"...and you must behave properly" said Joyce to her children.

It was the day of Buffy and Spike fifteen birthday. Well, kind of.

Without the spell Buffy would be celebrating her thirty birthdays today. In his previous life Spike was always lying about his age (or maybe he was just bad at math), so no one really knew how long he walk on this earth or what day exactly he was born. Or reborn. Joyce tried to asked Angel about it, but first he frowned, then started brooding, then quickly excused himself and passed by the board for six months. By the time he came back Buffy had his second sixth birthday and leaving Spike without a cake seemed unfair. So why change something that works? Joyce was raising them not only as twins.

And teach by experience Joyce knew when it's good to play "I'm your mother and I know what is right for you" card.

"Understood?" she asked severely.

"Yes mum." Spike and Buffy muttered reluctantly.

"Definitely no alcohol and absolutely no human blood," she said. Rules are rules and it's good to repeat them from time to time, even though she didn't believe her kids would be able to break this one. Or at least the blood-part. "Both of you!"

"Ugh, okay mum." Buffy yawned. "We'll be good mum" Spike reassured her.

Okay, so now the hard part.

"And be sure you're back home by eleven" she said finally.

"But... mum!" Buffy groaned. She was shocked. "I'm *the* slayer!"

"And I'm creature of the night, remember?!" Spike backed her up. It was so unusual these days she almost pulled back.

"And we're fifteen!" they wailed together.

She'd be strong, she'd firm. She'd find a way.

"You want your pocket-money this week or not?"

"MUM!"

"Well?"

Buffy and Spike were supposing Joyce already had this talk with Xander and Willow and they were going to be at the front door eleven o'clock sharp, so they agreed with a sight to keep up appearances. Nevertheless Spike whispered on a side "we need a raise, Buffy." "Sure we do" she whispered back. Felling good as long as they had this firm brother-sister alliance against all grown-ups, they went smoothly with their caretakers to the Bronze.

Buffy knew that she, Willow and Xander were best friend in the past. She saw the pictures and she had some glimpses of memories also, but it was really difficult for her to, well, to really feel they were close in that way once. They both were so much older than she was, both knew much more about world and - as she discovered some time ago - that they knew so much more about opposite sex! Well, Willow knew a lot about both sexes, what made her even bigger in Buffy's eyes. She just had to look up to them. That's why she started treating them like an aunt and an uncle when she was little, aping Spike of course. He, on the other hand, really made friends with both of them, even if according to family legend their beginnings were rather harsh. Willow still called him her favorite little boy, forgetting he was already taller than she was. She always had some homemade sweets in her pocket for him. Buffy thought it was some kind of an obsessive-compulsive neurosis, especially since once - asked outright - Willow blushed and muttered something about cookies, bear, Thanksgiving and feeling guilty. Spike didn't care, he could eat all amount of sweets. No Red Vines were safe when he was on hunt. And when Xander had finally broken up with Anya, Spike agreed (for a fee of course) to be his wingman - or, as Buffy saw it, as his mascot. But she had to admit that Spike knew how to be cute when he wanted. And when Xander came back from his first date with a human nine there was born something shaped like man solidarity between them. And that was something.

But tonight Buffy and Spike were looking for someone else. The Bronze had the best gig in years: *Dingoes ate my baby* came to their hometown and worldwide famous Oz, the guitarist of the band and long-term friend of Scoobies was going to play. The Summers siblings already were popular, but after that night even seniors will be *so* envy. Who cared they have to be home by eleven. Buffy and Spike were going to take as much profit as they could.

They left adults and mixed in the crowd beneath the scene, soon separated by dancing people. It seemed like all cool kids were there – and most of not cool were there, too. Buffy felt like a true star of the evening, and when Oz simply announced "Reborn" picking her out on a stage the world just exploded. What a night!

The concert was halfway through when band announced a short break. Buffy sipped some beer from someone's glass smiling brightly to the surprised owner. His name was Clyde and he was a quarterback of the school football team and a junior. And she already saw herself as a lead cheerleader. And the opportunity was too good to be - - -

"Spike?! Oh God, you scared me" she sent Clyde another charming smile and – gripping Spike's wrist very firmly - - quickly went away from the crowd. "You promised me you'll never creep me up like that, you punk!" she snarled at him quietly. "You're dead cold! What made you think I wanna see you tonight?!"

