Chapter Thirteen

            Giles found Dawn in the airport Starbucks, talking animatedly to two Australian backpackers who were both clearly smitten.

            "I can see that being alone in a foreign country is deeply traumatising for today's sixteen-year-old," Giles said drily, and the two backpackers looked up in surprise.

            "Sixteen?"

            "It's just an age," Dawn protested, as they got up and moved away.  "Thanks a lot, Giles.  One of them was really cute."

            "And he could have been working for the Angelus group."

            "Apparently everyone's working for the Angelus group.  Where's Buffy?  She didn't come with?"

            "She's not feeling too well."

            "She's sick?" Dawn's face tuned to instant concern.  "Did she drink the water?  'Cos Janice told me about this time when she was in Mexico-"

            "British water is perfectly safe to drink," Giles cut her off.  "Unlike the vodka Buffy was mainlining last night."

            "She got drunk?"  Dawn whistled.  "Buffy so can't handle her drink."

            "No, and she's feeling rather worse for wear this morning.  She's at home with Willow and Tara and Spike."

            "She's with Spike?  Do you trust him?"

            Giles sighed as he picked up her case and made his way back to the train station.  "I've never quite trusted him-"

            "But you'll leave Buffy with him?"

            Giles looked down at Dawn and saw the same stubborn face Buffy often wore.  Marvellous, he thought, there are two of them now.

            "I don't think he'll harm her," Giles said.  "I don't know exactly how honourable his intentions are, but I don't think he'll do anything to hurt her.  I think our William has a soft spot for Buffy."

            "You think he's in love with her?" Dawn asked incredulously.

            "I - well, maybe not love, but there's a lot of affection there.  I don't think he's following her out of malicious intent."

            Dawn shook her head.  "Riley said he raped her."

            "Yes, well, you'll have to ask Buffy about that," Giles said uncomfortably.  "Personally I think that was Riley seeing what he wanted to.  He doesn't want to think that Buffy could be in love with someone else, so he chooses to think that Spike forced himself on her.  But from what I've seen..."

            Dawn's eyes widened.  "You've been watching?"

            "No, Dawn, don't be ridiculous.  I just mean that when I've seen them together - platonically - it looks perfectly easy and, and natural to me.  Now, do you want to travel facing the front of the train, or the back?"

            "Buffy?" Willow said, peeking around the bedroom door.  "Are you awake?"

            Buffy opened her eyes.  "Kinda."

            "Do you want something to eat?  Tara made some soup."

            Buffy wrinkled her nose.  "What kind of soup?"

            "Leek and potato.  We were going to make chicken, but we didn't have any chicken, so..."

            Buffy smiled.  "Sounds good.  Do I have to get up?"

            "'Fraid so.  Giles won't let me bring it up here."

            Buffy got out of bed and pulled her jeans back on.  She'd been sleeping in Spike's t-shirt and it felt soft and comforting.  It smelled of him, and as he wasn't there in person, that had to be good enough.

            She followed Willow downstairs, feeling a bit better.  It was late afternoon and the sky was dark with rainclouds.  The kitchen smelled of delicious creamy soup, the scent of woodsmoke drifted in from the living room and there was the sound of chatter coming from behind the door.  It was all very cosy.  Buffy took her bowl of soup from Tara and was just about to start eating when a familiar sound caught her ear.

            "Does Giles have company?" she asked.

            Willow and Tara looked at each other.  "Well - I - sort of-" Willow fudged.

            "She, erm, a f-friend-" Tara stammered, and Buffy stood up.  She went to the living room door and pushed it open and saw Giles and Spike laughing with her little sister.

            For a few seconds Buffy simply stared, and it was a while before anyone noticed her.  Then Spike looked around and his face changed.

            "Pet!  You're up.  Red made some soup, I don't know if you want-"

            But Buffy ignored him.  "Dawn?"

            Dawn smiled hopefully.  "Surprise!  I was gonna come up and see you but Spike threatened me with evisceration if I woke you up-"

            Buffy glared at Spike, who winked at her.

            "-so I thought I'd wait down here until you woke up.  How are you feeling?  Still all hangovery?"

            "I'm fine," Buffy lied.  "What are you doing here?"

            "I came to see you.  Giles said you were coming down here, and I wanted to know what was going on 'cos all we've heard has been from Riley and I'm not sure if maybe something might have exploded near his head when he was in South America 'cos he's being all floopy and not making a whole lot of sense and he seems to think you're in some kind of terrible danger but to me you just look like Mom did after that Christmas party."

            They all stared at her.

            "Okay, first of all," Buffy said, "breathe.  Second of all, does Mom know you're here?"

            "Well," Dawn squirmed, "she does now."

            "Meaning?"

            "I sort of called from the airport and left a message on the machine..."

            Buffy glared at her and opened her mouth to speak, but Spike cut in.

            "It's okay," he said, "Joyce called here and Rupert talked her down.  The little bit's perfectly safe - if a little bit stupid..." he rolled his eyes at Dawn, and she blushed.

