As Spike walked out of Buffy’s hospital room, his feet felt like lead. Thud, thud, thud. The only thing keeping him from rushing back to Buffy’s side, the only thing keeping him moving away was the teenage bundle of energy pulling him down the hall. “Come on, Spike. If you’re going to survive this, you’ve got to trust Buffy. She’s as gaga about you as you are about her.” Dawn wanted to laugh at Spike’s comically shocked expression. “Don’t look so surprised, lover boy. Since she got shot, you two are soooo obvious. They way you look at each other. Ahhh. A five year old could read your signals. Anyway, she’ll do right by you, or I’m gonna kick her from now to Wednesday.”

Relieved to have someone on his side, Spike laughed at her vehement support. “Thanks, Nibblet. I needed a vote of confidence.” When they arrived at their first stop, the nurses’ station, Spike turned on the old reliable charm, while Dawn gave her best puppy dog eyes. They made a formidable team; both of their efforts this time aimed to glean more information regarding Buffy’s condition. And the strategy paid off. Not only did the nurse answer their questions, but they were also shown Buffy’s file, not that Spike and Dawn could read the medical lingo, but still. On top of that, the nurses told Spike and Dawn when the doctor made his rounds so they could catch and pump him for information before he could even make it into Buffy’s room. The plan was that once they had the doctor cornered, they could use the fact that Dawn was Buffy’s sister in order to get the doctor’s tongue to loosen up.

After Dawn and Spike solidified their plan about waylaying the doctor, the next stop on their agenda was the cafeteria. Instinctually divining where the food and drinks were located, Dawn pulled the reluctant vampire on the right path. Once in the cafeteria, they picked up a diet coke for Buffy and two cokes for her and Spike, and with an evil grin on her face, Dawn snatched two pieces of chocolate cake from the dessert offerings. When Spike paid with a twenty while still holding other bills, Dawn’s earlier speculations of the vampire’s financial resources were confirmed. Since he hadn’t been paid by the gang for anything in several weeks, Spike had to have a money source besides fleecing the Scoobies.

Next Dawn towed him outside in an heavily shaded area, and that’s when Spike balked but not at the daylight. “No Nibblet, we need to go back to your sis.” Dawn shook her head while opening their drinks and then took the cellophane off the two pieces of cake. “Nothing like chocolate to take your worries away.” She held one out to Spike. Suddenly stopping, Dawn looked from Spike to the slice of cake and then back. “You do eat food, don’t you? Ya know, Mr. I vant your blood and all.”

“Yes, I do, you cheeky bint. Especially little girls with long, brown hair who keep me away from their sister.” Spike gave her a low growl to go along with his threat.

“Like I’m so scared. Anyway, I think Buffy needs time with the guys. Talk, argue, talk. Plus I want to eat my piece of cake in peace. Get it. Piece. Peace.” Spike just rolled his eyes. “Anyway, out here no one is trying to snag a bite of my decadence. Cough. Xander. Cough. And, I’m guessing you need a cigarette fix by now.”

“Out of the mouths of babes. A smart babe, that is. So give me my cake before you start eating it, too.”

After they ate, Spike enjoyed a quick cigarette while Dawn told him about the boy in school she thought was hot. Spike chuckled at the simplicity of teenage crushes and relationships. If only he could ask Buffy to go steady and they could be a couple in public, go to the Bronze and make out in the dark, and steal kisses on the back porch of Buffy’s house. Nonetheless, Spike grilled Dawn about the boy’s behavior and advances, making note to check out the kid after Buffy got out of the hospital. He was surprised the slayer had not done so already, but of course, he had been taking up a good part of her time, some really well spent time. And what a good time it had been. So far. It took a second for Spike to focus back on Dawn’s beau. “If this poof does anything wrong, and that’s what your mother would think is wrong , I’ll scare him so that he will piss in his knickers so bad that he will hydroplane when he tries to walk.”

“It’s a deal, big bro vamp. Now finish that cancer stick so we can steal you some blood.” Surprised, Spike raised an eyebrow at her. Dawn rolled her eyes. “Hello, vampire guy, you’ve got to be hungry by now, and this opportunity is just too good to ignore. Besides you’ll have to be at full strength to go back and run the Scoobie gauntlet.”

“Right you are, Platelet. Let’s go see what flavor we can find.” Spike snubbed out his cigarette and tossed it into the trash can. “Surely this hospital has a bit of blood to donate to a starving vampire. Preferably A+.”

Buffy knew Spike was hurt, and she was in turn hurt because he was hurting. She knew Spike thought she sent him away so that she could cover up their relationship, but she had tried to convey in a look, “Trust me”. However, she strongly suspected her look had fallen short of its desired affect, and considering how she had hid their relationship up to present, she had no one else to blame. Buffy wanted to get out of bed long enough to kick herself in the ass. Spike had the right to expect the worst. On the other hand, Beth was thankful that Dawn had left with him. When she had been rolled into her room after surgery, she was both relieved and touched that Dawn was already on good terms with Spike, and that her sister had come to terms about her relationship with the vampire. The last twelve hours were a good example of a disaster bringing people together, not to mention Spike’s incredible charisma no doubt helped win Dawn over. As a result, Dawn had helped Buffy get Spike out of the room so that she could talk to her friends. Undeniably, insults would be thrown at Spike, and he would answer in kind so he was better off out of the target zone. This way Buffy could get everything settled with her friends before Dawn and Spike returned. And then later, she would smooth his ruffled feathers by explaining why she had sent him away.

Willow, Tara, Giles, and Anya stood perfectly still before and after Dawn dragged Spike out of the room. Willow and Giles were frozen staring at Buffy, mouth hanging open, catching flies type of shocked. Tara looked bewildered but not blown away like her girlfriend. Anya looked like she could have cared less about Spike being so friendly with Buffy. She was standing still, looking around the room and then crossed the room to look out the window. “Oh, look! You can see the top of the Magic Box.”

Well, that certainly broke the silence; Willow was the first to address the situations with the vampire. “Uh, Buffy…that was Spike.”

“Yes, it was.” Buffy gave her a smile that she hoped looked worry-free.

Willow blinked rapidly. “He was here in your room.”

“Yes, he was.”

“He was touching you.”

“Yes, he was.” Buffy nodded at her friend.

Willow’s red hair swung around her as she shook her head. “You didn’t beat him up for it. Not even a threat.”

“No, I didn’t because I like his touch.” Since Willow’s mouth was hanging open without moving, Buffy wondered if her friend’s jaw muscles no longer worked due to excessive distress.

Anya turned from the window and hopped up on the second bed in the room. “He looked a mess. Spike’s a very vain vampire. I think he spends more time on his hair than I do. And his shirt. Disgusting.”

“I didn’t know his hair was so curly.” That was Tara’s attempt to spring board off of Anya’s comment to help defuse the tense situation between Buffy, Willow, and the still silent Giles.

“Tara!” Willow was stunned by her girlfriend’s comment. “I can’t believe you’re talking about the…the…the blood sucker’s hair.”

“Why? I didn’t know his hair was so curly, and I think it’s kinda cute.” Tara gave Buffy a smile. No matter how angry and shocked Willow and Giles seemed to be, Tara had a feeling that Buffy was happy with Spike, and happy was always of the good. Not to mention that she suspected that Buffy was going to need an ally in this situation.

After listening to Tara’s horrific comments, Giles finally found his voice. “The words cute and Spike have no business being in the same sentence together. Ever.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “Buffy, I am sure you have a good explanation for having a vampire, that particular vampire in your hospital room. With that said, why was Spike here?” Giles had every intention of ignoring the fact that the said vampire had not only been in the room but had also been touching his slayer. He thought he would just focus on his unwanted presence.

Willow jumped to follow Giles’ lead but went further. “And touchage from Spike! Acceptable touchage from Spike? Buffy!” Giles shuddered as the subject of touching was introduced into the conversation.

Buffy, on the other hand, thought the conversation was starting to get hard, but her determination was harder. “Yes, it was acceptable touchage. In fact, he…”

Not wanting her to explain her physical relations with Spike any further, Giles interrupted her. “Buffy, I think you need to explain yourself. I believe we are under the misconception that you and Spike are…er…have a different type of relationship that is permissible in the bounds of your calling.”

“Giles, you’re right. We are having a relationship.” Buffy waited for the heart attack, but it didn’t come. Yet.

