Chapter 11

The next morning they woke up a little late after the night exercise and rushed to the Magic Box. It was 9:55am by the time they got there. There was Angel’s car parked out front and no sign of anyone.

They walked to the door and saw a large group of people sitting around the table; Buffy walked in first not wanting both to walk in late at the same time.

The door jingled as she walked in and everyone turned to look at her. She saw Angel and froze, ‘what if he figures out about Spike and me?’ She thought. ‘No way’ she answered herself. Angel, Wesley, Cordelia and Gunn all stood to greet her and Angel kissed her cheek,

“Hello Buffy, how are you?”

Asked Angel still focused on her face.

She flinched and backed away from him slightly,

“Hi, I’m fine.”

Cordelia, Gunn and Wesley all hugged her and greeted her fondly. She smiled at them all and sat down next to Willow.

“So, how was the trip?”

Buffy asked creating small talk until Spike came in. They were all there including Dawn who looked at Buffy knowing that she felt uncomfortable being with Angel.

The door burst open and a flaming blanket ran in throwing the blanket to the floor distinguishing the flame.

Angel stood up and growled low,

“What are you doing here. This is no time to pick a fight with the slayer.”

Spike laughed when he saw him,

“Thanks for the welcoming Granddad, but I’m one of them.”

Angel looked at them and they all nodded and Dawn got up and walked to Spike,

“Hi Spike.”

She said as she hugged him, he kissed her head sweetly,

“ ’Ello Niblit.”

Dawn suddenly jumped up in excitement,

“You’ll never guess who I met today on the way here.”

Spike suddenly smiled a large smile,

“Lemme guess, the evil, slutty bitch?”

Dawn clapped her hands,

“Yes.”

“So what did Kristy have to say for herself?”

Everyone in the room was fixed on the pair and their great conversation. Angel just stood there speechless.

“She called he a homicidal freak, so I did exactly what you told me.”

Spike smiled evilly,

“So what did you say?”

Dawn giggled,

“I said ‘well if I’m a homicidal freak that must make you a slutty bitch with a bad hair dye job and a lob sided ass’.”

Spike burst into laughter,

“So what did miss perfect do?”

“She started to cry when all her friends laughed.”

Spike hugged Dawn and shook her hand,

“A jolly well done.”

He said in his most posh accent. Dawn laughed and they sat down on the couch.

Angel looked at everyone smiling,

“Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?”

Buffy started to speak and he sat down,

“Well to make a long story short, Spike was chipped making him unable to hurt humans, started to help us and now he is one of us, one of our friends.”

Angel looked at Spike, who had a smirk on his face,

“You’re a good guy, unbelievable. I mean it unbelievable.”

Spike shook his head and laughed,

“Well seeing is believing.”

Angel shook his head and Spike smiled at Buffy,

“So Buffy what has happened so far?”

Buffy had to laughed at this statement,

“Well, I was also late so I don’t really know.”

Angel saw how friendly they were to each other and it made him sick.

“Well Cordy had a vision of you fighting a big monster, and there was someone with you but he was in shadows. And then she saw you kneeling over someone crying and the creature came up behind you and raised his axe and there was a scream.”

Buffy looked at him,

“Do you have any idea who was fighting with me?”

Cordelia shook her head,

“He was in shadows, very spooky.”

Spike sat forward and glanced at Giles who was also looking at him,

“Well where were they fighting?” asked Giles

Cordelia looked at Angel,

“Well I didn’t see.”

They all looked at each other,

“Well we should get researching now I think.” Said Giles quickly

They all got up and walked to the library, searching for books,

“Buffy can I speak to you?” asked Angel

“Kay.” Answered Buffy

They were walking to the training room when there was a loud,

“Moo.”

Angel spun around to see Giles and Spike laughing themselves silly.

Angel glared at Spike and carried on walking.

When they had gotten inside and had closed the doors Angel spoke,

“How could you make friends with Spike?”

