A/N: The story takes place after S4 finale of TVD, besides the obvious AU mentions in the story, there's other AU settings: Bonnie didn't die when resurrected Jeremy, Silas was successfully desiccated, and never caught Stefan in the box. The events of 1977 are based on the Btvs novel "Blackout".

I do not own the rights to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel the Series or The Vampire Diaries.

Mystic Falls, 2011

Spike was sitting under the midnight sky, staring intently at it as clouds were gathering, a storm was coming. He held a glass of bourbon in one hand and a cigarette in the other, he took a deep drag and exhaled sharply, the smoke flaring from his nostrils. A faint sound behind him snapped him out of his thoughts, and Spike turned around, shifting his weight against the pillar he was leaning on. Damon was bringing him a blood bag, Spike took a last deep drag, dropped the cigarette and stepped on it, then grabbed the blood bag.

-Thank you, mate - he replied half absently, and proceeded to pour some red liquid into his glass.

Damon nodded, drinking from his own glass of bourbon. He noticed his friend was more quiet than usual, but he knew Spike too well. The blond vampire wouldn't talk about what was bothering him even if Damon pressed on the matter. So Damon let him be.

Damon Salvatore and Spike have met over 30 years ago in New York City under extreme supernatural circumstances, that even today, Damon had a hard time understanding. A week after the stunt he had pulled on Lexi Branson, Damon had visited a witch in the Big Apple. She was supposed to enlighten him on how to release Katherine from the tomb, but instead he had ended up sucked into an interdimentional portal. Another plane of Earth, and Damon had been astonished. For once, vampires were slightly different, and the discovery of the various types of demons had left him even more perplexed. For him, demons had been just a myth from movies. But he didn't know any of this until he had tried to feed.

New York, 1977

Damon decided he wanted a snack, and to his delight, he spotted a beautiful brunette hiding in a corner. Her long, black hair flowing on her long white dress, and to Damon's surprise, she had a doll in her hand. He frowned and observed her closely, she wasn't a child, she was a woman, so why did she carry a doll? Damon couldn't understand. He shrugged to himself and approached her, staring into her beautiful green eyes, he started to compel her.

-You are not gonna remember this,- he said softly, but to Damon's surprise, the woman squinted her eyes and smiled wickedly, interrupting his compulsion.

-Pretty boy, playing mind games with me, - she said in a soothing tone, then her voice turned menacing, - silly boy, my blood is useless to you.

Damon was taken by surprise, he was certainly not expecting this. Was she on vervain, he wondered. And before he could say anything, he heard a second voice, a man. British just like the chick.

-Drusilla? What's going on, pet? - the man's tone was half-menacing.

-Spike? Little vampire here mistook me for a human, - Drusilla replied sing-songly, eyes closed and caressing her own neck, she dropped her voice an octave, - my blood is as dead as yours.

Damon realized she was staring at him with wicked eyes. Vampire, he thought. And Damon was even more shocked when he heard what she said next.

- You are a long way from home, you don't belong here, pretty boy, - she said sharply as her forefingers massaged her temple, eyes still squinting at him, - little soldier, bright bubble of light, out of place, far from home.

Hadn't he been a vampire, Damon would have been scared of her. She was creepy, but yet beautiful. He finally saw Spike, who stepped from the shadows. Another punk, like himself, but with spiked bleached blond hair, long black leather coat, and a serious attitude. Damon realized that this guy, in spite of being compact, was someone not to mess with. Which was exactly why Damon itched for a fight.

-I'm impressed, mate, you've got a nice setup here, you live like a bloody king, - Spike said while taking in the massive structure that was the Salvatore Boarding House.

Damon raised his glass and smirked, - Perks of having a wealthy family back in the day and concealing my secret for almost 150 years, - he replied before drinking his bourbon at once.

Damon had been surprised when Spike showed up on his doorstep. Obviously the blond vampire went though something similar as what Damon went through back in 1977. And according to Spike, it had happened almost a year ago, and after some months of being here, he had been tracking Damon ever since he discovered that the vampires in this dimension matched Damon's kind.

-I'm surprised Drusilla is not with you,- Damon asked casually. He remembered having felt jealous of Spike for having been with Dru for almost a century. Back then, he wanted nothing more than to be with Katherine. But that have ever since changed when Damon discovered that Katherine had never been in the tomb, and that she had never loved him. But that was the past. Now he was with Elena, and they were truly happy.

-Dru and I parted ways at the turn of the century, - Spike said calmly, then proceeded to drink his mix of blood and bourbon, and added, - things changed between us.

