Chapter Two: Midnight Blue

I felt like I was falling, drowning in the most electric baby blue eyes I've ever seen. They were so expressive, filled with so much pain, a deep abiding sadness so profound that I can't even begin to describe what he is feeling, let alone understand. For some reason that I can't explain, I feel as if he understands what I'm going through. What it means to be alone.

Dawn sighed morosely as she flipped the stiff page in Buffy's slayer diary. Until last night there had always been detailed accounts of her fights. Last night was different. It frightened the young girl, more then she would ever willingly admit, that her sister went out every night and fought vampires in order to make the world safe for everyone, it also made her prouder then anything. Her sister was chosen to protect the world and Buffy took her charge seriously and hadn't tried to shirk her responsibility.

Someday she hoped that she too could be a slayer and fight at her big sister's side. She could help Buffy save the world. For Dawn that would be the greatest thing that could possibly happen. The two of them side by side, together. They would make the greatest superhero duo ever, way better then Bat Man and Robin.

All Buffy had written about in her diary last night was this hunky – her word – stranger whose hair was dyed a platinum blonde that she had run into during her patrol. Two full pages she had trudged her way through reading about how his black, one size too small, tee shirt molded itself perfectly to his sculpted abs. That was followed by a page and a half on how his black duster swayed and swirled and whirled majestically with his slightest or most grandiose gesture. There was another page, describing in full detail, his high arching cheeks, how his right cheek had a twitch to it when he was angry. He had three quarters of a page detailing a small check mark scar over his left eyebrow.

In the immortal words of her mother, Buffy had it bad for whoever this mystery guy was. All total there was over five pages describing him in painstakingly flowery detail. Dawn thought she would be able to recognize him from her sister's writings alone. All she had to do was look for someone who sort of resembled James Dean, but with platinum blond hair, and wore a suit of shinny armor and a black duster.

At the bottom of the page her sharp blue eyes picked out what she had been looking for all night. The fight. There were only five lines.

Seven vampires attacked me last night, managed to stake two of them on my own. That was when Spike showed up and completely trashed the rest of them. I went around dusting them while they were down. Spike was wickedly angry at me for that, but I'm sure he was just worried about my safety and was totally exaggerating what he plans on doing to me.

Oh, yeah. Almost forgot, he's a vampire.

Dawn blinked at that.

She had to have read that last part wrong. There was no way Buffy could have written what she just read. It was impossible, it couldn't be true. Buffy couldn't have it bad for a vampire. That was just wrong.

The thoughts ran through her head as she went over the last paragraph again. And then another time just to make sure she had read it right the first two.

A vampire had saved her sister. Why would a vampire save Buffy? Unless maybe there were such things as good vampires who were trying to stop there evil counterparts? Or maybe he was in love with Buffy like she was with him?

Dawn's face brightened considerably at those last thoughts. It would so be like her sister to fall for somebody she shouldn't, and worse, have the guy fall for her. That was the type of plot thread the authors of those sad, sappy, trashy, cheap, and cheesy romance novels their mother enjoyed reading so much would use as the main and extremely tragic theme.

Mortal enemies that were destined soulmates… or some other nonsense like it.

All this juicy material and she had basically wasted an entire night of snooping because she couldn't say a word or Buffy would no she had violated their agreement. If she did then she'd have to give all the money back that Buffy had been so generously loaning her since she found out about Buffy being the slayer. Worst of all though it meant there would be no teasing her about her crush over the breakfast table in the morning.

Sighing softly she sat up carefully closing Buffy's diary. The lock clicked loudly in the subdued quiet of Buffy's room. Standing up she smoothed down the blankets carefully erasing any evidence that she had been there. Then she pulled open the drawer to the bedside nightstand and slipped the diary back under several books Buffy had yet to open much less read. Taking one last look around her sister's room, just to make sure she had left nothing out of place.

Since becoming the slayer Buffy had become a lot more perceptive when it came to such things. It was how she had discovered Dawn had read her first slayer entry and exacted her promise not to tell mom and dad, not that she was going to tell them anyway, but she couldn't let Buffy know that. It also meant she had to become a lot more ingenious and cunning in her late night ransacking of Buffy's room. With that she turned on her heel and silently existed Buffy's room.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Buffy's scanned the darkness, searching for the creatures that prowled the night. Demons, vampires, anything that fed on those that couldn't defend themselves. It was her job, her duty to protect the humans of this city, of the entire planet. To kill the vampires, to make the night safe for those that have legitimate, or not so legitimate, business to conduct after dark.

