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Chapter 1

"This bloody place sucks," Spike commented to no one in particular. "The beer's American and the birds are not even worth a taste." He took one last sweep around the bar looking for anything or anyone to relieve his boredom.

Hyper by nature, the impotence of the chip was weighing on him. Downing the heal of his now warm beer, he placed it on the nearest table. He fidgeted into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. His hands shook with frustration as he lifted it to his mouth. He smiled as he felt his body begin to relax as he inhaled the first drag. His eyes rested on the entrance, again. * I'm not waiting for her, * he tried to convince himself. * I'm here to forget her, not find her. *

Just as Spike was about to look way, someone walked through the front door of the Bronze. It was a woman in her mid-twenties. She had a sexy and smart look about her. Full breasts, small waist and curved hips. Her light brown hair sat softly on her shoulders and the lights of the Bronze illuminated her natural golden highlights. Her skin was tanned, giving a warm healthy glow to her face. * Good - it's not her * he lied to himself and, sighing, he looked away. He decided to get out before he drove himself crazy and started walking towards the door.

"Can I buy you a drink or something?"

Realizing that the question was directed at him, Spike turned to the left to see a girl staring at him with a mischievous grin on her face. Surprised, he blurted a rather rude "What?"

Smiling even more slyly at his reaction, she repeated the question.

"Can I buy you a drink? I just walked into the bar a minute ago and the first thing I saw was your beautiful eyes. They looked so thrilled that I walked in, then a second later it was obvious that you were totally disappointed. I now feel obligated to make it up to you." Her eyes gleamed confidently as she spoke. Her reason for approaching him like this was ridiculous to say the least, but she was secure enough in herself to not be afraid to look and sound silly on occasion.

Spike just stared at her.

She was certainly beautiful, but not in a sweet, gentle look. She had an air about her that altered her appearance. A certain way of looking at him that made her attractive. * Sometimes it’s all about attitude. * he thought to himself. She was taller than Buffy, only maybe 2 inches shorter then him meaning they were looking comfortably eye-to-eye. The eyes that he looked into were a beautiful dark brown, very lively, as if they communicated her passing thoughts through their movements. Suddenly her left eyebrow rose, implying another challenge was pending.

Despite herself, she let out a playful laugh. "Come on - it’s not a hard question. You look like you could use another drink and maybe some pleasant conversation to get your mind off whoever was supposed to walk through that door instead of me. It's like my good deed for the day. Besides, you are way too cute to mope."

"I do NOT mope, luv," Spike interrupted, suddenly becoming defensive about her too accurate analysis of him. "I can't believe you accused me of moping! You think I'm a bloody wanker that sits around a bar waiting for a girl to come in? Not me, pet! You can buy me a drink, and then we can go back to your place and shag all bloody night if you want. And I wasn't disappointed about you walking in. You couldn't be more wrong" He lied. * Why do you care want she thinks anyway? * he wondered to himself.

She grinned from ear to ear at her victory, and his overly dramatic denial. * He's got it bad for somebody and hates every minute of it. * It was time to change the subject.

"So? Beer? Bet you hate that horse piss the Americans call beer, right? Well this bar happens to serve my favorite beer. It's a Canadian Ale and it’s got balls. I think you’ll like it. Interested in something new in your life?"

"Very." Spike replied with a smirk, not necessarily referring to the beer. He was starting to like this girl. He thought to himself as he watched her hips sway as she walked to the bar. She was full of attitude and playfulness. It was like every question was a dare and every comment was a smart-ass remark but hidden behind a pair of smiling eyes. * I'll have a beer, maybe even a fuck. Sure beats the hell out of sitting here waiting for Buffy. *

He felt someone standing behind him and his spine tingled with the familiar sent of vanilla.

"What the hell are you doing here again? Sitting around waiting for me to show up? Thinking I've gone crazy and suddenly forgotten that I totally hate you? No…one…wants…you…here."

With a deep sigh, Spike turned to face his attacker. He slowly made eye contact, preparing himself to respond again to her hurtful words, but was stopped with a well-timed interruption.

" Hey, handsome, here's your Ex. Your gonna just love it, the great Canadian Export Ale…Oh…am I interrupting something?" The mysterious stranger glanced from Spike to Buffy and back again. " I must have missed some history here 'cause the sexual tension between the two of you is enough to electrocute somebody." Spike looked at her in shock. Talk about making an entrance!

The brunette grinned back at him with that same devilish half smile that quickly changed to an innocent wide-eyed statement, looked at Buffy and shrugged as if to say "What? Did I say something wrong?" After a quick look at Buffy, she quickly analyzed her reaction and was well satisfied with what she saw. Buffy was not impressed. After spending the last few weeks pounding it into Spike's head that there was nothing between them she didn't need some bimbo coming in and starting to put thoughts in his head about sexual tension!

Buffy shook her head violently at the accusation. "WRONG. No Sexual Tension here. None. Totally nothing going on but disgust."

Seeing this as a challenge, the beautiful brunette got ready for battle. A partially hidden smile spread across her face, that Spike was beginning to recognize as trouble. With a spark in her eye she moved in closer to the blond vampire, slipped her arm around his waist and leaned into his ear. Just loud enough for both Buffy and Spike to hear, she whispered, "The lady doth protest too much, methinks". She then stole a quick kiss on the cheek and turned to face Buffy, still holding Spike close.

Spike was beginning to warm to all this attention. It had been a long time since anybody had made him feel this way.

"Let’s dance!" she whispered seductively into his ear and quickly grabbed his hand, leading him to the dance floor. Buffy was left still standing at their table. She gave her head a violent shake in a futile attempt to understand what just happened.

There had been no further encounters with Buffy since the two had abruptly left her to go dance. She had however glared at them with disgust while they put on a rather racy show on the dance floor. Finally the sexy brunette had decided that she had had enough of the Bronze and it was time to leave. It didn’t take much convincing for Spike to agree to go for a walk; her house was not far apparently.

"It’s been a couple hours and a few interesting dances, do you think I can find out your name, luv?" Spike asked as they strolled through the empty streets of Sunnydale.

"Katerina. My father told me I was named for my mother’s favorite Shakespearean character."

"Katerina?" Spike rolled it over in his head remembering which character Katerina was. "Taming of the Shrew? Hmmm…suits you well." He smirked at the spitfire that was walking beside him. She new she was risking being teased by revealing the origins of her name, but it was worth it to find out how well read this sexy blond was. Katerina stopped and gave him a playful backhand as his reward.

