~*~

Buffy had a stake out and was getting ready to pound his face in immediately. Her fist did, in fact, fly out—but his hand stopped it.

She glared at him. “What the fucking hell are you doing in Sunnydale?”

His smirk stayed firmly in place. “Language, Slayer. What would Watcher-boy say ‘f he could hear you now?”

“I’m not in the mood, Spike,” she spat.

“Are you ever?” he shot back. “Look, I don’t wanna be here any more than you do. But since you’ve got a fondness for alarm clocks, ‘ve gotta talk to you in person.”

She stared at him. “It was real?”

He snorted. “Well, yeah,” he said. “Got a bit of a problem, see.”

“What kind?” Oh, and a better question—what the hell was she doing talking to him? It was bad enough that she’d made that one alliance with him, now she was talking to him?

“End of the world.” Spike said it casually.

“Oh, how very surprising,” she said sarcastically. “Where is it this time?” She’d heard that phrase more times than she cared to count. It was the end of the world that had made her let this thing live.

“Europe. Vamp I turned. I can stop her, maybe, but I gotta have some help. You’re big in the world-saving department, figured ‘d ask you.”

She stared at him. He looked like he was actually honest...although with Spike, it was impossible to tell. She should just stake him and head over to Europe herself. If her Watcher found out that she was talking to this vampire instead of staking it, he’d kill her.

But my Watcher isn’t here, that sly little voice in her head whispered. He’ll never have to know.

“You want me to go to Europe?” She made her voice hard, a skeptical Slayer talking to the worst creature in the world. Buffy knew she couldn’t let Spike realize that she was considering his offer.

“No.”

She blinked. That hadn’t been the response she was expecting. Wasn’t he coming to her for help? That was why he’d—

“I want us to go over there.”

For the first time in Buffy’s not-so-long life, she was so stunned her mouth fell wide open.

“What?”

“You dense, Slayer? I said ‘m comin’ to the mother country with you.”

“There is no fuckin’ way!” Buffy exclaimed angrily. Making a deal, an alliance with a vampire was one thing, especially since she’d only done it because her life depended on it. Traveling and fighting with a vampire was a whole different story. Especially since—“Just exactly how dumb do you think I am? First time I fall asleep you’ll be on me, sucking the life out and running back to Drusilla to tell her all about how you bagged your first Slayer.” Her voice was icy. “I’m not playing, Spike.”

He exhaled, a move that puzzled her since she knew he didn’t exactly need to breathe. “’m not gonna try to kill you,” he said in a voice that, had he been human, would have indicated impatience and a little hurt. But he wasn’t human, he was vampire, so Buffy knew she was reading into things. “I need help. The chit Red’s turned is too damn powerful for her own good. ‘s dangerous, havin’ her unalive and well.”

Buffy shook her head. “Fine,” she said, “I’ll go to Europe and stake her. No problem. But you are not coming with me.” She didn’t even understand why she was having this conversation, really. If there was such a formidable power in Europe, the Watcher’s council would have notified her about it.

What if they don’t know? that little voice suggested. She tamped it down firmly. It was a silly thought. The Watcher’s Council knew everything.

Didn’t they?

Spike was standing still, staring at her. Apparently he knew she had to think awhile to make up her mind about it. But when he saw her frown, he blurted out, “Me and Dru broke up, anyway. You won’t hafta worry ‘bout her.”

She’d already defected from the Council a little bit. They’d wanted her to work with the military in Cleveland; she’d used the call from that librarian as an oh-so-convenient excuse to get away from the city. Funny how Sunnydale ended up being on a worse Hellmouth than Cleveland had been...

Focus, she reminded herself. She had to make a decision, and fast.

In her head she heard her Watcher’s voice. She knew what he would say about Spike’s proposition: You are a Slayer. Your job is to kill vampires, not cavort all about Europe with them.

And then she heard the voice of that librarian in her head again: Things could be better...you could be happy...if you had come...if...

