Chapter 13 - Deep End
After Willow and Tara left Spike's crypt, they made their way to the Magic Box. Giles and Anya were already there. Eventually Buffy and Riley met up at the shop as well. The plan was to have a full scoobie meeting after dark, giving the vampire's a chance to rest. Spike however was too aggravated to sleep, so after swinging by Willie's for some fresh blood and a drink, he headed for the shop as well. However he had decided to hang back in the training room, listening in on the humans, who were all getting caught up on Riley's arrival. Wanker...
"So, you two together again then?" Anya inquired first.
Buffy looked unsure to Riley. He clearly wanted the answer to be yes, but Buffy was still struggling with all of the truths she'd revealed to herself. "We're talking about it."
Riley didn't seem too off put about the answer. "I did kind of show up out of the blue."
"And just in time for a musical-fest." Tara added.
"Yeah, have you guys been researching this or this all brand new?" Riley asked, trying to push the conversation to a more comfortable place for the uneasy blonde beside him.
"There have been occurrences for a few days now," Giles explained. "We believe it to be a demon, but were unsure if he was summoned or came through the portal when we faced Glory."
"Who'd wanna summon a demon?"
"Well, in looking into the guy, the description of what he does doesn't seem all that awful, but there is a hitch that whoever summons him has to go back to hell with him." Willow informed.
"And let me tell you, underworld child bride deals, never work." Anya added, "Well, maybe once."
"Once?" Buffy asked the ex-demon.
"Hades and Persephone."
"That's a myth about Greek gods." Willow pointed out, "Isn't it?"
"All the stories you have about gods, and a lot of fairy tales," the ex-demon pointed out. "Mostly they're just demons, some older than others."
"No way..." Willow acknowledged, not quite believing it, but some part of it made sense. "And how do you know a child summoned him?"
"Any human would be like a child to an immortal demon." Anya assured then dipped back into her paperwork.
"Well, there is one development I must share with you all." Giles started, regaining everyone's attention, "I'm not sure if it is related to our musical demon or a separate threat that may have come through the portal. But I have come across a few inflamed corpses."
"Umm, I feel like that screams dragon, not music demon." Buffy commented.
"Witnesses say they were dancing before they... Spontaneously combusted, from the inside out."
"Oh," Buffy looked a little pale. "So, definitely not leading to hugs and puppies..." Buffy recalled her sister saying from her body after their first group song.
"I'm afraid not." Giles agreed.
"Great, so where the hell we gonna find this guy to stop him?" Riley budded in.
"That's where our research has reached an impasse, nothing to indicate specific haunts." Giles informed. "We may need Spike to start asking questions around local demon haunts."
"Giles, did you just admit we needed Spike?" Buffy smirked to the British man.
"A temporary insanity I assure you. Just until you feel capable to patrol again."
"Well I suppose I'd be good for a group patrol tonight. Give me another day or two and I'll be good to fly solo again."
"That's good to hear." Giles smiled to his charge.
"Well Spike will be by after sunset, then you all can go question Willy or whatever you do to get answers." Tara reiterated for the group.
"I'll go out too. Doesn't hurt to have another strong body with." Riley assured.
Buffy smiled politely back to him before asking. "You two gonna be able to play nice?"
Riley shrugged the implication off, positive that the vampire would cause more trouble than he would. "I don't think I'm the one you have to talk to about that."
"Really?" She raised a brow. "Tell me, where does one find a plastic stake?"
The group looked a bit shocked at the accusation. "Is that why he didn't come home last night?" Tara asked innocently. Home? Riley wanted to question.
"No, this wasn't last night." Buffy started but the man in question filled in the blanks himself.
"It was after he brought Buffy to see... what I had been doing. If I knew it wasn't gonna make things worse, I probably would have just dusted him." Would that have made things worse... Did I need him then? Did I trust him then? Suppose him showing me what was happening made it easier to trust him... "I don't really comprehend why, but I'll respect that the blonde wonder is on the no kill list, until you say otherwise."
"Thanks..." Buffy replied, slightly convinced. I gotta step out of this convo before I start singing stuff I don't want to… She stood up. "Um, I think I'm gonna go work out for a bit."
"You okay Buffy?" Willow asked.
"Yeah, I just need a minute. It's been a bit of a day, need to decompress a little."
"Suppose you haven't been out on patrol for a while now." Giles concurred.
