Title: Fluffy Wild At Heart (Ep 13 of the Fluffy Files)

Author: Hilary

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Everything I have borrowed from Joss.

Author's Notes: This is part of a series I have lovingly titled The Fluffy Files. I'm taking every ep that Spike has appeared in and twisting it to give it a nice fluffy B/S ending. The eps are not meant to be read in sequence (unless you want to). They are all stand-alone fics which I have just grouped together, sort of a 'how they might get together' thing. In other words ignore any other Fluffy File fics and just pretend this is the first. For each Ep just assume that the show has gone more or less as normal up until the point where I start.

Dedication: To Isabelle. Hope this cheers you up and gets you working on your fics again :o)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Buffy's head snapped up at the sound of a strangled cry coming from a small hill just above where she'd been fighting. Someone was being attacked.

"Not on my watch." She muttered to herself as she quickly ran up the hill to the summit. When she reached the top she froze, not sure what to make of what she was seeing. There were three of them; men as far as she could tell, with their faces covered by some sort of mask. They were all dressed in what looked like a green army uniform and sporting some serious looking weaponry.

Without waiting for them to make a move Buffy quickly launched an attack, forcing them to drop whoever it was they were carrying.

Kicking the gun out of the nearest man's hand, grabbing hold of his arm and swinging him around into his two friends so that they all flew backwards. As they picked themselves up she reformed her fighting stance, ready to take them on again.

This time all three of them launched at her at once, but she punched, kicked and ducked until they all lay stunned on the ground once more.

"You don't give up easily do you?" She asked incredulously as they climbed to their feet again. This time, however, they grabbed their weapons and ran back into the woods.

With a shake of her head Buffy turned her attention to the person they'd been trying to carry off.

"Hey, are you ok.... SPIKE?"

As soon as she recognised the blonde vampire lying at her feet she pulled out a stake and held it above his chest. His eyes met hers but he didn't move.

Buffy faltered, why wasn't he fighting? Or even trying to escape?

"What's the trick Spike?" She asked suspiciously. "You're just going to lie here and let me stake you?"

Still nothing.

Buffy knew that she should just do it, get rid of him once and for all. But somehow she couldn't bring herself to actually do it. It just didn't seem right, killing him without a decent fight.

"Spike." She sighed impatiently. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

His lips moved and a small whimper escaped. But that seemed to be all she was going to get from him.

It suddenly occurred to her that he might actually be hurt, not just screwing around with her. She checked him over but couldn't see any signs of injury. Rolling him onto his side she checked his back and gasped when she saw two wires sticking into him, the crackle of electricity clearly audible.

Reacting quickly she tugged the sleeve of her sweater down over her hang and grasped hold of the wires, wrenching them out of Spike's body. He jerked once and then was still as she rolled him back.

For once Buffy was clueless as to what to do. It was obvious that the soldiers had done something to Spike, paralysed him by the looks of it. She had no idea how long it was going to last, or what she was going to do with him.

Finally she decided to take him to Giles. Maybe he'd know what to do. Actually, he'd probably tell her to stake him but at this point there was no other option available.

Looking down at Spike she saw his eyes were still open. She figured he could hear her if nothing else.

"I'm going to take you to Giles." She explained. "I don't know how long you'll be paralysed for but if you try anything once you can move again, I will stake you. Understand?"

He whimpered again which she took to mean 'yes' and lifted him up, placing him over her shoulder. She just hoped no one would be around to see her carrying him like this.

* * *

Giles jumped up from his desk at the pounding on his door and hurried over.

"Buffy?" He asked with a mixture of surprise and alarm at seeing his Slayer with what looked like the body of a man draped over her shoulder.

"You have to invite him in." Buffy panted, tired from the walk and from carrying Spike.

Giles looked puzzled for a moment. "A vampire?"

Buffy nodded. "It's Spike. You have to invite him in."

Giles stared at her for a moment. "Buffy, are you sure?"

"Something weird happened tonight, I didn't know where else to take him."

Finally he sighed. "Very well, Spike I invite you in. But I'm having Willow on standby to undo it as soon as you're gone."

Buffy smiled and carried Spike inside, dumping him on the couch and stretching her aching muscles.

"Now, could you tell me what's going on?" Giles kept a wary eye on the motionless Spike while he addressed Buffy.

She quickly told him all she knew, how she'd rescued Spike before knowing who he was, and how there had been what looked like some sort of military group involved.

