The cave was dark, cool, and eerily silent. Crude drawings depicting various scenes of torture adorned the stone walls. The demon presence that resided there had retreated three days previously. The only current inhabitant lay in an unmoving heap on the floor. He appeared to be completely lifeless, with only an occasional hitch of his pale shoulders giving away his undead status. His face was filthy with dirt concentrated in the places where tears had streamed down his face. Remnants of large burns and bruises that had covered much of his body just a few days ago still remained, mostly healed.

There was no healing for his gaping emotional wounds.

So drained was he, mentally and physically, that he did not even attempt to look up as a shadow crossed in front of the cave entrance, blocking the small arch of sunlight there. He didn't care who approached. If death loomed, he would welcome the comfort it would provide his aching psyche.

It took a moment for Cordelia's eyes to adjust to the dimness of the cave after walking in the bright African sunlight. It was so hot here. She missed LA, but knew that she had matters to attend to that took precedence over her personal comfort. Besides, she was actually looking forward to this particular assignment. The Powers had instructed her to go and assist a vampire with a soul. There was nothing she wanted to do more. She just didn't understand what she was doing here in Africa. How had he gotten here from LA anyway?

As the dark contours and shapes of the cave came into sharper relief, she was able to pick out the shirtless and barefoot figure slumped on the floor. She moved closer and took in the shockingly white hair.

"Spike?"

"Uhhh." He groaned.

"Spike, what are you doing here? I was sent here to help. I was hoping for Angel."

Spike weakly flopped over onto his back, his eyes still closed. "Yeah." His voice was barely a whisper. "I get that a lot."

"I was told to come to the vampire with a soul who was here. You have a soul?" She was incredulous. "What, they're just giving them away now?"

Her chattering was making his head hurt, adding to the discomfort that plagued the rest of his body. "Not quite." He groaned, then pried his eyes open to look at her as he attempted to sit. "Why are you here?"

"I work for The Powers That Be. I go where they send me."

"And why did they send you here?" He was finally able to pull to a sitting position.

"I have to wait until they tell me that. Be quiet."

Spike shook his head "Like I'm the one jabbering on."

"Shh! What?"

"I didn't say."

"Shh!" she waved her hand at him. "Tell me again." Cordelia was looking toward the ceiling, obviously addressing someone he couldn't see. "Him? Why?"

There was another long pause while Cordelia listened to a voice Spike couldn't hear, then "All right. Come here."

When Spike didn't move Cordelia sighed and spoke slowly. "Spike. Come here."

"Oh, so you're talkin' to me now?"

"I see that soul has done nothing for your attitude. You're still a big pain in the ass."

He staggered to his feet and stood before her. "Yeah, that's right funny comin'."

"Shh! Stand still." She placed her hands on his head. It was engulfed with a glowing blue light.

"OW! What was that?"

"That chip won't hurt you now."

Spike backed away, angry. "I didn't come here for the bleedin' chip!"

"No. You asked for a favor from The Powers. You can't be much help if you can't defend yourself. They want me to fix you."

"Fix me"?!

"Shh!" Cordelia was looking into the air again. "Are you sure?"

"'Bout what?"

"Shh! Stand still."

Spike threw his head back in frustration and rolled his eyes, then stood straight as instructed by the former Sunnydale cheerleader. Some cracked sense of humor these bloody 'Powers' had. Cordelia took his hands in hers and laced their fingers together. Blue light exploded all around her and traveled to him, up his arms, over his shoulders and head, soon encompassing all of him. His mouth opened in a gasp as the light was absorbed into his skin.

Cordelia dropped his hands and stepped away. "There. You're done." She looked up. "He's done."

"What did you do to me?" His face showed his confusion.

"I don't know."

"What?"

"Look, I just do what they tell me to. It really doesn't help to ask questions."

"What do they want from me?"

She sighed and shook her head at him. "Haven't you been listening?"

"Great!" His hands dropped to slap his thighs. "I'm stuck here in a cave with Queen Rah-Rah going all glowy on me, and no one has a clue."

"Well, that's gratitude for you!"

"Now look here Missy."

"Shh!"

"Here we go again."

"Shh! Oh no!" Cordelia turned to Spike, her features clouded with concern. "You're coming with me."

"Can't." He motioned outside. "Daylight."

"Have you always been this obstinate?"

"Fine! I don't suppose you brought an ashtray?"

She didn't answer him, but instead hurried outside. When he didn't follow she turned to him impatiently. He shrugged his shoulders as he realized he had been wishing for death anyway. He took a deep breath and stepped out into the light.

Nothing happened. Spike's eyes were stunned as he looked at his sunlit skin, then at Cordelia. "What did you do to me?"

"You're complaining?"

Spike held out his arms, feeling the warmth on his bare flesh. "What am I?"

She shook her head. "Like I know? I don't even know what I am." She held out her hand to him. "Come on. We've got to get you something to eat. You're going to need your strength for our next stop. I saw this thing on Survivor that the Africans do with cows."

"Then where are we going?"

"They're teleporting us to Angel. He's in trouble."

"What do we have to do?"

"First tell me how well you swim."

~*~*~*~

Buffy and Dawn walked in the front door of their house in the wee hours of the morning. They were tired, but exhilarated from a successful night of patrolling.

"It was just so cool when we dusted those vamps back to back at the same instant. POOF! Double combustion!" Dawn was giddy. She loved slaying.

Buffy smiled indulgently. Through Dawn she was rediscovering her own enjoyment for fighting evil in its various forms. "We did four tonight. Not bad." She wrinkled her nose. "Though that is quite a lot for the summer. It's usually slim pickings this time of year."

"That cemetery has been busy all summer."

"I know." Buffy acknowledged, instantly serious.

Dawn noticed the mood change and patted her older sister on the shoulder. "Do you think it's because he's gone?"

Buffy walked over to her weapons chest without answering and began dropping stakes into it. It always amazed Dawn how many tools of the trade she could conceal on her petite frame. Dawn counted six stakes and four bottles of holy water.

"When did you start carrying the sizzle juice?"

"When you started tagging along." Buffy turned to her sister. "If you get into trouble and I'm not close enough, I can fire off one of these to slow down the bumpy guys."

"Oh." The girls exchanged a meaningful look. "Well, here." Dawn handed over her crossbow and a handful of arrows. Buffy placed them in the chest and closed the lid.

"Buffy.?"

"Let's go talk in the kitchen. I'm starving."

"Me too." Dawn smiled and followed her.

Twenty minutes later the girls had demolished the extra large pizza they had ordered earlier in the evening, and were halfway through a boxed cheese cake.

"Dawn, you know." Buffy mumbled between swallows, "this is our last night of doing this together for a while."

