A/N : So, the Prologue has setthe scene for my story, and pretty well it seems since it got such a huge and positive reaction! Hopefully Chapter 1 will be as thrilling for you all, as we move forward a few weeks, and I start to introduce the main point of the story...
(For disclaimer, etc.- see chapter 1)

Chapter 1

"Hey Buffy" Willow smiled as her friend came running down the stairs in clothing that looked decidedly break and enterish, "You going out to patrol?" the red-head guessed.

"As always" the Slayer nodded as she went over to her weapons chest and got herself a couple of stakes, a small axe, plus a knife to strap to her leg.

"You expecting a bigger bad than usual?" Tara asked, glancing away from the movie she and her girlfriend were watching on TV, all snuggled up on the couch for the evening.

"I don't know" Buffy shrugged, "I had this weird feeling last night... it's probably nothing, but I thought someone or maybe something was watching me" the Slayer sighed, "Like I said, probably nothing, but it's good to be prepared"

"You want a little back up?" Willow checked but Buffy forced a smile and shook her head.

"No thanks, I'm fine" she assured them, knowing Spike would have her back like he always did should she need his help, "You guys enjoy your night in" she said as she let herself out of the front door and closed it behind her. She took a breath and the fake smile fell from her face.

There were days when she still considered explaining about Dawn to her friends, but those thoughts didn't last long. It would get so terribly complicated, and besides extensive talking about her little sister only led to tears and badness, which she was getting so tired of. Buffy so desperately wanted to be happy but right now, there didn't seem to be much to grin about, what with her Mom gone, and Dawnie, bills mounting up, and the part-time jobs she and her friends had barely covering the essentials.

"The sun sets and she appears" his smooth English-accented voice said in the dark and Buffy found she could find a small but genuine smile as the bleached blond stepped out of the shadows.

"Hello, Spike" she said as he approached her, crushing a cigarette butt under his boot as he did so.

"Must be slipping, pet" he said, hands in his pockets as he walked alongside her, "Didn't even know I was there til I made it obvious"

"I had things on my mind" she said awkwardly, "Besides I'm so used to you being around these days..." she trailed off when she realised what she was saying.

She was indeed used to having Spike be there when she needed him, and when she didn't too, but she'd almost told him that she liked that fact and that would never do. As much as she was glad to have someone to run to, someone to find comfort in and talk to about those she'd lost, she didn't want him to know she needed him or wanted him around too much. If she leant on him too heavily, and the day came when he walked away, like all the others had, Buffy didn't know how she'd cope. Better to keep the evil vampire at arms length, she told herself, even if it was difficult to remember most of the time that Spike was in fact evil.

"So, what is it tonight then?" the bleached blonde's voice broke through the thick fog of deep thoughts in the Slayers mind, "General hunt for my kind, or something a little more interesting?"

"I don't know exactly" Buffy admitted, "I mean, anything gets in our way, obviously it's kill, crush, destroy but as for specifics..." she paused a moment, stopped walking and looked around, "You ever get that feeling like you're being watched?" she asked and Spike frowned slightly.

"Not as a rule" he admitted, "Got the senses I have, you smell any bugger who's coming your way long before they get close enough to spook you" he told her, "You reckon somethin's tracking you then, pet?" he asked and Buffy shook her head.

"No, I... I don't know, it's just this feeling I keep getting" she said, looking all around and finding nothing but the shadows of the trees and gravemarkers like usual, "I'm probably just being paranoid" she said rolling her eyes, "We haven't had a Big Bad since... since Glory" she said glancing away and then back again as she kept her emotions in check as best she could, "It puts me on edge. I expect something to happen and when it doesn't... it's just not abnormal enough"

"Slayer" Spike smirked, "You are the only woman I know who worries more about the lack of trouble than you do the actual evil"

"Actual evil I can handle" Buffy sighed as they resumed walking through the cemetery together, "Can't kick the ass of something you can't find or identify"

"Or that isn't even there" Spike added.

"Lucky for us, something is here" Buffy said suddenly as a pair of vampires approached them, fangs bared and ready for a smackdown.

The Slayer and her vampire companion pulled stakes from the jackets at almost the exact same moment and dropped into fighting stances. The vamps didn't stand a chance.

"Think those vamps we got earlier might be the only action tonight" Spike said, sounding almost disappointed as he and Buffy crossed through their third cemetery of the night.

