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Author's Chapter Notes:
wow this is the quickest I've had another update in a while. Hope you all enjoy. Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter and hope this is along the lines of what you were expecting. Thanks for all of your supportive comments about this fic and how it's getting there too. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it. Thanks again.
Stepping back onto the quiet streets Buffy knew immediately that something was different. Not the good kind of different either.

At first it was just barely a tingle along her spine almost easy to dismiss as the vampire by her side. Unfortunately all the time that they had spent together last year had made one thing certain. She could recognise Spike's vamp signature anywhere.

Letting out a deep breath she paused as soon as they reached the center of the street watching the predator that was next to her suddenly stiffen. She knew he could sense the others too and she wondered just how big a mess she was really in. Suppressing the urge to walk over and punch him in the nose for getting her into this mess in the first place she watched as the group of vamps materialized out of the shadows.

"Lenny it's been a long time." The snide drawl from the blond on her left drew her attention away from the others.

"Not nearly long enough. You should have stayed gone."

"You know this guy?" Why oh why was she surprised? She knew better really she did.

"This prick used to be on my payroll."

The irritation in his voice would have been humorous if the situation wasn't so dire. And dire it was. There were too many of them for just the two of them to take on. More than she was willing to fight.

"So now that the two of you have caught up can we get going. We have to go do that thing now." The need to get out of this mess was clawing at her insides and she was determined not to let the other vampires know about the situation with her and Spike. Who knows how they would use that to their advantage.

Spike gave her an expression that clearly said she was nuts.

As the group advanced on them Buffy rolled her eyes.

"Our beefs with him you can walk away."

She took in the large group of vamps before looking back at Spike for a moment. In that brief flash of time she seriously considered the idea. It was his deal after all and wasn't she just tired of saving his ass.

It was only a moment though before she took in his slightly unsteady stance and his haggard eyes before she knew. Knew that she wasn't just going to abandon him to his fate. It would be a slaughter if she left at least they had a small chance together.

"Sorry we're kind of a package deal at the moment." She shrugged at Lenny before dropping and kicking the vamps legs out from under him.

And so the fight started. There were too many of them for her to track everything that was happening so her world narrowed to the next kick or punch. Everything was used around them and the violence ranged up and down the street before she could feel the tide turn with their greater numbers.

Spike was starting to really enjoy himself. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been in a good fight and this had all the earmarks of one of his better brawls. Heavily stacked odds and just fist and fangs. Yeah a bloke could get used to this.

Which is why he almost missed the shout from the Slayer as she made it to the front of the empty store.

Buffy watched as Spike ran over to her and together they ran through the door before Spike slammed it shut. Glancing quickly over to the window they moved to a bookcase and pushed it in front of the shop window. The weak barricade in place she tried not to concentrate on the banging coming from the front of the building before her eyes sweep around to the wooden chair behind the counter. In seconds it's in broken pieces making cheap but needed stakes.

There wasn't time for thought or to question herself as she automatically gave Spike his own stake. Instead she stared hard at the vibrating door in the back of the store knowing that they were moments away from another deadly encounter.

For Spike there wasn't anything better than this. He was ready and waiting for them to break down the last of their barricades if only to lose himself once more in the rhythm of the fight. It was what he unlived for. Why he sought to fight Slayers.

It was the rush of not knowing if he was going to walk away but knowing that he gave everything he had during the dance.

Yeah it was the best part.

Together they attacked the first few through the door as one. They were separated quickly of course but she could hear him shouting at the vampire he was facing as she fought the two that had followed her to a corner of the shop.

Spike was enjoying bashing Lenny's face in. How dare he accuse him of being soft. Spike was anything but soft. And proving it to Lenny was only the first step. He lost track of how many times Lenny's head hit the table but each time the solid thunk of the minions skull echoed back to him he couldn't help but grin. Damn but if this wasn't the best time he'd had in longer than he could remember.

This this is what he had been missing since he'd been stuck in that wheelchair by the Slayer. The simple thrill of the fight where nothing mattered but the dance. Some how in the dark times that marked Angelus' return and him finding Dru with that drippy demon he had forgotten.

Buffy couldn't help the slight bit of panic she felt as she dusted the second of her attackers. It was in that one moment where the chaos was calm enough for her to take in her surroundings that she saw the bookcase about to topple and let in countless other vamps. Looking around frantically she spotted a display full of bottles of holy water and sent a little thank you upwards.

You couldn't be to careful with that kind of thing.