"Why?" The dreaded little sister whine had crept into her voice.

"School is starting again in a week, and you can't keep your grades up and still go out on all night patrols with me."

"How about mini-patrols?"

Buffy considered this for a minute. "OK, but only if you get your homework done first."

Dawn jumped down from her stool, happy. "Great!" Her mouth gaped in a huge yawn. "Well, I'm off to brush my teeth and hit the sack. Good night Buffy."

"Night." Buffy smiled genuinely as Dawn left the kitchen. She took a few minutes to tidy up the remnants of their binge before moving back out to the living room. She was still too wired up to go to sleep, and there were some other things on her mind as well.

The summer had been good for both of them. It was just the two girls in the house now and they had grown very close. They both missed Tara, and Willow too. Willow was spending time with the coven of witches in Devon, trying to put her life back together. She called often, but still had a long way to go in her recovery. Buffy had spent the summer teaching Dawn as much as she could about life and about slaying. The lessons often went hand in hand.

Buffy moved restlessly about the room, absently wiping dust from a shelf here, straightening a curtain there, fiddling with things that were fine as they were. If Buffy were honest with herself, and she was making a concentrated effort to do just that, she had to admit that she missed Spike too. She had been busy enough through the season to not let her thoughts dwell on him too much, but Dawn had stirred them up with her comment earlier. And Dawn had been correct. Ever since Spike had left town the vampiric activity had increased, particularly in his cemetery where they had patrolled tonight.

She slowly walked up the stairs and into her room, where she changed into her pajamas. They were blue satin with little yellow ducks. She always found comfort in her PJ's. She sat thoughtfully on the edge of her bed before moving to her closet to open the door. She reached in to touch the sleeve of the long black coat hanging at the far end. She rubbed the worn leather between her fingers and inhaled the scent of stale tobacco smoke. She didn't know where he had gone, or if he would ever return. She wasn't even sure if she ever wanted to see him again.

The last time she had ventured inside his crypt, she had found it stripped of all his belongings. Clem had moved out and had no information except to say that he had received a letter from LA with no return address telling him to box up the personal items for storage and to discard the rest. She was torn between relief that she didn't have to deal with him and what he had done to her, and disappointment that he had left her like every other man in her life.

With a sigh she pushed the coat back into place and closed the door, then turned off her light and went to bed.

~*~*~*~

Clem was sitting at the outdoor demon café reading the comic section of the Sunnydale Herald and munching on nachos. An unexpected hand touched his shoulder and he started violently, knocking his chips and cheese all over the table. He stood and spun around to confront his attacker. His snarl was replaced with a fangy grin as he recognized his old friend.

"Spike! When did you get back into town?" He reached out to pat the vampire on the shoulder.

Spike was carrying a large box, which he sat on the ground. "Last night." He spun a chair around and straddled it as he sat down, folding his arms across the wrought iron back. He looked around. "This place new?"

"Pretty new." Clem nodded, his ears flopping with the motion. "Food's better than Willy's."

Clem glanced around again, then scratched his head. "Hey! Isn't it daytime?"

Spike rolled his eyes upward, then glanced a little to the right and a little to the left. "Yep."

"How come you're not." He flicked his clawed hands open. ".Poof?"

Spike smirked, and then reached out to snag a cheese covered chip off the table. "I seem to be immune." He popped the chip into his mouth and crunched noisily. "They got any tobasco sauce?"

"I think so." Clem motioned for a waitress. She had tentacles. "So, Spike, tell me what you've been up to."

Spike grimaced. "First of all, just make it William." He nodded to the waitress. "Another order of these please, and a bottle of the hot stuff." She shuffled off and he turned back to Clem.

"Spent most of the summer in LA, adjusting to my new. self."

"You went to that African shaman I told you about?" William nodded. "What did he do?"

"Ran me through a bunch of tests, nearly ended me, then gave me what I wanted."

"Wow! I thought he only dealt in resurrections and souls."

"That's right."

"Then what's with the.?" Clem waved his hand around, indicating the daylight.

"Not sure about that one mate. While the gifts were being handed out, it seems I merited a few extras." He glanced up at the waitress as she brought his order and took the five he handed her. She slithered away again. "I haven't seen a Scyllian around here in years." he noted to Clem.

"There seem to be a lot of new demons popping up lately. And you know, lots more vampires around since you left."

"It's why I'm back."

"I thought maybe you and the Slayer."

"No." William cut him off. "I'm here to help her, but I won't be muckin' up her life."

"What are you going to do?"

"Got me a new job. He leaned over to open the box, then reached in and pulled out a small black mask. "Gonna earn a livin' by day and fight the good fight by night." He raised his brows and nodded.

Clem just flapped his ears again. "The things we do for women! Hey, I like what you've done with your hair."

~*~*~*~

Dawn and her friend Janice walked up the steps outside the Sunnydale high school. They were studying nearly identical pieces of paper. "So you have Math first on Tuesday, then English right after lunch with me today? Cool!" Dawn was relieved to know her best friend was in at least 2 classes with her.

"Have you heard anything about the new teachers?" Janice wanted to know.

"The science teacher is a real dweeb. Kristin saw him setting up the lab. No telling where they found him. I heard the PE teacher is from Sacramento. Nothing yet on the new English teacher."

"I heard he's a dreamboat." The girls turned to find Chelsea West standing behind them. Chelsea flipped her streaked blond hair over her shoulder, then pulled out a mirror to check her lipstick. "I wonder how long this new batch will last?"

Sunnydale went through an inordinate number of teachers each year. Last year had been no exception. "Don't know." Dawn shrugged her shoulders. "Why are you talking to us anyway? Aren't we a little under your league?"

Chelsea snapped her mirror shut and favored Dawn with a pseudo-smile. "Nobody else around. Might as well talk to you."

"Thanks ever so." Janice sneered out before turning to walk away.

"Catch you later." Dawn waved, then hurried to catch up with her friend. "Hey, that was pretty rude."

Janice shook her head. "I've been on the wrong side of her vicious streak too many times to play nice." She was interrupted by the school bell. "Time to go. I'll see you at lunch."

Dawn waved goodbye and walked to her homeroom.

*****

Dawn and Janice walked into English class, more interested in the two boys in front of them than in their upcoming class. So far the day had gone pretty smoothly for Dawn, and the girls were sharing stories of whom said what to who, and what were they thinking when they wore that anyway? Everything was normal. Janice sat at a desk by the window, with Dawn taking the seat in front of her. She checked around to see who else was in the class, and to take note of the drama masks mounted on the wall. She returned her attention to Janice to get her opinions.

