"Mmm. You know..." Buffy breathed softly, eyes shut, a lazy smile stretching her pretty lips. "I think we're supposed to be talking about you. That's what this session is all about. Me, you, talking."

Spike had carefully slipped his bound arms around her, mindful of the handcuffs around his wrists, and was holding her close. He was feasting on the side of her neck, leaving a wet trail on her golden skin. They were cuddling on the couch in her office, enjoying the short time together this therapy session allowed them.

"Can't talk. Busy."

She giggled, both from his answer and from the way he was tickling her warm skin. "When Willow proposed that I'd take your case, I'm sure that's not what she had in mind. Not that I'm complaining. But I'm supposed to meet with her later on and share the information I gathered. What am I going to tell her?"

"Don't know, pet. Tell her I like the way your skin tastes..." He licked the side of her neck until he reached her ear lobe and sucked on it, making her moan throatily. "... and how the feel of your body against mine has a wonderful effect on my mood. Making out with you is a bloody great therapy if you ask me. You can also tell her you did that picture association game with me. You know, the one where you show me ink stains and I'm supposed to tell you what I see in 'em? Tell her I saw only you in each and every picture."

He kissed her lightly on the lips, then went back to working on her neck. But even though they were comfortably holding each other, Buffy could sense that Spike was still tensed and hesitant. As if he was afraid to go too far and push the boundaries to their limit-afraid she'd change her mind about the whole situation any minute.

With the specific intention to make him relax and to show him without any possible doubt that she wasn't about to change her mind, she tried to make them more comfortable on the couch. She leaned back until her blonde head rested on the armrest, pulling Spike along with her to lay intimately on top of her. He tensed noticeably when his erection pressed against her thigh, but she soothed him by running a loving hand up and down his back to show him that she really didn't mind. His body relaxed into hers and his lips found hers again, resuming their kiss.

"God, Buffy. You taste like heaven."

"... Never felt so good before, Spike. How am I supposed to be the reasonable one here?"

He stopped to look at her. "Luv, I think we're anything BUT reasonable. Bloody hell, we're a world away from reasonable."

Her girlish laughter echoed in the room. To the casual observer, they would have look like a happy couple who didn't have a care in the world. "Point taken."

They remained quiet for a moment, enjoying a rare and incredibly precious moment of happiness in their strange and new relationship. Spike's forehead was resting against hers, her tiny fingers running leisurely through his bleached hair.

"Tell me... What were you like when you were a little boy?"

Spike frowned. "Is that part of the information you're planning on sharing with Willow?"

"Nope. Legit curiosity, I swear. Besides, it's always good to have a minimum of information on the person you're making out with, don't you think?"

"Mm. Makes sense." He seemed lost in thoughts for a moment before his expression softened. He smiled down at her and brushed a strand of her blonde hair away from her forehead with his finger tips. "I'm sure you were an adorable little girl. I can almost see you in my mind, running around bare foot with your pigtails and sundress, not a bloody care in the world. It must have been a lovely sight. Were you always strong willed and rebellious, even back then?"

"Yep. Mom always repeated that I'd be the death of her. I could never sit down for more than five minutes at a time. I was always... "

Buffy interrupted herself and stared at Spike with her mouth gapping, suddenly realizing what he was doing. "Hey! Nice try, mister."

"What?" He gave her an innocent look.

"You are one clever man, Mr. Rayne. Here I am, with all my years of training and experience in criminal psychology, and I'm the one being interrogated?" She clicked her tongue, pretending to be annoyed. "It would almost make me feel incompetant, almost, if you weren't so damn sexy."

"And how is me being sexy an excuse?"

"Well... How could anybody expect me to resist that boyish charm of yours? I can't be held responsible for my weakness. I am a woman before being a warden, you know." She pouted prettily, already knowing how he couldn't resist that.

Instantly, his blue eyes focused on her mouth. "Yeah. That you are, luv." He drawled before capturing her plump lower lip between his in a hot kiss. "You're all woman. From head to toe, and everything in between."

She smiled, but it didn't reached her eyes which were strangely sad considering the lightness of the mood.

"This therapy excuse-it's very convenient. But it won't last. I won't be able to justify seeing you like this for long. Only real psychos, serial killers, or sex offenders, get to meet with the prison staff for evaluations and case study. Which doesn't happen a lot here since this isn't a high security prison. You getting yourself into a few spots of trouble and refusing to talk to the therapist hardly justifies being seen on a regular basis by the warden."

"I know. Are you insinuating that I'll have to be badder from now on? That I'll have to commit acts of unspeakable horror to see you, Ms. Summers? I think you're trying to be a bad influence on me, aren't you? Because that would be wrong."

Buffy tried to open her mouth to reply but he just kept talking, not giving her the chance to interrupt.

"No. Don't you dare seducing me with your words. I'm a pure soul and all that rot.

She tried again to open her mouth, clearly amused by Spike's antics. He covered her mouth with his fingers.

"I know your game. You're trying to use your endless charms and power of corruption on me, Ms. Summers. I won't be a bad man, no matter how much I want to please you..."

She took his fingers away from her lips.

"I understand, Mr. Rayne. Though I can think of other ways to please me."

He opened wide, innocent, blue eyes. "I'm intrigued. Do tell, pet."