Buffy stared at him,

“Why, because he tried to kill me a couple of hundred times? You did too or have you forgotten.”

Buffy was cold and irritated and her words cut through Angel like a knife,

“This isn’t fair Buffy, don’t turn this around on me.”

“Well it isn’t fair to me either, who are you to tell me who I must be friends with?”

Angel stared at her,

“I’m your friend, I’m just trying to protect you.”

Buffy started to pace,

“Protect me, where were you when we were battling Glory, where were you when I was brought back and needed someone to talk to and to comfort me? You weren’t there, but Spike was. He risked his un-life to save Dawn and me on the tower that night, he was there to comfort me when I got back. He is my friend, and just as he risked his life for me, I’d risk my life for him.”

Angel laughed,

“Buffy, he’s already dead.”

Buffy shook her head,

“That doesn’t matter. Never has.”

That last remark was aimed at him and it hit him full force.

“Buffy how do you know that when that chip stops working he won’t kill you and Dawn and everyone else? How can you be sure?”

Buffy stopped pacing and stared at him right in the eye,

“Because he loves us, he’s a part of my family now. When I was gone, who do you think was there for Dawn, he’s the only reason she’s still here today. He helped her with her homework, her problems everything. He was there for her and he was there for me. Don’t dismiss what you don’t understand.”

And with that she marched out of the room to go and join the others in the search for the demon.

Chapter 10

Buffy walked into the Magic Box just after they had finished dinner; she needed to talk to Giles. Spike had left about half an hour ago and Buffy took this opportunity to talk to Giles alone.

She walked in to find all the Scoobies sitting around the table talking and when the bell rang they all looked up at Buffy.

Buffy felt herself getting hot, she couldn’t forget the confrontation that they had had earlier that day,

“Hi” she said quickly

“Hey Buffy. Before you say anything we just wanted to apologize for the way we were acting today, we are all sorry.”

They all nodded in agreement and Buffy smiled at them,

“Thanks guys, that really means a lot to me, but is Giles here?”

They all noted the urgency in her voice, and Xander obliged,

“Yeah, he and Spike are in the training room.”

Buffy looked confused,

“Spike’s with him?”

Willow nodded,

“Spike came in needing to talk to him alone. Any idea what it’s about?”

Buffy shook her head, what was Spike doing now.

Buffy walked to the training room door and they all followed, wanting to see what was happening.

Buffy heard a faint murmur of voices and then what sounded like screaming. Buffy pushed open the door to see Spike and Giles lying on the floor in fits of laughter. Every one just stared; they had never seen Giles laugh, really laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

Asked Buffy from the door. They immediately stopped laughing and looked at the crowd standing by the door with tears in their eyes,

“Nothing.”

Said Giles trying to cover up.

“Just nothing.”

Said Spike backing up the story.

Buffy stared at them with her hands on her hips. She noticed the open book lying open next to them,

“What book is that?”

Asked Buffy accusingly.

Spike smiled,

“Nothing luv, just a book.”

As he said this his hand and Giles went over the book and shut it.

Buffy noticed this and walked over to them, picking up the book she noticed the title,

“Ancient prophecies and legends. Is this what’s so funny?”

She asked.

Spike looked at Giles and Giles looked back at Spike,

“No, I was just telling Giles here a…story about me.”

Buffy looked at Giles,

“What did he tell you Giles?”

All the Scoobies were really enjoying this,

“He told me about a poem he once wrote.”

Giles knew that Spike used to write poetry, so it was a good alibi.

Spike nodded and Buffy looked at him,

“Why didn’t you say that in the first place? Scared I’d ask you to repeat it?”

Spike looked down, trying not to laugh and nodded.

Buffy looked at Giles,

“Okay enough of this, I came here for a reason. Cordelia had a vision so Angel and the rest of them are coming down.”

At the mention of Angel’s name, Spike and Giles burst into laughter and looked at Buffy ashamed.

