Buffy reluctantly headed up the stairs to her room followed by Lindsey, Wesley and finally Angel.

The Slayer sat down on the floor, leaning against her bed, while Angel settled across from her, propped against the wall. Since Buffy had no chairs in her room, Wesley took up a seat on the foot of the bed, leaving the unyielding top of Buffy’s weapon’s chest as a seat for Lindsey.

“Alright, Angel, where do we start?”

Buffy didn’t want to do this at all. She didn’t want all these people in her room, she didn’t want to feel so drawn to Angel, and she did want to know where in the hell Spike was!

“How about with me ‘waking up’ to find you standing over me with a sword, Buffy?”

“Why me? Why did I know that’s where you’d start?” Buffy looked up at her ceiling for a moment, rolled her eyes in exasperation before looking back at her dark haired, handsome vampire ex-lover sitting only six feet away from her in her bedroom.

“Fine. What did you want to know?”

Two hours later, Buffy called a break. She had to go to the bathroom or have an accident right there.

Angel got up from the floor and walked over to the window. He stood back far enough that the sunlight didn’t touch him as he gazed out the window that was another strong source of memories for he and Buffy. His back turned, he heard Lindsey comment to Wesley. “You know, Wes… Although I handled a lot of different cases, I did occasionally do some domestic work. These two have so many issues they might as well have been married!”

“It certainly seems that way, doesn’t it? I knew they had been very close when I was here before, but I had no idea it was this complicated.”

“I was thinking fondly of a cup of coffee and a bite to eat. Maybe it’s time to have Willow and Giles take a turn regardless of what he wants to know about Buffy’s sex life. Not that there has been all that much discussion about sex except for the recurring theme of ‘they-can’t-have any’.”

“I certainly see your point. Doesn’t seem to be much that Mr. Giles couldn’t hear.”

“Seems like a fair trade, Wesley. Giles gets to listen to my problems with Angel after I had to listen to his thoughts about sex with my mother, that time I could hear thoughts!”

Buffy had come back from the bathroom just in time to hear the end of the conversation between Wesley and Lindsey.

Wesley stayed with the ‘odd couple’ while Lindsey went downstairs to send up food, drink, witch and Watcher.

Places traded and food and drink in hand, the verbal battle was on again.

                                                            *******************************

‘Sail on through the night!

Lost in the shadows.

Sail on through the night.

Lost in the lonely abyss.

Sail on through the night!

Lost in the shadows.’

It seemed to Spike that he’d been aboard the Morning Tide half of forever. Of course it seemed as if he’d been away from Buffy forever.

He knew the ship would be docking in San Diego tomorrow night. With luck, he’d be back home, back to Sunnydale, back to Buffy, in just a few days.

He wasn’t sure how to explain to her what had happened to him. Why he’d left, the tests, having his soul back.

Spike knew that regardless of whatever else happened, he didn’t want to wind up like Angel.

                                                            ************************************

“Buffy, it’s well past midnight and we’ve all had a long day. You and Angel have been at this for hours. We’ve all traded places several times now and we’re just exhausted. How you two can have so many unsolved problems, I have no idea.. But I know we’ve all got to get some sleep. I’m out on my feet, except I’m not standing.”

Willow was visibly drooping and Lindsey had to keep jerking himself awake. The young lawyer had finally moved from the top if the weapons chest to the floor for the sake of his sitting comfort.

“If it will help you, Buffy, I’ll shuffle people off to sleeping spots and let you go ahead and go to sleep. You look as tired as I feel. You guys can finish this in the morning can’t you? You can’t have that much left unsolved!”

Lindsey struggled to his feet from the floor, resolved to find everybody a place to sleep just so he could check the light-tight-integrity of his eyelids as soon as possible.

“Okay, okay. We can finish in the morning. I’m about out of it, Wil, Lin. Thanks for helping, or sitting or whatever.” Buffy crept gingerly from the floor to the edge of her bed, sore in numerous places from simply sitting. Of course, the tension that had tightened her body like an over-wound spring hadn’t helped at all.

“Angel, you can have the sofa down stairs, Two of you are gonna have to double up on that air mattress in the living room.. Willow, you decide who you feel like offering the other side of your bed to tonight, okay? I’m sorry you have to, but there just isn’t enough room without it.”

“Yeah. I can handle that Buffy. See you in the morning, ‘K?”

Willow stepped over to hug her best friend goodnight, then followed Angel and Lindsey out of the room.

                                                                                    ************

Downstairs, Willow went directly to Giles.

“Ah, Giles.. Buffy told me to help with the sleeping spaces and all.. I kinda have to share space with someone, since there isn’t enough room otherwise and I don’t really know Wesley that well, or Lindsey at all, other than today, so do you think that maybe…”

“Willow, I understand that you feel comfortable enough with me to offer the other half of your sleeping space. I appreciate the offer and I think that we’re both certainly adult enough to be able to share a bed for the purpose of getting some sleep.”

Giles understood the redhead’s dilemma and was relieved as well to not have to share a bed with someone he didn’t know well.

“Good. So can we go to sleep now?”

The witch was so tired, she couldn’t keep the edge of a whine out of her voice.

“I certainly think so. Please lead the way.”

Giles followed her up the stairs to her room, once more. They chose to leave the bedroom door open for propriety’s sake. Willow took off her shoes and socks and turned down the comforter, lying on top of the sheets, her bare feet tucked under the thick cover.

The older man removed his jacket and shirt, socks and shoes, leaving him in his slacks and tee shirt. He slid onto the bed, wished Willow a good night and they both turned over, backs to each other, feeling a bit awkward.

The sensation didn’t last for long as sleep quickly claimed them.

                                                                        *****************

‘You think you hear demons

I think you are the demon

You no longer care

If it's cold or if it's warm

You live for the danger

Like your passion and your anger

You don't let go

You like to be twisted by the force

You like to be shaken by the wind’

Angel tossed and turned on the sofa. No matter how hard he tried, no matter what they had discussed earlier, no matter what he told himself or how loud the voice of reason yelled at him, the vampire was aware of only one over-riding thought.

Buffy was upstairs.

After an hour of fighting with himself, Angel finally got up from the sofa and crept quietly thought the living room to the kitchen and out the back door. He sat down on the steps, leaning his head into his hands, wondering how he was going to manage to make it through the night, much less the next day. When Buffy would be one day closer …

*No! Don’t even think it! She’s with Spike, not me.*

<Except Spike’s not here, is he?>

*Shut up!*

Angel knew that voice. He could call it the voice of his demon, others might call it the ‘bad’ voice in their head, but no matter the name, it was the voice of temptation.

“Angel? Are you alright?”

Buffy stood right behind him.

The dark visaged vampire stood abruptly and whirled around. He clutched at the handrail with both hands, trying to keep a measure of control and not clutch at the slender blonde standing in front of him in a tank-top shirt and boxer shorts.

“Buffy.. what are you doing out here?”

