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Sunnydale

“What are you researching?” Tara asked shyly.

“Oh, um…just boning up on some spells. You know, most have such a lyrical quality. If you don’t get them quite right, they tend to blow up on you. I should know,” Willow admitted, blushing bright red. “Plus, you never know when you might stumble on a spell that would be helpful fighting demons and stuff…not that I’ve been helping a lot lately. Buffy’s got Riley to help out with the slaying, so it’s not like we help out that much anymore, but you never know, something might happen…not that I want anything to happen…just...you never know.”

“I get it; it’s nice to be needed sometimes. Just be car-careful. That book…it’s all white magic, but even with white magic can backfire if it disrupts the natural or-order of things,” the blond stammered, looking concerned.

“Oh, no! No disorder. No order of any kind, just reading,” she assured her. “I just wanted to get a feel for the different spells in the books, that way if I ever needed anything; I know just where to look.” Willow grinned happily.

“Oh, well, that’s good; it’s good to be prepared,” Tara agreed, ducking her head and allowing her hair to fall forward to cover her face. She eased her way off the bed. “I’m just going to ru-run down the hall and get a couple of sodas, and I’ll be right back.”

Willow raised her head from the book she was currently reading. “Okay, sweetie, I’ll be right here. Oh, and make mine root beer, if you don’t mind?” She grinned broadly at the other woman.

“You rebel, you,” Tara teased, slipping out the door with barely a sound.

Willow returned her gaze to the open book on her lap and chewed her lip in concentration. Slowly she read the words again, an idea forming almost against her will. Things had been so strained lately with the group; everyone seemed to be splitting in different directions. If only she could find a way to pull them back together like they used to be…maybe she could, the redhead pondered, looking at the spell once again.

It was just a small spell; a basic rebirth and renewal incantation. Something simple that would give them all a revitalized outlook on life and refresh friendships that had grown just a bit stale and disillusioned.

Hearing the door open, she marked her page and slid it under the bed quickly. She would look at it again once Tara was asleep. She didn’t want to worry her over something that was nothing, and nothing was exactly what it was. It was barely even a spell, she reasoned. In fact, it was more of a chant with a few candles. It was nothing…really.

She smiled brightly at her lover as she accepted the can of soda. Things were beginning to look a little brighter in Willowland. She had Tara, college, and now the potential return of the friendships she hadn’t even realized were drifting until recently.

Yep, things were definitely looking brighter…radiant even.

South America

“Herbie, be a dear and get me Miss Edith. She’s calling me. She says it’s very urgent, but I couldn’t possibly be so rude as to leave our guests unattended.” Drusilla smiled graciously at her ‘guests’. The bodies of two tourists long since dead were propped up at the table as if they had stopped by for a social visit and a nice cup of tea.

The chaos demon rose from his chair, grateful for a chance to stretch his legs after being forced to endure the tea party from hell for the last two hours. Dru’s conversation with the corpse’s tended to be a little one-sided, and since he couldn’t actually hear their responses, he was at a bit of a loss as to how to respond. The brunette had declared to the brightly clad couple that the demon just suffered from a bit of shyness to cover up for his lack of participation in the discussion.

Herbie reached the second floor and turned to the left to enter the bedroom that he and Drusilla had shared for the past year. She wasn’t always the most agreeable of companions, but what she lacked in sanity she more than made up for in enthusiasm in the bedroom. Who doesn’t like a bit of agony mixed with their sex? No one that he knew, that was for sure!

He moved across the room to Miss Edith’s bed, which occupied one corner of the room. At first; he had been a little bothered by the way the small doll seemed to stare at them during sex, but eventually, he found he could ignore the glassy eyes and blank stare if he tried hard enough. Oddly enough Dru seemed to perform better when the creepy little creature was in the room. He was unsure if she was attempting to impress the doll or if she just liked the idea of someone watching them together.

Briefly, he thought of her previous lover, William the Bloody, and wondered if he’d had to endure the same behavior or if he had known of ways to curb some of Dru’s more outlandish antics. He had been with her for more than a hundred years; he could have probably given Herbie a few pointers in handling the dark haired vamp, if he hadn’t been quite so upset about the break up. Oh, well, it wasn’t like he was going to come back around to win her back. Not after the last time.

He picked up the doll; careful to avoid getting too much slime on the dress, something that seemed to set the vampiress off at the best of times. Apparently Miss Edith had a thing about cleanliness. Turning the doll to face away from him with a shudder, he hurried back to Drusilla and their ‘guests’.

“Thank you, dearest,” the deceptively fragile looking woman said, taking the doll carefully from his grasp. Cradling it close to her body, she made the introductions to the couple whom the doll had yet to meet. Once the pleasantries were over, Dru turned the doll to gaze in her eyes. “Now Miss Edith, what was so terribly important that it had to interrupt our tea party?”

She leaned in close to listen intently to the small figure in her arms, a frown slowly coming over her features. She began to fidget in her chair, squirming as if bothered by some unseen pest. Herbie had seen her in this mood too many times in the past to even dream of intervening in whatever had caused her irritation. He backed away discreetly

Drusilla suddenly jumped from her chair, spinning around to face him. “I’m so sorry; I must leave our party early. It seems Miss Edith and I have some business to attend to. Would you please be a dear and show our guests to the door?” With that said, she walked briskly toward the door, intent on seeing to her problem as soon as possible.

“Is there anything you need help with, Dru?” he asked, concerned for her sudden change in behavior.

“No, dearest. Miss Edith and I have matters well in hand. You don’t mind cleaning up for me, do you?” she asked sweetly, her charms showing in full force. She knew exactly how to get what she wanted out of those around her; after all, she’d had many, many years of practice.

“Not at all, just let me know if you need any help.” He smiled and turned back to the table after she glided out of the room, sighing lightly when he realized his evening was going to consist of digging a new set of graves just outside the walls of the villa.

At least it wasn’t raining like it had been two weeks ago. That had been one miserable night. The graves kept filling in on him from the rush of the rain water, but Dru had insisted that they be disposed of right then, so he had spent most of the night digging and re-digging, trying to get the hole large enough to accommodate the two bodies without them resurfacing before the stormy weather had passed.

Herbie lifted one of the bodies onto his shoulders and heading for the doors leading out onto the veranda and into the courtyard.

In the darkened basement, Drusilla placed Miss Edith on the small pillow in the center of the table located in the middle of the room and began to pace the floor.

“So, the little red witch is planning a spell, is she? She meddles in magic far beyond her. Tempts the fates with retribution and makes the gods tremble with anger. Her interference this time will break my brave knight. My golden boy. If she succeeds, the light will never embrace the darkness. The sunshine will push the night away until he loses all hope. Oh, my little willow tree; so much power and so little wisdom.” She whirled to face the doll once more.

“We must fix this, Miss Edith. If we cannot, then we have turned my prince away in vain. He was meant for the sunshine, but she blocks out his light. We should give her an awakening, and I believe our little witch has given up a perfect opportunity to accomplish our task.”

She moved across the room, and began removing things from a small cupboard in the shadows. She placed candles and a few herbs, along with a small silver bowl and lighter on the table beside the pillow Miss Edith occupied. Drusilla moved across the floor as if on air, her gliding feet never seeming to touch the ground.

Once more at the old cabinet, she bent to retrieve a small yellow box. Tenderly opening the lid, she explained its presence to her precious dolly. “Daddy so loved his souvenirs! Mementos of destruction and torture, of terror and anguish. Pain was his greatest art; the suffering he caused was a symphony of delightful sounds.” Dru extracted two snippets of hair, each tied by a different color of ribbon and both gleaming gold in the dim candlelight of the cellar.

She placed the hair in the silver bowl and carefully crumbled selected herbs over the strands. She picked up the lighter and touched it to the candles. The room seemed to glow much brighter than should have been possible from so few wicks. Drusilla smiled enigmatically and waited for word from Miss Edith to begin the spell.

At the dolls encouragement, she began to chant, tipping one of the candles toward the bowl and setting the mixture ablaze. She reached into the open keepsake box and withdrew a small dagger. Running it across her palm, she allowed a few drops to splatter and hiss in the heat of the fire. Once finished, she brought the bleeding cut to her mouth and eagerly licked it closed.

Her gaze seemed to intensify as her voice grew louder. On the final words of the incantation, the candles flared and flickered and a sudden burst of wind swept through the enclosed room, seeming to sweep the spell away with the breeze. The candles guttered out and silence reigned once more.

When all was quiet, she picked up Miss Edith once more, cuddling her close to her chest and ascending the stairs. “I think you are correct, Miss Edith. I don’t think the slayer will be able to ignore this.”

Giggling madly as she topped the stairs, she danced in small circles, stopping only when she decided to find Herbie and request that he take her out for a late night dinner.

Magic always took so much out of a ghoul, after all.

Sunnydale

Willow slipped out of the bed as quietly as possible, trying not to wake Tara. She retrieved the book of spells from under the bed, grabbed a small backpack from the floor beside the doorway, and crept from the room down to the bathroom at the end of the hall. After checking that all the stalls were empty, she began to unload the bag of candles and place them in a circle around her.

She told herself that she was only keeping this from Tara because she didn’t want her to worry. Plus, it was just a little spell to sweep away old hurts and refresh the spirit, which would allow for the friendships to flourish once again. Letting everyone know might dampen the effect of the spell, which was not of the good. It was such a tiny little spell, a baby spell, minuscule even. So why would she need to tell someone about something that practically didn’t even exist?

She finished arranging her candles and then carefully lit each one. Opening the book to the page she had marked earlier, she began to chant softly, not wanting to draw unwanted attention to her nocturnal activities. The candles burned brightly as she chanted.

“Oh Mother Earth, hear me. We ask for cleansing. We ask for rebirth.”

The words continued on; she had carefully memorized them earlier, anxious to be prepared. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the phrasing, not noticing when the candles flared higher as a smoky wind entered the room. It swirled around the sacred circle, mixing with the smoke rolling from Willow’s candles. The gray haze then hovered and whirled around Willow before spreading out, covering the entire circle before dissolving.

The young witch opened her eyes once the spell was complete, already feeling enthusiastic and excited about the changes for herself and her friends.

Things would be looking much brighter for them in the near future…she could feel it.

She stretched across the bench trying to work out the kinks. She had expected to feel sore after her fight with Adam the day before, but it felt as if she had slept on the floor all night. Suddenly becoming aware of the lights and sounds around her, she sat up stiffly. The glare from the florescent lights caused her to quickly close her eyelids again.

Oh, and the smell; the scent of exhaust fumes and floor cleaner from the mop bucket beside her. It was familiar. Something she had just experienced. Squinting to let her vision adjust, she noticed people milling about.

The bus station. How did she get back here? Looking around, she noticed she was in the same seat she had sat in yesterday. She remembered getting off the bus, bone weary and heart heavy. She had decided to stop for a moment before making her way across town to the dorms. She had fallen asleep only to find herself being shaken awake an hour later by a worried station attendant worried that she had missed her bus.

Then came the oh-so-pleasant reunion with Riley, the could-it-have-gotten-any-worse visit by Angel, and then the spectacular ass kicking that Adam had presented her with. Only to be followed by the never-want-to-do-that again conversations with Riley about how one of his best friends had been killed while she couldn't do anything but watch and bleed really well. Not one on her better days, that's for sure.

She turned to look at the clock, noticing the same clerk from the day before at the ticket counter. She still couldn't figure out how she made it all the way across town, or why she'd come to the bus station. It certainly wasn't for the ambience.

Oh, maybe yesterday had all been a crazy dream brought on by exhaustion? No, she couldn't be that lucky. Maybe she was sleepwalking, not that she had ever done that before, but hey, first time for everything. Nothing that she could come up with seemed plausible. She would just have to go see Giles and see if he had any answers for her, but first a stop at the bathroom.

She rushed for the stalls; feeling like she hadn't peed in forever. Once she was done, she moved to the sink to wash her hands. The mirror caught her attention. Something was off, and she had to focus for a moment before she realized what it was. Her bruises were missing. With slayer healing, she had expected them to be mostly gone by morning, but here she was, not a scratch on her. Go, go slayer healing. At least she didn't have to walk to Giles' looking like the victim of a violent crime.

Wait a minute; she was in her clothes from yesterday, too. She clearly remembered putting on her Yummy Sushi pajamas before climbing into bed. After the fight with the others, she had returned to the dorm room, certain that Willow wouldn't show up there that night.

Oh, God. The fight with Xander and Willow, and Giles acting all intoxicated. It all came rushing back. The screaming, the accusations, the drunken giggling; it turned her stomach thinking back on all the things that had been said. She still didn't understand what might have possessed her friends to act as they had, but she new she couldn't face Adam again in the shape she was in. She had returned to the dorm to get some rest and clear her head before going after him once more…and that's it. The last thing she could remember was her head hitting the pillow, being unable to keep her eyes open for a moment longer, and then blank.

It must be some freaky Hellmouth thing, or an evil spell, or some sort of demon possession. Oh, or maybe her nightmares come to life again? Maybe she should start trying to wake up little kids…or maybe she was just grasping at straws. Hopefully, Giles had sobered up enough to do some research. She needed to get back out and search for Adam. She didn't have time to waste on the newest whatever it was trying to make her life miserable.

She made her way quickly out of the bus station and toward Giles' house. The weird feeling of déjà vu seemed to cling to her the entire way. Something was setting off her slayer senses in a major way, but it was broad daylight, and she couldn't feel the tingles that demons and vamps gave off. It seemed to be a whole other vibe.

Finding Giles sober was a major bonus, explaining to him for the fifth time exactly was happened…not so much. She had at first been hesitant to enter after the badness of the previous day but it was soon apparent that he had either forgotten his drunken haze or was determined to ignore the events as if they never happened. Well, that worked for her, Denial was one of her best attributes and she'd gladly cling to it for as long as possible.

The frustration of not having any answers to the newest oddity that was her life finally became too much and she stormed out of the apartment ready to tear something apart, hopefully of demon or vamp persuasion.

~~~~~

Spike moved to the upper level of the crypt to begin heating his morning blood. It was bad enough keeping day walkers' hours while staying with the watcher, but since he had started working with Adam, it seemed he couldn't reset his internal clock. Between patrolling for his daily spot of violence and conditioning his body to sleep lightly due to the constant threat of demons taking offense to what they saw as assisting the slayer, he was pretty much on standard mortal time.

A sound from the hole in which the ladder to the lower level was situated had him moving to investigate. Finding no signs of movement or sounds, he turned back to the kitchen area of the crypt, just barely stopping himself from yelping when coming face to face with his new cohort.

"Well, mate, to what do I owe this unexpected visit?" he snarked, attempting to cover his surprise.

"You failed to make our appointed meeting. I was forced to seek out your presence to see what had detained you," Adam stated calmly.

"What meeting? We met yesterday, I did the whole Yoko Ono thing and now the Scoobs are Splitsville." Spike could feel his agitation growing. He began to pace the crypt, putting some distance between himself and the seemly unstoppable hybrid and began patting his shirt pockets searching for his pack of cigarettes.

"I believe you are mistaken, I have no record of our meeting or any understanding of this Yoko Ono reference."

"You get some wires crossed or something? A slight short-circuit? Remember how we talked about how people blamed Yoko for the Beatles breaking up, but the band had just grown apart? We decided to split up the Scoobies to make the Slayer weaker, more manageable without outside 'variables' getting in the way," The blond explained, lighting a cigarette as he spoke.

"This idea is intriguing; I would like you to carry out this plan. Split the Slayer from her group, make her vulnerable. I like this plan very much. You will do it today," Adam said with finality, moving toward the ladder to the lower level.

"Yeah, right. I'll get right on that." The blond vamp replied, a look of absolute confusion marring his expression.

~~~~~

The slayer made her way to the campus. She needed to find something to kill to take her mind off of the ultimate badness that was the last few days. It not like she expected her life to go well, since major suckfest was pretty much the description of her of her post-slayer and even pre-slayer life, but one would think that once in a while, she could get a break. Maybe only have one emotionally crippling crisis at a time?

Reaching her room, she had just turned the key in the lock when she heard her name. She turned to find Riley standing behind her, dressed in the same embarrassing clothes as the day before. "Riley, are you okay? I mean, I know you're not okay, but are you, you know…okay?"

"Yeah, I got a little tired of sitting around waiting, so…" he looked at her expectantly.

"Waiting for what?" she asked, confused.

"For you to get back from L.A. You know; where you've been for the last 24 hours? Seeing your ex-boyfriend and saving him from an evil slayer who likes to take over your life."

Ignoring his comment about Faith, Buffy tried to explain. "But I got back yesterday. I've been here the last 24 hours. Riley, we've talked twice since I got back."

"What the hell are you talking about, Buffy? I haven't spoken to you since we escaped the Initiative. Boy, seeing Angel really did rattle you didn't it? So what happened that was so bad that you're acting like this?"

"He just spun my head a little. It's not that interesting," she muttered almost dizzy from the overwhelming feeling of déjà vu.

"Got my attention," he stated baldly, crossing his arms and assuming a ridged stance.

"Look, Riley. Something's going on. We've done this before, had this same discussion. I don't understand what's happening, but it's not right, and those pants a second time are even worse." She began to pace, trying to get her frazzled nerves under control.

"I got the pants from Xander, he's washing my uniform. What do you mean by 'done this before'?" he asked not looking convinced.

"That's what I mean; I know where your uniform is, and I know why you're dressed in those hideous pants. Riley, something really wiggy is going on. I woke up in the bus station this morning, in the same clothes I had on yesterday, and I'm apparently in some time warp thingy. God, Xander would be eating this up right now. Yesterday a whole lot of badness went down. Adam kicked my ass, Forrest died, and the gang had a total melt down."

"Right, a 'time warp thingy'. You know what that sounds like to me, Buffy? A bad dream. People have them all the time. I just heard Forrest on the scanner just a few minutes before I got here; he's fine," the ex-soldier stated, his expression far from pleasant. "Look, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. Tell you what, why don't I get out of your face? You had a long trip."

"Riley, you don't have to go," she implored as he moved toward the door.

"It's okay. Besides, I have to recharge them every two hours or they go dead on me," he said, indicating his pants.

"Okay," she answered quietly, watching him leave. She hated that she didn't feel more guilty about his leaving, but right now she needed to take a few minutes to try to piece together the events that had unfolded rather than waste time placating her boyfriend.

~~~~~

Spike burst into the watchers apartment, eager to discover if the chaos he thought he had wrought in the group had been real or an incredible hallucination.

Finding the watcher sitting in almost the exact same pose as the previous day seemed odd. The watcher was once again singing 'Freebird', the same bottle of liquor on the counter, the same frightened shriek he had bellowed before. The blond smirked; maybe he could take some tips from his overactive imagination.

He started out his speech in the same way that he had dreamt, not surprised at finding the bagged blood in the fridge just as he had envisioned it. The conversation went in much the same way, with the exception of the watchers stuttered statement that the slayer had stopped by just that morning looking for a bit of help. Which lead to his easy comeback "So she only comes around when she needs something, huh?" His sympathy was only partially faked for the aging man.

It really was just too easy; like pieces on a chess board. His amusement was only slightly dimmed by the nagging feeling he was missing something important. He left the watchers apartment once more, his smile bright and cheery. It was great being evil.

Finding the whelp and his ex-demon bird waiting at his crypt just seemed too much of a coincidence. He had never shared his sire's gift for the sight, but he had to wonder if maybe he wasn't becoming a bit clairvoyant. The feeling of something being terribly wrong was intensifying with each relived moment, and the satisfaction of watching the whelp's reactions weren't nearly as much fun as he remembered them being. Maybe he'd gotten hold of some bad blood or something? Mocking the brunette until he stormed out into the daylight, Spike turned to dress for the night's adventures, feeling like he already knew the outcome.

He waited until dark to return to the watchers once more, armed with the disk Adam had given him, pausing to prepare himself again for the acting he was about to do. Already knowing which particular buttons to push for maximum effect, he wasted no time on dramatics and cut right to the chase. His mission once again accomplished, he stopped by the crypt to grab a celebratory beer; if for no other reason than he knew that's what his dream self had done.

Maybe he should try dreaming of buxom blondes, wads of cash, and all the blood he could drink that night, just to see what happened.

~~~~~

Buffy limped into the dorm room bruised and sore. She had tried so hard. She had argued, threatened, and begged, but nothing had worked. The events that she knew had to be more than a dream had played out in front of her eyes in horrific Technicolor. Nothing she had done had saved Forrest's life. Adam was stronger, responded quicker, and was better armed than she could handle. She had screamed at Forrest not to shoot the walking demon junk pile, but he'd refused to listen to her, just as he had in her dream…

Vision…memory…whatever it was.

Apprehension had filled her as she regained consciousness after her fall and recalled the next portion of her magic carpet ride of horror. She had been tempted to run straight to Giles'. Only her knowledge that her ex and current boyfriends easily kill each other had let her feet drag her back to this spot.

She stared at the doorway for a moment when the knock sounded. The weight of knowing who it was before she answered was staggering. She moved reluctantly toward to the wooden panel separating her from her former boyfriend. Her stiffened arms opened it to allow the vampire entry into the room. She sighed heavily when she once again had to voice her invitation to enter.

"Let me guess; you're sorry for being an ass when all I wanted to do was help and you came to apologize. You 'accidentally' ran into my boyfriend on the way here and 'accidentally' smashed your fist in his face repeatedly. Am I close?" she asked, pinning him with a no nonsense glare, defying him to disagree. She stayed close to the door during her tirade, waiting for the next player to enter the room.

When Riley showed up right on cue, she disarmed him quickly, pushing him to the opposite side of the room from Angel. "Riley, he's not evil but we have to talk for a minute. We're just going out into the hall. Just trust me for a few more minutes, okay?"

She ushered the broody vampire out into the hall, taking deep breaths and trying to collect her thoughts. "Angel, I know what I did was wrong, but you were wrong, too. I just need us to forget about it and move on. I've got a lot going on here and I don't have time for more childish games."

"Uh, things are pretty tense around here. Can I do anything?" he asked, concerned.

"Honestly? Your leaving would be of the best. I've got a lot to try to figure out, and some really bad news to deliver, and then an insane fight with my friends scheduled for later tonight," she snarked and rolled her eyes.

"Okay, I'm not going to even try to figure that out," he joked, making his way down the hallway. "Oh and…Riley? I don't like him."

"Thank you; it means a lot that you came," Buffy replied softly.

~~~~~~

Spike made his way into Adam's lair. "That was even more fun than the last time."

"You are still making references to things that have not happened. It is possible that you have an internal issue that needs to be resolved." Adam tilted his head, observing the blond vampire.

"The only internal issue I have is this soddin' chip. The slayers all separated from her little friends, so how about my chipectomy? You got everything you need, right?" the blond asked. Averting his face so that Adam couldn't see him, his mouth was already moving to mimic the imitation Frankenstein's reply.

"No. There's one more thing."

Spike left the cave frowning. Something definitely wasn't right. He just didn't know how to get the answers he needed.

~~~~~

After the once again disastrous talk with Riley, Buffy had dreaded going back to Giles'. It seemed even knowing what was going to happen and what was going to be said couldn't change anything for the better. Maybe it was a message from the Powers; fate wasn't to be messed with. Well screw that! If they stupid Powers hadn't figured out by now that Buffy Anne Summers made her own destiny, they were about to find out.

That sudden declaration didn't seem to make her feet any less heavy on the long walk to her watchers apartment building. She was determined not to allow her friends' obvious issues make her jump into another argument. She was going to be cool, calm, and collected. She was going to keep a level head. She was going to be the reasonable one.

That reasoning lasted all of ten minutes.

In between the frustration of not being able to stop Adam coupled with the newest ride on Buffy's Happy Fun Land The Revolving Time Loop of Misery; it took less than twenty minutes to resort to the name calling and accusation throwing badness of the previous day…or today…whatever.

Watching Tara and Anya running for the bathroom, she wished nothing more than to be able to follow them and hide until this horrible day was over…if it would ever end, that is. Somehow, she was beginning to doubt it.

By the time she left, the déjà vu creepiness that had followed her all day was back with a vengeance. There was no way she could explain knowing all the events that had happened that day. Seeing the looks on her friends' faces for a second time left her with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something was seriously wrong; she just didn't know how to get the answers she needed. She left the watchers apartment once again, miserable and defeated.

She sang softly to herself on the walk back to the dorm. "Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya tomorrow. You're only a day a way."

Somehow she doubted that.

===============

Oh shit.

Opening her eyes, she could see nothing through the glaring fluorescent light.

Oh no.

Closing her eyes she willed the vision away, but the sounds and smells were just how she remembered.

Bus station? Check. Same clothes? Check. Head wound gone? Check. Heaving sigh? Extra big check. The amount of how screwed she was?

Infinite.

Oh shit.

Opening her eyes, she could see nothing through the glaring fluorescent light.

Oh no.

Closing her eyes she willed the vision away, but the sounds and smells were just how she remembered.

Bus station? Check. Same clothes? Check. Head wound gone? Check. Heaving sigh? Extra big check. The amount of how screwed she was?

Infinite.

Buffy leaped to her feet, and she stormed across the bus terminal to where the clerk sat reading the newspaper. "Can you tell me the date?" she demanded.

The clerk peered over her glasses at the strange young blonde woman. "Yes, ma'am, it's Tuesday, May 2nd." With one last penetrating stare, she went back to her newspaper.

"Should have known it was Tuesday," Buffy grumbled. "Everything bad happens in Sunnydale on a Tuesday." She whirled around to leave, ignoring the looks of fear and confusion she got from the people she passed along the street as she continued her tirade all the way to Giles' apartment. "Why the hell am I doing this day over and over? Couldn't fate have picked a better day? Oh I don't know like maybe a good day? But, no; it has to this day."

Buffy pounded on Giles' door. She wondered if there was anything she could do to convince him that she was in fact reliving this day in a ceaseless, vicious cycle. When Giles opened the door, Buffy marched inside, and went directly to the kitchen where she knew he hid his best bottle of scotch. Amid shouts and threats, she poured the bottle down the sink. Then she sat a still sputtering Giles down to explain what was happening to her.

"So, you're saying you've lived this particular day twice already?" Giles asked. He wished he had been able to stop the girl from dumping his alcohol down the sink, because he was fairly certain he would need a drink very soon.

"Yes, Giles. For the last time. That's exactly what I'm saying." Buffy jumped to her feet, and threw her hands in the air. "Maybe if you didn't spend your days drunk you'd have a better grasp on reality."

"Are you implying I'm an alcoholic, Buffy?" Giles asked indignantly.

"If the shoe fits!" Buffy screamed. "Come on, Giles, get a life. Haven't you heard the saying 'when one door closes, another one opens'? Well, find yourself a god damn door."

"If you're going to take this kind of attitude, I think you should leave me in peace to drink myself silly." Giles marched to the door. He opened it angrily, and pointed outside. "Since you've poured my bottle down the sink. I suppose I'll just have to go buy me a new one."

"Fine. You know what. What ever! It's not like I don't have better things to do." Buffy stalked towards the open door. "I can just go back to the dorm and deal with a jealous Riley. It's not like I haven't done it before." She was storming the courtyard and out the gate before Giles had a chance to respond.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike once again woke with that strange feeling of déjà vu, again. The dreams of buxom blonds, wads of cash and plenty of blood to drink obviously hadn't done the trick. Instead he had dreamed of green eyed blond Slayers kicking his ass all over Sunnydale, no cash and only pig's blood to drink. It had been an unsettling dream that left him hovering between intense arousal and abject horror. After going through the familiar motions of warming his blood, Spike sat down in his grungy easy chair, and waited for his guest to arrive.

"Well, mate, what took you so long?" Spike snarled. He smirked at the look of surprise on Adam's face. Wow, the git has a facial expression besides constipated. Puts me in mind of my ole grandsire.

"You failed to make our appointed meeting. I was forced to seek out your presence to see what had detained you," Adam stated calmly to cover his surprise that the vampire was expecting him.

