Dawn was tucked safely in bed, Buffy was making juice and Spike was pacing around in the living room. On the whole the situation wasn't any different from a million other nights as Dawn slept and the Vampire and the Slayer talked strategy. There was a different tone tonight however. Death was walking around in Buffy's living room trying to work out how to give up the key to the gates of hell so he could use himself as a diversion to pull a God's attention away from a teenage girl. No, not a regular night tonight. "Spike, sit! I can't afford to replace the carpet." Buffy snapped a little testily as she came back in with her juice and a mug of warm blood. At first she'd been grossed out by the blood, by having to handle it and when he'd been at Giles', feeding time was something that turned her stomach. Now it was almost normal to her, and she couldn't bring herself to be bothered by it. "Sorry Love, agitated that's all." He apologized and took his blood, sipping it carefully. "We wont let you do this you know." she spoke softly, hopping desperately that he'd let it go at that and not push the issue. "Don't see that we have much of a choice pet. Can't throw one of the Scoobies into the mouth of the beast. They're all to important." he stopped then. While in the silence of his not-soul Spike was more than able to accept his own worthlessness, even embrace it, he couldn't speak it allowed. He still had some ego left. He knew Buffy now well enough to know that it wasn't him she really wanted to protect, but herself. She never wanted to sacrifice anything, not even for the greater good. "We'll find another way, we've always found the other way when the only thing we thought we had was really bad." "Love." Spike could see that inevitably this was going to end in an argument, and he really didn't want it to. "That's final Spike. I'm the chosen one and I chose not to hand you over to a hell God!" Spike took a hold of her shoulders and forced her to look at him. She was shaking ever so slightly and her eyes had that wild look about them that one gets when they are railing against something horrific. "I'm not talking about walking up to her with a white flag pet. I'm talking about letting it slip to her that I'm the key and then burying me someplace. I can be very hard to find when I want to. I'll put in enough appearances to keep her attention while you and you're little groupies work out how to make her go away." He spoke slowly and surely, he was fairly sure this was the only plan that would work, and he was going to make it work. "Spike what if. what if she gets you?" Spike dropped his arms and went back to his mug, singing down onto the couch with a shrug. "Then she gets me. Not that big a loss now is it?" he asked with a slightly bitter and self-mocking smile. Buffy's juice went all over the carpet and she threw herself at him, her fists flying faster than she ever remembered moving straight at his face. "I am NOT losing ANYONE to her! Do you understand! She is not taking ANY of my family from me! None of you!" the attacks became less and less powerful until it was little more than her batting at his chest. "Slayer. the only thing we need to think about is Nibblet, alright." He gently tilted her head pack to face him and in that moment he was tempted, like Adam with the damn evil apple he wanted more than anything to lean in and press his lips to hers. "She's your sister. and your going to punch me for it, but I love her too. she's nice to me, reminds me of my little sister. I'll die if I have to, to protect her." Buffy just looked at him and for the briefest of moments was disappointed that his lips didn't descend to hers the way he obviously wanted to. She shouldn't have been surprised, she'd always made it clear to him that what they had wasn't like that. They had something she couldn't deny that! You might even want to call what they had love, but it was a Scoobie love. A close friend kind of love. "I know you would. But I can't lose you either you know." She said it fast so it wouldn't trip and come out wrong. Spike's scared eyebrow shot up and he gazed down at the blond in his lap, one of his hands absently stroking her hair. Then, as often happened when they were both emotional or standing very close, the lockets began to buzz and tingle, a light glow the colour of honey washing over them both. Buffy shivered a little at the sensation, she'd never get used to it, and Spike found his mind once again filled with visions of Buffy. Visions of naked bronze flesh and energy whizzing around them, of arms and legs and hot and cold. Pure sensation. The glow faded and the tingles went away, and as usual Buffy rested her cheek on Spikes shoulder and looked intently at the side of his face. "I'll never leave you Buffy, you know that. But I'll protect Nibblet, whatever it costs me." His voice was soft, he had that manner about him again. The manner wasn't cocky or over confidant as they had all come to be used to. It was quiet Spike, the one that only came out with Buffy or Dawn, the one that loved them and would fight and die for them if need be. "I know. thank you." She murmured. "I should go, and you need to get some sleep." Without thinking, he pressed his cool lips to her hairline before gently nudging her off his lap. Buffy had noticed that, whenever he thought she wouldn't notice, he'd do something like that. Kiss her hair, lean