After getting ready for bed, she slid in beside Spike and soon fell
into an exhausted slumber. Sometime later Buffy came to groggy
awareness when she thought she heard Spike moan. Opening eyelids
heavy with sleep, she turned over, raised herself on one elbow and
looked at him. He was still lying in the same position. There was
no sign that he had awakened and no sound came from him. She reached
out and gently brushed one errant curl from his forehead and then
curled tightly up against him with her head on his shoulder.
Breathing in his musk, she drifted back into sleep.

***

Spike awoke to excruciating pain in his head and a burning hunger in
his belly. Sitting up in bed, he looked around the room trying to
recall where he was and how he got there. It was obviously a bedroom
in a house, but whose house? Did he and Dru take over someone's
home? No, wait. Dru had left him for a Chaos Demon, hadn't she?
Why couldn't he remember? He became aware of a body lying next to
his and turning his head, he was surprised to see blond hair instead
of dark. Who was in his bed? Whoever she was, she was lying on her
side, her back towards him and her face turned away. A little more
clearing of his head and he picked up the heat and scent of a human
woman. Who? Another subtle sniff and he had his answer.

The Slayer!

Why the hell was he in bed with the Slayer? Had he doped her up?
Rendered her helpless while he used her for his pleasure before he
killed her? He couldn't remember and thinking about it only added to
the pain in his head, but he was sure of one thing. He was starving
and here was a ripe, succulent plum just waiting for him to sink his
fangs into.

Releasing his demon, he pulled her hair away from her neck, carefully
positioned her head, lowered his mouth and bit deeply.

***

Dawn glanced at Buffy's closed bedroom door on her way out of the
bathroom. She thought about knocking on it just to check up on
Spike, but she figured she'd only end up pissing Buffy off for waking
her up. Spike would be okay. He always got better. Always. Taking
one more glance at the closed door, she returned to her own bedroom
to get dressed for the day.

***

He sat in his chair, smoking a cigarette and waiting for the sun to
go down so that he could hunt. His head ached horribly and his belly
was growling with hunger, burning with it. He looked over in
surprise when the crypt door opened and a young, dark-haired girl
entered. She sauntered over to the stone sarcophagus, threw her
schoolbooks onto it and hopped up. Sitting with legs crossed, she
looked at him with a scowl on her face.

"I hate school," she said with a pout. "All the kids treat me like
I'm weird or something and I'm really tired of it."

Who was this girl and why would she walk so casually into a vampire's
lair? Not that he was complaining. He'd just been thinking about
how hungry he was and here dinner delivered itself. Standing up, he
drifted over to her.

"So you came here to rid yourself of all your troubles?"

The girl snorted. "Yeah, like you could do anything to help me. I
just came here to hang out for a little bit. Buffy's in Spring
cleaning mode and I don't feel like going home and getting stuck
washing down walls."

"Buffy?" he asked, halting momentarily in his progress to the
girl. "The Slayer?"

"Well, duh. You know another Buffy?" the girl asked sarcastically.

He didn't know what the Slayer had to do with this girl and he really
didn't care. When he finally stood in front of the girl, he was
amazed that she showed no signs of fear or unease. This was going to
be almost too easy. She was a pretty little thing. If he weren't so
soddin' hungry, he'd take the time to play with her awhile, spice up
his meal a bit, make her cry. It was always much more fun when they
cried. But he was starving, almost weak with hunger, so he'd use
this little bit of a thing as an appetizer. Wasn't enough of her to
make a proper meal.

"Well, Snackable, I can make it so you never have to go home again,"
he said to her in a deep growly voice.

She looked at him in confusion and before she could do more than
say, "What?" he grabbed her head, pulled it to the side and sank his
fangs deeply into her neck.

***

"It's past noon," Willow said to Tara in concern. "Do you think we
should go wake up Buffy?"

Tara looked up from the sandwich she was making. "No, sweetie, just
let her sleep. She's had a rough couple days." Crinkling her
forehead in a worried frown, she added, "I hope Spike's okay soon.
It's strange that the taser blast hurt him so badly."

Willow nodded. "Yeah, that is strange. I mean I know he was still
recovering from that sword wound, but you wouldn't think a taser
blast would put a vampire into a coma."

"Maybe he hit his head really hard on the ground when he fell?"

"Yeah, maybe."

Willow finished pouring juice into their glasses and the two girls
sat at the kitchen island enjoying their lunch and each other's
company.

***

Spike slunk back into alley as he watched the two young women amble
down the dark street. Once eyebrow rose as he read the intimate body
language. So, Red was playing with girls now. That was a bit of a
surprise. Not that he cared. His head throbbed with pain and he was
ravenous, but a double dose of rich, warm feminine blood should fix
him right up. They passed by the alley completely oblivious to his
presence. Reaching out as they passed, he grabbed them and slammed
them full force against the wall of a building knocking the wind out
of both girls.

Before she had a chance to recover, he backhanded Willow across the
face knocking her out. He wanted to take his time over her, so he
saved her for last. Easily subduing the blonde, he quickly drained
her and discarded the body without a second glance. Picking up
Willow, he gently slapped her face until she regained consciousness.
Her girlfriend had taken the edge off his appetite, and so he played
a bit with the young witch. The scent of her terror made him hard,
but his burning hunger soon returned. Giving into his need, he bit
deeply into her neck and supped until her heart faltered and stopped.

***

"Ahn, where did you want these again?"

"Third case from the left; top shelf."

Xander dragged the ladder across the floor to the correct display
case and carried the heavy statuette up the rungs with him. After he
made sure it was securely placed, he climbed back down the ladder.
"I hope that was the last one," he said with a grunt. "'Cause I
gotta tell you, those things are heavy."

"Fertility goddess," Anya said in a distracted voice. "They always
have great heft."

Xander looked at the statue nervously. He hoped the fertility didn't
rub off on him. He wasn't ready to start a family yet. Maybe in ten
years or so. Maybe twenty.

Turning his mind to other things he asked, "You talk to Buffy or
Willow today?"

"No. Why?"

"Just wondered how Buffy was doing. And if Spike's out of his coma
yet."

"You're concerned about Spike?"

Xander frowned. "It's not so much concern, Ahn, as confusion. You
know a lot about vampires. Is it normal for a vampire to go into a
coma?"

Anya thought about the questions for several seconds before she shook
her head. "No, not really. But then if he sustained brain damage in
some way, it would be logical that he go into a coma while he healed."

"Doesn't he need blood to heal?"

"He would certainly heal faster if he were eating, but he'll still
heal, just at a much slower rate."

Leaning up against the counter, Xander asked, "But how could he have
sustained brain damage? Buffy said she was knocked out after I was
so she didn't know what happened to Spike, but I've seen Spike take
blows to the head that would have crushed a normal man's skull. You
wouldn't think that he'd get brain damage from hitting his head on
the ground after getting shot by Warren's taser."

Anya shrugged. "He probably tried to bite Warren again when he hurt
Buffy and the chip fried his brain."

Xander nodded slowly. "Yeah, maybe that was it." Still slightly
frowning, he left the counter to put away the ladder.

***

He looked through the shop window watching her as she counted out the
money from the till. The agonizing pain in his head was making him
nauseous, which only added to the discomfort he was already feeling
from the gnawing hunger churning his gut. She was a tempting morsel
and she was alone in the shop. Easy pickings. Grasping the
doorknob, he wrenched the door open and was across the shop and
behind the counter before the woman had much chance to react.

He felt better as the last rich mouthful slid down his throat. He
just finished licking up the last drop when a car pulled up to the
curb outside the shop. Slipping out of sight he watched Xander
Harris exit the car and head for the shop door. Spike smiled at the
look of alarm on Xander's face when he noticed the broken door. He
rushed into the shop calling the woman's name. When he found her, he
fell to his knees and gathered her to him, sobbing and rocking as he
held her limp body tightly in his arms. Well, well, so the Slayer's
boy knew the bint. Bonus.

