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Chapter Seven

Spike woke up and stared at Buffy wrapped in his arms. He didn't know whether he was happy about it or horrified. He was in her house, on her couch and ,"Oh crap"
Hungover with the Slayers Mum sat in the chair opposite.
"Mornin' Joyce" he smiled shyly "Not got an axe beside your chair there have you luv"
"I probably should have, now , care to explain last night to me and why it is, you both saw fit to not tell me you were back?"

Spike nudged Buffy to get her to wake up. Dealing with the angered Mum in the morning whilst still curled up with the sleeping daughter , was not his idea of fun. She didn't stir so he tried again and got the shock through his head from the chip.
"Bloody bolloxing bugger!" he clutched his head and laid back down , moaning and growling in pain.

Joyce smiled .Okay so it was a low way of getting some joy from the morning but well, it would do. For now.

Buffy groaned, the vampire in pain beside her seemed to rouse her from slumber.
"Spike?" she smiled in her half sleep state
"Oh my god Spike!" Buffy shot of the couch and then noticed her Mum.
"Crap. Hi Mum we're home?" she smiled
"Don't try that on me Buffy. What the hell were you two playing at last night?"

Spike was just about recovered.

"Nothing Mum, we got back and decided to have a beer or two while we went over what happened"
Joyce set her lip and turned to Spike "So you took my daughter to a bar and got her drunk. didn't it occur to you just how dangerous it is .What if some monsters had attacked?"
Buffy groaned "We would have beaten them Mum, regardless"
"I wish I had your confidence and Spike should have known better.Have you informed Mr Giles that you are home or can I assume he is as much in the dark as I was?" Joyce glared at the two of them, making both of them cower from the wrath of Joyce.
"He knows, he was the one that swapped our bodies back last night." Buffy replied
"You should of told me you were home safely, I was worried sick,you both showed a lack of respect for me. Do you both have hangovers?"
They both nodded
"Then I suggest that we have some breakfast, get showered and pay Mr Giles a visit afterwards, then you can explain what happened to us all" Joyce got up and made her way into the kitchen to make breakfast

And then the room fell silent. Awkwardness ensued. Spike cleared his throat,and sat back fiddling with his nails 'Have to put some more black on these'.

'What was Mum thinking when she got this rug? Looks like a cat has spat up furballs all over it'

So, they were avoiding what had happened last night, how unusual.
"I'm going for a shower before breakfast, um, will you be okay ?"
"I think so pet , so long as your Mum don' decide she wants to go find that axe"

Buffy raced up the stairs.
Spike picked up the remote for the tv and flicked through til he found something he liked, Passions was on, he settled in and almost forgot where he was.

Buffy sat on her bed combing out her hair.She thought about last night and smiled. She hadn't felt that free in a long time. She loved her friends but sometimes they kept her grounded when all she wanted to do was fly. Spike had let her fly.

Joyce shouted up the stairs pulling Buffy from her thoughts and Buffy walked into the kitchen to see pancakes and waffles and eggs.So not good for a morning after. Buffy persevered though and ate two waffles and four pancakes with fruit and cream and lots of syrup. Spike wondered how the hell the girl stayed so trim.

He opted for the eggs and coffee. Not that he was really hungry, not in the traditional sense anyway.A vampires constitution is very complex, they can eat and drink just like a human, but, they don't need to use the loo as their digestion is better than a human beings except one area, gas. They are in nature a dead body reanimated by a demon, so , the gas builds up causing a bloated stomach. It is damn uncomfortable and bloody embarrassing sometimes. Drinking that much beer was bad news, suicide by belching.

After the initial attack had subsided , Joyce gave Spike some water and sat in her chair trying hard to stop the fit of giggles that had Buffy and herself under their spell. Okay it was good to see them laugh but he was in pain for gods sake.Any anger that Joyce had still harboured was now gone.

Trust Spike to find a way to win my Mum over, that was totally gross, gross but funny.
A few pain killers and a gallon of fresh O.J , and Buffy almost felt human.

Joyce had to go to work and she said that she was working out of state and would be gone for a few days and that Spike should keep an eye on Buffy for her.She also said that she would catch up with them and would want the explanation on her return.

Cos that was intelligent wasn't it. Leave your daughter in the charge of a vampire who had an obsession with Slayers , killing them that is.Not that he could now. He had the stupid government chip in his head that meant he couldn't even nudge the girl awake, oh and his bloody demon was a traitor, it loved the girl that had inhabited his body for just a couple of days.

"Now that Mum's gone, how bout we go down into the basement and do some training and maybe spar?"
"Your on"

The basement had been set up with a punchbag and weights and had a large space for sparing, since the school had been destroyed a couple of years ago, Buffy had used this space as Giles didn't have the room.

So they stood opposite each other , waiting for the other to make the first move.
Buffy swung a kick round at Spike and he easily blocked it and returned her kick with a punch to her midsection.
The chip didn't fire.
Which took Buffy and Spike by surprise.

They spared for over an hour and were both slick with sweat and panting from their exertions, when there was a knock at the door.
Groaning, Buffy made her way up the stairs to answer it, and then wished she hadn't.

Giles stood with an angry looking Xander, a sheepish Willow and Anya, who didn't look anything other than bored already and Tara who blushed.

'Where's a portal when you need one ' Buffy thought as she invited them in.

