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Double Trouble by Sandy
 
Chapter 1
 
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A/N If it appears that some of the situations and dialogue are familiar, that's probably because I "borrowed" from various episodes.

~~~

February 2000

Buffy and Willow watched the last of the trucks haul away the debris from the now demolished Lowell House. It had been almost two months since the events of Christmas Eve and things had happened quickly.

Riley had been gone for a couple weeks when Buffy received a phone call at her dorm asking her to meet him for coffee. It had been uncomfortable and awkward for her, but it was also something she knew she needed to do.

"I'm sorry that I used you like that, Riley," she told him after they had settled at a table, "but if I had to do it over again, I'd do the same thing." She looked into his sad eyes and then down into her coffee cup. "You must understand, I have a duty. It's my job to help keep this world safe from the forces of darkness. In this case, the forces turned out to be a crazy scientist and a bunch of Frankenstein demons."

Riley nodded. "I understand about duty, Buffy. I really do. It's just, well, I grew to care for you. A lot. It hurts to know that you never really cared about me." He hesitated a bit and then asked, "This guy, this vampire, you and he are together?"

Buffy nodded. "Yeah. It wasn't something I was expecting to happen. Especially with Spike." An ironic smile formed at her mouth. "Slayers in general aren't supposed to have any kind of personal life. And they certainly aren't supposed to fall in love with a vampire." She shrugged. "It just so happens that I've met two extraordinary vampires in my life."

Riley looked shocked. "Two?"

"Uh yeah. Long story." She decided to change the subject. "So did you get into a lot of trouble with your superiors?"

Now it was Riley's turn to shrug. "Enough. On the one hand, I stopped a cold-blooded murder. On the other, I helped destroy a long-term research project into which millions of dollars had been sunk." He took a deep breath. "So I was given a choice. I could leave the service with an O-T-H discharge..."

"O-T-H?" Buffy interrupted.

"Other Than Honorable," Riley answered.

"Oh. God, Riley, I'm sorry." Buffy exclaimed.

"It's okay, Buffy. The other choice was to take a reduction in rank and join another squad in South America. There's been an increase in demon activity down there, and they've dispatched a squad on a search and destroy mission. So I'm off to Belize later tonight. I just came back here to gather my stuff, tie up some loose ends." He looked at Buffy when he said the last.

"Oh." Buffy lowered her eyes to her mug again. "What's going to happen with that lab?" she asked after an uncomfortable silence.

"It's going to be announced that Lowell House has Radon and is being demolished. The land around it will be paved over to prevent any further gas escaping into the area. The men will all transfer to other colleges."

"And Professor Walsh?"

Riley shrugged. "I was assured that she would be "taken care of" whatever that means." Standing up Riley shrugged into his jacket. "Look, Buffy, I have to go now. You take care of yourself, okay?"

"You too, Riley. And again, thanks for everything you did for me. For us."

Riley nodded and left.

True to his words, the announcement that Lowell House would be demolished was made shortly thereafter. The men disappeared, but hardly anyone noticed. Now that the building was cleared, the paving would begin the next day.

"Do you think all this is actually over?" Willow asked. "Or do you think they just moved operations somewhere else?"

Buffy gave Willow a concerned look. "Good question, Will. I hope that we've seen the last of this, but who knows. Riley said the government had sunk millions of dollars into this project. Somehow I don't think they'll just forget about it."

Willow and Buffy had been rebuilding their relationship slowly but steadily. Mostly it had come about because of the changes Willow herself had been going through. After working with Jenny's coven, she decided that she'd like to find a coven of her own to work with and learn from. Unfortunately the Wiccans at Sunnydale University were a group dedicated more to bake sales and female empowerment than magic. However one girl, Tara Maclay, was a true witch. She and Willow had become friends and to Willow's shock, she found that she had stronger feelings for Tara than she had ever had for another
woman.

Buffy had been a little freaked when she learned about Willow's change in orientation and was voicing her misgivings to Spike one night when he put it all into perspective for her. Kissing her lightly on the shoulder he simply said, "We love who we love, pet." Since she was lying naked snuggled up with an equally naked vampire with whom she had just been making love for the past hour, she got what he was saying.

