Disclaimer: I don’t own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or any of its characters and am making no money off of this. However, Edmund and Isobel are mine. Please keep it that way. Thank you.

Feedback and Archiving: Feedback feeds my soul (thus proving I do in fact have one…). I usually allow archiving, but if you’re going to, please ask for permission first. The same goes for translations.

*** *** ***

Prologue:

She gasped, clawed, struggled for freedom. She didn’t understand, couldn’t comprehend what had happened. She had been somewhere else. She remembered…

She couldn’t remember anything at all…

But she didn’t know she had to escape. Wherever she was, she couldn’t stay. It was dark, too small…

She couldn’t breathe.

She fought, blind panic driving her to break free, her hand pushing out past the surface, letting her feel the night air. She grabbed at the earth, finding purchase to pull her body all the way up, crawling onto the ground as she took in deep, aching breaths.

Across the world, burning eyes snapped open…

*** *** ***

Chapter One

“There will be a price.”

Edmund stared the demon in the eyes, no sign of intimidation on his face. His body was bruised, bloodied, burned, and broken, but he would still fight on if he had to. Anything to return what had been taken from him…

“I will pay it.”

“It is a steep price,” the demon warned, his voice deep and foreboding. “You have proven yourself worthy of your reward, but I still cannot grant it to you without you agreeing to pay something in return. What you ask for is a thing that should not be done.”

“There is no price too steep. Not for her.”

“Then it shall be done.”

Thunder crackled through the caves, followed by a burst of light so bright that Edmund threw his arm up to shield his eyes, turning away from the painful glare. As it died down, he blinked, slowly lowering his arm to see the figure of a woman, kneeling on the floor, her head bowed. She was all pale skin and dark, flowing hair, and Edmund felt rooted to the spot, afraid she would disappear from him again.

Slowly, she raised her head, and blue eyes met green.

*** *** ***

Leaving Spike behind this morning had been more difficult than Buffy ever remembered it being before. She’d wanted to stay there with him in bed, basking in the glow of their redefined relationship, and instead, she’d had to force herself awake in order to sling artificial beef at the denizens of Sunnydale – all while wearing radioactive orange.

It hadn’t put her in the best of moods.

Spike had been all sleepy and rumbly when she’d woken him up to say good bye, doing his best to tempt her to stay, but she knew she’d been shirking her responsibilities too much recently. She couldn’t ignore the fact that Dawn needed a roof over her head just because she’d rather be shagging her delicious vampire boyfriend.

She’d promised Spike she’d come by to see him after work, and he’d reluctantly let her go then. He’d stayed in the bed, rolling over to bury his face against the pillow she’d slept on, and her heart had ached. She wanted to be with him…

“Stupid bills. Stupid Doublemeat Palace and its breakfast shift,” she muttered as she went towards the clock to punch in. “Stupid minimum wage making me work fifteen hours a day.”

She thumbed through the timecards, frowning when she saw they jumped right from Becky Sawyer to Mike Thompson. She flipped through them all, wondering what could’ve happened to hers before she heard someone clear their throat behind her.

She jumped, then turned quickly, gasping when she saw who it was. “Isobel? What the hell are you doing here?”

“Correcting another one of your crazy mistakes,” Isobel replied. She held up Buffy’s timecard. “This is not a fitting occupation for a Slayer.”

“Yeah, well, it’s the best I could get,” Buffy snapped, glancing around to make sure no one else had come in.

“That’s complete bullshit and we both know it,” Isobel replied. “Hell, you could’ve easily gotten an office job making twice this. Even if it was just answering phones.” She stepped closer to Buffy, lowering her voice to keep any of the other early-morning workers from hearing. “I’ve been in your head, Buffy. I know what you’re doing. You’re punishing yourself. But you know now there’s no reason to. You never did anything wrong. Neither of us did.”

Buffy sighed. Isobel was right, to a point. On some level, this job had been a self-punishment. But that didn’t change the fact she had bills to pay and couldn’t afford to quit and be unemployed during a job search. “This is all I have, Isobel. And I’ve got to take care of my sister.”

