Buffy stood there studying Spikes face and processing what he had just said. Suddenly she moved and punched him hard in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. As Spike laid there on the ground he stared up at Buffy with a look of surprise on his face. "What ya do that for" he asked?
"Because I can" Buffy said to him in a mocking tone of voice. "No limitation!"
Buffy spun on her heel and walked off into the dark. Spike laid on the ground watching her walk away. "Bloody fuck'n hell" he said to himself quietly.
*******
(Sunday)
Buffy slept in late because the Magic Shop was closed on Sunday. She took a long hot shower and dressed before going downstairs. When she entered the kitchen Tara was just finishing with washing the dishes from the night before and Dawn was drying them. Willow was drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. Xander was just coming in through the backdoor carrying a large box of assorted donuts with Anya right behind him carrying a gallon of milk in one hand and a gallon of orange juice in the other hand.
Xander was the first to see Buffy and a big smile spread across his face as he said "Hey there Buffster. Your just in time, the Xanman has arrived with the food of the gods." He waved the box of donuts in front of himself then brought it up to his face and inhaled the aroma coming from the box. "Fresh from the bakery and hand picked from the vine."
Anya walked to the kitchen table and set the milk and orange juice down heavily. "Why do I have to carry the heavy things" she groused to no one in particular, but loud enough for everyone to hear. "You'd think those damned donuts were made out of gold the way he holds on to them."
"Careful there" Willow yelped out as she grabbed her coffee cup before it sloshed over from the impact of Anya banging into the table.
Dawn spun around and the dish she was drying slipped from her hand. Tara, moving quickly, stuck her foot out catching the dish on her toes and flipped it back up into the air where she caught it with one hand.
Buffy, seeing all of this happening at once, burst into laughter. "You guy's are really something else" she choked out between laughs.
Dawn looked over at Tara and asked with a tone of puzzlement in her voice "Is that good?"
Buffy walked over to Dawn and wrapped her arms around her and hugged her as she kissed her on the cheek. "No Dawnie, it's not good. It's great." As Buffy looked around the room at her friends, with one arm still around Dawns waist, she said "God, I love you guy's, I don't know what I would do without you."
Everyone was looking at Buffy and seeing the smile on her face they were all smiling at her in return. Tara was looking at Buffy as if she were trying to sense something. After a few moments a big smile spread across her face.
"That was pretty fancy footwork there Tara. And Willow, catching that cup before it spilled, do they teach you guy's that stuff in wicca training" Buffy asked? "Anya, it's not gold that Xans worried about. He just doesn't want anyone else to get the big jelly donut he's already picked out for himself!"
As everyone looked over at Xander they could all see that he had already opened the box of donuts and had two of them in his hands. Everyone started laughing and Xander grinned at them all. "The girl knows me too well, much too well" he said as he took a big bite out of one of the donuts and jelly started ozzing out of it.
For the next hour everyone sat around the kitchen table talking and eating donuts with coffee, milk and juice. Buffy seemed in a very good mood, which made everyone else feel happy. Dawn was very excited with the way Buffy was behaving and kept reaching out and touching her. Buffy kept smiling at all of them and several times she had reached out and touched Dawn, as if she was reassuring Dawn that she really was there with her.
They were just starting to clean up the mess when Giles arrived. As soon as he saw the donuts he asked "Are there any jellys left?" When everyone started laughing a puzzled look crossed his face. "But I like jellys! I always ask for jellys!" When everyone started laughing even harder he just shook his head in confusion, but was very pleased that everyone was in such a good mood, especially Buffy.
After Giles had eaten a custard filled donut and had wiped his fingers on a napkin, Buffy asked him what he was doing out so early, since he usually stayed in on Sundays. Giles told her that he had felt badly that she had missed out on the 'Wicca Fair' yesterday and had come by to see if she would like to go to it today? He told her that there were some book stalls that he hadn't gotten to the day before and wanted to see if they had anything interesting. Dawn chimed in and started telling Buffy about the fortune tellers she had seen the day before. Xander told her about the great cheeseburgers they sold there. Willow and Tara both mentioned that they knew several of the women running booths and Anya told her that she had some friends that worked with the fair also and traveled with it all over the country.
Everyone seemed excited about the Fair and it was decided that they would all go to it together. At first Giles wanted to take two cars, but Xander insisted that with a little friendly crowding together they could all fit into his car. With Buffy, Dawn, Willow and Tara in the back seat and Xander, Anya and Giles in the front seat they drove to the Fair. They spent the whole afternoon going from booth to booth and tent to tent. Giles found several old books to add to his collection. Willow and Tara talked to several of the women running booths and bought some more herbs and crystals. Anya went off on her own for a little while and when she returned told them that she had been visiting with her demon friends that traveled with the Fair.
