It was almost three hours later when Faith called from the hospital. Giles's leg was worse than they originally thought and would require surgery. They had him scheduled for surgery later that evening.

"They have him on some pretty good pain meds. Started singing some song about a chick named 'Matilda'. He actually refused to put a hospital gown on until the nurse sang with him… that was pretty damn funny."

"Sorry I missed it."

"He stopped now, he's just resting. I thought you might want to stay with him during surgery," Faith said.

Buffy nodded, then realizing Faith couldn't see her over the phone she said, "Yeah, of course, I'll head over. Are you still patrolling tonight or are you staying with Giles too? I can always have the girls out there to cover for you tonight."

"Yeah, do that. I might still go out later. They said 'about an hour and a half' about a half hour ago, so I don't know. It's still good practice for the girls."

"I've been wanting to try something out with them anyway. I was going to wait until next week but this kinda works out. Let me finish getting the troops gathered and I'll be over as soon as I can."

Before heading over to the hospital, Buffy divided the girls up into groups. She had picked one girl from each level. The girls stood crammed together in their groups around her in the entryway while she explained the evening's extenuating circumstances concerning Giles's Surgery.

"You know where we'll be. I want cellphones on. You have your assigned patrols. My Level 4 girls, Addison, Zari, Ursula, and Wendy; you are in charge. Make no mistake ladies, this is a test, possibly your biggest one yet and it's just the beginning. I'm not just looking for leadership skills. The world is changing; more people are aware of the things we face. If you're smart, you will find your own allies to help you in our mission. Always choose wisely, but that's a lesson for another day. Today, these girls with you are your allies. You need to know who's with you, their strengths and their weaknesses. As strong as everyone in this room is, we all have weaknesses. Every one of us. Sometimes our greatest strength and our greatest weakness are the same thing. Know yours and create a group of allies that will balance each other. I've done that for you tonight. I grouped you together on purpose, your group is the lesson. Remember your training and protect each other. Now, I don't think we will be out all night and I know Faith was still planning on patrolling solo. Complete your route and get back to the castle. If we're back, I want full reports; If not, then bed. Reports can wait until morning. Everyone got it?" They all nodded.

"Call if there's trouble," and with that Buffy turned towards the door where Spike stood waiting for her. She noticed he was wearing the motorcycle jacket and gloves she had gotten for him in Paris. It was only the second time she'd seen him in the jacket. It certainly didn't have the same flare as his usual jacket but he definitely looked damn sexy in it.

It was a very cloudy evening, the sun was low but it hadn't set yet. Spike pulled the hood on the jacket up to cover his face as she came near him. They left together with the girls filing out behind them. Faith had taken Giles in his car and the girls would be taking the van into town and splitting up into the various cemeteries from there. Which meant they were left with the little Volkswagen Bug Faith sometimes used.

"Love seeing you take charge like that. Gets me all tingly," Spike drawled low in her ear as they walked towards the little blue car.

"Your tingles are going to have to wait. If Faith's timetable is right, he might be in surgery before we even get there."

"You're worried."

"I— yeah, I guess I am, a little," she said as they got into the car.

"Don't, Docs will fix him up."

"Maybe I should have gone with them to begin with. I could have called from the hospital and told you what I wanted to do with the girls. You could have handled that. Why didn't I just go?"

Spike started the engine and pulled out down the driveway, "Because that's not who you are-"

"Are you saying I don't care?", she cut him off, hurt.

"Don't be daft. Let me finish would you?"

"I'm listening."

"You took charge, delegated the task of getting him to the hospital and got the girls gathered and up to speed. Not like you were eating popcorn while he was bleeding out. You didn't go because you thought he'd be back before dinner. Simple. Of course you care," he paused a beat as they made a turn towards the outskirts of Edinburgh where the closest hospital was.