“Well, for starters, I’m completely appalled at the fact that your Watcher isn’t supporting you financially, since I’ve never heard of such a thing. I’ve kept an eye on the Council and the Slayers since I was one, and it’s always been that the Watcher is paid by the Council, and then in turn provides for the Slayer so she isn’t forced to say, flip burgers while trying to save the world. Do you have any idea how much the Council is probably paying him?”

Buffy looked down at the ground. This morning was going from bad to worse. She had to leave Spike, and now Isobel was here lecturing her for having a job? And making her late for said job in the process, too. “Look, he gave me money a few months back. Can I clock in now?”

“No. You’re not clocking in here ever again. This is a disgrace, and I’m not letting the Slayer line be reduced to this. And as for him giving you money a few months ago, that’s a joke. Something tells me it wasn’t even a fraction of what he was paid by the Council, which should’ve been at least partially allotted towards your care from the very beginning. But since I doubt you’re willing to take this up with him, especially given the fact that if my dreams were telling the truth, he’s completely shirked his responsibilities while leaving you here to continue to perform yours, then you’re going to have to find a new way to earn money.”

“Look, I don’t have time for this. I have to…”

Isobel plucked her cell phone from her jacket pocket and shoved it towards Buffy. “Call Anya.”

Buffy blinked. “What?”

Isobel shook the phone. “Call Anya. I didn’t think that was a hard request to follow.”

Tentatively, Buffy took the phone. “And tell her what?”

“Ask her what she’d pay someone for a Raighen claw.”

Buffy frowned, beyond confused, but too curious now to refuse. She dialed Xander’s number from heart, getting a tired, befuddled “Hello?” from her friend a few rings later.

“Hey, Xand, it’s Buffy. Sorry to call at five on a Saturday morning, but I need to talk to Anya.”

“Yeah, okay,” Xander mumbled, clearly nowhere near actual awakeness. Buffy heard him wake his fiancée, who grumbled about how this better be good before she answered gruffly.

“Hey, Anya, it’s Buffy. Uh…quick business-type question. How much would you pay someone for a, um, raygun claw?”

“Ray-gen,” Isobel whispered, correcting Buffy on the pronunciation.

“Rayghen claw,” Buffy corrected herself.

At the mention of business, Anya immediately perked up. “Oh, those are in high demand right now. They’re a delicacy and a trendy fashion statement. Plus, some people swear if you grind one up and put it over blackberries it’s a powerful aphrodisiac. I’ve been selling them at anywhere between five and eight thousand dollars depending on size, and I can’t seem to keep them in stock, especially on the website. Why, do you have one?”

Buffy’s eyes bulged. Five to eight thousand dollars for a demon claw? “I…uh…”

“Tell her you have ten from a full-grown demon,” Isobel whispered.

“I have ten from a full-grown demon,” Buffy parroted to Anya.

“I’ll meet you at the store in thirty minutes,” Anya said before the line went dead.

Confused, Buffy handed Isobel back her cell phone. “Um…can you tell me what exactly just happened?”

“See, this is what happens when you ignore all your research,” Isobel said with a teasing grin. “There’s so many ways out there for a woman with our particular skill set to make extra cash.”

Buffy shook her head. “Isobel, I don’t like this. I don’t want to dip into black magic, or change people for helping them, or…”

“Whoa, Buffy. Slow down. Neither do I – which is why I carefully choose what I want to sell. Raighen demons are nasty creatures which really, need to be taken out anyway. All they do is hiss and spit poisonous venom. And due to the venom-spitting issue, their claws are hard to get to. The claws hold little to no occult value, but are inexplicably sought as some sort of demon haute cuisine. And really, given the amount of money you can earn selling one, never mind the ten you can get from managing to kill one of the nasty buggers, I don’t see the harm in providing the upper crust of the demon world with some really fancy salt.”

Buffy worried her bottom lip with her teeth. “I don’t know. It all seems so…weird…”

Isobel sighed, fighting the urge to bang her own head against the wall. Instead, she grabbed Buffy by the arm and dragged the perplexed Slayer out of the restaurant. “Look, all of this, your obsession with being normal, it’s not getting you anywhere, Buffy – and it’s seriously pissing me off. We’re different, and there’s not a bloody thing wrong with that. We protect this world, protect the people who live in it, but we aren’t like them. We aren’t any better or worse, we’re just different. And trying to force yourself into a definition of normal that you were never destined to achieve, well, nothing good is going to come out of it. You’re a demon hunter, Buffy, and that makes you part of their world, whether you like it or not. And this is how you survive in that world.”

