Somehow she hadn't been quite sure he would come back, but when he stood at her doorstep she felt very much relieved.

"Can I come in?" he asked with awkward politeness.

"Do you want to?" she answered uncharacteristically shy.

"Yeah," Spike smiled at her nervously and walked past her following her invitation. He stepped from one foot to the other uncomfortably, and then decided on sitting down on the couch. Tense silence ensued and stretched on to the point of becoming embarrassing.

"I've seen Buffy," she suddenly blurted out and immediately regretted it.

"You did what!" he blinked in astonishment.

"Oh, don't act so surprised. When Angel talks about her his eyes get all misty…and every time her name is mentioned you two start beating each other up…She was like some mystical creature…a frigging vampire slaying fairy. It's only natural I wanted to meet her."

"And?"

"She seemed nice. We've talked… It helped me figure some things out, clear my head," she didn't know what he expected her to say.

"Good," his eyes fell on her wrist, noticing the absence of the bracelet he had given her. It felt like someone had hit him in the stomach. It suddenly made him realize the seriousness of the situation.

"You said you didn't want me to apologize…I won't," he started clumsily.

"You what! You won't!" she was already at her feet, her eyes sparkling dangerously.

Uncharacteristically this time he was the one of them to remain calm. "Yes, but before loose it, let me explain," he grabbed her wrist and gently pulled her back down.

"Fine, I'm listening," she crossed her arms in defiance.

A couple of seconds passed, which he spent desperately searching for the right words. He suddenly felt cramped, so he took off his duster and laid it down beside him. Lisa let out an exasperate huff, thinking that he was doing it to buy some time, which was partly the truth…then her gaze fell on the coat. Something was strange about it. It looked different. Ignoring the baffled look he shot her, she grabbed the piece of clothing and ran her hands over it curiously. The edges were not worn away, the lining was completely intact. It was brand new! She looked at him in disbelief.

"What happened to your old coat?" Lisa asked completely stunned.

"I got blown up. There wasn't much left of it except for a couple of lousy shreds."

"And you're actually this calm about it?"

"Sometimes you have to let go of old things," his gaze bore into her with unexpected intensity and made her shiver ever so slightly.

Lisa knew what those words meant, but still she needed him to say it out loud, so that she could believe it and had something to hold onto. "I understand," she answered.

Then at the most inopportune moment, because Spike had already opened his mouth to speak, her cell phone started ringing. She mentally tried to silence it, but it merrily continued its nerve racking onslaught on their ears. "Sorry," she muttered and picked up the telephone from the table to silence it immediately. Just out of habit her gaze automatically fell on the display – the number of Angel's office blinked repeatedly on the display. "Shit!" she cursed out loud. "I'm so sorry, but I do have to get this, it's the office."

"Peaches," Spike growled, clenching his fists unconsciously the second the other vampire's name slipped from his mouth.

"Yes," her voice sounded rather annoyed, when she answered the phone, a fact that Spike noted with satisfaction. "Can't this wait till tomorrow? I'm actually in the middle of something…Yes, he's with me…No, we're not and for your sake I'll try to forget you just said that," Lisa rolled her eyes. "Fine, but that means you'll pay me over-hours plus an extra bonus, understood? Great! I'll call you when it's done."

She threw the cell phone on the couch with a contemptuous gesture.

"So?" he asked with a sour look on his face. His anger was more directed against Angel than anybody else. They had nearly managed to make up and right at this very moment this stupid bloke had to call. It couldn't have waited 5 more minutes. Bollocks!

"His highness wants us to go to the cemetery were a horde of ghouls has broken loose and is currently munching merrily on the poor custodian. We're supposed to stop them before they decide the town is a better place to snack, if, here I let me quote your beloved sire, and only if we could actually stop humbling each other like hormonal teenagers for a minute," her voice was dripping with sarcasm. "I so want to kick his ass for that."

"Well, guess who's next in line," he sighed.

A couple of minutes later they arrived at the cemetery. The wheels of Lisa's car came to a screeching halt and the loud music inside the car died away, when the engine stopped running. It had been the only sound on the way here, since neither of them had been very talkative.

"Okay, let's talk strategy," Lisa said, leaning back in the driver seat. Her eyes were fixed on the large iron door that formed the main entrance of the cemetery. It looked very much like a grinning mouth with gigantic teeth, which was not such a bad metaphor after all. An ironic smile spread on her face. After all it was eating something. It was constantly swallowing up people, dead people.

"There isn't much to talk about. We go in, we smash, we leave, end of the bloody story," he fingered with the lighter inside his pocket, the cigarette was already clenched between his lips.

"Except if we find the spot where the ritual was performed – this way we could save us a whole lot of time, but until we get there, we'll go with your plan. You remember what I told you about ghouls, right?" she fixed him with her eyes intently.

