Chapter Six:











Pouring more wine, Buffy gazed at the decorations in the main hall of the castle. This Halloween actually looked like Halloween. Never underestimate teenage girls' imaginations. She took a sip as her eyes took in the happy expressions of her Slayers, and she smiled fondly at the faces she was able to recognize.

Rowena looked beautiful in that long wig; maybe she would suggest that Rowena grow her hair longer. But then, Buffy hated butting in on others' fashion sense, unless she was taunting vampires. Speaking of vampires, how lame was Mona's costume? Buffy had hated dressing up as a vampire for Halloween the second she'd been told they were real. It felt derivative somehow.

A smile curled her lips when she saw Xander approaching with Andrea in his arms. He was wearing that old gray outfit that he'd barely taken off when they were still living in here. There were times she actually thought he had slept in it.

"So, you're going as Xander?" she asked, looking him up and down.

"Ex-warrior Xander," he said with a grin. "One who resigned for the dutiful duties of parenthood." He leaned down, rubbing his nose against Andrea's. "Isn't she the cutest little witch?"

"For some reason, that sounded disturbing," Buffy commented with a head shake. She took a sip from her wine, noticing Xander's critical stare. She wasn't breastfeeding anymore, so she knew she wasn't doing anything wrong. Thankfully, Xander didn't comment on it.

"Here," he said instead and handed Andrea to her. "Anna brought a date. Gonna do my big brother act."

Buffy frowned. "A date?"

"Pizza delivery guy," Xander explained.

"Oh, that makes sense."

"There, take her," Xander urged. "Gotta have my revenge."

Buffy rolled her eyes, holding Andrea with her left hand, while her right hand still held the wine. "C'mon, Xander, she said she was sorry. And she did buy you Twister."

"Twister won't bring back my light saber." He gave Andy one last kiss before going off to punish poor Anna.

Buffy smiled down at Andrea, who blinked at her with curiosity. Most people would think it was weird to dress a five-week-old baby in a Halloween costume, especially with a magic wand attached to her costume, but not Buffy. The photos they had taken of Andrea right before they had left for the party were adorable. Dawn had given her a huge list of threats to get a promise out of Buffy that she would develop some photos for her as soon as possible.

Speaking of Dawn, Buffy saw her approaching them, laughing at a joke Leah had just told. She was wearing a plain black satin gown, very simple but chic. It clung beautifully to her body, showing curves Buffy never thought Dawn had.

"So, decided against the costume?" Buffy asked.

"Actually I'm going as Christina Aguilera before she Stripped," Dawn said with a raise of her chin. "This is me 'Turning to You,'" she explained as she pointed to herself.

Dawn stared at Buffy's familiar Calvin Klein shirt and dark jeans, both appearing a little loose on Buffy's shorter and slimmer body. "And who are you going as?"

"You." Buffy beamed. "A Dawn taking a break from college to visit her prettier sis."

"You're pathetic."

Buffy raised the glass of wine in the air. "Guilty as charged." Then she drank what was left in one gulp.

Dawn pursed her lips. "Guess the same could apply to me after what I just did, but to a lesser degree. I mean, you snuck into my room and stole my clothes. They haven't even been washed." At Buffy's careless shrug, Dawn shuddered. "What was I saying?"

"You did something?" Buffy guessed, shooting Dawn a hard stare. "What did you do?"

"With that hostile attitude, you're making me regret it."

"Dawn."

"Anyway, I was at the Central Command, and I know where we can find Spike," Dawn confessed. "He's in a pub called Bow Bar. It's on Victoria Street in the Old Town. It's small, so it might be hard to spot. Better ask around once you reach Victoria Street."

Buffy's mouth parted a little, holding Andrea closer. Dawn shifted under her gaze, looking a little awkward, which felt peculiar. Grown up, confident Dawn had left the building, leaving behind the apprehensive little girl Buffy knew back in Sunnydale.

Dawn gave an uncomfortable smile. "Was about to do it the hard way, but thank God for magic. One simple locator spell, and voila, there be Spike."

Buffy moved closer and hugged Dawn gently, trying not to squish Andrea between them. She felt Dawn take hold of Andy, freeing Buffy's arms from the small bundle. Buffy drew back, looking into Dawn's face, reassurance in her sister's eyes.

"Go. I'll cover up."

Buffy smiled gratefully and turned to leave.

"Oh, and Buffy?"

She looked back at Dawn.

"We used the locator spell to find more than just Spike."



