The door opened some ten minutes later and Buffy breezed in. "Okay, Giles, I'm here. What's the big emergency?" She stopped abruptly when she spotted Spike, her face paling visibly.

"What are you doing here?"

"Not my idea, Slayer," he told her in a toneless voice. "I told Giles everything I knew, but he wouldn't let me leave."

Buffy looked over at her Watcher who stood in the doorway of his kitchen, a cup of tea in his hand. "Giles?"

"Spike's met our friend Adam."

Buffy's eyes flew back to Spike. "Are you okay?" she asked anxiously. Her eyes flew to her Watcher again and she added, "I-I mean, Adam's been killing everything he sees."

Spike tilted his head to the side and studied Buffy intently. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Giles came into the living room, frowning slightly. "Tell her what you told me, Spike."

Spike repeated his story, answering Buffy's questions and finally pointing to the computer disks that lay on Giles's coffee table.

"So, we need to get Willow on this ASAP," Buffy said.

"ASAP, Slayer? Is that jargon from your soldier boyfriend?" The sneer was evident in Spike's voice.

"Shut up, Spike."

"Yes, please do, Spike," Giles chimed in. Looking at Buffy he said, "I left a message on the answering machine in your dorm room, Buffy, but she hasn't-" At that moment the phone rang and Giles went to answer it.

Buffy and Spike sat in tense silence while Giles spoke on the phone. Buffy seemed nervous in his presence, which intrigued Spike.

"Ah yes, Willow, good. We were just talking about you. We need your computer and your expertise. Yes, of course. Outside your dorm. Very well."

He hung up and said to Buffy, "I need you to go pick up Willow."

Buffy's eyes widened. "Me? Giles, you know that cars and Buffy are unmixy things."

"Yes, well as much as I hate to turn the keys to my car over to Spike again, he can drive you."

"Oh, no. That's really not a good idea," Buffy said with a hint of panic in her voice. "Why don't you go pick her up? I mean we. You and me. We could go together to pick her up."

"I daren't drive right now, Buffy," Giles explained. "I've had a couple glasses of Scotch."

"Yeah, you really should watch that, Rupert. Sitting here alone and drinking. Turn you into an alcoholic, that will," Spike mocked.

"Shut up, Spike," Buffy said again automatically.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, but remained silent.

Grabbing her jacket up from where she'd thrown it across the back of the couch, she sighed. "Come on. Let's go pick up Willow."

Spike eyed her as she walked to the front door and then took the keys that Giles was handing him.

"Wreck this car, Spike, and I swear I will stake you."

Spike smirked, snapped him a little two-fingered salute and followed Buffy out the door.

He made the obligatory penis reference when he saw the sleek red convertible. Buffy just rolled her eyes and walked around to the passenger door and then tensed when Spike unlocked the door and held it open for her.

"I can open my own door, Spike."

"Yeah. Just get in, Buffy."

She got in the vehicle, being careful not to brush against him, Spike noted, and buckled her seat belt. Spike closed the door and walked around to the driver's side. He got in, adjusted the seat, and slipped the key in the ignition. The car purred to life, and he caressed the steering wheel.

"Not a bad car, really," he said in appreciation.

"Don't even think about stealing it, Spike," Buffy said dryly.

Spike grinned at her and put the car into reverse backing it out of the carport. He drove more slowly than usual, wanting to stretch out the time with Buffy. He hadn't wanted to see her tonight, hadn't wanted to put himself though the pain of being near her and not touching her, but now that she was here, he was going to take full advantage of his time with her. For her part, Buffy sat quietly looking out the side window. When Spike reached the stop sign at the end of Giles's block, she looked over at him and asked, "Why are you really doing this?"

"Because you're a lousy driver and Giles is drunk."

Buffy glared at him. "That's not what I meant and you know it. Why did you come and tell us about Adam?"

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and then returned his attention to the road. "I told you the first time we teamed up that I like this world just fine the way it is. I mean, come on, Slayer, have you ever seen a demon playing footie? Pathetic."

He saw a brief smile cross Buffy's lips, but then it disappeared. "But you could get your chip out. I thought that's what you wanted."

"Yeah, it is." He hesitated for a moment and then continued. "Let's say I went along with Adam - helped him annihilate the human race. After it was all over he would either keep his promise to remove my chip, or he'd decide I'd outlived my usefulness and dust me. I know demons, Buffy. They aren't big on making good on their promises. Now let's say he did remove my chip. The other thing about demons is they aren't big on letting go of minions unless they kill them themselves. And I have no desire to spend the rest of my unlife as a minion to Maggie Walsh's bouncing baby boy."

"Oh."

They were silent again until Spike said softly, "So, how have you been, Buffy? You look good."

"I'm okay. You?"

"Livin' la dolce vita, love."

Quiet filled the car's interior once again until Spike said, "I've missed you, Buffy."

"Spike, don't."

"Look, I know there's no future for us. You've got your Captain Cardboard, and-"

He stopped when Buffy looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"We broke up."

Now it was Spike's turn to be surprised. "You did? When?"

Buffy shrugged nonchalantly, though Spike could sense her discomfort. "The day after, uh..."

"The day after you broke up with me?"

