Summary: Buffy's dad returns; S6, post DoubleMeat Palace Disclaimer: Still not my characters or my world.

A/N: Again, a million smooches and thank yous to spikeNdru and stoney321 for the beta work. Love you guys!

I am (labouriously) trying to bring this sucker to a close. It will definately push 20 chapters. And seeing as how it is now essay time, I'll probably be hit with inspiration more often :p

Chapter 15 is about ready to be beta'd, so I can promise a much shorter in-between-update time :)


Chapter 14

"She looks up to you."

Choking. "Me? No! Take it back!"

"She looks up to you," Hank affirmed.

Spike sighed. "Yeah, I know. God knows why."

"I'm not really sure what to do with her. Besides let her learn to fight. She needs that."

"She does."

"But…I mean, I think things are going okay. But…isn't that usually when they end up in the crapper? Me and teenagers…never goes well. Why can't they skip past it?" Hank looked plaintively at his drink.

"Jus' listen to her. 'S all she wants."


Buffy walked into the kitchen. Willow was experimenting with something on the stove and Dawn was doing her homework at the table.

"Where's Dad?" she asked, moving towards Willow. She was still hoping for another delicious meal.

"At Willy's with Spike," said Dawn.

"Not sure," replied Willow. "Hope you can make do with my cookin' tonight."

Buffy smiled. "I'm sure it'll be delicious. Hope dad'll be home in time to have some."

"Not likely. He's at Willy's. With Spike."

Buffy frowned. "He's where?"

"Tonight is daddy-vampy bonding day, remember?"

Buffy groaned. "I so don't want to know what they're talking about."

Dawn tried to hide her grin. She couldn't wait to hear Spike complain about it. "Well, dad mentioned that he wanted to talk to Spike about you…and possibly give and receive a little advice from the ages."

Buffy stared at her sister. "Get advice. From Spike. On what, home hair care?" She paused. "Oh, god. I hope not!" Inside she had a sinking feeling. A heart to heart with Spike right after they'd broken up? Poor dad.

"I guess I should save some, then," said Willow. "I'm not as good a cook as Mr. Summers, but after a drink-a-thon with Spike at Willy's he'll want something that's not deep fried."


"What's that?"

"It's bloody brilliant is what it is. 'S called a Bloomin'…Flowerin'…Onion.

Hank broke some off and tried it. "'S good! How do they make it?"

Spike's eyes lit up. "Well…"


Buffy pushed some of her food to the other side of her plate. It wasn't that Willow was a bad chef. Not at all. She was just…worried. Jokes aside, she really wondered what Spike and her dad were talking about. Were they deciding what was best for her? As usual, it'd be easier to do while she was elsewhere. She snorted to herself.

Willow looked up. "You okay, Buff? You seem…not here."

Buffy tried to smile. "Just worried."

"About your dad? I'm sure he'll be fine. Besides, Spike knows that if anything happens to him you'll kick his ass."

Buffy pushed the food back to the other side of her plate. "Yeah."

Dawn eyed her sister. "Buffy, they're probably talking about cars or something. Don't worry."

Buffy looked up. "I'm just…" She stopped and smiled. "You know, I'm not so sure why I'm worried. I guess…I'm just glad he's back. I don't want anything to ruin it."

Dawn smiled back. "I know what you mean. Before I was angry with Dad, then he was just convenient…now I'm actually glad he's here. He's such a dork, though."

Buffy grinned. "He is, isn't he."


"He had this red thing for a bit. Awful car. Penis extension. Beginning of the end, really. Could tell ole Rupes was havin' a bit of a crisis."

Hank squinted a bit. Spike's face was just a little out of focus. "But, I thought he was a real together guy?"

Spike swore inwardly. "Oh, he was. Is. All the strain of acting like the father was starting to do him in, 'specially after bringing the Slayer back. Buffy was dead set against him goin'. She needed the help. She din' know it, but Rupes was takin' care of some of the bills."

Hank felt a surge of jealousy coupled with shame. It should have been him helping Buffy and taking care of things and being the together guy. This Giles was an interloper. An interloper who left, as far as Hank could tell, right when Buffy needed him most. Hank felt a little pride. He was here now, making things better, while this 'Rupes' was off in England having his crisis.

Of course, Hank was having trouble deciding what he was angrier about: the fact that Giles took his place or the fact that he left it.


Spike slapped some money down on the bar, knocking over one of the many glasses. It was a good thing he was sober…enough to at least get the money on the bar.

He'd asked Hank a question, one that he'd been burning to ask. He was still waiting for the answer.

"She din' need me."

Spike tried to focus on the man while he talked, but it was a lot harder than normal. There were…two of him.

"I mean, it was obvious, you know? Like, I'd get home an' Joyce'd make me be the bad guy an' she-Buffy-wouldn' even talk to me when she came to visit an' I thought, 'Hank, that girl has grown past you.' That family has grown past your…an' there was Sherri…she needed me…an'…an' she was real hot. Like, real hot. So we went to Spain. Espagne!" Hank laughed drunkenly.

