A/N: Be Warned! This chapter starts out a bit hot and heavy. ;-)

(Note: Some dialog taken directly from the graphic novels.)

Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its characters are the property of Joss Whedon.

"The future is bright."—Toru

Buffy discovered one of the advantages of living in a castle soon after settling into Slayer HQ Scotland: thick walls. Not only were they great for protection from any attacks that might occur, but they also meant that Buffy didn't have to hold back some of her louder vocalizations when she and Spike were having one of their...private moments.

"Oh, god...oh, god..." Buffy's fingers dug into the vampire's scalp as his lips and tongue worked their sinful magic between her legs. The louder her cries got, the more enthusiastic his actions became. It was a good thing he didn't need to breathe, otherwise Buffy's legs tightening around his head would've smothered him.

"Spike! Spike!" A high-pitched squeal escaped her throat. Spike once jokingly referred to it as her "shoe sale noise." But he loved that sound, as well as the accompanying surge of pleasure that vibrated through the link. When her muscles started to relax, Spike kissed his way up her body until he reached her trembling lips. Buffy moaned into the kiss, tasting herself on his tongue. She offered no resistance as Spike pinned her arms above her head. He gripped her wrists with one hand, the other reaching down to guide his aching member to her waiting center. Without warning, he surged into her, burying himself to the hilt. Buffy grunted at the almost violent intrusion. If she'd been normal, there might've been some pain, but her Slayer strength could handle much more than that.

Her body arched as Spike began pounding into her. It had shocked Buffy, early in their relationship, when she discovered that she actually liked it rough. It scared her a little, made her wonder if there was something wrong with her. At times the need to be taken and dominated was overwhelming. Dominated by him. By Spike, her equal. Because she trusted him, and because she needed it as more and more responsibilities weighed her down. She needed these wanton moments to let herself be completely vulnerable, so when she left the haven of their room her burdens didn't seem quite so heavy.

"Tell me you want me," Spike practically snarled while his hips relentlessly crashed into hers.

Buffy forced out between gasps, "I w-want you."

"Tell me you love me."

"I love you...so much..."

"That's my girl." He adjusted his grip on her wrists so that their fingers intertwined. Bones ground together as his features shifted and reformed. His lips peeled back from his deadly fangs.

Buffy turned her head aside without hesitation, bearing the scar of her Claim mark to him. "Yes! Please, now!"

With a feral growl, Spike lunged and sank his fangs into her neck. Buffy shrieked, not from pain, but from sheer ecstasy. Her own teeth bit down on the matching scar on Spike's neck. The link between them whited out from the intensity of their shared climax.

When Buffy's vision cleared she found herself trapped beneath the weight of a limp and very exhausted vampire. He was panting just as heavily as her. This unnecessary reflex made her smile. She slid her hands out from his loosened grasp and ran them over the muscles of his back. His skin was a little warmer than usual, thanks to her shared body heat. There was even a slight dampness that brought a self-satisfied grin to Buffy's lips. It took a lot to make a vampire sweat.

"Wow," she murmured once she finally caught her breath, "That was...that was...wow."

Spike managed a weak chuckle. "Yeah. 'That was wow' pretty well covers it." He lifted his head and gazed down at her heavy-lidded green eyes. He gently brushed away a few strands of hair that stuck her her sweat-dampened brow. He didn't need to ask if she wanted him to roll off of her; he sensed from the link how much she enjoyed his weight on her.

Safe...Protected...Loved.

A tiny smudge of Spike's blood still clung to Buffy's lower lip. Spike leaned down to kiss her, enjoying the faint coppery taste. Buffy hummed and tangled her fingers in his already mussed hair. The longer they kissed, the more their previously tired bodies began to rouse once again. Spike's length, still inside her, began to harden and swell. He pushed into her, a light flex of his hips, not quite a full thrust. Buffy's own hips lifted slightly in encouragement.

"Love you," Spike whispered against her lips, "Buffy..."

Then came a click of the door opening, and an unwelcome voice announced, "Okay, probably nothing to worry about, but there seems to be a wolf and/or panther situation I should bring to your—"

"Xander!" Buffy shouted in alarm. She shoved her boyfriend off and hastily yanked the bed covers up to her chin.

Xander's horrified gasp was almost as loud as his exclaim of, "Oh, merciful Zeus!"

