Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Joss.
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They came back to themselves a little while later, when they heard the hall clock strike two. “Best get ready to go see the Nibblet, pet.” Spike said.
 
Buffy lifted her head from its resting place on Spike’s pale chest and smiled contentedly. “Join me in a quick shower?” she invited.
 
“Not sure if I’m going to be able to make it quick, love,” Spike purred. But he rose when she tugged his hand and joined her. They managed to keep the shower reasonably short, while enjoying the sensations of soaping and caressing each other’s bodies. With a heavy sigh, Buffy turned off the water and stepped out. Spike watched appreciatively as she toweled off and combed out her long hair. Buffy, for her part, could never get enough of his body. Wow. What a piece of artwork this man is.
 
“Best get moving, Slayer,” he said, snapping a towel at her playfully. “Don’t want to have to explain to the Nibblet that you were late because you were shagging me.”
 
Buffy sighed, “Guess that would be a bit on the awkward side.” She found some clothes, brushed her hair, and asked, “How do I look?”
 
Spike smirked, “You’re asking the wrong person, pet. I prefer the unclothed look on you.”
 
“Pig,” said Buffy. But she smiled as she said it. She gave him another kiss, then broke it reluctantly saying, “I gotta go.” She turned to leave, then paused and turned to him one more time. “I meant what I said. I do love you, Spike”
 
He tenderly cupped her face and kissed her. “I know,” he whispered. He gazed at her for a long moment, then straightened up. “You go on then,” Spike said. “And if they ask about your finances, tell them it was an anonymous benefactor. I set it up so that the money can’t be easily traced to a person, since the person who opened the account has been technically deceased since 1880, which would probably raise a few eyebrows.”
 
“Ya think?” Buffy replied. Then with one last smile, she hurried out the door.
 
Buffy arrived at the Social Services office at five minutes before three, and asked for Ms. Davis. Ms Davis greeted her warmly and invited Buffy to sit down. “Your sister should be arriving soon. Have you signed up for those parenting classes?”
 
“Can I do that right now? With the hospital trip I haven’t gotten a chance to yet.”
 
“Of course,” said Ms. Davis. “Let’s see, you could do one in the morning and one in the afternoon the next two days if you like. Then one more on Saturday, and you’d be done.”
 
“Sounds great. I really want to get her back as soon as I can.” Buffy replied.
 
“We still need to inspect your house and discuss your finances,” Ms. Davis reminded her.
 
“Well, the finances are taken care of,” said Buffy. “My bank called me earlier. It seems some benefactor, who wishes to remain anonymous, deposited a large sum of money into my bank account. I was able to pay off my bills, and I plan to invest the rest. Should be enough to support me and my sister for as long as she is under age.”
 
“I have to admit, that sounds suspicious,” said Ms. Davis doubtfully. “I will have to check up on this with your bank.”
 
“That’s fine,” smiled Buffy. She told Ms. Davis the name of the bank, and the social worker dutifully noted it down. Just then her phone rang. Ms. Davis picked it up, spoke briefly, and then hung up. “You’re sister’s here. Come with me, and try not to pass out this time,” she added, smiling.
 
Buffy followed Ms. Davis, a bit nervous about how her sister would react to her. They entered a small room with a sofa and a few chairs. Dawn leaped up from the sofa and cried, “Buffy!” She launched herself into her sister’s arms. Both of them clung to each other and burst into tears of joy. Ms. Davis was surprised. You’d think they hadn’t seen each other in months, she thought. She smiled at their obvious affection for each other. “We’ll just leave you two alone for a while,” she said kindly, as she closed the door.
 
The sisters sat down on the couch. “I can’t believe it!” Dawn said, wiping away tears. “Spike told me the whole story, but I just didn’t want to get my hopes up.”
 
“Oh Dawnie, let me look at you,” Buffy said tenderly. She stroked Dawn’s smooth hair in a loving gesture. “Have they been taking care of you?”
 
“I’m ok,” Dawn reassured her. Looking down she said, “I’m sorry about skipping school. I…”
 
“Hey, I know,” Buffy said, picking Dawn’s chin up so they could look each other in the eyes. “You were hurting. I saw you spend the day crying in the cemetery. I was there. It was torture not to be able to do anything for you.”
 
