Betaed by Maria and Flight Of Fancy.


It was just before sundown, and Spike was waiting for his minions to return and report to him. Dalton had briefly shown up earlier, and had confirmed that the Watcher currently located in Sunnydale was, in fact, on his second Slayer. Many thought the dark-skinned girl currently slaying was his first, but Dalton had discovered that there had been a blonde in his care for a short time before the current Slayer arrived. Spike was hopeful that the few minions who had yet to return to the factory would have even more information.

Spike was now watching his telly to pass the time, and Dalton had been sent back out to gather more information. This time, Spike had sent him to the Sunnydale Memorial Hospital to look for signs of the mysterious Slayer from the future. The other minions might stumble upon useful information accidently, but Dalton was the only one that Spike really trusted for the jobs that required some finesse and intelligence.

An hour later, Dalton made his way to Spike’s side again. “Master, I bring news from the hospital. You were correct when you thought they might have information that would further your cause.” Dalton was happy to be the one to support his Master in this way. Many of the other vampires in the nest believed that the scholarly vamp served no purpose, but Spike had been quick to see the benefit of having another intellectual around. “Three days ago, a young blonde girl woke from a coma. That girl has the same name as the Slayer that was active before the current girl. It all fits, Master.” Dalton extended a piece of paper to the smiling vampire. “Here, Master. I have the girl’s address for you.”

“Well, now,” Spike drawled. “Isn’t that just...interesting. I’ll have to go check her out myself. Good work, Dalton. Now, go get yourself a bite to eat before the Slayer starts her patrol.”

Just then, Drusilla and Warren came into the room. They were walking unsteadily, and both were snickering, as if they shared a nasty secret. As they neared Spike, Drusilla broke away from her lover, and stepped between the blonde vampire and the television. She trailed a razor sharp nail down his cheek, and said, “My Spike is going to see the sun for the first time tonight.”

“The sun’s not out at night, Dru. You’d think you’d remember that after being a vampire for almost two hundred years.” Spike shook his head. Dru was getting nuttier by the day. He stood up, grabbed his coat from the back of his chair, and pulled it on. “I’m out of here. I’ve got things to do tonight.”

“The time is right. Mommy’s prince will soon be on the road to becoming effulgent.” Spike’s sire danced back over to Warren.

Dru’s giggle was the last sound that Spike heard, as he pulled the heavy door to the factory shut behind him. Ready for a bit of action and a stiff drink, the vampire headed straight for Willy’s Bar. By the time he felt lubricated enough to relax, several hours had passed.

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Giles left the Summers’ home with Xander in tow. Willow continued to beg Buffy for a Bronze night, even without Xander, until Oz finally put an end to it by offering to drive the rest of the gang home in his van.

When everyone was gone, Buffy smiled at Kendra. “Now that we’ve got that over with, how about some fun? Just the two of us.” Buffy grabbed a few stakes from her weapons chest and tossed one to the Slayer.

“I have to patrol,” Kendra objected. “I won’t just ignore my duty, even if that’s what the others think I do.”

“I would never ask you to neglect your Slayer duties, Kendra. What I am doing is asking you if you’d like help on your patrol. If there are two of us out there, we can do it in half the time, right? I’ll take north and west, and you take south and east. When we’re done, we meet up at the Bronze and blow off a little stress. What do you say?” Buffy smiled at Kendra.

“You really want to go patrol? I know you don’t have to anymore.” Kendra grabbed a few more stakes, distributing them strategically throughout her pockets.

Buffy laughed. “It’s true, I’m not required to slay anymore, but sometimes I still need a bit of rough and tumble to let off some stress.” Buffy smiled and shrugged. “That’s me, Rough and Tumble Girl. Come on, let’s go.” The Light grabbed her coat on the way out.

Once outside, Buffy paused for a moment, closing her eyes and reaching out with her otherworldly senses. There he was. She had always been able to tell when Spike was close. It was so good, just to feel him, to know that he was out there somewhere. The question now was, who would he follow when the pair of women split up? The Slayer, or the woman he probably thought was a walking Happy Meal? Eager for a bit of together time, the Slayer and the Light decided to patrol the first cemetery as a team.