Her acceptance of Tara had been the beginning of her and Willow's reconciliation.

The reconciliation with Xander came about in an entirely different way. Spike had taken patrol alone one night when Buffy was working on a paper. During a sweep in the area around The Bronze, he heard the sounds of a fight and upon investigation found Xander Harris being attacked by three human muggers. He had been holding his own until one of the men hit him in the back of the head with a length of wood. Once down, the men started hitting and kicking the defenseless young man.
Spike leapt into the fray throwing the men away from Xander, frightening them off with his game face and then helped the injured boy to his feet. He had taken him to the hospital where Xander received several stitches and pain medication and then taken him home making sure he had everything he needed before leaving.

Neither man ever talked about the incident, but Xander's entire attitude changed with regard to Spike. They weren't best buddies, but a wary friendship was beginning to develop.

The biggest surprise since Buffy told Spike she loved him was how her mother had reacted to the news. Gathering their courage, they sat Joyce down one evening and informed her of their relationship.

"Well I wondered if you two were ever going to tell me," she said calmly. At the surprised expressions on their faces, she merely shook her head and said, "Buffy, I realize I might not be the most observant of mothers, but even I could tell something was up between you two on Christmas Day."
Sighing she frowned slightly. "I'm not going to say I'm thrilled about this. Quite frankly, Buffy, I'm worried." Joyce looked directly into Spike's eyes and told him, "Spike, I like you personally, you know that. But you're a vampire. I just don't think it's a good idea for you and Buffy to be romantically involved. I want her to have the chance to have as normal a life as a girl in her position can have. Being with a vampire is not normal."

"I understand that, Joyce. Believe me, we two," he nodded in Buffy's direction, "are well aware that this is a very bad idea." He smiled a little before continuing. "Unfortunately, as much as we've tried to deny it, we can't. As much as we've hoped our feelings would go away, they haven't. But I promise you, Joyce, I'll do everything in my power to make Buffy happy. I'll do everything in my power to help her do her job and keep her safe. I love her with all my heart."

And so Joyce had reluctantly and with misgivings given them her blessing.

The only one that was still vehemently opposed to their relationship was Giles. No amount of discussion changed his mind. He tolerated Spike, barely. But there was never a minute when Buffy was with Giles that she wasn't aware of his censure. It was causing a schism between the two of them that tore at Buffy's heart. And she knew that the only way to fix things between them was for her to break up with Spike, preferably by staking him. That was never going to happen. On the day that Giles informed her that he was returning to England, she had simply gotten up and walked out of Giles' apartment without saying a word. She didn't come by Spike's crypt that night or the next. When he went to her dorm to find out what was wrong, no one was there. By now he was getting frantic with worry and called Xander.

"Giles is leaving and Buffy's closed down. She's not talking to me and Willow says she's not talking to her, but we didn't know she wasn't talking to you either. You'd better find her, man. She shouldn't be alone in this condition."

Spike searched all their patrol areas and finally found her fighting two demons in one of the cemeteries. She was unleashing all of her fury against the two so Spike just held back, available if she needed help but otherwise staying out of her way.

When she finally dispatched them, Spike came up to her, put his arms around her trembling body and held her despite her protests, curses and shoves. At last Buffy gave in and clutching at his shirt she sobbed into his chest like a lost little girl.

He took her back to his crypt and kissing her gently, he began to slowly undress her, offering her comfort in the way he knew best. At first Buffy just stood there unresponsive to his touch but as his hands caressed her tenderly, as his lips slid sensuously over her flesh, her breathing began to quicken and she began to lean into his touch. Spike unbuttoned and slid her blouse down her arms, placing kisses along her shoulders and across her chest to the top of her bra. Reaching behind her he unhooked and lowered the bra and then took one exposed nipple into his mouth. Buffy moaned softly as he tugged at the swelling flesh. His tongue swiped across the sensitive nerve endings causing Buffy to press closer to him.