Xander didn't even notice Spike until the vampire grabbed him by the
hair and hauled him to his feet. The fight was short and violent and
the conclusion inevitable. Xander's broken body was thrown down to
lie next to the woman's. Spike mopped a small trickle of blood from
the corner of his mouth with his thumb and then licked the thumb
clean. Taking the money from the cash register, he swaggered from
the shop and into the night.

Chapter 34:

Buffy nibbled at her bottom lip as she stared at the telephone.
Should she call Angel? What would she tell him? Well, she could
just tell him what she'd told everyone else - that she didn't know
what had happened to Spike. Would Angel be able to tell she was
lying? Probably. Taking a deep breath she decided she really didn't
care and lifting the receiver, dialed.

Days had passed. Spike remained in his coma and Buffy was sick with
worry. He'd taken in no nourishment since the previous Friday
evening and Spike was beginning to take on the sunken look he'd had
when he'd first come to them after being chipped. She'd tried to get
him to drink by holding a small glass of blood up to his lips, hoping
the smell and taste of the blood would trigger an automatic response,
but the blood had simply poured out of his mouth again.

The line on the other end had just started ringing when Buffy heard a
loud cry of distress coming from upstairs. Slamming down the
receiver to race up the stairs, she never even heard the masculine
voice say, "Angel Investigations."

Spike was sitting up in bed, a look of pure anguish on his face, when
Buffy burst into the room.

"Spike, you're awake! Oh, thank god." She went to gather him into
her arms when he bolted from the bed and hurled himself against the
wall, quailing away from her.

"Stay away from me!"

Buffy halted, confused and hurt by his words.

"Spike, it's me, Buffy." Holding out her hand in the same way one
would reassure a frightened child, she slowly approached him.

He recoiled from her outstretched hand, huddling in on himself and
away from her. "Stay away from me! I don't want to hurt you."

Buffy stopped, alarmed by his words. "You wouldn't hurt me, Spike.
I know that."

"I did," he choked, tears forming in his eyes. "I did hurt you. I
hurt all of you."

"No you haven't, she said in a confused voice. "I promise you,
everyone's okay." She took a couple more steps closer to him. "You
can see I'm okay, right?"

Spike swallowed and then closed his eyes pressing the heels of his
hands against his temples as a wave of pain flashed through his
head. His knees buckled and he started to slide weakly down the
wall. Buffy was beside him immediately, wrapping a supporting arm
around his waist and lifting him up.

"Come on, Spike. You need to get back to bed." Gently guiding him,
she led him back to the bed and helped him in, propping pillows up
against his back for support. He opened pain-filled eyes and
asked, "What's wrong with me, Buffy? Why does my head hurt so much?"

"We'll talk about that later. Right now, you need something to eat.
You haven't eaten in almost a week." Going to the door of the
bedroom she called out, "Dawn!"

Spike's head whipped around to stare at her, wincing when pain lanced
through his brain. "Dawn's all right? I didn't hurt her? I
didn't... didn't drink her?"

Buffy glanced back at Spike in shock. "God no, Spike. You'd pull
your fangs out of your head with your own hands before you'd bite
Dawn."

Spike slumped in relief against his pillow. He was vaguely aware of
Buffy talking, of Dawn's excited voice begging to see him, of Buffy's
quiet but firm voice asking the girl to bring him blood, but it was
all background noise to his own internal chant of, "I didn't kill

her. I didn't kill her."

Buffy returned to the bed and sat down on the mattress next to him.
Taking one of his hands in hers she said, "Dawn's going to bring you
some blood. You'll feel better once you've eaten."

Spike simply nodded wearily, closed his eyes and leaned his head back
against the headboard. Buffy eyed him worriedly. She was becoming
afraid that he was about to sink back into his coma when a knock
sounded at the door and he immediately opened his eyes.

Going to the door, she opened it only wide enough to take the tray
Dawn held. "No," she told her sister, "you can see him later. He's
kinda disoriented right now. Let him eat and when he's feeling
better, you can come in, okay?" Shutting the door she placed the
tray on the bedside table and lifted one mug of warm blood. Holding
it to Spike's lips, she watched carefully to make sure he drank every
drop. When he was finished, she fed him the next mug and then the
next. By the time he'd finished eating, he looked much better. The
sunken look was lessening, his eyes no longer looked glazed and
they'd lost some of the pain and confusion they'd held only moments
before. When his eyelids began to flutter, Buffy knew that this time
it would be sleep and not a coma that he slipped into.

***

He slept for several hours and when he awoke to a darkened bedroom,
he felt stronger. The pain in his head had lessened to a dull
headache, but he felt a deep gnawing hunger in his belly. He
recognized the feeling and a bolt of fear shot through him.

Getting out of bed, he located his clothes and quickly dressed.
Exiting the bedroom, he descended the steps. Glancing into the
living room, he was relieved to see all four girls alive and well,
just as Buffy had assured him. It was Dawn who saw him first and she
was off the couch and running to him in the space of a heartbeat.
Flinging herself into his arms she hugged him and then pulling back,
she punched him in the arm.

He jerked away from her, automatically rubbing his arm although in
truth the girl hadn't hurt him.

"You big jerk," Dawn scolded. "You had us all worried sick. What
happened to you?"

Spike opened his mouth to speak and then closed it again. Glancing
at Buffy who sat tensely watching him, he said, "I-I'm not sure,
Niblet. I'm not focusin' too clearly yet."

Buffy stood up and walked over to him. "You hungry?" she asked. At
his nod, she led the way into the kitchen. As he sat on a stool at
the island, she said, "We've got fresh blood on hand. Willow stopped
by the butcher's shop for me." Reaching into the refrigerator, she
pulled out the container and then froze when he asked, "Buffy, what
happened to me?"

Buffy carefully kept her head turned away as she poured the blood
into his mug and put it into the microwave to heat up. "What do you
remember?"

"Not much. I remember Xander going down and then you. I went for
Warren and the chip went off and then I just remember pain. I think
I remember waking up and Warren saying somethin' about my chip, but
it's not clear. You said I was in a coma?"

Buffy nodded as she removed the mug when the microwave beeped and
handed it to him. When he merely held the mug and looked at her, she
said, "You've been unconscious for almost a week. We've all been
very worried about you."

He lowered his eyes and lifted the mug to his lips. After drinking
down the contents, he said, "Guess the chip really fried my brain
this time." Watching Buffy as she refilled his mug, he said, "I
had...dreams, I guess. Nightmares really." He closed his eyes at
the memory and when he reopened them, they held a haunted look.
"They seemed so real." Swallowing painfully, he continued, "I
dreamed I killed you all. Everyone. You, Dawn, the witches, Xander
and his demon girl." Lifting the mug with slightly shaking hands, he
drained it quickly. As he lowered the mug he said with a wry
smile, "Never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad I have that chip.
Won't have to worry about that particular nightmare comin' true."

Buffy took the empty mug from him. "You want some more?" At his
nod, she filled it once again and stuck it in the microwave to heat.
She stayed turned away from him, watching the mug spin on the
turntable as if it were the most fascinating thing she'd ever seen.
Spike frowned. He was getting avoidy Buffy vibes and her silence
worried him. "Love?"

Buffy sighed as she once again removed the mug and handed it to him.
She'd considered for a few moments not telling him the truth, but she
knew he needed to know.

"You don't have the chip anymore, Spike. That Andrew kid summoned a
demon. Willow said it was a Pockla. Anyway, it reached into your
brain and pulled out the chip. That's why your head aches so much."

Spike's hand jerked, spilling blood over the rim of the mug.

"It's gone?"