Spike quickly caught her hand before it made contact and pulled her into him quoting the play. "Why, there’s a wench! Come on, and kiss me, Kate." Their eyes met and Spike bent slightly to catch her lips with his. Their lips had lightly brushed in a chaste kiss when Katerina pulled away.

"Yes…well, I guess you know the play. Book-smart punk boy? Interesting." She looked at Spike for a reaction and got a look of embarrassment rather than the expected snide remark. "And I prefer Katerina to Kate. Get it right next time." She laughed, trying to lighten the situation that had gotten rather intense. Starting to walk ahead, she commented that it was just another block until her apartment.

When they arrived at her apartment, she unlocked her front door and walked in before turning around and sitting on a step just inside the door. Spike stood at the threshold looking at her, assuming that she would naturally invite him in, but he heard nothing. She just stared at him with a big smirk on her face, almost challenging him to figure out a slick way out of this one. After a moment, he started to fidget at the threshold and as casually as he could, blurted, "So…what now, pet?" Still refusing to give into him, Katerina held her hand out and curled her index finger at him motioning him to enter.

Unfortunately, this was not good enough to allow Spike admittance. Losing patience with the situation, he let out a loud sigh, rolled his eyes and turned to leave. Katerina, realizing she’d pushed him to his limit, opted to give in. "Hey," she called out to him "You are real big on formality, aren’t you…pet? " slowly emphasizing the use of his favorite lingo. Spike turned to look at her, exasperated. * If she wasn’t so hot…*

"Please come in." Katerina held her hand out to him to emphasize the sincerity of her offer. Spike walked slowly to her, unsure if he really still wanted to come in. The bantering was exhilarating, but she was getting to be a bit unpredictable and with his chip, he could get himself into a lot of trouble. "You know I don’t invite just anybody into my house. A girl can’t be too careful, especially around Sunnydale."

Spike followed her up a couple stairs to the main room. Her apartment was a one-bedroom loft. The main floor consisted of an open-concept kitchen and living room with hardwood floors and a fireplace. The second was only bed and bath. Spike flopped on the sofa and looked around in surprise to realize she didn’t have a TV. Katerina lit the gas fireplace and went to the kitchen to get a bottle of wine. She poured two glasses of an excellent French Chateau-neuf-de-Pape and walked back to the living room.

Leaning over Spike from behind the couch, she handed him the glass and whispered in his ear "Sorry, it’s just wine…I don’t generally stock blood." Spike stopped cold. He glanced up at her trying to read if she was making a joke.

Katerina proudly smiled, kissed his cheek and moved to sit next to him on the couch. It was getting easier and easier to push his buttons. She looked over at him to find him still speechless. Breaking the tension, she let out a laugh a lightly kicked his leg. "What? You expected me not to notice? Even if I hadn’t studied vampire mythology for years, I’d have to be dead, pardon the pun, not to notice. We were glued to each other on that dance floor there was definitely only one heart beating. And that bulge in your pants was refreshingly cool against me…I’ve been around long enough to know that we were hot out there…yet you stayed 72 degrees…all over. That’s just not natural." Katerina let her mind drift remembering their dance. Feeling the heat return to her cheeks she took a sip of wine and smiled at the man that made her feel that way.

Spike let all that she had said absorb. After a moment he blurted, "You stupid bint! You knew I was a vampire and you invited me into your house? Do you have a death wish, love?"

"No death wish, I just trust my instincts that’s all. You had plenty of opportunity to kill me in the last few hours and you haven’t. Most vampires are not patient enough to wait through pleasant conversation in a dark alley, just at the chance that they will be invited into a victim’s home. I think there must be more to you than the average vamp. Is there?" Katerina took another sip of wine and smile a cocky I-know-you-better-then-you-think smile.

Spike smirked to himself. Was he ever just an average vampire? Never! And he certainly was not patient, but he wasn’t about to get into why he didn’t bother the bite her. Discussing the chip with Katerina was not going to happen. He picked up his glass of wine, and took a long sip. "Well, Kate, I think you must’ve guessed wrong. I’m the Big Bad around Sunnydale…and you just put out a welcome mat for me to visit anytime." Spike smirked at her, hoping for a reaction but got none. "Why do you know so much about vampires? Got some vamp obsession? Any fantasy you want help with?"

Spike raised his eyebrow to her, requesting an answer to his offer. The brunette burst out laughing at his mixture of death-threat/flirtation. "Thanks for the offer, I’ll have to keep that in mind." Getting up to get the rest of the bottle of wine from the kitchen, she returned and re-filled both their glasses. "My research into vampires is just a hobby, let’s just say a family pastime. Some kids were read Dr. Seuss, I was read the Watchers diaries."

"The Watchers diaries?" Spike tried to suppress his shock. * Who is this chick? * "Gotta be pretty boring stuff. Those Watchers have got a lot of sodden’ info, but they ain’t great storytellers."

"Hmmm, interesting point of view. But I disagree." She closed her eyes and focused, as if to ensure nothing would interrupt the memories she was conjuring. "My father was a Watcher and he made the history in those books come alive to me. I would be frightened, but he would tell me about how a powerful Slayer would always be in the world to protect us all." She opened her eyes to find Spike staring at her in disbelief.

Spike shook his head and smirked, "Let me get this straight…a Slayer is like your ‘hero’. As all the kiddies in your class were thinking how cool Wonder Woman and Superman were…you were thinking about the ‘powerful Slayer’?"

"Well…yes, I guess. That’s how I was raised. As a child I heard stories every night of how she was every victim’s protectress. It gave me a lot of comfort to know she was around…somewhere. Much more than believing in some idealistic superhero that will never save any living human being. I know as a vampire you could never understand. A Slayer is someone for you to fear." Spike smirked at that idea of him fearing a Slayer, but let Katerina continue without interruption.

"When my father died last year, it became even more important to me to understand Slayers and the role of a Watcher. It was then that I discovered part of the Slayer history that my father had kept from me. Reading through his own diaries I found that in 1969 he had been assigned as a Watcher to an Italian slayer named Bianca. My father trained Bianca for years and over time the two became very close. Eventually, they became lovers. The Watchers Council discovered the scandal. Before they could have him sent away, he and his Slayer fled to the south of France. Bianca continued slaying, only taking a sabbatical during the late months of her pregnancy. She was killed one night by a random vampire July 7th, 1974…a few months after I was born. My father continued to raise me in France, and had given me the excuse that he would rather be a ‘research only’ Watcher rather than work directly with a Slayer. My entire life, I believed that he was part of the Watcher’s Council but I don’t believe he was ever in contact with the council from the time he left Italy. To this day I have no idea how he supported us."