"Well, I knew you would come to me if I waited long enough," Spike replied. He took a sip of his blood while he waited for the cyborg to respond.

"What is the purpose of such an exercise?" Adam questioned. He searched his databases, but was unable to find an answer.

"No purpose." Spike shrugged his shoulders. "Sometimes people ... or demons ... don't have to have reasons for what they do. It's called free will."

"Free will. I must research this thing you call free will," Adam mused. "Now, about this Slayer, she's just a girl."

Spike chuckled, "True, but she's a girl with family and friends. They make her strong. Stronger than any other slayer in history." He took the last sip of his blood, and put his cup down on the floor next to his chair.

"What makes you strong can also make you weak." Adam stared at the vampire with distaste. If he hadn't needed the half breed to get to the Slayer he wouldn't have bothered with recruiting such a wild card. The rumors that this creature worked alongside the Slayer were interesting, to say the least. "Take them away from her."

"Like I haven't tried that before," Spike muttered. Pasting on a completely fake smile, he sarcastically commented, "Of course. Capitol plan, mate. Make the Slayer and her Scoobies brassed off at each other. Don't know why I didn't think of it myself."

"What is that tone of voice you are using? It's quite intriguing."

"It's called sarcasm. Look it up in the dictionary." Spike rose from his chair, crossed the room to the door, and held it open. "'ll get right on it, Mr. Bits. Don't let the door hit you on the backside on your way out."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy marched across the campus. She grew madder and crankier with every step she took. Buffy knew she'd find no peace at her dorm room, because Riley was due to arrive. Jealous, strangely dressed Riley. The only person she had ever seen so out of place dressed in Hawaiian print had been Spike. Too bad I can't blame this all on Spike. A few quick thumps on his nose would make me feel so much better.

Reaching her room, she had just turned the key in the lock when she heard someone call her name. Damn, next time I need to walk faster and not open the door when he comes by or wait until he's already been here.

Buffy turned to stare at her 'boyfriend'. Only today she was wondering what she actually saw in the guy. "Hey, Riley. I'm not really feeling up to having company right now. Maybe we can catch up with each other later." She watched as Riley's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Yeah, well, I got a little tired of sitting around waiting, so ..." Riley's voice trailed off, and he waited for Buffy to respond. He stepped back in surprise when he saw ire flash in her eyes, and anger tighten her lips.

"I know what happened, Riley. Xander told you all about Angel and the curse." Buffy folded her arms across her chest while she tapped her foot impatiently. "So, you got all jealous and had to rush over here to make sure I didn't get groiny with my ex-boyfriend."

"That's not it at all!" Riley rushed to defend his actions. "Yes; Xander told me about Angel, but I'm here because I was worried. Besides, I was waiting for you to get back from L.A. You've been gone for 24 hours and I've missed you."

"Well, I've been busy, Riley. Patrolling, trying to find Adam, repeating the same day over and over," Buffy muttered the last part under her breath. She turned to open the door of her room. "Look, Riley, seeing Angel brought back old memories and old feelings. I need some time to process it all. It's not all that interesting."

"It got my attention, but you don't want to talk about it. I get that." Riley backed away from Buffy. "Tell you what; why don't I get out of your face? You had a long trip." He turned to stride down the hallway away from his 'girlfriend'.

"You don't know the half of it," Buffy muttered before she slammed her door shut.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Spike sauntered into Giles' apartment, he expected to find the Watcher once again singing and drinking. Instead, the vampire was surprised when he found the older man pacing the floor while muttering curses under his breath. Spike's feeling of déjà vu was suddenly replaced by a sense of dread. Something wasn't right with this picture, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. The Watcher wasn't doing what he was suppose to be doing or reacting the way he was suppose to be.

"Hey, Watcher, what's got you in such a dither today?" Spike strolled towards the apartment's small kitchen where he knew there was a bag of blood waiting for him.

"What do you want?" Giles growled. He was in no mood to put up with the hyperactive vampire, not after his earlier fight with Buffy.

"Couple of things actually." Spike opened the fridge door. "Ah, there it is. Knew I left a bag here." He took out the bag of blood. "First thing, that little witch of yours has been workin' the mojo again. Been feelin' a bit wonky all day. It's getting bloody annoying." Spike crossed to the microwave, and popped the bag into the machine.

Giles moved to the bar, curious in spite of himself. Maybe Spike had an explanation as to why Buffy had been so touchy earlier. "Wonky, you say? Can you tell me about it?"

Spike narrowed his eyes at the Watcher's curiosity. He decided he'd better get down to the real reason he was here. "It's not that important after all. I need to talk to Buffy. Have you seen her? Got some info for her."

"What kind of information are we talking about?" Giles asked. He watched as the vampire pulled the warmed blood bag from the microwave, ripped it open, and poured it into a cup.

"Highly classified." Spike took a sip of the blood. "I'm talkin' about the good stuff now." He watched as the sober Watcher raised his eyebrow to indicate continuation. "These are Initiative files. I can get in and get them. I expect good compensation for the endeavor."

"That goes without saying, Spike," Giles said sarcastically. "What kind of information are we looking at?"

Spike shrugged, and took another sip of his blood. "Mission statements. Design schematics. All of Maggie Walsh's dirty laundry, which I guess would include lots of tidbits about..."

"Adam." Giles stared off into space for a few minutes. "Fine. I'll pay you $500 for the information."

"What about the Slayer?" Spike hid his surprise at this turn of events. The strange feeling of dread doubled for the blond vampire. This was definitely not how things were suppose to be going. If Spike didn't know any better, he'd say that something had changed elsewhere in this loopy little day.

"We'll just leave Buffy out of this, Spike," Giles announced. There was no way he was going to let the vampire know he was still smarting from the fight he'd had with his charge just a few hours before. "It's just between you and me. I'll send Xander over to your crypt with the fatigues you used when you helped to rescue Oz."

"Slayer's treating you like crap, huh?" Spike asked with faux sympathy. This was going better than before. It was almost like someone was doing his job for him.

"Buffy's treating me just fine, as if it were any of your business. I think seeing Angel just put her a bit on edge is all." Giles crossed the room to the bookcase. He searched through the books in the hopes of finding a bottle of scotch that he had missed before.

"Only comes around when she needs something, huh?" Spike questioned. He felt like rubbing his hands together in glee.

"Just keep up your end of the bargain, Spike. I'll be waiting here with your cash." Giles watched as the vampire slipped out into the night. The Watcher knew he had to get busy. He needed to call Xander, go to the ATM and then hit the liquor store.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy stormed up the dirt path where she knew Forrest and subsequently Adam were hiding at. Today there would be no arguing, threatening or begging. Today would be a full out knock 'em out punch to the face. She showed no surprise whatsoever when Forest jumped out into the path behind her. She whirled around to face him, and raised her eyebrow at the blaster he was holding in his hands.

"Shooting humans, now?" Buffy asked. She remembered the commando asking her if she was killing humans now from the first time through this damned loopy day.

"No, not really," Forrest replied, "But I can have a patrol here in less than a minute. So, tell you what; you go your way and I'll go mine."

"Something tells me that I don't quite believe that," Buffy snarked. "Oh yeah, the fact that Adam can kill you in under a minute." She edged towards the wary commando, and continued to talk in an attempt to keep him off guard. "Remember that Polgara demon you guys picked up a few months back? Where do you think the skewer went?"

"Maggie removed it for experimentation," Forrest answered. He backed away from Buffy, wondering where this conversation was going.

"Oh experimentation. I guess that's a fancy word for implantation, because she put it on Adam."

Before he could blink, Buffy was behind him where she gave him a sharp thump to the back of the head. She caught him, and dragged him into some bushes. Buffy grabbed up his blaster rifle and moved cautiously to the entrance of the cave. "Hey, Adam? I know you're in there," she called out.

"Ah, the Slayer. And alone," Adam stated in his calm voice. He rounded the corner, and looked down, blinking in astonishment when the small blond woman blasted him with her gun.

"Fuck," Buffy exclaimed when the blaster had no affect on the huge cyborg. She threw the gun to the ground, and turned to run down the path. A few feet away, she paused to turn and throw a taunting 'Catch me if you can!' back at Adam. Buffy ran through the woods hoping that Adam would follow her and not find the unconscious body of Forrest this time.

Suddenly, she cried out when she tripped over a tree root, and rolled down the incline where she hit her head on a rock.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hours later, Buffy woke up with a blinding headache. So much for avoiding the head wound.

She sat up, touched her forehead, and brought back a hand covered in blood. Buffy sighed deeply, fighting exhaustion. Time to go talk to Angel and Riley. I so don't want to do this again. Maybe I could cut them off at the pass.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike waited in his crypt for the Whelp and his bird to arrive. He figured the third time was the charm. Playing the Watcher had been impossibly easy for the blond vampire, so he knew the Whelp would be child's play.

Anya and Xander strolled into the crypt while arguing about Buffy. Xander tossed the bundle of clothing to Spike, otherwise ignoring the vampire as he continued to fight with his girlfriend about the blond slayer. The pair wandered back into the sunlight leaving the peroxide blond vampire staring after them in a state of annoyed shock. Spike was filled once more with the same unsettling dread he'd felt earlier with the Watcher.

At dusk, Spike dressed in the fatigues, preparing himself for the trek to the Watchers and the dramatics of watching them implode on themselves. He wondered if this confrontation would be as easy as the others had been. The vampire still couldn't believe his luck with the Watcher and the boy. Spike strolled casually towards the apartments while he smoked a cigarette. Once he hit the courtyard, he pretended to be out of breath, and flung himself into the apartment.

"I think I lost the buggers," Spike panted. He wasn't at all surprised when he saw Willow sitting at Giles' desk.

"Any luck with the disks?" Willow asked. Spike handed them over and she laid them on the desk. She turned to Tara, who had just come out of the kitchen. "What did Buffy have to say, baby?"

"S-she said that she had to go st-stop Riley and Angel from killing each other." Tara smiled shyly at her girlfriend. "But then she muttered that maybe she should just let them kill each other. T-that it would make things easier for everyone. I-I don't think Buffy's feeling very well."

"I'm sure she's okay. Just the stress of seeing Angel, like Giles said." Willow turned back to Spike, and asked, "Was this everything?"

"Took what they had. Should be something useful on one of them." Spike smirked at the red-headed woman. "What's this about the Poofter and Captain Cardboard?"

"B-buffy said Angel's in town, and Riley's gunning for him," Tara replied hesitantly. She glanced at the vampire, and then dropped her eyes to the floor. There was something changed in his aura, but she had no idea what it was. The change seemed at this point to be fairly ambiguous, so Tara decided to ignore it.

Spike suddenly found the idea of seeing his grandsire and the soldier boy fight over the Slayer appealing. He sidled over to the dishwater blond witch, and whispered in her ear, "Did the Slayer mention where this fight was going on?"

Tara nodded, and whispered in return, "In the alley behind the grade school." She smiled wryly when the grinning blond vampire bid the group goodnight, and made his escape. Shaking her head at his antics, Tara turned her attention to Willow and the disks that Spike had brought by.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike stood on the roof of the Sunnydale Grade School. Below him he could see his grandsire fighting off a group of commandos, and the old fart was actually winning. Of course, they weren't using the tazers on him like they had Spike. The blond vampire shook his head in amusement. Peaches, three. Commandos, zip. Ahhh there's Captain Cardboard.

The man in question rounded the corner, and he raised his flashlight to catch sight of a large male dressed all in black. Spike smirked at the surprise on the toy soldier's face when the poofter called him by name. Spike himself was surprised when Riley quickly identified the dark, broody vampire. He'd been positive that the Slayer would have avoided telling her boyfriend about Peaches. Spike giggled to himself over the pissing contest that the pair got into, not that he expected Finn to win against Angelus.

Spike was just starting to enjoy the fight when the girl herself slipped into the alley. He could tell she was one brassed off little honey when he saw the look on her face. He noticed the cut on her forehead, and wondered to himself what the hell she run into that could hurt her like that.

"I'm going to punch out both of you, and leave you for the commandos if you don't stop this macho bullshit," Buffy growled. She stood with her arms crossed while she tapped her foot. "What are you? Twelve?"

"Protecting another vampire, I see," Riley muttered. "Isn't Hostile 17 enough?" He was so busy glaring at Angel he failed to notice the narrowing of his girlfriend's eyes. However both vampires saw the look and thought simultaneously, uh oh, Buffy's pissed off now!

"You leave Spike alone, Riley," Buffy snarled. "He's my vampire, and if you threaten him again, you'll live to regret it." She knew that if this day played itself over that neither Riley nor Angel would remember this little conversation. Buffy really had gotten used to Spike's presence, and she realized she would be upset if anything happened to him. She was so caught up in the drama that she failed to notice the blond spy.

"Spike's still here in Sunnydale, Buffy?" Angel demanded. "You haven't dusted him?" This whole conversation surprised the brunette vampire.

"Of course I haven't dusted him, Angel," Buffy replied incredulously. "He's almost like one of the gang. You know on the fringes, borderline ...like Mexico ...ohh or Canada ...or one of those other countries that are, you know, on the border." She had no idea how much her words surprised the blond eavesdropper.

"You actually slept with this creature?" Riley spluttered. "I thought Xander was only kidding. Does this mean you're sleeping with Spike, too? You were engaged after all." He glared back and forth between Buffy and Angel.

"I'm not sleeping with Spike." Buffy denied the allegation vehemently. "He's a ... an ally, and I need all of those I can get."

"I think the lady doth protest too much," Riley grumbled.

"I think someone is jealous of the vampires." Buffy snapped irritably. She could feel her headache swelling to monumental proportions, and sighed. "Look, Angel, thanks for coming by. Go home. Riley..." Buffy shook her head slightly. She put her hand wearily to her throbbing forehead. "I need to go talk to Giles and the gang. I'll catch you later. I can't deal with this anymore." The Slayer turned, walking out of the alley, and leaving three very confused males behind.

Riley and Angel continued to glare at each other until Angel spoke up loudly, "What the hell was that all about, Spike?" He had felt the other vampire's signature from the beginning of the fight.

Spike smirked and called down from his perch on the school's roof, "Haven't a bloody clue..." He looked from Angel to Riley. "Sire. But you know the Slayer, always doing the unexpected." He pulled his cigarettes from his duster, tapped one out, and put it to his lips. When the cigarette was lit, Spike took a deep drag off of it.

Angel raised an eyebrow at the title of respect that fell from his grandchilde's lips. He could almost hear the wheels turning in the commando's head and grinned to himself when he realized that Spike was attempting to get a rise out of the human.

"Sire?" Riley glanced back and forth between the two of them. "Oh, that's just great! You're 'family'? Well, that explains everything, doesn't it?" The contempt dripped from his voice. He simply couldn't understand why Buffy would protect the very creatures she was meant to destroy. "I don't know how Buffy has survived this long when she allows you both to live."

Spike tilted his head to study the young man. "You don't really know the Slayer, do you? Oh, you think you do. You think you understand what lies beneath the pretty face, but you don't."

"And you think you do, Hostile 17?"

"Course I do, you git. Buffy Summers is the best Slayer in the history of the Council, and I should know; I've killed two of them," Spike proclaimed proudly. He took the last drag on his cigarette, and then flicked it towards the pair in the alley below him. "Commandos are almost here."

With that, Spike melted into the darkness. He went back to his crypt where he thought over what exactly had happened in the alley, and the odd statements that the Slayer had made.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Half way to Giles' apartment, Buffy decided she wasn't up to another confrontation with her friends again so soon and turned her feet towards the dorm. She decided she'd take a hot shower, put on her sushi pajamas, and pray that tomorrow would be a new day instead of the Loopy Day from Hell once again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy woke up, but didn't open her eyes. She didn't need to see to know exactly where she was. Eau de bus terminal wafted through the air. Buffy sighed while she thought about having to deal with another round of male posturing. First Riley, then Forrest, then Angel and Riley again. Oh, and let's not forget Giles. She bet if she went out to find Spike, he'd do some incredibly stupid male thing, too.

Damn men.

Buffy woke up but refused to open her eyes. She didn't need to see to know exactly where she was. Eau de bus terminal wafted through the air.

She sighed at the thought about having to deal with another round of male posturing. First Riley, then Forrest, then Angel, and then Riley again. Oh, and let's not forget Giles. She bet if she went out to find Spike, he'd do some incredibly stupid male thing, too.

Damned men.

Coffee! Coffee would be of the good. Nobody should have to deal with testosterone poisoning without coffee. So that was the plan. Coffee first, deflating male egos with as much joy as possible, later. Okay, well maybe sooner than later, because you could only drink so much coffee.

As Buffy made her way to the Espresso Pump, she stubbornly refused to think about the various men in her life. The trouble with that was that it left her very little to think about since she was also stubbornly refusing to think of Willow and that unfortunately left her with an internal monologue that consisted of four words, 'get coffee, then think', repeated over and over again.

Taking her coffee to a booth in the very back of the shop, Buffy took a couple of sips of the aromatic beverage before she mentally roused herself to face the prospect of thinking about the never ending day from hell. Maybe if she spent some time going over everything that had happened, she could be all logical about it. How hard could it be? She could so do logical. She was all over the logic-y stuff. Just call her Buffy the Logic Girl. Okay, so…logically, all she really had to do was come up with a plan. A plan that involved thinking and smartness and er…some place to start.

Oh God! She was so screwed.

'No! Stop it. Stop thinking you can't do this. You're smart. You got great SAT scores. You could have done anything. You are the Slayer!' Buffy mentally berated herself with a little pep talk. She had to get out of this funk. She had to believe in herself. She had to find out who was responsible so she could beat them to a pulp. Suddenly feeling brighter about the whole situation, Buffy tackled her problems with renewed vigor.

First problem; what's happening? Well, that was easy. She was being forced to relive the same day over and over again, like it was on some sort of repeat cycle. Okay, so why was it happening? That was a little harder. Buffy contemplated everything she knew and the all the bits and pieces that she had picked up from things that Giles had said. She really should have paid a little more attention when he was actually saying it. Off topic - moving on.

For something like this to happen, Buffy could only think of two possibilities. It was either the work of the Powers or someone had done a spell.

If the loopy day was because of the Powers, well then she could only assume that as she was the only one who seemed to be aware of it, the loopiness was somehow directed at her. Something she was or wasn't doing was making the day repeat. If that was happening, then all she had to do was work out what she should or shouldn't be doing and well…not do it? Or maybe do it or…um…okay, well she knew what she meant.

The other possibility was that it was a spell. If it was a spell, she was going to need some help, because Buffy so didn't do magic. But who could she ask for help? Because Giles with the drinking was so not reliable, and Willow…well, not really sure that the wonky-ness that is a Willow spell would be big with the helpful. Especially considering the redheads last little trip into the land of magic had ended up with Buffy being engaged to…

Spike!

Spike knew about magic. Maybe she could ask Spike? But then that would involve actually having to talk to him, something she had been avoiding as much as possible since the whole kissing with the lips and the snuggling and…all. It would also mean having to ask him for help and while Buffy might be willing to think of him as a fringe member of the gang, she was so not ready to actually ask him for help.

So…the Powers it is.

Having firmly decided that the lesser of two evils was the option she was going to explore, Buffy forced herself to think about all the events that had happened since the day started repeating and what she could do differently.

There was Giles' drinking. Maybe calling him an alcoholic wasn't the best choice she could have made. She briefly considered sitting down with Giles and finding out what his problem was, other than drinking. She'd heard somewhere that most people that drank a lot only did it to avoid problems that they didn't want to face. Even though she was the first person to agree that denial was good, the drinking - not so much. Okay, well that was a hard one, better think about that one later.

Jealous boyfriend? Well, that just pissed her off. He'd just had sex with Faith! Who was he to get jealous about her relationship with someone she loved…er loves…er whatever. It was so way before Riley had even been in the picture. You didn't see her getting all snippy and growlly over his ex's. She didn't even know their names, let alone the ins and outs of the groinyness factors. So what if she hadn't mentioned that she'd had sex with Angel? It wasn't like Riley had shared his sexual history with her. Xander was so on her list for opening his big mouth. What the hell was he thinking, telling Riley personal stuff like that? What was next? Discussion of any and all feminine hygiene product that might be used by the Buffster?

And then there were Forrest's accusations. Why exactly was she was to blame for Riley's leaving the badness that was the Initiative? She hadn't told him to do it. She hadn't asked him to give up his career. It's not like she asked him to commit treason, and what was up with that anyway? Treason? Somebody so needed to cut down on their caffeine intake.

"Can I get you another?" the waitress asked Buffy politely.

"Um…oh, er, yes please."

~~~~~~~

When Spike woke once again to that strange feeling of déjà vu, he made a snap decision not to hang around waiting for Mr. Bits. The more he'd thought about it, the more he was convinced that somebody other than him knew that the day was repeating and that somebody was an irritating little blond with an annoying habit of screwing up his plans. Finding out what she knew without giving himself away was going to take a lot more finesse than usual. The day was only twenty-four hours long, so he didn't have time to play who's Yoko Ono with the walking jigsaw puzzle.

Making his way stealthily through the sewers, Spike was easily able to avoid Adam. While he might have been able to get around the man-made monster, he wasn't so successful in escaping his own thoughts.

Buffy had said he was almost a part of the gang; on the border of being one of them. What did that mean? Was he pissing away his only opportunity to be an accepted member of a group? And not just any bloody group, a group that was known for its loyalty and success, for its connection as family. It would mean consciously deciding to become one of the good guys. Renounce evil and all that other good stuff. It would mean living with the chip. Whether or not he could wasn't the question. Of course he could. He was capable of doing anything he set his bloody mind to. No, the question wasn't could he do this - it was 'would' he do this? Maybe he could use this looping day to his advantage, test the waters so to speak. Didn't the watcher say something about a higher purpose? Hell, maybe there was one.

Arriving at the sewer grate closest to the watcher's home, Spike made the decision to talk to the watcher about higher purposes. If it didn't work out, the bugger wouldn't remember it anyway and Spike could still have all his options open.

~~~~~~~~

The whole thinking of treason thingy brought Forrest firmly to mind. Now there was a guy with some serious anger management issues. The way he was acting, one would think that he had a personal interest in Riley that went way beyond the whole buddy-buddy thing. Buffy giggled at the thought of confronting the commando with that little epiphany. Maybe she could use that to distract him before she knocked him out and got them away from Adam. And maybe this time she could watch where she was going and not knock herself out for a couple of hours.

Okay, so where did that leave her? Um, avoid Giles. Avoid Riley. Save Forrest with the added bonus of questioning his possible sexual orientation choices. Run away from the big-guns-don't-work-on-him monster. What was next?

Oh, yeah, can't forget the Angel/Riley confrontation. Hold on…since neither one of them had been very forthcoming about their 'meeting', maybe she should swing by the alley a little earlier and find out exactly what happened for herself. At least that way, she'd know who it was she should be angry with. She had been kinda quick with the accusations before. Maybe she'd find out once and for all if she was giving herself a whole lot of unnecessary grief with the dating of her not-so-normal boyfriend. Maybe that was a part of her life that she needed to completely reassess. Maybe what she heard was true. Maybe Parker was the rebound guy, Riley the transitional guy and the next guy would be…

As blue eyes flashed cheekily in her mind, Buffy shook her head in fear, desperately trying to remove the image. 'Damn you, Willow'. Latching on to the first thing that came to mind, she grabbed on with both hands. Fighting Scoobies. Maybe if she didn't have to deal with all the other badness of the day, she could be a little less, and they could, well maybe…oh who was she kidding, she had no clue what to do about that mess.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Spike knocked before entering the watchers apartment this time. He was intent on starting out on the right foot. He planned on going with honesty and a little exaggeration, but only enough to get the watchers attention…which apparently he had, given the look of shock on the blighter's face. 'It isn't like I've never knocked before!' he thought indignantly. 'There was that one time…'

"Spike?" Giles' voice was questioning.

Now that he was here, the normally verbose vampire was at a loss for words. The enormity of what he was planning hit him like a tidal wave. He was here to talk to the watcher about changing his entire nature…and his demon wasn't complaining one little bit. He was floored by the realization. Something must be wrong with him, because that just wasn't right.

Was it?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Buffy watched from her hiding place at the side of the dorms as Riley stood at the top of the steps and visually searched the grounds. The expression on his face was a mixture of irritation, suspicion, and barely suppressed rage. Whoa! Who knew Riley had that sort of depth of emotion in him, and what the hell did he have to be angry or suspicious about? She'd told him where she was going. It wasn't like she'd snuck off to see her ex-boyfriend or anything. She'd been totally up front Buffy.

Stomping her foot in irritation, Buffy silently willed the ex-commando to leave so she could get on with her own plans. Get changed, save Forrest, put off boyfriend confrontations, use the bathroom. That last one was quickly becoming an issue of major importance.

Buffy almost gave herself away when she sighed in relief as Riley started to march angrily down the steps and away from the building. She held her breath and tried to make herself as small as possible as the brunette checked his step and paused to take what appeared to be a last minute perusal of the perimeters. Buffy didn't relax again until she lost sight of his hard-to-miss clown pants. Moving quickly towards the front door of the dorms, she shook her head at the irrelevant thought- 'someone seriously needs to have a talk with Xander about his wardrobe choices'.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Something's wrong," Spike whispered as he lifted terror filled eyes to meet the surprised eyes of the watcher.

Giles only needed a moment to come to the conclusion that the shaking vampire was totally serious and completely terrified. Spike would never have allowed Giles to witness his vulnerability any other way. Buried deep within the hardened exterior of the watcher lay a compassionate man and that man would have been incapable of reacting in any way other than helpful.

"Come and sit down, Spike. Tell me what's happened," Giles gently urged the distressed vampire.

Unable to Sit while his mind still reeled in shock, Spike ignored the first part of the watcher's suggestion and started to pace in agitation while he responded to the second part. "I was thinkin' about what you said, 'bout a higher purpose, you know? How maybe workin' on the Slayer's side isn't such a bad idea, an all, 'cause I bloody well prefer fightin' demons than humans, there's more challenge in it. But see, the problem was always gonna be goin' against m' nature. Except that doesn't seem to be a problem it should be, 'cause m' demon's not complaining at the idea of bein' a white hat at all." Spike stopped his pacing and turned to face the fascinated watcher. "I spent the first twenty years of m' unlife under the tutelage of Angelus, Darla and Dru; nobody told me I got to make the choice between good and evil, Rupert. When in the bleedin' hell did that happen?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Buffy watched as Forrest jumped onto the path in front of her. She'd managed to get there a little early and had positioned herself behind where she knew he would emerge. Her stifled giggle at his stealthy ways alerted him to her presence.

Turning awkwardly, the soldier leveled his weapon at the disrespectful girl.

"So, what?" Buffy crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "You're killing humans now?" Repetition could be good. At least it gave her an opening. And not bringing the lame-o gun had been a stroke of genius as far as she was concerned.

Forrest looked down his nose at the small blond. He didn't care who she thought she was, as far as he was concerned she was just as much a freak as the hostile he was searching for. "No, not really," Forrest replied dismissively, "But I can have a patrol here in less than a minute. So, here's the plan; you go your way and I'll go mine."

Buffy snorted in derision. "Oh, and you're thinking that Adam will just wait around to kill you while you stand together in companionable silence until they get here? Good plan!"

This girl was really starting to bug him. It was definitely time to put little Miss Attitude in her place. "You think you're the first girlfriend Riley's ever had?" Forrest hissed in contempt as he moved closer, obviously trying to intimidate the tiny blond. "Such a big head on that skinny little body," he paused to look her over contemptuously. "No. You're just the first one to get him to commit treason. Riley had a career. And a future till he met you."

"You know," Buffy faced the angry soldier, her expression serious. She'd heard it all before, no way was this idiot getting to her today. "Even if we broke up, Riley's straight. I mean really straight. He's never gonna date you."

Buffy would have laughed at the fish out of water expression on Forrest's face if she wasn't so aware that his life depended on her moving the stubborn jackass away from the vicinity of the cave. She could laugh about his reaction later. Right now she needed to keep him off balance until she could get into position to knock him out. Because she seriously doubted he was gonna go for her loopy day story. Moving around him, she kept his mind focused on her words rather than her actions as she continued to speak.

