Chapter 3

Weeks later, Buffy again found herself at Spike's front door. The vampire hadn't been around for a while and for reasons that she couldn't understand, it bothered her. Spike was a perfectly capable vampire, not to mention wealthy, there was no reason for her to be checking up on him. Yet her she was standing at the door of his apartment.

Buffy knocked on the door and called his name but there was no answer, she waited a second then decided to kick the door in.

Entering the apartment she discovered that the place was a mess, Spike had obviously had some trouble recently. She scanned the room for any piles of dust and gave a sigh of relief when there was none.

From the room next to the kitchen, Buffy heard a low moaning, and she hurried into the room, "Spike is that you?"

Spike was sprawled out on his bed looking badly beaten, bruises all over and several cuts, Buffy kneeled down next to him, "Spike what happened?"

"Had a little visit.' He wheezed out, "Nothing to worry about Pet."

Buffy ran a hand down his chest but pulled back when he winced. "I'm going to clean these cuts for you, just lay back and relax."

When Buffy returned to the room, Spike seemed to have passed out. Quickly she worked cleaning and dressing his wounds. When she finished, Buffy knelt down next to his ear and whispered, "My real name is Buffy Summers, and I'll be back later." Getting up she gave him a quick kiss on the forehead and left.

A few days later Spike, fully healed, finally ventured out of his bedroom and smiled. Buffy was lying fast asleep on his couch in front of the television.

This time it was Spike's turn to whisper in her ear, "What sort of name is 'Buffy' anyways?"

A smile spread across the slayer's face, "Like 'Spike' is any better."

"Knew you weren't sleeping, wanted to give my thanks to the good doctor that patched me up the other day."

Buffy sat up, "Who did that to you anyways?"

Spike took an unnecessary breath and sat down in front of her, " I ran into some unfriendly vamps, who were looking to take down LA's only master vampire. There never was any message from my Sire." He paused to glance at the slayer in front of him, "Also it turns out that I was a legend in the vampire community, I've killed two Slayers in my time. One during the boxer rebellion and another in New York."

"I knew there was a reason you seemed fishy." Buffy frowned.

Spike stood up, "Anyways, I'm planning on taking a little trip to London, I think I've found a way to get my memory back, but I have to find the gem of Amara first."

"The what?"

"Vampire equivalent to the holy grail, its got some mystical powers and what not. Makes a vampire truly immortal. No dusty ending in the sun or at the sharp end of a stake. Supposed to just a myth but I got a fuzzy feeling its not."

"So you plan on dragging me to England, so you can find something that probably doesn't exist?"

Spike stood up looking irritated, "I'm going to England for the book that says the location of the gem. And I don't recall saying that you were coming with me.'

Buffy pushed herself off the couch, "You didn't really think that I would let you go alone did you? No way buster." Shaking a finger at him, "So when are we leaving."

"Tonight."

"What!" Buffy exclaimed, "God Spike, you could have given me a head's up at least." She rushed out of the living room and headed towards the room she had been using while he was healing, "I have so much packing to do, we'll never get out of here on time!"

The vampire followed her, "Decided to move in after all?" Buffy shot him a look as she began packing, "Its only going to take a day or two Pet, no need to get your knickers in a twist."

Buffy slammed a pile of clothes on the bed, " My 'knickers' are not twisted thank you very much, and just because its only a few days is no reason to be unprepared. I suppose you're just going to take the clothes that you're wearing?" Off his look, "That is so gross, at least put on some clean clothes and take a shower, God haven't you ever heard of hygiene?"

Spike rolled his eyes, "Years of living on the run, those things just become less important." He left the room and five minutes later, Buffy smiled as she heard the shower water running.