It felt as though several hours had passed, but Xander knew that it was more likely only a few minutes. Buffy quit crying and pulled away from him. She dried her eyes and just looked up at him. He tried to smile at her, to reassure her, but he wasn�t able to force himself to do it. She reached out and took his hand in hers. When she squeezed it, the sensation reminded Xander of his moment with Lindsey. He turned and looked at the bedroom door.

That was when he realized that Dawn was not crying anymore. He stepped from the kitchen to the living room, pulling Buffy along behind him. Dawn was sitting with Tara still. Their arms still wrapped around each other. Buffy looked around the apartment, still trying to avoid looking at Dawn. She realized then that something was wrong. Someone was missing.

"Where�s Willow?" she asked. Tara looked up, as if startled.

"Huh?" Tara asked. She was absently stroking Dawn�s hair.

"Willow. She�s not here."

"Oh. Sh-she had class today," explained Tara.

"Oh," said Buffy. She had the feeling that she knew that already, or at least, that she should have known it. That�s when she remembered that Tara had told her when she stopped at the house to get Buffy.

"Is she able to tell us what happened?" Xander asked.

"Dawn? Can you tell us?" Tara asked the scared, shaking girl in her arms.

"I-" said Dawn. Then, she started sobbing again. Buffy walked over to her, and knelt down in front of her.

"Dawn? Please. Can you tell us?" she pleaded.

"You!" hissed Dawn. "You weren�t there," she cried. "I cried out. I called for you. I screamed and screamed for you to come help me, but you weren�t there!"

As Dawn started crying again, Buffy fell backwards, like she had been forcefully knocked over. She couldn�t believe what she had just heard. Why hadn�t she been there? She couldn�t think of anything that she could have been doing that would have been more important than protecting her sister. She couldn�t believe that she had let this happen.

"Buffy!" called Xander as he watched her fall to the floor. He rushed to her and knelt beside her. She looked up at him, but didn�t recognize him. She was still trying to figure out how she had let such a horrible thing happen. Xander looked up at Dawn. "Dawn? What happened to you?"

"Xander?" asked Dawn, as if just now realizing he was there.

"Yeah, Dawn. It�s me. Xander. Can you tell us what happened?"

"I- I was walking near the woods- Someone grabbed me. I couldn�t tell who it was. I was-" She took a deep breath, and everyone waited for her to continue. She looked at Tara. "I was thrown to the ground, and-" She sobbed. Tara hugged her again, and she seemed to find the strength to continue. "He was on top of me, trying to get me to lay still. I was screaming, but no one heard me, I guess. I looked around for a weapon." Her voice began to sound mechanical, like it wasn�t actually Dawn who was talking. "There was nothing. Nothing I could use. I screamed again, and he grabbed my hair and slammed my face into the ground."

"Oh," cried Tara. She pulled one of her arms away from Dawn so that she could cover her mouth with her hand.

"Pain shot through my head, and just laid there for a moment. Then, I felt- I felt him trying to undress me. I started begging him to stop, but he wouldn�t-" she stared crying again. "I tried to kick him, but he punched me in the back of the head. My vision blurred, and tears started streaming down my face. They felt so hot as they made their way down my face. I-" She stopped again and buried her face in Tara�s shoulder. She cried for a few minutes and then she continued.

"I tried to turn so that I could get a look at him, but he was on top of me. I couldn�t move. I called for Buffy. I screamed her name, begging her to come help me, but she never did. I felt him ripping my clothes, exposing me. I tried to struggle, but he smashed my head into the ground again. He finally spoke, but in an evil whisper. It didn�t even sound human. He told me-" She stopped again. She took a deep breath and sobbed. She reached up and wiped a tear from her cheek.