"Now I'm not saying that there isn't some nice guy out there for you to find, I just think it would be more realistic if you concentrated on the ones that are open to alternative lifestyles."

Forrest's outraged "I'm not gay!" was as far as he got before Buffy knocked him out with a solid right hook to the jaw.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Spike and Giles spent the afternoon debating the consequences of choice. Giles was pleasantly surprised to discover that the vampire had a quick analytical mind. Giles had sorely missed the stimulation of an in-depth debate. Actually, he'd sorely missed the stimulation of a simple conversation with another adult. He hadn't realized how lonely he was until now. He wasn't sure how he felt about the fact that it had taken a vampire to show him that he desperately needed to do more than sit in his apartment and wait for Buffy to come to him with a problem. He wanted- no, needed- to do something more with his time. Maybe helping Spike was just the thing he needed to feel useful again.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Buffy positioned herself on the roof of the school gymnasium. Laying flat on her stomach, she was able to see the entire alleyway. The actual school roof may have been slightly easier to access, but the gym roof gave her a much broader view and since she wasn't exactly sure where the action started, she decided to go with the higher vantage point.

Buffy found it difficult to stay put when Angel got jumped by a group of commandos. She reasoned she'd been able to take down six of them under a minute, they surely wouldn't be capable of taking down a master vampire that knew they were around.

Buffy didn't believe for a minute that they would have been successful in taking down Spike if he had been paying attention. She never understood how they had managed to get him in the first place. She wondered briefly what had distracted him. She'd have to remember to ask him the next time she saw him. Well, that was if she saw him, because there was no way she was going to go looking for the bleached blond pain in her butt.

"Back-up team! Request immediate back-up! Over! They're tearing us apart over here! Two men down! From out of nowhere! Mayday! Repeat! Mayday!"

Buffy rolled her eyes at the dramatic cries of the commando below her. 'Oh please! It's just one damned vampire!'

A stealthy movement out of the corner of her eye caused Buffy to shift her focus to the grade school roof. What the hell was he doing here? Buffy froze. She knew she was safe from view from the vampire in the alley, but the bleached blond on the lower roof was a completely different story; Buffy was sure the bastard had eyes in the back of his head are far as she was concerned.

The bobbing of a flashlight drew her attention back to the alley just as the light hit Angel full in the face. Yeah, that was one pissed off vampire.

"Riley Finn," Angel said his intonation flat.

'How the hell did he know that was Riley? Ew, did he do that smelly thing?' Buffy screwed up her face in disgust.

"I know you?" Riley asked the hulking brunette.

"We have a friend in common," Angel coldly replied.

Buffy watched as Riley's expression changed from confusion to recognition. Angel's name echoed off the walls of the alley.

Taking a step forward, Angel glanced down at the commandos on the ground before turning suspicious eyes on the man in front of him. "Welcoming committee your idea?"

"Way I heard it. You were all peaceable now. You didn't by any chance go and lose that pesky soul again, did you?" Riley asked snidely, totally unaware that his comment could be heard by the other party required in that particular scenario, and that she was far from pleased.

"Don't push me, boy." Buffy wasn't the only one that was pissed. Angel was outraged that this little pisser was basically suggesting that Buffy was a cheat. From what Faith had told him, this guy should be the last person throwing out that accusation.

"Now what possibly could've happened with Buffy that would make you lose your soul?" Riley's rage was fuelled by his jealousy.

Buffy inched her way back from the edge of the roof. She was shaking with equal amounts of rage and hurt. She needed to think about things. She needed to be alone. She needed to kill something!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Spike watched the scene below him repeat everything he'd seen before, that is, until it was time for the leading lady to make her appearance. When she didn't show, he knew his earlier suspicions were true, that she might be just as aware as he was that the day was constantly repeating.

Melting back from the edge of the roof, Spike didn't bother to watch the end of the scene in the alley. He had a feeling it would all just replay itself regardless of if he stayed or not. For now he had a lot to think about. He needed some time just to get everything clear in his head. He really needed a drink!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When Buffy let herself into her mother's house, she was exhausted. A hard patrol and the emotional upheaval of the last couple of days had left her beyond tired. All she wanted to do was have a nice, relaxing bath and fall asleep all snuggled up in her own bed

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Buffy woke up and sighed. Oh yeah, there was no mistaking that smell. Maybe she should just go to sleep at the bus terminal in the first place. At least that way she'd be sure to wake up where she went to bed.

Stretching out the kinks that sleeping on the bench had given her, Buffy forced herself to face the fact that that only thing she'd managed to do the day before was save Forrest and get really pissed at Riley, and unless she did something majorly different this time, she just had more of the same to look forward to.

Damned men.

Buffy woke up and sighed. Oh yeah, there was no mistaking that smell. Maybe she should just go to sleep at the bus terminal in the first place. At least that way she'd be sure to wake up where she went to bed.

Stretching out the kinks that sleeping on the bench had given her, Buffy forced herself to face the fact that that only thing she'd managed to do the day before was save Forrest and get really pissed at Riley, and unless she did something majorly different this time, she just had more of the same to look forward to.

Damned men.

She ran through her options in her head. Well that was a short trip, she thought sarcastically. Guess its back to Giles, maybe with more talking and less yelling. Unless, of course, there was liquor involved, which would mean a little yelling, but mixed with some understanding and listening. Hopefully.

Wearily, she walked through the streets of Sunnydale. She watched as normal, happy families went about their day, oblivious to the fact that they would just be living the day over again in a matter of hours.

Somehow oblivion seemed kinder.

The trip to the watchers apartment seemed to take twice as long as before. Whether the weight in her feet came from grim acceptance of the situation or sheer exhaustion, she didn't know.

When she arrived, she again explained her situation. Once again Giles reached for the bottle, and once again she lost her temper, barely reining it in just short of the explosive replay of day number two- or was it three?

Okay, so Buffy with the patience and understanding…well she'd have to work on it. Hey, slayer here! She was supposed to be with the quick reactions. It was just that snap judgments and friendships weren't so mixy, but people could change. They could.

Two phone calls to the other scoobies later, she and Giles were sitting in stiff silence awaiting the arrival of the others. Maybe 'alcoholic' and 'lush' weren't the most understanding words she could have used, but it got him to put the bottle down.

Xander was first, dragging a sullen Anya behind him. Buffy watched as the ex-demon plopped down on the couch, acting as if her whole day had been ruined. Well, join the club. She should try a bunch of ruined days. No, Buffy, she reminded herself. Remember…patience and understanding…both of which are going out the window if that girl rolls her eyes one more time. It took many deep breaths later but she was calm once again. This patience thing was a lot harder than she had anticipated.

Oh, well, they would do the research…or the other scoobies would anyway. They would figure out what was happening and then she would slay it. Then she could get back to concentrating on Adam and how to defeat him.

Simple.

She refused to think that this could be something slayer strength couldn't handle. Relief filled her when Willow finally arrived. Buffy stood, gathering her thoughts on how to explain the situation.

"Hi, guys. Here's the deal…"

Several hours later and it still felt like she was on a slow walk to hell. Xander was all Star Trek and sci-fi theories. Anya was sure she was part of a vengeance wish, and she was a little too enthusiastic about the idea for Buffy's liking. Willow was busy switching from proclaiming her innocence to searching for spells which could have caused the loopiness.

Giles had been very quiet most of the time, only speaking to ask short pointed questions or occasionally offering Willow suggestions for books to check. She wasn't sure if it was from this morning's argument or from contemplating her situation. She hoped it was the former.

The group was startled out of their research by the front door swinging wide as Spike made his now daily entrance to the watchers home. Surprise lit his face as he looked up to see the impromptu scoobies meeting.

"What are you doing here?"

"What the bleedin' hell are you lot doing here?"

Both blondes called out in unison as vampire moved slowly toward the still open door and away from the advancing slayer. She had just made it within striking distance when the phone on the wall began to ring. Glancing in disgust at the vampire once more, she reached for the phone.

"Hello? What? Who is this?" She held the receiver toward the bleached blond as if it was contagious. "It's someone named Herbie for you," she said, arching a silently questioning eyebrow.

"Herbie? I don't' know any bloke named Herbie." He frowned in confusion but accepted the phone anyway. "ello? Spike, aka William the Bloody, here." He grinned as the slayer rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. Sometimes aggravating the bint was the most fun he had that didn't involve gallons of liquor and a bar brawl.

"What? Sure." He responded to Buffy's questioning look by stating that "Herbie asked me to hold." That caused the slayer to mutter under her breath about irritating vampires who treated other people's homes like hotels.

"What? You mean like you and the scoobies do? Descend on the poor watcher, eat his food, make a mess of his flat, and then run off to let him do the cleanup. Right nice of you, that. By the way slayer, you keep rolling your eyes like that and they'll fall right out of their sockets. I've seen it happen." He turned his head to hide the smirk as the petite blond turned a nice shade of red.

"Hello…Dru?" Spike's eyes widened as he heard his sire's voice floating across the circuits and wires. His thoughts raced as he tried to think of what the insane chit would possibly be calling him for, especially at the watchers place. "How the bleedin' hell did you know I was here? How'd you get the number, for that matter?"

Drusilla smiled sweetly at the chaos demon holding the phone just away from her face. Technology and the dark haired vampiress just didn't mix. The last time she had actually held the phone herself, she'd sworn that she felt her essence being sucked through the phone line and had refused to touch the device since.

"Miss Edith has her ways, dearest. You should know that. You have to ask the right questions, my Spike, or the answers will play hide and seek in the autumn leaves like little naughty children. Switches and canes, that's what they used on naughty children back in the day. They need more canes and switches, dear William. The cries and whimpers are oh, so delightful."

The vampire started to roll his eyes until he noticed the slayer watching him intently. "Right, canes and switches. Why do I think this isn't a social call, Dru?" he asked sarcastically.

"Such manners. I should scold you and send you to bed without supper, you naughty boy. Miss Edith and I have been so busy trying to make sure you have your pretty sunshine. It's burns to the touch, but it shines bright for an effulgent heart, like my brave knight. He's bright like the moon shining its light, but the moon doesn't make its own light does it, William? It can only reflect the light it receives from the sun."

"Look Dru. I realize you're off your nutter, but the bloody cryptic tripe is getting old. Just say what you want me to know so I can get on with my bloody wonderful day," He snarled his tone angry and defensive.

"Tut tut. No cake for you. If Miss Edith didn't insist, I would make Herbie hang up this phone right now," she pouted, stomping her foot even though she knew he couldn't see her.

"Dru!"

Sighing loudly to show her displeasure, she continued, "The tree. She sought to weave and bend. I only used it as a foundation to reach out for the burning baby fishes, swimming all around. They bathe in the shallow water and the light. They gleam and glisten. Shiny backs and slippery fins. Oh, so pretty they are."

Spike sagged against the wall, banging his head lightly. "You did a spell. That's what all this repeat-o nonsense is. I swear to bleedin' hell Dru, you could drive a bloke as batty as you are with this shit!"

The slayer moved closer as soon as he uttered the word 'spell', her heated gaze burning a hole through him and the phone he was clutching. "So, this is all your lame-o ex-girlfriends fault?" she hissed.

"Don't be so fast to judge, love. I think she may have had an accomplice." He glanced quickly as the couch where Willow was perched on the arm. She squeaked softly when she heard the vampires' words and felt the stares from the two blondes.

"B-but I haven't! No spells, not a one!" she denied. The witch felt both indignant about the accusation and guilty about the spells she had been researching for the past week, but she definitely hadn't performed any spells recently. It's not like she would forget if she had.

Turning his back to the living room Spike tried to think of the best way to get information out of the insane brunette. "Dru, princess, what is it that I need to do to make this stop?" he asked softly, leaning his head on the wall. He didn't want to anger her until he had his answers, knowing how fickle both Dru and her sidekick could be.

"Poor William, you need only to see the truth and the sunshine of course. She must see the truth as well. Only then will Miss Edith allow the spell to break. She laughs, Miss Edith does. Laughs and giggles over you both. She so enjoys knowing that you're spending your days over and over and over again."

Her manic laughter grated on Spikes nerves. Damn Miss Edith anyway! He should have burned that damned doll decades ago. She had been nothing but trouble since the day he brought her home. He had gotten her to appease Dru while being stuck indoors after a particularly nasty incident with a local dressmaker. Apparently, the chit had tried to fit her in something unfashionable and she had decorated the shop with the girl's entrails.

"Yes, I'm sure she's right enjoying herself. So, the spell, Dru. Can the tree fix the spell?" Desperation and hope filled his voice.

It was one thing believe the witch botched up another spell. It was quite another to know his insane sire was involved. There was no telling what kind of side effects or repercussions she could conjure up to go along with this…what? Supposed revelation? Spiritual enlightenment?

Bugger that!

Would the manipulation by the women in his life never end? It seemed he was forever at the mercy of females, no matter if they had been the one that turned him loose or not. Dru no longer wanted him, but she felt the need to interfere with his bloody unlife at her whimsy.

Oh, he knew what she was implying. The same tripe that she had spouted while he was in South America with her- that his obsession with the slayer was about more than in just killing her.

It's wasn't that the chit was unattractive, but he was a one woman vamp. Even if she did look like a bloody Valkyrie when she fought, he never would have forsaken his dark princess. His being cast out and alone with no family for the first time since his turning still brought a pang of grief and longing when he focused on it too long.

The thing was, he enjoyed being around other people, and his time spent with Rupert yesterday had been an eye opener on how things could be if he just opened up a bit and let them in. Being around the slayer was both fun and frustrating at the same time. He loved the witty banter and trading quips with her, but being reminded of his inability to be the vampire he had once been was a torment he didn't need.

"Spike!" the slayers voice hissed. He shook his head to clear it of his wayward thoughts. He must have dozed off a bit during his reflections. His eyes rose to meet her worried gaze.

"I'm trying to get some answers, luv. Keep your knickers on, alright?" He turned once again, this time with his back to the slayer. It probably wasn't the smartest move for a vamp, putting himself in this position while within easy striking distance, but he figured if she hadn't staked him by now that she wouldn't over such a minor snub.

He could almost feel the slayers breath on his neck as she moved closer trying to hear what was being said. His grin was evil as he leaned slightly into her. He stretched his senses beyond the walls of the apartment, any second now…he shifted even closer as the knock sounded at the front door.

He felt the slayer tense, knowing that she also had a good idea as to who was waiting on the other side of the flimsy barrier. Still, she didn't move away, more concerned with the phone call than whoever was at the door.

The watcher rolled his eyes and stood up from the table filled with research books on magic and dimensions. "Please, by all means, let's ignore the door we're standing not two feet away from as if there were no one knocking," he muttered. He swung the door open wide, making sure to leave plenty of room between himself and the threshold. One could never be too careful in Sunnydale, after all.

"Angel." His surprised voice registered loudly in the room. Willow and Xander both tensed as the visitors' presence was announced. Anya merely reacted to her boyfriends' discomfort and asked if the broody vamp was evil again in a voice too loud to be a whisper.

Still the blondes ignored the room of people, treating them as if they didn't exist. Spike was still trying to coax information out of the giggling Drusilla and Buffy was doing her best to listen in on the conversation.

"What the hell is Spike doing here?" Angel asked, his brow wrinkled in confusion. He knew of his family member's chipped state from both his Thanksgiving visit and from Buffy on the day he had taken back by the oracles.

However, knowing of his newly neutered lifestyle and seeing him lounging at the watchers home, using his phone as if it was an everyday occurrence, was something else entirely. And why were the two blonds standing so close together? They looked almost…intimate. Or at the very least, fairly comfortable with each other.

Finally, frustration got the best of the slayer and she grabbed the phone from Spikes hand. "Listen you insane bitch, whatever you did…undo it. Now! Stop laughing…I mean it!" Shoving the receiver back into the vampire's hand, she paced the floor. "I can't believe she hung up on me."

She turned to scan the room and came face to face with Angel. Her eyes widened and her nostrils flared. Irritation lit her eyes as she was reminded of his presence. "You! This is all your fault! You just had to drive her crazy before you vamped her. Couldn't be like everybody else and just bite her. No, you had to go for the gusto."

Her yelling ceased only to bring her fist quickly to meet his face. She watched with satisfaction as he sailed backwards to land on his ass. Well, if she couldn't get back at the vampire that was causing her problems, she could at least get the one who made her.

She didn't bother to wait for her ex-boyfriend to remove himself from the floor. Instead, she immediately turned back to Spike. "Well, did she tell you anything useful? How to break it, what it was, or why the hell she did it in the first place?"

"Slow down, Slayer. Thanks to your wonderful people skills, she hung up. Didn't get much except I know it had something to do with Red here." Both blonds turned accusing eyes toward the young Wicca.

"What? No, I haven't done any spells. I swear, Buffy. No spells." Willow's frantic denials were almost enough to make the slayer relent. Almost.

"Then why did she name you, Will? I swear; if you did it, I won't yell at you. Just tell us so we can fix it." Buffy was practically begging at this point, the craziness of the last several days enough to make pride a non-issue.

The redhead was distressed that everyone was so quick to blame her at the smallest suggestion of her involvement. And it seemed no matter how much she denied it they would believe the worst. Tears began to well up in her eyes. "Buffy, I swear I didn't do this."

"Hold up, Slayer. What about looking at spells, Red? Any spells you've been researching? Thinking of trying any spells out?" the blond asked with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"What are you thinking?" Buffy asked. She felt that they were so close to an answer, but she would have sworn that Willow was telling the truth.

Turning to face the slayer, Spike tried to work through his idea in his head. "What if she hasn't done the spell yet?"

"Huh? How is that possible? If she hasn't done it, then how did it happen? That makes all the kind of sense that's not." Her mind was trying to follow his line of reasoning.

"Think about it, love. We've both done all sorts of things the last several days, things that we haven't done today. Things that we could do and it would never make a difference on tomorrow. We wake up and it's like it never happened."

"Yeah? And?" Aggravation was getting the best of her and if he didn't get to the point soon, she was so going to lose it.

Sighing loudly, he began to pace the floor, using his hands to exaggerate his point as he moved. "So, let's say she did the spell the same day everything went wonky, the same day we're having over and over. Of course she hasn't done the spell yet in our time. She wouldn't do it until later tonight."

Once again the pair turned to face the witch. This time the blush spreading across her face was enough to signal her guilt.

"Willow?" Buffy asked, disappointment clouding her face.

"I swear it's just research, Buffy. Healing stuff, renewal and restoration magic's. White magic's only a-and I haven't even done anything. Just research and reading. No actual s-spells."

"Well, Red, obviously you went from research to casting sometime later tonight, which will soon turn into tomorrow," the vampire snarked as he banged his head lightly on the wall behind him. He couldn't' help but direct his anger towards the witch. After all, if she hadn't gone about casting spells all willy-nilly, then they probably wouldn't be in this mess. Some people never learned control, and he had a nasty feeling that the small redhead would be one that would learn the hard way too little, too late.

Turning his attention back to the issues at hand, he moved toward the living area only to come face to face with The Great Brooding Hulk.

"Angelus," he acknowledge before moving on to the couch and plopping down with a loud sigh.

Reminded of her ex once again, Buffy wearily made her way over to the brunette. "Angel, if you're here because of the fight; its fine…over and done with, you can go back to LA with a clear conscience."

"Is everything alright? Things seem kind of crazy around here. Can I help with anything?" he asked concerned.

"No, we're just having some issues. We'll work it out. Thanks anyway," she assured as she led him to the door.

"If you're sure." He stepped through the threshold and turned around, his best woeful expression in place.

She refrained from rolling her eyes and stated sarcastically, "Very sure, thanks again, and come back again next time you feel the need to beat the crap out of my boyfriend."

"How did you…? It just happened. It was an accident." He tried to smooth things over even as he wondered how she had found out so quickly.

"I know. You didn't mean to, his face just jumped in front of your fist, it happens. See ya later, Angel. Like tomorrow," she muttered, slamming the door in the dark vampires face.

Twenty minutes later and they still hadn't found any solution to the spell from hell. Willow was gathering her things to make a trip back to the dorm to pick up her spell books when a frantic knock sounded on the front door.

Buffy tensed and looked around wildly. "Oh, God, it's Riley. I'm so not in the mood for this right now. Willow, I'll go get your spell books if you get rid of Riley. Tell him I'm not back yet, or I'm with my mom, or I died in a horrible accident. Anything! Just get rid of him," she hissed out the last as she grabbed Spike's duster sleeve, dragging him behind her as they made their way to the back of the apartment.

Giles didn't have so much a back door as it was a large window, but desperate times called for desperate measures. They made it several blocks before Spike finally broke the silence surrounding them.

"So, Slayer, what's with the Houdini escape route we just had to take to avoid the boyfriend? Trouble in paradise?" He worked hard at keeping his expression neutral. The last thing he needed right now was a broken nose.

"It's none of your business, Spike," The petite blond huffed as she picked up her pace.

"Right. And here I was thinking we were in this thing together. My mistake. Sorry 'bout that. It won't happen again. See ya 'round, Slayer." He veered off the sidewalk to the road and began to cross before she caught his arm, spinning him around to face her.

"Alright, look. Riley has some jealousy issues to work through. Take one super strong girlfriend, add in a calling that takes up most of my time, and throw in a 'my girlfriend slept with a super strong vampire' and mix until foamy. It doesn't exactly make for happy boyfriendy thoughts, and the 'lets make Buffy crazy loopy day from hell' isn't helping either." She lowered her eyes, looking at the pavement as if it held all the answers she was looking for.

"The first time I just tried to brush it off and go on. After a couple of times, though, I started to lose my temper and things were said. I have to think part of it is him reacting to my anger. It has to be. He's just crazy right now."

"Or maybe you're finally getting to see a side of the boy that you haven't until now," The vampire offered quietly, dipping his head to look her in the eye.

Buffy turned her head to avoid his gaze. "Can we just not do this? We have a spell to break remember?" She finally looked up to meet his measuring stare with a pleading one of her own. Between Angel and Riley and the constant explaining to the Scoobies, she didn't know if she could take it if the irritating vampire started in on her, too.

"Sure, pet. Let's go get those books." Once again, they started down the street and Spike let his thoughts drift. He had wanted to call her on her statement of him belonging, even if in the most marginal way, to the scoobies. Whether by default or design, he had thrown his proverbial hat in with the slayer and her gang the moment he had went to them for help.

As much as he still tried to proclaim his evil nature, he hadn't really done anything more immoral than petty theft in the last several months. Well, except plotting with Adam, which he would need to think about later. Sure there were lots of wicked things he could have done to entertain himself, but the truth was, without the violence and mayhem to back it up, his heart just wasn't in it. If fighting demons was the only way he could get his quota of fists and fangs, well then, demons it was.

The rest of the trip was made in silence, both individuals lost in their own thoughts. It wasn't until the trip back to the watchers that the blond vampire had a sudden revelation.

"Bloody hell, I don't know why I didn't think of it before," the vampire exclaimed. With his excitement lighting his face he seemed much younger to Buffy, almost childlike in his enthusiasm.

"I'll go to Dru, make her lift this crazy curse, and we can move on with our lives…or unlives as the case may be.

Buffy laughed mockingly. "Yeah, great plan genius. You really think that will work? What happens when the day resets? We don't even know for sure what time it happens. You don't even have a clue. You're not the one waking up next to a bucket of old mop water in a crappy little seat at the bus station every morning."

"Well then, no harm no foul. I'll wake up in my nice comfy bed all snuggled up in the blankets. But, if it does work, then presto! No more spell. Maybe it's only affecting us in Sunnyhell. If I can get far enough away maybe the spell won't be able to affect me. It's worth a shot anyway. We got nothing to lose." He smirked at the slayers irritated look when he mentioned waking every morning in his own bed. It wasn't his fault she took a siesta in the bus station that fateful morning. Maybe next time she'd be more careful where she took her little catnaps.

"Yeah, whatever. Like you said; no harm, no foul. Lets get these books back to Giles and see if we can find anything tonight, or else I've got a date with a nice plastic chair in the morning," she mumbled the last.

Life so wasn't fair, here she was the chosen one waking up every day in a torture device while the evil vampire woke up in his nice soft bed. Why couldn't she have the bed? Not that she wanted to wake up in Spike's bed, because, well...she didn't. It just wasn't fair.

Spike smiled when the slayers face broke into a full blown pout. He hadn't even needed to wind her up much this time around. He lived for the little moments like these. Unlife was good.

The morning dawn was bright and clear, just like the last several before it. Of course it helped that it was the same damn day. Spike stretched lazily in his comfy bed before remembering the mission that had been decided the night before.

South America.

He had some demon friends in L.A. with a small charter plane that he planned to call in a few debts for. With any luck, he could be there in a few hours and put and end to the never ending day. He packed his leather duffel as he reviewed all the fun that he had over the last couple of days baiting and leading the slayer's little pals on. He would almost be sad to see the fun end. But a vampire could not live by derision alone, he thought as he grabbed the bag and headed toward the sewers.

Morning dawned bright and clear, just like the last several before it. Of course it helped that it was the same damn day. Spike stretched lazily in the bed before remembering his mission that had been decided the night before.

South America.

He had some demon friends in L.A. with a small charter plane that he planned to call in a few debts for. With any luck he could be there and put an end to the never ending day.

He packed a small leather duffel as he reviewed all the fun that he had over the last couple of days baiting and leading the scoobies, he would almost be sad to see the fun end.

But a vampire could not live by derision alone; he thought as he grabbed the bag and headed toward the sewers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"My naughty boy thinks he can come and sweet talk you, Miss Edith," Dru crooned to her doll. "We must teach him a lesson." She brought the toy closer to her ear.

Herbie stepped inside the doorway to watch his insane consort while she whispered things to her doll. He hoped that William the Bloody and the Slayer figured Drusilla's plan out soon, because frankly, he was sick of the same day playing over and over.

"So what shall we play, dearie? Ring around the roses gets so tiresome. I've got it!" Dru leaped to her feet, and she twirled around the room with Miss Edith in her arms. "It's perfect, it is. Let's play Clue, shall we? It's such a wonderful game. I played once with a man in New York while my Spike was hunting a slayer. He was tall and dark, and he tasted like fear and wine."

Herbie sighed. Oh yeah, it was going to be a long night. "What do you have planned, my sweet?" he asked even if he really didn't want to know. It was a good thing that Chaos Demons were blocked from the mental invasion that Drusilla was used to performing on others. Herbie knew she would be displeased with his less than happy thoughts.

"They get treats, my sweet. Find a hint and get a prize, do it wrong…grrr. Bad dog. No cake."

Herbie sighed again. He had always sucked at solving riddles and now he was involved with a demon whose riddles were harder to figure out than Nostrodamus'. He turned to leave the room when Dru started to speak again.

"Dreams, my horny pet. My sweet boy and the sunshine shall feel the bite of love and it shall show them the way." Drusilla turned her attention back to Miss Edith while she started to chant under her breath.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy mentally went over her 'to-do list' for the day. One: avoid Riley, Angel, and the Scoobies. Two: save Forrest from Adam. Three: wait it out and hope that Spike made it to the mental ho bag and that she would end the Loopy Day from Hell out of the kindness of her heart. Buffy snorted at that thought. Damned loony bitch. If I see Angel today, I might punch him out again just for the fun of it.

Buffy knew she still had a few hours before she could meet up with Forrest. She decided the easiest way to avoid the first thing on her list was to hide out in a hotel room. That way she could at least shower and wash out her undies. She dug around in her pockets to count her money and found she had more than enough. Buffy used all her change to stock up on some goodies from the bus terminal vending machines.

Buffy laid on the bed while she munched on a bag of chips, and she flipped through the channels on the fuzzy television in search of something to watch. She felt pretty good, considering. The shower had been long and hot, and the bed was soft compared to the bench in the bus terminal. Her eyes drifted closed without her even noticing.

