A/N: I own nothing of the Whedonverse nor any fairytales and I am not profiting from this work.

Chapter 26

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I let him go

You kidnapped the Slayer's little sister?!

Come on nibblet, let's get you home

"Ah ah ah, you must know you can't weasel out of your contract."

The front room worth of witches and scoobies stared at the horned bunny. Well most of them. Xander was really just trying to revive Anya after she had fainted.

"What?" Buffy had a horrible sinking feeling she had done this before.

"Well Slayer," Mirage actually tutted at the girl-cum-vampire, "it is always nice to see manners devolve. I am a who not a what. Though not a Who as I never did fancy doctors. You can call me Al. And in case it happened to be a what in regard to the statement I should only think it fair to point out that Your contract is null in exactly 13 minutes. Why ever did it take you all so long?"

The one to speak was a particularly beautiful witch of a certain age but it would be rather rude to mention it given she had placed a muddling spell in order to obscure it. "We had trouble with synchronized pronunciation."

"Ah, I see." The bunnicorn hopped closer to the Slayer. "You do realize that summoning me would be only half of the job?"

"Would the other half be killing you?" The smile was so fake it actually hurt to look at it.

"Now, after all we have done for you, have you yet to learn the most basic lesson?"

"Done for me?" Buffy was clearly not feeling heavy with the gratitude. "What would that be? The killing me? Ooh or maybe turning one of my friends into a book?"

"What of the lessons you did not realize you were learning?"

Buffy thought back. Anya. Demons loving. The whole 'Angel' thing. The Initiative. Everything she had been forced to face since the curse. She hated it when she had to admit to being bested in an argument by a quadrupedal…"Are you a lawyer?"

"Why yes," Al produced a business card from thin air. The card read: Al Mi'raj Head of CHAOS Western Milky Way Sector.

"CHAOS is run by bunnies?" Buffy stared at the card in her hand. Just then Anya came around.

"I knew they were evil." Xander helped his woozy girlfriend to the dining room for a place to sit.
"Ambivalent at most." Al sat on his haunches. "I'm afraid that the rules are very clear. I can be 'bound', in the loosest of senses, by a coven. I was bound to come here. Eventually. Now, a 'true witch' can charm me. Make me utterly harmless. You don't have one here."

As though the universe couldn't seem to let anyone be right for too awfully long the poor creature was inevitably proven wrong.

"Slayer! Sorry, I should have called but I thought finding a phone would waste time. Hope you and Joyce didn't twist yourselves too bad. I came back with her almost as soon as I found out she was...Christ, there's a helluva lot of birds in your living room." Dawn pushed past Spike to the adorable creature in the center.

"Ah! What a beautiful bunny." Dawn stroked the soft yellow fur.

"Aren't you charming? Oh bugger." Al sat calmly accepting his petting.

A trio of rabbits appeared in a puff of oddly glittering smoke and set up a triangle around Dawn and Al. "Right then." Said the bunny closest to Buffy. "If you will just sign this," He pointed at a red flagged line under a paragraph of legalese, "and your sister leaves a fifteen feet distance between herself and Mr. Mi'raj we will lift your curse and leave you be."

After Buffy read the document, had Giles and her mother read it, then passed it to Xander to have Anya read it in the relative safety of the dining room it was deemed kosher to sign and get the quartet of Leporidae out of her living room.

Buffy sat down on the couch while her mom swept up what they hoped was the last of the glitter. The coven had left and the Scoobies had wished the Summers' and Giles a quiet happy New Year. Spike was on the back porch having a smoke and had called 'Hope it has less bloody rabbits.' Giles had left stating he greatly looked forward to sleeping in a bed with lumbar support then had smiled at the need for lumbar support. Dawn had gone up to bed claiming she had to get up early to watch cartoons. Buffy now hugged her mom and waved at her from the base of the stairs before she made her way to the back yard.

"You came back." She fell into the comfortable routine of sitting on the porch step with little more than an inch between them.

"Course I came back." He stared at the unlit cigarette between his fingers.

"Maybe it's better this way. Without this deadline hanging over us. It's just...god it's weird."

"Listen, I don't expect anything." Spike rolled the cigarette back and forth to give himself something to do.

"Not that, stupid. The heartbeat. I guess I grew used to not having it. And on that note any feelings you would have had for me happened when I was a vampire. And I'm not one now." Buffy stared out at the backyard and realized it was darker than she had grown used to seeing it.

"Now that is stupid," Spike pocketed his fag and turned to his Slayer. "I love you Summers. Undead or not, you are the only girl for me."

"Really?" Buffy looked at him. This person. This perfectly imperfect person who had helped her without condescension and treated her like an equal partner. Her friend.

"To quote you, love," Spike leaned in and Buffy met him halfway so that they sat a breath's space from a proper kiss. "Duh."

They smiled as their lips met and though there was no magic tied up in clauses or curses it did feel very magical indeed.

~The End~