Buffy put her arm over her eyes to shield them from the bright sun streaming into her room through the part in the thin red curtains. She braved a look at the clock, groaned and then pulled the comforter over her head. Staying up most of the night was nothing new for Buffy, but trying to get up early enough to meet Spike down at the beach was.

At eight o’clock, she was already late. Not wanting him to think she’d stood him up, she threw back the covers and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She was grateful for modern conveniences as the smell of freshly brewed coffee wafted into the room. After a cup of strong coffee, she planned to hop in the shower and then head on down.

She padded into the kitchen, took her only coffee mug off the rack where she’d set it to dry the day before and placed it next to the telephone. With a groan, she glared at the blinking red light that indicated more than one voicemail message. She dialed in to the service and listened with the phone caught between her head and shoulder as she poured her coffee.

“First unheard message…”

“Buffy,” Giles said, his stern voice filling her with dread. “Call me as soon as you get this message. We need to discuss the things that you failed to mention during our last conversation.”

“Second unheard message…”

“Hi, Buffy.” The cheerful voice of Willow made Buffy smile. “Giles gave me your number. I think it’s great that you’re taking a vacation. It’s been a while since we were able to talk. Give me a call when you’re not out relaxing somewhere.”

“End of messages.”

She hung up and stared at the phone while she sipped her coffee. It would be nice to talk to Willow when she had a few minutes. But what did Giles know? She could only guess that Robin had called him. The two of them had always agreed on their hatred for Spike. She couldn’t blame Robin for the way he felt about the vampire that had killed his mother, but she never really got over the things they had attempted to do behind her back to kill him. She hadn’t asked Robin or Faith to keep quiet about Spike being on TV and with Angel knowing too, it was only a matter of time before Giles found out, but she didn’t want to deal with her former watcher right now.

She took her coffee with her to the bedroom, chose an outfit for the day and drained the last drops in the cup while she turned the shower on.

By the time Buffy got out to the sand, John and Dirk were sitting together in John’s usual spot, drinking sodas. Dirk spotted her first and nudged John. John’s eyes lit up when he saw her and it was at that moment that she wished he had his Spike memories, because he’d always wanted her to smile at him the way she was now.

“John was totally bummed because he thought you weren’t going to show up.” Dirk stood up, holding his drink. He hopped, spilling some of his Mountain Dew, when John kicked his shin. “Shutting up now,” Dirk said with a grin. “Also, gonna go up and catch some ‘Z’s. Gotta be at work early tonight. Dude, I hate inventory time.” He grabbed his board and got past the umbrella when he remembered something and turned to John. “You’re still coming tonight, right?”

In mid sip, John waved him off. “I’ll be there.” John patted the now vacant spot next to him and smiled at Buffy. “Have a seat.”

“Where does he work?” she asked as she set her bag down and joined him on his blanket.

“He’s a bartender at Stranded, a night club owned by a local radio deejay. It’s right off the Strand, not too far from here.” He handed her a water bottle from his ice chest. “I usually stop by on Sunday nights.”

After taking a sip from her bottle, she asked, “Why Sundays?”

“They’ve got the best spicy Buffalo wings in town, and they’re half priced on Sundays.”

Buffy couldn’t help but to reach out to him and place her hand on his thigh. “If they had blooming onions, we’d be all set.”

His jaw dropped. “You like blooming onions too?”

She threw her head back and laughed.

John watched her with a gleam in his eyes. “I don’t know what’s so bloody funny but I really like it when you laugh.”

“And I love to see you smile,” Buffy said, sobering up a bit.

Time sort of stopped as they watched each other, but John broke the spell when he cleared his throat.

“So, I was thinking, if you don’t have anything planned for tonight, maybe you’d like to go with me to Stranded?”

“That sounds like fun.”

“I could take you out to dinner first?” He glanced down at her hand, still on his thigh and she snatched it back into her own lap. “There’s an Outback Steak House a couple of blocks away. They have the only decent blooming onion in town.”

