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A Friend in Need by slaymesoftly
 
Nine
 
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CHAPTER NINE
 
“So,” she said brightly as all eyes turned to her. “Back to where to go and how to get there.”
 
“A nearby town seems a good choice,” Giles said. “But we cannot leave the store unattended for two weeks. I believe I should remain here. Unless Glory has identified my shop as your home base, there is no reason to think she will be seeking me out.”
 
“Don’t forget, Watcher. The bitch has been shaking the demon world too. And there are plenty there who would be happy to give her information about the Slayer. I’d be surprised if she didn’t know about this place and everyone in it.”
 
“Plus, Ben saw all of you at the hospital when Mom had her surgery.  Spike’s right. Nobody’s safe here. If I go, we all go.  You too, mister,” she added, pointing at Spike. “Glory might not know where your crypt is, but Riley does.” Buffy moved to where Spike was growling near the door to the training room and was obviously having a whispered argument with him.
 
“You couldn’t convince him to leave Spike alone?” Dawn voiced what everyone was thinking. “Why not?”
 
 “He’s jealous.” Anya spoke casually, without looking up from where she was taking the money from the register and putting it into a lockbox hidden under the counter. When there was silence, she glanced up. “What? It’s obvious. You don’t have to be a vengeance demon to see that. He’s afraid Buffy likes Spike more than she likes him.”
 
“Well, that’s just....” Xander’s voice trailed off as he watched them carry on their quiet, but vigorous, argument about how much danger Spike might be in from Riley and his former squad members. An argument that ended with Buffy putting her hand on Spike’s face as she pleaded with him. When Spike covered her hand with his and turned his head to kiss her palm before shaking his head, Xander groaned.  “That’s just possibly true.”
 
“Probably true,” Anya corrected. “Look at them.”
 
Becoming aware of their audience, Buffy flushed and stepped away from Spike. “Go on, finish up your blood, and get some more rest. I’ll let you know when we’re ready to leave.”
 
“We’re not through here, Slayer.”
 
“Yes we are. I’ve got a plan. Just go get better so you can be part of it.” She nudged him toward the training room, standing with her hands on her hips until he’d followed her instructions. Then she turned back to the rest of the Scoobies. “Okay, here’s the new plan. You guys can use Mom’s SUV to get to Clarksville. We should get some cheap cell phones so we can stay in touch—”
 
“You aren’t going to go with us?”
 
“No. Spike’s right. Glory probably doesn’t know about his crypt. Except for Clem, not very many vamps or demons know he’s back, so even if she’s been asking around, they probably haven’t told her anything.  If I stay there with him, I can take care of any problems with Riley, and if the two of us find Glory one night—”
 
“You can both get pummeled into bloody messes,” Willow said.  “This isn’t something you guys should be taking on alone.”
 
“I’m not saying we’re going to go looking for her.  As long as I know all of you are safely away from here where she can’t find you, I can keep a low profile. It’s only for a couple of weeks.  But if I get a chance to—She can’t be completely unkillable, can she?”  Buffy looked at Giles for support, but he shook his head.
 
“The Council researchers don’t know. They know only that she’s got godlike powers and seems to be immortal—although she has not been seen in centuries until recently. The assumption is she remains inside a human host until she has reason to emerge.”
 
“A reason like being ready to go home.”
 
“Exactly. If she misses this chance to open the portal, it could be another thousand years before the time is right again.”
 
“No wonder she’s so desperate.” Anya appeared momentarily sympathetic, growing quiet when everyone turned to stare at her. 
 
“So she’ll still be living in Ben then?” Buffy frowned, missing the exchange of glances between Giles and Spike, who had returned to the main shop with his blood in hand. “If she misses her portal?”
 
“One must assume so. At least until she finds a new host.”
 
Buffy looked momentarily taken back, but shrugged it off as something to worry about later.
 
“Okay, so that’s the plan. You guys will head out first thing tomorrow. We’ll get a couple of cheap cell phones so you can stay in touch and let me know if you need anything.  If and when we get rid of Glory, or she leaves in frustration, you can come back.”
 
“What about my—Giles’s—store?” Anya put her hands on her hips. “Are you going to watch it while we aren’t here?”
 
Buffy rolled her eyes. “We’ll check on it every day. I promise. Just put up a sign saying you’re on vacation. But don’t put when you’ll be back. I don’t want Glory to connect the store being shut with her deadline for opening the portal.”
 
“So, what are we doing to do until the morning? Are you saying we can’t go home tonight?”
 
Buffy chewed her lip. “You guys probably can.” She pointed at Xander and Anya, and Willow and Tara.  “Just keep an eye out, and be ready to leave first thing in the morning.”  She turned to Giles. “I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t think Ben knows anybody’s name except mine and mom’s, so you can probably go home and pack up stuff.  I just don’t know what to do with Mom and Dawn tonight.... I guess we’ll just stay here.”
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
When everyone had gone to their respective homes to collect what they expected to need for a week or two, Buffy called out for pizza to be delivered to the Magic Box. She tried not to feel guilty when Spike reached under the counter and pulled out the money Ayna thought she’d hidden so carefully. It took him only a second to break the lock and take out a few bills.  He handed a twenty to Buffy and put the rest in his own pocket.
 
“What?” he asked, when she cleared her throat and tapped her foot. “We don’t know what we might need money for. No sense having to break in every time we need to buy something.  Or would you rather I just started stealing for you?” he asked, his expression perking up.
 
