Ok, here's the thing:

I haven't published any Buffy fics previously, so I would like to make this the best I can before I actually send it out for people to read. (I think we can all agree too many crapfics out there already) I have seen Buffy up to Season 6 and Angel up to Season 3, and I know what happens in the rest, so I'll try not to do spoilers. Anyway, my fic is a season 4/5 AU Xander/Spike that may at times get kinda racy.

Here's what I'm looking for in a beta: someone who is open to m/m as well as m/f and m/m/f situations, knows a fair deal about the Buffy series and is competent in English grammar. What that means is I don't want someone who will say, "very good, next chapter please". I want serious feedback: this character wouldn't say this, why don't you put in a different phrase here, this word is spelled incorrectly, or please use the semicolon properly! I would like someone to give me suggestions: try this from Willow's point of view, what is Spike thinking now, how the hell can you explain this strange twist of events? I've got two OC's in here, so I'm trying to develop them as characters. Please be as brutally honest as possible. (If you have any fics then I will try to reciprocate)

This is the premise of the story: After graduation Xander went on his roadtrip and ended up meeting a mated couple of vamps who turn out a bit older than he expected. This story starts after about Episode 67 "Doomed" or thereabouts and goes mostly AU after that. Initial pairings: Xander/OFC/OMC, Xander/Spike, (maybe eventually Xander/Spike/Oz) Tara/Willow, possibly Buffy/Riley, but I'm not sure how I want that to continue. Maybe Giles/Ethan, because I've got such a soft spot for the Chaos Mage. :) I've also got a sequel in my head that may turn out to take place in Angel's LA, but I'll work on that after I finish this one.

Here's a taste of what one of the first few chapters is going to be like:

------

------

Gwen leant around Xander to peer into the house. "Oh, am I interrupting something?" she asked tentatively. "I could just come back at another time, if you want..."

"No, by all means," Giles said, cleaning his glasses as he closed the book. "Come in. We're not being especially productive tonight anyway."

The woman shot a smug look at Xander as she stepped inside. "Pay up, Xan."

Xander heaved a suffering sigh and pulled a ten out of his wallet. "I'm kinda disappointed in you, G-Man," he said, handing it over to Gwen and returning to the couch.

"I beg your pardon?"

Gwen threw herself down next to Xander and sprawled artlessly. "I'm Gwen." She gave them a cheerful smile as the rest of the Scoobies looked surprised at her dark, almost black violet eyes. "We met Xander in Oxnard over the summer. He was telling us about how you're all big-time vampire hunters," she said cheerfully. "I bet that I could get an invite in any house in town, and Xander said that you were all too canny to invite a stranger into your house."

"Xander! You told her?" Willow asked, stunned.

"Oh, I'm somewhat of a demonologist," Gwen reassured them. "I know all about big bad things that go bump in the night." A teasing, seductive smile spread across her face. "I like to bump back."

Xander felt himself flush, and Willow took the opportunity to be extraordinarily keen. "You mean, you and Xander..." She blushed too.

"B-but what's the ring for?" Tara asked, speaking up. She made a half-gesture with her hands and it drew everyone's attention down to the pale gold ring around Gwen's finger.

"My mate," she said casually. "Er, husband. But we've never gotten married by an actual religion, so it's more of a commitment ring."

"And what was your husband doing while Xander and you were...?" Willow pressed.

"Wills," Xander moaned, now thoroughly embarrassed at his friend's prying.

"Oh, he was mostly agreeing," Gwen said cheerfully.

"Agreeing?" Giles asked, shocked.

"You know," she said. "'Yes, yes'" she moaned in a credible impression of someone in the throes of passion. "But there was a bit of surprised cursing in there too: 'Oh, oh, fuck, yes'."

Xander buried his head in his hands. /I am never going to be able to look my friends in the face again/ he thought. Add to that the fact that he could probably never get an erection again: all the blood in his body was trying to squeeze its way out of his facial pores. He heard Gwen turn to him.

"Well they asked!" she protested.

"Why are you here?" he pleaded, not looking up.

"We wanted to see the Hellmouth," she said, a touch of offense in her voice.

"Jon's with you?"

"Umm," now he looked at her as she bit one of her dark rose lips. "He was. We'll meet up with him later."

Xander fixed her with a chastising glare. "What happened to him?" he asked in the tones of someone who was afraid of the answer.

"We kinda ran into some soldiers along the way," she said, hunching her shoulders sheepishly. "He wanted to look into some things so he... went along."

"Jon got caught by the Initiative." Xander said in a deadpan voice.

"Uh-huh."

He sighed explosively and sank back into the couch. "Well, there goes Riley's job," he muttered.

-----

-------

It's not actually finished, so you might have to wait for the last couple of chapters, and I still have to decide to write the prologue as a flashback or as a completely different story. If you still want to beta for me after all this, please correct whatever is wrong with my tidbit here (or any suggestions you might have) and e-mail it to me at: for (underscore) the (underscore) love (underscore) of (underscore) fire (at symbol) hotmail (dot) com. Thanks! (assistance on the best format to submit this would be good considering how I can't get it to show my e-mail address properly......why yes, I am new at this)