CHAPTER FOUR
 
When she’d been through most of the newer parts of the cemetery and checked out all the new graves, Buffy decided to call it a night.  She hurried back to the crypt, relieved when she pushed open the doors and found Dawn face down on her books, snoring peacefully.
 
“Hey, this is the kind of studying I do. You’re supposed to be the scholar in the family.”  She poked Dawn, who sat up with a small “eek!”.
 
“If I was a vampire, you’d be a midnight snack by now. Go ahead, blow up the air mattress and get some sleep. You still have to go to school tomorrow.”
 
Grumbling about damp graves, peeing in the bushes, and lack of running water, Dawn quickly got ready for bed and curled up on the mattress.
 
“What about you?”
 
“I’m not sleepy yet. I’ll just sit on the couch and read one of Spike’s books or something.”
 
In spite of trying to read through one of the books she found on a stone shelf, Buffy’s lack of sleep caught up with her and she slumped over to fall asleep on the couch, using Spike’s coat as a blanket.  After spending so much time in her closet, any trace of Spike’s tobacco and booze scent had faded, leaving it smelling like leather and the sachet Buffy kept in her closet.
 
 
~~~~~~~~
 
A shriek from Dawn brought her scrambling to her feet, eyes darting around the now dark room for the source of the danger.  The snick of a lighter illuminated Dawn’s indignant face as Spike lit a candle and grinned at her.
 
“Is that anyway to greet the man who lives here?”
 
“You scared me!” she yelled at him. “I thought you were a vampire!”
 
“I am a vampire, Niblet. Thought you knew that.” He turned his gaze on Buffy who was relaxing out of her fighting stance and taking deep breaths to try to clear her head. “Haven’t you told her about me, pet?”
 
“She knows what you are,” Buffy grumbled, rubbing her eyes. “What did you do – step on her or something?”
 
He shook his head and walked over to her.  “Almost did,” he said. “Wasn’t expecting to find anybody here and I was on her before I noticed the lump on the floor.”  He reached down and picked his coat up.  “You kept it?” The disbelief and joy on his face made her stare down at the stone floor while she responded.
 
“Well, yeah. You said to keep it for you. I brought it with me tonight because....”
 
“Because you thought you’d need to stay warm? Or did you just want to make sure I went crazy wearing a coat that smells like you?” He lifted the coat to his face and inhaled deeply.
 
“I brought it because I thought you’d want it when you got back—stop that!” She tugged it away from his face, blushing as he laughed at her.  They faced each other, both very conscious of Dawn’s presence and her sharp ears.  Spike raised his hand as if to caress her face, then dropped it to his side and turned away.
 
“Go back to sleep, Bit. You can get a couple more hours in before you have to get up for school.  Need to talk to your sis for a bit, but we’ll go somewhere quiet.”
 
“You’ll go ‘somewhere quiet’? To ‘talk to her’? How lame is that?” Dawn flopped back down on the bed and put the pillow over her head. “Go ahead, ‘talk’ all you want. I’m not listening.”
 
“Brat,” Buffy muttered, sitting back down on the couch.
 
“Wasn’t kidding, Slayer,” Spike said. “Don’t think you know about this – should’ve told you, I guess.” He walked some distance away and picked up a ratty rug, revealing a trap door.  Opening the door, he said, “Let me go first and put some lights on, then you can come down.”
 
Buffy walked over and watched as he went down a ladder-like set of stairs and lit some candles which cast a golden glow into the air above the hole.  She peered down to see Spike gazing up at her.
 
“Come on, luv. It’s stronger than it looks, I promise.”
 
Rolling her eyes at him dubiously, she began to back down the stairs, using her hands to steady herself. She reached the last step and turned around to find Spike standing right in front of her.
 
“Did you think I was going to fall?”
 
“If I said yes, would you believe me?” He grinned at her, and wriggled his eyebrows.  “Or would you know I was just watching your pretty little arse?” He still hadn’t moved, and Buffy couldn’t step onto the floor without putting herself within bodies-touching distance.
 
She stared at him, wordlessly, wondering if he was going to move or just stand there until she pushed him away. He gazed back at her, running his eyes over her face and letting his lascivious expression fade into one of admiration and wonder.  When he raised his hand this time, he followed through, running his fingers down her cheek and stopping with them under her chin.
 
“Buffy...” His silent request was obvious. 
 
Buffy closed her eyes and stepped down, allowed him to tip her chin up for the kiss she tried not to admit she’d been waiting for since the phone call to bring him back.  His lips were cool and tentative at first, but when she responded with an open-mouthed sigh, he deepened the kiss, sending his tongue out to caress hers.  The kiss went on until Buffy’s weakened knees and the way she had melted into his body made it impossible for her to ignore Spike’s own inevitable physical reaction. With a small whimper, she pulled away, smothering disloyal thoughts of how much better she fit into his arms that she did Riley’s. It’s like his body was made for mine....
 
“Sorry, love,” he said, adjusting himself without any hint of embarrassment. “It’s what you do to me.”
 
