New beginnings

Chapter 2

The silence was broken by a loud crash from the shop. Dawn squealed, then wailed, “Spiiiiike!”

Giles and Spike exchanged guilty looks and chuckled. Spike managed to get out “How does she do that?”

Buffy looked at him in confusion. “Do what?”

“How does she make three syllables out of a one syllable word?”

The door from the shop slammed open to reveal a furious teenager. Dawn stalked up to Spike and stood with fists on hips glaring down at him, one foot tapping irritably. “You are so going to pay for that!” She ran the fingers of one hand through her hair... or at least she tried to. It didn’t quite work. “I can’t believe you did it again!” She wagged a scolding finger at him. “You realise you’re going to have to undo it all don’t you? And if you make it hurt just once I’m gonna... I’m gonna… I don’t know what I’m gonna do, but you won’t like it!” She turned on her heel with an irritated little sniff and stomped back into the shop revealing the tangled mess that remained of her usually immaculate hair.

Buffy tried to suppress a giggle as she asked, “She said ‘I can’t believe you did it again?’ You’ve done it before?”

Spike ducked his head awkwardly. “Uh… yeah. Last summer when you were…” He couldn’t finish the sentence.

Buffy nodded in understanding. “Oh, you mean when I was dead…” She grimaced as if dismissing the thought, then playfully patted him on the head. “You braved the wrath of Dawn and not only did you live to tell the tale, you risked a repeat performance. I’m impressed, Big Bad!”

Spike shrugged, “Well I was bored…”

Buffy grinned, “Ooh a bored Spike… scary!” Then she asked, “Giles, do you know what happened to the Bond? How did I manage to break it?”

“I can’t be certain Buffy, but I should imagine that because your Mating Claim was a bit fragmented the Bond may be incomplete. Knowing you, when it was pointed out to you that you would slowly age and Spike wouldn’t, you probably became very anxious about how your relationship would survive the changes and that made you feel insecure. I expect you felt guilty about doubting your own commitment. Your subconscious desire to hide your doubts, both from yourself and from Spike must have disrupted the link.”

Buffy shook her head sadly. “Denial, thy name is Buffy.”

Giles rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I doubt if it would be possible to isolate yourselves from each other if the ritual is performed correctly though.”

“Oh that’s good, I hated it.” Buffy shivered. “I felt all lonely and vulnerable. It’s so weird how quickly I’ve got used to feeling Spike in the back of my mind all the time. It feels so natural… and very comforting in a spooky Hellmouthy kinda way.” Spike was thrilled that she seemed to feel the same way as he did about their connection. She picked up the vital piece of paper again. “I’m gonna need some help figuring out how to say this stuff Giles. I had enough trouble with French, but Latin? Not a clue.”

Giles chuckled. “I’ll write out your two phrases phonetically for you Buffy, then all you’ll need to do is memorise the sounds and remember when to say them.” He went to stand in the doorway to the shop, “Dawn, if you’ve finished your homework perhaps you could join us to go over the procedure for controlling portals? I’d like to get a practice run in tonight if possible.”

“I’ll be there in a minute, Giles.” Dawn packed away her schoolbooks, muttering sulkily about her hair all the while.

Spike looked up. “Not tonight, Watcher. We’ve got something to do.”

Buffy looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “We have?” Spike nodded and squeezed her hand. Buffy shrugged and acquiesced.

Giles blinked, “Oh well, I don’t suppose there’s any rush. Tomorrow evening will do just as well.”

This time it was Buffy who objected. “Um… Giles? Spike and I have plans for tomorrow night.” Spike echoed her questioning look. Buffy flushed slightly. “Well I had made surprise Valentine’s plans for us for last night, but what with Spike being vampnapped and everything we all sort of missed out on Valentine’s, so I just rebooked for tomorrow.” She smiled shyly at Spike. “I booked us a night at the Buena Vista. It’ll be perfect for doing the Claiming ritual undisturbed.” She grinned cheekily and leaned over to whisper in Spike’s ear, “I asked for one of the cottages on the beach right away from the main hotel building, so it won’t matter how much noise we make.”

Spike leered at her, waggling his eyebrows suggestively and whispered, “Oh yeah… bloody brilliant!” He hadn’t had the opportunity to spend time in a comfortable hotel for years, and the Buena Vista was the only really prestigious hotel in Sunnydale. Situated right on the shore it had many of the luxury facilities of a much larger resort hotel and catered mainly to the ‘Country Club’ set and wealthy out of town visitors.

Giles humphed impatiently and took his glasses off for a polish. Rather sarcastically he asked, “Perhaps you could check your social calendars and let me know if you have Sunday evening free?”

Spike and Buffy exchanged amused nods. Rather sheepishly Buffy told him, “Now the wedding’s off, Sunday would be fine Giles.”

Twenty minutes later Spike was climbing the walls from boredom. After having been told off for the third time for fidgeting and interrupting Giles’ explanation he finally protested. “I’m just the muscle, Watcher. I don’t need to know all this technical Portal crap. I don’t understand it anyway! All I need to know is when to drink from the Slayer, how much to take and when to jump. It would be good if you told me where I’m going and if there are any nasties there to look out for too. Oh, and I’d like some hint as to how long I’m gonna be stranded there before I’m brought back.”

