Title: Acting on Impulse

Author: Marishna Abforth

Rating: I am going to say PG-13 over-all, perhaps R later but I've never written anything of the smut nature, so I don't know how R-rated it'll get.
Disclaimer: I own it all. except for the stuff that I don't own. which is all of it.

Summary: Total AU. Buffy is about to star in her first major motion picture! Then she meets her co-star with a wild-boy reputation and there is instant dislike between the two stars. Can Buffy and Spike set aside their differences long enough to make Buffy a star and have a little office romance?

Can anyone tell me how to format these things so they aren't SO close together (the lines)? It's quite annoying to upload 6 times to get it right.. Blarg!

REVIEW PLEASE!!!

~*~*~*~* Part 1: Plane Ticket to Stardom ~*~*~*~*
"We're not going to crash. We're not going to crash." Buffy Summers chanted this mantra over and over in her head as the plane rocked to the left just a little. She hated flying.

"Ma'am? Are you alright?" A stewardess stopped by her seat, seeing Buffy's clenched hands on the seat.

"Can I get a rum and coke?" Buffy asked, hoping the alcohol would take the edge off her fear.

"I'm sorry but we don't serve alcohol this close to the end of the flight." The stewardess smiled and moved on. Buffy closed her eyes as the plane pitched again slightly.

"OK. I just have to say something." Buffy turned to her left to look at her seatmate. He was a grinning twenty something that looked completely oblivious to her discomfort. He wasn't horribly bad looking but he was beefier and taller than she liked her men to be, not that she wanted to get involved with some random guy from a flight, but it never hurt to look.

"And that is?" She asked, trying to be nice. The guy had been quiet through the whole flight thus far.

"I LOVED you on 'Demon Hunter'." He gushed.

"Thanks, glad to know you watched." Buffy's stomach took a nosedive in reaction to the shifting plane again.

"Do you think the show will be coming back on-air?" The man asked.

"No." Buffy silently cursed whoever put her on this plane, and then sighed. She knew why she was on this plane, it was all for her career. She flashed back to the moment that got her on this plane.
* * * * *

***There was ringing, but where was it coming from? Buffy thought hard to try to figure out what that God forsaken noise was. Has she fallen asleep in class again? No, that wasn't it. The ringing kept going. Could it be the bell on set to clear the stage? No, she didn't have a job right now, and why would she be sleeping on set?

She rolled over and realized it was the phone ringing. She groped for the handset of her portable, not able to see properly because she had a sleep mask on. She flopped back on the pillows and answered.

"This had better be the King of freaking Blissdonia to be calling me this early." She muttered into the phone.

"Buffy, it's almost eleven in the morning." The voice chirped back at her, being a perky little snot.

"Willow?" Buffy pushed her sleep mask off and squinted at the bright sunlight streaming into her room.

"Buffy everyone else in the world is up right now, rise and shine pumpkin." Buffy knew that she would have to strangle her best friend at some point in her life, she just didn't know that it would be over how perky she was in the morning.

"Yeah, well not everyone in the world was up until 4 a.m. getting Vulcan ears glued to their head, were they?"

"Four in the morning? Good god. You finished shooting though, right?" Willow Rosenburg was not only Buffy's best friend but also her manager. Willow had taken a public relations course in university, along with business and had agreed to help Buffy out while she started her acting career. So far she hadn't done too bad a job and she had managed to take on a couple other people as clients.

"Yeah, signed, sealed and delivered. or filmed, printed and aired. almost. What's up with the early morning shout-out anyway?" Buffy climbed out of bed and stretched before making her way through her small apartment to the kitchen. She started the teakettle boiling for some instant coffee, not up to the task of using the percolator.

"Got some pretty cool news this morning. I think you may want to name your first born after me."

"Well dish, girl! And no offense to you Will, but I don't think I am naming my kids, should I ever inflict the terror of my offspring on the world, after flora or fauna."

"Well, I tried anyway. Are you sitting?" Willow grew more excited the more she teased.

"Just spill already!" Buffy screamed.

"Ok, remember that part you tried out for about three months ago? The movie about the thief who falls in love with her hostage/partner in crime?"

"Yeah, damn part went to Julia Stiles. Bitch."

