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Buffy looked at him blankly, her mind suddenly reeling. Spike had money? From his human days? How the heck did that work? “Um…think I’m gonna need the whole story on that one, Spike.”

“My human family was gentry, pet. We didn’t have much money, but we did own a bit of prime London property, some fine art, and quite a number of antiques.

“I never officially died, so after m’ mum passed on, I was able to have everything sold and invested through the family solicitor.” Spike carefully explained. “I had the lot turned over to be managed by one of the demon friendly law firms and the account’s been makin’ money for me ever since.” He was positive that Buffy wouldn’t find anything wrong with him using this money, although he was equally positive that she would have a problem with the events concerning his mum’s death, regardless of what Penny had told him.

“It’s not the firm that brought Darla back, is it?” Buffy was looking for a loophole and praying all the while that she didn’t find one. She was definitely liking the idea of Spike having a place that wasn’t in the middle of a cemetery. There could be shopping. Shopping was good.

“Nah, luv, I don’t really fancy the idea of someone evil looking after m’ money.” Spike grinned at the little blond in his lap, pleased with his own forethought. Maybe this could actually work.

Grinning in approval, Buffy asked the question that Anya would have voiced much earlier, “So…how much money do you have?”

“Money? Spike has money?” Anya’s unerring ability to focus in on matters of importance did not fail her now.

~*~*~

Joyce had sent Dawn off to bed with a kiss and a hug. She had school in the morning and Joyce feared that the day’s excitement might make sleeping hard. She had been pleasantly surprised to discover that her concerns were unfounded; her little girl was safely off in the Land of Nod.

Now, if only she could get to sleep herself. Right now however, sleep seemed an awful lot like death and the thought of how close she had come to…

The sharp knock at the door brought Joyce back from the dangerous realms of depression. Approaching the door, she cautiously asked, “who’s there?”

“It’s Penny, I thought you might want some company,” the psychologist quietly informed the shaken mother of two.

Opening the door with relief, Joyce smiled at the small woman. “I would be delighted to have some company.”

Penny lightly patted Joyce on the arm as she moved past her. “It’ll be alright, Joyce. Why don’t we have a drink and celebrate life.”

Joyce thought that just might be a very good idea.

~* ~*~

“Willy’s the best one to ask if you’re looking to buy a place, Spike. He has all the right connections and a wide variety of places to look at,” Anya sagely informed the bleached blonde. “It might be a good idea not to hit him first, though. If you keep him in a good mood, he’ll make sure the normal waiting time is practically nonexistent.”

“Good to know, Anya.” Spike acknowledged the ex-demon with a smile and a nod. Turning to Buffy, he made a further suggestion, “Maybe we could stop by his place on patrol tonight, luv? I’m sure Harris and his girl don’t want to be stuck with me for too long.”

“Wait…you’re staying with Xander?” Okay this was news; namely the type of news that girlfriends should know. She was the girlfriend, so why didn’t she know this?

“He asked earlier, Buff. He didn’t want there to be any mistakes made or anything to worry about with the whole Harmony thing,” Xander quickly informed the volatile blond. “I’m gonna give him Anya’s key to use tonight, so he can let himself in when you two finish patrol.”

“You’re giving away my key?” Anya hadn’t heard that part of the agreement. Xander hadn’t mentioned anything about her being without her key. She didn’t know how she felt about that. Should she be angry?

“Its only for tonight, Anya. It’ll be there waiting for you on your kitchen bench in the mornin,’” Spike quickly assured the girl. Harris had been good to offer it to him and Spike had no desire to see the boy’s act of kindness rewarded with a brassed off girlfriend.

Buffy looked at the two males with suspicion. Had they just double teamed her and Anya?

Spike watched the irritation flash though his girl’s eyes. ‘Best cut that off right quick,’ he thought to himself as he waited for his opportunity to present itself.

Buffy turned her heard towards her snugly cushion, ready and willing to rip into a rant about the unfairness of his joining forces with Xander and ganging up on their girlfriends. Her thoughts were distracted though when Spike’s lips swooped in to steal a kiss.

‘Okay, I could get used to this. Mmmm, Spike’s lips. Lips of Spike.’

“Shouldn’t you guys be thinking about patrolling rather than swapping spit?” Xander couldn’t have stopped his comment if he tried. He might be friends with both of them, but the Xan-man had to be let out sometimes.

Foreheads touching, both blonds turned to the carpenter in unison.

“Okay, see? That’s how they look when they don’t think something is funny,” Xander informed the rest of the grinning Scoobies, completely unfazed by the looks he was receiving from the lethal blonds.

~*~*~

When Spike shyly reached for Buffy’s hand, she was delighted to feel the requisite butterflies fluttering around inside her. They strolled along at a leisurely place, intermittently taking turns to cast furtive glances towards the other. Neither really minding that the night seemed reluctant to interrupt them with too many distractions; a fledgling here, a miquot demon there. There was nothing at all to compete with two supernatural warriors that worked together like a well oiled machine. When the disruptions were properly dealt with, Buffy and Spike resumed their unhurried stroll through the cemeteries of Sunnydale on their way to see the estate agent that nine out of ten demons preferred.

~*~*~

“You want to buy a house?” Willy looked at the vampire, his disbelief clearly displayed on his features.

“Yes,” Spike assured the snitch.

“You want to pay for it?” Willy hadn’t survived for as long as he had by not clarifying all the details.

“Yes,” Spike replied, his irritation beginning to show.

“With cash, right? Not kittens?” Willy persisted.

“Kittens?” Buffy felt urged to ask.

“With cash,” Spike answered the dark haired barman.

“There are kittens?” Buffy asked her boyfriend, confused.

“I’ll explain later, pet,” Spike assured the tiny but deadly woman at his side. She was going to be brassed when she found out. Best to get her away from the best source of property for demons that this town had before he dropped that little bombshell on her!

It was obvious that that bartender was thinking along the same lines as the vampire. “Why don’t you come back tomorrow, Spike? I’ll have a list of what’s available for you then.”

Spike agreed to the meeting and quickly ushered the curious Slayer out of the bar and towards her home. He could tell by her expression that she was working her way up from curiousity to anger at her failure to get said information from the two individuals that seemed to be in the know.

Buffy walked in silence for a few minutes before inquisitiveness got the better of her and she demanded, “So…kittens?”

Bugger.

Quickly evaluating his options, Spike decided to go with the truth and hope that she decided to re-educate rather than dust him on principle. “Some demons use ‘em as currency, luv. I can trade ‘em for cash to buy blood and supplies.”

“And the people you trade them to...what do they do with them,” Buffy asked, confused.

“I trade them to Clem for cash, 'cause Clem’s a bloody tragic poker player, luv.” Spike wondered just how long he could distract her from the actual question she had asked by confusing her with misdirection.

“Poker?” Buffy had the sinking feeling that this conversation was not going to end well.

“Kitten Poker,” Spike corrected her before he had time to think, then silently berated himself for being an idiot that needed to learn to keep his big mouth shut.

Buffy stopped abruptly and turned her shocked gaze on the vampire that was anticipating a great deal of bodily harm in the not too distant future. “Kittens. You use kittens as currency in your poker games?”

“Well, it used to be nubile young virgins, but those are in short supply these days. Scarce as hens teeth they are.” Spike hoped that a little humour would distract her, but he doubted the likelihood of that given her focused expression.

“What happens to the kittens?” Buffy asked firmly. She had finally worked out his game. Direct questioning was only way she was getting the answers she wanted.

“I told ya’, luv. I trade ‘em to Clem,” Spike patiently explained, stubbornly clinging to the hope that he would think of something that would get him out of the great bollixing mess he could feel himself sinking deeper and deeper into.

“What does um, Clem do with them, Spike?” Buffy asked calmly.

Spike gulped. The moment was here. It could no longer be put off. “Clem gets a snack.”

“EWWWW Spike!” Buffy screeched as she smacked him painfully on the arm. “No more kitten poker...ever!”

~*~*~

“I could have died,” Joyce whispered the words, her gaze haunted. He mind reeled with the aftershock of the day’s events. This morning she’d been slightly irritable because of the pain of the continuing headaches and the doctor’s failure to discover what was causing them. Then this strange woman had arrived and changed Joyce’s world. Forever.

Joyce thought about the bizarre journey she’d taken with her eldest daughter and a protective vampire to an empty swimming pool. She had watched when, upon arriving, said vampire had dived into the pool head first, only to disappear before he hit the bottom. In the blink of an eye she had been transported to a dungeon-like room, where she’d learned that she would be held as collateral while Spike fought for her very life. She’d seen the big-hearted vampire make those horrific trials look easy. She’d watched helplessly as he willingly, without a moment of hesitation, agreed to give up his existence so that she could have hers. She had felt the illness leave her when the small man that had been their contact for the trials had touched her head.

She had been jubilant on the journey back to her home. Her euphoria had not abated when she shared her adventure with her younger child. She had been more than happy to take Dawn to the Magic Box so that the young girl could show her gratitude to the vampire that had saved her mother’s life.

Joyce had been a little surprised at her own reaction to the intrusion of the brunette vampire. Her feelings of animosity towards him had clearly not changed in the almost two years that he had been gone. She still hated him. She had been outraged by his attempts to dominate the blond vampire that had captured a piece of her heart. She had shown absolute support when her protector had chosen to free himself from the control of the detested elder vampire. She had felt her carefully hidden fear and concern for the younger vampire well up and almost choke her with it’s intensity as the battle for freedom had progressed. She felt her trepidations wash away with the depth of her relief when the clash was over and the victor unharmed.

She had happily sighed in contentment as she watched her baby girl sleep.

Then, as she sat to take a relaxing moment for herself, she realised something. She could have died.

“But you didn’t.”

Penny’s calm assurance pierced the fog of panic that was threatening to once again overwhelm her. Joyce felt torn between her joy at being alive and her fear for her daughters’ well being if anything had happened to her. At the moment the fear was winning.

Joyce’s anxiety made her voice harsh. “And Buffy and Dawn? What would have happened to them if I had? How would they have survived?” Turning fear filled eyes that glistened with moisture towards the calm psychologist, Joyce whispered her last question. “What would have become of my babies?”

“Life would have happened to them Joyce.” Penny smiled gently at the distressed woman. “It would have been hard. It always is when you lose a loving mother. But they didn’t lose you, and from what you said, they won’t for a long time. They have the time to finish growing up now and you… well, you get to watch them and help them and live a little of that life for yourself.” Taking Joyce’s hands in hers, Penny gave them a soft squeeze as she smiled playfully and gently chided the other woman. “I always thought you were a ‘glass is half full’ kinda girl, Joyce. You’re focusing on the wrong end of this deal. The fact that you almost died means one thing and one thing only…you’re alive.”

“I’m alive.”

~*~*~

Spike glanced furtively at the still fuming blond at his side. The dull ache in his right hand had upgraded itself to mildly excruciating. He was forced to hold his arm stiffly by his side so that the intense pain of accidentally moving the bugger didn’t cause him to black out. It looked like the witches’ poultice had worn off and if he wasn’t mistaken, he’d broken at least a few more bones in the fight with the poof. He supposed he really shouldn’t be miffed that the little bugger at the trials hadn’t healed it when he healed the holy water burns on his left hand, but would it really have made that much of a bloody difference? To top it all off, he had a brassed off slayer on his hands and not the first bleedin’ clue of how to get little Miss Mood-Swing to flip the switch back to happy land. She was the most frustrating, cantankerous…

“Spike, what’s wrong?” Buffy’s worried voice unknowingly interrupted Spikes internal rant.