She was nearing the end of her patrol. Another fifteen minutes or so and she'd be back home. It had been a rather slow night even if she had dusted close to a dozen vampires, all in ones and twos, no large packs tonight trying to run her into the ground thankfully.

Tonight she was doing it with just a bit more zeal then most nights. The reason why? There had been no Spike sighting all night. It wasn't really a bad thing, but it wasn't good either. It had her feeling out of sorts. Like a free diver who had stayed down half a minute too long and was straining to reach the surface and gasp that much needed breathe of fresh oxygen. It was like that, but more so and less all at the same time.

She still couldn't believe half the things she had written in her diary last night. Rereading the nearly half dozen pages she had been sorely tempted to rip them all of out and toss them in the trash...

Only that would leave them in the open for Dawn to find. The last thing she wanted was for her sister to be reading that she had a major crush on possibly the hottest guy she has ever seen. She could hardly believe she had forgotten that, and had to go back later and write it in.

Only he's not a guy at all… Well, technically he's a guy. Her more then traitorous thoughts happily reminded her in no uncertain terms. He's also a vampire remember, the more rational side of her brain put in. Then added for good measure, One of those things we're suppose to kill… But he saved our life. And then told us he only saved us because he wanted to kill us himself once we're strong enough to give him a good fight.

Judging by how easily he tore through four vamps Buffy doubted very much that she was ever going to be a match for him. One fledgling gave her enough of a problem. Trying to take two at a time felt like base jumping and not being the person that packed the parachute, you simply didn't know whether there was a parachute in there or not until it actually opened. Trickery was about the only reason she had survived so long. Being the better fighter had very little, nearly nothing, to do with her continued survival.

She was at least happy that Dawn hadn't found her new hiding place. That would just be majorly weird if her little sister had read last night's entry. Ten bucks would seem like a bargain when compared to the amount of money she would be able to exhort after finding out about her nearly head over heels infatuation with Spike.

He was a vampire. That was all that mattered.

Even he had said so last night. Eventually he was going to come for her. Try to kill her. He was just waiting for her to get stronger, whatever that meant, before fighting her.

Nothing was ever going to happen between them. They would fight. One would kill the other and that would be the end of it.

She knew that. It was why she had been especially brutal on the vampires she fought earlier tonight. She couldn't help the fact that despite it all she still wanted to see Spike. Just because they had to fight each other one day didn't mean they couldn't hang out, patrol, kill demons together. Maybe take in a movie.

A small grin spread over her lips as she imagined what type of movies Spike would possibly have an interest in. Some blood and guts horror movie? He was a guy as well as being a vampire so she figured that would be the most likely combination for him.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Buffy ducked under the wild haymaker thrown by the too large vampire. Her right leg snapped upward behind her back, the sole of her foot smashing him square in the face. He staggered back a step, his eyes crossing for a moment before he gave his head a hard shake to clear the cobwebs out before lunging forward. She sidestepped to the left kicking out, her foot catching him square in the stomach upending him.

"Oh, come on," Buffy griped jauntily. "I know chess club members with more stamina," she informed him as he scrambled to his feet.

Something hard and heavy slammed into her back sending her sprawling head long to the pavement. Quickly rolling over she felt surge of fear pulse through her as she stared up at the three inhuman faces hovering over her. One of them, a tiny redhead, was holding a long, thick steel pipe in his hands.

Scrambling backward on her hands and feet she fearfully murmured, "You guys don't want to do this," as her eyes darted from side to side searching for anything she could use as a weapon. Her comment caused the three to chuckle humorlessly, but that was fine by her because as long as they were laughing they weren't attacking. Unless they decide to laugh while they attack? She thought morosely.

"I'm pretty sure that we do," the redhead responded with a sneer as they advanced on her. "What do you…"

He jerked forward suddenly as a fist burst through his chest holding his heart in a bloody hand. "The chit did warn you," Spike told them. A moment later he crushed the heart of the still stunned vampire he had been holding in his hand.