"Not quite. She didn't work out for the part, so the studio called me this morning and offered you the part cause you were neck and neck with her for the role! How much do you love me?" Willow shrieked into the phone. She didn't hear anything from the other end of the phone.

"Buffy?" She heard a crash on the other end of the phone being dropped and hysterical screaming in the distance.

"Omigod! Omigod! Omigod!" Buffy jumped up and down in her kitchen, screaming at the top of her lungs. "Willow!" She picked the phone back up and yelled.

"What did I tell you? Unborn child naming worthy, eh?" br br

"You can name it Rumplestitlskin for all I care. I love you SO much!! You are THE best!"

"This could be your big break, Buffy. This could launch you into the stratosphere!" Willow screeched.

"I can't believe it!! This is AMAZING! I thought that my career was dead after 'Demon Hunter' got cancelled. I thought that I couldn't act." Buffy sat on a stool in her kitchen and bit her lip. She had done it.

"Too bad 'Demon Hunter' was too much like that other demon show with the female lead. God forbid we have too many strong female characters in show business." Willow said bitterly. Buffy had to laugh. Since her best friend had declared she was gay she had been a walking crusade to get better-portrayed females on TV. Buffy knew why 'Demon Hunter' got cancelled, and it wasn't just because television executives were afraid of strong females. it was because the show sucked- bad.

"Well it doesn't matter now, does it? Cause I'm going to Hollywood!" Buffy shrieked again, jumping slightly on her stool. She motion caused her perch to wobble and tip over with her still on it. She hit the floor with a loud thud on her back.

"Buffy?" Willow yelled. "Are you ok?"

"Will? What kind of medical coverage does the studio have for klutziness?" She asked, laughing as she stood up. ***

* * * * *

And so here she was, on a plane to Los Angeles where she would be starring in her first big motion picture. She had had a few other smaller parts that didn't require many lines or acknowledgements of her talent so this part had indeed come out of the blue. This was her big chance to prove to the world that Buffy Summers was an asset that no one could pass up.

It was also her time to prove that she was going to be a big star, not just the 'chick on the demon show' or the ex-girlfriend of popular TV star Angel O'Connor. They had been broken up for a year now, after he decided that he wanted to break out into movies and needed to be an available mover and shaker. The available part meant for all the hot young women he would be meeting. It hadn't stopped him before to go after other women when he was with her, but once Buffy found out it had obviously taken the fun out of it for him. She was set to break out on her own and blast past him to show him and the world that she didn't need a man on her arm. This was HER time.

"I saw you on 'Star Trek: Enterprise' last night, you know?" The man in the seat next to her wouldn't shut up. Buffy was normally very pleasant to people, especially her fans- the few that she had. But on a plane was not the best place to be talking to her. The man didn't know that so she just smiled at him and hoped that he would take the hint.

"We are now approaching our destination of Los Angeles, California. Could everyone please return their seats to their upright positions and buckle up as we land. Thank you." The captain's voice mercifully came over the intercom and it gave her a chance to look busy.

The man didn't talk to her while they descended, but waited until they had finally walked off the plane.

"I'd hate to bother you again, but I was wondering if I could get your autograph? I was going to ask you on the plane, but you looked a little tense." He smiled at her, shyly.

Buffy smiled back, happy to be back on solid land more than anything. "No problem. Truth is, I'm not a good flyer. " He smiled back and gave her a piece of paper to sign with a pen.

*Hope you had a good flight! Best wishes, Buffy Summers*. She signed her name with a flourish and gave it to the grinning man.

"Thanks so much! I can't wait to show everyone. At my university we all loved your show." He gushed as they walked through the corridor to the airport.

"Glad to hear it." She smiled at him. Buffy had never expected anyone to be this interested in her life, especially after the less than stellar career she had had so far. This gave her hope. She knew that there had been a cult following of the show so maybe this movie would be it. Her ticket to the world. She was now immensely grateful to the man she had met on the plane.

"What are you working on now?" He asked her, not wanting to press but eager to hear more about her. He had fantasized about her since her show had come on the air and was almost crushed when it was cancelled. Demon Hunter had made a great drinking game.

"Actually, keep your eyes peeled. I'm about to shoot into the stars. It was nice to meet you." Buffy shot one last dazzling smile at him as she walked away to get her luggage.

*Like it or not world, here I come.*