Disclaimer: If I owned Buffy the Vampire Slayer, do you really think I'd be here on FanFiction? No, that honor belongs to Joss Whedon. That lucky, lucky man...

Also, a couple things have changed from the original story line. This is set after the battle at the high school and Buffy had been killed by the Mayor. Oz hasn't left yet. This will happen over the events of season four, but with differences and a new Slayer. It's also set in more modern time, like, say, 2010? "The end of the world" will be when Willow becomes the Dark Witch. Also, Faith hasn't woken up from her coma yet and Spike hasn't gotten his chip yet.

WARNING: Spike has a few slightly vulgar moments in this chapter, but that is mostly due to the fact that he's a pissed off vampire that just got dumped by his vampiric girlfriend. Again. Of course, he's gonna have a few dirty thoughts. Anyways... ENJOY! :3

Chapter 1 "The Gem"

Buffy Summers had lived a sad life. Up until she was sixteen, she lived a normal teenage life. She went to school, she captained the cheer leading squad, and she was homecoming queen all during her Freshman year of high school. Her parents got along and she was an only child. She was happy. Then she was visited by a man that told her of her destiny. She was to fight the darkness in the world. From then on, she was a supernaturally strong being that fought everything in her path and kept her friends and family safe. She fought many battles and she had great friends. She even gained a kid sister out of her destiny. But it didn't last. The inevitable happened and she lost her life in the line of duty. Saving her friends from being murdered by a giant demon snake thing. Buffy Anne Summers: 1991-2011. Beloved daughter, devoted friend. She saved the world. A lot.

Rupert Giles sat in numb silence. In his hand sat not the usual cup of tea, but a mug of hot coffee. As he'd said before, "Tea is soothing, I wish to be tense." He knew that he should be brave for the others, but he couldn't help but to be depressed. His Slayer died only three weeks ago. He had to bury the girl that he had come to think of like the daughter he never had. He believed that even though they were all depressed over Buffy's death, they couldn't just stop living. To do that would just be an insult to her memory. It would mean that even their memories of her were gone. That they had never had any good memories with her. Every laugh, every smile, and every terrific moment they all spent together would just disappear if all they thought of was the bad. Giles knew this.

A knock on the door of his apartment alerted him to the fact that he had a visitor. With a sigh and a cautious mind, the ex-Watcher stood and made his way over to his front door, but not before he took up an ax from his desk. It was still day time out and he wasn't expecting any company, so he had to believe it was either a confused human or a deranged demon. So, hiding the weapon behind his back, he approached the door and opened it to see...not what he was expecting.

A girl. A blonde girl, in fact. She appeared to be no older than eighteen. Her hair hung in loose waves around her face and down her back, topped off with a dark straw fedora. She wore a sleeveless striped brown shirt and a pair of shorts that showed off her long, shapely legs. On her feet she wore a pair of stylish strap sandals and she had a brown leather satchel slung over her shoulders carelessly. To finish off her outfit, she had a large monkey ring on her thumb, a dark leather bound jewel bracelet, a gold tiger necklace, and a gold and purple snake bangle. Her crystalline blue eyes blinked slowly at him before her pale, pouty lips opened.

"You're Rupert Giles, right?" Her voice was slightly husky, but still very carefree and young. It only served to prove his theory about her age.

"Um...yes, yes, that would be me." Giles replied with a nod of his head.

"The ex-Watcher?" He blinked his eyes at her so she continued. "The Council sent me here. On account of the death of the last Slayer?" She visibly saw the pain that the comment caused him. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I have this tendency to be a bit...blunt and straight to the point at times..." She sighed as she scratched the back of her neck. "Um, look. I was sent here by the Council because I'm apparently supposed to be the new Slayer and with Sunnydale being the biggest Hellmouth or whatever, I'm most needed here?"

"Oh, um, yes. W-why don't you come in?" Giles moved aside and let the teenager pass by him. With a glance around outside, he closed the door behind him and turned to face the expectant blonde. Her lips had spread into a small smile. "Um, there must've been some sort of mistake. I-I'm no longer a Watcher."

"That may be, but the Council seems to think that you're the best to train me. The last Slayer was able to stay in activity for a complete four years. That's the longest a Slayer's ever been alive. If I'm your Slayer, they believe that I'll stay alive longer than with anyone else." She explained before she turned and headed straight for his kitchen. "Do you got anything to eat? I don't know if it's these new Slayer abilities or what, but I'm always starving. I'm Oliver, by the way." She grinned up at him with a two rows of pearly white teeth. "Oliver Northman."

"What? Oh, yes. That will happen. I believe I have some leftover meatloaf in the fridge if it interests you." Giles was confused. Not only was this girl supposedly his new Slayer, but she had essentially walked into his home as if she owned the place and asked for food. She was definitely a strange one.

But as he watched her move around his kitchen as if she knew it like the back of her hand already, he suddenly had faith in this Oliver Northman. He knew that he could trust her with this job-no...destiny that she had been given. She was young and obviously spirited. Hopefully, being the Slayer wouldn't crush her spirit. He sincerely hoped it wouldn't.

