A/N: Sorry for the longer than normal wait, I just finished my first semester back in college since i was a teenager which was a long time ago, it took a lot of my time and concentration. That along with working on the Christmas fic exchange, but I'm done both now so I can focus back on my WIPs. Here's the next chapter! I hope Spike will forgive me for leaving him in Glory's hands for so long.

When Buffy finally makes it back to Giles he's asleep with his head leaning against the steering wheel of his car. She bangs on the driver's side door and he jumps awake.

"What!?" He yells, obviously startled. Then he takes a deep breath looks around and once he sees Buffy he takes off his glasses to clean them. "Oh Buffy, good, you're back. Did you learn what you needed to?"

"I think so but I know you're not going to like the answers I got."

"What does that mean?"

"We can about it later, right now I need to get back to the house to get weapons, Glory has Spike."

"How do you know? Dear Lord, he knows who the key is."

"He won't tell. In fact, I saw him not telling, that's not why we have to save him."

It's clear that Giles has more questions but he can see that Buffy is in Slayer mode so he decides to get those questions answered after they save Spike. Just thinking the words leaves a sour taste in his mouth but he'll follow Buffy on this one. Buffy knows she's going to have to confront Giles on everything the first slayer told her, did he already know about everything she just learned? She really doesn't think so, or at least, she really has to believe that. She can't even contemplate the thought that Giles knew about how slayers used to work with good demons or that every slayer has a vampire they're meant to bond with. If he does already know, that means he's been lying to her literally the whole time they've known each other. No, she can't believe he knows, and she's not looking forward to telling him. Saying he'll be of the wigged is an understatement.

Now Travers on the other hand, it wouldn't surprise Buffy at all if that slimy toad knew everything that she'd learned already. Like the first slayer was saying, the council wants to control the slayers, and their getting to their full potential would make that very difficult. Buffy kept thinking about that the entire ride home and pointedly not thinking about what she learned about herself and Spike.

When they make it back to the house everyone is already there because they are watching Dawn for her. They're all sitting in the living room laughing and having a good time like nothing is wrong. She smiles at them, happy that they're getting a moment of peace in this craziness but she can't enjoy it too long because Spike needs her.

"Hey Buff, how'd your vision quest go?"

"I'd say strange is an understatement, I haven't really had time to think about it yet. We need to get ready for a fight, Glory has Spike."

Everyone jumps up and Xander goes for the weapons chest. "Oh no, he knows about Dawn, we have to take him out before he can tell her."

At the same time, Dawn jumps up and yells. "Oh no, Spike, we have to save him!"

"Don't worry, Dawnie, we will," Buffy says then looks at Xander. "He won't say anything, Xan. We have to get him out of there and back to safety. We need him for this fight." She figures telling them that he's needed for extra muscle is easier for now. It'll be much more accepted than explaining the other reason she wants to get him back. She doesn't even know how to start that conversation with her friends.

"Buff, what do you mean he won't tell? Come on, the bleached menace wouldn't think twice about selling us out to better himself. Does Adam ring a bell?"

"This is different, Xan. I know for a fact that he won't tell her anything. Listen we don't have time for this, we have to get him and fast. I know where to start looking for him." She says in her slayer voice, it's a voice that clearly states 'This is what's going to happen, either fall in line or get out of my way.'

Xander, looking like he has a lot more he wants to say, stays quiet and just nods his head. Willow looks just as uncomfortable as her best male friend about the situation but both of their significant others look like they agree with Buffy. Buffy nods, grabs a sword, and turns to the door to leave. She stops when she sees Dawn with a crossbow in her hands, looking like she's ready to join them.

"Dawn you have to stay here."

"Spike is my friend, I'm not leaving him with Glory to be tortured because of me, I'm going to help you get him safe."

Buffy sighs, she has to respect Dawn's loyalty, even if it is to a soulless vampire, along with her bravery but now is not the time. Every second she stands here talking is another second Spike is being tortured and one of those seconds might be the one Glory gets bored and dusts him. So, she speaks with forced patients, "Dawnie, we're literally going to fight the person that wants to use you to open the doors to every dimension. What happens if one of her creepy little minions gets you? What if you get cut and she's able to, I don't know, smell the keyness on you? I promise I'll get Spike home safe, just stay here so I can focus my full attention on him. If you come, you know I'll have to focus on keeping you out of Glory's hands.."

Dawn looks stubborn for a few seconds before sagging and letting the crossbow hang limply from her hand. "Okay, Buffy, just make sure he's safe." She pleads.

