Amateur Magic

TITLE: Amateur Magic
AUTHOR: virtual_void
GENRE: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
RATING: PG-13 for non-graphic violence, mild language, and adult situations.
SUMMARY: Buffy needs Spike’s and Dawn’s help to save the world--she just doesn’t know it.
SETTING: Season Seven-ish, ** SPOILERS ** if you don’t know the situation at that time.
PAIRINGS: Spike/Dawn
DISCLAIMER: Some of the characters and ideas in this story were taken directly from the television series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (BTVS), which is owned, copyrighted and trademarked by Twentieth Century Fox, Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, the WB Television Network, and/or their related entities. No profit is being made from this story, and no copyright infringement is intended. The copyright owners of BTVS have not endorsed or authorized this story, and the author of this story is not affiliated with the copyright owners of BTVS. This story itself is copyright 2003 by the virtual_void. All rights reserved. Enjoy.
ARCHIVE: Please ask first.
FEEDBACK: [e-mail] or [e-mail]. Feedback, criticism, and MiSTing are welcome. “Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich staerker.“

* * * * *

Dawn kicked the sandal off her foot. It hit the wall, barely missing Buffy.

"Sulk all you want," Buffy said, "but you are not coming on patrol with me."

Dawn was slumped in the couch, facing the television, but oblivious to the giggly sitcom being shown. Why did everyone keep treating her like some little kid. She was older now than Buffy was when she started her career as the Slayer. No one cared about the fact that she had destroyed bunches of vampires herself in the past few years. Well, a few vampires, anyway. It wasn't like she was incapable of dusting vamps. She knew darned well how to fight.

"But, everyone else is going to the movies," Dawn said, struggling not to sound whiny. "You're going to be out there on patrol alone. No backup. Don't you remember what Giles says about fighting vampires with no backup?"

Buffy picked up the sandal and tossed it into Dawn's lap. "So I bend a few rules now and then. I've earned that right." She sat down on the couch. "Look, Dawn, I'm sorry I can't take you with me. Maybe if there were more people coming along it would be okay. But if it's just you and me, I'd be spending all my time worrying about you instead of focusing on the baddies. You're my responsibility, and I take that very, very seriously. You understand?"

Dawn pulled at the strap of the sandal, as if trying to snap it in two. "You make it sound like I'm some kind of goose egg that's going to get smashed the minute you turn your back."

"I know you're not an egg," Buffy said, massaging Dawn's neck with one hand. "You're more like a roasted peanut in terms of crackability. You know, ..."

Don't you dare call me 'Sweetie', Dawn thought.

"...everybody in the gang loves you and respects you. Just the other day, Giles was talking about how much potential you've got."

Do not call me 'Sweetie'.

"Someday real soon, you're going to be out there with us every night. You'll be wasting monsters and demons as easy as if you were playing Pokemon."

Pokemon!?

"You just need to give yourself a little time to grow into it, Sweetie."

Dawn jumped up from the couch, screaming through clenched teeth. "Stop treating me like a baby, damn it! Just stop!"

Buffy blinked, but kept her smile. "Whatever." She got up, grabbed a knife and a stake, and opened the door to leave. "Now, be a good little adult and wash the dishes while I'm gone."

Screaming again, Dawn slammed her sandal against the closing door.

* * * * *

Buffy amused herself practicing stake twirling as she strolled through the cemetery. Things had been unusually quiet now for several weeks. No wonder Willow, Xander, and Anya had opted for a movie tonight. Even a good set of previews would be a welcome break from the boredom of these patrols lately.

The stake slipped out of her grasp and flopped to the ground. When she knelt to pick it up, she felt a familiar tingle at the nape of her neck. She stood and turned to face a freshly risen vampire, who was just moving his lips to speak. With a quick stab, Buffy turned him to dust before he could make a sound.

"Yeah, I know. 'Prepare to die, Slayer'. Heard it a million times."

Buffy regretted killing the vampire so quickly. After all, that was probably going to turn out to be the high point of the evening. She should have at least used the opportunity to get in a little kickboxing stretch.

With a sigh, Buffy continued her stroll down the path. Kicking at the gravel, she thought about Dawn. Maybe her sister was right. Maybe she really was ready to come along on patrol more often. She had some good fighting moves, and she'd picked them up quickly. It seemed unbelievable that she was in high school already. Buffy winced at the implications that had about her own age.

To her left, three shabby vampires walked boldly out of the bushes and made straight for Buffy.

With a smile, Buffy went to work. Staggering one vampire with a kick, she dusted another and rolled to avoid the third. The second kill came easily enough, but this third vamp must have had some martial arts training in life. He had an annoying ability to dodge Buffy's strikes.

As Buffy was squaring up, looking for an opening, she heard a rustle from behind her. Whirling around she saw-- yipes! Four more vamps! Puffing out a deep breath, Buffy considered invoking the "Live to fight another day" clause. But, what the heck. She'd wanted some excitement, and here it was.

The fight was brutal, but in the end, Buffy had bought seven vampires at a cost of only a bruised cheek, some scraped knuckles, and a bloody elbow. She was inspecting her elbow gingerly when she heard-- oh, no-- a rustle in the leaves. She spun around, stake ready at waist level, and Spike grabbed her wrist.

"A bit jumpy tonight, aren't we?" He checked her over. "Then again, looks like you might have reason. Somebody rub you the wrong way against a cheese grater?"

Buffy jerked away from Spike's touch. "I just destroyed seven vampires. Give me one good reason I shouldn't make it eight."

"I'm clever, good looking, and just the sort of bad boy you want to knock the Scrabble board off your bed at night."

"I said one good reason-- not three bad jokes." She set off down the path, but Spike tagged along beside her.

"So, how come you're out here saving the world all by your lonesome?"

"Everybody went to the movies," Buffy said. "Something about nasty, carnivorous monsters that only come out when there's an eclipse or something."

"Blimey, what a reach. Sounds like somebody in Hollywood's been chonging it."

Buffy stopped and motioned Spike to be quiet. They stood listening for a moment, but the only sound was the distant swish of city traffic. The silence abruptly turned to an uproar when three vampires charged at them from a thicket of sumac.

In terminating the lead attacker, Buffy left herself open to the other two. Spike's face wrinkled into a vampiric snarl. He pulled away one of the vampires, leaving it off-balance, and then he uncoiled a vicious kick-twirl that flattened the beast. With the odds back to even, Buffy easily dispatched the vampire still grappling with her. Then she dusted the one Spike had stunned, ending the fight.

"I don't get it," she said. "There's like no vampires for a month, and tonight they all crawl up like worms in the rain."

When Spike didn't answer, Buffy turned to him. His face was still vampirish.

"Welcome to the Feast of Purgatory," Spike said. He bared his teeth and attacked.

