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Author's Chapter Notes:
Last updated Sept. 16, if you haven't read, do. Thanks to Sanity Fair for her patience and skillz. Check out her lovely story, "And It Spread," if you haven't and the glorious Puddinhead's "My Elizabeth." Both these ladies have helped immeasurably with this fic.
LAST TIME:

His presence made Buffy completely flustered.

"We should go kill something ancient and evil now," Buffy said. She scurried out to join her friends who were waiting with dwindling patience in front of the frat house.

"At your service," Spike said, more to himself than to her.



~*~*~*~
Dav was rearranging the green, paper napkins from a plain stack to a fan shape. It was the third time she'd messed with them in the past few minutes—fanned then stacked and now fanned again—and it was driving Xander nuts. He grabbed her wrists.

"The napkins are good. You need to leave the napkins," Xander said. Dav looked up at him.

"Is it too late for me to make a chocolate cake? Maybe I should run out and buy one, I mean what was I thinking with lemon? Chocolate is the money cake."

"The cake is fine, you are fine. Calm down."

Dav hugged Xander and laughed.

"I'm sorry, I just really want your friends to like me and I may be going overboard," Dav said as she relaxed in the circle of his arms, looking up into his face.

"Maybe just a smidge. They'll l-like you, I mean what's not to passionately, devotedly like?" Xander asked, stroking her hair and gazing into her huge, brown eyes. They hadn't said the love word yet; neither of them wanted to rush that part. Dav had been in a long-term relationship with a guy who turned out to be a snake. Not an actual snake, though that could've easily been the case. He was just a rotten guy who'd asked her to get married, then had sex with her first cousin at the engagement party because Dav was starting to "box him in." After that, she hadn't really dated much.

"I know how it is with your best friends. I put every girlfriend of Gary's through the ringer until he met Pammie. I'm sure you do the same thing with the people Willow and Buffy date," Dav said.

Xander had already met Gary and Pammie, Dav's two closest friends. The couple had visited from San Francisco and they were extremely cool. They'd all gone to see the play Dav had worked on. It had been a grown up night out with good food, great conversation and no talk about vampires. In the month they'd been dating, Xander had met all of Dav's Sunnydale friends here and there, but he'd been reticent to introduce her to the gang. Doing that would make the distinct break from normal girlfriend/boyfriend relationship to indoctrination into a crime-fighting cult. Xander wasn't sure the tender normalcy they'd cultivated could survive the shift. Xander realized that might be why Dav was so anxious; she may have misinterpreted his reluctance to Scooby her up as something else entirely.

"I wouldn't be worried, baby. My objections to their boyfriends had little to no impact on their decision making processes, so a little naysaying won't go very far with the Xan-man," Xander said.

"Xan-man? God, you're such a dork," she said with a grin, before she kissed his cheek, "I'm mostly afraid Willow will hate me and show her displeasure through liberal making out with you."

"O.K., in that scenario I'm nothing more than a receptive man-lump who would totally accept the making out with—"

"So you're saying you're more than a receptive man-lump?" she asked, her eyebrow arching devilishly as she brushed against his...receptive man-lump.

"Exactly," Xander said, drawing in a shuddering breath before capturing her roving hands, "I'm your boy. No amount of disapproving gal-pals will change that...which won't even matter anyway because they will like you."

Xander kissed her hands to reinforce his point and hugged her again.

"This is the last insecure question for at least the next few minutes, anyway. Should I change my outfit, or is this alright?" Dav asked.

She stepped back to show off the gold, velvet, v neck with black lace accentuating the bustline that Xander had bought her. She'd put it with a long, black skirt that had a teasing slit up the side.

"You look gorgeous," Xander said, before kissing her again.

He'd decided against asking Spike along for this particular Scooby meeting because Xander didn't want to be responsible for Dav inviting a vampire into her house. Spike was surprisingly understanding about the whole thing. Xander had explained when they were out sweeping the cemetery the night before that Dav was a regular, non-magical, non-slayer type of girl. Buffy was stronger than anyone and Willow could kill a vamp with a freakin' pencil but Dav's self-defense skills were limited to pepper spray and running.

