This is the second in a new Spike & Cerberus (And now Buffy & Scooby Gang) series called "Watchdogs". If you didn't read the ORIGINAL Spike & Cerberus series... do so. It wont make any sense otherwise...

Spike smiled as he tossed the pint of Grape Ice triumphantly into the air, and caught it. Then a few drops of water hit him on the head, telling him the rain was finally coming, and he tucked his treasure into his coat. Dawn had told him once that it was her favorite flavor of sherbet, but they never seemed to make it anymore. So Spike visited an old man who ran an ice cream parlor, and the man had assured him he was familiar with the flavour, and could make it. It would be a nice surprise for the Nibblet, who'd just gotten back her report card with all "A"'s and "B"'s, no small feat for a Slayer-in-waiting.

Cerberus was enjoying the night air and the chance to stretch his legs. He'd spent all day hunched over a pile of books. Spike was pleased with how well the dog was progressing, but felt offering the dog a "treat" for a job well done would insult the dog's intelligence. Yet the vampman wouldn't hesitate to give a treat to the human girl. The irony was not lost on the canine. But he wouldn't beg; he wasn't some ordinary dog, after all.

The sweet night air the vampdog had been filtering through his nose suddenly turned sour. He felt Spike tense and knew his friend smelled it too. Fear was a rancid smell just as it was; add cheap beer, cigarettes, and Poachen demons to it, and it was downright disgusting. He never understood why Spike seemed to enjoy the smell of beer and cigarettes, although he suspected it was the "Pavlov's Dog" scenario (he'd just read about it that morning), where a subject could be trained to react a certain way to stimulus via repetition and expectation. Those smells could almost always be associated with a fight, and there was little Spike liked more. Through their bond, Cerberus found himself salivating in anticipation that was not even his own.

They followed their noses down a sidestreet, where they found a couple of teenage girls being harassed by a handful of half-drunk monsters. Grinning with his game-face, Spike plopped the pint down on a trash can lid. The sound drew the attention of one of the thugs. The sight of a vampire wasn't frightening to the Poachen, but it did manage to elicit another scream from one of the girls they had surrounded.

To fend off the vamps, the demons had to let their prey go. Spike didn't notice at first, his attention on the Paochen, but only the screamer had fled. Her hands free, the other pulled something from out of her pocket. She touched the object to the back of one Poachen's neck, and he dropped to the ground with a scream. She came up behind the last one and did the same. As it dropped to the ground, Spike's fist flew over its head, and connected with her eye.

Spike fell to the ground in pain as his chip kicked in. Cerberus was rocked by the wave of agony that swept over him via the bond he shared with the bleach-blond vamp. While they were down, the girl touched the object to Spike's neck. It was a tazer.

Spike had never felt such pain before from the chip. Electricity like white-hot needles stabbed through his brain and down his spine. He felt like someone was holding a lit cigarette to his brain. Then the darkness came over him, and her felt nothing. Cerberus felt everything Spike did, and was out cold too.

The girl put the tazer back in her pocket and reached into another one. She pulled out a wooden stake this time. A wild light gleamed in her eye and her teeth glinted in her dark smile. She was about to plunge the stake home when she was startled by a siren. In a moment, flashing blue lit up the alley. All the light revealed was a man and his dog, lying still among puddles of a strange green goo, puddles that were being quickly washed away by the sudden downpour. The girl had gone the way of her hurried companion.

Dawn raced to answer the doorbell. "Did you forget your keys again? Can't you just pick the lock?" she told the figure behind the door as she opened it. Then she saw whom it actually was, and, for once, was struck dumb.

"Pick the lock? Good heavens, what HAS your Watcher been teaching you?"

"GILES!" Dawn let out an excited squeal as she gave the man a bear hug. Giles had left for England a week or so ago. She hadn't expected to see him again so soon. He returned her hug and ruffled her hair, making her giggle.

Buffy came running when she heard her sister shout Giles' name. Dawn let him go, only so he could be crushed in another bear hug by the Slayer.

"Buffy—" he rasped.

"Oh! Sorry!" She let him go, brushing the hair out of her eyes sheepishly. "I forget about the Slayer-strength sometimes..."

He laughed. "Quite all right, I'm happy to see you, too."

"And don't think I'm NOT happy to see you, Giles, but... what are you doing back?" Did he think she couldn't take care of herself? Really, just because she'd died twice and had almost no money...

"Well, you're not going to believe this..." He took off his glasses and started to clean them. Not a good sign. "The, ah, Council has located another Slayer-in-waiting."

Buffy and her sister blinked in confusion. "And you flew all the way back to tell us?" they asked in unison. If anyone needed proof that Dawn was made from Buffy, all they had to do was watch the two of them together.

"Yes, well, ah... it seems the girl in question is HERE. In the Hellmouth, I mean."

Dawn wasn't sure why, but she felt a sudden surge of jealousy, along with a sense of territorialism. Which was stupid, because it wasn't like she really WANTED to be the Slayer; if she did become the Slayer, that would mean Faith was dead. She didn't wish anyone dead, no matter what they might be like. So why did she feel like she suddenly had competition? She should be happy— she would probably get to meet this girl, and they could train together! It would be like having another sister!

Buffy seemed shocked. "How is that possible? Two girls in the same place??"

"Well, ah..." She hated when he spoke like this, it was almost never good. "It seems possible that it's this OTHER girl who is actually the Slayer-in-waiting here."

"...WHAT?!?" the girls said in unison. Dawn felt like she was in danger of something being taken from her. Buffy was angry that such a mistake, one that put her sister's life in danger, was made in the first place.

"Well, you have to understand that reading the signs is like reading the Tarot..." Giles began to pace. "It's all subject to interpretation. The Council knew there was a potential Slayer in the Hellmouth. They thought it was Dawn, but may have been thrown off because she was made from an actual Slayer." He saw the disappointment in the young girl's eyes, and it broke his heart. But he also couldn't help but feel relieved that she wasn't likely to share the fate of her sister now.

Buffy wanted to believe, and it all made sense, but she wasn't convinced. "So what makes them so sure it's this girl?"

"They aren't ENTIRELY sure, but one of the Council's psychics had a vision of her slaying a vampire, and we DO know there is SUPPOSED to be a Slayer-in-waiting here... It's just that apparently the signs are now pointing more specifically, towards the other side of town, where this girl lives."

"So, is this just a social call, or do you want me to help you track her down?"

Giles smiled sheepishly. "Well, of course I came to see you... but if you're offering, I would welcome the help."

Of course she would. This might put an end to Dawn's dangerous training.

Dawn, for her part, was not happy. She was determined to help them too. She didn't buy this "mix-up" story. She WAS a Slayer-in-waiting, she was sure of it. She could FEEL it. Maybe there really was ANOTHER one in Sunnydale. Or maybe this was all an elaborate trap. In any case, though, she was going to have to keep her aid a secret— Buffy would never let her help. No, she was going to have to put the "lurking" lessons Spike gave her to good use.

The first thing he noticed was the smell. It seemed to come from everywhere, the stench of rot, decay. The second thing he noticed was that it didn't seem to bother him. The third was that it was very dark where he was. The fourth, that he seemed to be in a very small, cramped space. The sixth, that he seemed to be naked, and very cold. The seventh, that he didn't seem to MIND being cold, any more than he minded the smell that should have had him retching.

Only after noticing all those things did he realise he had no idea who he was. Or where.

Was he inside a box? He tried pushing up on what he thought was the lid. Instead of his hands moving up, his body-- or rather, the ground, and his body with it-- moved in the direction his feet were pointing. Light flooded his tiny box, and for a moment, he was blind.

He could hear just fine, though, and his ears told him there was someone out THERE, wherever there was, outside his box. Whoever HE was. Wherever his BOX was.

"Oh my god! Doc! Dr. Lawrence! We got a live one!"

Dr. Lawrence? Was HE Lawrence? Was he a DOCTOR?

"Oh man, I can't believe this is happening on MY watch..." The voice mumbled.

He jumped (well, as well as one CAN jump when one is lying down) when the ground moved again. Suddenly he was in the open air.

A head popped into view. "Hey, man, the doctor will be here in a minute," the voice told him, coming from the head above him. He felt a warm hand on his bare arm. He remembered he was naked. That was ALL he remembered. He was mortified at being nude. He tried to ask for his clothes, but when he spoke, no sound came out. He took a deep breath and tried again. "My clothes... please..."

"Oh! Right, you must be freezing!" The head disappeared, but the sound continued.

"Hospital regulations say you should put on a gown, but I don't have any here. Just the clothes we took off ya, so I guess you can have 'em back." The head came back into view, wearing a grin that almost made him jump again. "'Sides, they're gonna be a lot warmer anyway, not to mention a lot more dignified!"

He blanched at the feel of the strange man's hands as the fellow helped him up and into his clothes, but something told him it was best to cooperate. He looked about the room as he dressed. It was a morgue. What was he DOING there? WHO was he?

"Poor guy. I hope he didn't belong to some kid."

"Nah, didn't you see that other guy? He wasn't no family man. Dog was probably an attack dog or somethin'."

"No way, he's one o' those Jack Russels, like that dog my kid likes, whatsisface, Wishbone? Or that one on Frazier?"

"So?"

"So they ain't attack dogs, stupid! Geez, you think just because a kid dyes his hair and wears leather, he's a punk!"

"I call 'em like I see 'em... Oh, that's probably Animal Control."

The crunch of gravel made his ears twitch. His eyes weren't open yet, but he could see through his lids the change in light. There was a loud sound, something a distant part of his mind told him was a car door slamming. A slapping sound now, footsteps on wet pavement, maybe.

