"Buffy?" Dawn crept around the corner of her sister's room, sticking her head through the door and carefully whispered to the sleep girl that she was afraid would burst into the bitch from the morning before at any moment. "There's a leak in the basement."

Buffy growled low and loud as she flipped onto her back and crossed an arm over her closed eyes. Peeking through she could tell no sun was in the room, so that wasn't a problem. The problem was the blood filled human waking her up after so few hours of sleep. Spike and she did manage to find one vamp the night before but it was barely a challenge for her. She got to play with it a bit, leading it through a maze of gravestones, flipping, jumping, and tackling, wounding it then letting it go again and again. It was fun but the only one they ran into before the sun started to rise and they had to part ways.

"So you go fix it."

Dawn breathed out, already anxious of Buffy's reaction. They had tried fixing it. "Well we were going send Xander down there but he said he was more of a wood guy and then none of us could reach and I don't know where the wrench is anyway. So I was going to call a plumber but I wanted you to know and-"

"Oh my god." How was it that she'd been dead for months and they still didn't know where the fucking wrench was? And weren't ladders invented? "Fine. I'll get it. Give me a minute."

"Thanks." Dawn smiled and ran from the room, allowing the morning monster the minute she needed.

Waiting for her in the kitchen were the familiar faces of her friends and family; Xander, Willow, and Tara. Anya was on her way over after a late start.

"How's Buffy?" Willow asked hopefully when she saw Dawn enter the room.

"She's grumpy." She muttered back, slumping into a kitchen chair.

"Probably because she went to bed two hours ago." Tara explained with a small frown. Maybe they shouldn't have let her go patrolling with Spike.

"Only two?" Willow asked back with a frown of her own. Well now she felt bad for telling Dawn to wake her up. She thought she'd of come in much earlier than that. She had to of been out all night. Spike's doing probably. She would have to have another little chat with him. If she could control herself. Magic still crackled every time she pictured his face, his unnecessary accusations playing out in her mind.

"Yeah I heard her come in late." Tara answered. She always was a lighter sleeper than her partner. "A night of late patrolling I guess."

"Maybe she turned nocturnal." Xander joked. "Not that she wasn't before. Our little Buffy bat."

"Yeah maybe." Willow nodded while double checking the stairs for their friend. Nocturnal wouldn't be anything too weird or out of the ordinary. But somehow…it just didn't feel quite right.

Buffy did eventually roll out of bed and fumble her way down the stairs. Not only was she a little off balance due to the lack of sleep and the horrible headache that started to form with all the human blood and thumping in the house, she also managed to fall straight on her ass when she reached the bottom of the stairs and realized the sun was shining through the door window. It was a close call, her foot almost stepping into the pain promising beams, but she managed to fall and twist her body back into a much less compromising position.

Upon reaching the kitchen door there were the usual cheery greetings made whenever she surfaced from her room. There was a reason she didn't want to get up. The high pitched chorus of 'look who's up' made herself want to change her mind, trip back, and throw herself into that door light. Burning alive sounded rather pleasant compared to having to smile like she was, pretending to be happy that they commented on her awakeness, like it was a fucking magic trick. Look who's up? Someone who functions like a regular human being, waking up. Well…human not being a key term.

After asking, well more demanding, the blinds be shut she promptly made her way to the cellar where she found the wrench in with the tools like they always were. Did they not even look for it? The ladder seemed to be missing but after a glance around she saw the small stepping stool hiding in the corner.

It was so easy to be in the cellar, surrounded by the dark and the chill of the underground. The walls were thick and she could barely even hear the outside world, apart from her sister running up and back down the stairs to grab the phone.

The leak was easy enough to find without being prompted in its direction. All she had to do was close her eyes and the drip drip drip brought her right to the problem. It wasn't even that bad a leak. It could have waited until the afternoon when she was planning to get up.

