A/N: Just a small warning. There's a bit of language later in this chapter. The F words used a few times, along with a few other mild curses, but it's all in good fun! :D

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Hope stirred slightly, curling up further into the couch cushions. Her eyes lolled open and she squinted slightly, adjusting her eyes. Spike was lying in a chair on the other side of the room, his eyes closed. To anyone else, it would have seemed like he was sleeping, but Hope knew better. The blonde vampire had this strange habit of breathing when he was awake, although it was highly unnecessary. When he was asleep, on the other hand, he didn't, he just looked like your run of the mill corpse.

She watched as his chest rose and fell steadily before sitting up slightly. "When'd you get back?"

"Few minutes ago." He answered simply, not opening his eyes.

She made a slight face, looking over at the clock. "It's almost sunrise."

"Yep."

"You've been gone for four hours."

"Yep."

She whipped a pillow at him, nailing him in the face. He opened his eyes to find her scowling at him. "Where were you?"

He snorted. "Told you, I was going for a walk."

"Yeah, but we were worried."

"We, as in you. Like the others really give a shit."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Christ, Spike, what the Hell is you're problem? Ever since we got here you've been in bad mood mode." She snapped. "They were worried, and I nearly had to pound Buffy into the ground to keep her from looking for you."

He raised an eyebrow, but didn't say a word.

"Don't look so proud of yourself. She was worried about you, yeah, but she was more concerned about getting whatever information you have about that stupid charm."

It was his turned to scowl, slinking back into the chair. "I told you, I don't know anything."

"Like Hell." She growled, crossing her arms over her chest. "You practically through a tantrum before you took off earlier. I've lived with you for three years, and not once have I seen you so uptight about something. You might be good at some things, Spike, but you're a fucking pathetic liar."

"Watch your mouth."

She sneered and rolled her eyes, flopping back down on her pillow and putting her back to him. "Whatever."

The vampire took a long, unneeded breath, staring at the girl as she turned away from him. This was just great, now not only was Buffy pissed off at him, she was too.

The last time she had been seriously ticked off was about a year and a half ago when the Council sent some skuzzy goon to the city to spy on them and see how they were doing. Travers had informed him that the man would be around, but he hadn't bothered telling her for fear of getting her upset. She was awful touchy when it cam to the Council. Needless to say, she found out about the guy, kicked his ass and put the poor watcher in the hospital for nearly two weeks. After that, she refused to talk to him for nearly two months. She got by by using hand gestures and scribbling small notes on index cards and throwing them in his face.

She had vowed never to speak to him again and had kept her word… until Christmas.

He had woken up to find her sitting on the foot of his bed, her legs crossed, staring at him. She just grinned when he opened his eyes and asked what she was doing. 'Merry Christmas.'

The vampire found himself smiling slightly as he stared at the back of her head. "You can't be mad at me, kitten."

"Why not?" She asked coldly, still not looking at him.

"Christmas is an awful long way off."

She rolled over and stared at him. "Halloween's in a few months."

He threw the pillow back at her and she caught it, grinning. "So what do you know?"

His smile faded. "I told you, nothin'."

"Bull shit."

"Hey! Say it again and I'll beat you from here to next week." He said in a warning tone.

She snorted. "I picked it up from you."

"Like Hell! How many bloody times have you heard me say 'bull shit'? You're just runnin' you're damn mouth and spittin' out sorry ass 'scuses now." He paused and blinked a couple times, repeating what he had just said silently in his head. Okay, so maybe he did have a slight language problem. He straightened. "Well you don't need to repeat it."

"Sure I do, it pisses you off."

He narrowed his eyes at her and she just smirked. "I'm two seconds 'way from hurtin' you, missy."

She grinned. "Fuck. Off."

He was across the room in a second, grabbing at her shoulders as she pulled her blanket over her head and tried to kick him away. They wrestled for a few minutes, halting only when a light flicked on behind them. Spike turned and Hope pulled the blanket down a bit. Buffy was standing in the doorway, eyebrows raised, staring at them. The vampire straightened a bit, falling back into a crouch on the other end of the couch. "She started it."

"Did not, you stupid oaf!" She laughed, kicking him in the arm.

Buffy just blinked, still staring. "Are we done yet?"

Hope just smirked, falling back into the cushions. "Sorry mum."

"Yeah, sorry mum." Spike chimed.

Buffy made a face. "Okay, it was kind of cute when she said it, but it's just creepy comin' from you."

"Sorry, pet." He offered.

The Slayer touched her fingers to her forehead as if she had a headache, closing her eyes. "Hope, try and get some sleep. Spike, kitchen, now."

Hope just rolled her eyes and fell back against her pillow. She had been asleep for less than an hour when Spike had gotten back and drawn her from her slumber, so she wasn't about to protest to more sleep. She watched as the vampire stood, walking towards Buffy. On his way, he smacked the girl in the head with another pillow, sneaking her a small grin before disappearing.

