Spike watched as Bella went back into the brownstone. She trusted him. He knew that. Could feel that. And she loved him. Had told him as much. Now, to deal with the Slayer. He didn't know what the Hell was going on in her head. Not that he ever had.

"Come on out, Slayer," he called. "I know you're there."

She came out of the shadows with her hands balled up at her sides. Great, he thought. The only beastie she's out to take on is me.

"Take it you heard everything."

She didn't say anything as she fell into step with him. What was there to say? She couldn't offer him anything that would change how he felt about Bella. Even if she did love him, she was pretty sure that wouldn't be enough to change how he felt about the Daywalker. She shrugged, not trusting her own voice.

"Want to tell me why you were so insistant on me patrolling with you, Pet?" he asked, when she showed no signs of initiating the uncomfortable yet neccessary conversation on her own.

"I didn't mean to--"

"Bollocks, Slayer," he said, cutting her off. "And the thing of it is, you could have just asked if you wanted to know. Didn't need to go eavesdropping on a private conversation."

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. They weren't going any further. Not until she got off her chest whatever the Hell she was hiding. He lowered himself to the curb and started rifling through his pockets for a cigarette.

"Well, don't just stand there, Pet." He patted the concrete beside him. "Have a seat."

She shuffled her feet for a bit before taking the spot beside him on the sidewalk. She had no idea what to say. She'd made it perfectly clear to him that she didn't love him. She'd kicked him over and over -- both figuratively and literally. She refused to see past the monster and look at the man. And now... well, now that seemed to be all that she could see.

"I don't pretend to know what goes through your pretty little head, Pet," he told her, dragging on his cigarette. "Perhaps at one time... but, I am quite clear on what we aren't, Slayer."

She was picking at her nail polish, lip jutted out in that infamous pout.

"You heard me tell Bella that I love her, didn't you?"

Buffy's cheeks flamed red. Maybe asking him to patrol wasn't such a good idea.

"Pet, you're going to have to talk to me. We can all feel the tension... and that's not the thing we need to be focusing on right now. Closing the Hellmouth, that's our priority. Even I get that," he explained, continuing to take in the quickly vanishing nicotine. "But... Bella's feeling the bad vibes from you. And what happened with Dawn earlier... I'm still not sure what all that was about. You're letting something affect your judgement and we need you to be with us right now. Wholly, Pet."

She knew that. And she wanted to open her mouth to speak, but she was afraid of what would come out. Bury it deep, Buffy, she told herself. That's what she always did. But she knew that Spike wasn't going to let this go. He'd keep on her until she cracked.

"I..." She took a deep breath and tried again. "I'm just ready for all of this to be done. I shouldn't have snapped at Dawn like that. It was my fault. Not hers."

That still didn't answer what it was all about.

"Tell me what happened before Bella and I came back, Pet."

Before? Which part? The conversation about how cute he and Bella were together? Or the part where her sister gave everyone an education on vampire mating rituals? Or how about the part where Anya announced how Bella and Spike were groping and giving orgasms and the such. Oh, oh! She knew -- how about her favorite part? The part where her little sister chastised her for wanting something she could no longer have? God, he must be eating this up, she thought.

"Listen Slayer, you know the Bit will tell me everything. And she'll tell it from her point of view," he said, flicking the spent cigarette past their feet into the road. "So, why don't you tell me what happened."

He was right. Dawn would tell him everything. And Buffy was beginning to think that she enjoyed making her look like an ass when it came to Spike. It would be better if she gave him her version of the truth first.

"Fine," she finally ceded. "You and Bella left, there was a very uncomfortable conversation about claiming which, by the way, I'd like to know how my sister knew anything about vampire mating rituals in the first place." She caught his eye for a moment and then continued. "Then Anya made a big stink about seeing the two of you groping and went on about how it was nice that someone was getting orgasms around here... and then Dawn just blew it all out of proportion."

He raised his eyebrow.

"Okay, okay... maybe I blew it out of proportion," she quickly amended.

"What did the Bit say to you, Pet? What made you think she was the First?"

Buffy tried to contain her embarrassment. Why couldn't she just punch him in the nose? Violence always worked in the past. Then again, that was before Bella arrived. And Buffy was pretty sure that if she did anything to hurt Spike, she'd have one brassed-off Daywalker on her hands. She wasn't willing to risk the world for a fleeting feeling of contentment.

"I don't love you," she heard herself say in barely a whisper.

"Sing me a new one, Pet."