* * * * *

The neighborhood wasn't nearly as dangerous as the cemetery. It wasn't dangerous at all, really. Still, Dawn felt a wicked glee thinking about the shades of purple Buffy's face would turn if she knew Dawn was out here patrolling on her own.

Should she tell her? Just to rub it in?

Dawn tapped her hand-made stake against her thigh. No, she'd better not say anything. It was enough satisfaction just proving to herself that she was nobody's flunky.

What were the odds that she'd actually find a vampire tooling around the neighborhood? Not very good. Heck, this place was so squeaky clean some people didn't even lock their doors at night. She looked at the Johnsons' house as she passed it. The porch light was on, and there were the kids' bikes, just leaning against the rail. Anyone could just walk up and grab one. What were these people thinking?

It occurred to Dawn that she could head over to the old warehouses. They were a couple miles away, but the night was cool and pleasant. If she really wanted to find a vampire, she'd have a much better chance of success at the warehouses. She decided against it, though. Maybe hunting down vampires wasn't really why she was out here after all.

"Hi."

The voice startled Dawn, but she saw it was just a girl in her late teens. She was wearing a black tee-shirt and some really well-ripped jeans.

"Oh, hi," Dawn said. "I didn't hear you come up."

"Guess I'm kind of quiet," the girl said. "Mind if I walk along for a while? I'm just getting some air."

"Oh, sure. Hey, I don't think I've seen you around. Do you live in the neighborhood?"

"Yeah, we moved in last week. I feel kind of lost. Sunnydale is way different from Paris."

"You're from Paris?" Dawn was incredulous.

The girl giggled. "Yeah, Paris, Tennessee. I like to do that to people. My name's Beth." She offered her hand.

Dawn introduced herself, shaking hands with Beth. "Hey, you're cold."

"Listen, this is nothing," Beth said. "My brothers tease me because I like to play in the snow wearing shorts. This feels great tonight."

They walked for a few seconds in silence, then Beth said, "I see you have a pointed stick."

Dawn felt suddenly embarrassed, realizing how silly she must look carrying the stake. She considered inventing some lie to explain the weapon, but she decided to just be straight. "Yeah, I'm... looking for vampires."

"Well, it's your lucky night."

Who said that?

Dawn looked about. A decrepit vampire in a disintegrating leisure suit appeared from behind a parked car. It grabbed Beth and opened its mouth to bite.

Reacting quickly, Dawn staked the monster's back, turning it to dust. Beth took off at a world class run. Looking to her left, Dawn saw three more vampires sprinting across the street, coming straight for her.

Dawn took off running toward home, but as she ran, she had to ask herself, Am I scared, or is this just cool as hell?

* * * * *

"You're missing the point, Anya. They don't know the ship's going to sink when they buy their tickets."

"Xander, of course it's going to sink. Would you buy a ticket to ride the Titanic."

"You got me there."

"I mean, why pay full price for a ticket when the boat only goes half as far as it's supposed to. That's false advertising."

"And again," Xander said, with a gesture of surrender.

At Anya's insistence, Willow had parked in a free lot half a mile from the movie theater. They had the sidewalk completely to themselves, but Willow would have felt better if there'd been a few more streetlamps.

"I hope they've got Twizzlers this time," Willow said, walking backwards to face her friends. "Last time they were out. Milk Duds are okay, but not just. I mean, I want all three courses: Milk Duds, Twizzlers, and those little mint thingies that are so wonderful when you freeze them and then let them melt against the roof of your mouth."

"I just want popcorn," said Anya.

"Popcorn's okay," Willow said, "but I worry about the fake butter stuff. Every time I see them pumping it on, I feel like I'm ordering food at a Jiffy Lube. Hey, what's the name of this movie we're seeing, anyway?"

"You can get popcorn without the motor oil, you know," Xander said.

Anya stopped and looked at Xander in disbelief. "It costs the same, right, with or without the motor oil? If you don't take the motor oil, then it's like you're getting a one-for-two special."

"Well, yeah," said Xander, a little confused. "But if you don't like butter substitute, it's just a waste of money."

"Are you accusing me of wasting money?"

Willow tugged at Xander's sleeve. "Guys, we need to keep walking if we want to get good seats."

"Anya, what's gotten into you?" Xander said. "You're acting pretty weird all of a sudden."

"Oh, sure. It's always my fault."

"No, not always. Just usually. And this time, yeah, definitely."

"You guys," Willow said, "this is just really silly. Come on, let's just keep walking and think about movie candy but only not talk about it because--"

"You stay out of this, witch," Anya said. Willow was stung by the nastiness of her tone. Xander gave her an apologetic look, but then Anya started poking his chest with her finger.

"You're just like every other man in the world," she said. "You act so superior, and you treat women like dirt." Her features hardened into the face of the demoness Anyanka. "It's revenge time, scum. Welcome to Feast of Purgatory."

In a blip of brownish light, Xander disappeared, and Anyanka, leveling a baleful glare at Willow, shimmered away as well.

"Oh, gods," Willow said breathlessly. "Oh, gods."

Dazed and alone, Willow started to shuffle back towards the car. She needed to try to sort things out.

"Ow. ow. ow."

Okay, now that's weird, she thought. No, she was not making the noise herself. What was going on?

"Ow."

Willow realized that every time she took a step... her shoe was groaning? She sat down on the grass and looked at her feet. Nothing odd about her flats, except that she'd apparently stepped in something messy. She drew her right foot up to check the sole of her shoe, trying not to get her skirt dirty.

"Uh, nice panties, Will, but I've got a problem here."

Xander's face was visible in the brown gunk on the bottom of Willow's shoe.

"Xander! Anya turned you into..."

"It's mud, Willow. And speak up-- I can barely hear you."

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"What?" Xander said.

"Oh, gods." Willow removed the shoe and half ran, half skipped back to the car.

* * * * *

"Interesting," Giles said, tapping glasses against his lips. "The increase in vampire activity, taken by itself, could just be coincidence, of course. Or perhaps it's a cyclical elevation of some sort."

Buffy sat at the library table with her feet propped in another chair. She'd bandaged the worst of her scrapes, but she'd begun to develop a headache. She hoped Giles cure of strong tea with milk and honey was going to work.

"The really weird thing is the way Spike attacked me," she said. "It's just not like him-- not that he's Mister Dependable or anything. But it's like he didn't know or didn't care about the chip in his head."

Spike's assault of Buffy had fizzled out quickly when the restraining computer chip in his head had kicked in. He had managed to graze her neck with his teeth before doubling over in pain, though. Buffy was wearing quite a collection of bandages tonight.

"Yes, that is odd," Giles said. "I suppose if there is some cyclical influence at work, Spike could be affected just as any other vampire."