“I didn’t mean to,” she mumbled, blushing as she remembered her own enthusiastic participation in the kiss. She raised her eyes to his and opened her mouth to make an apology. “I’m—”
 
“I’ll live,” he interrupted her. “Don’t you dare say you’re sorry. I’m not.”
 
“But...” She shook her head and took a deep breath.  “Okay, but we do need to talk. I need to tell you about Glory—”
 
“Glorificus. Hellgod. Wants to go home, needs a Key to open the portal, thinks you have it.  Does that about cover it?”
 
Buffy gaped at him. “How....”
 
“Clem filled me in. Seems she’s been tearing up the demon world too, thinking somebody, somewhere must know something.  So, the first question is, do you have her Key, or is she just misinformed?  It doesn’t matter to me – if she’s trying to harm you and yours, I’m going to enjoy biting her – but I’d just like to know if you’re really protecting a Key or if she just thinks you are. Do you have it?”
 
“In a way....” Before she could think about it any more, she began to share with Spike information she hadn’t even given Riley.  She met his eyes firmly. “Are you sure you want to know?”  A raised eyebrow was her only response.  “It’s Dawn,” she said, watching his face for any sign that he might have been playing her to get information he could then sell to Glory. “She’s the Key.”  The snarl that ripped from his throat told her all she needed to know.
 
“Over my dusty body,” he growled.  “Even if I didn’t care what losing her or your mum would do to you, I wouldn’t let anything have the Niblet.” He paced the room furiously for several seconds, then stopped and faced her. “How is that even possible? She’s just a bratty girl, not a portal-opener!”
 
“Okay, see, here’s where it gets complicated.  You might want to sit down....”
 
When Buffy had finished explaining about the monks, the glowing orb, and Dawn’s sudden appearance, he was left shaking his head. 
 
“But I remember her! When she was just bite-size, peeking at the monster in her living room!  Spying on us last year when we were engaged and trying to get some more snogs in.”
 
“We all remember her – but the memories aren’t real.  There was a... I did a spell... and all of a sudden she disappeared from all the pictures in the house, her room went back to being some place mom stored stuff for the store.... It was weird, but I knew right away it was true. I never had a sister. Not until a few months ago.  Dawn is the Key, and the monks made her somehow and sent her here so I could protect her from Glory. They knew I’d never let her have my little sister.”
 
“’Course you wouldn’t,” he said, barely paying any attention to her as he absorbed what she was saying. “Goes without sayin’.” 
 
“I don’t know exactly how Glory would use her, but it can’t be good.”
 
“Blood,” he said, still not looking at her. “It’s always about the blood.”
 
“Ewwww – that’s just disgusting and.... and probably right,” she finished with a sigh. “I’ve seen enough spells to know how often blood is involved. Willow tries to pretend she doesn’t use spells like that, but I’ve seen little cuts on her hand. More than once.”
 
He nodded. “Makes sense, doesn’t it? Cut Dawn, and let the blood flow into where she wants the portal to open. Then the only way to close it would be more blood. Niblet’s blood.”
 
“Or mine,” Buffy reminded him. “She was made from me.”
 
He gave her a fierce glare. “You’d best not be thinkin’ what I think you’re thinkin’!”
 
“If I thought it would work... But, I’m not the Key. Dawn is. She’s the only one who can open the portal.”
 
“So, we need to find this Glory bint and destroy her before she finds the Niblet. When do we start?”
 
“Yesterday,” Buffy said, giving him a wry smile. “Last week would have been good.” She yawned and covered her mouth quickly. “Oh God, I’m sorry. I just didn’t get any sleep before Mom’s surgery, and I tried to patrol tonight—”
 
“No apology needed, love. You didn’t wake up or notice there was a vamp in the room until Dawn screamed. That tells me all I need to know about how tired you are.”  He gestured toward the bed Buffy had been trying to avoid looking at. “Why don’t you crash down here for what’s left of the night?  I’ll take the couch and keep an eye on the bit.  Once it’s daylight and you two have gone back about your business, I’ll catch up on my own sleep and be ready to help you out tonight.”
 
Buffy eyed the soft-looking duvet on the bed and almost whimpered with the desire to just bury her face in it for a few more hours.  Her indecision plain, she said, “But....”
 
“But nothing, Slayer. Not asking you to share my bed. Not while I’m in it, anyway. Not saying I won’t make that request sooner or later mind you.” He leered at her, then sobered. “But not now. That’s not what you brought me back for. Go ahead. Might be a bit musty from not being used in so long, but shouldn’t be too bad. Clem brings his sister here every once in while to dust and do other housekeeping-like things, so it should be clean enough.”
 
“Can’t be any worse than that horrible couch,” she muttered, sitting on the edge of the bed and removing her shoes.
 
“Hey! That sofa was a find, I’ll have you know! Just sitting there by the curb, all unwanted and needing a home.”
 
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it was unwanted....” Buffy yawned again and wrapped herself in the duvet. She was asleep before her eyes fell completely shut.
 
