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2012-11-17
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1/1
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Nothing to Fear

Summary:

VampBuffy sees a pretty man and decides to keep him. Set in Nightmares, Season One Written for Seasonal Spuffy Spring 2009

Notes:

Betaed by Tasha

Work Text:

Chapter 1

 

 

 

Buffy tossed the cooling body aside.  Her demon strangely sated from more than just the meal.  When she had risen from the grave that the Master had thrown her in she had seen Giles and Willow first, and she had been pleased to see them.  However, when Xander made his presence known, the demon now housed inside the Slayer's body remembered the incident just a few months before where he had attacked her.   The demon didn't take too kindly to the memory, and it returned the attack with one of its own.  Buffy watched dispassionately as Willow and Giles ran away in terror, but she still felt no desire to hunt them down.

 

 

 

Buffy crossed the street into the park.  She was walking along the path when she heard a soft masculine voice from a nearby bench.  Buffy peered through the bushes, and she realized that before her was the most beautiful man she'd ever seen before in her life.  His clothes were old fashioned, but he had a mop of brown hair that Buffy just wanted to run her hands through.  He looked up with a faraway gaze, and Buffy saw the clearest, brightest blue eyes above razor sharp cheekbones and full plump lips.  Buffy licked her lips in anticipation.  She shook off her game face before she slinked out from behind the bushes.

 

 

 

Back in the cemetery, Xander jolted awake.  He touched the spot on his neck where Buffy had bit him, and he shuddered.  He remembered her mocking tone of voice while she told him that she hadn't forgotten the rape attempt and how he'd pay for his sins against her.  Xander decided he needed to go home to recover from his blood loss, and he'd call Willow from there.  He staggered to his feet before he hurried home as fast as he could.

 

 

 

Buffy smiled shyly when the man glanced up at her approach.  "Hey, I've never seen you in Sunnydale before.  You must be new in town.  I'm Buffy Summers, by the way."  She held her hand out in greeting and smiled softly when the handsome young man took it in his own hand.

 

 

 

"Hello, Miss Buffy.  My name is William."  The man smiled shyly.  "I believe I arrived in your fair city just last night.  Though for the life of me I can't remember how I got here."  William dropped Buffy's hand when he realized he had been holding it for far too long.  He blushed under her frank perusal.

 

 

 

"You sound like my friend, Giles."  Buffy sat down on the bench next to William.  "He's from England, too.  He's the librarian at the high school."  She leaned in close to him, and she inhaled deeply.  "You smell delicious, William."

 

 

 

"Miss Buffy, this is highly inappropriate," William spluttered.  He wanted to move away from the girl, but he found himself mesmerized by her beautiful hazel eyes.  William felt her take his hand between hers again as she got to her feet, and he allowed himself to be tugged upwards.

 

 

 

"Sometimes it's lots of fun to do the inappropriate thing, William," Buffy announced softly.  She led William out of the park and away from the graveyard.  Buffy pondered her options on where to take her prize and have her wicked way with him.  "My mom has an art gallery.  She took the day off, but I have a spare key.  How about we go look at the exhibit?"

 

 

 

"Your mother might not care for us invading her," William said softly.  His protests sounded weak even to his own ears. He knew that he would follow Buffy anywhere she led him.  Shivers ran up and down his spine at her outspoken forwardness and take charge attitude.  "You are quite beautiful, Miss Buffy.  I can see your passion shining brightly in your eyes."

 

 

 

"Thank you, William.  You're pretty wow worthy yourself."  Buffy smiled up at William.  She decided on a whim that if she was going to live forever that she wanted to spend it with this man.  He was so much dreamier than Angel.  She only hoped the extra demon inside her knew what to do.

 

 

 

William blushed from the compliment.  "No one has ever said anything that nice to me before," he revealed softly.  Last time he had told anyone how he felt he had been mocked and left heartbroken.

