**Part Five**
Word Count: 2,471

She'd fallen asleep at some point after Willow left. She'd stayed most of the evening but needed to get back to Kennedy. Buffy could understand that, and had to admit she was a little envious that her best friend had someone to get back to. Not that Buffy minded being alone necessarily, but even if she wasn't. Well, she couldn't teleport and do the things Willow did to make going back and forth not just easy but cheap.

Buffy hoped one of these days she'd get a reprieve on collecting slayers. She'd hated the routine of Sunnydale, the same thing every day and every night. She was learning to appreciate having one place to call home, though. A real place where her and Dawn could call it home. Not some rent-a-castle filled with hundreds of other slayers and a communications center.

Not that the castle wasn't cool. How many people could claim they'd been in a real castle? Let alone lived in one?

She heard the knocking then, realized that must have woken her up. She recognized the effects of a spell, that groggy feeling that her mind had been under the influence of a command. She knew that all Willow had done was urged her to sleep, knowing she wouldn't be able to do it on her own.

She opened the door, surprised when it wouldn't open all the way. Willow'd even thought to fasten the chain lock.

"Detective Scanlon."

"I thought we'd gotten past that."

"Lee. Sorry."

"I woke you."

"What? No, it's fine. Did something happen?" She unfastened the chain and opened the door. "Oh, that smells delicious," she said, her stomach growling in agreement.

"I thought you and your friend might be hungry, so I came by to see if you wanted pizza."

"Thank you, except she's gone."

"She left already?"

"Yeah, had to get back to her girlfriend. She's had a rough time of it, too."

"Oh." He paused with a frown. "Are you? I mean…"

"No, I'm not," she said with a soft laugh.

"Not that it matters."

"Willow is, I'm not. We're just friends. Have been best friends since before she realized she was."

"And the girlfriend is okay with that?"

"Oh, there are issues at times, but she's a slayer so she understands that there are times I need Willow. And that I've known Willow for years longer. And, well, we're girls, she's in a relationship there are times she needs to talk to someone that's not her significant other."

"Understanding girlfriend."

"When you deal with the stuff we do you have to be."

She regarded him not sure what exactly they were doing. She'd be leaving Phoenix soon, very soon if the slayer she'd come to fine wanted to go with Buffy. Did that mean she shouldn't take the opportunity to enjoy herself? It wasn't like he was asking her on a date or even for anything more than that if he considered this a date.

"So, do you want to eat with me? I mean, you came here with pizza on the brain."

"Sure. Actually, I have a better idea. You're probably getting sick of these four walls."

"A little."

"I'll take you back to my place. We'll eat, watch some TV, just hang out. I'll bring you back later."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Well, then I'd love to because you're right, motel rooms get pretty boring after a while. And I have no where to offer you to sit but my bed."

"Are you sure? When I got here you were sleeping."

"Yeah, so that I could go out later."

"Out?"

"Back to where we were earlier. I was going to see if I found any walking vamps."

"You think you will?"

"I don't think it's a random coincidence that two young girls were found to be vamp victims in the same area."

"They work like that? Patterns?"

"Sometimes they're random. It's just kind of an odd thing to have it happen out there, so far from anything."

"I see your point." He glanced out the window. "All right, well, we have time til you can go. Right? Sunset and all that."

She smiled. "Yes. You're catching on."

"I saw Dracula, a few incarnations of it actually," he said, opening the door.

"I met him," she said in an intentionally casual manner.

"You what?"

"I said that I met him once. He came to Sunnydale," Buffy said, passing by him to leave the room.

His arm shot out and he grabbed her before she could leave the room entirely. Of course, that was partly because she let him grab her.

"Wait. You can't spring that on a guy and just breeze past as if you'd said you met the president or something."

"The president isn't vampire."

He chuckled then. "I should hope not."

"You never know. There are people all over the place that know the things you're just learning about."

"Maybe that's true, but the president?"

"I've dealt with the government, not just Sunnydale either. I'm surprised you haven't thought to turn me in."

"Why would I do that?"

"There are factions of the US government that would love to get their hands on me."

"Why is that?"

"They think I'm a terrorist."

"What?"

She smiled, glad to see the confusion in his eyes when she said that. That meant he didn't think she was a complete loon.

"A dozen or so get out of Sunnydale alive, I'm one of them. They think I caused it. Never mind that there were waves of people who escaped beforehand."

"Well, you did."

"Yes, and saved the world in the process. They don't see that, though. These groups, they always think in black and white. I destroyed a town of thirty thousand or so, but they don't stop to realize that I saved many more lives than I lost."

"A pretty thankless job."

"Some would say so. I used to think so. I used to hate that no one knew what I did. That it was me against them and the good citizens of Sunnydale went about their business safely because of me. But I don't think that so much anymore. Maybe it's because I'm no longer the only one. Or maybe I'm just not sixteen anymore, resenting that my life is about something bigger than dating, cheerleading and homework."

He leaned toward her then. She was so sure he was going to kiss her she even felt her heart pick up just a little faster in anticipation. He was there, his mouth barely an inch from hers when her cell phone played the Aerosmith riff it was set to that represented Xander.

He groaned and she let out a small yelp not sure what had just happened. How'd they go from talking about Dracula and end of the world stuff to him kissing her? She dragged her cell phone out of her front pocket.

"Hello."

"Hey Buffster. It's Xander. Did I catch you at a bad time?"

She rolled her eyes. As if he needed to identify himself after close to ten years. "Uh, hi, Xander. What's up?"

"Just touching base with you. We'll be on the ground about 0700 hours."

"That's seven o'clock tomorrow morning. Right? I never did get used to military time even when I was with Riley, but Willow said it'd be the morning. I'm going back out there tonight to see if any others show up."

