Chapter Nineteen
Vigilance

"That bloody stupid git!" Spike's snarl caused Willow and Tara to flinch. Giles, however, surprised them all by adding, "The boy never has been overly bright, but this is..."

Buffy looked at them both, her dismayed expression bringing another snarl from Spike and a sympathetic moan from Willow. "Do you really think he's going to call Angel? He hates Angel."

"He hates Spike, too," Willow volunteered with an apologetic smile in his direction. "He blames you for... for making him lose Cordelia."

"Come again? I never even saw the cheerleader that trip. Not that I don't think she wouldn't have left his sorry arse anyway, but—"

"But you were responsible for leaving me and Xander in that warehouse – and making us think we were going to die."

Spike looked at Buffy for clarification.

She sighed and rattled off, "Oz and Cordelia found the warehouse and went running in to the rescue. Willow and Xander were smooching and Cordy fell onto a rebar when she tried to leave. Cheating boyfriend and hole in tummy all in one night equals very unhappy Cordy. She wouldn't even talk to him for weeks."

"Well, I didn't tell the idiot to start snogging you while I was gone!" Spike said indignantly. "He can't blame me because he's stupid!"

"Can and does," Buffy said. "And now that you..." She stopped, unsure what to say about the crush Xander used to have on her.

"And now you're with the other girl he wanted in his life," Willow filled in. "It's like you took them both away."

Spike's eyes flashed amber as he growled, "That wanker wants you too?"

"It was a long time ago," Buffy soothed. "I'm sure he's over it. He has Anya now."

"If we could focus on the actual issue here..." Giles' voice brought their attention back to him. "An angry Angel, or Angelus, is not something to be welcomed."

"I can't imagine this news is going to make him so happy he loses his soul," Buffy said with a sigh. "But even Angel is probably going to be pretty dangerous – to Spike, anyway."

"Been a long time since I was the big poof's punching bag, Slayer," Spike growled. "He might find he's bitten off a bit more than he can chew if he comes after me."

"Yeah, thanks for that image." Buffy wrinkled her nose, then added, "And I don't really want to have to referee that fight if it's all the same to you." She approached Spike and touched his cheek gently. "And I don't really want to hurt Angel like that if we can avoid it."

While Buffy worked to soothe Spike's ruffled feathers, Willow stood up.

"I'll go find them and talk him out of it. I'm sure he'll understand what a bad idea it is once he calms down." She took Tara's hand and pulled her to her feet. "We'll be back soon – or I'll call. Don't worry, Buffy. I'm sure he won't do it."

Spike and Buffy watched the witches leave, then looked at each other and shrugged. Buffy turned to Giles, asking, "Do you think I should call Angel and just tell him to hang up on Xander if he calls?"

"You know him better than I," he responded stiffly. "Perhaps he won't be as concerned as you think."

