Chapter 19:

Saffron was behind the counter of the shop, she was checking through the orders they had put in to get the shop re-stocked after Harmony and her gang ruined it. She cancelled all the orders for decorative unicorns, hoping that would put Harmony off coming back. She wasn't threatened by Harmony, she was just annoying. She was satisfied everything was accounted for, put the book down and picked up her tarot deck. She started to shuffle the cards and she was thinking about something, she'd had a number stuck in her head all day and she was going to see if the cards could tell her anything. Riley had walked over then and he didn't look pleased when he warned Saffron.

"You're playing a dangerous game, Saff"

"It's just Tarot, Riley. I've been doing it longer than I can remember. It's safe" She shrugged and looked back to her cards. She wasn't really sure why he was talking to her; they hadn't really spoken since she had broken up with Graham. The two of them really didn't have much in common.

"No. Not that, I mean with Spike" He stated, so only she could hear him. She tensed at his words, she fumbled and dropped some of her cards on the counter.

"S-Spike?" She questioned, not looking up as she started to pick up the cards. She had gone pink at his tone and implication.

"Yeah. I know. I don't know what's with women and the vampire thing but he's dangerous. Find someone else to have your fun with. I'm telling you this because it's like we're family and he's still a threat" Riley explained. She could tell he seemed to be genuine, but she was too panicked she'd been found out to appreciate he was being kind.

"Riley it's really not-" Saffron tried to cover herself, she wasn't really sure how she was feeling about Riley, she hadn't really seen him as family. In fact, she saw Angel as more of a family than him and he hadn't been in the picture in a long time.

"I won't tell her. But it needs to end. Now"

"And you can tell me what to do because why?" She hissed, a heat rising in her face from her annoyance. Who gave him the right to tell her what's best for her? He barely knew her and the only conversations they'd had were about the weather or Graham. Riley moved as if he was off to tell Buffy then and there. She grabbed his arm and asked him to stop. "Ok, ok. Won't look, won't touch. Consider it over, just please don't tell" She pleaded, trying anything to stop him telling Buffy. She glanced at the others before looking back up at him, trying her best not to show how desperate she was for him to keep quiet.

"I understand that it's embarrassing. As long as you don't see him again" She tensed when he said being with Spike was embarrassing, she felt horrible but she couldn't have Buffy knowing yet. She nodded and followed Riley to where the rest of the group were sorting the store out. She was noticeably quieter than normal as she listened to the current conversation.

Giles started to explain how he hit the demon that had come to threaten him in the store before they had all got there. Saffron smiled at the way he was acting it out and told him he must have looked very cool defending the shop. They were looking through books to find out what demon Giles had met before and Willow passed him a book to look at. Saffron continued to shuffle her deck, she was trying to look busy so she could avoid Riley's eyes.

"Toth!" Giles exclaimed; he'd found the demon that had come in earlier. He had interrupted Riley and Buffy had told him that Giles had just called him a moron in British slang.

"No. That's Toff, you Toff" Saffron rolled her eyes at Buffy and smiled at her, ducking as she threw a ball of paper at her cousin for calling her a moron. She laughed and threw it back, but Buffy just caught it. "Damn slayer reflexes" She muttered. They eventually made a plan and decided to meet later that night to go on the look out for the demon that was after Buffy.

Anya and Saffron walked to the Espresso pump to get everyone coffees while they carried on working in the shop. Giles had given them the money and Saff had asked Anya to come to help carry things. She had complained at first, but she liked Saffron more than the other two girls so she reluctantly agreed when Xander gave her a look. Saffron was in deep thought as they walked down the street, she was replaying the conversation she'd had with Riley a few hours ago and she didn't know what to do. She would have to warn Spike. Protect him, and them both, somehow.

"You look strange" Anya stated and bobbed her head in agreement with herself.

"Thanks, An" Saffron sighed.

"Well, you look like you're thinking a lot. I've been thinking about the apartment of my dreams that I can't have" She pulled a sad face, as if the whole world was against her. She had fallen out with Xander and didn't understand why she couldn't have everything that she wanted.

"We both have big problems then" Saffron concluded, aware that Anya's problems seemed big to her. There was only a tiny hint of sarcasm in her words.

"You have a big problem too? Is it money? I haven't got any and I want lots of nice things" Anya continued talking while Saffron thought about what Riley would do. It was only a matter of time until he told Buff, despite him assuring her otherwise.