~~~~~~~
 
 
Footsteps and murmured voices from upstairs brought her awake long before she really wanted to be.  With a groan, she threw off the cover and stretched until she felt she was ready to move.  She sat up to put on her shoes, and saw Spike put his head into the entrance.
 
“Sorry, luv, did we wake you? Just trying to get the Bit off to school on time.”
 
“It’s okay. I need to get up and get going anyway. I want to check on Mom and talk to one of the doctors at the hospital.”
 
She started up the stairs, blushing when he remained where he was, crouching on the floor. His face was level with hers when she neared the top of the ladder, and she halted, not sure what he was doing. A cough from Dawn put an end to the staring contest, and Spike stood up with a sigh.  He backed away far enough that Buffy could finish climbing out of the lower level.
 
“Did you get a good rest, pet?”
 
Buffy nodded. “Yes, thank you. It was much nicer than curling up on that couch with just your coat for a blanket. I appreciate it.”
 
“You’re welcome there anytime, Slayer,” he said, giving her a salacious curl of his tongue while his back was to Dawn.  He laughed when she glared and shoved him away.  “No sense of humor. Maybe you do need more sleep....”
 
“I’m fine,” she huffed.  “You just go rest up so you’re ready for the Scooby meeting tonight. Giles is going to tell us the rest of what he learned from the Council. And we’re going to try to come up with a plan.”
 
“Scooby meeting, huh? Just like old times...”
 
Buffy took a deep breath and started to speak, then decided she’d tell Spike about Riley before they got to the Magic Box.  When she was planning to tell Riley about Spike, she pushed to the back of her mind to worry about later.
 
“Slayer?” Spike had noticed her hesitation, but she shook her head at him and turned to leave.
 
“I’ll tell you later,” she promised. “Do you want to meet me there or do you want me to come by here and get you when it’s time?”
 
“Just tell me when to be there, pet. I’m going to have a few errands to run after the sun goes down. Been gone a while and need to stock the fridge and—”
 
“Oh! I almost forgot! I... I got some blood for you yesterday. It’s already in there. It’s only pig,” she said, daring him to complain.  Rather than the disgusted face she’d expected to see, he was staring at her with same look of surprise and delight as when he’d seen his coat.
 
“You bought me blood?  I may have to change my entire opinion of you, Slayer. From the bane of my existence to—”
 
“Just not the bane of your existence works for me,” she interrupted before he could say something she didn’t want Dawn to hear.
 
He laughed and nodded, following them to the door and standing back far enough not to be caught by a stray ray of sunlight. “All right, luv.  I’ll see you tonight. Got my phone with me in case you have a change of plans, but if not, I’ll just meet you there around... 8?”
 
Buffy nodded and followed Dawn out the door. “See you then,” she said, giving a little wave as the door closed behind her.