Giles sighed, took off his glasses, pinched the bridge of his nose and took on a very long-suffering expression, but before he could go fully into his ‘lecturer’ mode Buffy added, “Giles, Spike’s got a point. He’s the muscle and I’m the blood donor. All I have to do is stand there until he needs to feed from me, and in the meantime keep on the lookout for baddies to beat up.” She shrugged helplessly. “Besides I haven’t understood a single thing you’ve said for the last fifteen minutes.”

Giles wearily turned to Dawn for her opinion. Looking up from her notebook in which she’d been busy writing she regarded them each in turn. “What?” She asked in confusion. “This stuff is fascinating. It’s like Star Trek physics… only not.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Perhaps Star Trek isn’t quite right, it’s more like Sliders isn’t it? Ooh no! I know, it’s like Stargate!” She seemed to go off into a slight meditative trance for a few seconds.

Buffy took in her sister’s enthusiastic expression and rather incredulously asked, “Dawnie, do you actually understand all this?”

Dawn blinked as her mind came back from wherever it had been, then grinning excitedly she admitted, “Well surprisingly… yeah, I think I do. Cool isn’t it? When Giles comes out with a new factoid it’s like something inside me is saying ‘Yes… that’s right. I knew that’. Perhaps it’s ‘cos I’m the Key I instinctively get to understand how I work?”

Buffy shook her head in wonderment and chuckled. “Yay! Go you, Key girl!” She turned her ‘puppy dog’ eyes to her Watcher and pleaded, “Giles, Spike and I were going to do some concentration training…”

Giles shook his head in defeat and made dismissive shooing motions with his hand. “Oh, very well. Off you go then…”

Leaving Giles and Dawn sitting on the green couch, heads tilted together as they continued to study, Buffy took Spike’s hand and led him back into the shop. “Here…” She said as she held out a pair of grey sweat pants she had taken from one of her shopping bags. “Change into these.” As Spike held up the garment and examined it in horror she continued rummaging in her bags and brought out a black singlet. “And this.” She saw his incredulous expression and explained slightly impatiently, “I tried to find black sweat pants, they didn’t have them in the right size. This was the closest I could get.” Seeing him open his mouth ready to protest she added, “And don’t start with the ‘I should pay for them myself’… Slayer business, Slayer expenses, remember?”

Spike whined, “The Big Bad doesn’t do baggy sweats. What’s wrong with my jeans?” Buffy just glared, folding her arms under her breasts and tapping one foot impatiently. Recognising a battle he wasn’t going to win, Spike shrugged sulkily and trotted down to the basement to change. He had the distinct impression he’d left a smugly triumphant Slayer behind him. She was bound and determined to ruin his image. He was going to have to find a place to put his foot down. Soon. Probably.

Buffy followed him down after a few moments with her training holdall. She quickly stripped out of her boots, jeans and sweater, but when Spike saw her bending down in just a plain white cotton sports bra and thong to retrieve her leggings and tank top from her bag, her intended quick change came to a juddering halt. Buffy gasped, her back still turned to him. “Stop!” She half groaned and half laughed. “Don’t do that!”

Spike grinned wickedly as he concentrated on the beautiful sight in front of him and the effect it had on him. He shifted awkwardly, the loose sweat pants he was now wearing not being nearly as supportive of his aroused condition as his customary tight jeans were. In a patently falsely innocent tone he asked, “Don’t do what, Slayer?” He continued deliberately transmitting his desire for her through the Bond.

Buffy sighed, stood up and turned to face him. He was delighted to note her face was flushed and her heartbeat was speeding up. She was smiling even as she shook her head. Spike took an involuntary pace forward. Buffy held up a hand to stop him. “One,” She ticked off a finger. “Giles and Dawn know we’re down here, if we’re more than a few minutes one of them, probably Dawn, will wonder what’s happened to us and come looking for us. Two,” She ticked off another finger. “Anya could come down at any time to fetch something for a customer. Three,” Another finger. “We’ve never yet managed to do the ‘quickie’ thing. Four,” Her little finger got ticked off. “According to everyone who isn’t me we make far too much noise to get away with sneaky sex. And lastly,” Her thumb got ticked off. “I really want to get back into training, I’ve let it slip too much since I came back.”

Spike pouted, “Well with Niblet in the training room I can’t go back in there like this.” He indicated the tent in the front of his sweatpants. He cocked his head to one side, curled his tongue behind his teeth mischievously and threw down the challenge, “And I can do quick if you can do quiet… then we can get on with the training.”

Buffy’s eyes narrowed and her smile became predatory as she stalked towards him. He swallowed convulsively and found himself backing up nervously until he was brought up short when his back made contact with a wall. “Or…” She whispered, her tongue running provocatively over her lips as she ran her hot little hands down his chest until they slipped under the elastic of his waistband, “We could see whether you can do quiet…” She sank down in front of him. “…While I do quick!” Spike closed his eyes and groaned as he was suddenly enveloped in liquid fire.

