A/n: I think maybe my muse is a little TOO ready to dish out the updates. It's a little…weird. I've been having these urgings to bleeding finish this or get to the good parts at least. The last chapter was somewhat ucky, didn't like it that much but didn't feel like waiting to get to the goods. I'm just like that you know?

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, my Muse gives her happy waves and treats to all who review her happy work! So read, enjoy and bloody review.

(Oh-and if it's somewhat boring in the explanation department bear with me kittens, I just want to get to the goods you know)

Faith breathed in and shoved her hands through her hair, an act of exasperation that showed most alarmingly on the already confused face.

So much she hadn't thought about in this Slayer gig.

She'd thought it all fun at first, and extremely simple.

Angry?

Go beat the crap out of something.

Feeling alone?

Go beat the crap out of something.

But now…in the face of mortality it seemed everything had crumbled, the whole world had seemed against her.

I should've gone with Buffy on patrol, she'd understand. Even if she is a little too prissy sometimes.

She chuckled at the thought of Ms. Stick-In-The-Mud. Buffy, everyone loved Buffy and she didn't even know how lucky she had it. Every male eye seemed to stray on the blonde wherever she went. She commanded respect, even from Faith herself, and even the demonic world was in awe of this short girl who had defied death and the odds.

But so can you.

Faith stopped walking. Coldness pressed against her skin and whispered across her cheeks. The natural Slayer sense within her became heightened and excruciatingly alert.

Instinctively the stake was pulled up from her waist line and held erect in her left hand; her right was balled and bent at the elbow, her whole stance ready to spring.

"Oh, don't be alarmed. Shush, there's no need for that." The woman had appeared from no where, but she shined in the dark with an ethereal white glow.

Her dark mahogany face was pursed into a sincere smile, the beautiful hazel eyes were almond shaped and dazzling. Curled brown hair pressed against her round cheeks, the silk, diaphanous emerald shawl was draped over a white gown and white slippers embellished with pearls and rhinestones.

There was a bouquet of jasmines in her arms, tucked so lovingly as if a small child was laying there instead of these gorgeous white, sweet smelling flowers.

Faith was in awe. Her knees pulled to the ground and she fell, her head bowed, her hands splayed out before her. There were tears flowing from her eyes from the soaring feel of love beating against her chest. She trembled, her breath hard to grasp.

"Goddess…" She whispered.

The woman smiled again and warmth seemed to flow from every corner of her charismatic face.

"No child, please stand."

Faith immediately did so; her face was still stained with tears, her heart still being overwhelmed with admiration. She closed her eyes as the woman stepped forward; one hand cupped her face like a mother would her child.

"So much pain. I can feel it my child. I will rid your world of this pain, this evil that drives men mad. This horrid, putrid anger that leads men's heart astray. I will show you the divine; I will show you the path to enlightenment."

"Yes, My Goddess," Faith responded, the need to kneel before this being seemed almost overwhelming.

"No. Do not call me that, call me…Jasmine."

"As you wish...Jasmine."

"Her name is Jasmine," Whistler sniffed, his own pudgy face seemed distorted and racked with obvious inner suffering at the mention of the name.

For a moment the smug face was etched with insight and immortal wisdom. He looked like a divine being stuck within mortality, and then his face cracked into a smile that brought forth his regular indifference.

"She is the bringer of total destruction of all you have fought for."

Xander fidgeted, his tongue made a tsk sound against his teeth that came out more apprehensive than he wished.

"Okay, while I'm happy to have all this explaining going on and stuff but-can you make them not paw at each other like animals?"

Spike groaned as if in response.

God, she was all around him.

Her taste was sweeter than honey and pleasurably addictive; the feel of her velvet skin drove him mad.

His lips pressed harshly against hers, snarling as he swirled them around pushing her against the countertop and making her moan as his hands made painstaking paths down her back, arms and across the smooth skin of her stomach hiding beneath her top.

