Chapter Summary: A week has passed since Chapter 18. We see in flashbacks (and current scenes) what happened over the last week with the Scoobies, Spike, Joyce, Angelus, and Drusilla. Someone comes looking for Spike. Are they friend or foe?

Buffy's fingertips traced the thin raised line across her wrist. The line was parallel to the bottom of her palm. Slayer healing was pretty quick and thorough, but the line on her wrist would never completely fade. It would always be a remembrance of the wound Spike created before he bound their wrists together on Halloween.

Buffy looked across the room at the vampire in her bed. The past week was spent trying to restore Spike to 100 percent physically, among other things. Giles and Spike explained how potent Slayer blood was to vampires. The fact that it had taken a full week of regular doses of her blood before Spike was able to walk and spar showed how bad his spinal injuries were. He wasn't completely 100 percent in all ways, but he was well on his way.

One week had passed since the bombshell of her relationship with Spike was dropped on everyone. One week faded into the past since Angel's soul was somehow purged from his body, and Angelus was loose. One week had passed since Joyce Summers had all her worst fears confirmed, and she started to train with Buffy to protect herself. One week flew by since Jenny Calendar left the country with a phone message that led to more questions than answers. One week ... that was all it took to completely turn all of their lives upside down and force a need to find a common ground for their existence again.

"Spike!" Buffy gathered her beloved vampire in her arms. She worried about him being on the floor, and she wondered what happened while she was gone. She had only a moment to worry before she felt Spike's fangs in her neck.

Spike!" Buffy screamed out his name again at the unexpected attack on her neck. It took her a couple seconds to realize that Spike wasn't ripping through her neck to drain her dry. The vampire on top of her was growling with a mixture of whimpers in-between the harsher sounds.

The Slayer realized the cause of her vampire's distress in the middle of Xander and Willow trying to pull Spike off of her. She growled, flashed her fangs at the teens, and sunk her fangs into Spike's neck. Although the act of reassurance between the bonded demons seemed violent and harsh, both beings supped the blood gently from each other. Growled tones turned into soothing and cooing sounds as both reassured the other one that they were safe and loved.

Spike and Buffy broke apart from each other, both panting as if trying to catch their breath. No traces of their demon faces were present. With their human masks back in the forefront, the couple shifted into passionate kisses of a more recognizable kind to Willow and Xander.

"I told you not to fight him without me." When Spike finally found his voice again it was layered with concern.

I don't follow orders too well," Buffy half teased and half felt anger at anyone telling her what to do. "Besides I didn't go looking for him. I heard a scream on the way back here, and I acted on instinct to protect someone in trouble."

"You scared me, pet," Spike confessed his concern in a whisper that only Buffy heard. "It's taken me so long to find my other half. I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost you." He rested is forehead against hers.

"I'm sorry Spike. I don't plan on leaving you any time soon. I wasn't trying to hurt you either." Buffy cupped Spike's cheek in her palm. "At least I doubt we'll have any problems from Angelus for a while."

"What makes you say that, Buffy?" Willow asked from her place across the room. After the Slayer pushed her and Xander back, they'd retreated to the other side of the room. Willow was worried for her friend, but she couldn't fight the Slayer side of Buffy. She figured if the Slayer really didn't like what Spike was doing, the Slayer would take care of Spike.

"The Slayer made a brief appearance during the fight," Buffy explained. "Angelus nearly wet his pants when she showed up. He turned tail and ran as fast as his legs could carry him in the opposite direction."

"I would have enjoyed seeing that," Xander grumbled. His arms were crossed over the front of his chest. His temper was fuming, and he looked like he would blow up at any second. How could Buffy let such a monster so close to her? How could she even begin to trust Spike over her fellow Scoobies? Something had to be seriously wrong with her. "Too bad he didn't take Bleach Boy with him."

"Don't start, Xander," Buffy warned. "Spike isn't going anywhere that I am not going too."

"This could all be part of his plan with Drusilla and Angel to destroy you." Xander sat up in his chair and flapped his arms out in frustration. "Angel tried to feed me to Spike the first night he was here. You can't trust any of them!" He stood up in what he felt was a justified anger and defiance as he spoke. "I never believed Angel's whole white hat story, and I refuse to believe Spike about anything. He's tried to kill us from the first time we met him."