Five minutes later Spike was left gasping for unneeded breath and clutching at a set of storage shelves to hold himself upright. He breathed, “Bloody Hell Slayer! I think you broke me!”

“You’ll mend,” Buffy giggled. “And on the side that’s all with the plus we’ve proved that I can be quick and you can be quiet.” She cocked her head thoughtfully. “We’ll have to try it the other way around next time…” Grinning, she crossed the floor to her training bag and put on her leggings and cropped tank top then turned back to find her dazed and bewildered vampire still slumped against the shelves. She cheerily beckoned, “Come on Big Bad, I’m waiting for concentration lessons.” She shook her head in confused disbelief. “’Cos you’re so well known for your powers of concentration… as in… not.”

Spike responded with a low growl and a flash of his golden eyes as he gracefully straightened up and prowled towards her.

Buffy gulped. “Um… oops, I’m in trouble now aren’t I?” She turned and fled up the stairs back into the shop, squealing excitedly.

Spike grinned gleefully, quickly snagged the black singlet and grabbed a bundle of silk fabric from his duster pocket, then gave chase. As he emerged into the shop he had a brief look around to check there were no customers in, and vamped out. Tapping into his rarely used vampire superstrength he silently leapt from the top of the steps down into the main part of the shop and tackled Buffy from behind, twisting in mid-air so that when she fell she landed on top of him.

She squeaked, “Eep!” She giggled nervously and tried to struggle out of his arms. “I didn’t mean it… honest… you’re famous for your concentration, you’re all concentratyvamp…” She gulped. “Ooer…” She glanced up at Anya behind the cash register and whined pitifully, “Help?” Allowing his demonic face to fade away Spike laughed, spun her around and began tickling her feet mercilessly.

Buffy dissolved into incoherent shrieks and giggles, wriggling and squirming desperately. Anya raised a disapproving eyebrow, but her mutterings about how Buffy and Spike’s antics could be discouraging potential customers from entering the shop and spending their money went ignored, and then Giles appeared at the doorway to the training room to investigate the noise.

The Watcher shook his head impatiently and muttered; “Well really…” then after a few minutes he spoke louder, “Buffy… Spike… Stop this! You’ll break something!” His reproachful look very quickly dissolved into chuckles when he had to hop aside to avoid a flailing leg.

Spike gradually became aware that Buffy’s excited playfulness was turning into distress as her jerky movements became more violent and her giggles turned into desperate gasps for breath. He paused in his tickling and hesitantly asked, “You okay Buffy?” Buffy’s eyes were wide in her bright red face, and her lungs were clearly straining for air. Xander was coming in the shop door as Spike realised that she was really suffering. Guiltily he urged her, “Come on now Buffy darlin’, breathe for me now. I don’t want to have to do CPR on you!”

Xander dashed to their side. He panted “CPR? Vamps can’t do CPR!” He tried to lay Buffy out flat and tilt her head back. “I’ve done this for Buffy before…”

Buffy gently pushed her friend away and shakily sat up, leaning against Spike’s chest as she recovered her composure. She gasped, “No CPR needed… Buffylungs just forgot how to breathe there for a minute…”

Spike stroked her arm soothingly and whispered apologies in her ear until it registered what Xander had said. He asked, “What do you mean vamps can’t do CPR? I’ve watched so many public information films on PBS I know exactly what to do.”

Xander shrugged, “That’s what Angel said. When the Master drowned Buffy he said he couldn’t do CPR as he had no breath.”

Spike snorted, “What a load of bollocks!”

Buffy turned to him, “Huh?”

Spike shook his head impatiently and asked, “What am I doing at this very moment Buffy?”

Buffy grinned, “You mean besides being an annoying pain in my ass?”

Chuckling, Spike explained, “I’m talking. Talking requires breath. I might not need to breathe, but I do it quite often. I started doing it ‘cos it helped me blend in with my… um… perhaps that’s not the best way to explain it…” He paused, grimacing guiltily.”

Giles put in, “You mean it helped you blend in with humans when you were hunting.”

Nodding sheepishly, Spike admitted, “Well… yeah. It becomes habit after a while. Now I don’t even realise I’m doing it most of the time.”

Buffy frowned thoughtfully, “You do it when we’re fighting and… um… at other times too. I’ve always wondered why you appear to be out of breath after a fight or a chase…”

Anya shrugged and commented, “Actually a vampire’s breath would probably be far better than a human’s for CPR.” When everyone turned to look at her in confusion she bristled defensively and added, “Well it would be. They don’t take any Oxygen from the air and don’t add any Carbon Dioxide, so they’d breathe pure air into your lungs.”

Giles gaped at her in amazement. “Well I never… Do you know Anya, you’re quite right!”

Bewildered, Xander asked, “Then why did Angel say…?”

Spike suggested, “’Cos he’s a bloody ignorant pillock?” He shrugged. “I expect he was too badly injured to think straight.”

Xander shook his head. “No, he wasn’t injured at all. We got there too late and Buffy had already fought the Master and he’d killed her and risen.”

It was Spike’s turn to be bewildered. As he helped Buffy get up off the floor, sat at the round table and pulled her onto his lap he asked her, “The Poof let you go and face the Master without him? Why wasn’t he fighting at your side?”