~*~*~*~


It wasn't as hard as Dawn had said. Buffy quickly spotted it, a blue-painted bar with large windows. She could see why someone would miss it though, it was quite small. Inside, the pub looked quite pretty. There weren't many people in there, so she was quickly able to get the bartender's attention. The funny look on his face when he saw her indicated that young people didn't frequent this pub. She dismissed the disappointed expression when she told him she wasn't here for 'real ale,' but for a punk-looking bleached man.

"This is not an inn," the bartender explained as he walked Buffy to the back of the bar. "But we can't resist a young bloke who appreciates a pint of 80."

Buffy nodded dismissively. Sunnydale had had one or two pubs, but she hadn't ever been to one. Once, Spike had told her that it wasn't even close to the real thing, which was probably right, because there was a certain 'feel' about this one that she couldn't put her finger on.

The bartender left her standing in front of a well-decorated door. For a second, she thought about kicking it open, old habits and such. But then she figured they were a little too mature for that now. Plus, this wasn’t the crypt, so she politely knocked.

Spike opened the door with a raised eyebrow. He clearly knew it was her knocking.

She beamed. "Hi."

"Hi," he said, a little suspicious. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Never thought I'd see you sleeping in a bar like this." She peered at his room. "Never thought bars had bedrooms."

"Slip a bloke some cash." He shrugged. "And they've got good single malt whisky," he added. She made an 'O' with her lips and nodded at the expected answers. He looked a little uncomfortable at her presence, and she didn't know why she thought it was cute. "Want to come in?" he finally asked.

"Actually, I think I can help you with that mission you told me about."




~*~*~*~




"Do you need an invite?" Buffy asked Spike in a haste.

"Hotel room isn't her home," he explained. "'Less her stay is permanent."

Buffy nodded. "Guess we'll find out." This time, she happily kicked the door open, revealing a medium-sized room. Lovely decorations of medieval times greeted her as she and Spike let themselves in. The Slayer in question was on the couch, looking like she had been watching TV. On her lap rested a bowl of popcorn, which reminded Buffy of the stolen groceries. She pushed that thought away.

Reem – her name according to Spike- was startled at their intrusion. She automatically hugged the bowl closer to her chest until her eyes landed on Spike. She immediately recognized him because she placed the popcorn on the couch and assumed a fighting stance.

Buffy approached, keeping a resolved face. "Let's talk," she said. "Slayer to Slayer."

Reem frowned. "Slayer?"

"It's who you are," Buffy replied gently.

"You mean that's the reason why I've been strong for a while now?" Reem asked, interested.

"That dense, are you?" Spike ridiculed. “And here I thought you Slayers came with a built-in handbook."

Buffy frowned at that remark but said nothing.

"It's not like I had someone to ask," Reem retorted before turning her attention to Buffy. "Can you tell me? About what's happened to me," she asked imploringly.

Buffy nodded, not knowing why she felt a sudden sympathy toward the girl. Certainly, she knew older rogue Slayers she was barely keeping in touch with lately, ones she had given up on, but something about a teenage Slayer with powers she didn't understand made Buffy twist a little with guilt. "I will," she promised. "But you have to go back to LA."

Reem's mouth twitched. "Not a chance."

"It's not up to you, you…" Spike was interrupted by Buffy raising her hand, indicating for him to say nothing.

"Then, we fight," Buffy said.

"Fair fight?" Reem asked, giving Spike a glance.

"As long as you don't use your mojo on me, we're fine."

"Mojo?" she exclaimed.

Spike wiggled his fingers. "Witchy powers."

Reem cast Spike another withering look that said 'I know what mojo means,' and then turned her attention to Buffy. "I don't do mojo. I'm Muslim," she said, already leaping at Buffy.

Buffy, ready for her, ducked and avoided the punch. "Thought Muslim women wore scarves." She swung a leg at Reem, making her lose balance. Buffy jumped at her and positioned herself on her, holding her still.

"How stereotypical," Reem retorted. "And they're called hijab." Then, she spit in Buffy's eyes.

Buffy unconsciously backed away and rubbed her sleeve on her closed eyes in disgust. All of a sudden, she felt her hair being pulled back painfully. She screamed, "Ow! That's cheating."

"The deal was," Reem pulled harder, "no 'mojo' from me." She grabbed the popcorn bowl and tossed it at Buffy, and salty unpopped kernels hit her in the eyes. Buffy screamed when she felt her eyes burn. "No helping boyfriend from you," Reem went on as she kicked Buffy's back harshly. "Nothing about hair pulling."

Tears gathered in Buffy's eyes but it didn't stop her from swiftly grabbing Reem's arms. She swung Reem over her head, causing her body to fall and smack onto the floor. Reem let out a painful cry. Buffy didn't waste a second as she positioned her body again above Reem's and covered Reem's mouth with her hand. From the brief fighting match, Buffy could see that Reem wasn't a fighter. She just relied on her Slayer strength. Buffy remembered Spike's comment about this girl dusting five vampires, which was most likely just a coincidence.

