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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and review my fic. I so appreciate it. reviews make my day.
I promise this story will get more exciting soon, I know i said in the beginning that it would be slow burn, but this has been barely smoking for a while! will get better soon, i promise! until then, thankyou for your continued support.
It was lucky that the death stare Buffy adopted at this news was aimed at Vix and not Spike, it would have dusted him in a second. Her voice belied her hard exterior, sounding horribly like a devastated child. “What are you talking about?”

She looked to Spike for confirmation or denial. She firmly hoped it would be denial. Big big definite denial. It wouldn’t hurt if he hit Vix too, just for good measure.

Spike looked at Vix with shifty eyes, he was right pissed off with the bint, but she had come to help him out of his current jam so it wouldn’t do to bite her head off. Literally. “To be fair sweet, you haven’t been my girlfriend for at least a couple of decades, and even then it was a pretty... casual arrangement.”

Vix gave Spike a forced smile, and said through gritted teeth, “It wasn’t that casual darling.”

Spike coughed and tried to sneakily pull his arm out from under the clamping grip of Vix. “Well, maybe this is a conversation we could save for another time, prehaps when we’re not in hell? Even though this is one of the nicer dimensions... no one’s tried to eat my entrails... yet, me an the slayer should be goin.”

Spike went to take Buffy’s arm but she dodged away from him. Hurt and general anger mingling on her face. Vix was clearly affronted, “Well. That’s fine then. I can take you now if you want to go.” She suddenly brightened. “I haven’t been to the human dimension since the last time we were there, do you remember Will? That big party in ‘78? It’ll be nice to visit some old haunts.”

Buffy found her voice and said, with more venom then was strictly necessary, “You don’t need to come back with us, I brought a spell, Spikes gonna open up a portal, you can stay here. In demon land.”

Vix smiled sweetly at Buffy, “I couldn’t possibly let you go to all the trouble of a spell, not when I can pop us back in a second. All you’d have to do is think of where you want to be, and presto!”


Spike took a resisting Buffy to the side a little, “Buffy luv, I can tell this isn’t gonna be what you want to hear, but we should take up the daft bints offer, you’ve been here for half an hour already, by the time we cast the spell it’ll be another half an hour, if the time difference between the dimensions is as long as you said your little pals will be startin to worry. How about we get back now, argue later?”

Buffy stared at him for long seconds. “Ok, lets go then”. By the tone of her voice Spike knew they would most definitely be arguing later.

Buffy had to hold Vix hand in order for her to teleport them back and couldn’t resist squeezing it as hard as she could. She felt a sadistic satisfaction at hearing a bone crack and Vix gasp in pain. Vix probably would have retaliated, but by then they were crossing dimensions sickeningly fast, and when they landed Buffy pulled her hand, and the rest of her body, away from clutchability distance.

Vix glared as she rubbed the already healing hand. “Really slayer, childish much?”

Buffy was all wide eyed innocence, “Sorry, did I hurt you? It’s all those slayer muscles, I just don’t know my own strength sometimes.”

Spikes mind immediately drifted to a place where all those slayer muscles were very well occupied...
As though she had known what he was thinking Buffy chose that moment to elbow him in the ribs. He was more than a little disgruntled at having to drag himself back to his currently less than pleasant reality, where he had two highly strung women expecting answers.

Buffy had quickly realised that though they were definitely in the same graveyard the portal spell had been cast from, Giles Willow and Xander were long gone. She couldn’t tell how much time had passed since they’d been there, but guessed that it was maybe a week or a little less. She sighed, they were probably mad with worry now, and it was quite a long walk to Giles', why oh why hadn’t she bought a cell phone already?

Vix was looking backward and forward between Spike and the slayer, neither of them were paying her any attention and she wasn’t very amused about it. “You’re welcome” she said pointedly.


Spike gave her a reluctant smile, “Thanks sweet, ‘preciate you doin that for us.” Vix beamed at him, and, very obviously, tugged downwards at her shimmery top, exposing even more of her impressive cleavage.