"Once he's recovered we need to find out what he knows about those guys. If we've got a new enemy then I'd like to know about it."

Giles nodded. "It's also possible that if they're hunting vampires then we could have a new ally."

The thought somehow hadn't crossed Buffy's mind; she'd just reacted on instinct.

She moved over to Spike's side and crouched down beside him. "Can you move yet?"

She could almost see him straining with the effort to at least shake his head, but nothing happened. Almost feeling sorry for him she stood and walked back over to Giles.

"I guess for now all we can do is wait. Do you think we should call the others?"

Giles shook his head. "Perhaps we should wait until we know for sure what we're dealing with."

With a nod Buffy sat down and the two of them waited.

* * *

"Slayer?"

Buffy's head shot up at the sound of the soft voice calling her name. Glancing over at the couch she noticed that Spike had now turned his head to face her and she quickly made her way over to his side.

"You can move?" She asked, uncertainly.

"I can't feel the rest of my body, but I guess being able to move my head and talk is a start. Why the hell did you save me?"

Buffy raised her eyebrows. "You'd have preferred me to let those guys drag you off to god knows where?"

Spike shook his head.

"Who were they anyway?" Buffy asked, deciding to cut straight to it.

"Don't know." Spike replied. "I was watching you fight that vamp, and they attacked me from behind. Didn't even get a good look at them really."

Buffy quickly filled him in on everything she had seen and by the end of it Spike was staring at her in disbelief.

"Are you telling me that now the army is getting in on the vampire slaying gig? Bloody hell, that's all we need."

Buffy looked at the vampire lying on the couch. This had to be one of the most confusing things that had ever happened to her. She knew that the soldiers she'd fought should technically be the good guys if they were hunting vampires, but she was still filled with a sense of unease. There was something more to this. Why hadn't they just killed Spike?

"We need to figure out what's going on with these guys." She announced to Giles and Spike. "If the government knows about vampires then there's a chance that they could know about me too."

"The hunter becomes the hunted." Spike murmured before looking up at Buffy. "Listen, Slayer. I've got a proposition for you. We've helped each other out in the past, right? And I want to know about these soldier boys as much as you do. How about we work together?"

Buffy looked sceptically at him. "So, you help me and what do you get in return?"

"A lack of stakes through the heart would be a good start. And you let me skip town once we're through."

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "I think we've had this conversation before, Spike. And you've come back more times than I can count."

"It was only three." He grumbled under his breath. "Ok, how about this? I come back again and you are free to stake me."

Buffy couldn't help but smirk at that. "If you'd come back, I would have done that anyway, but ok, you've got a deal."

Giles jumped to his feet. "Now just a minute!"

Buffy and Spike both looked over at him as he marched over and pulled Buffy to one side.

"Buffy, you can't be serious about trusting Spike. After what happened with the ring?" He whispered harshly.

"We don't have any choice Giles. Those guys were clearly after Spike for some reason. He may be the only way of getting close to them again. I don't like this any more than you do but we need him."

Giles sighed. "Very well, but we'll all need to keep a close eye on him."

Buffy nodded and made her way back over to Spike who was struggling to sit up.

"I'm going to kill those buggers for doing this to me." He growled as he finally managed to make it into a sitting position. He hated this; it was like being in the wheelchair again. Only this time the Slayer was here to watch him suffer.

"I don't know where you were staying before, Spike." Giles called. "But as long as you're working with us I want you to stay here where I can keep an eye on you."

Spike sighed; beginning to thing this wasn't such a good idea after all. Still, having only arrived back in town that night this did solve the problem of where he was going to stay. Before this he'd been living with Harmony but for the sake of his sanity he couldn't go back there.

"Alright, Watcher. If it'll make you happy."

Buffy glanced at her watch. "Eeep, I'm supposed to be meeting the gang at the Bronze and I'm late. Giles, I don't suppose I could get a ride?"

Giles looked at her and then at Spike. "I'm sorry Buffy, I'm not leaving him alone in my house."

"Please." Spike scoffed. "Like I'd want any of your stuff anyway."

"Well, why don't you guys come too. "We can fill them in on what's going on."

Giles sighed, he couldn't really argue with that. "Very well."

As Giles put his coat on Spike struggled to his feet. He might not be back to full strength but there was no way he was going to ask for help. He had some dignity left.