Spike sat up in bed and glared at the interloper. He didn't even bother to cover himself. "Bloody hell, Harris! Didn't your mum ever teach you to knock before bargin' into people's sodding bedrooms?"

Xander hastily slapped a hand over his single eye. "I-I-I was distracted by the wolves and asking Renee out a-and ah...oh, god. My eye. My burning, beautiful eye!"

Buffy perked up. "You asked Renee out?"

"So, what's the verdict?" The Slayer in question strode into the room. "Are we supposed to sound the alarm or—oh, my god!" Renee covered her face with both hands. "Xander! I thought we had the all clear to come in. Why the hell didn't you warn me?"

"Would somebody please shut the door!" Buffy made a clumsy grab for her bathrobe and ended up tumbling onto the floor.

"And while you're at it, get the hell out," Spike added, still unconcerned with his nakedness. He was mostly irritated by the fact that this incident meant that Buffy would be too mortified to resume their earlier activities.

"Great idea." Xander grabbed Renee's arm and rushed them both towards the door. Before they reached it however, a huge face suddenly loomed into view outside the window.

"Buffy," Dawn complained, "I was sleeping in the barn, but now it's all filled with bees and—Oh, my god!"

"Dawn!" Buffy finally managed to wriggle into her bathrobe and tie it shut.

Spike hastily draped a blanket over himself, unwilling to show his goods to the teenaged girl. He threw his head back in exasperation. "For fuck's sake! Doesn't anybody in this bloody castle know how respect people's privacy?"

"If you wanted privacy, then why'd you leave the curtains open, dummy?" Dawn retorted.

"Would everybody just leave already?" Buffy cried.

"Oh, why bother? Let's just invite a few other people in," Spike grumbled sarcastically, "The more the bloody merrier."

Something crashed through the ceiling, raining rubble down over the bedroom. Buffy jumped back on the bed the second it happened, therefore avoiding a nasty head-bump from some of the larger chunks. When she heard groaning, she peered over the side to discover a familiar redhead sprawled amongst the debris. "Willow!"

"Ow." The witch slowly pushed herself up from the floor. There were scrapes and bruises, a trickle of blood from her nose, but no serious injuries that were visible.

"Oh, my god! Are you okay?" Buffy exclaimed, "What happened?"

"I-I was flying back from Brazil," Willow shakily explained, "a-and somebody grabbed me... I think we're under attack."

Spike got out of bed, grabbed a pair of jeans, and put them on. His expression had gone from annoyed to grim. "Where exactly are these wolves?" he asked the still-gawping Xander.

Out in the halls, chaos ruled. The Slayers seemed to be battling everything from wolves to panthers, bee swarms to bats, and even clouds of mist. So far, the girls were holding their own, but it was little more than a stalemate since nothing they attempted ever inflicted harm on their enemies. Every time they tried, the invaders always transformed into something else.

Spike and the others joined the fray. Spike wore nothing but his jeans and carried a sword he'd taken down from the wall of their bedroom. Xander and Renee had also borrowed weapons from Buffy and Spike. Buffy, however, remained unarmed. As pissed off as she was, she probably could've taken on a whole army of vamps barehanded. She marched down the corridor in a hastily donned set of pajamas. Ignoring the hallway battle, she headed straight for the armory. The reinforced steel door was wide open and there were a couple of figures inside. They were too tall and broad-shouldered to be Slayers. As Buffy neared, her senses told her they were vampires. She entered the armory in time to see the shorter of the two take the Scythe down from its wall mount.

"Okay, I try to be Miss Share-and-Share-Alike," Buffy stated, "But I really don't like it when people touch my stuff."

The vamps turned to face her, revealing that they were in fact Asian. Definitely not locals, Buffy thought. The shorter vampire glanced at the Scythe in his hand, slowly reached over and lightly tapped a fingertip to the handle, then shrugged with an oh-well expression.

Buffy decked him hard enough to send him sprawling on the floor. She spun towards the other vamp in time to see him transform into a growling black panther. Buffy quirked an eyebrow. "Did your friend just turn into a kitty?"

The vampire she'd hit quickly jumped to his feet and backhanded her. Before she could pick herself up, she saw him place the Scythe in the panther's jaws. The cat dashed out of the armory with its prize. The vamp smirked down at Buffy and gave a little wave of his hand. "Bye, now."

His body blurred, then vanished in a puff of mist.

