Author: Bitten And Staked

Title: Star Crossed - Chapter Two - Moonlight and starlight.

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Summary: Buffy works out the stresses of life on some unwitting demons, Spike knows when not to interfere and lets her take command. Heading over to Spike's cemetery Buffy settles down for a quiet night under the stars.

Timeline: set in season 6 shortly after Buffy has come back from the dead. Buffy and Spike head out on patrol and it all starts turning a little romantic.

Series: Part 2 of 4

Pairing: Buffy and Spike. Romance, I love you.

Rating: PG13

Disclaimer: everyone else owns Buffy and all associated with her.

Feedback: always welcome so email me - webmaster@talesoftheslayer.com

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There was only one demon this time so Spike hopped up onto a tomb and let Buffy take charge. She looked like she needed some release as she rushed head long at it. Spike crouched low then smiled as he watched her, the demon was almost twice her size yet she was giving it hell as she pummelled it with everything she had. Right now she was a precise killing machine but Spike knew that she would soon tire and at that moment she would look to him for the axe he held. Knowing full well that chivalry got him nowhere with Buffy he wasn't going to help unless she asked, interrupting her kill was a sure way to get him sent home and he didn't want to pass another night alone.

She gave him an almost imperceptible nod and Spike launched the axe over to her. Catching it in her hand she swung it hard lopping the demons head clear off, as its body began to fall to the ground Buffy had already spun on her heel and started walking towards where he sat.

She moved deliberately slowly so she could catch her breath; it had been a good fight. Watching Spike as he crouched on the tomb, leather duster fanned out around him and the moon dancing on his skin making him milky white, she thought that he looked like a typical gothic horror vampire. Coming to rest in front of him he turned his attention down at her, cool blue eyes the only colour about him, they always made Buffy feel a warmth inside that she had only recently become comfortable with.

She dropped the axe onto the tomb beside Spike and stood rubbing her hands together, he could see her breaths coming quickly in the cold night air. Smiling at her from his perch he thought she looked so beautiful in the pale blue light of the full moon, skin drained of colour she looked more like the vampire than the slayer.

"Could've helped." She muttered as she extended her hand to him in a way that said 'onto the next cemetery'.

Spike took her small hand in his and jumped to the floor. Standing up straight then stretching he raised an eyebrow at her.

"What and ruin your little death match, I think not. I've done that before and got bruises to prove it was a bad move." He started the walk to his cemetery knowing it would be quiet tonight since he had already vacated the place of demons earlier this evening.

"I suppose you're right. You always did know how to read me. I probably would have lopped your head off too." She smiled at him; it was a mixture of laughter and pain.

Spike used to be able to read her easily but these days the lines of Buffy were getting increasingly mixed, she had begun to look at him in ways that he didn't have an easy explanation for and thoughts ran through her eyes that he couldn't decipher.

On entering his stomping ground Buffy knew it was going to be the quiet one of the four, he always tidied up before leaving it each evening for her house. This was always the place she could find the peace she was searching for. After skirting the perimeter they headed into the centre of the graveyard coming to stop at a small crypt that always offered a good view of the surroundings.

Spike had vaulted to the flat stone roof before Buffy had even contemplated sitting up there tonight. They often sat up there and talked on quiet evenings it was always a good look out point in case anything showed up, that way the bad guys wouldn't get the better of them. She saw his hand reappear over the edge.

"You joining me or are you going to sit down there all night?" He poked his head out and looked down at her with a mock frown. She took hold of his hand and placed her foot on the low railings helping him haul her up to the roof.

"Joining, see." She moved to sit at edge of the crypt and swung her legs back and forth like a child.

He smiled as he came to rest besides her placing his hands either side of him at the edge of the roof, eyes searching the cemetery.

"Looks quiet tonight."

"It's always quiet here, you make sure of that and don't deny it." She poked his thigh playfully.

"It's not for you, just asserting my authority that's all."

Buffy laughed and lay back on the roof, she loved the way he tried to cover things up by using macho excuses.

"Pretty." She exclaimed waving her hand across the stars as if trying to reach out and touch them.

The sky above them was crystal clear and full of a billion twinkling pin pricks all shining down upon them. Spike lay back to join her, bringing his hands to rest behind his head. The moon was beginning to set and every single star in the Milky Way was out in force, not a cloud touched the heavens as far as the eye could see. He stared for a while, losing himself among all the glory of the universe as it lay there before him, a damned soulless vampire yet he was the only one there who could think of a million words that would do justice to the beauty of the night.

"What you thinking?" Buffy's voice was quiet and distant; she was absorbed in perusing the stars above them, tracing little shapes with her eyes.

Spike turned his head to face her, watching her little mouth open in a sigh. Small hands resting on her abdomen, clasped together with fingers interlocked almost in the form of a prayer. His mind began to wonder if she was thinking about when she was dead; her attention was completely with the heavens and not with the earth. He thought it fitting that she would have been in heaven, she was an angel to him more stunning and glorious than the stars above she would have added to their beauty a million fold. He sighed.

"So fucking beautiful."

It made her giggle that a confessed poet couldn't think of something more romantic to say about the heavens, then she realised he wasn't looking at them but he was looking at her. It struck a chord deep in her, it was a brutal statement clear and free from unnecessary words, it was pure feelings. She turned her head to face him and saw in his eyes no sign of regret at telling her that way, he didn't want to play games with words that were only half meant, he was being honest with her.

"Nah." She smiled warmly at him as her insides felt like she had just leapt into a volcano, body hot and flushed.