Unfortunately his legs had other ideas and as soon as he made it to his feet his knees buckled. The next thing he knew Buffy had her arms around him and was helping to support him.

"Stop trying to be all macho." She scolded, but with a small smile on her lips. "Let me help you."

Spike groaned. "You're enjoying seeing me all weak and helpless aren't you?"

She grinned. "I've definitely seen less pleasant things. Now come on, I'm already late."

Keeping one arm around his waist the two of them made their way out to the car where Giles was waiting.

* * *

By the time they arrived at the Bronze Spike found that the strength had pretty much returned to his legs, enabling him to walk without the Slayer's help.

"Can you two give me a minute." Buffy asked once they reached the door of the club. "I just want to warn the others so they don't totally freak when they see Spike."

Spike grinned. "I tend to have that effect on most people."

"Oh do shut up." Giles sighed wearily, Spike's presence already starting to give him a headache.

Leaving them to it Buffy disappeared into the club, wondering just how she was going to explain this.

* * *

"Spike?" Willow squeaked, keeping her eyes on Buffy and waiting for her to announce that it was all a big joke. Her expression didn't change. "The Spike? Blonde? Vampire? Evil?"

Buffy nodded. "Look, I promise I won't let him hurt any of you. It's just, we need him Will."

"Well, I trust you so...ok."

"You're nuts!" Xander exclaimed, never the one to keep his opinions to himself. "Buffy, you're not thinking straight. Spike tried to kill you less than a week ago and now all of a sudden you're his best bud?"

Buffy began to look irritated. "Look, I don't like this any more than you do. But we need him so he's staying. I promise that if he tries anything I'll deal with him. Now, I'm not asking you to become his best friend or anything. Just put up with him until we figure out what's going on."

With a resigned sigh Xander nodded.

Buffy turned to Oz. "Are you ok with this?"

Calm as always he nodded. "Sure."

Buffy smiled. "Ok, he's waiting outside with Giles. I just wanted to prepare you before they came in. I'll be right back."

Disappearing into the crowd she returned a few minutes later with Giles and Spike in tow. As they sat down around the table Willow couldn't help but look nervous at the sight of the vampire that had kidnapped her and Xander last time she'd seen him.

"So." Oz began, trying to break the ice. "You got the army after you now? That bites."

Spike nodded grimly. "Yeah, I'm the one who should be doing the biting."

He grinned and Buffy kicked him. "Stop it."

The rest of the club fell silent as a young girl made her way on to the centre of the stage.

"I didn't know Veruca was playing tonight." Willow said.

Oz seemed transfixed by her.

"Yeah." He replied distantly. "She always plays here on a Wednesday."

Xander seemed to be equally as fixated and even Giles seemed unable to look away as Veruca began to sing.

"She's very good." He murmured almost to himself.

Spike looked around from the dreamy expression on Xander, Giles and Oz's faces to the hurt look on Willow's and the pissed off look on Buffy's. All caused by this one girl. He looked at her carefully; she seemed to be pouring sensuality out of every inch of her skin. Yet something wasn't quite right about her, he just couldn't place his finger on what it was.

As soon as Veruca's set was over everything seemed to return to normal. Oz focused his attention back on Willow and Giles began talking about their next course of action.

"It might be an idea for you and Spike to patrol around the area of the attack tomorrow night. There's a strong chance that these men will be looking for Spike and this will be an opportunity for you to make contact."

"Great." Spike grumbled. "Use the vamp as bait."

"In the meantime." Giles continued, ignoring Spike's complaints. "Perhaps we could go back to my house and look through the Watcher's Diary's for references to other human vampire hunter's. There's a chance that this organisation has been in operation for some time."

They all agreed and as Xander, Willow and Oz made their way back to Oz's van, Buffy, Spike and Giles went back out to Giles' car.

* * *

After finding nothing in any of the journals the gang had given up for the night and gone their separate ways. Buffy had been a little reluctant about leaving Spike alone with Giles, for both of their sakes. But they had insisted they'd be fine and that they could both take care of themselves. She just hoped she wouldn't arrive tomorrow to find that they'd killed each other in the night.

She sighed as she climbed into bed and glanced over at Willow.

"Weird night, huh?"

Willow nodded, but she wasn't really thinking about Spike. Her mind was on Veruca and the fact that Oz was practically drooling over her at the Bronze. There was a fear starting to gnaw at her heart, what if she lost him?

