CHAPTER NINE

The elevator gave a cheerful ding as the doors glided open, and two Slayers, a souled vampire and a witch stepped out, and though they were silent, they still managed to draw the eyes and attention of the employees of Wolfram and Hart. Throwing them all a proud smirk, Spike interlaced his fingers with his Slayer’s, leading the girls confidently into the lobby.

Spike leant down to whisper conspiratorially in Buffy’s ear. “What do you reckon, love? I go game-face; Red goes brunette and we all give the lawyers are good bloody scare?” He nudged the blonde next to him, curling his tongue behind his teeth. He raised his voice enough to earn himself a twin pair of good-natured glares from the couple next to them.

“Don’t tempt me,” Buffy rolled her eyes, smiling slightly at the feel of his hand around hers. It seemed so innocent, and strangely, so natural. Noticing one of the nearest employees staring at her she threw him her patented if-looks-could-stake glare before throwing Willow a grin. “What do you reckon, Wills? Reckon you could take them?”

“After yesterday?” Willow questioned with a small smile on her lips. “I have barely enough power to float a pencil. But give me a few days and a good cup of coffee and I can totally take them on.” She laughed, waving an arm, the other wrapped around Kennedy’s waist.

“Coffee. Right.” Buffy nodded firmly, “Hell, they probably have some mystical link to Brazil. Fresh from the source. You wanna do the honours, Kennedy?”

“Sure.” Kennedy shrugged, “I think I’m starting to get a hang of this place.” She made a great show of shaking off and stretching before winking at the others. “HEY! HARMONY!”

The vampire at the desk in the corner scrambled to stand, almost snapping to attention before catching herself. Quickly fluffing her hair and pulling at her skirt, she flounced her way over to the group by the lifts.

“What?” Harmony folded her arms over her chest, flicking her hair over her shoulder. Noticing the look on the younger Slayer’s face, she quickly switched from bitchy Cordette to sycophantic assistant, clapping her hands together. “I mean, what can I do for you today?”

Kennedy raised a hand, giving a little wave. “Yeah, hi. Coffee. Coffee would be great.”

Harmony nodded emphatically, like she was checking off a list in her mind. “Willow? Coffee? Tea? We have juice, soda and assorted animal bloods.”

Willow wrinkled her nose. “Coffee’s fine. Mocha, if at all possible.”
“Baby, are you sure? You know what caffeine does to you.” Kennedy elbowed her gently.

“Jitterbugs aren’t really a problem right now, I’m too wiped.” Willow assured her, touching her arm.

Harmony sighed and nodded before turning to the blonde couple next to her. “Buffy, Spikey...” She corrected herself, “Spike. Can I get you anything?”

Buffy glanced at the others, holding back a smile as she noticed Kennedy giggling behind her hand. Winking at Spike, she shrugged. “I think we’re fine, thanks Harm. I mean, what are you going to get a ghost?”

With that, Buffy leaned up on her toes and flung her arms around Spike’s neck, crushing her lips to his and sliding her tongue into his mouth. She felt his hands slide down to grip her hips and she let the kiss linger for a few moments before pulling away. She wiped her mouth teasingly with the back of her hand and grinned at the pink-clad vampire.

“Unless you want anything, honey?” Buffy flicked her eyebrows at Spike and smiled as a smirk curled his lips.

“Blood thanks, Harm.” Spike flung an arm around Buffy’s shoulders, pulling her against him as he watched his ex’s eyes widen. “And a diet coke for the lady.”

He smiled slightly as Buffy’s hand came up to catch the one he was dangling over shoulder, interlacing their fingers even as she rolled her eyes at him. Without waiting for a reply, he spun them both around, waving for Willow and Kennedy to follow.

“The boss-man will be expecting us too, Harm. No need to announce us.”

 
*                              *                              *                              *                              *                              *                              *
 

Hey, B, ‘bout time you got here.” Faith greeted Buffy as the foursome entered the room. She was perched on the arm of the couch, while the cushions were occupied by Lorne and Gunn. Fred was in one of the armchairs, and Wesley was standing behind the desk next to where Angel was sitting. Gunn had an arm draped across the arm of the chair behind Faith.

“Hey, Faith,” Buffy waved, giving the others on the couch a smile. “You beat us here?”

“Yeah, and we even managed to get in a morning fuck.” Faith laughed as Gunn sputtered halfway through a mouthful of coffee. “How ‘bout you? What took you so long?”

Buffy blushed, giggling nervously as Spike smirked triumphantly, his eyes flickering briefly to Angel. They had spent most of the morning in a state of half-undress, barely making it three feet from the bed without catching each other and falling back on the sheets, mouths meeting. Willow and Kennedy had teased them as soon as they had emerged from the room, telling them they’d managed to share a three-course breakfast before the blonde couple had come to find them.

“Uh... bad traffic.”

Spike laughed at that, his arm slipping from Buffy’s shoulders to her waist, his thumb hooking into her belt.

Angel cleared his throat. He watched as the witch and her Slayer made their way across the room, Willow settling herself in the free armchair and Kennedy standing near the window, her arms folded. “Willow. How are you feeling?”