After a couple of hours of walking around the Fair, Xander took off and returned a little later with a bag full of cheeseburgers and insisted that they were the best cheeseburgers he had ever eaten. Anya whispered to Tara and Dawn that the food booth was run by one of her demon friends, but it probably wasn't a good idea to tell Xander. He might get the wrong idea about what the burgers were made of or something. Everyone turned down his offer to share his cheeseburgers with them claiming they were still full from all the donuts they had earlier.
Dawn insisted that Buffy have her fortune told at one of the booths where she had her fortune told the day before. At the first booth they went to the woman started to read Buffys palm but got a strange look on her face after a few moments. She told Buffy that she wasn't feeling well and couldn't read her fortune right now. Dawn was disappointed and took Buffy to a second booth. The woman there used crystals and had Buffy hold one in her hand while she gazed at it. At first the woman was happy to have all these young people gathered around her booth and was smiling at all of them. After a few moments of studying the crystal in Buffys hand she started frowning. She picked the crystal out of Buffys hand and looked at it closely before putting it back into her hand. She stared at it a few more moments and started shaking her head.
"The crystal doesn't seem to be making any sense" the woman said to her after a few more moments.
Willow looked over at Tara with concern in her eyes. Tara was looking at the crystal closely and could tell that something had happened to it. It had seemed to grow darker in Buffys hand. "What's it say?" Dawn asked, not noticing the looks on Willow and Taras faces.
"It's like I said young lady" the woman said as she shook her head. "It doesn't make sense. It shows this other young lady as being alive, then dead, then alive again, all at the same time. It also shows a dark man in her life that is both young and old. But when I see the man he isn't dark at all, he is very light in complexion. Like I said, it doesn't make any sense. There must be something wrong with the crystal." The woman looked up at Buffy and stared into her eyes for a few moments. "I'm sorry young lady" the woman said "I've never had this happen before. I could try a different crystal if you'd like?"
"No, that's alright" Buffy said to her quietly.
The woman refused to take any payment from Buffy because she had been unable to do a reading for her. She apologized again and walked back into her booth with the crystal on a piece of cloth studying it closely as she shook her head in puzzlement.
A gloom seemed to pass over the group as it walked away from the booth. No one seemed to notice that Tara hung back from the group and went over to the woman and talked to her briefly. When she rejoined the group she let Willow see that she had the crystal wrapped in a piece of cloth and that it was very dark in color now. It had originally been a light colored crystal when the woman put it into Buffys hand.
"Buffy" Dawn was saying, "it doesn't mean anything. Tara told me yesterday that they can't really read your fortune. They just say things that don't mean anything. Isn't that right Tara" Dawn asked as she looked at Tara with a pleading look in her eyes.
"That's right Dawnie" Tara said as she smiled a little smile at Dawn to try to reassure her, "it doesn't mean anything."
"I know Dawn" Buffy said as she put her arm around Dawns shoulder and gave her a hug, "it doesn't mean anything."
"Well, where should we go next?" Giles asked with forced cheerfulness.
"I think I'd like to go home now" Buffy said quietly "I think I'd like to take a little nap before I have to go out on patrol tonight."
"Ah, yes, excellent idea" Giles responded. "Get some rest before going out, excellent idea." In all the years that Giles had been Buffys Watcher he could never remember her taking a nap in the middle of the afternoon no matter how tired she might have been. "Excellent idea."
The drive home was quiet and when they got there Buffy went straight up to her room. Dawn sat down on the couch and tears started running down her face as she cried quietly. When Tara sat down next to her she buried her face in her shoulder. Tara wrapped her arms around Dawn and tried to sooth her.
"Damn it" Xander whispered quietly as he slammed his fist into his other hand. "It was working, I know it was." He slammed his fist into his hand again, and then again. Anya sat on the arm of the chair he was sitting in and put her arms around his shoulders to hug him and sooth him.
"Yes, I think it was" Giles said quietly as he stared down at the floor. "She seemed her old self all morning. Damned me for suggesting going to that blasted Fair."
"It was me" Dawn said as she raised her face from Tara's shoulder with tears still running down her face. "It was me, making her get her fortune told. It's all my fault."
"No Dawnie" Willow said as she started rubbing Dawns back while Tara continued to hold her. "It's not you fault. It's not anyones fault."