Spike quickly averted his gaze, though looking was damn tempting he had no wish to antagonise the slayer even more. “Uh, well, the slayer and I need to go see her watcher, let him know she’s all alive and I’m still undead and all that... Then we’d better go see her mum, make sure she hasn’t given up on Buffy and taken in some weird replacement stray...” Spike felt like a bloody prat for rambling on, but he wasn’t sure what else to do.


Vix interrupted, “So is that your not so much polite as blatantly obvious and kinda rude way of getting rid of me?”

Buffy grinned widely, “Pretty much. Buh bye now.”

Vix smiled sweetly back. “Ok then, I can take a hint.” She turned to Spike and put on her most seductive voice, “I’ll let you take care of your business tonight, and then we can have all of tomorrow for pleasure darling.”

Buffy took a step forward, her fisted hands rising up in readiness for some beating.

Spike jumped in before her, “Yeah, sure sweet, we’ll catch up tomorrow or something. Could go for a drink or summat. You know. As friends.”

Vix winked at him and said in a patronising tone, aimed at Buffy, “Oh sure. As friends. I’ll meet you at your place. See you then!” With a cheery wave she sashayed off into the night.

Buffy snorted. “Stupid demon girl, she forgot to ask where your place is.”

Spike wisely kept to himself that he was pretty sure Vix wouldn’t need directions to find him.


Once Vix was out of sight Buffy whirled on Spike. “I’m gonna check in with mom and Giles and then you and me are gonna have a talk Mr.” She started stomping off in the direction she assumed home was. Spike caught up with her, but stayed slightly back, opting to stay silent and watch the way her pert little ass wiggled in undisturbed peace for a bit.

She looked back at him suspiciously. “What are you doing?”
Spike smiled innocently. “I was just thinkin, you could always ring Giles instead of flouncing off to his place.”

Buffy glared at him, “Oh yeah! Of course, I should have thought of that. I should have rung him on my magical, invisible, non-existent phone!”

Spike’s eyebrows rose a little, “Or you could use mine?”

Buffy looked at the slim black cell phone he was holding out to her, spluttered for a bit, then snatched it and started dialling.

Spike couldn’t help his lip quirking upwards. “Know your pissed at me luv, but there’s no need to be so shirty.”

Buffy covered the mouth piece of the ringing phone and hissed, “Damn right I’m mad at you, and I’ll be shirty if I want to! I’ll be the shirty-ist!” her little tirade might have continued but just then Giles answered the phone. Spike could feel the older man’s relief in waves, Buffy had to reassure him more than once that all her limbs were in place, and though she had seemed to have acquired more of a tan she was otherwise unaffected by her time in hell. With a dark look at Spike she told Giles the mission had been a success, in that Spike was back and, for the moment, unharmed. He didn’t want to ask what the implied threat meant. Buffy asked briefly after the others, and was relieved, and a little surprised, that her mom had believed she was on a ‘special slayer retreat’ all this time and hadn’t been too worried. Seeing as how she hadn’t told her mom this, and hadn’t taken any clothes with her when she left the house Buffy figured Joyce had just been happy in denial land, reasoning that if she didn’t think her daughter was in danger then she wouldn’t be. Buffy assured Giles that she was just going to do a quick patrol, and make sure no nasties had taken advantage of her absence, then head home. She promised she’d pop by in the morning and fill him in on all the details. Just before she hung up she stepped a little away from Spike and whispered something down the phone.


Spike, grateful for his vampire hearing, couldn’t help but chuckle as he heard her ask,

“Giles, what does shirty mean?”



Buffy said her goodbyes, chucked Spikes phone at his head and stalked off. Knowing he’d follow she called over her shoulder, “For the record I could be a lot more shirty if I wanted.”


They walked in silence for a bit. Just when things were starting to be uncomfortably tense Spike spoke up,
“Look slayer, about Vix, we used to run in the same circles, got introduced by a demon pal of mine back in the 20’s. We’re mates more than anythin. We tried the whole couple thing an it didn’t work too well, Vix is the jealous type see, so we became just mates who-“


“Occasionally sleep together? Possibly in uniforms of some kind?” Buffy’s sarcastic tone didn’t hide the hurt.