However, her watcher still didn’t understand or really want to understand. He chose to be obtuse. “A slayer/vampire relationship?”

“No, Giles, a Buffy/Spike relationship.”

Buffy wanted to kiss Anya when she interrupted. “Yay me!! After I got back from the buying trip, I told Xander that you were too happy and must be having sex with someone. Xander went ballistic but then we had hard, bruising sex on the kitchen floor…”

“Anya…Anya, we get it, and we don’t need any further visuals.” Buffy wanted to laugh, anything to distract her from the present grillage.

Now Willow looked doubly shock. “Anya, we get it all the way to the moon and that’s where the visuals will hopefully stay.” Taking in a shaky breath, Willow looked back over to Buffy. “Buffy, this is Spike, William the Bloody. Emphasis on blood like from his victims over the course of the last century and more. Are you out of your mind?”

“I know who he is, Wills. And blood? Yeah, I’m out some blood myself, but my mind is present and accounted for.”

Giles stepped forward as he followed Willow’s line of thought. “Buffy that only proves our point on how dangerous he is even with the chip. Spike was with you, and you were injured, which caused you to almost bleed to death.” Giles was bemused when his slayer just nodded again and smiled. Little did he know that he slayer was hoping to avoid any discussion of Spike’s chip which he didn’t know that it was no longer working.

“In the true/false category that is all true, but let’s get to the short answer part of this exam.” For the next fifteen minutes, Buffy told the story of the last few weeks with Spike, leading up to her injury and minus the sex with the sexy vampire. And as for the injury, she told them that someone had been trying to kill Spike, but this time she was in the way. “Now, before any of you even think of blaming Spike for my injury, just swallow those accusations and I hope it tastes like cough syrup. Spike did not hurt me. The jerk, whoever he is, is the one who injured me. Blame him because I was exactly where I wanted to be which was in Spike’s arms, with some Spike kissage going on. And for the record, I am glad I took that arrow for him because otherwise Spike would have been dust.”

Buffy wanted to laugh when Giles took off his glasses and cleaned them with his handkerchief. Typical Giles when listening to something he didn’t want to hear.

Putting his glasses back on, Giles cleared his throat. “Buffy, maybe the problem is that you have been too close to this vampire. I think a good solution is for you to…ah…take a slayer vacation of sorts.”

“You must be an Giles-Bot. Slayer. Vacation? I didn’t know those two words were ever said together by a watcher. But your right, a vacation sounds yummy. Spike and I will have fun filled fun on a beach. Of course, I will be the only one getting a tan, but we can skinny dip at night.”

Traumatized, Willow stepped back while the stern Englishman vigorously shook his head. Instead of being cleaned this time, Buffy watched his head, wondering if his glasses were about to go flying out the door and down the hall. She had five bucks that the glasses with make it to the elevators. Giles’ words came out strained. “It’s Spike you must get away from or get him away from you. He will only cause you pain if you are lucky, or most likely death.’

Buffy decided she was tired and had more than enough. “All jokes aside, I understand what you guys are saying. I also understand that when you came in here and when you saw Spike, you were more concerned about Spike’s evil influence than my near fatal injury. Not one of you asked how I was doing. Why the hole in my shoulder is just fine. Thanks for NOT asking. So with that point made, you each get one more chance to have a say and then forever hold your peace.”

Giles gathered himself up. “Buffy, I don’t think you know what you are getting into. He is the slayer of slayers, he did come back to Sunnydale to kill you. This could just be a plan to somehow kill his third slayer. Lure you to your death somehow that his chip won’t even fire. Unlike most vampires, Spike is unpredictable as well as deadly.”

“Yes, evil Spike. Tricky Spike. Killer Spike. Got it. Wills, your turn.”

Before Willow could begin, Tara touched her on the shoulder, gained Willow’s attention, and whispered in her ear. Whatever the words that were said, they made Willow pause before speaking. “Buffy…I…err…I am going to fall back on gathering current, empirical data and see how things go.”

“English, Wills. I have a hard enough time understanding Giles’ lingo. Now don’t you start.”

“Wait, watch, and see how things go. All with an open mind.” She looked over at Tara, who was smiling at her.

“Thanks, Willow. Tara, you’re up. I know you don’t feel too comfortable talking at our meetings, but I really would like to hear your opinion in this.”

Tara stood slightly behind her lover, biting her lower lip before starting. “I have…er…I’ve watched your meetings for about a year now. Every one of you t…trusts Buffy with your lives without question. But you don’t…you won’t trust her with her own life, including ch…choosing her own boyfriend. I think this is a good time to start trusting h…her own instincts with her personal life.”

Buffy’s smile grew into a grin. “Wow and thank you.”

Anya raised her hand. “Mine’s easy. Have fabulous sex and happiness or maybe it is the other way around, happiness first and then fabulous sex.” Anya turned uncharacteristically focused and serious. “Whichever it is, Buffy, do what you want to be happy. Your calling is a rough one, a short one, so grab happiness when you can and keep it as long as possible.”

Outside in the hall, Dawn and Spike approached the door to Buffy’s room. They gave each other conspiratorially looks when they heard Buffy begin talking in a voice she reserved for commanding the troops to kill a big bad. With sneaky smiles on their faces, they put their well honed eavesdropping skills to use.

“Thanks, Anya, and I will take your advice. Now you have all had a final say, so it’s my turn. I could give you all the reasons why this between me and Spike has happened and why you should trust me on this. But in a nut shell, we have spent way more time together than you know in the last weeks. Some of the time was spent fighting demons, but most of it just being normal people having fun, like a night on the town or swimming in a pool. I know. Slayer and vampire normal? Well, as normal as we can be. Nevertheless, the fact that he saved me last night should have spoken volumes to all of you. He could have let me bleed to death. He could have sucked me dry through my wound after I passed out, but he didn’t. In fact, we were both covered in blood, and he didn’t so much as vamp out. Instead, his only goal was getting me here and saving my life. Ask Dawn, she can tell you how frantic he was worrying that I would even make it out of surgery. So I don’t think he was trying to get me killed, do you?”

Buffy took a big breath and looked all her friends eye to eye in turn before continuing. “Ok, sum it up time. My relationship with Spike is officially out in the open. That’s final. I hid this too long as it is. I trust him so you have to live with me being with him. And I warn you now; this is not a one night stand, a one week stand, or even a one month stand. I don’t know what he thinks because we have never discussed the future, but I think he would agree that this “stand” is going to last much longer. No, scratch that. I hope the “we” part of me and Spike lasts much longer.”

Dawn nudged Spike. “Heard enough?” Dawn laughed as the Big Bad tried to wipe the grin off his face back to his usual smirk. “I think that is a cue to go back in. And told ya. Buffy took care of everyone. Well, except Xander since he’s not here yet. That should be loads of fun. Not.” Dawn rolled her eyes.

When Spike and Dawn walked back into the room, he saw nobody but Buffy. Her last words went straight to his undead heart. Her last words were emblazoned there. He was sure he loved her, but now his hopes soared that she just might return his love. So when he walked into the room, he didn’t even spare a glance for the others. He had to be near her, touch her, and he didn’t give a rat’s arse who was in the room. She said, “much longer” and longer started now.

Spike first captured her hand in his own. “How are you doing, pet?” When she smiled and nodded, he looked away from her only long enough to check her monitors, and while he checked her lines, he let her know that her doctor should be by later in the afternoon.

“I’m fine, Spike. Relax.” She pulled him down for a quick kiss and gave him a sassy wink.

When he pulled back, her warm smile was too tempting. “The ‘we’ part, luv, will last longer and longer and longer. Promise.” He leaned down and stole a second kiss before he whispered for her ears only. “I can’t wait to get you healed up and alone and …”

That’s when all hell broke loose. Spike felt someone grab his arm and spin him around. Stunned, Spike wondered if he had finally pushed the Ripper too far?

Spike was forcibly spun around. Instead of still looking into the Ripper’s face, he was now nose to nose with a furious, red faced brick layer. “Get away from Buffy. Slime like you doesn’t get to touch her, let alone kiss her. You shouldn’t even be in the same room as her.”

