CHAPTER SEVEN ~ Equals
Spike stood staring unblinkingly back at Giles, still trying to comprehend what the older man had just said. For a few moments, the entire shop was silent in their shock and stupor. Buffy was the first to snap out of it.
"So…what you're saying is…Spike is a *male* Slayer? A…a testosterone- filled version of *me*?"
Giles pondered this for a moment. "Um, well, uh yes…I…I suppose you could put it that way." He scanned the paragraphs surrounding the prophecy. "He presumably has… strength, uh, speed, and agility equal to your own. While no longer holding the weaknesses of vampirism, such as sunlight or crosses, at that. So, then, um… for all intents and purposes, I assume we could say that he is a male…you."
Dawn gazed at the new Slayer in awe. "So cool…"
Buffy stood dumbly for a moment, then turned to Spike and thwapped him soundly on the chest. "*Why* didn't you tell me you still had your superstrength?"
Spike had to smirk back at the petite, glaring woman before him. "You never asked, pet."
Buffy continued glaring up into his smug face. "But you were acting like a wuss, all worried about Xander and Giles murdering you…" The Watcher glanced up in amusement at the bickering duo.
"*You* said I was a wuss, luv. Not me. I told you I could handle myself just fine."
Buffy sighed in defeat and backed down. "Okay. I'll give that one to you," she grumbled.
Spike sat back in his chair and put his feet up on the table with a satisfied grin. "Anyways, I didn't even know it *was* 'superstrength' 'til just now. Just thought I was bloody strong and fit for a human." He shrugged and picked up another book to inspect.
The corners of Buffy's mouth twitched up in a wry smile. "Sorry, Spikey. Having abs of steel doesn't give you super-hero power."
Spike grinned back at her. "Abs of Steel, pet? Thanks for the veiled compliment, there."
Giles rolled his eyes and sighed, studiously trying to ignore the blatant flirting going on between the two Slayers. With a sudden thought, he sprung up from the table, ancient prophecy in hand, and headed towards the phone. "I just had a notion... Seeing as my resources are rather limited here, maybe it would be in our best interest to…um…to ring the Council and see if they can assist at all in this matter."
Buffy looked at him pointedly. "Giles, are you sure we'd be able to trust them? I mean, they don't exactly have the best track record with us so far. What if they want to just prod and poke him, like the Initiative?" Spike appeared horrified at this prospect.
"Well, that's certainly an understandable concern. But they do have much more information available to them than we could possibly obtain. And if this prophecy is true and Spike, in fact, will help you to avert the final apocalypse, I'm sure that getting to the heart of this matter will be in their greatest interest as well." Giles picked up the phone and began dialing. "I'll call them right now. You three go through as many texts as you can and see if you're able to find any more pertinent information."
As soon as Giles left the room, the two Slayers and the Key threw their books down on the table and stopped pretending to actually read from them. Dawn looked at Spike in admiration. "So…first Male Slayer, huh? That's gotta make you feel pretty special." Spike just grinned in reply as she continued excitedly, "Didya fight any big nasties in Africa? What was it like? How'd it feel to step into the sun for the first time in a century?"
Spike looked down at the table for a moment, then decided to neglect to tell the girl about the Gem of Amarra incident at the moment. "Well, I fought some right ugly buggers in the cave, during those bloody trials. But after I got my humanity back…" He shrugged. "I haven't really fought anything big since. I took on a couple scaly, lizard-like things before leavin' the Dark Continent, but they weren't nothing too big. Which is why I didn't notice that I kept my strength."
Buffy grinned wickedly as an idea came to her. She stood up slowly and made her way to the training room door. "So, Spike…" She turned back to face him, a somewhat coy smile on her face. "How 'bout testing that new Slayer strength out on a *real* challenge?"
Spike rose from his seat and crossed the room to stand only a foot in front of her at the doorway. She stared into his eyes, and he saw something mischievous flash behind her own as she tilted her head slightly and whispered to him, "Feel like taking me on, William?"
Spike smirked at her as she turned and headed through the doorway. "More than anything, luv," he said, following her eagerly. "More than anything."
After a moment, Dawn finally got what they were talking about, and it wasn't sex like she had originally thought. She jumped out of her chair and raced to the training room. "Hey! Wait for me! I wanna watch!"
