Déjà Vu and Adlib Too.

          "Have a nice day," Willow smiled handing the woman her bag and shutting the cash register.

          The redhead had been cornered into 'shop sitting' the Magic Box that night while the others went out to the Bronze. Giles was there but he was busy doing inventory and sorting through that morning's shipment. Jotting down the items just purchased Willow glanced around the Box and wanted to scream.

          It was a complete and utter disaster area.

          Before filing out for the night the Scoobies had opted for a 'quickie' research session and never bothered to clean up afterwards. Tables had been shifted and chairs placed everywhere except under the tables. Books, notepads and paper lay all over the floor, on the tables and in the chairs. Snack food wrappers and soda cans had been dropped onto the floor or knocked over on the tables and Willow was sure those stains weren't coming out. Grinning to herself Willow wondered if Giles would pay her extra for 'maid service.'

          Willow loved her friends, really she did, but sometimes she thought they had about as much sense as an earthworm – and cleaned up about as much. Grabbing the trashcan beside her foot the hacker moved to reorganize the Magic Box. After tossing out all the garbage Willow pushed the tables back to their places and tucked the chairs under them then re-shelved all of the books.

          Exhausted, she dropped down into one of the chairs, leaning her head against the wall. Looking at the clock Willow groaned – she was bored out of her mind and wanted nothing better then to join her friends at the Bronze. But she had promised to help Giles and Willow never broke her promises.

          "Damn me for being so honest," she mumbled to herself.

          "Oh, I don't know pet," Spike responded from the doorway. "I kind of like that quality about you."

          Sitting up Willow smirked, "Well, if you like it then who am I to argue?"

          Returning the smile Spike pointed up and asked, "Where's the bell?"

          Standing Willow laughed. "Are you kidding? That thing drove me nuts so," she glanced to the blond vampire, "I took it down."

          Letting the door slide shut Spike chuckled, "Ooh, aren't you the little rebel?"

          "I'm all kinds of bad," Willow responded.

          Sauntering over to couch Spike took off his duster and draped it over the arm, collapsing onto one of the cushions. After re-shelving the last of the books Willow joined Spike on the couch, crossing her legs and tilting her head against the back. For a time the two sat in silence, content simply to be there.

          "So red," Spike finally spoke. "How's life?"

          Laughing, Willow shook her head and started to tell Spike about the 'happenings' of her daily life. The undead blond added his comments here and there or inserted some sarcastic remark. Willow talked for hours about school, research, her friends. Anything and everything she wanted to get off her chest she did and despite his smartass nature Spike was a surprisingly good listener and offered, on occasion, some genuine advise.

          By the end of the night, and by the time the Scoobies had returned, Willow was seated cross-legged on the checkout counter, her back to the door, with Spike leaning over the counter, his chin resting on his fist. Giggling the redhead jotted something down onto the notebook she held in her lap, paused, then read what was written. None of the Scoobies heard what was said but they all heard the two laugh and watched Willow nearly rolled off the counter.

          "What's so funny, Wills?"

          Wiping away the tears from her cheeks Willow slipped off the counter. "Adlib," she waved the notebook in front of her.

          "Oh," Buffy responded glancing at her friends. "So, do you guys want to go patrolling?"

          Both Spike and Willow shrugged. "Sure," they answered in unison.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

          "And that one there," Willow was saying pointing to the black sky, "is Vega, the fifth brightest star in the sky. It's name means 'swooping one'."

          Spike and Willow, who were supposed to be patrolling, were walking through the cemetery side-by-side not paying the least bit of attention to their immediate surroundings. Xander and Anya had headed in one direction and Buffy and Riley in the other leaving, not surprisingly, blondie and red together.

          "Just over there is Deneb, 'tail of the hen' and Altair, 'the flying one' which, along with Vega, make up the Summer Triangle, see?"

          Nodding, Spike lifted his finger and outlined a star cluster asking, "What's that one, pet?"

          Willow smirked. "Hercules."

          Spike glanced at the redhead, arching an eyebrow. "Really?"