His voice sounded strangled even to himself. Angel was surprised he’d managed to get a word past the tightness in his throat.

“I couldn’t sleep. I came down to see if some fresh air would help and you were here.”

“Buffy, you’ve got a window in your room. I should know, considering how often we used it. If you wanted fresh air, why didn’t you just open it?”

“You were here.”

With an agonized moan, Angel released the stair rail and pulled Buffy into his arms, kissing her with a brutality that she returned in equal measure.

Standing a step above him, Buffy was exactly the right height to make kissing and fondling even easier than before.. Both vampire and Slayer took full advantage of it.

Finally breaking the kiss for breath, Buffy grasped Angel by his hair, pulling his head to her chest, holding him there, his face nestled between her breasts.

“Angel… Angel.. Please!”

Without waiting to discover exactly what the ‘please’ meant, Angel scooped her slight form into his arms, carrying her down the steps and around the corner of the porch to the tree at the back corner of the house. There he laid her on the soft, springy needles that carpeted the ground under the tree and in one sudden, swift movement, had stripped her shorts from her, then the next moment, he caught the material of her top in both of his large capable hands and ripped the shirt down the middle.

His mouth found one breast as his hand found the other, just as Buffy grabbed his shirt from both sides, ripping it from his back.

Minutes later, the world exploded in multicolored brilliance as Angel resolved the problem of not knowing what Buffy tasted like.

As wave after wave of tiny ‘aftershocks’ coursed through her body, Buffy pulled Angel up where she could kiss him again, pushing at his jeans while he struggled out of them with one hand.

There was only one conclusion to their actions, and the vampire plunged hilt deep inside of the Slayer writhing beneath him, the shock of connection causing both to gasp.

Buffy urged his movements on with a savagery he’d never suspected in her before. His one memory of being inside of her fiery depths was accompanied by softness and gentleness. This Buffy was anything but! Her nails raked his back, slicing small cuts, as she clamped down with pointed teeth on his shoulder where it met his neck. She could smell the sweet scent of his blood as it rose to the surface in tiny drops everywhere her teeth had broken his skin. Buffy licked at the droplets as she pulled the flesh of his shoulder into her mouth.

Unable to withstand the sensations, Angel felt his face morph just as he bit into her shoulder in a mirrored image. It was not a bite to kill, or to feed, but a bite to push them both over the edge they’d sought.

And fall over that edge, they did. Angel threw his head back, growling as his body spasmed over and over into Buffy’s own tightened, clenching muscles.

                                                                                    *********************

‘You've been warned to retreat

You take it to the limit

When the winds come up

Crazy men, crazy women

Crying out for love

You like to save her

But you just can't give it up

You'd rather be wrapped up

In the arms of a storm

And the sun goes down

Chasing down the demons’

Wesley was pulled from sleep by an out-of-place, half heard sound. He lay still for a moment waiting for the noise to repeat, or for his mind to place the sound. When he finally did, he wished he’d remained baffled.

Shaking Lindsey awake, Wesley whispered terse instructions, then rose from the shared air mattress, heading for the back door at a run.

The younger Watcher clattered down the back steps in bare feet, guided by the moans at the back of the house. He rounded the corner of the building only to stop abruptly at the sight of Angel and Buffy, nude, bodies wound around each other.

Lindsey didn’t anticipate the Watcher’s sudden stop and ran into him.

The two men managed to not fall on top of the nude vampire and Slayer, but the intrusion got the attention of the entwined pair.

They both growled.

“Angel, get off of her now! Buffy, turn him loose!”

The pair didn’t move.

“Buffy, if he’s lost his soul, you’re in danger!”

That finally got through to her. Buffy looked up at Angel, realizing what they had just done, what they had given themselves to the throes of….

She pushed at Angel’s shoulder, squirming under him in an attempt to move his weight off of her.

Angel turned his head, human face showing, and tried to reassure her.

“Buffy, it’s still me. I’m still here, I still have my soul.”

“You told me that last time.”

“I know I did. I said some horrible things last time and they weren’t true. I only said them to hurt you, because even as Angelus I loved you but hated the fact that I loved you. It made me feel human and that’s the last thing a demon wants to feel.”

“And now?”

“Buffy, I…. I’m not sure what to say. I do still love you, but it’s not the same as it was back then. This…” His glance down took in their current position and state of  undress.

“It’s different. I still love you, but this had more to it than that. It was… what we talked about earlier and I think a lot of what we didn’t talk about.. until right now.”

“Angel, man.. can you two get dressed? I mean, I know you pretty well, but looking at your naked ass is getting to know you too well. I don’t even want to think about you or this Spike getting pissed at me for knowing Buffy as well as I do right about now.”

Lindsey spoke half jokingly, feeling it was the best way to break up this scenario without he and Wesley being killed in the process.

“I must agree, Angel. This is a side of you I never really wanted to see. Shall we go inside and continue this discussion quietly? Lindsey and I will give you a bit of privacy to, ah, cover yourselves. That is if you will, ah, get up and come inside?”

Wesley wanted to stop seeing what he was seeing and knew he had to stop the reason he was seeing it!

“Yeah, we’ll be inside in a minute. Can you throw out a couple of shirts or something? Buffy’s clothes are, well, kinda not wearable.”

“I’ll throw out the shirts. Do not ever tell me any more, Angel.”

Wesley headed for the back door. On one level he was relieved that he and Angel were speaking and were almost friendly again, while on the other hand he was distraught at knowing so much more about the vampire than he’d ever imagined or had really wanted to know.

The younger Watcher could only imagine what Mr. Giles would have to say when he found out….

Angel and Buffy crept quietly in the door, eased through the kitchen where he turned to the downstairs bathroom to clean up, leaving Buffy to continue on up the stairs to her bathroom, where she also showered and found fresh, whole, clothes to put on.

They weren’t quiet for fear of waking anyone, since Wesley and Lindsey were already awake, but quiet to try and avoid the catechism they knew would be waiting for them from the younger Watcher as soon as they were dressed.

Buffy stared in the mirror at the bite on her shoulder. It was already closed over. In fact, it looked as though it had happened several days ago instead of less than an hour before.

The thought frightened her, caused her to wonder again what she was becoming.

No closer to an answer now than she’d been hours earlier, she pushed the thoughts aside heading downstairs to the kitchen where she knew Wesley would be waiting and hoped Angel was there first.

It was almost 4am.

                                                            *******************************

He walked down the long, dark stairs, occasionally brushing aside a cobweb. The air grew colder, damp and musty as the stairs continued downward.

Reaching the bottom, he turned left down the dank corridor to halt, facing a moldering door..

“I have a job for all of you. If you want your freedom, I want this service done.”

A raspy voice spoke from behind the nearest ironclad door.

“Why should we do any favors for you? Why not just kill you for what you’ve done to us?”

“There is a sprinkler system over your heads. I doubt very seriously you’d enjoy what would come out of that system. It’s the same throughout the building. Will you obey my orders or not?”