“For god sake pet! I’m a bloke for crying out loud, and half vampire to boot. I’m not gonna lie and say I’ve never been with her, but I haven’t been with her for years, so I don’t see what the problem is.”

“She said she was your girlfriend.”


“Yeah, well I said she’s the jealous type, and bloody possessive an all, but it’s pretty hard to be in a relationship with someone you haven’t seen for twenty years. She’s a friend, and she’s been a good friend to me. She’s helped me out over the years-“

Buffy snorted but Spike chose to ignore it and plough on, “An I don’t really see what the problem is. I found myself stuck in a hell dimension, figured I’d better get back to you- to Sunnyhell- right quick, and I knew she’d be able to sort it for me so I looked her up.”

Buffy refused to look at him and he growled with frustration, “What’s the bloody problem? It’s not as if you and me- we- you know, were just- and you have the big ol pile of hair gel for company anyway, and I just don’t get it!”

Buffy could kind of see his point. It wasn’t as if she and Spike were a couple, or anything like. Occasional little fantasies did not a relationship make. She still had feelings for Angel, despite what he had done and all she had found him to be. She had no right to question who Spike might have been with, especially when it was with someone he’d known since the time her grandparents were born. She was still hurt though. Really hurt. But she realised examining the source of that hurt was probably not the best idea at the moment, she still had other questions she wanted answered.

She had her arms crossed tightly over her chest, but she let them drop so that one was gently brushing against Spikes when they moved. He barely grazed her hand with his own and through the rush of dizzying blood to her head at the skin to skin contact Buffy knew that this particular little disagreement was forgotten. So she decided to start another one up right away.

“How come you never told me you’re mated to Drusilla?”

Spike didn’t seem surprised by the statement, but did pull his hands into the pockets of his duster. His voice was hard to read as he said, “So, the great poofs been talkin then? Wondered what he’d say about me. Pretty sure it wasn’t good”.

Buffy shook her head, “He didn’t want to tell me anything about you, about the past you guys have, but I didn’t give him a choice. I said he had to tell me everything, or I’d finish running that sword through his chest.”

Spike stopped abruptly, and raised a speculative eyebrow, “Huh, s’that right? Suppose it’d be wishful thinkin to ask if he’s just a broodin pile of dust now?”

Buffy gave him a small smile, “He told me everything, and I think he was pretty honest about it. At least, I couldn’t have been anymore disgusted by him when he finished. I haven’t- I haven’t actually seen him since. I’m not sure whether I want to. I know it wasn’t him who treated you so...I guess badly is like a massive understatement. I know it was Angelus, and not the man, vampire I loved, but I still don’t know if I could look at him the same way.”

Spike considered saying something about Angels two personas not being as separate as he claimed, but seeing that tears had gathered in Buffy’s eyes he decided to let it go for now. She’d been through enough heartbreak.

“If he told you everythin pet, then you can probably understand why I wasn’t doin cartwheels over the idea of tellin you myself? It might have been a lifetime ago, but some things are still too hard to talk about.”

Buffy nodded. “But that doesn’t explain why you didn’t tell me about you and she-of-the-unbalanced-mind-and-wacked-out-doll-fixation.”

Spike smirked at her description before giving a heavy sigh. Without warning he suddenly dropped to the grass beneath their feet, lying on his back, with his head propped up on his arms. He didn’t answer, but looked at the stars.

Without needing to think about it, other than hoping she didn’t get grass stains on her coat, Buffy lay beside him.
They lay like that for a while, Spike occasionally pointing out star formations and giving them ridiculous or dirty names. Just when Buffy had given up hoping for an answer he said,

“When I was younger I didn’t know much about who I was. What I was. I was half human, half vamp, part slayer. But my mum was dead, I didn’t have any one to turn to except vamps for answers and support.” He scoffed, “not that I got a lot of support but still. I didn’t know anythin about vampire customs or ways other then what they told me. I didn’t really know what claimin another vamp entailed til Dru claimed me. When I did understand though I wasn’t sorry for it. It was almost nice, the idea of belongin to someone forever an all that. Dru was a fruit loop, sure, but she was my fruit loop. Well, I thought so anyway, til I realised she'd always be daddy’s little nutcase”

Buffy’s heart felt heavy as she asked, “So, I’m assuming you didn’t dust her that night. Seeing that you belong to her forever?”