Damon couldn't help containing his shock, and he couldn't help noticing that Spike had changed, he certainly didn't look like the bloodthirsty animal he had met in NY, which is why he refrained from staking him on sight. During his time in Spike's dimension, he had learnt that vampires didn't have a humanity switch, they were pure predators. And Damon had witnessed first-hand that Spike was relentless, violent and evil. A marvelous killing machine. But since at that time he have had his own humanity off, he hadn't mind it at all, in fact, he had enjoyed it. But now things were different, He didn't want to put Elena, Jeremy and Bonnie at risk, but he could tell that it was as if Spike had humanity, or something of the sort. He decided he would keep a close eye on the blond vampire.

Spike continued before Damon could ask, - fell in love with a bird. A human, a mortal, a Slayer, and I changed. But it was doomed. I'm over it now, been over it for years now.

Damon noticed the sincerity behind the words. Spike proceeded to tell him the tale of how he got his soul back and what it meant; and Damon understood completely, it was similar as having his humanity switch on. Even better, this sort of 'switch' could not be turned off, so Damon and the rest would be safe. He hoped. He remembered, back then, when Spike had told him what Slayers were, and how Spike had been gloating over having killed his second one some days before meeting him.

Spike was still telling his story, when Bonnie and Jeremy arrived, and Damon stiffened, full on alert observing Spike's reaction towards the humans. Just in case, he thought. But Spike merely smiled and nodded his head in a greeting manner. Damon relaxed, and as it started to rain, lightnings striking in the sky, he asked Spike if he wanted to go inside the house. Spike didn't need an invitation, because the deed was still under Elena's name, so there was no magical barrier to stop any vampire from entering, so Damon was merely being polite. But Spike shook his head.

-I like storms,- he said staring into it, silently seeing images from the past, of one particular stormy night. He shook the memory away and added, - but later, sure, I could use a place to crash, mate.

Spike finished his glass of bourbon and remained silent for a second, and Damon simply watched, there was something about Spike that Damon couldn't figure out. Finally, Spike broke the silence.

-Something is happening to me, Damon, I'm changing, - Spike said in a serious tone.

-What do you mean?- Damon tilted his head inquiringly.

-About six months ago, I noticed that things that used to hurt me don't hurt me anymore.- Spike replied somberly.

-Crucifixes and holy water don't hurt you anymore?,- Damon asked, and Spike nodded. -That's a good change, if you ask me.- Damon added, slightly smirking.

-I guess, but I'm not fond of not knowing what the bloody hell is happening to me, I feel different, somehow,- the blond vampire replied.

-What about sunlight? - Damon asked.

-That bastard still sizzles my skin,- Spike replied, clearly upset. Spike glanced at the big ring on Damon's left hand. -Lucky bastard,- he said pointing at it.

Damon chuckled, and a part of him wanted to ask Bonnie to make a ring for Spike, but not just yet, not until he was absolutely sure Spike was no threat. He was fond of the blond vampire. He had been his buddy for two months back in NY, and although nobody could replace Ric, he certainly was itching to have a drinking buddy again, specially one that wasn't a teenager. He was happy that Jeremy was alive, but he hardly qualified for that position, and also Elena would never approve of Jer drinking like a sailor.

-What do you think it's happening? - Damon asked.

-Not a bleeding clue, mate, - Spike replied, letting out an emphatic, deep sigh.

Damon tilted his head, eyes narrowed, pondering an idea. -I'll be right back,- he said and went inside.

Spike listened to the rolling thunder, and lightning zigzagging in the sky. Ever since arriving in this dimension, the memories of a stormy night in 1986 kept creeping in. Without even realizing, for the last six months he had been thinking about the person whom he fought that night. And every day the thoughts became stronger, and Spike couldn't understand why. Sure he had been madly attracted to her, after all, she had been a Slayer, and he always had an obsession with them. Their battle had been brutal, still he had been aroused by her, by her moves, by the fire in her eyes, by her taunts, by how physically close they had been while fighting. Spike realized that if he had not been with Drusilla, he would have sired the Slayer and make her his. He had wanted to do it back them, but he never allowed himself to admit it, because of Dru. He had always been loyal to her. His thoughts got interrupted when he heard Damon coming back. He was carrying a purple plant inside a napkin, and noticed that Damon was avoiding any contact with it. Spike realized it was vervain, he remembered when someone had tried using it on him ten months ago and nothing had happened.

-This is just a hunch,- Damon said and brushed the plant against Spike's hand.

-Son of a bitch! - Spike jerked his sizzling hand away. And then it dawned on him, and Damon realized too.

Spike was slowly switching vampire species.