"Look, I'm sorry for the rudeness, but Angel was all friendly for awhile, too, before he murdered Miss Calendar," Xander said.

Spike had nodded.

"Not looking for admittance to your little, monster-fighting clique and you don't need to explain because I get it, mate. She's your girl and you've got to protect her," Spike said.

"I really think you do, man," Xander said, which brought a sad smile to Spike's lips.

In that moment Xander realized he kind of liked Spike. William the Bloody was invaluable in a fight, seemed loyal to Buffy and was someone with whom he could talk about girls. Also, Spike was actually pretty funny in a snarky, British sort of way. Angel's idea of a joke was threatening Xander's life, making Spike a huge improvement over the last demonic dead thing Buffy crushed on.

At least this time Buffy was too wary of the blood bond to get cuddlesome with Spike. She was relying on the other Scoobies for protection; either he, Giles or Willow always went out with the two super beings on patrol. In a way Spike had brought them all closer together. Xander almost regretted Spike wouldn't be joining them.

Almost.

There was a knock at the door and Dav jumped in his arms.

"Calm down, sweetie," Xander said.

"I'll try," Dav said.

They went to the door together and Buffy was standing on the other side. Xander saw Dav's eyes widen.

"Hey, I'm Buffy, you must be Dav," Buffy said.

"I made some cake but it's not chocolate," Dav said.

"Good thing I'm an equal opportunity eater," Buffy said, with a dazzling smile as she walked into the apartment, "you have a beautiful place."

"Thanks, my parents helped me out a lot with decorating," Dav said as they walked into the living room and sunk down on the comfy, sectional couch.

Dav grabbed one of the pink and white geometric, patterned pillows up from the couch, hugging it like a security blanket. Xander put an arm around Dav and she snuggled into his embrace. His gesture seemed to take the edge off. Buffy complimented the decor some more and then the girls began talking about Dav's work. Xander watched his girlfriend get comfortably animated when discussing the historical research she did to properly dress the cast of, "The Seagull." To his relief, Buffy was genuinely interested. Once they got talking about clothes, the two looked like old friends. Buffy really didn't have anyone to discuss fashion with since Cordi took off to make it big as Angel's receptionist. Even then, Cordi's contribution to the discussion was usually a brutal insult about dumpster diving.

"Right now I'm kind of obsessed with Edith Head, she was a costume designer who created some of the most iconic looks in cinema history and she could rock a weird hat," Dav said.

Buffy giggled.

"Would you think I was twelve if I told you her name sounded kinda dirty?"

"I know, right? I'm glad you think so, too!" Dav said.

When Willow showed up, Dav got extremely quiet. Willow didn't seem to notice because she and Buffy were caught up in discussing their Sunnydale U. classes, which started next week. By the time Giles showed up, Dav had gotten up and started rearranging the napkins again. Dav left that task and answered the door.

"Hello my dear, you must be Davinia," Giles said, extending his hand. Dav grinned and took it.

"Mr. Giles," Dav said, ushering him inside. It was a chilly evening and Giles was shrugging out of a brown, leather suit coat.

"Please, no need to be so formal," Giles said.

Dav took his jacket.

"May I call you Rupert, then?" Dav asked as she hung it in the closet by the door.

"I don't think he meant that informal," Buffy said from where she was seated.

Giles shot his slayer a glare and then smiled sweetly at Dav.

"Of course you may," Giles said.

"I baked with you in mind, actually. I made a lemon cake and flavored the icing with clotted cream. It's supposed to be an English recipe, but the internet might have been lying," Dav said.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Willow said.

"I'm sure it will be lovely," Giles said, putting his hand on Dav's back. She smiled up at him and the girl looked so grateful that Giles couldn't help giving her a hug. Buffy exchanged a look of mutual surprise with Willow as Dav sat next to Xander and Giles stood in front of the television set.

"So, what's up, Rupert?" Buffy asked with an impish smile.

Giles ignored her cheek.

"I'm afraid the remedy for the blood bond we had such hopes for is untenable. Davinia, are you familiar with this situation?" Giles asked.

"Xander filled me in," Dav said.

Giles nodded.

"What's wrong with the Cheez Whiz spell?" Buffy asked.

