Loose ends.

I’ve taken the liberty of borrowing a couple of snippets of dialogue from the BtVS S6 episode ‘Older and Far Away’, and several from the episode ‘As you were’.

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Spike stood shocked into immobility for a few seconds, his brain refusing to accept what his eyes told him. Then desperate fear of losing everything he had gained and watching Buffy go back to the young human kicked in, and his mouth went into overdrive. “Well if it isn’t Riley Finn,” he sneered. “Here, I thought we'd run you out of town. Last time I saw you, if memory serves, you were getting the juice sucked out of you by some undead ladies of very questionable reputation. You blew it mate, she’s not going to want you back now you know. She's not your bint any more. And if I can speak frankly, she always had a little thing for me, even when she was shagging you.”

Riley didn’t appear to be nearly as surprised at the confrontation as Spike, and his expression was cold and hostile. “Spike,” he said harshly, “What are you doing here?”

“Me?” Spike asked airily, deciding to indulge in a little more innocent gloating as he sipped his wine. “I was just on my way upstairs to have a shower before our guests arrive for dinner.”

“Dinner?” Riley asked, shaking his head slightly in bewilderment. Impatiently he declared, “I don’t have time for you Spike.” Then he demanded, “Where’s Buffy? What have you done with her? I need to see her… now!” At the word ‘now’ his fist made contact with Spike’s nose as he lunged into the hallway. Taken completely by surprise, Spike went flying and landed in a crumpled heap at the foot of the stairs showered with broken glass and spilt wine.

“Spiiiiiike!” The piercing shriek from upstairs must have been clearly audible blocks away. A door crashed open and the sound of two pairs of hurried feet crossed the landing. “Spike! What’s happening? I felt something…!” Buffy flew down the stairs and alighted next to Spike, crouching down to check him over. “What happened darling? Are you okay?”

Dawn followed her sister much more slowly, actually making contact with at least half of the stairs on the way down. As soon as she had made sure that Spike was not dusty she looked up and saw Riley. “Riley?” She asked in disbelief. “What are you doing here?” Her eyes narrowed as she put two and two together, and she added suspiciously, “And what did you do to Spike?”

As Spike tried to reassure his girls that apart from yet another bloody nose he was quite unharmed, and that it was only wine not his own precious blood that was spreading in a puddle across the floor Riley began blustering nervously. “Buffy? Did you just call Spike darling? What on earth is going on here?” When no answers were immediately forthcoming he visibly switched from ‘confused and jealous ex-boyfriend’ mode to the much safer and more familiar ‘military monster chaser’ mode. Ignoring the things he didn’t understand he declared forcefully, “Look Buffy, I came here hoping to find you when you weren’t at work at the Doublemeat Palace. I just don't have time to explain. I've been up for forty eight hours straight tracking something bad, and now it's come to Sunnydale. I need your help, I need the best.”

Buffy stood up and turned towards him angrily. “So instead of asking politely, you thought an effective way of making me want to help you would be to beat up my boyfriend even though you knew he couldn’t defend himself against you?” She shook her head and asked of the heavens, “I just don’t understand it…. why do all my exes turn up and start pounding on my boyfriend? Is it some sort of macho points scoring thing?” She glared at Riley, her fists on her hips. “You’ve got two minutes to explain yourself Riley, we’re expecting people for dinner, and you’ve just offended the host. So not the best way to get an invite.”

“Your boyfriend? The host? Spike?” Riley was completely dumbfounded. Shaking his head as if to clear it, he continued angrily, “Well, so much for you not needing a boyfriend with supernatural powers. Now I understand…”

“You know what Riley?” Buffy interrupted fiercely. “I tried Normal. Normal just couldn’t cut it. Like Supernatural before him Normal claimed to like my strength and my independence, and immediately began to try to prove he was stronger than me and tried to make me dependent on him. Normal got all intimidated and insecure when he realised he wasn’t stronger and I wasn’t dependent, and he couldn’t come to terms with it. Even though I tried to protect his poor little male ego by pretending not to be as strong as I am, Normal went and ran around behind my back and got addicted to vamp ho-bags. Normal decided he had a problem when I couldn’t tell him all my Slayer business or break down and display weakness when my mother was dying and a Hellgod was trying to kill my little sister. Then, again like Supernatural before him, instead of coming to me to discuss his problem and try to find a solution, Normal made a unilateral decision for both of us and just gave up and left town! Normal didn’t look back once, he just flew away and I never heard from him again. Do you know what I’ve just realised Riley? Normal or Supernatural doesn’t factor into it at all. The only requirement to qualify as a Buffyboyfriend is simply to stay with me. To love me and accept all of me just as I am, Slayer and girl, BossyBuffy, BitchyBuffy and BabyBuffy. To be there for me through thick and thin, to delight in my strength, to support me and to help me be even stronger.” She took a deep breath and finished calmly. “That’s what I have now.”

Spike swelled with pride in his Slayer. That was telling him!

Riley had stood staring at her open-mouthed through her rant. “But Buffy….” he began, but then he didn’t seem to be able to continue.

“Give ‘im a moment darlin’,” Spike drawled smugly as he rose easily to his feet shedding little shards of glass in a tinkling shower and wincing as he prodded gently at his bloody nose. “The poor bugger needs time to get his feeble little brain working. Must be something to do with all those drugs they were keeping him on, unless he’s still playing with those vamp trulls and he’s lost too much blood.” Absently noticing a confused looking Giles hovering on the porch behind Riley waiting to enter, Spike shook himself slightly to dislodge any lingering bits of glass and stepped forward to stand against Buffy’s back. He wrapped his arms possessively around her waist and squeezed gently as he relished the thrill of her anger as for once it wasn’t directed at him. He tried to show her through the Bond just how proud he was of her taking a stand, despite the hurt she was feeling at the reminder of Riley’s desertion that he could sense in her. “And just for the record Buffy, I tried to sacrifice Angel in that ritual for Dru, then later I had him tortured to get my ring back. I never pounded on him. Also I was never your ex, and on neither occasion did it have anything to do with him being your bloody boyfriend!”