"Spi-"

"You know. You might think Slayers are all about death. I won't deny it, because I know better. But I'll say this: Yeah you are all about death, as much as the death of evil things protects humanity. You're a protector, when it comes down to it, and that… that isn't just about duty, that takes love. Love for humanity is what destroys evil, and you got it in spades. Willow, still breathing, eh? She went as bad as a witch can go and here she is, back on our side and stronger than ever. How else do you explain this soul of mine? Or the fact I'm still around? How many times have I screwed up so bad you should have killed me? Hell, how many times have I begged you to kill me? I know now it's because you protect humanity. I didn't get that for a long time, didn't see it myself. Or in myself, but you did."

Buffy gaped at him speechless for a moment, uncertain of what to say, "Spike?"

"Yeah, I know… Went a bit off topic… Just— the way you talk sometimes… I usually get it and I stay quiet, but then sometimes, you're just bang off the mark—"

"Where's this coming from? All I said was—"

"I'm sorry, Love. Just a lot on my mind. Didn't sleep well, nightmares."

"What was it this time?"

"You, dieing… you going on about death and Slayers— it was all jumbled up. Then… memories… I don't know; something you said just now triggered something in my brain…"

"Did it help?"

"If I got my point through to you."

"I just— I never really thought about it like that…"

"Food for thought then."

They were both silent for several minutes, as Spike drove on. "In there, when I was talking to the girls, I was thinking about you. You do, you know, balance me. I don't think I could keep doing any of this without you," she said, as they turned into the hospital parking lot.

"Bullocks, you did just fine without me. Built a bloody Slayer Hogwarts and I had nothing to do with it."

"That wasn't really me. That was mostly Giles and Faith, and Willow. I really didn't do much aside from training. Then Dawn wanted to go to school in Italy," she shrugged, "I just figured 'What the heck', took some Slayers with us, and found a couple there. I patrolled like normal and trained them to earn my pay and that was about it. On the surface, sure, I was keeping it together but I had been drowning for months. When you found me in Paris, I was seriously considering just disappearing somewhere. Possibly someplace tropical."

Spike pulled the car into the growing shade of the hospital building and parked, "You never said," he replied as he turned off the engine. He pulled the hood down and looked at her.

Buffy smiled a little, "I got a better offer. Plus, I figured I'd just attract demons wherever I was."

They got out and headed towards the entrance, "More of them than you'd think in the tropics."

"Less vampires."

"You'd be surprised."

"Is no place sacred?"

"I'd say churches, but then Angel loved convents. Got off on them," he looked at Buffy as he gaged her reaction. Her passive expression was hard to read. He was about to speak when Buffy beat him to it.

"Do all vampires have 'a thing' or what?"

He was a little thrown by the question and missed the door handle the first try, "Ehh… kinda depends on the vampire I guess, plenty of them are just mindless killers. Then you get the real gems like me and Angelus," he said, recovering himself and opening the door for her.

"Don't remind me."

"Try not to, Love." He followed her over to the reception desk.

"We're here to see Rupert Giles, he came into the ER, I got a call he's having surgery."

"Are you family?" The receptionist asked in a stern routine fashion.

"I'm his daughter."

"Your friend will have to wait in the waiting room, I'm afraid only family is allowed in prior to surgery. Sign in here Miss Giles."

"Oh it's Summers," Buffy said automatically.

"I'm sorry?"

"I'm—"

"Married," Spike interjected.

"Oh of course, my apologies, you'll both need to sign here then please."

"Ta," Spike grunted. Buffy stared as she watched him sign his name 'William Summers', "Here you are, Pet," he said, handing her the pen. Buffy snapped her attention back and signed in.

The receptionist merely nodded, "You'll find him in through there, he'll be going to surgery soon."

"Thank you!"

Spike and Buffy went in through the double doors the receptionist had indicated. There were a number of beds, half of them with curtains pulled across them and another desk with a haggard looking nurse behind it.

"Excuse me, could you show me where Rupert Giles is?"

The nurse barely looked up, "Third bed."

"Thanks"

Buffy pulled the curtain aside to find Giles laying in bed with his leg supported and Faith sitting in a chair next to him reading a magazine. They both looked up when they entered the little space.

"Glad you found us. Did everything go alright with the girls?"

"Yeah great, I got them out in groups. Trying something different. A multi level teambuilding sort of thing."

