Part Two

Paradise Found



"Where's the rest of your clothes?" Dawn asked into the silence of the lobby.

Buffy hugged Spike's duster tighter around herself.

"We're, uh ... not sure," she replied brokenly. "Um ..."

"See, there was this demon," Spike said helpfully.

"Right," Buffy agreed. "There was a demon and it had us trapped in this forest."

"Wouldn't let us out," the vampire added.

"No. The only road just took us around in a big circle when we tried to leave."

" 'Cept then it let us go."

Buffy nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, but it said that we had to leave really fast or it would keep us longer so we ..."

"Left half your clothes behind?" Dawn asked sarcastically.

"Yeah?" Buffy answered lamely.

"Well, we were sleepin' at the time," Spike lied.

"Sure you were," Cordelia muttered.

Buffy heard and immediately turned bright red while Angel let out a low, deadly growl. He was in Spike's face in an instant, reaching for lapels that weren't there.

"Angel!" Buffy shouted, reaching for the arm he'd pulled back.

"What did you do to her!" the older vampire demanded. "I can smell you all over each other!"

"Get off me, you great pillock!"

Spike shoved Angel at the same moment Buffy pulled him away, their combined force sending the man across the lobby. Cordelia went to his side but backed away with her hands up when he snarled at her.

"See if I help you again," she grumbled.

Buffy glared in Angel's general direction, hands on her hips and her Slayer to the fore as she addressed the group.

"Will somebody please tell me what's been happening since we've been gone? And maybe how long we've *been* gone?"

"Um, B-Buffy?" Tara said softly and pointed.

The Slayer disappeared as Buffy realized that the duster had slipped open and she hurredly wrapped the leather back around herself, crouching a bit and reddening again.

"And, um ... maybe where I can get some clothes?"

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Dawn had spent Buffy's shower filling her sister in on what had taken place during her absnece. Their disappearance had been discovered fairly early when Buffy failed to check in with the Scooby's and then they'd gotten a worried call from Angel. As soon as the sun had set, Giles and Angel had set out from their respective towns, scouring the interstate and highways alike for any trace of the Slayer or the blond vamire's old DeSoto, but had come up empty-handed. Angel had said that he had sensed Spike a few times but could never pinpoint where he was, and none of Willow and Tara's locator spells had worked.

After the first month, Glory's minions had come incredibly close to discovering that Dawn was the Key and Giles had decided that moving the Sunnydale crew to L.A. would be in the best interests of all concerned, but not before Tara had been injured by the Hellgod. By month two of no Buffy, Wesley had discovered that the goddess only had a designated amount of time in which to use the Key, so Dawn had gone into hiding in a demon bar owned by a friend of Angel's because of an anti-violence spell cast on the place. At the same time, Darla, who had been resurrected by a law firm called Wolfram & Hart, had been tormenting Angel in his sleep in an attempt to drive the souled vampire to the dark side.

At some point, Wolfram & Hart had found out that Dawn was the Key and contacted Glory who showed up in L.A. at the same time as Drusilla, who re-vamped Darla. Dawn didn't know exactly what had happened between Angel and the two vamiresses, only that he had said that they were no longer a problem, and soon after that incident Glory had waltzed into the Hyperion demanding that the Scoobies hand over her key. Then, the goddess had made the mistake of letting her Ben persona come out and Angel, who had been more than a little psycho at the time (Dawn's words) had... taken care of her.

The story continued with a vision and a trip to a demon dimension and Angel rescuing some woman while Cordelia was supposed to sleep with a real hottie (Dawn's words again), but Buffy hadn't really paid much attention to the last part as relief at not having to deal with Glory ever again set in, and now, showered and dressed in some of Cordelia's clothes, Buffy descended the stairs to the lobby, Spike's coat over one arm. Giles was speaking softly to Anya and the Slayer looked around for Spike, finding him leaned up against Cordelia's desk, reading over her shoulder, as the woman tried to ignore him. Buffy tossed him his duster but frowned as she spied his split lip, following his gaze her eyes settled on Angel who was sporting a black eye. She rolled her eyes at the two before taking a seat by her Watcher.