Switching to the other breast, he sucked and teased while his hands swept over her back, hips and buttocks. Reaching in front of her, he undid the button on her slacks, lowered the zipper and pushing the waistband down slightly, slid his hand down her taut, flat belly. He slowly lowered himself to his knees kissing his way down her ribs, stopping at her belly button and inserting his tongue into the small indentation, then moving across her body to kiss her belly and hipbones. Pushing her slacks down a little more, he kissed right above the soft curls between her thighs slipping his tongue under the waistband of her panties to give her clit the tiniest of licks. By now, Buffy had her head thrown back and her hips pressed forward to his questing mouth. Spike pushed the pants down farther, following their progress with his mouth. First one thigh and then the other were lavished with lips and tongue and blunt human teeth. Buffy held onto his head as he lifted one foot removing the shoe and pushing the trouser leg off and then repeating with the other leg. Pushing her legs slightly apart, he worked his way back up kissing the tender flesh of her inner thighs. He could smell her arousal and his shaft rubbed painfully against the rough cloth of his jeans.

Pushing his face upward, he inhaled deeply of her scent at the crotch of her panties. Sticking out his tongue, he licked at the wet patch that appeared there. Buffy's grip on his hair was painful now, but Spike ignored it, too lost in her taste, scent and feel. Hooking his fingers in the waistband of her panties, he pulled them down, exposing the soft wet curls. He drew the tiny scrap of material all the way off and then eagerly pushed his face between her legs.

Buffy cried out when she felt his vigorously lapping tongue. The hard point flashed back and forth over her clit and in and out of her opening causing her to keen at the sensation. Sucking gently he drew the sensitive nub into his mouth brushing it with the flat of his tongue, then released it and thrust the pointed tip of his tongue deeply into her, then out, then in again. When he began sucking at her clit again, Buffy's legs trembled and she wasn't sure how much longer they would support her.
Sensing her weakness, Spike gave her one last twirling lick and shooting up to his feet, swept her up in his arms and laid her on his couch. Pulling back from her, he ripped his own clothes off and covering her completely with his body, he began kissing her deeply with ever-growing passion. Buffy spread her legs and tried to take him in, but he had other ideas. Once again he began to work his way down her body, stopping and exploring each erogenous zone on the way. He nuzzled her neck and then moved up to nibble on her earlobe and huff a gentle breath into her ear causing Buffy to shiver from the sensation. Lowering his head, he took a nipple into his mouth, sucking and nipping at it, pulling it into his mouth and then sliding his tongue across the engorged tip causing her to moan and push her breast further into his mouth. Moving further down her body, he kissed and licked his way down her ribs and across her stomach and then bypassing that sweet-smelling area between her legs, he lowered himself to her feet where he began sucking each toe, kissing the soles of her feet and gently rubbing them.

Buffy spread herself even wider, offering herself to him, needing him, begging for his attention. Spike ran his hands up her inner thighs and back down again in an erotic massage flicking one finger across her clit with each upstroke. Buffy's hips were thrusting up and down now and she was crying his name over and over, begging him to enter her. She was so wet her thighs glistened. Spike's own need had become increasingly painful. He had not allowed Buffy to touch him and his flesh craved contact. Once again moving up her body, he fitted himself to her and slowly entered, shuddering in pleasure as her heat scalded him. Buffy's arms and legs wrapped around him immediately, holding him to her, locking him in place. He began to move in a slow, steady rhythm all the while kissing her mouth and her neck, murmuring his love for her into her ear. As the pressure built and their climaxes neared Buffy clasped him tighter to her moaning, "Oh god, Spike, I'm gonna, I'm gonna..." Spike thrust harder in response, whispering to her, begging her to come for him. Buffy turned her head to the side and Spike responded to her invitation. Slipping into game face he sank his fangs gently into her neck. It had been weeks since he last bit her and her reaction was instantaneous. A mortal man would have been crushed in her embrace, but Spike reveled in it. His pace increased as her blood filled his mouth, his thrusting coming ever harder, faster and more demanding. Buffy grabbed his head keeping his mouth in place on her neck and answering him thrust for thrust came with a howling scream. The clenching of her inner walls encased Spike, pulled him in and he followed her into an explosive climax.

Buffy fell asleep wrapped in Spike's arms. He held her close to him, watching as she slept and imagining a dozen scenarios for the slow painful death of one Rupert Giles.
 
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