Faith nodded, "You mentioned it before. Never been much for teamwork until recently. It's not a bad idea."

"How's he doing?" Buffy asked.

"Oh you know, he's on some pretty strong pain meds and he keeps dozing off."

"I am perfectly fine, I'll be out of here in no time." Giles spoke up a little groggily.

Buffy went over to sit next to him, "Ah ha, yeah, you are totally fine. Spike and I are here now, we'll hang out while you're in surgery and will be here when you get out."

"Oh isn't that incredibly kind of you both," Giles said, giving her a fatherly smile.

Faith eyed Spike, "I'm surprised Nurse Ratchet at the front there let him in; she seemed kind of a stickler about the whole 'family only' thing. I had to play up the niece bit, pretty hard just to get to stay with him after I brought him in."

"Ah yeah, about that," Buffy nodded, "Meet my husband."

Faith let out a low whistle, "Aww, welcome to the family Spikey."

"I think I remember this one… or maybe it was a dream…" Giles slurred.

Just then a pair of nurses pulled aside the curtain, "We're ready for you Mr. Giles."

He beamed at them drunkenly, "Jolly good."

"He's a little out of it… he isn't normally like this," Buffy said apologetically.

"No worries. We've seen worse than the likes of him," the nurse smiled.

Buffy reached out to squeeze Giles's hand, and he looked up at her, "Buffy, dear me, what a beautiful bride. Too bad your mother isn't here—"

"Okie dokie, that's enough of the good stuff for you," Buffy tried to grin.

One of the nurses smirked, "It's quite alright, we'll take good care of him."

Buffy patted his hand before they took Giles out. They followed them down the hall and the nurses directed Faith, Buffy and Spike to a little waiting room just outside of the operating theater. Buffy squeezed Giles' hand one more time "We'll see you when you get out."

"Very well. Oh and Buffy?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I know. I love you too Gi— Dad."

"Faith?" He asked, reaching out a hand.

"I'm here," she said, going to him.

"I'm so very proud of you, you've come such a long way…"

Stunned, Faith just patted his hand awkwardly, "Thanks."

"Surgery should be about an hour and a half. He's in good hands."

"Thank you!" Buffy and Faith said together.

After they wheeled him away on the gurney, the three of them went to sit down in the little waiting room. Spike made himself at home with a motorcycle magazine and stretched his legs out in front of him crossing them at the ankles. Buffy took the seat next to him. Faith however, sat and got up again almost immediately and started pacing.

"Faith?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah?"

"Are you alright? If you need to get out, it's okay. You've been here long enough, we got this. Really, if you want to go patrol or even just take the night off, it's cool. I'll call you when we hear something."

"Ah, yeah actually I think maybe I will… I was totally fine waiting with him in there but out here it just feels… freaky ya know? Hospitals man…"

"Yeah, it's fine. Go on. He's going to be in there for a while anyway, I think I might go find a cup of coffee. Maybe a balloon."

Faith chuckled, "Oh yeah, I'm sure he'd love that," she shook her head, "Yeah alright, I'm out. Work off some of this energy."

"Good plan, we'll see you later."

After she had left, Spike stood up. Buffy looked at him curiously, "Where are you going?"

"Go find you some coffee."

Buffy laughed, "Honestly, I just said that to get Faith to relax," she paused for a moment, "I might actually see about the balloon though," she grinned, "That would really annoy him."

Spike chuckled, "You are devious. Alright let's go, see if we can find the man a balloon, perhaps a nice little teddy too."

They started down the hall, following the signs for the gift shop until they noticed a security guard running for the stairs talking into his radio, "Heading down to you now."

"You don't think-"

Spike nodded, "We are on the ground floor. After you, Love."

They followed the guard down the stairs to the morgue. When they reached the bottom they found the other guard lying on the other side of the door leading to the morgue. Buffy pushed the door, moving the guard along with it. A female vampire with long hair dyed a violent shade of bright green, stood holding the guard they had followed down. She was feeding off of him.

"Drop the guard, Jolly-Green-Skank," Spike drawled.