She noticed that he sounded more amused than upset. In fact, he didn't sound upset at all.

"Dawn accused me of being jealous."

He rubbed his chin and turned to narrow his eyes on her.

"Now why would you be jealous? Not like what we ever did meant anything to you," he pointed out.

Yes. She knew that. Maybe. She just didn't know. She didn't love him. That was clear. But what they did had meant something. She just wasn't sure what.

"You... you made me feel again."

"And you made me feel again, too, Pet. For that, I'll always be greatful," he agreed.

"But it was... not of the good. Not... right."

"Because you only see me as a monster."

"Because I don't have the luxury of giving my heart to anyone," she finally confessed. "I gave it to Angel and it almost destroyed me."

She watched him for some sort of reaction to hearing his grand-sire's name. There wasn't one.

"I know you're not Angel," she told him.

"'bout time you figured that out, Pet."

"I'll... I'll always love him," she said, tears welling up in her eyes. She looked down at her hands and shook her head, trying to clear her mind. "I'll... I'll always care about you, though. I guess I'm afraid I'm losing... a friend?"

He cocked his head to the side, narrowing his eyes on hers. A friend? That was a new one. When had they become friends? He cautiously slipped his arms around her shoulders.

"I'm not the kind of bloke who turns his back on his friends, Pet. And Bella isn't the type of woman who could love someone who did. You know, Pet... Buffy... she was thrown into this. She didn't ask for any of it. She didn't ask to be born the way she was. She didn't ask to be turned. She fought against it every step of the way. But, the Powers... you know how they like to work their will. Fuck what you want, they've got their own agenda, yeah?"

She nodded. That, they did.

"You l-love her?"

"Yeah, I do."

"I don't know how you do it," she sighed.

He was confused.

"How you can risk heartbreak over and over again," she told him. "And that's what I guess I'm most jealous of -- your ability to love again. I'm emotionally bankrupt," she laughed sarcastically.

"No, you're not, Pet. You're just a girl with a world to save. And you always put that first. Not your fault that you're the Chosen One and all that rot. Just the lot you were given. And you make the most of it. But you've got friends and family who love you -- you just have to let them do that sometimes. Realize they don't want anything from you. They just want to love you."

He always knew what to say.

"So, are we going to sit here pouting about things we can't change all night? Or are we going to kick some demon ass?"

She smiled and stood, reaching out her hand to help him up.

"Let's kick some demon ass."

"We've got the spell," Willow said, her brow furrowed in concentration. "But I don't understand how we get the First to show itself. I mean, it's come to us in various forms. But it's never come to us all at the same time. And it's not like we can just say 'hey, Firsty... want to come over for some pizza and movies?' "

Giles understood what she was saying. That seemed to be the biggest challenge. Bella was in her altar room trying to dig up the various ingredients she would need to complete the spell. Dawn felt the change in the room as soon as Bella had come back in from her talk with Spike. She waited for a bit, but found herself drawn back to the room. Something was pulling her toward Bella.

"I'm gonna go see if Bella needs any help," she said excusing herself.

Bella was rifling through an upper cabinet on her tippy-toes when Dawn came up behind her.

"Need any help?" she softly offered.

Bella nodded and began rattling off a list of items she needed from the upper shelf. She watched the teenager as she easily accessed mugwort, hellebore, belladonna and monkshood.

"Dawn, what did you mean... before at the Magick Box? That you... that you're human now?"

Dawn grinned as Bella lined up the containers of herbs on the altar.

"Guess Angel didn't give you the full monty, huh?" the teen said. "I'm a key."

Bella looked up at her, not sure of what that meant.

"Uh, I was created by the Monks of Dagon... they, uh, made me from Buffy so that she would protect me. Kind of messed with everyone's minds so that they would think I was always there. But, nope. Not so. I mean, even my own mother thought she'd given birth to me. But it never happened."

"What was the purpose?" Bella asked, disbelieving the incredible amounts of meddling done by TPTB.

"Well, I was supposed to open the gates to hell. I'm basically this huge green glowy blob of energy wrapped up in, well, in what you see. But, you know, Buffy jumped into the portal and closed the gates herself," Dawn explained.

Bella stood, her mouth agape as the young girl told her how Buffy had died and was brought back by Willow.

"You mean the witch performed a ressurrection spell?"

Dawn nodded. "Yeah, that's about right. They, uh... they ripped her out of Heaven."

Bella's hand flew up to her open mouth.

"Oh, Goddess!" she whispered. "This... this is all wrong."