Buffy smiled adoringly at the bleach blonde vampire who appeared slowly in the swirling dust that slowly settled to the ground. The steel pipe clattered noisily on the pavement. In an instant, which stretched into forever, she emblazoned Spike's image in her mind all over again. Making note of the slightest change in his appearance since the last time she saw him only three nights ago. Like how tonight his black, one size too small, tee shirt wasn't tucked all the way into his pants. As if he had been in a rush to get someplace, which was obviously here so he could help her slay all the evil vampires that were threatening the good people of this fair city.

"You know slayer," Spike began with a slight growl lacing his voice, "if you think you're just gonna lounge about while I clean up your bloody mess for you, you've got another thing coming."

As his words penetrated the fog enshrouding her brain Buffy suddenly realized she was still half lying, half sitting on the ground while one extremely scrumptious hottie, whose intense electric blue eyes roved over her body, as two other vampires cringed away slightly while trying to look like they weren't cringing.

She quickly flipped back to her feet; a mostly fake, indignant scowl had slipped over her features. "I don't need you to clean up my mess. Not that I have a mess that needs to be cleaned, this simply needs to tidied up," she finished with a slight frown that turned into a grimace as she realizes she just made herself sound like Dawn when she was attempting to get out of trouble.

"Hey, if you two have some issues you need to work out we could always come back tomorrow, or maybe even the next day," the smaller of the two remaining vampires suggested politely.

Spike's negligent back fist sent the scrawny vampire away. He crashed into the hard brick wall before dropping to the pavement. He landed in a heap with a soft thud on the blacktop. "There ain't no bloody issues for us to work out," Spike snarled at him. "She's the slayer, I'm a vampire and we're gonna fight to the death," he added looking back at her. That Doyle bloke swore this here slayer would be the death of me. "Eventually," he breathed out softly, almost regretfully. The thought that Doyle might have lied or been slightly misleading never entered his mind.

"Why you doing her job then?" The big one asked stupidly.

Spike turned on him. Before he could say anything Buffy delivered a deft roundhouse kick to his head knocking him back a step. "Hey!" She shouted angrily. "Anybody remember me? The chosen one? The girl everyone seems so interested in killing? You know the slayer. Killer of evil undead ever… Well, it's kinda, strictly been L.A. mostly." She pouted savagely. She hated when she lost the thread of her rant whenever she put in a little sidebar. It took her out of her element. Fortunately she was able to pick it up this time without too much difficulty. "I am still standing right here, not like I turned invisible or anything. So, you know it's kinda rude to talk about a person behind their back. Especially when they're standing right in front of you," she finished in a huff.

"You planning on yapping so much he combust all on his own just so he won't have to listen to your meaningless prattle any more?" Spike inquired with snide smirk.

Buffy glared at him while she plucked a stake from her tight waist band. She stepped toward the still dazed looking vampire and plunged it into his heart. "And by the way I do my job just fine," she informed the dust falling to the ground. "Thank you very much."

"That a fact luv?" Spike asked a moment before the steel pipe slapped into his palm, stopping instantly on its path to her head. His fingers wrapped around the cool steel as he circled his arm, along with the pipe in his hand. His movements broke the other vampire's grip on the pipe. Once that happened it suddenly jabbed forward smashing into his forehead knocking him back a stride.

"Please," Buffy sneered haughtily as she spun around plunging the stake through his heart. "Besides," she began with a shrug, "I knew you had him," she finished confidently.

"You knew I had him?" Spike demanded incredulously.

Buffy smiled as her eyes slowly graze over Spike's body. "Of course I knew you had him," she answered smugly. "If you're serious about us fighting to the death that is?"

Spike scowled at her while pulling his cigarettes and lighter from his pocket. Quickly lighting one he shoved the pack and the lighter back into his pocket while he took a rough drag. Plucking the cigarette out of his mouth he said, "Oh you and I are gonna have ourselves a right royal go of it slayer," as he shoved a stiff finger at her.

Her grin widened warming her entire face. A bright light shone in her eyes as Spike stayed standing in front of her, smoke billowing ferociously from his nose. Deciding it was time to take matters into her own hands, literally, Buffy reached out with her tiny hand and lightly latched onto his much larger hand.