“If you’ll grant our freedom, then yes.”

“Good, there is someone I want you to kill.”

He pressed the master switch, that only he had the key for, and opened the doors the length of the corridor.

“Follow me out the back exit.”

The rag-clad figures did as they were told, blinking at the brightness of the moonlight to eyes that had lived in the darkness.

“Now, let me explain who I need you to kill for me, for all of us.”

Before the man could finish his instructions, he was surrounded three deep on all sides. The first speaker grabbed the man by his shirtfront, pulling him off the ground.

“I think we already have someone to kill. Then maybe we’ll find out who else you want us to kill and if we feel like it, maybe we will.”

Moments later, several sets of sharp ragged fangs sliced the man’s flesh as the vampires drank deeply.

“Not all of it. Let me at him.”

The leader of this newly freed ‘kiss’ of vampires, raked across the inside of his own wrist. When the blood welled there, the vampire that had once been a Watcher forced his bleeding wrist to the slack mouth of Quentin Travers, Turning him.

                                                            ****************************************

‘You're the one I need

I believe that I would cry just a little

Just to have you back now

Here with me’

The Morning Tide docked at the end of the pier far down in the shabby older section of the San Diego harbor.

Spike helped the crew unload the cargo, then took his leave. The ship had been his means to return to California and now that he was back on that soil, all he could think about was getting back to Buffy. He had to explain, to apologize, to ask her forgiveness.

He knew he’d be there in a couple of days.

                                                                        ***********************************

The UPS courier knocked on the door bright and early that morning around 8:30am. Handing Wesley a rather heavy box, the deliveryman took his digital clipboard and hopped back into his dark brown truck, driving away without a backward glance.

“Wesley, what’s in the box?”

“I believe it’s Faith. Her interment is today, Dawn.”

“Ugh! Not about her interment, just ‘ugh’ that she got shipped by UPS to us in a box.”

“Actually, she was shipped by Cordelia. UPS simply made the delivery.”

“Wesley, do you have to be so literal? I had a bad night.”

“There seemed to be a lot of that going around last evening… At least for some people.”

Wesley took the box containing the urn and the cremated remains of his earlier Slayer into the kitchen. Dawn bounced back into the living room and her cereal bowl in front of the television.

Angel and Buffy sat at the table, looking tired and very chagrined. None of the four had gotten back to sleep that night.

“Mr. Giles should be awake soon. I shall find some task for Dawn to attend to and then we will discuss this matter fully. Do the two of you have any idea what you did? What you risked last evening?”

“I think we kinda answered that the first dozen times, Wesley.”

“This is no time for levity, Buffy. This could be a very serious matter. Do you realize the possible consequences?”

“Yes, Wesley, I do.”

“Ah, Wes.. Maybe it’s none of my business, but I don’t think you’re accomplishing anything by getting them both ticked off. Buffy’s already shown us that she’s not the best person to have angry with you. Maybe we can wait until the others are up?”

Lindsey could see the anger rising in the Slayer almost like a tangible force. The young lawyer thought Wesley was much too upset to see what his repetitious questions were doing to the two at the table.

“I suppose you’re right, Lindsey. I think I’ll take my cup of tea to the front porch and try to gain a measure of calm.”

With that, Wesley did as he said and left the room.

“Thanks, Lindsey. I know it’s serious and he’s upset, but he was getting on my nerves.”

“It’s ok, Angel. I just didn’t want to be in the middle when you two explode at him. Just self-preservation, dude.”

Lindsey turned back to the counter to fill a cup with the freshly brewed coffee.

                                                            ***********

Giles woke in another unfamiliar room, unsure of where he was for a moment, then remembered that he’d shared half the bed with Willow.

The Watcher didn’t dare move as he was acutely aware of a slender arm wrapped around him, a warmth along the back of his body and the hard round shape of the top of a head pushed into his back.

He realized Willow had curled around him during the night, in her grief and loneliness. Suspecting that she had often slept thus with Tara, he’d simply been a handy substitute while she slumbered.

Giles lay in the dimness of the room, hearing the light murmur of voices downstairs and waited as he tried to decide on the best way to wake Willow.

Finally deciding that wakening her slowly would be best, Giles laid his hand on her arm and gently rubbed it as he called her name very softly.

It took only moments before he heard an unintelligible but sleepy mumble from behind him.

“Willow, wake up. The others are already about downstairs.”

“Mmummph.. wake. Arggggh get up, ‘k?”

“Ah, Willow, I’m not sure I understood that. Can you repeat it, please?”

“I’m ‘wake. Gonna get up.”

Willow stiffened suddenly as she finally woke enough to realize where her arm was and how she was laying. She’d been very comfortable with the solid warmth lying along the front of her body. Even the scent had been familiar, but now she knew the familiarity was from the remains of Giles’ aftershave.

“Ah, I gotta get up, Giles. I’ll be downstairs in a minute.”

With a slight sigh because she was obviously upset, Giles slipped from the bed, found his loafers, then headed toward the second bathroom.

                                                            *****************

Dawn had been sent to pick up the flowers from the florist down the street for Faith’s funeral later in the day. It got her out of the house, which is something everyone agreed on as soon as they had the slightest idea of what had occurred.

Giles held a cup of hot tea in his hand as he frowned at Buffy and Angel.

Unable to restrain himself any longer, he finally had to ask the question that was screaming in his head.

“What did you think you were doing? Did you bother to think at all? Either of you?

Good Lord, Angel you could have lost your soul… Buffy, you could be pregnant. Do you understand that? Angel has already proven that he’s one of the few vampires capable of fathering a child.”

“Giles, I KNOW! All of you stop yelling at me! I know what we did. I was there, remember?”

Buffy felt the tip of a tooth with her tongue, feeling the sting as she nicked the flesh. She’d noticed the subtle shifting inside her mouth as she’d gotten angry.

Taking a deep breath trying to calm down, she never got a chance to say anything before Willow voiced her opinion.

“Maybe this is one of the things they still needed to get settled between them? Then too, there was that whole… fertility thing and all. Maybe they’ve gotten it out of their systems now?” The redhead turned to look directly at her friend.

”Do you feel the same ‘urge’ now that you did before you, ah… you know...?”

“No. You may be right, Willow. That desperate need isn’t there now.”

“Of course, it could simply be that you’ve gotten pregnant and so of course there is no longer any desire.”

Giles was more sarcastic than Buffy had heard him in a long time.

“Giles, I can, ah.. check her to see if she’s… you know.”

“Please do so, Willow. If that’s the case, we need to know as soon as possible for her safety.”

“Sure. Buffy will you come with me for a few minutes? We need to go somewhere you can lie down, so I can do this.”

“Sure, Will. Let’s go up to my room. It might as well get some kind of use.”

Buffy turned and stalked out of the kitchen as Willow followed her, glancing back over her shoulder with an apologetic look.

“Angel.. How did this happen?”

Giles turned his frustration on the vampire.

