Chapter Fifteen


A/N: Two updates today, yay! Make sure to read Chapter 14 first. Thank you all for your continued support and encouragement.

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She had never been particularly good at waiting and now was no exception. She was anxious and she was nervous and no amount of pacing could quell that faint fear in her heart. After all, this was the Initiative. Who knew what they might try to do to Spike. They looked like they were being all friendly and co-operative but what if it was all a cover?!

She was making herself worse now and she forced herself to sit, her hands clenching in fists. Her stillness lasted all of five seconds before she was up on her feet again, biting her lip and pacing the floor.

“Hey! Crazy Buffy!”

She stopped at Xander’s exclamation and blushed, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I hate waiting,” she sulked, her eyes straying in the direction of the room where Spike was – hopefully – having his chip sorted. There was another long silence and she almost started pacing again when Xander spoke up.

“So how long have you been sleeping together this time?”

Her head whipped round to face her friend, eyes going wide in surprise. He didn’t look angry, surprisingly, just curious and she softened a little, despite her nervousness.

“We’re not sleeping together,” she answered quietly.

When she saw Xander let out a deep breath, she continued before he could get the wrong idea.

“But we are together.”

He narrowed his eyes ever so slightly as he regarded her for a moment before answering.

“How long have you been hiding it this time then, Buff?”

His question was spoken in a soft tone, almost hurtful and she found any anger dissolving into nothingness.

“Not as long as you think,” she replied, “Barely a week.”

“It’s true,” Dawn chirped up, “I only found out a few days ago.”

She sent a glare at her sister but when she turned back to Xander, he said nothing.



“Guess this explains why you suddenly went from uber-Slayer to chilled-out Buffy,” Xander mused, smiling ever so slightly.

“I care about him, Xander.”

“Yeah, that was kind of obvious,” her friend returned with a smile, Willow and her sister joining him.

“It wasn’t that obvious,” she protested with a slight blush.

Dawn’s snort of laughter ended her embarrassment quickly as she sent a glare in her sister’s direction. She then turned back to her two friends.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but I’m telling you now. Spike and me are an item.”

“And you’re not even a little worried?” Willow asked hesitantly.

“Worried about what?”

“Well, the trigger-“

“It’s not important,” she interrupted, continuing softly, “You loved Oz, didn’t you? Even though he was dangerous three days a month.”

Willow smiled softly and Buffy turned her attention to Xander, almost bracing herself for his resistance.

Before he could speak though, his attention was drawn to something behind her shoulder and she spun round quickly to face the lieutenant in charge of the small band of soldiers. She stepped forward and searched his face eagerly.

“Well?”



He paused for a moment and then spoke up.

“We’ve managed to stop the chip from reacting. But it can’t stay in there.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s already caused some damage. If we left it…”

He trailed off and she frowned at the implication.

“Well, what do we do?” she asked impatiently.

“That’s your choice.”

“My choice?” she echoed dumbly.

“We can replace the chip. Or we can remove it.”

She didn’t have to think about her answer for a second.

“Remove it.”

“Buffy-“

Ignoring her friends’ worried cry, she fixed her determined gaze on the lieutenant.

“Take it out.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure.”

He nodded and disappeared once more, leaving her alone in a room grown silent with tension. She turned back to her friends and before anyone could even think about speaking up, she spoke.

“You heard what he said. That thing was causing damage.”

“But Buffy…” Xander started hesitantly, but he had no chance to finish his sentence because she dove in again.

“I trust Spike. He doesn’t need a chip.”

Her tone brooked no opposition and thankfully none came. In silence, she moved back to her seat and went back to the agony of waiting.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


Almost an hour later, the door to the room opened once more and she jumped to her feet as Spike emerged, a ridiculous bandage wrapped around his head. She rushed to him and looked him over carefully.

“Good as new,” he commented with a smile, nodding his thanks to the soldier at his side.

“I really need to escort you off the premises now, Miss,” the lieutenant commented, “It’s not safe down here.”

She wanted to laugh but she wisely held her tongue, letting the lieutenant lead them through the maze to the nearest exit. As soon as they were topside once more and she had given her message of thanks for Riley to the lieutenant, she turned to Spike anxiously.

“How are you feeling?”

“Told you, good as new. They hook me up with a new chip, yeah?”

There was a pause and her friends silently retreated a few metres, leaving them alone. Spike watched them with a raised eyebrow and then turned his attention back to her.

“Wha’s going on?”

“They didn’t give you a new chip.”

“Fix the old one, did they?”

“No, Spike,” she murmured with a smile, “No chip. It’s gone.”

He was silent for a moment and then he raised an eyebrow, regarding her somewhat suspiciously.

“Gone?”

“Gone,” she repeated.

“Why?” he asked, genuine surprise in his tone.



She stepped a tiny bit closer and smiled.

“Because I trust you, you idiot.”

He tilted his head and just looked at her for a few seconds, causing a flush of warmth to work its way through her.

“Much appreciated,” he murmured, eyes flickering to their audience and back to her once more.

“You’re a bonehead sometimes,” she whispered and his eyes widened in surprise.

“What have I done now?”

She shook her head and smiled, before stepping close and leaning in to kiss him. He returned her kiss for a few short seconds before he pulled back, gaze flicking over her shoulder and returning to hers once more.

“Why do I get the feeling you’ve been having a little chat while I was seeing the doc?” he murmured, a smile tugging at his lips.

“Oh, shut up,” she murmured, leaning him and kissing him once more, her arms twining round him and holding him close. Their audience was forgotten for the moment as he kissed her back, his hand twining in her hair as his arm tightened around her waist. She let out a low moan and pressed herself close to him, allowing him to deepen their kiss.

“Okay, okay, time to get a room,” Xander remarked and they parted, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Spike, however, only flashed the other man a smirk and draped an arm around her shoulder, holding her close. He propelled her into motion and pressed a kiss to her hair.

“We’re finishing this later,” he whispered, squeezing her waist and sending a jolt of desire through her.