His eyes snapped open when the hands touched him. He leapt to his feet and growled at the stranger.

"Whoa! What the hell?!? I thought you guys said he was DEAD!"

"We... I coulda swore he WAS, man!"

"Look at his face!"

He could feel something was happening to his head, but he didn't know what. The strange humans seemed frightened by it, and that was all he cared about. The one who'd touched him backed away and headed towards his truck.

"I've got some tranqs in here..."

The other men stayed where they were. One of them was holding out a shiny thing to him, and that distant voice in his mind told him that it was not something friendly. It certainly didn't SMELL like food. The other man was speaking to him in soothing tones. For some reason, one he couldn't place, he didn't trust it. He didn't give them a chance to do anything else, turning tail and running down the alley as fast as his paws would carry him. A loud bang followed him into the darkness, but it didn't catch him.

The shining knife spun through the air and embedded itself deep into pressboard wall of Shelly's room. It hit just shy of the circle she'd painted on the wall. Other marks were all around it. She knew, like on a tree, the marks on the outside rings were older hits, while the ones closer to the center circle were newer, showing her progress. There were even quite a few in the small circle itself. She hit it more often than she missed nowadays. But tonight she was a bit off her game.

She didn't dare take a knife with her outside. She knew it would be too easy for her to be tempted to kill with it. It wasn't that she objected to killing a human, but that doing so carried a whole truckload of problems, mainly unwanted attention. She couldn't fight the monsters of the night, human or otherwise, with cops looking over her shoulder.

Instead she contented herself with incapacitating her victims first, double-checking them, questioning them if need be, and THEN killing them. That way she made no mistakes. Except tonight it hadn't quite worked out. A vampire had gotten away.

And she had to confess that, now that she thought about it, perhaps it was better she DIDN'T kill him. She wasn't entirely certain, but it seemed the vamp had been HELPING her. That, when he'd punched her, he had actually been aiming for the demon she had been about to hit herself, who'd ducked. She knew the Slayer had some vampire boyfriend, but this one better fit the physical description of a cold killer named Spike. Then again, she'd heard rumors that THAT one had started running with the Slayer too. Was the woman making a business of reforming vampires?

This is exactly why Shelly didn't kill her victims right off the bat. Better to make sure they were actually guilty, first. She didn't want an innocent to die like her father had, convicted and given the death sentence for a crime he didn't commit.

So which was she more upset over, the fact that she'd let a vamp escape, or that she might have almost killed a good guy?

"So, we gonna go out again, or what?" asked her friend Kira.

Shelly laughed. "I dunno, you sure you feel safe enough with me around? You sure bailed on me tonight."

"Aw, c'mon, Shells! There were too many of 'em! You shoulda hightailed it too! Don't go yellin' at me for having some common sense!"

Shelly shrugged. "Now you sound like my Pop."

Kira shuddered. "He's DEAD."

"Don't stop 'im from talkin' too much."

"Thanks for coming over on such short notice, guys."

"Hey, it's no problem, it's been a while since we got the chance to hang with Dawnie anyway..."

Anya gave Xander an annoyed look. "No, it hasn't! We watched her last week so Buffy and Spike could go on patrol! THEY got to see a little action, but have WE lately? NOOOoooo—"

"Hey, it wasn't THAT kind of action!" Buffy protested. Actually, it would have been nice if they HAD been going out on a date. They STILL hadn't yet.

"We can do that LATER tonight, Anya."

"Oh no you don't, no babysitter shenanigans while the kid's upstairs sleeping!" Buffy crossed her arms and glared at Xander. He gave her a pained look. "You're not helping! I meant when we got home!"

Anya looked to Buffy, brow raised. "Hey, yeah! Just how long are you going to be?"

Buffy shrugged. "I dunno. As long as it takes to hunt down a girl we've never seen and don't even know the name of."

Anya threw her hands in the air. "Great. We're not only spending the night here, but the next MONTH."

Buffy simply shrugged and followed Giles out the door.

Xander couldn't help but notice how Willow and Tara had avoided babysitting duty. He hoped they were having more fun than he was about to.

"Will, I'm telling you, this isn't a good idea!"

"Honestly, Tara, you're starting to sound like my mother! Thinks of how much easier it will be to move about the Hellmouth, if I can get this perfected!"

"But portals are DANGEROUS! Look at what happened to you when you did that teleportation spell!"

"That was different, that was moving me WITHOUT a door. I'm making a door first this time, and I'm using a tool to do it. Besides, I'm a lot more powerful now!"

That was what worried Tara. Willow was impossible to dissuade when she had her mind set on something. Problem was, she rarely thought out the consequences of her actions first. Power had turned her from shy, timid, and cautious to brave, reckless, and outright obnoxious. Tara was at a loss as to what to do. She watched helplessly as her lover finished the adjustments on the gauntlet she had fashioned. At least they were out in the middle of nowhere. Hopefully if something went wrong, they would be the only ones hurt by it...

He was dressed by the time the doctor came in. The man looked at him strangely as he walked slowly into the room, and stared at him for long moments. Finally, he spoke to the orderly. "Why don't you leave us, Frank..."

"But my shift—"

"Janet will be here before long. I don't think any of our guests are going to be checking out anytime soon. I'll watch them till she gets here. I'm sure this young man is in a delicate state right now."

"Uh... O-okay, doc, yer the boss..."

The doctor followed the orderly to the door and closed it behind him. He watched the man for a few moments longer through the window, then turned to face his patient.

"Let's get a bite to eat, shall we?" He opened the door again and motioned for the would-be corpse to follow.

Dawn didn't even wait to hear the front door open and close again. If she was going to follow Buffy and Giles, she needed to be out there BEFORE they left, so she could see where they went. She opened her window and lowered the rope ladder she had put together long ago for just such an emergency.

She waited for Buffy and Giles behind the neighbor's tree. She watched them go down the block a ways, then set off after them. This was going to be tough, staying close enough so that she didn't lose them, but far enough that Buffy didn't notice her, and all without a passerby thinking she was up to something. Of course she WAS, but she couldn't SEEM it.

The white and brown terrier followed the familiar scent. As he went, the scent was joined by MORE familiar smells. He still didn't know what any of them were, but they made him feel safe. Maybe this way led to food?

He saw a man and woman coming towards him. He almost ran off when the breeze carried their scent to him. It was so familiar... Whoever they were, he didn't feel they were a danger. He trotted up to them, tail wagging. Perhaps they would feed him.

"Cerberus! Heya, boy!" The woman smiled and knelt beside him, scratched him behind the ear. "Where's Spike?"

**Is she talking to me? How is it that I'm understanding her?**

Buffy stopped her attentions and stared at the dog. "Huh? Yeah, I'm talking to you! Geez, I'm not THAT bad with the conversation thing, am I?" She stood and looked to Giles.

He took off his glasses and began to clean them.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Thanks for the vote of confidence." She looked down at Cerberus. "So where's Spike?"

**Who's Spike?**

Buffy put her hands on her hips and frowned. "All right, what are you two up to?"

It was strange. Cerberus understood the words this human was saying, but he didn't know what she MEANT. He decided to try something. He concentrated hard. **FOOD.**

"Oh, he's on a food run? What's with the big secret?" She smiled. "I know, he's bringing home a surprise, isn't he?" She grinned, but the smile fell as fast as it appeared, into a pout. "But now we're not gonna be home when he brings it back!"

**Forget this...** the dog decided. He was never going to get anything out of her, food or answers. He continued on his way, following the first scent.

Buffy and Giles watched the dog walk back towards the house, brows furrowed in perplexion.

"So, my dear boy, which do you prefer, chocolate or vanilla?" The doctor motioned towards the couple kissing on the park bench.

The patient looked around in confusion. "I-I don't see an ice cream stand..."

The doctor laughed. "It's true, then, you've gone 'vegan', so to speak?"

The patient looked at the doctor like he was Jeckyll gone all Hyde-ee.

The doctor raised a brow. "No, then? Well, I'm glad to hear it! So I'm guessing you having fallen for that girl is just a rumor, too?" He didn't wait for an answer, but walked over to the couple.

Not knowing what else to do, the patient followed haltingly.

"Good evening!" the doctor said to the couple. They ignored him. He smiled. Then he grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her from her beau's embrace.

"Hey!" protested the young man. Then he saw the doctor's face. He ran screaming.

"Heh, hope you like fast food, Spike, my boy!"

To the patient's horror, the doctor really HAD turned into a monster. The monster sank its fangs into the girl's neck.

"No!" the patient cried.

The doctor looked at him in perplexion. He dropped the girl to the ground and spread his hands. "Wha-at?"

The patient grabbed the doctor by the shoulders and threw him against the lamp post nearby. He began to pummel at the monster, until it hit him in the chest with a powerful fist, throwing him back.

"So. It IS true, then. I refused to believe the rumors until I saw for myself... But now I know that Lilah was right. My sire HAS fallen to the Slayer, like his grandsire before him." He brushed off his coat. "You're lucky Wolfram and Hart has plans for you, or I'd kill you myself, traitor!" And he was gone, fast as a blink.

The patient turned to the fallen girl, and scooped her up in his arms. She was bleeding, and needed a doctor, but after what just happened, he wasn't about to take her back to where he'd come from. He stood there a long moment.

And that's when it hit him.

Had he ever known hunger like this? He couldn't remember. Couldn't remember who, or what, he was. And in this moment, he didn't care. He only knew the smell of blood was so strong he could taste it. NEEDED to taste it. Without thinking, he brought the girl's neck to his lips.