“I can’t make money off my slaying, Isobel. It seems wrong to me.”

Isobel closed her eyes for a moment, fighting to keep from yelling at Buffy. She’d been insanely frustrated from simply watching Buffy in her dreams, and now that she was face to face with her, she was on the verge of snapping. She opened her eyes and gestured angrily towards the Doublemeat Palace. “And this isn’t wrong? What’s going to happen when you finally reach burnout, Buffy? When someone dies because you’re too exhausted from pulling day after day of double shifts and you slip up and get someone killed? Because it’s going to happen. You’re going to push yourself over the edge – you’re straying too close already.”

“I just don’t think I should…”

“Look, you know how they tell you to find what you’re good at and make a career out of that?”

“Yes.”

“Do your strengths stop at a customer-service smile and the ability to use a spatula?”

“No.”

“Of course they don’t. You’re a Slayer, and that’s where your strengths are always going to be. Look, I don’t think you should milk your calling for unfair profit either. But if selling some harmless demon claws by killing something you would’ve killed anyway keeps a roof over your head, then why in the world are you standing here in a ridiculous hat?”

Buffy didn’t have an answer as she stared back at Isobel, but the older Slayer could see the play of emotions on her face. She softened towards the girl, reminding herself how young and confused she really was. “Buffy, I’ve been doing this for over six hundred years now. I know how to make it as a Slayer, outside the realm of the Council, and I also know that I was sent here to help you. Can you trust me enough to let me do that?”

“I do trust you, Isobel,” Buffy replied, the words coming out without a thought. How could she not? She’d been inside of Isobel’s mind, had experienced firsthand what sort of person she was.

“Then act like you do. I’m not Faith, Buffy.”

At the mention of the other dark-haired Slayer, Buffy looked at Isobel sharply, wondering just how much the Powers had shown her. Buffy had only gotten a glimpse at the beginning of Isobel and Edmund’s relationship, but she was beginning to think Isobel had seen just about everything.

It made her more than a little uncomfortable to think about.

However, she knew what Isobel had meant when she’d mentioned Faith, and Buffy realized the other Slayer had been able to adeptly identify the source of her hesitation where Buffy herself had not – another fact that made her a bit nervous. Why did people keep seeming to know her better than she knew herself? First Spike, and now Isobel…

But Isobel wasn’t Faith. Her appeal for Buffy to quit trying to fit some arbitrary definition of “normal” and embrace who she was as a Slayer wasn’t an attempt to bring her down a path of self destruction. It wasn’t about taking what she wanted and not worrying about who she hurt in the process.

It was about accepting who she was. Who she’d always been.

And Buffy knew it was high time she did just that…

She took off her hat and tossed it to the ground. Isobel smiled, and the two Slayers walked away from the Doublemeat Palace.

“Are you sure you don’t want to join the exciting world or retail?” Anya asked as she put her reluctant signature on a check. “Because really, I’ve never seen anyone negotiate a deal quite like that.”

Isobel smirked. “No, really, I’m quite fine doing what I’m already doing.”

Buffy had to admit that Isobel had been quite impressive. She’d watched in awe as she’d debated cost with Anya until she’d somehow ended up with a lucrative contract for Buffy as a Magic Box supplier, allowing her both an upfront fee and extra profit once the items she procured were sold.

“You should’ve gotten yourself an agent a long time ago, Buffy,” Anya said as she handed over the check. “Any Slayer with as much going on as you needs some proper management.”

Buffy looked down at the check, barely able to register that she was holding more in her hands right now than she would’ve made in several months at the Doublemeat Palace – and more would be coming soon. “Yeah, uh huh…”

“Who is she, anyway?” Anya asked. “Did we add a Scooby and no one told me?”

Isobel snorted. “So not a Scooby.”

“Isobel’s a work friend,” Buffy said.

Anya arched an eyebrow. “There’s no way she works at that wretched burger place. She doesn’t reek like you do.”

“Hey!” Buffy exclaimed.

“Sorry, but you smell like cheap burgers,” Anya replied, unapologetically despite her use of the word “sorry.” “Everyone else is too polite to tell you.”

