Chapter 20

"Spike!" Buffy screamed and twisting her body managed to throw her
lover out of the way of the stake and onto the floor beside the bed. 
Her bound hands, however, did not allow her to roll completely clear
and she cried out in pain as the stake slid along her back ripping a
long gash in her skin before plunging into the mattress.

Spike jumped to his feet in full vamp face ready to leap on their
attacker, but halted at the smell of Buffy's blood.  Looking down he
saw a crimson stream running from her wound.  "Oh, god, Buffy, you're
hurt!"  Immediately shifting back into human face, he grabbed the
sheet up from the foot of the bed.  Sitting down beside her, he
pressed the sheet against the gash in an effort to staunch the flow
of blood.

"Spike, untie me," Buffy ordered through gritted teeth.  Holding the
sheet to her wound with one hand, he reached up with the other.  With
one tug the scarf fell away from her wrists.  Buffy immediately sat
up pulling the rest of the sheet around her body and glared at their
stunned assailant.  "What the hell do you think you're doing, Riley?"

"Buffy, I'm sorry!  I-I thought I was saving you," Riley answered
defensively.  "What was I to think, Buffy?  I came into Spike's
crypt, heard a scream and rushed down here to find you naked, tied up
and his fangs in your throat.  What was I to think?"

"Well, first of all, you gonk, my fangs were *not* in her throat. 
And as for the scream, well I wouldn't expect *you* to recognize that
sound comin' from Buffy.  Or any other woman for that matter," Spike
sneered.

Riley was now well aware of what had actually been going on.  He
wouldn't have believed it, but the evidence before his eyes left him
with no choice.

"Spike," Buffy warned, "that's enough."  Turning back to Riley she
demanded, "You've explained why you tried to stake Spike.  You
haven't explained why you're here."

"Captain Cardboard's explanation can wait, love.  We need to get you
patched up.  I think the bleedin's just about stopped, thanks to your
Slayer healing, but you still need a bandage."

Riley fumbled in one of the oversized pockets of his jacket.  "Here,
Buffy, I have my field kit.  Let me bandage you."

"You'll not touch her!" Spike growled.  "Give it to me."

"Like hell, I will!"

"Riley, give Spike the bandages.  He'll take care of me."

Riley stiffened but handed the package to a smirking Spike.  Spike
took the contents out and began cleaning the gash.  She hissed and
arched away from him when the disinfectant burned.  "Sorry, love, but
I got to make sure it's all cleaned properly.  Don't want you gettin'
septic.  Fortunately soldier boy's aim is as good as ever.  It's not
too deep."

"I wasn't aiming at her," Riley snarled.  "If she hadn't rolled you
out of the way, I wouldn't have missed my target."

Buffy turned ice-cold eyes on her former boyfriend.  "Then it's lucky
for you that I *did* roll him out of the way."

"Buffy, I don't understand this.  How can you be with this thing?"

Buffy closed her eyes and gritted her teeth.  "If one more person
calls my boyfriend a thing, I don't think I can be held responsible
for their bloody nose."

Spike smiled as he put the last piece of tape on the bandage and
kissed her shoulder, "That's my girl."

"Spike, get my clothes.  Riley, turn your back so we can get dressed."

"I'm not turning my back on him," Riley insisted.

Spike stood up in all his nude glory and smirked.  "Want a good look,
do you?"

Riley whipped around and ground out, "Hurry up and get dressed,
Spike."

Buffy just shook her head and said, "Behave, Spike."

Spike smiled at Buffy and bent down to kiss her, "Anything you say,
love."  Walking around the end of the bed, he gathered up their
clothes and returned to Buffy's side.  After they finished dressing
Buffy said, "Okay, Riley, you can turn around."

When he had complied, she asked again, "Now why are you here?  Not
just here," she said gesturing around the chamber, "but in
Sunnydale.  I thought you were in Bolivia."

"Belize.  And I was until just recently.  My unit has been tracking
an extremely rare and dangerous demon called a Suvolte.  Damned
thing's tricky.  We get a line on it and it gives us the slip.  We
finally tracked it here, to Sunnydale.  And surprise, surprise," he
added staring at Spike, "the trail ends here at Spike's crypt."

"What?  You think I had something to do with leadin' your demon to
Sunnydale?" Spike asked in astonishment.  "News flash, Sherlock, I
haven't left Sunnydale except for a jaunt to the desert in over a
year."

"Yeah?  And just what were you doing in the desert, Spike?  Communing
with the stars?"

"No," Buffy answered coldly, "he was busy saving my little sister
from Glory.  You remember Glory, don't you, Riley?  The hellgod that
was tearing up Sunnydale last year?  Seems she was after my little
sister.  Spike saved her."

Riley stared at Buffy in shock.  "Glory was a hellgod?"

"Oh, that's right," Spike said innocently.  "All that came out after
you'd already scarpered off to Central America.  Yeah, mate, the
bitch was a hellgod. The Slayer could have probably used your help,
but you'd already skipped town."

"Buffy, I'm sorry, if I'd known..."

"It's okay, Riley.  I'm not sure you could've helped anyway."

"But Spike did."

"Yes, he did."

"And so his reward is..." Riley glanced at the bed.

"My relationship with Spike is really none of your business, Riley,"
Buffy told him firmly.  "You wanna finish telling me about this demon
you're chasing?"

"Right."  Gathering his thoughts, Riley went into briefing mode.  "As
I said, it's very rare, usually found in unpopulated areas of the
rain forest. We've been trying to take out the few remaining
individuals whenever we can.  We've increased our patrols recently
because our information states that it's breeding season."

"You do love to interrupt a good shag, don't you, Finn?"

"I know the death of hundreds or even thousands of people doesn't
bother you, Spike, but it concerns us."  Giving his attention back to
Buffy he explained, "The adults are dangerous enough in their own
right, but they're nothing compared to their newly hatched off-
spring.  If the eggs hatch near a populated area, it's disastrous. 
There have been reports of entire villages wiped out.  Hatchlings are
virtual eating machines.  The good news is Suvoltes only breed about
once every thirty years.  The bad news is that's now."

"And so you lot thought what?" Spike asked.  "That it'd be a good
idea to chase the damned things out of their usual nesting grounds
and into Sunnydale?"

"We didn't chase it here, Spike," Riley snapped angrily.  "We
followed it.  For some reason this individual took it into its head
to migrate.  That's bad enough, seeing that it's left a trail of
bodies from Belize to California.  What's worse is we're pretty sure
it's female and it's gravid."

"Gravid?" Buffy asked sitting down on the side of the bed and
straightening her back.  Spike sat beside her and put his arm around
her being careful not to touch her wound.  Buffy leaned into him
gratefully.

"Pregnant," Riley said through gritted teeth.  He hated seeing Spike
acting so solicitously of Buffy.  And he hated even more seeing Buffy
allow it.

"Why would this thing suddenly want to come here?"

"Hellmouth, love.  Demons do love a good hellmouth."

"Yeah, you'd be the expert on that wouldn't you, Spike?"

Buffy sighed.  "Could we stick to the subject at hand and save the
macho pissing contest for later?  Is that why you think this Travolta
demon came to Sunnydale?  Because of the hellmouth?"

"It's a Suvolte demon," Riley corrected just a little peevishly. 
Sometimes he thought Buffy misspoke words deliberately just to
irritate people.  "And no, I don't.  We received word that a black-
market arms dealer is interested in obtaining Suvolte eggs.  And
since the Suvolte came here, we believe that the dealer has somehow
lured it here."

"So, one of your Lady Dr. Frankenstein's minions behind this you
think?"

Riley glared at Spike again.  "No.  This has nothing to do with The
Initiative.  It was decommissioned by the government two years ago."

"Oh, well, that's makes me feel better," Spike said with large
innocent eyes, turning to look at Buffy.  "Doesn't it make you feel
better, Buffy, knowing that a bunch of mad scientists aren't still
around hacking off demon body parts and buildin' a better demon?"

"Too bad Dr. Walsh didn't hack off a few of your body parts when she
had the chance, Spike," Riley spat out.

"Okay, enough!" Buffy yelled jumping to her feet.  She hissed as pain
shot through her back.  "If you two can't play nice, I'm going to
tape both your mouths shut and make you write everything out."

