Made for fun, not for profit. The Buffyverse belongs to Mutant Enemy and Joss Whedon, I just like to play there.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed! Sorry about the longituede between updates – RL has been kicking my butt for the past few months. Fear not, this WIP will continue to be updated until the whole story has been told, but I probably won't be able to update every week. Glad so many of you are sticking with me and enjoying this story. I'm sure having fun writing it!

"Like all the best families, we have our share of eccentricities,

Of impetuous and wayward youngsters and of family disagreements."

~ Elizabeth II, Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

5 – Alone at Last

The rest of dinner was quiet and surprisingly civil, probably because instead of critisizing either Sam or Spike, Giles just watched how they interacted. Occasionally he would contribute to what they were talking about, and when he did, he was surprised yet again by how well Spike was behaving. He thought that Spike's good behavior couldn't possibly last, but it meal was nearly finished when the phone rang. Giles got up to answer it, glancing back at Spike and Sam as he went. He still wasn't thrilled about leaving the vampire untied for such a long stretch of time, and the fact that Sam was clearly fascinated by him, if not smitten, didn't help matters. He shook his head in a quick, frustrated gesture before moving into the kitchen and picking up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Giles." Willow's voice floated out of the receiver. "I've been researching locator spells. You know, something that might help me find Oz. Do you still have the Black Chronicles at your place, 'cuz I think there's a ritual in there that might help."

Giles turned so that his back was facing the dinner table, his concern for the young wicca temporarily overriding his worry over what might be going on in his living room. "Willow, I'm not sure that you should be doing spells right now, especially ones involving Oz."

"C'mon, Giles. It's just a little locator spell." He could hear her pouting on the other end. "It's not like I'm doing anything dangerous."

He closed his eyes, took a slow breath in to calm himself and then released it just as slowly. "Harnessing magickal energies is not something to be taken lightly, Willow. Add to that the fact that you are still in the process of grieving Oz's departure-"

She cut him off quickly, sounding triumphant. "So knowing where he is will cheer me up and make it easier for me to wait for him to come back."

"NO." Giles shook his head, starting to lose his patience. "The knowledge may comfort you if the spell works properly, but as of right now your energies are too unfocused to safely work any magick. There is also a very good chance that the spell would go wrong due to your emotional upset, and that would be dangerous for any number of people, yourself included."

"But Giles, what harm could a locator spell possibly do-"

A movement at the corner of his eye drew Giles' attention, and he glanced over to see Sam standing at his elbow. She held out a hand for the receiver and smiled up at him with worried eyes. "Let me talk to her."

Sam was another fledgling wicca, but she seemed to have a more intuitive understanding of magic than either Willow or Giles did. They tended to research specific spells and rituals without delving too much into the rules of quasi-physics which governed the way that magick worked, but since Sam was only a part-time Scooby and didn't have to deal with weekly crises year round, she had the luxury of approaching the subject of magick from a more philosophical angle. Magick ran in Sam's family – not on the Harris side, but it was there and several generations strong – so she had grown up around magick and learned at a fairly young age how it ought to be used. Sam and Willow were also of an age and had grown up together, so while Willow might dismiss Giles' concerns on the basis of him being a cautious old fogey, she almost always took Sam's warnings to heart.

He handed the phone to Sam and she grinned up at him, nodding slightly and giving his arm a friendly pat. "Will? It's Sam. Yeah, my flight was ok. Look, I overheard Giles' end of the conversation and – " she sighed as Willow cut her off and then gamely went on with what she had started to say.

"No, Will. I agree with him. It sucks that Oz left, and it sucks even more that he was with Veruca... even if some of his reasons made sense to him at the time, but you really shouldn't be messing with big mojo until some time has passed." She shot a cheeky look at Giles and smirked. "At least not without a secondary. I was thinking Giles could bring the books you'll need, you guys can go to the Magic Box for supplies, and then he can help balance your energy during the casting."

Confident that Sam would take care of things, Giles had taken a few steps back towards the table after he handed her the phone, intending to finish off his potato and possibly start clearing dishes away, but at Sam's suggestion he froze in mid-stride. His shoulders slumped and he closed his eyes, looking the very picture of put-upon annoyance when he glanced back at her over one shoulder.

"Did you have to suggest that?"

She just smiled sweetly at him and spoke into the phone. "Hang on, Will. Now I've gotta talk him into it." Sam covered the receiver with one hand and leaned her hip against the kitchen counter, waiting for Giles' rant with an expectant smirk.

"How do you know that I don't have plans tonight? You can't just assume that I'll drop everything – "

"Yeah," Spike opined. "Masterpiece Theater might be on telly."

Giles turned to glare at the smirking vampire and pointed an angry finger at him. "You stay out of this."

Spike's smile didn't falter, in fact it grew as he dug back into the food on his plate.

"Giles," Sam's voice oozed patience. "If you're not there, she's probably gonna go ahead and do some spell anyway, even if she promises not to over the phone. If you go and help her, she'll have supervision and guidance instead of flying solo, and you being there could stop her from messing up the spell. You said it yourself; she might hurt herself or someone else by accident. You want that on your conscience?"

Giles took off his glasses, cleaning them furiously with a handkerchief. He 'hmphed' in fine grumpy fashion, but when he looked over at her again there was a rueful smile on his face. "Of course not. I am, however, beginning to understand why the Athenians sentenced Socrates to death."

Sam beamed at the jibe, removing her hand from the receiver but never taking her eyes off of Giles. "He's in, Will. Keep researching, but don't do any chanting till he's there. Ok? I'll see you tomorrow and we can catch up. Love you too, Will. Bye."