* * * * *
Giles cradled the phone on his shoulder as the nasally voice of the secretary came over the line. "Uh, yes…Hello. This is Rupert Giles, Watcher of Buffy Summers. I…I'm afraid I have a rather pressing matter on my hands at the moment, and I need to speak to Quentin Travers." He patiently listened to the woman's request, then sighed loudly in exasperation. "Lord…" he muttered. "No. I do not know the password. This is an urgent situation, madam. Would you please patch me through to Travers?"
There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment, then a harsh male voice. "Quentin Travers speaking. How may I help you?"
"Mr. Travers, this is Rupert Giles. I'm in need of some…"
Travers laughed brusquely. "Mr. Giles…I didn't expect to hear from you so soon after our disagreeable conversation in July. And how is Ms. Rosenberg?"
Giles scowled and spoke darkly into the receiver, "She's doing fine, no thanks to you lot. I still don't seem to understand why you couldn't take two minutes away from your precious thumb-twiddling to help rehabilitate a woman who holds more power than all of the Council's sorcerers combined and could quite possibly destroy the world with a flick of her wrist."
"We had our reasons, Rupert. Just as you have yours. Besides, it was all in her best interest."
"Yes, because she's recuperating so much better by sitting up in her room and crying to herself for hours on end."
"It wouldn't have been very wise to take a powerful witch recovering from the Dark Arts and place her in an institution that houses the greatest collection of occult reference material in the world, now would it, Mr. Giles?"
"You could have done *something*, you arrogant little…" Giles began angrily, then rubbed the space between his eyes furiously and tried to compose himself. "Look, we both are aware of the fact that you dislike me and my methods, Travers. And I bloody well hate you. But I'm not calling you to discuss this matter once again, though I believe we still do need to discuss it. There's something much more important at hand."
Giles could *hear* Travers' frown through the phone. "Do tell."
"Our vampire ally, Spike, has recently returned from his trip to Africa somewhat differently than how he left."
"And how is that?"
"Human."
After a moment, Travers sputtered over the phone. "But…but…that's not possible… The only prophecy that calls for a vampire to become human is the Shanshu, and that's destined for Angelus alone."
"This appears to be different than that." Giles picked up the book sitting next to him. "I found a text containing a prophecy which I think concerns this in my personal library. It seems to say that Spike has become human, yet kept his vampiric strengths and abilities, while losing his weaknesses. That would essentially make him…"
"The First Male Slayer…" Quentin quietly finished for him. There was dead silence for nearly a minute before Travers continued gruffly, "Where did you find this prophecy?"
"Um…just a moment…" Giles closed the book to look at the title. "It's called 'The Prophecies of Kalhalazahn. Are you familiar with it?"
More silence for a moment on Travers' end. "Yes. I know of it." Another pause. "In fact, another copy happens to be sitting in front of me now. And I just got through reading that prophecy."
"Wait a minute…I thought you just said there was only one prophecy about…"
"No matter, what I just said Mr. Giles," Travers interrupted. "It's of the utmost importance that we get to the bottom of this situation as soon as possible."
"Yes, well that's why I was calling. The Council has many more resources and prophetic volumes than I myself am privy to. It would be very helpful if you could perhaps send some of…"
Mr. Travers once again interrupted the ex-librarian. "I, as well as two of my associates, shall be there within the next couple of days. Make sure you ready any information that's available to you, and I'll bring everything I can."
Giles started, "No, that's really not…" The dial tone sounded from the other end. "…necessary." Sighing and rubbing his eyes once more, he made his way back into the main room.
* * * * *
Giles had gone halfway into the main shop before he noticed that his three charges were missing and heard the various *oofs* and *ahhs* coming from the training room. Following the sound, the Watcher walked to the door, which had been left open a crack, and made his way inside.
He crept silently to Dawn's side, keeping to the side of the room to avoid any stray kicks or punches that came his way. The teen watched them in awe, studying every block, punch, and feint with the greatest interest. Without taking her eyes off of them, she spoke to her mentor. "Aren't they amazing, Giles? Watching them move is like…it's sorta like reading poetry, you know? It kinda doesn't make sense while you're reading it, and it takes you awhile to really understand it, but it sounds so beautiful…" She suddenly turned to look him in the eyes. "They really are equals, aren't they?"