The whole group sat quietly, not knowing what to say to each other or what to do next. When Dawn finally stopped crying, Tara got her up on her feet and led her upstairs. She didn't take Dawn to her room, which was next to Buffy's, but to her own room and laid down on the bed with Dawn and held her in her arms.
With Tara and Dawn gone, Willow looked over at Xander with a determined look on her face. "Xander, I want you to take me back to the Fair. I want to talk to that palm reader and find out what she saw when she looked at Buffys hand. I think I might talk to the crystal reader too."
Giles looked at Willow and asked "Do you really think that will help?"
"I don't know" she replied in a very serious tone of voice "but if they saw something I want to find out what. We haven't any idea what's bothering Buffy or why she's behaving the way she is, so anything that might help us has to be better than nothing."
"Fine" Giles said, "I'll see you all later tonight, when Buffy is out on patrol. We'll discuss it then and see what you learned. I'm going to try to find Spike and see if he knows anything."
The four of them got up and left the house, Willow, Xander and Anya going back to the Fair, Giles getting in his car and driving to the cemetery where Spikes crypt was located.
*******
As soon as Buffy entered her room she laid down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. She focused her total concentration on not thinking about 'anything' at all.
*******
When Tara laid down on her bed with Dawn she held her spoon fashion with her arms wrapped around her. Dawn laid like that for about 10 or 15 minutes until she started squirming around and turned herself so that she was face to face with Tara. She looked into Taras eyes for several minutes before she spoke. "Tara" Dawn whispered quietly, "you wouldn't lie to me would you?"
Tara looked into Dawns eyes and took a deep breath. "No Dawnie, I won't lie to you" she whispered back.
"Is Buffy going to be alright" she asked?
"I don't know Dawnie, honest" Tara replied.
"What did you see in that crystal, the one you got from the fortune teller" Dawn asked?
Tara hadn't realized that Dawn had seen her get the crystal from the fortune teller. "I haven't really had a chance to study it yet Dawnie" she replied quietly.
"Could you do that now" Dawn said as she looked Tara in the eyes.
Tara took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Okay Dawnie, we can do that now."
The two of them let go of each other and sat up on the bed facing each other lotus fashion with their knees touching. Tara took the crystal out of her pocket and unwrapped the cloth that was around it. The crystal was still dark and cloudy looking. She held it out between them, still resting on the cloth, and focused her concentration on the crystal as she mumbled a few words of magic over it. The crystal seemed to take on a slight glow as Tara stared at it deeply. They sat like that for a long time.
*******
When they got back to the Fair Willow headed straight for the booth where the palm reader had been earlier that afternoon. When she found the woman she started to question her about what she had seen when she had looked at Buffys palm. The woman refused to talk to Willow about it at first, but when Willow said a few words of magic the womans eyes got very big and she told Willow what she had seen when she read Buffys palm. Willow went next to the crystal reader and asked her what she had seen in the crystal. The woman told her that she had already told them what she had seen and that it hadn't made any sense to her then and didn't make any sense to her now.
*******
When Giles got to the cemetery he got a flashlight out of the trunk and headed for Spikes crypt. As he climbed down the ladder to the lower level he used the light to find his way back to the vault that Spike used as his living area. There was only one candle burning and no site of Spike.
"I know your here Spike, you might as well come out" Giles said loudly. "That candle has only been burning for a short time and the sun is still out so I know you didn't leave." Giles looked around and sat down in a chair to wait for Spike to come out of wherever he was hiding. He sat like that for about 10 minutes before he heard a sound from a dark corner of the room. At first he couldn't see anything but when he flashed the beam of his flashlight into the corner he saw Spike standing there.
"We need to talk, so get over here" Giles said with a tone of exacerbation.
"What do you want" Spike asked with a snarl in his voice.
"I want to talk about Buffy" Giles replied quietly.
*********
When Willow, Xander and Anya got back to the house, Tara and Dawn came down the stairs to join them. They sat around the living room not talking. Giles joined them about a half hour later. When they asked if he had learned anything he told them that they would talk about it later. Xander was getting nervous and was pacing the floor. He told them that he would be back in a little while and left the house. When he came back he was carrying a huge bucket of fried chicken with mashed potatoes, grave, coleslaw and corn-on-the-cob for everyone. Tara and Dawn set the dinning room table while Willow went upstairs to tell Buffy that dinner was ready.
When she knocked on the door there wasn't any answer so she opened the door to see if Buffy was sleeping. When she looked in she could see Buffy laying there with her eyes open as she stared up at the ceiling. "Buffy" Willow said quietly, "we've got dinner ready. Are you hungry?"
