Summary: A sequel of sorts, to “Time Is On My Side”, my short, smutty, Spack ficlet. Buffy (and Faith) have shown up in Cardiff, as Spike suspected they would, and the first person they meet is Jack. And a couple of weevils…

.Unlike the prequel, which was slashy smut, this seems to be determined to be Spuffy, and possibly no worse than an R rating. (ETA – I did my best, but Faith and Jack just didn’t cooperate. I think we have to go with NC17) I wanted some Jack or John/Buffy before Spike came into the picture, but that hussy, Faith, insisted on coming along and making a play for Jack. Can’t blame her, but still….*goes off muttering about the possibilities…*

White Hats Come in Different Shapes and Sizes.

Part One

“Dude! You are one fugly demon!” Faith punctuated her words with a sweep of her sword, neatly decapitating the weevil. Buffy did the same to hers, then stood staring at the two twitching, headless corpses.

“They didn’t dust, so I guess they aren’t vamps,” she said, frowning at the still-bleeding bodies.

“Then what the hell are they? That guy definitely was trying to sink his teeth into me.”

“Maybe he just wanted to eat you? You know, in more of a hungry lion kinda way?”

Faith rolled her eyes in disbelief, grumbling, “What are we going to do with these bodies? Doesn’t look like they’re going to dust or dissolve like any self-respecting demon would.”

“We’ll take care of that, ladies.” Both slayers whirled, swords at the ready, to find a tall, good-looking man grinning at them. He looked back and forth between the two women, openly admiring them both, then twitched as someone obviously spoke into the communicator in his ear. “Yes, it’s safe. No, they aren’t time agents…just come and get the debris.”

He gave the puzzled slayers another dazzling smile and nodded at their still-poised swords.

“Do you think you could point those things somewhere else?” he asked. “Not that I don’t think I could shoot one of you before you got to me, but--” He swallowed the rest of his thought as Faith crossed the space so quickly that her hand was on his gun before he could register her movement. He snatched at it, only to discover that his own strength wasn’t enough to budge the deceptively delicate hand keeping it holstered. With a rueful smile, he held his hands up in the air.

“Point taken,” he said. “I guess that proves Spike wasn’t lying about--”

Buffy’s sword was at his throat immediately. “Spike? You’ve seen him? Where is he? If you…”

“Relax, Buffy,” he said with a disarming smile. “He’s fine. Or, he was fine the last time I saw him. He’s looking for you and thought you’d show up here sooner or later. He’ll be back. Or I’ll help you find him. Let’s begin again, okay?” He extended his hand and gave another smile. “I’m Captain Jack Harkness of Torchwood. And you, obviously, are Buffy the Vampire Slayer and…?”

Buffy slowly lowered the point of her sword, and nodded to Faith, who took her hand off the gun. Both slayers backed away just far enough to be out of Jack’s personal space, but not so far as to not be able to reach him if he went for the gun. He lowered his arms and smiled again at both girls.

“There’s no sense in killing me, anyway. I don’t stay dead very well.”

“I know the feeling,” Buffy muttered, dropping her sword to her side. “So, how do you know Spike? And how do you know who I am?”

“I told you, he was here looking for you. We met accidentally and spent some time together.”

“Where is he now?” Buffy glanced around as though expecting Spike to appear out of the fog.

“I don’t know, darlin’, but we’ll find him. I promise. I don’t think he was planning to leave right away. He seemed to think you’d be coming here for some reason….” Jack’s politely arched brows and lengthy pause indicated he was hoping Buffy would share the reason two slayers were currently in his city.

Buffy and Faith exchanged looks, then Faith smiled and put her arm through Jack’s.

“Why don’t you take a couple of hungry girls out for some dinner and we’ll think about how much you need to know about what we’re doing here? I’m Faith, by the way. The other – sexier - vampire slayer.”

“Now there’s a good idea,” Buffy agreed, taking Jack’s other arm, but not pressing her breasts against it the way Faith obviously was. “I am kinda hungry…”

“Not to mention…” Faith laughed when Buffy smothered a giggle. Jack frowned back and forth between the two girls, sensing that it might have been in his best interest to know what the rest of that sentence was and why the girls found it so funny. Whatever it was, it didn’t seem dangerous, and he gave a mental shrug as he squeezed their arms against his sides.

“That sounds like a good idea,” he agreed. “But you might want to leave those medieval weapons somewhere less conspicuous than in your hands.” He glanced up as Gwen and Ianto stepped into view. Gwen’s eyes went back and forth between the two petite girls clinging to her boss, and her eyes narrowed. Ianto’s face was carefully blank as he waited for instruction.

“Ah, there you are,” Jack said cheerfully. “These two young ladies got to the weevils before we did, so we just have a little clean-up to do for them. I’m going to show my gratitude by taking them out to dinner. You don’t mind watching their weapons for them, do you? You can just put these in my office.” He took the swords from Buffy and Faith, handing them to Ianto with instructions to clean them off before putting them on his desk.

He beamed at his two co-workers, clearly not expecting any arguments. Buffy smiled at Gwen in a friendly manner, while Faith smirked and continued to cling to Jack’s arm. Ianto’s forehead creased, then he walked up to Buffy and stared into her clear eyes.

“Are you here for the vampire?” he asked, ignoring Jack’s eye roll.

“Actually, no. We’re here for…something else. But if Spike’s in the city, I’m not leaving until I see him.”

Her gaze hardened as she stared back at Ianto’s blank face. To her surprise, he nodded and relaxed.

“He’s looking for you,” he said softly. “We’ll help you find him.”

“First things first,” Buffy said, stepping away from both men. “We’ve been promised a meal and then we need to get busy looking for … what we’re looking for. Then I’ll worry about Spike.”