Giles glanced at the girl before him with admiration and pride, then turned back to the sparring Slayers. "I believe they truly are, Dawn."
The pair continued to study the fighters for a few more minutes. Eventually, Giles turned back to her. "I think perhaps we should return to the shop and continue our research…"
Dawn took one final look at her sister and her friend, both now connected by a bond that transcended any bond before it. "Yeah…guess we should." They left the room side by side, and as Dawn closed the door, she called over her shoulder to him. "I don't have to actually *read*, do I?"
* * * * *
Buffy dealt two rapid-fire roundhouse kicks to her partner's stomach and chest. As he grabbed his side and growled in pain, she sent another to his face, and the force knocked him to the floor. Leaning against the wall for support, Spike clutched his jaw where her foot had made contact and smirked at the small woman. "Nice kick, luv. Getting stronger, are we?"
Buffy shrugged and glanced down at his beaten body, which was only slightly more bruised than her own. Panting loudly, she wiped the droplets of perspiration that had collected on her forehead and underneath her eyes. "I've been working out."
The platinum blonde's hair was completely mussed and sweat beads formed a path down his lean, naked chest. He looked her up and down thoroughly, slowly taking in every inch of her flushed, sweaty, exposed skin and gave her the sexiest grin he possessed. "I can tell."
A red-hot blush covered her entire body and her knees became weak as she watched his silent perusal. Buffy decided to turn her embarrassment and undeniable arousal into a fierce desire to take down the panting, smirking, sexier-than-hell man before her…
**One way or another…**
While Buffy was busy thinking of all the ways she'd like to 'take him down', Spike took the opportunity to kick her legs out from underneath her. Before she could realize what was happening, he had straddled the small Slayer and held her hands to her side. "This Slayer strength and speed really comes in handy, doesn't it pet?" He asked, grinning down at her, a bead of sweat rolling down his nose.
In response, Buffy swiftly kneed him in the groin and flipped him over her head. In less than a second she was on top of him, straddling his hips in a position that mirrored exactly the one Spike had been in only moments before. She pinned his hands over his head and smirked down at him. "It *really* does."
After a second, Buffy actually realized the position they were in. All of a sudden, the air charged between them, became electric, and the arousal in the room was palpable to both. The small blonde slowly leaned forward, letting her torso rest on Spike's chest, while her hands remained resting on his wrists above their heads. She gazed down at his face and found a pair of hungry, ice blue, lust-filled orbs staring back at her with an intensity that could only have rivaled her own. Once again, the air became even thicker with their desire and Buffy could swear she saw sparks flit between their eyes. Of it's own accord, her mouth slowly began to descend, intent on reclaiming his soft, pink lips for the first time in almost a year…
"Hey, Buffy…" Dawn's muffled voice, coupled with a sharp knock, sounded out from the other side of the door, effectively breaking the mood and ripping the two Slayers out of the world they had created for themselves. "Are you guys done fighting yet? Can I come in now?"
Buffy promptly jumped off the confused ex-vampire faster than was humanly possible and got as far away from him as she could in the confined area. "Yes…done fighting…*Definitely* done fighting…" She had begun pacing the room while the blonde man, with a sigh of disappointment, picked himself up off the floor.
Dawn opened the door and quickly made her way into the room. "Good, 'cause Giles said we should head home now. It's almost twelve o'clock, and I kinda got school tomorrow…"
Buffy's mouth dropped open in shock. "Oh my god…We've been in here for *four* hours?! Why didn't anyone come and get me?"
Dawn grinned sheepishly. "We tried. I knocked on the door about five times, but you guys never answered. I guess you were caught up in the moment, or just really havin' fun, so I didn't want to bother you. I just kicked it with Giles and tried to help him find some more info."
Buffy blushed bright red once again, while Spike just sat down on the pile of mats and smiled in amusement. "God…Dawnie, I'm *so* sorry. I really didn't mean to get carried away." She glanced at Spike, then looked back to her sister. "I just haven't had a real good fight for awhile. I didn't mean to keep it up that long."
Dawn just smiled. "Don't worry, it's really no big. I'm just glad you guys were having a good time."
