Chapter 15:

(Previously: Everyone leaves to go find Drusilla, but Buffy wants to confront Spike first.)


“Spike, wait!” Buffy cried, both in desperation and annoyance that he fell for Leanna’s obvious scheme.


Spike ignored her and kept striding forward.


“What the hell is wrong with you!?” Buffy screamed as she stopped running after him.


He halted in his steps and turned around. “What!? What’s wrong with ME??” Spike yelled incredulously.


“Yea, you! Do you actually believe Leanna??” Buffy’s expression showed her anger and disbelief.


“How else could she have known?” Spike asked with calm malice.


Buffy took a deep breath before she started to reply.


“I don’t know, ok? But I didn’t tell her! What? Did you just think we all of a sudden became best gal pals and shared our deepest, darkest secrets while braiding each other’s hair??*” Buffy asked in an exasperated tone.


Spike clenched his jaw in frustration, but said nothing to that.


Buffy waited for a response, but nothing came. She was furious that he didn’t even give her a chance in there. Mostly, she was hurt. This felt like a stab in the back when she thought about all they had gone through together recently. And she hated that she cared. Suddenly, it dawned on her.


Her eyes lit up with anger. “You’re mad because you’re a wuss.”


Spike’s eyes widened indignantly. “Are you bloody daft? What are you talking about?”


Buffy stuck out her chin and stepped forward challengingly. “The way I see it, there’s two possibilities. One, you’re being a jerk because then you don’t have to deal with what happened,” she gestured between the two of them, “or two, you’re being a jerk because you know you were wrong to let her go and keep it a secret, and you know I wouldn’t tell Leanna, of all people, but it’s just sooooo much easier blaming it on Buffy, huh? So which is it, Spike? Or is it both?”


He hated when she was right about something. Deep down, beneath this sudden rage, he knew she didn’t tell Leanna a damn thing. But this flashback to his past was overwhelming. He took a look at her smug expression and went into stubborn mode.


“Look, you’re bloody daft. I’m not a wuss. I’m not avoiding anything,” Spike replied defensively.


“Right,” Buffy nodded, “because there’s nothing to avoid, right?” She gave him a hurt look. “Just mutual hate.”


Spike winced at hearing his own stupid words repeated back to him. He didn’t mean it, but it sounded awful anyway. “Buffy, you know I didn’t mean it,” Spike said in a slightly softer tone.


“What I know, is that we got drunk and had sex, and now I realize you were using me,” Buffy managed to get out in an angry and trembling voice.


Spike opened his mouth, but Buffy cut him off.


“Save it.,” she mimicked hatefully. She glared at him and added, “You told me that you trusted me to keep a secret. And guess what? I actually did. But I also trusted you to believe me. I’m the one that should be pissed off at YOU.”


He saw that she was absolutely furious, and he moved forward to try and reassure her, but she jerked back and looked at him with murderous eyes. He felt a stab in his gut at her move, but he needed to get back to business and find Dru – he couldn’t spend more time arguing what seemed to be an endless fight.


“Look Buffy, I don’t have time for this right now. I have to go find Dru,” Spike said with apologetic eyes.


“Yea, I understand,” Buffy said in a genuine tone. But then she added sarcastically, “Don’t worry, the other night will be our new little secret.” Without looking at him in the eyes, she turned and stormed off. Her anger resulted in brimming tears and she furiously wiped them away with the back of her hands.


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“I don’t see any crazies out here,” Xander commented to the others.


“Xander,” Willow gave him the stern face, “Spike could hear you.”


“What?? He’s not even with us,” Xander cried defensively. “And am I wrong?”


“No, honey. You’re just being a big jackass,” Anya replied.


“Ok, he’s the one that kept a secret from us for all these years. Why am I the jackass?” Xander said defensively.


“Look, Xander. I’m not saying that Spike was right to do that, or that I’m not hurt by it, but your comments – reeeeally not helping right now,” Willow finished.


“How about you people finish your quarrel later?” Giles inquired sternly. “We have a dangerous human to look for.”


“Your right, Giles,” Tara nodded.


“Sorry,” both Xander and Willow replied meekly.


“Let’s keep looking,” Giles said.


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Leanna was humming as she strolled down the street. Things were going perfectly.


She was passing Spike’s house and she stopped. She smelled blood. Curiously, she walked up to the door. Opening the door without knocking, she stepped inside and peered around. Everything seemed quiet.


Suddenly, Dawn jumped out of nowhere with a pot in her hand and yelled, “Stay back!” Realizing, it wasn’t Drusilla, Dawn relaxed. “Oh, it’s just you.”


“Who are you trying to scare with a pot?” Leanna raised an eyebrow in question, unfazed by the ambush. She paused when she saw Dawn’s cheek. “Where did you get that?”


“Drusilla randomly dropped by and then she went all crazy and creepy on me and slashed me with her nails and I tried to call Spike and the others, but no one was picking up at the Magic Box, and-,” Dawn tried to say in one breath.


“Whoa!” Leanna interjected. “Stop.” She put her hand over Dawn’s mouth. She was highly annoyed by Dawn’s continuous rambling, but then she realized this was a good opportunity for her.


She mentally briefed herself, and then turned on the act. “Oh I’m just so glad you’re ok!” she said with concern. She pulled Dawn into a hug and awkwardly patted her back while rolling her eyes. Dawn stood frozen in this really creepy moment.


Leanna pulled Dawn back by the shoulders and held her at arms length. “Do you want me to take care of your cut?” she said in a patronizing voice.


“Um…no, that’s ok,” Dawn replied slowly. “Is there something wrong with you? You’re acting very weird.”


“Oh, I’m just upset that Drusilla got to you before we could find her! But I’m here now, you’ll be safe,” Leanna smiled widely.


Dawn looked confused, but she managed to catch what Leanna said. “Wait, you know she’s back?”


“Yea, I just told the rest of them. That’s why they didn’t pick up the phone. They’re all out looking for her,” Leanna replied quickly, her expression turning into one of disinterest.


Leanna clapped her hands together once. “Ok! You stay up in your room and lock the door – I will go and tell Spike what happened. Got it, little Dawn?”


Dawn was going to protest against Leanna’s patronizing tone, but the thought of staying in her room with the doors locked was rather appealing at the moment. So she just nodded and started to walk up the stairs. Turning around, she looked at Leanna, who gave her a shooing motion to keep going up. When she got to her room, she heard the door slam downstairs. ‘That is so bizarre.’ She shuddered.


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Spike had searched all over the area around the Bronze and nothing. He didn’t even catch her scent at all. He was making his way over to the cemetery, when he saw his friends were about to do the same thing.


“Hey Spike, did you see anything?” Willow asked.


He sighed. “No, nothing,” Spike said. He looked very troubled. Tara figured it was the Drusilla issue, but then she noticed something.


“Where’s Buffy?” Tara asked.


“Oh…uh,” Spike began, “I dunno. Let’s keep looking.”


They noticed the weird mood, but no one commented – they just looked at him peculiarly.


They were about to head as a group to search the cemetery, but they were stopped by Leanna’s sudden appearance. She looked rather frantic.


“Spike!” Leanna cried.


“What?? What happened?” Spike asked with concern.


“It’s Dawn,” she said dramatically as she put on a troubled face. “Drusilla got to her and slashed her across the face!”


Spike’s eyes widened in panic. “Is she ok??”


“Oh no,” both of the Wiccas whispered. Everyone was horrified that they hadn’t thought to protect Dawn first. Actually, they didn’t even think Dawn mattered to Drusilla.


“Yea, I made sure she was ok,” Leanna gave a winning smile before turning serious, “you guys should head on over in that direction. I told Dawn to stay in her room and lock the door, but Drusilla was probably there not too long ago.”


She didn’t need to tell them twice – they started running in that direction. Leanna smiled to herself. She had perfect timing. Now they would be out of the way and Buffy would be on her own. She really hoped that Drusilla would succeed in killing her.


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By the time she got to her crypt, she was completely distraught. She wanted to leave and go home already. All of the emotions she had here felt so real – especially the helplessness. She wasn’t in control here – she couldn’t defend herself, she couldn’t wipe that smug look off Leanna’s face, and she couldn’t just punch Spike away from her life. Not only that, but everything she had was his: her family, her friends, her power.


