"I had nothing to do with that." Willow raised her hands palms out and shoved back into the couch.
"You are going to pay for this, Boyo." Angel growled and flipped up to his feet. "I am the master of your line."
"Not so much, Peaches." Spike shrugged the neck of his tee to the side, exposing the scars Buffy's human teeth had left on his skin. Gods, this was sweet. "Don't belong to you or Dru anymore."
"No. Whatever you've done, that can't be true. She would never, not with you." Angel hissed and charged. Spike stepped to the side and fought the urge to giggle.
"She did, does, and will. She made her choice." Spike looked over to Buffy and smiled. "Better believe she enjoys it, too."
"You make sure I do." Buffy winked at him boldly.
Spike grinned, shook his head, and punched dear old Peaches hard in the jaw as he made another pass. Angel slumped against the wall and stared at Buffy with his agony plain for all to see.
"What's the fun in beating the bastard if you take all the wind out of his sails, Pet?" Spike complained.
"What is going on here?" Willow asked.
"It's a spell, Will." Xander waved his hands in the general direction of Spike. "Warm up those fingers and get with the spell reversing."
"It's not a spell, Whelp." Spike snarled and kicked Angel back toward the front door.
"What's going on here?" Willow stomped her foot.
"An excellent question." An older, tweed covered man stood. He was an inch or so shorter than Giles, his hair was mostly a steel gray, but their eyes were identical.
"You must be Giles' dad." Buffy smiled. "Sorry for the drama. We weren't expecting a welcome home party."
"You are the slayer, Buffy Summers. I presume." He extended his hand and didn't flinch when the umbrella stand went skittering across the floor.
"Buffy Summers-Pratt." She smiled. "My husband is busy dealing with his side of the family, I'm afraid."
"Oh dear lord, Buffy." Giles turned his shocked eyes to her. "What have you done?"
"It's a spell. It has to be a spell." Xander was pointing at her. Buffy knocked his finger down and raised an eyebrow.
"Trying to talk with Giles the elder here, Xander." She tilted her head. "And, it is so not a spell."
"She would never." Angel spun and got in a kick to Spike's mid section. "She is too good."
"She's fanbloodytastic." Spike circled to the side. "Especially, when she's happy. Not something you'd know anything about."
Buffy blushed. This conversation was going no where fast. Spike was gonna blurt something out that she really didn't want Giles to hear, and it couldn't be good for Xander to turn that color purple.
"I really can't stand this chaos. If you would excuse me for a moment." Buffy nodded toward the gentleman and whirled about. "Xander sit down and shut up. One peep and I'll feed you to a Karnath demon one piece at a time. Get me?"
Xander nodded and fled to the couch next to Willow.
Buffy stalked over to Spike and Angel. Each click of her booted heels sounded through the suddenly quiet room. Spike had Angel pressed up against the front door. He tossed a grin at her. His hair was tousled and curly like it had been when they got out of bed this afternoon. Spike took a deep breath and smiled wickedly at her.
"Please, let him go, William. Giles has guests. I'd rather not play kick Angel's head like a soccer ball this morning." She smiled, and Spike released Angel.
Spike sighed and rolled his shoulders, making a production of it. In truth, it was easy to move away from his past with his eyes locked on his mate. She was beautiful, inside and out, his siren, his destiny. Damned poet. He reached out to grab her hand, but she darted around him with a growl. He heard the clatter of a stake on the floor before he had managed to turn.
Buffy grabbed the poof's shirt and tossed him to the floor. The crack of bones breaking sounded through the room. She moved in a blur, and, pressing one knee into Angel's gut to hold him steady, she held a stake to his chest letting the tip prick his skin. Spike licked his lips.
"Hands in pockets. You step out of line once and Spike can kill you with my blessing. Your oh so wonderful powers can bring you back if they want, but I am done with your nonsense. I chose him. You don't get to take him from me." She pressed the stake in a bit further. "Do we have an understanding?"
The poof nodded. It was too sweet. Spike fought the urge to clap. His mate had taken control of the room so quickly and put on a show to boot. He smiled when she stood and extended her hand to him. He moved to her, lacing their fingers together.
"Ready to tell us what we missed?" Spike looked at Giles steadily, but the man was staring at the vampire struggling to rise behind them.
"Quentin Travers decided that Buffy was a liability. He wanted her removed from service and another called. He moved to act without seeking approval from the governing committee. He brought a wet team to Sunnydale and funded a quasi military operation here. We had to let him show his hand. He was stopped." The older watcher type answered.
"Then you know about Spike's chip?" Buffy put her hands on her hips.
"Yes."
"Take it out." Buffy took a deep breath. "He doesn't need it."
"If we remove his chip, will you assume responsibility for him?" The man's sharp eyes studied her.
"I will, but you needn't worry. Spike doesn't hurt the women he cares about." Buffy squeezed his hand.
"His?" Willow looked back and forth between them.
"We will remove the chip." The tweed wearing man looked at them steadily.
"This is William the Bloody, Father." Giles looked away from Angel's struggles to join the discussion.
"The Council exists to serve the slayer. The chip will be removed."
"Succinct. Like your Da, Watcher." Spike smiled at Giles' obvious discomfort.
"There is a great deal of work left, Mrs. Summers-Pratt. We need you to handle the final closure of the military facility. I'd like your assessment of the weapons and any data we uncover. It appears as if Travers was trying to create an army to combat evil."
"Doesn't sound like much fun." Buffy sighed. "Please, tell me someone hurt Travers."
"He was stripped of all consequence, his property was seized, and he will be standing trial for crimes against the slayer. He will be hurting until I take his bloody head." The elder Giles' eyes flashed.
"Oh, the Ripper thing is genetic. Cool." Buffy smiled.
"I would like to hear about your trip, Buffy." The younger Giles' sharp tone irked Spike. She owed no explanations to anyone.
"We went, wandered in the snow for a bit, got hitched vampire style, honeymooned, killed the demons, honeymooned some more, and came here. Really, it was a nice get away. I loved the snow." Buffy smiled and leaned into Spike.
Both of the watchers paled. Spike could see this was going south and tensed to pull Buffy out of the dangerous situation. He had to keep her safe.
"Relax, vampire. None of us will harm your mate." A woman with the same green eyes as the watchers emerged from the kitchen. "Never thought to be in a room with two ensouled vampires."