“You were really there?” Dawn asked in amazement. “I was so scared about getting caught and I just felt like no one cared. I didn’t want to believe Spike when he said he saw you.”
 
“Well, I’m back for real now,” Buffy replied. “And I want you to know that I am doing whatever I can to get you back home as fast as I can. But you need to promise me you’re going to stay out of trouble. If I can’t get you to go to school, they’re going to take you away for good next time.”
 
Dawn nodded solemnly. “I promise.” Then she added, “Is Spike going to stay with us?”
 
Buffy blushed a bit. “Not sure yet. I…” Buffy swallowed. “I think I love him, Dawn.”
 
“Really?” Dawn was so excited she bounced on the sofa. “That would be so awesome! Spike is one of my best friends. He was the only one who really understood me last summer.”
 
“But for now, we can’t have him be obviously living with us, ok?” Buffy cut in. “There aren’t supposed to be any adults in the house who aren’t related or who haven’t had a background check, and he really doesn’t have a background to check. So you need to keep quiet about this, especially around the authorities, understand?”
 
“I understand,” Dawn replied. She grew serious for a second. “Buffy… what was… what was it like, where you were?”
 
Buffy hesitated. Then, looking at her lap she said, “It was warm, and quiet, and peaceful. It was like… you know when we would both be curled up with mom, watching some old movie and everything just felt comfortable and secure? Like that, only more so.”
 
Dawn bit her lip. “Are you mad that you’re back?”
 
Buffy caught Dawn’s concern. “I am incredibly angry at Willow and the others, although I guess Tara’s ok. She told Spike how to find you. But I’m planning to stay around, Dawnie. I know you need me. Spike needs me too, and I need the two of you. It hurt a lot at first. Still does at times. Can you just be patient with me for a while, if I get moody or sad sometimes?”
 
“Of course I can,” Dawn replied. “Can you put up with a teenage girl in the house?”
 
Buffy smiled. “I think I still have the manual from when I was a teen.” They hugged again, each grateful for the other’s presence. They chatted with each other for an hour, Dawn telling Buffy all about the summer without her. Then Ms. Davis returned with Dawn’s foster mother, saying “Dawn? It’s time to go.”
 
The sisters stood up and hugged again. “I’ll see you soon, ok?” said Buffy. Dawn nodded, close to tears again. Buffy fixed her eyes on Mrs. Langely and said “Take good care of her. Please.”
 
“Of course I will,” said Mrs. Langley, smiling. With one last wave, Dawn said goodbye and left.
 
“Well, Ms. Summers,” Ms. Davis began. “I talked with your bank and it appears you do have a very generous friend out there somewhere. But everything seems to be aboveboard and legal, so it appears your financial hurdle has been crossed. Will you be available on Saturday afternoon for the home inspection?”
 
“Absolutely.” Buffy agreed. She shook Ms. Davis’ hand and walked home, stopping on the way to get some fresh blood for Spike.
 
When she came home, she found the house was empty. There was a note on the table in Spike’s remarkably old-fashioned copperplate hand. Need to take care of a few things. I’ll take care of patrol – you relax. Be back later, Spike. Buffy smiled. She knew that Giles would probably think she was shirking her Slayer duties, but she felt like Sunnydale would survive for another night without her on patrol.
 
Buffy made herself an early dinner, then spent an hour or two cleaning the house. She was not the domestic type, but it felt good to put things back in order. When she came across Spike’s duffle, she smiled. She cleared out a drawer in what had been the witches’ room and put his few clothes in there. She wasn’t sure how the sleeping arrangements would work out once Dawn came back home, but there was more room there anyhow. She put a couple of towels on the top – if a social worker for some strange reason casually opened the drawer, they would see extra linen storage, nothing more.
 
When the house was clean to her satisfaction, Buffy drew herself a bubble bath and sank in for a good long soak. This isn’t heaven, but it’s not a terrible approximation, she sighed as she closed her eyes and let the warmth sink into her bones. She thought about Spike while she soaked. Deciding that she loved him was liberating. It was never going to make Giles happy, but she didn’t care. Tara would be fine with it. Willow and Xander could go climb a cactus. Anya would probably either not care, or say something about orgasms. Mmm. Spike induced orgasms… Buffy had the feeling she would never get enough of those.
 