"Spike can write?"  At Buffy's glare, he held up his hands in
surrender.  "Okay, okay.  That was the last shot.  I don't have time
for that anyway.  Buffy, this is serious.  We have to find that
Suvolte before it lays its eggs and I need to find this arms dealer.
Can you imagine the damage a terrorist could do with just one
hatchling, let alone an entire brood?"

"Yeah, okay.  You said you tracked the demon here?  To Spike's crypt?"

Riley pulled a small scanner out of his pocket.  "Its pheromone trail
led here.  Then I lost it."  Turning it on, he made a pass with
it.  "The signature's faint, but it was here, in this crypt."

"Not bloody likely," Spike protested.  "There's only been one demon
here, and you're lookin' at him."

"The readings don't lie.  It was here.  Maybe we should look around,
see if we can find anything."

"Go ahead.  But I'm tellin' you, it wasn't here."

Riley followed the scanner's tracking out of the chamber and into the
labyrinthine passages that led off from the rooms Spike used.  Four
chambers back, he suddenly stopped.

"What were you saying about the demon never being here, Spike?"

Stepping aside, he allowed room for Buffy and Spike to enter the
chamber.  There on the floor was a clutch of about a dozen large,
grayish-brown eggs.

"What the hell is this, Finn?  A set-up?"

"No set-up, Spike.  Or should I call you Doctor?"

"Why the hell should you call me Doctor?"  Turning to a quiet Buffy
he said, "Love, you've got to believe me, I have nothing to do with
this.  I didn't know these things were here."  When she still just
stood there quietly, not answering him, not looking at him, just
staring at the eggs with a deep frown on her face, he cried out
desperately, "Buffy, please!  Do you think I'd let something like
this come near to you?  Near the Bit?  She comes here too, you know,
after school sometimes.  I'd never let anything hurt her, you know
that."  He grabbed her shoulders and swung her around to face him. 
"Buffy, please."

Buffy blinked as if coming out of a trance.  "Huh? What?"  Seeing the
panicked look on Spike's face, she scowled and said, "Oh for god's
sake, Spike, calm down.  I know you aren't involved in this." 
Turning to Riley she said, "Tell me everything you know about this
arms dealer."

"Ask Spike about him while I call in my team.  We'll move these eggs
out of here."  He was starting to speak into his communications
device when she pulled it out of his hand and clicked it off.  At his
surprised look, she said, "Don't take this the wrong way, Riley, but
there's no way I'm allowing you or anyone else to take these things
out of here whole."

"What?"

"It's not that I don't trust you, Riley.  I just don't trust the
people you work for.  We destroy these things, then your men can come
in and clean up the mess while we track down your arms dealer."

He stared at her in shock.  "You think we'd use those things?"

"You wouldn't.  Your bosses?  Not so sure.  So I'm not taking any
chances.  We scramble the eggs and then we go hunting."

"I can't do that, Buffy.  My orders are specific.  Retrieve the
Suvolte and its eggs and arrest the Doctor."

"Oh.  Okay." 

Just as Riley relaxed a bit, Buffy kicked out and caught him in the
stomach.  As he doubled over, she wrenched his rifle off his shoulder
tossing it to Spike.  A sweeping leg kick, and Riley was down. 
"Destroy the eggs, Spike, while I keep an eye on Agent Finn."

Spike smirked at his fallen rival, turned his attention to the eggs
and methodically destroyed each egg in turn.  Buffy covered her ears
to protect them from the sound of the reverberations of the rifle
fire but her eyes never left Riley.  When Spike finally stopped
firing, she looked over at a gross mess consisting of broken
eggshells and dead half-developed embryos liberally coated with
sticky albumen.  "Good job," she said drily.

"My pleasure, love," Spike grinned handing her back the rifle.  Riley
had gotten shakily to his feet and she returned his gun to him.

"I'm sorry, Riley, but you gave me no choice.  I'll never again trust
the people you work for.  Never.  Now call in your men to clean up
this mess for us.  They can take the goop to your superiors.  Then we
can track down and kill the Suvolte." 

"This was unnecessary, Buffy," Riley said angrily.  "If we wanted a
Suvolte or its eggs we could get all we wanted in Belize."

"Maybe.  Maybe not.  I'm just making sure that no one gets these eggs
or this Suvolte."

Riley stared at the destroyed eggs and then switched the communicator
back on.  As he was talking to one of his men, Spike pulled Buffy
some distance off.  "Thank you, love."

"What for?"

"For not believing I had anything to do with those eggs being here."

Buffy looked at him with a serious expression.  "Do you love me,
Spike?"

"You know I do."

"Did you make me a promise not so long ago?  About being the man I
deserve?"

"I did."

"That's why I knew you didn't have anything to do with those eggs. 
Oh, and there's one more thing."  Caressing his face with one hand
she added, "I believe I said something to you just a little while
ago.  I trust you, Spike."

Spike pulled her into his arms, his face going immediately to the
juncture of her neck and shoulder.  Riley had been watching the
interplay between the two and even though he couldn't hear what they
said, the tender caresses and facial expressions made it pretty
evident that Buffy was reassuring Spike.  Riley's hand fisted at his
side and it was all he could do to keep from grabbing his stake again
and lunging at the vampire.  He couldn't believe his fears about her
had turned out to be justified.  It was clear to him now that a
regular human man stood no chance with her.  And the fact that it was
Spike she'd turned to sickened him.  He'd been wise to leave town
when he had.  Unable to stand looking at the embrace any longer he
stepped forward to interrupt.

"We have a bead on the Suvolte.  It's heading towards the Sunnydale
Hydroelectric Dam.  I've ordered my men here to clean up the mess and
retrieve the egg fragments while we go after the demon."

"I hope you told your men I prefer a lemony fresh scent instead of
pine."

Riley just glared at Spike and moved off.  Buffy rolled her eyes,
shook her head and followed.  Spike smirked and brought up the rear. 
They followed Riley's tracking scanner to the bottom of the dam where
it indicated the demon was located.  They were just getting ready to
begin a search of the darkened recesses when another Kevlar-clad body
rappelled down to the dam floor.  Buffy watched the soldier with
suspicion and glanced to the top of the dam half expecting to see
Riley's entire unit.  If he had double-crossed her, she'd be hard put
to fight off the entire unit and Spike would be unable to help.  But
it appeared the soldier was alone.  And then she spoke.  "Everything
all right here, Riley?"

"The tracker indicates the Suvolte's here.  We were just getting
ready to do a sweep.  Did you bring the containment van?"

"Just as you ordered."

"A containment van?  There won't be anything to contain," Buffy
remarked.

"So Riley said, but it's the only thing we have that'll be big enough
to haul the body away."

Buffy was looking at the female soldier curiously.  This was a
surprise.  She hadn't expected any women to be on Riley's special ops
squad.  She well remembered feeling unwelcome while playing on The
Initiative's all boys' team.  And she was surprised with the easy
familiarity with which the soldier spoke to Riley.  The woman turned
to her and smiled. 

"Hi, you must be Buffy.  My husband's told me some very interesting
things about you."

"Your husband?"

The woman turned to Riley with a mock glare.  "You didn't tell her
you were married?"

Buffy's mouth dropped open.  "You two are married?"

The woman turned back to her with a friendly smile.  "Yes, almost
four months now.  You'd think it was still recent enough that he'd be
able to remember it, wouldn't you?" she teased.  "My name's Sam by
the way, " she added holding out her hand to Buffy.  Buffy shook it
weakly.

"Well, well, well," Spike drawled.  "That's interestin' news.  I take
it you two haven't known each other very long?"

She looked curiously at Spike.  "Since I joined his outfit in Belize
a little over seven months ago."  She smiled warmly at her husband. 
"I guess you could say he swept me off my feet."

Spike arched his scarred eyebrow at Riley.  "Good goin', mate.  Get
her locked in before she really gets to know you.  Smart move."

"Spike, shut up," Buffy said a little irritably.

"Sorry, Sam," Riley said, ignoring Spike altogether.  "I hadn't had
the time yet to mention it."  Walking over to his wife, he relieved
her of the equipment she'd hauled down with her and laid in on the
ground.  "Okay everyone let's fan out and flush out our demon.  We
still have a bad guy to find.  Or at least identify."  The last was
said with a sharp look to Spike.

