I own nothing. I admit this. Still I write it pretty well. Joss needs to start a new comic series based on the shows now that they're both ended and let me write it. Oh yeah. This is the nest story after Hell is Where the Heart Is. Enjoy

    "Too…hot…" Buffy said as she lay in bed, sticking to the sheets.

    "Eh. I've felt worse. Brazil is worse." Spike said fresh as a daisy.

    "Not everyone is undead." Buffy replied.

    She wanted to hit him but it was entirely too hot to do so.

    "Would make your job simpler if they were, pet." Spike smirked, moving to light a cigarette.

    Buffy made the effort to smack the cigarette from his hands and sent it across the room. Spike looked at her as if she had gone insane.

    "Have you gone insane?" he asked.

    "No smoking."

    "Well it's not as if it's going to kill me luv. Vampire remember?"

    "Second hand still hurts me, Slayer lungs or not." Buffy replied, climbing out of bed, "You know if we'd just open the window it'd be a little cooler in here."

    "Yeah and while we're at it, let's redecorate with a few crucifixes and some silver in here to go with the sunlight that'll come in and turn yours truly to dust." Spike said, slightly agitated.

    "You can always sleep in the closet." Buffy replied.

    "Uh, no thank you. I've had enough sleeping in small dark spots thank you." Spike stated, "Now how about a shag?"

    "Again?" Buffy asked incredulously.

    "Demonic libido. Can't help it." Spike shrugged.

    "Well call Rosie then. I have to get Dawn up and head to the airport. Today's the day she heads to Scott's out east." Buffy explained.

    "Rosie?"

    Buffy smirked, "Rosie Palm."

    "Bitch."

    "You love it." Buffy said as she headed for the shower, a very cold, icy shower. She wasn't taking one because of her overwhelming desire to jump Spike's bones…well not just that reason. It's just that the last month was hell, literally. There was the battle with the First, the little side trip to Hell, and upon returning the most ungodly heat wave the town of Sunnydale had ever experienced. She was taking the shower to actually keep cool. She shuddered as she stepped into the cold water and then shuddered again when she thought of what normal humans had to go through in this heat. Vampires and most species of demons were okay though, meaning she still had to patrol at night even in this weather. Maybe she'd talk to Willow about casting a spell on the house to make it a nice seventy five degrees constantly. And if Willow wouldn't, she'd work on Tara.

    Stepping out of the shower, she quickly dressed in her outfit of the day and peaked in on Spike. He had gone back to sleep, finally getting back into the groove of being up all night and sleeping through the day like a respectable vampire. Buffy then headed down the hall past her old room (now occupied by Willow, Tara, and Kennedy) and to Dawn's. She opened the door with a creak and saw Dawn lying awake in bed.

    "Couldn't sleep?" Buffy asked.

    "It was too hot." Dawn replied craning her head up and peeling it off the pillow.

    "It's not the heat, it's the humidity." Buffy mused.

    "No it's a demon."

    "How do you figure?"

    "It's always a demon."

    "I'll check up on that theory, but for now I'm sticking by the concept that it's the weatherman's fault. Get a shower. Xander will be by to drive us to the airport in about an hour." Buffy ordered.

    "Connor too?" Dawn asked hopefully.

    "Connor too. You're damned lucky that Spike saved enough over the years to buy your boyfriend a plane ticket too." Buffy replied.

    "He's not my boyfriend." Dawn defended.

    "No, he's just a boy that you make out with like a rabbit. Trust me on this one, that's never a good thing." Buffy smirked.

    "Go fry me some eggs or something." Dawn grumbled.

    "Sorry grouchy." Buffy said as she walked down the hall and downstairs to the kitchen. She put some extra eggs on ( knowing Xander'd probably come by and attempt eat them out of house and home) and started some coffee (Kennedy needed a few cups to wake up. Still it made her a pain). Turning, she walked to the front door to get the newspaper as she drank a cup. Opening the door and glancing down she saw a single black rose resting atop her newspaper. She dropped the coffee cup and stared blankly at the flower. It was time.

