Chapter 9

An hour later, Buffy and Spike left for patrol. Spike was
uncharacteristically quiet as they headed for the nearest cemetery.
Buffy glanced at him from the corner of her eye and then decided to
take the bull by the horns. "Okay Spike, spill it," she demanded.

"Don't know what you're talking about Slayer," Spike insisted.

"Bullshit," she snorted. "You're practically turning inside out
trying to keep your mouth shut. Just say whatever it is that's
bugging you."

"Okay, I'll tell you," he said. Stopping her he took her gently by
the arms and turned her to face him. "I'm scared for you Buffy.
What if you make a mistake while you're sneaking about there? If
they find out you're trying to sniff out information about them, they
could hurt you. And I know you Buffy. They're human so you'll pull
your punches. I don't give them the same credit. I saw how they
treated Willow."

Closing his eyes, he enfolded her in his arms. "I just don't want
anything happening to you Buffy."

Buffy wrapped her arms around him, returning his embrace. "Spike, I
promise I'll be very careful." Pulling back, she added, "And I
promise I won't sleep with Riley Finn."

Lowering his head to hers and giving her a passionate kiss, he
growled, "Better not Slayer. Because no matter how much it hurts,
I'll drain him dry if you do."

***

The three Noitami demons appeared from out of nowhere and attacked
all at once. Buffy was hard pressed. Noitame weren't particularly
fast, but they were large and strong. Spike did his best to stay out
of Buffy's way and to try and distract the demons. His frustration
mounted as he saw Buffy being beaten back again and again. When one
of the demons grabbed Buffy in a tight clinch, holding her immobile,
Spike reached up, took hold of its head and gave a strong twist. The
demon's neck broke with a resounding snap and Spike grabbed his head
in anticipation of pain.

There was none.

Standing upright again, he realized that whatever had been done to
him did not extend to demons. Voicing a great victory growl, he
vamped out and joined Buffy in the battle.

Side by side the two fought. Buffy was surprised and then pleased to
see Spike joining her. Now that her life was no longer in danger she
eased off, enjoying the fight. As if thinking with one brain,
vampire and slayer terminated their opponents at the same time.

Standing back and looking at the slowly dissolving corpses, Buffy
grinned. Eyes shining, she turned to Spike and looked at him. Spike
returned her heated gaze with one of his own. Once again moving in
concert, they fell into each other's arms, kissing, groping, grinding
together.

Pushing Spike back, Buffy gasped, "Not here, not out in the open,
someplace else, someplace private."

Looking around, Spike spotted a crypt nearby. Grabbing Buffy's hand
he dragged her towards it. Without breaking stride, Spike lifted his
foot and kicked in the door. Pulling Buffy in after him, he pushed
the door closed with his back and drew her up against him.

Buffy was aflame. Hands on either side of his head, she kissed him
wildly, wrapping her tongue around his sucking it into her mouth,
grinding her hips against him. Spike groaned, grabbing Buffy's ass
and pulling her hard against him.

"In you now. Must get in you now Buffy please," he gasped out.
Buffy's shaking hands reached down to his belt buckle undoing it and
then unfastening the button on his jeans. The zip went down and
Buffy's head followed. Taking him into her mouth, she sucked and
licked, twisting her tongue around the head and dipping its tip into
the slit at the top of his penis tasting the salty droplet there.
Spike moaned out his pleasure, hands wrapped in her hair. His hips
began thrusting as she once again fully engulfed him and then moved
her mouth lower to suck his balls, her small hand wrapping around him
and pumping slowly. He knew he was getting close, but he wanted to
come inside her passage, not her mouth. Reaching down, he hauled her
up. He had spotted a sarcophagus when they first entered. Pushing
her over to it he lifted her up on top of the lid, pulled down her
pants, spread her legs and mounted her. Their coupling was intense
and wild. He thrust into her harder and harder while she bucked
under him in answering rhythm. Screaming in unison, they came at the
same time, Spike filling her with his come as her walls clenched
tightly around him.

Lying wrapped in each other's arms they relaxed for a bit and then
began kissing again, rebuilding the passion they had just cooled.
When Spike began moving in her again, Buffy nearly cried in
pleasure. They climaxed again, and then a third time and then a
fourth. At last, totally spent, they rested.

***

After cleaning up in a public restroom, they returned to Giles' place.
Buffy was eager to inform her Watcher about their discovery that
Spike could fight demons. Giles however was concerned. "Are you
sure it's just demons he can attack now Buffy? Perhaps whatever was
done to him has reversed itself and he can now attack anything he
likes."

Buffy and Spike had not even considered this. They had assumed when
he bit her that he had been able to because it was a love bite and
not an attack. Looking at each other in concern, they knew what they
had to do. Bracing herself slightly, Buffy nodded to Spike. Pulling
back his arm, he lashed forward with a quick punch. Buffy yelped in
pain, but Spike screamed in agony. Buffy had no doubt; he was still
unable to hurt humans.

***

The next afternoon, Buffy kept her lunch date with Riley. In a way,
she felt bad for leading what appeared to be a nice, regular young
man on. But if he really were part of the organization that had
operated on Spike, then she needed to know. Specifically, she wanted
to know exactly what had been done to Spike and what its long-term
effects would be.

Buffy hadn't said anything to him, but she was as worried about Spike
as he was about her. What if he had a ticking time bomb in his
head? What, if anything, could they do about it? All she knew for
sure was that she didn't want anything to happen to Spike.

Their conversation was as mundane today as it had been yesterday. In
a way Buffy found it frustrating, but she knew that she had to play
it cool, come over all innocent and wide-eyed. Acting as if she were
completely enthralled that a grad student would deign to even notice
her, Buffy gradually spun her web around him. By the end of the
meal, she had a standing lunch date with him and the promise of a
movie for Friday night.

