[ not gonna warn for mild spice every time but there's a smidge near the end ]

♡︎

WILLOW, THAT SOUNDS LIKE YOU'RE THREATENING GILES.

[ 6.04 ]

It was dark as Buffy crept through the basement, following the faint dripping sound. With a satisfied smile, she finally found the leaking pipe and raised her wrench.

"So we meet at last, Mister Drippy," she said dramatically.

"I wouldn't do that," Teddy said, shaking his head. He was sitting on the steps with Dawn.

"Stuff it, Theo," Buffy said before climbing on a stool to reach the pipe and begin tightening it.

"Want me to call a plumber?" Dawn asked. She already had the phone in hand.

"No."

"You sure?" she asked, sharing a doubtful look with Teddy.

"Yes."

"She's got the number," Teddy said.

Buffy turned to look at them over her shoulder, exasperated. "Theo, Dawn, I'm on it, okay?"

The two shrugged but stopped talking. Buffy gave the pipe one last twist, and the dripping stopped. She smiled in satisfaction. "Ah."

There was a beat of silence before a low, groaning noise filled the area. Suddenly water began spraying violently from at least a dozen different pipes, getting all over the basement. When several jets of water hit Dawn and Teddy, she shrieked and fled upstairs. Teddy just shook his head and closed his eyes to keep the water from getting in.

"Better?" he asked.

Buffy sighed, not moving either. "All better."

♡︎

The basement was completely flooded — like three feet of water flooded. Xander brought over a plumber that his construction company worked with to check out the damage and give an estimate on how much fixing it would cost.

"And a big Sunnydale round of applause for Tito the Amazing, plumber extraordinaire," Xander said as he and Tito came up from the basement. The rest of the gang was waiting in the kitchen to see what would be done.

"So how's everything looking down there?" Tara asked.

"Like we should start gathering up two of every animal," Xander joked.

"So, not dry, then?" Kitty asked, finishing off her plate of pancakes.

"Basically, your pipes are shot," Tito told Buffy. "I mean, the whole system's gonna have to be replaced. What you need is a full copper re-pipe job."

"Full copper re-pipe?" Willow asked nervously. Tito handed her a piece of paper. "That sounds potentially pricey."

"Well, if you have any questions, our number's on the invoice," he said. Then Tito pat Xander on the shoulder before leaving.

Dawn came over and peeked at the paper. "That's a weird phone number," she commented. Then she frowned and looked at Xander. "Oh, wait. Is that the bill?"

"Hey. Tito cut you a good deal down there. Those are his bargain prices. I did a little haggling for you," he said, defending his coworker.

"Thank you," Buffy said. "So we'll pay him, what's the big deal?"

The others all shared nervous looks before Willow spoke up. "Um, Buffy, I-I know you're still getting back on your feet after—"

"Lying flat on my back?" Buffy interrupted.

Teddy rubbed the back of his neck. "Buff, there's some money stuff we're gonna have to talk with you about."

The money stuff that they had to tell her was just that she was broke. Well, nearly broke. And when Willow set all the bills down in front of Buffy while Anya looked at the rest of her expenses and budget, Buffy could hardly believe or even understand it.

"Okay, so you're telling me I'm broke?" she asked, dropping all the papers.

"Not yet," Willow said, "but..."

"Money's definitely becoming an issue," Tara told her.

"As in your being almost out of it," Xander clarified.

Buffy frowned. "But I haven't spent any money. I was all... dead and frugal."

"I-I know, this comes as a bit of a shock after... a bit of a shock, but it took us by surprise too," Willow said.

"Your mother prepared everything really well," Tara said gently. "She had insurance, life insurance."

"Which should have left you covered, but... hospital bills," Xander said.

"And funerals are surprisingly expensive," Kitty added. No, she hadn't been there for the funeral, but they'd already begun planning it before she and Teddy took off.

"Pretty much sucked up all the money," Willow said.

"Which you're still hemorrhaging, by the way," Anya added, still looking over her records.

Buffy looked at her, confused. "How am I doing that?"

"No, not you, the house. Uh, see, this house, just sitting here, doing nothing, um, by itself costs money," she explained.

"So, what do we do?" Dawn asked nervously. It actually probably wasn't best for her to be sitting in on this. She shouldn't have to worry about these things.

