TITLE: The Most Impossible Thing
AUTHOR: Ragna (writinggoddess@aol.com)
RATING: FRT
CLASSIFICATION: Eventually B/S.
SPOILERS: "Harsh Light of Day" and "In The Dark"
DISTRIBUTION: Slay This, other sites with my fic up. Everyone else just keep my name on it and let me know.
DISCLAIMER: If you don't recognize it, chances are it's my own creation. If you do, Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Kazui Sandollar, FOX and the WB own it or them. I'm just holding Spike hostage. Carolyn's got Xander, May's got Oz, Cathryn's got Ethan, Shelly has Angel, and Gillian has Doyle. You may see them by appointment only. "Drift" belongs to Neve.
FEEDBACK: Sorry I'm not home right now I'm walking in the spiderwebs so leave a message and I'll call you back...in other words, I want it. Don't care if it's onlist or not.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Not much. Caroline put out a challenge so she'd have something to read when her e-mail came back online. So...I might write more before it does, or I might not. I'm fiercely battling writer's block.

***

"It's La Niña."

Buffy shook her head. "Willow, I thought it was El Niño, not La Niña. What's the difference?"

"Well...La Niña is basically the same except where El Niño makes it really cold around here, La Niña makes it warm."

"So no wonder I'm wearing this in the middle of October," Buffy said, gesturing to the swimsuit she wore as she and the others were lounging around the roof of their dorm.

Willow grinned, and grabbed the barbecue chips. "Yeah. This is kind of nice."

Buffy grabbed one of the Caramilk bars, then shook her head in disgust. "Great. It's melted." Shaking her head some more, she threw the candy bar down and watched it land on her map of UC Sunnydale. "I hope I can get another one..."

"What time is it?" a masculine voice asked, and Buffy looked up to see Riley Finn standing nearby. She got the sudden urge to cover herself up, something she never really did before.

"It's uh...uh...time for psych class!" Willow said, standing up quickly and pulling her shorts on over her swimsuit.

"Good guess, Willow, but you still have 15 minutes." Riley smiled at her, and Buffy rolled her eyes. Trust fate to have one of the good looking guys who actually thought she was...normal...to fall for her best friend and not her.

"Well, we still have to get dressed, then, don't we?" Buffy said, standing up and grabbing the black pens she had nearby her books. Sighing, she stretched, reaching over to grab her jeans and button down shirt.

***

Aphrodite shook her head. "Zeus," she muttered, "there's no way in Tartarus she's going to fall in love with that...thing. She's got a crush on that human boy there."

Shaking her head some more, she shifted her conversation to telepathy, as to not get any more stares from the campus men. Or glares from the women.

Zeus...dammit. It's impossible!

The voice boomed within her head. Aphrodite! You're a goddess. Nothing is impossible.

But why them?

They are the most improbable couple in the known world. A vampire and a Slayer...it happened to her once. You'll have to make it happen again.

But I have no magic!

Stop the "but"'s, Aphrodite. You will make them fall in love...or at least lust...and you will do it without your powers. Do it and you can become a full Goddess again.

She pouted, shaking her head. Fine, you jerk.

Aphrodite... the voice said warningly. Go. To a Professor Walsh's psychology class. Wait outside until it's over. And please...refrain from toying with the young men?

"That's how I got into this mess in the first place," she muttered, picking up her bag and walking towards the class.

*** Spike sat around Angel's apartment, glad for once that he had the DeSoto. Most of the time the old car gave him problems, but right now, it was going to get him...

Wherever. And that was the problem. Going back to Sunnydale meant having to deal with two women he didn't want to deal with.

Harmony...much as he hated to admit it, he did miss her. Just a bit. I mean, she could be fun, when I was in the mood. And the sex..., he thought to himself, shaking his head slightly. And the other...

"Buffy," he said softly, remembering the incident with Parker and her. The way she was by him, the way she had clung onto his arm fully made him realize he was tired of women who he had to take care of or forced him to do just that by being helpless.

