---

Buffy kicked Spike in the chest, causing him to stumble backwards. She quickly followed through with a spin kick. Spike lost his footing, sending him crashing backwards onto the floor; Buffy quickly took advantage of this and jumped on top of him, straddling his waist as she held him down with one hand on his chest. “It’s dark outside,” she whispered into his ear, loosening her grip on the blonde vampire.

Spike could feel Buffy’s warm breath caressing his face and neck, sending shivers down his spine. He looked straight into her beautiful green eyes and gave her a cheeky grin. “That it is, pet.”

“So, do you want to do this for real?” Buffy asked.

Spike raised his scarred eyebrow. “What do you have planned, luv?”

Buffy sat up and looked at Spike, more than a little annoyed. “Patrol, remember?”

“Oh right, kick the bad guys’ arses… yeah, I guess I’m ready.”

Buffy realized she was still straddling Spike, and quickly stood up to allow him to move. “Okay, then–let’s go.”

Spike followed Buffy back out into the shop, where she grabbed her coat and weapons bag before turning to her friends. “Spike and I are going to go patrol now; I shouldn’t be too long.”

“Okay, Buffy, be careful,” Willow called back to her friend. “Have fun!”

Buffy smiled. “I’ll try. Night, guys.”

~*~~*~~*~


Buffy and Spike walked in silence through the cemetery, both deep in their own thoughts; after about an hour with no demon sightings, they decided to head back to the shop.

“Damn, I was really hoping I could kill something tonight,” Buffy muttered to herself.

Spike smiled at the blonde Slayer; he could tell she was getting antsy. “Well, I guess you lucked out then, pet. Nothing seems to be happ…” Spike’s comment was abruptly cut short when a slimy demon jumped out from behind a tomb and grabbed him by the throat.

“Well, well, well… what do we have us here, then? Looks like the Slayer and her little lap dog Spring.” the demon growled as seven more slimy demons walked out of the shadows.

“That’s S..p..ike,” Spike choked out as the demon squeezed his throat tighter.

“Tell someone who cares,” the demon growled, throwing Spike on top of Buffy and sending them both tumbling to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

“You see me and my boys here are looking for a little fun--and Slayer, you look very appetising tonight,” the slimy demon said as he licked his lips in a suggestive manner.

Buffy and Spike were both on their feet in an instant, each taking up a fighting stance.

“Yeah, well you look repugnant! You know, it’s alright to be ugly. But you’re really abusing the privilege,” Buffy announced in a disgusted tone. “And secondly, may I just say eeeww!”

“Come now, pet. I think they want to play; let’s not disappoint them,” Spike said with a wicked grin.

Buffy smiled evilly, allowing Spike’s words to wash over her. This was what they had been looking for all night. Her body tensed in anticipation of what promised to be an exhilarating confrontation. Not even bothering to spare her sire a second glance, instinctively knowing that the blonde vampire would follow her into battle without question, she quickly launched herself at the large slimy creature in front of her, knocking him to the ground with a single blow. Looking around to gauge her odds for a chance to play, she noticed that the demons seemed a bit out of sorts now that their leader was down, and Spike seemed to be distracting a few of them while still leaving her a good-sized crowd to play with. *Smart man!* She brought her foot up quickly, smashing it down across the demon’s throat, watching with no small amount of amusement as his neck simply flattened under the sole of her boot. *Well, that was kinda cool!*

Cool as it was, it also got the demons regrouping in a hurry. Stooping down, she quickly slid a ceremonial dagger that she’d brought along just for fun out of her boot and stood, gracefully spinning as she lashed out in a circle, her fist clenched tight around the hilt of the dagger. The sheer brute force behind her hand and the viciously sharp edge of the dagger made for a lethal combination, and the second demon’s head slid to the ground in a slow, almost surreal movement. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Spike occupying himself on the edges of the fray as the rest of the demons finally began to attack; the disorganization that had resulted from the loss of their leader making them no less dangerous now as they jumped in simply for the joy of the fight.

Dancing through the tangle, wielding her dagger and her bare hands with equally deadly accuracy, she removed hands and arms and twisted heads off of living, writhing bodies; in short, she proved her absolute artistry in the savagery of the kill with each flick of her dainty wrists. Within moments she had killed all but five demons. God, but the fight was exhilarating; the heady scent of blood hung in the air, feeding her demon as she inflicted blow after blow on two of the remaining combatants. Taking time out from her play as she continued her mindless but still perfectly-executed blows, Buffy scanned the scene for Spike and quickly saw that her Sire was caught up in the mêlée with two more of the bulky creatures. He was holding his own, his blows solid and damaging, but he wasn’t faring nearly as well as the enhanced Slayer. Sensing her sire would soon be in trouble, Buffy quickly dispatched of the two demons she was currently fighting; playtime would have to wait for another day.