"Birds singing, squirrels making lots of rotten little squirrels. Sun beaming down in a nice, non-fatal way. It's very exciting, I can't wait to see if I freckle." Spike glanced up at the sun, and then back down at the Slayer lying on the ground below him.

Buffy stared up at Spike in astonishment. Crap, he must have found the Gem thingie that Giles was talking about, she thought. She grabbed her stake from her bag just as she launched herself up from the ground. Buffy landed a punch, but reeled back to the ground when he returned it with a left hook. She kicked him when he jumped on her and he staggered back.

Spike jumped at the Slayer, and he landed on her stake. He looked down at the wound. He laughingly said, "Oh do it again. It tickles, but in a good way." Spike smirked at Buffy when she pulled the stake out and the wound closed up on right before her astonished eyes. He held up his hand to show off the ring. "The Gem of Amara. Official sponsor of my killing you.""

Buffy fell backwards when Spike suddenly backhanded her. She tried to crawl away, but Spike caught her by the hair and hauled her to her feet. Buffy squirmed to get away from the vampire, but he pushed her up against a nearby pole. The Slayer stopped moving as soon as she felt his hardened cock pressed up against the crack of her ass. She groaned, and her eyes fluttered shut when arousal shot through her entire system.

Spike whirled the Slayer around so that her back was pressed into the pole and his lips were pressed against her neck ready to bite her. Then, he heard her huskily moan deep in her throat while she buried her hands in his hair making his fangs dig into the soft skin above her jugular vein. Without thought, Spike cupped her breasts in his hands, and he tweaked her nipples into diamond hard points. Against her skin, he muttered, "Slayer, I want you."

"Spike, I love you," Buffy cried while he bit into her flesh. Her orgasm rippled through her, leaving her weak and breathless.

Buffy sat up to look around the room. She put her hand on her forehead, and she whimpered, "No. For God's sake, no."

She jumped to her feet to rush into the bathroom. Buffy splashed her face with cold water and then peered into the mirror. She gasped when she noticed the bite mark on her neck. What the hell is that? Buffy leaned into examine her neck more closely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike got himself as comfortable as he possibly could being squeezed into the baggage compartment of the small plane. It was going to be a long ride, and he just hoped that this worked. He had no desire to do the same day over and over again with the Slayer. Not that it was any skin off his nose, but bloody hell she was getting bitchier and bitchier with each loop. The vampire's eyes drifted shut without him even noticing.

Spike sat down in the chair next to Dru. He kissed her on the cheek. Indicating the life sized dolls seated around the small table, he asked, "Who are your friends, my love?"

"Spike, my sweet prince. This is Sunshine. She's yours to play with today." Drusilla indicated a beautiful blond doll with porcelain skin, rosy cheeks, and bright green eyes. Then she pointed to a cute red haired doll. "This one is Tree. She's mine to play with. I just love to play with dollies." Dru clapped her hands together.

Spike sat back in his chair, startled when the dolls came to life. He watched as Dru grabbed the red haired doll and twirled and danced around the room.

"Such wickedness in this one, my Spike," Dru sing-songed while she danced. "Snip, snip the little strings of restraint and watch the pretty lights all aglow." She giggled when Spike growled his discontent. Dru and the doll whirled in a circle around the male vampire while she taunted him.

Spike felt a small hand on his sleeve. When he looked, the blonde doll was looking up at him expectantly. She smiled sweetly while she indicated that they were supposed to get up to dance, too. Spike sighed heavily. He knew he would never hear the end of it from Dru if he didn't follow orders. So, being the gentleman that his long dead mother had taught him to be, he rose to his feet and gallantly held his hand out to the blond doll.

Dru smiled dreamily while she watched Spike dance with Sunshine. She leaned into Tree's ear, and she whispered, "See, I told my Spike that the moon has no light of its own. Reflects the sun, it does. Efflugent and burning.""

"Dru, pet? What's going on here?""

Dru stopped dancing to stare at Spike with fathomless eyes. "You're running away from the sunshine and your great destiny. You have all the answers, sweet William. All the right tricks to get your treat. You need only to set yourself on the path and follow the leader.""

Spike felt sudden heat fill his arms. When he looked down, he was surprised to find the Slayer, warm and alive in his arms. She swayed against his body, and much to his chagrin blood rushed to his groin causing him to get an erection. The girl seemed to respond to this as she danced closer and closer.

"Miss Edith wishes to speak to Tree now." Dru stood behind Spike. She licked his neck and whispered in his ear, "Be a good boy and listen to your heart, Spike." Dru and Tree danced off to another room where the small doll was sure to be holding her own court.

Spike found himself pushed into a nearby armchair with the Slayer perched on his lap, her perky little voice filling his ear with words that would make a weaker vampire run for his life.

"There's so much to decide. Ceremony, guests, reception," Buffy said matter-of-factly. She leaned in close to whisper in his ear, "Honeymoon.""

"No church weddings and no daytime ceremonies," Spike answered firmly. "I have no plans on being a big pile of dust, honeymoon or no." He shivered when Buffy took his earlobe into her mouth and sucked on it.

"Of course, baby. I don't want my best guy to be dust," Buffy mumbled against his neck. She licked the soft skin, humming and cooing as she did.

"You're not going to be all pouty this time?" Spike asked. He was unexpectedly disappointed when she shook her head negatively. "I like your pout, pet. Makes me want to nibble on that little lip of yours.""

"I love you, Spike," Buffy whispered huskily.

Spike squirmed in the chair when he felt Buffy sink her teeth into his flesh. His cock pressed against the zipper of his jeans when he felt his borrowed blood leave his body and enter the Slayer's mouth. Spike came in his pants like a teenaged boy when Buffy growled against his skin.

Spike opened his eyes while he gasped for unneeded breath. His hand shot to his neck where dream Buffy had bitten down. His fingers came back bloody, and he knew that somehow the mark had transcended the dream world into the living world. Spike laid there contemplating what the dream had meant, and the more he thought, the madder he got. He understood what Dru was prattling on about, but damn it, he was the master of his own destiny. No woman- not his Sire, or the Slayer or the witch- was going change that. He; Spike, William the Bloody would choose who he loved and spent his unlife with. No one else had that right but him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy rushed to get her clothes on. She had to get to Forrest before Adam killed him again. If Spike was somehow able to get Dru to stop the loopy day, then Buffy wanted to be sure to have at least this one little thing fixed. Hopefully she could catch up with the commando early enough she could once again avoid Adam and the injury to her head. Buffy took a quick look in the mirror to make sure the newly acquired bite marks on her neck weren't showing before she exited, intent on her mission.

Hiding in the brush, Buffy held the stone above her head while she waited for Forrest to come down the trail. For some reason, she felt incredibly twitchy and the mark on her neck tingled fiercely. Buffy waited until the commando was just in the line of sight to step out and knock him over the head with the rock. After Forrest crumpled to the ground, she threw the rock to the side, and she leaned over to check his pulse. Grabbing his arms, she dragged him down the trail away from the cave.

Buffy pulled the unconscious commando into a thick bush and searched through his pockets.. In an inner vest pocket' she found a packet of plastic law enforcement restraint ties. She quickly bound Forrest's wrists behind his back, but checking to make sure he could breathe without problems. She quickly checked the path for Adam, and when she saw it was clear, dashed back towards town.

Walking along Main Street, she looked at the store windows. She was passing the magic shop when she noticed Riley talking on a pay phone outside the Espresso Pump. He seemed very agitated, probably upset because he couldn't find her. Buffy quickly ducked into the magic shop. She hadn't been in the store since Willow's 'Thy Will Be Done' spell when she had come in search of Tagas Root.

"Can I help you, miss?" the clerk asked politely.

"Um, no. I'm just looking around," Buffy answered. She kept one eye on the front window for Riley to pass. Buffy picked up objects, glanced at them, and then put them down in an attempt to look like she was shopping.

"B-Buffy," a voice said, "How are you?"

Buffy stiffened when she heard the voice. Like before when she had saved Forrest from dying, the bite marks on her neck tingled. Buffy turned to look at the short, dark haired male. "Hey, Jonathon. You're not here planning some sort of diabolical spell to take over Sunnydale, are you?"

"N-no, I was just working here with Mr. Bogarty." Jonathon nodded towards the shop owner. "I decided to put my knowledge to good use for a change."

"Um, That's great, Jonathon." Buffy glanced towards the window. "I'm glad to see you're doing something constructive."

"Can I help you with something, Buffy?" Jonathon asked. He had noticed the glances that the blond girl kept throwing towards the front window.

"Not really. I was just avoiding someone." Buffy turned her gaze back at Jonathon. "Hey, you know about magic, right? Do you know any spells that might ... I don't know ... make a day repeat itself?"

Jonathon raised an eyebrow. "Wow, that'd be a powerful spell. Very dark and not for the novice spell caster." He walked over to the bookcase where he pulled out several books. "Why not try looking through these? If you don't find anything, let me know. Hey, you could always rent Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. That was such a cool movie."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike had been drinking steadily since he had landed in Bogata, Columbia, thirty minutes before. He was brassed off at Dru, the Slayer, the Fates and every other diety he could lay his thoughts on. They were all playing with him, and he was not a pawn.

Give it up, mate, you're love's bitch, a little voice muttered in his ear.

I may be love's bitch, but I'll love who I want, and there's no way it's the Slayer, Spike growled back.

"Senor Spike? You 'ave a phone call." The bartender held out the receiver towards him.

The blond vampire took the phone from the dark haired man. He spoke into the receiver in a resigned voice. "Hello, Dru."

"Hello, my naughty boy. Why must you be so stubborn?" The crackling of the phone line played counterpart to Dru's voice.

"Me, stubborn?" Spike growled. "I'm not the one listening to a soddin' doll and doing magic all willy-nilly."

"Tsk, tsk. I'm only trying to help you, love. So pretty you would be all wrapped in sunshine." Dru giggled softly when Spike growled her name again. He was such a naughty boy when he wasn't doing what his mummy told him. She had half a mind to punish him. "You know you won't make it, my Spike. It will be dark soon. All the shadows come out to play and the day begins anew. You'll be with her soon. As soon as you accept it, you can fix it all."

"Fix what?" Spike muttered. He swallowed down the last of the whiskey in his glass and signaled the bartender for a refill.

"Why, fix the factors, you silly boy." Dru beckoned to Herbie to hang up the phone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy looked up to see Jonathon put a cup of coffee and a muffin from the Espresso pump down next to her. "Thanks. I haven't had much to eat today. Kinda busy."

"So, you're really doing the same day over and over?" Jonathon asked after he sat down next to Buffy. "Wow! That must be really weird especially having no one to help you."

"Not alone exactly," Buffy muttered. "Spike's stuck with me." She closed the book she was looking through and picked the next one out of the pile.

"Um, that's the vampire, right? I vaguely remember him from the spell I did," Jonathon said with a tinge of embarrassment. He took one of the other books and started leafing through the pages. He was a few pages in when he suddenly announced, "This spell sounds promising." He handed the book to Buffy.

Buffy mumbled to herself while she read, "Spell causes perpetual time reversal. Certain stipulations. Um, improvement requirements. Subjects must evolve or discover hidden truths. Cannot be reversed with a general reversal spell. Oh, great, that's a lot of help. How the heck are we suppose to know what to change?"

She broke off when the hidden bite marks started to tingle again. Her hand twitched with the urgent need to rub at the offending mark. "Um, so ... you got any books on dream manifestations?"

Several hours later, Buffy left the magic shop knowing more about dreams and spells than she had ever thought possible. When she passed, the Alibi Room she decided to slip inside to order something to eat. For a demon bar, the food was surprisingly good. Buffy sat in the back of the bar, her back against the wall and her eyes on the front door. Couldn't be too cautious.

After Willy brought Buffy her burger, fries and Diet Coke, she sat munching on her food while absentmindedly listening to the conversations around her. When she saw Angel walk in the door, she shrank back in the booth until she remembered she was the Slayer and not afraid of some stupid vampire.

Buffy dipped her fries in ketchup while she watched the dark vampire question the bartender. She grimaced when the man pointed in her direction. Buffy watched dispassionately as Angel stalked towards her.

"Is this how you spend your days? Avoiding everyone so you can hang out in a demon bar?" Angel demanded. He shook his head when Buffy motioned to the bench across the table from her.

"I've had a bad couple of days, Angel. Just wanted to spend some time alone," Buffy said softly. Her hand itched to touch the mark on her neck even though it wasn't tingling at the moment. As crazy as it sounded, she took a great amount of comfort in having Spike's bite on her body. It seemed to be helping her feel grounded in all the crazy loopiness.

"What about your duty, Buffy? When you do stupid things like this you forsake your duty as the Slayer," Angel announced pompously. He crossed his arms to stare at the petite blond. She'd been acting crazy ever since she had found out that Faith had visited him. Angel decided she needed to be reminded once again of what her purpose in life was. "You seem to have gotten into the habit of burying your head in the sand when things don't go your way."

Buffy's jaw dropped at Angel's words, and she leaped to her feet. Where the hell did he get off, telling her what to do? "Why don't you tell me what you really think, Angel?" She stepped back when Angel moved towards her. "You tell me to stay out of your town, and yet you still feel the urge to invade mine? Oh, and how did you get those bruises on your knuckles?"

Angel looked down at his hands. "Nothing. It was nothing. Just ran into the wall or something. Quit trying to change the subject. I talked to Giles and the others. They haven't seen you all day and they're worried." He sniffed the air cautiously. Something was off with the Slayer, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "You're acting like a child, Buffy. It's very unbecoming of you."

"I need a little alone time, so I'm acting like a child?" Buffy shook her head, and her hand crept up to her neck without her even realizing that she was now rubbing the bite mark. "Go home, Angel. I don't have time for your childish antics."

Angel leaped across the space between the Slayer and himself. He pulled her hand away from her neck and there on her flesh he saw very familiar bite marks. "Alone? You call letting Spike bite you being alone? I think it's time we went and talked to Giles. You're not yourself." Angel grabbed Buffy's arm, and his game face rippled into play. He bent down over Buffy's neck.

"Oh, I'm myself alright. Just sick of people telling me what to do," Buffy growled. She punched the dark haired vampire in the face. "Now let go of me."

"You're mine," Angel snarled. He pulled Buffy even closer, and he bent his fangs closer to her neck. Angel's eyes opened in surprise when he felt a stake enter his heart. He gasped as he felt the particles of his being turn into dust.

Buffy coughed as his ashes began to settle. "Nope, not yours. Haven't been yours in a long time." She sighed heavily. "Well, at least he won't remember this tomorrow."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy awoke stiff and grumpy. The very familiar smell of the bus terminal tickled her nose. She sat there listening to the sounds around her for the longest time. Buffy felt the marks on her neck begin to tingle fiercely. When she opened her eyes, Spike was sprawled in the chair across from her.

"So, have fun staking the poof yesterday?" Spike drawled.

Buffy awoke stiff and grumpy. The very familiar smell of the bus terminal tickled her nose. She sat there listening to the sounds around her for the longest time. Buffy felt the marks on her neck begin to tingle fiercely. When she opened her eyes, Spike was sprawled in the chair across from her.

"So, have fun staking the poof yesterday?" he drawled.

"Not as much fun as I'm gonna have dusting you," Buffy snarked in return.

Spike sat forward, leaning his elbows on his knees as he clasped his closed fists under his chin. Giving the grumpy slayer a look of wide eyed innocence, he mildly chastised her. "Now, pet, is that any way to greet the nice monster that brought you coffee?"

"Coffee?" Buffy perked right up at the thought of the enticing beverage.

"And donuts," Spike elaborated. "We've got a lot to talk about and I figured that if we try for once to do without the usual arguments, we might be able to figure this mess out."

She carefully considered the vampire in front of her. "Are you talking truce, teamwork, or something else?"

Spike inwardly cursed the part of his anatomy that had perked up at the thought of 'something else'. He also ignored the little voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like his insane sire as it urged him to 'play in the sunshine'. He wasn't going to be dictated to. Once this situation was fixed, he was going to go back to his unhappily chipped unlife and hating the slayer as he so rightly should. In order to do that, they had to work together, and that required…

"Teamwork," Spike answered her question. "We're gonna have to try and trust each other, pet."

Buffy looked at him, her expression serious but sad. "And how do we do that, Spike? How do we, as mortal enemies, trust each other?"

"I guess that's another thing we need to talk about, slayer."

~~~~~~

"I get that it would be harder for you to trust me than it should be for me to trust you, what with me bein' evil an all, and you being the Chosen One for the white hats. So, how about I go first?" Spike offered the apprehensive girl seated in the booth opposite him.

Willy had been a little worried when they'd entered the Alibi Room, but they'd assured him that they weren't there to cause trouble. They just needed a private place to talk. Willy had sent them to a dark booth in the back.

"But before I tell you what's been going on, I'm gonna ask that you wait till I finish before you pass any sort of judgement on me, alright?" Spike set down his ground rules. "I also think it would be better to spend the day discussing our problem. We know we're not gonna fix anything today, so nobody that gets hurt will stay hurt. If we concentrate on just this one thing, we might actually come up with a game plan."

Buffy cautiously nodded her agreement. She could feel the intensity of the blond vampire's emotions. She could tell he was being sincere about tying to work together. Was it possible that she was just tuning into him for the first time? Maybe she had some latent slayer thing going on where she was getting insightful? Whatever it was, being able to feel Spike's emotions was seriously wiggy. Not that she was planning on giving away more than she had to.

She wasn't sure if she was looking forward to his explanation for the bites or not. She sure as hell wasn't planning on sharing that knowing what he was feeling was making her feel better about this mess. She didn't feel so alone. His feelings gave her comfort, something which she would totally deny if anyone ever suggested it.

Spike began his tale. He admitted to helping the giant jigsaw puzzle in return for the removal of his chip, and told her of his plan to break up the Scoobies. A lot of what he said made Buffy realize just how easily they had all allowed it to happen. She had to wonder if the genuine contrition she felt coming from the vampire was the only thing that was stopping her from jumping up and staking him.

She listened carefully as he went on to tell her about his day with Giles, surprised to hear the deep disappointment in his voice over the fact that the watcher would never remember their conversation. She could feel how it made him feel. There was no doubting him this time. No underlying suspicions as to his motives. He really was amazing. She supposed she really shouldn't be surprised by anything he said anymore. 'You've been one constant roller coaster ride ever since I meet you, Spike. I never know when we're going to hit the next loop.'

He went on to tell her about witnessing the fight between Riley and Angel. When he informed her that he'd overheard what she'd said to Riley and Angel about him, he admitted that- for him- her words had been the turning point; the moment things had started to change for him. Buffy was humbled that her unplanned admission had such a profound effect on a soulless demon. She hadn't realised, until that moment, how quickly she had fallen into the pattern of blaming everything on Spike.

Spike hesitated before telling her about his botched trip and his dream, but finally decided to be completely honest as see where it led.

Buffy flushed in embarrassment at his description of his dream. When he showed her the bite his dream manifestation of her had left on him, she physically cringed and apologised profusely. She sought desperately to change the subject, because she so wasn't ready to tell her side yet. Talking about bitey-Buffy was just gonna freak her, so she latched onto something he had said earlier.

"You're the only vampire that has never lost his invitation to my home," she blurted out. Staring at the table, she was suddenly unable to meet his eyes. Still, she couldn't help but continue. "Even when we were trying to kill each other, you were there on the verge of changing. You took time to learn things about me that no one else has. Granted, it was to kill me, but still, you're…different. You've always been different."

"Don't look away, luv. It means a lot to me that you're able to trust me this much even though I'm not exactly one of the Scoobies." Spike spoke with such earnestness that Buffy was faced with an epiphany that almost made her weep in shame. Spike was lonely. So lonely that even marginal comments that might be considered partial acceptance touched him deeply. Whoever it was that had suggested the idea that soulless demons couldn't feel the finer emotions had sure as hell never met Spike.

And now it was her turn to play true confessions. Well, not quite true. Buffy told Spike everything that she'd gone through with the exception of one small detail. When she got to the part about the dream, she skipped the fact that she had expressed her love for the vampire.

The vampire's human half was bred from Victorian stock. William had been raised to be a gentleman. Spike was insightful enough to know she hadn't told him everything, he could tell by her body language that what ever she was hiding was embarrassing to her, and he let it go.

Buffy smiled at him, silently letting him know that she appreciated his tact and was grateful that he'd chosen not to call her on the obvious omission. She finished her story with the dusting of Angel and waited for his reaction.

"Can I dust him too?" Spike grinned at her, his playful humour breaking the serious mood that had engulfed them both.

Buffy rolled her eyes in droll amusement before surprising him with her reply of, "if you must."

Chuckling happily at the Slayer's wry comment, Spike reached into his pocket and pulled out a pad and pen. It was time to get back to business. "The way I see it is that Dru said we had to 'fix the factors,' or some such rot. Maybe that means we have to fix what's wrong with you and your mates, save the poofter commando, stop the jealous wankers, and help the watcher."

"But didn't she say that we both have to discover the truth or something? I'm pretty sure we're going to have to work out what the dreaming and the biting is all about," Buffy added her own thoughts.

"Well, yeah, but maybe what we need to learn will come out of what we fix?" Spike suggested with a hint of desperation. He was not going to be manipulated. Not about love. Not again. He would not be swayed by the beautiful- no, not beautiful- blonde. That was what he meant, blonde slayer.

"You do realize everything you write down will disappear in a few hours, right, Mister I'm-So-Good-At-Making-Plans?" Buffy grinned at the clearly flustered vampire.

It was Spike's turn to roll his eyes as he answered the Slayer. "I know that slayer, but if I see things in writing they tend to stick with me better."

"Yeah cause you stick with your plans so well. Am I the only one who remembers St Viagra?" she teased.

"That's Vigeous, pet. Think you're mixing up your rituals with your relations," Spike answered, and then broke into amused laughter that he had tried so hard to hold in. When he regained control he continued, "Besides that was just a bloody ritual. I hate rituals and I killed everybody that knew how to perform it."

"Boy, Spike, you have the art of winning friends and influencing people down pat, don't you?" Buffy joked. Banter she could do, and even she had to admit it was more fun to banter with someone who gave as good as they got. Even if that someone was someone she was starting to-

Wait. No. Not like. Definitely no likeage there.

"Worked with your mum, didn't it." Spike grinned with delight. He loved this side of the slayer, because-

No. Hell no. Not loved. Sure, she was cute, and this side of her personality amused him, but that was all. There was absolutely no bloody love.

"What can I say? She's a sucker for a sob story." Buffy shrugged nonchalantly.

They spent the rest of the day making plans, easily slipping into light, friendly bantering whenever the occasion arose. Buffy convinced Spike that they wouldn't be wasting time if they went over what they knew with Jonathan the next day. Spike countered with getting her to agree to try once more with her watcher.

Their discussion relating to the problem of jealous boyfriends brought more questions than answers.

"How did Angel know Riley's name?" Buffy asked when it suddenly dawned on her that she had never given that information to the brooding vampire.

"What about the rogue slayer? Would she have told him?" Spike suggested.

"I doubt it. She wouldn't have said anything that would put her in a bad light in his eyes." Buffy's bitterness at Faith was still strong. "Wait a sec…how did you know about Faith?"

"Which? About your visit to save the poof or when she nicked your body?" Spike tried to clarify Buffy's question.

"Um, both?" Buffy was on the edge of her seat. She seriously didn't care that he knew about her trip to L.A., but she was definitely apprehensive over his knowledge of the body swap.

"You mentioned the trip earlier. And as for the other, I figured out something was wrong when my slayer started saying stuff that I knew damn well she'd never say. Overheard Cardboard and the Whelp talking about it after it was over with. Knew then that I was right." Spike shrugged, having no idea of the importance of what he had just revealed.

"So you knew it wasn't me, right?" Buffy held her breath as she waited for his response.

"Of course I knew it wasn't you, what sort of bloody idiot do you take me for?" Spike responded indignantly. "Even I know the difference between class and trash, slayer." He pouted, hurt that the slayer would think him such a fool.

"Spike," Buffy gently called for the upset vampire's attention. When he looked at her, she smiled tremulously. "Thank you."

"Huh?" He was totally confused by her gratitude.

"Riley didn't know the difference. He didn't know it wasn't me. He...slept with her."

"I'm sorry, luv." Spike reached out and tentatively patted the hand of his one time nemesis. He was filled with a blinding rage at the moron that had hurt this slayer. The boy definitely had some hard lessons coming to him.

Buffy was momentarily shaken by the waves of anger she felt coming from the vampire, anger that seemed to be directed at Riley. She refused to acknowledge the little butterflies in her stomach that Spike's protective feelings evoked.

Pushing her giddy thoughts aside for later introspection, Buffy turned her attention back to the matter at hand. She asked Spike if he had any idea where Angel might have received his information from. "Giles knew that Angel was in town during Thanksgiving, but I wasn't really dating Riley at that time, and I don't think Giles would tell him anything even if he did know."

"The Whelp?" Spike suggested distractedly. He was mentally berating himself for his uncontrollable feelings. He was trying desperately to remember all the reasons that he hated the slayer.

Buffy mused over the idea that it might have been Xander. "He hates Angel, so I can totally see him saying something so he can gloat, but then why would he tell Riley exactly how Angel loses his curse?"

"What do you mean, Slayer?" Spike had to ask. His curiosity was consuming him.

"Xander decided to tell Riley about my sex life," Buffy told the vampire bitterly.

"You didn't tell Captain Cardboard about Angelus losing his soul?" Spike asked, confused.

"I did, I just didn't tell him how. It's not like I asked him about his past experiences," she defended her actions with a pout.

"Bloody hell, Slayer. I reiterate- you have bleedin' tragic taste in men." Spike shook his head in mock despair.

"Oh yeah? What about you Mr. Big-Pile-of-Dust?" Buffy wasn't going down without a fight.

Spike knew he was being set up, but he had no clue how the cheeky little bint was going to do it. "What about me?"

"I was engaged to you."

"IT WAS A SPELL!" the vampire shouted indignantly.

Buffy shook her head sadly. "I'm sure I'm the only slayer in history to be engaged and dumped on the same day."

"I didn't dump you, Miss Spike-Lips-Lips-of-Spike." He felt it necessary to point out.

"And I didn't dump you, Mr. I've-Got-Buffy-Taste-In-My-Mouth." She was quick to inform him.

Spike looked at the blonde speculatively. "So if I didn't dump you and you didn't dump me; that means...?"

"Yep, still got my engagement ring, too." Buffy grinned.

"So, you've been cheating on me then," he leaned back in his seat and smirked at the girl.

"I have one word for you, Spikey. Harmony." Buffy lifted an eyebrow as she returned his smug smile.

Spike suddenly stiffened up, all trace of amusement gone from his face. Turning from the playful blond, he motioned for Willy to come over.

"Is the back room empty?" Spike's seriousness alerted the barman to the possibility of trouble.

"Yeah, Spike. Feel free," the barman easily agreed to the master vampire's unasked request to use the room under discussion.

Indicating that Buffy should follow him, Spike left the snitch a last minute order, "When he comes, tell him where we are."

Buffy hurried behind Spike. As they entered the back room, Buffy felt the signature of her first love just before she heard Willy's loud greeting.

"Hey, Angel, did you want your weekly update on the slayer?"

Buffy did a pretty good impression of a vampire's growl as she closed the door.

"Well, I guess we know how he knew about the hall monitor," Spike commented. He was disgusted with the stalker-like way the great brooding poof kept interfering in the Slayer's life. He didn't care what anyone said, soul or no soul; the wanker was into psychological games.

Buffy turned to face the door, her arms crossed and her expression grim. Tapping her foot impatiently, she waited for the brunette vampire to make his entrance.

Spike sprawled out on one of the chairs surrounding the poker table. To anyone but Buffy, he looked relaxed and untroubled. She knew it was a deliberate act to fool their unexpected guest into underestimating him as a threat. Buffy knew this vampire. She honestly believed she might be the only one who did.

When Angel burst through the door, Buffy almost laughed. She shot a quick glance at Spike and shared with him her observation while she fixed her gaze on the fuming vampire in front of her. "I know I missed the bit about him being a stalker, but seriously, how did I miss the whole drama queen thing he's got going on?"

"Buffy?" Angel turned his hurt, puppy dog brown eyes on the love of his unlife. "What's wrong with you? Why are you acting like this? What are you doing here with Spike?"

"Um, nothing, because, and not your business. And now it's my turn." The slayer grinned as she took over. "What are you doing in my town other than stalking me, beating up on my soon to be ex-boyfriend, and generally being a pain in the butt? 'Cause if you came to apologise, gotta tell ya, your apologies kinda suck."

"What's wrong with her, Spike? What have you done?" Angel snarled at the reclining vampire.

Spike turned pleading eyes to the Slayer.

Nodding indulgently, Buffy said the words he so wanted to hear, "Go on, enjoy yourself."

Before Angel could register the movement, Spike was in front of him, grinning. Angel didn't even have time to look down at the stake protruding from his chest as his body crumbled around him.

"Bloody hell that was cathartic." Spike smiled widely in pleasure.