"Have you found it yet?" she asked. "The demon?"

Giles looked at her, distracted.

"Hm? Oh, yes, I believe we have it, uh, narrowed down from what both Spike and yourself was able to tell us."

He held up a book.

"Is this the creature you encountered?"

Buffy studied the picture. The demon's berry-red eyes stared up at her from the skull-like, dirt brown face. It's green dress and dark hair doing the floaty thing around it, as it held a severed human hand. Buffy nodded.

"That's it."

"You're sure?" Anya asked.

"Absolutely," Buffy said. "This is the demon we saw."

"That's her all right."

Buffy jumped as Spike's voice sounded in her ear. He grinned at her reaction.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Anya asked with a frown.

"Yes, Anya," Buffy said, giving the ex-demon an odd look. "We're sure."

Spike looked at the woman, frowning.

"What's wrong?"

Giles and Buffy turned to Anya at her silence.

"I know her," she said at length. "She's a type of succubus, but it doesn't make sense!"

"What doesn't?" Buffy asked.

Anya ran her hands through her hair and sighed before pointing to the picture on the table.

"Ceralune only attacks couples who are in love."

The entire lobby went silent at Anya's declaration.

"What?" Buffy asked, bemused then blinked and crossed her arms. "I'm sorry. I meant 'What!"

She made it a demand. Anya nodded.

"That's why I asked if your were sure it was her," she said. "Ceralune only spells couples who are in love with each other, uses their love against them."

She shrugged.

"She always said that it made the meat taste sweeter."

"Eew," Dawn said.

"I am not in love with Spike," Buffy told Anya vehemently.

The woman blinked at her.

"Well, obviously you are or else Ceralune would have left you two alone. She's very particular that way."

Anya stopped and gave Spike an appreciative once-over.

"And it's okay if you are. He's very attractive and sort of compact but well muscled. And he must be a very skilled lover, both of you actually, if you fed Ceralune enough sex energy for her to let you go without killing you. I don't think she's ever done that."

Buffy shook her head, eyes closed, as she tried to deny what Anya was saying. It couldn't be true, she couldn't love Spike. It was Spike! He only helped them for money... except not so much of late... and he didn't have a soul... yet he claimed to love her, he brought flowers to her mothers' grave, he let Glory torture him and never told her that Dawn was the key... But, what would her friends think? They hadn't really liked Angel and what would Giles say? No, she didn't love Spike, didn't even like him, really... but in the cabin, when he'd made love to her (and it had been making love) he'd been gentle (until she told him to be otherwise) and tender and the look in his eyes, it had spoken volumes... Buffy opened her eyes, scanning the faces of the people around her. Tara smiled sweetly at her but Cordelia didn't even spare her a glance. But the others, their looks spoke volumes ranging from happy (Dawn and Anya) to concerned (Willow) to slightly disappointed (Giles) to downright angry (Angel and Xander).

"I can't do this now," she said softly, then spun on her heel and retreated up the stairs.

Dawn glared at the three men, her arms crossed.

"You guys suck!"


==========================================================================



When a knock sounded on the door to Dawn's room Buffy didn't even look up.

"Go away!"

"Slayer! Buffy," Spike called through the door. "Talk to me, pet."

Buffy just tightened her grip on the pillow she held and remained silent. Soon enough she heard the door ease open and Spike enter the small suite. The vampire's footsteps stopped in the doorway to the bedroom. Buffy didn't look up.

"We need to talk."

"Why?"

Spike sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed beside her.

"Dunno," he said with a chuckle. " 'Cause it's what..."

"No," Buffy said. "Why can't I ever fall for a normal guy? I mean, first Angel and we all know how well that turned out. Then Mister Secret Agent Man Riley. And now you."

After several moments had passed Buffy had to grin. She had finally made Spike speechless! She looked over at him, giggling at the gobsmacked look on his face.

"Wow," she said. "If I'd have known that that was all it took to shut you up, I would have done it a long time ago."