Buffy nodded, watching him intently. Spike sat in stunned silence.
He lowered his eyes and realizing that he still held the mug, brought
it to his lips and emptied it. His burning hunger was finally
appeased at least. Lowering the empty mug, he said quietly, "What
are we going to do about it? You gonna have Willow witch it back in?"

"Can't. It's been destroyed."

His eyes shot up to look into hers. "How?"

"One of the nerd boys stepped on it on their way out of Dodge. We
couldn't have used it anyway because Warren had altered its
programming."

"You let Warren go?"

"No. The Pockla took him with it back to its own dimension.
According to Willow, he'll wish I'd killed him instead."

"Good." Spike stood up, walked over to the sink and rinsed out his
mug. "I have to leave, Buffy," he said, not looking at her.

Buffy shook her head. "I want you to stay here until you're
completely better."

Spike turned to face her. "Not just leave the house, Buffy. Leave
Sunnydale."

Buffy stiffened. "Why?"

"Why?" Spike asked incredulously. "Buffy, I'm loose now. There's
nothing stopping me from hurting you or the others. Just like in my
vision."

"You didn't have a vision, Spike," Buffy insisted, "You said it
yourself. You had a nightmare. Nightmares aren't real. And as for
nothing stopping you, you have yourself stopping you."

Spike closed his eyes as he tried to think of the words to make her
understand. "Buffy, love, listen to me," he pleaded. "Everything
that happened in my vision felt real. It wasn't just a dream or a
nightmare. I could taste the blood; smell the fear. It was real."

"It wasn't real, Spike. We're all here. Alive." Grabbing his hand,
she drew it to her chest and placed his palm against her breast.
"Can you feel my heartbeat, Spike?"

Spike closed his eyes as he felt her young, strong, healthy heart
thumping against his hand. "You were in a coma," Buffy said to him
softly. She reached up with her free hand and pulled his head down
until their foreheads were touching. "You had an hallucination. A
pretty horrible one, yes, but it wasn't real."

Spike closed his eyes again, trying to gather his thoughts. "It
seemed so real. Something...had me, controlled me. Used me to kill
you all. Played with my memories so that I didn't remember us or
Dawn. I didn't know who Tara or Anya were."

"Spike, it was probably just...just your brain adjusting to the chip
being gone. Taking you back to the time before you got caught and
chipped by The Initiative. But when you woke up, you remembered
everything, didn't you? You remembered you love me, right?" her
voice was shaking slightly.

He pulled her to him and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around
him, deepening the kiss. When they broke apart, Spike said, "I just
don't ever want to take the chance of hurting any of you. If
whatever I saw really was a vision and not just a dream, I need to
go."

"Stop calling it a vision, Spike," Buffy snapped impatiently.
Pulling away from him, she said, "You're not a seer. It was only a
stupid nightmare and you don't need to leave town just because you
had a bad dream!"

"Buffy, would you please listen to me? I don't want to leave. I'm
just trying to protect you and everyone else. If I'm unstable, or if
somethin's trying to use me, I don't want to be within a hundred
miles of any of you."

"So you're saying that instead of killing me and my friends, I should
let you leave town so you can kill complete strangers?"

"I didn't see myself killing strangers, Buffy. I saw myself killing
you."

"You know what I think?" she asked angrily. "I think you're using
this nightmare thingy as an excuse so that you can leave. I think
now that the chip is out you want to be free to hunt again." Tears
formed in her eyes. "I think that everything you said to me about
being more than a monster was just a lie. It think it was just
something you said so you could get into my pants."

Spike stared at her in shock, which quickly turned to anger. Turning
away from her, he stalked from the kitchen.

"Where do you think you're going," Buffy called after him. Hurrying
to catch up to him, she was surprised when he headed straight to her
weapon's chest, opened it up and took out a stake. Storming back
over to her, he lifting her hand and slapped the stake into it.

"If you believe that any part of what you just said is true, then use
that, Buffy. Because god knows, I'd rather be dust than hurt you or
go back on one single promise I made you."

Completely oblivious to their audience, they stared at each other.
"You are not leaving me," Buffy said flatly.

"I don't want to leave you," he said again, his voice changing from
angry to agonized. "I love you more than anything else in this
world, Buffy. But I won't take the chance of hurting you or the
others.

Buffy tossed the stake onto the coffee table, took his head in her
hands and drew his face down to hers for a tender kiss. "I love you
too, you big dope. And I know with everything in me that you won't
hurt anyone. You had nightmares because you had a brain injury.
That's all they were." Kissing him again, she said, "We're safe as
houses with you."

He was looking at her with a completely besotted look on his face.
Smiling shyly, he said, "That's the first time you've used the words,
love."

She smiled back at him. "I know. I mean them though."

"Say them again."

"I love you."

"Say them again."

"Please don't," a disgusted teenaged voice interrupted. "Geez, you
guys are really sickening, you know that?"

Surprised that someone else was around, they turned to look at their
audience. Buffy blushed and pulled back a little from Spike. "Uh,
sorry, guys." Making a show of checking her watch, she said, "Oh
look, time for patrol. You ready, Willow?"

"Sure," Willow said. She'd been watching the couple with great
interest ever since they came into the living room.

Turning back to Spike, Buffy said, "You probably should go back to
bed if you've had enough to eat. I'll be home in a couple hours,
okay?"

"Sure, love. I'll be waiting for you." His look left her little
doubt what he'd be waiting for. Blushing again, she quickly gathered
her weapons and left with Willow. Dawn yawned and said, "Well, now
that today's thrilling episode of "The Young and the Lame" is over, I
think I'll go to bed too. Goodnight, guys."

"Night, Niblet."

"Goodnight, Dawnie," Tara echoed.

Spike nodded to Tara and followed Dawn up the stairs. As soon as he
entered the bedroom, a feeling of exhaustion overwhelmed him. He
stumbled to the bed and fell face down across the mattress. He was
instantly asleep.

***

He awakened to find himself in an unfamiliar bedroom. A piercing
pain lanced through his head and his belly growled with need. Rising
catlike from the bed, he shifted into game face and stood listening,
scenting the air. He was alone in the room, but the air was heavy
with a scent that teased at his brain. Walking soundlessly to the
door, he eased it opened. He could hear the faint sounds of movement
on the floor below but all was quiet around him. Stealthily leaving
the room, he made his way silently down the hall until he came to a
closed door. Slowly turning the doorknob, he opened the door to find
an unoccupied room. Again, scents almost familiar assailed his
nostrils. Shaking his head in frustration at the elusive memory, he
closed the door again and moved further down the hall to another
door. This time when he opened the door, he found the room
occupied. A young, dark-haired girl slept deeply on her virginal
cot. A predatory smile crossed his face. Slipping inside the room,
he carefully shut the door tightly behind him.

Chapter 35:

Buffy whispered goodnight to Willow and entered her bedroom. There
was enough light filtering in through the window to show that her bed
was empty.

With alarm in her voice, she called out "Spike?" A small movement
caught her attention and she turned to find Spike by the window
crouched down on his haunches, his arms folded over his head.

"Spike? What's wrong?" She started to hurry to him when he lifted
his head. Tears streamed down his face and he croaked out, "Dawn."

Buffy froze. Without another word, she turned and ran from the
bedroom. Flinging open her sister's bedroom door, she rushed to
Dawn's bed crying out her sister's name. Dawn was lying on her
stomach, her hair fanned out covering her face. When Buffy reached
her, she grabbed her and flipped her over. Dawn's eyes flew open in
alarm.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Oh god, Dawnie! Are you okay?" Buffy's voice was shaking and she
was checking Dawn's neck for bite marks. Dawn began pushing her
sister away from her.

"Cut it out! What's the matter with you?"