~~~~~~~~

Drusilla was seated in a rocking chair with her small porcelain companion at her side. "Pay careful attention Miss Edith, mummy will teach you all you need to know." She picked up the small cloth and placed it across her lap. Then she lifted the silver needle and thread, dipping them both into the small basin on the table in front of her.

"Weave and tighten. Weave and tighten. You must make sure to make them nice and straight or the whole thing will come undone. Pretty tapestries need lots of time and patience to come out just right. Nothing less will do for mummy's brave soldier."

She continued to rock and weave, smiling brightly for Herbie as he brought in her evening tray of tea. 'Such a dearie,' she thought. 'I shall have to give him extra attention after I finish helping the lonely hearts.'

There was so much to do, but so little time in which to do it. Tonight would be an all night affair. A weaving of souls could not be rushed.

~~~~~~~~

When Buffy awoke, she immediately sensed something was different. Oh, she was still sleeping in a torture device called a chair. Her whole body still ached. The very familiar smell of the bus terminal was there, but now there was another smell. An enticing smell. A divine smell. A caffeine-y goodness smell.

Yay, Spike. Good monster.

She kept her eyes closed as the aroma got stronger. The now familiar tingles gave her peace and comfort. She grinned.

"Bloody typical woman. I suppose you want me to drink it for you, too." Spike teased the smiling blond.

When Buffy awoke, she immediately sensed something was different. Oh, she was still sleeping in a torture device called a chair. Her whole body still ached. The very familiar smell of the bus terminal was there, but now there was another smell. An enticing smell. A divine smell. A caffeine-y goodness smell.

Yay, Spike. Good monster.

She kept her eyes closed as the aroma got stronger. The now familiar tingles gave her peace and comfort. She grinned.

"Bloody typical woman. I suppose you want me to drink it for you, too." Spike teased the smiling blond.

She grinned and snatched the cup from his outstretched hand. "Nope, I can handle that all by myself, thank you very much." She moaned as the hot liquid rushed down her throat, warming all the way down to her belly. "Oh, that's good! Where were you the first half a dozen times I woke up like this?"

"I was in my nice cozy bed plotting mayhem and destruction." He grinned as she raised her eyebrow at him over the Styrofoam container. "Well, you asked, luv."

"Yeah, well, less with the evil and more with the plotting…of non-evil-y things."

"Whatever you say, Slayer. You know what the greatest thing about this mess is? Every time you spend money you wake up the next morning and it's all right back in your pocket. It's like you never spent it at all. Much better than hustling people for it."

"Spike, if you want to work with the team, then its cold turkey for you, mister. No more evil. That includes any and all illegal activity- petty theft and scamming included. We'll just have to find you a night job or something to help pay for the blood, cigarettes, and booze."

"A night job? Are you off your bloody rocker?" He stood up and bowed to her mockingly. "Hello, my name is William the Bloody and I'll be your waiter tonight," he said in a nasally whine. He flung his pouty self back into his chair and folded his arms mulishly. "I don't think so, Slayer."

"Maybe you can get a job as a night guard or a bouncer at a demon bar or something. Anything would be better than Xander and his extensive collection of name-tags and hair nets. We'll figure it out after this is over." She stood and walked to the nearest trash container to throw her empty cup away.

"We will, huh?" Spike asked. He followed as she moved to the back of the building where the sewer access was located.

"Well, yeah. We're the good guys. We tend to stick together. If you're joining the gang, then that includes you, too. No matter how much Xander cries," Buffy laughed as she dropped down through the uncovered hole.

"Bleedin' hell. If someone had told me I could make Harris cry, I would have changed side's months ago," he yelled before jumping down and running to catch up with her giggling shadow.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike paused at the basement stairs of the Magic Box, making Buffy bump into his back.

"What's with the halt-y?" she asked. And then she felt it. The sharp tingling on her neck that reminded her of the presence of his dream bite. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach and filled with confusion. She could see that Spike was as fidgety and tense as she was. He was acting as though he didn't want to go into the store. It hit her then, the knowledge of what she was feeling.

It was him.

She was still experiencing his emotions, his fears. She'd tried to convince herself that it was only slayer's intuition. Then she reasoned that it was just Spike. The vampire wore his feelings so expressively that it had allowed her to tap into his sincerity the day before. The realization that she was actually feeling them just as she would her own emotions was overwhelming.

The slayer sat down heavily on the crate behind her, unsure if her legs would support her any longer. Her mind was racing frantically with the implications. What is happening to us?

"Why don't you want to go in, Spike?" she asked. Glancing up to catch his eye, she found herself beginning to wonder if she was having a panic attack. Something like the kind Willow would get before a big test.

"What? What are you talking about?" He began to pat his duster for cigarettes, turning away from her when he got one lit.

"Don't play dumb with me, Spike. I can feel it in an oh-my-god-I'm-feeling-his-emotions kind of way. Just tell me what the problem is so we can make this stop. It's making me nauseous," she informed him with a sour look. Buffy didn't even think she felt her own emotions as strong as she was feeling the vampires at the moment.

"Why didn't you mention this before?"

"It wasn't like I really knew it was happening," she defended herself. "I just thought it was slayers intuition or being in tune with you or something. I didn't know it was like some freaky mind meld thing." She bridled at his raised eyebrow. "Don't look at me like that, I've seen X-Files, you know!" she spat crossly.

"When did this start?"

"You know how I said I had that dream with the bitey?" She looked everywhere but at those incredulous blue eyes. "Ever since then, I've been getting these feelings. Your feelings, as a matter of fact."

"Bloody hell, why didn't you say something yesterday while I was pouring my guts out? You just sat there and didn't tell me? "

"You said it yourself that me trusting you would be harder." She cringed at his hurt expression. "Look, it's not that I don't trust you, but it's not something a slayer should run around shouting from the rooftops. 'Hey I got bit by a dreamy vampire and now I'm feeling his emotions, isn't that neat?' And I didn't want you to block them. It was kind of nice knowing you were being sincere, even if I didn't know a hundred percent that it was you I was feeling. There was just a sense of rightness. It's not like this has ever happened to me before, so I have nothing to compare it to. It felt nice and it helped a lot with the trusting."

"So, you think I'm dreamy, huh?" He grinned, stuffing his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels like a little boy. His smile of satisfaction shot straight to her vitals. Suppressing an all-over shiver, Buffy opted for sarcasm as a form of defense.

"Please. It figures that's the one thing you picked up on out of that whole speech. I'm already nauseated, let's not make it worse. And let's not forget we were talking about you, not me. So spill, what's the what?"

"Ugh! First I get this bleeding chip, and then I have to rely on the bloody slayer and her little gang for help, now we've got this crazy day loop from hell. Could my unlife get any more pathetic?"

"Stop whining. You're just stalling, and it won't work. Now, tell me what the deal is so we can hopefully get something accomplished today. I didn't check on Forrest yesterday, and as much as I know he's alive and kicking right now, I can't live with knowing he may or may not get killed every day that I don't stop it, even if he just pisses me off in the extreme."

Spike sighed with resignation as he plopped down next to the slayer. "It's just that…God, I sound like a ponce. It's just that this is the first time I've been back here since the kidnapping of Red and the Whelp. The whole place is just bringing back bad memories of the breakup with Dru. My not being demon enough for her and then getting this bloody chip; it's like I'm not a demon at all."

His head dipped low as he tried to get control over his emotions, not wanting her to have to deal with any of his residual resentment for the soldiers who had taken his pride and his very nature away from him.

"Wow, throw in a teen pregnancy and you could go on Springer. It could be called 'My Sire is a Crazy Ho Bag and the Demons Who've Slept with Her.' Do you think this bite-y thing is affecting you, too? Because I've never heard you this depressed before." It was all she could do to keep her hands to herself when all she wanted to do was rub his back and tell him everything was going to be okay.

"It could be part of it, I guess, but I've gotten pretty good at not showing a lot of emotion around others. Dru was always pretty unstable and the least little thing could set her off." He looked over when his companion gave a snort.

"Good at hiding your emotions? Spike, your're one of the most emotional and expressive…er…vampire's I know. If you thought you were good at it, it was only because Dru let you think you were."

"Thanks, Slayer, another illusion shattered." He tried not to smirk as he watched her struggle to come up with something to comfort him in his imaginary grief, but couldn't hold it for long.

Buffy stopped her fish impression when she noticed his sly grin. "You are such an ass," she hissed heatedly. Stupid vampire making me feel all sorry for him, she thought as she shoved him hard.

"I'm just having at you, Slayer, trying to lighten the mood and all that. Calm down. The truth is, this was the place of one of my last truly wicked acts. Well, you saw what it was like here the night we fought those vamps with Peaches. I was too busy after that chasing after Dru to do too much in the way of evil. Hell I barely ate for months. Then, I came back here and began searching for the gem, worked like a dog digging the soddin' thing out. I had to have Harmony bring in bagged blood because I was so obsessed with finding it, I rarely left the tunnels. I fought you. You won and sent the gem to the Poof. I hired someone to torture him to find out where it was. When I found out it was destroyed, I came back here and was captured by the soldiers and muzzled."

"You didn't feed on anyone the whole time between Brazil and being chipped?"

"Didn't say there was none, just few and far between. It wasn't about being evil; it was about just trying to survive. I had more important things to think about…like killing you." He bumped her shoulder with his, grinning widely to show he was only teasing. Sighing loudly, he continued, "Now, I'm back here and feeling guilty and I don't bloody well like it. I'm a demon. I'm not supposed to feel guilt. It's not natural."

"If you want to wait down here, Jonathan would probably come down to talk to us. I could go check," she offered as she moved to stand. She could tell by the lack of stomach turning that his anxiety had lessened, though he was still very tense.

"No, luv, I'm fine. It's just uncomfortable being here and thinking about how much things have changed. A couple of years ago, I was the Big Bad, rollin' into town set to spread destruction and kill my third slayer. Now here we are discussing our emotions and sharing feelings."

The vampire's complexion actually took on a greenish cast. Do vampire's puke? Buffy thought frantically.

"God, we are just like Springer, minus the throwing of chairs." Spike groaned in self disgust as he stood up and moved toward the stairs. "So, who is this expert again?"

"Well, he's not so much an expert as he is a nerd." She rushed past him and up the stairs before he could question her further.

An hour later, Spike was ready to move onto the brawling part of the talk show that had become his life. After listening to the little geek blab on for what seemed like a lifetime, the need for violence was overwhelming. Buffy had started to throw him glares as he switched between pacing and fidgeting with the books and papers spread out on the table in front of them. It wasn't his fault that the kid rubbed him the wrong way. During the spell making himself a super hero, the boy had mocked him and his inability to harm humans more than once. Spike remembered his fear of the little twit, the way it had consumed him on a level he hadn't even felt for the slayer. Thank God it wore off along with the spell. It was sickening now recalling how he had been thrown against a crypt by the puny twerp. Humiliating is what it was.

"So what you're basically saying- in a very long and drawn out way- is that you think the dreams somehow manifested themselves and created a 'mystical bite' and now the slayer and I have some kind of link between us?"

"Um, yes. Here's the spell, or at least the type of spell that could have been used. It's an amalgamation spell. It combines two entities into one whole for the purpose of seeking a common goal or knowledge. It also states that for the spell to work, that one would experience a certain awareness of its progress. Buffy said you were both experiencing 'tingles' at different times. That could be the 'awareness' part. You also said you mostly experience them during bad or stressful situations, so we'll assume that means the tingles are for events that need changing or alterations. If this spell is tied to the original one, then it could mean that the more things are fixed then the spell might lessen and possibly break when you've changed enough things."

"You sure you're not a watcher's kid? You sure have the tedious and boring part down pat," Spike snarked. "All that's missin' is the tweed."

"Spike, stop it. Don't mind him, Jonathan. He's just grouchy from all the repeat-o days. We'd like to buy these two books. Thank you again, you've been a big help."

When Jonathan left the table to ring up the sale, Buffy got a sudden rush of tingles that caused her to spin around. Scanning the room, she noticed that the blond vampire was doing the same. A dark haired boy walked into the store and headed straight for the counter. The two young men talked briefly before the newcomer looked around the room and then exited once again.

"Spike," Buffy hissed. "Did you see that guy? I've seen him before. I can't place him, but he's very familiar and that funny feeling just got a whole lot stronger when he walked into the store. I got them with Jonathan before. Do you think he's one of the things we need to fix?"

"Don't know, love. We'll have to investigate and see what's going on with those two. The boy doesn't seem like one to fall in with a bad crowd, reality shifting spell aside, but the taller one seemed a bit shifty. Maybe the geek just needs a nudge in the right direction." He shrugged, unsure of what the little loser could possibly need help with besides actually getting a life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike let himself into the same hotel room Buffy had occupied a few days prior and dropped the newly purchased books onto the small table. The plan had been to meet back at the room after she had distracted Forrest and gathered a few more research materials that she claimed they needed. He had stopped on the way and gotten the slayer a large coffee and a few snacks that he knew she favored from his brief stay at the watchers. He had also picked himself up a couple of pints of blood as well as a six pack he knew would be needed before the night was over. The blond would have preferred a fifth of whiskey, but something told him that it wouldn't amuse his companion in the slightest.

The vampire was halfway through the first book and onto his second beer when the slayer knocked on the door. He didn't even look up as he carried the book with him to unlatch the flimsy lock. The little blond slipped inside quickly before peering through the curtains to check the parking lot for any followers. Spike finally glanced up, puzzled by her actions. "What are you doing, luv?"

"Just checking. I managed to avoid Riley and I circled through town a couple of times in different directions to throw off Angel. Hopefully, we won't have any unexpected visitors tonight," she declared proudly, still peering out the window.

"I think you've been spending a little too much time with Jonathan, Sunnydale Man of Mystery, pet. I'm sure it'll be fine. Where's the other research you picked up?"

Buffy reached into the small tote bag she carried and produced a video rental case. She held it aloft in one hand and motioned to it gracefully with the other, mimicking a game show hostess extolling the virtues of a prize. "Ta-da. My kind of research," she proclaimed with a wide grin.

"What the bloody hell is that?" He squinted at the title from across the room but was unable to make it out.

"It's Groundhog Day. Jonathan reminded me about it the other day. He suggested I rent it since it's just like what we're going though, but I hadn't had a chance till now. I thought tonight would be good since we're stuck here unless we want to risk running into the testosterone brigade." At his skeptical look she rolled her eyes and tossed the video onto the rickety table. 'Look, it can't hurt anything to just watch it, right? We have nothing better to do, and let me tell you, the cable here? It really sucks."

"No worries, pet. Got plenty to look at here, though I'm sure we'll need a break later. We'll take a look at it then, alright?" he assured her as he held out the second book. He smirked as she cringed before reluctantly accepting the book. Falling back onto the bed she sighed as she flipped to the first page, already bored and staring longingly at the television.

Two hours, thirty five minutes, and eleven seconds.

That's how long it took the slayer to get on his last nerve. Actually, he'd thought it would have been much sooner between the tapping of the pencil on the table, the loud breathy sighs, and the constant questions. Finally he closed the book he had been trying to read amidst the constant distractions.

"What was the last question, love?" he asked tiredly as he leaned back into the seat and rubbed his eyes.

"What's it like to have the chip? I don't mean in the 'oh I'm so bloody pissed cause I can't feed on the blimey humans' kind of way, but it must have been a big adjustment. Was it really hard to give up human blood and do you still crave it like before?"

"First off, luv; don't ever try to do an imitation of my accent again. Secondly; why do you want to know?"

"Well I've always been curious, but it wasn't like we were sharing buddies. You hated me, I hated you. We had a system going on. I thought with the new working relationship, and you wanting to join the Scoobies, that now would be a good time to ask."

"I never said I wanted to be called a Scooby. I said I'd play for the white hats and help you battle baddies. Also, I wouldn't mind hanging out with Rupert now and again."

"Same difference. You hang with us." At his horrified look, she rolled her eyes and amended. "Sorta. You come to the meetings, and you fight with us. That makes you one of us. Deal with it. Now answer the question before I make you learn the secret handshake."

"It was one of the hardest things I've ever done, alright?" He stood up and began to move around the room in agitation. He wasn't so worried about the sharing of the information. Hell, it wasn't as if he had hid his displeasure from the slayer when he first got the chip. He was more worried about her knowing he would still have the chip removed if given the chance. Even now, with him on the brink of being accepted by the slayer and her group, the chip still made him feel like half of a man. "It wasn't about the blood or the feeding. Not all of it, anyway. The hard part was dealing with what they took from me."

"What do you mean? What did they take?" She could feel his anger surge through him, but sensed it wasn't aimed at her and struggled to tamp it down.

"My whole identity, pet. Who am I, if I'm not William the Bloody? I've always lived by my fists and fangs, for as long as I care to remember, anyway. It's what I was, ya know? I was Dru's protector and caretaker. I was a Master vampire that others respected and tried to emulate. My name was feared and admired. Slayer of slayers and all that. Now I'm just a bloody joke in the demon world."

Buffy pushed herself up onto her knees. "That's so not true!" she insisted. "Vampires still fear you and demons are much tougher to fight than humans, right? They put up more of a challenge. You like challenges." As weird as it seemed that she was trying to reassure him, he was dangerously close to becoming broody, and that she couldn't tolerate.

"Thanks, luv." The vampire actually looked chipper. "Since we're in the friendly chatting mood, what's up with you and Captain Cardboard? You two on the fritz or did you just finally get tired of the big hulking caveman act?"

Falling back onto the bed, Buffy sighed dramatically. "I guess if you can be all sharing guy then I can contribute, too. Everything was completely fine until this whole insane day from hell thing. Okay, that's not completely true. Riley has some jealousy issues and of course there's the whole all-demons-are-evil thing, which kind of sucks because Anya is jumpy as hell around him."

"Well, he was in the Initiative, pet. I'm sure they were taught only what they higher ups thought they needed to know. Ignorance is bliss and all that, and let's face it- your boy has ignorance in bulk." Spike snickered as the blond threw her head back onto the pillow.

"Ugh, you scared me for a minute. I thought you were going to defend him. I was worried the repeat-o day had finally driven you insane, but here comes the snark and all is right with the world again. Or as right as it can be living the same hellish day over and over."

"Har har, slayer. Don't worry your pretty little head about that. The day I defend Captain Oblivious is the day I snog Peaches…and like it." He said with a shudder.

"Oh." The word was just a little bit high-pitched and squeaky. "Now, there's an image." Her eyes glazed over as she stared at a water stain on the ceiling, unaware of the soft whimpering sounds she was making. Spike and Angel kissing. That mental picture should have brought more disgust than it did. There could be oil involved. Shaking herself out of her very wrong but lusty daze, she blushed as she meet Spike's amused smirk.

"What's wrong, luv? You're lookin' look a bit flushed."

"N-nothing! Nothing at all. How about that movie? Yeah, a movie sounds great right about now." She rushed to the table to grab the video case, letting her hair fall forward to cover her scarlet cheeks.

"Sure, pet. Could do with a break right about now." He gave a mighty stretch, and Buffy couldn't help but watch the muscles in his arms and back as they bunched and quivered. His shirt crept up with his motions and she caught a glimpse pale, perfect skin and a line of curly hair that pointed down to…

Gah! Bad Buffy!

Spike was completely oblivious to her ogling him. Done with his posturing, he kicked off his boots and slid back to make himself comfortable on the full size bed. "I think we've learned everything we can for today, anyway. We'll have to start keeping tabs on the neck tinglies, see what sets them off and what stops them. Then we can start working towards breaking this spell."

He watched as Buffy went about the tasks of adjusting the volume on the television and securing the remote before climbing onto the bed next to him.

"You know Xander would so be having a cow right now if he knew you and I were in a motel room together, right?"

"Well, then, by all means let's call him up and tell him. What's the number?" he asked as he reached out to grab the heavy old rotary phone from the nightstand. He yelped loudly as she smacked his hand away from the phone using a good dose of slayer strength.

"Lying low remember? No calling of anyone." She rolled her eyes as he pouted and began to rub his abused hand.

"I don't know why we're hiding out here, anyway. You could knock out the soldier with one punch and I could just stake Peaches. It's a perfect plan," Spike grumbled as he reached out to grab his long forgotten beer.

"It's not hiding. It's avoiding, and I let you stake Angel yesterday, so stop with the pouting."

She hit play on the VCR as he settled himself against the pillows, leaving her just enough room to sit beside him shoulder to shoulder. At first she held herself stiffly, but gradually she relaxed and allowed her slight weight to rest against his side.

"Yeah, but it's not like I get unlimited staking opportunities. I have to get in my licks in now, while I can. It's purely therapeutic, I swear." His expression was so earnest that Buffy couldn't help but giggle.

"Just watch the movie, dead boy, before I tell Angel you want to get your licks in on him." She smirked unabashedly as he sputtered, struggling for a comeback. Score one for Buffy, she mentally congratulated herself. "By the way, how did you know that I staked Angel? You were in South America at the time, weren't you?"

"I could feel your anger through the bite. I wasn't sure that's what it was at the time, but I had a hunch when I felt the connection disappear between me and the Poof. Just took a lucky guess and figured you had finally snapped, since grandpa seems brings out the best in everyone."

"What kind of connection?" she asked. Her curiosity was running rampant. Some things just weren't covered in the Watchers diaries, no matter how thorough they thought they were being.

"There's a connection between vamps and their families. The farther away you go, the weaker the connection, I felt the great bitch bite the big one, but just barely. If something happened to Dru, I'm sure I'd know it right away. With Peaches, I felt it, but we haven't been close for nearly a century so it wasn't as strong as it might have been if there were more of a family-type relationship."

"Huh, how weird." Buffy snuggled down onto the bed trying to find a comfortable spot. She finally settled for resting her head on his shoulder and using the pillows to prop up her back.

Spike could feel the heat from the companion's body run his entire length. He felt an ease with the petite blond that should have been non-existent between a slayer and a vampire and yet it remained.

He tried to shake off the warm fuzzy feelings and concentrate on the opening credits, but the soft body snuggled next to him made it increasingly difficult. He had denied himself the comfort of a woman for far too long, he told himself; a situation he would remedy as soon as this whole nightmare was over. As long as it wasn't Harmony and her soddin' unicorn prattle.

The movie had been running less than an hour before Buffy felt her eyelids begin to droop. The comfort of the bed, coupled with being able to feel like she could finally relax for the first in days, made for one drowsy Buffy. It was nice not having to worry if someone was going to barge in and start with the accusations. What was really ironic was that this was the one day they would actually find something to truly freak over. Hovering between sleep and wakefulness, she snickered softly as she pictured the looks on Angel and Riley's faces if they found her here with Spike, of all people.

Ignoring his body's reaction to being draped in warm, sleepy slayer, Spike quietly watched the rest of the movie. He was enjoying the peace and quiet of the night, knowing that tomorrow it would all begin again. They had tons of ground to cover before they could end the spell and get on with their lives. For the first time since being chipped he was actually looking forward to the coming changes.

~~~~~~~~~

The vampire woke with the uncomfortable feeling of something being off. He looked around the room, trying to determine what it was until he figured out that it was the sensation the slayer kept talking about. The sense of falling asleep one place and waking up in another. It was downright spooky.

Now I know why the Slayer is so damned cranky.

He had only experienced it once so far. The night he went to sleep in South America only to wake up back in Sunnyhell. Of course, he had been expecting it. Knowing what was coming; he had let himself relax the night before and allowed himself to forget what was going to happen come morning. He would be best served to try to remember that until the spell wore off. Vertigo was not a pleasant feeling at all.

Spike had just pulled on his jeans when he heard the crypt door crash open upstairs. "Bloody hell. Now what?"

The vampire woke with the uncomfortable feeling of something being off. He looked around the room, trying to determine what it was until he figured out that it was the sensation the slayer kept talking about. The sense of falling asleep one place and waking up in another. It was downright spooky.

Now I know why the Slayer is so damned cranky.

He had only experienced it once so far. The night he went to sleep in South America only to wake up back in Sunnyhell. Of course, he had been expecting it. Knowing it what was coming; he had let himself relax the night before, and allowed himself to forget what was going to happen come morning. He would be best served to try to remember that until the spell wore off. Vertigo was not a pleasant feeling at all.

Spike had just pulled on his jeans when he heard the crypt door crash open upstairs. "Bloody hell. Now what?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Climbing up the ladder to the upper level of the crypt, he groaned silently when he saw Adam standing in the middle of the room. Spike had forgotten that the demonic Frankenstein would seek him out if he failed to show up for their meeting. When the marks on his neck began to tingle like they were on fire, it took all of his willpower not to reach up and touch them.

"Well, mate, what took you so long?" Spike snarled to cover his own surprise at finding Adam in his crypt. In an attempt to ignore his surroundings, the vampire rummaged around in his duster for his cigarettes. The combination of Adam and tingles had set his nerves on edge.

"You failed to make our appointed meeting. I was forced to seek out your presence to see what had detained you," Adam stated calmly.

"Oh, yeah, that." Spike flopped down in his chair to stare at Adam. "I overslept. Had a busy couple of days as of late." He pointed his cigarette-laden fingers at the cyborg. "You want me to break up the Slayer's friends, am I right?" The tingles suddenly stopped and Spike raised his eyebrows. Odd.

"Yes, of course," Adam announced. "You are quite perceptive."

"I'll need somethin' to gain their confidence. Maybe some information to sell while I charm my way into their good graces." Spike sat up when the tingles started again. The information on those disks is important.

Twenty minutes later, Adam was gone. Spike sprawled in his chair while he sipped his blood, waiting for the Slayer to show up. He could feel her getting closer through the bite marks. He had always known when she was close by, but now the feeling was growing in intensity. Where before he'd known when Buffy hit the cemetery, now he knew when she was an entire block from the gates.

She burst into the crypt with a cup holder from the Espresso Pump in one hand and a bag from the Donut Drive-Thru in the other. She set the holder and bag down on the sarcophagus before hopping up to sit. "So, what's with all the tinglies this morning?"

Buffy pulled a donut hole out of the bag to pop in her mouth. Mid-chew, she suddenly noticed that Spike was shirtless and she desperately tried to ignore the fact that he looked marvelous. Why did that sound like Billy Crystal's Saturday Night Live character, Fernando, in her mind?

Spike watched as the Slayer looked everywhere in the room but at him. She was popping donut holes in her mouth as fast as she could eat them while she waited for him to answer. He chuckled at the cute picture she made with her cheeks puffed out like a blond chipmunk.

"I forgot about Mr. Bits comin' by if I didn't make our meetin'." Spike stood up to grab the coffee that Buffy had bought for him. He was pleased to discover that she'd gotten exactly what he liked. "There's something important on those disks I mentioned."

"But we can't get those until dark and by then it'll be too late." Buffy chewed on her lip. She had to make a real effort to pay attention to his words. Who knew Spike had such a great ass? "What exactly is supposed to be on them?"

"Mission statements, design schematics, and Walsh's dirty laundry..." Spike broke off when Buffy arched her eyebrow before she covered the side of her neck. "Yeah. Me, too. There is definitely something important on those disks, but finding out just what it is won't be easy. Red said they're encrypted."

