A/N: As always, a thousand thanks to my beta, Orin Forever Crimson. This chapter would have been even later had she not returned it to me in blinding speed! So, I apologise for taking longer than promised, but thankfully I'm only a few days late. Please R&R but most importantly, enjoy!

"Redemption"

Episode 3

"Trio"

by Leon Stryfe

Starring:

James Marsters as "Spike"

Michelle Trachtenberg as "Dawn Summers"

Nicholas Brendan as "Alexander 'Xander' Harris"

Alyson Hannigan as "Willow Rosenberg"

Amber Benson as "Tara Maclay"

Emma Caulfield as "Anya Jenkins"

and

Anthony Stewart Head as "Rupert Giles"

Guest Starring:

Emily Blunt as "Katrina Letchford"

Tom Lenk as "Andrew Wells"

with Danny Strong as "Jonathan Levinson"

and Adam Busch as "Warren Mears"

As soon as night fell, Spike was out prowling the streets and cemeteries of Sunnydale. He felt powerful, truly so, for the first time in a long time. He hadn't felt like this since, well, since he killed Nikki Woods decades ago. Thinking about that fight brought a smile to his face. He had loved the feel of the Slayer's head in his hands, the sound of her neck when it snapped.

'Those were the days', Spike thought as he easily sidestepped an oncoming blow from a freshly risen vampire. Spike grabbed the unlucky vampire's arm and pulled it onto his waiting and well placed stake. As the vampire exploded in dust, Spike smiled and continued his search for more evil to kill.

There was a nagging doubt in the back of his mind, however, telling him that those weren't the days. He had been strong, surely, but he hadn't had a purpose. Well, he had, but killing the Slayer only went so far. He'd kill one and then he'd spend years tracking down the next. He'd been close several times before he found Nikki, only to learn that the Slayer had already fallen to one demon or another. He'd gotten lucky with Buffy, happening upon her…

The thoughts of Buffy were the things generating his doubt, Spike realised. He not only felt strong, but now he had a goal. An achievable goal, he corrected, because Buffy had become his goal for awhile. He knew that nothing he could have done then could have won her heart, but he had earned her respect, her trust. That was the reason he was out here, now, killing every vampire and beastie he ran across. That, and it was fun. Spike smirked wide as he saw another vampire dart out his direction. It was fun, indeed.

"Alright, so, what do we know about Sunnydale, about who protects it?" Without waiting for a response, Warren pointed to his whiteboard where an image of Buffy Summers was displayed. "We've all had run-ins with her. She is going to be our biggest obstacle. So, how do we take her down?"

"Well," Andrew began in his typical high pitch, "first, we know that she has friends that watch her back. We'll have to deal with them, too." Warren nodded at Andrew's point but Jonathan squirmed. He knew the people that backed up Buffy, and while he could never claim to be their friends, he did like them a great deal. Xander and Willow had been his classmates for years, even before Buffy had moved to town. He already wasn't comfortable with where this was going.

"What do you mean, 'deal with'? Are we talking about, ya know..." Jonathan quit talking and made a "schiiiiicccckkkk" noise while he motioned his thumb across his throat. Seeing the distress on Jonathan's face, and seeing a similar look forming on Andrew's, Warren reacted quickly.

"What, are you out of you mind? No, of course we won't kill them. We just need to... neutralise them long enough to get the job done." When relief clearly passed across both of his compatriots' faces, Warren knew he had diffused a potentially bad situation. It also let him know that he would have to take care of the really gritty work. Oh, well, such was the weight of leadership. "So, what say we do some reconnaissance, see what new info we can uncover and exploit. I'll set up some cameras."

"I'll see what kind of demons could be helpful," Andrew volunteered. Warren nodded and Andrew got up and went to one of the nearby work tables that was covered with books and symbols. Warren turned and looked expectantly at Jonathan.

"Give me a little time, I'll try to look up some spells," Jonathan said softly, causing Warren to smile.

"Alright boys; let's get to work!" A few hours later, Plan: Recon was ready to be put into action.

After a productive night of guarding Sunnydale against demonic threats, Spike unlocked the back door of the Summers home and let himself quietly in. It was almost dawn, so he decided to stay up and make sure that everything went right this morning. It was Monday, a school day, so Spike was going to make certain that Dawn left for school. He really didn't need to worry about it; everyone else was back on the same page. Still, he knew he would feel guilty if he went to bed without checking on everyone.