"I don't care if you believe him or not Xander." Buffy's voice grew louder the more upset she was. The ire of the Slayer within her was bubbling close to the surface, and Buffy fought to keep her at bay for the time being. "Don't make me choose between you two, Xander. I can guarantee you won't like the outcome."

While Xander seethed, Spike lay against Buffy in awe. Never had anyone, other than his mother, chosen him over another person. He was always the one rejected or cast aside when another option was given.

Buffy was grateful for every peaceful moment they were given. Spike had more than earned his rest today after all the research he'd worked with Giles on the night before. Even if they didn't gain any more knowledge, they'd covered a lot more bases than they could have alone. Spike's knowledge of both demonic and older languages helped immensely with some of the more irregular tomes they were using to study. She was proud of him in more ways than one. So, she was content to watch him rest.

Giles adjusted the sling his arm was cradled in. The scratchy fabric had been a part of his daily wardrobe for the last week. He'd refused the hospital's offer to put his arm in a cast instead. It was hard enough to work with the sling. He had no desire to be completely incapacitated by a plaster cast.

"No! Absolutely NOT!" A disgruntled Rupert Giles fought against gravity and his injuries to sit up in his hospital bed.

"Mr. Giles," A woman in a white nurse's uniform tutted and hoped to regain Giles' silence by way of chastisement. "The simple fact that you've visited this hospital more times than a man you age should is reason enough for this course of action. You are either highly accident prone, very unlucky, or in way too dangerous of a line of work.

The nurse, who had calmly countered Giles' acerbic tone until then, gave up any pretence of patience with her patient. She snapped out Giles' medical chart from behind her back and read out loud, "3 mild concussions, 4 hairline fractures, 2 torn ligaments, 20 stitches, 3 cleanly broken bones, and more bruises and lacerations than I care to count."

Giles sighed and lowered his gaze to the ground. 'Bloody hospitals and their record keeping.' It seemed that although most of Sunnydale ignored the unusual happenings around them, the incidents were well documented at the hospital.

Thankfully Giles won the overall argument. Much to the nurse's dismay, the doctor agreed that they couldn't force Giles into a cast. Joyce's motherly like glare forced Giles to accept the sling and bandage wrap as an alternative though. He remembered wanting to wipe the smirk off the nurse's face when he'd finally acquiesced to Joyce's "order".

Giles and Joyce spent a considerable amount of time together during the past week. When he wasn't lost in his research concerning Angelus' curse and Buffy and Spike's bonds, he would join Joyce for lunch at a diner in town. He thoroughly enjoyed having another adult to talk to, someone that understood the demands of an adult life. He found himself looking forward to the daily visits, and when one day Joyce had to work through lunch he found himself feeling bereft at the loss of her company.

The evenings were spent at the Summers' home studying, researching and training. They'd worked to convert a good potion of the basement into a pseudo training room for Buffy, Spike, and the rest of the Scoobies. Joyce was full of questions about various demons and Slayers. Now that the floodgates were open on Buffy's status, she felt free to explore the quest for knowledge to the fullest.

Giles gobbled up all of the tidbits of knowledge that Joyce's non-Council approved book offered. "Extraordinary, dear Lord, I had no idea, and good heavens were common phrases that he uttered whenever the book was opened for his perusal." Thankfully Spike refrained from uttering too many "I told you so's" and "Sodding Wankers" when Giles would become fascinated with a new fact that was hidden from him during his Watcher training.

One of the things that confused them the most was why the Slayer chose Spike. He killed at least two Slayers in his time, and he'd tried to kill Buffy at first as well. So why would this Slayer choose this vampire. What precipitated the choice. Buffy shared her story about Halloween, and how she specifically sought out Spike as her fiance. She told Giles how the Slayer inside her knew what Spike was doing and accept the bonding without reservation.

The theory that the Slayer was more at the forefront for Buffy because of her death at the hands of the Master, seemed their best reasoning in that area. Their closest solution was that Spike inherited the power of his line, the power of The Master. He was a Master Vampire in his own right, and he'd already initiated the beginning stages of a claim during the Parent-Teacher night when he destroyed the Master's marks on Buffy's neck. So, that could have contributed to the acceptance of both demons of each other.