"Okay, good. We have the coordinates, so we may not even need to bother you. Just in case, leave your cell phone on."

"I always do."

"There was that one time…"

"Yeah, one time, and my phone was charging."

Lee hadn't moved his hand from the wall near her head and was totally encroaching on her space. Her eyes met his and he smiled.

"I know, I just have to give you a hard time. Talk to you tomorrow."

"Okay."

"Oh, hey, any luck finding that slayer?"

"I haven't tried yet. I'll do that tomorrow. Willow was here today and we went back out to the scene. So, not much time for finding slayers."

"Gotcha. Be careful out there."

"I always am.

"Night, Buffy, sleep well."

"You, too, Xander," she said fondly. Who'd have thought he'd be her go-to man? Giles was busy doing watcher stuff, so she had to have someone to rely on. Xander had taken on the role on a temporary basis. That was months ago and no one had made mention of finding a replacement for him. He was just that good.

"Friend?"

"Yeah," Buffy said, sliding her phone back into her pocket. "Just telling me they'll be here in the morning to take care of that nest we found. It'll be inhabitable by this time tomorrow."

"Do you still need to go out there tonight?"

Her eyes met his, wondering what exactly he was asking her. "I should. I need to see if others show up."

"Your friend has impeccable timing. He's not psychic or something is he?"

"No," she said with a shake of her head. "Why?"

"I was about to do this," he said, kissing her right there in the doorway between her room and the hallway.

It was soft, a little tentative as if he wasn't quite sure what he was doing. Or why. He'd mentioned earlier kissing hadn't been something he did since his ex. As she tugged on the lapels of his suit jacket, pushing him back into her room, she realized she liked that thought. Something about her made him want to kiss again.

Hands went to his head, the nape of his neck, lower to his shoulders and forward to his chest. She couldn't remember the last time she'd touched a breathing man with a heartbeat. Riley she supposed. That seemed like forever ago.

She'd abstained for a couple of years now, longer considering she and Spike hadn't done more than hold one another her last night in Sunnydale. She had an itch, evidently he did, too. Was it bad to scratch it together? She wasn't sure. One night stands weren't her thing.

She stopped thinking and just went with her gut, sliding his suit coat over his shoulders and off. Her mouth parted, seeking his tongue as she worked the buttons on his shirt. He met hers, echoing her urgency as he reached for the waist of her jeans.

He backed her against the wall, pinning her arms against the wall by her head as he twined his fingers through hers. He wasn't going to stop here. Was he? Evidently not, as a minute later he let go of her hands so she could drop them to his shoulders, bare and very warm to the touch. He was definitely a living, breathing man.

She wasn't exactly sure who did what, but somehow they managed to get each other out of all of their respective clothes. Hands at her hips, he urged - not that he needed to too much - and her legs went around his waist.

She'd done it like this once before. Back up against a wall, but she'd been in a totally different place then. The emotions that went with that time weren't here now. This time, she let her head fall back against the wall and clung to him as for a little while he let her control the pace. And, so help her, she enjoyed it.

"Oh God," he murmured against her neck as she used her muscles, squeezing and clutching him so he slid even deeper inside of him. He was giving her a hickey. She could feel it and even though she hadn't had one since high school, if even then, she found it turned her on just now. It seemed to fit what they were doing, where they were.

He pulled away as much as she allowed him to, eyes cloudy with desire as he looked at her. She'd never stopped to wonder if her eyes looked like that, too. She hoped so.

"A little late, but I don't have anything…"

"It's okay. I'm on birth control."

"But no boyfriend?"

"No," she whispered shaking her head. "I wouldn't lie about that, not like I knew this was going to happen."

"Fair enough," he said, taking her into his arms and carrying her to the bed. "Sorry, wasn't going to last much longer like that. You're good at that."

"Mm, maybe it's you and not me."

"No, don't remember it feeling like this," he said as he sank inside of her again. She wrapped her legs around him again, arching into him to take him deeper. She hadn't noticed against the wall just how big he was. Or maybe it had just been that long since she'd been with anyone, but she didn't think that was it.

She had to fight to stop from scratching him with her nails as he thrust inside of her, each thrust of his cock stroking her clit as he slid out of her then back in again. Bringing her closer to climax until finally she shattered and came hard, clutching onto him. It'd been so, so long. She hadn't even been of the mind to take matters into her own hand, or fingers, lately. It just made her more frustrated.

He followed pretty close behind her with a murmured "too good".

"Yeah," she said simply, her way of agreeing.

They stayed like that for a long while, her legs around him and him on top of her. He made no effort to move and she found she didn't want him to.

"I must be getting heavy," he whispered, his voice sounding a little hoarse just then. He kissed her and she kissed him back as he rolled beside her, sliding a hand to her hip to draw her against him.

"You were fine."

"I don't feel like I'm squishing you this way. I prefer it."

She chuckled. "Okay then."

He traced lazily along her hip and upper thigh. "Did you still want pizza?"

"Mm, not right now. No. I think you've whetted my appetite for other things."

"I have, huh?"

"Yes, it's been years. And I'm always okay when I'm not getting any. Dry spells are fine and all, but once I have the opportunity."

"I see."

She bit her lip and looked at him. "You know, I really don't think you do yet. I'll show you by the end of the night though." She sat up then, straddling him.

"Am I going to need oxygen?"

She shook her head as she began exploring him with her hands and mouth. Now that they'd gotten to this point and he was here, naked she couldn't wait to get to know him better.

"I'll just give you mouth to mouth if it gets that far."

Story ©Susan Falk/APCKRFAN/PhantomRoses.com