“You are stealing! Just from Giles.”
 
“Well, yeah... but not really. It’s not like I’m planning to buy fags or booze with it, is it? It’s just to buy junk food for you and the Nibblet, and your mum,” he added for good measure.
 
“You aren’t going to use any of it for cigarettes or beer?”
 
“Of course not!”  He seemed offended. “I’ll nick them, just like I always do.”
 
Buffy’s was speechless, staring at him with an expression that went from shocked to concerned to sad in the length of time it took him to move closer to her.
 
“Hey, don’t look at me like that... Slayer? Buffy?” He touched her face and forced her to meet his earnest gaze.  “Was just kiddin’ you, love. Even the demon’s not stupid enough to think you’d be okay with me taking things without payin’ for them.”
 
Buffy stared at him, her confusion and indecision obvious.  He sighed and dropped his hand.
 
“Right then. It’s all right if I’m off in some other city, doing who knows what-all to the innocent citizens there, but here I can’t even joke about shoplifting.”  He turned away from her and stomped to the back of the store, his cut open jeans still flopping around his leg.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Spike remained in the back of the shop until the pizza arrived, coming out only to keep a sharp eye on the exchange of food and money.  When Buffy locked the front door and carried the boxes of warm pizza into the training room, he trailed behind her, still uncharacteristically silent.
 
Joyce woke up long enough to eat a piece of pizza, take her meds, and drink a cup of herbal tea that Tara had left for her.  When she’d finished, she curled back into her blankets and gave a sleepy “good-night”.
 
Leaving Dawn to keep her mother company and to make her own bed on the mat they’d used for Spike, Buffy turned off the lights in the training room and followed Spike out into the main part of the shop. They kept the lights off, the glow from the office area in the back being enough for Buffy to see.
 
The silence dragged on, broken only by the rustle of paper as they finished up the last pieces of pizza. 
 
“Probably should have saved some of that for breakfast,” Spike commented finally.
 
“Probably,” Buffy agreed. “But... yuck.” She made a disgusted face and pushed the box away.
 
“Hey, you’re a college girl. Don’t tell me you haven’t had cold pizza for breakfast.” He slid his eyes to the side to see if she was going to take that in the spirit in which he’d meant it.
 
“That’s a guy thing to do,” she sniffed, her lips twitching just enough for him to see that she was trying not to laugh.
 
He shrugged and gave her one of his best sweet little boy smiles, breaking into a grin when her expression softened and she smiled back. “I forgot. You’re a guy,” she said.
 
“Need a reminder, do you?” He wriggled his eyebrows and leered at her, only half-seriously.
 
She rolled her eyes and shook her head before putting it down on the table. She couldn’t smother a yawn as she rested her forehead on her arms, and she felt his hand come to rest lightly on her head.
 
“Tired, love?”  Her head moved under his hand as she nodded.  “Why don’t you go to sleep too? I’ll stay up and keep watch. Lights are off, or will be soon’s I hit that one in the back, no reason for the hellbeast or any of her minions to be looking in here for anyone at night.  Get some sleep, Buffy.”
 
She turned her head, brushing her cheek against his hand before sitting up with a groan.  “I could do with a nap,” she admitted.  
 
He stood up and held out his hand. “Come on, then. You can catch some kip on the lumpy sofa back in Watcher’s office.”
 
She let him pull her to her feet and followed him toward the back of the shop where Giles had set up an office with an old battered desk and a couple of chairs. Along one wall was a small sofa, really more of a love seat in size. Buffy lowered herself to it and stretched out as best she could. Darkness fell as Spike hit the light switch, turning off the last light in the building. She felt his coat settle over her as she closed her eyes, and his lips brushed hers.
 
“Sleep well, pet. I won’t be far away.”
 
She reached a hand out to stop him from standing up.  “That wasn’t much of a goodnight kiss,” she said, opening her eyes and peering in the general vicinity of his bright hair.
 
“Didn’t seem like a good time to indulge in anything more,” he said, leaning down anyway and putting his mouth on hers. “But far be it from me to disappoint a lady...”
 
The kiss went the way all their kisses seemed to, ending with him kneeling on floor, half-lying on her as she ran her fingers through the soft hair on the nape of his neck and whimpered into the kiss. Eventually, the awkwardness of his position and Buffy’s need for a full breath of air, allowed them to tear their mouths apart and gasp together.
 
Spike straightened up and groaned. “No fair, Slayer. Got your mum and sister in the next room, me with a hole in my chest, and naught but this torture device to stretch out on.”
 
“Sorry,” she sighed, sounding like she wasn’t sorry at all. “It’s just... every once in a while I have to kiss you to remind my—”
 
“To remind yourself why you’re letting another demon into your life?” he said with just a trace of bitterness.
 
“No! Yes? Maybe?”  She sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t know what happens to us when we kiss. Maybe you’re just a really, really good kisser and that’s all this is....”
 
“I am a really good kisser, Buffy. Had too many years of experience not to be. But that’s not all this is. Not sayin’ I know exactly what it is, but there’s something between us. Something that’s always been there... was there even when we hated each other.”
 
Buffy nodded and snuggled under his coat, her voice a soft mumble. “If this turns out to be some kind of stupid prophecy thing, I’m calling it off. I don’t care how good a kisser you are....”
 
She was asleep before she’d finished speaking, and Spike listened to her breathe for a while before going back into the main part of the shop to watch until morning.
 
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