"Cerbie!" Dawn whispered as she spotted her small fried coming towards her.

The dog stopped. This one seemed familiar too.

'Don't tell Buffy I'm following her, please!"

**Tell who what?**

Dawn smiled. "I knew you'd be on my side! You can help me trail them!" She went on to tell the compact canine about the new Slayer-in-waiting.

The little dog had no idea what she was talking about. Still, it was something to do. Maybe she would feed him.

He pulled his lips away from the girl's wounded neck in horror. She was still breathing, he noted with relief. What was he doing?!?

"SPIKE!"

He looked up, into the eyes of a girl so beautiful it took his breath away.

Except that he realised now he hadn't BEEN breathing. And her eyes were filled with horror. Looking at him. Holding another girl in his arms, one who bled from the neck. And him with blood on his lips.

"No..." Buffy breathed. This couldn't be happening. Spike didn't have a soul to lose. He had nothing to change him from good to evil with the flip of a switch.

Oh, wait. He did. Somehow the chip must have been deactivated.

But she had come to believe that it wouldn't matter if it happened someday, that he loved her enough to not feed. Buffy felt like she'd died again. Spike may as well have just ripped her still-beating heart from her chest. She prayed that she would wake up any second now. Then again, that wouldn't help, since her nightmares were usually prophetic.

"Oh, Spike..." she breathed. "We never even got a chance..." She should have known better than to believe.

"That's it! I have it!" Willow smiled at her lover, and squeezed her hand. The light of the swirling portal reflected off her now-black eyes with an eerie light. She moved towards it.

Tara grabbed her arm. "Wait, you don't know where it goes!"

Willow laughed. "I cast it to open up to the park. The only way to see if it worked is to go through." And so she plunged through the gate.

There was nothing for Tara to do but follow.

Shelly heard something out in the field by the trailer park. She headed towards the sound, Kira's unpracticed footfalls making it harder to hear it as she followed behind. Shelly bit back a hiss of irritation and hoped whatever they were trailing wasn't scared of by the other girl.

She needn't have worried. They were only a few feet away, yet the twosome in the tall grass seemed oblivious to everything but themselves and the swirling light in front of them. A light within which they suddenly disappeared.

And Shelly followed.

"Uh-oh. That can't be good!" Kira said to the empty air.

The air a dozen feet or so behind Spike began to shimmer and swirl. After a moment, Willow and Tara stepped out of it. And then came another girl.

"SPIKE!"

Buffy whirled, and found Dawn and Cerberus beside her. "Dawn! What are you doing here?!?"

The girl from the portal took one look at Spike and the victim in his arms and let out a guttural cry. She charged at him, a tazer brandished in her hand. He laid the girl in his arms down and dodged her swing. He ran around her, away from the crowd and towards the light. The girl grabbed him by the coat and hit him with the tazer. He cried out in pain, and backhanded her. She fell like a rock.

And his memory came back.

With a rush, he understood what was going on. The girl with the tazer, he's met her in the alley. She'd hit him with it. He'd been knocked out and must have been mistaken for dead. They took him to the morgue. That's where his old friend Lawrence had found him. His progeny. The good doctor had taken him out to feed. And he DID feed. The chip must have been fried by the tazer.

And Buffy had seen him feed.

He should have been happy the chip was deactivated. Nothing could be further from the truth. He'd seen the revulsion in her eyes when she saw him feeding just now, something he'd prayed he'd never see again. How could he face her now? He'd actually give anything to have it working again, if it meant she would believe in him again.

He ran on, through the light. It closed behind him.

Willow and Tara stood gawking while all this was happening. What was going on?!? But when the portal disappeared, they snapped to their senses. Tara ran to the side of the victim. Willow went to check on the girl who'd come through the portal with them. Who was she?

Giles walked over. "I think we've found the other Slayer-in-training..."

"The what?"

He explained while they revived the young woman.

"Buffy! Tell me it's not true, it CAN'T be true!" Dawn held her sister's arm' in a death-grip, tears of fear and frustration streaming down her face.

"It is, Dawn. We all knew it could happen someday. Spike's chip doesn't work anymore." She fought to keep her face calm, fought the tremble of her lip and the tears in her eyes. She stared where the portal was long gone, and Spike with it. "And now I have to kill him."

Lawrence watched everything from the shadows, a grin nearly cutting his face in half. He hadn't gone far when he'd left Spike, wanting to see what the vamp would do next. It looked like Spike wasn't so far gone after all. At the very least, the Slayer had it in for him. Maybe this assignment wouldn't be so hard after all. He still didn't understand why Spike had attacked him; maybe hunger had driven him mad, and he was demanding first dibs on the food. Well, it was his right, being the sire, after all.

It was funny. Lawrence had always scoffed at Dru's insistence on fates and spirits and destiny. But surely it was kismet that his sire would appear in the morgue of his own hospital? Wolfram and Hart's seers must have known Spike would be brought in. And now, because he took him out to feed, Spike's relationship with the Slayer had been compromised. His job to bring his sire onto the team just got a whole lot easier.

Kira spent a few minutes trying to muster up the courage to follow her friend. What if Shelly had gotten fried by the swirling light? It wouldn't exactly do any good to get fried along with her. And t wasn't like Kira was any good in the fighting department. No, really, the only reason she had to follow was to make sure Shell was okay.

Kira realised that was reason enough.

Unfortunately, she wasn't able to do anything about it. At the precise moment she was going to step into the swirling light, she was knocked backwards by someone coming out of it.

Spike didn't stop to see what he tripped over as he came out of the portal. He wanted to put as much distance between him and any followers as possible. He spied a trailer park ahead, and ran into the huddle of mobile homes.

Kira picked herself up and looked where the portal had been, just seconds before the man ran into her. She turned and spotted the man running towards her home. Well, she couldn't do anything about Shelly being gone, but maybe she could do some work on her own end...

Spike found a trailer that looked to be empty. He couldn't go inside without an invite, but he could hide under it, and did. He breathed an unnecessary sigh of relief.

What was he going to do now? Now that he had a moment to think, he couldn't STOP thinking. Buffy surely thought he'd gone evil, and whatever doubts she might have would certainly be chased off by the Scoobies. It hurt to think, after all they had been through together, that they would be so quick to think he'd gone evil again, but he had to be realistic. They had every reason to think it was only the chip that had made him good. Hell, it wasn't like he had some moral problem with drinking a human, any more than most people had in eating a burger, or even a vegan had in eating a piece of celery, which was also once living. Everything had to eat. But did that make him evil? He would stick to drinking pig's blood, if that made Buffy happy. So, as far as he was concerned, the lack of a chip was a non-issue. But how to get the others to see that?

Kira saw the man slip under Shelly's trailer. Was he just a man, though? Or was he a demon? Had he tracked Shelly down, or was this just coincidence? Kira parked herself around the corner of a trailer across the way. No point in rushing in and getting herself killed, when she could just as easily keep an eye on him, and be alive to warn Shelly when she came back.

IF she came back...

Buffy listened as Giles talked to the new girl, but she didn't really pay attention. She'd heard the whole "Slayer's calling" blah, blah, blah, before. She noticed vaguely that her sister, Dawn, did not seem at all happy. She wondered which upset the girl more, the fact that she had turned out to NOT be the Slayer-in-waiting after all, or that Spike had turned out to be the evil thing they had long thought him to be.

Not for the first time in her life, Buffy wondered how she could be such a fool. It wasn't like Spike had a soul, even if he had presented her with a pretty convincing argument. Back then, she had wanted to meet this "Lydia", who'd explained the whole thing to him, and thank the girl. Now she wanted to beat the tar out of her for getting her hopes up.

Why did she want to cry right now? Why was she so upset over learning what she really already knew about him? How had she forgotten in the first place? She thought of the enemy he had started out as, and the friend he had become. It boggled her mind, trying to think of herself of the past, and what that self would think of her now. Back then, the thought of Spike becoming her boyfriend— hell, even just a friend— was an extreme non-possibility. When had all that changed? HOW had it changed? This sick feeling she had now in her stomach SHOULD have been over the idea of EVER thinking of him romantically, something akin to how she'd felt after kissing him, back when Willow had cast that crazy spell that had made them want to get married. But now the feeling was of grief, not disgust. She felt more like she did when Angel became Angelus, after they'd made love. And she hadn't done anything more than KISS Spike.

She was just going to have to try really hard to remember why she'd once wanted to stake him. Except that it seemed like all those evil things he'd done had happened to someone else. Were DONE by someone else. Neither of them were who they once were. Except now apparently Spike WAS.

Buffy was getting a headache. She wished Willow were there, but the witch and her lover had taken the bitten girl to the hospital.

"How are you feeling, Laticia?"

The young woman with a bandage on her neck drew her legs close, hugging her knees. She shrugged, and tried to smile with eyes full of shock and fear. "The doctor says I'll be ok."

Willow smiled kindly and patted Ticia's hand. "I know what the doctor says. I was asking about YOU..."

Ticia tried to smile bravely, nodding her head reassuringly. "I'm good, really. I'm not dead, so I can't complain. The doctor says I didn't lose a lot of blood. Which I guess makes sense, since the vamp who bit me didn't seem too keen on drinking me." She giggled, somewhat hysterically. "It was almost like a peer pressure thing, like they were two vamps at a frat party. Or maybe he was trying to be vegetarian, or maybe I don't smell quite ri-"

"'They'?" It took Tara a few seconds to assimilate all the girl was saying, but she had a feeling there was more to Ticia's attack encounter than met the eye. "Ticia, I know you're tired, but you have to tell us everything you can remember, it's important."

