Author's Note: I know I usually put these at the bottom, but I must apologize in advance for the lateness of this chapter. I promise to try to get the chapters out sooner. It has also been pointed out to my attention that it sometimes feels like Oliver is just replacing Buffy when that's not the intention. I mean, yes, I killed off Buffy, but that was merely for the purposes of the story. As you can tell, I've altered quite a bit about the show other than what happened to Buffy. But, despite this, I've made an effort in the chapters following this one (mainly because I'd already typed this one up when I got those reviews) to make the story a bit more original while still managing to loosely follow the story line.

Disclaimer: Sadly, my name doesn't show up in the credits after and before the episodes.


Chapter 4 "Commando's Initiative"

"Women. Young, nubile, exciting." Forrest Gates narrated as he checked out his coeds during lunch. He and Riley Finn were sitting at a table; while the black man was watching the women around them, Riley was busy laboring over a pile of papers. "Each one a mystery, waiting to be unlocked. Think any of them are gonna show? 'Cause the party will be lame if we lack for hotties. Professor?" Forrest sighed as he noticed his friend paying him no mind and coninuing with the papers before him. "You with me?"

"No, I'm with this large pile of ungraded papers, due at three o'clock." At least he was honest about it.

"How are you gonna learn anything if you keep doing schoolwork? Oh..." Forrest grinned as he caught sight of a certain blonde Canadian at the soda fountain. "Check her out. Is she hot, or is she hot?" Riley sighed and turned to see that he was talking about Oliver Northman. She was distracted as she tried to get her card out of her purse and her cup began to overflow with Dr. Pepper.

"She's Ollie." Riley replied as he returned to grading papers.

"Ollie? I like that." Forrest smiled, never taking his eyes off the girl, who was now sipping at the overflow of soda in her cup nervously, trying not to spill it on her baggy tan three-quarter sleeve shirt and white skinny jeans. Today, the blonde had chosen a pair of plain pink Toms to go with her outfit, as well as a dark purple satchel and dark purple studded earrings. "That girl's so hot, she's ollie."

"It's her name, Forrest. Or better yet, Oliver."

"You've established first contact? Excellent. What do you think of her?" Riley's friend seemed way too interested in what he had to say, but Riley sighed and ignored it.

"I haven't really thought about what I think of her."

"A girl that cute in the face and you form no opinion?"

Riley raised an eyebrow as he turned his attention over to the girl they were talking about. She was now at the frozen yogurt machine. "No, I mean, she's alright, I guess. She's just kind of... I don't know. Peculiar." Riley and Forrest turn away just in time for Oliver to accidentally break the handle off the frozen yogurt machine. She gaped at it for a moment, before she glanced around to make sure no one noticed, then proceeded to battle with putting the handle back in its rightful place, although it did not want to go back in.

"Peculiar?" Forrest asked as their other friend slammed his tray full of meaty goodness down and took his seat, immediately digging in like he hadn't eaten in a week. "Hey, Graham, what do you think of the blonde chick? Mattressable, n'est pas?" Graham raised his eyebrows and turned to see that they were talking about the girl he had attempted to go out with at the beginning of the school year. She was still struggling with the frozen yogurt machine, but he didn't seem to notice it. "Riley's not down. Doesn't like her."

"I don't dislike her." Riley retorted firmly. "She just... She never feels like she's really there when you talk to her. I like girls I can get a grip on." He admitted.

"I bet you do." Forrest commented suggestively, producing a grin from their serious friend.

"Not that way. Just a little less ready for takeoff all the time." They all turned and watched as she fled from the site of the frozen yogurt machine, leaving it overflowing behind her. "There's definitely something off about her."

"She is Canadian." Graham stated, finally announcing that he knew her, as well.

"Wait, you know her, too?" Forrest asked in shock, recieving a nod from the boy who was currently devouring a piece of pizza. "Am I the only one who hasn't met this girl?"

"Pretty much." Graham nodded. "Anyway, I asked her out at the beginning of the year, but she... I dunno, she ran off with some other guy before the date really started. He had this bleach blonde hair and wore a black duster."

"Yeah, there's a sign of good taste." Riley rolled his eyes as Forrest continued to watch the girl as she went to the register to pay for her highly unhealthy meal.

"Okay, but you've got to admit she's a major league hottie."

"Well, I'm not denying she's easy on the eyes. I'm just saying..." They all turned and watched as she tripped over her own feet and spilled both her drink and yogurt on the ground. "Would you really want to go out with her?"