"He- He told me that- That I was never going to get away, and- And that he would- He would k-kill me if I didn�t shut up. I screamed again, and he shoved my face into the ground, and held it there. I couldn�t breathe. I thought I was going to die. Then, he- He turned me over, and covered my eyes. I couldn�t have seen anyway. He ripped open my shirt, and- He grabbed me. He was squeezing so hard-"

She started crying again. Tara wiped tears from her own eyes as she stroked Dawn�s hair. Xander was sitting on the floor in front of her, and Buffy was beside him. They both looked at each other when Dawn started crying. They were hurt and angry. Whoever had done this was going to pay. They would see to that. Xander glanced over to the kitchen, and saw Lindsey standing in the doorway, frozen. He was listening to Dawn recount her ordeal. There were tears in his eyes.

"Then," said Dawn. Everyone turned back to her. "Then, he bit me, and I screamed. I don�t know how, but I managed to kick him. He howled in pain, and I was able to scramble out from underneath him. I got to my feet, and I started running. I reached up and pulled the blindfold off, but my vision was still blurry. I kept running, but- He grabbed my legs, and I fell down. I kicked out at everything. I felt my foot connect with something hard- I think it was his face. I got to my feet again, and I turned to look. I saw someone coming toward me-" She froze again. Buffy reached up and touched her on the arm. She jumped and looked down at her sister. Both of them were crying.

"I saw him! I couldn�t believe it. I was so stunned I couldn�t move. And then, Spike-"

She stopped talking again, and broke down in sobs. Buffy turned to look at Xander, as he was looking at her. The anger they were feeling was all consuming. They stood up and headed to the door, without saying anything. They had someone to blame now, and it was worse because it was someone they knew. Xander stopped only long enough to cast a questioning glance at Lindsey. He saw, and seemed to understand. He nodded. Buffy and Xander left the apartment.

Once they were gone, Lindsey slowly walked over and sat in a chair near the couch. Dawn and Tara looked at him. He shifted uncomfortably. Dawn turned away, looking around the apartment. Tara smiled weakly at Lindsey, as if to reassure him, and he gave a half-smile in return. Dawn seemed to realize something, and she made a final sweep of the apartment. She looked up at Tara.

"Where are Buffy and Xander?" she asked.

"I imagine that they went after Spike," explained Tara. Lindsey nodded. Dawn�s face paled and she threw her hands up to her mouth.

"No!" she screamed. "Why?"

"You said," began Tara.

"No! They misunderstood! Spike didn�t attack me! He saved me!" said Dawn. She was panicking. Tara looked up at Lindsey.

"I have to stop them," she said as she stood up. "You have to stay here with Dawn, okay?"

"But-" said Lindsey. "I- I am not good at- I mean, Xander-"

"Look, Xander loves you. He trusts you enough to let you move in here with him. I have never seen him as happy as he has been with you. That is all I need to know. If he believes in you that much, then so do I! You don�t have to do much. Just be here, okay?"

"I- I guess," said Lindsey.

"Good. Now, I have to go, so that I can hopefully get to Spike�s in time to stop Buffy and Xander from doing something that they will regret." With that, she left the apartment. Lindsey, scared to death, just sat in his chair, looking at Dawn. Dawn had lain down on the couch, and was trying to keep herself from crying.

"I- Um- Do you want anything?" asked Lindsey. Dawn shook her head, but gave him a half-smile. He felt better knowing that she was not afraid of him. He looked around the apartment, searching for something to help him feel better. There wasn�t anything. All of his belongings were still in Xander�s bedroom, and he had only been in the living room a couple of times, and each of those times he had had other things on his mind. He grabbed a book, and, with a sigh, began reading. Dawn stayed where she was, thankful that the man with her didn�t try to help her.

***

Buffy burst into Spike�s crypt and looked around. Spike was nowhere to be seen. Xander pushed his way in behind her. He began walking around the edge of the room. He looked back to Buffy, wondering what was going on. Buffy called out to Spike, and heard him moving around below. She and Xander quickly jumped down to the lower level, where Spike was tending his wounds. He looked up at them.

