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Chapter 11

"They're going to take her away?" Dawn's voice was shaky and quiet, showing the fear that was coursing through her body. "But if they take Buffy away, they'll take me too." Spike's jaw clenched as she said this, instantly he was in front of her, holding her shoulders.

"Listen to me," he almost growled. "I've promised Buffy two things in the time I've known her. You know me, I don't break promises."

"What were the promises?"

"To look after you 'till the end of the world, and to never leave her."

*****

An hour later the entire Scooby gang, including Xander, was assembled in the Summers living room. Once everyone was filled in concerning the new problem and Xander was told to shut up about Spike at least five times, discussions started about what to do. After another two hours little headway had been made.

"We need a good lawyer."

"Yes Whelp, we know that, just like when you last said it. But how are we going to pay for one? Pull the money out of your arse?" Spike was getting very angry, very quickly. "Dammit! I should just go there and threaten to eat them all!" Willow shook her head.

"Can't, chip remember?" Spike vamped and gave her a grin that had set fear into the hearts of men for over a hundred years. The red head paled.

"They don't know that."

"Look we need to find a way to actually help Buffy, not mess around." This came from Anya.

"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT!" Spike had reached breaking point. "Sod this, tell me when you've thought of something." With this he got up and went to leave the house. Remembering both that it was midday and that Buffy didn't like him leaving. Instead he changed directions and went into the basement.

*****

Twenty minutes of sitting in the basement had actually managed to calm Spike down slightly. He was just about to get up and head back upstairs when he heard the door open and close and someone enter.

He knew who it was. Just like Buffy had a 'slayer sense' enabling her to tell when a vampire was near, he had his own sense that told him when his slayer was close by. It angered him slightly that nobody had been looking after her and let her wander around on her own.

"What's up luv?" Buffy came down the stairs to sit next to Spike on the old cot.

"Lonely."

"Nobody sat with you?" Buffy shook her head. 'Dammit does nobody give a shit about her but me?' Spike thought. Dawn had wanted to stay off of school again but Spike insisted that she go, a good impression would be needed to be put forward in two days and any further absences should be avoided. The fact that Buffy had just lost her job would also not look well in their favour.

"Spike mad again?" Spike was glad to see that there was no fear in Buffy's eyes when she asked this. He decided that he should explain the situation to Buffy.

"Yeah pet, I am. There are some people who like to help people and now they want to help you."

"Help me?"

"Yeah, but the way they want to help is to have you live in a place where people get better."

"Spike and Dawn come?"

"No luv. They want to make it so you don't live with us anymore." Now he did see the look of absolute fear in his slayer's eyes. "But remember, I said that I would stay with you. I won’t let that happen Buffy." He hugged her tightly to reassure her that he wouldn't leave. He felt her start to sob against his chest.

"Shhh luv, nobody will take you away. I'm staying with you." His tears were flowing along with Buffy's

*****

The entire gang looked up when Spike lead Buffy out of the basement. Well, almost all of the gang. Spike noticed that Xander was missing.

"Where's the whelp?" Tara was the one to answer him.

"Everyone got into an a-a-argument about what to do. Xander wouldn't s-s-shut up about how you shouldn't be near Buffy. When he actually s-s-suggested she would be b-b-better off locked up Dawn threw him out again."

"Well done Nib." Spike was proud that she had stood up to Xander again.

"So what's been decided?" Everyone looked down. Again it was Tara to speak.

"We don't know."

"Then we loose Buffy and Dawn."

Chapter 12

"I've got an idea." Everyone looked at Willow. "What do we always do when we don't know what to do? Ask Giles."

Spike chuckled as he remembered similar words being said by Angelus just before he kidnapped the Watcher years ago. He thought it best not to voice his comparison with his sire to Willow. He had seen what she could do with her spells and she was very upset right now. Being on fire was something he wished to avoid.

"So who will phone him?" Willow continued.

"May as well be me." Spike started to walk over to the phone when Dawn spoke up.

"I'll do it Spike. If you phone him he'll probably not believe you or make some dumb accusation like Xander did." The teenager got up and went to the phone.

*****

Dawn stood with the phone in her hand waiting for the other end to be picked up. She realised that it may be late at night in England, she had forgotten about the time difference. After quite a few rings the phone was answered by a very tired sounding Giles.

"Hello?"

"Giles, it's Dawn."

"Dawn! It's good to hear from you. I trust everything is all right in Sunnydale?"

"Well that's the thing..." Dawn went on the describe the entire situation to Giles, much as she and Spike had done a few days earlier for the Scooby gang. When she had finished and convinced Giles that there would be no point in him flying over she asked him if he knew what to do.

