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A/N: Only one review? Don't you love me any more? But thanks for those who've already reviewed. I love you all!

Chapter 4: Job advertisement

"This is so great Will!" Buffy exclaimed enthusiastically as she put down the phone. "I thought I was gonna be looking for work for months, especially since I came back early and everything! And he just hired me without an interview or anything..." Buffy paused, thinking about what she had just said. "Although that is kinda strange don't you think?"

Willow shook her head. "Nope. Sounds like typical Spike to me. Act first then deal with the mess it makes later." At Buffy's raised eyebrow she quickly hastened to add "Not that you'll make a mess or anything. I just mean Spike has a habit of acting without thinking things through."

"It's ok Will." Buffy chuckled at her former employer and current friends babbling. "I was just teasing. But I thought you said his name was William."

"It is. Spike's his nickname…which he got due to too much tequila, some bad pizza and a hedgehog." Willow shuddered at the memory. "It's not a pretty story."

"And I'm going to be working for this guy?" Buffy asked incredulously, then something occurred to her. "William 'Spike' Giles…he wrote that film The scourge of Europe right?"

"Yeah." Willow nodded, unsure what her point was.

"About five eight, bleached hair, kinda skinny?" Buffy enquired.

"Well actually I'd say he's more lean than…" Willow trailed off. "Right, not the point. I thought you didn't know him."

"I don't." Buffy replied "But he was at that party of yours a couple of years ago remember? Oz was celebrating selling the Pretty Maids screenplay to Fox remember? The sequel?"

"Oh yeah." Willow recalled. "You were there in case Tara had any problems."

"Yep." Buffy nodded. "And Oz introduced me to him."

"Well that's good right?" Willow asked "Mean's you're not strangers."

Buffy snorted. "Oh I doubt he'd remember me Wills. He was too busy looking down the cleavage of that skanky ho Faith Richards!" Typical male behaviour actually, giving her the brush off as soon as something in a skimpy outfit came along!

Willow sighed. Yep. Just like Spike, thinking with the wrong head. "Sounds like him."

"You mean I just agreed to work for that sleaze?" Buffy cried, appalled.

"He's not that bad." Willow tired. "Yes he has an eye for the ladies but…well as a person he isn't that bad." Buffy snorted, highly doubtful but Willow persevered. "Besides Buff, it's Jenny you'll be looking after, not Spike."

"I guess you're right." Buffy sighed, knowing that she was currently in no position to turn down such a well-paid job. With her mother's care since she had had to go into hospital draining her savings Buffy couldn't afford not to work. "I guess I better go pack."…

Spike grinned as he hung up the phone. She'd had one hell of a sexy voice. Buffy had accepted the job no questions asked once he'd told her about the situation with Jenny. He quickly ran the conversation over again in his mind to see if he'd missed anything. Nine years old, parents dead, he's busy and unable to care for her properly…well technically that last part was true. He was usually busy and he had absolutely no idea when it came to children…he'd just never had any intention of ever finding out. A small nagging itch at the back of his mind question whether he was doing the right thing. Liam had named him as guardian, and this probably wasn't what he'd had in mind, palming her off to a nanny. But Liam had known what Spike was like – what more should he have expected?

Glancing at the door to the bedroom that his niece now occupied Spike let out a sigh. Ok. He'd admit it, he felt guilty. The one day he'd spent alone with Jenny had been tense to say the least. Every time he took in her dark hair and big brown eyes he was reminded of Liam and the animosity between them…and every time he cursed himself for not picking up the phone all those times he had been tempted to bury the hatchet somewhere other than his brother's skull. All this thinking in turn would make him angry – why hadn't Liam bothered to call? Why should he take the blame for it all? Why, even in death was Liam still the golden boy? Before he'd even realised it, he was taking his feelings about his brother out on his innocent daughter. It wasn't her fault who he parents were, and it wasn't her fault that they had died before Spike had been able to reconcile with her father.

Seconds after Spike had told her to go to her room he'd begun to feel like shit. He knew what it was to be held accountable for the sins of another. Shaking his head to try and dislodge the thoughts there he climbed to his feet and walked to the bedroom door, knocking softly in case she was asleep.

"Come in." Came the quiet reply from the other side, and Spike felt his gut twist when he heard the voice thick with tears. Slowly he opened the door, turning to close it behind him before he dared look at the girl sitting on the bed. When he did turn he looked at everything but her. It was a decent sized room, but then so were the other rooms in the apartment. Opposite the door was a large window – he'd given her the room without the French doors and balcony for safety reasons – but the view over looking the city was still quite impressive from this far up. The only furnishings in the room were a mall dresser and chair against the wall to the right of the door and the single bed that rested against the wall on the left where Spike's eyes finally landed on his niece.

She looked out of place in the spartanly furnished room. Little girls were supposed to be surrounded by flowers and ponies and all that other frilly stuff…that gave him an idea. "I was thinking," he began, unnerved by Jenny's simply watching him "How about we get you some stuff for your room at the weekend, make you feel more at home."

"This isn't my home." Jenny stated simply, her voice laced with sadness.

Spike leaned against the door and slid down to the floor, his forearms resting on his knees. "I know it isn't." He replied at length, his own weariness seeping into his tone. "But it's where your going to be living from now on…I figure you'd at least want to be comfortable."

"I want my mommy and daddy back." She told him, and Spike knew that he could buy her everything that money would allow and it would never be enough. Just because he hadn't gotten a long with her parents didn't mean she hadn't loved them. She was missing them and there was nothing he could do to make it better.

"I'm sorry." He said simply. Sorry for her loss. Sorry he had insulted Darla and put the final nail in the coffin of his relationship with his brother. Sorry he didn't know how to talk to her. Sorry to palm her off on a nanny. He was just sorry. And they sat like that – her on the bed, silently staring at the wall, and he sitting with his arms on his knees staring out the window for a very long time…

A/N: I know I didn't give much detail about Buffy but I'm saving it for when she and Spike meet – hopefully it will be worth it. Please let me know what you think – reviewing really does encourage me to write more quickly. Love you all!