Xander pushed passed her and sat in the chair, Willow opted to sit on the couch, pulling Tara with her,Anya sat on Xanders lap and Giles stood, fiddling with his glasses.

"It was bought to my attention that you and Spike went out last night. "
"Yeah, that's right, we just had a few drinks"
"Why is it that you saw fit to totally disregard your duty and go out drinking .I can only assume that Spike is having an affect on you and that he is a bad influence Buffy"
"Totally not true, I made the decision to go drinking on my own, I had patrolled and after the last few days, I wanted to cut loose a bit, I don't see the harm"

Spike came up from the basement looking equally dishevelled and sweaty. Xander thought the worst and his eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

"Mornin' all" he stood beside Buffy

"Spike, I suppose your feeling pretty pleased with yourself this morning?"
"Not really Watcher, M' actually feeling hungover, beaten up and violated, thanks for asking" his trademark sarcasm back with a vengeance.


Giles stared at them, Buffy had moved closer in to Spikes side and he was curling a finger round hers
"Oh dear lord, please tell me you both haven't...... I can't even bloody say it" he took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose

"Get tha' bloody mind of yours out of the soddin gutter Rupes, aint touched the girl, wouldn't either"
Giles was taken back a bit 'Who would have thought it, William the Bloody had morals... since when?'

"Right, then you had better start explaining what the hell is going on , both of you sit and start talking!" Giles ordered.
They both did as he said and they both looked like naughty children that had been caught and were waiting to be chastised, which was more or less what they were, except they hadn't done anything other than have a few beers and dance.

After explaining the day that they had spent in the dimension and how they escaped they handed over the staff.Giles was impressed which seemed to calm his anger. The questions shifted to the demons that had caused the situation and the zoo.

"I think it best to assume that these demons will be back. I doubt they will give up on the quest for a human mating couple."

Buffy spoke up " We know, and we thought of looking for volunteers "
Giles laughed " Why would anyone do that Buffy?" he paced the room " I can't believe you would even think of that, it's preposterous"
"The demons take care of the people in the zoo and they are treated like royalty"
"It's imprisonment Buffy" he shot back
"Hence the volunteers! I'm not about to just send anyone through to them"
"I can see we won't agree on this matter any time soon, so, we should go and let you sort yourselves out and I hope to see you just before tonight's patrol"
Everyone stood

Spike caught Giles "Erm, can I come over and have a one on one chat with you, I got some questions that need an answer and your the bloke to ask"
"Come by after patrol , I have a few of my own as well "
Giles and the Scoobies left

"Well that was fun" Buffy said smiling
"S'not funny pet, this situations more fucked up than Dru"
"Things were definitely easier when I hated you and could beat you up and blame you for everything"
"Hey! Wouldn't go tha' far Slayer"

Buffy slumped on the couch and sighed

"I have uni and slaying and the commando boys to deal with, plus nightly patrols and god, apocalypses to avert, nothing in my life is ever easy"
"You think the Watcher expects too much of you?"
"No, maybe, sometimes yeah, but it's my calling, not like I have a choice"
"Wha' bout the other Slayer?"
"Faith? In prison, she went to Angel and he convinced her to give herself up"
"I can help, if you could use me" he meant it too "I'll help with the wankers tha' put that chip in my noggin"

Buffy was taken aback by his offer , could she trust him enough ?

"Well any information you have on them would be great, thanks"
"I can't hurt people Buffy but I can hurt demons, I'll patrol with you if you like"
"I like" she smiled at him

Riley saw Buffy enter the class looking a little rough around the edges and she was wearing sunglasses in the classroom, after the way she had been with him, he knew it was drink related. He stood with Maggie Walsh, the tutor, and nudged her attention away from papers and up to Buffy.
They shared a look and she nodded to him. She would hold Buffy back after class and approach the girl then.

The class was mind numbingly boring. Buffy yawned and almost fell asleep, luckily Willow kept bringing her back by nudging her.As the class was dismissed she heard her tutor call her name and asked her to remain after everyone had left.

Riley stood against the desk with his legs and arms crossed. God he was an arrogant prick. Look at that smug smile, it's so like Angelus', maybe that's why I don't like him, she thought.
"It has been brought to my attention that you have some very peculiar after school activities" she waited to gauge Buffys reaction, she seemed confused.
"We know that you are the Slayer"
"H.. how?"
"We have surveillance in this area and have been watching you closely for a while now"

Buffy frowned and then it all clicked into place. Riley always being around and annoying the shit out of her,and knowing where she was.

"Your the soldier guys"
"Yes, although we like the term the Initiative" Walsh looked at Riley and continued "We capture hostile life forms and insert a behaviour modification chip in the cranium and this stops them from being a danger to humans"

Buffy took a few steps back from them, they had done this to her Spike. Woah, hang on... back up a tad... your Spike? She shrugged

"How long have you been active here and what do you want from me, I assume your a very secretive bunch , so what do you want with me?"
"Your help" Walsh carried on " Riley says that your skills as a demon fighter are second to none, I would like to run a series of tests and , if your willing, use you to help our soldiers"
"Let me think about it"
"Let us know by twenty hundred hours tomorrow night"

Buffy nodded and couldn't get out of the room fast enough. twenty hundred hours, gah, no way am I going to end up talking like that, it's like their robots or something. Wait til I tell Giles and , oh god Spike.
She skipped her next lesson and ran back to her house to get Spike before she headed to Giles.