She practically knocked Dawn over as she ran out of the room. Dawn was close behind as Bella stopped in front of Willow.

"I need to know exactly what you did, Willow," she told her, voice shaking to contain her rage.

Willow looked up with her with an expression of confusion and fear. She could feel the anger rolling off of Bella in peals of heat.

"Wh-what? What I did?"

"When you ressurected Buffy."

Giles' head snapped up at Bella's accusation.

"What does--"

"I need to know. Now." Bella was straining to control herself.

"Uh, I... um... the Urn of Osiris... and Mercury in retrograde... uh..." The witch was babbling afraid of why Bella was asking all these questions about something that had been over and done for quite some time. "There may have been a sacrificial fawn involved... and, uh, some pretty wiggy tests involving, uh, my passing of a live snake through my, uh, mouth."

"The spell was interrupted," Anya blurted out from behind the kitchen counter.

Bella glared at Willow. She didn't turn toward Anya's voice, but it was apparent that she heard what she had said.

"How. Was. It. Interrupted?" Bella demanded to know.

"A, uh... demon... might have run over the Urn of Osiris with a, um... a motorcycle," Willow stammered.

"Bella, what is it?" Giles asked, glasses already in hand. "We thought that we had taken care of--"

"You irresponsible fools!" Bella seethed. Her eyes were glowing preternaturally. She fought hard to keep her fangs from showing themselves. Willow cowered under her threatening gaze.

"You brought the Slayer back from the dead! And you thought that there would not be consequences?" she asked incredulously. Her eyes were practically fleying Willow. She continued to search the red-haired witch's mind and gasped in realization.

"La mia dea," she whispered, her body beginning to tremble. "You ripped her from heaven." Bella was pointing at Willow, her accusing finger shaking in realization.

"How--"

"Have you no respect for the Powers at all?" she practically roared, effectively cutting Willow off. "You-- you learn a few spells and suddenly you're Sabrina the Teenage Witch? Don't you realize that there are things... that...that... affanculo!" she swore. The meaning of the word was not lost on Giles.

"You used black magick, you stupid child! Stregheri strictly teaches that magicks used for selfish reasons will be punished in triplicate. Did you think that there would be no consequence for what you did?" Bella accused.

Giles silently wished that Spike were there. He was the only one who seemed to have any soothing effect on Bella. He reached into his pocket and fished out his cell phone. He pushed in the numbers and waited for Buffy to answer her phone.

"Uh, yes, Buffy. I think perhaps you and Spike should return immediately," he hurriedly told the Slayer.

Bella continued to rant unable to reign in her anger any longer. Willow's eyes were wide with unspoken fear as Bella's fangs slowly descended. Anya and Xander stood in the kitchen, ready to do whatever neccessary to keep Bella from harming their friend. Dawn continued to stand by Bella's side. Something in her told her that Bella wouldn't hurt any of them, although she was a little wigged out by the sudden appearance of Bella's game face.

Bella turned to Giles and shot him a questioning glare.

"Where were you while this was happening?"

He set the phone down on the table and told Bella that he had gone back to England.

"I had... no idea. Not at the time, Bella," he assured her. "As I would never have left if I knew what the children were planning."

"Who else knew?" she wanted to know. Please, she thought, don't let Spike have known.

"Spike and I didn't know, Bella," Dawn told her, placing a hand on her shoulder so that Bella would look at her. Bella was still in game face, but Dawn still felt the unexplainable draw to her that she had earlier. It was almost as if the Powers had mystically linked them. "They didn't tell us... because they knew."

Bella nodded, appreciating the young woman's honesty and understanding. Something in the girl's eyes was comforting. Bella's face slowly shifted back to human visage.

"Mannaggia!" She rubbed her temple. This was even worse than she thought. "You opened a can of worms. You took God and nature into your own, inexperienced hands. Didn't you even stop to think that there would be consequences? What if she had come back wrong?"

Willow averted her gaze.

"She did, didn't she?" Bella shook her head. These children had disrupted the course of nature. "Do you know what you did, Witch?" Bella asked Willow.

The red-head's eyes were full of unshed tears. She shook her head, scared of the answer.

Buffy and Spike practically ran back to the brownstone. Buffy could hear Bella yelling and cursing in Italian through Giles' phone. He must have left it on after setting it back on the table, she surmised. She listened to the conversation that was unfolding. Spike ran ahead of her and threw open the door to see his Daywalker sheathed from head to toe in glowing rage.

"You pissed off God."