"My reason for coming to Sunnydale is to find the current Slayer’s Watcher. My goal is to learn as much about every Slayer as I can, to help me understand my mother and what she might have been like. For years I never considered who she might be. Now that I know the story of Bianca, I just need to know more." Katerina shifted in her seat after her long speech.

She had never told anyone anything about her past, she never thought anyone might understand. But this blond vampire might just be different.

Spike looked at her in astonishment, trying to absorb all the information that was just laid out for him. Before he spoke, he gulped the rest of his wine glass and refilled it. "Let me get this straight, You are the love child of a Watcher and a Slayer and you’ve come here to find the current Slayer/Watcher combo and you’d like me to tell you what I know about them. Is that right?"

Katerina smiled at Spike’s ability to condense her life’s story into 20 words or less. "Yes, essentially you’ve written the Cole’s notes version. So all I need is a name, and I don’t even need to tell her where it came from. I just want to talk to her Watcher. I don’t need to be her best friend or anything."

"Oh Katie…there’s not much chance of that now, luv…" Spike flashed a mischievous smile, remembering the confrontation between her and Buffy earlier that evening.

Kate looked at Spike, concerned about his meaning. "You aren’t going to tell me who she is?"

For the first time in the evening, the control had shifted, now it was Spike’s turn to give a coy smile. "Her name is Buffy Summers and you’ve already made quite an impression on her."

Katerina became concerned; first at Spike’s willingness to help and second at the inexplicable joy he was getting out of telling her the news. Trying to keep her confidant air, she matched his smile with her own and said, "I make that much of an impact do I? Moved into this apartment a week ago, kept a low profile except one trip to a local bar and already the Slayer has an opinion of me?"

Realizing both glasses and the bottle were empty, and wanting to play this mystery up a bit, Spike walked into the kitchen. "Got any more wine?" he called back after opening a few empty cupboards.

"It’s in the wine rack beside the fridge."

"Thanks. And I just don’t think she likes you much."

Katerina responded back with a sarcastic "And why exactly would she not like me? I’m a very likable person."

"Found it." Spike returned to the sofa with what would be the second of many bottles to be emptied that evening. After filling both glasses, he handed Katerina hers and remarked, "You’ll need this."

"Need it for what?" She was beginning to get nervous at how much Spike was enjoying this.

"Why the Slayer knows you and likely wishes she didn’t."

"Wishes she didn’t? Isn’t that a little harsh?"

"Come on Katie, with all your Watcher knowledge, you never read that the worse thing to accuse a Slayer of is being is attracted to a vampire?" Spike leaned back into the sofa, placed his feet on the coffee table and waited for the realization to sink in. Katerina’s face slowly changed as she thought back through the events of the evening and to whom Spike was referring.

After a moment her eyes went wide at the recollection and she winced with the scene replaying in her head.

"Ding, ding, ding. The lady’s finally got it. Not exactly detective material, are you?"

"I was a little distracted at the time, okay? " She shook her head trying to get the memory of a little blond girl looking at her with disgust out of her head then finished her glass of wine…again.

Spike remained quiet, allowing Katerina to gather her thoughts even though he was dying to know more about just how ‘distracted’ she was. Finally his wait was over with a loud burst from his hostess. "SHIT!!! This is really going to fuck up my plans."

"This Slayer has history of fucking up plans…man could I tell you stories…"

"Bet you could. Hey! Wait a minute. Buffy knows you are a vamp? Since when does a Slayer let a vampire walk out of a bar with an innocent girl? She didn’t even try to go after us!"

"Innocent, luv?"

"Just answer a question for once."

"Bloody Hell. I’m going to have to start from the beginning if you are going to understand this. Get comfortable, little girl, this is a classic tragedy: where I’m the hero - only instead of me getting killed in the last scene, I get killed in the first - and once I meet the heroine, Buffy, more and more bad shit keeps happening to me for eternity."

"Sounds like comedy – I’ll get more wine."

******

Spike woke up the next morning wondering if he had a soul. It felt like every human he’d ever killed was getting revenge by driving a railroad spike into his head. Is this what Angel felt like everyday? This was torture. As he opened his eyes, he began to recognize the apartment and remember the night before. He glanced over at the coffee table and counted 5 empty bottles of wine and realized a soul had nothing to do with his current torture. The blame belonged to him, no…the wine, no…the girl.

He carefully lifted his hand above the couch not sure of what direct sunlight was lurking around the room. Since there was no hand burning, he gingerly lifted his head and looked around. All the windows had white cotton sheets thumb tacked over them. Obviously, Katerina had been sober enough to get that accomplished after he had passed out. He decided to get off the couch to look for her.

******

Chapter 2

Magic Box -

Xander was distracting Anya from putting away a new delivery of ancient paraphernalia when they were interrupted by the door bell. "Customer!" Anya smiled as she pushed Xander away.

The two turned to look towards the door to find a sleek brunette with her hair tied loosely in a bun walking in. She looked only a few years older than Xander, but very mature in her sunglasses and navy blue pinstriped tank top dress. The dress fell mid-thigh and was just tight enough that it rose high as she walked and showed off her curvaceous body.

She walked immediately towards Anya with a confident air of someone who knew what she was looking for. Ignoring Xander’s open mouth, she spoke to only Anya in a clear business voice "I understand that Mr. Rupert Giles runs this store. I would like to speak with him if he is available."

Anya was surprised by the women’s formal tone. *This must be important, and maybe involve money. * In an attempt to sound professional, Anya responded, "Huh? Oh…Giles? I mean, yes Mr. Giles…um…is here, he is in the training…um…office. I’ll, go see if he is available. He is a very busy man." Anya ran off to find Giles, dragging Xander behind her. She was not interested in seeing if he found his voice with this woman.

After a few minutes, Anya returned with Xander in tow. She found the brunette standing in the exact same spot, lightly tapping a finger on the counter. "Mr. Giles is, um, available. You can follow me." She walked the woman to the door of the training room and left.

