"Look, I know you don't entirely trust me, and that's fine. I can live with that for now. But you trust me enough to watch your sister, and..." He started over. "You concentrate on your Mom and your slaying. I'll concentrate on your sister, and since she's usually at home, I'll just make sure it's still there when you get back."

"But, that's a lot of time. I know from experience."

"And I'm only in class when she's at school." The wind whipped around them, and he pulled his coat tighter. They were on their way to the movie, Dawn ahead with Anya and Xander, Willow and Tara right in front of the Slayer and the lawyer. "I can get her from school, get her home, make dinner, do whatever needs to be done there."

Buffy nodded. "You'll be a Mr. Mom, though."

"I like kids. I really like Dawn. She's great...she's a lot like you, only smaller and not a Slayer." He turned his head for a moment. "Buffy. In the alley."

She looked, then pulled a stake from her waistband. "Go with Dawn and everyone." She went into the alley, and it wasn't until after she staked the one vampire that others started to emerge.

"Willow!" He got her attention. "Save us seats."

Willow's eyes widened. "Got it." They hurried up towards the others, getting them to the movie theater. Lindsey pulled his own stake out and helped the Slayer dispatch the ten remaining vampires.

It was a short and ugly fight. The girl who the original vampire was after had fainted from blood loss, but other than that she was okay. Buffy had a small cut on her cheek, but that was all. "You can really fight."

Lindsey nodded. "So can you."

A lone vampire stepped out of the shadowy dust covered alley, watching the man carry the limp female towards a store where she could get some help. He flipped open a cell phone and dialed a long distance number. "Holland? Yes...I've found your Lindsey McDonald. He's working with the Slayer."

After a few seconds of listening to instructions, the man nodded. "I can do that sir. But the Slayer..." There was a moment where the vampire had a look of disgust cross his face. "Yes, sir." He hung up and disappeared back into the darkened alley.

Buffy fully trusted Lindsey now. He'd shown himself by taking care of Dawn, and that had been a start. Buffy knew the moment she decided to fully trust him. It was when he helped save her from the vampires. He could fight, he was smart...he was a good ally.

He also wasn't all that bad to look at, but Buffy wouldn't voice that opinion.

The first morning, Buffy woke up to the smell of coffee and pancakes. The sound of laughter bounced off the walls. She emerged into the kitchen to find Dawn actually eating breakfast. "I thought you hated this meal of the day, Dawn."

"You have got to taste these!" she said, before taking another bite. "They're just as good as Mom's."

She looked over at Lindsey, raising an eyebrow. "You cook breakfast?"

"I've been a bachelor most of my life. If you can't cook, you starve." He handed her a cup of coffee. "I think you might need this."

"Might?" She took the coffee, taking a sip. "Not the normal stuff..."

"It was all gone. That's instant, actually." He looked at the counter where he'd set his laptop. A report and a newspaper were sitting next to it, and there was another mug of coffee.

"Whatever it is, it's good." Buffy sat down, taking a bite of Dawn's pancakes.

"Will you be at the magic shop today?" Lindsey asked, not looking up from the laptop screen.

"Yeah, at about two. Anya says she wants her lunch that late, for some reason. I'm the cover."

"Could you get me some of the things on this list?" he asked, handing her a sheet of paper.

Buffy moved over towards him, her eyes scanning the list. "It's for a protection spell," she said quietly. "Dawn's already got quite a few on her."

"It's not for her," he said just as quietly, lifting up the report and handing Buffy another piece of paper. It was a letter from Angel. "My old firm's after something down here. They're having vampires snoop around, and I think last night was a setup." He pointed to the newspaper.

On the front page, towards the bottom, was a picture of the woman they'd saved last night. "Tina Cullen, another victim of the rash of gang-related attacks, has no memory of the attack. If anyone has any leads..."

Lindsey shook his head. "At the bottom. She's a Wiccan, and a very powerful one. Willow came over with the paper today when she saw this." He sighed. "What's the most important thing around here?"

"Dawn."

Lindsey looked at her, but knew she wasn't going to say anything more. "Then I think she's who they're after. Maybe having me watch her isn't the best idea."

Buffy shook her head. "No, it is. You know how they work and we don't. That's the best reason for you to watch her."

He nodded, then looked over Buffy to Dawn. "Don't we have a science fair project to work on?"

"Can't we skip it?"

"No."

She finished up her breakfast, then went into the living room. "I hate science."

