Buffy, Xander and Spike were on their way to Giles. 
Buffy ignored Xander who was babbling nervously. She looked at Spike from time to time but always swallowed what she had been about to say and merely glared at him.
Spike just smiled, a picture of innocence. 
Xander couldn`t believe what had happened. Had he really almost given Spike a hand-job? And Buffy had caught them.
Oh boy. 
He was notorious for falling for the wrong women - a mantis, a mummy, a psychotic slayer, an ex-vengeance demon. He didn`t want to add a male vampire to his list.
And he was not gay! 
He knew Spike would tease him mercilessly about it. He wouldn`t allow Xander to forget his momentary weakness.
Perhaps he should talk to Giles, ask him to take Spike back. This wouldn`t get him out of Xander`s life but at least out of his basement!
What he had felt with the vampire had not been real - he had been thinking of Anya. Why should he think of Spike when his girlfriend was sex-starved and available all the time, every horny teenage male`s fantasy?
He would not think about that cool hand, the cool skin on the vampire`s pale, slender body ...
No. Not going there. 
Xander forced himself to think about the upcoming fight. The end of the world - that was way more important than his problems with Spike.
He missed the look Spike gave him. 
Spike wasn`t able to read Xander`s mind but he could smell him. A faint stirring of arousal and then his heartbeat fluttering in panicky denial.
How he loved those little games! What was a bored vampire to do? He couldn`t just watch soap operas all the time.
Everthing had been just fine - until the bloody Slayer had barged in on them.
He pictured the way Xander had been reacting to his touch, eyes closed, half-asleep, moaning, writhing on the bed, skin flushed, so hot, so needy ...
The sharp jab of an elbow into his ribs roused him from his reverie. Buffy glared at him again. "This is serious, Spike. If you can`t back us up, go home to Xander`s little basement of horrors."
"Don`t get your knickers in a bunch, Slayer, I`m going to kick someone`s arse tonight." Preferably yours. He smiled at her.
They had arrived at Giles` house. The Watcher was busy loading into his van what looked to Spike like his whole weapons collection.
"Moving out, Giles?" 
Giles glared at Spike. 
What was it with the glaring at him tonight? Where was everybody`s sense of humor?
"Just shut your gob and listen. All of you. We are in deep trouble. The town is about to be overrun by Akzel demons." 
"So?" Xander asked. 
He and Buffy looked at Giles for further explanations. 
"Oh, those buggers. They`re annoying," Spike commented. 
"Just like some vampires. Akzel demons are normally quite harmless and tend to stay away from humans. But every 
100 years they choose a new leader and celebrate by shedding lots of blood. It seems that the 100 years are over again and that this time they are coming to Sunnydale. We have to stop them before they start slaughtering people."
"And why did we find out about this tonight? Shouldn`t 
100 years not be long enough for an advance warning?" 
"The Watcher Council keeps track of the movements of the Akzel demons and alerts the current slayer. But since 
I was dismissed and you quit, Buffy, we are regarded as
renegades. The Council does not care about what happens 
to us anymore."
"So we`re on our own, Acne demons are having their centennial convention here and want human blood," said Xander. "How do we kill them?""The demons have a 
greater reach than a human, soI would not recommend hand-to-hand combat. I have selected several swords 
and long-range weaponsfor us." 
"Cool. Can I have his, the Scythe of Death?" Xander asked. He had picked out something that looked like a quarter- staff with a long, wicked blade at one end.
"I`ll call you Sailor Saturn if you put on that cute schoolgirl outfit, Pet."
Xander glared at Spike. 
"Stay out of my face, fangless!" 
Willow and Tara appeared at his moment, both with bags that were cramed to capacity with stinky magic stuff.
"We`re ready, Giles. We`ll show these demons what a fireball looks like," Willow said.
"Excellent. Now, the last thing you should know is that we do not have to obliterate the Akzel demons. If we kill enough of his people, the leader will command the others to leave. The blood for the celebration will be demon blood this time, not human."
"Couldn`t you have told me about the blood thing when you phoned me, Giles? I don`t think green demon blood looks good on my pink jacket," Buffy whined.
"I´ll buy you a new one if we survive this. And now, let`s get this show on the road," Giles said.
"How will we find them?" Willow asked. 
"Believe me, finding them will not be the problem." 
They all piled into Giles` van, even Spike who muttered something like `heap of rust` under his non-existing breath.
Giles was right - finding the party of demons wasn`t a problem. They saw a car going up in flames in the middle of the raod, surrounded by figures that were decidedly non-human.
Giles brought his own vehicle to an abrupt halt. 
They could see demons who dragged parking cars into the fire and a few others who tried to break down the door of a neighbouring house.
Buffy and Giles grabbed swords, Xander took up his Scythe of Death, Spike shifted into game-face and the two witches took their magical Molotov cocktails out of their bags.
They spilled out of the van, engaging their enemy at once. 
