Buffy collapsed onto Spike's chest as she felt him pulse within her, pushing her over the edge once again. They kissed again as they both rode out the wave of ecstasy that crashed over them both. A moment after it had passed Buffy rolled off of him, still staying close enough to feel his cool skin pressed to hers.

"I don't think I could ever get tired of that. You are amazing, electrifying," Spike murmured in her ear as he ran his fingers down her side.

"Agreed, I feel it too. I've never been with anyone who can make me feel the way you do."

"High praise coming in after the Immortal from what I hear."

"Don't get me wrong, he was pretty amazing… But it's different with you. Maybe it's the difference being with someone you love, and have a history with. He knew how to please a woman, but you know how to please me, plus there's that whole connection thing we have going on. If that makes any sense at all."

Spike nuzzled her neck, "You don't have to make me feel better you know. It's not like it's the first time I've had a woman who'd been with that wanker."

"I'm not, I mean it. I think that's why it was never really about the sex with him."

"But it is with me?" He teased.

"We both know our first go around was ALL about the sex. Mind blowing, addictive, sadistic sex. This time our relationship is completely different. Now it's about… well everything," she responded as she turned towards him, "I can be myself no matter what the situation is with you now . I don't have to hide anything. Whether we're fighting demons, or doing laundry or training Slayers or having sex, it's just us. I can totally be me. I can be strong and scared and vulnerable and silly and sad and everything else. And I seriously need that in my life, I need you."

Spike smirked, "Guess that's more than just a little something isn't it?"

"It's everything, I feel more connected to you now, than I've ever felt to any other person, ever."

He pulled her closer to him, "I feel the same. I don't really know how I became that guy for you, Love, but I'm glad I did," he murmured.

"I think they call it 'long-term character development'," she teased him.

"Very funny. I just know it makes me happier than I deserve, just hearing you say it," he kissed her forehead, "By the way, how are the ribs?"

"Alright, I think I'm pretty much healed up."

"So what's on for the rest of our night off?"

"I don't know… not sleepy but I'm pretty sure I'm done with the main event tonight."

"Seven your magic number then?"

"Tonight it is. How about TV?"

"Unfortunately that would require clothes, seeing as it's downstairs. You know what? We should seriously see about getting a telly in here."

"That sounds pretty permanent."

Spike took her hand in his, "We already said we were planning on coming back, aren't we?"

"Well yeah, but I was thinking…" she took a deep breath and sat up looking at him, "I've been really thinking about this and… if we're going to do this. You know, make this a permanent kind of thing, do we really want to stay here in the castle?"

"I like the 'we', but what's the deal Buffy? Where else would we go?"

Buffy turned to get up out of bed, "Come on, I want to show you something," she went over to the window as he followed her. Buffy pointed to a large building about a hundred yards in the distance, "Have you been inside the stone building over there?"

"Wasn't sure it was part of the property, hadn't given it much thought really."

"You're afraid of trespassing?"

"Don't be ridiculous, course not."

"Well anyway, it is part of the property. I guess the council used to use it for out of town guests or trainees or something. It hasn't been used in years and it's in sort of rough shape now but way back in the 50's or something it was converted into a duplex. I was thinking about renovating and updating it."

"Watch it, the 50's weren't that long ago. Look, Love, you just went from 0-60. You're talking about major commitment and money. Permanent digs, of the above ground variety you think we're ready for that? Are you ready for that?"

"Not today. But I think I'm getting used to the idea. Besides, when I checked it out from the outside yesterday, it looked like there was a good sized basement. Maybe we could make that 'the Spike cave' or whatever. We could live in one half and maybe Willow or Xander would want to move into the other half."

He looked at her a little surprised, "You really have been thinking about this a lot haven't you? What does Giles think about all this?"

"I have a list of things I want to talk to Giles about."

Spike nodded, "As choices go, it's not a bad one. Commute is nice. Why don't we check it out and see just how much work we're looking at? Have a think on it."

"That's fair. But let me talk to Giles about it first and do a daytime walk-through. The electricity isn't on in there and I don't wanna go through floorboards if it's worse than I think it is."

"Not like we haven't brought the house down around us before, Love," he smirked.