She twisted away to hang up the phone, then leaned back against the counter with her arms crossed, smugly grinning up at Giles. "You'd better get your stuff together. She'll be impatient."

Giles shook his head at her, fighting a smile. "I suppose a compromise is, by definition, a solution that no one is wildly enthusiastic about." He glanced at the cluttered table and frowned. "What about -?"

Sam gestured vaguely at the dining area with a shrug. "I'll handle it. My part of the bargain anyway: free room and board for being Suzie home-maker." She moved to sit down again, giving Giles a fond look along the way. "Just make sure Willow's okay and nothing goes ka-blooey."

Giles nodded, making a bee-line for his books on witchcraft. "You know," he tossed over his shoulder while skimming the titles. "For a moment there you almost had me convinced that you had finally metamorphosed into a rational, responsible young adult."

"Oh, god no. We can't have that." Sam chuckled, reclaiming her seat at the table and giving Spike's elbow a friendly nudge with her own. "Still, Giles, you compared me to Socrates, and I'm never gonna let you forget it."

Giles regarded his plate as Sam dug back into her food. There was hardly anything left of his dinner, just a few stray bits of stuffing, less than a mouthful of potato and a smudge of gravy. He sighed, picked up his plate and carried it into the kitchen.

"I suppose I'd best be off, then."

Spike smiled to himself a little. With the watcher gone, he would be on his own with Sam. His expression melted into a pensive frown as he thought back to the fond way Sam had squeezed his hand, the grin she had given him and the resultant warm fuzzies he had felt. What with the bloody Gem of Amara fiasco and the commando-lab following so close on the heels of everything that had happened with Dru, the last thing he wanted right now was to set himself up for another disappointment. It was clear that he already felt something for Sam, and he didn't want to. He didn't want to have his heart broken again, not when it had barely begun to mend itself, and he didn't want to fall for a human, much less a Scooby. She had been friendly towards him, and even though part of him hoped that it meant something, that it was real, he knew that he was probably just seeing what he wanted to see. There was next to no chance that one of the goody-guys guys would want him. Sure, she had been curious and borderline flirtatious in the bathroom, but it was probably just the novelty of meeting someone she had heard so much about. That, or he was just a pet project; some injured stray she wanted to look after. Either way, he would have to be careful around her until he figured out what it was that she wanted from him. Still, he could probably have a bit of fun with her and not get too attached to the bird. Right?

The witch in question looked up from her plate and gave Spike a wry half smile. She winked, full of mischief, and mouthed "While the cat's away.."

"Yeah, luv?" He smiled back at her, curious about what kind of 'play' she might have in mind, but those pleasant thoughts vanished when he heard the oh-so-familiar sound of clanking chains.

Giles must have gotten them out of the bathroom, because now he had come out into the main room, toting the manacles and leg-irons. And he had retrieved the rope, too. Goody.

Sam seemed to have noticed Spike's sudden distraction, because she frowned, looking confused. "Spike?"

He nodded pointedly towards the heavily-laden watcher but didn't speak. He wasn't eager to be trussed up again, and he hoped that he didn't look half as wary as he felt. Showing weakness was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Really, Giles?" Sam stood up, hands on hips, gesturing to the collection of restraints with an incredulous look on her face.

Giles sighed. "Sam, I understand that you want to see the good in everyone, but Spike-"

She cut him off. "Why bother restraining him? He isn't going anywhere, and I thought you agreed to try this my way."

Giles glared at her, and his voice betrayed poorly-controlled annoyance. "This is my home, and since I will not be here to keep an eye on," his eyes flicked briefly to Spike, "on my guest, I need some way to ensure that he stays put and doesn't do any harm."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Spike had to suppress a chuckle at that. He hadn't done any 'Harm' in quite some time. Not since the last time he'd been in bed with the vapid bint. He focused back on the present, where there was another bird, a bright, firey, and bloody fascinating one, who was arguing for him to be treated decently. Part of him still didn't trust her motives, and another part resented that she felt the need to defend him, because, lets face it, it was more than a little humiliating for the Big Bad to need that kind of help from some little chit, but mostly, he just wanted to see what she was going to do next.

The chit in question had taken a step towards Giles and was banging on. "Giles, we've talked about this. He came here on his own, and its not like he wants to leave. As long as he's here, he's got free cable, blood, and nobody trying to do experiments on him. Aside from the badgering, it's a pretty sweet setup. Why would he do anything to screw that up?" Giles looked about to say something, but she cut him off again. "I'll keep an eye on him for you. He steps a bitty toe out of line, I'll handle it." She smiled, glancing over at Spike as though she wanted to make sure that he didn't object to anything she had just said.

Again, he wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or pleased by her efforts, but either way, he didn't want to be chained or tied up again, so he gave her a bit of a smile. "You tell 'im, pet." If he had to be scrutinized by someone, he'd much rather it be her than dusty old Rupert.

Sam turned back to Giles again, bouncing impatiently on the balls of her feet. "Well?"

Giles pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed quietly. "Very well…" he looked up suddenly, glaring over at the table and using his upraised hand to point at the vampire who was picking at his stuffing. "But if he misbehaves, if he damages any of my books or artifacts… if he breaks anything, back he goes."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Like I'd want to play with your bloody knick-knacks or read 'Bartholomew's Compendium of Demon Breeds' when the telly's right there."

Sam had to bite her lip to keep from grinning at Spike's cheeky reply, but she couldn't quite stifle a snort of laughter. Spike couldn't resist giving her a big wink, and he smiled to himself when she blushed slightly. Once she got herself under control again, she smiled up at the watcher. "You won't regret this. I promise."

"Yes, well," Giles reluctantly put away the ropes and chains, looking over at Spike again. "I certainly hope you're right about that."