"Tara!"

"Willow, it's important. Someone else's life may be on the line here." Or unlife, as it were.

Ticia saw the determined look in Tara's face. She matched it with one of her own. These were friends of the "Class Protector", Buffy, the Slayer. She needed to help all she could. She told her story.

Cerberus sat staring where the portal had been, and whined. What was he going to do? How could he convince the others that Spike hadn't gone bad? Everyone was so wrapped up in their own thoughts that no one was hearing him or paying him any mind. And if they were so keen on staking Spike without his chip, maybe reminding them about a vampire dog with no chip wasn't a good idea. Humans seemed quick to judge and quick to act, and believed it was easy to turn on your friends in a snap.

He decided that being with them wasn't the safest thing for him at the moment. Unfortunately, he seemed to be out of range of the telepathic gift he shared with Spike. The vampman could be anywhere; where should he start looking? He looked behind him and saw the way blocked by Buffy, Giles, Dawn, and the new girl. He looked ahead and sighed, walking off in the direction the portal had been in.

"Sunnydale Police Department."

"Yes, may I speak to Lieutenant Devonshire, please?"

"One moment."

If Lawrence had had to breathe, he would have been holding his breath in anticipation. He smiled with boyish glee when he finally heard the Lieutenant on the line. "Devonshire."

"It's Lawrence. I need you to gather up our loyal troops and put out an A.P.B. ..."

 "So yer sayin' I'm a runner up for the 'Chosen One', and I have to train under YOU now, is that it?" Shelly's features were unreadable. She might as well have been telling them what time it was.

"Well ... yes, that about sums it up, actually," Giles answered.

"You and what army?"

" ... Come again?"

"I'm saying, what're ya going to do if I don't want to play by your rules? I've been doing just fine all on my own, I don't see as what YOU would have ta teach me."

Giles put on his glasses, which he had been cleaning in an unconscious gesture of agitation. "Now see here! I don't think you realize just wh-"

She held out a stake, dull end first, to him. "See this? See each of the marks on it?" He looked closely, and saw countless notches in its sides. "Each notch is a dead vampire. I think I've got plenty of field experience. If your Watcher Council had wanted me trained, they waited a bit long to FIND me!"

With that, Shelly turned on her heel and left.

 "Aren't you going to go after her?" Dawn asked Giles. He didn't answer. He knew he should, but the girl reminded him so much of Buffy when they had first met. He didn't know if he could go through it again, help the Powers That Be ruin yet another life.

 Mrs. Habersham was a busybody. The trailer park she lived in was the perfect place for her kind, full of white trash gossip about who was cheating on who. But the house she kept the biggest eye on was the one she NEVER talked about. Not YET. No one would believe her, so she waited patiently for proof.

Which was why she called the cops tonight.

She always knew that Shelly Jenkins girl was a troublemaker, coming home in the wee hours of the morning. She wasn't old enough to be going to some late-night job, like her tramp of a mother.

Some might think, when Mrs. Habersham saw that shady-looking man sneaking under the Jenkins trailer, that she called the police to help Shelly. But she knew Shelly wasn't home. No, she thought, if the police came to arrest the man, they might find something else under the trailer, drugs maybe. And Mrs. Habersham would be the first to know ...

 When Devonshire heard the call come in about a break-in in the Sunnydale Trailer Park, he decided to go out and investigate himself. Particularly since, if he didn't, no one else would bother. If the intruder was the man Lawrence was looking for, he couldn't risk losing him. And besides, maybe he would get to see his little girl.

 As Dawn watched Shelly walk away, she felt an odd mix of satisfaction and disappointment. With the girl gone, she might convince Giles, Spike, and Buffy to continue her own training. Just because she wasn't a Slayer-in-waiting after all didn't mean she couldn't use the lessons. Her sister WAS the Slayer, after all, and she did live on the Hellmouth. But, as much as she had resented the idea of someone else taking her place, she had found herself liking the girl, once she met her. What if they HAD both been Slayers-in-waiting? It would have been nice to have someone more her own age to hang out with and train alongside, who knew about demons and stuff.

And she was upset about the whole situation with Spike, to be sure, but only because she was afraid for him, and what Buffy and the other Scoobies would do to him if they caught him. She didn't believe he'd gone evil, she trusted him with her life. Now she just had to remind her sister that she had done the same.

And then Dawn noticed. Cerberus wasn't there with them anymore. Where did he go?

 "I just don't get it," Willow pondered as she and Tara made their way home from the hospital. "Why was he hanging out with that other vampire, if he hasn't gone all evil? Why did he bite that girl at all?"

Tara nodded; she was having a hard time wrapping her brain around it too. "I feel like there's something important that we don't know. I don't think we should jump to any conclusions until we know what that is. Maybe Cerberus can give us more insight when he comes back home. In the meantime, maybe we can do a scry-"

"WILLOW! TARA!" Xander ran to them from across the street, Anya in tow, panic in his eyes. "Dawn is gone!" he panted. "She-"

"It's ok, Xander, she's with Buffy and Giles," Tara comforted him.

 "THANK GOD! I was worried half to death something might happen to her! I'm gonna kill her when she comes home..."

 Anya shook her head. "I told you not to get so upset! She's been training to be a Slayer; she can take care of herself! Honestly, between you, Spike, Giles, and Buffy, you guys are going to suffocate the girl. Now lets go home and have sex, since they don't need us to babysit anymore."

 Devonshire walked up to the trailer in question. He knew from previous visits exactly where to find it. His feet made no sound. He was too good at what he did for that.

He heard a gasp from the trailer across the way, but ignored it.

"Heya, Pop. Is this business, or a social visit?"

He turned, trying to keep the pride off his face. He had heard Kira, but not Shelly. Someone else was good at what they did, too. "Hi, sweetie. Actually, it IS business, I'm afraid." He dropped to the ground, reached under the trailer, and dragged a black leather coat out from under it. The coat's occupant struggled for a moment, until it saw the uniform. Then it looked confused.

"Sweetie, yer getting a bit lax, here, ar'ncha? I mean, for there to be a VAMPIRE under yer trailer..."

"Give me a break, I wasn't even home! I'll take care of him." She pulled a stake out of her pocket. "After I take care of you." She lunged at the cop.

She was too slow.

Devonshire leapt to the side, dragging his quarry with him. He hurried over to where Kira was hiding and grabbed her. He held her in front of him, like a shield. "Ah, ah, ah, what did I tell you about playing nice, Shelly! Now drop the stake!"

Spike wasn't sure of what to do. On the one hand, there was the girl he saw on the other side of the portal, standing before him again, brandishing a stake that he was relatively certain she knew how to use. On the other, he was being held by a vampire dressed as a cop and holding a human hostage. What did this vamp want with him? Was it better to play along for now, or fight the vampire?

"Dr. Lawrence is looking for you," the vamp told him, and let go.

That decided him. If he was going to get any answers, he was going to have to play along. He moved towards the girl. He didn't want to hurt her, but he was going to have to knock her out to get her out of the game, so it had to look convincing.

"NO!"

Or not.

"Forget her, she won't hurt us while I have her friend. Let's just go."

"KIRA!" Shelley cried, for the first time in a long while uncertain what to do. If she made a move, her father would snap Kira's neck in a second. It didn't matter that he wouldn't have a shield anymore; he was a vampire, and enjoyed killing. And truth be told, Shelly didn't think she had it in her to dust her father; that was why he was still "alive" in the first place. She just stood there, feeling helpless, as she watched the monsters take her friend away.

 Dawn and Buffy walked home in silence. Buffy kept telling herself that it was late, that was the only reason she wasn't tracking Spike down that very moment. She wouldn't admit, even in her own thoughts, that she dreaded finding him and what she had to do. That she wasn't sure she COULD do it.

 She was about to put her key in the lock when the door opened.

"Buffy! Thank god you're home!" Willow grabbed her arm and pulled her inside. Then the witch looked around. "Where's Cerbie?"

 Dawn answered, "I dunno. He disappeared while we were talking to Shelly."

"No! We NEED him! AGH! Tara, what do we do now?"

"Well, wherever he is, the sun's almost up. He's probably going to hide for the day, and we all need some sleep. Let's just show Buffy what we found out, and then get to bed."

"Show me what?" She asked as they dragged her into their room, formerly her mother's room.

 The witches settled Buffy and Dawn done on the bed, then putzed around on their makeshift alter. Willow drew down the widow screen, and suddenly images appeared on it. Buffy looked back at the altar, and saw a light shining from a crystal there onto the screen.

"COOL! Can I use that thing at my next sleepover?" Dawn asked.

Tara shushed her gently and told the sisters to watch the screen.

 They saw Spike and Cerberus getting ice cream. How the pair have a run-in with some demons and Shelly. They saw Shelly hit him with her tazer. The paramedics came and took him to the morgue, but left Cerberus there. Spike woke up. There was sound, too. As they listened, they realised that Spike seemed very disoriented. The doctor came in, and it seemed the man knew Spike but Spike did not recognize him. They saw the doctor take him to the park, heard their exchange. Saw them fight, and the doc lose. Saw Spike lift the girl and bite her.

And then they saw Buffy and the others come onto the scene. It seemed to the present Buffy that Spike seemed horrified at what he had done. When she had been there, she thought his expression was just horror at having been caught. But from this angle it seemed he looked that way before he even realised she was there. Was she just reaching? Did that crystal thing have a rewind?

