Disclaimer: All hail Joss.

Author’s note: Some dialogue taken from “Him.” All hail the wonderfulness that is BTL.
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Chapter 8: Genius

In the end Spike decided that he had just better accompany the whelp, and do something hellmouthy other than staking vamps and cooking for the Slayer and their sprog.

With a laugh Buffy agreed, insisting that he let Xander plan what was going to happen.

“Is that some sort of cut at my planning ability, luv?” he asked, as he put on his duster ready for his night out with Xander to get the jacket.

“Not at all!” she protested. “Just I told him to do this, I don’t want you taking all his thunder. He’s self conscious as it is.”

With a nod, Spike swooped in for a kiss goodbye before heading out into the night, to find Xander.

Dawn appeared at the door to the living room and leaned against the doorframe. “How do you even know that RJ is going to be wearing the jacket?” she asked.

“Old lady hunch?” suggested Buffy.

“Just as long as the A535 smell doesn’t make its scent known again.” Dawn wrinkled her nose. “Gross.”

“Hey! It was one time! Once! I don’t smell like an old lady. Do I?” Buffy asked with a pout, trying to inconspicuously smell herself.

“No,” conceded Dawn. “You smell like Buffy.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Buffy asked with her hands on her hips.

“Nothing!” squealed Dawn. “Can we watch them do it? I mean, wow, that sounded bad. Can we watch the plan in action? Like us being in the car and following them? With me driving? Please?”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Sure, maybe you can convince Willow and Tara to come too.”
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An hour later, Dawn at the wheel of the Ford Explorer, Buffy in the passenger seat and Tara in the back, they cruised down Main Street looking for Xander and Spike.

“I can’t imagine why Willow wouldn’t want to be a part of this,” commented Buffy as Dawn made the SUV lurch through the streets.

“She hasn’t been feeling well since we got back from England,” commented Tara, holding on to the seat around her, trying to keep herself from bouncing too much from Dawn’s seriously bad driving.

“Maybe she should go to the doctor’s,” noted Dawn hitting the windshield wiper switch instead of the turn signal.

“She keeps telling me that she’s not that kind of sick. Her aura is murkey brown all the time. I think it’s a magic thing. She’s been meditating but it doesn‘t seem to be helping. I don’t know what else to do though...” continued Tara.

“Hey! There’s Xander and Spike!” interrupted Dawn, gripping the steering wheel.

Out on the street before them, Xander and Spike walked, trying to act casually as they trailed after a boy with a letterman’s jacket.

“Wow, that RJ is hot,” exclaimed Tara from the back seat.

“Drool worthy,” concurred Dawn.

Suddenly, the two guys rushed the teen, tackling him the ground and taking his jacket and running away.

“And that is our cue to go back to the house and pretend we didn’t see that genius plan,” commented Buffy, poking a giggling Dawn in the arm.

Dawn put the car back in drive. “Ok, we are off, stealth girl.”

“Floor it,” ordered Buffy.
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When Xander and Spike arrived back at the house, Buffy, Dawn and Tara were sitting in the living room listening to the radio, trying to act as if they had been having a deep and meaningful conversation.

Xander stepped over the threshold with a triumphant grin, holding the jacket like a trophy.

“The conquering heros are back!” he exclaimed, causing Dawn to burst out into giggles and had to leave the room.

“Ignore her, she’s been giggly all night,” explained Buffy.

“What are you going to do with the jacket now?” asked Tara.

“He’s gonna burn the thing...Make sure it never gets used,” started Spike.

“Fire pretty,” noted Buffy with a smile.

There was a poof of smoke. “What are we burning?” asked Anya suddenly appearing in the living room. “Oh, he’s here,” she added with a pout.

“We’re burning the jacket,” explained Buffy even as Tara set the fire ablaze with a small incantation.

Xander’s triumph continued as he laid the jacket down on logs in the fireplace. “ That, my friends, is the smell of sweet, sweet, victory.”

“Also, burning cotton-poly blend,” observed Anya.

“Xander, be honest. You didn't, you know, think about slipping that jacket on just a little bit?” asked Buffy.

“I refuse to answer that on the grounds that it didn't fit,” responded the carpenter.

“And now we’ll never know where he got it from,“ added Tara.

“Yeah, welcome to the Hellmouth, where even outerwear isn't safe,” observed Xander grinning at the jacket. “Where’s Willow?” he asked. “Shouldn’t she be here enjoying the burning of enchanted jackets?”

“She’s upstairs,” explained Tara. “She’s not feeling great.”

“Again?” asked Anya.

“Not again, Anya,” said Xander. “This would be a still.”

“This isn’t going to get in your way of moving out is it?” asked Anya without any tact at all. The collective group glared at the vengeance demon. “What?”

“We signed our lease on the apartment,” responded Tara after a second. “We get the keys on the first of the month. If Willow’s not up to moving right away then I won’t push her to help out. I’d like to be moved before Buffy and Spike start to get more house guests though.”

“Take your time, Tara,” answered Buffy. “The Council hasn’t even told me when Molly’s coming. And Andrew’ s getting the basement, so no rush.”