He wanted every last bit of her, he wanted to rip the barriers of clothing off.

Whistler cocked an eyebrow at the display, the stubby features distorted into an arrogant grin and the shoulders lifted into an obnoxious shrug.

"Once again-not entirely my fault."

He sighed and shook his head.

"All you gotta do is pull 'em apart. That should work for the most part. I believe their powers don't have that much affect yet without physical contact. Their abilities will grow in time however."

"Why can't we paw at each other like that, Xander?" Anya complained.

"Ahn…"

"Anyanka! The legendary vengeance demon. Heard a lot about your handiwork had a friend of mine at the brunt of it actually. I b'lieve you tore his eyes out or something…" Whistler stated with a sniff.

Anya smiled viciously.

"Oh! I've torn out a lot of eyes! What color was his?"

"And you date her?" Giles snapped at Xander.

"Hey! She's a wonderful gal…on the inside…deep, deep down….deep, deep, deep down past the years of ripping guys to shred…"

"Hey! Spike…Buffy…pawing at each other over there!" Willow shouted frantically and pointed.

"Oh my God!" Giles snapped and rushed forward, grabbing one of Spike's forearms, Xander rushed forward to help.

"He's as bloody strong as a bull…"

"A bull on steroids and a liter of crack! Where the hell is Faith when you need her!"

Xander yowled as all three of them (including Spike) fell backwards having successfully separated the pair.

Spike roared and pushed himself violently up, his black eyes were practically aflame.

"We were in the middle of something you irritating wankers! Get off my shoe whelp!"

Spike hissed, harshly shoving Xander away with a shove of his boot.

Buffy's wide white eyes blinked and then widened, a shaking hand dashed over her mouth.

"Oh my God! Oh my God what was that?"

Spike smirked; his eyes like darkened pits filled with flames did nothing but assist insinuate his predatory and evocative intent.

"Oh you know what that was, luv," He purred stepping forward-his tongue curled contently underneath his teeth and he jutted his hips forward meaningfully.

Xander was the first to shoot up before Giles had a chance to follow suit. He dashed out between the pair, his hands shot out in front of the glaring vamp.

"No! Stay exactly where you are! No…pawing or other…stuff of any kind! We've got a visitor; don't want him to puke all over Giles' floor."

"Why uh…thank you, Xander."

"No problem G-man."

Giles only glared.

"Visitor, eh? Who's the silly bloke then? Can I eat him for fun?" Spike said, not bothering to look, seemingly fascinated with the blush rising in Buffy's cheeks.

(Stop that)

(Come closer and tell me to my face, cutie.)

(Pig.)

(A sexy, hot pig. You forgot that to say that.)

"Oh you wouldn't want half demon blood…all yucky…"

"Why're you here, Whistler?" Buffy snarled her eyes narrowed and incandescent sparks of green seemed to crash and burn in the background.

Whistler fidgeted.

"I see the change is already happening."

"Change? What bloody change?"

"It's only temporary, and if it's any consolation this­-" he pointed at the slayer and then at the snarling vamp, "was not what we were expecting."

"Well what were the Powers expecting from their puppets?" Buffy snapped.

"Hey! Hey! I'm trying to explain here! Can we all just…cool down?"

The collected party gave him a searing glare, except for Anya who seemed to be extremely bored to no end.

"Alright. There's a prophecy," Upon this point he turned to Giles meaningfully, obviously expecting the Watcher to assist.

"There's always a prophecy," Spike murmured.

"It's from the Scrolls of the Divine, written down by the first and most powerful Seer, a divine being who once walked this earth in the time of the ancients,"

"And what does this uh…prophecy say?" Giles asked civilly.

"Upon this Time, the Time of the Grand Alignment, the Heavens will part and from them a Goddess will walk upon the realm of men. There will be a war of all wars, the apocalypse of all apocalypses, and it will scorch not only the realm of the mortals but those of the immortal and demonic realms as well.