Katerina opened the door before her; cursing the wine she had had the night before. * Wine has got to give the worse hangovers. * Taking a deep breath she walked in. She needed all her wits about her for this conversation. She looked around the room, which was clearly a training room more often than it was an office. "Mr. Rupert Giles?" she questioned to the older man sitting at a desk. He was not what she had expected.

"Yes, please sit down," Giles said, motioning to a chair opposite him. "Miss…?"

"My name is Katerina St. Just." she noted, making the proper Italian and French inflections on her first and last names respectively. Then walked across the room and sat in the offered chair.

Giles let the name sink into his memory, it seemed very relevant somehow. "St. Just?" he muttered to himself as if needing to hear it a second time. Katerina had hoped that her name would have an effect. Realizing that the Watcher was still struggling to remember, she did not want to go on until his memory was jarred. "St. Just." she repeated clearly without breaking eye contact and nodded, willing him to remember.

The two sat in silence, both reflective, until Giles interrupted with "Dear Lord! Jean St. Just…but you are not…you couldn’t be…" but as he said it, he was already recognizing the features in the beautiful women beside him, with the pictures that he had seen long ago of a young Italian Slayer and her Watcher.

"I am. You know that I am. I’m here because I would like your help…if you are willing to go against the Council, again."

"How long have they been in there?" Anya asked Xander who was still distracting her from pricing the new merchandise.

"6 hours and thirty seven minutes…approximately…"

"What do you think they are doing?"

"I’ve been thinking about that for the last 6 hours and thirty seven minutes…"

Anya rewarded Xander’s honesty with a glare, then announced, "I’m not jealous! She didn’t even look at you before." and gave an over-exaggerated Anya smile to him.

The two turned a second time that day to the front door bell as Buffy walked in. "So, what’s up? Anything new and exciting going on in the Magic Box?"

"Giles has been in the back room with a woman for 6 hours. Xander thinks she’s hot and that they are doing it, but I’m not jealous ‘cause she never even looked at Xander. But if Giles is having sex then I am happy for him because I think he needs it even though he’s old."

"Anya!" Xander exclaimed. "Enough with the details already!"

"How about more details? Like who is Giles with, and why aren’t you worried if you haven’t heard from them for six hours?" Buffy looked at them both her wide eyes demanding more information fast.

"Well they kinda looked like they had stuff to talk about…and well she didn’t look dangerous…not like she could hide a weapon in that dress…although she was mysterious in a sexy kind of way…" Xander stopped as he trailed off in his own thoughts.

"I’ve heard enough." Buffy rolled her eyes as she stormed towards the door to the training room.

From behind her Xander called out, "You might want to knock first"

Buffy found the door of the training room locked and quickly took a step back and kicked it open. Prepared for anything, she walked in. The first thing that she saw was Giles sitting comfortably on a sofa laughing. There was a woman beside him and both were hunched over what appeared to be an old book.

Startled by her entrance, both shot up off the sofa and separated. Two sets of eyes stared at her as a child would, being caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Giles tried to compose himself, "Buffy! Ah, yes, well, ah, yes…" He ran his fingers through his hair as if to find the words he was looking for hidden there. "Buffy, this is, ah, Katerina St. Just, um, an old friend…well new friend, I guess is more appropriate." Giles turned to the French woman and smiled.

Buffy looked at the two with confusion *what did I just walk in on? * After giving Giles an ‘are you crazy?’ look, she turned for the first time to his companion. She quickly scanned her outfit and presumed her to be a businesswoman of some type by her clothes and confident air in her stance. Then her eyes fell on the woman’s face. Even though the hair and makeup were different, she recognized her immediately. "You!" Buffy walked towards her, not realizing that her finger was awkwardly pointing directly at the brunette as she walked. "I remember you from last night…with Spike."

"Spike?" Giles interrupted. He turned to look at Katerina with concern "He didn’t try to harm you in anyway, did he? Because if he did…" Giles’ eyes flashed with anger.

"Spike! Oh my god! What time is it? He’s going to kill me!" Katerina looked at her watch then noticed the concerned faces and realized that she was being misunderstood. "Not literally…it’s just that he’s probably starving and likely hungover. I didn’t plan to stay this long, but Rupert, I just lost track of time." She moved over to him, deciding not to explain about Spike. Leaning up into him, she gently kissed his right cheek, then his left. In a soft tone she whispered into his ear, "Mon ami, je vous remercie de tout ce que vous avez fait pour moi aujourd'hui. Je comprend entierement la responsabilité qui vous incombe et la raison de votre refus." {My dear, thank you for everything that you have done for me today. I understand completely your current responsibilities.} Then she turned, nodded to a dumfounded Buffy, and walked out.

******

Euan Rice was sitting at his desk, staring at a collection of photos. They appeared to be a mixture of photos taken from afar and at odd angles as if done by a hidden camera or a private investigator. The older man picked up one in particular and glared at it. The picture appeared to be of a young woman in her early twenties, sitting in a cafe but her face was turned away from the camera. He picked up a second photo that is taken from another angle, in the same cafe. The woman in the photo was Katerina. She appeared a few years younger, and her eyes appeared innocent and carefree.

"St. Just, I will have my revenge." the man mumbled to himself in a thick British accent. He set the picture on fire and watched it burn. The flames engulfed his hands but he paid no attention.

******

Katerina walked into her apartment, hoping that her peroxide companion of last night was still around, not that there was anywhere to go since the sun was still shining brightly outside. As she had driven home, memories of last night flooded back to her. The stories he had told her in a drunken stupor of his failures, his disappointments, even when he tried to stake himself and now living for Buffy who would never return his love. It was heartbreaking, but this wasn’t the end of the story. To her it was the beginning of a new chapter that might change everything for both of them if he would agree. She hadn’t come to Sunnydale for this, but it was now intertwined with her plans.

After Spike had awoken earlier, he could not find Katerina or a TV. He had tried to read some of the books that she had laying around, but his head hurt too bad to concentrate and soon fell asleep again. This was how she currently found him, fast asleep on her couch clutching a paperback copy of Pride and Prejudice. She smiled to herself at how much he would hate to see her smiling at him right now. She placed two pints of pig’s blood and a bottle of aspirin on the coffee table then went up to take a shower.

When she returned downstairs, wearing black jeans and T-shirt, she found the vampire awake and the book he had been reading back in the middle of a pile of books where he must have found it. "Thanks for the blood, luv." Spike mumbled under his breath obviously still suffering from his hangover.

