Spike sat on the ladder in the Magic Box, twirling a stake in one hand, and generally attempting to avoid getting involved in the situation unfolding around him. He had believed that moving Tara into the dorms would be the low point of the evening.

He had been wrong.

Just his luck, Giles had chosen to break the news of his trip to England moments before the vampire arrived. The slayer had been in the back for well over half an hour, fuming and taking out her anger on a practice dummy. Dawn was whining about the watcher’s eminent departure and Anya joined her by complaining loudly about the paper work his leaving would create. Xander simply looked shell-shocked and was stuttering incoherently. The only person not coloring the air with complaints was a conspicuously quiet Willow. Giles was attempting to deflect their questions and protests, but even the watcher seemed close to loosing his composure and yelling. All in all, the environment was not entirely friendly to a blood-sucking bystander. At least he had managed to get his money out of Anya before the current round of laments and accusations had started.

Perversely, the only positive part of the entire situation was Buffy’s outburst of anger. Spike would have been more worried if the slayer had accepted the situation lying down. Emotions were emotions, and he preferred Buffy feeling enraged rather than feeling nothing at all. In fact, Spike hadn’t seen her so, for lack of a better word, lively in a long time.

Meret was exploring the shop’s shelves, momentarily forgotten by the Scoobies. She was curious and liked the shiny bits of jewelry and glass scattered throughout the display cases. Spike wondered if drawing Anya’s attention to the coatl’s behavior would add to or subtract from the amount of complaining he was being forced to witness.

With the distinctive sound of cracking wood, Buffy burst through the practice room door and stalked to the table. All conversation stopped as the others turned to watch the volatile slayer.

“I thought we were here to research Spike’s snake-thing,” she said coldly. Innuendoes streamed through Spike’s mind at that statement, but he wisely held his tongue. Buffy sat down and started unwinding the wrappings around her fists, piling the strips of fabric on the table top.

“Um, yes, that was the original plan for the evening,” replied the watcher, but no one seemed interested in dropping the subject of Giles’ departure just yet.

No one except Spike.

The vampire startled everyone by being the first to take a seat at the table, directly opposite Buffy. Research certainly wasn’t his idea of a good time, but with Meret involved, he was willing to suppress his natural impatience. He reached for the thin book on the top of the closest stack: A Treatise on Empathy and Telepathy: Case Studies.

Can’t be as boring as the last half hour.

Recalling his days in the university, Spike quickly set to work. There were only two mentions of coatls in the index and none of the spell Willow had cast. When he looked up to search for a pencil and piece of paper to start taking notes, he met Buffy’s incredulous stare.

“What?” he snapped defensively.

“Nothing,” was Buffy’s quick reply, but she continued looking at him as if he had grown horns or started speaking in tongues.

Spike snatched up a notepad and pencil before pointedly avoiding her stare and turning his attention to the blank paper before him. One page received any important mentions of coatls used in and around spells. On the next he started listing details about Willow’s spell and the last he reserved for any miscellaneous information that might be helpful. Spike could feel the slayer’s eyes boring into him, but he would not allow himself to react, even as his skin prickled under the scrutiny.

The others finally snapped out of their preoccupation and started taking their own places around the table. Dawn took the seat on Spike’s right and a glaringly obvious hole remained on the vampire’s left between Spike and Willow. Giles took to reading and pacing at the same time, as was his custom, and even Anya joined in the research from her post behind the counter. Xander left for the doughnut shop and soon returned, bearing three boxes of the sugary snacks. Spike nicked a devil’s food doughnut as the box passed and scowled at the surprised looks the Scoobies shot him.

Spike had rarely participated in the Scoobies’ research parties before. The experience was proving to be enlightening. Particularly important finds were read for all to hear and cross reference. Light banter and information flowed freely between the friends as a rough idea of what had happened began to take shape.

“Mind control spells seem to expand far beyond their normal bounds when the focus of the spell is bonded to a coatl. The magical effects have been known to spread to other members of a coatl’s covey,” was Giles’ first contribution.

