An hour later, Buffy and Spike left for patrol. Spike was uncharacteristically quiet as they headed for the nearest cemetery. Buffy glanced at him from the corner of her eye and then decided to take the bull by the horns. "Okay, Spike, spill it," she demanded.

"Don't know what you're talking about, Slayer," Spike insisted.

"Bullshit," she snorted. "You're practically turning inside out trying to keep your mouth shut. Just say whatever it is that's bugging you."

"Okay, I'll tell you," he said. Stopping her he took her gently by the arms and turned her to face him. "I'm scared for you, Buffy. What if you make a mistake while you're sneaking about there? If they find out you're trying to sniff out information about them, they could hurt you. And I know you, Buffy. They're human so you'll pull your punches. I don't give them the same credit. I saw how they treated Willow."

Closing his eyes, he enfolded her in his arms. "I just don't want anything happening to you, Buffy."

Buffy wrapped her arms around him, returning his embrace. "Spike, I promise I'll be very careful." Pulling back, she added, "And I promise I won't sleep with Riley Finn."

Lowering his head to hers and giving her a passionate kiss, he growled, "Better not, Slayer. Because no matter how much it hurts, I'll drain him dry if you do."

***

The three Noitami demons appeared from out of nowhere and attacked all at once. Buffy was hard pressed. Noitame weren't particularly fast, but they were large and strong. Spike did his best to stay out of Buffy's way and to try and distract the demons. His frustration mounted as he saw Buffy being beaten back again and again. When one of the demons grabbed Buffy in a tight clinch, holding her immobile, Spike reached up, took hold of its head and gave a strong twist. The demon's neck broke with a resounding snap and Spike grabbed his head in anticipation of pain.

There was none.

Standing upright again, he realized that whatever had been done to him did not extend to demons. Voicing a great victory growl, he vamped out and joined Buffy in the battle.

Side by side the two fought. Buffy was surprised and then pleased to see Spike joining her. Now that her life was no longer in danger she eased off, enjoying the fight. As if thinking with one brain, vampire and slayer terminated their opponents at the same time.

Standing back and looking at the slowly dissolving corpses, Buffy grinned. Eyes shining, she turned to Spike and looked at him. Spike returned her heated gaze with one of his own. Once again moving in concert, they fell into each other's arms, kissing, groping, grinding together.

Pushing Spike back, Buffy gasped, "Not here, not out in the open, someplace else, someplace private."

Looking around, Spike spotted a crypt nearby. Grabbing Buffy's hand he dragged her towards it. Without breaking stride, Spike lifted his foot and kicked in the door. Pulling Buffy in after him, he pushed the door closed with his back and drew her up against him.

Buffy was aflame. Hands on either side of his head, she kissed him wildly, wrapping her tongue around his sucking it into her mouth, grinding her hips against him. Spike groaned, grabbing Buffy's ass and pulling her hard against him.

"In you now. Must get in you now, Buffy, please," he gasped out. Buffy's shaking hands reached down to his belt buckle undoing it and then unfastening the button on his jeans. The zip went down and Buffy's head followed. Taking him into her mouth, she sucked and licked, twisting her tongue around the head and dipping its tip into the slit at the top of his penis tasting the salty droplet there. Spike moaned out his pleasure, hands wrapped in her hair. His hips began thrusting as she once again fully engulfed him and then moved her mouth lower to suck his balls, her small hand wrapping around him and pumping slowly. He knew he was getting close, but he wanted to come inside her passage, not her mouth. Reaching down, he hauled her up. He had spotted a sarcophagus when they first entered. Pushing her over to it he lifted her up on top of the lid, pulled down her pants, spread her legs and mounted her. Their coupling was intense and wild. He thrust into her harder and harder while she bucked under him in answering rhythm. Screaming in unison, they came at the same time, Spike filling her with his come as her walls clenched tightly around him.

Lying wrapped in each other's arms they relaxed for a bit and then began kissing again, rebuilding the passion they had just cooled. When Spike began moving in her again, Buffy nearly cried in pleasure. They climaxed again, and then a third time and then a fourth. At last, totally spent, they rested.

***

After cleaning up in a public restroom, they returned to Giles' place. Buffy was eager to inform her Watcher about their discovery that Spike could fight demons. Giles however was concerned. "Are you sure it's just demons he can attack now Buffy? Perhaps whatever was done to him has reversed itself and he can now attack anything he likes."

Buffy and Spike had not even considered this. They had assumed when he bit her that he had been able to because it was a love bite and not an attack. Looking at each other in concern, they knew what they had to do. Bracing herself slightly, Buffy nodded to Spike. Pulling back his arm, he lashed forward with a quick punch. Buffy yelped in pain, but Spike screamed in agony. Buffy had no doubt; he was still unable to hurt humans.

***

The next afternoon, Buffy kept her lunch date with Riley. In a way, she felt bad for leading what appeared to be a nice, regular young man on. But if he really were part of the organization that had operated on Spike, then she needed to know. Specifically, she wanted to know exactly what had been done to Spike and what its long-term effects would be.

Buffy hadn't said anything to him, but she was as worried about Spike as he was about her. What if he had a ticking time bomb in his head? What, if anything, could they do about it? All she knew for sure was that she didn't want anything to happen to Spike.

Their conversation was as mundane today as it had been yesterday. In a way Buffy found it frustrating, but she knew that she had to play it cool, come over all innocent and wide-eyed. Acting as if she were completely enthralled that a grad student would deign to even notice her, Buffy gradually spun her web around him. By the end of the meal, she had a standing lunch date with him and the promise of a movie for Friday night.

***

Willow had been busy over the last couple of days herself. Using hacking skills that could easily get her arrested, she was able to find out just about everything of importance about Riley Finn... except where he had been for the two year period prior to his appearance in Sunnydale.

According to the records she had dug up, he had been born on March 25, 1975 in Ottumwa, Iowa (home of Radar O'Reilly), graduated from Ottumwa High School (home of the Bulldogs) in 1993 and attended the
University of Iowa (go Hawkeyes) where he had graduated summa cum laude with a degree in psychology in 1997. After his college matriculation however, Willow lost track of him. Nothing appeared about him anywhere. After 22 years of a very accessible life, he disappeared. Then in the fall of 1999, he resurfaced as a grad student at UC Sunnydale, moved into Lowell House and became Mama Walsh's very favorite boy.

Lowell House had presented another compelling mystery. Built in 1995, the site upon which it stood had originally been excavated for the new computer lab. However, for some reason which Willow could never really get the gist of, once the foundation had been dug, the computer lab site was moved to its present location across campus from Lowell House. The original foundation had been huge, much larger than the area now occupied by the fraternity house. It certainly made one wonder.