*****

Everyone sat impatiently for Dawn to come back into the living room. It seemed that all hopes were on Giles knowing what to do. When she came back into the room, dawn looked defeated.

"He says there's nothing he can tell us, he doesn't know the American legal system so he can't help."

"Bloody great, Watcher knows everything there is to know about demons and apocalypses, but knows nothing about the law of the land."

*****

The rest of the day was spent with the gang trying to figure out a way that they would be able to keep Buffy and Dawn. Although they talked for hours and many different scenarios were thought of and rejected, no actual headway was made. Eventually it was decided that they would just have to turn up to the hearing and hope they could persuade the judge to let Buffy and Dawn stay.

It was after sunset when Willow, Tara and Anya left the Summers house. All three occupants of the house took a long time getting to sleep, Dawn and Spike worried about the hearing and Buffy troubled because Spike wasn't happy.

*****

The Scooby gang decided to stay away from the Summers house to give Spike, Dawn and Buffy some time together. After all, this could be the last day they get to spend together if the judge ruled against them.

Spike spent the day watching Dawn and Buffy playing together with Buffy's toys. They also baked some cookies but they didn't come out too well.

'This'll be the last time they get to play together,' he thought. 'They're going to take the Slayer and Nibblet away tomorrow and there's nothing I can do about it.'

His thoughts were interrupted by a ball bouncing off of the side of his head. He looked up to see Buffy grinning at him. 'Slayer wants to play eh?' he thought and started to chase Buffy around the room.

Buffy, having lost none of her slayer speed, managed to stay just ahead of Spike, laughing as the vampire mock growled at her.

*****

That night as Dawn got Buffy ready for bed, Spike's thoughts again started to turn pessimistic. Buffy and Dawn were getting ready in Dawn's room after Dawn and given Buffy a bath, so Buffy's room was empty. Spike decided to go in and get ready for bed himself.

Once he got into the room, instead of getting into bed he started to wander around, picking up various items and examining them. He stopped hen he got to a pink stuffed pig. 'Mr Gordo, I hope they let her keep this when they take her away.'

This thought caused him to break down into tears. He sat down on the bed and gently sobbed into the pig.

It was at this point that Buffy came into her room and sat down beside Spike. Nothing was said but Spike turned to Buffy and wrapped his arms around her. After a few moments he stopped crying. As he pulled back from Buffy, she did the last thing he was expecting.

She kissed him.

Chapter 13

Buffy was kissing him! That was the only thing that was going through Spike's mind at the time. Once he got past that through he realised that he had sworn to himself that he wouldn't take advantage of Buffy. He quickly broke the kiss and pulled back from Buffy.

"Buffy luv, stop." Buffy looked confused at his words. "Buffy, you don't want to do this. I'm not sure if you remember but you told me that before this happened to you."

Buffy wasn't sure what Spike was talking about. Of course she wanted to kiss Spike, why wouldn't she? She also wasn't sure what Spike was talking about when he said something had 'happened' to her. She didn't know what to do so she just got into bed and tried to go to sleep.

After a few moments Spike joined her. He wasn't sure why Buffy had kissed him but he decided that now wasn't the time to go into it. They needed to be rested for the hearing tomorrow.

*****

The next morning everyone gathered at the house before it was time to go to the hearing. Everyone was dressed in their smartest clothes. Even Spike had produced a suit from somewhere. They didn't really know what they were going to do but they thought it was best if they at least looked respectable.

Take away was ordered and everyone sat down at the dining room table to eat. Small talk was made but it was forced as everyone was nervous. The entire meal had a 'Last Supper' feel to it and nobody really enjoyed themselves, except Buffy who enjoyed the interesting food.

Finally it was time to leave. Xander, Anya, Tara and willow got into Xander's car while Dawn and Buffy got into Spike's Desoto. Lastly Spike locked up the house and made a dash under a blanket and dived into the driver's side of the Desoto.

Both cars were started and the entire Scooby gang headed off as they had done many times before, although this time they were not facing a hell god, a crazed cyborg or an ancient and powerful vampire. Those things they could handle. This was a new situation, one they were clueless as to how to win. This time they were facing the might of the American legal system.

Each and every one of them were wishing for it to be just another apocalypse.

*****

Once the gang had filed into the courthouse they received their first bit of good news. The hearing would not be the trial-like scenario they had all been imagining. They were not even required to have a lawyer, a good thing considering they couldn't afford one. The hearing would just be a judge, a social worker, Spike, Buffy and Dawn. The others tried to make it so they could participate but they were told it was impossible.

When it was time for the hearing Spike, Buffy and Dawn were lead away. The remainder of the gang sat in the waiting area. Willow was the first to speak.

"I wonder how long they will be in there."