For several moments Buffy didn't respond. When she did, she continued to stare up at the ceiling, not looking in Willows direction at all. "No thanks Wil, I'm not hungry right now." Willow closed the door behind her and went back downstairs. She told the group that Buffy wasn't hungry and wouldn't be down. The rest of them sat around the table and ate their food in a gloomy quiet.
*********
As the sun started to set Buffy came down the stairs dressed all in black. She put a lot of effort into it and gave them all a sad half smile that she thought was a lot more cheery than it actually was in fact. "I gotta go guys, see you later" she said as she opened the front door and left without another word. No one spoke, they didn't know what to say.
********
As soon as Buffy was gone Giles stood up and took his glasses off to clean them. He told them all it was time to pool their information and figure out what to do to help Buffy. Willow went first and told them what she had learned from the palm reader at the Fair. The woman had told her that when she had looked at Buffys palm she had seen that her life line was broken and that she had felt nauseous when she tried to read deeper. She told them that the crystal reader had already told them what she had seen and that it hadn't made any sense to her.
Tara told them that she had studied the crystal that Buffy had held and that what the crystal reader had seen was what she had been able to see also. But, she added, the dead/alive part of the vision was very dark and hard to read. The part about the dark man that was young and old at the same time had made her think of Spike, or maybe Angel, because the vision had shown a man with a very pale face. But it hadn't been clear enough for her to tell who it was.
Giles listened to both Willow and Tara and digested what they said before he spoke. He told them that he had talked to Spike and that Spike had seen Buffy at her mothers grave the other night and that she had sat there all night. He had also seen her the night before and she had punched Spike for no reason at all.
They all sat around the living room going over every detail that they had for over two hours. Giles finally summed it up that they had learned some facts, but hadn't learned anything that gave them an insight into what was bothering Buffy so much that it was causing her to behave the way she was behaving. Xander got mad and started punching one fist into the other hand as he paced the floor. Anya watched him pace the floor, but didn't say anything. Willow sat back on the couch in deep thought, not saying anything to anyone. Dawn sat next to Tara, listening to everything. She would occasionally reach out and touch Taras arm for reassurance. Tara would smile at Dawn when she touched her, but couldn't come up with anything new to add. As the gloom deepened Giles finally stood up and suggested that everyone go home and get some rest. Maybe they would gain some insight after a good nights sleep.
After Giles, Xander and Anya had left Tara started to walk Dawn upstairs so she could go to bed. When Willow continued to sit on the couch Tara asked if she was coming up. Willow mumbled that she needed to think some more and would be up later. Tara went with Dawn to her room and helped her undress for bed. When Dawn was in bed Tara sat next to her until she fell asleep then went to her own room and went to bed. Willow continued to sit on the couch for several hours, a look of determination settled on her face as if she had made some kind of decision. It was two in the morning before she finally went upstairs to bed. Buffy hadn't come home yet.
**********
When Buffy walked out the front door of her house she took a deep breath. The first deep breath that she had taken in hours. She could feel the cloud of gloom that had settled over the house and she knew that she was the cause of it. She knew that her mood was affecting everyone else, but she didn't know how to change the way she was feeling. From the moment the crystal reader had mentioned a dark man that wasn't dark, who was young and old at the same time, she had been thinking of Spike. She knew that she had feelings that she couldn't deal with when it came to Spike. She felt drawn to him and at the same time she felt repulsed by him. When she didn't see him she couldn't stop thinking about him, but when she did see him she felt anger at herself for the way she felt when he was near her.
She admitted to herself reluctantly that most of the time since she had been brought back to life by Willow and the rest of them that she had not felt as if she really belonged. She also remembered how she had felt at the very first of her return, as if she had been very happy wherever she had been and that those feelings of happiness had been stolen from her. She knew that her friends loved her and needed her, but she couldn't get past the feeling that they had done something to her that was very wrong. For awhile she had been able to act as if she were fine and that she was happy to be back and alive again. But as the past few months had passed her feelings of unbearable loss had grown stronger and stronger.
The only time she seemed to feel anything at all lately was when she was with Spike. But when she caught herself feeling that way the whole idea of Spike making her feel anything made her angry. Angry at him and at herself. She knew that Spike had feelings for her, but she couldn't except that it was love. She couldn't believe that someone without a soul and was evil could truly love anyone. She thought about how much she had loved Angel once and how his turning into Angelus had torn her heart apart. Loving someone that was evil was wrong, terribly wrong.