Spike flinched at the warmth spreading over his cold palm. He swallowed hard, coughing lightly at the harsh smoke that became lodged in his throat. If his heart could still beat he thought it would have burst by now.

"That sounds really interesting," Buffy was saying as he managed to refocus on her. "Really. And I'd love to hear more about how we're going to fight to the death, but I still got the rest of my patrol to finish, so…" She explains in a very soft voice, a shy smile creasing her lips and an innocent flutter of her eyelashes.

"Oh, yeah. Right," he fumbled for a moment with a light stammer as he gave her hand a firm shake. "I should just shove off then, let you get on with killing all us evil dead things."

Buffy glanced downward, a slight dropping of her eyes as she frowned sadly. "Yeah, I guess you should do that," she said softly with disappointment lacing her voice. Then her face brightened suddenly as a seemingly new thought cropped up in her head. "Or, you could like come with, then you could continue telling me about how we're going to fight to the death. Plus you could like give me pointers on my slaying," she finished enticingly.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Buffy strode down Hemery High School's wide corridors with a light spring in her step as a gaggle of brainless high school beauties trailed along behind her. Their garbled gabbing washed over her as she continued to relive the events of the night before. Her first date with Spike.

Okay. So Spike might not have thought of it as a date. She could admit that, but what else was she suppose to call it when two people spent a romantic evening strolling all over the city, walking hand in hand, and talking about their lives, their past, their dreams for the future. For the first time in her life she was actually interested in what someone else had to say and hadn't been all that interested in getting a word.

It didn't matter that they spent most of the night talking about her slaying. They talked about how she couldn't stand her watcher, Merrick, pompous windbag who thought he knew everything, asshole that he was. She even told him about how the slaying was ruining the rest of her life; her school and her home. How she could feel it all slipping away from her, how the gulf growing between herself and her friends wasn't really bothering her.

She doesn't know why she opened up to him, not to the degree she had. Normally she wouldn't have said so much, to anyone, but there was just something about him that struck a chord within her. Like he could understand what she was going through.

Then there was Spike giving her pointers while she was in a life and death struggle. So it was more him using that big mouth of his to snap off one witty barb after another. At times they did a better job of distracting her opponents then her tiny fist. It was a thrill to have Spike watching her while she was fought, and after every fight he would show her something different she could have done that would have shortened the fight.

He did an excellent job of explaining things to her, but one time she didn't understand what he was talking about. It probably had more to do with her concentrating on the way his lips were moving then the sounds coming out of them.

She quickly found herself pinned, face first to the wall, his body, one portion of his anatomy in particular, pressing into her. She felt his breath on her bare shoulder as he panted heavily, which now that she was thought about it was kind of odd since vampires don't need to breath.

What he had been going on about still didn't make any sense to her but that had more to do with all the blood surging away from her brain at that moment to relocate in regions just south of her equator. Her own breathes were coming in labored gasps as her heart tried to jump out of her chest.

He pulled away quickly, asking if she understood what he was talking about now. She had sort of nodded numbly at his question. After that though there were a lot of things she no longer understood, even if she had before hand. While he was always quick to demonstrate he was also a bit more reserved with her. Using less force, going slower, and explaining his actions more details then he had before.

She didn't mind, not really. So long as she got to feel his body moving along hers. Weather it was his hand sliding up her arm, his fingers gently caressing her neck, his knee as it slid between her thighs, or his palm as it lightly caresses her breast. None of it mattered to her as her brain continued to lose precious oxygen because of the proximity of his body to hers. The closer he got to her the less oxygen she seemed able to inhale.

The evening finally ended somewhere around two a.m. with Spike walking her home where they bode each other a good night. It had been a longer then usual patrol with more then thirteen encounters. One with five vampires that Spike actually helped her dispatch.

She should have felt exhausted. On nights with only half the action she was normally ready to collapse once she got home.

Instead she had felt vitalize, charged full of this restless energy, so much of it she thought she was going to burst at the seams. With nothing else to do she had pulled out her diary and spent the next two hours writing out the night's events, right down to the tiniest, most insignificant detail.

Twenty pages. She couldn't remember a single time when she had written twenty pages about anything, much less some boy. Then again Spike wasn't just some boy.

He was Spike.

He was her Spike.

"Buffy... Buffy!"

