Buffy closed the door behind her, leaned against it and said, "I lost...it was just a fight, Xander. Nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about?" Xander growled, taking in her disheveled appeareance, the cut on her neck, the blood, mud and water on her clothes. "You come home, looking like something the cat dragged in and there is nothing to worry about?"

Buffy pushed herself off the door and said, "I am going to take a shower and change clothes. We can talk about this when I get back."

Rising to follow her, Xander continued the argument, "Buffy, you lost a fight. You never loose fights. What the hell is that?" he said, finally noticing the blood staining the back of her shirt. "Your back is covered in blood."

Twisting around to look, Buffy hissed in pain and would have fallen down the stairs if Xander had not steadied her. "Damn." She hissed as the pain set in, "That was when they kicked me into the gravestone. I didn't think I was bleeding back there." She sighed and said, "Xander, I need you to take off this shirt, I don't think I am going to be able to." She swayed against him, obviously fighting for balance. Xander gently pulled her shirt loose of the congealing blood and lifted it over her arms, catching her when she fell.

"You are in no shape to do anything." Xander stated flatly.

"I have to take a shower."

Letting loose an explosive sigh, Xander said, "Fine. But I am going to be in there with you to make sure you don't pass out and hit your head. Don't worry, I won't look."

"Whatever you want, Xander." Buffy said tiredly, coming to the end of her tether. She walked into the bathroom and turned on the water. Xander stayed outside until he heard her get into the tub. Coming in the room, he avoided glancing at the shower and sat down on the edge of the sink. "So there were two of them." Buffy said as she allowed the water to cascade over her body, "One short and one tall. They kicked me into a gravestone twice, I guess that is when I hurt my back. Then they both tackled me, delivered a message and left."

Xander rubbed his eyes tiredly, "That so does not explain why you have a cut on your neck."

"When they tackled me, the smaller one didn't bite me. I don't know why he didn't bite but he grazed my neck with his teeth. Then he licked at the blood." Buffy shuddered at the memory and at the pain from the soap hitting the cuts, "Then he said something or other, ending with 'Prepare yourself, Slayer, the end of your world is coming soon.'"

Xander clenched his hands, "You let him bleed you?"

"It wasn't like I had much choice in the matter." Buffy snapped back.

"The end of your world?" He asked, "Are you sure that was what he said."

Buffy started to wash her hair, "Yeah. Usually they said 'the end of the world blah blah blah' but this one definatly said that the end of MY world was coming. I wonder why he said that." Her wounds were starting to heal, the pain was growing less. "Why is it that messengers deliver these really crappy messages? Just once, I want a message that says something like 'we will be at the docks at 11 o'clock. We are going to end the world by killing you and opening the Hellmouth. Bring a date.'" She smiled into the water, "But no, it's always 'be wary for we are coming' and 'the end of the world.' Like, where the hell are the details."

"I guess they should have used FedEx." Xander quiped and smiled.

Dawn and Anya were at the Magic Box, closing the shop for the day. "So like Buffy and Xander don't have an issue with me working here over the school year. That is like so cool, don't you think?" Dawn asked Anya.

Anya smiled again and said, "Yes. More fun with you and me running the store and making money." The doorbell chimed as someone walked through the door, "I am sorry but we are closed." Anya said as she turned around to see Oz standing in the doorway. "Oz, oh my God, what are you doing here!"

Walking over to Anya, Oz pulled her into a quick hug. "I caught the red eye from London. I'm all screwed up now, what time is it? Hey, Dawn."

Dawn waved a rather listless wave and said, "Hey Oz, it's like 11 I think." She wondered at his presence here, she knew that he and Willow used to date and stuff but was kind of hazy on the details.

Oz smiled tenderly at Dawn, he knew more of her through Willow's letters and Anya's phone calls than she knew of him. "Right, thanks Dawn." Giving Anya a meaningful glance, he asked, "Does she know?"

"Ah, right. No. None of them do." Anya said quickly.

"Know what?" Dawn asked.

"Well it's like this," Oz started to say. At the look from Anya, he shrugged and said, "She has a right to know. Anyways, Anya told me what happened with Willow and Warren and how Will disapeared. So I volunteered to track her down. I followed her to London, then to the Middle East. I lost her in an African jungle and haven't seen her since then. Like I told Anya on the phone last night, right after I lost her, the wolf attempted to take me over again, something it hasn't done in years." He turned his head away and muttered to himself. "She always could do that to me."

"So like why are you here?" Dawn asked, attempting to keep the antagonism out of her voice.

Oz turned to look at her, unable to conceal the haunted look in his eyes. "Well last night, after I got off the phone with Anya, I had a vision. The wolf brought it to me and told me to get my rear to Sunnydale as soon as possible. Having lived on the Hellmouth as long as I did, I know better than to ignore visions so I got a plane ticket and hauled ass over here."

"Ok." Anya said, gamely ignoring the pain in her heart, "Let's close up shop and go to the Summer's house."

Dawn and Oz looked at her in surprise, "Are you sure?" Dawn asked.

Swallowing back her tears, Anya said, "Yes."

Spike and Willow were upstairs. As Spike was rubbing his hands up her leg, she stopped him with hers and looked right through him. "He is here." She murmered before drawing Spike to her for a fierce and passionate kiss.

Spike broke off the kiss and moved down, kissing her neck, kneading her breasts, before sliding down. When she thrashed and screamed her orgasm, he slid back up the bed and took her roughly. "I will make you forget, love." He growled, "There will be no one left in your head but me." Moving his hips, he pinned her arms above her head. "You are mine and mine alone. Branded by my bite." Lowering his head, he tightened his grip on her arms, leaving bruises in his wake.

Willow arched under him, trying to draw him closer. "Yes, Spike." She panted, "I am yours. I am your good little girl."

He stopped and looked at her, "Are you?" A dangerous glint shown in his eyes. Lowering his head to her neck, he said, "Then you will cum when I bite you, when I hurt you, when I want you to."

"Yes, Spike, please." She screamed as he bit down on her neck, fangs sinking into the scars he had left when he turned her. Her nails raked his back as she convulsed around him, drawing blood from him. He shuddered once, twice, and released her arms, curling up around her possesively. "I love you, Spike."

"I love you, Red." Was Spike's reply. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"You did, love." Willow replied, stretching luxuriously on the satin sheets.

Scowling, he looked down at his hands, "Are you ok?"

Playfully, she trailed her hand over the scratch marks on his back before bearing down on one and reopening the skin. Licking the blood off her fingertips, she whispered, "Everytime we have this conversation, the end is always the same. I always tell you to bite me again, Sire." With a growl, Spike rolled her over and started back up again.

Anemone - Chapter 6 - Explanations