June 2002

    The summer had been pretty boring to be honest. Giles had taken Willow off to England to help her with her problem. Spike had disappeared…good riddance too, and Anya was off doing what Vengeance Demons do. Buffy still had to adjust to the fact that Tara had died. It was a sharp blow that the person she considered her confidante, the one person she had revealed the truth about her relationship with Spike to before it all came out, was dead. It was just Buffy, Dawnie, and Xander. And things were getting better.

    She didn't feel as empty as she had before. Being open about her feelings had really helped her to work past her memories of Heaven…or wherever she had gone when she died. She and Dawn were getting along so much better now, even taking her on patrol sometimes. Xander was there for her, just as he always was. Buffy smiled and thought that if she had given him a shot with her years ago she would never have been hurt. Not like when Angel left, not like when Riley did the same, or…no, she did not even like Spike much less care about him like that.

    It was boring patrol nights like this when she imagined calling Willow and Giles in England or going to L.A. to see whatever it was Angel was up to. Knowing him he was probably in some small, cramped, dark place brooding. Still it would be good to see him. She sighed and walked along through the graveyard she was patrolling and…vampire!

    Instantly, she withdrew her stake and dusted the vampire to her right before it even got close. He had to be a fledgling; otherwise she would've had a few minutes of kung fu fighting on her hands before he could fit in an ashtray. Still, she had to appreciate these new ones. They're much easier to slay than a Big Bad.

    When she heard clapping, Buffy's eyes rolled and she turned. She almost expected to see Dracula clapping there like when they had met the first time. Buffy was never really one to jump back, but what she saw there made her flinch for the briefest of instances.

    "Okay, definitely not Dracula." She said.

    What stood in front of her was a large red-skinned demon…or vampire…because it had large fangs protruding from its mouth. It was large and muscular with large horns on its head and it wore few clothes. Most of its powerful body was exposed. It had an appreciative smile on its face.

    "Excellent…"

    "…kill I know. I ran through this with Dracula a few years ago and I'd rather we just fight than exchange witty dialogue." Buffy sighed holding her stake ready.

    The demon-vampire-thing laughed slightly and walked back to sit against a tombstone.

    "Not yet." The thing said.

    "Excuse me? What do you mean not yet? You look red, not yellow." Buffy stated.

    "The battle would be over far too quickly if we fought now." The thing replied.

    "Sorry, I don't like long drawn out fights. I like the simple, I stake you, you turn to dust deal. Or slime….whatever. Are you a vampire or a demon? Because that would really help me out, knowing whether you're going to explode into Jello, so I can stand behind a tomb or something." Buffy asked.

    "I'm a vampire." The creature said simply.

    With that statement, Buffy knew she was in trouble. Vampires get uglier the older they got. She had fought too older ones in the Master and Kakistos and they were each more than a handful. And this guy looked like Tim Curry in Legend. Buffy had to keep talking though. She to keep him off guard.

    "Gee, what with the horns and the red skin I would have figured you for…oh say….Satan!" Buffy said in a quick Church Lady imitation.

    "You're wittier than the last Slayer I killed. Of course that was in the Eleven Hundreds." The creature replied, standing at a full and imposing height.

    "Yeah, not so much with the conversations back then were they? I'm glad we had that whole women's lib thing." Buffy replied to it.

    "As am I. It makes things so much more interesting."

    "Lovely. Let's fight."

    "No." the creature said again.

    "Come on. I hear Slayer's blood is quite the aphrodisiac. Kill me and bottle it and you could be the Calvin Klein of the demon world." Buffy said, trying to provoke anger that she could exploit.

    "I'm not really all that interested in your blood. Still the offer was dually noted." The creature said, unmoving from its standing position.

    "So what are you interested in then?" Buffy asked.

    "Just the challenge. That's all." It said.

    "You sound like someone I used to know. His name was Spike. I kicked his ass." Buffy stated.

    "Ah, William the Bloody. The child has potential once he grows past his infancy. I never met him of course, but he has quite the reputation around the world. As do you." It continued.

    "Yeah, Dracula told me this. Now how do you want to go? Stake or decapitation? I mean either way's fine by me."

    "Child, as you stand right now I can predict what maneuvers you will throw. I can counter your first move just as you begin to perform it. You are nothing to me, as of now."

