Disclaimer: Didn't create the characters, but i treat most of them better than Joss...so don't complain...I'm not making any money out of this so please don't sue me.

Beta'd by AtheneHahn, with special thanks to Maryperk for her advice and help.

by Jackofspikes

Chapter 29

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Spike raised an eyebrow as he leaned back to study the playful girl before joining in on the game. "Can't say I've had that pleasure, but I think I almost met her during our engagement, pet."

"You know," Buffy said, batting her eyelashes innocently. "Now that I think about it, we never did break off our engagement."

"You never did give me back my ring." Spike agreed, smirking. "That, of course means that you've been cheating on me for the past year and are in desperate need of punishment."

"Oh, and I suppose Harmony the ho was a figment of my imagination?" Buffy snarked back, without losing a beat.

Spike rolled his eyes and then shook his head in self deprecation as he gave a quiet chuckle. "I wish the bint was a figment of mine."

"What's the matter, Spikey? Didn't you enjoy her company?" Buffy teased, pouting in sympathy. She knew exactly what effect the patented Summer's pout would have on him.

His eyes focused on her protruding bottom lip. Lifting a finger, he lightly rubbed it as he absentmindedly answered her questions, "A vacuum cleaner would have given me more intelligent conversation, been quieter, sucked less air out of the room, and I wouldn't have had to put up with all those soddin' unicorns."

Capturing his exploring finger in her teeth, Buffy daintily caressed it with her tongue. His approving growl encouraged her to softly suck on the ensnared digit.

Spike bumped his injured right hand on the edge of the sarcophagus as he lifted it towards her head and was immediately overcome by black billowing waves of dizziness. His last conscious thought before the darkness took hold was 'Well, isn't this bloody typical!'

~*~*~

"Willow, c...can we talk?" Tara nervously asked.

"Sure, sweetie. What's up?" Willow replied with gentle assurance.

Tara took a seat next to Willow on their large double bed. Her nerves were getting to her, but she needed to do this. She wanted to tell Willow the truth. She had to discuss what she'd discovered with somebody else. She knew she had no reason to feel guilty, but that didn't seem to stop the emotion from threatening to overwhelm her. She'd kept this secret from her lover for almost a week now, the thought of finally telling Willow had her scared and yet elated at the same time.

Tara took a deep breath. "After my family left, my aunts sent me a box that had belonged to my mother," she spoke softly, her tone as gentle as the girl herself. "I received it about two weeks ago. When I went through it, I found a letter from my m...mother."

Willow reached for Tara's hand, silently urging the girl to continue.

"The letter was to me. She wrote that she'd written the letter in hope that I would someday find the strength to leave home and my father's influence." Tara paused, her memories of her loving and gently guiding mother bringing with them a fresh wave of grief.

Willow gave her hand a quick and encouraging squeeze. "And you did, baby. She would have been so proud of you."

Sending her love an appreciative smile, Tara continued, "Her letter told me that there were some things that she had kept from me and that now that I wasn't under Dad's influence anymore, it was important for me to know the truth. She left me a key and the details to a safety deposit box in Los Angeles. That's were I went last week, when I was out all day."

"What did you find?" Willow quietly asked. She could see how difficult this conversation was for her girlfriend. She honestly didn't care about Tara keeping this from her. She just wanted the sweet woman that she loved to be able to get what ever it was that she felt burdened with off her chest. Willow's first concern was Tara.

"A notebook," Tara replied. Standing and moving to her night table, she silently removed the small notebook from the drawer, walked back to Willow and handed her the book. "You need to read it, Will."

Willow automatically reached for the small hand written tome as she kept her curious gaze on her lover. Tara said nothing more, just nodding at the object in Willow's hands, silently encouraging her to read. Willow looked down at the innocent looking book and opened it. The first paragraph and the mention of her best friend grabbed Willow's immediate attention.

~*~*~

Xander took in the scene before him. Spike was unconscious on the floor of the crypt, His head resting in Buffy's lap. Buffy was clearly distressed. Tears were streaming from her eyes, unchecked. Xander's accusation was spoken before he had time to think. "What did you do?"

"I broke his hand and then he fought with it and ... oh Xander... I'm bad girlfriend Buffy!" she sobbed brokenly.

Looking down at the hand in question, Xander was horrified to see that it had swollen to twice its normal size and was almost black in colour.

Wasting no time, Xander took charge. "Can you lift him so we can move him to the car? We need to get him back to my place. I've already called Willow and Giles. He's picking up the girls and taking them to the shop so they can get supplies. I want Spike settled before they get there."

Xander's quick and decisive actions seemed to break through her fog of self-recrimination. Carefully, Buffy lifted Spike's head so that she could move out from under him. She gently shifted his injured right hand so that it would be cradled in his lap as she held him like a babe in arms. Effortlessly, she lifted Spike while Xander supported his head until she had him positioned comfortably in her arms. Xander gingerly set Spike's head to rest on her shoulder before he ushered the two out of the crypt to his waiting car.

The drive back to his apartment was uneventful, but Xander's concern for his friend increased with every minute he remained unconscious. Xander hadn't even realised until he saw the unconscious vampire how much the friendship between them had come to mean to him in such a short time. He really wanted Spike to wake up. Soon.

By the time Willow, Tara and Giles arrived, Xander had Anya packing blood packs in the freezer, Buffy's lap posing as Spike's pillow, and the Slayer under strict orders not to move while he checked and rechecked every window in the apartment to make sure that they were completely covered. Willow's gasp at the sight of Spike's injury upgraded Xander's concern from high alert to code red.

"Oh, Goddess, he never said a word," Willow whispered in awe.

"He fought with this injury?" Giles asked incredulously. Had he not seen the combat himself, Giles doubted he would have believed it possible for anyone to perform as admirably in a fight as Spike had with such a large handicap. The vampire continued to amaze the watcher.

Buffy ignored everyone. She gently stroked her boyfriend's face and silently pleaded with him to wake up.

"Shouldn't we try a healing spell?" Willow asked, concerned

"No," Xander answered her in a tone that brooked no argument. "Just the stuff you did for him yesterday. He hates magic. He wouldn't want it."

Willow was a little put out that her suggestion had been completely vetoed by her long time friend. It was only a little spell, and really, even if he didn't like magic, a healing spell was for his own good so he shouldn't complain. If Xander such a good friend to the vampire then he should be happy to try something that could help him. She was only trying to help.

"He needs blood more than a healing spell," Anya bluntly informed them all.

"How do we get him to drink while he's unconscious?" Tara asked. Her concern for the vampire left her without her usual stutter.

"Blood!" Xander excitedly exclaimed. The answering blank stares forced him to elaborate. "Buffy's blood, I mean. Wouldn't a little slayer treat wake him up so he could drink some of the stuff we got him?"

"Alexander Lavelle Harris! Are you suggesting Buffy willingly offer her blood to a vampire?" Anya looked beyond shocked.

"Only that one," Xander burst out defensively.

"I'm so proud of you!" the ex vengeance demon cried excitedly as she threw herself into his arms.