Still holding the vampire’s arm across his own chest, Xander backed the blonde until he was against the wall next to Buffy’s bed. While Spike stood still, momentarily stunned by Xander’s new found strength and balls, Buffy climbed out of her bed. Spike jerked his arm free just as Buffy reached for the other balled up fist. Knowing the chip no longer served as his jailor and that she was too weak to stop him, Buffy hoped her touch would encourage Spike to think twice and hopefully use restraint. She could tell that during this confrontation, his demon was raging to be set free. Restraint. Ok, long shot with Spike, but she had to try. Feeling her touch, the vampire looked back into Buffy’s pleading eyes, and Spike gave her the very slightest of nods, agreeing to control himself. His eyes, ice blue with specks of yellow, told her that he didn’t want to, but he would keep his demon side in check but just for her.

Xander noted the exchange, and the intimacy between them only fueled his mental fire even more. “What is it, FUCKED fang face? Here to steal a few pints of blood for dinner after you finish Buffy off?”

‘Well, that is true about the few pints and Bit’s probably smirking,’ Spike thought. “Be smart for once, Harris. I’m here to look after the slayer. She almost died, and all you can think about in that little excuse of a brain of yours is that I touched her and kissed her. You should have joined this party a little sooner to shut up and listen to the explanation portion of this little melodrama. As it is, you’re not exactly helping here. So why don’t you tuck your tail between your legs and run on home, pup. I’m sure Anya can keep you busy or your right hand will be with you to keep you company.” Spike could hear Buffy’s groan at the last antagonistic remarks, and he imagined that if he could listen real hard, he could hear Buffy rolling her eyes. But he just couldn’t pass up making a jab like that at the whelp.

And the jab hit the spot. “Me leave? Me? That’s rich. You’re the outsider, always an outsider, and will never belong, you freak. You’re the one who needs to leave.” Still not letting up his pressure on Spike against the wall, Xander turned towards Buffy. “Tell him, Buffy. Send the cover girl for Clairol here packing.”

Giving Xander the barest of shrugs, Buffy wanted so much to tell Xander what he wanted to hear that Spike wasn’t in her love life, but just like she told the others, she was done hiding her relationship with the vampire. “Actually that was part of the explanation you missed, Xander. I want Spike here. He stays. So you need to chill below zero.”

Shaking with fury, Xander swung back around towards Spike, pushing harder against his chest. “You’re s…s…scum.” Through his fury, he couldn’t find a word loathsome enough for Spike. “Buffy should have staked you the first time you drove that piece of shit car of yours into town, dragging your crazy bitch of a girlfriend.”

Shaking off Xander’s words, Spike tried to lighten things up. “She tried to stake me many times, just never seemed to take. Right, love?” Then four words made it possible for him to brush aside the verbal attacks. Buffy’s eyes were trained on Xander. “I want Spike here.” Those words from Buffy’s mouth made anything possible. Not to mention the slayer would be mightily pissed if he killed off one of her mates. She couldn’t fight him now, but he had no doubt she would go after him later. Spike would just make sure a bed was around for the aftermath.

Xander ignored Spike’s and Buffy’s words and continued. “You’ve been nothing but trouble ever since we saw that bleach blonde hair and heard that stupid British accent. You’re even a poor excuse for a vampire. De-fanged. Neutered. Pitiful. Swilling pig’s blood or drunk off your ass, whining that you existence is so pathetic with that chip, or whoring yourself out to fight your own kind to earn money for your cigarettes.”

For Buffy’s sake, Spike still stayed uncharacteristically calm, but the others in the room had varying reactions. Giles, Willow, and Tara were all impressed that Spike hadn’t slammed Xander through a wall yet. Anya, being an ex-vengeance demon, was impressed by Xander’s insults and was waiting to see what was going to happen next. Dawn was both impressed and pissed. Impressed just as Giles, Willow, and Tara were, but pissed that buffy had yet to end the confrontation. If her sister wasn’t going to do anything about the attack soon, Dawn was prepared to somehow find a way herself. As for her sister, Buffy was fuming. Spike may be a lot of things and some of those not very nice, but Xander had stepped over the line with several comments and the physical attack. Whining, pathetic, whoring, among others, were not Spike and the hateful words shouldn’t have been said. So Buffy was ready to put a fist in Xander’s mouth if Spike didn’t.

Oblivious to anything around him, Xander was so furious that he was spitting in Spike’s face. “You should be dust for making Buffy a vamp toy…”

Spike never let him finish his rant. His demon came forward as hand shot up around Xander’s throat. With a crushing grip, Spike spun him around and pinned Xander against the wall that he had been against two seconds before. “DON’T even finish that blatant drivel. DON’T even think that about Buffy. Insult me but NEVER her.”

“Spike, please. I am sure he didn’t mean it. Let him breathe.” As she said it, she knew that the vampire, no, her boyfriend, wouldn’t be held back any longer. They had been on borrowed time anyway.

“He had better not have meant it, or I am pulling out his intestines and stuffing down his throat so he can’t talk any more.” When Spike loosened up his grip, Xander immediately slapped Spike’s hand away, and since Spike hadn’t intended to let Xander go, Spike was again surprised by his strength.

“You…You. It’s your fault that Buffy’s hurt. That arrow should have dusted you.” Xander became the aggressor again and shoved Spike across the room. “What are you? Some fucking cat with nine lives? You survived burning and the holy water and…”

With a snarl probably heard all over the hospital, Spike’s fist crashed into Xander’s jaw, knocking him to the floor. Since Xander had just arrived, he could have know about the burning and holy water. Spike followed him down, pinning and choking him again. “You almost killed her. You better wish me gone if you every hurt her again.”

Anya looked down at the pair, shaking her head and shrugging. “What’s the big deal? Xander tried to kill Spike. No dust, no foul.”

“Anya!” Dawn turned her head to briefly look at Xander’s girlfriend. “You were a vengeance demon. Xander hurt Buffy so Spike is hurting Xander. Get it?”

“Got it. Vengeance over a hurt mate. Yes, very serious vengeance.” Anya raised her voice so she could be heard by the vampire. “Spike, just don’t hurt him too bad. No racking him in the penis. As strong as you are, no telling how long it would take him to recover.”

This time when Spike held Xander by the throat, Buffy did little to hold Spike back. “Spike, I’m not asking you to let him go, but at least let him talk. And I do think you need to lose the lumpies and teeth before a nurse or doctor comes in and wants to treat you for some disease.” Buffy nodded her thanks when Spike changed back to his human face and released his hold, but only long enough to let Xander take a breath. Spike spared a glance at Dawn and then tilted his head towards the door. ‘Smart bint the Nibblet is,’ Spike thought as Dawn followed his unspoken command and closed the door to the room.

With her heart breaking, Buffy looked down at her best friend. “Xander, what have you done?” Oh, God, she so didn’t want to confirmation that one of her closest friends was behind her near fatal injury. Denial was calling her name, but she knew the answer to her question that she had asked. Buffy looked over at Willow, who had her hand over her mouth, slowly shaking her head. Willow’s eyes told Buffy that she too wanted to slip away into denial.

But the flight to denial was quickly canceled. “Buffy, you weren’t supposed to be hurt let alone fatally injured.” Xander laughed up into the vampire’s face. “You, Spike, that arrow was meant for you, and then poof. Dust. I can tell by your shirt that I would have gotten it right if Buffy hadn’t been in the way.”

“But she was, you stupid git, and you were the one to hurt her.” Spike pulled him up to his feet. Spike’s fist crashed down into his face again, knocking Xander against the far wall. In his vampiric face again, Spike held him pinned to the wall.

Most in the room missed Spike’s harsh flow curse words directed at Xander. Most had had another jolt to their systems. “The chip.” Willow’s eyes were as large as saucers. “Buffy, Spike’s chip isn’t working anymore.”

Buffy waved her off. “Oh, that hasn’t worked in awhile. Q and A session later.”

Before Willow could say anything else, Xander managed to throw Spike off of him and the fight began in earnest with Spike in game face and Xander’s face contorted in rage.

Buffy couldn’t believe what she was seeing. So far holding his own against the enraged vampire, Xander was throwing and actually getting in some blows. She was too weak to physically separate the pair. “Giles, turn on the shower.”

Anya yelled over the sounds of the fight, “What does being clean have to do with saving Xander?”

“I don’t think Xander needs to be saved,” Dawn shouted over the clamor of the fight.

Giles caught on quickly and disappeared into the bathroom. He reappeared just as fast. “Shower’s on. Cold water should do it.”

“Buffy, we’ve got Xander.” Willow and Tara maneuvered to the right angle for their shove. All assumed that Giles would be taking Spike.

