Chapter Two
 
“The vampire?”
 
“Spike isn’t your average vampire,” Buffy said evenly, as she stared into Riley’s disgusted eyes.  “He also isn’t the Spike I met when I first got to this dimension. He’s the Spike from my—Dawn’s—dimension, who died trying to stop another apocalypse and was sent back to me as a reward.” At Riley’s “But you—” she interrupted him. “A reward for both of us.  And for this world.” She stopped and dared Riley to contradict her.  When it seemed that he might, Giles stepped in.
 
“I seems that part of the Powers That Be’s plan for Spike and Buffy is for them to use their hard-won knowledge of the dangers that will arise here, to, if not eliminate them entirely, at least mitigate their ability to cause havoc. It has worked out fairly well, so far. Life here is not without its dangers and potential world-ending events; however, so far they have been able to proactively step in and change the course of events enough to avoid any near-disasters. It is our hope that, with your help, she can do the same thing with Adam. Any suggestions you may have would be more than welcome.”
 
Riley focused on the parts that mattered to him as he ignored Giles in favor of asking Buffy, “Your reward was a vampire? For what? Extra muscle? Couldn’t they just give Xander superpowers or something? I don’t understand how that could be a reward. It would be like handing you a hot coal and saying, ‘Here, don’t burn yourself.’”
 
Buffy rolled her eyes, and turned to look at Spike before answering. His posture was more relaxed than she expected, but the stony expression on his face told her to choose her words very carefully. Forgoing the news about his soul for a while, she turned back to Riley.
 
“In our world, Spike has helped me with almost every apocalypse since he showed up when I was only a junior in high school. I’m not saying we were always best buddies, but I came to trust him and to depend on his help. And fighting together gave us a chance to...” She stopped and stood up, glaring across the table. “You know what? Here’s the bottom line: Spike is my fiancé. We’re getting married in a couple of months. That’s really all you need to know. How we got here, and how long it took us to reach this point, is really none of your business. All you need to know is that he earned the right to be here just like I did—the hard way. And it’s got nothing to do with taking down Adam, except that, that needs to happen before it can screw up my wedding.”
 
Xander gave Riley a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as he removed himself to hide behind the counter. “Bridezilla is in the house. Adam doesn’t stand a chance.”
 
Buffy turned her glare on Xander, then back to Riley. “So, are you going to be helpful or are you going to get out of my way?”
 
One look around the room, where everyone, including the vampire, was trying to avoid making eye contact with Buffy, and Riley and Graham got to their feet and began inching toward the door.
 
“Helpful. We’ll try to be helpful. Right now, I think we need to go talk about all this and think about what’s the best thing to do.  We don’t know what Adam’s vulnerabilities are yet. He doesn’t seem to have any.”
 
“His power supply is in his chest. I just need to get to him so I can rip it out and he’s done.”
 
“How do you know that?”
 
“It’s what I did in my world. Dig, yank, toss, and watch monster fall down go boom.”
 