“But you’re not,” Buffy said with a frown.

Anya smiled brightly. “Nope.”

Isobel glanced over at Buffy before making her decision. She didn’t know if Buffy wanted to tell who she was or not, but she didn’t much feel like hiding it. It was high time Buffy stopped worrying what everyone else thought anyway. “I’m another Slayer,” Isobel explained.

“Another one?!” Anya exclaimed. “Geez, they’re really just throwing away that whole per generation rule. What, did you get called when Buffy died?”

“No. I was called in 1352.”

“Oh.” Anya frowned for a moment, then shrugged. “Whatever.” She paused, her expression turning skeptical after a beat. “You’re not against ex-demons, are you?”

“I’ve been with a vampire for almost six and a half centuries, so…” Isobel said by way of an answer.

Anya sighed. “Oh, good. I get so tired of all the blind demon bigotry around here.”

“Not going to get that any of that from me.”

“Glad to hear it.” Anya let out a deep breath and then smiled brightly again. “It was a pleasure doing business with you. Please bring me more items I can sell for lots of money.”

“Will do,” Isobel said with a salute. She and Buffy walked out of the Magic Box then, leaving Anya to gleefully begin putting her new acquisitions into inventory.

Buffy glanced at the check again as they stepped out onto the sidewalk. “This should be yours,” she said to Isobel. “You did the work for it.”

“No, it shouldn’t,” Isobel said with a shake of her head. “Buffy, I’ve been around for hundreds of years. My investment portfolio is sweet, believe me. You’ve got mortgage payments and a teenager to feed and clothe. Take the money and don’t think twice about it.”

“I still don’t understand why you’re helping me so much – or why you care enough about my happiness to come all the way to Sunnydale just to try to make my life better.”

“Because we share a bond, Buffy. We’re part of the same whole, you and me.” Isobel smiled. “Besides, we’re friends now, aren’t we? And friends help each other out.”

Buffy’s gaze darted down to the pavement. “Do they?”

“Real ones do.” She gave Buffy a light smack on the arm. “Now why don’t you go join that vampire of yours, huh? If he’s anything like Edmund, I bet he’s real cuddly in the morning.”

Isobel winked, and Buffy giggled in response. “He can be.”

“Then go on, get out of here. Slayers are supposed to sleep in. We’re as nocturnal as our menfolk, you know.”

“Yeah, noticed,” Buffy said. “This breakfast shift crap has been killing me.”

“Well, now it’s all over. You can stay in bed until a decent hour and not be about to pass out on patrol. Speaking of, do you want the four of us to meet up tonight? Could be fun.”

“I’d like that,” Buffy replied, finding herself genuinely excited about getting a chance to see Edmund and Isobel in action. “Meet us by Spike’s crypt after sundown?”

“You got it.” Buffy was surprised when Isobel leaned in and gave her a hug, but she embraced the other Slayer back. “Things are going to get better for you now, Buffy. I promise you.”

For the first time since Buffy had been back, she truly believed they were.

*** *** ***

Spike was just like she’d left him when Buffy returned to the crypt. She’d stopped off at home first, desperate to rid herself of that horrid uniform once and for all, and now she stripped off the sweater and jeans she’d changed into and joined her vampire under the sheets.

As soon as she was beside him, Spike pulled her closer, murmuring as he put his nose against her hair. “Buffy…” he said sleepily, his eyes closed. “How long have I been asleep?”

“Not long,” Buffy told him. “I quit the Doublemeat.”

“Oh thank god,” Spike said. “I love you and all, but sometimes it was really hard not to get turned off by that smell.”

“Hey!” Buffy exclaimed, and Spike’s low chuckle rumbled through her as he finally opened his eyes. “Ass,” she admonished him.

He propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at her, unable to stop the smile that crept to his face every time he thought about how finally, she was really his. “What made you finally see the light?”

“Isobel again,” Buffy replied. “She showed up at the Doublemeat Palace today, stole my timecard, and made me start working as a supplier for the Magic Box instead. Apparently I can make thousands of dollars selling Anya things like demon claws. Who knew?”