Willow turned to face Buffy, pulling her legs into an Indian style position.

"Cheerweitz spell," Willow said.

"I like Buffy's better. It sounds way safer," Dav said.

Willow twisted to look at Dav, her head slightly cocked.

"Has Xander been telling you about my spell misfires?" Willow asked.

"Um, no, I just thought—"

"Because I'd never do anything to put my friends at risk, least of all Buffy," Willow said.

"Whoa there, Wills, I think you need to dial it back a little. Dav was just making a joke," Xander said.

"Well, I guess Cheez Whiz is kinda funny," Willow said with a grudging pout.

Giles surveyed everyone with irritation, using a handkerchief to burnish his glasses.

"Does anyone want cake? I'll go get cake," Dav said, jumping up.

"I'll help you, baby," Xander said, starting to rise off the sectional.

"No, no, you stay, listen to the debriefing," Dav said, dashing into the kitchen before anyone could stop her.

"So tell me, what's wrong with the whosits?" Buffy asked.

"It would wipe your memory of Angel away entirely, which would alter you in ways we couldn't imagine. Aside from that, he might not be the only aspect of your personality that would be swept away," Giles said.

"It's way too dangerous," Willow added.

"What about the other one you were looking into, the Vampyricon spell?"

Giles put his glasses on and Willow sat back on the couch.

"The spell would require Angel's death," Giles said.

"No," Buffy said, crossing her arms over her chest. Giles and Willow seemed grim. Xander's eyes traveled from one to the other, his worry over Dav heightening his readily accessible Angel anger.

"Why not?" Xander asked, "he's a time bomb. The guy is a chocolate eclair and a hand job away from absolute evil."

"Xander!" Willow shouted.

"There's no need to be crass," Giles said, but Xander could swear the librarian was fighting off a smile.

"Killing Angel is not an option, Xander. End of story. Now where else can we look?"

Xander decided not to belabor the point.

"What about that spellbook we got from Spike. I haven't heard anything about that since we excavated that key thing," Xander said.

"Yeah, and I broke a nail sifting through all that rubble," Buffy said.

"That wasn't a fruitful source of information," Giles said.

Willow smoothed her hair behind her ears.

"I found an expert on vampire cults. She was a friend of Miss Calendar's," Willow said, lowering her eyes at the mention of the teacher's name. Giles inhaled sharply, like hearing the words caused him physical pain. Xander felt a fresh surge of anger that cooled when Dav touched his shoulder. He looked up at her and she handed him a slice of cake.

"Thank you," Xander said, and she nodded in response.

"This woman, Thalia Avenolie, is like top in her field, I mean if vampire cult research were a recognized field," Willow continued, as Dav went to Buffy and bestowed a plate, then set another on the coffee table for Willow, "she also lives with a coven. They're working on translating some older texts. Believe it or not, you're the first person to survive a vampire bite who wants to get rid of the blood bond without killing the vampire."

"Does this Avenolie woman know the vampire she's working to save is pretty much the same one who killed her friend?" Xander asked.

"No," Giles said, as he took the dessert Dav offered him, "and I'm uncertain of the ethics in this situation. Buffy's is a peculiar case to say the least, one unlikely to be repeated. However, removing the familial bond from other victims could leave them less likely to fall under the sway of another vampire. It's invaluable. At any rate, we need Thalia's help, but she may feel ill-used when she discovers the truth."

Buffy set her treat on the coffee table, untouched. Dav noticed and tried not to look hurt, but Xander knew her well enough to see his girl was sort of offended. Xander was the first to take a bite and couldn't contain his moan of pleasure. Buffy looked at him with amusement plucking up the corners of her mouth.

"Do you and the cake need some alone time?" Buffy asked.

Dav blushed deeply and Xander glanced at her, licking the tines of his fork.

"What can I say, Dav's really, really good...at cooking."

"Oh for heaven sakes. Could you at least pretend to care about the moral quandary for a few moments," Giles asked, before absently taking a bite of cake, "good lord, that is phenomenal."

"Really?" Dav asked.

"It's like the first time I listened to 'Ziggy Stardust,'" Giles said.

