---

Several hours had passed by, and exhaustion was beginning to take its toll on the entire Scooby gang. So far, there had been no Glory sightings, and even the minions seemed to be keeping their distance.

“We should probably try and get some rest,” Buffy suggested as she looked down at her exhausted sister, lying next to her on the couch.

“Mmm… I would be inclined to agree,” Giles said with a yawn.

“Okay…. Tara and Willow can take mom’s room. I can set the cot up in the den for Giles, and Xander, you and Anya can take the couch,” Buffy said in a tired voice.

“What about fang-breath here? Finally decided to toss him out on his ear, huh?” Xander asked with a cocky grin as he looked over at Spike.

“No… he’ll sleep in my room,” Buffy replied in a low tone.

Spike couldn’t help but laugh at Xander’s expression; the boy’s mouth hung limply for several seconds before he could summon the resources to form any words.

“WHAT!” Xander yelled in exasperated fury before turning to Spike. “Didn’t take you too long, did it, you creep?”

“Xander, stop it! You may not like it, but I trust Spike… and I need him, unless of course you want me to wake up the entire house when I start screaming at the top of my lungs because I’ve had yet another nightmare.”

Xander gave Buffy an apologetic look. “Sorry, Buff, I didn’t know.”

Spike snorted. “No surprise there. What you don’t know could fill the bloody Grand Canyon.”

“Okay, one more word, Deadboy, and you’ll know what a Popsicle feels like when I jam a stake right up your….”

“Enough!” Buffy yelled, clearly irritated. “Look, I can’t do this... I can’t stand listening to another round of verbal insults. Why don’t you just whip ‘em out and grab a tape measure or something, ‘cause I’ve had it. No more!”

Xander lowered his eyes. “Sorry, Buff.”

“Are you, Xand? ‘Cause I don’t think you really are… I think you’re just sorry you got called out on it. Right now, I have too much on my plate to worry about what you think about me sleeping in the same room with Spike, and so should you! Who I choose to share my bed with has nothing to do with anyone other than me!”

Xander shifted uncomfortably as he gave Buffy a solemn look. “I’m sorry, Buffy, I really am… I just don’t want you to get hurt again.”

Buffy expression softened. “I know, Xander… and believe me, I’m not exactly jonesin’ for another heartache myself, but right now I’m actually more concerned with trying to survive the next couple of days.” With that said Buffy whirled on her heels and marched into the kitchen.

Xander was stunned. “What the hell just happened here?”

Spike rolled his eyes and grunted, “Stupid pillock!” before following Buffy into the kitchen. He found her standing in the open doorway, staring out into the night sky.

“You okay, pet?” he asked quietly. Buffy didn’t respond, didn’t even acknowledge his presence; Spike took a deep, unneeded breath and walked over to where she stood. “Don’t let him get to you, pet.”

Buffy whirled around in annoyance. “It’s not just him, Spike! It’s you, too!”

Spike was taken aback by this. “Me! What the bloody hell did I do?”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Oh come on, Spike, you’re like a hundred and something, and you’re acting like some sort of two-year-old trying to score points with me in some stupid pissing contest you have going on with Xander.”

Spike stared at her hard for a moment before he lowered his eyes. “You’re right,” he said in a sombre tone.

Buffy blinked back her surprise at Spike’s easy acceptance. “I am?”

Spike smiled. “Yeah, pet. What you said out there, ‘bout the tape measure.”

Buffy furrowed her brow in confusion. “Who-wha-huh? You want a tape measure?”

Spike chuckled. “Not exactly, pet… What I meant was that this thing between the Whelp and me, s’all about attention, innit? You know, tryin’ to get the girl to notice you.”

Buffy gave Spike a bewildered look. “Huh?!”

Spike chuckled. “Of course that can be hard when the girl in question is a little slow on the uptake….”

“Spike, what the hell are you talking about?” Buffy asked angrily. She didn’t like it when people talked all cryptic, and she sure as hell didn’t like being called slow.

Spike took a step closer to Buffy, looking straight into her eyes. “I love you, Buffy… I love you with everything that I am… and so does the Whelp.”

Buffy started to laugh. “Y-you think Xander’s in love with me?! Oh please, he’s completely head over heels in love with Anya. He doesn’t feel that way about me anymore.”