in close to catch her scent on the air. Something so simple and yet indescribably personal. She often gave serious thought to yelling at him about it, telling him to back the hell off. But he never went any further than that, and it really didn't do any harm. Once on her feet Buffy swayed unsteadily, blinking a little and reaching out for something to balance her. As usual, the thing that balanced her was Spike; he was beside her with his arm around her waist in a heartbeat. "C'mon love, bed time." He said gently as he scooped her up and began to move towards the stairs. Buffy squealed and gripped Spikes neck tightly, her legs kicked a little; she really did hate being carried around. "I'm not going to drop you pet, stop you're squirming!" Stilling as much as she could, the Slayer allowed herself to be carried up the stairs. Instead of depositing her on her bed, Spike dropped her off at her door; he didn't trust himself to lay her out on her bed. not to lean in for a kiss. He knew he'd get a slap in the least for it, and he couldn't stand that. "Thank you." "S'alright love. Gonna head back to the shop and check on the Watcher and his little prisoner." He had an evil gleam in his eyes. "Spike.?" "Yes pet?" "Don't kill him till he tells Giles where Glory is." she said softly. Spike let a huge grin split his face almost in two and he touched her cheek with the back of one hand. "Will do love. want me to get you something from his guts as a souvenir?" Buffy shuddered; she accepted her friend's vampire nature and his violent reaction to a threat on Dawns life. But she tried to suppress the fact he still had some decidedly evil tendencies. Spick chuckled and turned his back, trotted down the stairs, disappearing from her view. Stumbling her way to her large bed, Buffy fell face first onto it and refused to move. She managed to turn her head to the side and look at a patch of floor. The patch of floor where this damn locket around her neck came into being. A patch of floor in her prim and proper 'different shades of pink' bedroom, where she'd had sex with Spike. Sex with Spike. The sentence was still alien and she would be just as happy if it had never happened. But the moment that thought entered her head she knew she was lying to herself. If it hadn't happened, Dawn would still be the key, and Buffy would be sleeping a lot less at night because of it. If it hadn't happened, it was entirely possible that her and Spike wouldn't be friends like they were. she'd probably sleep less at night if that were the case too. So she'd had sex with Spike. She was grown up enough to admit that it was good sex. in face, it had been absolutely incredible, but Willow said that was because the Spell took over them. Buffy wasn't really so sure. She'd watched the Vampire with her sister, seen how gentle he could be, and she'd seen him in battle, his hard body vicious and deadly. He could easily bring someone pleasure or pain with that body, probably in equal amounts. It occurred to Buffy then that what they had now went slightly beyond friendship. She didn't think she loved him, not like she had loved Angel or Riley anyway. She had showered both of those men with love and trust beyond reason and personal safety. But she found herself filled with a respect for him she never would have felt before. The all consuming feeling wasn't there with Spike, thinking about him didn't make her cry, and it didn't really confuse her anymore. She could trust him, and she knew that beyond a doubt. There had always been reservation with Angel that his soul could be torn from him and she'd be left with the devil wearing her lovers face. With Riley she'd trust him with everything, except her strength. She could never trust him not to break under her. Not to get hurt trying to protect her. Spike never tried to protect her she realized then. He said that he did, but it wasn't really like that, not the way he protected Dawn. Spike had faith in her ability to look after herself. He fought beside her, not for her. She'd never really thought about the difference before.

At the Magic shop, the little Hobbit was whimpering in a corner at the sight of the bleach blond angel of death that he was sure had come to claim him. "No. no. no!" it whimpered. Giles passed his hands over his eyes wearily and slumped down in a chair. The little creature was not entirely unscathed from Giles 'debriefing' techniques. "Evenin' Watcher. Did it squeak anything useful?" asked the Vampire cracking his knuckles. "Some. it refuses to tell me where Glory is hiding however." "Go have a break, get some Coffee." grinned Spike, his vampire features slipping down over his handsome face. "Maybe you're right. you talk to it." Giles headed towards the door grabbing his coat on the way before he turned, a Ripper-like grin on his face, "Spike, Don't kill it before it tells alright?" "Sure thing Watcher," Spike advanced on the creature and pulled a chair around so he could sit on it leaning on the back and staring hard at the little thing shivering where it was tied to a chair. "Oh Spike?" Called Giles from the door. "Yeah?" "Do you want anything?" "Could you pick me up some doughnuts for the Nibblet? She always wants them in the morning and Slayer is always to sleepy to go get them." Giles nodded and walked out the door, wondering at the master Vampire ordering doughnuts for the Slayers younger sister.