Unwanted Visitors

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Patrol had been maddeningly quiet once again and she and Spike had made their way back to his crypt already early into the night, both of them annoyed by the lack of violence.

“What is with this town lately?” Buffy huffed, settling down on the sofa with crossed arms.

“Wouldn’t be surprised if the military presence was keeping demons at home.”

“Ugh,” was her only answer as she sank further into the old sofa, thoroughly frustrated- and not even wanting to consider all the lovely things Spike could do to make her feel better.

“Wish he’d never come back,” she sulked, pouting slightly.

Spike dropped into the armchair to her side and raised an eyebrow, head tilted as he watched her, waiting for an explanation.

“Why’s that then, pet?”

She turned to him and bit her lip as she explained.

“Well…is it wrong that the thought of Riley with a wife is making me all with the wiggy? It’s just…wrong.”

“Jealous, pet?”

She met his narrowed eyes and shook her head.

“I’m really not.”


They were silent for a moment and she found herself wanting to explain further.

“I mean…it hurt, when he left. But I…well, it took a while for it to sink in…but Riley was never right for me.”

“Told you, didn’t I?” he commented with a soft smile.

“You did. You were right. You do tend to be…about things I don’t like to admit at the time.”

His eyes widened in surprise at her honesty, and then a smile spread across his face.

“Never thought I’d hear you say that, love.”

“Yeah, well don’t get too bigheaded. It was a one time thing, I promise,” she remarked with a smile.

“Fair enough.”

They fell into an easy silence and she smiled, curling her legs up underneath her.

“So, I hear Dawnie’s been coming round again?”

“Yeah. It’s good to have her around. It was kinda weird not having her around after…you know.”

She nodded in understanding- knowing that her sister had stayed away since her return because of her own order to do so.

“I hear she’s been helping you re-decorate?”

“That’s what she called it, eh? Changing a few things around?”

“Can I see?” Buffy asked softly.


He froze for a minute and then pushed himself to his feet, nodding towards the trapdoor.

“Come on then, Slayer.”

She got to her feet and followed him down into the lower part of the crypt. He made a vague sweeping gesture and she smiled at the few changes she could spot in the room. She walked around the edge, running her hand over the edge of the chest that held his clothes- all black, of course- and paused when she spotted the picture on top of it: a picture of her and Dawn.

Instead of accusing him, as she might once have done, she just smiled and continued her inspection. She stopped in front of the shelves of books, noting some new additions.

“New books?” she asked, just glancing at him where he sat on the bed.

“Yeah. The Bit brought them over…I think they’re your mum’s. Hope you don’t mind.”

She turned to him with a smile and shook her head.

“At least someone’s reading them. Me and Dawn aren’t really readers.”

“I noticed,” he teased.

“Hey, I could read if I wanted to! I just choose not to.”

“Sure, love.”

She glared at him but he just smiled widely and she shook her head, turning back to the shelves.

Apart from the books and the picture, there had been few additions to his meagre decoration and in fact, as he had said, things had just been moved around. She smiled and leant against a small table, turning to face him again.

“I like it.”

“Glad you approve,” he murmured with a smile, leaning back on his hands on the bed. For a second, her gaze was drawn to the bed and memories of her time in it flashed before her eyes but she quickly shook them away.


“So, how do you think Dawnie’s doing?” she asked softly, “I was starting to get really worried about her.”

“I think she’s doing a lot better, love. Trust me, anything’s better than when she
didn’t have her big sis around.”

She smiled softly, tracing her finger against the ridge of the table.

“It’s not easy playing mom to a fifteen-year-old.”

“You do it pretty well though.”

“Thanks,” she whispered, her eyes rising to his.

Suddenly, they heard a noise from the upper level of the crypt and they both started, eyes flying to the trapdoor. Buffy took a step forward but before she could get any further, a canister landed on the floor and began to pour out thick smoke. She tried to make out anything through the smoke that quickly filled the room but the smoke was making her eyes water and irritating her throat. She could feel it working its way into her system and began to feel light-headed.

“Spike?” she choked out, trying to make out his form in the smoke.

She held out a hesitant hand and it collided with his chest and he soon wrapped his hand around hers. She felt light-headed again and stumbled towards him, feeling his arms wrap around her as she coughed, burying her head against his chest.

The smoke finally began to clear and she was able to make out two forms by the ladder- Riley and Sam. Pushing herself away from Spike, but steadying herself with a hand on his shoulder, she frowned at the pair.

“What’s going on?” she choked out, her eyes still watering.

The Finns removed their gas masks and Riley frowned, looking between her and Spike, and then made a guilty face.

“We weren’t sure Spike still lived here. We were checking for demons.”

“Right…just checking for demons?” Buffy asked tautly, righting herself fully and crossing her arms.

“Err, yeah,” Riley got out unconvincingly, “We detected demonic activity here.”

“Yeah, Spike’s bedroom is just the centre of demonic activity,” Buffy stated acidly.

At Spike’s smothered laugh, she turned to him and rolled her eyes with a tiny smile.

“That sounded a lot better in my head.”

Spike chuckled and she turned back to the Finns, not missing their small exchange of glances.

“What are you doing here anyway, Buffy?”

“Didn’t realise I needed to report to you, Riley.”

“I was only asking.”

“Well, patrol was dead so I’m hanging out with Spike. Got a problem with that?”

Riley said nothing and Buffy flashed a small smile at Spike.

“I better get back to Dawnie. Who knows what she gets up to when I’m out!”

She then turned back to the Finns, her expression turning serious.

“How about I show you out so you can find some real demon activity?”

Both Finns turned to the ladder and began to make their way out and with another small smile in Spike’s direction, she followed them.

“Bye, Spike.”

“Bye, love.”