Spike simply smirked.

Buffy caught Spike’s look. “You’re serious, aren’t you? You really think Xander’s in love with me?”

“Don’t think, pet… I know. Any fool can see it.”

Buffy’s lips curled up into a cheeky smile. “You’re jealous.”

Spike tensed his jaw slightly. “Well, yeah. He’s the one’s been beside you all these years, right?”

Buffy let a sultry smile spread across her lips as she moved closer to Spike, closing the distance between them. When she was only mere inches away from him she allowed her small hands to travel sensually up his chest. “You don’t have to be jealous, Spike… I like my men with a little more… bite.”

Spike let out a delighted groan as Buffy rolled those simple words off her tongue, seductively pressing her warm body against his cool chest. He couldn’t take it anymore--he had to taste her. Spike snaked his hand behind the small of Buffy’s back, pulling her even closer to him as he lowered his lips to hers, completely devouring her mouth in a searing kiss.

Buffy let out a muffled moan as she returned the kiss with equal passion. She could feel Spike pressing her back against the counter, and her mind flooded with the erotic memories of the first time she and Spike had had sex, right here on the bench top less than a day ago. As those memories flashed through her mind, Buffy wanted nothing more then to revisit the moment, to throw Spike down and ride him into tomorrow. Unfortunately, she was jolted out of those thoughts when she heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. Looking over at the doorway, Buffy saw Dawn standing there, with a look of amusement on her face.

“Sorry to interrupt the tonsil hockey,” Dawn said with a smirk. “But do you know where the guest’s linen is?”

Buffy blushed in embarrassment; Dawn seemed to be finding her with her tongue down Spike’s throat quite a bit lately. She gave Spike a shy smile and pushed herself away from the counter, trying desperately to compose herself so she could talk to her sister. After a few deep breaths she returned her attention to Dawn. “Have you looked upstairs in the linen closet?”

“Yeah… they’re not there.”

“Yes they are, Dawn. In the box at the back.”

“No they’re not… I’ve looked!”

Buffy shook her head in frustration. “Well, you mustn’t have looked hard enough, because I saw them there last week.”

Spike casually leaned back against the kitchen counter, watching the exchange between the two sisters in amusement.

“Well, they’re not there now!” Dawn said with a huff.

“Okay, fine! I’ll look for them!” Buffy announced with a sigh. “You’d think that after living in the same house for five years, you’d learn where the linen was kept,” she muttered to herself as she left the kitchen.

“Hey! In case you’ve forgotten, I’ve only lived here for eight months, not five years! I think you should give me some credit, considering I’m not even one yet!” Dawn yelled out after her sister.

Spike chuckled to himself at Dawn’s childish display.

Dawn turned to Spike with a huge pout. “Shut up, Spike.”

Spike threw his hands up in the air in surrender. “Hey now, what did I do? I’m just an innocent bystander here. Don’t turn the patented Summers pout on me—‘s not right.”

Dawn rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right! Like you’ve ever been innocent.”

Spike smirked. “Yeah… you got me there, bit.”

It wasn’t long before Buffy returned holding a large pile of neatly folded linen. “So you looked in the box, did you?” she asked mockingly.

Spike chuckled as Dawn grabbed the linen from Buffy’s hands before stomping out of the room muttering under her breath. “Damn vampires, think they know everything. Don’t even know why I have to make the guest beds. They’re her friends, and all she’s doing is sucking face with Spike.”

Buffy rolled her eyes at her sister’s behaviour, slowly walking over to Spike. “You’ve got to give it to those monks. They didn’t miss a beat when they made her.”

Spike chuckled as he pulled Buffy towards him. “Yeah, she’s certainly got the whole teenage girl thing going.”

Buffy nodded her head as she stifled a yawn. “Mmm… Tell me about it.”

Spike lovingly brushed some hair out of Buffy’s face. “You look tired, kitten… You ready to go to bed?”

Buffy nodded her head. “Yeah, I’m pooped.”