The next day was Sunday. Most of the girls were outside, either on the grounds or out exploring. Weekends were mostly free time for them, unless they had something planned like the shopping trip. The level 3 and 4 girls were essentially allowed to do what they liked as long as they used the buddy system and were back by dark. Many of the older girls often spent their free time either walking into town or training. As they had just been on a group shopping trip the day before most of them were sticking close to the castle. The computer room had a few occupants and there were a couple of girls in the living room. Only Addison and Ursula hadn't been seen or heard from since breakfast and everyone knew better than to go searching for them.

Buffy slept in late and took her time getting ready before heading out to find Giles up in his room. Giles opened the door with a book in his hand. There was music coming from the record player.

"Could you get any more cliché?"

"Oh hello, Buffy," he said, moving aside to let her in, "Now you mention it, I was about to make a cup of tea."

"And there it is… how were you going to make tea up here?"

"I'm trying out my new electric kettle. Would you like to join me?"

"Sure, hit me. I skipped breakfast."

"Have a seat, just as easy to make two cups as it is to make one. What brings you this morning?"

"I wanted to talk to you about Spike."

"What about him?" He asked as he prepared the tea.

"Well I actually wanted to talk to you about getting him put on the payroll. Since he got back he's been working right along with me, even taking up the slack when I was hurt—"

"Buffy—"

"No Giles, he—"

"Buffy, please…"

She stopped, looking perturbed but accepted the cup of tea he offered her all the same.

Giles took a moment to settle down on the chair across from her with his own cup of tea, "As it would happen, I've already made the arrangements. The papers are all drawn up, he need only sign. I had planned on bringing it up to him tomorrow."

"Wow, ok. I prepared this whole argument and everything…"

"Sorry to take the wind out of your sails. I rather figured if he was going to be sticking around long term, the subject would be coming up. I can hardly allow him to simply leach off of you especially when he is practically doing the same work you are. It simply wouldn't be fair to either of you."

"Thank you."

"Not at all," he said sipping his tea, "Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?"

"Yeah there is something else I want to talk to you about; that big old building on the property."

"What, do you mean the Old Barracks?"

"Is that what they were? I guess that makes sense but why would they have been so far from the Keep?"

"Not exactly. It's more of a nickname for the place. That building isn't nearly as old as the castle. Although if I'm not mistaken, I believe it was built atop the foundation of an older building. I would have to pull out the old records to be sure but I believe the outer structure of 'The Barracks' had once been used to house supplies, like a stone warehouse of sorts."

"No, that's okay, I don't really need a serious history lesson. I actually just wanted to talk to you about it. I thought you had mentioned it had been some sort of apartment building or duplex or something for the council right?"

"Yes it was. They used to house teachers and visiting Watchers in there. And later they used it as a sort of safe house I believe. The students stayed in the castle in the same rooms we keep the girls in. Although according to the records they only had two to a room. I never stayed here myself, of course."

"So do you think it's still in good shape?"

"Well I don't know about 'good', but if you were thinking about moving there I imagine it will probably need more than a broom and a coat of paint. Don't you like staying in the castle?"

"No, no, it's nothing like that. We were just talking about eventually moving here permanently."

"Really? Both of you? Together I mean…"

"Yeah, matter of fact we've been talking about it pretty much since we got here. Obviously we haven't talked to Dawn about it yet. I don't want to talk about that over the phone. She's been doing really well in Rome and she likes it there so I'm not sure if she's going to want to move."

"Surely Dawn knows how important it would be to have you here at the main training facility."

"See, that's exactly how Spike and I feel, like we need to be here. It just makes more sense."

Giles hesitated a moment then asked, "How does Dawn feel about you and Spike?"

"Fine, I guess. It was her idea for us to take this trip to come see you."

"It was?"

"Yeah, I was originally planning on just heading back to Rome. Spike and I hadn't really talked about 'We' or 'Us' too much before that."

"Curious."

"Dawn had a pretty good argument and I really thought it was past time I came back up here anyway. When Spike agreed it just seemed like a no-brainer."

"While I'm certainly glad you're here, it does seem curious doesn't it?"

"I'm sure everything is fine. They would have said something if it wasn't, right?"

"Oh yes I'm sure you're right, it's not as though we haven't both spoken to them recently."