"So...you're the new Slayer?" Willow Rosenberg asked with a raised red eyebrow at the younger girl. Oliver was now (for lack of a better word) shoveling spoonful after spoonful of Giles's meatloaf into her mouth. The redhead honestly wondered where the blonde put it all; she was so tiny at 5'1" and 110 lbs.

"Yup." Oliver grinned once she had swallowed the last of the meatloaf and set aside the bowl she had been using, trading it for the large glass of ice water. "Activated officially three weeks ago, but I'm not quite as up to par yet. I need more training if I'm to fight the evils of the world. Which means, you," she turned and pointed directly at Giles, whom had been pacing behind the couch that she, Willow, and Xander Harris were seated at, "need to start me on my training ASAP, mister."

"Um, am I the only one that thinks it's strange that a Slayer just pops out of no where without any warning? I mean... Sorry to say, but she's a bit creepy. And where on God's green Earth are you putting all of that food?! That's not human." Xander stated with crossed arms and narrowed, untrustworthy eyes. Giles knew that the one to be the least accepting of the new Slayer would be Xander. He had been essentially in love with Buffy, no matter what he said. It would definitely take some time before he accepted Oliver.

"I've contacted the Council and they informed me that Oliver was to come on her own. Another Watcher was to call me and tell me that she was coming, which they neglected to do." Giles explained with a sigh as he took off his glasses to clean them.

"And I've always had a high matabolism, but it's just gotten higher with all the slayage I've been doing." Oliver shrugged. She wasn't exactly shocked that this guy wasn't very trusting towards her. She was a new girl that just showed up out of nowhere. Of course it was to be expected that somebody wouldn't want her there.

"Yes, because that explains everything." Xander blinked rapidly.

With a sigh, Giles ceased his pacing and turned to face his new Slayer and his previous students. "None the less, you have a sacred duty, Oliver. You will patrol tonight and tomorrow you will report back to me."

"Yes, sir, Giles, sir." Oliver grinned with a mock salute before she vaulted over the side of the couch. "But first, I gotta head home and change. This outfit? Definitely not the best to fight in." She shook her head as she scooped her bag up and back over her shoulders.

"I'll come with you." Willow smiled happily as she too stood. She walked around the couch while Xander stared up at them in disbelief. "I can show you where the most recent believed vampires are supposed to pop up tonight."

"That would be helpful. Plus, you get to meet the Fahjah." The way she pronounced it made Xander look up quickly.

"Wait, you've seen Austin Powers?"

"Of course." Oliver had the look on her face. That one said, "who hasn't seen Austin Powers?" "Living with two men, you can't help but to watch these weird and perverted movies."

"What about Star Wars? And Lord of the Rings? And Batman?" Xander was officially geeking out as he followed the two girls out the door. Giles smiled in amusement; he didn't really have to worry about his new Slayer fitting in with those two after all. He never had to worry apparently.

After switching out her outfit for a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and a red form fitting scoop necked tee-shirt with a large black belt slung over her hips, Oliver and Willow bounded down the stairs to see how Xander was doing with the burly Mr. George Northman in the kitchen.

"I love your earrings, by the way." Willow pointed out the pair of gold buck earrings placed delicately in the blonde's ear lobes.

"Yeah, they come in handy when I'm going camping." Oliver smiled as she opened the door to the hall closet.

"Whoa." Willow's eyes widened at the sight before her. The entire floor of the closet was completely covered in shoes. Not just tennis shoes either. No, there were boots, heels, clogs, sandals, and slippers. There was also a cubicle for different bags (mostly satchels) and different jackets were placed on the hanger. "This is...shoe paradise."

"Heh, yeah. I kinda have this problem with shoes and bags and jackets." Oliver said with a blush as she rubbed the back of her neck. Before Willow could reply, the blonde abruptly dropped to the floor and quickly pulled on a pair of stylish dark brown shin length boots. Just as quickly as she had dropped, she rose and pulled a woven brown satchel from the cubicle and shrugged a brown leather jacket onto her shoulders. "Ready?"

"Wow... You're fast at getting ready."

"Yeah, well, again. Living with two men? Gotta be fast. My dad and Tony will definitely not wait on me." Oliver rolled her eyes with a smirk before she led the way into the kitchen where laughter was coming from.

"Hey, Xand, you ready to go?" Willow questioned the dark haired fellow.

"What? Now? The convo was just getting good!" Xander complained and George chuckled.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Next time you come by, we'll pick right back up with our Darth Vader debate."

"This is the nerdy man that is my Papa." Oliver grinned as she kissed her father on the cheek before grabbing Xander's collar and dragging him out the kitchen door with her.

"It was nice meeting you, Mr. Northman." Willow called as she closed the door behind her. George smiled and shook his head as he continued on with making dinner. His daughter ate a lot, sure, but his son ate ten times more. Together, they probably spent three hundred dollars on food alone. At least he knew his children were well fed.

"What happened to "you have to patrol tonight", Oliver?" Willow asked accusingly as they all sat in the Bronze listening to the live band for the night. "Won't Giles be mad?"

"Oh, don't worry about it, Will." Oliver smiled as she crossed her legs under the table. "I'll get to the whole patrolling in a while. Just taking a little down time first."

"I gotta say that my first impression of you was completely wrong." Xander said with a shake of his head and a sip of a red Solo cup filled with Coke. "At first glance, I thought you were gonna be this gun ho, "all work and no play" kinda slay gal. Pleasantly surprised am I."