What he wanted was a real woman, someone who could take care of herself.

"Someone like the damn Slayer. Only not the damn Slayer," he muttered, throwing the car out of park and moving into the lane of traffic heading south.

***

Aphrodite stood outside the class room, listening intently.

"Buffy?" Professor Walsh said. "You're doing rather well in this class. However, you might need a tutor to help you with your essays. I think you have a very good chance at doing well, but your reports are a tad..."

Aphrodite watched as the professor reeled off a line with a few teenage phrases and incorrect grammar in it, and she watched the young woman blush slightly and stammer an apology and a promise to find a tutor, then grab her things and head to the door.

"Oof!" Aphrodite said, falling backwards and hitting her funny bone. "I never figured out why it's called a funny bone."

Buffy reached down to help her up. "Probably because everyone else thinks it's funny when you get hurt. I'm Buffy."

"Aphrodite." She brushed herself off, picking up her things. "Yeah, I know my name's weird..."

"Not as weird as mine," Buffy said with a small grin. "Aphrodite...wasn't she the Greek goddess of love?"

"You know that? Most people...they think the Greek goddess is Venus, but she's the Roman. I mean, how stupid--" She stopped, realizing her hands were up in the air and her voice had gotten louder. Blushing a bit, she lowered her hands. "Sorry...I get a bit defensive."

"It's understandable. Where are you headed?" Buffy asked, handing her the red pen that she'd dropped.

"Uh..." Aphrodite asked, pulling out a map. "I'm supposed to head over to the quad, to get some food on my lunch card. You know where it is?"

Buffy nodded. "Yeah, follow me. I'm pretty hungry too."

Aphrodite grinned, looking at the map again. Maybe this would be easier than she thought...

***

Spike stared at the damn sign. He hadn't run it over the last time he'd come with Sunnydale because he hadn't wanted to alert any one of his reemergence.

Glaring at the sign some more, he pondered how to approach the Slayer. He was being blackmailed, by Angel, to help, and he hated the thought of being nicey-nice to the Slayer.

Part of him did, anyway. Much as he hated to admit it, he had much respect for the young blonde woman...

"More respect than for my poof of a sire," he muttered, putting the car in reverse. "Just because he threatened to tell Drusilla where I was and tell her about Harmony and clue her in on all the other rotten stuff I've done...and where I was going..."

He backed the car up, then threw it into first and mowed the "Welcome to Sunnydale" sign flat.

"Damn...should have done that last time," he muttered, stepping out of the car to take a look at the handiwork. "Makes me feel all manly..."

***

Aphrodite had had hope. Hope she could get the two to meet up, to at least talk...

But then Riley had to show up and Aphrodite's plan was blown to Tartarus. She picked up Mr. Gordo, and sighed.

"Riley...what is it with him? I mean, what makes him so...attractive?" Aphrodite asked, watching Buffy light some of the candles in her room. Soon a cinnamon scent floated around the room, reminding Aphrodite of the Pagan holiday of Christmas.

Buffy looked at her, a dreamy expression on her face. "He's...smart. And he's gorgeous. He's got this whole...relaxed...look about him." The door opened, and Willow came in, towel wrapped around her.

"Forgot my toothbrush," she said, going over to her dresser and picking it up.

As soon as she left the room, Buffy added, "And apparently he likes her."

Aphrodite shook her head. "Didn't you say she had a boyfriend?"

"Yeah, Oz. It's...strange. He's a cool guy, but kinda non emotional, you know?"

Nodding, Aphrodite picked up her mocachino she'd brought from the quad. "Yeah...I've known many guys like that." And to herself, she reeled off close to a thousand names.

"You have? The other guy I was seeing...he was really quiet, didn't share much about his past. Tended to brood a lot." A sad smile crossed her face. "I still care about him, though. Just...I know I can't be with him So I'm trying to move on...get a life, things like that." Realizing she was rambling, she blushed. "I just want to be..."