"Wrench." She pulled the wrench to the joint in the pipe, fitting it down and clamping it into place. "Do your job so I can go back to bed." The twisting was hard because the pipes were rusted but the strength running through her muscles made it completely possible, it was only a tad annoying. Or was that something(one) else?

"Are you sure you don't want me to call a plumber?" Dawn rattled the phone in her hand looking down at the guy's number Xander gave her. "I've got the number right here."

"Shut up Dawn, I got this." Just one more pull around and the clinking of the water stopped completely. But just as she started to step down and run to the comfort of her nice dark room, the water rushed through harder. She could hear it all swarming through the pipes and in one loud shot, it exploded out and at least half the pipes surrounding her broke off letting the water free and sending it gushing through the room. "God damn it!" She screamed as water started to pour over her body.

"What happened?!" Dawn screamed from the top of the stairs, where she ran from the sprays in hope of staying dry. It didn't work great but she was nowhere near as wet as Buffy.

"What do you think happened?!" Buffy screamed in her sister's face when she reached the top of the stairs, glaring down to the bottom where the impending puddle started to form.

"Oh no!" Willow exclaimed at the sight of the wet Summers. "Dawn go get changed for school. Here Buffy, here's the plumber's number."

"Yeah thanks."

Could she kill them out of pure embarrassment? Just to save herself from the mocking? Would Spike allow that?

She doubted it.

Buffy called the plumber and waited for him to show up as she wrung the water out of her hair and clothes. When he answered he said he couldn't come for an hour but she wasn't having any of that. A small threat may have escaped her lips in the form of; 'If you don't get down here right now this job will be the last job you ever do. Water is your specialty isn't it? That mean you have special abilities like breathing under it? Cus we can test that theory. And that's when Xander promptly took the phone and talked to the plumber by name, apologizing and saying something about 'not a morning person'. The result was still the same. The plumber came over quick and the problem would be solved quick so she could go back to bed.

"Wow that's a lot of water." Dawn followed the plumber's path to the door as soon as he arrived, being the one to let him in, and saw just how much water had cascaded in in the minutes they were gone. It was already looking like inches. "How much can these small pipes hold?"

"It doesn't work like that." Tara shook her head at Dawn as she finished eating her breakfast. "Water's hooked up to the city."

"So basically we get a pool in the basement?"

"Basically."

"Cool. I've always wanted a pool." She turned to Buffy with a smirk on her face. "Told you we should have called the plumber."

"Well congratulations." Buffy glared right back. "You were right."

Oh god how much she just wanted to take Tara's orange juice glass and smash it down on the table, throw a sharp piece at Dawn's neck and…she needed to stop thinking that. She knew she wouldn't actually kill her sister but something was bound to happen. She needed to get out of the room. "Wake me when the plumber's done." She walked out of the room, towards the living room, and dumped herself on the couch.

With Buffy having left the room, Willow walked over to the blinds above the kitchen sink and re-opened them, enjoying the sun for the second time that morning. She always had been a bit of a morning person. She just couldn't help it. Buffy used to like the sun too. It used to remind her she was human, well part human, after every hunt. It separated her from the vamp world. During the day, she got to pretend she was normal.

"You know, mom used to call us vampires whenever we closed all the shades." Dawn shoved a piece of toast into her mouth and chewed slowly before realizing what she was saying. "It was before all the slayer stuff. It's not really all that funny now I guess."

"No it's funny." Tara nodded but couldn't bring herself to laugh.

"Just not quite haha funny yeah?"

"Yeah."

"And a big Sunnydale round of applause for Tito the amazing, plumber extraordinaire." Xander called as he followed the plumber up the stairs and out of the mess.

"How's everything looking down there?" Tara asked Tito and Xander.

"Like we should start gathering up two of every animal." Xander answered with a smile.

"Basically your pipes are shot. I mean the whole system is gonna have to be replaced." Tito explained as Willow came to look at the invoice. "Which means full copper re-pipe job."

"Full copper re-pipe?" She held out her hand and took the paper from him. "That sounds potentially pricey." Looking down, she saw the number and gasped in shock. This was not going to help their problem.

