Chapter 11

"What's this chip you're talking about?" Lorne piped up.

Buffy looked Lorne up and down before she turned to Wesley.  "You've gotten some interesting friends since the last time you were in town," she said.

Wesley let out a laugh.  "Yes, I have.  Lorne, this is Buffy Summers, the Slayer, and her companion is Spike.  He's related to Angel."

"Much to my disgust," Spike muttered.

"I'm still curious about this chip thing."  Lorne looked from Buffy to Spike.  "I really don't like the sound of that."

"You probably won't, mate."  Spike gave Buffy a worried glance.  She still hadn't freaked out about what was going on.  "There were some soldier boys from the good old U.S. of A. army here in Sunnyhell."

Buffy nodded in agreement.  "They were capturing demons and experimenting.  One of the things they were doing was putting chips in vampires' heads to make them unable to hunt humans.  Spike got caught by them."

"Angel may have mentioned you were dating one of the soldiers," Wesley said.

"Yeah, he's long gone now."  Buffy shrugged.  "Have you two checked into your room yet?"

Wesley shook his head.  "Not yet.  We came by to check out the Hellmouth."

"Busy as always."  Buffy turned to Spike.  "About the chip."

"I don't think this is the place to be discussing this.  Obviously it still works, or I wouldn't have gotten a headache when I hit that idiot priest."  Spike scowled at the retreating priests. 

"Rupert booked us a room at the Sunnydale Bed and Breakfast.  We could talk on the way there."  Wesley gestured towards the side entrance of the construction zone where he'd parked his car.

Buffy sighed.  "Fine.  My chariot awaits."  She grabbed Spike's hand with her good hand, and she dragged him off towards Wesley's car.

Spike and Buffy settled in the back seat, still holding hands.  Buffy rubbed her thumb back and forth against Spike's thumb.  "I take it that Giles called you?" she asked Wesley.

Wesley glanced in the mirror at Buffy.  "Yes, he did.  He informed me that Darla was in town and about her condition."

"Yeah, that surprised us too," Spike replied.  "We're having an epidemic of mystical vampire babies."

Buffy smacked Spike's arm.  "Three of us are not an epidemic, Spike."

"Three of you?"  Wesley sounded confused.  "I don't understand."

Buffy and Spike took turns explaining everything that had happened in Sunnydale since Halloween.  They also included the explanation on the chip that hindered Spike.

After Spike and Buffy fell silent, Lorne shook his head in disbelief.  "Here I thought we had interesting times with Angel Investigations."

"Nothing beats life on the Hellmouth," Buffy muttered.  She tightened her grip on Spike's hand.  Buffy was still a bit freaked out by Spike's lack of pain when he had fixed her hand.  Not that she had thought that Spike would hurt her.  Their relationship had changed for the better since finding out about Dawn's true parentage.

"We're here," Spike said in a soft voice.  He knew that Buffy was deep in thought.  He just hoped it wasn't going to come back and bite him in the butt.  Or in the Slayer's case, in the nose.  She did like to punch him in the nose.

Buffy looked up to find Wesley's car parked in the parking lot of the Sunnydale Bed and Breakfast.   Wesley got out of the car to go check in.

Lorne turned around to look at Spike and Buffy.  "That's quite a story there, lamb chops."

"Life in Sunnydale.  Never a dull moment," Buffy muttered.   "So, what kind of demon are you?"

"The kind with a song in my heart and a microphone in my hand," Lorne said with a chuckle.  "Sing, and I'll tell you your destiny."

"Get called and die young.  That's my destiny," Buffy replied.

Lorne shrugged.  "Maybe.  Maybe not.  Sing for me, sweet thing."

"You're kinda weird," Buffy replied.  "What's this singing thing you want me to do?"

"It lets me read your aura and see your future, sweet thing," Lorne said. 

Wesley ducked his head into the car.  "We have room 156.  We can talk some more in there."  He glanced at Lorne.  "Are you trying to get them to sing for you?"

"It's what I do.  Who I am," the green skinned demon answered without any apology in his voice. 

Wesley rolled his eyes like it was an old argument that neither male wanted to win.  "Whatever," he replied.

Buffy let out a laugh.  "I think I like you, Wesley."  She turned to Lorne and she sang, "Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream.  Merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream."

Lorne closed his eyes, and he sighed.  "Oh, sweet heavenly angel."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

 After talking with Wesley and Lorne till after 2 a.m., Spike and Buffy finally returned to Revello Drive.  They knew Tara and Dawn were with Giles.  They only had to deal with Willow.  When they stepped inside, Spike shook his head.

"I don't hear her heartbeat," the vampire said in a soft voice.  "She's not here."

"Huh."  Buffy took off her jacket, and she hung it on the coat rack.  "I'll check her room.  Can you check the doors?"

"No problem, Slayer."  Spike sauntered off towards the kitchen and the back door.

Buffy went up the stairs to look in the master bedroom.  Once there, she could see that many of Willow's things were missing.  "Oh boy," she muttered. 

Spike came up behind Buffy.  "Guess we better warn the witchlet in the morning?"

"Yeah, we should.  We should ask her to check out the spell Willow used on me too."  Buffy turned to Spike.  "Just to be on the safe side.  What if I'm not me?"

"Pet, you are you.  I'd know if you weren't," Spike said.  He reached up to stroke a lock of Buffy's hair.

Buffy shook her head.  "Nobody knew it wasn't me when Faith was in my body."

"That's the other Slayer, right?"  Spike narrowed his eyes.  Then, he widened them as something dawned on him.  "Oh, that explains so much."

"What are you talking about?"

"So, back after I got the chip, did you tell me that you'd ride me at a gallop till I popped like warm champagne?"

A horrified look crossed Buffy's face.  "Ewww, no.  So, not only did she have sex with Riley, she propositioned you too?  Now, I'm a little worried what else she did while she was me."

"I'm sure someone would have said something to you if she had," Spike reassured Buffy.

Downstairs, the clock chimed the hour.  Buffy grimaced.  "3 a.m.  Guess that means I won't be getting much sleep tonight.  Tara's first class is at nine.  If we want to talk to her we need to be up and to Giles' by eight."

"Well, then, off to bed, Slayer.  Do you want me to lock up when I go?"

Buffy smirked up at Spike.  "Who said anything about you going anywhere?"  She grabbed his hand, and she dragged him down the hallway to her bedroom.

"Oi, what if I'm not that kind of man," Spike teased.  They stopped next to Buffy's bed.

"Maybe not, but you are just that kind of monster."  Buffy turned to Spike, and she pushed him to a sitting position on her bed.  Then, she stepped between his knees with her hands on his shoulders.  "Spike, I'm glad that you're Dawn's real father."

"I just wish your Mum could have known."  Spike settled his hands on Buffy's hips while he gazed up into her face.

Buffy gave a small smile.  "Yeah, me too.  Let me set my alarm.  You take off your boots and get comfortable."

Spike unlaced his boots while he watched Buffy move around the room doing her bedtime tasks.  First, she set her alarm.  Then, she moved to the closet where she changed into her pajamas.  Spike wondered if he should avert his eyes, but then he decided that he was an evil vampire.  Instead he settled back on the bed where he waited for her to return to him.

Buffy crawled into bed beside Spike.  She laid her head on his chest, and she let out a weary sigh.   It had been a long day.  After a few moments, she looked up at Spike's face. 

"I love you, Slayer," Spike whispered, reverence tinged his voice.  "I'm so bloody in love with you."

Buffy surged up to cover Spike's mouth with her own.