"Whatever got him still has him, I think. At least, he was still fully vamp when I left him tied up in his crypt." Buffy sipped her tea. "Something else that was weird: just before Spike came at me, he said 'Welcome to the Feast of Purgatory'."

Giles stopped tapping his lips with his glasses.

"Are you sure those were his exact words?"

"Um... yeah." Buffy hated that expression Giles got when he realized they were up against a "Gates o' Hell"-class monster. She hoped she was misreading him.

"This is serious," Giles said. "Very serious indeed." He began searching the bookshelf.

Darn. And she was just getting comfortable. The teacup felt so nice and warm against her fingers.

Giles found the book he was looking for and opened it on the table. Buffy moved over to look.

Tracing the lines with his finger, Giles summarized the text. "The Marmus is a sort of commanding demon sent from the underworld to unite all expressions of evil into a single, all-consuming wave. Every doubt, every fear, every horror will rally to his side. Everything will be destroyed, and the world will begin anew. The phrase you mentioned is their term for the eradication of mankind."

Buffy sighed. "So, this is like the end of the world, I guess."

"No, I suppose that's the bright side. The world will in fact survive. We just won't be around to enjoy it."

"Great," Buffy said, frowning, then perking up. "So how do I kill it?"

"There's no mention of vulnerability in this volume. I'm afraid I'll have to do some additional research." Giles closed the book. "I wish Willow were here."

At that moment, Willow burst into the room, hopped forward, and held up her shoe.

"Anyanka turned Xander into mud!" she said, fighting to catch her breath.

Buffy wrinkled her nose at the shoe. "Are you sure that's mud?"

"Yes, it's mud," Xander said.

"Good Lord," said Giles.

"What?" Xander said. "Speak up, I can't hear you."

Buffy held Willow's hand to steady it. "Anyanka did this?"

"Uh-huh," Willow said. "We were going to the movie? Xander and Anya got into an argument? And..." She stopped to breathe.

"We must act quickly," Giles said. "The first thing we need to do is determine the location of the Marmus, assuming that it is, in fact, in the vicinity. If Spike is still under its influence, we'd best start by questioning him."

"Mar...," said Willow. "Mar...."

"Giles, I left Dawn at home by herself."

"We'll pick her up on the way. No place is safe at the moment. Willow, I'll need you to help with research." Giles started selecting books and piling them into Willow's arms, causing her to drop the shoe.

"Ow."

Buffy picked Xander up and held him at arm's length. "You get to ride in the trunk."

* * * * *

"I've got him tied up in the lower level," Buffy said when the gang arrived at Spike's crypt.

Willow's arms were getting tired holding the stack of old books, not to mention dangling Xander from her pinky. "Is he still vampiry? If he is, I know a spell that can turn him back for a while."

"That wouldn't be a good idea at this point," Giles said, entering the upper level of the crypt. "We need to learn the Marmus' location from him first."

Willow, Buffy, and Dawn followed Giles inside. They could hear Spike singing loudly to himself downstairs. Willow set the books down and, in a voice just above a whisper, asked, "How are we going to get him to talk?"

"I vote for torture," Buffy said quietly.

"Is he ticklish?" Dawn said. Everyone looked at her. "I mean, it always worked on me." She sighed, defeated. "Well, it doesn't leave a mark."

"I vote for leaving marks," Buffy said.

"No, I doubt torture would be the best course," Giles said in a low voice. "In his current state, I suspect he's quite thoroughly possessed by the Marmus. Pain alone would not be a sufficient incentive. We need to devise some clever ploy to trick him into divulging the Marmus' location."

"Why don't you just ask me, then?" Spike said from downstairs. He resumed his song.

Buffy sighed. "Being possessed must do wonders for your hearing." She descended to the lower level of the crypt, and the others followed.

Spike was lashed firmly to a chair at his wrists and ankles. He was singing at the top of his rough voice some bawdy-sounding ballad about fishermen and ale. His voice resonated terribly in the stony confines of the crypt. Dawn put her hands to her ears.

Buffy slapped Spike hard across the face. "Enough, already."

Giles helped her back gently. "Easy, now."

Willow set Xander on a shelf, propping him up so he could see. He was beginning to look a little dopey, and that worried her.

"Okay, Spike, talk," Buffy said.

"Where's your master?" Giles added. "Where is the Marmus?"

Spike smiled. "Go south down the path, hang a left at the benches, look for a stone marked 'Zacharias'. He'll be downstairs."

"He's lying," Buffy said.

"Am not," Spike replied. "Anyway, he's looking forward to seeing you."

"You guys, we'd better hurry up," Willow said with a note of alarm. "Xander's not looking so good." In fact, Xander's mouth was gaping, and his eyes were turned up, as if he was suffocating.

"Right," Buffy said. "Weak spot or no, we've got to take a stab at this baddie right away. Demons are usually sensitive to being decapitated. I say we try that first."

"I'm afraid I have to agree," Giles said. He began handing out weapons from a canvas sack. When he handed a knife to Willow, Buffy stopped him.

"Willow stays here. There is no way I'm leaving Dawn alone with Spike."

"I can de-vamp him for a while," Willow said. "It will only take a minute."

"You do that. But I still want you here with Dawn."

"I can take care of myself," Dawn said. "I don't need a babysitter."

Buffy slid a stake into her pocket as a final weapon. "Let's go, Giles."

* * * * *

After a 30-minute walk through the cemetery, complicated by a few small bands of hell creatures, Buffy and Giles arrived at the crypt Spike had named.

"These things always look so small from the outside," Buffy said.

"Yes, well, let's not prejudge. I'll open the door slowly."

After straining at the stone portal for a few seconds, Giles stood back, red-faced, and nodded to Buffy.

"Right," Buffy said. "I'll open the door slowly."

Using Slayer strength, Buffy pushed the heavy door aside. She shined a flashlight inside and saw that the crypt was not really a crypt at all-- it was the entrance to a cave. She and Giles crept forward, following the stone-stepped path that curved gently left and down. Covering the flashlight with her palm for a moment, Buffy saw that there was a yellowish glow ahead, just around the corner.

"Yuck," Buffy said.

"I'm sorry?"

"Don't you smell that?"

Giles sniffed at the air. "I suppose there is a bit of something. Reminds me of scorched coffee, I believe."

"Coffee? No, that's not it at all. It's kind of foody, but not hungry-foody. Kind of like... lemon curry."

Giles wrinkled his brow. "Lemon curry?"

Buffy started to move forward, but Giles put a hand on her shoulder.

"Buffy, this confusion of scents may be part of the Marmus' magic. I can't advise you not to breathe, but if we feel it's affecting us, we should fall back to review our plan. The Marmus is an extremely powerful demon. We must be prepared for anything."

