Chapter 20 - Veritatem Revelare

* Some explicit sexual content at the start if this chapter *

For the second morning in a row the super pair was awoken by incessant knocking on Buffy's bedroom door. "What!?" Spike growled first.

"Giles is on the phone, Riley's at the magic box."

Buffy looked to Spike hopeful, he nodded her off then stretched stepping out of bed himself. "Be down in a minute." She called back to her sister as she started to collect clothing for the day, then saw a pale figure watching her. "What?"

"Just a little gobsmacked luv." His mouth was practically drooling. "Think there's a bra on the floor there ya may need." He raised a cocky eyebrow.

"Oh this one." Buffy made a show of bending over and collecting the bra, effectively flashing her bare ass to him. She smirked seeing his pleased reaction then playfully threw the garment at him. He didn't even try to catch it, but instead it bounced off his bare chest and caught on his fully erect morning wood. The pair couldn't help but laugh at the placement.

"Think that's three points in horseshoes." He smirked, walking around the bed to her.

"What's my prize?" She smiled back, collecting her garment from his shaft, purposefully grazing her fingers along it as she did, and causing the vampire to inhale sharply. He gave her an evil look as she started to put the bra on.

Spike placed his hands on her ass and pulled her up against him and kissed hard on her neck. He felt her pulse quicken as her blood rushed past his lips. A moan escaped her as she found herself grinding against his shaft. "I'll make you squirm and have you dressed before anyone comes knocking again..."

"Thought quickies were a sign of a bad lover?"

"Try tellin me I'm bad when you explode for me." He cooed in her ear before turning her and covering her lips with his. Then he lifted her off the ground and placed her already wet center on to his throbbing member. Buffy wrapped her legs around him and held onto his shoulders for balance as he lifted her up and down on his shaft, plunging deep inside her. The motion was slow, but heated, every rise nearly pulling them apart before he'd guide her back down, burying himself deep inside her.

"Hmm," She hummed into his mouth, then kissed her way down his cheek. "Thought you were the big bad?" she cooed in his ear. Without warning the demon pulled her down hard on his shaft then turned and pinned her against the wall. Buffy reciprocated every thrust and felt her body start to surge, then she inexplicably felt the need to bite down on his neck, breaking the skin a little. The sensation sent the vampire over the edge, thrusting hard into the woman. The feel of him pulsing inside her and the blood on her lips sent Buffy spasming as well, her inner walls contracting around him. After a moment Buffy looked up to his face, seeing a look of pure wonder, then he pressed against her once more as his tongue invaded her mouth, lapping up the mix of his blood and her essence.

After a minute he pulled away, "You should be more careful on how you entice a vampire."

"Yeah... Not too sure why I needed to bite you... but it was..."

"Intoxicating."

"Yeah..." She agreed as he carried her over toward her closet before lifting her off of him and setting her on the ground. "Think the switch got me addicted to blood?" She asked before she started rummaging through her closet.

"Don't think that's how it works pet." Spike commented as he grabbed the panties Buffy had dropped a couple minutes earlier. "But drinking from me did turn you on before." He knelt before her, offering to slip her undergarment on.

She chuckled before stepping into the underwear. "Never thought I'd see you put clothes on me." Spike pulled the garment up then clasped a hand over her hot, wet center. Which elicited a moan from the woman.

"Any reason to touch you." He smirked, then let her go and collected his pants.

"Rude." She commented a little flushed. "See if I break out my new lingerie for you."

"Made that a part of your shopping excursion with the girls? That why ya didn't want the nibblit snooping?" he asked intrigued, Buffy smirked back answering his questions. "Why not wear um for me last night then?"

"I didn't want to presume..." He reached an arm around her and kissed her. "Besides, you would have just ruined them like my pjs." Spike glanced to the half shredded garment on the floor, then his focus was re-directed forward when her warm lips covered his.

After a minute Spike pulled away and grabbed for his jeans. Buffy whimpered to the action, but the man simply replied, "You're the one who's got a phone call waiting." He smirked as he fastened his jeans. "I'll be happy to run you ragged after."

"Yeah, a phone call about you." She defended pulling a flowy top on then walked to her dresser to grab a pair of jeans and tossed the vampire a black t-shirt and blue button up from the shopping bags.

Spike looked at the garment a little confused. "Not one of my normal colors there luv."

"Yeah, but you'll have your duster on, and I think it'll bring out your eyes... I like being drawn to them..." Spike smiled to the thought and donned the clothing.

Soon enough the pair made their way to the kitchen and Buffy answered the phone. "Hey, sorry about the wait, was just waking up."

"That's what Dawn said." Giles acknowledged from the other end of the line. "You know you used to patrol and still get to school on time."

Well now I've got a sexy vampire to keep me up late and make me wanna stay in bed... Buffy wanted to respond but thought better of it, especially since Giles didn't know anything was actually going on between them yet. "Well when I don't get to bed until after dawn it tends to make me sleep past noon."