Spike was so caught up in the fury of the fight that he didn’t even notice the petite blonde suddenly fighting alongside him until he heard the resounding sound of cracking bone. He quickly glanced over to find Buffy pounding one of the demons with a mace; apparently some of their friends had brought their own toys to this little playdate. Big mistake—no way was Buffy gonna let them take them back home. With a broad smile, he caught the dagger that she tossed him in one hand as he brutally backhanded the demon in front of him with the other. Finally feeling that he had gained the upper hand in the battle with the slimy demon, he delivered a savage roundhouse kick to the creature’s head, momentarily dazing it. Not one to miss an opportunity for a good fists and fangs attack, even when he had a weapon in hand, Spike grabbed the demon and slammed its head repeatedly into a large cement headstone. After several blows he was nearly satisfied that the creature was dead but dragged Buffy’s dagger along its throat just in case, twisting it away from him to avoid the spray of gore that resulted.

Flicking a large chunk of slime that he hadn’t been able to avoid off of his precious duster, he decided to give the dead demon one last kick of contempt for crushing his throat and for messing up his leather. Straightening his spine after he’d administered his kick, Spike glanced over just in time to see Buffy give her opponent one last blow with the mace, leaving a fairly sticky paste behind in the cemetery grass.


“Nice work, luv.”

“I aim to please,” she said with a sweet smile, before walking over to the lone surviving demon, who had somehow managed to survive the carnage with only a glancing blow to his head and was now regaining consciousness. “Well look what we have here… another party favour.”

Without warning the demon surged to its feet and lunged at Buffy, grabbing her by the throat and throwing her against the wall of a near by tomb. She quickly recovered and let out a deep growl.

“You know, I think you might regret doing that mate,” Spike informed him flatly, watching as Buffy countered the attack with a flurry of kicks and punches; soon the demon was little more than a mass of blood, slime, and broken bones.

“Do I still look appetising to you?” Buffy asked, kicking the demon in the head with a savage roundhouse, decapitating him in the process.

“Told ‘im he would regret it,” Spike commented with a smirk.

“That was fun! Do you think there’s any more of them?” Buffy asked with a wicked grin.

Spike laughed as he stepped closer to the petite Slayer. “Remind me never to piss you off, luv,” he said playfully as he picked a piece of demon bone out of Buffy’s hair.

Buffy laughed. “Spike, you’re always pissing me off. It’s what you do best.”

“Is that so?” he asked in a husky voice, wiping a trace of slime off of Buffy’s cheek.

Buffy’s breath caught in her throat when she felt Spike’s hand run down her cheek. She unconsciously licked her lips and watched as Spike did the same, slowly moving closer; he was practically asking her for permission. Buffy could see Spike’s hesitation and was oddly touched by it; deciding to make it easier for him, she reached her hand behind his head and pulled him down and into a passionate kiss. Spike could feel her warm tongue licking his bottom lip tentatively as though asking for permission to enter, and he happily obliged. Buffy let out a deep moan when she felt Spike’s cool tongue caress hers, sending little tingles down her spine.

The kiss quickly went from teasing to ravenous as Spike pressed Buffy’s back against the wall of a nearby tomb. Buffy could feel Spike cup her ass, pulling her closer to him; she responded by wrapping her legs around his waist. She could feel his arousal pressing against her, causing her own juices to soak through her underwear as she growled lightly into his mouth.

Spike growled in response when he felt Buffy press her wet crotch against his growing erection; he could smell her arousal so strongly, it was almost enough to make him cum right there. “So hot and wet… oh… Buffy I need you,” he whispered huskily as he softly nibbled her ear.

Buffy gasped when she felt Spike’s teeth lightly scrape against her ear and neck, and she responded by running her fingernails down his back and arching closer to him. “So what are you waiting for?” she whispered in his ear.

Spike groaned in response and ran his tongue along her breast, tracing its contours through her shirt. Both Buffy and Spike were so involved with each other and their burgeoning passion that they didn’t notice their audience immediately.

“No wonder this town is so overrun with vampires. Looks like the Slayer spends most of her night laying vampires rather then slaying them,” a catty voice announced, sounding more than a little put out.