And somehow, she was letting herself care. Back home, she didn’t even give Spike the time of day. Now, it was like everything came down to him. ‘How??’ she thought to herself desperately as she plopped down on her bed face forward. She realized that she depended on him and trusted him, more so than was possible back home. It was like he was a completely different person here, yet somehow the same. ‘Is it because it’s ok to care here? Because he’s good?’ Buffy shook off the thoughts quickly, ‘None of it is real anyway. I’m only fooling myself…’


She banged her head repeatedly against her pillow in frustration. All she ever thought about since that day was the way he felt, they way they felt together. At first, it was just consuming passion, then somewhere along the line, it changed. But between ‘the morning after’ and today’s ordeal, she hated how vulnerable she had become. ‘They always leave me,’ Buffy thought to herself as she closed her eyes at the memories. Her anger rose – she felt like she was, once again, a one night stand. It was bad enough that he went out with Leanna, but now he was running back to that crazy psycho. ‘Why should I care about that vapid ho??’ She had a distressed pout – being insanely jealous of Drusilla was pissing her off.


She froze when she heard a clang upstairs. A part of her hoped it was Spike, but she knew he was out looking for Drusilla. A happy thought came to her, ‘Maybe it’s Clem!’ From the impression she got last time, he was the perfect person to talk to, about anything. And apparently, she told him everything. Buffy figured he was her only real friend here.


Getting up quickly, she wiped at her tear-stained face and walked toward the ladder. When she reached the top of the ladder, she called out, “Clem? Is that you?”


Bringing herself to her feet, she looked around, but no Clem. The crypt door was open. She slowly walked around the crypt, trying to sense someone. All she saw was a knocked over candlestick. Looking toward the open door, she stepped forward suspiciously.


Stepping out into the cold night air, she cautiously scanned the area for danger. She remained silent, listening for any movements. All of a sudden, an arm came around her neck, choking her firmly from behind.


She gasped for air as her hands gripped the arm in front of her. Then the assailant whispered into her ear, “Someone tells me you’ve been stealing my dolls.”


Buffy recognized the voice and quickly jabbed her elbow backwards, hitting Drusilla in the gut and effectively releasing the hold. She stepped a few feet away and turned to face Drusilla. Anger bubbled up inside her as she gasped for breath and shot Drusilla a murderous look.


“What the hell do you think you’re doing!?” Buffy demanded. ‘I can so kick her ass! She’s not a vampire here.’


“I’ve come back to take what’s mine,” Drusilla said with piercing eyes.


“What the hell are you blabbering about?” Buffy yelled. “Your-,” she cut herself off when she realized that Drusilla meant Spike.


“My Spike has been veryyyy bad,” Drusilla said. “And YOU!,” Drusilla jabbed two fingers in the air in a catlike manner, “have crashed my tea party.”


Buffy looked at her like she was insane because, well, she was. “Riiiiight,” Buffy said with her arms crossed. “Why don’t you just go find Spike then? I’m sure you guys can live happily ever after in a mental ward,” she added bitterly.


“No, not yet,” Drusilla started as she stepped toward Buffy, “Mommy wants to play.”


Buffy pretended to think about it really hard. “Hmmm try to convince you to leave, or wipe the floor with you?” She stopped and looked at Drusilla with a smile. “My pent up frustration tells me to kick your ass.”


She ran forward and jumped into the air, kicking Drusilla in the head before her feet touched the ground. Drusilla’s head jerked back from the blow, and she growled in anger. She lunged forward and backhanded Buffy across the face, making her stumble.


Buffy quickly regained her footing and threw a hard uppercut to Drusilla’s jaw, followed by a punch to the stomach. As Drusilla keeled over, Buffy grabbed her and threw her forward into a tombstone. Taking a breath, she said, “You messed with me on the wrong day.”


She ran forward as Drusilla was getting up to her feet, leaped onto a tombstone and smashed her fist into Drusilla’s face as she came flying down. Feeling the adrenaline pumping through her body at finally getting some violence in, Buffy did a spinning kick that had Drusilla reeling.


“Oh, it’s good to be back,” Buffy commented happily. She moved forward, but Drusilla quickly got up and lunged at her, scratching her face with her nails.


“Ow!” Buffy yelled as she clutched her face. Fury didn’t begin to describe it. She moved forward and did a roundhouse kick before saying, “DON’T mess with the face!”


She let out a series of punches, still in control of the fight. Drusilla could do very little to stand the slayer’s blows, except the occasional backhand. As Buffy gave her one last hard punch to the face, Drusilla fell to the floor in pain.


Drusilla clutched her stomach as she moaned crazily. Before Buffy knew it, Drusilla whipped out her leg and sent Buffy off her feet, onto the ground on her back. Wincing at the pain of her head hitting the ground, Buffy remained immobile for a mere second, giving Drusilla the chance to straddle her hips and choke her with one hand.


Buffy was about to force Drusilla off of her, but in a flash of a second, Drusilla reached behind her back, pulled out a knive, and stabbed Buffy in the gut.


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Worriedly, Spike and the others had raced to the Revello house.


“Dawn!!” Spike yelled as he barged into the house, followed by the others. “Dawn!! Where are you!??”


Dawn appeared and ran down the stairs, flinging herself into Spike’s arms. She pulled back from the tight hug to exclaim, “Look at my face!” she pointed at her slashed cheek.


Spike clenched his jaw in anger at the sight. “Why the hell did you invite her in!?”


Dawn looked confused. “What?? How the heck was I supposed to know she was crazy??”


Spike’s anger melted as he realized she couldn’t have known. He hadn’t told any of them. ‘It’s all my bloody fault,’ he thought guiltily. The others looked at him accusingly.


“I’m sorry, Nibblet,” Spike said with a sigh as he pulled her in for another tight hug. “I should’ve warned you…”


“I’m ok, Spike,” Dawn assured him as they pulled back.


“I’m glad you’re ok, Dawnie. We’re sorry we didn’t come sooner,” Willow said.


“Yea, I didn’t even think she would come here,” Spike commented as he ran his hands through his hair. “I mean, of all the people she would go after-,” he cut himself off. Eyes widening, he looked up at the rest of the gang, who had puzzled looks.


He turned to Dawn. “Dawn, tell me what Drusilla said to you.”


Dawn looked confused at his urgency, but obliged anyway. “Well, she said she was hungry and she wanted to wait for you. I’m not sure I remember everything, but she said weird things like how ‘you’ve been naughty’,” Dawn said with a raised brow.


Spike’s eyes widened and darted around, seeing the gang give him a questionable look.


Dawn rolled her eyes and kept the smirk to herself. She continued, “She said stuff about how she came to ‘make everything right again’ and something about Buffy ruining her tea party. All of a sudden, she got all psycho and dark on me and then she slashed me. Do you know what she wanted?”


Dru was always a little psychic. She must have sensed something had happened between him and Buffy, which meant that Buffy was in trouble.


Spike felt a panic jolt through his body. “Dawn, go back to your room. Everyone else, let’s head to the cemetery.”


No one had to ask. They knew why they were going there.


When they finally got there, it was too late.


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Buffy’s breath caught in her throat, as an overwhelming pain shot through her entire body. With shocked eyes, she looked down at the knife stuck in her stomach. Drusilla yanked out the knife, causing Buffy to cry out in the second wave of pain.


“A little birdie told me this would be useful,” Drusilla whispered as she leaned forward towards Buffy’s head.


As Drusilla was about to plunge the bloody knife down again, Buffy caught her hand and flung Drusilla off of her. The knife dropped to the ground, and Buffy clutched her painfully bleeding wound. She struggled to get up, the pain almost unbearable. Crying out as her movements increased the burning sensation, she got to her feet.


Drusilla advanced for the knife, but Buffy quickly kicked her back, bending over from the pain afterwards. Her hand was covered in blood and she was beginning to feel lightheaded.


Drusilla looked upset and gave a little growl. “I think now I shall torture you before I kill you.”


“Buffy!!” Spike yelled frantically as he saw them.


Buffy shot her head up at the sound of his voice, and Drusilla took this moment of distraction to charge towards her, hoping to grab the knife that was near Buffy. But Buffy turned back around to see Drusilla rushing her, quickly grabbed the knife on the ground, and plunged it into Drusilla’s chest with her last bit of strength.