"Yeah, gotta get my head back in the right space before getting back to my sacred duty." She nodded and started for the back room. "Plus muscles are a bit tight from lack of use."
"Please don't do anything too strenuous." Tara ordered.
"Of course." She agreed over her shoulder before stepping into the back room. "God... I could really go for a sparring session, but..." She said to herself quietly as she stretched.
"Don't wanna push it yet pet." Spike stepped forward from his seat beside the door, making Buffy jump to face him.
"Jeez Spike!" she yelled quietly. "What the hell are you doing lurking about?"
"Red asked me to come by, got bored, came early." he shrugged, "Couldn't help overhearing your little recap..." then he looked down "...that didn't include your switch-a-roo or our latest diddy."
"I haven't told Giles, or Anya, or Riley... about... any of that... yet..." Buffy looked wary, and turned, stepping away from him and toward the middle of the training room. "Can we not talk about that. I came back here to be alone."
"Oh, suppose I can shove off till..." Spike started past her toward the back door.
Buffy touched his arm as he passed, effectively stopping him. "I can be alone with you here... '' Spike smirked and tilted his head to the sentiment. "Just no musical talk please, or anything people may have sung for that matter...?" she asked more than stated. "I'm not ready to..."
"It's fine luv." He nodded, agreeing to the terms. "So, how's your own skin feel?"
Buffy retracted her hand and crossed her arms. "How do you know I'm not Dawn?"
He turned toward her and raised his scarred eyebrow, "Bloody easy to tell now that I'm lookin' pet."
Buffy rolled her eyes to her companion's smug attitude. "Honestly, I miss her nose." Spike chortled a little. "I could tell so much more. Like with you I could tell where you'd been, that you had pigs blood, and just how turned..." her face flushed and she quickly adjusted, "But now, you just smell like leather and smoke."
"Well you're sis certainly did a good job at making you smell like you again." He tilted his head, smiling the way he does. "That was one bit where you kept up your little act Summers."
"What?"
"Mocking your own hygiene, definitely something your kid sis would do, not you luv."
"Suppose." Buffy stretched a bit recalling the tension she came back here to release. "Dam, I wanna work out but Dr. Tara says I shouldn't push it."
Spike thought it over for a moment then suggested. "Could walk ya through some forms. Like I do with the nibblit."
"That..." She started expecting whatever he said to be a bad idea, then thought about it. "That would be nice actually."
"Oh, right then." Spike was a little thrown, not entirely expecting her to take him up on the offer. He shed his duster onto the table by the back door, leaving a black t-shirt over his torso.
For the better part of the next hour they were stepping through moves together, mostly Buffy learning deflection and redirection tactics from Spike. But every once and a while she showed him something new. Surprisingly her friends granted her the space she asked for, nobody had popped in to check on her. And even more surprising, Spike stayed away from the requested off-limits topics. The only talking they did was to explain maneuvers or discuss past encounters in which they used them. The more she moved the better Buffy felt, her body was reattuning to the motions of a fight, loosening up in all the right places.
Spike walked her through one move that turned an opponent's block against them. Twisting his wrist against hers, pinning it against Buffy's shoulder as he stepped behind her holding the pressure. He was about to step away to let her try but she spoke, freezing him in place.
"He proposed." Spike loosed his grip a little but still held their embrace, as his face became visibly confused. "That's why he came back, he wanted me to know he wasn't going anywhere this time, if I'd have him..." Spike slowly released her. Buffy could see in her peripherals that he was obviously hurt by the notion.
"You still after that normal life?" was all he said as he stepped away.
"Shouldn't I be?" She reasoned, "I mean, nothing's been normal in my life since I was called."
"You're not exactly normal for a slayer either there luv. You've read up on um, how many of um had family and friends?"
"Slayer life's short, most watcher's advised against personal attachments. One had a kid, but that probably happened before she was called." Buffy explained "Suppose the fewer people to be hurt when she's gone the bett..."
"Bite your tongue!" Spike almost growled, silencing her and making her jump a little. "That's a load of rot. That's no sodding reason to pull away from love." Spike softened and turned to face her. "You have too much of it to give Summers... it's no wonder you got a trail of men who couldn't keep up with..."
"What did you just say?" Buffy cut him off before he could finish. 'You are full of love, it's brighter than the fire.'
Spike froze, not sure what part may have pissed her off. "It's not all that long of a trail, just..."