She wanted to talk to Buffy, ask her if she was being paranoid, but something told her she needed a man's perspective on this. As she closed her eyes she made a mental note to speak to Xander the next day and ask his opinion.

* * *

"Hello?" Willow called, scanning Giles' living room. She'd let herself in when there had been no answer at the door, figuring that maybe he hadn't heard her.

"Hello, Red."

She jumped at the sound of the voice and took and instinctive step back when she saw Spike curled up on the couch watching TV.

"Oh, hey Spike. I was looking for Xander, he wasn't at home so I thought he might be here."

He sat up and switched the TV off. "He was here, left with the Watcher about half an hour ago. Didn't say where they were going, not like I could have gone with them anyway."

Willow's face fell. "Oh."

She's really wanted to talk to Xander about Oz. Things were getting worse. Today she was supposed to meet him at lunch and when she'd arrived Veruca had been there. They'd talked music the whole time and Oz had acted like she wasn't there half the time. In the end she'd left them to it.

Spike noticed Willow's crestfallen face and was suddenly interested. Real life problems were much more entertaining than any soap opera.

"Something bothering you?" He asked; at least trying to sound concerned.

She shook her head and turned to leave before suddenly stopping. Turning back she looked at Spike and suddenly she got an idea. She wanted a guy's opinion, and here was a guy. Plus he'd lived for over a hundred years; he was bound to have picked up a few things.

She moved a little closer to him, suddenly not as scared as she had been.

"Spike, can I ask you something?"

He shrugged. "Got nothing better to do. Fire away."

She took a seat on the chair beside him and drew a deep breath.

"Is this about that bird in the club last night?" Spike asked before she could even open her mouth.

Stunned, Willow nodded. "How did you know?"

"I'm not an idiot, pet. I saw the way your boy was ogling her last night. What's the problem, scared he's moving on to pastures new?"

"NO!" She replied a little too quickly.

Spike stared at her for a moment and she suddenly felt the urge to shrink into herself, it was like he was looking straight into her soul.

"Well, maybe." She added meekly. "Do you think he is?"

Spike sighed. "What does wolf-boy say about it all?"

Willow flushed red. "Well.... I.... I haven't exactly asked him about it."

Spike nodded. "Well, I think that's your first port of call. See what he has to say and then take it from there."

"But what if he thinks I'm being all paranoid and jealous?"

Spike sighed again. "Well, face it, pet. You are jealous. Chances are that your boy is picking up on that and it'll get worse unless you talk to him about it."

Finally Willow nodded and stood up. "Ok, I will. Thanks, Spike."

As she left Giles' house she was amazed that she'd actually been given advice, good advice by a vampire. It could only happen on the hellmouth.

* * *

"So, you ready to play find the soldiers?" Buffy asked as Spike grabbed his duster from the hook by the door.

"Ready as I'll ever be." He replied. "Just make sure that they keep their taser things away from me if we find them. They try and shoot me and you'll be cleaning up body parts for a month."

Buffy grimaced. "Nice. Well, if I have anything to do with it, it won't come to that. The idea is to talk to these guys, not rip them to pieces."

Spike pouted playfully. "You're no fun."

Grabbing his arm Buffy pulled him out of the door. "Let's go."

* * *

Spike sighed and leant against a nearby tree, lighting a cigarette as he did. "Slayer, this is pointless. We've been wandering around here for three bloody hours. Why don't we just give up and try somewhere else."

She turned to face him, her irritation clear. "Why don't you just stop complaining before I-"

She suddenly stopped and cocked her head to one side. Something was moving in the bushes, she could hear the rustling distinctly. Motioning for Spike to be quiet she crept closer, ready to pull out whoever or whatever it was. Spike followed close behind, ready to back her up if she needed it.

As they drew closer a low growl sounded, causing Buffy to pull out a stake. Whatever it was, it didn't sound human.

Just as she was about to reach in and grab it, something flew out of the bush and hit her hard, sending her flying into Spike and knocking them both to the ground. Looking up she saw a werewolf running in the moonlight.

"Looks like Red's pet got loose." Spike observed from beneath her.

A loud howl sounded and Buffy was stunned to see another werewolf join the first.

"Two of them." Buffy whispered.

The two wolves circled each other, growling softly until the lighter coloured one pounced onto the other. Buffy immediately scrambled to her feet.

"We've got to stop them before one of them gets killed."

Spike's eyes were still on the two wolves.

