Giles stood outside of the unassuming bungalow and grimaced. He looked at it and thought about Buffy's hoarse words and Spike's rather succinct directions. He wanted to find his slayer alive and well, but he had watched the video. Odds were strong that this was a trap. He carried her extra backpack of clothing from the library and a large container of soup from her favorite Oriental restaurant. He also carried his short sword strapped to his back, hidden by his bulky sweater, five stakes, and nine vials of holy water. If it was a trap and his worst fears realized, he would die making sure Buffy would not walk the world as a demon. He walked up the steps onto the wide porch and rang the bell.

"Just come in. Never saw a man spend so much time thinking." Spike's voice called out to him from inside the house.

Giles stepped through the door and looked around the spacious home. It seemed oddly comfortable for a vampire. Spike came down the steps and stayed well clear of him. He was dressed as usual in jeans and a tee shirt, but his shoes were missing. It was oddly familiar.

"Go ahead then, pull the sword and follow me up to your charge. She's been waiting on you." Spike turned his back and walked up the stairs.

"Why didn't she come down to greet me?" Giles asked as he pulled the short sword out of its sheath.

"She's a bit sore still. The cracked pelvis and dislocated hip may be healing, but I still think she needs a few days before she springs back into action." Spike turned and spread his arms wide backing away from the stairs.

"You don't have to be such a drama queen, Spike. He won't hurt you once he verifies I'm alive." Buffy's voice was still a bit hoarse.

"Well, luv, I've learned in my rather long unlife to let the man with the sword have his way or to kill him, and I'm not going to piss you off by killing this one." Spike grinned at Buffy and winked.

Giles stood at the top of the stairs and took in the giant room, the giant bed, and his tiny slayer tucked into the middle of it wearing a sex pistols tee and smiling at him. She was covered in mostly yellowing bruises with some hints of remaining purple around her eyes. He fought the urge to run to her and hug her tight. He had to be sure she was still his Buffy.

"Toss me a vial of holy water, and I'll drink it." She mimed catching the item to encourage him and his eyes grew wide.

The marks around her wrists were still deep purple and he could see the tracery of healing lash marks running up her arms. He felt his gorge begin to rise as he flashed back to that horrible video. He put down the sack of food and pulled the vial from his pocket. He clasped it in his hand for a moment and then tossed it to her.

She popped the stopper and drank the contents quickly. Watching her hands shake as she replaced the cork, Giles strode across the room toward her, his sword still pointed at Spike.

"Put the sword away, Giles. It's rude to threaten the guy in his own home." Buffy smiled slightly and stroked the comforter. "Especially, when you consider all he's done to save me."

"We need to get you out of here, Buffy. This must be some kind of a trap." Giles started to pull at the overly fluffy bed covering with one hand while keeping his eyes and sword trained on Spike.

"Giles, put the damn sword away. I'm in no shape to take it from you, but I will if I must. He saved me. He was healed, and still he saved me. Stop threatening him." Her voice cracked and her breathing came in short raspy pants.

Giles tuned his eyes to her and saw the panic she was trying so hard to conceal. He lowered the sword and watched her breathing slow. He closed his eyes and counted to ten in twelve different languages.

"Buffy, we need to go. I'll take you to the hospital. Your mother's on that buying trip to New York, so you haven't been missed. We will work this out.

"Exactly what will we say to the doctors this time? Please ignore the trace work of rapidly healing lash marks and the gouges of missing flesh. Just fix my already healing bones. I'll be fine in a week. I just need to rest." Buffy wouldn't meet his eyes. "I just need to stay put."

"Why don't you have a nosh? The watcher has brought some lovely soup." Spike carried the bag over to her. "Smells like hot and sour and I think there might be an eggroll or two in there. I'll show Giles around the place while you eat. We'll just be a shout away, luv."

Giles stomach rolled violently as he watched his slayer nod and clutch Spike's hand for a moment before letting him hand her the bag of food. She held the bag tightly in front of her and smiled.

"Well, I am really hungry, but Giles needs to leave his sword here. I don't want the two of you getting into it over me." Buffy looked pointedly at Giles.

"I can handle the watcher, pet. I won't hurt him. We'll keep our hands in our pockets. Promise."

"Fine, but hurry back. I get bored quickly you know." Buffy unrolled the brown paper bag and giggled. "Thanks, Giles, three egg rolls should really help as I'll be the only one eating them."