“What?” he asked in confusion. He stopped walking and turned to look at her.

“You’re walking funny and doing that grinding of your teeth thingy. So, what’s wrong?” she critically looked him over as she asked her question. Taking in the way his arm was stiffly held at his side brought her gaze down to his damaged hand. Her eyes widened as her memories brought a very clear image of her unknowingly damaging his hand the day before only to have the scene warp into a picture of him fighting Angel. “Your hand,” she whispered in concern. Her solicitude rapidly changed to ire at the realisation that he’d risked himself to fight with a broken hand. “ARE YOU CRAZY?!”

“ARRRGGGGHHH!” Spike threw his head back and yelled in frustration. “That’s IT!” Grabbing her right hand with his left, the furious master vampire decisively changed the direction they had been headed in and dragged the surprised girl after him as he purposely strode into the night.

“Move your bloody arse, Slayer.”

Buffy’s mind spun with a myriad of thoughts. Spike was seriously pissed about something, and while Spike pissed was not normally a good thing, Buffy was a little shocked by her own very physical reaction to this side of her vampire’s nature.

It had been a long time since she’d seen him this angry. Normally she would have just stopped him from dragging her anywhere, a quick pop to the nose here, a few well chosen and destructive words there and then a little flick of her hair as she stormed away. It was amazing the difference that admitting that she really did want to be with him had made to their relationship in such a short time. While she could do without being dragged along at a furious pace by a master vampire that was clearly more then a little cranky, she had to admit that she was totally turned on by his caveman tactics. She honestly had no clue as to what had set him off though.

As she stumbled along behind him, she found herself at a total loss for words. Maybe if she could get him to slow down, she could make him to talk to her. Maybe she could at least find out where they were going. Tugging on his hand in an effort to slow him down, Buffy was a little concerned when his only response was to growl loudly with displeasure. Okay, maybe she should just wait until they got where they were going.

She didn’t have long to wait, she realised as they entered Restfield Cemetery. Making his way to his crypt, Buffy felt a wave of trepidation engulf her. There was no way he would bring her here if they weren’t about to have the mother of all shouting match’s. She was trying so hard to be honest with herself, and she had to admit that if he started yelling, she would yell back. Somehow she had to try and keep control of her temper. She obviously needed to apologise for something. She could be the bigger person. Couldn’t she? Damn, things weren’t looking good.

Slamming open the door of the crypt, Spike pulled her inside. Parking her next to the sarcophagus, he moved silently around the dark room lighting the few candles that Harmony hadn’t taken. As the small flickering flames slowly brought some much needed light to the darkness, Spike looked over at the girl standing quietly and so unlike her usual self. Pointing to the sarcophagus, he wordlessly indicated that she should take a seat before he disappeared completely from view.

She could hear him moving in the lower chamber of the crypt and his familiar signature buzzed through her body. She mentally went over the events leading up to his display of temper and couldn’t figure out what had caused the abrupt turnaround in his mood. Unless…? Was it possible that her yelling at him out of concern had been misinterpreted? Did he think that she doubted his ability to beat Angel? Because that was so not the case. She hadn’t meant to give him that impression. Oh, boy; did she have some making up to do if that was what he thought.

Buffy was so lost in her own musings that she didn’t notice that Spike had returned to the room until he started placing more candles around them and lighting them. She felt a strong urge to break the silence between them. Spike was clearly upset and if the little flashes of gold that she noticed in his eyes were any indication, he was having a hard enough time trying to control his demon. It couldn’t help but sooth his internal battle if she apologised.

“I’m sorry,” she told him quietly, but earnestly. “I didn’t mean to go all bitchy Buffy on you. I was more angry with myself than you. Angel would never have come here if I hadn’t taunted him and when I saw your hand and realised that you’d fought him and that it might have caused you permanent damage and that it was all because of me…well, I kinda lost it and I took it out on you.” She smiled slightly in self deprecation before turning her tear filled eyes that pleaded with him to believe her, “I’m so sorry.”

Spike moved towards her. Lifting a hand to cup her cheek, he gently swept his thumb under her eye, removing the single tear that had slipped over the edge. Sighing softly in defeat, he stepped in between her slightly parted thighs and gathered her into his embrace. This small slip of a girl could affect him so deeply, in so many ways. He couldn’t even begin to describe how much power she had over him. He loved her so much that for the first time in his entire existence, words failed him. He knew that they had to talk, but for the moment he allowed himself to enjoy the comfort of her presence and the connection he felt with her as he held her in his arms. The roller coaster ride that was this girl’s mood swings could wait. Just for a moment.

In his arms, her head resting on his shoulder and her arms pressed against his back. Buffy felt safe.

“Buffy, luv, we have to talk.”

Uh oh…that didn’t sound good. Buffy was fairly certain that those four innocent little words could only mean one thing – trouble. Gulping in dreaded anticipation, she slowly lifted her head and sought out his eyes, her own fearful. “Talk?”

Taking a deep breath, Spike forged valiantly ahead. “Pet, do you have any idea how frustrating the hormonal hurricane that is a Buffy mood swing can be?”

“Huh?” Buffy looked startled. Whatever she had expected him to say, it hadn’t been that.

“Today I’ve spent time with Scared Buffy, Elated Buffy, Slayer Buffy, Loving Buffy, Supportive Buffy, Happy Buffy, Pissed Buffy, Silent Buffy, Jealous Buffy, Sweet Buffy, Concerned Buffy, Angry Buffy, and- last but not least- Bitchy Buffy. Now don’t get me wrong, luv. I love being around any Buffy, but does it all have to be in one day?”

Buffy didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. Here was a vampire that had happily stayed with an insane, cheating ho for over a hundred years and he was complaining because Buffy could, on occasion, be a little…temperamental. Well no, not temperamental, because she so wasn’t that. True, she could get a little cross, but it’s not like she was some insane-o roller coaster girl like he was making her out to be. She’d had a lot to deal with over the span of the day. It was understandable that she had reacted to each event. There was no way that she was going to apologize for her behaviour. He was just gonna have to suck it up like the big vampire that he was. Looking Spike directly in the eye, she lifted an eyebrow and offered up her challenge, “Are you saying that you don’t want to meet the other Buffy’s, Spike?”

“Never said that, pet.” Spike looked at the sparkling gleam in the eyes of the girl in his arms and wondered briefly what the little minx was up to now. He may have been angry and frustrated at her volleying moods, but he had to admit, she always managed to surprise him. There was never going to be a dull moment with his slayer.

“Good,” she said as she gave him a cheeky grin. “’Cause I don’t think you’ve met Lusty Buffy yet.”

Spike raised an eyebrow as he leaned back to study the playful girl before joining in on the game. “Can’t say I’ve had that pleasure, but I think I almost met her during our engagement, pet.”

“You know,” Buffy said, batting her eyelashes innocently. “Now that I think about it, we never did break off our engagement.”

“You never did give me back my ring.” Spike agreed, smirking. “That, of course means that you’ve been cheating on me for the past year and are in desperate need of punishment.”

“Oh, and I suppose Harmony the ho was a figment of my imagination?” Buffy snarked back, without losing a beat.

Spike rolled his eyes and then shook his head in self deprecation as he gave a quiet chuckle. “I wish the bint was a figment of mine.”

“What’s the matter, Spikey? Didn’t you enjoy her company?” Buffy teased, pouting in sympathy. She knew exactly what effect the patented Summer’s pout would have on him.

His eyes focused on her protruding bottom lip. Lifting a finger, he lightly rubbed it as he absentmindedly answered her questions, “A vacuum cleaner would have given me more intelligent conversation, been quieter, sucked less air out of the room, and I wouldn’t have had to put up with all those soddin’ unicorns.”

Capturing his exploring finger in her teeth, Buffy daintily caressed it with her tongue. His approving growl encouraged her to softly suck on the ensnared digit.

Spike bumped his injured right hand on the edge of the sarcophagus as he lifted it towards her head and was immediately overcome by black billowing waves of dizziness. His last conscious thought before the darkness took hold was ‘Well, isn’t this bloody typical!’

~*~*~

“Willow, c...can we talk?” Tara nervously asked.

“Sure, sweetie. What’s up?” Willow replied with gentle assurance.

Tara took a seat next to Willow on their large double bed. Her nerves were getting to her, but she needed to do this. She wanted to tell Willow the truth. She had to discuss what she’d discovered with somebody else. She knew she had no reason to feel guilty, but that didn’t seem to stop the emotion from threatening to overwhelm her. She’d kept this secret from her lover for almost a week now, the thought of finally telling Willow had her scared and yet elated at the same time.

Tara took a deep breath. “After my family left, my aunts sent me a box that had belonged to my mother,” she spoke softly, her tone as gentle as the girl herself. “I received it about two weeks ago. When I went through it, I found a letter from my m…mother.”

Willow reached for Tara’s hand, silently urging the girl to continue.

“The letter was to me. She wrote that she’d written the letter in hope that I would someday find the strength to leave home and my father’s influence.” Tara paused, her memories of her loving and gently guiding mother bringing with them a fresh wave of grief.

Willow gave her hand a quick and encouraging squeeze. “And you did, baby. She would have been so proud of you.”

Sending her love an appreciative smile, Tara continued, “Her letter told me that there were some things that she had kept from me and that now that I wasn’t under Dad’s influence anymore, it was important for me to know the truth. She left me a key and the details to a safety deposit box in Los Angeles. That’s were I went last week, when I was out all day.”

“What did you find?” Willow quietly asked. She could see how difficult this conversation was for her girlfriend. She honestly didn’t care about Tara keeping this from her. She just wanted the sweet woman that she loved to be able to get what ever it was that she felt burdened with off her chest. Willow’s first concern was Tara.

“A notebook,” Tara replied. Standing and moving to her night table, she silently removed the small notebook from the drawer, walked back to Willow and handed her the book. “You need to read it, Will.”

Willow automatically reached for the small hand written tome as she kept her curious gaze on her lover. Tara said nothing more, just nodding at the object in Willow’s hands, silently encouraging her to read. Willow looked down at the innocent looking book and opened it. The first paragraph and the mention of her best friend grabbed Willow’s immediate attention.

~*~*~

Xander took in the scene before him. Spike was unconscious on the floor of the crypt, His head resting in Buffy’s lap. Buffy was clearly distressed. Tears were streaming from her eyes, unchecked. Xander’s accusation was spoken before he had time to think. “What did you do?”

“I broke his hand and then he fought with it and ... oh Xander... I'm bad girlfriend Buffy!” she sobbed brokenly.

Looking down at the hand in question, Xander was horrified to see that it had swollen to twice its normal size and was almost black in colour.

Wasting no time, Xander took charge. “Can you lift him so we can move him to the car? We need to get him back to my place. I’ve already called Willow and Giles. He’s picking up the girls and taking them to the shop so they can get supplies. I want Spike settled before they get there.”

Xander’s quick and decisive actions seemed to break through her fog of self-recrimination. Carefully, Buffy lifted Spike’s head so that she could move out from under him. She gently shifted his injured right hand so that it would be cradled in his lap as she held him like a babe in arms. Effortlessly, she lifted Spike while Xander supported his head until she had him positioned comfortably in her arms. Xander gingerly set Spike’s head to rest on her shoulder before he ushered the two out of the crypt to his waiting car.