~*~~*~~*~


Buffy couldn’t sleep. She was beyond exhausted, and yet she still couldn’t find rest. Her mind kept conjuring up graphic images of Glory making Dawn bleed, and the thought of the less-than-stable bitch of a hellgod possibly knowing Dawn was her Key terrified her. She’d been lying in Spike’s arms for an hour now, wanting to do nothing more than run into Dawn’s room and hold her and never let her go; she didn’t want to alarm her sister, though, so instead she’d just lain there, listening to the soft regular sounds of her friend’s heartbeats throughout the house.

A soft knock at the door jolted Buffy from her thoughts and Spike from his sleep. “Who is it?” Buffy asked as she sat up in bed.

“It’s me… Can I come in?” Dawn’s timid voice asked from the other side of the door.

“Yeah,” Buffy called out, curiously watching Dawn enter the room. “What’s up, Dawnie?”

Dawn dropped her head shyly. “I couldn’t sleep… I was wondering if I could stay in here tonight?”

Buffy smiled. “Actually, I was just thinking the same thing.”

Dawn smiled as she walked over to the bed, slipping into the vacant spot next to Spike. Buffy smiled at him when he instinctively wrapped his arm around Dawn, holding her protectively close to him. The Big Bad and his girls; curled up together feeling comforted and protected, the three of them fell asleep sheltered in each others’ arms.

~*~~*~~*~

Jinx had no idea where he was. It didn’t matter; he just couldn’t believe he’d managed to escape the fury of the Slayer and her friends. The hollow sounds of his pursuer’s footsteps still echoed in his ears, and he’d wandered aimlessly through the sewer tunnels for hours before he had finally decided to take the risk and resurface. Upon emerging, he found himself standing in the middle of an abandoned industrial site, surrounded by large empty buildings, and it had taken him another two hours for him to navigate his way back to his hellgod mistress’ apartment. By the time he finally reached the lobby of the prestigious building, the early morning sun already hung low in the sky, dawning a new day.

Glory was furiously pacing the floor of her plush apartment. It had been hours since she’d sent her minions to find her key, and so far there had been no word. “Where are they? It’s been hours. I mean, how hard could it be to find a hidden ball of energy?”

Glory turned to one of the remaining minions. “You don’t think they’d betray me, do you? No-no-no, they wouldn’t dare. No—it must be something else, it has to be the Slayer… I swear if that little twig has hurt any of my boys, I’ll stake her out in the sun, and watch her burn. I mean who does she think she is? It’s not like loyal minions just grow on trees… under them maybe… but not on them.”

Glory’s rant was cut short by the sound of Jinx crashing in through the front door.

Glory turned wide eyes on the bedraggled-looking demon. “What the hell happened to you?”

“Forgive me, your most dazzling magnificence, but there was some trouble with the Slayer and her friends,” Jinx explained in a small voice.

“I knew it… oh, she is so dusted!” Glory ground out with a sneer.

“Begging your pardon… oh incandescent one. But I have news of your key.”

Glory whirled around and beamed widely. “You do? Where is it?”

“Oh, your breathtakingly stunning wickedness …”

“Oh, cut out the dribble. Where’s my key?” Glory ordered in exasperation.

“Pleading your forgiveness, your most un-holiness, but I overheard the Slayer refer to her sister as the key,” Jinx announced in a confident tone.

“Are you sure?” Glory questioned with a delighted smile.

“Yes your slenderness, I heard them refer to the child as the key numerous times.”

Glory laughed madly in excitement. “Oh, Jinxy, I could kiss you… If you weren’t so disgusting, that is.”

Glory was positively beaming as she practically waltzed around the luxurious apartment. “Well, okay then. Let’s go get my key and maybe we can carve us up a Slayer in the process.”


~*~~*~~*~


Buffy awoke to the delicious scent of warm blood. When she lifted her head she saw Dawn curled up next to Spike; both were still fast asleep. As Buffy watched her sister, she became all too aware of the rising bloodlust slowly building up inside her; eager to handle the problem in its earliest stages, she gently pulled herself free from Spike’s comforting embrace and made her way downstairs. As she entered the kitchen, she overheard Giles talking on the cordless phone in the dining room to someone called Gunn.

Buffy immediately headed for the fridge in search of her much-needed liquid sustenance. She heated herself a large mug of pig’s blood, drinking it quickly in order to quell her building bloodlust.