Spike was suddenly aware of just how different he had become over the last few years. Here he was, concerned about the wellbeing of humans, some of which he didn't particularly care for. It had gotten worse, he realised, since he feed off of that Mushu beast. He wasn't feeling the types of things that the King of Brooding had described when he talked of his soul, so Spike was pretty sure he was clear on that end. He did, however, feel more in touch with his... what? His human side? Spike scoffed at the idea. Old Willy was dead and gone, had been for over a century.

Then again, how else could he explain how easily he had lapsed back into the role of English Gentleman a few weeks ago? That had been before he had tasted the blue-blood god cocktail, so maybe it wasn't the blood affecting him after all.

Spike waited for everyone to awaken, passing the time with internal debate. He was so into his own head that he almost missed Tara's approach. Spike found that he wasn't really missing much anymore, thanks to his recent... changes.

"Mornin' luv."

"Good morning, Spike," Tara said with a smile on her face. "Would you like something for breakfast? It's early so I'm taking requests." Spike smiled in return and briefly thought about taking her up on her offer before shaking his head.

"Not today, but I appreciate the offah." Tara shrugged her shoulders and began her morning preparations. Spike was happy to see that she was healing up nicely. He hadn't really had much doubt that she would, but he never trusted wounds created by magic. Hell, he didn't trust magic period.

Tara and Spike talked quietly while she cooked, letting the scents of food wake everyone up as opposed to raised voices. The first one down was, predictably, Giles. He had always been a morning person, so the smell of good food was only one reason he was awake. Giles spoke his hellos as he immediately began making his morning tea. Tara had tried to make it a few days ago, but Giles had politely informed her that, while she was an excellent cook, she had an American's touch when it came to making tea and to please desist in making it in the future.

"Good morning Tara, Spike."

"Morning Giles," Tara said while looking briefly away from her preparations.

"Rupert," was Spike's response.

"So, Spike," Giles began after he had taken the first sip of his morning tea, "how was last night's patrol?"

"Went well. Dusted a few vampires, rode down a Byahkee, and fought a particularly slimy Chaos Demon. I did everyone a favour by takin' a shower 'fore headin' back this way." Giles and Tara both murmured their thanks in response to Spike's last sentence. Giles then nodded, taking mental note, and resumed drinking his tea.

"So nothing was... out of the ordinary?" Giles asked his leading question with a certain look on his face, one Spike couldn't read. It seemed like concern mixed with curiosity, but he wasn't certain.

"No, not really," Spike answered truthfully. "No new change in any o' my abilities. Funny thing is, I've never 'eard o' any blood effects this good lastin' this long. And I know about a lot of 'em."

"Such as?" A curious Giles asked.

"Let's just say that blokes like The Master, Kakistos, and that ponce Dracula didn't get like they were just by livin' a long time. Sure, age had somethin' to do with it, but not all their goodies came from bein' grampas, so to speak." Giles was briefly taken aback, as he had never thought much about the advanced powers of elder vampires. He had always assumed that their powers were solely attributed to age. Then again, he had never had many opportunities to sit down and discuss vampire lore with a civil representative of the demon breed. If one could consider Spike civil, that is.

"While that may be so Spike, I doubt many vampires have been in your particular situation. Which brings to mind a new question; how is it you were able to drink from this particular creature? Surely, if it was anything like Glory, it couldn't have been easy," Giles pointed out.

"When I was drinkin' from it, I got some images through the blood. Happens from time to time, ya know. Thing is, I got the impression that he wasn't as strong as he shoulda' been, like he was recoverin' from somethin'."

"That sounds accurate compared with what I could find in the council records," Giles responded. "Muš-ḫuššu, or Sirrush, once resided in one of the Temples of Bel in ancient Babylon. He was the living god of the temple but was poisoned by an interloper who managed to outwit him. Texts claim that Sirrush is dead, but considering what we have learned since dealing with Glory, gods are notoriously hard to kill. I doubt simple poison would do the job, however draining it of all its blood just might." Giles paused to reflect upon his own statement before continuing. "One can never be too certain. What did you do with the body?"