"Well if you don't mind, I don't want to be here when you tell your sister." Tito started to leave, looking just the slightest bit nervous. "If you have any questions, my number's on the invoice."

"That's a weird phone number." Dawn said looking over Willow's shoulder. "Oh wait. Is that the bill?"

"Hey." Xander cut Dawn off. "Tito cut you a good deal down there. Those are his bargain prices. And I did a little haggling for you."

"Buffy is not going to like this." Willow shook her head at the invoice and looked over her shoulder at the living room. Pulling Xander to the side so Dawn wouldn't hear, she started to whisper her worries. "We're already low on money. With all those late bills…I don't know how we'll afford this."

"Well I know no one wants to hear this but maybe we should talk about the move again." Xander whispered back but it didn't matter, Dawn heard.

"Buffy'll figure out a way." Dawn growled, taking the invoice and walking towards her sleeping sister. There was no way she was discussing moving again. This was where she grew up, it was where her mom lived, it was where they belonged. Too much happened there to move into some stranger's house.

"Dawn." Xander tried to call but knew it was pointless. "I'm just saying." He turned to the two girls left. "Renting out a place would be cheaper and you could look closer to the school. Maybe even walking distance. Save on gas money."

"I don't know Xander." Willow shook her head, not believing she was actually listening to the idea. It wasn't that it was a bad idea but every time it was brought up, Dawn would through a fit. Honestly Willow didn't like the idea of moving much either. It was her home too. But if they couldn't afford it they would just be kicked out anyway. Then there was Buffy whose home it actually was. What would she think? Especially sporting the mood she had been in since coming back. "Buffy just got back. Do we really want to move her so soon?"

"Yeah. It may shock her more than she already is. We at least have to wait till we know she's better."

"Buffy." Dawn shook Buffy's shoulder in an attempt to wake her up as everyone started to move to follow her into the living room. "Buffy wake up."

"What?" She rolled around, putting her arm back over her eyes. What was that, two minutes more of sleep? She only conked out after the plumber had left. She couldn't help waking when he was leaving. It was hard not to roll over when he walked by. He was fat so the blood had a harder time. Each pump was slow and tantalizing and there was an extra spicy rush when he saw her notice him. He was definitely scared. She wondered what adrenaline actually tasted like. Spike didn't know they had plumbing issues. He wouldn't know a plumber was called. A fat plumber nobody? No one would notice him gone. But she wasn't giving her vamp mentor enough credit. He would figure it out somehow. "Can't it wait?"

"Not really." Dawn grimaced. Usually she wasn't the one breaking bad news. Honestly it was more that people broke news to her. She'd seen it done many times but Buffy was really off and she was very afraid of how she would take it.

"What is it?"

"The plumbing bill. It's a bit…well…imagine a surprise party but it's at a dump and no one is there and what surprised you was the large pile of garbage you fell under."

Dawn tried giggling but Buffy wasn't amused. "What?"

"It's a bit…more than you would expect. All the pipes are busted so we need to replace them all. No choice."

"Well what's the big deal? We'll just pay the plumber."

"Yeah about that…Money is kind of…well-"

"Well what?"

"Should I grab the box?" Xander asked from across the room to no one in particular.

"Yeah, get Anya." Willow answered with a nod outside, where Anya had stopped for a phone call before coming in, while Tara reached out to squeeze her hand. They were really hoping to postpone this particular conversation until a later date.

"Well since you've been gone-"

"Dead you mean." Buffy corrected as Xander returned with Anya who waved a silent hello and brought a box out from under the table in the room. While everyone talked she pulled out papers, throwing them on the desk for Buffy to look at while she pulled the log books for herself. Buffy just saw a bunch of words 'due', 'late', 'bill', all having to do with money.