Several minutes later Willow entered the kitchen, looking chipper, if very sleep-tousled.

“Hey, Wills, how you doing?” Buffy asked cheerfully.

Willow smiled. “Not too bad… Didn‘t get much sleep, though.”

Buffy nodded her head. “Yeah, I know the feeling,” she replied, rinsing out her mug.

Willow noticed the slight crimson tint to the water as Buffy rinsed out her mug; Buffy was obviously trying to hide the fact that it had contained blood. “How are you doing…? I mean with the whole vampire thing?”

Buffy turned to Willow and shrugged her shoulders. “It’s getting easier. Spike’s helped a lot.”

“Is that so, pet?” Spike said as he walked over to Buffy, pulling her into his arms and giving her a sensual kiss. Willow’s eyebrows raised in shock, but she remained silent. She had assumed that Buffy and Spike shared feelings for each other, having watched them closely over the past few days, but she hadn’t expected such an open display of affection.

“Eeww… Don’t you guys ever give it a rest?” Dawn groaned in a playfully disgusted tone as she walked into the kitchen.

Buffy rolled her eyes before turning her attention to her sister. “Morning, Dawnie… did you sleep well?”

Dawn nodded her head as she poured herself a glass of orange juice. “Yeah, actually I did. Spike really makes quite a comfortable pillow.”

Buffy gave Spike a mischievous grin. “Yeah, I’ve noticed that myself.”

Spike shook his head in mock disgust. “Look what my unlife has come to, bein’ used as a piece of soddin’ bedding.”

Buffy laughed as she playfully slapped Spike on the arm. “Oh, you know you love it. You have your own little harem, and you couldn’t be any happier.”

Spike chuckled. “Yeah… Got me there, luv. My only weakness would have to be Summers women.”

“I don’t know. Draining the blood of the innocent would have to rank pretty high on the list for you too, wouldn’t it?” Xander said flatly as he and Anya entered the kitchen.

Buffy could feel another testosterone attack building. In an attempt to break the tension, she turned to Willow and asked, “So where’s Tara?”

“Still asleep… We were up late last night working on protection spells.”

“Oh, okay… Is there anything we should know about?” Buffy asked.

Willow beamed. “Tons… We’ve done the works. I can show you.”

Buffy nodded her head. “Yeah, that would be good. I mean, we need to know where not to stand if we don’t want to get turned into a frog or anything.”

Willow visibly shuddered. “NO! There are NO frog spells.”

Buffy let out a small laugh. “Sorry, Wills. Forget about the whole frog fear thing.”

“You have frog fear?” Anya asked with a laugh. “That is so lame.”

Willow rolled her eyes in irritation. “As opposed to bunnies, ‘cause that fear’s so rational and common.”

Anya shrugged. “Hey! My bunny fear is well-founded! You’d be scared of them too if you’d seen them decimate an entire village in a matter of seconds.”

“Oookay,” Buffy said, raising her eyebrows in bemusement before once again turning to Willow. “So, Wills, you were saying something about spells?”

Willow smiled brightly. “Oh, yeah! You’re gonna love what we’ve done--it’s so cool!”

As the gang followed Willow into the living room, they saw Tara coming down the stairs. “Oh, hey, guys. What are we doing?” Tara asked, stifling a yawn as she attempted to perk up in the face of company.

Willow smiled as she walked over to her lover. “Oh, I was just gonna tell them about the spells we cast last night.”

Tara nodded coyly. “Oh, okay.”

Willow and Tara turned back to their friends to find them waiting anxiously for them to explain the castings they had done. Before she could begin her excited retelling of the night’s events, Willow’s attention was caught by the sight of Giles walking out of the dinning room with a very sombre look on his face.

“Oh, good. You’re all awake,” Giles said, looking drawn and sounding as weary as he looked.

“Yeah, Willow was just about to tell us all about the bad ass spells she and Tara did,” Xander announced as he and Anya took a seat on the couch next to Dawn. Willow was already seated in one of the armchairs with Tara perched on the armrest, leaving Buffy and Spike only one chair. They solved this problem easily when Buffy sat on Spike’s lap, earning a sneer from Xander.

