No one slept on the couch in the Summers house that night.
On the other hand, "slept" was pretty much the operative word in the house that night. The events of the day had left everyone emotionally and physically exhausted.
As he lay curled up beside Buffy, a nasty voice inside Spike mocked him for becoming as Slayer- (and possibly soul-) whipped as the Poofter. But Spike had once described himself as "love's bitch," and no truer words had ever come out of his mouth. For the sake of unrequited love, as human or vampire, Spike had been willing to endure ridicule, scorn, and isolation. For the sake of being respected by the one he loved, he'd been willing to risk his (un)life.
For the sake of love freely and openly returned, he'd go though Hell.
Which was a perfect way of describing his current situation: lying next to Buffy as she slept in his arms, burning with desire for her, but not daring to wake her up. He wanted to make love to her until she swore she'd never leave him. He wanted to shag her until she screamed his name at the top of her lungs.
He was so frustrated, he wanted to bite something.
What Spike didn't realize, until about six in the morning, was that Buffy had never needed much sleep -- being a Slayer had forced her to adjust to getting along on about 6 hours a night. And that, despite keeping a night owl's hours, she could be very pleasant in the morning, especially when she woke up in the arms of the man she loved.
The other thing he realized, at about seven, was that the walls in the Summers house were a lot thinner than he'd thought.
"You're still going to school today, Dawn!"
"Can't I have a day off? To recover from the mental trauma of finding out I'm a Slayer?"
"Like I had a day off for that? Plus, you've missed too much school already; three more days and you're going to be held back even if you can pass all your classes."
Dawn grumbled. Then she gave her sister a sly look. "And what about the mental trauma of being woken up early in the morning by the sounds of my sister being boinked by a creature of the night? Even if he is a total hunk."
Buffy blushed furiously. "DAWN!"
"Okay, okay. Just learn to stifle a little, okay? I don't know how you expect me to do well in school if I don't get enough sleep . . ."
"That's enough. Xander'll be here any second now. Get going."
The teenager gave her sister one last wink and drank the last of her orange juice. Then Xander's car's horn sounded from out front and she dashed out of the kitchen. "See ya at the Magic Box, Buffy! You promised!"
Buffy groaned. She had promised Dawn that either she or Spike would meet her each evening at the Magic Box for training, until Giles showed up and set up a schedule of his own. That kid is just too eager to start bustin' heads, she thought.
She said as much to Willow as they both headed out the door, her to work and Willow to the Magic Box.
"I don't think you're seeing things from her perspective, Buffy," her friend protested. "Dawn's been as frustrated as you that she's the one that always gets in trouble. Even leaving out Glory, there've still been too many vampires and demons that have tried to munch her or marry her, or both. I think she just wants to get a little of her own back."
Buffy nodded. "Maybe. But I'm still glad that she wants to skip over hand-to-hand weapons for a bit and learn how to throw a stake and use a crossbow. I'll feel much better if she keeps the big-and-uglies at a distance for a while, and lets big sis handle the down-and-dirty work."
Spike caught Tara as she was heading out the door. "Tara, could you help me with something?"
"Maybe, Spike . . . if you promise to let us sleep in 'til at least seven tomorrow morning," she said with an impudent grin.
"Oh, sod off! And I suppose that was just bed-hair I saw when you were heading into the bathroom this morning? Looked more like you and Red decided to celebrate your reunion with a little slap-and-tickle."
Tara's eyes opened wide, and she blushed right down to her toes.
Spike smirked at her. "I told you, Glinda, I'm much better at this game than you. And I notice everything I see."
"Did you notice that I'm about to be late for work, Spike?"
"All right, all right. I just need to ask you a couple questions, and maybe have you stop somewhere for me . . . "
The atmosphere at the Magic Box for most of the day was frustrated and tense. Willow and Anya couldn't find anything that seemed like it would help Buffy. Just as bad, there was no fax from Giles about the prophecy, and no answer at his flat in Bath.