"This is why we need Cerberus!" Willow told her. "It sounds to me like Spike had amnesia from that blow to the head with the tazer! I bet it deactivated his chip, too! If we had Cerbie here, we could know for sure, through the psychic link they have..."

Things clicked into place for the sisters. "Oh! That was why he was acting so weird!" they said together.

"Yeah, when I saw him he was all 'You talking to me?' And when I asked Cerbie where Spike was, and he said 'Spike who'?" Buffy elaborated.

Dawn chimed in excitedly. "And when I asked him not to tell Buffy I was following, he said 'Tell who what?'" Then she realised what she just said.

"Hey, that's right, you snuck out of the house! You're grounded, missy!" Buffy wagged a finger at the girl. "Guys!" Willow waved a hand to get their attention. "So you're saying Cerbie seemed like he had amnesia? That settles it, then! Spike must have gotten it from the shock of the tazer, and Cerbie got it too from their psychic link!"

Buffy smiled and hugged Willow. It amazed her, how relieved she felt to learn Spike wasn't evil again after all. Now she could sleep easier. Which is exactly what she did.

 "So where're we goin', mate?"

"I told you, to see Lawrence."

"What does he want with me?"

Devonshire shrugged. "I don't ask, I just follow orders."

They sat in awkward silence for a while in the squad car, as the Lieutenant drove. Well, silent save for the screeching of the girl in the back seat.

"So tell me something, Spike." Spike could tell Devonshire had been itching to ask him something for a while. He nodded in encouragement; anything the cop said might bring him closer to his own answers.

"What was up with you fighting other vamps and working with the Slayer?"

Spike snorted. "An' 'o told you I was doing that?"

"Aw, c'mon now, man. I've SEEN you two together, seen you kick our people's asses. Did you get a soul, like Angelus? I bet that's why the bosses want ya, huh?"

"Bosses? Which bosses would that be, mate?"

Devonshire barked a laugh. "Wolfram and Hart! How else would there be vampires working in the police department and a hospital?"

 Shelly sat on her bed, weeping. She'd failed. She'd failed before, but it had never cost the life of a friend. Was Kira still alive? Was she still human? If only she had killed that vamp in the alley when she had a chance. If only she had killed her father, back when he had first been turned. She could still see the night it had happened, fresh in her mind as it was a year ago.

A scratch at the door broke her thoughts. When she opened it, a dog sat on the aluminum stair, watching her intently, its tail still.

"Well, hey there, boy! What're you doin' here?" She kneeled down and scratched it behind the ears. This was the dog she saw back with the Slayer and her friends. "What, are you bringing a message to me? Slayer fall down a well?" She moved aside. "Come on in, boy. I suppose I have some beef jerky around."

The dog rushed in. **That's kind of you, but I'm more interested in finding my friend**

Shelley stuck her head out the door, looking for the speaker.

**Down here.** She looked down at the dog, who started wagging its tail. **Yes, that's right. A talking dog. Vampires are real, why not talking dogs?**

 Devonshire pulled the squad car up a long drive, and parked it outside a mansion that seemed right out of "Lifestyeles of the Rich and Famous". When he opened the back, Kira tried to make a break for it, but couldn't do much with the handcuffs around her wrists and ankles. He slung her over his shoulder and made his way with Spike to the door. An underling led them to Lawrence's study, where he was entertaining a human woman.

"Ah! You found him! Excellent!" The doctor gestured to Spike. "Lilah, I want you to meet my sire, William the Bloody, better known as Spike."

The woman stood and sauntered over to the bleach blond vamp. She practically reeked of smug satisfaction, almost as much as she did of some expensive cologne. She held out a hand. Spike just stared at it, keeping his face unreadable. Lilah stiffened, for a moment, obviously offended, but played it cool. "I've read a lot about you. Word is you've bagged two Slayers, but seem to be off your game with Buffy."

Spike suspected his past reputation was why Wolfram and Hart had an interest in him. He had spent the trip over coming up with a cover story for his recent behavior. It wouldn't do for such dangerous enemies to believe he'd gone soft, but he knew they knew about his chip, due to their interactions with the Initiative.

He smiled, bored. "I guess I could see why you'd think that."

"Well, let's see. You kill demons," she ticked it off on her fingers, "you kill other vampires, you threatened your long-time love, Drucilla., and you've saved Buffy and her friends on more than one occasion. Yeah, I'd say it looks like you've switched sides. I think you need a lawyer to get you out of this one."

He raised a brow. "If you're offering, I'm not buying," he sneered. "Do you know why I kill Slayers?"

Lilah shrugged. "To prove you're the Big Bad? Because all demons hate the Slayer?"

"Because its FUN. Because I'm immortal! What else do I have to do? Why do people go bungee-jumping, or skydiving? Because the chance to die makes life more exciting! But Buffy is different from the other Slayers. She has a life outside this job of hers. I learned a lot from Angelus. One thing he taught me was that, to kill this girl, you have to LOVE her. I've learned to savor my kills as I've matured."

"I think it's because you can't kill her with that chip in your head."

He eyed her for a moment, a wry smile on his lips. "Right. I can't kill her— or at least, I couldn't kill her until last night. But the chip doesn't work anymore. Now I CAN." He began to pace the room. "I stayed with her these long months because it was fun, messing with her head. It was a thrill, wondering if she would finally break and kill me. And if I could feel her fire other ways ..." He eyed Lilah up and down, liking his lips. "I'd get all the fun out of 'er I could. And I figured SOMEday I would be free of this chip." As quick as a blink, he was across the room and had Lilah by the throat, against the wall. "Someday I'd be able to sink my teeth into 'er sweet likkle neck. ..." He vamped out and brought his fangs against her neck. "And I'd get to see the 'urt, the betrayal in 'er eyes as she died."

He let go of her and started pacing again. "But first I'd kill each of 'er friends, and make her wonder how they died. Make 'er go mad trying to find out. See the horror in 'er eyes when she finally learned it was ME, and that they died because she let me live all these years." He turned back and gave his audience an evil smile.

"HAH! See, I KNEW he couldn't have gone soft!" Lawrence was like a kid at Christmas.

Lilah had recovered quickly, and was giving Spike a cool smile. "So why kill demons? Why refuse to eat last night, and attack Lawrence here?"

Spike shrugged. "Hafta get m'rocks off some'ow, ey? 'Sides, it keeps me in 'er good graces, lets me get closer to 'er, 'er thinkin' I'm on 'er side. As for last night... that's why I can kill 'er now. I was in a fight when this lil' bit zaps me, right 'ere. " He pointed to the back of his neck. "Had a bit of amnesia or somethin', didn't know 'o or what I was. But I do now."

"Do you?" Lilah raised a brow. "Then kill that girl you brought with."

"No!" Devonshire cried.

Spike just barely remembered not to sigh in relief.

"She's mine!"

"Now, Lieutenant, this is no way to treat our guest," Lawrence reprimanded him.

"But she's a friend of my daughter! I want to make a gift of her to Shelly, when I turn her!"

Lawrence sighed. Spike remembered that this one was always a man of manners and propriety. This could work to his advantage. "Let 'im keep the girl, Lawrence. She's not the only human in the room." He moved towards Lilah.

"Ah, never mind ..." Lilah put up her hands, "about the killing. We know you bit that girl in the park, so it's really a moot point. What I wanted to see was whether your chip was still out of commission."

Spike frowned. "Why wouldn't it be?" And he hit her, square in the jaw.

Lilah fell back against the chair behind her. She glared up at the bleached vamp, nursing a bleeding lip. Spike was obviously not in pain.

When she caught her breath, she answered him, "Well, the short-circuit might only be temporary. You could be feeding, and suddenly find yourself with your brain fried. What I'm offering you is a chance to be rid of it, once and for all."

He eyed her warily. "I'm listening ..."

"C'mon, Buff, ya gotta eat something ..."

"I told you, Will, I'm not hungry. How can I eat when he's out there somewhere, thinking I hate him?"

Buffy had gotten a decent night's sleep, once the worry of whether Spike had gone evil again had passed. But morning brought another realization, that he might not come home if he thought that they thought he was evil again.

 And now she had a headache.

"There is something you can do for me though, Will ..."

Willow smiled what Buffy affectionately thought of as the girl's "spunky smile", all stiff upper lip and the lot. "Anything, Buffy, whatever I can do to help!"

"Good." Buffy dragged the witch's arm and started to drag her out of the kitchen, towards the stair. "Set up that crystal thing again, so we can find Spike."

Willow stopped cold. "Oh ... Buffy, I'm sorry, I can't!"

Buffy stared at her best friend, hurt and surprise in her eyes. "What? But Willow, I thought you thought he was really innocent! We have to find him and tell him we know he's not evil, and want him to come home!"

"And when exactly did we reach that conclusion, Holmes?" Xander asked from the doorway before Willow could answer. "You really need to learn to lock your door, Buffster," he added.

"Willow has a magic crystal!"

Xander gave her a wry smile. "Willow has a lot of magic crystals, Buffybot." He winked.

Buffy smacked him on the arm. "This is serious! Her crystal told us what had really happened to Spike! He hasn't gone bad on us, he has amnesia!"

Xander blinked. "When did Spike go evil? Er, when did we think he went evil? I mean, not that I didn't think he was always evil, but when did he go— I mean, when did we THINK he went back to the 'being with Drusilla' kind of evil?"

Buffy's lower lip trembled. "You've seen him with DRUSILLA??"