The second, louder, more exasperated calling of her name pulled Buffy out of the slight haze she was in. She really wanted to ignore her friends. Her relationship with them was completely vacuumous, she felt as if they were sucking the life right out of her. "Uh-huh," she mumbled twirling around with a light flounce. "What?"

"You were like spacing right in front of the entire school like one of those spazzy little retreads," Amber flaunted triumphantly. For so long Buffy had been her hero, the girl she idolized more then anyone. The tiny blond had always been ruthless, the most vicious person Amber had ever meant and in only her sophomore year had wrested control of the school away from the entrenched seniors. Nothing happened at Hemery that Buffy didn't condone.

The few weeks though had seen Buffy losing her grip on the school. Events that never would have gotten past her before were slipping by with increasing frequency. People had begun to talk and it wasn't good.

"I so was not," Buffy replied icily. She could dust a hundred vampires a night, with Spike's help, but one word from any of these girls and her life might as well be over. Times like this she truly hates her life. On the plus side if her life was over there was nothing to stop her from turning Amber's face to mush. The thought brought an indulgent quirk to the corner of Buffy's lips.

Amber wondered why Buffy had suddenly smiled. She couldn't be so blind that she didn't see the writing on the wall. A touch of doubt, fear really, knotted itself in her gut. Amber wished she could back out right now, she knew Buffy, knew Buffy wouldn't be smiling at her right now if she didn't have something, only it was to late now. If she folded now the others would tear her apart, leave her carcass as a warning to everyone else. Metaphorically speaking. And the worst part of it was Buffy would be the one leading them. Pushing her rebellious emotions aside she challenged Buffy in a deadly voice. "Right? That's why you didn't hear me calling your name for the last two halls?"

"I don't know what your deals been lately," Tiffany began in a hard voice. Beside Amber she had been loudest voice at their meeting. There was an even worse fate in store for her if Buffy wasn't toppled right now. "But you're starting to pull the rest of us down with and we just can't have that."

"We've all been talking about it… Took a vote and everything, and well… It's sort of…"

"You're out Buffy," Amber said with fake sympathy. It was done. If Buffy had something on them, they would find soon enough. Buffy wouldn't wait all that long before striking back, which meant they would have to strike first. Turn the entire school against her. It should be relatively easy to accomplish since she had already done that herself. "It's time for you to turn in your pom-poms," she finished brightly.

Buffy stood there in a daze as they walk around her. She knew it had been getting bad, but she hadn't thought it had gotten to this point. She was surprised, and hurt that it had been Amber. Tiffany she could have seen. The girl had always been something of a harpy, Buffy felt it was a real shame she wasn't a harpy. If she had been, at least then she would be able to slay her. Amber had always been her friend; the one person she never thought would turn on her.

She turned around slowly, a dangerous light burning in her eyes as she eavesdropped on their conversation from more then twenty feet away while they cut a swath through the student body. A dark scowl slipped on to her face as she stood off to one side off the hall. Students swung to the other side of the corridor with but a single glance at the menacing glare creasing Buffy's face.

"We'll see about this," she growled softly and absently slammed the side of her fist into the row of lockers. She twirled on her heel, marching off in the opposite direction, forcing students to jump out of her path or get run down by the diminutive blonde. In her wake she left a group of gawking classmates staring at the crumpled steel and the row of lockers shoved several inches into the wall.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Dawn stopped just outside her sister's door. It was standing slightly ajar. The young girl figured Buffy had pushed it shut, but hadn't bother to make sure it was closed. As if she was preoccupied with something else. The bustle of activity coming from within lent credibility to her assumption. Silently, probably not quiet enough to sneak up on her big sister. She pushed the door open and stalked across the plush carpet covered floor with exaggerated stealth.

Buffy was standing in front of her large mirror inspecting herself, and her outfit, with an eye critical enough for Brigadier General inspecting his troops. She adjusted the sleeves of her dark burgundy colored belly shirt pulling them down a little exposing another centimeter of her delicate shoulders. She pushed down the bodice revealing a bit more cleavage. Wriggling slightly she lowered the black mini skirt that covered her hips, allowing another fraction of her sun kissed skin to see light.