~ * ~ * ~

While they waited for their steaks to arrive, John gave Buffy a summary of some of things he’d been working on for his third book, and they shared a blooming onion. The restaurant was almost empty at such a late hour and she enjoyed listening to him talk. He lamented over the last minute edits he had to do for his second book that was due to be published in two months, but got excited when he spoke of the things he was writing now. She could not believe that she was on a date with Spike. He looked incredible in a pair of black slacks and a beige sweater.

With an animated face and gesturing hands, he said, “So, in the middle of the gun fight, he pulls her into a room. She slaps him and then he kisses her. They have to duck down when there is an explosion and suddenly, she just plants one on him.”

Their steaks arrived and Buffy watched John take a bite of his medium well-done meat. She’d seen Spike eat food a few times, but to see him dig into a full meal and drink wine was just strange. John entertained her with stories of his surfing experiences and some of the crazy things his friends had done. Mindful to keep the stories vague, she told him about some of the fun things that had happened to her and Willow and Xander. She lamented the fact that they didn’t all keep in touch as much as they should, now that they were spread all over the globe.

“You mentioned before that your job has to do with world security. Is it pretty dangerous?” John asked.

“There is an element of danger, but I’d rather not talk about it while I’m on vacation.” He stared at her with interest, so she added. “Sorry, but I haven’t had a vacation in a very long time, and I’d like to keep my work separate.”

“How do I know you’re not on some undercover mission right now?” He pointed his fork at her and said it with a smile, but she knew it was a serious question.

“You only have my word, but I promise you that I’m not working right now. In fact, I’m supposed to be in Ireland on a mission, but I requested a vacation instead.” She looked down at her plate. “I’ll understand if you don’t want to hang out with me anymore. A girl with secrets is not exactly a turn on.”

He shook his head and placed his napkin on the plate. “As luck would have it, I happen to find a girl with secrets very intriguing. I’m a mystery writer, after all.” His genuine smile put her at ease and he said, “Shall we head on over to Stranded?”

~ * ~ * ~

John waited patiently just inside the nightclub as Buffy took in the scene. Being Sunday, it was a slower night, with only a few of the locals at the bar or playing pool or darts. The dance floor was empty and the music had been lowered so that people could hear each other talk.

“Oh, I get it!” Buffy said, pointing at the fake palm trees and straw attached to the tables. “The island theme. Stranded on a desert island, right?”

“That’s what the owner was going for.” He couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm.

She pointed towards the bar. “Looks like your friend has spotted us.”

Dirk waved his arms over his head and then placed a plate of wings on the bar. John put his hand at the small of Buffy’s back and led her towards them, saying, “I’m stuffed, but there’s always room for wings.”

“Hey,” Dirk said as he wiped down the bar with a white rag.

The frown on his face gave John pause. It took a lot to get the surfer down. He waited for Buffy to sit before taking the stool beside her and asking his friend, “What’s going on?”

“The good news is I’m getting off in an hour because I came in early. The bad news is that Chet had to chase a bunch of bikers out about an hour ago, and I got the impression that they were going to come back and cause trouble.” Dirk frowned as he placed two frosty Corona bottles on the bar for them.

“What gave you that impression?” Buffy asked before she took a sip of her beer.

“The big one said, ‘I’m coming back and I’m going to pulverize you.’”

Buffy didn’t seem fazed by what she heard, but John turned to her in concern. “Maybe I should take you home now. I could get you home and get back here in time to give Dirk a ride back to the apartments.”

“I’ll be fine,” she said, taking his hand in hers. “I’m worried about you though. Bikers can be pretty rough.”

Dirk snorted. “John used to be a bouncer here. He can hold his own.”

She continued to look concerned.

“He’s right. I don’t scare easily and I’m pretty good at talking down a bad situation. I’d feel better if I knew you were safe though.”

“Who knows?” Dirk said. “They could’ve found another group of people to harass and they might have forgotten about us here. I should probably just walk home like I do every night.”