"New rules. You start talking now." She leaned closer toward the frightened girl's face, her other hand taking a hold of Reem's hair. "And if you so as much touch a hair on my recently pampered head, I'm gonna pull on these hairs 'til there's no more. Got that?" She tugged on the blonde locks once to reinforce her threat.

Reem nodded rapidly.

Buffy let go of the girl's mouth, her hard stare unwavering. Reem took a deep breath and stared pointedly at Buffy's shirt, apparently recognizing the expensive brand. "That's a nice shirt," she commented.

Buffy fought the urge to wrap her arms around Dawn's shirt, still affected by the stolen groceries.

"I was going to buy one of those for college," Reem went on, not meeting Buffy's gaze.

"It's not too late for that," Buffy reasoned, her arms loosening their grip on the body under her. Her face started to lose the firm stare.

A flicker of emotions passed across Reem's eyes and then vanished completely. "What do you want from me?"

Buffy felt a little disappointed at the change of attitude and changed hers back as well. "Undo the curse you put on Angel."

"And then what?"

"What do you mean?"

"The vampire gets back to normal, and I get back to my sucky, directionless life. Is that it?"

"If you lift the curse, Angel will drop the case," Spike said, startling Buffy. She'd almost forgotten he was in the room. "Your family will have to find another investigation agency."

Buffy studied his determined expression, unsure how to feel about how much he cared about Angel.

"Don't move!"

Buffy and Spike's heads snapped toward the door –which they idiotically had left open- and saw a security guard standing by the door pointing a gun at them. The frightened face of one of the hotel's employees was peeking at them from behind the guard's shoulder.

Buffy felt her heart beginning to race, not so much because of the suspicious picture they were outright giving the officer, but because if she was arrested, the police would find out about her 'other' crimes, which might lead the US government to their hiding place.

"Help me, please! They're trying to kill me!" Reem pleaded.

Buffy turned her gaze to the girl under her in shock, but then she realized that her shock showed how foolish she actually was.

Suddenly, she heard a frightened scream and a curse from the door before she was snatched by strong hands. Spike pulled her to the window, so fast she could barely see a thing, his arm holding her to his chest. All of a sudden, Spike turned around, leaving her looking directly at the security guard, who appeared to have snapped out of his shock. He quickly pointed the gun at them, and then Buffy heard the shot, but didn't see it because Spike was already throwing them both out the window, breaking the glass with his back. They fell from the third floor with Spike's body positioned under hers.

She let out a terrified gasp, clutching Spike's arm around her chest. The torture of falling down didn't last long. They hit the solid ground in seconds and all she could hear was Spike's pained grunt. She knew it was time for her to take the lead.

She quickly stood and helped him up – noticing that he was donning his vampire face - then dragged him away from the street, trying to get away from the hotel. She didn't let go of Spike's arm at all as she ran through the empty streets until they went down an alley.

She dropped Spike's arm and fell to her knees, gasping for air. "Guess we're far enough," she wheezed.

The hushed groans she heard behind her had her spinning around, startled. Spike was leaning his back against the wall with his right hand clutching his left upper arm, where blood was pouring down. She rushed toward him in a second, both hands gently touching the injured arm while her eyes checked the wound in fright.

"We need to get the bullet out," she said in full Slayer mode.

"It's all right," he gritted out. His face slipped back into its smooth human planes.

"No, it's not all right." She stood up, eyes unsuccessfully searching around for a bar, though she knew she wouldn't find one in the empty alley. Then she leaned closer to him and touched his shoulder gently until he looked at her face. "Wait here. I'll be back."

She ran out to the street, her head moving from right to left until she spotted a nearby pub. She didn't stop until she hit the counter where the bartender stood. "I need a bottle of something strong. Now."

She didn't trouble herself with the sounds of the people inside the pub, curious about her jumpy behavior. She threw a few bills on the counter, grabbing the bottle from the stunned bartender, who didn't get the chance to open it. She stomped on an old man as she hurried outside. The fact that she overpaid for one bottle of hard liquor didn't matter.

She found Spike in the same position she had left him, except he was looking less pained. Dropping on her knees next to him, she worked her Slayer strength to open the bottle and almost broke it.

"Thanks," Spike grunted, taking the bottle from her hand and swallowing the hard liquor in loud gulps.

Buffy blinked, shocked as she watched the liquid vanish. Spike’s lips smacked together when he was done, and he tossed the empty bottle away.

