DISCLAIMER: All hail Joss Whedon, UPN, the WB, FOX, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox Film Corporation. Theirs, not mine. We held hands as we walked through the streets of Sunnydale. “I haven’t been to the movies in ages,” I said to Tara. “It was always a good place to catch dinner unawares.” She gave me a weird look. “Right, you probably don’t want to hear about that,” I chided myself. “You’ve lived a long time, you must have a lot of stories to tell,” she said. “If you can’t tell me about your past, you can’t be free to be yourself.” “It doesn’t disgust you?” I asked, not sure I wanted to hear the answer. She stopped and took both my hands in hers. “You’re a vampire,” she said forthrightly. “You need blood to survive. No one ever told you that there was another way, that you didn’t have to kill to feed.” “I did like the killing,” I admitted. “It was part of the whole experience, part of the rush.” “You’re a predator,” she said earnestly. “That is part of your character. But obviously not the whole of it.” I kissed her gently and we resumed our walk. “If I had the chip out,” I explained, “I think that I would try to kill again. I thought that it wasn’t working, and I tried to eat someone.” She paused for a minute and thought. “How did it make you feel? Did you get the same rush?” I shook my head. “The high, the juice, it wasn’t there. It wasn’t about the blood, or the kill.  It was more about being angry with Buffy, and angry at myself for being so whipped.” “You’re not ruled by your instincts anymore,” she said. “Even if the chip fails, you’ll be different than before.” “Things are different now. I have you.” I gently kissed her knuckles. “I know you couldn’t stay with a killer,” I said to her. “As long as I have you, I won’t hurt anyone, even if the Initiative comes knocking on my door with a big box of candy, an apology, and a really good brain surgeon.” She laughed. “The Initiative-O-Gram.” “We’re from the government,” I intoned,  “and we’re here to help.” We turned the corner onto Revello Drive. I stopped and looked at her. “How do you want to play this?” I asked. “What do you mean?” she replied. She shivered slightly in the wind and I looped her long scarf around her neck. “Do you want to keep this a secret? You don’t have to tell anyone about us if you don’t want to,” I said sincerely. “I’m not ashamed of you,” she said earnestly. “And I don’t believe in lying to the people that I care about.” “It will hurt Willow,” I said to her. “She thinks you’ll come back to her.” A shadow crossed her face. “I don’t want to hurt her,” she said softly. “But she hurt me. What she did to me was wrong, and I’m not going to push what we have under the rug just to make her comfortable.” “She is in recovery, and she’s having a hard time,” I said. “I’m just afraid that she might try a love spell or something if she knew.” “I won’t lie,” she said adamantly. “If anyone asks directly, I won’t lie. And I don’t want you to lie either.” I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and we continued to walk. “Whatever you want, love.” Buffy’s house appeared down the block. I tugged Tara back into the bushes. “What are you doing?” she asked, as I put my hands under her jacket. “I’m storing up for later,” I said as I caressed her breasts. “I’ll have to be a good boy all night long.” I moved my mouth to her jaw, and licked her. She moaned. “Oh, don’t make that noise, pet,” I said as I bit her ear. “You’ll be shagged upright in the shrubbery.” Her hand cupped me through my pants and she rubbed me firmly. “Apparently that’s what you want,” I said, as her mouth covered mine. She kissed me heatedly as her tongue probed my mouth. She stopped for a second to catch her breath. “Stop that,” I said. “It feels way too good.” She broke away reluctantly. “You’ll have to make it up to me later,” she said with a sly grin. We walked down the street and up Buffy’s front porch. I rang the doorbell. Buffy opened the front door. “What a surprise,” she said coldly. “So much for not darkening my doorstep again.” “I’m not here for you,” I said. She smirked. “I know exactly why you’re here,” she said, as she leaned in close. “He’s with me,” said Tara, as she peeked out from behind me. Buffy stepped back, flustered. “We’re here for Dawn.” We walked inside. “Why are you with him?” Buffy asked Tara. Dawn ran down the stairs, a smile on her face. “Spike! What are you doing here?”

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