"It's 4 o'clock."

Buffy's eyes widened looking at the clock on the oven behind her. "Oh, my bad. Guess my body's still recovering."

"Understandable. But Riley does have some news regarding Spike's chip..." Buffy could tell her watcher was giving her a look even over the phone. "Care to explain?"

"The thing's misfiring Giles, it keeps going off over nothing. We can explain when we get to the shop."

"Buffy I feel we need to discuss this further before anything rash is done. The chip is the only thing keeping him from returning to what he was..."

"Giles! I'll discuss this with you and the whole gang in person." Buffy interrupted him. "We'll be by the shop when the sun goes down." Buffy hung up the phone before the man could protest anymore.

"That sounded pleasant." Spike smirked drinking from a mug on the other side of the kitchen.

"I know I'm just gonna have to explain everything to Xander and Anya, and probably to Riley again, and I'm so not in the mood for it right now."

"And when you say explain everything?" Spike pushed for a clear answer so he wouldn't go about mucking anything up.

Buffy made her way over to him. "I'm gonna tell the gang about us." She placed a hand on his cheek. "And that you need that chip removed... because I can't lose you."

"You've convinced me, but will that be enough to convince the watcher and the boy?"

"I'm hoping Willow backing me up will help seal the deal."

"Just might." Spike smirked, then bent down to kiss her. "Got a bit before sundown, what'dya say we take the nibblit in the basement and you show your sis a thing or two."

"You don't wanna spar with me?" She asked pouting.

"I always wanna dance with you." He made clear, twirling a strand of her hair in his fingers then added. "But if the buggering chip lites me up for sparring with Dawnie, I think it's best we wait until we know what soldier boy's found out. Plus I can give the nibblit pointers while I watch." Buffy shrugged to the logic, then he cooed in her ear. "Besides, sometimes I just like to watch you move."

"Again." Spike demanded as Buffy held a yellow stake to her sister's heart.

"How the hell am I supposed to beat her?" Dawn asked, stepping to start again.

"This ain't about beating her, it's about holding her off." Spike pointed out. "You're not gonna be takin out any slayers Nibblit."

"But what if Faith busts outta jail and goes all evil again?" Dawn pointed out. "Or she dies and the next slayer comes after me cause I'm a vampire, and..."

"Dawn." Her sister interrupted. "Run it again, try to focus on getting the stake away from me."

"That's what I'm trying to do! But you're too good at being aware of the stupid thing."

"And I got your sire to thank for that." She smirked to the man sitting on the stairs. "I've been working on it since he pointed it out."

Dawn took advantage of the distraction, sending a high kick to her sister's hand, causing the plastic stake to bounce across the basement floor. "There you go." Spike cheered. "Now push her." Dawn did as he said, throwing punches and kicks, pushing her sister backwards. The vampire thought she had finally gained the advantage, until Buffy was pressed against the wall and used it to spring forward and tackle the cocky vampire. Then continued the roll to end up by where her stake had bounced to. She collected the implement and poised it at her sister's back before she could turn to counter.

"God dammit!" Dawn yelled.

"Dawn." Buffy scolded, recoiling the stake.

"Sorry, but I thought I had you on the ropes."

"Slayer was just planning out how to get where she wanted." Spike smirked, having seen the angle Buffy had backed herself into as Dawn was pushing her. "Learn from it."

Before the group could start again Willow opened the basement door and called down. "Buffy."

"Yeah Wil?" She responded as they all turned to the top of the stairs. "Sun'll be down soon, Tara and I were gonna head to the Magic Box, start getting the spell ready. You wanna come with us or..."

"No thanks, you go on ahead, I'll head over with the sun allergies." Willow nodded and closed the door again.

"She's not leaving too much ahead of us." Spike noted. "Suppose she doesn't want to get interrogated by watcher man for too long."

"I'm hoping she'll be able to diffuse the bomb a bit." The woman commented as she stretched. "She's always had that teacher's pet rapport with Giles. She'll appeal to his logical side."

"More than you?"

"I'm more like a daughter. Dad's can be upset with their daughters..."

"I've never thought of Giles as a dad." Dawn shrugged, then looked to the window. "I need some blood before we get going." She informed before making her way past Spike and up the stairs. "And maybe a shower..."

"That's what happens when you push yourself."

"So Buffy's better at pushing me than you?"

"I pushed you plenty, just not when you were in your own skin."

"Yeah, yeah..." Dawn groaned and opened the basement door.

Buffy waited until the girl was preparing her meal before stepping up to the vampire. "She's doing good. What you've worked on with her..."

"Are you about to thank me Slayer?" Spike teased.

"Not if you're gonna get all cocky about it." She brushed him off and started past him.

He grabbed her arm, stopping her a step above him. "No need to get all shirty luv." He smirked then pulled her lips to his. Their kiss was soon interrupted by Dawn hollering from the kitchen.