"Normal?" Aphrodite finished. "I think everyone wants to be normal."

"You don't get it, though. I really want to be normal," Buffy said, pouting a bit.

"Trust me, Buffy. I do understand," Aphrodite said quietly.

Buffy was about to respond when there was a knock on the door. "Maybe it's Riley!" she said brightly, hopping up to open it.

"Uh...I don't think it is..." Aphrodite began, and looked up just in time to see her open the door, and a gorgeous blonde standing there.

"Hello, Slayer," Spike said right before he went flying across the hallway. He sat up, rubbing his jaw. "I come in peace!"

"Dammit..." Aphrodite muttered, watching Buffy slam the door. "They're not supposed to fight!"

"Who's not supposed to fight?" Buffy asked, throwing herself down on the bed as the door opened and Spike walked in. "I didn't invite you!" she screeched at him.

"Public place...seems dorms and dorm rooms are like motels and hotels," he said.

Buffy turned her back on him and looked back at Aphrodite. "Now, who isn't supposed to fight?"

Aphrodite sighed and sat down. "Uh...I guess I better tell you two the truth..."

***

Spike's jaw dropped.

Buffy's jaw dropped.

And they both stared.

"So..." Aphrodite said, switching her glance back from one slack-jawed pawn in her game to get her Goddess-hood back to the other.

"No. Way. In. Bloody. Hell," Spike muttered, standing up. "I'm not going to manipulated in any way, shape or form by a blonde bimbo who wants to get her Goddess status back."

"I am not a bimbo," Aphrodite said evenly, a defiant streak in her voice.

Willow opened the door, glanced at Spike and Buffy, and politely shut the door again.

That was what it took to bring Buffy out of her trancelike state. "Whoa...I just...me and him...you've got to be kidding. Please tell me you're kidding?"

Aphrodite shook her head. "No, I'm not."

And with that, Buffy fainted.

***

Water hadn't worked, sitting her up hadn't worked. Even Aphrodite saying Angel was at the door hadn't helped. Or Riley, either. Probably because Spike had been gagging the entire time.

Now it was down to electric shocks or slapping.

"You do it."

"Sod off! You do it. It's your bloody fault."

"No way! She's a Slayer, I'm just human...you're the vampire."

"You're not making me like you any better."

"Want me to call Ares to kick your vampiric ass?"

"Like I believe in him..."

"And yet you believe I am who I say I am. Real smart, bleach boy."

"Once more, you bloody wench...sod off!"

"Slap her, you...you...Titan!"

Spike's laughter interrupted the entire argument. "Titan? Is that the best you can do?"

A second later he was rubbing his jaw. "Damn, girl...don't hit so bloody hard. That's twice tonight I've been punched."

"If you don't slap her it'll be three..."

"Fine, you pillock." Spike stood arm's distance away, and gently slapped Buffy. She didn't move one bit.

"Is that the best you can do? Damn, you were better when you were stringing up that guy in 1834--nevermind."

"Been keeping tabs?"

"Slap her again, you idiot!"

Spike moved a bit closer. He reached out his hand and--

"Touch me like that and I will dust you within two milliseconds," Buffy said, her eyes flying open.

"Damn, Slayer...I didn't even hit hard."

"Well, don't hit me. Understand?"

"Whatever," Spike said, standing up.

"Where are you going?" Buffy asked, standing up as well.

"Somewhere where you're not," he muttered, heading out the door.

"Oh no he did not," Buffy said out loud, walking out the door which was now shutting behind Spike.

"Great...this is going to be so fun," Aphrodite muttered, heading out after them.

***

Spike stalked out into the quad, Buffy right behind him. Both of them were yelling at the top of their lungs, garnering the attention of practically everyone outside.

"I don't want to have any sort of...relationship with you, do you understand that?"

"If I didn't I wouldn't be walking away...very bloody quickly."