The drive back to his apartment was uneventful, but Xander’s concern for his friend increased with every minute he remained unconscious. Xander hadn’t even realised until he saw the unconscious vampire how much the friendship between them had come to mean to him in such a short time. He really wanted Spike to wake up. Soon.

By the time Willow, Tara and Giles arrived, Xander had Anya packing blood packs in the freezer, Buffy’s lap posing as Spike’s pillow, and the Slayer under strict orders not to move while he checked and rechecked every window in the apartment to make sure that they were completely covered. Willow’s gasp at the sight of Spike’s injury upgraded Xander’s concern from high alert to code red.

“Oh, Goddess, he never said a word,” Willow whispered in awe.

“He fought with this injury?” Giles asked incredulously. Had he not seen the combat himself, Giles doubted he would have believed it possible for anyone to perform as admirably in a fight as Spike had with such a large handicap. The vampire continued to amaze the watcher.

Buffy ignored everyone. She gently stroked her boyfriend’s face and silently pleaded with him to wake up.

“Shouldn’t we try a healing spell?” Willow asked, concerned

“No,” Xander answered her in a tone that brooked no argument. “Just the stuff you did for him yesterday. He hates magic. He wouldn’t want it.”

Willow was a little put out that her suggestion had been completely vetoed by her long time friend. It was only a little spell, and really, even if he didn’t like magic, a healing spell was for his own good so he shouldn’t complain. If Xander such a good friend to the vampire then he should be happy to try something that could help him. She was only trying to help.

“He needs blood more than a healing spell,” Anya bluntly informed them all.

“How do we get him to drink while he’s unconscious?” Tara asked. Her concern for the vampire left her without her usual stutter.

“Blood!” Xander excitedly exclaimed. The answering blank stares forced him to elaborate. “Buffy’s blood, I mean. Wouldn’t a little slayer treat wake him up so he could drink some of the stuff we got him?”

“Alexander Lavelle Harris! Are you suggesting Buffy willingly offer her blood to a vampire?” Anya looked beyond shocked.

“Only that one,” Xander burst out defensively.

“I’m so proud of you!” the ex vengeance demon cried excitedly as she threw herself into his arms.

“Actually, Xander, your idea does have merit,” Giles informed the carpenter.

“What do I do?” Buffy asked, willing to try anything if it brought her vampire back from where she couldn’t reach him. She needed to actively participate. It was who she was.

“Well, if Anya wouldn’t mind preparing some blood for Spike, the only other things we will need are a straw and a sharp knife,” Giles instructed the group much like he would normally. He was pleased that on this occasion there were no arguments, nor was there any of the usual grumbling that would have taken place. Anya moved swiftly and efficiently to perform her task. Xander collected the knife and straw then handed both items to the watcher. Buffy seemed torn between needing to do something active and staying with her unresponsive paramour. Willow and Tara moved in unison to provide the much needed poultice. Giles stood and watched his charges while they worked. It was who he was.

“While Spike is still unconscious, Tara, could you see to his hand?” Giles asked the gentle Wicca once the two witches had prepared the salve.

Tara worked silently, for once unperturbed by the eyes that focused on her while she worked. She looked critically at the injury she was attempting to help. She was glad she’d made the paste stronger, it really looked like the vampire was going to need all the help he could get. Finishing up, she moved away from the wounded blond, not wanting to crowd him.

Buffy looked to Giles for instruction. She had no clue what to do for her guy. She was beyond grateful that these people- her extended family- had rushed to surround and support them, but right now she needed direction. Left on her own, Buffy would have been totally lost.

Giles waited until Anya came back with the now heated mug of blood and placed the straw in the cup as she passed it to him. Turning to Buffy he handed her the knife as he told her what to do. “Nick one of your fingers and allow the blood to form a droplet. Wave it slowly under his nose. If that doesn’t get a reaction, rub the finger against his lips. We need to bring forward his demon. It will help him with the pain.”

Buffy nodded in understanding and proceeded to follow her watcher’s instructions to the letter. Carefully cutting the tip of her finger, Buffy put down the knife as she allowed the blood to well up. She was elated when the scent of her potent blood immediately brought Spike’s demon to the fore. Bringing her finger closer to his nose, she smiled indulgently as he seemed to lean into the scent. She let a drop of her blood drip onto his lips and giggled as his tongue whipped out to catch it, eliciting a moan of ecstasy from the vampire that was slowly fighting his way back to consciousness. Lightly pressing on his lips to open them, Buffy slipped the still bleeding finger into his mouth. Her own level of arousal skyrocketed when his tongue started to gently caress her injured finger.

Anya was the first to notice that at least part of him was awake. “You’ll be glad to know that that it still works, Buffy,” she stated bluntly as she pointed to his very obvious reaction to the aphrodisiac qualities of slayers blood.

As all eyes seemed to be unintentionally drawn to the very impressive manly bits of the inert blond, until Buffy’s indignant shout of ‘HEY!’ was uttered. She swiftly placed her hand over the object of their interest as if to shield it from their gaze, muttering all the while about people who couldn’t keep their damned eyes to themselves and off her boyfriend’s good bits.

Spike’s chuckle reverberated through the room causing all eyes to transfer to his face. Beautiful cerulean eyes that sparkled mischievously fixed on Buffy’s. “You planning on leaving your hand there, pet?”

Giles and Xander joined Spike in his laughter when the petite blond snatched back her hand and flushed a rather bright shade of red.

~*~*~

The further Angel got from the Hellmouth, the more convinced he became that he could change the upcoming events. He was going to save Darla and thereby prove that the viper-tongued banshee was a charlatan. He would prove to them all that he was the champion even if he had to face down the oracles again to do it.

The first thing he had to do was get his team back on his side. Lorne could help him with that. He’d sing for the empath demon and then Lorne would tell the others that he was on the right path, which would open the door for them all to work together again. Then they would find a way to prove to those gullible fools in Sunnydale that the bitch was running a scam on them. She was probably working with that bastard that had somehow tricked Angel into relinquishing his familial hold.

The second thing he would do would be to deal with that arrogant little prick. Angel was determined that he would make them all see Spike’s true nature, even if he had to get a spell done to do it. Maybe he could get Lorne to point him in the right direction to getting a spell done on his ex-grandchilde while he was there.

Cordelia surreptitiously watched Angel from her seat next to him. It was easy to see that the broody one had shifted into denial mode. It looked like she and Wes had their work cut out for them. Angel didn’t take defeat well, and Cordelia was fairly certain that if he kept trying to go up against the Sunnydale crew, he was going to have to get used to losing.

~*~*~

It had taken a while, but Spike had finally convinced every one that he was fine. Tara had told him that she would take a look at his hand the next day and see if it needed more treatment. Willow had tried to talk him into allowing her to perform a healing spell, telling him that Xander had stopped her from doing one while he was unconscious. Spike had gratefully thanked the carpenter, saying that magic had consequences and he wasn’t fool enough to use it for trivial matters. Giles had backed Spike’s decision in regards to the use of magic as he ushered the two witches out of the apartment.

Xander had finally agreed to go to bed after Spike pointed out that if he hurt himself on the job that Anya would blame the resident vampire. So for the sake of Spike’s continued good health, Xander said good night.

Which left the slayer alone with one very horny vampire. Unlife was good.

~*~*~

Joyce watched in horror as Dawn was pulled from her side. The darkness reached in through the passenger side door and had grabbed Dawn before her mother even had time to shout a warning. Unmindful of the danger, Joyce scrambled out of the car, moving with the speed and grace of a slayer. She took in the horrifying sight of her baby fruitlessly struggling in the arms of a monster.

Piercing yellow eyes narrowed at Joyce’s approach. A rumbling snarl echoed through the night and sharp teeth moved closer to Dawn’s vulnerable throat.

Joyce watched at the surprised features of the vampire as she growled in answer to his snarl. “Keep your goddamned hands off my daughter, Riley Finn!”

Joyce sat up abruptly. The echoes of her dream replayed over and over again. Swiftly climbing out of bed, she headed in the direction of her youngest daughter’s room. A mother’s need to check on her child overwhelmed all other thoughts.

In Dawn’s room, she sighed in relief as she looked down at the face of her baby. Lightly brushing the hair from Dawn’s face, Joyce pulled up the covers and settled them around the shoulders of the sleeping child before leaning forward to leave a soft kiss on the brunette’s head and quietly leaving the room.

Making her way downstairs, Joyce grabbed a pad and pen from a drawer in the kitchen and sat at the counter to write down everything she remembered from the dream.

In the two years that she had known about the supernatural world, Joyce had learned a lot. She knew how important Buffy’s dreams were. She knew what her own dreams were normally like. This one was unlike anything she had dreamed before. It had been in colour and so real in feeling and content that it was more like a memory than a dream, but Joyce knew that wasn’t quite right. Something from very deep inside her told her that this was pre-knowledge of an event that could happen. On the same level as her awareness that this was an event that had not yet happened was the innate insight that this was a warning of something that could happen within the next couple of days. Now- thanks to her dream- she had the power to change the outcome of a potentially disastrous situation.

Joyce was elated. She had been given a gift from the Powers; a gift that would allow her daughter, the Slayer, and her personal saviour, the vampire, to be forewarned about coming events. She was being given the opportunity to help, to play a larger part in her daughter’s supernatural life. She had to talk to Rupert first thing in the morning.

~*~*~

Spike barely waited for Xander to close the door to the spare room before he gathered Buffy into his arms and kissed her with all the pent up passion he had been saving since he woke.

Buffy melted into his embrace, their lips meeting eagerly in an erotic dance as old as time.

Pulling her mouth away as the need to breath became an urgent consideration, Buffy gasped as if trying to bring as much air into her aching lungs as possible. She was overwhelmed with the feeling of completion that Spike gave her. Tears flooded her eyes as she remembered how helpless his unconscious form had made her feel. Desperation coloured her words, “You can’t leave me. I need you to be here. Don’t ever scare me like that again.” She punctuated her statements with kisses all over his face.

Taking in the anxiety of the beautifully demonstrative girl in his arms, Spike was overjoyed to realise that her words spoke of deeper feelings than he had thought possible. He didn’t know if she loved him, he didn’t know if he’d ever be able to gauge that emotion in another being, not after what happened with the other two women that he had loved. His judgement on that subject was definitely skewed. But it was clear she felt something strong for him, something so strong that it made how Drusilla had cared for him pale in comparison. He rushed to reassure the vulnerable girl. “Not goin’ anywhere, luv. Why would I want to leave heaven?”

No one ever made her feel like he did. She felt her affection for him well up inside her. When her rational mind asked the question, ‘could you love him?’, she honestly thought that she could.

She smiled at him in response to his beautiful words.

“Stay with me tonight? Just let me hold you while you sleep?” Spike whispered his question. He was afraid that she would say no, but equally afraid that she would say yes.

~*~*~

“Rupert, it’s Joyce,” she informed him when he answered the phone. She was excited at the prospect of sharing her news with someone, but the fact that the first person she had thought of to share this news with was a man she had once thought of as a ‘stevedore’ was not lost on her.

“Is everything alright?” Giles rushed to ask, his heart hammering wildly.

“Well, I suppose that all depends on how you feel about me having prophetic dreams?” Joyce grinned. She couldn’t help herself, she felt as giddy as a child.

“I beg your pardon?” His shocked response indicated that this was probably the last thing he had expected.

“You heard me correctly, Rupert,” she smiled indulgently, not considering that the smile was wasted on someone who couldn’t see her. He’d be able to hear it in her voice. He was an intelligent man.