"Spike you gonna want any?"

Spike released Buffy's arm and guided her up the remaining stairs. "I'll have a cuppa."

"Okay," Dawn filled a second cup as they joined her in the kitchen. "You really think Giles is gonna be mad about the chip thing?"

"Sounded mad when I hung up on him." Dawn nearly spit out her meal as she held back a laugh. After taking a moment to compose herself she swallowed her blood and handed Spike his meal from the beeping microwave. "He was trying to lecture me on the dangers of removing the chip, telling me Spike will go back to being a monster without it, yada yada..." She looked to the monster in question, pigs blood on his fangs.

"That's so dumb. Chip didn't alter how he thinks, how he feels." Dawn pointed out. "It's not like he got the chip and turned into a white hat."

"Nope, that took you Nibblit." Spike smirked, changing his face back to his human features.

Dawn smiled back to him, then looked to the curtains. "I'm gonna take that shower quick," She set her mug in the sink. "Sun should be down in like a half hour-ish right?" Spike nodded, adding his mug to hers. "Sweet, see I'm gettin the hang of this." She gave a cocky smile as she headed for the stairs.

"You know, if you gave a smidge of time to clean it out. We could take my car about town." Spike commented as they neared the magic shop. Dawn was eagerly walking a few paces ahead of them, while the couple enjoyed a more leisurely pace, walking hand in hand.

"I'm used to being a pedestrian." Buffy defended. "Plus, when I walk places at night I tend to catch more vampires."

Spike scoffed. "I can be driving down the highway and still sense a vampire hunting."

"We can?!" Dawn asked excitedly.

"We'll get there. Takes a bit to hone in like that."

"Won't take me so long when you're there to teach me." She smirked and practically skipped ahead to the shop.

"Damn right." He called back, then stopped walking, causing Buffy to stop through their adjoined hand and turned her back to him with a quizzical look. Before she could ask, Spike backed her against the alley wall a few feet away and smashed his lips on hers. After a brief but heated kiss Spike rested his forehead against hers. "Just reminding ya, before we head into the wolves that wanna tear us apart." He pulled her hand back to him and guided them back toward the shop.

"You do realize we got a vampire and two witches on our side."

"So if they don't like it we can threaten um, I like it." He smirked.

"So not what I was getting at."

"Add you and me pet and it's all the supers against the nons, I don't mind an easy fight."

"Spike, shut up." She scolded as he dropped her hand and opened the door for her.

The Magic Box was busier than normal for the end of the day. Dawn had already trotted her way to the research table where Xander and Tara were sitting. When Buffy and Spike joined them the slayer inquired, "Where's Giles and Willow?"

"In the back room, Giles didn't want to discuss the spell and... stuff with so many customers in here." Tara informed

"Why's the place so busy?" Buffy asked.

"Anya says lots of amateurs have been in, looking for general reversal and protection spells after the musical business." Xander filled in.

"Nobody wants to be caught with their music pants down again." Buffy jested, but just saw odd looks on everyone's faces.

"Not your best quip there luv."

"Whatever." She shrugged off. "Riley back there too?"

"I don't think so, he supposed to be?" Xander questioned.

"Giles said he came by with news, it was a bit sunny for me to come by before."

"Since when do you have a sun allergy?"

"I was working with Dawn and Spike, figured whatever it was could wait for the vampires to be included." Spike raised a brow to the girl's brush off. Hope she ain't about to back peddle...

"So what were you two training the new vamp on now?" Xander asked, to which Dawn excitedly shared her teachings for a while. Giles had stepped out looking briefly at the table of scoobies then jumping in to assist Anya. Willow joined the table sitting next to Buffy.

"How'd that go?" She asked her quietly as Dawn still had Xander's full attention.

"Could've gone better."

"Didn't convince him?"

"Well, he was still mad at you for hanging up on him, not listening to what he had to say and all."

"There's nothing he could say that's gonna change my mind on this."

"Kind of what I said. Also enforced that you were an adult and can make your own decisions… And I may have hinted that you two had already... made things... official..."

Spike snickered, clearly listening to the friend's quiet conversation while it seemed he was involved in Dawn's explanation. Buffy shot him a dirty look then looked back to Willow. "How'd you...?"

"People do tend to act a bit different after that Buff." Willow pointed out. "And Tara and I do know what certain muffled sounds are."

Buffy's face turned a rosey pink. "I... we never intended for you guys to hear..."

"It's okay Buffy." The girl put a hand on her friend's. "I'm sure you've heard Tara and me a time or two." Buffy merely smirked and shrugged her shoulders. "See it's all good. We're adults, we can deal." Willow smiled. "But as far as Giles is concerned... gotta give him time on that one."

Eventually the shop cleared out and Anya and Giles were able to close things up and join the group at the table. "Buffy, could we speak privately for a minute." The older man motioned toward the training room.

