Chapter Four
 
By the time the portal flickered back into existence, the anxious humans, some of whom had been living in the hotel basement for weeks, were all pushing and shoving to be the first ones out. It took the snarling vampires showing their true faces and the slayers convincing several big men that they were going to be last now that they’d made asses of themselves, to turn the mob into a semi-orderly line. Children first, then the elderly, and then the adults who hadn’t tried to be first. All in all, it took almost an hour due to both the size of the portal and the need for everyone to get out of the way on the other side. 
 
When the last one was gone, Buffy bent down, stepped through, and made sure they knew that was everyone. She spent a few minutes talking about using the message board and receiving information from them.
 
“We should know more later tonight,” she said. “Angel and Spike are going to take us with them when they go out. And we’re going to meet the dragon.” She waved and disappeared from the compound the slayers had taken over, reappearing in the alley just in time to see Faith and Spike attacked by the first of what appeared to be at least a dozen demons.
 
“Can I play too?” she asked, wishing her sword was still on her back rather than resting with her scythe, just out of reach on the loading dock. It was pretty obvious the demons were focused on the portal, and she was afraid to move away from it until it was safely closed. She used her fists and feet to keep them from diving through, and as soon as the portal disappeared, she dove for her weapon, with which she removed the nearest demon’s head.
 
By then, Angel had emerged from the hotel with his own sword and an axe, followed by the slayer squad with their own swords.  None of the demons survived to carry word of the portal out of the alley.
 
“What the hell was that?”
 
Angel shook his head. “I don’t know. I’d like to think it was just coincidence that a gang of demons walked through here just as the portal was open, but….” He gestured to the building. “Let’s get inside. At least we can be safe while we worry about it.”
 
Everyone trooped inside, at the last second, Buffy grabbed the dry erase board and markers and set them just inside the door. “Just in case,” she mumbled when Spike raised an eyebrow at her.  He shrugged and locked the door.
 
“Wasn’t objecting to it, love. Prob’ly a good idea.  No sense leaving any more information out there than we have to. Now that we have more demon-killers here, we can just post a watch when we have something to communicate.”
 
“We?”
 
He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Right. If you have something to communicate. Forgot my place there for a minute.”
 
Buffy glared at him, glanced around to see they were alone in the hallway, and grabbed him by the belt, yanking him close to her.  “Your place is right here,” she said, losing the glare when his face softened into a smile. “But the slayers are my responsibility – mine and Faith’s. You and Angel don’t get to make decisions about them. ‘K?”
 
“Whatever you say, love. If you keep those fingers where they are, you can get me to agree to pretty much anything…”
 
Realizing that her hand was resting next to the bare skin of his stomach with her fingers inside his jeans and just brushing his lower abdomen, she flushed and pulled it away. She tugged his shirt down to cover the exposed skin. “I didn’t mean to do that,” she mumbled.
 
“I know,” he said with a grin. “But it felt good anyway.”
 
“Pig!”
 
“Oink, love. That’ll never change.”
 
“I guess we can’t expect a soul to fix everything,” she said, her snort of laughter taking any sting out of her words.
 
“It might’ve penned that piggy up at first, but I got over it.” His expression turned serious. “I’m not quite the wimp I was when I first got it. I hope that’s not going to be a problem…”
 
Buffy shrugged. “Wimpy Spike was sweet… but he wasn’t very sexy.” She walked away quickly before he could continue the conversation, entering the kitchen with a cheerful, “So, where are we going tonight? And when do we get to meet the dragon?”
 
Angel looked back and forth between her smirking smile and Spike’s stunned expression, then shook his head.  Forcing his gaze back to the rest of the people in the room, he said, “She usually finds us. I don’t know how, but so far she’s shown up when we need her. As far as tonight goes, we’re going to hit a factory on the other side of town where they’re using humans as slave labor.” He paused and looked around the room.  “The plan was just to try to sneak them out of the dorm, but with all this extra help, we might be able to close them down completely. If we can take out the bosses….”
 
“The bosses being?”
 
“One of the minor demon lords. And his minions, which are mostly lesser demons, but I think he uses some vampires as security.”
 
“Sounds like a plan. When do we leave?” Faith stood up and glanced around at the eager slayers.
 