"Yeah. Money" She pretended distractedly, knowing Anya wouldn't keep her mouth shut if she told her the truth, "I'll get my wage in when the shop's up and running though. Maybe you should get a job?" Anya seemed to consider this at first but shook her head. She had read somewhere that it was customary for the man to provide the money and the woman got the pretty things. They rounded the corner and saw that the Espresso pump had been drawn on with green spray paint. A single number was painted on the side of the shop, it had been the same one in her thoughts earlier. "Three" She whispered, tracing the graffiti on the wall of the Espresso pump before Anya frowned impatiently at her and dragged her inside.

xoxoxo

The gang were making their way through the Sunnydale dump and Saffron had her black hoodie over her nose because of the smell. It was the worst. Why couldn't demons hang out in scented candle shops? They turned sharply as they heard something rooting in the trash and Saff felt a jolt of adrenaline from the others around them. They had heard something.

"Spike!" Saffron couldn't help herself shouting, her face had a look of horror as she saw him filling a trolley full of crap. He saw her face and looked away sheepishly, noticing the whole gang was there. Bloody great.

"What are you doing here, Spike?" Riley asked, his weapon pointed firmly at him. Saffron cringed at the harsh tone and wondered if it was because he thought that Spike was having sex with her to get to Buffy. Spike replied sarcastically and told them he was scavenging and Saffron cringed. That's where he got his stuff from. Willow told him the lamps he'd found were pretty and saffron smiled slightly at her friend, she was pleased she was being kind to him. Maybe she wouldn't mind too much when Riley inevitably snitched on her to everyone. She had decided she didn't trust Riley even a little bit. They asked Spike about the demon and then they were quickly attacked. The creepy looking thing kept blasting his weapon towards Buffy and Spike jumped in front of Saffron as she ducked out of the way. Riley noticed this and grabbed Spike and hauled him away from her while Buffy was distracted by the demon. The demon blasted Spike's lamp and he shouted at the demon, looked at the way Riley was standing between him and Saff and growled slightly. Saffron mouthed for him to leave and that she'd come and see him later. The others were trying to help fight and Xander got blasted with the light as he tried to protect Buffy. They all ran to help Xander up and Saffron looked behind her to see Spike leaving with his trolley full of rubbish. She rolled her eyes and went back to help Xander to his feet.

Spike was back in his crypt, he had constructed a mannequin from the trash he had found at the dump. He was reciting what sounded like a well-practiced monologue. Something about the slayer's blood and her skull being used to drink from. He then kicked the head aggressively and someone caught the head, still with the blonde wig attached, from the corner of the room and looked at the head in her hands in dismay. Her hands wrapped around the head, silver nail polish glinted in the dimly lit crypt as she studied what was in her hands.

"Who in the fuck is this supposed to be?" Saffron asked, knowing full well who it was supposed to be. Spike kicked the body too and Saffron frowned at him.

"She's the reason we can't be together, love" He said, pointing dramatically at the body parts he had kicked over the floor of the crypt. She dropped the head onto the floor and put her hands in her pockets.

"We are together, Spike" She insisted, frowning at him.

"Yeah, well, some days it doesn't feel like it. Sneaking around, not telling a soul. Or anyone without a soul for that matter" His shoulders sagged as he explained feelings he'd been bottling up, "Don't think I didn't notice the way you looked at me when you saw me at the dump. You were embarrassed of me" He pointed at her and walked towards her.

"I'm not embarrassed Spike! I just- well, I didn't realise the drawer you'd got for me was from Dumps r us" She raised her voice, she hadn't expected Spike to react like that. She thought he understood it wasn't just about her, it was about protecting him too. Buffy was going to try to stake him if she knew he'd been anywhere near her.

"You seemed pretty ashamed, love. Not just of the way I found the fixtures. Telling me to leave and hiding behind your cousin's beefcake" She rolled her eyes at how he'd mentioned Riley. It had reminded her why she had dropped by to begin with.

"Spike, I'm not- I can't lose family. I love them all, I can't-"

"Oh, love is it?"

"Spike, not this again" She crossed her arms over her chest. She had felt guilty she hadn't said it to him. She was finding it hard. She was an emotional, romantic person, but she struggled to put her own feelings into words.