After a while, the water started to turn cold, so Buffy got out, dried off, and wrapped herself in her favorite robe. She went down to the kitchen to make herself a cup of cocoa to enjoy in front of the television. As she was about to settle down on the couch, the phone rang. Who could that be at this hour? she wondered as she went to the phone. “Hello?”
 
“Buffy? Is it really you?” It was Angel.
 
There goes the serenity. “Yeah, it’s me,” she replied, unenthusiastically. Truthfully, Angel hadn’t even come to mind in the few days she had been back. “Who told you I was back?”
 
“Xander called yesterday. He said that Willow resurrected you. He was going on about how you had thrown them all out and was living with Spike? Buffy what’s going on?”
 
Of course. Gotta have the male elks bashing their antlers together over who gets to mate with me. I knew something was missing in the whole pile of stress. Buffy responded, “Did Xander also tell you how I was in Heaven, got yanked out and brought back as a ghost, and how Spike was the only one who could see me? Did he mention that he almost killed Spike because he assumed that Spike was doing something evil instead trying to send me back to Heaven? Did he mention that Dawn got taken away by social services because Willow was too busy fucking up my life to watch her? Or that Willow managed to put me in a fucking coma by doing yet another spell on me?”
 
“He mentioned much of that, although he left out a few details,” Angel admitted.
 
“So what do you want, Angel?” Buffy sighed.
 
“I just… wanted to talk, Buffy,” he replied. “You’re back. I thought I had lost you forever.”
 
“You did, Angel,” Buffy said, with a sudden clarity in her mind. “You pretty much lost me when you left for L.A.”
 
Angel sounded taken aback. “Buffy, you know I had to go. I never stopped loving you. When you… when you died I just about lost it. I couldn’t deal. I ended up spending three months in Sri Lanka trying to get my head on straight again.”
 
“You know what? Spike was pretty upset too. You know what he did? He stayed!” Buffy was yelling at this point, loudly enough that she didn’t hear Spike come in the back door. Spike listened, wide eyed as he heard Buffy continue. “Spike stayed, Angel. Even though I was gone, even though my friends treated him like shit. He stayed. He patrolled, he took care of Dawn. When I turned up all ghosty, he tried to send me back to Heaven, and all he got was a face full of holy water for his troubles. Where the hell were you in all this?”
 
“Buffy… I…:” Angel sputtered.
 
Buffy raged on as if she hadn’t heard. “That was always your style, Angel. Take the easy way out. You’re a coward. Angelus wouldn’t just take me on in a fair fight – no he had to pick on all the defenseless folk around me first. When the First was tormenting you, you wanted to just dust yourself, instead of fighting. You took off to L.A. ‘for my own good’, but really, it was just more running away. Instead of dealing with my death, you ran away, when you could have helped. You can hide behind your mission and all that, but you’re still just a coward.”
 
“So what’s Spike then?” Angel shouted back. “He’s a soulless creature of evil! That chip in his skull is the only thing that holds him back.”
 
“Bullshit!” cried Buffy. “He’s done more for me without a soul than you ever did with one. Tonight he went patrolling for me so I could relax. Did you ever help me with patrol? Ever?”
 
“It’s your duty! It’s your sacred calling!” Angel replied, the exasperation evident in his voice.
 
“Doesn’t mean I might not occasionally like a hand!” Buffy retorted. “He also emptied out an old bank account of his to pay off my bills so I can get Dawn back.”
 
“Money that was probably stolen from one of his victims,” Angel interrupted.
 
“Oh, and you got that vaunted soul as a reward for your stellar behavior, I’m sure.” Buffy spat out. Angel said nothing. “Look, Angel. I know what he is. But I also know that he risked everything for me. He’s done nothing but help me since I got back. He’s not going to leave me. And I love him.”
 
In the other room, Spike closed his eyes and drank in the sensation. Buffy was telling his grandsire that she was in love with William the Bloody. He wished he could be a fly on the wall to see the apoplectic fit that Angel must be having at this moment.
 