Xander found himself face to face with a demon who lunged at him with a growl. He ducked under the long claws and brought up his staff, slashing deep into the demon`s flank. And then the next one was upon him.
Xander parried and ducked and lashed out with his 
weapon, again and again. The battle raged for hours, or at least it appeared to him like hours.
He heard Giles chanting in Latin, he heard the soft whoosh of Willow and Tara`s fireballs and he fought on, even though he was getting tired, even though he was bleeding from a dozen little wounds.
He felt dizzy for a second, just as a particularly large demon appeared before him. The demon took one swipe at him and Xander went down, dropping his scythe.
He prepared to die. 
Shouldn`t this be the moment when he saw his 
whole life flashing before his eyes?
But what he saw instead was a flash of black and 
blond.
With an enraged roar Spike tackled the demon. 
He was on his feet again in seconds, grabbing his opponent by the throat, hitting him, again and again.
He didn`t hear the desperate howl of the Akzel 
leader, he didn´t notice that the fighting ceased around him.
Buffy helped Xander to his feet and watched with 
professional fascination as Spike continued to beat the Akzel demon that had attacked Xander into a bloody pulp.
"Doesn`t he know that this thing is dead already?" she asked.
"Do you want to be the one who tells him?" Xander asked back.
"Thank you, no." 
Xander approached Spike cautiously and touched 
his shoulder.
Spike whirled around, fangs flashing, tensed to strike. 
When he saw who it was his body relaxed. He blinked and shook his game-face away.
"Don`t you think that this was a bit of an overkill?" Xander asked.
Spike looked down at the bloody, barely recognisable corpse of his opponent which he had just dropped.
He looked back up at Xander, at Giles, Buffy and the two witches who were all staring at him.
Thankfully, vampires couldn`t blush and Spike just managed not to look sheepish.
You couldn`t be the Big Bad and look sheepish. 
" `t was fun, Pet. What can I say? A vampire has to have a hobby, kill something from time to time..."
It had not been the sight of the demon standing 
over Xander, the sudden fear that he would get hurt.
No, not at all. 
Xander was a nummy treat, but he didn`t care 
for the boy. He didn`t feel protective about him. He didn`t even like him.
`Maybe I`ll believe this if I tell myself long enough.` 
******* 
When Giles dropped the off at his parents` house, Xander was dead tired, his whole body felt battered.
He stumbled when he got out of the van and only 
Spike`s lightning-quick reflexes saved him from falling.
" `ey, mate, am I supposed to carry your sorry excuse of an arse?"
For a moment, Xander thought about this. 
He almost felt himself cradled by strong vampire arms, pressed to a chest without heartbeat.
"I can walk," he said. "Goodnight, Giles." 
Giles wished them goodnight and drove off, leaving them standing on the pavement.
It was just a short walk across the front lawn and around the house to get to the basement entrance, but to Xander it seemed like miles. His shirt clung to the wounds he had received earlier. They were just minor scratches but he was starting to feel all of them.
Spike was silent and just followed him. He knew that the mortal was tired and hurt. He watched him slump on the edge of the bed.
"Get your shirt off, I want to look at your wounds. Otherwise, you`ll whine about it the whole night," he ordered gruffly.
Xander was too tired to prptest and allowed Spike 
to take care of him.
Spike treated the scrtches with iodine and Band Aids, even though he would have liked to lick them clean. But he doubted Xander would prefer vampire saliva to iodine.
When he was finished, Spike tucked Xander into bed, gently pulling up the covers.
Xander looked at him with those big, brown puppy-dog eyes, like a little lost boy, but at the same time distinctly a man, delicious even in his vulnerable condition.
Xander felt strangely comforted, held by Spike`s ice-blue gaze. The changing moods of the vampire were enough to make his head spin. A few hours ago,he had been his fluffy sex toy, then Spike had saved his life and now he took care of him. A few hours ago, he had wanted to throw Spike out of his basement and now he wanted him to stay to feel safe.
He cleared his throat. 
"Thank you, Spike. For this and also for saving my life tonight."
Spike cringed inwardly. If word got out that he had saved a mortal... He had a reputation to loose!
"I won`t make a habit of it, Pet. The next time a demon wants to eat you, I`ll let him and watch," he growled.
Xander didn`t look entirely convinced. 
"I´m too tired to get up and tie you to the chair. But keep your hands to yourself, pal, and stay out of my bed, okay?"
Spike sat down in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. 
"Whatever you say." 
Xander killed the light and tried to go to sleep. 
But he was too aware of Spike`s presence in the room.
`I know he is waiting for me to fall asleep. And then he`ll slip into my bed and he`ll... I don`t care what he`ll do. I just can`t sleep alone tonight.` Spike heard Xander take long deep breaths, pretending to be asleep. But he couldn`t fool a vampire - his heartbeat signaled that he was still awake.
Spike smiled and crept over to the bed, sliding noiselessly between the covers. He snuggled against Xander`s back, a protective arm around his waist.
"Sweet dreams, Nummy Treat," he whispered.

TBC