“Spike! So not helping…” Buffy scolded him, but took the sting from the reprimand by absently reaching a hand up over her shoulder and tenderly stroking his cheek. Then she snapped, “Riley! You said you’re tracking something? What?”

“D-demon…” Riley stuttered, still having trouble forming a rational thought.

Dawn smirked at him from her perch on the stairs. “So you’re tracking a demon and you need Buffy’s help? Why didn’t you just say so in the first place?” She cocked her head to one side in an unconscious imitation of Spike’s trademark gesture. “What kind of demon is it?”

Riley finally gathered his wits sufficiently to begin making more sense. “A Suvolte demon. Rare… lethal... nearly extinct but not nearly enough. It's close. We've been tear-assing through every jungle from Paraguay up, taking out nests. As soon as we put one Suvolte down, a dozen take its place. They're breeders, Buffy. One turns into ten, ten becomes a hundred. This gets out of hand and there's a war with humans? Humans are gonna lose.”

“Suvolte?” Spike’s interest was engaged. “Big greyish brown things with huge heads and very nasty mouths?” He realised that everyone was looking at him curiously. “What? Ran across them in Brazil. Nasty buggers but not that bad. Jungle creatures, run in packs. Bloody unlikely for one to be this far north in desert country.” He winked knowingly at Dawn. “Still, although I can’t for the unlife of me figure out how it got here, or why it was alone, if that’s what’s got your knickers in a twist Captain Cardboard, you can relax. The Niblet and I already took it out.”

“You killed it?” Buffy asked, half turning in his arms to look up into his face. “When?”

“On the way back from the supermarket, Slayer darlin’,” Spike answered, smiling down at her.

“He was awesome, Buffy.” Dawn added excitedly. “It was after Suzanne and Melanie, and Spike saved them! They were so jealous when they realised I knew him. My coolness factor is going to go way up at school tomorrow! He went all fangy on it and then chopped its head off with his axe.”

“Oh.” Riley appeared to be disappointed.

“Well then Riley, there you are. Mission accomplished.” Buffy told him quietly. “If there’s nothing else…” She broke off and raised her face to sniff the air at exactly the same moment Spike did the same thing.

“The sauce!” They exclaimed in unison, and turned together to run into the kitchen. Spike grabbed the spoon and began stirring the pasta sauce. The huge pan was boiling rather than simmering, so that it was splattering over the side onto the cooker top.

“Is it spoiled Spike?” Buffy asked anxiously, peering into the pan. “Please tell me it’s not spoiled!”

“’S’okay darlin’,” he reassured her. “Just needs a drop more wine and turnin’ down a bit.”

“Wine? There’s wine in there? Dawn….”

“No problem Buffy, all the alcohol gets driven off by the heat so you just get the flavour, I promise.” Stirring slowly, he splashed some more wine from the open bottle on the counter into the pan of sauce, adjusted the heat under it, then turned up the heat slightly under the two pans of water he was bringing to the boil in preparation for the pasta. He turned to hug her, “There, all fixed. Now…what we gonna do about Captain America?”

“I just want him to go…” She sighed sadly. I so didn’t want anything to spoil today…”

“Okay darlin’,” Spike nodded. “Let’s get rid of him then.”

Buffy automatically slipped her left arm around Spike’s waist and tucked her thumb into the far belt loop of his jeans as Spike draped his right arm over her shoulders. Giving each other a fond squeeze they turned as one and went back towards the front door where Giles and Willow were greeting the surprise visitor warily.

Buffy asked, “Dawn, please could you clear up the glass before someone else gets hurt?” Then as the grumbling teenager went off to get a dustpan and brush and a cloth for the spilt wine, she turned to Riley and quietly asked. “Have we finished here? Because we have guests for dinner and we’re not quite ready yet.”

“Buffy… I just need to know something…” Riley turned to Spike. “Spike, had the Suvolte laid it eggs?”

Spike shrugged. “Dunno, too busy killin’ it to ask. ’Sides, don’t even know it was female.”

The young man frowned and said, “We’re going to have to check… If it’s laid its eggs we’ll be back to ask you for your help again Buffy, if that’s all right?”

“It’s what I do Riley.” She stated coldly. “Whatever happened between us I’m still the Slayer. If there are dangerous demon eggs out there somewhere, I’ll help you find them.”

Riley nodded, turned and hurried down the path. He barged past Xander who was just arriving, jumped into a shiny black SUV that was parked at the kerb, and roared away.

Buffy sighed, and closing the front door she turned to greet all the new arrivals. “I’m sorry, we seem to be running a bit late, what with demons and ex boyfriends turning up unexpectedly. Come in…”

Willow said “Buffy, Tara asked me to tell you she’s sorry she couldn’t come for dinner, she’s only got tonight to finish an important paper for tomorrow. I promised her I’d go over later...” She flushed slightly and grinning happily she added, “I’ll probably stay over…” Then she disappeared upstairs to dump her college things.

A bewildered Xander was asking, “What was Riley doing here? He was in an awful hurry to get somewhere... he didn’t even stop to say hi!” as he went through into the living room, where Dawn joined him from the kitchen after finishing clearing up the debris of the broken wineglass.

Spike was about to follow Xander, with Giles on his heels, when Buffy suggested, “Spike, why don’t you go up and have your shower and change? Those jeans are all winey now…”

He shrugged. “Dunno if I’ve got any clean ones Buffy.”

She smiled mischievously, “Believe me… you have.”

Raising his scarred eyebrow quizzically he asked “Oh yeah? Okay then darlin’,” and turned to go upstairs, pausing when Giles spoke.

“Spike? I wonder if I could have a word with you… privately…”

Spike glanced at Buffy. Seeing from her expression that she had no more idea than he did what the Watcher might want, he shrugged and suggested, “Better come up with me then Rupert, chat while I shower and change?”