Instead of telling him, she showed him by pulling his head to hers and smashing her lips on his for a passionate kiss. They chuckled happily in each other's mouth, not willing to break contact despite their hilarity. But too soon, Buffy pulled away, all humor gone from her hazel eyes. She sighed, a wave of sadness washing over her.

"It's getting too comfortable, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid so. Too comfortable for our own good, that's for sure."

"What do we do when the therapy excuse doesn't work anymore? Which will be like-very soon. People will notice that I've been seeing you an awful lot. They'll ask questions. People are nosy like that."

"Aren't you the boss around here, pet?"

"Yeah. But I'm not almighty. I've been placed here by the State. There's a panel who chose me for the job. And they will be scrutinizing my every move. Especially after the mess my predecessors left behind. Anything looks fishy to them and they'll be on my case like evil bees on a sugar glazed doughnut. These guys... One word to the Governor and I'm history. I suspect that fooling around in my office with one of my prisoners would be one of the things that would get my ass replaced faster than you can say 'bloody hell'. If I was evil like Wilkins and had friends in high places like he did, maybe I could pull it off. Or if I was really good at sneaking around... which I so am not!" She lowered her head to hide the sadness she was sure was obvious in her eyes. "We're so screwed, Spike."

"Come on, warden. You gotta have a little more imagination than that! We just have to be careful and clever. The way I see it, danger only makes things more exciting, is all. We might be blondes, but there's two of us in this. That means almost one complete brain according to brunettes' standards."

She slapped playfully at his shoulder. "Wow. That means we're almost smart. Lucky us! But seriously, Spike, it is kinda exciting, I won't deny that. But it's still a dangerous game we're playing at."

"Luv, if you're too worried and you want to end it..."

"No!-no, of course not. I don't think I could, to be honest. But we'll have to come up with some really great excuses though. I just don't want to lose my job if I don't absolutely have to."

"You won't. We'll just have to make sure we don't get caught. There are ways to communicate with each other, I'm sure."

"Like what?"

Spike tried to move and winced at the pressure it put on his already painful arms. "Pet, as much as I love holding you in my arms like this, if I don't move soon, you'll have to get Anya to amputate me from the lack of blood to my limbs."

"Oh! I'm sorry!" She sat up so he could take his arms from around her.

The young woman pouted in vexation. "I'm the freakin' warden. You'd think I'd have the master to your handcuffs in the top drawer of my desk."

Spike smiled at her, a mischievous glimmer in his eyes. "You sure you don't? This place is a sodden mess. Maybe you have the key somewhere underneath all that rubbish that clutters your desk."

"Hey! Is it my fault there's not enough money in the prison's budget to pay for me to have an assistant or a maid? Stupid budget." She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed in frustration.

"How about you use one of your devoted prisoners for the job? Free help. That would fit in your budget. I know this guy, British, sexy, efficient and discreet, who'd be more than willing to help."

"Do you think he'd work shirtless?"

"I'm sure it could be arranged."

"Yum! That's tempting. But no thanks. My secretary would be in my office all the time."

Spike frowned, waiting for her explanation.

"What? I've seen the way she was checking out your butt when you walked in!"

He grinned, amused at seeing Buffy's irrational side. "Jealous, pet?"

"Uh huh. No way."

"I think," He said, punctuating every word with a light brush of his lips on hers. "you might be... just a little bit."

"Whatever you say, bleachboy. So, did you think of a way for us to keep in touch without anybody noticing? You seemed very confident that we could earlier."

Spike sat up and got more serious. After thinking for a few seconds, his face lit up. "You know how we're allowed to access the internet a few hours a day? I know a couple of guys who use that time to chat with birds or send emails. You could create yourself an address that can't be traced back to you and we could email each other sometimes."

This time, Buffy's smile did reach her eyes. "Yes, of course! How could I not think of that! Ok, so, that's one thing. What other contact can you have with the outside world that can't be traced to me. I mean, you do have your fifteen minutes call a day but... Wait. What if I get someone I know and trust to get me a cell phone in their name? This way, if someone ever tried to investigate, my name wouldn't come up. Not that I think anyone would ever investigate, but better be safe than sorry."

This time, it was Spike's turn to give her a genuine smile. "Brilliant, luv. See? I told you that two blondes are worth a brunette!.. or a red head. I'm sure we'll find other ideas."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harmony's shrill laughter echoed loudly throughout the small employees' cafeteria. Faith rolled her eyes and took a vicious bite out of her sandwich, trying to block out the annoying sound. It was harder than it seemed considering the airhead was sitting only two seats away at the same table. Anya sat stiffly in front of the secretary, alterning between picking at her tuna salad without conviction, and throwing desperate glances toward the door. Either she was planning an escape, or she was waiting for Rups to come and rescue her.

Faith smiled at the thought, her lips stretching around the straw. She slurped noisily at her diet coke and Harmony shot her a dirty look. Feeling silly, the brunette took a huge bite of her sandwich and staring intently at Harmony, she chewed with her mouth open, then belched loudly. The blonde woman snorted in disgust and turned her attention back to Anya.

After another couple of minutes of Harm's insipid chatter, Anya sighed and interrupted her. "Why are you taking your lunch break at 11? Don't you usually take it at noon? Why are you here?"

Harmony leaned toward Anya in a conspirational way, as if she was about the share top secret information.

"Lets just say that... Ms. Summers needed me out of the office."

Anya didn't like Harmony and never bothered hiding her dislike, but she was a curious woman.

