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Twenty
 
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Chapter Twenty

Buffy stared back and forth between Spike and Giles, then shrugged. "Okay then. How are we going to do this? You just stay away for a while – hide in your crypt or something? And I'll just go about my business, going to classes and slaying? How long do you think we're going to have to keep this up?"

Spike shrugged. "Doesn't take long to get here from LA, does it? Couple of hours at most? I reckon we're going to be hearing something from old Angelus by midnight."

Buffy stood up. "Well, that gives us time for a quick patrol before I go back to the dorm. He'll probably go there to look for me first."

"Does he know where you live?" Buffy was sure she saw Spike's eyes flash amber for just a second.

"Huh. I don't know. I guess not, now that I think about it. He'll probably come here, then. He knows Mom doesn't like him, so I doubt he'll go there."

"Perhaps, if he does come here first, I can convince him that Xander was over-reacting to your capture by the Initiative and I can send him on his way back without your having to interact with him at all."

"That'd be cool. Way better than me having to talk to him. Go, Giles!" She turned and walked towards the door. "Come on, Spike. We've got time to get in a quick patrol before we go into hiding..."

"I thought just Spike was going to be hiding," Giles said with a frown. "You told me you were bored staying in his crypt."

"Uh, well, yes. Yeah, that's what I meant. Spike will go hide in his crypt and I'll just go back to my dorm room... by myself." She gave Spike a sheepish smile that changed to a frown when he smirked at her. Waving at Giles, she yanked the door open and escaped into the cool night air. Spike quickly caught up to her and walked along, hands in pockets, humming an unfamiliar tune.

"Shut up!"

"Didn't say a word, pet."

"You were thinking... stuff. I could tell."

"What stuff do you think I was thinking? Hmmm?"

Buffy didn't answer, just increased her speed as she turned in to Shadyrest Cemetery. Easily keeping pace with her, Spike pressed. "What? What might I have been thinking? Afraid to tell me, Slayer?"

Buffy huffed. "As if!"

"I think you are," he purred, stepping in front of her so abruptly that she walked right into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and murmured into the top of her head, "I think you're afraid to admit that you were thinking about coming home with me again. That you want to come home with me."

"Do not," she mumbled, even as she relaxed into his embrace.

"Do too." He lowered his head to kiss her ear, crossing her jaw line and ending near her mouth. "At least I hope you do," he breathed, brushing his lips across hers. "Because I want you to, want it so bad I can't see straight."

Before Buffy could decide what she wanted to answer, Spike's head flew up and he sniffed the air, then dropped his arms and disappeared so quickly that she barely heard his, "Later, love. Won't be far."

"Wha—huh?" Buffy whirled in circles. "Where'd you go?"

The tingles on her neck – so similar to and yet different from Spike's signature – had her pulling out her stake and peering into the darkness with narrowed eyes. However, the familiar signature, as well as Spike's abrupt departure, quickly told her what she was going to see; and when Angel finally appeared striding towards her she was already relaxed, sitting on a tombstone and twirling her stake.

"Angel!" she said, with a genuine smile. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

"That's what I came to see," he said, glancing around with suspicion. "What's going on?"

"Did you see Giles?" She tried to deflect his question. "He was going to tell you all about it."

Angel's eyes narrowed even more. "Tell me all about what? And how did you know he was going to tell me something if you didn't know I was coming?"

"Uh..." Buffy sighed and pointed to another gravestone. "I'm sorry, Angel. I did know you were coming – Mom told us. But there's no reason for it. Really. I'm fine – as you can see. We had a little... incident... here with some sort of secret Army thingie. But Giles got the Council to look into it, and we got rescued before anything else bad happened to anybody."

Refusing her silent offer to join her in sitting on the dearly departed, he said, "When did this 'thingie' happen? Xander just called an hour or so ago."

"Yeah, about that... Hey! How did you get here so fast?"

"I have a client who owes me. He flew me up in his helicopter."

"Oh, Angel!" Buffy's dismay was real, as was her sympathetic pat on his arm. "I'm so sorry you made that dash up here for something so..." She shook her head. "I'm going to kick Xander's butt for this."

"It's no problem, Buffy," Angel said stiffly. "I'm just glad to see that you're—" He paused and pulled her hand back, holding it to his nose. He frowned and moved closer, ignoring her "What are doing?" as he inhaled the scents coming off her body.

"When was Spike here?" he snarled. "Is that why Xander called me? Because Spike was back?" He sniffed again. "He's all over you. Have you been fighting him? Did you dust him?"

"No... I... he... we..." Buffy elected to go with half-truths. "We were both captured by the Initiative. They wanted to watch us fight, so we did; then they sent in some vamps and some commandoes and we had to fight them; and then Giles showed up and we weren't prisoners anymore."

"You didn't answer me, Buffy. When did this happen? Spike's scent is fresh. Like he just... Is he watching you?" Angel glared around. "Is he holding hostages? Is that why you're trying to get rid of me? Do you need my help with Spike?"

"I don't need any help with Spike," Buffy sighed. "It's fine, Angel. Can't you just take my word for it and leave? Not that it's not nice to see you," she hastened to assure him, giving him a warm smile. "But I'm really sorry you made the trip up here for nothing."

"If Spike's back in Sunnydale, that's not 'nothing', Buffy. You remember what he was like the other times."

"I remember, Angel. I remember that I put him in a wheelchair the first time, and that he helped me when you – sorry,Angelus – tried to end the world. I remember that he didn't actually hurt Willow or Xander when he was trying to get her to do a love spell for him. I remember that I kicked his butt when he had the Gem of Amara... and... well, let's just say we've gotten to know him a lot better since the Initiative showed up and put a chip in his head."