Spike tried to latch onto part of the conversation as he held Hank upright in an attempt to leave the bar. Something didn't fit…something…

"That's bollocks, mate. O' course she needed you. Look how miserable she's been since Rupert left. She's always needed somthin'. Some guy to tell her…to be her father. It coulda bin you. Then it was Rupes, but he took off."

Hank squinted at Spike as they walked out the door. "Who? I mean, why'd he leave?"

"Cause he though the slayer din' need him an'more."

"But she did?"

"She does."


Buffy heard the tapping on the door and half-heartedly hoped it wasn't a Scooby emergency. She wouldn't mind seeing the rest of the gang, she just didn't really want to fight monsters at the moment. Besides she had all the monstery stuff she could handle in the horrible green dress shoved to the back of her closet. "Kill Anya" had just made it to the top of her To Do list.

Willow walked in from the kitchen, a dirty pot still in hand.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"So you're not expecting Xander or anyone?"

"Nope."

Buffy shrugged and reached for the door handle. She opened the door and made another indent in the metal. Why was this always happening to her?

"Hey..."

"Giles!" Willow threw her arms around the man in the doorway, getting a little tomato sauce on the back of his jacket.

"Willow! So good to see you," he said, a little short of breath from the impact of the hug. He pulled back and smiled. "Buffy! How are you?"

Buffy blinked and then smiled weakly. "Great. Just…great."


Hank and Spike made their way back up Revello Drive. The progress was a bit slower than usual, as both men were weaving and stumbling as they walked, arms draped across each other's shoulders. From a distance it was difficult to tell who was supporting whom. Spike was attempting to sing "Anarchy in the UK", while Hank was desperately trying to remember the lyrics to "A Lighter Shade of Pale". And the louder Hank sang, the more Spike tried to be heard.

Light blossomed in the window of the house they were passing. A man opened said window and leaned out.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" The man yelled. "It's three a.m.!"

Spike started to sing louder, switching to "Sex and Violence", while Hank tried to find the source of the yelling.

He giggled at the window. "Shhhh! You'll wake someone up!"

The man's face turned brick red. "You already have, asshole!"

"Sorry, sir. We'll get these two out of your hair," said a voice from behind Hank. He turned and endeavored to bring the figure into focus while the irate man let loose a string of curses that Hank was sure he'd find more offensive under normal circumstances.

"C'mon, Mr. Summers. Let's get you home," said the figure…figures. There were two. One was a lot smaller.

"Harris!" crowed Spike, throwing his arms around the bigger figure.

Xander grimaced. A drunken vampire and a drunken Buffy's father. What fun.

"Xander, we have to get them back to Buffy before they harm themselves," said Anya, carefully staying out of reach of both intoxicated men. "Mr. Summers is larger than Spike and I am smaller than you. I don't want to be bowled over by an over-enthusiastic embrace."

Hank clasped the only area of Xander's shoulder that was available due to Spike's encompassing hug. "Xna—Xam—Harris! You shoul' come have a drink with us!"

Xander pried Spike's arms from his shoulders. "What an offer! And normally I'd be first in line to have a drink with you two, but I think you've had enough drinks for the both of us. Now…let's get you home. Buffy has some news."


Hank held onto the doorframe. As fun as Willy's had been, he was glad to be back home. He patted the wall a little, taking a second to let the room swim into focus.

"Slayer!" called out Spike, "I've brought the Wanker back in one piece!" He started to giggle and Hank joined in.

Buffy came into the kitchen to see both her father and Spike propped up against the door, Xander and Anya looking helpless next to them.

"We found them on the way home making friends. We decided to bring them with us," said Xander, trying to grin.

Buffy raised her eyebrows at the state the two men were in. "Hey, dad. Have fun?"

"It was bloody fantastic!" Hank had to catch himself after an over enthusiastic hand gesture.

Buffy moved over to her father, putting his arm over her shoulder. "C'mon, dad. Lets get you up to bed."

Hank suddenly didn't feel well. The room just wouldn't stop swimming. "I think that's a good idea."

Buffy looked back at the door where Spike was still giggling. "Xander, can you take Spike down to the basement? I want him to be here tomorrow morning so I can kill him."

"Aye, aye!" he said, saluting. "And then we get the news, yeah? Please tell me it's not that Spike and your dad are drunk."

Buffy felt her stomach twist as she brought her dad through the living room. Giles was back. Staying with her for a bit…with her dad here too. This was not going to go well.


Giles watched Buffy half-carry a man through the living room. Frowning he turned to Willow.

She grinned, looking at the scene. "Looks like Mr. Summers tried to match Spike drink for drink." She turned to Giles, mouth dropping at his widening eyes. "She didn't tell you her father was back…did she?"