"Ponce," Spike muttered, but he began to search.  As Riley reached a
doorway, the demon attacked, knocking Riley to the ground and leaping
on him.  Spike, who was nearest, hesitated only a second and then ran
to throw the demon away from Riley.  Buffy arrived and kicked out at
it as it rose to its feet knocking it several feet away. 
Unfortunately Sam had been running towards the fray and Buffy
inadvertently kicked the demon into her.  They slammed into the wall
of the dam and the demon was able to grab hold of Sam and pull her
towards it.  It growled and opened its jaws wide displaying a
mouthful of long, sharp teeth.

"Sam!" Riley called out in fear and scrambled to retrieve the rifle
that had been lost in his own scuffle but Buffy and Spike were
already there.  Buffy grabbed hold of its head while Spike grasped an
arm, twisting its grip loose from Sam.  The sound of a neck snapping
was followed by a squeal of pain from the demon. When Buffy let go it
tumbled to the ground, dead.

Riley checked that his wife was unharmed and then gathered up the
equipment she'd brought with her. Hooking it up to the demon he said
to her, "We'll get this thing topside and safely stowed away and then
you can drive it to the rendezvous point.  Buffy and I are going to
try to track down the arms dealer."

The four climbed back out of the dam and hauled the demon up.  Buffy
and Spike carried it to the containment van and dumped it in. 

"It was nice to finally meet you, Buffy," Sam told her.  "And thanks,
both of you," she added nodding to Spike, "for saving my life."

"Yeah, you're welcome," Spike answered nonchalantly, lighting up a
smoke.  Seemed Mrs. Captain Cardboard had better manners than the
Captain did at least.

They watched as Sam drove away and then Buffy asked Riley, "Okay, any
idea where we can find this Doctor of yours?"

"Spike?  You have any thoughts on it?" Riley challenged Spike.

"Oh for the love of... Look, I don't know any Doctor.  Never heard of
the blo..."

"Spike?"

"Well," Spike said, suddenly uncomfortable.  "I don't know of any
Doctor, but there is a guy, or demon, not sure which he is really. 
Smells funny, I do know that, Course that could be cause he's so old
he just has old person smell.  Still..."

"Spike!"

"Oh, yeah, sorry.  Okay, there's this guy, goes by the name of Doc,
but I'm pretty sure he's not who you're lookin' for, Finn, 'cause I
think he's only interested in magic and such.  Knows a lot about a
lot, if you know what I mean.  No, now that I think about it, he's
not your guy.  So sorry, no, don't know anyone."

"Where's this Doc at, Spike," Buffy asked.

"Look, I really don't think..."

"Nobody cares what you think, Spike.  Just take us to him and I'll
determine if he's the guy we're looking for," Riley said officiously.

Riley and Buffy started heading for the SUV.  Spike hesitated but had
no choice other than to follow.  Bugger!  He had a bad feeling about
this.

Spike gave them directions to Doc's place and they drove there
immediately.  He hung back as Riley pounded on the old man's door. 
When it opened, Doc looked at his visitors with surprise. 

"My, what unexpected callers.  A former Initiative soldier, the
Slayer and, don't I know you?"

"No, wasn't me, some other guy," Spike answered quickly.

"No, no, it was you, I remember now.  You brought that pretty little
girl here.  How is she?  Did that spell work out for her?"

Buffy looked at Spike with narrowed eyes.  "What pretty little girl?"

"Why I believe she was your sister," Doc answered, an innocent
expression on his face.  "Didn't she tell you?  Our vampire friend
brought her here oh nine months or so back, wanted help with a
resurrection spell.  So tell me, did it work?  Did you get your
mother back?"

Buffy rounded on Spike furiously.  "You brought my little sister here
to help her raise my mother from the dead?!"

"Buffy, look I can explain."

"There is no explanation, Spike!  God, I just cannot believe you'd do
something so incredibility stupid!  And cruel."  Tears welled in
Buffy's eyes.

"Buffy, love, please.  Let me explain."

"Shut up, Spike!  Not another word out of you."  Turning her back on
him she leveled icy eyes on Doc.  "And you.  You helped her?  Told
her what to do to perform that spell?"

Doc shrugged, not intimidated by the Slayer's fury.  "People come to
me for help.  I give it.  I warned her of the perils, but she
insisted."

"Buffy," Riley said softly.  "I don't know what this is about, but we
need to question him about why we came here, okay?"

"You can do whatever you need to, Riley," Buffy answered flatly.

Nodding, Riley turned to the old man.  "We're looking for a man that
goes by the name The Doctor.  That you?"

"No, I go by the name Doc.  Just Doc."

"Uh huh.  You know anything about a Suvolte being lured here to
Sunnydale?"

Doc looked at him with large round eyes peering out from behind his
thick glasses.  "A Suvolte?  Oh, no.  Those creatures are extremely
dangerous, you know."

"I know," Riley said.  "You know anything about someone wanting to
buy Suvolte eggs?"

"No.  Now the Ghora demon's eggs, you remember the Ghora, don't you,
young man?" he added as an aside to the dejected looking Spike, "they
have a practical use in resurrection spells.  I don't know of any
spell that would require a Suvolte demon's egg."

"Not for spells, to hatch and use as a weapon."

"Oh no, surely not.  They're too unpredictable, as likely to turn and
devour you as your enemy.  No, sorry, I know nothing of that."

"Then you won't mind if we search your apartment."

"Well yes I do, but as you are the ones armed, I doubt my protests
will stop you."

"And you'd be correct," Riley stated firmly.  "Buffy, let's toss the
place and see if we come up with anything regarding the demon, its
eggs or a contract for sale."  He completely ignored Spike who just
stood by the door, neither moving nor talking. 

Spike had been afraid something like with would happen as soon as
he'd slipped up and let Buffy see he knew something.  He only hoped
that once Buffy calmed down, she'd give him the opportunity to...
what?  Explain how he'd brought her little sister to a creepy wizard
for help in bringing her mum back from the dead and then ended up
nearly getting her killed by taking her into the nest of the Ghora
demon?  As he watched Buffy and Riley search the apartment, he was
afraid that act, thoughtlessly done but with the best intentions so
long ago, may have cost him Buffy's affections.

They performed a thorough search of the old man's apartment without
luck.  They found nothing to tie Doc to the Suvolte, its eggs or a
black market arms deal.  Buffy made note however to discuss with
Giles some of the texts she'd noticed.  He may not be Riley's arms
dealer but he certainly wasn't a stand-up citizen of Sunnydale
either, so it infuriated Buffy all the more that Spike had brought
Dawn here.

They left Doc's apartment and returned to the SUV. 

"What now?" Buffy asked.

Riley turned in his seat and stared at Spike who sat slumped in the
back.  "Well, any other ideas, Spike?  Any more of your friends you
think might fit the bill?"

Spike glared at Riley but thought about who he knew in Sunnydale that
could be involved in such a scheme.  Shrugging he said, "I've told
you, I don't know of anyone, haven't heard of anyone called The
Doctor.  There's plenty of bad guys in town, but you know that
seeings as how you worked with some of them."

"Maybe you'll remember better if I beat it out of you," Riley ground
out reaching back for Spike.  His arm was grabbed in an ironclad
grip.  "I don't think so, Riley," Buffy said calmly.  "Let's go to my
house.  We'll talk to Willow and Tara.  Maybe they can come up with
some way to track your arms dealer."

Riley spared one more glare at Spike then turned around and started
the vehicle.  "Maybe we should call in Giles, too.  He may have some
ideas or know something."

"Giles isn't here right now, Riley.  He went to England a few months
ago to report on Glory and do some more research on her and ended up
getting sucked into some big Watcher research project.  He says he'll
probably be tied up there for several more weeks.  Maybe longer."

"Oh."  Riley glanced into the rearview mirror at the spot where he
knew the vampire was sitting.  The expression on his face left no
doubt as to his thoughts. If Giles were here, Buffy would have never
taken up with Spike.  Spike wasn't so sure he was wrong. 

The rest of the drive was made in silence and when they entered the
house, Spike walked into the living room and slouched against the far
wall.  Buffy ran up the stairs to awaken the two witches and then
returned immediately to the first floor. 