"Hell, yes." Forrest responded without even a single pause to Riley's amusement. "I bet a lot of guys would like to get their hands on her."

And to prove his point, a certain peroxide blonde was talking in his sleep. "Slayer... I'll kill you. Not so tough. I...kill Slayer..." He mumbled as he drifted towards conciousness. His impossibly blue eyes flickered open and observed his surroundings, sleep still clogging his vision. He was laying on the floor of a hospital-sanitary white chamber. His eyes widen considerably as he shakily got to his feet and approached the glass wall that also acted as a door. He put his hands to it in order to lean forward and look down the hall. Before he could, he recieved a rather sever electric shock that pushed him back. Spike watched as a man in a labcoat walked passed his room and he walked forward to peer out once more. His brows furrowed at the sight of dozens of other cages much like his own filled with vampires and other demons. This seemed like hell on Earth to the demon kind.


"Hey, guys." Oliver grinned as she entered Giles's apartment and approached where he and Xander sat in the living room. "Ooh... Super Trooper." She giggled lightly at the sight of the sketch that Giles had done based off her description of the commando guy she'd run into.

"It's-it's just for reference, you know. But fairly accurate, you'd say?" The Watcher asked as he munched on whatever he had been eating before she'd walked in the door.

"That'd be him." She nodded confidently.

"Uh...you are patrolling tonight?"

"No way." Oliver shook her head stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Party tonight. Me, going. No fighting involved, hopefully, this time."

"Look, Oliver, somebody's got to find out who these people are." Giles argued.

"Then you do it." Oliver rolled her eyes heavenwards. "Alright. Let me put this in laymen's terms. Willow sad. Party tonight. Girls in dorm want to go. I'm taking Willow."

"How's Will dealing-"

"With the cosmic black hole that is Oz leaving?" Oliver asked with a raised brow at Xander, effectively cutting him off. "It's not working out very well. I've been helping, but it's difficult, so we're partying. Besides, you guys haven't had much to do lately. You go patrol. Now, excuse me, as I need to find a mildly slutty outfit for tonight." Xander opened his mouth, as if to ask if he could go to the party as the blonde turned and waltzed back out of the apartment, but Giles gave him a firm glare.


In actuality, Oliver had a class to get to. Professor Walsh's class, to be exact. Around the end of class, however, her pen exploded allover her fingers, leaving her covered in pen ink.

"Damn..." She muttered to herself as she fought to get her pen back together. Class was almost over, so she sighed and glanced down at her notes, only to see the majority of them were now covered in black ink blotches. "No! My notes!" She groaned and Willow turned to look at her sympathetically.

"Ballpoints can be tricky." She mused quietly.

"That's all for today." Professor Walsh announced and everyone proceeded to pack up their belongings. Willow finished quickly and rushed to catch up with Riley before he could get busy with something else.

"Riley." The redhead called and smiled nervously when he turned to face her. "I noticed you left off a name today in roll call. Osbourne, Daniel Osbourne, Oz?"

"He's not in this class anymore. I heard he dropped out." Riley replied with a curious frown.

Willow immediately frowned in distress and rushed to correct him. "Oh, well you heard way wrong then. I mean, he's not gone. He-he left temporarily to work out a few things. I know that sounds lame in its vagueness, but I assure you, Oz will be back."

"Not to my class, he won't." Walsh stated as she approached the redhead. "An educated guess; you know the rules, you know I hate exceptions, and yet somehow you feel your exception is exceptional." The professor crossed her arms over her chest and Oliver frowned from where she stood off to the side.

"Oh, but-"

"It is. To you. But since I'm neither a Freshman, nor a narcissist, I have to consider the whole class. If your friend can't respect my schedule, I think it's best he not come back." Willow is obviously dismayed at her words, but she says nothing as she turns and miserably walked out of the class, leaving Oliver on her own in the classroom.

"Professor Walsh?" Oliver asked smartly as she approached the cold woman. "You teach human behavior? Can you show any?"

"It's not my job to coddle my students." Walsh replied and Riley watched on in mild interest at what the blonde would say in return.

"Hmm, I guess that makes sense. A professor that teaches psychology? Nah, a pained human being has nothing to do with that." She growled at her professor, but thought nothing of it before she turned and stalked off after Willow.

Walsh was silent as she continued to pack up her own belongings and Riley raised an eyebrow at her next words. "I like her."

"Really?" The TA questioned curiously. "You don't think she's a little peculiar?"


Later that day, Willow was laying on her bed while listening to music. She had her mopey face on, but it turned to slight curiosity when a knock at her door sounded.