With everyone in position, Buffy waited for the right opportunity and shoved the two combatants toward the bathroom. “Now!” Willow and Tara sent Xander in first. He landed in the bathtub just before Spike stumbled in. Buffy crossed her fingers, crossed her arms, crossed anything and hoped for the best in a very simple plan, at least it worked for drunks. Maybe not with a vampire and a berserker, but still simple. What could go wrong? The first “what” was that the stopper was in the tub so the water wasn’t draining, and the second “what” was that the water was hot instead of cold.

Giles rolled his eyes and looked over at Buffy who was growling over the failure of her plan. On top, Spike gained the advantage and dunked Xander’s head down under the water. As the water flowing around the combatants, it was turning red from the blood on Spikes shirt. The vampire pulled Xander’s head up and wrenched it to the side so that he was looking at the water. “You soddin’ bastard, the red in the water is from what you did to Buffy. It’s from her nearly bleeding to death in my arms.” Spike forcibly shoved his head back down.

Gathering all her strength for one more try, Buffy pulled back Spike’s arm enough that Xander was able to gulp for air, but then Buffy’s hold slipped and Spike pushed Xander back down. At this point, Buffy resorted to pleading. “Spike, please don’t kill him. This just isn’t like Xander. Let’s see what’s going on first. Please.” She relaxed her weak muscles when Spike let Xander’s head back up for the second time.

Xander came up gulping for air. When he did open his mouth for a third gulp, he choked and then something shot out of Xander’s mouth, thumped against Spike’s chest, and slid down. Out of reflex, Spike caught the projectile in his hands. “What the bloody hell is that?” In he hands he held an iridescent, translucent pink, slimey demon with six legs, small black eyes, and a sucker for a mouth. Still sitting on Xander in the tub, Spike looked up into Buffy’s face, over to Giles, before looking back down at the demon. It moved slightly then stilled altogether. “The whelp’s orally given birth to a demon. Sorta looks like him in an ugly kinda way.” As the vampire climbed out of the tub, he dropped it down onto Xander’s stomach. If it all hadn’t been so shocking, Buffy would have been laughing at how fast Xander made it out of the tub and away from his “child.”

Spike forgot about any demon, any tubs or any Xanders when he looked over and saw an exhausted slayer sitting on the lid of the toilet. His game face immediately melted away. “Come on, slayer, it’s off to bed with you. Enough excitement for you today.” Swooping Buffy up in his arms, he shouldered his way out of the bathroom. Dawn followed with a towel for the dripping vampire.

“What? What? What’s going on in there?” Anya was jumping up and down, trying to see around Giles, Willow and Tara. “And who is pregnant?”

Spike settled Buffy into her bed and started to dry himself off with the towel Dawn had thankfully handed him. Buffy didn’t have the heart to tell him that she too was wet now and thus ruin his manly man effort. Since others started coming out of the bathroom, which as he dried his hair Spike was now referring to as the demon birthing room, Buffy decided her wet predicament could wait until later. But she had a few words that couldn’t wait. “Spike,” she reach out and grabbed his had to get his full attention. He looked down at her, and she kept her voice low and private “Spike, thank you.”

He sat down in the chair next to her and tilted his head to the side. “For what, luv?”

“For not killing Xander.”

“T’is nothing.” Spike started rubbing his towel down his jeans, vainly trying to soak up some water and also trying to cover up how much her thank you meant to him. He valued her acknowledgement of his restraint.

Buffy pulled on his hand again. “But you wanted to kill him, didn’t you?”

She smiled when he smirked at her. “Yes, slayer, I did. So much so that I could taste the blood lust.” His eyes briefly flashed yellow for a little overly dramatic emphasis.

Knowing that he was kidding about the tasting but appreciating his vampire joke about tasting Xander, Buffy rolled her eyes and stayed on course. “But you didn’t. Xander is still here.”

‘Oh, how this woman could turn me all nastily noble.’ Spike moved her hand that he was still holding so that he could kiss her palm. “No, pet, I didn’t. The boy’s still walking and yapping.”

She pulled him even closer so that their faces were only a few inches apart. “Secret time, blood breath. I wanted to beat on him a little myself.”

“Not surprising, luv. He did almost kill you. I still have your blood on me to prove it.”

“No, I wanted to because he nearly killed you.” She kissed him quick while he was still in shock and turned her attention back to her friends. But she did smile; it was always satisfying on few occasions to shock Spike into silence.

Xander came out of the bathroom both dripping and apologizing. A few apologies were directed to Spike, which was astonishing all on its own, but most of the apologies were directed to Buffy. The usual groveling, “I am sooo sorry…I didn’t mean to…You know that I would never…blah, blah, blah.” But the blah, blah, blah was very much needed and had to be said. As it turned out, all the Scoobies seemed subdued and embarrassed by Xander’s actions.

Not surprisingly, everyone but Spike was subdued. He was still raring to rant. “I don’t mind that you tried to kill me, whelp, but see this fucking hole,” he pulled the fabric away from his body so all could see the damage to his t-shirt, “that’s where the arrow hit me. Oh, I’m sorry. Did I mention that the bleeding hole was made when the arrow ripped completely through Buffy before hitting me?”

Buffy’s voice may have been somewhat weak from her exertions, but her words were clear. “He may not mind, but I DO. It wasn’t entirely the demon’s fault that you shot me, but whether you like it or not, Xander, I care for him. Really care, so if you hurt him, you hurt me.” After Buffy was done, she couldn’t believe what she had said. She meant every word, but she may as well have yelled to the world, “I love Spike!” True, she was coming out of her Buffy made closet, but she thought she should tell Spike how deeply she felt about him before she told the world. After all, she wasn’t sure how he would react. It could turn out to be some major rejection action. Seriously *not* the reaction she was looking for. And to make matters worse, she remembered that when their relationship became physical, she had made him promise to not fall in love. Keep things light and fun. Maybe he would consider breaking that promise. She knew she would. Actually she already had.

The fiancé of the villain of the day spoke up. “Maybe Spike deserved to get killed. He *is* a vampire.” Anya shrugged, but then took a step back from the slayer’s lethal look, which was now coming her way.

Spike was stunned by Buffy’s words and that she cared enough to tell the Scoobies so that much that he wasn’t offended by Anya’s comment. In fact, he feared that he would melt into gooey mush on the floor as his own emotions for Buffy heated his body. But he was the Big Bad, and he had an unwanted audience for mush, so he pulled out the trusty bravado. “You know, whelp, the only reason I am not beating you all the way into the emergency room is that you puked up that tasty little morsel. How about a repeat performance, Mr. Magic? I choke you and you puke up a rabbit. ”

The bickering stopped when Giles came out of the bathroom. “Astounding! I believe we are looking at our first Hungkin demon.”

Spike whistled. “Not exactly a Kodak moment, Rupes.”

Giles cleared his throat. “Yes, quite. As we all saw in the bathroom…”

“Not *all* of us. You were blocking my view.” Dawn interjected with a humf at the end. “I missed all the good, bloody, demon up chucking stuff.”

Spike smiled at her with appreciation shining in his eyes. ‘Blood and guts. The chit really could grow on a vamp.’

Anya took a step closer to Giles. “Yes, I didn’t get to see either, and if anyone saw anything, I should have since I’m his fiancé. See my ring. Have you seen my ring?”

Feeling sorry for him, Willow tried to help Giles out. “Anya, that would mean you wanted to see your husband-to-be nearly get killed in a bathtub.”

“Well…yeah, I guess so, but Xander was just so uber-male and yummy to watch. And as much as I don’t want to ruin the testosterone moment, Spike did have a right to vengeance as Dawn pointed out. But not kill Xander, of course.”

All Willow could do was roll her eyes.

Giles tried to begin again. “As I was saying, *almost* all of us witnessed Spike simultaneously choke and drown Xander.”

“I think Spike’s ugly human face scared the demon out of me.” Xander volunteered.

“…When Spike let him up, that was when the demon forcibly expelled itself from its host.”

Xander interrupted again. “Great, I was a dinner host for a demon. Will that be a table of two?”

“Or a table for one to eat one?” Spike made loud, slurping noises. “Maybe the whelp tasted too bad for the demon to stay inside.”

“And I didn’t even like the movie Alien, the original or my version.” Xander added as he darted for the bathroom thanks to Spike.