“I did,” Spike replied. “I told you I could get you money, but you wouldn’t ever bloody listen to me, you stubborn bint.” His words were harsh, but his tone was soft, too relieved she was out of that horrible place now to be too hard on her for not doing it sooner.

“That’s what you wanted me to do?” Buffy asked. “I figured it was something diabolical and evil.”

“That’s because you’re always jumping to conclusions about my intentions.”

“Well, in my defense, you have spent the past several years taking every possible opportunity to remind me that you are, in fact, diabolical and evil.”

“Evil, yes. Diabolical, not so much. Takes too much planning.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “You’re such a loser. You do know that, don’t you?”

“Yeah, well, you’re about to have sex with a loser then. What does that say about you?”

“That I’m horny?”

Spike smirked, chuckling again as he dipped his head and nipped at her collar bone. “Tasty, too.” He licked her neck and hummed appreciatively. “Fuck, baby, I love the flavor of your skin.”

Buffy moaned and thrust her hips. “You know, if you’re in the mood to taste something…”

He met her eyes with a cocky grin before diving under the covers, making Buffy squeal as he hitched her legs over his shoulders and immediately pressed his tongue against her pussy. She fisted the sheet beneath her, her breath quickly elevating to pants.

“Oh yeah, Spike…just like that. God, you’re fucking amazing at this…”

He smiled against her before moving his head from side to side, his tongue waggling against her clit, pulling a shout from Buffy. He counted to five in his head, then smirked again as her hand predictably grabbed the back of his head as she bucked against his mouth.

She always tried to keep from pulling his hair, but Spike knew his Slayer well enough to know that her politeness was never going to last long.

And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Spike slid two fingers into her, scraping the tips of them against the roof of her pussy as he pumped them in and out in time with the movement of his tongue until Buffy went stiff, keened, and came against his mouth.

He’d never tire of that taste…

Her grip on his hair eased, and Spike slid up her body. “Gotta fuck you, baby,” he told her, his eyes flickering yellow for a moment as he looked down at her. “Have to be inside…”

“Yeah…” Buffy agreed, still breathless from her orgasm. She thrust up her hips in invitation.

Spike brought her hips back up to his shoulders, folding her nearly in half as he pressed forward, pushing his cock into her wide-open body. The slide was easy, Buffy as wet and ready for him as she always was, but he had to stop for a moment to get control of himself anyway, her tight, searing heat always threatening to send him shooting off like a school boy.

From beneath him, Buffy smirked at the expression of tortured pleasure on his face, knowing he was fighting against coming too soon. She didn’t want it to end quickly any more than he did, but she couldn’t keep from teasing him, knowing his recovery time was never long anyway.

“You like my pussy, don’t you, baby?” she said in a breathy voice that had him jerking against her. “Mmm…it’s all hot and wet for you.” Her mouth turned up in a wicked grin, and she punctuated her next words with a wrench of her internal muscles that was enough to hurt a human man. “And tight…”

“Oh fuck, baby…” Spike moaned, his control hanging by a nearly-snapped thread. “Fuck…”

“Just let it go, Spike,” Buffy urged him. “Be the demon you are. I can take it.”

He opened his eyes and met hers. “You know what you’re asking?”

Her only response was another clench of her muscles, coupled with a hip shimmy that was what finally made the dam break.

Spike roared, shifted into game face, and then pulled out just long enough to throw her on her stomach before filling her again. He grabbed her hips with bruising force, snarling like an animal as he thrust with superhuman strength.

Buffy clung to the headboard and wondered why in the world this had frightened her so much in the past. Vampire sex was good…

“Oh hell yeah!” she screamed as Spike brought a hand around to roughly tug at her nipple. “God, this is good, baby. Don’t stop.”

Spike snarled, and somehow, his thrusts grew even harder.

She was seeing double, could barely breathe, and yet she was completely certain she’d die if he stopped. He moved so quickly it felt as if he never left her, yet the friction was mind-numbing. Already, her body was shaking with pleasure, but even as she rippled with orgasm, she knew something was still building inside of her.

Spike wrapped his arm around her waist and brought her back flush against his chest. He pressed his cool lips against her ear, and Buffy hissed in pleasure as he whispered against her his heated demand.

“Tell me I can bite you.”

Oh yeah, that’s what she needed…

“Other side,” she panted. “Bite over Angel’s marks.”