"Nope." Buffy stated firmly, clearly catching the man off guard. "I'm not keeping secrets Giles, the whole group is gonna be involved in this."

"We got another baddie already?" Xander groaned. "Maybe we should get on this wedding thing before we die?" He squeezed his fiancee who was seated on his lap.

"No arguments from me." She smiled back.

"No new big bad Xander." Buffy clarified. "Just some issues with a prior one." The man looked confused at his friend. "Where's Riley?"

"I'm here Buffy." Riley announced his presence from the back room. "Wanted to bring my new friend by just in case." The group saw the dragon nod as he followed the man into the shop and laid down in front of the back room's entrance.

"Incase of what?" Xander asked, more confused than before.

"Tara, you got the spell ready?" Buffy directed. Tara nodded to her, then her and Willow started to set out their supplies. "I propose this to the group, we need to remove Spike's chip."

"Buffy?!" Xander questioned. "Without the chip he'll try to kill you again. This is what he's been after for years..."

"You're right." Spike sarcastically agreed. "I wove myself into the slayer's life, protected her family, saved you all, and fell in love with her. All in hopes that someday she'd find a way to remove the sodding thing so I could finally kill my third slayer and go on to find the next one."

Xander wanted to refute further but couldn't come up with the words. "It's not some long play Xander." Buffy defended but could see her friend still wasn't convinced.

"Then why is it that all of a sudden does this need to even happen?"

"Because it's hurting him." Dawn defended, but Xander was unconvinced by the answer.

"That's what it's supposed to do if he gets all homicidal."

"This is different." Buffy pushed. "Ever since Spike turned Dawn, his chip has been over sensitive. Going off at things it shouldn't."

"Like what?" Anya asked sincerely.

"Shaking Willow's hand, sparring with Dawn, and jokingly flashing his fangs at me, to name a few."

"And you're sure none of this actually caused harm and you just..." Giles started, clearly not entirely trusting the vampire's word.

"Yes." Dawn, Willow and Buffy said as one.

"I've discussed it with Riley." Buffy moved on. "The initiative experiments didn't exactly take long term into account. And it's most likely the chip is degrading." Buffy looked to Riley. "Did you get a hold of someone who could help?"

"If the spell goes well he's set to meet us tonight."

Buffy let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Thank you."

"Okay, I'm lost now." Dawn chimed in. "What spell?"

"Willow? Care to explain the next part?"

"Sure." The red head stepped back to the group and explained her theory and the spell Tara would perform.

After she was done, Anya was the first to ask for clarification. "So you're saying the monks made Spike think he was in love with Buffy so he'd help her?"

"Not in love, but gave him more empathy and a capacity to care. Therefore creating an inner desire to protect them." Willow clarified.

"And what can an aura prove?" Riley asked abruptly.

The dragon chimed in to answer the boy. "Aura's are a reflection of self. In humans it's considered a window to the soul. In demons, we consider it a vision of depravity."

"A what?" Dawn questioned first.

"Show who's got the biggest wrinklies." Spike inserted.

"A quaint way of putting it." Draco agreed.

"And what exactly does that quaint definition mean?" Xander tried to clarify.

"Demons, like humans, come in varying degrees of evil, soul or none." Draco explained. "Difference is, humans tend to value kind characteristics, while demons typically value..."

"Brutality." Spike finished, to which the dragon nodded in agreement.

"So, what does that mean about the aura?" Dawn asked. "Like me, vamp with a soul. Will I have the same aura as a human? And what will show that Spike is different if he doesn't have a soul?"

"Tara will explain as we see things unfold." Giles suggested. "Why don't we start the spells."

The group shrugged and started to stand as the witches seemed ready. But Buffy caught something Giles had said. "Spell-ss?"

"I discussed this in depth with Willow." Giles started.

"But not with me... ya know, the Slayer... Chosen one... reason any of us are here and together..."

"She is a might full of herself." Draco chuckled to Riley.

"Stow it dragon or I swear I'll slay you." The beast chuckled again, but bowed his head and didn't say anything more. Buffy stepped up to Giles, Spike was a pace behind her. "Giles, what other spell?"

"I did not have a chance to discuss it with you since you hung up on me." The man pointed out. "But Willow and I reached an understanding that I'm comfortable with."

Dawn was the first to burst out. "Comfortable?!" She was about to get into the man's face and give him a piece of her mind, not noticing that her face had shifted. But her sister grabbed her arm.

"Dawn."

"What?!" She snarled at her sister.

Spike stepped up behind her placing a hand on her shoulder. "Let's just hear what he's got to say before we go eating him." She shook out of his and her sister's grip stepping a few paces away from the group. "Anya you got any blood here?"

"Oh, yeah, in the room behind the counter..." She started getting up but Dawn waved her off.

"I got it." Dawn gruffed heading for the room.