The student chatter muted considerably as the teacher entered the room and walked to the board. Dawn turned to the front as she heard the squeak from the dry erase marker slide across the glossy white surface as the teacher wrote his name on the board with his left hand. Dawn looked curiously at him. He was slight with sandy blond hair, wearing a pale blue shirt and khaki slacks. She turned to whisper to Janice that he had a cute butt, but froze in place when she heard familiar British tones. "Welcome to Sophomore English."

Dawn's shocked gaze was riveted to him as he turned to face the room. Her ears hadn't deceived her. Spike was standing at the front facing the class. His accent was more clipped and proper than what he normally spoke with. "I'm Mr. Browning." He continued. "I'm your new teacher."

*****

"Buffy, I'm not kidding you!"

Dawn was sitting across from the table from Buffy in the meeting room of the Doublemeat Palace. Buffy shook her head, sure that her sister was trying to pull a fast one. "So help me God, Dawn, if you made this up so that I'd let you get away with cutting classes on the first day of school, I'll drop you in the grinder."

"I'm not making it up. Spike is my new English teacher."

Now there was a phrase Buffy thought she would never hear. She shook her head again, this time to clear her ears. "How could he be Dawn? He's a vampire for pity's sake! And vampires do not teach English."

"I don't know Buffy. All I know is that it was him. He was standing there in my class sounding all British and proper, but he was wearing, like, normal clothes. And I'd swear he has a tan."

"What would Spike know about teaching English?"

"Quite a bit, actually! You should have seen him. He started reading Shakespeare and I thought Missy Matthews was going to have kittens. She actually moaned!"

"Oh my god."

"I tried to get up there and talk to him at the end of class, but he was swarmed. Once the crowd thinned out he was gone. I ran all over the school looking for him but I couldn't find anything. The new principal was no help either. He said that us pesky girls had been in there all day asking him about Mr. Browning and he was tired of it." Dawn folded her arms and sulked.

"Dawn," Buffy leaned forward and touched her sister's forearms. "You must understand why I'm having a little bit of trouble accepting this."

"I know Buffy, but you've got to believe me. It's him."

The Slayer sounded grim. "Then it looks like I'm going to have a talk with your new teacher."

~*~*~*~

The next morning the Sunnydale High hall monitor was amazed to see Dawn Summers arrive an hour early for school. This was something that had never happened before. She was accompanied by her older sister, who was also never known for her punctuality. The stout matron stepped in front of the two girls to block their entry. "Where do you two think you're going?"

Buffy raised her chin in the air. "I need to speak with the principal about... about Dawn ducking out of her last class yesterday." Buffy lied through her teeth.

"Try again." the monitor was unimpressed. She'd seen everything in her twenty-three years of patrolling school halls. This slip of a girl was not getting past her. "You can wait outside until he arrives, then we'll see if you have an appointment."

Buffy knew when to retreat. "Come on Dawn." She led the younger girl back outside. "I never could put one over on Mad Martha back when she stalked the halls of the old high school. We will just go on to plan B."

"You're going to sneak in through the gymnasium window?"

"Exactly."

"Can I come along?"

"NO! I want you in your classes where you're supposed to be." She waved her forefinger under Dawn's nose. "No more cutting."

"Yes, Ma'am."

She gave Dawn a hug. "I'll let you know what I find out."

"'Kay."

Buffy jogged around to the back of the building, grabbed a rock and selected her target. Smash! Slayer aim was a wondrous thing. She backed up a few steps, then ran and jumped up onto the ledge under the row of windows. She reached into the fist-sized hole and unhooked the latch, then opened the window and slipped in, pausing to re-latch it behind her.

She was startled to hear an alarm. The old school building never had an alarm! Quickly she looked for a place to hide.

The gymnasium doors burst open and two security guards ran in looking frantically around. The searched all around the empty room then stopped by the broken window.

"Just some punk breaking glass again." Guard number one told his partner. "We'll have maintenance clean this up and cover the hole." He tossed the rock in the air and caught it again in his palm. "I'll just add this to our collection."

The men left. A ceiling tile was lifted and Buffy swung out to grab the rope suspended from a bar a few feet down. She slid down to the floor, wiped her palms on the sides of her jeans, then ran silently to the doors and slipped into the hall.

She had spent most of the previous evening and night looking for Spike. She had gone by his crypt. There had been no sign of him, but she had put quite a scare into the three vamps who had moved in. Of course, she had dusted them before checking around for clues to his whereabouts. Ultimately, she had found nothing.

It seemed that none of the vampires or demons she had encountered had seen him. Clem was nowhere to be found either. Now she was stuck with sneaking into the school and camping out in his classroom until he decided to show. Naturally, when she reached the room, the door was locked. "Looks like more destruction of school property for the former juvenile delinquent." Buffy muttered to herself, before wrenching the knob sharply to the right and tearing it out of the metal door. "Hmm." She held it up and admired it. "Pretty." She let herself into the room.

*****

Fifteen minutes later William paused beside his vandalized classroom door. Buffy. He would have known she was here even without the evidence of her breaking and entering. He could smell her, and still feel her as well. He would have been surprised if she hadn't shown up. He knew he had avoided seeing her for as long as he could. Steeling himself, he pushed open the door and walked in.

She was sitting on the edge of his desk, her arms and ankles tightly crossed. She wasn't smiling.

"Hello, Buffy." He glanced at her, then away.

"Spike." She noted his cringe, subtle though it was. "I think you owe me an explanation."

His voice was low. "I think I owe you more than that."

"Why did you leave?"

He paused. He didn't look at her. "You know why."

He opened his briefcase and began to unpack his supplies.

"Why did you come back?"

"I came back..." He took a deep breath. "I came back because I had to."

She hopped down and turned to look at him, her hands flat on the desk. "I don't understand. I don't understand anything!"

"Makes two of us."

"Spike!" His half answers were making her angry. His jaw clenched again. She stood upright. "What is it?"

"Just... call me William. Please."

She moved rapidly around the desk and grabbed his arm. "Look at me. Tell me what this is all about."

He did as she ordered. She was dismayed at the emotion she saw in his eyes. There was sorrow and shame and... dignity.

"What happened to you?" She whispered.

"I needed to make a change Buffy, so I did."

"What kind of a change?" She backed away a step, then glanced around the room, noting the way it was filled with sunlight. "Tell me why you're here at this school, and how you can walk around in the daylight, and why you're... different."

A bell rang loudly in the hall. Hundreds of feet could be heard squeaking on the linoleum of the floor.

"Later." He said, then turned to look away from her again. "I'll tell you about it later."

"When?"

"After school." He lifted his eyes upward and shook his head uncertainly. "Four o'clock."

"Fine. Come to the Magic Box." She turned and walked out.