"Heh, yeah, I've never really liked to live the tragic and depressing life that is seriousness. Love the fun and amusing." Oliver assured before a particular song she enjoyed started playing. "Ooh, good song. Let's dance!"

"W-what? I don't know if that's-" The blonde quickly interrupted Willow by pulling her out of her seat and onto the dance floor. Xander grinned and quickly followed after the two. None of them knew that they were being watched by a pair of curious blue orbs.

Spike had just made it back into town a week ago when he heard rumors about the Gem of Amara being in Sunnyhell. He hadn't seen hide nor hair of the Slayer and that was truly surprising to him. Usually, she was the first of the Scoobies he saw once he makes it into town. So, in his curiosity, he had gone to the Bronze only to see the Scoobies, minus a Slayer, dancing with a cute little blonde thing. His love for old rock allowed him to recognize the song: Living Dead Girl by Rob Zombie. It definitely was strange to see someone as innocent as Red dancing to a song as dark as this. Well, if you could call her swaying back and forth dancing, anyways. Kids these days have such a different version of dancing than his time...

The bleached blonde vampire turned his eyes back onto the little blonde. From the back, it would be easy to mistake for the Slayer, but he could now see the differences. This blonde was shorter and wasn't quite as much of a twig. No, she seemed to have a bit more meat on her bones. Not to mention, Spike could make out black coloring mixed in with her sun blonde locks. He got all that from looking at her back. She was dancing with the whelp and Red, of course, but seemed to drift off into her own world. He watched intently as she around on the spot and threw her hands in the air. He saw her face then. She was beautiful, for lack of a better word. Spike usually didn't go for blondes, but this one... Well, he wouldn't mind getting to know this one a little better. Her heart shaped face, pouty lips, and half lidded almond shaped eyes just seemed to add to her beauty. He noticed that she had a straight, button like nose. His eyes dropped to her neck and savored the pale flesh; he could almost see the pulsing of her veins. The dancing that she was doing had to have gotten her blood pumping. He could practically taste her sweet blood already.

"Blondie Bear!" A voice cried to his left and he jumped before he sighed and shook his head. A pair of thin, tan arms wrapped around his neck and the person placed a lipstick filled kiss to his cheek.

"Harm!" Spike growled as he tugged her arms from his neck and wiped the lipstick kiss from his pale skin. "How many times do I have to tell you with the bloody lipstick?!"

"But, Spike, I'm bored." The long haired blonde pouted up at him and it only made him want to rip her head off. "There's nobody cool to eat here. Let's go back to the lair and have sex." Harmony Kendall requested with a giddy smile and Spike sighed before he turned his gaze back onto the dancing blonde with the Scoobies. He watched as her arms wrapped around both Red and the whelp's shoulders and they made their way back to their table. They soon made their way out of the Bronze and Spike couldn't help but to watch as the blonde's hips swayed back and forth. He thought of her blood pumping through her veins and his mouth watered.

"Yeah." Spike smiled falsely as he turned to face his "girlfriend". "Let's go."

"So this...is UC Sunnydale." Oliver voiced as she stood, looking around at the college in question. Willow stood beside her with a smile, having already visited the college a week before to get their room all set up. She had put herself on the list for a room mate and it just so happens that Oliver was the woman that turned out to be put with her. They had found that out earlier that morning. It was Saturday now, the day of Open House for the students. This way the students could get comfortable with the campus before school officially started on Monday. Students had been allowed to begin moving their things in for a week, however, and Willow had taken advantage of that factor.

"UC Sunnydale is this." Willow nodded as she hugged her folders to her chest.

"Hmm... It's got a good vibe." Oliver grinned before the two began on their journey through the college. It was still early in the morning and they were on their way to get their IDs before the line got too long. "I like."

"Coming from the Slayer, that makes me feel good about going to this college." Willow admitted and Oliver smiled up at her.

As they made their way through the college and became accustomed to their new living conditions, they met many people which included Willow's boyfriend, Oz. He apparently was a guitarist in the local band Dingoes Ate My Baby. Oliver enjoyed talking to him because their personalities seemed to clash so horribly, but they would obviously eventually become great friends. He was aloof which countered her strangeness and smiley attitude. It was interesting to watch them converse, Willow thought. She was glad that the woman that was becoming a good friend to her was getting along well enough with her boyfriend.

Later that night, Willow went to see Dingoes Ate My Baby in action, but Oliver sadly couldn't attend with them. She had patrolling to do and was eager to scope out the town while she was at it.

After staking a few vampires, Oliver returned to the room she was sharing with Willow. She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck in slight pain. A vampire had managed to throw her into a tree and made her see cartoon birdies for a few seconds. She knew she had to train more with Giles, but she had only been in town for less than a week; they most definitely hadn't been able to create a schedule quite yet.

"Hey." A voice caused her to look up and she turned to see Willow and Oz quickly approaching her.

"Somebody we know from high school's back from her summer vacation. And she's a little bit different." Willow said with her hand pressed to her neck.

Oliver raised an eyebrow curiously. "Different? Different, how?"

"Paler?" Willow suggested as people walked passed them in the hallway.