She smiles and nods before leading the group outside and into Giles' car. The men in the car both still look upset that this is a search and rescue mission instead of a search and destroy but neither says anything else about it. She makes Giles stop the car where she fought the snake demon and looks around. This is the only lead she has to find Glory's hideout so she hopes it works.

She looks at nearby buildings, trying to find something and she sees an apartment building that looks very swanky and upscale. She thinks that is definitely somewhere Glory might live. They make their way into the building and as soon as they go through the doors they see a few of her demons walking around the main floor Buffy wonders if maybe Glory took over the whole building, otherwise, this was maybe the most extreme case of the Sunnydale denial factor she'd ever seen. She notices a second later that the elevator is opened and that there's a body lying on the ground, another second after that, she realizes it's Spike. It doesn't take long to get through the gross grubby minions, a lot of them run once they realize the slayer is here.

As she's fighting she makes eye contact with Spike and sees the relief in his face before he lets unconsciousness take over and slumps completely. Once she's through with the last enemy she runs over to Spike and tries to get him to wake up but no luck.

"Spike?" She asks although she knows it's useless.

"Buffy we have to get out of here, they've probably already alerted Glory to our presence."

Buffy nods "Xander, Giles, work together to get him out of here, I want to have my hands free just in case."

They nod and do as she says, it doesn't take long for them to make it outside and over to the car. They all pile in and leave, they were in and out in less than five minutes. It doesn't take long for Buffy to realize that Giles is going the wrong way. "No, we're going to my house."

"Buffy, I'm sure he'll be fine.."

"No, Giles, we're going to my home. He protected Dawn today and I'm not going to thank him by leaving him to heal by himself where they could just come back to take him again."

"Uhh, Buff, I think that's what we're worried about. They could want him back and come to your house to get him, to where Dawn is."

"He's. Coming. Home. With. Me." She leaves no room for argument although it's clear both the men want to and Willow doesn't look far off either but they all keep their mouths shut and Giles makes a sharp turn so that they're heading to her house. Buffy knows she's in for a good talking-to later, maybe even a full-on intervention.

When they make it to the house Buffy picks Spike up and gets him inside by herself although Tara runs ahead to open the door for her. Tara looks just as upset and worried about Spike as Buffy is and when Buffy notices that, she gives her a small smile. "Giles, I need you to go to the butcher's we're going to need blood, a lot of it.

Giles clears his throat and cleans his glasses but doesn't offer any fight. Although Buffy has known Giles long enough to know that he definitely has a few arguments that he's choosing to keep to himself for now. He nods his head and turns to leave. "Right, I'll be back."

"I'll come with you, G man if you don't mind," Xander says as he starts walking back to the door.

"I bloody well do mind." At Xander's hurt and surprised look, he continues, "Not that you come with me, of course. I mind that you're calling me that retched name again."

"Right, right, sorry…." They keep talking but the women can't hear anymore other than muffled voices after the front door closes.

"I-I can do a-a healing poultice, my mom used to give it to my brothers and me when we got hurt. It wouldn't be too hard to adjust it to account for Spike's vampyness."

Buffy looks at Tara greatfully, 'At least someone wants to actually help him' Buffy looks at Dawn who's trying to lift Spike's head without hurting him more to put a pillow under it, and she already tucked him in on the couch with a throw blanket, 'Well, two someones.'

"Thank you, Tara, I think that will help a lot."

Tara nods her head and goes into the kitchen after digging in the box of witchy stuff they started keeping here after one too many attacks on the house and no ingredients to make with the mojo. Willow follows after her always ready to learn something new when it comes to magic, or anything really but especially magic.

Anya is just standing in the living room without much to do, Buffy is surprised that she actually looks worried, she didn't know Anya cared about Spike. Maybe they bonded over past evil demony deeds. Buffy shakes her head, that doesn't matter right now, she has to focus on Spike. She has the overwhelming need to make him feel better, but she doesn't know how. Now that she's thinking about it, she probably looks a lot like Anya, just standing in the middle of the room awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

She has a sudden idea that she knows her watcher and her friends will hate but she knows it'll help Spike and after all she's learned tonight, she wants to help him, needs to help him, she doesn't like seeing him in pain. She's a little surprised to realize she cares about him too much to see him in this much pain. She also knows she can trust him, which really makes with the head messiness because as of a few hours ago she'd never believe she could trust Spike with something important. Well, that's not true, if she didn't know she could trust Spike, she would have never brought her mom and sister there when she needed them protected. She shakes her head again, she's just going in circles. Thankfully, Tara and Willow come back into the room with a drink that she can smell from here. She scrunches her nose at the yuckyness of the smell but ignores it if it'll help Spike. She follows behind them and Tara hesitates as she bends down to give it to him.

