Disclaimer: I spotted him in the corner of my eye. Tight leather pants and a wife-beater would catch anyone's attention on this guy. I approached him, asking to buy a rose for a friend. "Okay," Joss answered. "Just remember, all your base belongs to me." He was right, it did. The show belongs to that redhead, no matter how much I write. He gave me the thumbs up, and a ten dollar rose.

Feedback: Thanks for all the feedback so far. It fuels me to write more. As for the Lindsay/Kate request, this is mainly a Buffy/Spike fic.. but they might be able to make an appearance. :)

"Five more minutes, Xan," Buffy concentrated on a file, then scribbled something down on a piece of paper. "I think I'm on to something," she said.

"Buff, it's lunchtime. The gang'll be waiting for us. You can come back to your oh-so-exciting research later."

Xander put his hands on Buffy's desk, facing her. She relaxed, and looked at him.

"It's just that this case is so.. it gets under my skin, is all. There's something about this guy that--"

"We can talk about the case when we get back. Let's go already."

Buffy leaned on the counter, looking up at the menu.

"Miss, you're holding up the line."

"Maybe that'd happen less often if you get a shorter menu. I'll take a Tall Iced Caffè Latte," she answered.

"I'll just have a Tall Hot Chocolate, please," added Xander.

Buffy glanced at the line next to her, helping herself to an eyeful of a man ordering. Bleached blonde hair, a bit ruffed, topped a face with chiseled good looks and gorgeous blue eyes. He wore a leather duster over a black shirt, which was tight over a perfectly lean figure, and a pair of black jeans. With a look like that, Buffy knew he was ultimately a cop or a criminal. Something in that general circle.

"Buffy?" asked Xander, snapping Buffy out of her trance. "Let's go."

They got their drinks and headed over to the table.

"A bit stressed today, Buffy?"

"I guess. Why couldn't we just go to Dunkin' Donuts? It's so much less hectic there."

"What with all the cops? With which to discuss your case? Geez Buffy, take a break."

"Still," Buffy complained, "You know you want a donut right now."

They sat down at their table, inching along the rest of the crew.

"Yay! It's Buffy! Look guys, we have a Buffy!" exclaimed Willow, as she resisted the urge to clap.

"Finally! We haven't seen you around since--"

"Thanksgiving. I know, Anya. I just have this huge case and I'm--"

"No no no, Buff. We're not going to talk about the case that took you away from us for a month," said Xander.

"Yeah. Do you know how much my shopping has suffered because of your absence?" Cordelia added.

"Okay, sorry guys. We'll talk about something else. What's been going on for a month in the lives of my trusty friends?"

Xander sipped on his hot chocolate, and yelped immediately afterwards.

"Xander, blow on it first," Willow instructed with concern.

"I know. It's just I always forget."

Buffy's phone rang.

"Ugh, sorry guys. I have to take this. Hello?"

"Buffy?"

"Giles, what's up?"

"Emergency meeting. We just discovered something that'll give you the opportunity to go undercover."

William Kinney watched the blonde hang up and leave her friends. "Nothing short of beautiful," he thought to himself. With plain blue jeans and a white tank top under a brown leather jacket, she probably didn't care much about her appearance. Still, something that utilitarian looked like a million dollars on that girl.

"Sir?" the cashier was hesitant to shout at him, as he was holding up the line in his daydreaming. "Your Tall Iced Caffè Latte?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, thanks mate."

He took the drink and headed out the shop. Spikey was late for work.