"Pale-oh!" Oliver's eyes widened as she realized and she nodded quickly.

"Get in now?" Willow whimpered and her blonde roommate quickly spun around and opened their door, leading both her and Oz into the room. Oz was quick to set his girlfriend down on her bed and Oliver pulled the First-Aid kit from beneath her own bed. The werewolf carefully began to clean out Willow's wound as Oliver sat down on her bed and looked at them curiously.

"Okay, so a vampire that you used to know is in town?" The blonde raised her eyebrows.

"Her name's Harmony." Oz replied as he opened a Band-Aid.

"She was your basic mean-girl cheerleader." Willow added with her head tilted to her side, allowing her boyfriend to place a neon green Band-Aid over her new bite mark.

"Ah, I have experience with them." Oliver smiled in amusement, leaning back on her hands behind her. "She must literally be dead without being able to see herself in a mirror."

"She just made me so mad." Willow scowled and Oliver raised her eyebrows as she adopted a whinier tone of voice. "'My boyfriend's gonna beat you up'."

"Boyfriend?" Oliver asked as she straightened up. Harmony didn't seem too frightening, but if she had a boyfriend that was a vampire? He could be trouble.

"Well, if you believe her." Willow rolled her eyes. "She always lied about stuff like that." She took on the Harmony voice again. "'Oh, he goes to another school. You wouldn't know him'."

"Well, Devon dated her for a while, but she was too flaky for him." Oz told them but then smiled. "Which, stop and marvel at the concept."

"Agreeable." Oliver had met the "leader" of Oz's band a few days before and she had to admit that she had to physically wince every time he spoke. He was just too moronic for her. "But if this girl's as horrible as you say she is, this guy that's dating her must be the most tolerant man in the world."

"So, there's a party tonight." A boy by the name of Graham Miller spoke as he leaned towards where Oliver sat in the Grotto. She smiled up at him in amusement; she had originally been sitting in the cafe with Willow, but the redhead had gone off to get them both some coffee. Minutes after she left, this handsome college boy had plopped himself down across from her and started talking to her. Oliver honestly thought he was cute, but she doubted they would actually go anywhere. "At Wolf house? It's sort of a welcome to campus kinda get together. They do it every year on the first day of classes. You interested in going?"

"Mmhmm..." Oliver mused with a small smirk on her face. "How 'bout this? I ask you five questions that you could've learned about me in the span of five minutes. If you get them right, I'll go with you."

"Challenge expected." Graham smiled at her and she gave a little twitch of her nose as she leaned her chin into the palm of her hand, crossing her legs under the table.

"Mmhmm... What's my last name?"

"Northman."

"Who am I here with?"

"Willow Rosenberg, your roommate and possible best friend."

"What kind of drink do I generally drink?"

"A Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks, but you'll settle for a French Vanilla coffee."

"Hmm, you're good." Oliver smiled as she dropped her hands to the table in front of her. "Nobody's ever gotten this far before. Two more questions to go. Confident?"

"Oh, yeah. No way am I gonna quit this late in the game." Graham said with a shake of his head. Oliver giggled lightly and nodded her head.

"Alright. Where am I from?"

"Originally from Canada, but your family moved to New York when you were younger. You came here to go to college."

"Last question then." Oliver smiled as she closed her eyes and covered them with her hand for extra measure. "What color are my eyes?"

Graham was silent for a moment and Oliver was prepared to send him away when he spoke again. "I would say they were blue, but that's not entirely true. They're blue with flakes of green, silver, and yellow." Oliver slowly removed her hand from her eyes and she blinked them rapidly at the boy before her. No one had ever gotten that much correct. Men generally usually look over a few key parts of a woman's body: breast size, facial features, and ass size. Since she was sitting, she knew he wouldn't be able to observe the last part of the equation. But men didn't set the eye color to memory until at least the fourth date when things started to get a tad bit more romantic.

"Well, Mr. Graham Miller," Oliver smiled slightly at him, "you got yourself a date."

"Great." Graham grinned as he slowly stood. "I'll meet you here tonight and we can head over there together?"

"Sounds like a plan, Graham." She grinned up at him, which he returned before he turned and headed back to his table just as Willow was returning with two large coffee mugs.

"Who was that? With the cutie patootie?" Willow smirked mischievously, sitting down in the seat that Graham had recently vacated. "You two seem pretty cozy."

"His name's Graham." Oliver smiled, taking her French Vanilla from her redheaded friend. "He asked me to this party tonight at Wolf house. He passed my little quiz, so I decided what the hell? College is for experimenting."

"Experimenting?" Willow raised a curious red brow.

"Yeah, I mean... Well, he's not really my type." Oliver stated with a shrug of her shoulders. "He's got this All-American thing going for him. Maybe it's the Viking in me, but I'm pretty much used to dating...well, a more manly sort. Not too much muscle, but definitely not wimpy."

"And Graham's not like that?"

"Well, he's got obvious muscle. Like, he looks like a football quarterback or something like that." Oliver sighed, shaking her head. "I hate jocks. And I can say that, being practically one myself. So I doubt anything will come from this one date."

"Then why are you going?" Willow tilted her head curiously as she sipped at her coffee.

"Just for fun. I haven't been able to really do that since classes started up."

