As Buffy entered her house after a tiring night of patrol, she was greeted by the constant bleep of the answering machine, indicating that she had at least one new message.

"Hello Buffy, Giles here." The message began, "Just leaving you a message to inform you that a visit to Spike's may be in order. Xander found him outside of Willy's with a few injuries and took him back to the crypt. Just thought you may want to know. Speak to you soon, and for gods sake, take your cell phone on patrol!"

She scoffed loudly, but followed it by a gentle sigh.

"For goodness sake, Spike." She mumbled, slinging the bag that she had just deposited onto a chair back over her tired shoulders. "What on earth have you gone and done to yourself now?"

Dawn was staying over at Janet's again, for what seemed like the fourth time that week, but it meant that she could leave straight away.

Luckily there were no more evil creatures of the night to slay on the way over to the cemetery either, so Buffy was standing outside the crypt within ten minutes.

"Bloody hell." Spike groaned as he saw the blonde Slayer walk through the door. "What're you doing here?"

"I heard you got hurt." She stated pointedly, crossing her arms. "So, are you okay?"

He chuckled softly, but followed it by a sharp wince. "Can't get much past you, can I?" He paused for a moment, looked away, then met her gaze again. "Yes, 'm fine."

"Fine?" Buffy pressed, raising her eyebrows ever so slightly. It was obvious by the way his left arm rested across his lap awkwardly and his slouched position on the chair that 'I'm fine' was far from the truth. Spike knew she saw it too.

"Arm's probably broken." He admitted. "You can patch me up if that's what you're here for."

She shrugged, trying to appear careless even though she was actually concerned about his health and well-being. "I just wanted to come for a giggle, really. Maybe give you a few more kicks, y'know." She shrugged again, a smile crossing her features slowly. "Since you're a little more injured than I'd expected, I'll help." She closed the gap between them slightly and set her bag down on the cool stone floor. "Is it just your arm?"

"Ribs are a little wore for wear too, luv." Spike nodded, wincing inwardly as the gap between them was closed completely and her fingers found his injuries and began probing. "Ow! Watch it!" He hissed. "If you're goin' to be like that then I think you oughta leave, and –"

Before he could say anymore, she cut him off.

"Shut up, Spike."

Her fingers gently examined his injured arm and a grimace crossed her own features. "This is really badly broken, Spike." She pulled away, not wanting to inflict too much added pain. She didn't seem to mind hurting him when it meant her punishment was the first, but this didn't seem very fair. "What happened?"

He chuckled lightly, more careful of the injured ribs this time. "I'll leave it to your imagination, pet."

"In that case," She spoke, "I'll leave it."

He probably had just been beaten up, always that same old story, but she had learnt that it was best to leave his macho intact for as long as possible, otherwise he just got bitter.

"Where's your medical kit?" She asked before Spike could respond. "Do you still have one?"

"Yeah, 's just under this chair." He nodded, leaning down to retrieve it but grimacing before he even made it halfway. "You can get it."

"Thanks." Buffy laughed, crouching down and pulling out the dusty box. She clicked it open still in the crouched position and rifled through the contents. "This'll do." She nodded, pulling out a sling.

Spike didn't say anything else, just held his injured arm protectively and eyed the cotton material suspiciously.

"Is that arm going to need to be set?" The Slayer asked, unfolding the material and tying a provisional knot in the correct position.

"Yeah, I'd wager so." He grudgingly admitted. "There seems to be a nice bend between my wrist and elbow that really doesn't belong."

Buffy winced loudly in sympathy and tried to avoid searching for the so-called bend. "Ow, okay. Can you do it, or…?"

"I tried and failed." Spike shook his head briefly. "Prob'ly did more harm than good and it hurt like a bitch. Give it your best shot."

Buffy knew that amount of excruciating pain that came along with broken bones. "Spike," She said seriously, "Do you have any of that disgustingly strong alcohol that you like so much?" She knew he was going to need something to dull his senses and take the kick from the inevitable pain that was sure to come.

"In the fridge, pet." He nodded, gesturing over to the corner with the good hand.

Under any other situation, Buffy would have told him to shift his butt and retrieve it himself, but today she felt obliged.

When she handed him the bottle, he gulped it down greedily.

"Mm." He smiled, "Get on with it, pet."

Buffy waited for several minutes, hoping that the alcohol would kick in and start numbing some of the pain he was experiencing now first. She didn't tell him, however, that she was also trying to remember the correct procedure for setting a broken bone. The 'bend' Spike had referred to was clearly the two ends of broken bone almost breaking the skin. She winced just thinking about it. After fishing around in memories, Buffy remembered basic field medicine that she'd read once or twice (but never had to perform), and recalled that she would have to basically just push the bones back into alignment and hope for the best. She wouldn't tell Spike of her uncertainty, however, as he would most certainly run away from her 'healing' hands.

