Summary: A broken Slayer befriends Clem as she starts spending more and more time at Spike’s crypt after the bleach blonde flees to Africa. Then Spike returns with dire news and the Slayer’s world is turned upside down once more.

Spoilers: Set post “Grave”

Rating: PG-13

Author’s Notes: None

Distribution: If ya want it, take it, just give me credit… And, if ya could, let me know where it’s going.

Feedback: You can send it to brock3005@aol.com or otownfan1520@yahoo.com.

~*~*~*~

The gang had been gathered at the Magick Box for hours, researching their latest problem. The sun had long since risen and everyone was exhausted. Dawn had fallen asleep not ten minutes after opening the first book, and Buffy hadn’t been far behind… As soon as she had rested her head on Spike’s shoulder, she’d been out. And considering his constant grumbling about Buffy’s close proximity to the newly souled vampire, Xander wasn’t exactly a big help either. For the most part, the only three in the group who were getting anything done were Giles, Anya, and Spike. Not that it really made a difference anyway… They weren’t finding anything.

“You do realize this is pointless, don’t you?” Anya questioned as she slammed shut yet another ancient text. “We’ve been working at this for hours and I haven’t even seen the slightest mention of this thing in any of these books… And neither have either of you. Not to mention the fact that the shop’s gonna be opening in less than an hour. Don’t you think maybe we should look for other ways of researching?”

“And exactly how else are we gonna research?” Spike asked curiously, his eyes never leaving the book he held. From the corner of his eye, he saw Xander glare at him when his free hand move unconsciously to gently stroke Buffy’s golden blonde locks. Spike knew Anya was probably right… They weren’t finding anything this way and they were all in need of a good long rest. Buffy especially… He could tell she hadn’t really been sleeping well. He didn’t know what was wrong, but he knew there was something that had been haunting her. Maybe he’d ask her later… But even if he didn’t, he had no doubt that she would eventually tell him what was bothering her… She always did.

“I don’t know…” Anya told him, shrugging her shoulders. “What about Willow?”

“What about her?” Xander asked, curious.

“Well, if we can’t find anything in the books, maybe we should try the internet… Willow’s our expert when it comes to that type of thing…”

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea…” Giles agreed. “Although, it would probably be good to keep at least a couple of people at the books…”

“I’ll stay. It’s daylight and all…” Spike volunteered before gesturing to the two Summers girls. “Besides, I think these two need to get home and get some sleep, Anya’s got the shop to run, and somebody’s gotta go fill Willow in on the whole situation. I figure me and Giles here can stick around and take care of this end, and Xander, if you don’t mind, you can drop Buffy and Dawn back at home and then you can tell Willow what she needs to know.”

Xander glared at the vampire for a moment more before sighing heavily. He was just gonna have to deal with the bloodsucker… There really wasn’t much of anything he could do about it. If Buffy wanted to be with him, then that was her mistake. It wasn’t his place to interfere. Yes, he was her friend, and he worried about her… Probably more than he needed to… But Buffy could take care of herself, and if she saw something good in Spike, then he wasn’t going to argue. Besides, Buffy wasn’t exactly the type of person who’s fun to argue with… Buffy was the type who could kick your ass in a millisecond, and that was never fun…

Finally, he decided to just give in. As much as he hated to admit it, Spike actually was right about this one. They did need Willow’s help and Buffy and Dawn both looked like they needed to sleep. So instead of arguing, he nodded. “Alright. I’ll let ya know if Will finds anything.”

Spike nodded his thanks to Xander before going about the nearly impossible task of awakening the soundly sleeping Buffy. “Buffy, Love, wake up…” he whispered softly; his hand making slow, gentle circles on her shoulder. She stirred slightly, but only to cuddle closer to him before sighing contentedly and drifting back into dreamland. When Xander’s eyes narrowed at the sight, Spike had to bit his lip to keep from laughing out loud… Soul or no soul, he’d always had a lot of fun trying to get a rise out of the boy. “Come on now, Pet… Gotta get ya home.” he coaxed gently, his hand never stilling on her shoulder.

After a moment, her eyes fluttered open sleepily and she raised them just slightly to meet with his crystal blue ones. Smiling, she again snuggled closer to his side. “Don’t wanna…” she murmured groggily against his shoulder. “Like it here…”

“Sorry, Love, but I think you ought to go home, crawl into your nice warm bed, and sleep for as long as you want… You’re exhausted, and ya need some rest.” he disagreed

“Come with me?” she joked playfully, though there was a hint of hope behind her eyes… Sleeping beside him seemed to calm her nightmares somehow. She wasn’t sure exactly what it was… Maybe it was simply being close to him again that was settling her subconscious.

“And that is something I never needed to hear.” Xander grumbled as he went about his work of waking the still slumbering Summers… Which was no easy task. In fact, Dawn was a heavier sleeper than Buffy.

This time neither Spike nor Buffy could hold back their amusement. Both laughed. Spike didn’t hold back, whereas Buffy tried her best to keep her giggling to herself. After a moment, she swatted Spike’s chest lightly, urging him to stop… Which he did once he caught the look she shot him. Buffy smiled up at him amusedly. She had to hand it to him… The guy was obedient…

“So…” Buffy began to question as she straightened up a bit, though she had no intention of actually moving away from her vampire. “What exactly are we doin’?”

“Well,” Giles began, still flipping through one of his books… Buffy suspected he was doing everything he could to avoid seeing the display she and Spike had been putting on. “Xander’s going to drop you and Dawn back at home and then he’s going to stop by to see Willow so he can fill her in, while Spike and I stay here and continue researching this way.”

“This way?” Buffy was slightly confused. “How else are we researching?”

“Gonna see if Red can dig up anything on the internet… Might be somethin’ out there we don’t have here… Even if she doesn’t find anything, it’s worth a try, right? Ya know, gotta cover all our bases.” Spike offered.

“Yeah.” She nodded in agreement. “Alright… Um… Spike, are you gonna stop by the house later, or should we just meet you here?”

“I’ll drop in a little after sunset… We can take a sweep of the cemetery before we show up back here… If ya want to, that is…”
“Sure… Sounds good.” she replied as she sighed heavily, reluctant to leave her comfortable nest in Spike’s arms. Finally, she dragged herself away from him and stood, not really wanting to leave, but knowing arguing would get her nowhere. She knew as well as they did that she was in serious need of a good night’s rest… Or day’s as it was. “So, we ready to go?”

“Yep…” Xander had finally succeeded in waking Dawn and the girl was looking none too happy about it.

“Okay.” She nodded, lightly kissing Spike’s cheek before turning to go with the others.

“So…” Spike said conversationally once they had gone, his eyes once again focused on the books he had been skimming. “Know anything else about this thing, Anya?”