Once in the bathroom Spike asked, “So what can I do for you Rupert?” After turning on the shower he took the little ring box from his pocket, laid it carefully on a shelf and put his lighter next to it. Then his jeans landed on the floor in the corner and he jumped under the spray grabbing the bottle of Buffy’s new shampoo. He made a mental note to fetch his own toiletries from the crypt later that night so he wouldn’t have to smell like a poof any longer than he had to.

“Well Spike…” Giles began as Spike covered himself with suds. Spike could see him polishing his glasses and studiously avoiding looking at him. “I’ve been examining the ‘trinkets’, as you called them, that you had in your chest in Los Angeles. Several of them have inherent magical properties, as I’m sure you’re aware. Those aren’t what I’m most concerned with however. It seems that quite a few of them are of quite considerable monetary value. One item in particular is potentially worth thousands of dollars. Before I decide what should be done with these articles I really need you to tell me where they came from, and if there are owners out there somewhere desperate to get their property back.”

“Seem to remember telling you at the time that I didn’t steal any of them Rupert.” Spike told him wearily. “Also seem to remember saying I knew you wouldn’t believe me.” He sighed, “Seems I was right.” Rinsing the last of the soap off he turned the shower off and grabbed a towel. As he efficiently rubbed himself dry he continued. “Well as I said, a few of them I picked up from the odd demon I’d killed for the Slayer, but it’s true most of them came from one place. Cast your mind back about two and a half years, old man. I’d come back to dear old Sunnyhell, the last place on earth I wanted to be at the time, to find something special. Remember that?”

Giles frowned in thought for a few moments, then his eyes widened in realisation. “The Gem of Amara?” He exclaimed. “Oh yes, I remember that very well Spike. You got your hands on the Gem and immediately went to try to kill Buffy.”

“Ah… well… yeah.” Spike felt a bit awkward that he’d overlooked that part of his story, perhaps he could have thought of a more tactful way of explaining? “Anyway…” he continued, “Did you happen to look around that buried crypt when you found it?”

“No, I can’t say we did. When we found Harmony and she told us you already had the gem, we left.”

As he replied Spike knotted the towel around his waist and squeezed some hair gel from a tube on the shelf and ran his fingers through his damp curls to spread it evenly. He then grabbed a comb and swept it over his scalp several times, patting his hair gently with his other hand to check it was all in place. “If you’d bothered to take a good look around Rupert, which is what I did when I got back from my abortive attempt to get my ring back from Angel in LA, you might have found a few more interesting shiny baubles.”

Next he took the red toothbrush that Buffy had designated as his, squeezed some toothpaste onto it and vamped out. As he scrubbed away at his fangs, out of the corner of his eye he caught Giles watching him in total fascination. He couldn’t help chuckling, “Don’t suppose the Council of Wankers have written a treatise on the care and maintenance of vampire fangs have they? You could make a name for yourself…”

Giles stammered, “It’s just… um… I have to admit it never occurred to me…”

Resuming his human face Spike smirked at him. “My lady has been known on occasion to complain about ‘bloodbreath’ Rupert, she prefers me to be all minty fresh.”

Giles removed his glasses for another polish while Spike slid his belt from his discarded jeans and collected the ring box and lighter from the shelf. He then followed the vampire across the landing saying, “So most of the jewels came from that crypt. In that case they could be considered……” He ground to a halt when he put his glasses back on. He murmured, “Oh dear Lord,” as he gazed in amazement at the chaotic state of the bedroom he had just entered.

Spike heard the quiet comment, looked around….. and remembered. “Oh balls,” he groaned. “I forgot… Nobody was supposed to see this… She’s gonna kill me…”

Giles glared at him suspiciously. “Have you had a fight with Buffy, Spike? Is she all right?”

Spike chuckled as he opened his drawer, “Not a fight Rupert… quite the opposite as it goes. We had a bit of fun this afternoon for a couple of hours. Just a quickie but we got a bit carried away.” He gestured at the remains of the bed. “We’re gonna get the bed from my crypt in, it’s much bigger and more solid than that one, might last a bit longer..." He broke off and gasped, “Bloody hell! What the….? There’s a drawer full of clothes here and I only had one other pair of jeans and a couple of shirts apart from the stuff I bought for the Bronze last night. She’s been spending her money on me! That’s not right…”

As Spike was discovering and investigating his new clothes Giles sighed, righted the desk chair and sank gratefully onto it. His glasses came off and he closed his eyes. Pinching the bridge of his nose and shaking his head slowly he muttered, “A quickie… a couple of hours… the bed from your crypt…” He frowned slightly and put his glasses back on, “You have a bed in your crypt? Where?”

“Um… yeah… That would be downstairs in my bedroom? Made it all comfy for the Slayer with a bed and lots of rugs... and of course my books. Oh yes Rupert, I’ve got some books you might like to look at. We’re intending to go over later tonight and pick out what to bring back with us apart from the four-poster, you could come with us, see if there’s anything that catches your eye.”

Giles appeared even more bewildered. “Downstairs? Books? A four-poster?” He took a deep breath and made an obvious effort to gather his wits. “I think you’d better get dressed Spike. Meanwhile… about your ‘trinkets’. Since they appear to have been acquired more or less legally I shall return them to you. However I would advise you to sell them, or at least a couple of the more valuable ones, then you would be able to buy your own clothes and blood and anything else you needed and Buffy wouldn’t feel it necessary to spend her allowance on you.”

Rummaging in his drawer Spike had found several pairs of black button-fly Levi’s, a couple of pairs of blue denims, a pair of khaki slacks, and a stack of t-shirts several of which were not black. He muttered sulkily under his breath at Buffy’s blatant attempt to sneak more colour into his wardrobe, and stubbornly selected a pair of black jeans and a plain black t-shirt. He put them on and threaded his belt into the jeans. Remembering his Doc Martens were still on the back porch covered with demon blood he began searching for his new cuban heeled boots. After a few minutes he found them in the bottom of the wardrobe. Above them hung his black lace-up shirt, and four new button up silk shirts. He smiled and picked the rich burgundy one to wear, it would match the wine at the dinner table. Finally he slipped the little ring box and his lighter into his pockets. He intended to get the ring to the jewellers the next day to be engraved, until then he couldn’t leave it anywhere Buffy might accidentally find it.