“You’ll need our help,” Ianto said calmly, carefully avoiding Jack’s narrowed eyes. “We know the city, you don’t.”

“I know Spike,” Buffy said dryly. “He’ll be in a bar somewhere – probably fighting, if he’s bored enough. We can follow the noise.”

Jack snorted and Buffy shot him a shrewd look. “Hit it on the head, didn’t I?” She smirked. “So, did he pull you into his brawl?” She cocked her head and waited for Jack’s reply. She hadn’t expected the expression of sheer panic that crossed his face as he remembered what had brought on their brief scuffle in the bar. He cleared his throat, and forced a smile, remembering what Spike had said about Buffy’s possessiveness and temper. “Oh, it wasn’t much of a brawl, really. There was just a little misunderstanding…we straightened the guy out.”

Silent until now, Gwen approached them and looked from Buffy to Faith and back. Abruptly, she reached out and touched Faith’s face, checking for body temperature and sliding her hand down to feel for a pulse. Faith narrowed her eyes, then smiled.

“Not a vamp,” she said succinctly. “And also not as solidly hetero as you might think,” she added with a wink as Gwen snatched her hand back, blushing. “You let me know if you want to do any more checking…”

“You’re my kind of woman,” Jack murmured in her ear as he began to steer the three of them down the street.

Buffy snorted. “She’s everybody’s kind of woman,” she snarked, flashing Faith a smile to show she didn’t mean it unkindly.