"Come in." She called, but her curiousity turned to mopes-ville once more when she saw that it was only Riley. "Oh, Riley. Hi."

"Hi." He smiled, but it turned slightly nervous when he heard the music she was listening to in the slightly dark room. "Gee, I hope I'm not interrupting anything really depressing."

"What's up?" Willow questioned in return as she flipped off the music and he came to stand beside Oliver's bed across from her.

"Right to the point, okay. I was thinking of asking out Oliver." He admitted nervously.

Willow stared at him blankly before she pointed out the obvious. "She's not here."

"I know." Riley sighed and Willow's eyes briefly widdened when she noticed Oliver's bag of weapons on the floor, not entirely pushed under the Slayer's bed. "See, I don't know that much about Oliver, but I'm interested in what she likes and so far, well, the only thing that I know she likes is you."

"What-what do you want me to do?" Willow asked shakily as she quickly stood and headed towards Oliver's bag slowly.

"Just...tell me something. Anything! Just give me a clue to..." He trailed off when he noticed he trying to subtly nudge the bag under Oliver's bed with her foot. "Here, let me help you with that." He knelt down quickly and shoves the bag under the bed to gain her attention better. "Just something that will start us talking, you know?" He suggested as she returned to her bed and he took a seat on the edge of Oliver's bed. "I'm thinking that "How 'bout them Broncos" won't really cut it."

"Okay. Say that I help, and you start a conversation." Willow started as she hugged a pillow to her chest. "It goes great. You like Ollie, she likes you. You spend time together, feelings grow deeper, and one day, without even realizing it, you find you're in love. Time stops, and it feels like the whole world's made for you two and you two alone. Until the day one of you leaves and rips the still-beating heart from the other, who's now a broken, hollow, mockery of the human condition." She pouts at the very thought and even Riley looked a little put out. However, he's determined.

"Yup, that's the plan." He nodded.

"I figured it was." Willow continued to pout in her own depression.

Riley pursed his lips at the look on Willow's face and suddenly remembered that maybe she's not the greatest person to talk to at the moment. Especially with Oz just recently leaving, even though it was a week ago. "Look, if you wanna tell me to go to hell, that's okay. Maybe this is the last thing you want to talk about. I just feel that, well, I've never courted anyone like Oliver before. I don't think I've ever met anyone like Oliver before."

"Why should I trust you?" Willow questioned in return. She didn't want what had happened to her to happen to Oliver. The blonde had told her that she'd never really had the best track history with men. She tended to scare them off when they got to know her because she wasn't really dating material for the majority of them. But if Riley wanted to date her, he had to go through Willow first.

"Just sort of hoping you'd think I have an honest face." He told her with a small smile, but she continued to frown seriously.

"I've seen honest faces before. They usually come attached to liars."

"Alright." Riley nodded with a sigh as he stood. "I guess I'm not gonna win, here. And I appreciate you wanting to protect your friend. I guess, uh...she kind of brings that out in people." He pondered as he turned to leave and approached the door.

"She likes fruit." Willow suddenly admitted. Riley paused and turned to face her curiously.

"What?"

"Well, I'm not saying it's the key to her heart, but Ollie? She likes fruit. Especially grapes."

"That's a start." He smiled.

"She has a stuffed rooster named Rodney. She likes theater plays, but not the musical kind." Willow continued helpfully. "And she's dragging me to this party tonight at Lowell house."

"Oh, you're going?" Riley smiled encouragingly as he sat down beside Willow on her bed. "That's my house. I live there."

"Well, it'll give you a chance to interact...but don't get fresh." She added sternly with narrowed eyes and a pointed finger at him.

"Fresh?" Riley chuckled at the thought of it with a shake of his head. "I don't even know if we like each other yet." It was silent between them, so Willow took the time to observe him and a small smile grew over her lips. He seemed genuinely worried that he'd do something wrong tonight regarding Oliver. She'd never seen anyone that was interested in the blonde act like this before. She hadn't even seen Angel act like this in regards to Buffy. "Hey, does she ever talk about me? Like, has she ever said..."

Willow shook her head lightly. "Sorry."

"That's discouraging." He frowned with a small nod, looking down at his hands. "Still, I feel like I have a fighting chance with my new accomplice."

"I'm not your accomplice." Willow retorted with raised eyebrows, even though she technically was.

"No, no, of course not."

"I'm not!"

"You're not."

"We're clear."

"We're clear."