"Easy. We burn the house to the ground and collect the insurance. Plus, fire? Pretty," Buffy said, smiling. No one else was really amused though. "You guys, I'm kidding. Okay, it's, it's bills, it's money. It's pieces of paper sent by bureaucrats that we've never even met. It's not like it's the end of the world. Which is too bad, you know, 'cause that, I'm really good at."

Dawn was still worried, which Buffy saw. "I'll take care of this. I promise. I... just don't know how yet."

"I know how!" Anya suddenly said loudly, gaining all their attention. "Um, i-i-if you wanna pay every bill here, and every bill coming, and have enough to start a nice college fund for Dawn? Start charging."

"For what?" Buffy asked, a bit irritated by Anya's big smile.

"Slaying vampires!" she said brightly. Xander looked away, a bit embarrassed. "Well, you're providing a valuable service to the whole community. I say cash in."

There was a long and uncomfortable silence that Anya didn't pick up on. "Well, that's an idea..." Buffy said carefully, "you would have. Any other suggestions?"

"Well, I mean, it's, it's not so crazy," Anya muttered.

"Yes, it is!" Dawn exclaimed. "You can't charge innocent people for saving their lives."

"Spiderman does," she claimed, crossing her arms.

"He does not!"

"Does too."

"Does no—" Dawn stopped herself and took a deep breath. Then she looked at the resident comic book expert. "Xander?"

Anya and Dawn both looked expectantly at Xander, who looked uncomfortable. He reluctantly answered. "Action is his reward."

Dawn shot Anya an 'I told you so' look as she stood up angrily. "Why don't you ever take my side?" she asked Xander before storming out.

"What are you talking about, taking your side? Anya, I am your side!" Xander shouted, running after her.

"Xander!" Kitty yelled, knowing he'd hear. "Tell her I'm on her side!"

"You're not serious," Dawn said, shaking her head.

Kitty shrugged. "Angel charges, and they've got a bitchin' hotel. You're throwin' away a gold mine, Buff."

♡︎

No matter how hard Kitty pushed for the charging people plan — she even had Cordelia email her spreadsheets so that Buffy could see what their profit margins were — the Slayer was adamant to slay for free. While Dawn was at school, she took a trip to the bank to try and get a loan.

But the meeting for the loan was interrupted by some kind of demon attacking the bank. Even after saving everyone, the bank wouldn't give Buffy a loan because she didn't have a way to pay it back.

Now, Buffy was at the magic shop, just as moneyless as before. She was taking her frustration out on the punching bag in the back room while Willow and Kitty watched. She filled them in on the incident at the bank as she did.

"He still turned you down?" Willow asked in disbelief. "That's crazy! I mean, even if the bank did get robbed, which, you battling demons couldn't possibly know... you would think there would be some kind of reward. But no, they're like, 'Oh, we're not gonna give you money unless you prove you don't need it.' I mean, what kind of system is that?"

"A dumb one," Kitty mumbled before dumping the rest of her bag of potato chips in her mouth.

"You're asking the wrong gal," Buffy said, resuming her punching. She used so much force that Kitty was worried the chain holding it up might snap or the seams would rip.

"Hey," Willow said, standing straighter. "Buffy, you're mad."

"Yeah!" Kitty said brightly.

Buffy stopped punching and shrugged. "You noticed. It'll pass."

"No!" Willow said as she went back to punching. "Anger is a big, powerful emotion you should feel."

"Well... that's good then," she said, just standing there now. Then she frowned. "It's gone now."

"Make her angry, Will," Kitty said, leaning forward excitedly.

"Okay, uh, ready? Um... last semester, I slept with Riley," Willow lied.

Kitty snickered and Buffy just looked at her, obviously not buying it. "And you know I really doubt it."

"Caught me. Big fib," Willow muttered. "To... cover up the sleazy affair Kitty had with Angel this summer while you were dead."

Kitty had to turn her head to keep from laughing. Buffy frowned and continued to look at Willow, unimpressed. "Will, what the hell are you doing?"

"Pissing you off," she said, grinning.

"Yes, true," she said flatly. "Why?"

"Well, 'cause, you know, since you've... been back, you haven't exactly been big with... the whole range of human emotions thing," she muttered.