    "I bet you say that to all your victims." Buffy replied.

    "No, just the ones I know can be better. I am over five thousand years old and immortality becomes so tiring sometimes. The fire of youth extinguishes after time and it is so hard to find pleasure. I used to find pleasure in killing mortals. That faded after my first millennia. Then I turned to killing demons. That was fun but it too became tiresome. Being worshipped as a god was fun for a time, but I never really found true pleasure until I killed my first Slayer, a Grecian woman by the name of Xena. Unfortunately she seemed to be one of a kind amongst your breed. A childe of Akasha needs more to occupy himself." The creature stated.

    "Akasha." Buffy said murmuring the name that Giles had drilled into her head so many times before.

    "The mother of all vampires. Perhaps the eldest of our kind, older than even Varnae. I see you know the name."

    "She was your sire?" Buffy asked.

    "She was, back when I was a lowly servant called Uther." The creature replied.

    "So what's your name now?" Buffy replied.

    "Bacchus." The creature replied.

    "The god of wine, Bacchus?" Buffy asked.

    "It would be interesting to find out now wouldn't it?" Bacchus smiled.

    "Not really, I hate research. Let's fight." Buffy said in frustration.

    "You are no match for me as of now. It's a pity as well because I had heard you were in Xena's league. Not many Slayers can say they have killed two ancient vampires, stopped various Apocalypses and even an Ascension. I find myself rather disappointed at you though. I have studied you since you returned from the grave and I find you're nothing. A shell of your potential. You're beneath me as of now." Bacchus said.

    Buffy instantly leapt forward, driving Mr. Pointy towards the chest of Bacchus. She connected with air and turned to see the vampire standing behind her.

    "It was child's play to avoid that thrust. Do you see what I mean?" Bacchus asked, sighing, "I had really hoped you'd be something."

    "Oh I am something. I'm just having a bad day." Buffy growled.

    "A bad year from my observations. I was starting to give up on you, until these past few weeks when I saw you were getting better. I'd like to think that you'll continue to improve and become better because I want you at your best. When you get there, perhaps I will drop by and send you my regards. To be sporting I'll leave a calling card so you can prepare. A single black rose."

    "Gee thanks." Buffy growled.

    "It is the least I can do. Please, don't make this too boring. I crave the challenge you see. " Bacchus smirked as he began to walk away. Before Buffy could protest he had blurred away, leaving her to contemplate the events.

June 2003

    Buffy stood agape, and shook off the memories. She had never told anyone about that night, thinking "Bacchus" was just some crazy demon who tried to rattle the Slayer. She now realized that she was wrong. Bacchus was here in Sunnydale and gunning for her. She had to be ready. She would be. She would meet his challenge and turn it back.

    Elsewhere in Sunnydale, a lone Fyarll demon stumbled out of its cave. It was hungry and had to go hunting since Willy's was still pretty much out of commission with the latest guy to blow through town ripping it up. There were always other bars of course. Still the creature grumbled and headed out into the woods for food. Soon, its sense of smell paid off as it followed its nose to the edge of a playground and saw several succulent children playing.

    Licking its lips, the Fyarll prepared to move out of the forest and onto the playground to snatch up a few of the tasty little morsels. Then it caught a new scent. Something else wafting on the air. Something it had never smelled before. It then heard a sound. It was almost like the sound of a cicada during the evening only much louder, much deeper. The demon looked around, turning its horned head in each direction before looking down at something on its hand.

    It cocked its head and raised its hand, three red dots on it, following his limb after he raised it. The dots then traveled to the demon's chest as it looked up and saw…something clear in the tree.

    "What the hell?" the Fyarll asked.

    "What the hell?" came a response from the tree, though distorted.

    Seconds later, a lone child could swear he saw a bright light in the forest when he looked to it. He then dismissed it and went back to playing on the jungle gym, while in the forest a great something leapt down from the tree branch it had been perched on and dragged the body of the Fyarll off by its ram horns, with a freshly burned hole in its chest. The deeper cicada sounds continued as it was dragged away. All in one instant, a creature preparing to prey had become prey itself. Also its head would make a nice trophy.