"Yeah I mean I just emailed Willow and I talked to Dawn the other day," Buffy assured him. She shrugged her shoulder and continued, "I'm just thinking, if we are going to move up here permanently, maybe we could renovate the old Council Barracks and turn it into someplace we can live. I sort of checked it out a little bit from the outside yesterday, it looks like there's a good size basement but there was only so much I could see from the outside."

"You're quite right. It is a rather spacious building. When they renovated it they essentially just built it up inside the existing shell. It was turned into a duplex in the late 50's. Would you be renovating both halves?"

"Well maybe not at first, but eventually. I was sort of thinking that either Willow or Xander might be interested."

"Do you know how much longer you will be staying with us?"

"Maybe about another two weeks. You're not getting sick of us already are you?"

"On the contrary, I rather missed having you around."

"Aww, I missed you too," she beamed at him. "So what do you think? Finish our tea and go check out the Old Barracks?"

"Fine idea. Allow me to get my shoes."

Giles jiggled his keys in his hands as he attempted to unlock the door, "It would appear the lock is stuck. Would you mind?"

"Sure!" Buffy gave it a try and it gave way with only a little extra force.

The door opened up into a grand shared entryway, a chandelier hung heavy with cobwebs above them. The doors were placed on either side of a large built-in entry bench, wide enough for six people. It had cubby-holes above and below the massive bench and several coat-hooks on each side closest to the doors.

"Wow, get rid of the dust and the gross and this would be really nice."

"Indeed, let's hope the rest of the place has held up as well as this."

"Ehhh... I'm all for the bright side but. I noticed a couple of broken window panes from outside so I'm not ready to celebrate just yet. How long ago did they stop using this place?"

"Not long really, less than five years according to old utility bills. I also came across an old receipt for some roofing work that was done about ten years ago."

"Let's get a move on," Buffy moved to the center, moving her arms like a girl on a game show, "What door will it be? Door number one or door number two? Which will you choose?"

Giles grinned, "Oh very well, door number one."

"Predictable," she tisked as Giles tried the door. His keys worked this time.

Giles opened the door and Buffy gasped as they walked into a large open living room and dining room.

"I say! This is definitely not what I expected to see from the outside."

"Oh my God Giles, did you know it was this nice in here?"

"No I didn't. I'm not sure if 'nice' is the word I'd use in its current condition but it does rather remind me of the training facility I was trained in. Much dirtier to be sure."

"But can't you just see it? Clean this place up… ok so it needs some work… but it could really be beautiful… again," she spoke animatedly as she walked into the kitchen area. And found a dead bird in the kitchen sink, "Ok, so there are a few surprises," she added, noting the broken windowpane over the breakfast nook at the back of the room.

The kitchen was off to the right. There was a breakfast nook towards the back and a pantry in the front with the kitchen in between, along the shared wall. The back door was located next to the breakfast nook and the half-bath. Two sets of stairs were situated along the back wall next to the bathroom. One going up to the bedrooms and the second set going down into the basement. It was clearly outdated but aside from what looked like a little water damage in the living room and the breakfast nook, a ton of dirt and dust everywhere, the corpse of some long dead animal in the toilet, and the bird; it really wasn't that bad.

"Up or down?" Buffy asked Giles.

"Let's take a look at the bedrooms first. We'll check out the basement when we come back down."

Buffy mounted the stairs paying close attention to the condition of the once highly polished wood. As far as she could tell most of the damage looked like it was on the surface. The upstairs was a different story.

"Oh now there's the 'Bates Motel' vibe I'd been missing," Buffy wrinkled her nose as the strong smell of mildew hit her.

At the top of the stairs there was a large closet with shelves and a laundry shoot. "Score! Always wanted one of those! Guess that means laundry is in the basement."

Buffy craned her neck around, "Is it just me or is the layout up here kinda weird?" She asked as they examined what looked like two identical master suites. Each with two closets and a sizable bathroom.

"I imagine the idea was to create equal space for the instructors and anyone else who might have stayed here."

"It's like Hotel Creepy in here…"

Each of the bathrooms were a disaster. In one bathroom the toilet had cracked when snow and rain had apparently come in through a broken window and frozen over the winter. The other bathroom was going to need a new sink cabinet as this one was falling apart. It almost looked like something heavy had slammed into it. The carpeting in the two large bedrooms was beyond help. This was undoubtedly where the mildew smell was coming from. Buffy cringed, imagining what the flooring underneath probably looked like. She sighed.