Buffy sadly explained, “There was this prophecy. I was going to fight the Master and die.”

Xander angrily put in, “Deadboy was sitting in his apartment just brooding about how she was about to die until I got there and convinced him to guide me down into the tunnels. He said the prophecy meant there was nothing we could do to save her.”

Spike was livid. He cried, “He said what?”

Giles explained, “The prophecy was in the Pergamum Codex. Nothing in it has not come to pass.”

Spike shook his head disbelievingly. “Well of course not if you go into things with that attitude! Haven’t you ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy?”

Xander raised an eyebrow. “Huh?”

Giles went into teacher mode. “A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prophetic statement that may cause people to take actions that will ultimately result in fulfilment of the prophecy.”

Spike nodded. “See? If you blindly accept a prophecy is true, you don’t try to do anything to avoid the outcome. By your very acceptance you are more likely to subconsciously do what is required to make it come true. Besides, prophecies never give you the whole truth. It’s all in the interpretation. Half the time they don’t mean what you think they do.”

Buffy whispered, “That’s what the Master said. He told me I was meant to be there… but not to kill him. I had to be there because I was the person needed to free him. If I hadn’t gone down there because of the prophecy he wouldn’t have been able to escape.”

Spike still couldn’t understand Angel’s attitude. “I thought the Powers sent the Brooding Wonder to help you, Slayer. He could have just gone down there and taken Old Batface out for you! As family he would have been able to walk in unchallenged. You mean he didn’t even try to help?” When Buffy shook her head he asked, “Please tell me that at least he did help you train?” Buffy shook her head again. Spike was getting desperate. “He went patrolling with you every night and watched your back?”

Giles responded, “No, he didn’t do any of those things...”

Buffy quietly added, “Sometimes I didn’t see him for weeks at a time.” She snorted. “He did patrol with me sometimes before he lost his soul… although not a lot of actual patrolling got done… if you know what I mean.”

Spike shook his head in confusion. “Bloody hell… what sort of help did the useless sod think he was supposed to give you?”

Buffy frowned as she cast her mind back. “At first all Angel did was pop up from time to time to give me a cryptic warning and then disappear again. It never occurred to me that he could have been fighting at my side all the time the way you do, or even that he could help me train. Apart from the occasional emergency he didn’t come out and help openly until the Mayor…” She was visibly upset at the memory as she looked up at Giles, “He didn’t even explain about Spike and Drusilla when they arrived did he? He could have told us so much…”

Giles took his glasses off and sucked the end of one arm. He pondered, “When you come right down to it I suppose Angel was always very secretive, particularly about anything that involved his own past.”

Buffy whispered, “He didn’t even tell me he was a vampire. My Slayer senses hadn’t kicked in properly then, and I only found out by accident when he vamped out when we kissed for the first time.”

Spike burst out laughing, “Oh that’s delicious! Talk about lack of control…” At Buffy’s questioning look he suggested, “Think about it darlin’…”

Buffy flushed, “Oh yes… you don’t… even when… unless I ask… um…” She shook her head slowly and chuckled, “Oh dear… he was a bit pathetic wasn’t he?”

Dawn retorted from the training room doorway, “Pathetic? I don’t think he was pathetic! I thought he was creepy. ‘Creepy Stalker Guy’, that’s what I called him. He was always sitting in that tree looking in your bedroom window.” She shuddered. “I thought of calling the cops once, he was there for hours…. and he always totally ignored me as if I was beneath his dignity to notice.” She frowned, “Except he didn’t ‘cos I wasn’t really there.”

Xander smirked and gestured at Spike. “Of course this stalker…”

Buffy held up a warning finger and glared at him. “Xander…”

Xander held his hands up defensively. “I know! I know! No more meddling in the Buffster’s love life. I’ve got it, I’m all with the Spike acceptance!” He slyly muttered, “Nobody said I had to like the guy though….” Seeing Spike’s grin at that comment he chuckled mischievously and continued, “You can’t deny that the bleached wonder here was all obsessed stalker guy.”

Dawn giggled, “Oh Spike wasn’t a creepy stalker, he was a cute cuddly stalker. He was so obvious… and he only stood under his tree smoking and keeping watch instead of climbing up to Buffy’s window all Peeping Tommish. Angel always squicked me out but Spike made me feel really safe.” She turned to Giles and demanded, “Why did the monks give me memories of hating Angel and being scared of him, but really liking Spike? Even when he was all evil and telling everyone he was going to kill Buffy I have clear memories of him always being sweet to me… right from when he came to the house with Buffy that first time making plans to gang up on Angelus!”

Spike felt slightly offended. He hadn’t realised he’d been quite that obvious. “Cute? Cuddly? Sweet? I’ll have you know the Big Bad doesn’t do cute, cuddly… or sweet!”

Buffy reached up to rumple his tousled curls and chuckled ironically, “No sweetie… you’re not cute...” She stroked his arms that were wrapped tightly around her clamping her to his chest and with a little giggle added, “And of course we could never accuse you of being cuddly...”

Spike pouted sulkily. “Oh ha bloody ha Slayer.”