"It's interesting you admit the love for Red and the watcher. Even the boy, but you can't even-" Spike was cut off from his rant, she didn't want to come across as harsh, but she needed to get her words out too.

"Spike, please. This isn't the time. I came to warn you about Riley anyway." Spike just stared at her after he had been cut off.

"Oh yeah? Captain cardboard been left out in the rain?" He eventually asked, not really bothered about anything she had to say about Riley.

"Spike. He knows about us. Just be careful around him"

"Jumped up soldier boy doesn't concern me, pet"

"He's told me to chuck you or he'll tell buffy. He thinks we're just shagging"

"Maybe we are" He shrugged. He was hurt but this didn't give him the excuse to be cruel. She stared at him and nodded curtly. She turned on her heel and left without another word. He sighed and looked at the ceiling, annoyed with himself. Spike took a deep, unneeded breath before deciding on his next move. He went to the lower level of the crypt to find something to drink.

xoxoxo

Saffron and Giles were sat in the magic box, they had taken a break from setting things up and had instead started to research the prophecy attached to Saffron, as they had been doing every week. Saffron had gotten bored of the reading and the guessing, but she stuck at it. For Giles more than anything else. Giles had mentioned that Xander had dropped in and explained that there was another one of him that needed to be stopped. Saffron knew this, Xander had come to her too, he had been in a horrible state and she promised that if she saw the other one she'd stamp on his foot.

She had been staring at the same page for a while, she couldn't think. There was that number again. It was being whispered over and over in her head, she couldn't get it to shut up. Three. She blinked and shook her head, hoping it would get rid of the whispers. But it wouldn't stop. She looked up at Giles, her eyesight had started to go fuzzy in the corners and she blinked slowly to get rid of it.

"Saffron?" Giles stood up and walked over to the girl, he touched her upper arm in concern and this tipped her over the edge, she could feel his worry and concern and it shot through her like an icy stake in the chest. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she collapsed into Giles' arms.

Saffron opened her eyes and had to shut them again just as quickly. She was surrounded by a white light and it was so bright it hurt her eyes. She slowly got used to the light and hoisted herself up. There was nothing around her except blank space. She started to step forwards but was pulled backwards by a force. She landed on her ass and looked up to see the most beautiful woman looking down on her, she didn't appear strong enough to be able to pull her with that much force. Saffron stared at her in awe, the woman was so beautiful it had taken her breath away. She had long, wavy hair that looked as if it was spun from gold and her eyes were a shocking purple. They were so unusual she felt lost inside her gaze for a long time. The woman was wearing a plain, white gown and when Saffron looked down she noticed that she was wearing an identical one, but in black.

"You know me, yes?" The woman stared at Saffron expectantly as she just shook her head, "I have many names, you may know me as the High Priestess"

"Oh, uh, hello" She curtseyed and bowed her head out of respect.

"You do not bow to me; we are equals. You are the truth. Your sight does not deceive" She put a hand up as if to tell her to stop. Saffron awkwardly stood up straight and just stared at the woman for a long time. Her eyes were swirling with truth and her gaze made Saffron involuntarily step towards her. Something in the back of her mind snapped her out of it.

"Are you- am I dead?" She suddenly panicked. She wasn't ready to die.

"No, honey. You are merely between the conscious and unconscious realm. You need to heed my words, the future is yours to make sense of, explain them in your image. The sight you possess will serve you well" saffron nodded, she thought she understood. She was telling her to keep looking through the prophecy. "The sight is not the key as she is not the chosen. You must look within for the answer" The Priestess held her wrists and stared deeply into her eyes. Her touch was unusual. Not hot or cold. Saffron had noticed that darkness was creeping in behind her and she stepped forwards slightly.

"I- I really don't understand, babe" Saffron blurted out, before amending, "I mean, uh, High Priestess" The priestess just smiled and leaned in to kiss Saffron once on each cheek. She still had hold of her wrists and Saffron didn't know what to make of what she was saying now.

"Tertium genus" She repeated as she let go of Saffron's hand suddenly, and watched her fall into the dark pit.

Saffron woke with a start. She was gasping for air as she had thought she had really been falling. She got up from where Giles had laid her down after she had collapsed. Just a dream, she reassured herself.

"Saffron? Are you-" Giles started, only to be cut off by Saffron, which he was accustomed to by now.

"Tertium Genus" She stated, staring blankly at him, as if she could see through him.