“We’ll leave in another hour. It’s going to take two vehicles – I’ll drive the van and Spike can drive the bus. I’ll take the girls with me… and Faith.” He sighed. “And Buffy can go with Spike.”
 
“Where do we get a bus?”
 
Spike nodded toward the door to the basement. “We’ve got an underground parking garage,” he said. “Got the entrance hidden pretty well – although we do have occasional vamps thinking they can make a lair of it – so far it’s worked. The barrier contains a glamor that makes it hard to see the entrance to the garage and of course, the demons can’t get in anyway.”
 
“Okay. Weapon up girls. Who knows what we’ll need. Stakes for sure, but probably swords or axes for the demons.”
 
“We have a pretty good armory,” Angel said. “Faith, you know where it is. Do you want to take the girls to pick out whatever they want or need?”
 
“Got it. Let’s go, slayers. Free weapons!”
 
XXXXXXX
 
Angel, Spike and Buffy watched the slayers follow Faith to the weapons storage area, leaving the three of them refusing to make eye contact. 
 
“Don’t you want to pick something out, Buffy?” Angel said.
 
“I’ve got my scythe, and my stakes. I’m good.”
 
There was another uncomfortable silence, with both vampires sneaking looks at Buffy.
 
“What?” she finally exploded. “What’s wrong with you two?”
 
“Nothing,” Angel said stiffly. “Nothing at all. I guess you and Spike are… you and Spike. And that’s… well, it’s not fine, exactly, but I can live with it. As long as you’re sure, Buffy….”
 
“As long as I’m sure?  As long as I’m sure?  As long as I’m sure?” Her voice had risen with each repetition. “What the hell, Angel?” She glared at him. “I hope you aren’t under the impression that my love life is anything you’re entitled to have an opinion about. Because that would just be—”
 
Spike’s growling was a steady background sound as Buffy and Angel glared at each other.
 
“Be quite, Spike. I’ve got this.”  She placed one hand on Spike’s arm, then faced Angel again.
 
“I am not a possession for you and Spike to argue over, or a prize for you to compete for. And I sure as hell don’t need to know if you’re ‘fine’ with my choices. I. Don’t. Care. What. You. Think. You left me. I cried. I got better. You got better. You had girlfriends. I fell in love with somebody else. Somebody who stayed, even when I was just a body in a grave. Somebody who proved himself over and over. Somebody you don’t approve of. Get over it.”
 
She stopped, breathing heavily as she realized what she’d said while Spike was listening. She cringed, waiting for him to crow about it, but he was uncharacteristically silent, only moving closer to her and putting a hand on her lower back. “I think he got the picture, love. Let it go.”
 
“Who are you, and what have you done with Spike?” she muttered, turning to face him.
 
“Empathy,” he said. “Comes with the soul package, apparently.”
 
“Huh,” was the most intelligent thing she could think of in response.
 
They were all saved from further embarrassment by Faith’s return, followed by the slayers, now armed to the teeth.
 
“Did you leave anything there?” Angel asked, obviously more to give himself something to do besides stare wistfully at Buffy and Spike.
 
“There’s some stuff there for you and Blondie to look through.” Faith walked to the big refrigerator and peered in. “The girls and I need to eat before we go off demon-slaying. Whatcha got in here?”
 
“Just the basics – mostly for the kids. Bread, milk, eggs, peanut butter….”
 
While Faith rolled her eyes, the other girls immediately began grabbing things to make sandwiches.
 
“Note to self. Rob a demon-owned grocery store tomorrow.”
 
 
XXXXXXXXX
 
 
Almost as if the past year hadn’t happened, Buffy and Spike walked to the hallway and sat down side-by-side, backs against the wall and legs stretched out in front. Their shoulders were just touching. Not enough to give anyone a reason to say anything about inappropriate behavior, but close enough that there was no doubt they were together.
 
XXXXXXXX
 
“Come on, big guy,” Faith said as Angel stared at them talking softly with their heads close together. “If Cordy could see you belly-aching over B and her honey, she’d smack you upside the head.”
 
His only response was a growl, but he turned away and sat on a stool facing another direction.
 