As Spike approached the women, he could hear them talking. He tried to creep even closer, deciding that whatever they had to say was probably going to be interesting.

Kendra and Buffy kept chatting, even while they slayed. Kendra had lots of questions about slaying, and Buffy was happy to tell Kendra all about the progress Clem was making with the warehouse.

Following along at a discrete distance, Spike was mesmerized. The dark Slayer was okay, but not in the same category as the blonde that had so completely captivated him. The Slayer was beautiful, and she moved like she was dancing. He couldn’t stop watching her. Imagine that. Two Slayers at the same time. Maybe nobody would mind if he took one for himself then?

Buffy could feel Spike move closer, and that brought a soft smile to her face. Though she tried to remain realistic, her eyes shone with hope. Maybe he’s interested, now that he knows I’m not just a meal. All I can do is wait, and see what happens.

It wasn’t long before the women had worked their way across the cemetery, to the gates on the other side. They agreed to meet up at the Bronze in two hours, and then split up. Buffy headed left, and Kendra went down the road to the right.

Buffy was travelling slowly, trying to feel Spike’s whereabouts as she went. She was counting on him choosing to follow her. There. She closed her eyes in relief. He was following her down the road.

Buffy remembered a conversation with Spike, held a lifetime ago. The vampire had told her that the first time he had seen her as the Slayer, he hadn’t known whether to kill her or shag her. He’d admitted that he’d finally gone with killing her, just because he was with Dru at the time, and he wasn’t the kind of vamp that cheated.

Really, nothing had changed. Buffy needed to catch Spike’s interest, and do it in a way that ensured the vampire wasn’t hoping for her death. When she reached the next cemetery, Buffy took a few minutes to comb through her hair with her fingers. Then, certain she looked her best, she made a show out of each fight she found. She jumped a bit higher, rolled more elegantly, and really tried to put a bit more flair into all her fighting moves. She was dancing as much as she was fighting.

Spike was still on her trail when Buffy arrived at her warehouse. She happily greeted Clem, letting him show her what the building crew had been working on. With Buffy’s approval, the wrinkly demon then promised that he would hire extra workers the next day, in order to have the renovations done on schedule. Outside the building, within hearing range of Spike, Buffy told the contractor that she would be heading to LA in a few days, and that he should feel free to call her if needed.

On the roof of the building across the street, Spike was filing away the information Buffy was giving to the wrinkly demon. After listening in on the conversation at the warehouse, the vampire followed Buffy to the Bronze, and spent some time watching her dance with the other Slayer.

After a few songs, Buffy and Kendra decided to relax at a table and enjoy a soda or two. Buffy leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, and relaxed, enjoying the feel of having Spike nearby.

“Are you okay, Buffy?” Kendra asked, concerned by Buffy’s silence.

Reluctant to lose contact with Spike, Buffy popped her eyes open and shook her head, focussing once more on Kendra. “Yeah. I’m good. Better than I’ve been in a long time.”

“Sorry. I was just wondering. You’ve been really quiet.” Kendra blushed and turned her attention to the dance floor.

Buffy placed a hand on the Slayer’s arm. “It’s okay to worry about your friends, Kendra.” She would have continued, but suddenly there was a large, brooding vampire standing at their table.

“Hello, Buffy. I wasn’t expecting to find you here tonight.”

“Angel.” Buffy didn’t let her surprise show, but inwardly she was a little annoyed with herself. She hadn’t felt the master vampire approach, and that was just sloppy. As wonderful though it was, to relax and enjoy the comfort of having Spike near, this was a dangerous time and Buffy needed to stay alert.

“May I sit down?” Angel asked.

“It’s a free country.” Buffy shrugged her shoulders, not even looking at Angel, and then ignored him. Instead, she turned to Kendra, and started a conversation about fashion accessories.

Spike smirked. He could tell Angelus was fuming, but the little blonde chit didn’t seem to have a problem with ignoring the broody vampire. Spurred on by her example, Spike decided that his grandsire was probably too distracted to sense him, and moved closer to the table the group was seated at. He didn’t know what was happening, but he really wanted to find out what was going on between Angelus and the blonde Slayer.