 

 

 

"Fools."  Buffy stopped to turn to William.  "You were surrounded by fools who couldn't see your strength and vision, or your beauty, apparently."

 

 

 

William shook his head as if to clear it.  Buffy's words echoed through his mind.  They sounded vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn't place where he had heard them before.  William stood still in shock when Buffy leaned up to place her lips over his.  However, in a few seconds the shock wore off, and he pulled her small body into his arms. William was amazed at how perfectly Buffy fit against him.

 

 

 

Buffy moaned in delight.  If his lips felt this good against her mouth, she wondered how they'd feel against places further south.  Okay, places w-a-y further south.  She slid her hands up and down his back as she marveled in the play of the muscles beneath his clothes.  Buffy pulled away from William, but when she saw the fear of rejection in his eyes, she quickly hugged him tightly as she rubbed her cheek against his shoulder.

 

 

 

"You're purring," William whispered in awe.  "You really do like me?"

 

 

 

"Of course, silly."  Buffy grinned up into William's face.  "What's not to like?  Let's get to my mom's gallery before we run out of darkness."  She grabbed his hand and pulled him down the sidewalk, dodging the other people wandering around.

 

 

 

When they got to the alley behind the art gallery, Buffy dug her keys out of the inside pocket of her light-blue jacket.  She unlocked the back door, and she followed William inside, locking the door behind her.  Buffy tossed her jacket and keys aside before she followed William into the darkened gallery.

 

 

 

Buffy flipped on the lights, and she quietly followed William around as he moved from painting to painting.  He was so beautiful and innocent that he took her breath away.  Oh how she wanted to corrupt him and protect him both at the same time.  Buffy bit her lip while she suppressed a little growl.  God, how lucky could one girl be?

 

 

 

“I like this one the best,” William finally said.  He stopped in front of a painting with bold colors.

 

 

 

Buffy strolled up beside the young man, and she slipped her arm through one of his arms.  “Yes, that’s a nice one from a local artist.  I swear the rate some of the artists put out paintings is almost inhuman.”

 

 

 

“Do you have a favorite?”  William looked down at the beautiful girl standing next to him.  He felt his blood flow southward when she looked up at him from beneath her lashes.

 

 

 

“Not really, but I sure wish I could paint or something,” Buffy whispered.  She let her free hand slip up to cup William’s face.  “You’re so handsome, Will.  I’d love to paint you.”

 

 

 

William let out a snort.  “I think you have me confused with someone else.”

 

 

 

“Someone has been telling you terrible lies,” Buffy growled.  She pulled William towards the back room where she knew her mom kept a cot for days when she needed a break.  This man was awakening something more primal within her, human and demon.  She needed him.

 

 

 

William followed Buffy’s lead.  He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he wasn’t going to protest.  Well, not very loudly anyway.  Buffy really was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen before.  She put Cecily to shame in his eyes.

 

 

 

Buffy stood in front of William, and she could see how shy he was feeling as he shifted back and forth from one foot to the other.  She unbuttoned his jacket, eased it off of his shoulders, and tossed it aside.  Then, she moved onto his shirt repeating her actions.

 

 

 

Even though William felt out of place with such forwardness, he helped by toeing off his shoes while Buffy worked on his clothes.  He was starting to feel a bit self conscious since he was almost naked while she was still fully clothed.  William settled his hands on Buffy’s waist, and his fingers played with the bottom of her shirt while he looked into her eyes, asking for permission to pull the garment over her head.

 

 

 

Buffy raised her hands above her head as she gave William a slight nod.  She decided for a shy boy, he was pretty good at the unclothing when he lifted her shirt off with practiced ease.  Buffy hummed in anticipation while he trailed his fingers down the straps on her bra to caress her lace encased breasts.  Buffy reached up, grasped William’s head in her hands, and pulled him down for a kiss.