“I don’t anymore.” Spike rolled on his side so that he could look at Buffy directly. She suppressed a shudder at the intensity of his gaze. “I didn’t dust her slayer. I could have done, should have done no doubt, but I didn’t. I don’t love her anymore but I can’t kill her either. I broke the claim though, so I don’t think she’ll be back for me again.”

Buffy tried to not sound hopeful. “You broke the claim? I thought they were like totally unbreakable things? Like a always and forever kinda dealy?”

“They are, usually, but they have to be renewed pretty regular to stay strong, and we hadn’t renewed ours in a hundred years. And I’d looked into how you break them, it’s somethin I’ve wanted to do for a long time.”

Buffy let out the breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding and couldn’t think of anything better to say then, “Oh. Good.”

“So we all good slayer?”

Despite the fact she really had no reason to be, she was still annoyed with him, particularly when she thought of the skanky ho bag that was Vix, but when he smiled at her, in that crooked way he did, she was able to shelve the annoyance and enjoy properly, for the first time since she found him in hell, that she had him back.

“Yeah. We’re good.”

Spike rose gracefully to his feet and extended her a hand. She took it and the accompanying headrush had nothing whatsoever with being pulled upright. Spike leaned in close to her, and brushed her hair behind her ear. Instead of letting go right away he played with the lock, twisting it round his finger. Buffy felt the heat rise in her face, spreading throughout her body, against her will her breath started coming out in shallow pants.
When Spike spoke next his usual, playful tone had all but vanished, leaving something raw in its wake. “I should have said before pet, thank you for coming to rescue me. It was a damn stupid thing to do, puttin yourself in danger like that, and me an Rupes will be havin serious words about his part in it, but thank you, all the same.”

Despite the delightful butterflies that were tumbling all round her stomach Buffy managed to sound sulky as she replied, “Not that you needed my help. I should have realised the saviour of slayers wouldn’t need to be saved. By me anyway. Skanky red headed ho’s with bad bangs on the other hand-“

Spike silenced her by running the finger that had been playing in her hair along her jaw, sliding up to brush lips that were suddenly desperate for his touch. “I might not have needed saving luv, but it felt good to be saved by my slayer, all the same.”

Buffy’s voice was suddenly husky. “Well, it was the least I could do, after what you did for me. You could have let me kill Angel, after what he did to you I’m surprised you didn’t.”

Spike’s eyes seemed to glow, the emotions in them ebbing and flowing like moonlight playing on the sea. “Couldn’t let you do that luv. Not cos I give a fig about captain forehead, cos I really really don’t, but I’d never want you to have to do something that would make you hurt like that.”

Spikes hand was cupping Buffy’s face now and she leaned into his sublime touch, “And yet you let me watch you get sucked to hell. Stupid vampire.”

The surprise on Spikes face was evident. He tilted his head to one side, and dared moving just a little closer to her. Buffy’s body responded immediately, and with a violence she’d never experienced. Her heart, which had already been beating rapidly, went into overdrive, while she flushed with an intense heat that seemed to be growing in the pit of her stomach. Her mouth went dry and it was only with a force of will that she managed to stop herself lunging for him.

Her hand shot out to grab his side, and then-

A scream rent the air in two.


Spike pulled away and turned in the direction of the noise, whilst silently cursing in every language he knew.

Buffy was shaking with suppressed emotion and disappointment. “What is it now?”

Spike turned to her with a grin. “Vamps, about five of them, up ahead. Fancy doin a bit of killin then pet?”

Buffy made expressive eyes, “I could definitely do with an energy release about now.”

Spike leered and stuck his tongue out at her, “A spot of violence will have to do for tonight slayer, first one there gets dibs on the ‘nasties’!

Spike ran off, and with a very disgruntled sigh, his slayer ran after him.





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