"You," he began. "But what was all that about downstairs?"

Buffy shrugged then gave him a sheepish look.

"You know how dense I can be sometimes, you've pointed it out often enough."

Spike wisely refrained from commenting.

"But what about Peaches? And your precious Scoobies? You know none of them will like this."

"I've been thinking about that, actually."

He arched an eyebrow.

"And?"

"And, I've realized that they've always dictated my life to me. Who I can date, what I can do, where I can go and it's just... It's not fair. I let them live their lives, for the most part, and, hell, I could be dead tomorrow, so I've decided that if I'm happy then they should be happy for me."

Spike couldn't believe his ears. Was she serious? Had that demon given the Slayer some kind of epiphany? But still, he couldn't resist prodding.

"And if they aren't?"

Buffy was quiet for a moment, hugging the deflated pillow to her chest.

"Then maybe we'll just have to take a little vacation from each other. Me and the Scoobies, I mean."

"Do you really mean it?" Dawn demanded happily as she bounced into the room. She landed on the bed beside her sister and wrapped her arms around her. "Are you with Spike now? 'Cause it would be so cool if you were."

"Yeah," Buffy said. "I guess I am."

She looked at Spike from under her lashes.

"If he'll have me, that is."

Spike was silent for a moment, looking thoughtful.

"I guess I can give it a try."

"Oh, you," Dawn growled and jumped at the vampire, fingers immediately stabbing for the sensitive spots she'd discovered on his sides.

Spike gave an unmanly yelp and slid to the floor. Dawn and Buffy peered over the edge of the bed at him, both grinning. He scowled at the two of them.

"You're evil, Bit," he grumbled.

"Well, I did hang around you a lot."

Spike suddenly looked proud.

"That's right," he agreed. "Learned from the best, you did."

The sisters rolled their eyes at him.

There was a quick knock at the door then Xander's voice through the wood.

"Hey, Buffster," he called. "I brought a vacuum. Is the Bleached Wonder dust yet?"

"They're probably having sex," came Anya's hushed speculation.

"Eew," Cordelia whispered. "I can accept the fact of it happening but I don't need the raunchy details. I'll be downstairs when you guys are done spying."

"William," Angel barked. "Open this door." then softer, "No, they're not having sex. Besides, Dawn's in there."

The three in the room shared an amused look as they listened to the not-very-secret conversation going on outside. Willow was the next to speak.

"How do you know they aren't... Oh, 'cause you're a vampire with the enhanced senses and can probably smell..." she trailed off. "I'll stop now."

"Yes, please do," Giles said, then addressed Buffy through the door. "Now Buffy, will you please come out of there? I'm sure there's a reasonable explination for why this demon targeted you and..."

Buffy tuned him out as he slipped into Watcher-mode and took Spike's hand, helping him to his feet.

"Ready to face the firing squad?" she asked.

He pulled her into a hungry kiss but kept it PG seeing as how Dawn was watching them with a huge grin on her face. Buffy was smiling when he released her and Dawn skirted around them to stand by the suite door.

"I'd follow you to hell and back, luv."

"And you'll never leave?"

"Haven't gotten rid of me yet, have you?" Spike asked as he slid one hand into hers and began pulling her toward the door. Buffy beamed at him.

"I'm stuck with you now, aren't I?"

Spike flashed her a grin and Dawn rolled her eyes.

"If you guys are done making googly eyes at each other, I really wanna see Angel's face when he finds out that you two are together. It'll totally be worth not having you guys for three months," the Key said as she pulled open the door.

"Um, hi guys," Buffy said s the expectant faces of her friends came into view. She squeezed Spike's hand tightly.

Dawn laughed.

"Totally worth it."

THE END

Yay! Two stories down... about thirty to go *pout*
Well, now that the muse is back from her vacation I should be finishing, or at least updating, my other stories. Got a new chapter of Slayer of the Carribean in the works and a couple of brand new stories over at Twisting the Hellmouth under the name Dire Banshee. Come check me out, and, as always, tell me what ya think :)

~Ghost Writer