“Ah, you’re just jealous, B. Don’t know what you’re missing…” Her voice trailed off as she remembered rumors about Buffy and one of the young slayers. “Oh wait, you do!” She crowed with delight, laughing at Buffy’s reddened cheeks.

~~~~~~~~~~~

A slayer on each arm, Jack swaggered into the pub and quickly found them a table. Basking in the envious glances from the unaccompanied men sitting at the bar, he began to explain to the girls about Torchwood and its mission. By the time the two deceivingly small women had put away a substantial amount of food, he had pretty much brought them up to speed on what he felt they needed to know about the Rift and the creatures that came through it.

“So they aren’t demons?” Faith demanded. “How do you know?”

Jack shrugged. “I don’t, I guess. But so far, they’ve all been killable and/or easily forced back. I suppose it’s possible that some of the dimensions they come from would seem demonic – but…”

“No vampires?” Buffy demanded.

“Only your missing boyfriend,” Jack said, watching her face carefully for a reaction. “He’s the first one I’ve seen. And I’ve been around a lot…”

“I’ll just bet you have,” Faith murmured, earning an appreciative laugh and a sideways wink from Jack.

“So, Buffy, Faith,” he nodded at both women. “What do I need to know about slayers and vampires?”

Buffy and Faith exchanged looks and matching snickers. Jack waited patiently while the women indulged in some silent communication that ended with a shrug from Faith and a sigh from Buffy.

“Fair’s fair, I guess,” she said. She quickly ran through the “one girl in all the world” spiel, glossing over how Faith came to be called while Buffy was still walking around Sunnydale. They didn’t cover Faith’s stay in prison, just saying that she’d been “away” for a while and had returned to help out with an Apocalypse. When Buffy told him how she’d used a witch and a magical weapon to share her power with all the potentials, Jack couldn’t prevent a gasp.

“There are more of you?” he asked, looking around the pub.

They choked back laughs and nodded. “Not here, though,” Faith said quickly. “We just came here to hunt down a particular demon. We haven’t had had any reason yet to post a slayer here. I guess now we know why,” she added, smiling at Jack.

Buffy proudly shared how Spike had worn the amulet and brought the Hellmouth down around his head while she had run to escape the crumbling town. Jack’s eyes widened as he remembered the way Spike had brushed off the destruction of Sunnydale.

“Doesn’t like to brag, does he?” Jack muttered, trying to reconcile the rough man he’d met with someone who’d sacrifice himself to save the world. He waited while Buffy and Faith finished howling. “Well, he didn’t. He never mentioned that he…saved the world? Is that what you’re saying would have happened? The world would have ended?”

Buffy nodded. “It might have taken a while for it to get here, but if the First Evil had made it out of that Hellmouth and turned his army of uber-vamps loose, it would only have been a question of time. You would have been really glad you lived on an island,” she added.

“So, Spike destroyed them by using…some magic necklace and his…soul?”

“An amulet,” Buffy responded. “And yes, it channeled sunlight through his soul. He was burning up the last time I saw him. From the inside out.” She turned over her left hand, exposing the ropey scars on her palm. Jack frowned, remembering the rough surface of Spike’s hand.

He studied her face for a full minute before laying his hand over hers. “I had no idea,” he murmured. “You two are…” He shook his head, at a loss for words.

“Yeah, yeah,” Faith said, tossing her head. “They’re all that. But, I’ll bet Blondie was a lot more fun before he got all souled up and house-broken.” She grinned at Buffy, but didn’t miss the smirk that flashed across Jack’s face and his muttered, “Oh, I don’t know about that…”. Faith studied him intently, then her mouth split into a big grin. Jack frowned a warning at her, knowing he was helpless to stop her if she decided to share her suspicions with the puzzled woman looking back and forth between them.

Changing the subject abruptly, Jack stood up and tossed some money on the table. He offered his arms again and walked them out the door into the still-foggy street.

“You’re more than welcome to stay in Torchwood tonight, if you’d like,” he offered. “Only Ianto and I actually live there. Gwen goes home to her husband and Owen and Tosh go…wherever they go. Home, I guess.”

“You don’t know?”

“I don’t ask,” he corrected. “If I need them, I can find them. So, what do you say? Come have a tour of our facility and meet the rest of the team?”

“I don’t know…” Buffy looked at Faith dubiously. “We haven ‘t made much progress finding the demon that Giles is so worried about that he sent both of us on this mission.”

“We’ll find him tomorrow,” Faith promised, following Jack’s broad back down the street. “He’s not going anywhere without his crystal, and we’ve already got that.”

Buffy patted the pouch under her jacket and nodded. “That’s true. Once he senses it, he should come to us.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy trotted after the two people in front of her, listening idly to their flirting banter and wondering what Jack had meant by saying he and Ianto lived at Torchwood. She shrugged and hurried to join them on a piece of paving stone that immediately began to sink into the ground. The lack of surprise and curiosity on the new faces that appeared as they neared the floor and came to a stop, made it obvious that Gwen and Ianto had already returned and told the others about Faith and Buffy. They followed Jack off the lift and stood, back to back, as the two remaining members of the Torchwood team studied them.

Tosh gave one of her timid smiles, saying, “Welcome to Torchwood.” Her fingers were already flying over the keyboard as she searched out “slayers”.

Owen eyed the two girls intently, switching his sole attention to Faith when Ianto cleared his throat as a reminder that Buffy belonged, in some fashion they were yet to discover, to the vampire that had visited them so recently. He ran his eyes up and down Faith’s body, smiling appreciatively when she took a deep breath and expanded her chest for his admiration.

Jack raised his eyebrows at Ianto, who was doing his best to appear innocent of any attempt to distract Faith from Jack.

Before he could decide if he was flattered at Ianto’s obvious jealously, or angry at the hint of possessiveness, Jack was interrupted by Gwen’s strident voice.

“First the vampire, now his girl friend? What are we - a tourist attraction?” Her glare in the direction of the two slayers was met with Buffy’s narrowed eyes and subtle shift into a fighting stance. Faith gave the other woman a smirk and batted her eyes at Owen and Jack.

“Not very friendly, is she?”

“Gwen,” Jack said with just a bit of an edge to his voice. “Buffy and Faith are our guests. They are to be treated with consideration and provided whatever assistance we can offer.” He turned to the two appreciative slayers. “Can you describe this demon you’re looking for? Maybe Tosh can locate him for you.”

“Thanks, Capt’n,” Faith said with a shrug. “We don’t actually know much about what he looks like. All we know is that he’s looking for a crystal he needs to do something we’d all end up wishing he didn’t. I’m guessing he’s gonna come looking for us once he feels that stone Buffy’s wearing.” She stared around at the thick stone and metal walls. “I suppose it’s not likely he can get in here.”