"It's only been one day, though."

"Exactly." Oliver replied dully with half lidded eyes. "That, my friend, is way too long to go without having fun. Colleges are just way too serious for my tastes."

"I like it here." Willow smiled. "You know what I love about college? How when the professor comes in, the class gets all quiet. See, that wouldn't happen in high school."

"I hate that." Oliver frowned. "I feel like, hey? Did something evil walk into the room? Is there something for me to kill?" Willow giggled at that and Oliver had to smile. While the two had very different views, it was obvious that they were getting to be close friends. Oliver knew that she could never replace Buffy; she didn't want to. She was her own person and she wasn't the same kind of Slayer. She would never be a carbon copy of the previous Slayer. "So will you and Oz come to this party with us? Please? In case he's an ass?"

"Sure." Willow nodded with a smile. "I'm almost positive that Oz wouldn't mind. The full moon's not close yet, so we've got time for a party."

"Alright, awesome." Oliver grinned. "That means we should go get ready now then."

"Standing in the pouring rain. You couldn't even be there to pick me up. Taking me for granted again. You're running out of time and you're out of luck." Bif Naked happened to be the band playing at Wolf house that night and Oliver was thankful for the good taste in music. She and Willow were roaming around while Oz and Graham went to get them drinks.

"So are you happy you came?" Oliver asked Willow with a smile.

"Yeah! I mean, it's been a while since Oz and I've gone to a party that's non-Dingoes related."

Before Oliver could retort, a small group of people had run into her and Willow, causing them both to step backwards and observe the group. There stood Harmony and Spike with a guy under their arms, an obvious bite mark blaring from his neck.

"Spike!" Willow's eyes were wide while Oliver had narrowed her's, placing a hand on her friend's arm protectively. "A-and Harmony?"

"Willow. And friend. Hi." Harmony smiled at them falsely. "What a cute outfit! Last year." She remarked and Oliver raised an eyebrow at the horrible insult. That night, Oliver had chosen on a pair of tight black skinny jeans with holes in the knees, a red and black thinly striped long sleeve tee-shirt, and a flowing gray sweater thrown over it. On her feet were a pair of old Doc Martens.

"Oliver, thanks." The blonde said smartly to the vampire.

"Whatever. What kinda name is that anyways?" Harmony scowled at her, but she had already turned her attention to this "Spike" character.

He was handsome, alright. With bleach blonde hair slicked back to his skull and a pair of crystalline blue orbs, he was obviously a bad boy character. Especially with the almost all black clothing and the scar on his left eyebrow. Dimly, she wondered where he had gotten it, but she pushed on without thought.

"Well, this is interesting." And, oh, he had a British accent. Oliver's guilty pleasure was accents. "Won't the Slayer be disappointed to find you with another blondie, Red?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Harmony looked over at him. "Buffy died last summer. It's all over the underworld."

"Harm, that's a pretty important thing to forget to tell me." Spike narrowed his eyes at her.

"It slipped my mind!"

He rolled his eyes before he turned to look at Willow and Oliver once more. "So, let's have a look at the new girl."

"Oliver. Charmed, I'm sure." The Slayer was all business now. She had heard of Spike, of course. He was the vampire that was second only to Angelus. He caused chaos throughout Europe from the minute he was sired and onward. He'd killed two great Slayers in his time and she knew better than to underestimate him in any way.

"Well, I like you." Spike grinned threateningly while Oliver crossed her arms over her chest. "You've got, um... What's the word? Innocence."

"And you're with Harmony." Willow decided to speak up then fiercly and Oliver raised an eyebrow at her. She knew that she hated Harmony, but it was interesting to see her take up such an attitude. "Did you lose a bet or something?"

"Hey!" Harmony cried in irritation, but went ignored.

"Actually, uh, how we met? It's, um... It's a funny story, really. It's, uh-" Spike then threw the boy he had been helping to hold up into Harmony, Willow, and Oliver, then leaped over the couch closest to them.

"Stay here." Oliver commanded Willow before she turned and raced after the peroxided vampire. She ran outside, only to pause momentarily and glance around. She took a hunch once she saw some shrubbery nearby and stalked towards it. As she did so, she slipped a well sharpened stake from a a hidden pocket on the inside of her jacket and held it at the ready. She heard a twig snap and rushed forward, throwing a punch, only for it to be blocked by Spike.

He retaliated with a back handed punch to her face. Oliver bounced back quickly enough and they both dropped into defensive stances.

Oliver giggled lightly, shaking her head. "You know, I've heard about you, Spike. William the Bloody, as you're often called. But a couple years ago, you apparently came here whining about how your girlfriend dumped you. What's the matter, now, huh? Drusilla dump you again?" She snapped her fist forward, then another when he blocked the first one, but he blocked that one, too. Now that he had both of her hands in his grasp, he was confident that he had her. He wasn't counting on her head butting him in the forehead.

He grunted as he released her and stepped backwards. "Maybe I dumped her." He suggested with a frown. She scoffed and went to attack him again, but he grabbed her arms, lifted her off her feet, and shoved her to his left and behind him.

"She left him for a fungus demon." Harmony announced suddenly as Oliver spun around quickly to face them both. "That's all he talks about most days."