"Yeah, seems that way" Buffy sighed, sounding equally as let down.

Both of them it seemed had been looking for a decent spot of violence, a release for the emotions they bottled up so much. For the Slayer it was grief and guilt over Dawn, worries about bills and the latest breakage at the house, namely the major leak in the basement. For Spike it was also partly about Dawn, but the rest of the feelings he had to hide were for the woman walking beside him. It was a sweet kind of agony being a friend of the Slayer. Though he got to be close to her, got to talk to her and hold her and be her special confidante, he still wanted more. He loved her, and though she bore his presence these days, even wanted or needed it at times, she would never love him back, he knew that. Still, he'd never give up on the dream that one day she might feel something for him.

"So, do we call it a night or..." Spike's sentence tailed off, expecting Buffy to say that she'd be heading home now, only she didn't.

"Or, what?" she prompted, asking him to suggest another option as they reached the cemetery gates and stopped there.

"Er, well, we could go somewhere else, get a drink or something?" Spike suggested, wondering why he felt so stupidly young and awkward right now, like a soppy teen asking out the prettiest girl in town.

"I could use a drink" Buffy nodded, almost smiling til she saw the distinct look of hope in Spike's eyes, "but this is NOT a date" she emphasised overly much, pointing a stern finger his way so he understood how serious she was about it.

"Never even crossed my mind, pet" Spike told her, hands up in surrender as he lied his ass off!

Of course he thought of this as a semi-date, let's face it, it was as close as he was ever likely to get, not counting the bogus stake-out last year that had made the Slayer go completely off her bird as he'd tried to confess his love for her.

"Earth to Spike!" Buffy called, waving her hand in his face as they walked along, "God, where were you?" she asked, wondering where his mind could've wandered to, obviously far away from what she was saying.

"Nowhere you'd wanna hear about, pet" he said sadly, painting on a smile right after, "So, where to for this non-date of ours then?"

Buffy smiled inspite of herself at his phrasing.

"I dunno, not the Bronze" she decided, "Somewhere different, somewhere... well, where do you go?"

"You serious, luv?" Spike asked her, stopping walking for a second and tilting his head as he stared at her, "I mean, there's likely to be trouble if I take you some place where I'd go by myself, 's what I go there for of late, a beer and a punch-up"

"So long as it has demons I can hit, it works for me" was the Slayer's reply.

She had the insane urge to pummel something and the local vampire and demon crowd hadn't been too forthcoming in the three graveyards she'd patrolled with Spike. A drink and a brawl, her vampire friend was always telling her of the great times he had with that was his evening's plan, maybe it was what she needed to, a release from the general ups and downs of her Slayer life. Besides, there was a chance she'd hear something about a new Big Bad in town, something concrete to confirm or dispel her suspicions that someone or something was out to get her.

As the credits rolled on the movie, Tara nudged her girlfriend slightly who seemed to somehow be asleep with her eyes open.

"You okay, sweetie?" she asked Willow who suddenly snapped put of her daze, eyes flitting to the TV.

"Oh, the movies over" she mumbled, before looking at Tara who had a concerned look on her face, "Huh?"

"I said, are you okay?" she repeated, flipping off the TV, "You were all kind of otherwhere. Is something worrying you?" Tara checked, as Willow snuggled in closer to her girl, her head resting on her shoulder.

"I was just thinking about Buffy is all" the red-head admitted, "She stays out a lot longer on patrol lately and... and I think she's been sneaking out of her window when she thinks we're asleep"

Tara considered what her girlfriend was saying and realised she was right. Indeed, she too had thought Buffy might've been going out late at night via her bedroom window , but she didn't feel it was any of her business so she hadn't mentioned it at all. As for the long patrols, well that she hadn't paid quite so much attention to that really.

"And she's so quiet all the time, and kinda thoughtful maybe" Willow continued, "It's like ever since that day when we beat Glory she's been disconnected or something"

"Well, it was the biggest apocalypsey situation she's faced, wasn't it?" Tara checked, "Maybe coming so close to the end has affected her"

"Maybe" Willow agreed, closing her eyes and enjoying the peace and comfort she always felt when she was in Tara's arms, "Am I being over-worrisome?" she checked, eyes flicking open again. She just couldn't lose this feeling that something more was wrong with Buffy than she knew.