“Oh fuck, I love you,” Spike moaned, proving to her that even as close to the edge as he was then, he was still there with her, still hers.

“Uhn, love you, too… Now bite me, please… I need to come, Spike… Need to come from your fangs…”

Spike was completely certain no words more beautiful than those had ever been spoken. He thrust his hips up, fully seating his cock inside of her before sinking his fangs directly over his grandsire’s marks, erasing them from her body forever.

When they both finally collapsed back to the mattress, Buffy could barely breathe, though she wasn’t sure if it was because of the pleasure overload or because Spike was currently sprawled out over her back. Either way, she was too relaxed to even care.

Spike flopped over onto his back, panting heavily as he stared up at the ceiling. “Well, if I hadn’t already been insanely in love with you, that would’ve done it.”

Buffy giggled, feeling deliciously languid with her whole body tingling. “Right back atcha, sexy.”

Spike hadn’t thought his smile could grow, but apparently he’d been wrong. “Every time you say you love me, it makes me so deliriously happy.”

At that, Buffy rolled over against his chest, smiling up at him. “Well, I do. From the tips of your bleached hair all the way down to your damn sexy toes.”

“That so?” Spike asked, still smiling. “And sexy toes, huh?”

“All of you is sexy,” Buffy informed him. “Even your toes.”

“You know, you’ve got bloody sexy little toes, too.”

Buffy giggled and kissed his chest. “I’m riding the biggest endorphin high right now. I feel like such a dork.”

“I think you’re adorable,” Spike told her. “Of course, I’m right there with you on the endorphins.”

This was good, Buffy decided. This was how a lazy morning with your boyfriend was supposed to feel, and it didn’t matter that said boyfriend didn’t have a heartbeat – because apparently, his unbeating heart worked better than the beating one of her last boyfriend.

No more money worries, no more flipping burgers, and no more boyfriend drama. Finally, her life was looking up. Things were right where they should be.

Eyes burning, the demon moved through the darkness, answering the call of the Hellmouth…

“But I’m still randy.”

“Spike, we just had sex eight times in a row. If you’re still ‘randy,’ I think you should consult a doctor.”

“But I had Slayer’s blood,” Spike replied with a pout.

“Oh dear god,” Buffy said, rolling her eyes. “I’ll bang you again tonight after patrol, okay?”

“Can there be another blowjob?”

“Yes, honey, there can be another blowjob.” Buffy kissed the top of his head. “You’re so cute.”

Spike arched an eyebrow and started to comment, but then decided if she found his requests for oral sex “cute,” who was he to complain?

“I want to go home and talk to Dawn, tell her we’re good to go on money,” Buffy said. “I’ll come back here later and we can meet Edmund and Isobel.” He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, she said, “And then we’ll go back to my house and have more sex.”

“That… Wait, your house?”

Buffy shrugged. “I thought it would be easier since that way I could be there if Dawn needed me, but I wouldn’t have to leave you either.” She looked down, suddenly feeling nervous. “Unless you don’t want to… I mean, I guess my bedroom is kinda girly, and…”

Spike grabbed her by the arm and pulled her down into his lap. “Sweetheart, nothing would make me happier than sharing your bed.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah,” Spike assured her. He wondered how long it would take her to notice if he secretly moved in…

“I’ve always kinda wanted you to,” Buffy admitted, looking up at him shyly. “I used to lay awake and night all alone and wish you were there, with your arms wrapped around me real tight.”

“Oh, baby…” Spike moaned, having to kiss her. How could he not when she told him something like that?

“I love you,” Buffy whispered against his lips, reveling in the unexpected sense of peace she felt from saying those words to him.

“Please, let me shag you one more time,” Spike pleaded with her. “I’ll be quick, I promise.”

Buffy broke away from his lips and gently smacked him on the side of the head. “Oh, there’s some incentive. Save it for tonight, big bad.”

Spike pouted, but let Buffy slide out of his lap. “One of these days I’m chaining you up again and not letting you go until I’m completely spent.”

“Yeah, and by that point, I’ll be dead from starvation,” Buffy replied with a snort. She kissed him lightly, then moved away from the bed. “Look, I’ll let you come in my mouth tonight to make it up to you, deal?”