Giles removed his glasses and began to polish them absently. “Spells, Willow? What kind of spells?”

Willow smiled eagerly. “Well, protection spells mostly. As you all know, we already have the early warning spell so we get screechy siren alerts in case of any hellgod type presences.”

Everyone nodded their heads as Willow continued. “Well, we’ve got some extra attachments. First, we’ve strengthened the house. I don’t know if it’s hellgod-proof, but it’s at least worth a go.” Willow took a deep breath. “Okay, if the early warning spell is tripped, a wall of mystical fire will surround the house. If that doesn’t stop her, I can put up a barrier spell. As I said before, I don’t know if either thing can stop a god, but at least it should slow her down and maybe drain some of her strength.”

“And what happens if she gets in the house?” Buffy asked as she nervously played with Spike’s fingers where they rested on her waist.

“Well, that’s kinda where you come in… you know, get all super-strength fighty with her?”

“But what about Dawn? She needs to be somewhere safe in case I can’t stop Glory once she’s in here,” Buffy said anxiously.

Willow smiled. “Got you covered.” She pointed over in the corner of the room. “I’ve enchanted that area with the essence of the monk’s Dagon’s Sphere. If Glory gets into the house, Dawn, you run there. If anyone tries to remove her, they’ll be drained of their strength. Only Dawn can enter the corner and expect the spell to activate, and once she does, until the spell is broken no one will be able to touch her.”

Buffy breathed a sigh of relief. “Wow! Looks like you’ve got everything sewn up.”

Willow smiled. “Well, almost everything.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small satchel and handed it to Spike. “This is for you. I figured if I was Glory, and I knew I was up against two vampires, I’d attack during the day. Gives the two of you less fight options, and gives her all the advantages.”

Buffy nodded her head. “Yeah, that does make sense. I mean, she doesn’t know that sunlight doesn’t affect me, or about any of that other stuff. She’ll probably try to prey on normal vampire weaknesses.”

Spike stared at the satchel in his hands as though he was afraid to open it. “What is this, Red?”

“It’s kinda like suntan lotion for vampires. You wear it around your neck and you’ll be able to tolerate small amounts of sunlight. It’ll still hurt…. just won’t be the burny kind of fatal.”

Spike looked at Willow with a newfound respect and gave her a rare genuine smile. “Thanks, Red.”

Willow smiled in response. “No problem. I just thought it would be easier to fight Glory if you weren’t all, well, combusty.”

“How long does it last?” Dawn asked curiously.

“A couple of days… Most of the ingredients have a short energy life, so it’s always more potent when it’s fresh,” Willow explained with a small shrug.

“So that’s everything?” Buffy asked, sniffing the satchel and making an eeew face when the smell of sulphur hit her delicate nostrils.

“Nope,” Willow said with a smile. “We’ve also finished our research on the binding spell… and it’s defiantly doable. All we need to do is weaken Glory until she can no longer sustain her hold as the primary form. And from what you said before, you can do that, Buffy. Once she retreats into Ben, we can bind her there.”

“Wow! That’s great, Will! What would we ever do without you and Tara?” Buffy asked, beaming.

“Y-yes… I must say that is very impressive. You are both becoming very strong allies indeed,” Giles agreed flatly, clearly following the conversation only on the most surface of levels.

“We aim to please,” Willow said, apparently not noticing the Watcher’s lack of enthusiasm as she turned towards Tara and gave her girlfriend a sweet smile.

Buffy, however, noticed the look of distraction on Giles’ face; his thoughts were obviously elsewhere, and it wasn’t like him to be so unenthusiastic about such good news. “What’s up, Giles?”

Giles looked over at Buffy with haunted eyes. “Oh… I’ve just received some disturbing news.”

“About what?” Dawn asked.

Giles took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well, actually it’s about Angel, regarding how he may have lost his soul.”

“You finally managed to get hold of Wesley and Cordelia?” Willow asked, clearly relieved. She may not have liked Cordelia, but she still didn’t like her being MIA after Angelus had been on the loose.

Giles shook his head sadly. “Unfortunately not. I’ve spoken to Charles Gunn, who was one of their colleagues. I’m sorry to have to report that Wesley and Cordelia are dead,” he announced, clearly remorseful.