"Okay," Buffy stared, "That's new."

Out in the hall, Spike noticed the panther running off with the Scythe and gave chase. He followed the big cat all the way to the nearest window where the beast crashed through without hesitation. Spike skidded to a halt, saw a levitating woman with a top hat and blue-dyed hair grab the Scythe from the panther's mouth just before the creature dissolved into fog. With a triumphant cackle, the woman held up the Slayer weapon and flew off into the night.

Spike's shoulders slumped. "Oh, balls..."

The rest of the attackers cleared out shortly thereafter. There were some casualties on the Slayers' side, but fortunately no fatalities. Buffy called an immediate meeting of all the able bodies once the wounded were seen to. They all gathered in the command center where images of the vamps were taken from the security footage and shown on the large central screen.

"I'm not saying it makes sense," Buffy began, "But a vampire punched me and then turned into fog."

Xander nodded. "We got similar reports from the front lines."

"Yah," Leah, the Irish Slayer, agreed, "Definite transmogrification abilities.

Rowena spoke up, "Saw 'em flit between wolves, panthers, even bees."

"How is that allowed?" Buffy exclaimed, "They're vampires. Did I miss a meeting or something?" She turned to Xander. "And they took the Scythe. The Scythe Scythe! My Scythe!"

Willow, pressing an icepack to her aching head, declared, "That can't be a coincidence. Th-They must know about the spell."

Xander tried to stave off impending panic. "Yes, granted, that counts as bad. But we'll track 'em down. I mean, how many Japanese vampire goth gangs can there possibly be out there?"

"Are we even sure they are vampires?" Willow queried, "I mean, when was the last time we saw a vampire turn into a swarm of bees?"

Spike, who'd been mulling the incident over with growing suspicion, answered the witch, "Well, think about it, Red." He slowly walked towards a particular Scooby. "When's the last time we saw a vamp turn into a wolf, or a bat, or fog..."

The others' gazes followed him as the vampire came to a halt in front of Xander. Buffy's and Willow's eyes widened in understanding. The blonde vampire lifted a scarred eyebrow at the puzzled man.

"What?" Xander blurted, "Why's everybody staring at—"

"Come off it, Harris," Spike scoffed, "We all know you've been pen pals with the poofter since Buffy ran him outta Sunnydale. Though I can't bloody fathom why you'd wanna keep in touch with a ponce like that."

"Who the hell are you...oh." Xander's shoulders drooped. "Aw, crap."

"Who are you talking about?" Renee asked. The rest of the Slayers were equally baffled.

"Dracula," Buffy informed them.

"Dracula?" one of the other Slayers blurted, "Like...the Dracula?"

"The one and only," Buffy stated wryly, "He paid a visit to our hometown a few years back. Tried to kill me, as a matter of fact. And he put Xander under a thrall. But for some reason, him and Xand actually hit it off and became friends." She walked up to the shamefaced man, her expression stern. "I tolerated you writing to the guy, as long as you didn't tell him anything that could hurt us. But if he's involved with this attack, even peripherally, I need to know. And if he's not, I need him to tell me how to fight these goth vamps."

Xander sighed in resignation. "Okay. I know where he's staying right now. I'll take a chopper out to his place."

"Better take a chaperone," Spike advised, "In case you wind up under the bugger's thrall again."

"I'll go," Renee volunteered. Xander didn't look too thrilled at this, but didn't argue.

"Fine," Buffy replied tersely. "While you two deal with the Count, the rest of us'll focus on tracking down that gang of vampires."

Xander nodded and reluctantly left for the hangar with Renee at his side.

While Xander and Renee went to pay an awkward visit to the legendary Transylvanian, the rest of Slayer HQ remained busy frantically trying to track down the Asian vamps. Everyone had already changed into their day clothes by the time the command center's computers got a hit. A Slayer named Bethany relayed the information to Buffy.

"Vampire sect in Tokyo's been making waves in the demon underground. They're known for going all wolfy when the mood strikes 'em." Bethany walked over to the main monitor and started tapping away at the keyboard situated in front of it. "Their leader's name is Toru. He matches the description of the guy you tangled with in the armory."

"We didn't tangle," Buffy muttered, "He ran away before we could tangle. He's an untangler."

Bethany's mouth twitched, her only reaction to her leader's petulance. "My point, ma'am, is that he sounds like our guy."

