Chapter 12

Back at the hotel, Spike told everyone what happened. "Well, now we know it's not the First." He said once he was finished.

"How do we know that again?" Robin asked.

"Well, whatever it was touched me like it did Buffy. So, I'm guessing we might be dealing with a shape shifting demon or something like that. It's just a theory." Buffy looked at Wesley.

"Were you able to find out if the First has the ability to somehow make itself corporeal?" Wesley shook his head.

"Not to my knowledge. As far as I know, the First may only take the form of the dead and is not able to touch anything or anyone." Buffy nodded.

"Okay, so I might believe that whole shape shifting demon theory. Could you do more research to see if such a thing exists so I know what I'm dealing with?" Wesley nodded and went to check his books. "Maybe someone could also call Giles and tell him what's going on. He might know something about this." Buffy told them.

"I'm on it." Willow said as she headed to the phone.

"I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not really a great researcher. I could use some sleep." Xander said.

"I'm with you on that." Faith agreed. "This has been a long night." They all headed upstairs to their rooms to catch some shut eye. Buffy was still downstairs when she heard a scream and she knew it belonged to Emily. In a second she was running up the stairs, Spike right behind her. She opened the door to her room and found Emily sitting up in bed with tears coming down her face. Buffy went to her and put her arms around her and the little girl did the same as she cried. Spike just watched the scene before him, not sure what to say. The others came in the room to see if she was alright and he assured them that she was and that they should go back to bed. They didn't have to be told twice as they all left. Spike closed the door and sat on the bed by Buffy.

"Is she okay?" Buffy nodded and looked at him.

"Yeah, she just had another bad dream. It's been happening a lot." Spike nodded and watched as the little girl started to calm down.

"Why don't I take her to my room, Buffy? You need to get some sleep, you're exhausted." Buffy just nodded.

"Okay, I just hope she won't keep you up." Spike shook his head.

"It's not a problem." He told her as Buffy handed Emily over to him. He put his arms around the child and looked at her noticing that she still had tears in her eyes. He wiped them away like he did for her mother. "It'll be alright, sweet pea. There's nothing here that can hurt you." He told her as he kissed her forehead. The little girl then wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed him tight. "Got yourself a good grip there, but Uncle Spike has to be able to breathe these days." He told her with a smile as she loosened her grip on his neck. Buffy couldn't help but smile at how cute he was with her. Spike saw her smile and it felt good to see it, it's been a while. He walked back over to Buffy and kissed her on the forehead also. "Goodnight, sweetheart." He whispered to her as he left the room with Emily. Buffy couldn't help but smile again as she lay down on the bed and after a few minutes, finally drifted off to sleep.