Xander scratched his head. "Is this a trick question? I men, yeah, I've seen him with Dru. Or do you mean lately? Now I feel like I'M the one with amnesia! Hey, maybe he's been watching too much Passions!" Xander laughed. "Isn't this the part where he's supposed to go bad because he doesn't remember who he is, but then he sees Buffy and remembers how good he really is, and gets back together with her and is good again and they live happily ever after and oh my GOD is that disgusting!"

There was a moment of silence, as Buffy and Xander looked at each other in horror (but for different reasons), and Willow gave them a bemused look that said she thought they were both quite mad.

"You know what I think? I think you're both insane!" she told them, in case they didn't get it from her expression. "Buffy, Xander has no idea what's going on, so why don't you let me tell him, ok? And then I'll answer your question."

Buffy nodded and kept quiet while Willow filled Xander in.

 Cerberus had kept walking the night before until he started to feel Spike faintly in his head. He eventually came upon a field, and found Spike's scent. This had to be where the vamp had ended up when he went through the witches' portal. Cerberus could also smell the girl that had come through. Spike felt close enough that he thought he should be just about in range for their telepathy, but then the vamp suddenly started to fade again. Both the scent and the bond led him in the same direction.

The scent stopped around some trailer; Spike had either used another portal or gotten into a car. There were a few other scents around, and signs of a struggle. Two other beings had left with Spike. The dog could feel the bond stretched beyond a trailer where Spike's scent was strong, as was the girl's. The sun was going to be up soon. Cerberus had decided to take a chance and see if the girl could help him. She'd let him in, and he spent what little was left of the night and a good hunk of the morning telling the girl his life story. **... and so here I am.**

Shelly nodded, thoroughly captivated by the dog's story. And then it hit her. She had just listened to a story told by a DOG. A VAMPIRE dog, at that. And here she was, a vampire slayer-in-raining, with a vampire for a father. She sighed. Just when exactly had her life gotten so strange?

Cerberus whined, oblivious to the girl's plight. Was she going to help him or not?

"So you're telling me that not all vampires are evil?"

He huffed impatiently. **You knew that already, you'd heard of Angel before!**

"Yeah, but Angel has a SOUL. And I've heard the story of William the Bloody, too. I don't recollect him goin' good in it."

**But you knew about him attacking other demons and allying himself with the Slayer!**

"That doesn't prove anything, except that maybe the Slayer's a total sap, and that means Angel may not be so angelic either. In fact, I'm kinda wondering why I don't just stake you right here and now." Except that she didn't make a move for her stake.

**Because you want to find your friend and, with my link to Spike, I can lead you to them.**

"If I trust you."

**I don't see as you have much of a choice.**

"So why me? Why not just go after them on your own, or get the Slayer to go with you?"

He lowered his head. **I don't think she would trust me right now, and I don't dare risk doing this alone. If there's one thing a dog knows, it's that the hunt goes better in a pack.**

 Spike knew he should be sleeping, but he was restless. He had no decisions to make, no hard choices. He knew what he wanted. He was just worried that he might not get it. The hours that ticked by were worse than any torture he'd every known. He wanted this night to come and go already.

He could feel Cerberus in his mind, faintly, but the dog was too far away, or else was refusing to answer. In any case, he didn't seem to be getting any closer.

Lilah told him Wolfram and Hart wanted him to infiltrate Angel Investigations, and kill off all its members. If he did so, they would remove the chip. But they needed a gesture of faith on his part. If he killed the Slayer, that would be all the gesture they needed to trust him with the task in question. Then they would remove the chip, and he would kill Angel and his friends. Then he could consider himself on the payroll, if he wanted, do jobs here and there and live in the lap of luxury with all the pretty young things he could eat.

No, the night could not come fast enough.

 "I can't believe you used that thing to find out what happened with Spike! Why didn't you use it to learn the winning lotto numbers??"

Willow took a book and whacked Xander on the head with it.

"Hey!" Anya protested. "Don't damage my merchandise!" she scolded the witch, oblivious to the meaningful look Willow was giving the both of them, gesturing to Buffy.

Buffy was equally oblivious to all of them, her face sad as she stared at the book in front of her on her kitchen table, lost in thought.

Willow's crystal was a one-shot deal, and it had cut out on them before revealing where Spike had ended up. Now all they could do was wait, and hope he came home. Willow had borrowed some books form the Magic Box in hopes that they might find another spell to find him with. Buffy wanted to go out on patrol, to fight off some of the edginess she was feeling, but she didn't want to miss Spike if he came home that night. She had already checked out his crypt during the day— he wasn't there. Where had he ended up? Did he find a place to hole up, safe from sunlight?

When had she started to care so much?

When the phone rang, it startled her nearly out of her chair. Dawn, teenager that she was, was the first one to reach it, even though she had been in the living room. "Spike!" she cried, a smile lighting her face.

Buffy stood, knocking her chair over as she did.

"Spike, we know you aren't evil! Please say you're coming home!" Dawn pleaded.

 Spike was speechless for a moment. He expected that the others hated him, after what he had done. A wave of gratitude for the girl's enthusiasm washed over him, promptly followed by one of guilt. That they thought he was good just made what he had to do that much harder.

"Dawn, I need to talk to the Slayer." He winced at that. He had to actually force himself to call her by her real name, rather than call her Nibblet, or refer to Buffy as "Big Sis".

"Oh ... okay, let me get her." The disappointment in her voice broke his dead heart.

"Spike! Thank God you're all right!" He wanted to weep at the sound of Buffy's voice, at the concern he heard in it. "Where are you? Come home, please!" If Dawn had broken his heart, Buffy had made what was left into dust, sure as if she'd staked him.

"Slayer ... I have a hostage. We're going to have it out, you and me, now that my chip isn't working anymore." His voice dripped with menace. "If you don't come, I'm going to feed on this sweet little thing." He grabbed Kira by the hair and shoved the phone in her face. "Say hello to the Slayer, Kira."

"Please, you have to help me!" the girl sobbed into the phone.

Spike put the phone back up to his ear. "Hear that, Slayer? Come to 235 Bowlingbrook Drive. You don't get here by seven, I'm having the girl for dinner." And he hung up.

"You didn't tell her to come alone..." There was a click from behind him as Lilah hung up the extension.

Spike snorted in derision at the lawyer, making no attempt to hide the true revulsion he felt when he looked at her. "What, you afraid of the Scooby Gang?"

Lilah shrugged. "She believed you were good. It would have been easier for you to kill her if she came as a friend. Now she thinks you're the enemy, she'll bring help and weapons. Why make it more difficult?"

Spike eyed her coldly. "So I like a challenge. How could I enjoy sneaking up on her? I want to see the pain in her eyes as she realises I've betrayed her. And if she brings the gang, I can hurt her even more as I kill them, one by one, before I put her out of her misery."

Lilah smiled appreciatively. "Niiiiiiiice. I like your style!"

He smiled back, imagining he was separating her pretty little head from her shoulders with one of the axes on the wall.

 Buffy's hand dropped to her side, the phone sliding from her fingers and hitting the linoleum with a clatter. Her knees followed a second later. She didn't see Willow's worried face as the girl shook her shoulders, didn't hear a word she said. All she was aware of was the sudden pain in her throat, the stinging in her eyes. She vaguely became aware of a keening sound, but didn't realise it was coming from herself.

Willow cradled a bereft Slayer in her arms, sharing lost looks with the rest of the Slayerettes.

 The moment the sun was set, Cerberus was out Shelly's door in a flash. She ran for her bike, just barely managing to keep up with the little dog as he tore down the road towards what the people in her park called "Snobsville".

 Spike could feel his canine friend getting closer in his mind. He wasn't sure if he should be relieved or worried. Cerberus would allow him to communicate with Buffy without Lilah knowing— if she didn't think the little dog had gone evil too. If she did, he might get staked alongside his vampman ...

 "We'll call you when ... when we get back," Willow finished lamely. She knew how much Spike meant to Dawn, how much the girl probably wanted to come with them and see for herself what had become of him. But if they were going to have to stake him— and it certainly was looking that way— it would be best for her to be elsewhere. Bad enough Buffy would have to be there. They didn't call Giles as it was, thinking he would go ballistic in his protectiveness of his Slayer and ex-Slayer-in-Waiting (and consequently didn't call Tara either, who was with him at the magic shop). No, it was better for all of them if they didn't have to worry about Dawn, which was why they were sending her over to a friend's house. She wished they had time to drive her over, but they just had to trust she would get there safely on her own.

 "Ow!" Dawn cried as the car hit a bump. She held her breath, praying no one had heard her. Her legs ached, folded as they were, and pressing against the trunk door, desperate to keep it closed, yet open a crack. If it closed completely, it would lock, and she wouldn't be able to get out. If that happened, her sister might murder her best friend. Being there to protect him was worth a little discomfort in the trunk.

 "Are you sure you'll be all right alone?"

"Sure, Mr. Giles," Tara smiled. "If we get a rush, I'll call Anya on her cell phone."

Giles cleaned his glasses, muttering, "Yes, and she'll be here in two seconds flat."

Giles was supposed to train the new Slayer-in-waiting, Shelly. She hadn't agreed to anything but to consider it the night before, and she apparently had no phone. He was going to have to go to her place if he was going to talk to her again; he just hoped she was home.

 Buffy sat in the back seat of Xander's car, in body, but her mind was lost in a dream. It was a dream she'd had when she was dead, one she'd shared with Spike. She'd seen his true, inner self, his soul, what she'd accused him of not having, and finally believed that he did love her. It was what had led her back to life. The others had no reason to believe there was anything beyond the chip that kept him on his best behavior, but she knew he wasn't evil. She trusted and loved him. So what was happening? She felt like the world was crumbling down around her.