"If I'd bite you know, which rule I'd be breaking, the "no human blood" or the "no alcohol", how d'you think?" Spike asked smirking.

"Shhh...!" She made eyes and pointed this whole what's-his-face to him. Geez, why she's got so bad taste in man? "And yuck! Could you stop being gross for five minutes at least? You know I like him!"

"He's a doofus" Spike shrugged indifferently. "And now I know you can't even touch a beer till you're really old."

"Oh you bloody bastard! Say why?"

"First, it's a shame, Slayer, you didn't know I'm behind you. Second, 'coz it's enough I'm aware you're not a decent woman, there's no need every poof in the world knows you swear like a sailor," Spike had a great time, he loved to piss off his sister. And she *really*can swear like a sailor, the volley of curses he's going to interrupt in a moment surprised even him. Well, well, who'd've thought. Little Buffy Summers is bad to the bone? It's a shame he's not recording it, he really should. He could blackmail her, threat he'd let mum listen the tape. She'd do everything for him. Just everything.

He'd never had to wash dishes again. Or make laundry. Or even clean his room. Goodbye economics assignments! Farewell geometry! Damn, he really should be taping it.

His sudden fall from the Neverland back to earth was caused by a sharp pain in his chest.

"What are you doing with your elbows?! Are you insane?" he almost shouted at her, but she already gagged him with one hand and showed him to stay silence with the other.

"Listen," she whispered right to his ear "It's Willow and Xander, and Oz backstage. They speak about us, can't you hear?"

He could. There was only a thin curtain between thick, even an ordinary human could hear what the people on the other side were talking about.

"... y'know, I kinda still feel responsible for what happened" it really was Oz. Spike could've swear the man was less distant than usually. "I shouldn't leave so suddenly, it was too cruel, now I know that but then, well."

"No, you mustn't feel bad!" It was Will of course, immediately soothing every hurt and broken soul. There was something unhealthy between those two, normally even she is less intensive. "It was my fault, it was totally mine!"

Out of the corner of her eye Buffy saw Spike pulling a face. She knew her brother treated Oz with a cold reserve. He said it was a vampire – werewolf thing. She suspected he was simply jealous of how fond Willow is of her old boyfriend.

Boys.

"If I wouldn't do that spell..."

Spell? They looked each other in the eye. Okay, it may be really informative.

"We don't know what would happen, Will" Xander, the knight in shining armor. "You know how they were, fighting all the time. Even when Spike already had this chip in his head."

"You have a chip in your head?" Buffy whispered surprised. Spike looked shocked. No wonder why.

"You told them to say that?" He asked annoyed. She shook her head. "Is it a stupid joke of some kind," he continued whispering "first you beat me, then you threat me?"

"And tell me please, please tell me, how long a normal slayer used to live?" Xander sounded half sad, half angry. "How many slayers celebrated they twenty-five birthday?"

Okay, maybe now Spike will stop murmuring so they could listen something more about - Wait, what?

"So she would be dead like, how long?" still Xander "Five years by now?"

"Spikey..." Buffy was petrified. Dead? What does he mean by dead? Like dead dead or undead?

"Xander, stop this" Willow plead.

"No, someone has to tell it loud and clear if you two still blame yourself!" he was almost yelling now. Almost, 'cause – even in Sunnydale – you don't speak about some things easily. "Because who do you think would kill her if not Spike, who already slayed two other slayers? Huh?"

That was enough. Spike wanted to tear this curtain off and beat the crap out of him, out of both of them, he could do it, he was stronger and he has every right to do it, they're saying blunt lies and he could beat them black and blue till there's only blood and lifeless corpses without faces, they were so wrong, so, so wrong go there at once and tell them that was a lie, that they were wrong, so wrong...

But there was Buffy. Trembling. And her warm hazelnut eyes were almost black now, so wide, so -

"Buffy. No. Please, Buffy. Please - "