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Not Your Ordinary Walk in the Park by Sandy
 
Chapter 1
 
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A/N: Many, many thanks to my wonderful beta, avidrosette. This story started out in my mind as a PWP, but as I started writing, it grew. It wasn't until I sent it to avidrosette, however, that it became much more than I ever anticipated. Her insightful comments and suggestions run throughout the story.

This story is set Season 4 post A New Man, however, I'm taking a whole lot of liberties from that point on.


~~~~~


It all started because Buffy decided to make a sweep through Sunnydale City Park before heading back to the dorm and getting in a little study time. Just a nice little walk in the park to round out patrol. She'd dust whatever vamps were hanging about waiting for necking teenagers to show up, and then call it a day. So when Buffy saw the oddly dressed little demon making its way across the playground, she was less than happy. Still, it wasn't very big so killing it should have been easy enough.

Things didn't quite work out that way.


Two hours earlier.

"You sure you can't make it to Xander's after patrol tonight?" Willow asked as the two girls strolled down the sidewalk from their dorm. "There'll be Jackie Chan, free pizza, and quality Xander time."

"And Anya," Buffy added dryly. The two girls exchanged a look of mutual commiseration. "I wish I could, Willow, but I really need to start studying for that lit exam, and with Riley and the rest of the Initiative out on that military thingy, I might as well do it tonight."

"I thought you were all tight with the Initiative now," Willow said. "How come you're not with them?"

"Riley said it was a regular Army thing," Buffy shrugged. "So I'm single Slayer tonight."

They reached the street and Willow stopped. "Well, here's my stop," she said. "Xander's supposed to pick me up."

"Tell Xander I said hi. Maybe we can all go to The Bronze this weekend."

"That'd be great," Willow said enthusiastically. "Have fun studying," she added with a grin. Buffy made a face at her friend and walked away to start her patrol.

Finishing a sweep of the last of Sunnydale's many cemeteries, Buffy glanced at her watch and saw that she had time to make a quick patrol through the park. Tonight's patrol had been one of the more boring ones. She hadn't run into very many vampires, certainly none that had given her any problems, and she was feeling impatient to finish when she reached the playground in the center of the park.

And then she saw the demon.

***

The creature was about three feet tall and nearly as wide. It had a round toad-like face with bulging eyes and a wide thin-lipped mouth. A long, hooded cloak of a grayish-green color almost the exact shade of its skin was draped over its body. It stood stolidly before the Slayer, brushing off each punch, each kick, and each jab with the ease of a mountain lion fending off the attack of a house cat.

One of Buffy's punches managed to get through the demon's defenses and connect with its face. It turned its head, absorbing the punch with no visible effect, and then swept out its arm, knocking the Slayer back fifteen feet. She landed on her back with a loud grunt and the clip that held her hair popped loose and fell to the ground. She brushed her hair out of her face, flipped upright, and executed a series of handsprings that ended with both feet kicking the demon in the head. She followed up her attack with a punch, a backhanded slap, and then, twirling around, another kick. Her sturdy half boots landed solidly on the demon's head.

The demon barely reacted.

Gritting her teeth in frustration, Buffy renewed her attack, raining blow after blow on the indifferent demon. Completely ignoring her, the demon began moving forward in a queer not-quite hopping movement. Buffy stood in front of it, placed both hands on its chest, and shoved. The demon grabbed her by her upper arms and hurled her out of its way.

She landed hard on her backside and silently cursed when she heard a familiar chuckle. She turned her head to see Spike leaning nonchalantly against the swing set, cigarette hanging from his mouth, thumbs hooked in the waistband of his jeans and a look of immense enjoyment on his face. She paused only long enough to glare at him before returning to the fight. She kicked out, landing a blow on the demon's chest. It stumbled back a step, but then continued its forward progress.

"What the hell is this thing?" Buffy gritted out breathlessly as it casually pushed its way past her.

"Damned if I know, Slayer. Whatever it is, I hope it kills you."

Sweeping her jean-clad leg against its ankle, she attempted to trip it. "I thought you wanted to kill me yourself," she said as she watched the demon easily hop over her leg.

"I do," Spike said. "But I got this chip in my head, remember? So since I can't kill you myself, I'll just have to settle on watching some other lucky bloke do the job."

Buffy stood still for a moment while she caught her breath. Nothing she'd done so far had made the least bit of difference, and she didn't think her stake would be of much use either.

"I don't suppose you have anything sharp and pointy in that disgusting coat of yours," she said, her eyes never leaving her opponent.

"I might. How much you willing to pay me for it?"

Buffy looked at him in amazement. "You want me to pay to borrow a weapon from you?"

Spike shrugged. "Supply and demand, Slayer. You want me to supply you with a weapon, I demand to be paid."

She knew that she could just beat him up and take the weapon from him, but she was getting tired from her mostly one-sided fight against the toad demon and didn't feel like bothering. "Ten bucks."