Dav beamed, a huge smile replacing all the trepidation on her face. Willow shifted on the couch and snatched up her portion.

"Alright, I definitely have to try this," Willow said, before shoveling in a mouthful, "mmm, it's like joy, with icing."

"I'm so relieved you guys like it. Next time I'll make my chocolate eclairs. Everybody says those are my best dish," Dav said.

Buffy suppressed a giggle and Giles let out a goofy smile.

"Um, yes, well, about Ms. Avenolie—"

~*~*~*~

Spike knew he shouldn't have been in Giles' house when the watcher wasn't there, but he was certain there was something Rupert was hiding. The librarian had made such a point of getting the du Lac book, then had them panning through the remains of that church to get the bloody key, only to speak nothing more of the whole thing the instant both objects were in his possession. The only reason had to be that Giles wanted to get the volume out of Spike's hands.

And hadn't that been a bitch to be standing next to Buffy in that bloody church where she'd beaten him the best, all the old hurts mingling with his shame? Buffy had been pained by the whole thing, too, showing it the way she always did by getting cold and quiet with him. Knowing Buffy could destroy him to save her lover, but he couldn't do the same made Spike feel strangely unworthy to be in her presence, like he was less of a man. Of course he wasn't really a man at all and recently not so much a vampire, either. Spike was just less.

He'd goaded the slayer about Angel all the way home from that expedition until she was nearly ready to sink the stake into his chest. Spike wanted her to do it so badly, seeing as she was the only one he'd give the power to dismiss him from this life. Then something made her pull back; made her eyes go all soft for him. If the whelp hadn't been there Spike wasn't sure what would have happened. Spike might have slid his hands under the hem of that impractical tank top she was wearing and tasted her mouth.

Spike's ambivalence toward Buffy had grown along with his desire for her. To actually touch the girl was tantamount to spitting on Drusilla's ashes but keeping their relationship platonic was hardly working, either. Chaste, courtly love was something Spike hadn't tried on since he died. Frankly, it looked tragically ridiculous on him, like a single lady of a certain age taking her poodle out in a pram. Spike would watch Buffy exercise her deadly grace by dusting some sorry, stupid sod and want to take her right there in the cemetery. Her smile drove him out of his mind and when she was gentle with him it was the worst. When Buffy was kind she was everything he'd always wanted but been unworthy to keep.

It was all just...fucked.

Spike moved like a ghost through Rupert's house, locating the du Lac book in the watcher's study underneath a pile of other tomes. The key was thrown into a box among various precious relics which were such a part of a watcher's everyday life Rupert had cast them with the care an office worker might bestow upon paperclips or ballpoint pens. Spike wore the gloves Buffy had given him to protect his hands from being burned by the cross-shaped key. He stuffed the artifact and the volume into the knapsack he'd brought. The backpack had a bunch of buttons and patches on it for some pretty decent bands, and Spike regretted that its original owner was probably long dead.

Spike slung the bag over his shoulder and as he gave the place a parting glance, saw a school picture of Buffy. Judging by the highlights in her hair, it was probably taken her junior year. The snapshot was stuck in the corner of a large, framed map of the Hellmouth hanging above the watcher's scarred, wooden desk. Anyone who didn't know might have thought the photograph was placed there absently, but Spike realized it was the first thing Rupert would see when he glanced up. If Spike were to follow his impulse and snatch the keepsake, Giles would notice immediately.

Spike slipped out of the house wondering how Giles dealt with having to hide his love for Buffy for so long. It probably killed the watcher that the closest thing he had to a daughter was placed in harm's way every night by his own hand.

It wasn't something Spike could ever ask.

Now the next task was to try to fumble through du Lac's text using his incredibly poor grasp of Latin. Spike decided that he really should have paid more attention to Angelus when his grandsire was torturing those nuns.

~*~*~*~

Dav's first foray into supernatural problem solving had turned out to be a resounding success. Everybody exhausted themselves of metaphors about how great the cake was and together they'd decided to tell Ms. Avenolie the truth about Angel. Buffy suggested the spell could be affected depending on the vampire line. Giles agreed and decided to ask Spike more questions about the other surviving descendants of the Master.