***

Willow had been busy over the last couple of days herself. Using
hacking skills that could easily get her arrested, she was able to
find out just about everything of importance about Riley
Finn...except where he had been for the two year period prior to his
appearance in Sunnydale.

According to the records she had dug up, he had been born on March
25, 1975 in Ottumwa, Iowa (home of Radar O'Reilly), graduated from
Ottumwa High School (home of the Bulldogs) in 1993 and attended the
University of Iowa (go Hawkeyes) where he had graduated summa cum
laude with a degree in psychology in 1997. After his college
matriculation however, Willow lost track of him. Nothing appeared
about him anywhere. After 22 years of a very accessible life, he
disappeared. Then in the fall of 1999, he resurfaced as a grad
student at UC Sunnydale, moved into Lowell House and became Mama
Walsh's very favorite boy.

Lowell House had presented another compelling mystery. Built in
1995, the site upon which it stood had originally been excavated for
the new computer lab. However, for some reason which Willow could
never really get the gist of, once the foundation had been dug the
computer lab site was moved to its present location across campus
from Lowell House. The original foundation had been huge, much
larger than the area now occupied by the fraternity house. It
certainly made one wonder.

Chapter 10

Willow presented her information that evening at the Scooby meeting
held at Giles'. Xander had brought pizza as his contribution and had
scowled at Spike when the vampire had helped himself to a large
slice. However, by now the gang was used to Spike's unusual eating
habits and no comment was made.

Giles looked with interest at the documentation Willow had supplied.
Removing his glasses, he looked at the young witch. "Excellent work
Willow," he praised. Willow glowed at his approval.

"So what are you thinking Rupert?" Spike asked. "The head of the
snake under that frat house?"

"Yes, I think that a very apt way to put it Spike," Giles agreed
reluctantly. For some reason, it always surprised and unnerved him
when Spike made an astute observation. He had to keep reminding
himself that Spike hid a sharp intelligence behind a façade of rough
talk and punk looks.

"So," Buffy was saying, "I'm not just looking for info when I finally
get invited back to Lowell House, I'm also looking for a way into the
main facility. Is that right?"

Spike and Giles traded concerned looks. "Buffy, I do wish you would
let this go," Giles said. "I'm sure we can come up with the
information we need through Willow's research. You don't need to put
yourself into the lion's den in this manner."

"Giles, I appreciate your concern for me," Buffy answered, "but do
you really think that Willow is going to find out about a secret
government research facility on the 'net? She couldn't even find out
why the location of the computer lab was moved."

Standing up and pacing she continued, "I'm not sure why, but I keep
getting the feeling that we're running out of time. Sometimes it
feels like all the hairs on my arms are standing straight up like I'm
surrounded by static electricity. I need to know what's going on and
I need to know soon."

Giles opened his mouth to protest once again, but then shut it
without saying a word. He had voiced his concern over and over.
Buffy was well aware of the risks. Just as she was aware of the
risks every time she went out on patrol or faced another apocalypse.
She was The Slayer. He would allow her to do her job.

***

Buffy and Spike left for patrol, but on their way they stopped at the
local discount store and bought some supplies. Returning to the
cemetery they had been in last night, they headed straight for the
crypt where they had made love. The grounds department had already
fixed the broken door, but Spike simply picked the lock and opened
the door. Setting down their packages, they first dug out candles
and oil lamps. Placing these around the crypt they soon had enough
light to make out the interior. It was surprisingly spacious. While
Spike dusted and wiped things down, Buffy swept and filled a garbage
bag full of the detritus lying about on the floor. After carefully
cleaning the top of the sarcophagus, Spike removed sheets, blankets
and a pillow and made up a bed.

Completing his task he began to explore more closely and Buffy heard
him grunt. Turning she couldn't see him at first but after walking
around to the other side of the sarcophagus, she saw him peering down
into a hole revealed by a now opened trapdoor.

"What'd ya find?" she asked curiously. Spike glanced up at her with
a pleased smile on his face.

"God, you just gotta love Sunnydale, y'know? Looks like an
underground passage here. I'm going down to check it out. Hand me
the flashlight, will you pet?"

Jumping down, Spike turned on the torch and looked around. Buffy
watched from the top floor as he disappeared further into the lower
area. After about 5 minutes she began to worry and was just ready to
call out when she saw his light returning. With a quick "Heads up
pet," Spike tossed the flashlight back up to Buffy and then followed
with a cat-like leap. Brushing dirt and cobwebs from his clothing he
told her, "Y'know pet. I think this will be a good place for me to
move into when I leave Giles'. There's water pipes and electrical
conduits passin' through a tunnel down there. I can tap into that.
Make this place right cozy. Get one of them little fridge's like you
and Red have, a TV, make a nice little shower. Yeah, this'll make me
a fine home."

Buffy was less enthusiastic. As a temporary trysting place, the
crypt had its, well, lack of charm. As Spike's home? Buffy wasn't
thrilled. But really, where else could he live? With her and Joyce
on Revello Drive? A world of no on that. Buffy was still hoping
that this - thing - between them would burn out soon. Trouble was,
so far there was no sign of it. Every time she saw him after being
away from him, she had to keep tight control so that she didn't fly
into his arms.

For his part, Spike was awash in a sea of plans. Put the TV there,
fridge there, maybe a couch or a couple of chairs...no, a couch so
that he and Buffy could have a cuddle while they watched TV
together. Maybe once he got that lower area cleaned up and a ladder
put in he could fix that up like a proper bedroom. Better for Buffy
than shaggin' on a hard sarcophagus.

