Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, it all belongs to Joss Whedon and ... well whoever owns the rights on Buffy TVS and Angel.

This is the translation of my German story I wrote about Buffy, and as a little warning I have to add that the translation is not finished. My Beta andI are working on it though :)

A very special Thank You to my Beta "Bone White Butterfly" for looking over my translation and for translating whole chapters on her own.

prologue

"Say Spike, don't you have anything better to do than making my life harder than it already is?" Buffy staked the vampire she was facing off against and sent a searching look at the Billy-Idol-Wannabe. He hadn't left her alone during patrols for days now and had never failed to get in her way while fighting against demons and vampires.

"Not really, luv." The blond creature of the night smirked at the slayer and sent a stake through the vampire he had beaten to the ground. "But I really don't know why you're complaining so much; I'm taking a lot of work off your shoulders. I'm not making you so nervous that you can't concentrate on your work, am I?"

Buffy just rolled her eyes, turned around, and started to leave. After a few steps, she thought otherwise and turned to the vampire again. "You know, Spike, I just don't trust you. You wouldn't help me without expecting something in return. You never did, so why should I believe that suddenly you've started to now? So just say what you want, unless you want a stake through your heart."

"I don't want money, if that's what you're thinking." Her raised eyebrows told him that she didn't believe him. "I just need a certain degree of violence in the night. It's a kind of training before the day starts."

"Spike, it's eleven o'clock at night."

"Hello, vampire! I sleep days; during the night I wander around. Bloody hell, I thought a slayer knew those things. Maybe I should have a talk with Giles so he can create a new teaching plan for you."

"You think, you're funny, don't you?" She began to walk away again, knowing that Spike would follow her. His company got on her nerves, even though she couldn't exactly say why. It wasn't as if she had to look after him, as she had needed to with Riley only a few weeks ago. Spike was able to take care of himself – and even if not, so what? He was a vampire. It was not her problem if he died; he was already undead. It was true that he helped her with her job, but did he have to cling to her like a baby? "How about, you go to the northern part, and I patrol the southern part of the cemetrey. Then you can really help and not grate on my nerves with your presence."

Spike took an unnecessary breath after her words. He didn't want her to realize how her rejection hurt him. It was embarrassing enough already. This wish, this craving for her acceptance, was ridiculous. Only two years ago, he would have laughed at – and then killed – anybody who might have told him that, one day, he'd be thirsting for acknowledgement from the slayer. What was wrong with him? He'd just been a normal vampire. Then this piece of metal had been planted in his skull, but it shouldn't have made such a difference. But this chip had been in his brain for fourteen months, and it had been fourteen months since he had bitten his last human being and drank its warm, livegiving blood. He closed his eyes. That long faded memory was still enough to send him into raptures. It had happened fourteen months ago. It had been fourteen months since his entire existence had suddenly changed.

"I think you could show a little gratitude, slayer," he called after her, but she walked away nonetheless. "I did save your ass more than once, after all. Don't you remember, two weeks ago, when you fought that Fetschma demon? Without me, you'd have been..."

A sudden movement next to him made him stop talking.

"What's up, Spike, forgot you're vocabulary?" Buffy asked when he didn't go on. After he didn't answer her, she turned around to see the reason for his silence. He was standing frozen, paralysed with fear. She realized why when she saw the large, green ball of energy that had created itself right in front of him. Weirdly, it reminded her of a cartoon that she and Dawn had watched as children.

The ball of energy, a meter in diameter, floated above the ground. Buffy moved towards it slowly. Spike still was paralysed. He stared at the green light that hung suspended only inches in front of him as though mesmerized.

"Spike?" Buffy carefully tried to get his attention. She did not know why, but she was sure that they shouldn't touch that light. When there was no reaction from the vampire, she called his name again.

Meanwhile she had reached him, but he didn't seem to notice her. "Spike, come on!" Even as she was shouting his name, she wondered why she cared about what happened to him. No reaction. 'We've got to get out of here and get Giles,' she thought and reached for the vampire to pull him away from the field of energy.

She couldn't have said what hit her before she lost consciousness and was surrounded by sudden darkness.

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thanks, N.Snape