 

 

 

William felt Buffy’s lips part under his own, and he let his tongue slip along the edge of her mouth.  He smiled to himself when she stepped closer with a moan.  He felt special in a way that he didn’t believe he’d ever felt before.

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

“I think we lost her,” Willow panted.  She grabbed Giles’ arm to stop their mad dash away from Buffy.

 

 

 

Giles took a second to look over his shoulder before he stopped in his tracks.  “I believe you’re right, Willow.”  He put a hand over his heart.  He hadn’t had this much exercise in months, and he wasn’t sure he really liked it.

 

 

 

After a few minutes, Willow muttered, “Poor Xander.  I can’t believe Buffy killed him like that.”

 

 

 

“That wasn’t Buffy.   You and I both know that.  It was the demon that took over her body.”  Giles took off his glasses, and he wiped them with a spare handkerchief from his pocket.  “The Buffy we know is gone.  As soon as we dispense with the nightmare demon, I suggest we flee Sunnydale as we are sure to be the next victims on her list.”

 

 

 

“Should we warn Mrs. Summers?” Willow asked wearily.  “She doesn’t know about Buffy being the Slayer even.”

 

 

 

Giles shook his head.  His personal sense of survival overrode his desires to do all the right things.  “We don’t have time, my dear.”  He put his glasses back on before he patted Willow on the shoulder.  “We need to get back to the hospital now.”

 

 

 

Willow nodded her agreement.  “Okay.  Let’s go.”  She followed the older man towards the center of town where the hospital was located.  She thought he was her only link to sanity in the insanity that she just witnessed.

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

William settled back on the cot where he watched Buffy take off her boots and pants.  Finally she stood in front of him clad only in a wisp of fabric around her pleasure mound.  He felt his shyness slipping away like smoke in a breeze.  William wanted to do so many things at that moment that he wasn’t sure where to start.  The need to wax poetic was eclipsed by the need to pull Buffy close.

 

 

 

William wiggled a finger in a come hither gesture with more confidence than he felt.  He wanted to feel the softness of Buffy’s skin against his.

 

 

 

“You are even prettier naked than you are dressed,” Buffy cooed.  She licked her suddenly dry lips as she put her fingers inside the elastic band of her panties, and she lowered them down her thighs.

 

 

 

William bit his lip, and he suppressed a whimper.  He caught the undies that Buffy threw into his face.  He inhaled her feminine scent.  William’s hand drifted down to his erection which he grasped with a tight fist.

 

 

 

Buffy’s eyes were glued to the hand gliding over the hard shaft of flesh.  “Let me help you with that,” she cooed before she moved to William’s side, and she fell to her knees.

 

 

 

William moaned under his breath when Buffy’s cool hand joined his on the excited flesh of his sex.  He leaned his head back to catch his breath, but he found he couldn’t when she placed her lips over the head of his cock.  His hand left his prick to tangle in Buffy’s hair, and he guided her with an intuition he didn’t know he had.

 

 

 

Buffy swallowed around the invading pillar of flesh, thankful that she didn’t need to breath.  The groans that spilled from William’s throat encouraged her to suck harder.  She steadied him with one hand before she took him deep within her throat in a way that she had never even dreamed about before.  Maybe having a demon inside has its good points, she thought.  Normally I’d still be really scared to do this.

 

 

 

“No more,” William gasped.  “I want to be in you, luv.”

 

 

 

Buffy pulled her mouth away from William’s cock, and she climbed up to sit in his lap.  She again steadied him with one hand as she positioned him at the entrance to her pussy.  Buffy took a deep breath before she lowered her body down the hard shaft.  She hoped that it wouldn’t hurt as bad as she’d been told about since she was not only a Slayer but a vampire as well.

 

 

 

William looked up into Buffy’s face.  He took in every detail of her pretty features, and he reached with one hand to cradle her head.  The other hand went to Buffy’s hip to help guide her down his prick.  When she grimaced, he realized that she wasn’t as experienced as she acted.  William kept his eyes on Buffy’s face as he leaned forward to nibble on one lovely, rose-tipped breast.