Xander had been spluttering during the affectionate exchange. In complete confusion he asked, “What do you mean making plans to gang up on Angelus? When? What? How?”

Buffy stared across the table at him. “Didn’t I ever tell you? Spike came to me asking for a truce so we could work together to take Angelus down before he could wake Acathla. He saved me from the police when they were coming after me for Kendra’s murder and stopped Angelus from killing Giles. Then while you were getting Giles out he attacked Angelus and kept him busy while I dealt with the minions. He knocked Drusilla out to keep her out of the way while I fought Angelus and then took her out of town as we’d agreed.” She frowned. “I was sure I told you about that.”

Xander shook his head. He murmured, “No… you never said.” He regarded Spike appraisingly for a few moments.

Giles took his glasses off for a polish and cleared his throat loudly to attract everyone’s attention. “To answer your question Dawn. I have a suspicion that the monks of Dagon may have known about the Portal prophecy and Spike’s role in it, so they deliberately constructed your memories to encourage you to trust Spike at your first genuine meeting.”

Buffy gasped, “You mean it was the Key monks behind all our coincidences? That they knew Dawn would stay the Key after Glory and that Spike and I would need to get together to protect her and figure out how to work the portals?”

Giles nodded. “I believe it’s very possible, Buffy. I’ve been thinking about it ever since we got back from LA and it does seem the most likely scenario.” He gestured towards Dawn, who during the discussion had gravitated to standing at Spike’s back with one hand resting on his shoulder. “It would certainly go a long way towards explaining how a teenage girl is willing to trust her life to the guardianship of a creature whose first instinct would normally be to kill her.” He gestured at Spike. “And would also explain how that creature is willing to risk his own existence to save the life of a child he would normally regard as legitimate prey.” He blinked. “No offence, Spike.”

Spike absently muttered, “None taken, Watcher.” Chewing his bottom lip pensively he continued, “Not sure whether to feel reassured or threatened by that.” He looked around. “Dunno which of my memories are real and which have been fabricated to manipulate me. Don’t like that much.”

Buffy crinkled her nose up and shuddered. “I know exactly what you mean.”

Sensing Dawn tensing up behind him Spike took one hand from around Buffy and gently squeezed Dawn’s hand on his shoulder. “Not your fault Niblet, never your fault. You’re more the innocent victim here than all the rest of us put together.”

There was a quiet sound, part sigh and part sob. Dawn breathed, “Oh… Thanks...”

Giles cleared his throat noisily. “Well, if you’re done…?”

“Right then.” Spike said as he stood up and unceremoniously tipped Buffy off his lap. He smacked her sharply on the bottom. “Go do your stretches Slayer, I’ll be there in a minute.” Knowing full well that she would be intending to smack him straight back he turned away from her and very deliberately flexed every single one of his back muscles as he slowly drew the tight black singlet on and tucked it in. Receiving not one but two appreciative feminine gasps in response he smirked wickedly to himself and winked mischievously at Xander in an attempt at masculine solidarity. The young man shook his head and tried not to laugh, and then frowned slightly when he realised Anya had enjoyed the demonstration as much as Buffy. Spike turned back around to see a flushed Buffy glaring at a slightly flustered Anya as she stalked into the training room, and he shared an amused smirk with Giles.

Giles and Dawn followed Buffy, returning to their places on the green couch. Spike only paused to gather the fallen tangle of silk fabric and to have a few words with the jittery ex-demon behind the counter and the abruptly nervous young man still sitting hunched at the research table before going after them and closing the door behind him.

Buffy finished her warming up stretches and then Spike went towards her holding out a narrow length of silk. Suspiciously she asked, “What are you going to do with that?”

Chuckling, Spike reassured her, “Nothing kinky, Slayer,” He twitched his scarred eyebrow suggestively and lowered his voice slightly. “Well not just now anyway.” Seeing Buffy shake her head in amusement he shrugged and continued in his normal voice, “It’s just a bit of a handicap so we don’t demolish the training room.” When Buffy shrugged and nodded he tied the fabric firmly around her left wrist. He then loosely knotted the long ends around her waist so that she could rotate her arm around her body, but not raise it. He walked over to the corner where Giles and Dawn were sitting and asked Giles to do the same to his right wrist.

Once he was similarly handicapped he returned to the waiting Slayer. “Right darlin’. We both got into trouble the other night because we lost focus. What we have to do is learn to concentrate on the fight while retaining full awareness of what is going on around us. Okay?”

They began circling each other warily, watching for that one infinitesimal sign of weakness, for an opportunity to gain an advantage. Buffy made the first move by rolling and swiping a leg around in an attempt to trip Spike, but he nimbly hopped over the leg and grasped her other foot, twisting it so that she fell awkwardly on her back. Flailing wildly Buffy managed to free herself from Spike’s grasp and flipped herself to her feet, landing slightly off balance because of the restricted movement in her left arm.

The circling began again. While he was concentrating on Buffy’s rapt expression and the tiny physical indications of the moves she was considering, he was listening to the sounds from the shop. At first it was Xander’s desperate voice that had been raised in protest. Now it was Anya’s shrill frustrated tones he could hear.