Angel waited for a lull in the music, and then leaned forward. “Buffy, can we talk?” he asked. The vampire didn’t know what was going on, but he didn’t like it. He was doing his best to hit Buffy with his puppy-dog eyes, and knew that girls often found his brooding countenance to be romantically attractive. Still, he was being all but ignored.

“I don’t see a need for it,” Buffy said dismissively. “My guess is, you’re not going to give me a choice though, are you? You’re going to just sit right there and act like a big, old, wet, broody blanket until we talk, aren’t you? There’s no win/win here. Either way you ruin my evening.”

The wrinkles on Angel’s brow got even deeper. “I don’t understand what’s going on here, Buffy. I thought we were becoming more than friends, but now you’re acting so childishly that I can’t even begin to guess what you want.” Angel cleared his throat, and then looked down. “I was hoping that we could continue to build on the relationship that we had before you were injured, but I think you have a lot of growing up to do before that can happen.”

Still refusing to look at him, the Light snapped back, “So not going to happen.”

“What? Buffy, everyone has to grow up eventually. I know it’s not always easy to understand adult relationships, but if you’d follow my lead...”

“Never,” Buffy responded brusquely. “I have absolutely no interest in being in a relationship with you, Angel.”

Angel was becoming very irritated. How dare she try to shut me out like that? I was told that our love was part of a prophecy. She doesn’t get to just walk away. She belongs to me, and the sooner she figures that out, the better things will be. He decided to try a little reverse-psychology on the temperamental blonde. “So, you don’t mind if I see other people then?”

Making eye contact for the first time since Angel sat down, Buffy gestured to the dance floor and responded, “Be my guest.”

Angel pushed his chair away from the table and marched away in anger.

“Aren’t you afraid of what he’s going to do?” Kendra asked.

“Not so much.” Buffy shrugged. “I know I can take him down, if I have to.” Buffy smiled at the thought of taking Angel down a peg or two. She had no doubt about her ability to school the older vampire.

Kendra watched Angel as he stalked out of the club. “He always seems to be hanging around, stalking me. I don’t think he believes I can do my job,” the Jamaican Slayer said.

Buffy gave a snort. “I know exactly what you mean.” She smiled at Kendra. “Believe me when I say that he’s the one with the problem, not you. Angel thinks the whole world revolves around him. I’ve never met someone more full of himself.”

An hour or so later, when the two women were making their way out of the Bronze, they noticed Angel in a corner booth, having drinks with Cordelia. The vampire made a big production out of turning away and ignoring Buffy and Kendra.

Spike hadn’t had so much fun in ages. He’d had such a good laugh, watching the petite blonde Slayer reject his grandsire, that he’d almost revealed himself a few times by accident. Now though, the girls were heading home to the house on Revello Drive. Knowing that the entertainment was over for the time being, Spike decided to return to the factory and check on Drusilla. She was his sire, after all.

Giles was tired of watching over Xander. Shortly after the pair had arrived at Giles’ apartment, Xander seemed to have some kind of emotional breakdown that had been very uncomfortable for the reserved Brit to witness. The boy had sat himself down on the couch and blubbered about his friends not liking him anymore, because of the Changeling possession. Then he blubbered about fighting with his girlfriend. Then he blubbered because Buffy didn’t have to slay. Basically, he just blubbered and whined for over an hour. At first, Giles had tried to provide some moral support, and had loaned Xander his hanky. The Watcher very quickly gave up on that plan though, and instead tossed Xander a roll of toilet paper to wipe his nose with, before retreating to the blessed silence of his bedroom.

When morning arrived, Giles was quick to suggest to Xander that the men relocate themselves to the school library. Not only did the school provide a venue for the Scooby meeting planned for that afternoon, but the stacks gave Giles somewhere to hide, in case Xander became emotionally overwrought again. To give Giles credit, he did stay at the front counter, supervising Xander, until Willow arrived. Like a horse out of the gate though, as soon as the young witch dropped her backpack, the Watcher announced he had some urgent filing to do, and disappeared.