Spike, dressed in everything but his duster, crossed his arms. "Who found the bugger?"

"Aiko," the Slayer replied, "One of ours. Assigned to field ops in Japan."

"I want to talk to her," Buffy declared.

Bethany nodded. "Figured as much." With one last click of the keyboard, a young Asian woman's face appeared on the large main screen. Judging from the graininess of the image, and the way it tilted slightly, she was communicating with them via a handheld device.

Her almond eyes widened in amazement at the sight of the legendary Buffy Summers. "Wow! It's really you!"

"Yep, it's really me," Buffy agreed wryly. "How'd you get the intel?"

"Oh, you know..." The view shifted from Aiko's face to what appeared to be the interior of a restaurant. Splintered furniture and cracked saki bottles littered the floor. There were also the bodies half a dozen massive reptilian demons with elaborately painted faces. Most were dead, or at least mortally wounded, although Buffy glimpsed one huddled in a corner sobbing. "I asked around."

Buffy's eyebrows rose. "Are those kabuki demons?"

"They were kabuki demons," Aiko replied smugly.

"Those things are vicious."

"You're telling me," the Slayer's grinning face reappeared on the monitor, "I think one actually scratched me!"

Spike chuckled; he liked this girl.

"You got a location on these vamps?" Buffy asked.

"Yep."

"Good. Keep surveillance, but do not approach. I'm serious about this, Aiko," Buffy warned, "You wait for us. We'll be in touch."

Aiko nodded. "Got it."

Buffy pressed the button to end communication, then turned to her best trained fighter. "Satsu, prep the others. I want our team suited for transpo in less than an hour."

"How many girls you want to bring?" Satsu queried.

"All of them."

The young Asian Slayer looked doubtful. "You sure that's a good idea? We should probably leave behind a squad as a safeguard."

Spike turned his stern gaze on the girl. "She gave you an order, Slayer. It's not up for discussion."

Chastised, Satsu lowered her eyes. "Yes, sir."

Buffy turned her attention to Willow. "Have we heard from Xander?"

The witch shook her head. "I've been trying him. He's not responding."

Buffy frowned in concern. "You think he's in trouble?"

"Well..."

"Nothin' we can do about it now," Spike interjected, keeping his voice low so the other girls didn't overhear, "Focus on one mission at a time, luv. Rescuin' Harris can wait 'til we get the Scythe back."

The petite blonde's lips compressed into a thin line. She breathed slowly out through her nose and nodded. "You're right," she reluctantly agreed, "Let's get moving."

They had to charter a cargo plane in order to move all the Slayers and their weapons at once. The girls sat in their utilitarian seats, talking quietly amongst themselves, reading, listening to music, or napping. Buffy was the only one standing, a lone figure at the front of the cargo area, her expression almost somber as she ran through all the possible scenarios they would have to deal with once they reached Japan.

Spike, by contrast, seemed perfectly relaxed as he slouched in his seat, head tipped back against the padded headrest, eyes closed. Only the fact that he was still breathing betrayed the fact that he was still awake. Satsu was in the last seat to his left, the last seat in the row. He was aware of the shift in her posture every time she sneaked a glance towards Buffy.

"Here's the thing."

Satsu jumped at the unexpected sound of the Spike's voice. She flushed in embarrassment, realizing that she hadn't been as subtle as she'd thought if the snoozing vamp had noticed.

Spike opened his eyes and turned his head slightly to regard her. "She's not like you. The other Slayers," he clarified, "She's the general and you're the army. That's never gonna change. She's got the weight of the world on those slender shoulders of hers, and that means you'll never really be able to understand her." The vampire smirked. "Also, she's not battin' for the other team, so I wouldn't be gettin' my hopes up if I were you."

Satsu scrunched down in her seat, blushing furiously. "I-I don't...I m-mean I wouldn't—"

"Relax, pet," Spike chuckled, "I'm not gonna begrudge you for havin' good taste."

The girl seemed a little less flustered when she straightened and met Spike's blue gaze. "I know I wouldn't have a shot at her, even if she was...into girls," she chewed her lip, "It's good, y'know, that she's got you. I'm glad she doesn't have to be lonely on top of everything else."

The vampire's smile softened at her sincere words. He turned to regard Buffy, standing apart, but not alone. Never alone. He touched her through the link and felt her answer, like an invisible handclasp. Strong and secure, and grateful.