"Oh, then you do understand. Then why'd you hit me?"

"To wake your bloody arse up, Buffy."

Buffy caught up with Spike and, grabbing his shoulder, turned him around to face her. "Why are you here?"

"Because...I have to help you."

Buffy stopped, keeping her hand on his shoulder. "Whoa...back up. You have to help me? Says who?"

"Says my poof of a sire."

"Angel..." Buffy said quietly, letting go of his shoulder.

"Yeah, that one," Spike said, sneering.

Buffy shook her head. "I don't want it."

This was something he wasn't prepared for. "Wait...I don't think you can refuse it."

"Oh, just watch me," Buffy said, turning around and heading back to her dorm, bumping into Aphrodite on the way.

"Okay...what just happened?" the Goddess asked as she got to Spike, who was standing there, staring at Buffy's retreating form.

"She...refused my help," he said in an almost amazed voice.

"How'd you tell her?" Aphrodite asked with a sigh.

"I said I had to help and Angel was making me..."

"Ah."

"That's it? 'Ah'?"

Aphrodite nodded. "Knowing you, it didn't come off well."

Spike shook his head, sinking onto a bench. "All the other times I've been rejected, which haven't been many, I never let it just pass without comment."

"I know."

"And then, of course, I enacted some horrible revenge of some sort on the person and their family, which was always nice because it was a lovely spot of violence most times."

"I know."

"But with that damned Slayer...I don't know whether to beat her to a pulp or shag her till she can't see straight."

Aphrodite didn't bother saying "I know" again, instead replying, "Shag her. And I can help."

"You? How?"

She laughed a bit. "You idiot. You're talking to the Goddess of love!"

"Former Goddess. That's why you're stuck here."

"Goddess still. Trust me, it'll work..."

***

Aphrodite worked hard with Spike in order to make him more...gentlemanly.

And it wasn't working.

"You're...getting...on...my...nerves," she said evenly, gritting her teeth and resisting the urge to call him a him-Bo. He thought he was attractive and important and everything Buffy could want in a guy and that was his downfall.

He was too damn cocky, that was his problem.

Spike shook his head. "You know how hard it is to look good without being able to see into a mirror? Dru..." he began, then stopped, a pained look on his face.

Aphrodite looked up from her almost homicidal state. "She what?" she asked quietly.

"She used to tell me I was more beautiful than the sun. I think that meant more to me than all those. And then we had an awful row, after I came back for her, after the whole Chaos Demon mess..."

He shook his head and continued. "Buffy, she seemed like a bit of a knob when I first saw her. I mean, I didn't like her much...she takes some getting used to. She's got a lot of bottle, more than any other Slayer...ever, I suppose. At least since I've been a vampire. Over 200 years, now."

"Crikey, she's a beaut, though. I can see why Angel likes her...he still does, you know. Until she dies she's going to be his weak spot."

Aphrodite listened quietly, nodding upon occasion, and Spike continued.

"Me and Dru...it was all about manipulation. She liked pain, she manipulated me to yell at her, or try to hurt her, but I couldn't. I just couldn't, because I'd also been manipulated into loving her. But her heart...it belonged to Angelus, the lucky bastard."

He lit a cigarette, taking a few puffs and pacing as he did so. When he stopped pacing, he looked right at her. "He's got hers too. How're you going to fix that?"

"How'd he get it?"

"'Scuse me?"

"How'd he get her heart?"

"I dunno...he said something about giving her a cross the first time he met her, after she kicked his arse."

"Then give her one."

"A cross?"

"Yeah."

Spike gave her a long suffering sigh. "Love, I can't hold one of them. It'd burn the skin right off my bleedin' hands."

"No, no, no..I can hold it and stuff. You pick it out, have it put in a case, then you give her the case."

Spike gave her a quizzical look. "For fuck's sake...why does it have to be a cross?"

"Because, that was how Angel got her. Shouldn't it work for you?"