"I'm going to make some coffee.  The girls will be right down." 
Minutes later, the two witches descended wrapped in fluffy robes and
matching bunny slippers.  Willow gave Riley a warm hug while Tara
bobbed her head shyly in greeting.  A third figure descended on their
heels.

"Dawnie!  It so good to see you."  Riley reached out and gathered the
girl up in a big hug.  Dawn stood stiffly neither accepting nor
rejecting his embrace.

"So you're back, huh?  I thought you were in Barbados."  Her voice
was not welcoming.

"Belize," Riley said with forced patience.  "And I'm only here for a
little while, Dawn, until I finish my mission."

"Oh.  That's good, 'cause you know Buffy's with Spike now, right?"
she said just a little aggressively.

If Spike didn't feel so miserable he would have smiled.  Leave it to
the Bit to stick up for him.

Riley frowned over Dawn's tone but before he could say anything,
Buffy walked into the room carrying a tray with mugs of coffee,
creamer and sugar.

"Riley knows Spike and I are together, Dawn," Buffy said as she
walked over to the coffee table to deposit the tray.  With a black
look at Spike she added, "At least we were."

"What do you mean, were?  What happened?"  Whirling on Riley, she
said, "Did you do something to try and break them up?  You have no
right to come back here and..."

"Dawn!  That's enough."  Buffy shot her sister a furious glare.  "We
have more important things to talk about right now, and you don't
need to be here.  Go back to bed."

Instead of obeying her sister's order, Dawn flounced over to
Spike.  "What happened, Spike?  Why is Buffy talking like you two
broke up?"

It hardly seemed possible that Spike could feel or look more
miserable, but Buffy's words had cut him to the heart.  "'t's
alright, Dawnie.  She's just a little put out with me right now,
nothing for you to worry about.  Go back to bed like she said so you
don't get on her bad side too."

"But what happened?"

"Nothin', Kitten.  Now go back..."

Dawn whipped around as she caught Buffy saying, "Spike took us to
some weird guy called Doc, but he wasn't the one Riley's looking for
so we hoped there was some way you guys could track him down for
us."  Turning back to Spike with eyes wide she whispered, "Doc?  That
smelly old guy who told us about the Ghora eggs?  You took them to
him?"

"Yeah, Niblet.  I had to.  And he let it out I brought you to him
that time."

"Uh oh."

"Yeah, but she's mad at me not you, so you don't have to worry about
being in trouble.  It was my fault, not yours.  Now you go on back to
bed like a good girl.  Everything will work itself out."

"Un-un, Spike," Dawn said determinedly.  "It was my fault and I'm
going to let Buffy know that."

"Dawn, wait."  Before Spike could reach out, Dawn was over standing
beside Buffy.

"I want to talk to you," she said stiffly.

Buffy gave her a cold look.  "I'm busy right now, Dawn.  We'll talk
in the morning.  Go back to bed."

"No, we'll talk now."

"Dawn," Buffy warned.

Dawn shook her head, her hair flying out in a swirl around her.  "You
can carry me upstairs kicking and screaming the whole way, or you can
come with me into the kitchen and we can talk."

Buffy stood up, anger evident in her stiff posture.  "I'll be right
back, you guys," she excused herself.

Walking ahead of her sister, she went into the kitchen and then
turned around, arms crossed over her chest and toe tapping
impatiently.  "I really don't have time for this, Dawn.  We're having
a very important meeting in there."

"Yeah, well my meeting is more important.  Buffy, don't blame Spike
about what happened last year.  He was protecting me."

"By taking you to that foul old man?" Buffy asked incredulously. 
"God, Dawn, he gave *me* the creeps and I'm the Slayer.  Do you have
any idea what he could have done to you?"

"No.  But he didn't do anything to me except help," the girl
insisted.  "Well, he was kinda creepy, but Spike was with me so I
wasn't afraid."

"I know all about the help he gave you, Dawn.  That's how you were
able to do that resurrection spell.  If it hadn't've been for Spike,
you never would have done it."  Tears were forming in Buffy eyes and
her voice broke a bit on her words.

"No, Buffy, you're wrong.  I was doing a resurrection spell when
Spike found me at Mom's grave.  He told me if the spell I was doing
called for more than graveyard dirt, I was going to call up a zombie
and that was bad.  But he could see how bad I was hurting and he...
he said he couldn't stand to see it.  So he helped me."

Taking a deep breath she looked directly into her sister's angry
eyes.  "That old man Doc told us about the Ghora and where to find
its nest.  Spike told me to wait while he went and got the Ghora egg,
but I told him I'd get the egg while he distracted the demon.  He
couldn't stop me, I mean how could he with the chip and all, so we
both went into the nest.  And everything went fine.  I got the egg,
no problem.  Well, hardly any problem.  So anyway I got the egg and
we were running up the stairs and I-I dropped it.  Spike said to
forget it, it was too dangerous to go back, but I wouldn't listen and
ran back down and the demon almost got me.  But Spike distracted it
again, and got chomped on pretty bad, but he held it off me and then
I was free and he got free and we ran."  She paused only long enough
to draw in a shaky breath.  "And I know we were wrong, but I was
going to do that spell no matter what 'cause I just wanted Mom back
so much.  And I wasn't sure of my translations but I was going to do
it anyway and who knows what would have happened if Spike hadn't come
along.  And...and..." By now, Dawn was sobbing and her speech was
almost incoherent.

Buffy gathered her little sister into her arms.  "Promise me you
won't attempt any more spells.  Ever.  White magic, black magic, I
don't care.  No more spells."

Dawn nodded her head, her breath coming in hiccupping little gasps. 
"P-please don't be mad at Spike, Buffy.  Don't blame him.  It was all
my fault.  He was just trying to help me."

"He should never have helped you, Dawn and you know it.  He should
have stopped you or come to me."

"Buffy, this is Spike we're talking about.  He doesn't run and
tattle."

"Well he'd better learn to."

"You'll forgive him?"

"Once he's suffered enough."

Dawn's eyes widened and she wiped the tears from her eyes.  "You mean
you were going to forgive him all along."

Buffy sighed and shook her head.  "Honestly, Dawn?  No.  Regardless
of why, he put you in danger.  That's a pretty unforgivable sin in my
book.  But," she added firmly interrupting her sister's protest; "I
know you were far from innocent in the whole matter.  But listen to
me, Dawn.  Listen very carefully.  You get him to help you with any
more dangerous stunts, any more black magic spells, and he and I are
through.  And he won't be allowed anywhere near you.  I'll do
whatever it takes to ensure that.  You understand me?"

Dawn nodded, her lip trembling.

"Good.  Now go back to bed."

Dawn nodded again, then turned abruptly and ran out of the kitchen
and up the stairs to her room.

Spike watched as Dawn ran up the stairs and back to her bedroom.  He
couldn't help but see the tears in her eyes and his heart broke
anew.  Looking towards Buffy he saw the cold anger in her eyes as she
glanced at him and then she returned to her friends and shut him
out.  Spike pushed away from the wall.  No need to hang about.  It
was pretty obvious that she wanted naught to do with him. 

He started to walk towards the door when Buffy snapped out, "Where do
you think you're going?"

"Home.  I'm not needed or wanted here."

"Sit down, Spike.  We may have questions for you."

Spike stared at her for an instant, gave one brief nod and sat down. 
Willow and Tara exchanged curious glances but didn't ask any
questions.  Returning to the discussion at hand Willow addressed
Riley.  "So I'm not sure if it'll work, but if you bring a piece of
the demon with you tomorrow we may be able to locate the general
vicinity where the lure was coming from.  There should still be
magical traces like an ant trail. Don't know if it'll work but we can
try anyway."

"Okay, good.  Thanks, Will.  Riley, we all have classes tomorrow and
then I have a meeting with the estate lawyer at four.  I should be
home between five and five-thirty.  Why don't you and Sam come to
dinner at six and then the girls can try the location spell."

"Sam?" Willow asked.

Buffy looked chagrined.  "Oh gosh, Riley, I'm sorry.  With all the
interruptions tonight I forgot to tell them.  Riley's married.  We
met his wife earlier."