“Looks like powerful emotions, like fear, make a coatl’s telepathic abilities stronger. Meret must have already been touching all of our minds, but the link was too weak for you guys to notice until the spell freaked her out, which amplified her thoughts,” added Dawn, obviously still enjoying her role as the new researcher of the group.

“Looks like cuttin’ off Meret’s link with magic could have some pretty nasty side effects,” Spike grudgingly offered up to the group a few minutes later. He was unsure if his contributions would be welcomed.

“Like what?” asked Willow, speaking up for the first time.

“Like insanity, coma, and sometimes an acute case of death.” Spike’s eyes trained on the witch, wondering if even those dire warnings would be enough to temper Willow’s casual, oftentimes careless approach to magic. He was surprised when Willow turned a little grey around the gills and quickly turned back to the book she had been reading. Spike looked up at the others and found Anya watching him with a smug expression on her face. He smirked back and gave a nearly imperceptible nod towards the former demon. She simply tossed her hair back over one shoulder with a prim smile and went back to her own research. Spike wished he knew the details on how Anya was handling the “errand” he had given her, because whatever it was seemed to be working like a charm.

Hell, might be a charm.

After a while, the litany of new discoveries dwindled. The general consensus was that Willow’s spell had been affected by Meret’s presence, but had not directly triggered the following link. Likewise, magic would not reverse the effects of the bond. Only a true desire to break the connection on the part of each individual and Meret herself could effect such a change. This did not seem to sit well with any of the Scoobies, so research continued, even when it had obviously become futile.

Even so, the humans, with the exception of the watcher of course, were showing all the signs of intense boredom. Buffy had snapped three pencils from overly rough fidgeting and Xander’s eyes had long since glazed over. Even more amusing, in the vampire’s eyes at least, Anya had fallen asleep at her seat, face pressed against the counter. Spike had started on his seventh book, which contained long descriptions of memory altering spells and their side effects. The translation was calling upon long disused skills and the writing was as dry and boring as any the vampire had encountered. He finally had to put the book down to give his eyes, and brain, a rest.

Xander, who had quickly lost interest in the thick book he had selected, leaned over to see what Spike had been reading. “You big faker!” he snorted. “Hey guys, Evil Dead here has been pretending that he can read Greek!”

Spike met Xander’s eyes and, with the blandest expression he could conjure, simply said one word, “Malakas.”

Willow cracked a wan smile and even Giles looked amused.

“What did you just say?” Xander was many things, but not so stupid as to miss that he had just been insulted.

“You’re the expert on Greek, you tell me,” came the vampire’s smooth reply.

“Giles, what did he say?” Xander asked, voice low and threatening.

The watcher schooled his features to seriousness. “I believe that the closest translation would be ‘wanker.’”

Spike ignored Xander’s stream of sputtering insults, and instead watched the other Englishman.

“Spike, I had no idea you spoke Greek,” Giles started curiously.

“You never asked.”

The watcher sighed and, showing uncharacteristic patience with the vampire, asked “What other languages do you know?”

“Demonic or human?” Spike countered smugly.

“Both.”

“Well Rupes, I can get by in most any country in Europe. As for ancient languages, I can read Latin, and a little Sumerian and Etruscan. Of the demony tongues, I also know Vinjis, Fyarl, Frophla, and a little Rwasundi, but the time-shiftin’ makes that one a bit dicey.” During his litany, the vampire had leaned back and put his hands behind his head, striking an arrogant pose.

The watcher seemed impressed in spite of himself. Never one to let go of the upper-hand easily, Giles finally responded, “Well, then I guess if you get tired of the book you’re reading now, you can start on the Dahlian Chronicles.”

Spike winced. The Dahlian Chronicles were renowned as some of the densest and most boring passages of archaic Latin ever put to paper. “Dirty pool Ripper.”

Shoulda kept my mouth shut.

Giles only smiled and returned to his copy of Mansfield’s Unnatural History.

Meret’s curiosity over the store’s strange wares was overtaken by her desire to see what so absorbed her bond mate. She glided to Spike’s shoulder and started watching the Scoobies. Dawn’s sharp intake of breath drew both the vampire’s and the coatl’s attention.

“Giles, I think you need to read this!” the younger Summers squeaked.