"Harm!" Spike snapped, turning to stride towards her. "We are going." He turned to look at the blonde Slayer who was watching him curiously. "It isn't time yet."

"Yeah, but as soon as we have the Gem of Amara, you're gonna be sor-"

"Argh!" Spike growled and tugged her away before she could reveal anymore about his plan to the Slayer.

"The Gem of Amara?" Oliver whispered to herself as she watched them leave. She knew she couldn't fight and dust them both with so many people around. With a sigh, she slipped her stake back into her pocket and pulled her cell from her pocket. She had already programmed Giles's home phone number into it earlier that week and now she was glad for it. She really needed to get the man a cell phone. "Hey, Giles? We got a situation."

"What appears to be the problem, Oliver?" Giles asked as he moved about his apartment on the other end of the phone.

"Spike's in town. With a, um...Harmony? I'm guessing you know her."

"Yes, she was a, um, former student. Is she a vampire?"

"Yeah. I fought Spike, but he was running away. I couldn't figure out why he would run from little old me when Harmony let something slip. They're looking for the...Gem of Amara?"

"The Gem of Amara, are you sure?"

"Pretty sure. What is it?"

"Uh, it's just it's so...it's not real. It's like the vampire equivalent of the Holy Grail and a source of some enormous power, which is conveniently vague." There was a pause and Oliver heard the sound of pages turning in a book. "I think-here it is. Yes. Um... "There was a great deal of vampiric interest in locating the gem during..." oh, "the tenth century. Questing vampires combed the earth, but never found it. It was concluded that it never existed.""

"Well, Spike and Harmony are looking for it." Oliver sighed, leaning against a poll as she watched people roam about, blissfully unaware of the world's demons. "They're looking in Sunnydale for some unknown reason."

"Yes, well, I'll research it as best I can." Giles assured her. "You've done all you can for tonight. Go to bed."

"Ha, alrighty, thanks, Giles." Oliver smiled. "See ya' tomorrow. Bye." She hung up without waiting for a reply and turned, walking back towards the party. She wasn't all into the partying mood anymore, but she couldn't just leave Graham hanging like this. So, she'd let him down easy and go on the slay. Preferably of the Spike and Harmony kind.

"Hey, I got worried you bailed for a second there." Graham smiled warmly as Oliver approached where he stood with Willow and Oz.

"Yeah, uh, sorry about that. Old family friend. He's...not really supposed to drink so I had to chase him out." Oliver smiled convincingly at him. He nodded in understanding. "Uh, hey, I hate to do this, but-"

"You gotta bail." Graham assumed with a small nod of his head.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, it's just... I gotta go make sure that friend gets home alright." Oliver explained and he shrugged.

"Yeah, it's understandable. I got homework that I've been neglecting for the past week anyways. I'll call you?"

"It'd help if you had my number." Oliver smiled and pulled a pen from her black leather mini-satchel. She took his hand in her own and began to write down the number to her dorm's phone in largely across his forearm. "There. Now, it's written big enough that you can't blame that you couldn't read it and not call." She teased up at him and he chuckled.

"Dully noted. So I'll call you...now that I have your number."

"I'll be waiting with bated breath." She smiled before she turned to leave with Oz and Willow.

"So what happened with Spike and Harmony?" Oz questioned as they walked.

"Fought with Spike a little then Harmony let slip about this Gem of Amara. It's why they're here apparently. They ran off."

"And you're not chasing them?" Willow asked curiously.

"They're going back to their lair. I'm pretty sure they have more than a few vampires there helping them out. Not to mention, if I were to stake them before they could run off, there'd be more than one question about it from the populace." Oliver explained herself to her new friends and they both nodded in understanding.

"So?" Willow smiled as she slithered up next to the blonde. "How was Graham, huh? Think you'll date him?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Oliver shrugged. "I mean, we didn't talk at all tonight. I gave him my number, though. I still doubt that anything will happen between us. Besides, I'm putting all my energy for the next few days into finding Harmony and Spike. We can't let them get that Gem if it is real."

"Got it." Willow nodded and they all jumped as Oliver's phone began to ring.

She glanced at the ID before she smiled. "It's Giles. Hey." She answered.

"I found a text."

"Wow, no "Hi, Ollie, how you doin'? Did you get home safe?" Nope, we just jump right into business, don't we?"

"Oliver."

"Sorry, continue?"

"The text refers to the Gem of Amara as residing in the Valley of the Sun."

"What, is that demon talk for Sunnydale or something?"

"Precisely. It seems that Spike may know what it's about. The Gem may exist after all, in Sunnydale in a sealed underground crypt." Giles relayed and Oliver nodded.

"Alright, I'll tell Willow and Oz and you guys find the crypt while I work on finding Spike."

"I'll get started."

"I'll call Xander. He'll be at your place in the morning."

"Right." Giles hung up then and Oliver turned to her companions.

"Alright, so the Gem's real and Spike's close to finding it. It's in an underground crypt somewhere in Sunnydale. You guys are gonna help Giles find the crypt while I-"

"Find Spike. Yeah, we heard." Oz smiled lightly and she rolled her eyes.

"Great thing is that we get to go sleep and start in the morning." Willow said optimistically.