“I doubt it,” Jack said. “We’re pretty well concealed, and pretty well-fortified. I think it’s safe enough.” He visible preened at his impressive facility.

“Okay, then.” Faith walked further into the big room. “What do you do for fun around here?”

“I’m going home,” Gwen said tightly. Owen and Tosh exchanged looks and hurried after her. “Night, Jack. Goodnight, Sir.” Their parting words drifted back as they quickly left the complex.

Ianto trailing behind, Jack took Buffy and Faith on a quick tour of the less classified parts of the complex. He waited patiently while they peered into every cell in the holding area, muttering to each other about the inhabitants and how likely any of them were to be demons. They paused in front of a newly filled cell and exchanged glances.

“Where did you get this one?” Buffy asked, shifting her gaze back to the creature currently hunched over and staring at the floor.

“We just picked him up last night. We didn’t recognize his type, so Tosh is doing a search before we decided what to do with him. He was pretty docile when we brought him in.”

The two girls studied the creature, which appeared to be getting restless, raising its head and moving it around in an agitated fashion. The longer they watched, the more excited it became and the less harmless it appeared.

“You think…?”

“I dunno. Giles said it was big, which this guy isn’t, but…”

The rather small and non-lethal appearing demon suddenly fixed its gaze on Buffy’s mid-section. Instinctively, she put her hand over the pouch holding the crystal.

“Oh shit,” Faith breathed as the rapidly growing demon threw itself at the glass.

“Crappity, crap, crap,” Buffy agreed, whirling to yell at Jack. “Where are our swords?”

While Jack tried to explain that he had a perfectly good gun, the demon began to fling itself against the special glass, growing in size with every blow. With a final blow shattering the “unbreakable” glass, the now very large and toothy demon burst into the room and ran at Buffy. She dodged the sweeping arms, kicking at what seemed to be a knee as she ducked.

“Hey! Demon!” Faith shouted, picking up a nearby dinner cart and throwing it at the demon’s head. Shaking his head and growling, the creature kept its focus on the human that clearly had possession of the crystal it needed to open the portal and bring through more of its kind. Buffy ducked and dodged, raining blows on it when she could and skittering out of the way when she couldn’t. With single-minded determination, it concentrated on her, slowed, but not stopped by the steady bombardment of anything Faith could find that seemed potentially demon damaging.

Jack emptied his gun into the large creature’s body, before admitting defeat and running upstairs to grab their swords from an already returning Ianto. He tossed one to Faith and held out Buffy’s for her to snatch as she ran past. Immediately, the tenor of the fight changed, with both slayers now on the offensive, slashing and stabbing in an effort to bring the huge demon down to where they could decapitate it. Faith’s strong swipe across the back of its knees sent it to the floor, and Buffy’s follow up slash across its throat sent the head rolling across the open space.

Within the other cells, the weevils and other Rift inhabitants were pressed back against the walls, as far away as they could get from the two grinning slayers. Jack smiled at the cross-species recognition of true danger when it appeared in their midst, then turned his attention back to the panting girls. Faith and Buffy both turned their gazes on Jack, identical expressions of lust darkening their eyes. His own eyes darkened in response and visions of a night spent between blonde and brunette began to dance through his brain. He was just stepping towards them, not sure what he was going to do, but knowing he had to do something, when Buffy visibly snapped herself out of it.

With a shudder, she tore her eyes away and shook her head.

“Go on,” she muttered to Faith. “At least one of us might as well get something out of this besides torn clothes.” She ruefully examined the torn sleeve of her jacket, where the demon’s claw had almost made it through to her arm.

“I can share,” Faith said with a leer. “I’ll bet he’s enough for both of us – not vamp stamina, but…”

Buffy laughed and shook her head again. “I don’t share well,” she reminded the other Slayer, marveling at her own ability to joke about the pain Faith had caused her in their convoluted past. “And, anyway, with my luck, Spike would fall through the ceiling or something and there’d be yelling and pouting.”

“Your loss,” Faith tossed over her shoulder, as she grabbed Jack’s hand and dragged him up the stairs. “Now, where’s the place you claim you live? Does it have a shower? A bed?”

Buffy followed more slowly, taking deep, calming breaths until she was past the immediate effects of the fight. She reached the top of the stairs in time to watch Faith and Jack disappear into what seemed to be an airy apartment. “If something located underground could be said to be ‘airy’,” she thought wryly, noting the glass across the front and the warm light inside. She was so busy staring at Jack’s office/apartment that she almost ran into Ianto, who was standing rigidly and staring at the door swinging shut behind them.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Buffy said, embarrassed when she noticed the expression on the man’s normally impassive face. “I didn’t see you there.”

“Neither did they,” he said, never taking his eyes off the door.

“Yeah, well, they were kinda focused on…” Buffy’s voice trailed off as the possible reason for the look on his face occurred to her. “Oh,” she said softly. “I’m…I’m sorry. I don’t think Faith knows…”

“I don’t think Faith cares,” he snapped.

Buffy started to defend her sister slayer, then sighed in defeat. “No, she admitted, patting his arm. “She probably doesn’t. I’m sorry,” she repeated.

“Not your fault,” he said shortly, tearing his eyes away from the now empty room behind the glass. “Let me show you to your room.” He turned and walked rapidly away, leaving Buffy to hustle behind him. He paused and opened the door to a small, Spartan but comfortable looking room. “Here,” he said. “You can stay here tonight. The bath is over there, the door has a lock on it, and breakfast will be waiting for you when you wake up. It will remain available until Jack has risen and eaten.”

“Does everything here revolve around Jack?”

“Yes.“ Evidently feeling the need to elaborate, Ianto continued, “It’s not the same when he isn’t here.”

“I can relate to that,” Buffy laughed ruefully. “He’s quite a guy – from what I can tell,” she added hastily as Ianto’s back stiffened.

He turned to look over his shoulder as he went to leave the room.

“This is the same room your…the vampire used when he was here. I assume that is alright with you?”

“It’s fine,” Buffy smiled, wondering at the edge in Ianto’s voice. “It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve slept in Spike’s bed, and it probably won’t be the last.”