“Prophetic dreams, you say?” Giles desperately tried to wrap his mind around the concept. “Er, perhaps it would be best if we were to speak directly. May I visit you?”

“Of course. I’ll start the tea.”

~*~*~

“We have to tell Buffy about this, Tara.” Willow was hesitant in her approach to the subject. She knew how much her mother’s death still affected the dishwater blonde, but as mindful as she was of Tara’s feelings, Willow was sure that Buffy needed this information. She’d learned that coincidences were more than they seemed to be when they happened on the Hellmouth, and this bordered on the freaky.

“I know,” Tara agreed. “But I c-c-can’t help thinking that we should take it to M-Mr. Giles or Penny first.” She hated how her stammer got worse when she tried to offer an opinion or mentioned a male authority figure. Nineteen years of subservience was a hard habit to break.

Willow had to agree. The information in the note book was way out of her league. It smacked of equal amounts of supernatural and human interference and that should be right up the ex-watcher’s alley, what with his experience with the council and all.

“You’re right,” Willow told her. “We should show it to Giles.”

~*~*~

Buffy woke first. Her initial reaction was to wonder where she was. As the confusion left her waking mind, she snuggled further into the embrace of her boyfriend. She carefully repositioned herself so she could study his face in repose. The angular lines of his cheekbones seemed to soften in his sleep.

He really was beautiful.

Unlike his waking self, Spike in sleep looked innocent. She thought for a moment before deciding that awake was definitely better, that way she got to see his incredibly expressive eyes. Twin pools of blue that mesmerized and then held you, making everything else disappear. Eyes that were the epitome of sexy, especially when he looked at you through his eyelashes when he first woke up. Eyes that were looking at her right now.

“Morning,” she said as she smiled at the waking vampire.

~*~*~

When Buffy walked in through her mother’s front door, she was surprised to find her watcher happily ensconced in her kitchen, having an in-depth conversation with her mother. And ewww! Was her mother flirting?

“Ah, Buffy, I am glad you are here. It appears that your mother has some news.” Giles smiled warmly at his slayer. He was extremely happy with most of what Joyce had shared with him, but the idea of actually telling the volatile slayer that her mother was now an instrument of the same Powers that had made her the Slayer was something he would rather avoid. Joyce had far more experience in dealing with her capricious daughter anyway.

Joyce gave the apprehensive watcher a wry smile. Trust a man to pass off this little job

Buffy looked from her watcher to her mother and back again. Nobody said anything.

“Sharing would be of the good, people,” Buffy told them facetiously.

Joyce rolled her eyes at her impatient daughter then once again repeated her tale.

“So, mom is like my new early warning system?” Buffy asked, perplexed. She wasn’t sure how she should feel. She was pissed that the powers had further involved her mother in her dangerous life, but another part of her was happy that she would have access to more information. The little voice in her head was clear in its belief that being able to share more of her slayer life with her mother was of the good. “How do you feel about that, Mom?”

“I’m elated, sweetheart. I’ve always wanted to be more involved with your slayer duties and now I can be. But, honey,” Joyce paused delicately. “You haven’t asked how I know that I’ll be getting visions for you.”

“Oh!” Buffy looked confused. “How do you know?”

Joyce told Buffy about her dream.

~*~*~

Buffy couldn’t believe it. How could Riley have been so stupid? ‘So much for the great demon hunter.’ When were people who should know better going to realise that drinking the damned blood turned you into a vampire. It wasn’t like it was hard to do the math. Sheesh, even Harmony could have done the math. Actually, Harmony probably wasn’t a good example, what with her being a vampire and all.

‘Guess that answers the question of whether I was in love with Riley or not,’ Buffy mused as she walked in the direction of the Magic Box. She wasn’t really surprised that she was feeling irritation more than anything else. Her relationship with Riley had been a slow train going nowhere for a long time. Thinking about it critically, she wasn’t really surprised to realise that his involvement with the Initiative- and let’s not forget his lusty encounter with Faith- had been the real end of the line. She’d just been denial girl for so long because she thought she wanted normal.

Normal. Well, that was for boring people. Everyone, including her, had made such a big deal of normal that she’d never really sat down and thought about it. Neither Xander nor Willow was in ‘normal’ relationships, why had it been so important for her to be? Buffy shook her head in self-disgust. Maybe she should try this again with Penny. Maybe a psychologist with knowledge of the supernatural could help her.

After making the decision to contact Penny, Buffy felt the weight that she’d been carrying around on her shoulders lessen. She decided that now was the perfect time to do some boyfriend reflection. Namely thinking about the yummy, sleepy blond she had left incoherent from kisses just a few short hours before. She giggled when she remembered the pout he had pulled when she said she had to go. Boyfriend smoochies were definitely of the good.

Buffy was in a really good mood when she got to the Magic Box. That is, until she spotted Riley’s abandoned car. Putting her hand on the hood, she felt no warmth at all. Giving herself a mental shake, she tried to stop thinking of worse possible case scenarios by reciting her own little check list. Maybe his car had just broken down? ‘Check his apartment before you jump to conclusions, Buffy!’

~*~*~

Buffy let out her senses as she neared Riley’s apartment. There were no tinglies telling her a vampire was present. Knocking on the door, she was relieved to hear footsteps coming from inside the apartment. Her relief was short lived when Graham opened the door.

“Graham?”

“Buffy?” The soldier’s expression reflected the blonde’s confusion. “Isn’t Riley with you?”

“No, and if he’s not here then it probably means we’re too late to save him,” Buffy admitted sadly.

Graham gave her a hard look. He really didn’t like where this conversation was heading. “What are you talking about? Save him from what?”

“Our Seer saw Riley in game face attacking someone. The person he was attacking is safe, so I was hoping that Riley was too,” Buffy told the angry soldier. There was no way she was telling him who the Seer was, however.

“I thought you were supposed to be the Chosen One. Isn’t it your job to make sure that doesn’t happen? Why wasn’t he with you?” Graham ranted.

“Riley is an experienced demon hunter, Graham. Don’t you dare try and pin this on me! He wasn’t with me because we broke up. If he hadn’t been stalking my friends, he wouldn’t have gotten himself in this mess,” Buffy responded to the brunette with equal fire. She’d had other things to deal with last night and she wasn’t about to be blamed for something she had no control over. Stupid commando.

“This wouldn’t have happened if he’d never gotten involved with you in the first place,” Graham told her derisively as he reached inside his jacket for his phone.

“What are you doing?” Buffy asked, horrified by her suspicions.

“What do you think I’m doing? I’m calling it in. We take care of our own.” Graham abruptly dismissed the slayer as he closed the door in her face.

Buffy got on her own phone and called an emergency Scoobie meeting.

~*~*~

Xander was the last to arrive at the Magic Box. He’d had had to wait for his lunch break before he could get away.

Buffy wasted no time. She quickly informed the group of the morning’s developments.

“We have to stop them,” Spike spoke up first, his voice haunted. “I don’t care who he was, we can’t let those butchers have him.”

“I agree with Spike. You would think they would have learned their lesson with Adam. The fools!” Giles spat out his words, anger permeating his tone.

“He was here last night, so he can’t have risen yet. That usually takes between one and three days. If you can find him before he rises, you can stop it from happening,” Anya wisely informed them.

“Didn’t you say you had to go back and see Willy today? Maybe he can tell you something. And while you do that, Tara and I can look for a location spell that works on the dead?” Willow suggested.

Buffy nodded in agreement. “That’s the plan then. Willow, Tara, Giles and Anya start on the spell research. Xander and Mom go back to work, and Spike and I will take the sewers to Willy’s. We’ll meet back here. Until Riley is found, everyone needs to make sure that Dawn doesn’t go out after dark without one of us with her.”

The Slayer had spoken.

~*~*~

The first thing Buffy did was ask the snitch if he’d heard anything thing about Riley being turned. She was disappointed when she realised that the level of surprise he’d reacted with was obviously genuine.

With slayer business out of the way it was time to talk about Buffy business. Well, it was technically Spike business, but it involved shopping and that moved it into the Buffy realm of expertise.

Willy laid out six pictures on the bar. Buffy was pleasantly surprised when Spike reached for the one that had caught her attention.

“Tell me about this one,” Spike ordered.

“That one’s a beauty; in perfect condition. It’s a Victorian style three story house that’s been completely restored. All the windows have necro-tempered glass and it has direct sewer access from the basement. The last owner was a Tzesleriac demon and he’s set it up so that if you place a little of your blood on every entry point, the existing protection spell will recognize you as the new owner, which means nobody else- human or demon- gets in without an invite,” Willy told them happily.

“If I paid for it today, when could I move in?” Spike asked, desperately trying to hide his excitement.

“I’ll give you the keys the minute you pay me. I figured you wanted something fast, so these are the ones that come with immediate occupancy.” Willy shrugged. He was a businessman. He’d learned long ago that reading a customers needs was as important as fulfilling them.

Spike and Willy quickly concluded their transaction and Spike received his paperwork and the keys to his new house. As the two blonds turned to leave, Buffy felt urged to warn the little man. “You know, if this house isn’t exactly what you promised, I’m gonna let Spike hurt you.”

When Willy didn’t look particularly concerned, Buffy left him with her parting shot. “Oh! Did I forget to mention that his chip doesn’t work anymore?”

Willy gulped and prayed that the usually honest and peaceful Tzesleriac demon had been a typical representative of his species and hadn’t lied to him.

“Can’t we just use this one and sorta tweak it to our needs?” Willow asked innocently.

“No!” Giles almost shouted, horrified. His heart started racing. He removed his glasses to clean them as he mentally tried to calm himself. It was working until he had a terrifying thought. “Willow, please tell me that you have never, er, tweaked a spell?”

“Um...define tweaking?” she responded nervously. She didn’t think he would get mad at her about one or two- okay so there might have been more but they were really small spells. Well, except for the ‘thy will be done’ spell. The rest shouldn’t be a problem because they were all just little, insignificant, nothing-to-worry-about type spells that were so not worth even thinking about.

Giles was sorely tempted to pound his head against the research table. Repeatedly.

“You do, of course, realise that we live on the Hellmouth?” he asked tiredly. These children would surely be the death of him.

“Yeah?” Willow was totally clueless as to where the watcher was heading with this comment.

“And that the Hellmouth itself is perpetually releasing its essence in to surrounding area? An essence that by its very nature is evil?” Giles continued his cryptic questions.

“I know that, Giles. You’ve told us all often enough,” Willow stated a little belligerently.

“Did I fail to mention that the evil essence of the Hellmouth can corrupt the mystical?” he gave the witch a hard look. She was being entirely too flippant about this for his peace of mind.

“Yes, Giles. I know that.” Willow was getting a little bored with the conversation. She was finally beginning to realize why Buffy tended to drift off whenever Giles was beating a subject to death. Like he was now. When was he actually going to get to the point?

“Really, Willow? Are you also aware that any mistakes that you might make during spell-casting could consequently open the Hellmouth?” Ripper snarled at the uncaring redhead. “Are you aware that ‘tweaking’ spells could cause a major apocalyptic event? Have you ever once considered the consequences of your actions as a spell caster, or the fact that every time you use magic, your reasons for doing so are judged and, if found wanting, that you will be paid back tenfold?”

Willow’s eep of horror was the first thing that Buffy and Spike heard when they returned to the Magic Box.

“What’s going on?” the Slayer asked.

“It appears that I have been remiss in teaching Willow the basic fundamental truths of magic,” the watcher snapped in reply. Turning his hard gaze to the quaking redhead, Giles directed his final words on the subject to her. “A situation I shall remedy as soon as possible.”