"Not that you idiot." She sassed, showing she wasn't mad, just taken back. '...that's why you pull away from it.' "Pull away from love...?"
"I didn't mean..."
"What did you mean?" She stepped up to him. I didn't tell Dawn about my vision... no one else would have told Spike...
He puffed out a breath then uttered, "This gig has a way of engulfing you. You can suss out how ta stay a float for a while on your own. Take out some demons one on one, but big bads draw you in deeper, it'll weigh on ya, drown in it until..."
"Something has one good day..." Buffy interrupted, recalling their night at the bronze that seemed like a lifetime ago.
"Right, girls will turn to stone when they ain't getting what they're giving, get too focused on protecting the sodding ungrateful world. Like that first slayer I killed, she was all about the gig. Good fighter, but alone. You're different." He raised a hand to her cheek, brushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "You fight for what you love, to keep um safe. It's what keeps you goin' so strong." He rested his hand against her cheek. "That'd be why you were ready to give it up if ya lost Dawn." He recoiled his hand.
"Okay... Something is seriously wrong if you're making sense of my vision..." She turned away a little freaked at the logic the soulless monster was conveying.
Spike cocked his head then softly stepped up behind her and cooly spoke in her ear, "What visions luv?"
Buffy felt a chill run down her spine at the calm but enticing question. "I went on a vision quest a while back, after mom died, I was feeling hard... like I was turning to stone..." He didn't respond, just gently grazed a hand up and down over her arm in an attempt to comfort her. "A guide appeared to me as the first slayer. I asked her if a slayer can love, and she told me what you just did, that I'm full of love, and love will lead me to my gift..."
"She say what your gift was, or'd she stay bloody cryptic?"
"Death."
Spike's hand stopped its motion and rested on her elbow as he chuckled in his throat. "Well of course it is luv." Buffy turned her head to his with a quizzical look on her face, "When you kill off my kind you give the piddly humans another day to keep toddling on."
"You think that's all it meant?"
"I ain't much for over thinking luv." He smirked, staring at her lips briefly, but long enough to make the girl step away. "Sorry Slayer."
"No, it's fine, well mostly... it's not like I'm engaged yet..."
"Right..." Spike regained his composure and pressed the topic. "So, wha'da your mates think about this sudden proposal?"
"I haven't told anyone else yet." The girl turned her head to him. "And Riley didn't ask for an answer right away. He just wanted me to know how committed he was to sticking around this time."
"Then why you bloody tellin' me this?"
"Cause I don't know what to do." She faced him again, pleading for advice.
"And what you 'spect me to tell you!" He replied growling, then softened with an oddly familiar look of devotion and fear. "I know you didn't want me to go on about it, but... I need you in my un-life... and if you get hitched to captain cardboard..." He let another growl escape before they both heard a guitar echo in the room. Balls...
"Tell me somethin', girl," Spike started to sing. "Are you happy in this modern world? Or do you need more? Is there somethin' else you're searchin' for?" He took a step backwards. "I'm falling... In all the good times I find myself, longin' for change," He stepped backwards again, "and in the bad times I fear myself..."He started to turn away, but Buffy stopped him, stepping up to face him.
"Tell me something, boy," she guided her fingers up through his hair resting on the back of his head. "Aren't you tired tryin' to fill that void? " Buffy let her hand glide down to Spike's chest. "Or do you need more? Ain't it hard keeping it so hardcore?" she tapped his rising chest. "I'm falling... In all the good times I find myself, longing, for change," She stepped back from him and coiled into herself. "And in the bad times I fear myself." Then she spread her arms and belted, "I'm off the deep end, watch as I dive in! I'll never meet the ground!" She started stepping toward the half man again. "Crash through the surface, where they can't hurt us." She put up her arm the same as before her confession. "We're far from the shallow now." Spike braced his arm against hers and slowly walked her through the move he had shown her before.
"In the shallow, shallow," They sang together as they motioned through the stance twice. "In the shallow, shallow... In the shallow, shallow." Buffy now stood behind Spike and held his wrist pinned against his shoulder effectively. "We're far from the shallow now."
Buffy released him and stepped away. "Oh, oh, oh, oh, Whoah!" She echoed as she hopped up onto the vaulting horse then turned to face him again, to see he followed her and was on the ground before her.
"I'm off the deep end, watch as I dive in," She leapt off the platform into a waiting vampire's arms that held her in the air, "I'll never meet the ground." Spike slowly lowered her in front of him. "Crash through the surface, where they can't hurt us."