After their talk, Riley had left to help set up the party and Willow waited for Oliver to show up. When she did, the blonde immediately set out to get ready while Willow sat around and waited some more. Willow had already changed into a different shirt, but she didn't bother with the pants or shoes. She was sure she'd end up moping on a couch somewhere anyways. Oliver, on the other hand, had dressed to impress. She wore a short, tight long sleeves black dress with a pair of gray leggings on underneath in case she needed to fight at any moment. For shoes, she wore a pair of wicked looking black leather high heeled, toe revealing shoes. Around her neck was a loose dark gray scarf and she had a bright red watch around her right wrist. In her ears were a pair of black bow earrings and a wirey heart ring was on her left middle finger.

"Well, at least the place is hopping. No signs of demons, anyways." Oliver observed as she and Willow entered the party.

"Uh huh." Willow nodded her head simply and Oliver sighed at the look on her face.

"Hey, we can leave if you want to. Go binge on ice cream and chocolate?" Oliver was half hoping she'd refuse because she knew that if she ate anymore chocolate or ice cream that week, she'd become chocolate and ice cream.

"No, no, we're here for fun." Willow retorted easily and Oliver frowned, but turned to observe the party none the less. She smiled lightly when she noticed some of the girls from their dorm already partying it up.

"Well, the girls look like they're having fun. You wanna...?"

"I'm gonna grab a soda. I'll-I'll find you guys." Willow replied swiftly, having already spotted Riley and knowing that she had to give him the outfit tutorial for Oliver that night.

"Uh, alright." Oliver nodded with a rapid blinking of her eyes before she turned and made her way to the other girls. Willow smiled as she watched her go before it suddenly turned to a determined frown. She secret ninja-ed her way over to where Riley was standing and leaned against a pillar, facing the opposite direction of Riley.

"Okay, she's wearing the long sleeved dress with the tall heels. That means mostly dancing with taller guys, light contact, but don't push your luck. Heavy conversation's out of the question." She explained helpfully and he listened intently as soon as he figured out what she was doing.

"So what do I do?" Riley questioned.

"Ask her to dance." Willow replied in a 'duh' voice, as if it should be obvious to him from all that she'd just told him.

"Right. Dance. Wait, no." He shook his head and she quickly turned to face him curiously.

"What's the matter?"

"I can't dance." He replied simply, biting at his lip worriedly.

Willow was quickly becoming frustrated with him. "Then talk. Keep eye contact. Funny is good, but don't be glib." He nodded and was about to turn to walk towards the object of his current affections, but Willow continued, grabbing his attention back to her quickly. "And remember, if you hurt her, I will beat you to death with a shovel." He looked at her in shock, so she slowly smiled. "A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend. Have fun." She said as she patted him on the shoulder and effectively shooed him away from her. He gulped down whatever was in his glass before he turned and headed to where Oliver stood in a circle of people.

"Excuse me. Hi." He smiled at Oliver and she returned it easily, leaning back on the table that was behind her.

"Hey, Mr. Tall Dude. Hey, look, you're not so tall anymore." She grinned up at him from the height difference. Rather than being at her usual 5'1", her heels allowed her to be at least five inches taller, which brought her closer to Riley's own 6'2".

He smiled at her nervously. "Um... Oliver..." She raised her eyebrows at him curiously as he paused. "You do the reading on chapter nine?" He questioned suddenly and she smiled slightly with a slow nod.

"Mmhmm." She was curious as to why he'd come all the way over here to ask her about psychology. It seemed strange, even to her.

"Wow, some theories, huh?" He asked, fighting for conversation with her. She just continued to raise her eyebrows at him, so he sighed and held up a grape on a tooth pick. "Fruit?" She smiled with a nod of her head, accepting the small treat.

"I love grapes. Thanks." She grinned as she popped the small piece of fruit in her mouth.

"Oliver, hey." Another boy walked up and Oliver smiled when she recognized him to be from her music appreciation class, Brian. "You wanna dance?"

"Oh, well..." Oliver paused as she turned to look up at Riley. "I was just..."

"No, no, go ahead." Riley shook his head and waved her on.

"Alright. Talk to ya' later?" Oliver smiled and accepted Brian's hand, allowing him to pull her onto the dance floor. Riley watched her go with a fake smile before he grunted and hit himself in the head.

"Stupid." He growled at himself before he stalked over to where he saw Willow sitting by herself. He sighed and sunk down on the couch beside her. She raised her eyebrows at him, having witnessed the whole scene, but didn't say a word. "I can't believe it. I choked."

"You really, really did." Willow responded with a nod of her head.

"You don't understand. I'm good at things. That's what I do. Work hard, apply myself, get it done."