"Brain's the size of a pea, hungry all the time. Humans and everything else that moves equals nummy little treat. Yeah, got that covered, love. But there is a thing I never got though…"

She gave him a pointed look, thinking cynically 'just one thing?'

"A couple of words to those zombie blokes and they get all nice and sleepy, but you can't do the same for our pea-brained friends? I mean…come on..."

"Before I'd get as far they'd probably be chewing on my arm. Undoing someone else's magic can be pretty tough; it might actually take some time. So we stick with the plan, alright?"

"As long as I get to hit something," he shrugged.

"Chances are pretty good."

They got out of the car. He lit his cigarette. The usual ritual – she didn't want him to smoke inside the car, because she said the seats would absorb the smoke and the interior would smell like an ashtray for weeks.

Lisa opened up the trunk and rummaged through its contents. "Sword or something heavier?" she offered casually. Angel loved sending Spike and her on those little extra fieldtrips. And she could imagine why. It was basically his way of getting rid off the blonde vampire for a couple of nights, so that he could recover from his constant company. Of course, since Spike and her worked together on a regular basis, the trunk of Lisa's car had gradually changed into something which resembled a mobile armoury suspiciously.

"Nah, I'll go with the sword," he said and took one last drag of his cigarette ere he brutally extinguished its glow underneath his boot.

She shrugged, handed him the requested weapon and closed the trunk.

He arched his eyebrows at her, "No sharp and deadly toys for you, luv? You know we've got plenty to go around," he stopped in front of the gate to observe it more closely and consider how to get in.

"I'll be fine. I don't need one. I've got you, after all," she answered after while. The first friendly thing she said to him in days. If he thought about it more closely, it had actually sounded like a compliment.

"That you do, love. That you do," he admitted softly. Could that mean that maybe…? He turned around as if to verify the expression on her face corresponded with what she had said. Lisa was smiling at him. It was a small step, but it was something. At least now she didn't look anymore like she wanted to stake him on the spot.

He experimentally tore at the heavy iron lock that secured the gate. "You know we never got to finish that little talk of ours…," Spike said casually.

"Yes, unfortunately," she sighed and stepped beside him. Was it unfortunate they hadn't managed to make up yet or that she hadn't been able to rip his heart out by now? Her hand touched his, when she motioned him to let her handle the door. It stayed there a little bit longer than it would have, if had it just been a casual touch. So it was that kind of 'unfortunate'. He grinned in relief, which passed Lisa by because she had already started fumbling with her picklock.

She was pretty good at it; an ability which might have caused any other man some worries, but not Spike. It was nice to be occasionally reminded of the fact that underneath her all-time-in-control-routine there was actually a wilder side which could easily be stirred if you just knew how. The lock was open in no time.

"You're lucky to have me, because without of me, you would be standing here all night," she called out over her shoulder as she opened the gate.

"Don't get me wrong, kitten, I'm grateful, but I could have jumped over the wall, you know…being a vampire and all," he casually shouldered his sword and strode after her.

She made a face, but refrained from commenting his last remark.

The cemetery seemed suspiciously quiet. Before them the way climbed a little slope and from its peek one could overlook the whole area. Graves and Crypts were arranged by pure chance, not thanks to any careful planning from a landscape architect. A couple of trees here and there completed the picture.

Lisa looked around with squinted eyes to get a clearer view of her surroundings. Her endeavour was rendered slightly more difficult by the fact that the scenery was only light by moonlight and that she was short-sighted.

"Forgot about your glasses again…that right?" he winked at her conspiratorially.

"Will you tell me already what you see or do I have to buy you a bow, tights and a blond longhair wig first?" she answered trying to seem gruff, though their banter made her feel oddly good-humouredly. Their interaction had started to become almost normal again

"Since you've asked so nicely…there are actually a few beasties down there…"

His words died away. Spike suddenly felt the pressure of her hand on his arm. It held on to him in a vicelike grip. "There is one behind us," she whispered at him, her wide eyes trying to convey the urgency of the situation.

"How close?" He didn't need to ask how she knew. As a necromancer she could sense stuff like that.

"Not close enough yet. Let's pretend we haven't noticed. I'll let you know when it's time," she told him in a low voice.

"Not yet," Lisa could feel the muscles underneath his coat tense, "almost there," a twig cracked very close behind them, "Now!"

With a fluid motion Spike whirled around and neatly embedded his sword in the ghoul's skull. The creature let out a surprise squeal, which unfortunately was very loud –and could probably be heard all over the grounds – then it slumped to the floor unceremoniously. Its ugly visage seemed to be the morbid parody of a human face. It was strangely contorted and bestial, governed by an unnatural wildness. Filthy dark hair sprouted from its head and rags were hanging loosely from its body. The hands – or claws, to be more precisely, were clenching and unclenching in final tremors. They stopped when he retrieved his weapon with on forceful pull. Spike looked at the blade disgustedly and then wiped it clean on the grass.