"Well yeah." Willow swallowed, squeezing Tara's hand one last time before jumping into what had happened. "Since then we've been trying to keep up the payments but everything just keeps adding up. There's the funeral costs, the mortgage, the utilities, school. Xander and Anya pitch in when they can. Even Spike forced in a few bucks, we didn't want, but it's a lot. They each have a place of their own so, well not Spike but still-"

"So you're telling me I'm broke?" Buffy rolled onto her arm and pushed herself into a sitting position, really fed up with the conversation already. Why were they trying to dance around her like she was an idiot or like she would explode any second? Alright the second one made sense.

"Well not quite." Willow answered while glancing at Dawn. They usually tried to have these conversations when she was out of the room but it wasn't like she was going to ask her to leave now. "But money is an issue."

"You're kind of almost out of it." Anya said looking down at the numbers.

"You're mother prepared everything really well." Tara tried to say before Buffy could question where her money went. "She had insurance, life insurance, but that only goes so far. After the hospital bills that is."

"They're a black pit where all money gets sucked into." Xander re-explained with sympathy.

"Anya's been helpful of keeping track of it all for you." Tara nodded in the girl's direction and everyone turned to look at her.

"And I have an idea of how you can get more money." Anya said timidly, her idea having already been shut down by the rest of the group before.

"Anya-" Xander, as always, was first to try and shut her up.

"Start charging!" She continued excitedly anyway. "For saving people I mean."

"Anya stop."

"No, let her talk." Buffy said, surprising everyone in the room. "It's either that or I'll have to collect money another way. There's always the burn the house down and collect the insurance money. We'd have to find a good way to burn it though, so it's not our fault. Maybe we could fix it on the plumbing somehow. Blame it on Tito so they can't deny us coverage. I think that's how that works." Looking out she saw a sea of very confused and worried faces. Well she thought it was a good idea. "Guys. I'm totally joking. Don't worry. I'll get the money. Even if I have to dance on a pole. Just don't ask where it came from." Again they didn't seem to get the joke. "Guys. Kidding." It stopped her from mentioning her idea of letting Tito finish the job and kill him before giving him a cent. It wouldn't fix all her problems but it would fix some; pipes and blood fix.

"There is the possibility of moving as well." Anya said and everyone, other than Buffy, started glaring daggers at her. That was the one thing they were not going to say and especially not in front of Dawn. But that was Anya, never very tactful. "It may not be best right now, especially you being broke and without a job, but for the future. So if you charge people to save their life, like a thank you, then you could have enough money for the bills and to stay in the house and even a little extra to save up for Dawn's college fund."

"Anya, you can't charge innocent people for saving their lives." Willow shook her head and the lack of morals Xander's girlfriend possessed. Sometimes it was really hard to like her. "What are you going to do if they don't pay? Let them die? What if they couldn't afford it? It's crazy."

"It's not crazy."

"Yes it is."

"No. Spi-"

"Would you two shut up?" Buffy asked, rolling her neck back along with her eyes.

"Come on Xander." Anya turned to her partner. "Back me up here."

He stared at her and then at Willow and then at her again. He had to say what he thought. He couldn't pretend he thought it was a good idea. "Anya I just don't-"

"Of course not." She slammed down her pen on the logs and started to stomp for the door. "You never take my side."

"Your side? I didn't think there were sides. Anya!" Xander started to get up and follow her, huffing at the ridiculousness and embarrassment he felt. "I'm not taking sides. I am your side."

"Those two." Willow said shaking her head. With Anya, even in her best moments, she didn't understand why they were together. It wouldn't last.

Taking one last look over the sea of debt swimming on her table Buffy yawned and sat back in her couch. Bed was more important than these stupid human issues. She wouldn't get there unless the lookers left. Why were they staring so much? "Don't you guys have somewhere to be? I'll figure it out."

"Okay. Yeah." Willow answered, worried about Buffy's snapping and lack of freaking out. Actually she was worried about the combination of the snapping and the mentioning of burning the house down and blaming it on someone else. Buffy wouldn't never joke about burning down a house, especially her own. She just had to be tired. Two hours of sleep. Very tired. "Well let's get going." She said to everyone else in the room, shooing them back towards the kitchen to grab their bags. "Or we'll all be late."

