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Disclaimer: Everyone should bloody well know by now that I don't own even a smidgen of the rights to these delicious characters. The creator of BTVS does which is fine and dandy.

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Her mind fought an ongoing battle all the way to the Magic Box, two sides against each other. Her body must have been reacting to it because she found herself most of the time walking at top speed but at other times her feet felt like lead weights and she struggled to take the next step. 'What is wrong with me?' the question plagued her over and over.

On one hand, she was beginning to enjoy having William around. He was extremely nice, well mannered, kind and courteous. He was capable of doing a lot of amazing things that she never would have guessed in a million years Spike knew how to do. Maybe she thought she could mold him into someone she would rather have around more often than the annoying reality that was Spike. On the other hand, and deep down in the folds of her mind, she missed Spike. She missed arguing with him, missed the spontaneity of him showing up out of nowhere, though sometimes that got a bit disturbing how he knew where she was and what was going on, and she had to admit, she missed giving him a good smack every now and again. Why ,oh why, couldn't the two of them, Spike and William, just come together and be a perfect little---a perfect little---Spilliam.

Buffy stood outside the shop doors and wrestled with the decision she had yet to make. Well, it wouldn't hurt she supposed, to just talk to the warlock. Make sure nothing bad was going to happen to William or Spike from the remnants of the curse. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and marched into the shop, shoulders squared. Giles was the only one standing in the room.

"Uh, Giles," Buffy whined. "You let him get away, didn't you?"

"Well, it wasn't from lack of trying, I do say. I kept him here as long as I could without risking myself or any appendages. But----." Giles looked positively giddy as he walked over to the cash register.

"I am now in possession of one Sherman Henderson's address."

"Wow, I'm impressed. Did he buy anything unusual? Any witchcrafty stuff?"

"Just a few herbs, oils and whatnot. Nothing out of the ordinary. Here you go, you may even beat him home."

"Thanks, Giles. I owe you one. No, no, I take that back. I think your IOU list is much longer than mine. So, strike that off the record. I'll talk to you later." Buffy teased.

"Be careful, Buffy. You never know who you're dealing with on the hellmouth." Giles sounded overly concerned.

"Got it. Night."

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Buffy dashed all thoughts from her head as she made her way down the street to Mr. Henderson's house. Except for that one. Mr. Henderson. Did that sound like a threatening name? Mr. Henderson. Mr. Sherman Henderson.

"Hi, I'm Sherman Henderson, warlock extraordinare. For my next curse, I'm going to turn you into a frog." Buffy giggled uncontrollably as she shuffled along the the walk.

She turned the corner onto the next street and suddenly found herself standing in front of the house at 1520 Hardy Street and with hands on her hips, stood there and just stared. It was a typical English Tudor style house and everything about it looked pleasant and homey. The walk to the door was lit as well as the front door which held a beautiful wreath of wildflowers centered around a brass knocker. Buffy told herself though, looks can be deceiving, especially living on the Hellmouth.

She knocked respectfully on the door and a young girl about Dawn's age or younger answered it. The girl smiled sweetly at the stranger, Buffy, upon seeing her.

"I've been expecting you. Do come in. Tea will be served in a moment. We've been eagerly awaiting your arrival. Come in and sit a spell with us." She waved her hand towards a brightly lit room just off of the hallway.

Buffy walked towards the doorway and peered in. The little room was decorated in a Victorian style with cut glass wall sconces illuminating it. Dolls and stuffed animals were sitting all around on every piece of furnture as well as around a small wooden table that was set with delicate china plates, cups and saucers. Shiny silverware placed on cloth napkins were also a part of the table setting.

A man, who was much older than the girl, walked out into the hall drying his hands on a dishtowel, in which he casually draped over his shoulder when finished and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Anessa, who are you talking to, dear? Oh---I'm very sorry. I didn't realize we had company." He sincerely said.

"Mr. Henderson? Sherman Henderson I presume?"

He let his arms slowly fall to his sides and his eyes formed into slits as he glared at her intensely.

"Do I know you?"

"In a way."

The girl crossed in between them as she headed back into the tea room with a tea kettle all the while humming a soft melody.

"As I was saying, in a way." Buffy quickly marched towards the man at the end of the hallway, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and pushing him hard up against the wall.

"Wha---who are you?" he gasped out.

"I'm the slayer---and I know who you are. Or what you are." Her voice became slightly threatening as she growled the last words out.

"What I am?" He seemed surprised.

"You threatened a vampire that I know last Friday night. In fact, I'm pretty sure you cast a spell on him, cursed him somehow. Made him lose his memory. If it wasn't for me, he probably would have ended up dying."

"And that's a bad thing? Can I stand on my own two feet and talk cordially with you?" He didn't seem all too afraid of the Slayer at the moment. Buffy slowly lowered him back to the ground but kept a firm hand against his chest.

"You're standing now. I don't trust you though to completly let go. So spill."

"I *am* a warlock, yes. You do have that bit of information correct. And yes, I did cast a spell on the excruciatingly annoying vampire last week. He acted like he was some sort of hero, a white knight rescuing a damsel in distress."

"Well, he did say you were standing over an unconcious girl and working some kind of magic spell on her."

"Yes, correct. " He lifted his arm and pointed to something behind Buffy.

"That girl." The man said softly. Buffy held onto him tight as she warily turned her head to stare at the young girl now standing wide-eyed in the doorway clutching a dolly tight to her chest, her bottom lip slightly quivering. Buffy's head snapped back around and glared at the warlock.

"Who is she to you and what were you doing with her?" Buffy asked tensely.