Both of them widened their eyes in shock. Drusilla starred down at the knife in her chest, as Buffy realized what she had just done.


Spike froze.


Drusilla collapsed and Buffy fell to the ground in shock. She felt lightheaded, but still felt remorse for killing Dru, who was human. Even though it was Dru, the act of driving a knife into human flesh was sickening.


Spike and the others ran to them, and he halted a few feet away from both women as he starred at all the blood. As she clutched her stomach in pain, Buffy looked up at his blurry form. Before she fell into unconsciousness, she managed to whisper softly, “I’m sorry…”


Tara and Willow ran to Buffy’s side to check on her. Xander, who was kneeling down and checking Drusilla, said, “Spike, Drusilla’s dead.”


His expression was unreadable, as he turned to look down at his former lover’s form. They waited for his next move – waiting for the anger and sorrow at Drusilla’s death.


He turned to Willow and Tara in question. Tara replied, “She’s alive. Her heart beat is weak though, and she’s still bleeding a lot.”


Without hesitating, he stepped over to Buffy’s unconscious body and kneeled down. Tara and Willow gave him space. Worry was written all over his face as he took in her bloody wound. Gingerly snaking his hand under her neck and hooking her legs, he picked up her body. Holding her close to his chest, he was about to walk away.


“What are you doing?” Xander asked, confused.


“What the hell does it look like I’m doing??” Spike asked with anger.


“But-,” Xander stopped himself when he saw the glare Spike gave him.


“Not a bloody word, Harris,” Spike gritted out.


When Spike was satisfied that Xander kept his mouth shut, he turned to Giles and demanded, “Call Wesley for me. Tell him to get his ass over to my house now, or I’ll come and rip out his throat.” Turning back to Buffy’s limp body in his arms, his angered expression melted into worry again. Then, he held her closer and walked away, leaving them all a little stunned.

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Chapter 16:

“I don’t understand how this all happened,” Joyce said as she shook her head in disbelief. Everyone was sitting around her living room and she’d been repeating herself for the past 10 minutes. She turned to Dawn again, “Are you sure you’re ok, honey??”


“Mom, for the last time, I’m fine,” Dawn said in a reassuring voice, as she took her mom’s hand in a comforting gesture and gave it a squeeze. “I’m not the one we have to worry about…” Dawn’s worried look traveled over to the stairway.


“Don’t worry Dawnie. Wesley will help Buffy – she’ll be ok,” Willow said in a hopeful and reassuring tone, but her scrunched forehead showed her apprehension.


“They’ve been in there for nearly two hours now,” Anya commented impatiently. “She has slayer healing, right? How much longer is this going to take? The wait is unsettling!”


“Maybe we should all just leave,” Xander suggested. At annoyed looks he was getting from the rest of them, he jumped in, “Before you say anything, that’s not what I mean. I just mean that, maybe, we should give them some space. I don’t think that any of them are going to come out of Spike’s room and want to deal with us waiting here for answers.”


They stared at him in wonderment. That was probably the most considerate and non-spiteful thing he had said in a long time.


“What??” Xander asked in an offended tone. “I can be nice!”


Dawn rolled her eyes while the rest of them looked at him disbelievingly.


“And would this sudden consideration have anything to do with Spike threatening to ‘feed you to Leanna’ if you didn’t stop acting like a ‘ bloody wanker,’ as he put it?” Giles asked with an amused look.


Tara suppressed a smile and looked down. The others tried to hold back their laughs at the petrified look on Xander’s face when Spike had pushed him against the wall and threatened him.


“The bitch is scary, ok??” Xander exclaimed defensively. “And did you see Spike? I think I saw a vein pop in his forehead!” He crossed his arms and sulked at the deflating of his manhood.


He was right though. For the past two hours, Spike had been downright scary. He had practically bitten off the head of anyone who had spoken to him, including poor Wesley, who had made the poor choice of saying that the wound “didn’t look good.”


They looked up as they heard the door of Spike’s room open and close. They stood up and saw Wesley coming down the stairs with his bag of medical supplies, rubbing his neck and looking exhausted.


“How is she?” Dawn asked urgently.


He sighed. “Better. Her breathing is still weak, but it’s stable now. She lost a lot of blood, but I finally got the bleeding to stop. She also developed a really high fever. I gave her some medicine that should help,” Wesley replied.


“And how are you?” Giles asked, looking at Wesley rub his neck.


“Let’s just say I barely got out of there with my throat in tact,” Wesley answered. “I better get going before he comes down and demands that I stay here indefinitely.”


Everyone said their thank-you’s as he left. As Joyce shut the door, they all turned around to look at each other, wondering what to do next.


Joyce questioned apprehensively, “Shouldn’t one of us go up and check on them?”


They all quickly looked somewhere else, darting their eyes around, pretending to look at something on the walls.


------


Buffy’s breathing was reduced to a raspy whisper. Her distressed cries were replaced with the occasional whimper. The bandage wrapped around her stomach showed the red of her blood above her wound. Spike brought up the bed sheet to cover her bra-clad form, since they had to remove her bloody shirt to bandage her. She stirred and groaned slightly. Spike could tell she was uncomfortable - her skin was gleaming with sweaty perspiration.


With a frown, he moved to wring out the washcloth over the water-filled bowl, and brought it back to gently wipe Buffy’s face and neck. She let out a little sigh at the cool relief and drifted back into her quiet sleep.


Spike sat back down in the chair he had put next to his bed and buried his face in his hands. ‘It’s all my fault,’ he told himself pitifully. He felt like a stupid git. Why hadn’t he known that Dru would go straight for Buffy? And if he didn’t have that fight with Buffy earlier, she probably would have been with them the whole time.


All he knew for sure was that he had acted like a wanker. He didn’t know when, he didn’t know how, but somewhere along the way, he had started to fall for her - hard. And it had never been clearer to him than in the moment that he thought he lost her. The image of the knife piercing her stomach kept flashing into his mind, and it was as if he felt every stab in his own stomach.


A knock sounded from his bedroom door. Shooting his head up at the intrusion, he had an annoyed look. “Bugger off!”


“Spike, honey? It’s me,” Joyce’s voice could be heard muffled through the door. Reluctantly, he got up and went to answer the door.


Joyce waited patiently. When the door swung open suddenly, a very distraught and disheveled-looking Spike appeared. His hair was ruffled and he looked exhausted.


“Spike, is Buffy ok?” Joyce asked in a concerned voice.


He clenched his jaw and avoided her gaze, not answering her.


She saw the anguish in his eyes, and decided to quickly move on. “Do you need me to do anything? Bring you anything?”


“No, mum, thanks,” Spike said as he ran his hands through his hair.


“Do you want me to watch her while you get some sleep?” Joyce offered.


“No. Not sleeping.”


Joyce was about to argue, but she closed her mouth and decided against it. “Alright then. Call me if you need anything,” she said as she gave him a small smile and turned to go back downstairs.


He shut the door and went to sit on the edge of the bed next to Buffy. He sat there watching her, waiting to do something to help – anything. She stirred in her sleep and tried to roll over, eliciting a groan at the pain that shot through her. Spike quickly caught her by the shoulders and pushed her back down gently to lie on her back again. But she tossed her head around and muttered under her breath as Spike tried to keep her from moving off her back. Clearly she was having some sort of nightmare.


“Shhh,” Spike soothed, as he ran his hands over her cheek and pushed back her hair. She calmed slightly, as he continued to run his hands along her face and her arms, cooling her into a restful sleep.


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The Next Night…


The gang was gathered at the Magic Box. Everyone was uncomfortably silent, not really knowing what to say about everything that had happened yesterday. Willow was working on the computer and Tara was looking through the wooden book.


Anya looked around at everyone impatiently, but nothing came. “Ok, the silence is driving me crazy! When is everyone going to talk about what no one wants to bring up??”


Xander jumped in, “Anya’s right. Everyone keeps avoiding the subject. Do you guys know something that I don’t know?” He looked at Willow and Tara in particular.


Willow shook her head, “No, I just thought Spike was being nicer to her. I didn’t know he had feelings for Buffy.”


Xander turned to look at Tara in question. She looked sheepish and gave a meek smile. “I s-sort of knew,” she stuttered.


Giles asked, “How come you never mentioned anything?”