Her black platform boots gave her another three inches of height. Not that she was concerned over something so trivial, but this way she would almost be able to gaze directly into Spike's bright, scintillating blue eyes. Plus it would make it that much easier for him to sneak glances at her pert breast.

"Big date tonight?" Dawn asked inquisitively. She didn't realize she had spoken out loud until she heard her own voice.

Buffy jumped, spinning around, startled almost out of her boots by her little sister's voice. She knew Dawn had entered her room, had listened to her sister pad across the floor, but she was so intent on looking absolutely perfect for her night out with Spike she had completely forgotten about Dawn. "No," she sputtered unconvincingly. "No big date. Patrol… Just your average, ordinary, no date patrol."

Dawn frowned lightly as she tried to come up with a way to get Buffy to admit she was going out on a date with Spike without asking her. "Is it Josh?" The entries in her diary had become morose of late, almost business like in her description of her battles with the forces of evil. The last three nights there hadn't been any mention of Spike. Today she had been buoyant; bouncing off the ceiling, the walls, and just about everything else. She couldn't wait for Buffy to leave tonight so she could get her hands on her diary and find out just what was up her.

Buffy made a slight eww face as she responded by saying, "Please. Josh is so last month."

"Bobby?"

"With that hair?"

"David?"

"The teeth?" Buffy reminded her.

Dawn bounced on Buffy's bed. "Come on Buffy, who is it? Please?" She finished with a tiny whine as she bounced her feet lazily. It was time to rely on the most sure fired way to get her sister to tell her anything. Begging.

Buffy rolled her eyes as she exhaled. She didn't know why she let her sister get to her so much. It would be such a simple matter to tell her go away and mind her own business, but she had never been able to do that. Since being called as the slayer she has been extremely grateful of the fact. There was one person that wasn't going to abandon her. "All right, but you've got to promise me you won't say anything to mom and dad."

"Like I tell mom and dad anything," Dawn replied confidently.

"And this isn't something you can use to get more money out of me," she added with a stern glare.

Dawn gave Buffy a hurt look as she asked, "Would I do something like that?" Then she swallowed hard as Buffy's expression shifted, becoming less amused. "All right. All right, enough already. I promise I won't tell anybody anything."

The scowl slipped from Buffy's face as everything about her seemed to brighten. Without hesitation she jumped onto her bed next to Dawn causing it to bounce a few times before it came to rest. "His name's Spike," she said it like it was the most important thing in the world.

"You go to school with someone named Spike?" Dawn burst out sounding incredulous.

"No," Buffy replied quickly. "I don't go to school with Spike."

"He goes to a different school?"

Buffy shook her head saying, "He doesn't go to school."

Dawn grinned and asked, "He's older then you?"

"Are you going to spend all night guessing or do you wanna let me tell you about him?" She demanded irritably.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Spike was restless as he prowled the area in front of the carousel, his hand rising and falling quickly as he smoked his cigarette with the finality of a man who believed the world was going to end in a few minutes and wanted to leave nothing unfinished. He grumbled to himself, quite loudly, but for the most part unintelligibly.

He still couldn't believe he had agreed to this. Patrol with the slayer, help her with her slaying. Give her pointers, maybe even a little training. Maybe a little one on one sparing?

Not that he hadn't enjoyed their little impromptu training session last night; showing her the proper use of a palm heel strike to the chest, or how to drive a person off with a sharp knee to the inner thigh or groin, or how to break someone's grip from around the throat.

Whirling around he viciously lashed out kicking a crushed soda can wondering just when he became the slayer's lap dog. He should be ripping her throat out, sucking down her sweet elixir while she struggled feebly.

It wouldn't be a problem now. Getting close would be easy. She trusted him. He could probably even get an invite to her house in the process. Her sister looked like a ripe little plum just waiting to be plucked.

He could. He knew it.

What do you wind up doing? He mocked himself. Waiting for her next to the children's bloody carousel like some pantywaist poser instead of sinking your teeth into her tender throat all because she went and fluttered those thrice damned eyelashes at you.

He had been going to say no. He really had, but one flutter from those pleading, nearly tear filled eyes and his resolve had melted like ice on a red hot skillet. That was all it took.

I'm still the Big Bad for cryin' out loud. I'm supposed to be out there terrorizing the hapless humans. Its what I do, what I'm good at. The only thing I've ever been good at.