~*~*~*~

The work on restoring the Magic Box had progressed steadily all summer. Anya was preparing for the Grand Re-opening next month. The spirit inside was upbeat as Buffy entered the remodeled shop. Giles had stayed in Sunnydale to help everyone recover from the disasters caused by Black Willow - and was presently opening cartons of new merchandise that Anya was placing on shelves and tables. The smell of sawdust and fresh wood permeated the little store with a cheery sense of renewal. Buffy's dark mood was further highlighted by the contrast.

"Buffy." Giles straightened from his task. He put his hands on the back of his waist and grimaced. "I hadn't expected you yet. Weren't you scheduled to work today?"

"Something came up." She looked around distractedly. "Where's Xander?"

"He's in the back." Anya motioned over her shoulder with her thumb. "He's putting built-in shelves to camouflage the Willow shaped hole."

"Oh." Buffy's gaze turned inquiringly to Giles.

"What is it?"

"Can we. talk? I mean I need you get your input on something and it's sort of." she glanced at Anya, ".personal."

Anya's eyes brightened and she looked from Buffy to Giles and back to Buffy again. "I can keep working with the herbs back here, with the pretense of not listening."

Giles turned his head to her with a soft grin. "That's very thoughtful of you. However, I believe we can retire to the upper level and save you the effort."

Anya shrugged, then returned to her shelf stocking and labeling.

"Would this have anything to do with the increased demonic activity of late?" Giles inquired as he and Buffy ascended the new staircase.

"No. It has nothing to do with demons, not the new demons anyway. I mean, I'm not sure why there are so many new demons, and we probably do need to talk about that, but this is an old demon."

Xander turned on the table saw in the back room. The scream of the blade against wood filled the small store.

Giles leaned forward "What are you getting at Buffy?"

"What?"

Giles raised his voice to be heard over the loud mechanical whirring. "I don't understand you."

"I can't hear you either!" Buffy yelled back.

"Not 'hear'" Giles clarified. "Understand. What are you talking about?"

Buffy lowered her voice and leaned in to Giles' ear "I'm talking about Spike."

Giles shook his head. "The town is on strike?" He yelled back.

"Yes!" Buffy nodded. "He's back in town."

"I don't understand Buffy! You're going to have to speak up."

"Spike is back in town!" Buffy yelled, just as the noise downstairs stopped.

There was a loud 'clang' from the back room. "OW!" Xander screamed, and let loose with a very creative string of words.

"Do you think he's swearing because of the news about Spike, or because of the sledge hammer he just dropped on his foot?" Anya called up to them.

"Both!" Xander squeaked as he limped into the shop. "God that hurts!" he whimpered as he lowered himself into a chair.

Buffy ran back down the stairs followed by Giles. She grabbed another chair for Xander's foot. "Anya, do you have any ice?"

Anya shrugged her shoulders. "No." She said, then went back to what she had been doing.

"Buffy," Xander gasped. "Please tell me you didn't say."

"I'll second that." Giles chimed in.

"Look," Buffy pulled up another chair. "I didn't want a big scene. Let's just all calm down."

"Of course, because we all should be warm and fuzzy about the return of the guy who tried to rape you." Xander spat out.

"Xander.!"

"Fine, fine." He threw his hands up. "So where is Mr. Soon To Be Dust? Were you out for another daytime visit to his crypt again?"

"Where did you leave that sledgehammer?" Buffy asked sweetly.

"It's on the floor by the very noisy wood cutting machine. I can get it for you." Anya offered helpfully.

"That's quite all right, Anya." Giles assured her. "We can discuss this like adults." He looked from Buffy to Xander. "Can't we?"

Buffy crossed her arms as Xander nodded reluctantly.

Giles removed his glasses and wiped them. "Now Buffy, you've stated that Spike's returned. What are the circumstances?"

"I'm not sure when and how he came back." She answered Giles, but her eyes were on Xander. "But he is different."

"Fine." Xander spat out. "I guess we can give him carte blanche back into our little gang then."

"Xander will you just shut up and let me talk?" She smacked his leg, jarring his foot.

"Owwww!"

"Sorry."

Giles was rubbing his forehead. "Children, please." He turned to Xander. "Buffy wished to discuss this privately with me, and I can understand why. If you want to be included I suggest you stop whatever bellyaching it is you intend to keep doing or I will be forced to leave you alone here with Anya."

Both Xander and Anya scowled at the thought. "Fine." Xander finally agreed. "You won't even know I'm here. Do you mind if I take off my shoe?"

"If you must." Giles spared him an irritated glance then moved a few steps away. He took a deep breath. "Now Buffy, please continue."

"Spike is back." Buffy paused, then looked at Giles to gauge his reaction. "He's the new Sunnydale High English teacher."

Giles stared at her. He blinked once, twice, three times. "Perhaps my ears are still ringing. I thought you said..."

"English teacher?" Xander asked.

"Yes." Giles turned to him. "So you heard it too?"

"Listen to me!" Buffy pled. "Dawn told me and I couldn't believe it either. I was at the school this morning. It's true." Seeing the skepticism on both faces she continued. "We talked. It's Spike, except it's not."

"That certainly clarifies things!" Anya called over.

"Please." Buffy's teeth were beginning to ache. "Giles, listen. He doesn't want to be called Spike. He insisted on William. And when I looked at him... really looked at him, it was like..." She shook her head.

"Nausea?" Xander offered, peeling off his sock.

Buffy favored him with another patented Slayer glare before turning to look at Giles again. "It was like... Angel."

Giles took a deep breath, then shook his head. "I'm trying to understand Buffy, really, but if what you are saying is true, Spike would have to be able to move around freely in the day time. The Gem of Amara has been destroyed. It simply isn't possible."

"Right then." They all froze at his voice, then turned to the doorway. "I can't be standin' here without smolderin' like a charcoal briquette, and you Watcher..." He strolled in and inclined his head toward Giles, "still do a bloody poor job of watching your own back."

Buffy and Giles turned to look at him, Xander struggled to get up, and Anya walked around from behind the counter. They took in the changes in him, from his hair to his clothes to his newly acquired suntan.

"Well, I'm... I'm quite speechless." Giles admitted after a long pause.

"And Spike," Anya interjected. "Where did you get the soul?"

~*~*~*~

"He has a soul?" Dawn was incredulous. "Spike has a freaking soul?"

"Seems so." Buffy distractedly dodged a tombstone.

"How?"

Buffy inhaled deeply through her nose and looked up at the starry night sky. "He went to a shaman in Africa and went through some sort of mystical test. The short story is that he passed and won a soul."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

The girls walked side by side in silence.

"And he can walk around in the daytime?"

Buffy nodded.

"So is he human?"

