Buffy opened her eyes and found Spike watching her. She smiled at him.

Spike's eyes widened slightly. "You can't be well, Slayer, I think you just smiled at me."

She laughed. "That scary is it?"

"Let's just say it's not quite the reaction I'm used to receiving from an awakening Slayer."

Buffy looked at him with a look of complete and utter contentment. Spike couldn't stand it; the sun had risen hours before, and yet the Slayer still remained in his bed, with seemingly no intention of moving from it anytime soon. He was going crazy waiting for the other shoe to drop and for her to bolt. "The sun's been up awhile now, luv."

"Mm hm," she agreed, snuggling closer.

"They'll be wondering where you're at."

"Yup," she agreed again as she began to trail kisses down his chest.

"Shouldn't you, um, be leaving?" he struggled to remain in control.

Buffy looked up at him, a wicked grin playing about her lips, "Sick of me already? Cuz I'll leave if you want me to."

He pulled her on top of him in response.

"Didn't think so," she said, kissing him full on the mouth.

~*~

"And you didn't stake him, why?!" Xander was yelling at Dawn.

Having both Buffy and Willow missing in action, Dawn felt it was time to bring the others up to date on Spike's return to town. So she had gotten Xander, Giles, and Anya to meet her at the Magic Box. Xander wasn't taking it well for obvious reasons.

"After what he almost did to your sister?! After . . . You talked with him?!"

"Well, I-I wanted to know why and then-"

"Let me guess, he acted all sorry and got your sympathy. Are you that naïve?!"

"You haven't seen him, Xander, there's something diff-"

"Believe me, if I saw him we wouldn't be having this conversation now. If he has done anything to Buffy or Willow . . ."

"You'd what, Harris?"

Xander turned to see his least favorite vampire standing in the front doorway beside Buffy.

~*~

Seeing that Xander was on the verge of killing her little sister, if only figuratively, Buffy decided it was time to go in and face the music. Sooner or later everyone would find out that Spike was back in town and that things between them were anything but hostile. Better to do it all at once like tearing a band-aid off, less painful in the long run.

Spike had told her about his encounters with Dawn and Willow, so no worry there. Giles and Anya would be Giles and Anya. But Xander, especially with Spike and Anya's tryst, was another matter entirely.

~*~

Xander looked from Buffy to Spike and back again. Both were still alive or existing, showing no trauma and neither seemed to be a hostage of the other- that frightened him. If he didn't know better, he'd think that-

"You've had sex!" Anya chimed in. Then, turning to Giles, "See, didn't I tell you that's what she needed."

Eleven hundred years, demon or human, you think the woman would have learned some tact along the way. But she was right, the two were anything but mortal enemies at the moment, even after . . . Was he the only sane person left?

~*~

Trust Anya to say what couldn't (or shouldn't) be said. Buffy decided it was best all around to plunge ahead with more pressing matters.

"I'm glad you're all here. I-"

"I don't suppose you've noticed that all of us aren't here," Xander cut her off.

"Xander, I know Willow's gone. She's fine, for the time being at least. There's-"

"Fine? Willow hasn't been out of the house in months. Suddenly she leaves, but she's fine?"

"Tara's watching her. There's Something bigger to worry about."

Giles stepped forward finally, "What do you remember from your dream?"

Thank God for the British. Business first then . . . Buffy saw she had some major explaining to do when the opportunity arose. First things first, she began to recount the details of her dream the night before.

~*~

"Balance . . ." Giles chewed on the ends of his glasses, considering what Buffy had just told him. "Willow was drawing upon some extremely powerful Magicks, especially when she tried to bring about the end of the world. And Warren, didn't you manage to grab some things from the Trio's hideout before it was destroyed?"

"Some papers and stuff; pretty mangled. They're back at the house though."

"Are you sure there isn't anything else from your dream you may have overlooked?" Giles asked. "Any subtle details you may have missed?"

"Trust me, Giles, I'm not leaving anything out," she shivered. "No, wait, there was something that stood out. Both the First Slayer and Tara were wearing the same pendant. Kinda like a figure eight made out of a snake."

"Oroborus!" Anya jumped up and ran to a bookshelf, pulling a rather weighty volume out and tossing it on the table. Then she began scanning it until she came to what she was looking for. "'Oroborus-snake eating its own tail. Commonly symbolizes infinity or the time continuum.' Blah, blah, blah. Oh! 'Also can be a portent of apocalypses or of disturbances in the continuum.'"

"Oh my, an apocalypse? Whatever shall we do?" Buffy feigned hysteria. "Thought we were overdue for one."

"Buffy," Giles had that warning tone in his voice.

"Come on, it's a bit tough to get all worked up about your seventh or eighth apocalypse."

"This is very serious, Buffy. Universal Balance, the Time Continuum-"

"So alteration of the world as we know it, not the end."

Anya hesitatingly pulled her pendant out from under her shirt. "It also tends to be found on the pendants of vengeance demons."

"Willow hasn't turned . . . has she?" Dawn cut in. She looked at her sister for the first time since she walked in the door. Buffy looked relaxed for the first time in quite awhile, she didn't look tormented or ready to drop from exhaustion anymore. Whatever had happened between her sister and Spike seemed to have had a good effect. That was something.

"Red was restless," Spike spoke for the second time that evening. "She wants answers and since sitting around here with you lot was as enlightening as the evening news in Cuba, my bet is she hit the road to find 'em."

"You told her to leave, didn't you?!" Xander grabbed him by the collar. "Things were fine til you showed up again."

"All I did was listen to the girl, which is more than you've done, whelp."

"You didn't see her, what it did to her, running away like the coward you are."

"That's the pot calling the kettle if I ever heard it."

"I should have dusted you that night when I had the chance."

"In your dreams, Harris. Threats don't become you. Why don't you stick to what you do best?"

"What and let you go around staking slayers with your manly wood?" Not even thinking, Spike hit Xander with such a force it sent the latter flying. Then he saw everyone looking at him, not for what he had just done, but for what wasn't happening. There was no pain.