"Beside that, she deserves to know everything if she's helping us," Buffy said, hers being the opinion which mattered most when it came down to it because she was the one with everything at stake.

By the end of he night, Dav had convinced Giles to play them a song on her guitar. For the first time ever, a Scoobie meeting included a rousing group sing-a-long of "Little Red Corvette."

His friends had left a lot later than they usually would from a Scooby meeting and Xander was sure it was because they were having a good time. He was helping Dav wash the dishes before he went home.

"I told you everyone would like you," Xander said as he wiped the last mixing bowl and set it on the tippy top shelf Dav couldn't reach without a step stool.

"They're great people. I feel bad that Buffy didn't really touch the cake, though," Dav said.

Xander turned around and smiled at her, leaning on the counter.

"Well, her mom dated this guy who turned out to be a murderous robot that was controlling us all with drugged pastries. She probably just wanted to keep on her toes, but don't worry. She told me on the way out you were a sweetheart," Xander said.

"Of course. I figured it was either a homicidal automaton or she had a gluten allergy," Dav said, vigorously scrubbing the already immaculate sink."You could've mentioned all your friends are insanely hot. After seeing them, especially Willow, I'm no longer on the fence about taking that Pilates class."

"What are you talking about? Willow's cute but she's not like a model or something," Xander said.

Dav threw the sponge in the basin and faced Xander so fast her hair hadn't time to settle back down on her shoulders before she resumed speaking.

"Are you nuts? I know your ex-girlfriend was an actual model, but Willow is not your mousy best friend. She's gorgeous and Buffy is breathtaking and even though it's kind of beside the point, Giles is—"

"Whoa, hold up," Xander said, trying to direct his words with his hands like his sentence was a traffic jam, "you think Giles is hot?"

"He could be the spokesman for inappropriate librarian fantasies," Dav said.

Suddenly Xander felt a flare of jealousy where before he'd only been baffled.

"He's old enough to be your father!" Xander said, his voice dropping to a scandalized whisper as he pointed at her.

"Hence the inappropriate," Dav said, putting her hands on her hips, "besides, quit changing the subject."

"What was the subject? I thought we were talking about how I'm going to lose my girlfriend to a stuffy accent and a set of leather elbow patches?"

"No, we were talking about how the girl you surreptitiously made out with and the girl you had an intense, years-long crush on are so much prettier than me that it's only a matter of time until you realize you're a fucking knockout and you leave me for one or both of them."

"Wait, what? You think I'm a knockout?"

Dav's eyes were so big they would've given an anime character a run for its money, so when she rolled them Xander could almost hear a gust of wind accompanying the motion.

"When you look at me through your eyelashes like you're doing right now, I still get nervous even though we've seen each other naked. You make me feel like I did in ninth grade when the boy I liked let me borrow his pencil. You've got these glamorous friends and this incredible life and I can't understand why you're even with someone like me," Dav said.

"My life is so not glamorous, my parents are drunks and I work in a convenience store."

"You're a hero, my literal savior."

"Buffy is the hero. I'm the wage slave with no prospects or education."

"She is a hero, but that doesn't mean you aren't. Your job has no bearing on who you are, baby. The amazingness of you is more amazing given what's going on with your mom and dad. Xander, once you get a few years under your belt and figure out who you are you're going to realize you are smart enough to be whatever you want. You don't have to settle for anything or anybody," Dav said.

Xander put his hands on her shoulders, his fingers spanning their narrow curves.

"Look, I love you and I know it's a little soon to say that, but I've never felt like this before. This argument is stupid so let's stop having it, please Dav. There's nobody else I want to be with," Xander said.

She dove into his arms, hugging him tight.

"Except with Amy Yip at the waterslide park," Dav said with a giggle.

Xander smiled, wide and silly.

"Right, except for Amy Yip."

"I love you, too, Xander," Dav said.

He kissed her, and they staggered to Dav's bedroom. For the third night in a row, Xander didn't go home to the basement, but stayed to make the most of the dark there with Dav. When Xander came home the next morning, not even the fact that his parents hadn't noticed he'd been gone could bring him down.

She loved him, too.


Chapter End Notes:
That line about Amy Yip is from the episode, "The Dark Age."



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