Note: Thanks to my beta t_geyer for her unending patience, perseverance and support.

SECTION 1 - HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO

I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light
He's gotta be sure
And it's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life

((Jim Steinman wrote it, I think, even though the site where I found the lyrics says it's Bonnie Tyler) - Bonnie Tyler




Chapter 1.06
Saturday, May 25th, 2002


Marie's hand reached out to quiet the nearby ringing noise. When she found it was coming from a cell phone rather than the expected alarm clock she had to try to clear the sleep from her eyes to work out which key to press to answer it. "Qué pasa?" she asked in a half whisper.

"Well, 'mornin', beautiful. Was expectin' our English friend to answer..." Marie could hear the wicked amusement in the blond's voice.

"I was nearer. You need to talk to him?"

"That I do."

She tugged at the arm around her waist. "Wes? Wake up. Spike's on the phone."

Even half awake, Wes pressed a kiss against Marie's hair before he took the phone from her. "What is it, Spike?"

"Thought I'd better check see whether 'His High and Mighty-ness' actually got off his butt to call ya."

"He called, or rather he got Lorne to do it for him," Wes confirmed.

"And?"

"And I told him that I'd be there."

"Right then. We're heading out in about three quarters of an hour. 'S up to you whether you want to come with us or make your own way there. There's a box of doughnuts an' some of Starbucks' finest on your doorstep. Feel free to join us but we reckoned you might want to wake up a bit before you join the madhouse... Which by the way is minus one dark slayer inmate as of last night."

"I shall see what the ladies have to say."

"Right. If we don't catch you before we go, we'll see you in LA... An' Wes, you've been awake more than a minute. Isn't it about time you said good mornin' to the girl properly?"

"Spike?"

"Yeah?"

"Mind your own business." Wes ended the call, dropped the phone as gently as he could and checked to make certain that Rosa was nowhere in sight or earshot before he not so much followed the vampire's suggestion as did exactly what he had intended to do in any case.

---

"Heyyy," Dawn protested. "No fair. You already had a jelly." Even though she knew she had almost no hope of success she tried to wrestle the last one from Spike, who in turn held the pastry just out of reach behind his back.

"And I was the one as got up an' went to the baker's to get them while you were still in your pit." Spike's attention wavered as the door of the house on the far side of the street opened to reveal Marie dressed in a towelling robe. Wes was visible behind her in similar lack of attire and the vampire grinned as Marie passed the box of pastries to him before picking up the two coffees and the orange juice. Dawn snatched the jelly from the vampire's hand just before Rogue got there and hightailed it for her room, in case he decided to mount a pursuit, with the puppy following close behind.

The vampire decided he was more interested in a different kind of sugar. "Get some proper clothes on while you're up there," he shouted after her. He wandered back to stand behind Buffy, an arm sliding around her waist as she perched on one of the high stools next to the central kitchen island. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and Buffy tilted her head back to respond with a more intimate caress, now that Dawn was gone. Tara couldn't help but smile at the pair. The change in Buffy's aura, in particular, over the last few weeks was not only obvious, but welcome. The deep seated depression and the stresses that had come from living a double life, hiding so much from everyone around her were gone, replaced by a contentment that Tara had feared the slayer would be unable to find after her return from the grave.

"Something funny, Tinkerbell?" Spike inquired when he eventually raised his head.

Tara shook her head, her smile unchanged. "Not funny. Just... good."

"So what's on the cards for you this fine morning?"

"I'm going over to Bee's in a couple of hours, once there's more chance of her being awake. She's going to help me cram for my Art History on Monday."

"You mean when there's less chance of you intruding on her and her demon shrink?"

"I didn't say that... but, yeah."

"She's still seeing her doctor's brother?" Buffy asked. "I thought that was just a one-off, for which you still owe her big time." She gently prodded the vamp.

"I think that's what she thought, too," Tara elucidated, "but it turned out once they got talking that they hit it off... Last night would have been their third date."

"Think Lily must be puttin' somethin' in the water over there, what with Clem an' his bit an' Marie an' Wes an' Bee an' her Waruni."

Tara smirked. "I'll stick to bottled drinks while I'm there, then."

"How is Clem getting on?" Buffy asked.

Spike grunted. "Sure the pair of them 'ave got some sort of bloody system worked out. Cleaned every bugger else out the other night."

Buffy glanced over to where Tara was sitting, not sure if the girl was aware of the currency that the demons used in their poker games. "I thought you said cheating was part of the game so long as you could get away with it."

"Doesn't mean I have to take it with good grace."

"Like you take anything with good grace?" Buffy taunted. "Not even winning."

Spike's bottom lip protruded in a mock pout, though his eyes betrayed his amusement. "Let the Bit keep that doughnut, didn't I?"