While he was doing all this he explained to Giles, “I was gonna sell ‘em Rupert, but without any papers I wouldn’t have been able to go to a reputable dealer, and the demon dealers I could have gone to wouldn’t have given me a fraction of what they’re worth. ‘Sides, I don’t have a lot of need for money except for blood, booze and smokes, and I don’t like to keep that much cash on hand. I can’t open a new bank account without soddin’ papers either.” He suddenly had an idea and looked up from his boots at the Watcher. “You sell ‘em for me Rupert, you could get a much better deal, and if you were to keep the cash for me it’d be handy when I need it.”

“You have no papers? How did you get into the country then?”

“Ah… well, I stowed away on a cargo ship didn’t I? I had Dru all boxed up ‘cos she was so weak and loaded her as cargo, then I snuck on board to tend to her. We used to have papers, the whole set, almost as good as the real thing, but that idiot mob in Prague set fire to the house we were using and we lost the lot, together with all my banking details. I’ve got a couple of Swiss accounts gathering dust that I’m never going to be able to get into again. Bloody frustrating when I wanted to help the Slayer out... not that she’d’ve wanted to take it if she knew where it’d come from. I’ve only still got my chest ‘cos I never took it back to Europe with us the last time. I left it in storage instead, and luckily I’d left most of my good books in it.” Spike checked he was presentable and decided he was, even though he still felt vaguely naked without his duster. “You gonna do that for me then Rupert?”

“I’ll look into it Spike. If I do, I’ll be sure to tell Buffy the money was come by legally.”

“No need for that Watcher, I think she knows I can’t lie to her now. When I tell her it’s legit she’ll be able to feel it’s true.”

“Really? That’s very interesting. As interesting as the fact I noticed you both smelled the sauce catching at exactly the same moment. Buffy’s sense of smell has improved hasn’t it?”

“Yeah, looks like it. Her night vision has too, she sees better in the dark than I do now.” He grinned excitedly, “I can’t wait to find out what I’m gettin’ in return!”

“Do you think we ought to go back downstairs? Buffy might be feeling upset after Riley turning up like that.”

“She’s more angry than upset at the moment, she’s too excited about the allowance and all the stuff she’s been buying to think about getting upset. That’ll come later when she’s quiet after everyone’s gone and it has a chance to sink in. I’ll look after her then.” He snarled, “Mind you, if that wanker of a soldier boy comes back again and does something to make my Slayer cry I might just reach for my magic sword…” He took a deep breath to calm himself and opened the bedroom door. “You’re right about it being time to go back downstairs though. I just heard Anya arrive, and she’s brought someone with her the Slayer’s not very happy about. Demon Girl said something about moral support. ‘Sides I’ve got to set the pasta going and put the finishing touches to the sauce… come on Rupert, you can be my taster, I need some human taste buds to check I’ve got the seasoning right.”

When they reached the bottom of the stairs Spike turned and made directly for the kitchen with Giles following. Spike turned the heat up to full under the two pans of water, then as he reached for the herbs he had bought earlier he nodded towards the pan of sauce. “Stir.” Giles picked up the spoon and gently stirred the thickening sauce, sniffing it cautiously. Spike worked so quickly Giles had trouble identifying the freshly chopped herbs that one by one got added to the pan he was stirring, although he recognised the sweet aroma of basil. Then came a generous spoonful of celery salt and a dish of tiny button mushrooms, and he was left stirring as Spike emptied a large bag of regular pasta twists into one of the pans of boiling water, and a bag of green into the other. He stood for a moment to consider, muttered half to himself, “Better too much than not enough,” then opened a third packet, this time of the orange variety, and added half of it to each pan. He stirred each pan in turn until the water came back to a fast boil, then after glancing at the clock he took a fresh spoon, dipped it into the sauce and held it to Giles’ mouth. “Taste.”

Giles moved back slightly to squint down at the spoon, and blew gently on it before closing his eyes and gingerly opening his mouth to receive it.

Spike watched impatiently as the expression on the Watcher’s face gradually changed from wariness, through concentration to delight. “Oh I say! Spike, that’s delicious!” he exclaimed, opening his eyes and staring at him in amazement.

“So it doesn’t need anything else? It’s not too spicy?” Spike asked anxiously.”

“I can’t imagine how it could be improved.” Giles assured him.

Spike sighed with relief. “Oh good, it smells right, but I wasn’t sure I’d remembered everything, it’s been nearly fifty years since Rome.” He scooped a generous portion into a small pan and took a pot of blood from the fridge. He added some of the blood, stirred, and tucked it into a gap between the large pans to heat through. There… that’s mine.”

Together they moved into the living room. “If I could just say…” Giles looked around the room, making sure he had everyone’s attention. “I think it’s important not to mention to Riley anything about Spike and Buffy’s Mating Claim. If the Council was unaware of such a phenomenon I should imagine the military unit Riley belongs to is similarly ignorant. I think it’s vital to keep them in ignorance.” He turned his concerned gaze to Buffy. “I don’t know what happened to the surviving scientists from the Initiative Buffy, but I’d rather not think about what they might do with the knowledge if they found out.”

Spike growled at the thought, “They’d want to do experiments on my Slayer, that’s what they’d want. Put a bloody chip in her head…”

“Yes, I’m afraid you may be correct Spike, and not just Buffy, I suspect they would want both of you.” Giles agreed. “The fewer people that know the better, I think.”

Spike and Buffy shared a long look across the room, each fully aware of the other’s fear. They moved at exactly the same moment, walking straight into each other’s arms. “Not gonna let ‘em get you darlin’,” Spike whispered into her ear.

Buffy quietly responded, “You’ve got to be extra careful out there, I can’t do without you now.” They stood in silence for a few moments sharing their mutual support, then when they sighed and broke apart slightly staying connected at one firmly grasped hand she asked, “Is dinner nearly ready?”