Buffy stopped and sank down on a concrete bench. "No. He's still a vampire, just with a few added bells and whistles."

"Has he been in Africa all this time?" Dawn sat beside her.

"No." Buffy stared thoughtfully at her feet. "He was in Los Angeles. With Angel."

"No way! They, like, totally hate each other."

"Angel was in trouble. The Powers who gave Spi. William his soul needed his help. I guess Angel wasn't so eager to dust him after he saved his life." She glanced over at Dawn. "They helped each other out."

Dawn laughed. "I just can't see the two of them together all summer. "Do you think they fought over the hair gel?"

Buffy smiled in spite of herself. "Probably that, and a million other things."

Dawn, encouraged, continued. "Like the food. Angel gets so grossed out, and Spike eats like a pig."

"Not to mention all the gunk he likes to mix into his blood."

"Oh!" Dawn squealed. "Can you imagine Angel grabbing the wrong glass and taking a big swig? Wheetabix and Burba weed cocktails!"

"Gross!" The girls said at the same time, laughing.

They were so caught up in their conversation that they hadn't noticed the heavy footfalls of the three approaching demons. Dawn and Buffy were grabbed from behind and hauled off the bench before they knew what was happening. Buffy struggled, but the demon's arms were too strong. She glanced around to see what she was dealing with. It was a Fyarl. This was bad. She continued to thrash in its grasp, trying to find room to wiggle free.

Dawn was in the same predicament, only without the super strength. She kicked her long legs, making contact with the demon's knees, but to no avail. The third demon approached Dawn from the front, his mouth opening as he made a gurgling sound. She screamed.

Startled, the demon holding her loosened his grip and stumbled backward. He growled in surprise. Free, Dawn kicked the demon facing her between the legs. He fell to the ground and a stream of foul smelling mucous covered her feet. She rolled to find her crossbow. "Buffy!" she yelled.

"Dawn, run!" Buffy ordered her.

Dawn found that she couldn't move. The mucous had hardened into a shell, binding her feet together. She continued to roll on the ground to evade the Fyarl following her and managed to get a bolt into her bow. She was grabbed again from behind and this time a big, scaly, clawed hand was clapped over her mouth. She flailed about in earnest, but could not break free. As the third demon again approached her, she heard a dull thud and the demon stopped, wavered, and fell to the ground. There was an axe buried deep in his spine.

William rushed over to pull his weapon free. He spun around "Buffy, duck!"

She lowered her head, and the axe flew through the air, decapitating the demon that held her. She was free. The third demon dropped Dawn and lumbered away, not anxious to face two super-powered beings on its own. Buffy spared a quick glance at her ally. "Check on Dawn!" She ordered, before gathering up the crossbow and giving chase.

William bent to help Dawn free her feet from her ruined tennis shoes. He checked her over from head to foot to ensure that she wasn't injured. They were standing as Buffy returned, the crossbow dangling at her side.

"Blasted arrows bounced right off him."

"Only silver works on them pet, remember?"

They exchanged a look before Buffy glanced uncomfortably away.

"Sorry." He mumbled. ".Habit."

She nodded and turned to Dawn. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah. What were those things?"

"Fyarl Demons." William offered.

"Do you think somebody sent them?" Buffy's mind searched for whom might have organized an attack on them.

"Had to be." He answered. "They don't have the sense to plan something like this on their own. If they were hungry they could have picked easier targets than the Slayer and her little sis."

"That's what I was thinking." She watched as he moved to retrieve his axe.

"Hey, is that."

"Yep. Silver plated blade." He looked at it admiringly. "You never know when that can come in handy."

"I'll have to get one of these." She took it from him and felt the weight in her hands. "It's nice."

"You can use mine whenever you like."

There was another uncomfortable silence.

"Hey, you guys?" Dawn interrupted. "Do you think we ought to go tell Giles about what happened?"

Buffy looked up at her gratefully. "Yes, we should. But first, you need to go home."

"Buffy!" She stamped her stockinged foot.

"School tomorrow. No arguments."

"OK." Dawn reluctantly agreed. "But you're going to have to get me some new shoes. I am so not going to wear those."

*****

The Fyarl Demon thundered through the cemetery and down the embankment toward the river. He lurched along the bank, staying close to the dense foliage. He finally stopped at a large oak tree, bumping around it ungainly until he reached a concealed cavern opening. His large body barely fit through the hole, and he fell to the dirt below with a hard thud. It was pitch black around him.

"You failed." The voice of his master reached to him out of the darkness.

"Strong. Fast." The demon muttered in his guttural language.

"Where are the others?"

"Dead." He grunted.

"How did two little girls armed with wood defeat three of you?" The voice was light and calm.

The Fyarl growled. "Man come. Demon man."

"Ah. So the vampire has returned." The voice had a happy tone. "This will make things easier. All three are here now. It makes up for your failure this evening."

"Hungry. Want food."

"Very well, my friend. I have a tasty morsel for you tied up in the back. Eat her quickly if you please. I don't want her screams to alert the Slayer to our location."

~*~*~*~

"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter - to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . and one fine morning - So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."

The bell rang, signaling the end of the class session. William closed the book in his hand and straightened from where he was leaning against the front of his desk. "You can read this last chapter through on your own tonight. Tomorrow I want a two page paper on the significance of the green light, how it applied to Gatsby, and what it means to you."

The students noisily gathered up their notebooks and made their way to the door. Buffy scooted out of the way to let most of them pass. A few, all female, remained clustered around the desk.

"Mr. Browning!" Missy was talking over the other girls. "I still don't understand why he wasted so much time mooning over the woman who didn't even care enough to go to his funeral. She wasn't even worthy of him."

"Miss Matthews, you have to remember that he was in fact a criminal. His charm and connections didn't change that. Daisy stood to lose everything if she chose to be with him."

He was interrupted to field a few more questions before he put a stop to it by glancing up at Buffy and clearing his throat. "If you young ladies will excuse me, I seem to have a visitor. Come in Miss Summers, please."

The girls left reluctantly, with the exception of Dawn. "Hey Buffy. What's up?"

"Just here for a little conference with your teacher." Buffy kept her tone light.

"I haven't cut a class in two weeks!"

"I know." Buffy patted Dawn's arm. "There's no problem, just something I wanted to ask him about."

Dawn studied her sister suspiciously. "I've got to go anyway. Math." Dawn made a face and left the room, but turned to study the two adults before walking down the hall.

Buffy made sure Dawn was gone before turning to William. "Good classes today?"

"What's the problem?" He began clearing his desk.

"Who said there's a problem?"

"Oh right, you're here because you really care that my classes go well."