"The day after we got back from the other dimension," she said firmly.

Spike smirked. "So soldier boy couldn't make the grade after me, eh?

Buffy rolled her eyes. "You really aren't all that, you know."

"Yeah? Want to put that to the test, love?" They had entered Sunnydale's business district, and Spike suddenly pulled the car into the lot of a drive-through branch of the Bank of Sunnydale. Ignoring Buffy's protests, he pulled around to the back of the bank where the car was hidden from the view of oncoming traffic. After he turned off the car engine, he twisted in his seat, reached over, and trailed the back of a finger down the side of Buffy's face. "Prove to me I'm not all that."

"Spike, stop it." Her voice was slightly breathless.

"Afraid, Buffy? You told me you don't want me anymore. Prove it to me."

He felt a shiver pass though Buffy's body, and he could smell her reaction to his touch. Even all these weeks later, his slightest touch made her ready for him.

"Don't touch me, Spike," she said in a quavering voice. She reached over to push him away, but he captured her hand and brought it to his lips pressing a tender kiss to the back of her hand. Buffy closed her eyes, and he could hear her heartbeat accelerate. He turned her hand over and pressed another kiss into the palm. Letting go of her hand, he found the button that released her seat belt and pressed it. The belt retracted and Spike slipped his arm around her waist. He lowered his head to her neck and lightly kissed the tender skin. Buffy gasped and moved her head aside giving him greater access. He trailed kisses up her neck, over her jaw and up to her mouth where he gently bit her lower lip. She moaned and opened her mouth for him to plunder. He accepted her invitation and kissed her deeply, his tongue entwining with hers. She grasped the sleeve of his duster and turned into him.

His hand slid up from her waist to cup her breast, pinching the hardened nipple between thumb and forefinger. The tiny whimpers and moans that escaped from Buffy's throat drove him on and he unbuttoned her shirt. Slipping his hand inside, he pushed up her bra and lowered his head to take her breast into his mouth. His hand slid between her legs and he began to stroke her through her slacks. Buffy thrust up into his hand, keening cries of need filling the darkened interior of the car. Lifting his head from her breast, he gasped, "Let's get into the back seat, love."

He knew immediately that he'd made a mistake. Buffy's eyes flew open and she pushed him away forcefully. Straightening her clothes and refastening her seat belt, she said with a trembling voice, "We're not doing this, Spike. Let's just go get Willow."

Spike's hands curled in frustration, and his cock throbbed in painful need. He turned angrily in his seat, started the car, threw it into gear, and pressed down on the accelerator causing the car to fishtail as he pulled out of the lot.

"Slow down!" Buffy yelled as he raced down the street. He slowed down not only because his chip was beginning to fire a bit, but also because, even as angry and frustrated as he was, he really had no desire to kill Buffy in a car accident. The remainder of the trip was made in frosty silence.

When they pulled up in front of Stevenson Hall, Spike saw a blonde girl standing next to Willow. Buffy released her seatbelt and scooted forward, pulling the back of her seat up so that the two girls could get into the back seat. The blonde entered first and Willow followed.

"Hi, Buffy! You remember Tara don't you? From my Wicca group? We were practicing some spells and-" She stopped babbling when she spotted Spike at the wheel.

"Spike!"

"Red."

She looked wide-eyed at Buffy who explained tensely, "Giles couldn't come."

"Oh."

Spike's senses were still filled with the scent of Buffy's arousal, but as the girls settled in, another scent reached him. He looked from Willow to the girl she'd called Tara and back to Willow again. Willow cast a nervous glance at him and he raised an eyebrow. His eyes drifted back to Tara, and he gave Willow a knowing smirk. Willow paled under his scrutiny, cast a panicked look at Buffy who was refastening her seatbelt, and turned pleading eyes to him.

"Spike! Are we going or do you plan to sit here all night?"

Spike scowled at Buffy, but turned back around and drove off. As they drove, Buffy filled Willow in on the situation. By the time they reached Giles's apartment, Willow was eager to look at the computer disks.

Spike followed the girls into the apartment and perched on one of the stools that stood in front of Giles's counter. Willow turned on her computer and slipped one of the disks into the floppy drive while Tara hovered at her side. As the files opened, Tara said, "It looks like gibberish."

"Rats," Willow said in disappointment. "They're encrypted."

Spike snorted. "You didn't think he was going to give you something easy, did you? You can fix 'em, can't you, Red?"

"Crack a government encryption code on my laptop? Easy as really difficult pie."

"How long is it going to take?" Buffy asked impatiently.

"I don't know, Buffy. Hours? Days? Anyone suggesting months would not be accused of crazy talk."

"Adam wanted us to have this information. It can't be that hard."

Willow just shrugged. "I'll do the best I can, Buffy."

Buffy had been pacing since they'd entered the apartment and casting furtive glances at Spike. The scent of her arousal was still strong and it teased at Spike so that his need for her never lessened. Realizing that it was probably going to take some time before Willow would crack the encryption code, Spike stood up gathering his coat around him to hide his bulging erection and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Buffy asked sharply.

"Home," he answered without stopping. "You lot don't need me anymore." He exited the apartment, slamming the door behind him.