Her sudden outburst roused Anya from her sleep with a cry of “Not the Easter eggs!” Everyone turned and stared as the former demon wiped a bit of drool from her chin and attempted to act as if nothing had happened.

The watcher walked to the girl’s side and retrieved the book in question. A few lines from the book made Giles’ eyes open wide. “Oh, dear Lord,” he whispered.

“Giles, cut the drama,” interrupted the slayer. “Spill.”

“This is a list of spells that use coatls themselves as components. Some of them even call for the inclusion of the coatl’s primary bond mate. If someone managed to get their hands on both Meret and Spike…” Giles trailed off.

“Then what, watcher?” Spike’s voice cracked like a whip.

“Then any number of unpleasant things could occur, from weakening dimensional walls to draining all of the mental and spiritual energy from most of the population of California,” the watcher paused to remove his glasses. “There are pages of such spells. It will take hours to research them all.”

Xander raised a hand. “Not to be a big party pooper, but didn’t we decide that the guy who lit Spike up like a Roman candle was trying to catch the snake too.”

When he was met with silence and wide eyed stares, Xander let his hand slowly drop.

Giles turned a hard gaze upon the vampire. “Spike, you have to tell us everything about how you obtained Meret’s egg.”

Spike huffed and crossed his arms. “Not much to tell. I was playin’ some poker over at Willy’s. Instead of kittens, this drunk git was tossin’ in trinkets and cheap magic charms. Meret’s egg was in the mix. End of story.”

“You play for kittens?” Buffy asked, disbelieving.

“Used as currency in some demon circles. ‘S not as uncommon as you think.” Spike grinned at her discomfiture.

“Did you catch its name?” asked Willow, appearing more animated than she had all night.

The vampire glanced at her in confusion. “What ‘it,’ Red?”

“The drunk demony thing who had Meret’s egg.”

“Not a demon. Human warlock. Think ‘is name was McLynn… Macbeth… somethin’.” He caught the watcher’s disapproving look. “What?” he snarled.

“So you are saying that a warlock simply gave something as rare and valuable as a coatl egg away during a game of cards.” The watcher made it sound as if playing poker was on par with eating babies. Spike’s scowl deepened. “Now another warlock, leading a band of demons, is after both you and the coatl. Did it not occur to you that the two might be one and the same?”

Spike opened his mouth to respond, but he could come up with no defense. In truth, he had not thought of the possibility. His teeth clicked together audibly and he glowered at the watcher.

“What happens if this wizard guy knows about any of those spells?” Buffy asked, ever the slayer.

Spike felt Meret start to literally vibrate with fear against his throat. One glance around the room told the vampire all he needed to know about the cause of her terror. He surged to his feet, upturning his chair.

“So that’s it huh? Gonna kill her on the off chance that some nasty knows about those spells?” As he spoke, Spike became more and more angry. He could feel the bones of his face rippling between human and demonic as he lost all semblance of control of his emotions. “Solve both of your little problems in one go? I may not be able to fight you, but I’ll see myself dust before any one of you lays a finger on her!”

“Spike, I’m sure they aren’t thinking about killing Meret,” Dawn said soothingly, trying to calm the enraged vampire. “Right guys?” She looked around the room and was met with uncomfortable glances from Xander, Willow, and Giles. Anya was watching the whole affair with sleepy eyes and Buffy was strangely still. “Right?” she repeated pleadingly.

“Dawnie, it’s not that simple,” started Willow.

“Because this same plan worked out so well last year with Glory,” Anya’s mumbled sarcastically, still groggy from her inadvertent nap.

“Anya!” Xander cried, horrified.

“What? Oh, oh God!” she looked at Dawn, and clamped her mouth shut, eyes wide.

“What is she talking about?” Dawn asked. She faced the people seated at the table.

“Nothing Dawn, Anya just lets her mouth run away with her sometimes,” Xander attempted to joke, but his voice sounded sickly and his face was devoid of color.

Dawn simply stood in silence, glaring and balling her small fists at her sides. “What happened?” she repeated.