Spike resisted saying something about those being famous last words and flicked away the butt of his cigarette. "Could I bum a fag?"

"A what?" Aphrodite asked, a shocked look on her face.

"A. Cig. Could I have a bloody cigarette?"

"Uh...I don't smoke?" Aphrodite said, shrugging her shoulders and looking sheepish. Spike rolled his eyes.

"Let me bum one off my next meal."

"And that's another thing," Aphrodite added, standing up.

"What's another thing?"

"No more killing humans. Can't do that anymore."

Spike glared at her. "Oh, so know I have to be the spitting image of Nancy-boy? You tell me to dye my hair black and drown it in mouse and I'll...do something. What I can't figure out quite yet, but I'll do something," he said, turning around with his duster flying out around him.

Aphrodite shook her head. "Spike! Get you bleached blonde butt back here! I'm not finished with you yet!"

Shaking his head as he walked by, a college student muttered, "I feel for the guy...bet his girlfriends found out about each other."

"What do you mean?" his female companion asked.

"A guy like that? He can't have just one. I mean, last week, there was another blonde chick yelling at him."

"But, Parker, apparently now he doesn't have either," she said, shaking her head.

"His loss. Wonder if she wouldn't mind some cheering up..."

The girl slapped the boy upside the head and walked away.

"Hey! What'd I say?" he yelled after her, rubbing the back of his head.

***

Buffy looked at her phone. "Ring, dammit."

Willow looked up from her psych books. "What's going on? Who are you waiting for to call?"

"No one in particular. Anyone. Well..not anyone."

Willow nodded, then looked back at her books. "What's up with Spike?"

Buffy's head snapped up. "Nothing. Nothing is up with Spike, nothing at all, he's supposed to help us, but other than that, nothing."

Willow smirked, just a little. "No, nothing. He's just supposed to help us, that's all."

Buffy sighed. "I talked to Giles, and he said Spike shouldn't totally be trusted, but...the demons are getting harder to fight. Why can't I fight the demons I fought in high school?"

"Because you killed them all."

Buffy thought for a moment. "Except Spike. And Dru. And Ethan...where the hell is he again?"

"He got imprisoned in a vortex. Giles was almost overloading with geeker joy, remember?"

Buffy grinned. "Oh, yeah, I remember that. And who else got away...Anya. Well, I didn't really fight her. And I didn't get to kill Snyder. That made me upset."

"Well, the Mayor did you one favor."

"Just one." Buffy stood up and stretched. "Let's see...and I didn't kill Darla. Angel did. And there's Faith..." Buffy trailed off. "How is she?"

Willow looked up at her roommate, her best friend, the person she probably most admired in the world. "She was better, last time I saw her. Still in the coma, but her Slayer healing abilities are finally starting."

Buffy nodded. "Haven't been back. I wonder if she knows the Mayor's gone."

"What did you get from her apartment?"

Buffy glanced at the bottom desk drawer. "You can see for yourself."

Willow got up slowly, walking over to Buffy's drawer. Opening it, she saw three items: Faith's leather jacket, her knife and her crossbow.

"If she wakes up, she's getting it back."

Willow nodded, shutting the drawer and glancing up at Buffy. "Can I change the subject? It's getting kind of awkward."

Buffy nodded. "Change it to what?"

"Spike. Why won't you let him help us?"

"He can't be trusted! I mean...he's lied, and he's a rotten drunk and we both know that, and he hates us and he can't be trusted..."

"You already said that."

"I did?"

Willow nodded. "Yup. First thing you said."

"Oh. And...I don't want him near me. I mean..."

"You dig him, don't you?"

Buffy was about to answer when there was a knock at the door. "You get it, Will," Buffy said, lying back on the bed.

Willow stood up, opening the door, then closing it a bit. "It's for you..."

Buffy got up, grabbing the flannel she kept on her desk as she headed to the door. "Who is it?"

Willow didn't answer, moving quickly aside. Opening the door all the way, she saw...