Buffy stared blankly. "What do you mean?"

Willow fidgeted, and Kitty had to lightly kick her to get her to talk. "Well, you haven't — no, I mean it's just, um... You know, this is really my problem," she said, backing away. "I'm just, I'm all over the place and, you should just, uh, forget I even said anything, cause, cause, well, 'cause you know... banks, man." Willow sat back down, nodding in agreement with herself.

"I didn't fuck Angel," Kitty chimed in, a smile on her face.

"I know," Buffy said, rolling her eyes. "You think he's quote 'icky.'"

"He is!" she insisted.

"Yeah, because Spike's the dictionary definition of 'not icky,'" Buffy said, shaking her head.

"Ugh, and he's making her icky," Willow said, grimacing. "Seriously, they don't talk about it like Anya does, but they are doing it all of the time. Super gross, and Kitty doesn't even try to hide it."

"We are not always doing it!" Kitty said defensively.

"You spent a whole day when you got back last month," she reminded her.

"Wh - I - we took breaks! Had some, uh, Gatorade and snacks for, uh, nutrition," she said, her cheeks turning red. "And I'll have you know that nothing physical has transpired since Buffy's great return."

"Sorry to be such a mood killer," Buffy spoke up, shaking her head with a blank expression. "Can we cease the Spike sex talk please?"

"Well, I didn't bring it up!" Kitty whined. "But now you've got me thinking about it. Like... like really thinking about it—"

"Ugh. Go think about it in the other room," Buffy said, grimacing.

"Hey! Disgust!" Kitty said, pointing excitedly. "That's an emotion!"

But nevertheless, Kitty left the back room to give Buffy and Willow some quiet time. Everyone else was at the store as well, aside from Teddy. Xander and Anya seemed to be quietly bickering, which Kitty ignored. She moved to the table where Tara and Dawn were. It seemed Dawn was making an argument for Tara to let her help research.

"You know, if you don't let me look at the pictures, I'm gonna learn everything I know about demons on the street," Dawn said, putting her hands on her hips. Kitty took a seat at the table to watch.

Tara smiled tiredly and handed her a book, giving in. "Knock yourself out."

"Thank you," she said, sitting down. "See? No biggie. I can totally handle it." Dawn opened the book, flipping to a random page and looking at the pictures. "That's a weird place for a horn."

Kitty quickly leaned in and looked at the picture. She covered her mouth to hide a laugh as Dawn soon closed the blook slowly, realizing just what it was. "That's not a horn."

"He just keeps that bad boy hanging out? I imagine it'd get in the way in a fight—"

"Kitty," Tara interrupted, trying to hide her amused smile. She cut her eyes to Dawn, knowing they didn't need to talk about things like that.

"You know, I still don't get it. I mean, what kind of a demon would rob a bank?" Xander asked, changing the subject from the demon's horn.

"The kind that wants money," Anya said matter-of-factly.

"What do you even call that?" Xander asked.

"This?" Dawn said while holding up her book. There was a picture of the demon that was in the bank, just as Buffy described. "I'm guessing on how you say it. It's got an apostrophe. I think it's Mmm-Fashnik. Like 'Mmm, cookies'."

"Or maybe, Muh-Fashnik. Like Muh..." Xander hesitated, realizing he had nothing to compare it to. "Fashnik."

Then Buffy and Willow came out of the back room, finished up. Dawn held out the book toward Buffy. "This your guy?"

"You do research now?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Want a cappuccino and a pack of cigarettes to go with it?"

"Would you just look at the picture?" Dawn asked tiredly.

"Doesn't exactly fit the profile for your typical bank robber," Xander commented.

"Maybe they turned down his loan application," Buffy tried to joke. She managed a small smile before looking back at the book. "That's him. Big bad. This thing was strong, guys. No weapons that I could see, but still... real... dangerous—"

When Buffy stopped talking abruptly to look at something across the room, they all turned. And there was Giles, fresh off the plane with suitcases at his feet. He was picked up by Teddy who was standing a few feet back, his hands in his pockets.

Buffy and Giles stared at each other for a moment until she walked toward him. He smiled and hugged her, both of them closing their eyes.

"Oh God, Buffy," he said. "You're alive. You're here. And you're still... remarkably strong."