For the next few days were spent with Oliver going around campus with a print out picture of one Harmony Kendall. She had gotten it from the Sunnydale High sight and was asking everyone and anyone if they'd seen her lately. She had also been waiting on a call from Graham, but there were no calls. She wasn't as down about that as she would've liked. Graham was cute in a jock sort of way, but she didn't really like him as a person all that much. He was too much of a good old boy sort. She just wasn't into that. She would love to have a normal boyfriend, though. Ever since she became the Slayer, nothing in her life has been normal. She'd like to have at least one thing normal.

She was walking along campus when she noticed Graham talking with some other guys, so being the curious one that she is, she calls out to him.

"Hey, Graham!" Oliver paused in her walking and waited until he turned towards her. He observed her before he smiled and said something to his friends. He then made his way over to her.

"Hey, Oliver. What's up?"

"Well, you said you'd call. Now I'm not crazy about stalking, but when a guy says he's gonna do something..." She shook her head up at him sarcastically and they began to walk.

"I meant to call." He said quickly. "It's just... I've gotten so busy lately with homework and extra curriculars... It's hard to juggle a social life in with it."

"You didn't seem to be having trouble with it." Oliver pointed out, gesturing over her shoulder with her thumb at the group of guys they were slowly leaving behind.

"They're from my Psychology class. They were just asking me some questions about the homework Professor Walsh assigned us."

"Mmhmm." They paused under some shaded trees in a less crowded area. "Um, Graham?" She asked slowly, looking up at him through her eyelashes. "Did I say or do something wrong the other night?"

"What? No! Why would you think that?" Graham furrowed his brows, not understanding what she meant.

"It's just... It seems like you're trying to brush me off. Like you're lying to me? I can tell with that kind of thing. Now, if you don't wanna date me, tell me straight up. I'm a big girl, Graham. I can take it." Oliver said fiercely and he gaped at her for a moment before something over her shoulder caught his eye. The petite blonde turned to see one of the guys he had been speaking to waving at him. Now, he was cute.

"Look, I really have to go now." Graham placed his hands on her shoulders before he walked around her and towards his friend.

"Graham, I wasn't finished!" Oliver called after him.

"I'll call you!" He replied and she scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Well, that was pathetic." A familiar voice spoke from behind her. Her eyes widened and she spun around to face him, only to get a punch right in the face.

Oliver grunted as she fell to the ground and she held her face where it throbbed in the slightest. She gaped up at where Spike stood above her in a bright beam of sunlight.

"Ain't it a fantastic day? Birds singin', squirrels makin' lots of rotten little squirrels, the sun beamin' down in a nice non-fatal way." Spike smiled as he looked up towards the sky and Oliver swallowed hard as she sat up. "It's very exciting. I can't wait to see if I freckle."

Oliver used her momentum to flip herself over, grabbing her stake from where it fell on the ground on the way up. She came up swinging, but he was prepared this time. She landed a punch to his cheek, but he dodged the next one and punched her right back. She hit the ground and he went to grab her, but Oliver pulled her legs to her chest and kicked him away from her and to the ground. She hurried up before he could; he flipped upwards and right into her stake.

She gaped at him when he didn't burst into dust. "Oh, do it again. It tickles." He taunted as she yanked the stake out of him, stepping backwards. She watched as his pale flesh knitted itself right back together. "You know, in a good way."

"You found the Gem." Oliver accused as she looked up at him, never letting her guard down.

He held up his hand, showing off the strange looking ring. "Oh, yeah. The Gem of Amara." While she was looking at the ring, he backhanded the stake out of her hand and then punched her in the face, sending her back to the ground again. "Official sponsor of my killing you." Oliver then watched as his handsome face took on the tell tale lumpies that came along with being a vampire. Then, he went in for the kill.

Oliver was quick to get on her knees, blocking each punch he threw but, he soon grabbed onto one of her arms and kicked her in the stomach. He took her winded figure to his advantage and threw it into a nearby pole. Then while she was down, he kicked her right in the chest. Oliver shook it off easily enough and tried to kick at him. He blocked it and then grabbed her arm when she tried to punch him, sending her straight back into the pole. He pressed her roughly into it from behind, but she was absolutely refusing to let the first Big Bad that she encounters get the best of her. So, she reached behind her and grabbed him by the throat, effectively choking him. She knew that he didn't need to breathe air, but the feeling of your throat closing in? Yeah, that'd hurt even a vampire.

His hold on her weakened and she was able to push him away from her. Oliver kicked him in the stomach, which sent him spinning into the ground. He flipped right back up and tried a spinning kick that she was able to block. She was then able to kick him in the shin and then with a roundhouse, then another, followed by redirecting him over a nearby stone bench. She jumped up onto another bench and tried to kick him in the chest, but he blocked her, grabbed her arm, and threw her into a metal framed table. The glass top shattered upon impact and she groaned as she rolled off of it, yanking a piece of glass from her arm.

"Getting tired, Slayer?" Spike questioned as he strolled towards her at a leisurely pace.

Oliver growled as she got to her feet once more, only to receive a series of punches and to be thrown to the concrete ground once more. Her eyes widened when she noticed Xander running out of nowhere. "Xander, no!"

Spike turned towards him, grabbed his head, kneed him in the face, and finally sent him flying into another pole. Oliver winced as she got to her feet; he had already turned his attention onto her again.