“Pretty much the usual way. Except that she was a lot less gentle than the first time. She bit me.”

“That’s an image I don’t need, Angel. What I’m trying to ask is how, as in you were sleeping on the sofa and she was in her room.”

“I couldn’t sleep. I was more aware of her upstairs than anything else, so I got up and went out to the back steps, trying to stay away from her, trying to think of something else. But then she came outside too. She said it was because I was there. I tried to stay away. I think if you look at the handrail, you’ll find the marks of my fingers in it. I held on to it trying to force the overwhelming desire away, but it didn’t work, obviously.

Do you really think she might be pregnant?”

“I sincerely hope not. While I know that might be something the two of you could desire; I don’t think it would be good for her with the changes she’s undergone recently.”

“No, I know that. A few years ago, I’d have given almost anything to have something so normal with her, but now… I can’t even find my son, much less worry about a second child.”

“I see. Hopefully we’ll know in a few minutes if we have anything to worry about other than the two of you being together again.”

“Giles, I don’t think we will. It feels like whatever it was, is over now. I mean, I still care about her, you know that. I always will, but she’s not mine now.”

“Yes, and when, if… Spike comes back, let us hope that he doesn’t find out.”

                                                                        ****************

Willow came though the doorway of the Summers kitchen to find Giles sitting opposite Angel at the table as the two men waited. Buffy trailed along behind the witch, looking somewhat disappointed.

“She’s not pregnant. At least not yet. All those little.. ah, ‘thingies’ are moving around, but she’s not.. um, ‘hatched’ anything to go with them yet. If she doesn’t in the next few hours, then nothing will happen.”

Willow tried to reassure Buffy’s Watcher and recent lover, although Buffy had actually been a bit upset when Willow had announced the results of her ‘scan’ to her best friend.

“Thank goodness.”

Angel and Giles both sighed. Both for very different reasons.

                                                            ********************************

Dawn had returned from the florist.

After a short workout of an hour with Wesley, she, like everyone else, went to dress for Faith’s interment in the Restfield Cemetery.

A short while later, the few people attending the ceremony were gathered around an open niche inside one of the more modern vaults of the newest section of the old graveyard.

Since Faith had been a Slayer, Giles and Wesley had been allowed to withdraw funds from the special account the Council allocated strictly for the purpose of burying the Slayers.

The vault had previously been selected after much discussion between Watchers, Buffy and Angel. Since Faith had listed Angel as her only next of kin, he’d been allowed the final decision. Choosing the vault had allowed him to attend the planned daytime ceremony.

Anya and Xander had attended, but then pled other obligations and left immediately afterwards.

The younger man’s dislike of Angel was well known, as was Anya’s normal outspokenness about the woman with whom Xander previously had an intimate encounter.

The fact that he and Anya were currently not a couple or that Faith was dead, mattered not in the least to the vengeance demon.

As the group left the burial niche, Dawn glimpsed movement behind them from the corner of her eye, but when she looked directly at the surrounding area, there was nothing gout of the ordinary to be seen.

The new Slayer shook her head slightly and continued on to the car.

                                                                        *****************

The telephone was ringing as they arrived back at Buffy’s house.

She grabbed the phone just inside the back door.

“Summers’ residence…

Yes, he’s here, just a moment please.”

Buffy covered the mouthpiece of the telephone as she looked for Giles, motioning him to hurry inside.

As he walked through the door, Buffy whispered to him, “ I think it’s somebody from the Council. He said his name was Melford?”

“He’s the assistant head of the Watcher’s Council. Let me see what he wants. Can you get everyone to give me a bit of quiet in here, please, Buffy?”

The blonde nodded and went back outside so she could warn the stragglers to keep the noise down as they passed through the kitchen.

                                                            ***********

Dawn sat on the sofa next to her sister as they anxiously waited to find out why the Council had called Giles. Buffy knew it couldn’t be good news. After all, it was the Council and she’d never known them to call with anything other than problems.

As she thought about it, the movement in the cemetery was still bothering Dawn. The younger girl had already decided it couldn’t be a vampire, not in daylight. Most of the demons she’d studied so far or knew about from years as the ‘Slayer’s sister’ wouldn’t be out during the day either.

“Buffy, did you notice anything unusual when we were leaving after Faith’s funeral?”

“No. Like what, Dawn?”

“I thought I saw something run across that area between the bushes behind the crypt, but when I looked, there wasn’t anything there.”

“Is it possible you saw a shadow from a branch or something, Dawn?”

Wesley had heard the quiet exchange between the sisters.

“No. I think I know a tree branch, Wesley, and they don’t ever look like they’re running.”

“It was simply a question, Dawn. You know there are very few demons that would be out in the daylight.”

Wesley tried to explain, having followed the same logic as his Slayer, unbeknownst to him.

“I didn’t feel any vamps or demons in the area.” Angel offered his contribution to the conversation.

“Well, if no one saw anything except me, maybe it was my imagination.”

Dawn sounded sulky even to herself. She knew she’d seen something, she just didn’t know what it could have been.

Buffy remembered what everything was like after she’d been ‘called’ and put an arm around her sister.

“It might have been, Dawn, but then again, we see things other people might not notice. You just keep paying attention to anything odd. My own ‘paranoia’ found problems often enough.”

“Buffy…” Giles had entered the living room. He looked very puzzled, as well as worried.

Seeing that the older man was disturbed, Buffy got up and went to stand beside him, laying a hand on his arm.

“Giles, what is it? Is everything okay?”

“No. No, it isn’t, Buffy. It seems that Quentin Travers was responsible for the assaults on you and Dawn recently. He may have had Faith murdered as well. He has released the vampires from the basement of the Council’s keep…”

“Vampires? Why would they still have vampires there?”

Buffy felt the anger start to build and hurriedly pushed it back down.

“Like the one they loosed for the test on your eighteenth birthday, I suppose.”

“But that makes no sense, Giles. I’m way past eighteen, so was Faith. Dawn’s not close yet and we’re the only Slayers around. After all, there’s only suppose to be one of us anyway, so why a bunch of vamps?”

“I dread even thinking it, but Quentin may have been continuing to experiment, or perhaps he gathered these after learning about your recent death and revival…. The middle one, not this last one.”

“I was still mostly alive, I keep telling you!” Buffy glared at first Giles, then Dawn for spilling the information to Angel, who told Giles.

“I think the problem was the ‘partly dead’ portion of that equation, Buffy. But be that as it may, what’s done is done. It seems Quentin released the vampires with instructions to locate and kill you. He was overheard to say that if he couldn’t get you back to England, he’d simply have you killed. You know he’s never really been very fond of you since you told him off and suggested he, ah, bite you. His last visit about Glory didn’t help either.”

“Giles, if the man can’t take a joke… Well, he just needs to become an engineer, build a bridge and get over it!”

“I’m afraid it’s you he plans to ‘get over’, Buffy. We’ll have to take extra precautions in case any of the vampires have managed to make their way here to Sunnydale.”