For the next four hours Buffy patrolled the back streets, alleys and cemeteries of Sunnydale. She caught one vampire lurking in an ally and a second one newly risen from it's grave. She dusted both of them without any regret or hesitation. Around midnight she was patrolling one of the many cemeteries of the town when she heard a sound behind her. She stepped behind a large tombstone and pulled a wooden stake out of her jacket. She waited for over a minute and when she heard the sound was close she stepped out to confront whoever it might be.
When Buffy stepped out from behind the tombstone with a wooden stake raised to strike Spike jumped back so quickly that he stumbled and fell to the ground. Buffy, seeing that it was Spike relaxed a little, and felt anger at herself for doing so. "Walk much Spike" Buffy asked sarcastically?
"Oh, sure" Spike said as he lay there on the ground. "Let someone with a stake jump out at you and see how coordinated you are."
"Okay Spike, what are you doing here" Buffy asked?
"Well, I was heading home" Spike said as he started to get up.
Buffy reached out with her foot and pushed Spike back down. Spike looked up at her with a question in his eyes. "What's that for?"
"Stay down Spike" Buffy responded. "Your home is in the opposite direction."
"Well, yeah" Spike replied. "I was taking the scenic route, that's all."
"Scenic route my ass" Buffy said scornfully.
Spike let a smirk settle on his face as he craned his head to one side as he focused his attention on Buffys ass. "Yeah, it is kinda scenic an't it?" he drawled out.
Buffys foot snapped out and kicked Spike in the head hard. Hard enough to roll him over twice. As Spike tried to shake the blow off Buffy jumped on top of him and straddled his hips as she grabbed him by the throat. She drew the wooded stake back in her hand and was poised to strike. "Tell me why I shouldn't just kill you Spike" Buffy said with a tone of rage in her voice.
Spike looked up at Buffy and could read the rage in her eyes. He knew that if he said the wrong thing she was going to kill him. He let himself go limp with his hands at his sides and his head flat on the ground. He made himself as defenseless as possible. "Because I'm helpless and harmless" he said slowly. The rage seemed to grow in Buffys eyes. Spike was certain that he was going to die.
Instead, Buffy dropped the stake and punched Spike in the face. She hit him again with the other fist, then again and again. Spike laid there and didn't try to defend himself. "Your not helpless" Buffy screamed at him as she hit him again and again. "Your not harmless" she screamed and hit him even harder. The skin above Spikes right eye split open and blood started to run from it into his eye. His lower lip burst and blood smeared across his face as Buffy hit him again.
Suddenly Buffy stopped and stared down at Spikes battered face and his blood on her hands. She could see what she had done to him and felt stunned. As his eyes fluttered open and he looked up at her, Buffy bent over and kissed him gently on the lips. Spikes eyes widened and he started to return the kiss. He slowly raised one hand and brushed the side of Buffys face with his fingers. Buffy didn't pull back, but intensified her kiss. Spike returned the kiss and moved his hand to the back of Buffys neck and started caressing it. As the kiss continued Buffy moved her hands up to Spikes face and held it in both of her hands. She probed his mouth with her tongue and he opened his mouth and met her tongue with his own. They both started breathing heavier and the kiss went on and on. Spike started rubbing his hands up and down Buffys back and pulled her to him tighter. As his hand came down her back and went past the edge of her jacket his fingers brushed across the bare skin that was showing where her pullover top had ridden up.
Buffy gasped as she felt Spikes finger tips touch her bare skin. She tried to sit up and when he tried to hold on to her she used her full strength to push herself up and out of his grasp. She stared at him and a look of shock passed over her face. She threw herself off of him and stared at him for a few moments then jumped to her feet and ran off into the dark. Spike laid there on the ground for quiet awhile, feeling to battered to get up, as he laid there a smile kept coming to his bruised and battered lips.
********
Buffy ran all the way home. When she got to her house she could see that a light was still on downstairs and stopped before entering. She peeked through a window and saw Willow sitting on the couch in what seemed to be deep thought. She walked around to the back of the house and in the dark sat down on the back porch steps. As she sat there the memory of kissing Spike ran through her mind again and again. She couldn't stop thinking about what she had done. She kept remembering how good it had felt to hit him again and again, punishing him for some reason she wasn't quite clear about. She also remember how kissing him had felt so much better. For the first time since her return to life she had truly felt alive. Buffy held her face in her hands as she bent over and cried quietly.