"Well, you failed extremely well." Willow returned with a teasing smile.

"That's a great comfort to me." They both turned and watched as Oliver continued to dance happily with Brian, the added height from her heels making her almost as tall as her dance partner, give or take a few inches.

"You need to relax." Willow sighed. "I mean, you're not proposing. You're just making contact, getting a reaction. Any reaction is okay, except projectile vomiting. But, what are the chances of that-" She paused sadly when she recognized the song that began playing to be a Dingoes song that she definitely recognized.

"Are you okay?" Riley asked, noticing her silence.

"This song..." Willow muttered quietly.

"Oh, yeah, it's a tape of some bands from last year's party." Riley explained, but when he saw the depressed look on her face, he frowned. "Associations?"

"Big."

"Bad?" She simply nodded, so he turned his head towards the guy that was standing next to the stereo. "AJ!" He called out, makinga cutting motion across his neck. AJ simply nodded his head and quickly changed the music, ignoring the large murmer of protests coming from the crowd around him.

"Thank you." Willow said gratefully and then furrowed her brows. "Now, go find Ollie."

"There's no hurry. I mean, if you want to talk." Riley offered. Willow was a friend of his; granted, not as great a friend as Graham or Forrest, but was still a friend. He hated seeing her so depressed all the time.

"No, I.. I want you to find Ollie and tell her that I went home and not to worry about me. Which," she smiled at him sneakily, "at least, will give you something to say."

"Thanks." He said gratefully.

"You'll do fine." Willow smiled and they waited a moment before they both stood, heading in different directions. Willow to the exit and Riley to find Oliver.

"Thanks." Oliver smiled to Brian as they stepped off the dance floor and he handed her a water bottle. Riley appeared over her shoulder and placed a hand there, catching her attention.

"Hey, um, Willow said to say that she took off." He told her and her eyes widened. She began to turn to leave, but he quickly stopped her. "Oh, no, she's okay. Kind of blue, but she said not to worry."

"Thanks for the update." She smiled up at him and he nodded.

"You know... I wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot."

He opened his mouth to ask said question, but before he could, Xander appeared out of nowhere behind her.

"Ollie!" He called, getting her attention and she turned to look up at him curiously. "I've been looking all over for you. We need..." He caught sight of Riley and quickly erased what he was about to say in favor of something else. "Need to talk, uh, not here. It's sort of...unfinished business."

"Business?" Oliver asked with a whine before she sighed and turned to Riley. "Hey, I gotta take care of this. Rain check on that question?"

"No problem." He nodded with a frown and watched as the tiny blonde walked out of the party with another man. Definitely disconcerting.

Xander quickly led Oliver out of the party and straight towards Giles's apartment, briefly filling her in along the way.

"What the hell is Spike's problem?" Oliver asked angrily as she lounged on the long sofa, her feet kicked up. She had taken off her heels in favor of a pair of flain black flats that she kept at Giles's apartment just in case of these emergencies. "This is my town; can he not get that through his thick skull?"

"He's resilient." Giles admitted from beside her.

"Not to mention, I'm supposed to be using tonight to cheer Willow up while making mildly suggestive movements towards college boys."

"I'm sure he'd pick another night if he knew you were busy with Teutonic boy toy." Xander snarked in return, causing Oliver to frown.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Riley's not Teutonic. He's...humble." She nodded her head at the description.

"We have to assume that Spike's main target is you, Oliver." Giles reported as he tried to get the two squabbling children like people in his living room back on track.

"Alright, fine then. I'm tired of Spike's crap. He's a pig and a narcissist. And I'm taking him down tonight."

"You have a plan?" Giles questioned.

"Sure. I go alone to meet Spike, no arguments." She said sternly when she noticed her Watcher about to argue with her before she continued. "I'll lead him away from the public and then I'll introduce him to Mr. Woods-A-Lot." She stated as she stood, holding up her white wood stake that was, indeed, her first stake. It had also been left in Giles's apartment, as well as a small black satchel that she could easily hide it in.

"Oh, wait, wait!" Xander said as he quickly stood and pulled something from his pocket. "Take this." He handed over a flare gun to her and she stared at it blankly for a moment before she sighed.

"Xand, I'm putting a piece of wood in his heart, not making a firework out of him."

"You get into trouble..."

"Alright, alright, I'll flare away." Oliver sighed with a small smile as she placed her stake and the flare gun in her bag, slinging the strap across her chest in the process.