"It's still dark when I wake up at the bus station," Buffy observed. "If we get the disks first thing in the morning, maybe Willow would have time to decipher them before the day loops again."

"Might work," Spike agreed. "'M not sure that should be our highest priority right now though." He pulled out a clean t-shirt to put on, and then grabbed his boots.

"I know. We need to figure out who that guy talking to Jonathon was. So, I figure mom's out of town on a buying trip, we can hang out at the house and look at my old yearbooks." Her jaw dropped and her eyes took on a certain glassiness as he turned his back and pulled on his shirt, the muscles in his back bunching and flexing with every move.

Guh!

"Sounds like a plan," he told her, completely oblivious to her ogling. "I'll take the sewers and meet you at the house." Spike grabbed his duster and a blanket and hopped down lower level to the sewer entrance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike wandered around Joyce's living room. He convinced himself he wasn't going to think about Buffy being upstairs in the shower, soap suds covering her naked golden body, her plump breasts all rosy and wet from the heated water.

Stop thinking about her like that, you git. Friends, remember?

Hoping for a distraction from the stirring in his groin, he stopped in front of the mantle to stare at a picture of Buffy and her friends. It made him think about her shyly presented gift of a black and red coffee mug and some packets of blood that she had picked up on the way to the house from the crypt. When he'd questioned her, she had simply replied 'friends give friends gifts'. His return statement that he had never noticed that she got her other friends gifts earned him a sad little smile and a quick evasive shrug.

The blond vampire continued to stare at the picture he was holding. He knew that Buffy cared deeply for her friends; it was one of the things that set her apart from other slayers. It was also one of the things he had admired about her from the start- something that he could admit to himself now that they were on friendly ground. He had a feeling that Buffy was rewriting the entire 'soddin' brochure'. Spike chuckled to himself as he remembered saying that after their first fight over two years ago.

Spike found himself going over the Scoobie interactions that he had witnessed in the past few months since being chipped. The vampire realized that the Slayer bent over backwards trying to please everybody except herself, even going so far as to date someone they approved of, although she herself wasn't as happy with the pillock. Spike could now see the frightened, scarred little girl hiding behind the brave front, and he vowed to be the greatest friend she had.

"Hey, Spike." Buffy's voice drifted down to him. "You can come on up. I'm decent now."

Spike put down the picture to grab the bag with mug and blood in it. Heading upstairs, he let the scent of the Slayer guide him to her bedroom, grinning at her when she waved him into her inner sanctum. He set the bag down on the dresser before he flopped down on the bed beside her.

"These are my yearbooks." Buffy curled her legs under her as she indicated the three books she was holding. "I thought we could look through them to see if we could find that creepy guy with Jonathan." She opened the first one. "Sophmore year. We moved because Mom got the job offer at the gallery and ... well ... because I sorta burned down the gym at the high school."

"How'd you manage that, luv?" Spike asked. He flipped slowly through the pages while he waited for Buffy to answer.

"It was kinda full of vampires at the time." Buffy blushed before she ducked her head.

"Ah, good reason." Spike chuckled. He stopped on a page. "A cheerleader, Slayer? Is that why you like to patrol in short skirts?"

"Yeah, sure." Buffy rolled her eyes. "Cheerleading in Sunnydale is dangerous." She pointed at one of the girls. "That's Amy. Her mother was a witch that decided to get rid of the competition so Amy could be on the squad."

Spike chuckled again, "And I thought boarding school was hard. How about this? The talent show?"

"See the dummy? He was cursed by a demon to be a puppet." Buffy looked at the picture and smiled. "The demon almost killed Giles."

Spike flipped a few more pages to the end of the book. "Your dress looks a bit worse for wear in this picture."

Buffy leaned in to stare at the picture. "Yeah, the Master bit me. See the bandages on my neck? Then he threw me in a puddle and I drowned. That's why the dress looks so bad." She tilted her head and looked at him speculatively. "I have a question for you. Did you feel when the Master dusted?"

"Me? Nah, not so much, but Dru did." Spike looked at the picture of Buffy smiling with her friends. He remembered that night vividly; it had been the very first time that his Sire had mentioned Buffy. The dark haired vampiress had gone wild with jealousy over the girl. Swimming in the deep side of the Nile River, Spike had convinced himself that it had been over Angel.

"That must have made her hard to deal with." Buffy smiled at Spike sympathetically. She still hated the ho with a burning passion, but Spike was her friend now.

"Just a little. She was sick from garlic poisoning at the time, but a new doll or pretty dress cheered her right up." Spike wasn't stupid enough to mention that it was the pretty girl inside the pretty dress was that made Dru the happiest. He didn't want the Slayer brassed off at him and to put their tentative friendship in jeopardy.

"I honestly don't know how you put up with it for over a hundred years, Spike," Buffy muttered with a compassionate glance. The two blonds gave each other shy smiles before returning to their task. She flipped through to the last page of the yearbook.

"I didn't see the guy in this book, Slayer." Spike dropped the book over the side of the bed before he picked up the next one. He flipped through the first few pages until he got to the page with the 'Welcome Back to School, Students' caption. He stared at one of the pictures for a minute before asking, in a voice tinged with remorse, "was she one of your friends, luv?"

Buffy was surprised by the emotions that Spike was expressing. She glanced at the picture he was studying, and she covered his hand with her own. Buffy knew he had been trying hard the past few days despite his nature. She took in his worried look. "No, not really, Spike. Snyder had it in for both of us, is all. I'm not mad about that. If I was mad about anything from back then, it would be Ford, but if you hadn't have turned him he would have just found someone else. At least I was able to stake him before he hurt anyone."

"Made a promise, luv." Spike turned his face away from Buffy. "I always keep m' promises."

Buffy squeezed his hand gently before she pointed to yet another picture. "That one was taken about thirty minutes before you showed up. See the look on Willow's face?" She giggled while she bit her lip. "I didn't know that I was supposed to put sugar in the lemonade."

"Tart," Spike quipped. He turned to the next page where he found a picture of the Scoobies and their classmates standing outside a museum. "Field trip, luv?"

"Yep, that's when the Inca Mummy Girl made the moves on Xander. First was Ms. French. She turned out to be a giant praying mantis that wanted to lay her eggs in him and bite off his head during sex, and then it was Ampata, who wanted to suck his life force out with a kiss."

Spike arched his eyebrow before he laughed deeply. "Now I see why Red said Harris is a demon magnet."

"Still haven't seen that guy, but here we are with our baby eggs." Buffy smirked. "Turned out they were from a Bezoar demon that took over everybody's bodies except mine and Xander's. Oh, and here's Xander on the swim team. He was lucky he didn't get turned into a big fishy monster and get washed out to sea." Buffy grimaced. "Well, that just leaves senior year to look at. He's gotta be in this book somewhere."

Spike grabbed the last book and he started to thumb through it. "You ran for Homecoming queen."

"Against Cordelia. Of course, we were both late for the dance because we were kidnapped to go play Slayerfest 1998." Buffy rolled her eyes. "What a thrill."

"You both survived."

"Both lost, too." Buffy shrugged casually. "He's not in the band. Remember the Halloween costume spell and Fyarl demon Giles?" She elbowed Spike when he grinned and nodded vigorously. "The same guy that did those things made the band candy turn all the adults into horny teenagers." Buffy blushed deeply when she remembered catching her mom and Giles on the police car, but Spike was too busy studying a picture to notice.

"I think I found him, luv." Spike moved the book so she could see the picture easier.

"Oh my, that's Tucker Wells," Buffy stated softly. "He tried to set Hellhounds on the Prom goers. What's the caption say?"

"Tucker Wells ... Andrew Wells, must be brothers. Jonathan Levinson and Warren Meers," Spike recited.

"Sadly, I don't really remember much about Warren, but if he's hanging out with Tucker it can't be good," Buffy said thoughtfully. "If I was Willow I could find out everything there is to know about him in a few hours worth of hacking. God, I wish I was smart." She sighed with a dejected sigh.

Spike gave Buffy an incredulous look. "Slayer, where the hell did you get the idea that you're not smart?"

"It's no big deal, Spike," Buffy muttered, embarrassed that she revealed too much to the blond vampire. "I'm the Slayer; I don't need to be smart."

"Whoever fed you that crock of shit deserves to horsewhipped," Spike announced. He couldn't believe the waves of inadequacy he felt pouring off the petite blond girl next to him.

"Oh, please. It's not like you don't think the same thing," Buffy scoffed.

"When, Slayer? When have I ever said you're stupid?" Spike demanded. He knew he hadn't been the most pleasant of blokes being a demon and all, but he had never thought the Slayer was stupid. In fact, he thought a little too highly of the chit.

"Never mind, Spike." Buffy's eyes filled with tears. "It's not important. We should get back to figuring the out the next thing on the list." She tried to hop up off the bed, but found herself suddenly trapped by Spike's arm and leg thrown across her body.

"It is important, pet, because I don't want to hurt you again. 've never thought you were stupid," Spike whispered calmly. He attempted to send soothing vibes to her through the claim.

Wait a second. Claim? Where the hell did that thought come from?

"You've been there for my three stupidest mistakes, Spike. You even called me on all three of them," Buffy whispered. "How did you put it? Oh, right, my 'bleedin' tragic taste in men.'"

"Ah, pet, just 'cause I think you're have lousy taste in men- exceptin' my handsome self- doesn't mean I think you're stupid," Spike replied. He fiercely squashed down the idea that he had a claim of any kind on this girl. They were just friends. Friends, damn it. "I think you're bright and witty. You can bring sunshine to even the most dreariest of existences. I promise I'll try never to hurt you again. Okay, luv?"

Buffy bit her bottom lip while she peeked sideways to study Spike's face. She could feel the vampire's sincerity wash through her. She nodded slowly while she tried to blink her tears away, then jumped when a cool hand brushed the wetness off her hot cheeks.

"Good then, luv. How about I go downstairs heat up my blood and bring you something to drink?" Spike untangled himself from the Slayer's body, struggling to ignore the feeling of loss. He hopped up, grabbed his bag of blood, and was out the bedroom door before Buffy had a chance to answer.

Buffy yawned before putting her head down on her crossed wrists. I'll just shut my eyes while I'm waiting for Spike to get back. Gotta go see Giles in a few minutes. Her eyes drooped closed, her breath evened out, and she fell into a deep sleep.

Buffy knelt in front of the Lord of the kingdom. She watched the muscles play under the pale skin of his legs and feet while he dismissed the minions and other members of his court. He was completely and unashamedly naked, and by his command the rest of his subjects were also.

Thanks to her rigorous training, she knew to keep her eyes cast down and to never look upon the face of the Master unless by his direct command. The all-to-brief glimpse of him as she was ushered in left her pleasantly surprised. So few pets were fortunate enough to be gifted to such a handsome and desirable Master.

She tried not to flinch when a cool hand suddenly ghosted over her cheek.

"'ve been waiting for you, luv."

The Master's deep, rumbling voice caused a shiver to run through Buffy's body. She felt her nipples harden and moisture seeped from her cleft when his hand trailed down her neck to cup her breast. She bit her lip to hold back a whimper when he gently twisted a rosy nipple.

"Such a responsive li'l thing. I like that," he murmured. He tugged her towards him and settled her between his knees. Grasping her chin in his fingers, he raised her face to his. "Beautiful. I think 'll keep you, my pet. Hmm, how appropriate ... my pet."

Buffy nodded the best she could with her chin still caught in his fingers. Her downcast eyes caught sight of his cock, and her mouth watered at the beauty of it. It was long and thick, as pale as the rest of his body, jutting out shamelessly from a thatch of dark curls. His testicles hung heavy and full beneath his shaft. Buffy's eyes drifted closed in ecstasy at the thought of him filling every orifice of her body with his cum. Her hands seemed to move to their own volition, and her eyes snapped open when she felt one of them encircle the Master's throbbing erection while the other gently cupped his balls.

"Look at me, my pet." The Master tilted her head further back until she was forced to meet his eyes.

Buffy stared up into the Master's face. She was overwhelmed by the desired that flared in his beautiful blue eyes as her hands continued to caress his shaft and balls. Buffy breathed out his name in a long, breathy sigh, "Spike."

"So, my pet knows my name." Spike chuckled when a touch of fear entered Buffy's eyes. "'ve so much to teach you, luv. The first thing you're goin' to learn is how to please me with that hot little mouth of yours."

Buffy nibbled on her lip for a moment after Spike dropped his fingers away from her chin and slouched back on his throne while he waited for her to begin. Her eyes dropped to the part of his anatomy that she still cradled in her hands. She saw that the head of his cock was now reddish purple with need and the slit was weeping precum. The sight had her licking her lips before her eyes darted back to his face. She realized he was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen, and that she wanted to bring him as much pleasure as her extensive training allowed.

Spike's breath hissed out in a harsh gasp when her greedy mouth engulfed his cock. She felt his thighs tense beneath her hands as her soft tongue circled the sensitive bell-shaped head. Rising to her knees, she bent over him so that she could take his length more fully into her willing mouth, and he shivered when her long tresses caressed his skin as her head bobbed up and down. His fingers tangled through the silky strands and she heard him whisper brokenly about it being like sunshine covering him.

Her own arousal grew as she tasted her Master's cum. She wanted nothing more than to climb onto his lap and let his cock fill her to the brim. Buffy hoped that was what he wanted to do next. The velvety smooth texture of his cock sliding in and out of her eager mouth made her feel like a wanton animal. Scratching lightly at his balls with her nails, Buffy smiled around him when she was rewarded with a sharp grunt and an upward thrust of his hips.

Daring to open her eyes and look up at his face, she found him watching her, his blue eyes glittering with passion as they flickered with shades of molten gold. As she watched, Spike inhaled deeply, drawing in the scent of his pet's deep arousal. She could feel his orgasm building within him as the sac she was still fondling delicately tightened and drew up against his body.

She should have been frightened when he burst into game face. It was easy to see that he expected his pet to gasp or pull away in terror, but the change only excited her more. Determined to bring her Master satisfaction, she took him all the way to the root and began swallowing around him, the strong muscles of her throat milking him voraciously.

He came with a roar of her name, spurting long, cool jets of his come down her throat. Buffy took everything he had to offer and drew back to lap contentedly at anything she might have missed.

Buffy had never been so turned on in her life. Her thighs were slippery with her own arousal and it took everything she had to resist the maddening urge to slip her fingers between the silky smooth lips of her pussy and ease that ache that itched and throbbed. She knew as his pet that this would be seen as the ultimate transgression and that she would be severely punished if she went against his wishes.

At his softly spoken command, she released his still hard and pulsing member and settled back on her quivering haunches, her head lowered and hands clasped behind her in a picture of perfect submission.

She was trembling visibly when he sat up on the edge of his seat and leaned over her. Buffy hoped that he was pleased and that she hadn't done anything to incur his wrath. Punishments could be excruciating torture if one wasn't blessed with a benevolent Master.

His fingers grasped and lifted her chin once more, the faint tremor in the fingers that stroked her throat evidence of the affect she had on him. He smiled into her guarded green eyes as his hand moved lower, rough knuckles barely grazing over each diamond hard tip of her breasts. Her eyes slid closed and she moaned raggedly at the sensation of his icy skin quenching the burn of hers.

"Who are you?" he rasped, his cool breath wafting teasingly over her trembling lips.

"I am y-yours. Yours t-to command. Your p-pet," she quavered. Her voice seemed raw to her, aching with the strength of her need.

That's right," he breathed, his agile tongue worshipping at the silky column of her neck. He hands gripped her upper arms tightly and he dragged her up on her knees before him. "Mine," Spike growled against her neck.

And then his fangs were in her flesh and her world imploded.

"I love you, Spike," Buffy screamed.

Buffy's eyes popped open, and her hand flew to her throat. Staring at her bloody fingers for what seemed like forever, she failed to notice her perplexed audience of one. She leapt across the bedroom to check her neck in the mirror and found the bite marks once again livid against her skin.

Spike stood in the doorway nostrils flared and eyes glued to the blood that trickled down her smooth neck as he battled the urge to lick her throat clean. The powerful scent of the Slayer's arousal made him want to step into the room and take something that he clearly had no business wanting. Desire warred within him, and he felt like a fledgling again as he tamped down his baser instincts. Friends, he told himself over and over. I will not fall in love with the Slayer. We're friends. With that thought firmly in mind, he moved back towards the staircase.

"Hey, Slayer, I got your coke here," he called out to give Buffy time to get herself together.

Buffy grabbed a tissue to wipe her neck before she turned up the collar of her shirt. "Thanks, Spike. I think I need a pick me up, anyway. I fell asleep while you were downstairs." She took the glass from the vampire when he entered the room, but as she met his eyes she remembered the dream and blushed deeply. She turned away to hide her hot, red cheeks and stammered, "Maybe we should go see Giles in a few minutes?"

"Sounds like a plan, luv," Spike replied. "Too bad your Watcher wasn't along for this ride with us. Poor sod's feeling a bit down havin' nothing to do but sit around waitin' for you to need his help."

"I don't mean to, Spike," Buffy whispered. Even though she knew that her companion had exploited her friends' fears and issues, it still hurt that they had allowed it to happen so easily. "How am I going to make all of them happy?"

"Buffy, are you happy?" Spike asked. He stared at the Slayer's back. He hadn't meant to upset her with his observation.

"What? Of course, I'm happy. I have my mom and my friends, and what used to be an okay boyfriend," Buffy whispered. "Why wouldn't I be happy?"

"Thought you were dumping Captain Cardboard?" Spike stepped behind Buffy and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"I am!" Buffy protested. "I am. It's just kinda hard to dump him when he's gonna forget in the morning. Sometimes I think it would have been so much easier if I had just told everyone that our engagement wasn't the spell."

Spike chuckled. "Mortal enemies and best friends, eh, Slayer?"

"Yep."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy stopped in front of Giles' apartment door. She smiled shyly at Spike while she nervously wiped her hands on her pants. For the first time in forever, she actually knocked and waited for her Watcher to answer the door instead of barging in.

Giles looked surprised to find Buffy standing there with Spike. He was even more surprised when both blonds waited until he stood back to invite them in before they entered. He couldn't help but notice when the vampire put his hand on the Slayer's lower back as they entered, and that Buffy didn't smack Spike down either verbally or physically.

"Hey, Giles. Can we talk to you?" Buffy glanced at Spike. "It's really important."

"You two aren't engaged, again, aren't you?" Giles whipped off his glasses to give them a good polish.

"Well, actually we've established that technically w-we're still engaged, but that's so beside the p-point," Buffy stammered out. "We really need your advice on a totally different Hellmouthy kinda thing."

Spike pulled out a chair for her and helped her sit down before taking a seat of his own. They waited until Giles made some tea and settled into his own seat before starting their tale. Spike and Buffy took turns explaining the first couple of repeating day, and how they had each thought that it was just themselves that was experiencing the strange phenomenon. Then they got to the day that Drusilla called the Watcher's apartment.

"Drusilla called you here, you say? How did she get the phone number?"

"Dru has always had an uncanny knack for findin' out what she wants from people." Spike smirked. "Remember when she got that info from you, Watcher?" He held his hands up in surrender when both Buffy and Giles glared at him. "Just saying."

"So both Willow and Dru did spells somehow making the day loop on itself, but only the two of you are aware of it doing so." Giles studied the two blonds carefully. "Did she say why exactly?"

"She very cryptically said that we needed to see the truth and to fix the factors." Spike leaned back in his chair while he went over the conversations with Drusilla in his head. "Which brings us to the next day, and the dreams."

"Dreams? What kind of dreams?" Giles asked. He looked back and forth from his clearly embarrassed Slayer to the vampire who was looking at everything in the room but the girl sitting next to him. Somehow, Giles knew that he was going to want to open that other bottle of scotch before this conversation was over.

"Um, uh, bitey dreams," Buffy mumbled. She ducked her head and refused to look at either her Watcher or Spike. Her knuckles became white while she gripped her fingers together in an effort to not touch her neck. Buffy's eyes slid sideways to Spike's face when he covered her hands with one of his own. She spoke again, her voice much louder and more confident this time. "I dreamed that Spike and I were fighting over the Gem again, but this time he bit me. The strange part is that the bite actually appeared on my neck."

"Can I see?" Giles asked. He watched as Buffy blushed even brighter while she pulled her sweater away from her neck. The marks looked fresh to the Watcher. When he reached out tentatively to touch them, Spike suddenly growled loudly. Giles' eyes darted to the blond vampire before he pulled his hand back. "Those look fresh, Buffy."

"Yeah, I, um, had another dream about fighting Spike earlier today. He bit me again in the dream. It's kinda wiggy waking up with bleeding bite marks," Buffy babbled as she pulled her collar up to cover her neck. There was no way she was going to tell either Giles or Spike what really happened in her second dream.

"Sorry 'bout that, Rupes," Spike apologized hint of embarrassment. "Not sure what came over me. Just didn't want you touchin' them."

"Good thing you weren't here when I dusted Angel then," Buffy said softly. "He tried to bite over them."

"You didn't tell me that, luv," Spike growled. "You're keeping secrets again." He stared with flashing eyes at the petite blond girl. "I might dust him again just for tryin' to touch what's mine." In his anger he didn't notice his slip of the tongue.

"Yours, Spike?" Giles asked. He had caught Spike's Freudian slip, and he had to wonder if there was something about the dreams that his charge and Spike weren't telling him.

"Wha'?"

"You said that Buffy's yours," Giles answered.

Spike looked back and forth between the Watcher and the Slayer, his eyes wide with panic. "Well, s-she is. My friend, I mean."

Good Lord, Giles mused. Is Spike ... blushing? And stammering?

"Yeah, Buffy's my friend, not the Poof's. Never his. We've already established that the Slayer and tall, dark and forehead will never be friends." He repeated his words with an almost childish pout. "My friend, not his."

Giles studied the blond vampire very carefully. He noticed that Spike had reached up to touch his neck several times during his little speech. Giles smirked to himself. Methinks the vamp doth protest too much. And what bloody hell am I thinking? It's Spike.

"You're my friend, too." Buffy smiled at Spike. "Why don't you tell Giles about your dream?"

Spike told Giles about his dream, and then he showed off his Buffy-shaped bite marks. Buffy told of the information she had gathered from their visits with Jonathan at the magic shop, and that somehow she was able to feel Spike's emotions now. The vampire nodded in agreement when asked if he felt Buffy's, and he added that some situations made the bite marks tingle while others did not.

"So you've both staked Angel?" Giles asked. "Buffy, you did it because he attacked you, and Spike, you did it simply because it was fun?" He chuckled when both blonds nodded. "What things have caused the tingling sensations?"

"So far, the disks that Adam has Spike steal, saving Forrest from Adam, and Jonathon and his friends," Buffy informed the Watcher. "We're pretty sure that breaking up the Scoobies is something that's supposed to be changed, too. Oh, and we found out how Angel's keeping an eye on me ... us."

"Yeah, the pillock is paying the snitch to snitch," Spike grumbled. "Weekly reports and all that rot." Where before he would have gloated at finding out the great, brooding poofter was spying on the Slayer and her snot nosed little friends, now just the thought of it made him irate. Especially since finding out the exact details of why Buffy dusted him.

Spike was a little miffed at her for leaving out the bite attempt, but in some ways he understood it, too. He suspected that she was still a little embarrassed over the dream bites. This lead him to wonder what exactly had she dreamed about earlier that afternoon. His inner ponderings were interrupted by Giles, though.

"Angel's still stalking you, Buffy?" Giles didn't like the sound of that. It reminded him too much of Thanksgiving where Angel hid his presence from the slayer.

"Doubt he ever stopped, Watcher," Spike suggested. "He thinks of Buffy as his exclusive property. The reason the dream bite brasses him off so much is because it negates any claim he has over the Slayer. Technically speakin', I'm the head of the Aurelius clan, since he's cursed and Dru's insane."

"Angel claimed Buffy?" Giles' growl matched Spike's in ferocity. It was almost good enough for him to be mistaken for a vampire himself.

"Well, once again- technically speakin'- no. He didn't say the words out loud, but 'm sure he thought them." Spike grimaced at the look of intense rage that crossed the Watcher's face. He watched as Giles paced back and forth trying to work out his anger.

"Thank you, Spike," Buffy said softly.

"Thanks for what, Slayer?" Spike glanced away from the Watcher to look at Buffy.

"For being so dreamy and biting me," Buffy whispered.

Spike sat up straight in his chair and exclaimed, "Angelus is here." The statement was immediately followed by loud pounding on the front door of the apartment.

Giles tightened his lips in anger. He wanted to have some words with the dark haired vampire and now was the perfect time for them. He glanced over at Buffy and the other vampire. He wasn't at all surprised that they were sitting closer together now, presenting a unified front. Spike had his arm across the back of Buffy's chair with his fingers lightly grazing the top of her shoulder.

Giles stomped to the door and flung it open. "What do you want, Angel?"

Angel blinked at the anger directed his way. "I'm just looking for Buffy. I wanted to speak with her." He looked over Giles' shoulder to see Buffy sitting next to Spike. When he saw the blond vampire's finger touching Buffy's shoulder, he figured that was what had the Watcher so angry. "Spike, take your dirty hands off of Buffy. Giles, let me in so I can take care of him."

"Gee, Angel, do you have so little confidence in my abilities as the slayer that you think I can't handle Spike?" Buffy asked. She glanced sideways at Spike with a smirk on her face.

"Giles, what is going on here?" Angel advanced on the Watcher. His eyes flashed with gold specks in his anger. "Why the heck is Spike sitting in your apartment like he belongs here?"

"Leave the Watcher alone, Peaches," Spike drawled lazily. "Things are different in Sunnydale these days."

"We know about you paying Willy to spy on all of us, Angel," Buffy announced. "You want out of my life? That's fine, but that doesn't give you the right to spy on me. You want me to stay out of your town? Well, fine, you stay out of ours." She glanced at Spike when her marks tingled.

Angel brushed past Giles into the apartment and advanced on the blond pair still sitting calmly at the table. When Buffy twisted her head to whisper something to Spike, Angel noticed the fang marks on Buffy's neck. Very familiar fang marks. He growled and he shifted into his demonic visage. "You dare touch what's mine, William?" he thundered. "Little upstarts like you need to be taken down a notch or two."

"She's not yours, Peaches. She never has been. Slayer's not a possession."

Snarling, Angel launched himself across the room at Spike. He felt the arrow enter his back to pierce his heart, but he had no time to express his surprise as he felt his cells turn to dust. For some reason, it felt vaguely familiar, like he had dusted several times already.

Spike and Buffy stared across the room at Giles who stood by the door with an empty crossbow in his hands. Giles blinked a few times before he said, "Well, at least he won't remember this tomorrow."

"Too bad you won't either, Watcher. We could have a drink and plan the next dustin' together." Spike chuckled.

"There is a memory restoration spell I could try," Giles muttered. "I definitely want to remember this. The pillock!" He threw the crossbow down before he walked over to the bookcase and ran his finger along the spines until he found the book he wanted. He pulled it out of its place and sat down on the table, flipping eagerly through the pages until he found the one he wanted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I hope that spell works, because I have to say, retelling the story over and over is a pain in the butt," Buffy sighed heavily. She stopped in front of the bus station doorway. "Well, here's my stop." She smiled at his incredulous look. "I've decided that if this is where I'm waking up, it's where I'm going to sleep."

"Can't be too comfortable." Spike peered through the glass door into the station. He grimaced at the sight of the benches. "We'll check in with the Watcher in the mornin'. You sure you want to go to bed here, luv?"

"Yep, I'll see ya in the morning, Spike." Buffy opened the door of the station and slipped inside. She waved at him through the glass before she walked over to the bench and plopped down on it with a thoroughly dejected air.