"Buffy-" Willow called back from the kitchen as Buffy headed for the stairs to her above ground room. So went her plans of maybe taking over the basement as her own space. She could hear that the water had stopped pouring, something Tito must have done, but wasn't about to go swimming in what was already down there. "Meet us at the Magic Box tonight. We'll eat dinner there."

"Sure fine." She grunted as she stomped up every step. "See you then."

Deciding whether or not to go to the Magic Box was a chore in itself. The jist of it was, of course she really, really, really did not want to go but they would worry if they didn't. She didn't feel like answering questions so she decided to go. That didn't mean she would have to go alone. A quick call and she managed to talk Spike into showing up with the premise of needing more pig's blood. It wasn't a complete lie. Her head was hurting and she did need it but it wasn't the only reason she wanted him there.

She waited till the last possible second, enjoying every ounce of her alone time before trudging her way over there. It was night so there weren't too many people on the street but they still tended to be distracting as she kept coming up with new murder scenarios in her head. A few of them didn't even involve drinking their blood. They were just distractions so she could get blood from others. She went from complicated targets to the simple ones, like the teens. Passing a couple of ones coming down the street from the Bronze she could tell they were completely wasted. It wasn't in their sloppy walking or sloppy talking but in their blood. She could smell the alcohol and she had to wonder if she would get drunk off it herself. Given the chance, she would see. Maybe it'd be the same with drugs. She'd never done drugs before.

When she reached a clear sidewalk with no people she took a moment to slow down and actually enjoy her walk. There was a reason vamps were associated with the moon and since she was a child of the night now, she could appreciate it just like they could. Most day walkers didn't really appreciate the sun they had and even thought it'd only been a few days, Buffy could see just how important it was. It brought so much to the humans, to her when she was, but only pain to her now. She had a new item in the sky to worship, something that would shine light over her body and provide the shadows she could hunt in. The night brought on a sort of power that made that feeling in her muscles sort of tingle and thrive. Dead or undead or whatever, she could still appreciate the beauty in it.

But then she reached the shop.

"Hey Buffy." Dawn greeted from behind a school book, a big smile on her face. Buffy half faked a smile back as the heat of the room and the smell of it clouded around her. So much for that serenity. "Did you hear a bank got robbed today?"

"Did they bring us the money?"

"No." Dawn half laughed as Buffy entered the room a bit more, shutting the door behind her. "Unfortunately the demon that robbed it did not consider us."

"Demon?"

"Yeah." Tara spoke next, sitting at the big round table a large pile of books surrounding her. "They showed a clip on the news so we're going to try and figure out what it is."

"Alright." Buffy glanced at the food on the checkout table and grimaced at the sight of the Chinese. "I'm going to work out for a bit."

"You don't want to research?" Willow asked as Buffy walked past the table towards the back room.

"No." She answered back with a cheery fake smile, something she really just needed to paint on. "I'd much rather punch things."

Willow waited a few minutes while she finished her dinner, all while glancing at the back room door in worry, before she finally decided to get up and see how Buffy was. They still hadn't had a proper talk and she really wanted one.

Everyone else wished her well and went back to doing their work as she entered the room and watched Buffy. She had changed into a tank top and was really laying it out on that punching bag. Willow tip toed around the room until she was on the opposite side and Buffy could see her in her line of view. Of course she didn't know Buffy actually heard her the second she had decided to come and was actually still working on how to block out the rest of the groups ramblings from behind the wall.

Willow popped up on the work bench and waited, saying the first thing that came to mind. "What'd you do to your chest?"

Buffy glanced down at the red marks that were left from the cross burn. It didn't look like anything but she couldn't say it was nothing. Obviously something happened. "Scratched myself on my coffin."

"Oh." Willow sighed out in complete guilt, deciding to change the subject. "Did you find out the money thing yet?"