"I don't know, but it will take a while. They will need time to hear from the social worker and Spike. They may want Dawn to speak as well. Then the judge will need to decide when to take Buffy and Dawn away." Anya answered the witch. Everyone scowled at her. "What? What will the judge do? Put Buffy and Dawn into the care of a punk who had been dead for over a century and has no legal identity?"

As was usual with Anya, nobody wanted to hear what she said but they couldn't argue with it's inherent truth.

*****

After the hearing had been going on for about an hour and a half, Spike, Buffy and Dawn walked out accompanied by the judge and social worker. Everybody looked up with anticipation.

"Well? What's the verdict?" Xander asked.

Spike looked at everybody and opened his mouth to speak.

Chapter 14

"They're staying. Plus the files on Buffy and Dawn are going to be destroyed. There's no chance of Dawn ever being taken away." Cheers sounded in the waiting area as all the members of the Scooby gang jumped up with wide smiles on their faces.

Buffy didn't know why her friends were jumping about and shouting. At first she was afraid that they were angry, possibly at her but she quickly realised that they were happy. That was good, she wanted her friends to be happy.

"How? We thought we were going to loose for sure." Xander asked.

"Lets get out of 'ere then we'll explain everything." Spike replied.

The gang made their way back out to the cars and returned to Buffy's house. Everyone sat down in the living room to listen to what happened at the hearing. Spike started to tell the tale.

"Well we were lead into the judge's chambers..."

*****

Spike, Buffy and Dawn were lead into the moderately sized, nicely decorated room. The judge sat behind a large desk, the social worker and Spike were told to sit in front of the desk. Dawn lead Buffy to sit in some chairs in the corner of the room. The judge pulled out a file and started to read as he spoke.

"Well then, we have a twenty-one year old who is the legal guardian of her 15 year old sister who seems to have gone insane." He looked at Spike. "I'm sorry but I see this hearing as a formality. It seems clear to me that Elisabeth should be put into care where she can get the treatment needed and Dawn be placed into a foster home. I'm going to give you a chance to argue your case but in all fairness Elisabeth"

"Buffy."

"Excuse me?"

"Her name is Buffy. She hates Elisabeth."

"Fine, Buffy," he emphasised the word, "needs 24 hour care by trained professionals. You are not trained and you are asking not just to be put in charge of a mentally unbalanced woman but also a teenage girl. I don't really see a way for you to convince me to put them into your care." Spike took a deep breath before starting to speak.

"You have to realise that it's not just me that will be looking after Buffy and Dawn. There's a waiting room full of people out there who are closer than any family I've ever seen. We all want to look after Buffy. We will all look after Dawn. We all love them and will do anything to make sure they are properly taken care of.

"Hell, if I thought she would be better off with doctors or if they could do anything to help her I'd drive her to that place myself. But they won't help her. Buffy needs us, she needs the people who love her."

"I see. I'm now required to ask Buffy what she wants to do. Will Buffy be able to answer my questions?"

"Yeah, just don't expect any long answers and don't make the questions too complicated."

"Dawn, could you bring Buffy over here please?" When both Buffy and Dawn were standing in front of the desk he started to question Buffy.

"Buffy, I want you to answer some questions, is that OK?" Buffy nodded so he continued. "Do you know why you are here Buffy?"

"You wanna help, wanna take me away."

"That's right. Do you want to go away?" Buffy shook her head.

"Wanna stay with Spike and Dawn."

"Do you like staying with Dawn and Spike?" This time Buffy nodded.

"Spike takes care of me."

"And Dawn?" She nodded again.

"Dawn pretty."

"Thank you Buffy, will you go back with Dawn now?" Dawn lead Buffy back to the chairs.

"Well it's clear that Buffy wants to stay with you Mr...I'm sorry, did she refer to you as 'Spike'? It says here your name is William."

"Spike's a nickname."

"I see. Well as I was saying, Buffy wants to stay with you and Dawn. However given her current state of mind I can't put any faith in that. I see no other choice but to have Buffy taken into care and Dawn placed into a foster home. Do you agree with this Mr Collins?" The judge was addressing the social worker.

"Yes, that is the optimal situation at this time." At this Dawn ran up to the desk.

"NO! You asked Buffy but don't I get a say?! No way will I stay at some stranger's house! I'll just run away!"

"I'm sorry Dawn but this is the best solution." Spike stood up and placed a hand on Dawn's shoulder.

"Time for plan B Nib. Just sit with Buffy." Dawn did as she was told and went back to Buffy. Spike faced the judge and social worker.

"Now I assume that like most officials in this town, you know much more about its true nature than you let on. Hell how couldn't you when you had a big snake demon for a boss? So you know about the things that go bump in the night that live here don't you?" The faces of the judge and social worker visibly paling were all the answer he needed.