"Spike. What are you doing here?"

"Had a...peace offering. Here," he said, thrusting a small box at her and turning away. Buffy didn't call him back, instead shutting the door and looking at the box.

"Aren't you going to open it?"

"Why?"

"Because I'm getting curious."

Buffy handed the box to Willow. "You open it."

Willow opened the small velvet box slowly. "This...wow."

Buffy quirked her head to look at the box. "All right, what is it?"

Buffy pulled out a very thin chain. Instead of a cross on it, however, Spike had gotten something else. Buffy looked at it in awe, her mouth hanging slightly open as she held the charm in her hand.

"It's...my name."

***

"I'm a royal fuckwit," Spike muttered pacing around his new apartment. It looked nothing like the warehouse did, or the room he shared with Harmony.

Aphrodite stretched out on the couch, her blonde hair spilling over one edge while her feet dangled over the other. "And why are you a...fudgewit?"

Spike couldn't help but laugh. "A fuckwit...means I'm royally stupid. I shouldn't have given her the damn thing."

Aphrodite shook her head. "No, you should have, and you did, and now she's going to start looking at you in a new and different way. And one that'll get me my damn Goddesshood status back," she added, mumbling.

"Is it so important?" Spike asked, sitting down in the armchair facing her. "You being a Goddess, I mean."

She nodded. "Yeah, it is. It...it's something I've always been, you know? Think about it: what would it be like if, after all your years of being a vampire, you suddenly became human again?"

Spike sat there, silently, looking at the woman on his couch. "Honestly, I'd like it at first, and then...I'd hate being human. Though getting a tan might not be so bad," he said, cracking a small grin.

She nodded, picking up the phone on the coffee table. "I can tell you like light," she said, glancing at the softly lit lamps all around the room.

Spike shrugged. "Gives the illusion of sunlight. Who are you giving a ring to?"

Aphrodite had gotten used to his English terms by now, and grinned. "I'm not calling anyone."

"Then why the bloody hell are you holding the phone?"

"Because," she said, "I'm going to hand it to you and you're going to call Buffy and ask to meet her tonight."

"And do what, Ditie?" Spike asked, using the nickname he'd developed for her in the last week or so.

She smiled. "Talk."

***

"Uh-huh. And you just want to talk?" Buffy looked at Willow in disbelief, idly fingering the second necklace she wore. "You swear? Well, yeah, I know you're a vam--oh. All right. How about...well, that would work. All right. When? Got it. I guess..."

Hanging up, Willow got an excited gleam in her eye, ignoring the look Xander was giving them. "What'd he say?"

Buffy shrugged. "He wants to talk."

"About what?" Xander asked, cutting Willow off and getting hit in the arm. "Hey...that hurts."

"Well, you cut me off!" Willow said indignantly. "Anyway, I was going to ask that question and I wanted to know when, where...and if we could watch..."

Buffy shook her head. "Stuff, after sundown, the quad and no. In that order."

"I couldn't anyway," Xander said, looking at the clock on Willow's night stand. "It's one of my and Anya's standing dates."

"And how are those going?" Buffy asked.

Xander grinned, a little more than usual. "Fine, actually. I gotta get going...we're going to the movies tonight. I'm going to see if we can get through one totally normal date."

"So you're not planning on sleeping with her tonight," Willow said, only to get a pillow tossed at her by Buffy as Xander turned bright red.

"No, I'm not, and I'm going to get out of here before the questions become more personal and I get any redder," Xander said, standing up and heading towards the door.

"Might as well go after him and apologize," Willow said, standing up and heading out the door as well.

Buffy sighed, shaking her head. Her friends...college had changed them. Hell, life has changed us, she thought to herself, picking up her brush and running it through her hair.

Reaching over to her radio, she turned on the CD player and listened to the first song that played, singing along with it.