"Daddy always taught me that a hungry vampire is no friend to anyone." She walked over to him and sat down on the couch. "Listen, I know that you probably just want to get the hell out of here, but I would like to talk to you again…later. Is there someplace that we can meet? Say around midnight?"

Spike looked over at her as many thoughts ran through his head. She was interesting, but she was trouble. Did he really want to get involved in what ever she was up to? He’d gotten pretty used to his unlife being stable. The whole ‘paralyzed by not caring’ comment he made to Xander weeks ago, had really defined his last two years.

With a smirk, he remembered why he came to this apartment in the first place; the woman could make him feel alive. He hadn’t been passionate about anything, except loving Buffy, for so long that he forgot how it made him feel. Maybe this chick could help him find that again. "Whatever you want, pet. Let’s say the Bronze again. I think you know the place." Spike lifted his left brow just to make her smile.

Not long after, the sun went down and Spike left without a word. Katerina was alone with her thoughts. She had until midnight to figure out how to convince this sexy vampire to help her now that Rupert had said no.

Katerina sat in a booth in a far corner of the Bronze. The bar was particularly quiet, even for a mid-summer Wednesday night. She stared down at her bottle of beer and slowly tried to remove the label without ripping it. *What am I doing here? * she thought to herself with a sigh. * Is this was I came to Sunnydale for? I’ve got to keep my focus, my life may depend on it. *

Spike had returned to his crypt after leaving her apartment and found himself completely recovered from his hangover and quite restless. After a few sweeps of the cemetery, an encounter with two fledglings and a rather ugly Garack demon, he decided to find Katerina and stalk her for a bit. He needed to know what she was really about. He waited outside her apartment until 11:45 when she left to go to the Bronze. He followed her in, taking an ideal stool a few meters behind her and well beyond her view that was directed at the door.

She had been waiting for 45 minutes now for him. He had watched her peel the label off three beers and methodically rip them into tiny shreds. Two guys had already asked her to dance and she responded "no thanks" with uncharacteristic shyness. Spike told himself that he was testing her, seeing how long she would wait for him, giving him the upper hand. As he watched her, thoughts of the night before came back to him; her cocky smile and witty comebacks, the dances that they shared and how their bodies fit so perfectly together.

As if reading his thoughts, she began to stir. With a sigh she got out of the booth and began to put her coat on. As she turned to leave, something behind her caught her eye. She looked back, but the blond hair she thought she recognized was gone. She turned again to leave.

"Going somewhere, luv?" Spike was immediately in front of her.

She let out a loud yelp and Spike quickly covered her mouth with his. Shocked by the unexpected intimacy she began to pull back, but Spike held her into him in a tight hold. Slowly, she began to relax and enjoy the kiss. Spike felt her muscles release and let his grip loosen. The kiss began to soften and Katerina allowed her hands to travel around to tickle the nape of his neck. Spike began to feel a familiar burning sensation in the pit of his stomach as the passionate kiss increased far longer then he had intended. He slowly pulled away and was rewarded with a small whimper from Katerina at the loss of contact.

The vampire leaned into Katerina’s ear and with a passion filled voice whispered. "Let’s get some fresh air, eh pet?" Katerina did not respond, but allowed Spike to take her hand and lead her out of the bar.

Neither spoke as they walked, both appreciating the effects of the cool air. Katerina was the first to interrupt the silence "Next time I won’t wait so long."

"What ever you say, pet." Spike smirked, enjoying the current control he had.

Katerina smiled knowingly back at him. It meant something to her that he felt she was worth conquering or at least battling. With a deep sigh she made her decision to put the first step of her plan in place. Without breaking her stride, she began "Spike, I have a proposition for you." She waited a moment. At heart, she loved the dramatic. "I have a plan that I believe will help us both get what we want most in this world." Spike’s raised eyebrow was missed because again she continued walking with her eyes still directed straight ahead.

" You know what I want do you, love? If you got a way to get this chip out then I’m all for it."

"You know it’s not the chip that is the issue here, Blondie. It’s Buffy. I get you Buffy, you help me get what I want." At this Katerina stopped and finally made eye contact; she needed to know if she had struck a cord. The vampire rewarded her with a rather insincere "pfiffe" and a telling half smile that all but admitted what he could not deny.

Deciding that this was an invitation to continue, Katerina began to walk again into the nowhere land that this type of conversation always leads.

" First I need to tell you what I need from you, you can opt to help me or not. If so, I will get you your chance with your Slayer." Katerina stopped her speech, needing agreement before continuing.

Spike lit a cigarette and nodded for her to continue.

"I believe I may have inherited Slayer attributes from my mother. I need your help to determine what skills that I do have and to train me to use them. I need to know what my body is capable of and to be able to use it to it’s full potential."

It took some time for the extent of the request to register with Spike. He took another drag from his cigarette and turned to her. "Kat, did you just ask me to…? That a Watcher’s job, mate! I kill little girls like you, not train them to kill big bads like me. Bloody hell, that’s ridiculous." He shook his head at her and again took a drag of his cigarette.

She stood in silence and stared. She had expected this reaction, and would be patient for the vampire to get past his initial prejudice.

"There are plenty of Watchers around, I’m sure. I can hook you up with one right here in town."

Katerina sighed. "I have already spoken with Rupert Giles. He was the main reason I came to Sunnydale. He was able to provide me with significant information, but declined my request to mentor me. He is too devoted to Buffy; I hadn’t expected that. I will also not go to the Watchers Council; it would be…um…hypocritical. Spike you can do this. You know that it is in you. You understand Slayers better then any Watcher. And in the end you will get your precious Buffy.

Katerina watched as Spike considered that offer. He didn’t quite understand why Katerina was so sure that he’d get Buffy in the end, but it a was an interesting offer.

"Tell me more about Buffy. You gonna do a love spell or something? I’ve been down that road before – not interested."

Katerina smiled at him and let out a laugh. "Buffy does not need a love spell * pet *." She stopped and turned towards him. She stepped closer so that only and few inches stood between them. "I’m not going to do anything to Buffy except open her eyes." She then reached out and grabbed the vampire by the belt buckle and pulled him into her. Face to face the two stared, challenging each other to break the eye contact. Spike could feel Kate’s breath getting heavier and her beating heart pounding against his chest.