She gave him a little smile. "Well, I have to admit it's pretty interesting seeing you work... in a surreal kind of way. You sound kind of like Giles."

He nodded then turned to erase the board.

"So how come you know how to teach?"

"Because I'm a teacher."

"Again with the half answers!" Exasperation was entering her voice. "Come on. I know you're pretending to be a teacher, but how do you know what to do?"

He dropped the eraser onto its tray and turned to face her. "I wasn't always a monster, you know. Before I was turned I did have a life."

"Oh." She bit her lip. "So when you were human...?"

"I was a teacher at a boy's school in London. I specialized in literature and composition."

"You were a writer?"

"Of sorts." He walked away to straighten some desks. "Now, you going to tell me why you're here?"

Buffy sighed and crossed her arms. "Just trying to make with the small talk here." He turned and arched a brow at her. "Fine. Giles was wondering if you were going to stop by the shop tonight. Since I had a few hours before my shift I volunteered to come over here and ask. Good enough?"

"What's going on?"

"I'm not sure. He was muttering about portents and strange disappearances, like that never happens in Sunnydale."

William nodded seriously and looked away from her.

"What is it?" She was mystified by his dark mood.

"It's just... these kids." He gestured to the empty desks. "I've had three disappear since the beginning of school."

"That's nothing different on the Hellmouth. When I was in tenth grade..."

"It is different!" He cut her off angrily. "These are my students. These are kids with lives and futures. Everybody in this bloody town pretends like it's nothing when one day they're gone." He sat heavily in his chair. "I was responsible for some of the missing kids when you were in school. They were food to me. Nothing more, and sometimes less." He looked up at her, hoping to make her understand. "Sometimes I killed them just because they were in the way."

"I know." She said softly.

He looked down at his hands. "I reveled in it." He shook his head. "There was one yesterday." He pointed to a desk in the second row. "She sat over there. Sweet kid. Wrote an essay about how she wanted to be a stewardess because she thought flying all the time for free would be fun. Her parents came in today to clear out her locker." He looked up at Buffy and tilted his head. "How many parents do you suppose I sent to this school to clean out a locker?"

She had no answer for him. The silence hung between them for a long time.

Finally he picked up his case. "Well then," he sighed. "This is getting us nowhere. Let's say we go off to the Magic Box, then see if we can't bugger up the next apocalypse."

Buffy nodded her agreement, and they walked out the door.

~*~*~*~

"Anya, please do stop hovering!" Giles was elbow deep in reference books at the study table. Anya had been poking around for the last half-hour, sometimes flipping through a book and other times rubbing at some imaginary dust. Currently she was perched behind the Watcher, reading over his shoulder.

"Am I bothering you?"

Giles removed his glasses and leaned back in his chair. He rubbed his face with both hands. "This is very difficult." He sighed. "I'm looking for obscure references relating to calendar dates and astronomical alignments." He closed his book with another sigh. "And I'm not finding anything."

"Well you know." Anya moved to sit beside him. "It's hardly unusual for us to have demons and strange disturbances around here. The last time we had to save the world it was just Willow having a bad skin day."

"Anya. Haven't you heard anything through the, er, demon pipeline?"

She shook her head. "No, but they're unhappy with me. I'm under my quota." She laced her fingers together and sat them on the table. "Actually, I've only granted one wish all summer, and that one didn't go well."

"How so?"

"Well, every time a girl starts in about how mad she is because her boyfriend did something awful, I kind of." Anya paused and looked around, embarrassed. "I kind of start talking about myself. and Xander. then the whole wedding disaster comes up." She broke off and looked up at Giles. "Finally, this girl wished that I would just shut up."

Giles tried to choke back his laughter. "I can't honestly say I haven't had the same desire from time to time!" At her hurt look, he stifled his chuckles. "So tell me, did you curse yourself?"

"I had to!" Giles burst out laughing this time. Anya continued, "Then I teleported to D'Hoffryn, because he's the only one who could undo the curse. Normally," she clarified "I could undo my own, but since it was on me it got a bit. sticky."

"How did you.?"

"Actually I couldn't tell him since, you know, I couldn't talk. I tried pointing at my mouth and stamping my feet. I even tried drawing it, but he didn't understand."

"But."

"It turns out that he knew what had happened all along. We're monitored you know, like e-mail at work. He was just messing with me."

After Giles finished laughing, he replaced his glasses and leaned toward her. "Anya, in all seriousness, have you considered giving up your. calling?"

A sad look crossed her face. "I can't." She shook her head slowly. "Only D'Hoffryn can break the contract once I've accepted his offer."

"Have you asked him to let you out?" She looked at him and silently nodded her head. "I see."

The bell on the door rang, announcing the arrival of Buffy and William. Anya rose uncomfortably and retreated to the sanctuary of her counter. Giles glanced at her quizzically before turning his attention to the others. He stood. "William, I'm glad you could make it."

Since the vampire's return the two men had developed a very friendly relationship. They often played chess and engaged in philosophical conversations that Buffy had difficulty following. Who knew that Spike was smart? He had certainly done his best to conceal it with his bluster and bravado and big bad persona. His new soul seemed to counteract his need to misrepresent himself. The changes in him were fascinating, and Buffy kept discovering new aspects of his personality. Giles and William were in deep discussion already. Buffy was shaken from her musings when she heard Giles mention patrolling.

"Who's patrolling?"

"I've asked William here to check out the area by the river tonight. It seems that quite a few of the, um, the bodies have surfaced there. It's certainly suspicious."

"Well I can patrol!"

William fixed her with a gaze. "Didn't you say you had a shift tonight?"

She waved off the thought. "I'll just call in."

"Buffy," Giles interjected. "I really don't think you need to change your plans."

"Nonsense. If there is patrolling to do, I'm your girl. Besides, we only come across a possible apocalypse, what, maybe once or twice a year. I'm in." She strode over to the phone and punched in the number for the Doublemeat Palace.

William turned to Giles. "Tell me again about some of these portents. I'm only aware of the increased demon activity."

"Just recently there have been a few reports of." Giles removed his glasses and lowered his voice. "A dragon, of some sort."

"WHAT?" Buffy yelled.

"Or perhaps a Pterodactyl." He turned in her direction.

"You can't fire me! All I did was call in sick."

Giles blushed and replaced his glasses. "I see Buffy was addressing a separate issue."

"A dragon you say?" William furrowed his brow. "I can't say I've ever encountered one. Have you checked with Anya?"

"Not yet. We talked today, but got a little. sidetracked."

Buffy slammed down the phone.

"Hey!" Anya objected.

Buffy ignored her and strode unhappily over to Giles. "They fired me!"

"So I gathered"

"They said I called in sick too much."

"Two to three times per week could be construed as excessive."