"What's up, mum?" He questioned, hoping up and sitting on the counter.

She leaned back on the island, facing him. "Spike, what's going on?"

He gave her an odd look before reaching over and grabbing an apple from the basket on the counter. He took a bite. "What are you talkin' about?"

She groaned. "You know what I'm talking about. You know something about that doohickey the dog was wearing and you're not being very forthcoming with the helpful information."

"Look, I told Hope and I told you, I don't know anything." He said in a low voice, opting to look at his apple instead of her.

She made short work of that diversion, though, snatching it from him and tossing it into the garbage can. She didn't step back from where she was standing, inches from him, scowling up at him. "Yeah, pretty much pissed her off when you left."

He rolled his eyes, throwing his hands in the air. "Look, Slayer, you don't know the girl. She talking to me, so obviously she isn't that mad. If she was I wouldn't get a peep out of her 'til Christmas."

Buffy made a face. "What?"

He shook his head and walked past her. "Forget it."

"No." She snapped, grabbing his arm and spinning him back around to face her. "Spike, you came here to help, so help already. What. Do. You. Know?"

He stared right back at her, his eyes never leaving hers. "Nothing."

She narrowed her green eyes. "I'm not playing, Spike. Tell me or we can go back to the old way of doing things."

He gave her a confused look, she raised a fist. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh." She stated, crossing her arms over her chest. "So spill."

He clenched his jaw, blinked, and turned to stalk away. He made it a whole five feet before she spun him around and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, her fist pulled back. He just stared at her, making no attempt to pull away, putting up no struggle. She swallowed and returned his gaze, her eyes cold.

"You're pathetic." She growled, pushing him away from her. Giving him one final cold glare, she shoved past him and stormed out of the kitchen, leaving him rubbing his neck where the fabric had been held tightly. Swallowing, he closed his eyes. After a moment, he opened them, eyeing the clock. He had roughly twenty-five minutes before the sun would be up.

He could make it if he ran.

Turning on his heel, he sauntered back into the living room, grabbed his jacket and swung it over his shoulders as he made his way back out the front door.

Hope nearly fell on her face as she hopped off of the couch, scrambling to find her shoes and sweatshirt.

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The fourteen year old Slayer moved silently through the building, her eyes scanning the massive structure for any signs of danger. As far as she could tell, it was just her, Spike, and one other vampire in the structure. She hadn't seen the other creature, but she could feel it, like a cold prickly feeling on the back of her neck.

Swallowing, she stopped, crouching behind one of the massive pillars in the main room. Straining her ears, she picked up on a voice. No, two voices. One was Spike's, but the other, the other was female. Eerily haunting, sending chills down her spine. Whoever she was, she was definitely bad news. She couldn't make out what was being said, aside from a few occasional loud curses from Spike. Taking a deep breathe, she dashed across the room and down one of the halls, careful not to make any noise.

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"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. Leave now before this gets nasty."

"You don't want to play with mummy?"

Spike closed his eyes, leaning away from the vampiress' hand as she ran it down the side of his face, her deep red nails brushing against his skin. "I'm not playing, Dru. Get the bloody hell out of here." He growled, opening his ice cold eyes to glare at her.

"Miss Edith misses you, you know. She cries at night. Do you know why she cries?"

"Drusilla, for once in your wretched existence listen to me and try to comprehend what I'm saying." He demanded in an exasperated tone. "Get. Out. Of. Sunnydale."

"I don't want to stay here, it's cold." She whined, sounding like a little child.

"It's California, you daft cow. It's not cold."

The lip came out and she pouted, swaying back and forth slightly. "It's cold everywhere, my love. Mummy knows you've been sick. She's come to make it all better."

He pulled away as she tried to grab his hand. In one quick movement, he had her by her shoulders, pinning her against the wall nearest them. "Listen to me, Dru. As much as I'd like to, I don't want to kill you." He swallowed, looking down at the ground. "I can't."

The dark haired vamp giggled giddily.

He growled, looking back up at her again. "She'll kill you, you know. You and you're new pet. She'll kill you and move on like nothing ever happened. Do yourself a favor and leave while you can, before she figures out you're here."

"My precious Spike…" She cooed, her hands tracing small patterns over his arms.

With another deep growl, he shoved her from his and backed away. "Get out, or next time I'm here I'm going to do something I'll regret…" Clenching his jaw, he turned and stalked back towards the main room of the old mansion.

Hope craned her neck to see him as he walked down the hallway, out of her view. Drusilla? Wasn't that his sire? She was in Sunnydale? She had summoned the dog thing, obviously, but why? Taking a small breath, she stood…

…and screamed.

The sound was muffled as Dru clasped an ice cold hand over her mouth, hefting her from the ground and holding her arms to her sides. "Shhhh. I just want to play for a bit. Perhaps we could have a tea party…"