The vampire looked up. She eyed Spike a moment before dropping the guard, and the only thing covering her.

She sauntered towards him a few paces, "Skank? I might be offended if you weren't so damn delectable, Gorgeous," she licked her lips.

Spike rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Does that even work?"

"You prefer 'fit' or maybe 'hot', Stud? What do you say we get out of here and go paint the town red?"

"Hey, Evil-Dead-Barbie, back off. He's taken."

She rolled her head slowly towards Buffy and looked at her sideways, her hair falling around her, "Oh hello, and who is this precious little thing?"

"Oh brother. Were you this ridiculous when you were alive or is this a new thing?" Buffy rolled her eyes as she pulled a stake out of her jacket pocket.

"Enough of this bollocks. Come on, Love, let's dust this bitch," Spike said, incredulously gesturing towards the naked vampire.

Buffy grinned, "Sure, Honey."

Buffy advanced at the same time the vampire lept towards Spike, "Here we are now…" he caught the vampire by the shoulders and threw her into a metal autopsy table.

Buffy ran forward as the vampire hit the table and hit her with the back of her fist. The blow knocked the vampire over the table and onto the floor. Buffy leapt up onto the table. As the vampire stood up, Buffy kicked her in the face, snapping her head back forcefully. As the vampire stumbled back she managed to knock the rolling table aside. Buffy lost her balance and landed on the floor hard.

The green haired vampire then stumbled back into another table directly in front of Spike. She threw a number of wild punches Spike dodged easily. "Buffy?" Spike called when she didn't get up right away. The vamp got lucky on the last punch, hitting Spike in the jaw.

Spike spun, landing on a little table of surgical instruments. Grabbing a large saw-like blade he turned just as the vampire threw herself onto him again. She grabbed him by the throat, slamming him down. Spike pushed her up with his free hand and took the blade in the other bringing it up between them. Then in one swift motion he sliced off the vampire's head.

As the vampire turned to ash, Spike could see Buffy standing in front of him with a stake at the ready, "Aww, I really wanted that one," she pouted. She had a little cut near her hairline but otherwise seemed fine.

"Sorry to disappoint, Pet," he quipped as he allowed her to help him up.

"You know, if you hadn't just killed her I might have been a little jealous," Buffy teased.

"Of what?" He grinned and pulled her into a quick kiss, "Better check the guards."

"Yeah," she murmured as she stooped towards the guard closest to her, "It's weak but I got a pulse."

Spike checked the guard by the door, "Unconscious. You see an emergency call switch around here?"

Buffy cast her eyes around until she saw one, "Over here by the hazmat station. You call on that guy's radio and I'll hit this."

Back upstairs they watched as a couple of nurses and another guard ran towards the stairs. "Come on, Love, let's get you cleaned up and finish what we were doing."

Buffy nodded, "I want to get back in there before he's out of surgery."

"Shop is this way, Pet."

Thirty minutes later they were back in the waiting room they had started out in. Buffy had opted for a balloon arrangement and some Cadbury's chocolate for Giles as well as a coffee and a muffin for herself. Spike had insisted on getting a little stuffed bear with glasses, just to annoy Giles. Spike sat in the seat next to Buffy, flipping through the outdated motorcycle magazine once again as they waited.

"Spike?"

"Humm?"

"What was your 'thing'?"

Spike looked up at her, "Come again?"

"Angel liked convents, nuns, virgins… what was your thing?"

"You already know that don't you? Mostly girls, women… virgins are kind of an evil staple… you know all this—"

"Your file mostly talks about the eh, method… and that several of your early victims were from predominant families."

"That's just a polite way of saying 'pampered rich little aristocratic assholes', I always liked a good party. The more posh the better. Didn't matter what kind of party just as long as there were lots of entitled ponces and pretty young things."

"BYO-railroad-spikes?"

He chuckled darkly, "Seemed like the thing to do at the time."

"Well, at least you got a cool nickname out of it."

He shrugged, "Doesn't quite have the same ring it used to, but I'm so used to it now. 'William the Bloody' is a bit of a mouthful. 'William' is alright, just seems a bit vanilla at this point. Except when you say it."

