His donut mission forgotten, Xander gently stroked the vampire’s bloodied blonde hair and carefully ran the other hand over the rest of the body, examining for more serious wounds. He gingerly lifted his near comatose friend, carried him to the bathroom, placed him on the mat and began to run a bath.

He stripped his lover, noting the deep bruising on the torso that even vampire healing rates had only just begun to address. There was a puncture wound in his shoulder that appeared as though something sharp and very pointy had penetrated.

“God Spike! What happened? Who did this?”

Spike whimpered as one of Xander’s hands slid under the badly injured shoulder and he was lifted no longer protected by the leather duster. The human heard him begin to breathe in an attempt to pant through the pain. As Xander settled the vampire into the heat of the bath water and knelt along side, he heard his lover grind out “Slayer.”

Xander paled and felt instantly cold…

“Oh god Spike. Who? Not one of the Sunnyhell crew surely…. Oh geez Spike, I could have lost you…. I could have lost you! And it was my fault, all my fault.”

Spike’s eyes fluttered open for a moment as he whispered, “Nahhh pet. New bint. No one’s fault. Just happened. ‘Sides, Slayer of Slayers... ‘member?” The statement would have seemed far more convincing had Spike not flinched with pain at that moment.

Xander carefully cleaned the blood from Spike’s hair – relieved to find the crimson fluid had all but come from a simple cut on his hairline.

Of more concern was the puncture wound near the collar bone. Xander sluiced it with clean water from the tap then a little disinfectant. He stood and watched his friend for a moment as an exhausted head fell back onto the bath edge and eyes fell shut. Xander left him to rest, headed for the kitchen, briskly heated two bags of blood, poured them into a large soup mug and carried it back to the bathroom.

Spike opened his eyes as he smelt the food.

“What is it with you and feedin’ me in the bloomin’ bathtub pet?”

“C’mon Spike – hardly the same is it?!”

“Dunno, you might enjoy a bit of cuffs ‘n chains action these days.” Spike wiggled his scarred eyebrow a little, but accepted the blood with no further comment, downing it in one go, then leaned back once more with a heavy sigh.

Xander replenished the hot water and let his injured friend soak for another fifteen minutes.

He picked up the blood soaked t-shirt and filthy jeans, throwing them into the wash basket. He slung the duster onto a good wooden hanger and pegged it to the edge of the cupboard, then returned to retrieve his now slightly rosy partner from the bath. Spike looked significantly improved, but still allowed the human to lift him to the bed.

Xander took particular care not to bump the injured shoulder, gently easing the vampire down to a semi reclining position and tucking up the covers. As he moved to stand however, his companion smiled knowingly and pulled him back down. “Hey luv, stay a while?” then added a “Please?” the word along with the somewhat shy smile, far more effective than any physical force he could have applied. Xander complied, lying on his side and stretching a hand over to caress and pet his friend.

“God Spike, I thought you had gone for good! I was so scared that you had gone for good!”

“Oi, some credit here whelp! Harder to get rid of than that, pet. Just got a bit caught up is all.” He looked pointedly at the bruised knuckles on his left hand.

“So what happened Spike – what were you doing taking on a Slayer – that’s no you any more?! And drunk as well?!”

“Course it’s not bloody me. And just for the record – got drunk after, well mostly! Anyway, stupid bint caught me doin’ a little recon around McKinley Park. She must’ve seen me in game face when I took on a couple of ‘charmers’ who were hasslin’ some old homeless bloke behind the community centre. Think she misinterpreted the situation a mite. I felt the tingle of her I guess, but was a little preoccupied at the time…”

“Jesus, Spike, didn’t you explain who you were?!”

“Well...No!... Not exactly much point was there!  Shall I do the full rebuttal for you, or just go for the summary?!… One: I am *supposed* to be dead – accordin’ to the watcher records – three times, if the bint had bothered to study… which I doubt – given her lack of banter, obviously not the sharpest pencil in the box.”

“But you only died twice! You survived the fight with the senior partners!”

“And only me sire an’ me knew that… and now you o’ course. Anyway….Two: kind of busy fending off ‘Ms Wannabe Electra” slayer’s bloody messy fighting style – don’t know what they’re teachin’ them these days but I swear I could have put a third notch on me belt without even tryin’ if I’d bin inclined.”

“But she staked you in the shoulder!”

“Do you *honestly* think that would have stopped me, were I fightin’ for real?!... C’mon mate, bit o’ credit… I wasn’t *trying* to kill her… if the daft bitch had taken two seconds to sort the situation, she would ‘ave seen that too!”

“Shit Spike, we have to let the guys at Watcher HQ know you are around… How the hell did you live in Boston for so long without being found?”

Spike raised a disdainful eyebrow and didn’t bother to qualify the question with a reply.

“And thirdly: I hardly think that the ‘No really, I’m a ‘good’ vampire with an investment portfolio and web based literary career’ is a particularly compelling argument mid fight yeah!”

“And again I marvel at the focused debating skills, maintained by the scholar from prehistory”

“Oi!!!”  Spike, this time pulled away looking quite indignant.

“Hee hee, come on Spike! I get it OK! I just think that it’s time you let Giles or Willow know you survived. I mean… Both of them really cared about you.”

“Watcher bloody didn’t! Complicit in a daft plot to have me done in by the Slayer’s boy. Not t’ mention a number of nasty bathtime incidents post chip!” Spike cocked his head and waited.

“OK, but not after you saved them all! Giles knew that… And not after the ‘mysterious funds’ came to the Watchers Council – he must have known it was you.” Yet as he said it, Xander realized, all the money had apparently flowed from Angel. And if they had known of Spike through Andrew, all of the money flow predated the two master vampires’ apparent demise in the final battle with the Black Thorn and the Senior Partners’ army.

“God, Spike they really don’t know do they?”

“No, an’ you’re not bloody telling them!”

“But… Just Willow, at least tell Willow! She liked you Spike. She went through stuff and she understood the darkness and what you did to make it right…”

“Listen pet, I may be beaten and tired, and still a little pissed off with you for bein’ such an f’ing prick the other night… but let’s keep our heads down for a bit longer, aye mate?”

Xander stroked down the defined cheekbones then placed his hand on the back of Spike’s neck, caressed Angelus’ claim mark with his thumb and leaned forward to kiss his partner. “OK sweetheart, when you’re ready though… OK… but no more outdoor adventures without me at your back while you’re here – agreed?”

“Hopin’ to have you at my back in more than one fashion in the very near future ‘s a matter o’ fact….. or me at yours.” The lascivious grin defined the end of the argument, signaled that the vampire was recovering rather quickly, and marked the beginning of an hour of heavy petting, and general fondling alternating with the ‘who’s at who’s back’ game.

It was almost five when Xander awoke from a sated snooze, his limpet friend firmly attached to his side, and suddenly remembered the work party.

“Geez Spike get up, c’mon shower and get up… we’ve gotta go in an hour!”

“Oh, Bloody Hell!”