Spike’s eyes lit up. She’d given him blowjobs, but so far, that had been off limits. “Promise?” he asked, his expression one of pure hopeful glee.

“Yes,” Buffy told him with a gentle laugh. “Just be good until then.”

“For that, I’ll be a bloody saint.”

Buffy snorted. “Yeah, I’ll believe that when I see it. Just be marginally well behaved, and we’ll take it from there.”

Spike looked at her so sweetly, that for a moment, he almost had her convinced that he could, in fact, be downright angelic.

That mischievous glint in his eye gave him away, however, and Buffy shook her head. “You know, I really don’t know what I’m going to do with you.”

“I liked this morning. You could do more of that.”

Buffy knew he didn’t mean the sex. He meant the way she’d treated him – and it broke her heart now to think of how she had in the past. “I will, Spike,” she promised him. “This is how it’s going to be for us from here on out.”

It seemed too good to be true, but the way she was looking at him now…

Her eyes made Spike believe.

*** *** ***

“Dawn?” Buffy called as she walked into her house. “Dawnie, are you home? I’ve got some good news.”

She turned the corner, then stopped short when she saw Willow and Xander sitting in the living room with their intervention faces on. What the hell?

“What now?” Buffy asked, her hands on her hips. “I know what that look means, so go ahead, hit me. How am I failing this week?”

“You’re not failing at anything, Buffy!” Willow said quickly. “It’s just, well, Anya said something really interesting today, and we’re…um…worried.”

“What, did she tell you about Isobel and now you’re pissed off I made a new friend?” Buffy asked, arching her eyebrow. “Because, really, I am allowed to do that.”

“It’s not that at all!” Willow insisted. “We think it’s great if you make new friends. New friends are wonderful! It’s just, well…”

“We think Isobel’s full of crap,” Xander said bluntly, making Buffy’s eyes widen and a sharp intake of breath hiss over her teeth.

“What?” Buffy asked, feeling decidedly insulted on behalf of the other Slayer.

“She’s a Slayer from the 1300’s? Come on, Buff, you can’t actually believe that. It’s insane. And she’s been involved with a vampire this whole time? I think it’s pretty obvious what’s really going on.”

“Oh, is it?” Buffy asked tersely, her arms crossing over her chest. “Then why don’t you enlighten me, Xander?”

“She’s someone Spike’s got to play you. He’s probably thinking if he can convince you it’s not completely unheard of for an evil vampire and a Slayer to get groiny, then you’ll finally give him the time of day. But there’s no way that woman is who she claims to be.”

“You think Spike is…” Buffy couldn’t help her response.

She burst into laughter.

“Oh, wow,” Buffy said, wiping her eyes. “That may be the most illogical thing that has ever come out of your mouth, and you’ve had some real doozies over the years.”

“Spike is pretty desperate to get you, Buffy,” Willow said.

“You’re believing this, too, Willow?” Buffy asked. “Damn. You’re both just… Wow. Waaay off base.”

“You can’t just dismiss this, Buffy! Spike would do anything to get you!” Xander argued.

“No, he wouldn’t,” Buffy replied. “He doesn’t have to.”

Xander looked at her skeptically, her words making a kind of sense to him he didn’t want them making. “What do you mean by that, Buffy?”

“I mean Spike doesn’t have to come up with some elaborate plan – which, can I just say, is really not his style – just to try to trick me into being his girlfriend because I already am. His girlfriend.”

“Okay, Buff, that’s really not a funny joke,” Xander said.

“Yeah, not joking, Xander. Spike and I have been together since…” She stopped for a moment, trying to calculate when their relationship had started. Had it been after the “musical” when they’d first kissed? Had it been when they’d brought down the house? Had it been the night before when she’d finally professed her love? Or had it been…

“We’ve been together since I came back,” she said. “And it’s serious. Very serious. So deal.”

Xander gaped at her, his expression reminding Buffy of a guppy. She would’ve laughed again if he wasn’t pissing her off so much.

Willow was the first to speak. “Wow… I… Just wow. I knew you were having a hard time coping with everything, but I had no idea things were so bad for you that you had to turn to Spike for comfort.” She sat up a little taller. “We’ll do a better job at being here for you now. Xander and me both. You won’t have to go to Spike anymore.”