“Few minutes darlin’, just waiting for the pasta.” Then turning to lead Buffy over to the seating area he found he couldn’t move. He was suddenly back in that hated parlour with all his supposed friends laughing and mocking him. She looked like… no it couldn’t be. She’d be long dead.

As if she had felt his eye on her, the woman sitting chatting with Anya on the couch turned to look at him, and frowned. “William?” She asked hesitantly.

Spike couldn’t process this. “Hey, wait a minute…” He needed time to think. Was it really her?

Buffy looked up at him, then across at the woman. “You guys know each other? Spike? Halfrek?”

Halfrek laughed nervously and replied much too quickly. “Uh, no…. No.”

Spike looked down into Buffy’s trusting face. She’d know if he lied wouldn’t she? Even a little white lie… and even before the Bond he’d never been able to sustain as much as a white lie to her for more than a few seconds. “Um… Not really darlin’… it’s just…” He frowned back across the room. “Cecily? Is that you? How…?”

“Really William,” Halfrek said archly. “As you’ve just heard, my name is Halfrek, not Cecily.”

Buffy’s eyebrows went up in disbelief. “Really? Yet you know his name is… or rather was… William?” She cocked her head and looked up at Spike. “Who’s Cecily?”

Spike sighed in resignation, “Back when I was human, she was a woman I fancied I was in love with.” He glared over at Halfrek, “Right bitch she turned out to be. That last night before I was turned, we were at a party. I declared my feelings and she stomped on me, said I was beneath her. I was crushed. Ran out into the street and next thing I knew, there was Drusilla.”

Anya squeaked and excitedly clutched her hands together at her chest, “Hallie? Are they talking about that night you called for me? You wished that young man dead because he’d offended you. You said he was a pathetic little man.” She looked over at Spike, shook her head slightly, and then turned back to her friend and exclaimed in admiration. “No wonder D’Hoffryn offered you a job Hallie, vengeance on a man for telling you he cared for you, now that’s original…”

In a very matter of fact tone Halfrek tried to justify herself. “I was trying to attract the attention of a very eligible young man, an earl’s nephew. William came and sat next to me and told me his awful poetry was all written for me. It was so bad everyone was laughing at him and calling him William the bloody awful poet! He told me he may be a bad poet but he was a good man! Can you believe it? Of course the young man saw us together and must have thought we were friendly, so he went to speak to another young lady. I couldn’t put up with that, I had to get rid of him.” She shook her head, her curls bouncing furiously. “He is supposed to be dead, I don’t understand Anyanka, how is he here?”

Spike growled, “I am dead you bloody stupid woman, I’m a vampire.”

Buffy squeezed Spike’s hand firmly and Spike could feel she had only a very tenuous hold on her fury. “Halfrek, you wished William dead because he was a good man who cared for you enough to write poetry and dedicate it to you, and you didn’t think he was worthy of you?”

The vengeance demon nodded, “Isn’t that what I just said?”

Buffy took a deep breath and turned to Anya. “Anya, you granted Cecily’s wish for William to die?” When Anya nodded amiably, she continued, “You didn’t check that the victims of the wishes you granted deserved the vengeance they suffered?”

The ex vengeance demon shrugged nonchalantly, “Cecily was so angry, it never occurred to me to doubt it. I was working quickly as I had another three calls to make that night. There was a group of vampires terrorising the neighbourhood so I just nudged the young man towards them and planted the tiniest suggestion in them that he might be tasty.” She shrugged nonchalantly, “I didn’t stay to watch so I didn’t know he had been turned, I just knew he had died.”

Halfrek hadn’t finished complaining. “Of course the whole thing turned out to be pointless because although I managed to attract the attention of the earl’s nephew the following night at the theatre, he was among the young men who were murdered later that week. They had all been at that same party. Can you believe they all had railroad spikes hammered into their heads?”

Spike smiled wistfully at the memory and breathed, “Oh yeah….”

Everybody seemed to be holding their breath and staring in turn at Buffy, Spike, Halfrek and Anya, waiting for a reaction. Then Spike’s mental clock rang its alarm and he was spurred into action. “Dinner,” he muttered, and retreated into the kitchen Buffy perforce trailing after him as her hand was still firmly grasped in his own. He raised his hands to lift one of the pans of pasta off the stove and to his surprise found one of them already occupied.

He turned to find the anxious face of his Slayer peering up at him. “Are you okay Spike?”

He kissed the hand he held, then let it go and leaning against the counter he jammed his fists deep into his pockets. He sighed, looked down at his feet and murmured, “Dru said I was special, that she chose me on purpose. She never chose me, she didn’t think I was special at all. It was all because of a bloody rich bitch and her vengeance wish.”

“Well then, Drusilla isn’t a very good judge of special.” Buffy cupped his cheek and he couldn’t help nuzzling into her hand. “Do you wish you’d never been turned? Colour me selfish, but I can’t help being grateful to that rich bitch. If she hadn’t been so horrid we would never have met.”

“I could never wish I’d never met you, Buffy darlin’, so I guess I’m grateful to her too. It’s just….”

“I know.” She leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his waist. His hands came out of his pockets of their own accord to hold her, and he rested his cheek on her hair. She whispered, “She really said you were beneath her?”

“Yeah.”

“And then so did I. That must have...” Buffy sighed, “I’m so sorry Spike... although…” Spike could feel her smiling against his chest as he marvelled that she had actually apologised to him. “I do rather like you being beneath me, just as much as I enjoy being beneath you…”

Spike snorted in amusement, and they stood there just holding each other close until the sound of a throat being cleared jerked them back to their immediate surroundings.

“Did I hear you say dinner was ready Spike?” Giles asked eagerly.

The next few minutes were a flurry of activity as Giles was given charge of the wine, Dawn was tasked with providing juice for those who preferred it, and Xander went prospecting around the house looking for more chairs. Spike drained the slightly overcooked pasta and dished up healthy portions for everyone and Buffy and Willow shuttled between the kitchen and dining room with laden plates.

At last they were all seated rather close together around the extended table and Giles held up his wineglass in a toast. “A toast… To The Allowance!” He announced with a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth belying the seriousness of his voice. Everyone echoed him and took a sip of their chosen drink.