          "Uh-huh," Willow looked back up into the sky, enthralled by its pure innocence. "According to the myth Hera, Queen of the Gods, determined to make trouble for Hercules drove him mad and in his delusion Hercules slew his own wife and children."

          "Not the brightest bloke, was he?"

          "Shh," Willow scolded the blond vampire. "So, to expiate his deeds Hercules prayed to the god Apollo who told Hercules that he must serve Eurystheus, King of Tiryns and Mycenae, for twelve years in punishment of his murders. And as a part of his sentence Hercules had to perform twelve Labors, feats so difficult they seemed impossible. Fortunately for Hercules he had the help of deities Hermes and Athena who were sympathetic towards him and always showed up to help him. By the end of his Labors Hercules was Greece's greatest hero."

          After a moment of silence Spike asked, "What were they?"

          Shaken from her skyward trance Willow shook her head, confused, and looked to Spike. "What were what?"

          He laughed and elaborated, "The twelve Labors."

          "Oh," Willow smiled counting off her fingers as she spoke, "Kill the Nemean Lion. Destroy the Lernean Hydra. Capture the Cerynean Hind. Um, Capture the wild boar of Erymanthus. Clean the Augean stables in a single day. Drive away the Stymphalian birds. Uh, Capture the Cretan bull. Capture the man-eating horses of Diomedes. Bring back the girdle of Hippolyta. Capture the cattle of Geryon," pausing she tried to remember the final two Labors. "Oh yeah. Bring back the Golden Apples of Hesperides and, um, capture Cerberus the three-headed dog of Hades."

          "Bloody hell," Spike murmured. "Seems a bit much, eh?"

          Standing on her toes Willow peered over Spikes shoulder then looked at him. "Um, blondie? We should probably finish this conversation after dusting the two vampires standing behind you."

          Arching an eyebrow Spike turned around and shrugged. "Whatever you say, pet."

          It took only a matter of minutes before the two fledgling minions were nothing but a pile of ash but when the fight was finished Spike refused to face Willow. Nudging him to turn only agitated the vampire and he actually growled at the redhead. Stepping back Willow tilted her head and saw the blood on Spikes cheek.

          "Oh my god, Spike you're hurt."

          Shrugging away her touch Spike growled, "I'm fine."

          Frustrated and so over Spikes two-year-old attitude Willow spun the vampire around. "No you're not."

          Still in full game-face Spike tried to shrug out of Willow's grip but she wasn't budging. "Bugger off," he muttered.

          Smirking Willow waited until Spike finally realized that she wasn't letting go and stopped fidgeting. "You're such a baby sometimes," she said. "You act as though I've never seen you're 'grr' face before."

          "But you shouldn't have to," Spike said.

          Arching an eyebrow Willow asked, "And why not? It's as much a part of you as this damn duster," she smiled. "You're a vampire, Spike and you have a demon. Did you think I was complete oblivious to that fact? Do you not remember the whole kidnapping bottle-in-the-face incident?"

          Spike winced at the memory. "Oh yeah."

          "Oh, come on," Willow said. "I thought it was you're shinning moment."

          "You're such a smartass."

          Using the hem of her sleeve Willow dabbed the blood from Spikes lip. "No kidding?"

          Spike couldn't help but smile. Willow was different from the other Scoobies. She didn't try and ignore the demon in him like her friends – she accepted it as a part of him. The redhead was neither surprised or frightened to see Spike with his 'grr' face. Willow didn't see him as 'Spike the homicidal killer' or 'William the Bloody of the Scourge of Europe' or even 'William the Man'. Willow saw him, simply, as Spike – she looked at with no presumptions or pre-conceived notions or ideas. He was just Spike.

Sighing, Spike surrendered and allowed her to examine the wound. "Thanks, red."

Willow shrugged. "For what?"

The blonde smirked suddenly. "Déjà vu, pet."

For a moment Willow was confused then she remembered their star-gazing the other night and how their conversation had ended. "Anytime, blondie," she turned on her heel and started walking further into the cemetery.

Chuckling Spike followed.