Chapter 2

Sunnydale Memorial Cemetery, Two Days Later

"Tell me again why we're doing this, pet?"

"Duh, Slayer girl here!"

He looked at her incredulously, "Not this, I bleed'n well know why we're doing this. I mean why are we telling Xander about us: he's going to want to stake me."

She rolled her eyes at her lover. "Baby, we have been through this before. I love you; I'm tired of hiding it. I mean the only people who know about us are Dawn and Giles. They accept you."

"Slayer, they accept me because Giles is your watcher and he trusts you, not me, you. As for Dawn she already read me the riot act, if I hurt you again blah bloody blah. That and the fact that the Niblet loves me." He smiled at the last as he looked at her. "Your little sis would love me souled or not souled."

She cut him off, "You are souled."

Before he could respond she said, "Duck!" Without question he obeyed as she did a flip over him stake in her right hand and plunged it into the newly risen vamp's chest as he arose. Straightening up she continued as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. In retrospect, he being a vampire she being a slayer, one would have to admit it was an ordinary occurrence. "Spike he will just have to deal. I mean he was and still is in love with a vengeance demon that was human and now is a vengeance demon again. Not to mention the fact that he is also in love with Willow who killed a human, even if he did deserve to die."

"Buffy you know that is not going to mean anything to him with his holier than thou attitude."

"Listen to me you vampire, you. I'm only going to say this once. I love you. I am not running from this like I did before. I am not hiding you from my friends. They are going to have to deal."

He looked deep into her hazel eyes as he pulled her into his embraced and kissed her deeply, his tongue tracing her lips as she opened her mouth to admit his tongue. Her heart beat wildly in her chest, as he touched her face with both his hands, tasting her as if for the first time, in truth every time he touched her it was like the first time. His hands sliding down her body caressing every part he could touch as she moaned into his mouth sucking on his tongue.

Finally the need to breath proved too much for them and they broke from one another. Each holding on to the other for dear life, "Take me home Spike, I need you to make love to me."

Before he could answer her, a voice rang out, "Slayer and the traitor. My, my, my, what a touching scene."

Both turned to the sound of the voice only to find five vampires surrounding them. "Look mate, you might want to just call it a night and leave the same way you came or…" His voice trailed off as she took up where he left off.

"Or we can just dust you all and call it a night and then go home and," she winked at her lover, "shag our brains out!" She said in an awful British accent.

"Gor, pet, that was awful. You really need to work on that." He said with amusement in his voice totally ignoring the fact that the vamps surrounded them.

"Excuse me," The leader of the vamps said.

"What?" They both asked in unison before spinning from one another stake in hand and fighting their way through the vamps. She punched one in the face as he came at her, then spun to her left impaling one on the stake in her hand as it dusted she said in an irritated voice, "You don't have to be rude you know."

Spike for his part grabbed the nearest vamp and repeatedly struck him in the face, breaking his nose then his jaw as he beat him senseless. Releasing the vamp he fell to the ground unconscious. He felt a hand on his shoulder and whirled around grabbing the offending hand and twisting it till he heard the satisfying sound of bones breaking and a yell. He effortlessly eased the stake into the vamps chest and pulled it out as it dusted. "Hey watch the bleedn' jacket git I just got it cleaned."

As he turned around looking for another vamp to dust he saw the Slayer laying on the ground a vamp over him. He roared and moved to take him out as he heard her scream his name. "Buffy!" He yelled his heart almost stopped beating as he staked the vamp in the back and it dusted, he saw her lying in a pool of blood. Her head bleeding, he growled as he knelt down beside her, "Slayer, Buffy, love, wake up okay. Please wake up." He pulled her into his lap as the last vamp moved towards him. "Your bitch is dead, traitor and you're going to follow her."

Before the vamp could follow through on his threat a stake rammed through his back piercing his heart and he dusted as his eyes opened wide in shock. Spike looked up to see Giles, Xander and Willow standing over the dust of the deceased vamp.

Xander tried to get to Spike not understanding what had happened. All he saw was his enemy with Buffy in his lap and all that blood. "What did you do Spike? Finally get that one good day, you bastard."

Giles and Willow stopped him from moving as he spoke, "She needs a hospital." He looked up at them his eyes filled with tears. "We were attacked…she…she…" His breath was coming in ragged pants as he tried to speak all the while cradling the woman he loved more than his own life.

"Xander, whether you believe it or not he would never hurt her, he loves her and she loves him. Now help us with her. We need to get her to hospital."