Seductively, Katerina slowly leaned into him and kissed each of Spike’s sculpted cheeks then returned to face him again. Katerina let go of his belt buckle and took a step backwards. "You think about it, but I need to know soon." She explained coolly, but as she turned away from him, Spike grabbed her and threw her on the hood of a nearby parked car. Before she could react, he was on top of her with his game face on and her hands were pinned above her head. She looked at him with a mixture of fear and passion, her chest heaving rapidly under the weight of the vampire.

Spike shook off his game face and laughed at her panicked look. He bent his head and gently kissed the nap of her neck, whispering in her ear "Tag – you’re dead." With her still pinned to the hood, he proceeded to kiss her forehead, cheek and the lips. "Lesson number one, love – don’t ever underestimate a vampire or you are dead."

******

Chapter 3

Spike and Katerina had agreed to meet the next evening about an hour past sundown. This was to be their regular time for training. During the day, Katerina had visited Giles to update him on her newfound mentor. Giles had frowned in concern, but said nothing. He offered her a key to the Magic Box to use training room and the equipment there. Buffy mostly trained during the day and the Magic Box closed at sundown to avoid the wrong kind of customer. The arrangement was intended to be as inconvenient as possible for all parties and leave Katerina independent of the Scoobies.

Katerina followed Spike’s directions though the cemetery that intended to lead to his crypt. She feared that her first right turn at the large marble gravestone was perhaps not the correct large marble gravestone and she may be quite lost.

Why he had insisted on first meeting at his crypt was beyond her comprehension and his directions were far more vague.

Spike quickly moved behind a large maple tree as Katerina turned around in confusion. He had risen and fed early to once again follow her as she left her apartment. This time he had a specific purpose. He had given her the correct, though vague instructions to arrive at his crypt only he changed the cemetery name. He wanted to observe her reaction to the situation and to see how she handled herself in the dark. This would give him a base understanding of her current knowledge and what skills to work on first.

It had taken him a while to understand why he was doing this. He had decided it was a lot of reasons combined. He was bored and this would occupy his mind, he did have a lot of knowledge and it was an ego boost to show it off, and partially it was also Buffy. He was curious to see if Katerina would succeed at delivering her end of the bargain. Deep down he didn’t believe it was possible and he wasn’t interested in getting his hopes up.

Mostly though, he had decided that it was Katerina herself that made him agree to this. He enjoyed being with her, how alive she made him feel.

Spike slowly closed the distance between them. He had seen enough and it was getting to be the time that his fellow undead would start to wander. Letting her get killed was not part of his first lesson plan. As he got closer, he realized that something was wrong.

Katerina stopped and looked behind her, she thought she heard something. Seeing nothing, she continued her walk but slower now. She had been too busy complaining to herself about the directions that she hadn’t realized how far into the cemetery that she had walked or just how dark it had gotten.

Hearing something a second time, she turned to find herself facing two vampires. A quick glance behind her confirmed that two more appeared to surround her. She quickly let a stake drop down her shirtsleeve and into her hand. She had never used one before, but understood the general concept of stake-heart-dust. All she needed was a plan of attack.

As if on cue, a form jumped out of the shadows and tackled two of the vamps. Katerina took advantage of the distraction and, holding her stake tight, plunged it into one of the two remaining vampires’ chest. She stared into its eyes and waited for what seemed to like an eternity until finally it burst into a cloud of dust. The remaining vamp reacted quickly with an uppercut, tossing Katerina a few feet in the air and onto the ground. The vamp dove onto her, pinning both her arms to the grass. She closed her eyes for the inevitable, but after nothing happened she opened them to see a few remaining particles of dust and Spike standing over her vamped out, stake in hand.

Katerina accepted the outstretched hand and allowed Spike to pull her off the grass. She was more frightened then she thought she would be from her first encounter with a vampire attack. She wrapped her arms around Spike and hugged him close.

Spike smirked to himself at this suddenly very vulnerable woman in his arms, such a change from their first encounter only two days earlier. He gave her a small kiss on the nap of her neck and whispered gently, "Tag – your’re dead". His comment achieved its desired effect when a small laugh escaped her.

"Lesson number two – no more walking in cemeteries alone until we’ve had a few more lessons." He received a nod in agreement and held her tight, returning to his favorite spot on her neck for more reassuring kisses. Before his lips were able to make contact again he felt himself tackled to the ground, ripped from Katerina’s arms.

"Spike!" was the shocked sound that came from the attacker.

"Slayer!" was the annoyed response from the vampire.

"Buffy!" was the exclaimed shout from Katerina in the background.

Buffy was straddling Spike with a stake raised, ready to release.

"What the bloody hell do you think you are doing?" questioned the vampire, even though he was finding the position very comfortable.

"Um…I…I thought you were one of the vamps that was attacking that girl. I dusted two and then came back and saw you at her neck…"

"And you didn’t recognize the hair? How could you not see the hair?"

"Hello? Split second decision making required? It’s not like bleaching hair is that original these days…" Buffy looked down and realized that she was still on top of Spike in a rather provocative position. A blush rose to her cheeks and she jumped off him. "Oh…um…sorry" she commented, now more embarrassed than defensive.

Spike also rose with a smirk and responded, "Anytime, Slayer." with a wink, only to receive a sneer in return.

The two then turned to their audience who had stood in silence, allowing the scene to play out without interruption. Katerina walked over towards her two rescuers. "Thank you for your help back there, Buffy. If you hadn’t come along when you did…well you know the drill – one dead Kat." Katerina gave the petite blonde a shy smile to emphasize her sincerity. It took a moment for Buffy to recognize the stranger in the darkness, but the memory of their last two meetings flooded back to her. * Am I destined to see this girl everyday for the rest of my life? * and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Well maybe next time you won’t go wandering in a cemetery alone after hours" Buffy suggested. She still found this girl annoying no matter how sincere her thanks was.

"I was just trying to find Spike’s crypt. I didn’t think it would take this long.…maybe if the instructions were a little clearer…" Katerina noted sarcastically, raising an eyebrow for Spike to explain.

Buffy interrupted with a confused look "Spike’s crypt? But Spike’s crypt isn’t even in this…"

"Well…this has been fun, but don’t you think it’s time to get going, pet? We have STUFF to do, remember?" Spike quickly grabbed Katerina’s arm and practically dragged her out of the cemetery before Buffy could finish her sentence.