"Maybe a little" Tara told her carefully, never wanting to upset her girl, "But you know if you think there's something wrong maybe you should ask Buffy about it, see if she wants to talk. At least that way you'll be there to help if she needs it, and if not it'll put your mind at rest"

"You're very smart" Willow grinned, lifting her head up from Tara's shoulder and looking up into her eyes, "It's one of the many reasons that I love you" she said softly and the blonde smiled too at that.

"Well, I love you too, always" she replied, before the two kissed.

"You think we should wait up for Buffy?" Willow asked when they parted.

"We could, if you want to" Tara nodded. The red-head considered it a moment, before smiling widely once again.

"Or we could do what I really wanna do" she said with a look in her eye that told her girlfriend exactly what she was thinking.

Linking hands they headed for the stairs together, to enjoy a night of love. Still, Willow couldn't help but think of Buffy as she went up to her bedroom with Tara. She hoped she wasn't having too bad a night. Willow really did hate to think that her friend might be alone out there, and upset.

"Oh my God!" Buffy could barely breathe she was laughing so hard, and the fight she'd just been a part of had taken it's toll on her ability to process oxygen too.

She stumbled slightly as she came out of the door to the bar and leant against the wall to regain her composure.

"Now that was fun" Spike grinned as he joined her, wiping a spatter of blood from his face as he walked around to lean against the side of the building, next to the Slayer.

"It really was" Buffy agreed, her breath returning by now, eyes sparkling with excitement, and a smile on her face.

"Glad you enjoyed yourself, pet" Spike told her honestly.

She'd been so down since her sister had made the ultimate sacrifice and left the mortal world behind, it was nice to see his Slayer smile and laugh like this. It'd been too long.

"Fun was most definitely had" she assured him, nodding her head as she pushed off the wall and made to take a step forward.

One foot did not co-ordinate so well with the other and she stumbled somewhat as she moved.

"Are you bloody pissed, Slayer?" Spike checked, head tilting to the side as he watched her move this way and that, when she was really trying for a straight line.

"Why would I be angry?" she frowned as she turned to look at him.

Swinging her head around so fast only served to make her more unstable and her knees gave way of their own accord. Before she managed to crumple to the ground, Spike was there beside her, arms catching her when she fell and standing her upright once again.

"Pissed as in drunk, you silly bint" he explained, rolling his eyes, "I thought you only had a couple of drinks?"

"I did" she nodded, "A couple of large drinks" she giggled madly and Spike couldn't help but smile.

She looked so happy, carefree, and innocent, like the young girl she ought to be, if her destiny had not been decided in advance.

"S'pose I better walk you home then" Spike said, as he began to lead her, her hands gripping onto his arm so she didn't lose her balance again.

"Home" Buffy echoed with a sigh, "Doesn't feel much like home anymore" she said so softly that it was only because of his vampire hearing that Spike knew what she'd said at all.

Poor bint seemed to have passed through both the happy and violent stages of her drunkenness and was headed straight into the melancholy stage. He could do without it, he much preferred the upbeat parts of being drunk, both for himself and for her. God, she'd been fun in that bar, and completely up for the fight when a gang of demons had realised the Slayer and her sidekick vamp were in their very own hangout. Four vampires and three assorted demons that were nothing more than mutilated corpses and dust in the wind when Buffy and Spike were done with them. Then she'd gotten the giggles, the bleached blond had got her out of there as quick as possible, realising that if any more evil doers came forward, wanting revenge for their mates, the Slayer was probably in no fit state to play tag-team with him.

"Wherever I wander, there's no place like home..." Buffy was singing quietly and drunkenly to herself, Spike realised, as his ears tuned back into the world around him.

"Come on, pet" he urged her when she slowed down in her walking, "'S getting late, or early" he considered as he sensed the sun was less than a couple of hours away, "And if I take you home in this state the folks might just stake me good and proper" he said, more than himself to her since she was not so much listening as still singing, off key and the same few words over and over since she clearly didn't know any more lyrics, "Looks like you're stopping with me tonight then, Slayer" he told the oblivious young woman as he walked her towards the cemetery where he resided.

From the shadows a figure watched the pair with an amused smile on her face, also singing softly in the dark.

"Run and catch, run and catch, the lamb is caught in the blackberry patch..."

To Be Continued...