"How about 'Billy' or no, 'Willy'!"

"Piss on that, 'Willy' is a hard pass. Bloody well not going there."

Buffy laughed at the look on his face, "I could barely keep a straight face saying it the first time. I think you're safe."

"Got 'Billy' a lot in the 80's. Got me and Dru into some great parties with that one."

"I get you were evil, but seriously, pretending to be Billy Idol."

"It was easy, we'd met briefly not long after I'd started bleaching my hair and next thing I know he's stealing my look."

"At least he was able to sort of show you what you look like. I mean you're way more sexy but seriously, what do you do? Take polaroids?"

"Oh you're in for it now," he pulled her close for a kiss. Spike wove his fingers into her hair as they deepened the kiss. They only broke apart when they heard an uncomfortable cough.

Buffy looked up sharply at the surgeon standing in front of them, "Pardon ah, are you the family for Mr. Rupert Giles?"

"That's us," Spike raised his hand then pointed casually towards Buffy, "Her dad, I'm just the son-in-law."

Buffy lowered his hand and patted it dismissively. Standing up she asked, "Can we see him? How soon can we take him home."

"He's in recovery now. We set the bones, I had to add a plate and a couple of pins. I'll be happy to look over the ex-rays in his room with you once he's settled. I'm afraid he won't be going home until tomorrow at the earliest. You should know that he gave us a spot of trouble on the operating table but he's stable now and resting comfortably."

"What kind of trouble?" She asked, alarmed.

Spike stood up next to Buffy, putting an arm around her.

"I assure you he's fine now."

"That's what they said about my mom, and—"

Spike cut her off gently, "Buffy, that was different, your mum— Just let the man speak."

"Does your father have a history of high blood pressure?" The doctor asked.

"I don't think so. He's always been really healthy and active, sometimes he even jogs with me. Well he used to, I guess it's been a while..." she looked at Spike anxiously.

"He did mention work's been rough, Love."

Buffy chewed her lip, "That's true, and we haven't been around like we should…"

Spike pulled her a little tighter and she rested her head on his shoulder, "That'll be changing here, Pet."

"Humm, well be that as it may. I'd like to keep your father a little longer for observation, just to keep an eye on his blood pressure and run some tests. I want to check his cholesterol as well. We'll be moving him to a room as soon as he comes around. He'll be coming through here so you'll be able to follow him up when he comes out."

"Thank you doctor."

"Not at all, I'll be around in the morning to check on him."

The two of them watched as the doctor disappeared behind the heavy double doors again. Spike picked up the magazine and resumed reading. Buffy crossed her arms and walked over to the window to look out at the flowerbeds.

"I can hear you worrying," Spike drawled as he flipped a page.

"Not worry… Just thinking."

"Thinking we should stay on a bit longer until he's back on two feet, yeah?"

"Yeah…" she turned to him sharply, "It sounds like it might take a while to heal up with the extra hardware. Do you mind?"

"Buffy, you should know by now, as long as I'm with you and have a steady stream of blood and violence I'm good. Come on, Pet, have a seat. You didn't say much about your house hunting adventure aside from the baddy. How'd he get in there anyway?"

"I didn't tell you about it?"

"Nope. You got the call from Faith and woke me up. Told me about the random cellar dweller and Giles's little accident and then you started going on about herding cats and how you'd been trying to get the girls gathered up. I think your exact words were, 'I'll show you later, now get your pants on', like the tease you are," he added with a grin.

Buffy laughed weakly, "Yeah ok," she sat down next to him, "it's definitely a fixer-upper…"

"But?"

"Oh God, Spike, it's so perfect. I already know which side would be ours. You're seriously going to love it! It has access to the tunnels!"

"You're havin' a laugh."

"No I'm not. That's how the vamp got in. We'll have to check it out and see how far it goes but the part I saw looked sturdy. The bricks looked good. Giles thinks it might even go clear into Edinburgh, I'd be happy if it just goes into the smaller towns around us."

"Daytime access is always a perk."

"I want to take the girls to help map out the tunnels."

