Buffy hopped out of her car at the Bronze. She was big time late, and everyone would be waiting. It wasn’t her fault that her mother seemed to have lost her sanity when she got pregnant! As Buffy had been heading out- back when she was on time- Joyce had insisted that she go pick up some pickles. Her mom had some strange preoccupation with pickles. And since Buffy got her gas money from her, she had to run all her mother’s errands.

Parents always had ulterior motives.

Buffy sighed and tossed her keys in the pocket of her slacks, then walked briskly to the entrance. Unfortunately, she was intercepted by a tall, broad shouldered man.

"Hello." He greeted.

"Hi." Buffy replied suspiciously, this guy was making her Spider Sense go off, like he was a vampire or something. But they hadn’t seen anything supernatural since she had sent Angel to Hell all those months ago, so finding something now would definitely not be of the norm.

And to top it off, she locked her only stake in her car.

"She left twenty minutes ago?" Cordelia asked Joyce, via her cell phone.

Angel sighed, a feeling of dread heavy in his stomach, and stood up from the table.

"Yeah, she probably got delayed in.. traffic or something…" Cordelia continued. "I’ll have her call you as soon as she shows."

As Cordelia turned her phone off, Willow looked up at Angel and told him. "Don’t worry, I’m sure it’s nothing. And even if Buffy did run into… something… she’s the slayer, she can handle it."

Angel shook his head. "Something’s wrong."

Xander stood up. "I agree. Buffy’s foot is almost as heavy as Cordelia’s. It would never take 20 minutes for her to get here."

"But… traffic!" Willow whimpered. Oz put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"In Sunnydale?" Cordelia replied.

"Let’s go look for her. I’ll take my car and drive along the route to her house; Cordy, you and Xander go drive to the cemetery; Oz, you and Willow go check the school out." Angel ordered, grabbing his coat as the group headed for the exit.

"The cemetery? Why would she be hanging out there?" Cordelia asked.

"Cordy, remember the whole vampire thing?" Xander replied, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, but we haven’t seen any in ages!"

"She still patrols once in a while, just to be sure." Angel told her.

Buffy searched frantically around for a piece of wood as the vampire got up behind her. She had managed to slam him into a wall, dazing him. Unfortunately, this vampire was strong, she was weaponless, and she had scoffed at Giles’ attempts to get her to train as of late.

The vampire grabbed her from behind and tried bite her neck. Buffy slammed the back of her head into his forehead, getting him to release her. She staggered around again, looking for anything made of wood.

Finally she saw a piece of wood from a crate that was on the ground about twenty feet away. She just had to get to it, which was easier said than done. The vampire was already at her back again. She just had to find a way to keep him off of her so that she could get over there.

"Buffy!" Angel shouted, seeing his love battling with the vampire.

Both Buffy and the vamp looked over at her fiancé, who had just come out of the Bronze, followed by the rest of the gang. She used the distraction to her advantage and ran and grabbed the ‘stake.’

The vampire looked over and saw her getting away from him, so he rushed over to her, only to be stabbed by the large piece of wood.

As the demon became dust, Buffy wiped her hands clean and smiled at her friends. "Thanks for the distraction!"

Angel hurried over to her. "Are you okay?"

Buffy nodded. "I’m fine, I was just stupid and unprepared."

"You didn’t even have a stake on you?" Xander asked in disbelief.

Buffy looked down in shame. "I forgot it in the car."

"Hey, it’s okay, you’re not perfect. People make mistakes, Buff, even you." Angel smiled down at her.

"I cannot believe you made such a mistake!" Giles scolded, while pacing in front of Buffy and Angel as they sat on the couch.

Buffy sighed. "I know it was dumb, and I am going to be ubercareful again to make sure I have a stake on me at all times. I’m sorry Giles."

"Don’t apologize to me! Apologize to your mother, do you want her to have to bury you!"

Angel had been pretty good about keeping quiet- after all, Giles was her Watcher and Buffy probably deserved to be scolded- but this was going too far.

"Giles, calm down! She made a mistake, but that’s what it was, a mistake. You don’t need to scare her."

"No, Angel, he’s right. I was being way too cavalier and immature. I deserve it." Buffy told him.

Giles sighed, pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "I’m sorry I was so acrimonious, I was just worried about you."

Buffy smiled weakly and nodded.

