A/N: Sorry for the delay, RL kicked my butt.

Thanks to my lovely beta's AthenaHahn and BlacknBlue2.

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Buffy glanced towards the basement door, making sure Joyce closed it behind her. “I hope she didn’t hear me about the 100 demon signatures,” she muttered quietly to herself, but Spike overheard her anyway.

“Wondered ‘bout that luv. Care to fill me in on the sudden jump in numbers?” Spike asked.

“I originally said 15 so Joyce wouldn’t get worried,” Buffy replied.

“You takin’ on 15 demons, wouldn’t worry her? Hell, it would worry me,” Spike stated.

“Spike, 7-1 odds are better than 50-1 odds. And frankly it’s the second set of odds that’s got me worried. How long can Willow keep that barrier up?” Buffy inquired as she reached for the door.

Spike shrugged. “No clue luv, I try and stay as far away from that mojo stuff as possible. But with both Tara and Ol’ Ripper helping her, should be a fair piece. Why?”

“If she can keep it up for the next 48 hours, Hank is shit outta luck,” Buffy answered, stepping out onto the porch, closing the door behind them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Giles stood at the bottom of the basement stairs, checking it over for defensibility and also for a place to set up a casting circle. “Xander, take those scraps of board and block off the windows please.”

“Sure thing G-man,” Xander said, suiting actions to words.

Nodding, Giles next turned to Willow and Tara. “I think if we cast the circle at the foot of the stairs, it will provide us with enough room.” He turned to Anya. “What do you need to contact D’Hoffryn?”

“Not much, just a few words and Buffy’s dagger. I’ll just go over to the corner there. When I’m done I’ll give Willow and Tara a hand with the barrier spell.” Anya stated, turning away.

“I thought you lost your powers when your amulet was destroyed?” Giles inquired with a puzzled look on his face.

“I lost my demon powers, but I was a witch before I was elevated,” Anya answered in an offhanded manner.

“I see. Well I am sure your assistance will be most helpful. Thank you,” Giles stated before turning to Joyce, who had a worried expression on her face. “What is wrong my dear?”

Joyce looked at Giles with deep fear in her eyes. “I heard what Mother said, just before I closed the door. She picked up way more than 15 demon signatures, Rupert. I’m afraid she may be in trouble.”

Wrapping his arms around Joyce, Giles kissed her tenderly. “Don’t worry my dear. Spike is with her. I’m sure that together they can handle anything.”

“I hope so, Rupert. Otherwise, I fear we are all in serious trouble,” Joyce whispered.
Extricating herself from Giles’ arms, Joyce led Dawn over to Spike’s room. “Lie down and try to sleep baby. Everything will be just fine.” Joyce sank wearily into the chair by the door and tried not to look as terrified as she felt.

Xander kept an eye on everyone while he boarded up the windows, ensuring that they were securely fastened before he hammered up the boards.

Tara and Willow, using a piece of camping charcoal they had found, were drawing a circle at the base of the stairs and discussing how best to erect a barrier around the house.

“I think we should ward the basement first, and then the rest of the house,” Willow was saying.

Tara shook her head and replied, “No, we should ward the whole house first, outside, and then inside, then ward the kitchen, and then the basement door, and bottom of the stairs. And set up 2 more wards between us and Spike’s room. Then ward his room.”

Having heard the conversation, Giles interjected a question, “Why so many wards, and with Spike’s room last?”

“It’s something my grandmother told me about, how the destruction of one ward can be used to strengthen the subsequent wards. So if we start outside the house, and that ward gets breached, it will strengthen the next ward, inside the house,” Tara replied confidently.

Anya inserted herself into the conversation as she joined them. “D’Hoffryn agrees with Tara, and has promised to yank us all out of here if the ward on Spike’s room is attacked. I’d suggest making the wards permeable to those of us here. So we can get into the room when the demons make it to the basement.”

“Wait… you said ‘when’. Why did you say when, Anya?” Xander asked, concerned.

Anya glanced around, making sure that neither Joyce nor Dawn could hear her. “Buffy is up against way more than the 15 demons she mentioned before we all came downstairs. D’Hoffryn indicated we may be in trouble.”

“Right then. Let’s get these wards in place, starting just outside the walls of the house,” Giles stated, gesturing them into place.

Xander, knowing he wasn’t of any use in this casting, took up position just outside the door to Spike’s room, doing his best impersonation of an immovable object.

The other 4 took their places, and began the complex construction of the first ward.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As the door clicked shut, Buffy felt the tell-tale tingle of a barrier ward being erected. “Looks like they got the house protected, time to get rid of the unwelcome guests.”

Spike grinned and bounced lightly on the balls of his feet. Let’s go get ‘em then.”

“Before I forget…” Buffy slid a thin-bladed dagger out of its hidden sheath in her vest, “C’mere.” Slicing the tip of her finger, Buffy grinned up at Spike.

“Hey now, no need to go damaging yourself before the fight,” Spike all but growled.

Buffy smiled enigmatically and gently rubbed her bleeding finger across Spike’s bottom lip. “Clean that off will ya?” As he licked his lips, savoring the taste of her, Buffy muttered a couple of words under her breath. “There, all set. Now they can’t kill you by the normal ways. Not while I’m alive anyway. Let’s go do this.” Turning to face the approaching horde, she missed the look of complete confusion, mixed with adoration on Spike’s face.




Again, sorry for the long delayed update, rl was kicking my butt six ways from sunday. I know there wasn't much Buffy/Spike interaction in this chapter, but the others demanded their share of attention. ENJOY!