Giles’ voice conveyed his ire. “As I Was Saying, my hypothesis…”

“Oooh, Giles, extra points for the word of the day. Hypothesis.” Buffy was next up to bat on the Scoobie Interuptus Baseball Team.

Now Giles resorted to uhm’s and glares before beginning again. “My working hypothesis is that the demon left its host because…”

“Oh, oh.” Giles’ shoulders slumped in defeat from this latest interruption by Willow. “I know. The demon left due to lack of oxygen. The host must provide oxygen for the demon.”

Giles put his glasses back on after some habitual polishing. “Right, that is *my* theory had I been able to say it in its entirety.”

And yet again, Giles was unable to say anymore. A staff member of the hospital interrupted this time with Buffy’s dinner tray. The motherly type woman gave a pointed looked at everyone in the room, and if that didn’t work, Spike glared at everyone except Buffy. He reserved a wink for the Bit. Giles took the hint to leave, savoring the thought of leaving the day’s frustration and interruption behind. “I believe I will take this Hungkin demon with me for more study.”

Dawn looked nauseated as Buffy spoke up. “Yes, Giles, feel free to *not* leave that thingie here. I like my dead demons *not* staring back at me.”

“Speaking of the demon leaving, the hard part in the near future will be how to get all the demons out without choking or drowning their hosts. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the homework for the night. We will reconvene back here tomorrow and decide how to proceed with the elimination of these creatures.”

Ignoring Giles’ long speech by Buffy’s standards, Buffy peeked under the metal bowl covering her dinner. Spike smiled as her cute little nose wrinkled up. “Come on, Nibblet. Time for one of our search and sieze food missions.”

Dawn hopped to attention. “Gotcha, but do you think I could seize a pepperoni pizza this time?”

“We’ll keep an eye out for an unsuspecting delivery man, Bit. Wouldn’t want to deprive you of pizza.”

Buffy wasn’t exactly sure what Spike planned to do with the delivery person, but she did suspect that Spike wasn’t a proper role model for a teenage girl. When the rest started to say their good byes, Buffy felt more than happy to see Xander leave. Not because he had made her a human shis-ka-bob but because she thought he had exceeded the recommended apology limit for the day. Willow and Tara gave her hugs and promised to bring her a goodie basket the next day. Giles was Giles, which meant he found it hard to express his emotions, but he didn’t need to, Buffy could see how he felt and how serious he had taken her injury.

Before anyone could actually make it out of the door, Willow turned back. “Buffy, can we have that Q and A about the chip non-workage issue now?”

“Uh…See…uh, it hasn’t worked for a while and I meant…”

Having heard, Xander stepped back in the room so he could look at everyone. What he said surprised everyone. “Well…uh…While having that demon in me, stalking Spike, and now being back in my right mind, I have actually changed my opinion of Dead Boy. I may choke on this, but what I saw was Spike helping us with the demons and not taking money, no evil hidden agenda. And I saw that he never was a danger to you, Buffy, where he easily could have been. The only scary part was seeing Spike doing the dirty with you.”

Buffy shot up right in her bed. “Xander, you are so dead…”

As Willow held an extended “eewww,” Tara held out her hand for Xander to stop. “More info than needed. Thanks.”

Anya pulled on the sleeve of Xander’s shirt. “Was it good sex? I bet Spike’s a good lover, lasts long, gives long orgasms, and have a long...”

Giles just left with his little bundle, bound for any sanity outside of Buffy’s hospital room.

*****

Buffy smiled as her sister and her vampire returned to the room. Just saying good-bye, Willow and Tara still happened to be in the room and laughed at Dawn, wearing a huge grin and indeed carrying a pizza box. The pizza turned out to be pepperoni and mushroom. The teenager wasn’t so thrilled with the mushrooms but declared it was still good enough to scarf down. Then Dawn kept Buffy laughing as she told how Spike had found a delivery person in the maternity wing and convinced, that is Spike’s type of convincing, the boy that the pizza was actually meant for them. Dawn’s description included an imitation of Spike’s version of an expectant father. No matter his acting, the money Spike offered was the high point of the story. ‘Well, at least they paid for it,’ Buffy thought.

As Dawn began to eat, Buffy turned her attention to Spike. She sighed when he gave her a long, sweet kiss on the lips, scant passion, just emotion. She glanced over at the remaining day’s sunlight coming through the hospital windows facing west. It hadn’t been until the last thirty minutes that the sun began sending its deadly rays directly into her room. What worried her even more was the sun would continue moving through more dangerous angles, sending more direct rays into the room. Even though she did enjoy looking at his pecs in his clinging t-shirt, but his clothes were still damp. “Spike, don’t you want to leave by the tunnels and go get some dry clothes? You could come back after night fall.”

Spike knew what Buffy was really trying to say in her adorable, supposedly hidden way. “Clothes dry enough, pet. As to me taking a stroll to the crypt…I almost lost you last night. So sorry, luv, I’m not leaving you just because some nasty rays of sunlight that has the nerve to pay a visit to your room. Besides, easy to avoid the little buggers when I want to. When it’s worth it.”

Buffy felt her insides warm and goose bumps rise up on her arm. ‘Gotta love a vampire that would rather go roasty-toasty than leave a girl’s side. Of course that’s if the vampire wasn’t sucking the side of the girl’s neck at the time.’ Buffy laughed to herself. But damn her promise, she did love the vampire. The words were on the tip of her tongue so many times during the day so far. However, no time had been “the right time.” Translation - she was scared. Scared that she would mess up what they now had together. Scared he didn’t love her back. She knew he always claimed that Dru was the love of his life. Could he or would he love that way again? Before her thoughts got any further, Spike was pulling out of a bag a large chicken ceasar salad, a hair brush, and bonus, massacre and lip gloss. What a vampire. What a man.

*****

Over the intercom came the call for the end of the visiting hours. Shortly thereafter, Buffy’s nurse entered the room to personally say that visitors should leave. When the nurse returned fifteen minutes later, Spike was still sprawled out in a chair up against the bed, watching TV with Buffy, and Dawn was lying on her side on the second bed with her head propped up, leisurely thumbing through a magazine. The nurse focused on Spike first with a fierce frown. “Sir, you *have* to leave now.”

Spike opened his mouth to tell the nurse that there was no soddin’ way he was not going to leave until Buffy could go with him, but the slayer beat him to the punch with just one clear, firm word. “No.”

Startled, the nurse shifted her frown over to her patient. “I’m sorry, Miss Summers. He has to leave. Hospital rules. You have had surgery, and to help your recovery, you need a good night’s rest. As it is, you have had too many visitors in the room today.”

Spike looked between the two women and recognized a good row building. So he sat back in his chair, getting comfortable to enjoy the show. Bossy cow versus vampire slayer. Spike glanced over at Dawn. “I’ve got a ten spot on your sis.”

“I don’t know what a ten spot is but no bet. I think Buff’s going to wipe the floor with her.”

Spike focused back on the pair. “Ding, round two.”

With her eye brows knitted together and hazel eyes flashing, Buffy was more than happy to stare the woman down. “No, and I mean no. He stays.”

Looking back at the determined slayer, Spike realized how stupid the smile on his face must look, but he didn’t care one wit. Spike was stunned but insanely happy that the slayer wanted him to stay. Not that he was planning to leave anyway, but it was rare for him and nice to be wanted, especially by Buffy.

Crossing her arms over her chest, the nurse wasn’t going to take this slip of a girl’s orders. “He has to go. Rules are rules. Only a family member can stay with the patient overnight and that would only be in a private room which this is not. I am sure you have noticed the second bed so no one sleeps over.”

Pointing a finger at the vampire to emphasize her words, Buffy did some of her own bossy cow imitation. “I. Don’t. Care. WHAT the rules say. Spike *stays* here!” She looked over at Spike and then back at the old biddy. “And dig him up a shirt so he can get out of this blood encrusted one.”

Dawn giggled at the “dig him up” and taking away blood from him comments. Unfortunately, that brought the nurse’s attention to her.

Spike was the one to speak up this time. “Don’t even start on the Bit with your sergeant sounding pipes. This room is private enough, and she’s Buffy’s little sis so she isn’t going to leave either.”

The nurse opened her mouth to argue but then snapped it shut before storming out in a huge huff.