“G...good to know.” Casting frightened glances over their shoulders at Buffy’s satisfied expression, Riley and Graham left the store as quickly as they could.
 
~~~~~~~~
 
There was a short silence after they left, then Xander broke it.  “Well, that went well, don’t you think?”
 
“They probably think we’re all insane,” Buffy said with a sigh. “But maybe when they’ve had time to think about it—”
 
“They’ll be sure of it,” Willow said.  “Think about it. Would we believe it? Alternate dimensions, portals, portal hopping sisters, future Buffys, dead future Spikes.... have I left anything out?”
 
“I think it was Buffy’s enthusiasm for ripping out what is essentially Adam’s ‘heart’ that brought on their hasty retreat,” Giles said with a wry smile. 
 
“That’s my girl!” Spike put his arm around Buffy and beamed at her.  She elbowed him in the ribs, mumbling something about “bad influences”, but her lips quirked in a smile.
 
“In the meantime, let’s go patrol in case Adam’s been out there recruiting....”
 
“Does he actually go out?” Willow asked.  “I mean, seems like if he wanted to, he could just tramp around Sunnydale smushing anything that got in his way —even you.”
 
“Trust me, in my time, he ‘smushed’ me pretty damn hard. I’m not really sure why that punch didn’t kill me.”
 
“Cough, hard head, cough, cough.”
 
Buffy glared at Spike, who had wisely retreated to a spot near the door, before saying, “But you’re right. Now that I think about it, I’m surprised he doesn’t go out more. I wonder if there’s some reason he has to stay close to where he was created?”
 
“That is certainly something worth exploring, Buffy. If we discover that is true, perhaps Riley and his men can ensure that all the humans are safely out and we can destroy the complex and all within it.”
 
“Blow it up?”  Xander and Spike exchanged delighted looks.
 
Giles sighed. “Yes, children. Blow it up. Preferably without taking out the entire campus of Sunnydale University.  Willow will you—”
 
“I’m on it!” Willow bent over her laptop and pulled up the blueprints she found for the underground facility.  After studying them over her shoulder for several minutes, Giles, Buffy and Spike straightened up and nodded at each other.
 
“Looks like most of the facility is under the woods.  Which makes sense. That’s where I got out – near a bunch of trees.  They hid that exit under sod after I escaped, but it was on the edge of the woods.”
 
“So, if we can make sure everybody is out of there...”
 
“And Riley’s guys can send in enough explosives....”
 
“Bad guy go boom, and I can go back to planning my wedding.  I like it!” Buffy concluded. “Let’s go find Riley and Graham and tell them.”
 
“You don’t think you’ve given them enough to think about already, Buffy?” Xander frowned, his serious expression giving her some pause. 
 
“But it’s a great idea! And we should do it now, before he does start coming out and walking around where we have to deal with him where more people could get hurt.”
 
“I believe Xander is—and you have no idea how it pains me to say this—correct, Buffy. You’ve given Riley and his friends some very difficult to believe information. They will need time to digest it, ask any questions they may have, and be confident that you know what you’re doing. Then, perhaps they will be willing to take suggestions that require them to trust you to know what you need them to do.”
 
Buffy’s shoulders slumped. “Party poopers,” she muttered, throwing herself into a chair. She sighed, then looked up at Dawn.  “Sorry, Dawnie. I got so side-tracked I didn’t even ask you what you were doing here. Is anything wrong?”
 
“No. Not really. I just thought I’d tell you that I have a message from the Winterset Buffy.” She took an envelope from her pocket and passed it across the table. “I didn’t talk to them, I just grabbed the envelope, so I don’t know what it says. But if anything was wrong, I think they would have waited for me to show up or left a note for me.”
 
Buffy opened the envelope, holding it so that Spike could read over her shoulder.  She scanned through the note twice, then smiled.  “It’s all good. She just says ‘Congratulations’ and that they’ll be here – even if they do have to stay inside a bubble.”
Buffy tilted her head back to look up at Spike. “Do you think it’ll give them any ideas?”
 
He laughed and kissed the tip of her nose.  “Dunno, love. That Spike doesn’t have the soul to make him care about things like legalities or morals or mothers who keep hinting that he make an honest woman of her daughter. And that Buffy’s a lot younger than you are. She may not be ready for something like marriage.”
 
Buffy rolled her eyes. “They’re mated Spike. Just like we are. They already claimed each other. I’d say if either one of them wasn’t ready for a commitment, it’s a little bit too late.”
 
“Point,” he said with a shrug. “Who knows – they’re us. They might have a few years of fighting ahead of them still.”
 
“Well, anyway. The important thing is, they’ll be here.”
 
“Okay, well if that’s all it was about, I’m going to take off again. We’re going out to dinner tonight and I need to get cleaned up.”
 
“Still see that Watcher wanker?” Spike asked, more to get a rise out of Dawn than because he was seeking actual information. As he’d expected, she bristled and glared at him.
 
“His name is George. And I’ll thank you to remember it. He might be your brother-in-law someday, you know.”
 
“Trust me when I tell you that the idea of another Summers wedding anytime within the next ten years is enough to make me want to—” He caught a glimpse of the thunderous look growing on Buffy’s face and stopped himself just in time.  “—to insist that I get to meet this young man so that I can give him a proper welcome to the family.” He beamed, pleased with what he considered a pretty good save, only to have Buffy smack the back of his head.
 
“Don’t think for one second that I don’t know what you were about to say. And if it was to throw yourself on a stake... well, that can be arranged.”
 
“An’ on that note, let’s take ourselves out of here and find you something to destroy that isn’t me.”  He held the door for her, waiting until she’d passed under his arm and out into the street before rolling his eyes at everyone in the shop.  “Coming, love,” he said as he shut the door behind them.
 
There was silence after they left, then everyone let out audible sighs of relief. 
 
“Who wants to start a pool on how long Spike stays undusty?” Xander looked around the room. “Aw, come on. Even if he turns into a bigger whipped wuss than he is, he’s still going to do something to piss her off before they can get married. I’ll say six weeks. Who else is in?”
 
The girls just shook their heads and turned away, leaving Xander and Giles staring at each other. “G-man? What do you think?”
 