"I was wondering when you were gonna get here. How is the little bit?" he asked. Buffy reached out and punched him in the face. He looked up at her, confusion in his eyes.

"How dare you?" screamed Buffy.

"What? How dare I what?" asked Spike. He had no idea what she was talking about.

"You make me sick," hissed Xander, as he tried to push his way past Buffy. Buffy held him back, and gave Spike a look so filled with hate that Spike actually shrank back from it.

"I can�t believe you are going to try to act innocent here! Dawn told us what happened!"

'I sort of figured she would," said Spike. "But I don�t see why you are attacking me for it. You should be thanking me!"

Buffy�s anger went beyond rage when she heard his last statement, and she threw herself at him. The two of them fell over, with Buffy landing on top of Spike. She was punching him repeatedly in the face, while he was trying desperately to catch her arms. Xander wasn�t sure what to do, so he just stood where he was. He was afraid to do anything; for fear that Buffy would attack him, too. He had never seen her so angry, and was certain he didn�t want to be the one on whom she released her frustration.

There was a blinding flash of light, and Xander felt someone drop beside him. When he was able to see again, he saw that Buffy and Spike were separated, with Buffy suspended in midair, still struggling to get to Spike. Xander looked beside him, and was surprised to see Tara, looking desperate.

"Buffy!" screamed Tara. Buffy ignored her. Tara said something in a language that Xander didn�t recognize, and Buffy turned to see Tara.

"Tara?" asked Buffy.

"Yes, Buffy. It�s me. You have to listen," said Tara in a soothing voice.

"No! I have to kill Spike! He attacked Dawn!" screamed Buffy.

"No, he didn�t," said Tara. Buffy looked at her like she had gone mad.

"Dawn said!"

"Dawn said that she was attacked, and that she saw her attacker! She said that Spike saved her! Think about it, Buffy. If Spike had tried to attack Dawn that way, his chip would have fried his brain. And, if he had done this, do you really think he would have come back here, of all places? He knew Dawn would run to get help. Why would he come back here, knowing that this would be the first place any of us would go to look for him?"

Xander dropped his gaze to the ground. He had been so angry and had felt so helpless that he had actually wanted Spike to be guilty. He guessed Buffy felt the same way, especially after what Dawn had said to her. Risking a glance, he looked at Buffy, and saw that she had hung her head as well. Spike was looking up at her, as if things were becoming clear to him. He actually smiled!

"You thought that I-" he said. He shook his head. "No wonder you were so angry."

Tara ended her spell, and Buffy floated back to the ground. She looked up at Spike, who had stood up. There were tears in her eyes. She felt like such a failure. Not only had she not been around to prevent the attack from happening in the first place, but she had then tried to kill the one person who had saved Dawn. She dropped her head again and sobbed.

"Buffy," said Spike in a calm voice.

"No, Spike," said Buffy, between sobs. "Don�t. Please, just don�t."

Xander stood where he was, watching. He was glad that Tara had shown up when she did, because if she hadn�t, he was certain that Spike would have died. He was surprised to discover that he didn�t want Spike dead. A lot of things had changed since Lindsey had entered his life, and he realized now that part of his problem with Spike was the fact that Xander was hiding a secret crush. A crush that he no longer felt, since Lindsey had entered his life. He walked up to Spike and hugged him. Now, it was Spike�s turn to be surprised.

"I�m glad that you are okay," said Xander as he pushed himself back. He turned to Tara. "It�s a good thing you got here when you did."

"Well, when Dawn told us that Spike wasn�t the one who attacked her-"

"Where is Dawn?" asked Buffy, her head coming up quickly. She looked around.

"She�s still at Xander�s," said Tara.

"Alone?" asked Buffy. She gave Tara a disgusted look.

"N-no! Of course not! I left her there with Lindsey."