Getting out of his chair when the nurse closed the door behind her, Spike stepped up to the bed and leaned over to give Buffy a kiss on the lips. “Thanks, luv.”

“For what?”

“Trust! As I told you before the attack of the whelp, I want the “we” part of us to last much longer, and trust is a part of that.”

*****

After another hour of talk and then watching some television, Dawn had fallen asleep in the other bed in the room. For the last ten minutes, Spike had laid his head on the bed, forehead to the mattress, lightly touching Buffy’s side, and she was lightly scratching the hair on the back of his neck.

Spike was still trying to get a grip on himself. He had been through so many events during the last thirty-six hours: playing in a pool with her, racing to his death on a natural made water slide, having desperate, fast adrenalin rush sex, holding her as her life flowed red across his crypt’s floor, sitting in the waiting room feeling helpless, relief seeing her alright and recovering, uncertainty from her friends reaction to him being there, awe on how she stood up for him, the high of beating the whelp who caused her injury, and then hearing her trust in him. All these events were spinning, spinning around one single emotion, love, for this strong woman and fierce warrior.

As she methodically moved her fingers through his hair, Buffy enjoyed being alive and being with him. She was relaxed and feeling the need to chat. “Spike, are you asleep? It’s not often your mouth stops moving this long.” Buffy was surprised that he still stayed silent. “Spike? So getting spooked here. Since you are already dead, I can’t tell if you’re asleep or what.”

She could feel him chuckle. “I’m awake, love, or I would be by now if not for all your blathering.”

“Good. We haven’t had a minute alone since I got in this hospital.”

“No, we haven’t. Want me to throw Bite Size out. We could check this mattress out good and proper.” His heart wasn’t in the wise cracks but tried to get a laugh out of habit.

“Ha and eeww. Dawn stays here and the mattress stays untried.” Buffy bit her lip. “Spike, I thought I was supposed to use crossbows on vampires, not have the pointy end used on me.” She expected a laugh but only heard silence. “Hey, it wasn’t that bad of a joke.”

He sat up straight so that he could look into his hazel eyes. “I am so sorry, pet. Not big on the laughs right now. That bleedin’ arrow was meant for this undead body, not your alive…”

She swiftly placed her fingers over his lips. “*Don’t you dare* apologize for that, vampire. Where I got shot, I can heal, but if you had been shot, you would have been dust. It scares me just thinking that the arrow pricked you above your heart.” Buffy rubbed his chest over his heart where the arrow had pricked him. Any cut on his skin didn’t existed there anymore, but she still rubbed the place anyway. With each circle she made, she thought about how she had almost lost him. Her voice came out as a whisper. “If I needed to, I would take the arrow for you again. I just don’t want to have to brush your dust off my shoes.”

Buffy smiled when Spike finally chuckled. His voice was low and gruff with emotion. “I certainly don’t want to be swept away by the crypt’s next tenant, but *don’t you dare* die. We have already had this discussion about one of us dying. Besides, I’m evil remember so people hunt you. I need to be watched at all times, preferably by you, which means you have to be here to watch my sexy arse.” With that said, Spike wiggled his eyebrows, trying to lighten up both of their moods. Otherwise, he feared that he was going to be a grade A ponce and start with the water works. “So, I’ll watch your back if you watch mine, and I don’t mean on a temporary basis.”

He put his head back down and enjoyed the feel of her fingernails scratching his scalp again. Long minutes passed before Spike asked, “Did you mean it? What you said to your mates, to Xander?”

“I meant everything, but my mouth was running laps around the hospital at the time. Which ‘thing’ do you mean?” She had a good idea which “thing” he was referring to and she wasn’t going to pretend she didn’t know what he was referring. She said it and was going to stick to it with her friends and him. She just needed confirmation if that was what he was referring to, but she could delay as long as she could, couldn’t she? Calling Ms. Chicken!

Spike thought this was the perfect way to bring feelings into the conversation. Earlier, she had said that she cared for him, “really” cared for him. What he wanted to know before he admitted his own feelings was if she loved him. Didn’t everybody feel that way, knowing how the other feels before confessing their own? Maybe this talk of caring could lead to talking of love. But, he also remembered his promise to not bring love into their relationship. Spike wanted to admit that he had broken said promise, but he wanted her to do it first. “You told Xander and the others that you cared for me. Did you mean it?”

Buffy twirled a particular curl around her finger as she felt butterflies flutter in her stomach. “Yes. So…what do you think?” Ok, back in his court now. Buffy crossed her fingers that he cared for her, or better yet, loved her.

Keeping his head down so she couldn’t see how anxious he was. “I won’t lie to you. This is hard for me because I’ve hated slayers for over one hundred years.” Spike picked up his head so that he could look into her beautiful hazel eyes. “But you. Your under my skin, bones, and nerves for that matter.” He paused, preparing himself for his admission, not the big “love” one, but enough for her fight or flight instinct could possibly kick in. “I think I have already proved this with my actions at the pool and later when you were shot. I care for you, and I don’t think I have ever been as afraid as I was last night.”

Buffy had caught the lift to cloud nine. He cared for her, but she just couldn’t bring herself to admit her love. Care. That’s good for now. Promise breaking later. “This is the kiss me part.”

When Spike pulled back from their kiss, Buffy smiled up into his face. “Just don’t let it go to your head, bleach boy. Your ego is as big as the Pacific Ocean as it is.”

Shortly thereafter, from the warmth of their shared emotions brought out into the open, Buffy relaxed and her eyes started to droop. Spike dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose and settled in to watch over her through the night. Across on the other bed, Dawn appeared to be asleep, but she wasn’t fooling him. The Nibblet was an eavesdropper through and through, and her heart rate increased when he and Buffy had discussed their feelings. So Bite Size knew everything and that was just fine. “Open the book” seemed to be the motto for the day. But he was interested to hear what the little chit thought about big sis and fangy vampire.

Dawn had been pretending to sleep but thought she was fooling Spike and Buffy. She was so happy for them. Stick-up-the-ass Riley had only been holding Buffy back, more of a pain in the ass than help. Pain ass. Stick ass. Just an all around ass. What her sister needed was someone equal to her, someone to help her fight and help her stay alive. Spike was all that plus he adored her, and Buffy was obviously hooked on him. Geez, subtle much?

After a few moments of complete silence in the room, Dawn hazarded a peek and looked straight into Spike’s blue eyes. Busted. From the looks of it, she didn’t think Spike was mad. She gave him a sheepish smile and didn’t bother to pretend she hadn’t heard their intimate moment. “I knew Buff was hooked on someone by the way she was hogging the bathroom so much lately, making sure her hair and makeup were just so perfect. And since she wasn’t in sharing mode, when she dressed up for slaying and came home grinning, I suspected it was you.”

“Nibblet, I think…” His sentence trailed off as Dawn’s expression changed from a smug grin to eyes popping with shock. Spike followed her line of sight, and his jaw joined Dawn’s on the floor. Spike shook Buffy awake without ever taking his eyes off of the two small, blue demons that were slowly flying into the room, heading straight for Buffy’s bed.

Dawn recovered fast. “Geez, Buffy, you know the coolest demons.”

******

Spike shook Buffy awake without ever taking his eyes off of the two small, blue demons that were slowly flying into the room, heading straight for Buffy’s bed.

Dawn recovered fast. “Geez, Buffy, you know the coolest demons.”

“Lucky me.”

As he continued to stare, it never crossed Spike’s mind to be scared by something so small that he could flush it down the toilet.

Rubbing her eyes, Buffy sat up quickly. “Spike, do you see them or have they given me way too many pain pills?”

“You mean, pet, the two blue fairies that just flew into the room and are now sitting on you legs?” Still keeping his eyes on the small pair of demons, he reached out to hold her hand. “Yes, pet, I see them, too.”

Reassured that she was in the right state mind, Buffy settled into slayer mode. “Ok, smurfs, state your business, or I’m knocking you both all the way to the Pacific Ocean.”

For once, Shel spoke up before Multok could. Her guilt drove her out of her shyness. “My name is Shel, and this is Multok. We’ve come to apologize. See, we were sent to help you two out.” She gestured to Buffy and Spike. “And we have been doing just that over the last couple of weeks.”

Spike was still suspicious. “Well ducks, what kind of help are we talking about?”

“Our assignment was to bring the two of you together.”

“Us together?” Buffy started thinking through all the possibilities from that astounding bomb shell. “What have you done?”