They were all about to dig in when Buffy lifted her own glass. “Another toast…” She suddenly looked puzzled. “And why is it called a toast anyway? What does a drink have to do with bread?” She shook her head slightly as if to rid herself of the question and continued, “To Giles...” she turned to him with a big grin, “Welcome home Giles… and to Spike too, ‘cos without both of you the allowance would never have existed!” Her sentiment was repeated with wide smiles all round, and giggles when an embarrassed Giles removed his glasses for their traditional polish.

Most people were enjoying their first mouthful when Dawn lifted her glass of juice and piped up. “To Halfrek and Anya, without whom Spike wouldn’t exist!” When she was met with a shocked silence, she looked around the table in confusion. “What?” She explained, in case anyone had missed what was to her the most important revelation. “You know… Halfrek made the wish… Anya granted it… and presto… Spike!”

Xander finally got the point of the earlier exchange and stared at his fiancée in horror. “Ahn?” He pleaded, “Please tell me you didn’t make Spike…”

“Of course I didn’t Xander.” Anya declared impatiently. Xander sighed with relief, which quickly turned back to horror when she calmly continued, “I just caused William to run into some vampires who turned out to be Angelus, Darla and Drusilla. It was Drusilla who made Spike, I thought you knew that?” She continued eating her dinner, turning to Spike and commenting, “This is really very good Spike, perhaps you could give me the recipe?” As he gladly agreed, Spike noticed her taking in Xander’s horrified expression, and the sad, worried little frown that creased her brow.

There was an awkward silence for a few minutes until it was broken by Giles, who abruptly turned to Spike and asked, “Spike? There’s garlic in this sauce isn’t there? I thought garlic was supposed to repel vampires?”

Spike chuckled, “Yeah… and we can’t cross running water or a line of salt, and we all sleep in our coffins in our native soil, and we can all turn into bats…” He smirked across the table at the confused Watcher. “Drac, that poncey glory-hound. He might have let some of our secrets out, like the mirror thing and the Holy Water, but he wasn’t that stupid. He spiced it all up a bit with a few red herrings. I happen to like garlic Rupert. Hadn’t you noticed that a lot of the stuff I eat has garlic in it? Buffalo wings? Pepperoni pizza? Garlic bread even!”

Buffy suddenly began giggling. Spike raised his eyebrow at her, “What’s tickled your fancy then darlin’?”

Flushing slightly Buffy grinned and answered, “Tell you later…”

Now the atmosphere around the table had relaxed the conversation turned to Riley’s unexpected arrival and speculation about whether they would have to go out on a demon egg search.

The speculation came to an abrupt end as the pasta plates were being cleared away. While a very smug Spike was dishing out the dessert, which consisted of one large scoop of his chocolate orange mousse twinned with one of vanilla ice cream, there came a sharp rapping on the front door.

Giles was the closest to the door so he opened it, empty wine bottle in hand. “Hello again Riley… and…” He raised a questioning eyebrow at Riley’s companion.

“Sam, this is Sam. Hello Giles.” Riley burst in all energy and earnestness as he looked around for Buffy. Seeing her coming into the dining room from the kitchen he hurriedly explained, “Buffy, the Suvolte demon had laid its eggs, we’re going to have to find them.”

Buffy nodded, “Right Riley. Hi um…”

“Sam, this is Sam Buffy.” Riley helpfully added.

“Hi Sam. So, why don’t you and Sam join us for dessert Riley, than we can set about making egg hunting plans to find them before they hatch.”

Riley shrugged, “Hatching's not the problem Buffy.”

Sam added, “We think they're gonna be sold on the black market. There are some foreign military powers that would love to have their own Suvolte. You could never train it, but drop it on an urban population...”

Riley finished the sentence for her. “And it cleanses the area.”

Dawn asked, “Is that a nice way of saying it kills people?”

“Lots of 'em.” Sam nodded. “Money's been exchanged. There's a dealer in town, calls himself the, The Doctor.”

Riley continued, “I'll check out some bars… Willy's…” He glared at Spike, “Some crypts I know… see if I can get a lead on The Doctor, but we have to find the nest too. Do you think you could take Sam and find it Buffy?”

Buffy looked confused. “Me and Sam together?”

Riley nodded as he stepped closer to Buffy, “You come across a Suvolte nest, you're gonna want backup.”

Buffy smiled up at him, waaay up at him. “Don’t worry Riley, Spike’s my backup…” She blinked and frowned at him in bewilderment. “And were you always this tall?”

“Spike?” Riley almost shouted in disbelief as he grasped both her upper arms firmly. “Spike’s your backup?”

Spike flipped. Vamping out he roared and leapt from the kitchen doorway to stand at Buffy’s shoulder. He growled, “You take your bleedin’ hands off my Slayer!” He slid his arm around her waist protectively. “You lost any right to hold my Slayer when you cheated on her then walked out on her!”

Seeing Spike’s bared fangs so close, Riley had jumped back in shock. “Your Slayer?” He looked back at Buffy and asked in confusion. “Buffy, Spike’s a vampire. Deadly ... amoral ... opportunistic… or had you forgotten?”

“I haven’t forgotten, Riley.” Spike felt the tenseness leave Buffy as her hands came to rest upon his arms. “But he is my deadly vampire, as I am his Slayer.” She declared confidently, “And Spike always has my back.”

After an awkward pause Riley suggested, “Well… I need to go and try to trace this Doctor, perhaps Willow could do a locator spell to find the nest?” He looked across the table at the redhead.

Willow ducked her head in shame, “I can't do the magicks.”

Sam had cringed back against the wall upon seeing Spike’s game face, but now she turned her attention to Willow. She seemed surprised, “Oh, but Riley says you're comin' on as one major-league Wicca.”

“I got addicted.” She mumbled, “The way addicts do.” Willow got up from the table and stumbled into the kitchen, everyone following her with their eyes.