"How many did you count?" Lisa face had grown uncharacteristically pale.

"A couple of them."

"How many!"

"Ten maybe," he said unaware of the danger they were in.

"Ten! They are going to hunt us…a pack…we have to get out of here," she already started moving towards the car.

"What's the sudden rush about? We did manage to kill the last of them pretty easily," he told her lightly.

"Back then they were only three. That's less complicated, but a whole pack…we can't handle them with just a sword… that's suicide," Lisa now pulled at his arm with a certain vehemence. "Move!" she yelled at him, starting to panic. She could sense the beasts getting closer, alarmed by the call of their fallen comrade and the smell of blood.

They started sprinting in the direction of the car and inwardly Lisa spoke a prayer of thanks to whatever god that listened for letting her decide to wear her running shoes tonight. She could hear the sound of her own heart beat inside her ears – it made her nervous. They probably wouldn't make it to the car. Without having to turn around she knew that the ghouls were gaining on them. For that estimation it wasn't necessary to have any kind of mystical abilities, a proper sense of hearing was enough; the slurping sound that stemmed from the creatures' feet and hands, as they moved very much in an apelike manner, which looked clumsy, but was rather effectively, could hardly be overheard. Now her fear had become a certainty: They would not make it!

Spike seemed to assess the situation similarly. His eyes searched their surroundings frantically. A couple of meters from them there was a crypt. It was built as a smaller verisimilitude of a Grecian temple with the difference that it had a heavy iron door in the front. Maybe if they were lucky it was unlocked…

He grabbed Lisa's hand and dragged her towards the crypt. She followed him blindly, trusting that he knew what he was doing. Lisa could hear the angry growls of the ghouls behind them, as they made one last effort to catch their pray before it was able to escape. Only a couple more steps…then they would be at the door. Spike started pulling at it desperately, which made them lose precious time, but it finally gave away. It opened with a protesting squeak. Lisa was literally hurled inside. Her landing on the stone floor was rather ungentle, then she was suddenly engulfed by total blackness. She heard something huge collide with the steely solidity of the door – it sounded like someone was beating on a tin drum with a gigantic drumstick. "Spike?" Lisa called out into the dark timidly. She wasn't sure he had made it inside. The last couple of seconds had been a blur.

"Present," she heard him answer and immediately felt very much relieved. His voice sounded slightly strained. The scraping of boots on the floor was clearly audible, coming from the general direction of the door. He was probably trying to keep it shut by leaning against it. Lisa followed the sound, walking blindly through the darkness. Her outstretched hand finally connected with his shoulder; from there it searchingly strayed down to the pockets of his duster.

"As much as I appreciate the thought, but right now is not time to get all touchy-feely," he said between clenched teeth. It took him quite some effort to keep the door shut, as the ghouls were constantly throwing themselves at it with the patient, but stupid stubbornness only dead things could have.

She didn't deem his comment worthy of a reply, instead she continue her search, which was finally merited with success. With a triumphant laugh she produced the lighter and instantly its little flame radiated a small cone of light. They were standing in a circular room. Its walls and floor were made of marble, which had become dull thanks to the dust that had settled on it in the course of many years. No one had been here to grieve the loss of the deceased for a long time. In true mock Grecian custom there were four torches positioned on strategic points of the circular room. Tacky – that was the word she had been searching for in her head. Lisa's eyes fell on the two crucifixes that stood on each side of the entrance. They were made of bronze and not fixed to the floor. They most certainly didn't go with the general décor, though she was happy they were there. It seemed they had not run out of luck yet.

"Sorry, God," Lisa said ere she grabbed one of those crosses, "but this is kind of an emergency." She saw Spike briefly flinch from the corner of her eye, but this wasn't the time to be considerate of his natural aversion to crucifixes. The lighter went out. She got to her knees and inspected the little crack between door and floor, carefully holding the small flame of the lighter directly in front of it.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" Spike called out. The ghouls were still coming at the door and he wouldn't be able to last much longer.

"I'm saving your sorry ass, honey. What did you think?" she positioned the cross in front of the crack and pushed until it was positively stuck. It was working like a door stopper. She did the same with the other cross, but this time she placed it right in the middle of the door.

"Very clever," he said appreciatively.

"Thanks," he heard her voice answer from nearby. Since the lighter had gone out again Spike could only guess where she was. He registered her move in the greyish twilight of the room, though, which was seconds later illuminated by the flickering flame of a torch. She held it in her hand like a weapon. "Now let's see if the door holds. Step away!"

Spike cautiously retreated from the door until he stood next to her. Their eyes were fixed expectantly on the entrance. A new assault came, followed by the sound of a body hitting the door. It did hold.