“It wasn’t my place to tell. A-and sometimes, we weren’t the nicest people to Buffy,” Tara finished. Everyone immediately shot their heads up to look at Xander.


“What??” Xander asked defensively. “She has no soul!”


“Hey Guys,” Willow interjected, not turning away from her computer screen. “Look at what I found!”


They went over to the table and hovered behind her.


“I searched for Rajendra Gem and found a bunch of sites on it. Most of them are bogus, but this one looks interesting…The Rajendra Gem is said to lie in the depths of the hidden caves of northwest India. Many have scoured the land in search for its legendary powers, but centuries of failure have turned it into a mere myth.”


“And then look, here’s a different insert about it,” Willow said as she pointed for the others to see. “The prophecy speaks of the manifestation of a goddess as the one who will successfully find this gem and use its powers to alter the world. Realities will switch until the reason for the alteration is eliminated. If the prophecy is fulfilled, the end of mankind will come before its time is due.”


“Oh dear,” Giles said as he looked perplexed. “I had rather thought that this whole gem business was just some magic trinket.”


“So what do we do next?” Willow asked, looking up at Giles.


“Well,” Giles began hesistantly, “I guess we try to find out somehow if the gem has been found.”


“How do we do that?” Tara asked. “That seems nearly impossible…”


“Have you looked through the whole book, Tara?” Anya asked as she walked over to it and began flipping through it.


“Nearly, and I didn’t see anything else besides what we already read,” Tara answered.


Anya tilted her head. “Well maybe it’s not in here anymore.”


“What are you talking about, Ahn?” Xander asked as he came up behind her.


“There’s a missing page,” Anya replied, as she pointed to the torn edge.


----------


Buffy woke up and an immense pain radiated throughout her body. She groaned for a minute before her mind started to clear. Unfortunately, the groggy feeling didn’t subside. She realized the pain was shooting out from her stomach. And someone was holding her hand. Opening her eyes a little, she turned to her right, to find Spike’s sleeping face inches from hers. Eyes widening, she realized he was sleeping right next to her, but not touching her, except for her right hand which was intertwined in his. She looked around her and saw that they were in her room. Her room, which she slowly realized wasn’t hers at all. Instead of her light pastel colors, the walls were covered with posters of the Sex Pistols.


She extracted her hand from Spike’s and instantly felt the comfort wash away from her. Frowning, she tried to push herself up a little, but was only rewarded with another shooting pain. She groaned as she clutched her stomach with her left arm.


Spike’s eyes shot open and darted around, still in a sleepy daze. “What? What?” Spike asked frantically. He realized he was on his bed with Buffy right next to him, who was apparently holding her stomach in pain. With a worried look, he asked, “Are you ok?”


Buffy turned her head to the side and looked at him, not answering.


“Right, sorry,” Spike replied. He shifted until he was sitting up. “What do you need, luv? I’ll get it for you. Lie back down,” he said as he gently pushed her shoulder down.


She moved her shoulder back from his grasp, confusing him. She looked at him and asked, “How did I get here?”


His forehead furrowed in confusion. “I carried you here. Why? What’s the matter?”


She looked down at herself, indicating her state of undress.


His eyes widened with understanding. “I took it off so Wesley could bandage you up. It was innocent, I promise.”


Buffy nodded her head, casting her gaze downwards. She paused in a moment of silence. “And Drusilla?” she asked.


“She’s dead,” Spike replied matter-of-factly, with no hint of malice or reproach.


Buffy’s eyes shot up at his tone. Confused, she starred at him, hoping to decipher what he was thinking. “Aren’t you angry?”


“Yea, of course,” Spike began. Buffy frowned, waiting the blow. He continued, “That bloody bint was crazier than I thought.” Buffy looked stunned at that.


He looked at her, eyes filled with remorse. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner…” He reached out to grab her hand, but she pulled away, out of his reach.


Her mind reeled with confusion. She had been expecting anger and yelling – things she could deal with. But this –the worry etched into his features as he looked at her affectionately – she didn’t know how to deal with it. Emotions swarmed through her and she felt her heart constrict at the thought of Spike taking care of her all this time. She vaguely remembered someone soothing her with soft hushes and light touches. How could this Spike be the Spike she knew?


She looked up at his hurt look. “Why? I thought you loved her. Why did you bring me here?” she demanded.


Realization dawned on Spike. He looked surprised, “I thought it was obvious.”


“Explain it to me.”


“Buffy, I haven’t loved Dru for a long time,” he began. He reached for her hand again, and this time she didn’t resist. He held her fingers in his hand as he brushed his thumb lightly over her knuckles. “You know I care about you,” he said with sincerity.


Her chin trembled slightly. She shoved away that feeling – the one where she felt like she was a 16-year-old girl again. She looked at Spike defiantly. “So, what now? You suddenly want us to be some sort of couple?”


Her angry tone annoyed him. He was finally admitting his feelings and she wasn’t returning them. But he couldn’t get himself to start a fight with her – not now, not with her hurt like this. He sighed and replied with sincerity, “Yea, I do.”


Her stomach clenched at his words, but she snapped herself out of it and pulled back her hand from his. She started to try to get up, ignoring the pain.


“What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing!?” Spike yelled as he got up and rushed off the bed to her side. He grabbed her arms to support her as she winced in pain. His expression softened as he asked, “Why are you being like this?” He reached out to caress her cheek as she looked down, away from his gaze.


Trying to keep the emotion out of her voice, she look up at him and said, “I’m not interested in a secret relationship.”


She could practically see him thinking as his eyes scanned hers in brief confusion. And then he got it. “Oh, is that what you’re worried about?” he said as he gave her an amused smile.


She began to pull away as she said, “I’m not worried about anything. I -.”


He cut her off, “I’ll tell them right now if you want me to.”


Buffy stopped for a moment and processed what he said. As he bent down to kiss her lightly on the lips, her resolve finally broke. Her entire body relaxed in his arms. Exhaling, she buried her face into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, careful not to hurt her wound. With her face against his shirt, she nodded and muffled, “Ok.”



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Chapter 17:

‘Oh God, what am I doing? What did I do?’ Buffy asked herself as she stood under the spray of the warm shower. She shut her eyes and let the water hit her face, reveling in the warmth. It would have been comforting but her wound stung and she had to try to ignore the pain. ‘How could I agree to going out with Spike? It’s Spike!’ Her mind was reasoning with herself about the absurdity of it all, but the look of worry on his face earlier and the tenderness he showed her melted her heart until she felt like giving in. ‘Oh God,” Buffy thought as she let her forehead hit against the shower wall.


Spike kept going back and forth between his room and the hallway. Finally, he heard her turn off the shower. He strode up to the door with the bundle in one hand and waited for a bit, contemplating if he should knock. She had insisted she was okay and could clean up by herself, but Spike couldn’t help worrying – or pacing the entire time.


“Buffy, luv,” Spike called gently through the door, “Do you need help with the bandaging?”


Buffy eyes widened in slight panic. How was she going to deal with this? She stood there with a towel around her, suddenly realizing she didn’t have any clean clothes to change into.


Quickly, she called out, “No, no! I’m fine!” Her eyes darted around as she tried to think of whether or not she should just put her dirty clothes back on again. She made a face at the thought, since most of it had blood on it.


Spike looked amused as he continued to face the door with clothes in his hands. “You mean you don’t want clean clothes? That’s fine with me. Just come out the way you are, pet.”


Pouting to herself in defeat, she reluctantly moved her body against the door and cracked it open, sticking her head out to look at Spike. Her eyes avoided his and darted around. She felt uncomfortable and awkward without any of her clothes. “Can you bring me something to wear?” Buffy asked, looking nervous.


Spike tilted his head and looked at her with a slight smile. When she looked up at him, he raised his eyebrow and handed her the sweats and the t-shirt he had gotten for her. “Sorry, luv. I don’t have any spare knickers that might be of your fancy,” he said with a smirk. Her shy side was something he had not seen often, and it was damn cute.


She reached her hand out between the crack of the door for the clothes. “Um thanks,” Buffy said quickly as she closed the door to get dressed.


Spike chuckled on the other side of the door, still standing there, waiting to help her bandage the wound up again. His smile faded at the image of the wound from before Wesley had patched it up. He looked down as he tried to control his anger. It was all his stupid fault.