"Has the pain gone at all?" She asked with audible hope.

A shake of Spike's head made her stomach drop slightly. "I've got a tolerance for alcohol now, pet." He explained. "Just do it anyway, there's no point in prolonging the inevitiable. 'Sides, you know me: I don't hurt easily."

He was obviously trying to be reassuring, but it was supposed to be the other way around, wasn't it?

"I'll try and make it quick." Buffy nodded, gently touching the fingers on his injured hand.

"Right." He nodded, gritting his teeth tightly.

"Okay, Spike. One…" She took hold of his hand firmly, trying to block out his sharp hiss of pain. "Two…" She positioned her other hand over the bend. "Three!"

With her last word, Spike saw stars. She simultaneously pushed down on the broken bones and pulled his hand and the action was agonizing. Agonizing, yet seemingly pointless, as there was no familiar 'snap' of realignment.

"Oh, god!" Buffy exclaimed, also noticing the lack-of improvement. "Okay okay, once more."

Without waiting for confirmation, she pulled down on his wrist with as much force as possible, then pressed down on the bones, forcing them to at least return to a straight position. Seconds later there was an audible crack and the arm looked fairly normal again.

A hearty scream radiated from Spike's undead lungs and seemed to last forever. "Bollocks!" He gasped, squeezing his eyes closed.

"It's done, it's done." Buffy mumbled, to herself more than anything. "Spike?"

"Bollocks." He repeated again, albeit slightly calmer as he regained composure.

A glisten of tears lined Buffy's eyes, but she brushed them away almost automatically.

"'m fine." Spike nodded, trying to smile. "Good job, Buff."

"Yeah, right." She scoffed, still blinking away the salty liquid. "God, that was awful."

"We got the job done." Spike nodded, flexing his fingers experimentally. "Thanks, pet."

She too smiled slightly, nodding her head and flicking forward some hair in the process. "I guess it was better than you attempting to do it yourself."

"Yeah." Spike nodded. "It wasn't a pretty sight earlier when I tried. You know me though, Slayer, would've just let it heal wonky."

Buffy laughed and picked the sling back up. "Do you want this?"

He nodded, knowing that the broken bone was still far from being healed completely and would still be sore for a long time. "Yeah, thanks pet."

She carefully eased the sling around the injured limb and then fastened it securely.

"Is that okay?" She spoke softly in an almost-whisper.

"That's perfect."

With that, he latched onto her with his uninjured arm and pulled her straight down into his lap.

"Spike!" Buffy exclaimed, startled. "Don't you think you should rest?"

"I will later." He assured her, trying to catch her with his own cool lips, but failing miserably as she turned her face away. "I'll be fine, pet. I promise."

She nodded before tiredly allowing his lips to capture hers. She might have punched him in the face for his efforts, but considering her mood and his current bodily state, she allowed him the pleasure and actually enjoyed it.

"You're always getting hurt..." She sighed, tracing his jawline with her slender fingers. "I don't like it."

The vampire smiled slightly and nodded. "I know, I'm getting sick of it too. At least I have you around to look after me this time."

She grinned sheepishly and let her head rest against his toned shoulder. "Do you want me to wrap your ribs?" She asked, not particularly wanting to hurt him anymore but assuming that it was necessary.

"Maybe later, luv." He nodded, leaning his own platinum blonde head against hers. "I just want to recover a little first."

She nodded in understanding, linking her fingers with those on his uninjured hand. "Of course." She murmured with a smile. "Do you actually want to tell me what happened to you you?"

Spike sighed shallowly and raised both eyebrows. "Got in a fight, pet."

"I guessed as much." She laughed, though not at him. "With who and over what?"

"With a demon two feet taller than me and over, well… I'm not sure."

He didn't want to say that it was over her – it'd just make her upset. "It doesn't matter now anyway, pet." He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze.

"If you say so." She agreed with a nod. "If you need anything, you'll ask?"

"I have everything I need right here, pet." He assured with a smile. "Thank you for coming over today, I don't know what I would have done without you."

"I couldn't have left you alone." She shook her head, blonde locks falling over him. "Knowing you were hurt… just glad it wasn't too badly."

He grunted softly, the pain in his arm and ribs telling him that he was badly injured. "I'm going to be out of action for a while, Buffy. The arm's going to take a long time to heal fully and bust ribs always stay sore for a few weeks."

"I know." She sighed, running a hand along his jaw line once again. "I'll be here to take care of you." She smiled and left a trail of kisses across the luke-warm flesh of his face.

((TBC…))