffy and Spike joined in the vampire fight.

The Key watched in awe. They were amazing. Sure the others got the job done with teamwork, but the brunette couldn't help but stare as her sister and her best friend fought the last of the vampires. They had to be exhausted, after fighting the demons, but still, their movements were fluid and graceful.

Dawn realized that, in a battle with so many vampires, Buffy must be using the Slayer sense her older sister had told her about. The Slayer certainly didn't seem to be looking for the next vampire to kill after she had dusted one.

In horror, Dawn saw her sister turn around, stake raised, just as Spike came up behind her.

Time seemed to move in slow motion as she screamed, "Buffy, NO!" only to realize that it was too late. She watched, black duster flapping in the breeze that had just picked up, as her sister stared helplessly into the stormy, confused, blue eyes of her lover as he crumbled to dust.

*****

For Buffy, time stopped. She fell to her knees as the tears began to fall silently down her cheeks and she noticed where they had been fighting the whole time.

The factory. This is the factory. One of the first places he lived here back when I really was trying to kill him. And now, I have, and I didn't even want to! I didn't want to . . . She thought, repeating the last sentence to herself. I didn't want to . . . I didn't want to . . . I didn't want to . . .

Catatonic, Buffy looked at the place where her vampire had stood only seconds before. She didn't move when some of his ashes blew away in the breeze.

*****

Around her, the battle died down. The last vamp had turned to dust, and all that was left of the enemy was Rack.

Rack, although he hadn't done anything the entire battle, was looking smug. Xander and Willow just glowered at him until, laughing, Rack recited a teleportation spell and disappeared.

Looking around at their victory, Xander remarked, "That was fun." He hadn't noticed the Slayer on her knees crying.

Giles, also not noticing, said, "Well, we did kill all the demons and vampires. If everyone is accounted for, I think we should all go home."

But Willow had noticed, and, walking over, asked her friend what was wrong.

Buffy didn't answer.

At the sound of the red head's question, Xander walked over, noticing the dust the Slayer was kneeling in, he knew whose dust it must be. Speechless, for once, all that the "Glorified Bricklayer" could say was, "Schpadoinkel!"

Willow, a little slower, finally saw the dust. Her thoughts were a little more organized than Xander's however, and she asked, "Where's Spike?" as Dawn came screaming and sobbing as she went to hold her sister.

Author's Notes: In my notes for this story, between the very FIRST scene, and just before the battle when they count up how many they're fighting, I only had ONE SENTENCE. "Giles comes back." How do you like the way I made it stretch for 2 and 7/8 chapters?

I've decided this is going to be my fic for all of re-run hell. Just like "Stranger Things Have Happened" was my fic for the No-Spoiler Zone between "Wrecked" and "Gone" (I actually finished that one a few hours before "Gone" aired, and I'm hoping to finish this one before the next ep airs.).

Anyway, thanks for all the reviews so far, and I hope to get back up to speed soon, seeing as how I've been sick since last Wednesday.

I made Spike give his coat to Dawn because, well, it would be a shame to make it be dust like that.

Oh, and, Nocte, that's all the fight you're gonna get, 'cause I'm really bad at blow-by-blow stuff, so I'm making that my included fight scene to satisfy the challenge requirement, ok?

Thanks to Annalore for reminding me that WordPerfect has different html tags than the norm. I've fixed all of the previous chapters to this fic (I've decided to leave my other fics the way they are... it's too much work to fix them.), and in doing so, unfortunately lost the author's notes to the previous chapters. (It has to do with different versions and files of each chapter which were deleted once they were uploaded... long story.)

Oh, and Nos? Guess where I got the coat idea? Yup. You! I read that fic you wrote, and I guess my subconcious reminded me that his coat would dust with him 'cause I had read your fic, and I REALLY didn't want that to happen. Plus, I wanted a reason for Buffy to be jealous of Dawn for a change. :-p

Next