When the light finally went out downstairs Buffy waited for another half hour before entering the house through the backdoor. She quietly went up the stairs and past Willows door down the hall to the bathroom. After closing the door to the bathroom she turned on the light and walked over to the washbasin. She looked at herself in the mirror and could see that blood was smeared all over her face. She looked down at her hands and could see blood on her knuckles and fingers. She knew it wasn't her blood, it was Spikes. She turned on the hot water and washed her hands then used a washcloth to wash the blood off of her face. She stood looking at herself in the mirror for several minutes. She could still see the blood, even though she knew she had washed it all away. She left the bathroom quietly and entered her own bedroom. She turned on a night light, just enough light to see by to undress. As she undressed she noticed a little blood on the cuff of one sleeve of her jacket. She continued to undress until she was naked then put on a light weight workout suit that she used to sleep in sometimes.
After crawling into bed Buffy laid there for over an hour with thoughts of what had happened running through her mind. She went over it again and again, remembering hitting Spike and screaming at him as she beat him, remembering kissing him and how it had made her feel alive. She also started thinking about what Giles and Willow and the others would think if they found out she had kissed Spike. She finally rationalized what had happened was some kind of emotional break due to the stress of the whole day and told herself that it would never happened again. She told herself that over and over and how she could never let her friends know what had happened or how it had made her feel.
********
(Monday-Thursday)
Buffy got up in the morning and hurried downstairs to start coffee and get things ready for breakfast for Dawn. When Dawn came downstairs and entered the kitchen Buffy smiled at her and gave her a hug. She apologized to Dawn for yesterday and told her that the fortune teller had upset her for awhile but everything was better now. Dawn looked at her with such hopefulness in her eyes that Buffy almost cringed. She had just finished making pancakes for Dawn and was putting them on a plate when Willow and Tara entered the kitchen. Buffy smiled a big smile at them and poured them both some coffee and asked them how many pancakes they wanted. She bustled around the kitchen taking care of everyones needs and smiling all the time. When Xander arrived to take Dawn to school before going to work he entered the house apprehensively, but after a few minutes of Buffys smiles and hurried activities he was smiling from ear to ear.
Willow and Tara were both smiling too, but both of them were watching Buffy closely. Tara was holding a small crystal hidden in one hand and had whispered a word of magic to it when Buffy was looking the other way. She would occasionally peek at it to check the aura that Buffy was giving off. She smiled at Buffy and went along with what she was doing and pretended that everything was okay, but the crystal had darkened several shades of color. Willow also went along with Buffys act, but she could tell it was an act. Several times she had noticed Buffy staring off into space and could see the pain in her eyes. Xander couldn't tell anything and kept looking at Willow and Tara to see if they would give him a signal that everything was alright.
Dawn was the only one who was excepting Buffys behavior at face value. Dawn was so desperate for Buffy to be alright that she was willingly letting herself be fooled. Tara was concerned about this because she knew that if Buffy started acting withdrawn and sad again it would be twice as hard on Dawn than anyone else.
Once Xander had left with Dawn for school Buffy hurried upstairs and readied herself for work. When she came back downstairs she said goodby to Willow and Tara and left for work. Buffy usually preferred to walk to work instead of driving because she admitted to herself she wasn't a very attentive driver most of the time. But today she drove because she wanted to pick up Dawn at school later in the day and take her shopping and would need the car.
When she got to work Anya was already there, she had opened the shop at 8AM and it was almost 9AM now. Giles hadn't come in yet, he was suppose to leave for England on Thursday and was working at home on some reports for the Counsel of Watchers. Buffy felt guilty for all the time she had been taking Giles away from his work recently. She knew he was worried about her and had been spending a lot of time with her that he should have been spending on his reports. He wanted to make a good impression on the Counsel with his reports on the activities around the Hellmouth and on the Slayer. If he was going to ask them for a stipend to help support Buffy he needed for them to see the value in doing so. They had to be made to understand that Buffy had to many other responsibilities to hold down a regular job, but she had to be able to support herself and take care of her sister at the same time.
Buffy didn't know how much money the Magic Shop made, but she was concerned that Giles probably couldn't really afford to let her work there and pay Anya a salary and support himself too. Without the stipend she would need to go back to the Meat Palace or some other place just like it to support herself and take care of Dawn. The thought of going back to the Meat Palace was like a black cloud hanging over her head. She needed to make Giles believe that she was okay now and that he didn't need to worry about her anymore.
All day long Buffy worked with a smile on her face and spent time talking to Anya and the customers that came into the shop. At a little before 3PM she left the shop to pick up Dawn and take her shopping at the Mall. For two hours they went from store to store looking at cloths for Dawn and a few things for herself. Buffy spent a lot of energy trying to make Dawn feel that everything was alright with her and to make Dawn enjoy their outing together. What Buffy didn't know was that twice Dawn had slipped small items into her pockets without paying for them.