"What do you mean? Oh my God. Do you think she's pulling a Wilkins and she's gonna run off with the money? Because that's just wrong. Money is important. The prison needs money so they can pay me. I have investments you know. I need my pay check!"

"No no, I don't think she'd do that."

"Then, why would she want you out of the office?"

Harmony pretended to hesitate, looking around suspiciously. Seeing that Faith seemed engrossed in her magazine, she finally started talking again. "I really shouldn't tell you that. Ok. Maybe I will. But you must promise to keep this to yourself. I don't want to lose my job."

"Sure. I promise."

"Cross your heart and hope to die?"

Anya rolled her eyes at how childish the other woman could be, but nodded anyway. "Sure, whatever. Now spill."

"Ms. Summers told me I could take a two hours break because she was meeting up privately with prisoner 106643."

At the nurse's blank expression, Harmony rolled her eyes. "Duh! Rayne. You know, Spike? Only the hottest prisoner this prison has ever had?"

"You learn the prisoners' ID by heart? Don't you have a life?"

"Well, it's Spike, not just any prisoner. And that's not the point! She's with him... Alone."

"So?"

"She covered by saying that Willow wanted her to take over his case, but come on! Who would be dumb enough to believe that? This guy is so sexy he would melt an iceberg. And why would she want me to leave the office? I think she was afraid I might interrupt somet..."

Suddenly, Harmony felt herself being pulled off her chair by her arm and dragged out of the cafeteria. She yelped helplessly when Faith slammed her into a wall in the empty hallway.

Harmony jerked her head back in fear when the taller brunette got into her face. She hit her head but didn't dare make a sound, too terrified by the other woman who seemed enraged at the moment.

The guard wrapped her fingers around Harmony's throat, applying just enough pressure so that the blonde would take her threat seriously.

"Open your yap just one more time to trash talk against Ms. Summers, Barbie, and I'll make you swallow your teeth. Got it? If I hear ANY nasty rumors about her, I'll know who the source is and I'll come knocking at your door. And believe me, it won't be a social call. Do you understand what I'm saying or do I have to explain with examples?"

Harm nodded weakly.

"What was that? I didn't hear you."

"Y-yes. I understand." Harmony croaked.

Faith let go of her and the shorter woman rubbed at her sore neck. "You hurt me you big freak!"

"That'll teach you to think before you open that big trap of yours."

Harmony hesitated, obviously wanting to say something. She opened her mouth and closed it a couple of times before finally finding the courage to make a sound.

"Why are you defending Ms. Summers? Not that she needs to be defended because I really wasn't bad mouthing her or anything.. Just keeping a colleague up to date on what's going on in the office."

"Yeah? Well you should know that this kind of gossips can be really fucking hurtful to a girl's career. Next thing you know, the wrong people hear about it and B's taken away from her position as head honcho of Sunnydale's most popular hang out and we're back to square one. They send another power hungry loser to take over and we're left to deal with the consequences."

"Don't you miss Wilkins? Not that I do," she urgently amended, "but... I would have assumed that you, of all people, would have been more hostile to Buffy."

Faith's demeanor changed in a matter of seconds. She chuckled humorlessly and turned her back to Harmony in a protective manner.

"You'd think that, wouldn't you?"

"Well, yeah..."

"You're right. I miss him sometimes. I miss being the almighty Faith that everybody's afraid of and all that shit." She paused and took a deep breath. "And I'm glad as hell that he's gone."

"You are?!" Harmony gasped, incredulous. "Ok, you lost me there."

"Yeah, I am. I didn't like the side of me he brought out. I didn't like the way he made the dark side seem so appealing. Sure, he treated me like a daughter. To a gal like me who grew up without a real family, that was the shit. It felt so good. But towards the end, I finally realized that a father who loves his daughter wouldn't ask her to do the things The Boss asked me to do..."

"So you denounced him, right? That was you, right?"

Faith laughed heartily. "Wouldn't you love to know? Listen, Barbie, I wouldn't trust you with a secret if my life depended on it, so you'll just have to keep wondering. About B... She's a great boss. Some of the guys haven't realize it yet because they're retarded idiots and they're too fucking thick to pay attention, but she's great. And for some really fucked up reason that I haven't figured out yet, the girl believes in me. She's the first person I've ever met who just gave me the benefit of the doubt like this, and I'll do anything to prove that she was right to trust me."

Harmony looked down. "I know. She really isn't so bad, I guess."

"Don't risk losing a boss like B by starting stupid rumors just to entertain the crowd of Ls and Gs. It's not worth it. And so what if she wants to reward herself for her hard work by spending an hour chatting up Mr. Sunnydale prison 2004? Personally, I don't have a problem with it. Besides, what's she gonna do during that hour other than flirting a bit and innocently batting her eyelashes at him?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh Spike!"

Buffy whimpered, overwhelmed by the sensation of his body pressed so closely against hers, his hands in her hair, his lips on her skin. They were fully clothed, and yet, it felt more intimate and fulfilling than having sex with some of the boyfriends she'd had in the past. He had slipped his arms back around her now that they were laying on their sides and was holding her as close as physically possible.

When the phone rang, Buffy jumped and fell off the couch, pulling Spike along for the fall. They landed painfully on the floor in a tangle of limbs.

Spike took his arms from around her and Buffy rushed to answer the phone with a sigh of disappointment.