Their other main concern was how to kill or reensoul Angelus before they were killed instead. Giles was in fairly regular contact with one of the witches from a coven in England. A woman named Athena had been a friend of his since before his Watcher days. They both were trying to work out a way to reensoul Angelus without having him present. So far, they were out of luck in that area. They continued to keep up their communications, and they hoped that somehow they would figure it out.

"I need to go get Mom at the gallery tonight," Buffy snatched up some of the vegetables off the counter that Spike was cutting. "She has a later shipment coming in, and I don't want her to leave there alone."

"That's a wise idea, pet." Spike sliced each vegetable evenly and seemingly without effort. Though many would think that the task was beneath a Master Vampire, he found that it therapeutic for working the dexterity of his fingers back into form. It kept him occupied enough not to go completely stir crazy being stuck in the house day in and day out either. It also saved Joyce from having to do the work. His respect for her grew daily. She'd already compromised so much for Buffy and he over the last week.

"We really appreciate this Mom." Buffy hugged her mother. She went back to the door to help Giles get Spike into the house. Once Spike crossed the threshold, she scooped him up into her arms and carried him over to the couch in the living room. "Should I go get started on cleaning out the spare bedroom or the basement, Mom?"

"Actually, I thought he might be more comfortable a little closer to you. Your bed is certainly big enough for the two of you." Joyce enjoyed the gobsmacked looks on the faces of the three people around her. She chuckled softly.

"Of course, I do, Rupert," Joyce interrupted. Her smile was a teasing one, and she loved the reactions she was getting. Giles looked appalled at the suggestion. Buffy was confused at her mother's statement. Spike's emotions kept jumping from confusion to joy and gratitude. "If Spike needs help, Buffy would be in the best position to do so if he was in her room."

"That is highly irregular. You do realize what a full mating will entail? Moving Spike into Buffy's room is like an affirmation of approval." Giles questioned. "You are being awfully accepting of all of this after such a short time."

"I've been studying about the Slayer for months, Rupert. So, I'm not as new to the situation as it seems." Joyce turned to face her daughter. "She may only be close to 17, but she's had to grow up and mature much faster than anyone else because of her calling. I'm not too blind that I don't recognize that." She smiled over at Spike as she spoke the next words, "She has a lot of responsibilities in her young life. If Spike can help with that, and help her to live longer, then I'm going to give them both the benefit of my support. I don't want to lose my baby girl to some creature because I wasn't willing to let go."

"Thank you, Joyce," Spike spoke with a shyness in his voice that was not usually heard.

"I'm not too old that I don't remember the urges acquainted with love and passion. I do know about wanting to have privacy and sex." Joyce grinned. "I'm sure those urges are even stronger between the two of you."

"Dear Lord." Giles whipped off his glasses and rubbed the lenses furiously with his shirt.

"Ewwwwww ... That is a mental image I really don't want floating around in my head. You're ... old."

"Spike is about a century older than I am, Buffy," Joyce teased. It wasn't often that she was able to enjoy a playful joke at her daughter's expense. She was enjoying every minute of the conversation.

"Okay, I don't want to think about my mom having sex then, okay?" Buffy shivered. "I mean I know I got here somehow, but I don't want to think about it. Let me live by that nice river in Egypt on that subject."

"If you wish." Joyce laughed and shook her head. "I tried to take care of the sunlight issues in your room already. It should be safe for Spike to stay there now."

"Thanks, Mom. I'll go get him settled in." Buffy picked up Spike effortlessly and headed for the stairs.

"What time are the others getting here?" Spike snapped out of his memories and back to the present.

"I figure we'll see them about 6 or 7ish. Xander promised sugary goodness." Buffy chuckled. "I don't think he likes your version of Scooby snacks." She pointed at the vegetable tray.

"He can sod off for all I care." Spike waved the knife at Buffy. "It's a wonder that he doesn't just roll the vampires over to flatten them like a sumo wrestler."

Buffy stifled a chuckle. "He's not that bad. It's a security blanket thing to him. Besides, do you think I'm fat? I eat it all too."