"Seemed like she had her demon in check before?" Riley asked.

"She's doing fine with her demon." Spike defended. "But she's still a 15 year old hormone bomb."

"Who's become very attached to her sire." Buffy added, looking to Spike who was still staring off in the direction the girl went. She placed a hand on his shoulder, making him instantly look at her. Spike relaxed and nodded to the woman, both understanding that the younger Summers will be just fine after a time out and some blood. Then she pulled her hand away and nodded to Giles. "You were saying?"

Giles had shaken off his brief encounter with an angry vampire Dawn and continued. "I would like us to do a truth spell as well. Confirm that what we theorized about Sweet's music was in fact true, and to assure that Spike indeed could be trusted without a chip to hinder him."

Riley was the first to speak. "I like it."

"Whatever, I've yet to lie to any of you sods since we teamed up anyway." Spike agreed without questioning. "Just don't go askin questions you don't want the answers to Watcher."

"Fair point." Giles nodded and the rest of the gang seemed to agree to the plan as well.

"Know what else would be fair..." Buffy started. "If we all were under the spell. How long does it last Willow?"

"Oh, um about 12 hours. And honestly it's a little touchy so the one casting typically become under its influence as well." She shrugged, not worried about the request. "We'd just have to get a little cozy and cast a wider net and we should be good. We were gonna do the aura spell on everyone anyway."

"I'm game." Buffy put her hands on her hips and stared down Giles and Riley, measuring if they'd still accept the terms if they were put through the same hoops they were making Spike jump through.

"Very well." Giles agreed.

"Well well, the boy was right." Draco chuckled. "You all are something else."

As the witches finished putting the spell components together, Dawn re-entered and Spike filled her in on the plan. She had no complaints and was eager to get things started.

"We ready?" Willow asked the group. They all nodded and stepped closer. Buffy looked to Spike for any sign he wanted to retreat, but he just gave her a nod and looked to the witches. "Alrighty then."

The witches walked around the group, waving some kind of incense about. Then they made their way inside the circle, set their smoldering sticks down in bowls they had laid out on the floor. Then they aligned themselves side by side but facing opposite directions. Willow clasped Tara's hand in hers and they both took a calming breath then spoke together. "Claudere os." Close the mouth. The group's mouths were all snapped shut except fot the witches.

"Taceat lingua dolosa" Let the deceitful tongue be silent. Tara spoke softly.

"Mendacium non licet nunc" Lying is not allowed now. Willow spoke with more conviction.

"Veritas sola licet nunc." Truth alone is allowed now. Tara matched her tone.

Then the pair announced together, "Linguae solvit." The tongue loosens. The hold on everyone's mouth was released and they all felt a cold breath escape their lips. Everyone was quiet as the magic settled.

Dawn was the first to speak. "Did it work? It seemed like it worked."

"Let's see," Xander pondered, then came up with a good test of the spell. "Did you used to have a crush on me?" He smirked to the teen.

Without hesitation she replied. "Of course I did, until I started crushing on Spike. But now you both have major big brother vibes."

"Wait, when did you like Spike?" Willow couldn't help but ask.

"Oh, that crush was super brief, kinda got weirded out by it when I saw how totally into Buffy he was."

"We all were disturbed when that was made clear." Giles inserted.

"Oh I figured it out way before the Buffy Bot. Hell I'm the one that pointed his infatuation out to her to begin with."

"Wait, back up, the what-bot?" Riley caught. The question wasn't directed at anyone, so nobody felt compelled to fill him in, yet.

Balls... "Member White-bread, don't go asking things ya don't want answered."

"Pretty sure I want that answered..." Riley crossed his arms and looked to the group, knowing all he had to do was ask.

Buffy beat him to it, afraid of how anyone else would spin the incident that she had made peace with. "When Spike first told me he loved me, it freaked me out and I wanted him to get the hell away from me and my family. Took the invite away on the house and everything." Buffy thought back to that moment, remembering she was satisfied with it at the time, but now just remembering the hurt in his eyes made her heart ache a little. "So when he realized that door was truly closed, he commissioned a robot that looked and acted a lot like me."

"So a robot as in..." Riley started, then seemed to remember the presence of a little sister.

"Trust me I know he wasn't playing checkers with it." Dawn smirked.

Riley stomped up to the vampire and punched him in the face, knocking him to the floor. Dawn quickly retaliated, grabbing the man by his shirt and pushing him up against the wall. Spike chuckled a little, "Nibblit catches on quick." He commented to Buffy as she reached a hand to him, helping him to his feet. "Pulled that move on her yesterday." The vampire admired, then addressed his charge. "Let him go Dawn." Spike insisted wiping the blood from his nose. Dawn growled but did as she was told and took a few steps back, but not shaking the demon from her face. "I deserved that one. But the next one ain't free boy." He licked the blood off his hand and took a step back. Riley was a little disgusted by the action, but couldn't help but notice Buffy wasn't. That grossed her out a few months ago… She really isn't the same girl I knew…

"Look," Buffy stepped between the men, "In the end having the Buffy bot was a good, it bought us valuable time to fight off Glory and save Dawn." Riley looked to her confused. "Yes, you're inferring the correct initial purpose. But I've forgiven him for it." Buffy starred Riley down, "And that's all that should matter on the topic."