“Sorry luv, bit of a personal joke.”

Giles was crying now from laughing,

“Sorry, when is he arriving?” asked Giles holding in his giggles.

Buffy couldn’t understand what was so funny and it bothered her,

“What’s so funny? Tell me now.”

She demanded.

Spike looked at Giles and Giles shook his head,

“We were making fun of…Xander.”

Said Spike quickly and Giles smiled, relieved that Spike hadn’t told her that they were making fun of Angel.

Buffy smiled knowing that Spike liked to make fun of Xander,

“Hey that’s not fair.” Shouted Xander

“Okay I’ll buy that, but what am I gonna do about Angel coming?”

Spike and Giles held in their giggles,

“Well maybe you should just treat him normally.” Said Giles

Buffy looked at Spike and he didn’t seemed bothered at the fact that Angel was coming, usually at even the mention of his grand sires name he would get all angry and want to kill him. Now he was just laughing.

“Spike, I would of thought you would be annoyed with the fact that Angel is coming?”

Spike nodded,

“Well I just don’t feel threatened by the poof any more. We have more in common than I thought.”

Giles burst into laughter,

“Definitely more than we all thought.”

Spike shot Giles a look that could kill and he stopped laughing immediately.

Buffy looked at Spike and Spike nodded, he knew she was wondering if Spike had told him.

‘Why did Spike tell Giles?’ thought Buffy. He would never tell Giles anything. Something was wrong.

Buffy glanced back at her watch and saw the time,

“Well I’d better go, Dawn will be waiting for me. Oh and Angel will be here early tomorrow morning, so why don’t you guys meet me here at the shop at 9:00am?”

They all nodded and she strode out of the shop, she turned to look at Spike,

“Spike, will you walk with me?”

Spike nodded and knew not only did she want to know why he had told Giles, but also his dinner was waiting.

They left everyone and walked into the main part of the shop, and out the door. They walked a bit in silence until Buffy spoke,

“Why did you tell Giles about you having a soul?”

Spike looked down and studied his feet, not knowing what to say,

“I wanted to ask him…about the gypsy.”

Buffy looked at him curiously,

“Why?”

Spike was definitely on a lying streak,

“I wanted to know if she was a demon or something. Then he wanted to know why, and I told him.”

Buffy smiled at him,

“I think you like Giles.”

Spike looked at her in surprise,

“What bloody rot, I just told him for the sake of telling him.”

Buffy wrapped her arm around him and kissed him on the cheek.

He felt so guilty for lying to her, but it’s not like he’s lying, he’s just not telling the whole truth.

They walked in and found Dawn asleep on the couch, in front of the TV which showed one of the boy bands that Dawn loved so much.

Spike walked up to her and picked her up, he carried her to her room and lay her on the bed,

“Spike, I love you.”

Spike pushed a small piece of hair out of her face, kissing her head he whispered,

“I love you too Niblit.”

She rolled over and fell back asleep.

Spike walked out and closed the door like he had done so often, when Buffy was gone. Buffy was waiting outside for him,

“You have a way with her you know. I mean, I say go to bed she says five more minutes, you tell her to go to bed and she tells you that she loves you and goes to bed. How do you do it?”

Spike smiled at Buffy and kissed her softly,

“I just have a way with Summers women.”

Buffy smiled wickedly,

“Well you can have your way with me.”

Spike lifted her up into his arms and carried her into her bedroom,

“God I love you Buffy.”

Buffy smiled,

“I love you too.”

Angel and Cordelia climbed into the car and Angel started it,

“Everyone here?” he asked

He looked back to see Wesley and Gunn sitting in the back seat in a heated conversation.

“Cordy, now are you sure that it was Buffy you saw?”

Cordelia nodded,

“Positive and I also saw the shadowy creepy person, it was definitely Sunnydale and Buffy.”

Angel smiled,

“Alright, lets go back to Sunnydale.”