"Who are you?" Buffy asked calmly. She stared at the girl that had entered her adopted room.

"I see you." River said eyes wide.

"Tends to happen when you look at someone."

"You were there too."

Buffy looked up at these words, "Where?" She asked anticipating the answer, "Are you River?" She asked drawing back Mal's words from earlier.

River cocked her head sideways and stared at Buffy, her face not showing anything of what she was thinking. "Did they hurt you too?"

Buffy turned her head away from River, "Yeah." She said quietly, biting her lip.

"They hurt me too." River sat next to Buffy. "Are you smart?"

Buffy looked at River, almost annoyed, "Yes."

River matched Buffy's look, but only held it for a second before returning her expression to its usual inquisitive state, "You look confused." She stated simply, seeing Buffy behind her eyes.

"I am." Buffy said sighing, almost tearing. "I don't even know where I am."

"You're here." River stated as if this were obvious.

"Where's here?"

River rolled her eyes and giggled. She matched Buffy's look of annoyance and confusion for a moment.

"That's a good question." Spike said hanging in the doorway. Both River and Buffy stared up at him. River's eyes grew wide, and Buffy's expression didn't change. As Spike took a step into the room, River dashed out, apparently wanting nothing to do with him.

Spike sat on the bed, next to Buffy. He wore one of Mal's button up shirts as his was bloodied. They both sat in silence for a few moments, both soaking in what they knew would come, an awkward conversation. Neither knew where to start, both wanted answers, but were afraid of the questions that would follow.

"Where am I?" Buffy asked quietly, not looking up from her daze.

"A ship. Firefly, I think. Didn't get a good look at it before jumpin' in."

"We're not on the ocean." Buffy said looking at the room. She knew where she was, but she couldn't admit it to herself. It was impossible.

"No." Spike replied, "No, we're not." His thoughts stirred, she was alive after all this time, how could she have so many questions.

"Where, then?" She asked, regretting it, knowing the answer.

Spike paused. This was Buffy, the slayer. She looked, talked, and acted like he remembered. But somehow it felt wrong. She shouldn't be the same after all this time.

"You, uh, you changed your hair. You didn't bleach it." She said after his delay.

Spike's eyes looked up. "Yeah." He said putting a hand on his head, "I guess I stopped doing that a long time ago. Almost forgot I used to."

"And your accent. You don't sound, you lost your accent."

"I did?" He asked listening to his words, "I guess I did."

"Is this another dimension?" She asked as if it hit her just then, that this was a possibility.

Spike stared at her. She stared back, it was a serious question. "No." He answered but then corrected himself, "I mean, I don't think so. It's the same one I've always been in."

Buffy looked away. Spike turned his head. As much as it felt like nothing had changed, too much had. Things were different. "What happened to you? How did you get here?" He asked, again almost afraid to hear an answer.

"I told you."

"No, before then. What happened in Italy?"

"Oh." Buffy said. She thought a moment, trying to place it to words. "I, don't know. I was talking to Andrew. Will and Kennedy were on a web cam. Giles was downstairs with Dawn. We were trying to figure out what was what with some of the new slayers. And, then I heard Andrew scream. I didn't think anything of it, I mean, I thought he saw a spider or something, but then I heard Dawn scream downstairs. I turned to see why Andrew had screamed, and there were two people. I think they were people, they might have been demons, their hands were blue though." Buffy drew in a breath, and looked to Spike. Her breath was becoming unsteady, recalling the emotional memories. "I saw blood on the floor, around Andrew, and then, nothing. Before I could do anything I was in that place."

Spike nodded, not because he understood, but because he didn't know what else to do.

She shook her head and looked back at him, but averted her eyes from his gaze. "I just, I just don't know what to think. I mean, if it really is whatever year it can't be, then what have you been doing to pass the time? Especially after being dead."

Spike chuckled, "Had a problem explaining that one to Doc, don't think they quite believe me."

Buffy scoffed, "I lived on a hell mouth all through high school, something tells me they didn't."

"Fair enough." Spike said taking a breath. "My story's not as fun filled as yours, but here goes. Some big bad thought it'd be fun to ruin my final curtain call and brought me back. Tried to use me as evil, only problem was, I still had my soul. Fun filled apocalypse here and there, and that's about it. Nothing out of the ordinary." His thoughts trailed off, wondering if he should have mentioned Angel at all. She'd want to know, but now wasn't the best time.

"And in all this time, you've changed." She said quietly.

"Apparently more'n I thought." He sighed.

Buffy nodded.

Spike nodded.

"But your still you?" She asked softly.

"I'm still me." He confirmed before looking to Buffy. She sounded confident enough, but she looked confused, which he couldn't really blame her for.

"It doesn't make any sense." He said quietly, "It's been too long." He stared at her, trying to see behind her eyes, trying to see what he had seen long before.

Uncomfortable, Buffy closed her eyes and turned her head, "What does?" She asked quietly, and then changing her tone she asked ardently, "What ever does?" She began to ramble, "First you tell me it's a hundred years later than it really is, and we're in some kind of space ship. It's like a really bad sci-fi movie. Next thing you know, I'll be staring at a dead baby cow in a jar, and you'll be telling me its some alien you slayed to save the world!" She took a breath and there was another long pause.

"Buffy, there is something wrong, maybe not wrong, but it's not right." Spike said rising and walking to the door. Cryptically he added, "I'm going to figure it out." He walked out leaving Buffy sitting on Simon's bed.