"Buffy Summers."

"Buffy, it's Giles. Are you done with Spike? I was going for my break and I could take him back.."

"Actually, I was just about to call you. I think we're about done here. It didn't go all that well and I think there's nothing more I can do today."

"Don't give up. The bloke is stubborn as hell. Maybe it will go better next time you'll see him."

Buffy hid a triumphant smile with her hand and looked at Spike, eyes sparkling with amusement. "Yes, you're right. Maybe next time I'll see him, he'll be more cooperative. Who knows."

Spike grinned and gave her the thumbs up in a show of approval. He realized that she was subtly preparing Giles for a 'next time' so he wouldn't find it too odd. Smart girl.

"Good. I'll be at your office in a minute."

"Thanks." She hung up and for a moment, didn't move or say a word.

"Well-that was for sure the shortest hour in history." She gave him a quick smile before turning away from where he was sitting on the couch. "All right. Lets make ourselves presentable again. Giles will be here any second now."

Buffy took a small mirror and a brush out of her purse and after smoothing her hair down, pulled it back into a ponytail the way it was when Spike arrived earlier.

He watched her intently as she carefully reapplied her lipstick.

"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, Buffy." He said softly.

The young woman blushed and looked down. Spike stood up. She walked up to him and busied herself by smoothing down the wrinkles on his shirt. "Thank you. Sorry I'm acting like a spaz. I don't hear things like that very often."

"You better bloody well get used to it, pet, cause I have a tendency to say everything that crosses my mind and when I think of you, the words beautiful, sexy, funny, amazing, tend to pop up."

"All right then. If it's compliment time, I gotta say... you're the hotest, sexiest, handsomest guy I've ever seen."

It was Spike's turn to blush. Buffy laughed at his reaction just as there was a knock on the door.

"Damn." She pouted. "I guess that's it for now."

"I'll miss you." He kissed her lightly, careful not to smudge her lipstick, then let her go to answer the door.

She watched as Giles took Spike away, closing the door behind him.

"I'll miss you too." She murmured to herself in the empty office.

Buffy was awakened from her light and agitated sleep by something, or rather someone, bouncing on her bed. The mattress on which she was resting creaked loudly in protest, head board banging against the wall. She opened an eye and automatically regretted doing so. The harsh sunlight assaulted her vision, making her groan.

Giggles.

Where was she again?

As her foggy brain slowly came to, she finally remembered that she had spent the night at Cordy's.

The blonde woman opened her eyes again and smiled weakly at her goddaughter.

"Wakey wakey, auntie Buffy! Mommy made burned French toasts!"

Buffy couldn't help but laugh at this, and finally fully awake, she grabbed the little girl around the waist and tossed her on the bed before starting to tickle her.

"Not nice to make fun of your mom's cooking talents, little devil."

Camille laughed and wiggled trying to escape Buffy's torturous hands, her dark eyes dancing with merriment. She let the little girl go and looked up when she heard someone clearing their throat. Xander was leaning against the door frame, a steaming cup of coffee in his hand.

"Morning, Buffster. I see that you got your wake up call."

"Yes, thank you. Very efficient I must say."

Xander chuckled. "Hey, you're the one who said you needed to get up early. Don't blame me. I figured sending the little one would get the job done."

"All right, I'm up. I'll go take a quick shower and I'll meet you guys downstairs for breakfast." She gently ruffled Camille's chocolate curls. "Why don't you go make sure your mommy doesn't burn down the kitchen, kiddo? I'm sure she needs your help."

The little girl squealed and ran out of the room, tiny bare feet slapping loudly on the hardwood floor.

Xander shook his head, grinning affectionately at his daughter's antics. "She was so excited that you'd spend the night. She probably didn't sleep all night in fear that she'd wake up and you'd be gone."

"I know. I haven't visited as much as I wanted to." Buffy said while putting her robe on and retrieving clothes from her suitcase. "Work has been pretty intense for the past two months. It's hard to explain to a four year old and I know she doesn't understand why I'm not here everyday like I used to be. But things should calm down eventually and I'll visit more often, I promise."

"Don't worry about that. We explained it to her and she's fine. Doesn't mean she doesn't miss you, but she's a bright little cookie, she understands."

"Yeah, she is smart." Buffy frowned. "Wonder where she got that from..?"

"Hey!" Xander exclaimed, acting all offended. "I'll have you know that I'm much smarter than my construction worker's muscles, and rugged looks, would lead you to believe." He pouted. "There I was, bearing presents, and what do you do? You insult me."

He pulled out a little Blackberry from his jeans pocket and pretended to walk away.

Buffy laughed. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't go. I'll behave, I promise. You're really smart, and nice and good looking."

Xander gave her a cocky grin. "Ah! I knew you had a secret thing for me. If things don't work out with Cordy, I'll give you a call."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. You know you'd miss Cordelia's cooking. I'm worst than she is." She reached for the Blackberry he was still holding. "Gimme!"

He gave the hand held device to the excited young woman, looking curiously at her.

"You're welcome, Buffster. Here's the gift YOU asked ME to buy for you with YOUR money and put under MY name. What's the deal with that anyway?"

She turned away from her friend's curious eyes, looking at her new toy. Now, Spike could both email her, and call her. She was beyond happy.

"No questions, remember? I can't explain. But thank you so much. You have no idea how happy that makes me. I promise to pay the bill on time."