He nodded and continued out the door. “Good night, Miss Summers” he said, his voice drifting back as he continued in the direction of the main room. It occurred to Buffy to wonder if he actually lived with Jack and if Faith was kicking him out of his own bed; but she decided it wasn’t her problem. He was a big boy, and so was Jack.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Not kicking your boytoy out his bed, am I?” Faith’s question, as she busied herself removing Jack’s coat and shirt showed that she’d observed more than Jack had given her credit for.

“He has his own apartment and bed,” he responded ambiguously, sliding his hands under her shirt and skillfully unhooking her flimsy bra.

They indulged in several minutes of moaning and exploratory kissing before Faith tore her lips away.

“Okay,” she breathed, “enough foreplay. Let’s get this show on the road.”

Jack gave one of his hearty laughs and fell backwards onto the bed, bringing her with him.

“I knew you were a woman after my own heart,” he murmured, unzipping her pants and pushing them down her thighs. While Faith rolled to the side and kicked her clothes rest of the way off, he quickly sat up and shed his own boots and pants, pulling her against his body as soon as she was unencumbered. Faith immediately rolled them over and settled herself on top, beginning to rock against him almost before he was all the way in. Jack held her hips and groaned as he muttered, “Is this a vampire and slayer thing? Having to be on top?”

Faith’s laugh was low and rich. “Spike wanted to be in charge, huh? I guess B didn’t let him have it that way very often. Takes what he can get when he can get it.”

The only answer was a low moan as she began to show him exactly what a slayer could do with the limber body that came with being chosen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Buffy awoke a bit after mid-day, she blinked for a few seconds, trying to remember where she was and what she was doing there. Somehow, even with the small amount of light that glowed from a recess in the wall, her body knew that it was well underground and it made her appropriately twitchy. She got up, stretched and quickly showered and redressed. With the demon already dead, she was hoping to spend some time trying to track down Spike before she had to report to Giles that the mission was over.

She found a stern-faced Ianto leaving what was, she assumed, his own apartment. For some reason, it made her feel slightly less guilty about Faith, knowing that the handsome young man did not live with Jack. That he was in love with him was pretty obvious, and Buffy gave herself a minute to feel sympathetic before asking, “So, any chance I can get a cup of coffee? Or does that have to wait for Jack, too?”

He nodded and pointed silently up the hallway, showing her into a good-sized meeting room. Buffy quickly found the coffee urn and drew a cup for herself. She looked at the sideboard and its plates of food with questioning eyes. Noticing her look, Ianto nodded.

“Please, help yourself to whatever you’d like. The pastries are fresh, and I made the eggs this morning. No doubt the others will be here soon.”

As Buffy filled her plate, Faith came wandering in, yawning and stretching, and looking entirely too satisfied.

“Morning, B,” she said. “You too, pretty-boy. Isn’t it a great morning?”

“Faith…” Buffy frowned at her sister slayer’s lack of empathy for the man she had clearly hurt.

Faith shrugged and watched as Ianto walked stiffly from the room.

“He’s a big boy,” she said, taking a pastry and biting off a big piece. “And he’s got to know what he’s got in Jack. There’s no way any one person – man or woman – is holding that man down. Trust me.”

“So,” Buffy scrolled little circles on the table. “It was good, huh?”

“I’d come back for more,” Faith grinned. “Or were you wanting more details than that?” She leered at Buffy and wiggled her eyebrows.

“No. No, I’m good. No details necessary…”

Part Two

By evening Tosh had used their myriad surveillance cameras and her constantly busy keyboard to locate areas of Cardiff where there had been bar brawls involving a man with shockingly white blond hair. She was just explaining to Buffy how to get to those areas when the alarm went off.

Immediately, everyone fell into what was obviously a well-practiced and familiar routine.

“What is it?”

“Weevils,” Jack said tersely. “More than one I would guess. There must have been a gap in the Rift that we didn’t notice.”

Grabbing their swords and ignoring the grins from the Torchwood crew, loading up with various more modern weapons, Buffy and Faith prepared to follow them out into the night. When Owen ventured to suggest that the two “unarmed” girls should probably stay away from the action, Jack shook his head, but offered no explanation, leaving it to Ianto to explain how they’d handled the demon after it broke out of their “unbreakable” cells.

Piling into the Torchwood SUVs, they flew through the dark streets in the direction indicated by the alarm.

They arrived at a poorly lit area of old warehouses and abandoned storefronts to find the weevils surrounding a vampire in full game face. Spike was immediately recognizable as he danced in front of the weevils, beckoning them forward.

“Come on, then, you wankers,” he said gleefully. “Let me show you what a real vampire is.”

“Don’t real vampires wear capes and say things like ‘I’m going to drink your blood’?” Faith drawled in a poor imitation of Dracula’s accent.

Spike spun around to face the newcomers he’d been too wrapped up in his taunting to notice. The grin of recognition he sent at Faith faded when he spotted the quiet, staring woman beside her; his game face softened into a wistful human mien.

“Hello, Buffy,” he breathed. “Thought you might show up here sooner or later.”

Spike’s moments of inattention were all the weevils needed, and anything else he was going to say was cut off as he was buried in a snarling, snapping pile of weevils.

Without hesitation, Buffy ran to the snarling pile and snatched a weevil out of it, throwing it towards Owen who quickly shot it with a tranquilizer dart. Not waiting to see where the first one landed, she grabbed another one still rolling around on the ground with Spike and pulled it off, sending it flying with a punch to its snapping jaw. Faith pulled a third one out of the fight, tossing it towards Ianto.

Freed of the encumbering bodies, Spike made quick work of the one left to him, seizing its throat in his fangs and shaking it like a rat. He dropped the lifeless body and spit the alien blood from his mouth before dropping back into his human face and smiling tentatively at Buffy.

Instead of giving an answering smile, she punched him hard enough to rock him back on his heels.

“Don’t ‘hello’ me, you jerk!” she hissed, following up with another punch that he managed to block. “Where the hell have you been?”

“I can explain, pet,” he said, dodging another fist and a kick that came uncomfortably close to his groin. “If you’ll just--- hey, now! Knock it off, Slayer.”

His eyes flashed amber as she continued her assault, only the obvious pain behind her anger keeping his actions defensive rather than retaliatory. When she caught him on the nose, he lost what little temper he had left and swept her legs out from under her. The Torchwood crew looked at Jack for direction as he started to move towards the couple, now fighting in earnest. Faith’s hand on his arm stopped him.

“Let them be,” she said. “They have some issues to work out.” She leaned against the side of a dumpster and watched with undisguised glee as Spike and Buffy threw each other around the area. Bits and pieces of dialogue could be heard in between the grunts and sounds of flesh hitting flesh.