“Yeah. Good ol’ Sunnydale. Our own ‘we-b-hell’ fun magnet. Well, if they show up, we have two Slayers, two Watchers, a vampire on our side….” Buffy’s expression fell suddenly as she added the totals.

“I wish we had two vampires too…”

She turned abruptly and headed up the stairs. As she passed Willow, the redhead saw the tears on her friend’s face.

                                                            ***************************************

Spike looked at the lights of San Diego as he walked down the street heading away from the docks.

The Morning Tide had docked earlier that evening. Captain Ramirez had surprised him by giving him a few dollars as the vampire prepared to leave the ship.

“You have been very honorable. You didn’t kill any of my men and you worked hard. What are you that you can look as you do, yet endure the sunlight and kill none of us?”

Spike looked sadly at the man.

“I’m simply me. I’m lost, I may have lost the most important thing in the world to me, and I’m still a long way from home. I guess I’m just ‘sorrow’.”

Spike held out his hand to the man.

“Thank you for getting me this far.”

The grimy, bald man didn’t really understand what the stranger was talking about, but could tell the man was unhappy. He’d almost have said brokenhearted, but ‘his’ kind didn’t know how to care about others, did they? Yet, the captain was unsure what the blonde man’s actual ‘kind’ was now.

“I hope you find whatever it is you are looking for.”

“Thanks.” Spike hoisted his meager belongings on his shoulder and headed down the gangplank. He knew the direction for Sunnydale and now even had a few dollars to get him that much closer.

He missed Buffy with an ache that threatened to shatter his newly beating heart.

                                                            ****************************************

The new vampire woke with a craving that ran through his veins like a raging fire. It was more than hunger or thirst; it was a white-hot edge of need so strong it was pain. He knew the only way to quench it was to find a source of hot, life-giving blood.

Staggering to his feet, he stumbled down an alleyway, homing in on the scent of wine-soaked blood nearby.

In a matter of minutes, he’d located the drunken man who’d had the misfortune of passing out on the back stoop of a closed shop….

Refreshed and with a slight ‘buzz’ from the alcohol saturated blood, the new Quentin Travers went in search of the vampire that had sired him. He planned a long and painful death for his sire before he took over the others and set about planning the destruction of Buffy Summers.

                                                            ****************************************

Buffy stood in her room, facing the mirror yet saw only her own memories.

The last few days had suddenly all come crashing down like a ton of bricks. Spike was still missing and she loved him. But she’d done a horrible thing with Angel. She knew in the back of her mind that other forces were at work that seemed to keep propelling her in directions she’d not planned yet still she ended there anyway. Her mind was in turmoil wondering where Spike was, when, or even if he was coming back, if he’d find out about Angel….

Clasping her hands over her mouth, Buffy whirled and dashed for the bathroom, nauseated. With the nausea came fear. Fear that Willow had been wrong; fear that she was pregnant with Angel’s child. It was something she’d have given almost anything for several years ago, but now she could only think of it as the ultimate expression of her betrayal of the vampire she loved…

“Buffy? Are you okay?”

Willow’s voice drifted into the bathroom from Buffy’s bedroom.

Buffy wanted to answer, wanted to reassure her friend, wanted to say something that would prove she really was alright. However, she found it’s very hard to talk when all her breath was being taken by attempting to barf her socks up the hard way.

There was no possible way to keep Willow from hearing the sound.

“Buffy, its obvious you’re not alright. I’ll be right back.”

The redhead turned, running down the stairs two at a time in her haste to reach Giles.

Willow’s anxiety for her best friend was the reason she also forgot how acute a vampire’s hearing was, so Angel got her message as quickly as Giles.

“Giles.. Buffy’s upstairs being sick. Like throwing up sick!”

“Oh, Lord! You may have been wrong with your ‘scan’.”

Moving faster than Willow had seen in some time, the Watcher raced up the stairs.

Angel beat him by the simple expedient of jumping over the railing and up the steps.

By the time Willow climbed the stairs behind the two men, she had a small following of Wesley, Dawn and Lindsey.

Angel reached the bathroom first and knelt beside Buffy, who was leaning her face against the cold porcelain of the fixture as she sat on the tile floor.

The dark haired vampire tried to pull her into his arms only to be quickly rebuffed.

“No! Don’t, Angel. That’s what started this and I can’t… I just can’t do this again.

I care about you, but I love Spike! A – and he’s.. he’s gone!”

Tear streamed down her face as unbeknownst to the slender blonde; the real reason for her simple upset stomach emerged.

“I love him and he’s gone and I don’t know if he’s alright or if he’s coming back and if he does how do I explain what happened with you, if he finds out and I don‘t even understand it myself!”

Tear streamed down her cheeks with every word.

Angel sat back on his heels, finally understanding the depth of Buffy’s inner turmoil. With a heavy sadness, he finally understood that his attempts to comfort her was only increasing her emotional distraught.

“Buffy, it’s ok. It was my fault. If he finds out, I’ll tell him it was my fault. He’ll be back, Buffy. You know he could never stay away from you.”

*The same way I’ve always had so much trouble staying away from you since the first time I saw you. *

“I’ll go back downstairs and see if I can make a few calls or something and find out where he might be, alright?”

Angel backed away as Buffy nodded her head in agreement.

He didn’t realize that she would agree to just about anything so he’d go away and leave her in her misery. She was trying hard not to blame Angel for what they had done together, but his nearness only seemed to cause her to feel even more guilty.

As soon as Angel moved away from Buffy, still sitting on the tile floor, Giles and Willow tried to move closer to the crying woman, but their well-meaning questions made her cry even more.

Finally, they too, stepped out of the small room, unsure of what to do.

Dawn wanted to help her sister, yet knew she didn’t have the experience. When Wesley suggested they go back to the kitchen, the teen didn’t argue but the worried expression never left her face either.

Lindsey had stood back from the small crowd as he watched their efforts to calm the girl they all cared about, some more than others. Eventually, he was the only person left in the room. He felt he might be able to get through to her where those closest to her had failed.

The young lawyer with the very old eyes walked into the bathroom and sat down on the tile floor a short distance from the still sobbing woman.

“Buffy? I’d like to help if I could… If you’ll let me?”

“You don’t even know me, Lindsey. Why would you bother for a stranger? How can you know what I’m feeling?”

She tried not to snap at him since he was trying to help her, but the words sounded harsh through her tear-choked throat.

“You help strangers all the time, just like Angel and his crew in L.A.. Think you have a monopoly on that? I’m just trying to help on a one to one basis right now. And you’re right, I don’t know how you feel, but I can take a good guess at how Spike might feel.”

That got her attention.

She turned her swollen, blotchy, tear-stained face to look at the man beside her on the floor.

“What makes you think you can possibly know how Spike would feel about what I’ve done?”

This time the snarl was intended.

“Because I was pretty much in love with Darla when she went to Angel. When she slept with him and laughed at me about it. When she came back to my apartment and cleared out her clothes and left me because of him.”