Lindsey smiled, then turned back to Buffy, handing her the report. "Wesley sent this. It's about what the firm's been doing, what's been happening in Los Angeles, things that might help." He grabbed his laptop. "And now, off to work on the science project from hell."

"Wow, they're getting more...grr-like," Anya said as the group trooped back to Buffy's after patrol.

"Yeah," Buffy said absently. She was thinking about the things in Wesley's report, the background on why Wolfram & Hart might be looking for Dawn.

"You know," Xander said, "we could always use some help."

"Like from who?"

"Him," Xander said, pointing to Spike, who was walking out of the shadows.

"Spike." Buffy said. She got her hands balled into fists.

"Fists off the nose, Slayer. I'm here to help." He took a cigarette out of his pack. "I've got a thing for keeping you alive." Buffy got a momentary look of confusion on her face but let it pass. "That alley last night, it was a setup."

"What alley last night?" Xander asked.

"We figured that out this morning."

"'We'? When your bussom buddy here doesn't even know what you're talking about?" Spike asked.

"Just drop it."

"Look, Slayer," Spike said, his tone softening slightly. "Your mum's safe in the hospital, if that's what you're worrying about. I may be a cold heartless demon, but I like a Slayer with moxie. With *life,* not with her head halfway into the grave."

Buffy nodded. "Thanks."

"Just remember it's a favor you owe me." He went back towards the shadows.

"What was he talking about?" Willow asked.

"Lindsey and I ended up dealing with some vamps last night." Buffy opened the door to her house. "We took care of it."

Xander looked at her. "What about your Mom?"

"They're running tests. She's going to be fine, though," Buffy said, holding her head up. "I just know it."

Lindsey was waiting in the living room, typing on his laptop, a desolate look on his face. "Dawn's asleep," he said quietly, not even looking up.

They all looked at him for a moment. "What...what's wrong?" Tara finally asked.

He showed them a printed out e-mail from Angel. "Attack...bomb...the firm...Kate...dead," Buffy read. "Cordelia...Gunn...hospital." She set the e-mail down. "Oh my God."

Lindsey closed his laptop. When he looked up, they could see he'd been crying. "Wesley and Angel barely got Cordelia out. Gunn got Kate's body..." He shut his eyes.

Willow grabbed her coat. "Buffy, why don't we meet up tomorrow? All of us," she said gently.

Buffy nodded. "Good idea," she said, sitting down next to Lindsey. The others left, and the house suddenly got very quiet. "How..."

"How did it happen or how am I doing? Because either way, the answer's I don't know." He rested his face in his hands. "I..." He broke down then, and Buffy put an arm around his hunched over shoulders.

They sat like that for what seemed like forever, Buffy lightly stroking his hair as he cried. When he couldn't cry any more, he sat straight again, looking at Buffy. "I haven't done that in a long time," he said. "Cried at all."

"That's why I didn't stop you." She placed a hand on his cheek, wiping away the trace of tears. "Yesterday, at the store, you didn't stop me, either. And I needed it. I needed to cry." She smiled slightly. "I lied to you, yesterday."

"About what?" he asked.

"About Riley. He didn't leave for a week. He just left." Her smile turned sad. "It had been over between us for a while, but we just couldn't let go. And I woke up yesterday, and he was gone, left just a note."

"And you were crying over him?"

"No," she said. "Not over him. For the first time in a long time, I realized I need help with my life. I can't control everything. And there you were, offering some of the help I needed, without even having to ask."

Later, neither one of them remembered who had started the kiss, but it happened. It was simple, but extraordinary. It was tentative, but knowing. It was new, but it felt right.

Buffy pulled away first. "I'm...I'm sorry," she said, breathing heavily.

"No, no...I am," he said, looking away from her for a moment. He stood up. "I think...I think I'll go and..."

Buffy shook her head, stood up in front of him. "Stay. It won't happen again, if it will make you more comfortable. I need you here, for Dawn."

He looked into her eyes and nodded. "I'll stay."

There was an uncomfortable awkwardness, but with the simple movement of Buffy's hand on his arm, a sign of comfort, it was gone. Just as quickly as the awkwardness had arrived, it left.

"Can I stay down here with you, until you fall asleep?" Buffy asked.

Lindsey nodded. "Yes." He sat back down, stretching out and allowing Buffy to sit down again. Instead, she laid down next to him and moved closer to him.

"Just sleeping," she said.

"Just sleeping," he said, draping an arm over her, closing his eyes. "Just sleeping."