"Well, I happen to be famous for being one of the most vicious and nasty examples of those things and I am not to be fucked with." He shifted into game face and grinned, giving both men clear views of his demon face and extended teeth. He looked at the judge.

"Now, you will make sure Buffy and Dawn stay with me." He faced the social worker. "And you will destroy all files you have on Buffy and Dawn. I will never have to worry about either of them ever being taken away from me. Believe me when I say that if I ever hear anything from you again I will kill you, your families and everyone in this town.

"You want people who are trained to look after Buffy? I spent a bloody century looking after someone who was twice as crazy as Buffy is now! Taking care of her is piss easy compared to that, and I'd gladly do it for the rest of her life! Now, we are going to walk out of here and you are going to do as you are told." He walked over to Buffy and Dawn, helped them up then walked out of the room.

*****

"So we spent two days trying to figure out what to do and your first idea that we all ridiculed worked?" Xander was shocked that Spike had actually managed to pull it off.

His next action stunned everyone. He stood up and offered Spike his hand.

"This doesn't mean we are friends. I still think Buffy would be better off with us. But you stopped them taking away Buffy and Dawn. Thank you." Spike looked at the hand, considered and eventually shook it.

*****

It was decided that the gang would spend the evening at Buffy's to celebrate. Videos were rented and food ordered. Dawn made another phone call to Giles to explain what had happened.

While this was going on Spike took the chance to be alone for a few moments in the kitchen. He thought about how close he had come to loosing both his girls and felt an overwhelming sense of relief to put it behind him. He heard someone enter the kitchen and looked up to see Tara.

"Hey Glinda, what you doing here?"

"Thought you may need someone to talk to." Spike thought for a moment.

"Yeah, I do. Hey, how come you don't stutter when you talk to me?"

"Crowds make me nervous and I stutter when I'm nervous. I meant talk about you. It seemed like something was bothering you, and not just this hearing thing."

"Buffy kissed me last night."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"She doesn't want to, I mean the sane Buffy doesn't, well..." Tara interrupted him.

"Before you try and explain, I know about you and Buffy."

"She told you?"

"When you found out you could hit her. She needed someone to look at the spell that brought her back to see if she was 'wrong'. I think she was also looking for someone to tell her she did a bad thing. She said she didn't want us to be disgusted with her but I think she needed someone to be, she wanted to be told that her feelings were wrong, because otherwise there was the chance that they were real."

"Yeah, once a martyr, always a bloody martyr." Tara grinned at him. "Thing is though, she decided to break it off and now she kisses me. I could have shagged her then and there."

"But you didn't."

"Was never just the sex for me, I want, no I need for her to love me. The way she is now then I don't know what she wants. Hell she could have just been copying something she saw on TV!"

"You're wrong. The way she is now has stripped her of all pretence and lies. She's not hiding now. What she does is her honest feelings." Spike started to laugh at this, not a happy laugh but a defeated laugh that told Tara that it was either laugh or cry at this point for Spike.

"Great, I finally get more than my crumb and it’s when I've sworn to look after Buffy and do no more than that. Well, it could be worse, social services could have....." He trailed off. Tara was confused.

"What?" He didn't answer her, instead he walked back into the living room.

"Listen up people, I've just thought of something. You lot didn't say anything to anybody abut Buffy being the way she is now and I certainly didn't. So, the question is who did?" He saw everyone think about it and scowl when they came to the same conclusion he had come to. It was Dawn who spoke up.

"You mean...." Spike finished her sentence with a growl that would have sent fear into the heart of Satan himself.

"Warren."

Chapter 15

"Right then, we need to find them and come up with a plan for when we do." Willow addressed the group but made sure she was standing well away from Spike. The vampire hadn't actually done any damage to anything but the look in his eyes said that any living thing that got in his way would die a slow and painful death. "Well, I can look on the 'Net to find another list of rented houses, like what Buffy was looking at the night she was attacked."

Spike's head shot up at this. Buffy had been looking for Warren when that demon had got her? That was it, the final nail in Warren's coffin. This whole situation was the Nerd's fault, even indirectly. Spike would make them pay dearly for causing all this hurt. He suddenly remembered something.

"Oh bloody hell!" His outburst startled everyone and they all looked at him questioningly. "I know where they are. Last time Clem phoned he said he hadn't found anything to help but he had found out where the Nerds are staying." Xander looked puzzled.

"Why was Clem calling here?"

"I asked him to look around, see if he could find anything to help Buffy."

"But the book said that it was incurable." This came from Willow.

"Can't hurt to look pet." Spike replied. "Anyway, good job I did ask him, now we know where Warren is." Again Xander spoke up.