"Nasty is nasty," Buffy said. "Let's just kill it."

After extinguishing the flashlight and getting a good, two-handed grip on her axe, Buffy crept forward with Giles close behind. The passage soon opened into a large chamber.

The floor of the chamber was alive with milling creatures about two feet tall. Concealing herself as much as possible, Buffy let her eyes grow accustomed to the dimness. The small creatures' skin glistened wetly. They looked like amphibians of some sort, but they were walking on their hind legs.

Near the far wall, seated in a chair on a dais, was the creature that Buffy assumed was the Marmus. To its left and right were staves topped with faintly glowing spheres-- the only source of light in the room.

Buffy was surprised at the demon's relatively natty appearance. He wore a white sweater with maroon edging and loose khaki slacks. Except for the turtle shell forehead and the amber eyeballs, he looked like someone you could bring home to meet the folks.

"That's him, right?" she whispered to Giles. This turned out to be a mistake.

Every one of the hundreds of frog creatures turned its pair of green marble eyes to Buffy and Giles. They waddled toward them, looking too much like an unwelcome serving of green, bubbly gelatin.

"Oops," said Buffy. "We've got toadies."

The creatures, rather than attacking, ushered Buffy and Giles into the room with nudges that were unpleasantly cold and mushy. They seemed fascinated by Buffy's weapons-- one went so far as to polish the blade of her knife with frog spit and a rag. She saw one toady wrapped around Giles leg, fitfully attempting to shine the shoe of his other foot. Buffy felt the creep factor rise to goose bump level, but she moved along with the scrum toward the patiently waiting Marmus.

"Buffy Summers," he said in a pleasant baritone. "I assume you're here to destroy me."

"It's what I do."

A number of toadies jerked the axe from Buffy's hands and passed it away on their up-stretched arms. Letting it go, Buffy drew her knife and gripped it firmly. The toadies pressed her forward until she was only a couple feet away from the Marmus. At this distance, she could smell the queerly sweet breath emanating from his smile.

"You're not entirely sure that you can destroy me, are you?" the Marmus said, tenting his fingers. "Maybe it's not even what you want."

"Oh, I want," Buffy said, but she was disappointed that her voice lacked the steel edge she'd intended. "This is my world you're invading. Go get your own."

"God, I love humans. You think you're tough as jawbreakers, but you're really soft as overcooked fettuccine."

Buffy pushed up to him and held the knife to his throat. "Actually, we're sharp as tacks. And I'm here to nail you."

The Marmus opened his mouth and chuckled. The smell of his breath hit Buffy like a wave of home-cooked psychedelia. For a moment, she lost all sense of place, but she struggled to focus on the relaxed features of the Marmus' face.

"I think you need to reassess your priorities," he said. "There's someone in this room who's much more deserving of death than I." He turned Buffy away from him. The sea of toadies parted, and there was Giles in the middle of the room, confused and disheveled.

The Marmus whispered into Buffy's ear, "Think 'Band Candy', my dear."

The memory of Giles' bizarre seduction of Buffy's now-deceased mother replayed itself in her mind. The fact that the event had been just one aspect of an entire town under the influence of cursed candy seemed unimportant. What did matter to Buffy was the image of Giles, all tee-shirty and skiffle boy, bending over Joyce for a kiss.

Eyes ablaze and knife held high, Buffy bolted towards Giles.

He was able to avoid the thrust and even knocked Buffy off balance. Buffy blamed all those training sessions with her Watcher: Giles knew her moves too well. When Buffy looked up, Giles was scrabbling up the steps and out of the room. She sprinted after him.

The Marmus laughed and clapped at the display. Hesitantly at first, but then with more enthusiasm, the toadies applauded as well. Their little, wet paws sounded like popping bubble wrap.

Giles had not gotten far when Buffy emerged from the crypt. With no good prospect of escape, Giles backed away from Buffy, trying to stall her with logic.

"Think about what you're doing, Buffy. You're being influenced by the Marmus. Take a deep breath and try to calm down."

Buffy took her time closing in on Giles. She knew he was no match for her, and in the open like this, there wouldn't be much opportunity for trickery. The night air did smell clean and good after the clingy aroma of the cave.

Her mind was clear by the time she got to Giles. Buffy realized she'd been only a few seconds away from killing him. She dropped the knife and fell into his arms.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"It's quite all right," Giles told her. "This has actually been a very productive bit of reconnaissance."

"I'm sorry," Buffy said, sniffling.

"Shh." Giles patted her back. "It's all right."

The two started back for Spike's crypt.

* * * * *

Willow was growing frustrated with her search for information about the Marmus. She really wished she had her laptop with her, but of course, it wouldn't do her all that much good in Spike's Internet-free crypt.

"This is useless," she said. "I've only found one reference to the Marmus, and that was in the punch line to a joke someone told at a birthday party for Alexander the Great."

"Untie me and I'll turn pages for you," Spike said.

Willow snorted in response. "Thanks, but no thanks. My thumb still works-- it's my brain that's numb. Besides, I have no idea how long that de-vamping spell is going to last. You could be bouncing around biting necks any time now."

"I don't bounce," Spike said. "I have never once bounced in my entire life."

"We could at least loosen the ropes," Dawn said, picking at Spike's restraints. "They look like they must hurt."

Willow shook her head. "No, not unless Buffy and Giles say it's okay."

"Buffy must have been in a royal snit over that little love peck I gave her. She ties a wicked knot. Good thing I don't have to worry about my circulation being cut off." He nodded to Dawn. "Thanks anyway, Nibblet."

A ruckus in the upper level of the crypt announced the arrival of visitors. Willow quickly picked up a knife and led Dawn to the back wall. To her relief, it was Buffy and Giles who descended the steps. Her relief turned to concern, however, when she read their expressions.

"Oh, my gosh," Willow said. "Are you all right?"

"At halftime," Buffy said, "Marmus one, Saviors-of-Humanity nil." She went on to give the details of the encounter.

"So much for the direct approach," Giles said. Then, to Willow: "Have you come across anything useful in your research?"

"Nothing," she said, deflating. "There's still a few more books to go, though."

"Those books may be our last hope," Giles said.

"How's Xander," Buffy asked.

Willow took the Xander-shoe down from the shelf and looked at the sole. "No change. He hasn't said anything since we got here, and he looks awful. He looks like he's suffocating."

Spike chuckled. "Somebody turn the nancy-boy into footwear?"

"Worse," Willow said, cringing. "He's just a blob of mud."

Spike stretched forward for a closer look. "Are you sure that's mud?"

Dawn walked next to him and said, "Hey, Buffy. Willow said I should ask you if we could untie Spike." Willow gave her a mean look. Buffy charged over to Dawn, jerked her away from Spike, and shook her.