Multok took a couple of steps up Buffy’s leg. “We guided Buffy down in the sewers to spy. Got her attention on you, Spike. We made suggestions that made Spike’s dreams better. Got his attention on you, Buffy. I took out Spike’s chip so that he could fight Riley, but more importantly, so that he could earn your trust, Buffy. We helped you come up with the favors idea, and then we helped out when the favors were played out.” Multok paused a moment to let his words sink in. “But what we are here for now is to apologize for Buffy’s close call. After we helped you, Buffy, save Spike from the stream and then you two made with the smoochies (and let me add that you two have given Shel quite an education in that department), we thought everything was going to be alright, and Shell had seen enough, so we went to roach races. There was this little filly, Insecretariat, that I got an inside tip…”

“Multok!” Shel punched him lightly in the shoulder, thinking she couldn’t feel anymore embarrassed.

But Spike perked up. “I didn’t hear about that one. Was Sea-Bug-It running?”

Multok scratched his head as he answered. “I think he was running later on the card. Maybe race number ten. I was going to bet on Roachy Rodster in that race.

“What a nag. Name’s even dippy. No, Sea-Bug-It runs like his name sake, Seabiscuit. This roach has a longer stride and his trainer…

Buffy took a turn at remanding a male. “Spike! My legs. Unknown fairies. Stick to the damn subject.” Buffy may be mad, but Shel felt better since Multok was now keeping Spike company in the dog house.

Meanwhile, Spike and Multok looked at their respective girls and said in unison, “Women.”

Reluctantly leaving the conversation of the races, Multok came back to the subject. “We were derelict with our duty to watch over you while we are assigned here. We assumed you would go back to the crypt and make good use of the bed.” Spike liked this demon. Short, to the point and would have been right if it hadn’t been for the arrow. Multok continued. “So because we left, we weren’t there to help with the crossbow. But thankfully, here you are, Buffy, healing well.”

Buffy shrugged off his comment. “Ok. But I still don’t get what you are saying.”

“In return for our error and our apology, we offer to fill in the blanks about the demons you are hunting, how to kill them and help you kill them.”

Buffy wanted to put her hands on her hips but that just wasn’t possible in a hospital bed. She settled for staring daggers at the pair of fairies. “So you already knew how to kill these demons, and you are just now telling us?” Buffy didn’t know which made her more pissed. These two fairies following her and Spike around or that this whole demon problem could have been stopped at the beginning.

“The helping you hunt demons part was not in our job description. And you knowing about us is another rule broken. Besides, why should we have wanted to stop those demons? They were key in bringing the pair of you together. We didn’t want to stop them until you were firmly matched.”

Spike didn’t care about the demons running amuck. Spike cared about these demons which had been manipulating his unlife and the slayer’s life. “As I see it, matching the two of us was taking a big risk of losing a slayer.” At Buffy’s umph, Spike looked over at her. “You know I’m right, luv. After the chip was out, I could have killed you on several situations, easily in bed. Just lucky I find you too irresistible to kill.”

Buffy loved hearing those words coming out of his mouth and did a very un-slayer-like blush before glancing over at Dawn, who was grinning. Ok, time to redirect attention off herself. “So why? Why us? Why would the Powers That Be want two mortal enemies together?”

Bewildered at what he perceived as thick headedness, Multok just shook his head. “Simple. The Powers That Be gave the order that you needed to be together, and it actually was easier than I had expected. Regardless of how you felt about each other before, all the right chemistry was there waiting to spark. You just needed someone to strike the match. Why you two? Together you’re both stronger, harder to defeat than just one slayer and lengthens the slayer’s life. All things that the Powers That Be want.”

Spike’s head fell down onto the mattress of Buffy’s bed. “Could this night get any stranger?”

Dawn shrugged. “Sure. Arnold Schwarzenegger could skip in wearing a frilly hat, a tutu and smoking one of his ugh cigars.”

*****

Bright and early the next morning, all the Scoobies, along with Spike, Shel and Multok, met in Buffy’s hospital room. Multok filled in the blanks regarding the hungkin and eloquaw demons, and with his help, they made plans. A good plan, good organization, good location, strong arms and magic.

After a working lunch and then an hour more, the plan was ready with all the details worked out, except for pinning down the spells needed.

While Giles, Willow and Tara made a run for more books at the Magic Box, everyone else was on break. Dawn, Buffy, and Anya were all playing poker. Shel was perched on Dawn’s shoulder, helping her. Multok was also playing while conducting lessons. The other males made themselves scarce. Spike was on a blood run, and Xander had bowed out of the game a few minutes earlier, saying that he wanted to watch the girls have a poker cat fight.

When he thought no one was paying attention to him, Xander slipped out into the hall to wait. A few minutes later, he pushed away from the wall and moved to stop Spike before he could go into Buffy’s hospital room, which proved to be some what difficult since the vampire didn’t want to be stopped.

With his scared eyebrow cocked and shifting his weight from foot to foot, Spike stood impatiently and waited for Xander to speak. The vamp prayed that it wasn’t another apology. Enough of a good thing was definitely enough.

“Let me apologize again...” Xander began. Spike hoped the boy didn’t see him shudder. “…but let me also say that a months ago I would have enjoyed dusting your dead ass, so I’m still getting use to the fact that I’m glad I didn’t kill you.”

“Fair enough, but how come I think that’s not why you’re out here trying to make with some male bonding rot?”

Xander opted for the get-it-over-with approach. “I had…I had an accomplice in trying to kill you.”

“Wasn’t expecting that little loopy-loop.” Spike paused and considered. “Anyone I might know?”

“Yeah, too well…” Xander glanced at the vampire and held his gaze. “But you can’t tell Anya.”

Spike’s grin was evil. ‘Nothing like good blackmail material.’

As they walked away down the hall, neither saw Shel poke her head out the door. She hadn’t heard what they were talking about, but Shel promptly told Dawn what she had seen. Dawn, in turn, told everyone else, which left everyone wondering what could make Spike and Xander not only talk to each other alone, but to leave together. The real question of the day was what shape they would be in upon their return, battered, bruised, truce intact, or enemies again???

*****

Taking the vampire’s special allergies into consideration, Spike and Xander approached the small, yellow house through the tunnels below the city. “So this is the love nest wittle Xander built to pway house with the sexy vampiwess.” Spike chuckled until he took a sharp, pointy elbow to the ribs. “Omff. Watch my bones, brick layer. Remember that ole Spike has his bite back. Just think, you could be my first breathing meal. Better yet, don’t think about it. My stomach is already starting to churn with the thought.”

The trap door opened up into the kitchen. Knowing that Harmony was expecting him sometime that day, Spike and Xander were cautious. Xander because he no long had his super human strength to keep Harmony at bay, and Spike to catch her by surprise. Not that he feared Harmony. Ha, ha, ha. Nah, he wanted to catch her with a “boo” just for the shits and giggles.

As predicted, Harmony was ready, willing and waiting for Xander, and the theme du jour was the circus. When Xander called out, she hopped her way into the living room wearing a hot pink leotard, sequined belt and wrist bands, and a short, matching pink cape.

She immediately grabbed Xander’s hand and started pulling him toward the bedroom, talking in a horrid Russian accent. “Welcome, welcome to the big top. I am Natasha. May I see your ticket?” She reached down and grabbed his crotch.

Xander squeeked before pulling away. He had come with no desire for Harmony to touch him ever again, not to mention he was afraid that he would start to get hard and Spike would notice. He already knew the vampire was enjoying his predicament enough as it was and would have no hesitancy ribbing him for the next decade. “Harmony, I’m not…”

“No ticket…yet. No problem. We will work on your…uh…ticket later.” Harmony licked her lips just thinking of what she had planned. “You still have a seat reserved close to the trapeze. We will…”

“HARMONY…”

“You don’t have to yell. And…like you are ruining the moment. What’s your deal?…ok…back in character…Natasha can make it all better. Let me show you my trapeze act, and then I can show you some tricks with the trained poodles.”

Spike’s evil grin had returned. ‘Poodles? This is getting more interesting by the minute.’ So far, Harmony had been so focused on Xander that even with her vampiric senses, she had yet to see or detect Spike, who was now clearly visible, leaning again the kitchen’s door jam, smirking. She didn’t even pay attention to Xander’s glances toward him. Not only was Harmony a dim bulb, but she cast a dull grey light.