Buffy looked blankly at her watcher for all of three seconds before deciding to let him handle it. “So, what have we found?”

“We’re still looking, Buffy,” Giles informed the petite blond.

“Actually, no. I found the right spell, but I wanted to hear you tell Willow off,” Anya corrected the watcher honestly.

~*~*~

Penny watched Graham as he spied on the occupants of the Magic Box. The fact that the commando was talking on a cell phone with his car window open made it easy for her to listen to his side of the conversation.

“Yeah, I know…Well, I tried the homing beacon but he’s not registering…That would be my guess, too…The usual time between the body dying and the hostile raising is between one and three days, so it’ll be today, tomorrow or the next day, but if it’s today I need the extraction team here stat…I don’t know what she’s planning, but I’ve been keeping an eye on her…No, I need to find where Finn stashed his equipment…She went to the shop…As soon as I know anything, sir.”

Penny crossed the street and rounded the block, entering the Magic Box from the rear entrance. “You’ve got an audience,” she calmly announced as she entered the shop through the training room. She spent the next five minutes telling them what she had seen and heard.

“He doesn’t know about the sewer access, so he’s not gonna know when we leave. Let’s do the spell to find Riley, and then Spike and I can finish this. Spike’s got a new house and my Buffy senses tell me there is shopping goodness to be had.” Buffy felt fairly sure that she’d prioritized things in a way that her watcher would approve, even if she would definitely have put the chance to shop with Spike’s money as slightly more important than searching for a fledgling that hadn’t even risen yet. A slayer’s life was full of sacrifices.

~*~*~

“So, Angelcakes, you want me to read you?” Lorne asked the brooding vampire. It was rare that he was asked to do a closed reading during the day, but one look at the serious faces of the three that accompanied the cursed vampire and it didn’t take an empath demon to know that this reading was incredibly important.

Pointing to the equipment on stage, Lorne urged the sulking brute to choose his song. As Angel walked towards the stage like an inmate on death row walks towards retribution, Lorne leaned in to whisper to the others. “I removed the Manilow from the selection.”

~*~*~

After the spell had been performed and Buffy and Spike had headed off once again through the sewers, Penny pulled Giles aside. “We need to talk,” she quietly informed him.

Giles studied the serious countenance of the woman in front of him and made a snap decision. Turning to those remaining, the watcher announced that he and Penny were going out for a while.

“It’s okay, Giles. We’ll get back to researching the demon that grants wishes,” Willow quickly assured him. While she was in no hurry to incur his wrath for a second time in one day, she’d also just had a thought. ‘Maybe Anya will know something about the things in the journal.’

Willow knew that the ex-demon had loads of demon-y type knowledge. It was possible that she had heard something on the subject. Penny had pointed out that Anya had over a thousand years of experience, maybe it was time to find out how much of that knowledge she was willing to share.

~*~*~

“What happened with Willow?” Penny wasted no time. She had noticed the subdued body language the redhead and Giles’ rigid expression and had made an educated guess.

“Oh,” Giles was surprised at her question. He had not known what they would be discussing, but Willow would certainly not have been the subject he would have chosen if he had been asked to guess. “It’s nothing. Willow just needs a few lessons on the proper use of magic.”

“It’s not ‘nothing’, Giles.” Penny firmly informed the watcher. “Willow uses magic as a quick fix when she doesn’t want to deal with her emotions or when a situation spins out of her control. If you allow this to continue, she will lose control and people will die.”

Giles looked at the woman in dawning horror. She knew what could happen because in her world, it already had. “What do you suggest?”

“Call Althanea. She’ll be able to help Willow,” Penny suggested decisively. It was time for the little witch that could to learn that just because she could, didn’t mean she should.

~*~*~

Spike stopped suddenly, causing the Slayer to bump into him from behind.

“Thanks for the warning there, blood breath,” Buffy snarked good-naturedly.

“Pet, I think I know where this bloody thing is taking us,” Spike hold the Slayer as he looked down at the crystal in his hand.

“What? You think you know who turned him?” Buffy clarified.

Spike just nodded and quickly resumed his pace.

“Well, tell me,” Buffy demanded as she followed him through another tunnel and into a good-sized chamber.

Spike said nothing. He just pointed at the makeshift tomb in front of him.

Riley was laid out on a hastily put together alter, his body draped in flowers. On his chest lay a folded piece of paper that reeked of perfume and was covered with bubble-gum pink lipstick kisses.

Picking up the note, Buffy opened it and read the contents.

Dear Minion,

Welcome to the exciting world of the undead! I left you a welcoming present. It’s got the pink bow around it.

I couldn’t wait for you to wake up, but you’re really cute, so I don’t mind if you come to L.A. to find me.

If you want to make me really happy, you could kill the Slayer and Spike before you come to see me.

Sincerely,

Your Sire.  

Buffy looked over at the gift with the pink bow.

“Bloody unicorns!”

“Harmony,” the Slayer growled.

Buffy turned a speculative eye on her vampire boyfriend. “How close is this to your crypt?”

Spike pointed to the second opening. “Main chamber’s just through there,” he said tilting his head to the side. “What’ve you got in mind, pet?”

“We could pack up your stuff while we decide what to do about Riley,” she suggested.

Spike snorted. “You just want to decide what I can take with me and what you want me to buy new!” He knew his girl. Buffy’s desire to get her hot little hands on the contents of his wallet and start spending should be just about driving her nuts by now.

“I’ll let you buy me lingerie.” She grinned unrepentantly. She knew her man.

“Anything I want?” Spike’s eyes turned dark with desire.

Buffy nodded at the lusty vampire.

“Well, what are you waiting for, woman? Packing won’t do itself.”

“What about him?” she said seriously, pointing to the body of her former lover.

“He’s not going anywhere for a couple of hours at least.” Spike understood her concerns. The last thing he wanted was the idiot getting near his Nibblet.

Buffy accepted his word and made her way through to his crypt.

They worked together in companionable silence, packing all his personal items first.

“Spike,” Buffy focused on her love, waiting for him to look back at her. “What were you thinking about when you said we couldn’t let Graham have Riley?”

“A lot of things, pet. As much as I hated the bloody wanker, I wouldn’t want anyone to have to go through what the bloody Initiative did to me. Then there’s the chance that they might try and turn him into a super soldier and that’s not something I expect would end well. Worse case scenario, we’d have another bloody Angelus coming after all of us. The Doc’s right about the demon being influenced by the human, luv, and you need to remember that this was a human that thought plastic stakes were acceptable. I’ve been around for one lot of fanatical Nazi’s. Don’t really fancy being around for another.”

Spike continued to work as he explained his thoughts to Buffy. He hoped that it wouldn’t take too much argument from him to get her to agree to dust her former lover, but he was very much afraid that she would try to help this one. The silly bint had a heart as big as the world.

“What do you think we should do with him?” Buffy kept her voice carefully neutral.

“Dust him,” Spike said without hesitation. “He was a cruel bloody human, and the demon is just gonna make him worse. That is, if he has any brain cells left. Harmony is the one that turned him, remember.”

Buffy sighed heavily. She didn’t love Riley, but he had been an important part of her life for a while and that made the idea of dusting him just a little depressing. It wouldn’t stop her and she totally wasn’t looking forward to having to listen to his demon but…

“Spike,” Buffy turned to the vampire and asked, “is it possible to stop him from rising?”

“Sure, pet, stake him now and leave the stake there. As he wakes, he’ll dust.”

“I don't know if I can do that.” Buffy admitted. It was one thing to stake an animated dead body but the idea of staking a dead dead body was really squicking her out.

Handing the embarrassed blonde a pad and pen, Spike made his way towards the opening to the other chamber. “Just make a note of the furniture you want me to take, luv.”

Unlike Buffy, Spike had no problem staking the soon to be dust body.

~*~*~

“General,” Dante breathlessly called to his leader. He’d run all the way from the other side of the ancient fort, desperate to pass on the clerics message. “It’s over, sir.”

“What do you mean?” Gregor asked calmly. He would not celebrate until he knew that the beast was dead.

“The clerics say that Divine Intervention has ensured that the beast will be unable to obtain the key in time for the ceremony. The beast will be forced to live out her existence through the human she has been tied to. Without the key, she will die when he does.” Dante happily recited.

“And when we destroy the key, the beast will know and suffer.” Gregor announced, his tone firm.

“But, sir, do we need to go after the key now?” Dante stated his confusion.

“The key is the link. The link must be severed. Such is the will of God.” Gregor intoned fanatically.

~*~*~

When Penny and Giles returned to the Magic Box, it was to a very subdued group. Anya looked over at the other two and made the quick decision to start with the explanations. If she waited for the two witches, Penny and Giles may never find out.

“Tara’s mother was a witch who had visions. She saw all this happening and wrote it down. There’s some stuff about Buffy, slayers, the council and the hell god. Oh, and some group of knights and the first evil and Willow turning evil and…”

“It doesn’t say I turn evil,” Willow shouted defensively.

“You’re right. It says that you lose all control of your magic and try to destroy the world,” Anya replied happily.

“My mother left a note th-that when we meet a visitor from another dimension it would be time for the journal to be kn-known,” Tara quietly informed Giles and Penny.

~*~*~

“This is not gonna be pleasant,” Cordy whimpered. “If he starts dancing, I’m outtah here.”

It's not unusual to be loved by anyone
It's not unusual to have fun with anyone
but when I see you hanging about with anyone
It's not unusual to see me cry,
oh I wanna' die
It's not unusual to go out at any time
but when I see you out and about it's such a crime
if you should ever want to be loved by anyone,
It's not unusual it happens every day no matter what you say
you find it happens all the time
love will never do what you want it to
why can't this crazy love be mine
It's not unusual, to be mad with anyone
It's not unusual, to be sad with anyone
but if I ever find that you've changed at anytime
it's not unusual to find out that I'm in love with you
whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh

“WHOA! Whoa there, tiger,” Lorne shouted to get the brunette vampire’s attention. “I got what I needed. There’s no need to…er…sing anymore.”

Cordelia had fled at the first sign of swivelling vampire hips.

Wes rubbed his forehead as if he were in excruciating pain.

Even Gunn looked positively pale. “You call that singing? Where did you grow up, man?”

Ignoring the retching sounds coming from his friend, Wesley faced the Empath demon and crossed his arms. “What did you see, Lorne?”

“A whole lot more than I wanted to, Einstein.”

~*~*~

“But why do I have to leave?” Willow whispered, devastated.

Giles considered the miserable redhead carefully. He had no desire to hurt her, but he needed her to understand. “Do you want to lose control of the magic, Willow?” the watcher gently asked.

“No,” she replied petulantly. “But now that we know it could happen, why can’t you teach me to control it?”

“Willow, you have the chance to learn control from the strongest coven in the world.” Penny earnestly stepped in when Giles cast her a pleading glance. He was obviously too close to the redhead to remain firm with her on this. “They can help you become the type of witch you want to be. The type of witch that can be an asset to the Slayer. Think about it, Willow. No more spells that go wrong. You have the chance to ensure that this time Buffy will live.”

Willow looked at the faces around her. They all seemed to show concern and love- well except for Anya. She seemed more interested in other things about the journal than Willow’s imminent banishment.

The young witch was torn. The idea of going to another country to study with some of the best witches in the world thrilled and excited her. The chance to help her power grow was enticing. She wanted the power. She wanted the chance to shine. She wanted to fix things.