“…thought you were dead, you son of a bitch!”

“…too busy shagging the Immortal to…”

“….have an apocalypse and not even tell me?...”

“...had my own…white hats, didn’t I? Me and Angel...”

“…didn’t believe me!”

“…didn’t want ……die with me, you daft bint!”

As suddenly as it had begun, the fight ended with the two panting combatants wrapped around each other, murmuring things that no one else could hear. While the Torchwood team stared in amazement, and Faith snickered and nudged Jack’s arm, Spike and Buffy lost themselves in each other, as unaware of their audience as if they were alone in the night.

Only when the tranquilized weevils began to stir, did Jack start clearing his throat and the rest of the team begin to pay more attention to their captives than to the still-oblivious couple in front of them. With a sigh, Faith walked up to them and tapped Buffy on the shoulder.

“As much as we might all enjoy the show you two look like you’re gearing up for, it’s getting cold and wet out here and we need to get the fugly biters back in a cage.”

Spike raised his head and gave Faith a grin.

“Not cold where I am,” he said, pulling Buffy closer. “But it is raining some. What say, love? Do we want to go back with the Rift-watchers, or find our own place to shelter?”

Buffy broke away with a sigh.

“As tempting as that thought is, I haven’t even checked in with Giles yet to tell him we got the demon and the crystal. I guess we’d better go back with them – at least until I can explain why I didn’t come running right back.”

“Old Rupert’s gonna be dancing in his shorts when he hears why you’re still here,” Spike said in a tone that made it obvious he didn’t care what the old Watcher thought.

“He’ll get over it.” Buffy dismissed Giles and his opinion of Spike with a shrug. “He knows I’ve been hoping you’d turn up somewhere.”

While Faith tossed the tranquilized weevils into the cage in the back of one truck, Spike and Jack exchanged a warm handshake and matching smirks.

“I can see why she was worth the search,” Jack said, nodding at Buffy. “You two are quite a pair.”

Spike nodded. “That we are, Jack. That we are.”

He watched as Faith allowed an astonished Owen to feel her bicep, and tried to explain to the scientist how she and Buffy could be so strong without any visible evidence of it. His gaze shifted from Faith to Ianto, standing stoically near the other vehicle. Catching Jack’s possessive and admiring eyes on Faith as she flexed and posed for Owen, Spike smiled to himself.

“I’m guessing you already have some idea why she was worth the search,” he said with a grin. “Or can make an educated guess…cause if I thought you knew for sure, I’d have to rip your head off…”

“And you said she was possessive and violent,” Jack murmured, giving a puzzled Buffy a reassuring smile.

“Never said I wasn’t,” Spike said flatly. “Just didn’t figure it was necessary to warn you about that. Went without saying, I thought.”

“It did,” Jack assured him. “Would never have crossed my mind.”

Catching on to the conversation, Buffy stage whispered, “He’s lying.”

“Know that,” Spike whispered back. “But it never hurts to let them think they’re smarter than you are.”

“Is that a poker thing?”

“Among its many uses,” he said smugly. “And don’t act like you’ve never used the ‘dumb blonde’ ploy, love. Known you too long and too well, I have.”

Jack was already behind the wheel of one SUV. He gestured for Spike and Buffy to get in, and waited for Faith to join them, leaving Ianto to drive the rest of the team back in the vehicle with the weevils.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After using Jack’s office to make a quick call to fill Giles in on the status of the portal-opening demon Buffy went stomping back to the main room, pausing only to hiss at Faith, “We have to go back tonight. Better take what you can get while you can get it.”

Taking it upon herself to distract Ianto while Faith coaxed a willing Jack back to his apartment, Buffy began asking questions about both the Rift and the creatures that came through it. She began speculating aloud about the portals that could be opened between dimensions, and wondering if they were related to smaller rifts in the time/space fabric. Her eyes glazed over when Tosh began eagerly spouting theories and numbers, and Buffy finally admitted that she knew little or nothing about either physics or other dimensions.

“I’m more the something-bad-just-appeared-you-need-to-kill-it girl than I am the one who figures out why it’s bad and where it came from. I’m going to give your email to Willow – she’s our head witch and a computer genius – and some of the more science-oriented watchers,” she promised Tosh and Owen. “They’ll be able to answer a lot of your questions, and you might be able to help us out on some of these time/space thingies that come up.”

Moving away from the computers, she attempted a smile at a still-unfriendly Gwen. Where younger Buffy might have just been hurt and turned away, this one put her hands on her hips and glared right back.

“What is your problem?” she asked, tapping her foot. “We’re all on the same side here.”

“My problem Gwen growled back, “is that the vampire that could kill us all is back and Jack’s too busy with your friend to watch him; and as if that wasn’t enough, two strange women with superpowers and way too much interest in what we do here are with him.”

“Faith doesn’t give a shit what you do here,” Buffy shot back. “She’s only interested in Jack.” She bit her lip as she felt, rather than saw Ianto flinch. “And when you consider that we were chosen to protect the whole world, there isn’t very much that doesn’t come under the heading of our business.”

“Oh, like that makes it all right? Your vampire, your friend and for all I know - you, are all hitting on our boss, and we’re supposed to be fine with that?” Gwen’s jealousy made her completely miss the signals that Spike was sending and as she finished, he closed his eyes in resignation.

“My vampire? What the…” She whirled to find Spike wearing the abashed “caught” expression that she knew only too well. “You? And Jack? Ewwww, Spike!” She glared back at Gwen. “And what’s it matter to you, anyway? Aren’t you married?”

Gwen stammered briefly, then tossed her head. “Jack’s special,” was her only reply.

“He is that…”

Buffy stared around in astonishment. “Am I the only person in this room who hasn’t slept with Jack?” Owen and Tosh slowly put up their hands, as Faith and Jack emerged from the hall just in time to hear the last of the discussion. Jack gazed around the room, tried to look repentant, then shrugged.

“There’s still time,” he offered with a grin, winking at Spike to avert any violence on his part.

“No, thanks,” Buffy grumbled. “You’re lucky I don’t want to know what you and Spike…” She shook herself. “It’s time for us to go,” she said. “Our train leaves in a couple of hours.” She muttered a quick “Thanks for the help” and started toward where she remembered the door being. Jack stepped forward and grabbed a set of keys from the table.

“I’ll drive you,” he said. “It’s the least I can do…”

Faith and Spike exchanged looks and shared coughing fits as Jack and Buffy ignored them and walked out of the room. As the vampire followed Faith down the hall, she whispered to him, “I’ve got some comeback ammunition for you. But it’s going to cost you.”

“Whatever you want,” he whispered back. “I think I’m going to need all the help I can get this time.”

