Author NOTE: I'm so sorry this took so long to get out. My husband is coming home from Korea in 1 month and then we are moving to Kansas (anyone live there? I'm terrified of Tornadoes) on top of that my 20th Birthday is coming up and everyone's trying to make plans and I've only got 4 weeks until Final Exams and I have three papers due this week so everything kinda been piling up on top of one another. I'm not going to abandon this and it's the only fanfiction I'm writing so I will finish it. This is the begging of the actions. It's about to get crazy! Review and I'll keep updating. Promise!

Disclaimer: I do not own!

Chapter Seven

Spike stiffened, and Buffy's eyes widened. "Put clothes on," he ordered, moving to get off her and do the same. But he didn't have time. A second later the door to their room was yanked open and Angel dropped through the hole. Spike turned, completely uncovered, to glare at his grandsire. "Angel," he stated, hiding a smirk at the look of horror that had just crossed Angel's face. "To what do we owe this visit?"

"Buffy…" Angel hadn't looked away from her since he dropped through the hatch. Buffy, for the most part, was covered by the blanket she'd managed to snatch when Spike had abandoned it. "What have you done?"

"If you're here to question the decisions of my mate…" Spike let the word hang in the air before continued in a much lower voice, "I suggest you leave now."

That got his attention away from Buffy. He snarled as he turned toward Spike. "She's not your mate!" he declared, slipping into full game face.

"Guys," she cleared her throat but was completely ignored.

"More mine than yours, I'd say."

"You've done something to her! And when I find out what it is I'm going to rip your head from your body."

"Harsh words for a vamp with a soul, mate."

"Guys!"

"What have you done to her?" Angel grabbed Spike by the shoulders in his rage and flung the smaller vampire across the room where he collided with the stone wall.

"Spike!" Buffy screamed, and was out of the bed in an instant, moving between the two vampires faster than she would have ever been able to before. Her game face slipped down and she snarled at Angel who slipped out of his own demon visage in shock.

"Get out," she hissed, eyes flashing, ready to launch herself at the older vampire at a moment's notice. She was not about to let Angel come waltzing into her life again just because she was a vampire now!

Angel frowned at her, straightening to his full height and smoothing his clothing out. "I hoped we could talk."

"Before or after you ripped my mate's head off?"

Angel glared at that. "He's not your mate, Buffy. I don't know what bullshit he's been feeding you, or what spell you're under, but I'm going to find a way to help you."

"She doesn't want to be helped." Spike spat from behind her.

"Just get out, Angel."

He stared at her for a long moment, and she almost covered herself. But that would be stupid. Wasn't anything he hadn't seen. Finally, he turned to the ladder, pausing only to say, "This isn't over. I promise I'll figure this out Buffy," before disappearing upstairs.

Buffy yanked her clothes off the floor and shoved into them angrily. Dressed, she turned to the ladder and glared at Spike who was, still nude, smoking a cigarette. "Where ya going, pet?"

"To figure out what on earth Angel is doing here?"

"You think someone called for him?"

She shook her head. "I know he did."

Buffy was surprised when she stepped out of the crypt and saw the group of humans exiting a crypt nearby. A brown haired male was leaning on a petite blonde, both with ripped clothes and smeared blood and dirt on them. A haggard looking older man hobbled, holding a crucifix in one hand and a crossbow in the other and behind them, looking sheepish and completely unharmed, walked a small redhead.

"Patrolling without me now?"

The group jumped, and then turned to regard her with mixed emotions on their expressions. "Buffy," Giles began taking a step toward her. "We would have concluded you in this had we known how to reach you." Fair enough. She nodded, and indicated the crypt she'd just come out of.

"Home sweet home. Care to come in?"

They looked between each other for a moment and she sighed. "I have soda and bandages for Xander's head. You can tell me what happened, and I can ask you why Angle's here."

Giles paled considerably but Anya rolled her eyes and pulled her injured boyfriend toward Buffy. "He hit his head on a sarcophagus. Willow made him a demon magnet."

Buffy opened the door to the crypt and they moved inside. Giles and Willow followed behind at a distance and then they were all enclosed in the upper compartment of the crypt. For a moment, they all stood their awkwardly, then Buffy shoved Xander into the arm chair and moved around them all to grab the first aid kit from atop of the fridge. "Soda's in the fridge," she announced and set the kit in Xander's lap to open.

No one moved as she got out gauze and a rag and began wiping Xander's face. No one spoke. Not even Anya. Finally, once the blood was removed and she'd began to wrap Xander's head, her patience snapped. "Why on earth are you all acting this way? I thought we were over this!"

"Buffy," Giles stuttered only to be interrupted by a deep voice.

"Suppose they want to know why you haven't sucked the boy dry yet, pet."

Willow squealed, Giles swung his crossbow toward Spike and Buffy leapt to her feet. "Hey!" she cried at Giles. "No shooting remember?"