Joyce bustled in, wearing her blue robe and slippers, carrying a tray with two cups of hot cocoa and a cup of tea. "Here we go!"

The three of them smiled at her, not wanting to let them in on their secret. Sure, she knew that Buffy had run into a vampire, but she wasn’t aware of Giles’ worry over the fact that after this nine month lull they had found a vampire.

Joyce set the tray down on the coffee table and kissed the top of Buffy’s head. "I’m going to bed." She went to kiss Giles on the lips, but stopped and smiled when she saw him get embarrassed. She found his British manners adorable. "Don’t stay up too late."

"We won’t." Buffy told her as she took a sip of her cocoa.

Joyce said good-night to the males, then headed toward the stairs, but halted when someone knocked at the door.

She turned and walked toward the door. "That’s strange… at this hour."

Giles soon joined his wife, while Buffy and Angel stayed seated on the couch.

A few seconds later, Giles nervously called Buffy, who jumped up and hurried over to the door, followed by Angel.

What Buffy saw made her jaw drop.

"Slayer." Spike smirked before gliding into the house.

Giles tried to object, but just managed to make a series of squeaks. "H-H-H-How are y-y-you able t-t-t-to enter?"

"Oh, I was invited!" Spike grinned, winking at Buffy. "Isn’t that right, Luv?"

Buffy glared at him. "Unless you want to fit in the dustbuster, I suggest you get out of here *now*!"

Spike sighed. "Now, now, must we be so hostile?"

"Yes!" Angel, Buffy and Giles answered in unison, Joyce just watched on, unsure of what to make of this. Last thing she had seen, Buffy and Spike had been sort of getting along.

"Oh look, you got your lapdog back, Slayer."

Buffy rolled her eyes and nodded. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, we haven’t seen each other in months, Pet. It was only right for me to come visit my mate."

"Well, if you have a mate then, yes, you should visit them. But *I* am most definitely *not* your mate!"

Spike ignored her and entered the living room, sniffing the air. "Is that hot chocolate I smell?"

Joyce smiled, "It sure is! I made it for Buffy and Angel."

Spike gave her his best ‘cute little boy’ face. "I love hot chocolate."

"I’ll make you some!" Joyce offered.

"You would? Really?" Spike replied.

"Sure." She grinned at him, as the other three watched on in amazement.

As Joyce headed towards the kitchen, Spike followed her. "Do you have any of those little marshmallows? I just love those."

Buffy furrowed her eyebrows. "Spike… is in my kitchen…. With my mom…. Getting hot chocolate…"

"With marshmallows." Angel added, in the same shocked tone.

Giles gasped. "We can’t leave her alone with him!"

The three of them rushed to the kitchen, only to find Joyce and Spike sitting at the table, Spike whining about how Drusilla had sent him to find her ‘dollies.’

"You’re here to find some stupid dolls?" Buffy asked him in a disbelieving voice.

"They might be stupid to you, Slayer, but my Baby loves them!" Spike argued.

"Buffy, would you please be more polite to our guest?" Joyce asked, giving Buffy a stern look.

Buffy sighed and flopped down in the chair opposite Spike. Angel stood behind her.

"What about you two? Last time I saw you, you weren’t exactly on the best of terms." Spike asked Angel and Buffy.

The couple exchanged looks, Buffy trying to tell Angel not to let on that he was human. What if Drusilla found out? Buffy couldn’t imagine what she’d do if Angel became a vampire again.

"They’re engaged!" Joyce exclaimed.

"Mom!" Buffy hushed her mother.

Spike snorted. "A *slayer* and a *vampire* getting married?! This is bloody priceless!"

"Oh, Angel’s not a vampire anymore." Joyce informed him.

Buffy’s eyes opened wide. "Mom!"

"What?"

"Don’t tell him that!"

Spike had a confused look on his face. "What do you mean he’s not a vampire?"

Buffy thought up a lie quickly. "Well, you see… Mom.. she thinks that since Angel has a soul, unlike most vampires.. she considers him to be not a vampire."

Angel nodded. "Yeah, that’s it."

Buffy gave Giles a pleading look. He looked over at Spike and gave him a nervous smile and nodded as well.

Joyce looked at them, not really understanding why they were lying, but finally she grasped that she should just agree.

Spike raised an eyebrow. "Something is going on here."

"Well, yeah!" Buffy told him, trying desperately to cover. "My worst enemy is sitting in my kitchen, drinking hot chocolate! Don’t you need to go visit a Toys R Us or something?"