"All right then. I'll keep my questions to myself. I have to go to work. Call me when you get home, ok?"

"I will. Thanks again, Xand. That was really important to me." She kissed him on the cheek. "Bye."

"Bye Buff. And don't worry, if Cordelia's French toast are too much for your delicate stomach, there's always jelly doughnuts in the fridge."

Buffy chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind. Always good to have another option."

Xander left, and Buffy went to the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for her meeting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stressed out after spending an hour fighting with the early morning L.A. traffic, Buffy finally found a parking spot not too far from the building. She was now standing in front of the skyscraper and could honestly say that she was impressed. The whole building belonged to the law firm. A large sign in front of the main entrance said: Wolfram&Hart.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm her shaky nerves and made sure her gray pencil skirt and matching suit jacket weren't too wrinkled. Trying her best to look relaxed and confident, she walked into the lobby and looked around for the elevator.

An authoritative voice stopped her. "Miss. May I help you?"

She turned around. The security guard had stood up behind his post, ready to stop her if she dared going any further. He looked intently at her.

**Wow. I guess you can't just walk in this building without an invitation. What does he think I look like? A terrorist?**

She smiled nonetheless, intimidated by the large man.

"I'm here to see Ms. Morgan. She's expecting me."

The guard took a clip board from his desk. "Your name, please."

"Buffy Summers."

She waited as he looked for her name on the list, fidgeting nervously with the hem of her suit jacket.

He finally looked up, his previously severe expression replaced by a polite smile. "Take the elevator to the 15th floor and turn on your left. Have a good day, miss."

"Huh.. Thank you."

The elevator rode smoothly to the 15th floor in record time. Buffy was a little thrown when two doors opened, unsure which way to exit. The receptionist came to her aid.

"This way, Ms. Summers."

Buffy's eyebrows shot up in surprised at the receptionist knowledge of her name, but soon realized that the security guard probably called up to announce her.

**impressive** She thought, feeling more and more intimidated by the second. She scolded herself. **Geez, Buff. You run a prison and yet, you let mere lawyers intimidate you? What's up with that?**

Buffy gave the woman a dazzling smile. "Hi. I'm here to see..."

"Lilah Morgan." The receptionist interrupted her. "She's expecting you."

As she said that, another woman walked straight to Buffy, her hand extended in greeting. Buffy accepted her handshake graciously. Everything about this woman screamed "lawyer". From her perfect chestnut hair to her outrageously expensive looking Manolo shoes, not to mention the exaggerate tooth paste commercial smile.

"Ms. Summers. So nice to meet you. I'm Lilah Morgan. I've been looking through the case you faxed me this week. Let's go to my office."

Buffy nodded and followed her into what Lilah had called "her office". A family of six could live very comfortably in there! It put her own office at the prison to shame.

"Have a seat, please. May I offer you something to drink? It's a little early for a scotch, though some people say that it's always noon somewhere in the world, but I do have tea and coffee if you'd prefer."

Buffy smiled politely at the lawyer's sad attempt at humor and agreed to a coffee. She waited anxiously for Lilah to finally sit in front of her. She had sent the law firm Spike's case a week ago after being told by many people that they were the absolute best in the world. Which wasn't even a figure of speech since they had branches in Paris, London, Rome and Tokyo, to name only a few.

Now, she was nervous. It was her first attempt at doing something to help Spike and the dreamer in her was hoping for some kind of miracle. Sure, if they'd take the case, she'd have to work until the ripe age of 150 years old to pay the bill; they didn't look like the type to do pro bono work, unfortunately. But it would be worth it.

Lilah sat behind her desk and took a file from the top of a pile.

Buffy was staring at the file in the woman's hands, thinking about how ironic it was that such innocent looking papers could hold the fate of a man. His right to live or die.

The lawyer opened the folder in front of her and looked at it silently, as if she was trying to organize her thoughts. Her eyes were expressionless and it scared Buffy. She started twisting her hands nervously.

Finally, Lilah looked up at her. "How can I put this, Ms. Summers. I looked through the case again and again over the week. You do know I've made a career of taking on the most complicated cases and always won, right?"

Buffy nodded carefully, unsure if an answer was expected from her. Of course she knew. She had done her homework before contacting Lilah. She was the best.

"But most of the time, it is the simplest cases that are the most difficult."

"But.. It's still doable, right?"

Lilah closed the folder containing Spike's case dramatically slowly to illustrate her point. Buffy's heart sank in her chest.

"No." She answered with finality. "I'm sorry. There is absolutely nothing I can do for your friend. Sure, he could waste his time asking for an appeal, but without evidence, or someone else coming forward admitting to the crime, that's just what it is: a waste of time and money. This," She shook the folder to illustrate her point, "is set in concrete. They have the motive, the weapon with his finger prints on it, the witnesses. He should just count himself lucky that the judge took into consideration the attenuating circumstances of a passion crime and temporary insanity that his original lawyer pleaded for, or he'd be in a high security prison right now, waiting for his turn on the chair. I really am sorry."

Buffy wiped furiously at a tear that'd run down her cheek, angry with herself for showing weakness. "So. You're telling me that his only chance is a confession from the real killer, or nothing. Is that it?"

Lilah frowned. "Well--yes. But that's not very likely to happen. Lets face it; if you had killed someone and got away with it, would you be stupid enough to go to the police and confess?"