"And we'll come a-runnin'." Xander replied and the two men watched as she walked out of the apartment. "Do you think Spike'll find her?" He turned to Giles curiously. Spike knew how to find Buffy, yeah, but did he know how to find Oliver just the same? All he really knew about her was that her name was Oliver, she was friend's with Willow, and she was blonde.

"I'm sure of it."


Elsewhere, Spike sat in front of a computer. On the floor was a pile of scattered papers, indicating that he'd already looked through those. He was now scrolling down a list of student dorm names and their housing. He knew that finding Oliver would be a tad bit harder because he didn't know her full name. But he was smart enough to realize that if he found Red, he'd find Blondie. So, he scrolled to the 'R's on the list and tilted his head when he found Rosenberg, Willow, room 214 in Stevenson Hall. He vaguely remembered seeing that number somewhere else, so he scrolled back up to the 'N's and grinned smugly when he saw Northman, Oliver, also in room 214 of Stevenson Hall.

Spike leaned back in his seat happily and placed his hands atop his head. "Hello, gorgeous."


Around the same time, Oliver had decided to sit on a park bench in a clearing. She was sitting calmly in her seat, watching the starry sky as she waited. She knew that sooner or later, Spike would show up. He had last time, and she had no doubt that he would do the same this time. She paused cautiously, however, when she heard footsteps walking towards her. She reached into her bag and stood swiftly, but paused when she noticed it was just Riley.

"R-Riley? What on Earth are you doing out here?" She asked him with narrowed eyes.

"Well, I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to you after the party." He replied as he walked around her and swiftly took in their surroundings before turning to face her once more. "You left so fast. You know, with your friend. Who's a boy."

"Xander?" Oliver asked with raised eyebrows. "He's...he's just a friend. Nothing more. Um... Actually, you know what, no he's not, so you should just leave. I need time...alone." She hinted non-subtly, but he didn't catch it and just furrowed his brows.

"Why?"

"I need oxygenized...space."

"We're outdoors."

"Emotionally." She replied easily. "My brain needs ozygenized space. Mmhmm. And you, sir Tall Person are in my oxygenized space."

"You know, there's plenty of space back in your room. Why don't I take you? You wouldn't believe the weirdos out at this hour." He stepped forward to take her arm and she quickly jumped back.

"Nope, nope, nope. Hey! This is a free campus and I believe I should be left to walk on my own!" To prove her point, Oliver stomped her ballet flat in the grass.

"I'm just trying to help."

"I don't need a man's help!" She scowled before she turned and flopped back down onto the bench. "If you were a real man, you'd accept defeat and realize that I want you to go away and leave so, shoo! Go away. Now!"

"Are you drunk?" Riley asked bluntly with furrowed brows.

"Yeah!" Oliver grinned up at him. "You should go report me to the school peoples."

"I'm taking you home, come on." He reached down to pull her up, but she popped up before he could and pushed him away slightly.

"Maybe I should take you home! Huh, ever think of that? Girls are the damsels in distress and guys get to be the shining heroes?" She asked quickly, desperate to get him away.

"Yeah." He replied, just as bluntly as earlier and she pouted, narrowing her eyes up at him.

"You are so Teutonic." She admitted to him and he sighed, obviously thinking that she was actually drunk. In actuality, this was just how Oliver was on a regular basis.

"Look, Oliver, as long as you're out here, I'm staying."

"Same goes for you, buster." She remarked with her arms crossed over her chest. Their eyes widened and they turned towards the sound of a sudden scream. They then turned to face each other. "See ya'!"

"Gotta go."

It was said at the same time before they ran in different directions.


Meanwhile, Willow was laying in her bed once more, again listening to depressing music. There's a sudden knock at the door, but Willow couldn't be bothered to break her moping session and called out.

"Come in!" She looked up and gasped when the one and only peroxide vampire waltzed in, shutting the door behind him swiftly. "Spike!" She said in immediate alarm as she stood straight. "Wh-what do you want? Uh, a spell? I can do that." He just shook her head and turned to walk towards Oliver's side of the room, observing how she lived at the moment. Willow took his momentary distraction to her advantage and made a run for the door. Spike was too quick for her and quickly made a grab for her, throwing her back against her bedside table, effectively knocking over a picture frame and almost breaking the lamp set up there.

Spike smiled threateningly as he observed her before he slowly made his way toward her. "I'll give you a choice. Now I'm gonna kill you. No choice in that. But... I can let you stay dead...or..." He trailed off slightly as he let his face morph into that of a vampire's. "...bring you back, to be like me." He proposed. He didn't do that often. He was a firm believer in the annoying staying dead, but he liked Red. She had spunk and innocence, but she didn't treat him like a monster the last time he had come to visit. No, she actually sat down and talked with him about Dru. Though, she had technically been under his close watch at the time and he could've snapped her neck at any given moment, but she still talked to him. Not many would do that.