Willow spent most of the morning browsing the internet, looking for books that might be used to translate more of the volume of prophecy. Xander pretended to look through an old reference book, but he had a comic book hidden inside the heavy cover. Both teens kept sneaking looks at each other, when they thought nobody else would be looking. Xander was still afraid there would be repercussions from his behaviour, and was hoping Willow would let him off with a simple lecture. Willow, thanks to a bit of creative thinking on Giles’ part, was under the impression that her best friend didn’t really remember anything that went on when he was under the influence of the Changelings.

Suddenly, Giles came out of the stacks, with a book right under his nose, as if he was having difficulty seeing the words. More likely, having caught a few of the glances between the teens, Giles was trying to ensure the printed words were the only thing in his range of vision. “Willow, did you pass the message about the meeting on to the other Scoobies? They should have been here by now.” Giles carefully placed a finger between the pages of the book. He didn’t want to lose his place and have to start the page over again.

“I did, Giles. I told them all. Well, not all, all, because Angel doesn’t go to school. Oh, and because he’s all super-old, and he’s a vampire and he can’t come out during the day. But I told all the Scoobies that go to school. And Angel wouldn’t come today anyway, because of the...you know...flaming thing.” The witch’s babbling seemed to just trickle off.

At that moment, the door to the library opened. The small group looked up with expectation.

They were under attack. A nasty, little troll entered the room, heading directly for the librarian. “Mr. Giles! Why are there students here?” Principal Snyder demanded. Without waiting for a reply, he turned to glare at Willow and Xander. “Well? Why aren’t you in class?”

“Ah, yes. These two have the day off, and have volunteered to assist me with carding and checking out our library collection.” Giles smoothly lied to the principal.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. I doubt Mr. Harris even knows his alphabet. And Ms. Rosenburg? Clearly, she’s playing computer games, instead of getting some work done.” Snyder stepped closer to the teens.

Again, Giles drew Snyder’s attention. “Willow is very adept with computers, so I have taken this opportunity to get her to begin cataloguing our collection on the computer. Once she has completed her task, finding books should be a very simplified process.”

“I see.” The principal looked disappointed. Clearly he had hoped to catch them in some misdeed. It was clear the nasty little man hadn’t given up though. Both teens knew that Snyder would be watching them closely in the future. “Mr. Giles. My office. Now,” the principal demanded rudely.

Giles nodded, and with a quick warning glance at Willow and Xander, followed Snyder out of the library.

It wasn’t long before Willow’s nerves and curiosity got the better of her. With her eyes on the computer, she asked Xander, “Was it just because of the Changelings that you liked me? Do you still like me? You know...that way?” When she didn’t get an answer, she looked up. Xander wasn’t in his seat. For a moment she thought he had left, but then she felt his hands on her shoulders. Gently but surely, he forced her to stand up and turn to face him. She looked into his soft, brown eyes.

Working hard to perpetuate his earlier lie, Xander moved his hands up to frame Willow’s face. “I’m sorry, Willow. I don’t remember everything, but I know that it wasn’t because of the Changelings. I’ve liked you for a long time. I still do.” Then he leaned forward, and kissed her. At first, he carefully tested her, keeping the kiss very gentle and undemanding, but when she didn’t move away, he deepened their embrace.

It took a few moments for Willow to grasp the reality of what was happening. When she did, she put her hands on Xander’s chest, but didn’t push him away. Xander felt Willow’s grip on his shirt, and knew that she was willingly kissing him. He pressed a little more, and then she opened her mouth a little. Xander immediately took that as an invitation to taste more deeply, and lowered his hands to place his arms around her waist, even as his tongue crept into Willow’s mouth.

“What the Hell is going on here?”

The best friends had been so occupied with each other that they hadn’t heard the library doors open. They separated immediately, both of them looking shocked and guilty. A quick glance at the doorway revealed their worst nightmare come true. Cordelia, Oz, and Kendra were inadvertent witnesses to their momentary infidelity.