Breaking the display case she grabbed an armful of the bottles keeping one in her right hand. Now that she stood still she noticed one tiny problem with her plan. There was an obstacle between her and the demons now entering the shop.

"Spike get down!" Her yell preceded the toss of one of the little glass bombs and it shattered against the closest vampire. Well closest one she was trying to kill at the moment of course.

He didn't stop to think as the shout carried over the sound of the vampire dusting from his stake. Instead he dropped like a stone finding shelter under an overturned table. He couldn't help the smirk on his face as he watched the others start to retreat in agony from the burns they were suffering. As they climbed very ungracefully back over the impromptu barricade he couldn't help the laugh that erupted from him.

Buffy walked over to where she had last seen Spike to see what was so goddamn funny. The whole bizarre thing had finally gotten on her last nerve and she just wanted to get her friends back home before she climbed into her own bed and slept for like a week. Maybe two.

The thought was enough to bring a brief yet wistful smile to her face. If only life were that simple. To be able to hide from the world and recover her equilibrium from the rampaging form of destruction the peroxide blond laughing away brought with him. A moment of peace where even her friends didn't intrude where there was no overbearing former love to keep her off balance.

Of course none of that would happen for her in this lifetime. Instead she patiently stood behind the crouched figure as he shook from his expression of emotion she neither knew nor at this moment wanted to understand. No matter the way she felt no matter the way she did understand him the time for him to leave was now. If he wanted to get back to his Sire then it was time for her to hurry him on his way. If only it meant she had one less figure around that would take all of her mental energy to puzzle out.

Finally he could feel himself gaining a bit of control over his mirth and for the first time in days he felt like the Spike he was. The pain of his love's rejection was now tempered with the thought that soon he was going to have her back.

He knew that the Slayer was standing behind him and yet he rose to his feet fluidly in no hurry just because she was there. He was just a bit high with the adrenaline coursing through his body in long dead veins to even worry about her presence. And it wasn't like she had been a real threat to him the whole time they had been traipsing around town. No the silly bint was still helping him.

And somewhere in a foreign part of himself where he usually buried things he didn't or couldn't understand he felt just the tiniest bit grateful. It wasn't just the fact that she had followed his little goose chase tonight although he had to give her points for not staking his ass on several occasions but for something else all together.

Tonight it felt like she had helped him find himself once again. That the mopey and sniveling wreck she had found in her mother's kitchen was finally at last behind him as though it was a remnant of his poncy human days. Yes he was love's bitch it was true but he still had some control over his own destiny and he was going to make damn sure Dru understood that.

Everything he'd done in the last few months from the moment he left the Slayer fighting Angelus till now had been all wrong. It wasn't the love sick fool that Dru wanted. He'd known that hadn't she taught him to be the demon he'd become? Hadn't she shown him it was his darkness and brutality she craved? The Slayer had been right after all.

He wasn't going to win his Dru back by being sad and lonely. By letting her destroy him. No she wanted him to fight back. To give as good as he got and by all that was unholy that was what she was going to get.

He looked into the clear green eyes of the girl who was not only his mortal enemy but in some ways much like his Dru before had become his savior. He'd come to her broken now more than once and each time she had pieced him back together before setting him free once again. It didn't matter to him that she was the Slayer in this moment because it was her humanity that he saw.

Buffy stared into his blue eyes, eyes she knew could see down to her depths and watched the subtle sparks of joy that infused his gaze. His laughter aside he seemed different to her than he had been all night and wondered briefly about the change before squishing the thought out of her mind. It was time for her to get her friends.

"So are we going to go do this now or what?" The tone she wished had been harsh came out instead melded with the curiosity she desperately didn't want to feel. The detached emotional distance she wanted to hide behind kept failing her. The being in front of her stirred a confusion in her soul and she couldn't help but want to piece it together and say look this is Spike this is who this being is.

But whether by design or accident he kept doing things that never let that happen. Maybe that was why she hadn't staked him or let him die in that fire. Maybe it was why she nursed him back to health or stood her ground by his side tonight. At any rate her fascination into what made him tick was getting the better of her.

With clear eyes he could see that she was fighting some inner struggle. And while he was a bit curious about it he didn't have time to wait. No he had things he needed to do and a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of time.

Still the night they had just shared meant something to him. Something he might deny to everyone himself included but it did mean something.

"Forget the spell Slayer. Your chums are at the factory." He's a little distracted watching the burning ember of anger enter her green eyes.