"We're far from the shallow now..." She wrapped her legs around his waist, holding each other as they both crooned, "In the shallow, shallow," Buffy placed her left hand on his shoulder, "In the shallow, shallow," Then placed her other on the side of his head, tracing the scar on his eyebrow with her thumb. "In the shallow, shallow," Spike wrapped his right arm around her waist holding her up while he brought the other up to tuck some of her hair behind her ear. He could smell the pungent salty sweet scent on both of them. "We're far from the shallow now..." They both heard the music fade out but neither moved.
The universe or powers or what-not trying to tell me something with all these freaking songs...
What the bleeding hell was that then... Spike thought to himself, not wanting to break the moment they found themselves in. Until they heard someone clear their throat from the door behind Spike.
"Willow..." Buffy looked back to the vampire, panic clear on her face. Spike obliged her silent request without hesitation. Placing her gently on the floor after she loosed her grip around him.
"No, no, don't let me interrupt, your Dirty Dancing moment." the witch smirked.
"What ya want Red?" Spike inquired first, determined not to let Buffy be further embarrassed by her confessions or actions.
"Oh, just checkin on ya, thought we heard you singing back here..." Willow smiled, then looked to the vampire. "Didn't hear you back here though."
"Good." he huffed. "No reason to get everyone in a tizzy over this."
"What time is it? Do we need to..."
"No, it's not time to gather just yet, Xander should be getting off work shortly." Willow informed then pushed. "So you guys gonna explain?"
Spike threw his hands up in surrender. "My orders state that I can not discuss such pleasantries."
"No, it's just..." Buffy started but found she had no explanation for her most recent confession to the vampire. "Why does this keep happening to us Wil?"
"Because we have a musically inclined demon, that for whatever unknown reason keeps making you two sing... and it's kinda funny." She giggled a little, but noticed they weren't laughing too, then straightened out and continued with her point, "These songs bring out the truth in everyone. So I guess you two got a little more truth to share than the rest of us."
"Alright, where the hell is this meddlesome asshole?" Buffy lashed "I'm ready for some blunt force trauma or a brutal stabbing." Spike smirked at the blonde's solution.
"That's why we're researching, don't worry we'll get him." Willow tried to make light of her frustration, but saw no sign of relief on her friend's face. Then she gave a knowing look to Spike, who very subtly nodded, knowing where the girl was going next. "Look Buffy, I had a theory I was gonna share with you later, but I was talking with Spike and I think it might make you feel better about all this if I explained it to you now."
"Since when do you two talk?" Buffy looked between them, holding her sides tighter, as if bracing herself.
"Just since you've been laid up." Willow shrugged then continued to her point. "You know me, big on the research. Been doing alot over the past few weeks..."
"Oh get on with it." Spike interrupted eagerly. "Stop beating around the bloody mulberry bush and just tell the bint before we start singing about it."
"Fine Mr. Cranky-pire." Buffy lightened up a little at the 'hardcore' vamp's nickname. "When we were looking into soul research for Dawn, Spike asked about it for him too." Buffy looked to Spike, who did not take his eyes off Willow as she continued. "I wasn't too fond of it at the time, cause we were tweaking it, and didn't know entirely if it was gonna work the same, or if it'd make a new trigger, then if something happened to undo both curses at once, or if it didn't work all together and..."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Buffy interrupted her friend's rant.
"Of course," She agreed then refocused her point. "So we've been looking in to other options for Spike."
"Quick pause Wil," Buffy walked up to the vampire, demanding his attention. "You seriously want your soul back?"
He held himself up and looked to her, and decided to re-ask the question he posed to her body a day ago. "Would it make a difference?" YES! she wanted to scream... but at the same time... all these songs have been about him as he is... Angel was completely different with and without his soul...
Willow interrupted before Buffy could think on it too much. "The thing is though, I looked into Angel, even called Cordelia thinking she'd have some insight, which, surprisingly she did." Willow waited to see if they were as shocked as she was, but the pair was merely waiting for her to get to her point. "So, the thing is, he had his soul for 100 years before he met you," Buffy turned back to her friend, "And the soul tore him apart for a long time. Spent most of that time in exile, just to avoid the sting and regret humanity brought him." Willow paused, giving her friend a moment to let that sink in. Some truth to that... how would Spike deal with his soul... would he drive himself mad with guilt... would he still be able to train Dawn... would he leave... "All these songs you two have been singing, I see one pretty dam clear theme." Willow stepped to her friend and took her hand as a means to comfort her and keep her from running. "You need Spike in your life. Tara and I can see that plain as day." Buffy started to refute but stopped as Willow gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "You rely on each other and want the other in your life. But I don't think either of you wanna wait for Spike to be okay with his soul."