“How can you love him?” Angel demanded. “So all his past deeds mean nothing, because he paid off your bills?”
 
“It’s more than that, and you know it,” said Buffy, rapidly tiring of the conversation. “I never threw your past deeds in your face, why shouldn’t Spike get the same treatment? And no matter what my reasons are, it has nothing to do with you. You gave up your vote in this matter long ago, Angel. Good luck with your mission, but stay the hell away from Spike and out of my life.” With that she banged the phone down. Then in frustration she ripped it clean out of the wall and threw it across the room, narrowly missing Spike as he entered.
 
“Hey, what’s that all about?” His demon was wary of being in a room with an exceedingly brassed off Slayer.
 
“They won’t leave me alone!” Buffy screamed. Her fists were clenched so hard that blood appeared on her palms where her nails dug in. “Xander couldn’t just shut his fucking mouth! Had to bring Angel into it! Now I’ve got to worry about him showing up and…”
 
Spike crossed the room and enfolded her in his arms. “Shhh. Take it easy, love. I’m here.”
 
Buffy was still somewhat hysterical. “But what if he comes up here! I don’t want him deciding that he needs to dust you for my own good, or…”
 
“Hey!” Spike interrupted. “First thing, that wanker couldn’t dust me in a million years. You and me together? He’d fit into an ashtray in 10 minutes. Second thing, is you were absolutely right. He is a fucking coward. He doesn’t need to have your rejection rubbed in. He’ll just sulk and brood a bit more than usual for a week or two, then he’ll come up with some noble justification for his actions, as usual, then move on.”
 
Buffy’s rage turned into tears. “I just want to sort things out in peace. Why can’t they just leave me be?”
 
“They care about you, pet,” Spike answered, stoking her hair as she buried her face in his chest. “You changed the tune. You came back different. More sure and determined in some ways, and more vulnerable in others. They don’t know how to deal, except like they always did. They need to adjust, same as you.”
 
“I suppose I need to not kill them while they are adjusting, huh?” Buffy’s response was muffled in Spike’s shirt.
 
“Well, you’re asking the wrong guy for advice on not killing,” Spike jibed. “But yeah, I think you’ll regret it in the morning if you do.”
 
Buffy smiled faintly. She snuggled deeper into that strong embrace. He was so solid, so strong, but not overwhelming like Angel or Riley had been. He seemed to always know what she needed, even before she did.
 
After a few minutes she straightened up and wiped her eyes with her hands. “So where did you go this afternoon?”
 
“Wanted to grab a few more things from my crypt. Also wanted to see a demon I know about some documents.”
 
Buffy gave a puzzled look. “Documents?”
 
“Yeah. This guy specializes in creating false identities for demons who want to live in the human world. There’s a surprising number of demons who you would take for human if you didn’t look closely, but they tend not to show up in records. Can make it hard to get apartments and jobs sometimes,” Spike explained.
 
“But why do you need an identity?” Buffy was still confused.
 
“I plan to hang around here as much as you’ll let me,” Spike explained, stroking the outside of her arms. “But if social services catches me, I want them to be able to run a background check on me without coming up blank, which would look even more suspicious than my actual background.”
 
“I guess showing them a birth certificate from the 1800’s isn’t really going to reassure them,” Buffy agreed. She looked fondly at him. “You’ve really thought of everything, haven’t you?”
 
“Not sure about that, pet. But I plan to take care of you, and the Nibblet, if you’ll let me.”
 
Buffy reached up and kissed him in answer. He returned the kiss, then stepped back to look at her. He took her hands and sensually sealed the wounds on her palms with his cool tongue, causing Buffy to close her eyes and sigh. “Why does everything you do feel so right?”
 
“Practice, my dear,” Spike said, grinning. “Why don’t you finish your cocoa, while I see if this phone can be saved.” He kissed her forehead and released her, picking up the remains of the phone while Buffy picked up her cocoa. It was lukewarm at this point, so she took it to the microwave to heat it up a bit. She sat at the kitchen island while Spike did surgery on the phone. “How was your visit with the Nibblet?” he asked as he worked.
 