"You, pet, have a metabolism that is off the scales because you're the Slayer." Spike set the knife on the counter and kissed Buffy's lips softly. "You'll never be anything but perfect in my eyes no matter what." He pulled back a little bit from her. "Well, except when you are being cranky."

Buffy rolled her eyes and pointed to the various trays of food around the kitchen. "Whatever you say ... Big Bad." She darted quickly out of the kitchen and up the stairs before Spike could give chase.

Angelus paced back and forth at the factory where Spike and Drusilla had previously nested at. The minions were working on moving all of their belongings to a new place that Angelus found on Crawford Street, a deserted mansion. Staying at the factory for this long was dangerous enough. He didn't want to be a sitting duck for an attack. He hoped that Spike's injuries would hold them off long enough for him to complete the move.

'I don't know what she was, but I don't want to face Buffy again until I can figure it out,' Angelus thought to himself. His senses told him that Buffy wasn't a vampire, but she changed into something that night in the cemetery. Was it only a week ago that he'd faced this new form? He was a bit upset with himself for dusting Dalton now. He had a feeling that the nerdy vampire would have been a lot of help towards research.

As if reading his mind, a voice drifted to his ears, "You couldn't take the chance, my Angel." Drusilla's hands slid over Angelus' shoulders and down his arms. "We wouldn't want the naughty boy to have figured out how to put the nasty soul back in you again." Her cheek rested against his neck as she lifted her head up to kiss his jaw. "Maybe we don't need to find out what she is. Perhaps we should get rid of everything all at once."

"If we destroy everything all at once, we'd be killed too. I fancy on being around for a lot longer, Dru." Angelus shrugged off Drusilla's touch. He was upset that Dru's pixies weren't telling her anything worthwhile lately. 'This is what I kept William around for. He could understand the looney twit.' He sighed.

As the sunset over the horizon, Angelus led all of the remaining minions and Drusilla to their new home. He tried to cover his trail the best he could, but he knew that Spike's vampire senses wouldn't take too long to find them. He tried to block his familial presence from the younger vampire as well.

A knock at the door disturbed everyone from their planning session in the Summers' living room. Although the disinvite spell had been done, it was agreed that Spike answered any knocks on the door after sunset if Buffy wasn't there. The other Scoobies were waiting for Buffy and Joyce to arrive home from the gallery. Everyone knew that neither Buffy nor Joyce would have knocked.

Spike carefully opened the door, a sword in his hand behind his back. There was definitely a demon on the other side of the door, but there was a human with him. Strangely enough, the demon felt familiar to him as well. He opened the door wider after he recognized his demon friend Clem along with one of his human contacts from the Sunnydale hospital named Marie.

"Spike!" Clem shouted in happiness. "We thought you were dead!" He tried to step into the house, but he was blocked by the barrier spell that Spike told Giles about. It didn't affect only vampires, but any demon had to have a specific invite to get in. Clem shook his head back and forth to clear it. He'd been forced back a few feet from the door, and it disorientated him.

"Sorry about that Clem. This is the Slayer's house," Spike offered in explanation.

"Yeah, you can say that again." Spike turned his gaze towards the woman with Clem. "Hello Marie." He genuinely liked the human medical worker. Dalton and he had saved the woman's life a while ago, and she'd happily joined their little network of eyes and ears around Sunnydale. She was even responsible for gathering the expired bags of human blood and getting them to Spike to help lessen the human death rate from vampires.

"Hello Spike." Marie smiled warmly. "We've been worried about you. You disappeared for a week, and we've heard rumors about Drusilla and Angelus."

"Is everything all right, Spike." Giles walked up behind Spike. He'd been worried when he heard the reaction of the barrier spell forcing someone back, but he hadn't heard Spike kicking up a fuss over whoever was there. He figured that it had to be someone he knew, or Spike would have called out the warning to the others in the house.

"Yeah, it's fine, Watcher." Spike motioned his hand out towards Marie. "This is Marie. She is the one that Buffy told you about." He directed his hand to point at the wrinkly skinned demon standing next to Marie. "This is Clem. He is a very peaceful demon unless in his own self-defense. He's been helping me for a while now. Marie ... Clem ... this is Rupert Giles, the Slayer's Watcher."

Clem offered a smile and waved at Giles meekly. Marie smiled brightly and waved as well.

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