"But..." She pulled her hand away from her friend. "I thought the only way a demon can love is..."
"It's not as black and white as your Watcher and the wanker council makes it seem luv." Spike interjected. "Demons are just another sodding species on this earth, albeit some are a twinge more evil than others... but some are down right cuddly."
"I've never met a cuddly demon Spike." She said with some conviction.
"They don't tend to hang around hellmouths or attract the attention of less worldly Slayers." He pointed out as he walked to his duster and dug out his smokes.
"I do have an actual point to be made with all this rambling..." Willow interjected again.
"Then spit it out, what's your point?" Buffy asked, starting to lose patience with the Giles-like lecture.
"See, when the monk's sent you Dawnie, they messed with all of our minds. And the closer someone was to you the more they had to tweak things." Buffy nodded agreeing with the logic. "And for all the enemies you've had, they never hurt Dawn. They may have taken her, but they never hurt her. I think they programmed it in everyone's head that Dawn wasn't to be harmed. And when they did that in Spike's head, with how close he is to you, and what he is... they had to do more..."
"Willow, are you saying he already has a soul?"
"No, the monks didn't possess that kind of power." Willow stated clearly then explained. "But I think they gave him more humanity, so to say. They had the power to tamper in people's minds. Tweak personalities, give a greater sense of empathy and love toward Dawn and those attached to her. They could have altered memories to look at someone in a different light." Why is that making so much sense... "All these emotions we call humanity, they exists in your brain, not your soul." Buffy felt like she had to contradict her friend's point, but instead let her continue. "You can have a human or even demon with a soul, do some downright reprehensible things... A soul is suppose to guide your life, but you ultimately make your own decisions, everyday."
"Suppose... Faith and I both have souls but decided differently on our Slayer fates and what we do about it..." You've carried the weight of the world on your shoulders since high school, and I know you didn't ask for it, but you do it, everyday... Her friend's words echoed in her head. "What does all this mean Willow...?"
"Well to put it plainly, I think the monks gave you an ensouled vampire, minus the soul."
"Huh?"
"Told you a while back I've changed." Spike stepped back into the conversation but stayed in his spot, smoking in the back corner of the training room. "Nothin' I did, think Red hit the nail on the head saying the monks went messing about... made me more empathetic... sympathetic..." He looked away and took a long drag from his cigarette, "Or hell, just bloody pathetic..."
"You're not pathetic Spike." Buffy rolled her eyes at him.
"Cried like a baby after Dawn died in my arms, and for weeks after Joyce passed. If that ain't bloody pathetic..."
"That's sorrow and grief Spike, and probably some guilt with Dawn." Willow explained, "Just a few of those under utilized emotions I think the monk's shoved back in your brain."
"...When mom was going in over night for tests..." Buffy started not sure if she wanted to give credit to what her friends were trying to convey. "You sat with me… just sat… comforted me."
He looked up to her, "I did."
"Why?"
"You were hurtin', wretched at me to see it, wanted to help it stop... if I could." He stamped out his cigarette on the floor.
"Empathy." Willow chimed.
"Right, well," He inched forward, "See, that was the night when I understood I loved you."
"Understood?" Buffy almost chuckled, "You didn't believe yourself for a while?"
"Hell no! I've told you I knew the whole thing was bullocks." He scoffed at himself before regaining his more serious demeanor. "But, I had a dream about it one day, and the next," God those dreams... "and the next... everyday..." Spike became a bit lost in reminiscing. Until he heard someone clear their throat and looked up to see the ladies staring back at him. "Until our date at the Bronze that is, then after, how it felt to see you hurtin'... I finally admitted to myself how stark raving mad I was about you."
Buffy recoiled to herself for a minute, not sure what to think of everything. Eventually she looked up to her red haired friend. "There any way we can prove your theory?"
Willow smiled softly, "Well, you know how Tara can read auras right?"
"Yeah, like when I was switched with Faith and she could figure it out?"