Spike heard Buffy whisper, “Oh poor Xander and Anya…” and he realised she could hear the two young people arguing as clearly as he could over the quiet discussion still taking place in the corner of the training room. The knowledge distracted him sufficiently to give the Slayer another opening. He abruptly found himself flying through the air and making painful contact with the wall of the training room. Rubbing the point in the centre of his chest where her bare foot had made contact Spike chuckled ruefully as he recovered, “Got me, Slayer…”

The contest was on in earnest now as each of them began to get accustomed to the handicap of fighting one handed. They rolled and jumped and spun around each other, feet and fists making regular solid contact as they each made frequent critical comments or positive suggestions about the other’s moves.

After about ten minutes the training room door quietly opened and Anya walked very deliberately across the centre of the room and went out of the back exit, completely ignoring the frantic activity going on around her. Spike barely managed to avoid landing a heavy blow to her back as she passed between his foot and Buffy’s hip; and Buffy squeaked and flew to one side out of Anya’s path, landing very awkwardly on the side of her foot.

Buffy gasped, “What…?” as Spike dived at her, tackling her to the ground again.

“Gotta keep our awareness of what’s going on around us as we fight… right Slayer?”

Buffy grinned as she flipped him over her head, “You evil vampire… you set that up!”

Spike chuckled as he rolled to his feet, “Yeah… random interruptions…”

Over the next hour Anya wandered around the training room three more times, and Xander braved the fray four times. Each time the two blondes avoided injuring the intruders while remaining focussed on their sparring, although the third time Xander had meandered across the floor Spike had come very close to landing a devastating blow to his chest, only managing to avoid it by crashing sideways into Buffy. The last time Xander entered the room, after taking his casual stroll from the back exit towards the door into the shop he stayed sitting in the corner near to Giles and Dawn.

The third time he jumped up as if to interfere in the action, when Spike had grabbed Buffy by her free hand, swinging her against the wall before pouncing on her rebounding figure and carrying her to the ground in a body slam, Spike sighed, stood up and held out his hand to help Buffy up. Impatiently he asked, “You gonna keep fidgeting over there Harris? Know I asked for interruptions, but if you’re gonna jump up I’d prefer it if you jumped all the way up rather than bobbing up and down in your seat as if you’ve got ants in yer pants. It’s a mite distracting.”

Xander replied slightly heatedly. “Well excuse me if I think I may need to help when you’re trying so hard to hurt Buffy.”

Spike chuckled, “You gonna tell ‘im Slayer, or shall I?”

Buffy gently explained, “Xander, the only person in any danger of being hurt here is you if you should try to intervene. We’re a Slayer and a Master Vampire, and we’re sparring, not fighting. You remember I told Riley I’d been holding back when I sparred with him? Well I’m holding back a bit now, although not nearly as much as I did with him. Even with one hand tied if I was to go all out I could seriously injure Spike, and together we could easily demolish the training room.” She looked around and saw a couple of places where the brickwork was a bit crumbly and dented. Thoughtfully she added, “Actually this really isn’t big enough for an all-out workout for me with Spike, we could do with something a lot bigger. Or perhaps we’d be better off out of doors where there’s plenty of space, after all we do most of our fighting outside.”

Xander looked very disappointed. “So you’re not going to be needing PuffyXander any time soon are you?”

Buffy shook her head. “Sorry Xander, even if you wear the puffysuit if I hit you hard enough to test myself I could kill you, or at last break some rather important bones.”

Xander sighed and slumped in his seat. After a few seconds he nodded to Dawn, “I’ll see you in the morning at our self-defence class Dawnie.” Then muttering sulkily to himself he stood and went back into the shop A few seconds later Spike heard the bell on the street door ringing as he left. Buffy sighed. “Oh dear… I’ve hurt his feelings now haven’t I? But I really can’t let him try to help, he could so easily get injured.”

Giles and Dawn rose from their seats, Dawn packing away her notebook as Giles pocketed the slim green volume and sheaf of notes he had been working from. As he helped Buffy and Spike out of their restricting silk bindings Giles asked, “You were really holding back Buffy?” Seeing her nonchalant nod and shrug he frowned. “I’d really like to run some quantifiable strength and stamina tests soon, my dear. You do appear to have progressed quite remarkably lately. I wonder how much of it can be put down to your increasing age and experience and how much can be attributed to the Claim.” He turned to Spike. “Have you noticed any difference in yourself?”

Spike could only shrug and say, “No idea Rupert, never really gave it any thought. Never tested myself like that before. I know I’m healing quicker…”

Buffy glanced at him in surprise. “You too?” She slipped her leggings down a bit on one side, twisting slightly to examine her hip. “I was wondering if I was imagining it, but that bruise I got when I went into the wall the first time has all gone already…”

“Really?” Giles asked, taking his glasses off for a polish. “How very intriguing…” He pondered aloud, “I wonder if we could time your injuries healing somehow?”

“But we’ve got nothing to compare the times with Giles.” Buffy reminded him. “We never timed my healing rate before.”

The Watcher nodded in acceptance. “Ah… yes of course… never mind then.”