Willow looked shocked.  "You're married?  Wow.  Congratulations. 
Okay, well you have to bring her tomorrow night.  I'll call Xander
and Anya cause they'll kill me if they don't get to meet her too. 
We'll have a big family dinner and then on to the magic."

Riley stood up and smiled.  "Sounds good.  We'll see you tomorrow
night."  Glancing over to where Spike silently sat he said, "You want
me to take Spike with me, Buffy?"

"No."

"Okay, but anytime you need me to take him off your hands, let me
know."

"Good night, Riley," Buffy said firmly.

"Good night, everyone."

"Good night, Riley,"

As Buffy walked Riley to the door, Willow and Tara began cleaning up
the used coffee cups and carried them to the kitchen.  When they
returned, Buffy was locking the front door.

"Well, good night, Buffy."

"G'night, guys.  Thanks."

The two girls nodded, glanced at where Spike still sat and then
retreated up the stairs.  When Buffy heard their bedroom door close
she walked into the living room and stood looking at Spike.

"As long at Riley and his unit are in Sunnydale, I don't want you
staying at your crypt."

Spike looked up at her in surprise.  "You worried your ex is gonna
stake me, love?"

"I think there's a real possibility.  So you stay here until they go."

"Alright.  Tell the girls to mind they don't pull the curtains
tomorrow morning, else you'll have a scorched couch and a dusty mess
to clean up."  He tried to sound cheerful, but he just sounded sad.

"You're not sleeping on the couch, Spike."

"Oh.  Where then?  The basement?"

"No."  And then turning away, she slowly walked up the stairs towards
her room.

Taking a deep breath, Spike rose from his chair and followed Buffy up
the stairs.  He had no illusions that he was being invited to her
bed.  She was still pissed enough to stake him herself.  And that was
it, wasn't it?  He'd felt warmed that she'd shown concern over his
safety with Riley in town, but the truth was if she felt he needed
staking she'd do it herself, not farm it out to her ex.  Just as he
reached the top landing, Buffy came out of her room carrying her
nightclothes.  She entered the bathroom without saying a word to him
and closed the door.  Spike entered her bedroom and then stood there
unsure what to do.  It wasn't the first time he'd been here, of
course.  It was the first time she'd invited him there though.  But
this wasn't the way he'd imagined it.  He imagined them wrapped in
each other's arms, so hot for each other it was a wonder the walls
didn't burn.  Falling onto that bed.  Making love.  How many times
had he dreamed of making love to Buffy in her own bed?  Too many to
count.  But now things were buggered all to hell. 

Buffy returned to the bedroom and closed the door.  She was dressed
in a tank top and cotton pajama bottoms.  Her face was freshly
scrubbed and her hair freshly brushed.  He could smell the mint from
her toothpaste.  Spike didn't think she'd ever looked more
beautiful.  She walked to the bed without saying a word to him,
pulled off the bedspread and slid under the covers. 

"Come to bed, Spike."

At his surprised look, she added, "But stay on your own side."

Spike shrugged out of his duster and then sat down on the edge of the
bed to remove his boots.  Next went his shirt and belt.  Leaving his
jeans on, he lay stiffly beside Buffy on top of the covers.  She was
lying on her side with her back to him.  Reaching over she turned out
the light.  They lay there in the dark: motionless, silent.

"I'm sorry, love."

"You could have gotten her killed, Spike."

"I'd die myself first before I'd let anything touch her."

"And after you were dead?  She told me what happened down there. 
Once that demon killed you, Spike, she wouldn't have had a chance."

"Yeah, I know," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Buffy turned around until she was facing him.  "I told Dawn and now
I'm telling you.  You help her do anything dangerous like that again,
you help her to break into any shops or do magic spells or so much as
sneak into the movies, and that's it, Spike.  I will not tolerate you
or anyone else putting Dawn in danger.  Do you understand?"

"Yeah."

"And if you find out she's up to something and you can't stop her
yourself, you'd better hie your ass to me and tell me.  You got that?"

"Got it.  Stop her or run to you singin' like a canary."

Buffy reared up on one elbow, her body stiff.  "You think I'm joking,
Spike?"

"Not in the least, love."  He reached out to touch her but drew his
hand back uncertainly.  "And I promise you, I'll do everything in my
power to keep the Bit safe, even from me."

Buffy flopped down on her back.  "Good," she said huffily. 

They were silent again for a while. 

"Spike?"

"Yeah, love?"

"If I get killed..." Before she could continue her sentence, he was
leaning over her, his hand pressed over her mouth shutting off her
words. 

"Don't say it, Buffy!  Don't even think it.  Nothing's going to
happen to you.  I won't allow it."

Buffy smiled slightly under his palm.  Reaching up she pulled his
hand away from her mouth.  "I'm the Slayer, Spike.  The odds are..."

His hand covered her mouth again.  "I've got your back, Slayer," he
said in a gentle voice.

She pulled his hand away again.  "I know," she whispered.  Reaching
up, she gently stroked his face.  "But promise me that if anything
happens to me you'll still watch out for Dawn, protect her."

"That goes without saying, love.  You know I'll protect her until the
end of the world."

"Thank you, Spike.  Now take your pants off and get under the covers."

He rolled off the bed, dropped his jeans, jerked back the covers and
slid into the bed before Buffy drew two breaths.  Sliding up next to
her, he tentatively reached out an arm to draw her to him.  She
rolled over into him and he grasped her head kissing her ravenously. 
She wrapped one of her legs around him pulling him to her and he
slipped his hands under her shirt rubbing her back as he moved to
kiss her neck and shoulders. 

"Love you.  Love you so much."

Buffy sucked in her breath as his touch ignited flames within
her. "Spike, we have to be quiet."

"Mmmmm."

He pushed her shirt up and over her head and took a breast into his
mouth.  Buffy hissed as he sucked and ran his tongue over the
hardened peak.  Moving his mouth back up he recaptured her mouth and
pulled her hips into his groin.  All his movements were fast,
desperate, almost frantic.  Slipping his thumbs into the waistband of
her pajama bottoms he pushed them down and off.  They lay on their
sides facing each other, kissing and caressing and when he reached
down to pull her leg up, she hooked it over his waist allowing him to
enter her.  As soon as he was in her, he quieted, holding her tightly
against him.  They stayed like that, arms wrapped around each other,
kissing, hips moving slowly as they loved, desire building until
Buffy gasped and locked around him.  He held her securely to him, his
head resting on her shoulder and poured himself into her. 

He rolled onto his back, bringing Buffy with him.  She curled against
his side, one leg thrown over his, her arm resting across his chest. 
Snuggling into a comfortable position, she placed one kiss on his
chest, closed her eyes and slept.  Spike smiled, murmured, "Love
you," and followed her into sleep.

***

Since Buffy didn't have a class the next day until eleven, she slept
in.  When her alarm went off, she climbed out of bed, yawned,
stretched and left the bedroom to take a shower.  Returning sometime
later, she noticed that her sleeping vampire was still unconscious. 
She stood and watched him for several minutes, but he made no
movement at all.  No twitches, no rising or falling of his chest from
breathing, nothing.  She thought she should probably be creeped out
by his corpse-like stillness but to her amazement, she found it
really didn't bother her at all.  And just as she was coming to this
realization, he reached out for her and came awake instantly when he
realized he was alone in bed.

Blue eyes locked onto her and noted she wore nothing but a towel. An
appreciative look came over his face.  "Did I miss shower time?"

"Yep.  I was just about to get dressed.  I have a class in less than
an hour."

"Sure you don't want to skip that class?  Take another shower?"

Buffy hesitated, but then resolutely went to her dresser and began to
pull out underclothing.  "Can't.  Big exam coming up and I need all
the class time I can get in this course."

"Bugger.  All alone in the house.  Hot and cold running water.  Lots
to fun to be had in a shower with the right person.  Sure you can't
stay, love?"

Buffy hesitated for an instant again, tempted by his deep seductive
voice, but stepped into her panties and pulled them up under the
towel.  Dropping the towel but keeping her back to Spike, she slipped
on the matching bra and then turned to see that he'd thrown back the
covers and was displaying one of his more impressive erections.

"God, Spike, doesn't that thing ever get fed enough?"