Okay before the evening had been a bit surreal but listening to him tell her that Xander and Willow were not in any danger and exactly where she thought they would be sent a frisson of anger rattling through her core. Still she held herself in check waiting to see what he would do now.

"I'm glad I came here. You showed me that I've been going about this all wrong. You were right Dru doesn't want me all sniveling and broody she could have Peaches for that. Nope for Dru I've just got to be the demon she wants me to be. I'm gonna find her tie her up and torture her until she loves me again."

So she knew that she was gaping like a fish but she couldn't help it. He was definitely just as insane as his Sire.

"Got to hand it to you pet you sure how know how to show a vamp a good time."

That did it what the hell did he think he was doing? More than that who the hell did he think he was talking to?

"Oh I haven't even begun to show you a good time Spike." Okay so it took a bit much for her to ignore the obvious innuendo there but dammit she was denial girl. She would and she did.

The stake in her hand kept him from the full out comments that he wanted to make so he settled on something not so bold.

He curled his tongue behind his teeth and waggled his brow at her.

"Maybe not pet but I'm sure you could." He dropped the look and stepped closer to her once again. "Don't really have time for that right now though. Tell Peaches I still hate his guts won't you."

He was just a little too close. The whole invading her space thing just creeped her out and was what was sending chills up her spine. She couldn't fault him of course for taking her words and running with them as they were but she fought hard to repress the smile she felt coming at Angel's expense.

"I really don't think he needs to hear it to believe that Spike."

Her quiet reply made him chuckle and he relaxed just a bit as her grip became a little looser on her stake. He wasn't really worried about her ending him any more at least not tonight but he wasn't crazy enough to think she wouldn't hurt him if she got angry enough.

And while she knew that this was goodbye she was just a little sad to see him go. Not that that made any sense but it was still true.

They stared at each other for a moment knowing that usually this was where they would be making with the typical death threat. The silence hovered between them though neither wanting to use words that there was just no feeling behind at this time.

Not that it would last forever or even the next day but right now Buffy knew that Spike didn't want her dead just as much as she didn't want him dead.

So the little bit of gratitude he felt before was almost blindsiding him now. The little girl in front of him who very soon was going to be a full fledged woman was someone he knew he wasn't ever going to meet the likes of again. Part of him was glad that he hadn't been able to kill her that time last year now that he had gotten a small glimpse of her inner self. Other parts of him well they were quiet at least for now. He was still too surprised that she had helped him reach this understanding about himself to listen to the parts of him that screamed that she was the Slayer and that she needed to be drenched in blood and suffering at his hands.

No tonight in a very large way that he again would not admit to anyone had shown him that he didn't need to give up who he was to love his dark goddess and also gave him the way to win her back.

There was also the part of him that had relished fighting beside her watching her as she choose to stand beside him.

That was something he had rarely been granted in either of his lives.

This time they both began to move away from each other without a word and Buffy swallowed the weird lump in her throat as she watched him move towards the door.

"Spike."

He turned to the sound of her voice entranced by the quiet of her tone. The look in her eyes showed to many emotions for him to understand but he was helpless to stop and stare.

"Good luck with Drusilla. I hope you two are happy." She still didn't understand why the words sent a small pang to her heart unless it was to know that demon or not there was no way anyone was going to love her quite the way Spike loved his Sire.

The quiet genuine words did more to him then he could grasp and he knew in that instant if the Slayer was just some random girl he wouldn't think twice about letting her live. He'd rarely been privy to someone who looked on him with some measure of worth that thought of his well being. If she wasn't a Slayer he would be tempted with the idea of turning her just to have someone who looked at him like he mattered.

Unfortunately he knew about turnings and what they did to people like her. Wasn't his mum proof enough? And besides she was the Slayer that was the whole point wasn't it?

Things between them weren't natural at all.

But the words oh how could he stop himself.

"Oh sod it." The word were out of his mouth just as he finished walking back towards the woman there.

Buffy tensed as his arms wrapped around her the confusion in his actions making her question reality. After a second she felt her arms as though they had a mind all their own return his embrace and her muscles started to soften.

When he felt her arms around him Spike took a deep breath and exhaled knowing that this was so wrong it bordered on a cosmic scale of bad. He couldn't care less for just that brief flash of time.

Leaning down he let his mouth brush her ear before he whispered.

"Thank you Buffy."

In a second it was all gone and Buffy watched his back as he strode out of the shop back into the night. Trying not to think about how she'd felt in his arms.





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