On the other hand; if she did this, it would mean having to leave her friends for an unspecified time. She would have to defer her classes, get her passport renewed, and then travel half way around the world and meet a group of strangers all by herself. It so wasn’t fair.

“Couldn’t Tara come with?” the frightened girl asked desperately.

“That would be Tara’s choice, Willow,” Giles replied. He was visibly relieved, having expected much more of a fight from the controlling redhead.

For once, the dishwater blond was determined not to be swayed by her beautiful but manipulative lover. “I can’t, Willow. I have to stay with the journal. You need to do this on your own,” Tara stated firmly.

Penny ushered the distraught redhead into her living room. It was time to start the healing process.

Coaxing the girl to sit, Penny quickly retrieved drinks from the kitchen before joining Willow on the couch.

“Willow, why don’t you tell me what it is about this plan that has you so upset?” the psychologist encouraged the young witch to speak. She firmly believed that for Willow to heal and change her behaviour patterns, the redhead needed to come to the realisation herself. Denial was not an option.

“You all think I can’t control myself. You think I can’t handle the power. I can. It’s not my fault I didn’t know about the consequences. If someone had told me about them, I would have been more, you know, careful or something. But I know now, so it shouldn’t be a problem. So why do I have to go away?” Willow’s words tumbled out chaotically.

“I thought you liked to learn new things?” Penny asked, encouraging the girl to talk.

“I do,” the redhead responded petulantly.

“And travel?”

“Well, sure, but it’s not like I wanted to do it today.” Willow held on to her animosity. It wasn’t fair. She wanted sympathy. Unfortunately, it didn’t look like she’d be getting any empathy from this woman.

“Just let me see if I understand; you want to learn new things and you want to travel. You have been given the opportunity to do both. The new lessons will be about a subject that you love, by the best practitioners in the world, but you want to put it off because….?” Penny left the end of her sentence open deliberately. Willow would get there, but it seemed she was going to need a little push

Willow bit her lip in consternation. She had to admit that Penny did have a point. The redhead did want to study with the best witches in the world. She did want to travel. Why was she fighting this? Thinking about the psychologist’s question, Willow was hard pressed to come up with a reason other than the reason behind her banishment.

“You don’t get it. I do want to do this, but I want to do it because I choose to and not because you all think I’m going to lose control of the magic. I want to do this because I want to and not because you think I need to.”

“So you believe that you have no problem with control? That you don’t use magic because emotionally you can’t cope with certain situations?” Penny asked unemotionally. She had no intention of accepting the usual trip down that exotic river in Egypt.

“There’s nothing wrong with my control. I’m all about control. I’m good with the coping,” Willow whined.

“If that was true, Willow, why did you need to do a de-lusting spell, or the ‘Thy Will Be Done’ spell?” Penny gave the girl a hard look. “Taking the easy way. Not facing your problems or emotions. This is what you lack control in. You need to learn about the consequences. You need to face your problems. Quick fix solutions never work. They bring more harm than good. You want to become a strong independent young woman, but you are copping out on the actual developing stage. Make your mind up, Willow. Do you want to be an asset to the Slayer or a hindrance to her? Do you want to help her or harm her? You have the potential to be her strongest ally, but then having the potential and reaching that potential are two totally different things. The choice is yours.”

“I want to reach my full potential,” Willow earnestly told the psychologist.

“Then I guess the trip to England is the right thing to do.” Penny smiled as she subtly prompted Willow to agree.

~*~*~

Spike followed the previous owner’s instructions carefully. From the outside the house was everything that he had hoped for. He entered the front door and turned to usher Buffy in, only to see her bounce off the invisible barrier.

“Not sure if I should be pissed that I need an invite or happy that you’ve got a secure home,” Buffy mused thoughtfully.

“Come in, Buffy.” Spike grinned, amused at his girl’s conundrum.

Walking through the empty house, Buffy felt her joy meter go into overload. The look on her face when she turned back to her vampire was one of utter bliss.

“Can we go shopping?”

~*~*~

“Here’s how the cookie crumbles, my little strudel. Things have the potential to get bad, very bad. The powers are losing faith in your ability to control your demon. They’ve already stepped up to the plate and served up the little crumpet as a delicious twist.” Lorne seriously informed the brunette vampire. He hated the message he had to give and was thankful once again, for the sanctuary spell he had had the foresight to have placed on the club.

“The slayer’s destiny lies in Sunnydale. Yours, on the other hand, is in serious jeopardy if you don’t make with the serious attitude adjustment and quick. You, my Angelicious cream puff, seem to think that just because you were once tapped as a champion that it put you on a pedestal higher than most. You still think you’re on speaking terms with the Powers. What you never understood is that being a champion means you have to lower yourself, to put others above yourself.

“The slayer understands. She tends to run to the other side of the spectrum, puts everyone before her, which seemed to work just fine for you didn’t it?” the green Pylean was a little less than kind in delivery of his verdict. He had witnessed a side of the vampire he hadn’t known existed before the reading. To say he wasn’t impressed would have been an understatement.

Angel pouted. “I do put others before me. I left Buffy so she could have a normal life. I did that for her, regardless of how hard it was on me to leave my soul mate,” he whined petulantly.

“Crap! You left because you didn’t trust yourself not to get groin-y,” Cordelia snorted derisively. She was so sick to death of the broody one’s flogging of that very dead horse. If he was so cut up over Buffy, why did he start sniffing after that lady cop just after he moved to LA?

Wesley silently watched and waited. He didn’t like the look on Angel’s face. He had a very bad feeling about this.

Gunn had absolutely no idea what the big green guy was talking about. Looked like he had some serious catch up conversations coming with English and the honey.

“The blond cupcakes, well, I think they surprised even the powers with their little dance, but you have to realize some very serious things, Angel. She wasn’t meant for you. You were supposed to help her, keep her safe, and not lose yourself and your soul in her. She is not your soul mate,” Lorne stated firmly.

“You’re wrong,” Angel snarled. This was not the way it was meant to be. “I’m going to see the oracles. I’m putting an end to this once and for all.”

As the furious vampire made his way to the entrance, Wesley’s voice made him pause.

“We don’t support this course of action, Angel.”

“Then you won’t be surprised to discover that you’re all fired.” Angel stormed through the doorway to the steps leading him up and out of the club.

“That woman is bloody lethal,” Spike shook his head in stunned disbelief.

“What happened?” Xander asked, curious as to what could get the blonde vampire so agitated.

“She managed to spend more money in two hours than I’ve spent in my entire existence.”

Xander laughed. “I’m sensing surprise and find myself asking why?”

“Laugh it up, dough boy. I’m planning on teachin’ Anya all about internet shopping and showing her all the sex toy sites.” Spike shot back at his unsympathetic friend with a smirk.

“Thought you’d given up being evil?” the construction worker grumbled playfully. The two shared a chuckle as the walked through the mall.

“So, what are we here for?” Xander asked as they walked.

“TV, stereo, and all the other good things that I wouldn’t let Mighty Mouse buy,” Spike grinned.

“You actually said ‘no’ to Buffy?” Xander was clearly amazed.

“Well no, but I did distract her,” Spike replied, hopeful that his friend wouldn’t be disappointed in him.

Xander took one look at the worried vampire and insightfully recognised that his pal was insecure. “How did you manage that?” he asked, grinning. He could so do ego boosting. “She’s usually got a one track mind when it comes to shopping.”

“I kissed her,” Spike said softly, smiling in remembrance.

“A kiss? One single kiss stopped the shopinator from pursuing her chosen occupation?”

“Well, it was a bloody good kiss,” Spike assured the astounded brunette.

~~~~~~~

As Xander followed Spike through the door of the new house, he had to set the box he was carrying down before he could close the door. When he turned back to pick the box up it wasn’t where he thought he had put it. In fact, it was several feet away. Shaking his head and thinking that he had been mistaken; the carpenter picked up the box and carried it into the living room.

When he reached the living room, Spike was nowhere to be seen. “Spike?”

“Here, mate,” Spike answered as he came back into the room from the kitchen. “Thought Buffy was here, was sure I heard her in the kitchen,” he apologetically informed Xander, still distracted by his mistake.

~~~~~~~

“So what are Xander and Spike doing while we’re celebrating girl’s night at the Bronze?” Willow grinned at Buffy and Anya.

“Apparently, Spike feels that buying a TV and stereo is a male bonding experience,” Buffy snickered as she answered. “He was so cute; he actually thought kissing me would take my mind off shopping!”

“Oh yes, some men are foolish like that. They should know that taking a girls mind off commerce requires sex at least,” Anya offered her own particular brand of wisdom.

“This is why I date a woman,” Willow joked, coincidentally covering Buffy’s coughing fit.

Anya looked delighted at Willow’s input. Finally, somebody was opening up to the possibilities of conversation relating to sexuality. “I always wondered about that,” the ex demon eagerly informed the redhead.

Tara considered the woman she only slightly knew, it was clear to her that Anya was starved for attention. Tara made the decision then and there that she would help this lovely woman to fit in.

“Anya, w-what was it like when you grew up?” Tara hesitantly asked.

~~~~~~~

“Cordelia?” Joyce was shocked to see the ex-cheerleader again after so short a time. She really hoped this didn’t mean that the supercilious idiot was around, too.

Peering around the beautiful brunette, Joyce saw Wesley and a black man that she didn’t know, but no sign of the hated vampire.

“He’s not here,” Cordelia smiled in understanding. It was easy for Cordelia to see who Mrs Summers was looking for. Her dislike for the brooding vampire had never been hidden.

“Good,” Joyce said, relieved. “Are you looking for Buffy?”

“Actually, Mrs Summers, we were really looking for Penny first,” Wesley hesitantly informed her.

Joyce smiled then looked across the street. “Well, her light’s on,” she said as she pointed them in the right direction.

After thanking her, the ex-AI team purposefully strode towards the woman they hoped could help them.

~~~~~~~

When Angel marched back into Carita's, he was angry enough to rip the head off a fyarl demon. He’d forgotten that the only way he could gain access to the Oracles was if a representative for the powers actually opened the portal for him. It seemed that being a champion wasn’t enough for the siblings. Now he had to talk Lorne into opening the gateway for him. He was not a happy camper.

Lorne saw Angel coming. He’d been thinking about the knowledge he’d gained all day. He realised fatalistically that this vampire would not listen to anything that didn’t agree with what he believed and that there was nothing that the green demon could say or do that would change that. It looked like there was no stopping of at least one part of what the broody one’s reading showed.

Sighing deeply, Lorne forestalled the vampire by speaking first, “If you’ll wait just a minute so I can get the bar covered, I’ll take you to the portal.”

When Lorne rejoined Angel he silently handed him a snow globe.

“What’s this for?” Angel snapped, thinking that the empath demon had more than a few screws loose.

“A gift for the Oracles,” Lorne reminded the vampire of something else he had forgotten.

“Oh, right, let’s go.” Angel rose abruptly and marched in the direction of the exit, not even checking to see if Lorne was following. He was a man er vampire on a mission.

Lorne followed more sedately. He knew that there was nothing he could do to stop Angel from facing the new destiny that his arrogance had forged, but he still had to try.

As they walked along together Lorne wracked his brain for any ideas he could come up with on how to broach the subject. Waves of anger were coming off the vampire and Lorne was no longer under the protection of the sanctuary spell at Carita’s. Maybe saying something wasn’t the thing to do? Maybe Angel needed to face the truth and the only ones that could make that happen were the Powers? Maybe the vampire had to learn his lessons the hard way?

