"Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know; your stairway lies on the whispering wind?" Spike throws his beer bottle at the wall in tune with the music, and begins playing along on his air guitar. "And as we wind on down the road" Spike kicks another bottle at the wall, really wailing out the lyrics now "our shadow taller than our soul. There walks a—"

"Spike?"

"Ahh!" Spike falls off his precarious perch on the sarcophagus, and tumbles into a heap on the ground.

"Bloody hell. None of you know how to knock, do you? Is that a part of the initiation into your inner circle—Pick one: Kill a demon, be a demon, or go barge into a neutered demons sanctuary without bloody knocking?" Spike picks himself up from the ground, and limps over to his CD player. It's getting to his favorite part, but the moods ruined now, so he shuts it off with an agitated flick. "What do you want then, got a demon breathin down your neck? Need ol' Spike to clean up a mess, maybe take the fall for somethin?"

"No, nothing like that." Willow sits down on the sarcophagus and looks steadily at Spike. "I… do need a favor, though."

Sitting in his chair, Spike takes out a cigarette and lights it casually.

"Yeah, what? Couldn't wait until tonight?"

"Well that's the favor. It's about tonight. I want to get the Buffybot working, but I need a part. I need to leave town to get it, and won't be back until tomorrow. I don't want to leave Dawn and Tara alone for that long. ."

"And you couldn't leave a note on my tree?"

"I was hoping you'd go to the house today. Nowish." Willow gave her best innocent-and-cute smile, hoping it worked on evil vampires as well as it did on others.

"Why? And its day time, I'm supposed to be sleepin anyway."

"You can sleep at the house. It's just… I feel a little uneasy. Tara isn't feeling well, and if something were to happen… Everyone else is at work or doing stuff. Please? With blood on top?"

Spike stared at her for a moment before shaking his head.

"One a these times, one a you lot are gonna burst in her at the wrong time and I'm gonna bloody well eat you." Throwing his cigarette on the floor and stomping on it, Spike stood up.

"Good! So you're coming?" Willow jumped down from her spot, and smiled again.

"Yeah, course. Let me grab my blanket."

Slamming the door behind them and throwing his sizzling blanket on the ground, Spike dropped himself onto the couch.

He still felt weird inside Buffy's house, and only came in when he absolutely had to. Sun being up and all, he couldn't take his normal spot by the tree.

"Okay, so I should be back tomorrow afternoon or evening. I'll call if it's later. There's food and blood in the fridge. Dawn can hang out with Melinda but not Janice. Actually, just keep her home."

"Red."

"Yeah?"

"Go." Rubbing his forehead with one hand, he pointed to the door with his other.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Okay. Tara knows a spell if you need to get a hold of me. Okay bye."

She is absolutely nutters.

Spike stood and grabbed his blanket, and flopped down on his couch.

"And she's buying a stairway to heaven…" he mumbled to himself before drifting off to sleep.

"Oh, Spike. Guess Willow really did go get you." Tara looked both parts relieved and slightly annoyed. "I t-told her that there was no need. You'd be by tonight anyway."

Spike rolled over, eyeing Tara.

"It'll be like I'm not even here. Aren't you supposed to be sick?"

"Well, I don't know if I'm supposed to be, but I am. Cold. Came down to get some chamomile and drugs. D-do you want some? Tea, I mean?" Tara was wringing her hands semi-nervously, and gestured to the kitchen.

"No thanks, luv. Just flip the lights off when you're done." Spike rolls over and appears to go back to sleep.

Tara smiles at his form briefly, and makes a mental note to make sure they stay stocked with blood. After making herself some tea, she smiles softly at him again and goes back upstairs, feeling a lot safer than she had when she'd started for the stairs.

I hope he passes Willow's little test here.

"Spike?" This time it was Dawn waking Spike up. In response, he just pulled the pillow over his head and waited for her to get the message. "Oh, sorry. Quiet as a mouse."

"A mouse that turns the telly on right next to a sleeping vampire?"

Dawn looked up at him, all innocence and big eyes, and turns the volume down slightly.

Sitting up with a sigh, he looks up bleary eyed at the cartoon she'd put on. Tom and Jerry? Much as he liked the mindless violence, he needed his sleep if he was going to be any use on guard duty tonight. Demons were getting a bit more confident, since none had seen the Slayer in a good while.

Standing up, Spike readjusted his coat and slipped his shoes back on.

"Gonna find a nice quiet spot. Sneak out or do somethin stupid and I'll steal morphine so I can beat you right and proper." Spike puts just enough sharpness in his eye to let Dawn know he really isn't in the mood for any antics.

"Right. No stupid. I'm miss not-stupid, whole day." Spike nodded and picked up his blanket, heading to the hallway."

"Spike…" Turning back, annoyance written all over his face, Spike waited for her to finish her sentence. "Nothing. Never mind." Rolling his eyes, he turned once again to find a quiet spot.

Don't go far.

"Hey Mel, come in!" The small, dark haired girl bounced in and gave Dawn a quick hug.

"It seems like ages since I've been here. Whatcha watchin?" Mel motioned to the TV, already entranced. Her parents hated TV, so she really only got to watch when she came over to a friends house.