"All right… and not to put a damper on this brilliant plan, but exactly how do you plan to do this without oh I don't know, losing your charges or somebody getting killed in a cave-in or something?"

"OK, so I haven't worked out all of the kinks yet. But I do have a plan and I think it's kinda genius. I just need the help of my tech-witch."

"Ahh huhh… and you want to do this, this week?"

"Well not entirely. I kind of think this is probably going to be an ongoing project but if I can get Willow on board then yeah, I'd like to at least get it started. What do you think?"

Spike cocked his neck to the side stretching a little and closed his eyes. He took a moment before answering "It would definitely come in handy, knowing what's down there. And there is definitely potential for training up the young ones. Who knows what kind of baddies are hiding out in those tunnels."

"I was thinking about making it kind of a senior project for the older girls."

Spike let out a low whistle, "You know I'm in. Get it set up."

Buffy gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, "I knew I could count on you. Besides, it's pretty much for you anyway. I think you're going to love the duplex."

"Are you forgetting the part about having to go all 'This Old House' on the bloody thing?"

"Nope, that's the best part, we can make it ours."

"And where are we getting the money? You don't make enough to keep the flat in Rome, travel with your freeloading lover and take on a major remodel, Pet."

"I don't, but we do. My newly employed boyfriend just landed a full-time teaching position at 'The Joyce Summers School for Girls'. You just have some paperwork to sign."

"Didn't realize you had an official name for the school. Nice tribute. When did this all happen?"

"Well we needed a name to put on all the paperwork and I thought it sounded more official than Xander's 'Slayer School'."

"Xander's a bloody git. I ment the job offer."

"Oh, yeah. This morning actually, remember I told you I had stuff I wanted to talk to Giles about?"

"How'd you talk Giles round to that?"

"That was the funny thing. When I went to talk to him, he told me he already had the paperwork and you just needed to sign. He did that all on his own."

Spike sat up a little straighter, "Right then, second time I've found myself employed fighting evil, hope this one lasts longer."

"Me too, considering we seem to be planning a permanent stay and we've only officially been together for about a month," she laughed nervously.

"Not going too fast for you are we?"

Buffy thought about that for a second, "Technically we are still on our ReconnectIon-Euro-trip. It's just been seriously interrupted, and we're making plans about what we're doing after, right?"

"That's what we keep telling ourselves."

"Then in that case, no. I'm good. If we were looking at moving in tomorrow, yeah I'd be totally freaked. As it is right now, I don't know, it just feels like- us. Does that make any sense?"

"Yeah, it does," he looked at her fondly, "So if we're making plans to put down roots. Can I at least look at this place before we start picking drapes?" He asked.

"Definitely! Giles won't be coming home until sometime tomorrow, how about if you and I check it out tonight after he's settled in? I got the lay of the place now. I'm also curious if any other vamps know about that tunnel going in there. We might have to do some kind of a spell or something to keep baddies out of that access tunnel."

"That's a good point. You and Giles technically own the building but it's abandoned so anyone can just walk in. Since we won't be moving in right away, and yours truly, doesn't count. We need to figure something out, there's work being done in there we can't have anybody getting attacked." He paused for a moment thinking, "I might have an idea. Hear me out, here. I think you should start visiting the place, get attached. Start making plans and get comfortable and really think about it as 'Home'."

"What good will that do if we haven't moved in yet?"

"It's sort of an experiment. See, I can't go into a house even if people are on vacation, because they have the intent of coming back home. Same with the reverse with vacation homes that actually get used. It's not about the names on the paperwork, it's about it being a place for the living. When someone lives there the place is alive. That's why vampires can't enter without an invitation."

"So say I go back in there maybe start cleaning up, thinking about how I want to remodel, eat my lunch there or something and just get really invested in it, you think that will be enough?"

"Dunno, it's why they call it an experiment. I'll go in with you tonight, should be able to walk right in. You go and get good and attached to the place and I'll try again again in about a week. See if I need an invite."

"Worth a shot I guess," she shrugged.

A banging sound alerted them that Giles was finally being wheeled out. Buffy let out a sigh of relief. They both stood up to join him. "We'll be taking him to his room now," the nurse chimed.