"I knew we weren't actually going to get anything," Willow grumbled. "Giles never got over his phobia about 'infernal machines' after Moloch invaded the Internet."
Anya frowned. "I never liked Moloch. He was big and stupid and green and had horns -- kinda reminded me of Olaf. And I sometimes thought that since Moloch always got people to love him and then killed them, I should be going after him. But he was a demon, after all, and besides, it's hard for a person to make a vengeance wish with a broken neck." She shrugged, not noticing Willow's shudder.
Then Anya remarked, "We'd better get back to the soul research. I'm doing my best to make sure my wedding will be beautiful, touching, and fun-fun-fun for everyone involved, and I'd hate for Buffy to not have the full emotional impact of the experience."
Willow muttered, "Yeah, right," under her breath. Then she sat up suddenly. "Hey . . . that could work, couldn't it?" And she grabbed a couple of books off the shelves and started reading.
After work, Buffy made a stop at the house to change out of her uniform and into exercise clothes. She was about to dash upstairs when Spike called out from the living room. "Hold on, pet! I've got news!"
"Make it quick, Spike! If I'm late, Dawn won't let me hear the end of it!"
Spike ran over and handed her a few sheets of paper. Buffy scanned them quickly; they were job listings. And not very good job listings, at first glance. "What the heck are these?"
"Those, luv, are this week's postings for the UC Sunnydale Employment Office. They don't post want ads in the Sunnydale paper -- I suppose they kept getting night watchmen who were more interested in eating the students than protecting them. So they only post the jobs in the office. Tara picked them up on her lunch hour, and dropped them off before heading off to meet Red at the Magic Box."
Buffy read off the job descriptions: "Security Guard, Administrative Assistant, Receptionist . . . oh, look, Sanitation Engineer. Such fascinating career choices you're offering me. And some of them pay almost as much as my job at the Palace." She looked at Spike with a disbelieving look on her face. "And this is supposed to help me how?"
"Luv, how do you think Tara pays for her classes?"
Buffy just stared at him blankly. "Huh?"
Spike explained. "After her family cut her off, Tara didn't know how she was going to be able to finish her degree. Then, over the summer, a friend told her about one of the benefits the University has: if you work for 'em, you can take a class or two per semester for free."
Buffy blinked. "Free? You mean, pay nothing? Nada? Zip?"
Spike grinned. "Not a brass farthing. So she got a job with their museum -- she's real good at pointing out interesting artifacts to visitors, and she also makes sure that anything magical is sealed up nice and tight. And she'll graduate with money in the bank instead of bein' in debt." He shuddered. "From the way she talked about the student loan officers she's encountered, the loan sharks in the demon world could learn a thing or two from them."
I could go back to school. Considering this, Buffy looked down at the jobs in her hand in a new light. True, they sounded just as boring as flipping burgers at the DMP, and the pay wasn't any better . . . but security guards at least got to wear uniforms in dark blue, not Day-Glo orange. And after all the Psych papers Maggie Walsh assigned in Buffy's freshman year, her typing skills were . . . well, better than average.
She smiled at Spike. "This could work." She gave him a sideways look. "So when did you get so smart?"
Spike smirked at her. "I'm not so smart, luv. But like I was telling Tara earlier today, I notice everything. You never know when you're going to need it later. Which reminds me. Now that the sun's down, I'm headin' back to my crypt to pick up a few things I need to put in your basement."
"Now hold on, Spike. Just because of last night . . . and this morning," she said with a blush, "I'm not asking you to move in with us yet!"
"I'm not moving in here. Yet. But some of these things would be a lot safer in a place where vampires can't get in without an invitation."
Buffy found herself staring at him. She'd figured Spike probably had a large collection of weapons -- not only for his fights with demons, but for the day he got rid of the chip in his head. The fact that he was now planning to turn all of it over to her emphasized that he really was making a commitment. Not only to her, but also to her cause.
He startled her out of her reverie by saying, "Luv, you'd better get going. A certain pint-sized brunette is waiting, right now, for her big sister to teach her how to fire a crossbow. I'd love to help out, but you know me, I prefer the hand-to-hand stuff myself."