“Oh you have got to be freaking kidding me,” Buffy said. Were they always this dense?

She sighed in relief when the door opened and she was saved from the rampant stupidity by her little sister’s entrance. “Thank god, it’s Dawn,” she said, turning around.

Dawn stopped short right past the threshold. “Not that I don’t appreciate the enthusiastic greeting, but what’s up?” she asked Buffy.

“Xander and Willow are having some crazy time,” Buffy asked with an eyeroll, completely ignoring when Willow and Xander began to protest her comment. “But look at what I have.” She pulled the check from her pocket and presented it with a flourish. “I’m working for Anya now, getting nasty demon parts she can sell for money.”

“Go nasty demon parts,” Dawn said, her eyes fixated on the check.

“I know,” Buffy said. “I’m depositing this first thing Monday, and there will be more once Anya sells the stuff Isobel and I gave her this morning. Isobel’s going to help me find other sell-worthy bits as well.”

“And go Isobel, too,” Dawn said. She arched an eyebrow and looked from the check to her sister. “Although you still haven’t told me how she got from Dreamland to Sunnydale.”

“Dreamland?” Xander asked. “Where’s that? And how does Dawn know this Isobel person?”

“What’s up with him?” Dawn asked.

“He thinks Spike hired Isobel to tell me she’s a Slayer in love with a vampire so I’ll sleep with him,” Buffy replied.

Dawn had the same reaction as Buffy – hysterical laughter. “Seriously?”

“I know! Hilarious, right?”

“Totally.” Dawn sobered. “Wait, did you say Isobel’s in love with a vampire?”

“Um…yeah.”

Dawn lightly punched Buffy’s arm. “I knew you were hiding something from me there. Jerkface.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. But I got the message loud and clear and worked everything out with Spike.”

Dawn’s eyes grew wide. “Worked everything out as in…”

“Yep,” Buffy said, her smile bright.

“Omigod, that’s great!” Dawn screeched, throwing her arms around Buffy. “It’s completely and totally awesome!”

Xander stormed in from the living room then, officially at his breaking point. “No, it is not awesome,” he snapped. “Dawn, what your sister is doing is very wrong. And Spike is playing her.”

“Wow, look who’s the big ol’ hypocrite,” Dawn said, stepping away from Buffy to size up Xander. “And I don’t care what you say, I totally think this is awesome. Spike loves Buffy, and he’s been a lot of help to us. He and Tara took care of me this summer more than anyone else, and he fought right by your side, Xander. And seeing as you’re engaged to an ex-vengeance demon who’s probably killed way more people than Spike, you should really just shove a donut in it.”

Xander gaped, and Buffy had to say she was quite impressed with her sister. And it was nice to have someone else on her side in all of this.

“Dawnie!” Willow exclaimed, finally getting up from her seat. “That was rude!”

Buffy turned on her heel, her glare hard enough to make the redhead shrink back. “Oh don’t you dare.” She turned to Xander. “Okay, you need to go home. I’ve put up with this crap from you for the last time. You can come back when you stop thinking you know how to run my life better than I do, but until then, stay away from me.”

Xander started to protest, but Buffy ignored him completely and faced Willow again. “Same goes for you. This is my house. You’ve never paid a penny towards rent. So if you want to keep living here, you can keep your opinions about how I choose to live my life to yourself.”

“But Buffy…” Willow said, hurt clear on her face. “We’re your friends.”

“Friends support each other,” Buffy snapped. She looked back at her sister. “Come on. I say we celebrate our upward mobility with gratuitous amounts of ice cream. With me?”

“Can we take it over to Spike’s?”

Buffy smiled, thrilled that her sister was so okay with her newly-public relationship. And if Xander and Willow weren’t…

Well, she surprised herself by discovering she didn’t actually care.

“Sure,” Buffy replied. “I’m sure he’d like that.”

“He likes rocky road,” Dawn said.

“I know that,” Buffy replied. “He is my boyfriend, after all. Gotta know what kind of ice cream he likes.” Spike…boyfriend... Wow, she liked the sound of that…

“Just making sure,” Dawn replied as they walked out together, leaving Willow and Xander behind to stare, no idea of what to make of what had just happened.