When they got home around 5:30PM Tara had dinner ready and with Willow they all sat down to eat. Buffy had pulled two little packages out of a bag and set them beside Willow and Taras plates. When they opened them they were a matching set of silver rings with little green jade stones. They both thanked her for the gifts and when they put the rings on they each put the rings on the same fingers as if they were wedding rings. When they both noticed what they had done they smiled at each other with a love that made the room seem to glow. Dawn was so happy for them that she jumped up and ran to both of them to give them each a hug and a kiss.
Buffy didn't leave early to go on patrol and stayed in the living room watching an old movie with Dawn until it was almost 10PM. She went upstairs and changed cloths and as Dawn went upstairs to go to bed she left the house to go on patrol. For two hours she patrolled through the cemeteries and was back home by midnight. She hadn't seen any vampires during her patrol and she hadn't seen Spike either.
********
For the next two days she followed the same routine. Up early to get Dawn off to school, smiles for everyone, working all day at the Magic Shop and spending time with Dawn in the evening before going out on patrol. She ran short patrols both nights and was home by midnight, and no sign of Spike anywhere.
On Thursday when she got to work Giles was already there and had his luggage in the backroom of the shop. They had only talked briefly over the past three days and Buffy had assured Giles that she was feeling fine. Giles had talked to both Tara and Willow and they had told him that Buffys aura was still turning the crystal dark that Tara was using to read her. They told him that Buffy was 'acting' happy and was trying very hard to make everyone else happy, especially Dawn, but they could both tell in their different ways that she was still feeling great emotional pain. They still couldn't read what the pain was about, only that it was with her all the time. Giles had talked to them about not going to England and staying home so that he could be there to help Buffy if she needed him. Willow assured him that they would look out for Buffy and that if anything happened that he needed to know about they would call him. Willow also reminded him of how important it was for him to talk to the Counsel about a stipend for Buffy so that she would have sufficient income to care for herself and Dawn. Giles agreed that he had to go but he did it reluctantly.
At noon Buffy drove Giles out to the airport where he would catch a local flight to L.A. and transfer to an International Flight that would take him to London. Buffy assured him again that she was doing fine and told him to have a good time in London. Just before he got on the plane she gave him a hug and slipped a small package into his jacket pocket. When the plane lifted off Buffy got back in the car and drove back to the Magic Shop. She spent the rest of the day working and drove home to a waiting dinner. She spent time with Dawn during the evening and went out on patrol late.
As Buffy walked her patrol that night she wondered about how she hadn't seen any vampires or other demons for the past three nights. As she was moving through the fourth cemetery in a row without seeing anyone Spike stepped out from behind a tree. Buffy felt an electric shock pass through her at the sight of him, but controlled herself and frowned at him instead.
"No time for insults tonight Slayer, there's trouble up ahead" he said quietly. "Maybe more than both of us can handle together."
Buffy looked at him closely and could tell he meant business. "What's going on" she asked.
"There's about seven or eight vampires up ahead and they got a couple of big demons along for muscle" he explained in a serious tone of voice. "If you'd walked in on them by yourself even you couldn't have taken them all on."
Buffy nodded her head in understanding of the odds. "What are they doing" She asked?
"Breaking into the old MacPherson crypt. I don't know what their looking for but they've nearly got the door off it's hinges. Might even be inside by now" he told her.
"Do you know anything about the MacPhersons" Buffy asked as they moved quietly through the cemetery.
"Only that the family is rich and the crypt is build like a fortress. Oh, and the family has been in this town for over a hundred years and were political backers for the late Mayor" he said. "With that in mind, the damned thing could be stuffed with magical relics or anything else you could imagine."
"I'm not armed for a major confrontation" Buffy said as she showed him that she only had two wooden stakes with her.
"Lucky for you I am" Spike said as he led her to a small above ground vault. "I keep stashes all over town, never know when you might need a weapon." Spike knelt down at the door of the vault and using a key opened the small door. As Buffy looked inside she could see several crossbows, a couple of swords and what looked like a huge ancient battle ax. "Help yourself."
Buffy reached inside the door and picked up a sword and a crossbow. Spike picked up a crossbow and a quiver of arrows, then reached back in and grabbed a sword.
"Now the decision has to be made do we try to stop them or do we get out of their way" Spike asked her quietly. "I know you usually don't like to let this kind of stuff happen unopposed, but they have us outnumbered at least five to one."