"You swapped with psycho slayer? When?"
"Mid freshman year."
"Did I see her as you at any point? Cause I don't know I would have been able to tune in like I eventually did with..."
"Not the relevant topic at the moment Spike." Buffy raised a brow for him to drop it, then looked back to Willow. Spike pondered when the swap could have happened on his own, curious if he had come across it.
"Yeah, so Tara's got a knack for it at a glance, seeing if auras are right or wrong with people. But we can do a spell to make someone's aura visible to the naked-non-magically-enriched-eyed person. Our theory is that if we looked at Spike's aura compared to Dawn's, we wouldn't see much of a difference, even though she's got her soul."
"What about compared to a human?"
"Tara says humans and vampires give off a different vibe to begin with, so yeah there'd be differences there."
"...Well, we do have quite a bit on our plate at the moment." Buffy started.
"I agree." Willow nodded, "And I wouldn't feel the need to push this at all right now so long as you indeed trust Spike as is. Like Dawnie says you clearly do."
"I do." The blonde stated without hesitation, surprising both of them. "I don't know when the hell it happened." She explained as she stepped toward Spike, and when she was within arms reach she stared down his blue eyes. "But I do trust you Spike."
"Brilliant." He released an unneeded and slightly shaky breath and smiled widely.
"Alrighty then, we can put a pin in this whole aura thing for now then." Willow assured, then turned for the door. "First we got a demon to find."
"Right." Buffy agreed, turning to her friend again. "I'll come jump back into research with ya, but can you give us a minute?"
"Of course." The red head paused and nodded, then started toward the door again. "Just don't be too long or you'll have Giles or Riley checking in on you next."
"Thanks Wil." I don't get why she's been so cool about all this... but it's definitely the kind of best friend move I need right now...
"What ya need luv?" Spike asked, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. At the feel of his touch she turned to face him and stepped up against him, resting her hands on his chest and her head between her hands. Instinctually he placed his arms around her.
"You tell me." She muttered into his chest. "You always seem to know what I need before I do."
He couldn't help but smirk as he stroked her golden hair. "You've had a lot buggerin' up your life as of late..." She half chuckled as she puffed out an unneeded breath. "Your mum getting sick, soldier boy leavin' you, your mum passin', Dawn gettin nabbed, you gettin hurt, me turning your sis... and now just when one of those things seems like it came to fix itself..."
"I don't think it's what I want..." Buffy finished clenching her fists against his chest, but not moving from his embrace. She was both aggravated with herself yet comforted by the man holding her.
"Well when you decide what you want, you just let me know." He chuckled softly. Buffy felt the rumble in his chest and subconsciously relaxed her fists. "Regardless, I'm not leaving you Slayer." He proclaimed as he tightened his grip around her and kissed the top of her head. "Your mates may go off and have rugrats and drift apart from you. Your watcher may decide he's got nothing more to teach you and shuffle back to England. And your sis may go off to live her own un-life, eventually." Buffy tightened a little at the thoughts, things that had occurred to her before, but she never lingered on them. "But I will never leave you. I've seen the sodding world, and there's nothing better for me out there than you."
The pair were silent for a while more. Buffy didn't shift from where she planted herself, and Spike's embrace didn't waver. Running his fingers through her hair over and over, resting his face against the top of her head. God don't let this moment end... Spike thought to himself as he tried to engrave every scent and touch she was permitting him to have into his memory. If you choose him... If this is all I get...
After a while Buffy noticed the vampire was taking consistent breaths as if he were a creature that needed to breathe. He can be so... human... Buffy chuckled to herself. "Oi, what was that for?" Spike questioned softly.
"Nothing," Buffy shook her head against his chest. "Just, you're breathing..." She tilted her head up to face him. "Why are you breathing?"
"How else am I suppose ta fill my senses?"
"Your breathing so you can smell me?" she asked, a little weirded out, but not as much as she probably should be.
"Always." he smiled down to her. Then his eyes flicked toward the door. Damn! "Someone's commin'." At that the pair separated and Spike stepped into the corner behind the door.
Willow practically ran in. "Buffy, Xander's here."
"Why the sudden urgency? Thought that was the plan?" Spike asked stepping out.
"He couldn't find Dawn at the house."
Song Credits:
"Shallow" from the movie: "A Star is Born", written by Lady Gaga, Andrew Wyatt, Anthony Rossomando and Mark Ronson,