"Don't you ever go near this monster. He's a killer. You have no idea how vicious he can be."

Dawn pulled away from Buffy. "Quit with the tough love already, Sis."

"I hate to interrupt this gay banter," Giles said, "but we have work to do."

Willow set Xander back on the shelf, and she, Giles, and Buffy dug into the books. Dawn meandered about the crypt, picking up and examining every little knickknack she came across.

After nearly an hour of page turning and heavy sighs, Willow brushed Giles' wrist with her fingertips and then radiated importance with a private glance.

"I need to get up for a minute," she said to the room with a theatrical yawn and stretch. She winked at Giles.

"Yes, I believe I could use a bit of a break myself," Giles said, raising his eyebrows at Willow.

Buffy remained hunched over her book, as if on the verge of falling asleep. "Whatever," she said with a weak gesture.

* * * * *

Willow ascended the steps and walked outside, making sure that Giles had followed her. "Oh, gods," she said, pacing. "Oh, gods."

Giles watched her.

"Buffy is going to kill me," Willow said. "I know how to defeat the Marmus."

"That's wonderful," Giles said with subdued cheer. "Isn't it?"

"I found a spell that will weaken the Marmus. We should be able to kill it while it's weak. Once it's gone, all its magic should be undone-- the vampires settle down, Anyanka turns back to Anya, and Xander... stops being slimy."

"Excellent."

"But, I can't do the spell."

"Ah," Giles said. "Well, that does diminish its usefulness."

"Giles, I know sometimes when you really care about someone, sometimes you have to tell a little lie, and that's okay, because you've got the person's best interests at heart. Well, what if you have to tell a bigger lie, or like a really, really big lie, and you're just not sure--."

Gesturing Willow to stop, Giles said, "Let's postpone the ethical evaluation. Can we use this spell or not?"

Willow took a deep breath and sat down on the stone entrance to the crypt. "The spell is pretty simple, but it has to be performed by a vampire and a virgin."

Giles glanced away for a moment in thought, and then his face colored. "Surely you don't mean they have to...."

"No, no, no," Willow said. "Nothing like that. Well... something like that."

"We are referring to Spike and Dawn," Giles said. Willow nodded. "And are we sure that Dawn...."

"Yes," Willow said, shrugging. "Girl talk. Trust me on this one."

"Assuming there's no carnality involved, would the two of them be capable of performing the spell?"

"Well, there's a little bit of carnimalism, but on a scale of one to five. It's definitely a one." Her eyes rolled up for a second in thought. "Definitely no more than a two."

Giles waited, but Willow could see he was about to get testy with her. She got up and started pacing again.

"The spell itself is a piece of cake. Just light some candles, hold hands, say a few Latiny words, and... and kiss. The Marmus' should be pretty much powerless for a few minutes after that."

Giles considered this briefly. "Well, if Spike and Dawn are amenable and supervised, I don't see this as a problem. Buffy and I could position ourselves beforehand, and at your signal, we could destroy the Marmus."

"Sure, no sweat," Willow said, becoming agitated. "Only Buffy's out there fighting this demon, and Dawn and Spike are on the other side of the universe smooching."

"You would be there with them."

"Giles, we're talking about Buffy. If she knows that Dawn and Spike intend to do a spell together, especially one that involves touching, she just won't allow it. She'll say 'no', and she'll just go back to fight the Marmus with a bigger knife or a bigger axe, thinking she'll be able to destroy it if she just tries harder. Do you think she can do that without some magic?"

Giles put his hands in his pockets and looked up at the sky. "No, I don't believe she can," he said. "The Marmus can magnify even the tiniest weakness a thousand-fold. Sometimes even a Slayer needs help."

"Exactly," Willow said, her expression pained. "We have to lie to her. We have to tell her I'm going to do the spell myself."

"Ah," Giles said with a sniff. "Now we're discussing the ethics." He paused for a moment to think. "Regrettably, I can see no other course."

"So, it's settled," Willow said, frowning. "We lie like dogs."

"Agreed."

* * * * *

Buffy actually did fall asleep for an instant, but she woke up just in time to keep her head from striking the book. She snuck a glance at Spike and Dawn-- they didn't seem to have noticed. That fight with the Marmus, plus all the miscellaneous vamps this evening, had taken a lot out of her.

She really did hate the research part of being the Slayer. Thank God for Willow-- and having Giles back was a boost as well. Surely, if there was something useful in these books, one of them would find it. She was just so tired, and all these words kept melting into meaningless gray lines, then the gray lines melted into meaningless gray blobs with little white worm holes running through them. It would be so wonderful to go back home, fill the tub with steamy hot water, maybe pour in a little lavender oil, and....

Thump.

"What was that?" Dawn said.

"Nothing," Buffy said, rubbing her forehead. "Probably a rat."

"A rat that needs its nap time," Spike said.

Buffy glared at him. "You shut up or I'll stuff a tennis ball in your mouth."

Willow and Giles returned from upstairs. "Good news, Buffy," Willow said, looking a little squeamish.

"Let me guess," Buffy said. "Hooray, hooray, you just wrecked my car?"

"I can't do this," Willow said. Giles stepped in front of her.

"The fact is, Willow has discovered a spell to use against the Marmus."

Giles began to explain the spell, and then Willow finished.

"Cool," Buffy said. "You got your cell phone, Willow? Just give me a buzz when it's time, and I'll go play Whack-a-Mole."

They decided that Buffy's phone should be set to vibrate rather than ring. No sense giving the keen-eared toadies any advance warning. If the caller-ID showed Willow's number, Buffy would attack.

"You'll have to work fast," Willow said. "The spell will only last for a few minutes. Oh, and be patient, because it could take me a while to work the spell. Gosh, I need to go back to the Magic Box to pick up some supplies, too."

"I'll volunteer for that chore," Giles told her. "You're a bit hobbled with only the one shoe. Make me a list?"

Buffy decided to take a proper nap while Giles was gone. It seemed like she'd just closed her eyes when he was back already, loaded down with shopping bags, additional weapons, and a pair of white bunny slippers.

"I recall that Xander bought these for Anya as a joke," he said. "Needless to say, she never wore them." He handed them to Willow.

"You're so sweet!" she said. "My feet thank you from the bottom of... my feet."

Buffy selected her weapons and stayed Giles' hand as he reached for one himself. "I've got to do this alone. If anything goes wrong, I don't want you to be anywhere within slaying range." With that, she set out for the Marmus' cave.

* * * * *

"You need my help?" Dawn said, obviously intrigued.

Willow sat her down in front of Spike's crypt. She told her the part about the spell that she'd kept secret from Buffy, and then she began to relate the detailed execution of the spell. As she spoke, she could see Dawn becoming more and more subdued. When she explained that the spell was concluded with a kiss, Dawn seemed positively depressed.