Only you're not. You're here. Waiting like spineless prate. Pacing like some nervous schoolboy on his first date. All because of a pair of searing hazel eyes touched a part of you, a part you thought dead long…

He whipped back around taking a final drag from his cigarette as he crushed his thoughts as vicious as he crushed the cigarette out under his boot heel. Without conscious thought his hand flew into his duster pocket and retrieved his cigarettes and lighter. Plucking one out of the pack he lit it. The two actions happened so quickly, so close together, they almost seem like one.

She was affecting his life in other ways as well. Not just in finagling his help to kill all the other little fish in the pond, which he didn't mind in the slightest. A vampire was a sight more difficult then killing a human, but not overly much. Still being able to work out his rage was allowing him to get back to being himself.

Only he couldn't because all he could think about was her.

She was there in his head all the time. And not in the, I want to kill you kind of way, unless it was from one little death at a time, but in more of a, I want to get to know everything about you, kind of way.

Worse he wanted her to know everything about him, well maybe not everything but enough to know him. More then that he wanted her to proud of him.

It had gotten to the point were he hasn't been able to feed properly, being forced to buy bottled blood for the last two days.

At first it hadn't been that bad. He didn't mind not killing the people he fed from, leaving them alive so long as he got to sink his teeth into the soft flesh and suck down some steaming hot blood. Killing humans, slayers aside, was hardly challenging.

He tossed his spent cigarette aside. Took a bit more time lighting this one then the last, but to most of the people that see him it still looked like one action. Smoke billowed over his head as he turned back around.

Only now he couldn't even do that. He's tried, he really has, but every time he does, she's there watching him with those large, tinted, imploring eyes. Just like that he couldn't do it. Couldn't sink his teeth in, couldn't eat. Felt like someone had clipped his balls and walked off with them in her purse.

He would show her. He was no milksop to be led around by his nose. He was the Big Bad and if wanted to go out and get himself something to eat then bloody hell, he was going to go get himself something to eat. It wasn't like she had asked him to stop feeding or anything. She didn't ask him to stop killing. She never brought the subject up.

Tossing his cigarette to the ground he quickly lit another. "Where the sodding hell is the bloody little chit?" He growled whipping around.

And stopped dead as he caught sight of the absolutely most beautiful creature his eyes have ever had the privilege of seeing.

Hair, like spun gold, framed her small, oval, nearly angelic face that was highlighted by a tiny button nose and a pair light scintillating eyes. Her skin, the small amount that was left exposed by the very simple powder blue sundress was around her bodice, neck, and shoulders, as well as her arms and calves, was the color of light bronze. The soft cotton material clung tightly to her curves and emphasized her amazingly firm belly. It ended just above her knees leaving her shapely, tanned calves open for the inspection of anyone that cared to look. A pair of tan, open toe sandals, along with a small, white handbag finished off her simple outfit.

In today's culture it was hardly what anybody would call revealing, but for someone who grew up at the end of the Victorian era it was a sight to behold. When he had last needed to draw breath women had been covered in gowns and petticoats, so much cloth they were all but formless underneath. Her simple dress would have been the height of scandalous.

His mouth hung open, his cigarette dangled from his bottom lip as he stared at her. If Drusilla had been his dark princess then Buffy was his sun, a blindingly radiant strand of pure light illuminating his world of darkness with a fiery brilliance. A fire so hot, a light so pure he should be nothing but ash while standing within her presence.

As she sauntered toward him, a gentle sway to her hips, a slight strut to her stride he suddenly remembered his cigarette hanging from his mouth and that he hasn't taken a breath since he first saw, which felt like an eternity ago. With as much grace as he can manage he snatched the cigarette with his right hand, took a deep gulp of oxygen, just as he remembered he didn't actually need to breath, and wound up coughing slightly on the cigarette smoke.

Buffy smiled shyly, an effect that lit her whole face, at Spike's small bout of coughing knowing that she was the cause of it. She was suddenly glad she had followed Dawn's advice and change out of the happy hooker assemble she had been going to wear. She wanted Spike to know she was interested, not that she's easy. Who would have figured her bratty, overly nosey, spying, extortionist of a little sister would have such a good head for dating.