 

 

 

“Suck it harder,” Buffy urged.  The pleasure overcame the pain, and soon she rode William’s cock making her own moans of pleasure.

 

 

 

“You feel so good,” William whispered into the fragrant flesh in front of his face.  “So tight and wonderful.”

 

 

 

“Stay with me forever,” Buffy whispered softly but almost desperately.  “Please say you’ll stay with me.”  She buried her face in William’s neck where she inhaled his masculine scent.  She wasn’t sure she would be able to handle it if he said no.

 

 

 

“More than anything,” William uttered in a hoarse voice.  Buffy felt unlike anything he’d ever felt before in his life.  She was everything he could possibly want in a woman.  He was sure of it.

 

 

 

Buffy felt her face shift into the vampiric guise, and she sank her teeth into William’s flesh.  As she sucked out his blood, she vaguely thought about how different it tasted than Xander’s.  There was something much more potent in William’s blood.

 

 

 

Buffy and William both tensed up and moaned louder as their mutual orgasms washed over and through them both from the lovemaking and shared bite.  When Buffy felt William’s weakened hands fall away from her body, she pulled away from his neck, bit into her own wrist, and fed the dying man her turned Slayer blood.

 

 

 

“Join me, my dear William.”  Buffy kissed his forehead while she waited for him to start sucking her wrist or leave world permanently.  “Don’t leave me alone.”

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

Angel knew that there was something odd going on in Sunnydale, but since it wasn’t anything that the Powers informed him about he stayed in his apartment out of harms way.  He felt a smidgen of worry about Buffy, but then he told himself that she was the Slayer.  She could handle anything that came her way.

 

 

 

Angel settled into the chair, and he opened up the novel he had started to read the day before.  He was through one paragraph when he felt something shift within the Aurelian family.  Another one of the members dusted that day.  Feeling around the connection very carefully, Angel discovered that the life force of his grandchilde Spike, aka William the Bloody, was no longer there.

 

 

 

Angel grinned to himself.  Finally, after a century plus of unliving, the pain in his ass was dead.  He’d have to go have a drink at Willy’s to celebrate when it got dark.  He returned to his book with a jubilant lift in his spirits.

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

After convincing the little boy who was responsible for all the nightmares lurking around Sunnydale to confront his demon, Giles and Willow got into the Watcher’s dilapidated old car.  They raced for the city limits, happy to leave the Hellmouth behind them, both of them thinking that all their friends were dead.

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

Buffy leapt away from the cool body that she had been cuddling up next to.  She looked around the room wildly, and she realized that she was at her mother’s art gallery.  Buffy looked down at her naked body in surprise.

 

 

 

“Come back to bed, pet,” the cool body said in a huskier voice than she remembered.

 

 

 

Buffy tried to cover the important bits of her body before she stuttered, “W-William?”

 

 

 

“Usually go by Spike these days.”  Spike leaned up on one arm to study the young girl he had been in bed with.  He didn’t usually play with his food, but he could see why he had made an exception with this one.  She was a bloody goddess.

 

 

 

“You’re still a vampire,” Buffy observed in a dazed voice.  “How did that happen?”

 

 

 

Spike raised an eyebrow.  This girl knew about vampires?  Interesting.  “I’ve been one for over 120 years.”

 

 

 

“Oh, uh yeah, I guess that explains it,” Buffy commented.  She looked around for her clothes.  “So, I’m just gonna get dressed now.”

 

 

 

“I’d rather you didn’t.”  Spike rose to his feet.  He wanted to have a little more fun before he drained the girl dry.

 

 

 

Buffy stepped backwards.  “Yeah, that’s really not a good idea.  I really shouldn’t be boinking the undead.  I’m pretty sure that’s not in the Slayer handbook.”