"I don't know, some dumb cartoon. We can watch a movie, if you want. I've got tons of popcorn. And we can watch pretty much whatever we want, because everyone's either sick, asleep, or away." Dawn proudly showed her the DVD and VHS drawers. "Ta da!"

"Whoa…" Mel was always so impressed with whatever Dawn did. She thought Dawn just lived the coolest life, getting raised by her easy-going big sister and her friends. She was always sensitive about her parents' divorce and her mom's death, but still admired how free and fun Dawn always seemed. "How about this one? I still haven't seen it."

"IT? Well, okay. I haven't either. I'll go make the popcorn, can you get it all set up?"

Mel nodded and took the box from her. This was going to be so cool.

They weren't far into the movie before both their heads were under the blanket Dawn had gotten from the hall closet. Their eyes poked up above the covers when the music died down, just in time to see…

"AHHHH!" Both girls screamed simultaneously, scaring each other, before slapping their hands over each other's mouths. The silence lasted only a second, though, when both girls screamed again as a large, dark figure charged into the room wielding a sword.

"What is it? What's going on?" Spike spun around the room a few times, ran into the kitchen, and then back into the front room. "What is it?"

"S…Spike… I…" Dawn's wide eyes began to soften and her heartbeat slowed down a bit. Spike looked at her cowering friend, and then at the telly, from which the scariest laughing was emanating from.

"What the… is this what scared you? You were watching IT?" Grabbing the remote, Spike switched it back to cable, where cartoon animals were chasing each other. "Bloody well gave me a heart attack. Only scream if you're in mortal peril, got that nibblet? Wha'd I say about stupid?"

"Uh… to not to?"

"Exactly." Spike threw the sword onto the kitchen table and regarded the cowering creature beside Dawn. "Who's the bite size, then?"

"Oh, uh, this is Mel. Melinda. Willow an' Tara said she could come over."

"Right. Well, just keep it down an… Bloddy hell… Melinda was it? Not gonna bite ya," any time soon, anyway, "So calm yourself. Just watch ya bloody cartoons."

"Spike!"

"What now, bit? Man's gotta get his rest."

"Um… could you… is it okay… can you stay nearby?" Dawn feels pathetic asking, but the shadows cast by the afternoon sun on the walls were looking suspiciously clown-like at the moment.

Spike looked around, then shook his head in resignation.

"Yeah, sure thing nibblet. You an' bite size just… try not to scream. And if I hear any demonic clown laughter, I'm telling on you, you know I will." Spike went back to the cot down in the cellar and grabbed his blanket and pillow. They're bloody house breaking me. Soon I'll be cooking them dinner an… goin ta football games. Soccer. Whatever.

Spike traipsed back up the steps, and threw his blanket and pillow on the floor of the hallway, just barely far enough away to have his peace and quiet, but close enough to hear and see them.

"Dawn, have you had dinner yet? I don't think I want to cook today. How does—oh, hey Mel. How does pizza sound? Or… uh… Chinese?"

Mel and Dawn look at each other, briefly, then back at Tara.

"Pizza! With anchovies, please."

"Right. Oh, and Spike's here, by the way. I was going to tell you earlier, but I… what?"

Mel and Dawn started giggling to each other when she mentioned Spike, and pointed down the hallway when she questioned them.

"Wha… oh dear." Spike was sprawled out on the floor, one arm hugging his pillow to him, the other flung out over his face. His legs were poking out from under his tattered blanket in different directions. Lowering her voice, Tara asked them if they wanted breadsticks.

"Bloo…dy…hell…" Spike murmured to himself in his sleep, turning over and kicking his leg free of the blanket.

Snickering, the three girls went into the kitchen to dig up plastic plates and utensils.

When the pizza man arrived, Spike decided to completely abandon the idea of a full day's rest. He stared at the delivery boy, half asleep, and thinking innocently of all the times he'd ordered a pizza just to eat the delivery boy. His mouth watered at the thought.

"Is… he alright?" the boy asked, pointing nervously at the man sitting in the hallway staring at him.

"What, Spike? Yeah, he's cool. Just got out of prison for murder and drug abuse—technicality in the proceedings. He's just adjusting to being a free man. Prison does stuff to ya." Dawn said it all with such a straight face that Tara couldn't help but giggle. Spike had heard what she'd said, of course, and sent a sneer/growl his direction just for the fun of it.

Pale, the delivery boy swallowed hard and just about threw the pizza box at Dawn, who hurried to the kitchen.

"She's kidding, of course." Tara said soothingly. The pizza boy looked very relieved, and laughed at his own jumpiness. "Yeah, they were never able to send him to prison for that stuff." Smiling again, she gave money to the gaping delivery boy and shut the door.

"Tara! I never knew you had such a bad side!"

"Well… you know." Shrugging easily, she handed Dawn the bag of breadsticks. "Everyone's got a little darkness in them."

Giggling again, the two teenagers took a few slices of pizza and returned to their spot on the couch.

"What were you doing in the hallway, Spike?"

"Nibblet and her girl over there scared me half to death, screaming about something. Surprised you didn't hear it. Decided to just stay close. Too tired to go back downstairs."

"Oh, I see. I must have been pretty out. Those cold pills are potent."

"Right. Well, now you're here, I'm going to eat dinner." Reaching into the fridge, he took a brown paper bag out and headed off to the basement. "See that no one comes wandering in."