"When I'm around you, love?  Never."

"Well, it'll just have to go hungry for awhile," she said coming over
to him and dropping a kiss on the tip before flipping the covers back
over his hips.  Spike growled and reached out to grab her but she
ducked out of his grasp and went to her closet pulling out a mid-calf
length skirt and blouse.  After dressing she sat on the bed and
pulled on a pair of boots.  Going to her dresser, she ran a brush
through her hair a few times, put on some lipstick and then walked
over to Spike.  Leaning down to give him a quick kiss, she
said, "Gotta go now."

He reached up to hold her head to deepen the kiss for a moment, then
pulling back a bit he murmured, "Love you."  She gave him another
quick kiss before pulling away and saying, "Get some more sleep,
Spike.  I'll see you this evening.  Oh, and when Dawn gets home,
please have some clothes on."

"Will do, love," he grinned.

"And Spike..."

"Don't worry, Buffy.  Butch and I will stay outta trouble."

Buffy rolled her eyes and walked out of the bedroom closing the door
after her.

***

The front door opened to a whirlwind contained in the small body of a
young teenaged girl.  Spike glanced up from the television screen and
said, "Demons chasing you, Bit?"

"Spike!" Dawn squealed.  "Why're you still here?"

"Big sis was afraid that Neanderthal she used to date is out to stake
me so I get to hide out here under her protection for the duration of
his visit."

"Cool!"  Plopping down on the sofa next to the vampire, she
asked, "What'ch ya  watching?"

"Ricki Lake.  See that bloke on the right with the nose ring?  Well
he's the boyfriend of the chunky bird with the multi-colored hair,
but he went and got her sister, that's the mousey lookin' bint with
the bad complexion, pregnant.  Now personally, I wouldn't sink a fang
into the whole lot of 'em, but the audience is all up in arms 'bout
what a rotter he is."

"I love watching Ricki Lake."

"'s alright.  Prefer Jerry Springer m'self.  Least you're assured
there'll be a good dust up with that show.  Here it's all tears and
yelling.  Hardly any punches thrown at all."

Dawn nodded in commiseration and settled down to watch as Ricki
ensured that her guests were publicly humiliated before a nationwide
audience.  Despite the lack of physical violence, Spike felt it was
an hour well spent.

"So, Spike?" Dawn asked, trying to act nonchalantly as she sipped at
the can of soda she'd fetched during a commercial break.  "Buffy
still mad at you?"

"Nah," Spike assured the girl.  "We made up last night."  He
emphasized his statement by waggling his eyebrows and sticking out
the tip of his tongue. 

Dawn rolled her eyes.  "Please do not even explain to me what that
means," she insisted disgustedly.

Spike smirked and then sobered.  "Look, Dawn." 

Dawn immediately stilled and looked at Spike with eyes widened in
concern.  Spike *never* called her Dawn unless it was something
serious.  Very serious.

"We both know your sister is only concerned with your safety.  As she
should be.  But I want you to know that you can always come to me if
you're in trouble.  I'll always be here for you."

"But Buffy said she'd..."

"I know.  And she's right.  If I do something that puts you in
danger, I deserve to be staked.  But I don't want you to think you
have to protect me.  It's my job to protect you.  I just want you
know that."

Dawn stared at Spike's sober face and tears came to her eyes. 
Jerking forward she grabbed the vampire in an awkward hug and
said, "I love you, Spike."  Then leaping off the couch she ran up the
stairs to her room.

Spike swallowed down the lump in his throat.  It was the first time
anyone had told him they loved him since his mother's death.

From the amount of chatter coming from the kitchen, Buffy could tell
that dinner preparations were in full swing.  After hanging her
jacket and purse in the closet, she walked through the dining room to
stop in amazed wonder at the sight before her.  Spike stood at the
stove, one of Joyce's old aprons tied under his armpits, stirring a
huge pot of spaghetti sauce. 

"Well, if it isn't Chef Boy ar Spike," she quipped.

Spike scowled at her and pointing the spoon at her growled, "One more
crack out of you, Slayer, and this mess finds a new home in your
backyard."

Buffy laughed and coming over leaned in to sample the aroma.  "Smells
good."

"Too bland," Spike answered, dipping a small bit out into a spoon and
offering Buffy a taste.  "Tried to talk Tara into adding some crushed
red peppers to the sauce but she wouldn't go for it."

Buffy blew on the spoon and then sampled the sauce.  "It's perfect
the way it is, Spike.  Unlike you, the rest of us still have active
taste buds."

"That's what we tried to tell him," Dawn interjected from the island
counter where she was preparing a salad.  Spike opened his mouth to
counter when the back door opened and Xander and Anya walked in. 
Xander took one look at Spike in his apron and said, "Oh, I hope
someone captured that on film, cause I'm thinking blackmail."

"Ha, ha."

Buffy was surprised that Xander hadn't had a more virulent reaction
to seeing Spike.  Xander shrugged. 

"Willow threatened rathood."

"Ah."

"So, Riley's married, huh?"  He shot a quick glance at Spike.  "Too
bad."

"Oh, I don't know," Spike said going to the fridge and taking out a
beer.  "She's seems a nice enough sort if a tad bland.  Too good for
Finn, of course."

"That isn't what I meant," Xander snapped.

"No?"

"Guys," Willow interrupted from the oven where she was checking on
the garlic bread.  "I'm thinking Amyrat would love to have two boy
rats with her in the cage."

Spike held up his hands in surrender and returned to stirring the
pasta sauce.  When the doorbell rang moments later Buffy was glad to
leave the crowded kitchen and the tension and let in her two guests. 

Xander and Riley greeted each other with manly hugs and hearty back
thumping.  "Riley, man, it's so good to see you!" Xander exclaimed. 
"So how's Brazil?  You gonna make it to Mardi Gras you think?"

Riley sighed and gave up.  "Don't think so this year."  Turning to
his wife he introduced her.  "Everyone, this is my wife, Samantha. 
Sam, this is Xander, Anya, Willow, Tara and Buffy's little sister,
Dawn."

Sam greeted everyone pleasantly, smiling and shaking hands.  Willow
and Tara excused themselves to return to the kitchen.

"Dinner will be ready in a little bit.  You guys go on into the
living room.  Riley, can I get you a beer?"

"Sure, Buffy, thanks."

"Sam, what would you like?"

"Wine would be fine if you have it."

"Sure."  Returning a few minutes later with the drinks she heard
Xander saying, "You know I love the girls and all but I sure miss
having another guy around."

"What about Spike?" Sam asked.

Xander snorted.  "A) I'm always happy when Spike's not around, and B)
I wouldn't call him a guy."

At Sam's confused look, Riley clarified, "Spike's a vampire, Sam."

Sam looked at Buffy with shock, "But I thought you were..."

"The Vampire Slayer," Buffy said, shooting Xander a glare.  "I am. 
And Spike is a vampire.  And he's my boyfriend."

"Oh," Sam said uncomfortably.

"Spike's good now," Dawn declared with a mulish look on her face.

"Spike can't kill now.  There's a big difference, Dawn," Xander said
forcefully.

"Look, Xander...."

"Okay, this conversation is over," Buffy interjected firmly. Turning
to Sam she asked, "So how is it you came to be in Riley's Black Ops
squad."

As Sam told her story, Willow and Tara were busily putting the
finishing touches on dinner.  When she could politely do so, Buffy
excused herself to help.  Entering the kitchen she saw Spike sitting
at the counter, drinking his beer and talking with Tara as she
drained the pasta.  He glanced up when she entered and smiled. 
"How's everything out there, pet?  Xander through slobbering over
Dudley Do Right?  You know the boy has a serious case of puppy love,
don't you?"

"Behave, Spike.  Is everything ready to go on the table, Tara?"

"Yes, you can tell everyone dinner's ready, okay, Buffy?"

Nodding, Buffy returned to the living room and called everyone in to
eat.  The dinner went well although it was evident from the beginning
that Riley wasn't happy to see Spike back in Buffy's good graces. 
There was also Dawn's obvious partisanship of Spike.  But a few well-
aimed glares from Buffy and Willow's resolve face kept all combatants
in neutral corners.  Sam cast more than one curious glance at Spike,
especially when he poured crushed red peppers onto his serving of
spaghetti and then ate it with obvious relish.