Spike doubted that even Angelus, in the height of his torturous creativity, could have drug the truth from anyone present in the room. Unfortunately, Dawn was much smarter than the Scoobies liked to believe.

“You wanted to kill me,” she said coldly.

“Dawnie, no!” cried Willow. Xander and Giles were looking anywhere except at the teenager in front of them. Spike let his features melt back into human guise before closing his eyes against the pain held in Dawn’s voice.

“You wanted to kill me, but Buffy refused. When Spike promised to protect me, it wasn’t just from Glory, it was from you.” Her voice had dropped to a bare whisper.

Buffy rose from her seat and rounded the table. When she tried to embrace her sister, Dawn shrank back, bumping into Spike in the process. The vampire placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to steady and comfort the girl in one gesture.

Dawn leaned forward and started gathering books into her pale blue backpack. “I have to go,” she mumbled. “I have homework.”

“Dawn,” tried Buffy, to no avail.

Turning before anyone but Spike could see her tears. Dawn ran out of the front door of the Magic Box.

Spike stood facing Buffy, debating between trying to comfort the slayer and following the teenager. Buffy looked equally torn, alternating glances between the door and her friends. The rest of the Scoobies remained around the table, faces frozen in shock at Dawn’s departure.

Making a decision, Spike caught Buffy's attention. “I’ll take care of the Bit, make sure nothin’ nasty gets a hold of her. You do damage control,” he said for the slayer’s ears alone.

As he started to turn away, Spike felt someone grab his arm. He looked down to find Buffy’s tiny hand holding his wrist. He met her eyes in confusion. The slayer angled herself so that none of her friends could see and silently mouthed, “Thank you.” With a final squeeze, she released him and turned back to the table.

Spike stood a moment longer, mind reeling.

What’s gotten into the slayer?

Shaking himself from his pleasant distraction, he followed Dawn out of the Magic Box. Even so, all of his senses were focused on the warmth the slayer’s hand had left behind.

*****

“You gonna run the whole way home?” asked Spike. He had started into an easy sprint after leaving the store, Meret winging behind him, and had soon caught up with Dawn.

The girl jogged to a stop, still crying and slightly winded from her mad dash.

“Why did you follow me?” she asked after a moment.

“’Cause they’d blame me somehow if some creepy-crawly got its claws into you,” was his flippant reply.

That earned a brief, bitter laugh. “I really hate them sometimes.”

“Yeah, me too.”

The girl, who was also the key to inter-dimensional doors, and the vampire, who was also the slayer of slayers, walked in silence for a few blocks, content to share in each other’s company.

“I mean, I knew, you know, but I didn’t know,” Dawn said at length.

“None of them wanted to Nibblet, but they thought the world was gonna end otherwise. It was all worst-case scenario talk, nothin’ too serious,” he tried to downplay the heated debate that had pulled the Scoobies apart in those last, awful days. He breathed a sigh in relief as Dawn’s tears slowed.

She wiped a hand over both eyes to dry away her tears. “You know I tried to jump before Buffy stopped me?”

Spike’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Yeah, I was all set to do it before she made me stop. Silly isn’t it, the two of us arguing over who got to die saving the world?” she sniffed and rubbed her nose with a sleeve, looking very much the young girl in that moment.

Spike could not remember loving her more. “Not silly. I would expect nothing less from a Summers woman.” When Dawn gave him a dubious look, he smirked and added, “D’ you know that your mum actually broke up your sis’ and my first fight?”

“No,” Dawn said, lips quirked slightly in an almost smile. “Buffy never mentioned that.”

“Yeah, she hit me over the head with an axe. I shoulda known you women would be the end of me then. However you were made, you’re of good stuff Bit. Never forget that.”

That finally did it. Dawn offered the vampire a grateful smile, and the two continued on their walk.

Never one to stay quiet for long though, Spike soon spoke up, “So you don’t really want to do your homework, right?”

“Jeez, why couldn’t I think up a better excuse,” was Dawn’s weary response.

“Good, ‘cause I’m cravin’ some hot chocolate. Interested?”

That earned another small smile from Dawn. “Sounds like fun,” she said. “Can we watch movies too?”

“Your wish is my command Nibblet.”