"She's my little sister. I've been her guardian ever since our parents died ten years or so ago. She has a tendency to wander off, and get a little out of control. You see, Miss----uh, Slayer, she has a bit of the witchcraft in her as well, but she is not mentally capable of handling it. She's always been this way, was born mentally challenged, a little slow. But she knows she can do certain things; they're not always good things, and they tend to wreak havoc on our fair little town and it's patrons. Last Friday, I found her in the middle of a demon bar. I got to her in time; they were about to have her for their little party. I think I hurt a few of the party goers,of course, not meaning to and I had to knock her out and take her to my mother's grave in the cemmetery. I was casting a spell, yes. It was a leash in a way. Something to stabilize Anessa, her mind, spirit and body. Keep her from wandering off. Then that crude vampire attacked me."

Buffy removed her hand from the man's chest. "Well, he tends to over react sometimes. But I think he was just trying to help the girl who he thought was a victim and in danger."

"I don't understand. He's a vampire. A creature of the night. Why would he be helping humans?"

Buffy sighed and shook her head. "It's a long story. He's handicapped himself. He has a chip in his head that keeps him from harming humans and killing them. But he can fight demons. He has kind of in a way come to our side to help me and my friends in the slaying department. So you see, Mr. Henderson, he was trying to rescue the damsel in distress as you say. He just didn't wait to find out the whole story. And I can't believe I am standing up for him. You are correct in one assumption. He *is* an annoying vampire, in more ways than I care to explain. But he has become an ally, almost a friend. And I'm sorry if he disrupted your plans. But can you help me with whatever you have done with him?"

"This is strange, so very odd. Did you know that he is in love with you?"

Buffy's mouth dropped open. "The what? Who? Huh?"

"The way he went on and on about you. How you were going to find me and tear me into little pieces because he couldn't do it himself. Now I understand why he couldn't. He spoke very highly of you."

"You don't say. In love with me? I think you're mistaken about that."

He crossed his arms and smiled. "Not so sure about that. And what is wrong with him? The curse I performed on him was just a raillery. Something to throw him off balance, teach him a vital lesson on who he can and cannot mess with. He said he was a pathetic human formerly so I made him lose all memory of his vampire existence. It was only a 48 hour spell, Slayer. He should have been back to his normal, belligerent self around midnight Sunday night, or Monday morning whichever way you want to look at it. He should be alright now. Right as rain."

"But I don't understand. He's still William, his human self. Why would he- ----ohhhh. Oh, now I see. I think I'm catching on and seeing things clearly now. I just may have to do him some bodily harm after all."

"Slayer?"

"It's Buffy. I do apologize for coming in here all up in arms about this."

"Apology accepted. I think, Buffy, that your vampire friend may have liked being human, or maybe liked the way he was being treated as his human self. I may be wrong but---then again, he could just be playing with your head. Trying to get the upperhand perhaps. I don't know him as well as you."

"Perhaps. All I know is that I'm gonna play my own little mind game with him. See how he likes it. Thank you again, and oh, by the way, don't threaten my slaying abilities ever again."

"Oh, never again, Slayer, never again."

Buffy turned and huffed as she left, seeing red almost the whole way back to Revello Drive. She had developed her own scheme to bring the vampire to his knees, knock him for a loop so to say. This was going to be fun.

A block away from her house, she stopped and calmed herself down enough to seem like everything was normal. She casually walked into the house and stopped in the foyer. Stunned, she slowly looked around and took everything in.

The living room and the dining room was all but sparkling clean. Everything had been dusted, vacuumed, and straightened. She heard commotion coming from the kitchen and quietly she made her way down the hall to the doorway.

He was standing at the sink drying the last dish that he had supposedly just washed. He slid it into the cabinet and turned around, jumping slightly and grabbing his chest at seeing Buffy leaning up against the doorframe.

"Buffy, you startled me. I didn't even realize you had come in. Must be off in another world, either that or my hearing is going. Could be an age thing." He chuckled at his own joke.

She continued to stare at him, amazed, even with knowing what kind of pratical joke he had been playing on her this whole time. She smiled sweetly.

"You've been cleaning."

He looked around and grinned. "Yep. Nothing better to do. And it beats sitting around and staring at the walls. Besides you have your hands full with everything else, I wanted to help out." He walked around the center island and leaned up against it, his hands grasping the edges on either side of him.

"Thank you. I really mean it, thanks." She slowly began to walk towards him.

He shrugged and smiled shyly. "Not a problem. Happy that I can help."

"Yes, but how will I ever repay you for your kindness, William?" Buffy drawled out seductively as she continued to walk towards him.

His eyes grew large as he stood up straight and pushed his hands into his front pockets of his pants. "Um, whatever do you mean?"

"Oh," her last step she took in one large stride as she ended up barely an inch away from his now trembling body. "I think you know what I mean, William."

"I, I, I'm sure I don't." He began to stutter.

Buffy placed her hands on the counter blocking him in and stood up on her toes as she stared deeply into his blue eyes. She noticed he was breathing now, almost raggidly.

"You've been doing so much around here, cooking, cleaning, helping Dawn with schoolwork, that I almost think you are doing these things because you want something in return." Buffy whispered.

"No, no," he croaked out. "I mean you've given me friendship, and kindness, a place to sleep not to mention all the things you've bought for me." His whole body was tingling and he felt the heat pouring off of her, warming him to his very---, well, if he had a soul it would be warm and glowing.

"Then can I give you another gift?"

"I---I suppose if you really want to," he whispered not knowing why he was acting so timid at the moment.

Buffy leaned forward and brushed her lips across his. Pulling back and looking at his face, she saw that he still had his eyes tightly closed. She smiled deviantly before leaning in again and plundering his cool, wet mouth with her tongue in a deep, seering, passionate kiss to end all kisses.

TBC





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