Taking Dawn's hand, Willow said, "I hate to put you in this position. And asking you to lie to Buffy about it, too. I feel awful."

Dawn shook her head. "I'll never remember all that. I'll mess something up and everyone will think I'm a complete dork."

"No, Honey, I've written it all out with bullet points. See? You won't have any trouble. Besides, Giles and I will be with you the whole time."

Dawn gave her a kind of "yeah, right" look that amplified Willow's guilt at not being able to do the spell herself.

"But, you'll do it?" Willow said. "For Buffy?"

Rolling her eyes, Dawn said, "I'll do it, already."

* * * * *

"No bloody way," Spike said, feeling more than a little put-out.

Willow sat down on the floor beside his chair and put her hands on his arm. "Why not? Spike, this is your chance to help us big time. How can you say 'no'?"

"Let's see.... Could it be because you've treated me like dung up to now? Or maybe because it's your own bloody problem and you can bloody well fix it yourself? No, I think it's because Buffy would chop me up and feed me to the squirrels if I ever laid a finger on Dawn. Yeah... that's it."

What cheeky bastards! Here he was, tied up in his own crypt, forced to listen to their half-baked plans to off some demon, and they have the nerve to ask him to help.

"Not so loud," Willow said, glancing at the steps leading to the upper level. "Dawn might hear you."

"Well, good," Spike said, raising his voice a notch. "That way she can report back to Buffy that I wanted no part of your little scheme."

"Nobody's going to report anything. I give you my word Buffy will never find out."

Spike had to admire the way Willow could make that puppy dog face when she wanted something from you. He looked at her askance. "What's in it for me."

"Well, you get to save mankind... or at least Sunnydale."

"Never been that high on my wish list, Red."

"You get to help Xander get over Anyanka's curse."

"Lower still. Keep going."

"I'll tell Buffy you helped me with the spell and that I couldn't have done it without you."

Now, that idea had some appeal. He'd love to see Buffy's face when Willow told her it was old Spike who'd done the magic and saved the world. She'd pout a little bit, and then say something like, "I guess I been wrong about you all this time." And then she'd close her eyes and lean toward him and--.

"Well," Spike said. "That might get me out of a knee to the gut sometime. So, what's the Little Bit got to say about all this?"

Willow chewed on her lip. "Well, I think she was kind of grossed out by the idea, but she's a real trooper. She'll make it through okay."

"Oh, lovely," Spike said, shifting in his seat. "Sounds like Big Sister's been giving her lessons. Yeah, I guess I'll go along. Untie me so I can work me magic."

* * * * *

Dawn sat on the floor, drawing a circle with white chalk and holding Willow's instructions in her other hand. Giles and Willow sat in straight-backed chairs observing her work. Spike was near Dawn, but stilled tied in his chair.

"How'm I supposed to do a spell stuck here like this?" Amazing how quickly they'd twisted the terms of their agreement with him. He had a feeling that they'd be chirping all the details to Buffy by the end of the night. Old disposable Spike. He felt like a box of tissues in the sick ward. "Come on, be fair. You could at least untie me."

"Hush," said Giles.

"Honey, I think you should make that circle a little bigger," Willow said to Dawn. "And be careful not to break that bottle of sandalwood oil by your foot. It's the only one we've got."

Dawn sighed, erased part of the circle with her fist, and redrew it larger.

"Can I at least read the rules to this game?" Spike said.

"Shush," said Giles.

"The first part uses a pink votive candle," Willow said to Dawn. "You know what a votive is, Honey?"

"Let me guess." Dawn held up a candle. "Could it be the only pink candle in the bunch?"

Willow rolled her eyes. "Sorry, that was dumb of me. You're doing great. I'll just shut up and watch."

Dawn kicked at the basket of candles, scattering them across the floor, and eliciting an inhaled hiss from Willow. "You're driving me nuts," Dawn said. "I can do the stupid spell. I really can. Would you and Giles just go upstairs and leave me alone?"

Giles said, "That wouldn't be--."

"Wise," Dawn completed for him, arching an eyebrow.

"I was going to say 'prudent'."

Dawn stood up and folded her arms.

Standing and pulling at Giles' sleeve, Willow said, "C'mon, let's give her some room. She can yell if she needs us."

Before leaving, Willow took a look at the Xander shoe. Spike could see that he still looked zoned-out-- eyes rolling and mouth gaping like a mackerel out of water. Willow hid a sniffle with her sleeve, and Giles led her upstairs.

Spike loved watching these little spats among the Buffy gang. It was a relief to have that pair clear out, too. Dawn, at least, was a bit less surly.

When they were alone, Dawn set about untying Spike's hands.

"You're going to get yourself into trouble, Little Bit."

"Tough cookies," she said, but then she winced. "You're not going to go all neck-sucker on me, are you?"

"Not planning on it." Oh, yeah, Spike thought. That'd be a great way to insure a long and happy unlife once Buffy'd gotten word. Now that he knew about the Marmus, he'd just shrug it off if the beast came back around, sniffing for minions.

His hands free, Spike untied his right ankle while Dawn did the left. Then, he stood and stretched. "Now, this feels better."

Dawn sat back down on the floor in a half-lotus position and signaled Spike to join her. "Let's go through the instructions once," she said. "It's really pretty easy."

Spike sat down on the opposite side of the chalk circle. Dawn scooted next to him and laid the instruction sheet on his lap. As she read off the steps of the spell, Dawn's head was almost directly under Spike's chin-- her hair was tickling his throat. He tried to identify the scent of her shampoo. Something tangy. Something to make your mouth water.

"And then...," Dawn said, moving in front of him, her knees touching his leg, "...we hold hands like this. We say the magic words 'blah, blah, blah', and then...." She closed her eyes and leaned toward him.

Spike shot to his feet.

"What's wrong?" Dawn said.

What's wrong, she says. This bloody Summers family is going to be the death of him.

The whole idea of this circus was to impress Buffy. He admitted that much to himself. To hell with saving the world! But, if anyone let on that he'd worked this spell, not with Willow, but with Dawn-- and played tonsil hockey with her, for God's sake-- Spike could write off any hope of ever getting on Buffy's good side.

"Spike!"

"Sorry, Nibblet, had a cramp. I get the picture. Might as well get started."

The two of them got back into position on the floor. Dawn set the pink votive in the middle of the circle and struck a match. She had some difficulty lighting the candle-- her hand was shaking. Spike reached out to steady her, and when he touched her, their eyes met.

Spike had never noticed the color of Dawn's eyes-- light blue, maybe a bit of gray. It had been a long time since anyone had looked at him with eyes that weren't filled with hate or ridicule. Dawn's eyes were gentle. Her lips were soft and full. Spike leaned forward. There was that tang of her shampoo again.