Xander looked up every now and again in the rearview mirror, not so much to check for cars— it was a quiet night— as to check on Buffy. He would never admit it, but for all his teasing, he had actually come to like Spike. Well, maybe "like" was a strong word. "Respect" wasn't quite right either, but the point was that Spike had proven he was on their side time and time again. Well, they thought so, anyway. Xander thought he shouldn't be surprised, but somehow he was. He felt betrayed. He couldn't even begin to imagine how Buffy must have felt.

Willow watched her friend too, in the side mirror. She felt like she ought to say something, but what? Sorry that your former mortal enemy turned out to be your mortal enemy still? She felt sick— they had let this monster care for Dawn and fight by their side while Buffy was "gone". When Buffy came back and it was clear she had brought a soft-spot for Captain Peroxide with her, Willow didn't argue. She hadn't thought there was a reason to. That was the problem-- she wasn't thinking. She should have known better. She was supposed to be the "brains" of the group, right? The voice of reason? Some help she was. She had actually even come to like the vampire.

Anya stared more directly at the Slayer, lacking in the human etiquette on "worrying about a friend". She didn't understand any of it. Spike had helped them. He could have abandoned them when Buffy died, but he didn't. And while the others didn't think much of his pre-chip days, Anya was certain that, if he had reaaaaaally wanted to, he could have killed the Scoobies, and maybe Buffy too. She knew evil demons— she had spent many a lovely evening with quite a few— and Spike was not one. So why the sudden change, just because the chip had stopped working? The situation was only made more confusing by the things Willow's crystal had supposedly shown them (she made a mental note to charge the witch for the thing— with a discount, of course). The whole thing did not follow a logical progression— surely the others saw that?

"Why is everyone looking like they just lost their best friend?"

"Anya!" Willow gave her a horrified look, and gave Buffy a worried one.

"Spike is NOT my best friend!" Xander protested (A little too much, for it not to be true, Anya thought with a satisfied inner smirk).

"It just seems to me that we are being awfully quick to make assumptions, here. How do we know Spike isn't under a spell, or being influenced somehow by that other vampire?"

"Sweetie," Xander spoke through clenched teeth, "You seem to be forgetting that Spike is a demon! Demon equals evil, in my book."

Anya shot him a hurt look in the mirror. "So nice to know what you truly think of me!"

He sighed. "An, you aren't a demon anymore—"

"But I was! So you are saying I was evil once! Well, like it or not, Mr. Harris, our past is always a part of who we are. I will always be part demon, even if my DNA is all human now. And humans aren't exactly exempt from the evil department either, for that matter, so why are you so certain they hold the trademark on being good? If beings can't change, can't make themselves into who or whatever they want, whenever they want, then what's the point of any of this? Why live? Why did we bring Buffy back?"

Buffy spoke for the first time since they'd left her house. "I wish you hadn't."

None of them said a word the rest of the trip.

 Spike spent the time after the sun set waiting for Buffy and the Scoobies on the mansion's massive porch. It was so big, it took him a full minute to pace its length and back again. Lawrence watched him with a bemused grin.

"I'd say you were nervous, if I didn't know better."

"Naw, that's the pacing of a predator anxious for the kill!" Devonshire piped up, sounding a bit defensive. Spike was his grandsire; he was in awe of the legend of William the Bloody, killer of two Slayers. He shook Kira for emphasis on the word "kill", and she let out a slight whimper. It was the first sound she had made in hours, having given up struggling long past.

Spike halted in his pacing, literally caught like a deer in the headlights of the car that pulled into the drive. The end had arrived in Xander's beat up old car.

When she got out of the back seat, his undead heart skipped a beat it was never supposed to have in the first place. He feared he would see hate there, but instead saw something that was somehow worse. Misery. The only consolation he had was that he wouldn't have to look at it much longer.

Giles spied his new Slayer-in-waiting pedaling like a madwoman on the opposite side of the street. He would have missed her entirely, if not for the dog running before her. What was Cerberus doing with her? Willow and the others had told him that Spike was innocent of feeding on the girl— well, not exactly, but he wasn't evil, like they feared. But the dog had inexplicably disappeared; maybe he'd found his master.

Or maybe the girl knew he was a vampire, and was trying to catch him.

In any case, he needed to talk to both of them. He did a quick U-turn on the quiet road, and sped after them. In a few moments, he was neck in neck with them. He shouted out the window to them and got them to stop. It turned out they were working in tandem, looking for Spike. Giles offered to give them a lift, which they gladly accepted, both panting. Shelly quickly filled her potential Watcher in, while Cerberus navigated.

Before long, they reached the posh side of town. The dog told them to slow down, feeling the bond he had with Spike grow stronger. After a bit, he told the Brit to turn around, and head down the drive of a house they had passed.

The drive was blocked by a gate. They got out, and Shelly and Giles climbed over it, while Cerberus just used his vampiric agility to leap it. Cerberus tried reaching out to Spike as they made their way to the house. He should have been close enough to hear the vampman, but got no answer.

 Please, Cerberus, don't get any closer, Spike pleaded without actually mindspeaking to the dog. The dog loved him too much; he couldn't trust the animal to let him get done what needed to be.

"I see you brought your friends, Slayer." Spike said, his voice void of emotion. He wished his heart could be the same.

She stopped in the yard, ten feet from where he stood on the porch. "You didn't say not to. But this is between you and me. Let the girl go with them."

Spike laughed, fighting to not let it sound hysterical. "You don't get it, do you, Slayer? Did you think I would just give her to you? You have to earn this rescue. We fight. I win, Devonshire here gets to keep the girl. You win, you get to take her home."

"Hey, that wasn't a part of the deal!" Devonshire protested. "She's mine! I'm giving her as a present to my daughter Shelly, when I turn her!"

Buffy's eyes lit in recognition at the name, her jaw dropping. Shelly's father was a vampire? Spike didn't hide his smile of pride at her powers of deduction— it could only add to his look of evil anyway.

"Then you can fight her for the girl if I lose," Spike told him in a tone that said he thought the man was a moron. Which he did.

He wanted to just let her take the girl, but that would undermine the image he was trying to maintain, for the Scoobies and for Wolfram and Hart, but mostly for Buffy. She had to believe he was evil. She had to hate him. To reinforce it, he attacked her without warning.

He was fast, but she was faster. He leapt at her, but she was already out of the way, and he landed on the ground beside her. Before he could get his feet under him, she kicked him in the head, flipping him over. Then she just stood there.

Come on! Fight, you stupid bint! he cried in internal frustration. I'ma an evil vampire; do what you do best and slay me! He got to his feet and came at her.

Xander growled in frustration. He should have shot the vampire with a stake when he had a chance, but he had been too stunned. He insisted that he had always thought Spike was evil, but he still couldn't believe what he was seeing. Now Buffy was too close to the vamp; they were moving to fast for him to get a clear shot. He didn't get another chance.

Willow tried to think of a spell to help, but her mind was blank. She chastised herself for not planning ahead while they were in the car, but she had been too worried about Buffy. She didn't get a chance to think of one, either.

A pack of thugs, some vamps and some human, poured out from the house. Xander and Anya aimed their bolts at the vamps in the crowd. Willow tried to use her magic, and found it to be inactive.

"This place has a magic-dampening field!" she cried in despair.

"So do things the old-fashioned way!" Xander told her as he tried to fend off a human assailant.

Willow reached into the front seat of the car and pulled out a sword. Her assailant looked at her weapon and laughed. She swung, taking off his head, and he turned to dust. "Highlander ain't got nothin on me!" She told the wind.

Buffy had her hands full with Spike, but that didn't stop her from using him to clobber a few humans that tried to sneak past her to get at her friends. She pulled out her stake, but used it on a stray vamp. While she was distracted, Spike twisted free. And gave her a solid punch to the jaw that sent her sprawling.

Another time, this might have been fun, he thought.

Dawn heard all the noise outside and decided the fight had already started. She had wanted to wait until she was sure the others were out of visual range before getting out, but if she did, Spike might get staked because she hesitated. She lifted the lid of the trunk and got her legs under her. A vampire passed by her, attacking Anya. Dawn grabbed an axe from the trunk, tore off its cover, stood, and beheaded the vamp with a smooth stroke.

"BOO-YEAH! I killed my first vamp!" she cried in glee.

Buffy and Spike looked towards the teen's voice in simultaneous horror.

"You brought the Nibblet with you?!?" Spike asked her incredulously, forgetting himself.

Buffy eyed him warily. He truly sounded angry— why? She tossed the question aside and ran for her sister.

Surprisingly, the girl was doing well on her own, holding off human and vampire assailants alike. Still, Spike didn't feel he could stop Big Sis from helping her. He wouldn't do anything that would endanger Dawn. So what could he do? If he just stood there, Wolfram and Hart would doubt his sincerity, and maybe the Scoobies would, too. It seemed, for that fleeting moment, that Buffy already did, because of his outburst.

 Giles struggled to keep up with the young woman. The dog was already hundreds of yards ahead of them, and getting farther with every second. He wished he knew what they were running into.

Cerberus wished Spike would tell him what was happening. He sensed the vamp was under a lot of stress, with an undercurrent of sorrow and determination. But what had him so determined?

Shelly neither knew nor cared what was happening. All she cared about was saving her friend and staking her father. She hoped she finally had the strength to do it.

 "EVERYONE, STOP WHERE YOU ARE!" Spike shouted above the din of battle. To his astonishment, everyone, friend and foe alike, obeyed. Of course, who was friend and who was foe at that moment was debatable. "I can't exactly prove my intentions if the Slayer gets offed fighting you lot, now can I?" He made a show of glaring at Lilah's minions. "Slayer, tell your people to get in the car and wait. The rest of you, get in the house."