"So... Nancy boy not getting a poke at the Slayer, eh?" He rubbed a hand across his stomach as he stepped down the stairs towards her. "Didn't seem like you knew each other that well, but still you wouldn't let him have a one night stand? What exactly does it take to pry apart the Slayer's dimpled knees?"

"You're vile, Spike." Oliver cursed at him. He smirked and jumped from where he was a few steps above her into a full on roundhouse, kicking her right in the cheek.

"What? He couldn't play the sensitive lad and get you to seduce him? If he could've pulled it off, it's a good trick if the girl's thick enough to buy it."

Oliver snapped and flew at him, throwing a roundhouse. He blocked it easily and followed it up with a vicious kick that sent the petite flying into the stone stairs surrounding them.

"I wonder what went wrong." Spike thought aloud and she wiped a drop of blood that was dribbling from the corner of her mouth on her fingers. "Were you too strong? Did you ever bruise the boy?" He smirked cruelly as he again rubbed his stomach. She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Whatever. Guess you're not worth the effort if you don't put out on the first date." Oliver jumped up and threw another roundhouse, then three punches all in a row. Her sudden anger allowed her to do them all quickly enough that he wouldn't be able to dodge or block. She grabbed his shoulders and threw him over the edge of the closest planter. She jumped onto it and while coming down onto him, she threw her leg out to kick him in the chin, sending him flying into yet another planter. Oliver vaguely noticed as he knocked over an earthenware pot as she grabbed his collar, punched him twice in the face and then grabbed the arm that was wearing the ring.

As she wrapped her slim fingers around the shining gold, Spike quickly spoke. "Take it off me this way, we both burn!"

"Yeah?" Oliver asked angrily with a sadistic smile plastered over her lips. "Let's see how that one works out." She then yanked the ring right off of his finger and she watched in mild amusement as his face immediately contorted into vampiric pain. She released him and watched as he started to smoke, running off as he cried out in agony. She watched him go down an open sewage pipe nearby and sighed, sitting down on a planter to inspect the ring.

"I like it." Willow admitted as she observed the ring on a wooden table in Giles's apartment.

"It's small." Oz observed.

"Really worth getting my ribs bashed in." Xander complained.

"Hey!" Oliver rolled her eyes at him. "At least you didn't get basically brain fucked. Besides, I'm the one that had to get the medical attention, remember?" She held up her injured arm that was now wrapped in a thick layer of gauze. "How the hell am I supposed to explain this one to my dad?"

"I thought he knew about your slaying." Xander said curiously and she sighed, nodding her head.

"He does, but he won't let me do anything Slayer related if I come home on the weekends with multiple wounds like this! So what are we going to do with this stupid ring, Giles?" She turned her attention to the Watcher sitting next to her and he kept his eyes on the gold ring.

"It's obviously very dangerous, and we're destroying it."

Oliver pondered over that for a moment before she sighed, knowing that what she was about to do would be what the last Slayer would have wanted. "We can't destroy it, Giles."

"Well, Oliver, any vampire that gets his hand on this is going to be essentially un-killable." Oliver blinked at him with a raised eyebrow and realization dawned on him, also knowing what Buffy would have wanted. "Oh."

"I have that gig in LA." Oz offered quietly. "I could swing by."

"Yeah, that'd be great." Oliver nodded.

"What's going on?" Xander asked, confused. "What's in LA?"

"I think we should do what Buffy would have." Oliver said firmly as she looked at him across the table. "She would've given it to Angel."

"Don't make a fuss." Willow shook her head at him.

"Oliver, are you sure?" Giles questioned.

"It's what Buffy would have wanted." Oliver nodded her head. "Call it...my gift to her, even though she can't really receive it herself. She loved him, so he must deserve it." Giles nodded at this and nothing more was said about it.

Spike growled as he stalked through the town that night. He had escaped into the sewers during the day and if he knew the Scooby Gang, he knew that they'll be sending the Gem to Captain Forehead in LA. So he'll be making his way there, as well. He sighed; at least he'll be able to get away from Harmony for a few days.

He dipped his hand into his pocket as he approached his car and pulled out his keys. His eyes trailed down and watched as he was about to stick the key in. He paused, however, when he noticed a streak of almost completely dry blood along his hand where the ring hand been. In his curiosity, he pulled his hand up and sniffed the blood. He tentatively licked it and almost moaned in delight. Despite it being dry and obviously coagulated, her blood was delicious. Just as he remembered a Slayer's blood to be. She's a virgin with Type AB-. His favorite kind, but it was so rare to come upon these days. He licked his lips and gulped for a moment before he smirked and got into his car. He'd be back for more of her blood, that's for sure. He just needed to get the Gem first. He'd been meaning to visit the Poof for a while, anyways.

Author's Note: So...yeah :3 I know, most people hate it when the OC replaces Buffy, but you know what? I'm not the biggest fan of her. I'm more of a Faith fan than Buffy. Besides, I didn't like it when Spike fell in love with Buffy. I felt that it just him made into a pansy. He won't be a pansy here. Trust me on that. So, for those of you who miss the Spike we first met when he came in the second season, there will be more of him here :3 Also, please review so I can know whether or not you guys like my story. Thanks!