Buffy's mouth opened and closed like a fish.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Don't have to get rid of the bullet, Buffy. Movie trope." He pointed at himself. "Plus, vampire."

Blood rushed to her cheeks, and she dropped her gaze to the ground in embarrassment. She took off her shirt and started wrapping it around his arm to stop the heavy bleeding. She thought that leaving the bullet inside would lead to an infection but then, yeah, Spike was a vampire. She still thought that it might have some sort of effect, but she didn't want to risk a new sort of embarrassment since all her medical knowledge came from movies and TV shows.

She avoided looking at his face throughout the process, because she knew he was staring at her with that look. Her heart had been racing ever since the security guard showed up in Reem's hotel room, and it didn't stop for a second. For some reason, it raced even more now. The silence between them was driving her nuts. She almost wished he would crack another joke at her naïve medicinal facts.

Once she was done, she just sat there and stared at his arm. Blood was creating ugly stains on Dawn's expensive shirt. Buffy hoped that Dawn wouldn't tell Xander about the real reason for her departure as revenge for her damaged shirt.

"Thanks," she heard him whisper.

Now she had the courage to look up, and then she wished she didn't. His face looked calm, his eyelids half opened, and yet the affection and gratitude shone bright and clear.

"No," she murmured. "Thank you."

She shivered slightly when a breeze blew over her exposed shoulders, and she just realized that she was wearing nothing but a top in the cold alley in the chilly Scottish weather. She cursed under her breath and chided herself for not wearing a jacket when she left the castle.

"Better wear this," Spike muttered, shrugging off his coat and handing it to her with his good hand.

It was her turn to raise an eyebrow. "Clichéd gentleman."

His eyebrows playfully shot up, wrinkling his forehead, and he drew the coat back. "If you don't want it…" He let the sentence hang.

Buffy snatched the coat from his hands with a huff, slipped it on, and then felt a little nostalgic. She'd never really worn a coat that belonged to Spike, not even his infamous duster, but the smell of cigarettes that clung to the coat brought a weird sense of reminiscence. It was like she could smell Sunnydale.

Spike rose with the help of the wall, bringing her out of the nostalgic sensation. She stood and helped him straighten up. Buffy wanted to lift his arm over her shoulders and support his body as they walked out of the alleyway, but it looked like Spike didn't need it. She just walked next to him in case he needed her.

"So, bitch won this time," Spike noted as they walked down the street.

Buffy wasn't sure how she felt about the whole situation. She couldn't help the feeling of guilt seeping into her since the situation was definitely her fault. If she hadn't activated all the potentials around the world, Reem would still be with her family, and Angel wouldn't have been hurt.

On the other hand, if the whole situation had never happened, she wouldn't have found Spike again. Old feelings of hurt and betrayal replaced the guilt. She wasn't sure why Spike didn't tell her; she couldn't believe the excuses he'd made. Why would she even care if he ruined his 'great exit'? Their relationship was never about that, was it?

She let out a sigh, watching her visible breath rise up and disappear. "Do you know more about her?" she asked. Any information about Reem might help all parties involved.

"Other than the obvious, nothing," Spike answered. "Told you, mum has a thing for reputation."

"So, her mother only cares about reputation?" That got her thinking that perhaps Reem needed the power Buffy had given her. But then, running away from home was never of the good. Buffy could only picture how devastated she would feel if Andrea would do such a thing in the future. Then again, maybe Reem's parents weren't that type of loving parents. From the looks of it, Reem seemed to dislike them a great deal.

Spike shrugged. "Dunno. Does it matter?"

Maybe that type of information wasn't really necessary to help out Angel, but Buffy felt it was her obligation to know about what drove Reem away. Spike's lack of interest was expected and unexpected at the same time. Expected because Reem had hurt someone he cared about, and that made her the enemy. Unexpected because that 'someone Spike cared about' was Angel.

"Why are you doing this?" she found herself asking.

He looked at her with a frown.

"Trying so hard to help Angel," she clarified.

Spike pursed his lips, looking ahead at the road. "Maybe 'cause I owe him one for sacrificing his life for mine."

"Angel sacrificed his life for you? Details, now," she exclaimed, causing him to chuckle softly.

She smiled at his reaction. Somewhere inside she knew he was just bluffing. It amazed her that Spike cared about Angel. She never thought she would live to see the day.

When they reached Buffy's place, she took off Spike's coat and handed it to him. He accepted it silently, and they nodded their goodbyes without exchanging a single word. Buffy made a step toward the building but stopped and looked over her shoulder at Spike to see him walking away. Something inside her told her that she should be walking him to the pub, but the rush of wind on her bare shoulders made her hurry inside the building.


~*~*~*~