Disclaimer: The Characters of BTVS and ATS are the property of Joss Whedon and various other people/entities. I am only using them for fun and entertainment only. This is the sad reality that hits me when I wake up from my naked Spike filled dreams.
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Chapter 24: The Demon House

“This is Ariel’s room, she’s in with Cat,” said Buffy hoisting her dad’s bags on to the bed.

Hank Summers dropped on to the bed, looking very perplexed. “I don’t understand Buffy. When you left us you had nothing, where did you get the money for the house? All the furniture? Why are all these people living with you? Who is this man you’ve been living with? When did you get kids?”

Buffy smiled. “I know it seems strange dad, but really everything is fine and dandy. I don’t own the house, The Watcher’s Council does.”

“The Watcher’s Council? What that Giles man is head of?”

“Yep. They pay me for the world save-age and the slaying.”

“The slaying?”

“I thought Willow explained it to you when all the weirdness was happening in LA?” asked Buffy a tad bit perplexed.

“She did,” said Valery, unzipping her own suitcase “And frankly it was very unbelievable, I just thought that she was telling us a fanciful tale. But what I see is that you are all under the same delusions.”

“Delusions?” said Buffy stunned.

“I’m glad we came when we did. Poor Dawn and the other two children. It breaks my heart to think that they have been forced to live with people who clearly have mental problems.”

The hurtful words were just flowing out of the step thing’s mouth. Buffy clenched her fists and bit her tongue. Valery was a guest in her home. It wouldn’t be good to throw her out the window on her first day here. Though Buffy very much wanted to.

“We don’t have mental problems Valery. But you might if you don’t clue in. There’s some stuff that goes on in this house that might just blow your mind,” said Buffy as she left the room.

Buffy smiled to herself, all bets were off. The goal for this Christmas, to scare the shit out of Valery.
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Buffy’s instructions were simple really. Just be your normal demony self, just don’t hurt anyone. Ariel loved the idea.

“You are the best mum ever!” the twelve year old exclaimed as she jumped up to kiss Buffy’s cheek.

“Buffy do you really think that this is a wise course of action,” asked Giles.

“What’s wrong with being free to express that part of ourselves that we keep hidden from the normal people? Just for a week. My Christmas present to everyone.”

“I think it’s a fabulous idea Buffy,” agreed Anya, shifting into her demon face. “The human face takes so much maintenance.”

Cat clapped her hands and let her fangs down.

“A week where I don’t to do any work?” said Willow. “Bring it on. And just for the record, Valery is pulling your leg Buffy. She has visions, she knows all about you being a Slayer.”

Buffy smiled. “There will blood play, there will be teleporting and spells. There will be fangs and fur. And we will have fun.”

“I get to video tape it!” squealed Andrew.

“Dawn?”

Dawn was pouting.

“I don’t have powers or weirdness, except being the Key...She’ll still want to take me away.”

There was silence in the living room.

“I can make you glow green...” offered Willow.

“Really?”

“Oh ya, simple glamour.”
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It was decided on KFC for supper. Oz placed the buckets and bags of sides on the dining room table to see Valery enter the room. With a smile on his face Oz greeted the woman.

“Was about to call the others for dinner,” explained Oz.

There was a flash of light and Anya appeared before them, veiny demon face and everything.

“Oooh food! I thought I smelled something,” said the Vengeance Demon sitting down and digging in.

Valery turned her head as she heard footsteps on the stairs.

“Oz, if I got a cat, would you eat it? I mean I know Spike would try, but I’m lacking a familiar. Also a broom,” noted Willow walking into the dining room with a cup of tea.

“Brooms? I thought that look went out with the Salem trials?” said Anyanka.

“They did, ooooh, magic carpet! Or is that too Arabian nights?”

“I wouldn’t eat your cat,” said Oz.

“Who’s getting a cat?” asked Buffy who entered the room carrying Cat.

“I’m Cat!” protested Cat.

“Me,” explained Willow. “Familiar and everything.”

“We think Spike will eat it. Or play poker with it,” said Anyanka.

“Oooh, ya, that might not be good. Let’s not give the vampire temptation,” said Buffy, “Let’s get Catherine set up with some KFC.”

“What am I being accused of now?” asked Spike walking in through the living room, in full game face.

“Eating Kitties,” said Cat sadly, now in her chair and being served neon green coldslaw. She was running her tongue across her fangs.

“Cat, if you can’t leave your fangs alone, pull them up,” whispered Buffy.

“Pull up a chair Spike, you like chicken,” said Anya.

“Thanks pet, but I’m right stuffed,” said the Vampire with a smirk walking to his mate‘s side.

Spike flipped back Buffy’s long blond hair to reveal fresh puncture wounds. With a smile he gave the marks a lick causing Buffy to shudder and moan pleasantly.

“If you want to fornicate on the table, please give us warning so we can save the food,” observed Anya.

“No fornicating on the table!” ordered Dawn, her green glow softly announcing her presence. “And was someone going to tell the rest of us who don’t have the enhanced senses that the food was here?” Xander, Andrew, Hank, Giles and Ariel followed her.

“It’s KFC Dawn, we could smell it as soon as Oz was out of the car,” said Willow through her chicken leg.

“Why is Dawn glowing?” asked Valery, still refusing to sit down at the table.

“Does this mean that your attempt to become vegetarian has terminated?” asked Giles of Anya.