Spike just snorted. "Try again."

Buffy watched the demon's slow progress across the playground. Well, if she had to pay, she was going to get her money's worth. Turning back to him she said, "Fifty dollars and you help me fight this thing."

Spike raised his scarred eyebrow, considered for a moment, and then nodded his head. "Deal."

Moving forward rapidly, he handed Buffy a long, heavy knife with a razor sharp blade as he passed her. Slipping into game face, he stopped in front of the demon, his coat swinging dramatically around him.

"That's far enough, Kermit," he said with a smirk. "You're not playing with little girls anymore. The Big Bad's here, and I'm going to..."

He never got any further than that in his speech. The demon reached forward, picked him up as easily as a child and threw him. Right into Buffy. They tumbled to the ground, a mass of arms and legs entangled together. Buffy had part of Spike's coat under her pinning him to her.

"Get off me, you oaf," Buffy snapped as she tried to push him away from her. The demon temporarily forgotten, they worked at separating themselves. They'd almost succeeded when a blinding white light enveloped them. Shielding her eyes, Buffy just caught a glimpse of the demon holding out its hand with a shaft of light pouring from it before she felt a wave of dizziness overcome her. When her head cleared, she and Spike were in the middle of a sunlit meadow surrounded by a vast forest.

Spike rolled away from her with a yelp of distress, jumped up and began beating at his arms and chest. Buffy watched at first in horror, and then with eyes widening in astonishment. Spike stopped slapping at himself and held his arms straight out in front of him, staring at them with a frown creasing his forehead.

He looked up at the sun blazing high in the sky above them and then down at his arms. "How come I'm not burning up?" he asked in confusion.

Buffy rose shakily to her feet. Her fight must have worn her out more than she'd realized, she thought as a wave of weakness washed over her. "Good question." Her eyes swept across the meadow and stopped at a low-growing shrub not far from where she stood. Walking over to it, she knelt down studying the plant closely. Tiny odd-looking flowers hung limply from thick thorny branches.

"You ever see a flower like this before?" she asked. When she got no response, she turned to look at Spike. He was standing stock-still, head thrown back, eyes closed, face tilted to the sun. Something about the pose, an almost innocent, child-like quality, brought a tiny hitch to Buffy's breathing. She quickly quashed the reaction and snapped, "Spike!"

He lowered his head, opened his eyes, and frowned at her. "What? Can't you see I'm catching a few rays?"

"Yeah? Well come over here and catch this," she said, pointing at the bush. "I'm no vegetarian, but I don't think I've ever seen a flower like this before."

"Botanist."

"What?"

He walked over to stand next to her, pausing only long enough to pick up the knife lying on the ground where they'd landed. "Botanist," he repeated with a hint of scorn in his voice. "Not vegetarian."

"Whatever," she said impatiently. "Have you ever seen a flower like this or not?"

Spike studied the plant. Shrugging, he surveyed the surrounding area. "It's new to me, but then I'm no botanist either, Slayer."

Buffy stood up and glanced into the sky, observing for the first time that instead of the blue she was used to, the sky had a pinkish tinge to it. Turning in a semi-circle, her eyes tracked across the sky. Stiffening suddenly, she reached out and tightly grasped Spike's arm.

"Look," she said with a breathless voice.

When he didn't respond, Buffy glanced back at him. He was looking down at the hand she had clamped on his arm, a small frown creasing his forehead.

"Dammit, Spike, look," she insisted, giving his arm a shake and pointing up at the sky.

He turned his head to follow the direction her finger pointed, and Buffy felt his start of surprise. A large moon hung low in the sky. It was so close that Buffy felt as if she could jump up and touch it. It was obviously not the moon she was used to.

Staring at it Spike said, "I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

Buffy glared at him. "What gave you the first clue, Dorothy? The weird flowers, the pink sky, the humongous moon, or the you not burning up?"

Spike smirked at her. "There's another clue, too."

"What?"

Spike glanced around and then walked over to a largish rock a few feet away. Picking it up, he measured its weight and tossed it to Buffy.

"Here, catch," he said.

Buffy sidestepped the rock, which landed with a dull thud on the ground by her feet. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she snapped.

"Pick it up."

"And I want to pick up that dirty rock, why, exactly?"

"Call it a test."

"Spike, we don't have time for whatever stupid tricks you're up to. We need to find out where we are and figure out how to get home."

He walked past her, bent over and picked up the rock. Holding it out, he challenged, "Take the rock, Slayer."

"Oh for...fine, Spike. I'll take the stupid rock. Maybe after I hit you in the head with it we can actually start..." She stopped talking abruptly as she took the rock from Spike's hands and immediately dropped it. She stared at it in shock. Swallowing, she bent down and picked the rock up. It was a struggle, but she finally held it in her arms -- arms that were now trembling under the rock's weight.

Dropping it again, she brushed dirt off her jacket with shaking hands and watched as Spike reached down and picked the rock up, casually tossing it from hand to hand as if its weight were negligible.

"Someone's lost her strength," he singsonged.
 
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