Angel said nothing as he walked next to the green Pylean. He was being slowly consumed by his rage. He was angry at all the disloyal bastards that had worked for him. Well, maybe not Cordelia; he had always known that the vacuous ex-cheerleader would only ever put herself first. Working for him hadn’t stopped her from being a shallow bitch.

Then there was the ex watcher; the pompous, overeducated momma’s boy who couldn’t fight his way out of a wet paper bag, Angel was beginning to understand why the council fired him in the first place. He reminded the brooding vampire of William when Dru had first brought him home. Useless moron!

Gunn was a huge disappointment. Angel had carefully nurtured that friendship. Hell, he’d taken the boy out of the ghetto. You’d think that alone would gain him a little loyalty, but no, no loyalty for the champion. Buffy managed to get help from two humans that were of less use combined than any one of his team, but at least they were loyal. He deserved that sort of unswerving faith.

Lorne stopped walking. “Are you absolutely sure about this, big guy?”

“Just do it,” Angel growled out. He was pissed and he didn’t care who knew it.

Lorne placed some herbs in the urn at the altar. “We beseech access to the knowing ones.”

Placing a match to the contents of the urn, Lorne watched at the flame burnt high. The entry arch began to glow and fill with light and Angel stepped through to the realm of the Oracles. Lorne seriously doubted that the representatives for the Powers That Be were going to be impressed with a lower being that had allowed his ego to convince himself that he was something more than what he actually was. They were still pissed at him from the last time.

A/N: For those of you that were confused…yes in chapter 34 Spike dusted Riley. I apologize for any misunderstanding but from the point of view of this author, Riley’s passing wasn’t worthy of more time than I gave him. That could either be because I was projecting my own anger at RL onto Riley or that I just didn’t like the character – flip a coin. :D

Penny ushered the miserable group from L.A. into her living room, her mind already working out sleeping arrangements. One look on their faces told her all she needed to know. “He fired you, didn’t he?”

“Yes, and now the idiotic moron is going to confront the Oracles,” Cordelia snapped. She was feeling so many confusing emotions. She was furious at Angel, but terrified for him at the same time. She was angered at the possibility that his behaviour could in some way reflect on Doyle’s sacrifice. She was concerned about her own place and for her future. She felt rudderless and lost. This was so not a good day.

“And people wonder why I think he’s an idiot!”

**

“Are you sure it will be acceptable for us to join them? This is a private party,” Wesley asked again as they reached the door of the magic box.

“As I told you Wesley, it’s a going away party for Willow. With the exception of Gunn, you all know her. She was delighted to know you would be coming,” Penny informed him firmly. She really needed to get Wesley aside and help him get over all the damage his father had done to him. The poor man had hardly any self-esteem left.

As they joined the mingling crowd of Willow well-wishers, Penny stood off in a quiet corner and watched them. It was what she enjoyed most. She could see the effects of her interference and influence - it was amazing how much difference a few well chosen words could make.

She did feel a little guilty that she didn’t care more about Riley’s death, subsequent turning, and final dusting. She wondered briefly if that made her heartless in some way. It wasn’t that she had little regard for human life, because she did. She would have happily helped him if it had been within her power to do so, and she certainly hadn’t wanted him dead, but he was, and there was nothing she could do about that. All she could do was try to help those she had been brought here to help, those she had grown to love.

She was brought out of her introspective musings when Tara joined her, gently touching her arm to gain her attention. Penny smiled at the shy young Wicca in welcome.

“I brought you p-punch, you l-looked troubled,” Tara stuttered hesitantly.

“It’s nothing important, sweetie, but I am glad you came over, I have a proposition for you.” Penny grinned devilishly, her blue eye’s sparkling.

Tara smiled, amused at the older woman’s playful nature. “Should I be worried?” she joked, losing her stutter and reserve in the wake of Penny’s humour.

Penny chuckled lightly in delight, “No, it’s nothing to worry about. I just thought that with Willow being away, it might get lonely for you at the dorms. I have a huge house and a car that you are welcome to use to get to classes.”

“Oh, my! That’s just…wow. Are you sure?” Tara bubbled with excitement. She had been dreading being alone again. She was going to miss Willow terribly, but she had to do this. She had to make Willow face this problem without distractions and she had to be around for the study of the journal. Her mother had been quite clear on that. She had a part to play and she wasn’t prepared to let any of them down.

**

“Rupert?” Penny said to gain the attention of the preoccupied ex-watcher. When she had captured his gaze, she continued. “Surely a man with Ripper’s history doesn’t require Band Candy to ask a lady out?”

Giles spluttered and blushed at Penny’s wry comment and light chuckle at his expense, but his eyes drifted to find the blond beauty across the room and he thought about Penny’s suggestion. Thought hard.

**

Spike followed Buffy into his living room, pondering the different things they had discovered through the course of Willow’s party. He wasn’t overly surprised by the poof’s reaction to the empath’s vision, or what Angel would no doubt see as his team’s failure to support him. What did concern him was the bastard’s reaction to whatever the Oracles were going to say to him. Spike had a nasty feeling that ol’ Angelus might be making a return visit and that worried him greatly. He knew without question that Joyce and Dawn would be the first one’s he’d go for. The pillock always went after the weakest first.

As Spike made himself comfortable on the black leather love seat, while Buffy grabbed a drink from his fridge. He began to make plans for the protection of his loved ones, just in case his fears weren’t groundless.

Buffy watched him from the door to the kitchen. She could see his concern etched plainly on his expressive face. How she had ever believed that this vampire couldn’t feel was absolutely beyond her now. She’d never met anyone with less ability to hide their feelings. It was one of the things she loved most about him.

Wait a minute?

Loved?

Wow. That was unexpected.

Smiling to herself, Buffy joined her vampire on the couch.

Spike smiled at her as she crawled onto his lap. A lap full of slayer was one of his most favourite things in the world. Not surprisingly, his top five all included the slayer in one form or another. It beat dog racing and Manchester United hands down. Okay, maybe not hands down with Man U…but close.

Buffy grinned as she nonchalantly pulled her necklace out from under her shirt.

“That’s my ring,” he said softly, memories flitting across his mind. The red glass eyes of the skull ring seemed to twinkle in the candlelight.

“Nuh uh, Mister. You gave that to me,” Buffy pouted playfully.

“Ooooh, pouty,” he whispered huskily as he leaned in to kiss her. He wasn’t quite prepared for her screech as she leapt from his lap. “What?” he quickly stood looking around to find out what she was reacting to.

“One of your hands was on my waist and the other on the back of my head,” she told him as her eyes frantically searched the room.

“Yeah?” Spike was desperately trying to work out how that could be a bad thing.

“Then it couldn’t have been you,” she explained, practically incoherent.

“Pet, what are you talking about?” Spike scratched his head in confusion.

“The wedgie,” she snarled as she let her senses out.

Spike just looked at her blankly, he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what she as on about. “What wedgie?”

“The wedgie I just got. The wedgie that could be called the mother of all wedgies. The wedgie that just had someone or something using my thong as a visual aid in a lesson about flossing!” Buffy’s voice got higher and higher until she was indignantly screeching out the last word.

Spike tried. He really did.

“Don’t you dare laugh!”

Tara walked into the magic box alone. Since it was the first time she’d interacted with the group without the comforting presence of Willow, she was very nervous.

Thinking about the absent redhead caused a sharp pain to her heart. While it was true that her loneliness had been greatly relieved by the move into Penny’s house, the nights alone in her bed somehow seemed longer.

“Hey Tara,” Buffy called from her seat at the table. She and Giles, with intermittent help from Anya, had been going over Tara’s mother’s journal. It was amazingly detailed, giving them a glimpse at a future that none of them wanted to see.

“Hi, everyone,” Tara shyly responded as she joined them at the table. “Where are you up to?” she asked, pointing to the book.

“Defeat of the First, death of my champion– so not happy about that– Angel’s takeover of the evil law firm and the return of Ghost-y Spike. Which makes me happier, but the whole non-touchage bit is gonna be an issue. All in all, gotta say I’m not really lovin’ this whole scenario. I’m thinking changes of gigantic proportions are called for,” Buffy quipped, using humour to cover her trepidation.

“Well, at least we know why we’re researching wish granting demons now,” Anya tried to offer something positive to the depressing picture Buffy had painted.

Tara nodded her head in understanding at the slayers fears. “Buffy, it’s all changed now. Penny was brought here to help us with Glorificus, and the First can only gain access on this plane if you die and are brought back. We’re not going to let you die,” she hastily assured the young blond.

“Too bloody right, we’re not,” Spike growled out from the door to the basement. Swiftly making his way to his slayer’s side and kneeling, he lifted a hand to gently caress her face. “I just got you, kitten. I’ve no intention of letting you go anywhere without me and I’m not ready to leave this world yet. It’s just getting interesting.”

Buffy smiled, momentarily losing herself in the depth of emotion in his eyes.

“Have you thought about going after the scythe now? Or at least talking with the Guardian?” Anya asked, oblivious to the tender moment she was interrupting.

**

Buffy and Spike made their way towards the vineyards, hoping to find the place deserted. Spike noticed that they were not alone. “Company, pet,” he commented quietly.

“What is it?” Buffy whispered back.

“Human…one,” he answered decisively. Whoever it was, the bugger knew how to tail. If it wasn’t for the direction of the wind, Spike might never have known he was there.

“Circle and confront?”

“Nah, luv, this one knows what he’s doin’. We’re gonna have to be a little more inventive,” Spike informed her with a cheeky grin right before he grabbed her around the waist and jumped. Gotta love that enhanced vampire strength.

From their perch on the branch of the large tree Spike had positioned them in, they could see a good deal of the surrounding area, including their shadow.

Graham looked around him, desperately looking for some sign of his prey. He knew they had passed this way, but their tracks just seemed to disappear and he could see no further trace of them. He cried out in surprise when Buffy suddenly appeared to drop from the heavens right in front of him.

“So, Graham, out for an evening stroll?” she asked with deceptive innocence.

“Buffy?” Graham hated surprises. They always left him feeling off balance. “Um…what are you doing out here?”

Buffy lifted a delicate eyebrow. Seriously, who did he think he was kidding? “Gee Graham, if you wanted to know that, you could have saved yourself a lot of time by just asking me when you first started following.”

“Fine,” he snarled, dropping all pretence. “I’m following you to see if you’ll take me to Riley.”

“Riley’s dead,” she pointed out the obvious to him.

“Well, I want what’s left,” he snarled, stepping into her personal space.

Spike stepped into the moonlight. “Might wanna step out of the lady’s space, mate. She could get a bit testy,” he commented mildly.

“You gonna make me, Hostile?” Graham snorted at the chipless vampire dismissively.

Buffy chuckled.

**

Eyes watched Ben as he tiredly trudged towards the apartment from his car. He knew that he was being watched, but as it had been happening his whole life, he wasn’t going to let this time worry him. He’d long given up the hope that the scabby little minions of the great and magnificent Glorificus the vacuous hell god would leave him alone. The morons seemed to be under the impression that he should be proud to house the bitch in his very tired body.

He could feel her clawing her way out. He briefly wondered how long he’d be gone this time.

Glory looked down at the clothes she was wearing and screeched in horror. It didn’t seem to matter how many times he was told, damn Benji just wouldn’t wear silk. It was really beginning to annoy her. Snapping the neck of the nearest hovering minion gave her a moments satisfaction and took her mind off Ben completely.