Spike gave her an insulted look. "I’ll have you know all of Dru’s dolls are bloody better than the junk they have there! She has antiques!"

"Yeah, just because you bought them fifty years ago!"

Giles sighed and put a hand on Buffy shoulder to calm her. "Er... Spike, why don’t we get to the heart of the matter, why did you come to this house?"

"I came to help! I swear, I’ve lost my bloody bollocks, but I am helping the *slayer* of all humans! For the second time! Maybe I have gone soft!"

"You want to help us?" Angel asked, disbelief evident in his tone.

"Well, not in the sense of doing anything, but I just thought I’d let you know that something’s wrong with SunnyHell."

"Could it be that *you* are here?" Buffy glowered.

Spike rolled his eyes. "Would you just shut your trap and listen?!"

"Buffy." Giles quieted her.

Buffy rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," Spike continued, "the mojo here is all wrong! This place used to have power! Now it’s just as weak as any boring small town!"

"You say the Hellmouth has lost it’s power?" Giles asked, his interest piqued.

Spike looked over at Angel. "I’m surprised the big Poof couldn’t sense it."

Angel shot him a dirty look, but didn’t say anything.

Spike looked a little closer at him. "There is something different about you! I just can’t put my finger on it."

"The Hellmouth has no power, almost like it’s gone….." Giles thought aloud.

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "You don’t think that somehow with Angel going to hell and coming back it somehow sealed the Hellmouth, do you?"

"We haven’t seen any vampires since last May." Giles replied.

"So you think all the vamps scattered when they Hellmouth went bye-bye?" Buffy replied.

"Well, a lot of them were killed right before that whole Acathla fiasco and when all their leaders were gone.. they left for someplace slayerless and easier… like LA." Spike told her.

"That actually makes sense." Giles replied. "And perhaps, when Buffy sent Angel to Hell and closed the portal, she managed to close off the Hellmouth permanently as well!"

"Does this mean I never have to patrol again?" Buffy smiled hopefully.

Giles shook his head. "Vampires still exist, Buffy, so you still have to hunt them. However, this should make your job a lot easier. Especially since this will eliminate a lot of the other demons and such that have had such an easy time wreaking havoc."

Buffy pouted and Giles gave her his resolve face.

"Oh Spike, that was so sweet of you to tell us that. Very thoughtful." Joyce smiled fondly at the vampire.

"Well… now that I helped with that… could you guys help me with something?"

"No." Buffy and Angel both replied.

"Fine then. I guess I’ll just have to go kill some people."

"You need help killing people?" Angel asked.

"No, but it’ll help me deal with my frustration. Hey… I should go straight to the source of that frustration and kill you Slayer!"

"I’d like to see you try!" Buffy taunted.

The two stood up and got in each other’s faces. Angel moved between them and held Buffy back.

"What do you want help with, Spike?" he asked.

"The doll. I don’t know where to look. You ought to know, you spent so much time with Dru, after all!" Spike sneered.

"Can we please not remember that?!" Buffy argued.

The two blondes looked at Angel and he gave them a desperate look. "It’s not like it’s fond for me either!"

"I can’t believe I am spending my Friday night with *you*!" Buffy growled as she, Angel and Spike walked into the mansion.

"Oh, like it’s a dream come true for me!" Spike replied.

"Could you two cut it out? I’m getting a headache."

Angel led them to a room formerly occupied by Dru. "This was her ‘playroom’."

"Why don’t *you* know this stuff?" Buffy asked Spike. "You did live here, after all."

"*I* was stuck in that bloody wheelchair, thanks to *you*! I missed out on a lot!"

Buffy rolled her eyes and began looking around the room. Against one wall, she found a trunk filled with Dru’s ‘toys’. She pulled out a pair of manacles and looked at them with interest. Angel walked up behind her and bent to whisper in her ear.

"Don’t even think about it."

Buffy looked up at him and smiled, dirty thoughts flooding her mind.

"Aha!" Spike shouted from across the room. "Found it!" he walked over and picked up a porcelain doll with half her hair chopped off. "Traveled halfway across the world for her, but I got it!"

Buffy stood and rolled her eyes. "We’re all so happy for you."

Spike looked closely at Angel again. "I must have fed off a junkie because I think I know what’s wrong with you… you’re human!"

"What?" Angel feigned ignorance.