"And exactly where are they?"

"The warehouse that I used to stay in when I first came to town. Don't know why they're there, Watcher did a good job of burning the place down but who cares right? Now we just need a plan."

*****

"I still say we just go in and kill them." Spike was adamant that this was the only plan they needed. He was arguing this point with Xander.

"Look Deadboy, that is a stupid plan. And remember, your plans never work, that's why you got your ass kicked by Buffy on many occasions."

"I seem to recall the last plan working out quite well." Xander was about to reply when Willow stopped them.

"Look, we have a plan and we will stick to it. We go to the warehouse, me and Tara do a binding spell on Jonathan and Andrew and then we kick Warren's ass. Then we take them to the police and get them arrested. We don't want to go in there and kill anyone."

'Maybe you don't want to kill anyone,' Spike thought.

"Right then, we'll do it your way. But if the shit hits the fan then stuff the plan. Now I'm going to talk to Buffy, I need for her to let me go and deal with this." He got up and walked over to Buffy.

*****

"Hello luv." Buffy grinned up at her from where she was sat on the floor. Spike sat down beside her.

"Spike." Spike smiled back at her. He wasn't looking forward to this conversation.

"Pet, you know that I'm not going to leave you don't you." Buffy looked worried, why was Spike saying this? But she nodded her understanding. "Well, me and your mates need to go out for a little while, just a couple of hours. But we will be coming back, I will be coming back. Is that OK Buffy? Will you be all right? Dawn will be right here with you."

Buffy didn't like this. Spike was going away. He said he was coming back, but what if he didn't? What would she do without Spike? She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"So you'll be all right just for a little while?" Buffy nodded. Spike placed a kiss on her forehead and held her, both to reassure her that he would be back and to reassure himself.

*****

Spike got up and looked at the rest of the gang. They were all packing weapons ready for the confrontation. He would join them but first he had some weapons of his own to fetch from where he had put them upstairs.

When Spike came back downstairs it was Xander who noticed the objects he was carrying.

"Hey Deadboy, it's not vamps that we're going after, you don't need stakes."

Spike looked at the two objects he was carrying, they did indeed look like the kind of stake that was used to dust his fellow vamps. He banged them together and the metallic ringing let everyone know that they were not made of wood.

"Not stakes Whelp, railroad spikes." He put them the pockets of his duster and walked over to the front door.

The rest of the gang shared a common thought, they knew how Spike had acquired his name and none of them would want to be Warren right now.

*****

For the second time that day the Scooby Gang loaded themselves into two cars. The difference this time was not just that Buffy and Dawn were not coming along, but this time they were headed into a battle where they knew their role, their type of battle.

Tension was high in the two cars but the despair from earlier in the day had totally disappeared. The Scooby Gang was ready for battle.

*****

Once they pulled up outside the warehouse Tara and Willow quickly performed the binding spells on Andrew and Jonathan, ensuring that they wouldn't have to deal with magic or demons when they went in.

As soon as that was finished they moved over to the main doors. Unfortunately they were locked. Tara had just started to do a spell that would open the door when Spike walked up and kicked the door open and entered the building.

As soon as they entered the building Spike knew something was wrong. Warren was standing in the middle of the mainly empty floor. Five large demons stood behind him, obviously bodyguards. Apparently the binding spell had been performed too late. Jonathan and Andrew were nowhere in sight. Warren smirked at the gang before he started to speak. He was obviously enjoying playing the part of the villain.

"Welcome, now you are probably asking yourselves why I'm not surprised at your arrival. Simple, I knew you were coming the same way I knew Buffy was insane. I've bugged all your houses and your shop too! I know everything about you people!" He could see the anger rising in the group before him and decided now was the time to play his ace. "Now, you are here to take me to the cops, I'm not going to let you do that."

"And just how are you going stop us?" Xander defiantly questioned.

"Simple." You see I sent Jonathan and Andrew on a little errand just after you left Buffy's house. They should be back by now." He turned away from the Scoobies towards a door in the side of the building. "Andrew! Jonathan! Bring out our guests!" He called out to the other two nerds.

Spike's anger actually increased when he saw the two people being pulled along by Jonathan and Andrew.

Buffy and Dawn.

Chapter 16

Warren was almost orgasmic in his joy concerning the scene in front of him. He had revealed his captives and he was certain that they would mean his victory was guaranteed. After all, the Scoobies wouldn't do anything to endanger their precious Buffy and Dawn now would they?

Little did he know that the second he had placed Buffy and Dawn in danger he had sealed his fate, at least in the eyes of a very pissed off master vampire who loved both girls.

Spike chanced a look at the Scoobies, they had a look of panic and confusion about them. Their plan had fallen apart and they had no idea what to do.