They all heard the strain in Giles' voice as Buffy hugged him too tightly. "Huh? Oh," she said sheepishly, releasing him. "Sorry."

"Kitty told me, but I didn't really let myself believe," he admitted quietly.

"I take a little getting used to," she said. "I'm still getting used to me."

"It's, uh... you're..."

"A miracle?" she offered when he couldn't find the words.

"Yes," he said, putting a hand on her cheek as he smiled. "But then, I always thought so."

♡︎

Despite the fact that his room was still intact at the apartment, Giles asked if he could sleep on the couch at the Summers' home. Teddy was the only one that Giles was honest with — he wanted to stay at the house and monitor Buffy's behavior. So, Buffy was unfolding a set of Strawberry Shortcakes sheets on the couch.

"I know they're so cute you could die, but it's all I got," she said, smiling.

Giles laughed. "Think nothing of it. It's, it's, uh, whimsical," he told her. "I'm sure I have Kitty's first set of Smurf's sheets. She hadn't even seen the cartoon when we picked them out at the store — just thought they looked fun."

"Kitty was probably a little older than I was when I used these. Couldn't find the guest sheets," she said quietly. "Mom always did this stuff. They don't actually fit. I blame the sofa. We need one of those pull-out kinds. The kind with no payments 'til two-thousand-and-infinity."

"What?" Giles questioned, raising an eyebrow at the money comment.

"Oh, it's... just money stuff," she said, sitting at the coffee table. "It turns out Mom left me some, and while I was dead, it got squandered on luxuries like... food and clothing."

"How bad is it?" he asked.

"Anya says pretty bad. I'm kinda taking her word for it." They all knew how wise about finances she was. "Actually, I'm kinda trying to not think about it."

"Sound policy. At least for tonight."

She sighed sadly. "Figured I'd put it out of my mind. You know, take a break. Get some perspective and then wake up at four AM terrified."

"Buffy, perhaps you're putting too much pressure on yourself," Giles said. "I mean, to return from some unknown level of Hell — it's only natural that coming back... will be a process."

"In the meantime, I'm scaring people," she muttered, thinking of how wary Willow had been around her.

"Well, that can take time, too," he said, watching her with concern. "Well, if it's any consolation, life can be... pretty overwhelming even for people who haven't been where you have."

"I guess."

"Look, tomorrow morning, you and I will sit down together and we'll go through everything. Every bill, one by one. We'll work it out together," he told her.

Buffy looked at him and managed a smile. "I'm glad you're back."

"Well, I'm glad you are too," Giles said. He reached to put a hand on her shoulder, but Buffy quickly stood and walked off before he could touch her. He watched her go, feeling even worse about her condition than before.

♡︎

The two Cupids planned to go home eventually, but they wouldn't leave Buffy's house until they knew Giles was going to bed. They sat at the counter in the kitchen, shoving a tub of ice cream back and forth, taking turns eating spoonfuls. Giles was by the sink, fixing a glass of water.

Then Willow came in, not noticing how his back tensed up. "Hey Giles," she said obliviously, getting a box of cookies from the cupboard. "You have a good talk with Buffy?"

"Yes, now that she's back," he said.

Willow grinned and sat near the twins. "Isn't it awesome?"

Kitty and Teddy shared a look, noticing how Giles' mood shifted. Someone was about to be horribly scolded, and they were just glad it wasn't them. Knowing it wouldn't be time for ice cream, Teddy put a lid on the tub and put it back in the freezer.

"Mmm," Giles said, removing his glasses. "Tell me about this spell you performed. Kitty and Teddy weren't present."

"Oh, okay, first of all? So scary," she said, clearly excited. "Like, the Blair Witch would have had to watch like this." Willow covered her eyes playfully and peeked through, not picking up on Giles' displeasure. "And, and, and this giant snake came out my mouth and there was all this energy crackling, and this pack of demons interrupted, but I totally kept it together. And then, the next thing you know? Buffy."

As Willow happily munched on a cookie, Giles gripped the edge of the sink. "You're a very stupid girl."

Willow stopped chewing and her smile slowly morphed into a frown. "What?"

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" he asked, facing her. "The forces you've harnessed, the lines you've crossed?"