"Ow!" Dawn yelped, dropping the match.

* * * * *

"Good Lord, what was that?" Giles said.

Willow called down to the lower level of the crypt. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes. Go away," came Dawn's voice.

Willow was concerned, but Dawn's grumpiness was probably an indication that everything really was fine. She was about to say something to Giles, but she noticed his face had gone white.

"Giles?"

"I'm afraid I've accidentally pressed the speed dial on your telephone."

"Oh," Willow said, taking the cell phone from Giles' hand. Then she realized that he'd just given Buffy the signal to attack. "Oh, no. This is bad."

"Try calling her back," Giles said. He sat down and put his head in his hands.

Willow dialed the phone.

* * * * *

Buffy hated waiting. She was anxious to have the chance to serve up extreme payback to the Marmus for turning her against Giles. She twisted her hands on the shaft of the axe. It felt good, but it would feel even better swinging the weapon with all her strength and connecting with the Marmus' neck.

Her cell phone vibrated. Finally! She checked the caller ID to verify that it was Willow.

Buffy stood and inventoried her weapons. She began to focus her thoughts on the kill. Setting the cell phone beside a marble urn, she moved forward into the cave.

Let's see how tough this demon is without his mind tricks.

* * * * *

"Are you all right?" Spike asked.

"Jus' lubbly," Dawn said, sucking on her sore finger.

Spike stood up and started pacing the room. He was beginning to hate the whole bloody Summers clan.

"Hello? I'm the one with the toasted paw," Dawn said. "So what's your problem?"

"Problem? I haven't got a problem, do I? I'm peachy keen. It's just you people are setting me up to get staked by the Slayer. Well, I'm not having any of it."

"Me?" Dawn's cheeks turned rosy. "I'm setting you up?"

"No," Spike said. "Yes! No, I don't mean that."

"Spike, this is a very simple spell. It'll take us all of fifteen minutes to do."

"It's not the spell, Little Bit." Spike was grinding his teeth, determined to get over this habit of feeling sorry for himself.

Dawn walked over and took his fingers in her hands. "I know people don't trust you. They treat you like you're just evil, through and through. I guess you were once, but you've got a soul now. You can do good things." She put her cheek against his arm.

Spike reached over to her, but then, realizing what he was doing, pulled away. "Don't do that," he said to her. "Just don't."

All the emotion drained away from Dawn's expression. She went back to the chalk circle and sat down. She took a match from the box, struck it, and the room was infused with the sharp smell of burnt sulfur. After lighting the candle, she blew out the match with tense lips.

"Fine," she said. "Let's just do the damned spell."

* * * * *

"This isn't working," Willow said, closing the cell phone. She was beginning to feel panicked now. "Buffy's not answering."

Giles stood and said, "I've got to go stop her." He moved toward the doorway.

Willow grabbed his arm. "Giles, you can't make it in time."

Giles unclenched Willow's fingers from his sleeve. "I know that, actually, but I must make the effort all the same." He jogged away into the night. Willow watched him until he disappeared, partly because it was so weird seeing Giles jog..

Willow did not want to be alone right now. She realized there was still a chance that Dawn and Spike could finish the spell in time to save Buffy. She called downstairs to them: "You guys, we've got an emergency. Could you try to hurry up?"

"Go away!" came both of their voices.

Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods. Willow slumped down the wall to sit on the floor. Feeling jittery, she did her best to distract herself by staging a puppet theater with her bunny slippers. Try as she would, she could not make her feet sound optimistic.

"I guess this must be what it's like to be crazy," she said to the empty room.

* * * * *

Buffy stepped squarely into the entrance of the Marmus' chamber. She held her axe at the ready and let the Marmus be the first to speak.

"Miss Summers. What a pleasure to see you again so soon."

As she approached the demon, toadies swarmed around Buffy's feet. "You've had your quota of kicks at my expense. This time the pleasure's all mine."

Walking was difficult with a half dozen toadies licking her shoes. Buffy stepped on a few feet, and their squeals of pain sent shivers up her spine. She gripped the axe firmly, determined not to let the toadies snatch it away this time.

The smell of lemon curry was still thick in the air. This demon had some weird mojo all right, but none of that mattered. Willow had performed her spell, and now the Marmus was no more powerful than a tastefully attired rutabaga. What's more, the poor sap didn't even know how helpless he was.

"Please, do come closer," he said. Just what Buffy intended to do, invited or not. This was one kill she was really going to enjoy.

Suddenly, she realized that she'd gotten too close to the demon for a proper swing of the axe. She was about to step back when he spoke.

"You have very pretty eyes, Miss Summers."

He smiled, and Buffy smelled the overpowering sweetness of his breath.

* * * * *

Spike sat down on the floor opposite Dawn. The flame of the candle between them guttered with each of Dawn's angry exhalations. Spike felt like a heel.

"Look, Nibblet, I didn't mean to cut you off like that."

"Just do the spell," Dawn said, her eyes fixed on the candle.

"I know you're ticked off."

Dawn tapped a drop of sandalwood oil into the candle flame-- it sizzled away in a hiss of smoke. "Dona nobis largifluus amor, and no, damn it, I am not ticked off." She ground Spike down with a devastating glare. "Why should I be ticked off? I was just trying to be nice, and you.... You act like I'm a gob of ketchup you just dripped on your shirt. Would you be ticked off? Of course not. Can we just do the spell now?"

Spike sighed. Summers women were nothing if not frustrating. Maybe he was being too paranoid, but he knew damned well that if anything went wrong, Giles and Willow would forget all about their little bargain, toss up their hands, and say, "Spike did it." Still, Dawn herself seemed pretty much aboveboard. Maybe she was the one who'd inherited all of Joyce's good qualities.

"You're right," Spike said. "I been acting like a git. Buffy's depending on us, so let's get this over with."

Dawn closed her eyes, but the way she was twisting her lips made Spike believe she was not thinking about the spell. "C'mon, Little Bit, let's help out your sis, okay?" She was tapping the bottle of oil against the stone floor, and Spike was sure she was just about to smash it.

"So, it's like I'm some nasty medicine you have to swallow," Dawn said, her eyes welling with tears. "But, you'll do it for Buffy, right?"

Spike wished he knew what station to tune in to so he could pick up this bird's frequency. "It's just a spell, love. And yeah, it's for Buffy, isn't it?"

"Everything's for Buffy. Everything's about Buffy. You don't give a rat's ass about me, do you? If it wasn't to help out Buffy, you'd never even think about spending fifteen minutes alone with me."

Spike had had just about enough of this. "I get it. So, it's this bloody spell. You figure it must be torture for me to sit down and get all touchy-feely with you. The only way I'd do something that disgusting would be because I'm desperate to get Buffy's attention."