“When does Tucker’s brother get out of jail?” asked Xander.

“Sooner than I’d like to admit,” smiled Buffy vaguely.
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Buffy stepped off the stairs of Sunnydale U’s history building oddly unprepared for the massive amount of sunshine outside by leaving her sunglasses at home. She squinted against the bright light and shifted the books in her arms and stepped towards the campus parking lot.

And collided with a body. A male solidery type body.

Buffy put her hand up to shade her eyes to find out just who she ran into that was wearing combat boots and military fatigue pants.

“Buffy?” the male voice questioned.

“Graham?” Buffy asked, shock apparent in her voice.

Riley’s friend stepped back from the girl realizing that he was in her personal space. “Uh, how are you?” he asked.

Buffy hugged her books to her chest. “Not bad. Getting married in the spring. You? Still involved in the government pursuit and capture of demons?”

“That’s classified,” he stated.

“Sure it is, but you can tell me, I’m all with the knowledge. Riley was even here a few months ago.”

“I can’t tell you, Buffy.”

Buffy gave a smile and shook her head. “Hmm just like old times then. Kinda like that time your old boss tried to kill me or when she set a Frankenstein type thing loose on the town. Good times I tell you.”

“Ya...Well it was nice to see you,” he said, extricating himself from situation.

Buffy watched as he walked away and wondered just what he was doing in Sunnydale and how this was going to affect her family.
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“So Graham, Riley’s friend?” asked Xander as he lifted a box of Willow’s stuff into the back of the Ford Explorer. “Just popped out of no where?”

“Yep, all wearing of the military gear, complete with regulation hair cut,” replied Buffy, lifting her own burden into the SUV.

“So what’s he doing here?” asked Xander.

“I don’t know, something new though. This didn’t happen before.”

“So no great help from the future on this one? That sucks. Or is new and exciting good? I just don’t want it to be the Initiative part two. I like some variety in life.”

“I promise it’ll be not boring, Xander, just for you,” Buffy added.

“Can’t you just magic all of Tara and Willow’s stuff into the back of the three cars?” he suggested as he stretched out his muscles, walking towards the house once again.

“See that would be too easy, I live to make things difficult,” responded Buffy with a coy smile. “’Sides, I need time to ponder out this whole Graham thing.”

“As long as he keeps away from the Scoobies, I’m fine with him. He can do what he wants to the rest of the demon population.”

Buffy shot Xander a look. “You don’t learn do you?” she asked.

“What’s to learn? Demons bad, except for a select few.”

“What about those few that you haven’t met?” Buffy asked.

“Hey! Stop dilly dallying out there!” ordered Anya from inside the house. “Willow’s being manic again!”
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It was only a few weeks after moving Tara and Willow to their new apartment that Andrew was granted parole, throwing the Summer’s household into further chaos as they moved in the nerd into the basement, complete with action figures.

Dawn suddenly became a mother hen over everything Andrew wise.

“Why aren’t you helping with the carrying of heavy objects containing things of a nerdlike nature?” asked Buffy as she bumped Dawn out of the way, carting yet another box of ‘Communicator’ magazines down the basement steps.

Dawn stood in the upstairs hallway, perched over the basement steps with her arms crossed. “He’s my friend and future co-parent, so I get to manage the moving in of stuff.”

“Right,” muttered Buffy heading down the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs a rather nervous Andrew stood, his arms crossed and fidgeting.

“Please tell me that you are going to help?” asked Buffy.

Andrew stared across the basement completely ignoring the Master Slayer. She put down her box and stepped towards him, waving her hand in front of his face.

“Andrew? Uh, Andrew? Earth to the starship Andrew? Come in Captain Wells?”

Andrew let out a sigh, and finally Buffy let her eyes drift to just where Andrew was staring. Spike’s ass. Spike and Xander were putting together Andrew’s furniture, Spike‘s back to the nerd.

“Andrew!” shouted Buffy right into his ear.

Finally startled, Andrew turned to look at Buffy. “What?” he asked in that whiny voice of his.

“Spike’s ass, belongs to me. Stop ogling it!”

Xander and Spike turned around, Xander letting his jaw drop. Dawn came thundering down the stairs.

“Andrew!” Dawn yelled. “You promised you weren’t going to do that!”

“Oh this is a promising beginning,” muttered Anya holding up two Star Wars figurines. “So where do you want the toys set up?”

“They aren’t toys!” whined Andrew. “Collectables!”

“Whatever,” muttered Anya. “They’re still small and child like. I call them toys.”

Andrew pouted.

“I think I liked it better when the witches lived here,” noted Spike standing up from his position crouched on the floor, Ikea bits and pieces littering the floor around him.

“Be nice, Spike,” asked Buffy.

“Lay off my friend!” warned Dawn.

With a glare, Spike ascended the stairs, Xander following behind him.

“See what you did now?” asked Anya. “I’m going to have to deal with snarky Xander for the rest of the day. Even though I really shouldn’t have to deal with his ass. It’s not like I married him or anything. Why I can’t just wish him into some hell dimension? It would be so much easier.” Putting down the figurines, Anya followed up after the boys.

“I like her,” observed Andrew.
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tbc...