Buffy was shaking uncontrollably and sat down on the edge of the bed
when her knees gave way. Lifting one trembling hand, she pushed
Dawn's hair from her face. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I am. What's up with all the drama?"

Pushing her own hair out of her face, Buffy said, "Spike had a bad
dream, but he thought it was real. He thought you were hurt."

Dawn frowned. "If he thought I was hurt, why isn't he here?"

"He's... I'll explain it in the morning, Dawnie. You go back to
sleep now." Leaning forward, she kissed her sister on the forehead,
rose and left the room shutting the door tightly after her.

Willow was out in the hallway when Buffy exited Dawn's bedroom.

"Buffy, is something wrong?"

"No. Bad dream."

Willow studied her friend's face and then nodded. "She's okay, then?"

Buffy nodded. "Yeah, she's all right. Goodnight, Willow."

"Night, Buffy."

Buffy reentered her own bedroom. Spike was where she had left him
but now he was rocking back and forth, hunched tightly in on
himself. Buffy went over to him and knelt in front of him. Taking
him by the shoulders, she gave him a little shake. "Spike. Spike,
stop it now."

Spike lifted his tear-stained face to her. "I'm so sorry, Buffy."

"Yeah, well, you scared me to half to death. There's nothing wrong
with Dawn. Except now she's all upset because I went in there and
woke her up." Buffy ran a hand lightly through Spike's hair. "What
happened?" she asked softly. "Did you have another bad dream?"

The look on his face was so anguished that it nearly broke Buffy's
heart. "Come on, Spike. Get up now, okay?" She helped him to stand
and led him over to the bed where they sat. "Now tell me. What
happened?"

Spike drew in a shuddering breath and said, "You have to stake me,
Slayer."

"What?! I'm not staking you, Spike. I just told you, nothing is
wrong with Dawn. You must have had another bad dream."

Spike shook his head. "Not this time. At least, not completely."
He looked down at the floor, unable to look at her. "I came up to
bed after you left and fell asleep right away. When I woke up..."
Spike shuddered.

Buffy wrapped her arm around his shoulders. "When you woke up?" she
prompted.

"I was leaning over Dawn. I, oh god, I was going to bite her."
Another hard shudder went through Spike's body. "If I hadn't woken
up when I did, Buffy, I would have hurt her."

Buffy felt her blood turn to ice.

"I wasn't in control of myself. Just like in my dreams." He looked
into Buffy's shocked eyes. "I don't know what's wrong with me. You
have to take me out, Buffy. You have to protect Dawn."

Buffy stood and walked out of the bedroom. Spike sat on the edge of
the bed his elbows on his thighs and the heels of his hands pressing
into his forehead. It wasn't long before Buffy was back.

"Spike."

He looked up expecting to see a stake in her hand. Instead she had
the two witches in tow.

"We have to tell Willow and Tara what's happening. Maybe they can
figure out what's wrong."

A brief look of hope flashed across Spike's face and he nodded.
Buffy walked over to sit beside him and took one of his hands into
hers. "You guys know that Warren was going to put a chip into my
head to make me his slave," she stated.

Willow and Tara nodded.

"Did you ever wonder where Warren got the chip?"

"I-I assumed he got it at the Initiative facility," Willow said
thoughtfully. Then her eyes widened as the obvious answer came to
her. "Oh sweet Hekate," Willow whispered. "It was Spike's chip,
wasn't it?"

Buffy nodded. "The Pockla reached into Spike's brain and yanked the
chip out."

"Th-that explains why Spike was in the coma for so long," Tara said
sympathetically. "If proper care wasn't taken, something like that
would have to cause serious injury."

"Yeah, but he's obviously better now," Willow said. "Which means we
have an unchipped, unsouled vampire in the house." She was looking
nervously at Spike.

"Not going to hurt you, Red," Spike assured the girl. "Least not
intentionally."

"Not intentionally?"

"Yeah," Buffy said. "See that's the problem. While Spike was in the
coma he had some bad dreams. About hurting all of us."

"Oh," Willow's eyes got even bigger and she took a step back.

"Not dreams, Buffy. I keep telling you that," Spike insisted.

"Spike thinks they were visions or something. He said he didn't have
control of himself in the dreams. And he didn't remember what had
happened over the past two years. Anyway, I told him they were just
bad dreams caused by his brain injury."

"M-makes sense," Tara said.

"Yeah, except tonight the dream wasn't a dream," Spike said. He
pulled his hand from Buffy's, stood and walked to the window. He
stood there staring out into the night, his arms wrapped around
himself. "Tonight I sleepwalked and ended up in Dawn's bedroom." He
turned so that he was facing the two witches. "I woke up just as I
was getting ready to bite her."

The two girls gasped in horror.

Buffy stepped forward. "We need to find out what's wrong with him
and then fix it."

Willow looked helplessly at Buffy. "What do you expect us to do,
Buffy? Call in Dr. Bombay? I have no idea how we could find out
what's wrong with him."

"I'm not sure either, Buffy, but in the morning we could talk to
Anya," Tara said going up to Buffy and giving her a comforting
hug. "She knows so much more about demons than we do, she may be
able to point us in the right direction. We'll do whatever we can to
help."

Buffy hugged Tara back. "Thanks, Tara."

"But what are we going to do about Spike in the meantime?" Willow
asked. "If he does stuff in his sleep he can't control, he can't
sleep. And frankly, Buffy, and please don't take this the wrong way,
Spike, but I don't feel comfortable with him in the house."

"Now wait a minute, Willow," Buffy began.

"No, Buffy," Spike interrupted. "Willow's right. I have to leave.
And Red," he added looking at Willow, "I want you to put the uninvite
spell back on the house after I'm out."

Willow nodded. Buffy opened her mouth to protest, but then shut it
again. She hated it, but the fact was that until they figured out
what was wrong with Spike, it was safest that he not be allowed back
in the house.

"Look, love," Spike said to Buffy, "I'm going to go back to my crypt
now. Would you come with me and chain me up? That way everyone's
safe."

Buffy nodded but there was a knot in her stomach. The thought of
chaining Spike up took her back to the time she'd had to chain up
Angel. At least Spike wasn't ravingly insane.

***

"I can't believe you kept these chains," Buffy grunted as she gave
one last pull. They were affixed to the wall over Spike's bed. He'd
meant to just be chained to the wall where they'd originally hung,
but Buffy wouldn't hear of it. He may have to be chained, but he
could at least be comfortable.

"Vampire, love," Spike shrugged. "Never throw away a good set of
chains."

Buffy rolled her eyes. Backing off the bed where she'd been kneeling
to test the chains, she sighed and said, "I guess they're ready."

"Right then," Spike said. Sitting on the edge of the bed he removed
his boots and then tugged his shirt over his head. Leaving his jeans
on, he slid back on the bed and held out his arms. "All ready, love."

Buffy attached the first manacle to his wrist and then leaned across
his body to attach the second. "This isn't exactly what I had in
mind when I pictured you in chains," she told him as she snapped the
lock shut.

Spike smiled sadly. "Me neither, love."

Buffy stood back and looked at her lover. She hated this. Hated
everything about it. Slipping off her jacket and kicking off her
shoes, she crawled across the bed and settled on his lap, curling up
against him and laying her head on his shoulder. The chains were
just long enough that Spike could wrap his arms around her.

"We'll figure out what's wrong, Spike," Buffy said softly. "I
promise you we will." She turned her head up and looked at him. He
lifted his hand and brushed the hair back from her face.

"I know you will."

He lowered his head and brushed a light kiss across her lips. Buffy
returned the kiss, deepening it, raising her hand to hold his head.
When the kiss ended, Buffy was breathing heavily and Spike's eyes had
darkened to a deep midnight blue. She could feel his erection
pressing against her thighs.

