Disclaimer: Joss owns the characters of BTVS. I am not making any money off of this fic. Please don't sue me.

Challenge details at the end.

by Jackofspikes

Chapter 7.

"Spike, much as it pains me to admit it, I am embarrassed to say, Buffy is right: I have not given you the credit you deserve, and I fear that I may have made you suffer with my misplaced aggression. I do recognize that you have changed. And in all honesty I can say you have made remarkable strides, with absolutely no help from anyone. Please forgive me for not recognizing your quite wonderful achievements before now." Giles earnestly told the Vampire.

"Can't say as I blame ya' Rupes, I can be a bit of a bastard at times." Was Spike's, self-depreciating but friendly, response.

"O.K. people, enough with the love fest, let's get back to the important stuff...like say, kicking Angel's lying butt!" Was the typical Cordy comment. "I'll give him 'no of course not, what do you take me for', damn Vampire will probably expect me to play mom."

Amused by Cordy's continued mumbled grumbling, Wes was reluctant to change the room's mood, but his question burned to be asked. "Was what we have discussed, the only reason you didn't want Angel here Buffy?" Her reaction to his question left him with the amused thought; 'So that's what a deer trapped in headlights looks like'.

"Buffy?" Giles gently urged her on.

"Oh crap!...Do I have to Giles?" Buffy whined to her Watcher.

"Yes dear, I really think you should." He replied, gently.

"Well fine." She spat out, petulantly. Pointing at Spike she continued to look directly at her Watcher. "But if he gets pissed at me, it is sooo your fault, Giles." Sharing a look of amusement, both men turned their gazes back to the agitated girl.

"This is really hard to explain, so please bear with me, O.K.?... Apparently, every time a dimension goes mostly good or mostly bad, the Powers create a copy dimension to balance things out. In this case, the dimension went mostly bad, so a new dimension was created. It's made as an exact copy of the original dimension, but only up until the event that started the imbalance." She started.

"Willow's Spell," Giles clarified.

"No, it was the moment her spell succeeded that started the problem. In my time, the final end of balance came because of Angel's war against Wolfram and Hart's senior partners. When Angel took them on and lost, the world was completely over taken with demons. The black hats won the brass ring."

"So the Powers-that-be created this dimension, to act as a counter balance?" Wesley asked.

"Exactly. But for it to actually balance things out and become mostly good, they had to upgrade me and send me to the creation point of this dimension. With the upgrades we can banish the First, Wolfram and Hart, and pretty much any other serious evil from this dimension. The problem is, I can't access those upgrades yet, but when I do – Angel's gonna pretty much loose it."

"So when will you be able to access the ...ah, upgrades, Buffy?" Giles queried.

"That's up to Spike." It was his turn to look like a deer caught in headlights.

"The Powers chose Spike?" Giles asked intently.

"Well...um...no...I did, but they agreed. They really like him." Buffy admitted grinning.

"What exactly am I meant to do, Slayer?" Spike ground out.

"Dawn...sit on Spike" Dawn quickly followed her sister's direction. Amazing everyone with her speed. The usually clumsy teen moved with unusual grace for once.

"Slayer?!" Spike snarled, unable to dislodge the younger Summers sister without hurting her, he was forced to remain seated.

"Umm...You have to take me as your mate." Buffy whispered.

Doing an excellent impression of a fish out of water, it was clear Spike had heard her.

"I think you broke Spike, Buffy" concluded, an amused Dawn.

"I think you broke Giles too." Tara commented, chuckling.

"Oh yeah...Angel's gonna be pissed." Cordy said with malicious glee.

"Lorne? Could you grab the scotch and a couple of glasses, please? It's just in that cabinet in the dining room there." Buffy asked the amused Pylian.

Giles quickly emptied the offered glass and indicated the need for an immediate refill. Spike, on the other hand, ignored the offered glass and grabbed the bottle.

"Right then. So what you are telling me, Buffy, is that the Powers That Be sanctioned your mating with a soulless demon? No offence intended Spike."

"None taken, Rupert."

"We balance each other, Giles" Buffy replied with certainty.

"Don't I get any say in the matter, Slayer?" Spike asked indignantly.

"Pfff...oh please. Like you don't want it. You're only pissed 'cause William wants to be the one asking...well news flash William...you already did! And I still have the ring to prove it. And...and...and you paid off the mortgage so the whole dowry thing's taken care of. You have nothing to complain about. Tell him Giles." Buffy went from Slayer to spoilt child in two seconds flat.

"Dowry?" Giles asked, shocked.

"Have you perhaps considered, in your infinite blondness; that I may not be happy tying myself, for all eternity, to someone who doesn't love me?" Spike spat out in cutting clarity, his accent far more reminiscent of Giles than his usual speech patterns.

"Who said I don't love you?! Of COURSE I love you, you bleached moron? Why else would I choose you in the first place?" Buffy yelled indignantly.

"You're bloody' kiddin' me Slayer! You chose to tell me that, for first time; the first bloody time, Buffy: in a room full of people and with your bloody sister sitting on me so I can't move. Can't get to you. Can't kiss you. After waiting a bloody year for you to get your head out of your arse and realise what I've been telling you along. ARE YOU BLOODY CRAZY WOMAN??!!??" He bellowed at her furiously.

Every person in the room froze at his tirade. "Nibblet?" Dawn moved off him. Standing slowly, the Predator made his way over to the Slayer. Grabbing the surprised girl and throwing her over his shoulder, Spike angrily stalked towards the basement. "Entertain yourselves people. The little woman and I are gonna have us a little chat."