"A chip?"

Buffy waved her hand around. "The were experimenting on vamps and demons – Spike said you stopped the Nazi's from doing something like that a long time ago? Anyway, they made it so he couldn't bite anybody and he came to us, and then Willow did a spell, and.... Well, anyway. You don't need to worry about Spike. He isn't going to hurt anybody."

"If he's so harmless, why can I smell him all over you?" He stepped closer to her and sniffed again, his eyes going wide before turning amber. Through descending fangs he snarled, "And why do you smell like you've been...."

Buffy backed up, bring her stake into a ready position as she watched Angel struggle to control his demon.

"Just so you know? That whole sniffing thing is just really gross and really, really an invasion of privacy."

Ignoring her angry retort, he said, "I'll kill him." His fangs were still visible as he spoke.

"That could be a mite harder than you think, Angelus." Spike's voice preceded his appearance by only a moment. He stopped just beside Buffy and stared at his grandsire.

"I thought you were going to hide," she hissed.

"Tired of hiding," he said. "And more than a bit tired of watching him talk to you like you're his private property."

"She is mine!" Angel snarled. "If you've touched—"

"Angel," Buffy pointed out, stepping between the two vampires. "I'm not yours. You walked away, remember? You told me to move on and have a life."

"This is not moving on!" He glared at her. "This is just accepting a poor substitute for what you can't have. And you, William," he sneered in Spike's direction. "You're still taking my leavings. I'd think you'd want to look for someone who wasn't always going to be wishing you were me."

Buffy's face crumpled at being referred to as Angel's "leavings", but quickly turned to a slayer's angry mien when she saw how Spike flinched at Angel's words. Before Spike could move, Buffy was in Angel's face, punctuating her words by poking him in the chest.

"Leavings? I'm your 'leavings'? That's all I was to you? A possession?" Her pokes, which she made using all her slayer strength, had pushed Angel back several yards. As a finale, she shoved him with both hands, causing him to fall to the ground and stare up at her in astonishment. "And news-flash, Angel, I have never once wished Spike was anybody other than who he is. I didn't wish that when we were enemies, and I sure as hell don't wish it when we're—"

"Enough, love," Spike's voice was surprisingly gentle as he touched her arm. "Let me talk to him, yeah?"

"Talk to him? I told you, I don't want to have to referee any fights between you two."

"Just talking. We can do that, can't we, Liam?"

Angel had sprung to his feet at Spike's approach, but allowed his face to go back to the human form that Buffy had once been so in love with. He gave her his best soulful brown eyes, but when she remained on guard and near Spike, he nodded.

"All right. Talk."

Spike looked at Buffy. "Do you trust me?" She nodded slowly. "Then let me talk to him alone." When she started to protest, he said, "He knows me, love. All I have to do is tell him... It'll be alright. I promise."

"Don't... just be careful, 'k? I don't want anybody's dust floating away tonight."

"We'll work it out."

He brushed Buffy's hand with his fingertips, then moved off into the cemetery. "Let's go, Angelus. Need to sort this out so the girl can get some sleep tonight."

Buffy stood, frowning as the two vampires walked far enough way that she could no longer hear their words, and could just barely make out their shapes in the dim light. She watched carefully, but except for some excited arm waving, she couldn't see anything to be alarmed about. They were clearly keeping their voices low enough that she couldn't hear them.

She was so busy trying to see and hear what was going on several hundred yards away, that she didn't notice the vamp sneaking up on her until she felt his drool on her cheek. Reaching behind her, she grabbed his head and threw him over her shoulder to land in a surprised heap at her feet.

"Slayer!" he said, edging away without quite standing up.

"Who were you expecting in a graveyard at night?" she asked, kicking his legs out from under him as he tried to rise. "Or did you order take-out and think I was your delivery?" Not waiting for an answer, she leaned down and drove her stake through his chest. She shook her head at his dust. "You were too stupid to last long anyway."

When she glanced back up, Spike and Angel were approaching, their steps making no sound as they passed over turf-covered mounds. They stopped when they were only a few feet away, and Buffy raised her eyebrows at them.

"Well?"

"I'll be going back to LA now," Angel said grudgingly. "But if something happens – to either one of you – " he shocked Buffy by saying, "the other has to promise to call me. I don't want to hear it from Xander, or anyone else."

"Wha—?" Buffy stared at Spike. "What did you say to him?"

"Tell you later, pet. Just get your good-byes done, yeah?"

Spike turned his back and walked away, giving the illusion of privacy even though Buffy knew he would be able to hear every word.

"I don't_"

"It's all right, Buffy," Angel said with a sigh. "I can't go so far as to wish you well, but I'm confident you're safe with him. And that he'll... You'll be safe," he finished. "I can't believe you aren't at each other's throats all the time, but..."

Buffy coughed and shuffled her feet. "Well, I wouldn't say we never fight anymore, but now we get over it and we... make up." She hoped it was too dark for Angel to see her blush.

"Really don't want to know," he said with a wry smile. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "Be safe, Buffy. And if he stops making you happy, feel free to dust him."

Buffy laughed and gazed into the face that had once been so important to her. "Somehow, I don't think you really mean that." She reached up and cupped his cheek. "But thank you, anyway."

"Take care of each other," he said, raising his voice just enough to be sure Spike could hear him. Without another word, he vanished into the gloom, quickly getting so far away that Buffy could no longer see or feel him.

She felt Spike come up behind her and she leaned into his chest when his arms went around her. "You are going to explain this to me," she said, feeling her whole body relax from the tension she'd been carrying all night.

"Someday, love," he said, squeezing her tightly. "When you're ready to hear it."


 
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