"I love you so much, Spike," she said as she pulled him to her for
another kiss. Her mouth opened and their tongues intertwined.
Keeping her mouth pressed against his, Buffy twisted until she was
straddling his lap. Breaking the kiss at last, she sat back, grabbed
the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. Spike's hands
rested on either side of her hips, and when she reached behind her
back to unfasten her bra, he moved his hands up to capture her
breasts in his palms. The chains dragged across her flesh and Spike
dropped his hands.

Buffy had had her eyes closed and her head thrown back, enjoying the
feel of his hands on her. She opened them in surprise when he
stopped touching her.

"The chains," Spike explained. "I don't want them to bruise you."

She smiled and reaching down, she captured his hands and returned
them to her breasts. "I'm the Slayer, Spike. I heal fast."

It was all the encouragement he needed. He squeezed her breasts
gently, rubbing and pinching her nipples and then bringing one breast
to his mouth, he suckled eagerly. Buffy moaned, wrapping her hands
around his head and lifting herself up on her knees. Spike could
smell the heady musk of her arousal, and dropping his hands from her
breasts, he worked at the fastening to her slacks. Getting it
opened, he pulled down her zipper and then tugged the slacks down as
far as they would go. When she was exposed to him, he slipped a hand
between her legs and slid two fingers inside her. He watched her
face alight with pleasure as she ground herself against his hand.

She was near to climax when she suddenly pushed his hand away and
rolled off the bed. She shimmied out of her slacks and panties and
then crawling back to him, she undid his jeans and yanked them down
his legs and off.

He was hard and aching and wanted nothing more that to feel her hands
on him. As if reading his mind she slid her hands up his legs and
wrapped one small hand around the base of his cock. A loud groan
escaped him when her mouth slipped over the head and she began to
lick and suck, the tip of her tongue probing the slit and lapping up
the salty drop of fluid she found there. His hips began to move as
he gasped out his pleasure.

"Oh god, baby, that feels so good. So good. Yeah, like that. Oh
god, I'm gettin' close, love."

Buffy lifted her head and crawled up his body to straddle him again.
He guided himself into her and they both groaned as he slid home.
They moved in perfect rhythm together and when at last their climaxes
came, they cried out simultaneously.

Buffy collapsed against him, her head once again on his shoulder, her
arms wrapped around his back. She was almost asleep, still connected
to him, when he said, "Buffy, don't fall asleep."

"Mmmmmm, tired."

"I know, but it's too dangerous for you to stay. You have to go
home."

Buffy sat back with a sigh. "I really, really hate this."

"Me too, love."

Buffy helped him clean up and then pulled his jeans back on him.
After she was dressed, she kissed him and said, "I'll be back
tomorrow as soon as we've talked to Anya."

"All right. But with me being all chained up and helpless, just make
sure Xander doesn't come visit me with Mr. Pointy," he told her. "Or
with a stake either," he added with a smirk.

Buffy rolled her eyes, kissed him again and, reluctantly, left.

Chapter 36:

Tara called Anya who agreed to meet everyone at The Magic Box an hour
before opening. Buffy instructed Tara not to tell Anya anything over
the phone. "This is the kinda stuff that needs to be talked about in
person," she said.

Dawn didn't have school that day due to a teacher's meeting, so Buffy
had taken her aside and told her what was going on with Spike. Dawn
had been upset, as was to be expected, but it still surprised Buffy
when she'd refused to go along with them to the Magic Box. Buffy
felt an odd hurt that her sister would turn her back on Spike so
quickly.

When they got to The Magic Box, Xander was struggling up a ladder
with a large and obviously heavy brass incense burner. When the
girls walked into the shop, he burst out, "Buffy! Super strong pal
of mine. Give me a hand here, would you?"

Buffy went over, took the large tripod bowl from him as if it weighed
no more than Tupperware and quickly climbed the ladder. After she
climbed back down again, she asked, "Why are you here, Xander? Don't
you have to work today?"

"Nope. The architect and the contractor are having an argument over
the blueprints and we get the day off while they fight it out. Did
you guys bring doughnuts?"

"No. Look we really just wanted to talk to Anya, so why don't you..."

"Buffy, Xander needs to know too," Willow said quietly.

Buffy stopped what she'd been saying and bit her lip. She really
didn't need Xander going ballistic. She had enough to worry about
right now.

"I need to know what?"

Well, too late now, she realized. Rubbing her hand across her
forehead, she began to fill Anya and Xander in on Spike's situation.

"So you left him chained up in his crypt?" Xander asked.

"Yes, Xander. He can't get free to kill anyone if that's what you're
worried about," Buffy said with just a bit more asperity than his
comment called for.

"Hey, just asking, Buffy. I just want to know that the guy who's
having dreams about killing me isn't running around loose, that's
all."

Buffy sighed. "I'm sorry, Xander. I'm just feeling a little stressed
right now."

"Yeah, well you have good cause." Turning to his girlfriend, he
asked, "So, Ahn, any idea what we can do to fix the guy up?"

"Well, I think we should just call in Dr. Bombey."

Four pairs of eyes stared at her. "Uh, Ahn?" Xander said. "Dr.
Bombay is a television character. From Bewitched? Samantha of the
twitchy nose?"

Anya sighed in exasperation. "Not Dr. Bombay, Xander, Dr. Bombey."

Four blank expressions looked back at her.

"Dr. Bombey is a demon doctor. And by that I mean he's a demon and
he's a doctor who treats demons. So I think we should call him in
for a consultation. See if he can figure out what's wrong with
Spike."

"There's a real Dr. Bombay?" Willow asked in a dazed voice.

"My life is just too weird," Xander muttered.

"Okay," Buffy said ignoring her two friends. "How do we get ahold of
this doctor?"

"I think I have his number somewhere," Anya said going to a large
Rolodex that she kept under the counter. Rapidly flipping through
the hundreds of cards she had in the file, she finally found the one
she wanted.

"It's long distance," she warned Buffy. "You'll have to pay for the
call when the bill comes in."

Buffy just nodded.

***

Spike was dozing when he heard someone coming down the ladder. He
stiffened when he realized who it was.

"Hi."

"You shouldn't be here, Dawn."

"Yeah. I heard you tried to kill me last night."

"Buffy told you what happened then, did she?"

"Yeah. She said you came into my room in your sleep and were going
to bite me. Then you woke up and freaked out." Dawn sat down on the
end of his bed and crossed her legs Indian fashion.

"Which is why you shouldn't be here."

"Why? You gonna break your chains and come after me again?"

"Not while I'm awake."

"So... what? She said that Pockla thing ripped your chip out and
that's what's doing it? You're unchipped and you want to kill
everyone?"

"No, I don't want to kill anyone. Well, Warren. And I wouldn't mind
takin' a nip or two out of Finn. But not anyone else. I promised
your sister I wouldn't hunt, and I meant it. But this, whatever it
is, I can't control it. And that's why I want you to leave."

Dawn shrugged and got off the bed. But instead of leaving she walked
closer to the head of the bed and then reached for something at her
back. Pulling a deck of cards out of her back pocket, she got on the
bed again, took the cards out of the box and began shuffling.

***

Dr. Bombey popped into the room. He was tall and broad with glossy
black hair and a thick ginger mustache. He was handsomely dressed in
a dark suit and tie and a silver gray vest. "Bombie," Anya squealed
and ran around the counter to embrace him. They made kissing passes
at each other's cheeks - right, left, right. Holding her back at
arms' length, Dr. Bombey said with an elegant English accent,
"Anyanka, you look lovely, my dear. You chose your present form
wisely."

Anya blushed, "Thank you, Bombie. It's actually my old human form."

As the two old friends traded small talk, four young humans stared in
shock at the doctor.

"I don't bleeping believe this," Xander said in a stunned voice.

"It *is* Dr. Bombay," Willow exclaimed.