"What?" said Buffy and Xander at the same time, but for different reasons. Buffy was shocked that Tara would trust a stranger to watch over Dawn, and Xander was surprised that Lindsey would have agreed to such a thing. Buffy and Xander exchanged a glance.

"Xander," began Buffy. "About Lindsey-"

"No, Buffy. Let�s just get back to the apartment and make sure that things are okay. We�ll talk about all of this after we know Dawn is okay." Xander looked up at Spike. "Would you like to come, too?"

"Me?" asked Spike, not believing he had heard correctly.

"Yeah. You saved her. I think she would be glad to see you," said Xander as he headed up into the crypt. Buffy smiled up at Spike and reached for his hand.

"Come on. You�re a hero now," she said with a smile. He smiled at her and nodded. The four of them went up to the crypt, and Spike covered himself with a blanket. Together, they headed back to Xander�s apartment.

***

When they returned to the apartment, they found Lindsey still sitting in his chair, reading. Dawn was on the couch, looking through magazines. When the door opened, it startled Dawn, and she literally jumped off the couch. When she saw who all was there, she rushed over and gave Spike a hug.

"Oh!" she said as she wrapped her arms around him. "I am so glad they didn�t kill you." She turned and looked at Buffy. She blushed. "I-I�m sorry," she said as she hung her head.

"You�re sorry?" asked Buffy. "For what?"

"For blaming you, first of all. And, for not giving you the whole story. I never thought that you would go after Spike."

"It�s okay, Little Bit," said Spike. She looked up at him, and he smiled. She looked to the others, and they all nodded. She smiled and turned away. Buffy grabbed her as the others went on into the living room.

"Are you okay?" Buffy asked Dawn in a whisper. She nodded towards Lindsey. Dawn caught on to what Buffy was really asking. She rolled her eyes.

"I�m fine," she told her sister. "He is just scared, I think. He asked me if I wanted anything, and when I said no, he just started reading. I don�t think he is used to dealing with people in this situation. He kept glancing at me, like he wanted to say something, but he didn�t. He was just here. It was sort of comforting, in an odd way."

"Okay," said Buffy as she turned and led her sister back into the living room.

"Lindsey," said Buffy as she stepped in front of him. Xander jumped to his feet and rushed to his lover�s side, ready to defend him if necessary. Buffy smiled at him, and then continued, "I want to thank you for staying here with Dawn, even though you don�t really know her. I look forward to getting to know you. Welcome to the Scooby Gang." She held out her hand, and Lindsey took it, smiling awkwardly as he shook her hand.

"Okay, folks," said Tara. Everyone turned to face her. She winked at Xander and Lindsey before she spoke again. "We should probably all go now, and leave these two to- Well, to whatever is was they had planned before Dawn got here," she said with a sly smile. Xander blushed and looked down to the floor. Lindsey, however, just stood where he was, smiling broadly. As everyone headed out of the apartment, Tara turned back. Lindsey mouthed 'thank you' to her. She smiled again as she pulled the door closed behind her.

"So," said Lindsey as he turned to face Xander, "what do we do now?"

"Well, first I wanna get out of these clothes, and then, perhaps we can continue where we left off?"

"Sounds like a plan to me."

"One thing, first," said Xander as he went over to the door and locked it. "We need to make sure we won�t be disturbed."

Lindsey laughed as Xander walked back across the living room, taking off his shirt on the way. He stopped when he was standing directly in front of Lindsey. He reached out and wrapped his arms around the man, and then kissed him passionately on the lips. Lindsey returned the kiss, and wrapped his arms around Xander. After a moment, the kiss ended, and Xander looked into Lindsey�s eyes.

"How did I get lucky enough to find you?" Xander asked.

"I was just thinking the same thing about you," said Lindsey.

They made their way to the bedroom, undressing as they went. When they got on the bed, they just lay there, holding each other and staring into each other�s eyes for what seemed like an eternity. Neither of them wanted anything different, either.

~*~