"Lead the way," Spike replied.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Buffy asked as they started to walk down the hall.

"A little fuzzy, but better. Are those for me?" Giles asked, indicating the big bouquet of balloons.

"They sure are! You, like?"

Giles gave Buffy a slightly annoyed smile, "Thank you, yes. They say I'll need to stay the night."

"Yeah, something about your blood pressure being wonky."

The nurses continued pushing him down the hallway. With Buffy and Spike walking beside him.

"Can't imagine why that would be," Giles huffed.

"Yeah, well Buffy and I talked it over and we intend on sticking around a bit longer. Get you back on your feet, Rupert."

Giles looked at the two of them, "But what about your trip?"

"We're just postponing a little. The rest of Europe will still be there, we want to make sure you will be too," Buffy assured him, "Besides, we've got work to do on our future home."

"You're serious?"

"As a heart attack," Spike said, earning him a glare from Buffy and Giles, "That we're obviously trying to avoid. Come on people, take a joke."

"Sorry to interrupt but we need to get him up to the third floor," one of the nurses interjected.

Buffy realized they were standing outside the elevators, "Oh right!"

Once they managed to get Giles into the large elevator Buffy and Spike were able to slip in beside him.

"There's a lot of work to do if we ever plan on moving here permanently," Spike said, handing Giles the little bear.

"I dare say you're right," he looked at the little bear in his hands, "Good heavens, Buffy. The balloons were quite enough but the bear too?"

"Don't look at me, the bear was his idea," she hitched a thumb towards Spike.

"Only the best for my father-in-law," Spike grinned at the look on Giles's face.

The elevator door rang as the doors opened. The nurses quickly got Giles settled into his room and elevated his leg. "The doctor will be in shortly," one of the nurses said before leaving.

"Thank you!" Buffy called after them. She set the balloons down on the bedside table along with the little bear, "This little guy will keep you company tonight. Hopefully you'll be able to come home tomorrow. We can hang out here a little bit longer until they kick us out. I want to hear what the doctor has to say."

"It's only a broken leg Buffy, I'm fine, really."

"Leg, smeg, I'm worried about this blood pressure."

"Oh I'm sure it's nothing."

"I could always check your cholesterol if you like, get instant results," Spike offered.

"I think not."

"Don't joke about eating him!" Buffy punched him in the arm.

Spike rubbed his arm, "Ow! Who said anything about eating? I only meant a little taste test," he grinned.

Buffy rolled her eyes, "After we talk to the doctor we'll probably head out and let you get some rest. I was going to take Spike over to look at the house."

"Fine, fine."

"How about some telly?" Spike grabbed the remote without waiting for an answer. He made himself comfortable and started flipping through the channels and stopped on a home renovation show, "There you are, Love."

Buffy took the other chair next to Giles's bed. "You know, I really hope Xander gets back soon, we could really use him on this project."

"Where is he now anyway?" Spike asked.

There was a knock at the door interrupting them and the doctor came in. He went over the X-rays taken before and after the surgery. "I've ordered some tests. We should have most of the results in the morning. You get some rest now Mr. Giles," he then turned his attention to Spike and Buffy, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave for the evening, Mr. and Mrs. Summers. You are welcome to return tomorrow."

Spike stood up to shake the doctor's hand, "Thanks Doc,"

"My word, your hands are cold."

"Yeah, it's nothing."

"I beg to differ, it could be quite serious indeed."

Buffy stepped in, "It's alright Doctor, we've known about his heart condition for a long time, his specialist has it under control. Speaking of which, we should probably get him home to take his medication."

"Ah I see. Yes, yes of course."

"See ya round Doc," Spike said dismissing the doctor then he turned to Buffy, "Heart condition?" He laughed.

"It got rid of him didn't it?" She said with a grin.

Giles stifled a yawn but Buffy caught it, "Yeah, that's our que to head out. You get your rest and we'll see you tomorrow, just give us a call when you hear anything," she said, giving him an awkward hug.

"I most certainly will, thank you, dear. Good night!"

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