"I thought you'd be... impressed, or, or something," she said.

"Oh, don't worry, you've made a very deep impression. Of everyone here... you were the one I trusted most to respect the forces of nature," Giles told her, clearly upset that he was wrong.

"Are you saying you don't trust me?" she asked in disbelief.

As if to confirm the suspicion, Giles spoke without looking away from Willow. "Kitty, stand by your brother."

Kitty kept her eyes down as she slid off her seat, getting farther away from Willow. She went to stand by Teddy near the door. Willow scoffed in disbelief as the distance was put between them.

"Think what you've done to Buffy," Giles said sternly.

"I brought her back!" she exclaimed.

"At incredible risk!"

"Risk? Of what?" Willow asked. "Making her deader?"

"Of killing us all. Unleashing hell on Earth, I mean, shall I go on?" he asked, getting angrier.

"No!" Willow said, raising her voice as she stood. "Giles, I did what I had to do. I did what nobody else could do."

Giles shook his head. "Oh, there are others in this world who can do what you did. You just don't want to meet them," he said before turning away again.

"No, probably not, but... well, they're the bad guys. I'm not a bad guy," she argued, clearly upset. "I brought Buffy back into this world, a-and maybe the word you should be looking for is 'congratulations.'"

"Having Buffy back in the world makes me feel... indescribably wonderful," he admitted, "but I wouldn't congratulate you if you jumped off a cliff and happened to survive."

"That's not what I did, Giles," she said defensively.

"You were lucky."

"I wasn't lucky. I was amazing," Willow said arrogantly. "And how would you know? You weren't even there."

"If I had been, I'd have bloody well stopped you. And don't act like there weren't reasons why you didn't tell me before!" he snapped. Then he pointed at the Cupids. "Don't act like you kept them out of it because they were missing for most of the summer. You kept it from them to keep it from me."

Giles' voice turned to shouting. "The magicks you channeled are more ferocious and primal than anything you can hope to understand, and you are lucky to be alive, you rank, arrogant amateur!" he snapped. Then Giles moved toward the door.

"You're right," Willow said. Her dark tone made him pause by Kitty and Teddy. They all looked at her. "The magicks I used are very powerful. I'm very powerful. And maybe it's not such a good idea for you to piss me off."

"Willow," Kitty said slowly, "that sounds like you're threatening Giles."

"No, I—" Willow sighed and took a breath to calm down. "Come on, Giles, I-I don't want to fight. I — Let's not, okay? I'll think about what you said, and you... try to be happy Buffy's back."

But it couldn't be fixed just like that. "We still don't know where she was... or what happened to her. And I'm far from convinced she's come out of all this undamaged."

As that little disagreement went on, outside Buffy heard it all. Even from the back porch, she could hear everything — damn Slayer hearing. This, the fighting, was exactly what she wanted to avoid. As she stood on the porch, her arms wrapped around herself, a cigarette butt was suddenly dropped at her feet. She didn't even have to look up to know who it was.

"Hello, Spike," she greeted, her blank expression remaining. "What are you doing at my house?"

"Waiting for Kitty. She's comin' to mine for the night. Don't like her walking alone," he said, shrugging.

"How suspiciously chivalrous," she muttered.

Spike rolled his eyes, knowing he didn't have to defend any of his reasons for being with Kitty. "You hear all that noise?" he asked, looking at the side entrance to the kitchen.

She nodded. "Just enough to make me feel crappy," she muttered.

"You know watcher-boy doesn't mean anything by it," he said, moving closer. Of course, he wasn't like Teddy, who knew just how right Giles was. Buffy wasn't alright, but she wasn't about to tell Spike how not alright she was.

"I guess. Everyone—" Buffy paused, choosing her words carefully. "They all care. They all care so much, it... makes it all harder."

"I'm not sure I followed you around that bend, pet," he said, frowning.

"I don't know." She shrugged. "I just, I feel like I'm spending all of my time trying to be okay, so they don't worry. It's exhausting. And then, I..."

"And that makes 'em worry even more," he finished for her when she couldn't find the words. Spike smiled. "You want me to take them out? Give me a hell of a headache, but I could probably thin the herd a little with Teddy's help."

It took a moment, but Buffy smiled a little. That made him happy that he could get something out of the Slayer that hated him so much.