"I said I would work on it." Buffy didn't stop her punches while she spoke, only going stronger with every strike. "I've only been up a couple of hours. Don't worry I'll figure it out."

"What about a loan?"

"Don't be stupid Willow. I have nothing to offer for a loan. I have no assets and no job. The bank won't give me money." Plus there was the whole meeting them at their office thing. She didn't think anyone credible would meet her past sundown. Well, loan sharks, but how did you get in touch with one of them? Even so, sounded like a lot of work for something she didn't plan on following through on. Helping the humans wasn't really in her plan of revenge.

"Well, have you thought about getting a job?"

"Yup."

"And?"

"And I'm a college drop out. I'm not about to get any sort of job that will pay anything. Minimum wage will do nothing." Sun, not caring, humans, and revenge. All other reasons too. "I'll figure it out."

Willow really wanted to believe her but it didn't seem like she was doing all she could. The old Buffy would have been all over it, talking it over, coming up with a plan, or at least helping them in research while she was thinking. "But Buffy don't you-"

"I said!-" An extra hard punch in frustration made the entire bag swing out a lot higher than it had been, angling up to a point where it was on the verge of tapping the ceiling. That was not a good show of human weakness. That was a show of vampiric/slayer combo strength. Maybe Willow wouldn't notice the difference. She reached around and grabbed the swinging bag and pulled it back into its proper position, starting up the normal punches again. "I said I'd figure it out."

"Okay." Willow gasped while looking at the hinges that connected the bag connected to on the ceiling, making sure they weren't damaged. That was a very large reaction, though Buffy really had been quite bipolar lately. There was no doubt that something was wrong. "Um Buffy? Can we talk?"

"About what?"

"Well it just seems. Well since you've been back you've been a bit…I don't know. Unhappy. You haven't been really expressiony. You've just been kinda zombie-like, well not zombie, I don't mean to say zombie, but um…you've been zoning and then short bits of anger and well…I don't think it's good for you."

It took a moment for Buffy to think of what she wanted to say. She really wasn't good at pretending to be a human, was she? Guilt trip seemed good. "I was dead and now I have a bunch of bills to pay. How did you expect me to be?"

"You're right. It's just- You're right." It didn't feel right but Willow didn't want to start a fight. Buffy wouldn't have any reason to lie. She was fine, she would be fine. She jumped off the bench and started to walk for the door, apology in her voice. "Forget I said anything. I'll just…go…help the others."

"How's she doing?" Tara asked as soon as Willow shut the back room door behind her.

"Punching things." Willow gave a fake smile hoping to avoid explaining the fit she just caused her friend to have. It was not how she wanted that to go. With a frown she started walking back to the research table when she saw Dawn with a book in her hands. "Dawn you're doing research?" She was a bit young for that still, wasn't she? There were some very violent passages in those books, not to mention the pictures.

"Barely." Dawn pouted for a moment before flipping the book in her hands open and twisting it so Willow could see. "Though I did find this guy. You guys think it's him?"

"Yeah looks like it."

"Should we bring Buffy in on this?" Xander asked, looking at the door as if Buffy would magically decide to come through.

"Let her get a few more punches out." Willow said, sitting down and reading about the demon Dawn found.

Buffy ignored everything they said from their table and continued her violence against the inanimate object, picturing Willow's face for fun and loving how the anger fueled her further, allowing her to let the mask slip and her vampire face to shine through. She was so focused she almost didn't hear the other vamp slip in through the outside door.

Spike stood in the doorway a moment to admire the view in front of him. Golden glowing eyes, sharp pointed teeth, and fists as fast as freight trains all outlining the beautiful woman showing off the muscles in her arms and the small red mark on her chest. Even the biggest blemish couldn't take away from how remarkable she really was. "Brought you your blood pet." He shuffled in front of the bag she was punching and wiggled the jar in the air.

"Thanks." Buffy muttered, still focused on making the bag take Willow's place.

