Part Four

The trip to the coast was relatively short, aided by Spike's habit of criminal speeding. Once they arrived and found a parking spot fairly close to the sand, the seven beachgoers climbed out of the convertible, and Spike activated the alarm. They loped down the beach until they found a relatively empty spot, where they set up their blankets and umbrellas. All six younger people immediately pulled off their excess clothing and set to work on sunscreen. Xander immediately started to massage lotion into Cordelia's back, and Spike was working on Buffy, which left Willow with Gunn. She shyly walked up to him in her emerald tankini and asked him to apply it to her back. He agreed, and had soon not only applied enough sunscreen to her back, but had loosened the tense muscles in her shoulders as well.

After the women were thoroughly protected, they insisted on applying sunscreen to the men as well. Buffy found the strongest sunscreen available and applied it to Spike's back and neck, then his face.

"Spike! Turn your skin off! You're blinding me!" Xander said in mock pain, receiving a handful of sand in the face from Buffy as he said it.

They all sat up and applied sunscreen to the reachable places on their bodies. The women decided to lie back and work on their tans, so the men went off, whispering conspiratorially. About five minutes into their sunbathing, the men returned. They tried to be nonchalant, though they were snickering slightly. Spike lay down beside Buffy and traced the line of her collarbone for a few seconds, then pulled back the neckline of her bathing suit and thrust a fistful of ice down the front. She screeched, along with Willow and Cordelia, who had obviously received equal treatment from Xander and Gunn. The men were off like a flash, each in a different direction, and the women soon gave chase.

Each woman had a slight advantage. With Buffy it was her more diminutive stature and lack of sandals that allowed her to catch up to Spike and tackle him. Cordelia merely screeched, "Alexander LaVelle Harris! Get back here!" and Xander immediately slowed down. And Willow used her magick to force Gunn to run in place, rather than going somewhere.

After she had pounced on him, Buffy proceeded to tickle Spike until he begged forgiveness. He was rolling around helplessly on the sand, clutching his sides and groaning, so she finally forgave him and allowed him to stand. They walked hand in hand back to their spot on the sand, to a spattering of applause. One little boy approached them and asked if they were in the Olympics. They said no, then walked on with confused looks on their faces until Buffy realized that they had used full Slayer speed in broad daylight.

She turned to her partner in crime and said, "Um, Spike? We just broke the first Slaying commandment."

"What's that, luv?"

"Don't use your Slayer speed or strength in public. That's why the kid wanted to know if we were Olympic athletes."

Spike shrugged. "Oops."

"Nice Job, PGFKADB, Junior," Xander said sarcastically. When everyone raised their eyebrows in complete confusion, he elaborated. "Pale Guy Formerly Known as Dead Boy, Junior?" When he got no response, he threw up his hands. "Oh, come on, people!" Disgruntled, he opened the picnic cooler that had been sent with them and pulled out a Coke. "Want anything, Cordy?" he asked, holding up an orange Fanta, which he remembered she had liked when they were dating.

Gunn rifled through the cooler and came up with a balogna and cheese sandwich, the crusts expertly cut off. He turned to offer Willow half, but saw that she had conjured up her own meal. Shrugging, he devoured the sandwich quickly.

Buffy found a plastic box of strawberries in the bottom of the cooler. She pulled these and two bottles of water out, handing one of the bottles to Spike. She set the box of strawberries on the blanket between them and opened it. Reaching in, she plucked one of the red fruits from its confines and lifted it to her mouth. She closed her eyes as she bit into the berry with white teeth, licking a drop of its juice from her lower lip as she drew the fruit away from her mouth. Upon opening her eyes once more, she noticed that Spike was staring at her intently. Self consciously, she looked away, but he caught her chin and picked another of the berries from the box, bringing it slowly to her lips. His eyes on hers, he fed her the berry. She then picked up another strawberry and fed it to him. They continued until the entire box of strawberries was empty, their eyes never leaving one anothers.

A startled scream brought them out of their reverie. The two slayers looked up and out onto the water to see a large, blue-green tentacle wrap itself around a surfboard and snap it in two. Spike and Buffy immediately leapt to their feet, as did Willow. She began murmuring a spell under her breath as the two blondes ran for the water. They dove in and swam furiously toward the area where the creature had surfaced. Willow had meanwhile conjured them scuba tanks and flippers to aid in their swim. Both Slayers were, however, caught off guard when a man in red swim trunks was sent flying up in the air as if a gueyser had erupted directly below him. They dived below the surface of the water, back to back, and began scanning the depths for any off-seeming activities. Suddenly, a tentacle wrapped around Buffy's leg and began to drag her deep below the water. Her eyes screamed to Spike. He swam after her and soon reached the creature. He reached the ocean floor before it did, and found a sunken fishing boat resting in the sand nearby. Rushing over, he broke off a large, jagged piece of wood and swam in the direction that the monster had taken Buffy.

Willow, on shore, was chanting furiously under her breath. Xander, Cordelia, and Gunn stood with fingers crossed.