Buffy looked down at the floor as she felt her face flush. "Yeah, great time…Um, shouldn't we be getting you home now? Being up this late *can't* help your grades, now can it?"
The younger girl sighed. "Yeah, tell me about it. Keeping Slayer hours doesn't really help your academic life, huh?"
Her older sister grinned and ran a hand through her soft brown hair. "Nope. Now you know why I never made it into the Honor Society…"
Spike watched the two girls in complete awe, utterly amazed at how his love could go from the strong, sexual being she was only moments ago to this warm, caring woman in front of him. He didn't know that he was able to love her any more than he already did, but as his heart swelled, he found it was possible. Buffy's voice brought him out of his contemplation.
"Spike, did you hear me?" Buffy asked as she and Dawn crossed to the doorway.
"Uh…sorry luv, I missed it. What'd you say?" Spike tiredly rubbed a kink from the back of his neck and threw the long-sleeved black shirt over his head.
"I asked where are you going tonight? Where'll you be staying?" She had her arm around her sister, and though Dawn was nearly a half-foot taller than the petite woman, the younger girl rested her head on the Slayer's shoulder.
Spike thought this over as he followed her into the shop. "Well, if Rupert wouldn't mind, I could just bunk up here in the store. Or possibly back in the training room. Pile the mats up. It'd make a better bed than I've gotten used to sleeping on these past few months, anyway."
Giles carried a stack of books from behind the counter to the table. "Yes, I'm sure Anya will appreciate finding you here in the shop tomorrow morning. She won't mind your using her store as a hotel, rent free, at all…"
Spike looked puzzled. "Right. That does create a problem, doesn't it?"
Buffy rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. "Fine. Fine. You can spend the next couple nights at my house." Spike looked at her hopefully. "*Only* the next few nights. Just until you find another place to stay, alright?"
The male Slayer tried not to let the disappointment show on his face. "Thanks, luv. Right kind of you."
Buffy nodded, then led her sister to the front door. "Uh-huh. You just remember that when you're telling me how bitchy I am."
Spike smirked and followed her out the door. "Sure, pet. Promise."
TBC…
Remember, reviews are always welcome! : )
Spike stood staring unblinkingly back at Giles, still trying to comprehend what the older man had just said. For a few moments, the entire shop was silent in their shock and stupor. Buffy was the first to snap out of it.
"So…what you're saying is…Spike is a *male* Slayer? A…a testosterone- filled version of *me*?"
Giles pondered this for a moment. "Um, well, uh yes…I…I suppose you could put it that way." He scanned the paragraphs surrounding the prophecy. "He presumably has… strength, uh, speed, and agility equal to your own. While no longer holding the weaknesses of vampirism, such as sunlight or crosses, at that. So, then, um… for all intents and purposes, I assume we could say that he is a male…you."
Dawn gazed at the new Slayer in awe. "So cool…"
Buffy stood dumbly for a moment, then turned to Spike and thwapped him soundly on the chest. "*Why* didn't you tell me you still had your superstrength?"
Spike had to smirk back at the petite, glaring woman before him. "You never asked, pet."
Buffy continued glaring up into his smug face. "But you were acting like a wuss, all worried about Xander and Giles murdering you…" The Watcher glanced up in amusement at the bickering duo.
"*You* said I was a wuss, luv. Not me. I told you I could handle myself just fine."
Buffy sighed in defeat and backed down. "Okay. I'll give that one to you," she grumbled.
Spike sat back in his chair and put his feet up on the table with a satisfied grin. "Anyways, I didn't even know it *was* 'superstrength' 'til just now. Just thought I was bloody strong and fit for a human." He shrugged and picked up another book to inspect.
The corners of Buffy's mouth twitched up in a wry smile. "Sorry, Spikey. Having abs of steel doesn't give you super-hero power."
Spike grinned back at her. "Abs of Steel, pet? Thanks for the veiled compliment, there."
Giles rolled his eyes and sighed, studiously trying to ignore the blatant flirting going on between the two Slayers. With a sudden thought, he sprung up from the table, ancient prophecy in hand, and headed towards the phone. "I just had a notion... Seeing as my resources are rather limited here, maybe it would be in our best interest to…um…to ring the Council and see if they can assist at all in this matter."