"Do you think I look like him?" Dr Bombey asked Willow pleased. "I
do try my best. He was based on me, you know. My nephew was a
writer on the show."

Buffy had finally gotten over her shock and decided to take charge of
the conversation. She had a sick boyfriend chained up in a crypt and
she wanted him better. Now.

"Look, Dr. Bombay or Bombey or whatever the heck your name is. Do
you think we could talk about Spike?"

"Spike is the patient, I presume?" he asked, turning to look at
Buffy. He stopped suddenly, stepping back in alarm. "The Slayer!
What is this Anyanka, a trap?"

"I'm not going to hurt you," Buffy told him. "I want you to find out
what's wrong with my boyfriend."

Dr. Bombey looked at Buffy appraisingly. "Your boyfriend is a
vampire? Sweet irony."

"Yeah, yeah. You gonna help or what?"

"Tell me his symptoms," the doctor said.

***

"Gin!"

"I think you're cheatin', Kitten," Spike groused. This was the third
game in a row he'd lost.

"Ha! I'm not cheating, but I bet being in those chains means you
can't cheat either. And that's why you're losing."

Spike was just going to respond to that insult when a commotion came
from upstairs. Spike frowned. "Sounds like your sister brought the
whole bleedin' lot with her."

Dawn turned to look towards the ladder and sure enough a steady
stream of people began to descend. Buffy was first and stopped in
surprise when she saw her sister sitting on the bed with Spike.

"Dawn? What are you doing here?"

Dawn shrugged. "Keeping Spike company."

Buffy smiled in relief. "Okay, well the doctor's here so get off the
bed so he can examine Spike."

"Doctor?" Spike asked and then raised an eyebrow as he caught sight
of the stranger who followed Anya down the ladder. "You have *got*
to be joking."

"Spike, this is Dr. Bombey," Buffy introduced. Spike turned his head
to look at Buffy in disbelief. "I know," Buffy shrugged. "It's
majorly weird, but Anya insists he's an actual demon doctor."

"So, this is the patient is it? And a fine looking specimen he is.
You have excellent taste, young lady."

"Thanks," Buffy said dryly.

The doctor set a black medical bag down on the bed and began to
rummage through it. "So, you've suffered a trauma to your brain, is
that correct, young man?"

"Yeah, guess so."

"Well, we'll need a M'ri to ascertain if there is organic damage."

"A M'ri?" Xander asked. "What's a M'ri?"

"This is a M'ri," the doctor stated, taking a vial out of his bag.
It contained what appeared to be a small worm.

"Ewww," Dawn said. "What are you going to do with that thing?"

"We place the M'ri in the patient's eye where it will make its way to
the brain. There it will perform a complete diagnostic and when
finished, exit the eye. I will then be able to see what, if anything,
is wrong."

"You want to stick that thing in my eye?" Spike asked in alarm.

"Don't worry, my boy," the doctor assured Spike as he removed the
worm from the vial and held it up to Spike's eye. "It's a perfectly
safe medical procedure." The worm wiggled out of the doctor's hand
and disappeared into the corner of Spike's eye. He flinched but
appeared to be in no distress. Buffy sat beside him on the bed and
took his hand. He smiled at her in gratitude and then everyone
waited.

The doctor found a place to sit and began scribbling notes, Xander
and the girls confiscated Dawn's deck of cards and got a game of
poker going while Dawn poked around Spike's bedroom curiously. Buffy
and Spike simply held hands and waited quietly.

"You okay?" Buffy asked after a bit.

"Yeah. Doesn't hurt, but I feel like I need to scratch my head."

Buffy shuddered.

At last the doctor put down his pen and walked over to Spike.
"Excuse me, my dear," he said to Buffy. She hurriedly got out of his
way and he leaned over putting his hand under Spike's eye. The worm
fell out of Spike's eye and into the doctor's palm.

"Now, let's see the results of the test," the doctor said lifting his
hand. The worm immediately crawled into the doctor's own eye.

"That's just gross," Dawn said.

The wait this time was much shorter. The worm fell out of the
doctor's eye, he caught it and returned it to its vial.

"Yes, well there are two problems. The first is that there is indeed
a lesion in your brain caused by the removal of the chip. That,
however, is healing nicely and should be completely gone in another
two or three days. It's what been causing the headaches and your
unusual hunger. It is not, however, what is causing your main
problem. A Zar'a-tu has infested you."

"What the bloody hell is a Zar'a-tu?"

"A possessing evil spirit," the doctor said briskly as he once again
began rummaging in his bag. "Many human serial killers are in fact
possessed by a Zar'a-tu." He found what he had been looking for and
stood straight once again giving Spike an appraising look. "It's
unheard of for a vampire to suffer an infection of this sort since
they are unrepentant killers in their own right. But I take it you
are not an ordinary vampire."

"Spike's unique," Buffy said with more than a hint of pride.

"Yes, so it seems," the doctor agreed. "It appears that due to your
vampire's uniqueness, the Zar'a-tu was able to take advantage of his
weakened state while in the coma and move in. Since Spike is a
vampire, however, it was only able to work on him while he was
unconscious. Fortunately this particular spirit is easily
dispossessed." He shook a quantity of powder out into this hand.
Once again leaning over Spike he instructed, "Breathe in deeply
through your nose." When Spike obeyed the doctor blew the powder
into Spike's face.

Spike sneezed. And sneezed again. And again. The fourth time he
sneezed so hard he doubled over and something amorphous flew out of
the top of his head.

Spike lifted his head, tears streaming out of his eyes. "What the
bloody hell was that?" he choked, wiping at his face.

"That, my dear boy, was the Zar'a-tu being exorcised. You should
have no more problems with murderous sleepwalking. Anyone you kill
will be your own choice."

"I can unchain him now?" Buffy asked, reaching into her pocket for
the key to the manacles.

"Certainly."

"Wait a minute, Buff," Xander said stepping forward. "How do we know
for sure he's cured?"

"Once exorcised, a Zar'a-tu cannot reclaim the victim," Dr. Bombey
assured Xander. "Your Spike is now immune to its influence."

"He's not my Spike," Xander muttered. "And I just hope you know what
you're talking about," he said to the doctor.

"If Dr. Bombey says Spike's cured, then he's cured, Xander," Anya
said defensively. "He's the most prominent demon doctor in twelve
dimensions."

"Thank you, my dear," the doctor said, preening at her compliment.

"Okay, so how do we know Spike won't just decide to kill us anyway?"
Xander asked stubbornly, not yet willing to give up his view that
Spike was just waiting for the chance to kill them all.

"Spike is not going to kill us or anyone else, Xander," Buffy said
firmly. "You asked me once if I'd trust Spike if anything happened
to his chip and I told you yes, I would. And I do." Looking at her
friend sternly she added, "And you're just going to have to trust my
judgement on this."

Xander sighed, looked at Tara, who nodded, and Willow, who just
shrugged. "I'm not happy about this, Buffy. I only hope you're
right and no innocent people pay for your mistake."

"She's not makin' a mistake, Xander," Spike assured the young
man. "I'm not killin' anyone unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Spike," Buffy cautioned.

"No, Slayer," Spike said. "I won't promise never to kill someone who
really needs killin'. I will promise you not to hunt or hurt
innocents."

"And who decides who needs killing?" Xander asked.

"Me."

"Buffy," Xander began to protest.

Buffy sighed. "Everyone go ahead and leave. Spike and I need to
have a serious discussion." Crawling onto the bed she began to
unlock the manacles.

"You'll get my bill," the doctor said as he picked up his bag and
disappeared.

"His bill?" Buffy asked, but Anya was already at the top of the
ladder.

Chapter 37:

As everyone left the crypt, Buffy unlocked the second manacle
attached to Spike's wrist and sat back on her heels. "Now, Spike,
about this killing people you think need killing..."

