"And what do we have here?"

Buffy's eyes flew open as she searched for the source of that voice from her prostrate position. It was Spike, not twenty feet away from them, in the hallway of the building. His shirt was still untucked, his tie askew. His hair was a mess. His errant suit jacket was now tossed carelessly over one shoulder. He could not have looked sexier if he'd tried.

He'd come looking for her.

Thank you, Spike, thought Buffy. Thank you for coming back. Thank you for being so stubborn. Thank you for still loving me. I hope.

Now that he was there, however, she wasn't sure what he could do. Inside the building, Spike was much too vulnerable. Outside, the other vampire was much too powerful. How much magic sand did he have left in that pocket, anyway?

"I'm a little busy!" snarled the Boston vampire. He raised his fist higher above Buffy's head.

"Yes, I see. About to kill the Slayer." Spike sounded slightly impressed. Not blown away or anything, mind.

The other vampire looked up, irritated as hell. "That's right, I am! So fuck off!" Then he saw who it was; the hair, the eyes. "Oh! William the...I saw you singing in there earlier. You're...you're right here. What...?" He stood up, tripping over Buffy's legs, completely rattled.

"I saw you in there, too," Spike lied. Elusive tosser. "Thought I'd come introduce myself." He gently folded his jacket and laid it on the floor. Then he sauntered over, casting a bored glance down in Buffy's direction when he got there. Spike set his foot on her chest and leaned against the door frame. "Not bad, friend. You've got her where you want her. I've killed two Slayers myself, did you know that?"

"Oh, yes, of course. You're a legend, William."

"Please, call me Spike. And you are?"

"Julius."

"Well, Jules, I'm very impressed. How did you manage to get the Slayer flat on her back? I've wanted to do the same myself, many times." He chanced a look at Buffy, who rolled her eyes.

"I just got lucky. Not like you, William. Spike."

"That so? Was it just luck? Because I find luck to be quite boring." Spike leaned in. Julius found himself pressed against the back of the door, with Spike all over his personal space. "Now, real power, that's exciting. I'm excited. Are you excited?"

"Uhhh," said Julius. He was excited. "I mean, no! It wasn't just luck. I have power, Spike."

Spike let the tip of his tongue come out from between his teeth. "And what kind of power would a young fellow like yourself have?"

Julius, panicky from the emotions Spike was effortlessly evoking in him, tried to turn his head away, but Spike's face was so close there was nowhere to go. Buffy, who had a front row seat to this remarkable turn of events, didn't know whether to be impressed or jealous.

"You don't know the half of it. I found...something. It made me so strong that I'm able to kill the Slayer." Julius remembered Buffy, and looked down at her with a start. Spike dug his heel into her chest, and she responded with a grunt. At least he wasn't wearing his boots.

"Don't worry, she's still there," Spike said. "But I'm more interested in you right now, Jules. You and me." Spike's voice at that moment would have had Jerry Falwell begging for mercy. He took hold of Julius's hands and easily pushed them against the door. Buffy wasn't sure if they were in or out of the circle of the dampening spell, but she had a feeling that Spike had his own spell to make poor Julius feel all weak.

"Spike, I..."

"You were saying – about all that shiny new power you found?"

"Yes! I'm going to be able to do so many things! Big things!"

"The bigger the better," Spike said with a leer. Sounds brilliant, Jules. But how are you going to manage it?"

Julius lowered his voice conspiratorially. "I stole a book of magic. From her!" He sneered down at Buffy, who gave a chastened shrug. "And you wouldn't believe the spells it has. I only had time to learn one, but just you wait."

"A book, yeah? God, you'd want to keep that somewhere safe."

"Er...yes, of course." When Julius didn't say anything else, Spike pressed his mouth against Julius's ear. Buffy watched Julius's legs tremble.

"I would have hid it where I was staying," said Spike softly. "Is that what you did?"

"No, no, I..." Julius trailed off. Then gasped. Then moaned. Buffy couldn't see what Spike was doing to him exactly, but she could empathize.

"You what? I want to know if it's safe, that's all. Maybe we could be partners. Would you like that?"

"Please. Please, William. It's...it's..."

Spike's foot shifted off of Buffy's chest and nudged her stake back against her hand. Buffy painstakingly palmed it. With much effort she braced it, point-up, with both hands against her chest and waited.

"Tell me where it is, Julius. Then we can kill her together." Spike pulled the other vampire into his arms.

"In my car," whispered Julius, entirely overcome.

Spike laughed in spite of himself. "In your car! Did you learn nothing yesterday, you wanker?"

"Car keys!" Buffy yelped. Spike plucked them from Julius's pants pocket. Buffy tried not to think too hard upon how Spike had instantly known where they were.

Julius understood by then, but it was far too late.

"No hard feelings," said Spike, and kissed him on the mouth as he pushed Julius down onto Buffy's stake. Julius kissed him back, perhaps thinking that if he was going to get dusted, kissing Spike while doing so was one of the better ways to go.

Spike jerked back so he wouldn't get any vampire dust on his suit. Buffy wasn't quite so lucky. She bore the full brunt of the dusting – her sexy little cocktail dress disappeared under a dump of grey ash. At least she'd had the presence of mind to turn her face away.

They looked at one another.

"You slut," said Buffy admiringly.

Spike grinned. "What's the point of being famous if you're not going to use it?"