Buffy looked at him pointedly. "Giles, are you sure we'd be able to trust them? I mean, they don't exactly have the best track record with us so far. What if they want to just prod and poke him, like the Initiative?" Spike appeared horrified at this prospect.
"Well, that's certainly an understandable concern. But they do have much more information available to them than we could possibly obtain. And if this prophecy is true and Spike, in fact, will help you to avert the final apocalypse, I'm sure that getting to the heart of this matter will be in their greatest interest as well." Giles picked up the phone and began dialing. "I'll call them right now. You three go through as many texts as you can and see if you're able to find any more pertinent information."
As soon as Giles left the room, the two Slayers and the Key threw their books down on the table and stopped pretending to actually read from them. Dawn looked at Spike in admiration. "So…first Male Slayer, huh? That's gotta make you feel pretty special." Spike just grinned in reply as she continued excitedly, "Didya fight any big nasties in Africa? What was it like? How'd it feel to step into the sun for the first time in a century?"
Spike looked down at the table for a moment, then decided to neglect to tell the girl about the Gem of Amarra incident at the moment. "Well, I fought some right ugly buggers in the cave, during those bloody trials. But after I got my humanity back…" He shrugged. "I haven't really fought anything big since. I took on a couple scaly, lizard-like things before leavin' the Dark Continent, but they weren't nothing too big. Which is why I didn't notice that I kept my strength."
Buffy grinned wickedly as an idea came to her. She stood up slowly and made her way to the training room door. "So, Spike…" She turned back to face him, a somewhat coy smile on her face. "How 'bout testing that new Slayer strength out on a *real* challenge?"
Spike rose from his seat and crossed the room to stand only a foot in front of her at the doorway. She stared into his eyes, and he saw something mischievous flash behind her own as she tilted her head slightly and whispered to him, "Feel like taking me on, William?"
Spike smirked at her as she turned and headed through the doorway. "More than anything, luv," he said, following her eagerly. "More than anything."
After a moment, Dawn finally got what they were talking about, and it wasn't sex like she had originally thought. She jumped out of her chair and raced to the training room. "Hey! Wait for me! I wanna watch!"
* * * * *
Giles cradled the phone on his shoulder as the nasally voice of the secretary came over the line. "Uh, yes…Hello. This is Rupert Giles, Watcher of Buffy Summers. I…I'm afraid I have a rather pressing matter on my hands at the moment, and I need to speak to Quentin Travers." He patiently listened to the woman's request, then sighed loudly in exasperation. "Lord…" he muttered. "No. I do not know the password. This is an urgent situation, madam. Would you please patch me through to Travers?"
There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment, then a harsh male voice. "Quentin Travers speaking. How may I help you?"
"Mr. Travers, this is Rupert Giles. I'm in need of some…"
Travers laughed brusquely. "Mr. Giles…I didn't expect to hear from you so soon after our disagreeable conversation in July. And how is Ms. Rosenberg?"
Giles scowled and spoke darkly into the receiver, "She's doing fine, no thanks to you lot. I still don't seem to understand why you couldn't take two minutes away from your precious thumb-twiddling to help rehabilitate a woman who holds more power than all of the Council's sorcerers combined and could quite possibly destroy the world with a flick of her wrist."
"We had our reasons, Rupert. Just as you have yours. Besides, it was all in her best interest."
"Yes, because she's recuperating so much better by sitting up in her room and crying to herself for hours on end."
"It wouldn't have been very wise to take a powerful witch recovering from the Dark Arts and place her in an institution that houses the greatest collection of occult reference material in the world, now would it, Mr. Giles?"
"You could have done *something*, you arrogant little…" Giles began angrily, then rubbed the space between his eyes furiously and tried to compose himself. "Look, we both are aware of the fact that you dislike me and my methods, Travers. And I bloody well hate you. But I'm not calling you to discuss this matter once again, though I believe we still do need to discuss it. There's something much more important at hand."
Giles could *hear* Travers' frown through the phone. "Do tell."
"Our vampire ally, Spike, has recently returned from his trip to Africa somewhat differently than how he left."
"And how is that?"
"Human."