            "Little bit?" Buffy enunciated, and Spike grinned.

            "Yeah, she's a little bit like you.  Not as stroppy," he said, standing up and pulling Buffy down into the chair with him.

            "Oh yeah?  You get a new Barbie and see if she's still not stroppy after that."

            Spike blinked at her.  "I think it's fairly safe to say there will be no Barbies in my possession until the end of time," he said.  His voice softening, he asked, "So how're you feeling?"

            Buffy sighed.  She was so horribly tired and her skin ached.  "Crappy.  Don't ever let me drink again."

            "But you're so much fun when you're drunk," Spike said, nuzzling her neck.

            "Spike, stop that.  Dawn, I'm still mad at you for coming all this way without telling Mom.  She'll be worried sick."

            "She's fine now, pet," Spike stroked her hair.  "I talked to her."

            "I thought she thought you were evil?" Buffy said in confusion, and Spike grinned.

            "Common misconception.  Now, are you going to have anything to eat?  Soak up the vodka?"

            Buffy groaned at the mention of alcohol.  "Soup only.  I don't feel up to chewing."

            Willow brought her food in and Spike had to resist the temptation to feed it to Buffy, especially when she spilled some down her chin and he wanted to lick it off.

            "This is good, Will," she said.

            "Tara made it."

            "Oh.  Tara, right."  Buffy sometimes forgot the other girl was there.  "You should be a chef."

            Tara blushed and looked away.  "Willow, we should probably be going.  I have that essay to finish and you-"

            Willow groaned.  "I know, I promised to write finish that chapter tonight.  Giles, was there this much reading when you were at school?"

            "More," Giles said.  "And we were whipped if we hadn't done it."

            They all stared.

            "British humour," Spike shook his head.  "Can't beat it."

            Tara and Willow left and Dawn, yawning, said she should get some sleep.  "It's really late in America," she said.

            "What?  No, it isn't.  It's eight hours earlier."

            "Oh."  Dawn looked confused.  "Then it must be jetlagged.  Giles, how many beds do you have?  I am not sharing with those too."

            "Too bloody right," Spike muttered, as Giles got up to show Dawn to his other guest room.

            "Not that you're getting anything tonight," Buffy told him.  "I feel like crap."

            "You didn't drink that much."

            "Yeah, but I'm really tiny," Buffy curled herself up smaller on his lap and looked up at him with big green eyes.

            "Puppy eyes won't work on me, love," Spike said sternly, but when Buffy stuck out her lower lip his eyes darkened and he bit down on her lip with sharp teeth.  "Maybe they'll work just a bit," he conceded, and cupped her head as he kissed her.

            "Oh, Lord, do you have to?" Giles groaned, coming back in.  "I'm going down the pub," he added in disgust.  "Don't drink my vodka."

            "There's none left," Spike said, stretching out his arms.

            "Well, don't drink any of anything.  I'll take a key, don't forget to lock up.  And remember Dawn is in the house."

            He left, and Buffy snuggled up to Spike.

            "I think that was intended as a warning against any kind of sex," she said.

            "Rupert Giles, human birth control," Spike mused.  "So, your sister-"

            "I hope those two subjects are not linked in your mind."

            He grinned.  "'Course not.  She said Captain Cardboard had been over to your house, spreading bad rumours about me."

            Buffy raised an eyebrow.  "Captain Cardboard?"

            "Well, he's hardly three-dimensional, is he?"

            "From what I remember, there are bits of him that are very three-dimensional," Buffy grinned, and shrieked in protest as Spike stood up, tipping her on the floor.  "Ow!  Spike, that hurt!"

            In an instant Spike was on the floor with her, pulling her hands away from her face, looking horrified.

            "Buffy, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you-"

            "You never mean to, Spike."

            "Well," he gave her a little smile, "sometimes I do, but that's when you ask for it."  He touched the side of her face.  "Here?"

            Buffy reached up and touched his face in the same place.  "That's where you hit me," she said, and Spike closed his eyes.

            "Look, I'm sorry about that.  Didn't I make it up to you?"

            "You've got to stop being so jealous," Buffy said, and Spike took a deep breath, about to confess, but right then the door came open and Dawn, armed with a wooden ruler, came dashing in.

            "Buffy?"

            She stopped when she saw Spike kneeling over her, holding her gently.

            "Oh," she said, lowering her weapon.  "That kind of screaming."

            "Uh, Dawn, go back to bed," Buffy said, pushing Spike away and standing up.  "It's okay.  We were just, uh, just-"

            Dawn rolled her eyes.  "I get it.  Just keep it down, huh?  Some of us are trying to sleep."

            She left, closing the door firmly, and Buffy met Spike's eyes.

            She burst out laughing.

            "God, she's worse than Giles!"

            "God save us from little sisters," Spike agreed, grinning

            "Why, do you have one?"

            "One older, one younger," he said, unexpectedly.  "Harmony and Darla.  Both of them damn irritating."

            Buffy shook her head in amazement and laid her head against his chest.  Spike put his arms around her as she said, "I never really thought of you as having a family."