He had Buffy’s full attention now and knew it. The odd thought that it wasn’t much different than catching the eyes of a jury crossed his mind.

“Here, let me help you up. You wash your face, blow your nose and we’ll talk about this. Cause if you don’t, it’s just gonna make you sick again.”

“Sick? You think it was just that that make me sick?”

It was an explanation for her sudden nausea that hadn’t occurred to her and hope rose in her voice.

“Yeah, I do. Clean up and let’s talk.”

Lindsey walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him, giving her some privacy as he waited in her room, sitting on the floor, leaning back on her bed.

It was about five minutes later when a much less bedraggled Buffy emerged from the bathroom. She still snuffled a bit into the wad of tissues clutched in her hand, but she was more the woman he’d seen that first night, the one that was filled with fire and lightening and made the very air around her taste of power.

“You look a lot better now. Come sit down. Tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine.”

Lindsey grinned at her as he patted the floor next to him, indicating she should sit beside him.

Buffy actually smiled slightly at his manner as she sat where he indicated. Then, first with halting words that soon spilled from her mouth so rapidly they fell over themselves, she told him about Spike.

“He sounds like a very different vampire than Angel. From what you say, it sounds like he loves you and has loved you for a while. Oh, I think he’ll figure out what happened, if only because everyone is so obviously trying to hide it, and I’ll guess there’ll be a fight with Angel.” Lindsey chuckled slightly. “You should have seen what I did to him. I went after him with a sledgehammer! But instead of killing me or hurting me, he just broke my hand.”

Buffy looked at both of Lindsey’s hands, puzzled at the comment.

“Oh, I had an artificial hand then. It’s a long story that we don’t really need to go into right now. Let’s just say that things were different then and I had a lot of reasons to be really angry with our boy Angel. That’s why I think I can understand your Spike. Even more since I’ve heard your story. You see, Angel and I have crossed paths more than once….”

It was several hours before Buffy and Lindsey stopped talking… and laughing.

They staggered down the stairs arm in arm as they continued to banter partial comments back and forth, both dabbing at teary eyes, but this time from mirth.

Entering the kitchen, Lindsey caught an inquiring look from the three men. He gave a slight shake of his head to let them know not to say anything. He’d tell them later.

“Giles, I’m sorry I snarled at you. I’m sorry that when I snarl now, it’s really kinda… snarly.” Buffy giggled as she hugged her Watcher, to his immense surprise, then headed toward the counter and the meal laid out there.

Filling a plate and grabbing a glass of tea, Buffy walked past Angel on her way to the other side of the table. On impulse, she leaned slightly and kissed the vampire on the cheek. “Mandy? Oh, jeeze, Angel…”

The vampire turned to glare at Lindsey’s back.

                                                            **********************************

The truck pulled over at the edge of the exit so the slender blonde man could slide out with his meager pack.

“Thanks, mate. I appreciate the ride.”

“Welcome. Down that ramp and about a mile or so and you’re back in town. You’ll see the city limit sign.”

Spike smiled to himself.

“Yeah, I know that sign. Thanks again, mate.”

He turned and headed down the highway ramp. In just a few short minutes of walking, Spike saw the much-abused Sunnydale city limits sign. Even though the majority of the abuse had come from him at one time or another, today, standing in the late afternoon sunlight, he thought the sign was a beautiful sight.

                                                            ***********************************

         ‘The night is falling like an angel

          on your memory

         And we are well acquainted

         We are sworn enemies

         And the lonely beating of my heart tonight

         is only one more thing I gotta fight

         Well I think about you baby

         Days of heaven that we had

         Then I get to thinking maybe

         -Maybe too much thinking's bad’

The sun had barely set when Buffy put her plate in the sink as there was a knock on the back door. She splashed a bit of water into the plate, turned off the tap and went to open the door.

“Hullo, love. I’ve missed you.”

“SPIKE!!!”

Buffy flung herself at him, wrapping her legs around his waist and arms around his neck.

Spike had dropped his bag as she launched herself at him. He wrapped both arms around her as he whirled in a slow circle, supporting her entire weight.

It only took seconds for them to find each other’s lips in a kiss that tried to express how much they had missed each other.

Just inside the doorway a crowd had gathered, hearing the squeal from Buffy. They saw Spike with Buffy wrapped around his body and stood to watch their reunion, a smile on each face at the obvious joy and love between the blonde Slayer and the slender blonde vampire.

Everyone except Angel.

The dark haired vampire stood back in the shadows of the kitchen, watching as Spike and Buffy kissed. Watched as Angel’s demon, the beast inside of him, struggled to throw off the shackles of the soul that dwelled inside. Watching as someone else kissed the woman he’d loved and claimed so long ago, then had made love to again just hours before.

“Angel, are you alright?”

Giles asked quietly. He’d seen the struggle rage through the vampire as he watched Buffy’s reunion with Spike.

“Yeah.. Yeah, I am. Just a fleeting urge.. competition and all, you know.”

“Yes, I do understand. You’re quite sure you’re alright?”

Giles felt Angel was being less than honest and feared the possible consequences for Buffy and Spike, as well as Angel or anyone that got in their way, should the situation boil over into a fight.

“Yeah. I think I’ll go.. I don’t know.. take a walk or check the training equipment or something..”

Angel turned and quickly walked past the older Watcher, heading for the front door and a clear space where he could no longer see the woman who used to love him, kissing someone else.

                                                            ***************************************

Spike finally stood Buffy back on her own two feet. She looked intently into his face for a long moment, then balled her fist and hit him square in the jaw.

“Where the hell have you been, Spike? Why did you leave? Do you have any idea what has been happening here?”

The blonde vampire picked himself up from the deck floor, as he rubbed his jaw.

“ ‘S’right, love. I deserved that. I was bloody well brassed off at you, Slayer. I went to get this chip out of my head, but got something rather different instead. I… I’m not sure how to tell you what happened, but I’ll try. I do want to know what’s happened here, love. Have you been okay?”

“You mean other than dying again? Sure, just peachy.”

“D – dying?”

Spike’s voice cracked with the shock that he might have lost her beyond anything he could fix, while he was gone.

“Spike, I think the two of you should come inside. There are a lot of things to explain and some of us might have cooler heads than our favorite Slayer right now.”

Giles had remained standing in the kitchen after Angel left. He’d been paying attention and had noticed something unusual about the blonde vampire, if vampire he still was…

The Watcher thought a very long conversation was definitely in order.

                                                            ***********************************

“So you did all of that and the demon just made you drink something? I don’t get it, Spike.”

Buffy was puzzled, but Giles had quietly filled in a number of blanks in his own mind about the vampire’s current situation after hearing Spike’s story.

Spike had also been brought up to date on the majority of the occurrences since his departure. Giles didn’t think that Angel and Buffy’s recent.. encounter should be mentioned, so he’d deliberately omitted it.

“Buffy… Lean your head against Spike’s chest.”