After a moment, Travers sputtered over the phone. "But…but…that's not possible… The only prophecy that calls for a vampire to become human is the Shanshu, and that's destined for Angelus alone."
"This appears to be different than that." Giles picked up the book sitting next to him. "I found a text containing a prophecy which I think concerns this in my personal library. It seems to say that Spike has become human, yet kept his vampiric strengths and abilities, while losing his weaknesses. That would essentially make him…"
"The First Male Slayer…" Quentin quietly finished for him. There was dead silence for nearly a minute before Travers continued gruffly, "Where did you find this prophecy?"
"Um…just a moment…" Giles closed the book to look at the title. "It's called 'The Prophecies of Kalhalazahn. Are you familiar with it?"
More silence for a moment on Travers' end. "Yes. I know of it." Another pause. "In fact, another copy happens to be sitting in front of me now. And I just got through reading that prophecy."
"Wait a minute…I thought you just said there was only one prophecy about…"
"No matter, what I just said Mr. Giles," Travers interrupted. "It's of the utmost importance that we get to the bottom of this situation as soon as possible."
"Yes, well that's why I was calling. The Council has many more resources and prophetic volumes than I myself am privy to. It would be very helpful if you could perhaps send some of…"
Mr. Travers once again interrupted the ex-librarian. "I, as well as two of my associates, shall be there within the next couple of days. Make sure you ready any information that's available to you, and I'll bring everything I can."
Giles started, "No, that's really not…" The dial tone sounded from the other end. "…necessary." Sighing and rubbing his eyes once more, he made his way back into the main room.
* * * * *
Giles had gone halfway into the main shop before he noticed that his three charges were missing and heard the various *oofs* and *ahhs* coming from the training room. Following the sound, the Watcher walked to the door, which had been left open a crack, and made his way inside.
He crept silently to Dawn's side, keeping to the side of the room to avoid any stray kicks or punches that came his way. The teen watched them in awe, studying every block, punch, and feint with the greatest interest. Without taking her eyes off of them, she spoke to her mentor. "Aren't they amazing, Giles? Watching them move is like…it's sorta like reading poetry, you know? It kinda doesn't make sense while you're reading it, and it takes you awhile to really understand it, but it sounds so beautiful…" She suddenly turned to look him in the eyes. "They really are equals, aren't they?"
Giles glanced at the girl before him with admiration and pride, then turned back to the sparring Slayers. "I believe they truly are, Dawn."
The pair continued to study the fighters for a few more minutes. Eventually, Giles turned back to her. "I think perhaps we should return to the shop and continue our research…"
Dawn took one final look at her sister and her friend, both now connected by a bond that transcended any bond before it. "Yeah…guess we should." They left the room side by side, and as Dawn closed the door, she called over her shoulder to him. "I don't have to actually *read*, do I?"
* * * * *
Buffy dealt two rapid-fire roundhouse kicks to her partner's stomach and chest. As he grabbed his side and growled in pain, she sent another to his face, and the force knocked him to the floor. Leaning against the wall for support, Spike clutched his jaw where her foot had made contact and smirked at the small woman. "Nice kick, luv. Getting stronger, are we?"
Buffy shrugged and glanced down at his beaten body, which was only slightly more bruised than her own. Panting loudly, she wiped the droplets of perspiration that had collected on her forehead and underneath her eyes. "I've been working out."
The platinum blonde's hair was completely mussed and sweat beads formed a path down his lean, naked chest. He looked her up and down thoroughly, slowly taking in every inch of her flushed, sweaty, exposed skin and gave her the sexiest grin he possessed. "I can tell."
A red-hot blush covered her entire body and her knees became weak as she watched his silent perusal. Buffy decided to turn her embarrassment and undeniable arousal into a fierce desire to take down the panting, smirking, sexier-than-hell man before her…
**One way or another…**
While Buffy was busy thinking of all the ways she'd like to 'take him down', Spike took the opportunity to kick her legs out from underneath her. Before she could realize what was happening, he had straddled the small Slayer and held her hands to her side. "This Slayer strength and speed really comes in handy, doesn't it pet?" He asked, grinning down at her, a bead of sweat rolling down his nose.
In response, Buffy swiftly kneed him in the groin and flipped him over her head. In less than a second she was on top of him, straddling his hips in a position that mirrored exactly the one Spike had been in only moments before. She pinned his hands over his head and smirked down at him. "It *really* does."