"And what happens to them if I lose?" the Slayer called to him.

"You have my word that they will go from here safely." The words came from another figure on the porch.

"And why should I trust you?" Buffy eyed the newcomer suspiciously. She recognized him now; it was the vamp the crystal had shown with Spike in the morgue.

"You don't really have a choice, do you?" Lawrence asked, sauntering over to Kira. "I am this one's master; for all his protests, I could kill her now." He spread his hands. "We really don't care a whit about your friends— it's you we want dead."

Buffy was silent a moment. She turned to Spike. "What intentions are you trying to prove to them?"

"That he'll be our assassin for us," Lawrence answered for him. "If he kills you, his supposed ladylove, we'll believe he is as evil as he claims, and that he can be bought." He stepped down the steps. "The chip is still in his head. Just because it has stopped working doesn't mean it will stay that way. He kills you, we remove it and take him on the payroll. Then we have him kill his grandsire, as well as Angel's friends."

Buffy licked her lips, but seemed otherwise void of emotion. "Who is 'we'?"

"Wolfram and Hart." Spike told her.

She nodded, and got a faraway look in her eyes. After a moment, she looked up at him. "You want this?"

He steeled himself and nodded.

She tossed her stake aside. "Then kill me."

The collective gasps of the crowd rivaled the howling wind.

Spike backed up a step. "What?!" Damn her, what was she doing?

"You kill me, you get what you want. My friends go free, regardless. I doubt you can kill Angel, and he sure as hell won't let you kill his friends, so I'm not really worried about them. You want them to remove that chip, you have to earn it, Spike. If you really are evil— kill me."

He laughed nervously. NOW what was he to do? She'd just ruined everything!

"KIRA!"

"Shelly!" Devonshire waved to her, happily.

Spike almost breathed a sigh of relief at the interruption. The other girl from the trailer park was running up to them.

Oh no. So was Cerberus. And ... was that Giles, waaaaaay back there?

"What about the girl, Slayer?" Devonshire reminded them. "Remember your agreement? Spike kills you, the girl dies! You kill Spike, you have to fight me still to get her!"

Fast as a Slayer, Shelly pulled out a crossbow, aimed, and fired.

Spike ducked, needlessy. The bolt hit Devonshire's chest, dusting him. Kira fell to the floor. Spike went over to the girl and slung her over his shoulder. He carried her over to Shelly, and dropped her on the ground. He hoped no one noticed him wince when he heard the girl's cry of pain as she struck the ground.

"Take the girl and go!" Spike told her. "That goes for the rest of you, too— everyone but the Slayer!"

"No way—"

"Xander!" Buffy didn't face her friends; she spoke to them, but her eyes were on Spike. "Do as he says."

Willow spoke up. "I did NOT go through the trouble of resurrecting you just to let you throw your life away!"

Dawn crossed her arms. "Yeah, you only get to play the 'noble suicide' card once!"

Lawrence walked back up the stairs, chuckling. He faced them. "You realise, of course, that Wolfram and Hart has about twenty sharpshooters in the windows above us? If I give the signal, none of these humans will leave here alive. So all of this is a moot point, really. Spike kills you, or we kill you; in the end, no one is leaving alive."

"You said you would let them go!" Buffy protested.

Lawrence rolled his eyes. "Puhlease. I'm a vampire, I'm evil. I only told you that to get the show moving. But you still seem to be at a standstill. So we're going to try a new approach. In order to save your worthless hides, you must all run. If you wait to save the Slayer, you will die. I'll even give you a 30-second head start." He held up a walkie-talkie, with his finger poise over the "talk" button. "I suggest you all run fast— the sharpshooters have a range of 300 feet." He began to sing the Jeapordy song.

**Cerberus—kill!**

In that one sending, all the misunderstanding became clear. Cerberus understood what Spike had been up to, and why. Giles had run up beside him just a few moments before. He sent to the man, **Shoot the one on the porch, now!**

Not sure what was going on, Giles had been a Watcher long enough to know you sometimes needed to move without question. He pulled out his crossbow and fired at the vampire, who had no idea he even had a weapon. It turned out that Giles was quite a good shot. A pile of dust muffled the walkie-talkie's fall.

In another sending, Spike painted a quick and clear mental image of what he needed them all to do next, and Cerberus broadcast it to the Scoobies. Trusting what their minds' eyes showed them, they obeyed the dog, just as he obeyed Spike.

 Lilah watched everything from a second-story window. What was going on? Why were the Slayer's friends leaving her behind? Why wasn't Lawrence giving the order to fire on the retreating car?

She pressed the "talk" button on her walkie-talkie. "Lawrence? What's going on?"

There was no answer. She was about to try again, when she saw the vampire and the Slayer go at it. Forgetting about the car, she watched with glee as it looked like the vampire was getting the upper hand. Her superiors would be so pleased!

But what was this? She thought the vampire had killed the Slayer; he was holding her limp form in his arms. But now he was running— away from the house!

She pressed the talk button again. "FIRE!"

 Xander's car was out of the range of the bullets, Spike ran after it. He made it a bit more than halfway before the bullets came down like rain. They slowed, but did not stop him. He shielded his precious Slayer with his body, carrying her, but a few bullets grazed her. His biggest fear was that one would go through him into her, but their luck held out, and he made it to the car, where it waited for them. Giles got out and helped them into the vehicle. It was a tight fit, but no one complained. Xander floored it.

"Will, the security gate!"

"No good, no magic, remember?"

Xander sighed. "Hold on tight, everyone!" He floored it, and busted through.

Giles sighed in turn, still out of breath from his wild run. "Why didn't I think of that?"

Buffy didn't answer; she just held tight to her vampire, sighing herself, in relief.

 Shelly sat as unmoving as her friend, who was fast asleep on the Summers girls' couch. Only, Shelly was wide awake.

 The Slayer's friends, the Scoobies, had been very nice to them both, but Shelly wasn't feeling too conversational. She knew they were confused as to why she was nearly catatonic; she had her friend back, didn't she? They made it out alive, thanks to Spike's diversionary tactics. They probably didn't know that she had killed her father that night.

She didn't think it would be so hard.

After all, that wasn't really her father. He father had died a goodly while ago—that had only been a monster masquerading as the man she had once dearly loved.

She felt a shadow cross her face, and instinctually looked up. It was the younger Summers girl, Dawn, who was just about her own age. Dawn smiled at her and handed her a cup of hot liquid—cocoa, by the smell.

"I'm sorry about your dad."

Shelly almost spilled the drink.

"My mom died recently. I tried to bring her back, but..." Dawn's eyes grew haunted a moment. She smiled weakly. "She didn't come back quite the same. Or, she might not of. I'm not really even sure. I stopped the spell before I could find out if it worked or not. I couldn't deal with her not being ... her, y'know?" Dawn covered her mouth with a hand, her eyes filling with tears. "I sometimes feel like I killed her, that second time..." she whispered. She looked up at Shelly in horror. "I'm s-sorry, I didn't mean— I shouldn't have said— I've never said that to anyone, I—" She started to stand, but Shelly reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I ... I could use some company, right now ... if you're up to it?" she asked shyly but hopefully.

 The first thing Spike noticed was how much he hurt. The second was that he was still alive, or at least what passed for it for him. The third was that Buffy's scent was thick in his nose.

He opened his eyes and found himself looking into hers. She grinned.

"Wakey-wakey, Mr. Swiss-cheese."

"Buffy?!" He tried to sit up, and fell back on his elbows. Then he discovered some of the bullets had apparently hit his arms, and he fell all the way back. He hit even more wounds on his back in the process. He lay there a moment, paralyzed with pain.

"Hurts?"

He could barely nod.

"Serves you right! Suicide is my department, remember?"

He managed a weak grin. "Well, how else did you expect us to get out of there?" he rasped. "If we'd left with the others, they would have known something was up and started firing right away. And If I didn't carry you, you would be dead again. I'm dead already, remember?"

She hit his arm, then immediately apologised when he grimaced in pain. "That's not what I'm talking about," she told him softly, after a moment. "Cerberus told me about what you were trying to do. How you were trying to convince me you were evil so I would stake you and not feel guilty about it. As if!" She brushed his cheek tenderly. "You don't think it killed me to kill Angel?"

He looked away, ashamed. "Angel was good, the moment you killed him," he protested weakly.

"And he had been evil for weeks on end before that, killed Jenny and threatened the people I loved. But don't think for a moment I would have felt the pain any less if he had been evil even as I ran him through. I loved him. I won't lie to you— part of me always will." She made him look at her. "And now I love you."

She kissed him, then, softly, but he could feel the love in it, and electricity that danced in his lips and into the rest of him, invigorating him, making him forget his pain a moment. Until she pulled away and slapped him.

"And you were going to put me through that again, you jerk! Why the hell did you wanna die anyway?! Is being with me that bad?!?"

"I ..."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you thought I would be better off without you, were afraid of going evil again and hurting me, yadda-yadda! Y'know, you and Angel are more alike than you realise! Both of you do what you think is right for me without bothering to ask me what I think!" She pouted. "I mean, give me a little credit. You go evil on me, I can take you!" She tried to keep a straight face, and failed.

"Oh really?" he asked her. Ignoring his injuries, he sat up and gathered his Slayer into his arms.

"See?" she purred. "I have you right where I want you!"

The one-time mortal enemies shared another kiss, and each treasured every minute.