"They're not fighting." He said softly. "They're mating."

Buffy's eyes widened as she watched the two wolves disappear into the woods. "Oh God, Willow."

She continued to stare at the empty clearing where the wolves had been. How was she supposed to tell Willow what she'd seen? It would break her heart.

"Who do you suppose it was?" She finally asked Spike. "I mean that other wolf, it's a person, right?"

Spike didn't reply. He had a pretty good idea who it was, he'd sensed that there was something different about that girl in the club and after Willow's little chat with him earlier in the day it left little doubt in his mind.

"We should head back." He finally said. "Nothing else we can do tonight."

She nodded and the two of them made their way back towards town. Once they were out of sight two camouflaged soldiers emerged from the trees.

"That's him." One of them said, his voice muffled by the mask he wore. "That's the vampire that escaped."

"And she's the demon that rescued him." The other replied

* * *

Buffy and Spike stopped when they reached Giles' door.

"I should head back." Buffy said sadly, knowing she'd have to talk to Willow.

Spike nodded. "Listen, pet. It might be an idea if you don't say anything to Red just yet. Talk to Wolfie first; see what he has to say for himself. Trust me, it'll be easier if this comes from him rather than you."

Buffy studied him for a moment; it was almost like she was seeing him for the first time. "Okay, first of all since when did you care? Secondly when did you become so smart?"

Spike smiled. "There's more to me than you think, Slayer."

Somehow she didn't doubt it. "Goodnight Spike."

He watched as she turned and followed her with his eyes until she melted into the darkness.

"Goodnight Buffy."

* * *

Spike was roused from his sleep the next day by a loud knocking on the door. He closed his eyes again, assuming Giles would answer.

Five minutes later he got up when the knocking continued and tried to avoid getting burned as he opened the door.

"Hi." Oz said as he walked in, closing the door behind him. "I was looking for Buffy. I got a message she wanted to see me. Is she here?"

Spike sighed and flopped back down on the couch. "Doesn't anyone come here to see the Watcher? Buffy's not here."

"Ok." Oz replied, heading back towards the door.

"Did you enjoy your romp last night?" Spike called just as Oz laid his hand on the door handle.

Slowly he turned back to face the vampire. "What?"

"We saw you." Spike explained. "Me and the Slayer. Last night. With your wolf friend."

The colour drained from Oz's face and he dropped down into a nearby chair.

"Willow?" He croaked.

"The Slayer hasn't said anything to her yet. She was hoping you'd have the guts to do it yourself."

Oz sighed. "This wasn't supposed to happen. I mean, I didn't know Veruca was a wolf, I just couldn't stop thinking about her. I don't know what to do. I love Willow, but Veruca's like me. It's like I'm drawn to her."

Spike groaned. Here he was playing Agony Uncle to the Scoobies yet again.

"So let me get this straight. You're thinking of leaving the girl that you love, just because you've met someone who knows what it's like to answer the call of the wild."

He wished he could say it was more complicated than that but the truth was that Spike had described it exactly. He suddenly felt the urge to tell him everything. Somehow he felt the vampire would understand.

"I'm just scared." He confessed. "Veruca's been a werewolf a lot longer than I have. She knows what it's like. She said that the animal is part of me, who I am. And I'm starting to think she's right. What if its gets to the stage where I can't control it? What if I end up hurting Willow? Or one of the others? Maybe it would be best if I just left."

"Best for you maybe." Spike replied. "But have you thought about what it would do to Red if you just left without even explaining it to her. A broken heart is more likely to kill her than your wolf is."

Oz lowered his eyes. He knew Spike was right. There was no escaping the fact that before the end of the day he was going to have to talk to Willow about what he'd done. What happened after that depended on Willow.

"I'd better go." He said, climbing to his feet. "Thanks for the pep talk."

Spike nodded and without another word Oz left.

"It's one thing after another in this place." Spike muttered to himself as he lay down on the couch and drifted back to sleep.

* * *

Nightfall soon came and Buffy and Spike found themselves searching for the soldiers once more. Buffy just hoped that they would see anything like what they'd seen the night before. She'd been looking for Oz all day but with no luck. Either he was avoiding her or something had happened to him. Either way she was finding it increasingly difficult to spend any length of time with Willow without wanting to tell her everything. The sooner this got sorted out the better.

"You're quiet tonight." Spike observed as they walked. "Everything ok?"

