Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. All of these characters belong to the God Joss Whedon.
Buffy rolled over in her bed and squinted through half closed eyes at the alarm clock on her night table. "Eleven thirty." she mumbled to herself sitting up "I really need to get out of bed." She crawled out of bed with a groan and made her way to the bathroom where she brushed her teeth and untangled her long blond hair.
When she left her apartment she could hear some one arguing downstairs. As she got closer to the staircase she heard Angel's voice and the voice of some one with a heavy British accent, whom she could only assume was Angel's cousin.
"Look, I thought we came to the agreement that I would call you Spike if you stopped calling me Angelus." She heard Angel growl.
"Oh I know, how about Captain Forehead?"
"Yeah and I could call you Captain Peroxide."
Buffy stood at the top of the staircase and giggled at the two grown men as they continued to argue. She decided to observe Angel's cousin from there, where she was out of sight, before making her way downstairs. "So you're Angel's cousin." She whispered to herself as she continued to watch the bleach blond man argue with Angel. "This could be tough." Buffy thought as she analyzed the new comer. His back was to the stairs but she didn't have to get a good look at him to know that he thought he was the biggest bad boy around. Just the way he carried himself and the long leather coat he wore was enough to tell her that. That's when she realized that the only way she would be able to break him was to be a bigger bad then he was.
Buffy made her way down the steps still only dressed in her baby blue silk pajama's. Angel saw her coming and tried to tell her, with a look, to change direction and head back the way she had come from. He wasn't ready for Buffy to meet the man she had decided that she was going to try to change.
Too late. Spike had noticed his cousin's sudden interest in something behind him and turned to see what it was. He was surprised to see the petite blond woman with the large hazel eyes step off the last stair. Spike watched her as she walked past him barely glancing at him. This caught him off guard. Normally the women were drooling over him.
Buffy shot a passing glance at the stranger. She didn't want him to get the impression that she was checking him out. "Yep," she thought, "all that black attire definitely cries out bad boy. Too bad the Billy Idol look went out ages ago." Standing between the two men her back to the blond she turned her attention to Angel. "So, Angel, honey, who's the Billy Idol wannabe?" She asked in a voice that was filled with disgust. Spike caught the tone immediately.
"Buffy this is my cousin Spike. Spike this is Buffy." Angel made the introduction unwillingly.
"This your girl Angel?" Spike asked his gaze fixed on the back of the woman who had interrupted their argument.
"That's none of your business." Buffy replied, not looking at him before Angel had the chance to answer him truthfully.
"Seems you got yourself a feisty one there mate. You best keep an eye on her. I reckon she'll run off before long if you don't."
Buffy finally turned to look at Spike, hate and disgust clear on her face. She had meant to turn to him and tell him what she thought of him, but when she finally got a good look at him she faltered for a moment and she knew he had noticed. "Excuse me." She requested weakly and headed back up the stairs and straight to her room.
Spike watched her as she fled the room. There was something oddly familiar about that girl, but he wasn't sure what. He was sure he didn't know her. He had never met any one by the name of Buffy, but there was still something disturbing about her. He wanted to talk to this girl. There was something calling out to him and he wanted to know what it was. For a moment he thought about going after her, then he remembered his cousin standing there and he knew that Angel wouldn't let him. He knew Angel was overly protective of everything around him. Spike had learned that many years ago when his uncle and Angel had come to visit him. Angel had made it obvious that he didn't want Spike to touch anything of his. Then on the car ride from the airport today, Angel had stressed it again. This was Angel's place, Angel's business, Angel's friends, and Spike was not a welcome addition to his perfect little world.
Angel had watched Buffy as her attitude towards his cousin did a complete turn around. He watched her as she quietly excused herself and made a beeline for her room. It wasn't like her to fumble like that, for some one to affect her the way Spike had. He noticed Spike also staring after her as she had left the room, and he caught the interest the blond man had in the woman who was almost like his sister. "Spike" Angel warned, "I'm going to tell you this once and only once, unless Buffy says otherwise stay away from her."
Spike turned to the dark haired man to say something, but as he did Angel walked passed him and ran up the stairs in the direction the blond woman had gone.