The sun dress was nice. It was taut, hinting at her firm, tone body instead of revealing it. Plus she had strategically left her coat at home. A well timed shiver and Spike, being the gentleman that he was, would be offering her, his duster to keep warm. Not that she really felt cold anymore, but that was a fact he didn't need to know.

"You haven't been waiting long have you?" She inquired demurely, sounding very apologetic.

Spike scoffed coolly as he replied, "Just got here myself. There was this scrumptious little morsel I just couldn't help but sink my teeth into," he finished taking one last drag from his cigarette before flicking the burnt out stub into the small pile he had created while waiting for her. Both their eyes followed the dyeing orange amber to the ground. "Fat lot of blighters you got over here," he said lightly touching her upper arm and guiding her away from the carousel. "No consideration for the aesthetic beauty of a place," he added hoping she forgot that he was the only one she saw toss cigarette butt there.

Buffy shrugged at the comment even though she was practically jumping with joy on the inside. He had been waiting there for her, he had been waiting a long time and he didn't want her to know. "I'm sorry if you were, even a couple of minutes, cause I'm like wicked late, but Dawn, my little sister, had this ultra major crisis that I just couldn't leave her in the middle of," she explained vaguely.

"Course you couldn't just up and walk out on the little nipper," he agreed as Buffy casually let her arm slip upwards until her slim, smooth fingers made contact with Spike's callused palms and gently clasped his larger hand. Spike swallowed hard feeling the warmth of her hand seep into his. "So what kind of disaster did you have to attend to tonight?" He asked trying to sound casual but even he could detect the slight quiver to his voice.

"Just some boy she's got a crush on that's being kind of mean to her," Buffy answered with another little shrug.

"Want me snap the blokes little neck for you? Wouldn't be no trouble," Spike muttered despite his best effort to stop himself. It was bad enough the slayer was able to get under his skin, now he was asking after the Platelet's well being. Next thing he knew he would be showing up at the slayer's house seeking her father's permission to pay court to his daughter. Know what you are you spineless little halfwit? You're addled brain you stupid sod. A nancy boy poofter. You're buggered ponce, that's what you are.

Buffy shook her head unaware of Spike's silent, inner recriminations. "Thanks," she began shyly, "but if you killed every boy my sister got a crush on that was mean to her you'd wind up wiping out most of southern California."

"It could use a little depopulating if you ask me," Spike replied with his slight, almost evil smirk that Buffy enjoyed seeing so much.

"Maybe," she murmured then glanced up shyly. "You wouldn't mind if we made a quick stop so I can get something to eat. I got so caught with Dawn I just kind of forgot to have dinner and it wouldn't be of the good if I was in the middle of a staking and I faint because my blood sugar is too low. I'd be so embarrassed I don't think I'd be able to show my face out on patrol after that."

"And we just couldn't have that now could we?" Spike mused thoughtfully.

"Exactly," Buffy agreed excitedly, not catching the sarcastic note in his voice. "I promise it won't take us very long, and then we'll be off killing your distant cousins and you can show me what I'm doing wrong or doing right because its like just as important to know what you're doing right and. Oh… Did you make up your mind about training, if you don't want to I understand with us being mortal enemies and everything… Especially the whole we gotta fight to the death thing later and you not wanting to show me all your moves or you might be worried that I'll accidentally stake you… Which I would never do accidentally… Or not accidentally either. At least not until our whole big, dramatic death fight in which case it will be totally on purpose, not an accident because that would…"

"It's all right pet," Spike finally cut in wondering how long she could go on talking without breathing. "We can go get your snack then go off and do a spot of training after."

On impulse she gave him a quick, but fierce hug making sure to press her body into his as she grinned broadly, her eyes lighting up brightly as she pulled back after a few seconds. Things were going better then she could have hoped for. She shivered, a slight tremble that rippled through her body.

Spike felt her shake and looked down at her with concern. "You cold luv?"

Buffy rolled her shoulders lightly as she said, "A little. Guess even California can get chilly in winter. Its okay, I'm a big girl and not like a little cold is going to kill me. Not any more anyway," she finished a trace of sadness tinting her voice.

"Nonsense," Spike growled protectively as he shrugged out of his black duster, draping it around her shoulders. Again her smile was soft yet it seemed to light up her entire face as she snuggle deeper into his coat.