"Stuff to do, eh?" Buffy mumbled to no one in particular.

"I can’t believe you almost got me killed because you wanted to get an idea of what I already know…how’s nothing for you! No self-defense, no special listening techniques…I’m just lucky I knew that a vampire’s heart is in the same spot as a human’s…" Katerina hadn’t taken the news of Spike’s experiment very well.

"Well of course a vampire’s heart is in the same place as a human’s. We used to be bloody human! The heart’s not going to stop beating and sudden move to the right side of the chest…"

Katerina pointed her finger at him threatening "You are not going to make fun of me right now…you almost got me killed! That means I get to be right for the entire evening…and you get to apologize for the rest of the century…"

"Century! Slayers never live longer than…"

"I thought I mentioned the part about…"

"You being right? Yes, I must have missed that the first TWENTY times you said it. Yes love, what ever you say love…" Spike answered sarcastically and rolled his eyes.

Katerina couldn’t help laughing at the peroxide blonde’s imitation of the obedient husband. The two had teased each other the entire way from the cemetery to the Magic Box. Neither was interested in admitting just how frightened they had both been by the attack.

Once they walked into the training room everything changed to strictly business. Spike outlined his plan for each night’s four-hour session. The first portion of the evening would be spent on the mental aspect of being a Slayer. This included skills like focus, attitude, decision-making and, most importantly, the ability to sense danger. The second portion would be the physical. Spike would help her develop natural strength and teach her to fight especially to compensate for any weakness for not truly being a full Slayer.

Spike did his best at stressing the importance of the mental aspect, but Katerina could tell he was uncomfortable teaching it. She made a silent note to see if Giles could provide her with some books on meditation that would help her to teach herself things, rather then force Spike into a topic he was obviously not comfortable with. Their first self-defense activity came as a relief to both teacher and student.

The next day, the gang was gathered in the Magic Box at Buffy’s request. "I had a few strange encounters last night that I think we need to start researching. I’ve noticed over the past month that the vamps around Sunnydale have been acting wacky."

Giles removed his glasses and looked at her in confusion "Can you be more specific than ‘wacky’?"

"Well…slightly stronger than usual…more cunning but most of all, they seem to be hunting in packs. Almost like wolves, they surround someone then all join in the kill. Luckily I haven’t been able to figure out if they feed as a pack, but I bet it’s really pretty gross to see."

"Could you just be coming up on a gang? We’ve seen that before" Willow offered with a helpful smile.

"No, I don’t think it’s gangs…they don’t seem to have a leader…or at least not one that hunts with them. And, like, I’ll see four together and I’ll stake them all, then I’ll come upon six more…it’s like I can’t remember the last time I ran into just one vampire trying to kill someone."

"Ah…the good ol’ days, eh Buff?" Xander smiled at her and playfully punched her in the shoulder.

Giles began to rub his glasses. "Well I definitely think it is worth investigating. I’ve seen gangs of vampires, but I agree with Buffy that it is odd to see vampires always hunting together and particularly feeding together is unusual. We may be able to trace this pattern back to…"

Xander interrupted with "What’s the other strange thing…you said a few strange encounters. Anything else we need to get all Sherlock Holmesy about?"

Buffy glanced at Giles with an awkward look " Um…the other thing involved Spike…it was a little weird…I thought he was killing someone…well he wasn’t…so, um, anyways…no biggie, just a little embarrassing for old Buffy. But no book-reading necessary…"

"So what was Spike doing? Why did you think he was killing someone?" Anya asked with her classic over-pronunciation.

"He was…kissing someone…and I thought…well anyway, I managed to not stake him. Although, I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing…"

"I’m sure the girl would not be too happy about having a kiss interrupted and her guy staked, even if that guy was Spike." Willow commented.

"So does Spike have a girlfriend now? I thought he was in love with Buffy." Anya added.

"Let’s just get on with the real issue at hand shall we?" Giles concluded and started gathering books for the research party. "I think it would be best to conduct any after hours research at Buffy’s house. Since Joyce is away on business, it would be best for Dawn to be able to do her homework and get to bed without us disturbing her schedule." The gang agreed to Giles relief. He had been putting off telling them about his arrangement with Katerina, until he could come up with a reasonable story about why he was helping her.

One week later, Katerina’s training was progressing nicely. She was studying mediation during the days to allow Spike to focus on the physical side of being a Slayer. The sexy brunette was surprisingly strong for her looks. Spike hadn't really believed that many, if any, of her mother's Slayer abilities would be inherited. Everything that he knew about Slayers told him that the 'call' makes the Slayer, not the blood. Apparently he was wrong.

Katerina was currently working at perfecting her back kick, while Spike watched from the other side of the training room, appreciating her form. "I think you can try a bit higher now. You've got the form spot-on." Spike smirked at Katerina's groan in reply. Spike watched as Katerina continued to kick with the same preciseness and few inches higher. Her hair was tied into a long ponytail that swung with each kick. Sweat trickled down her neck, making her top cling to her large breasts. Her typical workout gear consisted of a black sports bra crop top and tight fitting black shorts. When they had first began to work out, Spike had found her voluptuous shape distracting. Hips, butt and breasts always seemed to get in the way of their exercises. * At least Buffy’s a little more petite so Giles doesn’t have to worry about being distracted by all this bouncing. * Still, when he was not actually teaching, he found himself mesmerized by her movements. She would hold her stance, then suddenly kick, return to the stance and kick, stance, kick over and over until she had perfected the movement and imbedded it into her brain. The vampire found the entire scene intoxicating as he shifted uncomfortably in suddenly restrictive jeans.

"You falling asleep over there?" Katerina questioned as she placed a towel around her neck and walked over to her teacher.

Spike smirked at her and lit cigarette. "Just admiring your form, ya’ might say."

Katerina glanced down at him to appreciate his full meaning and laughed seductively. "None of that now, cutie. We’ve got work to do." She grabbed his hand and led him to the exercise mat.

"Ok. What’s next?"

"Well, you take off your clothes and I…"

"Not that…I mean the next lesson…besides I’m really icky sweaty."

"Actually the smell of sweat can be a big turn on if…"

"Okaaayyyy…focus…I can’t imagine Buffy had this problem with Rupert. Oh God! Look at what you made me think of…"

"Me! It was you that brought it up…well actually now it’s down," Spike looked down at himself "Yup…look what you’ve done…he’s not coming back out for a week!"