She turned to Riley, “Riley, go and start looking for your Doctor, we were going over to Spike’s crypt tonight anyway so we’ll meet you there later, say about midnight? We’ll begin the egg hunt from there.”

“Right Buffy,” Riley looked over at Sam who had just re-emerged from the kitchen with Willow, “Stick with Buffy, Sam. I’ll see you later.”

Riley left hurriedly, and Sam took the vacant seat Buffy indicated, where she had been sitting earlier.

Buffy declared, “Right, let’s have dessert before there’s more meltage!” She popped into the kitchen as everyone got seated and returned with a full dish and a spoon for Sam, then looked around the table and found there were no empty chairs. Spike beckoned and she grinned and settled happily on his lap to dip into her mousse.

Spike had a very unwelcome thought, “Um… Slayer?” He said nervously, “Remember that deal I told you about at Angel’s? The one I called and backed out of ‘cos it suddenly didn’t feel like a good idea?”

Buffy turned to look at him, “Yes Spike, I remember. What about it?”

“Well it might be nothing to do with this business… but I was supposed to babysit a bunch of demon eggs for a few days for this bloke, until he could arrange for them to be picked up.” When a cute questioning eyebrow was raised at him he continued anxiously. “He didn’t tell me what sort of demons, but he did say they were harmless pets, sort of like demon hamsters or something. When I called Willy to tell him to tell the bloke I’d decided against it he said he’s pass on the message… but you know how I haven’t exactly been Mr Popularity around the demon community lately…”

“You think someone might have set you up with Suvolte eggs instead?” Buffy asked.

Spike shrugged, “Dunno darlin’, we haven’t been back to the crypt since we got back have we? I dunno how many demons know I moved in here, most of them probably think I’m back at the crypt. It would be a messy but effective way to get rid of me wouldn’t it? Even vampires don’t come back from being eaten.” He suddenly felt very worried, “And if you were there with me they could take you out at the same time… they all know you’ve been coming to me…”

Buffy frowned, “Are you sure you don’t know who this Doctor guy is?”

“Sorry darlin’, not a clue. I did all my dealin’ with this Utariel demon in Willy’s who said he was working for some other bloke, I suppose his boss might be…..” Spike’s voice tailed off as his universe suddenly shrunk to consist of nothing but his mouth and its contents. His eyes closed as he savoured the cool ambrosia that covered his tongue. What on earth? He didn’t remember it tasting this good before, so rich and tangy and sweet. He didn’t remember anything tasting this good before! He took up his spoon and scooped up another large mouthful of mousse. As it met his taste buds he closed his eyes again and moaned in rapture.

“Spike? Can you hear me Spike?” Buffy’s voice filtered into Spike’s consciousness as if from a great distance. “Is there something wrong?” Spike forced his eyes open and saw Buffy’s concerned eyes looking back at him. “Spike? You kinda zoned out on us there… what is it?”

Spike could only whisper hoarsely, “Tastes so good, never tasted that good before…” before he filled his mouth yet again. His eyes closed again and Spike sighed deeply as once more his taste buds were overwhelmed. He barely felt himself being dragged from his seat, and wasn’t aware of having been pushed into the kitchen until his mouth was once more empty and he looked around for his dessert dish.

Buffy whispered, “Spike, what’s going on?” Then she looked over to Giles who had followed them and asked, “Do you know what’s wrong with him?”

Giles smiled, “I have a fancy that Spike has just discovered one of his advantages from the Mating Bond, isn’t that right Spike?”

Spike stared at him for a moment before the realisation hit. “Oh! Is this what it was like before? Did food always taste this good?” He looked around for something else to sample.

Buffy grinned at him, “Well you have started out with chocolatey goodness, not everything tastes that good!” She opened the fridge and thought for a moment before grabbing an armful of things and putting them on the counter. “Close your eyes… now try this...” She dug her finger into a jar and held it up for Spike to lick.

Five minutes later they had discovered that Spike loved peanut butter, mayonnaise, grapefruit marmalade, salsa dip and raspberry jelly, but that he absolutely hated yoghurt and guacamole dip. Spike was thoroughly enjoying himself and asked, “Why is it that you’re not eating all day every day? How do you resist all the wonderful flavours?”

Buffy shrugged, “I guess we’re used to it.”

The most unfortunate result of the taste test was when Buffy playfully dipped her finger in the pot of pig’s blood, which had Spike swearing and spitting into the sink before rinsing his mouth out with cold water. “Oh God what was that? It’s revolting…”

Buffy and Giles exchanged a worried look. Buffy breathed, “Oh dear… this can’t be good…”

Giles frowned. “I think we’ve just discovered why a person’s sense of taste is weakened when they’re turned…”

When Spike realised what the last food he had tasted was he shrugged in resignation. “Can’t be helped, I’ll just have to add more burba weed, or perhaps I could try cow’s blood or something else… although pig’s always tasted closest to human.”

Buffy considered something for a few moments then nodding to herself she leaned into Spike’s chest, wrapped her arms around his waist and tipped her head to one side. “Taste me…”

Spike was horrified. “No!” He gripped her shoulders and pushed her away from him slightly so he could look down into her eyes. “Buffy darlin’, I’ll not feed from you, you’re my Mate not my dinner. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I’ll just have to find something to take the taste away after meals… perhaps some chocolate or something…” He looked over her shoulder to Giles, his eyes pleading with the Watcher to help him. “Even my stupid demon is screaming at me not to…”

“If it comes down to it Buffy we can try to get some out of date human blood from the hospital for Spike.” Giles gently suggested. “Although I’m afraid that might not be much better…”

Spike shook his head in denial, “Not going to get used to drinking human blood again Rupert, it makes me too jumpy when I get in among people. My greedy soddin’ demon has to be made to understand that human blood is off the menu whatever packaging it comes in, just in case anything happens to the chip.”

The discussion was abruptly brought to a close when Willow appeared with a pile of empty dishes. She spoke quietly, “Look Buffy… Sam is a bit freaked. She wasn’t happy about sitting down at the table with Spike in the first place, goodness knows what Riley had told her about him, but now she’s realised Hallie’s a demon and of course Anya has been telling some of her stories... I think you should try to calm her down, explain things for her.”