“…but Harmony.”

“Xander Harris, you are ruining my performance, and I always wanted to work in a circus.” Harmony quickly lost her playfulness. “What’s your major malfunction?” Still holding his hand, she jerked him forward.

‘That’s my cue.’ Spike stepped into the room and announced his presence. “Harm, shut your gob and open your ears.”

Harmony dropped Xander’s hand and stepped away, preparing for a confrontation. If Spike was here with Xander, Xander had obviously spilled his guts. Pathetic human. But Harmony was confident she would find a way out. “Hi, Spikey, how have…”

Spike continued, “You’ve got two choices, you ditz. Get swept out the front door with the rest of the rest of the dirt, or you can run.”

Starting to get comfortable and confident, Xander added, “That means all the way out of town, off this continent for good.”

Harmony turned her attention back to Xander. “Shut up, Xander. You weren’t that good in bed anyway.”

“Not good? NOT GOOD? How about in the living room, the kitchen, the hall…”

“Ha! You have a little…”

“I do not. It did the job…”

Spike chuckled, loving all the dirt flying. “Ok, children. Back to business. Harmony, time to make a choice. Dust or Dash. I would count to ten, but I think that many numbers might confuse you, so let me count to three to help you think.”

“Spike, you son of a bitch. You think you are so great …”

This time Spike had a stake in his hand. “One, Two…”

“I don’t have to do what you…”

Dust floated down to the floor. “Three.”

As Spike and Xander brushed dust from their clothes, they shared a look before Spike spoke again. “So chief, before we stroll off, give us a peep at Na-taaa-sha’s trapeze.”

Standing in the middle of the bed room, Xander looked around. “Maybe I’ll take some of the toys here home that Anya doesn’t already have.”

Spike gave Xander an accessing look. His opinion of the whelp went up a notch. “Now you are thinking, mate. Harmony certainly won’t be popping back in to collect them. ’Sides, what the bint made up for her lack of brains with gusto.” Spike gave him a slap on the back that had Xander taking a step forward. “Come on, let’s go get a pint or two from Willy’s and find a shady place outside of the hospital so I can have a drink and a smoke.

*****

As they walked back through the tunnels to the hospital, Spike went ahead and smoked a cigarette and watched Xander. The boy walked on the balls of his feet, practically bouncing as if he literally had a weight lifted from his shoulders.

“So, Spike, we have a woman in common.”

After taking a long drag off his cigarette, Spike blew out the smoke slowly. “First, Harmony was a stupid bint. Second, don’t make me hurl all the good blood I drank before we left the hospital. Third, don’t ever remind me again, or I’ll put your nuts in Anya’s nut cracker.”

Xander just let the threat slide by. His good mood made him impervious.

Spike thought before making his next comment. “Wasn’t all that good was she?”

“Harmony had her moments, but I’ll chop your head off if you tell Anya.”

“How are you going to come after me if Anya already cut off your noggin and the wee boy in your knickers.”

They walked in silence for a bit more. With Xander, a.k.a the energizer bunny mouth, so quiet that every step he took made Spike more and more suspicious. “Go ahead, suss out whatever you are sussing.”

“She bit me.”

“And…?”

“More than once.”

“And this is a sussing issue because…?”

“Will anything happen to me?”

Spike blew out smoke and then appeared to be studying the red glow of the tip of the cigarette. “Have you had red meat lately?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you enjoy it?”

“Uh…Yeah.”

“Did you get a sunburn lately?” Spike knew he was reaching on that one, but it was an educated guess since Xander worked outdoors.

“Yeah. Why?”

“Oh, that could be a problem. Next you could start getting wrinkles on your forehead.” When Xander started feeling his forehead, Spike found it hard to keep a serious face. ‘The opportunity to rib the whelp was always too good to pass up.’

******

Spike and Xander finally made it back into the hospital room, and all went well until Anya looked Xander over closely and then started brushing him off. “Xander, that shirt was clean and now you have dust all over it. What did you and Spike do when you were gone? Burrow like rabbits?”

That got everyone in the room’s attention. Buffy caught on the quickest. Not the person the duo wanted to catch on first. “You two haven’t been doing some slaying on your own, have you?”

Spike groaned inwardly and outwardly gave a nonchalant shrug of one faintly dusty shoulder. “Just took care of some vampire business.”

“Since you are a vampire, ‘business’ could cover quite a bit of ground. Narrow it down for us and keep it PG-13. Dawn’s here.” Buffy’s eyes narrowed. “Actually this had better be PG-13 unedited, or you two guys have a great deal of explaining to do.”

Xander tried for the nonchalance of his co-conspirator, like jumping from the New York to Paris and only making it to Ellis Island. “We ran across another vamp, and she gave us some trouble.”

Spike flinched at the “she.” Jealous girlfriends were not needed in the current situation. Not in any situation that Anya and Buffy ever need to hear about, and the look on both Anya and Buffy’s faces left no doubt that they were not believing anything they heard so far.

Since Spike wasn’t helping him out, Xander continued. “Anya, we ran across Harmony, and she was very dirty.”

Both fell out laughing. The others in the room could only understand a word here and a word there. “Harmony.” “Circus.” “Surprise.” “Trapeze.” “Dirty.” Some were repeated such as the last word, which was always followed by the hardest laughs. Everyone else in the room stayed silent, unable to choose from several reasons to be shocked. Xander and Spike shared a laugh like long time comrades. Spike laughing to the point of tears. Xander was leaning on Spike to stay standing up. They must have staked Harmony.

Truth be told, no one wanted to say anything to stop the spectacle as the pair eventually ended up on the floor. Buffy just wished she had a camera so she could hang the picture in the Magic Box, embarrassing both of them. Master vampire? Huh, more like master of the silliness.

*******

That night, Sunday night, Buffy had nagged her surgeon and the staff enough that she was able to check out of the hospital and go home. With a mutual agreement left unsaid between the three, Spike went home with Buffy and Dawn. Since Dawn was carrying the few this’s and that’s from the hospital, she entered the house first. Buffy followed her inside and headed for the kitchen. “Spike, what do…?” When Buffy turned, she was surprised that he wasn’t in the kitchen with her. “Spiiikke, get your dead ass in here already,” she yelled while opening the refrigerator’s door. She pulled out an apple juice container. Still no Spike. She set the apple juice container on the center island and headed to the dining room then on in the living room. When she looked around, she still couldn’t find him in there. That only left upstairs. “Spike?”

“Out here, luv.”

She found him out on the porch, smoking a cigarette.

“Daffy bint, you’d think being a vampire slayer and all, you would know why I am still out here.”

“Hold daffy bint for later, and for now Huh?...What are you talking about? I left the door open.” Buffy stopped and tilted her head to the side. “Wait. Is this about the invite clause?”

“I’ll take your huh and raise you a duh.” Now this was really getting humiliating not to mention making him truly worry if she was going to invite him in. Wouldn’t that be funny? She had invited him in when they were mortal enemies. Granted they had teamed up to take Angelus out, but still enemies that would as soon kill each other. And now as lovers, she wouldn’t invite him in. Ha, fucking, ha. Joke’s on her. He would stay on the porch, howling at the moon all night long if he had to.

“Spike, I never had your invitation revoked.” She watched his mouth open, forming a word but no sound came out. “Looks like you were about to say, ‘Huh?’ So it’s my turn to say ‘duh.’ That’s settled. So food. Kitchen. Now.” Buffy on purpose left out any invitation. Let the proud vamp find out for himself. Besides, if she had Willow do a disinvite, tonight she would have invited him in before she had gone in herself. He should have known that.

“What a wanker. I should have trusted that the slayer would forget such a detail. And no disinvite! Unlife is good.” Spike let his grin lead him into the kitchen.

*****

“No, pet, I’m not leaving tonight. Not until you are right as rain.”

Buffy sounded exasperated “Would you give your over worked mouth a rest and listen? I didn’t say I wanted you to leave. I don’t. I just said that we are not sleeping together with her next door. You could …”

Just coming into the kitchen, “her” decided to jump into the ridiculous debate. “What? Are you two crazy? Don’t even tell me he is staying on the sofa. Don’t be dumb on top of crazy. Take advantage of mom not being back from her trip yet and sleep together. I’ll sleep in mom’s room so I won’t hear. Now who’s cooking dinner? Since I am the youngest, I vote for oldest.”

*****

TBC