“I‘m the key Valery, sometimes I glow,” said Dawn sitting down.

“I just can’t get enough of the chicken. It’s yummy. I could give up cow though, and all the weird meat. Like Bunnies,” Anya shuddered. “Perhaps I should just not eat the cute animals?”

“The cute animals?” asked Buffy.

“Cows are cute, they have beautiful brown eyes, and cats, I don’t think I should continue to eat cats.”

“You eat cats!” said a shocked Dawn.

“The baby has fangs!” said a shocked Valery.

Buffy rolled her eyes.

“No, but I could have. I don’t have the same values and morals as you humans. Spike, cats are tasty right?”

“The blood is,” observed Spike, cutting up chicken for Cat to eat.

The green pallor of her father’s face brought a smile to Dawn’s face.

“I’m going grocery shopping tomorrow, does anyone need anything?” asked Buffy. “Spike needs more blood, is Pig still ok or do you want to see if I can get you something more special than what I have on tap?”

Spike and Buffy locked eyes for a moment and smiled.

“Pig is fine love.”

Oz, swallowed his gulp of Coke and wiped his mouth before speaking. “I have an order for an actual Pig, dead, but whole, I‘ll come with.”

“I’m out of sage,” said Willow. “There’s this spell I wanna try, to see if I can heal faster after a teleport...”

“Anything else?”

“I don’t like pig blood,” said Ariel, “Can I get chicken?”

“Yep,” agreed Buffy.

“Valery are you going to eat or are you going to sit there?” asked Hank, sitting to Dawn’s right.

“Oh I get it you all decided to dress up, like for Halloween to freak me out, that’s it right?” Valery tried to rationalize.

“Come off of it Vision girl, this is us,” said Anya.

“Are you going to go by some place that actually sells shortbread?” asked Giles. “It’s not Christmas without shortbread.”

“Who wants to start the Christmas movie marathon tonight?” asked Xander. “First up Charlie Brown Christmas!”

“I got shortbread for you before you arrived Giles it’s in a safe place,” said Buffy.

“We are going to look at Christmas lights tomorrow night,” said Oz.

“Oooh we have to decorate the house!” exclaimed Willow.

“We don’t have Christmas lights...” observed Xander.

“And when is that a problem for me? I can do lights,” noted Willow. “I’m good at lights.”
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The Christmas movie marathon was in full swing.

And with thirteen people munching on popcorn, Buffy found herself getting up to make popcorn on a frequent basis.

On one of her many trips she found her dad in the kitchen helping him self to juice.

“You don’t have plans for this tomato juice do you?” he asked. “Valery’s been trying to get me to eat healthier.”

“No, I don’t have plans for the tomato juice, but that’s not tomato juice, Dad, that’s blood,” answered Buffy.

“Oh,” said Hank replacing the pitcher back into the fridge.

Buffy walked around him and took the Tomato juice out of the door.

“I’ve been trying to get Cat to drink something other than blood and green kool aid. So I’m experimenting with Tomato juice and Orange Juice with food colouring in it.”

“You did the same thing,” said Hank with a smile. “You latched on to something you liked and wouldn’t have anything else.”

“So...you seem less shocked since earlier, are you ok with this? How we live?”

“Dawn and I had a little heart to heart upstairs. She likes it here. Though I still don’t know about this living with monsters deal. What would your mother say?”

“Mom liked Spike. They had hot chocolate at night some times. He brought flowers when he died...”

“I was out of the country Buffy. I didn’t know it happened.”

“Ya, well, mom liked him.”

“Then I guess I’ll learn to like him too.”

“If he doesn’t eat you first,” she joked.

When her father’s look of shock didn’t subside, she said, “Kidding Dad. He has a soul, he doesn’t eat people any more. Well except for me....You really didn’t want to hear that did you?”
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Weary and feeling that she was actually running a hotel instead of a house, Buffy padded the stairs up to her bedroom.

On the bed, his hands behind his head, Spike lay, looking straight at the door.

“Hey,” she whispered.

“Everyone tucked into their little beds then?”

“Ya.”

Buffy proceeded to the dresser, picked up her hair brush and started attending to her long golden locks.

“What made you change your mind?” she asked softly.

“Beg pardon pet?”

“The claim.”

Spike was silent for a while, considering his thoughts. Buffy set down her brush and got out what she was going to wear to bed that night, a silk nightie that Spike had bought for her as spur of the moment gift last month.

Buffy laid out her nightie next to Spike, whipped off her top and turned to throw the item into the laundry hamper when she was grabbed from behind by the vampire on the bed. Buffy let out a girly shriek before snuggling in close.

“Are you gonna answer my question?” she asked.

Spike gave his claim marks on her neck a long languorous lick.

“You are still avoiding, you avoider.”

“Not avoiding pet, enjoying what’s mine,” he said with a smile.

“Yes, I am yours, have been for a while now, I still want my question answered.”

Spike sighed. “I did some thinking is all.”

“Some thinking? That’s all it took?” she looked at him seriously.

“Ya, some thinking. Dru staked Beth, cause I claimed her, I always thought that she’d do the same to anyone else I claimed, though she never wanted to claim me back. Beth was my friend, ya, the demon was attracted to her, but I wasn’t in love with her, think that’s why I didn’t save her.”

“And you’d want to save me?”

“Bloody hell Buffy, course I would, you are my world.”

Buffy smiled and snuggled closer. “Better be.”
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tbc...