Katerina issued a big sigh and hit her forehead with her hand. "Are you done with the sex talk? Can we move on to the next lesson? I swear, every night you spend more and more time looking at my breasts and less and less time teaching me."

"Well hide them or something... don’t you own any big ugly T-shirts?" Katerina looked at him like she was going to practice her staking ability soon so he opted to get serious. "Ok. We need a blind fold."

Spike caught her fist mid-swing and continued. "It’s for the next lesson. You have to learn not to always rely on what you see. You may someday need use your other senses to compensate."

Buffy had finished her patrol and was walking home when a light on in the Magic Box caught her eye as she passed. Giles was looking after Dawn, and Anya, Xander, Tara, and Willow had gone to her house as well to continue the pack-vamp research. It made no sense for anyone to be in the Magic Box.

She slowly crept in through the front door that was strangely undamaged and locked. As she walked through the shop, she noted nothing was touched or missing. She silently stepped towards the training room and the light that had been on clicked off. She stopped. Perhaps they had heard her. She heard some whispering, then silence. She crept onward. She arrived at the door and noticed it was not locked. Perfect. It would allow her to enter without notice. She walked into the pitch-black room, crawling along the floor. Her plan was to reach the back door and block it before turning on the light. She felt some movement around the room. She could tell there was someone standing still in the middle of the room while a second person was maneuvering around the perimeter of the room on the far side from her. Only a few more steps and she would be at the door. Suddenly a rush of wind came from the other side of the room and she heard what sounded like a struggle. Quickly she dove for the light and got into fighting stance blocking the only way out.

As three sets of eyes adjusted to the light the stage was set as follows: Buffy at the door ready to fight anyone who dared escape; Spike pinned to the floor on his stomach and one hand twisted around his back; Katerina on top of Spike asserting her control of him still blind folded.

Katerina, still unaware that the light was now on, proceeded to laugh. "Come on, Spike, say it," She tightened her grip until he squealed. "Say it!" She tightened her grip further.

"Ok…ok…Mr Darcy is cooler than Scarlet Pimpernel…just let me go, you bint. You’re breaking my bloody arm." Katerina laughed hysterically at his admission and the fact that she’d been able to best him at his version of Marco Polo. She had at least been able to convince him to turn the lights off. Even with his improved night vision it to put them on more even ground.

As Spike helped her remove her blind fold, she looked around in confusion "When did you turn the lights on?" Spike glanced around the room noticing the light for the first time "I didn’t. I’m not sure how…"

Buffy shook her head in confusion as she practically ran down the street. The scene she had just witness played over in her head. * What the hell did I just walk in on? I need to have a long talk with Giles because none of this makes sense to me. At least I got out of there before they saw me. *

Buffy walked into her house to find the entire gang gathered around her kitchen table. Giles got up and began to walk towards her "Oh good Buffy, your home early. We’ve been going over your comments about pack hunting and, alas, we’ve found nothing. We’ve discussed it and w-w-we only have one other place to t-t-turn." Buffy looked from Giles to the rest of the gang who began to find the wood grain in the table extremely interesting.

Buffy turned back to Giles with a confused look. "Huh?"

Giles glanced nervously at the floor and muttered, "We believe we need an insider; someone who can fish for information without arousing suspicion. And since even the demon populous knows that you haven’t exactly been on speaking terms with…"

Buffy began to back away as if escape the Watcher’s words. "No…oh…no," she muttered, shaking her head violently. "No absolutely not. He can’t be trusted."

"Maybe he can." Giles stated. Buffy stared at him is disbelief. Anya, Xander, Willow and Tara all joined Buffy in silent awe. Their eyes began to move from one to the other as if to say, ‘did you just hear what I just heard?’

Finally, the silence was broken by Xander, who lifted his hand nervously and commented, "I believe I speak for the group when I say ‘Huh?’"

"I can’t explain why right now, but I think there is more to this problem than just vampires learning they hunt better in packs. We need someone to get inside and find out more…Buffy, think about it. Spike’s really our only link to the vampire community." Giles spoke as gently as he could, realizing the sensitivity of the issue.

Silence fell on the room. The only movement was Buffy rubbing her head in confusion. "Giles, I think we should…"

Giles cut her off "Buffy, I think you might be too emotionally involved to be making decisions concerning Spike."

Buffy was furious, barely able to contain the violent action she was contemplating that involved her watcher and her fist. She replied as calmly as she could, "Am I the only one here that remembers that not so long ago, Spike chained me to a wall to force me to tell him I felt something for him? And I am getting blamed for being emotionally involved."

Giles sighed and quieted his voice to a whisper "Buffy, this is exactly what I am referring to. I know you have not forgiven him yet, nor do I expect you to ever forgive him for his ridiculous actions, but you can’t let your hatred for him interfere with your position. Even if it is only a means to an end, Spike is our best chance here and I feel he can be trusted."

Buffy let out a sigh of defeat.

A group of vampires strode through the cemetery, looking around anxiously. They spotted a couple walking nervously through the grass, obviously taking a shortcut on their way somewhere. The vampires looked at each other and nodded. A vampire with a diagonal scar across his face that extended from the left side of his forehead to his right ear stepped ahead of the group, looking at the couple a few meters away. He turned and whispered, "D-formation, remember make sure it’s not * her * before the kill." Quietly and they disperse into different directions. Minutes later a short scream was heard, then silence.

Later that evening, a man was sitting in an old-style leather chair, smoking a pipe with a large book on his lap. The man appeared to be in his mid-fifties, but stress had made him appear older. He was reading intently when he heard a knock at the door to his room. "Come in." he mumbled in an educated English accent, without looking up from his book. The scared vampire opened the door to the makeshift study and bowed.

"Master Euan, I have come to report." the vampire pronounced confidently, but without insolence. Only once had a vampire commented that Master Euan sounded funny. After witnessing the result of the insult, no other had dared imply the name did not suit.

"And?" The brit looked up, making eye contact for the first time.

"We have made 3 kills tonight, but no sign of the girl."

"And the Slayer?"

The vampire shifted uncomfortably. "We lost unit 7 and we believe it was the Slayer."

The older man seethed in anger. "We have to find her now! My patience is wearing thin." He stood silent for a moment, letting his frustration subside. "Perhaps we are going about this the wrong way? This may call for another change in plan. Leave me…I must think."

The scared vampire bowed again and walked out without a word.

******