Spike shot a look of alarm at the older man for that particular comment. The blonde vampire knew instantly that Giles suspected what had actually happened to him.

Buffy simply looked perplexed, yet did as she was asked.

She felt Spike stiffen as she leaned her head against him, but had no idea why… for about 15 seconds. She heard the thump of his beating heart, felt the rise and fall of his chest as he inhaled then exhaled.

Very slowly, she sat up and looked into her lover’s face, her eyes wide, disbelieving.

“Spike… w-what happened? Why do you have a-a heart beat? Why are you breathing?”

He gently took her by both shoulders, “Buffy, I was really angry. That fight we had… I said… I-I said that I wanted to be able to give you what you deserved. I was angry and wanted the chip out. But I also said that I wanted to be someone you could love as much as I love you. That part was just to myself, but the demon heard me anyway. He… he… The demon made me as close to human as he could, Buffy. I woke up and I was breathing. I have a heartbeat. I can go out in the sunlight. He also gave me back my soul, Buffy.”

She reached a hand to touch his face, finding it difficult to comprehend what she was hearing, what she was seeing…. Her words were barely a whisper of sound.

“Your soul? Daylight? You breathe and your heart beats? Spike… what… why…?” Buffy balled the other hand into a fist that she crammed against her mouth.

“Oh God! What are you now?”

                                                            *******************************

‘I still get lost in your eyes

And it seems like I can't live a day without you

Closing my eyes and you chase my thoughts away

To a place where I am blinded by the light but it's not right’

Two hours later, a myriad of tears, explanations, questions and recriminations, the remainder of the recent events in Sunnydale and Spike’s experiences had been explained and examined in minute detail by one vampire, two Slayers, two Watchers, a witch, a lawyer and a partridge in a pear tree.

Angel was the only person missing and not up to date on the recent events.

Except for one tiny detail….

No one, not a single person, had mentioned the middle of the night encounter between Buffy and Angel.

“Spike. Let me make you something to eat.” Buffy offered.

“Ah, Buffy.. I’ll be most happy to handle the meal.”

Giles interrupted her.

“I know you hate my cooking, Giles. Actually, I hate my cooking too, but I keep trying. Sure, I’ll let you make dinner, but only if you’ll at least let me help. I’ve never gotten to cook for Spike before.”

“For which he should be eternally grateful, I’m sure.”

Giles muttered under his breath even as he nodded in agreement.

But Spike and Buffy’s enhanced hearing caught the slight whisper.

The blonde vampire struggled to choke back a laugh even as Buffy ground her teeth together, forcing herself to try to stay calm.

Spike quickly kissed her cheek as he stood.

“ ‘S’okay, love. Let Rupert do dinner. I need to throw away a few left overs from that trip and then catch a shower before I eat.”

Spike picked up his meager bag, walked back through the kitchen and out the back door to the trashcan beside the steps. He sorted through the bag, pulling out the items that were beyond salvaging and lifted the lid to dump the small pile of items inside. On the very top of the trash inside the can was a shirt and pair of boxers he recognized. The sigh stopped him short. The shirt was one of Buffy’s favorites for sleeping and the boxers… The boxers were a pair he’d left in her bedroom when he’d …disappeared

The blonde vamp dropped the trashcan lid as he reached to pick up the obviously torn clothing. Holding them up, he could see the gaping rips down the middle of the shirt, the tears in the sides of the shorts. But worst of all, was the combined scent that wafted through the air from the clothes. The scent of Buffy, and Angel…and sex.

“Buffy!!”

Spike bellowed from outside, his own demon raging inside.

The instant the Slayer stepped through the doorway, she realized what had happened, but try as she might, she couldn’t find any words to tell the man she loved that what he saw and smelled wasn’t exactly what it looked and smelled like.

As she struggled to find words in an attempt to explain, she was interrupted by a familiar deep voice from the darkness.

“Did you think I’d leave her by herself, once you’d left her?”

Angel stepped from the shadows, his demon finally having won the struggle as evidenced by the familiar disfiguration of his face.

“I know what’s happened to her, Angel. I know about the changes she’s been dealing with…  I understand enough to know you could have resisted more than she could have. She’s new to all of this. You’ve had over two hundred and fifty years. This  is your fault, Angel.”

“Oh yeah! Blame me, Spikey-boy. Blame me when she came to me, when she wanted me, when she was like a wild animal beneath me… Yeah, blame me for that.”

Angel’s demon swaggered into the light from the street lamp, closer to the back steps.

Buffy took a step forward, aghast at Angel’s words, only to be caught from behind by several hands as Willow, Giles, Wesley and Lindsey reached to restrain her.

“Let them work this out, Buffy.” Dawn cautioned her sister.

Buffy stood where she was and watched, fear for both vampires wrapped tightly around her heart..

The insults and taunts got worse and worse as Angel and Spike circled each other, their inner demons now plain on their face.

Spike waited. He knew Angel. Knew how the vampire thought, how he would fight. He also knew that Angel had no idea of the changes he’d endured, had no idea how the new Spike would react.

As expected, Angel lunged for the blonde vampire in the midst of an insult designed to catch the younger man off balance.

Spike sidestepped Angel then whirled to catch him in the mouth with a staggering blow.

The fight was on in earnest from that second.

The on-lookers winced often at the sheer force of the blows struck by each vampire. Over and over they rolled across the ground, blood flowing freely, flesh swelling and bruising. The demons gnashed their teeth, wanting to tear into the flesh of their rival, but each time it seemed one would do so, the other managed to elude the ripping bite.

Finally, with a carefully planned move that looked sudden, Spike tripped Angel, his weight riding Angel’s body down to the ground, one arm around his sire’s throat, the other grasping his chin as he pulled Angel’s head back.

“Now, you will give over any imagined ‘rights’ or ‘claims’ on her to me. I love her and she loves me. You won’t take advantage of her again!”

Spike growled into Angel’s ear, so full of rage it was difficult to understand his words..

“Or you’ll do what?”, Angel taunted him, his own words a harsh wheeze as they pushed past the punishing grip around his throat.

“Just this. I’m the one on top here. I’m the one that makes the rules in this.”

Spike jerked Angel’s head back with a resounding crack and bit deep into his sire’s throat, tearing at the flesh. He sucked hard at the ragged wound, then spat the blood onto the ground.

For a vampire, it was a deadly insult to refuse the blood, especially a sire’s blood. For Spike, it was a necessity since his altered body wouldn’t accept the blood any longer….

But Angel didn’t know that.

“You win. You’re dominate.”

The words rattled and gasped from the ragged, ruined throat. The on-lookers saw the fearful wound healing even as they watched and relaxed slightly. They had feared Spike would try to kill Angel for his intimacies with Buffy.

Spike pulled himself from Angel’s back and waited for his grand-sire to rise from the ground.

Struggling to his feet as if he felt every year of his existence, Angel slowly turned to face his grandchilde, blood soaking the side of his torn shirt.