Buffy glared up at Spike. “This conversation is not over,” She declared softly, then took his hand and led him into the living room where everyone was settling down with comfortably full bellies. Sam was sitting in the middle of the couch between Dawn and Xander, and was watching Halfrek and Anya very warily. The two women were happily discussing a vengeance wish they had been part of during the Russian revolution, completely unaware of the very uncomfortable atmosphere their reminiscences was creating.

Buffy went to sit on the coffee table facing Sam. “So… Sam… I think you are just beginning to grasp the weirdness that is the life of the Slayer. The most important thing you have to know is that nobody in this house is going to hurt you.” She smiled and continued, “As Riley has probably explained, life in Sunnydale can be very different. Just look around this room, apart from the Slayer and her Watcher, we have a powerful witch, a demon, an ex-demon and a vampire. The only two people who can be called remotely normal apart from yourself are Xander and Dawn, and they both have so much experience with the supernatural they aren’t in the least ordinary.” She looked across at Anya and Halfrek. “Anya’s friend Halfrek is welcome here because she has willingly given up her power source for the duration of her visit, but you should still remember not use the words ‘I wish’… just in case.” Turning back to Sam she asked, “So how did you get into the demon chasing business then Sam, were you part of the Initiative too?”

“No, I went down to Central America with the Peace Corps. One night, my entire infirmary got slaughtered by... I didn't know what they were. I got saved, quit the Corps, joined the squad.” Sam smiled, “My first firefight, I met Riley. We started talking, you know, first about tactics, missions, stuff like that. And then about you.”

Buffy’s eyebrows went up in surprise. “Riley talks about me?”

“He didn't say anything for a long time, but I could tell. He was ripped up inside.” Sam shook her head sadly, “The only thing that could ... help Riley work it out was time. Lots of time. Took him a year to get over you.”

Spike snorted in derision, “I would have thought he was over you the night he upped and ran out on you Slayer. If he really loved you he’d have stayed and fought for you.”

Buffy looked over her shoulder at him with a frown, “Spike…”

“Face it darlin’ he just couldn’t deal with you being the Slayer and took the easy way out. I know all about that bloody helicopter and how it took off leaving you yelling and waving at it, with the soddin’ Ninja Commando not caring enough to look back once.”

She asked, “How do you know? Were you stalking me again?”

“No darlin’, not that night, I was in my crypt tending the hole he put in my chest. Word gets about though. I heard all about it later. When the Slayer gets ambushed by a gang of vampires for torching their suck house after finding her boyfriend there, then after taking them all out she runs clear across town at full Slayer Superspeed there are those who want to find out why. I’ll bet he even made you think his cheating on you and giving up on you was your fault didn’t he?”

Sam had been looking between them in bewilderment, “I don’t understand, I thought Riley left because you ended the relationship.”

Buffy laughed shortly, “No Sam, I wasn’t given that chance. He just said ‘I’m leaving tonight unless you persuade me to stay’ after I found out he’d been lying to me and cheating on me. Before I had time to think about it, he was gone.” She shrugged, “It’s probably just as well, we were heading for trouble anyway. As Spike said, he could just never handle the Slayer in me.” Smiling across at Spike she added, “After he left I found someone who loves all of me, so it’s all of the good. Riley needs a normal girl, I’ll never be that. I just hope he can find someone else and be happy.”

Sam looked puzzled again, “I thought he’d have told you… Ri and me… we’re married. He didn’t tell you?”

“No, he didn’t mention that Sam,” Buffy replied, her voice low with anger. “I think he was too busy giving me a hard time about my new boyfriend.” She looked around at all the rapt faces sharing their conversation, “I think we need to have a private chat Sam…” Buffy led Sam towards the back door.

As Buffy and Sam moved away Spike’s hand was captured and he was dragged in the opposite direction, towards the table where Willow had set up her laptop. “That’s the one isn’t it Spike?” Dawn asked excitedly, pointing with her other hand.

Spike bent over Willow’s shoulder and took in the website displayed on the screen. “Yeah, that’s the one Niblet, so I was right? It was a Suvolte?” He reached for the touchpad, “May I?” he asked. When Willow moved her hand out of the way he scrolled the screen down to read the description of the demon, then clicked on the link that said ‘more images’. “So that’s what the eggs look like.” He said thoughtfully. “At least now we know what we’re looking for.”

Pausing in the kitchen doorway Buffy turned to ask, “Wills, If the Suvolte demon only got into town today to lay its eggs, how long do we have to find them before they hatch?”

Willow clicked the ‘back’ button and returned to the main page, then said, “Their incubation time is five to seven days Buffy.”

Buffy sighed with relief, “So if we count today as the first day that means we have at least four days to find them.” She nodded to Sam and the two young women disappeared out onto the back porch.

Spike decided that now was the perfect time to ask Xander for his help with the four poster. He looked over at the young man and nodded his head towards the front door, “Harris, a few words?”

Spike led a frowning Xander out onto the front porch as he lit a cigarette. He asked, “You coming on the demon egg hunt?” When Xander nodded warily Spike continued, “Need your help with something Harris. Slayer and I need my four poster from the crypt moved over here. It took me two soddin’ days to put the thing together, thought you might help us take it apart, shift it and put it back together… Have a look at it tonight for us? See when we can shift it?”

Xander grimaced in disgust. “You really expect me to…”

Spike shrugged, “Thought you might want to help the Slayer… so she doesn’t have to sleep on the floor. I’m used to it but she...”

“Why would Buffy have to sleep on the floor?” Xander asked suspiciously. “She’s got a perfectly good bed.”

“Um… we kinda broke it…” Spike muttered sheepishly.

“Xander stepped back, hands raised in denial. “I so don’t want to know…” He sighed and shrugged, “Okay… I’ll have a look… perhaps I can borrow a truck from work…” The young man stomped back indoors leaving a contented Spike sitting on the rocker blowing smoke rings at the moon.

TBC.