His eyes glazed over as Faith whispered in his ear, and his gaze went to Buffy’s straight back where she marched along trying to match Jack’s long stride and ignoring his attempts to charm her out of her jealous pique. Faith’s throaty chuckle echoed down the corridor as she said aloud, “Don’t forget, blondie, you owe me. Big time.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike resisted the urge to ask Buffy about Satsu, figuring he was in enough trouble already. But keeping his mind from imagining it was completely beyond his capabilities, and he spent much of the ride in a self-induced fog. The trip to the train station was short, and filled with chattering from Jack who was ignoring the tension between Spike and Buffy and rattling on about how good it was to have them both in Cardiff, what fun he’d had and generally ignoring the fact that the two people who’d been all over each other such a short time ago were now sitting on opposite sides of the car, arms crossed and stony expressions on their faces. Spike’s expression was somewhat spoiled by the way his eyes would occasionally glaze over as his thoughts - obviously somewhere else – caused him to shift uncomfortably until the heat of Buffy’s glare reminded him of where he was… and his pout would return.

Faith was humming to herself in the front, next to Jack. Her hand occasionally slid over to tease at the growing bulge in his pants; a throaty laugh left her mouth when a hard squeeze left him temporarily unable to remember what he’d been saying. Abandoning his attempt to engage Spike and Buffy in conversation, he whispered to Faith, “Did you get ordered back, too, or just Buffy?”

She gave him a lazy smile, responding, “The old man knows better than to think I’ll follow orders – so he doesn’t usually bother giving them to me. What did you have in mind?”

“I just thought you haven’t had a chance to really explore everything Torchwood has to offer….”

He wriggled his eyebrows at Faith and gave her one of his appealing smiles. She smiled back at him, nodding her head; then she sobered and asked, “What about your pretty boy-toy? How out of joint is his nose going to get?”

Jack’s shoulders slumped. “Good point. Not that we have anything exclusive—“

Faith’s snort was echoed from the back seat and she remembered that Spike had much keener hearing than Buffy did. She flipped him the bird behind her head, but continued her conversation unabashed.

“Just how gay is he?” she asked, blinking her eyes innocently. “I mean, on a scale of one to ten…”

Jack took his eyes off the road long enough to gaze at her with admiration.

“Only about a two,” he answered thoughtfully. “He’s had girl friends in the past.”

“Well, there you go,” she said with a grin. “We’ll just invite him to play. I’d rather have been there for Spike, but what the hell…”

“Oh my god, you are my kind of woman!” Jack repeated for the third time since he’d met her. “Will you marry me?”

Faith’s laugh was almost smothered by the fit of coughing from the back seat as Spike tried to keep from Buffy that he’d been listening to the conversation up front. Her suspicious glare told him he would have some questions to answer, and he leaned over to whisper “I’ll explain later, love,” shifting back quickly before she could take offense at his proximity.

“Damn right you will,” she muttered, allowing her lips to give a reluctant twitch. “And it better be a good one.”

“Not as good as yours will be,” he murmured, licking his lips and leering. He leapt forward and grabbed her tightly as his meaning sank in and she started over the seat to kill Faith. Laughing and holding on to her with both arms, Spike said to Jack, “Just pull up over there, mate and toss our bags out. No need to see us off.”

He wrestled a still swearing Buffy out of the back seat and held on to her as she glared at Faith, smiling cheerfully from behind the relative safety of the door and window. Faith knew the glass, reinforced as it might be, wouldn’t stop a full-fledged slayer attack, but she also knew that if Buffy really wanted to break Spike’s grip, she could have. So, Faith sat in the SUV and laughed as Jack tossed the duffle bags out and pulled away. She waved gaily at Spike and Buffy as they disappeared into the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Without asking Buffy what she wanted, Spike made sure they had a sleeping compartment on the train that was to take them from Cardiff to Scotland; hoping that the arrival time would be late enough in the day that he would be able to dodge the cold northern sun. He held the door politely while Buffy walked past him and threw her bag into a corner. When he pulled it shut behind them, turned the lock, and put up the “do not disturb” sign, she crossed her arms and glared at him.

“You’re pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?” she demanded. “For somebody who was cheating on me with a…a guy!”

He stepped forward and put his arms around her stiff body, lowering his head to nuzzle her warm neck and inhale the scent he’d been missing for so long.

“Not sure of anything, love. Jus’ want some time to be with you and see if we can sort out where we stand, is all. Know I missed you so much I should’ve dusted from it; but don’t know how you feel, do I?”

“I told you, you bonehead, but you didn’t believe me.” Buffy remained rigid, trying to ignore the sensations his nuzzling was creating. She hung on to her anger as long as she could, but his soft murmurs and the lips coasting over her neck and face were making it hard to remember what she’d been so angry about.

“Ah, love,” he whispered, feeling the slightest softening in the body pressed against his. “You know I believed you…much as I could, anyway. Wasn’t going to let you die in there with me, you know. I had to make sure you got out. We both know you wouldn’t have left if you’d known I believed it was anything but you trying to make a dying vamp go out happy.”

He lifted her left hand and held up against his right one, matching the still-visible ropy scars from the flames they’d shared. Neither vamp nor slayer healing had managed to remove the proof of their last shared moment as heroes. He brought her palm to his lips and kissed it gently, smiling when she pressed it closer to his mouth. His tongue ventured out to lick her palm, sending more sensations through her body and relaxing it even more.

“I hate you,” she muttered, bringing her arms up around his neck and allowing herself to melt into him.

“Do not,” he responded, finally capturing her lips in their first kiss that wasn’t in front of an audience.

“Do so,” she mumbled, biting his lower lip. She smiled to herself when he growled and pulled her tighter. “You were with a guy!”

“You were with a girl,” he countered. “What say we decide it doesn’t count if the same body parts were involved?”

The sudden jarring as the train began to pull out of the station, sent them staggering back onto the already made up bed, pulling on each other’s clothing as they squirmed back until there was no danger of falling off. With much gasping and murmuring of, “missed you” “missed this” “want you so bad” “never leave me again”, they were quickly joined and sighing in mutual relief. Spike pressed his forehead against Buffy’s, reveling in the way her eyes met his – something she’d never been willing to do in the past when in that position.