Giles, regretfully, lowered his crossbow as Spike moved to light a few of the lamps he'd nicked this week. "Bit dark in here," he explained and then leaned back against a sarcophagus against the wall. "'Preciate the nummy snacks you've brought back, pet."

"No snacks, Spike. God can't you get along for once?"

Spike lit a cigarette in response. "My Crypt," he mumbled around it.

"Ours," Buffy spat back and then turned to the rest of them. "Is Spike right? You thought I'd drain Xander?"

"No!" Willow cried and Xander nodded in agreement before wincing and lifting a hand to his head.

"It's just, peculiar." Giles began, lowering his crossbow but still eyeing Spike warily. "I've never known a fledgling that could resist fresh blood. Yet, you seemed completely unaffected by the sight and smell all together."

Spike laughed from where he was perched, "Weren't you spose to check into that, Watcher? What she can and can't handle?"

"Well yes but I've been a bit preoccupied."

"Right. Calling the poof and all."

Which brought Buffy back to her first point. "Why is Angel here?"

Anya crawled into Xander's lap to pat his shoulder and Willow finally relaxed enough to lean against her own sarcophagus as Giles answered. "I believed he would want to aid us in researching ways to assure you're soul remains intact, and perhaps anchor his own while we are at it. I believe he took it as an invitation to thrust himself into our lives once more. More specifically into yours."

"There will be no thrusting in my life!" Buffy declared and then frowned. "Least not from Angel."

"Right. Didn't need that visual," Xander groaned.

"What about tonight? Why are you in a cemetery?"

"We came looking for you," Giles explained. "You see, Willow cast a spell. To make her will be done. It had some unforeseen consequences."

"Consequences?" she demanded, arms crossing over her chest as she waited.

"Yes. I went blind…"

"I was a demon magnet…" Xander interjected.

"And you and Spike…" Giles looked to Willow.

"Oh. Um. See. I said Giles didn't see anything. So um…he didn't. So when I said 'Why don't they just start a family' about you and Spike we thought um…that it might have worked that way on you."

"Of course it wouldn't have any affect because you are vampires but…"

"You did a spell." Buffy glared at Willow.

"Yes. But it was only a little one."

Buffy turned to Giles, a hard look on her face. "It will be addressed," he assured her. "Now. If you don't mind, I'm returning to my home. It's been a long night and I'd rather not spend it in a crypt with a lethal vampire."

Spike smirked around his cigarette. "Don't let the door hit ya," he mumbled.

"Shall I expect you around my apartment tomorrow? When the sun goes down, of course. I thought we could address the problem the commandos are creating."

How could she have possibly forgotten them? "Right." She said nodding. "I want to attack. And soon. But I don't have any clue how to get back in. Tomorrow night, we'll show you where we escaped."

"You're going to need an army." Spike added, squashing his fag under his boot. "And a lot more courage than you lot can muster."

"That remains to be seen," Giles countered. "Buffy, see you tomorrow night." She nodded and watched as the group managed to stumble out of the crypt and disappear into the night.

"We don't have an army." She whispered. Spike shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away from her.

"I might."

Her head snapped up and she narrowed her eyes at her. "Know a few blokes on the demon side. Wouldn't mind getting in a row or two if it meant clearing out those demon catchers."

"They'd work with us?"

"If I tell them we've got a witch on our side, yea. It's your lot you gotta worry about. If they go killing our army we're right back where we were."

"I'll handle them tomorrow. For right now, I'm going hunting." She moved to the door, yanked it open, and then paused. "Spike, about the spell…"

"Don't worry bout it, pet." He walked up to her slowly, eyes traveling up and down her body and she felt herself flush. "I intent to make you jump in my bed without the aid of a spell soon." And then he moved past her, into the night. When she stood there, gaping at her, he grinned, "Come on. Let's go recruit some baddies."

Giles had just changed into his night clothes when someone banged on the door. He wondered briefly which of the three vampires was coming to call. Sighing, he opened the door to see Angel yet again. "What?" He asked, way beyond the point of pleasantries.

"I went to see Buffy tonight."

Giles sighed, rubbing his eyes and replacing his glasses. "And that should interest me because…"

"Because there were humans there." Giles gaze instantly hardened. "When I walked into the crypt, I head heartbeats. And then they disappeared."

They'd been fooled. She wasn't good, she didn't have a soul! And she and Spike had killed two humans before she'd invited them into the crypt. That was why she wasn't hungry! They'd already eaten.

"No," Giles whispered but Angel ignored him.

"Except, when I went downstairs, to see if Spike had killed someone…there was no one there."

"What?" Giles frowned. What did that mean? And how horrible that he had immediately jumped to 'Buffy's lying and she's evil'. He'd chide himself about that later.

"There was only Buffy and Spike."

Giles took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes again. "What are you trying to imply?" He asked warily.

"I'm saying, that last night, for about ten minutes, Buffy and Spike were human."

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