“No,” Buffy said, before John could talk. “Better to be safe than sorry. We can hang out here until your shift ends, and we’ll drive you home.”

John nodded in agreement just as a large, muscular guy came up behind them and clapped him on the shoulder. “I must have been on my break when you came in. How’s it going, big man?”

“Chet!” John turned in his stool and shook hands with him. “I hear I missed all the excitement.”

“Not really,” he said, rolling his eyes towards the ceiling. “You know, that same old biker crowd that comes by every year.” Chet smiled at Buffy and then asked Dirk. “This the new girl that Misty was complaining about earlier?”

Before John could make introductions, Buffy stood and stretched her hand out. “Hi, I’m Buffy.”

Chet looked her up and down and then grinned at John as he shook her hand. “Now I see what got Misty’s panties in a bunch. Finally someone who could give her a run for her money.”

Chet chatted with them for a few minutes and then went back to his post by the door. Once John found out that Buffy knew how to play pool, he challenged her to a game. From his vantage point behind her or across the table, she looked incredibly good when she would lean over to take her strokes. He was shocked at how much of a turn on the bantering back and forth was for him as they taunted each other. He complimented her on her form, but ended up having to concentrate on his own technique to win.

The game ended with John being the victor. His gloating was cut short when Dirk came over and announced that he was ready to go. Chet opened the door for them and did a visual sweep of the parking lot before letting them out.

“Seems quiet enough,” the big guy said with a shrug of his shoulders.

A tingling at the base of John’s neck was the first warning that there was a problem. They were almost to the car when a group of bikers charged at them on foot, their bikes nowhere to be seen. Chet had already closed the door, so John yelled to Buffy, “Get Chet.”

She hesitated, looking like she was preparing to fight, while Dirk stood behind him cursing.

“Hurry!”

His last order moved her to action and she sprinted towards the bar with incredible speed. John didn’t get a chance to be impressed. He barely had time to brace himself for the first punch. It stung and he fought to stay conscious. The adrenaline rushing through his system helped and he went into autopilot, swinging and kicking with precision. He never went looking for a fight, but the first time one had found him after he lost his memories, he discovered that he had all sorts of martial arts knowledge and super reflexes. He drew on those ingrained talents now and fought off two of the gigantic tattooed men at the same time.

Dirk shouted behind him and then John heard him struggle before he fell near John’s feet, out cold. Chet arrived in time to start swinging and thinning the herd out a little, but what he wasn’t prepared to see was Buffy, right in the thick of things. A strange vision popped into his head, of Buffy fighting like a ninja while a creature with the head of a shark watched nearby. John got hit square in the eye because he couldn’t take his eyes off her and his sight blurred. Stumbling back, he growled in frustration and then went after the biker, sweeping his leg out in a wide arc and tripping the man. John quickly stomped on the man’s head and took a deep breath when the biker passed out.

Chet had a biker in a denim vest in a chokehold. The guy was turning purple, but Chet wasn’t about to let him go. Another biker flew through the air and landed on a parked car, the alarm going off with the impact.

“Did you just throw that guy in the air?” John asked Buffy incredulously.

She didn’t have time to answer, because she had to duck to avoid another biker’s fist. John charged at the man and they both ended up on the black asphalt, where John struggled to get the upper hand with such a strong man trying to hold him down.

Buffy got behind the biker, gripped him by the collar, flung him off to the side and stuck a hand out to a stunned John to help him up. Dirk was just coming to, Chet dropped the unconscious man to the ground and John brushed off his soiled sweater. A couple of patrons from the bar were walking towards them, but they suddenly turned and ran back in the building. John glanced over his shoulder in time to see the two police officers with guns pointed at them.

“Police! Put your hands up where we can see them.”

“Bugger.”

Dirk groaned.

Chet cursed.

But Buffy, she just grinned at John, her hazel eyes sparkling and glassy with what looked like unshed tears.