He was so lost in his own thoughts that Buffy finally had to punch
him on the arm to get his attention. "Hey, Earth to Spike!"

"Ow, what the bloody hell was that for Slayer?" the offended vampire
asked.

"I've asked you five times now if you're ready to go on patrol,"
Buffy exclaimed.

"Yeah, I guess," Spike replied slowly. Then, "Don't you want to
break in our new bed?"

Buffy looked down at herself. She was covered in dirt, she was
sweaty and she was definitely *not* feeling sexy.

"You look beautiful to me Slayer," came Spike's deep caramel voice
correctly reading her thoughts. Chills went right down her stomach
and into her crotch. How the hell did he do that?!

Turning before she changed her mind, Buffy left the crypt.

***

The next two days proved extremely frustrating for Spike. Buffy met
him for patrol, but that was it. She had a big exam coming up that
Friday and she insisted that she needed time to study. So the
freshly cleaned crypt was left temporarily abandoned.

On Friday night, Buffy and Riley had their first date. Dinner and a
movie. Spike was in an agony of jealousy and fear. What if she
really liked this git? She hadn't wanted to sleep with him for the
past three nights. What if she did go to bed with this Riley Finn?
Spike would kill him. And then her. And then him again.

Giles had already gone to bed and Spike was morosely watching TV when
a quiet knock sounded on the door. Getting up to answer it, Spike
realized who it was halfway to the door. Quickening his pace to
almost a run, he pulled the door open to see Buffy standing there
looking beautiful in a pale blue silk blouse and dark blue skirt.
Sandals on her feet showed off her pretty toes and slender ankles.
Spike was immediately hard.

"Let's go," was all Buffy said. He closed the door behind him and
followed her down the street and towards the cemetery. He reached
out and took her hand halfway there and Buffy turned and smashed her
mouth to his. After that they practically ran to their crypt.
Spike's hands were shaking while he worked the lock pick and it took
longer than it should have to get it open. He was tempted to just
break the bloody door down again, but he didn't want the
groundskeepers to find their little nest. At last it was opened, and
they entered and pushed the door shut with a resounding slam.

When Spike turned to take her into his arms, she leaped upon him,
wrapping her legs around his waist and kissing him
passionately. "God I want you Spike. Hurry please," Buffy was
gasping.

Spike didn't have to be asked twice. Carrying her over to their
makeshift bed, he laid her on it and then crawled between her
thighs. Kissing her, he moved his hand down and pushed up her
skirt. Trailing his fingers up her thigh, he found the end of her
thong and pushed a finger inside. She was already swollen and wet
for him. Thrusting into her, she bucked against him, making the
little sounds in her throat that drove him wild. Pulling away from
her, he released his cock, pushed her panty aside again, and entered
her. Buffy wrapped her legs tightly around Spike and met his
thrusts. Reaching down her hand, she played with his balls as they
beat against her. Spike screamed and came.

He collapsed on top of her, vaguely aware that he hadn't yet
satisfied her, but too drained to move. But he was a vampire and
vampires recovered quickly. As Buffy petted him and told him how
wonderful he was, he began to move in her once again. This time,
Buffy came first.

Chapter 11

As it turned out, Buffy's date had been pleasant but uneventful. She
hadn't learned anything really new about Riley and hadn't gotten
asked back to Lowell House that evening. Buffy hoped that it wasn't
because she was a little distracted. It had been three days since
she and Spike had last been together and all Buffy could think about
was Spike and their nest.

Next time she had a date with Riley, Buffy told Spike, she thought it
might be wise if they made love first so that she could think of
something else besides how horny she was for Spike.

Spike had laughed and said that if they made love before she went on
a date with Riley, then all she would think about was how good it had
been. Buffy had smiled, kissed him and told him he was probably
right.

Spike felt just fine.

***

Time passed as time will. Willow researched, Buffy dated Riley but
found out no useful information from him, and she and Spike patrolled
and made love.

On the nights that Buffy had a date with Riley, Spike would do a
quick patrol on his own, always being on guard for the commandos, and
then worked on fixing up the crypt. He spliced into the conduit and
ran electrical cords to the upstairs of the crypt. One night Buffy
arrived to find a small TV and refrigerator in place. She didn't ask
where they came from. Spike seemed to have adapted to not being able
to hunt and she was so happy she could keep him around that she tried
to not let a little petty theft bother her. Plus she knew that a lot
of the stuff now decorating the crypt had been scavenged and
repaired. She was rather proud of him. The place was really
starting to look...well, cozy.

***

Buffy never realized that as she was observing Riley and trying to
gain information about the goings on at Lowell House, she in turn was
being observed. And those observing her had much better luck than
she had been having.

When Maggie Walsh was given the report, she found herself
fascinated. Complete medical reports from infancy until the present
time were included. To all intents and purposes, Buffy Summers was a
completely normal girl. Her latest physical exam showed everything
to fall within normal ranges. None of her blood work showed anything
out of the ordinary. Heart, lungs and blood pressure were all listed
as strong, clear and normal. Even her gynecological exams came back
normal.

But Buffy Summers was most definitely *not* normal. Maggie picked up
the remote control once again and watched the videotape of Ms.
Summers and Hostile 17 in action. They worked in concert, both
preternaturally fast and strong. Miss Summers was shown staking
vampires and fighting demons, sometimes slicing off their heads with
a sword; sometimes using her bare hands to break their necks. And
almost every night she and her vampire lover retreated to a crypt
where they engaged in the vilest of illicit relations. This
disgusted Maggie Walsh who was a purest. She would have ordered that
Riley stay away from the contamination that was this girl, but it
allowed her to study Buffy even closer so she permitted the
relationship. Fortunately, the little slut did not seem interested
in pursuing a sexual relationship with Riley. This Maggie would
never have allowed.