"Knew I could get a grin. Totally gonna rub that in all their faces," he told her.

They shared a look and Buffy sat on the steps of the porch. He soon followed. "You know, Spike, you're not... the worst," Buffy said after a moment.

Spike's eyes went wide as he looked at her. "Take that back. Punch me in the face or something."

And that scored another smile as she shook her head. "Okay. Statement retracted." The two then sat in silence, it growing a little uncomfortable. "So, what do you know about finances?"

Spike looked at her again, raising an eyebrow. "I steal everything."

"Right. You are the worst."

He chuckled and glanced back at the house — the yelling was gone, so the disagreement was probably coming to an end. "You should talk to the twins or the vengeance demon. They've got jobs."

"Thought Kitty was fired from the bakery," she said, frowning.

"Already gettin' back out there. Got an interview at the bowling alley next week for the day shift."

"Oh, she'd like that. She hasn't told any of us," Buffy said, nodding.

"I think everyone's been a bit preoccupied," Spike said, giving her a pointed look.

Buffy sighed. "Right."

There was silence only for a moment before they heard a crashing sound, followed by a scream. Dawn's scream.

The unlikely pair rushed into the house just as the very same demon from the bank rushed at Teddy, who was standing protectively in front of Dawn. It had already knocked out Giles in the kitchen, and Kitty was at his side.

Buffy grabbed the demon from behind and pulled him to face her. "You're payin' for that door, buddy!" Buffy snapped, referring to the front door he busted through. Then she flung him into the living room, and he smashed the coffee table. Buffy winced. "Ooh! Table!"

Teddy picked up Dawn and ran her upstairs so that she wouldn't be caught in the crossfire.

The demon stood with a piece of the table in hand. He tossed it aside, smashing a lamp in the process. "You have cost me, Slayer."

"I cost you?" Buffy asked in annoyance. "That's a designer lamp, ya mook!"

The demon charged at Buffy, grabbing her around the waist and moving her into the dining room. She kicked him off, sending him into the table, also breaking some dishes. She hit him again, knocking him into a side table. Thankfully, Buffy caught the nice vase before it could fall and break too.

"Stop breaking her shit, dude!" Kitty said, peeking her head around the corner in the kitchen to watch the fight.

Spike joined in and grabbed the demon from behind. But before he could rough him up and probably break all the remaining fine China, Buffy stopped him.

"Spike, no! I want him in the kitchen!" Buffy ordered.

Kitty quickly backed away from the doorway as Spike held the demon there. Buffy moved back before rushing at him and kicking him in the chest, sending him flying back into the kitchen. He crashed into the back door. The demon got back up and swiped at Buffy, but she ducked and punched him.

"Open the door!" Buffy snapped as she kept hitting the demon. Kitty and Spike shared a confused look. "The basement! I'm taking him down."

Kitty was closest and knew what it was like down there, so she pulled open the basement door. Buffy wrestled with the demon, forcing him through the door and they toppled down the stairs. Except one of the demon's claws caught the leg of Kitty's overalls, dragging her down too.

"Shit - ow - god - ouchie!" she whined the entire time she fell.

The fight went on without Kitty, who was tiredly sitting in the deep pool of water, rubbing all the spots the stairs hit. Buffy splashed around while fighting the monster, who broke off a piece of pipe to use as a weapon.

That was the wrong move for him.

"No!" Buffy shouted as more water sprayed from the newly broken pipe.

The demon tried to attack Buffy with the pipe, but she grabbed it and kicked him before smashing the pipe into his head, sending him down with a big splash. Then Buffy hit him over and over, speaking in between each blow.

"Full — copper — re-pipe! No — more — full — copper — re-pipe!"

"Buff," Kitty called, spitting out some water that got in her mouth with all the splashes. "He's dead."

Buffy stopped and took in a deep breath, trying to calm down. She dropped the pipe and looked up sadly at the new, broken pipe. She just stared unhappily.

"Whoa," Spike said. Kitty turned to see he'd come down the first few steps to peer inside the basement. "Did you know this place was flooded?"

"Oh, no," Kitty said, her tone heavy with sarcasm. "We hadn't noticed."