Giles smiled at her fondly as he turned to follow the blonde vampire down the stairs. He watched Spike glide smoothly through the house and felt the urge to unsheathe the weapon Spike had talked Buffy into letting him keep. It would be easy to dust the vampire at the moment and then he could deal with Buffy free of his influence. They reached a large and comfortable kitchen and Spike gestured for him to sit at the large wooden table.

"I do understand how uncomfortable you are with this situation." Spike leaned back against the soapstone-topped island and looked directly at Giles. "She is your charge. I am no threat to her, but it must make your skin crawl to see her ensconced with another vampire, trusting another one of us."

Giles listened to Spike and smiled. It was not a nice smile. "You understand that seeing her cling to you makes my skin crawl. How special of you."

"She needs me right now. I'm the one that got her out of that hell, so she trusts me. She got me out of there as well, so I trust her. I'm soulless, not going to go evil on you, already am."

"Well, your honesty is refreshing. Your not going to claim some urge to reform has struck you?"

"You are a sarcastic one, Watcher." Spike smiled and his eyes flashed golden for a moment. "I'm no lap dog. I don't want to reform, but I've switched loyalties. As a master in my own right, that's my choice. That little girl offered me her blood to make me strong and gifted me with a single tear. I'm hers. I can make her stronger, make her faster, keep her alive longer. Has to have some appeal, yeah?"

"You could change your mind after she's accepted you and drain her without her putting up a fight. Look at what just happened to her." Giles glared at him.

"It was horrible, but he didn't catch her because she was weak. He hired humans to drug her and bring her to him and then he ate them. It wasn't a fair fight. She'd have been able to take him in a fair fight."

"Then what does she need you for?" Giles crossed his arms and leaned back against the wooden chair.

"She may not, but I've seen the damage he's done to others. I've cared for Drusilla for years and patched together other toys of his so he could keep playing. Last night was not his first attack on her, not the first damage he's done her. You think she's made of stone capable of watching him rip at all of her little friends, killing your love, and always she knows she freed the monster. You think she'll hold up or do you want her to die on her knees begging forgiveness because a master seducer took advantage of her precious heart?"

Giles looked away from the steady cobalt stare and felt the twinge of his own failure. He glared at the covered windows. He had let her have her allies, though he had known the vampire was a risk. He closed his eyes tightly against the image of Jenny's body arranged in his bed that sprang to life so frequently.

"I made a mistake in letting one vampire near her, and the cost has been dear. I will not make the same mistake again." Giles opened his eyes and stared at the blonde vampire standing so elegantly.

"I understand your feelings, I do, but this isn't up to you. I may be a Victorian gentleman, but I am also a master vampire. I will go only if she gives me leave to do so." He spoke slowly as a child child.

Buffy's screams shattered the starring contest between watcher and vampire. Giles watched as Spike took off at top speed toward the stairs and followed as fast as his human body would allow.

He came up the stairs to find Buffy sobbing against Spike's chest, her hands fisted in his tee shirt. He watched as the vampire stroked her hair gently. Spike's eyes were closed and his chin rested on her head. The intimate picture they presented curled in the giant bed together bothered him and yet he did not feel the disgust he had always felt when he had watched Angel hold Buffy.

"Are you alright, Buffy?" He spoke softly and approached the bed slowly. He remembered the video and felt sick, realizing she would never be the same girl she had been before last night.

Spike and Buffy ignored him. He watched the vampire whisper to her as she cried, never stopping the motion of his soothing hands. He watched her body quake as fear and remembered pain ripped through her. His hands shook and he clenched his fists and pressed them against his legs.

"It'll be just fine, pet. It was just a dream. You filled your poor stomach and drifted off to sleep. Perfectly normal, there's no one here to hurt you." Spike continued talking repeating similar things again and again until her sobs dropped to sniffles.

"Don't leave me alone tonight, Spike." Buffy mumbled as he rearranged her carefully against the down pillows.

"I'll stay if you'll be still, just like I did all day." Spike smoothed her hair back from her brow.

"If he comes, you'll keep your promise?" She looked at him her eyes looking all the greener with the evidence of her tears so fresh.

"How many times are you gonna make me answer that one?" Spike asked raising one scarred brow.

"How many times are you going to avoid agreeing to keep your word?" Buffy poked the vampire in the chest.

"I gave you my word, I'll keep to it. Now, let me go change out of my very damp shirt while you have a visit with old Rupert." Buffy nodded her head and then stared at her hands, clasped tightly in her lap. Spike covered her hands with one of his before kissing her temple. "Be nice to him."