"What do you think so far?" Giles asked.

"I definitely see potential. I'm just a little afraid of the cost."

"I agree. However, I also think it would be a worthwhile investment. Depending on just how bad the rest of it is."

"Seriously going to need some work done in here."

"Let's check the attic," Giles said as he opened the door leading upwards.

The attic ceiling was higher than most attics. It was finished and the walls, not obscured by bookshelves, were wallpapered with a lurid green print that was peeling. It had been cleared out with the exception of an old sparing mat that something had borrowed into and made a nest in.

"Lots of storage… or maybe a second living room… more bedrooms… I don't know…"

"Buffy, you do realize, a life with Spike…"

"Means no need for extra bedrooms. Yeah, I kinda figured that one out already. Being the Slayer doesn't really leave room for that anyway, you know how that worked out for Robin and his mom. If it hadn't been Spike it would have been someone or something else…"

"Things are different now."

"I don't know. I just think it really isn't. I just can't help but wonder if this is the calm before the storm."

"How do you mean?"

"Just that it's been a year since we hit the world with a major flux of good magic, and it's only been less than two months since the thing with Wolfram and Hart. That was supposed to be a major deal and from the sound of it, the LA front only delayed things. You should hear what Spike has to say about it. It's not over. I'm just getting uneasy."

"I have heard Spike's story. It's quite fascinating. As loath as I am to admit it, I'm inclined to agree with you, and him."

Buffy kicked the edge of the mat and a cloud of dust came off of it, "Eww, let's get out of here, check out the basement and see how bad the other half is. I'm thinking I might get the girls involved in the cleanup here."

The two of them made their way back downstairs and down to the basement. The basement was, as the rest of the building, quite large. On the far end there was a full bath that was in surprisingly good shape except for some broken tiles. There was a utility room that included the laundry and where the laundry shoot came out. The walls were lined with shelves for storage but other than that, the basement was empty.

"So does it seem weird to you that there's a full bath down here but not much of anything else except for the laundry?"

"If you're asking me I'd say it's strange to have the laundry in the basement. I'm used to it being in the kitchen… It is a bit strange. Unless perhaps they had planned on adding more bedrooms down here at some point… No, I can't imagine what they had been thinking. But I thought you preferred having the laundry in the basement?"

"I don't know about 'preferred', I mean it's out of the way but it is kind of a pain in the butt to lug baskets up and down. Course the laundry chute will make the down a thing of the past. Dawn will love that," she paused a moment to look around, "I mean don't get me wrong this would kind of make the perfect place for Spike to hang out during the day. Not sure if I'd want my bedroom down here but we could definitely figure something out…. Anyway let's go, I'm ready to take a look at the other side."

"Right you are, lead the way."

The two of them made their way back through the shared entryway and into the other side. The other half was a perfect mirror image of the first side. With the kitchen being on the shared wall on the left hand side, the dining area directly in front of the door and the living area to the right. On this side, rain had leaked in through the fireplace in the living room and ruined the carpeting which was still wet from the last heavy rain.

When Buffy went over to investigate, the floor seemed firm enough, "I'm really hoping this just happened," Buffy pouted.

Giles took his glasses off to wipe, "Probably looking at roof damage with a mess like this. I'll take a second look at that roofing receipt, they might be able to tell us something about it. On the bright side, so far we haven't come across any dead animals."

"Always a glass half-full kinda guy…" Buffy nodded as she started towards the stairs.

Buffy and Giles followed the same route they had taken through the first half of the building. Aside from a few more cracked window panes and some minor water damage, there wasn't any really significant damage on this side and the walkthrough was rather uneventful. At least until they got to the basement.

When they got into the basement, Giles went ahead of Buffy. He had barely set foot on the basement floor when something came out and tackled him to the ground. Buffy jumped into action realizing it was a vampire right away. She kicked the vampire back towards the bathroom. The vampire regrouped quickly and punched her in the face.

"Watch it buddy! This is my house!"

The vampire looked at her with a curious grin, "Your house? I think you got the wrong place. This place has been empty for years, I found it, I can come and go as I please," he answered, blocking a blow from Buffy and spinning around.

"You've definitely picked the wrong house," she grunted as she blocked a blow and landed a few of her own, before flipping him over her shoulder, "Don't you know who I am?"

"Rejected cheerleader?"