That was what it all came down to in the end, she realized with a sudden spurt of anger. It was all ifs. If she hadn’t allied herself with Spike, if she’d come to Sunnydale sooner, if this, if that...Buffy was sick and tired of it.

Maybe it was some vestige of the rebellious teenager that still lived inside of her. Maybe the slaying was finally driving her insane. Whatever the reason, whatever the cause, she found herself smiling—smiling!—at Spike and saying, “Of course we’ll go.”

“The both ‘f us?” he asked warily.

“Uh-huh.” She beamed at him as innocently as she could. It was a strange feeling. How long had it been since she smiled?

“Great. We leave tomorrow night. ‘ve got plane tickets that’ll get us to New York.”

She frowned at him again, suddenly disapproving. “Who’d you kill to get them?” she asked quietly. All things considered, it was a rather mean question—but she had to remind herself that she’d just agreed to ally herself for an indeterminate about of time with a killer.

“Didn’t kill anybody,” he replied, seemingly unaffected by her jibe. “Got ‘em from a friend who knows a guy. Now go home, Slayer. Get some rest. ‘ll give you the details on the plane ride—what?” he asked unpleasantly.

Unable to stop herself, Buffy had rolled her eyes. She didn’t know what it was about this vampire that brought out the immature adolescent in her. “We can’t discuss the end of the world and vampires on a plane!”

“Why the bloody hell not?”

She just raised an eyebrow at him.

A few moments’ silence passed, broken only by the chirping of various night creatures. Finally Spike sighed in exasperation. “Fine, he growled. “’ll pick you up at six tomorrow evenin’. We’ll talk then.”

Was it just Buffy’s clearly insane mind or did that sound like someone making arrangements for a date? God. First I agree to talk to this slug slime, now I’m thinking about him trying to date me...what’s next? Two-point-five kids and a white picket fence?

She shook her head, trying to banish those beyond insane thoughts. Spike cocked an eyebrow at her. “Problem, Blondie?”

“What? No. Don’t call me that,” she snapped. “Tomorrow’s fine. Will I need—I mean, how long will—“ it was odd, but she couldn’t seem to bring herself to say how long will we be gone. It was the we that was wigging her out...and apparently, she thought dryly, making her speak like a teenager, too.

“We oughta be gone awhile. Might as well bring all your stuff,” he told her, looking highly amused. Well, that made sense. He was an evil vampire, after all.

Yeah, Buffy. You go on telling yourself that.

“Fine. Leave.”

“You’re the one in the alley,” he pointed out. “You leave.”

“Yeah, I’m the one in the alley,” she said in a way snider voice than she usually used. “Which, as you pointed out, is ‘kind of my job description’.”

“Well well, someone’s become a little bit more ‘f a bitch,” Spike said with what she could only call a gleeful look on his face. “What brought about the change? Your little GI Joe boytoy break up with you?”

She and Riley had been separated for almost a year, actually, but that comment still severely pissed her off. “What the hell business is it of yours?” she demanded, taking an aggressive step forward. “As I seem to recall, it was my association with my GI Joe boytoy that got you out of some serious shit in Cleveland.”

He just stared at her without blinking. After a rather heated moment during which Buffy breathed a bit hard and glared at him as meanly as she could, he smirked and said, “Why don’t you just get on home, now? ‘m sure you’ve got lots to tell Watcher-boy ‘fore we cast off...” he trailed off, looking at her expectantly. When she just bit her scarred bottom lip and looked away, he burst into laughter.

Given that he was a vampire and therefore didn’t need to breathe, much less gasp in uncontrollable laughter, she found it a bit annoying.

So annoying, in fact, that she point-blank turn and ran for home, putting her all into moving her legs as fast as possible.

So she didn’t see Spike sober up and watch her head for her apartment with serious eyes before turning back for the crypt he was staying in, just as she didn’t see the strangely intelligent bat take off from the tree branch, turn once, and soar away, heading for what had formally been known as ‘Vamp Central.’

~*~

A/N: Thanks for the reviews!