"What's wrong, Tara?" Buffy asks.

Tara looks back and forth inbetween her and Spike before she gets it. She walks over and holds her hand out with a small smile offering to do it, Tara hands it over gratefully. Buffy bends her knees so she's more at eye level with him lying on the couch, although she supposes eye level doesn't matter when the other person is unconscious. She moves the pillow so that it's more under his neck and his head is leaning back. That opens his mouth enough that she only has to adjust him a little more to pour a little down his throat. She sighs in relief when he swallows. It takes a lot longer than it normally would have for someone to drink a cup that size but she gets it done. She decides that Spike is lucky he's not awake to drink this because she gags every time she inhales through her nose. She looks at his face and what she can see of his body hoping to see him healing but she can't see any difference, he's still so bruised he won't be able to open his left eye when he wakes up and blood is sluggishly staining her couch from his many open wounds. She looks at Tara thinking that the potion didn't work.

"I-it's not going to fix him r-right away, it's j-just supposed to make his healing faster. Instead of two weeks to heal, I-it'll take a week." Buffy knows Tara is nervous and seeing Spike like this is affecting her greatly because Tara's stutter hasn't been this bad in a long time. In fact, in recent months, it's been almost nonexistent.

"Oh." Buffy cringes when Tara's shoulders slouch as she hears Buffy's disappointment, Buffy quickly keeps talking, she doesn't want to hurt Tara when she's trying to help. "Thanks, Tara, really. Anything helps. Some reason I just thought it would be like 'poof' right after he drank it."

"No, it's a poultice, not a potion. I-I know Spike doesn't like magic so I didn't think it'd be right to do any on him without his permission."

"'Ta, Glinda. 'Preciate it. I stay far away from magic if I have any say in the matter."

Everyone jumps because they didn't realize that Spike woke up. Buffy quickly turns her attention fully to him and can't help that stab of jealousy she gets when thinking about the last time he sought out magic, he wanted to use it to get Drusilla to love him again, she quickly shoves that thought away, this is no time to feel jealous, plus, Spike already told her that he's in love with her and he isn't one to go against the woman he loves, so she has nothing to worry about. With that thought, she's able to push the jealousy away and focus on Spike. She has the urge to put her hand on his cheek and rub it softly but squishes it down. That would freak everyone out, including Spike. She can't stop her voice from sounding soft when she speaks though, "How are you feeling, Spike?"

"Like I bloody got ran over by a train. Better yet, like a God had some fun using me for some stress relief." He keeps talking when he sees Dawn's worried and stricken face, "No worries though, nib, I lived with sodding Angelus for 20 years, he might not be as strong as the god with a lopsided arse but he was better at torturing than she is. I've lived through worse, I'll be right fine in a few days,"

"Spike, you don't have to treat me like a kid, I'm almost as old as Buffy was when she was called. I can see you're hurt and it doesn't look like you'll be better anytime soon."

"Vampire, platelet. We heal fast, yeah? I'm telling you, I'll be fine in just a few days."

Dawn looks at Spike dubiously but it's also clear that she wants to believe what he's saying so she nods her head. "You better be, or I'll kick your ass."

"Dawn!" Buffy, Willow, and Tara yell at the same time.

Spike smirks and winks at Dawn without anyone seeing while Anya is back to looking like she doesn't care and that nothing bothers her now that she sees that Spike is awake. Buffy decides to tell Spike all about it later, he might not like to show it to the world but he needs a place to belong just as everyone else does. It'll make him feel good that his place has people that care about him. At least, some of the people do anyway.

Buffy's mind keeps going back to the thing she knows it absolutely should not go to. She knows Giles would give her that disappointed dad look then follow it up with a two-hour lecture, maybe with a slide show, about why it is definitely a totally completely horribly bad idea. She shakes her head, she's probably already going down as the world's worst slayer anyway. Especially if she ends up having a second vampire boyfriend. Then again, according to the first slayer, that makes her the opposite of a bad slayer, which is of the good. Ugh, she's starting to get a headache.