Riley looked between Buffy and Spike, and knew there was no winning the conversation. "Okay, I think the truth spell is working fine." Willow finally interrupted the tension. "Was there anything you wanted to ask Giles? Or should we jump into the aura stuff?"

"Quite right." The older man agreed. "Spike." Everyone turned to Giles, curious as to why he was so intent on the truth spell in the first place. "Have you killed anyone in the past couple years?"

"No humans, gobs of demons and the like." He replied with a cocky eyebrow to the dragon, the beast merely snorted and laid his head down.

"Has the chip been misfiring?"

"Yes." Spike, Willow, Dawn, and Buffy all replied.

Giles accepted the answer then pushed for the next, "When was the last time you had fresh human blood?"

"Umm... " Spike paused. Shit... Buffy thought, trying to figure out a way she could truthfully steer the answer away from letting her watcher find out she fed the master vampire her blood... "Buffy bit her lip earlier..." He paused glancing at Buffy, Hope you're ready to tell um... "Got a taste when I kissed her."

Xander tensed at the confession, Dawn squeaked and surprisingly Riley didn't react much, as if he was expecting it. Giles seemed to be the most appalled by the notion. "So you two are together then?"

"Yes." Buffy said with confidence. Spike smirked to his girl.

"Together in what sense?" Xander dared to ask.

Spike looked to the blonde, knowing exactly what would come out of his mouth in a couple seconds if she didn't say anything. Instead she turned to the vampire and kissed him sweetly. Tara and Willow smiled at the sweet gesture. Dawn crossed her arms and smirked, then looked to the more surprised and irritated faces around the group, prepared to intervene against anyone who dared interrupt the moment. Riley was tense clenching his fist but not moving. Giles simply removed his glasses and held the bridge of his nose in an attempt to settle himself. Anya was seemingly okay with the interaction, and her man was nearly as relaxed about the news unfolding. As the slayer pulled away from the vampire she looked to her friends.

"Any more questions?" She mimicked Spike's raised brow look.

Giles finished cleaning his glasses then addressed the group again. "I have quite a few actually."

"Well why don't I make your impending interrogation simple Giles." Buffy turned to Spike. "Do you love me?"

"You know I do." Spike could tell where she was going with this.

"Will you ever hurt me or mine? Chipped or not?"

"No." Xander perked up at the quick and truthful response.

"Will you hurt the innocent?"

Spike shrugged. "Not my line anymore." That got Giles to raise a brow, and caught Xander's similar expression.

"Did Dawn want to be turned?"

"Yes." Both Spike and Dawn replied.

"It was the only feasible option. He wouldn't let me jump to stop it." Some of them were a little caught off guard by the girls admittance of what she was ready to do. "But I still think you fighting through it caused the chip to start glitching."

"So you did have to fight through it firing?" Giles inserted.

"Bloody right I did. Took till after Dawn was ensouled for the migraine to bugger off."

"What made you able to? I'm sure you've tried before."

"Yes, I've tried to ignore the sodding thing," He explained, "But no blood lust or hunger compares to my undying need to save my girls."

"Undying need..." Willow interjected snickering. "Little on the nose there..." The ladies all giggled a little. Spike merely shrugged and lovingly looked to his girls. Nothin's givin me more purpose... But his moment was interrupted by Riley's next question.

"How'd you save Buffy by turning Dawn?" Riley questioned.

"If Dawn died, it'd destroy her." Spike explained. "Any ninny could see that." He looked back to Buffy. "Wasn't bout to let you lose her too."

"You did say you'd quit if she died." Giles noted softly. "What brought you back from that decision?"

"Him?" Riley posed with some disgust in his tone.

"Well yeah, but not at first..." She explained. "Dawn was a big part of me recovering how I did."

"Tara and I don't get credit?" Willow smirked to her friend.

"I suppose the spell was kind of the pivotal center to my recovery process." Buffy agreed.

"What spell?" Giles asked, crossing his arms.

"A Draconian Katra spell." Tara interjected.

"Oh my god!" Anya put it together first. "You two swapped bodies! For how long?"

"Oh, um, two, three days?" Dawn filled in.

"And there's why you seemed so cool about Dawn patrolling right away." Xander put together, "It was you." Buffy nodded. "And I'm guessing from Captain Peroxide's lack of surprise at the moment means he knew about the swap too?" The group stared at the vampire.