"How can you ask me that?" Buffy asked incredulously. "I more or less saw my best friend's boyfriend cheating on her last night and you're asking me if everything is ok?"

Spike smiled. "Relax, I have a feeling it'll sort itself out."

There was something about the way he spoke which seemed to reassure her. "Do you know something I don't?"

"I might."

She couldn't help but smile as Spike's eyes twinkled. "So are you going to tell me or do I have to beat it out of you?"

Spike grinned. "I'd like to see you try."

As Buffy raised her fists Spike stepped back and raised his hands in surrender. "Ok, ok. Wolf-boy came by today, looking for you. We had a little chat."

Buffy stopped and looked at him. "And?"

He turned back so that he was facing her. "I told him to go and talk to Red. I think they'll be able to sort themselves out."

Buffy was stunned. "Are you saying that you gave Oz advice, and helped him sort out his feelings for Willow. You actually helped someone, without getting anything in return?"

If anything Spike actually looked offended. "Don't sound so surprised, I have been known to do stuff like this before."

Buffy stared at him again. With every moment that passed she felt like she was getting to know a totally different person. And if she was honest she was starting to like this new version of Spike she was seeing.

"You never help me for nothing." She grumbled as they resumed walking.

However, before Spike could reply they suddenly found themselves surrounded by six or seven of the soldiers they had been looking for. Buffy immediately stepped in front of Spike to avoid any recapture attempts.

"Hi." She began, looking around the group. "I'm not sure which one of you is the leader but we've been looking for you. My name is-·

"Shut up, demon scum." One of them snapped, raising his weapon and pointing it at her.

"Wait!" Buffy tried to protest. "I'm here to-"

He fired, sending two electric wires shooting into her chest. With a faint cry Buffy pitched forward and was caught by Spike who quickly pulled the wires from her.

"You're really going to wish you hadn't done that." He growled, kicking the weapon out of the soldier's hand before he had the chance to reload.

Unfortunately this presented a difficult situation. He probably would have been able to fight them if he hadn't been holding on to Buffy and there was no way he was going to put her down in case they grabbed her. He quickly lifted her over his shoulder, freeing up one of his arms for fighting. He just hoped it would be enough.

At the sound of something behind him he quickly spun around, kicking one of them in the head and knocking him out cold. Spike had sense enough to know when he was in a fight he couldn't win and this was definitely the case here. All he could do was try and clear enough of them so that he could get away with Buffy.

He managed to knock out another two of them, leaving four or five left. Buffy's weight wasn't helping matters and Spike found himself growing tired. He got ready to take on another of the soldiers when a low howl resounded through the clearing. Spike and the soldiers all froze, looking around for the source of the noise.

The next thing Spike knew one of the men was on the ground a large wolf tearing at his throat. He recognised it as the female from the night before. The other men were panicking, trying to get her off their comrade but as soon as she was finished with one she moved on to the next until they all lay dead. Finally she turned her attention to Spike who had stood still throughout the attack.

He knew that running was useless, however fast he moved the wolf would catch him easily. She growled and lowered herself ready to pounce.

"I'm sorry." He whispered to Buffy, closing his eyes as he waited for it to be over. He heard a snarl and a scrabbling sound and opened his eyes. The female wolf was now busy fending off another wolf, Oz and it was clear that this time the wolves were fighting. The two of them were growling, biting, scratching and generally doing as much damage as they could to each other.

Despite what Oz had said about Veruca having been a werewolf a lot longer than he had, he seemed to be gaining the upper hand. Finally he pounced on Veruca, savaging her body and finally ripping her throat out.

Spike slumped in relief. Finally something was going right.

Or so he thought

With a low growl Oz turned to face them, his posture matching Veruca's as she'd been ready to pounce on them.

"Bloody hell!" Spike growled to himself. "Will someone please give me a break"

"OZ!" A voice yelled and Spike turned to see Willow running into the clearing, armed with what looked like a tranquilliser gun. As soon as she saw the wolf she pointed the gun and fired. With a yelp Oz slumped to the ground and was still.

"Are you ok?" Willow panted as she ran over to Spike. "I got here as fast as.... Oh my God! Buffy?"

"She's fine." Spike reassured, lowering her from his shoulder and cradling her in his arms so that Willow could see for herself. "She got zapped by one of those guys but she'll be ok once she's rested up."

Willow nodded and seemed to take in the scene of carnage for the first time. "What happened? You didn't do this, did you?"