Spike however did not have that problem, he didn't get be 120 years old with two slayer kills under his belt by sticking to any plans. He had always been able to think on his feet and change strategies at the drop of a hat, it was one of the things that put him above most other vampires, even ones that were twice his age.

He knew he could take out the demons with very little trouble but his main concern was getting Buffy and Dawn away from the Nerds. He knew the chip would cause a problem but then he possibly wouldn't even have to touch them, they were hardy knows for their fearlessness. With that in mind he shifted into his vampire mask and started circling the Nerds.

"I'll take care of these twats, you get rid of the demons. Fire or beheading will do 'em in!" He called to the others who seemed to snap out of their thoughts at his words. They raised their weapons and charged the demons.

The battle had begun.

*****

"Well well, what do we have here? Three spineless wankers who need to hide behind children and insane women." Spike continued to circle the three Nerds and his girls, making sure they knew exactly who was the prey and who was the predator in this situation.

From the look of terror on both Andrew and Jonathan's faces he could tell that it was working, the ridges and fangs look wasn't doing any harm either. Warren on the other hand was growing more and more enraged at the vampire's taunting words.

Spike knew that physically he wouldn't be able to fight the Nerds seeing as they were human so he kept up the psychological attack in order to buy time for the Scoobies to see off the demons so they could come and help him.

*****

The Scooby gang were having no problem with the demons. Two had already been decapitated by Xander and Anya while Tara was working on a fire spell to take care of the rest.

As she said the final word the remaining demons burst into flames and screamed as they were incinerated. Xander was impressed.

"Wow Tara, when did you learn to do that?"

"T-t-thought it may be u-u-usefull." The blond witch said sheepishly. She looked over to where Spike was keeping the trio of Nerds busy. "We'd better h-h-help him."

*****

Spike was glad to see the gang come to his aid, he realised that if he pushed the Nerds too far then they may do something to hurt the girls.

Upon seeing the gang join the vampire, Andrew and Jonathan looked at each other, came to a decision and made a run for it.

As soon as they were away from Buffy and Dawn, Willow was able to perform a sleeping spell on them. Both men fell unconscious before they could cover half of the distance to the door.

Dawn pulled Buffy towards the waiting group. Warren could see his plans going up in flames and snapped. Before anybody could subdue him, he pulled out the gun he had stashed in the back of his jeans and pointed it at Buffy. He would make sure she wouldn't get away from him.

Spike saw Warren pointing the weapon at Buffy and dived at him, putting himself between Warren and Buffy as he did. Spike felt a bullet tear into his gut. He pushed the pain aside, he was no stranger to pain. Without breaking pace he pulled one of the railroad spikes from his pocket and rammed it into Warren's forehead so that only an inch of it was protruding from the nerd's head.

Spike had the pleasure of seeing Warren fall dead before the chip fired and all he saw was black.

*****

'Aw bugger! My head feels like it's been left out in the sun!' That was the first thought to go through Spike's mind as he regained consciousness.

He opened his eyes, glad to discover that it was night so there were no bright lights, he didn't think he could cope with any just yet. He then realised that he was in Buffy's room. 'Must have brought me back after the fight.' He smiled at the memory of Warren getting a first hand lesson on how he got the name 'Spike'.

He tried to sit up but there was something pressing down on his chest. He didn't need to look to know that it was Buffy. She was asleep with her head rested on his chest. Although he tried not to wake her, his movements never the less brought the Slayer out of her slumber. She sleepily looked up at him, seemed to realise what she was seeing and squealed in delight.

"Spike! Spike awake!"

"That I am pet. How long have I been asleep?" Buffy looked like she was trying to figure out an answer.

"Long." That didn't really help him. Luckily Dawn chose that moment to enter the room after hearing the noise Buffy had made. She looked at her sister, then at the awake vampire.

"Spike! You're awake!"

"Seems to be the theme of the day Bit. So how long was I out?"

"Five days."

"Five days?!"

"Yeah, the chip really got you after you killed Warren, that was really cool by the way. We've been looking after you since then." Spike was puzzled.

"We?"

"Well I've been looking after things but Buffy hasn't left your side." Spike looked down at Buffy.

"Is that right?" Spike smiled at her and Buffy back smiled proudly. Spike leaned over and touched his lips to her forehead. "Thank you." He seemed to realise what he had done and pulled back slightly, turning again to talk to Dawn.

"So is the rest of the gang OK?"

"Yeah they're fine. Do you want some blood? You must be hungry."

"Nah, its late and I'm still tired, gonna get back to sleep. That OK with you pet?" he asked Buffy. She nodded so he pulled the covers back up over the two of them while Dawn left the room in search of her own bed.