"Guys, I have to talk to Spike alone, can you give us the room?" She asks but uses her slayer voice and that makes it really clear it isn't actually a question. Dawn looks at her worridly, thinking that Buffy is going to be mean to Spike and maybe even stake him for thinking that he gave the key's secret out so she gives her a small smile hoping to calm her down a little bit. The others left as soon as Buffy asked and Dawn only looks a little less worried but eventually gets up to leave but not before giving Spike a quick hug.

"Buff-Slayer, I didn't say anything, I swear, I wouldn't do anything to hurt you or the bit. You know how I feel about you, couldn't do something like that to you, know it would kill you."

"Spike, stop. I know. I learned a lot of stuff tonight and one of those things is that I know I can trust you. That's not why I asked them to leave."

Spike gives Buffy this look, a look that no one has ever given her before, it's like a mix of awe, disbelief, happiness, and love all in one with some devotion sprinkled for flavor on top. It kind of reminds her of one of the memories she saw tonight, or future memories? Whatever, one of the scenes she saw that was them in a possible future. Before tonight, she didn't think a look like that existed. "Yeah? Why'd you want the birds to scarper then?"

Buffy doesn't give herself any more time to second guess, she takes out the small knife she always has on her and cuts her wrist before filling up the cup that was used for the witchy mojo earlier.

Spike, for his part, isn't sure he's really awake like this could be some fever dream or maybe he dusted back at Glory's and someone made a mistake so he ended up in heaven. He must be spacing just staring at her because he doesn't realize she's trying to hand the cup to him until she says his name and shakes the cup in front of him. As she does he snaps back to reality and the sweet smell of slayer's blood fills his senses. He has to hold back a moan at the smell because he's pretty sure that'll get him a pop to the nose and he's not healed nearly enough to enjoy that.

"You sure, Buffy?"

She shivers a little when he says her name, she's never noticed that reaction to him before. Okay, that's a lie but she's never noticed that reaction to just saying her name before. Then again, now that she thinks about it, she doesn't know if he's ever said her name before, it's always Slayer or one of his little pet names. She rolls her eyes at him, "Uh, yeah, otherwise it's wasted, it's already out of my body. What am I going to do, put it back in? Yuck, there's no way I'm taking what's left in that cup of whatever it was that Tara gave you."

He chuckles, well, he starts to, but it turns into a wheezy cough and he grabs his ribs. She's pretty sure a few of them are broken and by the sound of that wheeze, one might have punctured his lungs, thank God he doesn't actually need to breathe, even if he is a weird vampire that does it anyway. He slowly reaches for the cup and takes the first sip. Buffy thought he'd go all fangy and drink it all in one sip but he doesn't. He's enjoying it, savoring it.

This time Spike isn't able to withhold the moan when he tastes Slayer's blood for the first time in a century plus. Not just any slayer's blood, Buffy's blood, his slayer's blood. He cuts his eyes to Buffy quickly expecting to see her looking disgusted but she doesn't, she's looking at him with a look he's not used to seeing on her, at least not directed at him. She looks worried like she actually cares if he gets better.

'Bloody ponce, of course, she cares, she gave you her blood, she wouldn't do that for just any vamp. Don't know when or why she started carin' but she does. Whether she knows it or not, she just gave you that crumb you wanted.' He thinks with an inward smile then quickly tries to stop the hope that was starting to grow because of how often it just got him hurt before. 'Christ, don't be a stupid git, she doesn't give a fuck about you, she only wants you to be in fighting shape in case Glory comes a knockin' '

As he finishes his last sip of the blood he already feels his body going to work putting him back together. He can't look in a mirror but he doesn't need to, he feels the gash on his forehead starting to knit itself back together and his bones doing the same. Which is a mite painful, he had to admit if only to himself. He wanted to grab her hands to thank her. Christ, if he was being honest, he wanted to pull her on his lap and snog her as a thank you but knew he didn't have the right. He settles for looking at her and waiting until she's looking him in the eye to reply. "Ta pet, already feeling better. No need to worry, I'll be back to fighting shape in no time. No one's gonna get the bit on my watch."

He's surprised when Buffy is actually the one to reach and grab his hands. He's confused, she's never looked at him so open before, without distrust and disgust clear in her eyes. "Buffy?"

"Like I was saying, I learned a lot today and I have to talk about it with you."

He doesn't like the way that sounds, no guy likes to hear the words 'we have to talk' from their bird. "Right then, talk away, Slayer. I'm right here."

Buffy opens her mouth to do just that when the front door opens with Giles and Xander walking through.