“I think, based on what they’ve told us about their world, and what we saw here before this world’s Spike got sent away, that they’ve had many opportunities to kill each other since they first met and it has never happened. Clearly they are both capable of controlling any homicidal urges they may have, no matter how angry they may get.”
 
“You’re no fun,” Xander muttered, flopping into a chair.  “Hey, Dawn. What about you? You’ve known them longer than anybody here. What do you think?”
 
“I think you’re an idiot,” Dawn said. “I can’t believe I had a crush on you when I was little.”
 
“You think I’m an—wait, what? You had a crush on me?”
 
“I was ten. I got over it. About the time Spike came to town, I think...”
 
“Oh.”
 
“Okay then. Good to see you guys, but I do have a date waiting for me, so...” Dawn waved her hand and stepped into the portal that reopened right where it had opened.
 
“Wow,” Willow’s voice was awestruck. “It’s like it was waiting for you.”
 
“It was,” Dawn replied with a smile. “Bye, guys!”  There was another “pop” as she and the portal disappeared.
 
“That is so cool...” Willow stared wistfully at the bare spot.
 
“When I was a vengeance demon, I could teleport anywhere or any when I wanted to go,” Anya said with a sniff and a glare at Giles.
 
Remembering what Buffy had told him about Willow and magic in her world, Giles frowned at her obvious interest in Dawn’s portal-opening skills and made a mental note to suggest she spend more time some training with him.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
“I’ll bet you Harris is laying odds right now on how long it’ll be before you stake me,” Spike said, nudging her shoulder with his.  She made a humph noise and shoved him back.
 
“I wonder if the winner will split it with me if I pick their date to do it?”
 
“Is that your way of saying I should make myself scarce for the next few months?”
 
“It’s my way of saying you need to stop rolling your eyes when I try to talk about plans for the wedding and try to be... okay, helpful is probably too much to ask, but... supportive?”
 
He threw an arm over her shoulder and squeezed. “I’m sorry, love. Truly I am. You know I want this as much as you do – I just don’t know how to control my mouth sometimes.”
 
“Sometimes?”
 
“Very funny, Slayer.”  He pulled her into a hug so that he could nibble on her neck and lick the place behind her ear that he knew made her heart race. “Sometimes I can do pretty amazing things with my mouth... would you like a little memory refresher?  Hmmmm?” 
 
Buffy gave her own answering hum of pleasure as he kissed and nibbled his way around all the skin he could get to on her neck and one shoulder. She was just about to suggest they pause for that promised refresher when she caught movement from the corner of her eye.  At the same instant, Spike’s head flew up and he snarled his challenge at the approaching cyborg. They broke apart, no conversation necessary as Spike drew his sword on Buffy’s left, and she yanked hers out of its harness on her back.  The half-human, half-machine creature didn’t slow down when he saw two people with weapons facing him, but just continued on his single-minded quest to destroy.
 
“I think I’ve met this guy before,” Buffy said, slicing at one arm, which did not fall off, but did dangle uselessly with several metallic-looking fibers clearly visible under the skin. Spike’s equally quick removal of the creature’s other arm, effectively disarming it when the arm and its built-in weapon fell to the ground, gave them the space they needed to get good swipe at its neck.
 
Buffy grunted when her powerful sweep only gashed the side of its neck, not severing the head as they’d been able to do with others they’d encountered.
 
“The bloody bastard is getting smarter,” Spike said, whirling his own sword at the other side of its neck. “He’s reinforcing the necks in them.”
 
“Crap! Keep him busy, will you?” 
 
Buffy moved around behind what used to be one of Riley’s squad members and stabbed her sword into the middle of its back, hoping it hadn’t occurred to Adam to reinforce the tissues surrounding the device that powered the body.  When the point of the sword penetrated the power pack, there was a bright flash and the sound of sparking electricity. Buffy flew backwards and landed on the ground, her hand still clutching the now-glowing metal sword. The cyborg shuddered and toppled forward, just missing Spike, who leapt around it to where Buffy was lying on the ground, groaning, having thrown the sword some distance away.
 
“Buffy! Talk to me, Slayer. Are you all right?”
 
“Do I look all right?” she whimpered, trying to sit up and failing miserably. “What the hell happened?”
 
“I think maybe poking metal objects you’re holding in your bare hand into a powerful battery might not be the best approach to these things,” he said, relaxing a little as he saw that she didn’t seem to be seriously harmed.  Putting his own sword where he could reach it easily, he knelt down and helped her to a sitting position.  “May want to leave the poking things into all that electricity to the bloke who’s already dead,” he said, his concerned expression belying his light tone.
 
“Yeah, okay. New plan, I keep them busy and you stab them in the battery with sharp metal objects.”  She reached a hand toward his face, cupping his cheek and smiling at him. “I’ll be fine,” she said. “Stop looking all worried. You know I’m tougher than that.”
 
“Doesn’t mean you can’t be electrocuted,” he said, growling softly as he nuzzled into her hand. He helped her to her feet, holding on to her until he was sure she could stay upright.  “Think that’s enough for one night. We should go home now. I can come back out later and dust a few vamps if I need to.”
 
Buffy shook her head. “Nope. Just because Riley knows you’re with me doesn’t mean you won’t get captured if I’m not with you.  It’s too dangerous with those guys all spooked by what’s happening to their friends. You’ll just be another vamp to them, and if they don’t dust you outright....”
 
“They’d put another chip in my head,” he finished for her. “Not gonna let that happen, pet.”
 
“If I go home, you come home,” she stated in her best “I’m the Slayer and you’d better listen” tone of voice.  Without waiting for an answer, she walked to the now immobile creature lying on the ground. Turning him over, she studied his face then sighed. “I think he used to be one of Riley’s guys... For-something... Forrest! That’s it. His name was Forrest.” She shrugged and glanced at Spike. “I don’t think he liked me very much – in our world or this one.”
 
“Bugger got what was comin’ to him then.” Spike nudged the body with his toe. “What do you want to do with him?”
 
“I think we’ll leave him here. If the police find him, it’ll give them kind of a heads-up, if his ex-buddies find him... well, that’ll be one more reason for them to want to help us, won’t it?”