♡︎

Spike laughed at Kitty the entire walk to his crypt. She was soaked head to toe from tumbling into the basement while he was dry as a bone. Every time she complained, he just made a joke — she hit him the one time he asked if she was gonna swim off to join her first boyfriend. Though, when she complained about being cold, he did wrap his jacket around her to help keep her warm, which earned those brownie points back.

"Let's get you dry, poor thing," Spike said, still grinning a little as they got to the crypt. Knowing it was warmer in the lower level, he led them there. Then he went to find a towel and dry shirt as she peeled her overalls off.

"Wet corduroy — not comfortable," Kitty mumbled while tossing the dark green overalls across the room.

"Hmm, wet shirt on the other hand," Spike commented, watching her with a smirk. His eyes were glued to Kitty, forgetting all about the towel and new garment as he saw how the light blue shirt clung to her. The best thing about the days Kitty wore overalls was that she never wore a bra with them. Then his eyes fell lower, down her stomach and on the white set of underwear she wore, practically translucent from the water.

"Spike," Kitty said, knowing the look in his eyes. "Dry clothes, please."

Spike tilted his head and practically stalked to her while eyeing her hungrily. "Now, why would I go and do such a sinful thing like putting you in more clothes? Hmm?" he asked. Once he was near enough, his hands fell on her sides, pulling her closer.

"Right. And you're such a good boy," she said, rolling her eyes playfully.

"Only for you," Spike said, dipping his head down to kiss her. Kitty wrapped her hands around him, tangling her fingers in his bone-dry hair while pressing up against him. He didn't care how his own shirt soaked up some of the water from hers — he didn't plan to be wearing it much longer.

As they kissed, Spike's hands moved upward at a slow pace, pushing up her shirt inch by inch until his thumbs met the underside of her breasts. Kitty sighed contently against his mouth.

"Spike," she murmured against his lips. "Touch me."

"I am," he said, and she could feel his smirk against her lips. His hands kept tauntingly still at her ribcage.

She tugged on his hair and bit his bottom lip before demanding, "More."

Spike moved suddenly, grabbing the back of her thighs and lifting her with ease. He raised an eyebrow at her while moving toward the bed. "Now, who's not being very good? Be patient, Kitten. Know I like to take my time with you."

Kitty pouted and leaned forward, not really wanting to be patient at the moment. "You're wearing too much," she mumbled against his lips, hardly parting to speak. Without breaking the kiss to look, she fumbled with the buttons on his black shirt, untucking it from his jeans in the process. He was still holding her up, so the shirt hung off his shoulders. As soon as his chest was exposed, Kitty didn't hesitate to lean down and kiss him along his collarbone.

But then Spike gripped her hair and pulled her head back, only holding her up with one arm under her butt. Yet again, he raised that scarred eyebrow in disapproval. "What did I just say about being patient?"

"You make it hard to be patient," she said, biting her lip as she looked at him. Kitty tried to kiss his neck, but Spike dropped her on the bed. He just looked at her for a moment, taking in every inch of skin covered in clinging material. Still on her back, she gave a testy sigh before moving to pull her shirt off. "You're taking too long—"

Spike snatched her wrists and held them above her head, kneeling over her. "If you can't stay still—" He paused only for a moment to move toward her chest and drag his tongue across a still-clothed nipple, earning a short intake of breath from Kitty. "—Then I might have to get something to make you."

At that, Kitty looked at him with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes. Though her hands weren't free, she brought her hips up to meet his, sighing contently as the denim brushed up against her underwear. Spike used his lower half to keep her pinned to the bed, now restricting most movement — not all, though.

"Guess I just can't stay still."

♡︎

The following day, the gang had a workday at Buffy's house, trying to help clean up from the demon attack. While Dawn and Willow were on the sofa trying to fit the pieces of the lamp back together, Kitty was with Xander, who was showing her how to use tools while examining the coffee table. They weren't really getting very far with the fixing, but at least Teddy managed to make the banister on the stairs semi-stable.

Buffy was sitting at the desk with Anya in a chair held together by duct tape. Anya so graciously accepted her request for financial advice.

"This is going to take forever, isn't it?" Buffy asked, frowning.

"Not forever. Just a very long time," Anya replied honestly. Then she showed Buffy her paper. "Uh, here it is. Your first approximation of your spanking new debt."