“I love you with everything I am and have, Buffy Anne Summers,” he breathed against her face. “Don’t ever doubt it.”

“I love you, too,” she said, only a slight tremor in her voice as she bravely stared into his suddenly moist eyes and repeated the words she’d been so sure he hadn’t believed the first and only time she’d said them.

They began to rock together in a timeless demonstration of the emotion, building quickly to the first of many mutually pleasurable releases that would take them much of the way to Scotland.

When, a few hours later, the conductor knocked timidly, requesting to see their tickets, Spike’s growled, “Do you know what ‘do not disturb’ means, you bloody pillock?” sent him skittering away apologetically. Buffy elbowed him in the ribs, her face red.

“Way to announce to the whole train what we’ve been doing, Spike!” she huffed, sitting up and glaring at his unrepentant grin.

“I don’t care who knows it,” he said, sliding one hand across her bare thigh. “Want the whole bloody world to know it.”

“Well, I’d just as soon the ‘whole bloody world’ <i<didn’t know it, thank you very much! You can hide in here all day, but I have to go out and get something to eat eventually.”

“Got something for you to eat right here,” he rumbled, pulling her back down on the bed to her accompanying giggles and mock disapproval.

“Ewwwww! And no,” she said, extricating herself and starting to dress. “I’m going to go find the restaurant car, and give that poor conductor our tickets,” she continued. “I’ll be back in a little while.”

“I’ll be here,” he sighed contentedly, stretching his naked body out and watching her eyes travel over it.

“Aren’t you hungry? Do you need some blood?”

He nodded and pointed towards his bag. “Got some good stuff in there, all safely cooled and stored. I’ll have some while you’re gone. And I’ll brush all the blood out of my teeth before you get back,” he finished with a suggestive leer.

She shook her head and put her hands on her hips. “Aren’t you going to get dressed first?”

“Why?”

“Because you’re naked?”

“I can drink blood naked. Can brush my teeth naked too, for that matter. I don’t plan to get dressed until we’re pulling into Glasgow.”

Buffy gave a unconvincing sigh of disapproval and waved as she stepped out into the corridor. She made her way toward the dining car, pausing to show their tickets to a carefully blank-faced conductor. His “enjoy the rest of your trip, miss” sent the blood rushing to her face, but she bit her tongue and pretended not to have heard him.

As soon as she’d purchased a meal and some snacks for later, she made her way back to their compartment and pushed the door open to find Spike, still naked, just turning away from the tiny sink. She watched with interest as his cock immediately began to swell and point in her direction. However, when he attempted to follow it across the small space to where she was sitting down with her food, she shook her head and gestured dismissively.

“Just put that away for a while,” she instructed. “I haven’t eaten since last night and I’m starving.”

He laughed and dropped back onto the bed. “Alright, love. Got to keep your strength up, don’t we?” He lolled, propped up on one elbow and perfectly relaxed, watching her work her way through all the food she’d bought and enjoying her casual acceptance of his presence as much as he was anticipating the rest of their reunion. Even the fact that Buffy fell asleep shortly after stripping and sliding back into bed with him couldn’t spoil his mood, and he soon joined her in several hours of much–needed rest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ianto’s face when Faith strolled back into Torchwood with Jack was a study in self control. He nodded politely, spoke with Jack about some Rift action that had been logged, then said, “Well, if that’s all for tonight, I’ll be off to bed then.”

While Faith busied herself pretending to understand the readouts on the machines, Jack slipped to Ianto’s side and whispered, “What if that’s not all for tonight?”

“You seem to be otherwise occupied,” Ianto responded stiffly. “Clearly I’m not needed or wanted…”

“Needed? Maybe not. But wanted? Always,” Jack said, pulling the other man in for a kiss. Ianto did his best to pretend the kiss wasn’t affecting him, but he couldn’t control the small whimper in the back of his throat.

“But…you brought her back…here.”

“I did,” Jack said quietly. “It doesn’t mean I don’t want you anymore. I’m just not ready to let her go yet. Why don’t we go into my room and talk about this…” Jack took Ianto’s hand and began to pull him towards the apartment/office, keeping up a steady murmur of how much he had missed Ianto’s presence in his bed and how he was going to explain in such a way that he was sure Ianto would forgive him for bringing Faith into the complex. Against his better judgment, Ianto allowed himself to be pulled along, not protesting when Jack began to slide his coat off his shoulders.

He became so enrapt with Jack’s kisses and the hands caressing his body that it was several minutes before he realized that there were more hands stroking him and loosening his clothing than he could account for. He gave a muffled gasp when a small, very strong hand wrapped itself around the cock that had somehow been worked out of his unzipped pants; but the things the hand was doing felt too good for him to properly protest.

He stood still, held by Jack’s arms and mouth as much as by the sensations being created on his lower body. It wasn’t long before he was naked and both Jack and Faith were kissing their way up and down his torso, teasing him with every movement towards his twitching cock. Faith’s mouth, which finally found its way to the aching body part, took his attention completely off Jack, and he was unaware that Jack had also shed his clothes. Only when he felt the familiar body pressing into him from behind, did he realize that they were both nude and that between what Jack was doing to him from the rear, and what Faith was doing in front, it was only a question of time before his knees would give out and he’d collapse to the floor.

Almost against his will, he put his hands on Faith’s head and began to move his hips in time with her vigorous sucking. His gasp when Jack slid into him became a cry of release as he spurted into Faith’s mouth. Without giving him time to recover, Jack bent him over the bed so that his arms were supporting his body weight and began to pound into him in earnest while Faith quickly shed her clothes, jumped onto the bed, and pulled the two men down to her.

She wrapped her legs around both the bodies writhing above her, noting that Ianto was once again ready to participate and pulling him in. His eyes rolled back in his head as he went into sensory overload from the sensations surrounding his body. Faith’s appreciative whimpers as she clenched around him, combined with Jack’s cry of release sent him gasping and shaking with the force of his second orgasm of the suddenly much more pleasant evening.

By the time they all fell into dreamless sleep, randomly touching as they sprawled out across Jack’s very large bed, each had taken a turn at being in the middle, as well as being the recipient of the oral attentions of two skilled and enthusiastic partners. As Ianto drifted off to sleep, his head resting on Jack’s stomach and his hand resting on Faith’s ass, he murmured, “You’re right. I forgive you.”

The end.

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