 

 

 

When he heard the word Slayer, Spike was on Buffy in a heartbeat.  He tossed her onto the cot, and he pinned her to the mattress.  He purred in contentment, having found the one girl in all the world that could make him even more infamous than he already was.  Spike kept Buffy’s arms and legs under control with his own body.  He was nuzzling her neck when he felt the half healed wound on her wrist.

 

 

 

Buffy grimaced with pain when Spike tightened his hand on her injured wrist.  She vaguely remembered ‘turning’ him while she was under the influence of the spell.  Oh my God, I lost my virginity to a vampire, she thought with an inward groan.  Well, not a vampire at the time, but still a vampire.  Now he’s gonna kill me.

 

 

 

Spike gripped Buffy’s hair, and he twisted her head to the side.  He shifted into game face just before he sank his fangs into her flesh.  Spike took several sips of the powerful Slayer blood before he realized something.  Buffy’s blood was more than Slayer’s blood, it was Sire’s blood too.  He pulled away, and he growled, “What the soddin’ hell did you do?”

 

 

 

“I don’t know,” Buffy muttered.  “I’ve never been a vamp before.”  She twisted her arm again, and she winced when the torn flesh grated against the roughened skin of Spike’s palm.

 

 

 

Spike leaped off the Slayer, and he paced back and forth oblivious to his nakedness.  “William was a nancy-boy wanker.  Why on earth would you turn him?”

 

 

 

“He was pretty,” Buffy said in a quiet voice.

 

 

 

Spike stopped to give Buffy a dirty look.

 

 

 

“I’m sixteen,” Buffy protested.  “I like pretty.”

 

 

 

“Bloody fucking hell!”  Spike continued to swear for a few more minutes using every profanity he had learned during the past century of unliving.  “I can’t even kill you, you damned bint.  You’re my Sire now.”

 

 

 

“Didn’t stop Angel.”  Buffy looked confused.  “He dusted his just a few weeks ago.”

 

 

 

Spike gave Buffy a suspicious look before he grabbed up her clothes, and he tossed them to her.  “That stupid, idiotic poofter, he’s just tryin’ to get into your pants, Slayer.”  He was comforted by the brief touch of memory that told him that William was Buffy’s first lover.

 

 

 

“No, he’s not.”  Buffy pulled on her shirt.  “At least I don’t think he is.   He has a soul now, and he’s trying to be a champion.”

 

 

 

Spike scoffed under his breath.  There was no way he was going to let Angelus near another one of his women.  He paused for a second as he thought about what he’d just decided.  He mentally shrugged.  Having a Slayer as his mate sounded like something he would do.  He always followed his blood which didn’t always rush in the direction of his brain, and the blood in him now was Slayer blood.

 

 

 

“Are you upset because I’m sixteen?” Buffy asked shyly.  For some reason she felt undeniably close to this vampire, and his silence made her want to comfort him.  “Cuz, I have to say, I’ll get older.  I promise.”

 

 

 

Spike looked at the Slayer’s earnest face from beneath his lashes.  Given time, this girl would be one hell of a woman, and he couldn’t wait to see how it all turned out.  “Yes, you will, pet.  You’ll be the oldest Slayer in history, if I have any say about it.”

 

 

 

“Huh?” Buffy said inelegantly.  “Why?”

 

 

 

“I protect those I care about, Slayer.”  Spike put on his duster.  “Till the end of the world if necessary.”

 

 

 

“So, you don’t jump out of the shadows with a cryptic message, and then ride off into the sunset before the fight?”  Buffy put on her jacket too.

 

 

 

Spike chuckled.  “I’d be dusty if I tried to ride off into the sunset, but no.  I love a spot of violence before bed though.”  He put his arm out in a courteous manner that was very reminiscent of William.  “Shall we, my Sire?”

 

 

 

“Well, you did promise me forever.”  Buffy grinned as she put her arm through Spike’s.  She had no idea what was going to come of this relationship with an evil, soulless vampire, but she was more than willing to find out.