He looked at him, not believing his ears when Giles snapped out the word, "Now!"

Willow reacted for both of them calling an ambulance on her cell phone. Her voice sounded calm all through the conversation with 911. As she disconnected from the call she sank to her knees next to Buffy and Spike. Leaning into Buffy she stroked her hair, stiffening as her eyes started to turn black, Xander moved towards her as soon as he saw her body stiffen. "Will, no. No magic we agreed."

"I can save her. You know I can save her, she has lost so much blood."

"Willow, no," said Giles as he sank on the ground next to them. "The ambulance will be here soon. Let them do their jobs. She will be fine."

"Buffy, please baby wake up. You can't leave me here. I can't do this alone. I can't…"

She gasped as her eyes opened and the first thing she was the sapphire blue eyes of her lover, she tried to raise her hand to his face and the effort proved too much as she began to cough. He pulled her even closer and stroked her face as the others looked from one to the other.

Xander, holding Willow to him, protecting her against what she almost did. Giles holding Buffy's left hand between his two. Telling both her and Spike everything would be okay. All the while Spike spoke to her of his love and how much he needed her. Touching her face to reassure himself she would be all right. In the distance the sounds of sirens getting closer could be heard.

Later That Night, Sunnydale Hospital, Intensive Care

In the waiting room the sounds of angry voices could be heard.

"Tell me again Giles, why he can be in there with her and we can't. How can you trust him, last time he was with her, he almost raped her. I say we stake him now and be done with it."

"Xander, he won't hurt her."

"Giles, how can you be so blind. How do we know he didn't hurt her in the first place?"

Dawn had been listening to this for what seemed like ages and she had had enough as she snapped out, "Xander what is your problem? He loves her and she loves him. Why can't you accept it? I may only be a kid but even I can see how much they love each other. You didn't see her after you stopped Willow from ending the world. I did. She was all moppy girl. Then he came back from Africa all souled. He was devastated over what he had almost done to her. You haven't seen him after his nightly bout with the nightmares where he relieves his past every single night."

"Dawn… he is still the same Spike."

"No Xander, he isn't. He has changed and she needs him as much as he needs her. You're just too blind to see it and you know the sad thing about all this? You can forgive everyone else but you can't just be happy for her. So I'm wondering who the evil one is here."

He looked around at the others after being told off by a fifteen year old. Then sank slowly into his chair, as Willow held his hand in her tiny one. "I'm sorry Dawnie, maybe your right, maybe he has changed and I've just been so caught up in my own life I've been unable to see it. Kind of like a knee jerk reaction. I've hated him so long it's hard not to."

He didn't say anything more as he cast his eyes upon the hand he was holding lovingly in his own.

At that moment Spike came out of Buffy's room and walked up to the Niblet, "She's awake and she wants to see you."

Dawn got up and hugged him then went straight into her sister's room.

"Dawnie, you alright?" She said in a voice sounding weaker then she had ever heard come out of her sister's mouth.

"Oh, Buffy, God are you alright? I was so worried about you." As she spoke she went to the bed and hugged her sister tightly. "I love you, Buffy."

"Honey, I'm fine the doctors said I just have a concussion, which explains the headache and I'm so tired. I just wanted you to know I was okay. I want you to do something for me though."

"What Buffy? Anything!"

"I want you to take Spike home. He's exhausted and he needs to sleep. K?"

As they spoke he slipped in and heard the last thing she said.

"No, love, it's bloody not okay. I'm not leaving you here alone. The Doc says you need to stay awake for the next twenty-four hours. I aim to make sure you do just that," he said softly as he moved to the other side of the bed. "I'm not leaving you, ever." He looked from one to the other, his family.

"We are a family, pet, you, me and Dawn. I'm not leaving without my family. I want you well and I have to see that with my own eyes. Dawn and I are staying till you're out of the woods so to speak." With that said he leaned down and kissed her on the head just above the bandage. "Now you rest, love."

Xander stood by the open door and listened then turned to Willow and Giles whispering, "I was wrong about him wasn't I?"

They both nodded and he walked weakly back to them feeling as if the strength had gone out of him.

"People change Xander."

"But how?"

"He has always loved her," Giles said knowingly. "He just now has a soul instead of a chip to keep him on the straight and narrow."

"Thinking back," said Willow sadly, "I don't think it was the chip that turned him, I think it was her. I just think none of us wanted to see it.

TBC