Buffy remained silent for a few moments, lost in her thoughts. She finally looked up, determination obvious in her eyes. "Does it have to be to the police? I mean, if the guy who did it admits it, and I get it on tape. Would that be enough of a proof of innocence for William to be freed?"

"An admission is an admission. They would probably examine the tape to make sure it's genuine and... Yes it would be enough. Of course, it would be better if the guy does something incriminating. But Ms. Summers, I get that you really believe Mr. Rayne to be innocent and you want him to be let out of prison, but I still don't see how you could ever get a murderer to incriminate himself AND get it on tape."

"I'll find a way."

The lawyer gave her an indulgent smile and stood up. "I'm sincerely sorry I couldn't help you any further. If you ever need legal advice, don't hesitate to contact me."

Buffy took Lilah's offered hand and shook it.

**At $100 a minute, you can be sure I will** she thought somberly, but managed to smile anyway.

"Thanks for trying."

Buffy walked away, trying to hold back her tears long enough to make it to her car.

The tide is high but I'm holding on

I wanna be your number one

I'm not the kinda girl who gives up just like that

Oh oh, no

Buffy and Faith stood side by side next to the patio door with a similar look on their faces. Eyes wide, mouths slightly open. On the other side of the back yard, the blonde girl was dancing on her own, completely oblivious of the amused looks everybody was giving her. Harmony, dressed in a flashy pink bikini, a matching pink flower in her hair and darker fuchsia pareo wrapped around her hips, was doing her own version of a Hawaiian dance.

Dawn walked out of the house carrying a plate loaded with burgers and hotdogs to be cooked on the barbecue. She paused by the two women.

"It's like watching a car crash, isn't it? Horrifying, yet, you can't look away." She shook her head and walked away, ponytail swinging behind her, leaving the two women laughing.

Faith grinned. "I like the brat. She's sassy."

Buffy chuckled. "Yeah, she has quite a mouth on her."

The brunette gave her a friendly slap on the shoulder. "I'll go get myself a refill if you don't mind. I think I'll need to get plastered if I want to survive Harmony."

Buffy watched as Faith walked to where Xander was taking care of the bar, hips swinging seductively in her outrageously short cut-off jeans and tight black cotton tank top. She knew it wouldn't take long for Cordelia to come running, her territorial instincts kicking in. Should be fun to watch. Buffy smiled.

The heat wave was unusual for the end of November, and Buffy had decided to make the most of it by organizing an outdoor party at her place. So far, the day was a success. Ok. Not really if you considered that the goal of her barbecue was to help the employees who didn't like her to warm up to her and the only ones who showed up were the ones who liked her already. But maybe it was better this way. It's always better to be surrounded by your loved ones anyway. And those were all there gathered in her back yard.

Giles was cooking burgers and hotdogs on the grill while Anya was watching him, Dawn standing next to her and making a shocked face at something the nurse told her. Probably something horribly weird, knowing Anya. Cordelia was playing with Camille in the pool while chatting with Joyce, Buffy's mom. Willow wasn't there yet, but she had called saying she was on her way. She had to wait for Oz, who had a rehearsal with his band in the morning. Oz was bringing his band members with him and they'd be giving them a little private show later on. Buffy had warned her neighbors about the possible noise and invited them over if they wanted to come.

Everything was perfect. The weather, the company... She tried not to think about the fact that Spike would probably never enjoy a pool party ever again or she'd be too sad to have fun. She was still upset about her conversation with the lawyer a week ago. But these were bad thoughts and she was supposed to be happy and have fun today.

"Buffy!"

Buffy turned around to face the new arrival. Willow was coming towards her, holding the hand of a man with purple hair that could only be her husband, Oz. Trailing behind them were two other guys that she assumed were his band members.

"Willow! Hi!" She hugged the other woman.

"This is my husband, Daniel. But call him Oz."

Oz shook her hand. "Daniel just doesn't fit me." He stated matter-of-factly. "Nice to meet you."

Buffy smiled at him. He seemed like the quiet type, but there was a warmth behind his eyes that made her understand what Willow saw in him.

Willow introduced her to the two other guys, then the girls left so Willow could say hello to Xander, whom she hadn't seen in years. After the initial shock, the hugs and squeals, they all sat to eat what Giles had cooked for them. Surprisingly enough, Cordelia and Willow, now older and more mature, seemed to be getting along quite well. Buffy had been worried about how they would interact together, but they sat next to each other and talked during the entire meal, Camille sitting in Willow's lap.

Buffy was smiling happily, watching her friends, when her Blackberry warned her that she had a text message. She tried not to react, but it must have shown on her face because she noticed Dawn giving her a curious look.

Buffy tried to smile at her as casually as she could, but she felt herself blushing. Dawn gave her an eye roll before taking a huge bite of her burger.

She turned the device on to check her message, hiding it from view under the table.

[Bloody_poet: Hey pet. How's the party going? Don't have too much fun without me. Sorry, just being a selfish git. Seriously though, I hope you're having a bloody great time with your mates. Eat an extra burger for me, would you? For some reason, I miss greasy American food lol]

Buffy smiled, forgetting for a moment there were people around her.

[Anne_pet: It's great. Wish you were here. I'll have another burger and a beer for you. I'll probably throw up for eating too much junk, but I don't mind suffering for you ;-)]

[Bloody_poet: lol Don't make yourself sick, pet. Don't want that on my conscience. Did a lot of people show up?]