From the stars will walk the Immortal Kin, and by their hand and their hand alone will this Goddess be no more."

Whistler looked at them significantly, his lips pursed.

"As I was saying, or about to say, this foe is unlike any foe you have ever encountered. Jasmine is a Goddess and until recently was a member among the Powers That Be."

Silence, a share of glances was dispatched. Spike placed an arm warmly around the Slayer's hip, confused about whatever was supposed to be happening but knowing it had some profound affect on his Slayer.

He gave her hand a squeeze and kissed the top of her golden locks; she furrowed her brow but leaned into his embrace.

"She's a Goddess? I can't, we can't defeat a Goddess…" Buff panicked, her eyes widened as she literally began to shake.

Spike squeezed her hand once more, sending affectionate waves of calm her way. She relaxed for a moment, her eyes still wide and confused.

"Alright, listen, before you get angry happy on me, promise not to beat me into a bloody pulp."

"Only if we like what you say, mate." Spike snarled.

Whistler sighed in defeat.

"As the prophecy states: only the Immortal Kin will be able to defeat her-"

"Who're they?" Xander piped up.

"They refer to the Ancients, the Gods. You see, along time ago, the Ancients use to be-you could say, the protectors of dimensions."

"They were like the Powers except they actually fought instead of making someone else do the uh-dirty work," Giles clarified, obviously having been informed of the aforementioned subjects.

"Okay, why don't you go bugger up their bloody life then, eh?"

"They were locked away a long time ago to preserve the coming of man. The Powers were once Ancients you could say, but transcended this realm and became observers, watchers and peace bringers of the balance between good and evil."

"So why don't you unlock them?" Giles scoffed.

"It's not that simple. You see, they no longer have bodies, and not all of the Ancients would be…of the…good sort. We didn't want a bunch of uncontained, powerful entities roaming about and possibly causing ruckus after defeating Jasmine. They'd be unstoppable."

"So what the hell did you geniuses decide to do?" Spike scoffed, he still didn't know what the hell the Powers were supposed to be and why he seemed to be closely attached to this bloody charade.

"I was assigned the task of temporarily channeling the collective powers of the Powers That Be to perform a spell. You see the Time of the Grand Alignment, refers to a period where the planets are perfectly aligned.

During this time, a powerful shift between dimensions is caused, it was how Jasmine escaped, it is also how I was able to use the Powers as an energy source for this very, very big spell.

And when I mean big I mean it gave me a migraine, nosebleed and ear bleed big."

"Get on with it."

"Spoil sport.

Anyway, there were two Ancients we knew were perfect for the job: the Heralds of Balance, soul mates and the most powerful of the Ancients. They were the Seducer, Mehick-Death, and the other was a Warrior, Jesbin-Life."

"Wait? You mean they controlled life and death?" Willow spoke up.

"No, no, they were just called that. Thought it was sporty and all since-you know, one balanced the other. The Ancients were just a bunch of clichés."

"Oh."

"I performed the ritual so that the souls or essence of the Ancients would be unleashed. They would find their closely matched counterparts and thusly be capable of adhering to the prophecy.

Except, things didn't go as we expected. We figured that the Warrior would pick Buffy, but we did not expect Mehick to pick Spike. We thought he would pick Angel, since you two were lovers."

Buffy started. It was as if coldness had settled over her soul at the mention of his name, her eyes filled with tears and her hands clenched and unclenched. Spike frowned, for some reason her discomfort and pain was having a profound effect on him, he kissed her cheek and rocked her back and forth against him.

(Don't hurt baby.)

"But he's in hell."

"Not…anymore…"

"What…?"

"We brought him back. The Powers were skeptical about this however, they did not want the balance to be affected. But in the end they decided it was necessary."

"You bastards. When did you do it?"

"Last week, during the alignment of the planets."

"And he's alive?"

"…Yes. Well-as alive as he was before which was…not so alive."