After a second, Buffy actually realized the position they were in. All of a sudden, the air charged between them, became electric, and the arousal in the room was palpable to both. The small blonde slowly leaned forward, letting her torso rest on Spike's chest, while her hands remained resting on his wrists above their heads. She gazed down at his face and found a pair of hungry, ice blue, lust-filled orbs staring back at her with an intensity that could only have rivaled her own. Once again, the air became even thicker with their desire and Buffy could swear she saw sparks flit between their eyes. Of it's own accord, her mouth slowly began to descend, intent on reclaiming his soft, pink lips for the first time in almost a year…
"Hey, Buffy…" Dawn's muffled voice, coupled with a sharp knock, sounded out from the other side of the door, effectively breaking the mood and ripping the two Slayers out of the world they had created for themselves. "Are you guys done fighting yet? Can I come in now?"
Buffy promptly jumped off the confused ex-vampire faster than was humanly possible and got as far away from him as she could in the confined area. "Yes…done fighting…*Definitely* done fighting…" She had begun pacing the room while the blonde man, with a sigh of disappointment, picked himself up off the floor.
Dawn opened the door and quickly made her way into the room. "Good, 'cause Giles said we should head home now. It's almost twelve o'clock, and I kinda got school tomorrow…"
Buffy's mouth dropped open in shock. "Oh my god…We've been in here for *four* hours?! Why didn't anyone come and get me?"
Dawn grinned sheepishly. "We tried. I knocked on the door about five times, but you guys never answered. I guess you were caught up in the moment, or just really havin' fun, so I didn't want to bother you. I just kicked it with Giles and tried to help him find some more info."
Buffy blushed bright red once again, while Spike just sat down on the pile of mats and smiled in amusement. "God…Dawnie, I'm *so* sorry. I really didn't mean to get carried away." She glanced at Spike, then looked back to her sister. "I just haven't had a real good fight for awhile. I didn't mean to keep it up that long."
Dawn just smiled. "Don't worry, it's really no big. I'm just glad you guys were having a good time."
Buffy looked down at the floor as she felt her face flush. "Yeah, great time…Um, shouldn't we be getting you home now? Being up this late *can't* help your grades, now can it?"
The younger girl sighed. "Yeah, tell me about it. Keeping Slayer hours doesn't really help your academic life, huh?"
Her older sister grinned and ran a hand through her soft brown hair. "Nope. Now you know why I never made it into the Honor Society…"
Spike watched the two girls in complete awe, utterly amazed at how his love could go from the strong, sexual being she was only moments ago to this warm, caring woman in front of him. He didn't know that he was able to love her any more than he already did, but as his heart swelled, he found it was possible. Buffy's voice brought him out of his contemplation.
"Spike, did you hear me?" Buffy asked as she and Dawn crossed to the doorway.
"Uh…sorry luv, I missed it. What'd you say?" Spike tiredly rubbed a kink from the back of his neck and threw the long-sleeved black shirt over his head.
"I asked where are you going tonight? Where'll you be staying?" She had her arm around her sister, and though Dawn was nearly a half-foot taller than the petite woman, the younger girl rested her head on the Slayer's shoulder.
Spike thought this over as he followed her into the shop. "Well, if Rupert wouldn't mind, I could just bunk up here in the store. Or possibly back in the training room. Pile the mats up. It'd make a better bed than I've gotten used to sleeping on these past few months, anyway."
Giles carried a stack of books from behind the counter to the table. "Yes, I'm sure Anya will appreciate finding you here in the shop tomorrow morning. She won't mind your using her store as a hotel, rent free, at all…"
Spike looked puzzled. "Right. That does create a problem, doesn't it?"
Buffy rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. "Fine. Fine. You can spend the next couple nights at my house." Spike looked at her hopefully. "*Only* the next few nights. Just until you find another place to stay, alright?"
The male Slayer tried not to let the disappointment show on his face. "Thanks, luv. Right kind of you."
Buffy nodded, then led her sister to the front door. "Uh-huh. You just remember that when you're telling me how bitchy I am."
Spike smirked and followed her out the door. "Sure, pet. Promise."
TBC…
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