***

Sometimes when Buffy was out with Riley, Spike would map out the
miles and miles of tunnels that led from the crypt. He found to his
delight that they extended out to almost every part of Sunnydale.
From underground he could reach Giles', Xander's, almost any downtown
store (from which he occasionally liberated items) and most
importantly Buffy's home on Revello Drive.

One night a little more than a week before Thanksgiving, Spike made a
discovery. One of the tunnels ran near Lowell House, and more
importantly, there was a passage that didn't seem to lead anywhere.
After more closely examining the walls, he found a small panel.
Opening it up, he discovered a touchpad. He was pretty sure that he
had finally discovered a way back into the facility.

***

It was 2 am, and Spike, Buffy, Willow and Xander stood before the
mysterious panel. Willow carefully removed the cover and looked at
the wires and modules. Taking a cable out of her bag, she hooked it
up to the panel, turned on her computer, whispered an incantation and
started to process information. Fifteen minutes later, a small door
in the wall popped open.

Taking a deep breath, Buffy cautiously opened the door and peered
in. It appeared to open into a maintenance crawlspace. Silently she
crawled forward, followed by Willow and Xander. Spike brought up the
rear. As she carefully made her way, she stopped periodically to
peer through grates that opened off the tunnel. For the most part,
they seemed to be offices and storage rooms, but after what seemed
like miles, she stopped with a quickly suppressed gasp. Willow and
Xander pushed forward to see what it was. Buffy moved out of the way
and caught Spike's eye. Whatever it was, he knew it had unnerved his
Slayer.

Giving Xander a bit of a shove, he finally forced his way forward
enough to look out. A room of immense proportions filled the area.
Soldiers and men in lab coats moved purposefully about, even at this
late hour.

Buffy continued to crawl down the tunnel, but Spike could feel the
tension radiating from her. If his bearings were right, they would
soon be near where he had escaped. Sure enough, Buffy again halted
suddenly, gazing down with a dark frown. This time, Willow and
Xander quickly moved out of Spike's way.

And there it was. The facility from which he had escaped. The walls
were lined with bright white rooms occupied by almost every species
of demon known to Sunnydale. Some paced and roared, some sat and
stared, some lay curled in upon themselves as if they had lost all
hope.

Buffy wasn't sure why the sight disturbed her so. Maybe it was
because of what she had told Joyce so many weeks ago. She killed
demons, but capturing them, caging them, experimenting on them? This
bothered her.

So far, they had not come upon any more doorways. Nothing except the
ventilation grates led into the rooms below. This wouldn't really be
a problem though. They could simply enter one of the unoccupied
offices; that is once they were certain that they wouldn't set off a
security system.

Motioning everyone to retreat the way they had come, Buffy and the
others left it for that night.

***

They woke Giles up out of a sound sleep to inform him of their
findings.

"We can probably get into that place pretty easily from that
crawlspace," Buffy was informing Giles. "The only problem is, a
place like that is probably wired up with a high-tech security
system."

"Yes," Giles said. "We need to find a way to neutralize it."

Willow had been quiet for most of the discussion, but she suddenly
exclaimed, "Miss Calendar!"

Giles paled slightly and said, "Wha..what? What about Jenny?"

Willow immediately looked contrite saying, "I'm sorry Giles. What I
meant was, Miss Calendar was a techo-pagen. I think I still have the
names and e-mail addresses of her coven at home. If I can contact
some of them, they may be able to provide me with a techno-
incantation that we can use on the security system. It's worth a try
anyway."

Giles had recovered from unexpectedly hearing Jenny's name and nodded
his head saying, "Yes, good thinking Willow. They very well may have
a solution to this problem. You also might see if they have any
ideas how one could, ah, hack into this organization's computer
system. We would certainly find out more information that way than
skulking around down there."

Spike had looked questioning at Buffy upon noting Giles' reaction to
Jenny Calendar's name, but Buffy had just shaken her head. She would
fill him in later in private. Now she said, "Okay, that sounds like
a good plan Willow. See if you can get any help from them right
away. Thanksgiving is next Thursday and Riley told me that most of
the guys at Lowell House will be heading home for the holiday. If
what we suspect is true and they're all affiliated with the
commandos, then that means that many less soldiers we have to worry
about."

Since nothing else could be done that night, the group broke up with
Xander driving the girls back to their dorm and Giles heading back to
bed.

Spike wouldn't let Buffy know for the world, but the idea of going
back into that place terrified him. But there was no way on earth he
was going to allow her to go in there without him. He could still
help her even if he couldn't fight humans.

Chapter 12

Of course his insistence in accompanying them brought about another
argument. "No! What if we get caught? We may get into trouble, but
they'd put you back in one of those cages. It's too dangerous!"

Buffy was standing in the middle of Giles' living room. Her friends
were watching the argument with wide eyes. Giles with concern.

"Damn it Slayer, I may not be able to fight humans, but that place
has demons in it. What if they've made some of them into their
little pet guard dogs? I can fight them. And I have better senses
than you do. I could listen for and smell out danger. You need me
on this mission!"

Buffy was terrified. She couldn't lose him. Not yet. She wasn't
ready. But she knew he was right; he could be helpful to them. And
the knowledge that he was right made her furious.

"Fine!" she yelled. "You want to come along? Get dusted? Well
that's okay by me. Just means one less vampire I have to stake!"

Spike knew she was worried, but her words hurt him nonetheless. Did
she still sometimes think about staking him? Face set in a cold mask
he nodded. "Right then."

Swallowing nervously Willow informed them, "I got in contact with
Jenny's coven okay. Jasper gave me several spells that should work
on the security system and the computer hacking. I just need to get
some supplies tomorrow and do a little preparation. I'll be all
ready by Thanksgiving."