Spike shook his head. "Unfortunately not. She-Wolf there beat me to it."

Willow glanced at Veruca's mauled body and nodded. "Oz and I were talking when she showed up. She told him that I was holding him back, that I wasn't letting him unleash his full potential and that Oz would never be a proper wolf while I was alive. Then the sun set and she tried to attack me. Oz chased her away and I followed them."

Spike nodded, just grateful that she had shown up when she had. "What are you going to do with him now? I should take Buffy home."

Willow slung the gun over her shoulder and moved over to Oz. "His cage is in a crypt nearby. I'll drag him there and wait for the sunrise. We need to talk."

Spike glanced at the wolf and then back at Willow. "He saved us Red, just remember that before you make any rash decisions."

Willow smiled and stroked Oz's coat. "I think we'll be ok. He explained what had happened before Veruca showed up. I think we can make this work."

At least something good had come from all this, Spike mused as he left Willow to it and made his way back into town, Buffy still nestled in his arms.

* * *

Giles was asleep by the time Spike made it back. He set Buffy down on the couch and knelt down beside her. Her eyes were open, but the fear in them was evident and there were tear tracks on her cheeks.

"Hey, don't worry, pet. It'll wear off soon." He gently brushed her hair out of her eyes, knowing how scared she must feel being totally helpless like this. It was something that didn't happen to slayers very often.

He suddenly felt the urge to comfort her in any way he could. Leaning in he brushed a gentle kiss over her lips.

When he pulled back he saw that her eyes were wide and she was staring at him in shock.

"Bloody hell, I shouldn't have done that."

Climbing to his feet he moved onto one of the chairs and sat down, making sure he didn't look at her. He felt like a total idiot. She was probably going to stake him when she could move again.

As the sun rose the exertion of the fight finally caught up with Spike and he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Spike? Wake up!"

As Spike came awake he was aware that someone was shaking him and calling his name. He wasn't sure what time it was but he was pretty sure it was nowhere near sunset yet.

"I'm sleeping." He murmured, hoping they'd go away.

"Spike if you don't wake up now I'm going to seriously kick your ass."

Buffy. It couldn't be anyone else.

Opening his eyes he saw her stood over him looking down. Well, it seems she had her strength back.

"Can't you let a vamp nap in peace?" He asked, standing up and stretching.

Her expression didn't change. "We need to talk."

"Fire away. I'm all ears."

Buffy nodded and took a step back. "Ok, while you were asleep Willow called. She and Oz wanted to thank you for the advice you gave them. It seems that they're still together and intend on staying that way."

Spike smiled. This wasn't so bad. "Glad I could help. Now can I go back to sleep?"

"No." Buffy replied. "There's something else. Why did you kiss me?"

Spike shrugged. "Because I felt like it."

Buffy put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "That's your answer? Because you felt like it?"

"What do you want me to say?" He asked. "That I've been attracted to you since I first saw you? That since I left town I haven't been able to stop thinking about you? That ever since you saved me the other night I've been dying for you to kiss me?"

Buffy stared as Spike went through his tirade. Not expecting him to say any of the things that were coming out of his mouth.

"Stop!" She finally said, grabbing hold of his arm to stop him pacing. "Is all of that true?"

"Does it matter?" He asked, pulling away from her and lowering his head. Unable to meet her eyes.

Buffy cupped his chin and raised his head. "It matters to me."

"Fine." He sighed. "It's true."

She tried hard to prevent the smile curling up on her lips. "You've really been wanting me to kiss you?"

Now he was getting embarrassed. "I said 'yes'."

Placing one hand on each side of his face she pulled his head down and kissed him.

Stunned, Spike froze for a moment before kissing her back, melting into her as he did. Finally they parted as Buffy came up for air.

"Thank you for saving me" She whispered, brushing her hand over his cheek

Spike smiled. "Well, I figured I owed you one for saving me."

The two of them moved over to the couch and sat down.

"I don't know about you." Spike yawned. "But I could use a nap."

Buffy nodded, snuggling down with him. "Just a little one."

* * *

Giles yawned as he padded down the stairs, hoping Spike hadn't made too much of a mess during the night. Wandering into the living room he froze at the sight of his Slayer curled up in the arms of the vampire who until a few days ago had been her enemy.

Without saying a word he wandered into the kitchen.

"Is it too early for scotch?" He asked himself.

The End