"I'll show you, cheerleader," Buffy flipped back kicking him as she did. She landed with a flourish, "Ready? Ok!" she cried with false enthusiasm as the vampire charged her. Buffy jumped dodging him, she turned sharply kicking him in the face, "How's that for a clue?"

He staggered back towards Giles a few paces, "How should I know?"

"Wow, you must be the new guy—" she kicked him in the stomach, "Hi! I'm Buffy! Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Ring any bells?" She punctuated the question with another kick but the vampire dodged it. Buffy's leg came down hard on one of the shelves, breaking it. And providing her with a weapon. Buffy rolled, grabbing a large splinter of wood as she did.

The vampire ran towards the back of the room, "Shit!" He yelled.

"Exit is the other way, Bozo," she said as she threw the makeshift stake, hitting him squarely in the back.

As the dust settled, Buffy looked around with her hands on her hips, "Okay, now this is just weird. Where did he think he was going? Not to mention, something is seriously wonky here," Buffy mused. She looked around until she caught Giles's Eye. He had taken a seat on the stairway breathing heavily. "What's a matter? Are you ok?"

"No, no. I'm all right. He only knocked the wind out of me."

Buffy nodded and continued, "Everything. Every last little thing has been a perfect mirror image of the other side. Right down to the ugly tile in the bathrooms. So why on earth would they put the laundry/utility room over on that wall instead of on the right hand side of the bathroom to mirror next door? The laundry shoot still comes out in the same spot, why move the room?"

Giles pulled himself up with the banister to stand and took a few steps towards Buffy, "Check along that wall; those shelves there. Look for some sort of mechanism."

Buffy ran her hand along the edge of the large shelf until she found a little lever. She switched it and the shelves swung out, revealing a stone passageway.

"Secret passage… this place really has everything but a pool, huh?"

"My word, it's just like the tunnels in Mary King's Close."

"Why does every place I go have underground tunnels?"

"Look on the bright side, some parts of these tunnels are still used by regular people, even if they're not supposed to. I bet this takes you clear into Edinburgh. Perhaps it even goes into some of the smaller towns closer to us as well."

"I didn't get the chance to explore them too much before Dawn and I left for Rome. Spike has been waiting to take me to some clubs down there."

"Well this certainly would give him ample daytime access. We'll have to check it out of course, make sure it's structurally sound."

"Safety in numbers. We were already planning on taking the girls through the underground. This is where we start."

"A sound idea. Faith and I have taken some of the older girls and the girls who've already left into Mary King's Close but this is much more convenient. Now, let's close that up. If you've seen enough I think it's time we get out of the dank. Get some lunch and perhaps we can start going over—" Giles had taken two steps and slipped in the pile of ash the vampire had left on the smooth basement floor. It would have been funny if not for the sickening "crack" that reverberated off the walls. He had landed badly on his left leg with his right leg sticking straight out in front of him.

"Giles are you alright?"

He gasped, "No, I rather think not. It's my leg. Fairly certain it's broken."

"Let's get you up," she added as she positioned herself to pull him up. Giles made an effort to shift his weight onto his good leg as Buffy pulled him up to stand.

She took a moment to help him balance on his good leg and wrapped an arm around his back to support him, "That's enough adventure for you today."

Giles gritted his teeth as she helped him up the basement stairs and out through the kitchen and dining room. They left the building only to pause long enough to secure the door.

"First thing we're doing is putting in a stone walkway leading to the castle," Giles gasped as they made their way across the grassy path separating the castle from the out building.

Buffy smiled, "Sure thing. A nice walkway, maybe a few flowers, a couple of shrubs. I'm going to leave you in your car while I go get Faith to drive you."

"Right you are," he grimaced as he allowed himself to be deposited into the passenger's side of the vehicle.

She paused to take a look at the leg, the bone was bulging but not through the skin, "Don't go anywhere!" Buffy ran back into the castle and was out in a matter of minutes with Faith hot on her heels. Faith opened the driver's side door "What the hell did you do?"

"Slipped," he tutted through gritted teeth.

Buffy cut in, "Well at least it was vampire related," she grinned at Giles from over Faith's shoulder.

"How very reassuring."

"Yeah well, however it happened, let's get you over to the hospital. Get that leg set," Faith said dryly.

A/N: To be continued... Please Read and Review!