"Don't know what happened to it, we didn't go back for it. I drank out its life, Giles; it's not commin' back from that." Spike was certain that the creature would not be coming back; he neglected to mention that thought-image transference only happened when one drank the last drops of lifeforce left in a creature. That was a gory detail he didn't want Tara to overhear, as she was still working away at breakfast. Before Giles could ask any more questions, Willow came down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Morning," Willow said sleepily to the two men in the room before walking over to Tara and giving her a much more lively greeting in the way of a kiss.

"Good morning to you too," Tara said with a wide smile on her face. Willow let her hand rest on Tara's jaw, looking lovingly over her face, drinking in every aspect of her lover. Willow had been especially attentive to Tara since the ordeal with Inanna. Tara was certain that Willow was trying to make up for her actions after Buffy's brief return, but in reality Willow was showering her love with affection for the way that Tara had defended her against Inanna.

"I know you guys really love each other," Dawn said as she descended the stairway, "but you could you guys not let everyone on your floor know it at 2am? Some of us have school." Dawn's words caused Giles to clean his glasses and cough while Tara and Willow blushed red with embarrassment.

"Were we really that loud?" Tara asked Willow quietly as she tried to hide her face with her hair as she went about finishing breakfast.

"Well, you were," Willow teased, making Tara blush even deeper. "I was as quiet as a church-mouse!"

"Yeah, and I'm a centaur," Dawn responded while rolling her eyes, drawing a surprised "Hey" from Willow.

"Are we certain we want everyone's bedroom exploits to be dining room material?" Giles asked as he put his glasses back on.

"I dunno; sounds like fun to me," Spike replied enthusiastically as he threw a wink at Tara while she began setting the food on the table.

"Not all of us pick up cheap floozies from Barny's, Spike," Willow fired off at Spike, mostly in jest.

"Oi! I'll have you know, I 'aven't had a decent shag in months 'cause I've been too busy babysitting you lot," Spike responded.

"Please, can we not involve Spike and sex in the same sentence," Giles said as he tried to steer the conversation another direction.

Spike and sex, Dawn thought to herself, before blushing a bit as she realised that she was staring at Spike. She blushed deeper as she discovered that Spike knew that she was staring by winking at her. She turned away as Spike began talking.

"No worries, mate. Won't come up again." Spike looked around as the Scoobies began to seat themselves at the table. "So, breakfast time for you mere mortals; I guess I'll head downstairs to get some sleep." As Spike began to stand up, a feminine hand kept him in his seat.

"No you don't," Tara said playfully, setting a cup of heated blood in front of him before moving to serve everyone else at the table. "We're having a group breakfast so your presence is required." The way she said it left no room for argument. Spike was fairly certain that, had Xander been present, there would have been a lot of grumbling, but he wasn't so it didn't matter. He looked around the table at those present. Willow nodded her reassurance and Dawn smiled in happiness, though she hid her face when she caught him looking. For his part, Giles said nothing, which was as close to acceptance as Spike could expect from him. Spike nodded his head and picked up his mug as everyone else began to eat and talk.

While listening in, and occasionally joining the conversation, Spike noticed that Tara hadn't stuttered the whole morning. Truthfully, she had been stuttering less and less of late. He was genuinely happy for her and Red. That thought should have stricken him as odd, but he refused to dwell on it. Instead, he decided to drink his meal in the company of what was, strangely and against all odds, becoming his group of friends.

"Here's the plan," Warren began as he laid out blueprints of the Summers' house. "Andrew, you summon an Oni to distract the Slayer and her friends. Make sure it keeps them distracted for as long as possible." Andrew smiled, happy to be an important part of the plan. "Jonathan, you'll teleport you and me inside the house, here," Warren pointed to the second floor bathroom. "From there, we go out and canvass the building. I'll stay upstairs and bug all the rooms there. You go downstairs and bug the kitchen, living and dining rooms. Then we meet back upstairs and teleport out."

"Why do I have to go downstairs," Jonathan whined.

"Because, if there is someone downstairs, you can teleport yourself out and I can still sneak away from the second floor. If I get caught downstairs, I've got no way to bail." Jonathan wasn't happy with Warren's explanation, but it was the most logical setup. To Warren, the fact that it was logical was secondary to the fact that it kept him out of harm's way, but he would never admit that fact out loud. That, and he wanted to be upstairs to set some of their cameras up in places likely to catch certain... activities. If they were going through the trouble of bugging the house, why not get a free show or two? "Everybody get ready. We move in two hours."