“Better, thanks.” She gave the vampire a cheery smile. “How’s the arm.”

Angel chuckled, holding up his wrist. “Completely healed.”

Harmony entered, carrying a tray laden with drinks. Setting it down on coffee table, she began handing out the requested drinks, as well as coffee for the others. Buffy thanked her as she handed her the coke, holding back a giggle at the look on the other blonde’s face. Spike quickly moved forward and snagged one of the mugs of blood from the tray, downing half of it.

Buffy raised an eyebrow at his enthusiasm, and laughed when he held up the mug. It was emblazoned with the phrase: NUMBER ONE BOSS.

Angel scoffed, accepting the other mug of blood. Harmony threw the blonde couple in the middle of the room a haughty glare as she bustled out of the room.

Ignoring the ruffled vamp, Buffy stepped forward and ran her thumb over Spike’s upper lip, wiping away the blood there. He caught her thumb, sucking it into his mouth and biting down on it playfully. She pressed a kiss to his neck.

“So, you ready to go?” Buffy turned to Faith, noticing that her hand was resting lightly in Gunn’s lap.

Faith smirked in spite of herself when Buffy quirked an eyebrow at her. “Yeah, where are we headed this time?”

Buffy shrugged, sipping at her coke. “I gotta head back to Rome, save Andrew from Dawnie. Or you know, save Dawn from him.”

“You left Dawn with Andrew?” Spike interrupted, incredulous. “How the bloody hell is he supposed to protect her?”

Buffy rolled her eyes, and Kennedy spoke up.

“It was more of a making-sure-she-went-to-school kind of Dawn-duty. She can look after herself.”

“Little brat is a regular Slayer Junior, nowadays.” Faith agreed.

“And, uh, we should probably go check in with Giles, too.” Buffy decided, “Means a trip to London.”

“All of us?” Faith grimaced. She didn’t like visiting the Council, even the new one. She had only been once, and that was only to pay her respects at the funeral service. As soon as that was over, she’d taken the potentials... or well, Slayerettes... Giles had assigned to her and left for Cleveland. “Why?”

“Well, maybe not all of us.” Buffy conceded, tucking an arm around Spike’s hips underneath his duster. “You’ve got Slayer’s to get back to. But Giles will want to know about what happened, so we better go,” she indicated to herself and Spike, “and Wills, if you don’t mind? He will probably want to know the mechanics of the spell and whatnot.”

“Sure,” Willow replied, glancing over at Kennedy. “We’ll make a stop off there before we head back to Rio.”

“If you need any help at all on that front, explaining the spell, you can always reach me here,” Wesley offered, stepping around the desk towards them. “Although, you probably understand what we did better than I do.”

Willow nodded gratefully.

“Thank you, Wes.” Buffy smiled, looking around at the others. “All of you. You gave me... you gave him back to me.” Spike’s arm tightened around her. “I... thank you.”

They all nodded at her, Lorne and Fred giving the couple a wide grin.

“So when are you scheduled to leave?” Wesley asked.

Willow checked her watch. “Well, now we know we’re all heading to Rome, we need to be at the airport in half an hour.”

“So, we better head off, right?”

Faith looked up. “Why so eager, Boarding-School?”

Kennedy rolled her eyes at her. “Why aren’t you?” She sent a pointed glance Gunn’s way.

Faith grinned, squeezing Gunn’s thigh.

“Actually, she is right. If we want to beat traffic, we are going to leave soon.” Willow pointed out, standing. She had a small smile on her face as she saw what was going on between Faith and Gunn. Faith had only been that way with Wood, and he had been the one to break it off between them. Maybe Faith was finally ready for an actual human relationship.

Besides, Cleveland wasn’t that far away.

“Right, alright.” Buffy nodded, downing the last of her coke and stepping out of Spike’s arms. She rolled her eyes at his playful pout, and turned to the others. “We should go.”

Buffy stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Wesley in a hug, surprising him slightly. Tucking her chin on his shoulder, she gave him a squeeze. “Thank you, Wes. For everything.”

He returned the hug, a little startled by the physical show of gratitude. “You’re welcome, Buffy. We’re always a phone call away if you ever need anything else.”

“Thanks. I’ll get Giles to call you. I’m sure you can have a Watcher-to-Watcher chat about the New Council.”

Wesley chuckled.

Buffy stepped out of the way to let Willow say goodbye, and was surprised to see Spike giving Fred a quick hug.

“Thanks for your help, love. You’re good company.”

“You’re welcome, Spike. I really didn’t do anything. I was just, you know, ‘scanner girl’.” Fred laughed, giving him a friendly squeeze. They broke apart, and Spike gave her a thankful nod and backed away, giving the others a small, awkward smile.

Buffy smiled to herself as she stepped forward to say goodbye to the others. Fred quickly embraced her, giving her a friendly grin, followed by Gunn who wrapped his arms around her in a way that reminded her of Xander’s old bear hugs.

“Thanks for the office-usage there, Gunn.”