The two vampires’ heads quickly snapped around to find Glory standing only a few feet away, surrounded by a crowd of her crusty-looking little minions. Spike allowed Buffy to slide back to her feet before addressing the hellgod.

“What do you want, Glory?” Buffy asked angrily, readjusting her clothing in the process.

“What I always want, Slayer…. my key,” Glory announced in a sickly sweet tone.

“Don’t have it,” Buffy said with a shrug.

Glory smiled sweetly at Buffy. “I know you have it. In fact that’s the only reason you’re still alive. Now why don’t you just give it to me and I’ll be on my way.”

“No,” Buffy replied, folding her arms across her chest.

“Why? It’s my key! Why won’t you give it to me?” Glory wailed angrily, stomping her foot on the ground, causing several large cracks to appear.

“Look, Glory, I really don’t have time to do this right now… You know I’m not going to tell you where it is, and the twentysomething toddler routine is very much over at this point, so just go away,” Buffy said with a frustrated sigh.

Glory gave Buffy a crazed smile as she walked closer to Spike. “Well, maybe if I make you watch as I pull each one of lover boy’s arms and legs off, you might just change your mind. And hey, if you don’t… well then, I’ll just make you watch as I practice my acupuncture with a nail gun on that feisty little sister of yours… I know sooner or later I’ll find someone you love more than protecting my Key.”

Buffy stared at Glory with nothing short of fury and pure hatred.

“So what’s it going to be? Are you going to tell me, or do I get to make a wish?” Glory asked coldly.

“Actually, I’m not going to do either. I think I’ll go for option C… That’s the one where I get to kick your skanky ass,” Buffy spat back, chin jutted out determinedly.

Glory laughed. “Oh, come on! You call that a threat? God-like strength here, twinkie… you know you can’t beat me.”

“We’ll just see about that,” Buffy growled, launching herself at Glory and putting all of her strength behind her blows.

Glory was taken by surprise at the Slayer’s new-found strength; she was clearly now a serious threat to the hellgod. Glory was by no means a fighter, and she had always relied on her extreme strength to win her battles; now, however, she was face to face with an opponent who not only matched her strength and speed but also had six years of Slayer experience. Glory was barely able to remain standing as Buffy continued her unmerciful attack.

Glory managed to block one of Buffy’s savage blows, allowing her a small window of opportunity to defend herself against the superstrong Slayer. The insane hellgod grabbed hold of Buffy’s wrist, pulling her roughly against her chest. “What are you, crazy? You can’t touch me like that! I am a god!” Glory hissed.

Buffy rolled her eyes and let out a deep sigh. “Oh, get over yourself, will ya? The pretty princess routine needs to end, hellbitch!”

“You insolent little toad,” Glory growled furiously, backhanding Buffy with a powerful blow and sending her stumbling to the ground. The god saw her opportunity and started to kick the suddenly vulnerable Slayer violently in the stomach. After enduring several blows, Buffy managed to grab Glory’s foot and twisted it, causing her to fall on her butt. Buffy quickly stumbled to her feet, managing to get upright just as Glory angrily stood up herself.

“That was a new Versace dress!” Glory yelled, stomping over to Buffy.

“Really, and here I had you pegged as someone who’d only shop at Sluts ‘R’ Us,” Buffy retorted with a sneer, taking up her fighting stance again.

Glory looked at Buffy with pure rage as she stomped over to her. “You’re gonna pay for that,” she hissed before calling out to her minions, desperately needing their help if she was to have any hope of defeating the Slayer. However, none of her minions answered her panicked cries for help.

Buffy smiled when she looked over Glory’s shoulder, observing Spike savagely attacking what was left of Glory’s entourage. Several bodies littered the ground where Spike fought, with still more piling up as he worked his way through the crowd of toady demons.

“I don’t think they’re coming,” Buffy taunted, circling Glory gracefully, like a lion going in for the kill.

“Well then, I guess I’ll just have to do it myself,” Glory spat, reaching down and pulling a large marble headstone from the ground. She swung the stone expertly at Buffy, hitting her squarely in the temple.

Buffy stumbled backwards from the unexpected blow. She could see Glory swinging the headstone at her for the second time, but she was unable to block the crushing blow and it sent her tumbling to the ground.