"You don't seem so chipper?" He shoved the blood to the side on the floor and held the bag for her so her target wouldn't sway as much, feeling every punch she gave as it transferred through the material. "What's crawled up your bumb? If you want I can check for myself." He gave her a half-smile smirk but it was lost on her completely.

"Bills." Buffy grunted before throwing a few more and stopping to explain her loss of a situation. "How the hell you guys afforded the house I won't figure out."

"Wasn't really a we thing. They weren't about to ask me for money. Wouldn't like where it comes from."

"So Willow said. She also thinks there's something wrong with me. This pretending is exhausting."

"If you tell them what's going on-"

"No. Not yet." She gave a few more punches into the bag, knowing Spike would understand eventually, before speaking again. "I have to pay them now, don't I? I mean, I don't care, but the human me would. How the hell am I supposed to do that? I'm not getting a job. I'd have to be around humans and food and most jobs are during the day. I'm not doing that."

"Well…" She resumed her punching again. "There are other ways at getting money."

"What'd you have in mind?"

"Just leave it to me. I know a guy."

"Oh come on." She stopped and shifted her face back into its human form, something she was getting more and more used to. Shifting back to demon would be easy. She had it under control. "I want to have some fun." She leaned on the bag, her face inclined towards the other vamp as he held the bag in an awkward, almost hug with her just on the other side. "Giles is coming home tomorrow. I need a pick-me-up before I have to deal with him."

"Gramps is coming tomorrow?" Spike laughed a bit and turned from his position. "Hell you're on your own for him."

"Don't leave me!" She called out, a little louder than she meant as the bag slipped when he moved, really not wanting to be left with the watcher, and also slightly worried that Spike was actually going back to his crypt now after dropping her blood off. She knew that was the reason she gave him but for some reason, she just liked having him around. She really was bad at pretending to be her human self. Then she noticed Spike's chuckling. "What? Why are you laughing?"

"I've just always wanted to hear you say that." He grinned wider at her when she tried to hide her smile and again found himself lost between the old and new Buffy. Oh what this girl did to him. This kind of hold could not be allowed. And yet she'd always have it.

"Shut the fuck up and give me my blood." She chuckled herself while reaching out her hand, ignoring the part of her that asked why she didn't slap him for saying something like that. The human her would have. Well, she even had to remind herself, she wasn't human. "How long do I have to keep drinking this anyway?"

"Well you're a newly formed vamp." He gave her the blood and she tossed it into the bag she brought with her for that exact purpose. She wasn't drinking it cold anymore. "Normally you'd have drunk a full human by now. You'll probably have to drink more of these at least until you've drank as much as a human. Plus you're drinking yourself so I don't know. Couple of days? Then it depends on you telling them." He nodded towards the door where the research team was working.

"Great." She gave him a sly glance before she faced him and started bouncing on her toes, angling her arms in a way that made her breasts look bigger, and giving him the perfect begging face. "Or you could just help me kill a human."

"No." He snapped back, practically immune to her puppy dog look. Empathy, he had, but the answer was still going to be no. She had a hold but he was still going to give hope a chance. Maybe he could still fix her. He had already been looking into it when he wasn't around her, though his results were coming up zero.

"Spike-"

"Buffy I told you no."

"Why?"

"I told you why."

"Yeah, yeah, Buffy before death wouldn't do such a thing. But I am dead. I'm like you. You of all people should understand."

"Ah. But I'm not people." Since he wasn't people he knew exactly how much hunger could drive a vamp to the kill. She had to have been thinking about it a lot already. He scolded himself for thinking he could leave her for so long. He needed to find more excuses to be with her to keep an eye on her. He didn't want anything happening to Dawn accidentally. Also, the one on one time wasn't bad. It may have been clouding his judgement but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy it. "I told you no and if you even make so much as a move to kill someone, I will tell all of them what you really are."

"Fine." She recoiled at his stern and threatening tone. That was usually reserved for when she gave him death threats or when she bad talked his soap. "I was only joking."