"So take my hand and drift away, this atmosphere's not perfect but it is what we create. An endless dance of stars so bright, a supernova radioactive liquid light. And as we float through space not knowing what's ahead or what will fall into place, I dream of the black hole that pulls us in, the argument of life that I can't win, this continental drift."

Looking at herself in the mirror again, she set the brush down and pulled back her hair, pulling it into a ponytail and finishing the last part of the song. "Don't you want me here? I'm filling in the space that keeps us from near. It's what sets us all apart, the artist from the art, and right back at the start. It's the mind against the heart This continental drift, continental drift."

Shaking her head, she flipped off the radio, grabbed her towel and toiletries and headed towards the floor's bathroom, wanting to get ready for...

What, a date? she thought to herself, quickly ending up at the bathroom and checking to see if she was alone. Noting that she was, she quickly stripped, grabbing her towel again and heading into the showers.

The warm water seemingly washed away all the thoughts, all the emotions she kept bottled up inside.

In the process of shampooing her hair she touched her neck, on accident, of course, and she fingered the small charm that held her name, and she stopped all that she was doing and just let the water wash over her.

What am I doing? You're going to go meet Spike, that's what you're going to do, she thought to herself. You're going to talk, maybe argue and you're going to leave. And that's it.

"That's all that's going to happen and that's that," she muttered quietly to herself, resuming the shampooing of her hair.

***

Spike paced around the bench area, smoking the cigarette. "She's late."

Aphrodite shook her head. "No, your watch is fast. You said after sunset; she said 6:30. I don't think she'd be late."

"But why wouldn't she? I mean we're just going to talk. It's not like this is a date..." He paused, thought for a moment, then whirled around to face the Goddess, looking comfortable in her jeans and scoop neck top. "This isn't a date...right?"

"Well," Aphrodite began. "Not yet."

"Bloody hell," Spike muttered. "You set this up, didn't you?"

She nodded, standing up. "Yeah, I did. And I'm leaving, now, because she's here."

Spike whirled around and almost collided into Buffy. "Not the exact way I wanted this evening to start off..." she muttered, glancing at his hands on her shoulders, which he'd put there to help balance her.

"Sorry. Aphrodite, she..." he said, gesturing behind him, then stopping. "She's not there, is she?"

"No, she's walking off towards the big frat party," Buffy said archly, glancing at the retreating figure.

"Do you want to go?" Spike asked, the idea coming out of the blue, but Buffy shook her head.

"Not really. Actually, I need to patrol, so I guess this has to be cut short."

"Not necessarily...I could patrol with you."

Buffy's body shook with laughter and tears rolled down her face. "You? Patrol with me?"

Spike's tone turned challenging. "What, don't think I'm up to the bloody challenge?"

Buffy slowly stopped laughing, glancing at the determined look on Spike's face. "No, it's not that. It's just...you're Spike, killer of two Slayers, remember? I mean...going on patrol with me..."

"I'm supposed to help you, Buffy. Can you just bloody well accept it?" Spike asked, getting aggravated.

She looked at him again, studying his face. "Honestly? I can't. I keep thinking there's something else, some shoe left to drop. Or at least I think that's the phrase..."

Spike smiled briefly, nodding. "Yes, it is. And there's no shoe to drop...call Angel. Ask him."

The light faded from her eyes a bit. "Do I have to?"

"If you won't take my word, yeah, you do." Spike sat down on the bench. "Of course, you could always let me patrol with you and see what happens..."

Buffy shook her head. "I already died once; don't want it to happen again." She paced for a bit in the exact same spot Spike had. "Tell you what? Let's do something...normal. Like go to a movie. We each pay our own way, I'll buy my own food, and then I go off and patrol alone. If we can get through two hours of not having to talk to each other in a dark room and you don't try to kill me..."

Spike nodded. "Sounds like a decent idea."

"Decent? It's just decent?"

Spike sighed. "No, love, it sounds good. Let's get going, though, all right? You do have to patrol, after all," he said in a slightly mocking voice.