Making her way into the apartment, Glory quickly changed her clothes, all the while wondering what she was going to do to get her key. She would stop every now and again as an idea struck her, then shake her head angrily as she dismissed the thought. What she really needed was a seer, someone who could see through the puzzle and into the future. Someone that could tell her how she succeeded in the end, so she could know now.

As Glory paced the apartment searching unsuccessfully for answers, she was completely unaware of the eyes that watched her through the window. Eyes that had watched Ben earlier. Eyes that didn’t belong to scabby little minions.

**

Joyce felt calmness wash over her, followed by an urgent need to sit down. Moving swiftly to one of the armchairs in the living room, she allowed the calm to take over.

Pictures of strange people she didn’t know flitted through her conscious mind.

The pictures seemed to slow and solidify, giving her the perception that she was inside the vision. One particular individual she knew and loathed appeared. She could hear what they were saying, watch what they were doing, and intuit their emotions. She knew that this was not yet happening, but she also knew there was no way to stop it. She was being shown this for a reason. What terrified her was the idea that she already knew what they wanted her to see, and she really didn’t want to know that at all.

Joyce watched as Angel stepped through the light and into a white marble chamber.

Two figures appeared. One male, one female, both dressed in robes of such a pure white that they dazzled the eyes. Animosity flashed from both pairs of eyes, but Joyce doubted that Angel realised this. Looking at them, Joyce knew instinctively that these were the Oracles. Brother and sister; they were divine seers for the Powers That Be. They knew exactly who Angel was, and they were NOT happy.

“You,” the brother said flatly.

“Why are you here, lower being?” the sister asked coldly. Her disdain was obvious.

Joyce could feel the waves of impotent rage emanating from the brunette vampire. He was so caught up in his own self-righteous indignation that he was oblivious to the underlying currents of anger being directed his way.

“Oh,” Angel looked at the snow globe in his hands and tossed it in the general direction of the woman. “I brought you this.”

She gracefully moved away from the incoming object, allowing it to drop to the ground and shatter.

The sound of the shattering glass seemed to reverberate through the chamber, drawing the vampire’s gaze and startling him. “Hey! That’s not my fault. I brought you a gift so I want my answers.”

“You are correct, you want your answers, pretender. We only offer a truth that you have already heard,” the brother replied as he turned to leave. This discussion was beneath him.

When his sister moved to follow, Angel grabbed her arm. “I’m not finished talking to you yet,” he snarled.

Joyce sensed the retributive rage directed at Angel a fraction of a second before the male Oracle struck.

Angel flew back from the female oracle, his back slamming into one of the pillars. His chest exploded with pain. Neither of the Oracles had moved and he was unable to sense any other presence in the room, so he was unable to work out just exactly who it was that had hit him.

“You will not gain access to us again,” the male Oracle stated with finality.

As the Oracles turned to walk away, the female made her parting comment, “Be happy that it is not our place to grant life or death. And it would do you well to remember; that which we serve is not that which you serve.”

With a dismissive flick of his wrist, the brother sent Angel back through the portal.

Both siblings turned to face Joyce.

“Graceful Joy, we thank you for coming,” the brother bowed deeply.

“Abounding Joy, we offer you knowledge,” the sister rested her pale forehead on her prayerfully clasped hands.

Joyce was startled. She had just gotten used to being an unseen watcher, being acknowledged as a higher being by this couple took her a moment to process.

“Well that would be lovely,” she replied politely. “I am going to be able to aid my daughter, aren’t I?”

“Yes, you are, mother of the Chosen One. You have been gifted with a great honour. You have chosen freely to join us and in doing so ensured your own protection from the visions. You have neither lessons to learn nor a path to follow, and yet you chose to aid our warrior and her champion for no reason other than love,” the brother explained as he smiled benignly at the captivated woman.

“The teacher is already among you. Seek her out. The Powers will offer guidance, but hold free will above all else. The visions you receive will often be cryptic and confusing. This is so that any decisions that are made are made freely. The teacher can help you decipher them,” the sister told her.

“Why was I shown Angel’s visit to you?” Joyce asked tremulously.

Brother and sister exchanged a look; silently communicating with unseen voices. “The Augury’s tell us that it was to offer a warning of the direction in which the Pretender is headed; to allow you to inform the Warriors of Light to beware,” he offered in answer.

“The Pretender?” If she was going to be offered information, she would take all she could get; regardless of the subject.

“He who pretends to be more than that which he is. The Cursed Vampire,” the sister answered, her distaste evident in her voice.

“Our time has ended. Farewell, Graceful Joy,” the brother smiled.

“May your love blossom, Abounding Joy,” his sister added.

Joyce opened her eyes to find herself safely back in her living room. Sitting back in the chair, she thought about all that she had learned. She made mental lists of what she needed to do and in what order. With a final nod, she moved to the phone and punched in the number she knew by heart.

“Rupert, it’s Joyce. I need a disinvite spell and some of your time. I have news.”

~~~~~~~

Angel looked at the closed portal in shock. What had just happened here? He was so absorbed in trying to decipher his feelings that he didn’t even notice the green demon until he tried to help the vampire stand.

Angel was finding it difficult not to take his anger out on the Pylean, so he simply walked away; without a word.

Lorne watched him go.

Hours passed as Angel walked the streets. Events of the last few days replayed over and over in his mind, warping out of control by his growing hatred. Accusations were thrown at him continually; it didn’t seem to matter how far he walked, the voices followed. Their insults and lies assaulted him and no matter what he did or how he justified his actions, the voices still attacked.

None of them understood his pain. His sacrifices. None of them respected his wisdom. None of them treated him with the respect he deserved. Well, that was just fine and dandy. He didn’t need them. He was a power to be reckoned with and he would show them all. He would save Darla. He would get Drusilla under control. He would teach that bastard Spike a lesson about what happens to those individuals that betrayed him. He would prove to his group that he didn’t need them – they needed him. And he would prove to Buffy and the rest that he was the one they should be calling Champion. He would make the Powers take him back. He had a destiny to fulfil and a Shanshu to collect. He’d earned it and nobody better get in his way.

~~~~~~~

She sat and she waited. It’s what she had always done. She was tired and her bones fragile. She could feel the changes coming. For some reason the Powers had intervened. She didn’t know why and she did not ask questions. She just sat and waited.

As she had always done

A/N: Some dialogue taken from The Prodigal, AtS season 1 episode 15.

He sat alone in his darkened room. His anger building as he went over each comment, each action of all those that had betrayed him over the last couple of days. The list was growing. Words of an old Christmas song drifted through his mind, morphing and changing as his ire heightened. ‘He's making a list and checking it twice, he's gonna find out who’s naughty or nice, An-gel-us is coming to town.’

“They’ve all been naughty,” Angel snarled.

‘What do we do to naughty children, daddy?’ Drusilla’s voice echoed through his mind.

“Naughty children get punished,” Angel replied to the imaginary Drusilla.

The image of a blond in a catholic school uniform flashed in his mind and Darla’s words sounded strongly in his head.

‘Would you punish them the same way you have punished others in the past?’

“Of course. I need to prove who has the power here,” he answered his sire’s question.

‘You think?’ she asked, her form beginning to take shape in his fractured mind.

“What?” he asked, confused at her question.

‘Your victory over them would take but moments.’

“Yes?” Angel asked, his eagerness to learn from his beloved sire paramount.

‘Their defeat of you will last life times.’

“What are you talking about? They won’t be able to defeat me if they’re dead,” Angelus snarled.

‘Nor can they ever approve of you...in this world or any other. What we once were shapes all that we have become. The same love will infect our hearts, even if they no longer beat. Simple death won’t change that.’

“Love? Is this the work of love?” Angelus asked, distraught.

‘Darling boy. So young. Still so very young.’

Her image faded as she shook her head.

“Darla?”

~~~~~~~

General Gregor, commander in chief of the Knights of Byzantium, stood on the hill overlooking the town of Sunnydale. Behind him a legion of knights waited. It was time to find the beast and the key. It was time to end this once and for all.

Turning to his lieutenants, he barked out his orders. They were setting up camp in the area the scouts had found. Once the camp was organised, he would send the scouts out again.

~~~~~~~

Ben looked down at red silk dress and matching high heals he wore and sighed in a mixture of embarrassment and frustration. It was always the same. Every time he came back, he would almost collapse with a sudden tottering of the ridiculously high and fragile heels and the tight restriction of the latest fashion disaster his body invader had dressed him in. He wondered briefly if there was any way to convince her that comfort could be a viable option.

Opening his closet, he was pleased that at least this time he’d been at home during the change. As he dressed, he checked the time. If he hurried, he could make it to work on time. Much as he hated working nights, at least he was working. He was sometimes amazed that he still had a job with all the time Glory was taking from him.

As he walked to his car, Ben thought about the latest news from the minions. The knights were in Sunnydale. He couldn’t think of a time when the arrival of the knights had meant anything but badness.

He was so focused on the idea of the knights being in town, that he was totally unprepared for the attack when it came.

The attack was fast, vicious, and fatal. After his neck was snapped, his head was ripped from his body. The killer drowned the body in alcohol, picked up the head and started walking away, a lighter was nonchalantly thrown over the shoulder of the assassin, landing unerringly on the alcohol drenched body and setting it ablaze.

Screaming minions ran to the body, lamenting the loss of their God. Not one of them paid attention to the retreating figure that was casually swinging the half morphed head of Ben/Glory by the hair.

Insane laughter filled the air.

~~~~~~~

Tara was caught between feelings of fear and exhilaration. Being outside at night in Sunnydale was bad enough, but being outside at night and in a graveyard in Sunnydale would scare pretty much anyone. The fact that both Buffy and Spike were with her didn’t stop her natural fear. However, the idea that they would be meeting the woman that her mother had written about made the night time trip easier to deal with. Her excitement seemed to balance out her fear.

Buffy kept a tight reign on her emotions. Even tighter than usual. With Mr. Observant as her boyfriend she didn’t really have another choice. Not if she wanted to get through this meeting at least without the talk-fest that he would insist upon the minute he worked out that she was worried. It wasn’t like they could do anything about it. The facts were the facts. Graham had left. Graham was pissed. Graham had his own team of demon hunters. Graham needed to blame someone and it looked like her and her boyfriend were number one on his shit list.

Spike let out his senses. His girl was deep in concentration, probably worrying her pretty little head about the possible threat from the soldier, but she was trying so hard to hide her concerns from him that he didn’t have the heart to tell her that she’d never be an actress. ‘Silly bint’s got no idea that she makes William look bloody stoic,’ Spike mused indulgently. Still, if she was going to be distracted, he needed to be more vigilant. They had the white witch with them and she needed to be protected.

When they reached the crypt they had been looking for, the Slayer took over. “Spike, watch our backs.”

Tara and Buffy entered the pyramid shaped crypt.

“I had forgotten how young you would be.” The ageless woman smiled benignly at the Slayer and the Wicca as she came through a set of gauze curtains that closed off one section of the tomb.

Tara knelt before her. The presence of the Goddess was strong in the woman’s aura.

“Kneel not, Daughter of Light. The Powers that Be have changed events so that you may take your rightful place if you so desire. The future has already been changed this night. The Chosen One will not die, her Champion is safe because of it, the Teacher has been reformed, the Red Witch will learn balance, and the Daughter of Light will live. All of this has changed to your benefit, but be warned, for as there are now good changes, there are also bad. The cursed one walks in darkness. You all have choices to make. When you are ready to know more, come back to me, but first talk to the others.”

As she turned to walk away from them, she made one last remark.

“Glorificus is dead.”

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