"How do they know that I'm not really sick? I mean, do you think they routinely fire sick people? There should be a law about that!"

"Buffy." William interrupted her tirade. "You aren't sick."

"They don't know that." She turned to Giles. "So, tell me what you've got."

"As I was saying, there have been a few reports of a large flying creature, possibly a dragon."

"There are no such things as dragons." Anya called from the counter. She stepped from behind it and joined the group. "Dragons were made up in fairy tales. Now, there are a number of demons that have similarities. There's the Ghora."

"Bloody hell." William grimaced.

"You've had experience with a Ghora?" Giles inquired.

"Nasty things. Three heads. Lots of sharp teeth. Had one take a nip out of my side."

"When was this?" Buffy wanted to know.

William shook off the question. "Nothing to be concerned about. Was just helping a friend."

"It wouldn't be a Ghora." Anya continued. "They don't fly. Besides I think the last one died out about four-hundred years ago."

"Well the one that took a taste of me was doing a nice impression of being alive."

Buffy turned to William. "I say we go out and search around. Standing around talking about what it might be isn't going to get us far." She looked at Giles. "Keep checking the books and I'll let you know if we find anything. Oh, and will you call Dawn and let her know what's going on. She has some homework to do that should keep her busy."

"Fine." Giles nodded, already seating himself.

With that, Buffy and William picked up their weapons and left the shop.

~*~*~*~

The moon was full and bright as the two slender blondes made their way along the riverbank. The water lapped a short distance away from their feet, filling the companionable silence as their eyes perused the darkness. His were much better at picking out shapes and movement in the dimness, but her intuition was more highly attuned to possible attacks. In the few weeks since his return, they had fallen comfortably back into patrolling together. It was the only time they were at ease with one another.

"You getting anything?" She asked him.

He shook his head. "No. You?"

"Nada." She stopped walking and looked at the sky. "Full moon. It's possible we could encounter a werewolf."

"You know," he cocked his head to the side. "I haven't seen one of those around here for at least two years."

"Me neither, now that you mention it." She walked over to the edge of the water. He followed.

"William?"

"Hmm?"

"Your soul, when you got it...?"

"Yeah?"

"Did it... hurt?" She rushed to qualify her question. "I mean, when Angel got his, before I stabbed him, he bent over and seemed to be in pain."

His jaw clenched as he looked out across the stream. "It burned like a hundred suns."

"Oh." She picked up a rock and skipped it across the surface of the water. She couldn't see the splashes, but she heard its plop plop plop.

"Go ahead and ask me Buffy."

She put her hands in her pockets and glanced up at him. "Why did you do it?"

He grinned ruefully and uttered a dry chuckle. "For you pet. I wanted you to have what you deserved."

"What I deserved?"

"You didn't deserve to have a monster sniffing around your pants all the time, forcing himself on you, now did you?" He shook his head and dropped down to sit on the ground. She followed. "Funny thing is that I never really sussed out exactly what it would do to me."

"What do you mean?"

"After what happened at your house I could finally see myself the way you saw me. Soulless, violent, no better than an animal." He glanced sideways at her. "I really thought I would never hurt you - that I could control myself." He looked down again. "Now I know that all I ever did was hurt you."

She shifted uncomfortably. "That worked both ways." She said softly.

"Yeah. But it doesn't matter." He caught her inquisitive look. "This new thing inside of me, it has made me see what I really am. No matter what I do, I am still a beast, an abomination. You have been chosen for a higher calling. There is no room in that for a creature of darkness. I will never forgive myself for trying to pull you into that darkness."

Buffy searched for a way to respond to his honesty, but was distracted by a suction-cup-covered tentacle that had reached out of the water and wrapped itself around her leg. "William!"

"Hmm?"

"Knife!"

Before either of them could react, another tentacle wrapped around Buffy's other leg and yanked her into the river. She disappeared beneath the rolling water. William, with knife firmly in hand, dove in. His night vision served him well in the murky darkness. The beast holding Buffy looked like a huge eel with a dozen or so long tentacles protruding along both sides of its slimy body. He swam toward its head and wrapped his arm partway around it. He attempted to stab the knife into where he guessed its brain would be, but it thrashed the vampire with its tail, stunning him. He dropped the knife and it sank to the bottom.

For her part, Buffy was kicking and punching as best she could, but the water slowed her and dulled the impact of her blows. William knew that she only had a few minutes before she ran out of air. In desperation he used the only weapon he had available. His face grew hard and ridged as his long, sharp fangs emerged. He sank them deeply into the flesh behind the head of the monster and tore deeply into the tough oily flesh. The water was filled with slick, blue blood. Finally the thing went limp and rolled over. Buffy was free. She weakly kicked her feet. William grasped her under her arms and swam for the surface. They crawled up to collapse on the riverbank. Buffy choked up mouthfuls of foul, blue water. Finally she flopped over on her back and inhaled the fresh, clean air.

"What was that thing?" Buffy finally gasped.

William spat out a stream of bitter tasting demon slime. "Hell if I know!"

Buffy dissolved into peals of laughter.

"What?"

"You should see yourself!" She giggled. "You look like a skinny Smurf."

He joined in with her laughter. "I have to admit pet, you have a bit of the Mystique going for you as well."

"Ah!" She held up her arms. "I'm blue too!"

"If that wasn't the nastiest piece of piss I've ever bitten into..."

They lay side by side, laughing in the moonlight. Finally, laughter spent, she glanced over at him, admiring the new tint in his hair. "I suppose my hair is as blue as yours. Do you think this stuff will wash out?"

He leaned up on his elbow and reached out to lift the strands that lay across her forehead. He rubbed them between his fingers, his brows drawing together in thought. "It's hard to tell love, I suppose we'd better try to find out." He glanced down at her to find her eyes looking up into his.

Their smiles faded. She reached a tentative hand out to him, as if to touch his hair. He sat up abruptly, then stood. "Well then, why don't I drop you off at your house?" He reached down. She nodded and allowed him to pull her upright, then broke the contact. They silently headed back toward town.

~*~*~*~

Dawn and Janice sat at the dining room table with books and papers spread around them. Janice was typing on Willow's computer while Dawn read from her book and jotted down notes. Janice was becoming a fixture at the Summers' house in the early evenings. Dawn appreciated the company while she waited for Buffy to get off work. Giles had called earlier to tell her that Buffy had gone out patrolling tonight. Dawn was hoping to finish her paper early, then maybe she could go out and slay with her sister after dinner. The doorbell interrupted the girls.

Janice looked up from the keyboard. "Were you expecting anyone?"

"No." Dawn looked surprised. "We really don't get a lot of visitors." She made her way to the front door. Chelsea West was standing on the front porch, looking around at the house and yard. "Chelsea? What are you doing here?"