Spike straightened up and lightly rubbed his wrists. "You might as
well stake me now, pet, 'cause that point's non-negotiable. Anyone
threatens you or the Bit or the girls or that prat Xander or, god
help me, even Rupert, and his life belongs to me. I'll let you
decide when it's some stranger involved, but I *will* protect my
family."

"Spike..."

"There's a stake in that chest right over there, love."

"I can't let you kill people, Spike."

"So what you're sayin' is, those bastard knights find out about
Dawn. They come back with the intention of killing her. I have a
choice, kill or let her be killed and you say, what? I let her die
because they're human?"

Buffy stared at him silently. She opened her mouth then closed it
again.

Spike cupped her face in his hand. "I am what I am, Buffy. I'll
control the blood lust the rest of the time, but the muzzle comes off
when it comes to you lot."

Buffy looked at him helplessly. She couldn't condone his killing a
human, but under the circumstance he'd just outlined, she couldn't
condemn him either. Not willing to actually concede the point, she
decided to avoid it.

"You hungry?" she asked, changing the subject.

"That I am," Spike grinned grabbing Buffy and flipping her under him.
He knew she'd decided to avoid the issue for now and he was going to
take full advantage of it. Lowering his head he began nibbling at
the soft skin of her neck. Buffy shivered as tiny electric shocks
passed through her body from his touch. Wrapping her arms around his
bare back, she gasped, "Don't you want to eat?"

Spike raised his head and lowered his hand to the button of her
slacks. "Yeah, I do," he said. Getting her slacks unfastened, he
began to push at the waistband. Buffy raised her hips to allow him
to slide them down. He stopped only long enough to remove her shoes
and then yanked her slacks the rest of the way off. Buffy felt
wanton with her bottom half exposed to him while she remained fully
clothed on top. She soon felt nothing but intoxicating pleasure when
he pushed her legs apart and put his mouth on her. He brought her to
climax three times before pulling back and removing his jeans.
Kneeling over her, he removed her blouse and bra as well.

When she was as nude as he was, he bent down and took a swollen
breast into his mouth. He sucked and nibbled and lashed his tongue
over the hardened peak and when Buffy thought she could stand no more
pleasure, he switched breasts and started all over again. Finally
lifting his mouth to hers, he settled between her thighs and entered
her. Buffy wrapped her legs around his back and met him thrust for
thrust. They came together, perfectly synchronized, and Buffy
welcomed the weight of him as he collapsed on top of her.

Buffy hadn't slept well the night before for worrying about Spike and
Spike hadn't dared sleep at all. With Spike as her blanket and Buffy
as his mattress, the two drifted asleep.

Buffy awakened when Spike's weight finally became uncomfortable and,
regretfully, she woke him. He rolled off her onto his back and she
curled against him, her hand running up and down over the firm
muscles of his abdomen. The cut he'd received was now only a faint
thin scar that would soon disappear completely. "I brought some
fresh blood," she said in a lazy murmur. "You want me to go fetch
you some?"

"No, I'm okay. The Bit brought some with her too and I ate while we
were playing cards."

Buffy leaned her head back with an amused looked on her face. "No
wonder you were so frisky."

"'m always frisky around you, love," he grinned. "You know that."

"Mmmmmm," she agreed, her hand dipping lower and lower with each
pass. His body responded as she'd expected and Buffy brushed the
head of his cock on one of her passes. "Looks like you're frisky
again."

"I feel frisky again," Spike groaned as she took him into her hand.
She squeezed him tightly as he'd taught her he liked and pumped him
with slow, long movements. Spike closed his eyes, threw back his
head and enjoyed the sensation, his hips thrusting in time with her
hand. He came with a cry, spilling his seed all over his belly.

"Now you've made a mess," Buffy teased.

"You made it, Slayer. You should clean it up." His waggling
eyebrows left no doubt about the means she should use.

"Okay, ew and no," she said. Rolling off the bed, she found a clean
cloth and wiped the sticky mess from his stomach.

"One of these days, I'm going to talk you into it," Spike said.

"Don't hold your breath," she said throwing the cloth onto the
floor.

"Can hold my breath till dooms day, love,"

"And that's when it'll be," she quipped back. Kissing him lightly on
the mouth, she got back off the bed and began to gather up her
clothes. "Well, you may not be hungry, but I'm starving. Want to
come to the house with me? We can take the tunnels."

Spike yawned and stretched watching her dress through slitted
eyelids. "No, thanks, pet. I think I'll get some more sleep. I'll
meet you for patrol later though. How's that?"

"You sure you're up for that?"

"I think I just proved to you I'm *up* for most anything."

With lightening fast speed, Buffy pulled something from her jacket,
vaulted onto the bed, straddled him and held a stake against his
chest. "You'd best only be *up* for me, mister."

Spike grabbed her by the back of the head and pulled her mouth down
to his. Buffy quickly pulled the hand holding the stake away from
his body. Their tongues waged war and when they broke apart, Spike
said, "Only you, Buffy. Always you."

Buffy smiled in satisfaction. "Love you."

"Love you too."

Two more quick kisses and she rolled off the bed once again. This
time she went straight to the ladder. "I'll come get you at dusk,"
she said and then she was gone.

Spike stretched with feline grace, smiled and closed his eyes. He
felt better than he had in weeks, the Slayer was finally admitting
that she loved him, and the soddin' chip was out of his head.

The Big Bad was back.

***

Spike kicked at the larger vampire and quickly twisted around, his
duster flying dramatically around him, before dancing back out of the
way of the creature's meaty fists. It felt so bloody good to be back
in the game, and he was enjoying every bit of the fight. Buffy was
fighting her own foe and as she ducked out of the way of a punch she
said, "Spike?"

"Yeah, love?" Spike answered swinging his leg around to trip up his
opponent.

"That doctor said he'd send a bill." Punch, dodge, kick.

"Yeah." Jab, leap, twirl, skip, punch.

"So how much do you think the bill will be?" Spin, kick.

"Dunno, love. Demons usually deal in babies." Punch, punch, skip,
twirl, kick.

"What?! Oof." Irritated that the vampire had suckerpunched her when
she'd been momentarily distracted, she whipped out her stake and
dusted him.

"What do you mean demons usually deal in babies?!"

"Yeah, but you bein' the Slayer and all, I doubt he'll ask for a
baby." He took a blow to the head, which he answered with a blow of
his own. Catching sight of Buffy's face, he realized his fun was
over for the time being. Taking his stake from his pocket, he
twisted around and stabbed the stake into the vampire's heart.
Walking through the dust cloud, he went up to Buffy and said, "Look,
I was just jokin'. I'm sure the bill will be for dollars, just like
a normal doctor." Spike stopped and considered a moment. "Although
come to think of it, I'd probably be able to get him a baby easier
than I could pay a big doctor's bill."

"Spike!"

Oops.

"For god's sake, Slayer," he covered quickly, "will you lighten up?
I'm just havin' you on."

"You think that's a joke, Spike?" Buffy asked incredulously.

Spike sighed and tried to take Buffy into his arms, but she stepped
back away from him, arms crossed over her chest. Running a hand
through his hair, he said, "I'm sorry, love. I'm a demon and
sometimes what I think is funny, well I guess 't's not."

"Well, that certainly was not funny."

"Right, baby jokes not funny. Got it. Never do it again."

Buffy just shook her head. Sometimes Spike could be the most loving,
most gentle, most insightful and sensitive man she knew and sometimes
it was like being with a pack of adolescent boys at their most
immature.

"Come on," she said, "let's finish patrol."

***

Patrol was unusually busy that night and Buffy could tell that Spike
was reveling in it. Their final battle that night took place on one
of the hills that surrounded Sunnydale and when they'd dusted the
last vamp, they followed the footpath back down to the valley. A
break in the trees caught Buffy's attention and she stopped. "Oh,
Spike, look." Moving through the trees, she came to a lookout. The
lights of Sunnydale spread out like a blanket at her feet.