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

The next day when Buffy arrived at school, she was greeted by Xander and only Xander.  When she asked where Willow was, the dark-haired boy shrugged.  He was a little leery of the Slayer, but seeing her in the sunlight made him feel a smidgeon of relief.  “I tried calling Will’s this morning, but her mom had no idea where she was, or even if she came home last night.”

 

 

 

Buffy noticed the teeth marks on Xander’s throat.  She gave him a sheepish look.  “I did that, didn’t I?”

 

 

 

Xander reached up to touch his neck.  “Yeah, but it’s cool, Buff.  It wasn’t like I didn’t deserve it.”

 

 

 

Buffy gave Xander a slight nod.  “I guess we better check in with Giles, huh?”

 

 

 

“I didn’t see his car in the parking lot when I skateboarded through,” Xander commented.  He strolled down the hallway beside his friend.  “It seems kinda odd that both Willow and Giles are gone today.”  He glanced around.  “The nightmares have all seemed to disappear.”

 

 

 

“Yeah, they have, haven’t they?”  Buffy nodded.  She wasn’t ready to bring up the fact that she now had a vampire childe.

 

 

 

Across town, Spike had entered Willy’s Alibi Room, a demon bar and all around skanky establishment through the basement sewer entrance.  He had found himself a nice crypt in the biggest cemetery in town that also had an entrance to the Sunnydale sewers.  Spike strolled up to the bar, plopped down into a seat, and ordered some whiskey and blood.

 

 

 

Hours later found Spike not quite as drunk as he’d like to be and even less hungry.  The infusion of Slayer blood the day before sated his hunger in ways he couldn’t even imagine.  It made him wonder if he could convince the Slayer that newly turned fledglings needed Sire’s blood when newly turned to be nice, strong children.  He chuckled to himself, Yep, still evil.

 

 

 

“Angel’s here,” Willy whispered to the best customer of the day.  The snitch knew the bleached blond was a vamp, but the creature had paid in one hundred dollar bills all day, and if there was one thing Willy was, it was opportunistic.

 

 

 

“Let him come,” Spike replied with a shrug.  “If he hurts me, my Sire will stake him.”

 

 

 

“William,” Angel growled.  “I thought you were dusted.”

 

 

 

Spike turned around to study the ensouled version of his grandsire.  “Sorry, mate.  Undead and kickin’ as you can see.”

 

 

 

“I should stake you where you sit.”  Angel stepped forward.  “Buffy doesn’t need your kind of trouble in her town.”

 

 

 

“She doesn’t need your kind of trouble either, Captain Cryptic.”  Spike took a swallow of whiskey.  “Leavin’ the girl to fight the baddies while you go hide in the corner with the rats.”

 

 

 

Angel pulled a stake from his pocket, and he stepped towards Spike.

 

 

 

“I’d rethink that if I were you, Angel.”  The Slayer’s steely voice rang out in the bar.  “Spike belongs to me now, and I don’t like my belongings to get hurt.”

 

 

 

Angel whirled around to find Buffy standing behind him.  She was dressed in her usual peppy cheerleader fashion with her hair up in a ponytail.  He glanced at her neck, but he didn’t see any blemishes there to indicate that she was a vampire.  Little did he realize that the marks from the little sip that Spike had taken the night before had already healed up quite nicely.

 

 

 

“Hello, luv.”  Spike grinned at Buffy.  “How was school?”

 

 

 

Buffy shrugged.  “Xander was there.  He forgave me for biting him while I was a vampire, but Willow and Giles never showed up at all.  You want to go with me to check on them?”

 

 

 

“Anything for you, pet.”  Spike rose to his feet, and he threw another large bill down on the bar.  “Keep the change, Willy.”

 

 

 

“A pleasure doing business with you.”  Willy nodded as he grabbed the money.  “Come back again.”