“It was good,” Buffy responded between sips. The chocolate and Spike’s presence began to restore her to her pre-phone-call contentment. “I have to go to the first two parenting classes tomorrow. That ought to be… interesting.”
 
“Gotta jump through their hoops, I guess,” Spike said. He fiddled for a few more minutes trying to reassemble the phone, then gave up. “I think the phone was a casualty, love.”
 
“We’ve got the extension and the machine here in the kitchen. We’ll survive for a while.” She went to the sink to rinse out her mug while Spike pitched the deceased phone into the trash. He came up behind her while she stood at the sink and wrapped his arms around her.
 
“You’re not wearin’ much,” Spike commented as he ran one of his hands into the opening of her robe to cup her naked breast.
 
“Mmmm,” sighed Buffy, leaning back against him and catching his mouth in hers. She started to turn around but his hand gripped her hip as he purred, “No. Stay where you are, love. Wanna make you feel good.” Gonna erase the great Pouf’s voice from your mind. She obeyed and leaned her head back against his shoulder as he kissed slowly down her neck. The hand on her hip slowly stroked its way down to part her robe and caress the inside of her thigh. She was dripping with anticipation as his hand worked its way up to her clit. His cool fingers slid around and inside her at an agonizingly slow pace, teasing and intoxicating. “Spike that’s… ohh,” she moaned, unable to finish the sentence.
 
After uncounted minutes of this delightful torture, Spike’s other hand released her breasts, and Buffy thrilled to hear the sound of him unzipping his jeans. His hand caressed her, pulling her robe up and out of the way. His hand left her clit just long enough to bend her slightly over the sink as he entered her, still at that maddeningly slow pace. She gasped at his entrance, gripping the edge of the sink with white knuckles. He began a gradually quickening rhythm, reaching around to rub her clit at the same time. “Oh God!” she cried as the sensations spiraled up and up. Then, when she felt that she could hold out no longer, she felt the bones in Spike’s face shift against her neck as he vamped out and sunk his fangs into her.
 
Buffy screamed incoherently at the sensation. Her brain fired a random series of words at the ecstasy, lightning, my god it’s like lightning like flying like heaven my god…  Her neurons overloaded with pleasure and she cried out her lover’s name over and over as she came, and came again.
 
At the first taste of Slayer blood Spike too found his body convulsing with release. Mine, she’s mine, oh god, gonna dust from this, Slayer, Buffy, lover… He wrenched his fangs out of her neck after four long pulls of her blood and grabbed her hips as he thrust into her again and again. His head dropped down onto her shoulder as he finally finished. They were both shaking uncontrollably.
 
Buffy’s knees started to buckle, and Spike pulled out of her with a groan as he caught her before she could hit the ground. She turned and leaned limply against him, unable to comprehend what she had just experienced. She was no virgin, but she had never experienced anything even remotely close to that whirlwind of an orgasm. Spike was gasping as well. Nothing was ever like that. Nothing I had with Dru even came close. That was… He couldn’t form a coherent sentence to save his life.
 
After a long minute of clinging to each other, Spike straightened up a bit. Buffy was still shaking and seemed to have lost control of her limbs. Spike scooped her up in his arms and she rested her head on his shoulder as he carried her up to her bed. He grew a little concerned at her continued limpness as he laid her down on the bed. “Buffy? You ok?” Hope I didn’t drain her too badly in the heat of the moment.
 
“Yeah,” she mumbled, her eyes half open. “Just… overload again. But in a good way.”
 
“Was afraid I drank too much,” he said, ditching his clothes and climbing in beside her.
 
Buffy finally regained enough control of her body to turn her face to him. He was still vamped out, and she ran her hand lightly over the ridges in his forehead. “You still in there, Spike?” she teased quietly.
 
Spike laughed and shook off his gameface. “Sorry, love. Lost control of my face I guess. The demon was really enjoying that.”
 
“And the man?”
 
“Both of us love you, Slayer,” he said tenderly. “Never had anything like you, in all my long years. You’re the one, Buffy.”
 
“Love you, Spike,” Buffy replied, kissing him again. “You and your demon.” She curled up on his chest then, and drifted off to sleep, as man and demon quietly rejoiced.
 
TBC