"No you weren't."

"Fine. Half joking. I don't get why you care so much."

"Really?"

"I don't know why you'd want me the way I was before." She paced voicing the thought that had been bothering her yet again. They had already talked about it but it needed to be brought up again. He was a vamp, she was a vamp, they could take on the world together. Well, she could and he could watch but at least that was something. That chip really was a bitch. No matter what though, she wasn't going back to being human. He would accept that at some point but she knew enough not to bring that up again. "It doesn't make sense."

Spike smiled a sad smile, his thoughts popping back to a time before her vampireness was an issue. It didn't make a lick of sense really. All she ever did was beat up on him, especially when he tried to win her over. At his best she was his worst. Then again she always did have a weird sense in men. Peaches, one-night-stand guy, Captain Cardboard… She really wasn't a good judge of character.

So why didn't she ever go for him? She seemed much more open to him now. So why wasn't he making his move?! His demon sure was begging for it and yet he knew he couldn't. The human Buffy was still around somewhere and he fought too hard for her before to give her up so easily now. "It didn't make sense to me either love."

Buffy smiled at the shy look he had and smiled wider when she realized the only real, non-fake smiles she wore, were when she was with Spike. He really was the only one that wasn't driving her crazy and she had to smile because she had this moment with him, alone, like the night before. Patrolling was great when it was just the two of them. They would have to do that again.

She suddenly felt shy herself and didn't really understand why but it led her to awkwardly sitting down on the couch and fumbling with her hair to make sure it was all still stuck in her ponytail. "I suggested we burn down the house for insurance money today."

"And how'd the lot take that?" Spike slumped into the spot next to her and crossing his ankle over his leg, leaning into the corner, fumbling to get a cigarette lit.

"You should have seen their faces." She started to laugh, a real genuine laugh, and Spike be damned-er if it wasn't the best thing he'd heard in over 150 days. He joined her in her laughter, maneuvering his cigarette between his fingers. "Hey can I try one of those?"

"You wanna smoke?"

"Never done it and there has to be a reason so many people do. Besides, it's not like I need my lungs any more."

Spike knew he should have said no right off the bat but he couldn't help conjuring the image of Buffy with a stick between her teeth, smoke curling around her lips, maybe lying on her back, maybe under the covers of his new bed showing off the bare skin she donned underneath. Smoking was always a bit sexy if the right person was doing it. "When we're alone pet." He nodded to the door again and she nodded, deciding to tell him why they were all out there.

"Some demon robbed a bank today."

"Yeah?"

"I guess I'm supposed to go after it or something."

"That would be the Buffy thing."

"They're doing research on it now."

"So shouldn't we be helping them?"

"God." She slumped down further in her seat and groaned at the ceiling. "Why?"

"Because you don't want them to know what you are and because I'm bored. Fighting a demon sounds like just the thing." He started to get up off the couch and an idea lit up in Buffy's mind making her smile a snarky smile, worthy of Spike's even.

"So, fight me."

"I'm not fighting you Buffy." Spike chuckled back, holding out his hand to help her off the couch that she refused to take.

"Come on." She pouted like a toddler, throwing her feet on the ground a bit and whining. "I need a fight."

"We're patrolling in a couple hours. Hold yourself till then."

The pout turned full smile when he brought up the patrolling. They hadn't talked about it but she was all for it and kind of flattered that he just assumed they would go together without her even asking. "Just one fight?"

"No. A Scooby will come down and see me fighting you…that's the last thing I need. One punch, no headache, they'll put two and two together."

"Ugh. Fine." She finally took his hand and used it to pull herself off the couch, impressed by how his skin felt beneath hers. She had noticed before, how he was almost-warm-but-not-really as they matched temperature, but by making her hand linger, she really noticed it. It was so much better than the boiling heat the humans gave off. "We'll go do research like good little humans."

"Fighting the good fight." He swung her around by their joined hands and pushed her towards the door. "It's what we're about."

"For now."