            "Well, where'd you think I came from?  Just hatched out on a street corner?"

            "Um, well, yeah."

            "Cheers.  I'm sure the parentals'd love to hear that."

            "You close to them?"

            "Nah, not really.  Sometimes pop back around Christmas but we don't really get on.  Not like you and your mum."

            "Well, you know, for a while it was just me and mom.  I mean, when Dawn was smaller it was kind of like we were both her parents."

            "What about your dad?"

            "He left when Dawn was a baby.  Haven't seen him since, God, since I was about fifteen."

            "You miss him?"

            Buffy shrugged.  "Not really.  He was never around that much anyway."  She lifted her head.  "Why are we talking about parents?"

            "You brought it up."

            "Oh yeah.  Spike?"

            "Hmm?"

            "Why'd you get so jealous of Riley?"

            Spike looked like she'd just punched him in the gut.  He reeled away from her, looking shocked.

            "Why'd you think?" he stammered eventually.

            Buffy flapped her hands in exasperation.  "Because of his superior height?"

            Spike ran a hand through his hair, looking tortured.  "Because you keep bloody mentioning him and - I know you still have sodding feelings for him and... he's an arsehole and it's not funny that you keep talking about - you know - it's not - he's a wanker," he finished, looking like a stubborn child.

            "Well, thank you," Buffy said.  "That cleared things up a lot."

            "I need a fag," Spike muttered, and stomped out to the back out the house, slamming the back door open and lighting up just as Buffy came after him and stood there rubbing her arms.  It was clear and dark, the sort of very clean air that brings winter with it.  Spike breathed out a grateful cloud of smoke and Buffy's own breath fogged in front of her face.

            "If it helps," she offered, "I am flattered."

            "By...?"

            "You getting jealous of my ex."

            "I'm not jealous.  I just can't imagine what you ever saw in him."

            "He's a good man," Buffy protested.  "He's kind and gentlemanly and he wants to do good things.  I don't see you signing up for any charity gigs."

            "He's as thick as shit, Buffy.  Doesn't have one intelligent cell in his whole body."

            "Well, maybe he's not the smartest guy there ever was-"

            "Damn right."

            "But then as least he's not insane."

            Spike nearly chocked on his cigarette.  "What's that supposed to mean?"

            "Drusilla?"

            Spike took a deep drag on his cigarette.  "What do you know about Drusilla?"

            "You two had a thing together, right?"

            He glanced over at her.  She didn't look mad, but even so...

            "Long time ago," he said.  "Totally over now."

            "It'd better be," Buffy said.  "Spike, she's insane.  She nearly killed you, and Xander and Anya too."

            "Yeah, well, I must have a thing for dangerous women then, eh?"  Spike glared out at the small dark garden.

            "I'm not dangerous!"

            Spike turned his beautiful head to look at her.  "Summers, since I met you I've been shot at and kidnapped and chained up and tortured and burned and chased all over three sodding countries.  No one woman has ever caused me this much damage.  Not even Dru."

            Buffy blinked.  "Then why do you - I mean, if I'm hurting you that much..."

            Spike sighed and flicked the cigarette out into the darkness.  "It's not your fault."

            "But you just said-"

            "Look," Spike caught her arms and pulled her against him.  "God, you're freezing!"  He wrapped his coat around both of them and kissed her forehead.  "I don't mind the shooting and broken bones so much if they keep me close to you," he said.  "If me getting hurt means you're safe then I'd do it all over again."

            For a long while, Buffy stared up at him with those words swirling around her head.  She had a feeling she'd never forget them.

            Then she kissed him, and if Spike was surprised then he didn't show it for long and kissed her back, and Buffy pushed his coat from his shoulders and shivered in his arms.

            "We should go inside," he said, and Buffy shook her head.

            "Dawn..."

            Spike sighed.  "Right.  Bollocks.  Look, love, it's too cold out here..."

            "Then you'll have to keep me warm."

            "And I thought you felt like crap," he reminded her.

            "Suddenly I'm feeling a lot better," Buffy said, and went up on tippy toes to nibble on his ear.

            "Giles could be back at any moment..."

            "I'm starting to think you don't want to have sex after all."

            In answer, Spike lifted up her t-shirt and ran his tongue around her nipple.  Buffy moaned and pulled him down to the ground, spread out his coat and lay back on it as Spike pulled off her clothes and she helped him off with his own.

            "God," she shivered, "it really is cold!"

            "Yep," Spike agreed, running his tongue over her hipbone.  "Is this better?" he asked, slipping his head between her legs.

            "Jesus," Buffy gasped, holding him there.  She came very quickly, surprising them both, and then Spike slid up into her warmth and they moved together, hot and pale in the darkness.  Buffy lifted her legs up around Spike's waist and felt him spill into her, crying her name as he came.

                Neither of them heard Drusilla pick the front door lock and creep upstairs into Dawn's room, stifle the sleeping teenager with ether, and carry her out of the house into a waiting cab.  It was morning before anyone realised she was missing.