Buffy's jaw tightened, her hand moving up towards the necklace involuntarily. "Yes, I do, and I might just skip the movie if you don't stop being an arrogant bastard."

"I am not an arrogant bastard," Spike growled, standing up and looking right down at the Slayer. "You're just a stuck up git."

"Stuck up? Me?" Buffy snapped, turning her face up to look him in the eye. "You're one to talk."

Spike was about to respond when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a vampire approach. "Slayer...move."

"What?" Buffy asked.

"Dammit," Spike growled, pushing Buffy out of the way. Picking up her stake, which had fallen out of her jacket, he tossed it at the vampire, watching it land dead center into his heart.

"What the--" Buffy began, watching the falling dust particles. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh. I just saved your bloody arse," Spike muttered, reaching his hand out to her. She ignored it, sitting on the ground and looking at the ashes. "The hand...it's supposed to be used to help you up."

"Oh," she said again, grasping his hand. He slowly pulled her up, and quickly let go of her hand.

"Yeah...look, if the vamps are out, the ones other than me, you had best go on patrol," Spike said, sticking his hands in his duster pockets.

"Yeah, I should," she said, glancing around.

"Here," Spike said, handing her a stake. "Yours was closer...mine was in the duster."

"You carry a stake?" Buffy asked, arching her eyebrow.

"Extra protection. I'm not above killing my own kind...did it in the magic shop, remember?"

"Oh...yeah, you did. I almost forgot that." A small smile played across her face. "Loved your little speech at the end."

"Which one?"

"The 'torture her until she likes me again' one. Did it work?" she asked, heading towards one of the paths. Spike hurried after her.

"No, it didn't. Never even found her again, actually. All our minions had been killed off, the place we'd stayed at torn down...there wasn't a trace of her left. I know she's around, though."

"How's that?" Buffy asked, genuinely interested.

"Well, I'm being blackmailed. Doyle...you know who he is?" Buffy shook her head. "He's Angel's new demon sidekick. Interesting bloke, full blooded Irishman. Well, part blooded anyway." He shook his head, taking his hands out of the duster pockets and waving them around a bit. "And he found Dru. She's somewhere in France, I think."

"Hopefully somewhere remote," Buffy muttered, then glanced at Spike. "I mean, you're bad, but at least you weren't insane." And as soon as the words were out of her mouth she regretted saying them.

Spike nodded. "Yeah...isn't that the truth?"

Buffy stopped cold in her tracks. "Whoa...we just agreed. On Dru's insanity being a bad thing, no less. Who are you and what have you done with the real Spike?"

Spike shrugged. "Honestly, I was getting a bit tired of her. Not that I didn't love her...I really did. It's just that things weren't going to get any better, and we both knew it. She just made the first move to change things."

"Yeah...Angel was the same way."

"You're not going to get all weepy on me, are you?" Spike asked, kicking at a few random stones.

"No, I'm not. I mean, he broke it up between us, he left...he did everything. And I just watched."

"You couldn't have just watched, Buffy. I mean, you had to have reacted. In some way..."

"All right, I cried myself to sleep quite a bit. But that's not important."

"What is important?"

"Getting on with life."

"At least you have one."

Buffy laughed, the serious of the moment broken by the simple statement. "God, we sound like two people who just got dumped."

"But we did get dumped...just not recently. What do you do when that happens?"

"Eat a lot of Ben and Jerry's."

"Then come on. We can each grab a pint at the corner mart and keep patrolling."

"We just bonded, didn't we?"

Spike nodded. "Somewhat. Why?"

"Never mind. It sounds like a plan. Course, you're buying..."

"Why do I have to buy?"

"Simple. It was your idea."

Spike was about to reply before shaking his head. Then he grinned evilly. "Race you."

"You're on," Buffy said. "One...two..."

"Three!" Spike said, sprinting in the general direction of town.

"Cheater!" Buffy yelled after him, giving chase.