"Didn't know 'bout it from the get go, but I was smart enough to suss it out." Riley huffed out an annoyed breath, clearly less than pleased that the vampire could figure it out but he couldn't… twice now…

"So yeah, it allowed me to get back on my feet and got to see first hand what Spike was teaching my sister." She raised a brow to Spike but quickly replaced it with a smile. "The swap helped me feel better about how everything went down, how Dawn being a vamp was an okay thing. Plus, I got to whale on Spike a bit, and that's always good therapy." She took the vampire's cool hand in hers. "It helped me start to move forward again." She looked to her friends. "So can we do the aura spell now so you all can feel better about this." She motioned to their adjoined hands.

The group waited for Giles to decide, eventually he nodded. "Very well. Suppose we'll all be truthful a while more if something comes up."

"Yup." Willow agreed then grabbed the vase with an assortment of colors mixed in it before looking to her other half. "This one's on you babe."

"Of course." Tara stepped forward. "So essentially I'll be doing a spell to share and enhance my ability to read auras. What this will look like is everyone's going to have a glow around them, different colors mean different things. The colors show your static state as well as your fluid state. Static is stuff like a soul and fluid is mostly emotional, but can also reflect mental well being, initial thoughts and intents, and so forth. This kind of making sense?"

"Think it might make more sense when we can see it." Dawn shrugged and everyone else seemed to agree.

"Alright then, everyone join hands."

"Way ahead of ya." Spike chuckled and held out his other to the witch. The group formed a circle with their hands adjoined, leaving a space for Willow as she poured one circle of a colorful mix of sand around them and another inside the group. The only one sitting out the spell was the dragon, who was possibly asleep in the corner of the room. After Willow finished the circle she dumped the remaining contents in the center then set the vase down and joined hands between Tara and Giles.

Tara took a deep breath then prayed, "Goddess let me share my sight to those I stand with. Revelare Sui." Reveal oneself. A slight breeze started to circle them. "Spiritus revelare." Reveal the spirit. The breeze picked up and started to kick up the sand and cyclones around them. "Revelare anima." Reveal the soul. The center circle started to pick up and cyclone in the opposite direction. Then the usually timid witch said with fervor, "Videamus!" Let us see! The sand in the center quickly rose up and darted a small amount into everyone's chest, causing everyone to close their eyes and stumble a little, but they remained standing and holding hands.

After a moment everyone could open their eyes. The wind had ceased, the circles of sand were back on the floor, and the mound in the center was gone. As they looked at each other they saw a mix of colors embodying everyone. Dawn was the first to speak. "Woah, Tara you see this everyday?"

"Kind of, if I focus on it." Tara nodded, "You can drop hands, the spell will hold without it." Most of the group let go of the people next to them, except for Spike & Buffy and Xander & Anya.

"Cool." Dawn looked over the light pink and yellow mix of color on her with a deep orange and silver emanating from her chest. "So what does my aura mean?"

"Well here at your center," Tara stepped closer motioning to the colors at the girls core. "This is your static aura. The silver is your soul, and the orange is your demon."

Dawn looked to her chest. Then walked over the stand by Spike. His chest emanated the same orange, more intense than hers, but instead of it mixing with a silver color it was more gold and white. Before she asked she glanced to see the same gold mixed with silver in her sister's chest. As she stared she saw a hint of the orange her and her sire shared flicker in her sister as well.

Spike saw what the girl was staring at. "What's gold pet?"

"Oh, umm, tends to be in old souls, people that have been through a lot, or had to grow up quick, or in um..."

"Heroes." Willow finished for her, she was a bit in awe of seeing it for herself. Her girlfriend had explained how the vampire's aura had changed to her before, but now seeing it, it clicked in a new way. The group looked around, each chest emanated a flick of gold, but none were near as bright as the slayer and master vamp's. Willow stepped over to Spike. "Monks gave you the white, white goes hand in hand with someone who shows a lot of empathy, sympathy, and general care for others. That's your after market soul."

"Suppose they gave me the hero complex too?"

"No, that's all you, can't fabricate that." Willow smirked. Then Tara explained the colors a bit further.

"The colors in our chest reflect self, they don't tend to change, but if they do they are very slow in doing so. The colors over the rest of the body is your fluid aura, they reflect your more immediate emotions." Tara smiled to Dawn, "Dawn's pink and yellow combo is a pretty happy go lucky aura. Lighter blues are relaxed, or calm." Much of the group reflected a mix of a lighter blue paired with another color or two. "Deeper blues are sadness, sorrow, or despair. Greens are uneasy feelings, like: sickness, jealousy, or disgust."

"So when my mom was in the hospital?" Buffy asked softly.

"There was always some green to her aura, good days had a bit more yellow to it, bad days more of a blue to it."

"And after the surgery..."