When Buffy and Spike went down into the basement to change back into their street clothes they didn’t linger, knowing that Dawn would be waiting for them as she helped tidy up as Anya and Giles closed the shop. Giles had agreed to drive Anya to the apartment she shared with Xander to get her overnight things and ferry her to Revello Drive to be there in time for dinner. As they locked up Buffy, Spike and Dawn set off for home.

While Buffy and Willow did various chores around the house and prepared dinner Dawn sat at the dining table trying to get the last traces of black tarnish out of the tight corners of the silver filigree of Buffy’s Portal necklace. Spike sat behind her with a comb, painstakingly untangling the tiny braids he had earlier woven so gleefully. He had managed to undo about half of his work by the time Giles arrived with Anya and her suitcase and vanity bag.

When they’d got the ex-demon’s belongings stowed away neatly Buffy insisted Giles should stay to eat too, and dinner was served up. Spike had already had his mug of blood and didn’t fancy the smell of the tuna casserole Willow had made, so he stayed at Dawn’s back to finish his job. He muttered quietly to her, “Next time I decide to do this Niblet, remind me how much longer it takes to unravel than it does to braid.”

Dawn giggled, “Well I would if I knew when you were doing it you silly vampire. You were all with the sneaky stealthiness. I never felt it once!” Then she yelped, “Ow!” She glared over her shoulder. “Well since the chip isn’t zapping you any more mister, I’m gonna have to think of another way to punish you for that!”

Spike sighed. “Sorry pet, I seem to have done it a bit tighter than last time…” He looked up to see Anya staring at him wide-eyed. He caught Buffy’s eye across the table and gestured towards the young woman. “So you didn’t tell her then?”

Spike stayed quiet as Buffy hesitantly explained to Anya about the chip. In her customary direct manner Anya simply asked, “You’re not going to bite me are you?” When Spike assured her that she was quite safe she cheerfully nodded and declared, “Well that’s all right then.” And calmly went on eating, leaving everyone around the table smiling at her matter of fact attitude.

By the time the meal was over and cleared away Spike had finally managed to return Dawn’s hair to its usual silky condition. When Giles left for his hotel to pack up his belongings ready for his move into his new home the following morning Anya and Willow settled in front of the TV and Spike and Buffy prepared to go out on patrol. It took Spike a few minutes to convince Buffy that Dawn should be allowed to accompany them for the majority of their rounds. He assured her that he would then see her safely home while Buffy went to check on Drusilla and Nathan. He had no wish to revisit the mansion, or to see his Sire if she was still in the pitiful state he had last witnessed.

Spike drove them to the furthest cemetery from the mansion so they could work across town. Everything was very quiet without a vampire in sight, and Dawn was soon moaning about being bored until they were taken by surprise by a small yellow demon with a long barbed tail. It evaded all their attempts to kill it for twenty minutes, scuttling about with almost comical bursts of speed until Buffy and Spike finally cornered it against a tomb. At this point Dawn was able to dart in with her crossbow and get a bolt through its heart. Spike chopped off its head just to be on the safe side. Ever since Doc had apparently come back to life after being stabbed in the heart he had resolved never to leave an enemy behind without making doubly sure it was dead.

Dawn cheered up immediately, and during the drive to the last patrol point she bounced about in her seat recounting the fight again and again, gloating that she’d been the one to get a killing blow in. At Shady Rest Spike left the DeSoto at the gates and retrieved his two large shopping bags from the trunk before leading Dawn and Buffy deep into the deserted cemetery.

All at once Buffy’s pace slowed and she looked over at Spike suspiciously. “Spike, where are you taking us?”

He quietly replied, “You know where, Buffy.”

Looking around with a frown Dawn recognised their surroundings and nervously clutched at Buffy’s hand. She whispered, “Buffy… isn’t this…?”

Buffy squeezed her sister’s hand reassuringly. “Yes Dawnie, it is.” She looked at Spike and with a catch in her throat she asked, “Why…?” Then she thought for a moment and realisation hit. She breathed, “Oh! It’s a year isn’t it? You remembered...” They arrived at a familiar spot and Buffy came to a halt, wrapping her arm tightly around Dawn’s waist. She whispered guiltily, “I can’t believe I forgot the date…”

Spike shyly muttered, “I’ll leave you for a few minutes, got something to do.” Receiving a grateful nod from Buffy, Spike crossed the cemetery to the caretaker’s shed and fetched a shovel and a watering can that he filled from a conveniently sited water butt. He slowly approached the sisters who were sitting under the big tree, heads together and arms around each other. He took a tall brass vase from one of his bags, placed it securely by the headstone and filled it with water, then passed the bag to Buffy. Hesitantly he suggested, “I thought you might like…”

Peering into the bag Buffy quietly exclaimed, “Oh, look Dawnie.” Taking a large bunch of flowers from the bag the two sisters got up and began to arrange the carnations, lilies, roses and greenery in the vase, while Spike started digging a small hole at the foot of Joyce Summers’ grave.

Noticing his actions an astonished Dawn asked, “What are you doing?”