Buffy laughed. "That's okay. I saw what it was like for you training her yesterday. 'Oooh, my head!'" she cried, as she clutched her head in mock pain. "And tonight, when I thank you again for these," she waved the sheaf of job listings, and gave Spike a wicked look, "I don't want you to be complaining that you have a headache."
Buffy was prepared for many things when she walked through the door of the Magic Box. Dawn nagging her for being late. Willow and Anya saying they'd found something. Willow and Anya saying they'd found nothing.
What she was not prepared for was Willow running up to her and saying, "Buffy! You need to marry Spike!"
Buffy gave her friend a tired look. "Ha-ha, Willow. You don't need to remind me about that little episode-"
"No, Buffy, you don't understand." the redhead chirped eagerly. "That's your cure!"
Buffy stared at her. Then she looked around at the other Scoobies gathered in the store. Tara nodded at her. "I think it really could work, Buffy."
Willow piped up, "I thought of it when Anya mentioned her wedding. Certain ceremonies talk about 'making two people one flesh,' 'joining two souls,' and so forth. Well, maybe that last one wouldn't work," she said with a frown. "But you get the idea. Get someone with real magical potential to perform the ceremony, and you just might be back to your old Buffy self!"
Buffy could only reply, "My trip into Bizarro World is now complete. A couple of days ago, Will, you almost freaked out when you saw me kiss Spike. Now you want me to marry him?"
Xander said, "Buffy does have a point there." Everyone stared at him. He held up his hands. "I'm not saying anything bad about the relationship, or Buffy. Or even Spike. But hey, we're talking marriage here. Commitment with a capital L for Lifetime. I know how important that is. How special it is." He smiled at Anya, then at Buffy. "If Buffy wants to marry Spike, she can go ahead and do it. But she deserves better than a wedding ceremony that won't mean as much to her . . . and Spike," he said reluctantly, "if it's not what they're ready for, and not what they really want to do.
"Besides, if . . . um . . . usingSpikeforsex" he coughed, "was bad, then how much worse is using him for marriage?"
Willow's face fell. "Oh." Her brow wrinkled. She said sadly, "I guess I hadn't really thought of it that way. He's right, Buffy. If you were ready to marry Spike, this would be perfect. But you shouldn't cheapen your relationship by doing anything too soon."
Buffy hugged her friend. "That's okay, Will. I lay what might be the biggest meta, meta-"
"Metaphysical," Willow supplied.
"-problem in history on you, and you have a possible answer in a day. That's pretty incredible. And if you can't come up with another answer," and here she winked at Willow, "I just do my best to get Spike to pop the question. He sure did a good job of it last time. Though I hope I get a better ring," she added absently.
Anya piped up, "I'm glad you're not getting married right away. It's important to wait until you know you've found the right guy. Besides, you're my maid of honor, and I'd have to change all the announcements to say 'matron of honor' if you were married."
"Anything to help out," Buffy said wryly. "Now, where's Dawn? I thought she'd be here waiting for me."
"She's in the training room warming up," Tara said. "I think she had a hard day at school, and she's taking it out on your punching bag."
Buffy smiled. "Yeah, been there, done that." And with that she headed back to the training room.
When Spike entered his crypt, he knew right away that something was wrong. Most of his weapons were stored down below, in his sewer access. But he'd kept one or two items up above ground, within reach in case something really nasty barged in on him. And the lid on the sarcophagus where he kept them had been moved.
He had just enough time to realize he was walking into a perfect ambush when a powerful electrical jolt hit him from behind and to the left. His body jerked and shook, and he fell to the ground, stunned.
If he'd been conscious, Spike would have heard a familiar voice say, "You've been a very bad dog, Spike. You've gone and made some other girl fall in love with you. I should have you fixed."
Drusilla smiled down at her childe. "But first, I've got to fix the little girl who's trying to take my lovely poet away from me . . . "
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