"Yes," Dawn said.

Spike gripped her arms. "You think there's no bloody way I'd want to kiss a little duck like you unless it was for Buffy's sake."

"Yes," Dawn said, crying.

With his fingertips, Spike brushed Dawn's hair away from her face and back over her ear. “Sod the spell,” he said. Taking Dawn’s neck gently in his hand, he drew her into a kiss.

* * * * *

"I'm not afraid of you, Mister Smarmy Pants," Buffy said.

The Marmus smiled. "No reason you should be," he said. "Ah, but just out of curiosity... why not?"

"'Cause I happen to know that you're helpless as a pickled mushroom right about now," Buffy said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "A friend of mine, who happens to be this very powerful witch, cast a spell on you. Feel anything odd or tingly?"

After a brief consideration, the Marmus said, "No, not at all."

Jumping back, Buffy took a full two-turn windup with the axe and sliced through the Marmus' neck. His body dissipated as dust, but his head remained intact and fell to the dais. It wobbled and came to rest looking up at Buffy.

"How about now?" Buffy asked.

"Damn you, Miss Summers," the Marmus said.

The chamber began to shake violently, and the air filled with dust and chips of falling rock. A glowing crevice opened in the floor and vapor poured out. There was a roar of wind that nearly knocked Buffy off her feet.

The toadies rushed forward, giving Buffy a scare, but they went straight for the demon's head. As the head was carried off by the toadies, it shouted over the din.

"I was lying when I said your eyes were pretty."

The head and toadies disappeared into the crevice, which closed with another earth-shaking rumble.

Slinging the axe over her shoulder, Buffy shuffled out of the chamber.

"Guess I should go get some beauty sleep, then."

* * * * *

An earthquake rippled through Spike's crypt with the sounds of distant thunder and resettling masonry.

"Did you feel that?" Spike said.

Dawn's eyes were still closed from their kiss. "Oh God yes," she said, clutching him tightly.

"No, I mean the earthquake."

Looking up into Spike's eyes, just a few inches away, Dawn said, "Fine. Earthquake. Can we just...."

Spike didn't need to be begged. He kissed her again, but just as their lips met, there was a loud crash behind him. Spike turned to see a full-sized Xander standing on the smashed pieces of his shelf. Xander sneezed violently, and Willow's shoe tumbled off his head.

"God, I've been needing to do that for hours," he said, rubbing his nose.

"Xander, you're back!" Dawn said.

Unimpressed by Xander's recovery and annoyed at the interruption, Spike was about to tell him to sod off when Xander's fist connected with his face.

"Get your undead hands off Buffy's little sister. And ow, by the way," Xander said, shaking and massaging his fist hand. "Are you okay, Dawn?"

"Well, I was," she said, reaching for Spike, but he got up and went to lean against the far wall, both hands covering his nose.

"You're bloody lucky I've got this chip in me head. Otherwise--"

"Xander!" It was Willow, coming down the steps. "You're alive! And non-gooey, and... and multi-dimensional."

"I feel great," Xander said, "but could someone please tell me why we're all bouncy-bouncy here in this bloodsucker's litter box?"

Willow's cell phone rang and she answered. Her smile gradually broadened as she spoke. Closing the phone, she said, "The spell worked! Buffy killed the Marmus!"

"Spell? Marmus?" Xander said. "Okay, now I'm officially clueless."

"You just now figuring that out then?" Spike said.

Xander made some kind of comeback-- probably lame. Spike was more interested in Dawn, who was now holding his arm. "Did we do the spell?" she asked.

Spike sniffed and made sure he wasn't bleeding. "I don't think so. Well... if we did, we skipped a few steps."

Dawn looked confused. "If we didn't do the spell, how did Buffy win?"

"Maybe Big Sis is a little more capable than you people give her credit for."

Willow skittered over and group-hugged the two of them. "You did a great job with that spell. I'm going to have you floating pencils in no time. Hey, how'd you get loose, Spike?" She turned, then stopped. "Oh, if you feel anything kind of crazy-- you know, dizziness or itchy hands-- don't worry, it's just the spell. It'll wear off soon."

Willow skittered over to Xander and locked her arms around him. "Oh, gods. I am so happy to have you back." Xander seemed content to just soak up the affection. After a minute, they headed upstairs, giggling like a pair of loonies.

Looking down at Dawn, her head on his chest, Spike realized just how much his recovered soul had changed him. He knew having a soul could hurt, but he hadn't known it could feel this good.

As much as he'd like to try flexing his soul right now, he knew he had to think of Dawn as "The Slayer's Sister"... nothing more. The reasons seemed way too obvious. Buffy would turn him into undead toast? Dawn deserved a boyfriend with a beating heart? Spike was a killer who hadn't yet worked off his penance to himself-- maybe never would? Yes, yes, yes.

Spike nudged Dawn's chin so she'd look up at him. God, that look of eagerness in her eyes. He knew this was going to be hard.

"Listen, Little Bit, Buffy's on her way back, so we need to get something straight. We've got to forget that kiss ever happened."

Dawn looked suddenly frightened. "But, Spike... I think I love you."

Spike wished she hadn't said that. "Love's not the issue, love. You've got a Slayer for a sister, and I'm a vampire, remember? That's not a healthy mix for either of us."

"I thought we could.... Didn't you mean it when you kissed me?"

He considered playing it tough, saying the kiss had just been a bit of fun. He considered playing it brutal, saying he could never be serious about a skinny little nit like her. Either way would have been safer for his sorry arse when Buffy returned-- and probably kinder to Dawn in the long run.

He couldn't do it, though. In the end, he just held her and let her cry.

* * * * *

The cemetery was amazingly vampire-free, and that suited Buffy just fine. The trek back to Spike's crypt was long enough without having to stop to kickbox with zombies every five minutes.

She heard a quick shuffle in the darkness ahead and had to assume that her luck had run out. But, no, it was Giles-- jogging down the path and looking like he'd just stepped out of a tweed sauna.

"Buffy! Thank goodness! I needed to tell you--."

"Stop," Buffy said. "If you're about to say there's another Marmus I have to kill, he can wait until tomorrow night. I'm hungry and I want to go to bed."

"Another Marmus," Giles said, breaking into a smile. "You mean you've destroyed it?"

Buffy resumed her slow walk down the path. "Yeah, it was tense. I mean, I've never had to fight a demon that smelled that strange."

Giles walked beside her. "Yes," he said, amused. "Lemon curry. What an astonishing concept."

Wincing, Buffy said, "The bad part is it sounds good to me right now." She held Giles arm as if for support. "When I get back home, maybe you could stuff pizza in my mouth while I snooze."

Giles chuckled and put his arm around Buffy's waist. "I suppose you've earned a bit of pampering."