---

Marie used her foot to tap a couple of times before she pushed open the back door of 1630, a half full coffee cup in one hand and a box in the other. "Hey there!" She ushered Rosa in ahead of her. The little girl ran straight to the vampire and Spike stepped away from Buffy to sweep her up into his arms. Wes watched the scene from the doorway, occasionally taking a sip from one of the two cups he carried.

"How's my little Rosebud this morning?" Spike asked.

"I'm okay. Mommy said that I had to leave Tigger at Wes's house, though, and now he'll get lonely..."

The vamp smirked. "Guess Wes is gonna have to buy you Roo an' Pooh an' Piglet an' Eeyore so as they can all keep each other company when you're not there."

"No, he isn't," Marie stated firmly. "And don't you encourage her, you bad man. It was hard enough prying one toy away from her and she's a lucky girl to get that."

"Not as lucky as the guy as gets the Alvarez family package." Spike's eyes slid over to Wes.

"That goes without saying," remarked Wes dryly, refusing to rise to the other man's teasing.

Marie blushed but she deposited the still half-full box of doughnuts that she carried on the counter and moved back to Wes's side.

"And what do you have to say to everyone?" Marie prompted the little girl.

"Mommy says that I should say thank you to everyone for breakfast."

Buffy wrinkled her nose. "That's okay, sweetheart. It doesn't make up for waking you all up early and stealing Wes."

"Wes is taking us out tomorrow instead... so long as he gets back in time," the little girl announced. "You'll make sure he gets back, won't you?"

"We'll do our best," Buffy assured her.

The little girl squirmed her way out of Spike's arms and trotted over to claim her juice from the former watcher, leaving Spike free to investigate the box that Marie had brought, grinning as he snatched a jelly from under Buffy's nose, only to pass it over untouched at the least hint of a pout. He went to the fridge and poured a fresh mug of blood, shoving it in the microwave, instead. By the time Dawn reappeared he was alternately slurping from the mug, and using it to dunk his cinnamon doughnut, a sight that had Rosa screwing up her face.

"Mommy, Unker Will's breakfast's stinky. I feel sick."

"Okay, honey. Why don't you get some fresh air while mommy says goodbye? But stay on this side of the street till I get there."

The little girl waved her goodbyes to everyone until she reached Wes. She tugged at his jean leg as he moved to let her through and then reached up. Wes picked her up in his arms, slightly overawed when the little girl wrapped him in a bear hug and pressed her lips against his neck, before releasing her grip and wiggling back to the floor.

She gave Spike a contemplative look. Then looked again at the doughnut in his hand, blood dripping from it back into his mug. She screwed up her face and ducked through the back door.

"She's right, you know?" Dawn pointed out to the patently chagrined vamp. "Gross and stinky. Lucky we like you or you'd be banished to the basement."

Marie looked around the room. "I'm not even going to ask what's going on in LA that you all need to go there for. I have a funny feeling I don't want to know, so I'll stick with saying 'Vaya con Dios' and hope that I don't read about you in the newspapers."

She gave Spike a quick peck on the cheek before hugging Dawn and Buffy and greeting Tara with a smile and a nod. "Try to make sure they don't do anything too stupidly heroic," she said to Buffy, looking in the direction of each of the men. As she headed for the door, she took Wes's hand as soon as he was near enough for her to do so. "You know, I think my memory must be going... I can't remember where I parked my car last night."

The watcher's eyes twinkled with laughter. "I guess I'm just going to have to escort you to it, then... Back in a moment." The couple stepped out onto the porch and the door closed with a firmness that indicated Wes's desire for privacy.

"Damn good job I've still got my three best girls or I might get jealous," Spike announced.

"Don't you mean you might get more jealous?" Dawn asked, knowing full well that, though the vamp was mildly envious and worried about being displaced from Rosa's affections, he wouldn't grudge any of them the happiness they might find as a family, not when he had his own all around him.

---

Marie and Rosa had gone home. Tara's late night had caught up with her and she had decided to have a nap before she went over to Bee's place. The others had all piled into the DeSoto for the trip to LA, Buffy insisting that Wes should ride shotgun, while she shared the back seat with Dawn and Rogue.

"Are we all ready to go?" Spike asked.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Ye-e-e-s, dad."

Spike turned on the ignition and then rummaged through the tapes that were next to the car's tape deck, none of them in cases, until he found the one he wanted. Joey Ramone blasted out the opening bars of 'The KKK Took My Baby Away'. Spike sighed in contentment, pulled a pair of sunglasses from his coat pocket, put them on and set the car in motion.

They had barely cleared the drive when the singer was cut off mid sentence. There was silence for about two seconds and then something Spike was ashamed to recognise as The Backstreet Boys almost bounced from the car's speaker system.

The car slewed to a stop. "Dawn! Something you want to tell us about?" the vampire asked.

---

"No one listens to punk any more, bleach brain!" Cordy ranted. "She did you a favour. Now, get that junkpile moving again, get Angel, go get that Axis thingy and get me out of here!

I don't care if this plane is all metaphysical. Seventeen days is way too long to be wearing the same underwear."