“That’s better.” Faith cocked her head at him. “Just so you know? Between what I saw when I was in Sunnydale, and what I’ve heard and seen from Buffy all year… they’re the real deal. You might have been her first big crush—” She frowned when he growled again.  “I was there. I know how she was about you when she was a teenager. But those two have history neither one of us knows anything about.  Some good, some bad. She’s a grown woman now and she moved on. And so have you,” she added. “Give them a break.”
 
Angel sighed and nodded. “Taking relationship advice from you… I must be losing it.”  He glanced into the hallway again. “You know, the worst part of it is… I love them both.” He glared at Faith. “You tell Spike I said that, I’ll rip your heart out.”
 
She just laughed at him and said, “Bring it, old man.” Her expression softened. “So, you’re gonna be okay with it?”
 
“Hell no, I’m not okay with it!  She’s… she’s Buffy. And he’s… Spike, for God’s sake.” He shook his head. “But if I’m being honest with myself, I can see that they’ve got a lot more in common than Buffy and I ever did. I don’t need to know their history together to know that.”
 
“Okay. Well if that’s settled, how about you tell me what we’re going to be looking at later tonight?  Should I give the real world a heads up that we might have more refugees?”
 
He shook his head. “No, whoever we rescue tonight can stay here and rest until we’re ready to send them through. If it goes well, we might be coming back with 50 or 60 people.”
 
“So, tell me about this demon lord and his minions. What are we looking at?”
 
They spent the rest of the hour talking about the layout of the compound, where sentries were likely to be found, and how hard it would be to get to the big boss. The other girls listened and chimed in with questions, giving Angel a good idea what an excellent job Buffy and Faith had done training the new slayers.
 
XXXXXX
 
When it was approaching time to leave, Spike and Buffy joined the group being quickly brought up to speed on the tentative plans that had been made. Buffy offered a quiet suggestion or two, and Spike added to the information about the compound, and then Angel indicated they should get ready to go.
 
The all followed Spike down to the basement, and out through the heavily locked door into the underground garage.  The slayers fanned out, their senses telling them there were more than two vampires about.  With a grin, Spike grabbed Angel’s arm and kept him back.
 
“Let the girls have a little fun first. Get their juices flowing. The vamps aren’t going to know what they are, they’ll probably—yep, here they come now. Like lambs to the slaughter.”
 
The small gang of vampires that had taken refuge in the seemingly deserted garage were delighted to find what looked like meals walking toward them and jostled each other to get to them first.  When the potential meals didn’t run and scream, but instead grinned and pulled stakes and crossbows out, the vamps frowned and slowed their approach.
 
“What the hell…?”
 
“Slayers.  They’re slayers!” said one of the older vampires. “I don’t know how they got in here, but that’s what they are.” 
 
He turned to run, only to burst into a cloud of dust from a crossbow bolt to his back. It quickly turned into an execution, as Buffy and Faith stood in the garage exit, blocking them from escaping that way. The slayers methodically staked every vampire they caught, then spread out through the garage to look for stragglers. They located one, hiding under the bus they were planning to use, and pulled him out to meet his dusty ending.
 
All the girls extended their senses, exchanging nods as they agreed there were no other vampires present besides the two waiting by the door.
 
“Okay, let’s load up and go,” Buffy said. “Faith and Angel have the squad, Spike and I will have the bus for the rescuees. We’ll pull it right up to the door closest to the dorm, and then join the fight?” She finished with a question in her voice and looked at Spike for verification.
 
“That should work. If we can get them out and onto the bus first, we can leave someone to protect the bus and move in to clear out the compound.”
 
Angel spoke up. “I think we should take out all the sentries we can before you go in. Let us open the gate and clear the way.”
 
Buffy shrugged. “Sounds like a plan. But how will you get in?”
 
“We’ll think of somethin’,” Faith said with a grin. “Won’t we girls?”
 
“Damn, I think I want to go with them,” Spike said as the chattering slayers piled into the van talking about how they could take out the sentries with their crossbows, then climb the walls and take care of the guards at the gate from the inside.
 
“Excuse me?”
 
“Oh don’t get all huffy on me, Slayer. You know you’re wishing you could do something more exciting than ride in on a bus.”
 
“Hmmph!” She tossed her head and pushed open the door to climb into the old city transit bus.