"I-I'll scream." She warned but he simply grinned.

"Bonus." He then went for her neck, but she let out a banshee leveled scream, causing Spike to growl and throw her onto her bed. He quickly turned her radio up to the highest level it would go to before he pounced on her.

"No!" She immediately began to fight against him, but he just chuckled and easily ignored her tiny, weak fists and went in for the kill. He barely scraped her neck with his teeth before he howled in pain and quickly rolled off her. Willow watched in shock as he cradled his head in his palms and took a seat at the edge of her bed. The redhead took a deep breath and slowly inched away and didn't stop until her head hit the wooden headboard of her bed. He was rubbing at his head, so Willow reached over and turned her stereo off quickly.

It wasn't long before he spoke up. "I don't understand. This sort of thing's never happened to me before." He admitted as he rubbed at his left temple.

"Maybe you were nervous." Willow suggested.

"I felt alright when I started." Spike sighed, then took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders back. "Let's try again." Before Willow could even process those words, he leaped at her once more with an feral growl. He drew back before he could even get close to her neck with another howl. He rolled back to sit where he had before, but he wasn't giving up. A second later, he tried once more, but the same thing happened. "Ow! Damn it!" He cried as he got up and roughly kicked at the bedside table. He then proceeded to pace the room like a cornered animal. Willow watched him in confusion for a moment as she tried to think of a reason of why he couldn't bite her. He was trying; he was really trying, but he couldn't seem to get to the actual biting part of the biting.

"Maybe you're trying too hard." Willow said before she questioned, "Doesn't this happen to every vampire?"

"Not to me, it doesn't!" Spike growled in return before he continued to pace back and forth, looking around as he did so.

Willow frowned as she tilted her head to the side. "It's me, isn't it?"

"What are you talking about?" Spike asked curiously with narrowed eyes and a furrowed brow.

"Well, you came looking for Ollie, then settled." Willow explained, shaking her head. "I-I... You didn't want to bite me. I just happened to be around."

"Piffle!" Spike retorted with a wave of his hand.

"I know I'm not the kind of girl vamps like to sink their teeth into. It's always like, "ooh, you're like a sister to me," or, "oh, you're such a good friend"." Willow frowned at the topic, not even realizing that she was trying to find reasons why a person like Spike wouldn't want to bite her instead of simply being glad that he couldn't.

Spike frowned with a hand on his hip as he observed her. She was really depressed over this, wasn't she? That was a first for Spike. Usually girls were thrilled that he didn't bite them. She seemed to truly take it to heart, though. "Don't be ridiculous." He told her as he came over to sit beside her again. "I'd bite you in a heartbeat."

"Really?" Willow asked.

"Thought about it." He nodded his head.

"When?" She questioned curiously.

"Remember two years ago, you had on that...fuzzy pink number with the lilac underneath?" He raised his scarred eyebrow suggestively at her and a smile grew across her face, the first true one in a long while.

"I never would have guessed. You played the blood lust kinda cool."

"Mmm, I hate being obvious." Spike shook his head. "All fangy and "rrr!" Takes the mystery out."

"But if you could..."

"If I could, yeah." He nodded his head, causing Willow to smile again.

"You know, this doesn't make you any less terrifying." She supplied helpfully and he scoffed, shaking his head.

"Don't patronize me." He replied with your basic whiny tone. He sighed once more and placed his forehead in his palms. "I'm only 126." He admitted, thoroughly displeased with these new turn of events.

"You're being too hard on yourself." Willow sighed. Lately, she seemed like the one helping other people out with their love lives instead of the other way around. She was helping Riley with Oliver and now she was helping Spike with blood. This was turning out to be a weird week for the redhead. "Why don't we wait a half an hour and try again?" She seemed to suddenly realize what she was saying as she watched him snort and shake his head. Was she seriously offering her blood to this vampire if he could bite her? What?! "Or..." She trailed off as she reached over, picked up her lamp, and smashed it over the vampire's head. She wasted no time in running for the door to get out, but it wouldn't budge. The lights went out, confusing both Willow and Spike, whom had stood soon after she had made it to the door. It wasn't long, however, until the door was busted down, so the redhead quickly raced out the door, running into three commando men on the way out.

One of the men quickly pointed a gun at her, but another stopped him.

"No, hold your fire!"