"That-that's Latin. As far as I am aware, you cannot speak Latin. In fact, last time it was mentioned you said it was for, ah, posh boys and corpses" Giles' eyebrows furrowed as he tried to understand what she was saying.

"T-tertium genus" She replied shakily, her blackouts always made her really tired when she came to. She drank from her bottle of water that she had brought and sat opposite Giles.

"That, ah, means three of a kind I believe" He said as he cleaned his glasses. He put them back on his face and looked at the girl in concern.

"Three" She whispered, her eyebrows knitted together in thought. Giles was worried for the girl and he was about to ask her what she meant but Buffy came in with one of the Xanders.

"Guys, we need your help. We need to find the other one so we can interrogate him and-" She cut herself off when she saw their faces, "Are you guys ok? You look like you've seen a ghost. Oh god, there isn't a ghost is there?" Saffron explained everything that had gone on in the dream and they all listened. Giles had decided to look up some of the phrases she had mentioned and see if they fit with anything that they had been studying. Buffy hugged her cousin and she could feel her worry too. They all decided to take a break from prophecy hunting and went to split up and look for the other Xander.

xoxoxo

Saffron had gone out by herself, she was walking thoughtfully through the graveyard. She wished she could go in the opposite direction and visit Spike. As soon as she thought about him, she felt something behind her, it wasn't an emotion just a sense of something, and she turned slightly to reveal Spike walking towards her. She watched him as he walked and stood slightly away from her.

"Spike"

"Honeysuckle" They stared at each other for a while. Waiting to see what the other would say. Saffron took out a packet of cigarettes and took two out, offering him one. He took it and started to light up. She watched him before she lit her own, he took it which was a good sign.

"I'm sorry" She stated calmly. She inhaled the smoke and looked up, her grey eyes glistened in the light from her cigarette and Spike wanted to get to the part where he could kiss her again. She could have told him it was all his fault and he still would have just wanted things to go back to how they had been even the day before.

"Uh, me too" Spike still wasn't used to apologising but he wanted to make the effort for her.

"I really do care, Spike. If you're not happy then-"

"I would be happy with half of the amount of mind you give me, love. You're in my blood, coursing through my veins. I'll never want you to leave"

"Your words are beautiful, Spike. I wish I could match them, show you how I feel, but, um, know every time I leave you my heart hurts" She admitted, looking at the ground. That sounded lame compared to what he had just told her. She couldn't get over her apprehension at declaring her raw feelings. She was scared if she named it the feeling would go and everything would change for the worse. She wanted things to continue how they are, and she didn't know how to even begin to express her feelings for Spike. He seemed satisfied and when she reached to hold his hand, he moved to intertwine his fingers with hers. They walked hand-in-hand through the streets to the magic box where Saffron was on her way to join the others to put to two Xanders back together.

They entered the magic box together, Saffron didn't have the heart to remind spike to keep hiding how close they were. They weren't holding hands anymore and, as a compromise, Spike had convinced Saffron to stop so he could kiss her before they went in. Spike knew the rules anyway and he still enjoyed annoying the men in the room by flirting with her slightly. Giles saw them walk in together from his place on the floor and frowned, he had warned spike. He was going to have to discuss his sick obsession with her with Buffy, he thought to himself. Giles was drawing the pentagram on the floor and stared hard at Spike, who only smirked back and stepped closer to Saffron where she was stood studying the two Xanders.

"Hi Xanders" she called and they both waved at the exact same time. Everyone started to look at the similarity then and Anya wanted to take both of them back to her apartment. They all rushed to get ready for the spell and pretended they didn't hear the sex talk. Everything was sorted and Willow quickly put the two back together.

"Did we really need to be here for that?" Spike asked, meeting Saffron's eyes.

"You didn't need to be here at all" Riley stated flatly.

"He, uh, saw that I was coming and I guessed there'd be more to the spell. Thought he might be useful" Saffron quickly tried to cover for Spike.

"The day Spike is of use to any of us will be the day that hell freezes over" Giles took his glasses off and wiped them, he was mad at him for following her around, "There is no need for you to stay. Leave us alone" The rest of the scoobies looked between the two British men. Spike knew exactly what they meant. He nodded once, looked at Saff and walked away through the magic box. Saffron stared with her mouth open at Giles and Riley. She glared at them and rolled her eyes. Fucking men.