(Don't hurt. I can't stand feeling you this way.)

"And uh, what about their touching and the-" Xander was immediately cut off.

"Eye glowy thingy with the eyes!" Willow interrupted, pointing at her eyes and then at the vampire and slayer.

"It was always known that Mehick and Jesbin were passionate. Very passionate, their need for the other was what kept them so powerful as well as vulnerable. They were halves of one soul, one being, and alter egos of the other. That and their powers are interchangeable. Once they learn how to, they can use the other's powers at will."

"But that doesn't explain the touchy feely!" Xander practically shouted.

"Mehick's other abilities include empathy. I believe that he is inadvertently using it by not only intensifying his own…lust, but Buffy's as well."

"Which means they just want to have sex." Anya perked up.

Giles cringed and Xander winced.

"And as for the eyes? It's just a thing. Divine beings like that sort of flashy stuff, ya know?"

Whistler shrugged.

Xander slapped his head as if something suddenly became clear.

"It's just a thing. There's always just a thing. Why is that?"

"Because honey, if there wasn't just a thing then things would be boring." Anya said with a knowing nod of her head.

"Bloody hell if I'm staying around you gits to save the soddin' world and all that buggering crap. 'M evil, capital bloody E you silly bints. I don' do bloody good." Spike snarled, vamping out.

(You did when you helped me with Angel.)

(But that was different. I was being selfish, just wanted Dru back. Besides, living in eternal hell isn't my idea of vampire fun.)

(Okay…so…why'd you come back, then?)

He looked at her, his face twisted into a grimace but his hands cupped her face lovingly, admiration and affection shined in his blue eyes.

The warm, sincere smile he seemed to be regularly giving her was once more on his angelic face, she traced it with her fingertips, her own eyes confused.

(I couldn't stop thinking about you. Wanted you so badly…I couldn't eat my happy meals-)

Buffy laughed but gave him a stern, reprimanding look.

He smiled, brushing a tendril of hair from her face.

(I couldn't dream without seeing you there. All I could hear was your voice, whispering to me, I could smell you everywhere, like vanilla and sunshine…so sweet. So lovely. So addictive. It was driving me mad...)

His right hand traced a path from her lips to play deftly against her collarbone. He smiled wickedly as she made a small moan, his eyes sparked with interest.

"They're doing it again! Stop it you animals!" Xander shouted.

Buffy wrenched herself reluctantly away, Spike hissed at Xander, making a silent threat to break his neck.

"You will not!" Buffy snapped.

"The hell I won't!" He growled.

An outside, silent display of tensing facial expressions and pointing resulted.

"This is too creepy for words. I hate being on the other end of the conversation," Xander mused.

Willow looked at the two who glared and made several vigorous hand signs. Not once did their mouths move.

"It's wiggy, it's like…it's just creepy."

"Fine, I won't eat the pansy, how 'bout that?" Spike muttered and began to sulk.

Whistler chuckled.

Maybe there was a reason why Mehick had chose Spike after all.

"Listen, I have some more to tell you. You'll have help in this thing; you'll have more adversaries than you can shake a stick at by the end of the day. Here," He pulled forth a leather, brown bag which made jittering noises from the contents within.

"Inside are some amulets. Put these around your necks. Jasmine has powers you can't imagine. Her charisma is the most powerful. If you're not careful she could charm you off a bridge. She'll use her powers to enslave your race, hoping to stop evil in the process. All she'll really be doing is stripping your kind of will."

Giles took the bag and pulled out one of the brass amulets.

"Ugly buggers," Spike said with a snort.

"Well I'll be off then with all my legs and arms attached. Lucky me. Happy hunting-"

"Wait! About Angel-"

Whistler was already gone.

Hope you liked it and everything was understandable. If not, think Jasmine from Angel! If you've seen it you'll know what I mean. Ttfn, my muse says good reading and reviews. Remember, she's under my boot every day writing for you, so try to be sweet to the poor lass and review!