After dinner, the dining room was cleared and the dishes left to soak
while Tara and Willow prepared to do the location spell in hopes of
finding traces of the lure used to bring the Suvolte to Sunnydale. 
When everything was ready, the lights were dimmed, the candles lit
and the two witches began the incantation.  The map of Sunnydale and
the surrounding area began go glow until a thin phosphorescent green
line wove its way erratically around the surface and then stopped. 
They had the origin of the lure.

Turning the lights back on they studied the area indicated.  It was
Buffy who made the connection first.  "Son of a..."

"What?" Riley asked.  "You know who it is, Buffy?"  He couldn't help
but glance once more at Spike.

"Spike, Xander, look at the map.  Anything ring a bell?"

The two men stood next to each other and stared at the map.  It was
Spike's rumbling growl and brief shift into game face that finally
clued Xander in to what he was looking at.

"Warren's house."

"Warren?" Riley asked, instantly alert.

"Oh. Oh! Oooh," Willow said with dawning comprehension.  Turning she
hurried to the corner of the room where the materials taken from
Warren's basement were stored.  Grabbing up the binder, she returned
to the table and began flipping through the pages.  Stopping, she
handed the opened catalog to Buffy.  "Here it is."

Riley and Sam looked over Buffy's shoulder and saw a drawing of the
Suvolte along with a descriptive passage.

"Riley, how long ago was it that the Suvolte started its journey to
Sunnydale?"

"About ten days ago. Why?"

"That deranged little moron even knew it was a killer and he *still*
summoned it," Buffy said through gritted teeth.

"Who is this Warren, Buffy?  Do you think he's The Doctor?"

"He's a megalomaniac and a big pain in my ass, but I don't think he's
an international arms dealer.  He and two other boys, one of whom, by
the way, is a demon summoner, have been causing me trouble lately,
including summoning demons to keep me busy.  Last week I broke up all
their equipment and confiscated their books and papers and chased
them out of town.  If they were involved with anything like you're
talking about, we haven't found any mention of it."

"Is this all their stuff?" Riley asked going to where Willow had
retrieved the binder."  He picked a few things up and glanced though
them.

"Yeah.  Willow and Tara have been going through everything when they
have the time but haven't really discovered what they're up to yet
besides pretending to be Super Villains."

"I think I should take this, Buffy.  We can go through all this
faster than you guys can.  If this Warren is The Doctor, we need to
find out and stop him."

"I suppose you can take it, Riley," Buffy said dubiously. 
"Everything except the demon catalog.  That's too useful to us.  But
we don't know where Warren and the others are right now."  Turning to
Willow she asked, "Do you think you can do another location spell,
this time to find them?  I wouldn't mind having Riley's team pay them
a visit even if they aren't the arms dealer he's looking for."

Willow shrugged.  "I can try." 

The table was set up for another location spell but no matter what
Willow tried it fizzled.

"Sorry, Buffy.  They've blocked any magical means to locate them."

"That's okay.  Maybe Warren's mother has heard from him.  I can check
in the morning."

After Riley promised Buffy to let her know what they discovered,
everyone began loading the material into the back of Riley's SUV. 
Pulling Buffy aside, Riley said, "You know, Buffy, this still doesn't
explain why the Suvolte laid its eggs in Spike's crypt."

"Believe me, Riley, Spike has nothing to do with Warren or the
others.  Why that Suvolte decided to lay its eggs in Spike's crypt, I
can't tell you.  I *can* tell you, Spike's not involved."

"I hope for your sake you're right, Buffy.  Just remember I tried to
warn you if you discover he's not what you thought he was."

Jonathan watched his two friends as they huddled together and spoke
in low voices.  He was being left out of the loop more and more
lately, ever since he'd protested against Warren's plan to seek
vengeance against the Slayer. The loss of the computer material
hadn't been that dire since they had everything backed up through an
on-line server.  Andrew already had a new edition of his demon
catalog and they had restored everything to the new computers. 
They'd replaced much of their equipment through the judicious use of
credit card numbers Warren had obtained by hacking into an online
vender's records.  It was the loss of Jonathan's spellbooks and other
hardcopy data that hadn't been scanned into the computers that hurt
them the most.  Warren's hatred of the Slayer had ratcheted up a
notch because of that loss.  Not to mention the beating he'd received
at the hands of Xander Harris.  Warren seemed to hate Xander only
slightly less than he hated the Slayer.  Spike came third.

Warren no longer seemed interested in anything except taking revenge
against the Slayer.  And Jonathan was becoming afraid.  It was no
longer a game.  They were no longer playing at being evil.  Of course
Jonathan now realized they hadn't been playing for a very long time,
ever since they'd frozen the guard at the Sunnydale Museum.  The fact
that the guard hadn't really been hurt didn't mitigate the fact that
they'd actually done something that could have caused the man serious
injury, even death.  And the effects of the invisibility ray had been
unexpected.  They could have all dissolved into nothingness if Willow
hadn't reversed the ray.

But what they'd done to Buffy, almost done to Buffy – that was what
had really awakened Jonathan.  He'd thought the cerebral dampener
would do no more than make them irresistible to women, like his
*Superstar* spell had done.  Instead, it had made Buffy an automaton,
unable to think for herself, a mindless slave.  It had sickened
Jonathan.  And the fact that it was Buffy made it worse.  He liked
Buffy.  Even more, he admired her.  And Warren was picking up on
that. 

When he'd first met Warren, Jonathan had been in awe of his genius.
He'd idolized him.  He no longer idolized Warren.  Now he was afraid
of him.  Very afraid.

***

Two days after the dinner party, Riley returned with all the
documents he and Sam had taken with them that night.

"There's nothing here to indicate that these guys are connected with
The Doctor so my Commander ordered me to return all this stuff to
you.  They may not have anything to do with illegal arms deals, but
there's a lot of weird stuff in here.  Be careful if you locate
them.  I don't think they're playing with full decks."

"Yeah, I already figured that out.  I talked to Warren's mother
again, but she still hasn't heard from him.  Maybe they left town
altogether and I don't have to deal with them."

"Maybe, but watch your back anyway."

They were standing outside by Riley's SUV.  "We haven't had any luck
at all finding any evidence that The Doctor is here in Sunnydale.  I
guess these guys just summoned that demon to harass you.  It was an
incredibly stupid move and if we had more manpower, we'd leave a
detachment here to find them and place them under arrest. 
Unfortunately, we don't and we've been ordered back to Belize.  We
leave tonight." 

He looked at Buffy silently for a moment and then said, "Buffy, I
love my wife, but you know you'll always have a special place in my
heart.  I hate seeing you with that... with Spike."  He held up his
hand before Buffy could speak.  "I know it's your life.  Just
remember what he is.  Don't trust him.  And don't hesitate to stake
him when the time comes.  He'll betray you, Buffy.  He may tell you
he won't, but it's his nature to do evil.  He *is* evil.  Please,
just keep my warning in mind, okay?"

"Be careful in the jungles, Riley.  Say goodbye to Sam for me."

Riley sighed realizing that Buffy, for whatever reason – and Riley
refused to believe that she could possibly be in love with the
vampire - was not going to listen to his warnings.  Reaching out, he
gave her a brief hug.  She hugged him back warmly, but he could tell
it was as a friend only.  He may still occasionally dream of her, but
he doubted he populated her dreams.  Getting into the SUV, he started
the engine, gave her one more wave goodbye and drove off.

Buffy watched him leave and then returned to the house where Spike
waited.

Willow looked up from the pile of materials when Buffy entered the
house. 

"Everything there, Will?"

"Seems to be.  And they gave me an index!  How cool is that?  Now at
least we have an idea as to what's all here.  It'll make my job of
trying to figure out what their plans were that much easier."  Biting
her lip, she gave Buffy a guilty look.  "Do you think I should have
mentioned to him the stack of CD's I forgot I had upstairs?  They
didn't have a chance to look over the information on them."

Buffy shrugged.  "If you find anything that Riley's group needs to
know about we can let them know.  He gave me his e-mail address."

Willow looked relieved.  "Good.  I did find some plans on them that
looked familiar to me.  Tara and I are going to go to the Planning
Department in City Hall tomorrow to see if we can find out what
they're to."