“We’ll bloody well never speak of this again. It’s over.”

Spike told the older vampire, right before his clenched fist came from behind his back, catching Angel on the point of his chin and taking him back to the ground.

The blonde vampire wearily walked to the steps, pulling Buffy into his arms, shushing her tears against his shoulder as she clung to him.

                                                            *************************************

‘How the faces of love have changed

Turning the pages,

And I have changed, oh, but you -

You remain ageless

I turned around

And the water was closing all around

Like a glove

Like the love that had finally,

Finally found me’

Angel and Spike had cleaned up in separate bathrooms. Coming back downstairs to the living room, Angel looked at Spike with surprise, suspicion and new respect.

“I’m sorry. You’re right, I could have stopped it, but I know it was something she and I had left unfinished for much too long.”

“I know that too, but she’s with me and I love her. I’d never hurt her and I won’t let you hurt her again.”

“So do we try not to kill each other any more?”

“As long as you don’t try to grab my girl.”

“I think I can manage that. Between her biting and you biting.. I’ve been bitten about as much as I can stand. Friends finally, Spike?”

“Well, how about we start with ‘not-enemies’?”

“That works too. I think I need to find a chiropractor, though.”

The two vampires chuckled at Angel’s comment for a moment until interrupted by the ringing of the phone.  Angel reached to answer it, but after a few seconds, he covered the receiver with his hand and called to Giles.

Hearing the phone picked up in the other room, Angel hung up the extension.

                                                            ***************************************

Giles slowly replaced the telephone receiver, then asked everyone to join him in the living room.

They could see that the call had upset the older man, but waited with barely concealed nervousness for the reason.

“That was Melford again, the assistant head of the Council. It seems that Quentin’s plans to have the vampires kill Buffy have gone somewhat astray.

The Council has it on good authority that Quentin was turned and even now is seeking a way to have his revenge on you, Buffy. Now that he’s a vampire, he’s completely mad, I’d think. No offense, Spike, Angel. Travers wasn’t too stable recently.

Melford has asked me to return to England to head the Council temporarily until they can hold a conclave to decide on a permanent new Head Master.”

“B-but what about the magick you were going to teach me? The control I’ve got to learn, Giles?”

Willow interrupted, as the one bit of security she’d had since Tara’s death, was being whisked away from her. That her friends were more than willing to provide moral support was something she couldn’t see in her current state. They couldn’t provide the skills she desperately needed for the powerful forces inside of her now.

“I’d like for you to go with me, Willow. I understand how important it is for you to learn how to control your magicks so they can’t control you ever again. Then too, I may have need of your assistance to help protect Buffy and Dawn from there. Wesley will be here, as will Spike, so I feel more secure in leaving at this juncture. Will you accompany me, Willow?”

“Ah.. yeah. I mean, it’s kinda a scary thought, but not knowing how to control myself is even more scary. And I’ll get to see England..” Willow tried to put a bright face on the sudden disruption of her life.

“When do we have to leave?”

“As soon as possible, I’m afraid. Perhaps you can pack what you need immediately and Buffy and Dawn can send the remainder to you later?”

Giles looked at the two Slayers for agreement, which he received.

Buffy stood up and walked to the older man, gently wrapping her arms around him as she nestled her head into his chest.

“You have to be careful, Giles. I thought you’d stay this time, but now you have to leave again and you’re taking my best friend with you.”

“We’ll be careful, Buffy. I think between Wesley and Spike, you and Dawn will be safe, or at least as safe as we can make things for you.”

Giles looked at the dark haired vampire while he held the blonde Slayer in his arms. Angel hadn’t uttered a word so far.

“What are your plans, Angel?”

“I have to go back to L.A. Since Wesley is staying here, I’m hoping Lindsey might come with me to kinda fill in that vacant spot we seem to have.” He looked to the lawyer and saw the nod of agreement. “We’ll do whatever we need to from that end to protect the girls here.”

“Good. That seems to be taken care of then. I’ll go make our reservations while Willow packs. We’ll have some time afterwards to talk before we have to leave tomorrow morning.”

Giles headed toward the stairs then stopped suddenly as he remembered something important.

“Angel, can you please make sure that the Crystal of Luna gets back to Yanni’s people? They’ll be back to pick it up.”

“Yeah, I can do that. I kinda wanted to talk a bit more to that young man anyway.”

“Good. I’ll depended on you to handle that for me.”

                                                            *********************************

‘I step out of my skin             

you wouldn't know me now          

I won't be your soft one

I won't be encircled              

you might become something I need 

and you must not

must not get closer

couldn't I go away

with the dust of your words in my

mouth?’

They had taken Giles and Willow to the airport earlier that day and waved until the plane was out of sight.

Angel had taken the Crystal of Luna through the sewers to return it to its Kalderash keepers as well as talk to them about a concern of his own. The vampire headed back to Los Angeles that evening.

Buffy and Spike sat on the sofa, snuggled together as a movie ran unheeded on the television. They had eyes only for each other as they talked more of the recent events that had caused so much change for them.

Wesley and Dawn had taken patrol tonight, alone for the first time.

They’d cleaned out a small nest of vampires at the edge of the cemetery and were finally heading home, tired and looking somewhat bedraggled.

“Well, don’t you two just look all tired?”

Wesley and Dawn turned abruptly, but it was Wesley that stammered in shock.

“F-F-Faith? But you’re dead. We buried you.”

“Oooo! Ten points for the Watcher guy! Right on, dude. That you did. So how’s it going now? You and Dawnie teaming up as Slayer and Watcher?”

“Faith? You’re Faith? But if you’re dead, what are you doing here?”

Dawn struggled with the fact that this woman was dead while she stood there looking so incredibly solid and alive.

“Yep, that’s me. Or was me, or what’s left of me.. It’s kinda confusing sometimes… But it’s me and I’m here now with you two.”

The dark-haired apparition seemed much too cheerful.

“Faith… Why are you here? You are dead after all.”

“Well, it’s like this, Wes. Seems the Powers think I need to do a bit more making up for all the evil bad I did. So they assigned me to you two. I’m suppose to help you guys, offer tips, watch out for you and all.. Me.. watchin’ the Watcher!” The ghost shook her head full of ghostly dark brown curls as she laughed at her own comments.

“You mean.. You’re a ghost and you’re going to be haunting us?”

Dawn wasn’t sure she liked the sound of this at all.

“Not hauntin’ ya, Dawnie. I’ll be along to help you out. Where ever you and Wes are.. well, that’s where I’ll be too. Sounds like it might be a blast.. kinda.”

“Oh!”

Dawn was completely speechless at ‘Faith’s’ announcement.

Wesley slapped his hand to his forehead.

“Oh Lord! A new Slayer and a ghost Slayer… Why me?”

“Don’t worry, Wes. It’ll be bitchin’!”

‘Faith’ grinned at both of her new charges before she faded from sight.

                                                            Gillian Silverlight     8/28/02