[Anne_pet: Yes. The ones I expected to come did. But too bad none of the guards showed up except for Faith and Giles. Guess they caught on to my lame attempt at befriending them.]

[Bloody_poet: They're fools. Anybody should be honored to have an opportunity to be your friend. Sod those wankers. At least, your real friends showed up, right?]

[Anne_pet: Yeah, they did.] Buffy looked around. Everybody was talking and laughing, and nobody was paying attention to what she was doing. [Babe? Do you have access to the phone right now?]

[Bloody_poet: Sure pet. If you give me five minutes to get there.]

[Anne_pet: All right. Call me, I'll be waiting.]

[Bloody_poet: Talk to you in a minute.]

Buffy turned the phone off and looked up. Xander was smiling at her.

"Glad to see my 'gift' gets you all happy and smiley"

Buffy blushed, sensing the interrogation coming. As if on cue, Cordelia frowned, looking at her husband. "What gift?"

"The phone. Buffy asked me to buy her the Blackberry and put it under my name for some reason..."

Everybody turned to the blonde girl, waiting for her to explain the story. Buffy chuckled nervously, trying not to look at Dawn. The girl knew full well why her sister had asked Xander to put the phone under his name and was now giving her sister an amused look. She was probably hoping she would be tripping over her own feet and was ready to enjoy the show. Evil.

Buffy's blush deepened and she stammered some weird reason as of why she would ask someone to buy a phone for her. As the words came tumbling out of her lips, even her found her excuse ridiculous. But she didn't stick around long enough to find out if they were buying it or not.

Standing up, she excused herself saying that she had a phone call to make and that she'd be back in a moment. She went inside so she could have some privacy. She knew it was stupid to talk to Spike on the phone when all her coworkers were in her backyard, especially after what had just happened, but she couldn't help it. She needed to hear his voice.

She went down to the basement and sat on the floor behind the bar. She put the earphone in her ear and waited for his call. She didn't have long to wait. A minute or so later, the phone rang. She answered.

"Hey you!"

"Hello pet. What are you doing all by yourself talking to me? Shouldn't you be enjoying your party with your mates?"

She pouted even though he couldn't see her. "I was. But then, I missed you. I needed to hear your voice."

She could almost hear the smile in his voice. "Miss you too."

"Sucks, you know. Everybody is here with their husband or boyfriend and they all think I'm their pathetic single friend. But I'm not. They just don't know that." She hesitated for a moment. "I'm not, right?"

He chuckled softly into the receiver. "As taken as a girl can be with an absentee boyfriend who happens to be in jail. But I can only imagine their faces if you'd tell them that."

She tried to hide her giddiness at his use of the word 'boyfriend', taking a moment before answering. "Yeah. I'm not single and pathetic but my boyfriend couldn't make it because he's kinda busy in prison right now. That would go over well with them, I'm sure. Though, it could be kind of entertaining to see their reaction. If the party gets boring, I know what to do. Actually, I already kinda made it more interesting a minute ago..."

"What did you do?"

Buffy pouted even though he couldn't see her. "It's all Xander's fault. Remind me to kick his ass when everybody else is gone."

"Ok. What did Xander do then?" Spike had a fair idea of who Xander was since Buffy had talked about her friends during some of their chat sessions. She told him about Cordelia, Xander, Willow, Dawn and her mom. Finding out about Buffy's life outside of the prison was now his biggest passion beside Buffy herself. But it went hand in hand, so it was his biggest passion. She was.

"He mentioned buying the phone for me and putting the bill under his name. At the table. In front of EVERYBODY. And you know how well I lie, especially under pressure, right?"

"You blush bright red like a bloody virgin and start babbling. It's adorable as hell."

"Not so adorable when the moment is crucial and you need people to actually believe you."

"Aw, come on, pet. Couldn't be that bad. What did you say?"

"Not quite sure. I was so freaked out that I just said the first thing that popped into my mind. Something about already having a phone paid by the prison and always wanting a Blackberry but not wanting to pay for it. Xander doesn't have a cell so I figured he could deduct it on his taxes as being work related."

"Not bad. It's almost believable."

"I'm sure it would have been more believable if I had said it in a coherent manner and I hadn't been bet red."

"Did you give your guests some booze today?"

"Huh... Yeah, why?"

"Nah," he casually dismissed. "They probably didn't care, or if they did, they won't remember tomorrow. Alcohol does have its up side."

Buffy laughed. How could this man make all her worries go away so easily.

"I'll have to go, luv. The guard is glaring at me. I think that means my fifteen minutes are over."

"Damn it! Remind me to change the rule to an hour every day instead of fifteen lousy minutes. This sucks."

"Come on, go back to your party before you're faced with more embarrassing questions."

"Yeah, I guess I should. I promise I'll try to find a way to see you this week."

"You better! Every minute without you is a torture. At least I still have my wet dreams to keep me company. I wonder what it's gonna be tonight? School teacher, flight attendant, mistress of pain..."

"You're pig, Spike." She said lightly, obviously not meaning it.

"What can I say, luv... I've always been bad."

"Yeah right. Bad, perverse, poet of my dreams."

"All right. The bloody tosser's coming towards me and pulled out his big bad stick. I think he's ready to hit me upside the head if I don't hang up."

"Ok then. I'll see you soon."