"Good.  Tara, you have that list of realtor's listings handy?  I
think Spike and I will check a few of them out tonight; see if we can
locate those guys.  I'm not going to be happy until I know where they
are."

Tara silently handed Buffy the list Willow had downloaded earlier
that day.  Anya had suggested that they check out recently rented
properties to see if they could find the three boys.  Since magic
wasn't working, legwork seemed the only answer.

Buffy glanced to where Spike and Dawn were watching TV together. 
"Spike, you ready to go on patrol?"

"Sure, pet."  Getting up, he went to the coat closet to retrieve his
duster.  Slinging it on, he then gathered a few small weapons and
joined Buffy at the front door.  They called good night to everyone
and left the house.

"The git patrol leaving town?" Spike asked.

"Yeah.  Riley said they couldn't find anything that led them to The
Doctor and they were being called back to Belize."

Spike snorted.  "Bet it fried him that he couldn't pin it on me."

"Undoubtedly," Buffy smiled.

"So, guess I move back to the crypt tonight, eh pet?"

"Uh, not tonight."

"Like having me in your bed, do you?" he grinned waggling his
eyebrows at her.

"Please, Spike, don't get so full of yourself," Buffy said dryly.

He grabbed her and pressed her against a nearby tree.  Nuzzling her
neck and slipping his hand between her legs he growled, "No, love,
it's *you* being full of me we're talking about here."

Buffy meant to push him away from her, she really did.  He was being
a jerk, a big sexy, over-confident of his appeal, sexy - oh wait,
she'd already thought that - okay then, arrogant, egotistical,
conceited, sexy - shit!  Giving in, she wrapped her arms around him
and turned her head to capture his mouth for a heated kiss.

"I think we should stop by my crypt before patrol, love," Spike
coaxed huskily.

"We can do this later, Spike, at home," Buffy protested faintly.

"Too quiet, he growled grabbing her hair in both hands and kissing
her hungrily.  "We have to be too quiet.  I want to hear you scream."

Buffy's knees went weak.  A short nod of assent, a last kiss and they
headed for Spike's crypt.

An hour later, Buffy's cry of release echoed throughout Spike's
bedchamber.  Seconds later Spike's own howl followed.  He collapsed
on top of her, too spent to move.  They'd had to be so careful in
their lovemaking the past few nights.  Buffy hadn't wanted any noise
to betray what they were up to in her bedroom.  It'd been very
frustrating for Spike.  He decided that if he ever moved permanently
into the Slayer's house, he'd have the bedroom soundproofed.  It
amused him to think of having Xander do the job.

"Maybe we should just spend the night here," Spike said as he
bonelessly rolled off Buffy.

"No," Buffy answered shaking her head in emphasis.  "Not until I know
for sure that Riley and his team have left Sunnydale.  It's safer at
the house."

Spike gave Buffy a long look.  "You really don't trust him anymore,
do you?"

Buffy was silent for a time.  Looking over at Spike she answered
truthfully, "I don't know.  I *don't* trust the people he works for
and that makes me leery of him.  Anyway, once we know for sure
they're gone, we can get back to normal.  Well as normal as it gets
in Sunnydale."

Spike chuckled and pulled her to him for a snuggle.  They rested
together for a few minutes and then Buffy sighed and pulled
away.  "We really should get on with the patrol and I want to check
out a few of those houses.

"Right then," Spike grunted, swinging his legs over the end of the
bed. They dressed and went on patrol.  Willow had been right about
one thing.  Since they'd taken what-his-name's demon book, they
hadn't encountered any unusual demon or vampire activity in town. 
But Buffy's spider-sense told her that this was just a lull before
the storm.  Something was going to happen.  She just knew it.

After patrol was finished, they stopped by an all-night market so
Spike could buy some cigarettes.  Buffy elected to wait outside and
hearing a noise coming from the alley, went to investigate.  At
first, she didn't see anything although she could hear something
moving around behind a dumpster halfway down the alley.  Pulling out
her stake, she cautiously and silently made her way towards the
suspicious noise.

She had nearly reached the dumpster when a demon popped up from
behind an overflow of refuse that had spilled over into the alley. 
The suddenness of its appearance caused Buffy to jump back startled. 
They stared at each other in equal measures of surprise and alarm. 
It was without doubt the strangest, and possibly ugliest, demon Buffy
had ever seen.  It was tall and bulky with baggy pink skin more
wrinkled than Dawn's unmade bed, large floppy ears, beady red eyes,
long fangs and talon-like nails on the tips of its fingers.  After
only a second's hesitation, Buffy lifted her stake and lunged towards
the demon.  It yelped out in distress, stumbled backwards and crossed
its arms over its face in a protective gesture.  Before Buffy could
complete the downward thrust of the stake, a black-leather covered
arm shot out and blocked her move.

"Buffy, wait!  Don't kill him," Spike yelled.

Buffy gaped at Spike in surprise.  "What do you mean, don't kill
him?  He's a demon, Spike."

"Yeah, I know, love.  But he's harmless."

Buffy eyed the demon dubiously.  He didn't look all that harmless
with the teeth and claws and all, but she had to admit he certainly
seemed less than threatening the way he was huddled against the wall
staring at her with large, frightened eyes.

"What makes you think he's harmless?"

"I know him."

"You know him?"

"Yeah.  Clem, Buffy.  Buffy, Clem." 

The big demon wiggled his fingers at her.  "Hi, Buffy.  I've heard a
lot about you."

"Is that right?" Buffy said coldly.  "I can't say the same about
you."  She fixed Spike with an icy glare. 

Spike shrugged nonchalantly.  "Clem and I are old mates.  You don't
have to worry about him, love.  His kind don't hurt humans."

"Then what was he doing lurking here in the alley?"

The demon slowly reached down and picked up a kitten that was winding
itself around his ankles.  "I was looking for my kitten," he said,
holding the squirming ball of fluff out to her.

"A kitten?  You have a pet kitten?"  Of all the weird things Buffy
had come to consider commonplace since becoming the Slayer, this had
to be one of the weirdest.  A demon with a pet kitten.

"Uh," the demon stammered, glancing at Spike.  Buffy's eyes narrowed
and she crossed her arms. 

"Okay, what's up with the kitten?"

Spike sighed, gave a little shake of his head and decided it wasn't
worth the trouble he'd get into if he lied to her.  "It's a poker
chip."

"What's a poker chip?" Buffy asked confused.

"The kitten.  It's used as a poker chip."

"You play poker with kittens?" Buffy asked the demon in
astonishment.  "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard.  What
value do kittens have?"

"They make tasty snacks," Clem said enthusiastically.

Buffy's eyes widened in horror.  "You *eat* them?" she
exclaimed.  "That's... that's..." Holding out her hand she said
emphatically, "Give the kitten to me."

As Clem reluctantly handed the kitten to the Slayer, Spike said,
"Yeah, that's a good idea, love.  You can give it as a pet to Dawn. 
Shouldn't take too long to get the fleas out of the furniture after
you clean it up."

"Fleas!" Buffy squeaked dropping the kitten and brushing off her
hands.  "That thing has fleas?"

"Well yeah, probably.  It's a stray after all."

Buffy watched as the now startled kitten ran away down the darkened
alley.  That was probably for the best.  It was free to live its life
and Buffy didn't have the responsibility of taking it home and
infesting her house with vermin.

Fleas.  Ugh!

Clem sighed as he watched his late-night snack make its escape. 

Turning back to the vampire and Slayer, he wondered if now would be a
good time to make his own escape.

"Well, it was nice to finally meet you, Buffy, but I really should go
now.  Leno's on in fifteen."

Buffy eyed him for several nerve-wracking seconds.  Turning back to
Spike she asked, "You sure he doesn't pose a threat to humans?"

"Positive, love."

Buffy sighed and stepped back out of the demon's way.  "Okay.  I
guess you can go.  Just don't go stealing people's pets, all right?"

"Sure, Slayer," he said edging carefully away from the tiny girl. 
"No stealing pets.  Got it.  Good night.  Thanks, Spike.  See you
next game."

As he began to walk rapidly away, he heard the Slayer snap at the
vampire, "See you next game?"