Spike took a rose bush from the second bag and held it up. He explained, “It’s one of her favourite varieties, ‘Graham Thomas’ it’s called. I thought she’d like the cheerful yellow flowers every summer… and it’s got a delicious scent.” The two girls exchanged smiles and nodded approvingly to Spike, then the three of them worked silently until the flowers were placed to the sisters’ satisfaction and the rose bush was expertly planted and watered.

Leaving Buffy and Dawn to their quiet memories Spike went to replace the shovel and watering can, then he waited and kept watch as he leaned against a stone angel monument a few yards away.

Later, as they slowly walked back towards the car, Dawn asked, “Spike, how come you never came to see us then? You were Mom’s friend weren’t you?”

Trying to decide how much he should say, Spike realised that since his recent acceptance into Buffy’s circle he didn’t want to cause any more upset between her and her friends. He contented himself with quietly answering, “It was made clear to me that my presence and my pathetic little floral gesture of respect were unwelcome.”

Buffy looked pensively across at him. She muttered, “Oh?” Then nodding she concluded, “Of course it was only a couple of weeks after the crypt bondage thing wasn’t it?” She shrugged. “I wouldn’t have minded if you’d have come over though, Mom really liked you.” She smirked sadly. “You were her Passions and hot chocolate buddy.”

When Spike arrived back at the house with Dawn she gave him a quick hug and kissed him on the cheek whispering, “Thank you Spike,” before dashing straight upstairs to bed. He had intended to watch TV until Buffy returned from the mansion, but when he heard a quiet snore from the living room he remembered Anya was sleeping on the couch. After warming himself a mug of blood and drinking it quickly he went and brushed his teeth to get rid of the taste, and decided to get into bed to wait for her.

He was lying flat on his belly dozing when he heard the front door open and then close quietly. He didn’t bother to open his eyes as he smiled sleepily and listened to her progress through the house until he felt the mattress dip as she slipped into bed beside him. She whispered, “Spike? Hold me?”

Lifting his arm to draw her close he turned onto his side. He murmured, “Always.” He slid one arm under her neck so he could reach up and support her shoulder and pressed the other hand into the small of her back, pulling her into contact with the full length of his body. When he felt her warm silky skin against him he sighed with pleasure as he realised that she hadn’t bothered with any nightwear. Their lips met almost hesitantly as Buffy curled one arm up so she could cup his cheek and with the other mirrored his grip against her back pressing his arousal firmly into the soft flesh of her belly.

Between tender kisses he asked, “You okay darlin’?”

Buffy sighed, “Just a bit sad… I really miss her. I want to tell her all about you and the Claim and how happy I am, and about how well Dawnie is doing now. I know she’d have some wonderful words of wisdom for me.”

Spike breathed, “Remarkable lady your mum. You get a lot of your strength from her.” He chuckled softly. “She’d be warning me not to hurt you and reminding me how handy she is with that bloody great axe of hers.” After a few more minutes of sleepy kissing he added, “She’d be so proud of you…”

The kisses continued. Their lips were soft and soothing rather than demanding and possessive. Their tongues danced and caressed instead of wrestling and thrusting. Their hands didn’t grasp and knead insistently, they just held and supported. Neither of them made any conscious effort to take their lovemaking to the next level and Spike slowly relaxed onto his back with Buffy edging forward to keep their mouths in contact until she was draped over Spike’s chest. She gradually moved until she had one leg hooked over his and her groin pressed into his hip, with his hand cupping her buttocks to keep her in place.

Half asleep, Buffy stroked down across Spike’s chest and belly until she could take his erection in her hand. She didn’t attempt to stimulate it to any further arousal, she just cradled it for a while before murmuring, “Please?”

Understanding immediately, Spike smiled indulgently and lifted her hips over his, allowing her to guide him into her waiting centre. With a little shimmy she made herself comfortable, ensuring he was completely contained deep within her, and then she allowed her legs to relax to either side of him. She breathed, “Perfect,” and tucked her hands under his shoulder blades, laid her cheek on his chest turning her head so that her face was tucked neatly into the hollow of his neck under his chin, and drifted off to sleep.

Spike felt warmer and more content than he had ever felt before. He was buried in and blanketed by his beloved Slayer who had at last allowed him to comfort and console her as he had wanted to for so long. He lightly stroked her back, glorying in the smooth feminine curves that concealed the powerful muscles he was coming to know so well. He sighed happily and despite his desire to stay awake to make the moment last he soon joined his Mate in sleep, not even realising that he was softly purring.

At some point during the night Spike became aware of Buffy quivering and pulsating around him, and he gently gripped her hips to press her down onto him. His own hips rose slightly a few times as he gasped in pleasure, then as he relaxed and sank back down into oblivion he wondered whether it had been Buffy’s orgasm or his own he had felt… he wasn’t at all sure. As sleep reclaimed him his last thought was that it didn’t really matter.


TBC

A/N:
We didn’t have a Valentine’s episode in either S5 or S6 (The only ‘official’ Valentine’s episode we had was ‘BB&B’, S2 ep16) and there’s no mention of the anniversary of Joyce’s death in S6. As ‘The Body’ was S5 ep16 and ‘Hell’s Bells’ was S6 ep16 however, I figured that now was both the right time for Valentine’s day and time to give Joyce her memorial, as I firmly believe the writers on the show should have.