Glory laughed madly as she prepared to strike the stunned Slayer for the third time. Anger had over taken any rational thought of keeping Buffy alive for any information pertaining to the whereabouts of her precious key. All Glory wanted was blood; she would bathe in the vile liquid, relishing in the knowledge that it was she who had rid this world of the contemptuous little brat of a Slayer. The little bitch had proven to be the proverbial thorn in her side ever since those contemptible little monks hid her precious key, but now the Slayer would know what it meant to call down the wrath of hell.

Buffy shook her head, trying desperately to clear it after the powerful blow she had just received. She could see Glory preparing to strike her again, lifting the heavy headstone over her head and attempting to put as much force behind the blow as possible. Buffy gathered herself and quickly jumped to her feet, side-stepping Glory’s blow in the nick of time. Letting out a deep growl, Buffy vamped out and attacked the hellgod with all of her strength, easily knocking Glory to the ground.

Glory stared at Buffy in shock. She had had no idea she was a vampire; she could normally spot a halfbreed a mile away, but Buffy smelt human, she radiated warmth and she could clearly hear her heart beating. “What the…….?” was all she could say before Buffy grabbed the headstone from her firm grasp.

“Ohh what’s wrong… did I scare you?” Buffy asked in a mocking tone as she began to pound Glory with the heavy marble slab.

Spike had been in the thick of a surprisingly tough battle; the little scabby buggers may not have looked like much, but they packed a hell of a wallop when they were defending their little high priestess of bad home perms. Spike had clawed, punched, and stabbed his way through the crowd, managing to kill all but three of Glory’s minions. Risking a quick glance in Buffy’s direction, he saw her vamped out and standing over the hellgod’s incapacitated body, repeatedly beating Glory with a large headstone. *That’s my girl!* he thought exultantly before returning his attention to the three crusty demons in front of him.

Buffy growled in frustration as she continued to beat the bloodied hell god. “Why…won’t….you… die?” she ground out between blows.

Glory closed her eyes in defeat. She was too weak, and she couldn’t take anymore. Taking a deep breath, she allowed herself to fade into darkness, allowing her pseudo-twin Ben to come forth.

Buffy blinked her eyes in shock as she watched Glory morph into Ben. She let out a surprised gasp and dropped the marble headstone, taking a few steps back as she allowed her human mask to fall back into place. *What the hell just happened?* she thought, watching Ben gasp painfully for each breath he took. *Should I help him? Is he evil? Is he a god too?* The thoughts rushed through her head at lightning speed as she stared in disbelief at the man who had been such a comfort to her while her mother was sick. “Ben?” she gasped in a shocked whisper.

Spike heard Buffy’s breathless question and once again risked his neck to glance over to see if Buffy was alright. What he saw managed to shock him beyond belief; lying there on the ground where Glory had been was now the badly beaten body of that ponce Ben. *What the hell is he doing here?* Spike’s momentary loss of focus allowed the three crusty demons just enough time to briefly gain the upper hand, and they surged towards him as one, swiftly knocking him to the ground.

Buffy slowly made her way over to Ben, kneeling down beside him as she stared into his swollen eyes. “Ben?” she asked again as she reached out her hand, lightly touching his cheek to see if he was real or not.

“Slayer! Let Glorificus go or the impure one dies!”

Buffy looked up to see Spike being held by two of Glory’s scabby little minions as a third aimed a loaded crossbow at his heart. She could feel all her blood drain to her feet as she watched in horror, fearing Spike would turn to dust right before her eyes. Buffy swallowed deeply as she gave Ben one last look before stepping away from his battered body.

The minions watched fearfully as Buffy slowly stepped away from their master. She nervously chewed her bottom lip, watching the demon who was holding the crossbow level with Spike’s heart.

Spike was livid; he couldn’t believe Buffy was taking orders from some two-bit scabby minion. Just what the hell was she thinking? She could have taken all three of the demons out in a blink of an eye—why was she hesitating?

Spike was jolted out of his thoughts as one of the demons in question jabbed him in the side, trying to get him to turn around. “Poke me one more time, scabby, and I’ll use your spinal cord to floss my teeth,” Spike growled angrily, giving the demon a shove and causing him to tumble backwards onto the ground. In the blink of an eye the minion holding the crossbow let the bolt fly, and it shot steadily forward, heading straight for Spike’s vulnerable heart.

