"What the hell are you doing here slayer?" Spike flicked his cigarette onto the floor, leaving it behind for a student to grind out the still burning end. He stormed down the table-lined aisle until he reached the steps leading up to the platform at the front of the room.

"Spike?" Buffy stared in shock as he stood in front of her, only a few feet away. "What the hell are you doing here?" She tossed the question right back at him and for a minute they both stood still and silent just staring at each other. Someone had to say something. Every single eye in the very large hall was fixed on the two professors. Buffy felt as though she were about to pass out and Spike felt like killing something. Finally someone took the bold initiative and spoke up. It wasn't the fierce slayer and it wasn't the ferocious vampire. It was the timid but powerful Wicca.

"Spike, what're you doing here, now?" Willow gently pulled Buffy back a few feet.

"I'm a professor here." Spike's voice took an almost smug tone for a moment but then his face melted into a scowl. "Why do I feel like the old guy got us tangled up in a bloody setup?" He turned his glare pointedly at Dumbledore.

The old professor shook his head solemnly. "Professors, please excuse retire this conversation to the lounge. Students, finish your meal and then please dismiss yourselves to your dormitories." Dumbledore frowned at the two professors and motioned for them to follow him and the other professors. Willow tagged slowly behind.

Buffy and Spike walked beside each other. They were both obvious tense and they couldn't stop glancing at each other uncomfortably. The walk to the teacher's lounge seemed endless and so many times Buffy wanted to break down and scream or cry or something, anything to make all the terrible nerves in her stomach stop knotting. Finally they arrived. Dumbledore led the way into the room and waited for the professors to each find seats before beginning his explanation. Buffy was not exactly in the mood to have a discussion with her ex-sex-partner in front of a room full of magically powerful strangers.

"Professor Dumbledore, I don't mean to be disrespectful or anything, but, umm, could Spike and I maybe talk alone?" Buffy asked meekly.

"I want you both to understand why I have brought you here." Dumbledore silenced her with his simple statement in his gentle but commanding presence.

"Okay," Buffy responded and sat obediently on the edge of a couch. Spike stayed standing, leaning against the wall for balance.

"I am aware of the past between you, Miss Summers, and err...Mr. Spike." Dumbledore stared pointedly at the two. "I am also aware of what you are Miss Summers, as well as what you are Mr. Spike."

Spike cleared his throat and interrupted. "Alright, first off, enough with all this Mister business. I'm not a bloody Mister. I'm Spike, got it? Just Spike."

"God Spike, could you be anymore consumed with yourself? You're so disruptive. Shut up already." Buffy shook her head in frustration.

Dumbledore waited for the two to end their spat before continuing. "I brought you both here because our school is in a great need of the expert strength and skill the two of you contain." He now shifted his focus from the two of them to encompass the entire group of professors. "Something is coming. Something is rising. I am not sure, as of yet, what it will be when it arrives, but it will be bad. It will be dangerous. It will be one of the most horrible things any of us have ever encountered."

"You sound like Giles! Were you a watcher in a previous life or something?" Buffy interrupted without thinking.

"Now who's the disruptive one?" Spike remarked snidely.

Buffy realized that she had rudely interrupted the old professor and she quickly apologized. He continued with his dramatic speech. "Mr. Giles recommended the both of you to me, as well as Miss Rosenberg for her magical strength." He glanced at the redhead who was beaming from the compliment. "I need you all to be prepared for whatever may happen. I do not want the students to have any cause for worry. Do you understand?" Dumbledore waited for everyone's nod to assure him. "Alright, you are dismissed. I would like to speak with Miss Summers and...Spike...for a few moments alone." The professors began filing out of the room. "You may remain if you wish, Miss Rosenberg." Willow glanced at Buffy who nodded and she stayed seated.

"What's up, Prof?" Spike pulled a cigarette from an inside pocket in his jacket and lit it with a candle that decorated a side table.

"For the two of you to assist with the arriving danger, you must be able to abide together in this school harmoniously. Whatever has passed between the two of you previously, you must move past it in order to dissolve any possible tension that could exist. I do not want the students to know anything about your prior lives." Dumbledore turned to Spike. "Especially you, Spike. I do not want the students to know that you are a vampire."

"Fine." Spike shrugged. "Are we done here?"

"One more thing," Dumbledore continued. "Within the next couple weeks, there may be a few more professors leaving and new professors joining us. I need for all three of you to be flexible in teaching arrangements during this time."

"Professor, can I ask why so many Professors are leaving so suddenly. And also, why are the students not allow to know?" Willow asked carefully.

"That is all I have to say this evening. You may retire to your quarters now." Dumbledore opened the door abruptly and stood aside to allow them to leave. Spike exited immediately while Buffy and Willow more slowly stood and left the room, nodding goodnight to Professor Dumbledore on their way.

"Well..." Willow didn't know what to say after that long lecture. The girls glanced down the hallway and could see Spike just turning around the corner. He was obviously in a hurry to get away from them. "That was..."

Buffy sighed. "Awkward."