Buffy and Spike exchanged looks again and shook their heads. "I don't think 'concerned' is quite the word you're looking for there, Watcher," Spike said with a small grin. "Try bloody raving."

~~~~~~~~~

Angel had just come on the line when Willow burst into Xander's basement apartment. Xander had gotten no further than, "Buffy is—" when Willow grabbed the phone from him.

"Nevermind, Angel. It's nothing. Nice talking to you, bye now!"

"Willow? Was that Xander? What did he mean 'Buffy is—'. What's wrong? Is she all right?"

"She's fine. Couldn't be finer. It's all good here. Bye!"

Willow clicked off the phone and dropped it onto the chair.

"What were you thinking?"

Xander fell into the chair, not even noticing that he'd sat on the phone.

"Oh God. I can't believe I did that. Buffy's going to kill me..."

"If she doesn't, Spike probably will," Willow agreed, sitting on the bed. "How could you do that?"

Tara and Anya stood together uncomfortably, watching the two old friends.

"I'm an idiot?" Xander ventured.

"Not arguing with you," Willow said, her frown turning into a sympathetic smile. "But hey, you never actually said anything about Spike, so maybe Angel will just think you were drunk or something."

"I tried to tell him not to do it," Anya volunteered. Tara patted her arm and smiled in encouragement as she frowned. "But I didn't think about taking the phone away."

"Speaking of which..." Willow pointed to Xander's legs. "You wanna get up off the phone so I can call Giles' and tell Buffy it's okay?"

With an embarrassed shrug, he stood up and handed her the phone. "Here you go. Still warm from the Xan-man's butt."

Willow wrinkled her nose and held the phone out gingerly. "Oh the other hand, why don't you make that call?"

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


The phone in Giles apartment rang insistently - Buffy, Spike and Giles all stared at it.

"It's probably Willow, calling to tell us she caught Xander in time."

"Of course that's who it is. Who else could it be?" Buffy's false assurance went no further than her words.

They all watched as the answering machine came on and an all-too-familiar voice said, "Giles? Are you there? Pick up, if you are."

"And once again the great poof sticks his nose in where it isn't needed." Spike's disgusted remark was matched by the expression on his face. Only when Buffy had turned toward the answering machine, distress clear in every line of her body, did he allow his insecurity to show. "Buffy?"

Her glance flickered from the phone to Spike and back. "Maybe... maybe you should answer him, Giles?" she said. "I mean, just in case it's unrelated and—"

"Bugger that! You know bloody well it's 'related', Slayer. The only question is, what did that flaming idiot tell him?"

"Well we won't know unless we let Giles talk to him, will we?" she snapped back. Before the exchange could escalate, the phone rang again and Giles picked up the receiver to find Joyce on the line.

"Hello, Joyce," he said calmly, waving a soothing hand in Buffy's direction. "What can I do for— Oh, I see. He did? No, no. I can assure you Buffy is fine. I have no idea what Xander might have said that— Ah, good then... I mean, how odd." His lips pinched together as he listened to what Joyce was saying. "That's... useful to know. Thank you so much for telling me – us." He paused again, then gestured for Buffy to approach. "She's right here. Why don't I allow her to tell you herself?"

He thrust the phone into Buffy's hand, saying, "Please assure your mother that you are fine."

Leaving Buffy to tell Joyce a modified version of the day's events, he moved over to stand near Spike.

"What was that all about?" Spike growled. He'd only been able to pick up bits and pieces of the conversation, in spite of being in the same room.

"It seems that Xander only managed to say Buffy's name before Willow interrupted him and hung up. So Angel called Joyce to ask if Buffy was home and if she was all right. Apparently, the soldiers had paid her a visit previous to showing up at your crypt, so she was already a bit apprehensive when Angel called to ask about Buffy and to say that Xander had called him."

"Oh, well, can't blame the woman for being rattled. Must be a nightmare, knowing your only child is out every night fighting all sorts of nasties. That's bad enough, knowing soldiers from her own country might be after her too was probably enough for Joyce to break out that fire axe she tried to brain me with."

A shadow went across the former watcher's face. "Yes. I imagine it is very difficult, knowing one's... child... is in constant danger."

Spike peered at him intently, then gave a warm, genuine smile. "Knew you weren't made of the usual watcher stuff, Rupert," he said. "Got something besides ice water in those veins, yeah?"

"Hence my reluctance to see my... charge... become involved with a soulless killer," Giles responded. The small, grudging smile he allowed to cross his face took the sting from his words. He nodded as Spike murmured, "Not him, Watcher," and turned as Buffy crossed the room.

"Is your mum all sorted?"

"Yeah. Mom is fine, but she thinks Angel is planning to come up here to check on me." She worried her bottom lip with her teeth. "Maybe you should—"

"Maybe I should what?" Spike's face was expressionless, but his voice managed to convey menace and great sadness at the same time.

"Lose the wrinklies," Buffy said, tapping his forehead, completely unconcerned that he'd changed. In spite of Giles' choked gasp, she went up on her toes and brushed her lips across Spike's mouth, managing to avoid cutting herself on the fangs just visible behind his lips.

"Sorry, love. Didn't know I'd gone into game face on you."

"Are you planning to do that every time Angel's name comes up? Cause, you know, it's gonna get old fast."

"Wasn't the poof's name that did it," he muttered, too annoyed at himself for losing control to realize that she was gently teasing him.

"I know," she said with a sigh. "But you thought I was going to tell you to hide or something. Didn't you?" she demanded went he put on his most innocent expression.

"That may not be a bad idea," Giles said. "I am forced to admit that the best way to deal with Angel – if he actually shows up – may be to let him see that Buffy is fine and that he isn't needed here. Then he will leave and...."

"And the Slayer and I can live happily ever after?" Spike said with a sardonic smile.

Giles shrugged. "I quite doubt that happily ever after is a likely future for a slayer and a vampire," he said, more to Buffy than Spike. "However, preventing Angel from finding out that he has been replaced in your affections by... Spike, of all... people, may be in everyone's best interests."

Spike looked like he'd just swallowed some very bitter blood. "Much as I hate the thought...." He gave Buffy a tight smile Buffy and sighed. "Watcher's probably right. If he doesn't see me around, and the boy keeps his mouth shut, Angelus'll have no reason to get his knickers in a twist. You can feed him some half-truths about the soldier boys and he can go back to saving the denizens of Hollywood thinking all is well in Sunnyhell."

"As long as he doesn't go to Willy's, doesn't talk to Xander, and doesn't catch us together. Yeah, no problem." Buffy rolled her eyes.

"I believe vigilance will be the order of the day for a while," Giles said. "Until we know that he has been and gone, you will have to be very careful."

"What about Xander?"

"I'll speak with him." Something in Giles's voice brought Buffy's head around. She had a quick glimpse of the man who had attacked Angelus with a torch and a stake, and then Giles was his normal self.

"Whoa, Giles. Scary there for a second."

"Told you the Watcher had depths, love," Spike said with a grin.