"I can hear two heartbeats!" Spike told him, then put his hand to Angel’s face. "You’re warm! Bloody hell, you’re a human!"

Buffy got in Spike’s face. "You better leave him alone! We finally have a chance together, I’m not going to let you just vamp him!"

"Now why would I want that? Angelus is bloody annoying, I sure as Hell don’t need him around, interfering with me and Dru."

"What about Drusilla? Don’t you think she’ll want to make him a vampire again?"

"Oh, I’m positive! That’s why I’m not going to tell her."

"I can’t believe Giles is still making me patrol! You’d think he’d say a patrol once or twice a week would suffice, but no, I gotta be out here, hanging in the graveyard every night."

Angel smiled at her from his perch atop a tombstone. "Oh, I don’t know.. I think it’s kind of sexy."

Buffy grinned. "Sexy?"

Angel nodded and pulled her to him so that her waist was between his legs. She smiled knowingly and rubbed up against his erection.

"You weren’t kidding!" she grinned.

"Nope." Angel replied, slowly shaking his head. He leaned down and kissed her lips tenderly. Buffy opened her mouth and allowed his tongue to invade. Their tongues dueled tirelessly for a few moments, Angel’s hand finding it’s way into Buffy’s hair. He enjoyed the feel of the silky strands gliding through his fingers. He moved his mouth down to her throat, enjoying the feel of the soft skin against his lips. Buffy moaned in pleasure and rubbed her chest against Angel, enjoying the friction their clothing created on her nipples. He snaked a hand between her legs and started rubbing her moist center through her cotton panties. Buffy rocked her body against his hand and moaned his name.

"Let’s go to my car." He whispered in her ear.

Buffy shook her head. "Need you now."

"In the cemetery?"

Buffy just nodded and started to rub her hand over his hardness through his pants, eliminating his only chance at free will. He slid off of the tombstone and turned so that Buffy leaned against it.

"How are we going to do this?" he asked her.

Buffy looked around for a second, then pulled him a few feet to a mausoleum. Angel crushed her against it, rubbing his body against hers, craving the contact. Buffy moaned, gyrating her hips against him and driving him crazy. He moved his kisses to her neck as she opened his pants and began stroking his erection through his boxers.

"Have I mentioned how much I love your short skirts?" Angel grinned as his hands slid up the outside of her legs and hooked into the waistband of her panties before he pulled them down her legs.

Buffy giggled as she wiggled her legs to remove the article from her body. She kicked them off and helped Angel to push his pants and boxers down. He swiftly lifted her up and impaled her on his straining erection.

Buffy groaned loudly as she wrapped her legs around his waist as he began to thrust her against the wall of the mausoleum. Buffy knew she’d have bruises later, but she didn’t care.

She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and ground her hips down to meet his pelvis ramming into her. Buffy gasped as Angel nuzzled her neck and plunged even deeper.

Angel could feel a tightness building in his groin and knew he was close. He moved his hand down to where their bodies met and searched out Buffy’s clitoris. He found it and rubbed gently on the hard nub. Buffy immediately shook in ecstasy, her walls squeezing Angel in a tight grip; her nails digging into his shoulders, drawing blood. Angel soon followed, exploding inside of her.

Gasping for air, Buffy carefully unwrapped her legs from Angel and stood, a bit shaky.

"Wow.. I really needed that!" She grinned.

Angel smiled back before pulling her face to his in a passionate kiss. "I love you."

"I love *you*." She replied, before looking around on the ground for her discarded panties. Angel pulled his pants back up and tucked himself in. Buffy found her underwear and pulled them back on just in time to hear Xander screaming her name.

The couple rushed toward where Xander was standing, shouting the slayer’s name at the top of his lungs.

"Xander, what’s going on?" Buffy asked, her voice replete with concern.

"I was just wondering where you were." Xander replied in a calm voice.

"Xander, we were looking for vampires and you were screaming for Buffy for no important reason?" Angel asked.

Xander shrugged. "Like you’re really going to find any! The one that Buffy dusted last night was one of Spike’s and now Spike is gone so chances are they’re all gone too."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "What was it that you wanted?"

"Oh, Cordy, Willow and Oz are waiting in the van, we wanted to know if you two would like to join us at the Bronze."

Buffy looked over at Angel and shrugged. "Why not? We patrolled!"

Angel smiled and shook his head. Sometimes there was no arguing with her.

The End

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