Chapter 17

Six months had passed since the fight with Warren. Six months since the Scooby gang had carried a bleeding and unconscious Spike from the warehouse. Six months since they had to worry about the Nerds.

Six months since Buffy had experienced her last coherent thought.

Spike had kept his promise and stayed with Buffy and Dawn. His days involved taking care of Buffy while he would try and comfort Dawn at night. He still slept in the same bed as Buffy. Buffy's mental condition had not improved at all during the last six months.

Buffy was still happy. She got to spend the days with Spike then she got to see Dawn in the evening. What made her happiest of all was that Spike hadn't left her. He said he wouldn't but she had been scared that he would. She was glad she was wrong.

She had wanted to kiss Spike quite a few times over the last few months. She had tried quite often at first but every time she tried he would stop her. She didn't understand why. Its what she wanted, didn't he want the same? Every time he stopped her it hurt her more and more so she tired less and less.

Spike had also come through with his promise to take care of the Summers money problems. Having been around for over 120 years he had collected quite a few things that could be considered valuable. Whenever funds got low or bills needed paying he would sell another item. So far he had parted with only a few things but that didn't matter to him, he was willing to sell it all if it helped Buffy and Dawn.

The demon situation had been quiet over the last months, which was just as well seeing as it was only Willow, Tara, Xander and Anya who had been patrolling. While Buffy didn't mind Spike being in a different room to her, she still didn't like him leaving the house without her and seeing as he would never take her on patrol in her current state, he didn't patrol either.

Spike and dawn still hadn't fully given up hope of finding a way to help Buffy. Spike still had Clem looking for a cure. Unlike in the first month, Spike had told Clem not to spend all his time searching for a clue, but if he happened to hear of something that may help he was to look into it and report in. Spike really wanted Clem to be actively searching all the time but he couldn't ask his friend to give up his own life in order to do him a favour.

*****

Spike jumped when the phone rang. He knew that this could be it, this could be the best news he had ever heard or another just another setback. Clem had called two days previous with news of another lead on a possible cure, the first lead in two months.

He looked over at Buffy who was sat watching TV. His eyes held a mixture of hope and fear. Buffy didn't know what was making him feel that way. She watched him slowly approach the phone

Spike's hand hesitated before he finally picked up the receiver.

"'ello?"

Buffy continued to study Spike as he listened to what was said over the line. She watched his body slump and his eyes seemed to loose the hope, they became purely sad, like happiness was a long forgotten memory.

Buffy saw him hand up the phone and fall onto the floor. She quickly got up and went over to him.

"Spike? What wrong?" Spike held her and started to cry. All these months of hope and disappointment had taken their toll on him. He realised that he had reached the end of the line. He could take no more.

"I thought I could do this luv, after all I looked after Dru for over a century. But I can’t luv. I can’t take seeing you like this any more."

Standing up he made his decision. Things needed to be arranged and he was sure of only one thing. No matter what happened, things just couldn't stay the way they were.

Chapter 18

Dawn was surprised to actually be woken by her alarm. It wasn't that she had to be somewhere that surprised her, it was a Saturday. It was the fact that usually it was the persistent knocking of Spike on her door when Buffy had woken up and needed to be dressed that woke Dawn up in a morning. She decided that Buffy and Spike must be sleeping in this morning so she made as little noise as possible when getting dressed.

She made her way quietly down to the kitchen and made breakfast for herself, Buffy and Spike. After she had eaten hers she took the other two breakfasts upstairs in order to give her house mates breakfast in bed.

When she entered Buffy's room however, she did not find the two sleeping in the bed. In fact the bed was made. On top of the bed was a note with her name neatly printed on it.

She reached out and carefully opened the letter and read through it.

*

Nibblet,

Clem phoned last night, he's still not found anything that could help Buffy. I'm tired of waiting Bit, I need to be out there finding a way to help. Plus, the name William the Bloody still carries some respect with demons, they may be more willing to open up to me than to Clem. It's a bit of a long shot but at this point I'm willing to take it.

Don't worry about Buffy, I've got her and you know she's safe with me.

Don't know how long we will be but it may take a while.

See you as soon as possible, Spike.

PS: I've phoned Glinda, she'll be staying with you 'till we get back.

*

Dawn reread the letter to make sure she had seen correctly. There may be a way to cure Buffy? If there was then she knew Spike would try his best to make sure Buffy got it.

She got up off the bed to go and phone Tara to see when she would be coming over.

*****

"I knew it! I said he had done this, now he's kidnapped her! God knows what he's doing to her or where he's taking her. Tara, you can do a locating spell on them then we can go and get them back."