"I never saw it again before she passed." She assured her friend then she looked around taking in any other similar colors. She quickly noticed another shared color of significance in the couples that were still holding hands. "And this deep pinky-red color." Tara started as she grabbed Willow's hand and held it up. "Is love." Tara motioned to Xander and Anya's hands sharing the same color as Spike and Buffy's. "And before you question it. This." She stated sternly as she squeezed her girlfriend's hand. "Cannot be faked."

"What about if someone did a love spell?" Xander questioned, partly hoping that was the explanation for his friend pairing with another vampire.

"I didn't put a sodding spell on the slayer you wanker!" Spike defended, knowing exactly what the boy was hoping for.

"If any spell makes artificial feeling present, like a love spell, the colors come out fragmented." Riley's cool blue color started to shift to a green and red mix as he processed the information. "And red should be self explanatory..."

Riley huffed. "I've accepted that we can't be together. Doesn't mean I have to be happy about you being with this idiot. Let alone finding out you love him." The deep green and cherry red around him glowed brighter.

Surprisingly as Buffy glanced around the room she did not see the same colors emanating so bright from Giles or Xander. Definitely some smoldering red on Giles, but not the prominent color. Xander displayed a little bit of a disgust green. But over all the men who have stayed by her seemed much more accepting of her new relationship. The looks on their faces told her they were still trying to process it, but they were clearly not as upset about it as her ex seemed to be. Buffy released Spike's hand and walked over to Riley. She held out her hand, he hesitantly took it. Her hand glowed a soft blue with sparkles of pink, while his side was a mix of the deeper pink Tara had pointed out and a dark blue. Riley didn't need a translation for their exchange to be made clear. He released her hand and stepped back. His aura now emanating deep blue and red tones.

"Spike is here to help." Buffy announced stepping back to the vampire then ushered her sister to them. "He loves me and Dawn." Spike took each girl's hands in his, the light from Dawn and Spikes radiated a similar pink, with more yellows mixed in as well as the orange color they shared. "Nothing about his feelings, intentions, or aura will change when we remove his chip. I hope this is enough for you all to trust him." Buffy looked back to the man in question. "I know I do."

The gang was quiet, nobody was quite sure what to say next. Then Spike made use of the spells he was under. "I know why you all are reluctant to trust me, not a single one of ya I haven't tried to kill a time or two." he smirked. "I've lived a long time, seen the world change before my eyes ten times over. And sure I've adjusted to keep myself alive, but I only really changed twice in my life."

"When you were sired?" Dawn asked knowing how much that change had affected her.

He nodded to the vamp touching his finger to his nose, then glanced to Giles. "Second time was about a year back. Can see it now was cause the monk's had gone messing about with my mind. But at the time I'd felt it as a moment of pure clarity," Spike's entire aura glowed the deep pink color as he looked to Buffy. "That I loved this strong, fierce, amazing woman. And I could never be without her again." Buffy smiled to the compliment, in awe of just how vibrant the pink glowed in her creature of the night boyfriend. She was lost enough in the moment she hadn't noticed her aura started reflecting the color nearly as strong, but also mixed with a strong yellow, spelling out for everyone just how happy the vampire made her feel.

Giles interrupted the moment stepping toward Spike, "Some time ago you shared with us that Buffy has tragic taste in men." Spike turned toward Buffy's mentor, not entirely sure where the watcher was going with this. "And I've never truly disagreed with that sentiment." Buffy looked a little hurt at the confession. "But I've been told I have a father's love for my charge, so that leads me to believe that I will find no man to be good enough for my daughter." Buffy's hurt turned a bit more to understanding. "But I see now, that you do indeed care for one another, and you will protect her." Giles reached out a hand to the seemingly younger man.

"Till the end of the world." He clasped Giles's hand in a firm handshake, glad for the man's approval.

"This doesn't mean that I have to like you." He announced more so to the group.

"That's okay pops." Spike was about to say something else as he squeezed Giles's hand a little, but found himself yelping back falling to the floor. His aura turned black with fireworks of white bursting around him as the chip had fired.

"Spike!" Buffy and Dawn rushed to kneel beside him. Giles looked to his unharmed hand then down to the curled up figure on the floor. The commotion seemed to jolt the dragon from his slumber, stepping over to see what was the matter.

Curiously he gazed at the painful aura surrounding the half breed. "This is what you're demon testing causes?" Riley nodded. "Remove it." He growled, now angry for the unnecessary pain caused to a fellow demon.

"I would be inclined to agree." Giles nodded.

"Spike?" Buffy asked softly. Finally the man opened his eyes and looked up to her, nodding a little as he used a few breaths to calm his body. Slowly the black faded out of his form.

"Alright, all those in favor of getting that death trap out of Mr. Good Fang?" Xander asked, actually raising his hand in favor of the removal. Buffy was touched by her friend's support.

Everyone's hands went up except Riley. Draco growled at him, then he quickly shot his up as well. "Fine. Okay. You happy?" The dragon ceased his snarl and eased back into a relaxed position. "I'll call the doc, tell um we're coming."