 

 

 

“A vampire?”  Angel looked flabbergasted.  “What are you talking about, Buffy?”

 

 

 

“Nothing you need to worry your cryptic little head about,” Spike said in a condescending voice.  “It’s already been taken care of.”

 

 

 

Buffy covered her mouth as she tried to suppress a giggle.  “That one was good, Spike.  I liked it.”

 

 

 

“Buffy?” Angel spluttered.

 

 

 

“Just come warn us next time you get some kind of cyptic-y-ness,” Buffy replied to Angel.  “Spike and I can take care of it, I’m sure.”

 

 

 

Spike brushed past Angel, and he started to escort Buffy out of the bar.  “Oh, don’t worry about the Master,” he tossed over his shoulder at his ex-grandsire.  “I dusted the old bat-faced git last night.”

 

 

 

Angel watched the two blonds leave with an astonished look on his face.  He had no idea what had just happened, but he wasn’t sure he like it.  Right now though, he needed to go check on Spike’s claim of dispatching the Master.  That’d make things a whole lot easier around Sunnydale if he had.

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

 

EPILOGUE, SOME YEARS LATER

 

 

 

Willow watched with great caution as the bleached blond male came into her magic shop.  The mirror told her that he was a vampire, but he didn’t seem at all interested in her per say, just the merchandise.  She glanced up at Giles who was standing in the book section located on the second floor.  Willow knew that he had a crossbow at the ready if the creature tried anything.

 

 

 

“Hurry up, Harris,” the man yelled out through the open door.  “You know the Slayer won’t be happy if we’re late for the party.”

 

 

 

Willow had to keep her mouth from dropping when her old friend Xander strolled into the store.  She knew he would never recognize her or Giles through the glamour that she had erected around themselves.  Willow took in the rugged features of her childhood friend.

 

 

 

“It’s not Buffy we need to worry about,” Xander replied.  “It’s Anya and Cordelia.  You know how it is when they get together.  Us menfolk don’t get any peace and quiet.”

 

 

 

“Hmmm,” Spike made a non-committal noise.  “It’s like that every time the Cheerleader and the Poof blow in from Los Angeles.  I would think you’d be used to it by now.”

 

 

 

“Hurry and pick up what we’re here for before Amy blinks us home without it,” Xander said.  He looked around the store.  “Nice set up you have here, Miss…”  He looked at the clerk’s name tag.  “Willa.  My fiancée has a similar shop back in Sunnydale.”

 

 

 

“Found it.”  Spike held up a bottle of spell ingredients.  “Give the lady her money, Harris.  I want to get home to my girl.”

 

 

 

Xander chuckled as he got his wallet out.  “You just don’t want to miss the Manchester United game, blondie.”

 

 

 

“If ‘us menfolk’ don’t claim the telly, we’ll be watching the Nibblet’s Princess Bride movie again.”  Spike and Xander shuddered together.

 

 

 

“Gotcha.  Let’s get a move on.”  Xander handed Willow some money.  “Keep the change, okay?  I’ll tell Anya that this is a nice little set up here.  She’ll be thrilled to throw some business your way.”

 

 

 

Willow nodded in a daze.  If the conversation was any indication of the way things were back in Sunnydale, she and Giles had run away for nothing.  Xander was clearly alive even if he was in the company of a vampire, and he talked about Buffy like she was alive and well.  Cordelia could only mean Cordelia Chase, Queen Bitch of Sunnydale, but who the heck was Anya?

 

 

 

“Well, it was nice meeting you,” Xander said to the silent clerk.  “Maybe we’ll see each other again.”

 

 

 

Spike and Xander left the shop chatting about their friends and upcoming events.  Outside they disappeared with a pop.

 

 

 

“Do you think we might have been a little quick to leave Sunnydale?” Willow asked Giles.

 

 

 

“I don’t know,” Giles replied.  “I guess we just got caught up in the things we feared.”

 

 

 

THE END