"What is it, love?"

"Doesn't Sunnydale look pretty from up here?" she asked.

Spike stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "Yeah, it
does."

They stood there gazing down, relaxing and just enjoying being
together. Spike's chin rested lightly on the top of her head and she
leaned comfortably back against him.

"You looked like you were having fun tonight," she said softly.

"Yeah, I was. You know me, Slayer. Love a good fight."

She was silent again for several minutes and then she said in voice
barely above a whisper. "Do you miss it?"

"Miss what, love?"

"Being the Big Bad?"

"I still am the Big Bad," he smirked. "Just ask all those vampires
we took out tonight. Oh wait you can't, 'cause they're dust now."

Buffy's lips curled into the smallest of smiles. "Yeah, but what I
meant was, do you miss having minions, going where you want to go,
doing what you want to do?"

"Killing people?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," she whispered.

Spike turned her around until she was facing him. "All that I did
before... at the time I was doing it, I didn't know any better.
Didn't care either. It was all fists and fangs and sod all else.
And yeah, I loved it. Loved the glory of my name bein' in the books
of the mighty Watcher's Council. William the Bloody," he said
dramatically, "Slayer of Slayers.

"But that's the past, love," he said in a quietly sincere voice.
"You and Dawn, you mean more to me than anything else I've ever
known."

"But now that the chip's out?"

He traced his hand down her face, "Don't start doubting me, love. If
I were to ever think of going back to my old ways, all I'd need do is
look into your eyes, hear your voice - even when you're scoldin' me,"
he teased, "feel your body next to mine," he continued more
seriously, "and I'd remember that I don't want to be anywhere else,
don't want to be doing anything else. I love you, Buffy. You're my
glory now."

Buffy reached up and pulled his head down to her. The kiss was deep
and intense and tasted of Buffy's tears. Sometimes it still
frightened her, this decision she'd made to love a demon. She would
never have believed a vampire could choose to act other than his
nature dictated. Angelus had taught her that all vampires were evil
and corrupt. But Spike was so different - he learned, changed,
grew. He was loyal and brave and he loved her. He loved her
sister. And he cared about her friends.

Breaking the kiss, they stood wrapped in each other's arms, her head
on his shoulder, his head resting atop hers. At last, Buffy pulled
back and turned around in his arms until she was looking out over
Sunnydale again. She wrapped her arms over his as he pulled her back
against him.

"Besides," he said as if there had been no break in the
conversation, "minions are usually more bother than they're worth.
But then you'd know that from having your Scoobies."

"They're my friends, Spike," Buffy said looking up at him in mock
severity, "not my minions."

"Right," he said smirking down at her. Buffy rolled her eyes and
returned her attention to the view.

"I almost forgot," she said, settling against him once more. "I got
a call from Giles today."

"Yeah? He have anything interesting to say? Oh, wait, we're talking
about Giles. Never mind."

Buffy softly snorted a laugh. "Well, surprisingly, this time he
did. He's coming home at the end of next week."

"You mean the Wanker's Council is finally cutting him loose? To be
honest, love, I was beginning to think our expatriate had
repatriated."

"Yeah, I thought so too. But apparently, he's finally finished
whatever it was he was researching."

"So have you told Rupert about us yet?"

"Yeah. He's not happy, of course."

"Of course," Spike said dryly. "Imagine he went over the same ground
Harris did. Evil, soulless, kill you in your sleep, blah, blah,
blah."

Buffy gave another little laugh. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Well, don't be surprised one night when you come to my crypt and
find only a big pile of dust. Don't expect Rupert's going to take me
corrupting his daughter lying down."

"I'm not his daughter, Spike, and you don't have to stand there and
let him dust you."

"No, but I can't really hit the old man either. One more shot to the
head and the poor old sod's brains are going to dribble out."

Another snort of laughter escaped from Buffy. "Stop it, Spike. You
don't need to hit him either. Just stay away from him until he gets
used to it."

"So you're saying I never have to see Giles again then, is that it?"

Buffy turned back around, an amused grin on her face. "You are
incorrigible."

"Guilty."

"Well, come on, Mr. Incorrigible, let's go home. I'm getting tired
of standing here."

Returning to the path, they soon reached the bottom of the hill and
headed toward Spike's crypt. Buffy decided it was time to broach
something with Spike that she'd been thinking about for awhile. The
very thought frightened her; it was such a big step. But it was also
something she wanted very much. And being with Spike the last few
months had taught her that if you wanted something badly enough, you
should go for it.

"Spike?"

"Yeah, love?"

"I was wondering something. How attached are you to your crypt?"

"I dunno, love. It's a nice crypt and I like how we've decorated it
with the oriental rugs and all."

"Yeah, it's looking real homey now."

"Yeah, it is, isn't it? Homey. Like that word."

Buffy bit her lip. "The thing is though, it's still a crypt."

"Well, yeah, guess it is. What's your point, love?"

"Well I was just wondering if you'd, that is, if you like the idea
and all, no pressure or anything. If you don't want to I'll
understand. I mean it's completely up to you."

"Buffy," Spike said, stopping and pulling her around to face him.
"You're starting to babble like Willow, love. Tell me what you want
me to do, and I'll do it."

"No, I want you to do it only if you really want to."

"Right then. Only if I really want to. Now what is it?"

"Iwasjustwonderingifyou'dliketomoveinwithme," she said as quickly as
she could get the words out.

Spike stared at her unable to believe he'd just heard what he'd
thought he'd heard. "Say that again, love. Slower this time."

Buffy swallowed, took a deep breath and said, "I was just wondering
if you would like to move in with me?"

"Move in? Permanent like?"

Buffy nodded her head.

"What about Willow and Tara? What do they think?"

"Well, I haven't really said anything to them yet, but I don't see
why they'd mind. I mean, you've been at the house more than your
crypt the last few weeks anyway."

"True, but I've been hurt or unconscious most of the time, too."

"I know, but still, they are used to you being around. And I'm sure
Dawn won't mind."

"Of course Dawn won't mind, Buffy," Spike snorted. "Your little sis
loves me."

Buffy smiled at his tone. "That she does."

Spike felt like shouting and singing and grabbing Buffy up and
swinging her around. She wanted him to live with her! He'd never
thought he'd hear those words.

"Well, I'll consider it on a couple conditions," he said, playing it
cool as he gathered her into his arms.

"What?" Buffy asked wrapping her arms around him and nibbling on his
chin.

"Well first of all, we keep the crypt for recreational purposes." He
gave her his wickedest smirk. "No sense lettin' those perfectly good
chains go to waste, now is there?"

Buffy felt herself flush from head to toe. "Be a shame, wouldn't
it?" she said, her mouth suddenly dry.

Spike got hard as he smelled her reaction to his words. Looked like
they'd be putting those chains to good use again tonight. His eyes
glowed at the thought.

"Second thing," he continued after a pleasant interlude that involved
kissing and groping and promises made of delights to come. "The
bedroom gets soundproofed. I'd don't want to hear 'Oooh, Spike, we
have to be quiet' every soddin' night. When I'm poundin' you into
the mattress, I want to hear your cries and moans." He put his lips
to her ear and growled. "I want to hear you scream my name."

Buffy shivered as his voice vibrated down her spine. "Yeah," she
agreed breathlessly. "That sounds like a good idea, too."

"In that case, sweetheart," he said, putting his hands on either side
of her face and staring into her limpid eyes, "you've got yourself a
new roommate."

Buffy's smile was huge as she jumped into his arms. As their mouths
met once again, Buffy wondered how Xander would feel about doing the
remodeling job for her.

The End