"Good," Buffy said. Then grabbing up her jacket she said, "I'm going
out on patrol. I'll see you back at the dorm Will." Without a
glance or a word to Spike she left.

He made no effort to follow her.

***

"So what do you think, Will? He want to go with us so that he can
find a way to get his noggin fixed? Must be hard on him not being
able to kill us all." Xander was driving Willow back to the dorm
after Buffy had left for patrol. Spike had retreated into silence,
an unusual enough state for the loquacious vampire that it made
everybody uncomfortable.

"I don't think so Xander. I mean, I don't think he'd turn down
getting fixed, but I really think he wants to help Buffy."
Hesitating she finally continued. "Do you think that maybe there's
something going on between him and Buffy?"

Xander almost hit a parked car in reaction to her words. "What?!
No! There is nothing between those two, except hate. Good
old-fashioned Vampire Slayer, Evil Undead hate. That's it!"

Willow remained silent.

Xander had stopped at a traffic light and was now beating his head
against the steering wheel. "Oh God, oh God, oh God," he repeated
with each thump. "She's doing it again, isn't she? Falling for
another vamp. And this one doesn't even have a soul...although that
didn't work out too well anyway." Turning to Willow he
added, "Jesus, Will what the hell is she thinking?"

Willow sighed. "Maybe she's thinking that she'll never have a normal
life and she may not live long so why not take what pleasure she can."

"Spike and pleasure?" Xander shuddered. "Thanks for the visual
Willow."

***

The next evening when it became evident that Buffy wasn't going to
come by Giles' or call, Spike got up and walked out without saying a
word. Giles looked at the closed door and knew he could no longer
deny what he had long suspected. Spike and Buffy were involved.
Getting up he went into the kitchen and poured a large Scotch.

***

Spike headed for the crypt. He had thought of going to The Bronze
and getting drunk, but found himself headed to the cemetery instead.
Entering, he walked to the couch he and Xander had carried in a few
days ago. Xander had been jealous. "Man this thing is better than
the one I have. How'd you get so lucky?"

"Saw it out on the curb, asked the people if I could have it, they
said yes," was the vampire's answer. It really was a nice couch. A
little stained, a little worn, but it good shape.

Now Spike sat on it in the dark, thinking about how he had planned on
getting a slipcover so that Buffy wouldn't have to sit on stained
upholstery. Might as well not bother now.

Wallowing in self-pity he didn't even notice she was there until the
door creaked open. Looking over, he saw her silhouette in the
doorway and saw her tense as she looked around the crypt. "Spike?"
came a soft query.

"Yeah, I'm here Slayer," he answered.

"How come you're sitting in the dark?"

"Don't need light."

"Oh."

Closing the door, she made her way carefully through the darkened
space until she came up to the couch. Feeling her way around, she
sat down facing towards him. Neither of them spoke.

Buffy moved her hand towards him just as he moved his hand towards
her. When they met, Spike grabbed it and held on as if for dear
life. Buffy moved over closer to him, breath speeding up the nearer
she came. Finally as she reached his side, she twisted her body and
straddled his lap. Laying her head on his shoulder she whispered, "I
don't want to lose you Spike."

Spike wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. Turning his
head, he kissed the side of her neck. Buffy lifted her head seeking
his mouth. Mouths open, tongues entwining, they kissed with the
desperation of two people frightened for each other. Spike kissed
her mouth, her cheeks, her chin, eyes, forehead. Back to her mouth,
he began to move his hips, rubbing against her. Buffy pushed back
and got off him. He started to reach out for her again when he heard
the rustle of clothing being removed. Then her hands were on him and
she was undoing his button, pulling down his zipper and freeing him.
Her warm hands stroked him and he moaned and raised his hips bucking
as she gently pumped him. Then she was back on his lap, straddling
him once again and when he reached up for her, he found she was
nude. Groaning, he moved his hands around to caress her breasts,
pulled her up until her chest was level with his face and took a
nipple into his mouth. Sucking it, he lowered his hand and slid it
between her legs rubbing the heel of his hand against her clit while
thrusting his fingers into her. When she started to whimper he
placed his hands on her hips and guided her over him. She settled
onto him, sliding down and taking his length into her. Releasing her
nipple with one last pull, he kissed her mouth once again as he
raised and lowered his hips in time with her movements. The action
became more frantic as they neared their release and Spike was
totally lost in the feel of Buffy. Loving her was all he knew.
Being with her was all he wanted. And as they thrust harder and
faster he spilled the words he had kept hidden for so long, "Love you
Buffy. Love you, love you, love you." And Buffy came.

***

They rested together. Spike wondered if he had made a mistake
telling her how he felt. The realization that he loved her had come
as a shock to him and he had denied it as long as he could, but he
could no longer hide it. If he did die or get recaptured, he wanted
her to know that she was more to him than just a shag. He wasn't
sure how she felt about him. He knew that she still hoped that their
affair would cool down, but he hoped that she felt more for him than
just physical desire.

For her part, Buffy didn't know what to say. She should have been
shocked and distressed to hear Spike's words, but in truth they had
filled her with undeniable joy. Did that mean she loved him too?
But she couldn't. He was a vampire. A soulless vampire. It was
wrong.

And so in the end nothing was said. But nothing was forgotten.

***

When Spike finally returned to the townhouse, he was surprised to
find Giles still awake seated at his table, a glass of Scotch before
him.

"Shouldn't you be in your chaste little bed by now, Watcher?" Spike
snarked at him. In response Giles looked coldly at the vampire and
asked, "Where have you been Spike?"

Spike raised one eyebrow and simply said, "Out."