Slipping on the sweats and the oversized t-shirt, Buffy tried to set to the task of removing the wet bandage and putting on a new one. She lifted up her shirt, bunched it up under her arms, and ineffectively tried to wrap the bandage around herself when she heard Spike say, “Buffy, let me help you with the bandage. You’ll bugger it up doing it by yourself.”


“No, it’s ok!” Buffy called back quickly, but she WAS struggling with it herself. Noticing she was doing it too loose, she undid it a bit and pulled it tighter. She inhaled sharply and let out a sound of discomfort at the pain that shot through her.


Spike heard her and he quickly opened the door without asking, scanning her form with worried eyes. “What?” Spike asked urgently, placing his hands on her upper arms as his eyes questioned hers.


“Nothing, I’m fine,” Buffy tried to say, but Spike had already taken the bandage tape from her hands. “No, it’s ok, really, Spike,” Buffy protested.


Spike stopped his actions, and he stepped a little closer to her. He gazed at her freshly showered face and her wet locks, finally looking her in the eyes. He ran his left hand lightly against her cheek, and came in to give her a quick peck on the lips. “I’ll take care of you. Let me help.”


‘How the hell am I supposed to resist when he does that?’ Buffy cried to herself, her entire body already giving in. She let go of the bandage completely, and lifted her shirt with her hands as he started to wrap the bandage around her carefully. She tried to push away the feelings that coursed through her as he brushed up against her skin and reached his arms around her waist to bring the bandage around. Or his head that kept coming close to the nape of her neck, almost touching her.


He took in the scent of her skin, closing his eyes for a brief moment. He was bandaging her with care, but he couldn’t help the familiar stirrings he was having at their closeness. ‘Now is definitely NOT the time, you git,’ he yelled at himself.


Buffy was aching for him to be done, because if he didn’t stop soon, she would jump him, wound be damned. Luckily, he finally stopped and stood back, allowing her to drop her big shirt back down. She looked to the side and crossed her arms, not knowing what to do next. “Thanks…”


“I gotta say, I think that may be the best outfit I’ve seen you wear,” Spike suddenly said, with approval in his eyes.


She unfolded her arms and looked down at herself. She was wearing a pair of grey sweatpants and a large black t-shirt that had a picture of the Sex Pistols on it. She frowned and pouted, looking up at Spike. “You think this is the best thing I’ve worn??”


“Let me rephrase. Only you could make my old sweats look that sexy,” Spike said in a low voice as he stepped close to her, moving his hands up her arms and sending shivers through her body. Buffy’s lips parted slightly, as Spike’s head moved closer to hers. But instead of kissing her, he moved to the right, so that their cheeks were touching. He inhaled the scent from her hair and turned his face inward, nuzzling her cheek with his eyes closed.


She let out a little gasp at his cool touch, wondering how such an innocent move could turn her on more than a heated kiss. Suddenly, he pulled away and she looked up confused at the loss of contact.


“I’m sorry, luv. We shouldn’t do anything when you’re hurt like that. I’ll stop now,” Spike said with an apologetic look.


“But…I don’t want you to,” Buffy pouted, totally beyond the point of any resistance.


Spike smirked at her before taking both her hands in his and leaning down to her ear. He whispered huskily, “I promise I’ll make it up to you later, when you’re better.”


She shivered at his words, breathing a little heavily already. Spike quickly changed his tone. He wouldn’t be able to control himself if they kept this up. He asked, “Do you want to get something to eat, pet? Let’s go downstairs.”


Her ears perked up at the sound of that. Her stomach made a growling noise that they both heard. “I think that’s a yes.”


----------------------------------------------------------------------


“Ahhhhhhhh!” the female screamed with her hands in the air. “Can you believe that!?”


“I’m surprised,” the male started, “I presumed the whole Leanna factor would surely get the job done.”


“Well, it didn’t, damn it! They killed my diversion!” she yelled. “And now look! They’re in love,” she said with a disgusted face. “What does it take to keep those two apart?” she said in a tired voice.


Rubbing her temples, she tried to relax and regain her composure. Calmer, she asked, “How do you think they got that book? I know they didn’t have that before.”


“Perhaps they are helping her?” he offered.


“Those stupid do-gooders. They disgust me. And can you believe they found information about my gem on the internet!?” she suddenly exasperated. “The INTERNET! Is nothing sacred? It’s one of the biggest forces of power in the world, and the puny humans are using it to tell story time!” she huffed. “Could they have mentioned that I spent 1000 years looking for the damn thing!?” She put on her dramatic face and said, “I’m so unappreciated.”


“Relax. You’ll get the job done, and when you do, you’ll be revered by the entire demon world,” he comforted.


“I better damn well be.”


-----------------------------------------------------------------


They went down the stairs and over to the kitchen. Joyce and Dawn turned at their entrance. Joyce dropped what she was doing and came to stand in front of Buffy. With a concerned look, she asked, “How are you feeling, Buffy?”


“Are you hungry? I can make you pancakes! O-or a hotpocket!” Dawn offered eagerly.


Buffy scrunched up her forehead in thought before asking, “You guys have those things?? Do you guys know you’re vampires?”


“Actually, I went out and got a bunch of food for you. I didn’t know what you would feel like so I just got everything,” Joyce explained. “Don’t you kids like those hotpocket things?”


“Umm, sure,” Buffy replied, a little overwhelmed that she went to that much trouble. “But wait, you guys can shop at a grocery store? Isn’t that like human territory?” she asked with a questioning look.


“She went to Clem’s store, luv,” Spike replied.


Buffy looked surprised. “Oh, right. Clem’s store…silly me,” she answered hesitantly.


Fifteen minutes later, they were all seated at the dining table. Buffy had a T.V.-dinner lasagna in front of her, and the others had a mug of blood. She put a forkful of lasagna into her mouth, not really knowing what to say. It was weird to see them sitting there drinking mugs of blood, but luckily, they remained in their human visage.


Dawn and Joyce kept looking back and forth between Spike and Buffy, trying to silently decipher what was going on. When Spike’s gaze connected with Dawn’s, she raised her eyebrow in question and moved her head towards Buffy, questioning him through gestures. He rolled his eyes at his little sister, and turned back to focus on Buffy.


He saw she looked uncomfortable, so he reached out underneath the table to grab her free hand. She shot her eyes up and looked at him, but he just ran his thumb over the back of her hand in a comforting gesture. She blushed a little, and avoided looking at Joyce or Dawn. But it didn’t go unnoticed.


“Ok I’m dying to ask. Are you guys a couple?” Joyce questioned with a stern tone. Dawn propped herself up on the table, leaning closer in anticipation.


Buffy looked caught and didn’t know how to answer, especially with the way Joyce asked. She reverted to opening and closing her mouth, starring at Joyce with wide eyes. She knew this Joyce wasn’t her mom, but it still felt like she would be telling her mom that she was going out with Spike.


Still holding hands underneath the table, Buffy turned to Spike with a look that asked for help. Spike gave her hand a squeeze, and looked at his mum, a little suspiciously at her stern tone.


“Maybe we are - what of it?” Spike asked, a bit defensively.


Dawn screeched and Joyce’s lips lifted into a smile. “You better be. I didn’t want to have to hit you with a shovel on the head to get you to stop being stubborn.”


Buffy’s face was one of awe. ‘What the hell? That was so easy! Why are people back home so difficult!?’ she pouted to herself as thoughts ran through her head about the difficulty that was home.


Spike caught her look and asked her, “Is something wrong?”


Buffy slowly realized he was asking her something, trying to shift out of her thoughts. “Huh?” Buffy asked in a daze.


He leaned in a little closer and looked into her eyes. “Something wrong, pet?”


Looking into his eyes and feeling the comforting touch of his hand in hers, with Joyce and Dawn both beaming at them, Buffy finally smiled and replied, “No, there’s nothing wrong.”


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


“Do you think the missing page is important?” Willow asked as she scrunched her forehead in thought.

“If it’s torn out, then it’s important,” Anya replied confidently.

Giles exhaled in frustration. This gem thing was getting to be very serious – more than he realized before. He couldn’t help but think there might be some sort of apocalypse, and that thought seriously gave him a throbbing headache. He pinched the bridge of his nose, and turned to Willow to ask, “Willow, can you do any sort of spell to look into this more? Perhaps, a locating spell for the gem…? Or more about who this goddess is supposed to be?”