"Hi Dawn." Chelsea put on her best yearbook smile face. "Are you busy?"

"Just homework." Dawn moved out of the way to let the girl in.

"Quaint!" Chelsea commented as she looked around. "Oh, hello Janice."

Janice scowled. "Oh give me a break. What are you doing here? Some boy kick you out of his car on the wrong side of town?"

"Charming, as always." Chelsea replied with a smug sneer.

Dawn rushed to intervene. "Um, Chelsea, I appreciate your stopping by, but did you need something?"

"No." She walked into the dining room and picked a chair - the one Dawn had been sitting in.

Dawn sat across the table and reached over to gather up her book and report notes. "We were just working on our English papers."

"Oh English!" Chelsea smiled, more genuinely this time. "It's becoming my favorite subject. As a matter of fact, I was hoping you'd bring that up."

"English?" Dawn was mystified.

Chelsea leaned across the table. "No. I was hoping we could talk about a certain English teacher."

"Oh cripes!" Janice leaned back and fixed the girl with a nasty stare. "What is the deal with you? We don't know anything about Mr. Browning, and I don't care to feed your stupid crush."

"Oh yeah?" Chelsea looked toward Dawn coyly. "Then why was he looking so cozy with Dawn's sister at school today? And why did they leave together?"

Dawn grappled for an explanation. "They just... they just had a meeting about... about me and how I'm doing so much better in school this year. Yeah! I'm getting good grades and Buffy's happy and she wanted to tell Mr. Browning that. And he's really a gentleman, you know. He... he probably offered to walk her to her car."

"I didn't think your sister drove." Chelsea was cool, her eyes speculative.

"What are you getting at?" Janice just wanted the girl to go.

"I'm thinking Dawn has an inside edge with the new teacher. Maybe that's why her grades are so much better."

"Hey!" Now Dawn was getting mad. "I'm working hard this year. Mr. Browning isn't giving me a free ride!"

"Then why don't you just spill what you know about him? All the girls in school are wondering where he came from and where he lives. It seems like you must know something. At least your sister does."

"Oh, I get it." Janice stood up "You're going to pump Dawn for information, then go into school like you have the inside scoop. You're trying to use her to get more popular. Why don't you just go back to that rock you crawled out from under? Dawn's my best friend. If she knew something about him, she would have told me. There is no way her sister is dating him."

All three girls turned as they heard laughing voices approach the front door. Dawn's mouth dropped open as a blue-tinged Buffy walked into the house, closely followed by her similarly hued English teacher.

"Now, isn't this interesting?" Chelsea commented.

"Dawn!" Buffy's eyes widened. "I see you have company."

"Buffy, what's going on?"

"Oh, this." Buffy looked down at herself. "There is a perfectly logical explanation. We were, um..." She looked at William. "We were playing paintball."

"On Wednesday night?" Chelsea walked forward to get a better look. "Those must have been some big paintballs."

"Huge." Buffy verified. "Do I know you?"

"This is Chelsea West, from school." Dawn looked pointedly at the girl. "She was just leaving. Weren't you Chelsea?"

"No way!"

"Miss West." William nodded cordially.

"Are you two dating?" She asked bluntly.

"Us?" Buffy's eyes widened. "No! No dating going on. You can play paintball with someone without dating."

"Along with a bunch of other things, apparently." Dawn muttered. Buffy glared at her. William smiled.

"Did you hit him in the mouth?" Chelsea asked Buffy.

"When?"

The girl looked confused. "Tonight, duh!" She pointed at him. "His teeth are blue."

Buffy looked at William. Panic was beginning to show in her eyes.

"Yes." He stated calmly. "As a matter of fact one of her shots went high and she did indeed get me in the mouth." He nodded. "You know, her aim is quite bad." He turned to Buffy. "You see Miss Summers, it will be quite impossible for you to help coach the, um, archery team this year. But you just keep working on your aim there, and we'll see about next year."

Buffy's face was red beneath the blue goop, and she was starting to sputter.

"Hey Buff." Dawn walked over to her and grabbed her arm. "Why don't we get you upstairs and see if we can get this stuff cleaned off." She pulled her toward the steps and turned to the other to girls. "I'm sure you two can let yourselves out. I'll call you later Janice."

"And I'll be on my way too." William called up after the girls. "Don't forget to do your paper Dawn."

"I won't!"

*****

Buffy drained the water from the tub, finally clean. It had taken two showers and one long bath, along with three ruined wash cloths, to get rid of all the monster blood. "Hey Dawn, bring me the Soft Scrub." Buffy indicated the blue ring that had formed around the inside of the tub.

"How about Mom's polka-dot dress?" Dawn asked brightly? Buffy looked at her quizzically. "Sorry, just a lame attempt at some Dr. Suess humor. Willow would have gotten it." Dawn left to get the cleanser.

After the tub had been scrubbed and the myriad of wet towels put in the washing machine, Buffy and Dawn retired to the kitchen for some hot chocolate. Dawn stirred hers slowly, looking unhappy.

"What is it?" Buffy wanted to know.

Dawn sighed and laid her spoon down. "I called Janice while you were in the tub. She's mad. She thinks I've been keeping stuff from her." Dawn took a sip from her mug. "I know that I have, but just because I have to. It's hard to have friends and a secret life."

"Tell me about it!"

"Buffy, can't I please tell her? You told Xander and Willow, and she would be totally cool with it. Remember, she had a date with a vampire last year too, and she saw Giles kick its butt."

"I'll think about it."

"Tell me what happened tonight."

Buffy related the events of the evening, from Giles' information to the attack of the giant eel-squid. Dawn's eyes were huge and round. "Wow Buffy, you would have died if you'd gone out alone or just with me."

Buffy nodded thoughtfully. "You know, it's nice - patrolling with him again. We've always fought well together, even in the very beginning against Angelus." She smiled wistfully at Dawn. "I guess I've come to rely on him to watch my back. That's why it hurt so much when he..." She broke off and looked down into her empty mug.

Dawn looked concerned. "Do you think he will ever do anything like that again? Do you think you can trust him?"

"He's changed so much... I don't want to think that he would ever try to force anything again. As a matter of fact..." She trailed off and shook her head.

"What?"

"Well, tonight, after the eely thing, he could have..." She glanced up to gauge Dawn's reaction. "But he didn't."

"You would have let him?"

"I think so." Buffy stood and took her mug to the sink and ran water into it to melt the marshmallow stuck to the sides. "Maybe not. I think I would have been pretty squicked afterward."

"You sure sounded like you were having fun when you came home."

"Yeah." Buffy smiled. "We were."

~*~*~*~