"Answer me!"

Spike looked in surprise at Giles. For the first time since the
factory, he saw a glimpse of Ripper. A warning tickle ran down his
spine. Shrugging he answered casually, "Was at the crypt I'm fixin'
up for the time I can finally move out of here."

"Was Buffy there with you?"

The warning tickle was stronger now. "Well, she stopped in after she
finished her patrol. Why?"

Giles reached down and then laid a stake on the table in front of
him. "If you value your life Spike, I suggest that you end whatever
personal association you and Buffy are having."

Spike stared first at the stake and then at Giles. "And if I don't?
You stake me and tell Buffy what? You didn't approve of her choice
of lovers so you killed him?"

"No, I tell Buffy that you left my house tonight and never returned."

Meeting Giles' eyes, Spike said quietly, "It's not your job to
approve or disapprove of who Buffy's with. She's a woman now Rupert,
not your little girl."

Giles eyes flashed again. "It's my job to help her destroy creatures
such as yourself."

"Then you better get on with it Giles, because I love the girl and I
won't give her up. Not on your say-so anyway."

"You don't know the meaning of love," Giles spat.

"You'd be surprised just how wrong you are, Watcher," Spike answered
calmly. Pointing towards the stake he added, "You can kill me; I
can't stop you. But just remember, Buffy's preparing to face an
unknown enemy. Do you really think my sudden disappearance wouldn't
throw her off her game? She may not love me Rupert, but she does
care for me. She doesn't need worry for me interferin' with her
concentration."

Giles glared at Spike and then said in a low threatening growl, "I
swear by everything that's holy Spike you hurt her, you betray her,
I'll kill you."

"Fair enough," was Spike's only reply.

Chapter 13

Thanksgiving Day dawned clear and bright. A cool breeze blew in off
the ocean bringing with it the scent of the sea and bright blue skies.

Buffy and Joyce were busy in the kitchen with preparations for
dinner. As usual Willow, Xander and Giles would be joining them
along with the addition of one unconventional vampire.

"Buffy do you think Spike prefers his sweet potatoes candied or
baked?" Joyce asked her daughter.

Buffy grinned at her mother. Joyce had become used to Spike's
unusual eating habits. Every Saturday morning when Xander drove the
girls home he stopped by Giles' as well and picked up Spike so that
he could go to Buffy's house. The story was that it gave Giles a
reprieve from Spike's company. The fact that Spike and Buffy spent
most of the day in Buffy's bed was, of course, never brought up. By
the time Joyce came home from work they were up, dressed and usually
cooking something for dinner. Afterwards the three of them would
talk, watch TV or sometimes even play cards until it was time for
patrol. Of course Spike cheated whenever they played cards and it
had become a part of the game for Buffy and Joyce to catch him out.
Buffy was well aware that most of the times Joyce caught him it was
because Spike had allowed her to. He seemed to enjoy her catching
him as much as she enjoyed doing the catching.

Sometimes it worried Buffy that maybe things had gotten a little too
cozy.

While mother and daughter were debating the merits of baked vs.
candied sweet potatoes the back door opened and Willow and Xander
entered. Greetings and smiles and hugs were exchanged and Joyce
began giving her two new helpers orders when the front door opened
and the sound of Giles and Spike arguing filled the house.

"You stupid git! I told you to wait until I had the door open before
leaping out of the car. Why can't you ever do as you're told?!"

"Because you parked with the sun pouring into the back window you
soddin' burk! I didn't feel like spendin' Thanksgiving as a big pile
of ashes in your backseat!"

Exchanging eye rolls with her mother, Buffy headed to the front of
the house to referee the fight. "Hi guys. Glad you made it. Giles
I think my mom needs your help. Why don't you go on out into the
kitchen and see what she wants, okay?"

Nodding his head at Buffy, Giles shot Spike a sharp glare and stomped
towards the kitchen. Buffy watched with amusement and then turned to
look at Spike. After a close examination revealed no sun damage she
carefully looked around and then stepped up to her vampire giving him
a quick hug and kiss. "Happy Thanksgiving, Spike."

"Happy Thanksgiving, luv," Spike answered softly caressing her face.
Buffy was about to go in for another kiss when the sound of laughter
in the kitchen reminded her they weren't alone. Smiling she
said, "Come on. Everyone works today. Lets go see what jobs General
Joyce has for us."

Spike had thought about whether or not to tell Buffy that Giles knew
about their relationship, but decided that it could wait until after
their foray. He didn't want anything distracting her from the job
tonight. Once they got out of the facility, then he would let her
know. Truth was, he was afraid once she knew that it was no longer a
secret from her Watcher, she would end the affair. He wasn't sure
how he was going to handle it. Not well, he'd wager.

***

Xander leaned back in his chair rubbing his protruding
belly. "Another five star holiday meal at Casa Summers," he
complimented.

"Yes Joyce," Giles agreed. "It gets better every year."

Joyce blushed prettily at the compliments and then added, "Well, I
hope everyone left room for pie. We have Pumpkin, Apple, Mince and
Cherry."

Groans of protest were her answer, even from Spike. "Just give me
half an hour, okay?" Xander moaned. "I'm sure I'll have room by
then."

Smiling Joyce began gathering up plates and soon everyone was busy
busing the table and putting away the leftovers. Once the dining
room was cleared, Willow and Buffy chased Joyce out of the kitchen
with the statement that the cook shouldn't have to wash the dishes.
Spike tried to stay, not particularly wanting to go into the living
room with Giles, but Willow chased him out saying that this
was "wimmin's work".

Buffy looked curiously at her friend. "Since when do we turn down
male dishwashing help?"

"Since I kinda wanted to talk to you privately," Willow answered
uncomfortably.