The blonde witch angrily looked at Xander, who was pacing around the room. This surprised Xander as he had very rarely seen Tara angry.

"I'll do no such thing Xander!" Her usual timidness and stutter had disappeared from her voice. "Buffy is safe with Spike and if anyone can find a way to help her it's him. Spike phoned me last night and told me what he was doing, if I wanted to stop him I would have done it then. At least this way there is a chance of getting Buffy back to normal."

The rest of the gang, save Xander, nodded in agreement. Xander took on a look of pure rage and stormed out of the Summers house. Dawn turned to Tara.

"You don't think he'll try to go after Spike do you?"

"I don't think it would matter if he did, Spike has got a century of experience when it comes to moving around unnoticed, Xander won't be able to find him."

*****

Nearly two months had passed since Spike had disappeared with Buffy.

Xander had indeed tried to locate Spike but had only got as far as LA when the trail went cold. With no clue as to where Spike had gone from there, Xander was forced to abandon the search.

As planned, Tara moved into the Summers house and helped Dawn in any way she could. She wasn't so much a surrogate parent figure, more like a really cool room mate who listened to Dawn's problems. That was what Dawn needed right now.

Dawn was surprised to realise that she missed Spike more than Buffy since they disappeared. It wasn't that she didn't miss Buffy, it was just that even when she was there now, it wasn't really Buffy was it? She didn't miss Buffy as much because it wasn't really Buffy who had left. Buffy had been missing long before Spike went away.

*****

"I'll get it!" Dawn called to Tara who was in the kitchen. She crossed to room to the ringing front door. She never expected it to be the people on the other side.

"Hey Dawnie."

"Buffy? Oh My God you're better!!" As she went to hug Buffy she noticed Spike standing next to her sister, leaning on her for support. He looked weak, like he had been severely beaten up.

"Buffy? How are you better and why does Spike look like shit?"

"Cheers Bit." The vampire in question sounded very tired.

"Very good questions, I'll answer as soon as we get in the house and get everyone together, I only want to tell this once."

*****

Once Spike had been moved onto the couch he almost instantly fell asleep.

Calls were made and soon all the Scoobies were gathered in the front room. After initial greetings everyone wanted to know the details of how Buffy was sane again. Everyone gathered around Buffy as she started her tale.

"Well it turns out there's this cave in Africa....."

*****

"He really took all that pain so that you could be better?" Dawn was on the edge of breaking down into tears and Buffy was not far behind her. After Buffy had finished her story the gang had gone back to their respective homes and Tara had gone up to bed, leaving just the Summers women with a sleeping Spike.

Buffy looked down at the vampire that had looked after her and had saved her from a life of insanity.

"Yeah, he did. I got the impression that he was willing to die to cure me."

Dawn suddenly thought of something.

"So can you remember everything from when you were ill?"

"Yeah, it's weird, it was like being trapped inside myself, but at the time it felt perfectly normal." Dawn yawned and Buffy told her to go to bed.

"What about Spike? Are we leaving him here?"

"No, we shared a bed before this happened, we'll do it again now." With that Buffy picked Spike up and carried him upstairs to her room.

*****

Buffy woke to the quiet but panicked murmuring of her name. She looked across at Spike lying next to her and saw he was having a nightmare. She gently shook him awake.

"Shhh Spike, it's just a dream." Spike was fully awake now.

"Sorry 'bout that luv."

"No worries. Was it about the tests?"

"Yeah, I dreamed that I passed the tests but they couldn't help you." Buffy pulled Spike close to her and stroked his cheek as he started to drift back to sleep.

"Night Spike." She softly said.

"Night Buffy, love you."

"Love you too."

Epilogue

"Keep that up luv and I'll take away your toys." This earned Spike a light slap to the arm from the giggling Buffy.

"Sorry, it’s just...You with a soul? What would that be like? And hey, I haven’t played with those toys for months!"

Spike regarded the woman lying in his arms. She seemed truly happy, not the childlike happiness of when she was insane or the forced happiness of when she was first resurrected, but true happiness. Spike hadn't said anything but he suspected that when he had asked the demon to fix Buffy, the demon had not only fixed the problem of her being insane but also helped with the problems caused by her being pulled from heaven.

"I know, I know. So anyway, sod was all 'I expect you've come for a soul,' and I just told him to piss off, I mean, what do I need with a soul?" Spike was filling Buffy in on the few details she had missed out on during her 'illness'. He had got up to the part where he was in the cave when Buffy had interrupted him with her fits of laughter.

Spike turned to look Buffy in the eye.

"Do you think I should have got a soul while I was at it?" He wasn't happy at the thought of being a clone of the poofter but if that was what Buffy wanted he would be on the first boat back to Africa.

"No, I love you just the way you are."





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