Willow looked hesistant. “I don’t even know where I would find that sort of thing…” At everyone’s expectant looks, she added, “but I’ll try.”

Changing the subject, Xander asked, “What about Spike and Buffy?”

Willow said, “Yea, shouldn’t we be over there, being supportive, a-and well…supportive?”

“I really don’t think Spike wants us there right now,” Tara said.

Anya thought for a moment, and then turned to punch Xander in the arm.

“Ow!” Xander cried. “What the heck is that for?”

“How come you’re not all cute and protective over me?” Anya demanded.

“What?” Xander asked with a confused look as he rubbed his arm. “You’re not even hurt!”

Anya crossed her arms and gave him a look. “But if I got stabbed, you would be, right?”

Xander gave her a nervous look at the sternness in her eyes. He replied quickly, “Of course, Anya!”

“Would you give me as many orgasms as I wanted?” Anya asked bluntly. The others groaned and turned away from them. They knew her recent lack of sexual references could only be short-lived.

Xander cleared his throat as he avoided looking at the others. “Yes, but can we save it for later?” Xander said in a hushed voice.

Satisfied, Anya replied happily, “Ok, I’m going to hold you to that.”

Everyone thought Anya was done, until she added, “Oh and I bet that’s what Spike and Buffy are doing right now! Multiple times. I’m so jealous!”

“Anya!” Xander exclaimed. “Ewww! Dear god, get the image out of my head!” he cried as he hit the side of his head in dramatics. The others groaned again and Tara blushed.

“What?” Anya asked innocently. “It’s not like we didn’t already know they’ve had sex.”

“What??” Xander asked. “What the heck are you talking about?”

Anya rolled her eyes. “Oh c’mon. The book thing the other day? Where they touched each other’s hands and then dropped the book? They so had sex right before that! I could’ve started a fire with the tension between them!”

The others searched their minds at the memory. It hadn’t been that obvious to them. Buffy and Spike had acted skittish, but sex was not an obvious assumption for them – they were not Anya.

“I-I don’t think we should be t-talking about this,” Tara said uncomfortably. “Spike will tell us what he wants us to know.”

Willow looked at her girlfriend and said, “You’re right, sweety. Let’s all leave it alone, ok?”

Giles nodded gladly and walked away to go behind the counter. Xander muttered in agreement, and Anya crossed her arms and said with a sulky tone, “Fineee. Ruin my fun.”


-----------------------------------------------------------------------


Joyce and Dawn had left them alone after that. Buffy finished her last bite of lasagna, and flopped back against the chair. “Ugh, I’m so full,” she said as she put both her hands on her stomach. Spike smiled at her, before getting up and taking the dishes to the kitchen.


He came back into the dining room, and Buffy was already standing up. “How’s your stomach?” Spike asked, coming up to put his hands lightly on both sides of her waist.


“It feels better, except for when I breathe,” Buffy said in a joking voice.


He had a guilty look on his face that made Buffy frown. “What? I’m kidding, Spike. You don’t have to handle me like a China doll. Some say I’m pretty tough, you know – like I may even have the strength of a slayer,” Buffy jibed as she leaned closer into their embrace and picked at the edge of his shirt collar, starring at that spot.


“We should talk, luv,” Spike said in a serious tone. At Buffy’s inquiring look, he added, “There are some things I need you to hear, but not down here. Let’s go upstairs.”



Spike walked behind her up the stairs to his room. After Buffy stepped in, he closed the door behind him. He exhaled and ran his hands through his hair, as she starred at him curiously, waiting for him to speak.


Spike placed his hands on her shoulders, pushing them down lightly and guiding her to sit down on the edge of the bed. He sat in the chair he had brought up last night across from her.


He was making Buffy nervous. Insecurity crept into her. She had finally started accepting this whole thing and even Joyce and Dawn were ok with it too – could he just change his mind right now and go back to casting her away?


“I’m sorry,” Spike said.


“Why?” Buffy asked hesistantly.


“For the way I treated you. For bollocking up the whole sex thing,” he looked up into her eyes with sincere apology. “For not getting to you in time. I’ve been a git, and I’m sorry, Buffy.”


She was amazed, to say the least. Not only were her doubts wrong, but he just apologized for everything, even if it was in his simple wording. What startled her the most was his apology about Dru. He couldn’t be serious, could he? She’s the one that killed Drusilla…


“What? You didn’t stab me, Spike. Drusilla did,” Buffy replied with a confused look.


“I know,” Spike said as he clenched his jaw, “but I should’ve been there. Look at what happened.”


She put her hand on top of his and said, “I’m ok now. I get hurt all the time. Why does this bother you so much?”


He looked deep into her eyes. “Because until that moment, I never realized I could ever be that scared.”


Her heart skipped a beat at his words. This whole day was just unbelievable. Spike had shown her a side of him she had never fully seen before. Now, he was openly bearing his affection and treating her like she was the most important person in the world. She didn’t know how many times she had almost melted today -all she knew was that it felt great, and it felt real.


She suddenly leaped at him and pressed her lips against his in a searing kiss, bringing her arms to wrap around his neck. He was caught off guard at first – that wasn’t the reaction he was expecting, but how could he complain. He pulled her into his lap and eagerly returned the fervor of the kiss. Their lips caressed one another’s eagerly, tongues delving in slightly to tease each other. He heard her moan into his mouth, and he felt his jeans tighten, causing Buffy to react at the movement against her bottom. Their hands roamed all over, but Spike made sure to avoid her wounded area. As Buffy tried to push her body flush against him, she tensed at the pain against her stomach.


He felt her tense, and pulled away from the kiss reluctantly. Knowing that this could really go nowhere with her wounded, he said in a fake annoyed voice, “When do your slayer healing powers kick in already?”


At the look she shot him, he grinned and leaned in to kiss her on the nose, letting her know he was just kidding. He placed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. She sighed contently, before smiling and adding, “Don’t forget the promise you made me in the bathroom.”


“Oh trust me, I didn’t forget,” Spike said with a husky voice. “But if you have any mercy, then you’ll have to get off my lap before I lose all control.”


Buffy pouted as she pulled herself out of his arms and stood up. She crossed her arms and looked to the right at the wall. “Stupid wound.”


Spike chuckled as he stood up in front of her.


A thought came to Buffy that worried her. They were supposed to tell the gang. ‘How will they take it? Is he actually going to tell them? When? Do I still want him to?’ Buffy’s thoughts raced through her.


As if he was reading her mind somehow, he said, “We’ll go tell them tomorrow. Is that ok with you, luv?”


She looked a little stunned that he had read her mind. Then, she faked her reluctance and shrugged, saying, “Eh, I guess so.” But the twinkle in her eyes showed him she was playing and she turned the corners of her mouth into a smile, when she saw him roll his eyes.


“Difficult even when hurt. That’s my girl,” he said in a low voice, wrapping his arms around her.


She bit her lip at the sound of those words. He really needed to stop saying things like that. ‘Heal faster, damn it!’ Buffy yelled to herself.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Leanna was out in the graveyard, brutally killing a small group of angry humans. She felt the anger course through her body, and she put all of her fury on her opponent. One of the ugly ones charged at her with a knife, and she effortlessly stepped aside, tripping him to the ground and then reached down to snap his neck. “Ugh! Why are you guys so easy?!” she yelled at the rabid-looking enemies. She started pounding on one of the humans, and in between punches, she started to say, “That stupid bitch has a fucking chip and I still can’t kill her!” She punched the guy in the nose, hearing a crunch at the impact.


“Why can’t I kill her yet, you ask? Because I have to stick to the plan,” Leanna mimicked. “And everyone else keeps failing their tasks! God! Amateurs!” She exhaled after she had killed off the last of them. She took a look at the dead bodies and started to walk away, unsatisfied by her success.


“I’m going to make sure it’s painful,” she said with a calculating expression.


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Chapter 18:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Buffy and Spike stood in front of the Magic Box, side by side with their arms crossed, starring pensively at the door.


Spike looked at her with a sideways glance. “You ready to do this, pet?”


“Define…ready,” Buffy answered slowly, thinking about the explosion that might come when the gang heard their new ‘status.’