"What's up Will? Did you hear from Oz?"

"What?" Willow asked startled. "No, no I haven't heard from Oz."

Taking a few minutes to run hot water into the sink and to gather her
courage, she finally drew in a deep breath and plunged in. "Buffy is
there something going on between you and Spike?"

Buffy felt her heart start to pound and she mentally flailed around
for a non-committal answer. "Huh?"

'Okay, not too bright there Buffy', she chided herself. 'Distract
her, make her think of something else, anything else.'
Unfortunately, Buffy's mind seemed to have dozed off from too much
turkey. She could only stare at her best friend.

"Look Buffy, I know it's your business, but if there is something
going on between you two, well," Willow hesitated. "Well, I just
want you to know I'm here for you."

"You're here for me?" Buffy asked in a voice almost totally devoid of
volume. What the hell did that mean?

As if reading her mind, Willow said, "I mean even though I don't
condone it, in fact I think it's like the biggest mistake in
Mistakesville, I'm not going to condemn you for it. Me or Xander
either one."

"You or Xander? Xander knows?"

"Yeah. Well I had to point it out to him, but as soon as I did he
saw it too. But we both wanted you to know that we love you and
we'll be here for you when this all goes, you know, kablooey."

"Kablooey."

"Well, you know, after everything that happened with Angel," Willow's
voice trailed off. She had been vigorously washing dishes the whole
time she had talked, not looking at Buffy. Now she looked over at
her friend and was surprised at the look of cold anger on her face.

"Buffy?"

"This is nothing like with Angel," Buffy said stiffly. "I appreciate
your and Xander's concern, but there's no need. Spike and I are
having sex, yes. But it's not anything to get worried over. He
doesn't have a happiness clause, he's been fixed so he can't hurt
anyone, and we have an understanding. Period."

Grabbing a dishtowel Buffy began wiping down the draining dishes with
a vengeance. Willow looked at her friend and wondered why Buffy was
so angry. She had expected embarrassment, tears, even denial. She
had not expected anger.

Licking her lips, Willow decided to back down. She had let Buffy
know that her friends would be here for her when the worst happened;
that was all she could do. And Willow had no doubts that only the
worst *could* happen.

***

Spike sensed the tension as soon as the two girls joined the others
in the living room. He was surprised when Buffy came and
deliberately sat close to him. Glancing at Willow, he saw the look
of discomfort on her face and tumbled to the implications of it
immediately. Bugger! Apparently the witch had figured out something
was up with them too and she didn't have the good sense to keep her
mouth closed until after tonight. Now Buffy was upset, her
concentration would be off, and it was all his fault. God he could
fuck up a one-car funeral. He should have stayed away from
Sunnydale, stayed away from Buffy. He hadn't wanted to do anything
to hurt her. Not really. Not for a long time. He had just wanted
her.

Looking at Buffy he saw that she was staring at Xander who was sound
asleep and snoring. Christ don't tell him that pup knew about it
too. Why hadn't Xander come in here stakes blazing? Spike
desperately wanted to get Buffy alone to find out what exactly had
been said, but it was a long while before the opportunity presented
itself

***

Giles, Willow and Xander left shortly after dark to prepare for the
mission later that night. Buffy decided that midnight would probably
be as good a time as any. Xander would pick up Willow at her house
and then meet Spike and Buffy at the crypt. Giles had tried to
insist that Spike return to the townhouse with him, but Buffy had
stated that she still needed to go over some things about tonight.
Giles had reluctantly left alone.

Joyce had gone to bed not knowing that her daughter and friends were
going on a dangerous mission. She assumed that Spike had stayed to
patrol with Buffy. After she had gone upstairs, Spike turned to his
Slayer and said, "Your Scoobies know about us don't they luv?"

Buffy nodded her head. "Yes they do. Of course they don't approve,
but at least they didn't threaten to stake you, so I guess we can
take some comfort in that."

Spike looked down at the floor and then looking up at Buffy he
stated, "I wish they had waited until after tonight to tell you. I
don't want you all upset going into this tonight."

"I'm fine Spike. I was a little angry earlier, but I'm pretty much
over that now. At least Giles doesn't know."

Spike wasn't able to hide the expression on his face quickly
enough. "Oh God," Buffy moaned, "He knows too? Did Willow tell him?"

Spike shook his head, "No, he figured it out on his own. We had a
bit of a chat and he suggested that I leave you alone. I told him to
get bent."

"There's more to it than that Spike. Why aren't you dust?"

Spike shrugged as nonchalantly as he could, trying not to show how
much his next words were going to hurt him. "I lied to him. Told
him that you cared enough about me that my disappearance would throw
you off your game tonight. He believe me enough to leave me
unstaked; temporarily at least."

Buffy moved up close to Spike, took his face in her two hands, drew
his head down and kissed him gently. "You didn't lie Spike."

Chapter 14

It was shortly before midnight when Willow and Xander arrived at the crypt. Spike was casually perched on the sarcophagus smoking a cigarette while Buffy checked over her supplies and weapons. They had arrived at the crypt well over a hour earlier after Buffy had changed into appropriate 'skulking attire' as she called it. He had hoped that they might make love before the others arrived, but Buffy had been too tense. Spike hadn't tried to force the issue. He just hoped it wasn't a foreshadowing of things to come.

Once Buffy was sure that they had everything they needed she nodded to Spike to lead the way into the tunnels. Bringing up the rear, she deliberately put everything but the mission out of her mind. She would think about Spike and her friends and her Watcher later. And, dear God, her mother would have to be told, and how *that* revelation was going to fly she just didn't want to even think about. She knew that if she just broke up with Spike, she could leave off the whole 'mom has to be told' bit, but she didn't think that was an option yet.