As they continued to move through the cemetery quietly Buffy loaded an arrow into the crossbow she was carrying. Spike loaded his crossbow also and handed Buffy a couple of extra arrows. As they neared the MacPherson crypt Buffy recognized it. It was a mausoleum above ground, but she knew that there were vaults underground. The crypt was a lot like the old one Spike lived in, only a lot bigger. It had also been maintained because there were still live family members to see to it. When they got to within eyesight of the door Buffy could see that the vampires and demons had finished breaking inside. There were two vampires at the door standing guard, the rest were inside. From the noise coming out of the door they must be inside breaking into coffins or the vaults below ground.
As Buffy started to take aim at one of the vampires at the door, Spike stopped her. "Okay Slayer, I can see you want to take them on, but a word about the demons they got with them. They're big fellows with a skin tough as a rhino. You won't be able to take them down with an arrow unless you get them in the throat. It's one of the only two soft spots on their whole bodies. If you get them in the side of the neck the arrow won't penetrate, it has to be the throat."
Buffy nodded her head in understanding. "Where's the other soft spot" she asked quietly.
"The family jewels" Spike replied without looking in her direction.
"Okay, we take out the two at the door with the crossbows and load up fast" Buffy said as she laid out the plan of action. "We should be able to get two more when they come outside to fight. If were really lucky and they don't see us right away we might even get off a third shot. After that we go in with the swords. Did you see if they were carrying any weapons?"
"Just sledge hammers and pry bars, but if those big demons hit you with either one you won't be getting back up" Spike told her.
Buffy nodded her understanding and looked at Spike one more time. "Okay, lets do it."
They both took careful aim and within half a second they both fired. The arrows sped across the distance and caught both vampires in the heart turning them to dust instantly. They hadn't had any warning or time to signal anyone inside. Spike and Buffy reloaded the crossbows quickly and took aim on the doorway. It was several minutes before there was any movement at the door. One of the vampires poked his head out of the doorway looking for the missing vampires. They heard him alert the others in the crypt that something was wrong.
As the vampire slowly eased his way out of the door Buffy fired her arrow at him and turned him to dust. One of the big demons burst out of the doorway swinging a large sledge hammer over his head. Spikes arrow caught him in the throat and he fell to ground choking on his own blood. Buffy had another arrow ready and as four of the vampires and the remaining demon charged out the door she killed another vampire.
Spike charged the vampires with his sword ready and killed one immediately. Buffy charged in and went for the big demon. Spike was fending off two vampires with prybars. The big demon had a large sledge hammer and swung it at Buffy. She dodged the first two swings but the third one came close and she had to backup quickly and tripped over a small tombstone and fell on her back. As the big demon stepped up over her and raised the sledge hammer over it's head to smash her with it she kicked out with her foot and caught the demon solidly in it's balls. The Demon dropped the sledge hammer and fell to it's knees grabbing it's balls. Buffy jumped up from the ground and thrust her sword into it's throat and twisted it sideways. Blood gushed from the demons throat as it died.
Buffy spun around to come to Spikes assistance but saw that he was only facing one vampire now. As the vampire defended itself from Spikes sword Buffy came up behind it and cut off it's head turning it to dust. As they both stood there looking over the scene of their victory a vampire burst out of the crypt with a sack in it's arms and started running away. Buffy pulled a heavy wooden stake from her belt and throwing it with all her strength caught it in the back, piercing through to it's heart and killing it instantly. The sack dropped to the ground amidst a cloud of dust.
Buffy was so pumped up by the adrenalin rush of battle, the two of them taking out eight vampires and two demons, that she grabbed Spike by the arms and spun him around and around in a dance of victory. She was smiling at Spike as she had never smiled at him before and he wrapped his arms around her and spun her in the air with her feet off the ground. When he set her down he grabbed her by the sides of her face with both hands and kissed her. At first Buffy responded to the kiss and wrapped her arms around Spike to hold him tight. When she realized what she was doing she let go of him and pushed herself away from him. A frown settled on her face.
Spike seeing the frown where a moment before there had been a smile of joy was taken aback. He was confused by Buffy's sudden mood swing. He started to move toward her again but she backed up a step and her hand dropped to the remaining stake still in her belt. Spike stopped as the shock of what she had just done registered. He had fought beside her in a glorious victory against overwhelming odds and she was ready to stake him if he tried to touch her again.
After a few moments Buffy had herself under control and let her hand drop away from the stake. She walked over to where the last vampire had died and picked the sack up off the ground. "What do you think they were after" she asked?
"Fuck it. Who cares" Spike said angrily as he turned away from her and walked off into the dark.
Buffy stood there watching Spike walk away and realized what she had just done. As she lost sight of him in the dark a tear ran from one of her eyes and down the side of her face.
(To Be Continued)