She whipped to the right to face him. “Actually. No. I change my mind – can we go now?” Buffy said with a fake pout. “I liked it better when we were in bed under the warm covers.” She trailed her finger down his arm and gave him a coy smile.


Spike lifted a brow at her. “Nice try, Goldilocks. You wanted me to do this so now we’re doing it,” Spike replied as he grabbed her hand in his and started striding forward, dragging her along.


Buffy followed him with a pout and joked from behind him, “Can’t I just wait outside?”


They entered the Magic Box completely, dropping their hands to their sides, as everyone’s head shot up. The gang just starred up at them with wide eyes and didn’t say anything. That bad, nervous feeling crept into the pit of Buffy’s stomach, and she wrung her hands together. ‘Do they know? Why are they looking at me like that?’


Spike looked annoyed. “Hello to you too,” he said sarcastically to the immobile faces.


“Oh! Sorry, hi!” both Tara and Willow said, as the others quickly replied ‘Hi.’


Anya, who was standing in front of Xander, began to say, “We were just gawking because yesterday we were saying that-,” but Xander came up behind her and reached around to clamp his hand over her mouth as she mumbled through it.


Willow jumped up, “-we didn’t know you would be better so fast, Buffy!” She gave her a nervous smile, but continued with a concerned look, “H-how is your wound?”


But Buffy and Spike were starring quizzically at Anya and Xander, who had removed his hand from Anya’s mouth, and was pretending to give her a hug from the back. Buffy looked up at the sound of Willow asking her a question.


“What?” Buffy asked, still sort of giving Anya and Xander sideways glances.


“How is your wound? Does it still hurt a lot?” Willow asked again, trying to divert her attention.


“Oh, you know, not hole-y anymore,” Buffy joked, but Spike turned to glare down at her and gritted out, “Stop bloody well joking about it.”


Buffy frowned. She kept forgetting that even though the jokes made it easier for her, they made Spike feel bad, no matter how many times she told him it wasn’t his fault.


Anya had gotten out of Xander’s hold and burst out, “Are you two having sex!?!”


Buffy and Spike’s heads shot up at the crude outburst and Buffy’s eyes widened.


The rest of the gang closed their eyes and groaned inwardly at Anya’s tact.


“None of your bloody business,” Spike replied evenly as his hand subtly found its way to Buffy’s and he linked his fingers in hers. He could feel her body relax slightly at the contact – slightly.


“Whoa there - are you guys together now??” Xander said as he gestured between the two.


Spike exhaled and said without hesitation, “Yea, we are.”


Buffy tensed more, waiting for the reaction.


Tara couldn’t help smiling, but she pushed it away when she saw the serious looks on the other’s face, more so on Xander and Giles’ faces.


“Ok, I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but do you still remember the part where Buffy is human?” Xander asked with a questioning look.


Spike raised his brow at Xander’s stupid question.


“A human without a soul,” Xander added to clarify.


“Stop talking about me like I’m not here,” Buffy demanded as she shot him a glare.


Spike turned his head to look down at her with reassuring eyes and said softly, “I’ll take care of this.” He pulled her slightly behind him, with their hands still interlocked.


He turned back to Xander with a cold expression. “Have you forgotten Leanna has a soul?”


Xander opened his mouth to argue, but then closed it again. “Ok, good point.”


“I think what Xander is trying to say is,” Giles interjected, “have you forgotten you are mortal enemies? You’ve killed each other’s lovers for god’s sake. Do you really think a relationship could work out between you two?”


They didn’t think about it that way. They had killed each other’s exes. ‘Huh. Ironic,’ Spike and Buffy both thought to themselves.


But Spike looked at Giles with a bored face. “People change. Buffy’s worked with us for nearly three years. I can’t even count how many times she’s saved Dawn.”


Buffy looked at him, a little amazed. It sounded like what she should have said to her friends back home. But she never had, not fully.


“And if the chip comes out?” Giles inquired. “She’ll go back to being evil – trying to kill us.”


Buffy closed her eyes and shook her head in frustration. “I’m not evil!! And I don’t kill people-,” she hesitated, “vampires who are good.” She knew it was different here and she sighed in inner defeat as she added, “Not anymore.”


Spike saw the distress on her face, and turned back to them with an angry look. “Sod it. If you guys don’t like it, bugger off.” He turned and started to storm out, with Buffy’s hand in his.


“Wait, Spike!” Willow called out to stop him.


He wasn’t stopping, so Anya yelled, “The rest of us want you guys to have orgasms!”


Buffy turned around, eyes wide in horror, but Spike was intent on leaving, so he pulled her along out of the Magic Box.


The three girls shot Xander and Giles nasty looks after Spike and Buffy left.


Willow put on her stern face. “Buffy’s a good person now, and you know it. You two,” she shook her finger at them, “need to…need to take the stick out of your ass!” She tried to appear firm.


Anya walked over to Xander and hit him in the arm. “Ow!” Xander cried, as he clutched his arm once again. “Stop hitting me!”


“I wanted to hear about the sex! They didn’t get to the sex yet!” Anya exclaimed at him, angry that her boyfriend helped in driving them away, along with the ‘sex details.’


Xander groaned. ‘I wish there was a mute button,’ he thought to himself.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


“Spike, stop!” Buffy yelled as he kept dragging her forward in an angry stride. She pulled her hand from his and stopped walking. He stopped and turned around.


“What?” Spike barked. But he realized he was yelling at her, so he softened his expression and exhaled. “Sorry, not yelling at you.”


She shook that aside and asked bluntly, “Doesn’t all that stuff bother you?”


“What?” he asked in a confused voice.


She crossed her arms over herself protectively, looking away.


Slowly, understanding came across his expression. “I thought I already established this.”


“Actually, you didn’t,” Buffy replied quietly. He hadn’t said anything about it before today.


He stepped forward, but she moved back a step, still looking away with her arms crossed. His expression was one of frustration. She wanted the long-winded speech. ‘Fine,’ he thought.


“Look, Buffy. I admit, I did. All those things they said,” Spike pointed towards the Magic Box, “I thought the same things. I held myself back. I held myself back from you.” He stepped forward, but she didn’t move this time.


His hand reached out to skate lightly over her arm. “I thought it mattered. That I could never be with you,” he tilted her chin up so he could look into her eyes, “but I was a stupid git. And I know it now. I saw what I could have lost…you.”


Buffy tried to appear strong, but inside she was trembling. “How do you know it’s anything more than lust? Isn’t that what you told me? That you were using me?”


Spike closed his eyes at the memory and the look on her face when he had said that. He opened his eyes and he saw the same look on her face, making his undead heart ache.


“It was always lust. I always wanted you, even when we were enemies, and I know you felt it,” he began. She started to pull away in anger at the confirmation of her fears, but he stepped up to her again and held onto her shoulders. “But it’s different now. Things change.”


She looked at him with fuming and unbelieving eyes.


“This is lust,” he said as crushed his lips to hers. His kiss was rough and needy, tongue battling its way into her warm mouth. She struggled at first, but at his persistent caress, her mouth began to open, letting his tongue in.
Soon, she was returning the fervor of the kiss as she pressed her body against his, ignoring the pain in her side. His hands began to rise underneath her shirt, savoring the feel of her flush skin. He explored her mouth, fully arousing both of them. Suddenly, he pulled away, causing Buffy to open her eyes in a daze.


As she realized what he just did, fury began to build inside her. “What the hell was that?” she yelled in an angry and hurt tone. She felt like gagging from betrayal.


He quickly moved forward and wrapped his arms around her form, as she struggled to push him away. “Shhhh, wait, luv. Hear me out.” She slowly stopped her resistant actions and stood tense in his arms, fuming. He ran his hands down her back in a comforting gesture, soothing her until she relaxed.


He pulled back his head to look at her when he felt like she wouldn’t run. Not letting go of her, he said, “That was lust. That was all we had. This is what we have now,” Spike said tenderly, as he placed his forehead against hers. He began to move his face slowly across hers, his nose and his cheek caressing against her skin. He brought his hands up to run through her golden locks.


He placed his hands on both sides of her face, and kissed her lightly, barely caressing her lips. He captured her bottom lip gingerly and pulled away, repeating this action twice more.


Her soft cry at his tenderness caught in her throat as she held back a choke of emotion.


Spike looked into her eyes. “Do you feel the difference? It’s terrifying…and it will consume us until we burn. I know that now. Do you?”