She stared at the number in dismay. "I've trashed this house so many times. How did Mom pay for this?"

"For starters, she saved money with this crappy-ass coffee table," Xander muttered, waving a table leg around.

"Well, there's always that charging option," Anya said.

"I showed you Cordy's spreadsheets!" Kitty added brightly.

"No!" Buffy denied. "I will definitely... probably not be doing that."

Then Giles and Tara came in from the kitchen, finished with the minimal clean-up in there. "Well, I know I'm back in America now that I've been knocked unconscious." At that, Tara handed him an ice pack for his head that she grabbed. "Thank you."

"Aw. Poor lumpy Giles," Kitty said pouting.

"What do you think the demon wanted, anyway?" Tara asked. As she did, Kitty saw the piece of lamp in Dawn's hand crumble, making her sigh. "I mean, aside from costing you a bundle."

"Don't know," Buffy said, shrugging. "Now he's way too dead to answer that question. Wish I knew who hired him."

"Ooh, I could do a locator spell—" Giles looked at Willow sharply, and Teddy's dark look wasn't far behind. Willow dropped her smile, knowing she was still on thin ice with the two Watchers. "Or not."

"That's it," Xander suddenly exclaimed, dropping the table leg. "Four hours. I'm calling it, people. This coffee table is gone."

"No!" Kitty cried melodramatically. "Damn it, man! You took an oath."

"Nothing can be done," he said, shaking his head as he sighed.

"Also, this lamp's in critical condition," Dawn said sheepishly.

"Well, uh, let's take these things out to the trash and give 'em a decent throwin' out," Willow said.

She, Kitty, Tara, Xander, and Anya picked up various pieces of lamp and coffee table to take them to the trash can outside. But Kitty did stop in the entryway and smile at Buffy. "The thrift store on Main Street has one of those leg lamps like in A Christmas Story. I think that'd really bring the room together."

Buffy managed a forced smile, but it dropped as soon as Kitty was gone, and she looked back down at the money statement. Giles walked over, looking concerned. "Buffy?"

"I don't think I can do this," she admitted quietly.

"Yes, you can," Teddy told her. He'd moved to sit by Dawn on the couch. "And we'll help you."

"Your mother dealt with this sort of thing all the time," Giles added. "She took... one crisis at a time without the aid of any superpowers and got through it all. So can you."

"You sure?" she asked weakly.

"We're positive," he said.

Then the phone rang and Buffy got up to answer it. "Who's calling me? Everybody I know lives here," she said, frowning. It reminded her of something similar Kitty said that first Thanksgiving as a group. Of course, it was Spike that came knocking, and he probably wasn't calling this time. "I'll be back."

"I bet it's creditors," Dawn said to the men as Buffy went to get the phone from the kitchen. "The hounding's begun. I read about it. So, you think we'll starve?"

"I very much doubt it," Giles said, scoffing in amusement.

"No chance I'd have to quit school to work assembling cheap toys in a poorly-ventilated sweatshop?" she asked.

"Poorly-ventilated — what have you been reading?" Giles asked, his eyebrows raised to his hairline. Then Buffy returned and walked quickly and purposefully toward the door without saying anything. "Buffy, what is it?"

She turned back to them and paused for a moment before speaking. "Angel."

"Is he in trouble?" Giles asked.

"He knows that I'm..." Buffy trailed off and looked at the floor. "He, he needs to see me. I have to see him."

"Yes, of course. You'll leave for LA tomorrow—"

"Not LA and not here," she interrupted, shaking her head. "Somewhere in the middle. There's a - a place."

"I see," Giles said. "Well, we should get all these... bills and things out of the way before—"

"I gotta go now," Buffy said, moving toward the door without any supplies or bags. She paused and looked back at Giles. "Um, thanks for taking care of this for me."

Buffy left the three of them looking around the trashed living room in dismay, now having to shoulder the load of cleanup. Then Giles frowned.

"Teddy, did you tell Angel?" he asked. After all, he'd been the one to call when Joyce died.

"Been a bit preoccupied. Was gonna wait until she was a little more... well-adjusted," Teddy admitted. "But I'll give you three guesses as to who probably told Cordelia when getting those Angel Investigations spreadsheets."

"Of course, she did."