Spike rushed out of the room and slammed one of the commandos into a wall, poised to strike.

"It's on me!" The commando cried, but Spike pulled back when pain shot through his head once more, just like it had with Willow beforehand.

"Move!" Yelled another commando and another rushed forward with a bag and pulled it over Spike's head, pulling him away from his fellow soldier. "Bag it, tag it. We're gone."

"Sir. Civilian." One pointed out Willow, who was cowering in a corner, watching everything going on fearfully. "Could have turned."

"Leave her." The one that seemed to be the leader ordered, but the commando had already pulled Willow to her feet.

"We can't neglect quarantine, sir!"

Spike quickly broke free while the others were distracted and made a grab for a fire extinguisher, smashing it over a commando's head. Another went to shoot him, but Spike held the extinguisher up and it's shot instead, filling the hall with carbon dioxide gas. Willow took the chance and quickly crawled back into her room.

"Stop her!" The commando who was saying that she was a vampire ordered before he went after her himself. "She's contained."

"Contained, huh?" Oliver asked from behind the commando, gaining his attention, before she fired off her flare gun. Because the commandos were all wearing night vision goggles, they were instantly blinded by the flare as it bounced around the hall, so Oliver was able to successfully fight them without them figuring out who she was just yet. Oliver kicked a commando in the chest and sent him flying backwards.

That gave her enough time to shove Willow out of the hallway, into their room, and out of danger. One of the commandos leaped towards her and shoved her into a wall. While the Slayer and commandos are distracted, Spike took the chance to escape, so the other two soldiers chased after him. Oliver stood once more and dodge a kick, a punch, and then followed it up with a punch of her, which landed in the commando's face. She ushered him into a corner and landed about a dozen quickly repeated punches to his stomach, but he quickly shook it off and punched her in the face. The punch pushed her back into a wall, but she quickly bounced back reached down, pulling a folding chair out from behind and slammed it straight down on his head. As he was still winded, she took the chance to deliver a roundhouse kick before she flipped him over and onto the floor. He rolled back to his feet and stood, ready to fight once more before he realized that something wasn't right and slowly backed away.

"Abort!" He called before he and the others took off down the hall. The lights flipped back on and the doors unlocked, so Oliver spun around and quickly went to check on Willow. The redhead met her at the door worriedly, but Oliver simply smiled and ushered her back into their room, closing the door behind her firmly.


The following day, Oliver had to wake up and go to class. She certainly didn't want to, but she knew she had to. What happened last night definitely wasn't helping with Willow's already shaky psyche and now they had to go to their classes as if nothing had happened.

"Hey." Riley called as he approached her and she smiled lightly, pausing to let him catch up. "Listen, sorry about last night."

"Nah, hey, I was acting weird, myself, last night." She smiled as she remembered their less than normal conversation in the clearing. She definitely seemed more high than drunk, but he'd gone with drunk, so she had went along with it. "I just really wanted to be alone for a while last night."

"I hear that. Gotta be careful, though. Lotta strange...people out there." Riley agreed as he remembered his own occurrences from last night. He'd essentially gotten beaten up by a small, thin person in the pursuit of a vampire. It was definitely strange.

"Definitely." Oliver nodded.

"How's Willow doing?"

"She's alright. I mean, that stupid fraternity prank last night didn't necessarily help out."

"That's right. I forgot you guys live in Stevenson." Riley mused.

"How'd you know that?" Oliver asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, Willow and I were... I thought she might be able to help me on a project." He smiled.

"Really? Did it work out?"

"Don't know yet."

"Oh!" Oliver suddenly shouted, causing Riley to jump as they stopped walking and she smiled up at him. "You wanted to ask me something last night, didn't you?"

He paused in thought before he smiled. "Oh, yeah. Very important stuff. I don't remember any of it now. But you would have been fascinated, possibly even moved." He assured her and watched as her smile grew into a full blown grin that nearly knocked him off his feet. "Did Willow tell you I like fruit?" He asked, his mind suddenly gone to goop and then some.

She giggled lightly, licking her lips before she shook her head. "You know what, Riley Finn? You're just a tad bit peculiar."

He grinned with a nod of his head. "I can live with that." The two then continued on their way to class.


Author's Note: Yes, I know I already put one :3 But this is my usual one. You guys like it? And I will say this now, I am not that big of a fan of even the idea of Riley Finn. I mean, he and Buffy were cute, but I can't really see him with Oliver for as long as they were together. I suppose we'll just have to see, huh? ;3 Anyways, please review! I will try to have the next chapter out within the next week or so :3