Buffy was grabbing onto Spike’s shoulders for support, trying to control her breathing and the rush of emotions coursing through her body. Regaining her breath, she nodded, and looked up into his eyes. “Yes. But I want them both,” she said, referring to the lust and the affection.


Spike smiled at her genuinely before a smirk overtook his expression. “Trust me, luv. That won’t be a problem.”


-----------------------------------------------------------------------


Leanna stepped into her bedroom and shut the door behind her. She grabbed the ends of her blood-stained shirt and lifted it up over her head in one motion, discarding it in the corner.


She walked over to her queen-sized bed and picked up the leathery shirt she had worn the other day. Tossing that aside also, Leanna saw the folded page. ‘Hm. I forgot about this,’ she thought to herself as she picked it up and unfolded it.


Straightening it out, she glanced over the words:


Kerala


The Goddess Kerala was sent to earth after she was caught trying to steal the Rajendra Gem from the heavens. After her attempts, the other gods perished the gem into the depths of India, never to be seen. The prophecy states that one day, the demon lords will call upon Kerala to find the gem and use it against the forces of good. With the power of the gem, she will travel back in time to rid the world of the greatest slayer, thereby stopping the birth of slayers all around the world and stopping the eventual downfall of the demon realm.

Smirking, she said aloud to herself, “Annoying tramp is gonna get it.”

Walking over to her dresser, Leanna picked up a lighter. She flicked her thumb against it and it sparked, lighting the flame. She held the flame to the bottom corner of the page and watched the paper slowly burn away with an evil glint in her eye.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------


Dawn walked down the stairs, humming. She was headed toward the kitchen for a snack, when she heard some muffled noises outside the front door. Rolling her eyes, she walked over to the door and whipped it open.


Spike had been pressing Buffy up against the front door, kissing her senseless. When the door whipped open, Buffy fell backwards and almost hit the floor, but Spike caught her in his arms midway.


With Spike still holding her in a dipped position, Buffy looked up at an upside-down Dawn and gave her an overly peppy smile. “Hi Dawn!”


Spike helped her up with an amused look and Buffy fixed her hair, trying to appear as if nothing happened.


“Good timing, Nibblet,” Spike joked sarcastically.


“Hey, it’s not my fault you guys are horny and can’t wait until you get inside an actual building,” Dawn teased.


“What? Us horny? Noooo,” Buffy said unconvincingly as she swatted her hand in the air for emphasis.


“Uh-huh,” Dawn replied with an upraised brow. “And you got that when you fell.” She lifted her chin towards Buffy’s neck in a gesture.


“What? What?” Buffy asked in a confused voice. She looked down at herself, but didn’t see anything. She turned to Spike, “What?”


The corner of his mouth turned up into a smirk. But he faked innocence and shrugged, “Nothing.”


She gave him the evil eye, unconvinced. She looked around her a mirror, but couldn’t find one. Why would vampires have mirrors anyway… She settled for looking into the glass of the cabinet. Peering at her neck, her eyes widened. She had a huge hickey on the left side. It really shouldn’t have been a surprise considering they practically made out all the way home.


Pouting, she walked back to where Spike and Dawn were. She crossed her arms and muttered, “Stupid vampire.”


“Sorry, luv,” he replied insincerely as he walked over to her with a smile.


She pretended to be annoyed and muttered under her breath, “Why don’t you just write ‘Spike’ all over my neck…”


He put his arms around her, even though she still had her arms crossed. “I thought about that, but I didn’t want to get a nasty marker taste in my mouth when I’m kissing you,” he whispered jokingly into her ear.


“Ugh, you guys are twisted,” Dawn said as she walked away.


Buffy pouted still and said, “I didn’t pick up any turtlenecks when we were at the crypt this morning.”


“Good,” Spike replied in a low voice as his head dipped in, mouth open seductively. But Buffy scrunched her face and turned away, making Spike’s kiss land on her cheek.


She turned back to look at HIS pout now. “No more hickeys!” she tried to say in a stern voice. Of course, she didn’t really mind at all – especially when he was making them - but it was fun to give him a hard time.


“Why? I think it looks pretty,” Spike joked as he ran his fingers lightly over it. At Buffy’s non-changing expression, he relented, “Ok, ok. Don’t get your knickers in a twist. Save that for later,” he said with a suggestive waggle of his brow.


“Argh! You’re impossible.”


“MmmmHm,” he agreed in a low tone as he swooped in for another kiss.


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“I mean, when did this happen exactly??” Xander asked incredulously. “One minute they’re mortal enemies, the next they are googly–eyed and holding hands!”


“One minute?” Anya rolled her eyes as she sat in the seat next to him. “It’s been 3 years! Look alive Xander!”


“But how?” Xander asked in a confused tone. “It’s so wrong! Giles agrees with me!” He turned to Giles for back-up but Giles just gave him a pointed look, not really knowing what to say about it all. Xander continued complaining, “I mean, you guys don’t seriously approve of their relationship, do you?”


“Xander, are you in love with Spike?” Anya demanded.


He scrunched up his face at the ridiculous question, before exclaiming in a high-pitched voice, “WHAT!?”


Anya continued firmly, “Do you or do you not want Spike to be your boyfriend??”


“NO! Why would you-, How can you-, What kind of-,” he sputtered in unbelieving frustration, as his hands waved around in the air.


Willow, Tara and Giles were all unsuccessfully trying to suppress their laughter into their hands. Even Giles looked like he was about to break out into hysterics.


“Then why the HELL do you care so much?” Anya yelled. “You’re job is to care about me, Xander Harris!”


“What? I do care about you!” Xander protested.


“The only time you have hugged me lately is when you attacked me from behind to shut me up!” Anya crossed her arms and looked away indignantly.


Damn, she was right. He’d been so caught up in everything Buffy and Spike related that he hadn’t been paying much attention to her. Xander’s expression became apologetic. “I’m sorry, Anya. I didn’t mean it. Don’t be mad,” Xander gave her a meek smile of apology.


With her lips pursed, Anya turned slowly to look at Xander. She narrowed her eyes at him before saying, “You. Owe. Me. Lots and lots of orgasms, mister!”


The three in the background groaned, breaking them out of their stifled laughter.


Xander darted looks at them, embarrassed again at Anya’s bluntness. “Ok, ok, I promise,” he said as he leaned in to give her a kiss.


Her stern expression melted into a happy smile. “I’m so glad you’re not gay.” She leaned forward to throw her arms around Xander’s neck in a hug, and she knocked over the wooden book that was already half off the edge of the table. It dropped to the ground in a thump, but this time, a slight cracking of wood could be heard.


She disentangled herself from Xander and picked up the heavy book, looking at all sides of it to see if there was a crack.


“Did it break?” Willow asked with a worried look.


Anya inspected it closely and turning it to the side, she saw that the front cover was made by two wooden plates joined together. Curiously, she ran her nail along the line that separated the two parts.


She thought she saw the crack widen ever so slightly, so she straightened in her chair with suspicious eyes.


“What’s wrong?” Xander asked as he looked curiously at his girlfriend.


Not replying, Anya grabbed the pencil on the table and jammed the point into the crack on the side of the cover.


The others looked up at her seemingly bizarre move and began to protest. “Anya, stop! You’re ruining-,” Giles began to say with a concerned look as Anya kept prying.


His words were cut off when the front cover split into two, popping open like a folder. “Aha!” she exclaimed in victory.


They all moved closer, as they saw a single page lying inside the cover.


“Ok, where the hell did this book come from!?” Xander asked in amazement.


“What does it say?” Tara asked curiously.


Anya took out the sheet and started to read. Her brows furrowed in confusion. “It looks like a spell…”


“What for?” Willow asked, coming to stand next to Anya to get a better look.


She shook her head. “I don’t know. It doesn’t say…”


Willow took the sheet from Anya eagerly, but perusing over the spell, she only looked more and more confused.


“Willow?” Giles inquired.


“I…I don’t know…I’ve never seen these ingredients together before…” she replied with a sad frown.


“Well, it was hidden. Doesn’t that mean it’s probably what we’re looking for? It’s probably a good spell, right?” Xander asked Willow optimistically.


Giles looked up at him and answered for Willow. “Perhaps. Or…a really bad one.”


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