Buffy let out a terrified gasp, watching the scene unfold before her. Time seemed to move in slow motion as she watched the arrow speed towards Spike’s chest. Buffy threw herself thoughtlessly forward, aiming herself at Spike and managing to knock him to the ground. She let out a painful hiss when the arrow lodged itself in her hand, feeling as if all the wind had been knocked from her as she desperately clutched her wounded hand to her chest in an attempt to protect it from further injury as she tumbled towards the ground. Spike was by her side in an instant, fussing intently over his injured childe.

Neither noticed the scabby minions scurry to gather up Ben’s unconscious body before running off into the night.

“Bloody hell, Slayer! What the hell where you thinking?” Spike yelled in alarm, trying to assess the damage to Buffy’s hand.

“I-I don’t know… .I just saw the arrow……” Buffy trailed off as she let out a pain-filled hiss.

“You could have been killed, do you know that!?!” Spike yelled frantically, finally noticing that Ben and the minions were gone, leaving them alone in the dark cemetery. He had almost bloody lost her while he stood there soddin’ helpless.

“Well I wasn’t… and if I hadn’t stopped the arrow you’d be fitting in an ashtray right about now!” Buffy yelled in irritation.

Spike let out a deep sigh and gently cupped Buffy’s cheek. “I know I would, pet,” he concurred in a loving tone.

Spike took a deep unneeded breath as he examined Buffy’s hand. “I’m gonna have to break this to get it out,” he said, indicating the arrow sticking out of her hand.

Buffy nodded her head in understanding. “I know.”

“Okay, pet. Ready?”

Buffy nodded her head again. “Yeah.”

Spike gently snapped the arrows shaft, watching Buffy with concern when she flinched. “On three. One, two, three!” On the count of three, Spike pulled the arrow from Buffy’s hand.

Buffy let out a short hiss when Spike ripped the arrow from her soft flesh, allowing a small trickle of blood flow from the open wound. Once the offending piece of wood was removed from her tiny hand, she pulled the injured appendage to her chest, cradling it gently and attempting to ease the pain.

“You okay, pet?’’ Spike asked, gently running his hand down Buffy’s shoulder.

“Yeah….I’ll be fine,” Buffy said, her eyes shining with unshed tears, both from pain and fright.

“Why’d you do it, luv… why’d you let them go?” Spike asked softly.

“Because you needed me… I could see that arrow, and I knew that if I didn’t do something…” Buffy trailed off, not wanting to think about what could have happened if she hadn’t gotten to Spike in time.

Spike stared into Buffy’s eyes in pure amazement. “You let them go to save me? What about Dawn? You had her, Buffy. You could have squashed the crazy bitch… why would you let her go, just to save me?”

“I didn’t,” Buffy said quietly, staring into Spike’s beautiful blue eyes.

“I mean I was freaked… everything happened so fast. One minute I was fighting Glory, and then *fitzzz* she’s Ben. I was in shock… and then that crunchy demon had a crossbow pointed at you… and I was so scared… I-I didn’t know what else to do. I mean who is Ben anyway? Is he a god too, or is he human? I mean what if Glory can morph into other people. I don’t want to kill some poor innocent person thinking it was her…”

“Whoa-whoa-whoa back up a sec… What’s all this about Glory morphing into Ben?” Spike asked in confusion.

Buffy lifted her head to look at Spike. “Well, I was fighting Glory and then next thing I know she wasn’t Glory anymore, she was Ben.”

“Well that’s a new one… Guess we should get back to the shop and tell the Watcher ‘bout it,” Spike announced with a shrug. “Need to get that hand seen to as well.”

Buffy nodded her head. “Actually it’s feeling pretty good,” she said, looking down at her hand. “Oh my god!” she gasped, holding her hand in the air for Spike to see.

“Bloody hell!” Spike’s astonished voice rang out into the night air. He just couldn’t believe his eyes; Buffy held her hand out for his inspection, and it was completely healed. All that remained of her severe wound was a small pink scar on either side of her hand.

Buffy shakily pulled her hand away from Spike, taking a deep breath as her bottom lip began to quiver. “Spike, what am I?” she questioned in a tiny voice.

Spike wrapped his strong arms around Buffy’s shoulders, pulling her into a comforting embrace. “You’re a miracle, ‘s what you are, pet.”

Buffy lifted her head and let out a small laugh. “I don’t feel too miraculous at the moment.”

Spike laughed as he pulled Buffy off the ground. “Come on, pet, let’s get you back to the shop. Your Watcher’s gonna have conniption if we don’t tell him ‘bout this right away.”

“Yeah. I can practically hear him saying ‘good lord’ and cleaning his glasses from here,” Buffy replied morosely.