Underwater, Spike attacked the creature with all his strenghth. He ripped at tentacles, and beat at its leathery skin, but to no avail. Suddenly he noticed a shadow forming above him in the water. Looking up, he saw at least fifteen sharks circling. The thrashing had attracted them from miles away.

Willow noticed the dark, triangular fins and murmured again under her breath.

The sharks began to morph. Soon they were not sharks looking for an easy meal, but dolphins. The dolphins began to swim swiftly down toward the two slayers and the sea monster. Dolphins attacked the creature on all sides, butting it with their noses and slapping it with their strong tails. The creature became confused--it no longer knew what to attack. As it looked away, Spike drove the jagged chunk of wood he had been holding deep into one of its eyes. A huge cloud of black blood erupted from its damaged eye and Spike immediately ripped its tentacle from Buffy, dragging her up toward the surface of the water with him. When it became apparent that she was unconscious, he tried to swim that much harder, but he was weary from the battle with the creature. He suddenly felt a gentle nudge from below him. His eyes widened in fear, thinking that the creature had returned, but when he looked down he saw that the dolphins where below and around him and his partner. They must have understood his need to reach the surface, because one of them swam right in front of him, their dorsal fin at an angle where he could reach it, and began pulling him to the surface. Another dolphin swam below Buffy, so that she rested on its back.

The people on the surface were scanning the water anxiously, when they saw two blond heads crest the water. Willow chanted again softly, and the flippers and scuba gear disappeared from their backs.

Spike allowed the dolphins to tow him and Buffy into shore, depositing them in an area where the water was shallow enough for him to touch the bottom. He lifted his blond goddess into his arms and carried her to shore, where he lay her down on the blanket and examined her wounds. She was breathing, good, but she had an enormous gash in her right calf. It was bleeding profusely. Willow focused her energy on her friends injury and lay a gentle hand on the wound. Within seconds it had closed, completely healed. Buffy moaned from the pain of the healing wound and her eyelids fluttered.

"Buffy, luv, come back to us..." Spike pleaded gently. He took one of her small hands in his large one and rubbed it, calling her name softly.

She coughed once and opened her eyes. "Spike?" Her eyes were confused. "I... what happened?"

"Sea monster got you, luv. We kicked it's ass good though." His eyes were shining with unshed tears.

"What's wrong, Spike?" Buffy was genuinely concerned.

"You almost died, luv. I�" he took in a sharp, shuddering breath. "You almost died and I almost never got the chance to tell you�" suddenly his feet were very, very interesting as he trailed off.

"You never got to tell me what, Spike?" Buffy gently turned his head toward her and looked into his eyes.

"Oh, bloody hell. I never got to tell you I love you, Buffy." His lips dropped a kiss onto hers, before he turned away, embarrassed that he had let that slip.

His love pounced on him, her lips settling atop his for a much more passionate kiss. They rolled about in the sand, their mouths never separating. A sharp "a-hem" caused them to draw apart slowly. Their breathing was ragged, their foreheads touching. Before they turned toward their interrupter, Buffy pulled Spike's head down and whispered in his ear, softly enough so only he could hear, "I love you too, Spike."

The two slayers looked up at Cordelia, with blurred eyes. The seer was standing, hands on hips. "Guys, next time warn us before the giant PDA, 'kay?" She motioned to their things. "We need to be heading back. The sun'll be down soon and we have some demons to get killing."

Buffy pouted, then began packing her things together. Soon the large group was headed back to the Hyperion, to pick up chemicals and enchanted swords, as well as souled creatures of the night. Upon arrival, Buffy ran up the front steps of the mansion and flung open the doors. She heard a melodramatic piano tune coming from upstairs, and immediately thought of her former love.

She and Spike walked up the stairs and found Angel sitting at an upright piano, his fingers dancing over the keys as Drusilla and Darla listened on. Buffy shuffled her feet a bit to let them know she was there.

"Didn't know you played piano, Angel," she said softly, looping her arm around the waist of the newly tan man standing next to her. "It sounded beautiful."

Spike smirked before saying, "Hate to break up this lovely party, Peaches, but the sun's down and we have some demon ass to kick." He looked down at Buffy before continuing, "Not that we haven't already kicked some today�"

Angel immediately looked alarmed, his vamp face threatening to come forward. He hated the thought of his Buffy and his boy in danger, even though technically neither of them were his anymore. "What happened?"

"Yes, Buffy, do tell. We're all thrilled to hear about yet another of your awesome adventures," Darla said with a yawn.

Drusilla made a face. "Darla, I've been wanting to say this for a very long time now. Do shut up. Please continue, Sl-- I mean, Buffy."

"Thank you, Dru. We� well, mostly Spike� killed a sea monster today at the beach." She sighed. "I swear, even on my time off I have to work. But that's over and done with. Are you guys ready to do some justice in the name of clear skin?"

Dru immediately nodded, Angel grunted his consent, and Darla� seemed hesitant. "Let me put it to you this way, pumpkin," the blonde Slayer said to the vampiress. "You can either kick some ass yourself or you can get dusted. Take your pick. I don't really care at this point. The only thing that matters is that Dawn gets out of this alive."

The slayers turned and walked out of the room.

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R to NC-17