It didn't take long to reach the passageway and once again Willow opened the door into the crawlspace using the command from her laptop. And as before, Buffy led the way. They had decided that they would enter from a storage or office area past the prison compound. They wanted to be as far away from the control center as possible even though it also meant that they would be farther away from the door to the tunnels. It also made sense to investigate as much as they could from the crawlspace before they committed themselves to entering.

The main room did indeed seem less crowded with soldiers and personnel than it had the previous week. Disturbingly, although Buffy couldn't say why it disturbed her, the demon's prison compound was also less crowded.

At last, they came to what seemed a well maintained office, perhaps one used by whoever was in charge or a second in command. Willow came forward at that point, laid out a few stones and pieces of colored glass and poured some sand in a sacred circle. Taking a small wire from her bag she waved it over the spell ingredients and started chanting. Spike's vampiric senses could pick up the sharp smell of ozone and an odd buzzing filtered through his brain followed by a sharp pain. Gasping quietly, he grabbed his head wincing as the pain stabbed through his skull.

Buffy looked at him sharply, worried that something was wrong with him, but he looked up after a second and nodded to her that he was all right. For some reason, the witch's spell had apparently set off whatever it was they had put in his cranium but it was okay now. With a final flourish and a soft pop, the spell was completed.

"It should be okay now Buffy," Willow whispered. "The security system will appear to be still online, but it won't register us. We have about 3 hours until the spell wears off."

"Good, let's go then." Buffy nodded to Xander and he took his place at the grating and began to unfasten it. One screw didn't want to give, but Spike reached forward and with a quick twist loosened it. Xander bobbed his head in thanks and then quickly removed the rest of the screws. Buffy reached forward and quietly removed the grating from the wall. Handing a rope to Spike, she threw the end down the wall and slid down it quickly as Spike acted as anchor. Xander followed and then Willow. Spike jumped down with the stealth of a cat, landing silently beside the others. Despite themselves, Xander and Willow were impressed. Spike just winked at them.

Willow went over to the office's computer, booted it up and once again took spell ingredients from her bag. She positioned them on the shelf in front of the computer's tower and then taking a cable attached to her laptop, she linked the two computers. Once everything was in readiness, she began her spell. Data streamed over the desktop's monitor and Willow's laptop downloaded the information. Willow sat back and watched the computers' activities carefully explaining what was happening.

"I set the spell's perimeters to what we discussed in our planning sessions. With luck we'll get most of what we need and not too much unnecessary info. I put a new hard drive in my computer with only the barest programming needed to make it operate so that there was plenty of room to download this information." Frowning at the data stream she continued, "This is all encrypted of course so it may take me awhile to break the code and be able to read what we've gathered, but Jasper also gave me a spell I can adapt to help with that." Willow flashed a smile at Buffy. "Those guys are pretty neat. I think they wanted to come to Sunnydale and help, but I told them we had to keep our strike force small."

Buffy forced a smile, but she was starting to get itchy. Her spidey-sense was screaming at her that they needed to get out of there as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the data download was going to take time even with the magic enhancement.

Spike was picking up on Buffy's tension which made him tense too. His natural restlessness was causing him to want to pace, but he was aware of the need to remain as calm and quiet as possible. This was so against his nature that he was having difficulty keeping his demon suppressed.

After what seemed an eternity, Willow finally shut off her laptop, disconnected the cable, removed her spell ingredients and put everything back the way it had been. When they were sure everything was property restored, Spike leaped up to the grate opening and pulled himself back into the crawlspace.

Lowering the rope he pulled Willow up and then Xander. Buffy climbed the rope monkey-like and quickly joined her friends. Resetting the grate in place, Xander replaced the screws and the four headed back towards the tunnels as rapidly as the need for stealth allowed them. They all heaved a sigh of relief once they had exited the crawlspace and resealed the door. As an added precaution, Willow added a spell which made the door impossible to open from the inside.

***

Willow spent the next week working on the data they had pirated and finally broke part of the code with exciting results. She was able to ascertain that the organization in charge of the commandos was called "The Initiative". The information was still sketchy at best, but there was no doubt that experiments and research were being conducted on "Hostile Sub-Terrestrials" or "HSTs". What the experiments consisted of and what was the goal was unfortunately still part of the encrypted data. However, it did mention that the main laboratory where the most serious experiments were conducted was listed as "Room 314".

As well as the information regarding "The Initiative" Willow was also able to break the code that contained a schematic of the facility's floorplan. And Buffy noticed that part of the blueprint behind the section marked "314" appeared to be missing. Now that was interesting.

***

Once again nervous subordinates brought bad news to Maggie Walsh. Looking coldly at the technicians she inquired, "You're sure there was a security breach in the computer?"

"Yes ma'am. It was quite expertly done. It was only by accident that Robinson noticed a small glitch in the data stream. We think that a computer terminal in one of the offices was accessed. We still don't know exactly how it was done."

Robinson quickly added, "We're doing a complete diagnostic on the security system for the past two months, but so far we've found nothing to indicate that any unauthorized personnel have gained entry into the compound."

"Keep checking gentlemen and let me know immediately when you find out what happened." With a deadly glare Maggie added, "And you *will* find out what happened."

Nodding in nervous agreement the two computer technicians rapidly returned to the safety of their terminals. To be honest, Maggie Walsh scared them more than all of the HSTs combined.

Maggie sat back in her chair thinking about what she had just been told. She had a definite idea as to who was behind the break in. Miss Buffy Summers and her vampire lover were no doubt the culprits. Maggie wasn't sure how they had evaded security, but she would find out, take countermeasures and then lead Miss Summers into the end game. She had plans for Buffy. Big plans.