Spike felt himself torn between staying to keep her company and avoiding the feeling of weirdness he had experienced just that morning when he found himself back in his own bed. Finally, he decided to put his own comfort aside and sauntered in to join the Slayer on the hard bench. Spike felt his heart clench and his denial go into overdrive when she laid her head on his shoulder and promptly fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy awoke slowly, inhaling deeply. Her eyes popped open when she didn't smell the expected eau de bus terminal. Looking wildly around her, she found herself laying on a soft bed with Spike's face just a few inches away from hers. She couldn't believe how sweet and innocent the evil vampire looked when he was sleeping. Buffy felt safe in his arms, and that surprised her. Very gently, she shook the vampire's shoulder.

"Wha?" Spike sat up suddenly. He clutched the sheet to his naked body and turned to stare at the giggling Slayer lying beside him in his bed.

"Something's changed, Spike," Buffy announced gleefully. "I woke up here instead of the bus station. And look..." She pointed at the bedside table. "The mug I bought you yesterday is here, too, and... oh!" Her voice rose to a strained squeak. "Are you naked under there?"

Buffy awoke slowly, inhaling deeply. Her eyes popped open when she didn't smell the expected eau de bus terminal. Looking wildly around her, she found herself lying on a soft bed with Spike's face just a few inches away from hers. She couldn't believe how sweet and innocent the evil vampire looked when he was sleeping. Buffy felt safe in his arms, and that surprised her. Very gently, she shook the vampire's shoulder.

"Wha?" Spike sat up suddenly. He clutched the sheet to his naked body and turned to stare at the giggling Slayer lying beside him in his bed.

"Something's changed, Spike," Buffy announced gleefully. "I woke up here instead of the bus station. And look..." She pointed at the bedside table. "The mug I bought you yesterday is here, too, and... oh!" Her voice rose to a strained squeak. "Are you naked under there?"

~~~~~~~~

Several drastically important facts hit Spike simultaneously. His slayer was in his bed and he was naked. His clothes were not in close proximity and he was still naked. Certain parts of his body were traitorously bobbing about for attention, leaving him clutching the sheet to his chin like a frightened Victorian maiden on her wedding night. He was naked with no chance of reaching his clothes, no chance of having a relieving morning wank, and no idea how to get himself out of a highly embarrassing situation. Then it came to him; the perfect solution to his dilemma.

"That a question you ask Harris often, pet?" he asked with a smirk.

Spike waited for the reaction he knew was coming. He watched in amusement as Buffy screwed her face up in disgust and shuddered delicately.

"Ewwww! Grossing Buffy out before coffee is a stakable offence, mister," she chided, leaping from the bed.

Grabbing at the sheet she almost took with her, Spike chuckled at her antics. "Why don't you head over to the Watcher's, pet? I'll get dressed and go through the tunnels. We need to leave before puzzle man arrives."

Spike felt an unexpected surge of happiness as he looked at the tiny blond who moved so easily to follow his suggestions. He realized that he loved being her friend. Fierce but pleasant tingles from the bite mark forced him to raise a hand up to touch it.

Buffy turned back to him from the ladder leading to the upper level of his crypt and raised an eyebrow in inquiry, her own hand lifting to rub at the scars that had started to throb pleasurably.

"Was just thinking that I like being your friend, luv," Spike quietly answered her unvoiced question.

She smiled gently in response. "I like being your friend too, Spike." With a little wave of farewell, she scooted up the ladder.

When he was sure that she was gone, Spike threw off his sheet and gave his throbbing member a fierce scowl. "I refuse to bollocks up this friendship with Buffy just because you can't control yourself," he reprimanded his erection.

The single eye seemed to stare back at him, bobbing mockingly.

"Bloody hell," Spike snarled as he took himself in hand in an attempt to relieve his tension. He forced himself to mentally repeat the word friend over and over, but in spite of his determined efforts, an image of sparkling green eyes flashed through his mind as he shot his load. Spike tried desperately to convince himself that it didn't mean what he thought it meant. They were friends. Nothing more.

A quick shower and a change of clothes later, Spike felt secure in his knowledge that he and the Slayer were just friends. Snagging up the precious gift from her, he placed the cup in his duster pocket, grabbed his trusty blanket, and headed through the tunnels to Giles'.

~~~~~~~~

"Hurry up, blood breath, I need coffee," Buffy's teasing voice urged the vampire from above as he prepared to make the dash from the sewer to the watcher's courtyard.

Spike was moved that she had opted to wait for him outside rather than inside the apartment. "Bloody hell, woman, quit nagging or I'll rethink the whole engagement."

"You can't," she smiled at him smugly as she joined him in his speedy trip through the courtyard. "You promised you'd never hurt me."

Spike rolled his eyes and chuckled as he knocked on the Watcher's door.

Giles opened the door and stared at the two blonds.

"Giles. Sunlight. Issue," Buffy shorthanded her request for an invite.

"Of course. Please come in, Buffy. Spike," the flustered Englishman said.

Buffy and Spike entered, looking at the watcher hopefully. Both had very different reasons for wanting the man to remember the looping day.

"Please forgive me. I've had a rather strange morning. I seem to be plagued by the feeling that my every experience today is a repeat of previous actions." Giles shook his head in confusion.

"Do you remember us telling you that we've been living through the loopy day from hell?" Buffy held her breath while she waited for an answer.

Giles shook his head in frustration. He felt a tickling at the back of his mind, some minute but extremely important detail he was failing to grasp. He wasn't at all surprised at his slayer's revelation, but felt sure that he should remember. He was at a loss to explain what he was experiencing.

"What if he does the spell again?" Spike suggested.

Buffy and Spike's eyes met in excitement as their marks began to tingle pleasantly. Nodding in agreement, Spike headed over to the bookcase to retrieve the spell book that Giles had used the night before. Flicking through it to find the right spell, he then handed the book to the bemused watcher.

"Just do the spell, Giles. Then we'll be able to work out what you need a refresher in." Buffy urged. She so didn't want to go through the explanations again.

Buffy and Spike sat quietly at the dinner table, neither wanting to disturb the watcher's spell. As Giles uttered the last word of the spell and blew out the candle, he was momentarily overwhelmed with a storm of memories. He took a few minutes to sort through them.

"So, are you all up with the memories?" Buffy cheerfully asked her watcher.

"I remember, for want of a better word - yesterday." He smiled in satisfaction at the memory of dusting Angel. Turning to the blonde vampire, he grinned as he continued, "I plan on holding you to that drink and planning session, Spike."

Spike shared a conspiratorial grin with the other Brit. He was chuffed that they now had the watcher on their side, but he was disappointed that Giles did not remember their day.

"Is something wrong Spike?" Giles asked, curious about the vampire's suddenly melancholy expression.

"'S nuthin'," Spike mumbled self-consciously. He felt somewhat insecure about sharing too much of himself with a watcher he hadn't bonded with.

Buffy felt his insecurity through their link and reached over to grab his hand. "You and Spike came to an understanding, Giles," Buffy softly informed the curious watcher.

Removing his glasses while he gathered his thoughts, Giles paused before commenting. "Then it is more than likely that we will do so again." With a wicked twinkle in his eye, Ripper continued. "Perhaps even during our planning session."

Spike smiled shyly at the watcher. "You were gonna help me change my nature. Become a white hat," he stated quietly.

Giles smiled in delight, "I would love to help you, Spike." There was something about the idea of helping this vampire that excited the watcher.

Buffy smiled happily. While she didn't really want Giles remembering that she'd called him a drunk, she didn't want Spike to lose the tentative bond he had forged with him either. This new connection seemed to benefit all of them.

Both blondes simultaneously lifted their hands to their bite marks. Pleasant tingles reverberated strongly.

"I guess that means we have achieved maximum fixage," Buffy grinned. This was starting to get really cool. She was so glad that she had someone to share it with.

The ringing of the telephone grabbed their attention. Spike marched over to answer it, he could only think of one individual that would have the ability to change things other than the three of them.

"Oh my William, how bright you burn, the sun envies you your light," Dru chirped happily after Spike picked up and barked a terse, 'hello?"

The vampire sighed with forced patience. "Dru, we're on the phone. You can't actually see me."

"Ah, but the minds eye is the greatest visionary of all."

Spike rolled his eyes and moved to allow the watcher to put the call on speaker phone. "So, what do we owe this unexpected pleasure, pet? Got more hoops for us to jump through?"

Dru giggled. "No, my dearest. You and your little starshine set your own obstacles, your own trials. You pick the things that matter to you most- friendship, love, and protecting those that you care about. That's how the trials are chosen."

"Right, so the things we have to fix are the things that we would want to fix if we knew about them?"

They could hear Dru clapping her hands excitedly. "Always such a bright boy, my Spike. Always so clever, but not so clever that you don't give in and stop resisting that which already exists. Like two children running to the ocean, only to run away again when they get their feet wet. Let yourself be carried away, my pet. Let the tide wash away your fears and enjoy the rush of the waters."

"When fools jump in the ocean and don't take care, they drown, luv."

"Silly, Spike. You're a vampire, you can't drown," she giggled.

Buffy spoke up before Dru could take off on another of her twisted tangents. "Excuse me, Drusilla. May I ask a question?" She kept her voice soft and unthreatening, knowing she had to be careful how she addressed the volatile vampiress.

"Ooooh, Sunshine wishes to speak to Princess? Ask your question, dearie."

"Why are some things not being reset?" Buffy wondered.

"You get treats, little one. Every time you follow your heart, Miss Edith sends you a gift. Good little girls and boys deserve rewards, bad children get punished. You'll learn, Sunshine. Don't deny your heart."

And with that last cryptic message, Drusilla had Herbie hang up the phone.

Buffy cast Spike a surreptitious glance. "Did that make any sense to you?"

"Clear as mud, luv," he snorted. He started to say more but was interrupted by a huge yawn. These daytime romps were playing hell with his internal vampire clock.

The slayer couldn't help but giggle at his glazed eyes and drowsy expression.

"Why don't you try and catch a nap, Spike?" she urged. "I have to call Willow anyway. We can discuss Dru's cryptic calls later."

Spike flung himself down on the couch with another yawn. He couldn't remember ever feeling quite this sleepy. "Don't mind if I do, Slayer."

He was snoring softly before Buffy had even dialed Willow's number.

~~~~~~~

Spike knew he had been captured for the Slayer. She had been tracking him for days now, stalking him through the darkness like the prey that he was. He'd put up a hell of a fight, of course, but her army of Amazonian mercenaries had overpowered his own cadre of vampires with frightening precision. They had singled him out and then quickly and efficiently dealt with his minions, treading carelessly through piles of their dust to subdue him.

Trussed up like a turkey, he'd been transported along the mountain paths to the Slayer's stronghold. Most of the undignified trip had been spent puzzling over why he hadn't been dusted outright. It wasn't like he hadn't caused her any number of problems over the past few years. She was there. He could feel her signature racing up and down his spine, but for some reason she didn't seem too eager to show herself or release him from his immortal coil.

Once back at the Slayer's remote castle, he'd been stripped and bathed by the muscular female warriors. Stoically ignoring his throaty growls and snapping teeth, they had fitted him with a cock ring and blindfolded him before he was led to a different chamber.

Now he was spread out like a pale starfish, his arms and legs fastened with magically enhanced manacles. They had refused to answer any of his demands and ignored the colorful insults he'd hurled at them. Once they were certain he was securely chained, they had left him alone.

Spike was enraged at his treatment thus far, even though there wasn't so much as a scratch to mar the perfection of his ivory hide. This type of behavior towards a Master vampire such as himself was downright humiliating, even for a creature as sexually uninhibited as he was. His reason for being here were now as obvious as they were unbelievable, and the knowledge only served to make him more indignant. Fucking Slayer! She would pay for this in blood.

And speaking of the Chosen One…

Her scent preceded her, the strong whiff of Slayer musk causing his mouth to water and his fangs to drop down in anticipation. Angered by what he saw as his demons betrayal, he lunged against his restraints. He could feel her approach and thrashed about, desperate to free himself so that he could face her one on one rather than hogtied to her bed. Insufferable bitch! His snarls drowned out the creak of the hinges, but the click of her heels on the stone floors rang out in the tomblike room.

"Who's this sleeping in my bed?" a woman's voice sang softly. "Why, I do believe it's William the Bloody. However did he get here?" Her melodious laugh only served to whip him into a frenzy of rage. "Oh! That's right. I caught you, didn't I? That means you belong to me, doesn't it?"

"Let me go, you self-righteous bint," Spike snarled. He glared in the direction of her voice and pulled against the chains hard enough to cause his wrists to bleed.

"Now why would I do that when I have you right where I want you?" she purred.

He felt the bed dip slightly under her weight and shivered in spite of himself when he felt a hot hand ghost up his leg. It lingered near his groin, then cheekily bypassed his cock to brush over the ridges of his abdomen. His stomach muscles retracted from her delicate touch as though it burned. His cock, bound as it was by the tight ring, bobbed about seeking relief from its torment.

"I'm a master vampire, you bitch, not some soddin' sex slave," Spike growled. He tried to pull away from her scalding fingers, hissing when she captured his balls with one hand and gave a firm little squeeze that implied that further attempts to free himself might become very painful for him.

"I know you're a Master. And not just any Master, but an Aurelius. Do you honestly think I would settle for anything less?" A harsh, strangled noise broke from him as he felt the flutter of what was obviously her tongue against his bleeding wrist. "Mmm, you taste utterly delicious. I knew you would the first moment I saw you," the woman growled softly.

Spike felt his cock harden even further when she lingered at his wrist, dragging her tongue through the blood that gathered there before closing her succulent mouth around the wound and sucking voraciously.

God, the heat coming off of her in humid waves was going to burn him alive. She leaned over him as she suckled at his injury and the diamond-hard point of an excited nipple as it brushed over his mouth. He fought to ignore the sudden urge to capture it between his lips and give it the seeing to she was yearning for.

"Slayer," he snapped ferociously, desperate to distract her. "Why don't you go play these games with someone more your style? Like, say, a human boy?" Spike bit back a moan when she suddenly straddled his hips and ground her swollen labia against him, sweeping up and down his painfully throbbing length. His nostrils flared as the slick moisture of her arousal seeped down his shaft to coat his balls.

"Human's break too easily," the slayer complained breathlessly. "This is what I need."

Spike threw his head back, gritting his teeth when she swiftly rose up and sank down to fill herself with him. The feel of her hot, tight quim around his cock was like nothing he had ever felt before. The sweet cream of her arousal allowed for an easy glide into her soft depths, and his traitorous body responded eagerly to the tight clench of famed Slayer muscles around his turgid cock.

"There's just something about a Master's cock that no human toy can compete with." The Slayer puffed, her muscles straining with the effort to take all of him inside her. "Too bad I can't let you go and get the whole vamp package going."

"Let me go and I'll give you the entire 'vamp package'," he snarled.

Her soft huff of mirth wafted over his needlessly panting mouth. "As tempting as that sounds, vampire, I think I'll wait 'til I've tamed you just a little bit more."

"You'll never tame me, you bit-" His defiance was cut off by an endless, strangled moan as she began the steady rise and fall of her hips. His mind cast about for something- anything- that would disguise the affect she had on him. His faltering attempts at indifference lasted until the Slayer's first, cock-wrenching orgasm. She slammed herself down with a howl, her pelvis grinding into his so hard that he could feel her round, pert ass cheeks press against his balls.

Time lost all meaning for the vampire as he lay beneath the Slayer. She had come so many times on his abused cock that he could feel her juices soaking the sheet beneath him. When she needed a break from fucking him cross-eyed, she amused herself with kissing and licking his quivering body and sucking lustfully on his angry red cock. He was littered with bruises and covered with love bites. His chest burned where her fingernails had dug into his skin.

Spike had given up all thought of escaping from this woman. She did things with her wicked mouth and that amazingly tight pussy that boggled even his jaded mind and left him willing to stay chained to her bed forever while she rode him until he dusted.

He shuddered when the Slayer leaned down over him and gripped his hair in her fist. Jerking his head back, she whispered hotly in his ear, "do you want to come, vampire?"

Unable to speak, Spike could only nod his head mutely. He felt the slayer reach down behind her to loosen the ring around his cock before she rose above him to slam down herself down on his shaft one last time.

He grunted ferally, wrenching his hips up to meet every downward stroke of hers. The immense relief of his unbound cock, coupled with the harsh, gasping moans that his punishing thrusts forced from her, was simply too much for the insanely aroused vampire. Giving a ferocious howl that rivaled her scream of release, Spike erupted inside the slayer's hot quim. His eyes rolled back in his head and his entire body quaked as he continued to shoot his cool semen into her willing body.

Spike blinked when the blindfold was suddenly ripped off his eyes and he found himself lost in the hazel eyes of the slayer. He realized her fist was still in his hair when his head was yanked to the side, baring his throat to her. He roared out his second climax as she struck like a small viper and sank her blunt teeth into his neck.

"Slayer," Spike screamed. "Buffy!"

"Mine," Buffy growled against his neck. "My Spike. My vampire.""

"Yours," Spike moaned softly. "Only yours, Slayer."

~~~~~~~~~~

Spike shot up from the couch, his wide eyed stare of confusion taking in the shocked looks on the faces of the Slayer and Watcher. His mind was reeling. Where the bloody hell had that come from?

"Something you want to share, Spikey?" Buffy smirked, eyeing the new bite marks on his neck and offering a tissue for the blood that dripped from them.

"Huh?" Spike widened his eyes further as he wondered frantically how much he had given away. He certainly didn't want to do anything that would jeopardize the tentative friendships he was forming with both members of his unexpected audience.

"The yelling of my name, the telling me you're mine, or the new bite marks you're wearing like a fashion accessory." Buffy grinned at the stupefied vampire.

Spike dropped his head in his hands and muttered dejectedly, "I guess saying I was yellin' fluffy instead of Buffy and dreaming about kittens is no longer a bloody option?"

"Really not," Buffy assured him with mock sympathy.

"I'm not doin' it deliberately, slayer," the morose vampire whined as he looked up at the girl and pouted.

Giles moved closer to the vampire, lifting his hand to examine the bite.

Buffy growled.

Giles quickly pulled his hand back. He was not surprised at his slayer's reaction. "Yes, well, it appears that you do belong to the slayer, Spike," he lightly informed them both.

At the pleasant tinglies that came from both sets of marks, both blonds stood and looked at the watcher in shock.

"What do you mean he belongs to me?" Buffy squeaked out.

An image of Spike's naked torso flashed before her eyes. She surreptitiously checked her mouth to make sure she wasn't drooling. Bad Buffy.

"How is that possible, Rupert?" Spike asked as he silently cursed Drusilla and her interfering ways. He fought to suppress the memory of the way Buffy had made him feel in his dream. They were just friends.

"I would imagine it's all linked to the spell. From what Drusilla said earlier, it appears that whatever it is may be built around the necessity of the two of you developing a relationship."

"We have a relationship…we're friends," Spike announced, steadfastly sticking to his swim in the river in Egypt.

"But the two of you are displaying all the signs of a mating claim. Given the manifestation of the bites, I am unsure as to whether the claim will continue when the spell is broken," Giles explained, feeling slightly apologetic that he was unable to give them more information. This was something they definitely needed to do more research on. The watcher was a little surprised that he wasn't more upset that his slayer was, for all intents and purposes, mated to a master vampire.

"Mated? Is that like a vampire marriage?" Buffy asked curiously.

"More like marriage without the possibility of divorce," Spike drawled smugly. "You're a married woman, slayer. It's time to give the gigantic Boy Scout the heave ho."

"Why am I not more wigged about this?" Buffy mused curiously. "Oh, and you are so going to be the one to tell mom. A word of advice though, you better come up with a legal way to get me a better ring to show her first." Buffy giggled at the pole axed expression on the vampires face.

Mentally putting the subject of claims and could be marriages to de-fanged master vampires turned friends onto a back burner, Buffy changed the subject.

"I called Willow," Buffy announced. "She and Tara should be here soon." Focusing her attention on her vampire, she asked the question that was haunting her. "How do I fix that, Spike?" she whispered tearfully.

Spike took her gently by the shoulders and looked deeply into her eyes with a reassuring smile. "That's the easiest thing to fix, pet. All you have to do is accept the white Wicca. We just need to do the opposite of what I first did. Giles was feeling a bit unneeded, now he knows that not only do we need him to be with us on this, but he also has a project in me that should keep him out of trouble," he said as he threw a cheeky grin to the watcher.

"Red thought you didn't accept her lifestyle choices and probably felt a little like your friendship was drifting apart, what with all the changes in your lives with college and what all. All you need to do is talk to her, stop her worrying." His quiet assurances were like a balm to her troubled mind.

"And Xander?" she asked tremulously.

"The main problem there is that the whelp is convinced that you lot think he's useless. Personal feeling's aside, you just need to make sure he knows the truth. Unless of course, you really do think he's useless?" Spiked joked, effectively lightening Buffy's overwhelming concerns.

Their smiles widened as their marks tingled in agreement.

Giles was distracted from his ponderings over the insightfulness of the vampire when Buffy said his name.

"Giles." She was curious about what had happened earlier. "You did the spell yesterday. Why did you have to do it again, and will you need to do it again tomorrow?"

"Ah." Giles flushed with embarrassment. "It appears I was remiss in reading the…er…fine print."

At the arched eyebrows of both blondes, the mortified man was forced to elaborate. "I failed to augment the first spell. I needed to do that in order to ensure that I could retain the memories from 'yesterday'. There will be no need to repeat the spell tomorrow. I have corrected the problem."

"Ah…before the witches get here can I make a suggestion?" Spike hated bringing up this particular subject. He knew Buffy wouldn't be happy about it, but he was fairly certain the watcher would be on side.

"I'm not gonna like it, am I?" Buffy responded with sardonic amusement.

Spike gave her an apologetic grin. "I don't think we should be tellin' Red about the spell Rupert did. I think it would just open the door for another complication," he rushed out his words and then held his unneeded breath in anticipation.

"I would have to agree. Willow uses magic far too liberally. She has no concerns for the consequences of her actions. I think it would be prudent to arrange for a mentor as soon as this matter is cleared up. Willow needs to learn the basic fundamentals of magic before she causes any more damage." Giles supported the vampire's opinion unreservedly. He had long thought the young redhead required guidance, but he had been unsure as to whether it was his place to say anything until now.

"Fine. No telling Willow about the spell," Buffy grumbled her agreement. When her mark started to tingle pleasantly, she rolled her eyes. Apparently Dru thought Willow's need to learn control was all part of fixing the factors.

~~~~~~~

When Willow and Tara arrived they were given a swift run though of the basic facts.

Both Buffy and Spike had felt a tingling reaction to the presence of the dishwater blonde witch. After sharing a look to confirm that the other had also been alerted, the super-beings came to the silent agreement that they would discuss the matter at a later time.

Buffy, Spike, and Giles all made sure to welcome Tara wholeheartedly.

Willow's computer search for Warren took only a few moments.

"Hey! I think I found him. A Warren Mears. He went to Sunnydale High with us for a semester, and then he went to the tech college over in Dutton. I've got a local address where his folks still live," Willow told them, her eyes only leaving the screen to write down his address.

After handing the address absentmindedly to Buffy, Willow continued to scan the computer for further information. "Wow! He's got some pretty impressive credits. Big into robotics. Oh! And um…he's a dungeon master for Dungeons and Dragons." Willow grinned at Buffy conspiratorially. "Xander would probably know him then."

Tara watched the two girls laughing and wondered why Willow seemed so afraid that she was losing her friend. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with the relationship from what she could see. Taking a closer look at the area between Buffy and the blond vampire, the white witch noticed a monumental change in the two auras. There was definitely something more going on than she and Willow had been told, and she wondered what it was.

"What is it, Tara?" Giles gently asked. He had been watching the group and had seen her preoccupation with the two blondes.

Tara ducked her head self-consciously. She had yet to learn how to be comfortable being the focus of so many people. "T-their auras have c-changed," she stammered shyly.

"How, sweetie?" Willow asked, confused.

"They're c-c-connected now," she tried to explain. "Their auras are s-starting to blend. If I didn't k-know he was a vampire, I'd say he was g-growing a s-soul."

"That can't be good," Willow said, her eyes widening in trepidation. She was sure that Buff was going to wig, big time.

"Actually, Willow, it has been quite beneficial." Giles busied himself with buffing the lenses of his glasses. "However, I will still need to research it. I believe this situation has something to do with the spell you were planning to do, as it was your spell that caused Drusilla to cast hers. From what we've learned; it was not her spell that was responsible for this connection, reason suggests it must be yours. I will need to see the spell you have been researching to confirm my hypothesis and discover what our options are."

"Whatever," Buffy shrugged indifferently. She was so not interested in worrying about something they couldn't change yet. "I have to go save a stubborn idiot." Turning to Spike, she gave him a grin as she headed for the door and some Forrest savage. "You get a soul and I am so not putting up with a brood-a-thon."

"We have to go, too. We have classes this afternoon," Willow apologised. "We'll come back later," she promised as she and Tara followed Buffy out the door.

With the girls gone, the vampire and the watcher took the opportunity to discuss one of the other things that they needed to fix.

"Have you had any thoughts regarding the logistics of getting the disc's from Adam?" Giles asked as he followed the blonde into the kitchen.

"I came up with an idea, but I wanted to run it past you and Buffy first," he said as he removed his cup from his duster pocket. Picking up a bag of blood, Spike busied himself with the microwave before continuing.

"I can make the meeting with him and talk him into giving me the discs then and there," the vampire explained as he heated his blood. "That'll give Red more time to work on them."

After preparing his meal, Spike followed Giles back to the living room.

"Will it still be safe for you?" Giles asked, concerned.

"It will be if we can make sure the Slayer stays here," Spike responded with little optimism.

"Spike," Giles said, his demeanour serious. "There seems to be two very important points that you are missing. I would prefer that neither of you be injured and I am positive that Buffy will never allow you to face Adam alone. She is quite protective with her friends."

Spike responded with equal seriousness. "The disc's are what's important, Rupes. We have to get them decrypted. If I get caught, I'll just wake up back in my bed in the morning. I can handle one day, but you have to help me convince Buffy."

"I think I'd prefer to be tortured by Angelus," the watcher half joked.

~~~~~~~

As Buffy entered Giles' courtyard after saving Forrest, she faltered slightly at the sight before her. Riley stood at the door to her watcher's apartment and appeared to be arguing with Giles.

"How do you know that Angel hasn't lost his soul? Maybe he has and he's holding her prisoner somewhere."

"She was fine when she left here a little over an hour ago," Giles replied mildly.

"I don't believe you. There is no way. She would have come to see me," Riley snorted dismissively. "I wonder what she'll say when she finds out you're spending time with a soulless demon," he commented snidely.

"Why would I want to talk to someone who basically thinks I'm a big ho and that my father figure is a liar?" Buffy snapped as she stepped forward, shocking Riley with her sudden appearance.

Trying to ignore what she had just said, Riley stepped forward as if to wrap his arms around her. "Oh, Buffy, I was so worried."

Stepping around him towards the apartment door, Buffy retorted coldly, "and why would you be worried, Riley?"

"Well, I didn't hear from you, so I thought maybe Angel might have lost his soul again," he explained, his expression a picture of innocence. He knew damn well that she hadn't spoken to Xander yet, so there was no way that she could know that he was aware of exactly how Angel's soul curse could be broken.

Buffy wondered briefly what she'd ever seen in the loser. "So, you do think I'm a ho-bag?" Buffy asked pleasantly.

"What? No! Why would you say that?" his nervousness made his guilt obvious.

"Since you think that Angel lost his soul and that would only happen if I'd had sex with him," Buffy stated with uncharacteristic bluntness.

"You never told me that!" he accused. This was going downhill, fast. If he could just get her to feel guilty, it would all be okay.

"No, but Xander did," she said harshly. After spending so much of her time recently with the easy-going vampire, she had little patience for testosterone fuelled jealousy, especially when she hadn't done anything to warrant it. "It's time for you to go, Riley. We've got work to do."

Nudging past him dismissively, Buffy entered the watcher's apartment and closed the door.

Ignoring what had just happened with Riley, much the same as many people manage to ignore the elephant in the room, Buffy soon had them making plans for the different things they had to fix. The three worked well together and ideas abounded.