“No worries, girl. Next time you visit though, I think I’ll lock away any of the breakables.” Gunn laughed, grinning at her.

Buffy punched his arm playfully, secretly proud of the fact that she didn’t actually hurt him. She had obviously gotten better with her strength-control.

Spike smirked as Buffy turned away, noticing the wince Gunn had obviously been trying to hold back.

Lorne threw his arms around Buffy like they’d known each other for years, before pulling away and holding her at arm’s length.”Honey, it was great to finally meet you.”

“You too, Lorne.”

“Lord-y, I tell you what, Slim over there is obviously a good influence on you, because those vibes you are throwing off you are completely different from the ones you had yesterday.”

“Huh?” Buffy furrowed her brow in confusion as Spike sidled up behind her, snaking an arm around her waist. She unconsciously fell against him, touching her temple to the leather of his duster.

“Lorne is an empath demon, Buffy.” Wesley stepped in, “He can sense people’s emotions when they sing.”

“But I’m, uh... I’m not singing.” Buffy pointed out.

“But your heart is, honey,” Lorne grinned. “It’s pretty much singing the chorus of ‘Hum Hallelujah’... same as Spike, here.”

Spike gave her a happy squeeze. She blushed.

Willow and Faith said their goodbyes, including a rather graphic kiss between Faith and Gunn. Kennedy had already given them all a curt nod and headed to the door, taking Willow’s hand as she reached her. Faith followed behind them, but only after whispering something blush-worthy in Gunn’s ear.

Spike gave them all a patented smirk and a carefree, almost dismissive wave before turning to go, halting when Buffy pulled him up short. She gave him a half-smile and nodded, and the vampire rolled his eyes and went to stand with the others.

“Angel?” Buffy ventured.

Angel stood, coming around the desk and gathered Buffy up in a hug. His eyes found Spike as the hug lingered. Spike rolled his.

When Angel finally let go, Buffy looked a little startled, but smiled anyway. ‘It was good to see you, Angel.”

“You too, Buffy,” he replied with a grin. “I’m glad you’re alright.”

She nodded. Giving him another small smile, she stepped back, letting Spike take her hand by the door.

“Cocky bastard,” Spike muttered.

“What?”

“He thinks despite everything that he’ll get you back one day.” He sent a glare his grandsire’s way.

“Really?” Buffy smirked, turning back to her first love. “Oh, and Angel? The cookies are baked. I’m done.”

And with that, Angel’s smug expression crumbled, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer led an incredulous Spike, Willow, Faith and Kennedy out the door.
 

*                              *                              *                              *                              *                              *                              *

 
“So what the bloody hell was the cookie thing about?” Spike questioned as they took their seats on the plane, after Willow had magically made sure that no one could open their blinds.

Buffy laughed, shaking her head. “I’ll tell you later.”

Spike simply nodded, gave her a smile and covered her hand with his. “Okay.”

Buffy warmed, finding it strangely touching that he didn’t argue with her. “Spike?”

“Yeah, kitten?”

“I love you.”

Spike caught her mouth in a kiss, soft and sensuous. “I love you too.”

As soon as they were given the all clear to remove seatbelts, Buffy pulled out her cell, and moved the arm rest into its upright position. She leaned comfortably against Spike’s side, letting him wrap his arms around her. Twisting to press a kiss to his lips, she smiled up at him before pressing a number on her speed dial, holding the phone up to her ear.

“Calling to let the Watcher know we’re on our way, pet?” Spike asked, watching her intently. Like it was something he loved to do.

“No, Dawn. You know, to give her a sporting chance to clean up the mess Andrew undoubtedly let her make.” Buffy giggled as Spike began to kiss his way down her throat. Waving a hand at him, she sat up slightly as she heard the other end of the line connect.

“Yell-o.”

“Hey, Dawnie. How’s the apartment? Still standing?” Buffy asked good-naturedly.

“What? Oh, yeah. It’s fine. Andrew is crashed on the couch as we speak. Something about a Star-Trek marathon on the Sci-Fi channel.”She could practically hear Dawn’s eyes rolling. “He’s out cold, surrounded by soda cans and junk food.”

“Oh dear lord,” the elder Summers sister laughed. “Why the hell did we get cable?”

“So we could still watch American television here in Italia.”

“Good point.”

“So you headed home?”

“Yeah, on the plane now, I—“ the stewardess approached them, ducking down to ask them if they wanted any refreshments with a too-bright smile plastered on her face.

“You want anything, love?” Spike asked her, after asking for a ‘bloody poor excuse for a bottle of Jack’.

Buffy turned away from the phone, giving her vampire a smile and turning to the stewardess. “Maybe a water, if it’s—“

Dawn’s voice rang through the connection. “Buffy, who are you talking to?”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “The stewardess, Dawnie, if that’s alright with you.”

“Who else is there?”

“What? What do you—“

“Just the water, pet?” Spike asked with a smirk on his face.

“Buffy, is that SPIKE?!”




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Author's Note:
                   There you go, guys. Completely done. I hope you like it, I had a little trouble with the last chapter, but I think this works. Please review =)