"Bye."

Spike hung up, and Buffy sighed heavily.

She jumped out of her skin when she heard the voice coming from the door way. "Poet of my dreams? How lame is that?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike placed the receiver back and took a deep breath to collect himself.

The annoying cackle of the security guard's laughter snapped him out of his Buffy induced musing. He gritted his teeth, trying not to hit the man.

"Got yourself a little girlfriend, Spikey?" The guard sing-songed.

The man must have seen the danger written plainly across Spike's face because he took a step back.

"Mind your own soddin' business, mate. Now, bring me back to my cell before I lose my temper and use my teeth to rip your throat out."

The guard's eyes narrowed in warning. He slapped the handcuffs on Spike's wrists and pushed him roughly towards the door.

"Watch your mouth if you don't want trouble, Spike. You already don't have too many friends in here."

**I have the only friend that matters, wanker.** Spike thought, a smirk forming on his lips. **Your boss**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Dawn! Damn it, you scared me half to death."

Buffy let out a relieved sigh when she realized it was only her sister. She remembered saying Spike's name and someone like Giles, or anybody attending the party for that matter, except maybe Camille, would have known who she was talking to.

"God, Buffy. You really suck at keeping secrets. No wonder you ended up at the police station so often when you were younger. You just can't do something bad without the whole world finding out about it."

Buffy had the decency to look sheepish under Dawn's scolding glare.

"I know. It was stupid."

"Stupid?! All your coworkers are here! Anybody could have decided to come downstairs to play pool or something. You are so lucky it was me or you would have been busted, missy."

Buffy didn't answer, so Dawn went to sit next to her on the floor.

"So. Things are getting pretty serious with your hottie?"

"Yeah. I know it's stupid, but it was kinda unavoidable. The spark between us was just too bright to ignore, even if we wanted to. Which we really don't, no matter how risky the situation is."

"Did you tell him yet?"

"Tell him what?"

"Duh! That you love him."

"No, not yet. I'm not sure how he feels. He does seem to love me, and I do act like I love him, but you know me..."

"Yeah I do." Dawn mimicked a whiney voice, making fun of her sister. "What if he doesn't love me back? What if he makes fun of me? What if he runs away screaming? What if, what if, what if."

"Don't make fun of me, brat!"

"I'll make fun of you if I feel like it, dumb blonde!"

They chuckled.

"I've never said the big 'L' word to a guy before, can you blame me for being a little scared?"

"No, I guess not. Have you... ya know."

Buffy squealed and stuck her fingers in her ears. "Argh! Not talking about sex with my baby sister!"

"I'm 18, you doofus! I'm not even a virgin anymore. Stop being a baby and spill!"

Buffy pouted. "In my head, you're still 12 and you're still supposed to be having tea parties with your stuffed animals in the backyard. But to answer your question... No, we haven't. Heavy making out sessions, but no sex. It kinda feels wrong, you know? When you finally meet the man that makes your heart do crazy flips, you dream of romance. Not a quick fuck on the couch in your office. Though if he keeps driving me crazy the way he has, it might happen soon enough."

"I know what you mean. Sorry Buff. It really does suck. Have you tried anything to get him out of there yet? Anything that doesn't involve kidnappings and crazy police chases all the way to the Mexican border?"

"I went to see a lawyer last weekend in L.A."

Dawn got all excited. "And? What did they say? Was it good?"

Buffy shook her head. "No. It was bad. Really bad. As in 'don't waste your time' kinda bad."

"Oh. Sorry to hear that. They didn't give you any hope at all?"

"Just said that unless I get a confession from the real killer, Spike better start decorating his cell cause he'll live there for a long time."

"Ok. Confession. That's good... not. Do you even know who the real killer is?"

"Actually, I do. Now, don't freak out, ok?"

Dawn gave her a perfect eye roll. "Whatever, Buff. You know I will. Go on."

"Is name is Angel..."

"What kind of a gay name is that? Actually, no. That's an insult to the gay community and I happen to have a few gay friends at school who would be horrified..."

"Do you mind? I'm telling you something here."

"Sorry. You were saying?"

"His name is not Angel. It's a NICKNAME you brain dead. Though how he got that nickname is beyond me but whatever. Him and his wife Darla are real low lifes. Trailer park trash kinda low. I saw the house where it all happened. I even followed them from a distance a couple of times over the past few weeks."

"You did WHAT?!"

"I told you not to freak out." Buffy warned her sister. "Anyway, I was really careful. I wasn't surprised to find out that they hang out at that bar you mentioned should be burned down to the ground the other day."

"The Fish Tank?"

"Yeah, that one. Real classy."

"And Spike hung out with these people?"

"No. His girlfriend did. He just tagged along to please her. Which he now knows was a mistake."

"The kinda mistake he's gonna pay for the rest of his life."

Buffy gave Dawn an cold smile. "Thank you so much for reminding me."

Dawn looked away. "Insert foot in mouth." The young girl mumbled.

Buffy's glare soften. "What do you say we go back to the party before everybody comes looking for us? I can't talk about this stuff anymore, it's giving me a headache."

The brunette perked up. "I know a good cure for that. Alcohol!"

"Another up side of Alcohol. You and Spike would get along quite well."

Dawn gave her a curious look and Buffy just laughed.

"Never mind!"

"Let's go then. I think the Dingoes are about to play. Should be fun."