A couple of hours later, as Buffy got off the phone from ordering pizzas, Spike felt the familiar warning of family.

"So…is it my turn to dust him?" Spike asked, informing them in his own way of their approaching visitor.

"Giles did a disinvite, Spike. None of us need to stake him," she told him in an amused voice. His pout was so sweet.

The watcher chuckled at the disappointed vampire. He understood exactly what the blonde was feeling, but he didn't feel up to explaining the difference between need and want to his slayer.

The loud pounding at his front door caused him to grin in anticipation. He might not be able to stake the bugger, but that didn't close off all his avenues of retribution. It had been said that payback was a bitch, but that was only by those that hadn't met Ripper.

Throwing the door open wide, Giles made sure he stayed out of the way. "Yes, right, you're looking for Buffy. You've come to apologize for your treatment of her in Los Angeles, but not for stalking her, paying Willie to spy on her for you, or getting into a physical altercation with the man you thought was her boyfriend. Correct?" he inquired pleasantly. Spike's soft snickers indicated that at least one person understood his humor.

Giles almost joined Spike in his mirth when he saw the gobsmacked expression on face of the brunette vampire.

Buffy moved to join the watcher, but before she could say a word, Angel's expression changed to a snarl. "You let Spike claim you? Are you insane?"

"It's alright, Angel, they were engaged first," Giles assured the angry vampire, inwardly chuckling with glee. "I was thrilled when Buffy asked me to give her away."

At this point Willow and Tara entered the courtyard. Angel whirled to face the two witches, game-face to the fore. Putting two and two together, not knowing about any other factors, the vampire came up with four and blamed the redheaded witch, snarling her name as he moved to confront her.

Seeing only an enraged vampire apparently threatening her love, Tara reacted instinctively. Pointing a finger at the vampire, she shouted her request to the goddess, "Pulvis!"

Latin for dust.

"So, Red's the only one of us lot that hasn't dusted the poof yet, right?"

~~~~~~~

Buffy snuggled deeper into the firm embrace that made her feel safe and secure. She would never have dreamed that she would feel this way in the arms of Spike. Oh, but maybe dream isn't the right word, because apparently she'd do a lot more than that in her dreams.

Opening her eyes, she took the opportunity to study the slumbering vampire. What was it about him that made him so different from others of his species? He had been caring and gentle and supportive. He'd asked for nothing in return. He was just happy to have her friendship. She was stunned that a vampire seemed to have a better grasp on friendship that her human friends.

She smiled as Spike opened sleepy eyes to gaze at her through lowered lashes. "So, what's the plan today, naked boy?"

Spike's eyes widened comically. Pulling the sheet up to his chin, he snarked, "It's alright, luv. It's not your fault the groom's prettier than the bride."

"See, it's these sorts of delusions that prove you have no reflection," she lobbed back without missing a beat.

Chuckling in appreciation of her quick wit, Spike chose to give his suggestion to her original question. "Investigating the nerd after we check in with Rupert?"

"Sounds like a plan."

Buffy snuggled deeper into the firm embrace that made her feel safe and secure. She would never have dreamed that she would feel this way in the arms of Spike. Oh, but maybe dream isn't the right word, because apparently she'd do a lot more than that in her dreams.

Opening her eyes, she took the opportunity to study the slumbering vampire. What was it about him that made him so different from others of his species? He had been caring and gentle and supportive. He'd asked for nothing in return. He was just happy to have her friendship. She was stunned that a vampire seemed to have a better grasp on friendship than her human friends.

She smiled as Spike opened sleepy eyes to gaze at her through lowered lashes. "So, what's the plan today, naked boy?"

Spike's eyes widened comically. Pulling the sheet up to his chin, he snarked, "it's alright, luv. It's not your fault the groom's prettier than the bride."

"See, it's these sorts of delusions that prove you have no reflection," she lobbed back without missing a beat.

Chuckling in appreciation of her quick wit, Spike chose to give his suggestion to her original question. "Investigating the nerd after we check in with Rupert?"

"Sounds like a plan."

*****

Buffy walked along the street on her way to meet Spike. She was lost in daydreams about waking up wrapped tightly in the arms of the blond vampire that morning. She wondered what it would have been like if she had pressed her lips to his. Would he have responded? Kissed her breathless or pulled away in disgust? Did he feel that way about her, or was he only interested in friendship?

She remembered the spell that had brought about their engagement and the kisses that they had shared. The passion they had felt for each other. Would the kisses be the same sans spell, or would they even better knowing it was themselves and not magic causing the reactions?

The blond was torn between being glad she had some time to herself to reflect on her feelings and wanting to be with the vampire who was now making his way through the sewers. At least Spike had the option of not breathing, which she did not, hence the walking down the street.

She was trying to avoid the delusions of marriage and fat grandchildren that she had with Angel, even if she had denied it to the brooding vampire. She knew the realities of dating a vampire now, knew the limitations and advantages, even a vampire without a soul.

Spike had always seemed so different from other vampires, even different from Angel. He had always had so much emotion besides the bloodlust, such a capacity to love beyond what even most humans had. The lengths that he would go to for someone he cared about were awe inspiring.

She blushed brightly when she remembered the naughty images that had popped in her head while snuggling with the blond vampire, so many wickedly tempting things that she had always wondered about, things that she was too shy to ask Parker for and too afraid to ask Riley about for fear of freaking out her uptight boyfriend. Soon-to-be ex-boyfriend, she thought.

She cringed when thinking about Riley's reaction to their impending breakup. He was already so jealous and paranoid she was sure that he wouldn't take it well. If he got even an inkling that she might be interested in Spike…well, she could imagine the fallout from that easily enough. She growled at the thought of anyone threatening her vampire. Riley would be in for a world of hurt if he even tried.

She stood by the manhole cover, trying to calm her sudden case of nerves and waiting for her companion to arrive. I mean, admitting I'm friends with Spike is one thing, she thought. Admitting that I want his smoochies is a whole different cup of tea. She groaned at her inner thoughts. She really needed to stop hanging out with British guys so much.

Actually, if she was going to be all honest girl with herself, it wasn't so much the kissing that left her feeling weak-kneed. It was the thought of hours and hours of hot monkey sex that did it. The man was sex appeal walking; she had no delusions that he wouldn't know his way around a bedroom. She thought back to the kisses during Willow's spell. Yes the man definitely knew how to bring a woman to her knees...figuratively speaking, of course. She blushed at the detour her thoughts had taken once again. Bad Buffy!

Finally a soft rustling of leather and a gentle splash alerted her to the vampire's arrival. Lifting the cover carefully, not wanting to expose him to the sun too soon, she waited for his dash to the watchers so that she could lower the heavy metal disk and follow.

Spike was just stomping out the last of the flames when she walked into the apartment. "We so need to find you a better way to travel, Spike."

"Ha ha, Slayer. If I had my soddin' gem, I wouldn't have to run around like a vampire flambé, now would I?"

"Yeah, cause that was such a good idea. 'Look at me, I'm gonna take over the bleedin' world.'" She smirked when she heard his growl of irritation.

"I thought I told you not to imitate me. You better watch it, little girl, I might take a notion to turn you over my knee and give you a right proper spanking," he threatened with his finger wagging like an angry school teacher.

She felt her face immediately flush again at the image that filled her mind. If I keep this up I'm going to look permanently sunburned, she thought. Thankfully she heard heavy footsteps on the stairs behind her and whirled around to greet her watcher.

"Morning, Giles. Sleep well?" she asked frantic to cover her embarrassment.

"Good morning, you two. Yes, actually I slept rather well considering the circumstances."

"Circumstances? There's circumstances, now?" Buffy asked, her gaze moving between the two men in the room.

"I think he means our loopy day from hell, pet." The blond vampire chuckled as he sprawled out in the easy chair.

"Oh yeah, I knew that," she assured dropping down onto the couch.

"What are your plans for the day?" the watcher asked as he settled at the table with a pen and paper. Old habits were hard to break.

"Well, I think we're going to check out this Warren guy. Seems like he might be bad news. We've pretty much figured out what to do about Willow. She just wants us to accept Tara, which is pretty easy. She's really nice. Xander we know but need to work on our technique with and see what works the best in easing his fears. Plus, we need to figure out the best way to help him adjust to Tara and Spike. That leaves Forrest, Warren, Jonathan, and Adam and the disks to take care of. Does that sound like all of it, Spike?"

He shrugged. "It sounds right to me, luv. So far, anyway."

She cringed, knowing he had just jinxed them. "Ugh, don't say that. We don't need anymore surprises."

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, pet."

Her brows lowered in a frown. "What is that, some kind of British code?"

The blond vampire rolled his eyes, "Knickers, undies, panties. Whatever you wanna call them. I picture you as a thong kind of girl." His words and evil smirk caused her to once again go into the land of wicked ideas.

"Can we not discuss my underwear?" her voice squeaked as she ducked her head, hoping that her hair was covering most of her face.

"Yes, I think that would be a good idea." Giles cleared his throat, glasses and polishing cloth already in hand. "So you plan to start with Warren you say?"

"I was thinking that I could get the Desoto, maybe do a bit of a stakeout. If they leave, we can poke around a bit and see if we can find anything useful."

"You mean like breaking and entering?"

"Well, yeah. How else are we gonna get a look around? I doubt the boy will ask us in and tell us all about his evil plans. Of course, I don't have an invite, so it'll have to be you doing the actual poking about, but I'll stand guard for you," he offered generously.

"Well, I don't want to go by myself. Maybe I can get Xander to go with. We can talk and I can feel him out, see what the best way to reassure him is."

"It's your call, pet. If that's what you want, I can stay here and help the watcher plan out the best way to get those disks from Adam without letting on that we're too anxious to get them."

"That sounds like a plan to me. Oh and Giles, don't forget that you need to dis-invite Angel again. We don't need him busting in here unannounced and freaking out on anyone."

The vampire and the watcher exchanged evil glances. "No, we wouldn't want to have to stake the poofter again, would we?" the vampire murmured to his co-conspirator.

Giles cleared his throat before replying, "Quite right. That would be a tragedy."

The pair shared a quick smile before the watcher picked up the phone to call Willow. It took a bit of convincing to get her to bring her researched spells to his apartment, even more to assure her that she wasn't in any trouble.

Buffy shook her head at the male's antics as she made her way out the door. Knowing Xander had taken the day off, she headed toward his parents basement. The walk gave her more time to think about all the changes that had happened over the last several days and her surprising new friendship with Spike, the insecurities that haunted her friends, and all the other things around her that had the potential for badness.

She chuckled at the thought of the major wiggins Xander was going to have when he figured out that Spike was joining the group. Now that she was no longer letting others dictate how she lived her life, the idea of facing Xander with the news wasn't scary at all. In fact, she almost welcomed the idea of telling them she was going to be in charge of her life from here on out.

Her steps were suddenly lighter and she couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face. Self-assurance was pretty cool.

She met up with Xander and the walk to Warren's was littered with small talk and half-hearted attempts to work out his true feelings. She had hoped to make progress on their floundering relationship, but so far had failed to find a way to approach the subject.

"So how are things going with you?" she finally blurted, groaning inwardly. Real smooth, Buffy, she thought in disgust.

"Um, fine. Why do you ask?" He gave her a look that was a mixture of suspicion and uncertainty.

"Oh, I was just wondering. So, you're still liking the construction job?" she asked quickly. She figured she had already bungled the conversation so she might as well just get the answers she needed and pray the next time she would be better prepared.

"Well, yeah. I mean, it was kind of slow going at first. Being the new guy means they call you last for all the jobs, but it also means that I don't have to work quite as often, which helps if anyone needed me for anything. Things are starting to pick up though, and the boss seems to think I'm doing alright, which means they'll keep calling me back."

"That's great, Xan. Sounds like you finally found something you're good at." Okay, that sounded condescending. "Not that you weren't good at lots of things, but that you found something you can enjoy and make a living at." The slayer hung her head and whimpered. Thank God he wouldn't remember any of this tomorrow. Maybe she and Spike could work out some conversation points, things to say and not to say. He was so much better at reading people than she was. He was much better at the actual talking, too.

"What about Anya? Things going okay there?" In truth, she didn't really see the appeal of the out-spoken girl, but she knew Xander cared for her and really didn't dare cast stones now. Hello, I've become best friends with a vampire, she thought to herself. It's not like she could object to her friend dating an ex-demon when she was running around with a soulless still-a-demon and not finding anything wrong with it. And waking up in his bed, she thought with a blush.

"Yeah, I guess. I know you guys don't like her much, but she's a really nice girl."

"I like Anya. What's not to like? I mean she's a bit…forward, but sometimes things like that can be refreshing. Take Spike for instance-"

"Spike? When was there a taking of Spike?"

"What? I mean; no, there wasn't. I mean, just look at him, all bad boy swagger and cocky attitude, but remember the way he was with Drusilla? He loved her for a century. He was totally devoted. How many people could say that?"

"Why were we talking about Spike again?" The brunette's brow dipped in a deep frown. He had worried since Willow's spell that Buffy would suffer after affects. He had been so relieved when she began dating Riley, even if he was a little stiff around the edges.

"I'm just saying that maybe there's layers to him that we don't see, just like I'm sure that Anya has layers that you see, but we don't. That's all I'm saying." She avoided her friend's eyes, sure that he would see something that was better left concealed for the time being. She didn't want him to think that she was interested in Spike. They were just beginning to get on even footing. No need to screw it up by making Xander go all damage bound.

Xander was so quiet for a few moments that she feared she might have gone too far in her defense of the blond vampire. She was relieved when he finally spoke again.

"So what's up with this Warren guy?" he asked clearly disturbed by her train of thought.

Buffy could tell he was ready for a change in conversation and truth be told, so was she. They finished the walk quickly, both wary of saying anything to upset the other. She told him what little they knew about Warren and gave a roundabout explanation of why the needed to know what he was up to and that they had information pointing him out as a dangerous subject. Fortunately after their earlier conversation Xander wasn't asking too many questions.

After sitting on the bus stop bench across the street for almost an hour, they finally saw Warren exit the basement apartment. Waiting until they were sure he was gone, they made their way around the side of the house, trying to look as natural as possible, which was hard with Xander humming the theme song from Mission Impossible.

Both were jittery and afraid of being caught. Even though Buffy knew that the day would re-loop and she'd wake up safe and sound, she really didn't want to spend the rest of her night locked up in jail.

They searched the room as thoroughly as possible without leaving too much evidence of their rummaging. Buffy made a list of all the things they found and slipped away as soon as possible. She made excuses to Xander, assuring him that he didn't need to return to Giles with her, that she would just drop off the info and head out once more. She didn't want to have to deal with a blow up about Spike's presence or make Spike uncomfortable when he was just getting a sense of belonging.

After a quick stop to save Forrest, which inevitably ended with her having to knock him out, she entered her watchers apartment and grinned at the sight of the two men with their heads together. They were arguing over a notebook with Giles pointing his finger at the handwritten papers. "-and I told you I bloody well checked it three times, this spell could not bring about that type of effect."

"Hey guys, what's with the tension? It's so thick you could cut it with a sword." Buffy teased, her grin faded when neither man acknowledged her joke. "Wow, tough room."

"It seems we may have a problem, pet." Spike breathed a weary sigh as he dropped into the armchair behind him.

"I thought we were already smack dab in the middle of a whole load of problems, what's one more?" she asked, worried by his defeated attitude.

Giles removed his glasses as he sat down beside her and began to clean them thoroughly. "It appears that Willow's spell did not cause the claiming bites between you and Spike."

"But that's a good thing right?" At the negative shakes of both men she amended. "It's not a good thing…why is it not a good thing?"

"We believe that Dru used Willow's spell as a catalyst to cast her own, basically using Willows magic as an amplifier. Willow's spell was to bring about renewal and a rebirth. Dru must have taken the base of the spell and manipulated it for her own purposes; hence the repeating day came about. We are fairly certain which spell Drusilla has cast, thanks to Jonathan, and can rule that out as being a part of the dreams and biting as well."

Buffy looked back and forth between the two men. "Okay, you're gonna have to spell it out for the slow girl." She changed her mocking tone quickly when Spike growled at her choice of words. "I mean for the girl who just walked in on the conversation."

"Watcher here thinks Dru did another spell."

"Okay, what does it matter if it was part of the original spell or a different one?"

"Because pet, we don't know if the bites are connected to the first spell. We don't know if breaking the first one will break this one will as well, or if we're gonna be stuck mated after all this is over."

"Oh," she said quietly. She didn't know if she was more disappointed in the news that they didn't know what they were dealing with or Spike's apparent distress over being 'stuck' mated to her for eternity. Buffy stood and walked quickly into the kitchen, needing some time to regroup before she could face the two men.

Giles and Spike exchanged glances when the slayer exited the room, both men trying to prompt the other with gestures to check on the obviously upset girl.

Spike leaned in and whispered, "You need to go see if she's alright."

"Me? Why me? You're mated to her, you bloody coward."

"I told you hearing about the spell was only going to upset her. She didn't need the added stress of the claim on top of everything else."

"Not letting her know all the facts wouldn't help the situation either, Spike. She deserves to know what's happening."

The blond vampire hung his head for a moment before replying. "You're right, she needed to know. I just hate that she's suffering through this just because Dru's insane scheming. It's my fault this is happening." He jumped up in agitation and paced briefly before moving cautiously to the doorway. He could feel her distress through the bites.

He found her leaning over the sink, her shoulders slumped. He could hear the telltale sounds of sniffling and smell her salty tears. Gingerly placing his hands on her petite frame he pulled until her head rested on his shoulder. "It'll be alright, pet. I promise we'll make this right somehow. We don't really know what'll happen and if the spell breaks and the claim still stands, then we'll deal with it, alright?"

"I'm sorry. I know you don't want to be mated to me for all eternity." She sniffed again before continuing. "On the plus side, slayers live short lives, so eternity shouldn't take too long."

"What the bleedin' hell are you talking about?" He was unnerved by the talk of her death like it was inevitable.

"It's okay really. I mean, just cause we're friends doesn't mean you want to be tied to me for your whole unlife…or my short one. Whatever." She hung her head, not wanting him to see the tears forming in her eyes once again.

Spike's hands tightened on her arms and he shook her slightly. "Now you listen to me, claim or no claim you're important to me, kitten. The first real friend I've had since, well, ever. If I lost you now, I'd probably dust myself, or meet the sunrise anyway, because I've tried the self-dusting and it doesn't work that well."

She giggled lightly. "Has anyone ever told you that you're lame?"

"None that lived to tell about it anyway," he grinned, relieved to get a smile from her tear stained face.

He used the pads of his fingers to wipe away her tears and Buffy found herself focused on his mouth as he smiled shyly at her. She swayed slightly, fighting the urge to lean in and press her mouth to his. The spell was broken when he suddenly dropped his hands and pulled something from his back pocket.

"I almost forgot. I made you something. It's not much, but when the watcher started researching the spell over and over, I got bored. I dug around in the weapons a bit and found some wood the whelp probably left." He stopped abruptly when he realized he was rambling.

She took the stake from his outstretched hand and turned it over, checking the workmanship and testing its weight in her palm. It had finger holds carved out, fitting her hand perfectly. Running trembling fingers down the smooth surface, she felt the tears burning her eyes again. "Thank you, Spike."

"Bloody hell, it wasn't supposed to make you cry. It's just a little something and…well, I couldn't get out and get you a real gift. I'll try to get you something better later, 'cause you know…you said that friends give gifts and I just wanted to do something nice for you. I know you're probably sick to death of stakes-" His babbling came to an abrupt halt when her fingers brushed against his lips, pressing firmly.

"It's wonderful, Spike. Happy tears, I promise," she whispered softly, once again lost, this time in the silky feel of his mouth.

"Oh. Good then." He was glad that he was a vampire, because he knew that he would be a very unbecoming shade of red at that point.

Buffy cleared her throat and turned away. "So if you guys have the spells, then where's Willow?" she asked.

"She and the blond witch decided to go back and get a few more books. They should be back anytime."

"Oh. Well, it was getting dark when I got back. Did Giles remember to do the dis-invite spell?" She shouldn't be so worried about her friends. They all knew the dangers of living on the Hellmouth.

"Not to worry, pet. You saw the way Red's girl handled Angelus yesterday, they'll be fine," he tried to assure her. "By the way, when the two Wicca's were here earlier I felt some tinglies again, I thought they were from Red at the time, but then she and the watcher left the room and they only seemed to get stronger and I know we both felt them with her yesterday."

"What could we possibly have to fix for Tara? She's a little shy, but so far besides the magic she seems normal enough."

"We might need to do a little digging, ask her some questions. Not all scars are on the outside, kitten. You should know that."

"Right. Okay, we can do that." She turned her head, getting a familiar sense of tinglies. These weren't from the bites, but regular vamp ones. "Angels here," she said unnecessarily. She could tell he sensed him at the same time by the stiffening of his posture.

"Let's greet ol' granddad, shall we?" he asked holding out his arm like he was escorting her to a ball. She slid her arm through his, giggling at his antics as he made his way grandly through the living room. Flinging the door open, he smiled brightly at the flustered vamp whose hand was still poised to knock.

"Peaches, how kind of you to drop in uninvited and all that. We'd invite you in, but…well we don't really like you." The blond vampire never lost his grin. Angel's confused expression added to his delight.

"What the hell is this?" the dark vampire asked. "What the hell is he doing here, touching you? Is this some kind of payback because of Faith?"

"Yes, Angel. It's all about you. For you're information, Spike and I are mated. Oh, and we're engaged, too." Buffy slipped her free hand under her hair pulling it back and away from her neck to bring the claiming bite into full view.

"Still need to get you a proper ring, pet. I can't see Joyce approving of the skull ring for her only daughter." Spike's grinned widened when he heard the watchers snickering behind them.

"Oh, can we go shopping tomorrow, Spikey?" Buffy asked in her best Harmony impersonation. Her performance was so good that the blond vampire had to keep himself from cringing.

"Anything you want, kitten." He smiled down at her bright face, enjoying their taunting immensely.

The slayer leaned into the bleached vampire, resting her head on his shoulder. "Isn't he just the sweetest?" she sighed dreamily.

The dark vampire started to growl. Totally confused by the newest situation, he found himself losing control quickly. A sound from the courtyard behind him had the broody vamp spinning around. In the moonlight, he saw Willow and another girl walking toward the apartment. Things started clicking into place.

Willow.

Willow must have done a spell. He had heard from Willy about the redhead's spell that had caused the demon population to suddenly find themselves unable to do anything but seek out Xander, and the demon grapevine claimed that Buffy and Spike had found themselves engaged. That must be it; the witch did it.

He growled again before stalking toward the girls. He felt so enraged that his demon face slipped into place. He felt immense satisfaction when both females paused and Willow made a frightened sound.

Willow reacted without thought, throwing her hands out and shouting, "congelo"

The group looked on, mesmerized when the broody vampire frozen in place. They gathered around his still form cautiously.

"What did you do, Red?" The vampire moved closer to the frozen figure. He could see the brunette's eyes glaring at them although it was obvious that he was unable to move anything else.

"I-I don't know. I just reacted. He was coming at us all 'grrr' and I was afraid Angelus was back. H-he's not is he? Angelus, I mean."

Buffy sighed heavily, "No, he's not Angelus, just a really pissed off Angel." She looked at the excited blond next to her. "Maybe we shouldn't have taunted him like that."

Spike shot her an incredulous look, "What are you kiddin'? That was bloody fantastic, that was. Hey Red, how long will he stay like this?" he asked as he reached out, poking the Angel statue in the nose, pushing slightly and watching gleefully as he wobbled on his feet before steadying again.

"Um, about 5 hours…maybe 6. I can try to do a reversal spell-" she jumped when both blondes shouted, "No!"

"We can't just leave him out here- people will see him- and we can't invite him in. Spike quit it," she admonished her cohort, trying not to laugh at his continued poking of Angel.

"There's a nice dark corner, pet. We'll just drag him over there and by the time the spell ends, it'll be too late for any more interference and the day will be over."

"Okay, sounds like a plan." She tried to avoid the shocked gaze from her first love over her callous treatment of him.

Together, she and Spike moved the stiff figure into the corner of the courtyard behind some bushes. Satisfied that he was out of sight, they made their way back into the watchers home.

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful. Willow and Tara confirmed that both spells performed could not have caused the biting dreams that the blonds had experienced, but neither had a clue what might have been used.

After a brief recap for the two witches, Buffy filled in the group about the things that she had learned about Warren. She described the drawings of futuristic weaponry, the bits and pieces of mannequins, and stacks of girlie magazines that littered the basement apartment. All in all, it painted a creepy picture of their old classmate, but no real evidence of wrong doing. They decided to take a day to follow Warren around, check out his activities and if that didn't help, to go back and try to question Jonathan about his involvement with the strange boy. If every else failed, they would look into capturing Warren and trying a truth spell to get the answers they needed.

Once the meeting dispersed, the slayer and the vampire found themselves outside Giles' apartment trying to decide where to go from there. "I'm just saying, Spike, we've ended up there two nights in a row, and we can pretty well figure we're going to end up there again. We might as well start out there," she stated calmly avoiding Angel's horrified gaze.

"Are you sure you want to sleep at the crypt, pet?" He didn't want her to be uncomfortable sleeping in a place of death, but she didn't seem to have a problem with it and she did have a point. Having the poof witness their conversation was just an added bonus.

"Alright, kitten, it's your decision. Night, Peaches," he called over his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around the petite blond, delighted when she leaned into his embrace.

"Night, Angel," Buffy called softly, feeling so secure in the strong arms holding her tight.

Angel watched them until they were out of sight, filled with disbelief over the events that had unfolded. He heard the creak of the door to his right but couldn't turn to see who it was. He shuddered inwardly when a quiet voice whispered, "Goodnight, Angel."

Giles dusted his hands off as he closed and bolted his door once more. I could never get tired of that, he thought as he made his way up the stairs to his bedroom.

*****

They settled into the large bed awkwardly. It was one thing to wake up together with no knowledge of how you got there; it was quite another to start out that way. They finally settled down with Buffy laying her head on his shoulder, while Spike wrapped his arms around her in a friendly embrace. Both were careful to not touch the other anywhere that could be considered intimate.

Buffy had placed Spike's mug, with her stake sticking out of it, on the table next to the bed. "Do you think we're making any progress, Spike?" she asked sleepily.

"Sure, luv. Things are changing, aren't they? We're pretty close to figuring most of it out. Just need to keep at it and we'll have this thing licked in no time."

Licked? Oh, bad Buffy! She thought, fighting the urge to squirm. His words did little ease the wrong lusty feelings she was having. Squashing the evil thoughts down, she smiled at her companion. "Well, I'm glad it's you I'm stuck with. I can't imagine having to repeat a day over and over with Xander or Angel or- God-forbid- Riley. I think I would have gone insane by now."

He chuckled lightly before replying, "No problem, Slayer. There's no one else I'd rather spend an eternal day with than you, either."

She grinned as she snuggled in closer. "You say the sweetest things, blondie bear."

"Night, pet."

"Night, Spike."

******

After hours of peaceful slumber, Buffy opened her eyes to find Spike still sound asleep and snoring gently. He snores. That's so cute, she thought. She pulled back slowly, not wanting to wake him. She was delighted to see her stake still sticking out of his mug.

Settling back down into his arms, she quietly observed his features. He was so breathtakingly handsome. The cheekbones, the full lips, even the scar above this eye. It all added up to one sexy package. Her eyes dipped down to his chest and abdomen that wasn't covered by the sheet. Damn, the vamp has abs in abundance, she thought. Her mouth watered and her fingers itched to touch. Down girl.

She thought back to the Willow's spell and the wonderful kisses they'd shared. Hmmm, Lips of Spike. Almost against her will, she found her eyes drawn to those same lips. She hesitated, checking his face to make sure he was still asleep. Just one little kiss, she thought. One slight pressing together of their lips. He was sleeping so soundly, he would never know.

She lowered her head to his once again. So close she could feel his unneeded breath against her face.

Just one…little…kiss.

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