A/N: Thanks for the reviews! You guys are really encouraging me:) I wouldn't've been able to get this far without you!

Fool Me Once
Chapter 6

The faint sound of her mother's voice rambling nonsensically traveled downstairs and reached Buffy's ears. Stubbornly, she tried to block it out, beginning to clean the pile of dirty dishes from several days before, but it was too much. Reaching out and turning the stereo on, the loudly-playing music managed to drown out the sounds from upstairs.

The doctor had let them taker their mother home until her surgery, but Buffy didn't know whether she could handle the way she had been acting. When she had made the suggestion, it had been before her mom had started losing a grip on reality, and in hindsight, maybe keeping Dawn from seeing that would have been the best action.

Too late now, though. Their mom was home, and she had already not only royally wigged her sister out, but she had begun to say things to Dawn that were eerily similar to what the man in the hospital had said… Their mother had unknowingly realized what Dawn was, before she even had a chance to tell her…

Buffy set a plate down so hard that it shattered; everything was falling apart.

Spike stared through the window at his Slayer, knowing without a doubt the cause of the ridiculously loud music blaring through the speakers. It wasn't enough to quiet the sound of Joyce's rambling, at least not from his vampiric senses. He could hear the Bit upstairs too, crying her eyes out but trying to be quiet.

He didn't know why he was here. Well, to be honest, he did know, but had no real reason. He'd had no real reason to pass by the hospital earlier to see whether he could slip in to visit Joyce, so he hadn't made himself visible when the three Summers women had gotten into their Jeep and taken off, Buffy driving precariously but still trying to help her mother. He had faintly heard their mother saying something about muffins in her gallery and it hadn't taken a genius to figure out that her tumor was making her less than sane.

But none of that really explained why he was standing in their backyard chain-smoking and feeling like a bloody stalker.

And then he saw Buffy's face crumple, and he knew why he had come; before he knew what had happened, he was walking through the back door and pulling her into his arms, the tears running down her face soaking his shirt. She loosely fisted the cloth in one hand, the other worming its way inside his coat and holding him more tightly against her. Spike didn't think about the unlikelihood of the current situation, the Slayer seeking solace in the arms of the vicious killer he was—the person who she knew had come to kill her only nights ago. She had sought comfort from him then, too.

He was here because he was the only one who could give it to her.

It wasn't long before her sobs began to subside and the grip she had on his body began to loosen. She didn't pull away through. They stood there for a moment longer, the ridiculous music still playing, until Spike reached over to turn it off.

There was a moment of silence punctuated by a piercing scream.

"Dawn!" Buffy yelled, finally leaving Spike's arms to run up the stairs. He followed a moment later, after grabbing a knife from the pile of dishes.

Starting up the stairs, Spike had to duck to avoid the demonic body thrown down the steps. Leaping down after it, he restrained the flailing beast until the Slayer appeared before him. Deliberately, she picked the knife up from the floor. Reaching out and taking hold of the demon's head, she cut its throat with a single slash.

Its struggling abruptly stopped and Spike let it fall to the ground. He stared awkwardly at Buffy, and then moved suddenly to escape through the front door.

"What are you doing?"

Her voice surprised him, and he stilled his hand on the door knob. "I'll leave so you can deal… with the family and the like."

"Stay."

The word hit him like a bolt of electricity. "Say again, pet?"

"I'll be back in a few minutes," she said, hesitating for a moment before heading up the stairs then moving closer to Spike and pressing herself into his embrace once more. "Thank you," she murmured.

Abruptly, the front door burst open and a group of commandos led by Riley were unexpectedly standing before them, viewing the suddenly uncomfortable moment that Buffy and Spike had been sharing. The Slayer pulled away from him at the sight of Riley's dubious expression, a look of guilt on her face enough to confirm any worries that the soldier had.

"Miss Summers, where's the demon?" a faceless commando asked after an awkward moment. By way of reply, Spike moved to the side and exposed the still-prone body lying on the floor.

"I have to go upstairs and check on my family," Buffy said quickly, moving up the stairs without saying another word to Riley or the soldiers.

Spike quirked an eyebrow at her boyfriend, then made a motion with his head as to indicate his departure. "I guess your work here is done, mate? Showed up just in time, eh?"

Riley sent him a venomous glare, then stalked away from the doorway and led the commandos into an unmarked van parked in front of the house. The last two carted the demon's body out along with them, and left Spike standing alone with a growing sense of unease.

The soldier boy's look of menace didn't scare the vampire, but he wasn't stupid enough to know that Riley wouldn't try something. Not only that, though, the usually repugnant scent of the Slayer's boyfriend carried something… different. Something strangely familiar, but that Spike couldn't quite place his finger on…

There was something strange going on, and it definitely was not of the good. And whatever it was, it would all be out in the open soon enough—he could feel it coming.